A new pony arrives in Equestria and goes on an adventure like never before. (NOT a Dead By Daylight crossover)
IMPORTANT
Story cancelled due to me wanting to rewrite it. Come read it here.
What is up my fellow Legion. My name is DeffBwade aka the Apex Legion, and I have some interesting news. At first I was planning on taking a small vacation after I completed God Eater 3, but something interesting happened. What happened exactly you may ask? Well I don't wanna spoil anything for you. What I can spoil is that I am now in a new body and I am excited as hell as to what this new world will bring me.
Anyways, that is all I have to say for now. Hope you enjoy the story of my adventure in Equestria. Like, subscribe, and never stop slashing. Peace out everyone.
"Hope you guys enjoyed the final live stream of God Eater 3, and as always my fellow Legion: never stop slashing. Peace out everyone."
I pushed F5 on my keyboard and stopped the stream. I let out a sigh of relief and started viewing the statistics. As always, about 1-2 people in total watched my stream. Two things. One: it's kinda expected seeing that I don't have much subscribers. Two: I honestly don't mind. Now the fact that the stream lasted for about an hour and 40 minutes? That was unexpected, seeing as how it was the finale to an extra episode of God Eater 3. Oh well. I finally finished this game, and I was both sad and relieved. Sad that I finished such an awesome game, and relieved that I can now stream other games. What should I stream next? Borderlands 3? Alien: Isolation? Actually no, I will not play that game throughout my entire life. Maybe I can make some videos on the new game, Hood: Outlaws and Legends. That game looks fun. What about the games I haven't finished yet? Outlast? The Titanfall 2 campaign? What about Ace Attor-
Oh crap, where are my manner? Look at me rambling on and on and not even bothering to introduce myself. I go by many names: Legion (even though nobody call me that), the Apex Legion (again, a name that nobody calls me), and Asian (something only my friends call me which annoys me a bit, yet makes me laugh), but I'm better known as DeffBwade, and I'm a youtuber. It's true that I have a small number of subscribers...cough...312...but I don't really do this for the subs, the popularity, or the money (even though I do want to make money for this). I simply do this because it's fun. I like sharing the funny moments, as well as the enraging moments, that me and my friends have.
Now I find myself in a bit of a dead end. I just recently finished my finals and summer vacation officially started for me. Meanwhile, some of friends were still doing school. Heh. Speaking of school, it's kinda a funny thing. I just have my senior year left and then I'll be starting college, Gaming is probably moving to his college in a few months, and Jrod (also known as EnenraX) is almost done with his first year of high school. I can't believe it's been what, 2 years, since I met Jrod in a Friday the 13th match, and then met with everyone else in my friends group.
Look at me rambling again. Where was I? Oh right. My friends and I need a new game to play. None of them want to play Warframe, I don't wanna play Roblox nor Dying Light, I don't have enough money for Sea of Thieves, and we're all bored of Rainbow Six Siege and Dead By Daylight. Even I'm a bit bored of Dead by Daylight, which is quite surprising to say the least. Dead By Daylight is my favorite video game of all time. It was what brought me to going under the persona of Legion, my killer main. Yes, I main Legion in Dead By Daylight, so sue me. Anyway, at least a Resident Evil chapter is coming out in a few weeks, so that's good, but until then, I'm choosing to not play it for now.
Back to the issue at hand, I don't have much games to play. I need to do something. But lately, I've been working myself so hard, I don't feel making any videos or steaming anything right now. Maybe I need a vacation?
Yeah.
Yeah. Maybe I actually do need a break from content making. At least until the Resident Evil chapter come out. But what should I do? My options are pretty limited what with all the COVID-19 restrictions and shit. I could simply spend some time with my family. We could go to some restaurant we've never been to before. Oh, we still need to try out that Giant New York Pizza (not sponsored) that opened a month or two ago.
My French teacher recommended that I work on some of my French speaking over the summer. Maybe I could do that?
...
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Yeah...no. As if I'd do anything school related in the first few weeks of summer vacation. Hell, as if I'd practice my French speaking over the summer period. I've never done that before and I'm doing perfectly fine. I know my mom always gives me advice on not procrastinating (though I still do that anyways from time to time) and putting things off until the last minute, but come on. I just finished finals. I want a few weeks of relaxation. Scratch that. I need to relax from working. I need to do something new. I need something fun.
"I need an adventure," I said aloud.
As if God has answered my prayers, "Oh, so it's an adventure you seek, is it?" a male voice asked out of no where.
I jumped out of my gaming chair and shrieked in fright. "Who's there?!" I yelled.
"Over here," the voice called out.
I looked at the door to the room. Nothing out of the ordinary.
"No, over here."
I looked at the window. Nothing.
"No, over here," it voice said with frustration.
I looked behind, even though there was a wall. Nothing.
"OH FOR PETE'S SAKE! ARE YOU REALLY THAT BLIND?!" the voice yelled out.
I think it's time I stop having some fun. I looked at my computer and started chuckling.
"Relax. I knew you were in my computer, I just decided to mess with you. And also, WHY ARE YOU IN MY COMPUTER AND WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU?!" I yelled as I stared at the...thing...that was on my computer screen. It looked like something you'd find out of Harry Potter or Narnia. Or something that my friend Viking and his girlfriend would give birth to (just kidding by the way Viking, don't lock me in your basement). A mismatch of randomness. It had a right leg of a lizard, a left leg of a goat, a lion's paw for its right arm, an eagle's claw for its left arm, a snake-like body, a bat wing, a bird wing, a dragon-like tail, a deer horn, a goat horn, a head that looked equine in shape, and white eyebrows and a beard. Like I said, a mismatch of randomness.
I picked up my drink and stared at it, thinking that it's been tampered or that I'd accidentally picked up something with alcohol in it. I took a quick sip of my drink. Nope. It was just a normal iced tea. I started searching my computer for any viruses.
"Really DeffBwade? You think I'm some kind of virus?" the creature asked.
"Yes, I think you're some kind of virus. Wait. HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?!" I asked.
"Let me explain. My name is Discord, the spirit of chaos and disharmony. I come from a magical land called Equestria, a place where..."
As Discord (interesting name for a virus by the way) started talking about...um...bananas, I had one thought running through my mind.
Why does he sound like Q from Star Trek?
"...but I also have the ability to take a glimpse at the future, and I've seen Equestria being overtaken by..."
What was the voice actor's name again? I think it was John um...um um um...de Lancie. John de Lancie. Why does he sound like John de Lancie.
"...but I've also seen some pony standing against this villain, which is where you come in...."
After searching up "Star Trek Q" on YouTube, I started listening to some random clips with Q. Lo and behold, the voices were exactly the same. What the fuck?!
"You're the one DeffBwade."
I snapped my attention back to Discord and his talk about Family Guy. You might be thinking "DeffBwade you should be paying attention to Discord. This could be important to the story." But come on. This is just some advanced virus spewing nonsense. And also I do tend to lose my concentration when someone is monologuing about Crazy Rich Asians.
"The one?" I asked.
"The one to save Equestria."
"The one to save Equestria. Okay then. Um...I'll be back right back. I'm gonna quickly go check into a mental institution."
"Do all humans act this crazy?"
"Only when a virus is talking on and on about The Beetles."
"Groan. The fate of Equestria rests on this idiot's shoulders?" Discord mumbled as he face palmed. "Whatever! You're going this adventure whether you want to or not!"
"An adventure?!" I said with a bit of excitement. And that was the last thing I said before a white light flashed before my eyes.
Groan. Holy shit that was bright. What the fuck was that anyway? And why can't I move?
It was true. No matter how hard I tried, I could not for the life of me move a single millimeter of my body. I know I'm kind of a weakling and don't have much muscles, but this just feels like I'm frozen in place. Not only that, but I couldn't see anything except darkness. Is this what being blind feels like? If it is, then I apolize for all the blind jokes I made towards myself, my friends, and other random people. In other words, being blind sucks.
Suddenly, my body felt...weird. Not in pain nor numb nor anything like that, just...weird. I don't know how else to describe it. The best description I guess I can give it is some sort of tingling sensation, almost ticklish actually. Then like how it suddenly began, it suddenly stopped, and I couldn't feel my body at all. Like my body was just non-existent. I then began to panic.
Am I dead?! Is this really what being dead feels like?! Having no feelings whatsoever and just seeing darkness till the end of time?! Oh my god, oh my god, OH MY GOD! Wait, I shouldn't use the Lord's name right now! OH MY STARS WHAT AM GOING TO DO?!
You can imagine my relief when I started feeling my body again after a few minutes of panicking. I let out a huge sigh of relief and thanked the stars that I was alive. I totally did not cry over missing my family and friends, if that's what you're thinking.
...
Okay, yes I did. Can you really blame though? I don't know what's stranger, what just happened the past few minutes, or what I'm feeling right now. My back was against something soft and a bit moist. I could easily tell that I was laying on grass. I could also hear the sounds of nature all around me, like birds chirping and the leaves blowing and all that crap. How did I go from my gaming room to a grass field? I have to answer that later because that wasn't the strangest part. My body felt...different. I couldn't feel any of my fingers nor toes, but instead two soft mounds on my back. It wasn't the grass if that's what you wondering, that's for sure. I could also feel something hairy around my ass. I was 99% sure it wasn't ass hair. Eww. I only pray it's not some kind of hairy spider. Just the thought of it makes me tense up. My vision then started to slowly come back, but it was immediately ceased when there was another bright light.
AH FUCK! How many bright lights am I gonna be staring at today?!
It took me a minute or two to register that the light was the sun. I turned my head away and my vision continued to become clearer. Like I expected, I was in some random grass field. What I didn't expect was that I was in some random grass field surrounded by trees, meaning I was in some random forest.
"Fuck," I said aloud.
I sat up and looked at my surrounding again. Nothing around me except for trees for presumably miles. I was in a forest and I didn't know how to get out nor did I think I have anything to help me get out or at least help me survive.
"FUCK!" I yelled as all the birds flew away.
I then noticed two things laying in the grass a few feet away from me. I got up to walk towards them, only to fall back down almost immediately. My body must've been a bit numb from not moving for a few minutes, but that didn't bother me. I laid on the ground and started crawling towards the items. I didn't know if whatever they were would help me, but it doesn't hurt to check. When I got to the items, and I relieved that these will help in my current situation. Well, one of them at least.
On my left was my sword. A katana to be specific. My favorite kind of sword of all time. I mean, come one. Who doesn't like katanas. They're sharp and easy to swing. I have some knowledge on how to use it properly, but only enough to properly defend myself. With a couple more weeks of practice, I'll be able to use it like a ninja. The katana also had a cyan glow on it. It looked similar to...no...it looked exactly like Zer0's sword from Borderlands 2. Which is why I named it Zer0. I remember the day I crafted it myself.
On my right was something I knew all to well. It was my mask. Completely inspired by the Legion from Dead by Daylight. It was quite a simple mask. It was black in color and painted in cyan was the infamous smile the Legion and I knew. However, the shape of it was different for some reason. It was more equine in shape rather than that of a human. While this wouldn't exactly help me out in my current situation, it was nice to have it with me.
Maybe I will get through this after all. I crawled closer to Zer0, and reached my hoof out to grab it.
...
My hoof.
My hoof.
My...hoof?
My...HOOF?!
"WHAT THE FUCK?!"
I screamed and tried to back away from the appendage, only for it to follow. I stopped and flailed my arm around, only for the hoof to flail around as well. I immediately stood up, only to fall down. That was when I finally inspected my body. That was when I realized why I couldn't feel my fingers or toes. Why I couldn't stand up. Why my mask was shaped weird. I was a god damn equine!
After a few minutes of hyperventilating and calming down, I noticed a small lake nearby. I crawled over to it, because I don't know how to walk on all fours, and continued to inspect my body, thoroughly this time. My fur was grey in color. My eyes, which were now huge, were cyan. My tail, which made me panic a bit when I noticed it, was black with cyan streaks in it. The same could be said with my hair, which had a bit of a spiked look to it with one side dripping down and slightly covering my right eye. Before, my hair was always black, and if I was gonna dye it, I would've dyed the tips of my hair indigo. On my butt was some sort of tattoo. It was the Legion smile with two Zer0 swords crossed behind it. Where the hell did this tattoo come from? On my back were two wings.
...
Wait, wings?
I looked at my back again, and indeed there were a set of wings there. Not believing that they were real, I reached my hand...um...hoof up and gently stroked them. After getting a pleasuring feeling that led to a light gasp, I can indeed confirm that I really had wings. I didn't know how I should feel at the moment. Scared that I was in a completely new body, or ecstatic that I was a god damn pegasus.
In addition to my fur, eyes, tail, hair, tattoo, and wings, I was wearing my usual clothes. A brownish leather coat, a white shirt underneath, and a dark blue scarf (I could never really tell if it was a scarf or cape) with a hood. All of which had their usual fluorescent paint stains that glowed cyan in the dark. But I had no pants. That totally made me panic, but then I remembered that equines have sheathes that retract their...things. The thought of any of my other friends reacting to their ding dongs tucked away made me laugh.
I sat down on my butt to ponder what's going. So something named Discord came to me, brought me to some random forest, and turned me into an equine. I took a deep breath, and let it out. I needed to get moving soon.
"But first, I need to learn how to use this body," I told myself as I looked at my hooves.
1 hour later
After moving around and getting used to walking on all fours, with a lot of face falling included, I managed to learn how to walk and run in this body. I still need to learn how to fly though. I could probably find someone to teach me. I walked to my sword and mask and picked them up. I won't question how I can hold things with hooves because it will probably end up giving me a brain aneurysm. I put on my mask and lifted my hood up, now completing the look of the Apex Legion. I lifted Zer0, which was light like always, and rested it against my shoulder. Looking at the trees surrounding me, I had a look of determination.
"Alright Discord. You said you're gonna give me an adventure, then there's only one one thing to say..."
"Can't nobody tell me nothing. You can't tell me nothing. Can't nobody tell me nothing. You can't tell me nothing. Yeah, I'm gonna take my horse to the old town road. I'm gonna ride till I can't no more."
Wait. Is this song considered offensive to me since I'm an equine now? Maybe? I don't know. I've been walking through this forest for I'd say...45 minutes now, and I still haven't found any sign of civilization or help. I don't even know if I'm going the right. I just picked a random direction and hoped for the best, but right now, I'm starting to lose hope. No. I can't think like that. As I learned from the Ace Attorney games and anime: don't give up till it's over. The sun is still out, so I don't have to worry about freezing in the night for now.
I've been switching between carrying Zer0 in my mouth and balancing it on my back, because I don't have a scabbard to hold it in and walking on three legs just feels weird after a while. I also put my hood down and put my mask up due to it being pretty hot. You might be asking yourself "Well, why doesn't he just take off his coat and scarf? The answer to that is I literally have no idea. I just felt like keeping them on. If I had to guess, is that it's because I already don't have pants, and taking off my coat would make me feel even more naked.
Every so often, I would see the occasional bird flying and squirrel scampering. It's a good thing I ate a shit ton of pizza before I got transported here, so I don't have to worry about food for a while. Eating the animals wasn't on option due to me being a herbivore now, and I didn't want to risk eating a poisonous plant. It's not because I don't have the basic of survival skills, but rather most of the plants were completely unknown to me.
Sighing, I sat down next to a tree to get some rest. If this is what the people on Naked and Afraid felt like, then I feel really bad for them, cause this is a fucking nightmare. I looked at the sun to see if it was close to nighttime. If I had to guess, it was sometime around the afternoon, so I still have time before I have to deal with the night.
Maybe I need to approach a different tactic cause walking isn't getting me anymore. I needed to get to a vantage point. I looked around for the tallest tree around me. Once I saw it, I walked over to it, placed Zer0 down next to it, and tried climbing it. Emphasis on "tried." It was a total pain trying to climb a tree with hooves. It took an estimated total of 15 minutes to get to the top, but I managed to do it. And I totally did not fall down 4 times while doing it.
Once I reached the top, I started scanning my surroundings. So far, all I saw were trees.
And trees.
And more trees.
And even more trees.
Until...
My eyes widened as I saw something.
In the distance, I'd say about quarter of a mile away, was a small town, but that wasn't really the eye catcher. No, what really drew my attention was the giant structure. IT WAS BIG, SCARY, AND PINK! Nah, I'm just kidding, but it was big. It was purple in color, had a giant star shape on top of it, and, this was probably just me, but it looked like it was made of crystals. I pumped my fist...hoof in the air and hollered in joy. It was time to finally settle down and meet the locals, but first I couldn't pass down the opportunity to shout something else.
"IT'S OVER ANAKIN! I HAVE THE HIGH GROUND!"
I placed my leg down on the branch below and tried climbing down. Again, emphasis on "tried." The branch broke immediately and I fell down the whole way, hitting every branch and cursing out loud.
"OW! OW! SON! OW! OF! OW! A! BITCH! OW!" I screamed until I finally hit the ground. I stood back up, only to immediately regret it. My left front leg felt sore as shit and it caused me to lay back down on the ground. Thankfully, nothing felt broken and the only other thing I had were a few small cuts. This new body was resilient as shit. I looked over my clothes groaned as I noticed they received most of cuts and were now dirty. Great. Guess I gotta add rest my leg and refurbish my clothes on the list of things I need to do, only the former was technically already on there.
I picked Zer0 back up and proceeded to walk towards the direction of time while resting my leg, either by lifting it up on walking on three legs, like I said felt weird after a while, or by putting as little pressure as possible on it. This was the homestretch. I just had to make it to the town and I will officially start this adventure. Unbeknownst to me, however, there were a pair of glowing green eyes watching me from the shadows.
You know it's funny. We have stuff like houses, cell phones, and cars, and we sometimes take them for granted. We don't really know how important they are in our lives until we actually lose them. Once I get out of this forest I'm gonna snuggle down on some random person's couch and just sleep.
For about 5 minutes I've been walking, or should I say hobbling, and my leg has been slowly getting better. Like I said before, I have a resilient body. Finally, I see the treeline and leap in joy. I put all my energy to good use and book it to the treeline, only to stop a few seconds later. I sniffed the air again and pressed my hoof against my nose...muzzle to block out the god-awful stench. Seriously, it smelled like a skunk had diarrhea while letting out a fart at the same time, or Jrod after he eats his Mexican food.
I then heard the one noise I dreaded hearing to entire time I was walking through the forest.
GGGGGRRRRRR
Growling.
GGGGGRRRRRR
Specifically the growling of a wolf.
I turned my head in the direction the growling came from an saw a pair of eyes, glowing green in the shadows. And seeing how high the eyes were above the ground, this wolf must've been huge. I held Zer0 in my mouth (remember Zer0 is what I call my sword so please don't call me gay) while slowly backing away towards the treeline. The growling continued as the eyes came closer, until finally I saw what my stalker looked like.
Out from the shadows was indeed a wolf, and just as I thought, it was huge. Not only that, but its skin looked it was entirely made of wood and leaves. My heart was beating at the sight of it. How could this thing be alive if it's made out of wood? Then again, trees are technically alive and they're made out of wood. Even though I was afraid, I didn't show it because I knew that those that showed fear are usually the weakest. Learned that from the Batman Arkham games.
The silence was finally broken when the wood wolf started barking and charging at me. It leapt up in an attempt to swipe its claws at me, but I wasn't having it. I ducked down and dodged to the right, avoiding the attack. The wolf then started to continually swipe its claws, but I managed to dodge them. It's a good thing that even though I lack strength, I make up for it by being quite nimble, but just dodging left and right won't help me. I needed to defend myself. The wolf stomped hard on the ground, and that was when I took the opportunity to swing my head and strike it in the leg with Zer0. A part of the leg tore off, as if I actually hit a tree.
The wolf howled in pain at the strike. It then proceeded to strike me with as much speed as it can. With every claw swipe it gave, I simply ducked down. With every stomp it gave, I would dodge and then strike with all my might. As the fight progressed, I put on a smug face as my confidence kept increasing.
"What's wrong? Can't take down such a small thing like myself? You know, I was actually afraid of you, but now this is just fun. It thought you were some kind of apex preda-"
In hindsight, I probably should've listened to Han Solo and his advise "don't get cocky," cause it was in that moment that I knew, I fucked up. As I said that, the wolf managed to hit me with a claw swipe, launching me into a nearby tree. I hit the tree, which broke at the impact, and fell to the ground. Zer0 fell out of my mouth as I stared at the wolf with my slightly blurry vision. I felt a warm liquid slowly falling down my side. It doesn't take a genius to know what it was. I looked at my side and saw a claw mark in my clothes and flesh, with blood seeping out from them. Good news, my wings were intact. Bad news, they won't be for any longer as the wolf was slowly approaching me. Time started to slow down and my life actually started to flash before my eyes as it got into a pouncing stance.
Before the inevitable could happen, a purple laser suddenly hit the wolf. It backed away as it yelped in fear and pain.
"Get away from him you wooden beast!" yelled a female voice as the wolf retreated back into the forest.
The last thing I saw was a purple figure coming into my view before my vision became even more blurry and then faded away, and all I saw was black.
What was that one word that describes the feeling of your body being in agony after being attacked by a giant, wooden wolf? Oh right.
Pain.
Pain is all I felt right now as all I was seeing was darkness. How many times am I gonna being staring at darkness? Even if I was able to move, I didn't dare to because legit everything hurts. Especially the side where the wolf clawed me. What happened anyway? Am I dead?
The last I remember was the wolf getting hit by a purple laser and a purple figure coming into my point of view. Who was that anyway? Was that God? An angel? Did an angel take me to heaven after I died? Nope, I still felt pain across my body so that's a no to being dead. So who was it that saved from being devoured by that predator? Was it...was it one of the locals? I was pretty close to the treeline of the forest so it's a huge possibility. I would find out sooner or later as I felt myself slowly slipping out of being unconscious.
Only to find myself staring at another bright light.
AH MOTHERFUCKER!
Three bright lights all in one day. That's a world record. So where am I now? As the rest of my senses slowly came back, I started hearing a constant beeping sound. I turned my head in the direction the sound was coming from and saw a heart rate monitor, showing a consistent heart beat. I turned my head to the rest of my surroundings, and noticed a window to my right and a door next to it. I also noticed that I was in a hospital bed wearing a hospital gown. My mask, clothes, and sword were nowhere to be found, which pissed me off a bit. I couldn't be too mad though. It's not everyday you see someone carrying a sword and wearing a mask, nor does someone allow a sword to just sit around in a hospital. Although that doesn't explain my clothes, they should be sitting somewhere in this room.
I slowly sat up, wincing at the pain I felt. It didn't hurt as much when the wolf struck me, but it still hurt. I moved my gown to the side to observe the damage. My torso was riddled with bandages, as were my wings. On the side where the wolf's claw struck me, in between the slits of the bandages, I could see what looked like stitches. I knew this was a really bad idea, but you know what they say: curiosity killed the cat. I gingerly moved the bandages out of way too look at my wound. Trust me when I say it kind of hard to do it with hooves. Maybe there's still a long way to getting used to this body. In the middle of my side where three claw marks, all reaching from the middle of my chest to only inches away from the base of my wing. I was really lucky there because I really want to learn how to fly. I never had stitches before in my entire life. Glad I was unconscious when I got them. Oh well. Look at the bright side. I'll have a badass scar for the rest of my life.
My thoughts were ceased as I heard footsteps from outside the room. Um, hoof steps is what I meant to say. The door opened to reveal another equine looking at a clipboard. She, I'm assuming it's a she due to her having a round muzzle and eyelashes, had white fur, a pink mane that was done up in a bun, blue eyes, and what looked to be a nurse's cap, if the Red Cross was any indication.
"Name of patient: unknown. Description: grey pegasus with a cutie mark of a creepy smiling face with two swords behind it," the nurse mumbled to herself.
Really? Creepy? I'd say it's more cool than creepy.
"Patient has received wounds by a Timberwolf in the Everfree Forest including a claw mark and some broken ribs," she said.
A Timberwolf? Is that the name of that wooden wolf that attacked me?
"Um. Excuse me?" I asked her.
The nurse "eeped" in response and dropped her keyboard. She looked at me and her eyes widened slightly.
"Oh my. You're awake," she said.
"Yeah. I'm awake. Um. Where am I?" I asked.
"You're in Ponyville Hospital," she said.
Ponyville? What kind of name is that? Sounds pretty generic and unoriginal, don't you think?
"You had quite a nasty attack by a Timberwolf. You were very lucky that Princess Twilight saved you before it got any worse," she said.
"I see. Thank you for telling this Miss..." I said.
"Redheart. Nurse Redheart. No need to call me miss," Nurse Redheart said.
"Nurse Redheart. I'll have to thank P-p-p-" I trailed off as my brain started to register something she just said.
Who. Did. She. Just. Say. Saved. Me?
"Did you just I was saved by a princess?!" I asked
"U-um, yeah?" Nurse Redheart answered with a bit of fear.
I stared at nothing in particular with my jaw agape. Can you blame me? What would your response be if you found your life was saved by a princess? An actual fucking princess?! This is place is a fairy tail come true.
"Um, sweetie. Are you okay?" I heard Nurse Redheart ask. I snapped out of my thoughts and shook my head.
"Yeah. Yeah I am. I'm sorry it's just...an actual princess saving my life? It's one of the greatest things to ever happen to me," I answered with glee. "I gotta make sure sure to thank this princess when I get out of here."
"It's no worries. I'm glad I was able to save your life before it was too," said another voice as another equine walked in. This pony was also female. She had lavender fur, an indigo mane with two stripes of different shades of purple, purple eyes, a horn, and wings. This pegacorn...unisus (THIS UNICORN IS SUS)...must've been Princess Twilight, and Nurse Redheart's response only confirmed it.
"P-princess Twilight! I wasn't expecting you." Nurse Redheart said in surprise as she bowed.
Princess Twilight only smiled and waved her hoof. "You don't have to bow Nurse Redheart. I prefer being treated like everypony else. And I'm sorry for dropping by unexpected. I just wanted to see how the colt was doing. And I can see he's doing just fine," she said as she approached me.
"P-p-princess. Thank you so much for saving my life," I said as I bowed my head in respect.
She chuckled. "Like I said, I'm just glad I was able to save another pony's life. And like I told Redheart, there's no need to bow."
"O-okay," I said nervously. Could you blame me? This was an actual princess in the flesh right in front me. How could you not show some form of respect? Princess Twilight take a seat right next to my bed.
"You know who I am, but I don't know who you are. Would you mind telling me your name?" she asked.
"O-oh, of course. My name is-" I paused for sec. I admit that my name is...well...weird, and I didn't want the locals of this place to go like "that's an...interesting name" or something along those lines. Why do I use that name, you might ask? Well, it's just a name that stuck with me for years, and I only used in video games and YouTube. Never thought I'd use it in real life. So I opted for a name that seemed normal enough, but still resonates with me. "Legion. Call me Legion," I said.
"It's nice to meet you Legion," Princess Twilight said. She didn't seem to notice my hesitation, so that's good. She then put on a serious face and gave me a look one would receive when they were fucked.
In other words, I was fucked.
"Now, would you mind explaining why you were in Everfree Forest in the first place?" the Princess asked in a serious tone.
I paused. How am I gonna respond to that?! What should I say?! There's no way I'm just gonna say "Well Princess. I used to be a hairless ape that stood on two and ate meat, and that I got transported here by a being named Discord." If you think I'm gonna say that, you're delusional. I calmed down and decided to approach a different tactic. Instead of lying, I bent the truth.
"My apologies Princess. I'm a traveler and I found myself lost in the forest," I said. It was the truth, it just wasn't the full truth.
"Well, what about your parents? Where are they?" Princess Twilight asked.
"My parents are far away. Like I said, I'm a traveler," I responded. Again, it was technically the truth.
"I see," she said.
"Um, Princess Twilight. If I may ask, where is my stuff?" I decided to move the subject away from my situation.
"Oh. Well your sword is at my castle. I was very interested in how you managed to make it give off that blue glow. As for your clothes and mask...well. When I showed them to my friend Rarity, let's just say she wasn't happy about the state they were in," she said.
"Oh," I simply said.
"Speaking of your stuff, I have a question regarding them. I can see why you have the clothes and sword, but what's with that mask, and the creepy smile painted on it?" she asked.
Sigh. Is the smile really creepy-looking?
"I don't really know. It just makes me feel complete," I said. That was actually the full truth regarding my mask. "Um, Nurse Redheart?" I asked as I turned to Redheart.
"Yes?" Nurse Redheart said.
"Do you know when I can check out of here?" I asked her.
"I just to one last checkup on your wounds and then you'll be free to go," she said. Thank God. I did not want to spend days in sitting in a hospital bed.
10 minutes later
"Now Legion. I want you to change those bandages every night and be careful when cleaning around the stitches. I also want you to come back here for a checkup every week starting this Thursday," Nurse Redheart advised.
"Yes Nurse Redheart," I said as I walked out of the room with Princess Twilight. She asked if she can walk with me around the town, Ponyville I assumed the name of it since this hospital was called Ponyville Hospital. I didn't mind, I needed a guide to help me find a place to settle down after all. But first I needed my stuff.
"Princess Twilight? Is okay if we go retrieve my sword, as well as visit this Rarity friend of yours to retrieve my clothes and mask?" I asked.
"Of course Legion. We'll stop by Rarity's place, then go to my castle," she said.
"Ok," I said as she and I finally reached the exit of the hospital. The doors opened and I was prepared to finally explore.
You know, it's funny really. I never thought I'd find myself walking through a town filled with equines, with a princess equine along my side, and as an equine. "DeffBwade, why do you keep calling them equines? You do realize they're ponies, right? My answer? Who cares? Pony? Equine? Same fucking thing, but just to shut you guys up, I'll start referring to them as ponies. Does that make you happy?
Anyways, yeah. Everywhere I looked, there were ponies. There was one sitting at what looks to be a restaurant. There were a trio little ponies, who were fucking adorable and almost gave me a heart attack just at sheer amount of cuteness btw, playing in a park. One was yellow with a red mane and bow, another was white with a curly pink and purple mane and horn, and another was orange with a purple mane and wings. And they all had similar...what did Nurse Redheart call them? Cutie marks? A bit too of a girly name for my taste but whatever. There was an orange one who had a blond mane and stetson at a stand selling what looks to be apples in exchange for...gold coins? Dafuq?! Gold coins for apples? You know what, that's probably how it works in this place so I'm not gonna say anything. As we passed by, Twilight waved at the orange pony, whom waved back. There was a couple of ponies sitting on a bench. One was light tan with a swirly blue and pink mane with a cutie mark of a trio of candies, and she was sitting on her belly. Again, cute. The other was mint colored with a minty colored mane and a cutie mark of a lyre, and she was sitting...like a human would.
...
I'm...just gonna ignore that and move on.
"Here we are Legion," Twilight said as I snapped out of my thoughts.
I looked and saw we standing in front of a building that if I had to describe it in one word it would be...posh. It was light purple in color, had golden trims around it, and looked like...
"...a carousel?" I questioned.
Twilight chuckled at this. "This is Rarity's place. Welcome to Carousel Boutique," she said as she opened the door which rang a bell.
"Coming," sang a feminine, regal-like voice as me and Twilight walked inside.
As Twilight and I waited, I decided to observe this place, and boutique was right. I saw mirrors, what looked to be a dressing room, and a dozen or so mannequins...ponyquins? All of the ponyquins were wearing, I have to admit, very nice clothes. Some were wearing eloquent dresses and others were wearing nice looking tuxes. Phew. At least clothes were thing here. I would not feel comfortable if I had walk around in the nude all the time. I already felt uncomfortable with the other ponies being nude.
...
Wait. I just realized something. I know male ponies have sheaths, but what about the females?!
"Hello Rarity," said Twilight.
Before I could more on the subject of females, I looked at where Twilight was looking and saw a unicorn walking down some stairs. This one just screamed fancy. She was white in fur color, and had a curly, indigo mane, blue eye shadow, blue eyes, and a trio of diamonds as her cutie mark. Gotta admit, for a pony, she was quite beautiful. I took a quick look at Twilight's cutie mark and saw it was a lavender star with white stars surrounding it.
"Oh, hello Twilight and...Gasp...a new customer. Hello darling, and welcome to Carousel Boutique. My name is Rarity," the white unicorn said.
"Hello Miss Rarity. My name is Legion and Twilight said you had my clothes and mask?" I asked.
"Oh my. Such a gentlecolt, but there's no need to calling me miss. Just Rarity is fine. As for your clothes..." Rarity said the last with a hint of disgust.
"Yes?" I asked.
"I managed to sew up the tears,but I gotta be honest be with you darling. I don't understand why you would wear those things in the first place. The clothes are just stained with paint and the color scheme is quite ugly. As for the mask, again I don't understand why you would wear that," Rarity said.
I frowned slightly at this. I'm one for constructive criticism, but I just feel insulted. I was so close to cursing at her. I'm the Apex Legion, and she dare call my clothes and mask ugly? I took a deep breath and calmed down. She was simply stating her opinion, there was no way I could be mad at that.
"Miss Rari-um sorry. Rarity. While I respect your opinion, I really like my clothes. I think the color scheme is cool and the paint stains glow in the dark, which, in my opinion, makes them cooler. As for my mask, it really blends well with my clothes and it just makes me feel complete," I said.
Rarity and Twilight simply just stared at me. I was worried that I accidentally said something bad. I was always one that aims to please others, sometimes even when it leads to me doing something I don't like.
"I see. If that is how you truly feel, then I respect your opinion. I'll go get them for you darling," Rarity said as she walked back up the stairs, leaving me and Twilight alone.
"Wow Legion. That was really mature of you. Some ponies would get mad when Rarity speaks her opinion about their clothes. I'm really proud of you," Twilight said with a smile.
I smiled and blushed a bit at the praise. "Oh, it's no big deal," I said. I looked and saw Rarity coming back with my clothes neatly folded, along with my mask.
"Here you go darling," said Rarity.
"Thank you Rarity, is it alright if I put these on real quick?" I asked as I grabbed them.
"Of course," Rarity said.
I walked into the dressing room and inspected my clothes. Damn. Rarity has some skills with sew. You barely see the tears. It's almost as if they were never torn in the first place. I put on my shirt, then my coat, then my scarf, but I decided to leave the hood down for now. As for my mask...
"Um. Rarity? Do you have a backpack that I can use to hold onto my mask?" I asked.
"A...backpack? Don't you mean saddlebag?" Twilight asked.
Shit!
"Um. Yeah! A saddlebag, I mean," I said quickly.
"Of course," Rarity said as she handed me a saddlebag. Rather than one bag with two straps on it, it was two bags connected by one strap. I took the bag and, I hope I get this right, put it on my back behind my wings. I opened it and placed my mask in it.
"Thank you," I said.
"You're welcome darling. And if you're looking to get some new clothes, you're always welcome to come to me," she said.
"Ok. Bye Rarity," I waved as Twilight and I exited the boutique. We proceeded to head Twilight's castle to retrieve my blade.
"DeffBwade, why don't you refer to Twilight as a princess anymore? I thought you wanted to show her respect." I am. I forgot to mention that Twilight told me that she preferred to not be addressed as "Princess Twilight" when she's not doing her royal duties.
