I am stuck in equestria as a shiny rowlet. It’s not all that bad, at least I am Luna’s favorite pet now.
After waking up in Equestria, Arrow finds himself no longer a human but a rowlet. He doesn’t remember much of his human life, but he came up with the alias ‘Arrow’ after recalling rowlet’s evolutionary line ends with a decidueye, which is an archer of sorts. Arrow quickly finds out that he had somehow injured himself, so he goes off looking for help.
Nearby, a recently reformed Luna walks the garden near midnight as she stumbles across the injured owl. She takes him in and nurses him back to health before adopting him as her pet. Unbeknownst to her, Arrow is far more intelligent that her sister’s Phoenix.
7/16 - Wow, featured on the first day! 7/17 - managed to snag the third spot over night. 7/18 - slowly climbed to second place 9/20 - after a mild hiatus, It is back! 11/1 - Hasn't died yet 11/6 - featured again. 11/24
Looking down I saw water right below me, my body was so dehydrated that it overpowered the higher functions of my brain. I couldn’t help myself, even if it was somehow poisoned or contaminated, it tasted like the best thing I ever drank. I felt the cold fluid flow through my body as it slowly woke me up. Now that I’m awake, I can answer my first question. There were trees, flowers, all of which were completely nicely kept. Apparently wherever I am is some sort of garden, and an expensive looking one from the likes of it.
But closer around me were modeled cement birds, which only meant one thing, I was in a massive bird bath! I looked down and whatever my reflection was, it wasn’t human. My body’s natural instinct made me jump in terror from what I saw. By the time I regained control back from my instinct, I already slipped and fell off the edge.
I heard a small snapping sound when I hit the ground. I was glad that it was just a twig I landed on, but the fall still hurt nonetheless. Now that I am alone, I was able to know the truth. I am truly no longer human, but now I am a rowlet. When I stretched out my arms, or rather wings, it was then that I realized that I didn’t just break that stick.
It was late at night when Luna decided to take a small walk through the royal gardens, her sister recommended it to her for rare nights of insomnia. So many thoughts swirled in her head, it had only been about a month since her return, but she still felt so alone. Now that she had been gone for a thousand years, many of what used to be her duties suddenly were forced upon her sister, and now Celestia had even less time to spend with her.
Luna couldn’t help but blame herself for this, maybe if she had just controlled herself all those years ago, something might have happened that would’ve allowed her to step out of her sister’s shadow and into the light. Every time she saw the moon, it was a constant reminder of this, her deeds that she committed. She found it painful yet somehow humorous that the princess of the night would be ashamed of her own moon.
Somehow, she didn’t see how this would help clear her mind, if anything, the garden only filled her with only more grief over her past actions. Luna closed her eyes, wanting to only block out those memories, but to no avail. Right before Luna went back into the castle, she heard a cracking sound.
“Who's there!?” She shouted, the only response she got was a small flock of birds flying away in fear.
She knew that it may have been a rabbit or some large rodent, but just as likely, it could have been an assassin sent to kill some noble. Despite this fearful thought, her curiosity took over her as she began to walk further into the garden. She made sure to keep her eyes peeled for any potential threats. She turned the corner where the sound came from, but there was no pony there.
“brrrr?”
Luna heard the sound of a confused bird not too long after she arrived in this section of the garden. When she looked down she saw a mint colored owl looking back up at her with a confused expression, almost like it knew she wasn’t a threat but it had also never seen a pony before.
“Oh, hello there you little owl.” Luna said in a calming tone, “Why aren’t you with all your friends?”
“Huh?” the odd colored owl cooed in confusion.
Luna looked at the off colored owl, he didn’t seem very comfortable as something was keeping him from fully retracting his wing. Upon closer inspection, she noticed it was not supposed to be bending that way.
“Oh my, your wing is broken.” Luna said, “How did that happen?”
“Brr-e-ou” The small owl said in bird gibberish, almost as if he was trying to speak.
Luna looked down below the owlet, there was a broken stick. “You somehow broke your wing on this stick?”
Luna didn’t expect the mint color owl to give much of an answer, so when it nodded its head she was completely dumbfounded. Whether or not he was intelligent or got distracted by an insect for a moment didn’t matter. What did matter though, was that the small injured owl needed help.
“You poor thing, come here.” Luna said as she grabbed the owl in her magic, scaring him, “don’t worry I won’t hurt you.”
Luna’s comforting words work to no avail. The small owl only stopped squirming when he felt his claws rest on her back side. She could tell that the owl didn’t want to be held, but at the same time knew he was completely at her mercy.
Luna brought the small owl into her room so she could help him better than what she could’ve while outside. She walked over to her cabinet and pulled out a first aid kit her sister had given her. Though she was on the moon for a thousand years, she hadn’t forgotten the basics of first aid. She made a makeshift cast for the owl so his wing would be able to heal faster, even if she was a bit rusty, it was better than nothing.
“So how’s that?” Luna asked,
The owl looked at the new cast on his wing, while he may have been in mild discomfort, he gave a happy coo. Luna didn’t want to bring a wild bird into the castle and call it her pet, but at the same time the poor little owl needed help after he broke his wing. She knew that when he’d recover, Luna would have to release him back into the wild.
“You're probably going to need a name while you are recovering.” Luna said, “You may be here for a while.”
“Hm?” The owl hummed confusedly
He looked confused, not at what Luna said, but rather that something else was bothering him.
“So how about Otus?” The giant blue unicorn asked
“No” I replied, with a shake of my head
“Then how about Ace?”
“No, I know that’s not my name.”
“Then why don’t you try to come up with your own name if you’re going to deny ever Idea I come up with.” The large mare replied frustratedly
“Fine, I will.”
