> Saved!!!
>  by ArchoPony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> 1 - The Fall
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A trip.

A fall.

A new day.

“ AAAAHHHHHHAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH ”

Cried PonderBright, as he barreled toward the ground at faster and faster speeds, slowly becoming smaller with bright flashes of light obstructing his vision. He had to close his eyes.

For a second, he figured this was him finally snapping, and that all that magic business within the last school year was just the start of his insanity. At least, that's what he hoped, to be safely inside a padded cell screaming and foaming from the mouth but in safety. Not this; anything but this.

But it was all too real. Deep down he knew it, even as his life flashed before his eyes again.
He had confirmed his suspicions with several classmates back when Twilight and 5 others used rainbow lasers against a demon. Their story matched the one he experienced.

He opened his eyes, and PonderBright was greeted by 2 horse like appendages instead of his arms.
In his manic confusion, he gave up. Too many things were happening at once. He was overwhelmed, but mostly tired.

Depression took over.

Maybe this was a good thing.
Maybe he would leave a funny-shaped hole in the ground in the figure of whatever abomination Twilight had turned him into.
He went to cover his eyes, but as he did he felt 4 separate things cover his eyes instead of 2. And he saw feathers.

Wings.
HE HAD WINGS.

He immediately spread every appendage he had, HOPING to control his wings.
He was running out of time.

He tried to rotate his wings like an arm.
He was running out of time.

He looked down to gauge how much time he had left.
He was running out of time.

Upward wind turned sideways. Then downward.
He had done it.

With around 3 primitive-buildings worth of space to spare he had did it.
A immense euphoria washed over him, he didn't want to die after all, but as soon as he had realized this he realized something else; he was still in the air.

He zoned in back to reality and was starting to fall back downward.
This wasn't good.
He was in the wrong position to glide again, Can a horse survive a 150 foot fall?
Wrong question.
His mind wandered, and he was blinded by a light from just above him.
No time for that, focus on a plan.
He tried to get himself turned back around into the popper direction for falling like a cursed winged abomination.
You know, wings facing the desired direction of travel and whatnot.

But it was no use.
This new body would not cooperate, or maybe he was not giving it the popper commands?
Time has run out.
The best he could manage was a very steep circular motion before crashing into a forest nearby the primitive settlement.

He was very luck to have to, and he knew it, for the countless branches broke most of his fall. The cuts, bruises and blood were worth it, given the alternative.
He impacted the ground hard. His new form was not aerodynamic, and very dense. His plan to sacrifice his two front … “ legs ” had mostly failed, as what he was assuming to be his torso had taken a lot of the damage. This was made immediately clear by the mind-splitting pain that followed the crash.

He came in so steep he left a short indignation into the forest floor, it was a miracle he was still conscious.
He immediately screamed.
He checked his wounds.
That's a lot of blood.
He looked for something to tie his leg off. Stopping the bleeding came first.
He had no fingers in which to tie it off.
His mind was spinning.
He was no stranger to pain; physical, mental or otherwise, but this was on another level. Mostly physical.

Was he going to pass out?
Was he going to die?
More strange lights from above him.
Rescue?
He looked up.
No.
Nothing.

He used traction and his other leg to gain the feeling the sweet relief; the of lack blood following out of one part of his body, now going for his torso.
No time wasted, he rips a abnormally big leaf from a bush and lays over it.
He reaches with both his hooves around his back, along with his mouth, ready to tie it as tight as he could.
Not much blood was coming out from his … “ bottom torso “ mostly removed hair and bruises.
He was lucky yet again for that too, as PonderBright could not tie a knot in such a awkward position with such new limitations on how he handles things.

He was, in fact, a horse. He had realized it earlier to save his life, but not internalized it.
Goldish-Yellowish fur? Huh.
The next vine was a tough one to get out. It's as if it was heavier then the rest...
He noticed he was slowing. Getting dizzy.
He tried the best he could.
He had tried.

A voice broke him out of his long trance, coming from a small horse from a fair distance away.
“ A- Are you ok? “ said the young pony.
“ You... Speak?”
“English?” Replied PonderBright, not in the right mental state to form popper words, had the tone he tried to speak come out manic and frenzied instead. Or maybe that was just all the blood in his mouth.

“ Eng- wha- Look I'll get ya'll hel- ”

“ AM I DEAD?! “ Screamed the broken pony.
The little pony recoiled, making a face even the human could recognize as truly terrified.

PonderBright tried and failed to calm the situation.
“ WHERE AM I? “ he bellowed, sounding only slightly less angry and also more authoritative, both by accident.
“ CAN YOU STOP THIS BLEEDING? “ he screeched in a much more pleading manor.
He had inadvertently “ pointed “ to himself using one his legs. Huh. So these things do come with instructions.

The little pony was scared stiff. His best bet was this little (child?) creature and he knew it.
After a short silence a thought passed his mind.
Sunset Shimmer.

“ ARE YOU ONE OF TWILIGHTS GOONS, SENT HERE TO FINISH ME OFF !!! ” He screamed without thinking.
Black lightning streaked across the tree canopy, along with afterimages of purple and green dots.
He recoiled at that last one, much bigger and brighter then all the rest, but as he looked back down the beautiful yellow and red little horse was gone, along with his last hope of not bleeding out.

He instantly realized his mistake.
Or maybe not.
Hooftracks.
He walked past the crash site and some destroyed trees, a few by the crash and fewer still by the black lightning.
All the way back into the primitive village.

Of course.
He was an idiot.
They had buildings, so they have basic healthcare, DUH!

His walk sped into a stroll, still fighting the dizziness and jitters, otherwise it would be a sprint.
Some other “ people “ apparently took notice and flocked near like a group of by standards observing a schoolyard fight.
“ O- Oh my “ said one
“ Do you need help? “ said another

He paused for a moment in disbelief. He expected that kind of delay and response from the little pony, but not these ones. They had jobs. He SAW them working. He SAW one of them put down a book to walk over to him!
Or maybe that was just the blood loos. Who knows.
“ YES! “	“ I NEED HELP! “ As he leaned toward the other ponies in urgent expression.
“ GET A M- “ He was interrupted by a … female? (maybe?) ponies scream.
Luckily she was quickly quieted by another female (?) pony sitting across from her.
Another tan pony walked up to him, and... bowed...? before seeing all the blood on the floor.
“ SORRY! “ he stumbled his words for a bit.

“ I WILL GET -” The tan pony then finally said, before getting interrupted by someone in the crowd screaming
“HE NEEDS HELP!”
Things quickly devolved into a shouting match, without anything getting done.

The seldom few ponies who were level headed enough to still calmly approach PonderBright were assessing the situation.
All this activity was not doing his autism any favors. He might actually be more in a state of panic then when he was falling.

He then felt a sharp pain coming from his back. A pony had touched it to asses the damage without telling him. Perfect.
He turned to face the perpetrator.
“ HANDS OFF “
The confused and scared pony looked at him with a bloody twig in his hoof.
“ DONT TOUCH ME “ snarled our dark-green and gold pony, almost foaming at the mouth with strained expression and words.

He then felt another, much sharper ( but still manageable) pain from his front left leg.
At this point he was done.

Mentally done, that is.

For when he felt his makeshift tourniquet fall off and blood start to ooze out of his worst wounds again, he did snap. But for real this time.
Only one thing was present in his mind; a response trained up over time by so many moments of his past:
“ Attack. “

Green lightning.
Everywhere.

5 ponies motionless. 1 Missing a few vital parts.
At least 6 being dragged off by others.

The pony he had directed the “ Thought “ towards was completely unharmed, now staring in shock directly at him, and PonderBright staring back at him.
The staring contest quickly came to an end as the dark blue pony quickly ran off, almost slipping due to accelerating so quickly.

Our main pony turned more to the right to see his actual target of his ire, not the one he had mistakenly targeted and just ran off.
What was recognizable looked like a doctor.
Modern stethoscope. Scrubs. What looked like the charred remains of bandages.

He ran.
Away from civilization, all the knew that he had done it again. There would be no help, no escaping twilight, and no returning back to the human world.

He and blew it and he had done so twice, IN A ROW.
At least this time he would make sure his death would not result in more.