Anyways, we eventually arrived to what I assumed to be her castle. It was the giant structure that I saw while I was in the Everfree Forest, and I was right in my assumptions. It actually was made of crystals. It was nice to look at. Twilight opened the door and led me inside. We walked through the halls of the castle and reached a room that had what looked like a giant map of...crap. I never asked what this world was called. Surrounding the map were 7 thrones, with 6 six of them having unique symbols on them. I recognized two of them as Twilight and Rarity's cutie marks. The one with the trio of apples probably belonged to that one orange pony that was selling apples earlier.
Does that mean that Rarity is also considered royalty?
I saw that next to the chair with Twilight's cutie mark was a familiar katana. I walked over and picked Zer0 up. I stared at the blade with the blue glow with a smile. Which reminds me.
"Oh Twilight. You were curious as to how my sword is glowing? The answer is that modified it to be able to burn up to 2600o Farenheit. That is why my sword glows blue. I call it 'Zer0'," I explained. Apparently my explanation caused Twilight to get a brain aneurysm.
"I-I'm not really sure how," I said kinda scared. Our conversation was interrupted, or more like I was saved, by the door opening suddenly and a pink blur zooming towards me fast. I screamed in panic and braced for impact, only it never came. I opened my eyes to see another pony, and it was BIG, SCARY, AND PINK!
...
No, I'm not joking this time. Ok, I'm kinda over exaggerating. This pony was slightly bigger than me, although because she must've been an adult, had a very wide smile that brought to mind a certain knife-wielding creepy pasta, and was very, very pink. Her fur was pink, and poofy mane was a darker shade of pink, and she had a cutie mark of a trio of balloons. She didn't have either a horn nor wings.
"Ohmygoshanewpony!IknewtherewasanewponybecausemyPinkiesensesweretinglingandtheyeventuallyledmetoTwilight'scastleandhereyouare,anewpontIhaveyettothrowapartyfor!GASP!ThatremindsIhavetogothrowyoupartysohereyougohere'syourinvitation!OkbyeIgottagosetupyourparty!" The pony gave me a piece of paper and quickly zoomed out of the room.
...
...
...
WAS THAT PONY ON CRACK OR SOMETHING?! WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?!
"Don't worry. That's just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie. You'll get used to it," Twilight said.
"I-I...um...I," I stammered. It's whatever. I witnessed a guy wanting to be shot in the face, a zombie that had a huge flaming claw, and a killer that separated a baby from her body to kill you. I'm pretty sure I can survive a pink pony on 10 pounds of crack. I looked at the piece of paper she gave me.
YOU ARE INVITED TO A PARTY
PLACE: SCHOOL OF FRIENDSHIP
TIME: 6:30 P.M.
"A...party? For who?" I asked Twilight.
"Hehe. Whenever somepony arrives in Ponyville, Pinkie always throws a party for them," Twilight said.
"I get thrown a party...because I'm new? That's...awesome," I said with excitement. I could use a party. It's been years since I've last been to one. I looked at the clock and saw there was about 10 minutes before the party started. "So where's this School of Friendship?" I asked.
Imagine this. You arrive and move into a new town. Then later that same day you receive an invitation saying you're invited to a party for you simply because you're new in town. This new world is already off to great start. You know...besides being attacked by a Timberwolf and sent to the hospital.
"It's just a short walk away. In fact, it's just outside the castle. Come on. I'll show you," Twilight answered. As we walked, I thought back to my school back on Earth. For my entire junior year, I had to do it all online. Imagine spending 8 hours every Monday-Thursday just staring at a screen and learning. I know I'm a huge video game fanatic, but even I wouldn't spend that much time playing games. You know...except on the weekends. Speaking of school, I wonder how my friend are doing. I never really saw them in real life for almost a year now except 1-2 times outside of school, and that was during schoo-related activities. What about my gaming friends? How long will it be they realize something's happened to me? My family was away on a vacation trip, so I don't think they'll be too worried about me.
We exit the castle and Twilight turns left. I turn as well and my jaw drops at the sight. She wasn't kidding. Just down a pathway...was that the school?! It looked as big as Twilight's castle. There was a balcony, a lake surrounding it, and fucking waterfalls?! And it was on the side of a mountain?! WHAT THE FUCK?! I wished my school had waterfalls and was on the side of a mountain! I shook my head and proceeded to follow Twilight. We opened the doors and walked through the hallways.
"So Twilight, what do they teach at the School of Friendship anyway?" I asked.
"It teaches exactly that. Friendship!" Twilight said with proudness.
...
...
"I'm sorry. What did you say it teaches?" I asked with disbelief.
"Friendship!" Twilight said proudly again.
...
...
"There's a school...that teaches...friendship? That's just...strange," I said. Like seriously? Friendship? Though, what did I expect from something called "School of Friendship?" But still. Friendship? I have great friends, and we get along great, even though we make fun of each other. Well...except for one person, but...I don't really like to talk about him. Not anymore.
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Teaching friendship? Friendship isn't something that needs to be taught. It's something that comes naturally. I would know, I have plenty of friends. Going to a school to learn about friendship is just ridiculous," I said. I admit, I might've gone a bit too far by calling it "ridiculous." And I was right when Twilight gave me a frown. In other words, I was fucked.
"Well if you're such an expert on friendship, then you're more than capable of getting along with everycreature at the party," Twilight said. We eventually reached a set of doors that were closed. Twilight opened the door with her levitation and walked inside, while I just stared at dark room in front me of. Now I'm not stupid.
...
Ok yes I am, but I'm not the kind of person to just waltz into a dark room in a place I've never been to before just because I person I met a little over an hour ago did so. That's just asking to be raped or murdered. So I just stood there out at door waiting for Twilight to come back or at least say something. After a couple of minutes I waiting, I decided to risk it for the biscuit. I grabbed Zer0 with my mouth and held out the blade, making the room illuminate a bit. I carefully stepped inside the room, expecting something to jump out and ambush me. Well, what happened next was half of what I expected to happened.
"SURPRISE!!!"
The lights to the room turned on suddenly and dozens of voices from all directions screamed out. My response?
"GAH MOTHER-" because one: the surprise scared the shit out of me, and two: I was blinded by a bright light. Again. I stopped myself from cursing out loud in front of adults. I did not want an ass whooping after recovering from the hospital. I looked around the room and saw Twilight and Rarity among the crowd of ponies. I noticed streamers, tables filled various foods and drinks, including sandwiches, cupcakes, a cake, and dozens of red plastic cups with bowls of punch next to them, and a banner that read "Welcome to Ponyville." I was amazed at the amount of effort that was worked into this party. I honestly expected something small like a few ponies eating small sandwiches and talking to each other. But this? God fucking damn.
"Surprise!" a cheery voice said before a pink pony bounced towa-oh fuck me! It's the pink pony that was on crack from earlier.
"Were you surprised?! Were you?! Were you?! Cause I was so excited to throw this party! It's been too long since a new pony came to Ponyville, and I'm so excited to be finally throwing one! Hey, that's a neat sword you got!" Pinkie said. She was talking fast again, but at least she wasn't talking faster than Sonic the Hedgehog, to the point I couldn't unstanding a single word she was saying.
I put Zer0 away in my saddlebag. Gotta make a scabbard for this thing sooner or later because it's long and just sticking out there.
...
Don't take that out of context.
"Oh. You put together this party? In that case, thanks so much. I really appreciate it, but how didn't you hand me the invitation 10 minutes ago? How did you put this together so fast?" I asked.
"Oh I never leave home without my party canon!" She suddenly took out a canon out of no where (not gonna ask by the way) and aimed it at me. I screamed and turned my head away with my hoof raised. Instead of hearing a boom sound, I instead heard what sounded like an air horn. I looked up and saw that I was covered in streamers instead of having a gaping hole in my chest with blood and ash leaking from it. I looked at Pinkie Pie with a bit of an angry look. She didn't notice it and instead with a happy smile yelled out "Let's party!"
5 minutes later
The party was now in full swing. Ponies were eating and talking with each other. Everybo...um everypony (really gotta be careful with what I say) had a smile on their faces. As for me? Well, I just grabbed some sandwiches and poured myself some fruit punch and sat in a corner by myself. The sandwiches had not meat though. Disappointing but understanding. The fruit punch was as good as Hawaiin Punch.
"DeffBwade, why were you just sitting in a corner by yourself? You should be conversing with the other ponies. Are you a social wallflower?"
Shut up. I'm not an introvert nor have social anxiety. I'm just...not very talkative, especially to those I've never met before.
"But you were kinda talkative to Nurse Redheart, Twilight, Rarity, and even Pinkie Pie-"
J-just shut up! Okay! I prefer for people to approach me and start a conversation rather than me going up to some random person and going "Hello there random stranger. What's your na-"
"Legion?"
I snapped out my of internal struggle and looked up to see Twilight looking at me with worry.
"O-oh hey Twilight. What's up?" I asked her.
"I'm a bit worried. So far you haven't been talking to anypony here, but instead sit here by yourself. Are you okay?" she asked.
"I'm fine Twilight. It's just...I'm not the kind of pony to just go up to somepony I don't know and start a conversation in social gatherings," I admitted.
"I see," said Twilight.
...
...
...
The silence between us made me a bit nervous, so I decided to break it.
"H-hey Twilight? I-I'm really sorry for what I said earlier. You know? Saying that learning friendship was ridiculous? I shouldn't have said that," I apologized.
Twilight stared at me for a few seconds, then smiled before saying,"It's okay Legion. Not many ponies understand how powerful the magic of friendship can be."
The magic of friendship? Really? Forget about learning friendship. That's what sounds ridiculous.
"Maybe...maybe I still have a lot to learn about friendship. Twilight, if it's alright with you, I'd like to attend the School of Friendship. So I can not only make friends, but improve myself," I said.
"If that's the case, then you may refer to to me as 'headmare'," she said.
"Yes Headmare Twilight," I said.
"We'll get you settled in your dorm, and then you'll start attending classes tomorrow. But for now, it's a party," she said as she walked to where the ponies were partying, with me following.
Huh. I never would've imagined asking someone if I can attend a school, but I was true with what I said to Twi-er I mean Headmare Twilight. I would've made friends no matter what, but I actually wanted to improve myself. I was never really an active one when it comes to hanging out with friends. Like playing video games at home is no problem, but actually going out to hang out with friends? Not really my cup of tea, and it's not just because of COVID.
The party has just ended and it was fun. I played some games, drank fruit punch, ate some food (a lot of food actually), and talked to a few ponies (mostly Twilight and Rarity though). Twilight was leading me from the mess of a party to the dorm rooms. I felt kinda bad that I wasn't helping cleaning up, but Pinkie kept insisting that it was fine. The moment we walked into the hall, I heard a cluster of noise. When I looked back, my jaw dropped when I saw the room completely free of any mess. This time I questioned it, only to for Twilight saying, and I quote, "It's just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie." I decided to not question any further. I think I already got a brain aneurysm when we first met and she spoke faster than Nate dying in Dead by Daylight.
Twilight and I got to an area that had-holy crap there was a fountain. This school is so beautiful compared to schools back on Earth. Standing outside a door leading to what I assumed to be the dorms was a...lizard? It was short and purple, and had a green belly and...spines...and dragon-like wings. Was that an actual dragon? It was a dragon. Holy fucking shit. Though I shouldn't be too surprised. After all, I encountered a wolf completely made out of wood and talking ponies. What's next? Manticores? A bear that looks like it's made out of space? Literal goddesses capable of moving the fucking sun and moon? I guess only time will tell.
"Hello Spike," Twilight said. Spike? Really? That sounds so generic, but who am I to judge on other people's names? Gaming's name is...well Gaming, and Nate's game name is ParkorePancake. Not that I think those are bad names are anything, I'm just saying.
"They you are Twilight. I was wondering when you were gonna arrive. I got the school supplies by the way, like you asked me to," Spike said. "You must be the new student. I'm Spike the dragon, Twilight's number one assistant."
Is "the dragon" part of his name, or...
"Nice to meet you Spike. Name's Legion. And...school supplies?" I asked.
"Twilight asked me during the party to gather some school supplies for you so you'll be ready tomorrow," Spike said.
Talk about planning ahead. My mom would probably get along well with Twilight.
"Oh. Wow. Thanks so Twilight and Spike," I thanked them.
"It's no problem Legion. I just wanted to make sure you have everything you need," Twilight said as Spike handed me my supplies. Everything you'd expect was there. Notebooks, scratch paper, highlighters, pencils, erasers, um...quills and ink. Okay. No pens I guess, instead we're going old school. Oh well. Preferred pencils anyway.
"You kinda remind me of my mom. She always did like preparing as much as possible. So these are the dorm rooms I'm assuming?" I asked.
"Mmhm. I already have some excellent students residing here. I'm sure you'll get along great," Twilight said as she gave me the extra bandages that Nurse Redheart gave us. "Now remember what Nurse Redheart said: change the bandages every night and be careful when cleaning around the stitches. Oh that reminds me. I gotta talk to Rainbow Dash about you for tomorrow's classes. Anyways, bathrooms and shower rooms are over there. Just make sure to not be too loud when everypony else is sleeping," Twilight explained.
"Change bandages. Be careful when cleaning. Don't be too loud when going everypony's sleeping. Got it Headmare Twilight," I nodded to her.
Twilight nodded back. "Okay Legion. I'll let you meet your roommates and settle down. You must be exhausted after that party," she said.
"Yeah. I kinda am," I said as I put my hoof on the door. "Good night Headmare Twilight, and tell Pinkie Pie that she threw a great party."
"Of course. Goodnight Legion," she said before teleporting away, leaving me alone. I looked back at the door and took a deep breath.
Man. I never thought I'd be moving into a dorm room before my brother. It's kinda weird being on my own now. Anyway, time to meet my roommates.
I pushed opened the door slowly and peeked inside. There was a group of creatures, only one of them being a pony, sitting in a circle playing a card game. They all looked around my age.
The pony was a light green earth pony with green eyes and a turquoise mane, styled in a sorta spiky kind of way and drooping downwards a little. His (I'm pretty sure it's a guy seeing he has a more square-shaped muzzle instead of roundish) cutie mark was that of a trio of sea turtles.
What is a cutie mark anyway? Is it a symbol of what you like or what you represent?
Next to him was what looked like a bird with a lion's tail. A griffon if I remember correctly from Greek mythology. He (assuming he from lack of eyelashes) had blue feathers, yellow beak and talons, and a bit of yellow at the tips of his hair.
Wait. Do griffons even have hair? Maybe considering a griffon is part lion, but those look more like feathers than hair.
There was a creature that looked similar to the griffon, but rather she (because she had long eyelashes) had a more equine appearance and had a tail like a pony instead of a lion's tail. She was light pink in color, purple eyes, talons of a darker pink, a blue mane and tail, and was wearing a necklace that looked like it was made of shells.
If she's not a griffon nor a pony, then what is she? Is she like a combination of the two species?
There was what I believed to be a yak, judging by the shaggy hair and horns. She (again, because she had long eyelashes) was the biggest amongst the group of creatures (not fat shaming btw), had brown fur...wool...whatever the fuck yaks had, green eyes, ribbons that held together her braids, and was wearing a green...dress...cape?
I really hope she doesn't get angry easily. She looks like she can easily break all of my bones by sitting on me. Again, not fat shaming or anything.
There was another dragon. She (she didn't have eyelashes but she looked feminine) was orange with a light orange belly, horns, purple scales, blue eyes, and of course, wings.
Again, I hope she doesn't get angry easily, or else either my eyes will be scratched out or I'll be burnt alive, or get a tan and end up looking like Jrod. God I'm so racist.
The last of the group was...I don't even know. She (it was a little hard to tell but she looked more feminine) looked like a pony, but had bug-like characteristics. For the time being, I'm just gonna refer to her as a bug pony, until I find out what her species is called. She was cyan in color, had blue bug-like eyes, a horn, pink...fin I think...and tail, and a red elytra (yeah that's right I know my bug facts). Only one thought went through my mind when I saw her.
Holy fucking shit! That is the cutest thing I've seen in my entire life! I think I'm about to have a heart attack due to how cute she is!
"DeffBwade, you...you think a girl is cute?"
Not like that you fucking idiot! Here, let me show you a picture of the group of creatures I saw and tell me the blue bug pony isn't the cutest thing you've ever seen.
"Hnnnnnnngh! My heart! It can't take the cuteness."
That's what I thought. Anyways, now that descriptions are out of the way, I believe it's time for introductions.
"Um...hello?" I called out. The group of creatures turned their heads to me as I stepped inside.
"Hey there. You must be the new student Professor Pinkie threw the party for. Legion, right?" the pony asked. He had a surfer voice. Oh my god.
"Yes, that's my name. It's nice to meet you all," I told him.
"It's nice to meet you too. I'm Sandbar. Are you gonna be our new roommate?" Sandbar asked.
"We're getting a new roommate?! So awesome!" the griffon/pony said excitedly as she flew up to me. "I'm Silverstream. I was a sea pony, but now I'm a hippogriff, but anyway, it's so nice to meet you Legion!" Silverstream took my hoof and started shaking it.
"I-it's nice to meet you too Silverstream," I turned to Sandbar. "She's quite a cheery one, but...she's not gonna pull a canon from out of nowhere and shoot it in my face, right?"
"Heh heh. Don't worry. Compared to Professor Pie, Silverstream's pretty tame," Sanbar said as Silverstream let go of my hoof.
Phew. That's a relief. So hippogriff's the name of her species. But what does she mean when she said she "used to be a seapony?" I'll have to ask another time.
"It feels so nice to have another guy in our group. I'm Gallus," the griffon said. I nodded to him. I can see what he means. There's 4 girls in this group compared to 2 guys. The dragon was next to walk forward.
"Name's Smolder. Say, what's that glowing thing sticking out of your saddlebag?" she asked. Smolder, huh? Fitting name for an orange dragon if I'm being honest.
Regarding her question, I turned my head back and grabbed Zer0 by the hilt. I sat down and held it in my hooves to show them. They all oohed and awed at the sight of it. "This is a sword that I crafted a while ago. You see, I'm kind of a traveler, and I needed something to defend myself with. I call it Zer0," I said.
"Oh oh. Yona want to see Legion do moves with it," the yak claimed as she flailed her hoof...hand...paw around.
I sat up and put Zer0 back in my bag. I really gotta make a scabbard for this. "Maybe another time. So your name's Yona I'm assuming?" I said.
"Gasp. Is pony psychic?" Yona asked innocently. I chuckled.
"Heh heh. Yes Yona, I'm psychic. I have the ability to see 10 different futures in 100 different dimensions," I sarcastically said with a smile. I turned my head toward the direction of the bug pony and saw she was trying to hide behind Smolder.
"And you are?" I asked her.
"U-um...my name's Ocellus," she whispered. Thankfully I managed to hear her. Unfortunately...
Hnnnnngh!/"Hnnnnngh!"
...the cuteness almost killed me, but I managed to keep a straight face.
"A quiet one I see. Ah, I don't blame you. I'm sort of a quiet one myself. In fact there are times you can't hear my hoofsteps. My mom even keeps calling me a ninja," I said. I did find it kind of funny whenever I unintentionally jump scared my mom. I was just that quiet. Ocellus gave a small smile at my response.
"Well, like I said, it's nice to meet all of you, but I think I'm gonna turn in for the night. I'm a bit exhausted from that party," I said as I stretched my hooves.
"I feel you. I think I'm gonna to bed as well," Gallus said.
"Yeah, it is almost 9:00 and we have classes," Sandbar said.
"Agreed," the other four said.
"Well, good night guys and see ya tomorrow at class," I said before I turned back to them. "Um...is there a specific room I'm assigned to, or..."
"The boys usually sleep in the rooms on the left while girls sleep in rooms on the right," Silverstream said.
"Oh. Ok. Thanks," I said. I entered one of the rooms on the left and saw the expected stuff like a bed, desk, window, and shelf. I put my school supplies, as well as my saddlebags, on the desk before taking off my clothing. I removed my bandages and replaced them with new ones. I carefully got into the bed and marveled at how soft and comfortable the pillow, blanket, and bed was. For a while I just lied there, staring at the ceiling thinking.
From first impressions, my new roommates seemed like a nice group of friends. How they were all so different yet got along with each so well. Sandbar seemed like a mellow and chill kind of guy. Silverstream was that one friend that always had a cheery attitude. Gallus was the sarcastic one. Smolder seemed like a tough yet friendly one. Yona was just lovable with her innocent personality. And Ocellus was the shy one.
It's kind of like my group of friends. We all play video games with each other, make jokes with each other, and overall get along well, yet our personalities kind of differ. I would consider myself both the quietest and kindest of the group. Jrod (or Enenra, whichever you prefer) is the most childish, likely because he was the youngest. Gaming is the one in my group that tries to bring everyone together. Viking considers himself to be the outcast, as much as we all disagree. Speeder is considered the funny one. Nate and Uzy are kind of hard to describe because they don't really play with us as much, but they're still good friends nonetheless. As for...
I shook that last thought out of my head. No need to think about the past right now. I closed my eyes with newfound determination for tomorrow's classes and eventually drifted off to sleep.
I heard the sounds of chirping before I opened my eyes to see the sun rising outside the window. I slowly sat up and used my hooves to wipe the sleep from eyes. The clock showed that it was 7:00 A.M. Twilight told me last night that classes begin at 8:30. What should I do in the meantime? It's like I have my phone, video games, or even a TV to pass the time. Does this world even have any form of video games? If not, then I'm gonna go stir crazy. I'm a gamer after all. I gave myself a quick sniff before recoiling a bit in disgust. I need a shower.
I got off my bed and left the room, leaving my clothes behind because well, what's the point in doing so right now? I took an extra set of bandages though. Looking out of my room, I saw that nopony else was out and I heard the sounds of snoring coming from the other rooms. The others must still be asleep then. I walked out of the dorm rooms and went in the direction where Twilight pointed the shower rooms were at. I walked inside and turned on the lights. Thankfully, nopony was in there.
Now when it comes to showering, I'm really not comfortable doing so with other people around. I'd rather not shower than do it with others. Don't believe me? Story time then. A few years ago, back when I was in 7th grade, my entire class went on a field trip to a camp for a week. I had a great time there. I did many activities regarding teamwork, I did arts and crafts, and I decided to not do archery. Looking back now, that last one kind of makes me upset. At the camp, they had communal bathrooms, and to put it simply, well...
...
...I didn't shower that entire week. Call me disgusting if you want, I won't blame you, but I call it not wanting to be around other naked people. In due time, maybe I'll be comfortable showering here, even when there's other people because you know? They're ponies, well most of them, and they're all always naked? Yeah, it's best not to think about it.
I removed my bandages and moved to one of the shower heads and turned it on. The warm immediately attacked my body, making me give a sigh of relief. I picked up a nearby bar of soap and started scrubbing my fur. Remembering what Nurse Redheart said, I carefully scrubbed around the stitches. I then proceeded to scrub my mane, as well as my tail. Carefully, I scrubbed my wings next. After scrubbing the rest of my pony, I put the bar of soap back, being grateful I never dropped it, before letting the water rinse away all of the soap suds. I walked away from the shower heads to a mirror. I then grabbed a towel and started drying myself off, making sure to style my mane and tail back to the way they were. I put the towel in a nearby bin, put on some new bandages, and walked back to my room.
When I got back, I saw that clock said 7:20. Still got a little over an hour to spare, so I might as well get some more rest because why not?
55 minutes later
I awoke to the sounds of talking outside my room. I got off my bed looked at the clock. 15 minutes till classes start. I put on my clothes and grabbed my school supplies. There was a schedule as well. About 6 classes in total.
Class of Magic (Headmare Twilight): 8:30 A.M.-9:15 A.M. Class of Honesty (Professor Applejack): 9:30 A.M.-10:15 A.M. Class of Loyalty (Professor Dash): 10:30 A.M.- 11:15 A.M. Lunch: 11:15 A.M.-12:00 P.M. Class of Generosity (Professor Rarity): 12:05 P.M.-12:50 P.M. Class of Kindness (Professo Fluttershy): 1:05 P.M.-1:50 P.M. Class of Laughter (Professor Pinkie): 2:05 P.M.-2:50 P.M.
It was nice to know that some of the classes will be taught by familiar faces, but what kind of classes are these? Oh well, at least there isn't a class about history. I don't like history class in general, and I don't know anything about this world.
I decided to leave my blade and mask behind. I may be a quiet kid, but I'm not like that. I opened the door and saw my roommates talking with each other.
"Hey guys," I said as I stepped out.
"Good morning. Legion sleep well?" Yona asked.
"Slept pretty well. Still tired though," I said.
"Yeah. I never get why school requires us to get up early," Gallus said.
"Well, would you rather start classes in the 1:00 in the afternoon?" Smolder asked.
"Good point," Gallus replied back.
"So what's you first class for today Legion?" Sandbar asked me.
"I have," I looked back at my schedule, "Class of Magic with Headmare Twilight."
"Oh, I have that class as well! Come on, I'll show you where it is," Sandbar said.
15 minutes later
"Good morning class, and welcome back Class of Magic. Before we get started, I would like to introduce a new student that will be joining us from now on. Please welcome, Legion," Headmare Twilight called out.
I got up from my seat and walked to the front of the class. By the way, this classroom was nice. It was pretty much like an amphitheater, with a stage and the ascending rows of seats. I looked at my classmates with a bit of a nervous smile. I always did get a bit nervous when I was the center of attention.
"Would you like to tell everypony a bit about yourself?" Headmare Twilight asked me.
"Um...hi. My name is Legion, I'm a traveler, and I like video games," I told them before I went back to my seat.
Phew. So far, so good. Honestly, I feel good about today. Nothing can possibly ruin this.
"Now then students. Today we are going to talk about Equestrian history."
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!
1 hour later
Okay, so the history was actually pretty useful and...interesting? Me thinking that history class is interesting. Never thought I'd see the day. We learned about a species known as changelings, which I also learned is the name of Ocellus's species, and how they went on rampage across Equestria hundreds of years ago. Apparently these creatures are capable of stealing love from others, which also drains away energy as a side effect, and shape shifting?! How cool would that be?! Being able to shape shift into virtually anything! If I was able to shape shift, I would turn into...I honestly don't know. I'm pretty sure I know what my friends back on Earth would turn into.
I walked into my next class, Class of Honesty, and took notice that the classroom had a bit of a country feel to it. There was even a healthy-looking apple tree. Standing next to said tree was an orange earth pony with a blond mane, green eyes, Stetson hat, and a cutie mark of a trio of apples. I remember her. She was selling apples when Headmare Twilight and I were walking through town yesterday. The pony turned and noticed me.
"Good morning. Professor Applejack, I assume?" I asked.
"Howdy there. Yes, I'm Professor Applejack. I'd like to welcome ya to my class of honesty. Here, we learn about being honest with your friends, as well as hard work, mainly through various activities," she said with a country accent as other students started entering, "Ya'll see what I mean in a sec."
I nodded and took a seat.
1 hour later
I never knew how much fun farming can be. Professor Applejack instructed us to get into groups of two and work together to plant a small apple tree in a pot. Obviously I teamed up with Yona. To me, it's all about taking baby steps when making friends. We first filled the pot with dirt, and then planted the seed. I never really thought about how much water the seed requires. Too little and it'll still be dehydrated. Too much and the dirt will turn into mud. I learned that one through trial and error. I also learned Professor Applejack owned a farm nearby Ponyville called Sweet Apple Acres. What do they sell there? Apples obviously! I swear that farmer has some sort of fetish for apples. No judge or anything.
My next class was class of loyalty with Professor Dash. Cool name by the way. When I arrived at the class, my thoughts literally went to gym class because this just looked like a gym. There was a rack filled with dumb bells, another filled with bouncy balls, and there were large rings above me. Were those meant to practice flying? If so, then this could be perfect for me. A rainbow blur suddenly came through a window and started going through the rings perfectly. Guess I was right about them. The blur stopped above me and in its place was a cyan pegasus with magenta eyes, a cutie mark of a cloud shooting a red, yellow, and blue lightning bolt, and a rainbow colored mane and tail.
Hello Ms. Pride Parade.
"Professor Dash?" I assumed.
"That's me. Professor Rainbow Dash, Wonderbolt and fastest flyer in all of Equestria. You must be Legion. Cool name by the way. Twilight told me about your condition, so I'm afraid you're gonna have to sit out today's game of dodgeball," she said in a tomboyish voice.
Dodgeball?! God damnit! Fuck you Timberwolf! I could've played one of favorite games from middle school. Piece of shit.
"Sigh. Very well, I'll just go over there and do some stretches," I turned back to her once I realized something, "Hey Professor Dash? You're an expert on flying, right?"
"Um, yeah. Didn't you hear me 'fastest flyer in Equestria?'" she asked.
"Yeah...you see...here's the thing. Um. I...don't...know...how to fly," I said.
She gave a loud gasp before flying right up to my face. Jesus. Personal space please?
"You don't know how to fly?! H-how is this possible?! Didn't your parents ever teach you?!" she asked.
"My parents weren't pegasi. In fact, no one in my family is, so I had no one to teach me," I told another half truth, "I was wondering that when I recover from my wounds, if you can teach me how to fly?"
"That's so sad, but don't sweat it kid. When I'm done with, you'll be able to fly like there's no tomorrow," she said confidently.
1 hour later
Even though I didn't get to participate, much to my dismay, that game of dodgeball was intense. Unicorns weren't allowed to use their magic and pegasi weren't allowed to fly. It was a tragic battle. Ponies went against each other, ponies fell, and ponies cried. But all came to a save when Smolder was able to dodge every ball and hit the final enemy standing. Okay, she pretty much had the advantage because she was bipedal and had fing-er claws.
It was lunch time and I was just walking around minding my own business. I, unfortunately, didn't have any money, bits is what they're called, for lunch. I probably need to get a job. Don't know what's perfect for me though. I could probably work as a waiter at a local restaurant. A few odd jobs here and there? Is Sweet Apple Acres hiring by any chance?
"Legion! Over here!"
I turned my head and saw my roommates under a tree eating their lunches. I walked over and sat down between Ocellus and Gallus.
"Hey guys. What's up?" I asked.
"Oh nothing much. Just talking. Where's your lunch Legion? Aren't you hungry?" Sandbar asked.
"Oh...um...I don't any bits at the moment," the others quietly gasped at this, "Being a traveler, money is kind of an issue for me, since I don't stay in the same place for too long."
"That's horrible! Here Legion, you can have some of my lunch," Ocellus said as she handed me half a sandwich.
"Oh no. I couldn't possibly do that Ocellus. You bought that food with your own money and it's yours. I'll get my own bits sooner or later," I said as I pushed the sandwich away. Another reason I declined her offer was because I didn't want this to affect our friendships. Story time! A couple years ago, I had a friend that never had any food for lunch, and he always kept asking me for some. Obviously, I gave him so food cause I had plenty and I didn't want him to go hungry, but it was like this almost every day for a year. A small part of me was annoyed by him. Like holy shit! You could've just packed his own lunch. Again, that was years ago, and I have gotten over it.
"But you're our friend Legion. We couldn't possibly let you go hungry," Ocellus pleaded.
"But-" I was interrupted when my stomach started growling. I was pretty hungry. I looked back at Ocellus and saw she was giving me the face a puppy would give to its master when it wants to be petted, mouth pouting, eyes wide, and everything.
Don't give in to it DeffBwade. Don't give in to the guilt or this love bug's cuteness.
...
Fuck.
"Sigh. Okay. Thanks so much Ocellus," I said as I took the sandwich. Ocellus immediately stopped giving me the puppy eyes and put on a smile. She truly cared about me. Did I feel the same way towards that friend I mentioned a couple years back, or was it like a whatever kind of feeling? In fact, they all care about me.
50 minutes later
I arrived in Professor Rarity's classroom to see that it just screams eloquence. I shouldn't be too surprised. This is Rarity we're talking about. She's what you'd call a lady, so to speak. There was what looked like a runway you'd see in fashion shows with chairs surrounding them.
"Darling. It's good to see you again," Professor Rarity greeted.
"It's good to see you too Professor Rarity," I greeted back.
"I hope you like arts and crafts, because today we're going to be making magnifique drawings of each other," she said. Did she just speak French?
"Oui. J'aime les arts et l'artisan," I said. I totally did not just look that up on Google Translate. I obviously know my French cause I took three years of it.
"Ooh. Darling, you know how to speak Prench?" she asked. Wait. Prench? Oh well.
"I took a few classes here and there, so I know the basics," I responded.
"DeffBwade, if you took three years of it, then you should know the advanced stuff as well."
Nope! I'm a lazy fuckboi that barely pays attention unless it intrigues me.
1 hour later
So far, Professor Rarity's class is probably my favorite if I'm being honest. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the others, but I absolutely love arts and crafts. It's one of those subjects where I'm allowed to express myself, where there's no specific goal, where I can show my creativity, and where I'm good at. I got paired with a pony that was a unicorn with yellow fur, a green braided mane and tail, although her tail looked similar to Applejack's tail, and a cutie mark of a red star. Both she and Rarity were impressed by my artistic skills, from the prefect shapes, to the shadows, to the colors. Although there were a few mishaps in the mane, mainly because I was writing with mouth.
The next class was with Professor Fluttershy. I entered the classroom and was amazed at the amount of animals in the room. There were also many luxurious plants around, as well as a view that overlooked the yard of the school. This room just screamed peace and tranquility. [insert reference to Zenyatta from Overwatch here] I saw a butter yellow pegasus sitting behind a desk admiring the birds. She had blue eyes, a long, pink mane, and a trio of butterflies as her cutie mark.
"Oh. Hello there. You must be the new student. It's nice to meet you," she spoke in a gentle voice.
"It's nice to meet you too Professor Fluttershy. Um, if I may ask, what's with all the animals?" I asked.
"It's my special talent. I'm able to talk to animals as if they're normal ponies," she said as she pointed at her cutie mark.
So that's what cutie marks are. They represent what you're good at. If that's the case, what does mine represent? My title as the Apex Legion?
"Wow. That's so cool," I said,
"O-oh. It's nothing special. It's just what I'm good at," she said as she looked away with a small blush.
Damn. 'Shy' is right. Her voice is so calm and she looks kind of embarrassed whenever she gets complimented.
1 hour later
That class was pretty tame. Pretty much all we did was observe birds, as well as their behaviors. Our task was to properly nurture them, you know pretty much make sure they're well fed and hydrated. It was easy and quite a pretty sight to look at. Whenever I made a mistake, Professor Fluttershy would gently help me out. She was pretty kind.
Sigh. Finally, the last class of the day, and it's with Professor Pinkie?! The same exact pony that knows how to throw such an epic party. How amazing would it be to have your last class with a pony whose special talent is party planning? The answer is very amazing.
"Aww. I'm so glad you feel that way," Professor Pinkie said.
"Thanks Professor Pink-" I stopped.
WAIT, WHAT THE FUCK?! DIDN'T I THINK THAT?!
No silly. I'm just reading along with the story.
GAH!
Also, what does "fuck" mean?
"U-um, don't worry about it. In fact, just forget I said that in the first place," I said.
"Okie dokie lokie," Professor Pinkie said.
I sat down on one of the pillows laid across the room and started paying attention to the class, making sure to be careful what I think. That pony knows how to read minds or something.
"DeffBwade, that's just-"
And don't say "that's just Pinkie being Pinkie," cause that's just full of sh-ummmm I mean poop.