I really wanted to blurt out my own name, but I think I hit my head pretty hard. But now I am no longer human, so I don’t think it wouldn’t be fitting for me to use a human name. But what names would be good for a rowlet? Minty? Robbin hoot? Eh, probably not.
Wait! I know one!
“My name is Arrow!” I cried out
“Coo” The small owl said
“What was that?” Luna said, “I don’t understand you.”
“Who!” He was starting to get frustrated that there was a small language barrier between them.
“If you are not able to give me an answer,” Luna said, “we’ll just have to go with Ace instead.”
Luna looked at the owl hopefully, though she wasn’t sure if she was hopeful that he’d speak or that he couldn’t. Looking really disgruntled, the owlet inhaled a fairly large amount of air, before he opened his beak to speak.
“A-air..” to Luna it almost sounded as if he was choking, “R-r-row”
Luna couldn’t believe it, the mint colored owl really just spoke. Animal vocal chords are only meant to make certain sounds, but mimicking pony linguistics was nearly impossible for a wild animal to do.
“Arrow?”
The young owl nodded, affirming that was in fact his name. Luna didn’t know where to be amused, impressed, or terrified that what she once thought was just a wild owl was actually intelligent and it wasn’t just her imagination. Luna let out a yawn as she felt her start to return to its sleepy state.
“It was a pleasure to help you Arrow,” Luna said as she yawned again, “but we must once again return to sleep, our body demands it.”
“Brrr?”
“Are you asking if you can sleep with us?” The owl nodded his head and Luna sighed. “We’ll make an exception for you this time, but expect to have your own bird swing by tomorrow night.”
The owl happily chirped as he hopped over to Luna’s bedside where she picked him up in her magic and brought him onto her bed. Arrow snuggled himself right up against Luna’s chest fluff, she slightly blushed not having had any physical interaction with any creature for so long. Being mindful of his broken wing, Luna wrapped her front leg around the rowlet as they drifted off into blissful sleep.
Arrow was awoken to the sound of unladylike snoring. The shiny rowlet was a little confused about his surroundings at first, but he came to realize that what happened last night wasn’t a dream. When he turned around, Arrow saw Luna all sprawled across her bedside in not-so-peaceful slumber.
“Brr!” (Hey! Wake up.) Arrow said as he tried to rock Luna awake
“Nrghh.” Luna groaned, “Five more minutes sister.”
“Hrm!” (Wake up!)
“Nooo. I don’t wanna.”
Arrow sighed, if he was going to make her get out of bed it won’t be by pestering her like a cat, that’s for sure.
“*inhale* SQUAWK!” (WAKE UP ALREADY!) Arrow yelled, or rather squawked, at the top of his lungs.
Luna jolted awake, almost catapulting Arrow across the room when she did. Her mane was a mess, and her eyes looked as if she had just been spooked awake…
Oh wait, she was just spooked awake...
“Brrr.” (Morning sleepy head) Arrow cooed at her.
“You didn’t have to scream at me to wake me up.”
“Coo” (Yes I did!) Arrow protested to the groggy princess
Luna grumbled as she slowly woke up. Walking over to her bed stand, she grasped her hairbrush in her magic before she began fixing her hair. Applying the final touches to her mane, Luna's stomach rumbled a bit. A small blush crept over her face as, even in her time, such a sound wasn’t fit for a princess.
“You’re probably hungry too,” Luna asked, “Isn’t that the reason why you woke me up?”
“Hmm?” Arrow hummed in slight confusion, ‘I guess I am hungry.’ He thought to himself.
“Stay here while I get you something.”
“Crr” (No, I am coming with you.)
Luna didn’t seem to understand him that time, so she began to slowly close the door behind her. Arrow ran and jumped through the closing crevice of the door. Normally this would be the part where he would try to sneak around and surprise Luna, but he failed to stick the landing. Arrow’s round body sent him rolling across the hall like a ball that a kid had accidentally lost.
Luna was surprised at the tiny owl’s determination to stay with her, though she was happy that she didn’t accidentally hurt him in his endeavor. Sighing, Luna picked up the rowlet and put him right behind her.
“Stay.” Luna demanded
“Hoo.” (No.)
Luna only managed to take a few steps forwards before she realized that the mint colored owl continued to follow her. When she looked at him, he only responded with a “hm?” sound. Over and over again she told him to stay there but he would just continue to follow her with his short bird legs.
“You’re not going to stay put are you?”
“Brr.” (Yup.) Arrow nodded
Luna sighed before picking him up in her magic, this time he was a little less scared. “Then let’s make this easier of the both of us.” She set him on top of her back, allowing her to carry him where they went, “If you wanted to go with me you should’ve said something.”
“Brr-Rrr” (But I did.) Arrow chirped very disgruntled
Arrow rode down the hall on Luna’s back. The regal interior was spacious and perfect for learning to fly, or Arrow was just really small. Luna managed to catch a few of the less disciplined guards looking confused at the mint colored owl on her back, she will have to have a talk with them later.
As they were nearing their destination, the familiar scent of pancakes being made could be smelled. Luna took a turn as she made sure Arrow stayed on her back after feeling him rock to the side slightly. Luna stopped in front of two doors, where the smell was coming from. Luna seemed a bit hesitant, but she opened the door.
“Good morning Luna.” An unseen voice said, “It’s not everyday you join me for breakfast.”
“Good morning sister,” Luna replied in a still half awake voice, “I hope you don’t mind me bringing a friend with us to eat.”
“A friend? Who would that be?”
Luna grabbed Arrow in her magic, placing him at the edge of the table. An alabaster mare looked confusedly at the mint colored owl who was staring back at her equally confused. Was this really Luna’s sister? They look nothing alike!