After running for awhile, he found a cave and decided that would be his final resting place.
He marched firmly into the opening, and taking a long while to finally get lost inside the winding tunnels to ensure his solitude. He chuckled a bit, even after all this he was still somewhat mentally sharp.
Why had he screamed at the little horse that was just trying to help?

Why the only thing he … wanted to think about when faced with (comparatively) minor pain was to attack?
Was this connected to the destructive lightning in any way?

Oh well.
Probably. Who knows?

It won't matter soon anyway.

Soon it will be nobody's problem, including his own.

He was awakened to sounds of hoofs against stone.

It sounded like many different hoofs, like an entire herd, but he wasn't accustom to gauging how many bodies there were when there were 4 legs and all 4 legs being shorter altogether.
He had noticed that most of the bleed had just stopped by itself, and he found himself muttering to himself “Guess I really have to do everything myself”.

A familiar regal female voice was overheard from just around 2 or 3 meters. “ Twilight, did you hear that? ”
Celestia.
Another female voice: “Be ready.”
Luna? He wasn't well read in school affairs, even after twilight had brought back some semblance of unity to the school.  

Ah. A grim reminder to how I got here.
Twilight. A hero now turned villain. She must have succeeded in entering “ Equestria “, obviously.
Did she make mind slaves of the two? Maybe. Impossible to know for sure, given the nature of magic and my lack of understanding.

Now her past transformations of ears and wings made sense; she was from here.

The third time she came back was much more stealthy, probably due to tip offs from sunset or similar about government tracking or something. Crystal Prep. Glasses. New Clothes. Distance from her friends. I was even applauding her ability to make it seem like she was actually just a genius inventor from the human world, ...
until the ' totally mechanical and not magic device ' she was wearing started tearing holes in reality during the sporting event.

I tried to run, half because of the giant plant monsters, half because of past 2 times. Got blockaded by security and told it was for my “safety” that we were all in one place.
After no-so-politely explaining to the guard that one place is exactly what a brand new eldritch magical horror would want, he nervously said he was just doing his job and to precede to the courtyard.

I had my boot knife, shirt knife, other shirt knife, and OTHER other shirt knife at the ready to “persuade” any blocking bodies to move aside once the …  
“magic happened”
but I was too late. I sprinted right over a rock, and into a portal.

But

That's the joke, right?
That's the punchline right?

People that try to do good like you and me just get catapulted to the wayside, or into a locker, or face first into a toilet, or into a giant ball of eldritch energy, or into a surprise floor esekia, or out of your home onto the street.

And it's not our fault.
But it doesn't matter.

What matters is the result.

And if I don't do anything now, the result will likely be Twilight destroying my world and taking over a better world, or a war between the two worlds, if Twilight is somehow stopped.

...

No.

I'm sorry Twilight, if your still in there, I don't know how to fire rainbow lasers out of my eyes like you once did.
I've ran all the possibilities through in my head, and there's only one conclusion.

If this is a mercy or more akin to justice,
It does not matter.

Because the result is the same.

I, PonderBright,  am about to make my inevitable death, worth it. By doing quite possibly the greatest service “Equestria” has ever seen.

Killing Twilight Sparkle.







When in difficult country, do not encamp.  In country  where high roads intersect, join hands with your allies. Do not linger  in dangerously isolated positions. In hemmed-in situations, you must resort  to stratagem. In desperate position, you must fight. 



- Sun Tzu, Art of war.
> 2 - It Takes 2 to Cooperate
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

He jumped into their general area after making a short climb over some rocks.
He did a little test as he ran up. He made sure he could, in fact, summon lightning by thinking about the results of his mission.
Bright green, chaotic.
But powerful.

All three were here: Twilight, Celestia, and Luna. They noticed the magical outburst, due to their wide stance and glowing horns.
He was going to rush in and fire as close as possible. That should do it.

But why were her eyes not glowing?

No time for that, attack.

But why did none of them look like they had been transformed?

You'll run out of time. Attack.

And why does this feel wrong?

ATTACK.

He fired a short lived burst of green crawlies all over the cavern. He had not gotten closer to his targets, not even a inch. In fact, he had backed away.
Celesta and Luna had used some sort of magic to teleport them backward.

They looked ready to fight, but not Twilight.
Twilight looked hurt. A very compassionate form of hurt.
He stopped. He wasn't capable. Twilight had two horses to back her up, and she was out of range.

Or maybe that wasn't entirely the reason.

He started to lower his head when he felt... stuck. Immobile. He saw a thin pale and dark mist covering him. He felt... It... too. In a way. He was in combat. No mistaking that.
He used those feelings.

He managed to flash such a bolt, that both Celestia and Luna lost their 'grip'. He then fell to the ground, wincing in the process.
Twilight put her hoof in front of Celestia.
“ Stop! “ she said, firmly yet with no hostility.

What?

She wasn't transformed.
She wasn't lost.

She saved the world, and he was going to kill her.

He immediately screamed, but not out of pain from hitting the ground like he was expecting. It came mostly from mental shock, as him screeching “ STOP! “ showed as much.

“ DON'T GET NEAR ME “ He said as tears started to flow.
“ JUST LEAVE ME! “ He screamed, his voice distorted at the end due to what he thought was his magic going out of control.

Twilight knew she had to help. There was a pony in need right in front of her, just like the one she had recently saved. And this one doesn't even need convincing.
Both her heart and mind were certain.
She needed to try.

Twilight put her hoof in front of the two other princesses. “ Don't hurt him! I'll calm him down! “ She stated.
They looked conflicted and unsure. They still used some sort of magic, unknown to PonderBright, of course. But not as invasive as the previous. Must be some sort of defensive maneuver.
He instinctively threw a burst of lightning Twilight's way to stop her progress, but just in her general area, and only in front of her.

It was just to scare her away.

He needed to get away.

Get away to pass away peacefully.

She stopped walking forward while having used a wing to cover her head. She then lowered her wing, gained some sort of … look? In her eyes, and marched forward with a newfound confidence.

“ Let me help. “ She said.

He hung his head head in pain. Pain not of the body, but of the mind.

I felt sleepy.

I trust you.

He woke in a medical bed, chained, of course. Hoof handcuffs? Hoofcuffs? At least he could feel his front right hoof, which had started to get numb towards the end of his first day in Equesteria.
He looked at his general condition. He was looking very bandaged, clean, goldish-yellow, and... green hair? Some familiarity gave him a tiny bit of comfort, even if it is just coloration.
It took awhile before one of the passing nurses realized he was awake.

“Oh. Uh. I'm not really sure to treat an Alicorn.”
Alicorn? That's me?
“I was told to let you know that your going to have a meeting...”
He was very surprised by the lack of the words 'trail, execution' or 'burning'
“With the 3 Ponies you met before they took you here...”

“And... Thats' it!”, “Whew!” the nurse sighed. She put down a note on her cart.
“It's fine.” PonderBright responded. He was surprised to find his voice so raspy.
“More water!” she said, strolling off, more of a statement then an ask.
He realized he had misinterpreted her last statement before putting the note down.
He waited until those three came.

It's all he could do.

The princesses walked up to the seemingly asleep pony, due to how he hung his eyes. He was still sensitive to a lot, light included.
Luna was opposed to Twilight's plan to put him in a regular hospital rather then a prison one, citing how she thought he would react when he woke up and saw them.
“I trust your judgment, Twilight.” he overheard from Celestia.
Huh.

He immediately ended the miscommunication by saying
“ I'm awake.”
Twilight turned towards him with a friendly smile.
She's trying to defuse the tension. She's not very good at it, but it's a glass house. His social skills are worse then the human's world version of Twilight and he knows it.

The others are much more tense.
“I'm ready to talk.” I volunteer.
“Alright.” stated Luna.
“Then we shall begin.”

As they were explaining the situation, all 3 of them noticed PonderBright's expression getting more shameful and sad with each new detail they explained.

3 casualties.
8 with permanent damage.



He had a hard time fighting back the tears. He never enjoyed pointless suffering, quite the opposite in fact. He and FlutterShy used to wave at each other at the animal shelter back in the human world.
Twilight was noticing this, and she thought everyone could use a breather.
“ We can take a brake if you need- ”
“ No. “ he dully responded to Twilight's unfinished question.