Later that evening
Professor Pinkie's class was, of course, fun. It was also pretty creative. She gave us all one cupcake, while one random person had two cupcakes, and said they were meant for sharing. The person with two cupcakes would give a compliment to someone else and then give one of the cupcakes to them. Then that person would do the same thing, and so on. Gallus told me that my clothes were cool looking, he even said the fluoresce paint stains made them even cooler. I told Silverstream that her mane looked nice, and that the blue color was a nice contrast with her pink fur.
I laid down on my bed and thought about today. Classes were straight forward, teachers were nice, classmates were nice, the homework didn't take me a millennium to finish. Overall, this school is amazing so far. Why can't schools back on Earth be like this? Oh well. After classes ended, I spent some time hanging out with the others. We mainly just walked around town talking. Eventually we went to a pizza place to have some dinner. Again, I felt bad for not being able to pay, but they ensured me that it was fine, but still. Sometime this week I gotta get a job to get some bits. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep, ready for what tomorrow has to bring.
Normally, my most favorite days were the weekends because, well, the answer's pretty obvious. No school. Today, however, I was bit sad that I'm longer doing such fun stuff for now. Heh, that's new. Me calling school fun?
"DeffBwade, are you a changeling?"
No, I'm not a changeling. At least, I don't think I am. I don't have chitin (Ocellus told me that chitin is basically the shell of changelings, nor do I have the ability to shape shift (as much as I want to).
It was now Saturday, and nothing different really happened the past few days except for my checkup with Nurse Redheart on Thursday. She told I was doing a good job and that in 2 or 3 weeks, I should be good. My friends, as well as my professors, have all been a bunch of saints and provided me food for the duration, no matter how much I insisted it was fine. But today I'm looking for something I thought I would get in a few years: a job. Sandbar told me that there would usually a be a board filled with advertisements for jobs at town hall.
After asking a few ponies where town hall was located, I eventually reached it. It was a three-story building with balconies on each floor. It had a red roof, pink windows, and colorful flags on top of it. Next to the front entrance was the board filled with help wanted posters. I scanned through each one. I could do a few odd jobs here and there, but I have no bits whatsoever and I'm not really sure how long I'm gonna be in Equestria, and there could be days where's no odd jobs. My attention was eventually grabbed by two specific advertisements. I took them both off the board and read them.
HELP WANTED
Busboy/janitor needed at Sugarcube Corner. 5 days a week from Monday-Friday 2 bits for every hour worked + 20 bits on Fridays
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED AT SWEEP APPLE ACRES
From dawn till dusk everyday. Will need help on the following:
apple bucking
taking care of the animals
farming
helping with selling apples
Will pay 10 bits for every day worked.
I'm afraid to know what it means by "apple bucking."
Both jobs seemed pretty good, especially the pay. Okay, let's go over the pros and cons. Sugarcube Corner. From what I heard and saw from my classmates, it's a bakery that Professor Pinkie works at. Pros: easy job, I'm not required to work on the weekends, I can make money everyday, and Professor Pinkie.
"Professor Pinkie? Really? That's one of your pros for Sugarcube Corner?"
She's a fun loving party planner that's constantly on crack.
What's crack?
GAH! WHAT THE FU-FRICK?!
Gasp. Is it some kind of new sweet?! Oh, I would love some! Oh wait. You said that I'm constantly on it. Is it just another word for 'sugar?' If that's the case, then you should know that I give the Cake babies crack every-
N-NO! No! Trust me when I say that it's not another word for 'sugar.' I'll...urm...I'll tell you another time, but right now I'd appreciate it if you don't interrupt my story from now on. Okay?
Okie dokie lokie.
Ahem. Anyways. Cons: I'd might have to clean up the toilets, and they might be filled with piss and shit, or I might have to clean piss and shit off the tables, and I'm not sure what the hours are. It doesn't say on the flyer.
Okay. Sweet Apple Acres. Professor Applejack told me that it's a farm she owns. Pros: hard labor. Cons: it's from dawn till dusk, and hard labor.
"Wait, I thought you said "hard labor" is a pro."
I did. It's a pro because I can get some exercise in this new body, and it's a con because if it's from dawn till dusk everyday, then they'd constantly hear me whine like a bitch. And also because I have school and I still need to recover from my wounds.
I decided that the job at Sugarcube Corner would be great for me. I put the flyer for Sweet Apple Acres back on the board and walked out of town hall. I would've asked where SugarcubeCorner was located, but my eyes immediately drew to the building that actually looked like it was made out of gingerbread cookies, with a cupcake on top of it. Damn, these ponies really go all out on their stores.
I wonder how many people tried to eat this building. I wouldn't be surprised if someone actually did.
I opened the door and entered the bakery. This place was packed with ponies. If Professor Pinkie's cupcakes from my welcome party were anything to go by, then I'm not surprised. Behind the counter was a rather skinny looking pony. He was an earth pony, with yellow fur, orange mane and tail, freckles, an orange tie, a chef's hat, apron, and a cutie mark of a trio of what I believe are lemon cakes.
"Um, excuse me?" I asked as I trotted up to him.
"Hello there, young colt. I don't think I've seen you around before," he said.
"Well actually I just arrived here a few days ago. It's my first time here," I said.
"Well, my name is Mr. Cake. Let me be the first to welcome you to Sugarcube Corner. May I take your order?" he asked.
"Uh actually I'm here because of this flyer. It says that you guys are offering a job?" I said as I showed him the flyer.
"Why yes, we could really use an extra set of hooves to help us around. Hold on a sec, let me just get my wife, and then we can talk about the job," Mr. Cake said.
"Okay."
Mr. Cake went through that led to what I guess is the kitchen. A minute later he returned with another pony. Must be his wife. She was more on the chubby side (not fat shaming), and has blue fur, a pink mane that looked like an ice cream swirl, an apron, and cutie mark of a trio of cupcakes.
"Hello there. I'm Mrs. Cake. My husband told me that you wanted to apply for the job," Mrs. Cake asked.
"Yes ma'am. Can I ask a quick question though?" I asked to which she nodded, "What are the hours exactly? It's just that I have school and homework all that stuff."
"Hmm. We usually require some help from a few hours before closing time, so you can probably come from 4:30 P.M. to 8:30 P.M. or until we say we longer need help," Mrs. Cake explained.
"That sounds perfect," I said.
"Well if that's the case, then I'd say your hired. You can start next Monday," Mr. Cake said.
"Thanks so much," I thanked him before leaving. So...I have a job now. I'm kind of excited actually.
"You're gonna be cleaning up piss and shit from toilets. I just know it."
It's been 2 weeks since I got the job at Sugarcube Corner, and I've been earning quite some bits. I've been able to afford my own food, get some more school supplies just in case I ran out, and I've been able buy some toiletries.
"Wait, are you saying for the past 2 weeks, you haven't been brushing your teeth?"
W-what?! Ew! No! I've been keeping my teeth clean...with mouthwash at least...
"Huh?"
Uh nothing! Nothing.
Anyways, I've also been able to get to know more about the Cakes, Professor Pinkie, and Mrs. Cakes apprentice, Sugar Belle. She was a really sweet mare. She was a pink unicorn, with a poofy, purple mane and tail kept together by blue beads, magenta eyes, and a cutie mark of a cupcake. I also met her boyfriend, Big Macintosh, who I also learned is Professor Applejack's brother, when she and Big Mac were on a little date.
During my first week, there was this one day where I was cleaning up the kitchen, you scrubbing the counters and washing the dishes and what not. Just when I finished cleaning, I suddenly heard like a poof noise. When I turned around, I saw a unicorn filly and a pegasus colt standing over a bag of flour, with the flour spewing out. The unicorn filly was yellow with an orange mane, and the pegasus colt was beige with a brown mane. I couldn't be too mad them though because they were babies. I picked the little rascals and asked the ponies in the restaurants who were the parents of the little bumpkins. Mr. and Mrs. Cake told me that they were their kids, Pound and Pumpkin. I asked Mr. Cake how come their kids were a unicorn and pegasus while they were earth ponies. Mr. Cake said, and I quote, "my great-great-great-great grandfather was a unicorn and Cupcake's second cousin twice removed was a pegasus."
...
Yeaaah. I don't think that's how genes work.
Other than my job at Sugarcube Corner, life has been relatively normal. Well, as normal as it can be for my life in a world filled with neon-colored equines. I've been having my weekly checkups with Nurse Redheart, and just a couple days ago, she told that my stitches were now fine and that I was able move freely. Like I said when I first got them, I had a set of cool scars now. I'm been hanging out more and more with my friends and gotten to know more about them. Apparently Silverstream was born a hippogriff, but when someone called the Storm King attacked, she and her people retreated into the ocean as seaponies. I told Professor Dash that I was able to practice flying without any risks. Now here I am, about to start flying for the very first time.
"Ok kid. So you wanna learn how fly, eh? The two parts of flying are being able to hover and move around. Once you start to get used to both of them, flying will become a natural thing to do. Now, I want you to spread those wings and show me what you got," Professor Dash said.
I spread out my wings (still weird btw) and hopped into the air. You'd think that repeatedly flapping them would make you pick up more wind, therefore getting into the air easily. But, you'd be wrong. Instead of getting into the air, or at least hovering, I immediately did sort of a triple backflip and fall flat on my face.
"Flapping your wings like won't do anything," Professor Dash said chuckling a bit, "because it picks up so little wind while rapidly draining your energy. You gotta go kind of slow, while putting in a good amount of strength for each flap.
"Oh, so it's like swimming?" I asked.
"Exactly. Now, try again. This time, slow and strong," she said.
I spread my wings again and leapt into the air. This time, I made sure to flap them at a constant and decent speed while putting a small, yet good amount of strength in each one. I actually managed to stay a few feet off the ground for about a minute before my energy ran out and I fell to the ground.
"Nice job. Now that you know how to properly hover, we're gonna practice how to actually fly. The keys to flying are balance, the strength of your wings, and how much energy you have. The more you practice, the more energy you'll have. Now, I want you to hover like you did before, but I want you to then rotate your wings forward at a 45 degree angle..."
Flying involves math now?
"...and add a little more strength on each flap," she instructed.
I did what she said and hovered into the air once again. I rotated my wings at an angle and continued flapping, adding a little more strength like she said. I moved forward about a foot with each flap. I decided to speed up my flapping a bit, causing me to move at a faster pace. I tilted the front half of my body to the right, and I turned right. I sped up a bit more, then more again, then more again, until I eventually I was flying as fast as I'm able to run. I was running out of stamina, so I turned backed to Professor Dash and landed in front of her.
"Woah. Impressive kid. You're quite a fast learner. Maybe you'll be flying perfectly sooner than I thought," she complimented to which I blushed a bit.
A few days later
Professor Dash was right. Everyday after school, I would practice my flying while she would observe and guide me. After every session, my skills would greatly improve. I am now able to fly like your average, everyday pegasus.
Today is now Friday, and school has just ended. It decided to hone my skills with my sword. I entered and grabbed Zer0 from under my bed, as well as my mask cause why not? I also bought myself a scabbard from a local blacksmith, so I can carry my sword without worrying about stabbing myself or someone else. I flew out of Ponyville into the clearing between it and the Everfree Forest. I can't believe it's been about 3 weeks since I came out of that forest. Where'd all that time go?
I was about to start practicing when I thought to myself...
Is it possible?
...before grabbing Zer0 in my hooves and standing on my hindlegs. God it felt weird after spending 3 weeks standing on 4 legs. A took a few minutes of stumbling and tripping, but I soon found my center of balance. I did my usual routine practice, I swung my blade around and dodged imaginary attacks, while making sure my footing doesn't fuck me.
After an hour practicing, I stopped. I've gotten pretty good at fighting while standing on hooves. Now, I think I'm able to fight with Zer0 without slipping my mask up a bit just so I can hold my sword in my mouth. I'm pretty sure it was around 4:00 P.M. I gotta head back to the school. I heard that there was a game called buckball happening right now, and apparently, Ocellus, Yona, and, surprisingly, Smolder, joined the cheer squad.
I never would've thought someone like Smolder would want be a cheerleader. She always seem so adamant about looking tough.
"You think she has a cheerleader fetish?"
...
Maybe.
I always did enjoy cheerleader performances.
"Why? Because you have a cheerleader fetish?"
No! It's because they're so well coordinated, they get people hyped (and I fucking love getting hyped), and, my favorite, they involve lots of acrobatic skills. Have I mentioned that I'm a bit of an acrobatic myself? No? Well it's true. I can do backflips, front flips, easily climb up stuff...okay the list is too long so I'm just gonna say I'm pretty much good at parkour. I don't know what it is about parkour, but it's one of the things that make me feel...free I guess? I don't know. Oh and also I promised Ocellus, Yona, and Smolder that I would be there for there performance.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
My thoughts were disrupted by a loud scream. I looked to where it was coming from and saw it was coming from around the school. With all my strength, as well keeping Zer0 prepared just in case, I rushed over to the school.
What's going on? Why did someone just scream right now? Did someone get hurt? Did someone get killed?
A lot of thoughts were rushing through my mind right now as I flew to the school. What could have caused that screamed? As I got closer and closer, I was able to hear even more screams. The noises eventually led me to the buckball field. Ponies were running, ponies were standing still most likely out of fear, and ponies were fighting.
All because of the creature in the middle of the field. The ways I could describe it were that it was bipedal, it looked like it was made out of shadows, its eyes were glowing white, it was about twice the height of the ponies, and it had thin, razor sharp claws. It was fighting off several ponies, including Headmare Twilight, Professor Dash, Professor Fluttershy, and Professor Pinkie. Well, actually Professor Fluttershy was kind of on the sidelines, afraid to fight. There were two other ponies fighting the shadow creature.
The first was a unicorn mare with pink fur, bluish purple eyes, a purple mane and tail with a teal stripe on each of them, and a cutie mark of glimmer coming from a star. She was Starlight Glimmer, the counselor of the school from what I heard, and holy crap was she quite the fighter. She was dishing spells here and there, almost as adept as Headmare Twilight.
The second one...boggled me. She was an alicorn just like Twilight, and had white fur, purple eyes, a mane and tail consisting of blue, pink, and green, and the sun as her cutie mark. But many thoughts ran through my mind the more I looked at her. First off, her mane and tail looked like there was an infinite wind making them flow. Second, she was fucking tall, about as tall as the shadow creature. Third, she was wearing regalia that royalty would wear, including a crown.
Just who is this pony?
"Gah! This thing just doesn't know when to quit! Where did this thing even come from?" Professor Dash explained.
"Yeah! This shadow meanie ruined the buckball game! And just before the cheer squad were about to perform. I was really looking forward to that!" Professor Pinkie complained.
"No matter how many spells I cast, this thing won't stay down," Counselor Starlight said.
"Same with me. What about you Princess Celestia?" Headmare Twilight asked as she looked at the white alicorn.
Princess Celestia? There's another princess? That would explained the royal regalia, but why she does look a lot different from Twilight?
"Maybe it's because she's older than her?"
Maybe. That would explain the height difference, but what about the floating hair? I don't feel any strong breeze that would that. And I swear to God, if the answer is magic, I'm gonna-
"AAAHHH!"
"RAINBOW!"
That scream of pain, followed the collective of other screams, interrupted my thoughts. I focused back on the fight. What I saw...was Professor Dash, on the ground, clutching onto her side, wincing in pain, and a long gash, almost like...a claw mark, running horizontally across her side, as well as a wing that looked dislocated in many places. Blood was oozing out of the gash. The shadow must've gotten a hit when she tried to dive bomb it. Looking at Professor Dash's wounded body...it brought to memory of when I first arrived in Equestria, and my encounter with the Timberwolf. How I was barely unable to move, and I was in constant pain. I couldn't do anything other than watch my enemy's next move. I felt...weak...helpless...and on the brink of death.
The shadow creature started to slowly approach Professor Dash.
"LEAVE HER ALONE!" screamed Headmare Twilight. The group of ponies, even Professor Fluttershy, tried to charge at the creature. Its response was to dig its claw into the ground, before a multitude of spikes erupted from the ground and surrounded the ponies, trapping them and prevented them from moving any further. The creature got up and continued its advance.
"RAINBOW DASH!"
"NOOO!"
"DASHIE!"
"HEY! LEAVE HER ALONE MONSTER!"
The shadow monster stopped its advance at that last one and looked up. I turned to where it was facing and saw that a distance away was a pony that looked around my age with a face of determination, yet with a little fear still noticeable. I wouldn't blame her though. She was an earth pony filly with light orange fur, a short orange mane, with one side falling down and the other tied back, and tail, orange eyes, and orange eye shadow. I couldn't see her cutie mark due to the outfit she was wearing. It was clearly a cheerleader outfit, purple and cyan in color, and sparkly looking. It looked nice. Professor Rarity's piece of work obviously. The pony walked closer to the creature. What is she doing? She's going to get herself killed.
"You heard me! Leave Professor Dash alone you monster!" she said. She had a Valley girl sort of accent, if that makes sense.
This girl's got some guts.
The worry came back to me and skyrocketed when creature continued its advance, but this time its focus wasn't on Professor Dash's wounded and downed body. But instead on the girl. My fears were confirmed when it walked over Professor Dash. The filly's fears slowly came back to her as her pupils shrunk and she slowly started to back away. Time seemed to slow down as the shadow creature got on all fours and started running at the filly.
No! I can't let this happen! I can't...no...I won't let her die!
I quickly put on my mask and hood and, using what remaining stamina I have left, I sped towards the filly. I could hear the cries from the ponies trapped and see the girl moving her hoof in front of her faced as she turned away, waiting for her inevitable death to come. Time slowly started to come back as the creature came closer and closer at a fast pace.
But I was faster.
The creature raised its claw up in the air and brought it down, but before it was able to spill some blood, I impacted with the girl and tackled her out of the way. I could just barely feel the creature's claw grazing the tip of my wing as time finally went back to normal. With the girl in my hooves, she and I impacted a few feet away, with me grunting at the initial impact, before coming to a stop.
Shaking the dizziness out of my head, I stood back up and looked at the girl. Her eyes were still shut tight as fear was still plastered all over her face. When she opened her eyes, they immediately settled onto my masked face. The fear started to slowly diminish as her eyes were sparkling a bit. I raised my mask up, revealing my face, and held a hoof out to her.
"Are you okay?" I asked. Her eyes sparkled a bit more as she placed her hoof on mine.
"Y-yeah," she simply said as I picked her up. I gave her a smile at that.
"I want you to get to safety, okay?" I asked to which she nodded in response. I turned back to the shadow creature before taking out Zer0 while standing on my hind hooves and lowering my mask.
In a life threatening situation, the average person's heartbeat can be upwards of 175 beats per minute. The well trained tangoes are able to stay cool. Keep calm. Their heartbeats can be 70-100 beats per minute.
"Did you just quote Pulse from Rainbow Six Siege?"
Gah! That's not the point. You could probably guess which of the two I'm a part of. I mean, I'm standing up to a creature made of shadows and have claws. I may have skills with a sword and parkour, as well as a small frame, but that doesn't mean I'm able to control my fears. I'm not saying I'm afraid of death or anything...okay I am. I took a deep breathe and pointed Zer0 at the creature. I had to fight this thing, or it'll continue to attack or kill ponies.
"Stand down creature," I ordered, "or you will fall to my blade."
The creature kept its focus on me and started to walk towards me. It got down all fours again and started charging, but I kept my ground. I dodged out of the way before it being down its claws on me and swiped at its arm, leaving an almost unnoticeable cut on it. It immediately turned and swiped again, but I ducked underneath it. It continued to send slash after slash, and when I noticed it was slowing down a bit, I dodged another swipe and did a quick upwards slash on its torso. It grunted in pain and stepped back a bit.
It ran up to me and started slashing again, this time faster than before. I just barely managed to dodge every single one. The more stamina I was using, the harder it was to dodge. I finally ran out of breath and stopped for just a second, and that was enough for the creature to hit me with its claws. I let out of shriek of pain before jumping away. I took a quick look and saw that there was a deep gash on my left fore hoof. I sucked up the pain and stood back up on my hind hooves.
It charge again, but I was not prepared for it to just ram into me headfirst. I clenched my teeth in pain as I was flung back a few feet. I landed on my back and looked up just in time to see the creature jump into the air with its claws outstretched. Using my fore hooves for balance, I kicked my hind hooves up and hit the creature in its torso once more. The cut on my fore hoof was practically screaming in pain, but I had to keep fighting. I picked up Zer0 and stood back up. The creature was slowly getting back up.
It then sunk its claws into the ground. I knew what was coming, so I quickly sheathed Zer0 and jumped back with a backflip. A split second later, spikes emerged from the ground, with closest one being a few inches away from my face when I landed. I felt the ground shaking a bit, so I jumped away, just in time for more spikes to emerge. Even more spikes continued to emerge, and I kept dodging every single one. They finally sunk back into the ground, and the creature stood before growling in annoyance.
I slowly walked closer to it before taunting, "Come on. Come on!"
The creature let out a loud roar before charging again, with me doing it as well. It suddenly leapt towards me with its claws outstretched. I quickly got down on my back and slid underneath it, making sure to get one or two hits with Zer0 on it. However, one of its claws managed to cut me once again on my left fore hoof. I let out another scream of pain as my hoof felt like it was on fire. The creature landed clutching onto its chest as it kept hissing in pain.
I got up, leaning against Zer0 as my body was in too much pain to properly stand up, both on my hind hooves and all fours. I looked at my hoof and saw that it was coated in blood, two gashes responsible for it. My vision started to become a bit blurry. I had to end this, or else I will collapse to exhaustion and/or blood loss. I focused on the creature to see it slowly getting back up.
Using what little energy I have left, I let out a scream and started charging at it. My body was begging me to stop, but that didn't deter me at all. I leapt up and started flying as fast as I could. Once I got close enough, I raised Zer0 up before stabbing the shadow monster where the heart would be located. It only had a split second to look at me before my blade pierced its skin. I could actually see the blade sticking out from the other side of its body.
I removed Zer0 from its torso and hopped down in front of it. The shadow monster clutched onto its wound as it stumbled backwards. I looked and saw its claw slowly going the way of Thanos. It was as if the wind was blowing away a black mist. Its legs then started to blowing away, then its torso, then its head. It looked at me one last time with its bright, soulless, white eyes before the shadow monster finally disappeared.
The adrenaline has finally gone away and I started to feel the pain in my chest and hoof again. I just barely heard the sound of spikes going into the ground behind, as well as the sound of hoofsteps running towards me. My vision started to get hazy, my breathing started to get more rapid, and I finally collapsed on the ground. The last thing I saw was a tall, white figure before blacking out.
"Wow. You're a fucking cheater. If you're unable to catch me then you've got to be bad."
"Bro, I can catch you! It's just that Sledge's breaching hammer is too slow! It also slows my movement! It's fucking bullshit!"
"Excuses, excuses. You just don't want to admit that you suck."
"Then you do it. I wanna see you try this out."
"Nah I'm good. You've already proven that you suck. I don't wanna humiliate you even further."
"Fuck you!"
"Fuck you, you Asian. Go back to China and eat some dogs with your people."
I opened my eyes with a gasp. That...that was a memory of...of...no...I'm not gonna think about that anymore. I don't want to think about that anymore. I looked around to see I was in some sort of starry void. I wasn't even standing on any solid surface. Where am I? What...what happened to me? I...I remember flying to school. There was screaming. I saw a shadow monster attacking my professors. I stopped it from attacking...no...killing a filly that stood up to it. There was a fight. The shadow monster lost. I was bleeding profusely, and then I...collapsed.
"Am I...dead? Like for real this time?" I asked myself.
"Fear not young colt. You are not dead, but rather unconscious."
I turned toward the voice and saw a pony floating down to me. It was another alicorn. Another princess, I had to assume. She was dark blue in color, had blue eyes, a mane and tail that looked like they were made of stars, and a cutie mark of a dark blotch with a crescent moon. Her mane and tail were infinitely blowing in a breeze and she was wearing royal regalia, just like Princess Celestia.
"Your majesty," I said as I bowed to her. Fuck. I don't know her name.
"Rise thy loyal subject. There is no need to bow," she said.
"O-oh sorry. I'm just trying to show respect," I chuckled a bit, "It's kinda funny. Headmare Twilight said the exact same thing."
"I see you met Twilight Sparkle. My sister Celestia sent me a letter about you, and asked me to check if you're doing alright. I hope I'm not disturbing anything," she said.
"Not at all. In fact, I'm glad that your here. I thought I died for a second there, but...where exactly am I?" I asked her.
"We are in your mind young one," she told me.
"My...mind? But if this my mind, then how are you here...unless I'm just imagining you," I said to which she gave me a look of confusion.
"I'm afraid I do not understand. Do you not remember that me, Princess Luna, is able to go into pony's dreams?" she said. I was so relieved when she said her in the middle of that sentence.
"O-oh. My apologies princess. I guess that fight really did a number on me," I lied.
"Ah yes. My sister mentioned in her letter the shadow monster," Princess Luna said.
"But what was that thing exactly? And why did it attack the School of Friendship?" I asked to which she pondered on.
"I have my suspicions, but Celestia is probably the only one who can confirm it, seeing how she was there when the beast attacked."
I was about to speak when suddenly the stars started to warp around us.
"Thou must be waking up. Take care young one, for our paths may cross again."
My vision started to slowly come back to me as I was slipping out of being unconscious, and I'll let you take a guess to the first thing I see. Seriously. Take a fucking guess.
"You saw another bright light?"
Yes. Another. Fucking. Bright light. Jesus Christ. After I adjusted to the light, I looked at my surroundings. As you may have guessed, I was back in the hospital. In fact, this was probably the same exact room. Heart monitor to my left, window to my right, and a door next to it. Just to add more to the deja vu, I was wearing a hospital gown. This time, however, my clothes and mask were on a nearby table.
I heard the sound of hoofsteps before the door opened, revealing a familiar white earth pony with a pink bun and nurse's cap. Once again she was staring at a clipboard.
"Hello Nurse Redheart," I said. She looked up and put on a smile.
"Hello Legion. It's good to see you again. Just a week after you get better and you go hurting yourself again," she joked to which I chuckled a bit.
"I had no choice. If I didn't do anything, that filly would've gotten hurt, as well as Professor Da-" I paused for a sec before going into panic mode, "PROFESSOR DASH! Is she okay?! How is she doing?!"
"Ms. Dash is doing just fine. She's currently in another room resting. It's a good thing Princess Celestia was able to heal her wounds, as well as yours," she explained.
"Wait, what?," I asked before looking at my hoof. I didn't notice it before, but it was...better. Not like it was stitched up and covered in bandages, but rather it looked fine. Like I was never clawed in the first place. There wasn't even any scars. Not only that, but my ribs didn't feel broken at all.
"Let me guess, magic?
Magic.
"Huh, how come I didn't notice that before?" I asked myself.
"I see you're doing well, young one," announced a familiar voice.
I looked up to the door and saw Princess Celestia walking in. Nurse Redheart let out a small gasp and bowed to her, with me bowing my head.
"Rise my little ponies," Princess Celestia said to which we did before turning to me, "I take it my sister listened to my letter and visited you in your dreams?"
"Yes. She has," I said.
"Aw. Good," she said.
"U-um Princess? Nurse Redheart told me that you healed my wounds, as well as Professor Dash's. I-I just wanna thank you for that. Heh. This same exact scenario happened with Twilight Sparkle," I chuckled.
"There is no need to thank me. I do whatever I can help my subjects," she said, "And I believe this belongs to you?" She used her to float over Zer0, in the scabbard. She placed my sword on the table with my other stuff before turning back to me.
"Now then, what is your name?" she asked.
"My name is Legion your highness," I responded.
"Well Legion, that was some quite impressive swordplay you did. I've never seen a sword such as that," she said pointing to my sword, "If I may ask, what kind of sword is it?"
"You see, it's called a katana. It's forged out of a light metal, but made to be quite sharp. In fact, I made it myself. I've been learning on how to use it properly for almost two years now," I explained to which she nodded, "Um Princess? If I may change the subject, Princess Luna said that you may have the answers to what was that shadow monster exactly."
Princess Celestia put on a serious face at this before explaining, "I do, and I'm afraid there's more to this than we thought. After we brought you and Rainbow Dash here, Twilight Sparkle and I investigated the buckball field at the school. We found small traces of...dark magic. And there's only one pony known to Equestrian history that's capable of dark magic."
"And that would be?" I asked.
"King Sombra," Princess Celestia said.
Third person POV
Deep underground in the vast, frozen waste lands stood a unicorn with grey fur, black mane and tail, blood-red eyes, a red cape, and silver regalia. He was staring at a orb, watching his creation cause chaos. He watched as it attacked the four of the Elements of Harmony, as well as the Princess and a random unicorn. He smiled devilishly as it managed to get a hit on the Element of Loyalty with its razor sharp claws. The other ponies tried to stop his creation from harming her any further, but it stopped them by making many spikes emerge from the ground and trap them. As it got closer, a filly ran up and told it to leave her alone. The unicorn chuckled at her foolishness. Before his creation was able to end the filly's life, a pegasus colt tackled her out of the way. The pegasus wore a coat and a hood, as well as a mask with smile painted on it. He was...actually intrigued when the pegasus pointed a glowing sword at his creation. Then a fight broke out. The pegasus landed a few hits, his creation landed a few hits, but in the end, the pegasus ended up stabbing his creation in the chest and defeating it. To this, the unicorn let a bestial growl of anger before slamming his hooves on the stone floor.
"BLAST! My dark creation...defeated...by a mere colt?! How could this be?!" the unicorn screamed.
"King Sombra," a voice called out to him.
Sombra turned to face the voice's owner. Unfortunately, it was too dark to see the figure's face. Sombra was only able to see the outline of the figure, but he recognized the voice.
"What do you want?" Sombra snorted.
"You told me that creature was going to kill the Elements of Harmony, as well as the Princesses. What happened?" the figure asked.
"I don't know! Everything was going as planned before some stupid colt stood up to it, and actually defeated it!" Sombra shouted. The figure's response was to laugh. Sombra clenched his teeth rage before the laughing died down, but the figure was still chuckling a bit.
"Wow Sombra. I never knew you were one for jokes. I always took you for dark and brooding," the figure said.
"Are you calling me a liar?!" Sombra said.
"No you idiot, I'm calling you a joker. Tell you what, how about instead of lying about how you were weak to create something capable of killing a few ponies, you make yourself useful and actually make something strong and deadly," the figure said as it turned around and started to walk away. Sombra growled even more.
"It's true! He used some kind of glowing sword, easily dodged its attacks, and had this black mask with a smile painted on it," Sombra exclaimed. The figure immediately stopped and turned back.
"What was that last part?" it asked.
"He had this stupid black mask with a smile painted it."
...
...
"May I see a picture of this colt?"
"Groan. Fine!"
Sombra rewinded the playback and started to replay everything. From the creature fighting the Elements and Princess, to the Elemnt of Loyalty getting hit, to the filly standing up and being rescued. He then paused the scene when the pegasus pointed his sword at the creature. His black mask with the cyan smile showing and everything. As Sombra gritted his teeth in anger, the figure just...stared at the image.
"I see," the figure finally said before turning around once again and walking away, "Don't worry about the colt. For now, just focus on killing the Elements of Harmony and the Princesses."
And with that, Sombra was alone once again, already thinking about what his next creation will be.
Huh, a unicorn with a heart as black as night. And here I thought this place was supposed to be peaceful.
I asked Princess Celestia who King Sombra was. She explained to me that he was a tyrannical unicorn that ruled with an iron hoof. Apparently, he ruled a place called the Crystal Empire and made its citizen his slaves. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stopped him with the Elements of Harmony-
"The what?"
The Elements of Harmony. Thankfully Headmare Twilight talked about them in history class. They are a set of relics that represent six aspects of friendship and harmony: honesty, kindness, generosity, laughter, loyalty, and magic. Celestia and Luna used to bear the Elements. Today, the bearers are none other than my professors. Professor Applejack is honesty, Professor Fluttershy is kindness, Professor Rarity is generosity, Professor Pinkie is laughter, Professor Dash is loyalty, and Headmare Twilight is magic.
"So your professors are practically superheroes?!"
Apparently. Back on topic, Celestia and Luna banished Sombra to the arctic north, but not before he placed a curse on the Crystal Empire, making it disappear. Just a few years ago, however, it returned, and with it, King Sombra. My professors stopped Sombra, and Spike became a famous hero there for recovering the Crystal Heart, a relic that helps spread love across the empire...
"That sounds gay as shit."
...and Celestia's niece, Princess Cadence (another fucking princess wtf?!), took it over with her husband, Prince Shining Armor, who I also learned is Headmare Twilight's brother.
So yeah, there's your history lesson, back to the story.
"I didn't even ask for this fucking hist-"
Just like last time I was in the hospital, Nurse Redheart gave me a quick checkup on my vitals and all that stuff. Due to Princess Celestia healing my wounds, I didn't need to go to any more weekly checkups, but Nurse Redheart still advised me to stay in the hospital for a while just in case any problems arise and to take it easy for a while after I get out. The same applied for Professor Dash.
I was now walking through Ponyville pondering. Princess Celestia commemorated me for my act of bravery against the shadow monster, and I have a feeling I'm gonna get the same treatment from my professors. As well as my friends. But my mind was more on King Sombra. He has been defeated, twice actually, by friendship and love. So why has he returned? Surely he must know that he stands no chance in a place as peaceful as this. And why did he have to send a minion to do his dirty work?
Although, this is just speculation. Princess Celestia doesn't know for sure if Sombra is behind this. It could simply be some random entity bent on harming others. After all, no matter how much light there is, there will always be darkness, and vice versa. It's like two sides on a coin, both sides will always be present.
I was so focused on yesterday's incident that I wasn't paying attention to where I was going.
"Oof!" a voice and I said as we bumped into each other.
"Oh gosh. I'm so sorry. I should've been watching where I was going," I apologized.
"No, I should be apologizing. I wasn't watching where I was going either," said a familiar Valley girl voice.
I looked up and, yep, it's that girl that I saved yesterday. Same fur color, same mane style, only this time she wasn't wearing the cheerleader outfit, making me able to get a quick glance to her cutie mark. It was a set of pom poms blowing in the wind.
"DeffBwade, I don't think it's polite to just look at a girl's cutie mark. I mean, isn't it on their butt?
Well I can't really help it if these ponies don't wear pants and their marks look so...flamboyant.
"Whatever you say."
The girl looked at me and seemed to recognize me as well, if her gasping and eyes sparkling ab it were any indication.
"It's you," we both said simultaneously.
"Huh? Do you know him?" another Valley girl voice asked.
Both me and the girl turned to another earth pony filly. She had light blue fur, a long blue mane and tail, blue eyes, and a cutie mark of a horseshoe between a set of pom poms. Must be another cheerleader.
"He's the pegasus from yesterday," the orange pony said, to which the blue one smiled and walked up to me.
"So you're the pegasus that saved my friend's life from that freaky shadow monster," she said.
"Yes. Yes I am. I-I'm sorry, I never got to learn your names. My name is Legion," I said.
"Legion..." the orange pony said with a smile. I could've sworn it more of a soothing coo. Probably just me though.
The blue pony took the initiative. "I'm Lighthoof, and this is Shimmy Shake," she said.
"Nice to meet you two," I said to which they nodded.
"That...that was really brave of what you did yesterday. You know, stopping that thing from harming anypony else," Shimmy Shake let out a sigh, "I wish I could be as brave as you."
"But Shimmy Shake, you were brave. You were able to stop it from hurting Professor Dash more than it already did," I assured her.
