> Balance of the Mind and Body
>  by Swift Blaze
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue: The End, or is it?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Ever had a moment when you think you had a bad day, and it couldn’t get any worse? Well, one fellow’s day went to the extreme on this particular day. The day of December 21st, 2012.
 
This fellow’s name was Smith, Bob Smith (how original). A young adult of twenty-five, standing tall at five foot, eleven inches. His body structure, you would think, was of an average working man, along with his brown hair and blue eyes. Nothing unique would make him stand out in a crowd. Bob did his normal routine of a work life where nothing special happens. He gets up, goes to work, goes home, and sleeps. Very boring. Except today.
 
Bob had just pulled into his workplace and saw that the entire parking lot was empty. Wondering what’s going on, he pulled out his cell and called his boss.
 
“The person you are trying is unable to connect. All connections are currently busy. Please try your call again later.” The automated female voice said from his phone.
 
Huh, that’s odd. He tried another number of a fellow co-worker. Same message.
 
What’s going on? Bob turned on the radio to hear if something is going on.
 
“This is the Emergency Broadcast System. Major rioting is occurring in all major cities. All citizens are instructed to stay home and lock their doors. The President of the United States has declared Marshal Law until the riots have stopped.” The computerize-voice on the radio says, repeating itself as a looped message.
 
“Well, shit. That would explain why the shop is closed,” he said to himself. Better haul ass home then. Before the riots show up here. Thank you back roads.
 
Bob got home with no issue in running into the military or any blocked roads. A benefit of living in the middle of nowhere. He locked the door behind him and quickly turns the TV on to a news station, wanting more info. News reporters on every station reported about riots showing up in more locations around the globe and military and police are doing their best to control them and get them to disperse.
 
Why is this happening across the globe? He noticed the date in the lower right hand corner: 12/21/2012. Now where do I remember that date. It took him a few minutes, but it finally came to him like a ton of brick. The Mayan Calendar End of the World date.
 
Bob stumbled back and fell into the couch behind him. He couldn’t believe that silly prediction was coming true. It must have been fifteen minutes before another thought entered his head. I should contact my friends to see if they are okay.
 
Knowing the phones are down, he hoped the Internet didn’t go down as well. Bob headed to his tech room and initialized the systems. Computer, Xbox, and PS3 came to life across his monitors. Seeing this setup, you would call him a geek, and he was proud of it.
 
No messages showed up on the Xbox or PS3 that those friends were online. On his computer, the Internet web pages failed to load on each one he tried. But once Skype came online, several messages waited for him.
 
His friends wondered the same thing, if he was alright. None were close to him as they lived in other states and countries. Bob replied to each one, informing them that he was okay and in a safe place, away from any possible riots. Each one couldn’t believe how much chaos was happening everywhere. Bob was in the same boat. His final message to them was for them to stay safe and alive. They wished the same thing to him.
 
Bob signed off and shuts all the systems down. With what his friends chatted about near them, it wouldn’t be long before the power goes out. His Boy Scout training kicked into overdrive as he felt the need to check on what supplies were in his home, planning for the worst.
 
Several hours passed by as he checked on everything. Once satisfied, Bob started to prep an over the shoulder emergency pack. A last resort if he had to flee his home if the riots came all the way out there. The lights started to  flicker when he entered the kitchen.
 
“That’s not good.”
 
He turned on the small TV in there to the news. On the display, it showed an empty newsroom. The only thing was a scrolling message of the same thing he heard on the radio.
 
If they have cleared out, it has really gotten worse. I’m going to need some weapons for protection.
 
Bob headed down to the den room in the basement. Along the fall wall, various weapons were on display behind glass doors. An ammo safe was tucked in the corner to his left. He unlocked the glass doors and started to pick out some weapons. The first ones were a pair of pistols. Next, various dagger blade styles. He placed them into another pack that was hanging on a wall. Once happy with the choices, Bob went to the safe to get enough ammo for the guns that should last him a while.
 
As he started to leave the den, his eyes looked over the space to see if there was anything else he should bring. He remembered his prize possession as he spotted it mounted on the wall by itself. A custom, real samurai sword. One unique thing about the pack he has, it has a special slot in the back to hold his sword. Bob placed it in it and made his way back upstairs.
 
Good timing too. The power just went out.
 
The time on his watch read a little after 1pm, Bob decided to have lunch. The only thing is, with no power, his choice was a sandwich or a sandwich. Tough choice.
 
Decided on the latter one, he made a PB & J one. Bob ate it as he opened the front door of his house. If you expected him to hear the sounds of the woodland animals, none of that was happening. All he could hear in the far off distance were the sirens of police, fire, and ambulance in the city, roughly 20 miles away.
 
Without warning, a military helicopter was flying low and buzzed over his house. “SHIT!” Bob said as he tried to cover his ears from the loud roar of the blades.
 
The helo  headed towards the city as a couple more were following behind it. All of them were armed to the gills. Their path was the same as the first one. It must be really bad if the military had to send in armed helicopters. I need to find out what the hell is going on.
 
Bob closed the front door and locked it again before heading to his computer room again.  In there, he headed toward the closet and pulled out an emergency radio. Once it had enough power from turning the crank arm, he turned it on and searched for any active radio stations.
 
Most of the ones he knows of were now only transmitting static. Even the NPBR station was not transmitting. Bob switched to the AM stations. Nothing found on those. The only frequencies left are the Weather Band stations. He expected those to be down as well. They weren't. Each one within range transmitted the weather forecast for that area it covered. I don't think that is useful in this time of crisis. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON! Bob thought as he shook the radio in frustration.
 
Not wanting to leave his home to find out, the only thing he can do now is sit and wait for something to happen. Fifteen minutes went by and Bob is now officially bored. He went to his emergency pack and pulled out something to occupy his time, an iPad.
 
(What? Did you think he was going to pull a deck of cards? It's the 21st century.)
 
Bob typed in his code to unlock it. He tried to decide what to do with it now, his thoughts went over the choices. Could play some games. Nah, that would draw my attention in too much. Need to stay focused. The Internet is out as there is no connection without power. Guess I'll do some reading. Good thing I downloaded some stories last weekend.
 
These stories were not the books that get published and sold. What Bob referred to were fan-created by the shows they watch. The ones he had on the device are for one show in particular.
 
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
 
Yes, he what you would call a Brony. A bro who likes Ponies.
 
Bob didn't share with his fellow co-workers that he likes this show. Let's face it, a dude liking a show that was made for little girls, you would think he was gay or something. But he didn't care what others thought about this. Bob knew there are millions of other Bronies like him and they care for one another.
 
One thing was on the back of his mind, he wondered how the others were all handling this crisis in their part of the world.
 
Time passed as the sun started to set on the day. With the light source going away, Bob knew he will need another source of light soon. He went into the backpack he just packed and pulled out an LED lantern. With a flick of the switch, the room was lit up once again.
 
He guessed on the time, and his stomach growled at him, it was dinner time. Bob brought the lantern with him to the kitchen. Still with no power, the only thing he can have was a sandwich. This time, however, it will be a HLT with mayo (that's ham, lettuce, and tomato). He made two as he wanted to fill himself up this time, unsure of what is happening in the cities around him.
 
With the meal now inside him, Bob turned the radio on again. He is hoped someone was broadcasting something, besides the weather. As the dial is slowly being turned, his ears concentrate on something that was not the static that was already there. The FM broadband came back with nothing. When he switched to the AM, a station started to come in as he turned the dial back.
Quickly, he adjusted the radio antenna to try and clear it up. The static was still somewhat there, but Bob could now hear whoever was transmitting.
 
*static*If you are tuning in now, you MUST leave your homes if you are in the cities! The *static* government has failed in getting the riots under control and have abandoned them. Any gangs in your area are now in control with military weapons. You have to *static* escape with your lives if you want to live! Run NOW! I don't know how long this broadcast will last. *sounds of a door being broken down* OH NO! They're here! For the sake of our species, you must *BANG*
 
Nothing but static was left now. Bob turned the radio off. Silence was left in the house, with a small hum from the lantern nearby. Well, this country is going to shit. When the Mayans predicted the end of the world, I was thinking a natural disaster would be the cause. Nothing like this.
 
All of a sudden, Bob felt and heard a rumble. He went to the back windows and looked through them. Nothing coming from this side of the house. He headed towards the front and looked through a window beside the front door. His eyes saw some flickering light coming from up the street, and it was heading towards his home.
 
As the light sources came into view, he could see people caring fire lit torches. From the light, his eyes saw everyone carrying a semi auto rifle. They didn't appear to be military as they were not in formation, nor were wearing standard clothing and armor. Bob looked to what was following the group. His eyes grew wide as he saw what was making the rumble. They had a tank.
 
Bob went and turned off the lantern in the living room to reduce being spotted of being in the house. He made his way  back to the window and watched the group in the street. The tank stopped in the middle between his house and the one across the street. The armed people were arguing something, but he couldn't make out what.
 
The tank's gun barrel began to rotate. It swung toward the other house. Once it stopped, a big bang came from it. The front door exploded from the impact. All the other people standing around began to shoot at the house. Glass was breaking and the siding was being torn to shreds from the onslaught of bullets. Once they all finished their clips, the tank turret began to rotate again.
 
Bob didn't need to be a physic of where it was aiming next, his house. He bolted from the front, grabbed his packs, and headed out the back into the woods. He was out of the house for only ten seconds before another bang came from the tank. He dived toward the ground and took cover. Bullets started to fly through the home of Bob, destroying everything in their path.
 
Bob could hear some of the bullets pass over him. All of a sudden, the house exploded in a big ball of fire. He picked his head up off the ground and turned to see the remains of his former home. The second story was no longer there. The only thing that you can see standing was some of the frameworks in the corners.
 
Before Bob can do anything about it, debris began to fall. A piece of his house fell and slammed into his head. This knocked him out.
 
Unknown time has gone by before Bob awoke with a splitting headache. Soon, pain started to come from other places on his body. He opened his eyes and saw parts of his house were covering him. Before Bob could try and lift the debris on him, he felt someone on top and they were lifting the stuff off him.
 
Once the piece that covered his head was off, Bob smile of joy of being saved changed when he saw who it was. It was one of the people that was with the tank. This guy's face was a mix of a Latino gang member and a merc would be the best way to describe it. Around him were the rest of his buddies.
 
"Well, look what we have here. I thought I saw something in that house." He said.
 
Someone else said, "What do you want to do with him, boss?"
 
"I think I will let him decide." He got close to Bob's face. "Now then, we have been killing all day and night. Instead of us deciding how to kill you, I will let you decide. We can either shoot you, or hang you. Which way do you want to die?"
 
Bob said with a quivering voice, "Can't you let me go and live?"
 
"Sadly, no. With the end of the government, we are going to create a new world order. But first, a lot of people have to die to show we mean business. So what is it going to be?"
 
Bob thought hard on this as it will be his last decision he would ever make. Coming to a decision, he replied, "I'll choose the bullet. But, can you do it right at midnight?"
 
A thug behind the boss said, "Now why would we let you choose the time?"
 
"I just want to know that I survived the Mayan End of the World prediction. You'll still get to kill me. I just wish to live after this day, with all the chaos that exploded from it."
 
The boss thought for a little bit about this request. He turned to a black dude on his right. "What time do you have? I also want the seconds." He commanded.
 
This guy pulled a phone out of his pants pocket and looked at it. He replied, "11:59pm and 30 seconds, boss."
 
The boss turned back to Bob and said, "Guess you are in luck. I can wait for 30 seconds to go by before I shoot you." He pulled out a pistol and aimed at Bob's head. "Give me a count down."
 
"15 . . . 14 . . . 13 . . . 12 . . . 11 . . . 10!" shouted the gang around them.
 
Bob stared at the end of the barrel, looking down the dark hole the bullet will soon shoot out of.
 
"9 . . . 8 . . . 7 . . . 6 . . . 5 . . . 4!"
 
"Adios, muchacho."The boss said. He pulled the hammer back on the gun.
 
"3 . . . 2 . . . 1!"
 
Bob heard a click, then everything went white.


> Chapter 1: Where am I?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Bob heard a click, then everything went white.
 
Seconds past as he expected to feel some sort of pain from being shot. He looked himself over and found no bullet wound. Bob then noticed that he was in a vast void of white.
 
Is this purgatory, or is this heaven? I would have expected to see some color Bob thought to himself.
 
"That can be arranged." A mysterious voice said out of nowhere.
 
“WHO SAID THAT?!” Bob looked around to find the source.
 
"Oh, come now. You were thinking of purgatory and heaven. Do you need any more hints?"
 
Bob's mind started to quickly think of an answer, but what he just went through back on Earth was having an effect on coming up with something. He shook his head quickly for his response.
 
"I'm the Alpha and Omega. Creator of the Earth and everything on it."

A single word started to form in his mind, but struggled to say it. It's like it is on the tip of his tongue and doesn't want to leave his mouth.
 
"Would you mind opening your mouth? I think I saw something in there."
 
Bob slowly did so. He soon felt something put some pressure on his tongue. What ever it is, the thing jumped out of his mouth. It landed a few feet away. His eyes went as big and wide as possible when he saw it.
 
It was a grasshopper carrying a scroll on its back. If Bob wasn't in shock from being shot at, this would definitely do it.
 
The grasshopper pulled the scroll from its back and opened it on the pure white floor. Only three letters were on it in big characters.
 
GOD
 
Once Bob reads this, his mind went into overdrive, Holy shit! I'm chatting with God. THE God! What do I do? What should I ask him? Shit! Shit! Shit!
 
"First off, mind cutting the swearing down? Then, take a deep breath and calm yourself. Once that is done, I think you know what you want to ask."
 
"Sorry, God. Wait, were you just reading my mind?"
 
"No. I didn't hear you say 'Holy shit' in your head."
 
Not wanting to drag this weird discussion out further, Bob followed the God’s suggestion to get his nerves under control. With his heart rate back to a normal beat, he said into the vast void, "Before we start chatting again, would you mind taking a physical form so I can see who I'm chatting with? Speaking to myself would make others think I'm crazy."
 
"Not a problem. I can't reveal my true form as your mind isn't capable of handling it. Hmm, let's see. . . Ah! This one will do for the setting we are currently in. You may turn around so we can talk."
 
Bob did so and saw a familiar setting. Before him were two high back cushion chairs. In one of them sat a man he recognized, Morpheus. "Yeah, I would say that would fit to where ever I'm at this time." He said as he walked up to the other chair and sat down. "Well, guess my first question is what happened to the Earth?"
 
"Ahh. That Mayan date was a test to see how the human race's reaction if chaos went wild over the planet. Would they embrace it, or try to stop it by any means necessary. Sadly, chaos was the victor."
 
"Then why am I here?"
 
"There are those who didn't go the violent route. For those people, I'm giving them the choice to go to any world of any dimension they wish that is within my powers. You, my good lad, are one of those."
 
Bob didn't know what to feel after hearing this. Should he be happy, excited, or sad about the events that occurred on his planet. He needed more answers. "What will happen to those who failed?"
 
"To them, today's events never took place. They will continue to live their lives out in that timeline you came from."
 
"Won't people question why thousands of people disappeared in one night?"
 
"Yes, they would, if I wasn't going to leave a clone of yourself there if you choose to decide to go somewhere else and live out your dreams." Morpheus leaned forward in the chair. "Isn't there someplace you have always wished you could go to? Maybe to the place of where those fan fictions you read are talking about. Hmm?"
 
It didn’t take a second for Bob to realize where God was going. “You mean, if I choose to, I can go to Equestria?” He said with a surprised look on his face.
 
”If that is what you wish. That is certainly within my power to do so, in any story or timeline you choose.”’
 
He couldn’t  believe it! This is a Brony’s dream come true. All the fan fiction stories he had read popped into his head of how they entered and lived in the world. Something in the back of his head was telling him he needed something to help him in this world.
 
“Um, God, would it be possible to. . . get some . . . abilities? To help me there?”
 
God was thinking for a moment. Then said, ”I don’t see why not. I have done even stranger requests. So what would you like?”
 
“There are two other shows I like that are on par with My Little Pony. They are Dragonball Z and Naruto. Would it be possible to have those?”
 
God leaned back in his chair and had his finger tips touch each other. After some thinking, he said, “I don’t see why not. I’ll give you the basic knowledge of how to use them right now. Any more advanced skill, you will have to learn yourself. I will tell you how later. For now, let's get that knowledge into you.”
 
God stood up from his chair. He reached into his jacket with his right hand and pulled out a silver cylinder. He pushed a button and it extended in length.
 
"Wait!" Bob stood up quickly and backed away a couple feet. "Isn't that a de-neuralyzer? I thought you were going to give me some knowledge? Not erase my memories!"
 
God started to laugh. "I'm sorry, my attempt at some humor. No, this isn't that. Let's just call it, an in-neuralyzer. It will implant the info into your head. Although, we could . . ." A spike from The Matrix appeared in his left hand. "We could go with the direct approach."
 
Bob quickly said, "Uh, no to the spike. I like my skull like it is."
 
The spike disappeared. God extended his right arm out with the device. "Now then, I'm going to also put in some barriers in your head. They are to prevent these ponies from looking at any memories you have about the show and of myself. I think you can tell when someone is looking into your mind without permission. Now, hold still."
 
A yellow light flashed from the device. Bob’s brain started to throb as it processed the new knowledge. He was breathing hard against the restrain. Once the throbbing died down, Bob said between breaths, “Next time, warn me about the pain.”
 
”Sorry, it slipped my mind.” God said with a smile. ”So would you like anything else before I send you to Equestria?”
 
“Yes, please. I would like to stay human there. Also can you change my clothes to a red gi with black trim and the Japanese symbol on the back for balance?”
 
“Your wish is my command.”
 
Another yellow flash and his clothes have changed to what he has requested. Bob looked himself over, liking how it looks.
 
”Have a safe journey and adventure. Watch that first step.”

“What?”
	

> Chapter 2: One Word, Ouch
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	”Have a safe journey and adventure. Watch that first step.” God said.
 
Bob responded with, “What?”
 
A blinding light filled his vision. It's kinda like a flash bang, but without the bang. His vision was obscured because of this. As he tried to get them refocused, his body started to feel moving air all around him.
 
The spots in his eyes soon faded away. This allowed Bob to see where he was placed. He could tell it was night time as the stars and the moon were out. His senses began to warn him about something. The wind was blowing upward on his body. Bob looked down and he didn't like what he saw. He was falling, without style.
 
“SSSSSHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTT!!!” Was all that came out his screaming mouth for thirty seconds. Bob's brain was working on overdrive from the fear and adrenaline that was coursing through his veins. He tried to think of something that could save him. Nothing was coming at first, then he remembered that God gave him some abilities.
 
Bob tried to think of flying from DBZ, but nothing was coming, No basic jutsu would be able to save him from this. The last option that might work are energy balls. Come on. Work dammit! Work! he screamed into his mind and body to produce the results.
 
A warm feeling began to emit from his right hand. Bob concentrated on trying to form a sphere of the energy gathering there. It started small, but soon grew to the size of a baseball. He was filled with joy that he made it, but soon realized the ground was approaching fast.
 
Bob saw some sort of a river was close to being below him. He twisted his body to best align him with it. The energy ball was still floating in his right hand. With about fifteen seconds from impact. Bob launched it to the water below. It made contact with the water and exploded. He shifted his body to a shallow dive position and braced for impact.
 
Contact.
 
The force of hitting the water knocked Bob out. He couldn’t tell how long he was out, but wished he wasn’t dead already. The pain was starting to throb from his limbs Ow. Hate the pain, but at least that should mean I’m not dead. A sharp pain was now coming from the chest. It felt like someone was hitting it with a big hammer. He soon felt himself spitting out water.
 
Bob tried to see what was going on. His vision was blurry. Before he could focus, he blacked out again.
 
The next time Bob was able to wake up, he saw he was in a building. The pain from his limbs was still somewhat there, but not as severe as before. He looked around to see where he was. His eyes saw that he was lying on a cot in a room that looks like it was made from a tree. I must be in Twilight’s house.
 
His ears began to pick up on some voices upstairs. Bob focused on the sounds to try and determine who was up there. The first voice he recognized was Rainbow Dash talking. She shouted, “That thing should be locked in chains! It could be dangerous!”
 
I must be the thing she was referring to. Bob made a small laugh, quietly, but quickly stopped as the pain started to come from his chest. He also noticed his left arm and right leg were in a cast. I don’t think chains would be necessary as I can hardly move right now. He continued to pay attention to the voices up stairs.
 
“Dash, you saw how it is. It was severely injured. The injuries show signs that it fell from a great distance.” said Twilight Sparkle.
 
“I agree with Twi, sugarcube. Besides those casts on him, they’ll prevent it from going anywhere for a while anyway.” said Applejack.
 
“I still think a chain from the bed to a leg should be done to protect everypony, just in case.” said Rainbow.
 
That’s your typical Rainbow Dash. She sees almost any strange creatures as a threat. Such loyalty to her friends just to protect them. Bob looked around the room some more. He soon spots the bags he packed back on Earth. They were leaning against the wall with the sword next to them. It appears they have not gone into the bags. Who knows what would happen if they messed with what’s inside. A sharp pain from his leg hit him hard. It caused Bob to shout from the intensity of it.
 
“I think it is waking up. Let’s go check on it.” said Twilight.
 
Bob quickly laid back down and closed my eyes. He soon heard the door open upstairs. The sounds of several hooves hitting wood started at the top of the stairs. They were getting closer. He did his best to stay perfectly still. Bob was acting that he was sleeping, even though the pain coming from his limbs was coming back.
 
“It appears to still be asleep, sugarcube. But I reckon that look on its mug means that it’s in pain.” said Applejack.
 
“I will perform the spell again to dull the pain away so it can rest peacefully.” said Twilight.
 
Her horn started to glow. Bob could feel warmth entering his body, causing the pain to subside. Without warning. A hyper voice from the top of the stairs came rushing down as it spoke.
 
“Twilightwhydidyounottellmeanewponyhascometotown. Mypinkiesencehasbeengoingoffsayingsomethingstrangandnewhascometotown!” said Pinkie Pie in her hyper state.
 
She then did something that Bob hoped she wasn’t going to do. But she did it anyways. Pinkie Pie  jumped onto Bob. It caused the pain to come back, tenfold. Bob launched his body to sitting position from the pain. It also caused him to knock Pinkie off. He held onto his chest with his right hand from the pain.
 
Bob looked to where the girls were standing. Seeing them for the first time in person, they looked exactly like on the TV show. They started to back away from Bob as to what Pinkie caused.
 
“Pinkie, why in Equestria did you jump on it? Couldn’t  you could see it was injured and asleep?” said Twilight.
 
Pinkie Pie replied, “It wasn’t asleep, silly.”
 
“Why do you think it was not asleep?”
 
“My pinky sense told me.”
 
Great, can’t fool her when I fake sleep. Bob finally noticed that the entire Mane Six were there. Rarity hasn’t done any talking that he heard. It was probably because she was looking at the clothes Bob was wearing. It was either to determine if they were beautiful or horrid. Fluttershy might have talked while up there, but Bob couldn’t tell as her voice would have been too quiet.
 
Twilight stepped forward and said, “Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle. Are you able to understand me?”
 
Bob  nodded my head.
 
“What is your name?”
 
He replied with “Bob.”
 
“Bob?” asked Rainbow Dash.
 
“You said it backwards.” he told her. That got a chuckle out of Applejack. Rainbow acted like she wasn’t amused being caught on that joke.
 
Bob already knew their names, but since he didn’t want to reveal how he knew, ignorance would be an ally. “So what are everyone’s names, seeing as how we are introducing ourselves?”
 
Applejack went first, “Howdy partner. Names Applejack. I own an apple farm down the road named Sweet Apple Acres. The best apples on this side of Equestria!”
 
Rainbow Dash quickly went next, “Name's Rainbow Dash! Fastest flyer in all of Equestria and future team member of the Wonderbolts!”
 
Up next was Rarity, “Hello darling. You may call me Rarity. I must say your clothes are dreadful. Come by my shop when you are better and let me design you something better to suit your style.”
 
Pinkie Pie jumps in close and starts talking, “Hithere. I’mPinkiePie. Sorryforjumpingonyou. Ijustcouldn’twaitforyoutowakeupandmeetyou! Doyoulikeparties? ILOVEPARTIES! . . .” Bob had his right hand over her mouth to stop her from rambling on.
 
“Please, Pinkie. Can you slow down your talking speed and allow me to answer your questions? My body is already injured. I don’t want my head getting a headache from trying to process all you are saying. I shall answer questions once I get to meet everyone.”
 
“Everypony.” Twilight corrected.
 
“Huh?”
 
“You said everyone. The correct way to say is everypony.”
 
Bob rolled his eyes for being corrected when he already knew the correct way to say it.
 
Twilight restarted the introducing, “Ahem, as I said before, my name is Twilight Sparkle and I run the library above us. I'm also the personal student of Princess Celestia.”
 
Last one to go was Fluttershy. She was currently hiding behind Applejack, shaking, scared, and trying not to look at me. Applejack decides to speak for her, “The pony behind me is Fluttershy. She takes care of lots of woodland creatures that come out of the Everfree forest. She also has a tendency to be scared of lots of things.”
 
Bob decided to try and comfort her by talking calm and smooth, “It’s ok Fluttershy, You do not have to be afraid of me. I know I look strange, seeing you probably never seen a creature like me. I promise you, I will never harm you, your friends, or any creature that is under your care.”
 
She poked her head from behind Applejack and put on a big smile. “May I ask what species are you, if you don’t mind?” She asked softly.
 
“I would more than happy to. But, can we do this a little different than usual. I too have several questions that are popping into my head. What we can do, is go back and forth asking questions and answering them.” Bob looked at Pinkie Pie. “And please, only ask one at a time so I can answer them if I can.”
 
Twilight’s eyes grew bigger than normal. Probably knowing that she is going to be learning  about a  species unknown to her. She ran quickly upstairs to grab the stuff she will need to write all this down. She was back down, in the basement, in ten seconds flat. Rainbow Dash was impressed with the speed she showed. Twilight Sparkle then realized that somepony else should also be here, her mentor Princess Celestia. She shouted up the stairs, “SPIKE!”
 
Bob’s ears were ringing from the big shout from the pony. As the ringing died down, he soon heard something else coming down the stairs. He knew who it was, but Bob was a little excited was going to see a dragon in real life. He didn’t care that Spike is still considered a baby dragon.
 
Halfway on the stairs, the dragon looked at him and asked Twilight, “Um, Twi? Why isn’t that thing down there and not chained?”
 
“Spike! Behave, please. Can’t you see it is injured?” Twilight took a quick sigh. “We are about to ask it questions. I would like you to send a letter to the Princess telling her the situation. Also, to invite her to hear what it has to say. Finally, to get her opinion of the creature.”
 
“Right away, Twilight!” said Spike. He pulled a letter and a quill from behind him and wrote out the letter. He rolled it up and breathed his magic fire that will transport it directly to the Princess.
 
While they waited, Bob began to think, I am overfilled with joy knowing exactly where I am and who I am with! Then something popped into Bob’s head. The Princess of the day was on her way. He hoped those barriers will hold if she decided to peak in. Still with no one talking, Bob decided to recall exactly what abilities and jutsu that he could do right now. Minutes passed. He opened his eyes again and noticed that all of them were looking at him with confused looks. “What is everypony looking at?” Bob asked.
 
Rarity spoke up, “Well, Twilight and I noticed a strange aura around you when you closed your eyes. You mind telling us what that was?”
 
“Um, well, seeing we are waiting for another guest to show up, I decided to meditate and gather my thoughts.”Hope they believe that.
 
Applejack was giving me a strange look. Bob quickly thought, Shit! Her honesty might be seeing through that lie. Better lean more truthful to stay under her lie detecting radar.
 
Bob began to try and scratch an itch under his arm cast.
 
Fluttershy quickly said, in a more audible level, “I’m so sorry! I did not realize they were causing you discomfort.”
 
Bob replied, “It’s no problem Fluttershy. You could not have known, as I was unconscious. I do appreciate that you have made sure to set the bones into the sockets before wrapping them in a cast.”
 
Fluttershy blushed a little bit from the compliment. “I did my best as I didn’t know what creature you are. My best guess is that you are close to a monkey in structure. Is there anywhere else that you are hurting?”
 
“Now that you mention it, I think one or few of my ribs are either bruised or broken. But I don’t think they have punctured my lung.”
 
Fluttershy walked up to where Bob was sitting on the cot, She reached a hoof up to my chest, but stopped before touching. “Um, may I? If you don’t mind.” She asked. Bob nodded to her as he lifted his arms out of the way as best as he could. Her hoof finished moving the distance to his body. It moved around where all the ribs were located. Bob winced in pain when it touched one of the injured ribs. “None of them don’t feel broken. But we should get you to a proper doctor to get checked and healed.”
 
“Thank you, Fluttershy. I just don’t know how any doctor could help if none of you have seen my species.” said Bob.
 
Spike let out a belch from nowhere and a scroll appeared. Twilight lifted it up with her magic and opened it. After a quick read, Twilight said, “The Princess said she will be here in a few seconds with her sister, Princess Luna, as well.”
 
In the middle of the room a bright flash filled the room. Everypony else had prepared themselves for that.  Bob, again, started to see things in his vision from staring at it.
 
In the middle of the room, where the flash started, stood Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. They were wearing their royal crowns and accessories. Behind them, stood six Royal Guards, with their weapons drawn and pointed at Bob. Everypony kneeled down before them. Bob remained in the cot as a leg was still in a cast. But he bowed his head instead.
 
“Everypony may arise. That too includes you, human.” Celestia said.


> Chapter 3: Do You Want To Play Twenty Questions?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Everypony may rise. That also includes you, human.” Princess Celestia said.
 
All the girls were shocked that the Princess knew what species Bob was. Still playing the idiot card, he had to choose his words carefully. “May I be the first to ask the question as to how you know my species?” he asked.
 
“Where are my manners, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Princess Celestia. This here is my younger sister, Princess Luna." Luna bowed her head, but did not say a word.
 
"You will have to forgive my sister," Celestia cleared her throat. "She just came back from a long journey and hasn't fully adjusted being back yet. Now, as to your question. You are not the first human to show up in Equestria. I remember that there used to be thousands of your kind in this area. It seems roughly a thousand years have past since I last saw one.”
 
Woah. Humans used to be here? I need more info about this. “Hmm, that must explain where some of our myths about Pegasus and Unicorns came from. One thing they never mentioned in them is that they had the ability to speak and be understood.”
 
"HEY!" Rainbow Dash barged into the chat. Her muzzle was directly in front of Bob's face. "What do you mean we can't speak? Explain yourself!"
 
Rainbow was pulled back by her tail by Applejack. "Now hold it, Rainbow Dash." said the orange earth pony. "I don't think the feller meant any disrespect. Did ya . . . um . . . what's your name again, sugarcube?"
 
Bob smiled and said, "It's Bob. Also, let me clarify that I'm a guy, dude, bro, or male to whatever you call in your species. That way you can stop referring to me as "it"." He did his best to do the in air quote marks, but no pony understood the gesture. "And Rainbow Dash, I didn't mean anything bad. Myths and legends tend to lose some of the finer details about them. I don't know as I didn't learn to become an historian. Now, what were we talking about?"
 
Twilight politely said, “Um, excuse me Princess, but I don't recall seeing any notation in my books that described a creature like this. How do you know what, HE, is?”
 
“Well, Twilight, it has been so long since the last human was here. They have become myths to us as we are to them. As to why they are not in any books, I believe they were lost at some point in history.” said Princess Celestia.
 
Bob's thoughts began to wonder about that. I have a feeling the Princess is hiding something. She knows more than she is leading on. Mental note, ask the Princess as to why there are no more humans here. The human felt something going off in his head. Kinda like a spider sense, but more like someone is trying to poke into his mind. He looked over to Princess Celestia, her wings had pop opened stiff. Her eyes grew very big as she tried to clear something from her throat. Bob decided to try something, If this is you, Princess Celestia, nod your head. Bob said in his mind.
 
The white alicorn did a small nod, then looked at the human, Ahem, I was never expecting that type of barrier protection in a mind. Why would someone put that up as a first barrier? She asked in Bob's mind.
 
Bob replied I didn't place that barrier. It was the God most humans believe in that placed that in my mind. I didn't know what it is. All I was told is that it would help identify who is trying to look into my head. What did you see?
 
The Princess let out a tiny blush on her cheeks. Well, I can say it is effective. But why would your God want to place that in your head?
 
He did it to protect myself as well as your kingdom. There are some things in my mind that no one should know about where I come from. I think, it might be possible, for me to allow you pass them by acting as an escort of sorts. Would that be acceptable?
 
Yes. I believe that should be. I am sorry for trying to read your mind without permission. I should know better than to poke into others’ minds. I only did it as I fear for my subject's safety when a possible old threat comes back.
 
It is alright, your highness. Bob did a quick look at the other ponies in the room. I think we should get back to answering questions that everypony can hear.
 
She nods again and they break the link. Bob looked at everypony and asked, “So, who has a question for me?”
 
Twilight shot her hoof up in the air like she was back in a classroom.
 
“Yes, Twilight?”
 
“Can you please tell us a bit about yourself?”
 
“That would make sense to do that and would answer several questions you all probably have. As you all know now, my species is called human. I am male, age twenty-five, and I come from a world where magic does not exist.” Twilight was about to say something, but Bob stopped her. “Please, Twilight. Let me finish giving my brief history and it will probably answer the questions you are thinking of wanting to ask.”
 
She nodded and kept her muzzle closed. Bob continued to tell his tale. “The world I am from is called Earth; we are the major species on the planet. As I said before, we don’t have magic. We survive and grew with science and technology. There are so many things that happened over the past century that we now have devices that allow us to store an entire library collection on a single device.”
 
“I don’t believe it. Nothing like that could ever exist.” Twilight interrupted.
 
“I can actually prove that right now. I have a device like that in my bag over there." Bob was about to get up, but the pain from his fall was returning. He sat back down, slowly.  His head turned towards Princess Celestia. "Um, your highness, would you happen to know of a spell, or something, to heal myself. I kinda had a rough landing when I arrived.” Bob said with a weak smile. “These, um, ponies did their best to heal me with no knowledge about my body structure.”
 
Celestia smiled and said, “I think I know of a spell that will mend your injuries. Now, hold still, this will either tingle, or cause some pain.”

The human nodded and braced himself. The Princess lowered her horn a bit. It started to emit a yellow glow. Bob could feel something was happening to his body. Different spots were tingling. As he was enjoying it, the sensation was interrupted by a sharp pain in his chest, around his ribs. The human reacted to the pain as he scrunched his face, to avoid screaming. Guess I did have broken ribs. Wish I had some morphine to numb the pain.
 
Oh, you wanted me to dull your nerves BEFORE I set the bones? My bad. Celestia said in Bob's mind, with a smile on her face.
 
Is this payback for what ever that barrier is in my head? Bob heard a humming tune in his head. Just before Celestia popped another rib back into place. Again, the pain was intense for a second. But he did not let out a scream from it.
 
Once everything was healed inside of Bob, the cast on his arm and leg disappeared. He stood slowly in front of the cot. Being stiff as a board for who knows how long, the human did some simple stretches of his limbs, causing some to emit a pop from some of his joints.
 
Bob was about to move to his back, but the guards still had their spears pointed at him. "If it would also be possible, can you please ask your guards to lower their weapons? They are making me a little nervous thinking they are going to strike me without cause.” He asked the Princess.
 
She nodded and told them to stand down. They put their weapons away, but some still had the scary look toward the human. Bob headed to his first backpack and pulled out his iPad. He displayed it in his hands as he said, “This is one the latest achievements my people have created. It is a tablet based computer that allows us to access any information we want at the touch of our hand." He then looked towards the purple unicorn, "Twilight, later on, I will show you how to operate it as long as you ask permission to use it.”
 
She shook her head up and down. Her face was that of excitement as she clapped her front hooves together. Bob barely heard a pony said 'egghead'. He didn't know who, but it came from one of the guards. The human carried the iPad back with him as he sat back on the cot to continue to tell his tale.
 
“Some of the other things that technology has allowed us to do are create transportation machines that don’t require horses to pull us around. Finally, we have machines that give us the ability to go fast through the air.”
 
“I’ll believe that when I see it.” said Dash.
 
Guess its time for a demonstration. From the ponies perspective, Bob started to touch the tablet with those little things at the end of his front hooves. He was tapping them at a quick pace. Once ready, the human turned the device around and show them. “This is one of the many creations that allow us to do that. It is called an airplane and it comes in all sorts of sizes and uses. From small personal ones to ones like this that can transport hundreds of humans or several tons of cargo half the way around the world. We also have another that is used by the government’s military. Those types are only designed to hold one to two humans. But the neat thing about them is the speed they can travel I'm talking about supersonic speeds. I know they could do at least 4 times the speed of sound.”
 
“NO WAY! I’m the fastest flyer and I barely break the sound barrier once!” Dash shouts out.
 
“I'm impressed that you can do that without something protecting you. But, seeing we have no way to fly by ourselves, it is these machines that granted us that ability and protect us at the same time." Bob looked around the group as he turned off the screen. "So, who is next with a question?”
 
Fluttershy quietly asked, “Um, if you don’t mind, can you explain how you got those injuries?”
 
"I had a feeling this was going to come up. Well, you probably have some scary stories of creatures coming from another world. They come down in a spinning metal disc?" Bob questioned them, hoping for a response.
 
"I've read about those in comic books!" said Spike. "Some show the aliens have taken ponies so they can probe them. Others are eating the ponies BRAINS!" He said with such enthusiasm. "But I never know what probe means. There are never any panels showing the process."
 
"Spike!" Twilight said with a stern voice. "I told you that those comics are bad for you. There is nothing educational within them. Plus, some can give you nightmares."
 
Spike had a sad face from being scolded by Twilight about his comic books again.
 
After a moment had passed, Bob said, "Well, you can classify me as an alien. But I didn't arrive in a flying device. My method of travel wasn't my choice. Falling from above the clouds to your doom is never fun."
 
Twilight, with a surprised look, said, “How in Equestria did you manage to survive a fall from that height? Also, how did you even get up there?”
 
Bob let out a quick chuckle, then said, “Let’s just say, a super being is the cause of me falling from that height. But, also gave me the knowledge and abilities that helped me survive, barely. Now then, how did you find me?”
 
“I heard a big explosion from the river. Then I saw water flying higher than my apple trees.” said Applejack. “I called out for Rainbow to come with me to check it out.”
 
Rainbow Dash said with pride in her voice, “I got to the river first.”
 
“That’s because you used your wings.”
 
“I’m a Pegasus. It’s only natural for me to fly. I AM the fastest flyer in Equestria.”
 
Applejack rolled her eyes. “Anyways, when we arrived at the banks of the river, we saw something floating down river."
 
"I flew over to it and saw you, bruised and bleeding. So, I grabbed your hoof and dragged you to where Applejack was standing."
 
"Once you were on dry land, I checked if you were breathing. You weren’t. So I raised my fore hooves and stamped hard on your chest."
 
"You spat water out so high, like a fountain. It was hilarious!"
 
"You did start breathing again, sugarcube. But you still looked seriously hurt. I had Rainbow Dash fly to fetch Fluttershy while I took you on my back to Twilight’s home/library. I was guessin' one of them could fix ya right up."
 
"Thanks for the rescue and emergency care that you were able to provide." said Bob, with a smile. "Just a small suggestion for next time," He raised a hand up and left a tiny space between the thumb and index finger. "Please don't stamp on my ribs when trying to get me breathing again. I think I was lucky that you only had fractured them. It could have been worse if you broke one right into my lungs. That will be harder to fix."
 
"Sorry about that, I sometimes forget my own strength. I can buck all the apples of a tree with one kick. So how did ya manage to save yourself from a fall like that without one of them machine contraptions?"
 
“I figured that was going to be the next question. Remember when I said that a super being gave me some knowledge to do certain abilities?" Bob looked around and saw all the ponies nodding their heads. “Well, I had to break the water’s surface before hitting it, if I wanted to survive. So I sent a bigger version of this down to create the explosion in the water."
 
The human had his right index finger pointing up, while the others were in a fist. He concentrated on pulling the energy to his finger to create a pea size energy orb. It took a while, but a small yellow orb was floating above his finger. Bob pulled the energy back in, then took a couple deep breaths from exhaustion.
 
"I'm still getting the hang of it."
 
Pinkie quickly said, "Oh! Oh! Oh! What other nifty things can you do?" Her smile was as big as ever as she looked at Bob with her big eyes.
 
"Well, I haven't tried these yet, but some of them are cool." Bob had a smile on his face as a funny idea popped into his head. “Pinkie, seeing you asked to see one, can you come here and stand next to me?”

She hopped over Rarity and spun herself around in mid air. Every creature waited for the human to do something. In his mind it was thinking, Please, please, please! Let this work the first time! Bob recalled the new knowledge for the skill he wanted to perform. Once ready, the human hands came together in some pattern as he shouted, “Transform!”

A puff of smoke enclosed Bob and Pinkie. When it dissipated a few seconds later, everyone else in the no saw there were two Pinkie Pies and no human. They were surprised by what happened, including Pinkie. Bob mimicked her movements so they looked the same.
 
“So, who is the real Pinkie?” Spike asked.
 
They both said, “I am!” in the exact same voice. No one could tell them apart as the voice was another exact match.
 
Bob decided that the fun was over now. He released the Ninjutsu to return to his original form. “Did everyone enjoy that?” he asked.
 
“That was very impressive, Bob. Are there others on your planet that can do that?” Princess Celestia asked.
 
“No, they can’t. The only place humans could think of doing something like that is in their dreams. Now then, I have another question." Bob already knew the answer, but he still had to ask to draw suspicion. "I noticed that all the ponies in the room have a tattoo on your rear ends. Can someone please explain why?”
 
They all laughed at the human for asking that. Twilight decided to answer this one, “Well, I don’t know what a tattoo is, but what is on everypony's flank is their cutie mark. It symbolized our special talent in what we can do. When we are born, we have a blank flank and we get to enjoy the wonder of discovering what our special talent is as we grow up. Don’t humans have cutie marks?”
 
“Sorry Twilight, but no human never gets a mysterious mark on their butt. Unless they get so drunk that they forget what they did the night before." Bob said with a laugh. He cleared his throat, then said, "To explain what a tattoo is this. To us, it's a design we choose to place somewhere on our body showing what we love or to look cool. Some may get one tattoo for the experience while some others can get so many, that they cover their entire body. I am one of those people who choose not to get one because it's a little painful process.”
 
“Then how do you find out what your special talent is?”
 
“In truth, most humans don’t find out. We educate ourselves to do the jobs we get hired to do. That way we can pay bills and to put food on the table. I would have to guess that most humans don’t like the job they are doing, but like the pay it gives. There are others that do love the job they get hired to do. Finally, there are also some humans that find themselves having a wide range of skills they are good at. I think I am one of those.”
 
“Why do you think that, darling?” Rarity asked.
 
“Well, for my job, it involved fixing certain equipment sometimes. Also, being able to find the problem with most small machine types and fix them. Lastly, I'm quick to pick up on learning new skills through visual and hands on exercises.”
 
“That is really amazing! I am the same way with my magic. I can do so many spells while other unicorns can only do a certain amount based upon their special talent. I too don’t like to show off that I can do that. Plus, I like to use it to protect my friends.” Twilight said.
 
“Hmm, I want to try and guess your special talents now that I know what those cutie marks stand for. Please don’t hesitate to correct me if I am wrong.” I know I'm going to nail this on the head. This is going to be so much fun. “Let’s see, well Twilight already stated she is good with lots of different magic so that must be what her special talent is."
 
Bob turned his head to the next pony. "Rarity, based upon you wanting to make clothes for me and those diamonds for a cutie mark. I would have to say you make the precise and beautiful clothing of this land.” Rarity started to shed a tear.
 
“Now for Applejack, you said you work and own an apple farm. Your own name has the word apple in it. It's very clear that working with apples is strong within you. You must be very proud to produce the best apples that everyone loves.” Applejack started to blush.
 
“Pinkie Pie, with those balloons and your high amounts energy, you must throw the best parties for any event and make everyone smile.” Pinkie smiled so big, it looked like it was about to come off her face.
 
“For Rainbow Dash, the Pegasus with a rainbow lightning bolt as a cutie mark, I take it when you do break the sound barrier, a rainbow trail might form behind you. Plus, you are the fastest creature I have ever known.”
 
“Heck yeah!” Rainbow yells.
 
“Finally, for you Fluttershy, from what Applejack said about you how well you did to take care of my injuries, I would have to say that your special talent must lie in knowing how to take care of any creature you come across. You have the care creatures like, the ability to heal most injuries they might get, and you maybe be possible to be able to communicate with them on a different level compared to the rest of us. I would like to thank you again for taking care of my injuries when no one else knew anything about me at that time.”
 
Fluttershy was so moved at the compliment, she came over to Bob and gave him a hug. Everypony awed at this scene. The human started to stroke her mane with his fingers. She said, “You're most welcome, and do come by my place if you need anything.” She then returned to sit back down with everyone else.
 
Before the next pony could ask a question, they all heard a loud rumble coming from the human. “Sorry about that. I guess my stomach is trying to tell me to go and get some food. Would you mind if we take a break to get some?”
 
“Not at all.” Twilight said. “Although we should find out what you can eat so we don’t poison you.”
 
“Yeah, no one likes to get poisoned. From my early school days, I seem to recall that ponies are herbivores. It's where you mostly eat plant type foods, correct?" Twilight and several others nodded their heads in response.
 
Bob held his hands in front of him. The palms of the hands were facing the ponies and were just barely beyond his chest. He said, calmly, "Now them, please don’t be afraid with what I am about to tell you. Humans do eat certain plants, but we also have teeth designed to eat meat. We're omnivores” All the girl ponies raised their hooves to their mouths in shock. Rarity did her faint thing again onto the couch. The guards raised their weapons at the human with serious looks on their muzzles. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna remained sitting, with no shocked look on their faces. Spike only had a confused look on his.
 
Bob pushed his hands further away from him as he shouted, “Hold it! Let me make it perfectly clear, I would never eat a pony, a talking creature, or woodland creature that is friendly.” He looked directly at both Princesses to wait for their response.
 
Princess Celestia told the guards to stand down once again. With everypony calming back down, or regaining conscious again, Bob lowered his arms back to his sides to continue explaining. “I will still need to take in protein to keep my muscle strength up. For that, I do know of other foods that I can eat to reduce the normal meat intake. Even to almost nothing if need be. Some of foods that are high proteins are cheeses, beans, eggs, and peanuts. The other food groups I have no trouble eating. Some of the things humans can’t digest are hay and flowers." He looked at each one as he finished by saying, "Please don't be afraid of me because I can eat meat.”
 
“Of course not, sugarcube. You just startled us when you said you ate meat. We won’t think anything bad of you for what is natural for humans to do.” Applejack said.
 
“Um, if you want, if you don’t mind, I could give you some fish I have for the animals I take care of.” Fluttershy said.
 
“I would appreciate that, and thank you again. Now then, can we head upstairs and grab a bite to eat before I faint from hunger?” asked Bob.
 
They all nodded and started to walk up the stairs. Spike and Twilight headed  into the kitchen to gather some food. Everyone else got comfortable in different places in the library. The guards are still keeping an eye on the human, in case he makes a move. A few minutes later, Twilight and Spike came out. Twilight used her magic to levitate several plates of food.
 
The one that came to Bob had cut up fruits and veggies on it. On the other plates,  there was some type of sandwich with a side of hay. The human took a bite of a fruit. His eyes went wide as he continued to chew down everything on the plate. He thought, I couldn’t believe how fresh and tasty these all are. These tastes like they were just picked less than an hour ago.  
 
Bob quickly finished the meal as everyone else did at the same time. “Thank you for the food. I never had anything that tasted so good like that. Most of the fruits and veggies humans get come from the store. That takes at least a day or two to get there. These taste like they were picked just an hour ago.”
 
“They were. I got them from the market this afternoon. Good thing, too. I wasn’t expecting any company tonight.” Twilight said.
 
“Well then, my compliments to you for picking them, and to the farmers for growing such fresh food.” Bob placed his hands on his stomach and said, “Shall we get back to questioning?” Everyone nodded. “Let me go first as I have one for the Princesses. I know about Unicorns and Pegasus from myths and legends, but I never read about a horse type creature with a horn and wings. Can you please enlighten me about yourselves?”
 
Princess Celestia spoke up, “My sister and I are called Alicorns. As of right now, there are only three in existence in all of Equestria. They are myself, my sister Luna, and our niece, Princess Cadance.  The thing that is unique about us, besides having a horn and wings, is that we are immortal.”
 
“So, that explains how you recognized my species. You were there when they last were here. Let me just say that you and your sister are still as beautiful.” They both blush from the compliment. Bob turned his head to the others and asked, “So, who next has a question?”
 
Pinkie jumped up from where she was sitting and asked, “What are those things at the end of your hooves? They look like what Spike has, except they are not sharp.”
 
“Well, first off, these are not hooves, they are called hands. At the end of them are called fingers. They allow us humans to grab things as well as other things. They don’t need to be sharp to do damage. The same goes with my feet.” Bob took one of his shoes and socks to show off. “As you can see the foot also has thing at the end of them. They are called toes. The only thing is they are not as flexible as the fingers on my hands.” He flexed both of them so show what they can do.
 
Bob had put the sock and shoe back on. Soon after, he let out a big yawn and stretched out his arms. “If it's alright with everypony, I would like to hold off the questions for the time as I am getting exhausted. Would it be possible to explore your town in the morning?”
 
“I agree on holding the questions back for now. I need to organize all these notes I have taken.” Twilight said. Bob saw a stack about one hundred pages of notes she had taken. “As for the tour, I don’t know how the other ponies will react to you just walking around.”
 
“In a few days, I will make an announcement of your arrival to the town so you don’t scare anypony. For now, my sister and I need to return to Canterlot to attend to some royal duties. If you would like to contact us at any time, just have Spike send us a letter. I bid you all farewell and look forward to learning more about you.” Princess Celestia said. Everyone bowed to her. She used her magic to teleport her, her sister, and the Royal Guard out of the library in another big bright light.
 
“I have to get going as well. I have several dress orders due tomorrow and need to get back to them.” said Rarity. She then headed out the library.
 
“I’ve got to get back to the farm. I have to help Big Mac, my brother, buck the apple trees in the north field.” said Applejack. She too made her way out.
 
“I have weather duties I need to attend to.” said Rainbow Dash. She flew out the door.
 
Fluttershy said, “I need to get back to my cottage and take care of the animals. A bear has been complaining of back pains.” She trotted out and closed the door.
 
Bob looked for Pinkie Pie and couldn’t find here. “Where’s Pinkie?” he asked.
 
“Probably ran off to take care of a party.” Twilight said.
 
“But I did not hear her leave. Does she have ninja skills?”
 
“No. She is just being Pinkie.”
 
“Well, it looks like you get the honor to show me around in the morning.”
 
“Wait! You can’t go out there looking as yourself. Why don’t you use that thing you did to change into another pony?”
 
“It does not work like that. I can’t think of a random pony design out of the blue. I have to use another pony’s look and copy that. Do you have a spell that can change me into a pony, temporarily?”
 
“I think I do. It will take some time to find the book that might have it. How about you go and lay down in the cot in the basement as I start my search.”
 
“Sounds good. Good night, Twilight Sparkle. Good night, Spike. See you in the morning.” said Bob. He made his way back down to the basement and crashed onto the cot with a smile on his face.
 
Bob was awakened by a voice shouting, “Found it!” He crawled out of the cot, stretched, then made his way back to the main floor. Once the human was there, he saw most of the books that were on the shelves were now spread out in various stacks on the floor.
 
“Spike, would you be a dear and put the books away as I help Bob with this?” said Twilight.
 
Spike looks frustrated by how big of a mess she can make. Twilight’s eyes were scanning the book in front of her that she was also levitating. “Let’s see, the spell is temporary and will last for two days. It also says that it does not have the control in which pony type they will be turned into. You ready for this?”
 
	


> Chapter 4: It's Pony Time
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Bob, are you ready to be changed into a pony, knowing that you will be in that form for two days?” Twilight asked.
 
Bob responded, “I’m sure. Being cooped up here, waiting for the Princess to get back to introduce me to the town, isn’t my ideal way of spending my time. I will get bored.”
 
“Bored!? How can you get bored with all of these wonderful books.” Twilight gestured to the collection of books in the room. The same books that Spike was working on putting away after her search for the spell.
 
“Books may be your thing, but they’re not mine. Can we proceed with this?”
 
The Unicorn nodded her head. She looked back to the book to read the spell one more time. Twilight wanted to make sure she knew what to do. Her horn started to glow. The body of the human was soon enclosed in the same color from her horn. He started to feel his body changing. The skin felt like it was boiling, and the bones twisted and rearranged to that of a pony. The pain was nothing Bob had ever felt before.
 
Twilight heard the human cry out in pain. She was about to try and reverse the spell, but Bob then shouted to her to not stop. The Unicorn nodded and continue to channel her magic into the transformation. Without warning, a bright flash came from the orb that surrounded the human. The spell had finished.
 
Twilight Sparkle felt exhausted by channelling all that mana into the spell. With tired eyes, she looked over to where Bob was last at. Instead of the human body, she saw a deep red coat earth pony with a two tone black mane and tail lying on the floor. His eyes were closed from being knocked out from the spell and pain.
 
The Unicorn checked the other ponies’ vitals with a simple spell. All was good. She let out a big yawn and looked at Spike. “I’m going to bed, Spike. That spell was a doozy. Please wake me when he wakes up. Should be in a couple hours.” She said.
 
“Sure thing Twi.” replied Spike. Under his breath, he said to himself, “That should allow me enough time to get these books back on the shelves. At least until she does another bout of research all through the night.”
 
In the unconscious mind of Bob, he find himself in the white space again. “Great, I’m dead again. Nice job, idiot.” Bob said.
 
”No, you are not dead. You are just in your mind. A little space I set up for you to do some training,” said God.
 
“Is this going to be like The Matrix training?”
 
”No, I told you will have to work for the knowledge. Turn around so we can begin.”
 
Bob did so. In front of him, stood Master Roshi. He was wearing his Hawaiian shirt and dark shades. He chuckled at the sight. “So, I take I’m going to learn some fighting techniques?”
 
”You are correct, my boy. Have to start with the basics before you can learn the hard stuff.”
 
Bob bowed to him and said, “I’m ready, master.”
 
Hours had passed before Bob came out of his mind training and come back to the real world. “Ow. Why does my body ache all over?” He said to himself. Oh yeah, Twilight turned me into a pony. Ninjutsu transformation didn’t hurt at all. Well, that is just an illusion. This is real. Ow. The former human tried to rub his head with his hand. Instead, he hit himself with his new hoof.
 
His new ears picked up the sounds of a pony quickly coming down the stairs. Twilight came over to Bob where he was still laying on the floor. She walked around him as the Unicorn looked over the result of the transformation.
 
“I take it that the spell worked, Twilight?” asked Bob.
 
She nodded with a smile. Her horn lit up as a mirror was levitated over. “Take a look yourself.” she said.
 
Bob looked into it. He too, was impressed. The color of his eyes was a red, purple color mix. The hair, or should be called a mane now, was now black. The coat fur on his pony body was red. He turned his head to look at his flank. Bob was wondering if and what kind of a cutie mark he would have. Sure enough, there was one there. It was the yin and yang symbol. I was hoping it was going to be that. With me learning stuff from those two animes, what could be more perfect?
 
Twilight Sparkle saw the former human smile when he saw his cutie mark. She asked him, “Would you mind telling me what that cutie mark stands for? I have a feeling you know with that grin on your face.”
 
“It’s true, Twilight. I do know what this stands for, and I am happy to receive it. It is called the yin and yang symbol. What it stands for is mostly about balance. That could be anything. From the sun and the moon, good and evil, harmony and chaos, and right and wrong. Everything needs to be in balance, not just the body and mind, but everything in nature and in space. I held on to this belief since I was a child.”
 
“That is something very good and pure to believe in. Don’t ever lose it.”
 
“I don’t plan to. One good thing about this now, I have my own pony form I can change into after this spell wears off.”
 
Twilight asked with a confused look, “How is that possible? I thought you need to see what you are going to change into to make it work.”
 
“Most of the time, yes. That would be if I was going to change into a pony, a creature, or an object. But with this, I can use my mind’s eye to recall what this new body looks like to transform into. I would try to demonstrate it now, but I can form the symbols with these hooves.”
 
“This is all interesting, but let’s get you up so I can show you around Ponyville.”
 
“I agree. Let’s get going.” Bob wobbled as he tried to get up on his new limbs. There were several falls onto his face and flank. After enough tries, the new earth pony was finally able to get onto all four hooves.
 
“You are picking up how to use your new hooves rather quickly. Shall we try some walking?”
 
"Yeah, I have an idea of how they work from watching you ponies. It still feels very odd being on all fours." Bob lifted his left front hoof, while balancing on the others. He wobbled a bit, but remained standing. Ok, now the back right. The new Earth pony repeated the walk pattern in his head, occasionally falling in different directions, but continuing to get up and try again.
 
Twilight remained by his side as he continued to relearn how to walk. Bob finally got to a good enough level to where he could hold a conversation without falling.
 
They headed out around noon time. Twilight had let Bob borrow an old saddle pack. With the door to the library closed behind them, they started the tour of the town. I can’t believe how exactly it resembles the TV show. The Earth pony thought while she pointed to different buildings. “Say, Twilight, how long have you been in Ponyville? I'm only asking because you mentioned you are a student of Princess Celestia. With that, you must have lived in Canterlot.”
 
“You are correct. I did live in Canterlot from when I was born to about a month ago. Princess Celestia had asked me to oversee the thousandth year of the Summer Sun Celebration right here in Ponyville.” She continued to talk about what happened to her when she arrived; the meeting of her new friends that she let into her heart; the prediction of Nightmare Moon coming to pass; and finally how they stopped her, rescuing Princess Luna in the process. All the same stuff from the first episodes.
 
“So, you and your friends now are the barriers of these, Elements of Harmony. I think I could see those traits in you ponies, now that I think about it. I'm grateful you found me, instead of drowning or something.”
 
Twilight said her welcome, then continued showing all the different buildings in town and where her friends lived in. The last stop was Sugarcube Corner where Pinkie resided. Before entering, Bob turned to her and said, “Twilight, I just thought of something. Since I am in a pony form right now, I should have a name, kinda like you ponies, instead of my human name.”
 
“Not a bad idea. Have you come up with one?” asked Twilight.
 
“I think so. What do you think of Swift Blaze?”
 
“I think it suits you. How long have you been thinking about this?”
 
“Since we left the Library. Another thing about me is I have different thoughts running around in my head as I do another task that don't have any connection with it.”
 
“You keep amazing me with what you tell me about yourself. Shall we go inside and get a treat?”
 
“Sure thing. But, let’s see if we can trick Pinkie by having her meet a new pony and not realizing it is me. Just hang back and follow my lead.
 
“Sounds like fun. Everypony will be laughing when you reveal yourself."
 
"Oh, can I have some currency of this world? Don't think what humans use will pass here, plus I left it in my bags at the library.”
 
"Not a problem. Here are a couple bits.” She levitated a couple coins from her bag and placed them in Bob's, now Swift Blaze.
 
He headed inside and saw Mrs. Cake behind the counter. “Well, hello stranger. I have not seen you in town before. Did you just get here this morning?” She said.
 
Not wanting for Pinkie to recognize, Swift Blaze changed the tone of his voice to a western accent, “Howdy there, ma'am. I did just arrive this morning. Got off the train coming from Appleloosa.”
 
“That is some distance to travel. What brings you here?”
 
“Mostly just to take a hoof off from constructing of putting up more buildings there.” All of a sudden, a pink blur came at Blaze from the kitchen. It was aimed to hit him, but with a slight twist out of the way, the object collided with a wall. “What in tarnation was that?” he said with a surprised look on his muzzle.
 
“I am so sorry! That is my employee, Pinkie Pie. I have told her to not tackle every new pony that comes to town. Pinkie Pie! Say you’re sorry to this nice stallion for trying to tackle him. His name is, . . . err . . .”
 
“Swift Blaze. My name is Swift Blaze. I'm actually kinda used to being attacked. We have some pesky buffalo wanting us to move the town someplace else for some unknown reason.”
 
“Sorry to hear that, dear. So what can I get you?”
 
“I'm in the mood for a couple of them fresh glazed donuts.” Blaze said as he licked his muzzle. Odd, never thought a pony's tongue was that long.
 
“Coming right up.” She headed to the kitchen.
 
Pinkie Pie picked herself up and came over to the Earth Stallion, “I'm so sorry for trying to tackle you, Swift Blaze. I just get so excited when a new pony comes to town that I have to meet them right away and become friends with them. Strange thing though, my pinkie sense normally goes off when a new pony comes into town.”
 
“Pinkie sense?”
 
“That is when my body sends me a signal base upon what my body does when I am not in control of it.”
 
Twilight now came into the shop and acted like she never met Swift Blaze before. “Hey there, Pinkie. How come you ran off early yesterday? I thought you would of liked to show Bob around town?”
 
“You know, silly. I have to plan his welcome party and that is going to be a surprise. Just like yours when you arrived here in Ponyville.”
 
If she only knew she just told me.
 
Mrs. Cake just came back with very fresh donuts. “That will be two bits, sir.” She said.
 
Blaze placed his head into the saddle to grab the money with his mouth. Once he felt two of the coins, he placed them on the counter for her. Mrs. Cake then walked with him to a table and set the food down.
 
"Enjoy it, deary." she said. Then, the blue mare returned to behind the counter to attend the next customer.

Blaze picked up one of them with his mouth and chewed the entire thing up. Even the pastries are better here than on Earth.
 
Pinkie and Twilight walked up to the table Swift Blaze was at. “Hey Twi, have you me Swift Blaze? He just arrived in town this morning from Appleloosa.” said Pinkie.
 
Twilight was doing her best to not mess with the joke Blaze was doing. “Can’t say I have. Well, it is nice to meet you, mister. How long are you going to be in town for?” Twilight asked.
 
“Not long, miss. Just a few days to relax before I return back to my hometown. I already got a place to stay at a hotel nearby.” Blaze replied.
 
“Hey! Do you want to come to the surprise welcome party we are having for our friend? It will be at the library at 8:00pm.” said Pinkie.
 
“Sounds like a barrel of fun. I'll see ya there.” said Blaze. He headed out, but not after picking up the last doughnut and eating it down quickly.

He returned back to the library. To keep the ruse going, he informed Spike of his prank.
 
"Oh, this is going to be hilarious! I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when you reveal yourself. How did you come up with something like that?" Spike asked.
 
"I've dabbled in some pranks back in college. Ones I'm under oath not to share with anything." Blaze said. With nothing to do, the stallion decided to kill time by reading some books on Equestrian history. More to familiarize himself with it.
 
Twilight showed up later with a huge grin on her face. “What has you in a happy mood?” Blaze asked.
 
“I am so excited to get back at Pinkie for startling me with my welcome party when I got here.”
 
“Glad to be of service. I can’t wait to surprise everypony the human they met now has his own pony form. So, in case ponies ask where I went, tell them I went into the forest to stretch my legs. Also, so they don't worry, tell them that I said I can handle myself if danger comes. Sound good?”
 
She nodded, then said, "Hold on. How did you know there is a place in Equestria called Appleloosa? None of my friends, nor I, mentioned it.?
 
"Um, I saw it on that map there on the table in the center of the room." Blaze said, hoping she will believe it.
 
Twilight turned her head  to the table in question. Sure enough, a map was on it. "Huh, I thought I had put that away. When did you take a look at it?"
 
"When I was practicing walking around the room and chatting with you."
 
"Interesting. You managed to read a town's name on a map while walking and talking. Your mind is impressive. Anything you can't do?"
 
Blaze thought for a second, then said, "Mime."
 
"Huh?" Twilight said with a confused look on her face.
 
“It's a unique performing style back on Earth. So, are you going to invite the Princesses?”
 
Twilight's smile went even bigger! “I should! I'll go and write them a letter about the upcoming party. Oh, this is going to be so much fun!” She said as she clapped her fore hooves together.
 
As she went and pranced about to go and write the letter, Blaze went back to the book he was reading and waited for the party to start. I'm glad that map was there. Don't know what I would have said to explain my knowledge of this place.
 
Pinkie showed up at 7:30pm. She pulled in her party canon and fired it to quickly set up all the decorations. Mr. and Mrs. Cake showed up soon after with the food and drinks. Soon, everypony else had showed up.  Some of them got ready to surprise Bob, the human. Blaze thought as he watched, Won’t they be the surprised ones.
 
“You remembered to tell Bob to come back at 8pm for dinner, Twilight?” Rarity asked.
 
“Of course." she said with a fake smile. Before anyone could question it, Twilight said, "Now then, it's getting close to him returning. Everypony, get into position!”
 
Everyone went to every possible hiding place. Blaze stayed close to Twilight. She whispered to him, “So, when are you going to surprise them?”
 
Blaze whispered back, “I will nudge you. Then, you'll get up and sound worried. Once everypony believes you, I will reveal myself.”
 
She giggled quietly at this plan.
 
8:15pm rolls around. Twilight felt the nudge. She got up slowly and looked around. “Where is he? He promised to return at 8pm. I am starting to worry girls.”
 
The others got up from their hiding spots. They too looked worried. “What do you think could have happened?” Rarity asked. “I hope nothing dreadful!”
 
“We should then go out and look for him! He might be hurt!” Rainbow shouted.
 
Blaze decided to reveal himself. In his normal voice, he said, “What is everypony worried about? Wondering where I have been?” They turned their heads toward the red Earth pony, looking for Bob in his human form. “What? Did you expect to come through the front door?” Everyone that was not in on the joke, dropped their mouths wide open. “I guess the surprise is now for you!” Swift Blaze started to laugh hard. He was on his back, holding his gut, laughing out loud. Twilight and Spike soon joined in laughing. Then, everyone else had joined in on the laughter.
 
“Oh man, Bob! I think that was the best prank yet!” Rainbow said, while flying and holding her belly too from laughing very hard.
 
"I didn't want to stay inside and wait for Princess Celestia to introduce me to the town. So Twilight used her magic and transformed me into pony for two days. I have roughly forty hours left before I should turn back. Once back in my human form, I think I'll be able to change back into this form whenever I want to after that. Also, I decided to give myself a more, pony name. That would be, Swift Blaze. Or you can just call me Blaze.”
 
"Swift Blaze, huh," said Rainbow Dash. "Guess that is twenty percent better than the name of Bob."
 
"You're still mad that I caught you saying my name backwards."
 
"AM NOT! I don't know who in Equestria would name their kid that."
 
"Remember, Rainbow Dash, I'm not from here."
 
Rainbow blew some air out of her nose, out of frustration. Then headed to the food table for some cider.
 
Rarity came up and said, “Oh darling, you look very handsome as a pony, and a nice name too. I have a couple designs I think would look good for you. Why don’t you stop by my place and allow me to make something for you.”
 
“Thank you Rarity, for the compliment. I'm sorry, but I can't afford anything like that. I do not have any money that will work here to pay for them.”
 
“Don’t worry about it. The first one will be free. Any others you can pay for them, when you can. At a friendly discount of course.”
 
“Thank you for the generosity. I will see you tomorrow then." Blaze turned to the hyper pink ball. "So, Pinkie, are you ok after I turned the surprise on the surprise planner?”
 
“Ohthatwassocrazyandtrulyunexpected! Youreallygotmegood. Iamsohappyyouarehereandsomuchfun. IwillcomeandseeyouwhenIwanttopullsomepranksonsomeponies.” She said at hyper speed.
 
“Pinkie Pie, you should really slow down your speaking so everypony can understand you.” Blaze said.
 
She nodded, then hopped away to continue hosting the party.
 
Blaze mingled with the other ponies he hadn’t met yet. He told some stuff about himself that they would believe while in pony form.
 
A little while later, the front door opened. The Princess of the Day and of the Night had arrived. They walked inside and closed the door. No guards were with them this time. All the ponies, including Blaze, bowed to them.
 
“Hello my fellow ponies. I hope we are not too late to surprise our newest arrival to Ponyville.” Princess Celestia said.
 
Most of the ponies had smirks on their faces, knowing that the joke is still going. Blaze walked up to them and said, “Good evening your highnesses. I’m sorry, but the guest of honor has yet to show. Would you mind describing what they look like?”
 
“Well, he is not a pony, nor any creature you might have witnessed or read about. He is about as tall as me, stands on his back legs, and has a very unique personality.”
 
“What do you like about MY personality?”
 
“Well, you remind me . . . wait. Bob?” The Princess started to sound surprised.
 
“That’s my name. Don’t wear it out. Well, I have a new name, Swift Blaze. Didn’t expect the surpriser to get surprised?”
 
“It was good, Bob, or should I say, Swift Blaze.”
 
“While in my pony form, call me Blaze.”
 
“We detected thy presence, but could not find where.” said Princess Luna.
 
“How did you figure that out?”
 
“Thy soul aura is different than thy ponies.”
 
“Huh, never could have guessed that.” Swift Blaze looked directly at the Princess of the Night. “Princess Luna, Twilight Sparkle had told me about your first visit to Ponyville and . . . the return of Nightmare Moon.”
 
Princess Luna duck her head lower as she still could not forgive herself for turning into that thing. Blaze saw that he’d struck a nerve. “I am grateful these girls were able to save you with the Elements of Harmony. I can’t imagine what you went through. If you want, you can talk to at night. I will most likely be up as I don’t need much sleep.” He said.
 
“We might take thou up thine offer.” she said.
 
“If you would also like, I think I can help you speak the way of the modern world.”
 
“We would appreciate thine experience in this.”
 
“It would be an honor to do so.”
 
Princess Celestia stepped up close to Blaze and said, “Whenever you’re ready, Blaze, I would like to find out more about your day when you arrived here. I sense it might be a touchy subject. That is why I did not ask when I first saw you.”
 
Blaze looked at her and responded with, “I’m grateful for that. It is somewhat a touchy subject. But, when I’m ready, I will tell you and my new friends. They should also know what happened to me.”
 
“I’m glad to see they have grown on you and you on to them. Have you determined where you are going to stay?”
 
“Well, if the others agree to it, I will see if the girls will allow me to stay with them. That is until I can get the resources together to get my own place. Before you say it, Your Highness, I cannot accept your generosity in giving me a place that is made for a pony. I won’t be a pony all the time, so I would like to make sure the house is set for a human.” said Blaze.
 
“I understand that your species require things differently, but don’t hesitate to ask for help, as we help everypony.”
 
“Thank you, Princess Celestia. If you would excuse me, I think I should verify where I am going to stay for the night.”
 
Blaze bowed to them and made his way back to the Mane Six. They had gathered together near the food table, chatting. “How is everypony enjoying this party?” he asked.
 
“We should be asking you how you are enjoying it, sugarcube.” said Applejack.

“I agree, do you like this social gathering?” Rarity asked.
 
“I’m definitely enjoying the party. This is the biggest celebration I’ve been to in years, especially one for me.” A tear started to form in one of the red Earth's pony's eyes. “I can’t thank you enough for rescuing me, healing me, and letting me into your hearts.” he said.
 
“Enough of this wishy washy. You are even making me tear up.” Rainbow said.
 
“Alright. So, seeing it’s getting late, and I just came to your world and broke, would one of you mind if I stay the night with you? This is only until I can get something together for my own place. I won’t be able to get it started until I’m back in my human body.”
 
They all started to offer up their places, except for Rainbow as her home is literally in the clouds. Blaze tried his best to hear each of their reasons why he should stay with them. The problem is, they are saying them at the same time. The only one Blaze could not hear was Fluttershy.
 
“HOLD IT!” He yelled to get their attention. “I realize now that was probably not the best way to ask. From what I can tell, you all have good points. But, I think there is only one pony that I should choose. I am truly thankful to her for taking care of my injuries.” Blaze walked to the pony in question. “Fluttershy, would you allow me to stay at your place tonight? In the morning, I could help you with the feeding of your animals.?”
 
Her face revealed a big smile. “Yes. I would like you to stay at my cottage.” Her voice was a little louder than normal so everyone could hear it.
 
Blaze placed a hoof around her, to give a hug.
 
The party started to die down as other ponies started to leave. The red Earth pony helped out with the others in cleaning up. The girls insisted that Swift Blaze didn’t need to help. He replied that he wanted to. Plus, this would allow him to practice being a pony some more.
 
After the cleanup, Fluttershy and Blaze walked toward her cottage. She kept close to him as she was a little afraid of the dark. Once they arrived, Angel stepped in front of the Earth pony to try and stop him from coming in. Fluttershy explained the situation of why he was here. The rabbit still gave him the stink eye as he let the pony pass.
 
Inside, Blaze said, “Fluttershy,  where is the bathroom? I would like to freshen up before I go to bed.”
“Oh, it’s down the hall. First door on the right.” She said.
 
Blaze was in there longer than he would have liked. Trying to use the facilities was hard as he was still learning how a pony did it. Once done, the Earth pony made his way to the living room.
 
On the  couch, he saw Fluttershy. She was asleep and under some blankets. I know I am the guest, but I could never take her bed. Blaze did his best to pick her up and place her on his back, without waking her. She must have been exhausted as she didn’t wake up as he carried the Pegasus to her bed. Angel was following them.
 
In the bedroom, Blaze whispered, “Look, I know you probably hate me.”
 
The bunny nodded.
 
“Can you put that on hold and help me by pulling the sheet back?
 
Angel looked at him for a few seconds. Then, he hopped onto the bed and pulled it back. The Earth pony gently placed her in the bed. The bunny pulled them over her, then position his body down next to the Pegasus and went to sleep.
 
Blaze went to the couch. He just collapsed onto it without a second thought. Soon, he too was off to dreamland.

> Chapter 5: She has the Golden Ticket . . .
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	While Swift Blaze was sleeping, he was visited by Master Roshi (God) again. They did some agility training. Some were DBZ style, others were with the chakra from Naruto. The latter took longer, as the former human had to find it within him and learn how to control it. The last part was flight control with ki energy. The ground changed into a rubber elastic compound. The human needed it, as he fell quite frequently.
 
Before Blaze woke up to the real world, he said, “So, should I expect to do this training every night in my sleep?”
 
”No. Tomorrow night you can take a break.” God’s body shifted forms. ”The next night, we are going to work on the hard stuff.
 
Great, I went from a master to a major.
 
”What did you think about me, boy!
 
The human stood straight up and said, “Sir! Nothing, sir!”
 
With that, the white space vanished from his sight. He wakes up, just before falling off the couch. Ow. The Earth pony saw it was about an hour just before dawn. He decided to watch the sunrise. Also, he should do some muscle training in on this pony body.
 
He headed outside into the cool air and slight mist in the air. The air here is so clean. I still can’t believe what we lived in back on Earth. All from the pollutions and toxic fumes we were pouring into the atmosphere, I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did. Blaze started his routine with a quick gallop down the road. The pony did this until he came to an open field with a nice hill. He walked to the top, thinking about the next part of the training. The moment Blaze reached the top, he could see the sunrise about to start. The pony sat down as he watched the sun slowly rise into the sky. Such a beautiful view of the mountains and landscape. I really want to capture the moment, but it will have to wait till I am human again so I can use my phone to take the pic.
 
Once satisfy with the view, Blaze went back to training. He started with stretches to see how his pony body can handle it. From there, the Earth pony practiced standing on his hind legs in different positions. He fell on his flank more times than he liked, but he had a feeling this will be needed soon.
 
After an hour, Blaze headed back to Fluttershy's cottage to see if she was awake. Upon arriving there, his nose could smell something delicious cooking. He headed to the kitchen to see Fluttershy cooking something good. “Morning Fluttershy. What smells delicious?” He said.
 
“Eep!” Fluttershy squeaked as Blaze had startled her. “Oh, Blaze, I did not hear you come in. I saw you left when I woke up. For some reason, I couldn’t figure how I woke up in my bed. Did you carry me to my bed last night?”
 
“I did. I could not take your bed as you took the couch. I just wasn’t right. Hope you don’t mind.”
 
“Not at all. I just hoped you slept well on the couch. If you don’t mind, can you tell me where you went this morning?”
 
“It is never a problem, Fluttershy. I went out to watch the sunrise and to get some practice in on using this pony body. I realize now I can't do some of the same stuff my human body could do." Blaze said as he rubbed one fore hoof on his flank. "So, what are you cooking up?”
 
“Oh, just some pancakes, with a side of fruit. Would you like a plate, if that is okay with you?”
 
“I would love one. I’m sure anything you cook will taste very good.” She hoofed Blaze a plate to the table. He sat down there and started to eat. She joined him with a plate of her own.
 
Once he licked the plate clean, literally, Blaze said, “I was correct. You do cook some delicious food. Seeing you cooked, please, allow me to clean up. Then, we can go and take care of your animals.”
 
“Oh, I couldn’t allow you to clean up. You are a guest in my cottage. Please, allow me.”
 
“Sorry, Fluttershy, but I insist on doing the cleanup to show my gratitude.”
 
Blaze picked up the plates and cooking equipment. As he scrubbed everything clean, a thought came to him, Huh, I'm able to hold onto this stuff without thinking hard about it. Must be that passive magic all ponies have the fimfic stories always mentioned. Cool to see it in action.
 
The two ponies went outside and started to feed the animals. She was showing Blaze what to feed them and how. "You have to do it this way so they wouldn’t be scared of you. Isn't that right, my cute little animal friends?" The Earth pony found it was relaxing to watch the animals eat in the beautiful scenery.
 
“Would you mind accompanying me to the market? I need to pick up some more feed for my animals.” Fluttershy asked.
 
“I would love to.”
 
They grabbed some saddle bags from inside before leaving. Angel decided to tag along by riding on the back of Fluttershy. Once at the edge of town, Blaze followed the Pegasus to the market. He was still figuring out where everything is. They came to vendor that sold animal feed of all kinds. She purchased her usual amount. The Earth pony had put more of the feed on himself, so Fluttershy did not have to carry so much, and that it would help strengthen his legs with the extra load.
 
As they approached the town square, Blaze saw Twilight chatting with Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie. Spike was there also, and holding something shiny in his claws. Angel bolted off Fluttershy and ran toward the dragon. The bunny snagged the shiny objects and brought the items to the yellow Pegasus to see. Once they came into view the red Earth pony saw that they were two gold tickets to some event. It took a few seconds for him to realize that they are the tickets to the Grad Galloping Gala. Oh boy. Twilight is going to have a fun day today.
 
Swift Blaze and Fluttershy, along with Angel, joined the girls in their conversation on who should get the second ticket. Blaze cleared his throat and said, “May I interject for a moment? What is this event you all are arguing about?”
 
Each one told him about how big the event is and what each one dreamed of doing there. “I see. Well, I hate to be rude, but you should give Twilight her space so she can think of who she wants to give the second ticket to. I personally don’t want to go as I can’t stand fancy parties.” said Blaze.
 
“This is my decision, and I'm gonna make it on my own, and I certainly can't think straight with all this noise." Twilight said in frustration. They all nodded and wandered off in separate directions.
 
Blaze returned with Fluttershy to her cottage and dropped off the feed. "I'm going to check on Twilight. She looked like she couldn’t decide on who to choose." he said.
 
"I do hate to see my friend so worried up about it. Maybe there is something I can do to cheer her up." said Fluttershy.
 
"I suggest to not do anything too big. She might think you are only doing that to get the ticket.“
 
Blaze left and started to look for the purple Unicorn. He found her sitting at a table outside a cafe with Spike. Twilight had her head on the table. The Earth pony walked over to join them and said, "Um, Twilight, you okay?"
 
"Oh, hi Swift Blaze.” Twilight said. She picked her head up. “I'm not doing so well. I just can't decide who I should give the other ticket to. They all have good reason to go, and I don't want to disappoint them.”
 
"Have you thought of asking Princess Celestia about getting more tickets for all your friends?"
 
"I can't ask that! Don't you know how hard it is to get these tickets? It is a very exclusive and big event that anypony who is anypony will be attending. I just can't ask the Princess for more tickets."
 
"To answer the first part, no I don't. I just came to your world. For the second part, I do think she would give you the tickets as you are her student, one of the barriers of the Elements of Harmony, and especially your friend."
 
Twilight smiled at Blaze. She believed that he might be right.
 
"Now then, let’s order something. I’m starving." Blaze’s stomach rumbled in response.
 
Twilight giggled and agreed. She levitated a menu to him. He looked it over and saw most of the dishes either contained some flower or hay. Even though I am in a pony body, I can’t convince myself to eat those. The Earth pony went for a basic salad. Twilight ordered a daffodil and daisy sandwich. Spike had the hay fries, but extra crispy.
 
The food arrived soon after. Before they could chow down, nearby ponies were running into the buildings. Oh great. I recall this scene. The waiter asked Twilight and company from the door if they wanted to eat their food in the rain.
 
“It’s not raining.” said the Unicorn. She looked around and saw that everywhere else nearby was raining, except the spot they were at.
 
Blaze just said, “I will give you one guess what could have done this.”
 
She thought for a moment. Once the name came to her, her voice was loud enough for the culprit to hear it, “Rainbow Dash!”
 
Rainbow popped her head over the opening above them. “Hi there, best friend forever I've ever, ever had. Enjoying the sunny weather?” said Rainbow Dash with a smile.
 
As they go back and forth about doing favors, Blaze started to chow down his food before the cloud opening was zipped up. The rain then fell on them. It caused the uneaten food to get soggy. Twilight’s frustration rose higher than before.
 
Soon after, Rarity showed up. She had an umbrella saddle on her keeping the white Unicorn dry. She invited all of them to dry off at her shop, but Blaze knew this pony had other motives. The Earth pony decided to intervene here.
 
“Hey Rarity, would you mind getting my measurements?” asked Blaze. “I would also like to see the outfit design you want to do for me.”

Rarity’s eyes sparkled at the thought. “Oh! It will be my pleasure! Oh, I have so many design ideas! I don’t know where to start. But first, we should get your measurements. Want to make sure they will fit you correctly. Please stand here and hold still.”
 
As the red Earth pony was getting measured, he mouthed to Twilight to meet her at her library. She nodded and left with Spike.
 
Time passed and Blaze felt he was standing there for an hour. But it had only been fifteen minutes. “Okay, darling, in a few hours, I should have the first design of many I have planned for you. You can either wait here, or come back.” said Rarity.
 
“I think I will wait here. If I could put my suggestion into it, I would like no gems. I prefer something that is comfortable, but should also be stealthy. Fabric that doesn’t make noise when you move about.” said Blaze.
 
“Interesting. I haven't done something like that before. What are you planning, Swift Blaze?" Rarity looked at him with a questionable look.
 
“Nothing! Nothing at all!” Blaze quickly replied. “ I just like that style of clothing. Kinda like that gi outfit my human form was wearing when I arrived.”
 
“So that is the name of that style. Well, it will be a challenge, but I’m up for it. I’ll come get you when the design is done.”
 
“Thank you. I’ll go take a seat in the front.” Rarity nodded, then headed off to her workshop in the back. Blaze got comfortable on the sofa Wonder if God wouldn’t mind if I do some personal training in that space.
 
Blaze closed his eyes and focused on entering his mind. When he opened them, he was back in the white space. He looked around and saw how boring this was.
 
“Wish I could practice in someplace those DBZ fighter had fought in.” said Blaze.
 
The area changed to  an open area with huge rocks. Huh, that was easy. Can I get a bacon double cheeseburger? Nothing happens.
 
Blaze turned his attention back to the task at hand, more training. He's been focusing on physical movement with God. He thinks this might be a good time to try some type of energy blast. The human focused the energy to his right hand. A red orb started to form just above it. He focused more energy into it, causing the sphere to grow bigger and shine brighter. Once it was the size of a softball, he launched it into a rock that was a good distance away. The rock exploded into dust.
 
"Yikes. I need to dial the energy down a peg or two. Anything more and you can kiss the planet goodbye."
 
Blaze scaled the energy he was using down. He continued to launch and adjust until he would cause cracks to spread out in the rocks.
 
With that done with, the next thing he wanted to practice more of was ki flying. Recalling this early morning routine, Blaze focused his ki to below his body. The skin on his arms and head was feeling the wind around him, blowing in all directions. The human increased the energy flow. Soon enough, he was off the ground. Just as the human was about to fly in this mind space, a shattering scream came from the distance. This knocked him back to the real world.
 
When Blaze opened his eyes, he was upside down in front of the couch. He looked around for the source of the scream. The Earth pony soon saw Rarity, standing at the entrance of her workshop, with a frightened look on her face.
 
“What’s going on?” Blaze asked. "And why am I upside down?"
 
Rarity did her best to compose herself. Then, in a scared tone, said, “I just got done with your outfit and came in to show when, I saw you floating above the couch! What in Equestria were you doing?”
 
Woah, guess my flying also occurred in the real world while in my mind. Glad none of those energy blast became real also. I need something to explain this. thought Blaze. “Um, I was trying to recall any other skill or ability that was placed in my head. I guess that I can float or something.”
 
“Are you saying you discovered a way for non-Pegasus to fly?”
 
“I don’t know anything about that. This ability is something I’m still figuring out. I didn’t think this pony body would be able to it.” Blaze changed the subject to avoid any more questions on this. “So, what is the new outfit you made?”
 
“Well, when I first saw your outfit in that, um, human body, I thought it was repulsive. But, after hearing about yourself and what you like, I can see how clothing can serve a function instead of being fashionable. So, for you, my dear friend, Swift Blaze, your new outfit for your pony form is a gi. Should feel the same like what you had, I just had to get your measurements to make sure it will fit.”
 
Rarity’s horn lit up as she levitated the outfit from the work shop. The style was an exact match. “Thank you so much Rarity! I can’t believe how you were able to get the design down just by seeing it on me. You really do have an eye for fashion design. Expect to see me soon when I need some other clothing to be made.”
 
“It’s not a problem, dear. I look forward to your future business. Now allow me to help put this on you so you can really admire it.”
 
“That might be a good thing as I don’t know how to put clothes on in pony form.”
 
She giggled at the comment. In a short time, Blaze was wearing his outfit in front of the full three angle view mirrors. Everything fit perfectly. Blaze turned his head to the Unicorn and said, “Again, Rarity, you did an outstanding job in recreating my gi outfit. You sure I can’t do anything to pay you back?”
 
“Of course not, darling. You are my friend and I love to make things for my friends with no payment in mind.”
 
“Thank you, again. Now then, if you excuse me, I am going to take my leave.”
 
She nodded and went back to her workshop.
 
Once Blaze was outside, he decided to check on Twilight Sparkle and Spike to see how they were doing. It didn't take the Earth pony long to find out. He went around a corner and saw a group of ponies tossing another pony above them in front of the Library. Seeing Twilight needing some possible help, Blaze ran toward the crowd. He was almost there, but then saw the purple Unicorn and small dragon that was holding her tail ran off in another direction with everyone else chasing them.
 
Oh goody, time for the chase scene. Better pick up the pace. thought Blaze. While running, he started to push chakra to his hooves. This allowed him to make quick jumps and gain some speed. Within a minute, the Earth pony had caught up to the pair.
 
Blaze shouted, “TWILIGHT! SPIKE! GET ON MY BACK IF YOU WANT TO ESCAPE!" as he ran alongside them.
 
Twilight looked over and said, "Blaze!? Where did you come from?"
 
"No time for questions! Quickly, get on!"
 
Spike jumped from Twilight's back and onto Swift Blaze's. Twilight soon followed. Blaze felt the increased weight on his back, but the pony body was able to handle it.
 
"Buckle up. We are about to shift into Turbo!"
 
Before Twilight or Spike could respond, Blaze pushed more chakra to his hooves. This allowed him to increase his jump distance. The Earth pony was getting away from the mob that were chasing them. He went into an alley when Blaze guessed he had about a ten second lead. Time to go where they won't expect us to be. Blaze thought as he charged up his ki.
 
As the stallion stood still, Twilight said to him, "Bob, how did you . . . AHHH!!!"
 
The Earth pony just forced his ki with all he could down to the ground. This sent him and the others on his back up into the sky. Twilight and Spike screamed as they gained altitude. Twilight's mind was trying to figure out how this Earth pony was doing this
 
Blaze flew into a thick cloud to hide them. He whispered, “Ok, please quiet down. We don’t want them to find out where we went. Agreed?"
 
Twilight and Spike nodded while they finished recovering from the adrenaline rush. Both still couldn't believe what had happened.
 
"I will explain how I did this once we are safe.”
 
Blaze slowly poked his head out to see if the coast was clear. When it was, he flew them back to the library. Once back on solid ground at the front door, they hopped off the Earth pony and started to kiss the ground.
 
They went inside after that quick happy period. The Unicorn closed the door quickly. She then turned to Spike and said, "Quick! Close and lock all the windows and barricade the doors."
 
The lights turned on. Blaze saw Rainbow, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy had been waiting for them to come back. Twilight’s stress finally got to her as she confessed to them why she hadn’t been able to make a decision. Her friends saw how bad this was making the purple Unicorn feel. Each one decided and told her that they no longer wanted the ticket for different reasons.
 
Hearing their new decisions, Twilight felt relieved. She now knew what she should have done. “Spike, take a letter to Princess Celestia.” she said.
 
Spike grabbed a scroll and quill and started to write down what she wanted to say. The mares gasped when they heard she was returning both tickets.
 
"I do not want to go to the Gala without all of my friends." Twilight said to everyone in the room.
 
With the letter done, Spike blew his flame onto the scroll. It turned into a smoke, heading to Princess Celestia. A few minutes later, Spike belched a letter and read it out loud,
 
My faithful student, Twilight Sparkle,
Why didn't you say so in the first place.
 
Six tickets appeared. All the mares cheered as they could all go to the Gala.
 
Blaze said to them, “Have fun at the Gala. Spike and I can use that time for a guy’s night out.”
 
Spike did another belch and another scroll appeared. It read,
 
To Spike and Swift Blaze,
I forgot to include tickets for you two in the previous scroll. Enjoy your time at the Gala.
Your Sun Ruler,
Princess Celestia.
 
Two tickets appeared with this scroll. “Looks we have our escorts to the Gala, now.” Rarity said.
 
Blaze replied to the comment with one of his own, “It also looks you will have to make me a tux for my pony and the human form if you want me to escort you girls to the Gala.”
 
Her smile went almost ear to ear. The white Unicorn’s eyes glittered as different designs were going through her head.
 
Twilight Sparkle's stomach rumbled, breaking the festive mood. The other mares decided to treat her to dinner for the grief they had caused their friend. Twilight only accepted if Blaze and Spike could join them. They all nodded.
 
On their way to the diner, the purple Unicorn said to the red Earth pony, "Once we place our orders, you have some explaining to do."
 
Blaze only response was, "Aww, <censor beep>."

> Chapter 6: Blaze, You Have Some Explaining To Do
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The group made their way to a local diner. They all joked about the things they did to convince Twilight Sparkle to give them the second ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala. Inside, the waitress mare greeted them, "Good evening. How many are there in your party?"
 
Pinkie Pie quickly said, "This isn't a party, or I would have brought my party canon. Wait, where did I leave it? OH! I know it's . . . mmph!"
 
Applejack had placed her hoof over the party pony's mouth as she continued to muffle what she was saying. "Hey, Red, sorry about that. There's eight of us," the orange mare replied.
 
"Not a problem, Applejack. Give me a few moments and I'll have your table ready." Red, the waitress walked away.
 
Applejack took her hoof down, once Pinkie was done saying what she was thinking. Blaze was in the middle of everyone, trying to think of the best way to explain what he did that day.
 
Red came back and led the ponies, and dragon, to the joined tables that can handle everyone. She passed out green menus and said, "I'll be back in a few minutes to get your drink orders."
 
With that, she left as everyone went around the table to find a place to sit. There were no chairs, only cushions. Swift Blaze sat at one end of the table, while Spike took the other end. To the red Earth pony's left, sat Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. On Spike's left, sat Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack.
 
Red came back and took their drink and food orders. When she left, both Twilight and Rarity looked at Blaze with a waiting look in their eyes. It was as if they were expecting something from the stallion. He took a big gulp down his throat while getting a double third degree stare.
 
“So, Blaze, care to explain what you did today?" Twilight asked.
 
Blaze rubbed the back of his head as he said, "Um, yeah. I think I do need to explain, seeing I did something no Earth pony could do, I think."
 
"Nothing recorded without the aid of magic or some small, personal, flying contraption."
 
"Wait," said Rainbow Dash. "Are you saying that he, who's been a pony for two days, somehow flew? I think, Twilight, the chaos of today made you see things."
 
"I agree with Rainbow on this one. There is no way a mere Earth Pony could fly without some Unicorn or Pegasus help." said Applejack.
 
Blaze said, "Sorry to burst your bubble, but I was flying today. I floated in Rarity's shop and I helped Twilight and Spike escape from a mob of ticket hungry ponies."
 
"How in tarnation did you pull that off?"
 
"Remember when I said that super being had given me some abilities?"
 
The ponies and dragon nodded their heads.
 
"Well, it turns out that one of them is to fly."
 
Rainbow said, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
 
“Then tomorrow, I will show you. Better yet, we can do a little race.” Blaze said with a smile.
 
“You do realize you just challenged the fastest flyer in Equestria?”
 
“No, I challenged the fastest Pegasus in Equestria. We shall see who is faster.”
 
“Alright! It . . . is . . . on!”
 
Their orders arrived soon after. The pony started to talk about what they want to do at the Gala. Blaze and Spike just sat quietly and ate their food. The mares paid for the meal, including what the red stallion and dragon ordered.
 
After they left the diner, Blaze asked, “So girls, who's place am I going to be sleeping at tonight?”
 
“I suggest you come with me,” Twilight said. “You have a meeting with the Princess before she will introduce you to the town in your human form. The event is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. If my calculations are correct, that will be about the time your spell should end.”
 
“I guess that makes sense. So, I will see the rest of you sometime tomorrow.” Blaze turned his head to the purple Unicorn. “Lead the way. My body feels tired enough to sleep standing.”
 
“Bye, girls. I better get this stallion to his own bed before he collapses on the road.” They giggle at that and separate to go to their homes. Blaze followed Twilight to the library with Spike. They went inside and closed the door.
 
“So, where will I be sleeping tonight? Is it in the basement, a different bed, or maybe your bed?” He said with a smile.
 
Twilight stopped in her tracks and coughed a bit. She turned her head to him. “Excuse me?” she said with a scary look in her eyes.
 
The stallion raised his fore hooves in front of him. He waved them about as he said, “Sorry! Sorry! It was a human joke. The cot in the basement will be fine.”
 
