A low groan filled the air as sun rays filtered in through unfortunately drawn curtains. Hazel eyes briefly fluttered open before slamming back shut and a large comforter was drawn over top of them. After a brief moment, a soul-wrenching blaring filled his ears and all he could do was groan in frustration. A hand peeked out from under the covers and reached out to a small dresser beside his bed. Like a frantic child that only recently gained motor control, he tapped in several different places on the phone before the blaring finally receded back into the recesses of hell where it belonged. Grabbing his phone and seeing that it was 9:30 A.M. he groaned again before letting it die into a small sigh and setting his phone back down.
“Ugh, come on. Already?” He muttered to himself, grabbing the covers and moving them to the side as he sat up straight on his bed. His eyes were barely able to stay open as he let out a loud yawn and began to stretch his arms.
He ran a hand through his greasy black hair as he glanced around his room and the cogs in his brain slowly started to turn for the day. His room was relatively small, having only dark blue curtains over his window, a large gray wide dresser with a small TV on top of it with a DVD player, and a few posters hanging on his wall of an anime he got into watching lately and a large mirror hanging on his wall next to his door.
He then hopped off his bed and began to make his way out of his room and proceeded to a small closet down the hall that was cracked open. Throwing it open, he caught the door and pulled out an orange towel. He made his way to the bathroom door further down the hall and scooted inside to start his daily rituals.
An incessant rapping shook him from his thoughts and he had to tune out the roaring of the water cascading down from the showerhead to make out a high-pitched whining voice from outside the door. “Marcus! Hurry Up! I have to get ready for my basketball game this afternoon!”
“Just give me five more minutes and I’ll be out soon, Emy!” he said. Quickly, he washed away any remaining soap and shampoo on his body and turned the shower off. Marcus then reached out and wrapped the orange towel around his waist and proceeded to brush his teeth. By the time he was done he had exited the bathroom and made his way back into his room and opened his closet and grabbed a pair of underwear and jeans and put them on, before grabbing some socks and a red t-shirt with the words ‘Just Do It’ on it.
With both hands on his hips, he scanned his gaze down his body in the mirror that stood before him. His messy black hair still wasn’t dry and his head didn’t even come up to the top of the mirror, nor did his frame seem to even make an attempt to fill out the sides of the mirror, but he smiled anyway. As he exited his room, he made his way downstairs to the kitchen.
There, he saw his mother standing at the stove with a pan full of sizzling bacon in one hand and a hip in the other. She glanced back briefly before sliding over to the other pan full of scrambled eggs.
“Morning Marcus, did you sleep alright?” She asked while reaching over to grab a spatula.
“I slept fine. Anyways, what are we doing today?” he asked as he took a seat at the kitchen table.
“After your sister’s basketball game, we’re going to Applebee’s for lunch. Since it’ll be her last game of the season, we figured we should do something special for her,” she answered as Marcus nodded his head before being handed his plate filled with still sizzling bacon and steaming eggs with a glass of orange juice on the side. “Now be sure to finish your breakfast quickly, dear. We don’t want to be late.”
“Thanks, Mom,” He said before nodding and grabbing a fork to dig in.
Celestia’s sun cast its warm, motherly rays down onto the planet as a yellow pegasus trotted cheerfully out of her quaint wooden cottage with her pink saddlebags strapped on. She smiled as the little birds chirped from their little birdhouses. She couldn’t help but gently wave her hoof at the small birds before she continued to make her way to Ponyville’s Food Market.
When she finally made the turn around the last house, she nearly shied away at the sight of all the hustle and bustle of the market. Earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns alike of all colors expertly dodged around each other as each of them made their way to various stalls around the circle. Shouts of sales, limited stock, and scrambling hooves filled the air as she tried to steel herself.
Keyword: tried.
She took a deep breath before pulling out a list from her saddlebags that she was wearing and going over it once again.
Alright, let’s see, I need carrots, cabbages, bird feed, peanuts, and fish food. Maybe I can pick up a few apples as well from Applejack? I know Angel always loves those mixed in with the carrots. She thought to herself as she looked at her grocery list.
Looking back up, she mentally prepared herself before carefully lowering herself into the chaos.
She began to look around the market for any carrot stands or even one of her friend's apple stands, but before she could continue her search there was a tiny scream that began to get louder.
Before Fluttershy could even react, she was tackled to the ground by a pink blur that sent her crashing to the ground with a mighty THUD.
“Hiya Fluttershy! I didn’t think I’d run into you here, but then again this is a really, really, really, really small town, but what are the odds! Anyways I was on my way to Twilight’s to see Sombry, but when I saw ya, I was like ‘GASP!!!’ And I got this really great idea! Would you like to come over to SugarCube Corner with me and Sombry!?”
Fluttershy shook her head in pain before looking up as her friend stood over her with a wide grin. “O-Oh, Hi Pinkie… I wasn’t expecting to run into you either… Um, could you please get off me please? If that’s okay with you?”
“Oop! Sorry, Flutters.” Pinkie sheepishly got off of Fluttershy before offering a helping hoof to Fluttershy, which she kindly took. “Anyways, will ya, will ya, will ya?!”
“I would, Pinkie, but I have to get a lot of things for my animal friends back at the cottage. Maybe some other time?”
“Please?! It’ll be good for Sombry, since he’s a big meany mcmeanster meanpants! Although he doesn’t really wear pants, just a lot of metal and a red cape- Wait!!!” Pinkie shouted all of a sudden with an almost-manic look, before saying, “I just had the best idea! What if Sombry and I help you?! That way you can get all the food for your animals and you get to be with us for the day!”
When Fluttershy heard that, a couple of thoughts ran through her mind. It would be nice to have some extra help… but the appearance of Sombra may scare some of my animal friends away and I don’t want that.
Fluttershy cringed as recalled what happened the last time she saw him. Sombra had tried to bite her hoof off with his sharp teeth and called her friend Rarity fat.
“W-Well some more help would be nice…” she said hesitantly before receiving a very, very tight hug from the hyperactive pony.
“I knew you’d like that idea! And don’t worry about Sombry, I’ll make sure he’s well behaved and helps out!” Pinkie assured cheerfully before releasing Fluttershy from her grasp and began to bounce over to the Golden Oaks Library, leaving Fluttershy alone.
I don’t need to worry, I’m sure Pinkie will keep him under control… I hope…
Marcus nearly winced again as another shoe squeaked across the gymnasium floor like a dying mouse. Out of habit, he glanced at the scoreboard again.
Twenty-one to nineteen with twenty seconds left. Come on, Emma!
Roaring cheers pounded against Marcus’ ears when Emma managed to steal the ball away. He watched with rapt attention as she dribbled the ball down the court and began to make her way over to the three-pointer mark and began to line up her shot as one of the girls from DC, trying to block her shot, but had only barely touched the ball before it hit the rail of the net and bounced off as a blaring alarm filled the air and the opposing team’s parents erupted into cheers.
Both teams filed onto either side of half-court and walked in a line towards each other, shaking hands as they went. Afterward, Marcus and his parents found themselves waiting outside of the locker room.
“Emma did great, don’t you think, Marcus?” his dad asked.
“Yeah, she did good and she was so close to making the last shot!” Marcus replied, laughing as his mother rolled her eyes at them. A few minutes had passed before Emma came out of the locker room and smiled at them.
“Oh, Emy! You were amazing out there!” Their mother exclaimed cheerfully before hugging her.
“Mom! You’re embarrassing me!” She rebutted, but her protests fell on deaf ears as Marcus snickered in the background.
“It’s a mother’s prerogative, sweetie!” Mom replied with a smirk.
“Still, you did great, sweetheart, and we’re all proud of you,” added Dad.
Marcus could only smile before giving her a thumbs-up before pulling out his phone and taking a picture of Emma and their mother hugging.
“Yep, and everyone is going to know about it too,” he announced as he pulled up his Instagram before his sister was finally released. She tried to reach up and take his phone, but she was too short. A few jumps and desperate pleas didn’t change that.
“Marcus! Please just delete that photo! My social life will fall apart if everyone sees that!” she exaggerated as both Marcus and their mom laughed together while their father sighed.
“Come on Emma, it’s just a picture of you and Mom hugging. It isn’t going to ruin your social life. If it makes you feel better, I won’t post it on Instagram.” Marcus promised, rolling his eyes as Emma’s expression finally softened.
“Alright, if you're all done playing, we better get going before the wait at Applebee's gets too long, because I have a feeling that we’re not going to be the only ones on our way there,” suggested Dad.
Everyone nodded and exited the school, making their way towards the car. But as they started to cross the street, the only warning Marcus got was the sound of screeching wheels and police sirens.
“Marcus, move-!!”
He threw his body around to look at whoever shouted his name, but something stopped him.
Something big.
Something huge and hulking and metal that held no regard for human life.
Marcus heard a scream and felt a violent tidal wave of pain and agony crash across his body and his vision faded to black.
After what felt like an eternity, he was finally able to open his eyes once again. It was when he did that he soon laid eyes upon a woman with black hair, and skin so pale it sent shivers down his spine. She was wearing a long black dress and had her hair done up in a braided bun. She had herself laying across a table lazily as she looked down upon Marcus in his leather chair.
“Tough day, huh?”
“W-What?! What is this?!” Marcus sprang to his feet before tripping over and landing on his back. He desperately crawled backward away from the pale women like a caged animal. “Where am I?!”
“Calm yourself, Marcus…” the woman told him, snapping her fingers. A large leather armchair emerged from underneath Marcus and caught him. “It’s only five seconds in the afterlife and you're already making a commotion here.”
“C-Calm down!? You're telling me to calm down when I’m who-knows-where and you're telling me to calm down?! Who are you!? And how do you know my name!?” Marcus shouted, standing from his seat before the woman motioned her finger, forcefully making him sit back down.
“Normally I try to make myself look decent,” She said, waving a hand across her face. Suddenly Marcus found himself looking at what looked like the face of a skeleton. The cold, vacant eyesockets sent a shiver down his spine. “But since you asked… I am Death. And as for how I know who you are? Well, I know every soul both living and dead across the cosmos.”
“D-De-Death?!” Marcus then placed his hands over his head, tugging on his hair as he looked away from the undead women. He tried to process everything before he stood up from his seat and began pacing back and forth. “No… No, no, no, no, no, no, NO! This… This is bullshit! If this is some sort of prank, well you got me! You can cut the act! I’d like to go home now!”
“Really? You think none of this is real?” She asked, Her face restoring itself to its previous state with muscle tissue, then veins, and finally skin growing over the skull’s face and eyes appearing from opening eyelids. Marcus had to force himself to look away before losing his lunch. “This is real, Marcus. In fact, see this for yourself.”
As She said that, a small box the size of a regular TV appeared before him and displayed a brief clip from a news program.
“…Tragedy had struck when family murderer, James Matthews, had escaped prison and struck a young man by the name of Marcus Phillips with a 2006 Honda Accord. A twenty-one college student who had a bright future ahead of him. Matthews had died in the crash, but not before claiming the life of another family member.”
“It is truly a travesty and a cruel way to die.” She said, having the box disappear with a snap of her fingers. “But other than that man’s soul destined for eternal damnation you should have lived all the way to your sixties.”
It was unlike anything he had ever seen and after watching the news of his own death he couldn’t help but laugh. Not a happy laugh or an amused laugh or even a sad laugh. Rather, the kind of laugh that someone gives when they’re staring down the gates of hell..
“Hahaha! This… This can’t be real… None of this is real! I-I-I I’m obviously dreaming. Yeah, I’m asleep right now, in the car with my parents and sister who is probably drawing on my face right this second. You’re not real… this can’t possibly be real! All of this is a dream and I’ll be waking up at any moment!”
He was so sure of himself that he began to pinch himself on his cheek as hard as he could, but even as he groaned from the pain, nothing had happened. He was still in the same place. His eyes widened slighly and stared off into the inky black void that surrounded him.
“You can try all you want Marcus but I assure you that you are indeed dead.” Death said bluntly.
“Why? Why is this happening… this can’t be real… I… I can’t be dead!” he argued as he tried to fight the tears forming in his eyes before he sank to his knees and began to cry.
As tears fell from his cheeks, he felt cold hands over his shoulders but he didn’t move as he felt death herself kneel beside him and embraced him.
“What happened to you is cruel, but what if I told you that you could live again? Start over with a clean slate in a new world and… a new body?” She whispered as She grabbed his chin and turned him toward her. “Well, what do you think?”
Marcus simply wiped away his tears before looking at her once more, before asking with tearful hope, “Y-You mean… I can go back?”
“No… I said you’ll live again. I never said anything about returning you to your old life.” She replied before standing up and walking over to her chair and plopping herself down once again. “But it is entirely up to you.”
After hearing that, a little bit of hope had died, but living again meant a second chance. He would have hope. Something to light his way through the darkness.
But a part of him had a feeling that this was still too good to be true. In so many movies, tv shows, and anime, there was always some kind of catch when dealing with Death. He had to take several deep breaths before he had the strength to speak again.“So everything you say is true? I’ll live again?”
“Yes, that is what I said, no?” She said with a grin on her face.
“W-What’s the catch?” he asked, standing up as he made his way back to his seat.
“What do you mean?” She asked with an innocent look in her eyes, to which Marcus narrowed his in response.
“I think you know exactly what I mean.” He started in a low voice. “If I’m really dead then you would have sent me to heaven or hell and we wouldn’t be having this conversation, now would we? Y-You obviously have me here for a reason and I want to know why!” Marcus said firmly, as Death got up from her chair and walked over to Marcus who stood back up.
“Well… it seems you're a lot smarter than I give you credit for,” She replied, smirking at him before She went on. “I grow tired of this world. It gets dull and I’d like a change of pace. But when you died, you began to interest me.”
“So, what? I’m special?”
“No, you aren’t, you’re quite dull like the other millions of souls that pass through here. But like I said previously, you weren’t supposed to die today. That’s what makes you so interesting, and your ideals… interest me,” She answered slowly, almost as if she was drawing her words out for dramatic effect.
“I am so flattered! You must say that to all the guys that go through here!” he responded sarcastically. “And what do you mean?! You don’t know anything about me!”
“I know everything about you, Marcus. You have two loving parents and a little sister who looks up to you. You are kind to everyone you meet and wish to make the world a better place and desire nothing more than to be like a hero. But right now, you feel anger, hatred for having your life taken away and all you want is to return to your loved ones… so you can say goodbye. You never did get to say goodbye to them, did you?”
“You’re right, I never got a chance to say goodbye to any of them. This… this sucks!” he said angrily, but Death had approached him and placed Her cold hand against his cheek, wiping away any tears remaining that had been streaming down his face.
“You may be right, but I’m giving you a second chance: to live once again. However, you'll be running a few… errands for me,” She explained, causing Marcus to raise a brow at her.
“What do you mean by ‘errands’?”
“Like I said already, I grow tired of this universe and desire something more… ‘Thrilling’, I suppose, is the correct word? You see, this new world you’ll be living in is called Equestria, a world that holds stones of great power called Infinity Stones.” She explained, turning her head towards her guest before taking a seat once again. “Unlike Earth, this world has real magic and because of it, I can’t enter the world physically to guide lost souls to the afterlife. And that’s where you will come in. In your state, you will not be able to wield an Infinity Stone and your mortal body will disappear forever. So I shall transform you into something that’ll be able to wield all six of the Infinity Stones.”
“A-Alright… What exactly am I supposed to do when I find them?” Marcus asked.
“You will use their power to liberate their universe and ours. After that you can go free from there,” Death replied before placing both her hands on his shoulders. “Of course, there are rules that you must follow.”
“Rules? Liberate? What are you talking about?” Marcus asked, shoving Death’s cold hands away as he backed up from her, only for her to chuckle.
“I shall explain more about what you must do later, but first you must know that with every deal, there is indeed a catch and what you must do for me is nothing more than payment for what I shall be granting you.”
“Alright, then tell me what it is that I need to do.” asked Marcus with a slight hesitancy in his tone.
“Very well, I shall explain them to you as best I can,” She replied as she summoned a blank piece of paper and parchment covered in black ink. Marcus' jaw dropped as the parchment began writing on its own.
Rule 1: You must never reveal your identity to anyone until you find an Infinity Stone.
Rule 2: You can only respond with the new name given to you.
Rule 3: Only one being you trust may know what you are doing.
Rule 4: You must inform Death whenever you discover an Infinity Stone.
“Okay hold on for a second! How am I supposed to report to you? I seriously doubt I’ll find a phone wherever it is I’m headed.” Marcus argued before his own cell phone appeared in his hands once more.
“Your smartphone will allow you to message me through text while you're searching for the stones, but only me.” She replied. “And don’t worry about it running out of battery. It’s unlimited now.”
“Okay then… moving on,” he said slowly, rolling his eyes as he continued to listen.
Rule 5: A list of your new abilities will be on your phone and you must memorize them.
Rule 6: You must learn how to harness your new abilities in order to find and use the Infinity Stones.
Rule 7: The Time you have is limited to ten years, by then your new body will dissipate to dust.
“Uh… come again?” was all Marcus asked before Death began to laugh.
“It’s exactly as it says my friend, my powers aren’t infinite and the new body I’ll be creating for you will only have a limited amount of time, but for good reason.” She explained as She took a seat on a large boulder.
“H-How so?”
“In this world, you’ll become superior to most of the planet's species which will allow you to possess all six of the Infinity Stones. But your time will be limited due to the amount of magic and energy I’ll be putting in to create your new body. However, the stones can extend your life fully,” She explained, and yet, Marcus couldn’t help but to cock an eyebrow.
He may have accepted that he was indeed dead, and accepted the fact that he was talking with Death, but there were still a lot of unanswered questions that he’d like to address.
“So tell me, Marcus? What do you think of… Ponies?
“Uh, excuse me?” he asked, wondering why She suddenly changed the topic. “What do you mean by that?”
“What do you think of ponies?” She repeated before shrugging, “It’s a simple question, Marcus.”
“Well… I honestly don’t care about ponies. Not that there’s anything wrong with them, I just don’t find them interesting, but they're fine I guess.” he answered and that was all Death needed to hear as she gave the young man a sly grin.
“Thank you for letting me know. Oh, and by the way, you’ll be going by the name of Obsidian Coal from now on,” She added as Marcus gave her a deadpan stare.
“Why am I getting a name like that?” he asked with a flat look.
“The rules that were written down should explain why, Obsidian. Oh, and before you go, is there anything you want?” She asked nicely.
“Well,” He started, bringing a hand to his chin. “I guess having my music wouldn’t hurt with my headphones?” Suddenly his phone screen shone brightly and displayed more than two hundred songs had just downloaded and his old headphones appeared around his neck.
“It was a pleasure having you here, Obsidian Coal, but I believe this is where we must part ways. Enjoy your time in Equestria… my little pony!” She smirked as the young man, now known as Obsidian Coal, had begun to go through immense pain. He groaned in pain as he watched his own hands vanish before his eyes and started to morph into black stubby hooves. Before he could say anything, his vision began to go blurry until he finally passed out.
“If we’re done with carrying all of this pointless slop for your pets, then I’d like to retire for the remainder of the day!” Sombra shouted as both Pinkie and Fluttershy rolled their eyes.
“Oh, come on Sombry, it wasn’t that bad! Besides, we still have to head over to Applejack’s to see if she’ll be showing up for Twilight’s picnic next week!!!” Pinkie replied with a smirk as she grabbed hold of Sombra’s hoof. “See ya later Flutters!”
“Unhoof my hoof, you impudent mare!” he demanded, trying to pull away from the party pony only to be dragged away by her.
Fluttershy couldn’t help but giggle silently as she watched the odd pair disappear from her view.
“Maybe if he wasn’t such a bad pony, he’d be nice to have around,” she said to herself as she entered her home and closed the front door.She was greeted by a small bunny who rushed up to her and eagerly hugged her hoof. “Hi, Angel. Did you behave yourself while I was gone?”
With a quick nod, Fluttershy couldn’t help but smile at her little friend. “Thank you for being good, Angel. I’ll get started on dinner right away.”
Fluttershy had soon started cutting the carrots she had purchased and made a salad for both Angel and herself. But as she was munching away at the salad, a thought suddenly came to her.
Pinkie looked like she was having a lot of fun being with Sombra all the time, even if he isn’t the most pleasant pony to be around.
Fluttershy looked up from her salad to scan her living room. Bird cages littered the room, small cabinets and tables lined the perimeter and a few small windows with their curtains drawn let in the now fleeting daylight.
I never realized how… quiet it is around here without somepony else to talk to.
But her own thoughts were soon interrupted by the sounds of groaning coming from outside her backyard. She wasn’t sure if it was one of her animal friends hurt or something scary, but she took a deep breath and slowly crept to her window and took a quick peek outside. She felt her eyes go wide as her eyes landed on a black stallion with a white mane and horn, wearing an old tattered cloak, who slowly limped towards her cottage. The last straw was when he collapsed.
Without a second thought, she raced out the door of her cottage and ran over to where the stallion had collapsed, trying to see if she could lift him up with her hooves, but to no avail.
“Oh, goodness! Are you okay?” she asked, seeing the stallion’s eyes barely open.
“W-who… are you?” he uttered, groaning in pain before passing out. She noticed the many scrapes and burnt marks over his face and hooves as she helped him inside and did her best to carry him towards her cottage.
“Let’s get that cloak off you and see if there’s something I can do to help,” she said, gently taking his cloak off, but what she saw next only shocked her when her very eyes laid upon a pair of wings!
What? An-an Alicorn?!
She then noticed that this stranger was covered in many scrapes and cuts. Even parts of his fur were burnt off and blood was beginning to trickle from his wounds.
“Angel, get the first aid kit! Hurry!” she said urgently before whispering to the stallion, “Don’t worry sir, we’re going to make you all better soon.”
The stallion grunted before opening his eyes slightly, barely able to see what was right in front of him.
“I-I… I’m sorry… that you have to… do this...” he groaned quietly before Fluttershy placed her hoof over his head.
“It’s alright… We’re gonna make you feel better,” she assured as Angel struggled to carry a white box with a red plus. Fluttershy grabbed the small box from Angel and opened it up, pulling out a small bottle and cotton balls. “This’ll hurt a bit, but I promise it’ll help.”
Fluttershy then opened the bottle and poured a little bit of the substance onto the cotton ball and gently rubbed it against his cuts, causing the stallion to hiss in pain before she began to wrap his leg that she treated with bandages.
“I know it hurts, but we need to treat these wounds. I’m sorry if I’m hurting you too much.”
“N-No… it’s alright… It’s just hard to see right now… I barely arrived here today,” he replied as he bit back a scream from the stinging medicine. Fluttershy then moved on to his torso, applying the medicine again and wrapping it in bandages.
“Oh, well I’m sorry, but I’m sure you’ll feel better in the morning… B-by the way, what's your name?” She asked as she looked over to his wings and started to treat them next.
“I’m… I’m Obsidian…Obsidian Coal.” he croaked, squinting at the yellow blur in front of him. “W-who are you?”
“I’m… Fluttershy… it’s nice to meet you.”
“L- ...likewise,” he whispered before his eyes slowly closed and he passed out into blessed slumber.
All Marcus wanted was to sleep for just a few more minutes, but the light tapping on his shoulder began to stir him from his sleep. With a grunt, his eyes opened and he was met with an irritated bunny that had its little paws crossed and was tapping its foot.
He rolled his eyes and lifted his head from the plush pillow. After rolling his neck and rubbing his eyes, he attempted to stand up only to fall face-first towards the ground, earning an evil giggle from the bunny before him.
“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, little guy,” he muttered as he pulled himself back onto the couch and started to take in his surroundings.
Man… so it really wasn’t a dream… I’m a talking horse in a world full of talking horses.
The walls almost seemed to close in on him, but it wasn’t in a claustrophobic way. It was almost as if a loving parent would cradle their child. The wooden architecture of the entire room seemed like a perfect foreground to the picturesque backdrop he could see through the windows. Even the birds seemed to agree, as Marcus strained his ear to hear birds chirping just outside.
I’m definitely not dreaming right now. He thought to himself before the bunny from before began to tug on his tail.
“Alright, I don't know what… I had a rough day yesterday. So if you could, just let me rest until my injuries heal, okay?” he asked with as much patience as he could muster, earning a scowl from the furry little creature before it hopped off the couch and disappeared into another room. “What a weird little guy… then again, who am I to talk?”
Marcus tried to stand up again on all fours this time, but he still wobbled and shook like a tower in danger of imminent collapse. Despite his struggles, he was able to tense his muscles and stand on shaky hooves.
Alright, moment of truth!
He took a deep breath and moved his right hoof forward. It landed on the ground with a soft clop. Tentatively, he then tried to move the second one…only for his hindlegs to buckle and send him sprawling to the floor, nearly hitting the coffee table on the way down.
“Ow…” he groaned like a dying animal.
“Oh goodness! A-Are you alright, sir?!” an angelic voice asked, causing the stallion to scramble to his hooves before turning to his right to see a butter-yellow pegasus standing at the doorway. She carried with her wing what looked like a steaming bowl of soup.
“I-I’m fine…” He stammered. “Just trying to get my bearings is all.” He chuckled nervously as his cheeks flushed before taking a seat back on the couch and raising a hoof to cover a cough.
“O-oh, well after what happened yesterday, I thought you’d stay and rest a little longer. At least until your injuries healed?” she said as she set the bowl on the small coffee table.
“Um, I-I’ve been meaning to ask, but I don’t know if you’ll be comfortable with me asking though.” Fluttershy asked, letting her ears and gaze fall.
Marcus simply sighed.“It’s fine… Uh, ask away?”
“A-Are you related to Princess Celestia?” she asked, hiding behind her mane as the stallion before her gave her a puzzled look and tilted his head like a dog.
“Princess who-now?” he asked.
“You don’t know who Princess Celestia is?” Fluttershy’s eyes went wide as dinner plates as she stared at the stallion. “W-Well she’s one of Equestria’s rulers actually and… um… She raises the sun and has been around for a thousand years, and she’s an alicorn. I thought that since you are also one, I thought that maybe you two were related is all,”
Marcus could only cock his eyebrow and let his mouth hang open a little in response.
Raising the sun… A thousand years… I find that to be very hard to believe, but then again, I was reincarnated as a horse with wings and a horn… There must only be a few that have wings and horns, which means I need to be a bit careful going out in public. He thought as he tapped his chin. However, once he noticed the kind mare looking at him, he cleared his throat. “Oh, well thank you for explaining it to me… Uhm… What was your name again?”
“It’s F-Fluttershy,” she whispered, trying to hide behind her mane. Marcus had to strain his ears.
“Well… thanks for everything you’ve done, Fluttershy, but I really-”
“Wait!” she exclaimed, pushing him back down onto the couch before he could even finish. Her eyes widened before she buried her face in her hooves and her face turned beet red. “I’m sorry! But you can’t leave yet! I-I need to make sure your injuries are okay first!”
With a confused expression to rival someone meeting Discord for the first time, he simply nodded.
She did help me after Death oh-so-kindly threw me into this world with all the grace of a two-year-old playing with LEGOs. Well, I don’t exactly have anywhere to go, or go back to, and Death did give me a second chance. This seems like the best path to make that work.
Based on what I know about them from reading the Marvel comics back home, the first stone I need to look for is the space stone as that will allow me to travel anywhere… plus if I need to escape it’ll come in handy. That will be my first step to fulfilling my deal with Death.
“So, Mister Obsidian, why were you in my backyard, and what brings you here to Equestria, if you don’t mind me asking?” she asked, snapping him back into reality. He gaze focused on the newly acquired tea kettle that was in her grasp, steaming with a fresh brew.
“O-oh… Well, I’m actually just looking for a fresh start. A lot happened back at my… old home that I just needed a change in my life, you know? As for how I ended up in your backyard, well… I just kinda stumbled into it accidentally, I really don’t know where I am at the moment, but a lot happened and I’d really like to avoid talking about the previous night. Worst night of my entire life.”
“When you’re ready to tell me about what happened, I’ll be happy to listen. A-anyways, where are you from if you don’t mind me asking?" she asked, pouring herself a cup of tea for herself before pouring one for Marcus as well as he took a moment to contemplate her question.
“It doesn't really matter anymore, I can't go back anyways. But I will say that even if I'm a bit new here, I'm going to make the most of my new life. Although, I do have a question for you…Why did you help me? I mean, I'm a total stranger that you have no business dealing with. You should have left me to die. So... why?”
“Well, you were hurt and I couldn't just leave you there.”
“Wouldn’t it have been better to, you know… take me to a hospital, then? That way I’d be out of your hair? I mean, you don’t know me at all. I could be a horrible guy for all you know,” he asked before looking down at his food and tea, still untouched.
“It’s just that it was very late last night and I’m not exactly strong enough to carry you all the way to Ponyville Hospital. I’m sorry, I thought-"
“Nonono! It's okay really… I was just asking, is all. I mean, it was very kind of you to help me out. Is there anything I can do to repay you?” Marcus asked, scratching the back of his.
“There really isn’t any need for that! I was just doing what anypony else would have done.” Fluttershy said, her cheeks flushing again.
Fluttershy watched as the charcoal stallion sat there silently, his brows furrowed as he tapped his chin with his hoof. She couldn’t help but stare at him. She smiled to herself before her eyes widened.
I’m alone with him in my house!
“Mister Obsidian! Um… sorry for shouting, but if you want I can give you a tour of Ponyville if that's okay with you?”
“Hmm… I would like that actually,” he replied, giving the mare a smile as he stood up. “By the way, you don’t need to call me Mister or anything like that. Just call me Coal.”
“O-okay… C-Coal,” she replied. For a brief moment, Marcus couldn't help but smile at the pegasus, but it lasted for a moment before he tripped over his own hooves and fell face-first to the ground again.
"Oh my goodness! Are you okay Coal!?"
“Never better.” He croaked. “Maybe we could wait just a little longer before leaving, not exactly used to walking on hooves…” He threw his mouth back open when he saw Fluttershy’s cocked eyebrow. “It’s a long story, which I promise to tell you in the near future, but can I have a minute?” He asked, giving the mare a sheepish smile as she began to giggle.