"But...but I was...scared. I let my fears get a hold of me. I...I thought I was gonna...die," Shimmy started sniffling a bit at that last part.
I went up to Shimmy Shake and pulled her into a hug. Now, normally I'm not really a hugger, even to my family. But...I don't know. Something just...compelled me...to hug her. I'm not entirely if she was simply upset and I wanted to make her feel better. She let out a small gasp, but then started to hug me back. I shushed her to stop her from getting more sad.
"I thought I was gonna die as well, but I still had to fight or else more ponies would be harmed. Being bravery isn't about not being scared. It's about pushing forward and facing challenges despite being scared. So you see Shimmy, despite the possibility of death, you still were able to save Professor Dash's life," I said.
My little therapy session seemed to do the trick, for when we separated, Shimmy wasn't crying any further and had a smile on her face.
"Thank you Legion," Shimmy said.
"Those were some wise words," Lighthoof said.
"Thanks. Learned that from an old friend. And it's no problem Shimmy. I always do what I can to make my friends happy," I said, "Well. I best be on my way. I got some friends to meet up with."
"Okay. Bye Legion," Shimmy said.
I stopped for a second and turned back around. "By the way, I noticed that outfit you were wearing yesterday Shimmy. Are you two part of the cheer squad by any chance?" I asked them.
"Yep. We are the lead dancers of the squad. Why do you ask?" Lighthoof asked.
"No reason. It's just a shame that a monster choose to attack before your performance. I'm sure it would've been great," I said as I turned and started walking away, "By the way, you looked really nice in that outfit Shimmy."
I wasn't even completely aware of the compliment I just gave, nor the blush that appeared on Shimmy's face as well as Lighthoof's smirk.
"AH JESUS CHRIST! It's the beginning of the chapter. You don't have to blow my fucking eardrums!"
Fuck you man! I have the right to scream like Jrod when he receives his Taco Bell.
"Why are you screaming anyway?"
Because today...is the day. Today...is the day I start playing video games again.
"What do you mean?"
There's a new arcade opening up in Ponyville.
"An arcade? Seriously?"
Yeah. Why aren't you hyped as me?
"An arcade is just so...old school."
Who gives a shit? I don't care if it's an arcade. I haven't played video games for a little over a month.
"Wait, didn't you say you would go crazy?"
Yep. Thankfully school, my job at Sugarcube Corner, and hanging out with my friends has kept me busy.
"I guess that's true. Wait, don't you have work today?"
Nope. It's Sunday. I was now walking to where the new arcade was arcade. I had a bag on me with quite a few bits. I figured, I've been working so hard and I have more than enough to bits, so I thought...why not splurge a little? Once I caught sight of the arcade, I picked up my pace to more of a jog. The words "Wily's Arcade" glowed in bright pink neon lights as I approached.
"Wily's...Arcade? As in Dr. Wily from the Mega Man games?"
I don't know. Just roll with it.
I opened the doors and found myself to what I describe as heaven. All around me where completely unfamiliar video games for me to play. At the back of the arcade I could see a food area, with tables and chairs strewn around. I smiled and waved at the stallion at the front counter, who waved back, and started exploring, wondering what I should play first.
So many games. So little time.
I could see various colts and fillies playing the games, looking as hyped as me. After a few minutes of walking around, my eyes settled on one game that I looked all too familiar. There was a huge screen, two guitars, and the words "Guitar Pony" in the same font from back home.
There was no need for this pun. It would've been perfectly fine to just call this 'Guitar Hero," but fuck it.
Now, I've never actually played Guitar Hero before, but I'm familiar with how to play it. You just press the right button at the right time. How hard could it actually be? I inserted my bits into the game and picked up the guitar. It was a little awkward to hold at first, but it was easy to get used to. Okay, what song should I...um...I don't know any of these songs. Scratch that. I don't any of these artists. 'Serves Her Right' by Sapphire Shores? 'Drop the Bass' by DJ-Pon3? Okay, I actually knew who she is. 'Rainbow' by Songbird Serenade
"How much do you wanna bet that one is the same one sung by Sia back on Earth?"
It's highly unlikely.
I decided to chose 'The Spectacle' by Countess Colouratura cause why not, and picked medium difficulty. I'm no pussy that's gonna chose easy, but I'm also no expert that's gonna chose hard. I took a deep breath and prepared my guitar as the the screen displayed the countdown. As the song began, I immediately got a Lady Gaga vibe from this.
It's only been 40 seconds into the song, and so far I've managed to hit every single key thanks to my fast reflexes. As the song went on, I could hear the sounds of foals whispering behind. Sounds of admiration to be specific. After the song ended, I put the guitar down and took a breath. I got a high score of...7620? God damn. I could hear the foals' whispering of admiration grow a bit louder.
"Wow, that colt's pretty good," I heard a random filly say.
"What about you Button Mash? Do you think you can play like that?" a colt asked.
"U-um, I don't know. I've never played Guitar Pony before, but I can try," I heard what I assumed to be Button Mash say. A brown little colt walked up beside me and picked up the second guitar. He had red eyes, red mane and tail, and a red, yellow, and light orange propellor hat. The hat suited him pretty well. What caught my attention the most was his cutie mark. It was...a d-pad from an old NES controller. Do you know what this means?
"Holy shit."
This kid's a gamer! Like his special talent is literally playing video games! Sniff. I don't even know this kid and I'm already so proud of him.
"Are you...are you crying?"
No! It's just...liquid pride. Yeah, let's go with that.
"Excuse me, but, how do you play this game? I've never played it before," Button Mash asked.
"I'll show you kid," I said as I showed the guitar to him, "You see these four colored buttons here?"
"Yeah," he said.
"On the screen, you'll see keys of the same color as these buttons going down to circles. When a key is on a circle, press the button as the same color. For example, when a red key is on a circle, press the red button. There could also be a colored line following some of the keys. When that happens, you hold the button down for the duration the line is on the circle," I explained. I hope I didn't just give this kid a brain aneurysm.
"Oh okay. I think I understand. I just hit the right button at the right time?" he said.
Sniff. This kid even thinks like me. He's gonna make an amazing gamer when he grows up. It's a shame though. There's no YouTube here. God I don't even wanna imagine how many videos I need to watch when I go back.
"Pretty much," I said as I inserted some more bits, "I'll let you pick a song this time Button."
"Okay Mr..." he said.
"Legion, and there's need to call me 'mister.' I'm still a teenager," I said.
"Okay. Oh! Oh! This one! I really like this song!" he said to which I chuckled at his enthusiasm.
He picked 'Rainbow' by Songbird Serenade, and-HOLY SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK?!
"Hah! I knew it! It's the exact same song Sia sung on Earth! You owe me $20!"
We didn't even agree to a bet.
...
...
"Damnit!"
We decided to go on easy mode. In short, I hit every single key, and Button Mash missed a few, but did a good job nonetheless.
"This game is so cool!" Button cheered.
"Yeah it is, and look around you. There's still so many games to play, and I just gotta play them all. Sigh. I love video games. I don't know about you, but in the video game world, I know I can succeed and be things I can't be in real life" I said to which Button's eyes widened and he had huge smile.
"Finally, somepony gets it! With video games, I can be things I wanna be, and it just...comforts me," he said.
"I think we just became friends," I said.
Button and Mash I played a whole bunch of other games for the rest of the day. We played a game similar to Street Fighter, with Button winning 3-2. There was a racing game...
"But there are no cars in this world."
...with pegasi acting as the vehicles. Button was focused more on winning that he wasn't paying much attention to the obstacles on the coarse while going full speed, making crash everywhere. There were lots of games we played, but I had a lot of fun with my most favorite game in arcades everywhere. And that game...is skeeball! I loved skeeball growing. Needless to say, I utterly destroyed Button at that game. We eventually went to the prize corner and submitted our tickets. Button got a plush doll of a puppy, and I got one of a turtle, because I like turtles. Turtles are awesome.
We were now at the food area sitting at a table. Between us was a large cheese pizza and a couple of sodas.
"Button, I gotta admit, this was probably the most fun I had in Ponyville. It's been so long since I played any form of video game," I said.
"Well, if you'd like, you can always come by my house so we can hang out some more. I've got plenty of video games," he said.
"Well, I have school and my job at Sugarcube Corner, so it'd have to be next Saturday or Sunday. And we'd have to ask your parents first. But otherwise, I'm down for that," I said.
"Button, it's time to go home sweetie," a female voice called out.
We turned to the voice and saw a mare walking towards us. She had a tan coat, brown mane and tail, blue eyes, and a cutie mark of a heart next to a baby bottle filled with milk. Based on what she said, it shouldn't be hard to figure out who she was.
"Hi mom," Button said to the mare, "Meet my new friend, Legion."
"Aw it's so nice to see that you're making new friends," she said with a smile the turned towards me, "My name is Cream Heart. I hope my little Button wasn't much trouble."
"Not at all ma'am. Button here was well behaved the entire time. You sure raised a good kid," I said as I gave Button a little noogie.
"Mom, is it okay if Legion comes over next weekend to hang out?" Button asked.
"Of course he can sweetie. Now come along, it's starting to get late," Cream Heart said.
"Take the pizza with you Button. Consider it a thank you gift to you and your mom for inviting me to hant out," I said as I handed him the pizza box.
"Okay. Thank you Legion. Bye," he said as he walked away with Cream Heart.
I meant what I said to Button earlier. Video games give me a sense of...comfort. And it helps bring people together through the power of teamwork and competitions. I threw away my soda and exited the arcade, taking to the air and flying back to the school.
"DeffBwade, can you give a chapter regarding your job at Sugarcube Corner?"
Why?
"I just wanna hear my about it."
What is there to tell? It's just take the cleaning supplies out of the closet, clean any tables that a pony has just ate in, pick up trash, and clean the rest of the bakery.
"Sigh. Just this once. Tell us about your job in detail during your shift today."
Can't.
"Why not?"
Because Mr. and Mrs. Cake told me that I don't have to work today.
"Sigh. God damnit. Fine. I won't pester you anymore."
...
Anyway, ignoring that useless and unnecessary little tid bit, I was walking through Ponyville minding my own business.
"Isn't a school day? Don't you have homework to do?"
Nope. At least not anymore. That homework is so easy a 3rd grader could do it. I was passing through the market place when I heard the sound of grunting. I turned and saw Professor Applejack loading baskets of apples into a cart. It seemed like she was struggling a bit, and I could see little bags under her eyes. So, out of the goodness of my heart, I approached.
"Do you need some help?" I asked.
"Howdy Legion. I sure could use some help. Just help me with these baskets and load them onto the cart," she said pointing to the rest of the baskets.
I picked up one of the baskets and put them in the cart. They were heavy, but it wasn't something I couldn't handle. After all the baskets were loaded, Professor Applejack hoisted herself to the cart and gave me a smile.
"Mighty appreciate it sugarcube. It sure has been a long day. I sure can't wait to lay down after I finish the rest of ma chores," she said.
"How many chores do you have left to do Professor Applejack?" I asked.
"Oh sugarcube, we ain't in school right now. There's no need to call me 'professor." And to answer your question, a lot. It's a shame that Big Mac got the flu today, leaving me and my little sister to do his chores. Sigh. The school has really kept me busy, so I reckon it's gonna be mighty late by the time we finish," Professor Applejack said.
"Well, if you'd like...I can help you with your chores," I offered.
"Uh no no. It's fine. Me and my sister can handle it. Besides, I wouldn't want to impose your time," she said. I shook my head and flew my hoof in a 'nonsense' sort of way.
"It's fine. It's fine. I don't mind doing some hard labor. And besides, the Cakes told me I don't have to work today so I got nothing to do," I said.
"Well...if you're alright with it, then I suppose it wouldn't hurt. After all, I should always accept help when it's offered," she chuckled a bit, "I remember this one time I was too stubborn as a cow eating grass to accept help that I ended up getting no sleep for days."
"Heh. Whatever you need help with, just tell me and I'll do it Profe-ur I mean Miss Applejack," I said.
"There's no need to call me 'miss' as well," she said.
"Just trying to be polite," I said as I followed her.
Professor Applejack (sorry, can't help but be polite) led me the famous apple farm I heard so much about: Sweet Apple Acres. As we passed the front gate, I couldn't help but freeze and stare in awe in how massive it was.
...
Don't take that out of context.
I saw hundreds-no probably thousands of apple trees as far as the eye can see. I also saw a huge red barn, an area where other animals resided like cows, pigs, and chickens...
"Were these other animals sapient as well? Or at least intelligent?"
...and a house. Professor Applejack towed the cart into the barn and unhoisted herself. She waved to me to follow and led me to an acre filled with apple trees. I heard the sound of someone punching a tree and turned. There, kicking a tree, was little earth pony filly. She had yellow fur, orange eyes, a red mane, a cutie mark of a red, pink, and purple shield with an apple in the middle, and a giant red bow. My god she was adorable. About as adorable as Ocellus.
"You've seen many colts and fillies before, especially at the arcade where you met Button Mash. Surely, this filly isn't as adorable as-"
"Okay! Okay! I believe you now! Just please take this image away so I can live!"
Oh you'll be fine.
"Howdy Applebloom," Professor Applejack called to the filly, who turned in our direction.
"Howdy Applejack," she then turned to me, "Who's this?"
I stepped up to her and stook my hoof out.
"My name is Legion. (I'm the android sent by Cyberlife) I'm one of Professor Applejack's students at the School of Friendship," I said as she shook my hoof.
"Now Legion, I thought I told ya not to call me 'professor' outside of school," Professor Applejack said.
"Oh contraire, you said there's no need to call you 'professor,' meaning that I don't have to, but I can," I said to which Applebloom giggled as Professor Applejack rolled her eyes.
"My name is Applebloom, and I'm a Cutie Mark Crusader!" Applebloom yelled that last part with enthusiasm.
Damn, this kid's loud!
"You're one to talk."
"A what?" I asked with confusion.
"A Cutie Mark Crusader. It's ma destiny to help other ponies to discover their cutie marks, as well as my friends' destiny," she said.
"Oh. That's pretty cool. Wait, your friends have the same destiny as you?" I asked to which she nodded, "So that means they have the same cutie mark as you?"
"That's right," she said.
"Anyway, Legion here has offered to help us with the chores due to Big Mac's sickness," Professor Applejack turned to me, "Now Legion, have you ever bucked a tree before?"
...
"I'm sorry but...what did she just ask?
"I'm sorry...what?" I asked.
"Ya know...bucking a tree so the apples will fall off. Me and my sister do it everyday," she said.
"So...everyday she and sister, who is a minor might I add, do...that...to make apples fall off? Um...I-I'll...I'll just...I'll be right back. I'm gonna go...bleach my brain and hope it'll erase my memory of hearing that."
"It's simple. Like this," Professor Applejack said as she approached a tree. She then turned around, got low to the ground, and reeled her hind hooves back, kicking the tree and making the apples fall, "That's what apple bucking is."
"Oh! That's what she meant. Phew. Thank god."
"I can try," I said. I approached one of the trees and gave it a swift kick. Three, maybe four, apples in total fell...and my hoof started to feel a bit sore, but the pain is good for you!
"Don't ya worry. After a few more days of bucking, you'll soon be able to make all of the apples fall but for now, just keep at it," Professor Applejack said
We bucked a few more apple trees, with me having to buck one tree multiple times, and now the trees in the area is devoid of areas. My hooves also fucking hurt. Applebloom and I were led to the pig pens next.
"Now then, we have to crush the rotten apples or the ones that had worms in them and feed them to the pigs," Professor Applejack instructed.
"And the pigs actually like that stuff?" I asked.
"Like them? They love them!" she responded.
"Okay. If you say so. Let me take off my coat though," I said.
After removing my coat and scarf, I stepped on one of the apples and...
"Oh jeez! Ah it's so gross! It's so cold and moist!" I said in disgust. Can you blame me? I stepped on a rotten apple with a bare hoof.
"Pussy."
"That's what happens when you work on a farm. You get down and dirty," Applebloom said giggling.
After crushing all of apples, with me making more noises of disgust, we dumped it all into a bin and stirred it. The slop was then brought to a pig pen and was dumped into it. Immediately, all of the pigs ran to it and started eating-no devouring it. They really do love this stuff. Interesting. Professor Applejack then brought out a hose and we washed our hooves, much to my pleasure.
The rest of chores were pretty standard. Clean the animals, even though they got dirty immediately afterwards, buck more apple trees, plant and water seeds, and buck even more apple trees. By the time we were done, the sun was still up.
"Phew. That was a great workout. Worked up quite a sweat," I said.
"Mighty appreciate your help Legion. Thanks to you, we were able to finish all of the chores as fast as usual. How's about ya join us for dinner, as a thank you. Granny Smith should be baking a good ol apple pie right now," Professor Applejack said.
"Sure. I could use something to eat, and I've never tried apple pie before," I said.
"Oh you just gotta try Granny's pie. It's like the best one I've tried in all of Equestria," Applebloom said as we walked to the house.
"So who did you guys vote for the Teacher of the Month?" Sandbar asked.
"Yona vote for Professor Fluttershy," Yona said.
"Yeah. She's a very nice teacher," Ocellus said.
"Her class also requires the least amount of effort. Most of the time we're just observing animals," Gallus said.
"I voted for Professor Pinkie. Their always really fun, especially when they involve cupcakes," Silverstream cheered.
"Silverstream, you think everything is fun. You once thought plumbing and learning how sinks work was fun," Smolder said, "Anyway, I voted for Professor Dash. Her classes involve competition."
"I voted for Headmare Twilight. It's always nice to learn about pony history," Sandbar said.
"But you already know a lot about pony history because you are a pony," Gallus said then turned towards me, "What about you Legion. Which teacher got your vote?"
Today was the day the students vote for who they think is the best teacher. It's what you would expect. Take a piece of paper, write the name of the person you thought was the best teacher, then put it in a box. It's as simple as that. I never had this kind of thing back on Earth, and even if I did, I really wouldn't care that much about it. Mainly because, I don't like picking favorites. It just makes me feel...biased I guess? I just don't want others to be mad at me for not picking them.
"Wait, so why did you vote then?"
Because the votes are anonymous, so I don't have to worry about anybody being pissed at me and smacking me like Uzy smacks his-
"Hey! This story is supposed to be teen rated! You can't say anything sexual!"
I wasn't going to say that.
"Okay. Good."
I was gonna say how Uzy smacks his little brother when he becomes too annoying.
"Oh my God."
And also what's the big deal? You say this is teen rated, but I say words like 'fuck' and 'shit.' You do as well.
"No I fucking don't!"
...
"God damnit."
"I voted for Professor Rarity. She really knows how to express yourself and be as creative as you want," I told them, "And also because I was one of students that got a higher grade in my art class from my previous school."
"Speaking of which, where did Legion go to school anyway?" Yona asked.
"Yeah. We don't really know much about you before you came to Ponyville," Sandbar said.
"Oh, somebody's screwed. You don't have a backstory, don't ya?"
Nope. I do. Thanks to Headmare Twilight's class on Equestrian locations.
"I was born and raised in Baltimare. My mom was a nurse, my dad wasn't a doctor or anything, but he still worked at a hospital, and, finally, there's my my older brother. When I turned 15, I decided to leave home and explore Equestria. I figured I needed a little...action in my life," I said.
"Your family sounds amazing," Silverstream said.
"But weren't they worried when you decided to leave home?" Ocellus asked with worry.
"Not at all. They knew I was perfectly capable of taking care of myself. They just told me to write to them and visit them from time to time," I said.
"I bet you got your cutie mark during your travels," Gallus said.
"Yeah. What does your cutie mark represent? I mean, a smile crossed by two swords? It has to be an awesome story to which you got it," Smolder said.
I started to sweat a bit. I didn't know what it was supposed to represent, and I definitely couldn't come up with a story for it. Thankfully, I was saved when Headmare Twilight entered the classroom and began class.
"You better tell us later," Smolder whispered to me.
"Hello students. Today's lesson is gonna be rather special. Today, we are going to learn about teamwork, and what better way to learn about teamwork than a field trip," Headmare Twilight announced, "We will be walking through the woods and doing various activities. You all need to work together in order to succeed."
The last field trip I remember going on was a retreat when I was in...9th grade? 10th grade? One of those two. So we're going to walking through nature eh? Reminds me of the 7th grade field I mentioned a while ago.
Headmare Twilight was now walking us the front of the school. The group consisted of me, Sandbar, Gallus, Yona, Smolder, Silverstream, Ocellus, and even Shimmy Shake and Lighthoof.
"It sure is nice that you got to join our group," I said to the two cheerleaders, "I really enjoy your company."
"O-oh thanks. I-I-we enjoy your company as well," Shimmy stuttered with a bit of a blush.
Ever since I met Shimmy Shake and Lighthoof, I've been hanging out with them quite a lot so I could get to know them. Lighthoof has this sort of sassy, teen girl personality, not trying to be sexist or anything. As for Shimmy Shake, she also as a bit of a sassy personality as well being a shy one, like Ocellus. Actually, Shimmy seems to be a bit shyer, always stuttering and having a hard time to look at me whenever I talk to her.
"I've never been on a field trip before," Ocellus said.
"Yeah, what's the point of this exactly?" Smolder asked.
"Getting out of the classroom. Duh," Gallus said.
"Yeah don't complain. Not that I don't enjoy classes or anything," I whispered to Smolder.
"Yak best at field tripping," Yona said she purposely tripped over onto the grass. Sweet, innocent Yona.
"That's what we're doing? So fun!" Silverstream cheered as she too tripped onto the grass.
"Heh heh. Pretty sure the Headmare has something else in mind," Sandbar said.
"Alright class. Today you'll learn how important working together is to building a strong friendship," Headmare Twilight said as Professor Applejack walked up to her.
"He y'all. Ready to get out there and do some learning the Apple family way?" Professor Applejack asked.
"This is basically gonna be the best field trip in the history of ever! With me in charge that is," Professor Dash said as she flew up. Professor Applejack then pushed her out of the way, making her grunt.
"With us in charge." Professor Applejack said, "Meaning mostly me."
"Yeah, good one," Professor Dash said. I noticed the two of them giving each other stares of sternness.
"And what teamwork activity do you two have planned for today?" Headmare Twilight asked the two professors.
"Shed building/Canoe racing," they both said.
"No way. We get to do both?!" Silverstream asked as she leapt into the air out of excitement.
"I bet that's exactly what your two teachers had in mind," Headmare Twilight said, "Why don't you start with shed building first?"
"Heh, don't mind if I do," Professor Applejack said as Professor Dash gave her a stern glare, "Every creature, follow the leader."
"I'll check in later to see its going. Remember to work together," Headmare Twilight said.
"Now take a good deep breathe. What do you smell?" Professor Applejack asked.
Gallus took a breathe and let out a sound of disgust. "Ew, yak?"
Yona sniffed her own fur...wool...I still don't know and smiled. "Mmhm."
"Nope. Try again."
"Um, Apples?" Ocellus said.
"Aaand? Anyone? Anyone? Nope?" Professor Applejack asked.
SNIIIIIIIIIFF!
Everybody looked at me as I sniffed really loudly. I then let out a huge exhale and looked at Professor Applejack.
"Fresh air?" I asked her calmly.
"Well, yeah. But also, the promise of...teamwork!" she said as she pointed to a small shed next to a pile of planks of wood and tools.
"Should I even ask what that was?" I heard Lighthoof whisper.
"Nope. I'm just weird at times," I said to him. Shimmy started to giggle at my silliness.
"That there's an apple shed, and this here is what we're gonna use to build it. Nothing brings friends together like a little hard work and honest sweat," Professor Applejack said.
"Hahahaha! Sweat?! Seriously?! That's supposed to be part of friendship?" Professor Dash responded.
"Not everypony would know that Rainbow Dash. Just Teacher of the Month kind of ponies," Professor Applejack said.
Wait. What was that last thing she said?
"Whatever. Let's just get this done so we can move on to my activity," Professor Dash said. Now it was Professor Applejack's turn to give a stern glare. Something tells me this field trip isn't off to a great start.
We managed to build the shed. Well, one side at least. Professor Dash decided to use speed to build the rest of it. Hell, she did it all in the air in a cloud of dust. I'm surprised she doesn't have any form of injuries, especially when she decided to kick of bunch of nails with her bare hind hooves. Obviously, Professor Applejack wasn't happy with her, not only how she rushed it, but her recklessness as well.
"just cause it's fast, don't mean it's good," Professor Applejack said to Professor Dash.
If only one of my other friends were here. I know what exactly their response would be.
"Oh sorry. Can't hear you. Too busy practicing my Teacher of the Month pose. Yeah! Gyah! Hoo-wah!" Professor Dash as she did a bunch of poses at that last part.
"Don't count your pictures before their snapped Rainbow Dash!"
"Oh come on! These students are totally gonna vote for a teacher that gets things done!"
Well yes...but actually no.
"No! They're gonna vote for a teacher that gets things done right!"
"Please...stop yelling at each other," I whispered very softly, to the point that nobody heard me.
"Yeeaah...this isn't awkward at all," Smolder said.
We attached the wall that we built to the structure that Professor Dash built. The final piece is the roof. Me, Smolder, and Gallus were flying in the air holding the roof, while Yona held onto the rope that held the roof. Professor Applejack gave me a bit of a headache telling us to move it back and forth.
"Just drop it already!" Professor Dash yelled at Yona suddenly.
Yona ended up letting go of the rope, making the roof a lot heavier to hold. We lost our grips and the roof collapsed onto the shed. Not surprisingly, the side that we built was still standing. Professor Dash nervously chuckled when she noticed Professor Applejack's glare.
"I'll give you guess who's side is still standing."
"Yak's side!" Yona cheered as she held onto the still standing wall, making it fall. Thankfully, there was a hole in it, so Sandbar wasn't harmed when it fell.
We now equipped with life vests, helmets, and canoe sticks. We were asked by Professor Dash if we were ready to smash the all-time Equestrian speed record for river canoeing.
"You really think winning some canoeing record will get ya that Teacher of the Month trophy?" I heard Professor Applejack ask.
"I'm pretty sure every creature's gonna like it a lot better than pounding nails and cutting wood," Professor Dash said, to which Professor Applejack have another glare.
"I'd like teachers that can cooperate," I whispered.
As we got into the boat, I heard Yona say, "Yak not like water."
"Sometimes, when I'm scared to try something new, I whistle," Ocellus said.
"Huh. I usually just either sit it out, or suck it up and deal with it," I said, making Shimmy giggle a bit again.
"Way I see it, Twilight's gonna give that teacher trophy to a teacher, not a racer," Professor Applejack said.
"We'll see about that," Professor Dash said.
The canoeing started with Professor Dash telling one side to stroke as hard and fast as possible, while Professor Applejack was telling the other to stroke slowly and focused.
Again, if only one of my friends was here. I'd like to hear their response.
The funny part...was that we were stroking in completely opposite directions. Smolder eventually got is moving correctly. The canoeing was going pretty smoothly, but honestly it felt like Professor Dash was more focused on breaking the record than teaching us about teamwork. We were eventually approaching a split in the path thanks to a damn rock.
"Stop!" Professor Applejack yelled.
"Go!" Professor Dash yelled.
"Which way do we go?" Ocellus asked.
"Left!" Professor Dash said.
"Right!" Professor Applejack said.
What?
"Ei-ei captains! Wait, what?" Silverstream said confused.
"Left! I can see the finish line from here!" Professor Dash said excited. I looked ahead to left fine and, indeed, there was a finish line. There was also a bunch of these green fish swimming there. One of them jumped, revealing to have sharp teeth. Almost like...
...PIRANHAS?!
"If we go left, we'll be heading straight into the bite-a-cuda fish!"
"Who cares about a few fish?"
"Wait, what?!" Shimmy yelled out of worry.
"Oh heck no!" I screamed as I stated stroking towards the right side.
"Legion! Go left! The finish line is that way!" Professor Dash said to me.
"Keep stroking right Legion," Professor Applejack said then turned towards Professor Dash, "Rainbow Dash! We got students on board. There's no way their gonna vote for a teacher that puts them in danger!"
"They'll be perfectly fine. A teacher that likes to take risks will surely be Teacher of the Month."
"SCREW THE TEACHER OF THE MONTH!" I screamed. I then got out of the boast, and with all my strength, I began pushing it towards the right side. Unfortunately, I wasn't strong enough. The boat ended up crashing into the rock, smashing it and everybody falling into the water.
"Help! Legion!"
I turned and saw Shimmy going towards the left side. Towards the bite-a-cudas.
"Shimmy!" I yelled. I flew over to her and grabbed her hoof. I picked her up and held her in my hooves. I went back and flew over to where the others were, including Headmare Twilight, but I payed her no mind.
"I totally had things under control, until Applejack messed them up!" I heard Professor Dash say.
"Did not!" Professor Applejack yelled.
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"BOTH OF YOU SHUT THE HELL UP RIGHT NOW!" I yelled as I approached. I gently put Shimmy down and gave an angry glare to the two professors.
"Legion! Langua-" Professor Dash said. But I wasn't having any of that bullshit.
"Is the Teacher of the Month really that important to you two?!" I yelled. I wasn't even paying any attention to my friends, who gasped in shock.
"What do you me-" Professor Applejack asked before I inturrupted.
"You two know exactly what I mean! This whole field trip, instead of teaching us about working together, you've been competing with each other and you've ended up putting Shimmy in danger! And for what?! Some stupid trophy?!" I paused, none of them saying anything, as I began to feel my eyes start to water, "I've seen this type of fighting before, during my travels, and I've seen how it ended," I felt my eyes water even more as my voice has gotten shaky, "I-t tore m-my friendships apart, a-and I-I've never s-seen one of my friends again."
I fell to the ground as I found fully crying. Heh. It must sure be a sad and funny sight to see. Hearing the Apex Legion cry. Before I knew, I felt an hoof wrap around me. I looked up and saw Shimmy, her face having a sad expression and on the verge of tears. I cried out and wrapped my hooves around her, my face crying and buried in her neck. Once I felt myself calming down, I let go of Shimmy wiped my eyes, looking at my other friends and professors.
"I-I'm sorry. I don't really like to talk about, but seeing you two argue just brought it to mind and...I guess I just lost control of myself," I said to the professors. They then began to approach me.
"N-no, y-you're right Legion," Professor Dash apologized.
"Yeah, we were acting like rotten apples the whole time," Professor Applejack apologized.
"I hope you two know by now that competition should never get in the way of friendship," Headmare Twilight said to which they nodded and turned to us.
"We're sorry," the professors apologized to all of us.
"As long as you learn from your mistakes, then I can't be too mad," I said with a smile.
Headmare Twilight suggested to the professors that they take us on a nature walk, to which they agreed. It was going smoothly. No fighting from anybody, no arguments, not even any mention about the Teacher of the Month. It was going great.
"Legion...is it true? Did you really...lose a friend over a competition?" Shimmy asked.
Well...mostly anyway.
"I. I. It's something I don't really like to talk about. Can we just...drop it for now?" I asked her to which she nodded.
The rest of the walk was serene. A little navigation troubles, yeah, but other than that, no problems arised. By the time the walk ended, the sun was starting to go down. We made it back to the school, and then were dismissed. I went back to the room, and...reached under my bed for my mask. I stared at it before a memory played back in my head.
"Hah! You totally suck at this game. If you'd like I can give you lesson so you can't humiliate yourself in public matches."
"Sigh. Oh my fucking God."
"Hey, there's no need to cry or anything. After all, there's no shame in losing in a private ma-
BOOM
"Yes! Let's go!"
...
"Calm down. It's just like you said. There's no shame in losing in a-"
"FUCK YOU! YOU TOTALLY CHEATED THERE!"
"How did I cheat?!"
"You used a C4!"
"So?!"
"So that's cheating! I can't believe you would stoop so low as to cheat. God you're such an asshole!"
I let out a sigh before putting my mask back under my bed. I hopped into bed and closed my eyes, ready for another night of dreams.
"Are you done with your next creation?" the figure said.
"I am, and I have a new plan," Sombra said.
"A new plan?" the figure asked.
"Yes. Rather than going directly to the Elements in order to kill them, I shall give them a reason to give up," Sombra explained.
"Oh. And what will that be?" the figure asked to which Sombra chuckled evilly.
"Let's just say...that I have new targets in mind."
DeffBwade's POV
"Yeah. What does your cutie mark represent? I mean, a smile crossed by two swords? It has to be an awesome story to which you got it," Smolder said.
What is my cutie mark supposed to represent?
"It obviously has to do something with your role as the Apex Legion."
I know, but what? That I'm such an awesome gamer? That I'm good with a sword? That I like to smile a lot?
"I don't know. There's many possibilities."
Face it, I'm screwed. I got nothing to tell my friends, and they're gonna tell the professors, and they're gonna start to get suspicious, and they're gonna tell Princess Celestia, and she's gonna send me to the sun, and I'm gonna end up-
SLAP
"Stop fucking panicking!"
Sigh. Thanks. I needed that.
"No problem man."
Wait. Why did you add a slap sound effect? You know you're not physically here?
"I dunno."
But, anyway, back to the issue at hand. What am I gonna tell my friends when they ask again what my cutie mark represents? There's no way they'll believe me if I say that I'm a leader of an army of gamers. Come on DeffBwade think, how do I find out what my cutie mark represents? What my destiny is.
"I don't think you're gonna find the answer. At least, not by yourself."
That's true, but who am I gonna ask? I can't ask my friends, professors, nor Counselor Starlight. It'd need to be someone who's an expert on cutie marks.
"There is one person that could help you. Actually, there's three."
Who?
"Remember when we went to Sweet Apple Acres, and we met Applebloom?"
Y-yeah...why do you ask-oh! I'm dumb.
"I know."
I flew over to Sweet Apple Acres in search of Applebloom. I couldn't find her anywhere on the farm though. As I flew over the trees, I saw below a treehouse. God I wish I had one of those things when I was young. Curious, I flew down and was able to hear voices belonging to fillies. One was a rather squeaky, high pitched voice, and another was a tomboyish voice. The third voice belonged to-
"Groan. I'm so bored. There's nothing to do today," I heard Applebloom complain.
"We could go to the lake and observe the fishes," the squeaky voice suggested.
"But observing fishes is so boring. That's more Fluttershy's field," the tomboyish voice said, "Applebloom, are you we don't have any clients today?"
"I'm sure," Applebloom said.
"Not a single pony has a cutie mark problem?" the squeaky voice said.
Dont worry little ones. I shall slay the vile beast known as boredom.
"Um, I have a cutie mark problem," I called.
"WHAT?!" they all said simultaneously as I heard the sound of hooves scampering. The door to the treehouse slammed opened, revealing three fillies. One of them was indeed Applebloom. The second was a white unicorn with light green eyes with a purple and pink curly mane and tail. I assumed she was the one with the squeaky voice. The third was an orange pegasus with magenta eyes and a magenta mane and tail. This must be the one with the tomboyish voice due to how...tomboyish her mane and tail look. Both of their cutie marks were similar to Applebloom's, but instead of an apple in the center, the unicorn had a music note and the pegasus had a lightning bolt
"Oh, howdy Legion. I haven't seen ya since you helped out at the farm," Applebloom said as she ran up to me.
"Hey Applebloom," I then turned to the other two fillies who were approaching us, "Are these your crusader friends that you told me about?"
"Yep," she turned and pointed to the unicorn, "This here is Sweetie Belle...," she then pointed to the pegasus, "...and this here is Scootaloo, and together we're..."