Spike said, "I don't get it. I sleep in Twilight's room. Where's the joke?"
 
She calmed down. “It's ok. You don’t have to sleep in the basement. I have a guest bedroom upstairs that you can use.”
 
“Thank you. If it's not too much to ask, do you think you can bring my stuff up to the room as well?”
 
“Not a problem. I'm still holding your word that you are going to show me that fancy device that has tons of information.” Twilight used her magic and brought them to the foot of the bed.
 
“I haven't forgotten, Twilight. Once you see what's in there, you'll probably get a brain overload." Blaze chuckled after that comment. "Goodnight, Spike, Twilight. See you in the morning. One last thing, can you tell me where your bathroom is? I would like to freshen up.”
 
“Sleep tight, Blaze. The bathroom is the next door on the right.” The Unicorn and dragon left the room and closed the door.
 
After thirty minutes of figuring out how, Blaze was finally able to get his new gi off, without ripping it. Once the bathroom business of cleaning up and using the facilities was done, he headed back to the guest room, climbed under the covers, and fall asleep.
 
His eyes opened to reveal he was back in his mind space. Bob took a look around for his trainer, but he wasn't there. He shouted, "Oh God! I need to chat with you!"
 
"Someone who was turned into a pony called my name?” a voice said behind the human.
 
Bob turned around and said, "I almost blew my sleep training! I was floating in my sleep. How could that have happened? I'm just grateful nothing else showed up in the real world."
 
God was dressed up as a janitor with a mop in his hands. "Oops, silly me, I forgot to disconnect that. Give me one moment."
 
He walked a few feet to his right and pulled at something. It revealed to be a maintenance panel with switches, buttons, and lights in no particular order. God's eyes looked around inside, trying to find the correct thing to select.
 
"Ah! There is the nasty bugger. That shouldn't happen anymore."
 
With that, the panel was closed and disappeared from out of sight.
 
Bob said, "Thanks. While you are here, mind helping me build up my flying speed?"
 
"This wouldn't be for a race you talked yourself into?"
 
"Kinda is. I know I've only started my training, but I need a crash course in aerial flying if I want to stand a chance."
 
"I suppose. But don't think this would get you off from training tomorrow night."  God shifted his form to Major Payne. "I'm gonna make you nice and strong."
 
The next morning, Blaze woke up again before dawn. His body ached from the intense mind training he’d went through. But the pony was glad he did. He got out of bed and stretched all his limbs. Then, quietly put on his gi. It took less effort this time in getting it off.
 
Blaze exited the room and made his way to the outside. Once there, the Earth pony started his morning jog to the hill to do some physical training. He stretched his limbs and body a little more in the open space. Then, the stallion went into balance training to stay on the back hooves longer.
 
After about an hour this, Blaze made his way back to the library. Once inside, he saw that Twilight and Spike had not waken up. Let's see how well I can cook with these hooves. He thought in his head as he held up his fore hooves in front of him.
 
Blaze made his way to the kitchen. He looked in the pantry and fridge to see what was available. The stallion found enough ingredients for chocolate chip pancakes from scratch. He made them plenty of times back on Earth, so the basic of the recipe is easy to recall.
 
The pony got on his hind legs and gathered the food and cooking utensils to make everyone there a nice breakfast. He mixed up the batter and added the chocolate chips into it. Then, he turned on the stove, without catching on fire. Finally, he placed a flat skillet and started pouring the batter onto it. Blaze heard some movement coming from upstairs.
 
He continued to cook when Spike came into the kitchen and said, “What smells delicious?”
 
Blaze replied, “One of my favorite kind of pancakes, chocolate chip. Did the cooking wake both of you?”
 
“It sure did. Hope you made enough.” Spike said as he licked his mouth with his dragon tongue.
 
“I made enough for seconds. Go ahead and sit at the table. The first batch is almost done”
 
He did so very quickly. Twilight entered the dining room and joined her assistant. "Good morning Swift Blaze. How nice of you to make breakfast. I hope you were not at it very long." she said.
 
Blaze said from the kitchen, “It took me a while to get started. Mostly because I'm not used to holding things with these hooves. I had to focus how my hand would normally grab the items.”
 
The stallion walked in on his hind legs as he carried two plates in his fore hooves. He placed them down on the table. As he was about to go and get his, Blaze saw it float in with a magical aura around it. His plate landed at an empty spot on the table.
 
The red Earth pony smiled as he said, “I can see how Unicorns don’t have an issue with holding items. Their levitation magic makes it easy.”
 
“In case you’re wondering, not all Unicorns can do that," Twilight said in-between bites. "Their magic more ties to what their special talent is.”
 
“I'm still impressed as there is no magic on my planet. That's why the human civilization went down the scientific path. That allowed us to develop items to make our lives easier, . . . sometimes.”
 
“What do you mean?”
 
“Let's just say that not everything that was made was a good thing." Blaze's smile went away as he recalled some of the destruction the planet Earth went through. "I don’t feel comfortable talking about it right now. I'll explain it later. Have to think of the best way to describe it."
 
"Sorry to bring up any painful memories."
 
"It's ok. Oh, I have a tiny request. Please don’t go snooping through my bags. It's more for your safety.”
 
Spike said with food in his mouth, "What do you have in there? Is it some weird human food that is harmful to ponies and dragons? Oh wait! Do you have something that could destroy everything?"
 
“Spike! Be respectful to Swift Blaze and his request. Also, don't talk with your mouth full. How many times have I told you." Twilight turned her head to Blaze. "I understand and respect your wish. I will not go looking through your things. That is a Pinkie Promise.”
 
They finished eating the pancakes. Not a crumb was left of them. Twilight and Spike thanked the stallion for making breakfast. Spike gathered the dishes and took them back into the kitchen to clean them. Twilight Sparkle helped out by drying them and putting them away.
 
Once done, they walked back into the library. Blaze was sitting on a cushion, reading a book of the different creatures in Equestria.
 
"Seeing you have challenged Rainbow Dash to a flying race. How about we head to the park so you can get some practice in," said Twilight.
 
Blaze closed the book and said, “Sounds like a plan to me. Some real world practice would be good."
 
“Then let’s get going. Spike, do you want to come too?”
 
“As long as I can stay on the ground, sure. I would love to see if somepony is able to keep up with Rainbow Dash," said Spike. "How about I go and gather the others and meet you there."
 
"Ok, Spike. See you there."
 
They left the library and headed out, the two ponies to the park, and Spike to round up their friends. When Twilight and Blaze arrived at the park, the sky only had a few clouds being placed overhead by the Pegasus. They found an open space that was deserted. The red Earth Pony went to the middle of it. The Unicorn stayed a couple yards back.
 
"Alright, time to get the air-born." said Blaze.
 
He closed his eyes and focused his ki to his hooves. The mind training paid off as he was floating off the ground. When he opened his eyes, Twilight has gotten closer. She was walking around the stallion with her horn glowing.
 
"Amazing! I can't detect how you are doing this," Twilight said with excitement.
 
Blaze said as he floated in the air, "It's from an energy source called ki. Another name for it that you may know is life force. From what I can tell, I'm channeling it to push against the gravity the planet is pulling on me."
 
A scroll and quill appeared next to Twilight. "What else do you know about this life force you call ki?"

"All living things have this. From the grass, the animals, and the ground below our hooves. Even all the ponies and any other talking creature on this planet has it. Some may say it's their soul. For those that learn to access this, it can be a great asset, or something dangerous. It took a while for that super being I mentioned to teach me how to access mine."
 
"Interesting. How much of this energy do you think you have?"
 
"I honestly don't know how to tell. It's not like I have a Z Scouter that could measure it."
 
"Huh?" Twilight asked with a confused look.
 
"Uh, never mind that. All I do know is, the more I use this source, it will likely increase its capacity."
 
The quill is moving fast as Blaze was talking. "I would like to bring you to my lab so I can see if we can get an actual reading. No sense in letting the equipment continue collecting dust in the basement."
 
"We can do that another time." Blaze looked off in the distance. "Looks like our friends have arrived."
 
"Oh, I'm so sorry for wasting your training time!" Twilight said as she magically sent the scroll and quill away. "This life force was so intriguing, I got caught up in wanting to learn more."
 
"It's ok. I got a basis of how to use it while talking. That way, I won't lose my concentration and fall out of the sky."
 
Rainbow and the others soon showed up to where Blaze and Twilight were. Each one had a surprised look on their faces. "Alright. Nice attempt at a prank, Twilight. You can stop using your magic," said Rainbow.
 
"I'm not using my magic. See?" Twilight touched her horn.
 
"So, then there's another Unicorn doing it."
 
Blaze said, "Nope, no magic is involved. I'm doing this all by myself." He did a backward somersault to demonstrate.
 
"Well, I still don't think you can out-fly me. You only started flying. I've been flying all my life."
 
"Then let’s make it interesting by placing a bet. If you win, I will do whatever you want for the next week. That means anything. But, if I win, you'll teach me all the flight maneuvers you know. Do we have a deal?” Blaze held his hoof out to do a hoofshake.
 
“Oh, this is so on! You got a deal! Be prepared to be humiliated!”
 
They shook their hooves. Blaze landed and stood next to Rainbow. She stretched her wings. He heard a couple pops come from them.
 
Rainbow said, “Here is the course, newbie. We'll fly to Canterlot to the highest tower of the castle, do a loop around it, and return here."
 
"That sounds simple enough.” Blaze replied.
 
“Then I'll see you at the finish line, tomorrow!”
 
“I'll make you eat those words." Blaze turned to Twilight. "Do you want to tell us when to go?”
 
“Sure.” Twilight said.
 
The purple Unicorn moved in front of the red Earth stallion and blue Pegasus mare. Those two had determination showing on their faces.
 
After a couple seconds, Twilight said, “On your marks. . . Get set. . . GO!”
 
Rainbow Dash was first off the line. Swift Blaze moved behind her in flight. She flew near her top speed. The stallion managed to keep up. They saw the city on the mountain, Canterlot, getting close. Both ponies made their way to the highest tower and completed the looped around it.
 
As they headed back to Ponyville, Blaze yelled to Dash, “Is this all you got? I thought you can break the sound barrier.”
 
“Then eat my rainbow dust!” She increased her speed and did the sonic rainboom.
 
From seeing this, Blaze thought That's is so beautiful. Wait, I can't lose focus now. I have a race to win. He focused on pushing more ki out. The increased thrust allowed him to break the sound barrier too.
 
Instead of a bright, rainbow circle that formed from the break, Blaze created what appeared to be a red, flame circle. It expanded like the sonic rainboom, but after a few seconds, the flames died off and left a gray smoke circle. It didn't grow in size.
 
The other thing was there was no trail of color following the Earth pony as he skyrocketed to catch up with the Pegasus. He soon caught up to Dash. Her face was in a little shock from seeing another creature flying as fast as she ever had
 
With a smile to her, Blaze shouted, “No, you can eat my afterburner!”
 
He pushed the most ki he has ever tried. The stallion sped away in front of Rainbow Dash. Soon afterwards, he reached Mach Two.
 
Instead of the fiery red circle, this one created a bright blue fire. It lasted long enough for Rainbow to fly through the center. Blaze was now creating a blue fire trail behind the path he was flying. It only lasted a few seconds before turning into smoke.
 
The finish line the other had created was approaching fast. It was a banner across two poles that was above them. Blaze flew just above it, causing the paper to catch on fire.
 
At the instant he crossed it, a thought popped into his head, HOW DO I STOP?? He frantically tried to do reverse directions on his ki as he waved all his hooves in a pattern similar to a back stroke.
 
The ponies and dragon on the ground saw he was getting close to the clearing edge. In a panicked voice, they shouted, "Blaze! Watch out for that tree!"
 
The out of control flying Earth Pony closed his eyes as he braced for impact. Nothing happened. He peeked through one eye. Blaze saw his nose was about one inch from contact with the trunk of the tree. With both eyes opened, he saw he was in an upright vertical position. All of his hooves were placed like he was hugging the tree.
 
Taking a big sigh of relief, Blaze floated back to his friends, who were waiting. The banner had burnt to ashes.
 
Rainbow Dash crossed the finish line and landed in front of her friends, out of breath. “How (breath) in (breath) Equestria (breath) did you (breath) beat me (breath)?”
 
They all turned and looked at Blaze with a questioning look on their faces. “What? I am surprised as you all are. I thought that I might have a very slim chance. I just never realized how high my ki strength was. I wonder if I can go even faster.” he said.
 
They all dropped their mouths open from hearing that. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Applejack fainted.
 
Blaze, with a blushed look on his face, said, “Guess we should try and wake them before I continue.”
 
The others nodded and started to try and wake them.
 
After a half an hour, they started to regain consciousness. Everyone was now under a nearby tree for some shade. Those three looked around to recall where they were. All at the same time, they looked at Blaze with the same surprised look. “You three have a nice nap?” the stallion said as he leaned against the tree trunk.
 
“What in tarnation did you say again?” Applejack asked.
 
“Well, before you three fainted, I said that I think I can go faster than what I was doing.”
 
“How fast were you going, anyway?” Twilight asked.
 
“Well, breaking the sound barrier requires a speed of Mach One. I don’t know the exact speed, but I was going at least Mach Two.”
 
They all dropped their mouth open again, but no one fainted this time.
 
“Look, I don’t know the exact science in how I was able doing it. The fact is, I'm not actually a pony, so Rainbow Dash is still the fastest Pegasus in Equestria. I'm a human with strange abilities that I'm still figuring out. A human freak that doesn't know why he thought of leaving his world because of some chaotic event.” Blaze said in a frustrated tone. He got onto his four hooves and started to walk off.
 
“Wait, darling! We don’t think you are a freak. We are your friends and do care about you. You just startled us. That is all,” Rarity said. “Can you explain the last thing you said?”
 
“I rather not talk about it at the moment. It’s a sensitive subject I am not ready to talk about. I will meet everypony before the rally at the library. I just need some time alone to do some thinking.”
 
Before they could say another word, the stallion flew off and out of sight.  He made his way to the top of a nearby mountain. The pony sat on a rock near the top. His mind was in a battle of decisions that needed to be made. Can I really tell them about what happened? Will they still accept me for not being true to myself? There are so many things that could happen, I don't know what to think! Blaze place his fore hooves on either side of his head. Just thinking about this is getting a headache. I really want to tell them. It's just that I was nothing back on Earth. No one would have really noticed if I did disappear. But here, they all like me. I have, friends. He lowered his hooves and put a smile from this happy thought.
 
“Something troubling you, Swift Blaze?” said a pony behind Blaze.
 
He jumped in shock as the stallion turned around. He saw Princess Celestia was standing a few feet away from him. “How did you find me?” he said as he was calming his heart beat back down. He sat back down on the rock he was just on.
 
Princess Celestia moved to sit next to Blaze. She turned her head to him and said, “Twilight sent me a letter stating you flew off after stating something about some event that occurred back on your home world. I used my magic to detect you and teleported here. Mind telling me what is troubling you?”
 
Blaze looked at the ground in front of him as he replied, “I knew this topic would come up sooner or later. I've been trying to come up with the words to explain why I choose this and why I have my powers. I guess you can say that I'm afraid of wondering what they might think.”
 
The Princess of the Sun wrapped a wing around his back. “Your friends do care about you and are currently worried. Whatever you tell them, they still will care about you. You have been helpful to your friends and they want to help you during this time." Princess Celestia rose from the rock and stretched out her wings. "Now then, let’s head back so we can introduce you to the town.”
 
“Sure. Let’s fly back so I can get some more practice in.”
 
“I would like that. Plus, it would allow me to see how you actually flew up here. Twilight tried to explain to me in her letter, but I think she was missing some things.”
 
"I bet she was." Blaze stood up and started to float above the ground. "This is how, Princess Celestia."
 
"Interesting, I can see why Twilight would have a difficult time explaining this. Well, shall we get going back to Ponyville?"
 
With that, they flew back at a gradual pace. Blaze explained to the Princess about the ki energy and what it can be used for. When he told about the race, she wobbled a bit in her flight when the stallion mentioned breaking the sound barrier, twice.
 
They landed just outside the library's front door. Princess Celestia used her magic and went in first. Blaze quickly followed. Just as the Alicorn moved out of the way, He saw the six ponies and Spike were in there with worried looks on their faces. When they spotted the stallion at the entryway, their frowns disappeared and were replaced with big smiles. Blaze was then met with them running toward him. There was no time to react as he was tackled to the ground outside.
 
"I'm sorry for making you worried about me. I never had any friends that cared about me so much like you all do,” said Blaze.
 
All the ponies and dragon got off of him. The red Earth pony looked at each one as they spoke.
 
“I'm glad you're feeling better. Also know, whenever you’re ready to talk about that thing, please know that we will still feel the same way about you, no matter what.” Twilight said.
 
Applejack said, “That’s right, sugarcube. You have new friends who care about your well being.”
 
“We don’t care about who you were in your world, darling. You are here with us and we are happy you somehow came here,” said Rarity.
 
“The joy you brought to my animals shows you are a very good human, and I'm happy to be your friend,” said Fluttershy.
 
Pinkie Pie bounced up and down as she said, “The pranks you've pulled have been the best I've ever seen and everypony has enjoyed them. I can’t wait to see your next one. Also, I always do my best to turn my friend’s frown upside-down, so if you are ever gloomier, come and see me and I will cure that frowny face right off.”
 
“I'm glad I met you. You have given me the determination to increase my training. Just knowing that  somepony, or human for that matter, is out there and is faster than me. So plan on us having a rematch soon. I'm also glad you came here and keep on helping us when it is needed,” Rainbow Dash said.
 
“Even though we haven't hung out that much yet, I look forward to hanging out with you and to do some guy stuff,” Spike said. He got closer and whispered, “I can only take this girly stuff so much.”
 
“As you can see, Swift Blaze, you have great and wonderful friends that truly care about you. You no longer need to hide about your past from us. We'll understand whatever you say and accept it as who you are,” said Princess Celestia.
 
“Thank you, everyone. I'm deeply touched. I will tell you soon about my past, but today is not the day. I know now that I should tell you the truth about me, I just need time to get my thoughts together. Hope you understand.”
 
“Of course we do.” They all said.
 
“Now this is taken care of for the moment, how about we introduce me to Ponyville?” asked Blaze.
 
Princess Celestia replied with her own question, “When are you going to be turned back to a human?”
 
“I think the spell ends around 3pm.” Twilight said.
 
“That is when the ceremony starts. I think the citizens will definitely be surprised when you change back.”
 
“Quick question, will I be in pain again as I change back? It was some extreme levels when I changed into a pony.” said Blaze as he rubbed the back of his head.
 
“More than likely.” Twilight said.
 
“Then shall we hold off the event till you change back, Blaze?” asked the Princess.
 
“I think it would be best. That way I don’t tarnish the minds of any young ponies with anything as I scream out in pain. Probably the safest place would be in the Library's basement. I'll just wait down there." said Blaze.
 
Twilight said, "Then we too shall go down there and . . ."
 
Blaze stopped her as he said, "No. I would like to do this by myself. I was doing my hardest to not scream any profanity during the initial transformation. I just don't know if I can hold it back again."
 
“We all understand. I shall inform the mayor that we are going to delay the introduction ceremony.” said Princess Celestia.
 
“Thank you. I shall see you all in a few hours.”
 
The stallion headed down into the basement. He took off the pony gi to avoid destroying it, during the change. Seeing the pony had time to kill, he went over and sat on the cot. Then entered his mind space.
 
In there, the area looks like a classroom. But not like ones in the United States. This had more of a Japanese feel. Blaze looked at the chalkboard and saw a note written out in English:
 


I'm sorry Mr. Smith, but I can't be with you right now. You know, the whole God thing and all. I left some scrolls on the teacher’s desk for you to read and learn some new Ninjutsu. Have fun.
 
 - G


 
"Well, at least now this explains the classroom layout and all." Blaze said to himself.
 
He walked over and began studying these new techniques. Hours later, just as he finished getting better with the last one, a massive surge of pain knocked him back to the real world.
 
Blaze rolled off the cot and onto the floor. The transformation process had begun. He didn't hold back on what he thought of the pain. "AHH! MOTHERFUCKING JACKASS! I HATE THIS SPELL! SON OF AN ASS RAPING BITCH!”
 
He continued to yell and curse as the bones rearranged back to that of a human body. The feeling is like having them stretched, compressed and on fire all at the same time. After several minutes, Bob was back to his human body, naked. As the pain subsided, he soon realized the condition he was in.
 
Shit. I forgot to grab some human clothes to put on after I that.
 
Bob looked around for something to cover himself up. He noticed a gift package was underneath the cot. The human pulled it out and saw a card was on top of it. It said:
 


Dear Swift Blaze,
 
Inside you will find the clothing you wore when you arrived. I had Rarity clean and mend it. I teleported it down to the basement after you have gone down. See you soon.
 
-Twilight Sparkle


 
The human, with a smile on his face, opened the box and put on the repaired gi. He picked up the pony gi, went up the stairs, and opened the door. Bob spotted some of the ponies were playing games while the others were chatting away about something.
 
“I’m baaaccckkkk,” he said as he showed off his human form again. They looked at him with happy faces. “I hope none of you heard what I was saying as I was changing back.”
 
“Not to worry. I placed a sound proofing spell around the basement so no sound could escape. We heard nothing,” said Twilight. “I see you found the package I left down there.”
 
“I did, and thank you. So where is the Princess?”
 
“I’m right here,” The Princess said as she came in walking in from the outside. “Just got done talking to the Mayor about delaying the ceremony. We also chatted about some other business. It’s good to see you are back to your human form again.”
 
“It feels good to be in my original body again. You have no idea how much I missed my fingers,” Bob said as he waved them about.
 
“I take it you are ready for me to introduce you to Ponyville?”
 
“One sec, want to test a theory that came to me while I was down there,” Bob placed the pony gi down on a nearby chair. With quick hand formation, he transformed back to his pony form. “Rarity, would you mind helping me get my gi on?”
 
She cast a quick spell and the clothes appeared on the stallion. “There you go, darling. Now, why did you want to put this back on when you’ll be going back to a human.”
 
Blazed replied, “I’ll tell you if this works. And sorry ahead of time if it doesn’t.”
 
He released the transformation and saw he was back to his human body wearing the original gi. The pony clothing was nowhere in sight.
 
With a smile on his face, Bob said, “That proved the first half. Now for the second part.”
 
He redid the jutsu and changed back again. His pony form was still wearing the clothing.
 
“And that confirms my theory,” said Blaze.
 
With a confused look, Applejack asked “Mind telling us what ya talking about sugarcube?”
 
“Gladly. As you see, when I changed into this form, I concentrated on being the pony version of me. The result of it is that I changed into what I last looked like, including the clothing that was being worn. I’ve discovered a different transform ability. This isn’t like when I changed into Pinkie Pie and copied her movements. I think this style is called a shadow transform jutsu. The transformation is almost realistic and has everything that form has,” Blaze turned to Rarity and said, “That’s why I wanted to put the gi on you made, Rarity. It proved that this shadow transformation forms are stored somewhere in my mind. I get a real pony body instead of an illusion that can be easily broken. With this now, I’ll be using it so I won’t cry out in pain when I change.”
 
“That’s very interesting about this new ability. At some time, would you allow me to get some data on this too?” Twilight asked with her big eyes looking at him.
 
“Not a problem. Unless you are planning to cut me open like an, wait, I am an alien!”
 
“Huh?” All the ponies and the dragon said at the same time.
 
“It’s another human joke. Going to need to work on which ones you ponies might actually get.”

“If everything is good now, shall we get going to the ceremony? I hate to keep everypony waiting,” said Princess Celestia.
 
“I’m ready. Let’s get going.”
 



> Chapter 7: Hello Ponyville!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The group exited the library and made their way to City Hall. The ceremony is set to take place inside. The Princess was in front. The Mane Six and dragon were grouped up behind her. Swift Blaze was in the back. As they got closer, the red Earth stallion saw other ponies heading inside. None of them stood out of the ones he knew from the show, nor the ones that fans named.
 
Princess Celestia stopped in her tracks. She turned her head to the other and said, “Ok, everypony, Blaze and I are going to the backstage. He can meet with you all again afterwards.”
 
The mares and dragon looked to Blaze with cheerful smiles. He said, “It’s ok, everyone. I'll do my best to handle whatever reaction the townsfolk might do. I'll stay calm about it. All they need is time for them to get to know me as it did with all of you."
 
“Ok, Blaze. We know you can handle yourself. But, please be careful.” Twilight said. The others nodded in agreement.
 
The stallion nodded his head back. Then, he followed the Princess to the back. There were a couple Royal Guard ponies standing on either side of the back door. They bowed their heads as the Princess went inside. Blaze was about to follow, when the two guards stopped him. They pushed him back a bit with the back end of their spears. “Halt! You are now allowed to enter here. Only the Princesses, the mayor, and the new guest may enter. Go back to the front entrance,” one of the guards said.
 
Blaze replied, “I happen to be the guest of Equestria. So if you would step aside and let me . . .”
 
“HA! You can’t be the guest! We were told it was a strange and freaky creature. You are a normal Earth pony wearing odd clothing,” the other guard said.
 
“Freak!? Did you just call me a FREAK?” Blaze said in a louder tone. His left eye started to twitch.  He looked at them and said in a serious tone, “Last chance. Please, step aside, so I can be introduced to the town.”
 
“Move along or we will have to force you!” they both said.
 
Blaze stood up on his hind hooves. He placed one fore hoof pointing straight at them. The other was pulled back so it was near his head. With a smile, he replied, “Like to see you try.”
 
The guards charged at the red stallion in an attempt to tackle him to the ground. Blazed jumped up and backwards to avoid being hit. In the middle of the flip, he transformed back into a human and landed on his feet, repeating the same position it was in before.
 
Those guards skidded to a stop in their tracks. They went from strong guard to full frightened mode. Blaze shifted his stance to a more offensive position, in case they charged again. The guards started to back up to the building.
 
“I thought you were going to force me to go to the front entrance? Or, did I scare the shit out of you?” said Blaze.
 
“Um, sorry about the confusion, sir. Your body as a pony was so realistic, we couldn’t detect it was an illusion spell,” one of the guards said with fear in their voice.
 
“Yeah, we really thought you were just another earth pony trying to get a back stage access,” the other guard said with the same tone.
 
“Next time, ask the Princess that just entered before me if I'm with her.” Blaze transformed back and walked to the entrance. As he passed by the scared stiff guards, the Earth Pony noticed a small, wet area beneath both of them.
 
Blaze saw the Princess was looking at a couple note cards. He walked up to her and said, “Excuse me, Princess Celestia, why didn't you stop the guards and tell them about my pony form?”
 
She turned her head to him and replied, “I wanted to see their reaction as well as yours. You are defiantly agile. I think you might do very well in our Royal Guard.”
 
“If that is the best of them, I think your training needs an overhaul. Let’s get through this first. I'll probably scare these ponies the same way when I go human form. I'll think about your offer and get back to you.”
 
“Very well, wait for my signal to come onto the stage.” She went around the backdrop and stepped onto the stage. Blaze heard all the ponies cheering for her. “Hello citizens of Ponyville! Today is a grand day. A new creature has come to our world and would like to be part of the community. Now don't be afraid of him. I know he's nothing like we've seen before, but I assure you that he means us no harm. You may have noticed him already and didn't realize it. He disguised himself as a pony so he could learn about the town and our customs. Please, allow me to introduce to you, Swift Blaze!”
 
The red stallion came around the backdrop and onto the stage. The cheers died off when the crowd saw his pony form. Only ones that continued to cheer were Blaze's current friends. All the ponies had confused look on their faces. One pony in the back yelled, “That's no strange creature. That's just an Earth Pony wearing some odd clothing.”
 
Blaze stood up on his hind legs and replied, “Really! Then let me show you my true form!”
 
He released the jutsu. A cloud appeared around his form. Once it dissipated, a human was now standing there. All the ponies gasped at seeing him change. Blaze thought he saw a few faint in the middle, but none were Rarity. He cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. “Your Princess did say I was in a pony form to blend with the town until this introduction could happen."
 
Once the crowd calmed down, Blaze resumed his speech, "First off, I would like to thank you, Princess Celestia, for the nice introduction. I think I should explain some things about myself that you might be wondering about. I would only ask if you can please hold all questions until I'm done.”
 
Some nodded while others whispered between themselves. “Ok then, let's start off with that my species is called human . . .”
 
“HA! I KNEW THEY EXISTED!” Lyra Heartstrings yelled somewhere in the crowd. "YOU ALL LAUGHED AT ME, SAYING THEY ARE MYTHS! HUMAN! HUMAN! I HAVE LOTS OF QUESTIONS!" Two Unicorn guards walked up to her. "No! I will not quiet down! I must get some answers from him before he gets away!" They placed her in a bubble barrier and took her out. "Hey! Stop this! I need to get my answers! HUMAN! I WILL FIND YOU!" The doors closed when they exited the building.
 
“Anyway, the place that I come from, there is no magic. We are a technological race where we used science to help with everyday living. We walk on two legs and don’t have hooves. The bottom parts of my legs are called feet, and at the end of my arms are what are called hands,” Blaze said as he pointed each body part out. “These tiny things at the end of my hand are called fingers and they allow us humans to grab things as well as other stuff,” he said as he flexed them about.
 
“Now then, I am not your typical human. I've discovered that I have certain abilities. While you have magic to do some unique things, I use a different energy source within me. One of which allows me to change my form mimic the appearance of anypony. You've just seen me in my own pony form. I think I'll demonstrate by looking like another pony in this room.”
 
Swift Blaze looked over to the Princess and give her a wink. She nodded as she had a good guess who he is going to do. The human placed his hands together is some formation. A cloud again covered himself. When it disappeared again, another Princess Celestia was standing there.
 
The ponies were gasped again. The real and fake Princess of the Sun mirrored each other’s movement. They circled around each other so much, the crowd lost track of which one is real. With them panicking, Blaze decided to end the charade and go back to his human form.
 
Once the cloud dissipated, Blaze raised his arms as he worked on calming everyone down. He said, “I'm making this promise to you citizens, right now, that I won’t use these techniques to cause any harm."
 
"For another skill I discovered this morning, any ponies here that were in or near the park?" A couple hooves shot up. "So you saw that Rainbow Dash, one of my new friends, was in a race with an unknown pony." More of the crowd nodded their heads. "Well, I was the pony she was racing."
 
A Pegasus that was off to the side shouted, "I don't believe it! You came in here as an Earth pony. There was no way you could have out flown her. Even Unicorn magic would not allow you to keep up. She's the fastest thing in Equestria."
 
Blaze replied, "I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but, " he started to hover above the stage high enough so they all could see. “I was that pony Rainbow was racing. It was just a test to see how fast I might be able to go. Be proud of her as she had me really pushing this skill. I've never seen a creature back on my world that can move as fast as she did. To even perform that sonic rainboom, I almost lost my concentration. I'm glad to have her as a friend. Don't worry, she already had me promise to a rematch in the future.”
 
The ponies started to chant Rainbow’s name. She flew above the crowd to accept the chant. Then, returned back to sit with the other new friends Blaze had made.
 
“That is pretty much the basics about me. Does anypony have a question for me?” the human said as he scanned the crowd
 
“How did you arrive here?” asked a pony somewhere in the middle.
 
“It hurt a lot as I fell from the sky.”
 
Another pony said, “You just showed us that you can fly. Why didn’t you do that when you were falling?”
 
“I didn't know how to when I arrived. These abilities, I'm still learning about what I'm capable of." Blaze looked to another section of the crowd. "Next question?” he asked.
 
“Why do you wear clothing all the time?” A Unicorn mare asked.
 
“Well, humans don’t have fur all over their body like you ponies do. We do have hair on our head for the same reason you stylize your mane. The other reason is because," he cleared his throat as he started to blush. Blaze said the next thing very fast, "human males can’t hide a certain body part like colts can. NEXT!”
 
A several mares in the front giggled as their eyes looked the human over. Seeing this, Blaze thought, Oh, I think I'm going to regret that in the future.
 
“What is your special talent?” A little filly asked from the back.
 
“Well, I don't know if you would call it a talent. To me, it's more of a belief. I didn't have one until I was magically transformed into an Earth pony by Twilight Sparkle." Blaze rolled the sleeve up on his right upper arm. His cutie mark was revealed as he turned it towards the ponies. “As you can see, this symbol has two rotating pools. One of them is white, while the other is black. They are in perfect balance to each other. Back in my world, they called this the yin and yang symbol. It basically means balance. But, for me, I think this cutie mark means the balance of the body and the mind. That means I do a fair amount of work on my body to keep it fit. And with the mind, I keep it sharp so I am able to react fast to almost any situation. Everywhere you look, there is a balance in play. Here are just a few examples: the sun and moon, chaos and harmony, good and evil, and so on. The universe, like everything in balance so if something tips it too far, the devastation will follow." Blaze rolled the sleeve back down. Then, he said, "Who else as a question for me?”
 
“Do you have a special somepony?” A mare yelled from the crowd.
 
Blaze did his best to hold his composure as he replied, “Special somepony? I don’t know the entire lingo here, but if you referring to a girlfriend, then I do not. I haven't been in this world for even a week yet. It's too early for me to think about that. I don’t know even if I want one right now. So sorry ladies, this guy is keeping his single card for now."
 
Blaze raised one of his arms as he said, "I think that's enough questions now. I'll see you all in Ponyville at some point. I'm here to who knows when!” He started to wave. The ponies applauded and cheered for him. The human was about to walk off the stage when . . .
 
“Just hold it for a second there, Swift Blaze. There's something else the mayor and I would like to give you.” Princess Celestia said. She then turned to the crowd to address them. Her horn lit up as she revealed an open scroll. “To help you get started in this fair town, Mayor Mare and I would like to give you this deed to three acres of land outside of town for you to build a house on and to your spec when you want to.” She rolled it up and levitated it to Blaze.
 
He grabbed onto it and started to tear up. This was the biggest generosity he had ever received. “I don't know what to say. Thank you, Princess Celestia and Mayor Mare, for the generous gift, I really do appreciate it.” The ponies started to cheer again as the human finally left the stage.
 
Blaze went outside and waited for his friends to show up. He saw them coming around the building very quickly. There was no time for him to dodge as Pinkie collided with him first, causing the two to land on the ground. “What an amazing gift to receive. I've never seen anypony get that from the Mayor and Princess. You're so lucky,” Pinkie said while on top of the human.
 
Applejack said, “Come on Pinkie, get off of him."
 
Pinkie jumped off of him as quickly as he was tackled.
 
The orange mare said to Blaze, "Would you let me see that deed? I think I can show ya where the land is at.”
 
Blaze got up and gave the deed to her.
 
“Ok, partner, follow me and I'll show you where your land is at.”
 
The group followed Applejack out of town to a nearby hill. The human recognized it, as it was where he has been training each morning. Blaze smiled at the thought that this land was his now. Hmm, Princess Celestia must have been spying on me each morning. I would like to figure out how and why. Maybe think of a way to teach her about how it's not nice to spy on others.
 
Rarity said, “What a lovely piece of land. It was nice of the Princess to give this to you.”
 
“You are not far from my cottage. You can come by whenever you want to, if you don’t mind,” Fluttershy said.
 
Applejack added, “Blaze, you're also close to my farm. If ya need anything, come on over, sugarcube.”
 
“So, when are you going to get in contact with an engineer to design and build your house?” asked Twilight.
 
“Let’s not think about that right now. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm starving,” Blaze said.
 
His stomach growled in agreement. Everyone laughed at this.
 
The group headed back into town and made their way to a restaurant. Blaze stayed in his human form. He figured this would be so the town ponies will need to get used to it. Upon entering the place, the chatter from the ponies already in there suddenly stops as every eye in the establishment looked at the human.
 
Blaze cautiously said, “Uh, hi. Can I get a booth for me and my friends?”
 
The hostess was a yellow Unicorn mare with a pink mane and tail. She stared at him with a big deer eye look.
 
“Hellooo, anypony home?” he asked. The human waved his hand in front of her face to get her out the daze she was in.
 
The mare shook her head. “Oh! Sorry about that. How many in your group?” She asked.
 
“There are eight of us. Can we get a booth, please?”
 
“Right away, sir. I'm sorry for staring at you.  I have just never seen how, unique you are in that form." She levitated eight green menus to another mare. "The waitress will take you to your booth.”
 
“It's no problem. I figured this will be happening for the first week or two. It's not everyday a creature from another world comes to your nice town.”
 
"Thank you. I hope you enjoy your dinner."
 
The waitress led the group to a big, round booth. The human sat in the middle as best as he could. Everyone else were on either side of him. The chatter in the restaurant came back to normal. Blaze thought that some of the conversations might be about him.
 
Being back in human form, his choices were limited on what he can eat. While looking through the menu, he thought Need to get some meat soon. Maybe I will ask Fluttershy for some meat tomorrow. He decided on a simple garden salad, with no flowers, a vinaigrette dressing, and some bread. The other girls and Spike placed their orders. Once the waitress left, they all turned their heads and looked at Blaze.
 
"What? Do I have something on my face?" he asked.
 
Twilight replied, "Well, we were wondering what spell it was that you were going to show us next."
 
"Hmm, I honestly don't know what 'jutsu' I will learn. I don't exactly have full control of the learning aspects of it. They have been occurring in my sleep. Every time, it surprises me."
 
"Oh! I love surprises! One time . . ." Pinkie said as she goes into one of her odd stories. Everyone else at the table nodded at different intervals as they listened. ". . . and that is how Equestria was made."
 
Now that randomness is out of the way, Blaze looked to the white Unicorn and said, “Anyways . . . So, Rarity, would you mind if I come over tomorrow morning? I'm going to need a set of human clothes. Don't want to continue wearing the same thing every day. I still would like them to be like this gi, but I'll let you choose the two colors for each set. Just one tiny request, please don't do any pastel or girly colors. Also, I will pay for these, once I can find a job.”
 
Twilight spoke up, “Oh! Princess Celestia wanted me to give you this and this note about it.” The purple Unicorn levitated a pouch from her sack. It had a scroll note attached to it.
 
The human grabbed onto the pouch. Once the magic was released, he felt some serious weight with it. “What’s this?” he asked.
 
“Read the note on it, silly.” Pinkie said.
 
Blaze placed the bag down onto the table and pulled the note off. The contents read:
 


Hello Bob/Swift Blaze,
 
If I know my student, Twilight Sparkle, I figure you are getting this after the ceremony, at some restaurant, and after you mentioned needing to get a job to get money. To help you along, I'm giving you this pouch of 7,000 Bits to help you pay for any expenses you are going to need to pay, until you're able to find a job.
 
Your Sun Ruler,
Princess Celestia.
P.S. You’re pulling to your right a bit in your morning training. You should work on it.


 
Blaze immediately thought, Ha! I knew the Princess was spying on me. Now then, I will have to pay her back, somehow.
 
The human rolled the scroll back up. Then said, “Well, that was definitely a surprise." He looked towards Rarity. "How much would you charge to make seven gi and fourteen undergarments?”
 
Rarity replied, “Give me a minute, darling.” The white Unicorn mumbled some stuff to her as she did the calculations in her head. “For a normal customer, I would charge One Thousand Bits for what you requested. But, for being one of my close friends, you would only have to pay Five Hundred Bits.”
 
“Thank you for the discount." Blaze directed his attention back to everyone else at the table "Could someone explain me how your money system works here?”
 
“Our money is called Bits and comes in four different increments.” Twilight stated. “A copper bit is worth One Bit. A silver bit is worth Twenty-Five Bits. A gold bit is worth One Hundred Bits. Finally, a platinum bit is worth One Thousand Bits. Would you mind telling me why you are interested when you have no money?”
 
“What do you think the Princess gave me?” The human said as he shook the money bag.
 
He reached into it and pulled out Six gold Bits and Two silver Bits. Blaze closed it back up and passed the money to Rarity.
 
“Here is the money for the clothes. Plus, a little tip for the work you have done and will be doing in the future.”
 
She counted the money and quickly said, “Oh my! I could not accept that much of a tip. Having you as a friend is more of a tip I need.” Rarity tried to send a gold Bit back to him with her magic.
 
Blaze held his hand up to stop it. Then said, “No, Rarity, I insist. Plus, this won’t be the only clothing you will need to make for me. I'm going to need a tux for the gala, clothes for when it gets cold, and rain gear for when it rains. Please, accept the tip. I'll only be going to you for all my clothing needs.”
 
Rarity nodded her head. Then, she levitated all the Bits and placed them in her saddlebag.
 
The human saw a Unicorn waiter carrying eight plates of food with his magic. The stallion was heading to their booth. “Looks like the food is here. Let's dig in.” said Blaze.
 
They ate the meal in silence as everyone was too busy chewing their food. It was another great meal as they all had smiles on their faces. Once done, the waiter came back, collected the plates, and left the check.
 
Just as the mares started to fiddle with their saddlebags to get their money out. Blaze said, “Wait a sec, you've treated me to several meals already. Please, allow me to get this one.”
 
Twilight said, "We don't mind, Blaze. You are our guest and new friend."
 
"Then let this friend take care of this meal. It's the least thing I can do."
 
The mares all nodded as they put their Bits away. Blaze picked the check up and looked at it. Then, counted out the right amount of coinage to include a tip.
 
They left the restaurant and made their way to the town center square. Before the human said it, Rainbow Dash said, “Ok, Blaze, which one of us are you going to ask to stay at their place for the night?”
 
“Let's see, I've stayed at Fluttershy and Twilight already." He turned and looked at the blue Pegasus. "I’m sorry Dash, but I can’t stand on clouds. My flying skill requires concentration to keep me up. Plus, I don't feel like falling out of the sky again."
 
"It's no problem. Just one day, remind me to show everything about the Wonderbolts. You may like them as much as me."
 
"I'll take you up on that." He turned back to the others. In a game show style voice, Blaze said, "So, the contestants are Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. Who will take a strange creature to their home?”
 
Applejack spoke up first, “I think ya should come to the farm. My sis was asking me questions about ya while at the ceremony. Plus, I can show ya to the rest of my family.”
 
“Then I'm coming home with you if there are no better offers.” Blaze looked and no other pony said anything. “Nope? Then sold to the orange pony with apples for a cutie mark! Come on down and claim your prize!” he finished with the game show voice.
 
The girls started to laugh at this while Applejack started to blush.
 
“Come on now. Stop it. Before I buck you to the next town." The group quieted the laughter down, but they still had a big grin on their faces.
 
"Ok, let's get going. I shall see the rest of you tomorrow," the human said as he waved goodbye.
 
Applejack and Swift Blaze headed to her farm while the rest went to their homes.
 
	

> Chapter 8: How much pain can you take?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                    The sun was setting as the moon rose to take its place. Swift Blaze could see a lot more stars in the sky. Nothing compared to living on Earth with the city lights everywhere. He and Applejack soon came up to a simple wooden fence that went around several hundred acres of apple trees. They passed through the entrance of Sweet Apple Acres and made their way to the house next to the barn.
 
                    Before they emerged from the tree cover, Applejack stopped the human and said, "Okay, Blaze, you gonna need to wait here. I have ta tell them about you before they see you. Don't want my brother to attack you and for Granny to scream. My little sis saw you at the ceremony already. I know she'll be overjoyed to meet ya."
 
                    "Not a problem. I'm sure your family will accept me with open hooves," he said.
 
                    The orange mare left the human by the trees as she went inside. After a few minutes, Blaze saw the front door flew open with a slam. Big Macintosh was charging at the human with an angry face. Oh shit! He means to deal damage, if not, to kill me. the human thought as he prepared for the tackle. The big red stallion made contact with Blaze. Instead of being pinned, the human changed the momentum so the Earth Pony was on the bottom and pinned.
 
                    "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!" Swift Blaze yelled into Big Mac's face.
 
                    His face changed to a surprise look from how quickly this creature was able to take him down. Big Macintosh soon started to feel the pain of the reverse tackle. "Sorry for charging at ya. Seeing you, a strange creature, out the window of my home, I completely ignored what my sis were saying. My gut was telling me you were going to cause some trouble." A pain shot through his body. "Ugh, I think something broke," he said.
 
                    Blaze replied, "Promise not to move and I will see where it hurts."

                    The big stallion nodded his head slowly. The human slowly got off him to not cause anymore pain. "Now, I'm going to feel around your body. Tell me when it hurts." he said.
 
                    By this time, Applejack came walking up with frustration being expressed. She said, "Why do ya always do this when something is strange to ya? Now ya got yourself injured. And just before applebuck season. What am I going to do with ya?"
 
                    "Sorry sis, I'm just overprotective of my family." He  clenched in pain. "Right there, mister. Also, there's pain coming from my back."
 
                    “Looks like you may have a few bruised ribs. Possibly a dislocated back. If you want, I can try to help realign it. The pain will increase for a sec, but will get better after that,” said Blaze.
 
                    With the pain increasing, the stallion said, “Let’s get this over with. What do I need to do to help?”
 
                    “Big Macintosh, I just need you bite down on this branch so you don’t chip your teeth. Applejack, can you get me some heavy duty rope?”
 
                    Applejack replied, “Sure thing, Blaze. I recon you have done this before?”
 
                    “Something similar. But, not to worry, this should ease the pain.”
 
                    Applejack didn't like the sound of that. But, with the hospital on the opposite side of town, it would take too long to get proper medical attention. Trusting her new friend, she went to the barn and got the rope. When the orange mare got back, she and the human carefully helped the red stallion to his hooves. Blaze then tied the rope around the upper part his chest, behind his fore hooves. The other end was tossed over a high and sturdy branch.
 
                    “Alright big fella, I'm going to lift you several feet off the ground. The pain might increase, but please bear with it as it will lessen when I align your back,” the human said.
 
                    Big Macintosh nodded and braced himself for the pain. Blazed pulled the slack out of the rope. He then focused his chakra to his limbs to maintain grip with the rope and the ground. He looked to the stallion and said, "You ready?"
 
                    Applejack's brother nodded, then closed his eyes. He was biting down hard on the branch in his mouth. Blaze reached out as far as he can go on the rope. With a mighty pull, the stallion started to dangle off the ground. You could hear wood being crunched on as Big Macintosh felt the surge of pain from his back.
 
                    "Hold it together, we are almost at the height needed." Blaze said as he struggled with the rope. It was a big old fashion tug-of-war in lifting the big stallion. The human's feet were digging into the ground with each small step he took backwards. Applejack was just standing there, unsure what or who she could help with. After several agonizing minutes, the height was reached. Blaze looked to the orange mare. "Quickly, tie this end to the tree behind me," he said as he struggled with the weight.
 
                    She moved as fast as her body would let her. With a couple spins around the tree and a sturdy knot later, everything was secured.
 
                    Blaze released his hold on the rope. Big Macintosh went down a little bit, but was still above the ground. The human was working on catching his breath. He flexed his arms and legs to get rid of the stiffness that built up. The stallion was still biting down on that branch as the pain was slowly increasing in his back. Once Blaze was ready for the next step, he said, “Brace yourself, Mac. There will be a surge of pain for a few seconds." He looked towards the orange mare. " Applejack, please, don't stop me in what I'm about to do. It's the best way.”
 
                    “What are ya going ta do with my brother, Blaze?” Applejack asked.
 
                    The human didn't answer as he took a couple steps back. He then ran at full speed and jumped onto the lower part of Big Macintosh's back. The stallion gave out a loud scream as Blaze heard a pop in the pony's back.
 
                    Applejack ran over and pulled the human off her brother. She tried to get him to respond, but the stallion's eyes were closed. She could hear him breathing, calmly. The pain must have been so bad, it sent him unconscious. She turned to the human laying on the ground. She looked very angry. "What did you do! He's not responding!" she shouted.
 
                    Blaze held up his hand with the palm facing her. “Your brother is fine, Applejack. The spinal column in his back was being compressed, causing the pain he was experiencing," he said. He then lowered his arm and moved to a sitting position. "All I did was stretch it back out. For him, being as big as he is, this was the best way I could do it."
 
                    Applejack's face switched to a worried look. "Is he going to be alright now?"
 
                    "I believe so. He will just need some sleep. Can you get some bandages so I can wrap his rib cage? I want to apply pressure so nothing else moves.”
 
                    She nodded and headed back to the house. Blaze untied the rope and lowered the sleeping stallion slowly to the ground. A few minutes later, Applejack came back with the rolls of cloth. The human started to wrap Big Macintosh's ribs while his sister kept him up on his hooves.
 
                    Once done, they both helped carry him inside the house. Applejack was in front and led them to his room. They placed him on the bed. Applejack covered him up and closed the door.
 
                    Back in the living room, Apple Bloom and Granny Smith were sitting on the couch. Applejack went and sat in a different chair. Blaze stood at the bottom of the stairs. He placed a hand to the back of his head as he said, “Well, not the best way I wanted to introduce myself. Don't know what could have been worse than bringing in an unconscious family member.”
 
                    “It wasn’t your fault to begin with. I'm just glad you didn't get hurt yourself, sugarcube. Can ya explain how in Equestria were you able to take my brother down so fast?” Applejack asked.
 
                    The human lowered his arm and replied, “Basically, I've learned some martial arts over the years back in my world. One technique uses your opponent’s movement against them. That's what happened, I took his momentum of charging at me and used it to flip him onto his back. Finally, I pinned your brother down to avoid any more conflict.”
 
                    “You thought of that in those few seconds before my big bro ran into ya?” Apple Bloom asked with big excited eyes.
 
                    “I decided upon a friendly method that was quick and reliable. I didn't want to cause any serious harm if I didn't have to. That's why I learned those different styles, to help in choosing the best way to deal with whatever situation that I might get into. Not to act like a jarhead that attacks first without thinking the best way to do it.”
 
                    “Jarhead? You mean they go around with their heads in jars? That’s silly. How in the hay do they eat?” Granny Smith said.
 
                    “It's a figure of speech. It means their mind is close to others’ opinions. They're only focused on the objective.”
 
                    “Wow, mister! You must be really smart to know all of this. I'm surprised your cutie mark is not something related to fighting,” Apple Bloom said.
 
                    “Let me switch to my pony form. That way you can clearly see my cutie mark. Plus, I'll go into more detail about it for you. But first, please don’t be startled by what I'm about to do. I will also explain how I can do this.”
 
                    Swift Blaze performed the shadow transformation jutsu into his pony form. Granny Smith started to scream that he was a changeling. The old mare was trying to run, but it was at a snail's pace. Applejack helped calm her down and moved her back to her seat. Apple Bloom remained sitting where she was. The filly was clapping her hooves together in excitement for getting to see the close up transformation.
 
                    Blaze explained about the energy source he used to change. He then went on to go over his cutie mark in a little bit more detail than what he said at City Hall. When the stallion finished telling them about himself, all three Earth mares clapped their hooves together.
 
                    The stallion was engulfed in a puff of smoke. He released the jutsu and changed back to his human form. “Seeing how I told you quite a bit about me, do you ladies care to introduce yourselves? Or shall I just call you relative of Applejack?” Blaze asked as he sat down in an empty seat.
 
                    Granny Smith started out first. She told how her family came to this land, with caused the foundation of Ponyville. Apple Bloom went next. The little filly only said how she was going to school in town and how she helped out on the farm when they allowed her.
 
                    After the quick intro, Apple Bloom asked, “So, ya think I might get a cutie mark from learning martial arts from you, mister?”
 
                    “Please, call me Blaze. I don’t think martial arts is for you. What I know, the style, would be hard to teach to a different species. Mainly because they are focused on the use of these hands." He brought his hands up again and flexed the fingers. Blaze placed them back on his lap and said, "I was taught to use these to protect myself and my friends, never be an attacker.”
 
                    "I really wanted to know what my cutie mark is now! I can't find it if I don't try everything," said the little filly.
 
                    Applejack placed a hoof on her sister's back as she said, "Calm yourself, Apple Bloom. You can't force it to reveal itself. Your cutie mark will show when the time is right."
 
                    "Then how come Blaze got his so easily?"
 
                    Blaze replied, "I didn't. Humans never really find out what they are good at. Some do, but most have to do other jobs they don't like just to make ends meet. I went through many years of training to get to where I'm at. You can't learn this type of skill in just a day." Unless this is the matrix.
 
                    The grandfather clock in the corner chimed up and signalled it was ten o'clock.
 
                    The human stood up and stretched out his arms. After a big yawn, he said, "Well, it’s getting late. Applejack, can you show me to a bathroom with a shower? I would like to freshen up. Also, I would like to know where I'm going to be sleeping?”
 
                    “The bathroom is upstairs. The first door on the left. There are fresh towels hanging in there. For a place for ya to crash for the night, I sorry to say, but there are no rooms available in the house. You can either sleep on the couch here, or there is room in the barn with plenty of hay to sleep on.”
 
                    “Thank you for the use of your bathroom. I think I'll take the barn. Don't want to wake everyone up too early. I have been going outside and doing some morning training exercises before breakfast.”
 
                    “We are also early risers so we shall see who gets up first. G’night Blaze” Applejack said.
 
                    “Good Night Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith. Big Macintosh should be taken to the hospital in the morning to make sure everything is back into place,” said Blaze.
 
                    The human made his way to the bathroom and closed the door. As he looked at himself in the mirror, he thought, When was the last time I washed this body? Running around each day feels like I haven’t bathed for a week.
 
                    Blaze took off his gi off and looked at his cutie mark on his upper arms. The size of it seems to fit perfectly. Just like how they are on a pony's flank. Hmm, I think I'm going to need to have Rarity make the new clothing sleeveless. No point of having a cutie mark and not show it.
 
                    With that, the human finished undressing and hopped into the shower. He dried off and started to put the clothes back on. Blaze ripped the sleeves off his top before it went on. It was a little ragged, but his cutie mark was now visible.
 
                    Blaze left the house and made his way to the barn. Inside, he found a lantern. There were matches nearby to light it. With a light source, he headed up to the loft where a pile of hay was spread out. Once he made himself as comfortable as he could, the human drifted off to sleep.
 
                    Swift Blaze woke up to the empty mind space. As he looked around, the human worked on recalling other jutsu that God has placed in his head. The one he was really looking for was the Shadow Clone. It would help speed up the training by a hundred fold with that many doing it. The other was the element-based jutsu. The only trouble with that is, Blaze didn't know what his chakra was in tune with. None of that really matters as he couldn't locate any of this in his head. Wish I had access to some Ninjutsu scrolls, but where in Equestria am I going to get those! The human grabbed his head in frustration.
 
                    Out of the corner of his view, a door appeared in his mind. He cautiously walked over to it. It slowly opened without him touching it. Through it, what he saw was an old style office with a big desk at one end. Blaze walked in and looked around. The door disappeared when he looked behind himself. Well, guess this is God’s doing, but why do I think I've seen this office before?
 
                    “You should know, you were just thinking about that show,” the person behind the big chair and desk said.
 
                    Blaze said, “Hello God. From your comment, then this is the 3rd Hokage's office.”
 
                    The chair spun around. Sitting on it was God, but he looked like Hiruzen Sarutobi, the 3rd Hokage of the leaf village. "So, what are you requesting to learn tonight?"
 
                    "I've gotten down most of the basic jutsu, but this might go a little faster if I could make Shadow Clones."
 
                    God opened a desk drawer and pulled out a small piece of wood. He tossed it to Blaze. "Break that in half."
 
                    Somewhat trusting him, the human did so. Once it broke into two, a powder mist of green rose up and flew into his nose. Blaze choked on it at first, until he could breath safely again. "What the hell! Couldn't you just give me a scroll instead of some strange, crazy, way to shove the knowledge into my head?"
 
                    "Excuse me for allowing this old fart to have some laughs. Is there any other questions you have?'
 
                    “Yeah, can you tell me what basic elements I am naturally towards? Don’t have any of the special chakra paper to test.”
 
                    “I'm surprised you haven't figured it out. Think about what you have done so far,” God said with a big grin.
 
                    “Let's see, I can fly, I'm agile and fast, strong enough to beat Big Mac, and I can shoot energy blast.”
 
                    “Well, what elements do those lines up with?”
 
                    Blaze thought for a moment. Once it clicked, he shouted, “WAIT! ARE YOU SAYING WHAT I THINK YOU ARE SAYING?”
 
                    “Correct, my little ninja. You can do Ninjutsu of all five base elements. You will still need to do the actual training with them first. I'll leave you with access to the techniques in your head. I can't keep popping in here each night to help you."
 
                    "Thanks, God. Don't know if my mind can handle any more forced knowledge into it."
 
                    "Anytime. Oh, I suggest you learn the Water and Earth style first. See you another time.”
 
                    With that, the room got engulfed in smoke. The space he was now in was a library with thousands of scrolls. How ancient, wish it was digital. The room disappeared and a computer terminal showed up with a projector. Right, all in my mind. Blaze searched up different advance jutsu he could potentially learn.
 
                    He called up his favorite clone style and watched how to do it. This was harder than the other techniques. Not only did he have to use a certain amount of chakra per clone creation, but the amount he can use is divided between him and the clones. With all this math calculations, I don't even know how Naruto even mastered this. Oh yeah, Nine Tales chakra helped boost his. Lucky bastard. Blaze started practicing it until the clone was perfect and not a pile of mush.
 
                    After those couple hours, he went back to the terminal and looked at some of the basic Genjutsu and how to release them. These require a lot more mental power as the caster had to create a space in the target's head that would either trap them or reveal secrets. After selecting a few. The human created a dozen three man teams to practice. One would cast, one would be the target, and the last to try and break the technique. This went on for several hours.
 
                    Once the clones departed, Blaze was hit with the knowledge they had learned. Being a Genjutsu exercise, it felt like being smacked with a chain mail glove. After shaking that off, he thought about what God said. Why did he want me to learn Water and Earth style jutsu? What do those have that something cool like lightning would give me? The human slapped his forehead when the thought came. WOOD STYLE! I CAN USE THAT TO BUILD MY HOUSE IN NO TIME!
 
                    Blaze looked up the Earth style jutsu first and begun learning a few basic moves. Again, hours passed as the clones and he finished up before the sun rose. Satisfied with the practice tonight, he left the training space and finished sleeping the rest of the night.

> Chapter 9: Stubborn Pony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blaze woke up the next morning again before dawn as usual. He headed out of the barn and looked at the farmhouse. Some of the windows lit up as lights were turned on. Guess it's a tie, the human thought.
 
He left the farm in his morning jog for a few miles. Then, he did some training on the hill he now owns. With the shadow clone technique under his belt, Blaze created one to spar against. After a good two hour of training, the sweaty human headed back to the farm for some breakfast. Before going into the house, he went to a water spigot to clean himself and smell better.
 
“Good morning everypony!” Blaze said as he entered the house.
 
“Blaze! You just made it in time for breakfast. Care to join us, please?” Apple Bloom asked.
 
“But of course. My morning training always gives me an appetite. What are we having?”
 
The filly listed several apple-based foods that are very tasty. They were pretty much having dessert for breakfast.
 
“What do you think of the choices?” Applejack asked.
 
“Not only do you grow apples here, but you can make every food they are used in. By looks and smell alone, I think this will be better than what any human could make.”
 
“Why thank ya, partner. Now let’s dig in.”
 
The Apple family and human ate a fair share of the food. Everything tasted so good that Blaze went back for seconds on things that he could get his hands on. “Now that was delicious," he said as he patted his stomach. "Glad you made enough. Now allow me to take care of cleanup. It's at least I can do for allowing staying the night.”
 
Blaze to pick up the dishes and brought them to the sink. As he was washing, the human heard Applejack wishing Apple Bloom a good time at school.
 
Once the dishes were clean and were put away, Blaze left and headed to Rarity’s place. Wanted to get the measurements done as he had no clue how long it would take. Upon entering, the white mare got into her introduction until she sees who it is.
 
“Oh! Blaze, glad you came early. I couldn’t wait to start making all those outfits for you." Rarity then let out a surprised gasp. "Oh my! What happen to yours? The sleeves are torn off!”
 
“Yeah, I did that." Blaze said as he rubbed the back of his head. "After I was done showering last night, I decided I wanted to show my cutie mark that were on my upper arms. So, I tore the sleeves off. Can you make it so the gi outfits you are going to make will be sleeveless?”
 
“But of course, darling. I think you will look smashing with being able to show it off in your human form. Let’s go over what I will be making for you, seven gi, sleeveless, I have color matching control, and you wanted no gems on them."
 
"That's correct."
 
"Moving on, a tux for the gala for your human and pony form. Fourteen undergarments of underwear, as you called them, and socks for the shoes you wear over your feet."
 
"I believe that's it for now. You know I'll come and see you when I need something else."
 
"But of course, darling. I believe I can have the first gi done later today. That way you'll have some fresh clothing for tomorrow to wear. I’m sure your current gi is getting dreadful without cleaning it.”
 
“I'm glad for that. Thanks again."
 
A very low rumble was coming from outside. "What’s that sound?” Blaze said. He opened the front door and saw ponies in a panic. One stallion yelled, "STAMPEDE!"
 
The human looked back to the mare inside and said, “Rarity, stay inside. I will help take care of this.”
 
She nodded her sacred head. As the human finished stepping outside, the door quickly slammed shut behind him.
 
He moved quickly through the pony crowd, running in the opposite direction towards the disturbance. On the edge of town, Blaze saw a dust cloud come into view. In that, he saw a herd of cows going at full speed. Drown out the noise of the screaming ponies, he heard the voice of Applejack directing somepony else in trying to steer the herd away.
 
Seeing a need to help her out, the human decided to try a new jutsu. He got into the stance, did the hand signs, and said, “Earth Style: Stone Wall Formation Jutsu!”
 
A curved wall came up from the ground starting at the edge of the herd line and curved it in the direction Applejack was trying to get them to turn. She was successful as the stampede stayed away from the wall by at least ten feet. Once all the cows passed and stopped nearby, Blaze lowered the wall back down. He headed over to the exhausted Applejack and said, "You alright?".
 
The orange Earth mare took a couple breaths before she said, “I’m fine, Blaze."
 
She turned her head to the cows."Now then, care to explain to me why y’all was making you mad run into town?”
 
One went on talking about how a cow thought she saw a snake and that caused them to run.
 
Applejack understood where the cow was getting at and suggested that they steer clear of Ponyville. They all nodded and Applejack headed back to the farm with a little herding dog. The ponies in town started to cheer for Applejack for saving their town from destruction.
 
Mayor Mare spoke up and said, "To commend Applejack for saving our town, we shall have a celebration later this week to honor her with this year’s award for Pony of Ponyville Award."
 
They all cheered again for this.
 
Blaze was standing nearby with his arms crossed. All he could think was, I raise a six foot tall stone wall out from the ground and nopony noticed? Oh well, I wasn't doing it anyway to get more attention. Being the only human here on this planet is enough.
 
Somewhere in the crowd, Pinkie was going about of how excited she was for the party she has to put together now.
 
Swift Blaze went back to Rarity's Boutique. Upon entering, the white Unicorn mare demanded to know what happened. He told her everything that he recalled from his view.
 
Rarity said, "I'm so relieved that nopony got hurt. Now then, back to the business at hoof. Would you mind stepping up on the platform so I can start getting your measurements?" She levitated a tape measure, quill, and scroll from her work desk. "This is going to take some time as I have nothing to reference off of. Hope you don't mind standing still for a couple hours."
 
"I have an idea that should help the both of us. You get something to get my measurements off of. I get the ability to take care of other thing so that I'm not stuck here all day," said Blaze.
 
"What are you going to do, darling?"
 
"Something I learned last night in my sleep. Please don't faint or do something crazy for what you are about to see."
 
She nodded her head and moved to sit on her couch.
 
Blaze moved his hand into position and said, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
 
A cloud of smoke appeared next to the human and revealed a clone of himself. Rarity's eyes widen from the surprise. She tried to say something, but it came out gibberish.
 
Original Blaze said, "Rarity, say hello to my clone."
 
"Hello, milady. Shall we get started on those measurements?" the clone said.
 
The mare shook her head to clear the confusion that was there. She said, "Ok, Blaze or Blazes, would one of you mind telling me how you did this new spell? Duplication spells, according to what I know, can only be done by very high level Unicorns."

Rarity got up from where she was and went to stand next to a platform.  She pointed to the Blaze clone and directed him onto it.
 
As she took measurements, the original human replied, "Well, I'm not a Unicorn and I'll say again that these are not spells."
 
The human clone continued the conversation with, "What these are called jutsu. I won't go into the boring details about them as I don't want to be poked by any needles by accident if you fall asleep. OUCH!"
 
Rarity did that on purpose for that comment. "Please, continue."
 
"Well, just like this one, I can also affect the area around me. Like the stone wall I had made earlier." Original Blaze said.

The clone Blaze added, "I learned that too last night. With these shadow clones for help."
 
"We act as separate beings able to do what we want."
 
"When one of us releases ourselves of the jutsu,"
 
"The other will get all the other one's memories since the jutsu was performed."
 
"This skill is good for scouting out enemy areas to gather intel."
 
"The other good thing is if there is need of an instant army, I should be able to make over a hundred clones."
 
"The downside is the same energy I used to make them, it gets split between the number I create."
 
"The plus is if an enemy does cause major harm to a clone of me,"
 
"It disappears and I still get the knowledge that one obtain."
 
"Wow, just simply, wow. How are you learning these 'jutsu' so quickly?" Rarity asked. "You've only been here for a couple days."
 
The original Blaze replied, "You remember I said that a super being had given me some abilities?"
 
The mare nodded her head.
 
"Well, I've discovered when I go to sleep, I can go to a space in my head that allows me to train and practice. That's what I've been doing each night. While my body is resting, my mind is learning a new skill. I don't know how much I can learn, but I think some would come in handy. Like that wall formation to steer the herd of cows."
 
"Simply amazing, Blaze. I can't imagine how you humans could live without magic. Why, if I didn't have my horn, I don't know what I would be doing. How ever did your kind ever come up with such interesting abilities?"
 
"I can't really say. I just feel that these are to help me with something in my new life here. Don't know what that is yet, but I'm sure I can handle it."
 
"Well, whatever it is, know that you have friends here that can help you if you can't."
 
"Thanks Rarity. Well, I am off to do other things. You can tell the other me when you are done with him. Don't want to cause anypony a headache if they see multiples of me yet."
 
Swift Blaze left the boutique and headed to the library. As he entered, he saw Spike was stacking the shelves with books. The human guessed that some were returned ones and the rest were what Twilight had finished reading for the moment.
 
The purple Unicorn mare had several books around her as she was writing down stuff onto scrolls. Spike turned his head and saw Blaze at the door. Before the dragon said something, the human had placed a finger over his mouth. Spike recognized the motion to him to stay quiet. He nodded his head and watch what Blaze was going to do.
 
The human closed the door quietly and snuck inside. As he moved stealthy to get behind Twilight, Blaze had to duck under some of the flying books to get close enough. Once there, he waited a few minutes to see if she was aware of his presence. She wasn't.
 
Blaze inhaled deeply and said, "HI TWILIGHT!"
 
The purple mare literally jumped onto the ceiling. The books that were under her control flew in different directions, slamming into walls and other books.
 
While hanging from an interior branch, Twilight looked for the culprit. She screamed, "Blaze! What the buck was that for! You nearly scared me out of my skin."
 
The human was on his back, on the floor, laughing very hard. Spike soon joined in the act. The mare teleported back to the ground floor and started to gather the books back under her control.
 
Once Blaze could get hold of himself, he got to his feet and said,"Sorry about that. I just wanted to prove that you're too focused on your studies. It's great to have a passion to study and learn. You just can't be nose, or muzzle, deep in it and not be aware of your surroundings. What if the town was on fire?"
 
Twilight responded, "Oh, the Pegasus would gather rain clouds to help put the fire out. Plus, there are several Unicorns with the fire department that can either generate water, or put a bubble shield around the fire to snuff it out."
 
"That's not the point I was getting at. It's true that I did sneak in to get you, but that's because I saw how you were and recalled I was the same way back in college. You can't study for several hours straight. Take a break from it to clear your head and so you can hang out with friends. If I was a betting man, I tell you were so focused on whatever you are working on, you must not have noticed a stampede of cows an hour ago."
 
"There was a stampede of cows? What happened?" she asked, surprised.
 
Blaze told the events of what happened and how there is now going to be a celebration in Applejack's honor.
 
"Oh! I need to write a speech for her as to how wonderful she is. If you excuse me, I need to get started."
 
"Well, I'll just do some more reading on the other different creatures here. Also, get started on the aerial training from Rainbow Dash. Plus, have Rarity finish getting my measurements for my clothing."
 
Twilight completely ignored Blaze she started to write on some note cards.
 
Spike has a confused look on his face as to what the human said. "How in Equestria are you going to do all three of those at the same time?" Spike asked.
 
Blaze smiled and said, "Like this, Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
 
Another clone of the human appeared beside Swift Blaze. Spike's expression was what one would expect, shocked with his mouth wide open.
 
"I shall explain after you get me that creature book I was reading here last time."
 
The little dragon rushed off to another section of the room. The Blaze clone walked to the front door and opened it. Before stepping outside, he said, "Goodbye Twilight, I'll see you sometime later."
 
The purple mare waved her hoof behind herself in the general direction where the sound was coming from. Her head didn't move from where she was looking.
 
Spike came back with the book in his claws. Blaze went over the new jutsu he learned last night. Then, how he learned another that can form walls from the ground itself.
 
Spike paid attention to every word as he was very interested in how quickly this creature he just met was was learning new things. "Is there anything you can't learn, Blaze?" he asked.
 
"I'll let you know when I discover it," Blaze replied.
 
The purple dragon went back to his chores and the human start reading where he last left off.
 
-------- Meanwhile--------
(This is the Blaze that left Twilight's.)
 
Looking around, Blaze spotted a rainbow tail hanging over a cloud. He floated up to it and saw the mare was taking a nap. Typical Dash. I'm going to have some fun with this. The human leaned closer to her and whispered into her ear, "Hello Dash. I have your first mission as a Wonderbolt. Do you accept the mission?"
 
Her head nodded as she sheepishly said, "Sir, yes sir."
 
"Your mission is to train the human, Swift Blaze, in aerial moves until further notice."
 
"No thank you, sir."
 
"You have no choice Rainbow Dash. Now," Blaze shouted, "WAKE UP!"
 
She jumped off the cloud, causing it to dissipate. The human was laughing as he held onto his stomach.
 
"What the buck was that for, Blaze?" she demanded with a pissed off tone.
 
"It was a harmless prank. I actually wanted to see if you will still honor that promise."
 
"I remember it. I train you how to fly better and I'll keep my word. From now on, don't ever wake me like that again. I might have bucked you."
 
"Noted. So what is the first lesson, teach?"
 
"Need to judge how you are now. Copy what I do until you can't do it."
 
"Roger that, wing leader."
 
That comment got a chuckle out of her. They took off as they played 'follow the leader'.
 
-------- Meanwhile--------
(This is the Blaze that is at Rarity's.)
 
After hours of standing still and being poked to hold clothing up, the human was finally allowed to get off the platform. As he popped several joints, he asked, "Anything else you would like me to do before I take my leave?"
 
"That will be all, Blaze. I have what I need to make your order. Now then, if you would excuse me, I am getting into the zone as it were." She headed off to the workshop in the back humming a tune.
 
Not wasting any time, the clone released the jutsu and disappear from Rarity's.
 
(Going to the Blaze at Twilight's)
 
While this Blaze was reading about a tiny little ball creature that lives in the Everfree Forest, he jolted to a standing posture from the rush of memories and annoying pain that filled his head. As he shook some of his limbs, he said to himself, "Ouch. Hope I don't have to stand still again for Rarity. Those pokes of the needle really hurt."
 
"You said something, Blaze?" Spike asked.
 
"Nothing, Spike. Just got a cramp from sitting so long. You can go back to finishing your chores."
 
The dragon shrugs his shoulders, then continued stacking the books away.
 
The human looked over to where Twilight was. The Unicorn had filled out about fifty note cards for the speech about Applejack. As he watched her, Blaze thought, I don't think she will even read one, with how Mayor Mare likes to keep things simple. Wait a minute, this morning event seemed familiar for some reason. Was it from an episode? What was it about? Shit! Blaze brought his palm to his forehead and smacked it. It was applebuck season! That idiot Applejack is going to try to do it all by herself. Big Macintosh is injured because of me. I have to get her to ask for help before she causes those problems.
 
The human closed the book and turned towards the dragon. "Spike, I need to take care of something. Make sure Twilight will be ready for the ceremony," Blaze said.
 
Spike nodded as he continued to look at the human. With a quick hand placement, the jutsu was released. His body was engulfed in smoke and disappeared.
 
-------- Meanwhile--------
(This is the Blaze that is with Rainbow, doing some training.)
 
Swift Blaze was barely able to copy all the basic moves Rainbow Dash had shown him. Not bad for a human that has only been ki flying for a few days. They just started on intermediate level of moves. Blaze just finished doing the first one when the clone's memory from Rarity rushed into his head. He lost his ki focus from the pain the other had endured. It was only for a few seconds, but it caused him to fall roughly twenty feet.
 
"Well, that smarts," Blaze said as he too shook the pain from his limbs as he floated in the sky.
 
Rainbow Dash saw the human drop during that time and rushed to his side. "You ok there, Blaze?" she asked.
 
"Yeah, I'm good. Just lost concentration for a sec when the clone at Rarity released their jutsu."
 
"A clone? You must be pulling my wing. Very funny joke."
 
"No jokes, honest. I also have another one at Twilight doing some studying."
 
"Prove it."
 
"Ok, then. Let’s land down in that open field to do this. I'm not ready to do ki and chakra control at the same time.”
 
The two flyers landed in the center of the space. Rainbow Dash was standing in front of Blaze, with a waiting look on her muzzle.
 
The human said to her, “Haven't we reached the point to where you can believe me in this?”
 
She replied, “Maybe, I would have, if you didn’t pull the prank to wake me up.”
 
“Just admit you like it when I show you something new. Am I as cool as you yet?”
 
“Need to be about twenty percent cooler to get to me.”
 
“At least I know where I stand in comparison. How many do you want me to make of me?”
 
“Fill the field.”
 
“Ok, don’t say I warned ya.”
 
Blaze focused on gathering as much chakra as he could muster. This was going to be the biggest amount he has ever done. A tiny red hue was starting form around the human's body.
 
With his hands finished doing the correct signs, Blaze shouted, “Massive Shadow Clone Jutsu!”
 
A massive cloud of smoke filled the field. When it dissipated, every direction you looked, you could see hundreds of the human. All were looking towards the center.
 
Rainbow Dash’s mouth was wide open as it could get with an awestruck look.
 
“You ready to believe me now, Dash?” they all said at the same time.
 
The blue Pegasus fainted like a stiff goat, lying on her back with her hooves up straight. The original that was standing across from the mare thought, I think I broke her.
He released the jutsu and all the clones disappeared.
 
“Dash, you ok? The multi’s of me are gone now. Come Rainbow Dash, we still need to determine the level of flight I'm at before you can teach me.”
 
Dash came to and stood back up. “I think I should trust you in what you can do from now on. Don’t want to see anypony seeing me faint like that. That never happened, agreed?” she said as she stared at him.
 
“What happen? We just landed because I needed to take a break.”
 
The mare nodded and understood where the human was going.
 
At that moment, the memories from the Blaze that was at the library popped into his head. He quickly went through them. Getting what the other wanted to get across, he said, “Hey Dash, mind we continue this later? I just remember that I have to ask Applejack something. See you tomorrow?”
 
“Sure thing. I need to take care of some weather stuff for this evening.” Rainbow bolted off into the sky in some direction, doing some fancy aerial moves at the same time.
 
The human made his way back to Sweet Apple Acres. He went over possible methods he could try to convince the orange Earth pony to accept help. He first headed over to the farmhouse to see how Big Mac was doing. Blaze knocked on the front door. It was Granny Smith, who answered. She said, ”Hi Blitz. Fancy seeing ya here. What brings you to our home?”
 
“Hi, Granny Smith. I just came by to check on Big Macintosh. Wanted to see how he is doing from our tussle last night.”
 
“He's upstairs in his room. Doc says for him to relax. Couldn’t understand the rest with all the fancy words he was using.”
 
“Thanks. I'll head up and give him some company.”
 
Swift Blaze entered the house and looked around. He saw Apple Bloom was doing some homework in the living room. He headed upstairs to the stallion's room At the top, the human saw the door was already open. Blaze knocked on the door as he poked his head inside and said, “Is this the room of the idiot who decided to attack a creature he didn’t know and got his flank handed to him?”
 
The red Earth pony was lying on his stomach, on the bed, reading a book. He had bandages wrapped around his chest area. The stallion looked up and said, “Eeyup.”
 
The human walked in and stood a few feet inside.“How are you doing, Big Macintosh?"
 
"I could be better, mister . . . ?"
 
"Oh, right. We haven’t been properly introduced, my name is Swift Blaze. Sorry about getting you injured.”
 
“I'm the one who should be sorry for attacking you without a good reason.”
 
“Seeing we're both sorry, let’s just forget about it. What did the Doc say?”
 
“He said I'm lucky for getting my back realigned when I did. It could have been much worse. I would like to thank you for that. All I have left are those bruised ribs you mention and swelling around the back. I can’t do any work outside and that is bad because it is applebuck season.”
 
“I heard a pony in town mentioning it. What is it?”
 
“It's the time of the year when all the Apple families do the major harvesting their apples all across Equestria. Usually, my sis and I could handle the fields we are owned by ourselves. I just can't do it this season because of my recklessness." Big Mac gestured to his bandaged side.
 
"Can't the rest of your family help?"

"Granny's too old and Apple Bloom is too young to help out. I tried to convince her to get some help from her friends, but she doesn’t want any. She's going to try and prove she can do it all by herself. I'm worried she'll get too exhausted and still try to help her friends out that she's agreed to.”
 
“And you have tried everything you can think of to convince her to ask for help?”
 
“Eeyup.”
 
“Would you mind if I tried something? I don't know if it will work on a pony, but it may help her realize what her action might cause. What I'm talking about is using a technique I've recently learned that will plant an illusion in her mind. I'm going to promise you that she won’t suffer, but it might break her stubbornness. If it does, and she will accept help, I'll offer my help around here until you get better.”
 
“At this point, I will try anything. You can do this, thing, only if I come with you. More to watch so nothing bad happens. This isn't up for discussion.”
 
“Seems fair. Ok, you have yourself a deal. So, where can we find Applejack?”
 
“In the South Fields is where we start each season. That's where she'll be.”
 
Big Mac slowly got out of bed. Blaze helped him to reduce the pain. They made it out of the house and made their way to where the orange mare should be.
 
In the distance, the human was hearing the sounds of a hoof, hitting a tree trunk, hard. A few seconds later, sounds of apples falling into wooden buckets. Soon afterwards, they spotted Applejack. She was loading another cart full of apples to take to the barn.
 
“Hey, Applejack! What are you up to?” Blaze yelled as they got closer.
 
The orange Earth mare looked in their direction and said, “Big Bro! What the hay are you out of bed? You need your rest so you can get better. You didn't need to show Blaze where I was at.”
 
“Applejack, Blaze wanted to talk to you about why you won’t accept help from anypony,” Big Mac said.
 
The mare stopped a back hoof as she yelled, “I ain’t going to go over this again! Us Apple folk never needed help from outside the family to take care of applebuck season. Now if would excuse me, I have trees to buck.”
 
“Applejack, I can understand you want to follow tradition, but seeing it is part of my fault for Big Mac getting hurt, will you allow me to help?” Blaze asked.
 
“Sorry sugarcube, but I said I was going to do this myself and that is what I'm going to do. There is no pony that is going to change my mind.”
 
“Well, luckily, I'm not a pony. Sorry in advance for what I'm about to do.”
 
Applejack looked angrily at the human. She was trying to figure what he was going to do as she readied herself.
 
Blaze's hands joined together as he shouted, “Earth Style: Body Imprisonment Jutsu!”
 
Stone walls popped out the ground around the mare. They moved so fast, it pinned her body so she couldn’t move. Applejack's head was still exposed.
 
The mare thrashed her head about as she tried to break out. “Let me out of here! When I do get out, you're going to get a serious bucking!” Applejack screamed.
 
Big Mac was stunned at what the human did. “What did you just do, and was that really necessary Blaze?” he asked as he tried to speak over Applejack.
 
Blaze replied, “I'll explain later what I did. But, yes, it was necessary for this next part. Applejack, look at me for a moment.”
 
She does so with an angry look on her face. He formed the hand signs for the Genjutsu. The human thought, Hope she likes this third person view of what would've happened if she didn't change. I think I recall everything correctly from the episode.
 
Her eyes went into a daze as Applejack was now under the jutsu.
 
“It should take about an hour for the jutsu to do its task. In the mean time, Would it be alright for me to help with some of the harvest? I can use it to get a workout done for today,” Blaze said.
 
Big Mac replied, "You can try, but I don't think you can get much done. Your body doesn't appear to be that strong to kick the apple out of the trees."
 
"You're probably right. THIS form doesn't have the same strength as your Earth pony body," Blaze said with a smile.
 
The human did another hand formation and a cloud of smoke surrounded his body. When it dissipated, Blaze's Earth pony form was now standing there.
 
"I think this should be better. Don't you agree?"
 
"It's better, but still not toned for apple bucking. Try not to hurt yourself. Oh, and you still owe me an explanation on how you are doing this magic stuff without a horn," Big Mac said.
 
"I'll explain this while I work."
 
Big Mac nodded and went to a bucked tree to lay down next to it. Blaze carefully tested his strength to knock the apples down. It took several kicks, but they did fall into the baskets below.
 
As Blaze went from tree to tree in the vicinity, he told the other red Earth pony about the chakra and the different jutsu he had learned so far. The hour soon was coming up, so the human released his pony form so he could undo the jutsu.  Applejack came out of the daze. She looked at Blaze with the saddest eyes, he has ever seen.
 
Blaze said, “I’m sorry, Applejack, for having to force you to watch that illusion. It was the only way I could think of to make you listen to reason. Will you please accept your friends to help you?”
 
She nodded slowly up and down. He released the stone that had entrapped her. The mare stretched her limbs for a few seconds. Applejack turned back to Blaze, took off her hat, and said, “I’m sorry for not wanting to ask my friends to help me. That trick of yours did open my eyes.”
 
“Well, for now, please, allow me to help you today, then we can get the others for tomorrow.”
 
“Even with your help, it’s still going to take longer to get what we need to the barn.”
 
“How many wagons do you have to harvest with?”
 
“Umm, we only have two. It’s typically only Big Mac and myself doing the harvesting. Why do you ask?”
 
“I have another jutsu that will help out. Shadow Clone Jutsu!”
 
Five puffs of smoke appeared behind Blaze and showed five more of himself. Then four of them said, “Shadow Transformation Jutsu!” They changed into the pony form.
 
“Think we have enough help now?” they asked.
 
Both Applejack and Big Mac had just been surprised at how quickly he made a workforce to help them. “That meda-thingy you do really allow you to learn some very fancy tricks. I think we might have a good chance to get this done sooner,” said the mare.
 
“Just tell us what to do and we will follow them.”
 
They got their instructions and formed teams to buck the trees, move the buckets to the wagon, and finally unload the wagons in the barn. One of the human Blazes helped Big Mac back to the house. Then, he retrieved the other wagon.
 
It was already late in the day, but they managed to get the quota for the day. Blaze returned to his human form and informed the orange mare he was going to have dinner at Fluttershy’s for some necessary nutrients. Applejack understood what he was getting at and said goodnight to him.
 
> Chapter 10: Working the Farm
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	As the sun was setting, Swift Blaze made his way to Fluttershy’s Cottage. He knocked on the door to see if she was home. A few minutes later, the door was opened up by Fluttershy. “Oh, Swift Blaze! What brings you here?” she said with a surprised voice
 
“Hi Fluttershy. I was wondering if I can join you for dinner and have some, uh, fish you said you have for your meat eating friends?” the human asked her.
 
“Oh, sure. Of course you can join me. I’m glad you are taking up on my offer. I just got done feeding my animal friends before making my dinner. If you want, if you don’t mind, I could cook the fish for you. Or, if you prefer, you can have it raw.”
 
“I’m not a big fan of sushi, which is raw fish. You don’t have to cook it, honestly. I’m just glad you have some on hand. Right now, I don’t have the energy to go hunting after helping Applejack.”
 
“Ok, Blaze, I’ll show you where I keep the fish. Then, I will work on my dinner.”
 
“If it’s alright with you, I would like to make you a dish from my world. I can make it vegetarian for you and add fish to mine.”
 
“That sounds lovely. It’s not everyday that I get to try food from another place. I'll show you where the kitchen is, too.”
 
Blaze followed Fluttershy into her cottage. He looked around and saw several animals eating food pellets from their food bowls. Angel was being different from the others. He was having a fresh salad. The yellow Pegasus mare showed the freezer with the fish and where everything was in her kitchen.
 
"If you need any help, I'll be in the living room reading a book," Fluttershy said.
 
Blaze replied, "Thanks. It should be ready in about thirty minutes."
 
Once she left, the human looked in the pantry for the ingredients he needed. He pulled out rice, soy sauce, brown sugar, and oil. In the fridge, he found bell peppers, red onions, carrots, broccoli, zucchini, fresh ginger, and garlic. All the basic ingredients to make the stir fry. The human looked in the meat freezer and found the fish to be salmon, his favorite.
 
He placed a pot of water on the stove and lit it. Then, he started cleaning the fish.  Blaze then gathered up the veggies and chopped them to the proper size to cook evenly. Once the water was to a boil, the rice was tossed in and stirred. The human then placed two skillets onto the stove over lit flames; one will be veggie only, and the other will be veggie and fish. He wasn't following a specific recipe as he has done this several times.
 
While Blaze was focused on the cooking, Fluttershy snuck back into the kitchen as everything smelled very good. She watched him mix different herbs and liquids in a bowl. Then, pour it over what was in the pans. Once it hit the hot surface, new smells she hadn’t smelled before filled the air. The rice finished cooking. Blaze drained it and place it onto two plates that he had pulled out at some point. The first pan was emptied onto one and the other was emptied on the other.
 
Fluttershy went to the table nearby as the human carried the plates over with silverware. He placed the veggie one in front of her and the salmon and veggie where he was going to sit. Lastly, he went back to the kitchen to get both of themselves a glass of water.
 
Blaze said, “Dinner is served. Just be careful with the first couple of bites. It's still hot from the cooking.”
 
The mare picked up some with her fork, blew on it for a bit, then took a bite. Her face showed pure happiness. “This is amazing, Blaze! I'm amazed you don’t have a cutie mark in cooking.”
 
“I only taught myself in how to cook the dishes I like to eat. True chefs know how to cook any kind of meal with the ingredients they can get.”
 
“Well, thank you for cooking it. I might ask you to come over more so I can see what other dishes from your world you can make.”
 
“I would like that. Once I get my own place, you can come by anytime too, if you want to eat more of my cooking.”
 
“That would be lovely.”
 
They finished eating and Blaze helped with cleanup. He said, "Goodbye, Fluttershy. I'm heading back to Sweet Apple Acres. I'm just helping out on the farm while Big Mac recovers."
 
"Oh, I'll stop by tomorrow to check on him. Good night, Blaze. Have sweet dreams," she replied.
 
Once the human got back to the barn, he saw a cot was placed where he had been sleeping the night before with a blanket. Guess they want to make sure I get good rest tonight, he thought with a smile on his face. Next to the bedding was a package wrapped up with a fancy bow. Blaze opened it and looked inside. His smile went bigger as there was a new Green gi outfit with white trim inside. Underneath, were all the undergarments he’d asked for. The human thought how nice it was of Rarity to deliver it here. He was excited to see what the other ones will look like.
 
Blaze placed the box next to the bed and went to sleep. Inside his head now, he made several groups of shadow clones. The first set practiced more water and earth style jutsu. The next went to practice the aerial moves Rainbow had him copy. He couldn't wait to start working on trying to learn wood style. That will be very helpful in building his house. Blaze only continued this training for a couple hours. He wanted to get a full rest for the work he said he will do.
 
Next morning, the human woke up at the usual time. He decided to skip the morning training. Going to get plenty of work outs on the farm for the next couple days. Blaze snuck into the farmhouse with his new clothes and headed to the upstairs bathroom to clean up. He didn't hear any movement from the bedrooms.
 
Once inside, he closed the door and began to undress. Blaze had his gi off and in a pile on the floor next to him. Just as he had two thumbs tucked inside the waistband to remove the undergarments, the door opened all the way. The human quickly turned his head and saw Applejack was standing there, with a groggy look on her face.
 
“Applejack! Don’t you know to knock!” Blaze shouted. Then, he slammed the door in her face.
 
“I'm sorry there, Blaze. I'm just used to being the first one to wake up and use the bathroom," the mare said with a sad tone in her voice from the other side of the door.
 
Blaze calmed down and replied, "It's alright. That was kinda an auto human reaction to that type of event. Don't think anything wrong about it."
 
"Alright. So, when did you come back last night?”
 
“I guess it was sometime after you ponies went to bed." Blaze continued with taking off his clothes. "I'm also sorry for snapping at you. Where I'm from, the human species don’t like to expose ourselves to strangers. I'm going to take a quick shower and be out quickly.”
 
Blaze turned the shower on and hopped in. Once all clean and dried off, He put the new clothes on. They fit nicely, the fact being it was Rarity's first time to make it for his species. He exited the bathroom and saw Applejack was sitting next to the door, with a sad look on her face.
 
The human lowered himself to sit on his heels and be at the same level with her. He placed a hand on the mare's shoulder and said, “It’s ok, Applejack. You couldn’t have known how humans feel about being naked in front of others. I'm not mad at you. Now then, cheer up, clean up, and I'll get some breakfast going.”
 
Applejack looked into his face and said, “Ok, Blaze. I'm sorry again for doing that. I’ve been meaning to get locks on that door. You can see that we ponyfolk don’t wear clothes all the time, so we are used to seeing everything.”
 
“I believe I know what you're getting at. Now, get in there and let's just forget this completely.”
 
As the orange Earth pony went into the bathroom, the human went to the kitchen. Blaze gathered the stuff to prepare a special pancake batter that he believed the Apple Family will laugh about when they hear what the human's call this dish. As he started to cook them, he heard the others getting up.
 
The first to arrive was Apple Bloom. The little filly said, “Morning Mister Blaze, what smells good?
 
Blaze replied, “Good morning to you too. I'm making breakfast this time. Your sister is in the bathroom at the moment. If you would like to help, can you set the table?”
 
“Right away! Hope you make enough for everypony.”
 
Apple Bloom scurried about with the plates and glassware to the dining room table. As she was finishing up, Granny Smith and Big Mac came down. They helped each other to the table. Blaze said good morning to them and they replied back with the same response. As the human was making the last batch, Applejack came down and joined the others. Blaze turned off the stove before he brought the platter with the special pancakes to the table. Before he could sit down, the other ponies started to take some and taste it.
 
“YEE-HAW! Those are some mighty tasting pancakes. What do you call them, Blaze?” Applejack asked.
 
“You,” Blaze replied with a big grin.
 
“You? That’s a strange thing to call them.”
 
The human started to chuckle a bit. “Not ‘You’ you. Its name is you.”
 
“I don’t get where you are getting at, partner. Mind just telling what the name is?”
 
“The name of this dish is called applejacks.”
 
All the ponies started to laugh, while Applejack was blushing. Blaze joined in the laughter.
 
They finished breakfast and the human helped with the cleanup. He then helped Big Mac back to bed before he joined Applejack outside. She was saying goodbye to Apple Bloom as she was going to school.
 
The orange mare said, “Ready to get to work, Blaze?”
 
For a response, he repeated the jutsu he did yesterday. Once the smoked cleared, they all shouted, “Ready!”
 
The workforce continued clearing the south field of the apples. They took short water breaks when needed. Most of all, everyone was having fun. When lunch time came around, half the south field was done. Applejack snuck away at some point to prepare some peanut butter and apple jelly sandwiches for lunch. The mare made enough for all of Blaze's clones to eat too.
 
As the group continued working through the afternoon, the human had a feeling that something was watching him. He couldn't figure out what it was, but it has been there for some time. The other clones detected this also. They nodded to each other to continue the work without looking suspicious.
 
Blaze finally spotted what was looking at them in the corner of his vision. It was a very small portal hovering above the trees. Best size guess would be about the size of a camera lens. The human picked up an apple from a bushel and threw the fruit at it. It went straight and true and flew into the portal. He heard a faint scream as the portal closed. A letter popped in front of him with Princess Celestia’s seal on it. He opened it and read the following:
 


Dear Swift Blaze,
 
Impressive job of discovering that opening and being able to hit it with an apple. It tasted quite good by the way. If you are not busy tomorrow, I was wondering if you are now ready to discuss with me about your last moments on your planet and how you arrived here. I can schedule to be down there so you can tell me and your friends. I do want another time with you in private to discuss about those mental blocks you placed in your mind.
 
Your Sun Ruler and ‘eye’ in the sky,
 
Princess Celestia


 
After re-reading it for a second time, Blaze agreed that he shouldn't put this off anymore. He'll tell as much as he can, without messing with the possible future he may know.
 
Applejack saw that the human Swift Blaze had stopped working. In his hands he was holding a scroll. She trotted up to him and asked, “What’s going on, Blaze? Did that come from Princess Celestia?”
 
Blaze rolled it back up before he said, “Yea, this came from her. She would like to have another chat with me and ask me a few more questions. Also, Princess Celestia wishes for you and the others to be there too. I agree with it." The human turned his head away. "There have been some things in the back of my mind, I've should have said sooner. I’ve just been trying to think of the best way to say it." He looked back to the orange Earth pony. "Would you mind coming to it?”
 
Applejack rubbed the back of her head with a fore hoof as she said, “I don’t know. I still have a lot of apple-bucking to do. If both of us are gone, we will fall behind greatly.”
 
“No, we won’t. Remember, I can make more shadow clones to cover it. They'll continue to work for us while we do this.”
 
“Alright, sugarcube, I'll join ya. I do have a few more questions, based upon what you said. Now then, let’s get back to work. These apples won’t buck themselves.”
 
The two of them went back to work with the other clones. They worked until the sun had set below the horizon. Blaze released most of his clones, except for one. The human sent this one to inform the others about the meeting at Twilight’s library with the Princess.
 
Applejack and Blaze returned to the farmhouse with empty stomachs that were giving a mighty roar. Granny Smith and Apple Bloom were taking care of dinner. With nothing to do, the human went to sit on the couch, or more accurately, fall onto it. He was still getting used to the aftermath of using these clones for long periods. He's grateful that he didn't collapse right after they vanished.
 