He slurried together a few words “ I think that this should be resolved as soon as possible, so no one else is hurt. “
Twilight was taken back. This was not what she was expecting. Going from a manic rampage to wanting to fix it in what must be only a few moments for him.
Though this wasn't unusual at all for Twilight's encounters with villains, she still did consider it a major unexpected victory.

“ I'm- Sorry. “ He stated.

“ That's all I have to say. ”

Luna and Celestia's expression softened a bit, Luna more then Celestia.
Celestia still had that famous poker face.
“ We still have some questions. ” 
“ If you would. “ Luna said authoritatively.

The Male Alicorn and the Female Alicorn stared at each other until it became rather awkward.
“ Do you have them ready? “ He asked.
“ Of course. I was waiting for your confirmation. “ She replied.
“ Ah. “ He muttered.
He was waiting for her to ask, but he never communicated this.
“ Yes. I'm ready. “ He finally got around to saying.

“ Very well then. “ Luna replied.
' Here it comes ' He thought.
“ Did you mean to attack the ponies at Ponyville? “
“ No. You mean the village I followed the young pony too? No. “
Luna paused for a moment to make sense of the horribly worded response.
The three princesses were starting to get the picture of  how exactly he fumbled 3 whole 'peaceful' encounters.

“ Did you mean to attack AppleBloom, the 'young pony' you mentioned? “ Her tone was slightly rushed and monotone with this one, as if she knew the answer. Because she did.
“ No. “ The expression in his voice getting ever duller, becoming much like a machine.
“ Did you mean to attack us when you landed nearby us in the cave? “
“ No. Only Twilight. “ He stated in the same monotone as before. He had accidentally moved his gaze to her in that moment. He saw her pupils get small, and she leaned back a little.

He immediately realized his mistake. Celestia had covered Twilight with one of her wings, her head tilted up slightly. Luna had ignited her horn. Her softened expression now hardened again.

“ Maaaybe we should take a break? ” Twilight awkwardly suggested as she popped out from behind Celestia's wing.
“ That was my fault. “ PonderBright apologized.
“ I'm not very good at communicating. “
“I... understand. “ Luna said with a sigh, her posture and words finally loosing their pointed nature.

As they left, PonderBright had finally realized why he had stumbled his words as bad as he did: he had been in hospice for a week and a half. The calendars they use here very closely mimic the human ones, and the one he had atop his wall had 11 days filled in.
Or he hoped. He hoped those were days, not months or years. Was a Equestrian day the same length as a normal day? Probably not. He should stop assuming.

When they came back, Twilight looked nervous about something, but at least the tension in the other two was all but gone. Theirs was replaced with a very sad and somber look, and Ponder was surprised he was picking up on any of this at all.
People usually hid their emotions from him back home, and these WERE horses, not humans. Ponies. Same thing.

“ Explain why you attacked Twilight. “ Luna exclaimed.
“ I thought she was my worlds Twilight, who was corrupted by magic and wanted to destroy my world to get here. “
“ I figured I would remove a threat to Equestria, since I was going to bleed out anyway... ”
Twilight sighed a sighed a relief, but a small one. You don't get used to noticing these things unless you spend a lot of time listening and not talking. PonderBright was for the first time thankful of his past friendships.

Celestia looked at Twilight, and Twilight back to Celestia. Celestia then took a step towards PonderBright and asked:

“ What is your name? “ She said, calmly.
“ PonderBright. “

She smiled. Though Ponder did not know and could not tell, it was only a smile to lift his spirits.

“ PonderBright, we understand that these actions were ultimately not your fault, however- “
“ Yeah. I understand. There still needs to be accountability. “ Ponder replied.
“ However. “ Celestia politely interrupted
“ We can not let such actions pass without first ensuring they will not happen again. “ Celestia stated.
“ Therefor, I, Queen Celestia of Equestria, hereby order the pony PonderBright under the temporary authority of princess Twilight Sparkle, for the purposes of learning the magic of friendship. So he may never repeat these same mistakes again.”

“ Your horn will stay limited for the duration of your visit.” She pointed to the top of his head, which in fact, had a horn. ... Which was covered up by a strange device.
Celestia turned, whispered something to Twilight, and walked away.
Twilight tanked Celestia while walking over to PonderBright.
She released him from his Hoofcuffs with magic, and said with a smile hand a hoof held high:
“ Stay and rest for awhile. We have a crystali- I mean new baby … party to attend to. ”








In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them. 

 - Sun Tzu, Art of War
> 3 - Kindness Restored
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

He couldn't help but think there was a sense of strain or stress to Twilight voice as he remembered it. She was much better at friendship then her human counterpart, and oddly enough hiding her emotions. He wondered if the two were related. Must be, the fakest ones were always the most popular.

He still trusted her though, to spite everything plus the unusual lack of the hammer being brought down.

He wasn't sure what part convinced him: her putting himself in harms way just to save him? Or her dedication to spreading... Friendship? Teamwork? Celestia said friendship, but Celestia is not Twilight Sparkle. He hated when others put words in his mouth, and he would never let that happen for his savior.

These kinds of thoughts whirled around in his head for awhile, so long he realized that their little short trip to the ' Crystal Empire ' was not so short anymore. They had been gone for days.

The hospital food was getting old. He could now move around fine and there was nothing to do. Nothing to do to make amends. He was left alone with his thoughts for an uncomfortably long time. 

He wasn't going to assume. Assuming was how he got into this mess. He was going to wait for an explai-
“ Sorry we were late getting back, there was some holdups at the crystal empire, and well... “
Twilight said, barging into the room in a unkempt manner.


“ I'm so sorry about the delay. I didn't want you think you are a prisoner. “ She apologized.
He then used his one and only social skill in attempt to repay some kindness.
“ Twilight, you saved me from self destruction, and then probably execution. You don't owe me anything. I'm fine. “ He stated with confidence.

Twilight smiled in relief, but he couldn't help getting that feeling again. This definitely was no casual friendly conversation. Much more tense, serious. But it could not be helped. He HAD killed some others, after all. A scar he will have to carry for the rest of his life. No matter how short, or how long that may be.

Twilight wanted him to follow her. They talked as they walked.

...

“ So the Crystal Heart needed to be restored to heat the empire “, “ And It's powered by positive emotions? “ Asked PonderBright.
“ Yes, though I'm kind of surprised you figured out the positive emotions part from just that explanation. “ Twilight half-replied-half asked.

The two were walking to FlutterShy's cottage for a friendship lesson.
Ponder replied further.
“ Whats more strange is you'd trust me with top secret military intelligence. “ He said half jokingly
Twilight stopped and her pupils shrunk a bit.
“ You... You'd consider that of... military	 importance? “

“ Well, yes. Its a single, fragile point of failure for the whole empire. I'm amazed it it took that long to break with it only being shielded behind a curtain on the ground floor!“
There was a sizable silence as Twilight was in contemplation.
“ You know what? Your right. “
Twilight said in half-confidence as they approached the door. She still had her famous awkward smile on from his last remark, though Ponder thought he had done something wrong.

He ignored that thought as word games like those were nonsense, and only led to stupidity and miscommunication; and The last thing he wanted was more harm being caused.
The door opened after a short knock to a very familiar looking pony.
“ Fluttershy? “ Ponder instinctively said.
“ Oh ? Did twilight tell you? “ Fluttershy asked.
As he was walking per her hand... hoof gesture he noticed a... serpent thing floating near the doorway, giving him a very angry stare.

He instantly widened his stance, and apparently spread his wings by accident, hitting Twilight in the face.
Twilight's instincts kicked in. She had to defuse the situation. (though the situation was in no need of fixing)
Twilight said in a rush “ HI Discord ! “ In a very strained manner.
Twilight looked at Fluttershy as if she was in pain, and Fluttershy looked at Discord.

“ Don't look at me, we talked about this. “, 'It spoke?' Ponder was thinking.
Thank god it was not a wild animal. Who knows what a Fluttershy could tame in a fantasy world.
“ Also “ It continued
It snapped his fingers and he felt lighter.




His head felt lighter.
No horn?
Fluttershy butted in: “ DISCORD! “
“ What? He'll get it back when he leaves, and it's not like he was using it anyway. “
PonderBright was amazed.