“Well, let me be the first to say…. Welcome to Equestria Coal.” Fluttershy helped the stallion to his hooves as she gave him a gentle smile who had returned the gesture with a smile back and a nod.
“Heh, it’s a pleasure to be here Fluttershy, thank you for helping me out.”
Marcus had to spend the entirety of the walk into town fumbling and barely being able to put one hoof in front of the other. In fact, it would’ve been more apt to say that Marcus was falling with every step, and only the frantic placement of the next hoof on the ground saved him from collapsing.
By the time he had gotten used to it, both he and Fluttershy found themselves in the middle of town. Marcus had to stop himself from gawking at the infrastructure around him.
It's still so hard to believe that I'm in another world with talking ponies, which I have become. Yeah, thanks, Death… not to mention she literally dropped me from the sky and I've lost both my phone and headphones… This is truly peachy. He thought to himself as Fluttershy guided him down a dirt road that entered the town. Before leaving Fluttershy’s cottage, Marcus had made sure to cover his wings with the tattered cloak he was wearing before so that he didn’t draw too much attention to himself.
“So this is pony town? A lot different from what I was expecting.”
“Ponyville actually, and what were you expecting?” she asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked up at the large stallion.
“Something a little bit bigger I suppose, not that it's a bad thing, but- maybe I'm just being weird,” he replied, rubbing the back of his head as he looked back at the little pegasus. “Anyways, how long have you lived here?”
“Oh, I've been here since I was a little filly, and um… I've loved being here, spending time with all my friends and taking care of the animals,” Fluttershy explained as she caressed her mane with her hoof and tried to divert her gaze from him.
“It must be pretty difficult, trying to take care of all those animals by yourself, huh?” He asked.
“It is a lot of work, but it’s something that I was meant to do and I enjoy every moment of it,” she replied, smiling at the stallion as he looked back at her with a raised brow.
I don’t think I could take care of so many animals by myself, I’d go insane! Still, it’s nice that she knows what she’s meant to do with her life and finds it fulfilling. At least she found her calling. But me though, I became death’s errand boy and have to find six colorful stones to merge my universe and this one so death can get what she wants or probably turn to ashes in ten years. Marcus thought to himself, his brows furrowing as he continued trotting beside Fluttershy as she continued speaking, but his mind was so focused on the task at hand that he failed to notice in time that he had accidentally bumped into a pink mare, knocking her to the ground.
“Owie!”
“Oh, I’m so sorry, I got distracted and didn’t pay attention, I’m sorry miss-” he paused, helping her to her hooves as he waited for the mare to respond.
“Sorry, I got a bit distracted and was telling-GASP!!!!” She replied before her eyes widened in surprise as she looked up at Marcus who was suddenly startled by the pink mare jumping into the air. “NEW!!!PONY!!!OHMYGOSHIHAVETOGETEVERYTHINGREADY!!!”
“Woah, woah, slow down there, I didn’t quite get your name?” Marcus replied, extending his hoof out.
“Instead of asking for her name, newcomer, you should be on your hooves groveling for forgiveness,” another voice spoke as Marcus turned his gaze over to find a grey stallion with a black mane and red piercing eyes, his horn curved to a sharp point with a tint of red at the tip of it. The two were close in height with Marcus being a couple of inches taller than him, but he could clearly tell that this stallion wasn’t like the other ponies in the town.
“I already apologized and helped her up. I don’t see the reason why I’d have to-”
“Listen carefully, welp! In case you haven’t noticed, you are standing before a King and your apology was pathetic!”
“Well aren’t you just sunshine and rainbows,” Marcus stated with a deadpan expression.
“Sombry, don’t be a meanie! He said he was sorry!” The pink pony admonished, giving Sombra raised brow, only scoffed in response, while she turned and gave Marcus a pleasant smile. “Don’t worry about him, he’s just a bit grumpy today, but anyways! My name is Pinkie Pie, and what’s youuuurrrr name?!”
“It’s M- Obsidian Coal, but you can just call me Coal if you’d like.”
“Ooooh, sounds like a tough guy name to me! I like it!!!” she replied, giving him a wide grin, he couldn’t help but think she was a very energetic pony and took a few steps back. “So what brings you here- Oh, hi Fluttershy!!!”
She suddenly vanished and appeared next to Fluttershy, leaving Marcus baffled as Pinkie embraced her into a tight hug to which she returned.
“What?” Marcus muttered as Sombra continued to give him the death glare..
“It’s good to see you too, Pinkie, out on your walk again with Sombra?” Fluttershy asked.
“Yeppers, but by the way, have you met Coala!?” Pinkie exclaimed, stretching her hoof until it was completely around Marcus’ shoulder and yanked him over to where Fluttershy was as he questioned how she was able to do that.
“Oh, um… I actually met him last night, and I thought I’d give him a tour of Ponyville,” she replied, giving a sheepish smile.
“WHAT?!?!? AND I’M ONLY FINDING OUT HE’S HERE NOW!!! (GASP!!!!) Unacceptable!!!” Pinkie shouted, glaring at Marcus who had started to shrink back into himself.
“Uh… Look, it’s a long story, but I’m wondering why this even matters-”
“Becauuussseee it means that I get to throw you a ‘Welcome To Ponyville Party!’. Doesn’t that sound exciting!?!?” Pinkie asked, earning a groan from Sombra behind her.
“As if being subjected to your annoyance wasn’t bad enough for every commoner here, but throwing a celebration just because they are new is far from exciting,” Sombra stated, earning a huffy glare from Pinkie that Marcus couldn’t help but smile at.
“Hey now, I may not be the biggest fan of parties, but there’s nothing wrong with throwing a party. A lot of ponies throw them just for the heck of it you know.”
“You better watch your tone, peasant! Don’t you know who I am?! I am King Sombra, Ruler of the Crystal Empire, Bringer of Shadows and Darkness, and Future Ruler of Equestria!” Sombra monologued, receiving a blank stare from Marcus who simply shrugged his shoulders.
“And I'm the King of Potatoes. King or not, that doesn’t give you the right to yell at anyone, or treat your friends poorly.” Marcus replied sternly.
“I have no need for friends, you fool!”
“Ah, that explains why you don’t have any, jackass!”
“Clearly you don’t know your place! If I had my magic I’d show you just how helpless you truly are!”
“Wow, threatening me when I haven’t done anything wrong? Clearly that ego of yours-”
But before Marcus could even finish, Sombra stomped his hoof to the ground, silencing Marcus as he began to snarl at him. However before Marcus had the chance to even defend himself, Pinkie Pie jumped in between them to glare at Sombra, earning a couple of rasied eyebrows and widened eyes from Sombra.
“That’s enough, Sombry! You promised you’d be nicer to everypony, which includes new ponies! Do I have to talk to Twily about having your sweets taken away?”
“You wouldn’t dare!”
“Just try me, Sombry!”
“Tch, have it your way, pink menace,” Sombra scoffed, turning away from her to sit down in silence.
“I’m sorry about Sombry, he can be a bit of a grumpy mcgrumpsterpants. But then again, he doesn’t wear pants so that could be the reason, but probably not. Anyways I’d love to stay and chat, but I have a lot of things to do today! Like gathering baking supplies, party planning, taking mister grumpy here back home, and getting to know my new bestie!!!” Pinkie explained, giving Marcus a very large grin and invading his personal space.
“Suuuuure? Whatever you say Pinkie.” Marcus replied wearily.
“You’ll be there too for the party, right Flutters?” Pinkie asked.
“Oh, of course, I wouldn’t miss one of your parties, Pinkie,” she replied, smiling despite hearing Sombra make gagging sounds behind them.
“Anyways gotta go!!! Let’s go Sombry!!!”
As both Pinkie and Sombra walked off together, Marcus and Fluttershy looked at each other, before he began to laugh. Fluttershy stood there for a heartbeat, stunned, before joining in.
“Well, that was unexpected.”
“Well, that is Pinkie Pie for you, she’s always full of surprises. Although I’m… sorry I couldn’t stand up for you, Sombra just scares me a lot and all I could do was watch. Honestly, I hoped to avoid him on his walk if at all possible, but I really wanted to show you around town,” she explained as her ears folded down. But before she felt any worse, she felt a hoof on top of her head, gently stroking her mane. Looking up she found Marcus’ hoof on her head.
“Hey, there’s no need to apologize, that guy was a bit of an asshole and it’s not like I’m completely helpless. Besides, Pinkie Pie helped out and for a guy who makes a lot of threats, he’s all bark and no bite. So don’t worry for another second, we’re not going to let a jerk like Sombra ruin our day.” Marcus smiled at the little pegasus as she suddenly felt her cheeks heat up as she turned away, unable to hide her smile.
His hoof feels gentle and warm…
“Anyways, is there any place where we can get something to eat? I'm actually very hungry now.”
“Oh sure, I know a place in town that makes some pretty good salads and hay fries… if that’s okay with you?” She asked.
“That sounds pretty good,” he replied, following her when she started to walk off.
Marcus threw his eyes to sky for a brief moment when a slight breeze washed across his mane, but shook his head and continued walking.
Chapter Three- Don’t Judge a Book by It’s Cover (Re-edited)
Marcus sat down silently across from Fluttershy. She had offered earlier to take the menu from him after he fumbled it around in his hooves several times.. Marcus couldn’t help but blush and look stare down at his lap.. It was a miracle that he was found by Fluttershy, he’d be much worse off otherwise.. He'd have to find a way to thank her someday.
However, something else came to mind that caused the stallion’s eyes to almost pop out of his head, Aw shit! I almost forgot, I lost my things somewhere in that forest. Crap, I’m going to have to head back in there and look for everything. I hope that nothing bad has happened to it, that’s literally the only thing I have left from home.
“So, um, Coal? Is there anything in particular you'd like? The salads are pretty good here, or um… if you'd like you could have those hay fries I talked about before?” Fluttershy asked, snapping the stallion out of his thoughts.
“Oh, I'm sorry Fluttershy, could you repeat that? I kinda spaced out for a moment heh!” Marcus asked, smiling sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head, receiving a giggle in response from the yellow pegasus.
“Hehehe, it’s alright Coal, I was asking if you’d like a salad or some hay fries?”
“Well, I’m not exactly too familiar with hay fries, but I suppose I could give them a try,” he replied. The one thing he was sure about was that he wasn’t the biggest fan of salads. Even if Death herself forced him into the life of a herbivore and every string of fate beat against him, he’d still refuse to eat a salad. Not that he hated them, he could tolerate them to a certain degree, but that was before he had become a species that can only eat fruits and vegetables.
He knew that at some point in the near future he’d be offered a salad in front of other ponies and he’d have to do whatever it takes to avoid eating it. For now, though, he’d settle for eating hay that is fried. However, if he had to be honest, eating Fluttershy’s soup from the morning was incredibly delicious. He would much rather have that instead.
It wasn’t long until their waiter arrived with a tan-ish coat and brown mane.
“May I take your order?” he asked.
“Oh, um… may I get the apple and carrot salad with some water please?” Fluttershy asked.
“Very good… and for you sir-” he paused as he looked up to Marcus.
“Yeah, can I get some hay fries please… and do you guys by some chance have soda?” Marcus asked, earning a slight nod from the brown earth pony.
“Then can I have a cola?”
“Y-Yes, sir! Right away!!” He replied, quickly making a run back to the kitchen.
“Odd… Was it something I said?” he asked. His only response from her was a quiet giggle.
“Oh, I’m sure he’s just a little nervous because of… your height,” she answered.
“Hmm… I don’t think so… might be because of my voice,” he stated, earning another giggle from Fluttershy.
“So, what were you thinking about?” she askede. There were several times today Fluttershy could recall seeing Marcus lost in his own thoughts.
“It’s nothing- No, actually, I’ve been thinking about some of my belongings that I may or may not have lost in that forest I was in the other night,” Marcus replied, his face making it clear to the little pegasus that he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to share that bit of information with her. “But you don’t have to worry! I can get my stuff on my own, so you can relax. I’m sure I can retrace my steps if I really try-”
Before he could finish his sentence, Fluttershy suddenly stomped her hooves on the table, her wings flaring up as she suddenly glared at him.
“No, you can’t go! Not with those injuries you have! You could get hurt or worse!”
“I-I know Fluttershy, but I can’t have you do everything for me, plus I don’t want to burd-” he was once again silenced by the little mare before him as her eyes pierced his very soul. Marcus wasn’t sure what it was that was keeping him from speaking, but having to stare back at those eyes began to frighten him to the point that he’d be better off just listening to her. So he submissively squeaked, “Shutting up!”
It took Fluttershy a moment to realize that she was making a scene as ponies began to stare at the two. Once she realized that she had accidentally yelled at her new friend, she immediately took her hooves off the table and began to cower back into her chair. Her face had begun turning several shades of red as she tried to cover her face with her mane, uttering, “I am so sorry, I-I didn’t mean to shout at you… I-”
“I-It’s alright Fluttershy, I was just not expecting that side from you since you’ve been… Well, shy and soft-spoken. Seriously, I don’t mind, you’re not the first person to yell at me for having a dumb idea,” Marcus reassured his her before lowering his gaze again.
It’s probably best I hold off for another day… The last thing I want is to get scolded by her. Which is kinda funny, I didn’t think she was capable of getting angry, she’s honestly just full of surprises.
“I-I just don’t want you to get hurt anymore… than you already have, Coal. Your injuries were really bad and the Everfree Forest is a dangerous place., I-I just don’t want anything to happen to you. You are my friend,” Fluttershy explained, pulling her mane away so she could look up at the charcoal stallion who looked stunned by her words.
“O-oh, I guess I haven’t really… I thought about how you felt. Really, I’m sorry, I just didn’t think you saw me as a friend, especially since you… don’t really know me,” he replied, his ears folding back as he felt a bit ashamed for not considering his new friend. He honestly thought she was just helping him out because she was kind, not because he was her new friend.
“W-Well it’s true… I don’t really k-know you that well, but I had this feeling that you weren’t a bad pony, and that you were actually really kind. With you being new here in Ponyville and not knowing anypony, I thought I could be your first friend,” she said, smiling at the stallion.
“Fluttershy, I am honored to call you my friend,” Marcus said, grinning at the mare before him as she suddenly lit up with joy as a smile graced her face.
Heh, cute.
“I’ll hold off on going back to the forest, I’ll go after I recover some more, like a day or two,” he added, only to see his friend pout disapprovingly at his suggestion.
“Come on, Shy, I really do need my things, I promise that I’ll be careful. Um-Would it make you feel better if we both went together?”
“I don’t really like going to the Everfree Forest, but if you really need your things… okay. But if you get hurt anymore, we’re turning back,” she stated, and the alicorn knew that trying to argue was going to end with him losing. It’s not that she was commanding, mean, or anything like that, he saw that she was kind and cared deeply about her friends and knew when to put her hoof down when it counts.
He understood that now and knew that it would be better to just do as she says.
“Thanks, Shy.”
“Of course, Coal, that’s what friends are for.”
“...”
“...”
“Wait a second… Shouldn’t our food have come out by now?” Marcus asked.
The hay fries turned out to be a little better than Marcus had expected them to be. Crispy and nicely salted, dipping them in ketchup even made them more enjoyable to eat. After Marcus and Fluttershy finished their meal, the two began to talk about some of Fluttershy’s adventures with her friends as they started to make their way over to Twilight Sparkle’s Library, the yellow pegasus insisting that he meet her and explain his situation to her.
“I still don’t think it’s a good idea, Fluttershy…”
“You don’t want to meet my other friends?”
“It’s not that I don’t want to meet your friends, Shy, it’s just that I’m not exactly sure they’ll be ready to meet me with- you know, wings and all,” he explained, gripping his cloak tightly and receiving an “oh” in response from her.
“I suppose you aren’t exactly ready for that, but I think Twilight can keep a secret, it can just be between the three of us about your secret,” she reassured him, earning a sigh of relief from the alicorn as he continued to follow her.
“Alright and you said that she’s an alicorn like Princess Celestia, right?” he asked.
“Mmhm,” Fluttershy nodded.
“Neat., Aanyways I’m curious about- Huh? What’s that?” Marcus asked, pointing at a rainbow streak speeding around in the sky, beginning to make its way down towards them.
“That’s actually one of my friends… her name is-” But before Fluttershy could finish, Marcus was suddenly rammed in the chest by the speeding rainbow and sent crashing into a cart full of carrots.
“OH MY GOODNESS!!! COAL!!!”
“Ugh…”
“Hey, Fluttershy!” The voice came from a blue pegasus that was flying over Fluttershy, looking proud of herself.
“Did you see that!? I totally took that creep out, you’re okay though right?”
“I’m okay, Rainbow Dash, but he’s not-”
“No need to thank me, I saw that creep with you earlier and thought I’d tail you two until I found an opening!” Rainbow Dash explained, but that didn’t stop Fluttershy from running over to the charcoal alicorn who had struggled to get to his hooves, his cuts stinging from the carrot juices that began to soak into his bandages.
“Fluttershy! What are you doing!?” Rainbow Dash shouted, her jaw wide open in shock.
“Are you okay, Coal?” she asked, wiping his cheek off some of the carrot juice.
“I’m… okay… at least that’s what I’m telling myself but, I think that the owner… ain’t gonna be happy about this…”
“Oh my… don’t worry, we’ll get you cleaned up and rebandage you,” she said, helping the alicorn out of the broken cart as he limped his way out.
“Fluttershy!? Why are you helping that creep!!?”
“This… creep has a name! And it’s Coal Obsidian to you! AGH!” Marcus yelped in pain as his chest hurt like hell, but continued to glare at the rainbow menace that hovered above him.
“What the hell did I do to you!?”
“Rainbow Dash, he’s right, he didn’t do anything wrong… Why did you hurt him? He already has a lot of injuries that need time to heal. Now he really needs to get washed and disinfected again.” Fluttershy began to scold her friend.
“Everypony in town started talking about how this big guy came into town, and was holding you hostage. Forcing you to go out with him!” Rainbow tried to defend herself, but Marcus’ face looked confused, frustrated, and in pain. Which only made her argument look ridiculous.
“T-That’s it…?! You just assumed I was going to hurt her, even though you said you followed us and watched us the whole time,” Marcus responded, raising his voice as he tried to ignore the pain.
“Talk about judging a book by its cover!”
“Well sor-ry if I’m just looking after my friend!”
For a moment, Marcus began to feel a tingling feeling in his back where his wings were. He clenched his teeth briefly in an attempt to quell them.
If they flare up now, that’s just more problems for everyone, and more importantly, me! Just calm down. Deep breaths, deep breaths. Let’s not prove her right.
“Look… I am in a lot of pain right now. I’m covered in carrots and carrot juice, which is also burning all of my cuts, I might add. However, this is just a misunderstanding, I’m not going to retaliate since you’re Fluttershy’s friend… So instead, all I’m going to say to you: Don’t judge a book by its cover.”
“He’s right, Rainbow! That wasn’t right, even if you were trying to protect me, which I’m always grateful for, but Coal is my friend and he’s one of the kindest ponies I’ve met in a while. He deserves an apology,” Fluttershy stated, standing in front of Marcus as Rainbow stood there silently with her jaw hanging out.
“What!? But he-UGH!! Look I’m sorry alright… I shouldn’t have tackled you. I was just looking after Shy, she’s been my friend for a long time and I don’t want anything happening to her.”
“Well… I will accept your apology. However, I want you to say one thing.”
“Oh, sure! What is it, dude!?”
“DON’T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER!” he shouted in aggravation before groaning in pain when that further riled up his injuries.
“Sheesh… I… won’t judge a book by… it’s cover.” Rainbow Dash repeated back, gritting her teeth all the while.
“That’s all I ask…” panted Marcus as he took a slow and deep breath to calm his body down and ease the pain before saying, “I accept your apology.”
“Thank you, Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy said as she smiled at Rainbow Dash before turning to her other friend who was in desperate need of attention. “Alright, Coal, we’re gonna have to take you back to the cottage and rebandage your injuries, do you think you can make it?”
“I-I’m not sure… I’ll try.”
“If you want I can lend a hoof if you want?” Rainbow offered.
“That would be very helpful, thank you, Dashy.”
“Oh, dear! What in the name of Celestia happened here?” Everypony turned to find a white mare with a purple mane and tail, who had three diamonds as a cutie mark.
“Oh, Rarity… Um… An accident happened and I was just taking Coal back to my cottage to get his wounds cleaned again and get him some new bandages,” Fluttershy explained.
“Absolutely not, dear! Your cottage is on the other side of town! My boutique is much closer, bring this poor fellow with you. I have a medical kit in my sewing room,” Rarity insisted, her horn glowing as she began levitating the larger stallion with her magic.
“Whoa- W-what is happening?!” he asked, as he was suddenly floating in the air.
“I’m taking you to my boutique, dear, to help get you all cleaned up and out of those horrid rags of yours!” Rarity explained, smiling at the stallion before winking at him, causing his cheeks to turn slightly red.
“Well, then I’ll see you guys around then, I actually promised to take Scootaloo out for flying lessons today! Again I’m sorry about the misunderstanding dude!” Rainbow said, apologizing once more before taking off to the sky, leaving a rainbow streak behind.
Marcus waved his hoof, saying goodbye to the rainbow mane pegasus as he was levitated in the opposite direction as the two mares made their way over to Rarity’s boutique.
“I really don’t like this floating in the air!” Marcus shouted, flailing his hooves around. He cry fell on deaf ears however, as they were whispering among themselves about something they clearly didn’t want him to hear.
“My, my, isn't he quite the handsome fellow? Where did you find him?” Rarity asked Fluttershy quietly.
“Oh, um… I found him injured near my cottage when he stumbled out of the Everfree,” she replied, as her cheeks turned slightly red after she mentioned how he looked, but she hadn’t really thought about it too much as she had just met this stallion last night.
“Still you can’t deny that he’s quite the catch, don’t you agree, darling?” the unicorn pointed out when she noticed how Fluttershy’s cheeks continued to redden. Fluttershy tried her best to hide her face from her friend behind her mane. Seeing it anyway, Rarity’s brow rose as an idea came to her but she had to confirm.
“Well, I’m certainly going to have to ask Mr. Coal to take me out to dinner, what do you think, darling?”
“Huh! NO! He's not fully healed yet! He needs time to heal first," Fluttershy half-shouted. Luckily, she startled Rarity enough to force her to drop Marcus to the cold hard ground.
“...ow,” Marcus uttered, more in irritation than actual pain.
“Oh, Fluttershy, dear, I am only jesting,” Rarity assured her demure friend before giving her an assuring wink.
“Um… is everything alright girls?” Marcus finally spoke up as he got back to his hooves, glad to be on them again. He saw the yellow pegasus hide her face from him.
“Oh, it’s nothing, darling, just a little girls’ talk,” the unicorn replied, as the three finally arrived at a white building that had an elegant look to it compared to the other places Marcus had seen thus far. Not that there was anything wrong with those places, just that it felt a little out of place.
Once they actually entered the ornate building, Rarity made a ta-dah pose as she proudly declared, “Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where everything is chic, unique, and magnifique! Now that we are here, I’ll prepare a bath for you Mr. Coal-”
“Oh, you can just call me Coal, or Obsidian, no need for you to add the Mister,” Marcus insisted to the unicorn as he motioned his hooves.
“My, my, how rude of you,” tut-tutted the unicorn.
“I-I didn’t mean to come off as rude, Ms.-” Marcus protested but then paused as he saw the white unicorn start giggling and he got the idea. “Oh, I get it… you’re joking again.”
“Apologies, darling, I’m just feeling on a roll today! And you can just call me Rarity,” she stated, smiling as Marcus rubbed the back of his head, his cheeks turning slightly red from embarrassment.
“Anyways, Rarity and I will prepare a bath for you, Coal, so you just wait here for now,” Fluttershy added, following the unicorn into the other room while Marcus sat down on a chair that was by the doorway and waited patiently.
Seeing this as an opportunity, Marcus decided to take a moment to close his eyes and try to relax while the girls prepared a bath for him. It was strange that he was being treated so nicely by these ponies, even though they barely knew him. Even Pinkie Pie treated him kindly despite bumping into her by accident. Sometimes when that happened he’d get yelled at by whoever he bumped into at home or he’d be on the receiving end and get shoved to the ground back when he was in high school.
It was a difficult time for him when he was in high school. But, when he graduated and began working at a pizza restaurant, things started looking up. He was studying really hard so that he could go to the fire department and become a firefighter someday. So that he could help people in need, like his father, but that could never happen… not anymore since he was dead.
He could still recall his last talk he had with his dad before he had been run over.
Two Days Before…
“Hey, Dad?” Marcus called to his father who was doing an oil change on their jeep wrangler in the garage, while he brought a plate of freshly cut apple slices. “Mom thought you wanted to have something quick to eat while she gets started on dinner.”
“Ah, thanks, son, and thank your mom too for me, will ya?” he asked.
“Oh, sure, not a problem, Dad,” he replied, about to make his way out of the garage before his father turned back to him.
“Oh, just a second Marcus, think the two of us could talk for a minute?”
“Sure, what’s up?” he asked, as his old man placed a hand on his shoulder.
“You know I am proud of you, right?”
“Yeah, I know you and mom are proud… I’m just trying to do my best to help you guys-”
“It’s not just that Marcus, both me and your mom know you are working hard to help us. You are always lending a hand to everyone who needs it, you help those around you and that’s all good, but I want to know, what do you want? Who do you want to be?” he asked.
Marcus looked confused for a moment.
“Well, I guess… I’m not sure, Dad.”
“You still have a bit of time to think about this, but it’s important to find something that has meaning to you. Who do you want to be, Marcus?” he asked once again as the young man curled his hand into a fist and rested it against his chin.
“Honestly if I’m really thinking about it… I’d like to go to the same university as you and become a firefighter. I know it’s not exactly the greatest job in the world, and I know it’s a dangerous job that needs to be taken seriously, but I want to help people like you did, Dad. I want to give a hand to someone in need with a smile on my face. Let them know that everything is going to be alright,” Marcus answered, his father’s eyes widened as he stared with disbelief, before giving his son a reassuring smile.
“Well, you better work hard if that’s what you really want to do okay?” he said, grinning as he patted his son on his shoulder. “We should head inside, I’m about done here anyways… Let’s see if we can give your mom a hand,”
“Coal… Coal… Coal… Um… it’s time to wake up now,” he heard as he slowly opened his eyes and was greeted by a concerned Fluttershy who was gently nudging him awake.
“O-oh…ahhh… Sorry, I must have dozed off…” Marcus replied, hopping off the chair before feeling his chest hurt. Recalling that he had been rammed into a carrot cart and was covered in carrot juice and carrot bits.
“I’m sorry to wake you, but we wanted to tell you that your bath was ready… um… are you okay?” she asked, as the charcoal stallion raised a brow.
“Yeah, I’m fine, why?”
“It’s just… you look like you’ve been crying,” she answered, seeing tear stains on his cheeks as she watched the stallion wipe his cheeks.
“Huh? Guess I must have had a… bad dream,” he answered, but when he looked back at Fluttershy and saw how she looked concerned, he couldn’t help but smile at her as he placed a hoof on her head. “It’s nothing to worry about, Fluttershy, I don’t exactly recall what happened in my dream, but I’m perfectly fine. After all, I have a pretty awesome best friend here with me.”
“Um, you mean I’m, y-your best friend?” she asked.
“Well unless we are counting the dozens of carrot bits and juice clinging to me, I’d like to think you are,” Marcus answered, grinning at the yellow pegasus as he slowly began to make his way toward the doorway that Rarity was standing at, smiling at the two of them.
“Thank you for waiting patiently, darling, I have extra scented soaps in there if you need them!” Rarity said, waving to the stallion as he entered the bathroom and closed the door behind him, only for the white unicorn to rush over to Fluttershy’s side and suddenly pull her into a tight hug.
“Squeee!!! Oh, Fluttershy darling did you see that?!”
“Um, no… what do you mean, Rarity?"
“Did you not see the sparks between you two? I sense a romance is about to blossom between you two-” Rarity was suddenly silenced by Fluttershy’s hoof as her face suddenly turned beet red.
“Rarity! There’s nothing going on between us! We only met last night, we barely know each other, and besides, I’m sure he’s not interested in a mare like me,” Fluttershy responded.
Removing the yellow pegasus’ hoof from her mouth, Rarity couldn’t help but giggle in excitement as she began to feel giddy. As much as she desired to find the stallion of her dreams, she also couldn’t help but imagine her own friends finding their one true love. It is true that she may take romance a little too far, but she couldn’t help herself.
“Oh, Fluttershy, you have nothing to be embarrassed about, it’s perfectly normal to have a crush on somepony you’ve only met. Might I add, he’s extremely attractive and I can already tell that he is very kind to you. Especially from the way he patted your head moments ago,” she explained, smirking as she watched Fluttershy’s face turn into different shades of red.
“Rarity, please! I-I really don’t have a crush on him,” Fluttershy insisted, beginning to get frustrated from the embarrassment she was feeling from her friend saying she had a crush on a stallion she had barely met a day ago. She didn’t deny that he was handsome, because he obviously was, but she hardly knew him and even if he wasn’t a bad pony, she wasn’t quite ready to be in a relationship.
“Oh fine! I won’t press on the matter anymore! Although I do wonder if he’s okay in there, those injuries looked pretty bad?” Rarity asked.
Meanwhile, Marcus had struggled to grab hold of the bottle of shampoo with his hooves and scrub himself everywhere. It was extremely difficult as he could barely grip the bottle in his hooves. When he tried to squeeze the bottle of shampoo on his mane, he’d sometimes miss and it’d land on his cuts, causing the stallion to groan in pain as he tried to hold in his scream. He desperately wanted to curse, but he was in someone’s home and didn’t want to make a bad impression.
“Shit, that stings…” he whispered to himself.
The only thing that kept him from dropping the bottle into the tub was the willpower he put into his hooves to hold onto the bottle for dear life, and recalling how Fluttershy was able to lift a glass of water with her hoof and not drop it.