As Blaze sat there, he thought about what might have to come to light in the questioning, wondering what they will think of him lying about all of this stuff he's been doing, the ki and jutsu stuff. What will they say about his true self, a computer geek that spent his spare time on the internet, in one form or another, back on Earth. Well, it would be hard to say as they don't have the same tech level humans do now. Finally, the human couldn't avoid the main topic the Princess requested to learn. Maybe he should work on teleportation and substitution jutsu tonight, just in case.
 
“Dinner is ready, everypony!” Apple Bloom said from the kitchen.
 
This broke Blaze's thinking, with some help from his stomach growling. He got up and made his way to the table. The human saw that on the table were two salad types and the usual apple deserts that were popular. The first salad was a veggie-based one, with what he's probably guessing is an apple style dressing. The other one is just different fruits that were cut up and tossed, that included apples. Blaze only went for a good serving of these, while the Apple family was eating a bit of everything.
 
Some time later, as they finished eating and settled down in the living room, there was a knock at the door. Apple Bloom quickly went over and opened it. Standing there, was the pony form of Swift Blaze. "What the? I thought you . . ." the young filly said as she looked back and forth from the living room and the door. "AHHH! It's a changling! Run everypony!" she screamed at the top of her lungs while running away.
 
Before this filly could run up the stairs, she was yanked back and had hooves holding her around her body. Apple Bloom thrashed about, trying to break free. She soon saw it was the pony that was standing at the door that had her. This caused her to want the break the hold more.
 
"Calm down, Apple Bloom. I'm not this changeling you ponies keep calling me," the pony Blaze said.
 
"Yeah, right! Then how come you look like my friend's pony form when he's sitting right over there?"
 
The human Blaze replied, "That's because that is one of my clones I can create."
 
"What the? There are more of you in Equestria?" Granny Smith asked.
 
"No, this is just another one of those fancy magic things I can do. I'm too tired to go into details." The human Blaze turned his head to the pony Blaze, "Why are you still around? I thought you would release yourself after visiting everyone."
 
The clone replied, "I would have, boss, but I had to bring back a package from Miss Rarity. I left it in the barn next to the cot."
 
"Wow, she really worked fast finishing the other outfits."
 
"Before you ask, I did thank her for doing them."
 
"But, it still doesn't explain why you had to walk over here and tell me directly."
 
"Well, I wanted to see the filly's expression on seeing two of us. It was funny, right, boss?"
 
The human Blaze gave a small chuckle. Then he said, "Yea, I guess it was."
 
"I'm still here, ya know," Apple Bloom said while still being held by the pony Blaze. "I've calmed down. Think you can let go of me?"
 
"Oh! Sorry about that." He set the filly down gently before releasing his hold. "We good, Apple Bloom?"
 
After the filly adjusted the bow in her mane, she said, "Yea, we are. I didn't see that coming. Now I'm looking forward to the next thing you'll do."
 
"Well, it will have to wait until later. I have a meeting with the Princess tomorrow and should get my rest."
 
The pony form released the jutsu and his memories merged with the human. He got up and said, "As the other me stated, I need to hit the sack and get ready for some of the questions that might come tomorrow.”
 
“How in Equestria are you going to prepare to answer questions you don’t even know?” Applejack asked.
 
“I'm basing it on what has already been asked,” then, in a small whisper voice, “and what I've read in other fiction stories.” Blaze switched back to normal volume and said, “Good night, everyone. See you all in the morning.”
 
They all said good night to him as he left the farmhouse. Inside the barn, he saw the package his clone got from Rarity. Blaze opened it up and began to take the clothing out, one at a time. The first one was a blue gi with black trim. Next, a red gi with black trim, a full black gi, a full white gi, a green gi with black trim, and finally, a black gi with white trim. The human was very impressed with how they all looked and their color choices. He couldn’t wait to see what Rarity will do for his tux for the Gala. He folded them back up and placed them back in the box to keep them clean.
 
Blaze lay down and entered his mind. He first made clones to start learning the new jutsu he thought he should have, in case of needing an escape method. While they did that, he focused more on what he may have to cover and possibly have to reveal. There is only so much the human could show from his iPad. If possible, and they accept it, somehow, allow them access to enter his mind. Of course, he will have to be in control of what they will see. Can’t let them wander into his personal memories. This only went on for a few hours before actually going to sleep. Blaze will need it to keep his mind sharp and in check of what’s to come.

> Chapter 11: The Truth Comes Out
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The next morning, just before Princess Celestia rose the sun into the sky, a human woke up in the barn at Sweet Apple Acres. Swift Blaze didn't mind this as he had gotten used to it.
 
He climbed out of the cot slowly as his legs ached a little from yesterday from kicking the trees as an Earth Pony. He stretched out his arm as he let out a big yawn. Blaze grabbed the full white gi and a set of clean undergarments before he made his way to the house. Up in the bathroom, the human cleaned up and got dressed. When he opened the door to the hallway, Applejack was waiting next to the door.
 
“Morning, Applejack," Blaze said, "Thank you for not barging into the bathroom while I was in there.”
 
“Morning, Blaze. I did learn my lesson from yesterday,” said Applejack with a little blush on her cheeks.
 
“This living arrangement won’t be for much longer. I'm planning to work on my house soon.”
 
The orange mare looked confused as she replied, “When did you schedule time with an engineer to go and build it?”
 
“I didn’t. I'm going to build it myself. I will need a pony to do the plumbing and electrical for it.”
 
Not wanting to drag this conversation out further, Applejack said, “Anyway, I’m hopping into the bathroom to clean up. You are going to make some more of me?”
 
“Only if you really liked eating yourself,” Blaze replied with a grin on his face.
 
The mare blushed some more as she went in and closed the door. Blaze went to the kitchen to make the same breakfast as before. The others soon came down while Apple Bloom was setting the table. The human made a bigger stack this time. Everyone couldn't get enough of them as they got second and third servings of it.
 
Granny Smith insisted that the human didn't need to clean up this time. Blaze thanked her and headed outside. In the front yard, the human made four clones that, in turn, transformed into the pony form. He didn't need to tell them what to do as they already knew. They were him of course.
 
Applejack came out of the house a few minutes later. She walked next to the human and said, “Ya ready, sugarcube?”
 
“As ready as I'll ever get. Let’s get going before I change my mind and make a run for it.” Blaze jokingly said the last part with a tiny bead of sweat rolling down his face.
 
Applejack saw the worried look he had. The mare couldn't imagine what's troubling him in the back of his mind. She hoped that he didn't do anything foolish in front of the princess.
 
They made their way into town to Twilight’s place. As they were getting close, Blaze saw a royal carriage was parked nearby. There were also several guards standing around Golden Oaks Library. The human wondered if these guards will give him a hard time like the last ones. As the pair approached the guards, they stepped out of the way and said nothing.
 
They entered the library and saw that the others were already here. Even Princess Luna was here. The two royal sisters were sitting on cushions in the middle of a half circle with an empty chair in the middle. The rest of the mane six were evenly divided on either side, with Twilight sitting next to Princess Celestia. Spike was sitting next to Rarity. He didn't register the others that just came in as he stared at the white Unicorn mare.
 
“Good morning, everyone. I see we are not wasting time in continuing the interrogation,” Blaze said as he sat in the chair.
 
"What?" Twilight exclaimed. "This isn't anything like that! Now why would . . "
 
Blaze was snickering with a big smile on his face.
 
Applejack said, "Don't mind him. He's been Mr. Funny Bones since this morning. Why, he joked about serving me up for breakfast, again."
 
"WHAT?!" shouted several ponies, except the Royal Princesses.
 
"What she means is I served up some pancakes that had apples in them," Blaze replied. "They are called 'applejacks' back on my world," he said while doing the air quotes. Getting nothing but nods from the others, the human turned his head towards Twilight and said, "As for what I said earlier, that was just to break the tension in the room."
 
"Ahh, I see." Twilight wrote down a few notes on the piece of paper next to her, with a couple hundred blank pages sitting behind her.
 
"Well, I see that those new clothes look amazing on you. I hope you like all the color combinations," said Rarity,
 
Blaze replied, "They're perfect. I'm more amazed by how quickly you were able making them."
 
"Once I had the first one done, I had to finish the others. I was in the zone as it were." The white Unicorn mare cleared her throat before she said, "Do your, um, undergarments fit nicely as well?"
 
Blaze blushed a tiny bit. "Yeah, everything is good."
 
Princess Celestia cleared her throat before she said, “Well, this is definitely going to be an interesting morning, Blaze. Before we begin, I just wanted to say that I'm glad you accepted to answer some more questions we may have.”
 
“Not a problem, Your Highness, I figured that was why you may have been personally having been keeping a hidden eye on me. That is, until you don't consider me to be a threat."
 
"One has to protect thy kingdom and thy subjects," Princess Luna chimed in.
 
"So true, little sister," said Princess Celestia. "Now then, . . ."
 
"Um, before we begin," Blaze interrupts, "I don't know if this a good place to say everything. I know you have your Royal Guard around this place, and maybe a few spells in place for privacy. But, I think what you may want answers to, I just feel safer if it's a place that no one would have a way to walk into."
 
"I assure you, Swift Blaze, the guards have been informed to not allow anypony through that we haven't approved," said Princess Celestia.
 
"I know, the other thing is," Blaze rubbed his temples on the side of his head with his hands in frustration. "Ugh, I've been trying to think of the best way of telling some things, without being able to show them. But, can't get a better way of doing it."
 
"What about that flat, rectangular, thingy you showed that image from?" asked Rainbow Dash.
 
The human dropped his hands to the top of his legs. "It's called a computer tablet, or an iPad. And I've thought of that. The thing is, it doesn't contain everything from my world. It allows you to get access to other data locations, back on Earth." He let out a big sigh. "I wish there was a way you can enter my mind. From there, I can show you my memories and better explain stuff."
 
"There is a way," said Princess Luna. "We enter the dream realm and we shall connect everypony to your mind, if you allow the connection. We haven't been able to see your dreams at night for some reason."
 
"Hmm, I'll try to let you in, if everyone is comfortable with trying this."
 
“I'll agree," said Princess Celestia, "Only if two of my guards may stay inside the library as well as two that will go inside your mind.”
 
“I don't have a problem with that. I'll also leave myself here to stand watch.”
 
The white Alicorn Princess nodded and summoned four Unicorn guard ponies into the library with her magic. Blaze did the shadow clone jutsu and another human showed up standing next to him. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie were somewhat startled at this. The guards went on the defensive, but Princess Celestia explained what was going on.
 
Princess Luna said, “Those who are venturing into the dream realm, please form a circle around the human. Lay down on a cushion so you don’t fall over when I cast the spell.”
 
Those on the floor pillows did so as two guards joined them behind the sitting human. The clone moved to the front door where the other guards were standing at attention. Once everyone was comfortable and ready, the Princess of the Moon's horn lit up as she channeled her magic. Small, rope-like strands emitted from her horn and floated through the air as they connect to their foreheads. Finally, a big strand moved to Blaze's head. Upon contact, they all closed their eyes.
 
With the group now asleep, the Blaze clone said to the two guards, "This is going to take a while. I'm going to get some stuff from my bag upstairs to amuse myself. Do you want me to get you anything?"
 
The Unicorn stallion guards remained at attention, standing tall and firm with their eyes looking forward. Neither one said anything.
 
Clone Blaze thought to himself, Princess Celestia definitely knows how to pick them.
 
--------Inside Blaze's Mind--------
 
The human was the first to open his eyes. He looked around and didn't see the others around. He then noticed a floating computer window a few feet away. Blaze walked over to it and saw it said.
 
Luna party requesting access to mind space.
 
Below that there were three choices: Full Access, Guided Access, Denied Access.
 
He selected the middle one. The window disappeared and the group surrounded him in the same location as in the library. The ponies and dragon opened their eyes and saw they were surrounded in a vastness of white.
 
Blaze said, “Welcome everypony, to the inside of my mind. Watch your step.”
 
“Your head is pretty empty, Blaze,” Rainbow said.
 
“That's because this is where I go in my sleep. Here, I can imagine anything I need to help with my training. For example, let’s have a tree sprouting up where you are, Rainbow.”
 
The ground under the blue Pegasus shook for a few seconds. Then, a huge apple tree grew to full size as it engulfed her in the limbs.
 
Inside the newly formed tree, the voice of Rainbow Dash said, “Very funny.” She then flew out of the tree and landed next to Rarity. The mare shook her head and body to remove any leaf that may be stuck to her.
 
"Easy there, Rainbow Dash. I spent two hours this morning beautifying my mane and coat for the Princesses," said Rarity.
 
"I think you are beautiful. No matter how long it took," said Spike.
 
"Aww, thank you, Spiky-wiky."
 
Blaze said, “So, I figure this space would be easier to explain things about me and humans as I can show you things easier instead of trying to get the words to describe it." Blaze looked around to the others. "Who would like to start first?”
 
“Um, can we go someplace that is more familiar? This place is a little strange, if you don’t mind,” Fluttershy asked.
 
“Sure, I'll recreate the library from where we once were. Remember, it may seem real, but it's all in my mind, not yours.”
 
The library appeared around them. Like, a haze that was obscuring their sight. The cushions were arranged differently. They were placed in three rows of four in front of a podium that was next to a projector screen. The human went behind that as the others took a seat. The Royal Guards remained standing on either side of the space.
 
“Before we continue, I would like to make a request that you do not wander around in my mind. I've managed to let you in, but you can only look at stuff I show you. All of these books and rooms contain nothing."
 
Blaze looked at Princess Celestia and hoped this telepathic connection was active. He said to her, I'll show you these thoughts later on, Princess, You'll see why I'm keeping them a secret.

The Alicorn nodded as she replied in the connection, I expect you will soon. If you want to gain my trust. The Princess of the Sun then said with her normal voice, “Can you please show us what happened to your world which caused you to come to ours?”
 
“Wow, the big question right off the bat. Give me a few minutes to gather the displayable items as I'll explain. It will take some time as I need to cover a few things before I can get to my last day on my planet.”
 
A tablet materialized on the podium. The human tapped away as he gathered pictures and video he could recall from memory the best he could do. Once he was ready, the projector screen lit up as he talked.
 
Blaze said, “Ok, the first thing I'll need to go over was a prediction a group of humans called Mayans have made."
 
Various images of humans and their life style showed up on the screen.
 
"Now, through some mathematical thing they did, they calculated off when my world, planet Earth, was going to end. This prediction was over five thousand years ago in the timeline there.”
 
The images changed to a monster circle stone tablet. Then, to an artist rendition of the entire planet on fire. A couple of the mares gasped at what they saw.
 
“Sorry about this image. Most humans didn't believe this would come true. For the next part, I must warn you, I'm about to talk about what humans are like. Please don’t relate me to them as I have different beliefs than most.”
 
The Princesses and the others nodded their heads before Blaze continued telling his tale.
 
“Over the many eras of the human race, one thing has been a constant, we like to fight and cause destruction. Most of these conflicts were either about land, money, or power over other humans. Most historians say we need to learn about our past so we don’t repeat them in the time we live. Well, that never happened. We never learned and because of that, we paid the ultimate price.”
 
The human showed images and short video clips of different battles that he recalled seeing as he was in school. He went over each one and explained what it was about and how the advances in science and technology had resulted in more death and destruction. He even went over the creation of some of the most destructive weapons. Things that could easily destroy towns, cities, or an entire country. Blaze said that a government of a country actually used a device like this, twice. It happened during something in humankind's history called World War II.
 
"That sounds horrible!" shouted Twilight. "Why would anyone use something to cause mass destruction? Let alone, twice."
 
"Humans have been speculating what goes on in the minds of these past leaders that drove them to make those decisions. Some say greed. Others, say fear. Finally, it might be because what they believe in," replied Blaze.
 
The projector screen went dark. The human saw several of the mane six had tears rolling down their face as either one or both fore hooves covered their mouths. Spike was hiding underneath his cushion. The Princesses had a sad expression while the guards were doing their best to maintain their posture and glare face. Only their tail had curled up between their legs.
 
Blaze walked to the front of the podium, as it shape-shifted into a chair. He sat down and said, “I'm sorry for showing you this. I never wanted to let you know what most humans are like. But, I feel you should know of what became of humans since they were last here.”
 
Princess Celestia got up from her cushion and walked to the right side of the sitting human. Princess Luna joined her on the opposite side. They both looked at each other for a few seconds before looking down at him.
 
“I'm glad you showed this to us. Both, my sister and I, are also glad you say that you're not like these humans,” Princess Celestia said.
 
"Indeed," Princess Luna added.
 
“The thing is, I am a human. These reactions, they are in my DNA. I could have done these things at any time. I don't because of what I believe, like the balance in the world.”
 
“If you were like those other humans, then how did you survive the last day on your planet, sugarcube?” Applejack asked.
 
“Yeah, guess it is time to show you what happened. The day in question was the date the Mayans predicted was going to be the end of the world."
 
The screen lit up and it showed Swift Blaze's memory from his point of view. He only showed the things related to the violence that he heard on the radio and saw on the television. He skipped the parts of what he packed and anything that he didn't want them to see. There was a low rumble coming from the video before it paused and cut to black.
 
“What happened next?” Pinkie asked in an excited tone. She had a huge bucket of popcorn in front of her,
 
"Before I continue, this next part has the final moments on my world that I experienced." Blaze had placed his right hand on his left elbow while the left arm stayed by his side. "You can say that I was very afraid and in shock of what was happening. I don't think there is another moment in any creature's life of being the most scared is when they realize they are about to die."
 
The human looked at the others as he lowered his right arm back to is side. He continued with, "If you don't want to see it, I'm okay with it. I've created a sound proof room through the red door over there."
 
After a few seconds of silence, Fluttershy and Rarity got up from their cushions. Before they headed to the door, they made their way to the front. The two ponies went over and gave Blaze a hug. Spike got up and gave the human a bro claw punch.
 
Looking around the room, Rainbow Dash stayed put as she was proving that she wasn’t afraid of anything. Applejack was next to the mare and took it as a challenge to see who will scream first. Both princesses were staying calm and focused. The Royal Guards remained at attention, but a little sight of fear could be spotted in their eyes. Twilight Sparkle had managed to create seven stacks of note cards of different heights. Pinkie Pie was still eating popcorn, except that the mare now had a tall soda next to her and wore 3-D glasses over her eyes.
        
Once the red door was closed, Princess Celestia said, "Bob, please continue."
 
With that, the human started the projector screen back up to where he left off. From the point of view, humans were carrying torches and other odd things in their other hands. The rumbling noise soon revealed an odd looking metal box thing that was going down the road. There was a quick change as the light source in the house was turned off before looking again at what was happening in the street.
 
The ponies saw the smaller metal part on top of this thing began to rotate to the other side, pointing a metal stick at it. There was a loud bang and the door to the other house was engulfed in a fiery explosion.
 
        Blaze saw the young mares jump in their cushions from that. The Princesses stayed firm and focused on the scene. Both Unicorn Guards had their legs shaking a bit as they tried to stay at attention. Pinkie Pie was now wearing soundproof earmuffs as she watched.
 
By now in the replay, Bob had run out of the house just as another explosion just went off. The view went black, but the sound was still going. Small bangs in the distance with strange, high whistle noises was being played from the back speakers towards the front at quick intervals. These were then followed by a bigger explosion.
 
When the picture came back, the ponies were seeing the destruction that happened to the house somehow. Then, there was a clunking sound. Followed by the picture going black again.
 
Twilight was the first to speak. "Blaze, your home! What happened to it?!" she asked.
 
"Everything that I owned got blown up from that tank there and by those other humans," he replied. "What just happened was a piece of my house hit me on the head and knocked me out."
 
"And those other sounds we heard?" Rainbow Dash asked. "They sounded like something moving very fast."
 
"You are correct. They are the much smaller projectile from what came out of the tank. It came from what those thugs had in their other hands."
 
"Is there any more in this memory?" Princess Luna asked.
 
With a heavy sigh, the human said, "Yes."
 
The playback started back up. It showed debris was being removed that was blocking the view. The ponies saw the humans from before had surrounded him. They had a creepy, evil-looking smile on their faces.
 
Bob was pleading for his life after being told he had two choices to pick from. After choosing and the thug leader had agreed to the terms, the others started counting down. Blaze looked at how his friends were reacting.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were holding each other. Twilight scooted closer to Princess Celestia. The Princesses themselves remained firm. The guards’ legs were shaking more than ever. Pinkie Pie had emptied the popcorn bucket and placed it over her head, covering her face so she couldn’t see.
 
Near the last ten seconds, the only thing showing on the projector screen was the sight of looking down the gun barrel. Where a bullet would soon be exiting, once the hammer drops. Right after the sound of a click, the screen went white.
 
Rainbow Dash released her grip on the orange Earth mare, once she realized she was doing it. Applejack too composed herself as she adjusted her hat. Below the Royal Guards, a small puddle had formed beneath each of them. Their legs were no longer shaking.
 
Blaze was sitting in the chair with his head low. He was looking down to his feet. His face was both showing pain and sadness. The human felt two things touch his back. When he looked up, Blaze saw that both Princesses were now next to him. They had placed one of their wings around his back. A smile started to grow on his face.
 
He soon noticed the other mares and small dragon have formed a half circle in front of him. Each one had a small tear rolling down their face. Blaze's tears turned into tears of joy from seeing these ponies care for him, even though he was a complete stranger to this world.
 
The human wiped his tears away and said, "Thank you. I'm fine now. That experience is something I wish to never feel for a very long time."
 
"No, thank you for sharing what happened to you," said Princess Celestia. "I could never imagine the humans I knew would fall so low."
 
        "You still have to realize, these bad ones are the results of power, greed, and corruption. Not all of us go down that path. We choose how we want to live our lives by what we do."
 
"And it seems thou hath chosen wisely," said Princess Luna. "Can thou continue with the tale?"
 
Blaze stood up and said, "Sure, give me a sec to gather my memories."
 
The chair transformed back to a podium. He went behind it as the others returned to their cushions. The Royal Guards had found a mop and a bucket and were cleaning up the mess they had made.
 
        Blaze tapped away at the tablet for the next part, but something was odd. He was getting an "Access Denied" on each segment of memory. Finding it odd, he decided to put this on the back burner to investigate further.
 
“Well, I first couldn't tell where I was. It was because everything was looking pure white. Out of nowhere, the mighty god that most humans believe in spoke to me. He explained why I survived what just happened. The Mayan calendar prediction was a test to see how humans would react to it. Those who stayed peaceful on that day got another chance at life in a world of their choosing. I chose for a world that is peaceful, never seen war, and not human.”
 
“And you ended on our world. That is tragic, yet sweet of you to get a second chance, darling,” Rarity said.
 
“Question, how come you didn't kick those other human flanks with those things you know?” Rainbow asked.
 
Blaze replied, “That's going to be the next thing I was going to explain. The truth is, my world does not have humans with these abilities. I was never trained in martial arts. I'm what my people called a computer geek, nerd, tech savvy, and sometimes freak for liking things they don’t understand.”
 
“Then where did you come up with chakra and ki abilities if they never existed on your world?” Twilight asked.
 
“One thing my kind of people, the geeks and nerds, were into something we called ‘Anime’. What that is are illustration cartoons playing out scenes that we watch, read, and sometimes wrote stories off the series. Actually, I think it would be better to show you where I got the idea from.”
 
The projector screen started to show scenes from Dragonball Z of different fights and seeing humans flying about. It then switched to clips from Naruto. They all were intrigued in the shows and recognized some of the jutsu Blaze had done.
 
“Wow! That was amazing!" said Spike. "How come you have not done any of those blasts from your hands?”
 
“Well, for starters, never had a reason to. Also, I haven't done much practice with it. Finally, as you can see, these techniques are very dangerous. I don't think I would have a need of them. I only chose them so I could gain the power of flight. I mean, besides those who have wings, have any of you dreamed what would it be like to fly?"
 
The Earth and Unicorn mares shook their heads. Spike nodded his head with excitement. The Unicorn Guards gave a subtle nod with a little blush showing on their faces.
 
Blaze continued telling his tale, "So, the reason I chose to get the abilities from these shows, besides how cool they are, I didn't know what I would be facing in the next world. I like a little mystery of the unknown and to be a little prepared. I still have to train and practice with them. That's what I've been doing in my sleep most nights.”
 
“Thank you for telling about the events leading to you arriving here," said Princess Celestia. "I feel sorry that most of your species did not survive your God’s test. I've seen for myself the good in humans turn corrupt for greed and power. That's why they were banished from this world over one thousand years ago."
 
“Taking a wild guess of my species timeline, that speaking was during the medieval era. Also, roughly that far back in time too. That time was another dark period in human history and where myths about Unicorns and Pegasi came from.”
 
Princess Luna asked, “Roughly, how many dark periods were there in thy species' history?”
 
“There are too many to count. We have history books that go over past events that they've been able to piece together from aged documents centuries later. Most have been destroyed in fires, or have been lost."
 
“Again, I'm sad to hear about that," said the Princess of the Sun." Let's go over another topic I wish to know more of. Would you mind going over the new jutsu you have learned since we last met?”
 
“Sure thing, Your Highness. The last time I saw you, I explained about shadow transform. In the show, the main character’s popular move is called shadow clone."
 
Blaze went on and explained how a typical clone jutsu is, from what he had seen from the show. Then onto what makes this one more unique. The human went on by doing a quick demonstration on the intelligence gathering.
 
He made two clones. One went with Spike, the other with Rainbow Dash. They went two opposite parts of the room and had a whisper chat. The original Blaze explained to the others what they are chatting about, but couldn't go into detail at this time. When they returned, the clones disappeared and Blaze went over the new memories.
 
"Alright. Rainbow Dash, you told my clone that you have a Wonderbolt's poster that has almost all the signatures from them. You are only missing Spitfire and Soarin. You said that they are very busy with the show themselves, is the reason why. You currently have it framed above your bed, on the ceiling. That way, for each morning, you can look at that when you wake up to increase your determination on joining them. Did I miss anything, Rainbow?"
 
"You pretty much nailed it," said the blue Pegasus mare. "The only thing you didn't mention was how awesome I am."
 
"That ain't a secret, sugarcube," said Applejack
 
"Onto Spike now. You didn't tell me anything. What you did with my clone is he showed you a quick game called, 'Rock, Paper, Scissors'. We played best out of seven. I won three and you won three. The final round became a draw as we kept on doing the same symbol."
 
"I love playing games!" said Spike. "Can't wait to play it again."
 
“Impressive, Blaze," said Princess Celestia. "I can see why this is very useful. But, I can also see how an enemy could make an army appear. We wouldn't be prepared for something like that.”
 
"There is one downside to this," Blaze replied. "Say, one enemy makes a thousand clones of himself. Their power and strength is also divided evenly among them. So, one all powerful foe divided by a thousand, you get an army that would fall from a paper cut."
 
"Paper cuts are not something to joke about," said Twilight Sparkle. "They really hurt."
 
“Anyways, for this next part, I will need to explain the basics of it so you can understand the next jutsu. Besides the basic Ninjutsu, the show talks about the ninja being natural to a naturalistic style. Those are earth, fire, wind, water, and lightning. Typically, you are only natural to one. But, with me choosing to also have abilities from the other show, God said I have the capability to learn all of them.”
 
Almost everyone was shocked to hear this. As Rarity did her fainting scene, Blaze had a couch show up behind her. Pinkie Pie spilled her popcorn. Twilight broke her quill.
 
Blaze cleared his throat before he said, “Even though I have this, it will take me some time to try and learn the different nature jutsus to a useful capacity. What I've started learning are earth and water style jutsu.
 
"I've gotten a good experience with that earth one," Applejack said.
 
Rainbow Dash asked, "How's that?"
 
"Blaze trapped me so I couldn't move."
 
The Unicorn Guard started to charge up their horns as they stared angrily at the human.
 
Blaze held up both hands toward them and shouted, "Hold it! That's not the full story. Please, let me explain."
 
Princess Celestia looked to her guards and nodded her head. Their horns stopped glowing. They returned to their at-attention pose. The human thanked the Princess. Then, he told the tale of what occurred that day.
 
Applejack had her head down low because she recalled how stubborn she was acting.
 
“Applejack, why did you not ask us to help you when your brother got injured? We would have gladly helped, ” said Twilight.
 
Before the orange mare could reply, Blaze said, “I asked that myself when Big Mac and I went to find her. She went on saying it was Apple family tradition and that she was trying to prove herself to her brother. I realized she wasn’t going to listen to reason, so I immobilized her body so I could do the next jutsu.”
 
“What jutsu was that?” Pinkie asked while eating from a new bag of popcorn.
 
“The type is called a Genjutsu. Instead of some physical change to something, this one goes after the mind. I did a weak one that allowed me to implant an illusion into her of what could happen if she did not ask for help and got very exhausted.”
 
“What was the dreadful illusion that made Applejack realize she should ask for help when something is too big for one pony, Blaze?” Rarity asked from the couch she was on.
 
“I think Applejack should answer this. She experienced it,” the human suggested.
 
The Earth pony looked up and glanced at all her friends. She said, "I couldn't tell at first what I was seeing. There was some screen in front of me and I couldn't stop looking at it. I was seeing myself really exhausted, while trying to help my friends. Each thing I was involved with that I promised to help them ended disastrously. I sent Rainbow flying badly when she wanted my help for a stunt. I poisoned a bunch of ponies with bad muffins. Finally, I terrorized all the new baby bunnies to go into a stampede when I was helping Fluttershy.”
 
“This is so bizarre. I was going to ask you for your help later this week with a stunt to increase my launch speed,” Rainbow said.
 
“I too was going to ask you to help in making some baked goods at Sugarcube Corner,” Pinkie said.
 
“I was going to ask, if you don’t mind, to help me gather all the baby bunnies to get a count of them. The way you handle the cows was impressive,” Fluttershy said.
 
All eyes turned and looked at Swift Blaze. While being a little nervous, he said, “What? How was I supposed to know what Applejack was going to see. I'm still figuring out how all of this works."
The mare gave the human a questioning look as they thought over what he said. He hoped that they will buy it. Who knows what could happen if the real truth comes out, Blaze thought inside his head.
 
And what truth could this be? another voice in his head said.
 
Blaze looked to Princess Celestia. Her eyes stared at him, like she was glaring at his soul.
 
Busted, Blaze thought. He did a big swallow before he replied in his head. It's true, Your Highness. I've been holding some things back from all of you. I was planning on telling you, in private. The fewer that know this would probably be safer for your kingdom. I hope you'll understand why after you hear it.
 
Only a few seconds went by. But the human felt it was an hour before the Princess responded. Very well. We shall discuss it, after this meeting, she said with a stern voice in the human's head.
 
Another gulp came from his throat as he now feared what might happen later.

Applejack broke the silence in the room when she said, “That illusion made me realize that I should never have thought to try and do something that big. I have helped my friends with their problems. I should have asked them to help with mine.”
 
“Ok, Blaze, it looks like you diverted an issue between your friends if you had not stepped in to help Applejack that friendship lesson. I'm glad you controlled yourself to make sure no harm came to your friends. Do hold yourself back in causing harm to my ponies. Unless, you are going to protect them,” Princess Celestia said.
 
“I do wish to protect your ponies and my friends. That's why I'm continuing to learn these jutsu and ki abilities. In a world where magic exists in everything around us, a single human is at a disadvantage if they want to protect the ones they care for,” the human replied.
 
Princess Luna said, “We're glad to hear that. Maybe thou should join the Royal Guard. It would be a good way to train in fighting in thy pony form.”
 
Blaze replied “I'll think about it. I still need some time to figure out my place in your kingdom. There are many other considerations of things I could do here. I could maybe teach your guards some Taijutsu techniques.”
 
“Tai what now? What the buck is that?” Rainbow asked.
 
“It's another style of jutsu. While the others I've talked about using chakra, Taijutsu does not require it. You can pretty much classify it as another style of martial arts. The only thing is, I will have to adjust it some for a pony body. Again, that is another possibility I could do here.”
 
“I would like a demonstration, before I will consider you teaching my guards,” said Princess Celestia.
 
“But of course, Princess," the human said as he bowed to her. "Now then, let's get back to the jutsu I have learned. The next style that I haven't used in the real world is Water style. Just like the name says, it uses water to make it work.”
 
“If you have been training to use them in here, can you give us a demonstration?” Twilight asked.
 
“Not a problem. I'll need to change to a different area. Please, remain seated until the transition has come to a complete stop.”
 
The surrounding wall became blurry as they moved at imaginable speeds. Once it came to a stop, the ponies saw they were now in an open field with huge boulders, spread out. Next to the human stood a basic water fountain.
 
"Where in Equestria are we?" asked Rainbow Dash. "I don't recognize any of this."
 
"That's because this isn't. I'm using an area that is seen often from the Dragonball Z series. This area is good to do some target practice." Blaze stepped to the side and gestured to several boulders that were behind him. "As you can see, I have different rocks of different sizes and properties. I will be doing three different techniques on them. Please, stand back."
 
The ponies watched as the human turned and faced the rocks ahead. The water from the fountain began to form a long blade. It shot across the space and did a diagonal slicing move on the first target. On the second one, the water stream transformed into a massive hammer. It slammed into a middle rock, causing it to be smashed into hundreds of pieces. Onto the final rock, and the biggest. Blaze had caused the water to change back into a collected pool of water. It launched itself at the boulder, piercing it, and continued going through it. The stream came back from behind the rock and repeated the motion of turning the rock into Swiss cheese, literally.
 
Once he was done, the human turned back around and faced the others. Some were stunned by the damage was done. Others were amazed of Blaze’s feat.
 
Spike spoke first as he said, "That, was, AWESOME!"
 
"You definitely know how to break rocks," said Rainbow Dash. "What else can you do with water?"
 
"Almost anything can be used for destroying things. It's when you use it to be creative, that's the amazing part," said Blaze.
 
He put his hands together and did different symbol poses. The fountain water shaped shifted into several dolphins. The human had them fly about around the group, doing different tricks and passing through hoops that were also made of water.
 
Once Blaze was done, the mares and princesses clapped their fore hooves together. They all had big smiles on their muzzles. The guards remained at attention.
 
“You are certainly learning some useful jutsu to help protect your friends. I can’t wait to see what you are going to do next,” Princess Celestia said.
 
“Well, the next one I'm planning on learning, might cause everypony to faint from seeing what I will do with it. It will take some time before I'm ready to show it," said Blaze. He looked to the other and said, "Are there any more questions you would like to ask before Princess Luna ends this?”
 
Spike quickly said, “Can you show us some ki blast? I just want to see what those can do."
 
“I figured you wanted to see that when you saw that show. I am going to change the area again to one with things for target practice. Don’t panic over where we go as it is just an illusion.”
 
Blaze changed their location from the fields to a space environment with meteors in the distance. The guard ponies panicked, trying to hold onto their air for no reason. Everyone else laughed until they realized it was an illusion as the human had told them.
 
“Now that we had that laugh, I'll try to show some basic blast at the meteors over there. You'll understand why I won’t use these unless there was no other option.”
 
The ponies stood behind the human as he gathered the energy. A red aura started to appear around his body. Blaze raised his right arm as a red orb formed in front of his hands. He sent several them flying to the space rocks. Each one hit their target and blew them to pieces.
 
"Hold on," said Rainbow Dash. "These are red. We saw a blue one when you came here. Why is there a color difference?"
 
"Maybe it has to do the color of his pony form?" said Twilight Sparkle.
 
"But he is in this form!" the blue Pegasus shouted. "Shouldn't it be that, peach tan color then?"
 
"I don't know, sugarcube. Only one that would know is Blaze himself," said Applejack. The mare turned towards the human. "Well?"
 
Blaze rubbed the back of his head as he said, "Um, yeah. I think I know what Rainbow Dash is talking about. I didn't realize at the time that I was using THAT technique. I'm just glad it was as weak as it was. Would of hated showing up and explain why the area was destroyed."
 
"How much destruction is thou speaking of?" asked Princess Luna.
 
The human lowered his hand and replied, "Umm, in the show, the main characters could destroy planets." Blaze raised both hands to the ponies and quickly said, "But they had a lot higher energy level! Nothing that I'm no where near."
 
Princess Celestia raised and eyebrow then waited a few seconds, before she said, "What levels are we talking about?"
 
"I don't have the device to detect mine. But, I'm guessing mine is around a couple thousand. They had power levels that were several million. They got there from very intense training and being part of a special race from another planet. I will never get to their levels"
 
"Okay then. Proceed with the demonstration."
 
Blaze bowed to her, before he turned around and faced the remaining asteroid. The human brought his hands together in front of him. Then, pulled them to his side as a bright blue orb formed in them.
"Ka . . . me . . . ha . . . me . . . ha!" Blaze said as he charged up the energy and released it to the remaining target. Upon contact, it grew big enough to engulf it and the remaining chunks nearby. It dissipated and nothing was left.
 
All ponies were again shocked at the devastation that they can cause. “Now you see why I won’t be using these unless they were the last resort. If there is nothing else, Princess Luna, can you end the dream share?”
 
The Princess of the night nodded her head. Her horn lit up and blanketed the area in white.
 
Back in the real world, everyone woke up from the slumber in the library. Blaze saw his clone was playing a card game with the other guards.
 
“Do you have any threes?” a guard asked.
 
The clone and other guard said, “Go fish.”
 
“I'm shocked you're not playing poker and taking their money," the real Blaze said.
The guards dropped their cards and went back to salute formation, not noticing the ponies were waking up.
 
“Sorry about that, Your Highness, it was the clone’s idea to play the game while we waited,” one guard said.
 
"Well, I can see I'm no longer wanted," said the clone.
 
He got up from the table and walked to the real Blaze. The clone whispered into the other's ear as he passed a full sack and a black, rectangular thing to him. With that, he was engulfed in a puff of smoke and disappeared.
 
Blaze glanced through the memories to confirm what his clone has told him. He said, "Well, I can see you two were not bored while everyone was asleep."
 
"What do you know?" asked a guard.
 
Blaze replied, "That's right. You don't know the specifics of the shadow clone. Well, when the technique is done, their memories are shared with me."
 
Both guards that had stood watch outside the dream took a big gulp. The second one had a bead of sweat rolling down his face as he said, "We did play a few card games. There's nothing wrong about that."
 
"Is there anything more you would like to share?"
 
"What are you getting at, Blaze?" asked Princess Celestia.
 
"My clone knew if anything were to happen, it would be his word against two Royal Guards. He grabbed a special device from my bag, for insurance."
 
"What would that be?"
 
"A video camera."
 
The first guard said, "We didn't see him lug down any big camera and set it up. Just that black thing he has."
 
"You see, technology where I'm from doesn't need to big anymore to do the same thing." Blaze pointed to the staircase going up. "Princess Celestia, would you please grab that silver box that is sitting on the stairs over there?"
 
The white Alicorn lit up her horn and used her magic. Once the object was in front of her, she said, "This is a camera? How do you get the film out?"
 
The human replied, "The camera is called a GoPro. It doesn't use film wheels. Humans have developed the method to take that out and capture it by, what it's called, digitally. A tiny piece of tech is in there that is acting as memory and placing what it records onto it."
 
"Then how the hay are you going to be able to watch it?" asked Rainbow Dash.
 
Blaze looked over and saw Twilight was madly writing down notes on this discussion.
 
"We're wondering that too. Plus, how was your other self controlling it. You don't have magic," said Princess Luna.
 
Blaze held up the black rectangle object and said, “With this. It works like that tablet I showed earlier, just smaller. I’m able to remotely control that camera and see what it sees on this screen.”
 
The human tapped the screen for a few seconds. When he turned it back around, the screen was displaying what was broadcasting from the mini camera. Princess Celestia turned it around to have the lens pointed at her. The screen copied the movement path.
 
The white Alicorn looked at the two guards that stood watch while they slept. She had a look between pissed off and disappointed. The stallions getting the glare were sweating noticeably. Before they could say or do anything, Princess Celestia said, "Don't move or say anything until I have reviewed this. Also, the anti-teleport barrier is still up."
 
She turned to Luna and said, "Sister, have you and the other guards watch them."
 
"But of course," replied the dark blue Alicorn. "We shall make sure of it."
 
"Blaze, show me what transpired here."
 
The human nodded. So, with a swipe and a tap, the video playback started.
        
--------------------------------
 
It showed the guards standing still while the ponies went into the shared dream state. After a while, the guards were whispering among themselves about something. Blaze's clone had gone to retrieve a book from one of the shelves. He sat in a chair at the far end of the room, opposite from the camera. He placed the book where it was blocking what he could see.
 
The guards moved about while they looked at the human to see if he noticed. Once they were satisfied, each one used their magic and picked up Rainbow and Fluttershy. These Unicorns made the sleeping Pegasus fly around the room. After a few laps, they gently placed them back down where they were laying. The Royal Guard switched their magic grip onto the two unconscious guards. They manipulated them to dance together in the waltz. After a while, the guards placed the other ones back where they were.
 
The ponies approached the clone. One guard said, “Hey, human! We have a question to ask ya."
The clone replied, “Hmm? Sorry, I was reading this interesting book on other creatures of this world. Did you want to read it?”
 
“No. We were wondering if your species ever played poker.”
 
“Yes, they have. I’m sorry to say though I'm not an expert on it.”
 
“It’s easy. Just need a deck of cards and some bits to wager. You do have some, correct?” the other guard said.
 
“Yes, I do," the human said as he lifted a medium size bit sack from his waist. "It was a gift from the Princess.”
 
They saw how big the bag was and huge grins showed up on their faces.
 
"Then play a few hands. We'll go easy the first few deals, just so you can get used to it," said the first guard.
 
"Alright. I could use the bits to get the supplies for the house I'm planning to make."
 
"Don't dream too early, or you might find yourself with no bits at all," the second guard replied.
 
They went to a table and set up as the clone went to get the cards. A guard was dealing first and explained the rules as he shuffled the deck with his magic. After a couple hours the guards’ side of the table was empty of bits and the clone had them all.
 
“Guess today was my lucky day,” the clone said as he shoveled the bits into the bag. “Want to play a game of Go Fish?”
 
The guards nodded.
 
-------------------------------
 
The video clip ended. Princess Celestia looked at Blaze and sent a telepathic message to him, Blaze, why didn't your clone stop them from what they were doing?
 
Blaze replied in the connection, He could have. But, if he did, he thought the guards would have called ones outside and say that the human was doing that. He would have intervened if it got too far out of control. The other reason is the clone felt that you should deal with them. The camera was going to be proof of whatever actually happened.
 
Very clever. Did the clone lie about playing poker?
 
The human smiled as he replied, I was the online poker state champ for two years.
 
The Princess let out a small chuckle. The white Alicorn regained her composure before she looked at the guilty Royal Guards
 
“What did these guards do, Princess?” Twilight asked.
 
“Blaze did capture what these two did and will be punished.” She looked at them and said, “You have been found guilty of conduct unbecoming of a Royal Guard. This also includes what has been shown to me. I won’t go into detail in front of these ponies. But, it will be recorded in your personal files. You will be stripped of your ranks, down to private. Finally, you will be sentence to one year in the dungeons of Canterlot, as set in the Equestrian Code of Military Conduct.”
 
“But Your Highness, we can explain. You see . . .” a guard started to say.
 
“ENOUGH!" shouted Princess Celestia in the Royal Canterlot Voice.
 
After a few seconds, the white Alicorn, at normal voice levels, said, "I thought I could trust you to protect me and my subject. But instead you did this foolish thing. This device has seen everything you did. It’s a good thing the human tricked you in getting all your money. You have shamed the Royal Guard name and what it stands for."
 
Both guards started to beg the Princess, “Please, Your Highness! We're sorry for what we did. We promise to never do anything like that ever again. Please don’t kick us out of the Royal Guard. We'll do anything!”
 
Blaze stepped up next to the Princess of the Day and said, "Excuse me, Princess, I don't mean to step in, but I think I might have a better suggestion. Being kicked out and tossed into jail seems to be a little extreme. I mean, no harm came to you, Princess Luna, or anyone else. They were just acting childish. This method won't teach them to do better."
 
She was thinking upon what the human said. Her reply was, "You do have a point. What do you have in mind, Blaze?"
 
"They first must agree to this option before I say it. If they back out of it at any time, they will be still kicked out and be sentenced to five years in the dungeons of Canterlot."
 
"Interesting proposal. I'll consider this option."
 
Princess Luna looked at the guilty ponies and said, "Time to choose your verdict. Do you want our sister's decreed of punishment? Or, do you want to go with Swift Blaze's mystery option with the added condition of failing?"
 
They whispered between them quietly for a few minutes. Once they made their mind, the accused Unicorn guards turned toward the Princesses. "We'll choose Blaze's decision," said the first guard.
 
The second one said, "Yeah, anything is better than dishonorable discharge."
 
Everypony turned to me to hear what they will be getting.
 
Blaze smiled and said in a game show voice, "Congratulations! You two colts have won the following. You'll work on Applejack's farm, starting tomorrow, and do it for one year. The mare and her brother, Big Mac, will be your bosses. Your pay will be half of what you would normally get for working there. If at any point she thinks you are not going to cut it, you will go to the dungeon for five years with the discharge."
 
Before the guards could respond, the human also said,"But wait! There's more. During the time there, you'll wear magic inhibitors the entire time. Basically, you will be Earth ponies with horns the entire time. After completing the time on the farm, you'll go back to magic school and relearn your spells. Finally, once magic school is done, you'll go through basic training, two times. If you pass both times, then and only then, you can return back to your current positions. If at any point you fail or back out, it is straight to the dungeon."
 
"We would have never agreed to those terms! One year in the dungeon is better than that!" shouted one guard. The other nodded his head.
 
"Just remember, if you back out, it will be five years," said Blaze. "I choose this so you can actually learn from your mistakes and be better in the future. So, will you continue with my choice? Or, are you going to the dungeons?"
 
They whisper to each other some more with an angry tone that could be heard. They turned to the Princess of the Sun. The second guard asked, "Do you promise that we'll be allowed back into the Royal Guard if we do what Blaze said?"
 
Princess Celestia turned to Blaze and said in his mind, You're right. They were acting childish. I do think this will teach them how to better behave. It's a little scary you came up with this in such a short time.
 
He replied in his mind, Kicking them out and throwing them into the dungeon would cause them to hate you over time. Maybe even do evil deeds if they follow that path. This will get them back on the right path and teach them to not abuse the power they have.
 
I agree. She turned back to the guards and said, "Yes, you'll be allowed back in. Only when you meet all the points in Blaze's choice."
 
The guilty guards started to bow repeatedly as they said, "Thank you, Your Highness! We are truly sorry for what we did and thank you for giving us another chance.”
 
Blaze turned to the orange mare and said, "Ok, Applejack, you have two new workers for you. You know the condition of their employment. When you get back to the farm, just tell my clones you're all set with them and can release the jutsu."
 
The Earth pony replied, "Why don't you tell them? Aren't ya coming back to the farm?"
 
"I need Swift Blaze to come with me to Canterlot. It's just to fill out some forms so he can be a true citizen of Equestria," Princess Celestia said.
 
All the ponies accepted that reasoning.
 
Blaze said, "Seeing we are done here, Shall we get going?”
 
“Very well. Goodbye, Twilight Sparkle and her friends. Blaze will return tomorrow morning.”
 
All the ponies bowed to the Princesses as they started to leave. Before they exited, Princess Luna used her magic to remove the armor from the two temporally suspended guards. Then, she placed a magic inhibitor ring on their horns. Finally, a binding spell so they couldn't come off by any means, except by the Princesses.
 
Blaze followed them out and joined the Alicorns in the carriage. Soon, the carriage was off and flying back to the castle.
 
	

> Chapter 12: The Whole Truth, Oh God . . .
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	High up in the afternoon sky of Equestria, a carriage being pulled by four Pegasus Royal Guards was heading to Canterlot. Inside, sat a white Alicorn, Princess Celestia, a dark blue Alicorn, Princess Luna, and a human, Swift Blaze. Blaze was looking outside the window next to him. He saw the ground below passing by and other Pegasi were moving the clouds about. When he turned his head to the interior, the human noticed that something was on Princess Celestia's mind.
 
“Two pennies for your thoughts?” Blaze asked.
 
The white Alicorn replied, “What did you say?"
 
"It's a human metaphor. I asked what are you thinking about."
 
"Well, I've only told the ponies in Ponyville and our personal Royal Guard about you. The rest of Equestria still thinks humans are a myth. Do you think you can go to your pony form? I don't know how the high society ponies will react. You will only have to do it until we are inside the castle walls.”
 
“Sure. I can see where you are coming from. You don't want them running for the hills screaming monster," Blaze said with a chuckle.
 
"We don't see how this is a laughing matter," said Princess Luna.
 
"It's another human saying."
 
"Hmm, thou must teach us these 'sayings'. Maybe they will allow us to get in touch with the modern times."
 
"I don't think human verbiage will connect with the ponies here. It will just fly over their head."
 
"Oh! We know that one. Our sister has said it several times when she talks about her day in court."
 
Princess Celestia said, "Luna, I don't think Blaze is interested in what happens during the royal court proceedings."
 
"We shall see," said Blaze. "Have you informed your guards about me, at least? Or, do I get to mess with them if they try to stop me from going with you?”
 
“I knew I was forgetting something. It's a little late now. Blaze, stay close to us for now. That should tell them that you are with us.”
 
“But, if we do get separated, I'll try not to harm your guards if they attack first.”
 
Princess Celestia smiled and nodded her head. Princess Luna had a tiny smirk, her smile showing. If Blaze had to guess, she wanted to see how he will deal with the Royal Guard. The human transformed into his pony form and got comfortable for the rest of the ride.
 
The castle in Canterlot was now close. The Pegasus Guards began their descent toward the front courtyard. Once the carriage came to a stop, Blaze stepped out and helped the Alicorns out of the vehicle, all gentlecolt-like.
 
The red Earth pony turned around. He shook the back legs, one at a time, and felt relief from the cramps subsiding. When he finally looked at the castle, the size and style of it was truly impressive. The human in disguise was amazed by how beautiful everything looked.
 
Blaze then noticed that the Princesses were at the top of the steps and entering the big front doors. He was still at the bottom of the stairs, next to the carriage. Great, I got sidetracked from sightseeing. he thought. The stallion moved his flank to catch up.
 
The Royal Guards at the front door stopped him in his path. “Halt! State your name and business here for coming to the castle,”one guard said.
 
“My name is Swift Blaze. I'm not from Equestria. The Princesses have invited me to come and fill out some paperwork to become a citizen here,” the red stallion replied back with a friendly tone.
 
“Hmm, you must be an outsider. No one from Equestria would wear that odd clothing,” the other guard said.
 
“Actually, this does have a practical purpose. Now then, if you would excuse me, I need to catch back up with them.”
 
Blaze stepped forward, but the guards nudged him back down the steps.
 
“No can do, we don’t let any outsiders in without orders from the Princesses,” said the first guard.
 
"You can go back into Canterlot and fill out the citizen forms like everypony else," said the second guard.
 
Blaze, getting a little aggravated, replied, “Didn't you see that I came here on their carriage? I got sidetracked from looking at how big the castle is. Can't you just let me through?”
 
The first guard said, “No can do. I don’t trust you. So, go back to where ever you came from, freak.”
 
Blaze eye started to twitch as he thought, Oh that’s it. I am no longer responsible for my actions. Did my best, Princess. “What did you call me? he said in an angry tone.
 
“You heard me. Now, leave the grounds or we'll throw you into the dungeons.”
 
"How about I show you a magic trick instead?” The red stallion had taken a few steps back down the stairs.
 
“Huh? What in Equestria are you bucking about?” one guard said with a confused look on his face.
 
“For my first trick, I shall transform my form into a creature you have never seen.”
 
Blaze released the shadow transform jutsu and returned to his human body.
 
“It’s a monster! Get it!” a guard yelled. Both of them started to charge down the steps.
 
Blaze said, “For my next trick, I shall make you tackle your co-worker.”
 
They continued the charge. Blaze hands shifted in different positions. This caused the area to be filled with smoke. Once it dissipated, an earth pony guard had pinned Blaze.
 
“Go get some guards so we can take this to the dungeon." The other earth pony nodded and headed inside. Blaze was fighting against the hold he was in.
 
“Get off me, you dolt! He performed some magic that caused me to look like him and him to look like me,” the Blaze lookalike said.
 
“Prove it.”
 
“Do you want me to go into detail about your date last week and of where I found you in the aftermath?”
 
He shook his head no and quickly got off his co-worker. The fake Blaze suddenly transformed back to his original body.
 
“Come on! We need to sound the alarm about the intruder! We need the Unicorn Guards to track him down as he has some sort of magic to make him look like a guard.”
 
They entered the castle and made their way to the courtroom where the Princess of the Sun spends most of the time. Mostly to hear whatever it was that ponies wished to complain about. They rounded the corner and almost bumped into Princess Celestia.
 
“Your Highness! There is a strange creature that can change its form running around the castle. We must get you to safety,” one guard said.
 
“That won't be necessary. Swift Blaze is my guest and will be staying in the castle for a while. I invited him here to fill the forms to give him citizenship.”
 
“You sure you can trust that creature? It performed something causing a guard to look like the creature and traded positions,” said the second guard.
 
“I'm sure he only did that so he would not deal damage to you directly. Did you provoke him somehow?”
 
The first guard replied, “I may have called him a freak. Mostly due to what he was wearing.”
 
“Then it's your fault for what happened. We don't treat any guest that way. You both are dismissed from duty for the day, without pay. Also, you can’t leave the barracks until tomorrow morning.”
 
Both guards lowered their heads and said, “Yes, Your Highness,” They turned around and left her sight. The Princess heard a whisper from one guard that said, "Thanks a lot, you dolt."
 
Princess Luna came around the corner and said, “Have thou found Swift Blaze? We heard that he was in the area from one of the guards.”
 
“I believe Blaze is closer than you think.” A puff a cloud formed around Princess Celestia and revealed Blaze in his human form.
 
“Blaze! Why was thou disguised as thy sister?” Princess Luna said with a shocked tone.
 
“I fell behind at the entrance and the guards wouldn't let me though. Stuff happened and caused them to chase after me. I needed something to cause them to stop.”
 
        "Well, we should have told them when we walked by. Thy sister wanted to see what trickery you could have pulled off before getting captured," said the Princess of the Moon. With a smile, she added, "Looks like I won the bet as you were not captured by them."
 
“All of this for a little bet. I take it she didn't like the apple I threw through the peep portal very well."
 
"The apple in question impaled itself on thy sister's horn."
 
Blaze broke into full laughter after hearing that. Princess Luna joined in with a small chuckle. After a few minutes, the human had calmed down enough and said, "I think we should go see her now, before she sends more guards."
 
"Very well. Let’s go see thy sister.”
 
Blaze transformed back to a pony and followed the Alicorn through the halls. They stopped when the pair reached the big doors leading to the royal throne room. The Unicorn guards standing on either side used their magic to open the doors for them. Inside, Princess Celestia was sitting on the throne. She used her magic as a quill was moving about on some scrolls.
 
She looked up to see who entered and said, “Ah, Blaze, glad to see you were able to get in. How much trouble did you cause?”
 
“Nothing big, Your Highness. If you hear about two guards being dismissed by you and told to stay in the barracks tonight, just agree that you did,” said Blaze.
 
“Now why would they think I did that?” Princess Celestia said with a curious tone and a smirk on her face.
 
“Um, maybe because they were chasing me when I changed human and escaped into the castle.”
 
“Care to elaborate on what happened?”
 
Blaze told them what happened from when he exited the carriage to the point Princess Luna saw him looking like her sister. “I'm sorry for impersonating you. There are just certain words I don’t like being called. I can somewhat understand if they said that in my human form, as they’ve never see my species. But they shouldn’t have called me that for how I'm dressed.”
 
Princess Celestia was thinking about what Blaze said. Princess Luna had moved to stand beside her sister. The human remained at the bottom of the steps, waiting.
 
A couple minutes later, the white Alicorn said, “Thank you for being honest with me. Now then, shall we go over those things we discussed while at Twilight’s?”
 
Swift Blaze bowed and said, “Very well, Princess Celestia." He straightened back up before he continued with, "If you could please clear the room, except for you and Princess Luna, I shall go over it.”
 
The Princess nodded and told her guards to leave the room and that they did not wish to be disturbed. Once they left and closed the doors, she used her magic as different waves whooshed over the space. “The room is secured,” she said.
 
“Thank you, Princess. As I said when we were at Twilight’s, I gained my abilities from my God from two cartoon shows I liked to watch. There is another series I like to watch.”
 
"So what is this third show you only want the rulers of Equestria knowing of?” Princess Luna asked.
 
“The only way you can truly believe me is if I show you. Luckily, you don’t have to go into my mind for this one.”
 
“How are you going to do it?” asked Princess Celestia. "You didn't bring anything to help you."
 
“By doing this.” Blaze moved his hands together and said, “ Summoning Jutsu!”
 
The human placed a hand on the ground. A puff of smoke appeared and revealed his backpack that he left at Twilight’s. As Blaze dug into the back for the iPad, a trail of smoke came into the throne room and changed back into a scroll in front of Princess Celestia. She opened it and read it out loud.
 
Dear Princess Celestia,
 
Something tragic has happened. Swift Blaze’s saddle has disappeared! He is going to be so mad at me as I was the last one with it. We need to send out the Royal Guard to find the culprit and retrieve it. Please don’t inform Blaze about this as I could not handle him being angry with me. I expect your swift response.
 
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
 
“I think you should write her a letter saying you used your jutsu to retrieve your bag,” Princess Celestia suggested.
 
“Yeah, seeing I'm the culprit that took it. Can I borrow a quill, ink, and a scroll?”
 
Princess Celestia used her magic and brought the items to the human. Also, she materialized a desk and chair for him. Blaze sat down and started writing.
 
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
 
There is no need to send out the Royal Guard. I'm the one who summoned my bag to me. I shall explain how when I'm back in Ponyville, tomorrow.
 
Your friend,
Swift Blaze
 
P.S. I would have not been mad at you for losing my bag. I would have gone after the culprit and made them wish they never done it.
 
Blaze rolled up the scroll and secured the seal around it.  Holding it toward the Princesses, he said, "It's done, Princess. Would you mind sending it to her?”
 
Princess Celestia used her magic and the scroll disappeared in a blink of an eye.
 
The human got up from the desk and said, “Now then, back to the third show. Please, don’t do anything rash when I show you the first episodes of the series. I'll explain everything after I play them.”
 
The Princesses glided down from the thrown and landed on the other side of the table. Blaze set up his device. A couple of quick taps, then he rotated it around so they could see the screen. The episode was the first one for My Little Pony. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were shocked and confused about how their world is a cartoon show in the human’s world. After the second episode finished, Blaze stopped the player and closed up the iPad.
 
“Ok, let me first explain that I had no idea how the creator of this series, Lauren Faust, was able to capture events here. Plus the fact is: this was first shown just over two years ago in my time,” he said with a cautious tone.
 
Princess Celestia looked at the human with a stern face and a raised eyebrow. After thinking about what she just saw, she said, “So, you knew about us before we even met?”
 
In a calm voice, Blaze replied, “Yes, Your Highness. I fell in love with this world when I watched the episodes. I started to read stories that were made by the fans. They gave a lot more detail that the show could ever dream of showing off how wonderful your kingdom is. But, nowhere, those words were never close in the beauty.”
 
Princess Luna’s face remained stern. A very small hint of a smile appeared on Princess Celestia, before it too had the same voice. The blue Alicorn said, “Please, explain why thou chose to come here.”
 
“I picked this world as it has shown how good and peaceful a race can be without war and destruction. I got tired hearing in the news of everything bad happening. It has gotten to a point where I’m numb to it and don’t care.”
 
“When you found out about that, test, your God did, was this place your first choice?” asked Princess Celestia.
 
“I think the best way to answer that is explain more about the fans themselves. The males are called Bronies and the females are called Pegasisters. In the fandom, there are a bunch of us that dreamed to come to this world and leave Earth with the influence of greed and power behind. They have even gone as far as to write fanfictions about this.”
 
“Is that what you think we are? A fantasy world you humans created?” Celestia asked with a little anger in her tone.
 
“In the beginning, yes, I did think that way. But now, I realize that whatever I watched or read, the life here does its own thing. This world truly exists and I’m still in love with all of its inhabitants.” Blaze went down to one knee. “I will do anything to protect everypony here. You may scan my mind to prove I am telling the truth. I only wish to live here and be a loyal subject. If I’m lying, may lightning strike me.”
 
…
 
Nothing happened.
 
After several minutes of both Alicorns looking at the human, they nodded their heads. The white mare used her wing to direct him to take a seat back behind the desk. He did so as they walked around to either side of Blaze.
 
“From what you said, the Summer Sun Celebration event was shown to you two years ago,” said Princess Celestia. She lower her head to his height, and closer. “Then, you may have more knowledge of any future events. Am I correct?”
 
He looked at her and said, “That’s correct, Your Highness. In the episode timeline, we were around sixty-five when I left my world.”
 
“Will thou share them?” Princess Luna said.
 
“This line of questioning actually reminds me about one. I’ll share this one, of what happened. Twilight was minding her own business when a flash appeared behind her. It was her future self came back in time to warn her about the future. The future one was a mess and could not deliver her message as the present Twilight was asking too many questions. Worried what might be happening soon, the entire town of Ponyville went into a frenzy of doing preventive maintenance from any disaster. Everything was made safe and nothing occurred. Twilight then stayed up several nights trying to spot the disaster that might be coming from the night sky. Nothing happens. What it turns out to be was that future Twilight was trying to warn her past self not to worry about the future. Do you still wish to know what might occur?”
 
“We see thy point.”
 
“I’ll help with some of the painful ones, so it will less tragic. The problem too is that I don’t know when they will occur. My knowledge is only of what the episode showed. I don’t even know if since I came here, will these events ever occur.”
 
Princess Celestia raised her head back to normal height. She said, “Thank you, Bob, for sharing this with us. I know it wasn’t easy as how it’s knowledge of possible events in our future. Seeing you wish to be a protector, I propose you join my Royal Guard to gain authority when disaster occurs. You will still have to go though the same basic training as any other new recruit.”
 
“Thank you, Princess. I must regret to decline the offer and allow me to explain. Your guards fight on the front lines and in the open. I feel what I’ve been learning won’t be effective in those situations. This style is more for small, counter mission, involving stealth. I’ll help when needed, but I can’t do it as a soldier.”
 
“Then allow me to propose a counter proposal. You offered to teach Taijutsu to some of my guards. But, you mentioned that you’ll need time to adjust it for a pony. How about you go through basic training in your pony form to learn how a pony can fight. Once done, I’ll hire you to be a drill sergeant to teach my guard in your style. Will you accept this one?”
 
“Let me think about it. I don’t want to rush into anything.”
 
“But of course. A lot has happened today.”
 
“Is there anything else you wish to know before we go and take care of those forms?”
 
“Yes, please show us the other weapons in your pack.”
 
“I figured you were going to ask that when I allowed you to scan my mind. May I have a couple targets and target dummies to demonstrate them?”
 
They obliged. Princess Luna used her magic and summoned them to one side of the room against a wall. The human went over to his pack and started to look through it.
 
The first thing Blaze pulled out were flat, metal objects with four sharp points on them. “Ok, these here are popular in the ninja world. They are called throwing stars. As you can see, they are small, easy to get them to spin as they fly towards your opponent, and can be deadly. Let me demonstrate on that target at medium range. Would you please get behind me?”
 
The Alicorns did so as Blaze moved into position and prepared himself. The human threw three of them, one at a time. The first one hit the outermost ring in the upper left corner. The second one punctured two rings from center, in the bottom right. The final one made bull’s eye.
 
“As you can see, they are very quiet. They are designed to either incapacitate your target, or kill them.”
 
        “Interesting design,” said Princess Luna. “But we take it thou has more to show?”
 
Blaze nodded and went back to his bag. He brought out couple different knife weapons. “These are daggers and a hunting knife, or very short swords. They are easy to conceal and can also be thrown like the previous weapon.”
 
        Princess Celestia said, “We are familiar with them. Most blades can be made by our blacksmiths.”
 
“I think I have one they haven’t seen before.” The human lifted a flap and pulled a sword with its sheaf out. He held onto that part with his arm stretched out to the Alicorns. “If you would, Your Highness, please draw out this sword and take a look at it.”
 
Princess Celestia’s horn lit up with her magic as she drew the blade out. The blade twirled in the air as they looked at the design.
 
“This blade is defective,” said Princess Luna. “The edge is on the wrong side. Why would thou have something like this?”
 
“The blade itself is that of a samurai style. A culture back on Earth had developed a method of folding the steel several times, sometimes up to twenty times. This allowed the metal to be stronger and hold a sharper edge.”
 
“But why is the edge of this blade on the back side?” asked Princess Celestia.
 
Blaze replied, “It’s because I had a company make a realistic replica from another anime. The character in that show was trained in a unique style called, ‘Flying Heaven Honorable Sword’. It uses super fast movements to take down opponents. If the character used a regular blade, no one could survive from the attacks. In the show, he joined the army at a young age. Once a new ruler came into power, he left and became a wandering samurai. To make sure he didn’t kill anyone in self defense, he used this Reverse Blade to mostly knock people out and break bones, if needed.”
 
“So, this blade can be used to subdue thy enemy, without having to take their life?” asked Princess Luna. “Pray tell, how this can be done?”
 
“I don’t have the same skill level from the show, but I do think I can demonstrate.” Blaze turned to Princess Celestia and said, “Would it be alright if you summoned the ponies who insulted me? I think they deserve a chance to redeem themselves. I'll promise not to injure them to need hospital attention. I will just disarm them, maybe bruise some of them limbs.”
 
“You sure you want to do this? The Royal Guard doesn’t hold back in duels like this,” said Princess Celestia in a concerned voice. “I know you have those ki and chakra to help you. I don’t feel that this is necessary. Can’t you do this with a clone instead?”
 
“I could, but that clone would know how I would fight and I would know his. That would be more of a battle of the mind to out think myself in tactics. I thought doing it against your guards would allow you get a better idea of how I stand against them. Plus, I can see how they do in a battle.”
 
“Ok, I’ll agree to this.”
 
The white Alicorn used her magic to teleport the two guards in question. Princess Luna had cleared the area for the duel match up. The Earth guard ponies looked around as they tried to figure out what was  going on. They soon saw that they were in the throne room with both Princesses and the creature from before.
 
“Here’s what is going on, gentlecolts. I’ve convinced Princess Celestia to give you a chance to redeem yourselves. You are to engage, in battle, against me. The victor will be when the other side gives up. If you win, she will give you a bonus. If I win, you’ll just be able to go back to work, once you are well again. Do you accept the terms?”
 
“It is not really fair when he can somehow do magic spells,” one guard said as the other nodded.
 
“How about I promise not to use any chakra or ki ability to aid me in this duel, only my skills and knowledge. If I do, you may throw me into the dungeon for a week. Do you accept now, or do you want to go back to the training grounds for a week?”
 
The guards talked among themselves for a few minutes. Once done, the first guard said, “We’ll agree to the terms. Two on one and the first side to give up loses.” He turned to the human and said, “Prepare for a beating, you freak of nature.”
 
Blaze looked at Princess Celestia and said in his mind to her, See what I was talking about? Do you mind if I don’t hold back for calling me that again?
 
She replied, I can see how someone could get frustrated with that. Can you try to not break any bones?
 
A huge grin shown on the human face as he nodded to her. The guards were picking their weapons from a nearby rack. One went for a spear and had it connected to his armor. The other went to a sword and was holding it in his mouth. Blaze had secured his samurai sword to his belt.
 
Once both sides were ready, they entered a circle that appeared in the middle of the room. The human bowed to his opponents, without taking an eye off them. They looked confused at this gesture and just ready their weapons. Blaze pulled the sword out and held it in front of him. Celestia, with her magic, raised a gong and Luna used hers to bang the mallet into it.
 
The guards charged at the human as before. Blaze ran into them at a faster pace as he wasn’t wearing any armor. He dodged the spear with a twist of his body as he had his sword slam down on the shaft, causing it to snap. Against the guard with the sword being held with their mouth, the human took two whacks at it. The pony sword snapped into three pieces.
 
“You used your abilities!” shouted the guard with the spear.
 
The second spat the broke sword before he said, “Yeah! That’s the only way this could have happened!”
 
Blaze turned to the Princesses and asked, “Did you detect me using any chakra or ki?”
 
They both shook their heads no.
 
The guards were more angry at the human and charged again without their weapons. Blaze ran at them again. This time, targeting their armor. The Earth ponies tried to punch and kick him as he swung his sword. The human was hitting the armor plates, but the ponies hadn’t landed a hit.
 
Blaze jumped from out of the middle of them and landed on the edge of the arena. The guards turned to the human and were panting heavily. Their armor suddenly came off and broke into several pieces.
 
“Do you ponies give up, or are you thirsty for some more?” Blaze said calmly and not out of breath.
 
“Never!” shouted the first guard.
 
The second one said, “The Royal Guard never gives up. We would rather die than to give up.”
 
“Such courageous morals, but someone has to give up. Guess I’ll have to inflict pain now.”
 
They charged at each other one more time. The guards were going all out in trying to punch or kick the human. Some blows came close as Blaze felt his clothes get tugged here and there. He started to feel fatigue setting in. So, the human slammed his sword at different leg joints on their bodies.
 
The guards collapsed onto the floor in pain. They cried out in agony from it. Both were on their backs as the Earth ponies tried to cradle where the human’s blade had hit them.
 
The first guard shouted, “WE GIVE UP! WE GIVE UP!”
 
“WE DO! JUST DON”T HIT US ANYMORE!” shouted the other pony.”
 
Blaze sheathed his sword. Then he said, “Are you sorry for calling me a freak?
 
“WE’RE TRULY SORRY FOR CALLING YOU THAT! PLEASE MAKE THE PAIN STOP!” both said.
 
“I’ll accept your apology. Just remember to not call a pony names for how they dress.” The human turned around and said, “Princess Luna, would you mind taking them to a hospital? Tell the Doc that they should just need to pop their joints, back into place.”
 
“We don’t mind. We shall return shortly for your next demonstration,” the blue Alicorn said.
 
Her horn lit up with magic and teleported with the injured guards in tow. Princess Celestia walked up to Blaze as he placed the sword back into the backpack in its sheath.
 
“That was an entertaining show. May I ask, are these sword skills from another show from your world?” the white Alicorn asked.
 
“They are somewhat are,” said Blaze. He stood up and faced the Princess. “I trained while mimicking the samurai movements in the show back on Earth. It’s not perfect, but I’m up to the point I could defend myself with it. I did most of the practicing with a bamboo stick, just to avoid injury to myself. As you can imagine, if the sword edge was on the other side, I might have caused them to bleed when I struck their armor.”
 
“I’m pleased that you didn’t. Why did you do what you did? You could have finished the match sooner if you went for the injuries first.”
 
“Yes, I could have. I saw this as a comrade match instead of going against an enemy. Plus, like I said before, I wanted to see how a pony fights. So, I took away their weapons to force them to use their hooves. Then, their armor to see if it would work as it should, or was more for showing off. Finally, well, you know the rest.”
 
“You humans have definitely come a long ways from your medieval times, as you said. Putting strategy before a fight instead of charging in and see what happens.”
 
Blaze laughed a little bit after hearing that.
 
“What’s so funny?” asked Princess Celestia.
 
“Oh, it's not you, Princess. The second part of what you just said reminded me something from back home, of people who did that. They shout a name every time they do it.”
 
“And what name is this”
 
, said Swift Blaze in the best voice he could do.
 
The Princess of the Sun continued to look at the human as he laughed some more. “It’s probably for the best that I don’t know who this human is,” she said in a low voice to herself.
 
Once Blaze was able to compose himself again, he said, “As I said before, I would never cause harm to any of your subjects. I give them a chance to give up. This is so they can learn from their mistakes and maybe get back on the right path. I know these things as I’m human. My world had become a dark and dangerous to live in. I don’t plan to use these next weapons while here after showing them.”
 
Princess Luna teleported back into the throne room. “Sorry for our being gone longer than we planned,” she said. “The doctors and nurses had a hard time getting those guards to calm down long enough to inject something into them. So we summoned a small wooden hammer and knocked the ponies right out. We still find it odd that this method is no longer used.”
 
Princess Celestia said, “Sister, our medicine has improved so the old ways are no longer needed. It’s safer this way. You might have given them a concussion.”
 
“We did no such thing. We didn’t need to use the Royal Canterlot Voice.”
 
Blaze laughed quietly to himself as the Princesses talked to each other. He was getting the final demonstration ready. Once everything was in place, the human cleared his throat to get the Alicorns’ attention.
 
“Alright, these are the last weapons I have and are the most dangerous,” said Blaze. He pulled out a pair of handguns. “These are designed to either inflict serious damage or kill your opponent. I won’t be demonstrating this one because it’s too dangerous, as you have seen from my memory. I will explain, however, how they work.”
 
The human released the magazine from one and ejected the bullet that was in the gun. He explained how the blasting cap in the back ignites the powder inside to launch the projectile at super speeds. Then, he discussed how the guns worked, the purpose of the design and how it has been improved over the centuries.
 
“As you can see, these are too dangerous for this world. If I knew I was going to come here, I would have never brought them.”
 
“We agree the last ones are very dangerous for pony kind to know about at this time,” said Princess Celestia. “We would like to thank you again for showing them to us and being honest about what they can do. Seeing that it’s dinner time, we would like to invite you to dinner with us. Our chef can make anything you desire.”
 
“Thank you, Your Highness, it would be an honor to eat with you. Let me just back these back up in their hidden locations and we can head to the dining room.”
 
“Very well, Blaze. If you please excuse us, we need to lower the sun and raise the moon.”
 
“Even knowing about this world, I am still amazed at that ability to do that.”
 
“Why is that?” Princess Luna asked.
 
“I can explain during dinner. I‘m starving from talking all day.”
 
The Princesses, both nodded. They walked to a side door that led to a balcony. Once in place, the Alicorns channeled their magic into their horns. Blaze looked out a nearby window and saw the sun was setting. On the opposite side, the moon was rising. Once they were done, the group made their way to the dining room.
 
Inside the new space, Blaze saw the longest table he had ever seen. Over fifty feet long with fancy decorations properly places. The Alicorns and human sat down at the opposite end of the table from where they entered. A waiter came out caring some menus. He handed two green ones to Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. Blaze, for some reason, was given a red one.
 
“Um, Princess, can you explain why my menu is a different color?” he asked.
 
Princess Celestia replied, “Oh, when we first met, you said you were an omnivore. Here at the castle, we get special guests from other nations that also eat meat. We keep them happy by supplying some of their favorite dishes from their lands.”
 
Blaze blinked his eyes that were wide open as his brain processed what he just heard. I can eat MEAT here? OH GOD! SWEET MEAT! A very big grin had appeared on his face. He looked at all the choices, trying not to drool. So many choices, he didn’t know what to try first.
        
As he looked, the human noticed the muscles in his legs felt sore before the memories from the clones arrived. Wow. Those clones sure did a number on them apple trees. Glad Applejack is happy with the work. Man, I wish I could stretch my legs to get rid of this cramp that’s forming. I must look weird sitting and fidgeting in this seat across from the Princesses. With his breathing a little harder, due to the new level of fatigue, Blaze wanted to satisfy it with more meat.
 
The waiter came back to get our orders. He started with the Princesses’ choices. Then, the pony came to the human.
 
Blaze said, “Let’s see, I will first have some Manticore Meatballs. Then, let’s go with some Bourbon Hydra. Finally, I’ll finish with the Spaghetti with chunks of Quarry Eel.”
 
All the ponies looked at him with strange looks. The waiter then just shuffled back to the kitchen to get the orders going.
 
Princess Luna then asked me, “Swift Blaze, why did thou order that much?”
 
“Well, I was just going to get one dish. While picking it out, if you hadn’t noticed, I was fidgeting in my chair and breathing a little harder. The clones I created to work on Sweet Apple Acres just finished  for the day They released the jutsu, which in turn, I received all their memories and their body condition. The other reason is that all these dishes sound like they are very good.”
 
The head waiter and a few other Unicorn ponies came from the kitchen with the first course of the meal. Blaze looked at what the Princesses ordered, some sort of cream-like soup. He looked at his dish of three juicy meatballs. Using the silverware, the human cut a piece out of one and ate it.
 
His mouth exploded with flavor as his mind processed it. OH MY! MEAT SO JUICY AND IT JUST MELTS DOWN YOUR THROAT! Blaze dug into the rest of the dish, while doing his best to have some table manners. Once done, the staff came and collected the dirty dishes.
 
Princess Celestia said, “So, Blaze, you said earlier that you still couldn’t believe how my sister and I could raise and lower the sun and moon. What do you mean by that?”
 
Blaze wiped his mouth with a napkin to get rid of the sauce from the dish. He replied, “Well, back on Earth, it was founded centuries ago about the properties of gravity on massive objects.”
 
The human continued to talk about the solar system and the different planets that encircle the sun and how the moon encircles the planet Earth.
 
“What about the weather?” asked Princess Luna. “Did thy humans have a way to control it?”
 
He said no and explained the weather was like what is over the Everfree Forest. Blaze then added that scientists have developed methods to predict weather patterns to warn the humans when dangerous weather approaches.
 
“It is amazing how your species were able to last without any magic,” said the white Alicorn.
 
“We adapt to whatever condition, we are thrown at.”
 
Shortly after some silence, the head waiter came from the kitchen again with the next course. Salads were given to the Princesses and the human got his steak bits of Bourbon Hydra. They ate in silence. As before, the flavors from the dish brought a smile to Blaze’s face as he enjoyed it.
 
Once they finished, the staff collected the dish again. The human’s smile started to go away as he thought back to his home planet. He thought about all of his friends and family that he left behind. He had no picture, no voice, nor any video recording. The only thing he had were his memories that he could recall.
 
The Princesses looked at Blaze and saw the troublesome face he expressed. They guessed that talking about his world might have rekindled some memories. Even with all their power, only time can heal someone who lost so much.
 
Princess Celestia broke the silence when she said, “So, Blaze, is there anything you wish to know about us?”
 
The human looked up to her and replied, “Hmm, well, I know quite a bit from the show. How about you tell me what your earliest memory you have is.”
 
“Ok then. Let’s see,” she said as she rubbed her chin with a hoof. “Well, my earliest memory is of our parents, Father Time and Mother Nature.  They told us how they created all you see of the world and the creatures. As they created everything, it did not feel like a family. After discussing between each other, our parents decided to create one they could love. They wanted the child to be a female. That way they can share the love of the world. Father Time wanted their child to be immortal as they were. That way they can love her for a very long time and not have the burden of losing her to age or to illness.”
 
“When they tried to decide on the form, Mother Nature looked at all the ones they created. Out of all them, three were the most beautiful. They were the Earth pony, Unicorn pony, and Pegasus pony. Neither of them could decide which form to go with, so they combined the three. Mother Nature was the one that came up with the name to call the creature, an Alicorn. It was more towards how unique and beautiful the child would be.”
 
“They loved her every day and cared for her. After a few years, they decided to make another one so they can play together. Years past and the sisters were growing up. They had fun playing with the other creatures of the world and those that adored them. The time came for Father Time and Mother Nature to move on. Not to die, but they felt it was time for their daughters to rule the land. It was a big ceremony as me and my sister were crowned as Princesses and co-rulers of Equestria. All the subjects bowed to us. That was over two thousand years ago.”
 
“That was beautiful. Let me just say that you both don’t look older than thirty.” Blaze said with a new smile showing.
 
“Thank you, Blaze. Glad to see thou is smiling again,” said Princess Luna.
 
“Umm, if you don’t want to answer this next question, I understand. Being an immortal, you realize that you’ll lose your friends when they die. How are you able to handle it?”
 
Princess Celestia thought about it before she replied with, “That is a difficult question to answer. But, I think you should know, seeing you’re going through something similar. It’s true that we’ve lost many friends over the centuries. At first, we sulked, wanting them back. Our younger friends did their best to cheer us back up. They said our subjects were worried about how sad we were. We soon realized how we were making our friends feel. We also remembered that those that died are not really gone. They’re in our memories. We cherish them of the happy times that we shared. Once a year, we take a leave of absence for a day to honor our friends that died and to recall the memories.”
 
“Thank you for sharing this with me. I realize now how I was acting around my new friends and making them feel. Would you mind if I join you on that day you honor your past friends?”
 
Princess Luna replied, “It would be our pleasure.”
 
The waiter staff came in with the last course for dinner. The Princesses received a vegetable stir fry and Blaze got his spaghetti. They again ate in silence. The human was enjoying another delicious meat they had cooked amazingly well.
 
Once the last course was done, the Alicorns and human left the dining room. The staff came out and began cleaning the room and dishes. Blaze was feeling better now that he told the Princesses everything.
 
Out in the main hall, Princess Celestia turned toward the human and said, “If you would excuse me, Blaze, I must retire to my room. As you know, it’s been a long day of learning and I’ll be needed to get up early to raise the sun.”
 
“But of course, Your Highness. Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite,” Blaze said with a chuckle.
 
“Bed Bugs! How in Equestria did they get into my bed!?” she screamed.
 
The human laughed at this and replied, “Sorry, Princess. It is a saying from my world we say to children when they are put to bed. What I was meaning was having sweet dreams and no nightmares.”
 
Princess Celestia blushed a little for the way she reacted. Princess Luna had a big smile on her face as she was laughing on the inside.
 
As the white Alicorn headed to her room, the dark blue Alicorn turned to the human and said, “Would thou like to see thy room”
 
“Lead the way, Princess of the Night.”
 



> Chapter 13:  ‘Twas a Beautiful Night
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Princess Luna and Swift Blaze walked down the hallway to the guest wing. She walked to a door and led the human into the room. “This is thy room for the night. Hope it is to your liking,” said the Princess.

Blaze replied, “Wow, I’ve never had this level of luxury in my life. Thank you for the hospitality.”

“You’re welcome. We shall take our leave.” The Alicorn turned around and headed for the door.

The human raised his hand and said, “Wait, where are you going?”

She turned her head to him and said, “We must get ready for Night Court.”

“Do ponies come and discuss their problems with you?”

“Sadly, none have come since we’ve returned. We think they are still afraid of us because we were Nightmare Moon.” Her head hung low after saying that.

“I don’t know what you did, but that was over a thousand years ago. When you came back, Twilight and her new friends were able to save you before it got worse.” Blaze walked up to the Princess and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Give the ponies some time to get to know the real you. How about tonight, during night court, I’ll help you with bringing your speaking up to the current times. Would you like that?”

The blue Alicorn looked at the human’s face and said, “But doesn’t thou need thy sleep for tomorrow?”

“Oh, I’ll get my sleep too, just it will be done by a shadow clone.” 

He place his hands together for the jutsu. A puff of smoke appeared next to him, revealing the copy.

Princess Luna walked around the pair as she looked at them carefully. “Thy duplication is very impressive. We don’t see any flaws,” she said.

“I didn’t expect there to be any,” said the Blaze on the left.

The other Blaze then said, “Typically, from what we know from watching the show, a clone jutsu is an illusion that can move.”

“They can’t do much but distract your opponent,” said the first human.

“These shadow clones are a higher level as they get physical bodies,” the other one said. 

“We believe it doesn’t matter who the original is.”

“If anyone of us either releases the jutsu on their own or gets too damaged by the opponent, the other will get the knowledge.”

Princess Luna shook her head a bit after getting a dose of twin talking syndrome. “We take it that thou likes to do this speaking to cause confusion.” 

“Sometimes,” said the first Blaze. “More to demonstrate how our minds are the same at the time of the jutsu. We do have to plan ahead before we do this.”

The other Blaze nodded his head.

“So, which of thou will come with us to the throne room?”

“I will!” both humans said. One was slightly faster than the other.

“Damn, looks like I’m stuck getting the sleeping for the both of us,” the second Blaze said.

“Remember, no dream training tonight. Had enough in that space today already.”

The other human saluted the first. Then, he hopped into the bed. The other followed out of the room with Princess Luna. They made their way back to the main hall that lead to the throne room.

Standing outside, the likes of the Unicorn Royal guards were now replaced by that of the Lunar Guards. As the Princess and human approached, their horns lit up and opened the door. Inside, the Alicorn made her way to the throne and sat on it. 

Blaze stepped in afterwards and walked to the bottom of the steps. He kneeled and said, “Good evening, Princess Luna. Would it please the court if you allow me the honor of teaching you the modern ways of speaking?”

Princess Luna let out a slight chuckle, but quickly regained her composer. “Thou may, Swift Blaze. On two conditions,” she said.

“Name them, Your Highness.”

“First, thou shall do so in thy pony form. This is to not scare any of our subjects.”

“But of course, Princess Luna.”

“Second, thou shall call us, Luna,” she said with a smile on her face.

“As you wish, Luna,” Blaze said. 

He stood up and transformed to his pony form. They spent the first part of the night on volume control. The human went over of when to use the booming, Canterlot Voice, how to talk in royal events, and how she can talk when with her friends. After an hour on that, they move to the next subject, to stop referring to herself as ‘we’ instead of ‘I’. Blaze believed this topic was going to take a couple sessions to break the habit. After an hour on that, the pair moved onto the final topic. Well, more of an overview of some new ways of saying things to allow her to understand modern speaking.

“I think that will do tonight, Luna. We’ve made some good progress,” said Blaze.

“We, I mean I, wish to thank you in helping me,” Princess Luna said.

“You’re welcome.”

“Tell me, Blaze, why are you helping me? Everypony else fears me for what I did as Nightmare Moon.”

“It’s true, I know what happened. But only based upon the first episodes of the show. I can somewhat relate.”

“How’s that?” Princess Luna asked with a questioning look.

“You see, you felt lonely because no pony did anything during the night. They worked and played in the daylight and slept under the moon. You did not get any recognition for the nights you brought. Honestly, you had a tantrum that made you change into Nightmare Moon. It’s sad you were punished by being sent to the moon for a thousand years. But, I’m happy the Elements of Harmony brought you back to yourself.” 

Princess Luna started to shed a tear from recalling those events.

“For me, I was lonely for a while. It’s because no one wanted to be my friend when I was younger. During school time, I was picked last at games and told to sit on the sidelines. I ate by myself during lunches, did projects by myself, and came to and from school by myself. I was in a very sad state. Then one day, I was on my computer play games online when one of the people I played found out we went to the same school. We scheduled to meet the next day. Turns out, he was the classmate I sat next to. We talked for a while and found out we had several things in common. Soon, I made more friends and started to smile again. I realized you can make friends in the unlikeliest of places and always talk to your friends when you are sad about something.” 

She shed another tear for hearing his story.

“So, Luna, I would like to offer my friendship to you. That way, you are never alone. If you need somepony to talk to, I will be available. I’m up late most nights before I do that sleep training. These calm nights help me with it.”

“You (sniff) want me to be (sniff) your friend? We, I, don’t know what to say but, yes. I would love to accept your friendship. Now, you said you like my nights because they help you sleep?” she said with a smile and happy tears forming on her face.

“I don’t like them, I love them. Back on Earth, I stare into the night sky and watch with wonder at what’s out there. But here, the nights are far more beautiful. With all the advances in technology, the city lights blocked out from seeing the stars at night. Even in the countryside, they still affect the view. Here, I see so many beautiful stars and constellations that I just want to spend each night staring at them. I can see that they get their beauty from you.”

All of a sudden, Luna dived from the throne and flew into the human. She gave him a big hug and several kisses. “OH, THANK YOU BLAZE! YOU ARE THE FIRST TO LIKE MY NIGHTS!” Luna said in the Royal Canterlot Voice next to my head.

OWW MY EARS! My ears started to ring from being too close. “Princess Luna,” Blaze said painfully. She looked at me with wonder in her eyes. “Please lower the volume. I think you might have popped my ear drums.”

“Oh! I’m so sorry, Blaze!” Princess Luna said in a whispering volume. “Do you want me to use my magic to heal them?”

“I think it would help.” 

Princess Luna’s horn lit up and Blaze felt the ringing was going away. He felt warmth being flown into his ears. Once done, she said, “That should do it. Is there anything I could do to make it up?”

The human said, “How about you invite me to the garden and show me the beautiful night sky.”

“Blaze, would you honor me in taking you to the garden to stare at the stars and the moon?” Princess Luna asked in a joyful tone.

The human bowed and replied, “The honor is all mine.”

They left the throne room and made their way to the garden. The guards that were posted outside the room put on a confused look on their faces. Blaze imagined they were thinking where did that pony come from and where did the other creature go. Halfway though the hallway, he looked behind and saw the guards were following them.

Once at the entrance to the garden, the pair walked slowly through it. Everything was so quiet and peaceful. The guards stayed at the entrance, but were still keeping an eye on them. 

Luna started to tell Blaze about each constellation that could be seen and what it stood for. Each one was more impressive than the last one she talked about. The Alicorn and human soon returned to where they started  and made their way back to the throne room. 

“Thank you, Luna, for showing and explaining the constellations that are in your sky,” said Blaze.

Princess Luna replied, “No, no, thank you, Swift Blaze, for telling me how much you appreciate my nights.”

“If you would excuse me, I think I shall return to my room and join the other me. Need to get ready to start the training exercise I do before dawn.”

“You exercise before dawn? What for?”

“I do it to keep my body in shape and get ready for the day.”

“Very well. You have my permission to use the training grounds to do your morning exercise in. If you can, please don’t get into any fights with the Royal Guards.”

“As you wish, Luna,” said Blaze as he bowed to her again.

He rose back up and released the clone jutsu. A puff of smoke around him and he disappeared from Luna's presence. 

> Chapter 14: Ready, Fight!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	After releasing the clone jutsu in front of Princess Luna, Blaze returned to his sleeping body in the guest room. The merger didn't disturb his sleep, but he did wake up in the pre-dawn hours. As he stretched in bed, he thought, I could get used to this if I wanted to. Have one of me sleep while the other stays up. Twilight would love to do this. I can see it now: she reads a lot more books and doesn't get fatigued from staying up late. Blaze laughed at the idea.
 
The human got out of bed and made his way to the attached bathroom. He was amazed again by the size of it. The living room at his place on Earth was not as big as this. There were a few different toilet designs and sizes. Must be for the different species that come, he guessed. There was a huge tub with jet nozzles and a big separate shower stall on the opposite side from where he was. Blaze undressed and got into the shower to clean up.
 
After drying off and taking care of other bathroom tasks, he walked back into the bedroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. He summoned his backpack he left in a corner of the throne room. He then used the jutsu to get a fresh gi, blue with black trim, and some undergarments. Blaze put them on and packed the used ones in the backpack. When he opened the door to head out, there were two Unicorn guards standing on either side.
 
The human said, "Good morning, gentlecolts. Would you mind directing me to the Royal Guard training grounds?"
 
"No can do, sir. Those are for the Royal Guard use only," the guard on the left side of the door responded.
 
"Princess Luna gave me permission not too long ago."
 
"She gave permission to a red Earth pony in a black outfit, named Swift Blaze," the guard on the right said.
 
"But, that’s me."
 
"You’re clearly not a pony," the left one said and the right one nodded to agree.
 
"Let me prove it then."
 
Blaze walked to the other side of the hallway. He turned around, placed his hands together, and said, "Shadow Transform Jutsu!" A puff of smoke engulfed his body. Once it dissipated, his pony form was standing there with a smirk on his face.
 
Both guards, like everypony else, dropped their mouths wide open with a shocked look on their faces, but they quickly regained their composure.The guard to Blaze's left said, "Sorry about that, sir. Didn't know your species could change into other forms.”
 
The right guard said, “We’ll escort you to the grounds."
 
They turned and started to walk down the hallway. Blaze changed back and followed them.
 
As they walked down the hallways, the human was between the two Unicorn guards. He broke the silence when he said, "About before, it’s alright. You couldn’t have known that I can do that. Also, enough with the sirs. You can call me Blaze."
 
"Ok, Blaze. Could you tell us how you’re able to do that transforming thing you did? We didn’t detect any magic coming from you. Also, is it something that can be taught to a pony?" the one on the right asked.
 
Blaze replied, "I'm sorry, but ponies won't be able to learn these. As to how I can do it, that is classified. Both Princesses know how I can though. That is why I can walk freely instead of being in the dungeon."
 
"Can the others of your species do what you can do?" the other one asked.
 
"My species is called human and no, they cannot do what I do. Before you ask, I’m the only one on your world."
 
The guard on the right asked, "Then how did you get here?"
 
"That's classified."
 
"Are you ever going to answer our questions without saying 'classified'?" the left guard said in an annoyed tone.
 
"That will all depend on the question you ask," Blaze said with a smile.
 
They both snorted their noses as they did not like the smart-ass response. The group soon exited the main castle as the sun was starting to rise. They stood there for a bit as they watched the process.
 
When they moved again, the human asked, "Mind if I ask what your names are? I don't want to be a jerk and keep calling you 'guard'."
 
The left guard said, "My name is Iron Shield, but you may call me Iron." He had a light gray coat with a dark gray mane. His cutie mark was covered up by the armor he wore.
 
The right guard said, "You may call me Dead Eye." He had a white coat with red mane. His cutie mark was also covered up by the armor.
 
"Nice to meet you Iron and Dead Eye,” said Blaze. “You’re actually the first guards that have not tried to attack me."
 
"We heard a rumor of a strange creature showing off some skills for the Princesses and had badly beat up some guard ponies in the process," said Iron.
 
"I wouldn't say beat up. Just some joints got dislocated, but no broken bones," the human replied, sheepishly.
 
"That was you?" Dead Eye asked with a surprised look on his face again.
 
"I gave them three chances to give up. Plus, they had it somewhat coming to them."
 
Iron asked, "How in Equestria did you beat two guards at the same time?
 
Blaze retold the event from yesterday of how he disarmed, removed the armor, and finally disabled the guards. He didn’t go over the exact techniques he used, just how he read their movements to see the openings.
 
Iron asked, “You managed to do that with your bare hooves? You must have gone through some intense training where ever you come from.”
 
“One, these are not hooves. These are hands,” the human said as he moved them about. “Two, no I didn’t. I used a non-lethal sword I brought with me from my world. And three, that part is classified.”
 
Iron Shield facehoofed himself after getting another classified block.
 
“How can a non-lethal sword be able to destroy armor and weapons?” Dead Eye asked.
 
“It’s the technique in combo with the material properties of the sword. The outcome would have been different if I used a standard edged weapon.”
 
“Let me guess before asking the question, you can’t teach these techniques as they are classified.” Iron said.
 
“Now you’re catching on.”
 
They finally reached the Royal Guard training grounds. Blaze could see a track, an obstacle course, a target range, and some practice dummies. “You guards have a nice setup to practice and train. I might be coming here more often for my morning exercises,” he said.
 
“What are your exercise routines that you do?” Dead Eye asked.
 