“ Thank you, whatever you are! “ He said in uncharacteristic joy.
Twilight was unsure on what recent event to be more confused by.
“ Is it permanent? “ He asked, happiness still in his eyes.
“ Oh certainly. If you want it to be. Along with a all expenses paid trip back to the human realm if you so wish. “
He snapped his fingers again, and the inside of her house turned into a modern airport security, with his new clothes now resembling a flight attendant, but not quite spot on.

“ Yes! Thank you! “

“ Um, the horn thing, not the trip back to the human world. “
He looked back happily at twilight, who was obligated to share a small smile.
Discord's fingers were already poised to snap.
“ Sigh. “
“ Also, What? “
Discord responded in confusion.

“ That horn caused so many people so much trouble! I'm glad any possibility of it happening again is over. “ PonderBright answered.
“ Well, if it makes you happy, ” Twilight said with contemplation in her voice “ Then that's ok. “
“ I just didn't want to make you feel like you were missing a part of your body. “


“ I'm originally a human, remember? “ Ponder responded.
“ Oh, right. “ Twilight said with minor embarrassment.

“ And it's ponies, not people “ Fluttershy calmly corrected him.
“ Oh, right. “ Ponder said in blank monotone.

“ I think I know why Twilight chose me. Come on, lets go meet some nice little animals. “
Ponder smiled.
She motioned to Twilight as she nodded. Twilight then closed the door and hoofsteps were heard leading away from the house.
The two remaining ponies walked out into the back, Discord following closing behind, guarding Fluttershy.


Fluttershy; surprised and disheartened by what she heard Ponder say in the house, overcompensated by sharing a bit too much about every animal that was in her backyard. Many fuzzy meaningless words like “adorable” and “little” followed.

She realized halfway through the sentence: “ And this little cute bluebird would just love- ” She had looked in Ponder's direction and noticed he was uncomfortable.
“ Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't realize I was making things tense. “
“ No it's fine. “ Ponder replied
“ This is much better then the human world. “

“ Oh? How so? “
“ Animals free to go everywhere, and they can think! “
Ponder had misunderstood her apology, but neither seemed to care. The point was communicated all by itself.
“ This is all very nice. “ Ponder said after a pause. “ I think I needed this. To SEE kindness, or at least be near it. ”
A ferret rubbed up against Ponder's leg
“ And maybe to feel it too “ Flutteryshy replied.

“Ah yes. Very great. Much fun. Are we done here? “ Discord butted in, his angry glance turned more into a sneer at Ponder.
Fluttershy slowly replied “ No, not really. “ without understanding the situation.
PonderBright, however, knew exactly what this was. He had experience in just about every negative emotion, his own included. This was jealousy.
He was not about to attempt to hurt another creature, not mentally and definitely not physically. But he thought he would repay the kindness that Fluttershy had shown him by calming the 'dragon'.

“ Discord, I'm going to be leaving soon anyway, why rush this? “ He said in hopes of issuing a verbal surrender. It didn't work. Shocker.
“ Well color me surprised if I don't trust a murder-pony with my best and dearest friend Fluttershy. “
“ Discord, we all know it was an acci- “

Ponder cut Fluttershy off.

“ My horn is gone. I wanted it gone and thanked you for it! I like the culture-way of life you have here in Equestria, I love it! I would never do anything to harm it! “
“ Maybe not intentionally. “ Discord said smugly.

“ DISCORD! “ Fluttershy said with minor hate in her voice.

“ No it's alright. “  Ponder replied
“ You have just cause to not like me Discord. I don't want to say that I'm trying to deny that. “

Discord let up a bit.
“ Hmph. “ A almost stone-cold reply.

“ Ill try my best not to cause anymore trouble. “ The words pained him. These words he had hoped not to say today, but to postpone indefinitely. A reminder of a seemingly perfect world he had tainted with his human tendencies.

A thought crossed his mind.
“ Wait, Discord, with all that power, maybe you- “
Discord's pointed anger turned to solemness as he turned away from the other two.

PonderBright was confused, not understanding the que, until Fluttershy put her hoof on his shoulder.
He scowled and sat back down on the grass.

“ That's not the point of today. “ Fluttershy said.
“ Were all doing this because we want to help, and to show you we want to help. “
“ And because we all agreed that this wasn't your fault. “
She said that last one with a bit of doubt.

“ Well, I suppose I got a little carried away too. In our conversation. “
“ And I suppose that some of the past … situation is my fault too. “

Discord's voice and posture softened.
Fluttershy was gaining a gleeful open-mouth smile.
“ If I wanted this to have never happened I could have been paying more attention, especially near the cottage - and to you Fluttershy. “
Fluttershy blushed a bit, and her smile turned heartfelt, though Ponder was waaaaaay to autistic to notice this.

“ I could have ended that whole fiasco anytime I wanted, IF I had noticed what was happening to you, PonderBright. “
Discord half-apologized.

“ You don't have eyes in the back of your head. “ PonderBright rebuked, almost argumentatively.
“ Oh but I do! “ Discord turned around to reveal a copy of his eyes that weren't there before.
“ But in all seriousness though, I do have hundreds or thousands of invisible eyes active at any given time. “
With a snap of his fingers, many circular eyes revealed themselves in the area.

Ponder reached out to touch one, but it moved away with almost perfect movements to keep its distance.
“ Cool. “ said Ponder.
“ Really? “ said the other two in confusion.
Fluttershy was used to this stuff, but an involuntary refugee literal alien with such a bad first experience? She was shocked and amazed by that reaction.
Discord was similarly stumped too, he expected to end the tension with a quick scare and a group laugh.




“ And fyi, unless you agreed to be Equestria's entire police force, I don't think you can be paying attention to everything all the time. “ Ponder confidently stated.
Discord smiled.
“ HO HO! Oh you flatter me. “, “ Not even minds as great as mine can process that much information, ill admit. “
“ Well anyway, since were getting introductions out of the way, Discord is the name, Chaos is THE game. “ He said while snapping the dirt roads into soap, and the grass into candy.

“ Wow. “
“ Now I kind of want to know what happened to the area they gave you to do whatever with. “ Ponder replied, assuming yet again. He wanted to shift the conversation, he didn't think he could take talking about his mistakes much longer.
“ Land? What land? I'll have you know I'm only a homeowner in the Chaos Realm. “ He said as eldritch horrors crawled out from a portal behind him, turning out to be paper cutouts just viewed from a bad angle.

“ Didn't they give you some land nobo- nopony would want just to see what you would do with it? Or as a thank you? Or maybe a chaos amusement park? “
Both Flutteryshy and Discord were awestruck, but mostly Discord.
“ I'm happy your getting along. Maybe even made a new friend? “ Fluttershy cheekily said to discord.

Discord, who had been furiously writing this down with a pencil in his mouth, hand, and tucked between one ear looked over to Fluttershy's 'smug face' and disappeared his writing and stationary.
Some of Flutteryshy's animals walked over to be petted. PonderBright and Fluttershy happily accepted them by their side and into their laps as they sat down.
PonderBright's attention was caught by a sudden polite “ AHM. “ form discord.

His 'seating area' was now a radio recording studio, complete with a boom microphone and table. He was dressed the part too, like always.
“ But please, tell us more about this... 'Chaos Themed Amusement Park' “ Discord said with a perfectly straight face with both hands clasped together, perfect posture and all.

They both laughed in response, and PonderBright realized something he hadn't in a long time; he was feeling alright, having FUN even. It was a good feeling. But reality brought him back down. But not back down to his normal 'rock bottom' like he was expecting, more like a neutral feeling; bordering on the bad side. He hoped it would last, but knew better and just focused on the moment.







When Twilight picked Ponder up from Fluttershy's at the end of the day, She and the others had a brief private conversation.
He spent that down time looking at just how weird and beautiful everything was, the distant mountain city, the town, the general landscape. He should have done better with the townsfolk, in all honesty. He didn't know how though, and he was desperate to try to make things as better as he could.
After the fact. It looks like there was no undoing the death.

The thoughts of taking a long walk off of a short dock never surfaced though, which was odd.

The door opened.
“ PonderBright? You can come back in now. “ She said with a genuine smile.
He sat down on a stool next to a table, where they were all seated.