Now, Fluttershy and well… pretty much every pony in this town can lift things with their hooves and don’t need fingers to do so. If they can do it, then surely I can too, right? Marcus thought to himself as he tried to calm his thoughts and mentally visualize his hooves as hands and grab the soap bottle once more.
“Yes, finally.” he cheered quietly, his wings flaring up in excitement. It was progress and that was all that mattered to him. Now that things were going somewhere, he quickly started to finish cleaning up all of his cuts and bruises with the shampoo. It hurt… a lot, but it was necessary as it would help prevent infections.
Once he was done, he made sure to empty the tube and dry himself off thoroughly, but there was one thing that he completely forgot. He couldn't go outside without his cloak as it was the only thing that covered his wings and the last thing he needed was for somepony else to see them. So with little to no choice, he put on his dirty cloak again and made his way out.
“Thanks for allowing me to use your bathtub, Rarity, but I think we should get going as I do have to meet up with Princess Twilight-”
“My goodness! You are not seriously considering going out wearing that filthy thing!? You just finished taking a bath and now you’re wearing the same dirty rag you call a cloak! UNACCEPTABLE!!!”
“Listen, I know it’s a bit dirty, but I kinda need it for the moment. I’ll be sure to wash it once I-” But before he could finish, Rarity’s horn began to glow as he suddenly felt the cloak on him begin to pull away from him and he immediately began to panic.
“Rarity, I need to keep this on!”
“Absolutely not!”
“C-Coal- You- Rarity- please stop you two-”
“The dirty cloak is coming off, whether you like it or not!!” Rarity strained, finally ripping the cloak away from the stallion.
“Now let's get you something more appropriate-”
Marcus looked on in horror at his now exposed wings poking up out of his back. Rarity was simply staring at him, completely speechless. When he turned his gaze towards Fluttershy, she shared the same expression as him.
“Rarity… now do not freak out-”
“Y-You’re an alicorn!?!? A-A Prince!?!?” She asked, her mouth wide open as Marcus rubbed the back of his head, trying to figure out what to say to her.
“I’m an alicorn, yes, but I am not a prince.”
“It’s true, Rarity,” Fluttershy spoke, placing a wing on her friend. “He’s not from around here… and he really doesn’t want anypony to know about what he really is…”
“This-This is a lot to process. Just give me a second to collect my thoughts?” She asked, as Marcus and Fluttershy nodded in response and just as Marcus was about to reach for his cloak that Rarity had dropped on the floor, his hoof was suddenly hit by a white hoof.
“OW!”
“You are not wearing that horrid thing out in public… honestly, that brown rag you had on you completely clashes with your mane and fur. I only ask for you to wait patiently in my kitchen for thirty minutes while I find something a bit more appropriate for you to wear in public,” she insisted, motioning for the stallion to enter the kitchen across the room while Fluttershy followed, only to be stopped by Rarity briefly as she whispered into her ear.
“You and I need to have a serious talk, darling… I want to know everything.”
“I’ll tell you everything, but you have to promise not to say anything, he’s really not a bad stallion, he’s a kind colt that needs help is all,” Fluttershy responded quietly.
“I know he’s not a bad stallion, but this could be something very serious and if Twilight or the other Princesses find out about him being an alicorn, things could go either really good or really bad,” she explained quietly as she looked over Fluttershy to see the charcoal alicorn sitting at the very end of the table with his head resting on it.
“Thirty minutes okay, I’ll find something for him to cover his wings and look stunning.”
“Thank you Rarity, and I promise I’ll be careful…”
“Very good darling, now you go on and keep an eye on Coal, while I work my magic,” she said, pushing the pegasus towards the kitchen while she went to look for an outfit for her new alicorn friend.
“So, Rarity… She's a bit punctual?” Marcus asked, refraining from saying anything negative as his hoof still stung a bit from the slap he received.
“W-Well while we wait for Rarity, would you like for me to put on new bandages for you? If that’s okay with you Coal?” she asked, receiving a nod as a response from the stallion as she went to look underneath the kitchen sink where Rarity kept an extra medkit in case of emergencies. Pulling out an ointment from the kit, she began to gently apply it to the huge cut across his chest, causing the stallion to hiss from the pain.
“Sorry… I’ll try to be a bit more gentle.”
“It’s fine Shy, I’m not a little kid who scraped his k-hoof… If you have to apply pressure it’s okay, I can take a little pain if it means getting taken care of,” Marcus insisted as Fluttershy continued to apply the ointment across his chest, before wrapping the bandages around him. Once his chest was wrapped up, she began to apply more ointment on his other cuts that were on his front hooves.
“Um… Coal? I was wondering, how’d you end up like this? I didn’t exactly ask you this morning when you woke up, so I just-” she paused, trying to find the right words to ask, but a part of her worried that those large cuts came from something dangerous.
“If you really want to know, I was kinda teleported here by a lady I met… in a way she’s kinda to blame for me getting hurt, but she gave me this second chance to start over here in Equestria. That’s all I can really say, but as for these injuries, well… let’s just say that the lady kinda dropped me on top of some dead trees… And then I ran into some wolves that looked like they were made out of wood and had to make a run for it. Yeah not exactly the best start to a new day, but luckily I ran into this huge manticore and used the big guy to slip away from them,” Marcus explained, trying his best to explain everything to Fluttershy as she continued to wrap up the last of his injuries while listening to his story.
“Not the worst day ever, but I’d say it’s at least in my top five worst days of my life,” he added, giving a little chuckle as he heard a sigh from the little pegasus.
“I’m glad you are okay, but you should be a bit more careful okay,”
“I’ll try, but trouble tends to find me sometimes… it just loves to find me when I least expect it hehehehehe!” he joked, only to get lightly slapped on the shoulder.
“Ow! A nurse shouldn’t hit her patient, you know!”
“Well I’m not a nurse, but you really shouldn’t joke about getting into trouble you know,”
“Yeah you’re right, sorry Shy,”
Once the bandages were applied, the two began to make their way out of the kitchen to go find Rarity in the other room, but they soon came across a huge mess of scattered clothing and different types of fabrics everywhere. It wasn’t long until Rarity returned with a rack of different coats and cloaks.
“It took me a little longer than I anticipated, BUT I believe somewhere on this rack, I’ll find something befitting a young alicorn such as yourself,” she explained, as the colt looked a little confused, but remained silent.
“Do you need any help, Rarity?” Fluttershy offered, the white unicorn nodding in response, ushering the pegasus to assist her. It took the two mares a bit of time, but they eventually found a blue coat that was long enough to cover his wings, but his appearance sorta reminded him of a pilot from WWII, but he wasn’t going to deny that he looked pretty good in it.
“My, my, I must say that you look quite smashing Coal, it’s all about finding just the right colors that fit you just right. No need for that filthy rag anymore, I’ll be sure to dispose of it properly,” Rarity stated while she carried his old cloak off to who knows where, but he knew he wasn’t going to see it again anytime soon. Once she came back, Marcus couldn’t help but smile at the white unicorn, wanting to find some way to repay her for her generosity.
“Well thank you Rarity, if there’s any way I can repay you, I’ll be happy to lend you a hoof-” However before he could go on, a hoof suddenly covered his mouth.
“Nope, none of that darling, consider it to be a gift from a friend.” she replied, winking at him as Fluttershy grabbed hold of his hoof.
“Well I’m glad we found something that fits you Coal, but I think it’s time for the two of us to head out. I still need to feed my animal friends and you need to get ready,” Fluttershy explained, pulling him towards the entrance.
“Get ready for what?”
“Your ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party of course,”
“Wait, you mean Pinkie was serious!?”
“That’s right, Coal. Pinkie Pie always throws a party for newcomers,” Rarity answered. “Well, I hope you two have a lovely day.”
“Thank you, Rarity, for helping us out,” Fluttershy thanked the white unicorn as the two began to leave.
“Anytime darlings, do be safe out there!”
Once the two were making their way back toward Fluttershy’s home, Marcus couldn’t help but think about one thing.
How much does this coat cost… I’m going to have to find some way to thank her… Seriously, this town is a bit weird.
If there was one thing Marcus had learned when he arrived in this town, it was that it wascompletely strange, literally alien to him in almost every way. He’d been treated very kindly by some of the town folks, been given a tour of Ponyville, had a delicious meal, got a brand new coat, and in just a little bit, he’d be given a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party. It was all new to him as he continued to compare his old world to this one and how different it was from his.
Am I really in the right place? This world doesn’t seem like it would have those six stones, it’s too… cutesy-wootsy, fairytale land-ish…right? Could she have made a mistake sending me here? Marcus thought to himself as he stared silently into a mirror inside Fluttershy’s bathroom, only to be met by his own reflection. It was all too strange. True, he was beginning to get a handle of things in this world, but it felt wrong to be there. The funny feeling that permeated his body only served to reinforce that.
“Maybe I’m overthinking things?” he asked himself, only to hear a knock at the door.
“Um… Coal? Are you alright in there?” he heard Fluttershy ask.
“Yeah, I’m fine, just checking something, is all,” he replied, turning on the facet and began to wash his face quickly before making his way out. Once he was done and had opened the door, he was greeted by the yellow pegasus waiting patiently by the door. He couldn’t help but smile at his new friend.
“Something you need, `Shy?”
“Oh, it’s nothing… just wondering if you’re ready for tonight?”
“Yeah, I’m about ready. Honestly I’m just thinking about how weird it is here in Ponyville. Not in a bad way, mind you, just… it’s different from where I’m from. At least you, Pinkie, and Rarity have treated me, a stranger, with such kindness and consideration that I really do not deserve and it’s only been a day. I’d say the one that has the right idea is your other friend Rainbow Dash. I mean the ‘not trusting me right away’ thing, not the whole ‘ramming me into a carrot cart’. Where I’m from people aren’t so quick to trust each other, always expecting there to always be some kind of catch,” he explained, giving a light chuckle, but received no laughter from the yellow pegasus.
Rather he received a look of subdued bafflement, as though what he’d just described was almost crazy talk.
“What, is that- Is that really so strange?” Marcus asked, slightly nervous.
“Well, no…” Fluttershy responded before saying, “It’s understandable not to trust someone you just met, but… almost everypony I know in Ponyville, we welcome others and open ourselves to them to let them know that we want for them to feel welcome and that we are giving them the chance to be our friends and that we would like to be their friends too. Not that we blindly do so, there have been times when one or the other… didn’t… click?”
“Well I guess that makes sense, but where I came from, we aren’t so quick to trust one another,” Marcus replied, sounding just a tad down as he said, “Not saying that there aren’t people who don’t, but for me it was always difficult trusting others so quickly. I had some bad experiences putting trust in those I used to call my friends… One thing led to another and I am pretty much only trusting my folks and one other person I could count on.”
“Do you… trust me Coal?” she asked, looking up to the charcoal stallion with hope in her eyes as he hesitated to respond.
“Well, Shy, I trust you a lot more than I trust my former friends. I mean, you practically saved my life. It’s just difficult for me to put trust in strangers, but I am willing to trust you, Fluttershy. Because I can just feel that you’re a good person,” he replied, smiling as he patted the pegasus on the head. “Anyways, we should get going right? Got a party to attend, right?”
Seeing the pegasus smile in return as she nodded in agreement made Marcus feel a bit more willing to get to know her and the townsfolk just a bit more. However, Marcus knew for a fact that he can’t exactly get used to the peaceful and quiet life here in Ponyville for very long. He still had a bargain to fulfill for Death after all.
I’ll need to be careful when sneaking away tonight, the last thing I need is for Fluttershy to find out about my deal with Death and the stones I need to find. Sorry Shy, but I can’t fully trust you just yet… but I hope someday soon, I will.
It hadn’t taken the two very long to make it to Sugarcube Corner, but Marcus did take notice that the lights to the bakery were all out. He couldn’t help but try to hide his snicker as it was very obvious that Pinkie wanted the party to be a surprise party, but it kinda defeats the purpose with her telling him earlier that he was getting a welcome party.
“She does know it’s a Welcome party right? Not a surprise party?” Marcus asked Fluttershy, only receiving a giggle as a response.
“Well, Pinkie tends to take throwing parties very seriously,” Fluttershy answered sheepishly. He could tell that she was being serious about Pinkie and her love for parties.
“Huh, it must be difficult having to plan parties by herself, right?” he asked.
"It’s nothing you really have to worry about Coal, Pinkie loves to throw parties for everypony, and she always loves to go big," Fluttershy explained, leading the stallion to the front entrance of the bakery.
Once the two made it inside, the lights suddenly turned on and a bunch of ponies came out of hiding, with Pinkie appearing in the center of the room, with a large cannon in the center of the room, aimed directly at the large alicorn.
Shit! Is she going to kill me!?!? Marcus thought to himself as he quickly dove to the ground with his hooves over his head as the pink earth pony, fired the cannon of… confetti?
“SURPRISE!!!!” Everypony shouted, as they all looked at the newcomer, who was stunned and confused.
“Huh?!” was all Marcus could utter as he looked at the ponies staring at him. As if he was the odd one in the room, and as he turned to Fluttershy, he was surprised to see her trying to suppress her laughter.
“You okay there, Coala?” Pinkie asked, suddenly appearing next to him as she helped him to his hooves.
“Yeah. Just for a moment I thought you were going to blast me to kingdom come,” Marcus answered as he stood up, only for the ponies around him to start laughing, including the party pony herself.
“That’s just my party cannon! It’s my own personal invention that I use to help set up for parties!” she explained, grinning at the charcoal pony and pulling him to the center of the room suddenly. “Now, LET’S PARTY!!!”
“WOOOHOOOO!!!” Everypony cheered as disco lights came on and what Marcus assumed to be the local DJ began to play music and ponies began to dance. He tried to find Fluttershy so that he could talk with her, but he was quickly pulled further into the crowd by Pinkie.
“Coal! Come on, it’s time for you to let loose and shake your tail!!!” she shouted, shaking her hips back and forth before she started to break dance, surprising the alicorn.
Seeing that everyone was having fun, Marcus couldn't help but join in on the fun. Even if his dancing skills were crap compared to everyone else. However, that didn't stop Pinkie from grabbing his hooves and trying to show him how to dance.
“Come on Coala!!! Follow the leader!~” Pinkie sang as she began to do a simple back and forth with her hooves to help get him started.
“I-I’m trying Pinkie!” Marcus answered as he tried to keep up with the pink earth pony. But, due to how crowded it was, and how big he was, it was very difficult. Afterdancing for what seemed like forever to the stallion, Marcus couldn't help but feel parched and decided to make his way over to where the punch bowl was.
“Coaly, where are you going?!” Pinkie asked.
“Just getting a drink Pinkie, I’ll be right back!”
Marcus reached out for a cup of fruit punch, only for it to be taken quickly by none other than Sombra himself, who gave a smug look to the large stallion as he chugged down the fruity drink that he wanted to quench his thirst. Marcus could already tell that the former King of the Crystal Empire wanted to pick a fight with him.
“Enjoying yourself, fool?”
“I was until you swiped that cup of punch that I was reaching for, but you don’t exactly look like you’re having a good time yourself,” Marcus replied, glaring at the gray unicorn as he grabbed another cup of punch on the table.
“Tch! As if I’d have a good time mingling among these filthy commoners!”
“You do realize that one of those commoners is your friend, right?” he asked, rhetorically of course, but the gray unicorn didn’t stop there and continued to rant on.
“If you are referring to that pink nuisance, then you are mistaken! Like I’d call that annoying menace my friend. She’s merely an obstacle that I’ll get rid of once I regain my full power!” Sombra declared, causing Marcus to stiffen suddenly. His eyes widened as his brows furrowed.
“Is that really what you think of Pinkie?! I may not have known her for very long, but I could tell that she genuinely cares about you,” Marcus explained, but received a grunt in response.
“Please, she’s better off sticking with her own friends, not that any of them are worth a damn. They all deserve to rot in the pits of Tartarus for placing me under the guard of an ignorant Princess, and having an annoying, childish, stupid mare, who believes smiling and laughter can redeem me! She’s by far the worst this town has to offer!”
Once Sombra’s rant was finished, Marcus could feel something bubbling up inside of him. His gut ran hot with fury and he could feel his heart pumping at an accelerated rate.
“Seriously, what’s your fucking problem!? I may not know who you are and I may have only been here for a day, but these ponies, I can already tell that they have done nothing wrong! And Pinkie Pie is by far one of the sweetest girls I’ve met and I feel sorry that she's friends with a jerk like you!” Marcus yelled. Thankfully no one heard him raise his voice at the former tyrant due to the loud music.
“If you really are a King, you were probably a terrible one to begin with!”
“How dare you! You think you have the right to speak to me that way!?” Sombra shouted, gaining everypony’s attention now. Even though this was something that Marcus had hoped to avoid, he felt that putting his hoof down on this arrogant unicorn was more important.
“I do, cause I’m not being a total jackass!!!” he shouted.
Everypony gasped at his language, but that didn’t seem to shock the gray unicorn. No, far from it. Sombra visibly clenched his jaw harder as a vein made itself known on his forehead.
“You certainly have a filthy mouth, peasant! You’d do well to remember your place-”
“Remember my place!? Last I checked, you aren’t the King of anything anymore! Maybe the King of Morons!” Marcus shouted, gritting his teeth as he began to stare down the former tyrant. Before things could escalate any further, however, Pinkie Pie immediately jumped between the two of them, her front hooves bopping the two on their noses.
“That’s enough of that you sillies! We’re here to party, not be all grumpy now! So why don’t we all just-”
“Enough! I’ve tolerated your insufferable existence long enough! It’s bad enough that I have to spend an hour going on walks everyday, but being forced to attend these ridiculous parties that are for foals is too much! I truly hate you!!!” Sombra shouted.
Pinkie’s reaction was something Marcus hadn’t seen since he met her. It was there for only a moment, but clearly visible to him. Pinkie’s smile truly disppeared.
“I-I just-” Pinkie started, but the words wouldn’t come out as tears began to form in her eyes. She tried and failed several times to restore her signature smile to her face, but each time her lips would drop, again and again.
She turned to run out the door.
Marcus turned his gaze towards Fluttershy, who looked as stunned as everypony else. He barely knew the pink pony, but seeing tears in her eyes made him want to go help her. He wasn’t sure why, but he made a promise to his father that he’d help those in need.
Just as Marcus was about to follow after the party pony, he was suddenly overcome by some strange force and held in place, only able to move his eyes. He could already tell that the aura that surrounded him was completely different from Rarity’s, but not from just the color, but the feeling of constriction that surrounded him. It was strange to him that he could tell from the feeling behind it.
However, he soon came face to face with an alicorn with a lavender coat. She was a lot smaller than what he had envisioned. However, Marcus knew better than to piss off the Princess of Magic and an Element wielder. Especially since Fluttershy did share a few stories about her adventures with her friends before coming to the party.
"What did you do!?!" the alicorn shouted in anger as she brought the two stallions in front of her. Marcus felt like he was getting blamed for something he didn’t do and tried to speak up.
"Princess, I was just trying to defend Pinkie from this jerk next to me-" Marcus started, only for a zipper to appear over his mouth and suddenly zip shut.
"Ha! Serves you right, peasant!" Sombra mocked, only for him to be lifted into the air by the same magical aura and be flipped upside-down.
"PUT ME DOWN!!!"
With both stallions in her grasp, she held them up high with her magic before dropping the two to the ground forcefully. With Sombra landing on his face and Marcus landing on his back.
Geez, the princess is terrifying! Marcus thought to himself as he staggered, trying to stand up. He could always make a run for it, but he knew that he didn’t do anything wrong.
"Coal didn’t do anything wrong Twilight!" he heard Fluttershy’s voice and immediately turned his head around to see the yellow pegasus come out of the crowd of ponies. "Coal was just defending Pinkie Pie, not hurting anyone!"
Marcus couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed, but he was glad Fluttershy defended him.When he looked at the lavender alicorn, she looked more surprised than he was.
When she finally turned to face the charcoal alicorn in disguise, she glared at him, still unsure. "Is she telling the truth?"
"Yes, this son of- Er…this jerk here was insulting Pinkie, and I was just defending her," Marcus started. “I was just getting some punch before I ran into this guy, and the next thing I know, he bad-mouths everyone, then he starts talking crap about Pinkie. I just lost my cool and started yelling back at him. Pinkie came to try and defuse the situation and that’s when this jerk made her cry and she ran off.”
With a nod, Twilight allowed Marcus to leave while she continued to scold Sombra. Sombra’s shouted threats after Marcus fell on deaf ears. Helping Pinkie Pie was more important right now.
It took a bit of wandering around aimlessly to try and track the party pony down. It wasn’t until he heard the sound of sobbing that he was able to find the pink earth pony sitting on a bridge, looking down into the river that resided there. Seeing her like that reminded him of this girl back home that was crying. With a small breath, he approached her.
"Heyyy, you okay there, Pinkie?" Marcus asked.
Pinkie looked up at him, surprised.
"O-oh, hey Coaly…sniff… What are you doing here?" she whimpered.
"Looking for you, dork. Why else would I be out here?" Marcus asked sarcastically as he gave her a warm smile to try and cheer her up.
"B-but, your party-"
"It can wait, I'm not exactly the biggest fan of parties, anyway," he explained, hearing the pink party pony gasp as she wiped away her tears.
"What!? But parties are so much fun! Especially when you have friends, family, tasty food and desserts, and dancing! What's not to love about them!?!" she shouted, earning a chuckle from Marcus.
"Exactly, you’d think I'd have a good time with my newest friend running out on a party and leaving me with a bunch of strangers? So far, only Fluttershy, you, and Rarity have really treated me kindly, and welcomed a complete stranger like me into your town. Hell, you threw a welcome party for me, and I only talked to you for like… three minutes, well you talked, I think got like six words out, but I could already tell you were a good person at heart.
"Honestly, I was surprised and I'm glad I met all of you. It's been difficult coming here, adjusting to this new life here, but one thing I learned from my parents is that you should always help those in need and I couldn't stand by and let that asshole bad mouth you, especially when you were being nice to him. Speaking of which, why are you nice to him? He’s done nothing but insult you."
“Oh, it’s a really, really, really long story, but I was actually supposed to help him, and I… I kinda fell for him. He does have a good side, he has his own way of showing it, you know? I’ve just- I want to help him, and I know I can reach him if I try,” she explained to Marcus with a hopeful loon in her eyes, while Marcus only raised an eyebrow.
Marcus couldn’t really find the words to respond to what the party pony had just said. Actually, he did have some words on his mind, but they weren’t exactly kind towards the gray unicorn who had insulted his new friend. He could understand, though, about falling in love with someone. Sometimes others won't exactly understand the reasons and sometimes you don't have to understand.
"I can't say I understand what you see in a guy like that, but sometimes love is something you don't have to understand. So all I can say is continue to be yourself and maybe someday he'll see just how amazing you are," Marcus explained, seeing Pinkie just stare at him in disbelief.
"Now, I think you should go back to the party, your friends are waiting for you. That Princess was really pissed at both me and that Sombra guy. She looked like she was going to kill us."
"Don’t you worry your cute head, Coaly, Twilight is one of the nicest and bestest ponies around. I'll make sure Twilight doesn't do anything to you!" she assured, hugging Marcus suddenly before pulling away and began hopping back towards Sugarcube Corner. She turned her head back towards Marcus for a moment.
"Are you coming, Coaly?"
"Actually, I'm going to be heading back to Fluttershy’s, I actually need to grab a few things and find a place to stay for the time being," he responded.
"Gasp!!!! I just had the best idea, EVVVEEEERRRR!!!" she shouted. A rich and vibrant smile was now plastered on her face. It was something that Marcus couldn’t help but smile back at.
Pinkie really has a nice smile, I'm glad I was able to help her out at least. Now I know I didn't wander too far out of the forest, but just in case I shouldn't stay there too long, the last thing I need is for Fluttershy to worry. Especially when she spent so much time taking care of my wounds. The longest I'll stay is an hour at most.
"You can stay in the guest bedroom at Sugarcube Corner! I'm sure the Cakes won't mind! And we could always use an extra set of hooves if you're interested in making some bits?" she asked, as the charcoal stallion was still lost in his thoughts.
"Huh, oh yeah sure, definitely, Pinks," Marcus replied, unaware as to what he just said. Pinkie blushed a little in response, but that didn’t stop her from leaping into the air with joy.
"This is gonna be so awesome! I can't wait to tell everypony!" She shouted, giving Marcus the biggest smile he had ever seen.
"Huh!? Wait a minute Pinkie-Gah!" he started before feeling a throbbing pain in his head, causing him to collapse to the ground. Waves of pain lashed out at him like a violent monsoon, forcing a groan from his throat.
He could hear it… a sound so distant, resonant, discordant. It was haunting yet strangely beautiful, like forbidden temptation if it were given a tune to be heard. It reminded Marcus of music from a flute, but no flute he’d ever heard could hope to match this melody pulsing through his head!
Vwoooom…Vwoooom… Vwoooom…
What… What is this? It feels like my head’s vibrating and being pounded all at once… That noise… where is that coming from? He thought, grasping his head within his hooves as Pinkie started to panic.
"Coaly! Are you okay!?" Pinkie worried, “Here, lemme help you up.”
As Pinkie did that, Marcus grimaced from the discordant chord as it continued to vibrate the inside of his skull. But once he was on his hooves, the pain stopped. Marcus’ mind went blank, and he stood there as if he were in a trance.
“Coaly…? You okay?” Pinkie asked tentatively, her ears folded back.
Marcus didn’t answer her. Instead, he answered the call of the music. Though the pounding vibration had ceased, it still graced his ears. Or was it only in his head? Either way, he turned towards the direction it felt like it was coming from, and began to walk.
“Coaly? Coaly, you shouldn’t go in there!” Pinkie hopped after him, “It’s not safe, especially if you don’t know your way around!”
Marcus ignored her. The only thought he had at the moment was answering the music. It beckoned him. It called to him. He had to answer.
“Coaly! I can’t let you go any further- Ow!” Pinkie had tried to stand in Marcus’ way, only for him to shove her aside with his shoulder.
She rushed out to stand in his way again, “Coaly, I’m serious! Oof!”
Again, Marcus pushed her aside. It wasn’t in a way that conveyed malice of any kind. Rather, it was more matter-of-fact, as if to say ‘nothing is going to stop me.’
Pinkie furrowed her brows and pulled out a rope, “Time to get serious…”
And nothing would.
She also pulled out a hammer and peg from the eternal depths of her mane, tying one end of the rope to the peg and hammering it into the ground, and then forming the other end into a lasso.
Thanks for those roping lessons, AJ, Pinkie thought to herself before she YEE-HAW’d and threw her lariat over Marcus’s head. The rope went taught once it tightened around him.
“Yes! Ah roped ya, lil’ do…ggy?” Pinkie’s triumphant moment quickly turned to unease.
Though he still seemed to be in a trance, Marcus stopped and gazed over his shoulder at Pinkie with a blank look, as if staring straight through her. He then furrowed his brows… and YANKED!!!
“WHOOOAAA!!!” Pinkie screamed as she held on, and found herself whirling around in the air before a sudden jerk threw her into a nearby bush.
Freeing himself of the rope, Marcus continued while Pinkie untangled herself from the foliage and groaned, “He’s not gonna make this easy, but I can still follow him.”
And follow Pinkie did. This time, however, she just stuck close, realizing the more she tried to stop him the more Marcus would fight her off. I just hope wherever he’s going, it’s nothing scary…!
After what must have been around an hour of trudging their way through the Everfree, finally they emerged and Pinkie saw they had come to a large clearing. Ahead of them was a large hill, and on the side of the hill… was a cave.
There was no grass around the mouth of the cave. In fact, it looked like the ground had been scorched by something, leaving an unfortunate scar on mother nature. But there was something else…
Pinkie Pie was an earth pony. All ponies had magic of some kind, not just unicorns, and Pinkie herself was a very unusual earth pony indeed. Therefore, it made perfect sense when her body suddenly began to shiver in its entirety. Uh-oh! Something’s about to happen… and it’s gonna be a doozy…!
Marcus kept going until he stood a few yards away from the mouth of the cave.
Vwooom… Vwooom… Vwooom…
It still won’t shut up… it’s getting louder. I must be close now. Marcus thought as he made his way inside the cave. It was dark at first, but as he continued to make his way through, he saw a dim light. It grew brighter and brighter until he entered a very large opening full of gold, chests, and books.
What the fuck!? Is that?
Standing at the center of the room, was a pedestal, and, laying upon a velvet cushion atop it, a blue gem sat, glowing brightly. That’s what had been giving off the humming sound that he had been hearing. Was this what he was supposed to look for? Was this one of the Infinity Stones that he’s been tasked by Death herself to find and collect?
It was a large gem, even bigger than a ripe apple ready for picking. Its color was of a deep bright blue that could be seen in the daytime sky. It was rough, uncut, and yet glimmered and sparkled with a luster like those of distant stars.
This is the first step to fulfilling my end of the deal with Death. The first step… to getting my life back!
Just as he was about to reach for the stone, he was struck suddenly and sent crashing into the wall. Feeling that pain, reminded him of when he was struck by that car in his previous life, but he was still awake, he was still alive, just in pain.
“COALY!!!” Pinkie ran over to Marcus, fretting over him.
Before she could reach him, however, they heard a soft yet distinct growl from the deeper parts of the pitch-black cave.
“That was a friendly warning,” the voice spoke, its timbre guttural and soft, “so do yourself a favor and get out before my next warning is not so friendly.”
“Not… without that stone,” Marcus replied, noticing the jacket he had on was torn badly from the impact. “I literally just got this today, sorry, Rarity.”
He ripped off the jacket, and threw it to the side, revealing his wings for all to see. Pinkie could only stand there, staring at him in complete shock.
Coaly’s a PRINCE!? NO WAY!!
“That stone is not for the likes of you…” The voice made itself known by a pair of blazing silvery-blue eyes, glowing in the dark. They were large with reptilian pupils, narrowed and fierce.
