Chapter 1: A New Perspective

“And then what happened?” asked my assailant; his white hoof waving me to continue.

“Fuck if I know,” I stated; irritated with his tone of questioning. “Next thing I knew, I woke up in a hospital bed with this crippled body.” I paused for a moment; considering my next statement very carefully. “And I reacted to this change of state as anybody would have…” I finished a bit sheepishly.

“Watch how you speak youngin,” he scolded. “I know you have been through a lot, and clearly are having memory issues, but that is no excuse to use such vulgarity.” He shot me a look that showed that he was irritated, yet understanding of my situation.

“Sorry Mr…” I trailed off; clearly querying for a name.

“Helping Hooves,” he replied; a light smile creeping across on his face.

“Name’s Artemio Baldarich, but you can call me Arty if you would prefer,” I replied, holding out a foreign appendage in greeting.

“A pleasure.” He bumped his front hoof gently into my own, while continuing to hold onto his clipboard with his other leg. “So let me get this straight,” he responded after a short silence. “What you’re telling me is that you are some sort of inter-dimensional being that was transported here as a result of a wicked science experiment gone wrong?” he asked incredulously. I could see that this conversation was going nowhere fast.

“I know how it sounds…” I answered; looking down at my new body as if it would hold the evidence I needed to prove my alibi.

“That must have been one heck of a hit that you took back there son,” he replied; clearly recording the information down on my charts as we were having this conversation.

“Why do you keep talking to me that way?” I finally asked, noting his constant inflections.

“Like what?” he responded. “This is how I normally talk to my younger patients, especially after they have been through a traumatic incident such as this,” he stated; assuming the answer was obvious.

“Younger? I know I’m not ancient, but I’m certainly no spring chicken myself,” I said with conviction.

I’m 23 for Christ’s sake. I thought to myself in disbelief. He certainly sounded older, but he was treating me like I just fell out of the womb, and to be honest it felt a bit degrading.

“What come on, there’s no way that you’re older than-“ He looked me over for a quick assessment. “-ten or eleven years old at best,” he concluded with a patronizing undertone.

It appeared that he noticed my glare, and in response he appended another statement to make up for his misstep. “I’m sorry if I have made you uncomfortable,” he said with sincerity, as he looked away from my bed for a moment. “It’s just that it’s not every day that we come across a foal that has been knocked unconscious in the middle of the town with no parental figures to be found.”

“Middle of town… parental figures…” I repeated to myself, as if futilely attempting to jog my memory on something I had absolutely no recollection of.

“Yes, yes,” he interrupted my thinking. “We will have plenty of time to figure out what exactly happened, but I need you to get back to answering my questions please.” He quietly taped his pencil against the clipboard that he had been holding onto during our entire conversation. I wondered to myself how exactly he was holding the utensil with flat hooves, but quickly abandon the thought process as I observed his slightly agitated stare.

“Very well then,” he continued; quickly glancing down at the papers being held in place by the clipboard. “Can you tell me where your parents might be or how we may attempt to contact them?”

“Uhhh….” I paused for a moment to give myself some time to think.

What am I going to tell this guy? I knew that I needed to pick an angle and stick to it otherwise none of these ponies would ever believe a word that I said. I considered attempting to stick to the truth once more, but realized that if I were in his situation I would never trust the ravings of a child that clearly just went through a traumatic event. I really didn’t want to be marked as mentally unstable before I even had a chance to analyze the situation that was forced upon me.

This line of thinking led me to a new plan of action that should hopefully buy me at least a little time; especially while they think I’m still potentially injured and suffering from a mental block. If I couldn’t tell them the truth, then I would just obfuscate my background and claim ignorance on past events due to my inability to recall what happened before the incident; an incident that I still knew very little about.

“I’m sorry sir but I can’t really remember,” I responded quietly.

“Not even a name or a town of residence?” He asked; clearly a little more worried about my current health than he was before.

“No, sorry,” I stated simply.

“Well then…” He paused for a brief moment. “Is there anything that you can remember that doesn’t involve aliens or strange science experiments?” he asked hopefully.

I felt a little guilty about lying to him, but I knew that if I didn’t the consequences could be dire. I would rather not spend my days in this foreign world on the inside of an insane asylum.

“Sorry sir, I unfortunately cannot remember anything from before I woke up screaming,” I replied calmly. I could hear the faint beeping of my heart monitor rise ever so slightly as I answered.

“Very well,” he said with a hint of disappointment. “Hopefully your memory will come back to you after you have been awake for a bit longer.” He placed the clipboard delicately on the table next to the bed that I was currently occupying. “How are you feeling? Do you need anything?” he asked with concern.

“No I think I’ll be…” I began to reply, but quickly changed my mind after noting the intense dryness in my throat; likely due to all the screaming from earlier. “A glass of water would be nice,” I responded with a timid smile.

“Of course! You must be parched after being out for three days; an IV can only get you so far,” he said as a matter of fact.

“Three days?” I replied; a bit shocked with the new piece of information.

I knew that I must have been out for awhile based on the nature of my injuries, but three days seemed a bit extreme. Maybe the crossover did more damage to my body than I had thought? I considered to myself.

“Yes, roughly 76 hours to be exact,” he concluded after glancing at the clock hanging from the wall behind me. “We were worried that you may never wake up; your magic was severely drained when you were brought in on the back of that mare,” he said with a hint of sadness.

I shook my head to ensure that I heard him correctly. “My magic was drained!?” I asked in confusion.

“Yes, but don’t worry about that, you seem to have mostly recovered from your magical surge,” he said with a reassuring smile. “But enough of the questions, allow me to have a nurse bring you some refreshments before we continue; It looks as though you could clearly use it.” He quickly exited the room, leaving his clipboard and stethoscope behind.

What the hell? Not only did I wake up in a different body on a completely different planet; at least I assumed. But I am also an injured child that was clearly wounded after I was unwittingly transported here. Think Art, think. Claiming ignorance would only get me so far, I needed to gather more information about my current predicament.

I looked over to my side and saw the clipboard that the doctor left behind. My eyebrows rose and I shrugged in indifference as I quietly grabbed the clipboard off the side of the table.

“Let’s see here…” I murmured to myself as I flipped over the cover of the packet that I held in my hooves.

Hospital Patient Survey

Hospital: Ponyville General

Patient Name: Artemio Baldarich (Arty)

Patient Age: Unknown, Likely 9-11 years of age

Nature of Visit: Patient was found unconscious in the town square with various scratches and scrapes, as well as smoke coming from his horn. Passerby’s claimed that they observed a blinding green flash followed by a loud thud on the cobblestone. Injury is assumed to likely be due to a magical surge, although the cause is unknown and such an event is uncommon in somepony so young.

Additional Notes: Patient appears to have issues remembering events that happened prior to the incident and cannot recall basic facts about why he is here or where his family is. Upon waking up the patient was extremely disorientated and began screaming when one of our nurses went in to check on him. After calming down, the patient told an account about how he is an inter-dimensional traveler that arrived here due to a mishap in some sort of science laboratory. It is unclear whether the patient made this up out of shock, or if he is more mentally affected by the surge than we had originally thought. More information is needed before an assessment can be made.

Assigned Physician: Doctor Helping Hooves

Well that information was disconcerting to say the least. I thought to myself.

Apparently upon being transported here I was severely injured by the blast, and the residents of this town thought that it was due to something that they call a magical surge.

Surely they can’t be serious. I reflected in disbelief.

Maybe magic here meant something different than it did back home. As a man who had been studying science and mathematics his whole life, I found it hard to believe that such a thing would be possible; but then again I never thought my current situation would be possible either.

As I was in the middle of gathering my thoughts, I heard a faint knock at the door opposite my bed, and a timid voice crept through the door frame. Upon hearing the voice, I quickly put the clipboard back on the bedside table; I really didn’t want to raise any more suspicion about my mental state.

“Hello there young colt! I’m glad to hear that you are feeling a little better now.” A young mare with a white coat and light pink mane walked through the door pushing a small cart that contained what I assumed must be the refreshments. “I hope you are ready for some dinner.” She smiled lightly at me as she walked forward with the cart. I could immediately tell that this mare must have a kind disposition.

“Thank you very much, and I’m really sorry for screaming at you earlier. I was not in the right state of mind,” I replied, feeling quite bad about the way I reacted earlier.

“Don’t worry dear. I understand it must be very jarring to wake up in a hospital room without remembering how you got here,” she responded as she gently put her hoof to my forehead. I was a bit startled at first, but then I realized that she must just be checking for a fever.

“I’m nurse Redheart by the way,” she added as she removed her hoof from my forehead. “You just let me know if you ever need anything okay?” she reminded me as she walked over and wrote something down on the clipboard next to my bed.

“Thank you Ms. Redheart. I appreciate what you are doing to help me,” I replied sincerely.

“Aww such a sweet young colt,” she gushed with a warm smile. “Your parents must be raising you well,” she said with a wink.

I winced a little at that statement; mostly because I wasn’t really sure how to reply. I mean sure my parents really were wonderful people, if a bit strict at times. However despite this, I hadn’t lived with them since I moved away for school when I was seventeen years old.

The Nurse took notice of my look and graced me with a kind smile. “Don’t you worry about that honey, I’m sure that we will be able to contact them soon once you are feeling a little better. We already have ponies out searching for them in the surrounding area.”

I knew that there was nobody out there for them to find, but I kept my mouth shut anyways. I’d cross that bridge when I got to it. For now, I just needed to bide my time as I recovered from my injuries.

“Now then.” She looked over to the large covered dish sitting on the cart that she had just pushed into the room. “How’s about we get you a nice meal. You must be starving!”

Now that she mentioned it I was actually quite famished. I supposed that it wouldn’t hurt to try out whatever it is that they serve in this hospital. I’ve never known hospital food to ever be any good, but who knows; different world different rules.

As soon as she uncovered the dish, the scent of the meal instantly permeated through the small room. The aroma was quite heavenly and I could immediately recognize that the meal was mashed potatoes with gravy. I also spotted a delicious looking corn muffin off to the side of the dish.

“Now I know it’s not a lot of food, but we can’t be having you eat too much after you’ve been out for so long,” she explained before she grabbed the tray with her mouth and carefully set in on my lap. “But don’t worry, we will have you back to normal in no time.”

“Don’t worry I understand,” I replied quickly; my eyes fixated on the delicious looking food sitting just inches from my muzzle.

I noticed the lack of eating utensils, but could hardly be bothered to care considering how hungry I was. As I took my first mouthful of the meal that had been laid out in front of me, my mouth watered at how delicious the food tasted. I wasn’t sure if the food was legitimately good, or if I was just starving, but at this point I no longer cared as I quickly wolfed down the food in front of me.

“My, My!” Nurse Redheart chuckled as I finished off the remaining morsels of food left on my plate. “Somepony must have been hungry.” She smirked when she saw the food that now coated my chin.

I blushed slightly at her comments as I used the napkin she handed me to wipe off my now soiled chin. What can I say, I was starving.

“Sorry about that. The food was great,” I explained after wiping myself off.

Redheart chuckled softly again as she removed the tray from my temporary bed. “I’m glad to hear that honey. Some ponies aren’t the biggest fans of the food we serve here, but I eat it everyday and agree that its actually quite good,” she said honestly. “Some ponies just get weirded out when they think of being served food made in a hospital, I suppose.” She gave me a shrug to show that she didn’t quite understand.

I nodded, completely understanding the sentiment. “Yeah the food was pretty delicious, a bit heavy on the carbs though,” I replied, noting how full my stomach now was. “Would have gone great with some meatloaf,” I added off-handedly.

After a few moments, I noticed the stillness that now permeated the sterile room. Nurse Redheart was looking back at me absolutely stunned. Her eyes were wide with fear as if I had personally slapped her in the face. I looked back at her in confusion, not quite comprehending what caused her sudden shift in mood.

“I’m sorry… I need to go,” she finally responded after giving an uncomfortable look and quickly dashing out of the room.

At this point I was absolutely stunned. What did I do wrong here? I thought everything was going quite well. After a few moments of contemplation, I suddenly realized where I had made my error in judgement.

“Meatloaf…” I repeated to myself; eyes wide with comprehension.

“What have I done.”

Chapter 2: Second First Impressions

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I’ll never forget the day that my whole world fell apart.

I could hear my mother crying from the top of the stairs; my sanctuary where I resided during the fond years of my childhood. My room was nothing special, just a small white room with four walls, a gray carpet, and a window with a panoramic view of downtown Syracuse in the distance.

Although the room was nothing special, over the years I had gathered many personal effects that truly made the space into something that was unique to my personality. I was only fourteen years old at the time, but it was clear from my surroundings that I had already chosen a path for my future. The room was only a 10 x 10, but I had made it my personal mission over the previous few years to decorate the room with everything that defined who I was.

Along the wall adjacent to the window, I had a table covered with various computers and imbedded systems that I had gathered over the years from my father who worked IT for the local university. I prided myself on rebuilding systems that the university had deemed ‘unusable’. As a result of the constant repairs I was always performing on the fickle and often ancient machines, I always had a veritable mountain of components strewn across the opposite end of the long table. It probably looked messy and unusable to others; but because of how often I used the space, I always had an inherent knowledge of where everything was. For me “A place for everything, and everything in its place” meant exactly where my mind had decided it was best to be put.

The rest of the room was pretty standard. Like most kids my age I had a small twin bed, a computer desk where I spent a lot of my time playing video games, and a closet that stored all of my clothes; most of which I never wore. On the wall next to my door I had installed a small shelf that held all of the tools that I used for my experiments and repairs. Most of the basic tools I had acquired as gifts from my parents who were very supportive of my inventive tendencies. Lastly, the walls were decorated with posters of my favorite games and musical groups that I had come to appreciate over the last few years. Back then I was a very big fan of Floyd and Queen, mostly because my father and I would always listen to them when we were working on a project together.

July 17, 2014; a day that surely will be burned into the back of my mind for the rest of my life.

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was sitting in my room working on an old UNIX server that my dad had just brought home the previous day because the school had updated to a newer model. It was a bit frustrating as I was still new to the intricacies of ‘NIX’ systems and had yet to do much experimentation.

I heard my mother’s scream pierce through the music that I was playing to accompany the work that I was doing. It was the type of bloodcurdling scream that instantly made my blood run cold. My mother has always been a very strong independent woman, and I knew that anything that could elicit such a response from her must be horrifying.

After recovering from my initial shock, I immediately bounded down the stairs to mollify whatever it was that caused my mother such distress. Upon reaching the front of the house, what I saw made me pause in utter confusion.

I could see my mother and father standing in the doorway. My dad was holding onto my mother as she was absolutely sobbing into his chest; I could clearly see there were tears in his eyes as well. Behind them I could see that there was a man in uniform standing in the doorway. I could see the flashing lights reflecting off the glass doorway.