“Did you seriously bring a wild bird into the castle, Luna?”
“He broke his wing!” Luna replied frustratedly , “I couldn’t just leave him there.”
“I’ll let it slide, but you will have to release him when he has recovered.” Celestia replied, keeping a friendly yet stoic face, “Needless to say, you may want to take him to a veterinarian. He does seem a bit overweight.”
“BRRU!” (You’re one to talk!) Arrow chirped angrily at her hypocrisy towards his weight
“Luna,” Celestia said with a confused look, “I think your owl just insulted me.”
Luna just giggled as she had a vague idea of what Arrow said. Illuminating her horn, Luna brought the spare set of pancakes over to herself. Arrow stood amazed that the tower of pancakes was almost as tall as he was. As much as he wanted to take a bite, Arrow didn’t want to ruin such perfection. The pancakes looked as if she had spent a thousand years practicing to consistently make the perfect pancakes.
A while passed as the sisters continued to eat. It had been a long time since Luna had shared such a large meal with her sister. Only a single bite of the delightful delicacy remained, and Luna saw Arrow attraction towards the pancakes. Celestia had already left to perform her royal duties, so Luna didn’t risk any potential ridicule from her sister.
Luna grabbed the fork in her magic, as she put the last bite of pancake on it. Luna dragged the fork through the air to see what his reaction would be. Wherever it went, Arrow’s head would turn to keep his target in sight. After humoring herself for a bit, Luna moved the fork in front of him, but not close enough to eat off it.
She raised the fork up and down making Arrow do a slow nodding motion to follow it. Luna stopped her magical movements as she placed the fork back to its position, Arrow made two quick nods almost like he was saying “Yes, give me!” She couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle towards his humorous display before she gave him his long awaited bite of pancake.Arrow bit over it, taking the entire bite of pancake into his tiny beak. When his taste buds hit the pancake, he was overtaken by the delicious taste of the sweet treat.
“You’re such a cute little owl, Arrow” Luna said, “I wish I could keep you forever, but I have to return you some day.”
“Hm?” (I don’t see why you can’t keep me.) Arrow said, (I actually kind of like you.)
“Maybe in a few years you’ll come back and possibly show me your new family and your little owlets.”
“Huhm?” (But I’m not going anywhere.)
“Anyways, we need to pick you out a bird swing for you while you are here.” Luna said as she placed the mint owl onto her back, “Come, we shall go and see what the store has for you.”
‘Looks like I don’t have much of a choice, at least I don’t mind it.’ Arrow thought, ‘Luna really is a good friend, even if she can’t understand me. Perhaps I should just settle down as her pet until I am able to talk with them properly.’
Is this really worth it though? Being treated as a pet just because you can’t speak to another being. While one part of him demanded to find a way to speak to Luna, the other and equally as reasonable part of him said that it wouldn’t be possible for the longest of times.
Maybe this would really be the best option for Arrow? He didn’t have anywhere to go. He wasn’t even sure if he was the only Pokémon. Arrow tried to reason with himself if this was truly a good idea, but something in his gut told him that he was sent here for a reason. Yet everything from before the day of his initial encounter with Luna came up blank. All except one name, “Discord.”
When the sun rose, Arrow woke up on his bird stand. It was a simple one that was mounted onto Luna’s dresser. The stand was made of durable wood designed to look like tree trunks, and it even had lower branches that could be used as steps to reach the main perch. Walking down from the perch, Arrow grabbed Luna’s hairbrush, in his beak as he waited for her to wake up.
Because Arrow was now a rowlet, and no longer human, his bones heal quicker than when he was a human. He remembered that when Luna went to the vet to remove his cast, the veterinarian had told her to keep a watch on him because he had nothing to accurately compare him to. While Arrow already had his cast removed, he wasn’t going to leave his friend just because he had freedom now.
After being stuck in Equestria, and having no actual reason to return to the human world, Arrow quickly became more comfortable with his situation. Even though only three weeks have passed, he quickly learned about the ponies around him. Luna, his “owner,” and her older sister Celestia were both princesses that ruled over this kingdom.
“Good morning Arrow.” Luna said in a half awake voice
“Hoo.” (Morning, here’s your hairbrush.) Arrow said happy to help his friend. Luna blinked out of confusion, did she just understand Arrow?
“Thank you..?” Luna said cautiously as she took the hairbrush in her magic.
“Hoo” (You’re welcome.) Arrow replied
Luna eyed the owl curiously as she took the brush in her magic, Arrow just turned his head wondering why Luna was looking at him like that. When Luna had cleaned up her mane, putting it back to the way it was when they first met, she couldn’t believe that it had already been three weeks since she took him in. But still, according to her knowledge, Arrow was still a wild bird and it would be wrong to keep him out of his home.
Luna extended a wing towards her dresser, allowing Arrow to use it like a bridge to get onto her back. Arrow sat down on Luna’s back as she went to go eat a late brunch. After learning that Luna was the princess of the night, Arrow had become a little more lax with letting her sleep in during the mornings. Eventually, it became a common sight to see Luna bring Arrow wherever she went.
“Hey Arrow,” Luna said, “my dearest sister asked me to assist her in some royal duties, she said it would prepare me for returning to the throne. Would you like to come with me?”
“Hoo.” (Of course.) Arrow responded, as he gave Luna a nod.
Happy to know that her friend would be accompanying her, Luna felt a little safer knowing that she wouldn’t be facing the task alone. When they arrived at the throne room, a long line of ponies waited for Luna to arrive so that they could get on with their day.