“It is an object of great power, and deserving of someone more than you, thief!”
“Exactly, but unfortunately I need that stone!” he yelled, running towards the presence, despite being unable to see them.
“You were warned…” the voice snarled. A burst of magical light launched out of the darkness, striking Marcus head-on, and sending him for a loop.
However, that didn’t stop him from pushing forward, Marcus wasn’t sure what he was going to do when he got close, but a ring of blue fire ignited around the pedestal and the stone, halting Marcus in his tracks.
He heard a deep breath, and instinct spurred him to jump back. In doing so, he dodged a fireball of blazing blue, scorching the cave floor of where he’d just stood.
Wait… breathing… fire!? Marcus suddenly had an idea of what he was facing, but he had no time to speculate further as something lashed out from the darkness. He just barely avoided it while at the same time recognizing it as what hit him the first time. It was a tail!
The tail retracted back into the darkness, and Marcus sensed something to his left. It reminded him of the feeling of Rarity and Twilight’s magic, and he reacted, spreading his wings and wrapping them around himself. As he did so, a blast, not of fire, but of magic, struck him!
It felt similar to being hit by a large water balloon, bursting as its energy soaked him with a tingling sensation that dulled the feeling in his body. Once he landed back on the ground, Marcus was alarmed by how weak he felt, how his limbs and even his wings felt like they were suddenly asleep.
“Paralysis spell,” the voice snarled, but sounded intrigued, “let’s see if you deserve my stone and those wings!”
Something moved in the dark that sounded like sails unfurling… and then a heavy drag through the air as a powerful gust of wind was unleashed! Marcus furrowed his brows and struggled to move, but was helpless as the beat of massive wings continued to blow against him like the force of a hurricane.
I gotta shake off this spell, but how!? Marcus thought as he struggled desperately to move his body even as he was sliding and rolling along the cave floor. Come on! Move, damn it! I am not dying a second time!! MOVE!!!
Suddenly, his horn was surrounded by a bright purple hue and magic began to erupt in all directions, creating a shockwave. The purple magic spread over his body like a second skin, mixing with the magic afflicting him… and then shattered and broke away from his form like glistening fragments of energy that dissipated into nothing! With a deep breath, he flexed his hoof.
“Wha, I can move again?” Coal felt the feeling in his body return. The sensation of pain and cold from his bruises, from the dark and dreary dampness of the cave, and the tingling washed away.
How did I even do that? Was that…my magic? Before Marcus could get another thought in, the voice drew his attention once again.
“Impressive,” the voice growled, sounding sincere, its eyes glowing with intrigue instead of menace, “you broke my spell. Perhaps those wings and that horn aren’t for show, are they, ‘your highness’?”
“I’m not a prince, just a guy trying to make his way in this strange world,” Marcus replied, glaring into the eyes of his shadowy foe. He could feel himself getting annoyed when the presence chuckled ever so softly.
“Stop skulking in darkness and face me like a ma- Er… Like a whatever you are!” he shouted, realizing just how stupid that sounded coming out of him.
“I’m good, thank you…” the presence growled, “but I’m not convinced of whether or not you deserve this stone! I discovered it after I made my home here, and sensed it was an object of great power; that it could be used to do good… or evil.
“I’ll spare you the usual taunts and give you another chance to get out of here. Alicorn or not, you’re not getting this stone unless I permit it!”
“And I said, I’m not leaving without that stone!” Marcus shouted, moving in a zig-zag motion to try and be as unpredictable as possible. Using his wits, he picked up a small chest on the ground full of gold coins and threw it in the direction of his foe to divert his attention as he made a quick dash to the stone.
With his vision suddenly blocked by the coins, the presence launched a ball of fire in a random direction in hopes of hitting the alicorn. Marcus was able to evade the ball of fire, watching it fly by him until he finally noticed her in the corner of his eye. Pinkie Pie was about to be hit by the attack. So, with all his might and a defiant cry, he stopped himself, made a sharp turn, and launched himself forward, desperately flapping his wings to reach her in time.
There was nowhere for Pinkie to run. She was too distracted watching this kind pony trying so hard to take a glowing rock for some reason. She had only sat there and asked herself ‘Why?’ Why go through all this trouble for a rock? However, sitting and staring was all she could do and now, she was about to get roasted alive. Normally she’d get out of the way, or her tail would usually twitch, but for some reason, she couldn’t move!
She closed her eyes, expecting to get hit.
“PINKIE!” She heard Marcus shout. She opened her eyes to see her new friend jump in front of her, his wings spread out as he took the full force of the fireball to his back, burning his fur and flesh off. “*Cough* Pink… Pinkie… are you okay?”
“COAL! WHY’D YOU DO THAT!? WHY?! YOU-” Pinkie wailed in abject horror. She wanted to reprimand him, but before she could, what happened next caused her to gawk at him.
*CRUNCH* *CRUNCH*
SZZZZZZZZ~
She watched as his wings, back, and fur began to rapidly grow back, his burns vanishing to reveal healthy skin that was quickly covered with a lustrous coat.
Pinkie was struck dumb, but the presence in the dark voiced the question in her head first, “How is this possible!?”
The entity could only look on, stunned but also intrigued by this pony.
Pinkie looked to the presence, who kept to the shadows, but his silvery-blue eyes were wide. His reptilian pupils were now rounded, no longer fierce and narrow.
The pain had abated, but his body was still sore and felt tender, even with his restored flesh and fur. Coal grunted and groaned as he brought his hooves back under him while ignoring Pinkie’s pleas to stay still. The alicorn flared his wings and horn, and pawed the ground with his hoof.
“I will get that stone, but leave my friends out of it. This is between you and me, and I won’t let innocent bystanders get hurt during our squabble,” Coal furrowed his brows as he spoke with unwavering conviction. He was about to march towards this strange creature, but suddenly he felt a pair of hooves grab hold of his foreleg.
“Coaly… please stop? I don’t want my friend to get hurt anymore,” Pinkie said, sounding on the verge of sobbing, her poofy mane deflating like a balloon losing its air.
Marcus wanted to stop if it meant Pinkie wouldn’t be sad anymore, but this itch, this feeling, this desire! To just grab that stone was all but overwhelming!
“I have misjudged you.”
Marcus and Pinkie turned to look at the presence again, its eyes now looking remorseful, before the presence finally stepped out of the shadows and confirmed Marcus’ suspicions.
“I was right, you are a dragon!” he exclaimed, and though he was a little excited to meet a real dragon, he found himself a tad disappointed.
The dragon stood upright. Its arms, huge imposing wings, and his rock-like scales were a beautiful sapphire blue. He had a pair of black horns, frill-like ears, and black hair in a wild mane that trailed down his spine all the way to the tip of his tail in a tuft. His wings’ membranes were black as well, and his underbelly was a pale blue. He wore a large leather bag hanging from his shoulder and resting on his opposite hip. Marcus couldn’t help but notice that this dragon, while large, was not as large as he’d expected. And he was also rather fat. Not morbidly obese, just dumpy-looking, apart from his chest and arms, which sported some strong muscle.
“Yes, I’m a dragon. Not exactly the scariest specimen, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a dragon as skilled in magic as me,” the dragon huffed while crossing his arms and letting out a puff of smoke.
Clearing his throat, he gave a courteous bow of his head, “My name is Midnight Blaze, formerly of the Dragon Lands.”
“Formerly?” echoed Marcus.
“Formerly,” the dragon, Midnight, confirmed, “I’m an outcast… When I was growing up, I was always fascinated with magic and devoted my time and attention to studying it. As my skills and knowledge in the mystic arts grew, I couldn’t help but notice how… lacking my kind’s culture was.
“Dragons are, by and large, motivated by strength and power, as well as wealth and reputation. We fight each other for the best hunting grounds, over our hordes of treasure, territory, or any excuse at all to fight and prove our mettle by dominating each other. I wanted to change our ways, see us grow and progress. I tried to convince other dragons to embrace new ways, to become more than boulder-headed ‘might makes right’ savages!”
Midnight turned away, sighing as he leaned against a natural pillar of rock, “But none of them ever listened to me… either they ignored me or they bullied and derided me. Finally, I decided if a regular dragon wouldn’t sway them perhaps the Dragon Lord could! I challenged the Dragon Lord, thinking with my magic, I could beat him easily, take over, and impose change. I overestimated my abilities and underestimated his power. I lost. Badly. But the Dragon Lord, rather than kill me, chose to banish me from the Dragon Lands.”
“So you… wound up here, how?” asked Marcus.
“Not many places a dragon outcast can go…” Midnight sighed as he sat down on his large backside, “I’d always heard Equestria was a friendly place, but it turned out to be wrong.”
“What?! But Equestria is the funnest, friendliest place around,” Pinkie popped up, “and Ponyville’s the friendliest town in Equestria! How-how-how-how-HOW could you say that it’s not?!”
Midnight gave Pinkie a weirded-out look, and then one to Marcus, who just shrugged. So Midnight explained, “I tried to fit into an Equestrian community. It didn’t end well. So, I came to the Everfree, having heard it’s someplace where ponies rarely go, and settled here. I made this cave my home and just… lived here alone. I got sad, lonely, felt like a failure, and I…”
Marcus noticed Midnight self-consciously rubbing his belly, and got the idea, “You stress-ate?”
Midnight whimpered, sounding so embarrassed, and nodded. But then he went on and said, “One day, I sensed something, and it turned out to be this stone.”
He pointed to the stone on the pedestal, “I could tell right away it possessed great power, and that it was dangerous! I tried one time to see if I could harness it but I lost control and saw its energy lash out and warp a huge tree to where it looked like a giant pretzel! So, I felt the best thing I could do was protect it from those who might find it and abuse it.”
Midnight gave a sorrowful look to the two ponies, and said, “I lost my temper and almost hurt your friend, who you protected without hesitation! I am sorry for the harm I caused and the harm I almost did. I still have my doubts about you, alicorn, but I think you can be trusted with this stone.”
The stone was enveloped in a turquoise aura that matched the magical aura pouring out of Midnight’s eyes, and the stone floated over to Marcus, to his surprise, as Midnight declared, “It’s yours. I hope you understand the burden I am entrusting you with.”
“I understand. I promise to take care of it,” he assured, taking it in his hoof and grasping it tightly.
I have it… The first one of six, but which one is it? He asked himself, but before he could dwell on it any further, the stone started to glow suddenly, enveloping both Pinkie and himself and the two were suddenly warped out of the cave before they could say anything else, leaving the dragon alone with his thoughts.
Heh, good luck young ponies, you're going to need it.
A loud and ornery growl gurgled from Midnight’s belly, shaking with hunger. He had to pat it to calm his stomach down. He shrugged before thinking, Time to feed the beast, and made his way out of his cave to go hunt.
Marcus and Pinkie suddenly landed on a nearby cliff in a large mountain of snow faces first somewhere in the Frozen North. He wasn’t sure how they got there, but one thing he needed to make sure of was that Pinkie was okay. Especially since a lot has happened in such a short amount of time.
“H-Hey, Pinks, are you-oof!” He was suddenly cut off by a death gripping hug from the pink pony. Feeling her shiver from the cold.
“Well, f-for nn-ow, let’s try to f-find a way back-” Marcus was suddenly cut off by the stone glowing once more and warping the two ponies once more.
The two suddenly landed in a cabbage cart somewhere in Ponyville. Marcus landed face first into the cabbages and Pinkie smashed into his backside.
“Ow…”
“Oops! Sorry Coaly, I wasn't expecting that to happen.”
“N-Neither was I… It’s only my back you’ve broken… nothing important,” he said sarcastically. His hoof was still clinging tightly to the stone as it continued to glow brightly, humming as it was about to activate again. Oh, for fucks sake!
As soon as they vanished, an earth pony with a green hat appeared. His Jaw dropping at the horror he's witnessed.
"MY CABBAGES!!!"
Once again, the two had warped to a different location, and once again, both landonded on one another. Pinkie hopped off of him, feeling dizzy all of a sudden. Marcus sat up to look around immediately recognizing where they were.
This is the forest Death dropped me into! My things are here! Marcus thought, scrambling to his hooves as he ran towards the crater he had made when he oh so graciously landed before.
There he saw his things inside the crater: a brown backpack, with his headphones hanging on the side of it, undamaged somehow. And there beside it, he saw a silver brace with six slots at the center of it. Looking at the stone in his hoof, he had a good idea about what that brace was for.
However, before he could go down to the crater, he remembered that he wasn’t alone. Pinkie appeared beside him, finally over her dizziness. He knew that he couldn't hide what he was or what he was really after. The best thing he could do was come clean to her or at the very least fill in the gaps for her.
"Hey, Pinkie… look, I know this was a crazy night, but I need you to keep this to yourself, please?" He asked, avoiding eye contact with her as he recalled those earlier events. He had completely ignored her and ran off to the forest and literally picked a fight with a dragon. What makes it worse is that one of his first friends could have gotten hurt because of his stupid urge to take a magic rock. “I can’t give you all the details about what I’m doing, but this stone here is important to my quest. To finding my place in this world. I just want you to know that I’m terribly, terribly, sorry.”
"Coaly, I may not know why you did what you did, or why you need that shiny magic rock, ” She paused, trying to think of what to say next to the stallion. “But, you have to Pinkie Promise me that you won’t run off like that again. I was honestly scared when you got hurt and I don’t like to see my friends in pain or sad. Please, just promise me, pretty please?”
Marcus wanted to say that he promised, and was about to blurt it out when he stopped himself.
I can’t keep that promise
“Pinkie, I can’t keep that promise, that would be like lying to you. My Mom always said to never promise a girl something I can’t keep, and I’m going to stick by that. But, I can promise that if I do end up doing something stupid like that again, I will… do whatever you want for a whole day. How does that sound?” he suggested.
“Okay! But if you're going to do a Pinkie Promise, you have to do it right!”
“Oookay?”
“Repeat after me! Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye! Got it?!”
“Umm… Sure. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye! SHIT! My eye!” He yelled.
“Good, and just so you know Coaly, you can never, ever, ever, EVER! Break a Pinkie Promise! Or ELSE! Okay!” she explained in a tone that reminded him of what Death was supposed to be like. A shiver permeated down his spine as he let out a weak chuckle.
“G-Got it,” he replied, making his way down the crater. He tentatively reached out for the neck brace and placed it around his neck. He looked at the stone in his hoof before looking at the neck brace. The evenly spaced and conveniently shaped holes in it almost made him roll his eyes.
Hopefully this works.
Carefully placing the stone at the top of the brace, he suddenly felt a wave of energy flow through him as light began to illuminate from where he stood to the sky, shining like a beacon. Marcus wouldn’t deny that it felt incredible, this feeling was unlike anything he had felt before in his entire life. He felt his body heating up, his muscles felt more invigorated. He felt a wave of pure relief flow out of him, but at the same time the intense feeling in his body he felt after a long workout at the gym. It was pure adrenaline and it was something he never felt this intensely before. Instinctually, he let himself fall to one knee as his body and mind tried to process what was happening to it.
This is just the power of one of those stones?! This omnipotence is exhilarating, and there’s five more just like this one out there! I want them… I must have them all!I-
“Coaly? A-Are you okay?” Snapping out of his trance, he looked to see Pinkie staring at him with curiosity and…fear?
Oh god, I must look like a creep right now!
“S-Sorry Pinkie, just this felt different is all, you don’t have to worry.” he replied, quickly picking up his satchel and placing it by his side, looking inside to see if everything he had was there.
“So, Coaly, what are you going to call it?! Oh! Is it like my sister’s pet rock?! What’s his name?! Rocko? Rocky?”
“Huh?! W-Wait, that’s the first thing you ask?! Not ‘why was it teleporting us?’ or ‘why did it light up the sky?’ or ‘why does it glow!?’” He asked, gawking at her in disbelief. He’d admit that he’s heard a lot of crazy shit before, but this took the cake.
The stone must have scrambled her brain somehow, there’s no way that would be the first question anyone would ask.
“Well, I was surprised that we were popping in and out of places as we traversed space itself, but I just thought that stone was just super uber special! Since you said it was important to your secret special quest! I figured that it was best not to pry too much until you were ready!” she explained, grinning at him as he just stared at her.
“I am so confused right now, but I think for now we should put a pin in this conversation and try to get back to Ponytown.”
“Ponyville.”
“Gesundheit.”
“Well, I totally agree with you cause the Everfree Forest can be super duper scary at night!”
“What do you m-”
*PING*
Marcus immediately turned to his satchel and reached inside of it to pull out his phone. When his eyes landed on the screen, his eyes widened.
LD Glad you found the first one Marcus but try not to let it go to your head. I’ll be keeping in touch. And remember, you are on a deadline. -Lady Death
Oh fuck me!
Elsewhere…
A mysterious figure stood outside of her home as she saw the bright blue light pierce the sky. Around her neck, a green glow began to hum as it reacted to the light in the distance.
“I see… so the events I had foreseen are changing now. It appears that I’ll have to step in sooner than I anticipated. Whoever you are, I promise that when we meet, I’ll be taking that stone from you. For the sake of Equestria, and for the sake of my son.”
The journey back to Ponyville went off without a hitch, which was saying a lot for Marcus as he expected a lot of things to go wrong. Thankfully, though, it seemed like the universe was throwing him a bone for once. By the time they reached the fountain at the center of Ponyville, he thought that things were going his way.
“OBSIDIAN!”
Or so he thought.
Pinkie told him about the dangers of the Everfree Forest, starting with Timberwolves, Manticores, Hydras, Cockatrices, dangerous plants, and other eldritch horrors. Right now, he was wishing that one of those things would attack him instead. Fluttershy’s intense stare beat down on him like when your Mom catches you playing Super Smash Bros. at 2 A.M. It was a feeling that he knew all too well, forcing him to cower in fear.
“Do you have any idea how worried we’ve all been?!” she bellowed, as Marcus immediately fell on his rump. His ears folded back as he scratched the back of his head.
“W-Well Fluttershy, I know you said ‘Not to go into the forest until my injuries healed,’ which they did by the way! Totally fine now, as you can see! But I needed to go in to get my things, and I didn’t go alone! Pinkie actually was a big help- OW!! OW-OW-OW-OW!” Marcus was cut off by the sudden bite to his left ear. Fluttershy was yanking on it as hard as she could, with Pinkie sitting back… and eating popcorn!?
WHY? AND HOW, PINKIE?!
“I thought you had gotten hurt, or worse! I am so cross with you right now that I could just scream! *GASP* Ahhh!” she shouted.
At least, that’s what Marcus was expecting, but it sounded more like a dying duck than anything resembling a shout.
“I’m sorry, geez! You didn’t have to bite my ear though, you could have ripped it off.”
“I’m… not sorry, you had me worried sick when you and Pinkie didn’t come back to the party.”
“Yeeeaah, about that, it’s a long story.”
“Well, perhaps you’d like to share it with all of us, Obsidian Coal,” Marcus heard, immediately turning to find Princess Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and an orange pony, with apples as a tattoo on her rump and a brown stetson hat sitting atop her golden mane, walking up to them.
“I have half a mind to report you to Princess Celestia, given that you were hiding the fact that you were an alicorn,” she stated.
Oh fuck me!! Marcus grimaced as he flared his wings before he could stop himself. The cat was out of the bag now.
“BUT… seeing that you stood up for Pinkie Pie,” Twilight sighed but spoke with a gentle edge, “I am willing to hear you explain yourself before I decide one way or another.”
“Alright, alright, I’ll be straight with you, Princess,” Marcus started, taking a deep breath as he collected his thoughts. “First off, I’m an alicorn, but I am nooo prince. That much I can promise.
“However, I was sent here to Equestria to look for artifacts concerning my mission. They are the key to finding my place in this world,” he explained. Though, he couldn’t help but shrink when he noticed glares from both the new pony and Rainbow Dash.
"Hey guys, come on! Don't look at him like that! He's a really good guy, Applejack!"
“Alright, calm down Pinkie! We're just concerned is all," The new pony named Applejack, explained. "So, y’all are sayin’ that you came here looking for some fancy trinkets, right? But ya haven’t explained why.”
“All I can say is that finding them is literally key to my survival,” he said, recalling his deadline of ten years.
But I still know nothing of this world…
“That’s not much to give us…” Twilight narrowed her eyes.
“Well, I barely know what these artifacts do myself. All I know is that my survival depends on finding them.”
“For what purpose? And who?” Twilight pressed.
“Can’t say for certain, but one moment I was living a normal life, the next I’m dropped from the sky into the… Everfree Forest, right, Pinkie?”
“That’s right! You remembered!”
“That’s all I can recall at the moment,” he replied, giving his best poker face.
Applejack narrowed her eyebrows, “Yer lyin’,” she stated, “or at least by omission.”
“Obsidian Coal, I am giving you a chance to be candid and you’re already sticking your hoof in your mouth,” Twilight warned.
“Well, even if I could tell you, I can’t! I’ve already lost everything! This is a second chance at starting over!” he argued, tears starting to form in his eyes. He wasn’t sure whether Death actually meant what she said about turning to dust, but he already lost one life to a maniac.
Not again, not ever again…
“J-Just… I can’t… I can’t explain it, but this mission… it’s the only chance I have left! To live a full life, to- …to be happy…”
The mares were all surprised, especially when they saw Marcus shed tears from his eyes. Seeing the fear he had, really made them feel sympathy. Twilight’s ears folded back, and she opened her mouth to speak, but she was cut off.
“Leave him alone! Coaly hasn’t done anything wrong, guys! He’s one of the nicest ponies I’ve ever met. He even stood up to Sombry when he was being really mean to me. It’s not fair for you to judge him when you don’t even know him!” Pinkie protested.
Now it was Marcus’ turn to be surprised.
“Pinkie’s right, Coal isn’t a bad pony, I’ve been with him the whole time, and he’s not a bad pony. If he’s not ready to tell us, then we need to respect his decision,” Fluttershy added.
Sighing, Twilight spoke, “I’m… not exactly okay with you keeping secrets from us, but I can tell that you spoke from the heart. If you quite literally can’t tell us, then I suppose, as long as you do no harm, I can accept that.
“However… it still puts me in a difficult position, Coal. You are an alicorn, and whether you claim to be royalty or not, that still casts a spotlight upon you, and I feel Princess Celestia would at the very least offer you some help with that. I won’t force you to see her and I won’t tell her about you. I only ask that you consider going to her for help.”
“...I’ll consider it,” Marcus wiped the tears away, feeling a bit wimpy but relieved at the same time.
“Well, I say we’ve had one doozy of a night! Coaly’s gonna need a place to stay for the time being! OH! That’s right! I offered to let him stay at Sugarcube Corner! We have an extra room he can stay in!” Pinkie offered, jumping up and down.
I completely forgot she did offer that before- Wait? Did I accept that though?
“Coal will be staying with me, actually, Pinkie,” Fluttershy stated, smiling at Marcus.
Why does that smile send a shiver down my spine?
“Well, Coaly already said yes before! Right, Coaly?!”
“Uh…”
“Coal needs more time to recover at my cottage, it’s the best place for him to rest,” Fluttershy started.
“But Coaly’s injuries have already healed! And he said he would LOVE to stay at Sugarcube Corner!” Pinkie countered.
“Well, truth be told I wasn’t-”
“Coal might look okay right now, but I remember he had broken ribs, those don’t heal immediately Pinkie,”
“Well, Twily can heal him with magic right now! Make sure he’s A-okay!”
Why are they fighting about this?
“Well, I did kinda agree to Pinkie’s offer before Fluttershy, though I wasn’t really paying attention at the time,” he explained.
“Lost in your thoughts again?” Fluttershy asked, trotting up to him.
“Yeahhh…”
Letting out a quiet giggle, she could help but smile at him. “You tend to do that quite often, don’t you?”
“It’s a habit that I’m trying to break,”
“Well, if you really want to stay at Pinkie’s place, I won’t stop you, but I want you to come by tomorrow. If that's okay for you, that is?” Fluttershy asked. Marcus knew she meant for him to come by no question. All she wanted was to make sure he was okay.
“YAY!” Pinkie cheered, wrapping her hooves around him and embracing him tightly. “It’ll be like a sleepover! But every night!”
Marcus couldn’t help but let out an awkward chuckle as his cheeks turned slightly red. He wasn’t the biggest fan of human contact. Especially how Pinkie was mushing her cheek to his own, and he started to wonder, What did I just get myself into…?
“Well, I say we should all head home and turn in, especially since somepony’s party ended twenty minutes ago,” Twilight said before she looked to Marcus, “So then, Obsidian, if you’re interested, I would like to discuss some things with you.”
“Like what?” Marcus asked, wary but keeping his tone casual.
“Like what kind of magic you know,” Twilight replied, a sparkle in her eyes, “where you came from, anything at all! We’d just like to get to know you.”
Hoo boy… Marcus was afraid of this. Per Death’s instructions, he couldn’t tell them the specifics of their deal, and he was reluctant to reveal his being from another world and originally another species altogether.
What will they think when I tell them I used to be a human?
“Well, I can definitely say that I can’t use magic, I spent most of my life… magicless,” he replied, scratching the back of his head. “But I’d like to learn at some point. Be the next ‘Gandalf’ you know?”
Twilight stared at Marcus for a split second, confused, before asking with a familiar twinkle in her eyes, “You weren’t always an alicorn, were you?”
“Well, you got me there. This is all still so new to me,” he answered.
“Well, if you’re in need of a magic teacher, Twilight would be perfect for you!” said a young male voice Marcus didn’t recognize.
He turned around and saw a cute, little, purple reptilian guy with green spines, giving Marcus an encouraging smile, “Nopony knows magic like she does, it’s her special talent!”
“Well, uh…hello there,” Marcus gave the little guy a smile, “You’re a talking lizard, aren’t you?”
“Spike the Dragon, at your service,” Spike gave a playful bow along with a friendly stink-eye. He must have heard that one before. “I’m Twilight’s Number One Assistant!”
“He’s practically my little brother,” Twilight confirmed as she went over and gave Spike a warm hug.
“Surprised I’m just noticing you now,” Marcus shrugged, “and… you don’t have wings.”
“From what we know about dragons, they don’t get their wings until they reach a certain age,” Twilight answered.
“I didn’t say anything before because… well, I didn’t want to interrupt things,” Spike wrung his tail a bit before lighting up, “But now we’re all friends here, right?”
“Sure… At least, we’re all cool now, but yeah if she doesn’t mind, I’d like to learn… eventually,” Marcus politely requested, somewhat hesitant.
Spike tilted his head as he noticed the metal brace the alicorn stallion wore around his neck, along with the blue stone on it, giving off a light dim glow. “That’s… a nice gem!”
“Uh, thanks…” Marcus didn’t like the way Spike licked his lips while looking at his stone. “It’s important to me, more than you can know.”
“Well, let’s discuss a good time for us to have a lesson together, but you should probably get settled with Pinkie Pie and the Cakes over at Sugarcube Corner,” Twilight suggested.
“Oh that’s right! I gotta tell Mr. & Mrs. Cake we have a new roomie!” Pinkie realized and she hopped off, singing “La, la-la, la-la…!”
“Well, I suppose this is where we must part ways, Obsidian Coal, it was truly a pleasure to meet you. And I’ll have a new custom-made jacket for you soon darling.” Rarity said, heading off in a different direction.
“Hey! Wait, there’s no need to do that!”
“Can’t hear you!~”
She totally can hear me Marcus thought with a flat look before cracking a smile.
“Hey, Coal, sorry about… what happened earlier today. It wasn’t right of me, so are we cool?” Rainbow Dash asked apologetically.
“Sure, just as long as you don’t kick me into a carrot cart again. I’ll be fine being friends with you,” Marcus replied, waving goodbye to the pegasus.
“Sweet! If you ever need help flying, I’ll be happy to help dude! Have a good night!” she offered, before taking off into the sky as a rainbow trail followed her.
“Y’all have a good night, I’m gonna hit the sack! Nice meetin’ ya, partner!” Applejack said, tipping her hat to him.
“I’ll see you tomorrow then, Coal?” Fluttershy asked with the barest edge in her voice, like a parent reminding one of their chores.
“Yes, Mom,” Marcus responded with playful sarcasm, only to get a cuff on the ear, “Ow!”
“I mean it…” Fluttershy said with a gentle firmness before giving him a smile and then taking her leave.
“You’d better get to Sugarcube Corner and meet with Pinkie Pie and the Cakes,” Twilight suggested and pointed down the street, “Just head that way and make the second right. You’ll know Sugarcube Corner when you see it.”
“Alright, we can talk magic lessons tomorrow or something,” Marcus shrugged.
Twilight nodded and let Spike hop onto her back before saying, “Good night Obsidian Coal! We’ve got a lot to go over, so I hope you’re ready for some learning.”
“Bye, Coal!” Spike waved as Twilight trotted off.
Finally, Marcus was alone.
Feeling exhaustion finally starting to catch up with him, Marcus phew’d and made his way to Sugarcube Corner. Once he made that second right, he chuckled at the sight of the bakery and thought, Yep, It’s quite unmistakable…
Needless to say, when he entered the bakery, Carrot Cake and his wife, Cup Cake, were rather surprised and not exactly pleased Pinkie Pie had invited a stranger - an alicorn no less! - into their home. Marcus honestly didn't think things through when he agreed to live at Sugarcube Corner.
"Um, Hello, I'm Obsidian Coal, it’s nice to meet you all." He waved awkwardly at the couple as they gawked at him.
I guess being an alicorn isn’t exactly normal if they’re just going to keep staring at me.
“Oh, remember how you guys were asking for more help here at the bakery!? Well, Coaly here said, he’s willing to help out here!” Pinkie said, smiling gleefully at the couple.
"Oh, yes! Terribly sorry, Mr. Obsidian, we don't want to come off as rude, but we just weren't expecting this all of a sudden," Mr. Cake said, sweating nervously as he looked up at the charcoal alicorn towering over him.
"It’s fine, I would be cautious too if our positions were reversed. Anyways, I know my words might not mean much, but I'll do what I can to help you guys out. Pay for rent so I'm not a freeloader here." Marcus explained calmly so as not to intimidate them.