At this point I feared the worst; and it turns out my fears were entirely justified.

“What’s wrong mom?” I asked, my voice trembling.

She couldn’t even look at me. All she did was sob more heavily into the tight embrace of my father.

My father turned to me and looked straight at me as if his eyes were tearing into my soul. I could see the tears welling up in his eyes.

“She’s gone Arty…”

“She’s gone.”

“Well that’s certainly an impressive imagination you have there,” Helping Hooves responded as he smirked at the horrified looking nurse standing next to him.

“Yes sir, I’m sorry if I freaked out Ms. Redheart,” I apologized profusely, after clearly having traumatized his co-worker.

After my slip-up, the doctor had come in looking for an explanation. Luckily, I was given enough time in the interim to come up with a good story. I explained to him that my ‘friends’ and I would often play a game where we would pretend to be ‘carnivorous creatures from another dimension’, and blamed my recovering memory for the unintended phrase. Even if the story was ridiculous, he bought it because to believe the alternative would probably have been truly horrifying. After this mistake I was beginning to believe that my credibility was wearing thin.

“I’m sure you’ll have your chance to apologize to her when she comes back tomorrow. She’s usually not one to hold a grudge; especially against somepony so young and impressionable,” he said with certainty.

“It’s good to see that some of your memory is coming back.” He looked at me hopefully. “Is there anything else that you remember?”

I paused for a moment in contemplation. “I’m afraid not sir.” I replied; feigning sadness as to not arouse suspicion. Hopefully soon I will have more than five seconds to come up with a real plan.

“Worry not boy. That subconscious slip-up is a good sign that things should be returning to normal soon.” He quickly wrote something down on his clipboard before addressing me again. “Why don’t we get you washed up. You must feel pretty gross after lying in bed for three days.”

His comment caused me to reflect on my current state of affairs. As much as I didn’t want to, after a moment of thought, I found myself in agreement with the Doctor. Well he was right about one thing; I sure could use a good shower. “That sounds good to me.” I replied honestly.

“Nurse Clearview, why don’t you go help him up. He must be a little sore from being stationary for so long.” He nodded to the red coated nurse with the dirty blonde mane standing next to him. She had a tattoo of a pair of glasses on her flank which jumped out as a little strange to me.

Come to think of it, all three of the ponies I had met so far had similar tattoo’s; Nurse Redheart with an image of a red cross and Doctor Helping Hooves with a detailed depiction of a stethoscope on his flank. I really hoped that this trend was not something they would expect me to participate in; I had never been a fan of tattoos. I didn’t have a problem with the concept, it’s just that I had never felt like there was an image out there that really encapsulated everything that I tried to represent. Maybe I was getting a little ahead of myself here. Heck, for all I knew I might already have one of those flank tattoos. I hadn’t really had the time yet to look over my new body and all of its features.

“Fine,” she said simply. I could tell from her expression that she was probably still not very happy with me.

Hoping to be at least a little self-sufficient, I removed myself from the covers and began moving towards the edge of the hospital bed. As I reached the end of the bed and started to lower myself down, I began to realize that I had made another huge mistake.

“Holy hay!” the Nurse exclaimed. “It’s like you’ve never walked before!”

She doesn’t know how right she is.

After my graceful fall from the edge of the bed, I lay splayed out on the cold hospital tile, trying in vain to regain my breath. The light tinge of a headache that I had when I awoke returned to me in full force.

I’m such a moron sometimes. I thought to myself in hindsight. I should have known that trying to walk quadrupedally would have been more of a challenge. I thought maybe my new body would instinctually know what it should be doing, but as was the theme lately, I guess I was completely wrong.

“Well don’t just stand there!” exclaimed the doctor. “He is clearly experiencing some acute muscle atrophy from the incident.”

I thought to myself that there is no way that my muscles would degrade to such an extent after only being out for a few days; but I allowed him to make my excuses for me. The less I had to spin this story the easier it would be to not get caught. I still didn’t know if these ponies were crazy. Hell, I might be the crazy one here.

I heared the nurse’s hooves clop over to my side as she reached down and started to help me back onto my hooves.

“I’m really sorry about that,” she said sincerely as she pulled me back up to a more stable position. “I thought you were just messing with us and making up stories. I got a little more upset than I should have about what happened with Redheart. I know you didn’t mean to scare her.”

My chest stung a little from the impact but otherwise I thought that I would be fine; it might leave a nasty bruise but not much more than that. I felt even worse being forced to accept Clearview’s apology when I knew that I was the one at fault for what happened earlier.

“Don’t worry about it.” I threw a smile her way while leaning against her side. “I should have known what I was saying. It’s my fault for what happened.”

“There’s no point in lamenting the past,” she said with a sigh. “Let’s get you down the hall so we can get you washed up.”

I nodded back to her as she began to lead me towards the door at the other end of the sterile hospital room. Walking was not an easy task with two new legs to worry about, but it certainly wasn’t impossible while having someone to lean against.

As we made our way to the door, I took note of some of the tech that was spread generously throughout the room. There honestly wasn’t too much to write home about; most of the instruments were mechanical and I didn’t see any computers in sight. Even the cardiograph looked to be more basic than what I would have expected. Either this hospital was severely underfunded, or the technology here was a little behind what I was used to. Hopefully it wouldn’t matter too much; I didn’t plan on staying here for too long anyways.

As we made our way down the hallway, my legs began to fall into a cadence that makes walking much easier. Don’t get me wrong, I was still very clumsy, but I was sure that with a little practice I could be walking normally in no time. Based on the hallways surrounding me I could tell that this hospital must not have been very large. Based on my estimates, there couldn’t have been more than twenty rooms maximum in the whole building.

We stopped walking suddenly as we reached the end of the hallway, and I tripped over myself a little as I attempted to regain my balance.

“Well this is the little colts room here,” Clearview said as she pointed up at the door which had a glyph of a pony on it. I assumed that it must represent a male pony, but I wasn’t really sure how to tell the difference solely based on the silhouette.

“Are you going to need my help getting in there or can you handle it yourself?” she asked me; clearly hoping for me to choose the latter.

“I think I’ll be okay by myself,” I replied; not sure if was actually true, but willing to take my chances anyways.

As I clumsily pushed my way into the room I took a second to analyze my surroundings. The restroom looked a lot like a single occupancy bathroom that you would find in most houses back home. In the center of the room was a large porcelain bathtub clearly made to fit creatures much bigger than I.

Before I stepped into the tub to take the bath that I most certainly required, I noticed a large standing mirror on the other side of the room and took a hesitant step towards the imposing pane of glass.

“Here goes nothing…” I muttered to myself as I approached the view of the mirror.

What I saw didn’t shock me as much as I thought it would; apparently all of my adrenaline was used up in the episode from earlier. That isn’t to say that I was too happy with the figure I saw staring back at me.

A miniature pony with an ashen coat and short royal purple mane stared back at me in contemptment. It is clear from the nature of his countenance that he was just as unhappy with the current situation as I was. As I tilted my head to the side to get a closer look at the horn perched atop my head I noticed a single turquoise strip that ran along my short mane. Also short in stature, my horn was only a few inches long and spiraled into a relatively sharp point at the tip of the conic.

I rotated my frail body in an attempt to check if I had one of those flank tattoos that all of these ponies seem to have for one reason or another. Much to my relief, my flank was completely bare of any markings.

“No ass tattoos for me today.” I smirked in an attempt to find any humor in my current situation; however, my smile quickly faded as reality set in once again.

Well, enough of that. I told myself as I turned towards the tub and climbed up the small set of steps that they had placed leading up to the basin; clearly a design meant for children to get in without assistance.

“What has my life come to…” I muttered to myself as I turned the dials seated next to the faucet.

As the water filled up to a reasonable height I allowed myself to relax the tension that had built up over the last few hours of poor decisions. It felt good to let go for a moment and to allow the warm water to envelope my worries; but I knew that I couldn’t relax for long. I had some important decisions that I need to give serious consideration.

Telling them the truth, at least for now was completely out of the question. I knew that they believe in something they call magic in this world, but that doesn’t mean they were going to believe my crazy story. I needed to figure out what happened to me, and what caused me to be transported here. Unfortunately for me, I couldn’t really remember much about what happened immediately before the incident.

The company I worked for goes by the name of United Defense Services; a military contractor that specialized in building radar and long range missile defense systems for the US Government. We usually didn’t get to know too much about the projects we were working on due to their classification, but I distinctly remembered my team making a major breakthrough in the system that we were developing at the time I was transported here.

It was aggravating, but for the life of me I could not remember what we were experimenting on the day that I was mistakenly transported here. I racked my brain looking for an answer, but every time I thought I was getting close, the information just escaped my grasp.

A quick knock at the door interrupted my concentration as I heard a voice from the other end of the door.

“Are you okay in there Arty? We don’t want you getting hurt in there,” said a small voice from the other end of the door. The voice sounds a lot to me like Nurse Redheart, but I assumed my mind was playing tricks on me because the doctor had said that she had gone home earlier.

“Yes, I’m fine,” I replied indignantly. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

I knew that I couldn’t be too mad; they were only doing their jobs in looking out for me. I would have done the same in their position; especially if I thought I was working with a child that had just been in an accident.

After quickly scrubbing myself down with the various soaps and shampoos that they left along the side of the basin, I drained the tub and carefully stepped back down to the floor. I’d never dealt with being covered head to foot in fur before; I wasn’t into that sort of thing. Sadly, it was much more difficult to dry myself off with a towel that I had originally anticipated. After many trials, much to my own dismay, I ended up opting for the ‘wet dog approach’ to getting myself dry. It was quite effective is removing the water from my body, but it also did a pretty good job of painting the room with water.

After doing the best I could to sap the walls and floor of water as to not piss off the hospital staff, which must already hate me, I clumsily brushed my mane before stepping out of the bathroom to look for Nurse Redheart.

I didn’t have to look very far as she was standing in the reception area that was directly adjacent to the bathroom I was just in. Despite our earlier interaction she appeared to be quite happy right now and wore a bright smile on her face as she turned to look my way.

“I’m sorry Arty. I shouldn’t have left yesterday,” she said to me with a downcast look.

“You shouldn’t be the one apologizing Ms. Redheart, I was the one who messed up.” I told her as a took a few steps towards the lobby.

“Nonsense! Don’t worry about it, the doctor and Nurse Clearview told me all about what happened,” she said with a nod. “And I’m glad to see you’re feeling good enough to be walking around.”

“Thanks,” I replied “I’m certainly feeling much better than I did this morning.”

“That’s not the only good news Arty!” she said with a knowing smile.

“Oh?” I responded quizzically.

“We found your parents Arty! Isn’t that great!” she exclaimed with genuine enthusiasm.

I was absolutely stunned with this sudden development.

“My what??”

Chapter 3: A Series of Unfortunate Events

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“Are you okay there Arty?” asked the concerned nurse, staring quizzically at my reaction. I could barely hear her through the haze that now fogged my conscious.

How is this even possible? I thought to myself in a panic.

This body must have come from somewhere; I don’t know why I had never never considered that a possibility. It was sickening to believe that I may have hijacked the body of some child that was just minding his own business. Of course, there was always the chance that these ponies were just confused and I wasn’t really the one they were searching for. Regardless of the explanation, I was going to need to talk to these parents to get a better idea of what happened before I arrived here.

“Arty?” she repeated with a frantic look in her eyes; a look that told me I better respond before she called the doctor.

“Sorry!” I blurted out. “I was just a little… surprised is all.” At least that one wasn’t a blatant lie. All of this dishonesty was starting to drain on me. I was certainly no paragon of virtue, but I’d like to think that I was at least somewhat of a good person. I knew that one day I was going to owe this nurse a sincere apology; if I ever got the chance that is.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked again, clearly still not entirely convinced.
“Yeah yeah, I’m sure. Sorry if I startled you.” I felt like all I had been doing since I arrived was apologize for my constant mistakes. “So how did you find them?” I asked, genuinely curious.
Before the nurse could respond, I noticed a figure step into my periphery. “I believe I could help you with that.” Interrupted a brown coated mare in uniform. She was wearing a tall hat that made her look like an old British constable, and her flank tattoo resembled a corpulent looking Billy Club. I almost chuckled when I saw the resemblance, but stopped myself before I made the situation worse.

“This little colt’s a runner,” she continued stoically. “His parents were looking for him all over Canterlot when he went missing. Apparently they were planning on moving here to Ponyville and this little guy wasn’t too happy with the change in scenery. Ironically, turns out he ran right into the place he was hoping to avoid.”

“What I never…” I muttered, mostly to myself.

“His parents are the nicest ponies you’ll ever meet,” she interrupted. “They never thought it would be possible for him to make it this far on his own. When they found out there was a missing foal located in Ponyville, they came here as quickly as they could to see if it was their son.” As she finished her explanation, I could see the mare shoot me a dirty look out of the corner of her eye.

Everything here just keeps getting stranger and stranger. I thought to myself. What if these parents really are looking for their long lost son who ran away from them?

I could tell from the stoic stance and monotone voice of the mare that she was strictly a professional and took her job very seriously. I needed to meet with these ponies before I could do anything. I knew that if I were in their position I would be frantic with worry.

“Oh that’s just horrible!” exclaimed Nurse Redheart. “It’s unfortunate that he still can’t remember much from before the accident Ms…”

“Hot Fuzz, a pleasure to-”

This time I couldn’t help myself. I let out a stifled chuckle and she quickly turned to scowl at me.

“Is something funny to you?” Her glare hardened as she took a step closer to me.

“No, no it’s nothing.” I said, after taking a second to regain my composure. “It’s just an… inside joke that I remembered from earlier.” I pled with a convincing smile. “I meant no harm by it, I promise.”

“This kid’s quite the hoof full isn’t he,” she asked rhetorically.

“He’s been through a lot,” replied Redheart defensively. “I can’t speak about what happened with his parents, but I promise he’s been polite with the hospital staff.” I’m surprised by how forgiving she is, especially considering how much grief I must have caused her over the previous few days.

“Whatever. He’s his parent’s problem not mine,” she responded dismissively. “Your parents are waiting in the other room talking with the doctor. Let’s reunite you so that I can get back to work.”

The constable closed the final few steps remaining between us and nudged me in the direction of the hallway next to the reception area. It was almost as if she was herding me like a lost sheep that wandered too far away from the pack. Based on the location, I assumed that the room must be the doctor’s office where he conducted his private business.

Upon reaching our destination, I could clearly hear three distinct voices coming from the other side of the door.

Here goes nothing, I told myself as my guide knocked heartily against the door.

After a brief pause in dialogue, a confident voice streamed from the other room. “Yes, bring him in,” boomed the voice of Helping Hooves.