He fumbled the process, as one does when your a human with horse like appendages, but Twilight managed to lend a stabilizing hoof at the right moment.
“ We are happy you were able to relax. “ said Twilight.
“ Yeah. I definitely feel better. “ said Ponder.
“ You seem better too. “ Fluttershy replied.
“ Sometimes, we all need a little kindness. “

“ And, I think I know what to do now, regarding your friendship lessons. “ Twilight remarked
“ That is, if you'll stay in equestria, of course. “

“ Yeah. “ PonderBright stated.
“ I don't feel like giving up anymore. “ He said with unusual amounts of emotion in his words.

Ponder looked over at Twilight to see her eyes half-closed. She looked? Smug? Did she foresee this? No. Too many variables. Something similar? Also no. This wasn't the logical reaction or conclusion and he knew it. No pony-human-anything could have predicted any sort of short term improvement after what he went through, Equestria and earlier.

Ponder was about to say something, but then-
“ Well then it's settled! Thanks guys. “ Twilight said as she got up to leave.
Ponder followed her.
After some goodbyes, And after a distance was between them and the cottage, Twilight spoke up.

“ You know, I had some doubts that you really meant what you said. Intentionally or not. “ Twilight said in a normal tone.
“ But not anymore. Between what I saw when I was there, and some of when I wasn't, I don't need a spell to know that you were telling the truth. “ She said in honesty.

" Your doing better now and I'm confident you won't hurt anypony. " She further said in earnest.

“ When you weren't there? “ Ponder asked.
“ Oh! “ Twilight had gotten ahead of herself.
“ Discord can replicate any moment he's seen, like in a play. “ She replied.
“ Huh. We have similar devices in my world. “ Ponder replied.
“ Oh. “ She said in minor interest.

“ And I guess that explains the weird feeling from when I was being questioned. “ Ponder said.
“ Yes. Zone of Truth, It's a harmless spell. “ Twilight stated. She hoped he had not been too sensitive too it, having an alicorn's sense of magic and all.
“ It's fine. “ He said in usual monotone. Twilight's face getting slightly more worried at that response, but not enough for Ponder to notice.

“ But anyway, I wanted to offer you a stay at my castle. “ Twilight had course corrected the conversation yet again.
Ponder looked surprised. She continued.
“ You clearly are sorry. You didn't mean it, and you want to make up for it. That's all the evidence I need. “
Ponder fought back grinning as much as he could, as he was taught that such a thing was either rude, creepy, or a sign of weakness depending on who was in front of him.

“ Thanks Twilight. I'll accept. “
Kindness.
Kindness indeed.








Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look upon them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death. 



- Sun Tzu, Art of War
> 4 - Introductions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“ It's just that, It's sometimes hard to understand you when you talk about certain things - or make certain points without displaying any emotion. “ Twilight said, as she was showing Ponder around the castle.

She had learned from Starlight; and this time there could be no accidental room openings.
Hence, this tour.

It had been almost a day since he joined her and Starlight in the castle, and yet, he barely left his room. He went outside, but only for ~15 minutes at a time and only at sunrise and sunset. She had her concerns, but they were minor. She zoned back in to catch Ponder's response:

“ But I only show emotions for one thing: how I feel about the situation. “ Ponder replied, entirely missing the point.
“ Besides, wouldn't having only possible meaning to such a complex thing make it simpler? “
His point was technically correct, as if he was talking to a perfect machine.
He knocked on a door they were standing near as he finished his sentence.

After around 3 seconds of no response he unlocked an opened the door. Twilight felt relief that he at least knew basic manners and how to use them.
In the moment, she was more worried about how him and Starlight would meet, but those fears would soon be rendered irrelevant as Starlight was already in the library.


“ Oh! “ Starlight was startled. She didn't hear the knock, or just wasn't paying attention.
Twilight was at a standstill. She didn't know what to do. Not exactly the best option for two ponies till in ' friendship kindergarten ' or so she thought.

“ Your the other pony that Twilight mentioned. “ Ponder had responded.



They both stared at each other for an uncomfortably long period of time, Starlight because of her lasting  uneasiness and Ponder because autism. The deadlock became apparent to all parties involved.
It was so long, Twilight almost spoke up.

“ So, your new here? Twilight asked about letting you stay here yesterday. “ Starlight felt obligated to say with a forced smile.
“ Yes. “ Ponder responded.
Both were happy that they were speaking to each other, even with such smallest of talks.

“ Well that's the library! “ Twilight said in a rush.
“ I ought to show him the rest of the castle; learning from you! “ She said facing starlight.
She closed the door.

Twilight didn't exactly know why she had rushed the goodbye. She forgot about that introspection as a sense of ease overcame her as she checked another room off her checklist.

Ponder had wondered: Did she rush this? Did she not want us to meet? Nah. Couldn't be. Us two are literally living together, in a medieval court kind of sense.

Twilight, of course, had not even come close to any of these realizations. She had been operating on autopilot. She didn't want to make a mistake. Not now while both of those ponies were in their ' fragile cocoon stage of friendship '.


While they were walking Ponder realized he had not yet confirmed one of his earlier suspicions; and he was not about to let another being speak for his savoir, so he had to ask:

“ Twilight, the thing your trying to teach is friendship, correct? “
Twilight immediately forgot about the earlier nervousness she was feeling to hold back a little laughter.
“ Yes. You didn't get that from our time together? “
“ Well, no. Not for certain. “

“ Celestia said 'magic' of friendship which could mean regular friendship, or the firing of the rainbows thing. “
Twilight giggled. She never had thought about it that way, being in mortal combat every time she had to use them.
She let him continue.
“ And the friendship lesson's original plan according to Fluttershy was to just make me … feel better? Right? “

She was surprised at his frankness. Though, she had already seen both sides of Starlight's personality, maybe this was just the other end of his.

“ Yes. “, “ Friendship definitely comes first.“
“ The real magic of friendship comes first; Learning how good it is to have friends. “
He responded in a very guarded manner:
“ Well, I don't mean to be rude or ungrateful in any way but... “

Twilight was waiting for a response.
“ I tried friendship many times and it was a total disaster. “

Twilight immediately stopped. Ponder took notice and took a guarded stance, to match his earlier tone. Both ponies eyes shrunk, but Ponders were truly tiny.
Twilight had noticed the tension, and tried to soften it, but at this point she was already basically twilight-ing over the previous statement.

“ Uhm, … You tried it multiple times … And every one was a failure? “ She asked, failing to force a smile.
Ponder only stared back, eyes completely open, unblinking.


Twilight had never encountered this response before. She didn't know what to do. The closest thing she'd seen is from one of the older royal guardsmen.
This was also not doing her mental state any favors. She kept thinking about how it would even be possible for anypony to even say that, and moreover react in such a way.

A few seconds passed.

PonderBright's expression instantly softened as if a switch was flipped, now to a more worried look, and he seemed to be a bit more approachable.
Ponder had figured, if he's going to get the full might of a higher authority brought down upon him, it might as well be Twilight.
' This was apparently his form of a social peace offering ' Twilight was thinking.
He answered her question:

“ Yes. They either ended in them drifting away, or some form of betrayal. “ He rushed a response.
“ A bad investment at best, and a -“ His expression turned sour. “ Security risk at worst. “

Twilight was relieved. She didn't show it, however. She still had some twilight-ing to do quietly in her room, and it did show.


“ I'm, so sorry your former friendships turned out that way. “ She said, mostly to comfort him. He wasn't having it. Not because she didn't try or wasn't genuine, but because he was particularly zealous about not making decisions with his emotions.

“ It's fine “ He returned to his usual monotone, the threat of retribution for pointing out a flaw in his superior all but gone.
“ It's mostly a done deal for me, at least when were talking about what I can accomplish. “

Twilight looked confused.  Ponder explained further.

“ I've done friendship many times, I already know how it ends for me if I try to do it again without changing anything; statistically speaking. “

Ponder realized something, though the realization was off topic.
“ Oh, sorry. I got ahead of myself. With your level of technology you probably don't know what ' statistically ' is. “

Twilight saw a path to shoehorn a friendship lesson in, and by celestia she took it.

“ Oh I'm well aware of statistics. “ She replied. Ponder looked shocked.
“ Probabilities, Z-scores, tripple-blind studies and standard deviations. “ Twilight was trying hard to make a point, but Ponder was not quite getting it just yet.

“ So maybe you'll be willing to be learn about friendship in the same way you just learned about us and statistics. “, “ There's new perspectives and knowledge just about anywhere, and I think it would be a shame if you just gave up on all of it. “

Ponder still looked shocked, but out of amazement rather then confoundment. Twilight, to spite her much greater experience in friendship, did not notice this.