"Well, we'll certainly talk more about this in the morning, but for now, I'll need to put-" Mrs. Cake was suddenly cut off by her twin foals, Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake, who took a shine to Marcus as they suddenly leaped onto him.
“Ooh! This one’s going in the scrapbook!” Pinkie Pie pulled up a camera and took a photo of Pumpkin Cake on Marcus’s back, chewing on his ear while Pound Cake clutched the stallion’s face. Marcus couldn’t help himself from smiling ear to ear.
“Um! Uh! Help!?” Marcus chuckled, wincing just a bit because Pumpkin was teething.
“Alrighty, dearies, it’s past your bedtimes anyway,” Cup Cake and Carrot Cake collected their foals, who made just a little fuss until Marcus gave them each a tickle on their tummy, and they too felt the long day as they yawned, the sight of it melting Marcus’s heart.
“G’night, little guys,” he whispered to them.
“I got them,” Carrot took Pumpkin from Cup Cake and carried both foals to their room.
“Now, let’s get you settled in, dear,” Cup Cake offered, “There’s a guest room upstairs, but… I’m not sure if the bed is big enough for you.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine, thank you for the hospitality. I’ll be sure to do my part and help out where I can.” Marcus stated, bowing his head to Mrs. Cake.
“Oh my, Pinkie didn’t mention you were such a gentlecolt,” She smiled, bowing her head to him. “Just try not to make too much noise, so you don’t wake up the foals.”
“Um, I’ll try not to?” he answered, raising a brow in confusion as she began giggling for some strange reason. “Have a good night.”
“Good night, Coal, we’ll discuss details about you starting work here in the morning,” she replied.
As he made his way upstairs, Pinkie came out of a room, smiling as she hopped over towards him. “Heya, Coaly! Everything’s ready for you!”
“Thanks, Pinks, for everything.”
“No problem Coaly, and I know you don’t want to tell them about that rock thingy, but promise me that you will eventually?” she asked, looking up at him and seeing her pleading eyes, made him just want to make her happy.
“I’ll-I mean, I’ll tell everyone about my mission when I’m ready, but I am glad that at least someone knows a bit about what’s going on,” Marcus replied, before he was suddenly hugged. It wasn’t a tight-squeezy, excitable hug. It was… nice. Soft, caring, and gentle.
“Have a good night Coaly! I’ll see you in the morning!”
“Goodnight Pinks.” he said, entering his room and closing the door. Now that he was finally alone, Marcus decided to take the time to look around his temporary room. The floor creaked with every step he made as he made his way towards what looked like a full-size bed, beside it a small nightstand and a lamp.
It's not a lot, but I'm not complaining.
Tossing his bag next to the bed, he plopped down face first onto the bed, turned on his back and just laid there. Staring at the ceiling as he began to recollect the events that happened.
I found the first stone, but I had to lie about everything to everyone. Especially to Fluttershy and Pinkie, those two deserve the truth.
*Ping*
Reaching into his bag, he pulled out his phone and noticed another text from Death.
LD Hope you enjoyed your first day in the new world. Remember that I'll be checking on you periodically, so make sure you keep your phone close. Remember why you are there, and what your goal is.
Me I know, but you need to explain to me how I found it. Cause I have no idea what happened?
LD I'll explain everything to you sometime next week, I am busy after all. So be patient and get into a routine. After all, you are going to be here for a while now.
Me Got it.
That was the final thing he texted before going to bed. Surprising even himself, sleep wasn’t far off once he closed his eyes.
“Coal, make sure you have those Cupcakes delivered to Carrot Tops’ Birthday Party ASAP! Pinkie already has the other party favors set up,” Carrot Cake called out to him, handing him two boxes.
“I got it, boss!” Marcus replied, grabbing the cupcakes in his hoof.
“I told you to just call me Carrot, Coal.”
“Whatever you say, boss, gotta go.” Coal said, rushing out the door.
It had been a week since he had started working at Sugarcube Corner as their new courier (he preferred to be called that over ‘delivery boy’). Not wanting to freeload off them, he figured he’d help out with the bakery. He wouldn’t admit it to Pinkie, but he greatly enjoyed it.
As he traveled the little town, most ponies, in the beginning, thought it was strange that an alicorn was living there. However, they eventually for the time being at least accepted that he was just a foreigner who had a pair of wings and a horn. Even if they had accepted him as an alicorn, that didn’t mean they weren't uncomfortable.
So he decided to take things slow and focus on helping out at Sugarcube Corner now that the Cakes were getting used to him being around. He'll help out everyone eventually, after all, he's always been helpful to others.
He noticed the florists tending to their flowers and as he waved to them, they started to back away with strained smiles on their faces. He rolled his eyes and continued to make his way toward the address he was given. It took him ten minutes to reach the address by hoof, while also trying to be careful with the baked goods. Once he spotted the party pony setting up the table, he smiled and made his way over. “Hey, Pinks! Special delivery!”
“Thanks, Coaly! Just in time too! After we finish setting up here, we can head back to the bakery! I gotta make one more batch of cookies before I go over to Twilight’s to pick up Sombry!” Pinkie explained.
Marcus frowned and his brows furrowed as he set the cupcakes down on the table.
“Great… Honestly, I don’t know why you're bothering with that guy.”
“Cause, the Princess wants me to reform him!” Pinkie replied cheerfully.
“I just think he wants to keep to himself, he’s not exactly a peo- I mean, a pony person.”
“Oh yeah! I just remembered that Rarity wanted me to give you this new jacket! Since, you know, you lost the other one,” she teased. She really wasn’t going to let him live that down.
Real subtle changing the subject, Pinkie.
“Mmhmm… Thanks for reminding me, Pinks,” he groaned in annoyance. He couldn’t really hold it against her since it was his dumbass thinking that got them into that situation. They had to come up with a convincing story and the excuse was that it got torn badly by some branches, after falling down.
“No problemo! Here, try it on!” She said, pulling a white box out and opening it, revealing a light blue jacket with a white cotton collar.
Rarity has really nice tastes, I'm not exactly stylish, but I like it! He thought, putting the jacket on excitedly.
“So? How do I look?”
“Dashing,” she replied bluntly.
“Huh?”
“I said dashing! You look dashing in the jacket, Coaly!” She said confidently.
“Oh, uh, thanks, Pinks,” He replied, his cheeks turning slightly red.
“No problemo! Anyways, I got everything handled here!” Pinkie offered, setting out the cupcakes on a display tray.
“Are you sure? I mean, I can still help out if you need me.”
“It’s okay, Coaly! You’ve been a big help lately at the bakery! I’ll let Mr. and Mrs. Cakes know that I gave you the rest of the day off. Plus, I know you don’t want to come with me afterward to see Sombry.” Pinkie explained, patting his shoulder, which he understood.
“Well, I am living there, so it's only fair that I pull my own weight at the bakery, but anyways, come get me if you need my help.”
“Okie dokie!”
Well, I guess getting a new coat won’t kill anyone, plus it looks like it’s going to rain today, Marcus thought as he saw Rainbow Dash and some of the local weather pegasi lining the sky with clouds.
It still baffled him how the weather was controlled by pegasus ponies in towns and cities. There was still wild weather, of course, but only out in the wilderness, such as the Everfree Forest.
But, it’s a magical world, so why not? he thought with a shrug. But his attention was forced towards the sky as he felt something wet plot onto the bridge of his snout.
Slowly but surely, drops of water began to fall in a gentle drizzle. The kind where a raincoat or umbrella wasn’t immediately required and actually quite enjoyable. Recalling what he used to do as a kid, Marcus held his head back, opened his mouth, and let the rain fall onto his tongue while he listened to the soft pitter-patter of it falling around him.
But then… the subtle music of rainfall stopped, and he no longer tasted any rainwater.
“Huh?” Marcus opened one eye… and what he saw shocked him!
It was as though someone had paused a movie, because everything and everyone around him was completely immobile. Ponies frozen in mid-walk, a couple of birds halted in mid-flap, it was as if… time had stopped!
Okay, I might not be an expert on magic but even I know it’d take something powerful to do something like this… Marcus thought as he moved cautiously around, stopping in front of the town square fountain.
Then… he heard it. A sound like a chord or singing, he couldn’t be sure, but almost immediately he knew. “An Infinity Stone?!” he whispered.
Following that mysterious sound, noting how similar yet different the tone was from how the blue stone had been, he noticed it was coming from around the fountain. Though his mind didn’t go blank or such, like before, Marcus felt it in his gut. Something… or someone was here, not just this new stone.
Keeping his guard up, he slowly made his way around the fountain until a unicorn mare comes into view, sitting next to the fountain, gazing into the water, her back to him. She had a coat of pale cold white while her mane was colored in two shades of icy blue, one darker than the other, held back by a mane-band, with the rest tied into a braid that rested against her neck. He noticed her cutie mark too, what appeared to be an open storybook with a blue star on the cover and a golden ribbon for a bookmark.
Part of him considered saying something, and yet another was cautious and hesitant to disturb this mare’s apparent reflecting… when she turned to face him, her turquoise eyes narrowed coldly. There, on her neck, he saw it!
It was embedded in a golden pendant that hung from her neck. It seemed to thrum with a power that was somehow completely foreign, yet entirely familiar to Marcus. At the sight of it, he couldn’t back away, nor could he run away in terror. Instead, he stood there, defiant against the wielder of this green infinity stone.
“Obsidian Coal?” she asked slowly, as if she was unsure of his name. Her voice was subtle, yet edged.
“Who’s asking?” Marcus furrowed his brows and tensed his muscles.
“No one special, just a pony wanting to ensure that the flow of time is corrected, is all,” she answered.
Marcus glared harder at her.
“So I take it you aren’t here to make friends with me, are you?” he asked, stepping up closer to her.
Marcus' glare intensified as the mare's own gaze matched his own. Everything around them had completely froze in place, from the littlest raindrops all around them, to the ponies rushing to get out of the rain. Everyone was frozen except him and this unicorn.
“We need to talk, huh? Really doesn’t feel like it, you know?” Marcus said, as if choosing the wrong word would get him killed. Well, that might’ve been a fairly accurate interpretation. He found himself unable to pry his eyes away from the mare in front of him.
“That all depends on how you answer my questions,” she began, slowly trotting around him.
“Do you know what is in your possession, Obsidian Coal?”
“Yes, I do-”
“Then you know why I can’t allow you to have it, correct?” She asked, extending her hoof out. “Give me the stone, and you can go back to living your mundane life.”
Marcus really wanted to walk away and pretend this conversation never happened, but the infinity stone that was hanging around the neck of this stranger was calling to him. The way it sounded, continued to hum to his ears, tempting him to just take it, it was almost too much. But his own instincts were screaming at him to just walk away before he did something stupid. He looked away from the stranger for a moment, let out a deep sigh, and turned back to her.
“I don’t think so,” Marcus replied bluntly, figuring that the stranger was willing to hear him out. “I have a lot riding on finding these stones, so forgive me if I’m not so willing to give up this stone to a stalking stranger like you.”
“I’d really reconsider if I were you, Obsidian. The last thing you want is to make an enemy out of me,” she warned him, her eyes beginning to change colors from icy blue to bright green. It reminded Marcus of those poison dart frogs from back on Earth. His eyes darted to the stone around her, as it gave off a dim glow that began to get brighter.
“Sorry, short stuff, I ain’t gonna change my mind-” He was cut off as he noticed that he was falling to the ground suddenly, landing face first. Quickly, he sprang up to his hooves frantically and began to look for the stranger, finding her behind him, her body covered by a green aura that began to dissipate.
I didn’t even see her move!? What the hell! He thought, glaring at the mare in front of him.
Deciding it was time to stop messing around, he took off his jacket and tossed it by a nearby bench that was near the fountain, before facing the stranger in front of him.
“RUDE!”
“I’ve been quite courteous to you, but you’ve forced my hoof.”
“Courteous?! Sure, showing up out of nowhere, threatening me when I haven’t done anything wrong, and attacking me is definitely courteous! You haven’t even introduced yourself!” Marcus argued, before realizing it was kinda stupid to argue in this current situation.
“Faerie Tail. Satisfied?”
“Well, Faerie, if you think I’m going to give you the stone, you have another thing coming,” Marcus declared, smirking as the stone on his brace began to glow brightly, suddenly falling backwards into a cloud of blue smoke and vanishing from sight.
“Amateur,” Faerie said, letting out a sigh as she stepped to the left, letting the alicorn reappear where she was standing. Her body was surrounded by a green aura, her hoof raised and she immediately struck the alicorn as hard as she could in the face at a rapid speed that he couldn’t follow and sent him tumbling into the fountain.
Getting up quickly, Marcus let out an annoyed growl and immediately charged at Faerie, leaping up into the air as his wings flared up. Feeling the power of the stone flow into him, his hooves were suddenly surrounded by a blue aura and he tried to hit her, but she had vanished from sight once again. Striking the ground, he ended up making a small crater in the ground near the fountain.
Is she teleporting? Wait-No, if she was teleporting, I would have noticed that… maybe she's increasing her speed, but that can't be it either.
Whipping his head around, he tried to backhoof her with his left arm, trying to predict where she would be. Instead, he was met by a yellow bolt of energy that struck the side of his chest, sending him crashing to the ground. He groaned in pain. Despite feeling his body healing, it was slow, unlike the time he was roasted by Midnight’s flames.
“Shit!”
“Language…” Faerie warned in a parental way.
"I'm sorry?! Did you just say ‘language’?" He asked, trying his hardest to suppress a laugh, holding his side as his regeneration began to kick in. “Didn’t realize you were my mom!”
"Ugh, at least try to act like an adult if you want me to treat you like one," Faerie Tail groaned with a roll of her eyes.
“You don’t exactly look that much older than I am!” Marcus argued, popping the back of his neck before dusting himself off.
Not wanting to be on the defensive anymore, Marcus decided to charge at the mare once more. He knew that she’d try to appear behind him again, so he figured that he could surprise her with a swift kick from behind.
“Predictable…” Faerie Tail sighed as she glowed green again, leaving Marcus to find himself surrounded by a bubble of the same green and unable to move. No… he was moving, just super slowly. “You’ve had your stone for only a short time, it is worthless in your neophyte hooves. Whereas I…”
She whirled around and focused a spell into her horn as she bore her frigid gaze into the arrogant alicorn, “I have had all the time in the world.”
A burst of raw magical power sent Marcus hurtling through the air like a frisbee. He was so dazed and dizzy he didn’t even notice the streak of green light zoom past him, and there Faerie Tail stood, on thin air itself, as she manifested another green bubble right in the path of Marcus.
Not this time! He thought, activating the space stone. He fell backward and landed back inside the fountain again. “Pfft… Gotta work on the landing and placing.”
“So you managed to use the stone to pull off a mediocre teleport,” Faerie Tail peered over her shoulder and literally looked down upon the stallion. “I’d hardly call that an accomplishment. Any unicorn could achieve teleportation if they applied themselves. And it won’t be enough for you to prevail against me. Not by a long shot…”
“Look, I’m not in the mood to fight, it’d be a lot easier for both of us to just drop this whole thing and start over. I’d rather just talk than fight you, shorty,” Marcus said, his voice almost pleading with her. “Can’t we just talk?”
“Unless the next words out of your mouth are ‘here, take it and leave me alone’, there’s really nothing to talk about,” Faerie Tail responded coldly.
Marcus sighed, “Well, can’t say I didn’t try the peaceful approach.”
“When it comes to the Infinity Stones, peace is regrettably not an option,” Faerie Tail retorted though there was a subtle softness in her eyes as she said so. “I am sorry, Obsidian Coal, but I cannot risk the potential catastrophe of that stone in your possession…”
“And I’m sorry too, but if things were different, or in some parallel universe, I’d give you the stone no questions asked. However, I need all of them… So that I can live!” Marcus shouted, narrowing his eyes at Faerie as he felt his heart beat faster. Baring his teeth, he teleported once more.
Narrowing her eyes, Faerie Tail thought, You won’t get far! as the Time Stone propelled her towards her right, and she was behind Marcus a split-second before he appeared.
However, Marcus seemed to have anticipated that, as he lashed out, striking Faerie Tail straight into her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. That, combined with Marcus’s alicorn strength, nascent though it was, sent Faerie Tail hurtling through the air this time.
Teleporting again, Marcus appeared behind her this time while she was still in the air to try and land another blow. Hoping to knock her out and take the time stone, and also get some answers.
However, despite the pain, Faerie Tail maintained her focus, and uttered, “Time out!”
Marcus found himself frozen in a layer of green magic yet again, while Faerie Tail managed to maneuver herself and put some distance between them. She then glowed green, reversing her own time in a physical sense, the pain and bruising from Marcus’s blow vanishing completely.
However, this had the side-effect of freeing Marcus from his temporal lock, which did not escape his notice. Hold on, she can freeze me but not do… whatever she just did at the same time?
Groaning as she took a few deep breaths, Faerie Tail threw another chilly glare at Marcus, beginning to seethe, “You’re making this harder than it has to be…”
“You want to know something? I haven’t done anything wrong since I first arrived here in Ponyville. But here you are, acting all ‘holier than thou’, making me seem like a bad person, but really, it’s you who’s acting like a villain! You’re trying to take something that doesn’t belong to you!”
“Said the one who’s already admitted he’s seeking all of the Infinity Stones…” Faerie Tail retorted with an edge in her tone. “I could tell even before you said that, that you had eyes on my Time Stone. So don’t take that tone with me, boy…”
“I won’t deny that I am also seeking the Stones, but I’m not the one antagonizing anyone here. So, stop pretending you're the good guy! As far as I can tell, you only care about yourself and no one else!” Marcus shouted, narrowing his eyes at Faerie as she looked aghast.
Something inside of Faerie Tail was pushed over the edge by Marcus’s words, causing her to shake with barely-contained fury as she uttered, “How dare… you…”
Her eyes flared with icy mana while her lips pressed together and her whole body shook as she was losing control. “You don’t know me, you don’t know what I’ve sacrificed, the choices I’ve made!! I didn’t ask for this wretched stone!”
Marcus almost took a step back. But the fire in his heart grew about as quickly as Faerie’s tone. When bright wisps of green flame leaked out of the edges of her eyes at a rising rate, Marcus’ frown deepened and he steeled his nerves.
“If I could, I'd throw it into the deepest, darkest hole and forget it ever existed! But I can’t be so selfish… nor can I allow an insolent brat like you to flaunt that stone around like some damn prize!!”
The raging inferno erupted..
“Well, I can’t exactly get rid of it! And it’s you, who doesn’t know what I’ve been through! I’ve lost everything, and I’m trying to move on, and I can’t unless I finish my mission! If you want to fight for my stone, then fine, but I’m not giving up! I’ll never surrender to evil! And I don’t care what you see in that future you predicted! You can beat me down. Over and over again, but I'll always get back up. And that's why you won't win... Cause real heroes never back down!"
Gasping, Faerie Tail stared at Marcus, utterly shocked by his words, as for a moment she was reminded of somepony who’d spoken almost those exact words to her a long time ago.
‘Cause real heroes never give up!’
She reached up, placing her hoof over her heart, which began to pound with a familiar hurt she thought she’d moved past. But now… now it was back, and every beat pained her deeply, like a dissonant echo agitating every fiber of her being. It made her shake, it made her angry, but most of all, it made her despondent.
Marcus noticed it, but he also noticed a tear trailing down Faerie’s face. She stood there, stupefied, taking shuddery soft panting breaths, and she began to shake. She was in pain, physically, mentally, and emotionally, and that pain was overwhelming her state of mind. Her stunned expression began to tighten with a boiling fury on the verge of eruption!
Uh-oh…! Marcus suddenly felt a chill of forewarning when a surge of magic spiked in the air around them and he knew it was Faerie Trail.
The unicorn’s eyes glowed an intense cold blue, different from the green glow of the Time Stone, her brows furrowed, and she let out an enraged scream as her magic, reinforced by the Time Stone, burst forth in the form of a surging blast of mana aimed directly at Marcus.
Marcus quickly dove to the side, but it was then he saw the blast of magic was headed straight for…
The fillies!! he thought in alarm, seeing Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, the Cutie-Mark Crusaders in the wagon pulled by Scootaloo on her scooter, probably on their way to their next crusade.
“NOOOOOO!!!!!!” Marcus put everything he could into propelling himself towards the Crusaders, desperate to intercept the blast, regardless of whatever happened to him. In that moment, nothing else mattered.
He had to reach them in time.
There was no other choice.
It had been three days since Marcus had arrived in this new world, trying to be careful as to not drop the several boxes of cupcakes Pinkie had tied to his back.
“Um… Pinkie, are you sure you guys don’t have a cart I can use, I mean, can I even make it out the door with this many boxes of baked goods?” Marcus asked, before he was suddenly pulled outside by the pink mare. With everything still tied to his back… and it fitting through the doorway… not a single box fell.
“Pinkie, are the cupcakes okay?” he asked, looking back to her, but failing to find any sign of the color pink. Instead, the weight on his back pulled his gaze upward.
“Nope! Everything is A-Ok!” She said, tying the boxes back up.
How does she do that?
“Now! Get those cupcakes over to The Ponyville Express! They need to be delivered to the Conductor so he can take them to Canterlot, for a Big Banquet! Oh, if anything happens to those cupcakes… You’ll have to bake them again… by… your…SELF!” She said, glaring at him ominously, before going back to her cheerful smile. “Okay?”
“Y-Yeah… No problem.” He said, a sense of dread washing over him suddenly. He had a feeling it wouldn’t be that simple.
“Now, get going, don’t want to be late!~” Pinkie sang as she hopped back into Sugarcube Corner.
Marcus blinked a few times as he tried to process everything that happened. He had only been around a few days and was starting to remember his surroundings. However, he never actually been or even seen the train station here in Ponyville.
Shit, forgot to ask for directions. He thought to himself as he decided to head towards town square where he remembered he saw a directory of the town. Figuring that would be his best bet, he decided to make his way there, while also being careful.
Last thing he wanted to do was drop the cupcakes.
It took about ten minutes to reach town square just to look at a board. Just to find out where the train station’s at. Normally like any stranger who is new to a town, they’d ask for directions, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case for Marcus since Princess Twilight decided it was best for the townsfolk to know that he was an alicorn. He couldn’t really argue with her since it was her way of helping him get used to attention since his eventual meeting with Princess Celestia was going to be a big deal.
She also made sure to have everypony keep his identity as an alicorn a secret for the next few weeks until he meets with Princess Celestia, but that fact didn’t put ponies’ mind’s at ease now that they knew what he was.
“Alright, so if I-”
“Excuse us, are you Mr. Obsidian?” He heard behind him, turning to find no pony there, until he looked down to find three adorable little fillies staring up at him in awe.
“Uh, yes… is there something I can help you with?” Marcus asked.
“Yeah! We were just wonderin’ why ya’ll don’t have a Cutie-Mark?” The yellow filly with a red mane and tail and big red bow said.
“A Cutie-Mark?”
“Yeah, we’re trying to earn ours, but we noticed that you don’t have one.” The white filly with two colors said, pointing at his flank.
“What’s a Cutie-Mark though?” He asked
“You don’t know what a Cutie Mark is?!” the three of them shouted.
“I’m assuming not having one is a bad thing?”
“A Cutie Mark is something that everypony earns, it shows what they’re meant to do in life!” The orange little pegasus said, dramatically.
“Oh, well, I never had one before, where I come from you don’t really need one. Personally, I don’t think having a mark will decide who you are. It’s better to make your own destiny, you know?” Marcus explained, trying to be honest about what he felt about Cutie-Marks. “Anyways, sorry girls, but I really need to get going, I have to head to the train station.”
“We can help you! We know where it is!” One of them said.
“Oh, that would be really helpful actually, I am still new here,” Marcus explained, smiling at the three fillies. “So, who are you three anyways?”
“I’m Applebloom!” The yellow filly said, grinning at him
“Scootaloo’s the name!”
“And I’m Sweetie Belle
“And together… We’re… THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!!!” All three of them shouted while somehow lifting into the air.
“Heh, well it’s nice to you three, you can just call me Coal, okay?”
“OKAY!”
The desperate cry of concern and care from the stallion reached Faerie Tail’s ears, snapping her out of her raw emotional malaise, and she realized her folly in abject shock.
Not wasting a moment, Faerie Tail harnessed the Time Stone, and just as the rainy day had earlier, everything else came to a halt in frozen time. Faerie Tail looked on in an emotional stupor of confusion, shock, and awe.
She flashed herself closer and stood between Marcus, her own blast, and the fillies who she had endangered in her blind fury. Looking over at the stallion’s face, she saw something she hadn’t before. Or perhaps what she’d refused to see.
It was the look of a stallion willing to give everything up to save those in need. Desperation to help those in need, even if they never asked for help. No hesitation, no concern for his own well-being, only the sincere act and will to protect.
Right then and there, Faerie Tail was overcome with shame. She’d allowed her emotions, her arrogance, and her self-righteousness to overcome her, and now she saw how far she’d truly taken it. Coal’s words washed over her and she realized he was right…
She’d confronted him, fought him, threatened him, and now she had endangered innocent lives! Lives that he had made the choice to protect… and she could see that even if she hadn’t frozen the moment in time Coal would never have made it to protect these fillies from her wrath.
I know what I have to do. The future is clear now, she thought.
Faerie Tail closed her eyes and focused, picturing the face of a clock and the second hand going backward. The Time Stone glowed as everything that occurred up to that point (minus Faerie Tail herself) was reversed. The magic blast retreated, and the alicorn stallion went back to his prior position. The blast then vanished leaving Faerie Tail to see Coal back where he was prior to her freak-out.
Sighing, she went back to where she was at that same moment and released her hold on the flow of time.
“And I don’t care what you see in that future you predicted!” Faerie Tail was reluctant to hear this again, but she knew it was the right thing to do. “You can beat me down. Over and over again, but I'll always get back up. And that's why you won't win... Cause real heroes never back down!"
The pain in her heart made her wince, but now instead of anger and outrage, she felt the bitter sting of shame and the burden of guilt. Her eyes squeezed shut in a vain attempt to hold back the tears, but they came just the same.
Marcus’ eyes widened and he took a few tentative steps toward her. That’s unexpected. “Umm… Are you okay? I didn’t think you were gonna cry, uh… Need a tissue box or something?”
“N-No, I don’t need anything *Sniff* I-I’ll be fine,” she sniffled, wiping away the last of her tears as she managed to compose herself again. Looking up at the stallion, she let out a deep sigh. “Let me ask you something… What’s your angle?”
“Angle?” echoed Marcus, taken aback by her sudden shift. She still looked suspicious but not accusatory, confronting or even self-righteous.
“You mentioned that you’re seeking to collect the Infinity Stones,” she brought up, “Why? You already have a stone, the Space Stone! Even one should be enough for anybody! These stones carry immense power, the potential of which can be used for great good… and evil. Saying they’re dangerous is putting it lightly, but to want more, let alone all of them?!”
Faerie Tail reeled in her emotions, not wanting to get riled up again, before she gave the alicorn a new kind of look. Baffled yet focused, like she was trying to figure him out. After a moment she finally uttered, “Obsidian Coal… just what is it that you want?”
Marcus regarded Faerie Tail solemnly and for a long moment he considered telling her the truth, despite Death’s warnings. He juggled his apprehension with his desire to share one of his deepest secrets if only to have someone else in on his burden. To understand. He sighed deeply, and answered, “...a future. A life! I can’t give you the full story, as much as I want to, but I can promise you that I don’t want these Stones for myself. If anything, I’d have nothing to do with them if I could! But I have a… task, I guess you could say. A debt I have to pay. If I don’t… any hope I have left is gone. I’m sorry, but I can’t stop, I have to complete this mission and if I have to fight you, then so be it. But I swear that I am not doing this with ill intentions.”
“...You said that you’re not gathering them for yourself. Who is it that really wants them?” Faerie Tail raised a brow.
“Someone who gave me this second chance,” was all he could say without revealing anything that could jeopardize his new lease on life.
Faerie Tail and Marcus held each other’s gaze for a long moment, before she sighed, “Alright, I believe you… but I’m not giving you the Time Stone. Not unless you can prove to me that you deserve it.”
“Well, how do I do that?”
“That’s your problem,” Faerie Tail responded sternly. “I believe you, but I still don’t trust you. So… I’ll leave you be for now, but I’ll be keeping an eye on you until you surrender the Space Stone to me, Obsidian Coal. Keep that in mind.”
“Now hold on, can’t we just-”
*BOOM!*
“GAH! What the hell!?” He shouted, startled as the rain started to fall on him. When he turned back to tell her it wasn’t necessary to stalk him, she was already gone and everypony that was frozen before had begun to move again, trying to get out of the rain. Seeing that the townsfolk didn't really pay him any mind as they rushed past him. It showed that he still wasn't trusted by them. “Great, now I get to have a stalker watching me. Just what I needed… Well, it could have been worse, but my god, she’s on a completely different level. I gotta start learning magic and fast.”
Picking up his jacket that he left by the bench and putting it on. Marcus began to make his way back to Sugarcube Corner, groaning as he made his way back after a long fought battle. Now feeling the after effects from those spells and attacks Faerie had casted and having to regenerate. He had a feeling he wasn't going to sleep well at all that night.
I should've figured there’d be others that had Infinity Stones. I don't know why that didn't cross my mind. Probably because I was so focused on adjusting to living here and learning how to use my own stone, that I didn't even think there'd be anyone else with one.
Marcus thought to himself as he tapped a pencil on his notebook with his hoof. It had been a week since his encounter with the Time-Stone-wielding sorceress, and for the past three days, he'd been doing his best to learn magic from Princess Twilight Sparkle.
"Coal… "
Doesn't help that I pretty much got my ass kicked by someone that skilled. I can only teleport with the stone. Well, just barely, but that's not nearly enough.
"Coal!"
This is so frustrating, I'll need to figure out how to improve quickly with the infinity stone in order to be on Faerie's level. Maybe I can- “OW!” His thoughts were interrupted by a light prick to his rear end. He whirled around to find a small thumb tack stuck there. He couldn’t stop the sudden bout of anger that swept over him. “Was that really necessary?!”