“Instead of me explaining it all, how about you two join me in them? You might actually enjoy it.”
 
“We have been ordered to keep an eye on you, so we might as well. Plus standing around all shift really stiffens up the muscles,” Iron said.
 
“Wonderful. To begin, we shall do some stretches. I’ll make it easier for you to follow by copying my pony form while my human form takes a jog around the track.”
 
“How in . . . wait. This is another one of your abilities you can do, correct?” Dead Eye asked.
 
“They are called jutsu, and you are right on target.”
 
The human stepped forward a bit and turned around. After a couple hand signs, he said, “Shadow Clone Transform Combo!” A puff of smoke appeared to his right. His pony form was now standing next to the human Blaze.
 
Iron and Dead Eye did not go all shocked face this time.
 
“Bye human me. I’ll teach them some good stretches before we go to the next part,” said the pony Blaze.
 
“Be mindful to not push it. They haven’t done the training we did. Go easy on them,” the human Blaze replied before he started to jog to the track.
 
Pony Blaze looked to Iron and Dead Eye and said.“Ok then, the first stretch we are going to do is the rear hooves.”
 
The red Earth pony demonstrated with his body. The Unicorns followed slowly as they eased into it. Blaze heard a couple pops from Iron.
 
“You weren’t kidding when you said you were stiff,” said Blaze. After a minute, he then said, “Time to switch to the front ones.”
 
The guards repeated the actions each time as the Earth pony did them. Both of them had fallen at one point or another. After 15 minutes, the three ponies had stretched all the important parts.
 
Dead Eye to a moment from doing those poses. He then said, “So, if these are basic, what are the ones you've been doing?”
 
Blaze replied, “Ok, I’ll show you and you can try to copy me. Just don’t blame me if you get injured. The next level is balance control stretches. It helps increase tone on your muscles as you balance yourself on one hoof at a time.”
 
The Earth pony stood on his back hooves. He then made the bottom of his fore hooves touch each other at chest level. For the next step, Blaze extended one leg to his front while maintaining a balanced posture, and did thirty squats. He repeated the process for the other leg. The Earth pony did a similar stance with his fore hooves, but only for a ten count.
 
Once done with that, he went back on all hooves and said, “Does anypony care to try?”
 
“Yeah," - Iron said as he rubbed the back of his head - "thanks, but no thanks. We don’t have that level of balance you demonstrated.”
 
“I agree. How in Equestria were you able to get your pony body to that?” asked Dead Eye.
 
Blaze replied, “I’ve been working to that count since I got my pony form. When I first started, I could only do five on the back and one on the front before I fell on my face.”
 
“So what’s next in your regimen?” Iron asked.
 
“The next thing is sparring with myself. I don’t have a dummy stand like you have, nor another pony to spar against. Let me get the human Blaze over here.”
 
The Earth Pony went over to the human and chatted with him. The guards saw the creature put his hands together as before. Seconds later, two puff clouds appeared, revealing another human and pony. Everyone moved to an area where there was a half dozen circles painted on the ground. Blaze’s humans paired up with their pony clones in two of these areas.
 
“Before you start, mind sharing with us as to why you’re paired up like that?” Dead Eye asked.
 
A human Blaze replied, “Of course. I’m training both forms of different scenarios. One pony is going to be on the offensive while the other is going to be on the defensive.”
 
“Would it make better sense to do a pony vs. pony?”
 
“Good idea, thanks for the suggestion.”
 
Blaze performed the jutsu and made four more ponies of himself. They paired up and went to two other sparring rings.
 
A pony Blaze turned to the guards and said, “Would one of you mind starting the matches? The rules are no ki or chakra. First to submit or blackout loses.”
 
Iron Shield walked into the middle where the matches were, and looked at each pair to see if they were ready. “Ready . . . FIGHT!” he shouted and the matches began.
 
All of Blaze's clones went at each other, almost like the other was the enemy. After fifteen minutes, a pony in a pony vs. pony match got bucked right in the head and flew across the grounds, then burst into a puff of smoke as he landed.
 
“That was some hit,” Dead Eye said to the victor.
 
“He put up a great fight,” - Blaze breathed heavily - “The other just made a slight mistake, which gave me that opening.”
 
“How can you fight yourself when you know how the other you will fight?” Iron asked.
 
“It’s true we all have the same knowledge and style, we are just choosing different scenarios to fight and that is the unknown in these fights.” Suddenly a human got a pony into a submission hold. The pony tapped out and disappeared into a puff of smoke, the human dragged his feet as he came over and let gravity help him sit down.
 
The clone wiped the sweat from his brow as he panted, “Man! That defensive scenario the other chose is very effective. I had to go through several to find out how to beat it. I think I shall release myself so you can review the battle.” 
 
Dead Eye watched the clone as it disappeared, then turned to Blaze, “So, you’re able to learn from all of these matches from both sides?”
 
The pony Blaze nodded.
 
“This method is really impressive. You are pretty much getting a week’s worth in one session.”
 
“While the knowledge is a plus, it comes with a catch. I also get the painful memories they received. I’m grateful it’s only that. If the minus of this jutsu was you get the actual injuries, I would have never learned it.”
 
Iron asked, “So, if you made an army of you, what would more than likely happen?
 
Blaze replied, “Let me put it this way. Say I make a thousand of me, my strength and energy will get divided among them. I would be as strong as a kitten as it were. This jutsu was never designed to create an entire army, more for intelligence gathering and secret missions.”
 
Both nodded at his explanation, then resumed watching the other two fights. Both sides had picked up speed in throwing their fist and hooves, but it was unclear who had the advantage. Suddenly, a cloud of smoke surrounded all the remaining fighters as they all disappeared.
 
“Blaze, what happen? I lost track of what was going on,” Iron said.
 
When the Unicorn guards looked at the pony version of Blaze, they saw he had changed back into a human. He said, “It was a draw. Neither side was making headway, so I ended the jutsu. Let’s head back to the castle. All that fighting has given a big appetite.”
 
“You go ahead. Our shift has ended so we are going to return the barracks. I’m sure you know the way,” Dead Eye said.
 
“Alright, I shall see you two some other time. If you get some leave coming up, come to Ponyville so we can hang out. I should have my place ready by then.”
 
As the guards headed to the barracks, Blaze thought about trying the Teleportation Jutsu. It was more about moving at fast speed to one’s destination instead ofwhatever they used in Star Trek. From what he read, the caster needed to visualize the path to the destination instead of the end point itself.
 
The human performed the hand signs and recalled the path to end up right outside the dining room. Once the jutsu activated, his vision changed from seeing the grounds to the dining room's big doors. Blaze check himself over to see if he lost anything, and was happy with how it performed. Definitely better than a Unicorn’s method, if one wanted to be stealthy.
 
Blaze then noticed the Unicorn guards on either side of the door. They looked angry as they charged up their horns. He started to run and dodge the beams as the guards gave chase. The human didn’t know what spell they are trying to hit him with, but he knew he wasn’t going to wait and find out. He picked his speed up by channeling chakra to his feet.
 
As he opened the gap from the two chasing him, Blaze turned the corner and saw that six more Unicorn guards were headed towards him. OH YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING! he shouted in his head. Getting tired of this, the human swapped to ki energy and flew over the inbound squad. He continued to dodge all the beams, with the total now to eight.
 
As the human flew through the halls, he spotted an open window that led to the outside. He turned and shouted, “See ya suckers!”
 
Blaze saw the Unicorn guards at the window, still shooting beams at him. As he turned his head forward to fly away, the human saw a dozen Pegasus guards were headed his way from the castle wall.
 
“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PONIES!” he yelled at the top of his lungs.
 
They were still flying at him, without stopping. Blaze decided this had gone on long enough, and he needed to escape. He flew higher into the sky so everypony could see him, then turned around and channeled ki into his hands. He position them on either side of his head with his fingers flared out as he shouted, “SOLAR FLARE!”
 
A pure white light shone down on everything and everypony, blinding them. Blaze quickly performed the Teleportation Jutsu to appear inside the dining room, this time.
 
Both Princesses were seated at the table when the human appeared across from them. They were surprised to see him appear like that. As were the staff, as they ran out of the room into the kitchen.
 
Blaze breathed heavily as he spoke, “Excuse me, Princess Celestia, did you forget to inform your Royal Guards about me ... again?”
 
“I was going to do that this morning after breakfast. Princess Luna did inform some of the guards when she offered you access to the training grounds. Did something happen?” Princess Celestia asked.
 
“Oh, nothing happened with Iron Shield and Dead Eye. There was a slight miscommunication as she only told them about my pony form, not the human form. I quickly resolved that by showing I can change into that form. At the training grounds themselves, nothing happened as I was able to get my morning exercise in. It was when I came back, via teleport jutsu. I appeared just outside the doors down there like how I have done now. The Unicorns just started to fire their magic beams at me, so I ran instead of fighting back. Six more came around the corner as I thought I was getting away. I started to fly at this point and flew straight out a window. The eight unicorn guards were still firing at me, but then I saw a dozen Pegasus guards flying towards me.”
 
“Care to tell us how you escaped capture?” Princess Luna asked.
 
“Do you recall a bright flash of light that came through those windows?”
 
They both nodded.
 
“I performed a ki-based attack called ‘solar flare’ and temporally blinded everypony that was looking at me. I then performed the teleport jutsu to get here.”
 
The dining room doors burst open and a battalion of both Unicorn and Pegasus guards were flowing in. Blaze started to channel his chakra to defend himself.
 
“HALT!” said Princess Celestia who used her Canterlot Voice.
 
All the guards and the human stopped in their tracks.
 
A Unicorn guard wearing a different colored armor walked in front of the others. He said, “Your Highnesses, pardon us for our intrusion, but we’re here to stop that creature from trying to assassinate you. Please step away from it so we may capture it.”
 
The white Alicorn replied in her normal voice, “You may stand down. He is our guest.”
 
“But, Princess Celestia, if that is so, then why did it run away from the guards and why was I not informed yesterday?”
 
Blaze interrupted the chat and said, “Excuse me, I’m not an ‘it’. My name is Swift Blaze and I’m human.” His tone switched to an angrier one. “The reason why I ran is your guards just started to fire their magic at me without letting me explain. As to why Princess Celestia did not inform you, she was in a private court session till sunset discussing certain things with me.”
 
“That’s correct, Captain Armor,” said Princess Celestia. She looked at the human with an annoyed look, then looked back at the captain, “I was going to inform you this morning after breakfast. Looks I should have done that before the commotion.”
 
The captain replied, “But Princess, how can you trust him with the havoc he caused in your castle?”
 
Blaze interrupted again as he moved over to a chair at the table to sit down, “I didn’t cause havoc. Your guards were shooting beams at me without allowing me to explain why I was there.” 
 
“ENOUGH!” Celestia shouted again. “He’s a guest here and has been staying in Ponyville for the past week. I shall explain more to you later.”
 
“As you wish, Princess Celestia.” The captain ordered the others back to their posts, and they closed the doors as they left.
 
Blaze turned his head to the Princesses Celestia. She was giving him a stern look. 

“What?” he asked.
 
“I didn’t appreciate how you talked to Captain Shining Armor. He was only doing his duty, as well as his guards. I realize it’s somewhat my fault for not informing him, but you can’t go running around without a guard escort. You are considered a guest from an outside nation. So, you need an escort everywhere you go.”
 
Blaze felt sorry for blowing up at the captain, “I am sorry Princess for causing the commotion. Please don’t blame Iron or Dead Eye for leaving me after their shift. I had no idea I was to have an escort. It won’t happen again.” He bowed to her after he spoke.
 
“Then, after breakfast, let’s fill out those forms so you can be a citizen. We will also schedule you to go through the Royal Guard's basic training next month. Once you complete the training, you won’t need an escort while inside the castle grounds.”
 
”Sounds like a plan your Highness. If you can summon a waiter, I already know what I would like to have. This morning’s exercise and events gave me a big appetite.”
 
Celestia rang a bell and a waiter came out of the kitchen. She directed him to the human to get his order, which was a twelve-egg omelet with cheese, onion, and bell pepper; a side of roasted potato chunks; and two tall glasses of orange juice. The waiter headed back to the kitchen, and soon came back with the glasses of OJ. Blaze downed the first drink without taking a breath.
 
“A little thirsty there, Blaze?” Princess Luna chuckled.
 
He replied, “Just a little bit, Luna. I did not plan on a playing tag after my exercise routine.”
 
She started to laugh and he joined her. Soon, Princess Celestia joined in with a chuckle. A few minutes later, the human’s breakfast came out of the kitchen and he dug right into it. Just like the meal last night, the flavors he tasted were better than anything he had. Blaze cleaned the plate of the food and leaned back in the chair.
 
“Well, I’m stuffed like a turkey on Thanksgiving,” he said.
 
“Shall we go and take care of that paperwork, then?” Princess Celestia suggested.
 
The human nodded his head and stood up, but suddenly fell back down into the seat.
 
Princess Luna asked, “Blaze! Are you alright?”
 
“Yes, I am. I just realized my legs were a bit more worn out from this morning’s events. Would you mind if I fly to follow you, Princess Celestia?”
 
She replied, “Not at all. I’m glad it was nothing serious.”
 
“Well, we- I mean I'm, going to head to bed. Goodbye, Blaze. I can’t wait for the next lesson. Good day, Tia. I will see you this evening,” Princess Luna said. The blue Alicorn got up and started to head to her room.
 
“Sleep well, Lulu. Don’t let the bed bugs bite,” Princess Celestia said with a smirk. Princess Luna chuckled from the comment, as she recalled what happened last night. “Ready to go to the throne room, Blaze?”
 
He replied, “Yes, your Highness. The flying will be good for practicing precision control.”
 
The human channeled his ki to hover out of his chair and follow the white Alicorn.
He tried different flying positions, mostly to see how he needed to direct his energy. Some of them caused him to lose control and descend to the floor. The Princess smirked each time he fell, and at the odd poses he tried as he flew. They finally arrived in the throne room. Inside, Blaze saw a table on one side with a stack of about a hundred pages worth of legal documents.
 
“Are those the forms I need to legally become a citizen here?” he asked as he pointed to the table.
 
“Yes, they are,” said Princess Celestia. “I’m sorry we did not get to this yesterday. I don’t think you will be able to make it to Applejack’s award ceremony this afternoon. It takes some almost two days to fill out everything.”
 
“Well, it’s a good thing I have an ace or two up my sleeve.”
 
Blaze summoned his backpack to him and began digging through it.
 
“What are you looking for? I have everything you need to fill the forms out: A few quills, some ink wells...”
 
“It is another technological advancement that humans created. BEHOLD, THE MIGHTY PEN!” Blaze exclaimed as he pulled it out of the bag.
 
“How does it work?”
 
“It’s like a quill, but the ink is stored inside and the tiny metal ball rolls it out as you write.”
 
“That is quite impressive. I take you are going to use your clones to speed the process up too?”
 
“Now you are catching on.”
 
Blaze made two clones and all three went straight to work. One clone read the pages, the second would mark where we had to fill, and the original did the filling in. They made good process with this assembly line. The Princess just watched as Blaze and his clones were not talking, but were in sync while they filled out the forms. After one hour, they finished. The human released the jutsu and reviewed the clones' memories.
 
Once he was satisfied, Blaze said, “All done, Princess. Every part of that document has been read and filled in correctly. If you would please excuse me, your Highness, I would like to head back to Ponyville and see my friends.”
 
“Very well, Swift Blaze. I shall review this and see if there are any mistakes. If there are, I will summon you. If not, I shall send you a letter to let you know your citizenship certificate can be picked up at Ponyville City Hall,” said Princess Celestia. “Shall I get you a royal carriage to take you back, or are you going to fly?”
 
“Neither, I am going to teleport. I’ve gotten down short distances. I have to see what the range of it is. Goodbye, Princess Celestia. I shall see you next month, if not sooner.”
 
“Goodbye, Blaze. And please try to stay out of trouble with my guards.”
 
“I will if they don’t harass me.”
 
Blaze put his hands together in a sign, and visualized a flight path to his destination, back to Ponyville, his new home.

> Chapter 15: For My First Trick . . .
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	In the Golden Oaks Library, Twilight Sparkle finished writing the note cards for the speech she will be giving at Applejack’s Award ceremony. Even though she had not known the orange Earth mare for very long, she filled out two hundred note cards, and The Unicorn was stacking them with her magic when Swift Blaze appeared behind her. The human was a bit woozy and accidentally knocked a big book off the table, which slammed loudly as it hit the floor. 

Twilight screamed and launched all the cards into the air. She shouted, “Spike! How many times have I told you to not scare me when I’m working!” 

When the mare turned around, instead of seeing her assistant, she saw Blaze standing there.

“Twilight, I’m surprised you jumped to blaming Spike. I’m sure he knows when not to bother you,” the human said.

“Blaze? When did you get back? And how did you get in here?!” Twilight asked in a panicked state.

“Calm down, Twilight. I just got back. As to how, I teleported here.”

Now in a calmer state, Twilight said, “I would have recognized if you were teleported by the Princess.”

“Princess Celestia did not teleport me here, I did.”

“When did you learn how to teleport? Also, how in Equestria could you teleport all the way from Canterlot? Only the Princesses are able to do that.”

“I shall answer them in order. Number one, I taught myself that a couple nights ago. Number two, I didn’t know if I could until I tried. Granted, it took a lot of energy and left me a bit lightheadedafterwards. Number three, now you know someone else that can do it.”

“Seeing you are in a explaining mood, mind telling me how you were able to get your bag?”

“Can I show you instead?” 

Blaze did a few hand signs. He place his palms on the ground and said, “Ninja Art, Summoning Jutsu!” A puff of smoke appeared in front them. Once dissipated, it revealed the human’s back pack. 

Twilight’s eye shone with glee of these new skills, “Well, I’m happy you made it back in time for the award ceremony. Pinkie Pie is currently decorating City Hall. I have sent Spike to remind Applejack to come at 3pm.”

“Then, I’ll go and help Pinkie with the decorations. See you there,” said Blaze.

Twilight replied, “Bye, Blaze.”

The human grabbed his bag and placed it back in his room at the library. Afterwards, he headed out to city hall. Blaze soon saw Pinkie Pie in front of the building. The mare was directing ponies on what to do. He went up to her and said in soldier style, "What are your orders, General Pinkie!"

Pinkie laughed for a quick second, then said in drill sergeant style, "Blaze! I want you to go and hang the banner flags in front of the building!"

"Sir, yes, sir!" he replied. 

The human pulled the banners from the box and started to hang with precision at Dash speed. This continued on until all decorations had been put up. Pinkie then started laughing once the others left and it was only her and Blaze. 

He said to her, "I take it you enjoyed the acting around while we decorated, Pinkie."

Pinkie replied, "Oh boy, did I ever! I can't wait for you to help me again with decorating for a party again."

"Anytime, Pinkie. Just let me know when and I will be there as quick as a rabbit."

"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie said. The mare then went and hopped to some place.

Blaze saw he had some time to kill before the event. As he tried to think of what to do, his stomach started to growl. The human looked around for a place to settle the beast called hunger. He headed over to a cafe and take a seat outside at an empty table. A waitress came over and gave him a menu.
The mare said, “Good afternoon sir, may I start you off with something to drink? Maybe an order of hay fries? We make the best.”

Blaze replied, “No thank you, on the hay fries. My body can’t really digest some of what you ponies eat. I will take a glass of water.”

“OH MY! YOU’RE HIM! THE HUMAN!” She screamed in a happy voice. 

Blaze looked up from the menu. He saw who the waitress, giggling with joy, was: Lyra Heartstrings. He decided to play ignorant of knowing her, to avoid another possible chase event. 

“Umm, excuse me, miss,” he said. “Your reaction is not what I expected from a pony seeing me. Most would run away while others charge at me as they thought I was a threat.”

“I saw you at the welcome ceremony. That was an amazing trick you did. None of the ponies, nor I, could tell who was the real Princess.”

“Thank you, miss. I’m glad there are some ponies that aren’t afraid of me.”

“Please, stop with the miss. It makes me sound old. My name is Lyra Heartstrings. You may call me, Lyra. I'll be back to take the rest of your order.” 

She went back inside to get his drink. As Blaze was looking over the menu, he thought of how the mare was nice. He did hope she doesn’t bug him every meeting with questions about humans. A short time later, the teal Unicorn came out with a glass of water that was held by her magic. 

Blaze said, “Thank you, Lyra. I think I’m ready to place my order.”

The mare brought out a note pad and quill with her magic. “Ok, so what are you having today?” she asked.

“I’ll just have a fresh garden salad with dressing.”

“Very good, I’ll bring that out very shortly.” 

Lyra left to place the order. As the human was waiting, he looked around to see what was going on in town. Blaze saw ponies walking around the nearby shops. Over in another area, merchants were selling their products. Up in the sky, the Pegasi flew about to move clouds around and make some disappear. Over in the park, little fillies and colts were playing. 

Blaze did noticed that some ponies were whispering to each other as they look at him. Their were even a few guards nearby were keeping an eye on the human. Probably because he has yet gained their trust.

“Here is your salad, Swift Blaze!” said a mare behind him.

The human turned around and saw Lyra was there, with his meal. 

“Thank you. It looks delicious. May I have a fork?” he asked.

“But of course! I forgot you don’t eat like us ponies. Be right back.” The mare went inside and came back quickly with the fork. “Here you are.”

“Thanks, Lyra,” replied Blaze. 

He took the fork from her magical hold. After a couple bites, the human noticed Lyra was still there, giggling to herself. He place the utensil down and looked at the mare with a raised eyebrow.

“Um, Swift Blaze, would you mind if I ask you a few questions?” Lyra said with puppy dog eyes.

“Call me, Blaze,” said Blaze. “Won’t your boss be mad you are not attending to the other customers?”

“I said I was taking my lunch break. So, may I?”

“Ok, but realize if I say I’ll not answer that question, please don’t ask why.”

A big smile formed on her face. The Unicorn sat down across from the human. She pulled out a scroll now and a quill. She then said, “Oh goody! Is it true that humans eat meat?”

“Yes I do, but I won’t eat any ponies, griffins, or dragons, any other talking creature, and creatures Fluttershy take care of.”

“How exactly are you able to use each of those fingers?”

“I’m not a biologist from my world. So, I don’t have the exact answer to that. Next question.”

“Can you tell me about what your world is like?”

“No. The reason is because it’s something I promised myself I would not share.” 

Lyra started to do a pouty face with the big eyes look. Blaze could tell by her eyes how much she wanted him to give in and tell her. 

Feeling defeated, he said, “Listen, if you really want to know, come to my place next week when you have a couple hours. I will tell you about my planet. I’m going to warn you now, it’s nothing like what you ponies have here.”

Lyra said,“Ok! Wait, I thought you didn’t have a house yet, only a piece of land. It takes several weeks to get a house built.”

“I have my ways. If you want to see how, come to the hill just outside of town at noon, tomorrow.” 

The mare nodded and returned back to work. This allowed the human to finish eating his lunch. Once Blaze finish, Lyra returned to the table. 

He said to her, “Thanks for the meal, how much do I owe?”

The Unicorn replied, “Five bits.”

“Here’s ten bits. Keep the change. Also, thank you for not being afraid to talk to me. See ya tomorrow.” 

Before Lyra could respond, Blaze did his teleport jutsu and disappeared. He reappeared back in the library, in front of Spike who was carrying a tall stack of books. The little dragon walked into the tall creature and toppled his stack onto the ground.

"What the?” Spike said as he looked at what he ran into. “Blaze, where did you come from?" He bent down and started to stack the books back up, again.

The human replied, "Sorry about that. I just got done having lunch at a cafe. Here, let me help you with that." Blaze lowered himself down and joined in.

"Thanks. Wait, I didn’t hear you come in from the door. Did you use a new jutsu?"

"Yep, a teleportation one."

"Oh cool! That can be very useful. Like when you need to get somewhere quickly and don't want to be exhausted when you arrive. Twilight has taken me on a couple teleports. The problem is sometimes it’ll singes my spikes. Are you able to take others with you? What is the furthest you have traveled in one move?"

"Whoa, easy there Spike. I can see Twilight's curiosity has rubbed off onto you. For your questions, I have yet to try taking others with me. More than likely, they will need to hold onto me in order for them to come. The furthest I have traveled from is from the castle to here."

"What? Even Twilight can't go that far. I only know the Princesses are the only one who can pull it off. This is so amazing! What next, cool move are you going to learn?"

"I have something planned for tomorrow. I will practice it tonight some more in my sleep state.” Blaze looked at the clock and saw it’s getting close for the ceremony. Shall we head to City Hall?"

"Oh! Can we use your teleport to get there?"

"I don't see why not." The human turned and yelled upstairs, "Twilight! Time to head to the ceremony! You want to go with us?"

"Be right there! I need to get a box for my note cards," Twilight replied. 

The mare soon came down with a small box in her magic hold. 

"I’m ready!" she said with joy.

Blaze said, "Just need to do one more thing before we leave." 

He picked the little dragon up and placed him on Twilight's back.

"What are you doing, Blaze?" Twilight asked.

"One sec,” the human replied. “Spike can you hold onto a piece of my clothing?" 

The little guy reached out with his claw and grabbed the bottom of Blaze’s shirt. He had a huge smile on his face. 

The human said, "Ok, now we’re ready."

"Blaze, this is a little awkward to be walking there like this," Twilight said.

"Who said about walking there? We don’t need to walk.”

The Unicorn’s eye’s opened wide as she realized what is about to happen. Before she could protest, Blaze had put his hands together and said, "Ninja Style! Teleportation Jutsu!"

Their vision was blurred during the transition. The group soon arrived just inside City Hall. Spike and Twilight were looking each other over to see if anything was missing.

In a panicked state, Twilight said, “My note cards! They’re still at the library!” The mare shoved a fore hoof into one of Blaze’s upper legs. “Now I have to go back and get them.”

The human rubbed where he was kicked and said, “Wait a sec, I think I can retrieve them.”

He performed some other signs with his hands. A quick puff of smoke later and the box that contained her note cards was revealed in his hands.

The Unicorn used her magic to grab it. She opened the lid and was happy to see they were there, in the same order she placed them. The mare closed the box, looked at the human, and said, “You’re lucky none are missing, Blaze. Warn me next time you want to teleport. I could have done it myself and my cards would have come with me.”

“Sorry about that, Twilight. I wanted to show you I could do it. It was more to test if I could take others with my jutsu. Turns out, I can, but only by contact. I knew if your cards were going to be left behind, I could use my summoning jutsu to bring them here.”

“Well, I can see why you did it. It was kind of nice to experience your jutsu, very safe and silent. Everypony would recognize when teleport magic is used.”

“Glad you enjoyed the ride.” The human looked at the little dragon. “What about you, Spike?”

He had a big smile on his face as he said, “That was amazing! You’re really getting the hang of this jutsu! I even did not get my spikes singed this time.”

“Don’t expect me to use it every time I’m with you. This was just a test. I also wanted to make sure we did not arrive late. You two go on and find a place to watch the ceremony. Need to check with Mayor Mare if she got something for me from the Princess.”

“Ok, Blaze, we’ll see you soon.” Twilight said as she headed outside. Spike was still riding on her back.

The human made his way to the mayor’s office and knocked on the door. 

“You may enter,” a voice said from the other side of the door. 

He did so and made his way in. The mayor was going over some paperwork on her desk. She looked to see who came in. “Oh, Swift Blaze, what can I do for you?” Mayor Mare asked.

He replied, “I have a question and a small request for you if are available to hear it.”

“It will have to be quick as the award ceremony will be starting soon. What is it you wish to know?”

“First, I was wondering if Princess Celestia has sent you the approval for my citizenship in Equestria.”

“I’m afraid I have yet to receive any letter from the Princess today.”

“Ok, I guess it is too soon as I just filled out the forms this morning. About the request, I know it takes time to get the permits, plans, and contract to build a house. Would it be possible to send a couple ponies with plumbing and electrical wiring to that hill Princess Celestia gave me tomorrow at noon?”

Mayor Mare had a confused look on her face. “There’s nothing on the hill. I don’t know what you are planning, but I’ll see what I can do. Do you have bits to pay them for the rush job you wish them to do?”

“Yes, I do have bits. The Princess also gave them to me to help until I get a job.”

The mayor smiled and said, “That was very generous of Princess Celestia to give you land and money. She must have taken a real liking to you.” She got up from behind her desk and walked around. “Now then, let’s get to the ceremony.”

The two left the office and made their way to the stage that was set up outside. Twilight was on stage, stacking her note cards in her magic. Blaze watched from the left side of the crowd as the Unicorn to give her speech, but kept getting interrupted by her friends. Soon, Mayor Mare insisted to wrap things up. She launched all the note cards into the air and walked off furiously.  

The mayor walked behind the podium and did her speech. When she called out for Applejack, the entire crowd cheered for her. Blaze looked around for her to walk up, but couldn’t see her anywhere. He couldn’t believe that Earth pony hasn’t shown up. Even after getting her help she is still late. The human decided to help stall as he made his way to the stage.

Blaze stood next to the podium and said, “Hi everypony! I know I’m not Applejack, but she informed me she was going to be running late. So, she ask me to do some magic tricks for you.”

The ponies whispered among themselves as they wonder what’s going on. Twilight was with her other friends and they were doing the same.

“For those who didn’t see me at my welcome party to Ponyville, I’m going to do some repeat abilities. First, I’ll change myself to that of my pony form ” 

One shadow transform later and the red Earth pony form was now there. A few ponies gasped at this while some others in the middle were cheering. He was happy that some of the townsfolk were warming up to him.

“Now then, I said in my introduction I raced a certain blue Pegasus.”

Rainbow Dash shouted from the crowd, “And you owe me a rematch later!”

Several ponies laughed a little bit. Blaze continued with, “You may be wondering how as I don’t have wings. It’s because of my abilities that allow me to fly another way.” 

The red stallion started to hover off the stage. He did some simple aerial maneuvers in place he learned from that Pegasus.

“Hey, Rainbow, would you care to help me with the next trick?” he said out loud.

The mare replied, “Sure thing, Blaze!” She flew from the crowd to where he was above the crowd. “So, what is this next trick you want to perform?”

Blaze whispered, “Clone mirror movements.”

Her eyes opened wide with a big smile forming on her face. The Earth pony released the shadow transform and did a normal transform jutsu into Rainbow Dash within the puff of smoke. All the ponies were cheering loudly at the sight of them. Blaze mirrored all the flight maneuvers the blue mare was doing. They crossed path so many times, the crowd lost track which one was the original and the other was Swift Blaze.

The pair landed on the stage. A Rainbow Dash said, “Aw yeah! That was Awesome!”

The other replied, “You know it. I wonder if the crowd can tell which one of us is the original.”

“Only one way to find out.” Both turned to the ponies. “So, which one is the human, in disguise-”

“-and which one is the one and only Rainbow Dash.”

The ponies discussed with their neighbors as the two Pegasi watched. Suddenly, a voice shouted, “I know! I know!”

All eyes turned to who said it, Pinkie Pie. The pink pony hopped through the crowd and made her way to the stage. Once there, she said, “It’s obvious who the fake is.”

Rainbow Dash on the left said, “Then who is it?”

Pinkie pointed to both of them.

“Wait a sec,” said Twilight. “How in Equestria can both of them be Swift Blaze?”

“That’s easy,” the pink mare replied. “Blaze did that clone thingy during the flight show. The real Rainbow Dash is up in that cloud over there.”

Where she pointed to, a blue Pegasus head popped out of the cloud. Rainbow Dash flew down and joined the others. “How could you tell both were fakes and where I was? I thought we pulled the stunt off,” said the mare.

Pinkie replied, “Blaze was slightly off on your eye color. I found which cloud you were in because you had a tiny bit of your tail showing out of the cloud. Other than that, I couldn’t tell when he did the switch.”

Both fake ponies got covered in smoke. Blaze had returned to his human form. The crowd cheered at the show.

Blaze said to Pinkie, “I don’t even want to know how you could tell the slight difference.” He turned to Rainbow Dash and said, “Thanks for helping out. At least we fooled everyone else.”

With that, the two mares walked off stage. The human looked around again for Applejack. Still no sign of her. Blaze figured that she must be dealing with those ponies and lost track of time. He couldn’t keep stalling forever.

“For my next to final trick, how about I bring the pony of the hour onto the stage,” he said.

The human did a couple hand signs, slammed them to the ground, and said, “Ninja Art! Summoning Jutsu!” 

A puff of smoke appeared that later revealed Applejack.

“What in tarnation is going on? I was just on my farm and now I am here,” the orange mare said in a confused state.

“Applejack, welcome to your award ceremony,” said Blaze. “You’re here for being a Pony of utmost trustworthiness, reliability, and integrity. The citizens of Ponyville and I wish to award you the Pony of Ponyville Award.” 

He placed the trophy next to her. All the ponies started to cheer for Applejack and chanted her name. The Earth pony started to blush and walked to the podium to give her thank-you speech. 

“Thank you kindly for giving me this award. Sorry for running late, new employees at the farm were being a handful,” she said.

Blaze interrupted and said, “Applejack, before you finish your speech, I would like to do my last trick so you can have the entire stage.” 

She nodded and walked to the edge of the stage. The human turned back to the crowd, “Now, for my final trick, seeing I made somepony appear, I will make myself disappear off the stage. See you ponies later. Sim Sim Sala Bim!” 

The human teleported and disappeared off the stage and appeared behind city hall. The ponyfolk cheered loudly from where he could hear. He was glad they were warming up to him. Blaze hoped soon, that none would be afraid.

He then recalled what Applejack said as to why she was late. Maybe they need a refresher to get them straight if they don’t want the alternative. He made a clone and it teleported to the farm. Blaze transformed to his pony form and walked back around.

Applejack just finished thanking everypony again. The town was now cheering for her. Mayor Mare walked onto the stage. “Hold on folks, we have a surprise award to give out,” she said. 

Everyone, including Swift Blaze was wondering what the award is and who it is for. 

“Now then, it is not really an award per say, but it’s an achievement he rightfully deserves. Would Swift Blaze please come to the stage, if he is still here.”

“I’m here,” he shouted as the red stallion made his way through the crowd. The ponies continue to whisper as he got on the stage.

“I know you’re all wondering what kind of achievement he has earned as he has only been in Equestria for a week. This afternoon, I received a letter from Princess Celestia declaring that Swift Blaze is now a citizen of Equestria. So, I hereby give you this certificate of citizenship in Equestria.” 

All the ponies started to cheer once more. Blaze himself had a small tear of joy in one eye and a big smile on his face. 

The human turned to the crowd and said, “Thank you, Mayor Mare, and thank you ponyfolk for accepting me as a citizen now.”

The crowd dissipated back to their normal lives. Twilight and the gang came up to Blaze to give personal congratulations. 

“Congrats there, Blaze. I knew you were going to get it,” said Twilight.

Rarity then said, “I knew you were going to have no issue in getting it, darling.”

“That was so awesome how you allowed me to help with your jutsu demonstration! Oh, and congrats on becoming a citizen. I think you are 20% cooler now,” Rainbow Dash said.

“It was lovely of the Princess to get you included in the ceremony,” Fluttershy added.

“OhnowIhavetothrowyouBecomingACitizenParty! Youareonepopularponytogettohavesomany parties,” Pinkie Pie said at hyper speed.

Applejack came along side Blaze. Then, the mare hoof slapped him on the back of the head. 

“OW! What was that for?” the human asked Applejack.

“That was for using that jutsu on me and scaring me half to death.” She then gave him a kiss on the cheek. “And that was for making sure I got to my award ceremony.”

Everyone there was shocked at what Applejack did. 

Blaze rubbed the back of his head as he said, “It was nothing, Applejack. I knew you deserved that award. Plus my gut was telling me that those new employees of yours were giving you a little trouble.”

“Oh Shoot! They’re all alone in the apple orchards. I need to get back there right away.”

Before the orange mare could run off, the human replied, “It’s ok, Applejack, I sent a clone to keep an eye on them. If you are really concerned, then let’s all go and see if they have been behaving. I’m sure your friends would like to help with the applebucking for the rest of the day.” 

The ponies and dragon nodded in agreement.

“I appreciate it, partner. Let’s get going as they were complaining up a storm about how sore they were. Even you, Blaze, didn’t complain when you helped out.” 

He replied, “What can I say, I’ve know when to shut up and push through the pain. Like a saying back on Earth, ‘No pain, no gain.”

The group started the trip to Sweet Apple Acres, under the afternoon sun.

-------- Meanwhile --------

The human clone arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, in their orchards. He looked around as he walked to find where trees have been bucked and the ones that haven’t. He soon found a patch in the east field where a quarter was done. Blaze shifted into his pony form and made his way there. If the guards were not working like they should, they were about to get a rude awakening.

As the red stallion approached quietly, he could hear the guards were complaining up a storm. He listened as he moved closer

“This sucks, Silver. Why did you convince me to do that to those ponies? Now we have to do this or go to the dungeon for five years,” one guard said.

The other guard replied, “If I didn’t suggest it, you would have, Crimson. Just be happy we get to become guards again after this, and at the level we were at. You know we would haven’t been able to get a job after the time in the dungeon. We would be a laughing stock of being the first guards to have been kicked out of the Royal Guard.” 

“I know, I just wonder where Applejack went. She went to get some more buckets for us and she has not shown up yet.”

“Let’s continue knocking the apples out of the trees. This would be a lot easier if we had our magic. I can see why the unicorns hate these rings when we put it on them.”

“I think the reason we have them on our horns is because we abused our magic by doing what we did.” Crimson said as he bucked another tree. Several apples fell down and onto his head. “Son of a bitch! I’m going to have a melon-size bruise when we get done with this.”

“Quit your complaining. I have been hit by those apples too. How does the Apple family handle this all by themselves? They must be super ponies.”

In all his life, Blaze had never heard a pony, nor human, complain so much before. He figured these stallions must come from rich families that pampered them as they were colts. He wondered how in Equestria did they ever make it through basic training. 

The red stallion came out from behind a nearby buck tree and said in a drill seargent voice, “Why am I hearing talking and not enough sounds of trees being bucked?”

“Who in Equestria are you and where did you come from?” Silver asked.

“Names Speedy. I’ve been working in the barn packing up the apples. I came here to relieve Applejack as she had a prior engagement to get to,” Blaze said.

“Well, Applejack went to get more buckets as we were close to filling these up,” Crimson replied.

“Then how come you did not deliver them yourself to the barn when they were filled?”

Silver said, “That wasn’t part of the job description.”

“Oh really? I believe your job here is to help Applejack here on the farm for a year, not just to buck the trees. Now pick up those buckets and bring them to the farm. We don’t have all day.” 

They moaned as they each took a bucket. The red stallion picked up two and placed them on his back. “Let’s go Greenies.”

The group made their way back to the barn. Blaze was in the lead and the guards were having a hard time keeping up. The human in disguise believed this should help strengthen them better. They got to their destination and dropped off the full buckets and picked up the empty ones to return with.

“Applejack did not tell me your names this morning. Mind sharing them, or would you prefer I keep calling you Greenies?” Blaze said on the way back.

“My name is Silver Weight and he is Crimson Bristle,” Silver said.

“Hello, Silver and Crimson. Now how about yourself and why you joined the Royal Guard?”

Crimson replied, “Well, Silver and I grew up together since our families were neighbors. We went to the same schools and enjoyed doing the same things. One thing is we were picked on in magic school as our magic was not as powerful as others. We decided to join the Royal Guard to get respect from the other ponies.”

Silver added, “Our families pulled some strings when we signed up. It was so we didn’t have to go through the basic training and went to being Royal Guards. It’s an easy job as we just had to guard the Princess and the country. Nothing ever happens as everything is peaceful. Just break up a few bar fights and catch the occasional thief.”

“Sorry to hear about what happen when you were younger,” said Blaze.” But, I’m sorry to say that your reason to join the Royal Guard is a stupid one.”

“What do you know?” asked Crimson. “You’re only an Earth pony and work on a farm. Yes, you do grow the food other ponies eat so you get respect that way, but Royal Guards earn more respect.”

The red stallion stopped in his tracks and turned around. He replied, “You don’t get respect based upon the position you have. You must earn it like any other pony. It was wrong for your parents to do what they did so you could skip the basic training to be a Royal Guard. If you went through it, maybe then you wouldn’t have done what you did.”

Silver stomped his fore hoof and said, “What do you know about being in the Royal Guard? Also, what their basic training is like?”

Blaze simply replied, “Well, it’s true I don’t know exactly the Royal Guard do in their training. But, I do know what a military unit will put recruits through. They put them into the basic training to toughen up their spirit and know how to endure pain. The new guards get stronger through it and prove how loyal they are by not quitting. They’re taught combat techniques and the courage to put their lives ahead of their country if it will save it. By skipping these lessons, if you ever experienced battle, and your magic wasn’t working, you would probably run away and leave your other guards to die.”

“How dare you talk to us like that!” Crimson shouted as he also stomped a fore hoof. “If our magic was not blocked, we would be teaching you a lesson right now.”

“But, your magic is blocked. This only proves my point that you rely on your magic too much. A proper guard would have started fighting me with their hooves.”

“How is it you know so much about the military when you are just a farm pony?” Silver asked.

“Oh, I only have been working on the farm for a few days to help out. I‘m not related to the Apple family in any way. In fact, I’m not even an Earth pony,” Blaze said with a smile.

Both Unicorns were confused as to what the Earth pony just said.

Crimson asked, “What are you talking about? Even with this ring on my horn, I can still detect illusion magic. Right now, I don’t sense any on you.”

“Then, I shall prove it.” 

The red stallion was engulfed in smoke as he released the jutsu. Once the smoke cleared away, the guards’ faces went to full fear as they realize who he was. 

The human just stood there with his arms crossed on his chest as he said, “Hello, boys.”

The stallions dropped their empty baskets. Each one went into different begging positions. 

“Oh, Celestia!” said Silver. “Please don’t send us to the dungeon. We didn’t mean to back talk you.” 

Crimson said, “Yeah, we promise we’re working as best we can. It’s just we aren’t use to this lifestyle.” 

“We promise to continue to work, without complaint,” Silver added.

Blaze said, “Oh, I heard some of the conversation you had before I revealed my pony form. I don’t mind the complaining about how I tricked you to do this, but you will have to earn my respect by not disobeying Applejack when she gives you a task. You are to go above and beyond what she asks you to do. If you see something needs to be done around the farm and you know how, take care of it. Her brother is still recovering from an injury. So, I don’t want her to try to do too much by herself. I know she can easily do more than you two put together. Consider this part of the basic training you seem to have missed. Following orders of your boss without goofing off. Basic training has it far worse and with you rich boys, you would have not lasted a day.”

“How is it you know so much of the training? You’re not even from Equestria,” Crimson said.

“That’s because back on my world, what your Royal Guard skill and training they go through is the level of police force of mine. Protect the citizens in the town and take care of local disturbances. The military on my world are on a whole other level. I did not go through it myself, but I had friends and family that did and they shared their stories with me.”

Silver asked, “Why did you compare the Royal Guard to police on your world?”

“Let me answer by asking you a question. When was the last major battle where armies took part in and creatures died on both sides?”

“That would probably be the Griffin Wars which were several centuries ago. Well before our time.”

“That is why I did the comparison,” said Blaze. “The Royal Guard is great at what they do, but they are not ready for a full-on battle with another nation or major enemy. On my world, there are battles of different nations every week. My nation going against terrorist from two other nations where they would even set traps for anypony to set off and suicide bombers to kill innocent victims.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. I don’t know how anypony could live in such a dangerous place,” said Crimson.

Silver asked, “How were you able to handle hearing about the deaths of people you may have known?”

“I’m sorry, but that is a story for another time. Let’s get back to work.” 

The guards nodded and picked up their baskets and moved them to the next tree’s in line to be bucked. The human watched and gave a little advice on technique as he waited.

On the outskirts of the farm. Applejack lead her friends through the trees. The mare trotted quickly to where she last left the guards. 

”Relax, Applejack. They’re not going anywhere. My clone will make sure they’re still working,” said the human.

The orange mare replied, “I know, it’s just that I didn’t tell them I left. I do like having some extra hooves to help around the farm, I just think these two never worked hard a day in their life. I think they’re from rich folks in Canterlot by their attitude. Not royalty, but definite upper class.”

“I just can’t understand why Princess Celestia agreed with your decision for punishment,” said Rarity. “It’s unheard-of to treat ponies like this. Mind sharing with us as what they did Blaze?”

“I’m sorry, but Princess Celestia has ordered me to not to share for the safety of you and for them. All I can say is they didn’t touch, nor harm any of us.”

The group finally reached their destination. Everyone saw the stallions were still working hard with Blaze’s clone leaning against a bucked tree. The clone looked at the other human and gave a nod. In a puff of smoke, he disappeared. Blaze closed his eyes as he reviewed the memories. When the human opened his eyes, Applejack was there standing in front of him. 

The mare asked, “So, did they behave while I was gone?”

“They did, Applejack. You’re doing a fine job teaching them work ethic and they will appreciate it in the end. Shall we go and help out till sunset?”

They all nodded and split into groups to tackle the task. With all of them working together, they made quick work on the eastern fields before sunset. All the ponies were exhausted from the work once they finished. Blaze could see Silver and Crimson were about to collapse where they were standing. They human did believe these stallions need this kind of training, if they expect to survive actual Royal Guard training.

Blaze turned to his friends and said, “I think we should get Silver and Crimson to bed, before they collapse out here.” 

The guards nodded as best they could to that idea. Applejack led them to the barn where she had them sleep the night prior. Everyone else followed and waited outside. The orange mare came back out and closed the big door before she turned around to face the others.

“Now that the south and east fields have been harvested, I feel better with the working arrangement,” she said. “Where shall we go for dinner?”

“Where ever we decide on to go, I’m buying. I will not take no for an answer,” said Blaze. “You all have taken me into your homes and provided food for me. It’s the least I can do to repay.”

They accepted this and headed back into town.



> Chapter 16: How In . . . What?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The ponies, human, and dragon arrived back in town and looked for a restaurant to have dinner at. The group soon came across a pub. 

Rainbow Dash said, “Hey, let’s go here. They have the best drinks this side of Ponyville.”

“I agree,” said Applejack. “And their food is good too.” 

Everyone else nodded and headed inside. The place is what you would expect, a nice size bar with different kinds of alcohol on the back shelves. A waitress directed them to a long table that could accommodate them.

Blaze said, “So, Rainbow and Applejack, how do you know this place?”

“Me and Rainbow here come here once or twice a month after a long work week to relax,” the orange mare said.

“We come here more often than that,” the blue Pegasus said. “We also come here to get buzzed and on occasion, have ourselves a drinking contest. I won the last one.”

“Yeah, you did. But I won the two before that.”

“Girls please, let's not get into an argument and get kicked out,” the human said.

The waitress came by and collected the drink orders. Rarity ordered a glass of red wine. Spike got a glass of juice, as he was still underage. Twilight and Fluttershy ordered some tea. Pinkie and Rainbow each ordered a pint of hard apple cider. Applejack ordered a pint of a local brew beer. Blaze only ordered a glass of water. The waitress thanked them and said she’ll be back soon to get their entree orders.

“How come you ordered water, Blaze?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Thought you were old enough to drink?”

He replied, “Oh, I’ve been able to drink alcohol for the past 6 years. I just choose not to. I was never interested in trying it.”

“Oh come on, you don’t know what you’re missing. Loosen up and try one. It won’t hurt you,” the mare said as she tried to convince him.

“Not interested.”

Applejack butted in and said, “Come on Rainbow, Blaze said he doesn’t want to. Let’s honor his choice.”

“Choosing not to drink because they’re not interested  makes me think they’re hiding something. What’s the real reason Blaze?” Rainbow said as she slammed a hoof down on the table. “I know that Twilight and Fluttershy don’t drink because they can’t hold their alcohol. Come on and spill!”

The human looked at the blue mare and said, “I don’t want to drink and that’s that.”

“Please, drop it, Rainbow,” said Twilight. “We’re here to have fun and enjoy ourselves. Not everypony has to drink like you.”

The waitress came back with their drinks. Then, after everyone told the mare what they wanted to eat, she thanked them and returned to the kitchen. 

Blaze spoke first to avoid Rainbow Dash interrogating him on why he won’t drink alcohol. “So, Applejack, what do you think of those guards after seeing them work for the first day?”

The orange mare replied, “They’re definitely rough around the edges. Neither of them are very strong, and you wouldn't believe how much they complained when they started working.”

“That sounds awful,” said Fluttershy. “I never realized working on your farm was such hard work, until today. I hope you’re not pushing them too hard.”

“I was going easy on them while they’re learning the ropes of farm work. It’ll take some time, but I think I can get them straightened out and break their bad habits. Honestly, I think they never did any hard work in their lives. Yes, they might do some weight lifting, but they don’t have the energy to use it all day,” The Earth pony looked at the human. “What’s your opinion when you saw them working, Blaze?”

He replied, “Well, when I, meaning my clone, got to the farm, I snuck up in my pony form to see if they were working. They still were. Also, you’re correct, they do complain a bit. They never saw my pony form. So, when I introduced myself, I called myself Speedy. They said you went to get some more empty buckets, but never came back. I figure that was when I used that jutsu to bring you to the stage. I told them you had forgotten to be somewhere else and I relieved you of watching them.” 

“Now why in Equestria would you lie about yourself, darling?” Rarity asked.
“Sometimes, a person, or a stallion in this case, won’t open up to someone they know. They might with a stranger. We chatted for a bit as we continued to work. I found out they do come from rich families. They had pulled some strings so they didn’t have to go through basic training. I think that’s why they’re acting like this. By not going through that experience, it would’ve straightened them out and toughened them up at the same time. I then revealed my human form. The fear on their faces was priceless. They panicked and started to beg.”

“Oh my gosh! I wish I was there to see that!” said Rainbow. “You definitely know how to pull pranks, Blaze. I wouldn’t have been able to pull some of them off.”

“Well, you’re not me and have access to my jutsu moves,” the human said. “That’s the only way I could pull these off. Now, back to the story. I told them what I was expecting them to do while on the farm and we went back to work after the begging. Some time later, you all showed up. The moral of this story is that you should never take shortcuts in your work. You may lose what that hard work and training will teach you. Their families are at fault here for letting them skip the training. I plan to look into this when I go for the basic training next month.”

“YOU'RE JOINING THE ROYAL GUARD?!” everypony at the table shouted at the same time.

“Hold it!” Blaze said as he held his hand in front of him. “I’m not joining the Royal Guard. I have an agreement with Princess Celestia to teach the guards some Taijutsu. But, I need to go through the basic training in pony form to get an idea of what they know and how ponies fight. I was never planning to join as these skills were not intended to be used on the front lines of battle. They’re more for secret ops and stealth missions.”

“That’s great. You’ll probably see my brother.” Twilight said.

“You have a brother in the Royal Guard?” everypony again said.

“I might have met him already. Mind telling me his name and what he looks like?” the human asked.

“His name is Shining Armor, and he’s a Captain of the Royal Guard, Unicorn Division.”

“Your brother is not only in the Royal Guard, but a Captain?” Rarity asked as she was about to faint. Fluttershy grabbed her to keep her upright.

“Yes. He's a Captain because he can cast a shield spell big enough to cover all of Canterlot, and powerful enough to protect it.”

“Damm Twilight, I knew you had some powerful magic, but your brother can cast a shield around a city? That’s awesome!” Rainbow said.

“It is impressive. Now, as for his looks, he has a white coat, a two-tone blue mane, and his armor is purple.”

Blaze was correct of who he pissed off this morning. The stallion will probably going to kill him if he found out that he’d been hanging out with Twilight and her friends. The human hoped he wasn’t going to be doing the training when he goes. 

“Um, I think I might have met him this morning. Would you mind if I transform into him so you can verify who I think it is?” Blaze asked.

The mare nodded her head. A quick jutsu later, Blaze now looked like her brother.

“Oh my, you did meet him! I have to go and write him a letter right away and find out what he thinks about you.”

Blaze changed back and said, “You might want to hold off on that. At least until after I tell you what happened this morning. Please don’t scream or freak out.” 

They all nodded and paid attention to the story the human was about to tell. Each one realized this was going to be an interesting one. 

“Ok, so every morning since I arrived here, I woke up before sunrise. I do a morning exercise in the land Princess Celestia gave me before it was mine. Seeing I was in Canterlot last night, Princess Luna offered the Royal Guard training grounds to let me do my routine. I was led to the grounds by two Unicorn guards named Iron Shield and Dead Eye. They participated in stretches with my pony form while my human clone went for a jog on the track. After this, I decided to do some different scenarios of combat so six more clones were made, one human and the rest were my pony form. Some of the matches lasted for at least an hour while the shortest one was 15 minutes.”

“Why on Equestria would you fight yourself instead of some practice dummies?” Rarity asked.

“I learned a few days ago that by doing this, I can practice both offensive and defensive techniques at the same time. Plus, dummies don’t fight back.”

“So, what happend next?!” Pinkie Pie asked, while eating popcorn. 

Blaze wasn’t even going to think where she got it.

“After the matches, I was pretty tired,” said the human. “The guards were also tired because it was the end of their shift. I didn’t feel like walking to or flying towards the dining room, so I decided to test out the teleportation jutsu for the first time since I learned it. This is where it gets interesting.”

Applejack asked, “What in tarnation did ya do?”

“None of it was my fault as I didn’t know at the time, but I was suppose to have escorts wherever I went in the castle. So, I did the jutsu and arrived just outside the doors to the dining room. As I was looking myself over to see if anything was missing, there were two Unicorn guards standing at the door. They were charging up their horns when I realized they were there. So, I did what anyone would have done. I started to run away and avoid being hit by their magic.”

Rainbow started to laugh. Applejack soon joined in with a chuckle. 

“The guards normally don’t shoot their magic unless there was a threat,” Twilight said.

“Let me ask you this,” replied Blaze. “How would you react if you didn't know anything about me and I appeared right in front of you?”

Twilight started to blush, “I would probably scream and then try to hit you with magic spells to trap you.”

“My point as to why I ran. I didn’t know if they were going to capture me, or kill me. I almost got away from the two guards, until I went around a corner. I saw six more Unicorn guards coming at me, so I switched to flying and flew right over them as they were shooting their magical spells at me.”

“You must have been doing some impressive aerial maneuvers to dodge those spells,” said Rainbow Dash. She started to pay more attention to the tale.

“I didn’t even think of which ones to use. I just let my instincts take over and guide me. I saw an open window and flew through it to the outside. The Unicorn guards were still sending their magic spells at me from the window. I thought I'd gotten away by then. That was until I looked towards the castle walls.”

Pinkie asked, “What did you see?” The mare now had 3-D glasses on and was still eating popcorn.

“There were at least a dozen Pegasus guards flying towards me from  different directions. I was getting pretty frustrated at this. I came to the conclusion of one move that would get me out of this. I flew high up into the sky so all the guards in the area would be looking up at me. The move I used is ki-based and is called solar flare. The name explains what it does. I cast a pure and intense white light. It caused everyone that looked at me to get blinded, temporally. Those few seconds allowed me to teleport out of there without them seeing it.”

“I saw the flash from the farm. Thought it was a new firework they were testing to use during the day,” said Applejack.

“That flash woke me from my sleep cause it lit up my entire cloud house,” Rainbow said in a slightly angry tone.

Fluttershy asked, “So, where did you teleport to this time, if you don’t mind?”

“I teleported this time to inside the dining room. I startled the staff and they ran into the kitchen. Both Princesses were surprised by my entrance. I quickly explained what was going on as I have told you. All of a sudden, the dining room door burst open and a platoon of Pegasus and Unicorn Guards came in, charging at me. I prepared to defend myself when Princess Celestia ordered everypony to stop in the loudest voice I ever heard.” 

Blaze turned to Twilight and said, “This is where your brother comes in. He stepped forward and told the Princesses that they were trying to capture me because they thought I was an assassin.”

“Well you do kinda dress like one,” said Spike. Twilight gently hit the back of his head with her hoof.

“After Princess Celestia explained that I was a guest, your brother and I kinda went into a blaming contest of who was at fault. Princess Celestia dismissed the guards and explained to me that since I wasn't a citizen, even if I was trusted to some degree, I was supposed to have an escort wherever I went in the castle, either one of the Princesses, or a couple of guards. I apologized for my attitude and will acknowledge those rules when I’m in the castle,” the human said.

The orange mare said, “Whoo-whee, that sure was some excitement you had.”

“And that was before I had breakfast and after my training exercise. I was full-blown exhausted and starving. So, Twilight, I feel I’m not on good terms with your brother, being someone who evaded several guards and embarrassed them in the process. If he comes to visit, please warn me so I can hide.”

All the girls laughed at how the human was afraid of Twilight’s brother. “I’m sure my brother will accept you once he gets to know you like I have,” said Twilight. “He will love how much you care about us ponies.”

The food arrived and they dug in. The mares all got some flower-based dish. Spike was able to order some precious gems. Blaze had steamed veggies over rice. 

As he ate, the human thought about he would have to do some home cooked meals to get some meat. He then wondered if Princess Celestia will allow him to take some uncooked meat from the castle’s kitchen and store it at his house. Finally, Blaze figured Shining Armor was going to give him some trouble for successfully evading his guards. He was pretty sure that, right now, the stallion was sending more guards to Ponyville until he could trust the human.

“So, what your plans for tomorrow?” Blaze asked.

Rainbow Dash replied, “Applejack is going to help me with some of my aerial moves.”

“I’m sorry, partner, but I won’t be able to,” said Applejack. “Them guards need supervision to help me with the applebucking. Big Mac isn’t well enough to do it. I also won’t be able to help either Pinkie or Fluttershy. There’s still a lot of apples to harvest if we want to sell them all.”

Blaze spoke up and said, “Hey um, if you want, I could help you out with what Applejack was going to do. It’s only right, seeing I’m the one who injured Big Macintosh.”

“That wasn’t your fault, Blaze,” the orange mare replied. “Like i said before, my big bro was being overprotective. I’m just glad he didn't hurt ya.”

“But it only seems right I help out, seeing as you have those Greenies on your farm.”

“Greenies? What does that mean, sugarcube?”

“It’s a nickname we give to inexperienced individuals. It actually became popular on a TV show in my world. The full name they used was Greenhorn, but I didn’t feel comfortable calling them that.”

They all laughed again and the human joined in. Once everyone was done, Blaze paid the bill and the group left the pub. They walked to the town square, enjoying the night sky. 

Twilight spoke up, “So Blaze, where are you going to sleep tonight?”

“I wasn’t really thinking of where to sleep tonight,” he replied. After a few minutes, he said, “I think I’ll go to my plot of land and sleep underneath the stars. The air isn't too cold tonight so I won’t get sick from it. I have some intense training I need to do to for the next jutsu I’d like to get down.”

“What’s the next thing you’re going to do? Skin color changing jutsu? Limb creating jutsu? Oh! I know! Balloon animal jutsu!” Pinkie Pie said excitedly.

“Um, not any of those, that’s for sure. It’ll be something with a good purpose. I’ll be putting it to use at noon, tomorrow, on my land if you’d like to see.”

Rarity said, “Oh, I can’t wait to see what spectacle your jutsu is going to do.”

“You’re not going to give us a hint as to what it is, are ya?” Rainbow asked.

“Do I ever tell you what jutsu I learn next?” Blaze asked her. The blue Pegasus shook her head no. “Then you’ll just have to wait. Good night my friends. See you tomorrow.”

They all said their good nights and headed to their homes. The human went to the hill and laid down in the most comfortable position he could. With his hands behind his head, he closed his eyes and woke into his mind space. With the new style being wood jutsu, he realized this was probably going to take all night. Combining the two elements for this would be difficult, even with clones. But, it had to be done if the human wanted to get the skills down for a house-level jutsu. So, for the rest of the night, a hundred clones went at it to master wood-style jutsu.

Dawn came and Blaze was still in the sleep realm. He looked over at the structures he’d progressed in making. Off in the distance, the human heard his name being yelled. A hovering screen popped up in front of him. It displayed text stating the caller was Rainbow Dash.

The human decided to have some fun. He exited the space back to the real world, peaked one eye open and saw the blue mare, staring at him. Her head was directly over his, with her body off to one side.

Blaze stretched his arms above his head and let out a big yawn. He then rolled over to Rainbow Dash and grabbed onto one of her front hooves, while still pretending to be asleep.

The mare panicked and tried to brake the hold the human had. She flapped her wings and dragged him around on the ground. When that didn’t work, Rainbow took to the sky and tried to fling him off through the staggering number of g'se staggering number of g's she was pulling.

Blaze held on as best he could on each sharp turn. Soon, the blue Pegasus grew tired and landed back on the ground. The human released his grip, sat up, and stretched his arms out to the side.

He opened his eyes and let out a big yawn, then said, “Morning Dash. You need something?”

“Uh, yea,” said Rainbow Dash as she rubbed the back of her head. She put her hoof down before she continued. “You said you were going to cover for Applejack’s promise that she would help her friends today.”

“Yes, I remembered. So, what do I need to help you with your stunts?”

“See that wood contraption over by the town square?” The mare said as she pointed with her hoof. 

The human nodded, then asked, “When did you have time to put that together? It doesn’t look safe.”

“You don’t need to worry about that,” the Pegasus replied. “All I need you to do is get up on the platform. Then, wait for me to get onto the far end of the seesaw. When I give you the signal, you jump onto the other end. That will catapult me faster into the air, which, in turn, boost my speed for my new stunts, and really impress the Wonderbolts!” Her tone was that of a giggling school filly.

“A seesaw launch? Really?” Blaze said as he thought it over. “I don’t think you’ll get the speed you want. The wood will either flex too much, or break from me landing.”

The human was thinking of something better she could try. Once he had it, he said, “I know of a faster way to launch you. The coolest thing is, we can do it right here, right now.”

“REALLY! WHAT IS IT? WHAT IS IT? LET’S DO IT!” The mare was flying around the human with excitement.

“Calm down, Rainbow Dash. Now then, stand in front of me, about three feet away. Get yourself into your ready stance, as you’re about to take off.”

Rainbow did so with eagerness pumping through her veins. She asked, “Now what?”

Blaze waved to her and said, “Bye, Rainbow.” 

The mare looked confused for a bit. Then it went to shock as the human placed his hands together and said, “Earth Style! Rapid Stone Column Jutsu!”

A pillar of stone suddenly formed from the ground underneath Rainbow Dash, accelerating her to over a hundred miles an hour before it stopped at a height of twenty feet, and launched her into the air like a living bullet. She continued to fly upwards at that speed and began to do her stunts. 

Blaze heard her say, “That. Was. AWESOME!” at the top of her lungs. She flew back down and landed in front of the human. While out of breath, she said, “I ... never ... launched ... that fast ... before. WHERE DID YOU COME UP WITH THAT?!”

“That was based on a ride from my world. It’s designed to where humans are strapped into seats that are on a machine that launches them up like that. They get to experience freefall in a safe environment.”

“DO IT AGAIN!” Rainbow said. She already was back into position.

Blaze said, “How about I join you and learn some more moves?” 

She smiled and nodded. He went over and stood next to the mare. The human braced his legs for the Gs. One jutsu later, the pair were launched into the air. The Gs were intense at launch, but the thrill was worth it. 

They flew all over Ponyville as Blaze was mirroring Rainbow Dash's moves. Once the adrenaline rush was finished, he said goodbye to the blue Pegasus and stated he needed to get something into his stomach.

The human flew toward Sugarcube Corner. He landed and went inside. Behind the counter, there was a yellow, thin, stallion. It was Mr. Cake. With a wave of his hand, Blaze said, "Good morning."

The Earth pony looked up from what he was doing to greet the new customer.  His eyes went from happy and calm to full-blown scared. Mr. Cake screamed, “AHH! A MONSTER! GET OUT OF HERE HONEY WHILE I HOLD IT OFF!” After that, he picked up a broom with his mouth. He swung it wildly in atempt to shoo the human away.

Blaze just pinched the bridge of his nose as he looked down. He wondered when these ponies will stop being afraid of him. The human released his nose and looked up the stairs. “PINKIE PIE!” he shouted, “Can you please tell them who I am before they call the guards on me?”

The pink mare came running down and jumped halfway towards Blaze. He caught her as she hugged him. “Blazy,” she said, “you’re here early! I thought you were going to help Rainbow Dash first?”

He replied, “I did. Just got done helping her with her stunts. I came early so I can get something to eat before I help you. Now, would you mind telling them who I am before this gets out of control?”

“Silly Mr. and Mrs. Cake! I told you I made a pony friend and was going to help me instead of Applejack.”

“That's not a pony, Pinkie! Get away before it hurts you!” Mr. Cake said while still holding the broom in his mouth.

“He’s right, deary! Come over here and we’ll go and get the guards!” Mrs. Cake said as she poked her head out of the kitchen.

“I am hurt, Mrs. Cake, that you don’t recognize me, even by my voice. Would this help you?” 

Blaze gently place Pinkie down on her hooves. He put his hands together performed the Shadow Transform Jutsu. Once the smoked cleared, they saw his pony form. 

Mrs. Cake said, “Oh! It’s you, Swift Blaze. I didn’t realize you could change your form like that. Dear, put that broom down, he’s a friend of Pinkie I met a few days ago.”

Mr. Cake placed the broom back where it came from. He said, “Sorry about that. That form surprised me. I didn’t know what creature you were. Why would you go around looking like that?”

Blaze replied, “Um, maybe because that is my real form. I take you both haven’t been to my introduction, party, or Applejack’s Ceremony?” 

They shook their heads side to side. The human wondered how many more times he will have to explain his species. So, after another explanation, the Cakes nodded in understanding. 

“I’m so sorry, Blaze, for thinking that human form was a disguise and not the other way around,” said Mrs. Cake. “You said you came to get something to eat, so what can we get ya, deary?”

“I think I’ll take two of those blueberry muffins and a tall glass of orange juice, if you have some.”

“Coming right up.” 

Blaze went to a small table and sat on a cushion. The blue mare went into the kitchen as her husband hoofed out the two muffins out of the display onto a plate. He brought it over to the table. Mrs. Cake shortly came with the glass of OJ being held by her tail and placed it on the table without spilling it. 

Seeing that level of control, the red stallion wanted now to do some training for that in the future. He picked up the glass with his hoof to get a quick drink. “That is some fresh orange juice.” He turned to the mare and asked, “So, how much do I owe you?”

“It’s on the house. You’re going to be helping Pinkie Pie while we go and make these deliveries,” Mrs. Cake said.

“Then I shall pay with a recipe I know from my world I think you might like.”

Pinkie Pie moved quickly into the stallion’s face.“OH, YOU CAN BAKE TOO! Why didn’t you say you can do that?” the mare said with excitement in her voice.

Blaze pushed her back before he said, “You didn’t ask. Once I finish with my breakfast, I’ll go and make up of a batch for you to try.”

Pinkie hopped away and went behind the counter with clear joy on her face. Mr. and Mrs. Cake left shortly afterward with several boxes on their backs. As the red Earth pony was eating the first muffin, which he thought was delicious, the front door burst open. A pony shouted, “MUFFIN!”

Blaze saw a grey blur coming toward him. In quick action, he grabbed the plate and glass with his hooves and flew up to the ceiling. The blur object slid across the table and continued on into the wall. He looked to see what it was that came at him. The object was a grey Pegasus with a blond mane and yellow eyes. 

The stallion came back down and placed the plate and the glass back on the table. “Are you ok?” he asked.

Her eyes were spinning around as she was regaining consciousness. She then looked to him as he held a hoof out to help her up. She grabbed it with hers and got her back on all four. “Sorry about that mister,” she said. “I get carried away when I smell my favourite muffin.” Her stomach started to growl. “Hee hee, kinda skipped breakfast as I was running late to get to work.”

“What do you do for work?”

“She delivers the mail in Ponyville and is the best!” Pinkie said from behind the counter.

“That is an important job, but you should never skip your breakfast. How about you have my other muffin so you can subdue that stomach of yours?”

“But that’s yours. I wouldn’t feel right taking your breakfast,” the mare said.

“I insist. Plus, I already had one and that filled me up more than expected.”

“THANK YOU, MISTER!” The Pegasus went and scarfed it down in one bite.

“Enough of the mister, please. My name is Swift Blaze, but you can call me Blaze. All my friends do.”

“Ok, Blaze. My name is Ditzy Hooves. Thank you again for the muffin. It was delicious. I’m curious though. Normally when this happens, I collide into a pony with the muffin. How were you able to dodge me?”

“My reflexes kicked in and I flew up to the ceiling.”

“But you don’t have wings! How was that possible?” 

One of her eyes started to wander looking off into another direction. The mare shook her head with her eyes closed. When she opened them, they were both looking in the same direction. “Sorry about that,” she said as she lowered her head a bit.

“Don’t be ashamed of yourself. To answer your question, I have an energy source inside of me called ki which I can regulate out of me to give me lift,” Blaze said. He started to levitate above the table.

“I have never heard an Earth pony getting the ability to fly!”

“Technically, I’m not a pony.”

“Thank you again for the muffin, but I have to go and finish delivering this mail. I’m having a hard time with this one as there’s no address. It only has of what I can believe to be the description of who it’s suppose to.”

“Maybe I can help you with that. What does it say?”

The Pegasus pulled the letter out of her saddle bag. She cleared her throat and read,

To the new creature in Ponyville that walks on two hooves and is hairless.

“Hey! I do have hair, just on my head, compared to ponies.”

“But, you look like a pony. You have a fur coat and mane. I don’t think this is for you.”

“I was referring to my original form. Please don’t freak out or scream.” Blaze released the jutsu and went back to his human form.

“I saw you yesterday at the ceremony! Your tricks were great!”

“Why, thank you. Now may I have that letter as it is clearly for me?”

Ditzy hoofed him the letter. The human opened it and it read:

Greetings Human,

Congratulations on becoming a citizen. Princess Celestia has informed me you’re going to participate in the Royal Guard basic training in your pony form. I’ve been approved to handle the actual training session. I look forward to seeing what you are capable of. Just a reminder, you’re not to be using your abilities to give you an advantage in your training. Failure in this will result in punishment. See you next month.

Captain Shining Armor.

(Gulp) “Ok, I think he has it in for me for evading his guards,” Blaze said. He was now thinking it’s going to be college hazing and boot camp, all rolled into one.

“Oh you are just overreacting, silly,” said Pinkie Pie. “Now, let's get started on those treats you said you were going to make from your world.” 

She dragged the human into the kitchen. Ditzy waved goodbye and flew back out the door.

In the kitchen, Blaze saw every equipment that a typical baker would have. They also had a couple of fridges and a walk-in freezer. He went through what they had to determine as he worked on what he’s going to make. 

Once the human founded what he needed, he said, “Ah, I think I’ll make that treat.”

“What are you going to make, Blaze?”

“I’m going to leave that as a mystery. I think I hear customers coming in. How about you take care of them and I’ll handle anything in the kitchen that needs to get done.”

Pinkie headed back to the counter to attend to the customers. The human went straight to work gathering the ingredients for the treat he planned to make. Throughout the morning, Pinkie called out orders to come from the kitchen. 

Blaze wasn’t prepared for the volume of orders. So, to help out, he created a human and a pony clone. The human clone would do the work as he wasn’t adapted to delicate things with his pony form. The only purpose for his ponified self was to bring the orders out. Blaze didn’t want to scare any more ponies, nor explain who he was. 

Once the brunch crowd was done, he had finished the first batch of the new treat. The human said out the kitchen door, “Pinkie, you ready to have your taste buds explode?”

“I’ll be the judge to see if they’re as good as you think they are.” Pinkie said as she walked in.

Blaze picked up a cookie and handed it to her, which she licked off his hand. The mare’s eyes went as big as they could get. Inside them, you could see like fireworks were going off. She smiled with the biggest one the pony could do. 

The human said, “If I’m reading your face correctly, I would say you like it.”

The pink Earth pony regained her composer and replied, “Blaze, I don’t like them . . . I LOVE THEM!” 

Pinkie then blitz charged him into a great bear hug, She squeezed the human as tight as she could. As the mare did this, she asked, “What are these devilish creations you made?”

Gasping for air, Blaze said, “Devil’s Chocolate Drops. Can you let go of me so I can breathe?”

Pinkie quickly released and he took in a deep breath. 

“Sorry about that. I just couldn’t control myself, they were so delicious. I’m sure they’ll be a hit. If you don’t mind, with Mr. and Mrs. Cake approval, I think we should sell these as a weekly special.”

“Not a problem, Pinkie. I don’t mind sharing the recipe. I’m just glad they turned out good from what I remember.”

“Well you better write it down before you forget it. You have been filling your head up with lots of stuff.”

“I’ll do that. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I should get going to my land. It’s almost time to build my new home in Equestria.”

“I’ll join you shortly once Mr. and Mrs. Cake get back. Have fun!”

Blaze left the kitchen and went out the front door. Outside, he turned back around and did a wood jutsu that made the broken door fix itself and reattach to the frame. Satisfied with the work, the human continued his trek to the patch of land he owned.

Walking through town, the human saw ponies were starting to wave to him as he went by. Blaze waved back to those that did. As he approached his destination, he saw other ponies were already there, waiting for him. Scattered about, he saw Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow, Spike, Rarity, Applejack, Mayor Mare, Lyra Heartstrings, and other ponies whose names he hadn't learned yet.

Twilight saw the human first and said, “There you are, Swift Blaze! We were wondering if this was another prank you were pulling. I don’t see how you can build a house in a day.”

He replied, “Come on Twilight, I would never joke about something like this. Seeing how I asked Mayor Mare to get some ponies with electrical and plumbing skills. I’ll be providing the foundation and the wood for this.”

“I still don’t see how when there is no material here for you to use.”

“I’ll explain later of how.” Blaze turned his attention to another pony. “Now then, Mayor Mare, did you get those ponies I asked for?”

She replied, “They’re right here.”

She pointed to two ponies that were several feet away.

“I have the same opinion with Twilight Sparkle. Just how are you going to make a house appear out of nothing?” the Earth pony asked.

“All will be revealed in time. With this deal, I’ll also make the trenches for the plumbing  and electrical to connect to the main lines.”

“Don’t keep everypony in suspense for too long.”

Suddenly, there was a bright flash behind the human. Blaze turned around and saw both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were there. All the ponies bowed to them and he did the same. 

He straightened back up and said, “Good afternoon, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. I take it you’re here to see my latest jutsu style?”

“We are, Swift Blaze,” said Princess Celestia. “We also brought Captain Shining Armor. He requested to see first hoof the human’s abilities that helped him successfully evaded the Royal Guard.”

The human cleared his throat after he heard that. The white stallion came out from behind the Princesses. He wasn’t wearing his armor. The Unicorn had a smile that expressed enjoyment in causing pain to new recruits.

“Hello, Captain Armor,” Blaze said as he did his best to supress his fear. “I got your letter this morning. Let me say that it will be an honour to be trained by you when I attend the basic training next month.”

Before he could respond a voice shouted from behind the human, “ Big Bro! You Came!” 

Blaze turned his head and saw Twilight ran to her brother and gave him a big hug.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were going to come?” she asked.

“Sorry Twily, it was a last minute decision. I only had a brief intro with this, Swift Blaze. So, I decided to see this magic skill he’s going to pull off.” Shining Armor said.

“Um, not to be rude, but I have no magic control,” Blaze corrected. “What I use are energy sources called chakra and ki. Once Pinkie Pie gets here, I’ll begin with the latest I’ve learned.”

“I’m right here!” Pinkie shouted. 

The human turned his head towards the voice and spotted her standing next to Rainbow.

“Ok then, if you would excuse me Princesses, I shall begin with the new style of jutsu.”

He walked to the top of the hill and turned to address the crowd. 

“Thank you all for coming. I know some of you are still trying to figure out where I’m going get the material to build my house with. Well, the wait is over. I’ll begin the construction. If you would all please wait at the bottom of the hill and hold your comments and questions till after. This is going to require a great deal of concentration to pull off.”

They all complied and made their way to the bottom. The Pegasus and the Princesses instead flew up above for a bird's eye view. Blaze focused the chakra for the first jutsu. His hands did various signs before he said, “Earth Style! Earth Elevator Jutsu!” 

The ground around him flatten out and lowered itself into the ground. Once done, he was in a rectangular pit that was 12 feet deep. The next one the human called out was, “Earth Style! Stone Floor Jutsu!” 

This caused the dirt around to shift to a dense stone, black in color with a few other colors in tiny amounts. Once the floor had changed, Blaze shifted his hands and said,, “Earth Style! Stone Wall Jutsu!” 

At the edges of the stone floor, walls sprouted up of the same material. They rose up just higher than the ground around. When the last wall leveled out with the others, the human flew out of the newly created stone pit. He landed just on the other side of the foundation for his house’s. Blaze looked over his before he turned around to the crowd. He saw happy expressions as some clapped their hooves together.

“In case you all are wondering, this isn’t the new technique. I can’t build a house without a good foundation. Now onto the new technique. Please, remain silent as this is going to be difficult." 

The human turned back around. He crouched closer to the stone and started to gather all the chakra he could get for this final jutsu. He focused on the design in his head of where everything needs to be. Once ready, he place his hand in a different sign and shouted, “Wood Style! House Structure Jutsu!” 

Wooden beams emerged out of the stone foundation. They were popping up everywhere. Each one stretched and connected to one another. Soon, the first floor and outer wall structures started to take their shape. Then, the framing of the inside walls sprouted from the floor and nearby walls. 

Once the first floor was set, Blaze focused to create the staircase to the second floor and repeated the process. Finally, he had a wood shingle roof take shape above the second floor. Once the last shingle grew into place, the human release the position of his hands had been in for the past fifteen minutes. He collapsed forward to the ground and landed on his hands and knees.

“Blaze!” he heard several ponies shouted behind him as they came running up.

He waved his right arm around sluggishly as he replied, “I’m alright. Just a little exhausted from the jutsu.” 

The human twisted his body around to take a seat on the ground. 

“Mayor Mare,” he said while breathing a little heavy. “Can you have those ponies get to work on wiring and getting water to my house? I’ll be in a bit to show where the kitchen sink will be. Also what I’ll need for the bathrooms.”

She nodded. The mare pointed her hoof to several ponies with hard hats. Then, towards the house. The group understood and headed inside.

“That was amazing, Blaze!” said Twilight. “Who knew you could make such an impressive building, plus all the details in the necessary support structures.”

Rainbow Dash said, “You read a book about building a house, didn’t?”

“I did last night,” the purple Unicorn replied.

The blue Pegaus quietly said, “Egghead.”

Blaze said, “Well, just don’t ask for an encore performance right now. I feel I’m totally out of chakra.”

“So,” said Shining Armor. “You do have a limit of what you can do.”

The human turned his head to look at the stallion. He replied, “At this time, I’ve reached it. But, this was a very complicated jutsu as I was creating an entire house. With more training, I should be able to increase my reserve. As to the jutsu’s themselves, I still have lots I could learn. I’m just glad I was able to finish the structure before my chakra ran out.”

“Do rest, Swift Blaze,” said Princess Celestia. “You’ve managed to surprise my sister and me with what you’re capable of, again. We must now return to Canterlot as we still have a schedule to keep.” 

The ponies bowed to them while human lowered his head. Then, as quickly they appeared, they left the same way.

“That was truly impressive how you can manipulate elements and grow wood right out of the ground,” said Rarity. “I was more intrigued with the stone you had come out of the ground. I’ve never seen stone so cleanly cut and beautiful. What kind of stone is it darling?”

Blaze replied, “I’m no rock expert, but if I had to guess, I think it’s granite. I wanted something heavy and dense to support the house.”

“Are you able to grow precious stones from the ground too?” She asked. Spike started to drool thinking that I could get him gems whenever he wants them.

“Probably not grow them. I think that would require knowing the element structure of them. With training, I could possibly be able to find them and manipulate the gem’s themselves.”

“Anyways,” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “THAT WAS AWESOME! You keep on getting cooler with each jutsu. Soon, you might even be as cool as me. Do you think you can do that launch again that you did this morning? I want to show our friends my new stunts.”

“Sorry, but I’m out of chakra at the moment. Maybe tomorrow we can show them.” 

Rainbow was a little sad she could not show it off, but understood.

“Oh goodie! I can now throw you a housewarming party! I need balloons, ribbons, streamers, food, drinks, . . .” Pinkie continue on rambling.

“Pinkie. Let’s wait till the house is finished and furnished,” said Blaze. “That should be sometime tomorrow.”

“Okie Dokie Lokie!”

“I can help ya with the furniture stuff tomorrow if you want, Blaze.” Applejack said.

“What about the apple harvest?” he asked.

“Like you taught me, we need to not overwork ourselves. Plus, tomorrow is the day of the week we take off. Well, I better get back to the Greenies and see how they’re doing. I’ll see ya tomorrow Blaze.” 
Applejack then headed back to her farm and we all waved to her as she left.

“Um, excuse me, Swift Blaze,” said Mayor Mare. “I overheard you say you were out of the energy source that you used to do this. How are you going to make the trenches?”

“I said I was out of chakra, but I still have my ki energy that I can use to make the trenches.”

“Didn’t you say that energy is destructive and only used in attacks against enemies?” Twilight said.

“That’s true, but as you can see, I’ve used it to gain flight,” the human said. “I’ll control the energy like a laser beam and cut the trench. I take it they’re ready for me give them their trench, Mayor?”

“You’re correct. Do you need help getting up?”

“I’ll just float on over. I don’t want to look like a fool and fall on my butt if I tried to get to my feet.”

Blaze rose off the ground to a floating, upright style, position. He followed the Earth pony to two other ponies that were standing by the road. One was a red stallion with a short, black curly, mane and a straight black tail. His cutie mark was a monkey wrench. The other was a bright yellow mare with white zig zag mane and tail. Her cutie mark was two lightning bolts in opposite directions.

“Allow me to introduce you Sparky, the electrician, and Mario, the plumber,” Mayor Mare said.

Upon hearing the names, the human thought, Really? Mario? Does he have a brother named Luigi? 

He extended his arm and said, “Hi there. Nice to meet you. As the mayor had informed you, I’ll take care of making the trenches for you. Just need to know a few things, where to start, where to end, and how deep I need to go.”

Sparky replied, “Sure thing.”

“The main lines are bellow us, about five feet feet deep. And just need to go to a corner of your house.” Mario said in an Italian accent.

“No problem. We’ll just need to clear the area so no ponies will get hurt.” Blaze said.

“Why’s that?” Mayor Mare asked.

“Because I’m going use a small explosion to clear the dirt away.”

Upon hearing that, They ran to get the other ponies clear of the area. Once they were a good distance, the human shouted, “Fire in the hole!” 

He did this three times, each one in a different directions. Blaze gathered a tiny bit of ki into his hand. He pointed the palm to the ground and fired energy balls. It created a ‘v’ shape trench up to the house. 

He shouted, “All clear! You can all come out of hiding.”

The ponies that stayed poked their heads from behind the trees and rocks at the edge of the nearby forest. They saw the dust cloud of dirt had almost dissipated. The human was covered in tiny bits of earth and grass. Sparky and Mario came up and was impressed at his handiwork.

“You weren’t joking when you said you were going to make the trench by explosions,” said Sparky. “Thanks for the warning.” 

Mario added, “Now then, all that’s left is to get a couple of holes in that stone. After that, point us to us where the bathrooms and kitchen area.”

“Sure thing,” Blaze replied. “What size holes do you need?”

“I need a six inch for the drain and a one inch for the water main.” Mario said.

“I need a one-and-a-half inch for my power,” said Sparky. “The problem is I need it several feet away from his point of entry into your house. Water and electricity don’t like each other.”

The human nodded and went into the new trench. He focused his ki into a finger tip and made a long energy beam and went to work cutting the holes. Once done, Blaze went inside and explained the layout as to where he was planning to place everything. The contractor ponies thanked him for saving them lots of work and would send him a bill once they were done.

He stepped outside and saw his close friends had stayed around. They were all together, chatting away. Blaze headed over to join them. 

Rarity saw him approach and shouted, “Oh My! You are covered in all that dirt. You must come with me and Fluttershy to the spa and get cleaned up.”

“It’s alright, Rarity,” he replied.” I’ll just take a dip in that pond over there to get cleaned up.”

“I insist. You’ve worked hard these past several days. A nice afternoon at the spa will do wonders for you.”

“I really don’t need it. A quick dip and some sleep will do for me.”

“You’ll thank me after you have it.” 

Her horn glowed and an aura surrounded the human. He was being pulled to her as she and Fluttershy made their way back to town. Blaze thought, Guess I don’t have a choice.



> Chapter 17: An Afternoon at the Spa
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	In this beautiful day, Rarity and Fluttershy were heading into town. Behind them was Swift Blaze. He was engulfed in Rarity’s magic and being carried in the air. The human felt embarrassed at being dragged around as other ponies were looking at him. 

He thought about the situation, Rarity definitely doesn’t like anything dirty.  And here I am, in one of the outfits she made, covered in dirt from the aftermath of the trench-making.

Blaze cleared his throat and said, “Um, Rarity? You don’t have to use your magic to bring me to the spa. I can easily walk or fly there.”

Rarity replied, “I know, darling. But you’ve worked very hard lately. I just wanted you to relax as we head there.”

“You do realize I could break this magic field you have me in.”

“But, you haven’t.”

“Because I didn’t want to cause harm to my friend. I’ll go with you to the spa if you release me from this.”

“Do you Pinkie Promise?”

Blaze looked confused as he said, “A promise I make with my pinky finger? How do I do that with your hoof?”

The ponies in turn were confused as to the reply. 

Fluttershy asked, “You have a finger called Pinkie?”

“Let me give a brief explanation as to what they are technically called.” 

The human held out one hand with fingers spread out and used the other hand to point and call out what each one is called and some quick details about each one.

“Um, could please explain that forth finger of yours?” asked Futtershy. “You went pretty fast in explaining them when you got to that one. If, you don’t mind.”

Blaze rolled his eyes before he said, “I went fast for a particular reason. Let me explain it like this. You know when a stallion loves a mare, they get her an object to enter matrimony. Mind if I ask where you ponies place it?”

Rarity replied, “Well, Unicorns get a horn ring and the Earth and Pegasi ponies get a bracelet for a hoof. That does not answer why you call that finger . . .” The white mare finally put two and two together of what the human was getting at. Fluttershy blushed at the thought. 

The Unicorn cleared her throat and said, “I now get why you went a little fast. But you don’t have to be shy with us.”

“I know that. Each one of you are my friends,” said Blaze. “There are still some things I’m not ready to share with, as they are personal to me. So please, as a friend, don’t ask to know what I’m hiding. Now then, could you release me from your magic spell?”

“Well, you haven’t done the Pinkie Promise. The one we know was created by Pinkie Pie.”

“Care to share the process with me? Or do I have to hunt down that pink mare and ask her?”

Fluttershy said, “We can teach it to you. That part is no problem. All you have to do is repeat what we say and do. Please be careful on the last part.”

They both nodded to each other and say it at the same time as they did the motions, “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

With a smile, the human said, “I Pinkie Promise to go with Rarity and Fluttershy to the spa. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," repeating the steps and avoided poking his eye out.

“Very good, darling. Just a fair warning, you don’t want to know what would happen if you decide to break it,” Rarity said. 

The Unicorn released her magic spell and Blaze landed on his feet as they hit the ground.

He stretched his limbs out before he said, “Shall we get going?”

The group soon arrived the spa and went inside. As the human looked around, he saw two Earth ponies behind the counter, Aloe and Lotus Blossom. Aloe had a pink coat and blue mane. Lotus had a blue coat and pink mane. They both had similar cutie marks and a white hair band.

“Hello, ladies! The usual for Fluttershy and myself,” said Rarity. “I think the deluxe for our friend here, Swift Blaze.”

Blaze asked, “Before we do anything, can you please tell me what that includes?”

Lotus Blossom spoke up and said, “The deluxe is one hour in our steam room, followed by a mud facial.”

Aloe then said, “We then give you a massage followed by a seaweed mud bath. 

“Finally, a special bath to relax in and finish with hooficure. It's simply luxurious!” said the blue mare.

“It does sound great, but let's skip the mud facial and hooficure,” said Blaze. “I have no interest in them. Plus, I don’t have hoofs for the second part. Do you have a robe that will fit a human?”

Aloe replied, “I’m sorry, but we only have robes for ponies.”

“I was afraid of that. Do you at least have a big enough towel to wrap around my waist?”

“I think we do,” said Lotus. “We can also wash your clothes so they will be clean when you are done.”

“Ok, but I’m keeping my underwear on. I’m not going to explain why.”

They all nodded, but Blaze could feel their eyes looking down there wondering what he was hiding. The ponies and human were led into the locker rooms by the Earth ponies. As he was taking the top part of his gi off, Fluttershy and Rarity were putting on their personal robes.

Lotus went to a storage closet in there. She dropped a big towel off next to the human and said, “You can leave your clothes on that bench. My sister will go and get them washed.”

Blaze said, “Thank you. I’ll be ready shortly.”

Lotus walk away with a big smile on her face. Rarity and Fluttershy were in the next row of lockers, chatting away about something. The human sat on the bench and removed his shoes and socks. He then got up and grabbed the towel and wrapped it around my waist. Satisfied with how it looked, Blaze then pulled the gi pants down while still wearing the towel. He stacked the clothes onto the bench and left the shoes underneath. 

As Blaze went around the corner, Fluttershy saw how he looked. Her face sparkled up as she said, “Oh... my...”

Rarity turned her head to see what Fluttershy saw and her face did the same deal, “I can see another reason why you wear clothing, Blaze. You look handsome with all those muscles,” she said.

What they were looking at was his chest that had been under clothing since his arrival. From the training and exercises, the human had developed some hard pecks and a six-pack abs. There were other muscles around his chest to enhance the look. Even his arm muscles helped compliment his chest.

“If you two are done looking, shall we go to the steam room?” the human asked to break their daze.

They closed their eyes and shook their heads to regain their sences. 

“Oh, but of course,” said Rarity. “Follow us, Blaze.”

He followed them down the corridor to the steam rooms. They went inside the first room and sat down on the benches next to the walls. Fluttershy and Rarity were on a bench on one wall and Blaze was on the next wall. Lotus came in shortly with a bucket of water and a ladle. She went over to the hot rocks and poured some water over them, steaming up the room. 

The girls were busy chatting away about something. The human closed his eyes and leaned against the wall. He did enjoy taking in the heat and steam. A few minutes later, he bent down and rubbed his lower leg muscles. It helped in getting the some of the soreness out from the training sessions. 

As he did this, he then heard Fluttershy shout, “Blaze! What happened to you!”

He sat up straight and looked at them. He replied, “Just working some sore spots from my training sessions. Nothing to worry about.”

“Not that, what happen to your back!”

“What?”

“There are several scars on your back! How did you get them?!”

When the yellow Pegasus said that, Blaze knew exactly what she was refering to. He thought they couldn’t be seen anymore. The human guessed the steam must have made them visible. Because of that, an early childhood memory he thought he had forgot was coming back in full force. 

Blaze’s face went from a happy mood to a sad and angry one. “It’s nothing, Fluttershy. Something that happened a long time ago,” he said. “Let's just enjoy the rest of the spa.”

“Please, darling, it’s good to share what happened with your friends,” said Rarity. “You don’t have to burden yourself with the memories. What happened that caused you to get those scars on your back?”

“I had completely forgotten the memory until you brought it back to the surface,” the human said in an angrier tone. “This is one of those I do not wish to share so please, drop it.”

The white mare replied, “We understand and will comply with your wish. If you ever want to talk about it, we are here for you.”

“Thank you girls. Let’s just finish enjoying the rest of the spa in a happy mood.” 

Blaze showed a fake smile to keep them happy. But, in the back of his mind, he hoped that those memories were really gone forever. He then realized the nightmares he had as a child were probably going to return.

The group finished the time in the steam room, talked about other stuff, and headed to the next part. Rarity and Fluttershy headed over to their mud facial and Blaze was taken to the massage room by Lotus. Once inside, the blue mare realized the human was bigger than a pony. So, she pushed two of the massage tables together, longways. 

Once ready, she said, “Ok, Swift Blaze, hop on up and lay on your stomach. My sister will be in shortly to give you your massage.”

Just before the Earth pony left the room, she lit some of the candles in the room. The fragrance from them was very relaxing. The human was working on getting comfortable when he heard the door open and close. He turned his head and saw Aloe had entered the room. 

“Hello Blaze, I’ll be your masseuse today. Just relax and I will take care of you,” she said.

He replied, “The candles are already helping with that.”

Aloe came over to the table and placed her fore hooves onto his back. She moved them in circular patterns, getting out any knots she found. Blaze couldn’t believe what he felt. Any stress melted away. The human thought that he might have to come once a week to relax from training.

“So, Blaze, I’ve never seen your species before,” said Aloe. “Would you mind telling me about yourself?”

He went and told her about being a human and about some of his abilities he could do. The human said he wouldn’t mind doing a demonstation on another day. At that point, the pink mare moved to massage his right arm. 

She said, “I imaginethose hands of yours are very useful in many ways.”

“They kinda have to because in my world, we have no magic there, so we had to use our hands to make things to help us live our lives better. The dexterity we have with each finger allowed us to have finer control in holding objects and other things.”

“Did you have masseuses where you were from?”

“We did. I heard that some humans who got massages from them, said they had a magic touch in relieving the tension in their bodies.”

“I would love to have experienced that feeling. It must feel luxurious.”

“Don’t plan on me doing it. I’ve been training in fighting styles for defense. I might cause harm, instead of whatever you’re doing. Just don’t stop.”

Aloe moved to the left arm for a few minutes, then went to work on his legs. All the knots and tension went away with each movement of her hooves. At some point, Blaze fell asleep from being so relaxed. But, instead of going where he usually went for training, he was sent to what he dreaded.

----------------The Memory----------------

Bob was a young kid, playing with his toys in his room. It was dark out and he had his door closed. Suddenly, the little boy heard glass breaking from down the hall. Being a curious child, he opened the door and went down the hallway. 

Bob reached the end of the hallway and arrived in the living room. He saw his Mom was sitting on the couch, crying. Her hands were covering her face and he saw some blood dripping.

“What happen, Mommy?” he asked.

His father was there, standing, holding a broken bottle of liquor by the neck upside down. He turned toward the kid and said, “Get back to your room, boy.” What he didn’t know at the time, was that his father was drunk and they had been arguing. This had been going on for months. 

The boy didn’t move from where he stood. He turned his head to his father and asked, “Why is Mommy crying, Daddy?”

The father looked angry and went right up to the child and yelled, “GO TO YOUR ROOM!”

Bob started to cry, still standing where he was. The father’s face looked even angrier. He grabbed the kid’s arm and spun him around. Still holding on, he shouted, “STOP YOUR MOTHERFUCKING CRYING!” 