Even after her thousand year intermission, Luna was still somewhat familiar with this. But she quickly learned how much ruling had changed in her absence, making her feel a little bit isolated. Seeing her discomfort, Arrow rubbed his head against her, trying to make her feel better. Luna just looked at him then smiled, even though his gesture was small, it had helped her enough to continue with her day.
As the day continued, the line of ponies that wished to speak with the princess started to diminish. Luna began to figure out what some of the modern terms ment, and how some older terms had changed completely. Luna started to gain a feeling of pride as she was becoming more and more comfortable with the thought of returning to the throne.
“You did a wonderful job for your first time in a thousand years,” Celestia praised her sister,
“Thank you...” Luna trailed off, it had been a long time since she was praised for her actions. “I was a little nervous at first, but Arrow helped me through it.”
“You really love that little owl, don’t you.”
“Hoo.” (Of course she loves me.) Arrow said confidently
“At first I was a little worried about you getting a pet so soon after your return, they can be quite the hoof-full.” Celestia said, “But I am starting to reconsider after seeing how attached you are to him.”
“Sister, are you saying what we think you’re saying?” Luna inquired, she was still used to the stern and unyielding Celestia from a thousand years ago.
“Yes I am,” Celestia said, “I will let you keep Arrow, under the condition that you will take care of him.”
Filled with glee, Luna lunged towards her sister for a hug.“Thank you thank you thank you.”
Little did Luna know that when she lunged, she did it so fast that she accidentally launched Arrow off her back. Arrow let out a scream before he stopped moving in mid air, when he opened his eyes, he saw that he was flying by himself. His initial thought was that he was being held up by magic, but that assumption wasn’t true.
“Hoo?” (Am I flying?) Arrow asked himself, “Brr.” (But I thought I didn’t know how to fly.)
After discovering that he could in fact fly, he fluttered down and rested on top of Luna’s head. Flying wasn’t all bad, but he preferred to stay closer to the ground. Luna’s mane was very soft, almost like a bed made specifically for Arrow. He relaxed his body as he let out a contented sigh, he probably could fall asleep right there.
“Well Luna,” Celestia said, holding back a smile, “I like your new hat, I wonder where I can get one.”
Luna looked at her sister with a deadpan face, she wasn’t amused at her sister's joking.
“Hoo, Hroo.” (I’m not just any old hat, I am the best hat.) Arrow corrected, pointing a feather at Celestia.
Luna rolled her eyes, she took Arrow in her magic and placed him on her back before leaving the room. As they headed down the hall, Luna noticed that her sister had already finished lowering the sun and had put the moon in the night sky. Luna kinda missed doing that, but she knew that her magic was still recovering from her return here. Placing Arrow on his bird stand, Luna went to bed for the night.
“Where am I?” Arrow said to himself as he woke in an unknown location.
Arrow looked at the stone that surrounded him, it was smooth but not slick. This was some sort of cave, and he was in the middle of it. Arrow took note of how the cave seemed artificial and man-made. Or would it be considered pony-made? Arrow turned around and headed further into the cave.
There was something calling him, Arrow didn’t know what it was but he knew that it wanted his attention. At the very core of the cave was a Crystal tree with 6 different colored gems. Arrow had never seen anything like this before, or at least he thinks he hasn’t.
“The tree of harmony.” Arrow stood in awe at the sight, before he realized something was off. “Wait, why do I know this? I’ve never heard about it before, so why do I know this?”
Restating the question didn’t help at all. Arrow felt agitated as he tried to wrack his brain for any memories, but he drew a blank. Suddenly, Arrow heard hoof steps racing towards him. He ran behind the tree to hide, where he began to eavesdrop on what was going on.
“I can’t believe he was right!” Was that Luna? “I thought that the Elements of harmony was just an old pony legend.”
Arrow peered around the edge of the tree and saw a slightly younger version of Celestia and Luna. He was surprised to see that Celestia’s mane was solid pink instead of a rainbow.
“Indeed sister. With the elements in our possession, Discord will be defeated.” Celestia said in a stoic tone of voice, “Maybe we should consider letting the human join our forces, his skill would be very useful.”
“Do you judge everypony just by their usefulness?” Luna asked, being agitated by her sister's cold demeanor, “I don’t understand why you are always so cold all the time.”
“As I have said several times in the past sister,” Celestia said, “It is for the betterment of the kingdom, I cannot let my emotions or wants get in the way of ruling.”
As the two sisters continued to bicker, Arrow couldn’t shake the feeling of familiarity. Going off of what Luna had rambled off to him, then this must have happened over a thousand years ago. This couldn’t be a memory, but then why does this feel so familiar? Arrow looked at the crystal tree and the face of a human stared back as his reflection.
Arrow was startled awake from his nightmare, if he could have even called it that. It felt just so real, like it wasn’t just a dream. Could it have been a long lost memory? No, it couldn’t have, unless it was. Why do dreams have to be so confusing!
Right in the middle of his existential crisis, Luna was awoken by the mint colored owl’s distress. “Arrow, did you have a bad dream?”
“hoo.” (I guess so.) Arrow said, sounding defeated
“Aw,” Luna said, “I wish there was something I could do about it. Why don’t you come here?”
Luna wrapped one of her forelegs around Arrow, before she headed back to her bed. There was something just so relaxing about being in Luna’s presence, Arrow quickly found his eyelids growing heavy as he returned to the realm of the sleeping.
It was mid-day of the next morning before they awoke, Arrow felt something strange in the air. Something familiar, and not in a good way. He shrugged it off and hoped it was nothing as he flew over to Luna’s dresser and grabbed her hairbrush. When Luna had finally woken up, she also noticed the same thing that Arrow had, but her expression was far more cautious than his, maybe even worried.