They all took a deep breathe before shouting, "THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!"
Arrgh! Jesus fuck! That was worse when Applebloom did it. It's like they're trying to make me go deaf. How can creatures so tiny be so loud?
"Nice to...meet you two," I said as I rubbed my ears
"Nice to meet you too Legion, but back to the matter at hand," Scootaloo said, "Did you just say you have a cutie mark problem?"
"Um...yes?" I said.
"Gasp. Oh my gosh! Finally, a pony with a problem!" Sweetie Belle cheered but then stopped and turned to me, "What's your problem? Whatever it is, the CMC will be sure to take care of it."
"I-uh...I may or may not know...what my cutie mark is supposed to mean," I said.
"What?!" they all exclaimed.
"You don't know what your cutie mark means?!" Applebloom asked to which I nodded, "But surely you must've got it when you were our age. How could you not know what it means?"
"Weeell...I didn't exactly get it when I was your age. I'd say it was about one and a half years ago, back when I was traveling through Equestria," I said.
"What happened exactly before you got it?" Sweetie Belle asked.
God I hate lying to little kids, especially adorable ones.
"They can't be that adora-UM I MEAN...yeah, they totally look adorable."
"Long story short, there was a pony in danger, I saved them, I went to sleep, and then I woke up to find this," I said as I looked at my cutie mark.
"Here, let's see," Scootaloo said as the fillies inspected my mark, "It's a...what the heck is this supposed to be?"
"It's a...smile crossed by two swords?" Applebloom said confused.
"Yeah I know. Strange looking, isn't it?" I asked.
"Yeah. I wonder what it means. Maybe you're meant to be a part of the Royal Guard?" Sweetie Belle suggested.
"No. I never considered myself a soldier," I said as I shook my head.
"And even if that was the case, that wouldn't explain the smile," Scootaloo said to which Sweetie nodded in agreement.
"Well, we just have to narrow it down. What do you enjoy doing Legion? Applebloom asked.
"I like video games and spending time with friends and family," I responded.
"Really? That's all? No specific hobby that would relate to your cutie mark at all?" Scootaloo asked to which I shook my head.
"This could be difficult, but the Cutie Mark Ceusaders are dedicated to helping ponies with cutie mark problems. We have the whole day ahead of us to figure it out," Applebloom said.
The first thing we did was go the arcade to see if my mark was related to video games. In a way, I'd say so, but when looking at it normally, well...I was quite unfamiliar with a great majority of the games, making me lose them within minutes. Even if I did get the hang of them, there were still some games that I just keep losing at.
Sweetie Belle figured that due to my clothes, I knew a thing or two about fashion, so she took us to Carousel Boutique so I can make some clothes.
...
Let's just say I now owe Profesor Rarity a new sewing machine.
The girls believed that I was on expert with swords. And that's true. The only thing...they believed I was on expert with making them. They took me to the local blacksmith and got everything prepared to make swords, the grinder, the cauldron, etc. I just walked away from that.
"Didn't you craft Zer0?"
That was one sword made a long time ago and I had someone to guide me.
The girls were starting to get desperate to the point they thought the smile was painted, so they made me a bath at Sweet Apple Acres and tried to scrub the smile off. Needless to say, I didn't appreciate it.
After several hours of doing random shit...
"It has literally been a few minutes."
...the girls and I had hit a dead end.
"Sigh. Look girls, I appreciate what you've been doing all day, but I don't think I'm gonna find out what my cutie mark means," I said.
"No Legion, we can't give up! There's still several possibilities that could be your destiny," Applebloom pleaded.
"I'm sorry girls, but I can't think of anything else that I could be good at," I apologized, before I turned to the sound of Sweetie Belle sniffling.
"Sweetie Belle...are you okay?" I asked.
"Sniff. Y-yeah. It's just...we never failed a client before. Our purpose in our life is to help ponies with discovering their cutie marks," Sweetie Belle said.
"One of the sad true about life...is that you can't win them all," I said, "Tell you what, meet me in the clearing between Ponyville and the Everfree Forest, and you can watch me practice with my sword. Will that make you feel better?"
"T-that sound cool," Scootaloo said.
The girls were now watching me practice my swordsmanship, and like I predicted...they were quite impressed with not only the way Zer0 looks, but also my skills. I swung my blade, pretended to deflect attacks, did a couple flips and kicks, etc. I even took a few logs to practice on. After about 30 minutes of practicing, I stopped and approached the girls.
"By the way, I've been meaning to ask. Can your sword really heat up to 2600o?
Nah. I just said that because this world isn't as technologically advanced as Earth. It's simply to look cool.
"Huh."
"Wow, that was amazing! Do you think you can teach me how to fight like that?" Scootaloo asked.
"Maybe. Another time though, I need to get you girls home, and I need to head back to the school," I said to which they nodded. As we were walking back to Ponyville, I couldn't help but feel the ground rumble a bit. Apparently I wasn't the only one that felt it.
"Um, did y'all feel that?" Applebloom asked.
"The ground rumbling? Yeah, I did," I said before it rumbled again, only it bit more apparent this time.
"Is there an earthquake?!" Sweetie Belle asked with worry.
"No. Earthquakes usually don't happen in quick intervals," I explained. The ground rumbled again, and it felt close. I also heard the sound of...growling? In fact...it sounded as if it was coming from-
"AAAAHHHH!" the girls screamed.
I looked behind me and a few yards away was...another shadow creature. Only this time, it was way taller than the previous one, and it had big muscles and massive horns adorning its head.
"Girls, get behind me! Now!" I commanded to which they did. I took out my sword and got into a fighting stance as the beast started to approach us slowly. I flew full speed towards it and aimed my sword towards its head. Once I got close enough...it just smacked me out of the way. It just bitch slapped me!
"You got knocked the fuck out boy!"
I hit the ground a few feet away and got up in a daze. That thing can sure pack a punch. I focused my vision and saw the beast approaching...not me...but...THE CRUSADERS! The girls were shivering in fear, more apparent on Sweetie Belle, as it approached them. I opened my wings and flew full speed at the beast, Zer0 ready in my hooves.
"Get away from them!" I yelled as it reached out to the girls. I got a clear shot and gave it a good slice on its outstretched arm, making it grunt in pain and clutch onto it. I spun around and gave it a good kick to the nose...if it had a nose that is...making it stumble pack a bit.
"Girls! Get back to Ponyville and get Princess Twilight!" I commanded.
"But what about you?" Applebloom asked.
"I'll keep this thing busy and buy you some time," I said.
"What?! No! We can't just leave you!" Sweetie Belle pleaded.
"You three are the ones this thing is after, so I'm going to do whatever I can to protect you, even at the expense of my own life," I argued, "Now go! Get out of here! I won't repeat myself!"
The girls all had tears in their eyes before they turned tail and ran back to Ponyville. I turned back and saw the beast grunting in anger, its glowing white eyes now focused on me. I put on my mask before it roared and charged towards me, head down and horn pointed out. I flew over it and started flying towards the Everfree. I took a quick glance behind me and saw the beast charging behind me, slowly gaining up.
Serpentine! Figure 8! Figure 8! Figure 8!
I zig zagged in between the trees, the beast running through each and every one of them. I flew over a giant boulder, and it just crashed through. Aw shit. Even though every crash did damage to it, it didn't slow down in the slightest.
This is bad. Not even a boulder can stop this thing. I can't lose this thing, or else it'll go to Ponyville and get to the crusaders. And I can't keep this game of cat and mouse. I'm starting to run out of stamina. If I get grabbed by it, then it's an L for me. I can just stop and fight it, but I don't know how many hits with Zer0 it'll take to put thing down, and it'll drain my stamina even quicker. Come on DeffBwade, think. How did they take down the muscle monster in Sweet Home?
...
That's it!
"Come on fatass! Try and catch me!" I taunted. I made the beast crash through even more trees and rocks, and eventually, I noticed it was actually starting to slow down a bit. I continued to fly through the forest until I found...yes! A ravine, and looking into it, it looked pretty deep. Fatal for anyone that falls down it and hits the ground. Perfect.
I heard the stampeding footsteps behind me. I turned and saw the beast emerging out of the trees, its eyes filled with malice towards me. It looked pretty damage from all those trees and rocks it ran into. By the way, sorry about that nature.
"Come on. COME ON!" I taunted from the edge of the ravine. The beast started its charge towards me again. At the last second, I dodged out of the way of its stampede. It tried to stop itself, but it ended up slipping and falling into the ravine. Unfortunately though, when I dodged, I was a tad too late, and it was able to hit me again with its fist. My ribs threatened to break as pain coursed through my body. I wasn't able to stop myself from hitting a tree, but I was able to flap my wings and slow my crash coarse and prevent further damage.
I looked up and saw that the beast was holding onto the ravine's edge. It was trying to get back up. Painfully, I got up and stumbled over there, Zer0 in my hoof. I raised my blade in the air and brought it down onto the beast's hand. It roared in pain as I saw its fingers twitching. I dragged my blade a bit along its hand, making it roar louder and fingers twitching even more. I then took Zer0 out and its hand lost its grip on the ravine edge.
I dropped Zer0 to the ground and sat down on my ass. As I kept breathing heavily, with pain shooting through me at each breathe, I was able to hear the sounds of roaring grow more and more distant until...
THUD
...I was able the sound of a faint thud.
After a few minutes, I got up, picked up Zer0, and started walking my way out of the forest. It wasn't that hard to navigate seeing as the numerous fallen trees acted as a pathway. Once I found my way out, I saw six figures coming towards me in the distance.
"Legion!" Headmare Twilight said.
"Hey professors," I greeted.
"Where is it?! Where's the monster?!" Professor Dash asked angrily.
"Indeed. That ruffian needs to pay for messing with Sweetie Belle," Professor Rarity said.
"That no good varmint dared mess with my lil' sis!" Professor Applejack said.
"Relax professors. It's gone," I told them. They all had a bit of confusion.
"What? What did it-" Headmare Twilight said.
"I took care of it. It fell down a deep ravine. You don't have to worry," I interrupted before I fell down.
"Oh my! Legion, are you okay?" Professor Fluttershy asked.
"I'm fine professor. It managed to get a good hit or two while I was fighting it," I said.
"You WHAT?!" Headmare Twilight screamed.
"Welp. You're fucked."
"Why would you go and fight that thing?! You could've gotten seriously hurt!" Professor Applejack scolded.
"Yeah! It's no fun when somepony gets hurt by some meanie," Professor Pinkie said.
"Why would you do something so reckless?!" Professor Dash asked.
"I had to do what I could to protect the crusaders! Because it's...it's..." I trailed off.
That's when it hit me.
I risked my life against a Bane wannabe to protect the crusaders. I did the same against a Wolverine wannabe to protect my professors and Shimmy Shake. And both times, I faced against what should be impossible odds and it made me scared. But I still pushed forward despite that fear. All because it was to protect others. Almost as if it's...
"...my destiny," I said.
"Legion!"
I saw the crusaders approaching us, all running with tears in their eyes. I held my hoof out before they did what I thought they were gonna do.
"Please don't jump and tackle hug me. I'm still a bit sore here," I said to which they slowed down in front of me.
"Sniff. Legion. W-w-we thought we were gonna l-lose you to that s-scary monster," Applebloom said before dropping to the ground and crying. I walked over to her and wrapped my hoof around her, shushing her to calm her down.
"Hey hey...it's okay Applebloom. I'm fine and the monster's gone," I reassured her, "In fact, I feel like I should thank you. All three of you.
"But why?! We left you behind to fight that thing!" Sweetie Belle.
"Okay. A: I told you to leave me behind because it was after you three. And B: fighting that monster made me realize something. I risked my life twice so far so I can protect others. Not because I felt like I needed to, but because I wanted to. Don't you see crusaders? This is my destiny. This is what my cutie mark represents. This is the purpose in my life. Protecting others from danger, no matter what the odds are. So for that...thank you crusaders," I said before hugging all three of them.
"And I reckon I should thank you as well Legion," Professor Applejack said, "for protecting am lil' sis."
"Yeah. Thanks for protecting Scootaloo kid," Professor Dash said.
"Thank you darling, for protecting my little Sweetie Belle," Professor Rarity said.
I smiled and nodded to them.
"Um, Legion?" Headmare Twilight called to which I walked up to her, "The girls have described what this monster looks like. Do you think it's..."
My only response was to nod at her as we both thought the same thing.
King Sombra.
Third Person POV
"ARGH!" Sombra screamed, "How could one colt defeat two of my creations whereas the Elements were unable to?!"
He was watching his creation approaching the Elements' sisters, hoping to capture them so he can bargain for the Elements to give up or else. But instead, the same colt from before was there and he protected them. The colt led his creation through the Everfree Forest and tricked it into falling down a ravine. This angered him.
"Sombra," the figure said,
"WHAT?!" Sombra said.
"Jeez, no need to yell. But, anyway, this one was supposed to be like a body builder on steroids. What happened?" the figure asked.
"That same colt from before defeated it! That's what happened!" Sombra snarled.
"Interesting," the figured said so low that Sombra couldn't hear.
"We gotta do something about him. He's too dangerous to leave alone," Sombra said.
"No."
"WHAT?!" Sombra said. He couldn't believe it. There was colt out there that proved to be detrimental to his plans, but instead of taking care of him, he should leave him alone?!
"You heard me. We leave the colt alone," the figure sighed before turning around, "Look if you really wanna kill somepony, just send another one to a place that isn't Ponyville. One that can...oh I don't know...get the job done!"
And with that, the figure left, leaving Sombra even more frustrated and enraged.
Today has been a weird day so far. It all yesterday when Headmare Twilight showed us these artifacts that represented the pony, changeling, griffon, hippogriff, dragon, and yak tribes. There was the Amulent of Aurora, the Talismen of Mirage, the Helm of (I'm not even gonna attempt it), the Crown of Grover, (I'm not even gonna attempt it)'s Shell, and Clover the Clever's Cloak. In the middle of the lecture, Headmare Twilight's cutie mark started to glow for some reason. I wish the same applied for the smile on my cutie mark. The next day, not only the Headmare, but also the professors had to leave for a "friendship mission," whatever that is, leaving Spike and Counselor Starlight in charge. The next day, classes were taught by some...I'm just gonna say interesting...teachers.
Professor Fluttershy's class was taught by a grey minotaur named Iron Will, and I know because he kept saying stuff like "Iron Will this" and "Iron Will that." Let me tell you, this minotaur was the opposite of Professor Fluttershy. Not evil or anything, just...aggressive. He taught us that we had to be assertive in order to make people their friend. Yeah, I don't think he understands that's not what "making friends" means. He asked (more like told actually) Yona to demonstrate how to "make friends." At first Yona was her sweet, innocent self, but then Iron Will told her to act more convincing. She puffed air out of her nostrils and then yelled "be my friend" as if she's King Kong. Needless to say, everyone was intimidated by this teacher, while I did everything I could to hold in the liquid in the tank.
"You almost pissed yourself because a teacher was intimidating?"
Well...when you put it that way, but in my defense, I drank a full bottle of water before the class. At least he didn't call the principal's son an ass.
"Wait, what?"
Professor Dash's class was taught by...how should I say it...a complete ass. Like literally and metaphorically. The teacher was a donkey and he was an ass. In fact, I think his name was Cranky Doodle Donkey. No joke. This guy made us make sure he was pampered, like fanning him and bringing him food and drinks. And guess who had the misfortune of rubbing his hind hooves? Did I mention that this guy was old. What really made me think that this guy was high on crack, or had dementia, was when Gallus brought him his tea...three times. First, he said it was "too hot," then he he said it was "too cold," then he said it was "too tea-flavored." Too tea-flavored! What the fuck does that even mean?!
"Damn bro. I feel bad for you."
No amount of soup and water will make my hooves feel clean again. Bleach will have to do. Probably fire. You know what, I'm just gonna slice them off.
Headmare Twilight's substitute teacher was just...what the fuck? Her class was taught by...a tree. A fucking tree was our substitute. I'm not even kidding around, a tree was behind the teacher's desk. At least Silverstream had the courtesy to leave an apple on its desk.
"That doesn't sound too bad."
That's because you didn't let me finish. Apparently Smolder was allergic to whatever this tree was, because she started sneezing out fire blasts like crazy. Everything was on fire, the desks, the walls, the students...okay, I'm just exaggerating that last one because my coat was slightly singed afterwards.
"Okay. That sound bad."
This morning, Counselor Starlight announced that she hired some new substitute teachers, and the looked promising. One was a blue unicorn mare that had a toothpaste colored mane and tail, and a purple wizard hat and cloak with stars on them. The second was a grey earth pony mare that had a purple mane and tail, a blue dress, purple eye shadow, and the most emotionless look I've seen anypony-no...anybody have. The third was a yellow pegasus mare with a fiery mane and tail, sunglasses, and a drill sergeant uniform.
"Did you say they look promising just because they're ponies?"
...
No comment.
We were now in Headmare Twilight's amphitheater classroom waiting for the teacher, most likely the unicorn with the wizard get-up, when suddenly the door slammed open to reveal...wait a minute. Other than the red hoodie, the red hat, the grey shirt with the lightning bolt on it, and the blue jeans pulled down to show white underwear with red hearts on them (like seriously, don't ever have your pants pulled down in public because no one wants to see what your underwear looks like), this...thing looked...familiar.
"Yo! Greeting, fellow creatures," he said. He vanished suddenly before reappearing between me and Ocellus, "Is this seat taken?"
Ocellus chuckles nervously as I gave him a questioning star as we both back away. He then gave a look, as if he's telling me 'Hey, I know you.' A puff of smoke appeared on the stage, clearing away to reveal...yep...the unicorn mare looking like she came from Hogwarts.
Holy shit. She just appeared in a smoke cloud. She's a fucking ninja! Teach me your ways senpai!
"Welcome class," she said, "You may call me the Great and Powerful Professor Trix-"
RING
Wait, what?
"Shhh!" the familiar guy said, "Really, that's so inconsiderate."
RING
"Uh, excuse me. Dafuq?!"
Are there cellphones here and I was just too dumb to notice?!
The guy reached into a paper bag that a smiling sun and...Professor Fluttershy's face...on it and pulled out a banana that was...ringing?
"Oh, I better take this," he said before leaning down on the seats forcing me and Smolder to move, "Hello...Ugh, he did not...And what did you say...Gasp. You did not..."
"Is this guy seriously talking to a banana? I'm sorry to ask, but is he high? Is he gonna say 'I am the great Cornholio! I need TP for my bum hole!'"
Never mind that. Why does this guy look so familiar? Okay come on. Think. Goat head, eagle claw, lion paw, basically looking like something Viking and his girlfriend would have (I'm just kidding don't kill me). Come on! I felt like I met him before! But what is his name?!
"Discord," the professor said.
...
It's him. Discord. He's the one who brought me here.
"Why are you here?" the professor asked Discord as she pointed a hoof at him.
"Why, I'm a student of friendship of course. Unless you don't think you're good enough to teach me," he said.
"Of course I am," she said offended, "No fruit calls in my class."
Discord shrugged before peeling the banana, revealing an actual telephone before eating it. I payed no mind to that. I just gave him a look that said 'You're gonna answer some questions for me buddy, whether you want to or not.' He didn't seem to notice it thought, so I just turned back to the professor.
"Magic is the most important element of friendship. So today, I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, will put on a magic show," the professor said.
Talk about being boastful. Still, she said 'magic show.' Worth it!
Professor Trixie placed her hat on the ground and reached into it, pulling out...a pig with wings.
"When pigs fly, am I right?"
The professor pushed the pig back into her hat before pulling out...a grey pegasus with a blonde mane and mismatched eyes.
"Not gonna ask."
Again, she pushed the Pegasus back before pulling out-
"HOLY FUCKING SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING?!"
A BEAR THAT WAS THE SIZE OF GODZILLA AND LOOKED LIKE IT WAS MADE OF STARS?!
Me, as well as every other student, screamed in a panic, and ran out the door, but not before casting one last glance at Discord.
Professor Fluttershy's class was taught by the grey earth pony, named Maud, and let me tell you something. She sounded so bland and emotionless, you could fall asleep having a conversation with her, so I'm not gonna talk about her class. Legit everybody fell asleep, or at least Gallus did. There is one question I have though.
HOW THE FUCK IS SHE PROFESSOR PINKIE'S SISTER?!
Professor Dash's class was taught by the yellow pegasus named Spitfire. When I heard that name, I swear to God, my first thought was Skylanders Superchargers. Apparently, she's the captain of an aerial team called the Wonderbolts. I recall Professor Dash telling a story about that, about how she was nicknamed 'Crash' and she tried everything she can to be renamed, including acting like the other professors. God, I feel bad to whom ever she acted like Professor Rarity towards. Professor Rarity seems like the type that can easily charm others, if you know what I mean.
"I'd...rather not."
Professor Spitfire had us run laps around the buckball field. It was a great workout. We were now resting on the bleachers when, in a flash, Discird appeared in a gym coach uniform.
"Take a lap team," he told us.
"Uh, actually...we just finished Professor Spitfire's workout," Sandbar said.
"Sound like somepony needs a little motivation," he blew his whistle before behind us came-
"AW COME ON!"
A MIX BETWEEN A BEAR AND A BEE?!
It roared and tried to take a bite at us before we all ran and sprinted around the field.
"I've never run so fast in my life!" Silverstream cheered.
"Not the time to act all cheery Silverstream!" I said. Thank Christ I have wings.
"Yona...can't run...faster," I heard Yona say. I looked back just in time to see Yona trip over. The bug bear pointed its stinger and dive bombed towards her.
"Yona!" I said. I flew as fast as I could and slammed into the bear's torso. If only I had Zer0 I could do some serious damage, but I'm gonna have to make do with what I got. I flew to the bear's face and threw a flurry of punches at it. It tried to bite at me, but I easily dodged it. It threw swipe after swipe, and I just rarely dodged each of them. Due to how exhausted I was after running around a field so many times, it managed to backhand me. It was about to charge at me before a blue laser impacted it.
"Discord, that's enough! Endangering students crosses the line! I don't know why you're trying to ruin this school, but it stops now!" Counselor Starlight yelled.
"I wouldn't be so sure," Discord said winking.
"This is your last warning!" she said making her horn glow brightly.
"Hey, take it easy Starlight! Discord's your friend, remember?" Spike intervened.
"Well he's not acting like it. I mean, look at Legion. He's hurt because of him," Counselor Starlight said as I got up from the hit.
"Sigh. She's right Discord. What's your problem?" Spike asked.
"My problem? How is the fact that Twilight decided that putting an incompetent, power hungry unicorn in charge of her school my problem?!" Discord asked.
"Welp. He's fucked."
Counselor Starlight gasped before shooting out a laser that could rival the Death Star.
Guess what? Laser beam!
"Imma firing my laser! BOOM!"
When the laser dissipated, Discord was no where to be found.
"Holy shit! Did she just kill him?!"
"Heh heh. Don't worry. I just banished him from the school grounds forever. He's fine," Counselor Starlight said before walking over to me, "Are you alright Legion?"
"I'm fine Counselor, it'll take more than a slap from a bug bear to take me down," I said.
"Even so, I think I should still take you to the doctor. Just to be sure," she said.
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," I said.
"For this afternoon's Spell-Venger Hunt, you'll need to use the artifacts' history to find where they're hidden in the castle. When you spot one, touch it with a magic shield to keep track of your score," Counselor Starlight said.
"Twilight left out a list of your hunt partners before she left. I'll pass out the shields," Spike said as he displayed a list of partners. After I received my shield, I checked the list to see who my partner was. I then walked up to Shimmy Shake.
"I guess you're my partner for this game Shimmy," I said to which she blushed a bit.
"R-really?" she asked excitedly to which I nodded.
"Come on, I think I know where the first artifact would be located," I said. As we were walking, I noticed in my peripheral vision that she was fidgeting a bit, almost acting nervous. I also noticed that every so often, she would move a hair close to me.
"Shimmy? Are you okay?" I asked snapping her out of her thoughts.
"O-oh um...I-I'm fine. Just tired," she said. I knew something was bothering her. I just didn't feel right pressuring her into telling me her problem.
We eventually reached filled with classic medieval styled suits of armor made for ponies.
"If I recall...um...Lick...Shire...was a yak warrior whose enemies would surrender just at the sight of him. It's possible that his helmet is hidden in one of these suits of armor. But which one?" I said. I saw it immediately. It was literally resting on the head of one of the suits of armor.
"I don't really know whether to call it clever for hiding it in plain sight, or just being lazy?"
I'd probably go for the former.
"Huh. That was easy," I said as we touched it with our shields, "One down, five more to go."
As we were walking away, I heard the sound of clanging metal behind us. We turned around and saw that the suit of armor... was moving? The hole where the eyes would be showed two yellow glow eyes.
"Let me guess, magic?"
"What the..." I whispered before it suddenly lunged at us to which we dodged out of the way. The suit then took one of axes on the walls...
Oh come on. There's no way that axe is real.
...and slammed it onto the ground, making the floor crack. It was a real axe.
Me and my big mouth.
"Shimmy, get behind me!" I said as we slowly back up.
"What are your doing?! Fight it!
Do you really think I can fight a suit of armor that's wielding an axe while I'm unarmed?!
"You do realize there's other axes here!"
Well fuck! I have the brain of an avocado! I ran up to one of the axes and picked it up. Jesus Christ, it was heavy! This is why I use katanas! How do warriors use these things?!
"Then again, these were yak warriors, and you've seen how strong Yona is."
True, and this axe isn't something I can't handle. Unfortunately, I don't think I can easily dodge as much carrying this thing, so instead of being evasive, I'm gonna have to be more defensive. The suit lunged at me with its axe raised before bringing it down. I raised up my axe and blocked it. I gave a good kick in its torso, making it stumble back a bit and hurting my own hoof. It charged at me again, to which I dodged out of the way and swiped at it, getting a good hit on its mid-section. It turned around and actually threw the axe at me. I swiped my own axe and deflected it before charging at the suit and smashing it to pieces.
"Wow, this was the shortest fight you've said so far."
I'm terrible at writing fight scenes okay? Hopefully I don't get an ass whooping for destruction of school property. At the least the Helm of...whatever...is intact.
"Shimmy, are you alright?" I said as I walked up to her.
"I-I'm fine," she said before we heard more screams from down the hallway. We ran and entered the lobby to see more suits of armor running around, random paintings, flying after students, and Silverstream and Gallus pulling Sandbar and Yona out of a sandpit.
"B-b-but the school is haunted!" Silverstream said.
"It's not haunted. It's Discord," Counselor Starlight said. In a flash of light, everything turned back to normal. No moving suits of armor, no flying paintings, no sand pit. There was though Discord's ghost carrying all the artifacts.
"Headmare Starlight, look at me! Look! I won the Spell-Venger Hunt," he said, "Well done me. Now what's my prize?"
"Detention," Spike said sternly.
"Ooh. Somebody's in trouble," I whispered mockingly to Shimmy.
"Well, that's disappointing," Discord said he threw the artifacts into the air to which Spike caught.
"Discord, you can't keep messing up the school," Counselor Starlight said.
"On the contrary, I think I rather can, and will," he said.
"Then I have just one thing to say to you," she said.
"Well do go on," he said.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"What?" Discord said confused.
"Excuse me?"
The counselor fired a beam at Discord and he suddenly became tangible.
"I had to stop thinking like a headmare and start thinking like a guidance counselor to finally understand. You felt left out."
"E-erm u-u-um, I-I don't know what you're getting at."
"Nopony ever invited you to the school, and when you offered to help, I didn't listen. I was so worried about doing things Twilight's way, I didn't stop to think about being a good friend. I'd like to apologize for that, and offer you the job of vice-headmare."
"Huh?!"
Later that day
"DeffBwade, are you alright? You haven't said much since Counselor Starlight apologized to Discord."
Huh? O-oh, I'm fine. Just...thinking.
"About what?"
I-it's...not important. Just trivial stuff.
"Oookay. If you say so."
Anyway, after the counselor dubbed Discord as vice-headmare, the professors returned from their mission. Apparently, Discord sent them on a fake friendship quest. A glamour spell on their cutie marks, a fake signal on a map, and a cave filled with, as Professor Pinkie says, "eyeless worm things." So because of that, Discord is no longer vice-headmare, and then he left.
"Get rekt."
But...I never got to ask him...
"Why did he send me here?"
As I approached my dorm room, I saw a piece of paper taped on the door. I knew who it belonged to when I read it. It said:
Apparently, but how do fuck do ponies bowl? How do they hold it?
"The same way ponies hold everything else."
Oh right.
Sandbar and Gallus have invited me to a game of bowling, like a little time away from the girls. At least that's what Gallus said. Needless to say, I was hyped. I haven't played bowling for years. We went all out by buying bowling shirts and gloves.
"Tryhards. Also, ponies wear gloves?"
Apparently. We entered the bowling alley, and the nostalgia wave just washed all over me. Everything brought back so many memories from my childhood. The sound of bowling balls knocking over pins, the sight of bowling lanes and a snack bar, the disgusting smell of bowling shoes...
Huh. I never noticed that. Oh god, imagine all of the disgusting stuff everybody has stepped. No, scratch, imagine all of the disgusting stuff I stepped on. I could've stepped dead bugs and fly poop and I didn't even notice.
"You guys go pick a lane. I'm gonna go get some snacks for us," Gallus said as he flew away to the snack bar, leaving me and Sandbar.
"Oh my stars. It has been too long since I've been to a place like this," I said aloud.
"You've played bowling before?" Sandbar asked.
"Mmhm. Many times when I was young. Whenever my uncle and aunt visited me in Baltimare, they would take me, my brother, and my cousins to the bowling alley for a little competition," I chuckled, "One of my cousins was so young, 6 or 7 I believe, he had to rely on my uncle to help him play. I don't really remember all that much, but I'm just gonna say I won most of them."
"Well, I guess that makes you the expert of our team then," Sandbar chuckled as he looked at the available lanes, "Alright, it seems 2 lanes are taken already. Legion, pick a number between 1-5."
"Um, pi," I joked to which Sandbar gave me a questioning look, "What? You said between 1-5, and pi equals 3.1459."
"Ha ha, very funny. Ho ho, what a laugh."
Admit it, you thought that joke was funny.
"I pick 3," I said. We up to the stallion behind the desk and registered for lane 3. We gave the bits before he gave us our bowling balls. Sandbar's ball was a lime green, Gallus's was a light blue, and mine was black. We went to our lane registered our names, with Sandbar as 'SAN', Gallus as 'GAL', and me as 'LEG'.
"I never understood why they only you to input only three letters for eac person's name."
I know right? Remember the Looney Tunes Show, specifically the episode where Daffy, Porky, Pete, and Marvin join a bowling tournament? Daffy tried to have the names 'The Porkinator', 'The Petinator', 'The Marvinator', and 'Poobah the Great'. What he got instead was 'THE', 'THE', 'THE', and 'POO'.
"I claim this planet in the name of Mars."
What's with the nostalgia trip today?
After a few minutes of waiting, Gallus finally came back with nachos and some sodas. Normally, I'm not really a fan of nachos, but today I'm willing to suck it up.
"Alright, Sandbar. You're up first," I said.
Sandbar grabbed his bowling ball and stepped up to the lane as Gallus and I gave him words of encouragement. He got a running start, reared his hoof back, threw the ball, and...got a gutter.
"It's alright man. This is just the warmup round," I said, "Gallus, you're turn."
"Let me show you guys how the master does it," Gallus said with a cocky grin. He picked up his ball...
Hey, that's not fair! He has the advantage because he fingers!
...got into a running start, reared his claws back, threw the ball, and-
STRIKE
...he...he threw the ball at another lane.
"Sooo...is that how the master does it?" I asked with a smirk.
"Like you said, this is just a warmup round," Gallus said as he handed me my ball, "You're turn."
"Alright. If I suck, don't blame me because I haven't played bowling in years," I said.
God, this is gonna be a disaster. Okay, just remember. It's all about the direction of your throw, and how hard you throw it. I think. I don't know.
I got into a running start, reared my hoof back, threw the ball, and-
STRIKE
...actually got a strike?!
"Let's go!" I cheered. I looked back to see Sandbar and Gallus with wide eyes and jaws agape.
I'm unstoppable! I've still got the touch of the bowling gods!
"You might wanna rephrase that."
I'd only have to if you were dirty minded. Sandbar and Gallus have been getting spares, strikes, and gutters. Me? I've been getting strike after strike, as well as a few spares, for the next 9 turns.
"Okay, didn't you say earlier that it's been years since you've played?!" Gallus asked.
"Yeah," I simply said.
"Then how are you so good at this?!" Gallus asked to which I just shrugged.
"Man, I've only seen one group of ponies that's as good as you," Sandbar said.
"Who?" I asked,
"I think he's talking about us," a surfer-like voice said.
I turned and saw a trio of tan colored stallions giving me an impressed look. One had a blonde mane, tail, and goatee, a cutie mark of a carpet, and a blue suit and red tie with bowling pins on them. The second had a brown mane, tail, and beard, a blue bandana, orange glasses, and a grey suit and yellow tie. The third had a brown mane and tail, an orange button-up shirt, and chest popping out of it.
"Ponies can actually grow facial hair and chest hair? That sounds...weird."
Remind to buy shaving equipment after this.
"Your friends right man. You've got some gnarly skills," blondie said.
"Did this guy just say 'gnarly'?"
"What's your name man?" he asked.
"Legion," I said as I then pointed at my friends, "and these two are my friends, Gallus and Sandbar.
"You can just call me 'The Dude', he said.
"Ookay, if that's what you want," I said.
"Who refers to themselves as 'The Dude'?"
The only other dude that refers himself as 'The Dude' is the Dude from the Postal games. Remember that game dude?
"You're starting to give me a fucking brain aneurysm."
"In all my years I've bowled, I've never seen someone so young have such gnarly skills. No offense at anything," he said to Gallus and Sandbar before turning back to me, "How's about you and me have a quick 5 round competition?"
"Eh, why not?" I shrugged.
The competition between me and the Dude has been intense so far, but I've prevailed to not be able to lose miserably. It was the final, and it was my turn. This throw will determine the winner of the game, and it all rests on my shoulders. Unfortunately, I got the worst of the worst. The bane of all bowler's existence. The mother of all pin positions.
"A seven ten split compadre. The harshest of the harsh, but if you can hit this, you win," the Dude said.
"You got this Legion!" Sandbar cheered.
"No pressure dude," Gallus said.
"Saying 'no pressure', gives me pressure!" I said. I took a deep breathe. I had to be sure my stance was relaxed, I throw at the right angle, and with the right amount of power.
"No press-"
What did I just say?! Okay, I got this. Move a tad bit to the right, aim at the left pin at a 75o angle, make sure I don't throw too hard nor too soft, maybe about-
"Just throw the fucking ball already!"
I took a running start, lifted up my hoof, and threw the ball. It hit the left pin, making it stumble towards the right pin. This was it, luck will determine once and for all who's the winner. It stumbled towards it some more, it was slowling down, it leaned towards the other pin, and-
THUMP
...it fell the other way.
"Dang it!" I said before I turned back to the Dude, "I guess luck wasn't on my side today."
"It's alright man. You still played a pretty good game. The most important part of any game is to have fun," the Dude said.
"Yeah, I know," I said as I held out a hoof, "Good game man. Good game."
"Good game," he said as he shook my hoof, "Hey, if you're down for it, we could have another competition some time."