He raised his arm with the broken bottle and began to swing down at the child’s back. It cut the shirt and Bob’s back. He screamed out in pain at each slash. 

The pain he recalled was so intense, it woke Blaze up from the memory.

----------------The Real World----------------

The human woke up on the massage table, screaming, “NOOOOOOOOO!”

He sat up and recalled where he was. Blaze looked around and saw Fluttershy and Rarity were on the other massage tables. Lotus and Aloe were there, giving them massages. All the ponies were scared from his scream.

“Swift Blaze, what happened?” asked Fluttershy.

Blaze wiped the cold sweat from his face and replied, “It’s nothing, just a nightmare.”

“I don’t think it’s nothing. You were twitching all over. Your face looked like you were in pain. Does it have to do with those scars on your back?” Rarity asked.

“It’s nothing. Now drop it.”

Before they could say anything, Blaze got up from the table and left the room. He entered the locker room and saw his clothes were neatly folded on the bench. The human put them on and sat back down on the bench. He rubbed his temples as he thought, Why did that memory have to come back? I was happy here with nothing bothering me. Now the memory is back and it is affecting my relationship with my friends. I wish I could forget it ever happened.

Blaze’s train of thought was broken when he heard the door open and and several sets of hooves came in. 

Rarity said, “Blaze, are you in here?”

The human didn’t want to talk with them in his current state. So, he mustered what chakra he could get to teleport out of there. Just as he cast it, the white Unicorn saw him almost gone in the puff of smoke. She might have seen that the human had a couple of tears on his face.

Blaze appeared just outside and flew away before the ponies came outside. He didn’t carewhere he was going, at the time. The memories bought back so much pain, he just could not handle sharing it. The human soon spotted what looked like castle towers, poking out of the forest. Realizing where he was, he decided to land there as no pony would find him here.

Inside the ruins of theCastle of the Two Sisters, Blaze saw the same layout from that episode. He went over to the sculpture where the Elements of Harmony were once kept, and sat next to it. The human buried his face into his knees as he held them close. 

Being all alone, he started to cry and shed more tears from the painful memories. Bob hated his father since that day and was lucky for still being alive. In his mind, he believed that was his darkest day in his life. 

Hours passed and Blaze had not moved. The sun had set, the stone floor grew colder, and he could hear the howl of animals outside, which quickly rose in volume. The human picked his head up to try and determine the direction. When he looked at the front doors, they burst open to reveal what was making the noise. It was a big pack of Timberwolves. 

Blaze couldn’t believe his run of luck. From the awakening of past trauma to now having to deal with bloodthirsty animals looking for their next meal. Well, they chose poorly. He stood up and stared at them.

“Get out of here if you want to live,” Blaze said with a death stare.

They all continued to advance on the human as they stared with their green, glowing eyes. They soon surrounded him. The Timberwolves’ fangs were showing and looked sharp. There were at least 30 of them in the room, all around Blaze. He looked at each of them, and saw none of them intent on backing down.

“Guess you all have signed your death warrants,” the human said with an evil smile. 

He powered up his ki to a destruction-causing level. A red glow appeared around him. His anger was raging from the feeling for his father, plus having to deal with these animals. The cutie mark on his upper arms started to change. The white faded away and became a black circle. The anger and rage took over as he continued to charge up. Blaze no longer cared about balance as he just wanted to be left alone. Whch meant the wolves had to go.

One of the Timberwolves lunged at the human. He grabbed the creature by its throat. Blaze then used his other hand and sent an energy beam right through its chest. It crumbled into tree limbs and other forest debris. The others were surprised at this, but did not back down. 

The human charged up energy balls into his hands and sent them into the nearest wolves. This caused them to burn. Blaze laughed evilly as he worked to kill each Timberwolf with a single blast. They kept trying to attack him, but he killed a creature each time he countered or deflected. Suddenly, the remaining wolves gathered together and he saw as they merged into one. The Mega Timberwolf stared at their prey.

“My, you are a big one,” said Blaze. “You know what they say, the bigger they are . . . the bigger they explode!” 

He brought his hands to the front of him. Then, he moved them to his side as he said, "Ka . . . me . . . ha . . . me . . . ha!" 

The human sent the blue energy beam toward the creature’s head. It was engulfed by it and continued going up into the sky. When Blaze finished releasing his ki, the remains of the Mega Timberwolf's head had been burned clear off, leaving the neck as nothing more than a stump of smoking embers. Its body then crumbled back to forest debris. 

The human sent another wave of energy balls at the remains. He did it to set them on fire for the fun of it. Blaze flew through the ceiling, literally, and smashed into the top wall of a high tower. The rage and anger was still pent up inside of him. So, he fired energy shots at everything in the room. Soon, no walls or ceiling were left.

Blaze stood next to the edge as he looked over the tree canopy. Soon, there was a bright flash that came from behind him. He twisted around with his palms out in front of him. The human had the intent to attack on his face. What appeared was Princess Celestia, Captain Shining Armor, and the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. 

An energy ball formed in one of Blaze’s hands, ready to fire. “Leave. Now,” he commanded.

“We cannot, Swift Blaze. You need to calm down and come with us,” said Twilight. “Please, let us help you with this. We are your friends, and don’t want to lose you.”

“You don’t know anything about what I went through. None of you can comprehend what happened!” the human shouted.

“Then tell us,” said Applejack. “You cannot keep it buried within you. It is destroying yourself.”

Tears started to form around Blaze’s eyes. He replied, “No parent should have done what he did to me.”

“What did this human do, darling?” Rarity asked.

The human shook his head, “No, I don’t want to relive that memory again. I never wanted to remember that night.”

Rainbow was looking him over and noticed his cutie mark, “Hey guys, doesn’t Blaze’s cutie mark look different? It’s just a black circle now. How can somepony change their mark?” she asked.

Twilight replied, “He said he thought it stood for balance. I think recalling that terrible event has gotten him unbalanced, causing it to shift, as well as his personality.”

“So, he is a danger to us and himself if he’s not thinking straight,” Shining Armor said.

“I am afraid so. Shining Armor, restrain Swift Blaze,” Princess Celestia ordered.

All the girls gasped at the command and pleaded with the Princess to reconsider. Fluttershy was not in the argument the others were having. She started to walk toward the human, calmly. He saw this, moved his arm, and pointed the energy ball at her. 

Pinkie saw this and shouted, “Fluttershy! What are you thinking?!  GET AWAY!”

The others started to beg her to come back. Shining Armor was about to use his magic to fire at Blaze. The Princess put a wing on his shoulder and shook her head no. 

The human shouted at Fluttershy, “GET AWAY FROM ME!”

Fluttershy stopped where she was and closed her eyes. She then opened them up quickly. How they looked was unforgettable. The timid Pegasus was giving Blaze, the STARE. It struck a nerve in him as he stumbled back a bit. The yellow mare started to walk forward again. He continued to aim his arm at her. The others remained silent and prayed Blaze wouldn't fire it. 

Fluttershy then started to speak to him softly, “It’s ok, Bob. You can calm down and relax. Nopony is going to hurt you. We want you to come back with us. Please come back to us.”

It was like she spoke to his soul, which calmed him down. His cutie mark started to change back. More tears flowed from the human’s eyes. As swiftly as he could, Blaze pointed the arm away from everypony and launched the energy ball into a nearby tree, where it caught on fire. He then fell onto his knees in front of Fluttershy, and cried. 

The Pegasus sat directly in front of him wrapped her wings around his body. The mare softly said, “Shhh. Shhh. It’s ok. Let it all out. We‘re here for you.”

The other mane six joined in the hugging as Blaze cried, even Shining Armor joined in the hug. When the shedding of tears finished, the ponies backed away and the human sat down, and crossed his legs. The rest of the party sat across from him. 

Blaze looked at each of his new friends, except for Shining Armor. He saw that they too had cried a little bit as tears were in their eyes. He thought, Man, I’m really an idiot for running away from my memories when they came back. I’ve been alone for most of my adult life. I’ve never had anyone like them who actually cared so much to find me.

He wiped away some tears and said, “I am so sorry, to all of you, for my outburst. The memory I thought I had forgotten. It was a moment in my past that was very painful.”

Rarity asked,“ Do you think you’re ready to share it with us, darling?”

Blaze nodded and replied, “I think I am. The only ones who knew of this were my close family. I’ve never told any of my friends back on Earth.”

The human looked at Rainbow Dash and said, “I knew there was a reason I didn’t want to drink that time, but I couldn’t recall what it was. This memory contains the reason.” 

He then looked at the others and asked, ”Are you ready, to hear my tale?”

They all nodded and stayed quiet.

“As you know, alcohol is a good way to relax and loosen up after a hard day of work. It’s also there for times of celebrations. Back on my planet, it was used for another reason, on top of those. It’s when humans were depressed. They drink because they were sad about something and the drinking sometimes made it worse. I had to live through one of these.”

All the mares had sad looks on their faces. Rainbow had it worst. She felt like a jerk for trying to push him that night.

“I’m sorry, Blaze,” said Dash.” I had no idea.”

“It’s ok, you couldn’t have known. I didn’t know either as this happened over twenty years ago.” He looked at the white Unicorn and yellow Pegasus. “I also don’t blame you, Rarity and Fluttershy, for bringing up the memory.” 

Each mare showed a small smile.

Blaze continued his tale, “This was back when I was six years old, just a child. I was playing with my toys in my room when I heard the sound of glass breaking. I was a curious kid at the time and left my room to see what it was. In the living room, my Mom was sitting on the couch with her hands on her face, crying and bleeding. My father was standing there, holding a broken alcohol bottle by the neck. I asked what happened and why Mom was crying. My father was really drunk and angry and tried to order me to my room. I was afraid of his tone and started to cry. He then grabbed me with his free hand, spun me around, and then slashed my back with the bottle several times.”

All the ponies gaps at this. Shining Armor turned away towards the edge and blew a few chunks.

“As I said, it wasn’t pretty and something no parent should do to a child. I was crying out for the pain. My Mom saw this and her mother instinct took over. She pushed him out of the way into the coffee table, picked me up, grabbed the car keys, and left the house. She took me to the hospital as I was bleeding pretty good and in lots of pain. Once there, I was taken to the emergency room so they could save my life. I was put under to ease the pain while they went to work. When I woke up a few days later, I looked around and saw my Mom was by my bed with bandages on her head and face. She was happy I woke up. I tried to sit up, but the pain was intense. She told me not to get up as some of the cuts hit my spine. I could still move my arms, but my legs I could not move at the time. I still had feeling in them so that was a good sign that I had a chance to walk again. My father was arrested and charged with assault and attempted murder. He was found guilty from the weapon in his hand, the injuries to my Mom and I had, and my Mom’s testimony. He was sentenced with twenty-five to life with no chance of early parole.”

The ponies were happy to hear that justice was served. Blaze saw in some of their eyes that they wanted to give his dad a good thrashing.

“So, I spent the next two years in the hospital, working on regaining control of my legs and building my strength back up. I had nightmares of that night while in the hospital for the first year. I would wake up with a scream and start to cry myself back to sleep. Once I was out, we left the state so we didn’t have to be anywhere near my father again. I joined several martial art classes because I never wanted to be defenseless again. I trained hard, kept my studies up in school and vowed to never be like my father.”

“Thank you for sharing that, Swift Blaze,” said Princess Celestia. “That was a very dark point in your life. How do you feel now that you have shared it?”

He looked down at his chest for a moment, then looked back up and replied, “I don’t know how, but I feel a great burden has left my heart and mind. I feel at peace.”

“That is good to hear. I hope you never have to act that way again.”

“Don’t jinx me, Princess. Saying stuff like that normally means trouble will come.”

All the mares laughed at that. Blaze joined in, followed by Shining Armor. Once they had a good chuckle, the ponies stood back up. Blaze shifted his legs around into a baseball catcher stance. When he placed his hands on his knees to help push up, he actually flew up pretty high.

“What was that?” Rainbow Dash asked.

The human used his ki and landed safely. He looked himself over and moved his limbs about. He replied, “I don’t know. I suddenly feel lighter and maybe stronger. The only thing I can think of is because I just got rid of the emotional baggage that has been weighing me down for the past twenty years and never noticed it was there.”

Twilight asked, “How did you come to that conclusion?”

Blaze rubbed the back of his head as he replied, “Funny thing, I’ve actually seen that kind of training from the show where I got my ki power from.” He brought his arm down and explained some more details about weighted and gravity training. 


“That’s what I need to increase my training!” Rainbow Dash said in an excited tone.

“That could help you, but you’ll need to work into each weight level until it feels natural to how you feel now. If you do too much weight, you can injure yourself badly.”

Rainbow nodded with a big grin still on her face. 

Blaze looked to the others and asked, “Now then, shall we get back? I’m so hungry right now. I haven’t had lunch. Also the fun time dealing with that emotional baggage. Oh, and I had to kill over thirthy Timberwolves.”

“YOU KILLED THIRTY TIMBERWOLVES!” the mane six and Shining Armor shouted.

“It was that, or let them eat me. I wasn’t in the mood to be eaten,” replied Blaze. “I take it that you found me from my ki blasts. Why did you think I was firing them off?”

The ponies shrugged their shoulders. Princess Celestia just gave the human a concerned look.

“Where are their bodies?” Fluttershy asked with a little hint of fear in her voice. 

The human didn’t get how she could be afraid of almost everything, yet the mare was brave enough to walk up to him, with an energy ball in hand, and give that dreadful STARE. He never wanted to experience that again. 

“I’m sorry for killing them, Fluttershy. I tried to get them to leave me alone so they wouldn’t get hurt.” Blaze pointed to the main hall area and said, “Their bodies are in that fire down there.”

The ponies looked and saw the remains of embers in a big pile where Blaze had pointed. Fluttershy looked back to the human and said, “You don’t need to be sorry, Blaze. Timberwolves have never been nice to anypony. I’m just glad you weren’t injured.”

“Seeing Princess Celestia and Shining Armor are going back to Canterlot, how about I carry any pony who wants it back to Ponyville, via flight,” he said. “Even you, Rainbow Dash. That way you can feel the rush from Mach Two, or higher.”

“I actually think teleporting will be safer instead of flying,” Twilight said.

“Ok, my teleport method or yours Twilight?”

“Has your chakra built up enough to take us all?”

“It has. I also think I could get everyone without having holding onto each other.”

“When did you think of that?”

“For a while. I was thinking of how the Unicorns must be using it. They focus on the area around them and what they want to teleport. How close am I to the theory?” Blaze asked. 

Twilight replied, “Let’s just leave it at a theory level, for now. I’ll use mine as I have more experience with it.”

He nodded, then turned to the white Alicorn and said, “Goodbye, Princess Celestia.” Blaze then turned to the white stallion next to her. “I’ll see you next month, Shining Armor. I expect you are not going to hold back because of this sob story you heard.”

The Unicorn guard replied, “I’m actually going to push you harder than any recruit I’ve ever trained.”

“Just don’t try to kill me on the first day,” the human said.

Princess Celestia used her magic and the two of them vanished in a bright light.

The purple mare said, “Let’s get going too.”

With that, her horn lit up and a magic field engulfed everyone else, as they headed back to Ponyville.



> Chapter 18: PRANK WARS!!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	A flash later and the group teleported to the town square. As the ponies got their bearings, Twilight was rubbing her horn. Group teleports, over any distance, can severely drain even a skilled or powerful Unicorn’s magic.

Blaze looked to the others and asked, “Are we ready to get some grub?”

“Heck yea!” Rainbow Dash replied. The others nodded. 

As they entered the diner, the hum of conversations continued on as if Blaze was invisible. The waitress led them to the same table from last time, took their orders and turned them in. They all turned their heads toward the human, waiting for something. 

Blaze looked at them confusedly, “Ok, now what’s going on?”

“Mind telling us about that Wood Style Jutsu you did?” Twilight asked.

“That’s one of the combination jutsu styles I’m able to learn. It’s a fusion of Earth and Water styles. It’s difficult to learn, and the fact it takes more chakra to use just makes it even more difficult.”

“So, you can make anything out of wood pop out of the ground?” Applejack asked.

“Not just out of the ground. I can grow it out of existing wood like trees or chairs, and even out of my own body.”

“That’s where that new door at Sugarcube Corner came from!” shouted Pinkie. “You popped a new one from the frame. I was trying to figure out how to explain to the Cakes why the front door was busted.”

“How did the door get busted in the first place?” Twilight asked.

“Ditzy had one of her mad muffin cravings when she smelled Blaze’s breakfast muffins.”

“I’m surprised you were still able to do the jutsu after she crashed into you,” said Rainbow.

Blaze replied, “She didn’t crash into me, or my food.”

“How’s that possible? When she’s like that, she can even hit me.”

“Then I guess I’m just faster than you. But actually, knowing how to dodge things is part of my training.”

Rainbow decided to test him. As Blaze continued to explain how he dodged Ditzy's airborne assault, the mare tore a tiny piece off her paper napkin with her mouth, grabbed the straw from her drink and launched a spit wad straight at Blaze’s forehead. 

The human saw what she was doing out of the corner of his eye, but continued the explanation as if he hadn't noticed. Just before the wad hit him, Blaze snatched it in mid-air and launched it right back at Rainbow Dash, hitting her right between the eyes.

At first the others were surprised by the prank she'd tried to pull, before laughing at how it'd backfired on her. The mare swiped away the wad as she looked at the human.

Blaze smirked, “You satisfied with my reflexes now Rainbow Dash?”

“Well, I expected you to dodge it. I didn’t think you would send it back at me,” replied the mare. She then smiled, “That was impressive. But don't think I won't get you back for turning my own prank against me."

“We shall see if you can prank me.”

Barely a moment later, their food arrived, with Blaze taking almost half the plates for himself. While the girls continued chatting, the human was content to just listen as he shoveled the food away like snow on a sidewalk. When everyone was done, the six ponies were astonished at the five empty plates their friend had emptied.

“How in tarnation were you able to eat all that?” asked Applejack. “I’ve never seen a pony eat that much, even at an eating contest.”

“I agree. Please pardon my straightforwardness, but I think it is uncouth that you ate so much.” Rarity said.

“I pretty much drained my chakra today and used up a good chunk of ki on those Timberwolves. The food will replenish my energy and strength. You try thinking straight on an empty stomach,” the human said as he continued to pick his teeth with a toothpick.

Each of them paid for their own meals, with Blaze generously tipping the waitress. He was eager to finish his house, the thought of cooking with actual meat constantly sizzling in the back of his mind.

They walked together through the town under the starry sky, discussing what they would do the next day. Blaze saw Rainbow happily smiling as she whispered into Pinkie Pie's ear.

Rarity asked, “So, wherewill you be sleeping tonight, Blaze?”

He replied, “Are you offering to let me stay the night at your place?”

The white mare blushed for a little bit, then regained her composure, “I was only asking as I’ve been working on your two tuxedoesfor the Gala, and need to see how they fit on both of your forms.”

“I think that would be a great idea. Then I can go with Applejack to get some furniture and paint for my house.”

So everypony headed to their homes and Blaze followed Rarity to hers. They went inside and the Unicorn closed the door quietly. 

She said in a quiet voice, “I’m afraid you’ll have to sleep down here on the couch. My little sister is sleeping in my guestroom.”

“Have you told her about me?” Blaze asked.

“I’m afraid I haven't had the chance. She arrived just after I left the spa. I told her I’d be home late because a friend needed help,” she said looking at the human.

“Then I better change into my pony form so she won’t scream monster,” he joked.

“That might be for the best. I'll go get you a blanket and pillow.”

"Would you please leave it on the couch? I'd like to freshen up before hitting the sack."

"Very well. You'll find the bathroom upstairs, the first door on your left."

"Thanks, Rarity. Good night."

"You're more than welcome. Good night, Blaze."

As Rarity went to the back of the her boutique, Blaze went upstairs to the bathroom, careful to be as quiet as possible. Once he'd cleaned up and taken care of some other needs Blaze headed downstairs and transformed into his pony form, eagerly snuggling up to the soft pillow Rarity had left for him. Not even a minute later, he'd entered the world of dreams.

Blaze found himself standing as a human in the middle of a field. Not wanting to waste time, he quickly began thinking on the next style he should learn. Let’s see . . . the other three basic elements are wind, fire, and lightning. Each of them have their upsides and downsides when it comes to training. Screw it! I'll just go in order. 

Blaze imagined the Ninjutsu computer and pulled up the chart, which showed the next style to learn was fire. So he pulled up some fire-style scrolls and began creating clones to start practicing. He stopped after a few hours, feeling a need for more sleep after what had happened that day.

Sadly, Blaze didn't get to wake up on his own. For some strange reason, a filly's scream has the capacity to interrupt anybody's sleep.

“RARITY! THERE’S A BURGLAR SLEEPING DOWNSTAIRS!”

The stallion fell off the couch and got wrapped up in his blanket. As he tried to get out, Blaze felt a little body jump on top of him.

“What’s going on?” the red Earth pony asked, before realizing who'd jumped on him. “Please get off me, little filly. You might get hurt if-”

“You’re not going anywhere. The guards are going to take you to the dungeon,” the filly replied.

“Sweetie Belle! What are you doing?”Rarity said from the top of the stairs.

The white filly shouted back, “I caught a burglar sleeping on the couch! Go and get the guards!” 

“Oh! No no no no, he’s not a burglar. He’s a guest and a friend,” Rarity said as she quickly descended the steps.

“You’re not a burglar?” She asked him.

“No, I’m not,” Blaze replied. “A burglar wouldn’t break into a house just to sleep on a couch. A homeless bum might, but I’m not that either. Can you please get off me now?”

She quickly hopped off and said, “I’m sorry mister for thinking you were a burglar, mister.”

“It’s alright. I probably would've done the same thing at your age.”

He got out of the blanket and stood up on his hooves. “Let’s forget about this incident and start all over. Hello there. My name is Swift Blaze, but you can call me Blaze.”

“My name is Sweetie Belle and Rarity is my big sister. Can I ask you why you were sleeping on the couch?”

“Well, my house is currently being built so your sister offered me her couch last night.”

“I haven’t seen any construction going on in Ponyville. Where’s your house?” Sweetie asked.

“It is just outside town. Should be done by tomorrow.”

“That can’t be true! I’ve never seen a house built by ponies so fast! There must be lots of ponies working on it.”

Blaze rolled his eyes, recognizing the need for yet another explanation. “Well, I’m the one that did most of it yesterday. I’m not actually a pony. I’ve already explained this to your sister, her friends, the Princesses, and several others.”

“Then what are you? You sure look like a pony to me."

“My species is called, human. I have these abilities that allow me to do things similar to magic. I’m going to do one right now to return to my original body. Please, don’t scream or freak out.”

The small Unicorn had a confused, yet scared look on her face. She went and stood by Rarity and waited.

“It’s all right, Sweetie Belle,” said Rarity. “It might look scary when you first see his human form, but he’s very friendly. Also, those abilities are dazzling.”

This put a smile on the filly’s face as she waited for Blaze to change. He released his Shadow Transform Jutsu and his human form appeared out of the puff of smoke.

He saw the small Unicorn take a deep breath, but she stopped herself by placing a hoof over her mouth. She uncovered it and said, “You are definitely a creature I haven’t seen before. Where are you from and how did you do that magic?”

So Blaze went on to explain himself, his planet, not having magic, and how he could do things similar to magic with chakra. She was really focused on listening, while Rarity had gone to the kitchen to get some breakfast for everyone. 

Once Blaze finished telling his story, the white filly asked, “So, you’re still learning these jutsu things and do it all within your brain?”

“Yep. Even though the scrolls are in my head, I have to read them and practice the moves.”

“That’s amazing! You also said you can fly with that ki stuff. Can you show me?”

“Sure.” 

The human gathered the same amount of ki he usually used to make him hover off the ground. When Blaze forced it down, he flew straight up and hit his head against the ceiling. He landed back on his feet and rubbed the back of his head from the impact. Rarity came rushing in from the kitchen.

“What was that noise?” the white mare asked.

“Sorry about that. Sweetie Belle wanted to see me fly,” said Blaze. “So I gathered what I normally put out to hover. Instead of hovering, I flew into the ceiling. Guess I need to readjust my control some more, since I feel lighter from losing that emotional baggage last night.”

"What's emotional baggage? And why did you lose it?" Sweetie Belle asked.

The human got down on one knee, so he was at her eye level. “You see, it was a repressed memory from my childhood. I’d totally forgotten about it until it resurfaced yesterday. Your sister and her friends helped me take care of the feelings that memory brought back and take away the strain those memories were having on my body.”

“What was the memory?”

“Let’s just say some bad stuff that was doing bad things to me. I won’t go into details as this world is too peaceful to know about it.” Blaze turned and looked at the Unicorn mare and asked, “So, Rarity, is breakfast is ready?”

“It’s ready. Go and eat up,” she replied.

Sweetie Belle quickly went into the kitchen to start eating. Blaze stood up and made his way there. 

Rarity stopped him for a moment by ushering him to get closer. He did and she whispered, “Well done! You explained just enough to have Sweetie Belle understand the situation, without delving into topics she doesn't need to learn about yet. I was afraid if she was told everything, she would get nightmares.”

“You and the others are going to be the only ones to know about that part of my past. It’s too dark for any other pony to know about,” Blaze whispered back.

Rarity smiled and headed into the kitchen. The human followed and saw what she made waffles. He sat down at the table and grabbed a few of the waffles before spreading some butter and syrup on them. Again, he was amazed at how fresh everything was. Nothing had any of the preservatives or chemicals like the food back on Earth.

They finished the breakfast and Blaze took care of the clean up. Rarity started to get ready for him to try on my tux for both of his forms. Sweetie went off somewhere and he doesn’t know where.

The human entered Rarity’s workshop and saw both tuxedoes. They looked amazing. They were the standard design for a tux, but Rarity had a red vest on the inside of the jacket and a bola tie with his cutie mark on it. The human had pants and the pony didn’t.

“Rarity, these are just amazing! You’ve really outdone yourself,” he said.

“Why thank you, Blaze. Let’s get them fitted for you to make sure everything will look good on you,” the Unicorn said.

“Ok, do you have a changing room I can change in for the human one?”

“Yes, that door to your right. Typically for those ponies who are shy.”

Blaze grabbed the hanger of the human tux and entered the room. He took off his gi and put the tuxedo on. The human stroked his hair back before stepping out for Rarity to see. 

He then said, in a James Bond accent, “The name’s Blaze. Swift Blaze. I’ll take my drink shaken, not stirred.”

His cool demeanor and smooth-talking, coupled with his devilishly attractive new clothes, almost caused Rarity to faint on the spot. “Oh my! Monsieur Blaze, don’t you look dazzling tonight. Would you mind standing on this platform so I can make adjustments?”

“Of course, Lady Rarity.” 

The mare giggled when he called her that. The human got on the platform and stood still as she used her magic to make adjustments to the tux. Once she was done, the white Unicorn ushered him to get the tux off and go into his pony form. Blaze went back into the changing room, took the tux off, and put it neatly back on the hanger. He put his gi back on before performing the Shadow Transform Jutsu. Now as a stallion, he walked out with the human tux laying on his back.

“Ok Rarity, ready to try on the next one,” said Blaze.

She used her magic to pick up the human tux and then used it to swap his gi with the pony tuxedo. He looked at himself in the mirror, gazing in wonder at the rich pony staring back.

“Rarity, you still amaze me with how easily your clothes can change a pony's looks. If I wanted to, I could act like one of those fancy ponies in Canterlot and I’d probably fool them.”

“It’s true that the right ensemble can make anypony appear more sophisticated. They will not, however, change a pony's personality. I’m glad you allowed me to make these for you.”

“Well I didn’t want to dress like an idiot when I escort my friends to the Gala. I’ll be on my best behavor while there. If anything bad happens, you know I’ll do everything I can to fix the problem.”

“Of course I know you will. Nothing bad ever happens at the Gala from what I've heard. Now get up on the platform so I can adjust the tux.”

Blaze let her make the adjustments where they were needed. Once she was done, Rarity used her magic to put his gi back on. The stallion got off the platform and changed back into his human form.

“Rarity I have a question, and I think you'd be the best pony to ask."

“What is it, Blaze?”

“Is there a spell to change the weight of an object, like clothing, to make them lighter or heavier?”

“I believe so, yes. Twilight might know the spell you’re looking for. Why do you ask?”

“Well, since I lost that emotional weight I was carrying around, I feel any trainning I do isn’t going to be effective. I literally won’t feel the burn. I’m thinking if Twilight does know of a spell, I‘ll ask her to increase the weight on some clothing. That way I can continue my training. Do you have some bands that can go around my wrist and ankles?”

“All I have are hoof bands, but they are stretchable so they should fit where you want them to.”

“Cool, I’d like eight of them, please. Half for my human form and the other half for my pony form. How much for those and the two tuxedoes?”

“Let’s see, sixteen bits for the hoof bands and two hundred for the tuxedoes.”

Blaze reached into the money pouch tied to his waist and pulled out two hundred and fifty bits. 

“Here you go.”

“Blaze, you don’t have to leave me a tip. I enjoy doing the work.”

“I insist. Well I’m off to get with Applejack to get some furniture. See you later, Rarity.”

The human left the boutique, after putting the hoof bands on both his forms. He made his way to Applejack’s farm. As he rounded a turn to see the farm, Blaze saw the apples were different colors and patterns. 

Realizing what was happening, the human hid in the forest nearby. He heard a couple of giggling ponies coming up the road from Applejack’s fast. Blaze saw Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash running by. Once the area was clear, he finished making his way to the farm. 

The human saw the orange mare sitting next to the entrance of Sweet Apple Acres. She was having a small chuckle, then looked up to see all the apples in the nearby trees painted.

Blaze asked, “Hey Applejack, what’s with all the new apples?”

“Pinkie and Rainbow pulled a prank on me and painted all these apples with water-based paint,” she replied. "I got a good laugh, but now I gotta wash off all these apples, and that's going to take a while."

"What would you say if I got you a raincloud to wash off all the painted apples?"

"I'd say that'd be mighty impressive. But you ain't a Pegasus, and there's no clouds out. How in tarnation are you gonna pull it off?"

“I can make a raincloud from that barrel of water and manipulate it over the trees.”

"I guess you learned something new, huh?"

"Yep."

"Well, I'd much appreciate that kind of help if you can pull it off."

"I'll get right on it, then we can go buy some furniture for my house."

Applejack nodded and stood back as Blaze walked up to the full barrel of water. He did a couple of hand signs and said, “Water Style! Rain Cloud Formation Jutsu!” 

A dark rain cloud started to appear over the barrel. Once it was a good size, he stopped applying the jutsu.

"That there was amazing, Blaze! Now, how're you gonna make that thing rain on the apples?"

"I'm going to fly over the trees and squeeze the cloud like a sponge full of water."

Learning from his encounter with Rarity's ceiling, he slowly brought his ki out until the human started to float and rise to where the cloud was waiting. Blaze channeled chakra into his hands to grab hold of the cloud. Once everything felt good, he flew around and spread the rain over the painted apples in the trees until all the paint washed away. The human took what was left in the cloud and squeezed it back into the barrel.

“Thanks for your help, sugarcube. Let's head into town and do some shopping.”

“Sure thing. Let me just change into my pony form. I want to test a theory that's been simmering in the back of my mind.”

“Ok, Blaze. I’ll wait by the entrance when you’re ready,” Applejack said and started to walk in that direction.

The human switched his form and started to channel his ki to his hooves.  He was trying to use just enough to hover above the ground without it being noticeable, pretending to walk as he skimmed over the earth. So the stallion ‘walked’ up to Applejack and said, “Let's get going.”

“Ok. So what were you thinking of trying out?”

“I’ll explain later or when you notice.”

Applejack looked him over for something different. Seeing nothing, the pair started to head towards Ponyville. As they rounded a corner, Blaze saw something further down the road. There was a big patch of leaves in a circle in the middle of summer. The red Earth pony looked and listened for something that might be in the forest. He heard the faint sound of a giggle. 

The stallion moved closer to the orange mare and whispered into her ear, “Applejack, act naturally for the next few minutes. Up ahead, I think Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash have set a prank for me in the middle of the road. Please walk along the edge of the road and act like you don’t notice it.”

She nodded and made her way to the edge. Blaze continued to slightly hover off the ground and mimic walking. They got to the trap and he just went right over it. After the pair were several yards away, there was a sudden scream from behind. The Earth ponies turned their heads around and saw Pinkie Pie. She was hanging upside down by a piece of rope tied to one of her hooves from a tree limb by it. Rainbow Dash was trying to help her down. The orange mare and red stallion laughed and continued toward town.

“Ok Blaze, how did you not set that trap off when you walked over it?” Applejack asked.

He replied, “Who says I was walking?”

“You look like you were.”

“I’m actually hovering and pretending to walk.”

“That explains why I wasn’t hearing your hooves hitting the ground. I thought you put on some silent horseshoes on, or something.”

“Nope. Just barely hovering off the ground.”

Blaze soon heard something fast was coming up from behind. He didn’t turn around, but guessed it was Rainbow Dash. She probably wanted answers to that backfire, and she wasn’t slowing down. The stallion wanted to truly test the speed he’s at now. He killed his ki hover and prepared himself.

The Pegasus continued to get closer and Blaze acted like he hadn’t noticed her approach. She was probably a foot away when the red Earth pony made his move. For that spit second, everything seemed to slow down with the speed he was pushing his body to go. Blaze dodged out of Dash’s path as she flew by. He saw her expression, thinking she got him. Once by, the stallion went back to where he was, acting like nothing happened.

Rainbow Dash soon realized she didn’t get him. She looked behind and saw the red Earth pony in the same spot. The blue mare looked forward, just in time as she crashed into a pile of bundled hay. Applejack and Blaze ran up to her to see if she was ok.

“You ok there, Rainbow?” Applejack asked.

The Pegasus shooked the dazed look she had and replied, “Yea, I’m fine. Care to explain yourself, Blaze?”

“What did I do?” he asked.

“Explain how you avoid that trap prank Pinkie and I set for you. Then how I missed grabbing you just a few seconds ago.”

“That trap in the forest was for me?” Blaze said, innocently.

“YES IT WAS!” Dash shouted. “I was trying to get you back for backfiring that spit wad last night! That trap had a hair trigger so even a slight touch with your hoof would have set it off. How could you not set it off when you walked right over it!”

“Here’s my secret.” He got close to her ear. “I wasn’t walking, I was flying just above the ground.” 

Blaze backed away quickly before she responded.

“WHAT? How could you be barely off the ground when you were clearly walking?”

“I concentrated on my ki control and pretended to walk. Plus the fact I saw the trap when it came into view. The pranker just got pranked,” he said with a big grin on his face. 

“Ok, then how did I miss grabbing you when you didn’t move?” the Pegasus asked.

“Oh, I heard you coming, so I thought it'd be a good time to see how fast I could move. Turns out fast enough for you to not notice.”

“Then prove it. There’s a guard post with a guard on the north side of town. I want you to take his helmet, put it on top of the flag pole by the school house, and then come back here. You've got three seconds.”

Applejack stepped in and said, “Ya don’t need to prove anything, Blaze. She’s just being a sore loser for her failed pranks. I don’t want ya to get tossed in jail.”

Blaze replied, “I don’t mind. It sounds like a fun prank to pull. Besides they won’t see me coming. I’ll be ask quick as the Flash.”

“Who?”

“Forget it.” The stallion turned to Rainbow Dash. “I’m ready when you are.”

The blue Pegasus said, “Ready . . . set . . . GO! . . . One-”

“Done.”

“How can you be done?” Applejack asked. You haven’t moved.”

“Take a look at the flag pole.”

They both looked at it in the distance. Sure enough, there was a royal guard helmet on top of the pole. Soon, the group heard a pony shout, “Who took my helmet!”

The group started laughing. Once that was done and everypony calmed back down, Blaze said to Rainbow Dash, “Thank you for the awareness exercise, I needed that. Now I have a better understanding of how my abilities have improved.”

“So, you’re not mad at me for trying to prank you?” Rainbow asked.

“Of course not. I'm just tougher to prank. Lots of watching Looney Toons skits.”

“I take that’s another show thingy from your world?” Applejack asked.

Blaze nodded.

Rainbow smiled and said, “Well, don’t expect me on giving up on pranking you. I’ll leave you alone for now. I have some weather duties to take care of.” 

The blue Pegasus flew off, as fast as ever.

“Whoo-whee, you weren’t kidding when you said you feel lighter,” Applejack said.

“The downside is I need weighted clothes if I want to continue my training, or I won’t feel the burn. My body has been used to that weight, and I still weigh the same, but I don’t feel the same. I’m happy I got rid of it, I just need to replace the weight to continue my training.”

“So ya going to do that type of training from that show of yours?”

“Yep, I am going to see Twilight to see if she has a spell so I don’t actually have to wear weights.”

“First, let's get you the furniture  for your house.”

> Chapter 19: Extreme Makeover, Ponyville Edition
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Applejack and Swift Blaze soon arrived at the furniture store in Ponyville. Inside, he saw the place pretty much had one style, but came in different colors. They started to look around when a brown Unicorn stallion with black mane came from the back of the store.
 
“Good Afternoon! Welcome to Furniture ‘R’ Us,” he said. “What can I get for you happy couple?”
 
“Woah woah woah!” Blaze spoke up. “We’re not a couple. Applejack is a friend helping me pick out furniture for my new place.”
 
“What he said,” Applejack added.
 
“Sorry about that,” the brown stallion replied. “Normally it’s a single pony or a new couple that comes into my store. So, what furniture are you looking to get?”
 
Blaze said, “Well, pretty much everything. I have a brand new house that’s getting the wiring and pluming done today.”
 
“Fabulous! I wasn’t aware a new house was being built. I would have stopped by sooner to offer my service to design your home. How many more months before you expect to move in?”
 
“It should be done by tomorrow. That’s why I am shopping for the items to furnish it now.”
 
“That fast? I must say, you must have some fast and strong working ponies to get a house built that quickly and without me hearing about it.”
 
Applejack snickered a little bit. The red Earth pony just looked at her and rolled his eyes.
 
“You can say that. By the way, my name is Swift Blaze, but you can call me Blaze. We’ll take a look around to see what you have.”
 
“By all means. My name is Home Design and you can call me Homie. Just come and get me if you have any questions.” 
 
“We will, thank you Mr. Design.” He nodded and headed back into the back room, with a slight skip in his walk. 
 
Upon seeing this Blaze thought, Ok, am I the only pony with gaydar and was having it spiked being near him? Must be my Earthly thinking. It must be more common here.
 
They walked through the place and pointed out the chairs, some tables, a couch, different appliances, and pretty much everything else that would be needed in a new home. 
 
When they got to the beds, Blaze saw they only had them in pony size. He called for Mr. Design to come over. He did so quickly and asked, “ So, what do you have a question on?”
 
“Well, do you have beds in a bigger size?” the red pony asked. “I like to sleep in a big bed.”
 
Blaze could see in the brown stallion eyes were looking him over. “I can take a guess why. It will have to be custom made and I can have that done by next week.”
 
“Do you have at least the mattress and sheets to fit it? I can make the frame for it myself If I have to.”
 
“Yes, we do have those in stock in the back. You really want to move into your house tomorrow then I take it?”
 
Blaze replied, “Nothing you’re implying.”
 
“What, it's not just for you two?”
 
The yellow mare pulled her head back at the surprise comment. “It ain’t anything like that. I’m just helping a friend,” she replied with a little blush on her cheeks.
 
“It’s true. I just want to live in a place that I can call home since I got here just over a week ago.
 
“Well, welcome to Ponyville. You mind if I ask where you came from?”
 
“You wouldn’t believe me, even if I told you. Shall we continue with the rest of the items I’m thinking of getting?”
 
“Right away sir!”
 
So, they spent the next half hour going over all the items and he noted them down on an order pad with his magic. Once all the items were on the pad, Home Design went behind the counter to total the order up.
 
“Let’s see, the grand total, with expedited delivery fee, comes to fifty-five hundred bits,” the Unicorn said.
 
Blaze asked, “How much did you charge for the expedite delivery fee?”
 
“That was twenty-five hundred bits for that. I would have to reschedule all my planned deliveries tomorrow if you want it then.”
 
“That’s a might steep for it. How long would a normal delivery take, plus how much would it cost?” Applejack asked.
 
“Normal delivery, I would charge five hundred bits and the earliest I could deliver the items is in a couple weeks,” Home Design replied.
 
“How about no delivery and I’ll pick them up to bring them to my place,” said the red stallion.
 
“That would take you over a day to do with many loads. I know you’re an Earth pony, but no pony is strong enough to do it alone. You would more than likely put yourself in the hospital if you do that. I have to have a crew of at least six to make the deliveries for me.”
 
Blaze replied, “I have my ways of doing things. Stuff you wouldn't quite grasp at the moment.”
 
“If you say so. The new total with you picking them up is three thousand bits.”
 
“That is still rather high. How about we make a deal to take one thoushand off the price. You said you have seen plenty of ponies come and go. I’ll show you three things I can do that you’ll probably have never seen. If you get speechless, faint, or scream, you will take that amount off. If you don’t do any of them, you may charge me another thousand bits. Do we have a deal?”
 
Home Design thought it over in his head. Blaze took a guess that this pony wouldn’t pass up a chance to make another thousand bits. 
 
The Unicorn stuck a fore hoof out and said, “Alright, you have a deal. So what are these three things?”
 
The red Earth pony shook it and said, “For the first one, how about seeing an Earth pony fly without using magic or any mechanical means?”
 
“It’s true, I haven’t seen that. So let’s see if you can do it, Mr. Blaze?”
 
He channeled his ki and began to hover in the air. Home Design’s eyes opened wide. Seeing this, Blaze moved to the next trick. 
 
“Now, I’ll make glowing orbs appear at the end of my hooves.” 
 
The stallion channel enough energy to make them appear. Just for fun, he juggled with them for a bit before allowing them to dissipate. 
 
Home Design now has his mouth wide open. “The only thing I can think this is possible is that you are some hornless Unicorn. Am I correct?” he asked.
 
“Nope, this body is just an Earth pony. But, it’s not my original body. This leads to the final thing to show.”
 
“What do you mean that is not your original body? What are you then?”
 
Blaze floated back down to the ground. He then released his shadow transform and returned to his original body. 
 
“Say hello to a human!” he said as he appeared out of the puff of smoke.
 
Home Design babbled something, then did a girly scream, and fell over and fainted. Applejack laughed out loud and said, “Boy, Blaze, you sure do have an interesting effect on meeting new ponies.”
 
“I can’t help how they react to me. They either do this, attack me, or on the rare times, ask me lots of questions,” he replied. “How long do you think he’ll be out?”
 
    The orange mare replied, “Do you want to make another bet?”
 
They waited in a set of chairs nearby for Home Design to wake up. It took a good fifteen minutes for him to do so. He got back to his hooves and said, “Ow, what hit me.”
“That would be the floor,” Blaze said. “Sorry about that. I’ll have to say you handled it better than some other ponies.”
 
The Unicorn turned his head to him and said, “Thanks, I think. I guess the bill is now two thousand bits.”
 
“Thank you for holding up to the deal.” 
 
The human dug into the pouch and pulled out the proper amount of coins and placed them on the counter. “I’ll come by tomorrow to pick them up. I might have another trick to show how I’m going to carry everything.”
 
Applejack and Blaze waved goodbye and left the store. The orange mare said she had to head back to the farm to see how the new workers are doing with Big Mac in charge. He told her good luck and she left. 
 
Right now, the human figured it would be a good time to head to Twilight’s place. He needed to see if she had that weight spell to cast on clothing. He walked through town and made his way it to the library. Blaze entered and saw Twilight and Spike were working on something.
 
“Hi Twilight. Hi Spike. What are you doing?” he asked.
 
“Hi Blaze. Just cleaning up an experiment,” said the purple Unicorn. “I tried to write down the results, but a couple of ponies switched my ink with invisible ink.”
 
The dragon replied, “I just got rid of my hiccups that Pinkie and Rainbow gave me.”
 
“Yea, they seem to be in a pranking mood today,” Blaze said. “Might be because I backfired the one Rainbow tried last night.”
 
“That was an amazing feat. How you were able to grab that wad and launch that back at her. I would like to get a reading how fast you’re able to go,” Twilight said.
 
“That’s why I came to see you. It seems that losing that emotional weight has allowed me to go faster than I would like. I need that weight back if I want to continue my training. I feel too light right now. I won’t feel the burn from my morning routines. Do you think you may have a spell that can be applied to clothing to make them weigh more?”
 
“Give me a moment to scan my books. I do recall such a spell.” 
 
Twilight used her magic and caused the books on her shelves to levitate and get in a line to go past her. After a few minutes, she found the book and released her hold on the ones causing them to fall to the ground.
 
“Twilight, should you use your magic to put those back where they came from?”
 
“Sorry about that. It’s a bad habit of mine when I’m doing research. Spike doesn’t mind it though. It’s good for him to keep his skills up to keep the place clean and organized.”
 
“But it's also good for you to pick up after yourself so you won’t be a burden on him. He might be able to get more things done if he didn’t have to pick up these books off the ground after these massive book-searches.”
 
“You’re correct, Blaze. Give me a few minutes to get these back where they belong.”
 
“How about I take care of it? It will be a good excuse to show you why I need these weights.”
 
“That will be impressive. But do you know how to organize a library?”
 
“I helped out in a library during high school. I manage to pick up how the Dewey Decimal System worked and made quick work on returning books to where they belong.”
 
“That would be great. Just let me get a watch so I can time you. It normally takes me three minutes to put this many books back. Let me know when you’re ready,” Twilight said. 
 
The Unicorn used her magic and grabbed it from a drawer and handed it to Spike.
 
Blaze said, “Just let me stretch for a sec. Also, if you could please stand in the middle of this room. I don’t want to run into you.”
 
The human stretched his limbs for a bit while the pony and dragon moved to the center. He gave a nod to Twilight to say he was ready. She said go and Blaze moved very fast. Just enough to be safe inside this room. 
 
He was a blur in their eyes as the human was making a small rotating wind in the room. Blaze was picking up one book at a time and placed it on the shelf where it belonged. When finished, he stopped right in front of them.
 
“That was amazing! You got that done in under a minute,” Spike said as he held the watch out for everyone to see.
 
“I wasn’t even going at max speed. If I did, your place might have been destroyed.”
 
“I appreciate that. You’re right, you do need this spell,” said Twilight. “We don’t want you to overdo what you’re doing.”
 
“Thanks, Twilight. Let’s apply the spell to the hoof bands here and to the top of my gi.” 
 
Blaze removed the bands and the shirt. He placed them on the floor between them. 
 
“Let's start with ten pounds on the bands and fifty pounds on the other.”
 
Twilight’s horn glowed as she channeled the spell onto the articles of clothing. Once the spell was cast. The human picked them up and put them on. He could feel the difference, but he wasn’t feeling the same.
 
“How does that feel Blaze?” Twilight asked.
 
“My limbs and body do feel heavier, but I don’t feel at the weight I was with the emotional weight I use to have. Can you double their weight?”
 
“That’s the beauty of this spell. The owner can do it themselves. They just need to call out the name of the clothing and what weight to change it to. No need for a Unicorn to cast the spell again.”
 
“That’s awesome! I can increase the weight as I continue my training. Let’s try it out. Change all bands weights to twenty pounds each and change the top to a hundred pounds.” 
 
The clothing emitted a glow by themselves. Blaze could feel their weight increasing. He was very happy to have this now. It was just like what Goku used on his way to the planet, Namek. The glow faded away and the human felt he was back to his familiar weight. It was somewhat a shock that the emotional baggage was close to doubling what he actually weighed.
 
“So how does that weight feel, Blaze?” the Unicorn asked.
 
“Like I’m back to my normal weight. Let me get my other clothing so you can cast the spell on them too.” 
 
He quickly summoned his backpack and pulled out all the tops of the gi and set them out.
 
“I’ll just apply the spell to them. They’ll still weigh the same as they are now.”
 
“Sounds like a plan. Once done, mind if I use your bathroom and changed my clothes. These are getting a little smelly.”
 
The mare nodded. Twilight once again cast the spell onto the clothing. As she was, Blaze changed into his pony form. The Unicorn realized what he was going to ask. She extended the spell and magically touched the gi and hoof bands that were on his stallion body. 
 
Once the mare was done, Blaze transformed back and picked up the green with black trim gi and made his way to the bathroom. He changed the top part of his gi back to the normal weight before removing it. The human then put on the clean gi and had the weight set back to one hundred pounds.
 
The human headed back downstairs where Twilight was putting away the book that had this spell. “Thanks again, Twilight, for helping me with this. It’ll come in handy.”
 
“Not a problem, Blaze. Just be on a lookout for those pranksters. I’m sure they will try something on you,” Twilight said.
 
He replied, “They already tried, twice.”
 
“What prank did they do?” Spike asked.
 
So, the human told them about the morning events and how everything they tried backfired on them. Both Spike and Twilight laughed and Blaze joined them. Once the laughing was done, he packed the clothing back into the backpack and left. He headed to his home.
 
Blaze arrived to the open frame house with the finish wiring and plumbing. There was a note nailed to the front entrance. He pulled it off and it said,
 
Dear Swift Blaze,
 
Your house has been fully wired and plumbed to the main lines. Enjoy your new house. We shall be by in the morning with the bill.
 
Sincerely,
Sparky and Mario
 
As he looked around, the human saw they did a nice job, for being a rush job. One thing Blaze hoped for was that they won’t charge too much. He entered the house and made his way to the master bedroom. He placed his backpack down and looked around the space.
 
Looking at all the open framing, Blaze guessed he should start covering these walls. He went outside and saw the trench he made earlier was still there. The human performed a simple Earth Jutsu to fill it in. He turned around to face the house to began work on the outer walls. 
 
Blaze decided to go with stone wall feature. He thought they will add a nice look to the house, plus it’s free to do. He performed the same Stone Wall Jutsu he’s done a couple days ago. Beautiful stone walls came out of the ground on all sided of the building. The human reversed the technique where the outer doors and windows are. 
 
As soon as he thought about them, Blaze realized he forgot to get glass windows. He wondered if there might be is a jutsu that will allow him to make his own. That will have to wait for another time. 
 
The human walked up to the front door opening and used his jutsu to made a nice door come out of the inner wooden frame and temporarily have it connected to it. This is until he gets some hinges to properly secure it. For now, it will only open via jutsu. Blaze headed to the back and made another one for back there. 
 
The human went into each room and had wooden walls come out of the wall frame and ceiling frame. This is a cheaper method instead of looking into seeing if they have drywall and plaster. He made sure to leave openings for the outlets, switches, windows, and doorways. 
 
When Blaze entered the kitchen, this one was going to take longer. He had to make cabinets from his wood jutsu. For the design, the human went with a sliding door method. He didn’t have the hardware to make the doors swing open, at this time. He can always change it later.
 
Blaze was happy to see that Mario was kind enough to put a makeshift sink stand for the time being. That way, everything is already in place. He continued working the jutsu till all the cabinets were in place. The top of the counters were a butcher block style.
 
The human went to the master bathroom and saw they installed a full shower for his height and toilet. He will just need to cover the walls where the shower wasn’t and create the cabinet for the sink. Blaze chose a nice maple top. He repeated the style for the other bathroom. 
 
Once all the walls and ceilings were covered, the last thing was the floor. The human went with oak flooring style and cast the jutsu to get them to grow from the nearby wood surfaces.
 
This pretty much wiped out most of his chakra. Blaze went to his backpack and dug out an MRE to have tonight. While looking over the house as he ate, the human realized he’ll need primer and paint to make these walls better. 
 
After the meal, he saw the sun was setting on the horizon through his glassless window. Even though he had electricity, there were no light fixtures, or bulbs to supply him light to work into the night. Blaze could use his powers, but that would just drain him more. So, he pulled out a sleeping bag and rolled it out in his bedroom. The human got comfortable as best as he could and fell asleep.
 
Now, Inside his mind space, Blaze went over the list of the things he needed to learn for tomorrow. The first thing was to practice on performing a sealing jutsu that would store something into paper and scrolls. The next thing was to figure out what jutsu elements he’ll need to make glass. It was either that, or find the shop in town to buy it. The final thing he think he should so is probably train on another full element style. 
 
As Blaze had a group of clones work on the first task, he looked into glass properties on the internal computer. It will involve a custom of earth and fire style. Earth to gather the minerals that make the glass and fire to melt and form the sheets. It wouldn’t be an easy task, definitely not feasible to do in the mind in one night. This will have to be tabled for another time. He finished the mind sleep cycle with some element training.
 
The human woke up from his sleep and looked around. He saw the sun had started to peak out. He got ready in a clean gi and exited his house. Blaze went for a jog to the town square and back. When he got back, the human increased the weight of the clothing by ten pounds and began to do stretches and fighting styles. This went on for two hours,  until his stomach started to growl very loudly. Blaze reset the clothing back to the previous level and headed to Ponyville to get some breakfast at Sugarcube Corner.
 
The human entered the pastry store and got in the line to place his order. Mrs. Cake was taking them and Mr. Cake was getting the items together for the pony. He could hear Pinkie was humming from the kitchen as she worked. When it was his turn, Mrs. Cake gave him a big smile when she saw the human.
 
“Good morning, Blaze. That recipe you gave has been selling well. We’re having a slight issue keeping up with the demand. I wonder if you know any more goodies?” Mrs. Cake asked.
 
“I do, but we can discuss that for when you’re not so busy,” said Blaze. “I would like to order a dozen fresh doughnuts to go.”
 
“Right away, dear. It will be on the house.”
 
“You don’t have to do that. I don’t mind sharing recipes from my world for no charge.”
 
“But we insist,” said Mr. Cake. “I’ve never seen ponies so happy when they bite into that chocolate creation you called Devil’s Chocolate Drops. We renamed to Blaze’s Chocolate Drops in honour for you.” 
 
The orange stallion gave a box to Blaze that had his order.
 
“I’m glad ponies like them. I guess I’ll see you later,” he said as the human exited their establishment. 
 
He headed back home to wait for Sparky and Mario to come and see him with their bill. As Blaze approached it, he saw those same ponies looking over the finished outside of the house. As he got closer, the human could see from their faces they were impressed with how quickly he put the exterior up. 
 
Mario was first to see him coming up the road. “Morning, Swift Blaze. That ability of yours does some fine work in finishing this place up,” he said.
 
“Why thank you. And thanks for supplying all the covers for the electrical components and have the sinks in place for me,” Blaze said. “That way I don’t have to ask you to come back later to finish. Would either you care for a doughnut?”
 
They each snagged one and scarfed them down. “Thank you for the treat. Shall we go inside so we can finish our business?” Sparky asked.
 
Mario nodded and said, “Yea, thanks for the doughnut.”
 
Blaze opened his door and led them inside. Their eyes widen when they saw the finished work the human did the night prior. They headed to the kitchen as there were no chairs, nor any other furniture to offer them to sit on.
 
“You can really have a nice design to your house, now that I see it in a finished state,” Mario said.
 
“You’re able to make the walls solid with no cracks. They look perfect,” Sparky said.
 
“It’s almost finished. Once we’re done here, I’m going back into town to get some paint to decorate these walls and get the furniture I bought yesterday. I also need to find someone to make some windows for this place. Do you know where I can get these items?” Blaze asked.
 
Mario replied, “There is a hardware store next to the furniture store in town. Across the street is a window shop.”
 
“You definitely work fast in getting your place finished,” said Sparky. “Finish work typically takes two weeks to do. I just don’t know how you’re able to come up with the design and energy to get this done.”
 
Blaze was happy he can hit all the places at once. “So, what do I owe you?” he asked.
 
“For the plumbing, fixtures, and two finished shower stalls, the total is three thousand bits,” Mario said.
 
“For the wiring and lighting, my total is only one thousand bits,” Sparky said.
 
Blaze dug into his money pouch and pull the coins out equal to what they asked. The stallions took them and placed them in their saddlebags. The human thanked them for their rush work and that they did an awesome job. They left his place after accepting the compliment.
 
Blaze ate the rest of the donuts while he listened to the nature outside and the wind blowing through the windows. He enjoyed it instead of hearing all the noise that took place back on Earth. He feels he made the right choice to come here.
 
Once done with the meal, the human snagged some blank papers he found in a side pocket of his backpack and a pen. He left his home and headed back to Ponyville. Blaze saw the stores right where Mario said they would be. and entered. Inside was what you would normally see in a hardware store. 
 
A blue Earth stallion with yellow mane came up to him and said, “Good morning, stranger. My name is Mr. Spots and welcome to my store. What can I get you?”
 
The human replied, “Hello Mr. Spots. I’m Swift Blaze and I need some primer and paint for my new home.”
 
“We have plenty of that. How many rooms are you going to be painting?”
 
“There are twelve.”
 
“Then you are going to be needing lots of paint and supplies.”
 
They went over the amount of primer Blaze was going to need and the color choices he wanted for each room. The human also picked up two dozen brushes and some drop cloths. There was a nice pile of painting supplies sitting in front of the counter. Mr. Spot was adding up the items behind it.
 
“Ok, Mr. Blaze, the total of the supplies here is five hundred bits,” the stallion said. “It will be an additional one hundred if you want it delivered to your home.”
 
“That won’t be needed. I have a way of caring this with a single hand.” 
 
Blaze reached into his money pouch and placed the coins on the counter.
 
“So what is this way of carrying these with a single ‘hand’?”
 
The human took out a piece of paper out and his pen. He drew a sealing circle on it and placed it on the pile. Once Blaze did the hand signs and applied the chakra to the paper,  it caused the pile to be covered in smoke. When it cleared, all that was left was the piece of paper with a new symbol in the center.
 
“That’s impressive. I’d heard of a creature that was not a Unicorn that was able to perform things similar to magic. I take it you’re this creature.”
 
“Yes, I am. My species is called human,” he said, then picked up the piece of paper.
 
“Well, it was nice meeting you. Looking forward to do business with you in the future,” Mr. Spots replied.
 
Blaze left the store and headed next door to get his furniture. As the human entered the establishment, he was greeted by Home Design.
 
“Good morning, Blaze,” said the stallion. “I take it you’re here for your things?”
 
“Yes, I am. Was in town for other supplies so I thought to check to see if you were ready.”
 
“Everything is all set. They’re in the back in a nice pile. I still don’t know how you are going to carry it without a cart. Do you have super strength or something?”
 
“It is more of a something.”
 
Home Design led the human into the back and he pointed to a pile with his hoof. “There is everything you purchased. So, how in Equestria are you going to carry it?”
 
“Like this.” Blaze pull out another blank piece of paper and his pen again and drew another sealing circle. He placed the paper onto the pile and repeated the actions from before. The pile disappeared in a puff of smoke. All that was left was that piece of paper. The human picked it up and turned to Home Design, who had his mouth wide open again.
 
“It’s a good thing you showed me some of your abilities yesterday. I would have probably fainted just now. Well then, you have a nice day. If you need a hand in decorating your place, you know where to find me.”
 
    Blaze left and crossed the street to now shop for some windows for his place. He spotted the place easily as it had the most windows installed in the building. A door chime made of crystals went off as he entered the place.
 
    A pink Unicorn mare with a white mane and tail walked up to the human from behind the counter. She waved a forehoof and said, “Welcome to Windows Emporium. I’m the owner of this establishment, Shiny Glass. My friends call me Glassie. Now, my unique customer, what can I help you with?”
 
    The human replied, “Hello, Mrs. Glass. I’m Swift Blaze, and I’m in the need of some windows for my new place just outside of Ponyville.”
 
    “I’ve heard the rumor of someone new to our fair town. They didn’t do justice in describing you.”
 
    “I can only imagine as I’m the only one of my kind on this planet.”
 
    “Really? We might have to fix that later,” the mare batted her eyes as she looked the human over. “But back to business, exactly how many windows are you going to be needing?”
 
    Blaze facepalmed his forehead. “I knew I forgot something when I left the house,” he said. “Well, do you mind coming to my house? Going to have to get the count and measurements for them anyway.”
 
    “I think I can spare some time to check out your place,” she said with a smile. “Before we go, shall we go over what style are you looking for?”
 
    They discussed about the different designs. Most were single pane type. Blaze was hoping they had the double pane style, like back on Earth to have insulation. When he inquired about the possibility of doing that, the mare said that won’t be needed as they will have a magic spell that could do the same thing. Save on glass and all.
 
    The human went with a basic design with the magic spell addition, which costed extra. The pair left the Unicorn’s store and headed back to his home outside of town.
 
    Glassie chatted away about the town and each pony as they walked by them. Blaze nodded his head as he partially listened. He was more focused on planning where to place the furniture and what color to use for the room.
 
    They soon arrived at the house. The mare said, “Oh my! How in Equestria did you afford such a lovely home? Let alone how quickly it was put up. I walked this road last week and this was definitely not here.”
 
    “It did cost something, but not in bits,” Blaze replied.
 
    “Really? Maybe I should think of getting that kind of payment from you,” she said with a big smile. Glassie batted her eyes as she looked the human over.
 
    “I’m sorry, but we already agreed on a price in bits per window. I already said that I would take care of the installing of the windows.”
 
    The mare’s smile shrunk down a bit. She said, “Alright. Let’s get these measurements so I can get started on the work. I can already tell that it’s going to take me longer as you have lots of window. I should charge you extra for that. But, I think it will work out in the end.
 
    The Unicorn pulled out a tape measure from her saddle bag and started getting measurements for each window. Once done, Glassie said goodbye and headed back into town.
 
With the mare gone, Blaze could get started on painting the house. He released the seal jutsu on the supplies and made a dozen clones to get to work. It did not take long to apply the primer. Once the human released the clones, he started to get dizzy from the paint fumes. 
 
Blaze made his way outside for some fresh air. As he was breathing in the fresh air, the human looked towards the EverFree Forest. A faint sound was coming across the wind of something shouting a line he thought he would never hear in Equestria. Blaze could barely make what was said but it sounded like, “LLLEERRROOOY JEEEENNNKIINNNSS!!!!!” 
 
The human searched with his eyes to see where the sound came from. At the very edge of his vision, he thought he saw an outline of a human flying towards the grounds several miles away. The object was way deep in the Everfree Forest. 
 
Blaze thought the paint fumes were making him see things. There was no way another human could come to this world. So, he headed back inside and made only a few clones to get started to paint the rooms in color where the primer has already dried. 
 
They went from room to room painting it the color he wanted. Once all the rooms were painted, the humans went back outside. The original released the jutsu on the  furniture and they started to bring them inside. Blaze released the clones when the las last piece was in place. Now, he looked over the now, furnished home. 
 
The human’s stomach made a roar for food. He knew the next thing is to get food for his place. Maybe check on his friends at the same time. He closed the front door and made his way back to Ponyville.
 
 
> Chapter 20: Enter The Griffin
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blaze was making his way back to town when he heard something falling. The human looked up and saw Pinkie on her flying contraption. He bolted into the sky to catch her. It was no problem to make it and bring everything and everyone down safely.

“Hey there, Pinkie. Are you trying to fly like the other Pegasus and me?” Blaze asked.

“Of course not silly,” replied Pinkie. “This does work. It was Dashie’s old friend that caused it to break.”

“Which friend is this?”

“Gilda the Griffin.”

Hearing that name brought back the memories of what happened in the episode. The human kept his composure as he recalled the details. Today was going to be interesting dealing with her.

“Hmm, a Griffin,” said Blaze. “I have read about them in one of Twilight’s books. How about you join me for lunch and tell me about her.”

She nodded and started to hop by him as they entered town. The pair made it to a café and sat outside at a table with an umbrella. Both placed their orders and Pinkie started to tell him everything that has happened this morning up to the point where Blaze caught her from falling. The food came and the pair dug into them. Blaze had a salad and Pinkie had her shake.

While the pair were waiting, Blaze heard a scream by an old pony. He turned around and saw Granny Smith trying to run away at her pace. Gilda was behind a food cart and her tail was moving around like a snake. The human hated how Gilda was a bully to everyone she didn’t like.

“See what I’m talking about? I was right that she was a meanie mean-pants,” Pinkie said.

Blaze added, “And now she just stole an apple from that food cart.”

He looked down the street and saw Fluttershy was escorting a duck family through town. This was one scene that he didn’t want to happen.

“Excuse me Pinkie, I would like a word with that Griffin.”

Blaze placed money on the table and quickly made his way to Gilda. He transformed into his pony form along the way there. He stepped in front of Gilda in time before she ran into Fluttershy.

“Hey, watch where you’re going, dude,” Gilda said in her angry tone.

Blaze replied, “I saw what you did back there and what you were about to do.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“You scared that old lady with that prank, took an apple without paying, and were about to bump into my friend as she was leading a duck family through town.”

The griffin was getting angry and said, “You better back off doofus before I make ya.”

“If you would just pay for the apple and apologize to Granny Smith, I will not bring harm to you.”

“That’s rich! A mere Earth pony standing up to a Griffin. You do have guts, I’ll give you that. Now back away before you get hurt.”

“The thing you don’t understand is that I’m no normal Earth pony,” said Blaze. His tone gets serious. “Please, do what I ask before this has to get rough.”

“No pony tells me what to do, especially one that is a freak.”

Gilda pulled her head back and then let a loud roar right in my face. Blaze didn’t move an inch from his spot. The ponies nearby were watching what was going on and wondering what was going to happen.

The stallion got onto his hind hooves and stood in a fighting stance, waiting for the griffin to make the first move. Before Gilda attack, Rainbow flew down to us.

“Hey Gilda, I see you met my new friend here, Swift Blaze,” said the blue Pegasus. “You wouldn’t believe some of the things he can do. Hey, you mind showing us one?”

“Sorry Rainbow,  but I just realize I forgot to do something for my house,” he replied. “I’ll see you later and show you then.”

The Earth pony got back on all four hooves and walked back to where Pinkie was. He could see the mare was happy that someone stood up to the griffin.

“That was amazing of how you went and stood up to that meanie mean-pants. I don’t think anypony here had the courage to do that,” she said.

“Remember, I’m not a pony. How about we throw Gilda one of your parties to lighten her mood and maybe pull some pranks on the partiers. I’ll talk to Rainbow so she can actually set the pranks. See you at Sugarcube Corner in a few hours for it?”

“That sounds like so much fun. I can’t wait to see how Gilda likes nice pranks going off.”

Blaze thought, If everything goes the same way, there’s going to be a face on Gilda that she does not want Dash to see.

The stallion left Pinkie Pie so she can get the party ready. He looked around for Rainbow and Gilda and saw them in front of the Pegasus’s house. Blaze walked up under them and shouted, "Hey, Rainbow Dash!"

They looked down and saw the stallion below. "Hi Blaze, come on up," said Rainbow.

"How can an Earth pony get up here?” asked Gilda. “They can't fly."

The stallion could wait to see the look on the griffin after seeing this. He channeled his ki and flew up to them. Blaze looked at Gilda when he got to her level and her mouth was wide open.

“I told you I wasn’t an average Earth pony,” he said.

“How are you able to do this?” asked the griffin. “Are you pulling my paw and a Unicorn is using her magic to levitate you?”

“It’s nothing like that G, said the Pegasus. “Blaze is not even a real pony. Come on and show her what you really look like.”

He thought, If my flying shocked her, this will have her mind explode. He released the shadow transform jutsu and went back to his human form. Before the smoke could dissipate, Blaze jump out of it and said, “BOO!”

Gilda screamed and flew straight up for a few seconds. Dash and Swift Blaze were laughing at her reaction as she flew back down to where they were. The griffin’s mood was not happy for being the one getting pranked.

“Oh my, Blaze, that was another clever prank you pulled! Priceless!” Rainbow said.

“Yeah, hilarious,” said Gilda.

“Thank you, thank you, now I’ll show you something I have just learned,” the human said.

He channeled the chakra and did the hand signs, but did not call out the move as this was going to be a ‘Shocker’. A small dark cloud formed behind Gilda and Rainbow saw what he was doing. She was holding in her laugher, waiting for it to go off.

“Well, what is the new thing you lea . . . OUCH!!” Gilda said as a lightning bolt hit her behind from the cloud.

Rainbow laughed harder than before. Blaze could tell Gilda wanted to attack him, but not in front of Rainbow Dash. He looked at Gilda with a small evil grin and thought, Maybe next time you should take my advice.

Once Rainbow calmed down, she said, “Again, priceless. So you can create clouds and control them?”

He replied, “I learned-water style jutsu a few nights ago. I combined it with the wind-style to manipulate clouds. It’s a little easier to manipulate than wood-style.”

The human snapped his fingers and pointed at the griffin. “Gilda, before I forget, Pinkie wants to throw you a party. She'd like Dash to come by and help with the decorations, since she should know what you'd like.”

“Sure thing. I will head right over.”

The Pegasus flew off to see the pink mare. Once Dash was out of sight, Gilda charged at the human. Blaze dodged her claws with ease and got onto her back. He put his arms around her neck and put the griffin in a submission hold. She tried to buck him off like a bull, hoping he would release the hold.

The human decide to change tactics and released the grapple. He made three shadow clones and began to fly around her in different directions. Blaze saw Gilda’s eyes trying to find the real one. The griffin soon was getting dizzy and fell onto the cloud.

All the humans went down to her and said at the same time, “Do you see why you won’t be able to beat me? I’ve been training in combat and can predict your movements. I did no harm to you as you are Rainbow’s friend. But, if you do cause harm to any of my friends, don’t think I won’t hold back next time.”

The original Blaze created a small ki ball and sent it into a cloud. He channeled the ki to cause it to explode. Gilda now looked a little afraid from seeing the destruction this creature could put out.

She sat up on the cloud and said, “What are you?”

“I’m a god damn human from a different planet!” Blaze shouted.

He released the clones and flew back to his home. He hoped that the griffin would behave now. Blaze decided to get cleaned up and make some adjustments to some wood features of the home. Once he was satisfied, he left and head to Sugarcube Corner to attend the party.

The human arrived as the other ponies were starting to show up. He entered and Pinkie greeted him in her style, “Hiya Blaze! Welcome to the party! Rainbow went to get the guest of honour so they should be here soon.”

“Thanks, Pinkie Pie. I think we’ll see the good side of Gilda during the party, if she knows what is good for her,” Blaze said with a wink.

“Did you beat her up?”

“Oh no, I would never do that to one of my friend’s friends. I just showed her what I was capable of after Dash left to help you here.” He leaned closer to her and whispered, “Did Rainbow Dash set up pranks at this party for Gilda?”

Pinkie nodded and he gave her a wink to confirm that he won’t go and tell anypony about them. Blaze left the pink mare to mingle with the other ponies. He went over by where the food was and picked up some cupcakes and cookies, including the chocolate drops that he supplied the recipe.

The human found an empty seat near a table and went to it to enjoy the goodies. As he started to bite into a cupcake, Blaze saw a cup with punch levitated next to him and placed on the table. He looked around who brought it over and saw Lyra Heartstrings, with a big smile.

“Hi Blaze!” she said. “I’m surprised to see you here.”

“I like to attend parties Pinkie throws. They’re always fun,” he replied. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to see the griffin that everypony was talking about. Supposedly, she almost got into a fight with a red Earth pony.”

“Oh, I know all about that.”

“How?”

“The red Earth pony was me. The griffin was acting rather rude in the market and I was about to teach her a lesson.”

“I should have recognized that was you from your intro ceremony. Do you think she will behave while at the party?”

“We shall see.”

“So, what have you been up to, Blaze?” Lyra asked. The mare pulled up a chair and sat across from him.

He finished eating the cupcake and grabbed a cookie. “Well, I just got done having my house built and furnished.”

“It was amazing how you were able to cause that wood come to out of the ground like that. Your jutsu keeps on getting cooler and cooler to watch when I can. Can I ask you a few more questions?”

Blaze knew this was coming. He replied, “Sure, but the same rules still apply from last time.”

“Ok! Which type of pony do you like?”

The human almost choked on the cookie. Oh, this is going to be fun, he thought.

After clearing his throat, he said, “Well, I don’t have a particular. I like them all, equally.”

“How was the food back on your world?”

“Most of the stuff we had, chemicals were added to it to preserve it to last longer as we had no magic. So, some of the things had an odd taste, but we did have some very good things that were made fresh, like this cookie here.”

“What’s it called?

“The original name was called Devil’s Chocolate Drops. But, Mr. and Mrs. Cake renamed it to Blaze’s Chocolate Drops.”

“Why would they name the cookie after you?”

“Maybe because it was a recipe from my world.”

“That is from your world! I have to try it! May I?” the Unicorn asked as she pointed to one of them on his plate.

Blaze allowed her. The mare used her magic to pick it up and bring it to her mouth. She bit it in half and started to chew. Her face went to pure enjoyment as she continued to chew the treat and ate the other half. He saw a small teardrop come down her cheek when she finished.

“That was beautiful. I got to taste a treat from the human world. I can’t wait to try others,” Lyra said as she wiped the teardrop away.

“I’ll let you know when I share another one to the Cakes.”

At this point, the human heard a buzzer go off. He turned his head and saw Pinkie just shocked Gilda with a hoof buzzer. Lyra went off to get some more cookies as Blaze stayed seated. He watched what was going on as Gilda continue to set off each prank. Her face was getting annoyed by being the joke of every prank in front of the ponies.

The time came to play pin the tail on the pony. The human watched the griffin get spun around by the pink mare. She thought it was another prank, so she turned herself around and walked the opposite direction of the target. The result was the same thing that happened on the episode.

Gilda blew her cool and yelled at the other ponies. Rainbow Dash stepped up and took credit for all the pranks. After the argument between them, the griffin stormed off and the blue Pegasus apologized to all the ponies and her friends. Blaze snuck away to confront Gilda one more time.

He teleported out of there and flew to Gilda. She was leaving Ponyville at a fast pace. When the human got in front of the griffin, they both stopped in the air.

“How were you able to catch up with me? Only Rainbow Dash was the only one able to keep up with me,” she said.

Blaze replied, “Well I should be able to catch up to you. I’ve already beaten Rainbow in a race. Plus being able to break the sound barrier, twice.”

The griffin wasn’t caring how this creature was bragging. “So, what do you want?”

“You still have not learned to let it go when you are the one on the receiving end of a funny prank. You like to dish them out, but some of them are not funny. Just plain rude and cruel. Why do you act so mean to others?”

“YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS LIKE WHEN YOU ARE ALL ALONE WITH NONE OF YOUR KIND!” Gilda yelled directly at Blaze’s face.

He just stood there. After wiping some spit off his face, he replied, “Oh, but I do. I’m the only fucking human here on this planet. Mine has been destroyed due to greed and violence. The only reason I’m still alive is because my God saved me. He allowed me to come to this world. You still have other griffins on this planet that you can go and see. I’ll probably never see another human ever again!”

That hit Gilda hard. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I never would have imagined I would meet someone who can relate to me.”

The human calmed back down. “Look, I know Rainbow still wants to be your friend, but maybe you should give her some space after that incident at the pastry shop. Go see the other griffins of this world and think who you want to be with.”

They both flew away in separate directions. As Blaze was soaring through the sky, he hoped Gilda will make the right choice. Just then, he realized with everything that happened today, he forgot to do something. That was to buy some food for his home. He will just have to figure something out later. For now he should go help his friends clean up.

The human arrived back to the dead party as his friends were all working together to clean up. He grabbed a broom to help and swept the floor debris into a trash can. Once the place was clean again, they all left the establishment.

The group was walking through town when Twilight asked, “How’s your place coming Blaze?

He replied, “It’s coming along. All the painting and furniture is in place. Just a few more other things before I would say it’s complete.”

“That was fast, sugarcube,” said Applejack. “Would you mind showing us?”

“Not a problem.” Then, Blaze’s stomach releases a big growl. “Umm, can we do it after dinner? Stomach is craving for food and I have none at my place right now.”

They all laughed as the group headed to the diner. After sitting down and placing their orders, the group chatted among themselves. Fluttershy was sitting next to the human.

The mare turned to him and said, “Um, thank you Blaze for what you did. I heard that roar that griffin used. I don’t want to know how that would have affected me.”

“It’s no problem, Fluttershy. I saw Gilda was not going to stop as you were escorting that duck family. That griffin needs to get her head straight if she wants to hang with Rainbow and her friends.”

“I wouldn’t mind if she does return. Just not with that attitude she was showing off.”

“I think she’ll turn over a new leaf if she does return.”

Twilight spoke up and asked, “Blaze, how is that weight spell working working for you?”

“It’s working great. I feel at my normal level right now. Plus it will allow me to increase it more when I do my training. Thank you again for casting it on the bands and the tops of the gi.”

“What weight spell are you talking about?” Rainbow asked.

“Well, since I lost that emotional weight I have been carrying. I’ve been feeling lighter. Actually, too light to do any training. So, I asked Twilight to cast that spell on those clothes so I can get back to normal. Pretty much I’m doing the training regimen I told you about from that show.”

“How fast do you think you can go?”

“I would roughly say Mach 3 with no issue, maybe Mach 4.”

“THAT FAST?” Rainbow shouted for everypony in the diner could hear it.

“I don’t know exactly as I won’t need to travel that fast, unless it was an emergency.”

“Have you learned any more jutsu, Blaze?” Rarity asked.

“Both Applejack and Rainbow have seen some of the new things. I can show one right here. Care to see?”

They all nodded their head. The human channeled the chakra, did the hand signs, and said, “Water Style. Water Spout Jutsu.” The water from the glasses jumped from one glass to another in a fun pattern. The ponies clapped their hooves together for the fun entertainment. Blaze stopped the display when their food arrived.

The group ate in silence. Ponies ate flower and hay related style of food. The human had a simple spaghetti with steam veggies on the side. Everyone paid for their own meals and left, heading to Blaze’s home.

They got to the edge of town as the sun was beginning to set. When his house was in view, the sun shone on it. The light caused specs of gem in the outer stone to sparkle.

“Oh my, Blaze! Your house is very dazzling the way it sparkles in the sunlight,” said Rarity. “It looks like you live in an expensive stone castle.”

Blaze replied, “I just had stone walls come up from the ground. I did not realize I got some gem fragments at the same time.”

“Well, you did an amazing  job in finishing the outside. Would you mind showing us the inside?” Twilight asked.

“Right this way, ladies.”

Blaze opened the door and turned on the lights. The ponies dropped their mouths open from the sight of the finished interior. They walked in and looked around. No pony was saying anything. He was happy that he got them to speechless level. After a while, the others stood in a half circle around the human.

“Well, is anyone going to say anything?” he asked.

The ponies looked at each other. Then, at the same time, they shouted, “WE LOVE IT!”

“Ow, my ear.” He stuck a finger in one of them to get rid of the ringing. “Well, let me give you all the grand tour.”

They followed as he showed them the kitchen, dining room, first floor half bath, and the living room. On the second floor, there were two regular bedrooms, a bathroom,  and the master suite. The group returned to the living room and all sat down.

“You did a fine job in decorating your home, Swift Blaze,” said Rarity. “The colors and furniture go well with each other.”

“I can’t take all credit as Applejack helped me in picking out the furniture,” he replied.

The orange mare said, “But you picked the paint colors by yourself and did a great job.”

“Um, Blaze, you built a lower floor than this. Where is the entrance to that?” Rainbow asked.

“Sorry Rainbow, but that area is off limits to all ponies unless Princess Celestia says so. I’m to keep my Earthly possessions down there, away from any ponies. I also created a barrier jutsu so nothing can get through it without my blessing. The actual door doesn’t exist until I make it when I need to be down there.”

“So, you have some secret items in a secret space that only you can access. Are you a spy? What do you have in that backpack that you don’t want anypony to know?”

“Princess Celestia and Princess Luna do know the contents of it and they agree with me it’s too dangerous to leave out. I can still summon them if and when I need to. But they will stay down there.”

“If Princess Celestia agrees they are too dangerous we shall honor their decision,” said Twilight. “It’s getting late. We should be getting back to our homes.”

“You can’t go yet. There’s one last thing I want to show you. It’s more of a fun thing I did with my friends once a month.”

“Oh! I like fun stuff!” Pinkie exclaimed. “What is it? What is it?”

“Now hold your horses there, missy,” said Applejack. “Let him tell us.”

“We’ll have to go outside and do it,” said the human.

They headed outside and gathered around Blaze.

“Give me a moment. Just need to bring one more friend who should not miss this.”

He performed a summoning jutsu that caused Spike to appear.

“Huh? What? Where am I?” the dragon asked as he was holding a blanket.

“Evening Spike. I brought you here because I think you will like this new jutsu. But first I need some material.” Blaze gather the chakra and said, “Wood Style. Wood Tower Jutsu.” A tower of wood stacked in a grid with around them rose from the ground. The others were wondering what the human and ponies were doing. “Ok, you might want to stand back so you don’t singe your hair.” They began to back up. Once again, he gathered the energy and perform different signs. Blaze then said, “Fire Style! Fire Ball Jutsu!” Blaze. breathed fire onto the wood and set it a blaze.

“That was amazing! You can breath fire like me!” Spike said.

“I thought you might like it. It’s not true fire breathing, like a dragon. It’s channeling the chakra into my hands, force air through them, and ignite the energy.”

“Still, it was sweet to watch.”

Blaze turn back to the others. “What I did with my friends back on Earth is we set up a bonfire, like this, and just enjoyed it. Sometimes we cooked marshmallows and made s'mores.”

“Well, that was kind of ya to do this. I was definitely surprised with that fire coming out of your mouth,” Applejack said.

Blaze asked, “Does any of you know where we can get supplies to make s’mores?”

“I do!” replied Pinkie. She went over to a hollow tree and pulled out a bag that had all the supplies.

“Why did you keep that in there?”

“This is one of many emergency stashes for s'mores I have around Ponyville.”

“Anyway, pass them over and I will start making them.”

Pinkie gave Blaze the supplies and he went to work, cooking the marshmallows and assembling the treats. Each pony got one and loved the fluffy, chocolaty, morsel. They sat around the fire and told stories of funny things. Some were about something the human did.

They all laughed and enjoyed the time till the fire started to die out. Fluttershy fell asleep so Rainbow picked her up to take her to her cottage. The other ponies left on their own and said they had fun and would see him tomorrow. Blaze said goodbye as he used earth style to cover the fire embers with dirt.

The human entered his home and made the way upstairs. He got cleaned up with a warm shower. He put on a fresh set of gi clothes, the red with black trim. Blaze got into his new bed and went into his mind space. He needed some more practice with some of the jutsu styles. So, after a few hours of that, He exited to get some sleep.

As Blaze drifted off, he hoped that tomorrow would be quiet. He needed a nice, quiet day where nothing bad happens.
> Chapter 21: I Can Do Anything Better Than You
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Swift Blaze woke up at his usual time for his training routine. After the jog, he went into a quick one-on-one sparring match with a clone.  He only altered the weights on himself. The human increased them by ten pounds on each piece. The match went for an hour as the sun finished rising.

He went back into his home and cleaned himself up. When Blaze came back outside to head to town, he realized the market would not be open this early. Looking around, he saw the yard area needed some attention from the construction.

The human used his chakra to make a simple wooden fence around the front yard with a wood gate that was about body height of an average pony. Then, he created a stone path form from the gate to the steps of front door and around one side of the house to the back. Blaze moved to the back that was facing the forest. He thought about what should he have back here that would make him happy. One idea he liked was a zen garden. It would good and be useful to help maintain balance of oneself.

The first thing that went up was a taller fence in the back for privacy. Then, he channeled the energy to have a deck come out of the house. Rails formed around it and a staircase to the ground. The human had the stone path from the front continue to the staircase.

Satisfied with how that part looked, Blaze moved to the first feature for the yard. Something that would showcase water. He used Earth-style to create a small mound made of various rocks. Then a small, stone bed stream that would flow into the forest. With Water-style he was able to create a spring from underground that flowed into the rock mound. The clear liquid flowed from the top and down onto the stream bed path.

To showcase the air, Blaze thought it would be better to buy something in town instead of creating a bad tune of wind chimes. So, he moved onward to the earth element. He went down to the edge of the forest to create a rock garden. The human first created the outer frame to hold the sand in.He then forced some polished stones to come up from the ground. Finally, with Earth-style, he altered the ground to sand and have it make wave patterns. He noted he needed a sand rake as well, and would look for it in town.

Blaze headed back up to the house. With the stream going through the middle of the yard, he made a small bridge over it so he could work on the space for the last element, fire. With more Earth-style, he created a patio with a fire pit in the middle. Then for some flair, a couple gems that would sparkle from the light of the flames.

The human worked up a sweat again from using so much chakra, but was worth it. He cleaned up again and finally left his home and headed to town. After he stepped onto the road, he saw a familiar Unicorn coming up from town, Shiny Glass. She was pulling a wagon that looks to be carrying his order.

“Good morning, Mr. Blaze,” she said. “Here’s your order. Are you sure you don’t want me to install it? It won’t cost you bits, but I will take another form of payment.” The mare fluttered her eyelashes with a big smile.

“No, that’s ok,” he replied. “I can take care of that. I would prefer it that way so I can make any adjustments needed to make them fit.”

“If you’re going to do it now, may I watch you work?”

“Actually, I’m heading into town as I have some other errands I need to take care of. If you could, please place them next to the house and I’ll take care of them when I get back.”

“Alright. I look forward to seeing them in place so I can marvel at my creations.”

With that, Blaze walked away as the Unicorn started to unload her wagon. Once he was out of sight, he transformed into his pony form to not get rusty with it. Also to maybe not scare any ponies he hadn’t met yet when he bought food and some other items on his list that was growing.

As the stallion was approaching town, there was a crowd forming around a wagon that was not there yesterday. It felt very familiar to him. It was one thing he didn’t want to deal with. Blaze joined the crowd and found his friends were in the front.

He walked up next to them and asked, “Morning. What’s going on?”

“A travelling Unicorn mare came into town and says she’s the most powerful Unicorn in all of Equestria,” Applejack said.

Blaze thought, DAMMIT! Why did Trixie have to come today? I hope she is not as big of a showoff as she was on the show. “I would think Twilight is as her special talent is magic. We have all seen some of the magic she can do,” he replied.

“I would agree. Being powerful does not mean you can brag about it and show it off. You’re similar, Swift Blaze. Your abilities make you powerful, but you don’t go around and show off to everypony. Unless they ask you of course,” said the white mare.

“Thank you, Rarity. I believe with great power comes great responsibility. I use mine to protect my friends and all ponies.”

Spike and Twilight soon joined them as the wagon opened into a stage setup. A pony’s voice was broadcasting, trying to entice more ponies to come. There was a small puff of smoke and the light blue Unicorn mare appeared on stage, Trixie Lunamoon. She went on and started boasting about herself. The girls had a discussion of what they thought of the showoff pony, thinking she was better than others. Rainbow ranted how she was already better than anypony. The others glare at her, causing the blue Pegasus to retract her statement. Which she follows to boo Trixie.

“Well, well, well, it seems we have some neighsayers in the audience. Who’s so ignorant as to challenge the magical ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie? Do they not know that they're in the presence of the most magical unicorn in all of Equestria?” asked Trixie.

Blaze shouted out, “I would not call you powerful. All I’ve seen so far are simple magic tricks.”

“What would a simple Earth pony know about magic?” Trixie replied as she looked at the red stallion.

“Plenty. I know several ponies who use their magic to help others instead of going around showing it off.”

Twilight comes up to him and whispered, “Blaze, what the hay are you thinking of doing?”

He replied back in whisper to the purple mare, “It’s alright, Twilight. Back in my world, we had magicians that used sleight of hand to create illusions. I know real magic exist here, but she's using the same concept.”

“Does the Earth pony need advice from a Unicorn?” the blue Unicorn asked. “I would understand if they realize they knew that the Great and Powerful Trixie has magic strong enough to vanquish the dreaded Ursa Major!”

Fireworks went off and several ponies ahhed at the sight. The mare went on telling the story of how she did it. Two small, Unicorn colts went to the front and tried to convince the crowd that Trixie is the most powerful. None of the other ponies made a sound of a cheer.

“Don't believe the Great and Powerful Trixie? Well then, I hereby challenge you, Ponyvillians -- anything you can do, I can do better. Any takers? Anyone? Hmm? Or is Trixie destined to be the greatest equine who has ever lived!?”

Not one pony first stepped up to take on the challenge. Trixie was able to entice Applejack to go first. Applejack showed off some rope tricks with her tail and snagged an apple from a nearby tree, catching it with her mouth. Trixie stepped it up by causing the rope to first act like a snake and then hogtied Applejack and placed an apple in her mouth.

Rainbow didn’t like how her friend was treated, so she went up next. She performed her move that caused a rainbow to appear just above her when the rain water caught up to her. Trixie took the rainbow and made Rainbow Dash go into a mini tornado with it. Trixie then had a small storm cloud appear and shock Rainbow’s flank.

Blaze had enough of this. He wanted to show this mare what an alien from another world could do. As the stallion was walking around to get up onto stage, Spike was trying to encourage Twilight on to go and show her magic off. Twilight didn’t want to do it as the other ponies were not liking how Trixie was showing her magic off. The others joined in saying it would love to see another Unicorn go against this Unicorn. Rarity spoke up stating she was getting the hint but will not go down to the level Applejack and Rainbow Dash behaved.

Trixie replied, “Ooo, what's the matter? Afraid you'll get a hair out of place in that rat's nest you call a mane?”

That really steamed the white mare. She started to make her way up, but Blaze stopped her. “Hold up, Rarity,” he said. “This Unicorn has been enticing ponies on that she has a magic trick for. I think she already has something planned to mess up your mane. Allow me to step in and take your place.”

She replied, “You don’t have to do that, darling. I’m sure she’ll do nothing when up against my grace and beauty.”

“I would just hate to see any more of my friends get hurt or humiliated. Please, let me handle this,” he said and gave her the puppy-dog eyes.

“Ok, Blaze, you win. Just go and teach this mare a lesson.”

The red stallion made went on the stage and stood face-to-face with Trixie. She was amused that she could humiliate this Earth pony that ridicule her. Blaze couldn’t wait to see what she’ll think when she sees he isn’t a pony. The crowd started to cheer and chant his name.

“It seems this Earth pony has a few fans in the crowd. What makes you so special that you think you can do better than the Great and Powerful Trixie!” The blue Unicorn said as more fireworks went off.

The Earth pony just yawned at the spectacle as he wasn’t amused. This aggravated Trixie as she charged up her magic. She fired it at him, but he was able to dodge it. The stallion avoided several other shots with no issue. Trixie started to get a little tired from firing several spells at him and missing.

“Do you think I can show you why I know could go up against you?” Blaze asked with a smirk on his face.

“Go right ahead. Whatever you can do, the Great and Powerful Trixie will do better.”

The Earth pony got up onto his hind hooves. Placing his fore hooves behind him,  he created weak energy balls. He brought them to the front and started to juggle them. The crowd started to cheer for me. “You ready to give this a shot?”

“Piece of cake. Toss them to the Great and Powerful Trixie.”

He tossed one energy ball to her. Once the Unicorn touched it with her magic, it exploded and covered Trixie in black sulfur. All the ponies laughed at the sight, and his friends were laughing quite hard. That made the mare angry, but her flushed coat was hidden beneath the explosive ash.

“In case you were wondering, these are not regular balls, they are ki energy balls.”

Blaze launched the rest into the air and let them explode. The crowd started to cheer for him more. Trixie used her magic to wipe herself off. Then channeled it to formed some bigger dark clouds than before and have them appear above the stallion.

“Let’s see how you handle being struck by lightning!”

Oh shit, he thought. Then the command to return the clothes to their original weight as the blue Unicorn continued to charge up her magic. As Blaze saw the lightning bolt forming to blast him, he moved out of the way at imperceptible speeds. He maneuvered to hover just above Trixie, laying down on his side with a hoof supporting his head.

From what the crowd and Trixie saw, it looked like the Earth pony  got hit by the lightning. They all gasp after the flash when his body was not there. Trixie started to panic, probably thinking she just killed the stallion.

A few ponies started to quietly laugh when they saw him and how he was acting. Blaze made sure to stay above Trixie as she ran around the stage, looking for his body. After a minute or so of her running about, the stallion did a whistle sound to get the Unicorn’s attention. She looked at him and her mouth went wide open.

Blaze said, “Missed me, missed me, now you gotta kiss me!”

He flew down to the mare and stole a kiss from her while she was still in shock. The crowd of ponies went into an uproar of laughter. The stallion was bowing to them up in the air above the stage. Trixie was getting tired of hi santics so she used her magic quickly to tie him up and secure him to the stage.

“No more tricks and games! The Great And Powerful Trixie wants to know how a mere Earth pony is able to do all this magic!” she shouted at the top of her lungs.

“Trixie, there is no reason for you to shout. I would have gladly explained.”

“The Great And Powerful Trixie does have the right for you have humiliated me! This has never happened in all my travels that an Earth pony especially has outdone me!”

“That’s the thing. My friends and the citizens of Ponyville already knew about me and my abilities. Seeing that you’re new, I shall explain why I can do these things. Basicly, I’m not a real pony.”

“THAT IS BULLSHIT! I would have detected illusion magic as I’m great with it!”

“That’s the other thing, I can’t use magic from this world. I will now show you my true form.”

Blaze released his form and broke the ropes that tied him up. He looked at Trixie as fear now was on her face. She quickly ran away as fast as her hooves could take her. The human thought that the mare was getting really afraid of what he might do next. He turned to the crowd as they started to clap their hooves together or stomped them on the ground.

“Thank you everyone. It seems the show is now over. See you all another time,” he said and then got off the stage.

“You really showed her, Blaze!” Rainbow said.

Applejack said, “You really know how to bring the laughter out of us with your jokes and antics.”

“It was nothing. I was just getting tired of her humiliating my friends. Now if you would excuse me, I’m a just a little hungry from my morning exercise.” His stomach clarified as it growled at him.

His friends laughed and left to take care of their own things. The human made his way to the diner to get some breakfast. He entered and took a seat at the bar. The waitress behind the bar came up to him.

“Good morning dear. Now what can I get ya?” she asked.

Blaze replied, “I’ll have a nice tall glass of orange juice. Actually, make that two. Um, three cheese and veggie omelettes, and a side fruit salad.”

“Coming right up.”

The mare left to go and enter the order. The human sat there and enjoyed the silence while he could get it. The other ponies in the diner were having their own conversation and enjoying their meals.

A pony came up and sat down next to him. “Good morning, Swift Blaze. Are you enjoying your time here in Ponyville?” the mare asked.

He turned his head to see who was talking. It was Mayor Mare. “Greetings. I am enjoying living here. Thank you again for getting Sparky and Mario to help with my house,” he replied.

“So, when are you going to finish your house?”

“It’s almost done. The last thing I need to do is install the windows, which were dropped off this morning. I finished the interior work yesterday and work a little bit on the yard this morning.”