“Arrow, do you feel that?” Luna asked
“whoo..?” (Yes..?) Arrow didn’t understand Luna’s concern, but he began getting scared because of Luna’s tone.
Luna grabbed her hairbrush and hastily prepared herself for the day, instead of meticulously spending a long time preparing. She grabbed Arrow and placed him on her back, wasting no time to leave her room in search of her sister. Luna knew that if this magic was in the air, it could only mean one thing. Her pace was fast, a lot faster than normal, not quite a full on gallop, but fast enough for the guards to know that something was wrong. When Luna made it to the throne room, Celestia was already there, pacing back and forth.
“So it is true.” Luna said in angry disbelief, “Discord has escaped.”
‘Discord? There was that name again, the same name in my dream.’ Arrow thought, ‘but where have I heard it before? I know it from somewhere, but where!?’
“Yes he has.” Celestia said
“Then what are we waiting for?” Luna said, “Let’s grab the elements and seal him back.”
‘Elements?’
“We can’t,” Celestia said, “Even if Discord didn’t hide the elements, I am no longer connected to the elements anymore, and I doubt you are either.”
“Then what are we going to do?” Luna asked
“Nothing, for now. The elements have already chosen their new hosts.” Celestia said, “I’ve already sent them to retrieve the elements, so all we can do is wait.”
“Who are they?” Luna inquired, hoping that Celestia didn’t do something stupid
“I believe you are already familiar with them.”
“You mean those six?” When Celestia nodded her head, Luna became furious, “YOU SENT CIVILIANS TO FIGHT DISCORD?”
“What else do you want me to do?” Celestia snapped back, “The elements have already chosen their new hosts, and pony magic won’t work on him.”
“You could have at least sent some guards with them!”
“What part of ‘pony magic doesn’t work on him’ do you not understand?” Celestia barked back, “That would just get more ponies hurt.”
Arrow hated to see Luna get so upset, but what could he do? He’s a human trapped inside the body of a rowlet, he has no experience with battling. Wait… Battling! Arrow had an idea that might just work, but he didn’t know how to use pokemon moves. Maybe if he just focused something would just feel natural, allowing him to use it. Arrow closed his eyes and focused on what to use, maybe then he could convince the two sisters that he could help.
A repulsive wind began blowing through the throne room, chilling the two sisters to their spines, cancelling their argument.
Ominous wind
“Luna, did you feel that just now?”
“Yes, I did.” Luna replied, “But I don’t know what it was.”
“Koo.” (It was me.) Rowlet said as he flew down between the two sisters
“Arrow?” Luna said, “What are you talking about?”
“Koo koo.” (Celestia said pony magic doesn’t work on him, and I am not a pony.) Rowlet explained,
“Luna, are you trying to drive me crazy or can you actually understand your owl.” Celestia said, eyeing the situation suspiciously
“I can. But I am not sure how, or even why.” Luna said,
“There have been only a few ponies who have been able to communicate with their pets,” Celestia said, “But most of them had special talents for talking with animals”
“Brr!” (Hey!) Arrow brought the attention back down to him, “Brrue.” (I can watch over them from a distance, but I will not fight unless I am spotted. And that would only be for me to make an escape.)
“Luna, can you tell me what he said?”
“He said he wants to volunteer to watch over them from the skies. But I don’t want to put him in danger.” Luna said, “Arrow, I don’t want to lose you, I can’t lose you.”
“Koo.” (I will be fine) Arrow replied, before he flew up to a window.
Arrow looked down at Luna, looking for any signs that he shouldn’t go. Luna gave a subtle nod of her head, letting Arrow fly out the window. As he flew through the sky, Arrow peered down at the ground, seeing chaos spread throughout the land. What once was green grass were replaced by many mismatching textiles that were stitched together making a huge rug. Discord has already begun his chaotic work across the land.
Arrow began relentlessly searching for Discord. As long as he maintained an aerial view of the sky, Arrow would have the best chance of running across him. Wherever Discord was, the bearers of harmony were probably close by, but Arrow had his own reasons why he began searching for the draconequus. Perhaps maybe the embodiment of chaos itself would be able to answer his questions he had.
Discord sat on top of his throne, looking through a magical sphere at the misery he had cast upon the bearers of harmony laughing all the while. As he used one of his hands to swipe from pony to pony, a new individual appeared on the sphere. A small mint colored owl was flying through the sky towards him.
“Well well well,” Discord said, “I’d never thought I’d see you again.”
With one final chuckle, he made the sphere disappear before he teleported himself to Arrow’s location.
As Arrow flew across the sky, Discord appeared in front of him, startling him out of a steady flight. When Arrow had recovered a stable flight, he attempted to stare down Discord.
“Come now,” Discord said, “Is that how you treat an old friend?”
Arrow could tell in his voice that he was mocking him, “I’m only here to get answers.”
“Then ask away,” Discord said, “Those pesky ponies will be busy for the next few hours.”
“Who am I? Why am I here? And what’s your involvement in this?”
“You are the reincarnation of the human known as...” Discord caught himself, “I almost said too much, but that is as much as I can tell you.”
“Why!?” Arrow demanded
“I can’t have you remembering anything, now can I?” Discord said, “That would put me at an unfair disadvantage.”
“Then I guess I will have to force it out of you.” Arrow said, launching a razor leaf attack at Discord.
Before the attack collided with the draconequus, he disappeared out of sight. “Maybe later, I have other things I need to deal with.”
With an angry screech, Arrow became doubly motivated to find Discord and give him a taste of his mind.