"I'll think about it," I said before Sandbar, Gallus, and I returned our bowling balls and left the bowling alley.
Oh right. I didn't think about that. Just one question. What the fuck should I do?!
"I don't know. Don't you have homework to do?"
Finished it.
"Your shift at Sugarcube Corner?"
It's the weekend.
"Help out at Sweet Apple Acres? Challenge the Dude to another bowling match? Practice with your sword?"
I don't feel like doing anything physical today.
"Play with Button Mash at the arcade? Hang out with your friends?"
I already do that every week.
"Oh come on! I don't have any more suggestions! What do you want me to do?!"
Give me something new to do. Something that doesn't require physical activity.
"Okay hold on. Something new, and something that doesn't require physical activity. Um...read a book."
I don't wanna...hmm.
"What?"
Actually, maybe that's a good idea. Yeah. I think I'm gonna go read a book. And who knows? Maybe it could be fun.
"Fun? You're actually considering my idea of reading a book fun? Don't take this the wrong way, but what is wrong with you?"
Hey, this world might have some interesting stories just like on Earth. There were even websites dedicated to writing stories, although to be fair they were all fanfics that people made to express their love about certain shows. Some even star themselves as the main character and write about them going on awesome adventures.
"What in God's name are you talking about?"
Nothing. And besides, reading is only fun if you chose to do it on your own terms. If a teacher gives you homework to read, then it takes the fun out of it because you're required to read and you can't go at your own pace. Seriously, I was required to read 50 pages of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre within two days. Have you seen how long each page is?! And don't even get me started on the book's plot! It's about an orphan girl who runs away and finds love. That's pretty much it. I'm down for romance in books, but only if it's not what the whole book is about. Otherwise, it's kind of a yawn.
"Okay, enough to of this! Who do you think you are, the Nostalgia Critic? The Angry Video Game Nerd?"
None of those two even do book reviews.
"That's not the point! This isn't some kind of book review! Now go find a book to read and silently judge everything from a scale of 1 to 10."
You're right. To the library!
I walked into the library to see the abundant number of books strewn across every shelf. Shelves of books covered the walls, both top and bottom floor, and there even more shelves across the room holding even more books. It's gonna take forever to chose one that's good. Luckily for me, they were separated and organized by genre. I immediately flew to the action section and started to comb through it. If nothing interested me here, then I'll search in the horror, drama, and mystery sections next. One book caught my attention. I took it out and examined the green covered book.
"Daring Do and the Quest of the Sapphire Stone," I told myself, "Okay. Looks promising so far. It has a nice cover art."
The book depicted the title text in big letters across a scroll. It showed a pegasus mare with yellow fur, a black and grey mane and tail, a cutie mark of a compass, and an explorer's hat and uniform. The mare was holding a stone, presumably made of sapphire, in one hoof while swinging away with a rope away from some alligators...crocodiles...I can never tell the fucking difference...that swimming around in...water...lava? Whatever. One thing boggled me though.
Why does she look like Professor Dash, just recolored?!
Is Professor Dash also a treasure hunter?!
"Gasp. Just like Indiana Jones!"
My thoughts exactly! To hell with it, I'm interested. I took the book and sat down on table, and started reading.
As Daring trekked thought the tropical jungle, the wet heat zapped her energy and slowed her every step. If only she could escape this oppressive atmosphere and fly up to the cool blue sky, but her crash landing in the jungle injured her wing and she was grounded for a few days. A few days. It might as well been a few months, or a few years. The mosquitos buzzed loudly, the macaws cried from the high trees, yet all of these distracting noises were not enough to cover the sound of the predators following her every step.
As Daring Do ran through the forest, the predators continued to give chase. She hopped over a lot with a smile on her face in hopes of hiding from them, and eventually losing them. She ducked down and turned around, only to bump her muzzle with a tiger, one of the predators chasing her. It growled and tried to bite at her, only for Daring Do to duck just in time and jump back, a relieved smile on her face.
She turned around to the sound of footsteps to see another predator, a black panther.
"Wakanda forever!"
Rest in peace, Chadwick Boseman.
The panther roared, making Daring give a look of worry. The look became more prominent as three more predators surrounded her, including...a white kitty cat. Seeing this brought back the confidence in Daring. As the kitty hissed at her, she easily leapt over it and running further into the forest, the predators giving chase immediately afterwards. She zig zagged between the trees, then looked back to see the predators running. She looked forward and stopped just in time, as she was about to fall into a ravine. She heard the sounds of growling and looked back to see the predators coming closer and closer. Daring leapt and grabbed onto a nearby vine, swinging to the other side of the ravine. She smiled and gave a salute to her chasers, who stopped at the edge.
Safely landing on the other side, Daring finally allowed herself a moment to breath. She turned around to find herself face to face with the long lost temple that she had sought tirelessly for 60 days and nights.
"Holy shit."
You thinking what I'm thinking?
"I know exactly what you're thinking."
Why is there a kitty cat in the middle of the tropical rainforest?/"This mare is exactly like Indiana Jones!"
"What?"
Uuuh I mean, yeah, this mare is exactly like Indiana Jones.
Torches aligned on the wall of the temple. The smell of decay and danger hit Daring Do as she peered into the dimly lit entrance of the temple. She proceeded forward, unaware of the glowing red eyes watching her from within the walls. Many bugs were crawling across the floor, but that didn't worry her. What did worry her was the skeleton lying on the ground, rotting and crawling with more bugs.
As she observed her surroundings, she wasn't paying attention to where she was going, as she suddenly stepped on a pressure. She heard the sound of gears grinding to her right, and she ducked down just in time as a flurry of axes were shot at where her head was at. A bead of sweat ran down her face as stared at the axes that nearly decapitated her, now stuck in the wall.
Daring heard more gears grinding, this time from below her. The ground suddenly opened up, but fortunately she was quite flexible and was able to stretch across. She moved away just in time for fire to erupt from the hole. She ducked down when a trio of alligators came down from the ceiling and started biting at her. She jumped out of way of a swinging axe, and dodged each and every arrow shot at her.
Spikes started to burst from the ground, so Daring did front flip after front flip and dodged them all. She saw that the door ahead of her was starting to close, so with all her might, she ran forward, dodging more spikes that erupted. She sled down and moved out of the way just in time for the door to close. She got up, wiped her brow, and gave a sigh of relief...only to step on another pressure plate, making her groan in frustration.
She dodged every single obstacle thrown at her and sled under the now closed door, holding her hat that now had arrows pierced into it with her mouth. She shook the arrows off and put her hat back on. She looked up at a hole in a ceiling, the light shining through it moving towards something sitting on a pedestal. At last, she was face to face with the legendary Sapphire Statue. Her eyes sparked at the sight as she gave a large smile.
She was about step forward when she noticed the pattern scattered across the ground. She looked around and noticed the tiny holes on the walls. Knowing what would happen, she kicked a rock onto of the patterns. It activated a pressure plate, and dozens of arrows rapidly shot out from the wall. Not wanting the same to happen her, Daring observed the plates closely. They all depicted pictures of animals.
"Hm, there must be a pattern here. What do all these animals have in common?" Daring asked herself. There were pictures of tigers, eagles, lions, and-
That's when it hit her.
"Aha! These animals are all predators, except...rats!" she exclaimed.
With sweat running down her face, she closed her eyes and placed a hoof on a rat plate. Not hearing the sounds of arrows, she sigh in relief and started hopping between each and every rat plate. She front flipped on the last plate onto the platform with the pedestal, as well as the statue. She got up as she took off her hat with her mouth agape, as she finally became face to face with the Sapphire Statue.
"Oh man. I bet she's gonna do what Indie did to retrieve the idol in the beginning of the first movie. She's gonna take a bag of sand and replace the statue with that."
Uum...nope. Says here she just took it off the pedestal.
"Aww."
After putting the statue in her hat, she started to hear more gears grinding. She looked back to see another pressure plate on the pedestal. The ground started to rumble as the ceiling began to collapse. She was about to run back the way she back when suddenly the ground erupted and revealed a pool of lava below. She backed up onto the platform as the lave slowly raised higher and higher. She was starting to run at of ground. Daring looked back up to the hole in the ceiling, and with all her might, jumped from platform to platform, before giving one final leap and grabbed onto the edge of the hole. She climbed up, only for steam to burst out, launching her into the air.
She landed on the grounded with the statue landing in front of her, when suddenly a large paw stomped next to it. She looked and saw another cat larger than the ones chasing her. He was dark blue and light blue in color, had small eyes, a hand as a tail, and was wearing Egyptian-like regalia.
"You thought you could evade me and capture the relic for yourself, but you were sadly mistaken Ms. Do," he said as he picked up the statue, "And now, you shall meet your doom!"
He blew a whistle that resembled a cat, before Daring found herself surrounded by the predators as the cat let out a maniacal laugh.
Later, Daring Do found herself tied down surrounded by the predators.
"Wait, what?"
Maybe I should find...what was her name...A.K. Yearling, and ask her to please reword that because that just sounds wrong.
"Yes. Please do that."
"You won't get away with this Ahuizotl," Daring said as she struggled to break free.
"But I already have," Ahuizotl said before pulling a lever, causing to ground to rumble to which Daring have another groan of frustration.
"Not again!" she said.
Ahuizotl waved and ran out with the other predators. Spikes shot out from the walls as they started to slowly close. Spiders and snakes crawled out from holes in the wall. Sans started pouring at onto the ground.
"Quicksand," Daring said as she struggled.
"Woah hold up! Spikes, closing walls, spiders, snakes, and quicksand?! Isn't that overkill?! What kind of people used these temples?!"
I don't know man. I don't fucking know. Just roll with it.
With all her might, Daring pushed her hat to her hind hooves. She bit down on the hat as she pulled it using her hooves, before using it as a make shift sling shot. Her bounced on the walls. As she took a deep breathe, the hat bounced onto the lever, pushing it up and making the walls retract and the quicksand draining away.
"Defying the laws of physics. Sweet."
First of all, this is fiction. Second of all, Professor Pinkie.
What about me?
Gah! Professor Pinkie...please don't interrupt my thoughts.
Okie dokie lokie.
Anyway, the ending was pretty basic. Daring escapes the trap, retrieves the statue, Ahuizotl curses her, and Daring Do makes off into the sunset. In conclusion, the story was good, the characters were likable, but the ending was...eh. My final rating would be...not great, but not bad either. Something I would recommend.
"You said this wasn't a book review."
No, I agreed with you about this not being a book review on Jane Eyre.
"Sigh. Anyway, I think you should head to your room. Your professors would whoop your ass if they caught you awake way past curfew."
It was now Monday morning, and Headmare Twilight called an all-school meeting (Emergency meeting! Professor Dash is the imposter!). We entered the amphitheater to see the professors sitting in one row, the headmare standing on the stage, and next to her was another pony. And holy shit! This pony was massive. He was like twice the size of Headmare Twilight! He was an earth pony with green blue fur, an amber and yellow mane, tail, and beard, purplish eyes, a cutie mark of a trio of triangles intertwined with each other, a shovel, and armor that vikings would wear.
"What armor would Viking wear exactly?"
No, no. Not my friend Viking. The vikings. You know, the barbaric warriors like from the How to Train Your Dragon movies. This pony even spoke like a viking. One thought rang through mind looking at him.
Holy shit. This guy is practically the Thor of Equestria! We just need to dye his hair blonde and give him a hammer.
Anyway, Headmare Twilight explained that he had no place in his old home since it turned into some sort of excavation site for artifacts to preserve. So, she decided to hire him to work at the school.
"So join me welcoming Professor Rockhoof to our faculty," Headmare Twilight announced to which we all cheered and clapped.
"Don't you find it a bit weird to clap with hooves."
Well, it's more like stomping my fore hooves on the ground.
"Thank you. Thank you all. I know I'm new to your world, but there's one thing I learned when I saved my village from a rushing river of hot lava," Professor Rockhoof said to which we grew interested in, especially me, "There's nothing you can't do without hard work. And a shovel!"
He then grabbed his shovel with his mouth and stuck it into the stage, making us gasp, before it started to break some more and then collapsing, along with him.
"Except maybe stand on stage," Smolder said.
"Did she just call him fat?"
I prefer to use the term 'big boy'.
"I'd...rather you didn't."
The stage collapsed so much that only Professor Rockhoof's head was still visible. Spike ran up to him and tried to pull him out, before Headmare Twilight simply used her levitation.
"So um...every creature dismissed. We'll...see you in class," she said to which we got up and left.
"Why do I feel like there's gonna be a bit of disaster?"
You and me both.
"You think that new pony is gonna be the weirdest teacher in school, or just one of the weirdest?" Smolder asked as we were walking into class.
"If you really wanna see weird, you should spend some time with the friends I made before moving to Ponyville," I said.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"The only way you'll see is if you spend time with them," I said.
"Yona like new teacher. He big...like Yak!" Yona said.
"And he smashes things like a yak. And he smells like Yak," Gallus said.
"Yes! He perfect!" Yona said, eyes sparkling.
"Guys, he's one of the Pillars! He's like...pony history!" Sandbar said.
"The Pillars? Who are they?" I asked to which everybody gasped.
"You done fucked up."
"You don't know who the Pillars are?!" Ocellus asked.
"Um...no?" I responded.
"B-but...they're like...legendary! How could you not know who they are?!" Sandbar asked.
"I um...I didn't pay much attention in history class," I said.
"You've been here for almost two months!"
"Oh we are so telling you the stories about the Pillars sometime!" Smolder said.
I'd...rather not learn history outside of class.
"Hello class!" Professor Rockhoof announced before bursting through the door Kool-Aid Man style.
"Oh yeah!"
"Well um...I'm uh...your new Theory in Defense of Friendship teacher," he said. He leaned on the desk, making it creak as it threatened to break, "But uh...I haven't had a chance to look at Headmare Twilight's notes yet. What have y'all been learning?"
"This is where you take advantage of the teacher."
Um...we've been learning about how video games can help people work together.
"We just studied all about how Princess Celestia and Luna used a spell to trap Discord in stone sleep for hundreds of moons," Ocellus said giving a cute smile.
"Wait, did she just say Discord was encased in stone hundreds of moons?"
Um...how long is a moon exactly?
"Hold on, let me check."
...
"According to Yahoo Answers, one full moon is about one month."
So...Discord...was...encased in stone...
"...FOR HUNDREDS OF MONTHS?!"
That's a fate worse than death. He better not have been sentient during that time.
"I don't even wanna think about that."
"Oh ho ho ho ho. So it's a class about stories, is it?" Professor Rockhoof asked.
"Stories! Yeah! And we never ever ever get homework," Gallus said.
"Gallus has the right idea."
"Good. The best way to teach colts and fillies is by experience," the professor said.
This guy get's it. I mean, I didn't get skilled with a sword just by reading a book or watching YouTube.
"Like the time I was in the woods, and ran across and Ursa Major," he said.
"Really?!" Silverstream asked excited.
"We're not doing that right?" Sandbar asked.
"You fight Ursa Major? All alone?" Yona asked to which the professor nodded.
"And I defeated her too," he said.
"Now this I'm interested," Smolder said.
"Yes please keep talking," I said.
"How Professor Rockhoof win?!" Yona asked.
"Well, that's quite the tale," he said.
"Why did you skip ahead?! I was actually interested in how he defeated a bear the size of Godzilla!"
Because I simply don't have the patience to write the entire story. He did say it was quite the tale.
"I have time!"
My story, my rules.
"STOP BREAKING THE FOURTH WALL!"
Yeah, that's my job!
And mine!
What the-?! Who are you??
Name's Deapool. The merc with the mouth. The regenerate degenerate. The-
Let me stop you right there. Okay, first of all, big fan of your video game and movies. Second of all, why the hell are you here?! You're not part of this!
If I'm not part of this, then why is my dialogue being written right now?
Because you're-! Because I'm-! ARGH!
My point exactly.
Sigh. Look, if I stop breaking the fourth wall, will you please get out of here? You and Professor Pinkie? And I mean for the rest of the story.
Okie dokie lokie.
I don't know. What's in it for me?
I'll buy you a Naruto swimsuit figurine.
Deal! It better be of Sakura or Ino. Preferably Ino.
Fine! Whatever! Just leave!
POOF
"Are you actually gonna buy him a figurine?"
Hell no. I know exactly what he's gonna use it for.
"Dodge! Thrust! Shovel leap! Shovel throw! Shovel whack! Now you lot be the Ursa Major. Lots of growling in mind," Professor Rockhoof said to which Gallus, Yona, and Silverstream started growling.
"Oh oh oh! What happened next?!" Yona asked.
"The huge beastie jumped out of the moon like mist. Her fearsome fangs at my throat! But I rolled clear," he said rolling into a window.
"Then what?!" Silverstream asked.
"She backed me up against a wall, ready to pounce," he said, making us gasp, "I looked at her, and she looked at me. And I said-"
"Uh Professor Rockhoof?"
"Nope! Guess again!" he said before turning Headmare Twilight and Professor Applejack standing in the doorway, "Uh oops."
"Sorry to interrupt," Headmare Twilight said, "Class, why don't we go ahead and take lunch early today?"
"No! I already didn't hear like the first half the story!"
"Professor Rockhoof best teacher ever!" Yona sighed, "Day cannot get better!"
CRASH
"OH YEAH!"
"Let's get you outside, wee ones," Professor Rockhoof said picking up Yona with his shovel.
"Day just got better!" Yona said as she was scooped up and thrown outside. Professor Rockhoof then picked up Silverstream, and then Ocellus, Sandbar, and Gallus, and then everyone else.
"Rockhoof?!" Professor Applejack exclaimed.
"What are you doing?!" Headmare Twilight exclaimed.
"Saving the school!" Professor Rockhoof said before breaking the fountain and redirecting the stream into a couple of fires seen coming out from some windows, "Just like fighting a volcano in the good ol days!"
"Would someone kindly explain what is the meaning of all this water?!" Professor Rarity, who's mane was all drenched and hanging down, asked as the fires died down.
"I'm not sure. But I think it's...surfs up!" Professor Pinkie said as she took out a surfboard and started riding the water, "WOOHOO! COWABUGA!"
"Cowabunga? This isn't TMNT?"
"Sorry Rarity, but I had to put out the raging inferno," Professor Rockhoof said.
"Inferno? Where?" Spike said as he and Smolder walked up.
"Did you not the smoking flames?"
"Yeah, that was us. You know, dragons? Having a fire breathing competition?" Smolder said.
"You...what?"
"They do it all the time. That's what we were trying to tell you," Headmare Twilight said.
"You guys have fire breathing competitions indoors? Isn't that dangerous?" I asked Spike and Smolder.
"That's why we breath out of windows," Spike said.
"We know you're used to being a hero Rockhoof. Only, what we need here is a teacher," Professor Applejack said, making Professor Rockhoof lower his head in shame.
"One who doesn't ruin an entire class's friendship quilts. Do you know how hard it is to stitch a pineapple pattern?!" Professor Rarity said.
"My deepest apologies. I'm not used to living with dragons, or much else in this modern time. Professor Fossil made it clear...I'm not welcome back in my old village. Seems like I don't belong here either," Professor Rockhoof apologized before walking away.
"WEEEE!" Professor Pinkie said still riding the non-waving water.
Apparently Rockhoof still has trouble fitting in with society.
As I was cleaning at Sugarcube Corner, I saw outside Rockhoof sprinting with a cart hoisted on his back and wearing a delivery hat. He was aksing aloud where Cranky Doodle Donkey was, and that he needed to deliver his ointment. He needed to cure, and I quote from Rockhoof himself, "a rash in a very embarrassing place."
...
I was so close to cracking open my skull and dumping soap all over my brain, in hopes of erasing that memory. I already rubbed his dirty hooves. I don't need to hear about what STDs he has.
The next day, I was walking through Ponyville minding my own business. I passed by the local spa, when I suddenly a very high pitched scream. The doors to the spa opened up, and a very muscular pegasus stallion with tiny wings came running out, still screaming like a girl. A second later, Rockhoof came walking out wearing a spa uniform. Guess he doesn't know his own strength.
"Did you hear that Rockhoof caught all the bees in the Everfree Forest and gave them to Zecora as a gift?" Sandbar asked.
"Wow! Terramar said Rockhoof called out the stars and sunk the whole Hippogriff Navy!" Silverstream cheered.
Silverstream, you're a good friend and all, but I worry about you sometimes.
"He's definitely weird, but in a fun way. You never what's gonna happen next with him," Smolder said.
"Professor Rockhoof best pony!" Yona said.
"Hey class," Spike said as he walked in, "Welcome to Theory of Defense in Friendship."
"Another sub? Let me start by telling you that we don't get homework and we only do field trips," Gallus said as he leaned back on his chair.
"You made it too obvious," I whispered to him.
"Yeah, nice try," Spike said to which Gallus rolled his eyes, "Twilight sent me to tell you she won't be in today because she has to cast a stone sleep spell on Rockhoof."
This made everyone gasp.
"Like Discord?! But why?! Rockhoof isn't a bad guy!" Ocellus said.
"That's a fate worse than death," I said to myself.
Spike just shrugged at Ocellus's question.
"Your instructions are to write an essay on heroism and what it means to you," he said.
"No," Yona quietly complained.
"Don't worry. It doesn't have to be a long essay," he said before starting to read a newspaper.
Later that evening
So as it turned, that essay we were given ended up saving the day. Yona wrote about how she didn't fit in how first, but then she met her friends and Professor Rockhoof, and how he was strong and brave and how she wanted to be like him when she grows up. This convinced Rockhoof to at least finish the story about the Ursa Major.
"And I say 'Sorry, you won't be having any dinner tonight lass. Guess you'll just have to grin and bear it'," he joked to which everybody else laughed. I just made a face that said 'wow', "And then, I tossed her away with my shovel, higher than the sky. And she's been in constellation up there ever since. Or so I'm told. And that's the end of my story."
One question. How the fuck did you throw Bear-zilla higher than the sky?! I swear, this guy's like...God. He really is the Thor of Equestria.
"One more story! One more story!" everybody, and I mean everybody, from the students to the professors, cheered.
"No, no. Thank you for listening, but it's time to say goodbye," Rockhoof said as he walked up to Headmare Twilight.
"Wait. You said there wasn't anything in this time you were good at. What about telling stories?" she asked.
"It was just a tall tale."
"One that captured the hearts and the imagination of every creature here."
"Plus, pony's story super fun," Yona asked to which everybody cheered in agreement.
"As the Princess of Friendship, I'd like to appoint you as Equestria's official keeper of tales."
"Can you do that?" Spike asked to which Headmare Twilight shrugged.
"As Star Butterfly once said, "I'm a princess. I can do what I want."
"I uh...that's very kind of you, but I still think these old bones are more suited to a museum display."
"You are a living record of our history. Your stories can inspire and teach generations to come. If you're a statue, that's all lost."
"W-will I ever really belong in your world?"
"Rockhoof's Yona's friend, so Rockhoof belongs," Yona said.
"You know, that reminds me of another story. Once there was a small yak that knew more than a great hero."
"Hey, don't forget the dragons in this one," Smolder said.
"There were dragons. And ponies. And plenty of hippogriffs. Plus, a changeling and a griffon..."
"Is no one gonna tell me the first half of the Ursa Major story?!"
I think the bigger question is did you really use Yahoo Answers earlier?
"Come on guys, do we really have to do this?" I asked my friends.
"Yeah," they all said at the same time.
"I did tell you we were gonna teach you about the Pillars sooner or later," Smolder said to which I sighed.
"Okay fine. Who's first," I asked.
Oh oh! Yona wanna talk about Rockhoof!" Yona said.
"Now that you mention him, didn't he say something about saving his village from a pool of lava?" I asked to which Yona nodded, "How did he do that exactly?"
Rockhoof was known far and wide for his incredible strength, but he didn't start out that way. You see, Rockhoof was a tiny little fellow. The son of a farmer. They lived in a village that sat at the foot of a gigantic volcano, and the village was protected by an elite group of guard ponies called the Mighty Helm. Young Rockhoof wanted nothing more than to be part of the Mighty Helm, but he was told he was too scrawny and weak to protect the village, but Rockhoof wouldn't take 'no' for an answer.
Then, one fateful day...the volcano erupted. The molten poured down the side of the volcano, and try as they might, the Mighty Helm couldn't figure out a way to save the village. They had to evacuate, but the village ponies didn't wanna leave their homes. They spent their entire lives there. They had nowhere else to go, so Rockhoof decided to do something crazy. He thought that if he could divert the flow of the lava, he might be able to save his village. He started digging a trench.
Good thing Rockhoof didn't believe in the word "impossible." He continued to work, knowing the odds were against, but determined to push through. Then, something magical happened. Rockhoof got visibly stronger, but the lava was getting closer. Through his extraordinary determination and sheer force of will, Rockhoof more than earned his place in the Mighty Helm.
"Wait, he just got stronger? Just like that?" I asked extremely confused, "No workout montage? No strength enhancing potion? Not that I'm complaining or anything, but that's just...I don't even know how to say it. How is that even poss-actually wait. Never mind. Magic."
"I swear to God, magic is the answer to everything now."
Heh. I can just imagine a child going up to their parent and asking where babies come from, and the parent just says magic. I mean, that's technically the truth right? I mean, it is magical to, as Howard Wolowitz says, "do the dance with no pants," right?
"I'd say so."
"Anyway, what about the other Pillars?" I asked.
"Oh, you gotta hear about Mistmane. It's my favorite legend after all," Ocellus said.
Mistmane was a very promising young sorceress. She was as talented as she was beautiful and kind. Everypony loved her, and missed her when she was sent to the finest magic school. While she was gone, she was delighted to find out that her best friend, Sable Spirit, was crowned empress. She couldn't wait to return home once she finished her studies.
But once she arrived, she was devastated by what she saw. Her village was in ruins. Buildings were dilapidated, the plants were dying, and the ponies of the village were miserable.
"What happened here?" she asked a random stallion that was sweeping the road.
"The empress happened. She makes everypony work day and night on her palace. We don't have time to take care of anything else," the stallion explained while pointing to the palace, which was very beautiful and stood out from the rest of the village.
"But that can't be I know her. She would never do this," Mistmane said.
But there was denying what was in front of her, as alittle colt ran through the village with a panicked look, carrying a flower that still had much life in it in his aura. The flower was then taken away and brought into a royal carriage, making the colt sad. Sable Spirit took everything that was beautiful away from anypony else, but Mistmane had to be sure there had to be some explanation. She wanted answers, so she went to confront her friend.
As Mistmane walked through the palace, she took into account of how everything was different from the village. The walls were clean and free of class, the air was nice and clean, and the plants were full of life. She approached the pony on the throne with a determined looked, and noticed the veil that was covering her face.
"Sable? Is that you?" Mistmane asked.
"Don't tell me you don't recognize your old friend," Sable said.
"I don't. My friend would never work our families and friends to the bone for something as silly as a palace,"
"Silly? My palace is a beacon of beauty. Anypony who passes would be in awe of its majesty."
"What good is a pretty palace if it just hides the misery of its ponies."
"Beauty is everything. You taught me that," Sable said, pointing at Mistmane.
"What?!" asked Mistmane, who was appalled.
"You were always the pretty one. You got to go to the best magic school, and everypony missed you. Everypony loved you! I admit, I was jealous, so I tried to perform a spell that would make me beautiful. You can see how that went!" Sable said as lifted up her veil, revealing her old looking face, and making Mistmane gasped, "I vowed that if I couldn't have beauty, I would take it. I wasn't chosen to be empress you know. I took it! Just like I'm going to take everything else."
"I can't let you do that," Mistmane stated.
"Let me?" Sable laughed before firing a spell at Mistmane's feet, causing vines to sprout out from the ground and wrap her in a cocoon.
Mistmane managed to break free. Sable then summoned a red dragon spirt, with Mistmane summoning a blue one. The two dragons battled with each other, but Mistmane's managed to win, and then launched itself towards Sable. She dodged out of the way, the dragon knocking over a potted plant, and started to approach Mistmane, thinking she won. However, due to Mistmane's lessons, vines sprouted from the potted plant and trapped Sable in a cocoon.
Everypony thought Sable Spirit was defeated, and that was that. But Mistmane knew there was more she could do to help. Beauty isn't everything, Mistmane knew that it does have the power to make ponies smile. She made a huge sacrifice to make that smile back to her family's faces, including Sable Spirit.
"You did this for me?! Even after I was so cruel?" Sable asked to which Mistmane just hugged her.
Sable Spirit was so touched that she vowed to be more like her friend in the ways that mattered. From then on, she rules with kindness and compassion.
Even though she gave away her physical beauty, she dedicated her life to spreading beauty all over Equestria. Anytime you go out of your way to brighten somepony's by doing something like giving them flowers, you're following in the hoofsteps of Mistmane.
"Wow. Performing an act of self sacrifice for the sake of others? Kinda reminds me of Professor Rarity," I said.
"Mistmane was able to get others into seeing beauty in everything, even in changelings before Thorax took over," Ocellus said.
"Yeah yeah. Now let's talk about my favorite legend: Flash Magnus," Smolder said.
A long time ago, before the Wonderlbolts were even founded, Flash Magnus was a lowly cadet in the Royal Legion.
"Hey that's copyright infringement right there!," I joked before turning to Shimmy, who was next to me, "I'd like to speak to your manager and file a complain for the stealing of my name."
Shimmy giggled at this.
"How dare they take the name of the Legion?!"
And the Legion needed to fly over to the Dragon Lands to get to there comrades on the other side. But as they got closer to the dragons, the dragons attacked. Flash Magnus and the Royal Legion tried to get past the dragons, but the dragons wouldn't let them.
"Everypony, RETREAT!" the commander yelled.
Flash Magnus and a few other cadets were separated from the battalion. He managed to get away, but the dragons captured his friends and took them back to there lair. He tried to save them, but the commander forcibly took him back to safety before he could.
"Commander, we need to save our captured comrades," Flash said.
"I appreciate your loyalty Flash Magnus, but getting past those dragons is going to be impossible. Nothing will work," the commander said.
"Commander Ironhoof, I'm pretty sure I can outfly the dragons. If I can lure them into chasing me, you can all sneak into the lair and retrieve our friends before they get back," Flash said.
"Are you willing to take that chance soldier?" Ironhead asked.
"I am, sir," Flash said as he saluted.
"It's a very brave thing you're doing, but you'll need all the help you can get," Ironhead said before giving Flash a shield.
"Is this...the Titus?! The fire-proof shield?!" Flash asked as his eyes widened.
"It has protected ancient heroes for generations, and today, I can't think of a worthier flank for the Titus to protect. Good lips I soldier."
Flash flew up with the Titus and into the entrance of the dragon's lair.
"Hey! Come and get me fire breath! If you can! Hey! Hey! Come and get me! Hey I'm over here!" he yelled before a torrent of fire came at him. He ducked behind the Titus, completely protecting him.
While Flash Magnus bravely flew for his life, Commander Ironhoof was able to get his soldiers back. Flash Magnus flew like the wind, faster than the dragons, but he knew he couldn't do this forever. Luckily, he had a plan. He let the dragons straight into a storm that the Legion had planted. One taste of the lightning, and the dragons retreated. Flash Magnus's plan worked. He tried to give the Titus back, but the commander let him keep it, as a symbol for his bravery.
"Holy...what a brave pegasus," I said.
Seriously! Like holy shit this guy had some balls!
"I know. Plus it involves dragons, so that makes it cool," Smolder said.
"So who's next?" I asked.
"You gotta hear about Somnambula! She's amazing!" Silverstream cheered.
Long ago, a village fell prey to an evil sphinx, who demanded most of their crops. Like her fellow villagers, Somnambula didn't have much, but she used what she had to keep others from giving up hope. The son of the pharaoh, Prince Huzan, was so moved by her compassion that he decreed nopony would go hungry again. But when Huzan stood up to the sphinx, the beast captured him, telling the pharaoh the only way to get Huzan back was to solve her riddle. Nopony would volunteer to save the prince. Nopony except Somnambula.
The sphinx gave her the riddle.
"I shine brightest in the dark. I am there but cannot be seen. To have me costs you nothing. To be without me costs you everything."
As Somnambula thought about the hardships she and her fellow villagers had experienced, she instantly knew the answer: hope.
The sphinx was so enraged, it seemed she'd might refuse to release the prince, so Somnambula asked her for one more challenge, but if she accomplished it, the sphinx would leave from the kingdom forever. The sphinx quickly agreed, asking only that Somnambula walk to the prince, across a deep chasm, blindfolded. Further, the sphinx castes spell that prevented Somnambula from flying.
But Somnambula never lost hope. She knew she needed to make a leap of faith to save the prince. Guided by the prince's voice, she easily made it across. The pharaoh asked how Somnambula prevailed, and she explained that she had always hoped she could make things better for her people, and that hope had carried her through. The prince replaced the pearls Somnambula gave up with a string of glopaz, and around her neck they glowed bright enough to light the entire kingdom. Forever after, glopaz became the village's symbol of hope.
"One of my rules in life is to never lose hope and give up until it's over, and Somnambula...she lives up to that rule," I respected," Anyone else?"
"I guess I can talk about Mage Meadowbrook," Gallus said.
From the journal of Mage Meadowbrook
Today I tried again to brew an unsniffle elixir, and I finally got it right.
"Meadowbrook, I believe it's time you had this," my mother said, handing me a box. I opened the box and gasped at what was inside.
"My very own healer's mask! You think I'm ready mother?" I asked to which she nodded.
Mother opened the door to the sound of knocking to reveal a hooded pony. She lowered her hood to reveal her sickly face. Bags under her eyes and orange spots all over her body. Mother gasped at the sight.
"What caused this?" she asked.
The pony reached behind her and showed a blue flower with orange spots on it. Mother calls it "swamp fever." We've been trying to find a cure, but...it hasn't been easy. The fever spread like wildfire. I fear if we don't find a cure soon, everypony will be in grave danger.
With mother sick, I didn't think I'd ever find a cure. But staring at those cursed flowers today, I saw something. I realized the flower's poison didn't affect the flash bees and if they were immune to the swamp fever, their honey could be the cure. But they were so aggressive defending their hive, I didn't know how I was gonna get it. I returned to the hive with my healer's mask for one last effort.
Today, I cured mother and the rest of the ponies. It was the greatest feeling and I promise to cure ponies all over Equestria.
"I really like how it doesn't even explain exactly how Meadowbrook got the honey."
"It's amazing how you don't know when or even if you can get back up when you're at your lowest," I said, "So who's the sixth one? It's been a rule of six my entire time here."
"Starswirl the Bearded," Sandbar said, "There isn't some kind of epic story about him saving others, but he created hundreds of new spells, including a time travel spell and a dimensional travel spell."
Starswirl the Bearded? Created hundreds of spells? This guy sounds like a rip off of Gandalf the Great.
"These ponies sound amazing, but wait. How are they here? Like here today? You guys called them legends and part of pony history. So unless they're immortal...or they time traveled...they should be...well...not here," I asked.
"Thousands of years ago, the Pillars fought the Pony of Shadows. Starswirl and the rest of the Pillars sacrificed themselves by sending the Pony of Shadows and themselves to limbo. Just a little less than a year ago, our teachers brought them back, as well as the Pony of Shadows. And through the power of friendship, they all saved a pony named Stygian from the darkness," Ocellus explained.
"Sent...to limbo...for a thousands of years..."
THAT MAKES BEING TURNED INTO STONE LOOK LIKE TIMEOUT AT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL!