“Sorry, but I’ve been calling your name for the past ten minutes. Is something bothering you, Coal?” Princess Twilight asked as she pulled out the tack from the charcoal alicorn, stifling another yelp.
Blinking away the pained tear and rubbing his smarting rear, Marcus, for his part, had utterly forgotten that he was sitting at a small wooden desk with her Majesty in her personal library at the Castle of Friendship for magic lessons. After his encounter with Faerie, he had asked for extra lessons with magic, only to find… it wasn’t quite what he’d been expecting.
“Sorry, Princess, but I’ve been… preoccupied with something that happened after work. Can you explain again what we’re learning today?” Marcus asked sheepishly, but when he actually looked at the board, he groaned.
Magic History and Origins 101.
“We’re going over the history of magic, Coal, it’s the best way for you to have a better understanding of magic. It’ll make things easier for you when we get into the simpler spells that have a fascinating history to them,” Twilight explained, her eyes lighting up with excitement.
Marcus couldn’t exactly judge anyone for liking certain things, but he wasn’t so thrilled to learn about how the first plate was levitated. If that actually was in the history books that is.
"Princess, is this really necessary?"
"Of course Coal! Learning history is an essential part of magic. It'll take a few weeks to cover the basic history of it, before getting actual experience," she explained. Upon hearing that, he couldn’t remain silent anymore.
“...are you for real?” Marcus asked incredulously, feeling his frustration grow as he continued.
Twilight’s starry-eyed thrill drained from her being and her expression fell.
“What do you mean?” Twilight was flummoxed by Marcus’s response. “It’s only right we cover the historical milestones of magic along with your own.”
“I’m sorry, Princess, but I came here to learn Magic, not history!” Marcus insisted, “I don’t care about the first plate levitated or-or… how the first unlocking charm helped some noble open her jewelry box to get the necklace she wanted in time for some pointless soiree! I need to learn Magic itself, the basics of casting, what spells would be good to start off with, what could help me in a tight spot or be useful in a given situation! All this ‘history?’ It’s just a waste of my time!”
“Waste of time?!” Twilight furrowed her brows, sounding insulted. “Learning history is never a waste of time, and magical history should be respected as it teaches us not only the accomplishments and failures of magic, but also the dangers and risks it can pose if not properly used and respected! I do not appreciate your tone, Obsidian Coal…”
“I’m sorry, Princess, but I don’t have a lot of time, I have to meet Princess Celestia in a week! I also have my job at Sugarcube Corner, and my mission to worry about. I need to learn magic as fast as possible,” Marcus pleaded. “I already know how to levitate small objects now.”
“That’s not enough, Coal, the more you know about magic, the easier it'll be to use it. History is important as it’ll keep you from making the same mistakes others have made in the past,” she explained, glaring at the alicorn.
“Well, I don’t need to know a whole bunch of advanced magic like you!” Marcus argued, “So, please, I really just need enough for me to have a handle on my own magic!”
“...Fine,” Twilight sighed with weary irritation, “maybe it’s best we call it a night. I can’t force you to learn something you clearly have no interest in, but I expect you to respect how I teach, Coal. We’ll resume our lessons Friday afternoon, maybe then you’ll have a clearer mind and cooler head.”
Letting out a sigh, Marcus understood where she was coming from. A brief moment of reflection reminded him of how much of a sour mood he had been in since his fight with Faerie Tail.
Heh, ‘sour’ is putting it lightly.
“Alright, I’m sorry… I guess I do need some time to clear my head.”
“It’s fine, Marcus, for now, I think you should head home,” Twilight suggested as she turned to put her teaching tools away, but Marcus caught it just before she’d turned her back to him.
A tear welled up in Twilight’s eye, and suddenly he felt like an ungrateful jerk. The waves of guilt crashing into him were almost enough to get him to act, but there was just too much tension to cut through. All he could do was mutter a quick, “Good night…” before leaving with his ears folded back and head hung low.
Making his way back to Sugarcube Corner, Marcus was conflicted. On one hand, he stood by his assertions that he needed to learn useful magic as soon as possible, especially since he had a deadline.
Emphasis on ‘dead’.
On the other hand, he knew he should be grateful to Princess Twilight for being his tutor and he could understand that she must have felt happy to teach him what is essentially her passion. Yet, here he was, rebuking the historical element of her lesson and calling it a waste. He still thought so, yet he couldn’t shake off the guilt he felt of denouncing Twilight’s lessons even after voicing his reasons.
Sighing, he muttered to himself, “I’ll apologize properly the next time I see her.”
Once he entered the Bakery, he suddenly was tackled to the ground. “Hiya Coaly! What took you so long?!”
“Ugh… You’d think after living here for two weeks, I’d learn how you keep surprising me every time,” Marcus stated in a pained tone, standing up as the pink mare clung to his back. “Anyways, I actually… may have made a mistake at The Princess’ place.”
“What did you do? Was Twily trying to teach history again? I mean I’d probably fall asleep if I tried to learn. Then again, when Twily starts to nerd out I kinda doze off from time to time,” Pinkie giggled. Marcus rolled his eyes at her but smiled regardless.
“Glad I’m not the only one… I was actually learning the history of magic, but I really don’t have the time to learn stuff like that. Maybe when I’m done with what I need to do, but right now I can’t afford to waste a single minute to find the other stones. I need to learn magic so I can find them faster,” he explained to her. Pinkie finally hopped off his back as they made their way upstairs to their rooms.
“Well, why not ask Middy for help?”
“Middy?”
“Midnight! You know the big blue dragon that gave you the glowing rock before?”
Oh, she means that Midnight… At least I think that’s his name.
“Why do you think that guy would help me?” he asked, raising a brow at Pinkie before she suddenly got really close to his face.
“Well duh! He was using magic too! At least it looked that way, and no offense to Twily or Rarity, but I think he’d do a better job explaining everything for you to understand faster! I mean, I understood everything he said last time… Even if it was really boring,” Pinkie said sheepishly. In a rare moment of realization, Marcus took hold of her hoof in both of his.
“That’s it! If the big guy is willing to teach me, maybe it’ll make it easier to learn from Twilight and start getting into the advanced stuff! Thanks, Pinkie! Oh, uh… mind if you come with me tomorrow? I don’t think I can go to a dragon’s cave by myself,” he asked, letting go of her hoof. Her cheeks reddened slightly for a brief moment.
“O-Oh! Sure not a problem at all, Coaly!” she replied in a bit of a daze. What was this feeling washing over her? Why did her face feel so hot all of a sudden? “A-Anyway! Have a good night! We’ll head back to Middy’s cave after work tomorrow!”
Rushing into her room, Pinkie began to frantically fan herself with her hoof, making her way toward her bed and burying her face into her pillow. Geez… when did it get so hot in here!?
Meanwhile, Marcus had entered his room and plopped down on the bed. Shifting around to get comfortable, he found himself staring at the ceiling curiously. “Wonder what that was about? Never seen Pinkie get like that before…”
*Ping*
Great… another message.
LD Don’t forget to check the notes I left on your phone… They’ll help you with mastering the six Infinity Stones.
Rolling his eyes, he began to type with his hooves.
Me I know.
Right now I am focusing on learning how to use my horn to wield magic.
LD Don’t get… Horny :D
Me Did you just make a joke?
LD I’ve been alone guiding souls to the afterlife for millions of years. It’s not every day I get to talk to another being.
Me I get it, and it's a good joke. Have a good night or day or whatever time it is for you?
LD You as well Marcus, remember that it is imperative that you get the stones.
Me You still haven’t told me the real reason why I’m gathering them.
LD When you get a second stone… I’ll tell you more.
Groaning in annoyance, Marcus exited the app, switched to his music, and connected his headphones to his phone. He began to play Go The Distance, by Roger Bart on repeat. It was a song that had always been one of his favorites, one that he couldn’t help but hum the tone out loud to himself. He couldn’t help but chuckle to himself as he recalled a conversation he had with his sister when he was still in high school with her.
“Don’t you get tired of listening to that song, Marcus? There are better songs out there you know?” He remembered her asking him, slightly annoyed by him listening to the same song again on repeat while they were driving to school together.
“Hey! This song is all about finding a place to belong in Emmy! It’s actually a hopeful song about going out of your way to find a place in the world.” Marcus recalled saying to her, before mumbling under his breath. “It also has a good melody too.”
“You’re lame, you know that?”
“Look, it’s from one of my favorite movies I watched a lot when I was a kid. Dad bought that movie for me on my birthday. It means a lot to me. Just one more time okay?”
“Fine, just one more time.”
“Thanks, Emmy, besides… you like this song too,”
“Only because it’s a good song. No other reason.”
Lost in his memory, he was unaware that he had started singing instead.
~I have often dreamed of a far-off place.
Where a great, warm, welcome will be waiting for me.
Where the crowds will cheer
When they see my face
And a voice keeps saying “This is where I’m meant to be!”~
While he was singing, he was unaware that outside his door, a certain party pony was listening in on his melodious voice. It was something that she wasn’t expecting to hear this late at night. In fact, given all that she’d learned about him in the past two weeks, she wasn’t expecting to hear any singing.
~I will find my way.
I can go the distance.
I’ll be there someday, If I can be strong
I know every mile, will be worth my while
I would go most anywhere to feel like I… beloooong.~
“Wooooow… I didn’t know Coaly could sing~” Pinkie whispered, feeling warmth in her cheeks once again. “If I knew he could do that… Then maybe we can do duets for Birthday Parties!”
Pinkie immediately clamped her mouth shut as she heard Marcus talking under his breath through the door. “Huh? Thought I heard something… Hmm… Probably just one of the Cakes getting something to drink or something.”
Figuring it was time to turn in, Marcus turned off his music and went straight to bed. Deciding that she should also turn in for the night, Pinkie quietly closed the door and made her way towards her room for a good night’s rest. However, after hearing his voice, she couldn’t help but wonder what song he was singing. She never heard anything like that from any singers before. What was that device he was using and… why did he look sad? She wasn’t sure why, but she really wanted to give him a hug.
What’s more confusing for her though, is why her heart was beating so fast? That has been happening a lot lately whenever she was around Coaly. Maybe after a good night sleep she'll be fine in the morning.
The next day after work, Marcus and Pinkie had both packed their satchels with snacks and water for their visit back into the Everfree Forest to meet with the dragon once more. They followed the same path they had taken when Marcus had gone on autopilot and just recalling that day was a little embarrassing.
“Hey, Coaly! Remember last week when you totally blanked out and ran like a mad pony trying to get that stone?! You were like-”
“On full autopilot, I know, I know, you’ve brought it up three times already,” Marcus replied, feeling his cheeks heat up from embarrassment.
Just thinking about that day was not only humiliating, but also a little frightening. He had completely lost control of himself and could have gotten someone killed or worse, gotten Pinkie killed. He had almost lost it again when Faerie appeared with the Time Stone. At least when he was fighting a terrifying dragon, he got the Space Stone out of it, but the problem now lay in how little understanding of the one stone he had in his possession
Speaking of a certain dragon, the two had arrived at Midnight’s cave.
“Looks like we’ve made it, Pinks. You think he’ll try to roast us again?” Marcus asked with a cautious look.
“Nah! I think he’ll be happy to see us!” replied Pinkie with perky optimism.
“If you say so, but just in case, stay behind me, my body can take the heat-” Marcus tried to explain, but his mouth was suddenly shut by Pinkie’s hoof.
"Nope! We're friends, Coaly, and friends watch each other's backs," she said, skipping ahead of him.
"At least stay close to me!" Marcus shouted, following after the mare.
"Duh! That's what watching each other's backs mean!" she retorted.
Letting out a deep sigh, Marcus and Pinkie continued forward, eventually arriving at the cave. The two looked at each before they both cautiously crept into the cave. As they made their way inside, their gaze was drawn to the walls, which were lit by a glow of turquoise blue radiating from further in. The two of them shared a curious look before Pinkie gestured to Marcus, nodding her head forward while keeping her eyes on him.
Marcus hesitated, looking towards the glow, then back at Pinkie Pie, and balked at the slight stink eye she was giving him. Sighing, he took a deep breath and was about to call out-
“I know you’re here. I can smell you,” interjected a familiar, growly voice that was edged with the barest hint of grumpiness.
Marcus blew a raspberry at having been interrupted, but then cleared his throat and responded, “Uh- Midnight… Raze, was it?”
“Midnight Blaze, thank you very much,” corrected Midnight as the glow dimmed, darkness flooding back before it was parted ever so slightly by a familiar pair of large turquoise blue dragon eyes, narrowed at the two ponies, as he wearily asked, “What do you want?”
“Hiya Middy!” Pinkie spoke up, “So, Coaly here needs a little help and we thought you could be just the dragon to give it to him!”
“I’ve already ‘given it to him’,” Midnight growled, seeing Marcus wearing the Space Stone around his neck. “What else could you want from a dragon outcast…?”
Pinkie gave Marcus another stink eye, more forceful than the one prior, and he got the idea. So he stepped forward, and stated. “Midnight Blaze, I… I’ve encountered another Infinity Stone.”
For a long moment, Midnight said nothing though they could still see his eyes, how they narrowed ever so slightly, before finally, he responded, “Explain.”
Marcus regaled Midnight of his meeting of Faerie Tail, the possessor of the Time Stone. He seemed exacerbated as he told of how she’d confronted him, tried to force him to give her the Space Stone, how he’d refused and tried to fight her, only to get his tail hooved to him, and how he seemed to sway her to give him a chance (he still wasn't quite sure how that’d happened) but refused to give him the Time Stone. In addition, he shared how Faerie Tail had warned Marcus that unless he could prove himself, she’d be back.
"And that's what happened."
"Coaly… why didn't you say anything about this before?!" Pinkie shouted, her gaze hardened.
"Because… I didn’t want to worry you, and I didn’t want to drag you into this mess," he answered, earning himself a quick slap to the face. "... I deserve that."
"You Pinkie Promised Coal!"
"Yes… And I'm sorry, but like I said, I'd do whatever you want. Can we talk about this later?"
"Fine! But you better be ready, Coaly! Cause when you least expect it, I'm gonna make sure you regret being a dummy!"
Marcus felt a slight tingle in the back of his neck as he began to suddenly feel like he was going to regret making that Pinkie Promise. It wasn’t until he heard a loud cough, that he turned his gaze back towards the dragon who was trying to get their attention.
"You two done?"
“…so the thing is, I need help. No- I need training!” Marcus emphasized, “I was barely able to do anything against Faerie Tail, and unless I can get better at magic, or better yet, at wielding the Space Stone, andifIdon’timpresshershe’sgonnabebacktotakethestonefrommeandIdon’tthinkI’llbeabletostopherorconvinceherotherwise!”
“Woah, woah, woah! Calm down! Take a deep breath and calmly tell me what it is you want?” Midnight asked, finally stepping out of the darkness, revealing his large size. He was still rather rotund yet boasted considerable muscle. His sapphire blue scales looked shiny and resplendent, and even his black mane seemed strangely lustrous, but it contrasted with the antisocial vibe they were getting from the dragon. “I gave you the stone after you proved you could be trusted with it. What more do you want, pony?”
“Okay, okay… What I want is for you to train me. I know, I’m asking for a lot, especially since you’ve trusted me with the Space Stone, but I barely know how to use it. I’ve had it for only a week and it’s been a disaster. I got my ass handed to me by some total stranger who came out of literal nowhere! Honestly, I’m surprised she even let me live! So please?” Marcus begged, bowing his head to the dragon before him. “Please, teach me how to use magic, I’ll do my best to learn everything from you. I just need to show Princess Twilight-”
“Stop, hold on… Princess Twilight?” Midnight sounded perplexed. “As in… the Princess of Friendship? The Element of Magic? If you know her, why not ask her to instruct you?”
“Well, I tried learning from her, but… I could barely understand what she was teaching. I’ve been stuck on the same lesson for the past few days and I feel like I can do more… I just need help understanding it,” Marcus explained, feeling guilt starting to take over after hearing himself. He really was acting like an ass.
Midnight rolled his eyes, but it seemed he was willing to listen. “What exactly is this… lesson you’re having trouble with?”
“Magic History and Origins 101,” He replied, Pinkie Pie pulling out the book from her mane and handing it to him, before his head whiplashed back towards Pinkie. “How did- ?!? N-Nevermind.”
“Ugh, say no more,” Midnight rested his head onto his claw, propping himself up. “I never took those sorts of ‘lessons’ in particular interest myself. It’s so frustrating when the” - he held up his claws and did air-quotes - “‘teachers’” - he put his claws back down, “insist on explaining this pointless babble over who charmed this or what hexed that- Just get to the actual knowledge of spell work and magic craft, for the love of Celestia!!”
“I know, right?!” Both Marcus and Pinkie shouted at the same time.
“Honestly, I just want to get to the actual lessons, not learn how the first spoon was levitated,” huffed Marcus, but then he added with a guilty tone, “I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful, but Princess Twilight didn’t appreciate my, my…”
He struggled to find the right words, so Midnight did it for him, smirking, “Lack of enthusiasm?”
“Yeah,” Marcus nodded. “That.”
“Sooooo! Think you can help him out, Middy?” Pinkie asked, giving her best puppy dog eyes she could muster. “Pleassseeee!”
Midnight wasn’t moved in the slightest by the pink one, but the look he gave Marcus seemed more receptive, so he took a deep breath, and spoke, “This Faerie Tail… she’s an unknown, and whatever her intentions, that makes her a threat. She already has one Infinity Stone, and she’s proven she’s willing to take another by force.”
“So…. is that a yes?” Marcus dared to smile hopefully.
Midnight gave Marcus another look, before shrugging, “Oh, what the heck, I’ll give it a shot.”
Marcus smiled even bigger, and Pinkie Pie threw her forelegs around him, saying, “YAY!”
“But…” Midnight raised a foreclaw, bringing the exuberance to a halt. “I don’t work for free.”
“Oh! Uh… well, I don’t have a lot of money-” Marcus was already afraid of the direction this was going.
“I have no interest in money,” Midnight waved it off. “But… I wouldn’t say no to some delicious foodstuffs.”
“Oh, no problem!” Pinkie Pie smiled, “I can make you lots of yummies over at Sugarcube Corner! Cupcakes, cookies, cakes, doughnuts, candies, pies-”
“Uh, are you sure you want food like that?” Marcus spoke up, eyeing Midnight’s belly.
“I haven’t enjoyed home cooking or baked goods in a long while,” Midnight sighed with sarcastic drama, before he raised up his belly and let it bounce, “Just look at me! Wasting away to nothing…”
Marcus was honestly not sure whether Midnight was kidding or not, but then he saw a dangerous gleam in the dragon’s eyes and decided it was probably better to hold his tongue.
“Uh- Okay! Pinkie and I will bring you some food and drink whenever I come for my… lessons? Would that work?” Marcus asked.
“You don’t have to bring something every time you come,” Midnight assured, “I’ll let you know when I want something and you can bring it the next time you come. So! Let’s discuss what you want to learn and I’ll think up what sort of lessons to teach you.”
“Thank you! I won’t let you down! But…”
“But what?”
Marcus sighed. “But, I don’t want to just ditch the princess, she’s been kind enough to help, I’d just feel like I'd be a total dick if I just quit and jumped to learning from someone else.”
Midnight smiled at that. “Even before she became an alicorn princess, Twilight Sparkle was renowned, not simply for being the personal pupil of Princess Celestia, but also for her diligence in study and practice of the magical arts,” Midnight explained, his tone laced with evident admiration. “She is perhaps the youngest to become a sorceress and her works and accomplishments in her studies, magical or otherwise, have been noteworthy and regarded with such significance that many unicorns in certain circles hold her in high esteem… or regard her as a threat.
“After becoming a princess, she has largely remained the same pony, and that frustrates certain individuals while assuring the common pony of her good intentions. Princess Twilight, despite her accomplishments and success, does have her… shortcomings, and that in and of itself is a problem for her.”
“What do you mean?” Marcus asked, finding this strangely fascinating.
“Ooh, ooh! Like this one time, when Twilight thought she was gonna be tardy on a friendship report, she tried to make a problem to solve and wound up causing a huge ruckus with an enchanted doll!” Pinkie Pie remembered. When Marcus gave her a baffled look, she shuddered and said, “Don’t ask.”
“The pink one is correct,” Midnight nodded. “Twilight Sparkle puts too much stock in her own way of doing things because it's how she was taught by her old mentor, so she’s trying to do the same thing with you. What she fails to understand is not everyone has the same ability to learn in the ways she did. Which isn’t a slight against you.”
“Well, she has taught me a few things but she keeps piling on all this history and other stuff that just seems redundant and pointless. I am grateful that she's teaching me, but I want to learn spells, not read how they were made.” Marcus sighed, feeling conflicted.
“As I said, not everyone learns the same way,” Midnight affirmed, “and unfortunately, Princess Twilight feels the way she was taught is the way she must teach you, and she won’t hear a word otherwise.”
“So then what do I do?” Marcus asked.
“Learn from me. I can teach you a kind of magic you would be hard-pressed to find even amongst the best unicorn wizards,” Midnight bade, “What I offer you will not only give you the edge you need against the likes of Faerie Tail, but also improve your abilities to learn the sort of magic Princess Twilight wants to teach you."
"However, I must point out one thing before you even consider learning anything from me." Midnight paused, lifting his paw up and pointing directly at the Space Stone. "You'll need to understand and master the power of the infinity stone you currently possess. I can help you in that matter as I've had experience with it. For now, I suggest you continue training with Princess Twilight for the time being. Once you've come to understand the stone, then I'll teach you what I know."
"Alright, where do I start?" Marcus asked.
"You can start by feeling it, listening to it, and connecting with it. That is the first step."
The very next day, Marcus felt nervous for the first time in a while since his arrival here in Equestria as he made his way back to Princess Twilight’s castle. After talking with Midnight, Pinkie Pie suggested that he should at least apologize for his behavior to the Princess as the guilt would only continue to weigh on his mind. Not that he needed convincing.
Once he had arrived at the Castle of Friendship, Marcus inhaled deeply as he brought his hoof to the door.
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!
The door opened, and the alicorn was greeted by the young dragon, Spike, Twilight’s assistant. Immediately he frowned ever so slightly and snubbed, “Oh, you’re back…”
The little dragon’s reception to his arrival didn’t bode well for Marcus as he let out a sheepish grin towards him. “Hey, Spike, I’m here to see the Princess.”
“She’s actually writing a personal letter to Princess Celestia. She’ll be out shortly, but I wanted to ask, why did you yell at her?” Spike asked, folding his arms and tapping.
Marcus’ ears folded back as his expression soured. He took a moment to choose his words carefully before taking a deep breath.
“Spike, look, I’m sorry for losing my cool with the Princess, it’s just… Well, I thought her lessons would be more about magic than ‘history’ and other things that feel rather pointless. I’ll admit that I was being a real ass to her when she was being kind enough to teach me. Anyways, I came here to apologize to her and ask if she can still continue to teach me.”
Spike’s brow raised as he looked at him suspiciously, before letting out a deep sigh of his own and gesturing for the stallion to come inside. “I get it, Coal, I really do. I’ve lived nearly all of my life with Twilight. She doesn’t have bad intentions, but I’ll admit that she does get carried away when it comes to sharing her interests with others.”
“I’ll try to be a bit more patient with her and more understanding as well,” Marcus said, as he followed Spike inside the castle towards the library. Once the two entered, he saw Twilight set what looked like a letter down on her desk. “Hey, Princess, I just dropped by… to apologize for my behavior the other day.”
“Thank you, Coal, and…” Twilight gathered herself, trying not to glance at the letter she’d just read, before taking a moment and then saying, “I want to say that I’m sorry too. I realize that… not everypony learns the same way and not everypony teaches the same way. I guess I just thought I should teach you like Celestia taught me. But you’re not me, Coal, and I’m not Celestia. I shouldn’t have tried to project that relationship onto our own.”
“No, I totally understand. I guess I should have been a bit more patient,” Marcus explained, as he let out a cough. “Anyways, I am willing to try harder to be a better student. That is, if you’ll still have me?”
Twilight smiled warmly and nodded, “Of course, Coal! And I promise to be a better teacher, and more sensitive to your thoughts and feelings. I had a chance to think it over, and… you’re right! You came to me to learn about magic, how to control it. All the historical things I added before are… frivolous. Except for the parts about the ethics and responsibilities regarding magic and its power. I’ll teach you what you want as long as you listen to what I say about respecting magic, the power it can have, and the dangers it can pose if misused.”
“That’s fair, and I’ll be sure to pay attention,” Marcus added, extending his hoof out towards the princess, to which she gladly accepted and the two shook hooves.
“So Spike mentioned you got a letter from Celestia, what was it about?” Marcus asked before finally taking a load off by a nearby seat cushion.
“The Princess wrote that she won’t be able to meet you next week due to a dispute between the Griffon Kingdom and the Zebra clans about certain trade goods Equestria has. So she’ll be gone for the next three months,” Twilight explained.
Marcus made an inward sigh, finding that unexpected development to be quite a relief. “That’s good hear, at least for me. I don’t think I was ready to meet her.”
“It’s unfortunate, but don’t think that you won’t meet her,” Twilight said with a teacherly tone, “She still intends to meet the only alicorn stallion she knows to exist.”
“I still find it hard to believe I’m the only one. Aren’t there others out there?” Marcus asked, tilting his head.
“If there are, no one has met them,” Twilight shrugged. “Apart from the Sisters, alicorns are made, not born. Most of the time it seems to be earning a worthy accomplishment that makes a pony into an alicorn, such as truly embodying your cutiemark. Like I did.”
Marcus could only nod in response. “Well I better get back to Sugarcube Corner before Pinkie comes back here with Mr. ‘Needs a New Personality’ and he starts belittling me again,” Marcus commented, earning a laugh from the baby dragon and a disapproving glare from the lavender alicorn.
“HA! Good one, Coal!” Spike hollered.
“No, it isn’t. Coal, you really shouldn’t be talking bad about Sombra, you’re better than that.”
“You’re really gonna defend the guy who has literally insulted everyone, especially all of our friends?” Marcus said, folding his hooves as he started to pout. “Sides, he really does need a new personality.”
Twilight took a moment to choose her words, but fairly responded, “I know that Sombra has been… difficult. But unless we keep trying with him, he never will reform and he’ll never learn to appreciate friendship and all the things in life that are truly worthwhile. I’m not saying we just forgive his bad behavior, we certainly can’t let him get away with his misdeeds. But we also need to teach him why those actions are wrong and help him understand why.”
“What if he doesn’t want to change? He certainly doesn’t seem like he wants to,” Marcus pointed out.
“Discord didn’t want to change either… until he understood friendship himself and didn’t want to lose it,” Twilight reasoned. “True, Sombra is very different from Discord, but it’s still the same fundamental lesson and intention. We just have to convince Sombra that friendship is worthwhile! Maybe… maybe it just takes the right gesture or words, or perhaps the right individual to get through to him.”
“In that case, it might not be Pinkie Pie who can do that,” Marcus shrugged ruefully. “No offense to Pinks, she’s a saint, but I really think someone else should handle his reformation.
“Maybe you’re right,” Twilight considered Coal’s words with a small hum. Sweet as she was, Pinkie Pie was… manic, random, and silly whereas Sombra, despite his abrasive behavior, was more mature, cultured, and sophisticated. Wait…
Her brain hatched an idea, and Twilight said, “I think you’re right, Coal! I think somepony else has a better chance of getting through to Sombra.”
“Really? Who?”
“I need to discuss it with Celestia first,” Twilight said quickly, scribbling something down at the bottom of her letter, “but for now, is there anything else?”
“Actually, just what time will our next lesson be?”
“Friday, at four o'clock sharp! It’ll be on sensing magic, so be sure to read up on that sensory spell in the textbook I gave you! Have a good rest of your day, Coal!”
“You too, Twilight, and same to you, Spike.”
“See ya, Coal!” Spike waved as the charcoal stallion exited the library and made his way out of the castle.
Once Marcus had returned to Sugarcube Corner, he saw both Pinkie Pie and Sombra exit the restaurant together. Seeing Pinkie skip happily always made Marcus smile. Sombra, however, was muttering something, but he couldn’t quite make it out.
“Heya, Coaly! Whatcha doing?” she asked, smiling at the charcoal stallion.
“Just got back from Twilight’s actually, went better than I thought!” Marcus said, grinning at the party pony before hearing a scoff from the former tyrant. Marcus kept his patience but couldn’t hold in a steeled “...What?”
“Tch! No one cares about your pathetic meeting with that accursed princess! Now if you don’t mind, you're interrupting us!” Sombra spat, almost snarling at Marcus.
Marcus could practically feel the veins in his head begin to pop out as he gave the unicorn a strained smile. “Well, I wasn’t talking to you now, was I? I was talking to Pinks, my friend, who I care about and don’t insult every five seconds.”
“Be glad that I don’t have my powers, peasant! If I did, you would be wise to know your place!”
"But you don't! So, you can't do anything to me." Marcus rebutted, glaring down at the former tyrant.
"Come on you two, there's no need to fight," Pinkie said, stepping between the two stallions with her hooves pressed against their chests.
“Tch! Whatever, I’d rather not waste my time with this nobody anyways,” Sombra let out a huff before shoving his way past Marcus. “Let’s go Pinkie Pie, being in the presence of this peasant is giving me a headache.”
“Oh, sure! Gimme a second!” Pinkie responded, before turning towards her roommate. “I’m so sorry about Sombry, I really don’t know what’s gotten into him lately?”
“Hmm… Well, at least he called you by your name this time. That’s gotta count for something, right?” Marcus suggested, still glaring at the dark stallion before turning to face his friend. “Hey, Pinkie… There’s something I gotta do right now, but I was actually wondering if you’d like to take a walk with me in the evening today, there's something I need to tell you?”
“O-Oh? S-Sure Coaly! That’s a fantastic idea!”