“ Oh. Uh. Maybe that's a little too much for right now? “ She asked.

“ Oh, no! I'm sorry for assuming! “ Ponder said. He further spurted out words to further curb miscommunication: “ I got that all wrong. And maybe for friendship too, … though given my sample size I'm much more confident in that assertion. “

In rushing to snuff out any incorrect words or assumptions, he had accidentally took a slightly cocky and assertive tone. ' Whoops. Another drop in the ocean, I guess ' Ponder thought. Hopefully she won't be too mad -

“ Well then I guess we'll have to provide you with even more good ones. Friendships, that is. “
She said with confidence.
“ To tip that scale back in the right direction, or the mean of that data back towards where it should be. “
“ Statistically speaking. “



PonderBright had no words. Her logic was sound, snarky remark at the end or not. This was not the world he knew, and he was literally an alien. He was just so used to Earth, that the massive difference in location, culture and other differences hadn't been mentally processed yet.

Or maybe he was intentionally putting that realization off.

Who knew.

He certainly didn't.

“ Oh yeah. Certainty. I didn't mean to say I wanted to call it quits before I even began. “ He corrected himself.
“ I'm down for basically anything. I'm a big enough, … pony to admit that I know nothing about nothing here. Equestria, that is. “

They both shared a genuine smile for the first time, as Twilight finished showing Ponder around.
“ You know, I think I know how to revise your friendship plan. “ Twilight said as they came back to the massive entryway.
“ Oh? Is there a standard procedure or something? “ Ponder tried to make a joke.

“ Ah, no. “ Twilight responded. She had a slight smile to let Ponder know that the attempt was appreciated.
“ But I am fairly certain I know anyway. You remember Applejack? “
“ Sure. We saw each other around, helped each other a few times, in fact. “

They traded a few more meaningless words until Twilight asked:
“ You know honesty is kind of her thing, right? “
“ I guess? Yeah. I think that makes sense. Never heard her lie back in Canterlot. “

Twilight had assumed correctly that their human counterparts had little knowledge about their elements and what they represent.

“ Well, I'll have you talk to her next, If that's alright. “

Ponder agreed with a nod.

“ There's some... not so easy things you need to hear now that you're feeling better, and in a state to hear them. “ She had not been looking forward to saying this.
“ There was lasting damage, and some things that can not be undone. “


' There was no going around that, so might as well go through it ' Ponder thought to himself as she finished her sentence.

“ Yeah. I think so too. “ Ponder said.
Ponder looked around, as if Appplejack was living there as well.


“ Tomorrow. “ Twilight clarified. She was not used to anypony not quite understanding her on a surface level just as much as Ponder did.

But he did connect with her via statistics and past experiences, in a different way. She couldn't help but wonder if that would come up later or needed to be addressed, but for now, she was just happy she herself wasn't about to go into another minor breakdown.

With as many things happening as of late, it wasn't really something she thought she could afford.

After a genuine “ Bye! “ from both parties Twilight went to Starlight and Ponder to his room.
Ponder couldn't help the thoughts that he was always in a mental state to hear whatever horrible truths Applejack or anyone else had to lay down on him. His devotion to logical action and improvement was absolute, or so he thought.

He was good at it.

Very good at it. Better then everyone in his school, the entire state even, if you look at the numbers a bit crooked. Why wasn't he thinking about anything else? He asked himself.

Because there is currently no greater way to make progress, of course.

And so, with him leaving no other valid targets to direct his mind too, his thoughts festered.
Unknown to PonderBright, of course. The thoughts continued:

He was forged through hot fire to be what he is today. He couldn't possibly be susceptible to such simple minded pitfalls, could he?
Not in the traditional sense, no. He had too much life experience proving otherwise.

He drifted off to sleep.

But every dam has it's maximum safe level, no matter how many safety latches, diverting waterways and height.
And even steel has it's breaking point.

PonderBright went to sleep thinking that the whole Fluttershy business was mostly a waste of time.
A well intentioned waste of time, but a waste of time. He was very different. Both physically, and especially mentally.

His subconscious state manifested in a dream.

Or rather, a nightmare.

PonderBright awoke to strained distant screaming. He had been trying to wake up due to said screams for awhile now, but something akin to sleep paralysis must have been keeping him half asleep.

He instantly realized something.

The screams had abruptly stopped.
His survival instincts kicked in.

He immediately jumped from his bed, his eyes still trying to adjust to the dark. No lights, duh. Primitive magic world.

His eyes and ears were not working at 100%, probably due to the abrupt end of sleep and him getting up too fast.
He clumsily used his wings as digits to strike a match and light a candle, the same way twilight had done when getting back from Fluttershy's.

She must have done so to show him. He knows she can make lights from her magic.
Magic.
Something he wished he had right now, if only to make a laser-lightning light show then run away if he happened to run into the perpetrator.

He started to walk towards Twilight's room to alert her. The faded sound of his own footsteps echoing around the halls, surprising even him. He must still be half asleep. No corrected vision, either. The dizziness had luckily faded. At least that's something.

He pressed on to spite not being in a state to do so. he had to see if Twilight was ok. The last thing he wanted is for something bad to happen to anyone here, in the perfect pastel pony world. He was in the middle of wondering if that ' perfect world ' assumption was really correct when he realized something:

NOTHING around here was viewable. Or clearly, at least. Everything was a blur; no matter how close or how far. He looked at a nearby mirror to check himself, and there he was, in crystal clear perfect view.
His mind started to stray.

Have I lost vision? Do I need glasses? He thought to himself. No. Everything sounds … Distorted. Faded.
Something was wrong. Everything was off.

Then, A crystal clear voice seemingly inches away from his ear speaks with perfect clarity and confidence:
“ Well of course it is. You don't belong here. “
He immediately turned.

Nothing.


Not a hint of magic, (which he was very good at detecting by now) , and no visual.
He threw a nearby book on the ground at the empty hall, and it fell to the floor. No invisible enemies either.

He didn't have that big of a grasp of how magic worked, or rather not at all. He figured this was either some sort of physic attack meant to throw him off, or a hallucination.

He figured the perpetrator wanted to slow him down with that threat. He did the opposite. He started to run. Not a sprint, as doing the exact opposite would be falling for basic reverse physiology. Plus he still could not see very well, and may sprint into a trap if he went at full speed.



He then ran past something.

In one of the rooms, he could have sworn he saw blood.
Blood and a corpse.
He kept running.

If the perp was in that room, they would likely come out to attack him. He ran to the nearest intersection and hid under a desk.

“ Wow. You really have lost your touch. No walking over your tracks like a bear, no sound diversions, no making of makeshift weapons. “

He immediately jumped, hitting his head on the bottom of the desk.

He then heard laughter. A very mocking laughter. Very familiar. As if some sort of mental block; (or break), was preventing him from recognizing it's owner.
The laughter was not only right next to his ear like the previous two interruptions; it echoed all over the halls for a bit.
Whoever this thing was, it had eyes on him.

It knew ALOT about him.
It was at the tip of his tongue who the perp was. It bugged him. It disturbed him deeply.
He ran. Fast, this time.

It seemed to have eyes on him no matter what he did, so no use in hiding. He took it's advice and got a fire poker as a weapon as he passed the fireplace.
He then immediately came across another corpse. This time in the hallway.

Rarity?
She was hit on the back of the head with something. And then stabbed repeatedly in the stomach.

He didn't know If this was just the shock kicking in, but his vision and hearing was further starting to fail him. More things became blurred. Blurred things became more blurred. His footsteps were now one long, echoing sound, even if he slowed down.

One thing was still crystal clear though:
“ You took too long. So I did. “

He swung his poker around, wings hurting under the strain of it. He just wanted it to go away.
More laughter came as a response to his struggling.

He pressed on. He hoped to curb the casualties. And he desperately wanted to kill whatever was evil enough to do all of this.

He came across a strewn up blue Pegasus in the kitchen. It looked like Rainbowdash. This one was in much worse condition then Rarity. What was recognizable looked horrible. She had been tortured.

“ Justice. “ Said the voice.

“ JUST TAKE ME! “ PonderBright finally shouted back.
“ TAKE ME AND LEAVE THE REST ALONE! IT'S CLEARLY ME YOU WANT! “

More laughter.