With determination in his eyes, Arrow sought to put a stop to Discord. Originally, Arrow just wanted answers, but now, Discord was dangling the knowledge Arrow so desperately craved just barely out of grasp. Like how a child torments animals with food from behind a glass wall. But that glass wall would be broken in due time, especially now that Discord had come into view. Discord was going to be a tricky foe, so Arrow would have to stay 2 steps ahead of him.
“Well, it took you long enough.” Discord remarked, “I was just about to get back to pestering those ponies.”
“You cannot defeat me!” Arrow boasted, “Tell me what I want to know and I will spare you.”
“You? Think you can defeat me?” Discord laughed in a mocking tone, “That pride of yours is only rivaled by your anger. You would make a great addition as one of my beasts of chaos.”
Discord coiled around Arrow, like a serpent that would devour its prey. Raising his griffon claw into the air, Discord poked the top of Arrow’s head in an attempt to brainwash him with chaos magic. When that didn’t work Discord was honestly surprised, there wasn’t any creature in Equestria that was immune to chaos magic. Discord tried again and again, before he accidentally impaled Arrow(?) with his claw.
Why is there pillow stuffing inside an owl?
Suddenly a white puff of smoke revealed the true form of the thing he was trying to brainwash. It was a green plush toy that vaguely resembled a dinosaur.
“Take this! Peck!” the real Arrow cried from above Discord.
Hurling down towards Discord like a meteorite towards the earth, Arrow slammed himself into the back of Discord’s head. Rebounding off of his own attack, Arrow readied himself to counter whatever Discord was preparing.
Discord rubbed the back of his head, where a knot was begging to form. “I expected you to be an easy opponent. I guess I thought wrong.”
Meanwhile, not too far away, the bearers of harmony had all returned with the elements of harmony and were heading as fast as they could to stop Discord.
“Discord! We have come to put an end to your reign!” Twilight yelled at the draconequus.
A bright flash of light appeared, forming a clone of Discord in a referee outfit. “I’m sorry but you’re going to have to wait your turn.” He said, “As you can see I am very very busy at the moment dealing with a Grudge Match against a sentient owl. Though it shouldn’t take too long.”
The Discord clone snapped his fingers making a ball cap and flag appear that both said ‘Discord #1,’ but the text was printed upside down. “Go me! Wooo!” the Discord clone yelled as he waved his flag in the air.
“So, um,” Fluttershy stammered, “so what are we going to do now? We’re obviously not allowed in there right now.”
“I say we stay here and watch the fight.” Rainbow dash said, “If we can’t be a part of the action, then we might as well watch it.”
“And I even brought popcorn.” Pinkie said as she passed out bags of popcorn to all her friends, somehow she had also acquired a ball cap and flag that both said ‘Go Arrow!’ with an arrow piercing the word ‘arrow’. “Go Arrow! And make sure to kick his flanks!”
Taking advantage of his small size, Arrow dashed in between each and every attack Discord threw at him. But it was only because of Arrow’s sheer force of will that he managed to keep up with the draconequus. No matter how much Arrow dodged, Discord didn’t seem to be tiring out at all. Perhaps it was time for Arrow to switch up his strategy to be a little more aggressive.
“You’ve done well so far, but let’s see how you fair against this!” Discord channeled his chaos magic into lightning
“Behold, Ominous Wind!” Arrow summoned a bone chilling gust of wind that managed to deflect the lightning enough so that only the weakest part of it struck him, but it still hurt far more than what anyone could have described it.Having regretted taking such a powerful foe head on, Arrow fell to the ground barely able to move.
“Looks like I’ve won,” Discord cheered, “You should’ve really considered bringing back up if you wanted to fight me, especially with the state you are in.”
“You haven’t won anything yet,” Arrow growled as he threw himself back into the air, “Ominous Wind!”
Mustering all of his remaining strength, Arrow launched his most powerful attack and struck Discord down to his very soul. The air that emanated from him had grown into a sinister purple hue, with the stronger parts of the wind looking like dark purple streamers. When he had used this attack something at the very core of Arrow’s being had activated, luring the dark purple streamers towards him. Oddly enough, a feeling of restoration washed over Arrow as the streamers wrapped themselves around him, making a solid barrier between him and the outside world.
With terror in his eyes, Discord had become paralyzed with fear as he tried to assess the situation as the menacing winds continued to blow. Discord could tell that with each passing second Arrow kept growing stronger without ceasing. When he thought Arrow’s strength finally capped, bright beams of blue light pierced the cocoon making his power skyrocket.
Having new found strength, Arrow broke free of his cocoon and realized what had happened, he had just evolved into a Dartrix. At first Arrow was a little worried if Luna would even recognize him, but he didn’t have time to worry about that right now. Discord was still his target and Arrow was more than willing to continue where they left off.
“RAZOR LEAF!” Arrow fired hundreds of razor sharp leaves at Discord who was too terrified to move
After sustaining such a powerful attack, Discord collapsed to the ground “I surrender.” Discord summoned a white flag and began waving it with his lion paw.
“If you want me to spare you, then you will restore my memories.” Arrow demanded, “You were the one who erased them, were you not?”
“I wish I could, but the only way for erased memories could be recovered is with time,” Discord explained, “but there is no guarantee with that.”
“Then could you tell me what my name was from my previous life?” Arrow asked, “If nothing else, that is the least you owe me for what you have done.”
“Your old name was Astraeus, which was soon shortened to Astreo.” Discord said, “You were originally brought to Equestria as a young human child, and Luna gave you that name when you said you didn’t have one. That is everything I know about your life before we met, I swear on it.”
Arrow watched the Draconequus, looking for any indication that he could be lying. Even if that name was Arrow’s old name, it wouldn’t help him immediately recover any of his lost memories. Maybe Luna would know a little more about this, because if what Discord said was true, then she gave him that name. But despite all this, Arrow had a nagging feeling that there was still something off.