“Alright, I’ll see you then, and… good luck with Sunshine over there, if he blows a fuse and tries anything. Let me know, I’ll set him straight,” Marcus said, trotting back to Sugarcube Corner, leaving the pink mare stupefied.
It was usually hard to catch the party pony herself off guard, but somehow this stallion she had only known for a few weeks had continued to surprise her time and time again. Pinkie felt her cheeks begin to heat up as she just stood there in complete and utter shock. Something that the former ruler of the Crystal Empire didn’t like one bit.
That peasant is starting to get on my last nerves! Who does he think he is to interfere in my affairs? If only I had some of my magic, I’d have that welp groveling at my hooves!
“Can we go already!? The last thing I need is for that wretched princess to scold me again for returning late again!” Sombra snapped, letting out a snarl before gaining the party pony’s attention.
“W-Wuh? Huh? Oh! Right, sorry Sombry, Hehehe… Let’s get you back to Twilight’s place, I’ll let her know that our walk took a little longer because of me, alrighty?” Pinkie replied, her cheeks still slightly red as she began to trot ahead. Seeing that only irritated Sombra more, but he decided not to say anything for the time being.
I'll bide my time for now, that alicorn pretender will make a mistake and when that happens… I'll be there to ensure he endures the same humiliation as I have.
The Everfree Forest wasn’t the friendliest place in Equestria. A single wrong look at a rabbit could yield a gouged-out eye, or glancing at a chicken could leave you trapped in stone, and god-forbid you have a run-in with a Manticore or Hydra. Marcus, however, saw something else in it: home, or as close as he could get. Clouds floated by on their own, and rain poured onto the ground at the command of nobody but the Heavens themselves. The rabid nature of the animals and the chill that would worm its way down his back reminded him of the unpredictability of home.
Honestly, this place had nothing on the creepiness of what Earth had to offer. It had significantly more terrifying places that the ponies couldn’t even begin to imagine.
It was in this duet of order and chaos that Marcus sat in a clearing, feeling a gentle breeze caressing his face. It wasn’t enough to break his concentration, but it did serve to remind him of his whereabouts. A symphony of leaves, dirt, wood, and distant animals all combined into a soft melody, as if the Everfree Forest was trying its best to tell him…something.
Was it a warning, perhaps? A show of encouragement?
Those were both questions that Marcus didn’t ponder, nor could he spare the brain power for them if he even wanted to. No, instead, Marcus’ eyes were shut tight, not allowing a single ray of light to pierce his eyelids. Slowly, he drew in a deep breath, only to feel the light swaying of the grass beside his legs as he exhaled.
Focus. Focus.
Another breath, another zephyr passes him by.
That twig snapped behind me, distant yet audible. The grass feels rather comfortable to be sitting on, and the air feels nice. Yet, I don’t feel what I’m supposed to. At least, I think so.
For a moment, he let his mind be taken entirely by the world around him. For a moment, everything else fell away. And for another moment, his thoughts slowly drifted back to his confrontation with Sombra.
That no-good, arrogant, self-absorbed…! No.
Another deep breath.
Maybe I need to go deeper… I can’t let that guy get in my head.
He tried to focus on positive thoughts as he extended his hoof, picturing a portal opening in front of him leading back to Sugarcube Corner. Slowly, the vibrant colors and child-like aesthetics came into view, and slowly, he began to feel the stone’s power flow into him, but it was different this time. It was calmer? No… more controlled this time. Where before it was like a rush of ice encroaching on every part of his body, now it was like a cool river you might dip into on a hot day. However, Faerie Tail’s words began to infect his mind like a poison.
“You’ve had your stone for only a short time, it is worthless in your neophyte hooves. Whereas I… I have had all the time in the world.”
Gritting his teeth, he couldn’t help but feel anger begin to well up inside of him.
Calm down… Remain calm.
“You’re making this harder than it has to be…”
Unbeknownst to him, the stone began to glow brighter as a blue aura slowly surrounded his body. The ground began to shake, and the air grew restless as the rumbling increased in amplitude by the second. Both huge, looming trees right next to him and imposing boulders that appeared as specs on the distant mountains threatened to come reigning down, wielding their wrath like titans. Everything, from flora to fauna, shook violently in a desperate attempt to somehow yield to and also fight the ever-increasing force.
Marcus struggled to get control of his emotions.
“You don’t know me, you don’t know what I’ve sacrificed, the choices I’ve made! I didn’t ask for this wretched stone!”
No! No! Don't even think of sympathizing with her, she's your enemy, and she’s stopping you from collecting the rest of the Infinity Stones. From living a normal life again! She's getting in the way!
Marcus suddenly opened his eyes and immediately stopped what he was doing. The energy around him began to dissipate and the wind around him calmed. There had been times when Marcus had lost his temper in the past, but it was usually on behalf of others. This was different.
For a moment, he imagined himself hurting Faerie Tail and taking the Time Stone from her. But it wasn't just the thought of it that surprised or even frightened him. It was the fact that it didn't bother him that was truly terrifying.
W-What the hell was that? I’d never- No, it’s just the stress getting to me. I’d never think of hurting others.
He immediately shook his head before closing his eyes again, figuring that perhaps he should try something simpler. “Midnight said that I needed to feel it… So that’s what I need to do before I even think of doing anything else.”
Drawing in a fresh cloud of oxygen and exhaling, Marcus began to actually feel something blanket his body this time. It was a cool, but intense feeling that raced down his spine and wrapped itself around each vein in his body. He had a lot more control of the stone than he did before and it actually felt really good to get a grasp on its power for once.
Alright, I think I got a good hold on it. All I need to do for now is focus on trying to maintain this hold on it until it becomes second nature. The last thing I want is to bring the moon crashing down.
Marcus then released his hold on the stone’s power, letting the energy around him return to the stone. He took a moment to visualize the kitchen of Sugarcube Corner in his mind as he then began to concentrate the energy wrapping around his left hoof, and then his right hoof, before clapping them together and pulling them apart as he began to open a small portal.
He took a moment to admire the swirling blue portal in front of him. It almost reminded him of the storm clouds that constantly circled overhead, threatening to pour down at any moment. It almost reminded him of…home. Stretching his hoof out, he reached inside of it. Sweat began to form on his forehead as he started biting his tongue, hoping his hoof was “where” he wanted it to be. Once his hoof felt what he wanted, he pulled it out immediately.
The small portal closed a heartbeat later and once it did, he looked down at his hoof, and what he was holding was… a broken cookie. He stared at it for a few seconds before he let out a groan.
“AURGH! This wasn’t what I was going for!” He shouted, before falling backward on the soft grass. “Well, at least Iknow it sort of worked. These are the same cookies Pinkie baked this morning.”
One more time.
Sitting back up, Marcus closed his eyes once more as he began to concentrate on building energy around his hooves once more. Seeing the kitchen once more and where he wanted the portal to open up, he clasped his hooves together and began to pull the energy and create another small vortex.
“Alright, remember where it is… I just need to grab the ladle and pull it through-”
*Ping*
Marcus opened his eyes immediately when he heard the sound of a text coming through his phone. Releasing his hold on the stone’s power, the energy that surrounded his body began to dissipate. Letting out a groan, his horn was wrapped in a sudden purple hue as he pulled out his phone from his saddlebag he had set aside.
LD Blink
Is she serious?
Marcus could only stare at the text, dumbfounded by the ambiguous text in front of his eyes. He blinked a few times as his mind tried to process the message, only to look up to find himself standing in complete and utter darkness. Panic started to take hold of him as he looked around frantically, a torrent of thoughts beginning to swirl in his mind.
Did I pass out suddenly? Am I dead again!? What the hell happened?!
“You certainly know how to entertain me, Marcus Phillip,” Marcus heard, turning around to find Death herself sitting on a black throne. A round glass table in front of her with an empty chair across from her. “I suppose I should call you by your new name now, Obsidian Coal.”
“Where are we?” he asked.
“We are in your mind right now, Coal. This is the safest way of communication for us to discuss important matters without worries of unwanted ears prying into our conversations,” she explained, gesturing at the chair.
“A heads up would have been nice,” Marcus said, a little irked, but decided not to press it any further. “So, I’m guessing you want to talk to me about the Infinity Stone I found, right?”
“You assume correctly,” she said with a smirk. In an instant, she flexed her hand, and images of the six Infinity Stones flared to life, floating just above the table. “You are in possession of the Space Stone, and as the name implies, it has control over all of Space itself, giving you the power to manipulate and travel instantly to any point in space.
“And you’ve only just begun to scratch the surface of what you can do with it,” she continued, her hand waving in the air as the image of the stones changed to many images of him using the Space Stone. “I’ve been watching you, and I have to admit that I am rather impressed by how you managed to bumble your way with it. It was honestly funny when you thought you could take the Time Stone from one of, if not the most, powerful sorceresses in Equestria. She threw you around like a rag doll.”
“I get it, I don’t know how to properly use it, but I’ve only had it for a few weeks and I can’t exactly use it when it could make a black hole that could suck the entire town into oblivion,” he argued, seeing the flashing images of him and how he’s been using it made his cheeks flush red.
“Aww… How cute, making excuses when you are in possession of one of the most powerful artifacts in the universe,” she said, placing her chin on her hand. “However, I am glad you are finally making progress on mastering the stone. Even sought out advice from someone who at least understands its power.”
“Ooookay, but I’m sure that criticizing me about how I’ve barely made progress using the Space Stone isn’t the only reason I’m here, is it?”
Shaking her head, her arm extended outward as her hand began to wave once more, the floating images warping like squished rubber and revealing the entire planet of Equestria. “There is a reason why I sent you to Equestria, not for the sole reason of just…’Entertaining’ me. The world of Equus has been separated from the cycle of life.”
Marcus only looked confused when she said that. “What do you mean?”
“I’m sure you know how life works, correct?”
“Y-Yeah?”
“You are born, you live, and you one day, die. After that your soul comes to me and I guide you to where you go in the afterlife. However, the souls of Equus, those who have been killed, haven’t made their way here,” she explained. Marcus might’ve found that information more surprising if he wasn’t momentarily inundated with flashbacks that made a drop of sweat roll down his back.
“Do you know what happened to them?”
“I have a theory, but I don’t have enough evidence to support it at the moment. From what I’ve managed to gather, the culprit behind this is an entity who is not a part of this timeline. One who is in possession of the Soul Stone, the most unique and powerful of the six Infinity Stones,” she explained. In an instant, a long line of light spanning infinitely in both directions appeared with a flash.
“W-Wait, you said two timelines? As in, a different world with different events taking place?” Marcus asked incredulously.
“Yes,” she responded. “As you can see, the timeline used to be one, until right here.”
She pointed at the middle where the line suddenly split in two, like a fork in the road. Marcus noticed that the lines splitting are different colors. The green line was veering off to the right while the orange line was going to the left.
“Is the green one our timeline?” Marcus asked.
Death nodded. “This is the timeline we are currently in… A timeline where I don’t have influence. I can feel millions of souls who should have crossed over in agony in this other timeline. Those souls are trapped and I can’t physically enter this world until the split is mended.”
“So this is the real reason why I’m here? To fix this split in the timeline?” Marcus asked. Almost immediately, he began pondering theories of his own, trying to extract any and all information from his past three weeks here. Then suddenly, something clicked.
“Faerie… She must know something about this…? She had the Time Stone and she kept talking like she had gone through… a lot. Maybe she knows what happened?” Marcus suggested, rubbing his chin before he looked up towards Death, who was smiling at him.
“Then, for the time being, I suggest you focus on mastering the Space Stone and obtain the Time Stone,” she said, before pulling out a pocket watch and looking at the time. “I’m afraid I’m out of time here… I do have my duties and you have a date you need to get ready for with a certain… party pony, right?”
“W-Woah, woah, I’m not going on a date. I don’t even like ponies, and in case you forgot, I’m human-”
“You were human, but now you’re one of them. Your mind hasn’t fully adjusted to being a pony yet, but I think sometime in the near future you’ll start seeing things differently,” Death said, giving him a smirk that sent a cold chill riding up his spine.
“N-Not gonna happen,”
“Sure it won’t~ Ta, ta~” Death said. Marcus then blinked, and Death snapped her fingers. He blinked again, and suddenly he was waking up in the opening he had found. He paused for a moment when he glanced at the sky, its bright orange hues filling the heavens. He had spent much longer than intended here.
It's not a date. It's just two friends going for a walk together…. Alone… at night… Just the two of us… who is also a girl…
…
Holy shit! Did I ask Pinkie out on a date!?!
Marcus suddenly started feeling a little flushed as he got back up. However, as he began the journey back to Ponyville, he was unaware of two orange eyes hiding in the trees, watching him as the figure stepped out of the shadows.
The long scars littered across their face didn’t prevent them from grinning as the alicorn was now out of sight.
“Hmm… how interesting? I suppose my sources weren't exaggerating about an alicorn prince arriving here in this hillbilly hick town. I'll need to get a closer look at this fool when the opportunity arises. After all, it’s not every day I get to meet a Stone Keeper.”
The whole way back, Marcus’ nerves were firing constantly. His head was swimming with thoughts of what Death had said to him about “seeing” ponies differently. It was enough to make him sweat, but even worse was the huge pit that weighed down in his stomach the moment he set hoof in Sugarcube Corner. Looking at the staircase going upstairs, he couldn’t help but feel dread as his cheeks heated up.
“Sometime in the near future, you’ll start seeing things differently,”
She’s wrong… She’s wrong, I’m a human. I ain’t gonna see Pinkie any differently. You’re just going on a walk as FRIENDS and nothing more. I mean, we’ve only known each other a few weeks!
Seeing the logic in his own argument, Marcus trotted up the stairs to the hallway leading to both his and Pinkie’s rooms. Filling his lungs with air and exhaling, he made his way over to Pinkie’s door.
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK…
“Whooooooo is it?~” he heard Pinkie sing.
“Hey, Pinks, it’s me,”
“O-Oh, give me a second, Coaly!”
THUD!
“Is everything okay in there, Pinks?”
“Just dropped something, it’s not important. I’ll be out in a second,” Pinkie replied as the haphazard sounds of shuffling and movement continued for a few more seconds before her door swung open. He noticed that she had a nervous grin on her face, her mane was a little messy and her cheeks were red. “S-Sorry for the wait! Whatcha need, Coaly?”
“Actually, I was wondering if you still wanted to go for that walk like we talked about earlier? But I understand if you’re busy and all, I can just-”
“N-No, not at all! Just gimme me a minute and I’ll meetcha downstairs!” Pinkie shouted, slamming the door in his face. Marcus blinked.
Ooookay… I guess I’ll just wait downstairs for now, but why was she acting so weird- Wait, remember it’s Pinkie being Pinkie. You never know what’s going through that girl's mind, but… she did look a little weirded out by me.
Pinkie Pie leaned against her door with a goofy grin plastered on her face as she tried to calm her rapidly beating heart. Her face was completely flushed as she pressed her hooves against her cheeks.
He was serious when he asked to go on a walk together? Just the two of us?! Is this a date!? No come on, Pinkie Pie, you are just two friends going out on a walk together. It’s like my walks with Sombry, just me and Coaly going for a walk together… alone… JUST as friends.
She paused for a moment when the thought of "just friends" came to mind. She couldn’t explain what that awful feeling was, but she ignored it promptly as she quickly grabbed a pink and white striped scarf and wrapped it around herself, before taking a quick glance at her wall mirror.
A frown began to form on her face, before glancing down at her makeup kit that Rarity had given her for her birthday last year.
It wouldn’t hurt to make myself look a little prettier, would it?
Marcus could barely keep his hind hoof from rap-tap-tapping the edge of the booth he was sitting at. He forced himself to take a deep breath as he glanced at his phone for what felt like the fifth time in simultaneously three minutes and two hours. But it had only been fifteen minutes.
Get a hold of yourself! You have nothing to worry about, we're only going for a walk around town… It’s not a date or anything like that, I just need to tell her the truth about what I really am and it'll make things so much easier.
Unfortunately for him, Marcus never got the chance to finish that breath of his. For not a moment later, the creaking of the old wooden stairs caught his attention from across the room. Down stepped Pinkie, his unfinished breath caught in her grasp.
He wasn’t sure why he couldn’t breathe, or how on Earth she even held his attention like that, but she did. He couldn’t put a finger or hoof? on what it was specifically; was it her confident stride? Her almost reflectively pink mane she tied up that momentarily blinded him? Her-
No! This is NOT happening! Friends! WE'RE JUST FRIENDS!
“Are you ready to go?” she asked.
"OH! Y-Yeah, definitely," Marcus said, feeling blood rush to his cheeks as he turned his head away from her. “*Ahem* Uh… S-Shall we? Heh…”
“Yeah… lead the way,” Pinkie replied awkwardly. Marcus also happened to notice that her cheeks were slightly red for some reason.
Did she put on makeup? Is that why she's embarrassed? There's no way she'd be embarrassed around me, right? Oh god, did she put the makeup on for this walk with me? Nah, that can't be jt… She just wanted to look nice for herself! Not for me or anything like that.
He tried to justify to himself before calling out to the Cakes.
“We’ll be back in a little while, Mr. and Mrs. Cake!” he shouted. Only after hearing an "Okay" from Mr. Cake did they both head out the door of Sugarcube Corner. “So, any place in particular you’d like to go to? A favorite spot? Or we could just go around for a little while?”
“Pfft… I don’t mind us just walking around town. Really, I just like everything here in Ponyville so it’s always difficult for me to really pick a favorite place!” Pinkie replied, rubbing the back of her head with her hoof as she let out a giggle.
Marcus immediately turned his gaze away from the party pony as he tried to get his flushed face under control. He wasn’t sure why this was suddenly happening. A few hours ago he could look Pinkie and pretty much everypony in the eye and not get so flustered. Now, he could barely look at Pinkie’s cute face without getting embarrassed-
Stop! You are only acting like this now, because of what Death said. Remember Marcus, you are a human, not a pony. You are taking her out because you trust her… It’s time.
With his mind set and strength in his resolve, the two of them made a turn around the corner of a building, only for him to collide with something metallic, and hard, producing a dull thump..
"Ooof! Ow!"
"You okay, Coaly!?" Pinkie asked, cringing Marcus could only stumble backwards, a grimace adorning his face as he gripped his stomach.
"Y-Yep!" he croaked.
"Oh! I'm terribly sorry! Didn't mean to hit you," a voice of drizzled honey oozed into Marcus’ ears. Looking up, he saw a brown stallion with a long black mane and tail with a red streak going through it towering over him. He was wearing a white apron whose pink ice cream cone graphic heavily clashed with his coat. Marcus tried to distinguish his cutie mark, but it was hard to see it. Perhaps that was because of how late it had gotten? Either way, the stallion had a look of concern on his face for a moment that suddenly changed to astonishment. "Oh! You're that new prince that everypony is talking about, right?"
"N-Nononono! Not a prince," Marcus quickly rebutted sheepishly. That earned him a giggle from the party mare beside him.
"Well, I must say, I wasn’t expecting to meet you anytime soon. It's truly an honor to meet a new alicorn. My name is Mocha Cone, and I am the owner of this fine cart," he introduced himself, his hooves gesturing to his whole cart that now filled Marcus’ vision. He swore to himself it wasn’t there a second ago, before noticing the stallion extending his hoof out towards him.
"Well… uh… it's nice to meet you, too,” he sputtered out, reaching to shake his hoof. “but why are you-"
"Ooh Oh! Can I get a chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry cone, please?! Oh! And get a triple chocolate scoop cone for Coaly here! It's his favorite!" Pinkie blurted out, jumping up and down excitedly. Fortunately, he seemed to handle…Pinkie, quite well. Her reaction thankfully only elicited a chuckle from him. Marcus, however, couldn't help but look at Pinkie astonished by how she remembered that. He only briefly mentioned liking chocolate ice cream when he was telling her about his time back home. And that was weeks ago!
As the ice cream stallion began to open his cart and pulled out an ice cream scooper. That was when Pinkie looked up towards him, she couldn't help but tilt her head as she gave him a smile. "What’s with the long face, Coaly?"
"It’s just- Y-you actually remembered?" Marcus answered, completely taken aback by what she had said.
“Well, of course I remembered, silly! What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t remember their favorite flavor of ice cream?” Pinkie answered, even though it didn’t feel right to have the word “friend” come out of her mouth when it came to the alicorn.
“Well-”
“And here you are my lady, and for you… your majesty,” Mocha said, floating the pair of cones to them wrapped in a deep orange glow.
Huh? How’d he- Was he a unicorn the whole time? But I didn’t see-
“Mmm… This is so good! You gotta try it, Coaly!” Pinkie said, licking her ice cream.
Marcus couldn’t help but roll his eyes as he let out a chuckle before taking a lick of his own ice cream cone. “Wow, this is really good! Hey, how much does-”
“Oh, there’s no need for payment, it’s on the house. Think of it as an apology for bumping into you.”
“But I bumped into-”
“Ah, ah, ah, no buts!”
“Thank you, Mocha Cone! Tell Mrs. Cone I said hi!” Pinkie thanked before skipping ahead. Marcus started to follow her as he wondered how she held the cone in her hoof while skipping.
“Yeah, thanks for the cones!” he called back before hurrying ahead.
“No problem! Come back anytime!” Mocha called back with a broad smile.
The clattering of Marucs’ hooves against the rough dirt road came to a slow as he caught up with Pinkie.
“That was nice of him.”
“Yep! What a great friend!”
For several seconds-or hours, Marcus couldn’t tell the difference at this point-the sound of dirt crunching beneath their hooves and the ambiance of Ponyville was all that was shared between them.
Marcus could feel a pit slowly opening in his stomach as each second ticked by. Sure, their mouths were currently preoccupied with the ice cream, but come on!
The creaking of a wooden door sounded nearby. A light gust blew from behind them, as if coaxing them farther along.
Finally, a resounding ‘CRUNCH!’ emanated from Pinkie.
“So, you said you wanted to talk about something?” she asked in a weird way where her words themselves sounded as if they were stumbling; like they were pulled along too quickly by the word in front of them.
“Yeah… Actually… the thing is I haven't exactly been honest with you Pinkie, or with anyone really-
“Anypony,” she corrected.
“Bless you, but let's not get off topic. I’m trying to tell you that I'm not who I say I am,” he said, having a sudden tightness in his throat constricting his breathing. He mentally braced himself, waiting for any sign of mistrust or caution from her.
Instead, he saw her look up at him with concern. Feeling her place a hoof on his cheek, she began to speak. “Coaly, it’s okay. I'm not going to judge you or say anything to anypony and… I had a feeling you were probably going to say something that involves where you're from right?”
“Yeah, how did you know?”
“Well, it's been a few weeks and you've barely mentioned anything about yourself. Like where you were from, or if you had family, friends, and all that stuff,” she paused for a moment as she collected her thoughts. “I guess this is about you wanting to go back home.”
Marcus avoided her gaze as he slowly nodded to her. Feeling his eyes start to water up, he did his best to hold himself back. That struggle became a bit easier as he spotted the bridge over the river where he had once comforted Pinkie.
“Do you mind if we talk by the bridge? I… I want to get everything off my chest and-” He was cut off by Pinkie’s hoof grabbing hold of his.
“Then let's get moving, Coaly!” Pinkie said, giving him a gentle smile rather than her usual eccentric one as she pulled him along towards the bridge.
All the while, the small pockets of moisture at the edges of his eyes threatened to spill over, and the constrictions in his throat grew and grew, like a snake finishing off its meal. It almost felt like he was being strangled at one point, and maybe he was, in a way.
How long has it been since I properly expressed…anything? Anything like this at all?
Once they were on the bridge, Marcus couldn't contain it any longer as tears began to pour out from his eyes. He started to shake as he lopped him head onto the railing and his mind began to race.
She's going to hate me, she's not gonna be my friend after I tell her the truth.
“Coaly, whatever you need to tell me, I pinkie promise that I'm not gonna hate you or stop being your friend,” she said, smiling at him Luckily, she was able to ignore that fluttering feeling in her tummy when she saw his obscured silver eyes.
“How'd you know I said-”
“Because you muttered that out loud, silly, hehe…” Pinkie said, letting a giggling when he replied with an: “Oh” “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”
“Thanks, Pinkie, that means a lot to me actually. Okay…” Marcus said, trying to retrieve his thoughts from the torrent of emotion crashing through him right now.
“Pinkie, I wasn’t always a pony… I used to be something else. I… I wasn't born here in this world. I was born on a world called Earth, in a little town with… m-my f-family.” Marcus stammered, feeling ready for more tears to come out, but he forced himself to continue. “All I wanted to do was… be like my d-dad and help people… but… oh god… Oh god… I'mimim… I'm…”
Marcus began to cry, just letting it all out. He felt Pinkie’s hoof stroking his back as he just continued to let his tears flow freely. He tried not to think about it too much when he had arrived here in Equestria, and for several periods of time, he couldn’t; there was always something to worry about! From Death’s assignment and cryptic words, to meeting Fluttershy and her friends, royalty, Sombra, Infinity Stones?! It was all too much! But now that he was telling someone the whole truth, it finally dawned on him how painful these memories had become.
His parents, his sister, and his friends back on Earth are beyond him now.
“Pinkie… I… I was… I was…”
“Coaly… it's okay…I'm here for you…” Pinkie said, hugging him from behind while still stroking his back.
“Pinks… my… real name is or… was Marcus Phillips… and I was killed back where I came from… I died on Earth.” He finally said it and he was ready for her to leave him or call him “crazy” or “liar” and despite it hurting, he did feel a little relief finally coming clean.
*Sniffling*
Marcus' eyes widened when turned his head back to try and see the party pony, but he could only see her beautiful mane as her grip around his waist tightened. He soon began to feel something a little wet and warm on his back.
She was crying.
“M-Marcus… Is that really… your real name?”
“It’s not supposed to be anymore… Coal Obsidian is my name now, but… I still see myself as Marcus… It’s going to take time for me… to accept Coal as my real name,” Marcus replied, shutting his eyes tightly between sobs. “There is more… The real reason I'm looking for the stones is because I need to restore the lost souls of this world. Fixing what's missing is what's gonna get me a permanent body.”
“W-What do you mean?”
“If I don't… find all six of the Infinity Stones…Then my body will turn to dust.” he said, hearing a gasp from her.
“N-No… Nononononononono! You can't turn to dust! Why?!” Pinkie shouted.
“I made this deal with Death… I have ten years to find them all Pinks… it’s why I'm here right now. I'm alive and breathing because of Death. If I can get all those stones… If I can use them to fix what's going on in this world and save those missing souls, then afterward I can use them to get my old body back and I can go back home,” Marcus declared, wiping his tears as he sniffed.
Pinkie honestly didn’t know what to think at this point. This stallion who has treated her kindly, been helping her and the Cakes at Sugarcube Corner, who stood up for her had been going through all of this on his own. It was unbelievable, but the way he spoke of his home and what he'd gone through, it wasn’t something he could just make up. Those tears, that pain in his eyes, and sobs of anguish were proof enough for her that he was telling the truth.
It was heartbreaking to hear to the point that she'd been crying for this poor soul and he was still trying to help! Yet when he said going back home to his world…
… Didn’t that mean she wouldn’t see him again?
“Coal…um… Marcus? Oh, um… What do I call you now?” she asked, pulling away from him as she moved to sit next to him.
“It’s okay to keep calling me Coal Pinkie, it’s something I gotta get used to…” he replied, actually facing her and giving her a small grin.
“Then… Coaly, this is a lot and I know that it's important to you and I want to help you, but… can you promise me that you'll always come back to me- to us! All of us, your friends here in Ponyville and to come party here with us? It'll be a lot of fun and there will be cake, balloons, games and and-” she stopped suddenly when a hoof gently pressed against her lips.
“Pinks, I promise to come back… but it's not like I can leave anytime soon. I still have five more stones to look for. We're friends-No… Best friends,” he declared, despite how red and puffy his eyes were, he still looked at her with determination with a smile on his face that sent her heart afloat.
Pinkie felt her face start to heat up suddenly as one thought came to mind for the party pony.
He really has a handsome face. she thought, before trying to cover her reddened cheeks with her hooves as she turned away from him.
“You okay, Pinkie?”
“YEP! ALL FINE HERE!” Pinkie shouted as she looked away from him. Marcus couldn’t help but give a confused look before he shrugged.
“Ahem… A-Anyway, thank you for listening, Pinks, but you can't tell anypony about what you heard tonight. If they knew what I was really doing… I'd probably get locked up for the rest of my life… ten short years, but it's still my whole life currently,” Marcus explained, scratching the back of his neck.
“Consider it a genuine Pinkie Pie promise, Coaly! Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye! That's two Pinkie promises from me, and I expect you to keep yours Mister!” Pinkie stated very clearly, poking his chest.
“Yeah, and I promise that no matter what, I'll be sure to come back to all of you… Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” Marcus said, only this time he didn't jab himself in the eye.
The two started laughing as they both stood up and started their trek back home to Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie Pie suddenly got ahead of him as she skipped with every step. Marcus was about to suggest something before he suddenly found himself noticing something quite appealing.
He found himself staring at her bouncing rump, the way it moved and how round and firm-
STOP! For the love of god!? What is up with me!? This is Death's fault, it's because of her that these thoughts are happening. I never even saw Pinkie like that before… Her pretty face and round-OH COME ON!
He couldn’t stop his face from turning a bright red as he tried shaking those inappropriate thoughts about his friend away.
Forget making it to 10 years… how am I even going to make it through one?
Marcus had come to expect a lot of things from Pinkie Pie. Considering he had to help with deliveries and party setups for the better part of a month now, he liked to think he’s come a long way in understanding her. So when he was tasked with helping her prepare for Rarity’s birthday surprise party, he was expecting the usual set up: colorful balloons, lots of cupcakes, and a big cake with friends. But what he wasn’t expecting was to set up at town hall, and he definitely didn’t expect to be setting up such a… luxurious party.