“ The rest? “

His heart sank. He dropped the poker as it would just slow him down. He would body slam whoever or whatever this thing was and let the rest escape. If not, he would bite it's putrid throat out for it's sins.

The hallways were much, much longer then he remembered.



He ran past a few more corpses, 3 to be exact. The rest of Twilight's friend group, probably. He didn't check to look.

His eyes and ears continued to fail him, the more and more he ran. It became so bad that he could only make our the vague outlines of shapes.

He ran and ran, and eventually came to the end of a dead end hallway.
He was not shown any of these during his tour, and wasn't even sure there was any in the castle.

He was confused, but he knew the door at the end was Twilight's.
He hesitated. To spite his emotions, he opened the door.

What came into view was a human. Completely and perfectly visible. Perfectly clean. Turned away, and Twilight's motionless body on the floor next to it. It and her was the only things clear enough to be reconcilable, though Twilight was much more blurred.

Her throat had been slit, but other than that there seemed to be no signs of the usual damage on the others.

“ A mercy. “
It said.

It's voice now not only right next to Ponder's ear, but also coming from the human.

It's head had instantly rotated a bit to have one tiny part of one of it's eyes face him. Ponder was in shock. Did he teleport? Is it's speed immeasurable?

“ This was never going to work. “

“ You know better. “

Ponder's legs were about to give out.

“ But of course, you already knew that -”

A tree branch from a window obscured it in darkness for a moment, and when it was back in view it was turned around to face him. It towered over the shorter stature of the ponies in the room.

It was himself.

“ Right? “

It had it's arms outstretched, reaching away from it's torso and slightly shrugged, in a domineering fashion.

It began to smile.

A bright flash of a dark blue magic shined from a distant somewhere, then everything was gone.
A familiar pony came into view.



“ Luna? “ PonderBright correctly guessed.

Luna had a very concerned look on her face, and was visibly shaken.
“ Ponderbright. “ Luna replied, not really knowing what to say.
Ponder had realized: this was just a dream.

“ OH THANK GOD “ He instinctively blurted out.
Luna seem confused.

“ And what might you mean? “ Luna asked.
“ Don't worry about it dream Luna “ Ponder said with maximum catharsis in his voice.
“ I'll be waking up soon. “

She seemed slightly offended.
“ I am the princess of dreams, Twilight has not told you? “
“ So, your trying to say your the real Luna? “ Ponder had to ask.
“ Yes. I was about to say. “ Luna replied.

“ Well if your the real Luna, and want to convince me, send me a tex- a letter or come to visit; I'm totally done with this dream stuff for right now. “ Ponder had openly admitted, falling on the dream-like floor.

“ Very well. I wish to discuss this with you anyhow. “
“ I will arrive tomorrow morning. “


Ponder did not respond. Hopefully he would get some rest thanks to this Luna-Ex-Machina.







When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long  in coming, then men's weapons will grow dull and their ardor will be damped.   If you lay siege to a town, you will exhaust your strength. 


- - Sun Tzu, Art of War
> 5 - Pondering the Moon - Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

PonderBright woke in a parallelized cold sweat, instantly and frantically.

He eventually managed to regain control of his muscles, sprung up, then tripped back down onto the floor due to getting up too fast. He made his way to the eating area Twilight had shown him.
Down the main hallway... 6th opening at the edge?
Probably.


He met up with Starlight as he was walking.
Her eyes widened a bit as she saw him:
“ Rough night, huh? “ She asked.
“ Yes. “ He replied, just wanting the day to be over already.

“ I kind of understand- I mean in my own way! “ She replied with haste, as if trying to avoid some misunderstanding.

“ I sort of can relate. “ She shared, possibly a bit to much as Ponder was looking back at her dazed, tired, and done with the conversation.

“ But maybe you should take a bath beforehand. “ She said as they approached the dining area.

' Oh. ' PonderBright thought.
“ Where- “
“ Back where we came, 2 doors, the one on the left. “ She responded, almost forgivingly.

He was minorly embarrassed. His mind was also taken off the dream, for a moment.

Those thoughts did resurface while in the bath, as the sponge flew from his wings yet again due to his inexperience with his new body.

Why did other Ponder take his time in killing pony Rainbowdash?
He knew the human Rainbowdash, not the pony Rainbowdash.
At least, he thought it was the pony version of Rainbowdash.
Same coloration and hairstyle helps. No missing the rainbow style hair dye.

He assumed he was just good at guessing, while continuing to fumble the brushing process, soap in eyes and all.

He didn't really know a lot of ponies here, he continued to think. He only knew Celestia and Luna, and the few ponies Twilight introduced him too. Probably for the best.
His mind drifted to human Sunset's offer of friendship back during his school days. Still would say no. 
' Humans.' he thought with disgust; glad to have an entire reality of separation between them and him.

His thoughts continued.

Was Spike mad at him? No. Couldn't be. Not for anything he directly did to him, as Twilight had mentioned nopony he was living with was effected by the disaster.

== Dining Area ===

The table was set with many different types of food, due to Spike being wise of Ponder's arrival. He wanted to know what he liked best, and made a little of a lot of different dishes.  

“ Where's Ponder? “ Spike asked Twilight, genuinely confused as he chomped down on a plain gem, mouth full and all.
“ I don't -”
Twilight was interrupted.
“ He's taking a bath. “

Starlight was still uneasy being here, and she wanted to save PonderBright as much of that uneasiness as she could.
All with suggestions, of course. The last thing she wanted to do was order any pony around.

“ So, what do you think? “ Twilight asked, nervousness still slightly in her voice.
“ About? “ Starlight had to clarify.
“ PonderBright. “

“ Oh. Uh, I think he's getting along just fine- at least with me he is. “ She corrected herself nervously.
Twilight had a curious look on her face. So Starlight continued.

“ I think he's emotionally drained. “ Twilight looked confused. “ But recovering! “ Starlight clarified.
“ Maybe not a morning person? “, “ I don't know. I haven't known him that long, and I don't want to assume.“

Twilight went into deep thinking mode for a moment when she was distracted by something flying out the window.

“ Or maybe he had a nightmare. “
Starlight looked out the window Twilight was looking at.
Luna.
Both were minorly worried as to what this could entail, Twilight slightly more so.

Twilight started to get up to go get the door, when Spike said confidently:

“ I'll get it! “

Twilight sat back down, with only a slightly concerned expression.
She had come to trust Ponder almost as much as Starlight, she just hadn't internalized it yet.

They finished their meal and let Spike explain the situation to Luna.

PonderBright was almost done with drying himself, when he heard a knock on the door.
He assumed what this was and said preemptively:
“ I'm fine, Haven't drowned, I just don't know how to dry waterlogged feathers. “
He heard minor laughter from behind the door. Twilight.

He heard her muted from the other side: 
“ Sorry, I don't know how unless your using magic. “
She replied in earnest.
Distant footsteps.

He finally just threw in the towel, literally, and walked out to the mess hall.
He had a short lapse in judgment when he thought he had to put on clothes, jumping a bit and scaring Spike.
He got the cold shoulder, or so he thought. He didn't respond to him, and Spike was usually talkative (to other ponies) in the short time he knew him.

Was that a stare? A ' stink eye ' ?
Ponder wasn't sure.

He joined a empty table and just started eating. No meat?

At least one person/pony/creature was happy right now. Starlight was definitely not, and he knew that from his short time with her.
Twilight was his primary focus anyway. He had to repay her for saving him. Starlight was just another student. A student that hadn't killed anypony. A better student. A student that had been able to help Twilight. A much better student.

These thoughts ruminated until he was stuffed. He had eaten on autopilot again.

Spike had snuck up on him:
“ When your done, Twilight needs you in the entryway. “ he said with little emotion.

He had been told he would be meeting Applejack outside an apple farm. Strange.
And from his observations, Spike usually takes a chipper tone for a greeting. Strange.

He was already mentally thrown off as he was walking to the door.

What really threw him off more was what he saw next.
“ Luna! “ he said, trying to hide his embarrassment from his dream. He was fairly good at it too. Practice makes perfect, after all. Though, not from his time in pony world.

“ I'd like to talk about the dream you had yesterday. “ She was in a very tired state.