“You definitely work fast. I might stop by later to see how it looks.”

“My friends have seen the house last night and they were speechless when they saw everything in the house.”

“Well, I’ll see you later. I see your food has arrived.”

The waitress placed the drinks and food in front of the human. They all looked and smelled great. So, he dug right into it. As Blaze was eating the delicious food, the doors to the diner burst open. He turned his gaze just enough to see who was barging in. It was a couple Royal Guard ponies entering with their armor on. By the looks on their faces, they were on duty. He hoped they were not looking for him.

“We’re looking for a pony named Swift Blaze. We received word that he entered this establishment,” one guard said.

Blaze did a mental facehoof to himself. Several ponies pointed to the human at the bar. He continued to eat his breakfast. The guards came up to him.

“Do you know where we can find this pony, sir?” the first guard asked.

“Yep,” he said in between bites.

“Mind telling us?” the second guard asked.

“Sure.”

“Well? Where is this Swift Blaze pony?” the first guard asked.

“First, Swift Blaze is not a pony. Second, I’m Swift Blaze.”

“Please, come with us,” the second guard said.

“Mind if I finish my breakfast and pay for my meal please? I’ll go with you quietly.”

The first guard replied, “You can finish your meal.”

“Mind I ask what this is about?”

The second guard replied, “You have been accused of doing forbidden magic and we have to detain you till everything is cleared.”

Blaze thought, Gee, I wonder who would accuse me of this as everyone I have met so far has liked me.

The human finished his meal and payed the bill with a nice tip. He was then escorted by the guards out of the diner. They took him to their guard house and placed Blaze in a jail cell where they tried to restrain him, physically and magically.

They tied his feet together and his hands together with rope. When it came time for the magic inhibitor, they did not know where to place the ring that would normally go on a Unicorn’s horn. The human indicated to place it on one of his fingers. Out of all the ones they could put it on, they slid it onto his middle finger. The guards left him in the jail cell.

Before they were gone, Blaze said, “Back on my world, I would normally be allowed a phone call to contact someone. Seeing as how you don't have that level of technology, could you go ask a pony to come here? Her name is Twilight Sparkle and she lives in the library that is in a tree.”

A guard nodded and left to go and get her. The human lay down on the bed in there as he waited. A guard banged on the cell to wake him up.

“Swift Blaze, you have a visitor,” the guard said.

“That was fast,” he said. “I didn’t expect you to get here so soon, Twilight.”

He looked through the cell bars and didn’t see the purple Unicorn there. This one was blue. She had a huge grin on her face. “Well, well, well, this looks like this is the proper place for a monster like you who impersonated as a pony,” she said.

Blaze replied, “I should have figured you would do something like this. You must get satisfaction when you humiliate ponies.”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie always gets her way. Even if that is getting a pony into trouble. Enjoy rotting in jail.” Trixie turned to leave.

“Hey Trixie, before you go, I want to tell you something.” She turned back to face the human. He pointed his index finger out of the cell at the mare and sent another weak energy ball into her face. “I like you better like that.”

“Guard!” Trixie yelled. He came quickly. “I thought you restrained his magic? Look what it did.”

“We did,” he said as he pointed to the finger with the ring. Blaze show off his middle finger with it so she could easily see.

“Then how was it able to do this to my face?”

“I already told you Trixie, I don’t have access to the magic you ponies use. My energy sources are call ki and chakra which reside in my body.”

“THEN RESTRAIN THOSE!” Trixie shouted.

“We can’t. We don’t know how those work,” the guard said.

“How about I promise not to use them to break out of here or cause harm to a pony?” Blaze asked.

The blue Unicorn ran off as she needed to clean her face again. The guard left too, with a slight chuckle after she left. The human went back to the bed and waited for Twilight to show up. A few minutes later, she ran to the cell in a panic.

“Blaze, what happened! Why are you in jail?” Twilight asked.

He replied, “Trixie accused me for doing forbidden magic. I think this is her way of getting revenge for me showing her up on stage.”

“I’ll send a letter to Princess Celestia right away to get this all cleared up.”

“I’m glad the guard was able to get you. I’ll wait here like a good human. You know I could easily break out of here if I wanted to.”

“I know. I hope Princess Celestia isn’t too busy so we can clear you of these charges.”

“Don’t worry about it. All I had planned today was get some food and other things for my home. I’ll take a nap while I wait.”

Twilight left quickly to start the letter. Blaze went back to the bed to enter his mind space. In there, he look at the different types he could work one. One was lightning, which could have been useful this morning. He sent a few clones to start working on that.

Next on the list was healing jutsu, a very advanced technique. With him learning many combat style, he need to also get onto some support ones. The first one was to use chakra to increase the heal rate of an area of the body where the hands are over it. Blaze sent more clones to work on this in pairs.

After several hours, the world in his mind shook like an earthquake. He released all the clones in there and woke up in the real world. The human saw it was dark outside. He then saw a guard curled up in a corner just outside of his cell.

“Guard, what is going on?” Blaze asked.

“It’s an Ursa attack!” he said in a scared voice.

Blaze shouted, “THEN GET ME OUT OF HERE! I CAN HELP!”

“I can’t. I have orders to keep you in there until everything has been straightened out.”

“So, you would have the town get destroyed just to keep me in here? Just so you said you followed your orders. You are not even out there trying to stop it!”

“I’m scared that it will eat me.”

“Grow a set of balls. In case you are wondering, I chose to stay in here.” Blaze broke the rope restraints. “Now then, you can stay cowered in that corner while I go save the town.”

The human teleported out of there before the guard could do anything to stop him. He appeared outside and quickly looked around for the Ursa. it wasn’t hard to spot as it was in the town center. Blaze flew towards it and focused his chakra in flight. Once there, he performed the hand signs and shouted, “Wood Style, Creature Restraint Jutsu!”

The human held his position in the air as wood beam came out of the ground and started to wrap around the creature and pull it to the ground. It started to resist and began to break some of the wood. Blaze did some other hand signs and shouted,  “Wood Style! Maximum Restraint Jutsu!”

The wood grew in size and pulled the creature back down. His chakra was draining quickly as he was trying to maintain the jutsu. In the corner of his eye, he saw Twilight running to the scene.

“Blaze, what are you doing!” Twilight shouted to me.

“I’m restraining the Ursa so it won’t do any more damage!” he shouted. “I don’t know how much longer I can maintain this jutsu!”

“Don’t hurt it! It’s only an Ursa Minor, not an Ursa Major!”

“I KNOW THAT! Just do something to calm it down. I know you can do it!”

Twilight channeled her magic and created a breeze over by the nearby pond. This caused several cattails to break and play musical notes that were calming the Ursa Minor down.

Blaze sofly said, "It's working, Twilight.”

The purple Unicorn then pushed herself to lift the water tower container nearby. She levitated over to where the cows were sleeping. It entered one side of the barn empty and came out on the other side, filled with milk. The top went back on.

Doing one more jutsu, the human said softly, "Wood Style. Creature Carriage Jutsu."

The wood that was restraining the Ursa released and changed to a carriage that could support it. Twilight brought the now creature the impromptu bottle, filled with milk, to the Ursa's mouth. It grabbed it and began to nurse from it. Blaze channeled his chakra to spin the wheels to bring the creature back to the EverFree Forest and back into the cave where it came from.

The human flew back down to the ground where Twilight was. He saw his other friends had shown up, as well a good-size crowd. They were cheering to Twilight and him. When he landed, a pony tackled him from behind.

"That was amazing, Blaze! You went right up to that Ursa with no fear!" Pinkie said while on his back.

"Thanks, Pinkie. Would you mind getting off so I can stand back up again?" he asked.

Pinkie Pie hopped right off and the human stood back up.

"Twilight told us you were in jail after she sent Princess Celestia a letter explaining what happened. Did she have you released?" Rarity asked.

"I actually just teleported out of there when I heard a creature was attacking Ponyville."

"Aw Yea! No jail could hold you, Blaze." Rainbow Dash said.

"They’re suppose to give magical creatures a ring that would inhibit their use of magic." Twilight said.

“Luckily I don’t use magic. Didn't feel a thing,” said Blaze as he pointed to the ringer still on him.

"Were you afraid of that Ursa, Blaze?" Fluttershy asked in her soft voice.

"I was afraid of it eating me. But I was more afraid it was going to hurt my friends."

The crowd of ponies did an aww after hearing that. A light blue Unicorn came bursting through the crowd and shouted, "How did you escape that jail? No pony can escape with that ring inhibitor on them."

The human again gave Trixie his middle finger that still has the ring on it. "You don't listen do you. Listen carefully. I HAVE NO MAGIC!"

"It’s your fault he was in jail in the first place. I should buck you to the next town!" said the orange Earth pony.

"She’s not worth it, Applejack,” said Blaze. “Word will spread how she lied about defeating an Ursa Major when she could not handle an Ursa Minor."

All of a sudden, several Royal Guards rushed through the crowd and surrounded the human. He thought, Really? You do this now? Even after I help save it. I get no respect from these guard.

“Halt, escaped prisoner! You have nowhere to run,” a guard said.

“You can’t arrest him! He just saved all of us! He is a hero!” A pony shouted from the crowd.

The others agreed and shouted several other things. Blaze looked to see where the blue Unicorn was. She wasn’t there anymore. He looked above the other ponies’ heads and saw her running out of town.

“Everyone, please settle down. These guards are only doing their duty as I did escape from custody. I was planning on returning one the crisis was taken care of,” the human said.

“But this is all wrong! You shouldn’t have to do this because you were falsely accused,” Twilight replied.

“I may have been, but I did escape and I need to pay for that crime. I’ll see you all later.”

“That will not be necessary,” a pony from behind Blaze said. The crowd turned around and saw Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stepping off their royal carriage. Everyone bowed to them. “You may rise, my subjects,” Princess Celestia said.

They all did. Blaze said, “It’s good to see you again Princess Celestia, Luna.”

“I’m sorry I could not come sooner. I was in important meetings all day and could not step away,” said the white Alicorn.

“It’s not your fault, Princess. Just a showoff pony did not like being shown up. Nothing bad came of it.”

“I’m glad. Lieutenant, Swift Blaze has not done forbidden magic as he cannot use magic. He has my royal pardon from the charges and from freeing himself.”

“As you wish, your highness,” the guard pony said. The armored ponies stood down and went back to attention stance.

“I was actually planning to come and see you this evening. I wanted to inform you in three days, starting tomorrow, you’ll need to come to Canterlot take part in the Royal Guard training,” Princess Luna said.

“Wait, so four days from now is the beginning of the month? Mind I ask which month?”

The blue Alicorn replied, “It will be August, Blaze.”

The human looked down to his finger tips as he touched his thumb to each finger tip in some pattern. “Well, that’s interesting and funny,” he said.

“What is so funny darling?” Rarity asked.

“If the first of August is in four days, that would make today July twenty-eighth. I arrived here on the eighteenth it seems which is also my birthday.”

“I MISSED CELEBRATING YOUR BIRTHDAY? I NEED TO THROW YOU ONE RIGHT AWAY!” the pink Earth pony shouted.

“Hold a second there, Pinkie. The reason I didn’t think about is when I left my world, it was December twenty-first. I won’t blame you for missing my birthday as you did not know when it was. You can throw me a very big one next year.”

“Okie. Dokie. Lokie.” Pinkie Pie said and hopped away.

“Umm, someone might want to catch me soon,” said Blaze. “I feel the adrenaline I was having from the Ursa wearing off. I think it’s time for me to go nighty night.” The human fell backwards as blackness filled his vision.
> Chapter 22: Auntie Em, Auntie Em . . .
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Swift Blaze woke up sometime later, he found himself in a hospital bed. He wondered how long he was out. The human looked around the room and saw that no other pony was in there. 

As he tried to get up, a sharp pain throbbed in his head. Blaze took a wild guess that no one made it in time to catch him as he blacked out. He soon noticed that his gi was on a chair over in the corner. The human quickly looked under the cover and saw his undergarments were still on his body. As he breathed a sigh of relief, the door to the room opened. He saw the six ponies step in. Smiles appeared on their faces as they saw he was looking at them.

“Morning, Blaze. Glad to see you’re finally awake,” Twilight said.

Blaze replied, “Morning everyone. How long was I out?”

“Just the night, darling,” said Rarity. “We took you here after you collapsed. Wanted to make sure that you were ok.”

“Yea, the only pain I feel right now is in the back of my head. Guess no pony made it in time to catch me.”

“Sorry about that,” said the blue Pegasus, “You surprised us how quickly you went unconscious.”

“It’s alright, the pain will go away soon. Mind if we get out of here? I feel like I haven’t eaten for at least for a week.” His stomach let loose a loud growl. 

“A week?” asked Applejack. “With that noise, I would have guessed a month.”

They all laughed. Blaze was about to get out of bed when he realized that he was just in his undergarments. “Um, mind if I ask how I got undressed? I’m pretty sure my clothing still had the weight modifier activated.”

“It did,” said Twilight. “It took me and Rarity just to get that heavy top piece off after we teleported you here. The others took the hoof bands off you.”


The orange Earth pony said, “You weren’t joking that you released a heavy emotional weight after so many years. That hoof band almost made me fall face first into the floor when I pulled it off ya.”

He blushed as he asked, “Um, did anyone decide to remove anything else?

The yellow Pegasus replied, “None of us removed your undergarments. Rainbow was about to, but we stopped her. We respect your reasons as to why humans wear clothes all the time.”

“Thank you girls. Now then, if you could please leave the room, I’ll get dressed so I can get out of here. Don’t feel like scarfing down hospital food.”

They all giggled and left, closing the door behind them. The human got out of bed and put his gi back on with no issue. Thinking about it, he could have some fun with this if he tossed a hoof band and altered the weight. 

Once he was all set, Blaze left the room and saw the mares were waiting outside. He waved goodbye to the nurses and doctors as he left the hospital. They nodded to him with a smile on their faces.

The group made their way to a café for some lunch as it was around noon time. They took a table outside as it was a lovely day. A waiter came and took our drinks and food orders. The ponies soon discussed the things that happened yesterday.

“We saw you really enjoyed your antics yesterday. When you were showing off against that Trixie,” Rainbow Dash said.

Blaze replied, “Like I said before, I didn’t like how she was humiliating my friends. So I turned it around so she got a taste of her own medicine.”

The purple Unicorn said, “I still hate the fact she had you thrown into jail under false accusations.”

“She just never knew how I was doing what I was doing. If you never knew me and you saw an Earth pony doing what I was doing, would you think I somehow performed forbidden magic?”

Twilight was thinking hard on the question. After a few minutes, she said, “I can see how a pony would think that about an Earth pony. Luckily, you can’t do all your chakra jutsu while in pony form. That would really scare the ponies that don’t really know you.”

The human wanted to perform jutsu in pony form. But he hadn’t figured out the method needed to mimic hand signs. He decided to look into this further.

The blue Pegasus asked, “So what did you do while in the slammer, Blaze?”

“Trixie visited to gloat. But I gave her another black dusting on her face before she left. I then just took a nap to enter my mind space to learn some more jutsu.”

“REALLY! WHAT DID YOU LEARN? CAN YOU SHOW US?” the mare shouted with excitement.

“Calm yourself. l’ll  show one move, but you have to guess the last element I haven't learned yet.”

“Aw man, I hate taking tests. Any hints?”

“I have learned four of the the five basic elements. The last one will definitely surprise you.”

The mares were thinking of what the last one could be. Out of any of them Blaze guessed that  Twilight would probably come up with the answer first.

“OH! I KNOW! IT’S LIGHTNING!” Pinkie Pie shouted.

The human didn’t see that coming. He replied, “She’s correct. The last basic element was lightning. It’s one of the most dangerous as you know what lightning can do. This move I’m about to show is dangerous so please don’t disrupt my concentration.”

He did the hand signs, then held held his right hand out while bracing it with the left. Blaze said, “Lightning Style! Chidori!” His hand was engulf in white light as small lightning bolts was sparking from it. The sound of a thousand birds was coming from it as it did from the show. Before loosing it, the human absorbed the chakra back into himself.

The mares were amazed that he could harness something that can be so dangerous. “Boy howdy, that might have have been useful yesterday morning when Trixie sent that lightning at ya,” said Applejack. “You could have sent it back to her.”

“I might have been able to. But, if I did, my chakra would have amplified it. The simple shock could have caused serious harm. The best course of action was sending it back to the clouds.”

“You really do care about not wanting to hurt anypony. Even though that Trixie should have been punished a little more,” the white Unicorn said.

“I’m surprised to hear that from you, Rarity. Yes, I could have harmed her and sent her to the hospital. But then, the other ponies might start to fear me and of my powers. I would rather gain their trust and give them laughter instead of that.”

“I now see why you acted that way. It was uncouth of me to think like that.”

“It’s alright.”

Their food arrived and ate it down. Blaze had several dishes, as he was starving. He believed he was getting the appetite of Goku. Soon, meals are going to be expensive when he ate out. They  finished the meal and paid for what they ate.

Fluttershy asked, “So, what are your plans for the rest of the day Blaze?”

“Well, I still have to do some shopping in the market,” replied Blaze. “Plans were kinda put on hold from dealing with what happened yesterday.”

“Would you like me to help you with your shopping? You helped me with mine and sounds like you have several things you need to buy.”

“I appreciate that. Thank you, Fluttershy.”

The yellow Pegasus and the human made their way to the market. They visited almost every food cart and stand. After each purchase, Blaze created a clone to take them back to the house right away. He was buying a bushel of almost every veggie he liked, the same with fruit. The human also bought several bags of rice, as he planned to have it with almost every dinner. 

Fluttershy offered him some of her chicken’s eggs and some fish, knowing that a human needed protein. Blaze thanked her for her generosity. When we came to Applejack’s apple cart, the mare gave him several bushels of apples, free of charge, for helping her out on the farm. He thanked her for them.

Once the shopping for the other items was done, the human offered the yellow mare to come over for dinner. He said he’d be making his stir fry again. She replied that she would like that and would bring over the eggs and fish when she does. They parted ways as she went to her cottage and Blaze went to his home on the hill. 

His clones had already put the food away where they could and put the rest in the basement. It was acting like a fridge down there with all that stone. They took the initiative and made a walk-in fridge and freezer out of different stones. They also took care of installing the windows across the house.

The human started to prepare the meal by sharpening his new knife set for the kitchen. He got the rice cooking and chopped the veggies for the stir fry. As Blaze was cutting, there was a knock at the front door. He set the knife down, walked to the front, and opened to see who was here. Fluttershy was standing there with her saddle bags full.

“Hi Blaze. Hope Im not too early,” the mare said.

“Of course not,” he replied. “Come on in and make yourself comfortable. Are those the eggs and fish in the saddle bags?”

“Yes they are. Hope I brought enough.”

“It’s more than enough. Thank you again for offering me the fish you have for your animals.”

“It’s no trouble.”

Blaze took the Pegasus’s bags and brought them to the kitchen. He stored the contents in the fridge where he had room. He went back to preparing the veggies and some fish. 

As the human was cutting, he asked, “Fluttershy, would you like something to drink?”

She replied, “Some water would be nice.”

Blaze got a glass out of the cupboard and filled it with water. He brought it to her where she was sitting in the living room. The human went back to cooking. First dish to make was the stir fry rice as he now had the eggs. He then brought out two skillets to cook the fish in one and the veggies in the other. Once everything was cooked, he plated the food and brought it to the table.

“Dinner’s ready,” he said.

Fluttershy got up from the living room and joined him at the dining table. “Blaze, this smells as delicious as last time,” she said. “You really do know how to cook.”

“Years of practice. The first several tries resulted in conditions of," he cleared his throat, "frequent bathroom visits. I did finally get cooking down and now can make dishes like these that I like.”

They ate the rest of the meal in silence as they savour the flavor. Blaze was enjoying eating meat again. Once everything was down in their stomachs, he gathered the dishes and brought them to the kitchen.

“Please, Blaze, you shouldn’t have to clean the dishes. Allow me.”

“Fluttershy, you are my first guest I've had over for dinner. Please enjoy yourself. It won’t take long. I do want to show you something once I get done.”

The mare nodded and went into the living room and waited. The human got the dishes cleaned up and put away in no time. He entered the living room saw her sitting on one of the cushions.

“What I want to show you is in my backyard. I think you’ll like it.”

Blaze took the yellow Pegasus to the back door and opened it. Her eyes went wide as she saw the finished backyard. The sun was setting and was adding a nice orange tint to the garden. They walked out onto the deck so Fluttershy could get a better look. She looked at everything the human had created the previous day. The mare had a big smile on her face.

“Blaze, this is beautiful,” she said. “I never knew you were this creative with your ability.” A small tear fell from her eye.

“I created this so I had a place I can retreat to if I ever get unbalanced again. This is called a Zen garden back on my world. It’s designed to restore order and balance to oneself.”

“Blaze, I’m sure you won't ever have to worry about getting that way again. It was a memory from your past that caused you to act out.”

“You’re wrong, Fluttershy. The memory brought back the pain that I received. I went to the castle to be alone and let my emotional state run out. I didn’t change into . . . that enraged thing until the Timberwolves showed up. They didn't leave me alone to deal with my state. I never wanted to act like that way ever again.”

“I don’t blame you for killing those Timberwolves. You were only defending yourself.  Like I said before, I was glad you didn’t get hurt. You shouldn’t beat yourself up for what you did.”

Blaze moved over to the fire pit and lit it up with a quick fire jutsu. He stared into the fire as the yellow mare came over next to him. 

“That’s just it. I don’t hate myself for what I did, I hate myself because I enjoyed it. That part of me is in every human. Anger, rage, and the enjoyment of killing. Yes, I killed them to protect myself. But, I could have easily killed you all when you showed up.”

“But you didn’t. You still had the good inside of you and that stopped you from hurting us. Please stop hating yourself Blaze. You’re a good human and how you dealt with that Ursa yesterday proves it.”

“Thank you Fluttershy. I wanted to show you this because you brought me back to myself that night. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t.”

"I was glad my STARE was able to reach the good you. I’ve never done that to a friend. I didn’t want you to get hurt anymore, or possibly hurt our friends. Promise me that I won't ever have to do that again."

"I promise. Now let me get some cushions from inside so we can enjoy the fire."

Fluttershy accepted the offer. Blaze went back inside and got the cushions. He placed them by the fire pit. The human sat down, indian style, on one. The Pegasus went to the other, but sat close enough to him so she could lean against his body. He wrapped one arm around her to keep her close. They watched the fire dance away and causing the gems to glimmer.

The human didn’t notice how much time has gone by. He looked to Fluttershy and saw she'd fallen asleep. The mare had a smile on her face as she slept. Blaze didn’t want to wake her, so they stayed that way the entire night. He used his wood jutsu to keep the fire going. At some point, he too fell asleep.

When the human woke up, it was just before dawn, as usual. But, as Fluttershy was still leaning against him, he couldn’t leave without waking her. Luckily, Blaze could make a clone to take care of the morning training. And that is what he did, as his copy left, it restarted the fire and added more wood. Soon, the sun was up. The light from it flickered into the mare’s eyes, causing her to slowly wake up.

"Morning sleepyhead," Blaze said when she looked at him.

Fluttershy let out a tiny scream as she jumped up from the cushion. "I’m so sorry Blaze for falling asleep like that,” the Pegasus said. “I was so comfortable that I dozed off. This has never happened before. I’ll leave right away."

"Fluttershy, calm down. I didn’t mind it. You were sleeping so peacefully, I didn’t want to disturb you. Let's go inside and I’ll make some breakfast."

They headed inside and the human began to cook up some scramble eggs and cut up some fresh fruit. Fluttershy went to the living room to wait till breakfast was ready. While she waited, his clone came through the front door. The mare had a confused look on her face.
"Blaze, I thought you were in the kitchen?" she asked.

"I probably still am," he replied.

"Huh?"

"This morning, before dawn, the original Blaze you were sleeping against made a clone, that's me. I left to do the normal morning exercises."

"Ah, I keep forgetting your shadow clones can act by themselves."

"If you would excuse me, I need to let the other me know about something I agreed to this morning."

With that, the clone disappeared and Blaze received his memories. He continued to cook the eggs as he reviewed what my clone did. The human dished up the food and brought it to the table. He informed Fluttershy that it was ready and she joined him at the table.

“So, what did your clone do while exercising this morning?” Fluttershy asked.

“I’ll start when he left the house.”

-------- Early this morning --------

The Blaze clone left the house and began his jog to Ponyville town square and back. He returned to the front yard and worked on his Taijutsu fighting style. As the human was doing them for a couple hours, he heard a young voice calling his name.

“Morning Swift Blaze!” The young pony voice said.

He turned and see Apple Bloom coming up the road from the farm. He figured the filly must be going to school.

“Morning Apple Bloom. You heading to learn more things today with your friends?” he asked.

“Sure am! Miss Cheerilee is going to be teaching us about different cutie marks that ponies get. I told her about you, and she'd like you to sit in and answer questions about yours,” the filly said.

“That will be difficult as I’m not a pony. Plus, I didn’t get to know about mine the normal way.”

“That’s why she wants you to come. The other fillies didn’t believe I was friends with the human. Also that he was able to get a cutie mark. You just have to come!”

The Earth pony stared at the human with big puppy dog eyes. Blaze couldn’t resist saying no to her face. He figured it would also be a good time for them to see they didn’t need to fear him.

“Alright, I’ll come to your school. Please, stop giving me that look. I’ll be along shortly. Just need to get cleaned up after my morning exercise.”

Apple Bloom was excited that he accepted. She quickly left and continued on to school.

-------- Back to the present --------

“And that’s when my clone came into the house and chatted with you,” said Blaze.

“Sounds like you should get going before you’re late for the bell. This time, I’ll clean the dishes as you have a promise to keep,” Fluttershy said.

The human quickly finished breakfast and headed upstairs to shower and change clothes. He went with the black with white trim gi as the only other clean one was full black. He guessed that he’ll need to do laundry soon as he didn’t want to be running around in his undergarments. Once the was cleaned and dressed, Blaze thought about his pony form. He wasn’t sure if it too was cleaned when the human form was. He decided to not chance it when meeting the children.

He changed into his pony form, undressed, washed himself over the best he could, and got dressed again. Blaze was struggling with the pants, being all hoof. He thought about it and decided to keep them off. It wasn’t that odd as hardly any ponies wears pants, except for very fancy functions. Though most don’t wear anything at all, he could never go that far. Plus the fact that he needed the enchanted clothing he wore to move around normally.

The red stallion headed downstairs and said goodbye to Fluttershy. Not wanting to waste anymore time, he flew off to the school. He recalled where it was from Twilight’s tour. Blaze landed out of sight and finished heading to the school on hoof. As he made his way to the building, he saw all the young ponies were playing outside and chatting among themselves. Apple Bloom was talking to two fillies. The yellow filly seemed she was not liking the conversation.

The bell rang and the stallion saw Miss Cheerilee step outside and called her class to come inside. They all do and he continued his trot to the school. The teacher was about to close the door when Blaze caught her attention.

“Good morning, Miss Cheerilee,” he said.

“Good morning, um . . .” the mare asked.

“My name is Swift Blaze. Apple Bloom asked me to come as you were going to talk about cutie marks today.”

“Ah yes, Swift Blaze. I was actually expecting to see your human form. Why are you here in this form?”

“I didn’t want to scare the young fillies and colts first thing.”

“I think that was a good idea. Come along so I can start the lesson.”

They went inside and the stallion closed the door behind them.

“Alright, class. Settle down as we have an important lesson to cover and a special guest to help with it,” Miss Cheerilee said to her students.

All the kids quieted down. Blaze saw Apple Bloom with a big grin on her face. She was happy that he came. He looked around and saw the other ponies with wondering looks at him, trying to figure out who he was. Snips and Snails were looking at the stallion for a little bit. Their eyes went big when they recognized him. But, the colts kept quiet so they did not get into trouble.

“Allow me to introduce you to, Swift Blaze.”

“Hello class. I’m sure some of you recognize me around town. I can go into more about me when Miss Cheerilee finishes her lesson. If that’s alright with her of course.”

“Please, Miss Cheerilee?” Apple Bloom asked with the big pony eyes, again.


“But of course. Now then, class, today we are going to go over cutie marks. Can you all see my and Swift Blaze’s cutie marks?” They all nodded their heads. “Like all ponies, I didn’t always have mine, my flank was blank,” Cheerilee said as she showed them a young picture of her.

Cheerilee continued telling the story of how she had received her and what it symbolized to her. Blaze watched the class as they paid attention. He then saw Diamond Tiara trying to get Apple Bloom’s attention. He recalled what the filly was planning to do from the episode and didn’t like it. A small change shouldn’t affect any future events. 

So, the stallion quietly released the weight modifiers on his clothes. He waited for the right moment. As Diamond Tiara was beginning to pass the note, Blaze moved within a half a second and took the blank piece of paper from her and returned back to where he was. Diamond Tiara was confused where the paper went. She went and retrieve another one from her desk and began to pass it.

“Diamond Tiara! Are you passing a note?” Cheerilee asked.

The filly replied, “No, Miss Cheerilee,” while acting all innocent.

Blaze said, “Then can you explain this one I snagged from you?” He revealed it on his hoof.

“How did you . . .” Diamond Tiara started to say.

“So, you were passing notes. See me after class, Diamond Tiara,” the purple mare said.

Apple Bloom was happy that she did not get caught in that trap. Cheerilee came up to me and whispered, “Thank you for catching her in the act. I don’t know why she likes to pick on the others, especially Apple Bloom.”

Blaze whispered back, “Probably because Apple Bloom doesn’t have a cutie mark. So, Diamond Tiara thinks she’s better than her because of it.” He revealed the note to her and showed it was blank. “I think she was going to make a joke about Apple Bloom not having her cutie mark.”

“Thanks for letting me know. How wereyou able to determine this from just meeting the children for the first time?”

“Back when I was young, I was the one picked on. So I know what to look for.”

“Sorry to hear that.” Cheerilee turned to the class and said, “I think we should now hear about how Swift Blaze got his cutie mark.”

The kids cheered for it, except for Diamond Tiara as she didn’t like the stallion getting her in trouble. He got up and stood in front of the class. 

“Well then, let me start by saying I didn’t get my cutie mark until much later. Probably the oldest than anyone else has ever gotten there. There’s a reason for that. I’m not actually a pony.” Blaze released his jutsu and returned to his human body. “I’m the human that came to Equestira just over a week ago.”

Most of the kids gasped at his human body. The few that didn’t just smiled. “Back on my world, no human ever receives these cutie cutie marks.”

“Then how do they know what their special talent is?” Twist said.

He replied, “We go to school to learn the basics of life, like how you are. Then we went to higher education to learn skills that we like to do or to do for a job we wanted to have. Some didn’t have a choice in what job they wanted if they wanted to survive.”

“That sounds awful,” a filly in the back of the classroom said.

“It was. I won’t go into details about the lifestyle there. Now, back onto topic, exactly how can a human get cutie mark? Do any of you know a pony name Twilight Sparkle?” Several of them raised their hooves. “Well, when I first arrived, only a select few knew I came here. I had to wait for Princess Celestia to introduce me to your town. But, I wanted to see the town before the event. Plus I didn’t want to be cooped up inside someplace. I just couldn’t go out in my human form. Twilight had used her magic to turn me into a pony and that’s when I found about my cutie mark. When I changed back, it stayed on me in my human form.”

Blaze lifted his sleeve and pointed to it.

“What does that symbol mean?” Silver Spoon asked.

“The symbols is called the yin and yang symbol. What it stands for is the belief I have for balance and that can be anything. From sun and moon, good and evil, harmony and chaos, and right and wrong. Everything needs to be in balance, not just the body and mind, but everything in nature and in space. I hold true to this belief ever since I started my martial arts training as a child.”

“You know how to beat up others?” Cheerilee asked.

“That’s not correct. I know how to defend myself and others I care for. I never start the conflicts.”

“Can you show us some of your moves?” Apple Bloom asked.

“It will have to be outside where I have more room to do it, and only if Miss Cheerilee is ok with it.”

“I’d like to see it myself. Alright class, the rest of the lesson will be done outside.”

They all cheered and quickly made their way outside. Cheerilee and Blaze followed them. The kids gathered in a half circle. The human stood the front and the purple mare stayed in the back. 

“Ok, before I can demonstrate some martial art moves, I’m going to have to explain some other things I can do. Back on my world, we didn’t have anything like the magic you have here, humans have no sense of magic. So what I’m about to show it's not a magic spell. I’m a unique human that has other abilities that look like magic when I do them. They allowed me to change into my pony form whenever I want.”

Blaze did the shadow clone jutsu and made another of himself. The colts and fillies all screamed when they saw the other human. Apple Bloom stayed calm as she had already seen it. He realized his demonstration was going to take a while. 

“Please, calm down. This is called a jutsu and uses chakra to activate that resides in my body,” he said.

“That’s forbidden magic! The Great and Powerful Trixie said so!” Snips said.

“This isn’t magic, I can’t use magic. I use chakra and hand signs to do jutsu,” Blaze’s clone said in a little angry tone.

“You don’t need to be mean to the colt. He has only seen magic before. So, this is all new to him,” the original human said.

The clone replied, “But, Trixie was the one that had us get locked up in jail because we showed her up.”

“True, but Princess Celesita did pardon us. Plus we did have fun teaching her a lesson.”

The class was giggling as Blaze was arguing with himself. “Wait, what were we going to do?” his clone asked.

“I can’t remember, do any of you children know?” The original asked them.

Apple Bloom replied, “You were going to show some of your fancy martial arts moves.”

“That’s right, shall we begin, me?”

“Let's.”

They walked away from the children a little bit for some more room. Both humans went into a fight stance. When each moved in for the attack, each Blaze stayed slow so they could see all the hits and blocks. The humans only did this for a few minutes and then stopped in their tracks. The original Blaze released his clone and turned to the kids.

“Did you enjoy the show?” he asked.

They cheered and clapped their hooves together.

“Are there other jutsu you can do?” A colt asked. 

“There are. If I had to guess the number I have learned so far, I would say at least a hundred and they can be used for different situations. One thing I noticed you did not have here is some playground equipment for when you go on recess. Let this be a gift to you Miss Cheerilee and for your students.”

Blaze headed to the back of the school and found an some empty space. The ponies followed and stayed behind him. Thinking about what he wants to create, it will require a lot of chakra. Just not the big amount that his house needed. He was doing lots of different hand signs. Then, shouted, “Multi Element Style! Playground Creation Jutsu!”

The ground shook a bit as the human pulled in several elements at once. Wood style came first and made a border of where everything was going to go. It then formed a jungle gym and playground fort. The last was the structure for a short climbing wall. Earth style came next and created a slide attached to the fort first. The slide part showed up as a polished and smooth stone. Blaze then made very colorful sea-saws out of a durable stone. With the last part, he had sand rise up from the ground in the boxed area.

Once it was done, the human collapsed to one knee as he caught his breath. He quickly got back up and turned around. The kids' faces were showing pure happiness at their new play equipment. 

“Well, are you just going to stand there and look at it or are you going to go and play?” he asked. 

It didn’t even take a second before the fillies and colts ran to the new playground. Cheerilee came up to Blaze as they watched the children having fun.

“That was a very generous gift you gave them. I don’t know how I can repay you,” she said.

“Seeing them happy is all I need. I wanted to show that they don’t have to fear me and they can come to me when there is trouble.”

“I saw what you did at Applejack’s ceremony and that was fun to watch.”

“I’m going to head out and get some lunch. If you need anything, let me know.”

The purple mare nodded and headed to watch the children. The human left and made his way to the cafe. He found a table outside and pulled up a chair that was leaning by the building. He saw Lyra come out and head towards him. 

“Good afternoon, Blaze. You look exhausted,” the Unicorn said.

“I feel like it,” he replied. “Apple Bloom asked me to go to the schoolhouse to talk about my cutie mark and one thing led to another. Soon enough, I was building them a playground behind the school with my jutsu.”

“They must be loving it. You really do have a big heart for us ponies.”

“They were when I left. I just love how peaceful this world is. It’s the complete opposite from my world.”

“Sorry to hear that your world was so awful. Anyway, what will you be having today?”

“I think I will have the fruit salad and grilled veggies. Also three glasses of water.”

“Good choice, I’ll be back with your water.”

Lyra headed inside while Blaze watched other ponies in the town square going about their day. He saw several Pegasus were moving clouds in. He wondered if they were going to make it rain. The human quickly looked around for a certain blue Pegasus to see if she was working. He soon found her plugging a hole with a cloud.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash!” Blaze shouted to her.

The mare looked around to see who called her, She then saw the human waving to her and flew down. “Hi Blaze, what’s up?” she asked.

“Well, you were just up.”

Rainbow started to laugh at the joke. “Oh Blaze, you are a riot. You really know how to tickle my funny bone.”

“You mean this bone?” 

The human tickled at the bone’s location. The Pegasus laughed louder and fell from where she was hovering. He continued to tickle the spot as the mare was kicking about on her back.

“Blaze, please stop it. I need to breath,” Rainbow said while laughing.

He did and allowed her to regain her composure. “Getting back to what I called you, is it going to rain soon?”

“Yea, the weather team scheduled for a thunderstorm for this afternoon. Suppose to be a good one.”

Blaze nevered liked it when they said that about storms. It would usually cause them to become worse. “Well, I better get to my home soon.” The Unicorn came out with his drinks. “Lyra, sorry to do this, but can you make my order to go? I want to get home before the light show starts.”

“Sure thing. I’ll bring the check as well,” the mare said as she headed back inside.

Blaze turned back to the blue mare, “Rainbow, I know you Pegasi control the weather. How do the other ponies know what the weather is going to be?” he asked.

“Each day, the Equestrian Daily post today’s weather forecast for each town.”

“Where do I get a copy?”

“It get’s delivered each morning to every home.”

“By who?”

“A grey Pegasus named Ditzy Hooves.”

Blaze had a feeling it was her. “Ok, guess I should tell her where my house is so I can get a copy.”

All of a sudden, Blaze hear a faint sound from a pony. “Look out below!”

He looked up and see a certain grey pony coming in hot. The human got up and quickly performed a jutsu as he shouted, “Water Style! Dense Cloud Jutsu!” 

He formed a cloud in front of them that was in the path of the gray Pegasus. He finished just before she collided with it. Blaze held onto the cloud as he slid back a bit from the impact. 

Ditzy looked herself over for damage and realize she landed on a cloud. “How did this get here?” she asked.

The human replied, “I formed it to catch you. You're not injured, are you, Ditzy?”

“That’s probably one of the comfiest landings I’ll ever get. Nice job forming the cloud.”

“Thank you, why were you dive-bombing so fast?”

“I had to find you and thank you.”

“Thank me for what?”

“For the playground you made at the schoolhouse. My daughter came home on my lunch break and told me everything. She really loves it.”

“That’s nice. What is your daughter’s name?”

“Her name is Dinky Hooves, but I call her my little muffin.”

Dash was making the expression like she was going to gag. Blaze shot her a stern look and she stopped and flew back to finish getting the storm ready. 

Blaze said, “You might want to head inside soon as the weather Pegasi are making a good storm from the looks of it. Also, could you put me on the list to get the newspaper in the morning? I was going to be out in this storm if I hadn't asked Rainbow about what was going on with all the clouds.”

Ditzy replied, “Sorry about that. You’ll get one in the morning. Where’s your home?”

“It’s the new one just outside of town with the outer walls made of stone on top of the hill.”

“That is a nice house, but I don't recall seeing it there last week.”

“That’s because I built it a few days ago with my jutsu.”

“That's cool. Better finish delivering this mail. Bye Blaze.”

“Bye Ditzy.”

Lyra came out with Blaze’s lunch packaged up. He payed the bill and started to head home. The human saw other ponies were doing the same. Some were even closing the shutters on their windows. Blaze thought if they were doing that, he’d better pick up the pace so he wouldn’t get struck by lightning.

He made it home as it started to rain. The human went inside and sat at the table to eat his lunch while the grilled veggies were still warm. Once the meal was done and the dishes were cleaned, he looked around the house. Blaze wondered what he should do while stuck indoors and not expecting any company. He figured this would be a good time to do some maintenance on his weapons from the human world.

The human faced an empty wall. On the other side of the house, there were the stairs that lead to the second floor. He placed his hand on the wall that released an illusion barrier jutsu. It revealed a door that went down to the basement. 

Down there, Blaze used his jutsu to create an opening in a stone block that was in the corner. Inside were all the weapons hanging on stone hooks. The human sent out several ki energy balls and had them float to give off light for the room, the one space he forgot to run electricity and lighting for.

Some time later, Blaze heard his front door burst open. He quickly teleported upstairs to see who the intruder was. Laying on the floor entrance was Ditzy Hooves. The human ran to close the door first as the wind and rain was gushing through. He then went to her to check if she was alright. She was breathing, but looked exhausted. 

“Ditzy, what were you doing out in this storm?” he asked.

“Storm grew out control because of another that rolled in from the Everfree Forest,” Ditzy said while out of breath.

“You braved the storm to tell me that?”

“No, I came to ask you to help us. No pony has seen a storm like this. I’m worried about my little muffin being stuck at the schoolhouse.”

“I’ll see what I can do. You stay here and rest. I’ll be back shortly.”

“You’re going out in this weather!?”

“No, I’m teleporting to the school. Be right back.”

Before the mare could object, Blaze teleported out and arrived at the school. He was met with a branch hitting him in the face. The human moved it out of the way and looked to see what was going on. Several of the windows were burst open, letting in the rain and wind. Blaze saw the children and Cheerilee huddled in a corner. He made his way over to them while climbing over the debris.

“Everything is going to be alright!” he shouted. “Stay close to me and I’ll get all of you to safety!” 

Those who heard nodded and helped the other ponies get in close to the human. He teleported the group back to his house and appeared in the entryway.

“Dinky!” Ditzy shouted from the sofa in the living room.

“Mommy!” the little filly said as she ran to Ditzy.

“You’ll be safe here in my house. Cheerilee, there are some towels in the upstairs bathrooms you can get to dry everypony off,” Blaze said.

The purple mare replied, “Thank you for saving us. Where are you going?”

“Back out there to see if I can stop this storm.”

She shouted, “IT’S NOT SAFE! YOU MIGHT GET HURT!”

“I have to see what I can do. The Pegasi can’t stop this so I must try. Stay inside and away from the windows.”

Cheerilee nodded and backed away. Blaze reactivated the illusion barrier on the basement door. He then summoned his samurai sword. The human teleported just outside of his home. He had to hold his footing on the ground as the wind was blowing hard. The clouds were pitch black and lit up with every lightning bolt either staying up in the clouds, or struck the ground. 

Blaze couldn’t believe how similar it felt to the ones that happen in the south central of the United States. The more he thought about it, the more he feared that something was coming. The human looked toward the horizon for the object that he hoped was not there. His hearing was picking up the sound from the stories of survivors. Way deep in the EverFree Forest is where Blaze spotted the weather monster, a tornado.

Guessing on the size, it was an EF3 or bigger. He first made several clones so they could help with rescues and warn the ponies. If the beast wasn’t stopped, it would destroy the town. The Pegasi were having a hard time flying in the wind and were busy saving other ponies. 

Blaze thought, I’m about to charge into a storm with a metal blade and it has a tornado. This is really going to hurt. 

The human flew into the storm to face Mother Nature’s beast. He kept his blade in its scabbard to avoid lightning strikes. He dodged as best as he could to get close enough. Once in place in the sky, Blaze drew the blade and channeled his chakra into it. Lightning was now hitting the blade, but his energy was holding it back from shocking him. 

He thought me might as well use the storm’s energy against it. Each strike was being absorbed into the blade. It caused the metal to glow pure white. His weapon kept on getting brighter and brighter, which he had to put more of his energy to keep blocking it. Blaze held it to his side, ready to release it at the right moment as the tornado was coming closer.

When the time was right, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "LIGHTNING STYLE! LIGHTNING BLADE SLASH JUTSU!" 

He swung the blade at an upward angle, sending all the lightning energy from the storm with his chakra addition at the twister. You could see the slash path as it was pure white. When it made contact with the tornado, they both exploded, releasing all their energy. It sent the human flying back several yards.

The tornado had disappeared, but the dark storm clouds were still shooting lightning. Blaze put his blade back into its scabbard and flew into the clouds. Even with the destroyer of land gone, it could come back. He realized that he had to get rid of the clouds. WIth his chakra running on fumes, he only had one energy source left. It looked like he was going to need to summon it all to clear the skies.

The human started to power up his ki as he flew deeper into the clouds As the energy was rising, he started to emit a red glow around his form. The plus side of it was that it was deflecting the lightning strikes. Blaze was pulling with all his might to get every bit of ki that he had. He went as far as doing the scream they did on DBZ when they went to the max. The red glow continued to expand out as more energy was gathered. Once he felt he had it all, the human released his ki shockwave. It went in every direction and broke up the clouds.

Because he used every last drop, he didn’t have any left to sustain flight. Blaze started to fall. He felt so exhausted, but he need to do one final jutsu if he wanted to save himself. He focused his thoughts and chakra into teleporting to Twilight's home. He closed his eyes as he hoped it would work. In a poof, the human was gone from his freefall in the forest. But, he crashed into the center table at the library. He was still barely conscious as Twilight ran up to him.

"Blaze what are you, OH MY! You're hurt!” Twilight shouted. “Blaze, stay with me! Rainbow go get the Doctor! Rarity, help me get him to the couch!"

The Pegasus bolted out the door. The Unicorns used their magic together and lifted the human off the table rubble. His clothes were torn and singed. He had bruises, cuts and burns over his body.

Rarity said, "What in Celestia’s name was Blaze doing out in that dreadful storm?"

He mumbled out, "Save school . . . children. Stop . . . tornado in . . . EverFree . . . Broke clouds up."

"Hold on Blaze! The Doctor is coming! Stay awake!" Twilight continued to shout. "Rarity, help me get these clothes off of him. Well, what's left of them."

He did his best to stay awake. His adrenaline was wearing out. Soon, the pain became noticeable. The human couldn’t feel the ponies tearing his outer clothing off. All of a sudden, a sharp pain came from his left leg. 

"OWWWWW! MOTHERFUCKING BASTARD!" Blaze shouted on reflex. 

Twilight and Rarity jumped away when he screamed out from what he’s feeling.

"Please, hold on, Blaze. The Doctor will fix you up," the white mare said.

He was holding himself back from screaming out more in pain. The front door burst open and Rainbow Dash came in with the Doctor.

"Where is the pony that's hurt?" The Doctor asked.

"NOT A FUCKING PONY! THE HUMAN ON THE COUCH IS THE ONE WHO’S HURT!" he shouted as another wave of pain hit him.

"Calm down, Blaze. The Doctor didn’t mean anything about it," said Twilight.

The human closed his eyes as the pain was increasing. 

The Doctor pulled out a needle with some liquid already in it and injected it into Blaze’s right shoulder.

"This will put you nighty night so you won't have to feel the pain," he said. “I’ll have you good as new when you wake up.”

The pain was dying off as Blaze lost consciousness.
> Chapter 23: All Aboard!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Swift Blaze started to wake up, he looked around to see where he was. By the decor and annoying beeping coming from a machine, it wasn’t hard to guess that he was back in the hospital. He thought to himself he should get a permanent room here if he keeps on doing this. 

Blaze soon felt a headache was coming on. When he went to rub his head with a hand, he got hit with a hoof. Rubbing the bruise he just gave himself, he didn’t recall changing to his pony form. The door to the room opened and he saw the girls, Spike, several other ponies he knew, and finally the Princesses of the Sun and Moon came in. There was no room left anywhere for a pony to stand.

“Uh, hi everyone,” Blaze said with a confused look.

Twilight replied, “I’m happy to see you are awake.”

“Thanks. So, how long was I out?”

“About thirty-six hours. You were really banged up from the storm.”

Thinking on that and what’s planned, Blaze said, “So, tomorrow is the first of August. I’ll be starting the Royal Guard training.”

The white Unicorn asked, “Now why in Equestria would you even think of going to that now? You’re still injured!”

“I’ve started to teach myself some medical-based jutsu. It will help speed up the healing.”

“Is there anything you will not be able to do with your abilities?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Hmm, mime.”

All the ponies in the room started to laugh. Blaze did a slight chuckle as he felt his ribs were also banged up.

“Glad to see your humor has not been injured,” Princess Celestia said.

“How long do you think it will take you to heal yourself?” Twilight asked.

“Learning this style is harder compared to the others. I have to have a good understanding of what each cell, organ, and bone is capable of handling. From there, knowing what the injuries are.”

“I can answer that,” said The Doctor. “You broke your left, hind leg. It’s fractured in multiple spots. You have a couple broken and bruised ribs. There are several dozen cuts over your body. You also have several burn marks. Where, if I had to guess, is where lightning had struck you. Lastly, you have a mild concussion. A normal pony would be in the hospital for at least a month to heal.”

“Wow, and here I thought it turned out better.”

“So,” said Rainbow Dash. “How quickly do you think you can recover from that stunt?”

“There’s one slight hiccup in me being able to do that.”

“What’s that?” asked Fluttershy.

“I was studying this in my human form. As you can see, I’m somehow back in my pony form. I’m still trying to figure out how that happened.”

“I can answer that one,” said the purple Unicorn. “After the Doctor put you under, he couldn’t properly take care of your injuries. There was no one who knew your anatomy. So I use my magic to change you into a pony, again.”

“So, I will be stuck like this for two days. That won’t be bad.”

“Actually . . .” Twilight said bashfully, “I kinda super charged the spell in haste as I was worried about your health.”

“So how long will I be a pony?”

“Um, two weeks,” the mare said quietly.

Blaze shouted, “TWO WEEKS!”

“I’m sorry! I just wanted the Doctor to save your life,” she said as tears were showing up in her eyes.

“It’s ok, Twilight. I’m sorry for shouting. The amount I would be in this form just surprised me.”

“So Blaze will be bedridden for that time until he gets his human body back and heal himself. Doesn’t seem that bad,” said the blue Pegasus.

“That won’t be necessary,” said Princess Luna. “My sister and I came to thank you for saving the town and its citizens. Plus we wanted to make sure you will be well enough to attend the training. We’ve gathered these recruits and don’t want to delay it while you are injured.”

“Just like when you’ve crash landed onto our world,” said Princess Celestia. “We’re going to use our magic to heal you. It would be unfair for the instructor to deal with an injured pony.”

“Gee, thanks. I would hate for him to think I took on a storm so I can skip training.”

“Once you are out of the hospital, I have a big party planned for you,” Pinkie Pie said.

“Let me guess what it will be for. Saving the children, stopping a tornado, getting well, and a farewell trip to training.”

The pink mare said while surprised, “HOW DID YOU KNOW!”

“I’m starting to get how you think and that’s scaring me.”

The ponies in the room laughed again. If his ribs hadn't been, the stallion would have joined in the laughter.

The white Alicorn said, “It might be a blessing for the time you’ll be in the training. You were going to be a pony the entire time.”

Blaze asked, “How long is the training?”

“Two weeks.”

“Guess now I’m forced to stay in pony form. It’ll be an experience for sure. Living like a pony all that time.”

“It won’t be that bad. You already have done some time when you first showed up,” Applejack said.

“True, plus I won’t scare any of the other trainees right off the bat. At least I can still access the ki and chakra. The more complex Jutsus are going to be the problem though,” he said as he held up his fore hooves.

“Was there any more questions you wanted to ask?” Princess Luna.

“Just one more. Why are there so many ponies in this room?” the stallion asked when he looked at them.

“The children and I wanted to thank you for rescuing us from the storm,” Cheerilee said as the children around her nodded their heads.

“The rest of us want to thank you for stopping that out of control storm before it did any damage to Ponyville,” Mayor Mare said. The others nodded for the reason.

“You’re all welcome. I just felt what was right to do given the situation. I want to use these abilities for good and to protect the ones I care for. Thank you all for visiting,” Blaze said.

The ponies started to leave the room. Soon only the closest friends were left, the girls, Spike, and the Princesses. 

“I can see in your eyes, Blaze, you have one more question,” Princess Celestia said.

“You’re correct. I would like to know where that EF3 tornado came from. I know the weather Pegasi would not have scheduled a storm if the Everfree Forest had one coming in.”

“EF3? Why did you call the tornado that?” the purple Unicorn asked.

“Back on my world, we have tornadoes too, but we can't control the weather like you can,” said the stallion. “A scientist developed a scale to measure the intensity of the tornado and called it, the Fujita scale. It has been since upgraded based upon better data collected from them. It is now called the Enhanced Fujita scale, or EF scale. It goes from EF0, which does minimal damage, to EF5, a tornado that will wipe a town off the map and leave nothing but destruction and death.”

Spike said, “It’s still amazing you humans can do so much without magic.”

“Back to the question, where did that one come from?”

The princess of the sun replied, “As you know, that forest is still unknown to us. No pony has gone to figure out why it is like that. I’ve sent a patrol to keep an eye on the area for anything out of the ordinary.”

“So, did any other pony get hurt from the storm?

“Just a few got scrapes and bruises. Nothing like what you received,” said Twilight. “I heard of reports of you also doing some rescuing in town during the storm. Were they shadow clones? During some of the rescues, they all suddenly disappeared at the same time. No ponies were hurt though.”

“Might have been when I used the last of my chakra to teleport to you Twilight. I actually forgot about them till this moment. Guess I really pushed myself to the limit this time.”

“Please don’t do something that dangerous again. I hate to see you in pain,” Fluttershy said.

“If I don’t do this, other ponies will get hurt. I can take the hits and survive from the training I put myself through. I promise that I’ll be more careful.”

The yellow Pegasus smiled and nuzzled the stallion. All the ponies, except the Princesses, left. They channeled their magic into their horns.

Princess Luna said, “During the healing, you’ll be put back to sleep so you won’t fidget while we heal you.”

“That’s fine. I’ll work on some things in my head,” the stallion replied. He closed his eyes as he drifted off

Inside his mind, Blaze was back in my human form looking over a grassy landscape. Now that he was going to be a pony during the training, he thought doing some practicing with that body would be good. He made some clones and they transformed into pony form and started to spar. He looked through the jutsu list to see what might be useful at some point.

After an hour of training, a clone started to scream in excitement. “I did it! I did it!”

The other all ran to the clone in question. “What did you do?” the human asked.

“I found out how we can do hand sign jutsu in pony form!”

“Release yourself so we can see the memory.”

The clone did and the others recalled what happened. Blaze couldn’t believe he hadn't thought of it sooner. What happened was the clone had his fore hooves together, bottoms touching each other. He thought of the hand signs in his mind for the jutsu. When that last hand sign was thought of, the jutsu activated. 

Blaze exited his mind from the excitement and initially jumped off the bed. The stallion realized he didn’t have the magic weights on his body as he collided with the ceiling. He landed back in bed and began to rub his head, gently with a hoof this time. The door to the room opened and Twilight came rushing in.

“Blaze, are you alright?” the mare asked. “I heard a scream and a thud.”

“I’m alright. While I was under, I learned something that helps this pony form,” he replied.

“That’s good to hear. What did you learn?”

“I figured how to perform hand sign jutsu in pony form,” the stallion said in a singsong voice.

“How can you when you don’t have hands?”

“I can place my fore hooves together, like so. Then, think of the hand signs for the jutsu I want to perform. Finally, I shout out the jutsu and it goes. Here, let me show you.”

Blaze carefully got out of the bed and stood on his hind hooves. He placed his fore hooves together and shouted, “Lightning Style! Lightning Shock Jutsu!” The stallion’s body shout out weak sparks in random directions.

“That’s amazing, Blaze,” said the purple Unicorn. “I knew you’d find a way to use your jutsu in this form. Seeing as you’re better now, let's get you checked out.”

“Sure. Where are my clothes for my pony form?”

“They’re over on the floor over in that corner. Be careful as the spell is still active. We had to keep them off the furniture since the clothes kept breaking them.”

Blaze put the put on the undershirt, hoof bands, and the top of a pony gi. The enchanted clothing didn’t cause an issue. The two left the room and made our way to the entrance. The stallion waved goodbye to the Doctor and said, “Thanks for the patch-up. I’ll see you in a few weeks when I get injured again.”

“I‘ll have your bed ready then,” The Doctor joked back.

They stepped outside and Blaze saw what was left in the cleanup from the storm. Mostly everything was cleaned up. All that was left was a few branches that were being dragged out of town. The red Earth pony followed the purple Unicorn to who knows where as he just wanted to take it easy, for once. All the ponies were waving to him and thanking him for saving the town. He welcomed them and continue to walk. They arrived at Sugarcube Corner and entered.

The stallion saw Mr. Cake was behind the counter this time. When the yellow Earth pony saw who entered, he said, “Hi there, Blaze! Glad to see you’re doing better. Pinkie came rushing in and told us you woke up. Then she left just as quick. Couldn’t even ask her anything.”

Mrs. Cake walked in from the kitchen and said, “Oh, Blaze! I heard your name and had to see how you were doing. I fainted when I heard you took on that tornado. It's good to see you weren’t as injured as everypony was saying.”

“I was pretty banged up,” he replied. “The Princesses came down and used their magic to speed up the healing process. I’m glad no other pony was hurt.”

The stallion’s stomach let out a growl like a Manticore. He chuckled to himself as he placed a hoof on it to calm it.

“It seems you have a beast to feed. Let’s make you something special for saving us. It's on the house and I insist,” Mrs. Cake said

The pair headed into the kitchen to whip something up. Blaze went and sat by a table. Twilight joined him. 

“So, how many ponies know what I did?” he asked the mare.

“Everypony in Ponyville, the Princesses, and the Royal Guard,” she replied. “But most only know of the name who saved them as they never met you.”

“Hopefully this puts me in good graces with your brother.”

“Oh, I wrote my brother and told him that you saved the town from the storm. I didn’t have details as you were still unconscious. He did reply back, thankful I was not severely hurt and wanted me to let you know that no amount of injuries are going to stop you from attending. He was willing to come down here and drag you to the training grounds.”

Blaze was somewhat happy that the Captain liked he saved her sister and the town. But he still wanted to break the red stallion’s body and spirit in the training sessions. 

“Glad I’m almost back to myself. So, when do I head to Canterlot?”

“You’ll take a train tonight and arrive there just before dawn. They like to start early with the trainees.”

“Thanks for letting me know. I’ll be able to get some sleep and some more mind training in before I arrive.”

After a few minutes of silence, the swinging doors to the kitchen opened up and a cart being pushed came through. On top of it was a six-tier cake. The main cake was red in color and was decorated with small explosions. On top was a mini human of Blaze in a fighting stance against a nasty tornado. The red stallion smiled big as it was brought in.

"I hope you like it, Blaze. We started it yesterday and put the last touches just now. It was going to be revealed at your party this afternoon, but I couldn’t wait to show you," the blue Earth pony said as she walked from behind the cake.

"The cake looks awesome,” he replied. “I definitely like the figurines on top. Thank you for making it. I’m afraid to eat this entire thing and get as hyper as Pinkie."

"I can understand. So, what else can I get you?"

"How about two large cherry shakes and a dozen of my cookies?"

"Coming right up," Mrs. Cake said as she headed back to the kitchen.

"That’s an impressive cake. I wonder how Pinkie was planning on bringing the cake to the party?" Twilight asked.

"I think I’ll surprise them and bring it myself."

"How in Equestria are you going to manage that? You’d need a wagon to carry something that big."

"The same way I got my furniture to my place." 

Blaze put his hooves together, thought of the hand signs, and summoned the saddle bags he purchased with the furniture. He dug through one of them until he found a piece of paper and a pen. The stallion drew a sealing jutsu circle on it.

"What are you doing?" the Unicorn asked as she watched.

"This is another type of jutsu ninjas used on that show when they wanted to securely carry something in secret."

The stallion placed the paper on the cake and stepped back. Twilight joined him by his side. "Now you see it . . ." He activated the jutsu and the cake disappeared, "Now you don't."

"What did you do with the cake?"

"It’s inside the piece of paper that’s laying on the cart."

Twilight picked it up with her magic and looked at it in detail. There was a shadow image of a cake in the middle of the circle. "This is amazing! Can you put anything in this?" the mare asked with a sparkle in her eye, wanting knowledge.

"Only objects can be placed into that seal, no living things. The other thing I have to consider is the weight and size. The bigger those are, the more chakra I have to use."

Twilight teleported a scroll and quill to her and began to write down notes. About ten minutes later, Mrs. Cake came out with the stallion’s order. 

She looked over to him and asked, "Where is the cake, Blaze?"

"A pink blur came in and snatched it," he replied.

"Pinkie must be rushing around to finish getting your party ready."

"That reminds me, she forgot to inform the guest of honour where and when it is."

"It’s at your place in the front yard. Suppose to start at one o'clock."

"Thanks."

The blue mare placed the order down and went back to the kitchen. The red Earth pony began to have his shake and eat some of the drops. Twilight was focused on what she was writing. Blaze saw she wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings. He decided to have some fun with her. 

The stallion transformed into Spike and continue to eat his food. After half an hour later, Twilight finally finished what she was writing. The mare used her magic and sent the items back to the library. She looked across the table saw saw the little dragon. The Unicorn then looked all around the shop for the red pony she was just with.

A worried look went on her face as she asked, "Spike, when did you get here and where did Blaze go?"

Blaze replied in the purple dragon’s voice, "I’ve been here for two hours, waiting for you to finish. Blaze left to go to his party and then the train."

"Why didn’t you tell me!"

"Because you told me not to bother you if you're deep in thought or writing."

Mr. Cake was behind the counter, watching the scene before him. He tried to hold his laughter in.

"I need to run if I want to catch up before he leaves," Twilight gets up and started to run to the door.

"Twilight! Wait! Blaze wanted me to give you a message."

"Make it fast."

The dragon got up and ran to stand in front of her. He struck a 'ta da' pose and said, "SURPRISE!" 
He released the transform jutsu and reappeared in his pony body in the same pose.

"Blaze! What was that for! I thought you actually left before I said goodbye."

Mr. Cake was now laughing out loud.

"Just proving once again you’re not aware of your surroundings. Now let’s go back to the table and finish the treat."

Twilight went back to the table and snagged the other shake that hadn’t been touched. Blaze took the other one he’d been working on. As the stallion took a few sips, the Unicorn across from him never stopped glaring at him while she drank her own. When she grabbed one of the cookies and placed it in her mouth, the glare disappeared and enjoyment took its place.

"Mr. Cake, when did you create this tasty cookie?" the mare asked.

"I didn't. Neither did Cup Cake. Blaze gave us the recipe," he replied.

Twilight turned to the red Earth pony, now with a surprised look. "Where and when did you learn to bake?"

"For where, back on my world. For when, several years ago. Any other questions?" he asked.

"What are these called?"

"Blaze's Chocolate Drops" Mr. Cake replied.

"Back on my world though, they were called Devil Chocolate Drops for how 'devilishly' good they are. The Cakes decided to rename it after me."

"So these are the cookies I’ve been hearing rumours about. I can see why ponies are loving them," Twilight said.

They finished the treats and made their way back to Blaze’s house for the party. As the pair rounded the corner, they heard music playing a nice tune. The stallion soon saw his front yard and the surrounding area was filled with ponies. He wondered if Pinkie had invited the whole town. The two approached the crowd and got shocked when the pink party mare popped up in front of them out of nowhere.

"What do you think, Blaze! Everypony in Ponyville came to your party!" the hyper Earth pony said in her excited tone.

“Never realized there was this many living here,” Blaze replied. “I think I’ll go and mingle with some of the ponies I haven’t met yet.”

“I’ll come and get you when it’s time for an event,” said Pinkie. She then hopped back into the crowd.

“I’ll see you later Blaze,” Twilight said before she too entered the crowd.

As the red stallion made his way through, every few feet, he was thanked by a pony for saving them and their town. Blaze welcomed them and continue to make his way through. 

He soon made it to the DJ pony that is cranking out the tunes. The one and only, Vinyl Scratch, aka DJ Pon-3. She was bobbing her head to the beat as the stallion walked up to her.

“Nice tunes,” Blaze said over the music.

“Thanks, got any requests?” Vinyl Scratch asked.

“I’m sorry to admit it, but I don’t know any of the music groups in this world.”

“OH! You must be the pony that saved the town from that storm! Thanks for doing that. Name’s Vinyl Scratch. My DJ name is DJ Pon-3.”

“Nice to meet you. My name is Swift Blaze, but you can call me Blaze. I just did what anyone would have done if they had my abilities.”

“It was really brave to face that tornado by yourself. I’m amazed you’re moving around so soon. Guess that explains why Pinkie woke me up to come and set up the music ASAP.”

“The Princesses came down and helped heal me. I would’ve been in the hospital for at least a month, if not longer.”

“That’s awesome. Go on and enjoy your party. If you want to see a list of the music and bands, let me know.”

“I’ll do that later. Thanks for the music.”

Blaze headed off and mingled some more with the other ponies. He soon came across a big empty table in a corner. He guessed it was where the cake is supposed to go. The stallion pulled out the sealed paper and placed it on the table. 

The Earth pony headed in another direction to see who he would to run into next. He soon heard his name being called from behind him. Blaze turned around and saw Lyra was making her way through the crowd. Next to her was an off white Earth mare pony. She had a dark blue mane with a pink highlight.

“I told you I have met the human,” the Unicorn said to her friend.

“I have yet to see this human you keep talking about. Are you sure it was him that stopped that storm?” Bon-Bon asked.

“I’m very sure. He was the only one that could’ve stopped something like that. Oh! There he is over there!” the mint green mare said as she pointed to the red stallion.

“I don’t see a human from what you told me about them. All I see is a red Earth pony wearing some black clothing.”

“That’s him in his pony form. Hi Blaze! I have a friend I want you to meet.”

“Hi Lyra. Good to see you again,” he replied. “Thanks for coming to my party.”

Lyra and Bon-Bon finally reached where he was. “Blaze, allow me to introduce to my marefriend, Bon-Bon,” Lyra said.

“Hi Bon-Bon. It’s nice to meet you. How do you like the party?” the stallion asked.

“Pinkie throws the best parties, but this is for the human that saved Ponyville. You are clearly not human,” the light yellow mare said.

“I would show you my human form, but Twilight accidentally over casted a spell on me so the Doctor could fix me up after going toe to toe with a tornado.”

“Rumour is the human can do things no pony has ever done. Can you demonstrate?”

“If I’m going to show you, I might as well put a show on for everypony. Pinkie!”

Out of nowhere, the pink Earth pony popped out from a pony’s mane. She hopped to be right next to the red pony and said, “Blaze, you have a question for me?”

“I do. Where is the stage? I’m in the mood to put a show on for all my friends for accepting me.”

“It’s right in front of your house. What jutsu are you going to show?”

“How about you come and be my assistant?”

“Okie. Dokie. Lokie.”

The two made their way to the stage. Blaze went up to the microphone. Vinyl Scratch saw the red stallion on stage and turned down the music. 

“Hi everyone and thank you for throwing me this party,” said the red Earth pony. “I can't really remember why I'm getting one. Guess that tornado banged my head pretty hard.” He rubbed the back of his head.

“This is for saving the children!” A pony shouted

“You also stopped that tornado from destroying Ponyville!” Another pony shouted.

“This is also for getting your health back, “said Pinkie as she walked up to his side.

“And this is good luck for going off to the Royal Guard training,” said Twilight said as she and the close friends walked onto the stage.

“A lot has happened while I’ve been here,” replied Blaze. “The only way I can show my appreciation is by putting on a show. Would you gals like to help out?”

They all nodded and he went straight to work. The stallion first sent several ki energy balls into the sky and let them explode like fireworks. The ponies enjoyed the spectacle as he prepared for the next feat. The pony summoned some small dark clouds in the sky. They started to shoot lightning between them. The bolts of energy were playing a rhythmic beat which Vinyl Scratch started to play some music that matched it. The ponies were dancing to the rhythm of the music.



Once the music was done. Blaze turned toward the orange mare and asked, “Applejack, can you toss some apples into the air?”

She picked them up from a nearby barrel with her mouth and began to send them into the air. The stallion sent several wind slicing jutsu with his fore hooves at the flying fruit and cut them into slices. The ponies ate the pieces as they fell from the sky.

He looked at the white Unicorn and asked, “Rarity, do you have some gems that I can borrow?” 

The mare used her magic to find ones close by and pulled them out of the ground. She handed them to him. He saw they matched the colors of the other ponies on stage with him. Blaze placed them in front of each of his friends and instructed them to strike a pose. They do so in different styles. He performed a crystal jutsu on the gems and they grew into the poses of the pony that matched the color. 

The crowd ooh and awe at the beautiful creations. Rarity was especially happy seeing a diamond matching her own size. Spike drooled at the site of the creations. Blaze changed them back to their original shapes and sent them flying to the dragon in the front crowd. He caught each one in his mouth.

The red pony turned to the party pony. “Pinkie Pie, don’t you normally have a big cake at your parties?” he asked.

“Oh my! I totally forgot to get it. I’ll be right back,” she said as she was about to leave.

“Hold it, Pinkie! Please stand here next to me for a sec.” The mare does so as she wondered what he has planned. “Now, please describe this cake you had made for this party.” 

She went into detail describing every detail about the cake. A few ponies drooled from hearing the description. “Now Blaze, please let me go and get your cake.”

“Why? The cake is right over on that table,” he replied as he pointed to the empty table. 

The ponies in the crowd looked in that direction, wondering where the cake was. The stallion released the seal jutsu and the cake appeared. They all cheered when they saw it. He turned to where Pinkie was standing and only saw a trail of smoke leading to the cake.

“Rainbow Dash, care for some lightning dodging?” he asked. 

She happily nodded and the pair took to the air. Each one both easily flew around the lightning strikes between the clouds Blaze had made. The crowd was cheering louder at the stunt. They returned to the stage and Rainbow had a big smile on her face.

“Now for my grand finale.” Blaze gathered up the remaining chakra he had as it was to be a big one. Once ready, the Earth pony shouted, “Element Style! Five Element Dragons Jutsu!” 

A Element dragon of Earth, Wind, Fire, Water, and Lightning formed from the nearby source they were made of. The stallion had them fly around and weave between them. At the end, they flew up high into the air and exploded in a bright white light.

The crowd applauded and cheered as he bowed to them. Blaze got off stage and dispersed the clouds he made. The red pony headed over to where Lyra and Bon-Bon watched the show from. They both had big smiles on their faces.

“Ok, you are the human Lyra was talking about. Loved the show by the way,” Bon-Bon said.

“Thank you for the compliment. Continue to enjoy the party. I need to go inside and pack for the training,” said Blaze.

They both wished him luck as the stallion walked into his house. None of the party came into the house so it was nice and quiet. Blaze headed upstairs for a shower to clean himself up. He then went to his room and realize something, the gi he was wearing was the only one for his pony form. So the stallion went back to the bathroom and packed up some toiletries into his saddlebag.

Blaze returned to the party and headed to where his best friends were. The Earth pony overheard they were discussing all the cool things he had done. Fluttershy saw the stallion coming and quickly flew to him. 

“Blaze, that show was amazing. I really liked how you made those dragons not so scary,” Fluttershy said.

“I had fun doing it. I don’t think there’s no one in Ponyville now that doesn’t know me,” he said.

Twilight said, “I would agree with you there.”

The group was near the buffet table. Being parched, the stallion headed over and snagged some of the punch. As he started to drink it, Rainbow shouted out, “Blaze! Don’t drink that!”

“Why’s that?” he asked. “It tastes good.”

“That punch contains alcohol.”

He looked at his cup for a few seconds, then finished drinking it. The ponies gasped at what he just did. “Gals, please, it’s ok. Drinking a little alcohol won’t cause me to act like my father. I realize now that alcohol does not corrupt the drinker, it is the drinker that ruins it for everypony.”

“Glad to see you are doing much better with dealing with your father,” Twilight said.

“Though I still say I hate his guts and hope he’s burning in hell for what he did to me.”

Several were shocked at what the stallion just said. “Blaze, I do understand how you feel. But saying that about one’s parent is uncouth.” Rarity said. “Let me just say, changing the subject, that I really loved those crystal versions of us you formed from those gems. Too bad you didn’t let us keep them.”

“I’ll make you a smaller one when I get back. For now, let’s enjoy the rest of the party before I need to catch the train.”

They all nodded and did just that. They ate the food at the buffet, some of the cake, and danced and mingled. The party started to die down as it grew dark. Ponies headed off to their homes. Blaze helped his friends with the cleanup so his place looked good before he left. The stallion went inside and grabbed his saddlebags. The group walked together to the train station, enjoying the peaceful night Princess Luna brought.

They soon arrived and saw the train was already there. Twilight levitated the train ticket to him and placed it in the Earth pony’s bag. He turned to them and saw tears were forming in their eyes.

“This isn’t goodbye. I’ll be back, I promise,” said Blaze. “This is just to teach me how a pony fights to see if my Taijutsu can help them improve.”

“We know. It’s just you’ve played a big part in our lives in these past weeks and we hate to see our friend go,” Pinkie said.

“I agree, you helped me with my applebucking and taught me to rely on my friends when I need help,” Applejack said.

“You all have also helped me since I arrived,” he said, “That memory of my past and releasing that emotional baggage, I don’t know anypony else who would have gone those lengths to bring me back to myself.”

“Let’s just agree that we helped each other out. These tears are ruining my makeup,” said Rarity.

“Good luck, Blaze. I’m sure my brother won’t try and kill you on the first day,” Twilight said.

The stallion thought, Don’t count on that. He still has the grudge on me because I managed to escape his guards.

“Remember Blaze, you still owe me a rematch on that race. I’ll be training hard while you’re gone so expect a race when you get back,” Rainbow said.

“Looking forward to it.”

“Just don’t get too injured in the training, Blaze. I never like seeing you hurt,” said Fluttershy.

“I’m sure I won't get as beat up there as the storm left me. Plus, I’ve been practicing healing a pony body. No need to worry.”

The yellow mare smiled as the rest did. The stallion got onto the train and found an open seat by the window. He waved to them as the train started to pull out. Blaze thought, Onward to Canterlot, and the pain from Shining’s training. Oh God, I’m going to get close to death.
> Chapter 24: Royal Guard Training, Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The train ride was quiet. The only sound was from the train itself going along its tracks. Swift Blaze got comfortable in his seat to enter is mindspace. Inside there, he could still hear the sounds of the train. He changed the environment from an open grassland to an industrial  warehouse. The stallion made some clones of himself as ponies and they went off practicing jutsu of every kind he had read about.

As the clones practiced, the original started to wonder what the other trainees were going to be like. Blaze couldn’t recall anything from the show that might have said anything about it. He could only recall some stories his friends back on Earth had told him about bootcamp. The others were rumours he heard about. The stallion didn't think it would be that extreme. 

So, he went back to reading some more jutsu styles to be more prepared for any situation. Blaze came across the jutsu that talked about storing chakra in other parts of the body. He thought, That will come in handy. I think I know the perfect place to store it, behind my cutie mark. The stallion performed the jutsu and started to regulate very small amounts every few hours.

After an hour of jutsu training in his head, Blaze had the clones switch to sparring. He also increased the weights by five pounds each. They all noticed the change and worked on toning their muscles to the new weight. The sparring lasted for a couple of hours before he exited his mind.

The stallion looked outside to see where the train was in relation to Canterlot. He was about halfway there. As he still had a few hours left in his travel, he figured he might as well get some normal sleep in. Blaze laid down on the seat and got comfortable as he could get, mainly because of the rocking train going up the mountain. It did not take long before he fell asleep.

The sound of screeching brakes woke the Earth pony. The jerking of the cars caused him to fall out of his seat, onto his head. Blaze looked outside and saw we are still on the mountain path. A train conductor came rushing through the aisle.

“Excuse me. Why did the train stop?” the red stallion asked him.

“There’s been a rock slide that’s blocking the tracks,” he replied. “I’m looking for a Unicorn that can help us clear the path.”

“I think I can help.”

“Thanks, but it’ll take an Earth pony several hours to move all those big rocks.”

“Have you found a Unicorn on the train?”

“Sadly, no. You’re the only passenger. Can’t see any other choice.”

“Trust me. I’m not an average Earth pony.”

Blaze followed the train conductor outside and to the front of the train. When they got there, the red pony saw the size of the rock slide. It was a massive one, as tall of the train and the length of one of the cars. 

“As you can see, it’ll take some time for all of us to clear this all out,” the train conductor said.

Blaze replied, “If you can please stand back, I’ll have this cleared quickly.”

He did and stood next to the steam engine. The red pony went to the front of the rock pile. He raised one hoof and pointed at them. The stallion gathered his ki and sent several energy blasts into it. They exploded and created a dust cloud. Once the ponies could see again, they saw the tracks were now cleared. The train conductor walked the track to look at the work.

“Dammit!” he shouted.

Blaze walked up next to him and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“The rocks managed to bend and break the tracks. I take you don’t have anything to fix this?”

The red pony looked at the damage. Both tracks were bent and twisted from the force of the rocks. It was a longshot, but he believed it might be possible. 

Blaze turned to the conductor and said, “Yeah, this is a big problem. I’ll see what I can do.”

The train conductor backed away. The red stallion stood on his hind hooves and drew some the chakra. The first jutsu was fire. He used it to heat up the metal to glow cherry red. Blaze walked to the stone wall and placed his fore hooves against it. This next jutsu allowed him to create stone armor around each hoof. This was so the Earth pony could rebend the hot metal and straighten it back into place. He reheated the metal a couple times until he was satisfied. Once good, he sprayed the track with a water jutsu to cool it back down. Blaze repeated the process on the other track.

The train conductor just had a surprised and shocked look on his face when the red stallion turned to face him. “I don’t know who you are, but thank you. I don’t think I know of any Unicorn that could’ve done all you did,” he said.

“Glad to be of service. Let’s get this train moving. I have Royal Guard Training I’m starting in the morning,” Blaze said.

“Right away! If you want, you can ride up in the locomotive. I’d like to know more about the pony that do miracles.”

“Sure. That way, you don’t have to think I did some sort of forbidden magic.”

They got into the locomotive and he started the process to get the train moving again. Blaze told his tale of not being an actual pony, how he couldn’t show him his human form, and finished with explaining about the chakra and ki abilities. 

The conductor said his name was Smoky and thanked him again for what he did. They chatted about different things as the train moved along. They soon arrived at the station for Canterlot.

Blaze got off the train with his saddlebags and started the walk to the Castle. Smoky shouted from the train, “Hey Blaze, if you ever need a train ride. Just hop on, free of charge. You saved me by clearing and fixing the track.”

“Thank you for the offer. Glad I could help,” he replied as he waved goodbye to him.

The stallion walked through the dark town. He followed signs that directed to the castle. The sun was still down and all the ponies were still asleep. After some time, the Earth pony made it to the front gate and stood in front of the guards there. 

“Swift Blaze reporting in for Royal Guard Training,” he said with a salute.

“You’re not suppose to be here until ten in the morning. That’s five hours away,” the guard said.

“Then why did Twilight tell me . . .” Blaze began to say as the reason popped into his head. He thought, Dammit Twilight! You didn’t have to help your brother. He was going to get plenty of me during the training. 

After regaining his composure, the red stallion said, “Seeing I have time to spare, I would like an audience with Princess Luna.”

“Follow me.” 

Blaze followed the guard into the castle and into the throne room. 

“Swift Blaze, requesting an audience with you, Princess Luna,” the guard announced.

“He may enter,” she replied. The guard bowed and walked out and closed the door behind him. “So, what do I owe the pleasure of you coming to the night court?”

“Consider this the start of the hazing from Shining Armor for evading his guards. With the help of Twilight Sparkle,” Blaze said. “Nice to see that speaking lesson is helping you.”

“Yes, I’ve been warming up to the other ponies in the castle as they are able to understand what I’m actually saying. So, are you ready for the training?”

“I think I am. Do you think I can find out about the other ponies I’ll be training with?”

“I don’t see the harm. Let me have a guard bring the paperwork.” 

Princess Luna used her magic and a guard came in through the main door.

“You summoned me your highness?” the guard asked.

“Yes, please bring the files for the Royal Guard recruits to the dining room,” the blue Alicron replied.

“Yes, your highness.”

The guard left and closed the doors once again. Princess Luna turned her head to the Earth pony and said, “Blaze, would you like to join Celestia and I for breakfast? She should be up soon so we can move the sun and the moon.”

“I would like that, Luna.”

The Princess of the Night smiled that he remembered to call her that. The Princess of the Day soon came strolling in. She soon realized the other pony was there too. 

“Blaze, I’m surprised to see you here this early. You normally do your morning exercise in your front yard,” she said with a big yawn.

“So, you admitted you’ve still been spying on me each morning. Just be happy Ihaven't thrown anymore apples through that peephole of yours,” Blaze said.

“I only watch your training regimen. The rest of the time I leave you to your privacy,” the white Alicorn said.

“My sister is telling you the truth. We’ve only watched the morning events,” Princess Luna added.

The stallion said, “Et tu, Luna? I’m surprised.”

“What did you say, Blaze?” Princess Celestia asked.

“I paraphrased a line from an old, well-known play on my world. Et tu translates to ‘And you’.”

“If you would excuse us, Blaze, it’s time to raise the sun and lower the moon.” 

He bowed to them and they channeled their magic. The Earth pony went to the window and watch the sceptacle of them controlling the massive objects in the sky. Once they were done, the stallion returned to where he’d been standing.

“Now then, Blaze, shall we go and get some breakfast?” Princess Celestia asked.

He nodded and left with the Princesses to the dining room. The three ponies all sat in the same spots as last time. The waiter gave them green colored menus. Blaze wished he go back to his human form to get some meat. Anyways, the stallion looked over the menu of pony style food. Ninety percent had either flower or hay in it. He figured he should get used to eating it as he would be a pony for the next two weeks. They placed their orders and the waiter returned to the kitchen.

All of a sudden, a big magic window device appeared over the table. Blaze looked at it to see what it was on the display. It was an aerial view of himself. The Earth pony looked in the direction of where the peep hole would be.

“I’m sorry, Blaze. I forgot to deactivate the auto spell I placed. As you can see, this is where we have been watching you,” said Princess Celestia

“I’m not mad, your highness, but I will get even. Water Style! Water Jet Jutsu!” he said.

He aimed the jet for the peep hole and made contact. From the magic screen, water shouted out and hit the white Alicorn. She was getting soaked and the blue Alicorn was laughing her flank off. The red pony stopped the jutsu after a few minutes.

Blaze looked where Princess Celestia was and saw how soaked she was. The mare looked like she just got out of a cold bath. The stallion joined in the laughter with the other Princess. The white mare spat out some water.

“Nice aim, Blaze. You caught me off guard,” she said. “I didn’t expect you to perform your jutsu in your pony form.” The Princess wiped some water off her face with a soaked napkin.

“I learned how to do it yesterday in my mind space. Would you like me to help you dry off?” Blaze asked. “I can create and hold a fireball in my hand.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Princess of the Sun activated her horn. Her body began to glow and the Earth pony felt warmth come from her. The mare deactivated it once she was all dry. “Comes in handy when you control the sun.”

“I can see. You promise not to spy on me anymore?”

“I promise.”

The guard from before came into the dining room carrying some paperwork with his magic. “Here are the documents you requested, Princess Luna,” he said.

“Thank you. You’re dismissed,” said the Princess of the Moon. “Here you go, Blaze.”

“What are these, sister?” the white Alicorn asked.

“Blaze asked if he could look at the list of ponies he’ll be training with. I don’t see the harm as he will meet them in a few hours,” she replied.

“That’s a reasonable request. Blaze, would you mind telling us why you are here so early?”

“Just like I told Luna, I believe this is the start of the hazing from Shining Armor before I start his training,” he said. “I believe Twilight helped him as she told me he likes to start very early with the trainees.”

“Did you get enough sleep so you won’t be tired on your first day?”

“I did some time in my mind and had a few hours of sleep on the train ride. I think I’ll be fine. I did have enough energy to go up against an Ursa Minor and a tornado on different days.”

“True. You have done things that no mere pony can do. I do realize you are not a pony.”

“So, let’s take a look at the ponies I’m going to be training with for the next two weeks.”

Luna gave the stallion the first folder and he read it over. The first pony was a Unicorn stallion. His name was Star Dust. The picture attached showed he had a blue coat and a black mane and tail with yellow at the tips. His eyes were yellow. His cutie mark was a shooting star. According to the file, he got the cutie mark when he was stargazing. He specialized in cosmic related magic. Blaze didn’t think his magic level would be on par with the Princesses. He couldn’t wait to see what he was capable of.

The Earth pony put the file down and the blue Alicorn slid over the next one. It was a Pegasus stallion. His name was Lightning Trails. His picture showed he had a black coat and white mane with several strips of black in a zigzag pattern. It looked similar to Vinyl Scratch’s hair style, from what he could tell. The color of his eyes were a light blue. His cutie mark was two lightning bolts that crossed like an ‘X’. The document said that as a small colt, he had been repeatedly struck by lightning during a nasty. He survived and his cutie mark appeared then. There was also a mention of something having happened during flight school. Though the record was sealed and didn't elaborate any further.

Luna gave him the next one and he started to look it over. It was another Unicorn stallion named Colorful Sparks. The picture showed he had a blue coat and orange mane and tail. His eyes were different colors. The left one was red and the right one was a dark blue. His cutie mark was multicolored sparks in a random pattern. Blaze thought it was an interesting one. The next section informed him why. It said he was specialized in light based illusion magic. Seemed he had been chased by some bullies and got it in a small lightning accident. 

The stallion thought, Another cutie mark by lightning strike? What is so different about the lightning here in Equestria. It went on to say the lightning struck his horn and overloaded it. An illusion clone appeared next to him and the bullies tackled that one. They went through it and ran into a fire hydrant. 

The Princess sent over three with her magic at the same to Blaze. He looked up to her with a confused look.

“These three are a special case and are all siblings,” she said.

The Earth pony spread them all out so he could see all the pictures. He realized now from them as they were Zebras. He picked up the first one and it said his name was Cancer. The first thing he noticed about the Zebra was that he had a horn. His coat color was white with red stripes and the mane and tail were the same pattern. The color of his eyes were a blood red. His cutie mark was a red pocket watch. There was nothing else about how he got it or what his special talent was.

Blaze picked the next one in line and notice similar things to Cancer. The Zebra’s name was Dragon and also had a horn. His looked identical to Cancer except one thing, Dragon had blue stripes and light blue eyes. The stallion thought they might be twins. As he continued to read, it said Dragon’s cutie mark was also identical to Cancer, except that his was blue. Again, nothing about how he got it or his special talent.

The last one surprised him. The Zebra was a mare and her name was Fang. She didn’t have a horn like the others. Her coat was black with white stripes. Her eyes were also blood red like Cancer. It said her cutie mark looked like a fang, but it blended in well with her stripes. Just like the other Zebras, nothing on how she got her cutie mark or what she was good at.

Luna pass over the last one and Blaze take a look at it. It was his file. The stallion looked it over and was surprised what it had. It has his name on it, but there was no picture of him. It also just listed him as a pony, no specific species. Everything else on the paperwork was listed as classified. Blaze looked up to the Princesses,  expecting an explanation.

“As those Zebras have a special case why they are getting Royal Guard Training, you are also a special case,” said Princess Celestia. “The reason why we didn’t add a picture of you or add anything else was because you said you prefer stealth and secrecy. You don’t like to be out in the front lines when it comes to battles.”

“I do remember saying that. Of course, I was talking about how these abilities are normally used. I’ve been here for two weeks now and I’ve used these abilities for the opposite purpose,” he replied. “No secret or stealth type things, I was out on the front lines stopping a weather disaster, took on an Ursa Minor and Timberwolves, and had put on three shows for the ponies in Ponyville where I showed off my abilities.”

“What are you saying, Blaze?” Princess Luna asked.

“What I’m getting at is I’m reconsidering your offer. I still don’t want to be a soldier, but I feel like I do need to be on the front lines. I’m still going to go through the training and come up with some Taijutsu training for your guards. But, I would like to propose that I teach your Captains these moves and they pass them along. For the next part, I’ll need to explain this by telling you some more about my world.”

“Go ahead,” said Princess Celestia.

“Like I said before, the country I lived in had military divisions. One thing they also had in these divisions are specialized groups. They’re kept separate from the others and only report to the higher ups. They are given the near impossible missions and somehow able to carry them out. What I would like to propose is that I get placed in a group like this and only report to you.”

“I see where you are coming from and already prepared something like that. These ponies were originally rejected from becoming Royal Guards,” said the white Alicorn. “I’ve reconsidered them for the sole purpose of putting together a special ops group, as you would have called it, to handle any difficult tasks that might come up.”

“I take it you got this idea from my memories of my world?”

“I did and after recent events of the strange things happening to my kingdom, I realize now my Royal Guard are not prepared to go on the offensive when trouble arises. Depending on how you do in the training will determine if you should be made leader of the group. After the training, the others will find about this and which one will be in charge.”

Princess Luna said, “Whoever we think is the best of the best will get the position.”

“Thank you Princess Celestia and Princess Luna for allowing me to change the agreement we made.”

The waiter strolled in with the food and placed it in front of them. “After breakfast Blaze, I’ll have a guard escort you to the training grounds and meet the other ponies,” said the Princess of the Day.

The three ate breakfast in silence. Once it was over, the red stallion went with a guard to the grounds. They arrived and Blaze saw the other ponies from the files. He walked up to them and waved his hoof and said, “Hello there. I take it You’re here for the Royal Guard Training?”

The first one who spoke said, “Yep. Name is Star Dust.”

The red pony gave him a hoofshake. “My name is Swift Blaze. My friends call me Blaze,” he said.

“My name is Colorful Spark,” he said. 

As Blaze went to shake his hoof, it passed right through an illusion. He put a confused look on his face as he didn’t want to give away that he knew some of their abilities.

“Don’t worry about it. He got us all with that illusion,” said Star Dust.

The next pony that came up was a black Pegasus. He said, “Hello Blaze, my name is Lightning Trails.” 
As the red stallion moved his hoof to shake his, a thought came to his mind as he saw the other ponies  expressions. Lightning Trails must have obtained the ability to control lightning. I take he has shocked some of the others. Two can play that game. Blaze channeled chakra into his hoof to block from being shocked. When their hooves touched, nothing happened. They all looked surprised as nothing happened.

The Earth pony said, “I take it he was going to shock me from your expressions.”

“How did you prevent it?” asked the Pegasus. “I know I made contact with your hoof.”

“You’re not the only pony that can control lightning.”

“And you're just an Earth pony. How can you control it?”

“Like so.” Blaze placed his hooves together and did the hand signs in his head. The stallion’s right hoof had a Chidori glowing from it.

Lightning Trails came over to him and touched it. He quickly jumped back and shouted, “Ouch! That is not normal lightning! What is that?”

“I’ll explain later,” he replied as he pulled the chakra back. “I see we also have Zebras joining us in the training.”

“You know of our species?” Cancer asked.

“Yes, I do. But, you’re the first one I’ve met face to face. Nice to meet you.” Blaze said as he held his hoof out.

The Zebra with red stripes went up and shook it as he said, “My name is Cancer. This is my twin brother, Dragon. Finally, this is our big sister, Fang.” The others waved at me.

Blaze said, “Looks like we have an interesting group.”

All of a sudden, a pony shouted from behind them. “Ten hut you foals!”

They all got in line and stood at attention. The pony that shouted was Captain Shining Armor. He was wearing his purple armor and looked serious.

“For the next two weeks, your useless lives are in my hooves. When I address you, you will add ‘sir’ to the beginning and end of what you reply.DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!” shouted the white Unicorn.

They all said, “SIR, YES, SIR!”

“You will eat when I tell you, sleep when I tell you, and follow all my orders while I train you. DO YOU UNDERSTAND!”

“SIR, YES, SIR!”

“I CAN’T HEAR YOU!”

“SIR, YES, SIR!” They said louder.

“Stow your bags in barrack twenty and meet me on the track field. You have five minutes. MOVE IT!”

The ponies ran to the barracks and each put their bags away. The red Earth pony realized they were sent to the furthest barrack to the track. Blaze didn’t want to deal with getting yelled at for being late. So, he stopped in his track and performed a teleport jutsu to the location. The stallion arrived arrived seconds later. Shining Armor was surprised that he appeared out of nowhere.

The Unicorn walked up to him and said, “Hello Blaze, did you get enough sleep last night?” There was a smirk grin on his face.

I knew it! he thought. The white stallion told his sister a lie to have him come extra early. The red stallion hoped the grudge would end soon, or it would be the death of him.

Blaze calmly replied, “Sir, I got plenty on the train ride, sir.”

“I thought you could not perform any hand sign jutsu while in pony form?”

“Sir, I learned how to yesterday, sir.”

“You are hereby ordered not to use your chakra or ki skills during training. Unless I authorize it. Do you understand?”

“Sir, yes, sir!” the Earth pony replied with a salute.

The others soon arrived with three seconds left. They were out of breath. Several were surprised Blaze got there before them, and not out of breath.

“Get in line you maggots!” Shining Armor ordered. Each one did so very quickly. “Ok, I want twenty laps from each of you. But, for you Swift Blaze, you’ll have to do fourty as you somehow got through my magic barrier. None of you are to use your abilities. When you are done, you can go to the mess hall and get some chow. You have three hours to complete this. If you don't finished by then, you don’t get lunch. BEGIN!”

The trainees started to run the track course. The red pony had to run faster as he had twice as many to do. Cancer was somehow able to keep up with him. 

He asked, “So, Blaze, how did you get here before us? The captain said you got through his magic barrier. That’s why the other Unicorns and I couldn’t just teleport from our barracks.”

“My abilities don’t use magic,” he replied. “Actually I have no magic in me at all. I can explain more during free time tonight.”

The red stallion picked up his speed as the zebra slowed back down and joined the rest of the group. Blaze had to go twice as fast as the others if he wanted to finish in the time limit. After two hours down, the others only had a few laps left. The red pony, still had fifteen left. He calculated in his head how long it would take him to finish. At his current speed, the stallion wouldn’t make it, and he was maxed out. 

Blaze thought, Shining really has a grudge against me. It’s not my fault that his guards never expected to encounter me, a human with my abilities. You know what, screw the weights. I’m hungry. He said the command to his clothes to remove the enhanced weights.

What happened next, if one looked from the sidelines, was as if the stallion had activated some afterburner as he shot forward with flames hoof prints on the track. The Earth pony was struggling on the turns. At his speed, with no banking, he was pulling several G’s while just trying to stay on course. The others had moved to the outer lanes to avoid being hit by the red blur. Blaze finished with the requirement with fifteen minutes to spare. The other trainees had finished five minutes prior. When the Earth pony finished, he collapsed onto the ground. The other ponies came over to check on him.