My heart was beating into my chest as the door slowly creaked open in front of me. I had never been one for awkward situations, but this definitely had to take the cake for the strangest situation I had ever found myself in. These parents were most likely relieved to have finally found their child, and I knew for a fact that they are either mistaken, or I had accidentally taken the body of their sweet colt from them. Regardless of whether or not it was my fault, I couldn’t help but feel terrible for them.

As I walked slowly into the room my worst fears looked to be confirmed. Doctor Helping Hooves sat behind a large mahogany desk covered in papers, post it notes, and other various office supplies. I didn’t think this hospital was very large, but he clearly looked to be a busy man. On the other side of the table was two adult ponies. I could tell from their reaction that they looked to be a little relieved with my sudden presence.

The purple coated mare with an auburn mane appeared as if the smallest touch would cause her to shatter into a million pieces. The tattoo upon her flank resembled what I assumed to be a cooking pot burning over a small fire. Her alabaster coated husband was tenderly holding her hoof as she held a well used tissue in the other. Clearly she had been through a lot over the last few days.

Her husband on the other hand seemed to be very composed and indifferent to the situation. I honestly couldn’t tell if he wasn’t very concerned, or if he was retaining his composure to help support his wife. The short black mane that topped his head parted gracefully for the horn that lie on the front of his forehead, and his flank mark; two pale black musical notes, accented his coat very well. He looked tired, but certainly not as disheveled as his wife was.

“Arty!” Before I could properly react, I felt myself being pulled into a warm embrace. “We were so worried about you! I’m so glad you’re okay!” My lungs started to ache as she constricted me like a rattlesnake honing in on its prey. “I know you aren’t happy with the move honey. But please just give this a chance, I promise you that everything will be okay,” she pleaded with me as I could feel her tears begin to stain my coat.

At this point my face was most likely purple from lack of oxygen, but that was the least of my worries.

I couldn’t bring myself to do this, I just couldn’t. Consequences be damned, there was no way that was going to try to convince these two that I was their son. I didn’t care if telling them the truth would wind me up in an insane asylum, I wasn’t going to manipulate to these two clearly frightened parents.

“Guys…” I began, as the mare reluctantly removed me from her embrace like a mother forced to give up her baby. “I’m really sorry about this whole situation, but I’m not your son.” I recoiled a bit from the absurdity of my own statement.

“What do you mean?” interjected the father. “Of course you are boy! I know we messed up, but you’re still our son!” he added with no room for argument.

“That’s not what I mean sir. I mean that I am truly… not your son.” Before he could interrupt again I quickly appended another statement. “My name is Artemio Baldarich, and I am a human from another planet.” I stated with an air of confidence. “I’m not sure how I ended up here in the body of your son, but I am certainly not him.”

After of moment of bewilderment, the white coated stallion resumed his dissuasive remarks. “What did they do to your head here boy?” he stated as he glared accusingly at the doctor. “Your name is Artemis Starseeker, and my son is certainly no alien from another planet.” He put a hoof to my chest proudly as he finished his statement.

“Artemis Starseeker?” I repeated back to myself in disbelief.

“That’s right boy and don’t you ever forget it,” he said sharply. The strange harshness of his tone caused the rest of us in the room to look at him in shock. “Sorry about that…” he replied, nervously rubbing through his mane with a hoof. “It’s just that we’ve been over this before when he started using that… silly nickname.”

“Oh come on Adagio,” teased his wife with a bit of an undertone. “I like ‘Arty’, it’s a cute nickname.” She tousled my mane gently with a hoof, as if to justify her assertion.

“Right then,” interjected the doctor. “I hate to interrupt your family reunion, but I would very much like to sort out this paperwork so that we can get Arty… eh Artemis home as soon as possible.”

The shock wore off after hearing the doctor refer to me with that abomination of a name. “Guys look… I know it’s a little hard to believe, but I am telling you the truth. I am not your son; I don’t even know who you guys are. If you would just give me a moment to explain I’m sure-”

“Enough of that Artemis,” interrupted the doctor. “I’m not sure if you’re acting out, or if the accident is still clouding your memory, but trust me, these two are your parents.”

“How can you know that?” I responded indignantly.

“They’ve got all of your paperwork right here Arty.” He held up a hefty packet of papers and started to sift through them. “Let’s see here…” He pulled out a small square of parchment that I assumed must be a birth certificate and placed it down in front of me.

Canterlot General Birth Certificate

Name: Artemis Starseeker

Parents: Adagio and Maple Starseeker

Coat Color: Light grey

Mane Color: Royal purple with a hint of turquoise

Eye Color: Light blue

Race: Unicorn

Born: 7/17/3045 4:32 p.m.

“What- this can’t be real.” I pled, after I finished reading through the certificate. “I mean- this might be real, but that isn’t me!”

“It’s not just that Arty, they have everything: school records, vaccinations, passport, unique identification number.” He looked at me with a bit of a frown. “There’s not much room for interpretation here.”

“I know how it looks but-” I began.

“Constable?” inquired the doctor. A small shifting could be heard as the door reopened to reveal the police mare. “Could you please take Arty out to wait in the lobby while we deal with this…” He paused for a moment, searching for the right way to phrase what they needed to do. “Grownup stuff?” he finished.

“Sure thing doc,” replied the stalwart mare as she ushered me out the door.

I spend my time waiting in the lobby utterly dumbfounded. I had so many questions and very few answers.

Who are these ponies? Where did those documents come from? How is it that my name could be so similar to that of this foal? The answers to these questions completely escaped me. I didn’t have much time to think before I could hear the door down the hall open, revealing the mirthful laughter emanating from inside the private office.

“Thank you so much for all the help, doctor,” Adagio said sincerely.

“Yes, thank you doctor. I don’t know what kind of state my little boy would be in without your help,” replied Maple.

“I’m just doing my job here miss,” the doctor said with an air of pride. “Just make sure to bring him back in a few days like we talked about. I know you all must be very busy with setting up the new house, but I want to be absolutely certain that he’s going to be okay.”

“Don’t worry, doc, you have our word that we will bring him back as was discussed,” the alabaster stallion responded confidently.

After the doctor was sufficiently reassured, I could hear the door click shut and the sound of hooves moving towards my general direction. I was sitting next to Nurse Clearview and the constable, but they could both tell by my demeanor that I was not in the mood for talking.

“Well, I think that’s my cue to leave.” The constable rose from the chair she was occupying and turned to address me. “Make sure you don’t get into any more trouble kid. You’re the last thing I need to be worrying about in this town.” She left the room quickly before I could utter a response. I certainly hoped I wouldn’t have a reason to be needing her assistance in the future.

“Don’t mind her. She may seem like a brick wall, but I can assure you that deep down she cares deeply about this town and its residents,” Nurse Clearview said reassuringly. “Oh, and make sure you stop by to see Twilight Sparkle when you get a chance. You should thank her for carrying you here after the accident.”

My head perked up at the mention of the name. “Twilight Sparkle?” I repeated.

“Yep, she’s the local librarian. You can find her in the hollowed-out tree in the middle of town. Can’t miss it,” she responded.

“Thanks, I’ll be sure to stop by when I get a chance,” I said, beginning to stand as my new ‘parents’ walked into view. “And thanks for everything Clearview, you’ve been a real help to me in this time of need.” I smiled lightly to convey my honesty.

“No problem Arty, I’ll be sure to pass your thanks on to Redheart when I see her again. She’s been acting all out of sorts since she came back this evening,” she added offhandedly. “Well anyways, I’ve got work that I need to get back to. Good luck Arty!” She quickly embraced me before continuing off down the hallway.

“Well, let’s get you home boy.” Adagio said, as he walked over with Maple in tow. “Celestia knows it’s been a long couple of days.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Maple added as she affectionately rubbed herself against her husband’s coat. Clearly these two are quite the romantics.

We left the hospital shortly thereafter with no complaints from myself. I tried everything I could to be honest with these folks and there was just no way that they could believe me. Hell, they wouldn’t even give me enough time to explain myself before shrugging it off as memory loss or the ravings of a recalcitrant child.

As we made our escape from the hospital’s lobby, the bright sun burned a permanent mark into my vision. At this point I had been inside for a long time, so it understandably took awhile for my body to re-acclimate to the outside world.

What I saw when my vision finally returned to me was definitively awe inspiring. The quaint village that surrounded me certainly wasn’t the sprawling suburbs that I was used to, but it definitely permeated a peaceful undertone that was quite refreshing. Short one or two story buildings extended in both directions from the small hospital that we had just exited. The area looked to be an economic district of sorts, with many shops and stores lining the pony filled streets.

Speaking of ponies, oh boy was there a lot of them. Scattered all throughout the streets, the polychromatic mass of equines was a sight to behold. The number of ponies occupying the various nooks and crannies of the various businesses was much more than I anticipated for such a small town. From my vantage point I could make out three distinct types of ponies roaming about the village: unicorns like myself, ponies with wings which I assumed to be pegasi, and normal ponies that didn’t have either supplementary feature.

After a moment of staring in wonderment, I noticed that I was standing alone on the hospital steps.

“The house is this way,” Adagio said with an irritated stare; his was hoof lifted, pointing up the road to the left of me.

Even with his encouragement, I was still thoroughly frozen in place. I realized that I was completely out of my element here; suddenly the true breadth of my situation was beginning to dawn on me.

New doubts began to flood my mind. What if I really can’t find a way back home? What if this is my new life?

I tossed the thoughts away as soon as they occurred to me. Pessimism wasn’t going to help me out of this predicament; I knew it was better to stay positive.

I delicately made my way down the steps to meet up with my new guides. As bitter as it was, there was not much that I could do at the moment other than go along with this charade. As I made my way down the last step, a bright pink flurry of movement quickly filled my vision.

“Hi there!” exclaimed the new voice.

“Uh… hi, good to meet you,” I replied in attempt to not be off-putting, despite my current mood.

The mare behind the voice was almost offensively pink; the only other color to grace her coat was the cyan and yellow in the three-balloon tattoo that occupied her flank. Everything about this pony from the mannerisms to the boisterous voice screamed extroversion.

“Good to meet you too!” she added with a bright smile. “My name is Pinkie Pie, but you can call me just Pinkie if you would like- not JUST Pinkie but ya know- just Pinkie!”

“Okay…?” I replied cautiously. I don’t know what it was, but this mare seemed unstable to me.

“We were all so worried about you when we heard about the-“ Pinkie began, before being interrupted by the imposing white figure that stepped in between us.

“We don’t have the time to be twiddling our hooves Artemis.” The scowl coming from Adagio almost made my heart stop with fear.

“Yes come along now Arty,” Maple interjected more delicately, “We need to get you home so that you can rest up.”

“Yeah, boy, the new house awaits your presence,” he said, looking knowingly to Maple.

“I’m sure you’ll love it,” she replied with a smirk.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that something felt off about these two.

"Oki doki loki then!" The pink mare waved in response as we started to trail away. "Let me know when Arty's feeling better so that I can give him the proper Ponyville introduction!"

"Will do," Maple responded dismissively.

After a short walk, we arrived at a small thatched roof house that I assumed must be their new domicile. It wasn’t anything too extravagant; just an unassuming two story house that very much mirrored the design of the houses that surrounded it. The yard was small and wrapped around to the back of the house. I could tell from the boxes in the windows that they truly had just moved in.

We walked up to the front porch and Adagio opened the door with a key that he had stored away. I stepped into the house cautiously; still a bit weirded out by the whole situation. The moment all three of us passed the barrier of the entrance way, I could hear the door shut behind me with a loud slam. My stomach dropped as I heard the heavy deadbolt slide into place.

“What- what’s going on here?” I asked, knowing that I might not like the answer.

“Heh, you hear that Adagio?” Maple responded with a sneer. “It seems our little muffin is dumber than we thought.”

“You’re right, he’s a lot dumber than I anticipated,” Adagio replied; taking a heavy step towards me. “Not that it matters much as long as he is capable of what we need him to do.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, cowering into the ground with my ears splayed back against my head. At that moment I felt like prey that had just unwittingly fallen into the cave of a predator.

“We know exactly what you are boy!” Adagio walked up to me before I could bolt away, and pulled my chin up to look him directly in the eyes. “A worthless- yet useful sack of flesh.” He pulled me even closer to his eye level to drill the point home. “And trust me, you will be useful to us.” My heart beat quickly as he finished his tirade.

“Why the hell would I play along with your sadistic little game?” I spat out; trying in vain to not seem defenseless.

“That’s an easy one boy,” he responded sinisterly; a demonic smile creeping across his face.

“We have your sister.”

Chapter 4: Adam West's Dream Home

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Today was a day marred by sweltering heat. The sun shone brightly against the blacktop that spanned across my periphery. I could feel the sweat bead across my forehead as I continued to work on my latest creation.

When I started working on a new project it almost ubiquitously had the tendency to consume my thoughts and attention. My focus was my greatest ally, and I used my concentration to maintain my progress. There was very little that could get in the way of me and my latest endeavor; often my own bodily needs came second to my work.

My parents regularly complained about how difficult it was to get my attention when I was in an inventive mood. Consequently, I would often miss entire conversations to my insatiable desire to create.

There was one voice however, that always managed to penetrate my concentration.

“Where did you put the solder Arty?” I dropped my screw driver into my latest project as the utterance shattered my concentration.

I glanced towards the interruption as I lifted my copper goggles to my forehead. “Bend over and I’ll show you,” I responded; mirth dripping like honey from every word.

“Hey now,” interjected our peacekeeper. “That’s no way to talk to your sister Arty— even if the solder is right in front of her.” He let out a chuckle as he continued working on a piece of oak with his band saw. Clearly he was used to these kinds of interactions.

Our garage was our collective sanctuary. My father created this space to work on his own personal projects, but he quickly incorporated my sister and I as he observed our interests.

My sister always had an affinity for the natural sciences; she loved to study and experiment with biology and chemistry. This was painfully obvious by the various vials and beakers that littered her corner of the garage. Despite her preferences, her interests never stopped her from exploring new territory from time to time. Coincidentally, now was one of those times as she was currently working on building a circuit board to use as a controller for a set of lights for her much beloved fish tank; or ‘fish sanctuary’ as she referred to it.

I could feel the heat of my sister’s glare burning into the back of my neck as I turned to resume my project.

“Jerk…” she accused with a puff.

“Come on Bambi, you know I was only joking,” I explained defensively as I delicately pulled the screw driver off the motherboard I was installing.

“You know that’s not my name Arty,” she replied indignantly as she lit up the soldering iron.

“Hey, one of the perks of being a big brother is the privilege to make up nicknames for your little sister,” I respond with a smirk; I knew exactly how she was going to counter to my assertion.