"Well...at least they had each other?"
I...think I'm done with history for today.
Chapter 22: The Legion and the Cheerpony's Hangout
"Just ask him," Lighthoof said as we walked down the hallway.
"I-I can't," I said nervously.
"Come on Shimmy. This has been going on for weeks. Stop waiting and just ask him out already," she said.
"But I just...can't. I-I mean, w-what if he says no?" I asked.
"You'll never know unless you try. Look, here he comes now," she said pointing down the hall.
I looked to where Lighthoof was pointing and my cheeks started to heat up when I saw...him~. Legion~. His spiky looking mane and fur blowing a bit in the breeze, a small smile adorning his face as he walked with Sandbar and Ocellus, and cyan eyes filled with kindness. I'll never forget first the time I stared into those eyes for the first time. Even though his choice in clothing was a bit...strange...I gotta admit, he was pretty...cute.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Lighthoof asked.
"I-I..." I stuttered.
"Oh for Celestia's sake. Hey Legion!" she called out, making Legion, Sandbar, and Ocellus turn towards us.
"Oh, hey guys. What's up?" he asked.
"Shimmy Shake's got something to ask you," she said, making me give her a small glare as she was no longer my best friend, but now my mortal enemy, before she nudged me a bit closer, "Go on Shimmy. This is your chance."
"U-um...I was wondering if...i-if...," I stuttered as my heart rate began to quicken.
"Yes?" Legion asked.
If you want to go on a date with me!
"If I could watch you practice with your sword after school!" I said rather quickly.
Celestia damnit!
Lighthoof facehoofed and Legion's eyes widened a bit at my outburst. Oh, was he taken aback at this? He wasn't taken aback, was he?!
"Sure. I don't mind," he responded, "Meet me in the clearing between Ponyville and the Everfree Forest after school."
"O-okay," I said as Legion and his friends walked off. I was...excited. Was it still considered a date even though I didn't actually ask him?
"Shimmy," Lighthoof said with a bit of disappointment.
"I can't help it! He's just so...dreamy," I cooed, "Bu-but, at least I'll still spend time with him!"
"I guess you're right," Lighthoof sighed, "Come on. Let's head to class."
Later that day
The final class of the day was coming to an end, and my knees were shaking and I was sweating, and it was not because I had a test that day. Can you really blame me?! I wasn't lying when I said he was dreamy. His goofy sense of humor, his drive to get things done, his kindness towards others, and his bravery when tough times occur. Sure, he was quiet and a bit of a shy pony, but I think that just added to his cuteness. On top of all that, he was as skilled in acrobatics as me, probably more skilled actually. Just the thought of him makes my heart flutter.
After class ended and Headmare Twilight dismissed us, I quickly ran to my dorm and started to panic.
"Okay. Okay. Don't panic Shimmy Shake. It's just a casual hang out. Yeah, that's it. You're just casually hanging out with a colt. Only he's the sweetest and cutest colt you've ever met! Oh Celestia, I can't do this!" I panicked aloud while staring at my mirror, "No! You can't talk talk that way! You just...gotta impress him. Let's see. What do colts like? Should I style my mane? Get him a gift? No! That'll be trying too hard! Oh! Maybe I should wear my cheerleader outfit. He thought I looked nice in it. Maybe I could even-NO! It's not a date!"
The knock to my door came before it opened, revealing Lighthoof. "Shimmy Shake, are you okay?" she asked.
"I can't do this Lighthoof! What if I mess up?! What if he ends up not liking me anymore?! I'll be spending the rest of my life alone!" I panicked before Lighthoof slapped me with her hoof, making me wince in pain.
"Ow. What was that for?" I asked.
"To get you to calm down. There's no need to panic Shimmy. You just gotta be yourself. And besides, you know Legion. He wouldn't care whether or not you impress him, cause he likes you for you. Just you being there to hang out will make him happy enough," Lighthoof said, "Now just take deep breathes."
I breathed in. I breathed out. Breath in. Breath out. And it calmed me down.
"Feeling better?" Lighthoof asked.
"Sigh. Yeah. You're right. I just gotta be myself. I can do this. Thanks for the words of encouragement Lighthoof. I needed to hear it," I said as I hugged her.
"Anything for my best friend. Now, I think somepony is waiting for you, so you should get going," she said as we separated before I nodded and turned to leave, "Make sure to tell me how it goes!"
"I will!" I said.
I walked through town with a determined expression. I can do this. As long as Legion was happy with my presence, then I was happy. Although...even though I was no longer afraid to hang out with him alone, I still had to get over being nervous whenever I was around him in general.
I eventually reached the clearer and saw Legion sitting down, polishing his sword. My breathing started to get quicker, before I took a deep breathe and approached him. I saw that many different sized logs and some hay bales were set up around him.
"H-hey Legion," I called to which he turned.
"Hey Shimmy. Are you ready to witness my awesome skills at the art...of...sword fighting?" he asked to which I nodded, "Well then, prepare to be amazed!"
Legion quickly towards one of the smaller logs and kicked it up into the air, before flying up to it and perfectly slicing it in half. He then dive bombed towards a larger log and impaled it. He back flipped off it it, landing on the ground then quickly spun, slicing another log behind him in half. Finally, he leapt towards the final log before spinning vertically, cutting it in half. Amazing. That all happened in the span of under 15 seconds. Needless to say, I'm quite impressed with how agile he is.
"Wow," I said, my eyes sparkling.
"Wow is right. Even I'm impressed with how fast I did all that," Legion said surprised, "It's amazing how far I've come with my swordsmanship. Anyway, I also work on my acrobatic skills during these sessions. You're welcome to join me if you like."
"S-sure," I said to which we walked over to the hay bales.
"What I usually do is set up these hay bales to practice my hopping and vaulting. I also like to stack these on top of each other and then back flip or front flip on and off them," he said as he stacked up three hale bales on top of each other, "It's all about the technique."
He turned away from the hale bales and took two steps, before lower the front half of his body to the ground and took a deep breathe. He then leapt up into the air, performing a back flip, and landed on top of the stack in his hind hooves, perfectly balanced. After a few seconds, he front flipped off the stack and landed on all fours.
"Just like that. Wanna try?" he asked to which I nodded.
I approached the stack of hay bales and turned around. I lowered to the ground and back flipped into the air and landed on top on my hind hooves. Unfortunately, I don't have much experience with landing on my hind hooves, so I almost immediately lost my footing and fell backwards.
"GAH!" I screamed.
"Gotcha!" Legion said as I landed not on the grass, but in his hooves, which made me blush madly, "You alright?"
I slowly nodded as I stared into his eyes. About 10 seconds passed by and he's still holding me. I noticed that his smile faded and he began to blush as we continued staring into each other's eyes.
"U-um Legion? You can...put me down now," I said nervously which made him realize what he was doing.
"O-oh! U-um, I'm so sorry," he said as he put me down, his blush more apparent.
After about half an hour of watching Legion practice his swordmanship and acrobatics, as well as me practicing my acrobatics, we were finally tired and laid down on the grass.
"Hey Legion?" I called.
"Hmm?" he asked.
"Where did you learn to do all this? The sword and the acrobatics, I mean," I asked.
"I read and taught myself how to defend myself with a sword. As a way to prepare myself for my travels. As for my acrobatic skills...well...it's kind of hard to explain. Growing up, I've always admired cheerleaders...in a non-creepy sort of way, if that's what you're thinking. Their cheers, choreography, and their moves...I don't know. It just gave me this sort of feeling. So whenever the cheerleaders were practicing, I practiced along with them," he explained, "What about you? What got you into cheerleading?"
"I guess it's the same reason as you. It gave me this feeling. It allowed me to freely express myself," I answered to which he nodded, "It's been like that ever since I was a little filly."
"You must be a pretty good cheerleader then, if your cutie mark is any indication," Legion said as he glanced at my flank, making me blush a bit. He got up and held a hoof out to me, to which I grabbed and got up myself, "Whelp, that was good workout. Ah dang, Celestia really made it hot today. I'm think I'm gonna head to the lake to quickly cool off."
"I-I think I'll join you!" I said eagerly.
"Alright," he said before picking up his sword and sheathing it.
Once we reached the lake, Legion put his sword down and starting taking off his clothes. He first removed his scarf and folded it up neatly, before setting it down. He then took off his coat and-
Sweet Celestia!
I started to blush again as I stared at his body. I've never seen Legion without his coat before, but...wow. Despite him having a slender frame, he still had a bit of muscles in him. Although, that might have due to the fact that he was a pegasus, but still!
"Uh, Shimmy? You alright?" he asked, snapping me out of my thoughts and making me blush some more.
"U-uh, yeah. I was just...observing your...cutie mark," I lied as I glanced at his flank, which showed a mark of a...smile with swords crossed behind it? Legion looked back and chuckled and blushed a bit, most likely from me looking at his flank.
"Oh yeah. Quite unique, right? Apparently I'm destined to be somepony that helps others, despite the risks and challenges. As for the smile on it...well...I guess it has something to do with this," he said before pulling out a black mask that had the same smile as his cutie mark, "I don't know what it is exactly, but this mask just feels like it's a part of me. Does that make sense?"
I nodded.
"Anywho...I'm just gonna..." he said walking into the water, still facing me, "...yeah."
I snapped out of my thoughts and took off my hair band, letting my mane fall down and flow in the breeze. I walked up to the water and swam up Legion, who was currently floating while staring at the sky. I dipped my head into the water to get all the sweat off my body. When I came back up, some of my mane got into my face. I then heard Legion swim up to me and felt his hoof moving my wet mane out of my face. We looked into each other's eyes for a few seconds before looking away, our faces blushing again.
"U-um..." Legion said, breaking the silence, "I think...I think my shift at Sugarcube Corner is coming up. We should uh...we should probably head back."
"O-okay," I simply said. We swam back to our belongings, before we both shook the water off our bodies.
"U-um, Legion?" I turned to him.
"Y-yes?" he asked.
"I was wondering if...if..." I stuttered.
"Yes?" he asked.
Come on. You can do this.
"...if you'd like to go-"
I was suddenly interrupted by the sound of wings flapping, coming rapidly towards us, followed by Legion being slammed by something.
"Legion!" I screamed as he slammed into a tree.
The sound of wings flapping made me look up, to see...another shadow creature?! This time, it had a dragon-like look to it. Slim, bony, frame, dragon head, dragon claws, dragon feet, dragon wings, and a dragon tail, but its end looked more sharper than normal. It was about as tall as Discord. Its white, glowing eyes stared at Legion getting up before it let out a loud roar and flew at him.
"Look out!" I screamed.
Legion dodged out of the way, making the dragon crash into the tree, and flew towards his sword.
"Shimmy, get out of here!" he said as he picked up his sword.
"What?! Are you crazy?! I'm not just gonna leave you!" I shouted as the dragon started to get up.
"I'll be fine Shimmy. I wouldn't forgive myself if you got hurt. Now go!" he said before flying at the dragon.
I ran and hid behind a nearby bush and observed the fight.
Before Legion could get a hit, the dragon flew up and dodged the strike. Legion flew up into the air as well, and then charged at it. The dragon then took a deep breathe, before letting out a torrent of purple flames at Legion. Surprised, he just barely managed to dodge out of the way. It continued to shoot flames, and he continued to dodge. As the seconds passed, Legion started to get more sloppy with his dodges, until finally...
"AH!"
...the dragon singed the tip of one of his wings, giving it an opportunity to strike at him. He shot back, clutching onto his chest area in pain. The dragon flew towards Legion again in an attempt to swipe at him with its claws. However, he managed to suck up the pain and dodge just in time, slashing at one of its legs, making it roar in pain. He flew towards the dragon and got two more hits, before it dodged and swiped at him. He dodged swipe after swipe, some of them actually grazing him, making him since in pain, before he suddenly he gave an upwards slash on one of the dragon's arms, again making it roar in pain.
The dragon suddenly spun around, swiping its tail and knocking Legion closer to the ground. It roared and charged at him. I could see he was in so much pain that he struggled a bit to fly away. The dragon grabbed onto Legion, making his torso hurt even more, and flew towards the lake. It then dunked Legion under the water, and kept him there, flying above the lake at high speeds. It was trying to make him drown.
"Legion!" I screamed.
The dragon then threw Legion out, before clutching onto its hand in pain. Multiple cut wounds were on it. Slashing at the hand as it held him? Clever. I saw Legion on the ground, coughing up water and barely managing to stay up. The dragon ignored its wounds once again and looked at Legion. It took a quick breathe before shooting at a fireball. Legion was struggling to stay up, and he didn't even notice the ball of fire heading straight for him.
"Look out!" I screamed.
Legion turned to the fireball and stumbled away from it. Luckily, he barely moved out of the way of the impact zone. The fireball impacted the ground, launching Legion away a few feet. He was breathing heavily and tried getting back up.
"No!" I screamed.
The dragon landed in front of Legion's downed body and slowly picked him up. It was at this point my face was just stained with tears. It brought Legion closer to him and slowly opened its mouth, revealing multiple razor sharp teeth. This was it. He was going to die. And I couldn't do anything about-
"Gotcha," I heard Legion say before he lifted up his sword and thrust it into the dragon's maw, impaling it through the other side.
As the dragon fizzled away like a mist, Legion was released from its grip, until finally...it was gone.
I couldn't believe it.
I slowly got out from my hiding spot as Legion began to get up. He noticed me approaching and started walking towards, albeit while struggling. He had bruises and small cuts all over his body, and the tip of his right wing was slightly burnt. He noticed my crying and proceeded to wipe away the tears running down my face.
"I told you I'll be fine Shimmy," he said with a smile.
I walked closer to him and wrapped my hooves around his neck, before sitting on my haunches and crying into his neck. He sat down on his haunches as well and wrapped his hooves around my neck, resting his chin on my mane and shushing me.
"Hey, hey. It's alright Shimmy Shake. You have nothing to worry about. It'll take a lot more than some bruises and paper cuts to put me down," he said, to which I removed my head from his neck and looked at his eyes. They were filled with comfort and reassurance.
"B-b-b-but..." I said before he placed his hoof on my mouth, silencing me.
He then surprised me by leaning down and nuzzling my neck with his. I smiled a bit and nuzzled him back. The feeling of his fur rubbing against mine was...amazing. Too bad it didn't last forever as he let go.
"Now come on. I need a doctor cause I actually am in a bit of pain," he said. He put his clothes back on and picked up his sword, before we proceeded to head back to Ponyville.
DeffBwade's POV
Well what a day it has been. Just when everything seemed fine, another shadow monster had to ruin it all. This time, it looked like Ridley from Metroid, from the head, the claws, the wings, everything! It's skin was unfortunately a bit too hard to penetrate, most likely because it was basically a dragon, so it had scales. Thankfully, I managed to get close enough, even though it hurt like a bitch, and impaled it through the mouth.
After Shimmy and I returned to Ponyville, my first stop was the hospital. All I really needed were some band aids and an ice pack to help with the bruises. At least I got to see Nurse Redheart again. It's always nice to talk to her, even though she was disappointed again for getting injured for the third time in the last 2 months. But well, you know...shit happens.
After my visit to the hospital, we headed back to the school to report the incident to Headmare Twilight. We explained to her everything that happened. We both knew immediately who was responsible for it.
King Sombra.
But what had us baffled was one simple question: why me? Why did one of Sombra's creations attack me? Was it because I defeated his last two creations? Maybe. It's the only logical conclusion we could think of, and I kinda dread the thought of having to fight more.
"If this is what superheroes have to face on a daily basis, then holy shit. I do not want to be a superhero."
I can kinda see where you're going with this, but I always have to do what's right, no matter what.
"Yeah...you're right."
The Cakes excused me from work due to my injuries, and said that I could take as much time as I needed to recover. Bless the Cakes. Really sweet family.
Afterwards, Shimmy and I said our goodbyes and went back to our respective dorms.
Speaking of Shimmy, before the whole Ridley incident, today has been...I honestly don't know. Don't get me wrong though! I had fun, it's just...I've been having some...weird feelings. Ever since I met Shimmy, I've continued to grow more fond of her, to the point I considered my best friend. Her sweet demeanor, her sassy attitude, not being afraid to express herself, her Valley girl accent. I liked everything about her.
Today though...I've been feeling some emotions of happiness...and...attraction? Particularly towards Shimmy as the day progressed. Why was I feeling attracted towards Shimmy Shake? I don't think it was because of her nice mane style, or her Valley girl accent, or how her eyes glisten in the sun, or...the way her mane looks when it's let down and blows in the wind or when wet, or...the feeling of her soft and warm fur against...mine, or...pretty much...her...overall...
...beauty.
...
Is...is that it?
Is that why I've grown so fond of her personality and so attracted to her looks?
Is that why my cheeks start to heat up and my heart flutters at just the thought of her now?
Am I...
Am I in love with Shimmy Shake?
Third Person POV
"No.......no..........NO!" Sombra screamed before he started shooting lasers in random directions, causing the cave to shake violently.
Even though he was told not to, he still sent one of his creations to attack the grey colt. Everything was too perfect. The colt was alone besides an orange filly, and the colt told her to run. Most things were unable to actually hurt a dragon's scales. So combined with his dark magic, his creation couldn't have been defeated. At least...that's what he thought. Cause just when his creation was about to do the finishing blow, the colt impaled it through the mouth! Was...was his plan? Did he know he couldn't defeat it by attacking its scales and decided he needed to get close enough? Was that his plan all along?!
"Sombra!"
"WHAT?!" Sombra screamed at the figure.
"What?! What do you mean what?! I told you specifically not to attack the colt, and what do you do?! Oh right. You attack the colt because you're too brain dead to listen to me!" the figure shouted.
"That colt has proved time and time again that he's a nuisance to our plans! I sent one of my strongest creations, and he defeated it! If you had half a brain, you would know that it would be smart to get rid of him before we attack!" Sombra shouted, "In fact, maybe I'll go over there and finish him myself!"
"No Sombra! You are not going to do that! You will leave the colt alone! You will continue to make minions for our army! And then we will use our army of darkness to take down the princesses and the Elements of Harmony and take over Equestria! IS! THAT! CLEAR?!" the figure screamed.
"WHY ARE YOU SO ADAMANT ABOUT ALLOWING A COLT THAT HAS PROVED TO BE CAPABLE OF STOPPING OUR PLANS TO RULE EQUESTRIA TO LIVE?!" Sombra asked very angrily.
"BECAUSE THAT COLT IS MINE!" the figure shouted.
...
...
"What?" Sombra asked, not really angry now, but more confused.
"You heard me," the figure said sternly.
"What do you mean he's yours?" Sombra asked.
"It's exactly what it means! He's mine! He's my fight! He's my kill!" the figure said.
"But...why?" Sombra asked.
"Have you not heard of something called revenge?" the figure asked, confusing Sombra even more, "And besides, getting rid of the colt right now would be unnecessary, for I may have found something that could help us."
Okay, so let's recap what happened a few days ago. Shimmy Shake asked to hangout with me, I practiced my swordsmanship, we practiced our acrobatic skills, we took a dip in the lake, then some Ridley looking ass ruins the moment, blah blah blah you know what happened to it, and now I'm having an internal struggle regarding my feelings towards my best friend.
Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! What am I going to do?! How do I tell her how I feel?!
Truth be told, when it comes to love, I'm basically a fucking idiot. I don't know how to tell a girl I like her. Hell, I never even had a crush before in my life, but I can't help it when it comes to Shimmy Shake. She's beautiful, she's sweet, she's as athletic as me, and as embarrassing as it is to admit this, but I do think she's pretty hot,she does have a pretty slender body.
Damn teenage hormones.
But...would she ever go out with a guy like me? Even though I am pretty nimble and athletic, I don't really have much muscles. I'm not a retard (I am), but I'm also not a genius. I'm a pretty quiet kid, and sometimes I like to be by myself. And my hobby is literally playing video games. Face it man, I'm kind of a loser.
"Don't say that man. Maybe Shimmy does like you back. You never know unless you try."
So...you think I should just tell her how I feel?
"It's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all."
Damn bro, that was...quite poetic.
"Thanks. I've been working on it for quite a while."
But...how do I know she'll like me back?
"You don't. As Peter Parker once said, that's all it is DeffBwade. A leap of faith."
Heh. Nice Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse reference.
"However, if you really can't work up the courage, then you should find some help. You know, get some guidance."
That's probably a good idea. But from who?
I knew exactly who to ask. I walked through Ponyville and eventually found myself at the entrance of Sweet Apple Acres. I walked through the farm and spotted Professor Applejack bucking one of the trees. She spotted me approaching.
"Well howdy there Legion. What brings ya here to Sweet Apple Acres?" she asked with a smile.
"Hey Professor Applejack. Is um...is Big Macintosh around?" I asked.
"He sure is, he's just a few trees that way bucking apples with Sugar Belle," she answered while pointing in a random direction.
"Thanks professor," I thanked her. I walked in the direction she pointed. After a minute of walking I spotted Big Macintosh bucking some apple trees and teaching Sugar Belle how to do so as well.
"Hey Big Mac. Hey Sugar Belle," I called to them to which they turned their heads to me.
"Hello there Legion," Sugar Belle greeted.
"Howdy. Come to help out at the farm again?" Big Mac asked.
"N-no actually...As much as I like to, I was actually wondering if you could give me some advice on something," I said a bit nervously.
"What's on your mind?" he asked.
"Big Mac, you had a crush on Sugar Belle before you started dating, right?" I asked to which he nodded, "How'd you do it? How did you admit your feelings to her?"
He smirked at this, "Got a little crush, do ya?"
I blushed at this, "W-well...um...m-maybe? U-um...please don't tell anyone?"
"Oh don't worry Legion. Our lips are sealed," Sugar Belle asked.
"Eeyup," Big Mac said, "And to answer your question, I just thought about what meant a lot to Sugar Belle. I ended up making her a new display shelf in her bakery. I didn't need to do any grand gestures or anything extravagant. I just needed to put a little thought."
Sugar Belle chuckled, "But you did do a punch of grand gestures. Remember when you sung me that song?"
"Eeyup. That was quite a disaster," Big Mac said. I'd ask what they talking about, but I was barely paying any attention at this point.
"Think about what means a lot to her," I pondered while stroking my chin before addressing them again, "I'd have to think about it. Thanks Big Mac. Bye Sugar Belle."
They waved their goodbyes as I left Sweet Apple Acres, making sure to say goodbye to Professor Applejack as well.
"He...wasn't exactly the pony I was referring to, but...okay"
Big Mac's advice did sound helpful, but I still feel like I need more help.
"Then I suggest you go to a counselor of some sort."
You're probably right.
"So...you got any advice on how to tell this girl how I feel?" I asked.
"It's quite simple man," the Dude said, "Just go with the flow?"
"Go with the flow? That's it?" I asked.
"Yeah man. Don't worry about what could happen in the future and just focus on the present," he said, "You like this girl, right?"
"Well...yeah. That's...why I asked you in the first place?" I said.
"So just tell her you like her, and whatever her response is, you'll work from there," he said.
"I...guess that helps," I said.
STRIKE
"Yeah! Got that 7-10 split!" one of his amigos cheered.
"Great shot man," the Dude said.
"Nice one," I said before walking away, "Thanks for the advice Dude. I'll take it into consideration."
"Anytime man," the Dude said.
"No, that's not...that's not who I was referring to."
What do you mean? He gave me advise, didn't he?
"W-well...yeah...but..."
Oh! I think I know who you were talking about now.
"Really? Do you really know?"
Yeah. Someone who's great at giving guidance to others...
"Yeah."
Someone who can act like a counselor...
"Yeeeaaah."
Someone like...
"Cutie Mark Crusaders. I need your help with something."
"WHAT THE FU-"
"What is it Legion?" Applebloom asked.
"Is it another cutie mark problem?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Does it involve your awesome sword? Did something happen to it?!" Scootaloo asked.
"U-um...no. I'll uh...I'll only tell you if you three promise not to tell anypony," I said to which they lifted their hooves and-
"Cross my heart and hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye," they all said.
I think I prefer my version. Because it involves hoping to die and sticking a needle in my eye.
"Dude...you're edgy."
I know.
"W-well okay. Um...how do I uh...how do I put this? I may or may not have a crush on this girl," I said the last part quietly to which their eyes widened a bit.
"W-what was that?" Sweetie asked.
"I uh...have a crush on a girl," I said as I started to blush.
The girls huddled around each other and started whispering. They then slowly turned around with giant grins on their faces and sparkling eyes.
Well...I'm fucked.
They then let out an ear-piercing cheer before hopping around me and chanting, "Legion is in loOove! Legion is in loOove! Legion is in loOove!"
"HAHAHAHAHA! You're...you're getting teased...by little girls! HAHAHA!"
I thank the stars that I had a dark fur color, cause if I didn't, then the girls could see just how red and embarrassed I was.
"H-hey! Come on girls! Knock it off! You promised!" I pleaded.
"No. We promised not to tell anypony," Applebloom said.
"Yeah. We never promised not to cheer about it," Sweetie Belle said.
Damnit!
"They got you there."
"C-can you girls just help me? Gimme something. Anything! Anything that'll help me get the courage to tell this girl how I feel!" I pleaded.
"Well, who is it?" Scootaloo asked.
"Uuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhh...I don't wanna say," I said. They already teased me for having a crush. I'm not having anymore of that.
"Aw come on!" Scootaloo complained.
"Look, that's not really important right now. I just wanna know how to tell her I like her," I said, "Or like...how to impress her."
"I have an idea," Sweetie Belle said.
"Really? What is it?" I asked with a smile...
...before it fell as I noticed the devilish grins on the crusaders' faces.
Oh no.
"You girls thinking what I'm thinking?" Sweetie Belle asked the other crusaders.
No.
"You mean we should..." Scootaloo said.
No!
"...give Legion..." Applebloom said.
NO!
"...A MAKEOVER!" the three cheered aloud.
NOOOOO!
I turned and tried to fly away, before I felt something tug on my hind hoof and pull back down to the ground. I looked back and saw a rope tied around my hoof, with the other end in Applebloom's mouth. The crusaders then started to giggle as Applebloom dragged me towards their clubhouse. I dug my hooves into the ground to try to stop the impending doom coming to me.
"No! I don't want a makeover! Please!" I panicked.
"You said you wanted to impress this girl, didn't you? Well, what better way to impress a girl than with a whole new look?" Scootaloo said.
"Yeah. And we'll start with that dirty looking coat of yours," Sweetie Belle said.
"No! I had this conversation with Professor Rarity! Please! I like my coat as it is!" I panicked as Applebloom continued dragging me.
"I just don't understand how he could be such a child."
"I feel you man."
"It's just...all I did was make one racist joke about him being white, and then he get's all pissy and goes 'alright, fuck you then. I'm not gonna talk to you for a while until you apologize.'"
"Yeah, I know! But he doesn't see us getting all pissy whenever he makes fun of us! Which is all the time might I add!"
"And he's so toxic too. He says we suck, and he's just like 'whatever.' We say he sucks, and he just cries about it."
"Fucking asshole."
"I don't know man. I think I'm done with him."
"Yeah, me too."
"What about you Deff?"
...
"DeffBwade?"
"I don't care about that fucker anymore."
"Well, I think it's official. Lion is no longer part of the group."
"Hey, you're alive."
Yes. Yes I am.
"So...how was it? Did the CMC do a great job in your little makeover session?"
Let's just say I'm lucky that I was able to convince them to keep my leather coat.
"I bet you looked very pretty."
No. I looked like the Joker if he applied his makeup while fighting Batman while on a roller coaster.
"Um...okay."
Just uh...just don't tell the girls I said that. I don't wanna be responsible for making little girls cry and getting an ass whooping by the professors.
"My lips are sealed, even though I couldn't tell them in the first place."
Anyway, it was now Tuesday morning and I was walking through the hallways with Sandbar, Gallus, Yona, Smolder, Silverstream, Ocellus, Lighthoof, and Shimmy Shake to our first classes. We turned a corner and Silverstream gasped as she saw Headmare Twilight putting up new poster on the school's bulletin board.
"See?! New posters! We never those underwater," she said excitedly.
My friends, along with some other students, crowded around the Headmare, and excitedly saying stuff like 'let me see' or 'check it out.' I just walked up to them wondering what's going on.
"I won't keep you in suspense any longer," Headmare Twilight said as she back away from the crowd a bit, "We're brining one of Ponyville's oldest traditions to our school: the Fetlock Fet!"
"The Whatlock What?" Smolder said while scratching her head out of confusion.
The Fetlock Fet? I swear to God, if I hear one more horse pun, I'm impaling myself with Zer0.
...
I probably should reword that.
"It's a pony dance party. They're the best!" Sandbar said.
Oh...A dance party.
"I'm ready!" Ocellus said enthusiastically before shape shifting into a pony and going into a dancing pose.
"You don't need to do that Ocellus," Headmare Twilight giggled, "This year the event's at school, and open to every creature. We're calling our dance the Amity Ball."
"Even better!" Ocellus cheered before turning back to normal.
Yeah it is. It is better. The name isn't some horse pun.
"Yona not know Amity Ball dance. Yona only traditional dance of Yakyakistan. Go like this!" Yona said before stomping around.
"Just...make sure you don't stand around her when she does that."
I agree. I don't need all my bones broken anytime soon. Nurse Redheart is already having enough of my shit.
"Ball dance like that!" Yona asked as she landed on her fore...paws...before tripping over and getting dizzy.
"Heh heh. Not exactly. It isn't just one dance. It's a whole night of them, plus, an awesome party," Sandbar explained.
You lost me at dance, but then you brought me back at party, even though I'm not very social at parties. I'll probably just end up sitting in a corner and talking with the others.
"And we'll have all the old Fetlock Fet traditions: the Pony Pal Contest, the lucky pot dinner. You'll love it! So like this says, get your pony pal and come along," Headmare Twilight encouraged us.
"Wanna go? I've got nothing better to do," Smolder asked with a shrug.
"You had me at dinner," Gallus said, snapping a claw towards Smolder. Smolder snapped a claw back and even gave a little wink to which Silverstream giggled.
"Potential shipping?"
I don't know. I always thought Gallus and Silverstream would make a cute couple.
"Now who wants to help me hang more posters?" Headmare Twilight asked.
"Me!" Silverstream said excitedly.
"Sure," Ocellus said.
Everybody then dispersed, while Silverstream and Ocellus went with Headmare Twilight, leaving me alone. I walked up to the Amity Ball poster and inspected it. So...a dance party this Friday at 6:00 P.M. after school, eh?
...
A DANCE?!
"Dude! This could be it! This could be your chance to finally ask out Shimmy Shake."
B-b-but...
"Just imagine it. You and Shimmy together, under the stars, romantic music playing in the background, her fur against yours, eyes closed and smiling as you slow dance. Actually now that I think about, how do quadrupeds slow dance together?"
I can't do it!
"W-w-what?! B-b-but...but what happened to all that confidence?!"
Yes, I did gain the confidence...sorta...to ask her...on a DATE! But a DANCE?! She's gonna think I'm a loser!
"Come on man. Don't be so hard on yourself. You'll be fine."
Sir. I've never been with a girl before, I've never been to a dance before-
"Huh?! Not even at school?!"
As I said before, I was never really a social person! And lastly, I'm a shit dancer!
"Come on man, it can't be that bad."
Well, yeah...if I was still bipedal!
"Ah come on DeffBwade! I'm trying to help you, but you're just being too hard on yourself!"
All I'm saying is that there's no way a girl like Shimmy Shake is gonna ask me to the-
"U-um, Legion?"
I snapped out of my worrisome thoughts and turned my head to see Shimmy slowly approaching me, a feint blush adorning her face.
"Y-yes?" I asked nervously.
As her blush became more apparent, she rubbed her fore hoof and her eyes fluttered a bit before stammering, "I-I...um..."
"Come on amigo. This could be your only chance. Just ask her."
"I-I was wondering...i-if-" she said before I interrupted her.
"Do you wanna be my pony pal for the dance?!" I quickly asked before immediately covering my mouth with my hoof as I felt my cheeks heat up. Again, I thank the stars that I have a dark fur color.
"NOT LIKE THAT YOU...*sigh*...you know what, never mind. I'll take it."
Her eyes widened as she flinched back a bit at my interruption before asking, "Y-you...you want to be a pony pal...w-with me?"
Oh gosh! I didn't scare her, did I?!
"Uuummm...yes?" I asked nervously as I awkwardly smiled.
Seconds passed by as she just stared at me in surprise while I kept that awkward smile. Maybe I did scare her.
*Sigh.* Looks like it's a bust.
"I'm sorry man. I really thought she would say 'yes'."
It's fine dude, and it appears you were right. It's better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at-
"Yes."
I snapped out of my thoughts and refocused back to Shimmy. Her weren't widened in surprise anymore, but instead was giving me a small smile as she continued rubbing her fore hoof.
"I'm sorry. What?" I asked.
"Yes. I'd...I'd lo-like to be your pony pal for the dance," she meekly said.
"R-really?" I questioned again, to which she slowly nodded, "O-okay! I'll um...I'll go get the tickets, so um...see you at the dance!"
"Bye Legion," she waved goodbye.
I walked through the halls with a noticeable excited hop in my steps. I didn't care at the moment if anyone looked at me weirdly. I did it. I'm going to a dance...with the sweetest and most beautiful girl I've ever met. I FUCKING DID IT!
"LET'S GO DEFFBWADE! You the man, man! I knew you had it in you!"
Okay, okay. I gotta calm damn. I gotta remember the advice I got. Big Mac said to think about what means a lot to her and the Dude said to just go with the flow.
"I mean...that's good advice and all, but it's not good enough. This is your dance after all. No, scratch that. It's your first date with a girl. You gotta ask someone else for more advice."
Yeah...you're probably right. Okay, just let me think. Hmmmm...who could I talk to?
...
I know! I should ask-
"I swear to God, if you say Button Mash, I'm literally gonna twist your nipples so hard they'll pop off like bottle caps."
U-um...okay...I'll think of someone else. Even though you can't hurt me in the first place, and what the fuck kind of threat is that? In fact, do ponies even have nipples?
Okay, just gotta think. Who do I know is an expert when it comes to romance?
I eventually reached Carousel Boutique and knocked on the door. Nothing, but I was able to hear the sounds of Professor Rarity humming and a sewing machine from a window on the top floor. Must be in the zone then. Now, normally I'm a patient guy, especially when others are busy with something else. But seeing as the Amity Ball is just in a few days, I had no patience at the moment. I opened the door, hearing the familiar bell chime as I entered. Still no response. She must really be in the zone, but like I said, no patience. I walked up the stairs and soon reached the door to what I assumed to be Professor Rarity's workroom. My assumptions were confirmed when I again heard her humming and using a sewing machine. I knocked on the door, making her yelp in surprise, and opened it, only sticking my head in.
"Am I interrupting?" I asked.
"Oh heh heh. Well not interrupting exactly, more like...blocking the flow-urm stopping me from what I'm doing-so yes...in-interrupting," she said as she carried a piece of clothing that now had a tear in it in her aura, "Now, what can I do for you Legion?"
"Professor Rarity, you're in expert when it comes to romance, correct?" I asked as I entered her workroom.
"Well, I wouldn't say that I'm an 'expert,' per say, but I do enjoy a romance novel every now and then, so I would say I'm more...experienced?" she said, "But, why do you ask?"
"Weeell, I just need to ask you one small question, if it's alright with you," I said.