PonderBright looked confused. It looks like he had completely fooled all of them, minus Luna.

“ I am the princess of dreams. Surely you remember that part of your dream? “

Ponder had the stupidest, most dumbfound-iest look on his face. He had brushed off and insulted a queen to her face. Well, not to her actual face, but via psychic dream telecommunications.


While this was happening Twilight was thinking: ' How important was this? '
PonderBright did not seem to be taking this that seriously, and princess Luna only slightly more so.
She looked between them both with that famous puzzled look on her face, mouth half open.

Starlight had long since retreated to elsewhere in the castle.
Ponder and Luna stepped outside. Luna seemed barely able to keep her balance due to tiredness, but she managed.

Twilight only got in a few words before they shut the door:
“ Uh ok. Let me know the outcome, Please? “ Twilight had said, as the two walked away from the castle.

“ PonderBright, do you know how to fly? “ Luna started talking.
“ Um, sort of. I can take off and fly in a straight line, but I need a lot of starting and stopping ground. “

“ Very well. I wish to conduct this privately, and the location I had in mind meets all those requirements. “

“ Follow me. I shall catch you if you fall. “

They both got a good running start, and Ponder took to the skies after Luna. Luna circled around and followed closely behind Ponder.

PonderBright's form was very stiff and mechanical, bordering on paralysis, but it worked for the most part. Luna only had to course correct him with magic 3 times the entire flight.

Luna had noticed on how quickly he had taken up flying. It had only been a couple of days since he was let out of the hospital, and now he's already in the air? Interesting.

“ PonderBright, I must commend you on your willingness to learn- “ She realized he was entirely focused on staying in the air.
He was looking down constantly.
“ Look straight ahead. Level. I will catch you. “ She reassured him, using her ' traditional ' volume.

Ponder nodded and attempted to mimic how Rainbowdash flew when she was relaxing. It didn't work.

A few more catches later, they landed. Luna noticed that Ponder had a very happy look. Almost like a filly on their first birthday look. She hadn't seen that one in awhile.

His initial crash. She had forgotten.
“ I'm sorry PonderBright if the flight brought back bad memories. “

“ They did. “ He autisticly responded, seemingly instantly getting over his happy moment of achievement.
“ But when I landed, and even though I got some help from you, I know I can definitely glide now. No more chance of- Uh. “ He made himself sad again.

Luna changed the subject.
“ No horn aswell? “

PonderBright misinterpreted this as an accusation of trying to escape, seeing as he was partially responsible for taking off that shackle.

“ OH UH “
“ Discord removed it. Completely. “
He spurted out while pointing to where his horn used to be.

“ No possibility of- “, “ HM “ He was at a loss for words. Normally he would had thought up a excuse for someone of so high authority, but this time he was completely in the wrong;
or so he thought.

Luna had to ask about his cheerful tone in his last response.

“ You seem glad. Did Discord do you any other favors? “
“ No. Just this one was more then enough! “ Ponder joyfully responded.

Luna had been worried for nothing. No Tirek part two.
“ PonderBright, I am glad that you are working, seemingly tirelessly, to amend and ensure the success of your time here in Equestria. “

“ But I fear you might reach a breaking point. “

There was a pause.

“ Another breaking point. “

She said while trailing off.


Ponder looked confused. He had already internalized that situation was solely due to the abruptness of the situation, lack of magical training, and lack of information; not the result of a mental break.

From the outside looking in, however, he was certain the opposite was true.
Luna further elaborated.

“ You are undoubtedly strong. I saw that in your dream. You thought It was a real emergency situation and you went to help others, not leave through the door you had passed. You even offered yourself sacrifice.“

“ You saw all that? “ Ponder had to ask.

“ I saw enough. “ Luna exclaimed.
“ And I'm worried that this all will come to the surface, sooner or later. “

Ponder shrunk over, sad and disappointed.
Luna continued. “ So I wish to discuss it. “

Luna knew something was off. Of all the reactions she had experienced in her long reign as princess of dreams, that was not an expected one.
Had she been gone too long? Was she loosing her touch?
Then again, this was literally an alien she was talking to.
She took a more guarded posture.

“ Is something the matter? “ She said raising one eyebrow.

“ It's... “
“ It's just that... “

Luna patiently awaited his response, no annoyance to be found.

“ Back in the human realm, I always had people telling me that they knew best. Sure, it started out all nice and non-intrusive, but then they started assuring me that they knew I did this because of that, and that their new solution was certain to work this time, … “

Ponder looked up to make sure Luna was not angry. She had successfully put on a poker fake, but she did not needed it. She was not angry.

“ I was always just the massive collection of mysterious failures, to spite all their meddling. “ He said that last part with anger, looking away from Luna in the process.
“ And this is a literal dream were talking about, nothing actually happened. “

He recoiled minorly, as if by habit.

“ But. “
“ I really did screw up this time. “

“ So I have no right to complain. “


Luna was disheartened. Not at what he said though.


“ PonderBright. “ Luna said
“ You are correct in that there will be some ' meddling. ' “
Ponder closed his eyes a bit, with ' here it comes ' written all over his face.
“ But we do not seek to control you down to the last hair. “

Ponder looked unconvinced.
“ You say that this was your... ' screw up '?", " That this was your fault? “ She had to clarify.
She struggled with pronouncing ' screw up '.

“ Yes. “ He said, sorrow creeping back in.
Luna steeled herself.

“ It is not. “ Luna said with certainty; the moon beginning to creep over the horizon.
Ponder was surprised. Very surprised. So surprised his pupils shrunk a bit and he leaned back a few inches.
A first for everything, I guess.

“ You were badly injured, half conscious, and not magically trained. “
“ You were also in a foreign body after crash landing in an alien world. “

“ I do not blame you for the tragedies. “
“ It is part of the reason I voted to equit you. “ She said, looking solemnly towards the moon.

Ponder was surprised there even was a trail. Brief, informal or otherwise.

“ But you did willingly attack Twilight. With much less serve injuries and knowing the damage magic can cause; no less. “
She had looked back towards Ponder. The sunset on the horizon began to shine rays.
He rebuked out of habit: “ But I thought she was the corrupted version of a human, that I was taking out a world ending threat! “


“ PonderBright, from what I saw you attacked immediately. “
“ Yes, and? “
Her gaze hardened. Ponder's fear grew wildly.
“ From what I understand you did not check to see if she was still corrupted. “

“ Yes, I don't know what a corrupted pony looks like. “
He noticed his rebukes started to sound more and more like excuses.
Because they were.

“ And I also remember you stating you know little to nothing about magic. “

This conversation had reminded Luna of the latest Nightmare Night. She had to take a moment to gather herself after that last sentence. Her expression returned to normal princess blankness.

“ Yes? “ He said, awaiting an answer to his answer.

“ So why did you attack Twilight when you had no knowledge as to what she might look like at all; transformed, or otherwise? “

He was plainly shocked. He didn't have an answer.
He looked to the side, to ponder if you will,
her argument.

“ A voice is not enough to go on. “
“ Yes, … I know. “ he responded with worry and confusion.

“ PonderBright, I saw that lightning. It's color is influenced by emotion. And that was pure, violent green. The brightest I have seen. “

Ponder looked surprised as to his accidental record he set in pony world.
“ It is the color of fear. “

He had to much to process. He put off thinking about that for now.

Luna started talking again.
“ To spite your insistence that it was intentional... “
“ I believe you are not to blame for that incident either. “
“ If “
“ you agree to let somepony know if your emotions are starting to overwhelm you. “

Ponder nodded. He then blurted out
“ Yes! “
“ Yes of course! “

He didn't know what else to say. A simple ' I was already ready to do whatever you said! ' or similar would have helped tremendously, but he was not that socially inclined.

Another silence followed.

Luna picked up.
“ About Rainbowdash -”
“ Uh, hang on. I – Think I need some time to process this. “ He nervously smiled back at Luna.


“ You apply these lessons quickly. You are indeed a quick learner. “ Luna complimented him after a short sigh.
“ We shall resume “ Luna yawned “ After I get some sleep. “

She flew away, forgetting to ferry him home. The walk back was long and confusing. At least it was night, and no other pony was out to see him.







Standing on the defensive indicates insufficient strength;  attacking, a superabundance of strength. 



- - Sun Tzu, Art of War