“Big Brother!? You’re only 15 minutes older than me!” she exclaimed.

I shot here a sly smile to convey my confidence. “One minute, one year, what’s the difference?”

Even though she was glowering at me, I could tell that there was an air of lightheartedness to her outrage. As much as she drove me crazy, I knew she was also the one responsible for keeping me sane.

“Yeah, yeah. You’re just jealous that I was invited to the science symposium and not you,” she accused; a coy smile spreading across her face.

“Psh, whatever,” I replied dismissively. “You know that whole thing is just one big joke.”

“Oh yeah?” she questioned. “We’ll see how much of a joke it is when I win my Nobel prize.” A loud clang rang out as she set down her soldering iron against the stainless-steel table in her work area. “I’ve got to go pack anyways,” she said; grabbing her backpack and heading towards the entrance to the house.

“Hey Beth?” I asked before she could leave the room.

“Yeah Arty?” she replied.

“Good luck.” I said with a sincere grin. “Show them what the Baldarich’s are capable of!” I could see the light smile tug at her face as she look her leave from the workshop. After she left I pulled down my goggles and resumed my work in bliss.

I wish I had known then what I knew now. I would give anything to be able to stop her from leaving that day.

My body felt comatose as I lay against the frigid ground. My head was pounding feverishly and I could still taste the wretched flavor of copper in my mouth. After a moment of lying still, I knew that I needed to get up so that I could analyze my current predicament. Defying the will of my body, I allowed my eyes to peek open ever so slowly; I genuinely feared what might eyes might reveal to me.

What I saw when my vision finally returned was a little unexpected to say the least.

Based on the stalagmites that hung perilously from the ceiling above me, I reasonably deduced that I was currently in some sort of cavern. Tilting my head to the side took a bit more effort than I had expected, mostly because of the headache that was still beating away at my skull.

The room was surprisingly well lit for what looked to be a natural cave. Looking around allowed me to pick out the various spotlights that littered the room; all seemingly pointing in the same direction towards the front of the cave. Because of the intense luminosity of the light beams, it was quite easy to see the ceiling of the cave that lay roughly thirty feet above. The brightness of the light fixtures only caused my headache to intensify.

God, I would do anything for an Advil right now, I thought to myself.

As much as my body ached, I knew that I didn’t regret my actions in the slightest. I’m usually a very reserved and non-confrontational person, but the moment that monster mentioned my sister, all bets were off. I still remember the sickening crunch from when I rammed my horn into his chest; as well as the blood curdling scream that followed. I used to tell myself that I would never hurt another soul, but I always knew that there was an exception for my sister.

The events that followed are a bit hazier to me, but I do remember the hoof to the face that knocked me off Adagio. From my vantage point on the ground I was able to tell he was bleeding pretty badly, but I was also certain that he would live another day. The last thing that I remembered was Maple pouncing on top of me and punching my head repeatedly. I passed out shortly after that.

Before I could spend too much time gathering my bearings, I could hear the opening of a heavy door. The grand “whooshing” noise that it created echoed vibrantly against the walls, and made me think that the door was vacuum sealed.

The sudden movement of the door startled me into action. I did the best I could to get my hooves beneath me; unfortunately, the sudden tugging at my left hoof alerted me to the fact that I was chained to the adjacent rock wall. I began to panic as the hoofsteps drew closer with every passing moment.

At this point, I knew all I could do was face the music.

“Well, well, well… what do we have here honey?” mocked the petite mare. It was as if the features of her body were a direct contradiction to her true personality.

“Looks like an ungrateful little shit to me!” sneered the hobbling white stallion. The whole front half of his body was wrapped in bandages from our earlier confrontation. I could see a small amount of crimson still bleeding through the gauze wrapping that adorned his chest.

The nasty couple both looked worse for wear, probably because of the wrench I threw into their plans with my violent outburst. They both were sporting unkempt manes and had bags under their eyes that made them look like they might fall over at any minute. It looked as though their anger towards me was the only thing still keeping them going at this point. It was a terrifying notion, and their presence alone was enough to make me feel sick to my stomach.

I could feel a sense of strength return to my body as they ventured closer. The longer I was awake the more I remembered exactly why I was so angry. It was as if the fire in my soul had been transformed into a raging bonfire. “WHERE IS SHE!?” I yelled; pulling harshly against the chain that kept me immobilized.

“You’ll do what we say little colt,” Adagio derided. “Either that, or you’re never going to see her again,” he added with a smirk. “You’re lucky that we need you alive. Otherwise I would have gutted you myself.”

“Help you!?” I asked incredulously. “Why would I ever help scum like you? How do I know that you’re not lying about my sister? She’s been gone for almost a decade!” I could feel tears begin to well up in my eyes as long buried emotions began to be unearthed.

“We brought her here just like we brought you here,” answered Maple. “At first we thought she would be enough… but as the situation developed she became too…” she paused for a moment; putting a hoof to her chin as if searching for the correct words, “…recalcitrant to work with,” she finished.

“What did you do to her!?” I asked pleadingly.

“She’s fine you idiot,” Adagio replied as he rolled his eyes. “And she will stay that way as long as you cooperate with us here.”

I was both relieved and terrified at the same time. The fact that she was still alive was enough for me to feel a sense of relief; but it’s been so long since I’ve seen her.

How do I even know that she’s the same person I knew all those years ago? I thought to myself.

I knew it didn’t matter. No matter if I hadn’t seen her in ten years or ten-thousand years; I would do whatever it took to get her back. I wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.

“What do you want me to do?” I uttered in defeat.

“The deal is simple Artemis—“ started Maple.

“You know that’s not my name!” I exclaimed indignantly.

“It is now boy!” interjected Adagio. “It’s your own damn fault that we had to go through all of that trouble to get you fake documentation. We would have been just fine with keeping your presence under wraps, but you just had to wind up in the middle of town,” he accused unwaveringly.

“Like I was saying…” Maple continued; shooting a glare at her husband for interrupting her. “The deal is simple. All you need to do is finish a project for us. Once it’s been completed we will reunite you with your sister and then you two can both go along your merry way.” She held her hoof out to me, clearly expecting an agreement. “Sound fair?”

After a moment of hesitation, I gave my response, “Fine.” I let out a light sigh. “I’ll agree under one condition,” I said with absolute certainty.

“You really think we’re going to give you anything after that stunt you pulled back at the house!?” answered the white stallion as he took a furious step towards me. “It’s going to be hard enough to explain to everypony why I’m wrapped up like this!”

“What do you want little colt,” Maple asked in agitation. I knew that if I didn’t act quick she wouldn’t be likely to listen to what I have to say.

“I want to see her...” I paused for a second. “…I need to know that she’s really here.” As I finished the demand, I could feel a single tear seep into my coat. I was utterly disgusted with how weak I was acting.

After I completed my demand, the couple took a moment to glance towards each other as if they were having a silent but heated discussion. I wasn’t able to grasp what they were arguing about, but it was clear that my demand was more complicated than I had thought.

After a moment of contemplation Maple finally responded, “I’m sorry but there’s no way that I can bring you to her right now,” she noticed my scowl but continued onward anyways, “However I do have something that might give you some reassurance.”

Before I could ask what she meant, the mare quickly walked back towards the front entrance of the cave. I couldn’t see much beyond the blinding spotlights, but I could hear the scraping of metal on metal as she opened what I assumed must have been a large filing cabinet. Adagio was staring at me with a death glare the entire time his wife was absent; normally I would be terrified by the imposing stallion, but my conviction allowed me to match his glare while we waited. When Maple walked back over towards us, I noticed the small manila envelope that she was carrying over with her teeth.

“What is that?” I asked with genuine curiosity; tearing my gaze away from Adagio.

“Look for yourself,” she said as she dropped the sealed envelope at my hooves.

After of moment of staring in bewilderment, I knelt down and unsealed the envelope the best that I could with my clumsy hooves; it was bit more difficult than it sounds, especially considering one of my hooves was chained to the wall. When I finally removed the seal, l I reverently withdrew the contents from the package onto the ground.

What I saw made my heart stop. Laying on the ground in front of me was a small silver and gold necklace with a delicate turtle hanging off the end. The pendant was intricately engraved, and if one looked closely enough they could see the small atom symbol that was embossed on the underbelly of the sea reptile. I immediately recognized the amulet; it’s hard to forget something that you bought yourself.

“Okay…” I said as I shakily regained my balance, “I believe you that she was here, but how can I know that she is still okay? How do I know you didn’t just get rid of her when you didn’t need her anymore?” I questioned.

“Are you really willing to take that chance boy?” asked Adagio. “Cause the way I see it you don’t really have any other choice than to believe us.” The smile on his face was sickening; I almost wish I had killed him when I had the chance. However, despite my distaste for the stallion, the sinking feeling in my heart told me that I would have been devastated if I had killed another sentient being; even if they were a monster.

“Come along then,” interrupted the purple mare, “I’ll unlock you if you promise not to try anything funny.” She took a step towards me; pulling a key-ring out of the bag that she wore on her flank. “And remember if you do—“ she whispered as she leaned over towards me “—you can kiss her goodbye.” My blood ran cold as she knelt down with her mouth to unlock the chain that was holding me to the wall.

I felt a great relief as my hoof was freed from its metal prison. I softly rubbed the area where the chain had been constricting around my fetlock. The intense soreness radiating around my hoof caused a question to pop into my mind.

“How long have I been here?” I asked while carefully stretching out my legs, “And where is here exactly?” I asked after considering my first inquisition.

“It’s about two am right now, so I don’t know… maybe nine or ten hours?” concluded Maple after a moment’s hesitation. “And as for where we are— well why don’t I give you the grand tour,” she said; panning her hoof around the cavern as if she were showing off a grandiose monument.

After she was finished with her lofty display, Maple began to walk towards the front section of the rock shelter. Adagio shot me a suspicious stare that aptly conveyed he was keeping an eye on me, before turning to follow after his wife. Despite my hesitance, my curiosity got the better of me and I decided that I would follow quietly behind my two captors. Before walking after them however, I took the necklace that I held in my hooves and gracefully secured it around my neck.

After walking about thirty feet, we reached an intersection and continued left down the hallway in the direction of the lights. I was beginning to understand that this was more of a carefully carved complex as opposed to a natural cave. When we finally reached our destination the state of the room was certainly unexpected.

The room that surrounded me was circular in nature and massive to the point where looking up almost made me feel sick. It reminded me a lot of the stomach churning feeling that you get from standing at the bottom of a skyscraper and looking straight up; almost as if the building itself was going to topple on you.

Scattered along the walls and ceiling, various wires were strewn about with a clearly rushed and patchwork appearance. The various wiring directed my attention towards the center of the room where various modern machines lay dormant. The focal point of the room was the command center in the middle of the room which looked like something straight out of Wargames. The many monitors and workstations looked like they all connected to a central hub where a massive screen was protruding from the wall. The whole setup looked quite slipshod; it was if the people who set up the room had very little experience with what they were doing.

“Welcome to your new workshop Artemis,” Maple said with a smile. “I’m sure you will do great things for us.”

The various machines that surrounded me were decidedly modern and top of the line. 3D Printers, CNC Machines, Server Racks, as well as many workbenches and testing implements. Even with only a cursory glance, I could tell that this was a full-fledged workstation; there was only one problem, “Everything here is busted,” I asserted as matter of fact; being careful to avoid the shattered glass that surrounded the main display. “How am I supposed to work with all this broken equipment?” I asked in annoyance.

“Don’t worry, we have someone that can bring you supplies,” Adagio answered. “Whatever you need to get this facility running, we can get to you.”

The fact that they had all of this powerful machinery in one place came as quite a surprise to me. I knew that I had only been here for a couple days, but everything I had seen up to this point led me to believe that ponies didn’t posses technology with this level of complexity. Something here seemed suspicious; they clearly must have stolen this equipment if they needed my help to repair it.

“Okay…” I nodded slowly in understanding. “Well, how am I supposed to build anything without my hands?”

“Use your magic dumbass,” Adagio deadpanned; rolling his eyes in ridicule.

“Use my magic for what?” I questioned. I was beginning to grow slightly agitated with their lack of explanation.

“Levitation obviously!” exclaimed Adagio. “Even a unicorn as dense as you should be able to handle such a simple spell.”

“I don’t know how to use magic you moron,” I explained. “I haven’t exactly had the time to sit down with a book since I got here.”

“Well then, I guess it’s a good thing that you’re starting school tomorrow,” the white stallion added off-handedly. “Even if it is a pain in the ass, I’m sure they’ll show you a thing or two.”

“What school!?” I was shocked. “What would a need that for?” After six years in university, I was convinced that I had gotten all that I needed from my education.

“Oh trust me, I know it’s a huge waste of time,” explained Adagio. “But we don’t have much choice, what with everyone in town knowing who you are now.”

“You can’t just tell them I’m being home schooled or something?” I suggested; a bit apprehensive about returning to grade school in my twenties.

“We’re not qualified for something like that. Trust me we looked into it.” Adagio let out a heavy sigh, clearly exhausted with the whole situation. “Then there’s also the fact that they would want to do home visits, and that’s just too much of a risk,” he explained. “Sorry kid, but it is what it is.”

I let out a sigh that mirrored Adagio’s sentiment.

Tomorrow’s going to be interesting, I reasoned with myself.

“So what am I building here then?” I asked; utterly confused with what they were expecting from me.

“We’ll tell you more when we know you aren’t going to run on us,” Maple explained. “Everything will make a lot more sense once you get everything up and running,” she finished, returning the key from earlier to her bag.

“How am I supposed to work if you won’t even tell me what I’m working on?” I asked with a bit of scorn.

“All you need to worry about is fixing up the place for now.” Maple said. “Once you do that we will know that you can be trusted to know more,” she added cryptically.

This whole situation seemed very suspicious to me. I knew that I hadn't been here for long, but the technology that they had in this room was unlike anything that I had seen since I arrived here. Most of the machines they had would have been insanely expensive back home, and the state that they were in implied that they weren't treated with care. I couldn’t understand why they needed me to do the repairs for them rather than just hire someone else to do the job. I had so many questions but I knew I was unlikely to receive any answers, especially with the current state of affairs..

“Alright boy. Now that you’ve seen the place, let’s get back home. It’s already late and we all have to be up early tomorrow.” Adagio said in a dull tone.

Despite my curiosity, I couldn’t help but agree that Adagio was right. All of this would still be here tomorrow, and by all accounts, it looked like I was going to be here for awhile too.

“Alright then,” I responded simply as the three of us made our way towards the exit.

I was correct before in my assumption about the door being vacuum sealed. The entrance was sealed by a heavy-duty airlock, contained by two massive steel doors on each end. Upon reaching the exit, Maple hit the maroon button hanging against the wall to open the first of the doors. Once we had stepped into the airlock, the interior door shut behind us and the exterior door began to open.