"Of course darling. What is it?" she asked before I fell to the ground and grabbed onto her fore hooves and looked at her with pleading eyes.
"Will you please help me?!" I practically begged.
"Only if you let go of my legs and stand up," she said nervously to which I complied.
"Professor Rarity, I don't know what to do!" I panicked, "I asked this girl out to the Amity Ball, albeit pretty loudly and out of nervousness, and she said yes!"
"Well darling, I don't know why you're panicking. That's fantastic!" she cheered.
"Yeah I know it is, but now I'm more nervous than I ever was before in my life!" Professor Rarity was about to ask why before I continued, "This is the first time I'm going out with a girl! What if I mess up?! What if I end up making her hate me for the rest of our lives?! Do you know much self confidence I have in myself?! It's about as small as a grain of sand! What if...what if..."
As I started to hyperventilate, Professor Rarity then grabbed me with her magic, stopping me from having a complete meltdown, "Darling, please! You must calm down. Just take a deep breathe...and let it out."
I slowed down my breathing before inhaling deeply...and then letting it out. I was no longer nervous as I was a second ago, but I still pretty nervous nonetheless.
"Do you feel better?" Professor Rarity asked to which I simply nodded, "You must really like this girl if she really makes you this nervous. You're usually a calm and quiet one."
"Thanks professor," I said.
"If I may ask, who is this mare that caught your attention?" she asked.
"Promise me you won't tell?" I asked to which she did the Pinkie Promise, "Do you know...Shimmy Shake, one of the lead dancers on the cheer squad?"
"I believe so. I did make their wonderful outfits after all. Orange mane, eye shadow, has quite an accent, and a cutie mark of pom poms blowing in the wind, correct?" she asked to which I nodded.
"Yeah, that's her. Ever since I met her a couple of months ago, I quickly became fond of her thanks to her kind and almost sassy personality. I really like that in a friend. But...just a little under week ago...I saw as more than a friend. Her accent, her glistening eyes, her soft fur, her pretty mane blowing in the wind. I thought she was...beautiful. Then that's when I realized...I loved her. I want to be with her," I paused in my monologue before blushing harshly and looking at Professor Rarity, who had a smile on her face. I nervously chuckled and rubbed the back of my head, "Heh heh. Sorry, it's just...in all my life I've never harbored such feelings for well...anypony. I was never really interested in finding love. But now...I...I don't wanna blow it."
I turned back to Professor Rarity before asking, "Can you...can you help me?"
"Speak nothing more darling. I'll make sure I do whatever I can to help you impress Shimmy Shake," she said with a smile as she started to take my measurements.
"Thanks professor," I said, "Oh and by the way, I just wanna make sure she doesn't think I'm a total loser. I don't need go all fancy-shmancy and all that."
"We will need to do something about your...hairstyle," Professor Rarity said with slight disgust as she inspected my mane.
"What? Why? What's wrong with it?" I asked.
"Well, you can't exactly go to the Fetlock Fet, or whatever Twilight is calling it, looking like that. It's...well..." she said.
"Too awesome? Too cool? Too emo looking?" I asked.
"Messy," she corrected.
Geez. Thanks for the constructive criticism professor.
"Yeah, I know," I sighed, "I was never one to care about how my mane looks, unlike my brother. You should see it, it's all wavy and stuff. Not that I'm making fun of him for it or anything. As for me...well, I just want to make sure it looks good. But, if you really think a change is a good idea, then I don't see the harm in it."
"That's the spirit Legion, but first! Let's find the right tux for you. And before you ask, no, we can't add fluorescent paint to it. It'll just ruin it," she said as she levitated a few tuxes over to us.
"I wasn't even gonna ask that, but okay," I said.
"Now then, let's see what best fits you," she said as she inspected the tuxes, "Let's see here, grey? No, it'll blend into your coat. Red tie? No, that'll clash with the cyan stripes in your mane. Do you prefer a bow tie or a regular tie?"
"Um...a regular tie?" I said as Professor Rarity continued to ponder before she gasped out of excitement.
"Ideaa~," she sung before levitating a piece of paper and writing on it, "Oh I got the perfect tux. It's so simple, yet it fits you well. How do you feel about a black tux with a blue tie sound?"
"That sounds nice," I said.
"Excellent. I'll get it ready for you before the dance," she said, "In the meantime, we have to cover the most important part."
Professor Rarity and I entered Professor Dash's gym to see Professor Dash and Professor Fluttershy. Next to them was one of those old school music players.
"Professors Dash and Fluttershy?" I questioned to which Professor Rarity nodded, "To be honest, when you said you knew someponies that could help me with dancing, I thought you were talking about DJ Pon-3 or Octavia Melody. I didn't know they were good at dancing," I gestured to the two pegasi professors.
"God damnit. I really wanted to listen to some of Dj Pone-3's awesome...well...dj music. Her music is lit!"
"Don't be so surprised," Professor Dash said as she flew up too me, "I'm awesome at everything. Except for baking."
"Sooo...that must mean she's also good at...guitar? What about video games? Rapping? Art? What about-"
I think we get the idea. She's got an ego the size of Jrod's appetite for Taco Bell.
"Why do you keep saying the Jrod loves Taco Bell as if it's his lover?"
We like to make racist jokes towards each other, and since he's Mexican, I like to crack that he loves Taco Bell.
"I thought he was Puerto Rican."
Mexican. Puerto Rican. Tomato. Tomoto. Same fucking thing.
"I'm pretty sure it isn't."
"There are two traditional dances that everypony does at the Fet. After a few days of practicing of us, you'll learn them both," Professor Fluttershy said to which I nodded.
I'm gonna be dancing like someone who has two left feet.
"We'll start with the slow dance, the Pony Cotillion. That's Fluttershy's specialty," Professor Rarity said to which Professor Fluttershy blushed and hid behind her mane.
"Oh heh heh. I wouldn't say specialty. It's just fun," she said before leading me to a bunny with a rolled up piece of paper, "Here Legion, I made you a chart."
The bunny unrolled the paper, showing me...what the fuck is this shit? There were many hoofprints and dotted lines consisting of red, blue, green, and black, all tangled up in a total mess.
"The fuck is this supposed to be? Twister?"
"Umm..." I mumbled.
"All you have to do is follow these dance steps," she said nonchalantly as I stared at the chart in total confusion that screamed 'what the fuck', "You'll learn them in no time."
She nodded to the bunny, who then kicked the music player which began to play eloquent music.
"Now just start walking and follow my lead," she said to which we stepped onto the chart, "Step on whatever color I name. Let's begin."
"Please don't be as complicated as Dance Dance Revolution."
That game's not even...what?
"Blue, red, step ahead. Green, black, now step back," she said as she shifted her footing to step on the colors, "Now you try."
"Okay. Um...blue, red, step ahead. Green, black, now step back?" I said as I did exactly what she did.
"Good," she said.
Huh...that was easy.
"Maybe this slow dance won't as hard as I thought."
"Now, black, green, red, and blue. Red, black, hold one and two..."
What the fuck?
"...Red, green, red once more..."
Oh god. Slow down!
"...Green, black, blue, red, three and four," she said in total complication as she did the moves, while I struggled like the survivors from Dead By Daylight.
I can't...I can't pay attention when you're going that fast dude!
"C-can you slow down?! I feel like I have four left feet!" I said before I tripped on my hooves and fell to the ground.
"O-okay...maybe I was wrong."
Motherfu-YOU JINXED IT!
"I'M SORRY!"
"Oh...um...maybe we should try this again later," Professor Fluttershy said as she and Professor Rarity sighed.
"Yep, that's probably a good idea," I said as I got up, "Maybe I don't learn the complicated stuff so early."
Or I can just you know...not do it at all. I can...I can just take it slow.
"Don't worry Legion," Professor Dash said as she flew up to me, "That was the hard one. Mine's way easier."
She winked and nodded to the bunny, whom flipped over the music disk and the music player started a more...fast paced music.
Hey. This is probably more my style.
"A little dance called the Pony Prance," Professor Dash said.
"How many fucking horse puns does this world have?!"
"The key to this one is speed!" she said before she started flying around and doing some moves that are more freestyle, like hopping in place, rearing her hind hooves up into the air, and pumping her hoof into the air.
"Come on Legion, try it! I know you're agile, so just get with the flow and let yourself go!" she said as she continued dancing.
I don't know how being agile makes me a good dancer, but okay.
Well, I didn't know how to dance like a pony, so I just did what Professor Dash did. In addition, I added a little head banging here and there. It was...quite exhilarating actually. I didn't even realize that I was starting to fly around a bit and doing some flips here and there. I think I'm actually starting to get into it. Unfortunately, I was so into it that I wasn't paying attention to my movements. I ended up backflipping into a pole and hitting my head on it.
"OW!" I screamed as I made impact and fell to the ground. The professors gasped and ran over to me as all I saw were stars.
"Oh my goodness, Legion. Are you alright?" Professor Rarity asked.
"Groan. I think I got with flow and let myself go...too much," I groaned as I rubbed my aching head.
Professor Rarity and I walked to Sweet Apple Acres. She told me that she was gonna get some more help to you know...help me. We entered the farm and saw Professors Applejack and Pinkie Pie in front of the Apple house.
"Howdy there Legion. Rarity tells us that ya need some help getting ready for the big dance," Professor Applejack said.
"Indeed. And we only have a few more days," Professor Rarity said.
"Well, you've come to the right place. Because if you ask me what my favorite part of the dance is, I'd say everything about the dance," Professor Pinkie said as she hopped and spun around me.
"Of course it is. Why am I not surprised?"
I wonder if there's alcohol in this world. If she really wants to get wild, she should have a party filled with booze and loud music. And maybe have drunken...actually nevermind.
"Actually, I think there is alcohol here, only it's pretty light. Didn't Professor Applejack mention something about apple cider?"
I've had apple cider before. Not bad. Not bad at all.
"But especially...this," she said as she took out a pot shaped like a cupcake and carrying it with...the tip of her curly mane...you know what, never mind, "The Fetlock Lucky Pot Dinner."
"It's part of the Ponyville dance tradition. Everypony brings out a dish to share," Professor Applejack said as she took out a pot with an apple on it and apple marks all over it, "And we swap em without knowing whose is whose. Although my lucky pot probably gives it away."
"You can cook anything you want, but can I suggest, oh I don't know...cupcakes?!" Professor Pinkie asked excitedly as she pressed her muzzle against mine, making me smile nervously.
Please don't get so close to me.
"Um...I know how to make a grilled cheese and quesadillas," I said as a back away a bit.
"Oh! Those sound delicious Legion," Professor Pinkie said excitedly, "Buuut, I don't think the quesadillas are a good idea to bring to the dance."
"Why?" I asked with confusion.
"Well you see darling," Professor Rarity said, "Twilight is um...afraid of quesadillas."
...
"What?" I asked with a face that screamed 'what the fuck did you just say?'
"Yep, got it on file right here," Professor Pinkie said as she pulled a file folder from out of nowhere, "Twilight Sparkle likes vanilla ice cream, red balloons, dancing, but she's afraid of quesadillas."
...
"B-b-but...h-how..."
"I'm sorry, but how can you be afraid of food?!" I said with a look of utter disbelief, "And what's wrong with quesadillas?! There soooo good!"
"I believe Twilight's exact words were 'there just so cheesy,'" Professor Rarity said.
"What. The. FUCK?!"
"But what does that even mean?!" I asked, "That like me saying 'oh, I'm afraid to eat apples because there so juicy.' It doesn't make any sense!"
"Hmm. I'm not sure why Twilight's afraid of them. But back on track, let's get baking!" Professor Pinkie said before hopping inside the house, to which Professors Rarity, Applejack, and I followed.
"A lot of things don't make sense on this world."
Really? When did it start to get weird for you exactly? When we turned into a pony, when we met Professor Pinkie, or when we started fighting shadows? Actually, that last one is pretty awesome, but you get the idea. Anyways, time learn the ways of baking sweets from Professor Pinkie.
"Flour, milk, sugar, butter, icing! Then we mix, and we beef, and we pour into pan, we bake! And now you try it!" Professor Pinkie said as she managed to make cupcakes in just a few seconds, leaving me with my jaw dropped.
...
"WHY DOES EVERYONE THINK WE HAVE THE PROCESSING OF A COMPUTER?!"
"O-okay...let's see um...flour," I said as I opened a bag of flour and dumped it into a bowl. Unfortunately, a lot of it got into my nose. I sneezed loudly, spreading flour everywhere and covering Professor Pinkie completely in flour, making her as white as a ghost.
"Blue, red, green...whoa!" I said as I almost tripped again. Thankfully, Professor Fluttershy caught me just in time. Meanwhile, Professor Rarity was busy stitching up my suit.
Professor Rarity kept using a brush to try to get my mane to look nice, but no matter how much force she put into each stroke, much to my dismay, my mane would just remain unkempt. Guess this is what happens when I don't take care of my hair.
"Ah your mane doesn't look that bad."
Professor Pinkie was a baking machine, as she kept mixing bowls of cupcake batter. Meanwhile, I was still mixing my first one. I felt good about the mix, so I looked away from the professor gave it a quick lick to taste it. I then heard the dinging sound of an oven. I looked back, and my eyes widened and my jaw dropped as I saw two shelves filled with cooked cupcakes. Professor Pinkie just looked back at me and smiled.
Professor Rarity was washing my mane in...whatever those things are called. You know, those things you see in spas where you lean back in a chair and someone washes your hair over a bowl. After the washing, Professor Rarity dried my mane with a towel and saw...that it was exactly the same.
I managed to perform Professor Fluttershy's complicated dance almost perfectly, with a little bit of stumbles. I turned around and started doing the Pony Prance in front of Professor Dash, making sure to pay attention to my movements. Both of the professors had proud smiles on their faces.
Professor Rarity tried everything. From head bands, hair sprays, she even tried a curling iron, but my mane just kept its spiky, unkempt look. It was starting to get amusing as she started to get frustrated, if my small smile and chuckle of amusement were any indications. But those immediately dropped and instead turned into a smile and chuckle of nervousness when she looked at me with total determination with a pair of shears in her aura.
"Welp, you're fucked."
If anybody was around Carousel Boutique at the time, they would just see a grey teenage pegasus colt bursting through the doors to the building and flying away and screaming. Almost immediately afterwards, a white adult unicorn mare would be running after the colt while levitating a pair of shears.
"Blue, red, step ahead. Green, black, now step back," I kept repeating myself as I did the Pony Cotillion, this time without the chart, "Black, green, red and blue. Red, black, hold one and two. Red, green, red once more. Green, black, blue, red, three and four."
"Guys look. He's dancing," I heard Professor Dash say proudly.
"How about that. And he's good," Professor Applejack said.
"By Celestia! I think he's got it!" Professor Rarity said.
"He's really got it!" Professor Pinkie said.
"You'll be the hit of the ball," Professor Fluttershy said.
I honestly don't know whether to be excited or not about that last one.
"Yeah...yeah...I got this! I can do this! And it's all thanks to you five," I said as I turned to them, "So...thank you, professors."
"Oh darling, it was nothing. And we're just in time too. The dance is tomorrow," Professor Rarity said, "I just need to put the finishing touches on your suit. You can come pick it up after school before the dance."
"Okay professor," I nodded, "Well, I should get started on my homework. See you tomorrow professor, and again...thanks for helping me."
"Bye Legion," they all said.
I flew out of Carousel Boutique and, with some newfound determination, I headed towards the school, thinking about the Amity Ball tomorrow. I no longer have any fear or any sense of nervousness. Tomorrow, I've got a dance. A date. An opportunity. To get together with Shimmy Shake, the most beautiful and kindest girl I've ever met. And I'm not gonna let anything get in the way with that.
Let's see here. Took a shower? Check. Tux? Check. Spiky, unkempt mane but only slightly unkempt and not as unkempt as yesterday? Check. Lucky pot filled with cupcakes? Check. Gift for Shimmy Shake for later? Check.
"Look at you amigo. All dressed up for the big dance, and with a girl no less."
I know. I never would've thought this would happen to me in like...ever.
"Sniff. I'm so proud of you man. You're growing up so fast."
God you're starting sound like my mom. Wait a minute. Are you...are you crying?
"N-no! My eyes are just...very sweaty right now. Yeah, let's go with that."
That's...that's just disgusting.
"I know."
I ran my hoof through my mane and then adjusted my tie. I looked at the mirror and observed my tux. Professor Rarity really did a great job on this. Then again, her special talent is all about fashion. The black silk, along with the white undershirt underneath it were comfortable as hell. The sleeves extended up to the bottom of my fore hooves. The main part of it extended about halfway across my torso, just past my wings. Thankfully, Professor Rarity put holes in the tux so I won't be uncomfortable. The tux also included two flaps that reached up to my tail. Finally, tied around the collar was a cyan tie, and let me tell you something. Tying on a tie is frustrating as hell, which is why I prefer the ones where you can just clip it on.
"I feel you man."
I glanced at the clock and saw that it was 5:50 P.M. Only 10 minutes left till the Amity Ball begins. My friends have already left to the main lobby to wait for the dance. I took a deep breathe, trying to hold down the butterflies in my stomach....wait no....trying to release the butterflies from my stomach. Ocellus once said, back during Professors Applejack's and Dash's, that if I was scared to try something new, I whistle. Unfortunately, I'm a shit whistler, so I just ended up making raspberries and spitting all over the mirror. In the end, I just decided to take my own advice, as well as what I've been taught in the past few days. Think about what's gonna make her happy, go with the flow, and suck it up and deal with whatever happens.
"I don't think that last one is any good."
Huh?
"Uh, nothing! Nothing. Just uh...good luck man. Seriously."
Thanks dude. I'm gonna need it. I picked up Shimmy's gift and tucked it into my jacket, before leaving my room and heading to the lobby.
Holy shit. The staff really went all out on the Amity Ball. The pillars were aligned with ribbons, the walls were adorned with paper cutouts of hearts and hoove prints, the floor was littered with confetti, and there were a crap ton of balloons. There were tables filled with other lucky pots, and a shit ton of food and drinks. There was even a DJ booth. Holy crap. I'll say it again, the staff really went all out.
"Then again...one of the professors is a hyperactive pink pony who's constantly on a sugar rush, and who's special talent is literally party planning."
True.
I walked over to the table and placed my lucky pot there. It was dark blue in color with the Legion symbol spray painted cyan on it. Thank you hardware store for the supplies by the way. It was filled with about half a dozen of cupcakes, all of which were vanilla with vanilla icing and sprinkles.
"Sprinkles?"
I fucking love sprinkles! And if you don't like sprinkles, then you can just fuck off cause I don't care about your opinion.
"O-okay."
I looked around the room and saw almost all of the students mingling with each other and overall having a good time. I soon spotted my friends close to the entrance, except for Yona and Shimmy. They must still be getting ready. Ocellus was drinking some punch, Smolder was leaning against a pillar, and Silverstream was eating cupcakes and chips, while dropping crumbs onto Gallus's head, who looked like he didn't give a fuck about it. I noticed that Sandbar had a blue tie on and was constantly adjusting his mane. Maybe he also asked someone to be his pony pal. Other than him, none of them had any kind of formal wear on.
Talk about being overdressed.
Lighthoof soon noticed me and waved me over to them.
"Hey guys," I said to which they greeted me back, "Where's Yona? Is she not coming?" They giggled teasingly at my questioned.
"Oh, she's coming," Lighthoof said.
"Yeah, she's just getting ready for her pony pal," Gallus said teasingly as he nudged Sandbar, making him blush lightly. It doesn't take a genius (not like me) to put the pieces together as I put on a grin as well.
"Well, well, well. Look at you Sandbar all grown up. Asking out Yona to the dance, ain't ya?" I asked, making him blush even more as he slowly nods at me, "Ah don't worry dude. I'm just teasing ya. But for real, good for you on asking Yona out. At least now I know why you dressed up and all that."
"U-um, thanks Legion," he said, "But what about you? Why are you all dressed up, and with a tux no less?"
Everybody's eyes then turned to me. I started to sweat and chuckle nervously as Sandbar managed to turn all the attention onto me.
"You better say something man."
"I uh...overdressed?" I said nervously.
"Not that!"
"Oh. I think I know why," Lighthoof chuckled teasingly as she walked closer to me.
Lighthoof. You're a good friend, but please don't do this to me.
"I believe our friend here has dressed up for his pony pal," she said as she nudged my side, making me blush.
Annnd, she did this to me.
The others gasped out if surprise and excitement at this before Silverstream flew up to my face with a wide smile.
"You have a pony pal too?!" she asked excitedly, "Who is it?! Who is it?!"
"Don't answer the question man! You'll just give an excited fan girl something to work with and she will proceed to write fanfics about you and Shimmy Shake!"
...
Not even gonna ask.
"It's...um...Shimmy Shake," I whispered.
"What was that?" Smolder asked with a smirk.
"Don't answer that!"
"It's...Shimmy Shake," I whispered again, albeit a little bit louder.
"One more time?" Gallus asked, also with a smirk.
"Stop!"
"Uuuummmm...," I said idiotically.
"It's Shimmy Shake," Lighthoof answered for me with a sigh.
For the love of God, why?!
"Eee! Oh, I know you two would make such a cute couple someday. It was only a matter of time," Silverstream squealed with delight.
"She wants the fan art!"
"Oh, I can't wait to be there for the wedding!" Silverstream said excitedly, making my eyes go wide and making my body freeze.
Nani?!
"It has begun! She's writing fanfics about you two now! I told you not to answer her question!"
It wasn't me! It was Lighthoof!
"S-Silverstream! I'm too young to marry someone!" I said with a huge blush on my face, "And besides, Shimmy Shake and I aren't even an official couple yet."
"But you want to be a couple with her, right?" she asked.
"W-well...yes, but-" I said before I was interrupted.
"Then that's good enough for me!" she said while wiggling her eyebrows.
"The fanfics!"
"Oh my stars," I said, using my wings to cover my embarrassed face.
"Don't worry man. She said the exact same thing when I told them Yona was my pony pal," Sandbar said as he draped a hoof around me.
"Did you also feel as embarrassed as I am feeling right now?" I said, peeking my eye out from the wings to look at him.
"Pretty much. Although I didn't have any wings to cover my embarrassment," he said.
"Lucky me then, I guess," I said, folding my wings back with a small smile.
"Hello every creature~!" I heard Spike announce. I looked over to the DJ booth and saw him wearing a grey hoodie with a golden zipper and...
"What the fuck is that?"
...a helmet that looked like his head, where his real head was inside the mouth of the helmet.
"I'm your DJ, Scales and Tail..." Spike said.
"More like DJ Deadmau5."
Yo, I remember DJ Deadmau5.
"Really? Which song was your favorite? Mine was Strobe. So peaceful. So calm. So relaxing."
Well...actually I don't remember him for his music, per say.
"Let me get this straight. You don't know Deadmau5 through his music, concerts, or overall popularity back in 2010 or whenever, but rather when you kicked his ass as well as his fans' ass during a concert in Goat Simulator?!"
Hey, that was a popular and funny game and you know it!
"...spending your favorite tunes all night long, so welcome to the Fetlock Fe-I mean, the Amity Ball," Spike (or rather DJ Scales and Tail) announced, to which everybody cheered.
"I'm just glad I'm here with you guys," Gallus said, "At least I'm not the only non-pony in the crowd."
Geez. Talk about being an odd one out. Imagine if I was still human. I'd feel like such an outcast. Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen, read, nor heard anything about humans being in this world. I wonder how things would turn if I came here as a human. They'd probably freak out or something. Guess I gotta thank Discord the next time I see him for turning me into a pony. Heh. Never thought I'd see the day where I'm thankful for becoming a po-
"H-hi Legion."
I snapped out of my thoughts as my eyes widened my body froze up at the sound of the Valley girl accented voice I knew all too well. I slowly turned around and my jaw dropped.
Yona was wearing a dress consisting of multiple shades of green, as well as a blue and yellow flower attached to it. She was also wearing blue eye shadow, blue ear rings, and light green ribbons on her horns. But Yona was more of why Sandbar's jaw was dropped.
No, no. My jaw was dropped because of the absolute beauty standing right next to her. Shimmy Shake~. She was wearing a sleeveless and slightly sparkling red dress. Professor Rarity's work, obviously. She also had on red slippers on each hoof, red earrings, and instead of her usual tied up mane style, it was instead let down. It was like I was like I looking at an angel, only instead of white she was wearing red. Speaking of red, her face was red as she looked at me with a small smile.
"Dude. I think you've been staring for too long."
No I haven't.
"Dude. I think you've been staring for too long," Gallus whispered to me.
Damn it.
"Told you."
"O-oh...um, hey Shimmy," I stammered, "H-how are you doing?"
"I-I'm doing fine," she replied, "You?"
"Fine. Fine. I'm doing fine," I said, "You uh...you look very beautiful Shimmy."
"T-thanks. Y-you too," she said with a more apparent blush.
"Heh. I'm glad you decided to dress up too. I was starting to worry I was gonna be overdressed tonight," I chuckled to which she let out that cute giggle.
Why must she be so damn beautiful and cute?!
"Legion."
I turned and saw Professor Rarity entering the ballroom and walking towards us. And Jesus Christ, she goes all out when it comes to dances. She was wearing a magenta dress with a white, pearly necklace. The back of her mane was all tied up in sort of a bun by a white hairband.
"You look absolutely amazing in that suit, darling," she said.
"Heh, thanks Professor, but I really should be thanking you. You're the one that made it," I said.
"Think nothing of it dear. I'm not called the 'Element of Generosity' for nothing," she said before she turned her attention to Shimmy, "And this must be Shimmy Shake, and she looks to be quite a keeper. You look absolutely beautiful in that dress. That color just mixes well with your whole complexion."
"O-oh, t-thanks Professor," Shimmy said.
We all heard the sound of a microphone blaring and then turned our attention to Headmare Twilight.
"Welcome every creature to our school's first annual Amity Ball! For those of you who've never attended a Fetlock Fet, we can't wait to show you our fun traditions on this special night," Headmare Twilight announced to which everybody cheered, well, except for the non-ponies, "So, Spike..."
"Uh, Scales and Tail," Spike corrected her.
"On second thought, now that I hear the name again, I'd rather not call him that."
Honestly, you and me both.
"Uh, right...Scales and Tail. Let's get this party started," Headmare Twilight said as she handed Spike the microphone.
"Oh, yeah party ponies! It's time to raise the roof and stomp your hoof for the traditional first dance of the night, the Pony Catillion," Spike said before he started playing that same slow paced music I listened to for the past few days.
After this night, I'm never gonna listen to this song ever again.
"Ah! Yona know this one!" I heard Yona say.
"You do?" Sandbar asked.
"Mmhm. Lighthoof and other ponies taught Yona," she said before she and Sandbar headed to the dance floor.
I saw many ponies heading to the dance floor and dancing the Pony Catillion, before I turned to Shimmy.
"Shall we um...shall we dance then?" I asked nervously, holding my hoof out to her.
"O-oh...I uh...I don't really know how to do the Pony Catillion. I'll probably just end up embarrassing myself," she said as she looked away embarrassed.
"It's...actually not that bad once you get used to it. Come on, just follow my lead. I promise to not make it look too complicated," I said as I grabbed Shimmy's hoof, making her eyes widen a bit, and walking her to the dance floor. I heard a gasp and in my peripheral vision, I saw my professors all watching me with proud smiles. When we got onto the dance floor, I started dancing the Pony Catillion, making sure to get a bit slow so Shimmy could keep up. Eventually, she was starting to get the hang of it.
"See, it's not that bad, right?" I asked her.
"Yeah, it's not," she said, "I didn't know you were such a good dancer."
"I'm not, but I had good teachers," I said as I glanced behind me towards my professors and gave them a wink.
"So far, so good. You got this in the bag man."
"WOAH!"
CRASH
Shimmy and I turned to the sound of a crash to see Yona collapsed next to a knocked over table. Although, it was rather impressive to see a bowl of punch was sitting perfectly fine on top of her head.
"Yona, are you alright?" Sandbar asked as he, Shimmy, and I approached Yona.
"Yona never practice dance with dress on," she said with a blush.
"At least nothing was broken?" I said, "But seriously, you alright?"
"Yeah. Yak tough. Yak must be tough for Sandbar," she said confidently.
"Time to shake things up a little. That's right every creature, it's the Pony Prance!" Spike announced before playing the music.
I swear both of these songs are gonna be stuck in my head for days, maybe weeks.
"Uh, maybe we should sit this one out," Sandbar said.
"Yeah. Sandbar probably right," Yona said, "Yak not want to cause anymore ruckus."
"Oh, I love the Pony Prance," Shimmy said, no longer embarrassed, as she grabbed onto my hoof and started dragging me, "Come on! This is more my style."
"O-okay," I said as she still held onto my hoof.
"It's amazing that she's suddenly excited to do a dance in which Professor Dash said 'to key to it is speed'. Shimmy is one energetic chick."
Why do you think her special talent is cheerleading?
"Good point."
The rest of the dance went by pretty smoothly. Shimmy and I put all of our energy into dancing the Pony Prance with smiles on our faces. I made sure not to get too into it and doing flips and shit and crashing into stuff. Although her flushed face was cute, I was glad to see she was no longer shy. After dancing, we sat down and played various card games with our friends. I had no idea how to play Go Fish or Poker, so needless to say, I lost by a landslide. The only card games I know how to play are Blackjack and Uno.
I took one of the lucky pots and saw that they were filled with lemon cupcakes. Gotta tell you man, they actually weren't that bad. Pretty sure they made by Lemon Zest.
"Who?"
Remember my first day at the School of Friendship, specifically Professor Rarity's class? Lemon Zest was the name of the unicorn that I drew that day. Anyway, I knew it was her because one time during Professor Applejack's class, we were taking care of small apple trees, and Lemon Zest was watering a small lemon tree. When Professor Applejack saw her doing it, she just gave Lemon a stern glare, making her slowly switch the lemon tree for an apple tree.
Afterwards, Headmare Twilight announced that Yona and Sandbar were the winners of the Pony Pal Contest. Good for them. The trophy was even changed so one of figures resembled a yak instead of a pony.
When the Amity Ball was coming close to an end, I asked Shimmy if she wanted to come with me to the balcony of the school, saying that I wanted to show her something. She said yes, and that was when Operation: Confess...Feelings...and come up with a better name...commenced. My friends and professors gave me looks of encouragement that basically said 'good luck' and 'you've got this', especially Lighthoof and Professor Rarity.
So here I am now.
"S-so...what did you wanna show me?" Shimmy asked as we were walking.
"Patience Shimmy. I won't be a surprise if I tell you what it is beforehand," I answered, "But I promise that you're gonna like it."
When we were nearing the balcony, I stopped myself and Shimmy and told her, "Close your eyes."
"Why?" she asked.
"Just trust me," I said as I held my hoof to her.
She nodded before taking my hoof and closing her eyes. I led her the rest of way, making sure her eyes were shut, before we reached the balcony. I then told to sit down, to which she did, before sitting myself down next to her.
"Okay, then, you can open your eyes now Shimmy," I said.
She opened her eyes and became awestruck at the sight. The balcony held a view of all of Ponyville, and on the other side of the small village, the moon was starting to rise from the horizon. The stars started to twinkle as brightly as the moon in the night sky as Ponyville was shrouded in darkness.
This is the exact reason why I like the night more than the day. It's the perfect example of the difference between light and dark. No matter how much darkness there is, there will always be light, and vice versa. It's like two sides of a coin, or harmony and disharmony. You can't have one without the other, and a perfect balance between the two is always the best.
"Princess Celestia and Princess Luna would be proud to hear you say that."
"Woah," I heard her say.
"Well, what do you think?" I asked as I turned to her.
"It's pretty," she said, still staring at the view.
"W-well...not as pretty as the pony right next to me," I said with a blush, grabbing her attention.
"You...you really think I'm that pretty," she said, brushing a part of her mane out of face.
"Come on man. You got this."
"S-Shimmy...I...I got something to tell you," I said, rubbing the back of my head, "It's been on my mind for a while now."
"Y-yeah?"
"In all my life, I was never in any rush to find love, mainly because I thought I was perfectly happy with my life already already. But ever since I met you, I believe that's changed. You're sweet, funny, energetic, and if I'm being honest, quite attractive."
"W-what are you saying?" she asked as her eyes started to sparkle.
"I'm saying I...I..."
"Come on man. Say it."
"...I think I'm in love with you."
Shimmy Shake's POV
My eyes widened at what he just confessed. Legion, the colt I've been in love with for weeks, is in love with me too!
OMG! OMG! OMG! I'm so happy! He's in love with me too!
"...a-and I'm not sure whether or not you feel the same way or not, but-"
"I love you too."
DeffBwade's POV
D-did she just say what I thought she said?
"I-I think she did."
She...loves me too. She loves me too. She loves me too!
"Let's go! Let's go DeffBwade! You the man!"
Oh my god, I don't I've ever been so happy in my entire life!
"R-really? Y-you...love me too?" I asked.
"Y-yeah. You're kind, funny, smart, brave, cute-" she said.
"Cute?" I asked to which she nodded, "Wow. I've never been called cute before. Here, I got you a little something. Close your eyes."
"Another surprise? For me?" she giggled to which I nodded before closing her eyes, "Okay."
I reached into my tux pocket and pulled out a little black box and opened it, revealing a necklace. It was one of those golden heart shaped necklaces that could be separated into two separate necklaces. Each side had half of our cutie marks. The right half had her pom poms blowing in the wind, and the left half had half of the Legion smile.
"Wow. Imagine if she didn't share the same feelings as you."
If that the was the case, then...fuck. This thing would've been a waste of money.
"How much did that cost anyway?"
That's...not important.
I took the half with Shimmy's cutie mark and put it on before putting the half with my cutie mark on Shimmy Shake.
"I might've went a little too far with buying this," I chuckled, "But...open your eyes now."
She opened them and her eyes widened as she blushed brightly when she immediately noticed the necklaces she and I were wearing. I scooted closer to her before holding my necklace and connecting it to hers.
"Well...what do you think?" I asked.
"It's...it's beautiful," she said.
"Not as beautiful as you," I said.
"You already said that."
Shut up. Don't ruin this moment.
"Oh sorry."
Shimmy and I were silent as we stared into each other's eyes. It took me a moment to realize how close we were from each other, and it must've been making me blush heavily. Same with Shimmy. What I didn't realize was that we slowly coming closer and closer.
"Legion," she whispered.
"Shimmy," I whispered as our faces coming closer to each other finally registered in my mind.
Is...is this really happening? This is not a dream?
Our eyes slowly closed as we were only a few inches away from each other, and only coming closer...and closer...until...
Hey guys. I know you probably already noticed, but let me explain. As you know, it has been...what...4 weeks...since I last updated on this story. When I first started writing this, it was merely a way to waste some time while I was in Hawaii, and I enjoyed it, really I did. But...looking back now, I can see that this story is...not exactly what I wanted it to be.
So...I'm sorry but...
I've decided to cancel this story once and for all.
JUST KIDDING!
I decided to rewrite this story from the ground up! I will ensure that each chapter is longer and better. I'm kinda ashamed to admit it, but I'm one of those bronies that don't tell others that...well...I'm a brony. But since my brother is gonna be moving to college sometime next month, I will have more opportunities to write.
Writing on an ipad, or so help me a phone, is just god awful.
Anyway, by the time you're reading this, the first two chapters should be already out. So go, read the rewrite.