“I see,” Arrow said as he prepared to return to canterlot, “If what you said is true, then I am grateful for your help, despite what you have done to me.”
When Arrow's back was turned, Discord created a red boxing glove around his lion paw. Once Discord saw the right moment to strike he threw a spring loaded punch at Arrow, transforming his entire arm into said spring when he punched. Knowing that something was up since Discord surrendered, Arrow turned around and grabbed Discord’s boxing glove in his talons.
“Hey! Give me that back!” Discord yelled as he tried pulling back on the spring
“Okay.”
It was at this moment that Discord knew, he messed up. Arrow released the glove from his grasp, sending it hurling towards Discord’s face. The collision that transpired wasn’t pretty, Arrow even winced when he saw Discord K.O. himself. Deciding that it would be best if he started making his way back towards canterlot castle, Arrow spread his wings and took off. Leaving the unconscious draconequus to be turned to stone by the six ponies who bore the elements of harmony.
On his way back to Canterlot, Arrow finally had a moment to admire his new evolution. For a long time Arrow wasn’t sure if he could evolve because of his previous life as a human. It was a long flight before he arrived at Canterlot castle, it was about an hour before nightfall. After Arrow squeezed back through the window he flew out of this morning, which felt significantly smaller than when he was a rowlet, Arrow heard Luna pacing back and forth while Celestia tried calming her down.
“Luna, please! Arrow will be fine.” Celestia said, “He is probably on his way back right now.”
“But what if he gets lost? Or gets captured by rare bird hunters?” Luna asked, “Or worse.”
When Arrow found Luna pacing back and forth down the hall, she was obviously quite worried about Arrow. It was cute how much Luna cared for her little owl friend, even the point of getting scared when being separated from him for a long time.
“Kroo.” (I am back, Luna.) Arrow said as he flew towards the lunar princess
“Arrow? You’re back!” Luna said excitedly, before she recoiled at the sight of the blue two toned owl, “Arrow, what happened to you?”
At first Arrow was going to say something, but he quickly realized it would be much harder to explain then he initially thought. “Brr.” (I don’t know.) Arrow shrugged.
Luna looked concernedly at the large owl before she pulled him into an unexpected hug. “I’m just glad you're alive, I don’t think I could lose another friend.”
As he stayed within Luna’s embrace, Arrow thought about what Discord said. After some time, it was finally time for Luna to raise the moon and bring forth the night. Even though there were so many questions Arrow wanted to ask, there was not enough time left in the day to ask all of them.
Getting ready for bed, Arrow looked at his old bird stand. While he thought he could’ve made himself fit on top of it, it didn’t look comfortable because of how much smaller it seemed because he evolved. Looking at Luna with an unsure expression on his face, Luna couldn’t help but giggle when she saw his predicament.
“Well it looks like we have a problem,” Luna joked
“We can fix that later, you deserve some rest.” Luna said as she picked up the owl and carried him to her bed.
It had been quite some time since they both shared a moment like this. As tranquility came upon them, Arrow snuggled into bed with Luna as they both drifted to sleep.
Astraeus sat on his bed with his Nintendo as he cleaned up his shiny Decidueye after they had won a pokemon battle. The lunar princess sat by his side watching over Astaeus’ shoulder; a light blue glow from her horn is what had kept Astraeus’ device functioning long past its battery life. It had become a tradition over the past week to wake up early and play on his Nintendo for a while. But very soon after the sun rose over the horizon and Astraeus had to save his game before closing the console.
Ever since he had found the element of harmony and gave them to the royal duo to defeat Discord, Princess Celestia had allowed Astraeus to live in the castle at the request of her sister. The only catch to that was he wasn’t allowed to be a freeloader. But it had been at least 3 weeks since then, and Astraeus wasn’t one to go back on his promises.
He picked up the bow that princess Luna had gifted to him, and went outside to train with the other archers in the royal military. It was designed specifically for Astraeus, being slightly larger than the pony’s longbows to accommodate for his unique situation. Luna took into consideration Astreo’s supposed age when requesting the specially made bow, because there was a likely chance that he’d end up growing to be much taller than what he was.
After Discord’s attack, many things began to change. Whether the things changing were a direct result of him having escaped, or if it was just time for them to happen is up for debate. Arrow had finally gotten a new bird stand for his now evolved form, Luna had finally taken up night court by herself, and Princess Cadance had finally decided to make public that both she and Shining Armor were getting engaged. Arrow had known this was going to be inevitable for quite some time, especially considering how poorly they kept it hidden.
It had only been a week after he’d officially been adopted as Luna’s pet owl that he accidentally stumbled upon them making out in the royal gardens. If Arrow hadn’t practically been a head with wings at the time, he would have thought that he was going to lose it with how fast Shining Armor’s reflexes were when the captain drew his sword. And ever since then, Arrow has been watching them out of the corner of his eye whenever he could.
Much to Arrow’s surprise, Princess Luna was completely oblivious to this until the couple had made their announcement. Once it had happened though, Luna didn’t necessarily know how exactly to feel about it. Even though she realized that times have changed from when she was banished to the moon, Luna still would’ve never thought that it would’ve been acceptable for ponies of royal blood-line could marry anywhere below a noble by birth.
“‘Luna, you can’t keep yourself riled up like this.’” Arrow told her, “‘Your niece is going to be okay being married to Shining Armor, he is a good pony and wouldn’t let anything happen to her.’”
Luna groaned, as that was almost verbatim of what her sister said, “I know that, it's just I am worried about her reputation. And even though the public seems supportive about it right now, it doesn’t mean they won’t turn on her at the last minute.”