“What is this place?” I asked in genuine wonderment after stepping back into the outside world. The area that surrounded us was a forest, but I could see a massive deteriorating castle immediately in front of where we were standing. The entrance to the cave was hidden from plain sight by some trees and bushes that ran along the path to the castle gates. It was hard to make out much of the castle because of how late it was, but the intimidating structure still sent shivers down my spine.

“It’s Celestia’s old castle,” responded Adagio. “Now come on, I’d like to get home before the sun starts rising.” He started walking down the path in the direction opposite the castle. “And be quiet while we walk back. Trust me, there’s some creatures in this forest that you don’t want to attract,” he said as he looked back over his shoulder. I wanted to know more, but I knew that now wasn’t the time to push my luck.

We moved through the forest with great alacrity. As we were traveling, I did the best that I could to remember our path through the forest so that I could return to the facility on my own if it were ever necessary. The path was dark and quite lengthy, but I thought I had a decent idea of how to return to the castle if I needed to.

By the time we made it back to Ponyville it must have been close to four in the morning. The streets were completely devoid of ponies, and the lack of colorful equines gave the town certain eeriness to it. Maple and Adagio were mostly silent during our trek through the forest; I wasn’t sure if was because of the monsters that supposedly littered the forest, or if they were just tired from what I assume must have been a long day.

When we eventually made our way back to the house, it was clear that Adagio’s limping had grown worse over time. He let out a labored sigh as he reached into his bag to grab the key for the house. After the door was open, he quietly limped up the staircase to retire for the night.

I almost felt bad for him for a second, almost.

“For what it’s worth, I can promise you that she’s okay,” Maple whispered to me as we stood in the entrance way. She looked detached, but for some reason her words sounded genuine. Despite her change in tone, I knew this mare was a master of facades; this was likely just another trick.

“Why would I ever trust what you have to say?” I questioned suspiciously while looking down at the teak floor. I just didn’t have the strength to glare at her anymore.

“You don’t have a reason to trust me,” Maple answered simply. “I just wanted you to know that me and Adagio don’t always see eye to eye on things,” she continued cryptically. “We need you, yes. But I don’t see why this relationship can’t be mutually beneficial.” She waited a moment for my response, but silence is the only response that she received. “Just keep it in mind,” she said, beginning to make her way upstairs. “Your room’s the one on the right up here,” she added as she reached the top of the staircase. “Make sure you’re up for eight tomorrow; we have appearances to keep up now,” Maple finished; quietly making her way into her shared bedroom down the hall.

For the briefest of moments, I considered running and never looking back; however, I knew deep down that this thought process was pointless. Even if there was an exceedingly small chance that they actually had her, I knew that I need to stick around to find out. He may be a monster but he did get one thing right: I was not willing to take that chance. As much as I wanted to go home, there was no way that I was leaving this world without her.

After a few minutes of standing stationary lost in my own thoughts, I reluctantly made my way up the staircase. I had decided that I might as well get a little bit of sleep while I still can.

I pushed my way into the small white room, and compared to what I had seen thus far, the room was pretty tame. The only furniture in the room was a twin bed, a nightstand, a wooden desk and chair, and a small dresser with a mirror resting on top.

I walked over to the mirror and glanced reluctantly at my own reflection. I could feel the sense of defeat permeating through my visage. The pony that looked back at me was a disappointment; a failure.

“Why am I so weak?” I repeated to myself in a hushed tone.

I could feel the tears that I had been holding back begin to cloud my vision. My whole world seemed as though it was falling apart before my eyes, and there was nothing I could do.

Thankfully, before I could lose myself in despair and self-loathing, a brief twinkling of light caught my attention. As I looked up into the mirror once more, the moonlight shining off my necklace immediately drew the attention of my tear-filled eyes.

I don’t know what it was, but at that moment I felt more determined than I had ever felt in my entire life. I knew what I had to do; I knew that I had a responsibility.

“I’m going to find you,” I said; clutching the medallion against my chest.

“I promise.”

Chapter 5: Newtons Acolyte

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I awoke the next morning with only the faintest remnants of my skull splitting headache. That isn’t to say I was feeling great by any means; I still felt like someone had run me over with a bus, only to then hastily back up and run me over again. Makes sense considering I only got about four hours of sleep after everything that had happened the previous night.

My eyes burned as if they had been thoroughly washed with vinegar as the sun beamed through the single uncovered window that adorned the wall of my new room. The sun was a natural advisory of mine, and today I was fighting a losing battle. I let out a groan as I looked over to the mechanical clock that had awoken me from my slumber.

8:00 am… great… I thought to myself as I covered my eyes with my fetlock; wishing for nothing more than a moment of silence, or the sweet release of death; whichever came first at this point to be honest. But alas, my solitude was not meant to be.

“Are you up Artemis?” called a hoarse voice from the hallway. It sounded like Maple, but it was hard to tell because of how fatigued she sounded.

Good. That bitch deserves much worse than a rough morning.

“Yeah yeah, I’m up,” I responded in irritation; stretching my legs in an attempt to wake myself up a little; suffice to say, it didn’t work. I was never a morning person, but the prospect of getting up today was particularly daunting.

I know it might be abhorrent to say, but I had always despised children. It’s hard to pinpoint, but I think my hatred of children was mostly derived from my experiences with elementary school. I went to an average run of the mill suburban school district; nothing exceptional, but the education was well versed enough to push kids into university. The one thing I remember from elementary school that would always stick in my mind, was just how slow everything was. Every topic, no matter how obscure, it always seemed like I knew the information before we reached the subject. Sitting there being forced to answer simple questions while not being allowed to move forward just killed me and my patience. The waiting however wasn’t even the worst part; it was the sluggish progress and the nonsensical questions from my peers that really made me want to beat my head against the wall. It was as if the information that was taught to us was blatantly misunderstood by some of the students. I know it’s not their fault; they’re only kids after all, but ignorance of the truth has been and always will be a huge pet peeve of mine.

Things got better in high school, but by that point most people had adopted the nuanced policy of Fuck the World and everybody seemed to think that they knew everything about life. It was as if nobody could look beyond high school and see that they truly had no plans for their future. I was lucky enough to find small pockets of likeminded groups of people during my four years in high school, and because I wanted so badly to go to college, this was the time in my life where I experimented the most.

Despite my already well developed distaste for schooling, everything took a sharp turn when I finally reached university. Finally I had reached a point where the people around me had a genuine interest in what we were studying. I knew that I wanted to break into the tech industry, and because of that I decided to go to school on the west coast. My parents were very supportive of my aspirations, and they helped me in any way they could to get me to where I wanted to be. It took a great deal of hard work, but the day that I got my Masters in Computer Science was one of the best days of my life.

It took a great deal of my willpower, but I eventually was able to extricate myself from bed. After finally getting up I lazily walked over to the dresser with my eyes half-lidded. When I finally brought myself to examine my reflection, I could see how much of a mess I was. My mane was strewn about in all directions, and I’m sure my mother would have made some sort of diatribe about it looking like a bird’s nest. My eyes were completely bloodshot and the light bruises on my face made me look like I had gotten into a fight with a polar bear. It kind of reminded me of finals week, except with more bruises.

“Looking good there Artemio,” I said to myself with a smirk. Again, my lame attempt at humor did little to alleviate my current predicament. After a few more attempts at stretching the knots out of my muscles, I reluctantly gave up and made my way down the hallway to take a shower and get ready for the day. The bathroom was nothing special, just a tiled room with a combination shower and bath tub. I shrugged in indifference as I made my way into the shower.

After finishing my shower, and a fair few minutes of trying to figure out how to get the knots out of my mane, I had made my way downstairs to the kitchen. Maple was standing in front of the stove whistling a harmonious tune while absent mindedly cooking what smelled like eggs on the stovetop. Adagio on the other hand was nowhere to be found; I assumed maybe he was still sleeping. That was fine by me; the less I needed to see of that man the better.

“Look who’s up now,” praised the surprisingly bouncy mare. “I thought you might just fall back asleep up there,” she said with a cheeky smile.

Her cheery mood and attempt at casual conversation did little other than make my blood boil.

“Stop, just stop,” I said dismissively as I made my way towards the stool that rested next to the kitchen island. “You don’t need to pretend like you’re actually my mother or something,” I finished in irritation.

“I know Artemis, I’m no fool,” she replied with a flat expression on her face. “But we need to get used to pretending like we are a real family,” she warned; removing her pan from the hot stovetop with a bit of flare. “The last thing we need is ponies asking more questions than they already are.”

“I understand your concern, but trust me, I’m not planning on drawing any more attention to myself than absolutely necessary,” I replied; resting my head in my hooves as I leaned against the kitchen island. “How are you so awake anyways?” I asked out of curiosity. “You sounded like hell earlier when you came to check if I was awake.”

“Oh yeah, sorry about that,” she responded as she slid the omelet onto a plate. “I’m always a bit cranky when I haven’t had my coffee.”

That last word was like magic to my ears.

“You guys have coffee!?” I said with a hint of excitement in my voice. “You have any left in the pot that I could have?” I asked; trying not to sound too desperate.

“I don’t know…” Maple responded contemplatively. “I’m pretty sure coffee isn’t the best for young colts… especially considering all that extra energy…” she finished with a timid smile.

I was pretty sure at this point that my glare could melt through steel. Maple was clearly expecting such a response from me, and tried her best to explain.

“I know, I know. You’re not actually a child,” she said in an attempt to appease my anger. “But your body certainly is different. We just have no idea how you may react to caffeine.”

“Well then…” I replied with a bit of scorn. “It’s either take that risk, or have everyone wonder why I look like someone beat the shit out of me. Better to have me hyped up than to have me falling asleep in the middle of the day,” I said persuasively.

“Fine, suit yourself,” she said flatly as she poured some of the black magic into a mug for me. “But when you feel like you’re going to have a heart attack, don’t come running to me.” My eyes were glazed over as she set the mug down in front of me. “I hope you like it black; we don’t have any creamer or anything like that yet. We still have a lot of shopping we need to do.” After she dropped off the coffee, Maple walked over and wrote down a few items on what I assumed to be a shopping list. When she finished writing down the personal reminder, she grabbed the omelet plate in her mouth and gingerly set it down in front of me.

“Really? You’re making me breakfast too?” I deadpanned. “What next, do you want to wash me after this?” I shot her a look to communicate my displeasure of her assistance. After blowing on my coffee in an attempt to make it less like lava, I took my first sip of the magic liquid.

Yep. Tastes exactly as I remember it. Bitter and delicious. I guess my taste buds haven’t changed in the same way the rest of my body has.

When I raised my eyes from the rim of the mug I could see Maple staring back at me with a look that conveyed she was expecting a reaction. “What?” I asked in confusion.

“Oh nothing…” Maple responded dejectedly. “I was just kind of expecting you to spit it out or something.”

“Tastes exactly like a remember it tasting,” I replied. “And I drank this stuff everyday so there’s not much of a chance of me not liking it.”

“Well I hope it helps you feel more awake. You are right about the fact that we don’t want ponies to think you aren’t sleeping or something. We can blame your recovery for now, but we won’t be able to use that as a cover forever,” she said; walking over to grab a spiral notebook from the counter.

“What’s that?” I asked out of curiosity as I took my first bite out of the cheesy omelet. It wasn’t great, but I was pretty starving at this point; I guess beggars can’t be choosers.

“This right here is everything you need to know about your life,” she responded cryptically; tossing the notebook on the island in front of me.

The notebook itself was fairly unassuming; it looked a lot like the ones that I used throughout my academic career. The cover was red, and Artemis Starseeker was written in bold letters with a sharpie on the front. The whole package looked neatly done; I could tell that it had been written in, but the notebook itself was well cared for and didn’t show much sign of wear.

After a moment of staring, I set down my fork on the plate and reached for the notebook hoping to learn more about its contents. Unfortunately, before my hooves could grab the object of my attention, Maple swiftly swiped it back off the table with her mouth. I glanced at her with a dumbfounded look and noticed that her eyebrows furrowed inwards as she glared back at me.

“What now?” I asked in annoyance. This mare was really starting to get on my nerves with her constant mood shifts.

“Finish eating first, then we can go over what you need to know,” she stated firmly. “It is extraordinarily important that you perfect this backstory, otherwise some ponies may raise unwanted questions.”

“Fine Maple,” I replied; taking a small sip from my still burning hot mug. “I’d rather finish my coffee before being bombarded with questions anyways. Besides, don’t you need to eat too?” I asked with mock concern.

For some strange reason, Maple seamed blindsided by my seemingly mundane question. “Don’t worry I uh… ate before you came down,” she responded after a moment’s hesitation.

“Okay then?” I studied Maples expression inquisitively, searching desperately for the answer to her queerness. When no response came from the purple mare, I decided to file the suspicious behavior under the Look Into Later folder that was now overflowing in my head

After spending only about thirty minutes with Maple reviewing my ‘backstory’, I felt like I had a pretty good idea of what to say to anyone who asked questions. Maple relentlessly hammered home how important it was that I memorize every detail of their perfectly laid out plot. In response, I told her that I would do my best to avoid questions, but this did little to abate her worries.

“You better try your damndest,” she said with a stern voice. “If we go down you’re coming with us. And trust me, Adagio and I are much more understanding than the ponies you would need to answer to then. We have eyes everywhere Artemis; don’t think you can get away with running off behind our backs,” she finished ominously.

“Don’t worry, you’ve made it abundantly clear what would happen if I try to blow the whistle on your operation,” I responded with a sneer. “And fuck you for reminding me.”

I know it might sound like I was pushing my luck when I shouldn’t have been, but I reasonably figured that they needed my help with their project so badly that I could get away with a little back talk. I mean seriously, the lengths that they had gone to just to bring me here in the first place, not to mention building a story for me and tracking me down, must have meant that they were extraordinarily desperate for my assistance. I mean hell, I got away with stabbing Adagio in the chest with little more than a headache to show for it. Clearly there were greater powers at play here, and I intended to figure out what they were.

After were finished with our quick study session, Maple plopped a small set of saddle bags onto my back. “This should have everything that you should need for school,” Maple explained quickly; we were in a bit of a rush considering how long we had spent recapping my story. “There’s a paper bag in the back-left pouch that has a lunch for you.”

“Alright,” I responded plainly. The coffee was starting to kick in, but I was still exhausted from my lack of sleep and our impromptu studying session.

At this point it was 9:45, and I knew from my discussion with Maple earlier that school started at ten o’clock sharp in this small town. Apparently the school only ran one class section because of the lack of foals that lived in the town. I was told that the school house was really just a building that hosted a single classroom and some offices for administrators. The lack of technology and the relative obscurity of an education system left me less than enthusiastic about my return to academics.