“Dude! Blaze, what in the world was that!?” Dragon asked.

He replied while catching his breath, “I wasn’t going to finish in time at the speed I was going. So I deactivated the weight enhancement on my clothing.”

“Why are you wearing weighted down clothing?” Star Dust asked.

“Long story.”

“Do you need a hoof to get to the mess hall?” Lightning Trails asked. “I won’t shock you.”

“Nah, I think I’ll just float there.” 

Blaze started to use his ki and floated off the ground.

“HOW IN EQUESTRIA ARE YOU DOING THAT!” Colorful Spark shouted.

“Again, long story. Let's get something to eat before we run out of time.”

The group went to the mess hall and grab some of the prepared food from the buffet. Blaze had loaded his up to the max. When he sat down with the rest of the group, they were again surprised at the amount of food the stallion took. The trainees ate in silence and quickly before Shining Armor could show up. Every crumb that was on their plates was gobbled up and they ran back to the track. The Unicorn Captain was waiting there for them. Each one got back in line as they were once were before.

“Blaze! Step forward.” Shining Armor commanded. The red pony did so. The white Unicorn walked up right to his face. “Care to explain why you disobeyed my order on using magic and abilities.?”

He replied, “Sir, you said to not use them. But nothing about deactivating the magic spell that’s on my clothing, Sir.”

“What spell?”

“Sir, weight enhancement, sir.”

“Explain.”

“Sir, I asked Twilight Sparkle to add a spell to my clothes to make them heavier so I can continue my morning routine. Would you care to see how much weight I have been training with, sir?”

“Take them off and put them on that scale,” he said as the stallion pointed to one in the middle of the track field.

Everyone headed over and Blaze took off his gi and the hoof bands. The scale said their weight was about a pound. The others looked like they didn’t believe him. 

The red stallion said, “Return to previous weight setting.”

The scale platform dropped down hard and re-balanced itself. It now said the articles  weight were a total two hundred and fifty pounds. The trainees dropped their mouths open. Blaze went and put his gear back on and stood back in line. Shining Armor turned and faced the front of them.

“This afternoon, you’re going through the obstacle course until all of you can do it under three minutes, each. The pony who does not complete this by sundown doesn’t get dinner. Oh, and Blaze, increase your total weight to three hundred pounds,” the Captain said, with a smile on the last part. “This guard will keep track of your times and call them out as you cross the line.”

“Sir, yes, sir. Increase total weight by fifty pounds,” the red stallion said. 

The new weight placed a good strain on his body, making it difficult to move. He realized that Shining Armor was trying to get him to fail. Just to gloat that it was not for everyone. It might have been a plus side of punishing Blaze. Well, the Earth pony would play the Captain’s game and beat it. 

The trainees took to the course and went at full speed to get it done as fast as possible. Swift Blaze was dead last due to the increased strain on his body. But, he didn’t stop. The stallion was determined to show the white Unicorn he couldn’t break him.

Fang slowed down when she came up from behind to match the pace as the red pony. The mare asked, “So, what did you do to get on Captain Shining Armor’s hate list?”

He replied, “I stayed here once. I wasn’t aware at the time that I was suppose to have an escort. The guards thought I was an assassin when I did one of my abilities right in front of them. They were shooting their magic at me and I manage to evade two dozen of his guards.”

“You must tell us the tale sometime, Blaze.”

“Maybe tomorrow night. I think tonight we should get to know what each of us can do.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Fang sped back up and continued going through the course. From what his body was telling him, he’d be feeling the burn later on.

After two hours of training, the others averaged close to three and a half minutes. Blaze was at five minutes. He was getting used to the weight. Each run through showed proof. As the red stallion was halfway through the obstacle track, he heard a scream that came from the start/finish line. Lightning Trails was flying all around screaming, 

“I did it! I got under three minutes!” the Pegasus shouted. 

The others nearby congratulated him. Blaze continued working hard on the course to get his time better. The next pony was Cancer getting under the objective. The others finished in order of, Colorful Spark, Dragon, Fang, and Star Dust. The red Earth pony was at three minutes and fifteen seconds.

The other trainees started to cheer Blaze on as he was knocking a few seconds off each time he finished the course. There was an thirty minutes left and the stallion only had a few seconds to go. With twenty minutes left, he broke the three minute mark. They all cheered loudly for doing it. Then realized the red Earth pony didn’t stop.

“Blaze! You did it! You completed the objective! You can stop running!” Star Dust shouted.

He shouted back, “NO! I AM NOT DONE!”

Lightning Trails flew over to me and followed as he continued the course. “What else do you got to prove?” He asked.

“Tell me, what does that say over there for the course record?”

The Pegasus flew to the sign and said what it read, “Record time, two minutes and fifty-three seconds.”

“Now then, who set that record?”

“Captain Shining Armor of the Royal Guard. Are you going to try and beat this Blaze?”

“Eeyup.”

The others trainees heard what the stallion was planning to do. They cheered louder to push him on. At twelve minutes left, the time was two minutes and fifty-five seconds. Blaze was close and he felt he could do it. The stallion pushed harder and harder on his body. The pain was  increasing, but he pushed it to the back of his mind.

With six minutes left, it was two minutes and fifty-three point five seconds. “You’re almost there, Blaze!” Colorful Spark shouted.

The next lap was two minutes and fifty-three point zero five seconds. Last lap. the Earth pony said in his head. He pushed his body past its limit as the stallion wanted to beat the record. The finish line came into view. Blaze made one massive leap across it. He landed on his belly and slid on the dirt to a stop.

“That was awesome, Blaze!” Dragon said as he and Cancer picked him off the ground.

He replied, “Thanks,” while full blown exhausted.

The two Zebras took the red pony over to a bench so he could have a rest and let his hooves from stop aching. As the adrenaline was wearing off, the pain came knocking with a sledhammer all over his body. Blaze worked on it with his chakra to heal where it hurts. The others were about to start ask some questions, when they saw Captain Shining Armor heading to them.

“I take you all were able to get under the three minutes,” the white Unicorn said. He turned to the guard and said, “Soldier, read out the results.”

He cleared his throat and read the results, “First to finish was Lightning Trails, with the time of two minutes and fifty-nine point seven seconds. Next was Cancer with the time of two minutes and fifty-eight point two seconds. Colorful Spark had the time of two minutes and fifty-nine point three seconds. Dragon had the time of two minutes and fifty-eight point four seconds.”

“Hah! I beat you again, Dragon!” Cancer interrupted.

“Ahem, Fang’s time was two minutes and fifty-seven point seven seconds.”

“And I still beat you both, little brothers,” Fang said as she smirked.

“Star Dust had the time of two minutes and fifty-eight point seven seconds.”

“Now then, what time did Swift Blaze finished the course, barely?” Shining Armor asked. “He probably had the worse time.”

“Um, . . .” The guard started to say.

“What was his time on the obstacle course? That’s an order,” the white stallion commanded as was getting mad.

“Swift Blaze’s time on the obstacle course was two minutes and fifty-one point nine seconds, sir.”

The other trainees cheered after hearing that the red stallion broke the record. The Earth pony had a smirk on his face as he looked at the Captain. 
Blaze turned to the other Royal Guard and said, “You can keep Captain Shining Armor’s name on that record wall. I would like to just be on it also. With a note that I had 300lbs of weights on me.”

“Congratulations recruits,” said the white Unicorn. “You’ve survived the first day of training. Go and get your dinner and get plenty of rest. We’ll get to the hard stuff tomorrow.” He then teleported away.

The group headed back to the mess hall. Blaze floated with them as his hooves were still aching. The red pony sat at the table before getting food as he wasn’t hungry, yet. He wanted to finish healing his body enough so it would stop aching. The others went and got their food and joined the Earth stallion at the table.

“You’re not going to eat, Blaze?” Star Dust asked.

He replied, “I’m working on healing the ache and pains my body is telling my brain. The food hunger is being overwhelmed by them.”

“Care to tell us how you can do all these things that no Earth pony has ever done before?” Colorful Spark asked.

The stallion let out a sigh. Then said, “You’re not going to believe it when I tell you. I can’t even show you as my body is under a magic spell. I ‘m not actually a real pony.”

“BULLSHIT!” Dragon shouted.

“Then how would you explain how I can fly without wings or do magic like things without a horn?”

The others started to think what would cause a Earth pony to get unique abilities. They looked him over and couldn’t see a sign of a broken or ingrown horn. No signs the stallion had wings at some point in his life and had lost them. 

Once they realized they couldn’t, Blaze told his tale of being a creature called a human and how he came to Equestria. He covered the chakra and ki energy sources and demonstrated some of them. The red pony finished with the tornado and how he was stuck in pony form for about two weeks.

“Now I remember!” said Colorful Sparks. “I saw you in your human form at that Award Ceremony for the orange Earth mare.”

Blaze asked, “Then how come you didn’t recognize my pony form when I went back on stage to get the citizenship certificate and the gift from Princess Celestia?”

“I was in the back of the crowd.”

“Ok, I don’t recall seeing at other times when I was in Ponyville. Where do you live?”

“I’m on the northeast side of town. I used to work at the magic gag shop over there.”

The stallion smiled as he thought of two ponies that probably went there often. “I take it then you know a pink Earth mare and a light blue Pegasus mare then?” he asked.

“Oh, you mean Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash? I do know them as they shop there a lot. Last time, Dash said he had to pull a prank on a certain somepony for backfiring one of hers.”

“I can tell you they have yet been able to prank me.”

“That was you too! What was the prank she tried to do?”

Blaze told the story at the restaurant of how Dash tried to shoot a spit wad at him. The other ponies laughed after hearing what happened.

“My body is healed enough. So I’m going to get some food. When I get back, how about we go around and tell something about each of us. Seeing how I’ve shared.”

The red stallion got up and got some food. Again he filled the tray up with so much, it looked it would feed six ponies. He returned and started to eat as the pony waited for one of the others to start telling their tales.

----------Star Dust Backstory-----------

Star Dust wiped off his muzzle of food before he said, "I think I’ll start. Before coming here, I lived in Manehattan. I lived there with my little sister. Our parents moved away to Canterlot due to family problems."

"What kind of problems?" Dragon asked.

"I’d rather not discuss it. At the time, I was only a teenage colt and didn’t have my cutie mark. Our parents wouldn’t even send us money to survive so I had to take small jobs here and there to get by."

"Sorry to hear that,” said Blaze. “I kind of know what that’s like when I lived on my planet. I used to live with my Mom as a child, but I had to help out by getting a job to buy food and other things.”

"Thanks. One night, after I put my sister to bed, I stayed up and read a book I checked out from the local library. It was about the stars and how Princess Luna created them several thousand years ago. I loved the night sky each night I could view it. I remember my Dad telling me a tale of how each star up there was for a pony that died in the past thousand years."

The red Earth pony thought, Hmm, that reminds me of something from my childhood. Can't recall exactly what, but I heard something similar in a story.

"From working several odd jobs, I manage to save enough bits to buy a telescope. On the clearest night, I snuck out of the house after my sister was asleep. I went to the park and set the telescope up and in the biggest field there. I was truly amazed at what I saw through it in the vast depths of space. It seemed I was out there for a long time, when it was only twenty minutes."

"That must have been magical to see all the things in space," Colorful Spark said.

"You can say that. I started to get tired so I was about to put my telescope away when I saw something shimmer in the sky. I was seeing a shooting star! I quickly pointed my telescope to it and began to track it. I notice something was off. It was not moving side to side, like how you would normally see it. It was getting bigger. I realized then it was coming straight for me!"

"What happened?" Cancer asked with an anticipation look on his face.

“I’m getting to that. The shooting star flew right over me. I did not know how, but my horn started to use magic and emitted a bright light that covered the field. After a few seconds it faded out. I was amazed at what happened so I tried to see if I can recreate the light. I was able to, but not as intense as before. It looked like a tiny star was floating above my horn. I then noticed my cutie mark appeared. A shooting star with the cosmic tail. I ran home to my little sister and told her the great news. She was happy I got my cutie mark.”

“Such a touching tale,” said Lightning Trails. “It brought a tear to my eye.” He wiped away said tear.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what is your sister name and where is she now?” Blaze asked.

“My sister’s name is Flower Dust. When I received a letter from Princess Celestia that I was finally accepted for Royal Guard training, I got worried for my little sister. I sent a letter to her asking if my sister could stay at the castle while I’m training. A few days later, a Royal Guard showed up at my house and said he was ordered to take me and my sister to the Castle in Canterlot. We were both happy that we quickly packed everything that we had and left Manehattan complete, never wanting to return there again.”

“That’s very kind of the Princess to offer. I can’t wait to see your sister,” Colorful Spark said.

“I told her to stay in the Castle and not to wander Canterlot. I don’t want her running into our parents.”

“They must have done something pretty bad if you never want to see them again,” Cancer said.

“I think I’ll go next,” Lightning Trails said.

----------Lightning Trails Backstory-----------

“I’m from Cloudsdale, The City in the Sky. Such a beautiful place. I lived there all my life and had many friends as a colt. My mom works in the weather factory in the snowflake room. My dad was a Royal Guard that worked the night shift. He was gone sometimes to do missions for Princess Celestia,” the Pegasus said.

“That’s cool that your father was in the Royal Guard,” Colorful Spark said. Everyone else nodded.

“At the time, I just finished basic school and was in Flight School to learn some unique flight techniques we Pegasus can do. We were getting a tour of the weather factory and how all the weather was made in Equestria. I got distracted by how to read the wind patterns in the sky and fell behind the group. I went to look for them and entered a room. I didn’t realize it, but I’d entered the testing room. I wandered around looking for them when the door to the room closed and locked. The lights went out and I heard thunder in the room. Lightning began to strike everywhere. I was struck by several of them and was knocked out.”

“What happened!” Dragon asked in an excited voice.

“I didn’t find out what happened until sometime later, when I woke up in the hospital. For a week, my mom was beside my bed and looked like she hasn’t slept the whole time. When she saw I was awake, she quickly gave me a hug. I don’t know how, but I somehow shocked her, literally. She jumped back quickly after receiving the jolt and assured me everything was going to be fine. She told me that I entered a test for a new kind of lightning that would be safer. I didn’t die, but it was painful. She also told me I'd suffered some after effects. I could harness lightning by absorbing it and dishing it out. She also told me I had my cutie mark. I quickly threw the bed sheets off to take a look and saw two lightning bolts crossing each other.”

“Shocking development,” Blaze said, trying to be funny. The others just rolled their eyes at him.

“I had to practice controlling since I didn’t want to hurt anyone. It was fun having this ability as I could shoot it out and disperse clouds very quickly. Years later, as I was half way through Flight School I received terrible news when I arrived home. My mom was crying on the couch as a Royal Guard Pegasus was standing there. She saw me enter the house and quickly pulled me into a hug. She told me that my dad got injured on his latest mission. I asked what happened. She told me he was on a mission in the Griffin Kingdom and something went wrong. I asked where is dad. She said he’s alive in the Canterlot hospital. But, he was severely injured. He can still fly, but won’t be able to use any of his hooves, ever again. At this point I joined my mom crying as we cried for who knows how long.”

“Sorry to hear that, Lightning Trails,” Cancer said. The others nodded also.

“Thanks. He’s still doing fine, but it was a little hard for him at first to not be able to do anything by himself. When I returned to Flight School after a week of visiting my dad in the hospital and bringing him home, word has spread about what happened. Some ponies said they were sorry for what happened to him. There were some that started to make jokes about him. I was very furious when they talked about him like that. I lost it one day, I sent lightning at that pony making fun at him and put him in the hospital. Before I could be disciplined by the Flight School, I dropped out as I don’t want to be anywhere near those jerk ponies. I made my decision then to join the Royal Guard to be like my dad. I submitted who knows how many applications over the years and get rejected. I learned enough to get a job to help pay the bills and buy food as my mom started to work part time as she was caring for my dad now. It was not till last week when I finally got the acceptance letter. I was excited that I sent off lightning in different directions.”

“So how is your dad doing?” Blaze asked.

“He still has his hooves, if you are wondering. The doctors said they are all healed, but the nerves are not making the connection to allow him to use them. They tried every magic to make them work and nothing so far.”

LIghtning Trails saw the red pony was a deep thought about this. He don’t know why he was interested in this.

“Can I go next?” Colorful Spark asked.

No pony objected so he cleared his throat as he was about to tell his tale.

----------Colorful Spark Backstory-----------

“Where shall I begin? Well, I was born and raised in Ponyville all my life. My years as a colt were not as fun as others. Because one eye color is different from the other, I was picked on by the other ponies,” the Unicorn said.

“As we heard so far, all of us had some trouble when they were young. None of will ever pick on what makes a pony unique to the others,” Dragon said. The others nodded in agreement.

“Thanks. I did make friends with a grey Pegasus filly. She too had a slight problem with one of her eyes, it would wander looking in another direction.”

“I know that mare,” said Blaze. “She’s Ditzy Hooves. That mare is nice to hang out with. Always full of fun and joy. Her filly is also cute too.”

“You know Ditzy? We have more friends in common Blaze than I ever thought. Getting back to my story, Ditzy and I hung out together in the whitetail woods so we were away from the meanies. One day, we were walking through town when we saw the school bullies. They liked to pick on us the most because of our eyes. They spotted us and started to head towards us. We started to run away and they followed, catching up. Ditzy flew off to get help from an adult. I ran all through town with them in tow. I was starting to get tired and stopped by a fire hydrant. They circled around me so I could not escape.”

“What happened next?” Cancer asked.

“As I was keeping an eye on them, I saw a dark cloud being pushed to me. Ditzy was pushing it and the bullies did not notice. When she was over, she gave it a hard kick to have lightning come out. What happened next I did not expect. The lightning hit my horn.”

“Ouch. That’s gotta hurt,” said Blaze, in a strange voice none of the others recognized.

“When it struck the tip, I got a magic overload and sent a bright light over the area. When I could see again. I looked around as saw everypony else was rubbing their eyes to see again. I then noticed to my left was something that looked like me. I decided to stand still like the thing and see what would happen. When they could see again, they thought they were seeing double, they argued for a bit then decided to lunge towards the fake. When they did, they flew right through it and collided with the fire hydrant that it was hiding.”

The ponies listening laughed at that. Colorful Spark joined them.

“Seeing my horn is drawn to lightning, can you, Lightning Trails and Swift Blaze, keep the lightning use under control? Don’t want to get another power boost by accident.”
“Sure thing. I don’t shoot my lightning off by accident, anymore,” the Pegasus replied.

“I have to supply chakra and do things called hand signs to make my lightning appear. I don’t even know how my chakra lightning will affect you the same way,” Blaze said.

“Let's not find out then. Getting back to my tale, so while they were knocked out, Ditzy and I got away. Once we were safe, Ditzy informed me that I got my cutie mark. I looked and saw several sparks of different colors on my flank. I was so excited, my magic with off again and more illusions popped up around us. That is when I discovered my talent was making illusions. I checked out books from the library that were about it and began to study. Ditzy helped me when I went to test to see how real the illusions are.”

The red pony asked, “So, did those bullies bother you and Ditzy again?”

“No, they didn’t. After running to that hydrant, I think they were afraid to run into something else and seriously get into trouble. Here are my thoughts on what I think about others. If somepony is mean to me, or mention something bad about my eyes, I no longer care what happens to them. If they are a kind pony, or says something positive about my eyes, I will be your friend for life.”

“Those are good things to believe in,” said Blaze. “Of course, there are some times when someone acts out in a bad way because they are also hurting on the inside from something. If I can get that pony to change their ways, they will be grateful for it.”

“When did you get so philosophical, Blaze?” Lightning Trails asked.

“Probably has to do with my beliefs about balance and restoring it on different levels,” he replied.

“So who is next to tell us about themselves?” Star Dust asked.

“I guess we’ll go next as we are siblings,” Cancer said.

----------Cancer, Dragon and Fang’s Backstory-----------

“Unlike the rest of you, except for Blaze here, Dragon, Fang, and I was not born within the land of Equestria. Our homeland is called, Zebrawbway. It is a beautiful place like Equestria. The only thing is we don’t have magic so abundant like here. I take you are wondering why my brother and I have horns then. Our mother was a Zebra and our father was a Unicorn. We were the first to ever receive a horn and were shunned because of it. It got so bad, our family left Zebrawbway and enter this land. We moved to a place outside of Dodge City so we don’t scare the ponyfolk. When it came time to go to school, our father used his magic to hide our stripes. The ponies were nice and friendly, but we hated hiding our true selves.” Cancer said.

“Sorry you got ran out of your homeland. Just like the rest of us, we don’t care about how everypony looks. It’s their actions that determine how they are liked,” Lightning Trails said.

“One thing my brother and I did quite often is we challenged each other. I have won most of them.”

“No, I won more than you!” Dragon shouted

“No, I did!”

“No, I did!”

“Hold it!” shouted Fang. “Do I need to put you in your place again?”


“No, big sis.” Dragon and Cancer said at the same time.

“Then stop making everything a challenge.”

“Yes, sister. Back to the story. We raced each other to and from school as twins always conflict with each other. On one day, it was raining when we left the schoolhouse. We ran as fast we did to get home. When we got into our yard, we notice something strange. The rain was no longer falling. It was suspended in mid air,” said Cancer.

“How is that possible?” Colorful Spark asked.

“We did not know at the time, but both our horns were emitting magic. We seemed to have stopped time. We cut our magic off and the rain started to fall again. Cancer and I were surprised at what happened. We then noticed the illusion spell disappear and showed our stripes again. There was something else that also revealed, our cutie mark. We both had a pocket watch, except it match our stripe colors. We began to work on exactly what our cutie mark stands for.” Dragon said.

“So what did you find out?” Blaze asked.

“We were correct that it was something time related,” replied Cancer. “Dragon has the ability to slow time around him making him look like he is going at super speed. I can speed up my own time to make myself go faster. The downside though now is our father’s illusion spell to hide our stripes was no longer working on us. We had to face the fact that when we go back to school the next day, we might get picked on.”

“What happened?” Star Dust asked.

“When we got to the schoolhouse, the other fillies and colts were happy we got our cutie mark, but were surprised we were also hiding the stripes. They all thought it was cool. Cancer and I were filled with joy that they did not think we were strange or freaks. Life became happier since as we could show our true selves freely without being picked on. We still continued having challenges every chance we got.” Dragon said.

----------Fang POV----------

“What about you, Fang. Tell us about yourself. Do you have some interesting talent like the rest of us?” Blaze said as he was across from her

“I would think so. You tell me.” the black Zebra said as she pointed one hoof at him.

Everyone was wondering what was going to happen. The mare focused on her hoof and sent out a blade that stopped mere inches from Blaze’s nose. Several gaspped, except for her brothers because they already knew about this.

“Yea, that’s an interesting skill,” Blaze said as he cleared his throat. “Can you retract it please?”

Fang did and it pulled itself back into her hoof. The pain of it returning was still there as it was when the first time it happened. 

“Would you all like to hear my tale now?” she asked.

They all nodded their heads and paid attention.

“I was a filly when my brothers were born. I too was surprised they had horns. My family love out ruled the tribe’s beliefs. I was sad that I had to leave my friends behind in Zebrawbway. I soon was glad to leave them as I found out later how some turned against my brothers. I too received the illusion spell from my father so I could finish school. Times were a little tough living just outside of Dodge City. I took up being a privateer, somepony who gets hired to retrieve . . . things the client wants. Some of it was dangerous, but my original coat, after the illusion spell wore off, allow me to sneak through the night and blend in,” the mare said.

“Sounds similar to a group of people on my planet. Of course I think they were called something else. Can’t recall what though.” Blaze said as he rubbed a hoof against his head.

Fang glared at the stallion, hoping he doesn’t say the other name. “On one of the jobs, we were spotted by the enemy and had to get out of there quickly. I got stabbed in the hoof by one of them. When we were out of sight, I looked at my injury and saw a blade was still in there. There were no hospitals near by so we setup camp in the forest. The next morning, I did not feel the pain from the blade in my hoof. With the sunlight now, I got a better look at it. I saw that it was not stabbed into me, but came out of me. I thought I did not want that blade there and I started to retract back in. The wound healed up quickly where the blade came out of.”

“What was the object you were sent to retrieve?” Lightning Trails asked.

“Sorry, it’s classified. I cannot talk about any missions that I went on. I later found out that the blade was not tied to just that hoof. I could have it come out of any surface on my body. I began to train with it to understand how I can use it and how quickly I can have it come out. After I got a handle on it, I returned home and found about these two getting theirs. Years later, as we were hanging around the house, we received a letter from Princess Celestia inviting us to be trained in the Royal Guard. We were all shocked at this. Then, filled with joy about what this could bring, we quickly packed our stuff and left the next day.”

--------------End of backstory---------------

“It begs the question though, why she would have only us train together? They normally have several dozen doing it each month.” Star Dust said.

“Well, it’s getting late and I would like to get plenty of rest before Shining Armor has me do something overboard again,” said Blaze.

They all laughed at the thought, knowing it will probably happen. The trainees returned to our barracks and headed off to sleep land.
> Chapter 25: Royal Guard Training, Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, Swift Blaze woke up at his usual time. The stallion didn’t want to disturb the others, so he stayed in bed and went into his mind for some quick training. He started with muscle training as he expected that Shining was going to over push him again. He had one clone spend some time going through medical healing scrolls

After hearing what happened to Lightning Trail’s dad, Blaze thought there might be something in these about advanced nerve repair. He knew it wouldn’t be easy to learn, but he felt he should look into it, if there was a chance. This went on for an hour until a horn went off. It shook the mind space and caused the red pony to exit to see what’s going on.

Captain Shining Armor was standing at the entrance to the barracks. He had a big smile on his face. “Get up you foals! Time for some more training,” he shouted.

The ponies shot out of their beds and stood at the front of them. Blaze was wondering what this Unicorn had planned for them today. Shining Armor walked down the middle of the room as the trainees stood at attention. He looked at each of them as he went by. When he looked at the red Earth pony directly, his smile grew bigger. Blaze instantly thought he was going to be in pain again.

“After breakfast, report to the track for another session of running. You have thirty minutes to get ready and have breakfast.”

He left and the group quickly went and made their way to the mess hall. They grabbed some food and ate in silence and quickly. Once done, the ponies ran to the track and made it with a few minutes to spare. They stood in line and at attention, waiting for their orders. Shining Armor teleported in front of us when the time was up.

“Now then, yesterday when you ran the track, it was to see how you do. You’re going to need to improve your time quite a bit. Everypony’s average time to do one lap was around five minutes. Now, you will run this track until you are under one minute.”

They knew this was going to suck as the Earth pony saw it in their facial expression. Shining Armor then turned toward the red stallion.

“Blaze, you’re to increase your weight enhancement spell to three hundred seventy-five pounds. Have fun. NOW START RUNNING YOU MAGGOTS!”

He thought, I really hate you, Shining Armor. I don’t care if you’re the big bro to Twilight. You give me a chance to fight you, I’ll make sure you’ll feel the pain for the next week!

The red pony said the command and increased the weight. Blaze struggled just to stand. This is much of a strain on the body he didn’t expect to have to deal with. Each hoof felt like they were in concrete shoes covered in lead. 

The other ponies had started to run. They saw how Blaze struggled to get going, but he had determination in his eyes again to beat this challenge. It took the stallion half an hour to do one lap. At this rate, he realized this is going to be a long day.

Three hours later, Colorful Spark, Cancer, Dragon, Star Dust, Fang, and Lightning Trails had got under the one minute mark. The only one that was left was the red pony. His time was down to ten minutes. Shining Armor showed up and informed those who finished  to go and get lunch and then do three hours on the obstacle course. After the other trainees had left, the white Unicorn ran alongside the last pony.

“You having fun here, Swift Blaze? Or should I call you, Slow Blaze?” Shining Armor said. 
The Earth pony didn’t answer him as he was focused on the task.

“What? No back talk like the morning you evaded my guards. I guess you wished you had never done that now, do ya.”

“Sir, permission to speak freely, sir,” Blaze said with an angry tone.

“Sure, why not. There’s nothing you can do anyway to hurt me if you want to stay here.”

“I really did respect what you do here and that you are Twilight’s brother. But that all changed when you turned into a complete motherfucking asshole! I know you were embarrassed that I evaded your guards that morning. Just realize no pony on this goddamn planet ever saw a human in over a thousand years, let alone one that can do these crazy things I can do. You only have me do these ridiculous things harder than the others because you are hoping I would break down and give up. I got some news for you, we humans NEVER GIVE UP! WE PUSH THROUGH THE HARD TIMES. LET ME TELL YOU THE SECRET THAT HAS LED ME TO MY GOAL. MY STRENGTH LIES SOLELY IN MY DETERMINATION!”

Blaze gained a burst of speed and ran faster. Shining Armor couldn’t believe this guy wouldn’t give up. The Unicorn teleported away and left the Earth pony alone with the guard that was keeping track of his time. It took several more hours before the stallion finally got under the one minute mark. 

When he crossed the finished line, the red pony activated his ki flying so he wouldn’t fall face first into the ground. As he floated to the guard, he informed Blaze that he can go have dinner and turn in. The stallion nodded and made his way there. 

He entered the mess hall and saw the others were eating their dinners. They were talking among themselves, but stopped when Blaze entered. He went and got his massive pile of food and joined them. As he was starting to eat, the other ponies were just staring at him. 

Blaze swallowed the food he had eaten and wiped his muzzle before he asked, “Is there something you all want to ask me?”

“Remember when I asked you why you were on Captain Shining Armor’s hate list? You said you would tell us exactly what happened,” Fang replied.

“I do remember saying that. I take it you all are dying to know?”

The trainees all nodded their heads.

“Then let me tell you the tale as I eat as I didn’t have lunch today.”

So, Blaze told them about the morning when he woke up and was led to these training grounds. He told them about the nice soldiers who escorted him and about the sparring matches the pony had with himself. The stallion went on how he used a teleport jutsu and scared the guards outside of the dining room where the Princesses were having breakfast. He went into the details of what happened in the chase all the way to where he performed a ki move called ‘Solar Flare’ to blind them and teleported to the Princesses.

“No wonder Shining Armor has a grudge against you. I would too If I was embarrassed like that in front of the Princesses,” Star Dust said.

“His guards were never trained to deal with something like me and the abilities that I have. He shouldn’t make me suffer for it.” Blaze replied.

“I agree. You should go and tell the Princesses of what he is doing.” Dragon said.

“Then they will think I’m weak and couldn’t cut it. I just need to find a way for him to treat me as an equal and not the enemy.”

“What about challenging him to a match?” Lightning Trails asked.

“What?”

“My dad told me about it when I was young. A recruit can challenge the training officer if he or she believes they are being singled out from the rest of the group. It doesn’t happen often, but that’s there so the pony does have something they can do instead of quitting.”

“Lightning Trails, YOU ARE A GENIUS!” Blaze shouted and started to leave.

“Where are you going?” Fang asked.

“Going back to the barracks to get ready,” he said as he left.

Blaze entered the barracks and headed to his bed. He made two clones to help him out. The first clone will go into the mind space and train. The second clone will go into their mind space and focus on healing the body. Blaze will watch over them to make sure no one will disturb them. When the others finally came to the barracks, they all did a double take at what they were seeing.

“Um, is the fatigue from today finally getting to me, or do I see three Swift Blaze?” Cancer asked the others.

Lightning Trails replied, “I see the same thing you are seeing.”

Blaze spoke up and said, “I can explain why you see three of me. Come on in and I shall tell you about this jutsu.”

They entered and came to the foot of his bed. Blaze told them about his shadow clone and what this had allowed him to do since I came to this world. He could tell they were amazed at something new they had never seen before.

“So, you’re getting some healing done, while another of you is training on something, and you’re here to keep an eye on them,” Star Dust said.

“That is pretty much what it sums up to. I’m going to tell you right now. Don’t try to enter my mind. There are some sort of barriers in place, not of my own doing, to protect the knowledge I have. I don’t want any of you getting trapped in them.”

The Unicorns nodded to him. The other trainees headed to their own beds for some sleep. The only pony that was left awake was the one of Blaze that was watching over the others of himself.

The next morning, just before Shining Armor would enter, Blaze woke up the other two of his clones and released the jutsu. He quickly went over what they did and prepared himself for the fight.

Shining will regret what he has done by the end of the match. I won’t hurt him, much.Blaze thought.

The Earth pony saw the Captain come in. He was surprised to see that the red pony was already awake. He blew the horn in his magical grasp to wake the others. “Alright you sleepy heads, you know the drill. See you on the track in thirty minutes,” the Unicorn said and then teleported away.

Blaze left for the mess hall as the others took care of their morning business. He grabbed his normal amount of food he eats and sat at the usual table. The others shortly joined him at the table with their breakfast.

“Are you ready to challenge Shining Armor today, Blaze?” Colorful Spark asked.

He replied, “As ready as I’ll ever be. This is going to be a match for the books.”

“Maybe all the other guards and the Princesses will come and see the match,” Cancer said.

The red pony looked in the direction where the magic pinhole would be, if they were still watching him. “I think they might if they want to see some new jutsu I’ve come up with.” 

“What are you looking at, Blaze?” asked Lightning Trails.

“Oh, thought I heard a fly buzzing around somewhere in that direction.”

“Let's get going before we are late.” Star Dust said.

The group finished their breakfast and arrived at the track with a few minutes to spare. When time was up, Captain Shining Armor teleported in. Before he was going to tell us what to do today, Blaze interrupted him by shouting, “CAPTAIN SHINING ARMOR! I HEREBY CHALLENGE YOU TO A MATCH FOR SINGLING ME OUT DURING TRAINING!”

The Unicorn strolled up and faced him, face to face. “So, you are going to invoke the challenge. What are your conditions for the challenge?” he asked.

“It will be a no holds barred match. Anything can go. I will be allowed to use my chakra and ki and you can use your magic. We can use weapons, but cannot kill the opponent. First to lose consciousness, loses the match. If I win, you will treat all of us fairly like you would normal recruits. If I lose, I shall drop out of the training and leave Ponyville, forever.”

“I accept your terms. Follow me to the battle arena.”

They followed him to another part of the training grounds the trainees haven’t seen before. The ponies entered and stopped at a stairway.

“The rest of you can go up these stairs and watch from the seats around the arena. Blaze, follow me to the arena itself.”

They all complied and followed the instructions. The captain led him to a double door and opened them. A bright light shone through the opening first and then revealed the field. The pair soon heard lots of ponies cheering. They looked around and saw the place was filled with lots of guards. Both spotted Princess Celestia and Princess Luna in the Royal box to watch events from. 

Blaze took a guess they were still watching him. They wanted to see how he was handling the training. He looked over to Shining Armor whose eyes were widened in shock at the massive crowd of guards that filled the seats of the arena.

The Unicorn turned to the Earth pony and said, “Did you have something to do with this?”

“How could I? I have been on the training grounds,” Blaze replied. “There hasn’t been any contact with anyone from the outside. I’ve only chatted with you and the others I am training with.”

“I think this will be good now. When I humiliate you in front of those I command, they’ll know who’s the best.”

“Don’t think having your guards here will help you win.”


“I was going to kick your flank no matter what.”

“Then let’s stop chatting and head to the center of the field.”

The pair made their way and stood in the center. Blaze whispered the command to take the weight enhancement off so he’d be at top speed. Princess Celestia stood up and walked to the balcony just outside of the royal box.

“Good morning everypony! We’re all here to watch the challenge match between Captain Shining Armor and Swift Blaze. They have set the terms among each other and are ready to fight. Let's cheer for both as these are two great stallions,” the white Alicorn said using her Royal Canterlot Voice.

The crowd cheered louder after the speech. Shining Armor and Blaze turned and faced each other and got into a battle stance. Both had a serious look on their faces as they stared at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move.

The red stallion said, “You can still back out and just accept to treat me better like the others.”

The white stallion replied, “You can also back out before being humiliated in front of all these ponies. I have yet to lose a challenge.”

“There’s a first time for everything.”

“Enough chat! Time for battle!” Shining Armor shouted.

The Unicorn charged his horn up quickly and fired a spell at the Earth pony. He had let it hit to see what it would do. It was a barrier spell that surrounded him. Blaze touched it and saw he couldn’t pass through it like the others.

“Too easy. What are you going to do now? That’s my strongest barrier spell. Nothing can break it.” Shining Armor said as he was gloating.

“Guess you did not hear me,” Blaze replied. “I said there’s a first time for everything. Let me show you how easily I can break this barrier of yours.”

Blaze started to charge up his ki. The Captain watched to see what he’d do. The red pony was soon emitting a red glow around his body. The barrier started to buckle as he charged up higher. When the stallion was ready, he released the energy and shattered the force field to nothing. 

Shining Armor was first surprised, then got furious. He fired another spell at Blaze, but he easily dodged it with his new speed. From the Unicorn’s point of view, it looked like the spell shot right through him.

The crowd gasped at what happened and couldn’t understand how it happened. He took a guess there might have been one pony that could have possibly seen what he did. Blazed scanned the crowd quickly looking for his team. He soon spotted them. They all had surprised looks on their faces, except for one, Cancer. His horn was glowing so he suspected he activated his ability to speed himself up. Blaze knew he'd like this next attack.

As Shining Armor was charging up another spell, Blaze moved at full speed to him. Time slowed down as he ran. When the Earth pony was close to the Unicorn, he quickly placed a hoof band on his horn. He then stood next to him a distance away. When time went back to normal for Blaze, Shining Armor thought he disappeared. The red stallion whistled so he would look in his direction.

The Captain turned his head with a confused look. “How did you get over there?”

Blaze replied, “The weight training, remember? Want to know what it feels like? Increase left fore hoof band back to previous weight.”

The Unicorn’s head suddenly took a nosedive and his horn penetrated the ground. The crowd was cheering and Blaze heard some laughter too. Shining Armor pulled his horn out of the ground and shook the hoof band off. He now looked pissed.

“ENOUGH OF THESE GAMES! COME AND FIGHT ME LIKE A STALLION! IF YOU HAVE THE BALLS!” Shining Armor shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Fine then, let’s get serious.”

Both charged at each other and started to throw hooves at each other. Each was blocking the other. Blaze had no trouble with his speed to read the Captain’s movements. The red stallion was amazed how the Unicorn was keeping up with blocking him. Kicks were also exchanged. This lasted for several minutes and neither of them was making headway. Blaze jumped back as this was getting boring. He wanted to change the fighting style.

The Earth pony gathered some chakra energy, thought the hand signs in his head, and shouted, “Fire Style! Rapid Fireball Jutsu!” He shot out several fireballs at Shining Armor. The white stallion activated his horn and had water shooting out and hit the fireballs. They made contact and burst into steam. Blaze decided to play with this and covered the field in a fog. He then summoned his samurai sword to him and started to sneak around the fog.

Shining Armor was getting frustrated with the environment change. “You call this fighting! You are hiding in a fog, afraid to attack!” He cried out.

A soldier would think it’s useless. But a ninja has an advantage with it. Blaze ran by the Captain several times in different directions. Each time, he had his sword touch him in a spot that would be fatal. But it didn’t do any damage as this was the reverse blade sword. He was hitting him with the blunt edge. The Unicorn fired spells in the directions Blaze ran away, but missed. He finally sent an energy wave of heat and that cleared the fog.

“You want to play with swords now? Let me show you what I can do.” Shining Armor pulled four swords off the arena walls with his magic and held them next to them. “Can you dodge all these?”

The white pony swung them at the red pony. He used his blade to deflect and block each swing. Blaze had to pick up his speed as the magic was allowing the Captain to swing them faster, at the same time he was doing this with four blades. The Earth pony was getting pushed back as he was defending himself. The crowd was now cheering for Shining Armor. 

Ugh, they cheer who is winning. I need to change this up before I get diced up. Blaze thought.

He sidestepped and rolled out of the way. The stallion energized his sword with electricity and launched a wave at the Captain. He pulled up a barrier shield to deflect the wave. As he did this, Blaze performed another jutsu and gave himself some stone armor. 

When the white Unicorn swung the blades at the Earth pony again, he let them hit him. The impact caused the blades to get stuck in the armor. Blaze’s sword was still energized, so he sent another wave at his opponent. The Captain was too close to bring up some protection. It made contact and got the jolt pretty good. Shining Armor lost control of the blades as the magical glow around the handles disappeared. The red stallion took his armor off so he could move again at the faster speed.

As the white Unicorn was recovering, Blaze performed an ice jutsu that encased all of his opponent’s hooves to the ground. Shining Armor tried to pull them out, but no such luck.

“Last chance to concede before we go to the next level,” Blaze said.

The Captain replied, “SCREW YOU YOU MOTHERFUCKING FREAK!”

“I really didn’t want to cause you severe pain, as I still respect you, but you leave me no choice.”

The Earth pony quickly backed away as the Unicorn used his magic to free himself. He then fired rapid shots of magic at the red stallion. Blaze dodged them the best he could, but the rapid fire caused several to hit him. Where they made contact, the pony felt a burning sensation that wouldn’t go away. Blaze countered by sending water jet streams at bullet speeds. This rapid fire also made several hits on the white stallion.

Blaze could feel his energy levels were getting low. He knew this would have to end soon if he wanted to stand a chance, so he played a desperate play and launched a ki ball at Shining Armor. The Unicorn brought up a barrier to block, but it just went right through and exploded. The Captain got knocked back several feet. The red pony stumbled toward his opponent as he too was now barely standing. They both looked at each other. Bruises were all over them and were really hurting.

“I will never give up. You can’t make me lose consciousness. You’ll have to kill me,” Shining Armor said.

“Guess I have to pull out the final technique to make you lose,” Blaze replied.

The red stallion stepped back a bit and performed the massive shadow clone jutsu. Hundreds of him now filled the arena. Shining Armor looked around and chuckled.

“So, you plan on beating one pony up with many of you? Only proves what a monster you are.”

“No, I’m not going to beat you up physically. I’m going to do something you would never expect on the battlefield.”

Blaze could tell that the crowd was wondering what he was going to do. Time to show my favorite funny jutsu that Naruto does, with a slight modification. He thought.

“NINJA ART! SEXY LINGERIE TRANSFORMATION JUTSU!” All of the red stallion’s shouted. A big puff of smoke filled the space. When it dissipated, everywhere you look you could see different pony mares wearing lingerie of different styles. All the stallions shot blood out of their noses and fell over due to the overload. Shining Armor too fell from this. Blaze had several clones look like Princess Cadance next to him. He released the transformations and clones so he was the last pony standing, literally.

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna flew down from their box to him.

“Well, that was an unexpected way to end the match. Not only did you knock out Shining Armor, but the rest of the guards that weren’t on duty,” Princess Celestia said.

“Why would you come up with a jutsu like that?” asked Princess Luna. There was a little bit of blood still on her nose.

“I actually didn’t come up with it, originally. The main character did something similar to his superiors as he was a kid. Being human, we wear clothing all the time so his version was of naked women,” replied Blaze, as he was catching his breath while sitting on the ground. “Seeing ponies are mostly the other way, I took a chance that some clothing is used for those special times between lovers.”

“Well, you do have an interesting imagination. You are clearly the winner today so you can go and rest yourself. Shining Armor will honor the agreement between you two,” Princess Celestia said.

“Thank you, your highness. The guards should be waking up soon so I’ll take my leave.”

Blaze went and picked up his loose hoofband and sword. The stallion placed the clothing object back on and sent his weapon back to his basement. He then teleported out of there and reappeared at the barracks.

He entered the washroom to take a look  at his injuries. He had several bruises and cuts over his body. The sliced openings had stopped bleeding and had closed up. The impact marks were starting to blacken up. 

Blaze thought, Man, Shining Armor knows how to dish it out the pain. A normal pony would be knocked out five times over. He knew this would take a while to fully heal, even with the basic medical jutsu knowledge he had. 

The stallion then heard the doors to the barracks open and several ponies walked in. He poked his head out of the washroom and saw his teammates. Several of them had tissues plugging their noses.

“Wow Blaze, you sure took a beating. I’m surprised you’re still standing,” Colorful Spark said.

“What in Equestria was that last move you did?” asked Lightning Trails as he breathed through his mouth. “I’ve never seen something like that in a fight.”

Blaze sat on his bed and replied, “I had to come up with an ace in the hole that would make any stallion fall over and be out for a while. That was the best option as it would not cause major damage.”

“Well, it was super effective. All the stallions, including these ponies, fell over with blood coming out of their noses,” Fang said as she laughed.

“Can you warn us next time before you do that thing again?” asked Cancer. “I fell and rolled over several ponies till I stopped at the bottom of the section we were in.”

“I don’t plan on using that unless I need to evade some ponies.” The red pony replied.

“It was impressive how fast you dodged that second spell,” the red striped zebra said.

“He didn’t dodge it,” said Star Dust. “it went right through him. Never saw anything like that.”

“Right, none of you can see super fast movement.”

“Huh?” The other asked in confusion.

“I’ll explain what happened as I did it,” said Blaze. “You know I have these on to actually continue training and so I don’t run too fast. I had deactivated all 375 lbs so I felt super light. My body could move so fast, that I did that dodge within a blink of an eye.”

“That’s fast!” Dragon said.

“Yea, I would show you my speed. But the pain is now getting to me so I really don’t want to move for a while. It’s going to take a while to heal these wounds.”

“If you want, I can use some healing magic on you to help you out,” Colorful Spark said.

“That would be great. Any help in relieving the pain will be good.”

“Ok Blaze, hold still as I’m a little out of practice.”

The blue Unicorn activated his horn and the same glow formed around the red Earth pony’s body. He started to feel a nice, warm, wave go over him as the pain was lessened. He looked over his body and the injuries had started to disappear. Soon, the pain was gone and his body looked healed.

“Thank you, Colorful Spark. You saved me many hours of trying to do that myself.”

“Anytime, Blaze.” 

A loud rumble was heard in the barracks. They all looked around to where it came from. Then, the ponies turned their eyes to the red one as his stomach went off again. He chuckled a bit and said, “I think my stomach is telling me to get some food.”

They all laughed and the group made their way to the mess hall. Each one grabbed some food and started to eat. As they were, the doors to the mess hall burst open. Standing there was Captain Shining Armor, all healed. He walked over to our table.

“Congratulations, Swift Blaze. Very few have beaten me in a challenge. *Cough* Let alone in that method,” said the white Unicorn captain. “I’ll let you have the rest of the day off to recuperate your strength back. The rest of you, after lunch, I want you to go to the sparring area and pair up. A guard will be there to give you the rules. Also, I would like to have a chat with you, Blaze, after lunch. I’ll be by the track.” He left before we could get a word in.

“Wonder what he wants with you, Blaze?” Star Dust asked.

“Do you think he’s going to use a surprise attack on you?” asked Lightning Trails.

“I don’t think he will do anything like that,” replied Blaze. “I think he would like to know more about these jutsu and ki abilities I have.”

The group finished eating their lunch and parted ways. They went to spar and the red stallion went to the track to see what Shining Armor wanted to talk about. He was hoping the Unicorn wasn’t going to ambush him. Blaze got to the track and didn’t see the Captain anywhere. 

The Earth pony felt this wasn’t good. He focused on hearing what’s going on around him to stay on alert. He heard a twig snap behind him. The stallion quickly spun around and was about to launch a ki ball at what was there. Blaze held it as he saw it was Shining Armor. He was surprised at Blaze’s reaction.

“It’s ok Blaze, I’m not here to fight you. You proved that you are on another level with your skills,” the Unicorn said.

The red stallion pulled the ki back in and lowered his arms. “Sorry about that. Being called to an area and no pony was there, my instincts kicked in to prepare for anything. Good thing I looked before I launched that blast, “ he said.

“Yea, I want to talk about those abilities some more, but I have something else on my mind I need answers to. When you did that last move that knocked me out, mentally, you had several of you turn into Princess Cadance. I checked with Princess Celestia and you have never met her. How were you able to look like her, let alone getting them exact?”

Blaze did a mental facehoof. He knew that was going to bite at him later, which is now. He took a deep breath, then said, “Shining Armor, I think we will finish this conversation with Princess Celestia. She’ll understand why.”

“Alright, but I do want an explanation when we get there.”

The two left the track and made their way to the castle. When they entered the throne room, Princess Celestia was sitting there on the throne and only guard ponies were in the room. The pair walked up to the white Alicorn and bowed. Shining Armor stood up first and Blaze followed.

“Your highness, Swift Blaze said he’ll tell me about Princess Cadance, but only in your presence. Will you honor us with a court session so we can understand how he knows her?”the captain asked.

She looked at the Earth pony and he felt her mind reaching for his. Does this have to do with your knowledge of future events of Equestria, Blaze? She asked with her mind.

He replied the same way, Yes, your highness. I would like to include Captain Shining Armor in knowing the real truth about me.

“Very well Captain. You guards may leave us and close the doors. I wish not to be disturbed.”

“Yes, Princess Celestia,” the guards said. They left and closed the doors. The Alicorn used her magic and sealed the room. She gave the red stallion a nod when it was done.

“Captain Shining Armor, what you are about to hear does not leave this room,” he said. “Only Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and yourself are the only ponies I have told this to. You cannot repeat this to anyone that I have not mentioned. That includes Twilight Sparkle.” He finished with a serious face.

“What could be so secretive that you have only the Princesses knew about before me?” Shining Armor asked.

“I told a partial truth to your sister when I informed her and her friends of how I came to this world. I said I wanted to go to a world that has not seen war and greed of the human kind. The real truth is I chose this world specifically by name.”

“How can a human know about this world when they have not been here for over a thousand years.?”

“Like this.” Blaze summoned his iPad. “Back on my world, we had created things called TV shows. They are made about anything. Don’t freak out about what I am about to show you.” 

He started to play the first episode. The Unicorn’s eyes grew wide to what he was seeing and couldn’t believe it. Once it was over, he sat down and looked like he saw a ghost or something in that nature.

“How’s that possible? I chatted with Twilight about that day and that is exactly what happened. Is this just a show for you and we don’t really exist?”

“Shining, listen to me. This place is real as I have realized when I arrived. I keep this a secret for the exact reason to how you reacted. I don’t know how to explain it either but I have knowledge of future events. I have now found out the episodes are not in chronological order so I really don’t know when they are going to happen until I recognize something from the episode. Before you asked as the Princesses have, I will not show you what is coming as I don’t know when it would be. So, when I say to trust me, believe me in what I say that I know what is going to happen.”

“Swift Blaze does speak the truth as you have seen in that device he has shown you,” Princess Celestia said.

“If what you say is true, then tell me something only Twilight Sparkle and I would know,” said Shining Armor.

“Very well. You have a nickname for your sister. You call her Twily. She has one for you too. She calls you Shiny. Twilight’s foalsitter was Princess Cadance. They did the ladybug song whenever they saw each other.” Blaze performs it in front of them.

“Ok, you have convinced me that you know more than you let on and how you know Princess Cadance. Why did several of your clones change into my marefriend?”

Blaze had a slight panicked look as he was thinking of the best answer. “Umm, she made an appearance on an episode and you two are friendly with each other. That is all I can say,” he said in one breath.

“Ok, can you go over some of those moves you did in the arena? I feel I should know how to block some of those in case you do lose yourself again.”

“I agree. Blaze, each day during training, you shall go over some style of jutsu with Captain Shining Armor so he will have a better understanding of how they work,” Princess Celestia said.

“Of course, your highness. I wish I would never have to experience all that rage ever again,” said the Earth pony. “I had no control over what I was doing. It was the worst feeling.”

Shining Armor and Blaze left the throne room and returned to the training grounds. When they were getting close to the sparring rings, both could see the pairings and them fighting. 

Star Dust was going against Dragon in the first ring to the left. They were throwing hoofs and buck kicks at a good pace and blocking them too. In the next ring was Colorful Spark and Cancer. Colorful Spark was dodging Cancer’s attack with no issue. Blaze then saw Cancer get hit with a roundhouse kick to the chest, sending him out of the ring. In the third ring was Lightning Trails, trying to avoid getting hit by Fang. As the pair got closer, they could hear some shouting from Fang.

“Come on Lightning Trails and FIGHT ME!” Fang shouted.

“I can’t hit mares. It’s wrong,” the Pegasus shouted back.

“STOP USING THAT EXCUSE! NO PONY TAKES ME SERIOUSLY BECAUSE I’M A MARE!”

Blaze was thinking that Fang could use a better sparring opponent. He felt healthy enough to stick to normal hoof fights. Shining Armor walked up to the guard standing there taking notes on the fights. The red stallion headed over to the third ring to have a quick chat.

“How’s it going, Lightning?” he asked.

“SHE IS TRYING TO KILL ME!” Lightning Trails screamed.

Fang replied, “I’m not trying to kill you. If I was, you would be dead in 5 seconds.”

The Earth pony heard a big gulp go down the Pegasus throat after hearing that. 

“Why don’t you hit her?” he asked.

“Because she is a mare and I don’t hit mares,” Lightning Trails said.

“Do you think she’s acting like this because you are treating her like a mare? She’s here to join the Royal Guard. If she doesn’t get this combat training. She would get hurt in a fight. So get your balls out of your flank and hit her!”

Lightning Trails agreed to what Blaze said and faced Fang. He charged at the Zebra to throw a hoof into her face. It didn’t make contact. If you blinked, you would have missed it. Fang easily blocked the hoof, grabbed it, and tossed Lightning Trails over her. She followed through and pulled him straight to the ground, landing on his back as she pinned him.

Blaze walked up to where the stallion’s head was and said, “Of course, she could have prior knowledge before coming here.” All he could hear was a moan coming from him.

“Great, now I got no pony to spar against,” Fang said.

“Hold it for a second. How about I be your spar partner?” Blaze asked.

“You? Are you sure you are up for it? You did go against Captain Shining Armor and barely won.”

“Colorful Spark healed me and I have relaxed this afternoon so far. Yea, I think I’m able to do it. Just need to know the rules.”

“Ok, don’t blame me if you get hurt again. The rules are simple. No use of abilities, must stay within this ring, and no killing your opponent.”

“Those are simple rules. I’ll keep my weighted clothing active to make it a fair fight.”

“Agreed. Now then, will you give me a challenge, or whimper out like Lightning Trails?”

Blaze charged at Fang and tried to do a roundhouse kick to the chest. She dodged it and stepped back. “Does that answer your question?” he asked.

“Oh, this is going to be fun,” Fang said with a big smile.

The ponies got into a fighting stance, waiting for the signal to start. Shining Armor came over to observe and judge the match himself. Lightning Trails was levitated out of the ring and placed on a bench nearby.

Shining Armor looked at both of them and said, “Ready?” Each one nodded without taking the stare off the other. After a few seconds, which seemed minutes, he then said, “FIGHT!”

They two charged at each other and began to throw and dodge hooves from both ends. She was able to block the stallion’s hits and he blocked the mare’s attempts. They danced around the ring in the style of fighting, not ever making hits. 

Blaze focused on the Zebra’s movement, trying to find an opening. He decided to change up tactics. The red pony ducked down and did a leg sweep. He made contact with one of the Zebra’s hind hooves. As the mare was starting to lose balance, the stallion went for a grapple hold. Blaze was successful and got her as they fell down. Fang then managed to lift her opponent, while he was holding her, and reversed the grapple. 

Argh! Didn’t see that coming. Fang really knows her moves. The stallion struggled to get out, but the mare had a good grip.Ok, this looks bad. I’m going to feel this if I don’t break the hold. Blaze thought. 

With all the strength he could muster, the Earth pony pulled on the grapple to break free. His shoulder was crying out in pain until you could hear it popped. Blaze twisted his hoof out and broke free. The stallion was down one hoof as he backed away on his other three hooves.

“Why did you not give up, Blaze?” Fang asked as she was surprised at what the pony did to his body.

He replied, while in pain, “My determination to win drives me to do anything within the rules of engagement.”

Blaze stood on his hind hooves, knowing what he was about to do would cause even more pain. The stallion swung his arm from having it on his side to out as far as he could take it. Another pop was heard as his shoulder went back into its socket. There was a sharp pain in the beginning, but soon subsided a little bit. The red pony saw that Fang didn’t like that sound. 

He rotated it around a bit to make sure it was back in place. Once ready, Blaze went back into a battle stance and waved a fore hoof in front of him. This notified her to come for some more. She acknowledged by charging the Earth pony. The stallion changed tactics and how he was going to fight. 

Blaze managed to land some hits while Fang also got some in. The pair did this for several minutes. Fatigue was starting to get them as both had started to slow down. Each one landed more blows as they blocked less. In one last move, they both gave each other a hard upper hoof. It sent both of them flying out of the ring. Neither got up as they just laid there. Blaze wanted to recover his strength a little bit before he tried to get up again.

Star Dust and Colorful Spark came over and stood over the stallion as he looked up to the sky.

“Blaze, I don’t know what got in your head to get into another fight,” said Colorful Spark.

Star Dust added, “Yeah man, that was crazy. I’ve never seen a pony take two beatings like that in a day.”

“One, Fang needed a sparring partner that could match her. Two, not actually a pony, remember? This is a human thing,” Blaze replied as he breathed heavily.

“Guess I should go and heal you again,” Colorful Spark said.

“No, go and help Fang. I think I can manage this one,” the red stallion replied as he got himself back up.

Over by Fang, the mare was being looked after by her little brothers.

“Damn sis, I’ve never seen you get into a fight and end in a draw,” said Cancer.

“Usually the other pony is on their flank before a crowd could gather. Is he that strong?” Dragon added.

“I imagine he’s stronger,” Fang replied. “Neither of us was using abilities and he sure wasn’t at the top of his game. I was expecting this guard training was going to be boring. He has brought excitement back to me. Now then, how about you help your big sister up?

The Zebra twins did so and got her back onto her hooves. Blaze walked over to them.

“That was the most difficult match I had in a long time. I can’t wait for another round when we can use our abilities. Thank you for sparring against me,” Fang said.

“You're welcome,” Blaze said. “I have to admit, that was difficult for me too. I’ve been so used to using my ki and jutsu, that I now see I need to strengthen the fundamentals some more. I’m looking forward to our rematch.”

“I’m glad to see you’re going to get something out of this training, Blaze. I’m sorry again for being a little harder on you these past few days,” Shining Armor said.

“It’s water under the bridge.” 

His stomach let out a big growl for all the ponies around to hear.

“Dude, when are you never hungry?” asked Dragon.” I’ve never seen a pony eat so much and never get any fat on them.”

“I have a fast metabolism.”

The group headed to the mess hall for dinner. Shining Armor actually joined them that night. Each one discussed what they were thinking in the matches today. The group laughed at all the fun parts that happened. The ponies also critique about them so they knew where they needed to improve on. After dinner and the discussion, the trainees made their way back to the barracks. The others went to sleep and Blaze went into his headspace to learn some more healing jutsu and work more on my basic fighting fundamentals in his pony form.
> Chapter 26: Royal Guard Training, Part 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, Swift Blaze woke up at his normal time after going to bed just around midnight. The stallion headed just outside the barracks he was in. Not knowing what Shining Armor had planned, he worked on his stretch positions, balances, and strength endurance movement. The Earth pony wobbled a little bit on the balancing positions as he had never done them at his current weight level. As he was in the middle of one of them, when Blaze saw the Unicorn Captain walking up to him.

“Good Morning, Shining Armor,” he said.

“Blaze, what are you doing up already? I thought you needed more rest to help heal those injuries from being in two fights,” the white stallion said.

“I did some healing jutsu last night for a couple hours and then went to sleep. I’m normally up at this hour, every day. Can’t explain it.”

“Ok, then how about explaining what you are doing in that strange position? Don’t you get enough pain from the training regiment I put you through?”

“Oh, this? I’ve been falling behind on my morning routine that I normally do since I’ve been here. I decided to do it this morning when I woke up before you came to get us up. What I’m doing now is training my muscles on keeping myself balanced in different ways, so I’m in better control of my movements.”

“I have never seen a pony go through something like this. Might also explain why it was so difficult to defeat you yesterday.”

“Plus the fact I’m wearing weight enhancement clothes equalling three hundred and seventy-five pounds.”

“And You’re Still Able To Do That!”

“Shhh. Keep your voice down. There are ponies sleeping.”

“Not anymore. TIME TO WAKE UP! GET CLEANED UP AND HEAD TO THE MESS HALL FOR BREAKFAST! YOU HAVE 30 MINUTES!” Shining Armor shouted to the barracks.

Blaze heard the other inside stumble around. He left and made his way to the mess hall. After the Earth pony got his food and sat down, the others came rushing in. They looked startled to see the red stallion there, already eating. They grabbed theirs and joined him at the table.

“Blaze, what time did you get up this morning?” Colorful Spark asked.

He replied, “Before dawn. My body started waking itself up around that time ever since I got here. The only time it didn’t is when I was in the hospital.”

“Which time?”

“The second one after going up against a tornado.”

“YOU WENT AGAINST A TORNADO!” The others shouted.

“The storm was out of control and I heard the sound of a tornado making its way over in the EverFree Forest. I was beaten and banged by debris, while lightning was hitting my sword.”

“Why did you bring a sword? That will always draw lightning to you,” said Lightning Trails.

“I used my sword with a jutsu combo to break apart the tornado. Then my ki wave to disperse the clouds, the same wave I used to take down Shining Armor’s barrier. I will tell you more about it tonight. Let’s finish breakfast before we are late.”

The group ate their breakfast quickly and arrived at the field with a minute left. Shining Armor teleported in front of them like usual as the ponies stood at attention.

“Alright recruits, here is the agenda for today. You are to do one hour of track. Followed by two hours of obstacle course. After that, meet me in the sparring ring,” said the Unicorn Captain, before he disappeared.

They started to run together as everyone had close to the same times now. Blaze did a minor increase to the enchanted weights by another ten pounds to the total. The ponies were about thirty minutes into the run when Blaze was caught up in an unforeseen teleportation to another location. 

Blaze had magically appeared from what was a quick flash of pure white magic. As his surroundings came into clear view, he saw the imminent threat of charging into Princess Celestia. He used his fore hooves and lept high off the steps leading up to the throne where she sat. Blaze finished as he back flipped through the air and landed back down on the floor on all hooves.

“Nice reflexes you have there, Blaze,” Princess Celestia said.

“Thank you. Maybe next time, can you maybe please warn me before you do that again?” he asked while he was catching his breath. “I would hate it if I were running faster and collided into you.”

“My apologies, but this is urgent and I wanted to ask you what you know about this?” She asked as the mare pointed out the window.

Blaze walked over and looked outside. He saw some black smoke high in the sky. Thinking about it, he recalled where this fell in the episode lineup.

“I see the black smoke. Where’s it coming from?” The stallion asked while sounding clueless.

“I was wondering if this was in one of those events that you watched?”

“I thought we agreed that future knowledge will be kept with me and I’ll determine IF and WHEN I’ll inform you.”

“I know. Just last time we had such big smoke over the sky, there was a major forest fire several centuries ago. I just wanted to know if it was again.”

“Fine, this will be a freebie. But  only this one time, your highness. Doing this often could bring unforeseen consequences. However, I do recall seeing this in an episode from the show on my world. It was not caused by a forest fire.”

“Whew, that’s a relief. A little bit. So what could cause this much smoke then?”

“A sleeping dragon in a cave on that mountain,” Blaze said as he pointed to it.

“A DRAGON!” Princess Celestia shouted in a panic state. “I need to get the guards to go and get rid of it! It will sleep for a hundred years! We cannot handle all that darkness during that time.”

“HOLD IT!” the Earth pony shouted back. Then, he calmly replied, “You don’t need the guards. I shouldn’t even tell you this. You had Twilight Sparkle and her friends go to the mountain to reason with the dragon and convince him that he cannot sleep there.”


“Thank you, Blaze, for letting me know,” the white Alicorn calmed back down. “I shouldn’t have overreacted to it. Just knowing you know what the future entails is having me all wondering if I’m doing everything correctly.”

“Celestia, you don’t need to worry about this. What I know will probably have changed since my arrival. The future is always changing and it’s based upon what we choose to do at the moment to set it. Go with what your knowledge and experience tells you and let me deal with anything bad I feel I need to step in to stop.”

“You know, you are very wise, Blaze. I’m happy to call you a friend.”

“Thank you, your highness, for accepting me as a friend. Also, I’m not wise, I just watched a little too much TV. Till we meet again.”

The stallion quickly turned and jogged away, using his teleport jutsu to return to his previous destination. When he reappeared where he was, Blaze almost collided with Cancer and Dragon. He jumped over them and came to a stop.

“Why were you in my lane!” he shouted.

“Blaze, you disappeared. You have been gone for fifteen minutes,” Star Dust replied.

“No, I didn’t. I’ve been running with you this whole time. We’ve jogged for the past thirty minutes. Suddenly, there was a flash and I saw Cancer and Dragon standing in my lane.”

“Blaze, you were really gone for a while,” said Colorful Spark.

“Enough joking around. We need to finish running the half hour before Shining Armor sees us standing around.”

“Blaze, it’s only fifteen minutes left,” Lightning Trails said as he pointed to a clock tower.

“Stop pulling my leg with this joke. It’s not funny anymore. Admit you flew up there Lightning and moved the minute hand,” the Earth pony continued to act with being annoyed now.

“This is no joke, Blaze,” Fang said.

“Well, not worth discussing it anymore. Let’s get back to running.”

The red stallion started running and the others soon followed. When the time was up, the group headed over to the obstacle course. As the Earth pony was first going through it, Cancer came up to him.

“Blaze, what do you make out of those dark clouds?” he asked. “We’re not supposed to get any rain today.”

Thinking it over, while he looked at the smoke, the stallion came up with an answer. “I’m not quite sure, but a fog bank is also rolling in too,” he said. He secretly performed a jutsu and had a fog cover the training grounds.

“Now there’s a fog bank rolling in? What is up with this weather?”

“Maybe it’s part of the training. Let’s get back to the obstacle course.”

Cancer nodded and they went back to it. The fog did make it a little tougher as no one could see the same distance any pony was used to. Best guess, they could only see about fifteen feet in front of them. The trainees slowed down a little bit to make sure they don’t make a mistake and fall somewhere. The group finished those two hours and headed over to the sparring area.

Shining Armor was waiting for them as they walked out of the fog bank. He looked at Blaze and the Earth pony could tell the captain wanted a word with him later. The trainees got in a line and stood at attention, waiting for the next orders. They didn’t have to wait long.

“Alright, for the next hour, you’re going to spar again with no abilities. When I call your name in sets, head over to a ring and begin,” said the white unicorn. “Fang, you’ll spar with, . . . Colorful Spark.”

Blaze heard a sigh of relief come from Lightning Trails. He wondered who that pony is going to be paired with.

“Star Dust, you’re going to spar with Cancer this time. Dragon, you’ll have Swift Blaze to spar with. Lastly, Lightning Trails, you’re going to spar against me. I expect to see a better performance from you today compared to yesterday.”

They separated out in the pairs and headed to the rings. As they walked, Blaze had thought about the type of fighting style Dragon was going to use. He didn’t get a good look yesterday when the Zebra spared against Star Dust. Blaze decided to act on the side of caution by starting the spar on the defense to observe him thoughtfully.

“I hope you don’t plan on going too easy on me, Blaze,” said Dragon. “I want to see how I compare to the pony that went hoof to hoof with my big sis and ended up in a draw.”

“I wasn’t planning to,” he replied. “Prepare for the PAIN!”

The red stallion stood in a defensive martial art stance. Dragon went for a boxing stance. Seeing this, Blaze realized he hasn’t done any training against that in his mind space. A smile had formed on his muzzle in anticipation of a good fight.

He charged towards Blaze with a barrage of hoof jabs.  With a wall of hoof jabs headed his way, Blaze reeled back on his hind legs, guarding with his front hoofs against the attack. He looked back and knew Dragon was aiming for a quick finish as he stood only a little less than five feet from the edge of the ring. The red stallion decided to swap it up and went on the offensive. 

Blaze threw several different hits at Dragon from different directions. The striped pony was able to dodge or block them. They kept going at this back and forth on who’s doing the attacking,and they both managed to land some hits. 

The guard watching our match called out saying there was five minutes left. Hearing this, Blaze moved to full offensive and began to throw random hoofs and kicks to throw him off. Dragon was getting close to the edge. The Earth pony switched to grapple move to toss the Zebra out of the ring from behind.

The red stallion grabbed his opponent and pulled him towards himself. As he rolled onto his back, Blaze used his hind legs to launch Dragon out of the ring. The next thing caught him by surprise. 

The Zebra grabbed the Earth pony and reversed what his opponent was going to do to him. Now Blaze was the one about to be tossed out. Thinking quickly, as he was somersaulting forward, the red stallion arched himself backwards quickly to change his momentum. He landed behind Dragon and quickly gave him a kick that sent him just outside the ring.

“Nice reversal there, Dragon. You almost had me,” Blaze said as he was catching his breath.

“You surprised me when you recovered in mid air. I really thought I had you,” Dragon replied as he wiped the dust off him.

“You have some powerful hoof punches. I think you bruised several of my ribs. Maybe even fractured one of them.”

“That happens when you get into fights with your twin about almost anything.”

“Nice job recruits. Go and get some lunch and any medical attention you might need. After one hour lunch period. Back to the ring with the same pairs. This time though, abilities can be used,” Shining Armor said. Then teleported away.

Everyone cheered and moaned at different intervals. They were happy that they can use them, then realize who we were up against. The group went to the mess hall and grabbed lunch. As the ponies were eating, they went around and told how the matches went. 

Dragon and Blaze went first and told what happened. Up next was Star Dust and Cancer. It was pretty much the same match up as yesterday. Dragon won yesterday now that Blaze found out the results. This time, Star Dust won.

“HA! I beat a pony that beat you!” Dragon gloated.

“We’ll see what the results are for this afternoon,” Cancer replied as he gave his brother an angry glare.

Fang and Colorful Spark’s match ended in a draw. Fang couldn’t get a hit in as Colorful Spark was able to dodge them all. From what Blaze read, dealing with those bullies probably helped with being agile now. Fang wasn’t happy about having another draw on her record. 

Last was Lightning Trails up against Shining Armor. He began to tell how he dodged Shining’s attacks and managed to get a few hits on him.

"That’s not how I remember it," A pony said from behind them.

They all turned around and saw the Unicorn Captain was standing there.

"So, what happened then Shining Armor?" Blaze asked.

"Being a Captain of the Royal Guard, I decided to go easy on Lightning Trails as he didn’t have much experience in fighting, like you Blaze,” he replied. “So, I tested out his moves by throwing slow hoofs at him. He was able to dodge them. I picked up the speed until he couldn't. I then tested what strength he has by letting him get a few punches in. They were about average. Ten minutes later, I was getting bored. So, I finished the match by giving him a hard kick to get him out of the ring."

"You were going easy on me?" Lightning Trails asked.

"Yes. If I did full power, you wouldn’t have lasted thirty seconds."

The other ponies started to laugh. Lightning Trails was getting mad with them joking about it. He got up and walked to the door. Before he left, he turned his head to us and said, "We shall see how you fare when I can use my lightning!" He then stormed off.

"Should we be afraid of a lightning energized pony?" Blaze asked.

The others raised their hooves up like they did not know. The red stallion thought, We’ve actually never seen the others ability yet. They have seen some of mine from different times and a little bit of Colorful Spark's illusion ability. Can't wait to see what they can do in a fight.

The others finished lunch quickly. Colorful Spark used his magic to heal Fang, Cancer, Star Dust. Blaze used his jutsu to heal Colorful Spark, Dragon, and himself.

The group returned to the sparing area and saw the Pegasus waiting in the ring. Blaze walked up to him and said, "Hey Lightning, sorry for laughing at ya. We would just be in the mood. How about I heal you before you go against Shining Armor to make it up?"

He nodded and did a quick blow of air out of his nose. With the way he was acting Blaze knew Lightning was still angry. That emotion is going to cause trouble in the match. The red stallion healed him and the Pegasus thanked the Earth pony.

Everyone returned to the rings they fought in previously to face the same opponents. Dragon looked happy that he could show off his ability. Blaze was looking forward to bringing the next level of pain.

"Dragon, before we start, I would like to make you an offer. I’ll only use one element jutsu if you allow me to disable the weight enhancement on my clothes,” said the red pony.

“Whichever way, you’re at a disadvantage. I’ll allow you to do that,” replied Dragon.

“Thank you. Return clothing weight to normal levels.”

“Before you all begin, there’s going to be a slight difference,” said Shining Armor. “For everypony’s safety, a barrier will be activated along the ring. So, the only way to win the match is by submission or knockout. Out of the ring will no longer work.”

The white Unicorn activated his magic and magic barriers rose up around each pair’s sparring ring. It went high in the air so Pegasi wouldn’t be grounded if they wanted to fly. 

Dragon and Blaze looked at each other, trying to figure out what the other had planned before the match began. The red stallion knew that this Zebra could somehow slow down time around him. Making it look he’s actually going fast. He decided to use earth style to have some good defense. 

The ponies in each match stood in their battle stance, waiting for the command to begin the fight. A guard walked up to each ring and stood there to observe. Each one looked at the two ponies in the barrier in front of them. At the same time, they said, "BEGIN!"

(Swift Blaze vs. Dragon)

Swift Blaze activated a jutsu that caused stone like armor to form around his body. It was black as night and shiny. There were several sharp points around his hooves. Once it was done, he returned to a battle stance.

Dragon was trying to figure out which mineral it was. He activated his magic and said, "Clock down!" The space in the ring began to slow down. Outside of it, it would appear the object's affected would be moving slow. The Zebra then charged at the Earth pony.

The red stallion saw the charge coming and was able to move out of the way to dodge it. As Dragon was passing by, Blaze jammed one hoof with the spikes into the side of him. They did not break the skin, but left a good scratch along the body.

The stripped pony yelped in pain and said, "How in Equestria are you still moving? Time in this ring has slowed down to nothing."

"You allowed me to release the weight that kept me slow,” replied Blaze. “All three hundred eighty-five pounds of it. This was the speed I was going when I faced Shining Armor."

"But that armor should have slowed you down a bit too. What’s it made of?"

"Something I’m testing out to see how practical it is. I made a thin layer of black diamond armor. Light, but very strong, in theory."

Dragon dropped his mouth open as he never heard the idea of diamond armor. He shook his head to regain focus and began to think another way to attack this unique Earth pony. An idea came, which he knew was going to be a long shot, if it worked. The Zebra went on the defensive and signaled his opponent to come at him. Swift Blaze obliged and went on the charge. Dragon stepped out of the way and deactivated his magic. 

The red stallion was caught off guard as he was going full speed in slow down time. Back in normal time, unable to stop fast enough, he collided with the barrier. He bounced off and continued to bounce around the ring's barrier, like a pinball off bumpers. Dragon was laughing hard as he stayed low to the ground, avoiding getting hit by the bouncing Swift Blaze.

Even with the armor, the Earth pony was getting a beating by the barrier. He had to do something quickly to stop himself. He shouted, "Earth Style! Stone Wall Jutsu!" 

A wall rose up the length of the ring in the middle of it. When Blaze made contact with the stone wall, it did stop him. He also made a decent impression in it as he fell out.
Dragon was laughing harder now. He was rolling on his back with eyes closed and tears coming out. He failed to notice his opponent was struggling to get back up. 

The red stallion quietly said, "Oh, you think that was funny? Then what do you think about this?" He switched to a louder voice and said, "Earth Style! Hackysack Toss Jutsu!" 

The ground underneath Dragon rose up quickly and sent him into the air. Just as the Zebra was about to hit the ground, Swift Blaze stopped his hoof and the ground underneath his opponent rose up again, sending him back into the air. The Earth pony repeated this for a few minutes and then let Dragon land back on the ground.

The striped pony now felt just as bad as Blaze from running into the barrier so many times. He struggled to get back up the same amount of Blaze did. They both knew this had to end soon.

"How about no more abilities and we finish this with our hooves?" Dragon asked while breathing hard.

“I agree,” Blaze replied, also out of breath.

The red stallion removed his armor jutsu. They both stared at each other, wondering who will get knocked out first. The tension in the air was tense. They were both back to how they were this morning. All of a sudden, the ponies both charged each other and were throwing hooves and kicks. Neither of them were blocking as they were too tired. They were getting bruised up badly as neither of them wanted to give up.

Blaze was the first to change tactics. He spun around and gave Dragon a hard applebuck to the chest. His opponent flew back and hit the barrier. He then fell onto the floor. He didn’t move, but Blaze could see he was still breathing. The barrier came down and the guard declared Swift Blaze the winner.

The Earth pony went to the Zebra and started to heal him. Soon, Dragon regained consciousness.

"What happened?" he asked as he was about to get up.

"Don't move. I’m healing your injuries,” replied Blaze. “I gave you an applebuck to the chest that knocked you out."

`Dragon laid back down to allow the Earth pony to heal him. "You’re an amazing fighter. Wonder what the outcome would have been if I didn’t allow you to take off that weight enhancement?"

"You would be faster, that would be for sure. The downside is you would have to deal with all the elements I can use."

"Yeah, that one element was tough enough. I definitely don't want to tangle with you in a real fight."

Blaze continued to heal Dragon with his jutsu. He knows he can heal himself later.

(Colorful Spark vs. Fang)

At the start of the match in another ring, Colorful Spark went first as he activated his magic. Several of him now appear around the ring. They ran in random patterns to mix up where the real one is. Fang stood in the center, waiting for the right moment. The stallions stopped running and stood at four positions, equally spaced.

"Alright Fang, can you tell which one is the real one?" They all asked at the same time.

"I’m impressed. You even managed to have the illusions cast a shadow too. Luckily this will be easy." Fang said.

She had a blade come out the side of her right fore hoof. She charged the one in front and did a slash attack. That Colorful Spark was an illusion and disappeared. Fang was then hit on the flank from behind. She spun around and saw the other Colorful Sparks were still standing where they were. They began to spread out again evenly at the edge of the barrier.

"You got one of my illusions and have not found me yet. Which one am I?" The Unicorns asked again.

"This is going to be fun. I never had this much fun on one of my missions," Fang replied, as she looked at each one to see if there was something different.

The Zebra looked carefully to see if anything was not the same. As she was looking, she got hit again. This time, it felt like a kick and it hit her ribs. Fang spun around quickly, hoping to cut the real Colorful Spark. She felt her blade hit something. When she finished spinning, Fang looked to see who got it. The mare was even more surprised as they all had a cut on the left fore hoof in the same spot.

"Did you really think that it would be that easy?" The Colorful Sparks asked.

"You know, for a second there, yea. I did think that," Fang replied.

"Silly Zebra. Tricks are . . ." The Colorful Sparks began to say

" . . . for fillies and colts," Fang finished what they were about to say.

The three Colorful Sparks began to walk in a circle around the Zebra. They picked up speed as they did so. Fang stood in a defensive stance as she pulled the blade back into her. The mare felt a hit on her right side. In quick reaction, she had her blade popped out where she was hit. Another mark showed up on the Unicorns.

The Zebra realized she needed to go on the offensive instead of waiting for the real one to reveal himself. She charged at one and took another illusion out. The other two again spaced out so they were the opposite position of each other. Fang returned to the center of the circle. The mare waited to see what Colorful Spark will do this time.

"You have found another illusion. Congratulations. Guess I should get a little more serious," said the Unicorns. Both stuck out their right fore hoof and a metal blade appeared attached to the hoof by a mechanism.

Fang replied, "Really? Another illusion? That fake blade does not scare me," she said with a chuckle.

"Not every illusion is smoke and mirrors."

The blue stallions started to run around in random patterns. Fang did her best to keep an eye on both of them. It wasn’t enough when she felt two hits on her back legs at different angles. The Zebra couldn’t believe that both were able to land a strike without her noticing their approach. Fang then realized something as an idea had popped into her head. Her eyes grew wide with excitement. The mare closed her eyes as she no longer wanted to trust what she was seeing.

"I can see into your trick now, Colorful Spark. I’m truly impressed how you have managed to control your magic and make sure that the illusions were so perfect. Even when I got two hits on you with my blade. I now know the real truth," said Fang. 

The Zebra opened her eyes and quickly made her move and slashed at both of them in a blink of an eye. She watched them disappear like the other illusions. 

"When you revealed that blade, I finally realized you can make yourself invisible."

"Awe, crud. I was hoping you wouldn’t have gotten it so quickly,” replied the stallion. “But now, you’ll have to figure out where I am in this ring."

"That’s just it, I don't need my eyes in order to find you. I’m going to use my other senses to do it. You shouldn’t have eaten that three bean burrito for lunch."

Fang closed her eyes and began to focus on her other senses. The sound to hear movement. The smell to detect his scent. The feel of her coat as air movements have passed over it inside a barrier. She took it all in to find where the real Colorful Spark was hiding. After a few minutes the mare found her prey.

The Zebra dashed over to where he was and threw a hoof punch to confirm. It made contact with something. Colorful Spark dropped the illusion after he collided with the barrier.

"You’ve actually found me. You’re the first to ever find me when I was invisible. Your skills and abilities are really impressive,” said Colorful Spark. ‘I yield the match to you as I know I cannot contend to face you and hope to win. You have more experience with that blade than I shall ever get. Plus the fact I don't like to spill the blood of a friend.”

The barrier came down and the guard announced that Fang won.

"I too an glad that I don't have to injure a friend anymore," the mare replied. "Let's go and get these cuts patched up before we lose any more blood."

The Unicorn nodded and they headed over to the medic building that was on the training grounds.

(Cancer vs. Star Dust)

At the start in a third ring, Cancer went up first. He activated his magic and said, “Clock Up!” He could now move faster as he chose. The Zebra was determined to beat Star Dust so his brother would stop gloating. He quickly charged at his opponent, knowing he cannot stop it.

Star Dust was getting hit from all sides. He knew it was Cancer going at super speed, but he couldn’t track something of a blur in his own vision. Even though the sun was out, the Unicorn needed the star's help to track his opponent. He used his magic to make a connection to the star's above and requested their help. They obliged and gave him a secondary view of the ring.

The speed of images allowed Star Dust to see a pattern in Cancer's movements, so he could now dodge. When Cancer was coming in for another hit, the blue stallion stepped out of the way. He then swung an uppercut that the Zebra couldn’t dodge at the speed he was going. It made contact and sent Cancer flying back to the ring barrier.

The striped stallion shook his head to clear the spinning vision from the hit. "How were you able to do that?” he asked. “I was moving at top speed."

"My cosmic powers allow me to communicate with the stars and they are allowing me to see this match from the sky,” Star Dust replied. “I was able to see your movement pattern and anticipate where you are going to hit."

"Then let's see if you can follow this."

Cancer started to run around again. This time in a different random pattern he thought of. The Zebra did get a few hits in, until Star Dust side stepped and gave him a good jab to his ribs.

"Dang it! I thought I was doing a random pattern? How were you able to see it?" Cancer demanded.

"Nothing is ever random. Everything has a pattern to it." Star Dust replied.

The striped stallion was getting angry as he wanted to win. He went for a full charge straight for Star Dust. His opponent quickly reacted by letting his horn shine bright as a star. Cancer was blinded and soon felt the force of running into something as solid as a wall. He bounced back and landed in the center of the ring.

Still seeing spots, the Zebra looked around to see where the Unicorn went. As his vision was returning, he saw Star Dust over by the edge of the ring.

What the blue stallion was doing was charging up a powerful spell that would help him. The Unicorn started to glow with a silvery, white aura. It kept on getting brighter. His horn then shot a beam up into the sky and made a small moon appear. What happened next surprised Cancer. It looked like there were stars falling from it. The Zebra tried to dodge at top speed, but they altered their course and hit their target, which was him. They exploded on contact, but the size of them wasn’t dangerously big.

After the falling stars were done, Cancer wasn't doing too well, about half of those hit him and exploded. He had black scorch marks over his body. His legs were shaking as they were trying to keep him standing. The Zebra did have a smile on his face because he saw how Star Dust was doing.

The blue stallion was exhausted after casting that powerful spell. He knew it would do this to him, but it was a desperate move to stop Cancer from running around. He could feel he couldn’t cast another spell as he was on the verge of magical exhaustion. He was happy that the spell did do some damage to Cancer.

"Cancer, how about we finish this up with our hooves? No magic, no special ability. It’ll be just you, me, and our hooves," Star Dust said.

"Sounds like a plan. Prepare for a flank beating!"Cancer replied.

"Bring it!"

They both got onto their hind hooves and approached each other. Their fore hooves were up and ready to block. Star Dust went first and threw the first hoof. Cancer blocked it and did the same. They went back and forth dealing hits and blocking them. 

After a long period, both had stopped blocking and were just landing hits. Their movements were also slowing down as exhaustion was taking its hold on them. In one final move, they both went for an uppercut. The two ponies hit each other at the same time, sending both backwards and falling to the ring floor. 

The barrier rose up and the guard walked in. "I will give you both the count of ten to get back up on your hooves,” the guard said out loud. “First one to do so will win the match. After the ten count, no pony is standing, the match will be a loss to both ponies. ONE!"

Cancer and Star Dust both heard him and began to work on standing.

"TWO!"

Cancer was the first roll onto his belly. Star Dust was closely behind.

"THREE!"

They placed their hooves underneath them and began to try and get up.

"FOUR!"

Star Dust was first this time to get his belly off the ground.

"FIVE!"

Both were struggling to get up as their legs were shaking violently.

"SIX!"

Star Dust was getting close to a full stand. Cancer was half way.

"SEVEN!"

As Star Dust was about to lock his legs in, he collapsed back to the ground. Cancer saw he still had a chance.

"EIGHT!"

Cancer pushed harder to get his body to stand as he was getting close to standing.

"NINE!"

Cancer closed his eyes and gave his body one final push.

"TEN!"















. . . 















(Suspenseful, isn't it?)















. . .















"Cancer has won the match!" The guard said.

Cancer opened his eyes and saw he was standing. He didn’t go and jump up and down cheering he won. He fell back to the ground and let his body relax.

(Lightning Trails vs. Shining Armor)

As soon as the guard said those words, Lightning Trails summoned storm clouds within the barrier. They began to flash lightning at quick intervals, but nothing struck the ground. He flew up to the clouds and stayed underneath them. When he was close enough, the lightning began to strike him. He took it with no issue. After each hit, his mane began to glow a bright white. He flew back down once his mane began to shoot off tiny lightning bolts.

He looked to Shining Armor and said, “Do you think you can handle dealing with the power I can manipulate?”

“It’ll be interesting,” the captain replied “I’ve never seen a Pegasus be able to take so many hits from lightning and not show any sign of damage.”

“My body’s unique. I can absorb the energy from lightning as much as I want. Let’s get to fighting. Oh, and don’t hold back. You might get yourself injured if you do.”

“Don’t get too cocky because you can use your abilities now.”

The Pegasus ignored the comment as he raised his right fore hoof. He sent a lightning bolt that struck right in front of Shining Armor. The Captain didn’t flinch, but saw that his opponent was serious. The Unicorn activated his horn and summoned a barrier wall in front of him as well as other locations in the ring. Lightning Trails fired off another bolt to Shining Armor. This time, the white stallion rolled out of the way, just before the energy hit the barrier. When it made contact, the magic shield was destroyed and continued straight to the ring barrier. That one absorbed the bolt.

Shining Armor now knew how powerful that bolt of lightning was as that barrier normally allows him to block normal ones. The Unicorn decided to switch tactics as he doesn’t want to get hit by one. He weaved between the barriers, getting closer to Lightning Trails. 

The black stallion just watched as what the Captain was going to do. When he was close, Shining Armor charged directly to Lightning Trails and swung his right fore hoof at him. Upon contact. Shining Armor was sent flying back as he collided with a barrier wall.

“That was interesting, and stings a good amount too,” Shining Armor said. He shook his head to remove his daze and the fore hoof to get rid of the numbness he was experiencing.

“Yeah, whenever I absorb that much lightning, my body creates a lightning barrier around me so I cannot be touched,” replied Lightning Trails.

Now that Shining Armor was aware of that, he’s only able to do range attacks. The Captain activated his horn and sent several magic bolts at him. Lightning Trails was easily able to dodge them with the boost the lightning was giving him. The Pegasus launched more lightning bolts at the white stallion and watched as he had to get out of the way from being hit. They destroyed all the barrier walls Shining Armor have created within the ring. None of the bolts did any damage to the ring barrier.

The Unicorn used his magic again and had lots of stone pillars rise up from the ground. They got rid of any line of sight attacks as most of the ring filled up with them. 

Lightning Trails laughed and said, “You know this is only delaying your defeat. I thought the Captain of the Royal Guard would be a lot stronger.”

Shining Armor knew he had spells that would kill Lightning Trails, but didn’t want to cross that line as this was supposed to be a friendly sparring match. He wondered what caused Lightning Trails to act like this. The white stallion quickly recalled in his head some of the events earlier today. He then remembered about an old lesson from his day in Magic school. It was about how misusing your power will want you to have more and more. Almost like an addiction and you’ll stop at nothing in your way. Shining Armor now realized the lightning is affecting this Pegasus’s way of thinking. He needed to find a way to finish this match up before somepony could get severely injured. 

Lightning Trails was using his lightning to destroy these pillars that were blocking his path. He knew he could fly over them, but the black stallion enjoyed the destruction this energy was giving him. The Captain was quietly working his way through the pillar forest so he could get a line of sight shot ready. 

The storm clouds above were still shooting off lightning bolts above them. Shining Armor wondered why they haven’t dropped any rain yet. All storm clouds in Equestria normally drop rain in a thunderstorm. An idea came to him and the Unicorn quickly put it into action. He sent some magic up to the clouds that would cause them to rain.

In a few seconds, the first raindrop fell. Others began to join it. Soon, the storm clouds finally started to act like a normal thunderstorm. Shining Armor suddenly heard a scream.

"RAIN! WHY ARE THOSE CLOUDS POURING RAIN! I HATE WATER! AHHHH!"

The white stallion hopped onto the tops of the pillars and headed over to Lightning Trails. He was lying on the ground and lightning bolts were shooting out of him randomly.

"Please make the rain stop! I give! I give! I can't take the rain when I’m charged up!" Lightning Trails screamed.

"Alright," replied Shining Armor.

He used his magic and made the clouds disappear and the barrier went away too. The guard outside announced that Captain Shining Armor was the winner. The Unicorn returned the ring back to the way it was and headed over to the Pegasus.

"Are you going to be fine, Lightning Trails?" He asked.

"Yeah, I tend to avoid *zap sound* storm duty because of this. *zap sound* If I’m charged up, I get *zap sound* shorted out," Lightning Trails said as he was still letting out sparks of electricity now.

"Do you want me to get a medic to help you?"

"No, but I think Blaze will be able to help me."

Shining Armor left to go and get the red stallion.

The other trainees were waiting on the benches. They were discussing about the matches and what happened. Suddenly, they saw the Captain come running up to them.

"Blaze, Lightning Trails is having some kind of backfire of his lightning control ability,” he said. “He asked me to come and get you."

"On my way,” the Earth pony replied.

He bolted off the bench at super speed, just now he realized he’d forgot to reactivate the weight clothing. This allowed him to arrive in a few seconds. When he stopped, a dust cloud engulfed him. 

"Hey *cough* Lightning Trails, what can I do to help?" he asked.

"Need to release my lightning so I can stop sparking out randomly. It hurts when I lose control of it," the black stallion replied.

"Ok, I think I know what to do."

Blaze used his jutsu and had a copper rod come out of the ground. With what he was thinking of doing, it was going to hurt them both. He placed one hoof on the rod and moved his other close to the Pegasus.

The red stallion said, "This might sting a bit."

Lightning Trails nodded and braced himself as best he could. Blaze placed his hoof on his body. The electricity flowed fast out of the black stallion’s body, through the Earth pony, and down the copper rod. Both of their bodies jerked around as the energy flowed out. 

Soon, the others showed up. They stayed back so they didn't get hit by any of the lightning that wasn’t going into the ground. After a few minutes, the lightning that was built up in Lightning Trails finally left. Blaze lifted both hooves off where they were and had them fall back down to the ground. The others came up with worried looks.

"Blaze! Are you and Lightning going to be alright?" Dragon asked.

The red stallion looked over to Lightning Trails and saw he was knocked out and smiling. "Yeah, he’s going to be fine. *cough up some smoke* I’m going to go nighty night too," he said before he collapsed to the ground, going off to dreamland.
> Chapter 27: Royal Guard Training, Part 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Swift Blaze woke up sometime later. He saw he wasn’t in a hospital, this time. The Earth pony was in a room in the castle. He didn’t mind waking up here, but he wondered how long he was out this time. Was it a week? 

The red stallion looked around and saw the other trainees were also in the room, but asleep. He then saw Lightning Trails in a similar bed, but was also out. Blaze quietly got out of his bed. He looked out the window and saw it was night time. When the Earth pony exited the room, he saw two familiar guards standing there.

"Good evening, Iron Shield, Dead Eye," the red stallion said in a quiet voice.

"Blaze!" They both shouted.

"Shh. There are ponies sleeping in there," he replied quietly.

They both nodded.

"Good to see you’re doing better, Blaze,” said Iron Shield. “How do you like the guard training?"

"It’s good so far. Especially now that Shining Armor treats me normally instead of what happened in the first few days."

"We heard what he did,” replied Dead Eye. “We’re both amazed you didn’t quit, but also challenged him."

"Yeah, we even saw the match. You were amazing. I’ve never seen the captain work so hard to defeat his opponent," Iron Shield said.

"So what did you think of my finishing move?" Blaze asked with a grin.

They both coughed a bit and showed a little blush. "That was unexpected. Never in all my life was a match won when the opponent is knocked out by very happy thoughts," Dead Eye replied.

"Plus, the stadium was also affected by it," Iron Shield said.

"Did you two enjoy it?" the red stallion asked. They both began to blush harder. "You don't need to answer. Your faces answered for you. Would you mind escorting me to Princess Luna?"

They nodded and began to lead him to where she was. 

"Hey Blaze, sorry you got into trouble with Captain Shining Armor and the other guards that morning," Iron Shield said.

Dead Eye said, "Yeah, Sorry. We forgot that you were to have escorts the entire time."

"Don't worry about it. It all worked out in the end,” replied Blaze. “Plus, I think the guards needed a surprise visitor like that to test their skills.”

"How would you grade them?"

"A+ for effort and enthusiasm and D for execution and follow through."

"Shining Armor almost had the whole lot go back to basic training after that. Also, thank you for making sure we did not get into trouble," Iron Shield said.

"Again, not a problem."

The group arrived at the doors to the throne room. The guards standing there opened the doors for them. Once inside, Blaze saw Princess Luna was sitting on the throne, bored.

"Your highness, Swift Blaze woke up and requested to see you," Iron Shield said as they all bowed to her.