Arrow thought about what Luna had said for a long couple of minutes before responding, “‘Your worry is completely reasonable.If that were to happen then there could be a public outcry. But at the same time, I would assume that the damage would be minimal because he is the captain of the guard. There have been many stories where a princes save a knight and marries him as his reward; so by saying that Cadence has allowed Shining Armor to have her hoof in marriage as a reward for his bravery and valor as the head of the royal guard, there would be even less of a reason for it to cause public distress.’”
Listening to the reasoning Arrow replied with, Luna calmed down some but she was still quite nervous about the whole thing. Now that Arrow and Luna had spent a lot of time together, Luna couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something familiar about him. It was almost nostalgic for some reason, she just wasn’t sure why.
When the sun finally rose, starting a new day, Arrow and Luna made their way over to the royal throne room to greet Princess Cadance and Captain Shining Armor upon their arrival. Arrow sat on Luna’s back as he watched the encounter play out, but there was something that felt off.
“Princess Celestia,” Cadance said, “I am happy to see you.”
“Cadance, it is nice to see you as well, and I do believe that this is the first time you have meet my sister in person.”
Cadance just so happened to be eyeing Luna up and down, making a face that said ‘have I met you before?’
“And I am happy to meet you, princess… Luna..?” Cadance said, wondering if she had remembered her name correctly
“It is a pleasure to meet you.” Luna said rather softly
After a moment of awkward silence, Celestia began ushering the couple to their room. “Come now you two, let's make sure that all the preparations are up to your liking.”
Arrow couldn’t help but watch them walk with Celestia to their room, but in doing so, he couldn’t help but feel a certain prescience watching them from the shadows. There was just something about it that immediately knew they were going to be in danger; but with only a gut feeling as evidence, Arrow would struggle to prove the threat to anypony.
Luna began walking back to her room as well, it was rather early for her. As the princess of the night, it was her duty to guard it and watch over her subjects. And because of that, she didn’t have enough energy to stay awake during the day. Arrow on the other hand, rarely slept all the way through the day, instead opting for power naps in between pilfering through the fruit bowl in the kitchen area. Doing this allowed him to have enough energy to stay awake during the day in case he needed to. But at the same time, when he does this he has to be careful not to mess up his nocturnal sleep cycle.
As Arrow flew through the halls, he remained vigilant in his attempts to find that awful presence. But when he caught up to Cadance and her travel group, the presence was gone. It was like it had found out everything it needed to know. All of his further attempts in locating what had caused that ominously watchful feeling were futile.
After failing to locate what he could only assume was some sort of spy, his mind rushed with anxiety knowing that something was going to happen in the near future. Even if he were to return to Luna’s room, he doubts he could’ve slept with all this worry bogging him down. Arrow began to follow Celestia hoping to communicate the danger to her in some sort of form or fashion.
Celestia lowered the sun as the clocks said that it was getting close to dusk; and as part of her normal routine, she went to the library to enjoy a moment of silence from the day’s hustle and bustle. But like most days, it got interrupted before she got to enjoy it fully, but unlike most days, this time was by a certain owl. Circling overhead, Arrow cawed to get Celestia’s attention before landing in front of her. Celestia was surprised to see such a complex expression as worry on Arrow’s face.
Frantically, Arrow tried to communicate the situation to Celestia but Celestia couldn’t understand anything he said. Perhaps a game of charades could help him explain what is going on. Using his wings to create a shape that vaguely resembles a heart, he then pointed at celestia’s crown, before switching between the two motions.
“Princess Cadence?”
Arrow nodded
Following this, Arrow began to fly around the library rather recklessly. Knocking into things and getting too close to certain display cases containing items on display.
“Reckless?”
Arrow cawed in such a way that it let her know that it was wrong
“Dangerous?”
Arrow landed in front of her and nodded.
“Princess Cadence is in danger?”
Arrow nodded again, making Celestia share the same worry that he had.
“What is she in danger from?”
Arrow began to fly and pull books off their shelf into a rather large enough pile to hide most of himself. He then put on his scary face as he peered over the pile.
“Creep?”
Arrow cawed
“Stalker?”
There was a pause before Arrow cawed again as if he wasn’t sure of his answer. It was almost like he was saying ‘maybe’.
“the paparazzi?”
Frustrated, Arrow flew over to Celestia, shaking his head. He then took one of his quill darts before using it like a pen on some paper. Celestia immediately got it and summoned a piece of paper and an ink well for him to use. Arrow used his dart and tried his best to write words. Despite the sloppy appearance, Arrow managed to portray the right message.
“Bad feeling
Danger near
Ced
Can
PINK!
Spy”
Celestia eyed Arrow curiously, was Luna playing another prank on her? It would make for quite the elaborate prank after all. But the more she thought, the more she realized that this was a likely scenario. There was this feeling she had, but she just brushed it off believing it to be a figment of her imagination. Celestia burned the parchment to cover up anything that the potential spy could find.
“Thank you Arrow.” Celestia said, “I will make sure to take extra precautions to prevent anything from happening.”
With that she walks out of the room in search of Shining Armor and some of the other elite guards. She didn’t want any-creature to know that she might have some sort of lead on them.
In the library, Arrow cleaned up the mess he had made and placed the books on a cart for the librarian to return to their correct places. But as he was cleaning up his mess, he found an interesting book. It was old, like it shouldn’t be in any library, kind of old, dry-rot was starting to set in and the book was going to be replaced or discarded soon. The title was the only thing left intact, because it was made of gold foil, and it read: “The legend of Astraeus, prince of dusk and dawn.”