The walk to the school house was rather uneventful, but to be honest I wasn’t paying too much attention to my surroundings during our short journey. We only lived about a ten-minute walk away from the school, and I was a bit preoccupied with the daunting thoughts that plagued my mind at the moment. I already stated earlier how much I hated school, and I was very much not looking forward to reliving that dreadful experience.

I usually considered myself an optimist, but I felt as though that was only because I always had something to look forward to in the future. Even though I hated grammar school, I knew that once I graduated I would have the opportunity to chase after what I had always dreamed of doing. This time however, there was no light at the end of the tunnel— no goal to strive for. I had to relive some of the worst times of my life simply as a consequence of my situation.

For the first time in a long time, I had very little control of my future. I intended to do everything in my power to reseize control of that responsibility.

Before I knew it, the sound of foals laughing assaulted my hazed perception. Upon looking up from the dirt path that currently occupied my focus, I could see the brightly colored schoolhouse that was now bristling with activity.

“Can’t you just bash my skull in again? I’m sure it would be less painful than dealing with this,” I deadpanned while watching two young colts poke at each other with wooden sticks.

“Artemis!” Maple exclaimed in a hushed tone; clearly she wasn’t too happy with my request. “You need to watch the way you speak in public, especially around kids! They’re going to think that we are the worst parents in Equestria if you keep this up.”

“Well they wouldn’t be too far off the mark,” I responded facetiously. I wasn’t really sure why, but I could tell that my comment cut deep into Maple. She recoiled back a bit and took on a more depressed visage as she turned to look away from me. I wasn’t sure how what I had said had gotten to her head, but I honestly didn’t care. I mean really, she could hardly blame me for hating her guts after everything the two of them had subjected me to.

She tried her best to not convey her emotions, but honestly I could read her like a book. “Whatever… just don’t get into any trouble. I’ll be back to pick you up at the end of the day.” She walked away swiftly before I could get another word in.

As I watched the sullen mare recede down the path, I could hear the ringing of the school bell blaring through the courtyard. As much as I wanted to ignore the telltale sign of the start of the school day, I knew that I had no choice but to comply with its demands. After taking a moment to compose myself, I let out an emphatic sigh as I made my way towards the entrance that droves of foals were being herded into.

As I approached the building, most of the foals didn’t notice my presence. However, the few that did graced me with a quick inquisitive glance before continuing into the school house; I assumed that they didn’t get new students often. Their reactions alone were enough to cause my anxiety to resurface; I was not looking forward to the next few hours. Maybe I would get lucky and the class would be taught like a university lecture with little input or interaction with the students; I very much doubted this, but a man can dream.

I made my way reluctantly down the hallway as I walked towards the classroom that the rest of the kids were funneling into. What Maple had told me about the school was pretty spot on; I walked past only two offices before I made my way to the room that occupied most of the building’s space. By the time I had made it to the door I was the last one to enter; this was mostly on purpose as I was futilely doing my best to delay the inevitable.

I took one last deep breath before I took my first steps into my new hell. I’m certain that I now understood how Dante felt standing on the precipice of despair.

I didn’t make it more than a few steps into the room before the class fell deathly silent as they all turned to stare at me; a few looked like they were trying to size me up, but the vast majority just looked genuinely curious in the way that only a child can. The school teacher— whose name I was told is Cheerilee —was doing her best to clear the board of chalk, when she noticed the sudden and intense silence that permeated throughout the room.

“Oh hello there Artemis!” called out the purple mare as she caught my figure out of the corner of her eye; clearly she was expecting me to show up today. I knew it shouldn’t bother me too much, but I didn’t think I would ever get used to being called by a name other than my own. I’m not sure why, but it just felt so wrong to me; like I was somehow disgracing my family by taking another name. At least I had the consolation of my nickname remaining the same.

I could feel the sweat drip down my forehead as the teacher made her quick introduction. She seemed like a nice enough mare, but I could already tell that her tone was codling and degrading to the point where it would swiftly drive me insane.

“Alright class!” the mare called to gain the attention of her pupils. “As you can probably tell, we have a new student that will be joining us today.” Cheerilee turned to look towards me. “Why don’t you introduce yourself Artemis?” She concluded her question with an effectual nod.

In an effort to not make a fool of myself, I did my best to make a normal introduction. “Hi everyone— er— everypony!” I corrected myself as quickly as possible, but that didn’t stop the strange looks that I got from most of the kids.

Already a great start there Arty. I chastised myself for my obvious mistake. Clearly we didn’t spend enough time getting me ready for this encounter if I was already messing up a few words in.

“It’s okay to say everyone if you want Artemis. It may not be commonly used here, but most other cultures use the generic terms for referring to intelligent creatures.” Many of the students looked towards their teacher in disbelief at her assertion. “Don’t worry class, we’ll talk about it more when we start learning about Griffon and Minotaur cultures a few sections from now,” Cheerilee quickly explained to the class. “Makes me wonder where you’ve been to make you talk like that Artemis; it’s a bit strange for a pony to subconsciously speak like that without thinking,” she stated with a curious tone.

There are other sentient creatures on this planet? I thought to myself in disbelief. I guess it theoretically makes sense; I guess I just assumed incorrectly that this planet was like earth and that ponies would be the only intelligent creatures.

Despite my curiosity, Cheerilee had given me an out for my slip up and I needed to make sure that I capitalized on the opportunity. “Yeah, I grew up in Canterlot… and there’s a lot of different cultures there,” I explained; not knowing if this was actually the case. “I guess you kinda just pick up on these things when you’re exposed to so many different types of creatures.” I had little idea if this explanation would be accurate or believable; the only thing that I knew was that Canterlot was the capital of this country; Maple had given me a basic rundown of the city when we were going over my cover story.

By the way that many of the students nodded their heads, it looked to me like my excuse had worked in my favor. Their acceptance of my answer was great, but I really needed Cheerilee to buy my excuse for it to work.

“I’m certain your unique background will add a lot to our classroom discussions.” Cheerilee said with a smile. “You can take a seat in the back next to Scootaloo—” She pointed her hoof in the direction of an orange pegasus filly with a magenta mane. Unlike most of the other students, she seemed utterly bored out of her mind. “—can you wave your hoof for him Scootaloo?” the mare asked politely so that I would have a guide to my new seat.

The irritated filly let out a sigh as she listlessly raised her hoof in the air. Her face was scrunched up a bit as her other hoof was resting against her cheek to stop her chin from collapsing into the table. I wasn’t sure what her deal was, but I was definitely not interested enough to find out.

“Alright then Artemis—” Cheerilee continued once I made my way back to the small wooden desk. As I sat down I noticed that a few indecipherable words were carved into the wooden table that connected directly to the chair. It reminded me a lot of the old desks that they used in my elementary school back in Upstate New York. “Lucky for you we are starting a new section today, so you shouldn’t have too much old content that you need to catch up on. Just try your best to keep up and let me know if you need extra help on anything.”

As I nodded back to Cheerilee in affirmation, I couldn’t help but notice the glare that I was receiving from the orange pegasus sitting next to me. I’m not sure what I did, but she was clearly no fan of mine. I did my best to ignore her staring as Cheerilee began her next lesson.

“So who here can tell me how the sun rises and sets?” she asked as she picked up the chalk in her mouth; I could only imagine how disgusting that must taste, but I guess she didn’t really have any other option for writing on the board. It may have been a simple question, but it was at least a somewhat interesting topic of discussion. Maybe this wouldn’t be as grating as I thought it would be.

A young light blue pegasus colt raised his hand, and Cheerilee smiled graciously as she pointed a hoof at him in recognition. “Yes Rumble?” she said hopefully.

“Princess Celestia raises the sun with her magic in the morning, and then Princess Luna raises the moon in the evening,” he answered confidently.

Yep, just as I expected. These kids are fucking stupid.

“Exactly Rumble!” Cheerilee praised as she turned to write something down on the board.

At this point I was utterly dumbfounded. At first I thought she was just humoring him, but she then proceeded to begin to write down what he said on the board. No wonder nobody knew how to fix my captors equipment, the education system here must be terrible. The way they talk about their princess raising the sun sounds a lot like the bullshit that they would teach in a catholic school back home. I honestly had no idea if this was political propaganda used to garner support for their leader, or if they genuinely believed that she had the power to somehow move the sun.

I knew that I needed to figure out, even if it might put me under scrutiny. My intellectuality often had the power to trump over my sensibility.

“Uh…. Cheerilee?” I interjected hesitantly. I was starting to think that this might be a bad idea, but there was definitely no turning back now.

The perky mare seemed a bit surprised by my sudden question. “Yes Artemis?” she asked; turning away from the board to look at me. I could tell that she was in the process of drawing a visual representation of the sun and moon on the chalkboard.

“Now when you say Celesta and Luna raise and lower the sun…” I started; pausing to consider how to formulate my question without sounding off-putting. “…what do you mean by that exactly?”

“You’ve seriously never heard the story?” asked the orange filly sitting next to me; I could see her head poke up in surprise. “Come on, everyone knows how Celestia and Luna raise and lower the sun. Are you ‘special’ or something kid?” she said rhetorically while making air quotes around the word special with both of her hooves.

I usually don’t let stuff like this get to me; I try my best to stay far away from pointless confrontation. This time however for whatever reason, I just couldn’t hold myself back. I don’t know if it was my anxiety, lack of sleep, or new childlike body that was affecting my emotions— it was most likely a combination of the three —but I just could not let this one go.

Before the teacher could react, I presented my rebuttal. “I’m not one to resort to fairy tales for factual information,” I started; scowling at the filly next to me. “The geocentric model makes no sense in any capacity, and I fail to see how two mortal beings— no matter if they are princesses —would be able to move objects that have masses of— “

“Mr. Starseeker!” demanded Cheerilee. “That’s quite enough of that. We’re only two minutes into our lesson and you’re already proving to be a distraction!” she accused firmly. I could hear Scootaloo chuckling next to me as the teacher railed into me. I wanted so desperately to tell this filly off, but suddenly a thought occurred to me.

Why do I care at all about this? I don’t have anything to gain from being confrontational; I should just keep my mouth shut and deal with whatever false information they believe in.

“Sorry.” I said in a flat tone as I pulled my notebook out of my bag; I didn’t care too much what this mare thought of me as long as she didn’t ask too many questions. Most of the other kids were still giving me strange looks and I could still hear Scootaloo stifling a chuckle next to me

“The same goes for you as well Scootaloo; you should know better,” scolded the mare; I could tell from her inflection that she was used to doing this sort of thing frequently. “Anyways, to get back on track and to answer your question Artemis, yes the princesses are responsible for controlling the change from day to night. Celestia and Luna both have direct connections with the sun and the moon respectively, and are capable of controlling their path as they orbit around the planet.”

I couldn’t believe the garbage that was coming out of this mare’s mouth.

“Does that make sense to you now Artemis? I know it can be a bit hard to wrap your head around,” asked the mare in an attempt to judge my comprehension.

At this point I was grinding my teeth together so harshly that I was sure the students around me could hear my frustration. “Sure…” was all I could bring myself to say in response.

Thankfully as we moved past this topic of discussion, class became more like what I was accustomed to from my grammar school education. After we moved past the topic of celestial movement, we continued on to the study of mathematics. Based on what I observed and my perceived age, I assumed that this class was similar to what I was exposed to in fourth grade back on earth.

The current lesson was focused entirely on simple arithmetic and order of operations. I did my best to feign attentiveness, but my lack of energy and interest was beginning to weigh on me. So far I had written down a grand total of zero notes, and I could feel my head bobbing from fatigue.

“Artemis, are you listening to a single word I’m saying?” Cheerilee questioned; likely noting my inattentiveness.

“Huh? Oh- uh yeah,” I answered after being shocked from my stupor by the sudden question.

“Then you wouldn’t mind answering the question on the board would you?” she asked with a smug tone; holding the chalk out in front of her as a way to beckon me forward. I could tell it was a bluff to get me to admit to not paying attention, but I had no intention of letting her win on this one. I got up from my seat and began walking towards the front of the room. As I made my way up to the board, I glanced at the question I would be working with.

Let’s see 8 x (9 + 11) – 33 / 3… so 149… alright.

When I reached the front of the room, I gently retrieved the chalk from Cheerilee’s hoof and wrote the answer down on the board. I was right by the way; chalk tastes absolutely horrible. After I finished crudely copying down the answer onto the board, I handed the chalk back to the teacher and made my way back to my chair. I noticed the shocked reactions of the students as I made my way to the back of the room.

It look a moment for Cheerilee to resume her lecture, but she eventually did her best to not sound surprised. “Alright then…” she said with a stunned expression. “Just make sure you’re paying attention and taking notes back there,” she finished pleadingly.” I didn’t respond this time; I was in a bit of a cranky mood that day, and to be honest I really wasn’t feeling like myself.

The rest of the lecture went off pretty much without a hitch. After we had finished with the mathematics lesson Cheerilee informed us that it was time for recess, much to the excitement of my classmates. Before I could even react, most of the children had already jumped from their seats and bounded towards the door, desperate for some fresh air. Understandably so, as it was early fall right now so the weather outside was still bright and sunny. After packing away my notebook that held little other than a crude doodle I had made; I started towards the door.

“Can you stay back and talk for just a minute Artemis?” Cheerilee asked politely. Even though it was phrased as a question, I knew that ‘no’ wasn’t really an option.

I wasn’t too thrilled about sitting outside for a half hour so I didn’t mind staying back for a moment to talk with Cheerilee; even if I might be in ‘trouble’, I was honestly too exhausted to care. Rather than responding with words I just walked over to Cheerilee before leaving the room.

“I know we haven’t been together for long Artemis, but you seem a bit out of it today. Are you feeling okay?” she asked with sincere concern. “I heard from the doctor about your injury before you got here; are you still recovering?”

I tried my best to clear my head before I responded; I really didn’t want to start anything with Cheerilee, she seemed like a mare who cared greatly for her profession. “Yeah sorry about that, it’s just been a little rough over the last few days acclimating myself to everything,” I said while rubbing a hoof against my forehead.

“That’s fine sweetie, I understand if you need a few days to get back to normal,” she replied. Even though she didn’t know everything about my situation, she was at least understanding of some of the hardship I was going through. As much as I hated being here, I really couldn’t blame her for that.

“So is there anything you are looking forward to learning this year?” she asked in an attempt to improve my mood.

After thinking for a moment I gave her my response. “Well… I really need to learn how to control my magic. Is that something that you teach here?” I asked curiously.

“Sorry we don’t usually do that here,” she responded with a consoling tone. “Normally the parents are responsible for teaching their kids how to fly— or in your case use magic. If you want to learn how to better control your magic you should stop by and see Twilight Sparkle sometime,” she concluded with a smile.