“Hey, Pinks? A-Are you sure we’re setting up a party for Rarity and not for the Queen of England?” Marcus asked, feeling a little overwhelmed by the white and silver decorations and overall fanciness. From the glass and silverware to the blindingly white tablecloths and drapes, it all served to make him feel like a commoner at a banquet. So far the only ones that had been helping set up were him, Pinkie, Applejack, her brother, and one other stallion that he hadn’t met before. From what she had told him, a small group was all that was needed to set up while the rest of the girls kept Rarity occupied for the day until it was time.
“Queen of what? Is that where you’re from, M- Coaly!?” Pinkie asked. For a moment, she panicked at her near slip, making her cheeks gain a slight red tinge.
“No, and it’s just an expression… And well, it’s just- this really is gorgeous Pinkie, and… Um… different from what you usually do for parties you know? Just wondering why all the over-the-top decorations?” He asked, carrying a tray of little appetizers in his hoof and setting them down on another table with other various appetizers and treats.
“Oh, well honestly, I wanted to try and do something different for Rarity, since she’s one of my bestest friends in the whole wide world! She’s always gone on and on about having a fancy party like everypony at Canterlot. So… I wanted to give her an amazing party, you know?” She replied with a sheepish but endearing smile.
Marcus smiled before remembering he hadn’t exactly told her too much about where he came from. It had been almost a week since he told her about who he really was and why he was here in Equestria. It had been a little awkward talking to each other since then, but Pinkie had proven she could be trusted to keep his secret.
It was relieving to him honestly, like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders and he felt like he could tell Pinkie anything. Even if he got a little flustered by her as of late, no thanks to Death.
“Denver, Colorado,” Pinkie heard, immediately turning around to see him glancing away from her. “That’s where I’m really from, I was born and raised there, but don’t tell anyone, please? I’m not exactly comfortable sharing this with everyone.”
“Of course! I made a Pinkie Promise, and I never break my promises!”
“Thanks, Pinks!” said Marcus, smiling at the party pony, causing her face to turn bright red before she rushed off somewhere. Just as he was about to head around the back to get more table centerpieces, he noticed a plate full of Applejack’s famous apple fritters that looked like they had just come out of the oven. The fresh, sweet smell of apple and cinnamon coming from them made his mouth salivate a little. He surveyed his surroundings quickly to make sure no pony, especially Pinkie Pie, was watching him.
I’m sure one little snack wouldn’t hurt? he thought with a devious smirk. His hoof reached down to grab a fritter…before an infernal orange hoof swatted his away.
“OW!”
“Nice try, Coal, but y'all hav ta wait til th’ party starts ta hav any!” Applejack said, smirking as the alicorn rubbed his hoof.
“Aww… c’mon! Just one little fritter…!”
“Nu-uh! None o’ that! Y'all will wait like everypony else.”
“Fiiiine…” Marcus sighed, sounding and feeling like a petulant colt. But give him a break, he was famished!
“Hey, Coal, I know yer busy wit’ decoratin’ th’ tables, but wouldja mind helpin’ with mah brother, Big Mac? He’s gonna need a hoof settin’ up more tables for all the guests.” Applejack asked, carrying the plate of fritters away.
“I don’t mind lending a ha-hoof, but think you could let Pinks know that? Since she’s in charge of setting everything and all?” Marcus asked.
“Pinks, huh? Ya know, Ah’ve started noticin’ you an Pinkie have been spendin a lotta time together. Something goin on?~” the farmer asked, giving Marcus a sly grin as he began to turn red.
“N-No! W-We’re just good friends,” Marcus stuttered, his cheeks turning red as thoughts from that night with Pinkie. The way she looked, with her mane tied up, the makeup, and her blushing cheeks, and the way her rump- “SO! W-Where’s your br-brother at?!”
“Hehe, out in front, Coal, Caramel should be out there too,” Applejack smirked.
“Caramel?” he asked.
“Oh, he’s a friend of Mac’s,” Applejack answered with just the faintest blush, “An okay guy, but… tends tuh make mistakes yet speak his mind. Even though he’s blunter than an ol’ pack mule. But… can’t help but respect his honesty.”
“Oh?” Marcus decided to turn the tables, “An honest stallion, is he?”
“Yeah…” Applejack swooned just a bit before her eyes popped and she noticed the look Marcus was giving her. “Ohh! You dastardly varmint!”
“What goes around, comes around, AJ,” Marcus chuckled, heading out before Applejack would give him an earful.
Once he was outside it was there that he saw the famous Big Macintosh in the flesh, carrying a round table on his back. From the stories he had heard, Big Macintosh was known for being a pony of action instead of words, speaking as little as possible, often no more than ‘eeyup’ or ‘nnope’.
Some might consider his stoic and silent demeanor intimidating, but from what Marcus was told, anyone who looked a little deeper would see that Macintosh was just a hard-working stallion devoted to his family, his home, and his friends. His actions only further proved it, tending to only speak if he deemed it necessary. Not to mention, those who knew him well could read him more easily than others who did not.
Marcus then looked at the tan-ish pony trailing behind Big Mac who he assumed was Caramel. Under his scrutiny, he could see that the more average-sized stallion was hardly anything like Big Mac. Caramel looked a little winded passing the tables over to the large stallion, even though Macintosh was doing most of the heavy lifting, and the look of intense discomfort on Caramel’s face made it clear he’d rather be doing quite literally anything else. Perhaps his cutie-mark, three blue horseshoes, indicated he wasn’t up to physical labor like some earth ponies were.
I was only joking about her having a crush on this guy, but… is this really the guy?
Still, it’d be nice to make some guy friends. As much as he’d come to care about and appreciate Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, and the rest, Marcus could only take so much female companionship before he craved interaction with male peers. He took a deep breath, and approached the two stallions, lifting a hoof to wave and say, “Hey guys… um… how’s it going? Macintosh and Caramel, right?
It was only upon his getting closer that Marcus realized he was a little taller than Macintosh (not counting his horn). But he saw at once that Macintosh had him beat in mass and muscle (not to mention a bit of a farmer’s paunch, which was unavoidable from the kind of food a farmer eats on the regular). Whereas with Caramel, Marcus was nearly a head taller, and Caramel wasn’t nearly as fit as Macintosh. If it weren’t for the muscles in his legs that came from his earth pony strength and lifestyle, Marcus would have considered Caramel a couch potato, from the chub around his barrel.
Seeing Marcus address them, Caramel stiffened up with a gulp, and hesitantly responded, “Uh- I… hey to you too! Uh… your highness?”
“Hehehe, please don’t call me that, I’m no prince or anything of the sort,” Marcus said kindly, “Call me Coal Obsidian, or just Coal.”
“Er- Okay! Um, Coal,” Caramel was still nervous, but he felt a bit more at ease from how friendly Marcus was being. “You know us, from AJ, I bet.”
“Yeah, she said you guys were out here helping set things up,” Marcus nodded, “You don’t mind if I lend a hoof, do you?”
“Nnope,” Macintosh replied as he kept carrying the table, Caramel steadying to keep it level.
“Uh… ‘nnope’ as in you don’t mind or ‘nnope’ as in you’re good?” Marcus asked
“Eeyup.”
Marcus desperately gave Caramel a ‘help me out here’ look. Caramel honestly found it a tad funny and had to stifle a laugh, but he understood. “He means yes, we’d appreciate you helping out. Mac’s a stallion of few words.”
“Eeyup,” Macintosh agreed, before adding, “Ah let mah actions speak fer themselves.”
Marcus couldn’t tell if those additional words were friendly or not, but then Caramel chuckled, “He must like you. He doesn't often say much when meeting new ponies.”
“Ah say sumpin’ if’n it needs sayin’,” Macintosh asserted before he signaled Caramel to let the table down. He looked over to Marcus, “Mind settin’ out th’ chairs?”
“O-Oh, sure! Not a problem,” Marcus replied, his horn began to glow a bright purple as an aura surrounded a few chairs and they began to levitate.
“Could do it wit’ yer own hooves, but okay,” Macintosh commented dryly, causing Marcus’s magical grip on the chairs to falter.
“Uh… sorry. I normally would, but I… I need to practice,” Marcus muttered, his cheeks reddened a bit.
“Don’t sweat it,” Caramel assured, “Mac just respects a hooves’ on approach to work and life, is all.”
“Don’ take this th’ wrong way,” Macintosh brought up, “but why would an alicorn need tuh practice his magic? At yer age, Ah mean.”
“Well, I can’t say too much, but before coming here, I didn’t have the horn and wings. I was… just an average guy working hard to help my f-family. Honestly, I’d prefer doing everything by ha-hoof,” he replied, internally cursing himself for almost slipping up again.
“No kidding! An alicorn who’s a stallion and he used to be an earth pony?!” Caramel was flabbergasted, but in a good way. “I heard some alicorns are made, not born, but you’re surely the first alicorn stallion we’ve ever heard of, and you used to be an earth pony too! Take that, unicorn elitists!”
Macintosh gave Marcus a respectful nod, before saying, “Well, Ah can’t rightly fault ya fer wantin’ t’ improve on yer powers. An’ Ah s’pose magic will get us done well before th’ party needs tuh start. Why don’cha set up th’ lights an’ streamers as well? We’d do it jus’ fine, but it’d take a lotta time an’ we’ve fallen from ladders more `n once.”
“Sure, once we’re done doing this, I need to help out with them anyway. Still, Pinks sure outdid herself this time, don’t you think?” Marcus asked, deciding to release his magic hold on the chairs and decided to carry them on his back like Big Mac.
“You can say that again!” Carmel commented as he also helped carry some of the chairs inside.
Caramel knew where everything was supposed to go, so he was happy to play supervisor and direct the two larger stallions on placing the tables and chairs while he got out the cords of lights and rolls of streamers ready.
Once that was done, Caramel showed Marcus the streamers and lights, telling him where and how to set them up according to Pinkie’s specifications. Marcus had to be much more precise with his telekinesis, more than he was comfortable and experienced with. It ended up taking a while, not to mention the incidents where.
Caramel and Macintosh both looked around and nodded in approval, with Caramel saying, “Coal, you saved our rumps! It would’ve taken forever to do all that by hoof. Mac wasn’t kidding when he said we’ve fallen off ladders more than once doing this sort of thing ourselves.”
“Eeyup,” Macintosh said, giving Marcus a friendly smile, “Thank ya, kindly, Coal.”
“Nah, it was a team effort here guys… Honestly, I’m just glad we were able to get everything done in time.” Marcus couldn’t help but feel at ease after working with these two. He was worried they’d be screaming bloody murder at the sight of him just walking up to them, but things turned out better than he had hoped. “You guys are pretty cool!”
Caramel looked stunned by those words, unable to hold back a smile, before whisper-shouting to Mac, “Mac! Coal, an alicorn, thinks we’re pretty cool…!”
Chuckling at Caramel’s coltish giddiness, Macintosh replied with his signature, “Eeyup.” He was about to leave it at that before an idea struck him. With a smile and not another thought, he spoke up. “Say, Coal, how wouldja like tuh join us an’ a few o’ our pals in our weekly guys’ night?”
Marcus’ eyes widened briefly, it was more than he had hoped for. “Really?! S-Sure! I’d be happy to join you! What do you do on guys’ night?” “It varies,” Caramel shrugged, “Sometimes we play imaginary hoofball and argue over players, card games, sometimes we even do O&O campaigns. I thought it was kinda nerdy but Mac and Spike got me into it. We also chow down on stuff like pizza, chips n’ dip, soda, or some of Mac’s special cider, or we even just hang and talk.”
“About what?” asked Marcus.
“A lotta things, stuff studs like us are into,” Macintosh chuckled, before adding, “But certain stuff we only talk about if Spike ain’t around, if’n ya catch muh drift.”
Noticing the shared smirks on both earth ponies’ faces, Marcus got the drift indeed. “Ah, I see what you mean. Anyways, I just have one question though. What is O&O?”
“Uh-oh,” Caramel peered over at Macintosh, who was gawking at Marcus as though he’d grown a second head.
“Aw’right, yer definitely comin’ tuh guys’ night,” Macintosh declared, “Ah’ll host this time.”
“Eh? Oh definitely- Oh… he’s here.” Marcus furrowed his brows at the sight of a certain dark unicorn arriving with Pinkie Pie, the look on his face indicating he’d rather be literally anywhere else but here. He wasn’t sure why, but seeing him with Pinkie really set his nerve endings on fire.
“Eesh, him…” Caramel grimaced at the sight of Sombra. “Y’know, just to indulge Pinkie’s request for us to open up to Sombra, we actually tried to invite him to guys’ night once.”
Marcus gave them a double-take, “You invited that guy?!”
Caramel deflated while Mac stated in no uncertain terms, “It didn’t end well…”
“Why am I not surprised…? I can see why Pinkie wanted this jacka- jerk to hang out with other guys, but he hates everyone and can’t even control his temper for more than five seconds. Not to mention, the guy has had a serious problem with me ever since we first met,” Marcus stated plain as day, as he already felt the blood beginning to pound in his ears.
“Y’all don’ need tuh hold back on our accounts, haystack,” Macintosh chuckled, “Tha’ varmint’s such an ass he gives `em a bad name.”
“Heheh, well, he ain’t got nothing on a certain horse’s ass that I know of,” Caramel teased while whipping his tail at Mac’s backside, only to be met with a swift slug to the shoulder.
Worth it… Caramel thought with a wincing chuckle.
“Y’know what, I’m not gonna let him get to me,” Marcus declared firmly, before asking, “So, besides the three of us, who else is in on guys’ night?”
“Well, we include Spike from time to time, usually during O&O sessions,” Caramel answered, “otherwise, we sometimes have Comet Tail, Lucky Clover, Thunderlane, Noteworthy Blues, Pokey Pierce, we’ve even had Rarity’s dad, Hondo Flanks, join us a couple of times!”
“Why him?” asked Marcus.
“Why not?! Hondo’s a livin’ legend!” Mac gushed, an uncharacteristic giddiness filling his starstruck eyes, “He’s retired now, but Hondo Flanks used to be one o’ th’ best pro hoofball players around!”
“Huh, well… I guess my grandpa was right… you learn something new every day.” Marcus was starting to understand that hoofball must be the Equestrian version of football. “Why’d he retire?”
“From what we know, after Hondo’s wife announced her pregnancy, Hondo filed for his retirement so he could focus on taking care of his family,” Caramel answered, “and once Rarity had grown into a filly, Hondo went back to play, but a close-call almost put him out of commission permanently.”
“So, Hondo decided tuh become a pro hoofball coach instead,” Macintosh added, “He’s mentored plenty o’ great hoofball players, like Tackle from th’ Baltimare Blackbirds.”
“Don’t tell me you guys just invite him out of hero worship,” teased Marcus.
“Nah, Hondo’s great,” Caramel assured, “Sure, we got all fancolt around him at first, but Hondo’s plenty of fun, and sometimes we’ve even gone to him for advice.”
“Jus’ don’t pull his hoof when ya meet him,” Macintosh brought up, and then he and Caramel both shuddered, “Found tha’ out th’ hard way…”
“Pfft… Can’t believe you fell for the oldest trick in the book,” Marcus laughed as the other stallions joined him. Eventually as the laughter died down, he soon took notice of Pinkie Pie and Applejack talking and then laughing together. It was enough for a smile to grace his face, but the strange thing was that his heart skipped a beat at the endearing sight.
“Ah see you hav’ your eye on Pinkie there, somethin goin on there?” Big Mac asked, a sly grin formed on his face Marcus could only throw up a hoof in defense, a familiar tinge of red exploding onto his face.
“N-No! We’re just friends!”
Seriously, what is up with me? Remember Coal- Marcus! Remember you are and will always be a human. Pinks is a friend. Besides… I can’t get too attached, once I get the stones, I’ll turn myself back into a human or make myself a new human body and go back home.
In the Everfree Forest, a chill was felt, from the tiniest of insects to the mightiest of beasts, life trembled with the subtle dread that came from the fear of being prey to an unseen predator. Tremors shook the ground, chaotic ripples tore at the surface of the water, the trees shuddered, as if cowering at what was coming, and within his cave, the dragon Midnight felt that chill over his scales like an unexpected breeze heralding the coming winter.
It roused him from his sleep, and immediately, he blew the cauldrons in his cave ablaze with his fire to stave it off, filling his home with the comfort of light and warmth. But the chill still clung to him like the stubborn rust on a sword.
He felt it before he thought it, Something is wrong… something is coming. Coal!
He wasn’t entirely sure why but he had to alert Coal Obsidian, even though he knew his student was surely back in the pony village. But he would not let that stop him. He’d only recently started practicing this magic, but now he was motivated.
Taking a deep breath, finding his center, Midnight reached within, taking hold of his power, and he brought it forth. Concentrating, he focused his power to spread over him like a thin blanket, and then visualized the outline of his very body collapsing inwards, his wings shrinking into his back, his tail shortening as scales were replaced with fur and hair. His claws dulled and merged into hooves. His horns receded into his skull. His fangs dulled into teeth, and when it was done, the dragon was replaced with a pony, the only sign of his true form being his draconic eyes.
Opening his eyes, Midnight’s horn lit up as he conjured a mirror and looked himself over.
He was glad to see the shapeshifting magic had worked. He was a unicorn, with a coat of sapphire blue and his mane as black as night. If one were to stare into it, the only sign that they weren’t asleep was a single solitary dark blue highlight illuminated by the cauldrons’ fire. His silver eyes retained their draconic pupils, and he huffed to see that although his build was bigger and more muscled than that of a regular unicorn, he still retained ample adipose around his midsection and on his rump, which bore his cutie-mark. A mark he had not seen for some time.
A pale bluish-white crescent moon with the crux facing upwards and enclosing around a five-pointed star surrounded by twinkles. It was a bittersweet sight, almost like welcoming back an old friend with whom he’d parted with on bad terms. He almost reeled at the flood of memories that came back with the sight of it, and he had to close his eyes for a moment to gather himself. Some were good, others bad, but there was one specifically that he was not keen to recount. A grimace crossed his lips.
“There’s a face I haven’t seen in some time.”
Midnight almost jumped and lost control of the magic, his horns returning, his tail lengthening, but he held onto the transformation and smoothed it out, the horns vanishing and tail returning to pony standards. With a slight fume, Midnight whirled around and saw her, standing in the mouth of his cave.
“It’s been a long time, hasn’t it… almost ten years now, right?” She asked rhetorically, her piercing green eyes glaring at him. “I thought you’d continue to be holed up in your cave and sulk for another century. So, care to explain why you’ve decided to come out now?”
“Almost ten years and yet it feels entirely too soon,” Midnight huffed, “What’s the point of being alive if all you do is close yourself off from the world? Deny the simple pleasures of living? Maybe I just got tired of laying around in the dark, feeling sorry for myself.”
“You and I both know that isn’t true in the least,” she stated bluntly. “So, explain why you relinquished your hold of the Space Stone to an inept amateur like Coal Obsidian… an outsider who could very well destroy the peace that has been established?”
“What you call peace others would call hiding,” Midnight snubbed, giving Faerie a look of disdain, “Don’t think you can fool me, Faerie Tail. You and I both know you could have taken the Space Stone from Coal Obsidian, if you’d really wanted to… unless you weren’t strong enough.”
Faerie Tail narrowed her eyes, but said nothing.
“And you weren’t strong enough to,” Midnight narrowed his eyes back, “unless you resorted to such cowardice as endangering innocents, innocents whom Coal risked injury to himself in order to protect from you, so spare me your reprimanding, you insipid witch! We both know your ‘solution’ was always nothing more than putting a bandaid on a broken leg. This ‘peace’ you claim to have established is running out of time, just as I’m running out of patience with you!”
“And allowing the timelines to remerge for that monster to return? I think not. If you think it’s cowardice, then so be it. I’ve seen things you couldn’t possibly imagine, friends… family, my husband…” She paused, as flashes of blood, pain, and loss reminded her why she created this alternate timeline. “I’ve made mistakes… and I may have jumped to conclusions about Obsidian's character… However, that’s no excuse for you to relinquish the stone to him. You were supposed to keep it hidden away! Or did you forget the promise you made to me and my son?”
Midnight took a deep breath, as he thought, Twinken…
Then he peered into the mare’s eyes, and saw exactly what he expected to see. He thought for a moment, and then spoke tenderly, “Faerie Tail… your words are those of a pony who has no hope.”
Faerie had to bite back a sudden gasp that ripped through her throat as fast as the wind. Luckily or unluckily, she had experience. She remained stoic, her face barely betraying any emotion.
“Without hope, then there is no promise, no chance. You may as well let the timelines merge back into one and be done with it. But what you’re doing now, keeping the timelines split, keeping him away… it affords us an opportunity.”
“An opportunity for what?” Faerie Tail scoffed.
“A champion, a hero!” Midnight declared, with a soft emotional impact. “We can’t go on like this forever, even with the power of the Infinity Stones. One way or another, he will return, whether he finds a way or something happens on our side. All you’re doing… If you have hope, you are buying us time! But if you truly have none… then he is inevitable.”
Faerie knew that he was right, but deep inside she was still terrified of that thing, that monster and what he could do. What he could do to her son… Could she really put her faith in someone else to defeat him? Flashes of the millions of painful deaths and hopeless scenarios swarmed her mind in an instant, all stemming from this one mistake.
Your words are that of a pony who has no hope.
“Fine, I’ll… entertain this idea of a hero… If you truly believe you’ve picked the one destined to stop him-”
“Oh, I never said I believe he’s destined to stop him,” Midnight interjected with a smirk.
“WHAT?!” Faerie Tail gaped at Midnight.
“I tested him, sure, but I don’t know for certain as to whether or not Coal Obsidian is gonna be the one to defeat the enemy,” Midnight clarified.
“You gave him your Infinity Stone with no guarantees of any kind?!” Faerie Tail was seriously starting to regret having not taken the Space Stone before.
“Faerie Tail, there are no guarantees for victory,” Midnight answered heavily, “If you only believe in the sun when you can see it, you’ll never make it through the night. That is to say, you must have hope and believe in those you stand with. Including yourself.”
“The enemy we face, he makes the likes of Nightmare Moon, Discord, and even Sombra look like kittens! But our solution isn’t a solution because it doesn’t resolve the actual problem. If we are to have hope, if we are to have a chance to vanquish the enemy, we must prepare. And that starts with finding the one who will embody our hope and lead us through the night and into the dawn.”
“You know about my past, Midnight, and what I went through to ensure my son doesn’t have to face the same evil that I face. Coal Obsidian is someone you entrusted with the stone, so I’ll be testing him…” Faerie Tail caved but then stated, “Two weeks is all I’ll allow you to teach him how to use the Space Stone, and that will be when I’ll personally challenge him. If he defeats me, I’ll put my faith in this childish idea of a champion and even help wherever I can. Until then though, I suggest you keep a distance from the Elements of Harmony, I doubt they’d want to smell dragon breath.”
Midnight narrowed his eyes, “You could give him quite literally all the time in the world to prepare, and you expect results in two weeks?! Now I’m starting to really think you have no hope at all!”
“You used to be a remarkable unicorn who had mastered spells in short spans of time. You said it yourself, time is something we don’t have. He’ll come, and when he does…”
The cold dread he’d felt before suddenly made sense, and Midnight feared to ask, but he did so anyway, “Faerie Tail… how long do we actually have?”
“It’s hard to say now. The future is now unknown to me, at most I can see fragments of the distant future, but my best guess is we have a few years before the timelines completely merge and he comes for the stones. If we’re talking specifics… I want to say we have five years, maybe less than that,” she answered, a grim look on her face
Five years… not a lot of time, but still, Midnight thought before taking a deep breath, “Give me a month. That’s all I ask. If I fail, I'll take back the stone from him myself.”
“If I give you a month, and he fails– and I know he will– I will take the stone from him. So I suggest you get started, I’ve taken up enough of your time as is. I need to make sure Twinken is ready for bed,” she stated, her horn glowing a bright green as she readied a teleportation spell.
“Faerie Tail, wait,” Midnight held up a hoof, and the mare paused, one eye open and horn still radiating light. Midnight took a moment to collect himself before continuing, “...we can’t win this war alone. Even if Coal turns out to be the champion we need, the more allies we have the greater chance we have in overcoming him.”
“Then you better get started.”
“How much can I tell him?” Midnight inquired, “If I press him too hard and too fast, he will have questions.”
“Not a word of who he is or what Obsidian’s up against. If he passes my test, I’ll tell him all. Keep it all to a minimum until then, so again, I suggest you get started. I’ve kept you busy long enough now and I need to put my son to bed soon. So it's time we concluded this meeting now,” she said with a tone of finality and annoyance. The light from her horn swelled in a brilliant bright green before she disappeared in a flash of light.
Midnight stood there for a long moment, his form swelling up and returning to dragon visage without him even realizing it. He was just too deep in thought.
A month was the best he’d hoped for, and yet he knew it likely would not be enough. But then again, five years wasn’t much better. Especially considering the evil that was only one timeline next door. He’d meant to just go speak with Coal about the chilly dread that had roused him awake, but now he knew what he had to do next.
The sapphire dragon moved his massive bulk to the mouth of his cave and gazed out towards the horizon, painted with the twilight colors of dusk as Celestia was lowering the sun.
Coal Obsidian, prepare yourself… Midnight thought with furrowed brows and a snort of fire from his snout. Come the morn, we get serious…!
Twenty minutes left till Rarity gets here. I’m just glad everything turned out so well and I have to say that this has got to be Pinkie’s best work yet. Marcus thought to himself as everypony who was invited started to trickle into the town hall. That was all despite the fact he still felt out of his comfort zone with how everything was fancy, not to mention that some of the guests look like they had come from noble families.
Just as he was about to go look for the party pony, he was suddenly stopped by a white stallion wearing a black suit with a purple bow tie and a monocle. His blue hai-mane was slicked back. He also had three golden crowns with a purple diamond for a cutie mark and beside him was a gorgeous unicorn with a long pink mane and tail, light purple eyes, and had a triple fleur de lis cutie mark.
“Ah, good evening, I believe you are the rumored prince that has appeared here in Equestria? Allow me to introduce myself, I am Fancy Pants, and this is my beloved wife, Fleur De Lis. It is truly an honor to meet you, your highness,” he had said, both him and his wife bowing their heads to him.
“N-No, Please there’s no need for bowing, please! I’m not a prince, or some ambassador or anything like that! I’m just a guy trying to find his place here is all,” Marcus explained, a cold sweat already starting to overtake him.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I was under the impression that you were a prince since you are an alicorn like Princess Twilight. Terribly sorry, good sir,” he said, bowing his head to him again.
I wonder if it’s possible to get rid of the wings or something. It’s really starting to get old explaining that I’m not a prince.
“A-Anyway, it was nice to meet you two, I hope you all enjoy the festivities and I really recommend the apple fritters, they are to die for!” He said, quickly making his way past them to try and find somewhere to be away from the crowd of ponies. Marcus noticed that there weren't too many ponies over by where the punch bowl is so he trotted over there.
Grabbing a cup with his hoof, and the ladle in the other, he began to pour himself a drink before quickly gulping it down.
“O-Oh, um… Hey, C-Coal… um… it’s been awhile hasn’t it?” He heard behind him. Craning his neck, he couldn’t help but smile upon seeing a familiar face.
“Fluttershy! It’s good to see you again! It’s been what? Three weeks since we last saw each other?” Marcus exclaimed. But after a split second, a single memory came rushing back to him and his blood run cold. “Oh crap! I was supposed to stop by and see you before I got settled in! I’m so sorry!”
Marcus immediately bowed his head to her for some reason. He didn’t know why, but it happened so he was sticking with it. Fluttershy felt her cheeks flush red as she suddenly covered her face behind her mane. “T-There’s no need to apologize, I know you’ve been busy settling into your job at Sugarcube Corner and learning magic from Twilight. H-Honestly I’m the one who should be sorry, I could have made the effort to… stop by and say hello.”
“But I still should have at least made the effort to stop by and say hello and talk with you for even a few minutes. You were my first friend here and I should have put in the effort to come see you. So I’m very very sorry.” Marcus said, bowing his head to her again.
Oh my…If he bows any lower he might end up hitting his head.
“Coal, please, it’s okay… I-I forgive you, you don’t have to bow. Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?” She asked, trying her luck at being funny.
“N-No! Please don’t do that! It’s awkward enough having almost everyone in town do that,” Marcus explained, raising his head up immediately in a panicked state. His face was bright red now, realizing what he had been doing.
Cute she thought, giggling at his expense.
“Why did you bow to me then?”
“Uh… I… Honestly don’t know, before I could even think properly I was already doing and thought ‘I’m already bowing, I may as well bow to my grave at this point. No backing out now!’” Marcus explained, still blushing in embarrassment.
They laughed for a second or two before the two were just standing there in awkward silence.
Even though it had been a few weeks since they had last seen each, Fluttershy hadn’t been able to get the alicorn off her mind. He was one of the very few ponies aside from her friends to have accepted her for her shyness and her love for animals. Not to mention, it was him who was apologizing profusely for not dropping by to say hello to her. It was endearing to her.
“C-Coal… I-I know we haven’t… spent a lot of time together… but…” She started, feeling herself start to sweat nervously as her face felt like it was getting even hotter. “I-I wanted ask if you’d like… t-to d-dance-
“QUICK EVERYPONY TO YOUR HIDING PLACES! RARITY IS COMING!!!” Pinkie quietly shouted before zipping from the window over to where Marcus and Fluttershy were and quickly pulled the alicorn away before he could object.
Fluttershy couldn’t help but frown as she rushed with the wave of ponies shuffling around to their hiding spots. A chill washed over her as she crouched down beneath a table, the memory of Pinkie’s hoof grasping the stallion’s big strong hoof-
Oh dear, oh no, what am I thinking? I shouldn’t be thinking of him like that and I certainly shouldn’t be upset that Pinkie has been spending more time with him than me… alone… every day… they are living together at Sugarcube corner aren’t they-
“Oh no, I… I think I need to talk to Rarity tomorrow about what this feeling is…,” Fluttershy muttered to herself. As much as she didn’t like this feeling, it could wait till tomorrow. After all, it was her best friend’s birthday.