“Alright then, thanks for the advice, I was planning on stopping by at some point to see her anyways,” I replied.

“Well I’m sure you’re looking forward to getting outside with the rest of the foals; I’m sure they’ll be happy to get to know you better,” Cheerilee said as she walked back behind her desk.

“Yeah… I’m not too sure If I agree with you on that one,” I said honestly. “Especially that orange filly; I’m not sure why, but I’m pretty certain she hates my guts.”

“Oh don’t worry about her, Scootaloo has her moments sometimes. She’s a bit hard on the outside, but once you get to know her you’ll see that deep down she’s a good pony,” she responded reassuringly. “Anyways, I doubt you want to waste your recess time in here with me. You should go out and have a good time.”

“Alright… see you soon Cheerilee,” I responded as I turned to walk out the door.

As much as I hated sitting through class, I was even less enthused about being forced to socialize with these children. I’d try my best to keep to myself, but I doubt that would be very effective considering they must be dying to figure me out. My hesitance was also compounded by the fact that over the course of the day my fatigue had built up to the point where I thought I might just fall over from exhaustion. I paused in front of the door for a second to gain my composure.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire. I thought to myself as I reluctantly pushed open the door.

Chapter 6: Blackbird

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“What do you think his deal is?” the small filly questioned in a tone that conveyed her ephemeral interest. She could hear the incessant laughter of her classmates as she leaned nonchalantly against a weeping willow that sat opposite the school yard. It was a futile effort to escape the sweltering heat of the day, but it did act as adequate cover to isolate her from the rest of her classmates. Recess had just begun, but she had never been one to partake in the pointless games that the others seemed to love for one reason or another. Although on the outside she made it seem like she was above such things, the truth was that deep down she knew that none of them would want her to play with them in the first place.

“I don’t know Diamond— he seemed a bit strange, didn’t he?” responded Silver Spoon: her greatest companion and only true confidant. The two had been together since they were foals, and she had always been loyal to her; sometimes to her own detriment as evidenced by the fact that most of the other children did their best to avoid the two of them. “He was kinda cute though…” she added; her eyes glazed over as if she were considering something she really shouldn’t be.

“I dunno Sil— he seemed like kind of an egg-head to me,” Diamond responded quickly in an attempt to derail her friend’s current train of thought. “Besides, he’s a blank flank like the Cutie Mark Losers over there,” she finished while pointing a hoof at her three greatest adversaries; or at least she thought of it that way despite the fact that the three fillies didn’t really think about her too often.

“Yeah, yeah, I know...” Silver answered dejectedly. She loved Diamond and would never leave her out to dry, but she was truly feeling a bit lonely only having one friend to hang out with. “He is from Canterlot just like we are though; maybe we should give him a chance?” she pleaded; desperate to persuade her stubborn friend.

Diamond paused for a moment in contemplation of her friend’s request. She may have been young, but she was certainly no moron; it was painfully obvious that Silver was getting lonely and looking for a way to expand their friend group. As much as she wanted to dismiss the idea, the detached look on her friend’s face told her that she needed to do this for her. Diamond was always the shot caller in this relationship, but as cruel as she could be sometimes, she could never bring herself to let down her best friend.

“Fine Sil, we’ll talk to the blank flank after Cheerilee is done tanning his hide. At the very least we can use him to get under Scootaloo’s skin,” she responded dismissively.

“Tanning his hide?” Silver asked in confusion; it wasn’t a phrase that she was used to hearing regularly.

“Huh?” Diamond responded as if not understanding her friend’s confusion. “Oh that— yeah, sorry just something Dash’s Griffon friend kept saying while she was visiting. I guess I just picked up on it the same way Artemis did.”

“Oh, okay then,” Silver said in understanding. “But what does it mean?” she added after thinking about it for a second.

“Oh uh— hmmm… I guess I’m not really sure?” Diamond replied with a hint of her own budding confusion. “It’s not really important I guess,” she concluded. “Let’s just wait for our new blood to arrive,” she said; a maniacal grin slowly spreading across her face.

Silver Spoon was a bit put off by the idea of using the mysterious colt as a weapon against the Crusaders. Her aversion quickly faded however once she saw the door to the school house being slowly pushed outwards.

I did my best to avoid drawing attention to myself after I finally stepped outside into the warm Fall air. Fortunately for me, most of the children were occupied and fully immersed into the various games and activities that they were taking part in. Most of the area to the side of the school house was taken up by the reasonably large playground that many of the kids were playing on.

And play they did; everything from tag to what looked to me like a modified version of flag football. Some of the other less athletic children played on the wooden playground as they chatted away with their close friends. The scene playing out in front of me brought back many memories from my days in elementary school back home; some of them fond, and others not so much.

Considering they were all seemingly preoccupied with their leisurely activities, I decided to locate a shaded area where I could enjoy my lunch—whatever that may be—in relative peace. Looking to the side of the building I noticed a few trees that ran along a straight line parallel to the building. After not seeing many other options, I began making my way towards the tree line to find and cool place to lie down.

After finally arriving underneath the bloated willow that was the first tree in the line of many, I sat down on my haunches and removed the borrowed saddle bag from my flank. It took me a moment of fiddling to open the cloth flap on the side of the bag, and when I finally succeeded I removed the brown paper bag that took up a large portion of the interior.

Inside the bag was what most would consider to be a pretty average run of the mill school lunch— minus the meat of course. I started pulling the items out one by one to get a better idea of what I was working with.

“Let’s see here…” I muttered to myself as I reached into the bag and pulled out the first item. “Ah a sandwich with… flowers instead of meat?” I paused for a moment to consider if I should try the strange creation. “Hard pass on that one,” I concluded rather quickly; setting the peculiar sandwich aside and resuming my examination of the contents of the bag. I was super bored and still exhausted from my recent endeavors; frankly this was the most excitement I had experienced all day; felt like a more depressing version of opening a mystery bag from the dollar store.

Before I could continue my enthralling adventure however, a stern voice roused my attention.

“How’s it hanging Canterlot boy?” the voice asked in a transparent attempt to sound casual.

I looked up to find two fillies slowly approaching my new hangout. The one that had addressed me had a pink coat and a purple mane with white streaks throughout that almost reminded me of a more feminine version of my current hair style. Her more shy friend on the other hand, was standing a few paces behind her as if using her friend as a shield against me; clearly she was the more submissive one in this relationship. Unlike her more aggressive friend, she possessed an ashen coat that matched very well with the similarly dull nature of her mane. As if existing solely to solidify my assumptions about the pair, the pink filly championed an intricate tiara that rested dominantly upon her forehead, while her more reserved friend wore a pair of glasses that gave her a more passive look.

“Can I help you?” I addressed plainly as I set the paper bag off to my side.

“Just wanted to see what’s up with the new kid,” she answered with a surprising level of honesty. “Anyone who can make Loserloo that mad is okay in my books,” she finished with a malicious grin. The hatred seeping from her voice almost made me feel a little uneasy.

“Well I mean I don’t really have anything against the kid; I hardly know her for crying out loud.” I noticed her smile fade from her countenance at my defense of the orange pegasus. “I prefer to reserve my judgments until I properly get to know someone— Ya know, walking a mile in their shoes and whatnot?” I asked rhetorically.

“Who would want to walk an entire mile in somepony else’s shoes?” the grey filly interjected in confusion. “Why would anypony even want to walk that far with shoes on in the first place?” At this point the two fillies were standing side by side as they stared at me in confusion.

“Oh sorry about that— just a Canterlot saying I suppose…” I responded in false clarification. “Basically just means: don’t judge someone until you truly know what they have been through,” I explained to the confused pair.

“Everypony has all these strange foreign saying all the sudden. How come I never picked up on any of this?” the shy filly asked herself in confusion. “I lived in Canterlot too ya know.”

“Yeah about Canterlot…” the pink unicorn interrupted. “Whereabouts did you grow up in Canterlot? Me and Silver moved from there a few years ago, so we know the area pretty well.”

Luckily for me I had spent the entire morning preparing myself for questions just like this. I still didn’t know too much about the nearby city however, so I did my best to keep things vague while at the same time still convincing.

“I lived pretty far uptown; small manor in the city. My parents worked at the University there, so we did pretty well for ourselves,” I answered with a confident grin.

“Oh I know exactly where you’re talking about!” Silver exclaimed with a surprising level of excitement. I leaned back a bit at her sudden and unexpected outburst. Based on her lack of level-headedness I could tell that the shy filly was likely unfamiliar with social interactions.

She clearly noticed my reaction and was quick to apologize. “Sorry! It’s just that we don’t get to talk to ponies from Canterlot that often. Kinda miss it, ya know?” she explained; a sheepish expression confirming her explanation.

“Don’t worry it’s no big deal. It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” I said with a fake smile. Honestly, I just wanted to be left alone so that I could enjoy the next twenty or so minutes in peace. I wasn’t going to shoo them away just yet though; maybe they possessed some useful information, and god knows I should be gathering as much intel as I can at this point.

“It’s good to meet you too Artemis— I’m Silver Spoon by the way,” the shy filly introduced. I swear I could see a small blush on her face as she addressed me; a little strange to say the least.

“Diamond Tiara,” the other filly interrupted as she stepped in between her friend and myself. I noticed the slight glare that she shot at the gray earth pony as she cut her off; clearly she was a bit possessive of this one.

“So what’s the deal?” I asked after we had finished basic introductions. “Why do you guys hate Scootaloo? Is she grumpy like that all the time?” I couldn’t help myself from being at least be a little curious about the strange behavior of the orange pegasus.

“It’s not just Scootaloo, it’s all of them! The worthless drebble of society!” she shouted as if it should be plainly obvious. I was a bit taken aback by what she was getting at.

“That’s a little extreme— don’t you think?” I asked; hoping for a better explanation to her strangely aggressive opinion.

“Extreme? I mean just look at them!” she said; pointing a hoof at her classmates to prove her point. I wasn’t really buying her message here, but I looked over towards where she was pointing to see if there was any veracity to what she was claiming.

The fillies and colts ran up and down the field with abandon as they chased after the light blue pegasus that currently was holding the ball against his barrel as he ran on three legs. I wasn’t really sure how difficult that would be to pull off, especially considering I still lost my balance from time to time with four hooves planted firmly on the ground.

I watched with mild interest as Rumble made his way towards the end zone with the opposing team hot on his tail, and his teammates joyously cheering him on. He didn’t make it terribly far however before the other team’s final defense came forward in an attempt to stop him dead in his tracks. Fortunately for the young pegasus colt, his classmate’s last ditch effort came in the form of a small orange filly that wasn’t very well known for her aerial prowess.

Rumble made one last leap before he flapped open his wings and propelled himself gracefully into the air a full three body lengths above his now livid opponent. I could hear his teammates screaming his praises as he landed gracefully in the end zone directly behind the fuming filly.

His celebration wouldn’t last long.

“You moron!” Scootaloo accused as she stomped towards the victorious colt. “You know that you’re not allowed to use your wings! It’s earth pony rules!” I could hear her team yell out in agreement at the filly’s accusation.

“Psh whatever Scoots it’s just for fun. Who cares anyways?” Rumble responded as he hoofed the ball over to Scootaloo. It definitely looked as though the accusations didn’t seem to affect his demeanor too much; clearly he was just playing to have a good time.

“What’s the point of playing the game if you can’t follow the rules numbskull?” she retorted in agitation.

I could tell that Scootaloo’s name calling began to have an effect on the young colt. “You would do the same thing if you could,” he responded confidently. “You’re just jealous that I’m able to fly right over you like that!” he said with a smirk; waving a hoof dismissively at his opponent.

The entirety of the playground fell silent after Rumble’s final statement.

Rumble looked around in utter confusion when he noticed the sudden silence of his peers. “What… I…” It took him a few seconds before his brain finally caught up with what he had just said to his classmate. He cautiously hazarded a glance at the orange filly, and much to his own dread, he could see the tinge of fresh tears begin to stain her coat.

“Scootaloo come on— I didn’t— I didn’t mean it like that!” pleaded the young colt in an attempt to mollify the situation.

Before he was able to get out another sentence, Scootaloo bolted away from him in the direction of the nearby forest. Most of the class remained silent as she made her retreat; in fact, only two fillies called after her as her frame disappeared into the forest’s thick brush.

“Scootaloo wait!” they called out in unison as they rushed towards the field that their friend was playing on just a few moments ago.

“It’s dangerous in there Scoots!” the pale-yellow earth pony shouted as she made her way towards the forest’s edge. Even at a distance I could see the fear in her eyes as she begged her friend to come back.

“Yeah— pant don’t do it— pant Scootaloo!” the white unicorn filly followed up; her pace beginning to slow as she ran out of breath from the short run.

I watched the whole scene take place with growing concern for the well-being of the orange pegasus. As rude as she has been to me that day, I couldn’t help but feel terrible for the way she was being relentlessly hazed by her classmates. I also remembered what Adagio had told me the night before about the various monsters that supposedly roamed the untamed forest; needless to say, this did not fill me with confidence.

“Heh, what an idiot,” the pink filly next to me derided as the other foals were still unresponsive from the shock of their classmate running into the notoriously dangerous forest. “I’m sure she’ll come running back in a few minutes.”

“But what if she doesn’t?” Silver Spoon asked with a hint of concern.

“Why do you care so much?” Diamond accused; glaring menacingly at her friend for her perceived slight against her.

“Do you really want to see her getting seriously hurt?” I asked with a hint of anger. “I’ve heard stories about what’s out there, and it doesn’t sound like a place for someone that young.” I began to lift myself up from the grass to get a better idea of what was going on. “Why do they have a school so close to the forest anyways?” I asked incredulously; hoping the fillies would have some kind of reasonable explanation.

“The princesses have some kind of ward protecting the edge of the forest. Supposedly it stops any of the creatures from being able to exit the Everfree. I’m not really sure how it works beyond that,” Silver explained; holding a hoof to her chin in an attempt to pull the totality of the information she had on the mysterious forest.

Well that’s just great; they have some sort of ward to keep the creatures from exiting the forest, but no protection to stop little foals from running into the forest. I’ll just add that to the list of dumbass oversights that these ponies seem to love. Where is Cherilee anyways? Shouldn’t she be watching these kids in case something like this happened?

As my worries began to become more and more prevalent, I decided that I needed to take control of the situation. These were children I was dealing with anyways; they probably don’t even know what to do. As I made my way towards the scene of the incident my two unwanted companions looked at me is disbelief.

“What do you think you’re doing?” the pink snob spat at me. Honestly neither of their opinions really mattered to me, and I didn’t think they ever would.

“I’m not sure,” I responded; looking back at the furious filly. “But I’m certainly not going to sit on my ass doing nothing.” I could hear my assailant fuming as I turned away from them and continued on my way to the rest of the group.

It looked to me like the ragtag group of fillies and colt were still effectively shell shocked when I made my way over to them. They stood stock still— many of them with their mouths agape, as they all stared at where their friend had disappeared into the forest.

“Well, why are you all just standing here?” I asked with authority; a bit annoyed at their lack of useful assistance.

“Nobody’s ever just… ran off into the forest like that…” Rumble responded in dumbfounded shock.

“Yeah… everypony knows about the monsters that live in there— what if she gets hurt?” Sweetie Bell finished in a panic.

“Sweetie Belle, go get Ms. Cherilee and tell her what happened; hopefully she will have some idea of what to do,” I asked with a calm demeanor to placate the panicking filly.

“Everyone else,” I started; turning away from the white unicorn to address the rest of the group. “Look along the edge of the forest and see if you can spot where she is; maybe she didn’t go in too fa—” Before I could finish my instructions, a blood curdling scream pierced through the somber forest.

“AHHHHHHHH—” It was obvious that the scream was cut short before it could be naturally finished. I felt my stomach drop in overwhelming dread of what may be happening to the poor orange filly. I knew that time was short— in fact it may already have been too late. Although I didn’t spot any of the so called monsters in my own trek through the forest, I knew enough to know that even just natural predators could be deadly under the right circumstances.

“Sweetie go do what I said now! Everyone else go back to the school house,” I demanded in a raised tone.

“What are you going to do Artemis?” asked Rumble; I could tell by the looks of his classmates that they were all wondering the same thing.

In fact, to be truthful I also had no idea what I was doing, or what I even could do. I may have been a full-grown man, but the current state of my figure was completely contradictory to that fact. I mean really, what could I do to stop a real predator; even in my old body I would hardly stand a chance.

Before my fears could get the best of me I glanced over at Scootaloo’s two supposed best friends. The looks on their face was all too familiar; a feeling that I had been struggling with now for the majority of my life: the all-encompassing fear that you may never see your loved one again. It’s the absolute worst dread; a feeling that surrounds you in a haze that makes you forget that there was even a such thing as light in the first place.

I knew that if it was my sister in there I would already be sprinting headlong into the indomitable darkness of the forest. I would give anything to have a chance to save her; I wasn’t going to let the mistake of doing nothing to get the best of me.

“I’m going to bring her back,” I stated confidently; a small spark igniting my previously dormant spirit. This was what I needed: something to fight for that would help me build the connections to help rescue my sister. I knew that this was a bad idea for laying low and avoiding the ire of my captives, but sometimes you need to give a little to get a little.

The rest of them could only stare at me in shock as I started my journey headlong into the forest. They knew that they should probably stop me, but they were so shaken by the situation that they failed to realize what was going on before I was already shrinking in the distance.

I was incredibly afraid, but my determination heftily outweighed my hesitation.

My heart beat violently against my chest as I did my best to follow the crude path outlined by hastily broken branches. It was clear from the sloppy meandering of the route that the filly I was tracking didn’t really have a clear destination in mind. That wasn’t what threw me off though, rather it was the fact that the tracks seemed to change size and orientation as I delved deeper into the forest.

“Scootaloo! Can you hear me?” I shouted in an attempt to establish contact. At this point I had been running on the path for about fifteen minutes with no clear end in sight. In fact, if anything the path seemed to become more and more erratic the longer I continued forward.

I decided to stop for a moment to catch my breath and to listen for any response I may receive from the missing filly. I couldn’t tell if I was out of shape of if my legs were just too short to be running long distance like this. Regardless of the answer, I knew I needed to take a moment to gather my thoughts.

I’ve been hot on the trail for a solid fifteen minutes now and I don’t seem to be catching up in the slightest. I know kids can be emotional, but this was bordering on ridiculous. How could she run like this for such an extended period of time without slowing down in the slightest?

Before my confusion could get the best of me, I noticed a sickly glow permeating from behind the overturned log that lay rotting next to me. Despite my own looming sense of dread, I slowly leaned over the obstruction to see what was casting such an intense miasmic glow. I could hear myself utter an audible gasp as I slowly backed away from the gruesome sight.

It’s hard to describe what I witnessed, especially considering I could only bring myself to glance at it for a brief moment. Beyond the log was a neon green mass of what I could only describe as some sort of coagulated ectoplasm. Interspersed within the sickening substance I could see noticeable streaks of crimson red that I assumed to be fresh blood. I felt myself begin to retch as the intense malodorous stench drilled into my nose.

If I was worried before, I was absolutely terrified now. Any creature capable of creating such a horrifying sight must be dangerous to say the least. Based on the color and scent of the deposit, I could also infer that the monster was likely venomous— possibly to a lethal extent. The visible blood was even less reassuring considering the quantity interspersed within the pile; I desperately needed to hurry if I had any chance of saving the poor filly.

As I made my first step to continue along the makeshift trail, I heard something that made me stop dead in my tracks. A soft, yet barely audible whimpering penetrated through the ambient noise of the forest. At first, I didn’t know if I actually heard was I thought I had or if my mind was playing tricks on me, but another quick succession of light sobs quickly deferred my suspicions.

“Scootaloo?” I called out quietly; I didn’t want to scare her into running again, or draw out the attention of whatever had attacked her in the first place. As soon as I called out her name, the whimpering stopped entirely. I had a good idea of the direction the noise was coming from however, so I began to lightly trot in that general direction.

I did my best to keep my eyes peeled as I walked cautiously through the underbrush; after all, I still had no idea if that monster was still lurking in the vicinity. I would like to claim a policy of better safe than sorry, but it was hard to justify embodying that principal considering where I was at the moment. I heard a light rustling behind the bush that sat to the left of me as I passed it by.

“Come on Scootaloo; I’m not going to hurt you,” I whispered as I knelt down a safe distance from the bush; I still wasn’t a hundred percent sure that she was the one causing the disturbance. I was really starting get creeped out the longer I spent encased in the oppressiveness of the forest. Getting her and getting out as quickly as possible was my highest priority.

A moment of heavy silence passed before I got a reply. “Just— sob go away!” Finally, a response; not the one I was hoping for, but a response none the less. At least I knew that I had definitely found the brash orange pegasus.

“Are you hurt?” I asked with genuine concern; disregarding her previous demand out of concern for her safety. When I didn’t get an immediate response, I decided to take matters into my own hands— er hooves. “Come on Scootaloo, we don’t have time for this; we need to get back before something dangerous comes along and—” I pulled back the top branch of the bush to get a look at the filly’s condition. What I observed however was beyond anything I could have ever imagined.

Sitting huddled up into a quivering ball, was not the brash orange pegasus filly I was expecting, rather my eyes were met with an abyssal black creature that merely resembled the shape of the filly. Rather than fur, it looked like the entirety of the creature’s body was covered with a pitch black chitinous like material; very much reminiscent to an insect rather than a sapient creature. Additionally, the various holes of differing sizes that were spread all throughout the creature's body made it look even more sickly at first glance.

The rest of the monster’s figure was also starkly contrary to the filly I had met earlier. Its eyes were much sharper around the edges, and had a pure aqua color rather than the grayish-purple I had witnessed earlier. Additionally, rather than flat teeth built specifically for grinding down grains and leafy greens, I could see two sharp fangs protruding out of the front of the creature's maw. All of those features considered, the most surprising difference was undeniably the net-like insectoid wings that were huddled against its frail body. It wasn’t the wings itself that were a shock though; it was more the fact that half of the right one looked like it had been ripped clean off.

“What— what are you?” I asked in complete shock. “What did you do to her?” I amended with a hint of anger tinging my demand.

“I didn’t do anything! I didn’t ask for this!” I could see her shaking visibly increase as she feebly tried to defend herself. “Please don’t hurt me— I’ll just disappear and you’ll never have to see me again— just please,” she whimpered as she huddled deeper into the bush.

Despite my reservations about the creature, my heart melted as I watched it —no her—trying to slink away from me. I could see the absolute terror in her eyes as she tried her best to get away from me. I was definitely still freaked out about the situation, but how could I possibly bring myself to pass judgment without knowing anything about this creature.

“Didn’t I already promise that I wouldn’t hurt you?” I said; taking a deep breath to calm myself and placate my mixed emotions.

“Yeah— but that was before—”

“Before nothin Scootaloo; I’m not one to go back on my word,” I cautiously held out my hoof as if offering a silent agreement to the petrified creature. “My word is my bond, and I’m not in the business of hurting those in need.”

I could see the intense hesitation in her deep blue eyes as she stared fearfully at my hoof. It was if she was afraid I might attack her at any moment. Thankfully I felt as though she could sense my compassion as she cautiously reached towards my outstretched hoof.

After I helped her remove herself from the prickly brush, I calmly asked my first question. “Are you okay? What attacked you?” She was still visibly shaken and I could see her body quivering as she sat next to me. I was pretty small myself all things considered, but she looked comparatively miniscule as she held herself low to the ground. As much as I was still concerned about my own safety, I draped a hoof over my new companion in an attempt to calm her down at least a little bit.

“Nothing attacked me… I— It was just the transformation that made me sick,” she answered hesitantly. I could feel her shaking calm down a little as I ran my hoof reassuringly along her back.

“But your wing—”

“It’s always been like that…” she quickly interrupted; unable to make eye contact with me at the moment. It looked like she was deeply ashamed of what happened to her.

“Always? Like you were born with it?” I asked; hoping I wasn’t pushing her too far to answer questions that made her uncomfortable.

“I don’t really remember— my mom made me forget,” she answered after some hesitation. “All I know is that some bad men did this to me.”

“Ponies did this to you?” I asked incredulously; they didn’t really seem like the type to do something like this, but then again, maybe Maple and Adagio were capable of doing something so grotesque; the idea made me even more worried about my arrangement. Speaking of which, I knew they were going to be pissed at me when I got back, but there were more pressing matters at the moment.

“No— I don’t know— I think they were like me,” she squeaked out; looking ashamedly at the hole that penetrated clean through her right fetlock.

“So bug creature things?” I asked; mostly to myself. It was still a bit hard to justify the weird things I was be exposed to on a now daily basis.

“The ponies call us changelings,” she clarified; I could tell she was beginning to feel a little bit more comfortable talking with me. “I’m surprised you haven’t heard of us considering what happened at the wedding— you said you were from Canterlot, right?”

“Yeah about that…” I started; not quite sure how much information I should really be sharing at this point. “Maybe not so much...”

“What— what do you mean?” she asked; looking up at me in confusion.

“We all have our secrets; maybe I’ll tell you more later if I think I can trust you,” I said with a light smirk and a playful wink. Honestly, I was just trying my best to get her to calm down at this point.

“Why did you run away?” I asked while I had her direct attention. “You could have been really hurt out here.”

“Sometimes when I get really angry or upset I lose control of my transformation. That’s why I ran into the woods… I was afraid that I would switch back in front of everypony. I’d be completely screwed if that happened,” she responded with a bit of her confidence returning.

“What makes you think that they won’t accept you for who you are?”

“After everything that happened at the wedding they’ve been hunting down changelings everywhere that they are spotted… Nopony really knows or cares what happens to them after the Royal Guard catches them,” she looked down at the ground again, resigning herself to unwarranted guilt; I could tell that she was ashamed of herself— as wrong as that may be.

“I’m really sorry that the world treats your kind that way. It really sucks to know that racism is alive and well in happy pony land,” I replied reassuringly.

“You’re not scared of me?” she asked in befuddlement.

“To be honest I was a little at first.” Her frown at my comment made me feel all the more vindicated that she was nothing more than a defenseless child— regardless of what she looked like on the outside. “But now I know the truth Scootaloo, and you seem alright to me.” I jokingly rustled her pointed ears to prove my honest intention. “Is that your real name by the way?”

“We didn’t have names in the hive; that was the one my mother gave to me so I kept it,” she replied; I could tell by her conviction that it really did mean a lot to her, and I admired that.

“Well where are your parents now? Who takes care of you?” I asked; knowing that I would likely not want to know the answer.

“I haven’t seen my mom since just before the assault on Canterlot. She brought me to the edge of the forest and told me to run to Ponyville— to make a new life for myself. She told me that I needed to spread kindness— no matter how much the world tried to drag me down. When I asked her why she couldn’t come with me— she said it was because they could track her down, and that I would never be safe if she came with me… That was the last time that I saw her.” I could see a long held back tear drip down her cheek as she finished recanting her story.

“And your dad?” I questioned reluctantly.

“I don’t like to talk about him,” she answered with finality. Based on the sharpness of her response I decided not to press her more on that issue

“Where have you been living?” I asked after a moment of silence.

“The Cuite Mark Crusader Clubhouse…” she answered hesitantly.

“The What?”

“It’s a little tree fort on Applebloom’s farm that we use to meet up and plan for our next cutie mark crusade,” she said as if it explained everything. I didn’t know much about their little group, but I also didn’t think it was very important given the current situation.

“So you’re on your own out here?” I responded sadly; my own emotions beginning to affect me and solidify my judgement about my new companion.

“Yeah…” was all she replied; her tone devoid of any noticeable emotion.

“Well, you’re not alone anymore Scootaloo— I’ll tell you that much.” I pulled her into an embrace to prove the honesty of my intentions. Regardless of race, this was a child that had been cast aside far too many times. “We’re going to find your mom, and were going to make those monsters pay for what they did,” I whispered to her with conviction.

“That’s— that’s impossible! These guys are horrible. I may have had some of my memories repressed, but I can still remember a lot of the horrible things they put us through. You don’t know these guys like I do.”

“Something tells me that I might have an inkling of an idea,” I responded cryptically.

“Come on let's get going we can talk more on the way back; everyone must be worried sick by now back at the school. Besides, I need to hear more about what happened at this big important wedding you keep talking about.”

All I got in response was a light nod.

“Are you able to transform back now?” I asked. We might be even more screwed if she was entirely unable to transform back into the disguise she was wearing when she entered the forest.

Rather than responding with words, I watched as she scrunched her face in concentration. At first not much happened, but then suddenly a bright flash of green flame enveloped her black figure entirely. I was again concerned for her safety at first, but found that my concerns were unwarranted when the smoke cleared to reveal the orange pegasus that I had run into the forest in search of. I could see that she was smiling at my worried expression.

“Well, let’s get ready to face the music.” I directed; watching as Scootaloo walked in step next to me.

Taming Equestria

by Ronnoc543

Chapter 1: A New Perspective

Chapter 2: Second First Impressions

Chapter 3: A Series of Unfortunate Events

Chapter 4: Adam West's Dream Home

Chapter 5: Newtons Acolyte

Chapter 6: Blackbird