"BLAZE!" Princess Luna shouted as she flew off the throne and directly to the Earth Pony in a hug attack. "I’M SO GLAD YOU’RE OK!"

"Good to see you too, Luna. Can you please let me go? I can't breathe," he said as the stallion gasped for air.

The Alicorn quickly released him from the hug. "Sorry about that. I was so worried when Captain Shining Armor informed me and my sister about what happened."

"So, how long was I out?"

"It has only been a few hours. I’m amazed you tried something like that to help Lightning Trails. Where did you come up with that idea?"

"I’m from a world where we depended on the energy of that style to make our lives better. The actual method to discharge is with a device to store that energy in a storage container. There is nothing like that here in Equestria so I Macgyver what I had available to complete the task."

"Macgyver? What is that?" Dead Eye asked before anyone else asked.

"A saying from my world we say when we make something out of what is around us to complete the task."

"But you had to use your body to do it?" Princess Luna asked.

"I did not have time to make jumper cables. Plus, I can make lightning too. So, my body is somewhat used to the jolt from it."

"We were going to heal you, but by the time we got to you, your body was almost healed."

Suddenly, the doors burst open and Shining Armor came running in. 

"Princess Luna! Swift Blaze has disappeared! The guards that were stationed outside are also gone!" he shouted.

"Shining Armor, it’s the middle of the night. You don’t need to be shouting," replied Blaze.

"Blaze! You’re awake!" the Unicorn said, still shouting.

"And getting deaf from your shouts. Iron Shield and Dead Eye escorted me to Princess Luna, as per my request. I didn’t want to wake any of you as you all looked peaceful."

"Sorry. Shall we head back so the others are not worried?"

"I take it you woke them when I wasn’t in bed."

"Actually, Fang’s the one that woke us all up when she saw you were gone. I told them to stay in the room so I could go looking for you."

The five ponies all headed back to the room, including Princess Luna. When the red stallion opened the door, he braced his ears.

"BLAZE!" They all said and came rushing to him.

The Earth pony didn’t want to get tackled again that night. So he jutsu teleported out of the way and reappeared beside his bed. The other trainees collided with Shining Armor, Iron Shield, and Dead Eye. Blaze couldn’t tell if Princess Luna was in the mix.

"Nice way to avoid being under that pile," a pony said from behind him.

The red stallion turned his head and saw the blue Alicorn did the same thing he did. 

"I kinda predicted what was going to happen when they saw me. So I avoided it," he replied.

"Glad to see you can react quickly to any situation, Blaze," another pony said, but came from across the room.

The Earth pony turned his head to the voice and saw Lightning Trails was awake and sitting up in his bed. 

"Glad to see you’re doing ok," he replied.

"You too, and thanks for helping getting rid of that buildup. I hate it when I get like that."

"This has happened before?"

"Once. A long time ago it seems now."

"Does this have to do with the incident at flight school as those records are sealed?" Shining Armor asked as he walked up from the previous pony pile by the door.

"Yes, it does. I think I should share this with you so you know what happened. Remember when I told you about the pony that I put into the hospital because he was making fun of my dad?"

Those who heard the tale shook their heads.

"That is not the whole truth."

----------Flashback-----------

"Hey! How’s that flying meat bag doing? Laying around doing nothing like always!" The same annoying pony said from behind the black Pegasus.

"I’m not in the mood to deal with you, Biff," he said without turning around. Heading to his next class.

"Well, too bad. It’s not a great day for me until I pick on the son of a worthless pony who can't do anything by himself," replied the other Pegasus.

"He’s not worthless! He was in the Lunar Royal Guard and got injured to save his team!" Lightning Trails shouted as he turned to face Biff.

This bully was a tan coat color Pegasus stallion. His mane was brown, pulled back, and had so much gel in it, it could catch on fire easily. He wore a jock jacket everyday to look cool.

"He’s worthless and you know it! What do you expect him to do now? Hmm? He’s been kicked out of the Royal Guard. Nopony will hire him because he can't use his hooves. To top it all off, your mother should have left him months ago instead of taking care of him."

The others that hung around Biff started to laugh with him after he did. The black Pegasus was getting tired of how they picked on his dad. But now they go and bring his mother into the taunting? He wanted this to stop, now! 

The clouds making up the hallway were darkening. Lightning Trails was mentally demanding them to create lightning. The ponies around were still laughing, unaware of what was happening. 

Suddenly, a bright flash filled the hallway as the lightning bolt struck the black stallion. This caused them to shut up. More lightning came and struck his body again. The Pegasus's mane was beginning to glow white. The crew of Biff was starting to back away. Biff stood where he was, not afraid.

"You pick on my father all this time and I’m still proud of him. Now you bring my mother in on your jokes. You have crossed the line, Biff. Time for you to pay," said Lightning Trails. In a loud, evil like tone.

The crew ran away after hearing him talk like that. The tan Pegasus didn’t move. All he said was, "I was correct. Your father is useless, your mother is a bitch, and you’re a freak."

That broke the last straw. All the clouds in the school went black and began to strike the black stallion with more lightning. The only light was what he was giving off and the lightning. Even his eyes were glowing white. 

Biff was slowly backing away. But, Lightning Trails sent a bolt of energy that struck right behind him. The tan stallion stopped moving. The black Pegasus shot more bolts out at his hooves, hitting them and making him dance around. He increased the power and Biff started to scream. 

The tan Pegasus then collapsed to the ground and started to beg, "Please stop it, Lightning Trails! I’m sorry for what I said! Just stop with the lightning."

"Too late,” he replied. “I’m going to make you suffer for a long time."

The black stallion sent out continuous bolts of lightning at the other pony as they danced around his body. Biff was screaming out in pain. A lightning bolt hit his mane and it caught on fire. The flames spread down to his jacket,  which set it ablaze. He didn’t stop as this Pegasus had him suffer so much. The smoke rose up and activated the sprinkler system. The entire hallway was now raining.

"AHHH! WHAT'S GOING ON!" Lightning Trails had screamed out in pain. 

The lightning in his body was shooting out of everywhere and destroying everything it hit. The black Pegasus was losing control of this new power. He then unleashed a huge lightning blast that destroyed that part of the school.

Lightning Trails woke up sometime later. He was now in a hospital. He tried to get up, but the stallion was strapped to the bed. The door to the room opened and his mom came rushing in.

"Oh Lightning Trails! I’m so glad you woke up!" She said.

"Mom, what is going on and why am I strapped to the bed?" I asked.

"Sweetie, you kinda went overboard with your lightning control and destroyed part of the flight school. These straps are pulling out the excess lightning in you till you are at safe levels again."

"How's Biff?"

"That bully stallion that provoked you? He’s alive, if that is what you are wondering," she said in an angry tone.

Just then, the door to the room opened again and the Princess of the Sun came in with several of the Royal Guards.

"Princess Celestia, what an honor to meet you," said Lightning Trails.

"I wish it was under better circumstances. I have read the report of what happened at the flight school," replied the white Alicorn.

"Please, Princess! Let me explain what happened. You see . . ."

"That won't be needed. I know that a Pegasus named Biff provoked you too hard and you were trying to stand up for your father. I would like to make you an offer. Come to the castle with me in Canterlot and I’ll help you get better control of your abilities. One day, I’ll send you to go through the basic training to be a Royal Guard like your father. The other option is you get locked up for attempted murder and destroying the flight school."

"I don't want to get locked up. So I’ll take you up on your offer."

"Excellent. Your family will be coming along as well. I’ll see if any doctors in Canterlot will be able to fix your father's hooves."

"Thank you, your highness. I look forward to learning from you."

---------End Flashback-----------

"So, I have been here learning from Princess Celestia about control over my abilities," Lightning Trails said.

"Thank you for sharing your story with us. I know what it’s like to lose control over your powers," replied Blaze.

"I don't believe it. You’re always cool and under control under different situations,” said Star Dust. “Even when you were fighting Shining Armor."

"True, but it wasn't always like that. Shining Armor has seen me when I lost control, for a moment."

"It’s true, he really is different in that other form," the Captain said.

"I can't really explain it myself, but my cutie mark does have something to do with it."

"You said it was for your belief in balance. What else is there?" Cancer asked.

"That’s true. I now found out that it has another meaning, the balance of my mind. This changed to a full black circle when I lost control and went on a destruction wave. I was in the EverFree Forest at the time, so no pony got hurt. I almost did when my friends in Ponyville came to rescue me. How about I tell you what happened when I released that state. Let’s call this, Rage Mode. I’ll also share what caused me to act out like that."

They all gathered around as the red stallion told what happened at the spa. Then, when he headed into the EverFree Forest to cool off. But, that didn’t happen due to a pack of Timberwolves. The Earth pony then went on and told when Shining Armor, Princess Celestia, and his friends appeared and how Fluttershy was able to calm him back down. 

Shining Armor nodded and said, “That’s what I remembered had happened.” 

Finally, Blaze told them about the repressed memory that caused it off when he was very young.

"Because I was carrying that repress memory for so long, I felt a heavy thing was lifted off of me. But now, I need these weights so I don’t go too fast and to continue my training," he said.

Everyone had tears in their eyes after listening to that. Shining Armor didn't as he had already heard his story. 

"It looks like we are in the same boat of having a dark part inside of us," Lightning Trails said.

"Not just the two of us, Princess Luna also for her Nightmare Moon side," replied the Earth pony.

"But, that was destroyed with the Elements of Harmony," said Princess Luna.

"Are you sure? Or do you feel somewhere, buried deep within you, it’s still there and is only sealed away?"

"I’m afraid you’re correct. I can still feel her inside of me. The talks with you, Blaze, these nights have helped me lift my spirit up and make sure she will no longer control me."

"I’m glad for that, Princess Luna. I think we can all head back to the barracks now and get some sleep."
They all nodded and returned to the barracks for some needed sleep.

-------Fast Forward in Training--------

The trainees in the barracks were now used to waking up at the time Swift Blaze did. It gave them more time to prepare. They even started to follow him in his stretch routines the red stallion does before they go to the mess hall. The first day they tried it, the others fell down on their backs, flanks, or faces. Fang was the only one that didn't.

For the past five days, they started in the morning with some time on the track. Then moved to the obstacle course. Finished the morning with spars using no abilities. After lunch, the ponies sparred with abilities. They finished the day with reviews of the matches. Blaze had increased his total weight enhancement to four hundred fifty pounds. 

Last night, Shining Armor informed them that they’re going to do something different tomorrow. The trainees talked it over that night to figure out what the Captain was planning to do. There were so many ideas, they decided to roll with whatever comes our way.

So, on day ten of Royal Guard training, The ponies ate their breakfast and made their way to the track. As the group approached, they saw the white Unicorn Guard was already there with another pony, Princess Celestia. The trainees got in line and bowed to her.

"You may all rise,” said the white Alicorn. “Today, you’re going to start the next part of your training. Captain Shining Armor shall explain."

The white stallion steps forward to address them. "Recruits, you have done well in your training on the grounds here. Now, you’ll need to put them to the test. Princess Celestia is going to send you deep into the EverFree Forest,” he said. “In there, you must stay within its bounds for forty-eight hours before you can be allowed to return. You cannot take anything with you to help. All you will have is your bodies and the knowledge you have. Be warned though, not all recruits have ever returned. At least one dies in each group. How you handle yourselves there will determine if you survive. Good luck."

Before anyone could say anything, Princess Celestia used her magic and they were teleported away. The group soon appeared somewhere in the vast unknown of the EverFree Forest. As the ponies were looking around to make sure we all were together, A voice entered the red stallion’s head.

Blaze, I wanted to tell you that there has been strange reports coming from the forest. The Royal Guards I’ve sent to investigate the tornado path said they saw strange craters of various sizes. They also found blood on them that wasn’t there. So, please be on your guard, the white Alicorn sent to him.

He replied back the same way, I’ll do my best. I normally don't look for trouble. It always seems to find me.

I can see that. Also, if you can please refrain from using your jutsu so it will be easier for the group. You all will need to learn the lessons from this exercise.

I will, Princess Celestia.

Once the link was broken, the Earth pony turned to his teammates. "Ok then, has anyone been to the EverFree Forest before?" he asked. 

The other ponies shook their heads no. 

"How about doing any survival exercises?" 

None of them signaled that they have. The red stallion figured he’s going to have to take points in their survival from his experiences.

"Alright. Back in my world, I did do things, similar to this. Just not at the level of dropping off in a dangerous section of woods with creatures that can kill you. The first thing we need to do is find a source of fresh, running water. It’ll be cleaner and less likely to have some disease in it. We’ll stick together till we find the water."

The others nodded to the plan. The group started their trek through the forest. Blaze was taking the lead, Star Dust was behind him. After that was Cancer, Colorful Spark, Lightning Trails, Dragon, and Fang was in the back. The ponies carefully walked through the forest, keeping an eye out for creatures and anything else that might harm them. They heard some noises in the distance. Blaze couldn’t tell what was making it as he hasn’t seen all the creatures this world has.

The noise of the area suddenly went quiet. The Earth pony stopped the group to see if he could get a sense what’s going on. The others were watching every direction. No noise was being made in any direction. 

Out of nowhere, something grabbed the red stallion’s back left hoof from under the brush and started to pull him through the forest in some direction. He heard his team call out for him as the pony was dragged away. Blaze couldn’t tell where he was going as his body was spun and banged against rocks and trees with everything in-between.

The Earth pony was then pulled out of the brush by his back leg. He was now hanging upside down. He looked around and saw what had him. It was a carnivore plant creature. The size of it was bigger than a bear. Its teeth were razor sharp. 

Blaze quickly thought, OH NO! You’re not going to eat this pony! 

He channeled his chakra and shouted, "FIRE STYLE! FIRE BALL JUTSU!" 

The pony shot several of them at the plant. It screamed out in pain as it was now on fire. It released him and the stallion fell to the ground below, onto his back. The others finally caught up as he was brushing himself off.

"Blaze! We are glad you are safe! What happened?" Cancer asked.

"That crispy plant thing behind me tried to eat me. So I gave it heartburn," he replied.

"Literally,” said Colorful Spark. “Let's go before something else decides to eat us."

The trainees got back into formation and continued the search for water. Several hours later, they finally found a stream with good flow. Everyone quickly drank up to replenish their thirst.

"Alright, the next thing we need to do is find shelter or build one,” said Blaze. “I don't know what to expect at night so we need to be able to defend from it, if need be.".

"Wait, how come you don't just use your jutsu and make us shelter and get us water?" Lightning Trails asked.

"The other times the recruits were sent here, they didn’t have a pony like me. Plus, Princess Celestia has ordered me not to use my jutsu unless there is danger and our lives are threatened."

"I guess that makes sense. We don't want you to do everything and we learn nothing."

"Exactly. So what do you all suggest how we handle the shelter?"

Star Dust said, "We could split up into teams and all look for something like a cave so we don't waste energy trying to build one."

"Like the idea, but not all of it,” replied Fang. “I don't think we should split up because the predators out here will have a better time to kill us off."

"Good point," Dragon said.

"So, we all agree to find shelter together?" Blaze asked. The others nodded. "Alright, as we head out, would you mind Fang and mark trees as we go by them? It will help us find our way back to the water." 

Fang nodded and we began the next hunt, shelter. They switched to a two by two formation with Blaze being alone in the front. The black Zebra was quickly marking the trees with three slash marks. It was slowing down the search, but it was necessary to find that water source again. The group traveled for several hours, not finding anything. It was starting to get dark too.

"Blaze, we need to find a place for the night. It won't be safe to travel in the dark," said Colorful Spark.

"I agree, but we have not found a safe place to stop for the night," Star Dust said.

"I think I see something over there," Fang said.

The red stallion looked in the direction she was pointing at. He saw some signs of stacked stones, but the vegetation is too thick to make it out. "Can't tell for sure. Doesn't hurt to go and check it out," he replied.

The group headed over there and saw there was a stone structure of some sort. It looked very old and abandoned. The ponies finally reached it and it was stone pillars to a rope bridge.

"Well, that's wonderful. We found a rope bridge. Don't think we can use it as shelter," Cancer said.

"No, but nopony would make a bridge for nothing. Let's go across and see what there is," Lightning Trails said.

As they crossed, Blaze thought this looked familiar. The fog was very thick as the group didn’t notice what was on the other side until they were on top of it. A massive building was now in front of them. The place was in ruins and looked like nothing was living there. 
Upon seeing it, the red stallion realized this was the old castle he visited before. Nothing appears to have changed on the outside since he was last here. The ponies headed inside to the main hall.

"I don't think we’ll find a better place to stay safe from anything out in those woods out there," Dragon said.

"Don't count on it,” replied Blaze. “Remember when I told you about the time I went into my Rage Mode? This is where it happened. Look around and you can see the remains of Timberwolves."

"I think your count is off. There only looks to be enough wood for four of them."

"I’m telling you, there were thirty and at least a dozen merged into a big one over there." 

The red pony went over to where the body was supposed to be. He looked around for signs of where it could have gone. Blaze then saw some faint signs of fresh chop marks on the stone floor. The stallion headed to where the other bodies were supposed to be too and saw the same things.

"Be on alert. We’re not alone here," Blaze said with a serious tone.

The other ponies went back to back in pairs. The red pony looked around for more signs. He determined this creature has some intelligence as it could swing a weapon to chop wood for fire. If it was him, where would he go in this castle for advantage?

"What do you think it is, Blaze?" Star Dust asked.

"I don't know, but I can say it’s not a wild creature as it can chop up Timberwolves corpses. Probably used them as firewood. I suggest we split up into three groups,” he replied. “Group one will consist of the Zebra family and myself. We’ll check out the perimeter of the castle and look for things like tracks or something out of place. Group two will  consist of Lightning Trails, Star Dust, Colorful Spark and myself again. We’ll check the lower floors of the castle.”

“Wait, how are you . . . never mind. You’re going to do that jutsu clone thing again,” Cancer said.

At that point, Blaze did the shadow clone jutsu and created two more of him.

"Wait, why did you make it so there are three of you?" Dragon asked.

"I’m going to send a third one to check out the towers. If any trouble arises, the clone will disappear and alert the others of me as to what happened," he replied.

"That jutsu really does come in handy for scouting purposes," Star Dust said.

"Ok, we’ll look for thirty minutes. If anything happens, the Blaze in your group will disappear to inform the others of the situation. If a group doesn’t show up by that time, we‘ll go and look for them."

"Roger," said the others.

The trainees split up and headed to their search areas.

-----Clone to Towers------

As the others left, the solo Blaze was somewhat relieved they went with his plan. He wanted to take the towers solo as he figured that’s where the creature was going to be, it’s what he would do. The red Earth pony didn’t want to see his friends get into mortal trouble on this unknown.

The stallion quietly made his way up the staircase to the first tower that had a roof. He carefully listened for any sounds coming up there. Blaze was keeping his ki energized to react to what might be up there. He soon came to a closed door. The pony placed his head next to it to see if he could hear anything on the other side. Nothing was making a sound. The Earth pony pushed on the door and it slowly creaked open. His element of surprise is now gone. He still continued to head in.

Blaze first saw a pile of wood on one side of the room that resemble parts of the Timberwolves. Over in a corner, there were leaves from the trees outside piled on top of each other to make a makeshift bed. The Earth pony then smelled something only a human would recognize, cooked meat. He turned his head toward the smell and saw some animal was on a stick over a fire. Upon closer look, it was a snake.

Out of nowhere, something hit the stallion hard on the back of the head and knocked him out. When Blaze came too, all of his legs were hogtied and his body was laying on the bed. He looked around for the creature that did it before he would make his escape. A voice then came from the shadow part of the room.

"I haven’t had horse meat in a long while. Also, I’ve never seen one that wore clothes, has a strange coat color, or has a tattoo on the butt,” the creature said.

Blaze stayed silent so as to not freak out this creature. He thought about the words it said. How it referred to him as a horse instead of a pony. This creature wasn’t from Equestria, that’s for sure. 

The stallion tried to see what his capture looked like. The light from the fire wasn’t giving off much, which made it difficult to see. The creature walked out of the shadow and went over to the fire. Once this happened, Blaze recognized the body shape, a human. He started to wonder how another human got here. He thought he would be the only one because of the probably alternate dimensions that every show fan that wanted to see Equestria. The bigger question is why did this other human show up to the one Blaze went to, plus how. 

All the questions going through the Earth pony’s head are going to have to wait. He needs to get out of here and inform the others. When the human was paying attention to the meat he was cooking, Blaze took the moment to disappear. He released the jutsu and sent his memories to the others of himself.

------------Back at the main hall--------------

Group one and two returned to the main hall at the same time. As they were looking for the other Blaze clone, the two there soon received the memories of the other clone. One of the red stallions released the clone jutsu so the other one could go away as well.

“The other clone won’t be coming,” said Blaze. ”The creature has been found and I know what it is. It’s another human male.”

“What! How can there be another human here, let alone now?” Lightning Trails asked.

“You’re telling me. This is a full surprise on me too,” he replied. “We need to move fast as he’ll soon discover I’m no longer in that room, tied up. We need to capture him, not kill him.”

The group then heard an explosion from the tower. The ponies looked to see what was going on. They saw lots of stones were flying away. The odd thing was there was no big cloud of fire and smoke. Just the stones flying and then falling, towards them. Blaze reacted by sending ki blast at the stones to destroy them before they hit his teammates. The others prepared themselves for their opponent to come.

The human jumped off the remains of the tower and landed ten feet in front of them. He made a decent crack in the stone floor. The ponies surrounded the human and were ready to attack. The man looked around at each of them with a confused look.

“This is very odd. Seven very colorful horses and zebras. Most have horns and one has wings. That odd chicken I had yesterday must not be settling well with me,” the human said.

Blaze nodded to the others to begin the attack. Colorful Spark went first. He made illusions of himself and began to run around the human to try and confuse it more. Cancer went next and sped up to attack without their opponent would notice. The zebra did land a few good hits as he went around. Star Dust started to draw the energy for his attack as the others distracted the human. Lightning Trails and Fang stood at the ready to go at the human if this doesn’t work out.

Star Dust activated a spell he called Star Fall. It caused mini stars to start falling toward the opponent. Dragon used his ability to slow down time in the feet of the human so he couldn’t escape. As the stars were getting close to hitting the target, everypony backed away out of the attack range. The human was starting to laugh as to what was happening.
“This is probably the best opponent I had to deal with. Too bad you all are going to die,” the human sad as he continued to laugh.

Without warning, Blaze could feel the weight of his clothing and body were increasing. He first thought the magic on his clothing was on the fritz. But, as the stallion looked around, the other teammates were also struggling to stay standing up. One by one, they fell to the floor. Dragon was still able to have his magic stay active as he was being forced to lay on the ground. Star Dust’s attack was being sent back up into space.

Blaze thought, No human could do this back on my world. You would normally see this in the comic books. This has to stop soon or we’ll be crushed by gravity.

The red Earth pony was still standing, but barely. He whispered the command to cancel the weight enhancement. He soon felt himself back to normal. The stallion started to approach this human. He saw the animal coming and was totally confused.

“How can you be standing! The area is under three times of gravity. No creature can withstand that,” the human said.

Blaze continued to get closer as he gathered his chakra for the jutsu he was planning to use.

“Don’t take another step further or I’ll increase it to ten times and crush these other horses.”

The red pony stopped walking and stared at the human.

“Good horsey. Look, you can understand me. Would like to get to know you better, but after what I have been through, I can’t trust anything.”

“Hold it,” Blaze finally said.

“You can speak too? What strange place am I?

“You are in Equestria and we are not horses. We are ponies. At least the others are.”

“That name sounds familiar. Wait, you said the others are ponies. Then what are you?”

“I’m human too.”

His eyes opened wide after hearing that. Blaze seized his chance. He stood up and touched his fore hooves together. He performed a Genjutsu that put the human to sleep. The stallion ran up and caught the human before he fell. The gravity effect was lifted and the other began to pick themselves up.

“What did you do, Blaze?” Colorful Spark asked.

“I placed him under a Genjutsu technique that put him to sleep. I’m afraid we have to cut the exercise short as Princess Celestia needs to know about this. Gather around and I’ll take us back to Canterlot.”
> Chapter 28: Royal Guard Training, Part 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The red stallion teleported the group back to the castle and in the throne room. Once the smoke dissipated, the ponies saw Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were talking before they barged in.

“Swift Blaze, would you care to explain why you barged in?” Asked the white Alicorn. “You’re supposed to be on your survival exercise in the EverFree Forest.”

“I’m sorry, your highness, but this couldn’t wait,” he replied. The others in front of the Earth pony stepped away. “I think I might have found the cause for that tornado. Another human has come to Equestria.”

Both Princesses came down from the throne to look at the human. Now with better lighting, Blaze could also see what he looked like. This human had a slightly buffed body with a six pack chest, visible through his torn shirt. His hair was ghost white, any whiter it would blind you. He was about 6ft tall, based upon how many floor tiles he covered.

“What happened out there, Blaze?” Princess Celestia asked.

He told of when they came across the old castle. How when they went into seeing the Timberwolves bodies, there were less than from before. Finally how the human was found in the tower and that he attacked them.

"Why do you think the human acted that way?" Princess Luna asked.

"I don't know, but I know a way to find out that will be safe for everyone. I’ll enter his mind and have a chat with him," said Blaze.

"I want you to bring Captain Shining Armor in with you so I can get a report of what is discussed," Princess Celestia ordered.

"Of course, Princess."

The white Alicorn used her magic and summoned the white Unicorn Captain to the throne room. He showed up a few minutes later through the doors from the main hall. 

"Yes, your highness, what’s your request?" he asked.

"Captain Shining Armor, Blaze and the other recruits have found another human in the EverFree Forest. He came back here with the human to inform us. The human is currently under Blaze's Genjutsu as he has already attacked them. I want you to go in with Blaze into the human's mind and report back what happens."

"Of course, Princess Celestia." Shining Armor turns to the red stallion. "Why is it you’re always at the center of the trouble when it comes?"

"I can't help it when the universe likes to troll me," he replied.

"Huh? Whatever. You ready, Blaze?"

"Just waiting on you sweetheart."

Shining Armor shot him an angry glare after he said that. The red stallion placed the human on the ground gently. He then went down as well into a comfortable position. The Unicorn Captain followed by getting into a similar position on the other side. Blaze performed the Genjutsu and they entered this human’s mind.

Once inside, they appeared in the blank space.

"Does the human mind always appear this empty?" Shining Armor asked.

"No, this is the part where thoughts are gathered. He isn't thinking of anything because of the genjutsu I have him under with. I’m going to bring out his consciousness."

The red Earth pony used his mind and had this human’s inner self show up. He rose from the floor and was chained to a metal post.

"What’s going on? Where am I? Why are their horses here in clothes?" The human was shouting out. 
Blaze noticed the human’s eyes were now brown. "Please calm down as we are going to explain," he replied.

"Wait, you were at that structure in the woods. I guess I finally lost it. Hello loony bin."

"You’re not crazy. If you remain calm and don't attack us, I’ll release you from those chains. Everything will be explained."

He nodded and Blaze made the chains disappear, along with the metal post. He looked himself over, then at the ponies. His face looked like he was concentrating on something.

"If you’re trying to use your abilities, they won't work here. We’re inside your mind."

"Ok, you said you were human back in the woods. Why do you look like a horse?"

"This isn’t a horse form. This is a pony body. I’ll show you my human form as I can do it only in the mind for the moment." 

Blaze changed his appearance to my human form. He stuck his hand out and said, "Let's start the introduction over. My human name is Bob, but I go by a different name here called Swift Blaze."

The other human shook the hand with his and replied, "My name is Alvin, but you can call me Al."

“I have two things to say before we go to the actual questions. One, where is Simon and Theodore? Two, is your favorite catch phrase, 'I  don't think so Tim.'?"

"One, lost them in Bora Bora. Two, I don't think so Bob."

Both humans laughed hard after that. Shining Armor cleared his throat to remind him he was still there.

"Sorry about that. I had to say those jokes when Al told me his name," said Blaze.

"It’s been a long time since I had a good laugh like that. You are a human if you know about those shows," said Al.

"Eeyup," Blaze said in my Big Mac voice.

"I know I have heard that exact thing from somewhere. But where?"

"Let's see if I can jog your memory. What comes to mind when I say, mane six and brohoof?"

He was thinking for a little bit. Al's eyes suddenly lit up as something clicked in his mind.

"Wait, don't tell me where I think I am."

"Who does this Unicorn look like?" Blaze asked as he pointed to the white stallion.

Al's eyes went wide. "Shining Armor! Captain of the Royal Guard! Also is mmph. . ."

Blaze placed his hand over Al’s mouth before he could say what Blaze knew he was about to say. 

Blaze whispered, "On today entionmay inhay arryingmay incesspray adancecay. Ashay anway otnay appenedhay yetway."

The other human nodded and Blaze removed his hand from Al’s face. Blaze saw that Shining Armor was interested in what Al was about to say about him.

"Blaze, why did you stop him from talking? Also, what was that language you were saying to him?" the Unicorn asked.

"The answer to the first part, he was about to say something about a popular story a fan wrote about you,” he replied. “The other part is the language of the bronies. It’ll take over a year to teach it to you if you want to learn it."

"Thanks, but no thanks."

"Getting back on track. Al, I think you know this will probably be the most important question that needs answers to. What happened to you on December 21st, 2012?"

"That would be important to know, I can't remember much as it was a long time ago for me," Al said.

"Less than a month is a long time for you?"

"A MONTH! I’VE BEEN IN HELL FOR OVER A YEAR!"

"Calm down. You’re not in hell anymore. You’re in Equestria. Everything is going to be fine."

Al calmed down. "I'm ok now. Just hearing that surprise how long you have been here while I’ve been in hell."

"If you give me permission, I can pull the memory of that day and we can watch it from your perspective."

"I think that would be best. I would like to find out why I was sent to hell."

Blaze created a movie theater setup and started to play the memory.

-------12/21/2012--------

Al knew this was going to be a fun day. 

He looked outside his apartment in the middle of a city. He knew he couldn’t get out of the area with all the riots happening everywhere. The TV was just repeating the message over and over on all channels that Marshal Law is in effect, instructing everyone to stay indoors and lock all windows and doors. 

He thought, No shit Sherlock. Only an idiot will go and join the riots for fun.

Al headed back to his bedroom and went to feed his pet, a Japanese rhinoceros beetle. He named him Kabuto after a character in one of his favorite anime. How Al acquired him was pure accident. 

He was heading home after getting off the subway. It was raining like cats and dogs. As he was running home, He spotted something strange in a puddle. It was a big beetle on its back. It looked cool, so Al picked it up and brought it home with him. 

The human gave the insect some fresh fruit that wasn’t too watery. He turned around after that and faced the other things he liked, his collection of knives.

Al had gathered a very nice collection. There was a ballistic knife, several bayonets of different lengths, a couple different combat knives, and several daggers of different styles. The human also had at least five dozen throwing knives of different style and weight. The most rarest of knives he owned were aged from in WWII and go all the way back to the 11th century.

While Al was doing the maintenance on the newer knives he’d recently purchased, there was a heavy banging on his front door. The human quickly grabbed several throwing knives and placed them in his back pocket, with one at the ready. 

Al approached the door slowly when it was busted open. By reaction, he threw the knives at the intruders that came storming in. Two of them hit dead center in the chest and a third went into the head. They fell onto the floor and no one else was coming through the now busted door. Al went to check on the people he killed and saw they were dressed as police officers.

SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! he thought. Why in the world didn’t they state they were cops? I’m in a heap load of shit now! I have to get out of here!

Al quickly collected the knives from them and ran back to his room. I gathered any deadly knife that wouldn’t break easily, mostly all the modern ones. The human put on his knife vest and loaded it up where a knife could be stored. He then placed a jacket over that to hide them. Any knife that didn’t go on the vest was tossed into a duffle bag. 

Al ran through the place and grabbed other items he could need. Finally, the human grabbed a plastic container that had holes in it that was used to carry Kabuto, his pet insect, and placed him inside. He didn’t know where he was going, but his best chance to survive was out of the city.

Al took the fire escape down to the alleyway next to the building. He stuck to the shadows to not draw attention to himself. His car was in the parking garage down the street. As the human made his way toward the location, he kept an eye out for anyone. The streets were empty, but he could hear the riots were nearby. 

He made it to the garage and headed to the level the vehicle was on. As Al exited the stairs, he turned and saw someone by his car. It was a couple of thugs trying to break into it. He couldn’t believe how his luck was running, today of all days. He approached holding onto a knife handle that was in a sheath, strapped to his back with his right hand. He spaced himself far enough so they couldn’t grab him.

“*Clear throat* Excuse me, but I believe you’re trying to break into my vehicle,” he said.

Thug one turned his head and replied, “Walk away before you get hurt.” He brings out a three inch switchblade.

Al thought, What a cute knife. I got one of those when I was six. 

Doing a quick laugh, he then said, “You call that a knife?” 

He pulled out his twelve inch hunting knife from his back sheath. 

“This is a knife.”

When the first thug saw that, he quickly ran away. The other one that was trying to do the actual break in, looked up to see why his partner had left. He saw Al’s knife that he held and drew a gun.

“Back away bitch if you know what’s good for ya,” The thug said.

Al raised his hand up in the air that had the knife. 

“Take it easy. You do not need to shoot anyone,” he said as he slowly knelt down and placed the knife on the ground.

“That’s right. Now give me the keys.”

“Ok. Ok. Just don’t shoot me.”

Al reached into his back pocket, where they were. Instead of pulling them out, he grabbed a throwing knife and tossed it fast into the thug’s head, right between the eyes. The man dropped like a rock as he couldn’t react within a half a second.

Al collected his knives and placed them back where they were stored. He dragged the body out of the way so he could get my car out. When Al went to the driver side door to use his key, he saw they had busted the lock. 

Al couldn’t believe these two were such idiots at stealing a car. They had hammered a flat head into the keyhole and busted the handle off when they tried to turn it. With no options on this side, he headed to the passenger side to get in that way. Luckily, that side worked. Al started the engine and began to book it out of there. 

He knew the major ways would be blocked due to all the riots and violence, so he stuck to third streets to get out. He ignored the stop signs and street lights as he wanted out of this city. There were a few close calls of running into other vehicles, but they all missed hitting one another. 

Al soon came to a street that was blocked by parked cars also trying to get out. Seeing none were moving, and more cars got behind him blocking him in, he grabbed his backpack and started to walk out. The sounds from riots were getting closer from some direction, but couldn’t tell which one. As Al turned around, he saw them coming up from behind. He looked forward and saw a line of military personnel with their weapons drawn. 

Al thought, SHHHHHIIIIIITTTTTT!

The commander in charge of the battalion went on the PA and told everyone to return to their homes as Marshal Law is in effect. Failure to do so will meet with deadly force. All the people in the middle saw they were stuck between two forces that will probably kill everyone. 

The people started screaming and were trying to get out of there. Al ran for an ally that was closest to him. Just as he made it, the military started shooting. He crouched down to avoid being hit by any stray fire. Bullets were flying in both directions. Al stayed lower and along the walls as he started to sneak away. 



As Al was getting away, there was a push from behind and he fell to the ground. It was a crowd of people running at full speed. He reached for his bag that was a few feet away as the others were passing by and screaming. He also had a grab of the strap when then the unthinkable happened. A person tripped and landed on top of the backpack. 

Al was the only one that heard a loud crunch. He was dreading what happened. The person got up and continued to run. He pulled the smushed bag to himself and propped his body against a car. When Al opened it and looked inside, he saw what he feared. Kabuto, the beetle, was dead.

Al now just lost it. He no longer cared if he died by anyone or by the MOTHERFUCKING STUPID MAYAN calendar prediction. The human wanted to go out in style. He stood up and took his jacket off. All the knives were easily seen now. Al started to throw knives at anyone that was nearby. He didn’t care who they were. Everyone was all going to die. Each toss the man made was for a kill shot or head shot. He didn’t know what time it was as Al no longer cared. In an instant, as he tossed the last of the throw knives, his vision went dark.

---------Present Day in Equestria----------

Once the memory was over, The screen turned off and the lights turned on. Blaze looked over to see that Al was crying. He placed an arm around him and gave the other human a hug.

“I’m sorry you were sent to hell for just trying to defend yourself in all that mess,” said Blaze. “I can never imagine what it was like down in hell.”

“Those memories I shall never forget as it was the most painful thing that has ever happened.”

Blaze turned to Shining Armor. The stallion looked a little afraid of what he saw what a human could do. “Shining Armor, as you just saw, that is what most humans are like. Al never wanted to kill, but had to in order to survive what was happening,” Blaze said. “I would like you to put in your report that Al was defending himself in the riots and was not right that he was marked as he failed that test. Understand?”

The Unicorn just nodded and stayed silent. Blaze turned back to Al as he was getting up to stretch. 

“Can we change this to look something different now?” Al asked.

“Anything you want. It’s your mind after all.”

The area changed to that of a hill near Ponyville. Blaze looked around and saw that he and Al have similar taste. Al walked around to take in the scenery. His face had a big smile and a tear that rolled down his face. 

“I really am in Equestria, am I?” Al asked.

“Yes, you are. This is your new home and I know everyone will take you in as a friend, as they did with me,” replied Blaze.

“Thanks. I think I’m ready to talk about the things that happened down in hell. Probably for Shining Armor sake, let’s not have the visuals this time. He might just have a heart attack, or shit himself. Maybe both.”

“Hey!” shouted the Unicorn. “You’re speaking to the Captain of the Royal Guard. I can take anything that you think is horrible.”

Blaze said, “We know that and do believe you. Let’s just listen to what Al wants to cover.”

“Alright, as you saw with the previous memory, my vision went black. I couldn’t see anything, even my hand directly in front of my base. I then heard an evil voice. It said I failed the Mayan test and was being sent to hell. Before I could ask what and how, I started to fall into a deep, red cavern. I don’t know how long it was, but there was no way I could escape this place. I landed with a hard thud.”

“And you survived the fall?” Shining Armor asked.

“I was dead, in hell. Don’t think they would kill me off again when I arrived. I got up and there were lots of humans coming in. The demons were pushing us like we were cattle. We were placed in individual four foot by six foot cells. I don’t know how long I was in the cell, as none of us were not fed, nor had to go to the bathroom. Soon, the demon guards came and pushed me into an arena. There were other humans there that came from other entrances. A demon came on the speaker and said we are to fight each other to the death. We would not actually die as we are already in hell. The first human to get one thousand continuous kills will have the honor to get one wish on anything. If you die, you start all over.”

“So you were in death matches and had to fight and kill to survive. That must have really sucked,” said Blaze.

“That wasn’t even the worst of it. After the first matches, to those that were winning, the demons injected us with some purple stuff. My body was in pain the entire night, I think. As i said before. you couldn’t estimate time down there. I finally fell asleep at some point. I was awoken by a demon guard poking at me with a staff. I was led to the arena again and had to fight several other humans. I was lucky as they had throwing knives that I can use along the walls. I got cut this time and noticed something different. My blood was no longer red, it was purple."

"Purple? Must have been the stuff that injected you with that did it."

"That’s what I thought too. It also did something else to my body. I can regenerate myself."

"Regen what now?" Shining Armor asked.

"It means I can repair my body from any injury. Anyone got a knife?"

Blaze materialized one in his hand. Al took it and with one quick swipe, he cut his pinky off on his left hand. Shining Armor and Blaze were shocked he did that with no hesitation. They watched as a new finger was forming slowly from the bone, out.

"That’s cool, in a freaky way," said the other human.

"Down side it hurts as it does. It does take longer to grow back fresh new parts. If I can get a hold of what was cut off, it will reattach itself in a few minutes. Back to the life in hell. So, being able to use throw knives, I racked up my kills at a good pace. Even with two limbs cut off, I had never lost. I was becoming popular with the demons. I picked up a name they gave me, Man of a Thousand Blades."

"That’s a cool name."

"I thought so too. As many months went by, I racked up my kills. I was becoming cold and heartless as I didn’t care about my opponent. Only wanted the kill point. In my last match, I went up against another human that also had the same amount of kills as me, nine hundred ninety-nine. This was the final match, the winner gets the wish and the loser is stuck in hell to start all over. This was the most difficult match I had to go up against someone. He made use of the shield to block my knife throws. I threw one as hard as I could and it split his metal shield and dug into his shoulder. Before he could retaliate, I sent another dozen blades into various other points in his body. This resulted in immobilizing him. He knew he was defeated and closed his eyes waiting for the final death hit. I sent the last knife right between his eyes."

"So, you won the match and got one thousand kills. What did you do next?" Blaze asked in a game show host voice.

"I made the wish to go to a peaceful world with no humans!" Al said as he was going with what Blaze was doing. 

Shining Armor just put on another confused face, not understanding the human jokes. 

"After I made that wish, I ended up going through a swirling portal. When I exited, it looked like I was in the center of a tornado, falling straight down."

"So that storm was you arriving. Glad I didn’t hit you with my attack," said Blaze.

"Wait! You were outside of the tornado? I heard a voice yell something. Then a white wave went right through the tornado, destroying it. How come I did not see you when I landed below?”

“I flew up into the clouds and broke them up. I was so exhausted, I used my last bit of energy and teleported to Twilight so I can get medical help.”

Before Al could ask his question Blaze sent a message to his inner mind, Before you ask that question that I know you are thinking, this isn’t the place to discuss fanfiction stories or episodes. Shining Armor and the Princesses know that I have this knowledge of future events and promised that I won’t tell them about it. We don’t want to do what happened to Twilight went back in time to warn herself not to worry about the future. Do we? 

Al replied by thought, No we don’t. I’ll keep my lips shut. So, did you spend some bedtime with them?

No and that is just sick. I didn’t come here for that. I came here to enjoy the peace and help wherever I can. We shall discuss this later some more in private.

Blaze broke the link and they turned to Shining Armor as he was about to ask a question. 

"I take it you are now a master in that type of blade?" he asked.

"Would you like a demonstration?" Al replied.

The Unicorn nodded. Blaze created several targets down the hill and had some moving at different speeds. He then had a hundred blades show up in a bucket.

"Will this work for you, Al?" he asked.

"I assume you have done this type of training in your head before?"Al replied.

"Don't get him started," Shining Armor said.

The humans both laughed. After that, Al walked up and took ten blades in each hand. He turned and looked at his targets. Blaze felt something changing in the other human. Almost like an energy source, similar to his ki. In one fluid motion, Al sent those blades down range. His body motion never stopped as each blade left his hands. It was almost like it was a dance of how he worked the blades. Each one hit the dead center of the target. Even some blades hit the same spot right next to the previous blade. In just under two minutes, all hundred blades were down range.

"Yep, I would say you are a master in the way of throwing knives," Blaze said.

"Thank you, I was pretty good before hell. Now that I spent a year using them to kill others, I would say I’m either an expert or master now," Al said.

"Do you want to join the Royal Guard?" Shining Armor asked.

“Wait a sec! Al is not even a citizen yet,” said Blaze. “I think we got enough info and now that Al is back in the right mind, we can finish this discussion in the real world.”

“Alright. See you in a few seconds.”

Blaze ended the genjutsu and they returned back to the real world. Each one woke up and stood. The red stallion looked around and saw most of the others were gone. Princess Luna was still there with several of her guards. He looked at Al to see how the human was handling it. 

His eyes were wide open like a little kid in a candy store. He finally saw Princess Luna. The Earth pony quickly grabbed his hand with his hoof and shook his head. The human was getting what he was trying to express.

Shining Armor walked up to the Princess and bowed. He then said, “Princess Luna. I’m happy to say the new human is like Swift Blaze and has the same knowledge of this place. I think he’ll be willing to help us when needed. I propose that he joins Swift Blaze and the others in the rest of the Royal Guard Training.”

“I shall agree with your assessment, Captain Shining Armor, until I have a chance to consult with my sister,” said the blue Alicorn. “For now, the new human . . . um.”

“My name is Alvin your highness. You can call me Al,” he replied as he bowed to her.

“Right, so for now, Al will join Blaze and the others in the Royal Guard Training. You should go and get some rest as you are going to restart your survival training tomorrow morning after breakfast.”

“As you wish, Princess Luna. We’ll go and head back to the barracks,” Blaze replied.

“Before you go Blaze, I would like a word with you, in private.”

“I can cover both, your highness.” 

The stallion created a clone of himself.

“Am I still in my head or did you do something that I think is from a show I watched back on Earth?” Al asked.

“I know the show you are thinking about and that is a yes. I did a shadow clone jutsu. We can discuss more about what I can do tomorrow. It is getting late and I want to show you the other recruits before they go to bed.”

“Alright. Bye Shiny. Bye Lulu,” Al said with a big smile on his face.

Both of the red Earth ponies facehoofed themselves after they heard that. He just knows it’s going to be fun with another Brony here. One of the red stallions led Al to the barracks with a guard escort. Shining Armor teleported out of the throne room. The only ponies that were left were Princess Luna and the other Blaze.

"So, Luna, what did you want to chat with me about?" he asked.

"I wanted to know what you think about another human showing up here," Princess Luna said. "Walk with me to the garden so we can discuss this some more."

The Earth pony followed the blue Alicorn to the garden, Also a set of guards followed them. Blaze couldn’t wait for the training to get done with so he won’t need escorts in the castle. The ponies exited the castle building and entered the garden grounds. He saw it was a clear night and the moon was full. The stallion let out a sigh.

"Something wrong, Blaze?" the Princess asked.

"No, well, I really don't know,” he replied. “I’m happy that another human has shown up. But, I’m also sad about what he went through to get here. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. That caused him to fail that test my God had placed. I’m now wondering how many humans were forced into similar situations and were made to fail the test."

"There’s no real way to tell what really happened in your world as we have no clue where it is in the cosmos."

"Most likely it's somewhere in the universe. Space is bigger than you can possibly imagine. The human race has only gone as far to land on the moon that circles the Earth. We have sent unmanned probes out into space to see what is out there and was still getting new data every day."

“So, tell me what you think of Al?”

“Well, I’ve seen two sides of him. The first side was his dark side. It grew and was dominated for most of the time he was in hell. He had a strange power over gravity when we were fighting him. I only managed to subdue him because I undid my weight enhancement to be able to walk. The other side is the side you just saw. A human that is a brony and cares about this world.”

“Sounds like he’ll need someone to guide him. What about his skills?” 

“I’ve learned he’s a master with throwing blade weapons. Plus he’s deadly accurate at several ranges. I did detect something within him when he was showing us his blade mastery. I don’t know what it is, but I think it is related to gravity control.”

“Sound like an interesting human like you.”

“That’s just it, I asked for my abilities. Yes, he was good with the blade before hell. I think what they put into him gave him his other powers. Like the gravity control I just told you. He also showed Shining Armor and I that he can regenerate any part of his body. The only downside is that it takes time to grow new parts if he doesn’t have the limb or a piece to reattach. The other thing is that his blood is now a purple color. I think he is part demon now because of it.”

“Does he pose a threat?”

“Well, just like me, if something causes us to lose ourselves, we’ll be a threat to Equestria.”

“But you have learned how to control your anger and rage so you won’t be like that. You can teach Al to do the same.”

“Having a zen garden at my home also helps as it is designed to bring peace and order.”

“I have yet to see that. Maybe after the training you can show me.”

“More than likely, Pinkie Pie is probably going to throw a big party at my house.”

“HOW DID YOU KNOW!”

“I see she has already sent out the invitations. Did she come as a singing telegram?”

“AGAIN, CORRECT! How did you know when you were in the EverFree Forest?”

“She did it on an episode and I have seen lots to know how they all think.”

“That gives you an unfair advantage on surprises.”

“No, my ninja intelligence told me. I could change into other creatures besides ponies to gather intel.”

“Don’t tell me you are going to reverse the surprise on Pinkie again. She worked very hard to make sure you didn’t know.”

“Well, they’re going to be surprised when I bring another human home with me. So I can do a double surprise on her.”

“You’re very crafty, Blaze.”

“Oh, you haven’t seen me at my best. I do have a few plans down the road when those moments come.”

“I can’t wait. Well I think I should let you get to bed so you won’t be too exhausted in the morning for survival exercises.”

“Luna, I’m probably in bed right now. Good night.”

“Good night, Blaze. Have sweet dreams.”

The red pony canceled the clone jutsu and disappeared from Princess Luna’s sight.

-----------Meanwhile back at the barracks------------

Al and Blaze arrived just outside the barracks. Both could hear the others chatting away. Al lowered his head to the stallion’s level and whispered, “Bob, are any of these ponies in the show?”

“I don’t think so,” he whispered back. “I never heard of them, nor saw their name anywhere on the MLP Wiki pages. Just act calm and not freak out like you were about to do with Princess Luna.”

“Sorry about that. Princess Luna is my favorite pony from the show. What’s yours?”

“That’s tough as I see myself in the mane six in each trait they represent.”

“That’s cool. So where did you get your abilities from?”

“Naruto and Dragonball Z series.”

“No Way! You just have to show me what you can do!”

“Another time. I need to introduce you to the others and make sure they don’t attack you when they see you.”

Blaze walked in first. The others were all gathered in the center, chatting away.

“Evening everyone. I have good news and bad news. What would you like to hear first?” The red Earth pony asked to make my presence known.

“Blaze! How’s the human? Is he still knocked out? Is he a danger to Equestria?” Colorful Sparks was asking away.

“Hold on the questions. Please, answer mine first, then I’ll get to yours.”

“Let’s have the bad news first so we can sleep better with the good news,” Lightning Trails said.

“The bad news is that we’ll be going back to the EverFree Forest to redo our survival training after breakfast. Now, for the good news. We have a new recruit coming with us. You can come in now.”

Al walked in and stood near the doorway with the door still open. Probably to have a quick escape if needed.

“Blaze that human is behind you! RUN!” Cancer shouted.

“Calm down everyone. His name is Al and he has his mind back in order now that he knows where he’s at. He’ll not harm us or eat any ponies. Right Al?”

“Yea, sorry about what happened at the ruins. My mind was still acting like I was still in hell. I’ll tell my tale later. I will promise not to eat any ponies here in Equestria. Prefer Manticore meat anyway,” Al said.

“I know! Isn’t it so juicy! Once I get my human body back, I’ll see if the Princesses will allow us to dine with them before we go back to Ponyville. Their cooks can do some awesome things with meat.”

The red stallion looked at the others. They looked disgusted of what they were talking about. “We forgot you’re also a human, Blaze. Can’t wait to see what your body is like,” Star Dust said.

“At least now you can see one now,” he replied as he pointed to Al. “Let’s all head to bed now and will talk some more later with Al so you can get to know him better. We will have time to do that in the EverFree Forest.”

They all headed to bed and Al took the last bunk next to Blaze.

“Blaze, do you have any clothing that will fit me? I don’t want to continue walking around in this torn clothing.” Al whispered to him.

“All I have are gi from the Dragonball series that Rarity made. Any color preference?” he asked in a quiet voice.

“Do you have one all black?” 

The Earth pony performed a summon jutsu and had it appear with clean underclothes. His eyes lit up. 

“I can’t wait to hear how you’re able to perform jutsu without using hand signs. You look like you are doing what the Elric brothers do.”

“I’ll tell you all tomorrow. Let’s get some sleep.”

As Blaze layed down, the memories from the other Blaze popped into his head. The stallion shut his eyes so he could  make sure he got plenty of sleep. 
> Chapter 29: Royal Guard Training, Part 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blaze woke up the next morning before dawn. The others did as well. He looked over and saw Al was still sleeping. The ponies snuck out and started to do the morning stretches. Shining Armor soon showed up just after dawn and headed over to the group.

"Where’s Al?" the Unicorn asked.

"Still sleeping,” replied the red stallion. “We thought he shouldn’t miss your wake up call."

"I do so enjoy doing it." 

The Captain went inside as everyone else stayed quiet to listen. 

"WAKE UP MEAT BAG! GET CLEANED UP AND AHHHHH!!!! BLAZE! GET IN HERE!"

The trainees rushed inside. Once through the threshold, all ground based ponies started to float in the air. Any Pegasi that was flying slammed into the ceiling.  Everyone was bumping into each other as they were trying to figure out what’s going on. Shining Armor was spinning out of control as he was trying to right himself. Blaze used his ki in small pushes to float over to Al, which he was still sleeping.

"Al! Wake up! You need to control your powers!" the Earth pony shouted as he shook the human’s body.

"Huh? What?" Al said as he started to wake up.

The gravity came gradually back and the ponies righted themselves as they landed. The Pegasi used their wings to stay in the air. Blaze continued using his ki him floating.

"Morning sleepy head. What were you dreaming just now?" he asked.

"That I was sleeping on a cloud and it was floating through the sky," Al replied.

The red stallion concluded that Al’s gravity powers work negatively as it did positively.

"Well, it’s time to wake up, get changed, and we’ll meet you in the mess hall."

Al got up and grabbed the clothes Blaze gave him last night. He then saw the other ponies were giving him strange looks.

"I thought the awkward stare was done yesterday?"

"Let's just say you need to work on your gravity controlling powers."

"I can control gravity!?"

Oh, this is going to be fun. Blaze thought as he facehoofed himself. The Earth pony left with the others and they went to the mess hall. As they started to eat, Al walked in and headed to us.

"Morning. What kind of grub are they serving today?" he asked.

Blaze replied, "Fruits, veggies, hay, and flowers. Pony food."

"No meat? Why is it that the meat is always gone."

"Because ponies don't eat meat. Go get something now before we have to head to the tracks."

Al walked off and grabbed several fruits. Then came back and sat next to the red stallion. Each pony went around and introduced themselves and gave a quick thing about themselves and what they can do. Both Colorful Sparks and Lightning Trails got Al when he went to shake their hooves. Everyone laughed when Al got zapped. Al reached behind himself to grab something, but pulled nothing out. A surprised look went on his face.

"Blaze! We have to go back to the ruins. I left my stuff there!" Al said.

"Calm down. We’ll have plenty of time to get your things. I don't think any creature will mess with them in the castle ruins,” he said.

"Fine. But that will be the first thing we do."

The group finished eating and made their way to the tracks. Again, Princess Celestia and Shining Armor were waiting there. The ponies got in line and stood at attention. Al followed and stood at attention the military would on Earth.

"Good morning recruits and hello to our new one, Al is it?" Princess Celestia said.

"Yes, your highness. Sorry about my first introduction. It was not how I really wanted it to be," Al said.

"I’ve read Captain Shining Armor's report so you don't need to fill me in. I’m just glad you are back to your true self."

"Me too, Princess."

"Seeing you had to break away from your survival exercise for an emergency. You’ll restart your survival exercise. Have fun."

The Alicorn used her magic and they were teleported away. Where they arrived, it looked different from where they traveled the day before.

"I think the Princess sent us to another location,” said Blaze. “I don't recognize anything around."

"I agree. Looks like we have to start all over and find water and shelter," Fang said.

"What about my stuff?" Al asked.

Blaze replied, "We’ll get that too, but it’s more important we find water and shelter to survive."

"I need to defend myself if we get attacked."

"You can use these then." The red stallion summoned the kunai knives that he brought to this world from his homeworld. "You should be able to use these."

"Nice! These will definitely work!"

Al picked them up and began to spin them around to get the feel for them. Swift Blaze had Fang take point as he covered the rear. The group walked through the forest yet again to find a water source. They also kept an eye out for Fang's tree marks. 

After an hour of walking, Al asked me, "So, Bob, is Swift Blaze your pony name? How did you come to Equestria?"

"I chose that name after I arrived and have been using it since,” he replied in a whisper. “As for the arrival, I was one of the people that did pass God's test and got to choose where I want to go. I chose here and for those abilities from the show. As for my actual arrival, God was very funny by having me appear way up in the sky falling to my death. Had to think fast and used the Kamehameha blast to break the water surface before I dove in. I did break some bones but with Fluttershy's help and a healing spell from Princess Celestia, I was better in a few minutes."

"So, this world is like the episodes then?" Al asked in a softer voice.

"I believe so, but I can say it’s not in the order of the episodes. We won't know exactly when they will happen," he replied back softly too.

"What elements of jutsu have you learned so far. I would imagine only one, maybe two as you said you only have been here for less than a month."

"I’ve actually learned all five basic elements from my mind space and shadow clone usage within."

"All five! You must have gone sage by now then."

"No, I haven't. I have been busy with my pony friends by doing stuff with them and this Royal Guard Training."

There was a loud roar nearby. The group stopped and started to watch the area. The forest was still. Everyone stayed silent to not give themselves away. Blaze looked at Al and saw his mood had changed. One minute, he was friendly and silly. Now, he looked serious and focused, like he went through military training on Earth. The human had two kunai at the ready. Another roar blasted through the area, and this was closer. The trainees tensed up, waiting for the creature to show up.



The next roar came from another direction. Each time they heard it, it was somewhere else.

"Al, you spent a few weeks here. What do you think the creature is?" Star Dust asked in a whisper.

The human replied, "Sounds like a Manticore. It sounds pissed."

"We haven't done anything to them," said Cancer.

"I might have killed one the second day I was here."

"Why did you kill one?" Dragon asked.

"I was hungry. I haven’t eaten for over a year while I was in hell. Sue me."

"Will you keep it down!” said Lightning Trails. “It probably found us because of Al's scent. There’s nothing we can do about what happened, except make sure it does not kill us."

The roar now sounded really close. They spotted some leaves starting to move around them in a circle. The group watched the path and waited for the creature to come out. Without a sound, the Manticore jumped out of a bush and went towards Al. 

Blaze pushed the human out of the way and Star Dust shot a bright flash at the creature, blinding it. Al quickly recovered and sent the blades flying. They hit the creature in both of its shoulders. It cried out in pain. Dragon used his magic and slowed the creature down. Cancer, Fang, and Colorful Spark start to run around the creature and hit it in vital spots. The red stallion used his jutsu and encased the Manticore feet and claws in a stone earth to immobilize it. With the creature not able to move, everyone backed away.

"What should we do with it now?" Colorful Spark asked.

"It’s still going to chase Al till it kills him," replied Fang.

"Then I guess we have to kill it. Lightning Trails, would you care to help me?" Blaze asked.

The two ponies walked up to the creature and stood in front of it. The Manticore was still angry and had the thirst to kill anything in its way. The Earth pony gathered his chakra as the Pegasus built up his lightning energy. They both sent bolts of lightning that struck where the kunai had dug in. The electricity went through its body and quickly killed it.

"Now what do we do with it?" Star Dust asked.

Al looked to the red stallion and asked, "Blaze, do you have a dagger or short sword in your arsenal of weapons?"

"I do,” he replied. “Why do you ask?"

"I’m not going to let this meat go to waste."

"You are going to cut up the body!" Dragon shouted.

"If I don't, the other creatures in this forest are going to tear it apart for the meat."

"Fine. But I’m not going to drag the meat around with me to entice others to come and kill us.

"You won't have to,” said Blaze. “I’ll send it to the meat locker under my house. No pony can get in there."

"Well, get me a knife so I can get this done quickly," Al said.

The red stallion summoned his short sword and the human went to work. "Save the pelt and the bones too. I can do something with them back home," he said.

Al nodded and started to carve. Star Dust, Colorful Spark, Lightning Trails, Cancer, and Dragon left the area so they don't have to see or smell what is going on. Fang stayed behind with them.

"This does not bother you Fang?" Blaze asked.

"No. I’ve been around death and blood before,” replied the black zebra. “This doesn’t bother me. I even hung out with some Griffins during meal times and they ate meat every time."

So, Al finished the butcher job for the important items. Blaze sent everything to the meat locker under his house. The Earth pony also sent the sword back after Al cleaned the blood off of it. The three teammates met back up with the others a few yards away.

“Alright, let’s get back to finding that water source and shelter,” Star Dust said.

The group continued the search for water when they finally stumbled across Fang’s marks on the trees. Now that they found a spot they went through yesterday, the ponies and single human headed for the water first to get a drink. 

When the water was in sight, Al ran ahead and jumped into the air and shouted, “CANON BALL!” He landed in the water and caused it to go everywhere.

Lightning went behind the tree quickly to avoid getting splashed on and short out again. Blaze just looked at Al as the human was joking around. He soon saw the red pony’s stare and realized this isn’t the time. He got back out and dried himself off the best he could. Blaze sent a low heat wave jutsu wind to help out.

After the time by the stream and pond, the trainees headed towards the castle. They knew it was currently the safest place to be after dark. About halfway there, Al took off running towards the castle ruins.

“AL! WHERE IN EQUESTRIA ARE YOU GOING!” Blaze yelled at him.

“I’M GOING TO GET MY STUFF! SEE YOU THERE!” he replied without looking back and continuing to run.

“Cancer, go after him and make sure he does not get into trouble.”

The Zebra Unicorn activated his magic and took off like a bullet. The remainder of the party kept their normal pace. They didn’t want to draw out the attention of the creatures in this forest. The ponies made it to the bridge and saw all the fog that was not there normally. They could see what the castle ruins looked like. They crossed and entered the castle. When the group entered, Cancer was saying something.

“You’re never going to hit me when I can use my ability,” he said.

“True, but I always want to test out to see if the hand is quicker than the eye. Oh, hi guys,” Al said. 

As he said that, Cancer turned his head toward those who showed up. At that moment, the human sent a knife towards the speedy Zebra. Cancer dodged it, like he hardly moved.

“I like the saying moving faster than the blink of an eye. You taught me that Blaze,” Cancer said.

“That I did. Now then, put those away before you poke someone’s eye out,” he replied.

“Hey, I’m just glad everything is still here. I still wonder why there was so much wood in this grand hall when I first showed up,” Al said.

“That’s not normal wood. It was Timberwolves dead bodies. As to why they were here, you were not the only one who has had a rage release. I killed all of these while in my Rage Mode. I will tell you the story later. Let’s go and find a big enough room to stay in.”

“I agree. Don’t want to be at the front door when any creature might show up,” said Colorful Spark.

“I think I saw a place when I was looking for where Al had gone. Follow me,” Cancer said.

The group followed him through the castle and over the rubble and came to a big set of doors. The twins pushed them open and everyone saw the space was a library. They looked around from the entryway, most of the bookshelves were empty.

“I think this will do. Al, would you like to go and get the firewood you already cut up so we can start a fire?” Blaze asked.

“No problem. I know the way like the back of my hand. Hey, that’s new,” Al said as he joked around and left.

“So, now that we have shelter, Al has gone to get the firewood, we need to find food that is safe to eat. Also get some containers that can hold water so we don’t always have to go back to the stream.”

“No problem, Dragon and I will find something to carry the water and be back in a couple minutes,” said Cancer. “Ready to race brother? First one back gets to kick the other in the balls.”

Dragon replied , “Oh you are so on. Ready. Set. GO!”

They took off like bullets and were gone with a dust cloud forming behind them. 

“Fang and I will go and find some food for us. But I don’t know if we will find something Al can eat,” Colorful Sparks said.

“I think Al has some left over cooked meat he will reheat back up in that tower,” replied the red pony.

“Alright. See you in a little bit.”

Fang and Colorful Spark left through a busted window.

“What is the rest of us going to do?” Lightning Trails asked.

“My body for some reason is telling me there is something in this library that was left behind for some reason. I don’t know what it is.”

“Then let’s split up and look for it,” Star Dust said.

Lightning Trails, Star Dust, and Blaze headed off in separate directions in the library. In the back of the red ponies mind, something was somewhat informing him that there was something here that needed to be found. He didn’t have this the past several times he was here, but it was now nagging him to find it.

The Earth stallion was letting his body lead him where to go as the feeling grew stronger. He weaved through the empty bookcases as if he knew where he was supposed to go. Blaze finally ended at a blank wall. His eyes showed him nothing but a stone surface, but he somehow knew there was something more at this spot.

In another part of the library, Star Dust shouted, “Blaze! You find something?”

“Not sure,” he shouted back. “I’m going to send up an energy ball so you can see where I am.”

The stallion did so and had it hover above the bookcases. “I see it! We’ll be over there in a minute,” Lightning Trails said.

They caught up with Blaze as he continued to look at the wall. “So what is it?” Star Dust asked.

“I don’t know as my body led me here,” he replied. “The other odd thing is this is the only wall without a bookcase.”

“That is odd. Do you think there is a secret switch somewhere?” Lightning Trails asked.

“Maybe, or there is a phrase or spell to reveal whatever is here.”

“Hey guys. I brought the firewood and some meat for me,” said Al. “No one was by the door and then I saw that orb floating above and headed for it. Why are you all staring at a door? Watching paint dry?”

“What door? We only see a stone wall. Blaze is the one that led us here,” Star Dust said.

“Well, I see a door there. I don’t know why you can’t see it.”

“Maybe because we’re ponies and there is some enchantment to hide it from our eyes. Care to open it?” Blaze asked.

Al walked over to the wall and began to grab nothing from the view of the pony eyes. Suddenly, a black opening showed up as the invisible door swung inward.

“Now that’s creepy,” said Lightning Trails.

“You two should return back to the main area and inform the others what’s going on. Al and I are going to go in and see what is in here,” said the red stallion.

Star Dust asked, ”Why only you two are going to venture in and not the rest of us? We’re teammates.”

“This was hidden away from any ponies, including the princesses, to see. I need Al for his eyes and I’m going as well to give him back up. This can’t be part of the survival training as I’ve been here for only a month and Al showed up a week ago.”

“Be safe,” replied the Unicorn, then he and the Pegasus left.

“So, what do you think is in there Blaze?” Al asked.

“I’m not sure ,but my body is saying something is in here. I have found out humans were here in Equestria during the Medieval Ages so that might explain why a human can see the door and a pony can’t,” he replied. “Let’s go inside, carefully. I don’t want to trigger a boulder or blow dart traps.”

Al nodded. The Earth pony lowered the energy ball and had it stayed in front of them as they entered the doorway. The two walked through and saw they entered a long hallway, with lots of twist and bends. There were no other doors or other hallways that branched off that either of them could see. After fifteen minutes of walking, the pair came up to another door. This one was metal and rusty. Al tried to open it, but it would not budge.

“Guess all this moisture down here has built up a thick layer of rust that we cannot open it,” he said.

“I have not let my body tell me to come this way to be stopped by a rusty sealed door,” said Blaze. “Back away from it.”

Al quickly did. The red stallion stuck one hoof out and shot a thin continuous energy beam. It acted like a laser cutting through the metal. Once Blaze went around the parameter of the door, it fell inward, into the room. A rush of stale air escaped.

“Guess we now know this room was sealed tight,” Al said.

The Earth pony walked in and looked around. He saw the space was like a cave with no windows, nor another way to gain entry. Inside were more bookshelves. These were also empty. Both of them went down each row to look for a clue in this room or why Blaze was drawn to find it. Neither of them found anything.

“This doesn’t make any sense. Why would my body want to come down here to an old, empty room?” asked the Earth pony.

“I don’t know. Maybe to let you know about it and ask the Princesses if they know anything about it?” replied Al.

“If that is the case, then why do I feel something is still here. I can’t pinpoint it either. It feels like it's everywhere in this room. There must be another enchantment active hiding it.”

“How do we release it then?”

Blaze was thinking. He thought because the door was hidden by an illusion, so no ponies could see it, this must be another one here. The stallion looked around the room for anything that could be out of place in the arrangement. But it’s tough to see with everything covered in centuries of dust.

“Wait a sec,” said the Earth pony. “Al, cover your face. I'm going to try something.” 

Al quickly did. Blaze went to the center of the room and channeled his chakra. Thinking of the signs, he touched his hooves together and said, “Wind Style! Tornado Jutsu!” 

A tornado started to form around me and began to collect all the dust. He then sent it out the door and dissipated in the hallway. 

“All clear, Al. You can look now,” said the stallion with a small cough.

“That is one way to remove dust. Why did you do that?”

“I thought that the dust was hiding something so I did that jutsu to save time.”

“Everything alright in there?” asked Colorful Spark. “We saw a dust cloud come out of the door.”

“Everything is fine. Had to do some spring cleaning,” Blaze replied back.

He looked around the cleaner room. Some details he overlooked were now visible. There were four posts in the room, but not in the corners. The stallion looked down and saw lines engraved in the floor connecting them.

“Al, give me a hand and move these bookcases against the walls.”

They worked together on moving them out of the way. With them all cleared, the two of them could see what they were making.

“It’s a cross. These four posts are at the points,” said Blaze.

“Hold up, a cross usually has something in the center. Why isn’t there a post there?” Al asked.

The Earth pony went and looked at each post and saw a different symbol carved into the top of them. “You need to activate these four to reveal the fifth.”

"How do we activate them?"

Just then, Blaze’s head was rushed and filled with new knowledge. He didn’t know where it came from. The stallion felt a little dizzy for a moment from the process.

"You alright, Blaze? You don't look so good," Al said.

"I think I’ll be fine. Just a blood rush to the head. I think these symbols are the four elements. We need to display the elements on top of the pillars."

"So, do the things they did in the Fifth Element movie, correct?"

"Not exactly."

Blaze walked to the center of the cross. Once he touched the center, his body was consumed with a surge of energy. He cried out in pain from the initial shock.

"Blaze!" Al screamed out. 

The red pony, through the pain, heard the others coming down the hallway. The ponies entered and saw their comrade in the center of the room. Before they could make another step, Blaze shouted, "STAY BACK! THIS ROOM WANTED ME HERE FOR A REASON!"

They nodded and stood back. The energy was still flowing into the red Earth pony. It was less painful now than it started. His body started to have a white glow around his form. This was getting brighter. His cutie mark started to spin and generate a sphere of pure white. The stallion’s body was soon floating off the ground and was engulfed by the light. The sphere then shot different color beams at each pillar and displayed  different symbols in the form of the element it corresponds with.

The earth element has a small mountain with snow.

	 



The air element has a mini tornado spinning.

	 




The water element has a geyser shooting up. 

	




The fire element has a brilliant flame. 

	




The others were eye struck by what was happening. They suddenly hear a voice come from the sphere, but it didn’t sound like their friend. It spoke these words:

I am the Air that blows in the trees
I am the Water that swirls in the sea
I am the Fire that gives us light
I am the Earth, one too strong to fight
Elements gather in this sacred place
Around the 5th, which has no face
Bring me your honor
Bring me your grace
Come now, I call you
Come now in haste.
And as it is spoken, So shall it be!

The white sphere shined out and blinded everything in the room. When the others could see again, the four pillars were no longer showing the elements. A fifth one had appeared at the center. On top of it was an old book on it with five gems slots in the cross formation.


	


"Blaze!" Al shouted and ran to the pony.

He was laying next to the center post. As the human picked him up, the stallion started to open his eyes. 

"Ugh, my head. Remind me not to do that again," he said as he rubbed the side of my head. "Did whatever happen cause the fifth pillar to appear?"

The other joined him as he sat on the ground. "Yes. The fifth one has shown up,” said Lightning Trails. “But, it looks like something else has happened."

"What? You all look the same to me."

"We didn’t change, it was you who did," Cancer said.

The stallion looked at his fore hoof and saw it was still the same coat color. 

"What! Did my mane change color? I won't look good as a blond! What changed! Please tell me!"

"You’re umm . . . no longer an Earth pony. You’re  . . . a Unicorn pony," Star Dust said.

"I'M A UNICORN!" 

His hoof suddenly shot to the top and bang against something that wasn't there before, a horn. Blaze felt the pain when he banged against his new equipment. With the throbbing in his head, he wasn’t expecting that sort of thing to happen.

"I’m afraid you are,” said Al. “Just don't mess with it, or it might fall off."

The new Unicorn thought, Oh, I just wish I can send a lightning bolt at Al right now. 

His horn started to glow and a lightning bolt struck Al.

"What was that for!"

"I don't know! I just thought of something and the horn did it," he replied.

"Looks like you need to find a teacher to learn how to use that new horn," Dragon said as he laughed.

"Watch it or I’ll send fireballs at you."

The Zebra quickly shut up.

"So, what about this book here?" Colorful Sparks asked as he pointed to it.

The red pony got up and went over to take a look at it. As he got closer, several of the pages started to pulse a white aura. 

Fang said, “That can't be good.” 

The book opened up and passed several pages before stopping. Al carefully went over to look at what is on the pages it opened to.

"What’s on these pages?” he asked. “I can't read this chicken scratch shit. Can anyone else here read it?"

The human picked up the book and held it open. Most of the ponies shook their head no as they viewed it. 

When he showed it to the new Unicorn, he said, "Um, I don't know what language it’s in, but I can somehow read it."

"What does it say?" Lightning Trails asked.

"Let’s worry about this later. That energy transformation left me hungry and tired. I think we should finish our survival exercise. Then, we’ll bring this to Princess Celestia and let her know what we’ve discovered.”

Blaze stood up and stretched his limbs. The others followed some of the motions. 

“Let's head back to the main library and get some food. What did you find by the way, Fang and Colorful Sparks?"

"We got some juicy leaves and berries." Fang said.

"Yuck,” said Al. “I’ll stick to the meat. Thank you very much.”

The human picked up and carried the book with him as the group headed back to the main library. Some of the wood was gathered and the red stallion was grateful as he’s still able to use his jutsu to create fire.

As he stared at the flames, he thought, I’m going to need to see Twilight about this horn. I can hear her voice right now, about being so happy to teach me magic. Oh, thinking of her enthusiasm is already giving me a headache.

They ate all the food and replenished their thirst. Once everyone’s belly was full, the trainees stayed around the fire to stay warm. They scheduled to have two of them, stand watch for four hours, while the others slept. The first two up for it were Star Dust and Dragon.

As the others were falling asleep, Blaze grabbed the book to look it over. This development was a complete mystery to him. The stallion couldn’t make sense as why he was the only one that could read it. One thought was it might be tied to why only he was drawn to the secret room. But his Earth pony form now becoming a Unicorn is another topic that didn’t have a clear answer. 

Al sat next to the red pony as he was looking the book over. He whispered, “Blaze, I never hear of this in any of the episodes, nor in some of the fanfiction I’ve read. What do you think this is all about? From the secret room, that book, and how you’re somehow connected to them. Any thoughts?”

“I’m not sure,” he replied back in a whisper. “Remember, we’ve only seen a small piece of this world. That has changed since we’ve arrived. We can never trust what happened in those episodes to happen exactly the same with us here. I have a feeling the humans that used to live here left this book in that secret room and set it up for only a human to find. As to why I’m connected, your guess is as good as mine. Maybe once we talk with the Princesses in private, we’ll be able to get some answers.”

“So, what have you found about the book so far?”

“Not much. Only the first few pages have allowed me, somehow, to read what’s written. The rest of them are still locked in mystery.”

“What’s in the first section?”

“According to the book, it talks about something similar to the Elements of Harmony. This is a human version called the Elements of Order. The humans of the past somehow managed to create them by harnessing the actual elements.”

“We’d only seen four in that room. What’s the fifth? Also why are there gem slots on the cover of the book?”

“I don’t know what the fifth could be. As for the missing gems, I guess the humans must have split them off and hidden them so it does not fall into the wrong hands.”

“But ponies don’t have hands,” the human said with a slight chuckle. 

Blaze looked at him with an annoyed look as his horn was slowly lighting up. 

“Okay, okay, bad joke. You don’t need to blast me with that to express your point. Back onto the topic, how are we, mainly you, supposed to find them?”

“Again, I don’t know. Let’s sleep on it and discuss it with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna when we get back.”

“Alright. Good night, Blaze. Sweet dreams,” he said as the human got comfortable as best he could and went to sleep.

“Good night, Al,” the Unicorn replied. With what’s rattling in his head, no sweet dreams were going to come to him tonight. He needed to gather his thoughts and try to understand what this book wanted. The red pony got comfortable and entered his mind space, but not for training tonight.
> Chapter 30: Royal Guard Training, Part 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

While Swift Blaze was in his mind, in his human form, an unsuspecting visitor entered the space. He was walking through the hills of Ponyville when Princess Luna showed up.

“Good evening, Blaze,” the blue Alicorn said. “What’s got your mind so troubled?”

“Hi, Luna. Just a recent event that happened that I’m trying to piece together,” he replied.

“What exactly happened?”

“Me and the other recruits decided to spend the night at the old castle, as it had the best shelter to stay alive from the animals of the forest. We’re currently in the library section, at the moment. What happened is what I’m still trying to figure out.” 

The human could see a worried look show up on the princess’s face as he was starting to tell what happened.

“You can tell me, Blaze. I know everything about that castle.”

“Really? Then I think I have a surprise for you.” He changed the space in his mind to that of the library in the old castle. “Follow me and I’ll show you.” 

As they were walking, he said, “I was planning to have a chat with you and Princess Celestia as to what happened, as I don’t even have any knowledge of this from the episodes.” The pair finally arrived at the blank wall. “Tell me, what you see.”

“I see we’re standing in front of a wall that does not have a bookcase. That is odd.”

“Then you don’t know about this.” The human twisted where the handle was and opened the door. Princess Luna's eyes lit up as the trainees did when they discovered this.

“What did you find in there, Blaze?”

“The reason you didn’t see the door is probably because the humans that used to live here created this. So Al and I went down this hallway to another room. Inside there, it had empty bookcases, like here. Except, my body was telling me something was in there, but would not pinpoint it.”

“Did you find what drew you to that room?”

“We did. I think I’ll save that till after our survival exercise. Please don’t peak into my mind or with that viewing portal of yours. Just tell Princess Celestia that Al and I need to have a word in closed chambers. The other recruits know what happened, but I don’t want to go into the knowledge we have.”

“Very well. I do hope you will be able to relax tonight to regain your strength. Take care.”

Princess Luna left his mind as quickly as she entered it. Blaze changed the scenery back to the hillside and lay down. Still, one question remained in his thoughts, what does this all mean?

For the first time, the red stallion woke up the next morning after sunrise. He figured his mind must have hit some sort of snooze button, to allow him to sleep longer. He looked and saw the mysterious book was still next to him. The pony moved a hoof to the top of his head. He felt his new horn was still there. What happened yesterday wasn’t a dream now. The Unicorn looked around and saw the others were busy eating and talking quietly.

“Morning sleepy head. Had a rough night?” Al asked as he saw Blaze was awake.

The stallion let out a big yawn, then replied, “What do you think if this happened to you?”

“Hey, there is no reason to be rude,” Star Dust said.

“Sorry. Last night’s event just has me filled with so many questions that need answers to. I don’t know if I’ll ever find them.”

“It’s alright. I was kinda the same way as I was wondering why I was sent to hell. Come on over and have breakfast,” said the human. “We’re going to head to another spot to get some more survival training in.”

“Thanks. So what’s for breakfast today?”

“You would not believe this, but Cancer found a Zap Apple tree,” replied Colorful Sparks. “They were ready to be picked too. I just love it when Sweet Apple Acres brings in the Zap Apple harvest.”

Blaze couldn’t wait to taste one. The red Unicorn grabbed an apple and took a big bite out of it. His eyes lit up from the taste shock. The flavors were too hard to describe. Imagine eating pure joy and happiness as it melts in your mouth. 

They finished eating breakfast and cleaned up before the group headed out. The red stallion summoned his saddle bag to carry the book in. The trainees left the castle and crossed the bridge, back into the EverFree Forest. 

Fang was leading them back to the water source to quench their thirst. Keeping an eye and ear out for creatures kept Blaze’s mind focused and off that book. As they wandered through the woods, the group were able to see some of the friendly creatures that lived there. They scampered in the trees and flew through the forest. They all had a smile on their faces. 

The red Unicorn thought, Pinkie loves when everyone smiles. Dammit! Now that song is in my head, again. 

A squirrel dropped an acorn and it fell directly onto Al’s head. He thought they were under attack and dove for cover. The ponies all laughed as he realized what happened. The trainees formed back into formation and headed out again.

They soon made it to the stream and replenished their thirst. The Zebra ponies also filled up the makeshift canteens the twins made to haul the water back to the castle. Al went and dunk himself in the water to cool off. He tried to splash Lightning Trails, but Blaze used his jutsu and had the water move around like a roller coaster and back into Al’s face. The ponies were laughing again. 

Al sent a wave at the red stallion as he was laughing with his eyes closed. He got drenched and the laughter switched to Blaze. As he was about to retaliate, a strange order was in the air. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked for the source. We then heard a long howl.

“Timberwolves!” Lightning Trails shouted as he flew up to get a better view. “I see at least a dozen coming our way! No, two dozen! Will you stop moving so I can get a correct count!”

The trainees prepared themselves for the coming attack.

“I’ve dealt with these before,” said Blaze. “They’re tough to kill as they are made out of wood. Use that to their disadvantage. BURN THEM ALL!”

The ponies and single human let out a battle cry. 

The red stallion turned to Al and asked, “Remember that game from that movie in a similar situation on that scorched planet?”

The human thought for a few seconds. Then replied, “Who’s the better killer?”

“Let’s play.”

Once they were in sight, the group charged at them. Fang had her blade out and was running and slashing like they were made of butter. The Zebra twins worked together in the battle. Dragon would slow one down and Cancer would speed punch it. They called it the hyper attack, and it was lethal. Lightning Trails was charged up and sent his bolts to several of the Timberwolves. They caught on fire and ran into others, causing a chain reaction of fire spreading. The two blue Unicorns teamed up to take them on. Star Dust blinded them and Colorful Sparks has his illusions go to town and cut them up.

Al the human, on the other hand, was having a fun time. He easily dodges an attack and slid his blades into the side of them. He was cutting off limbs and heads as there was nothing there. He was dancing around them, avoiding all the attacks. Blaze could see his face and showed that he was enjoying it. He was also somehow feeling an energy source building inside of the human.

For the red Unicorn, he too was having fun. He had deactivated the weights to increase his reaction time. The stallion was sending ki blast, like the time at the castle ruins. But, he decided to incorporate some simple jutsus of fire, earth, wind, and lightning. Each hit was at least a death kill. Blaze was racking the kills quickly. 

Out of nowhere, a Timberwolf was able to get a jump on the red pony and pinned him to the ground on his back. Before it could sink his teeth into flesh, Blaze shouted, "GET OFF OF ME!" 

His horn then lit up and sent an energy beam right into the wolf’s head. The beam ended, and there was no more head. The stallion tossed the body off of him and quickly got back up.

Al saw what happened and said, "Remind me not to get you pissed off."

"Totally not me. My horn did it," he replied.

The trainees continued to kill them and their bodies were forming a mound in the center of us. Soon, they were all dead.

"Well, that was easy," Cancer said.

Blaze faced hoofed himself. Then replied, "Cancer, you never say that as it will lead to something worse."

The mound of dead Timberwolves began to shift around and join together. It formed a Mega Timberwolf and this one was bigger than the last one the red stallion had faced. The others were surprised by what happened. He turned to zebra and said, "This is why you never say something was easy in a battle. It will lead to something worse."

"Blaze, what should we do?" Star Dust asked.

"It’s my opinion, and how this one's teeth are drooling, I think . . . we should . . . RUN!"

The group was running away together in the same direction. The Mega Timberwolf was chasing them and was knocking down trees that were in the path. It was keeping up with the ponies and the human as they ran.

"What’s the next thing we should do, Blaze?" Dragon shouted.

"I haven’t gotten that far in planning,” he replied. “Check back with me later."

"Not later, we need something, NOW!" Colorful Sparks said.

"Do any of you have any ideas? I don't have to be the only one to come up with them." Each one said no in their own way.

The Mega Timberwolf was getting close to them. The group soon had to dodge swipes with its claws. They soon saw daylight through the forest.

"FREEDOM! OH SHIT!" Al said.

The forest opened to a cliff edge. The ponies and Al stopped close to it and turned around.  The Mega Timberwolf had slowed down as it knew they couldn’t escape.

"Blaze, why don't you teleport us out of here?" Fang asked.

"I would, but my chakra is running low. I won't be able to bring everyone at the same time,” he replied.  “I’m not going to leave any of you behind. We stick together. Now and forever.”

Al whispered to the red pony, "Now would be a good time to launch a Kamehameha blast to destroy it."

"I would do that too, but it’s too big for the energy level I have left. I would only injure it and anger it more. I need to somehow boost it to make it effective,” the Unicorn replied back in a whisper.

"Have you thought about combining it with some chakra jutsu?"

Blaze face hoofed myself. He thought, Why didn’t I think of that? Probably because it is going to be super dangerous and I have no clue what was going to happen. 

He turned to the human and said, "That never crossed my mind. The downside is I don't know what will happen if I do."

"If you don't, WE ARE ALL DEAD ANYWAY!"

"Alright. I’m going to raise a stone wall to protect you guys. Don't come out till the blast is over."

Blaze stepped forward a few paces. The Mega Timberwolf was looking at him, waiting for the little pony to make a move. The stallion summoned a two foot thick stone wall underneath him. The others ran and huddled low against it. The red Unicorn created a clone to help out. One of them will do the ki type blast and the other will do a chakra jutsu to amplify it. Each of them were building the available energy for the attack. 

The Blazes' were emitting a red aura around each of them. Ki Blaze got into formation and began to do the motion for the Kamehameha blast. The Chakra Blaze was pushing the chakra into a Rasengan sphere between his hooves. Once the energy was at the peak, Chakra Blaze said, "RASENGAN!" and launched the red sphere to the Mega Timberwolf. Just a few seconds before the sphere made contact, Ki Blaze quickly said, KAMEHAMEHA!" and launched the blue beam. He aimed it for the red sphere. The beam made contact with the sphere. 

What happened next is what he hoped would happen. The ki beam changed color to purple and multiplied in size, several times over. The beam received a spiral effect from the jutsu. It made contact and was pushing the giant creature back, very hard. The Timberwolf dug its claws into the ground to stay in place. The new beam was too much for it as the energy started to consume the beast. Without warning, the creature exploded and the debris flew all over the EverFree Forest. 

Swift Blaze collapsed onto the top of the wall and his clone disappeared. Al came and picked him off the surface and placed the red Unicorn behind it. He was barely awake as they started to talk to him.

"That was amazing Blaze! Why did you not do that sooner?" Lightning Trails asked.

With a weak response, he replied, "Three things. One, didn’t think of it. That goes to Al. Two, I didn’t know what effect would happen if I did. Three, didn’t want to wipe out the forest to destroy it."

"Rest now, Blaze. You certainly deserve it," Al said.

"Nighty night," he said as he fell asleep.

When the stallion woke up, he looked around and saw they were now in a cave. The Unicorn was near the fire that someone had started and mostly everyone else was asleep elsewhere around the heat source. The two that weren't were Fang and Lightning Trails. Blaze saw them standing watch at the mouth of the cave. He got up quietly to join them.

"Hi fellas. What happened while I was out?" he asked in a whisper.

"Hey, Blaze. Glad to see you’re doing better,” said the black Pegasus. “You were only out for a couple hours."

"Al carried you over his shoulder with no issues,” said the Zebra mare.” I picked up your saddle bag to make sure we didn’t leave it behind. After an hour of searching for a new place to stay the night, we came across this cave."

"Star Dust went in to make sure nothing was living in here and found nothing. So we moved in and did what you taught us, fire to stay warm and gather food and water to have. Speaking of that, we saved some for you. Care for a bite?"

"Gladly, I’m starving,” replied Blaze.

Lightning Trails brought over several apples and a canteen of water. The red stallion ate and drank quickly to subdue his stomach, before it would wake the others up.

"That was still an impressive move you did to take care of that creature. I don't know what we would have done if you weren’t there," said the black stallion.

"I’m sure someone would have come up with a better plan. The attack I did was a desperate play. I knew I wouldn’t be useful after I released it."

"Well, we’re glad you are part of the group. I have just never seen that many Timberwolves at once before. Let alone them coming together to become one big one," Fang said.

"I have, but it’s rather odd for them to be going around in such big packs. I wonder if something is going on in this forest. I’m going back to bed to finish replenishing my strength and energy levels. I can tell I’m going to need them when I have to explain about this horn."

"Night, Blaze. See you in the morning," Lightning Trails said.

"Goodnight, Blaze. I can't wait to hear if Princess Celestia knows anything about that book," Fang said.

"Night you two. Continue to keep an eye out for trouble." 

The Unicorn returned back to his spot in the cave. He settled back down and quickly fell asleep again.

The next morning, Blaze woke up with everyone else. They were happy to see he was better now. The stallion found out that Colorful Sparks did some healing on his body to help speed up the recovery. He thanked him for that. The group left the cave and started to make their way out of the forest now. Lightning Trails flew up to find where the edge of the forest was.

"Ok, I saw the closest edge was two miles to the east,” said the Pegasus.

"Then let's get moving and out of this deadly forest," Cancer replied .

It didn’t take them long to reach the edge. Once they were out, the bright sun shined directly into their faces. When everyone’s eyes finally adjusted, the trainees saw Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Captain Shining Armor, and several other guards were waiting. Blaze kept himself hidden behind Al so they couldn’t see him, yet.

“Congratulations recruits. You all have passed the survival exercise,” said Princess Celestia. “Rest up for tomorrow will be the final part. Hold on, where’s Swift Blaze?” 

“I’m back here, your highness. Something unexpected happened while in the forest,” the red stallion said.

He walked out from behind Al to reveal his new look. “Surprise!” the Unicorn said as he did a ta da stance. All the ponies looking at the group, including the Princesses, just dropped their mouths open. Blaze saw one guard collapse over from shock.

“So, this is the surprise you were talking about with Princess Luna when you were within a dream. Would you like to explain what happened?”

“I will, your highness, but I think this should actually be discussed in closed chambers. Just those on that list that I am referring to should be in attendance.”

“Very well, let’s all return back to the castle so you all can rest. I’ll see you and Al in the throne room, shortly.”

Princess Celestia activated her horn and the trainees were teleported back to the training grounds. When they arrived, Captain Shining Armor was waiting for them.

"Well done recruits. It’s been a long time an entire group returned back, alive,” said the white Unicorn. “So, rest up and prepare for tomorrow. You’re going to need it."

"Would you mind telling us what we will be doing?" Colorful Sparks asked.

"Oh, I didn’t tell you? You’re going to be going into a tournament against your fellow recruits. You’ll not be informed whom though until the start of the match. Have fun.” He turned his gaze to two of them. “Swift Blaze and Al, if you would please, follow me to the throne room. Then we can get a report of what happened."

"Lead the way," Al said.

The human and red Unicorn followed the white stallion to their destination. Once inside, the doors were closed and a magic barrier had activated. The trio finished walking up to where they were at the steps before the throne, where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were waiting.

"Princess Luna informed me you found a secret room that was connected to the library at the old castle,” said the white Alicorn. “We’d cleared everything out and made sure nothing was hidden centuries ago."

Blaze replied, "I’m sorry to say but we did find a room. I still don't know why, but my body was drawn to find it. It wasn't until Al came looking for me and some of the others that we found the door."

"It’s true, your highness. From the looks of it, it appeared to have been a human magic spell that made it so only human eyes can see it," Al said.

"So, what did you find in that room?” asked Shining Armor. “What caused Blaze to now be a Unicorn?"

"This is where it gets interesting,” replied Blaze. “In the room were more empty bookcases. We look everywhere to find a clue. My body was telling me I had to find something in this room. I gave another look around and noticed four pillars, but they were not in the corners of the room."

"They were arranged in a cross with the center one missing,” said Al. “We cleared the bookcases out of the way so the room was opened up. Blaze did a jutsu that cleared all the dust out of the room so we can get a better look at everything.”

"I took another look at the pillars. It was at this moment when I was forced with knowledge of what we needed to do. The pillars represent elements of earth, air, water, and fire. We had to somehow show that element on the pillar."

"That’s when everything went crazy as Blaze stepped into the center and first cried out pain."

"I think for the rest of it, we should show you what happened from Al's perspective, if everyone agrees."

The others nodded. Princess Celestia used her magic to have the memory be displayed in front of each of them. After the memory was done, the displays went away.

"So, that’s how you changed into a Unicorn. I take you brought the book that appeared on the fifth pillar?" Princess Celestia asked.

"I did. It’s in my saddle bag,” said the red stallion. “So far, I’ve been the only one who can read it, but only the first part has been translated to where I can to understand."

Princess Luna used her magic to pull the book out and brought the book between her and her sister. Blaze saw their eyes opened wider, telling him they know what it is.

"Sister, is this what I think it is?" Princess Luna asked.

"It appears to be so,” replied the white Alicorn. “ I thought the humans took this with them when they left. To imagine it was hidden, even from us, till a human was worthy of it."

Blaze spoke up and asked, "Celestia and Luna, can you please tell me what is going on?”

"Do you know what you have found, Bob?"

"Well, from what I can read from the book, it talks about a human version of the Elements of Harmony. It calls them the Elements of Order."

"That’s correct. When the humans were here in Equestria, over a thousand years ago, there was a powerful one among them that created these to work with the Elements of Harmony."

"Let me guess. Was this human called Merlin?" Al asked.

"Again, correct. He loved this world as you two do. He worked with Starswirl the Bearded in order to create them. When we were up against Discord, we saw how easily corrupted the humans could get by his chaos powers. That’s why the humans left, to escape from Discord's influence. It took my sister and I with the Elements of Harmony to just be able to seal him away in stone."

"We know of Discord. We saw the episode where he breaks out," Al blurted out.

Blaze stomped on his foot to stop him from talking.

"DISCORD ESCAPES! YOU MUST TELL ME EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED SO HE NEVER WILL!" Princess Celestia shouted in her Royal Canterlot Voice.

The human and two Unicorn ponies covered their ears just after the beginning of the Alicorn’s demand. The windows shook from the sound waves, but didn’t burst, nor crack. Probably because of the sound proof magic barrier. 

"Princess, we cannot tell you how it happens,” replied Blaze after he uncovered his ears. “These events have to happen, or they will affect the better ones after that. He will be sealed up again by Twilight and her friends with the Elements of Harmony. Please understand where we’re coming from. It was going to happen anyway, even if we never showed up."

The Alicorn was calming down. She took a few deep breaths and then said, "You are right again, Swift Blaze. I shouldn’t mess with the future, or I will mess it up further if I try to prevent something that needs to happen. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now let's get back to the book before a certain human says more about what he should not."

"I could not help it. That two part episode was great and you know it. I especially like when . . . mmph," Al started to say before the red stallion stuck a hoof into his mouth. He spat it out and was wiping his mouth out. "Geez, Blaze, you didn’t have to shove the whole hoof into my mouth. Now I have dirt on my tongue."

"Would you rather I stick it up your rear to make you shut up?" Blaze asked as a threat. Al remained silent and just continued to clean his mouth out. The Princess of the night was giggling a bit after hearing that. 

"So, getting back to the book,” said the Princess of the day. “It seems you’re missing the gems that go on the cover. That might explain why you cannot read the other parts of the book."

"Then how am I supposed to find them if I have no clue where they could be?" the red Unicorn asked.

"From what I remember, they’ll be the five elements of nature. You know four of them, as they were needed to reveal the book. I expect just like how you were led to find the book, the other pieces will notify you when you are close to them. If I know Merlin, he’s set up challenges to see if you are worthy of them."

"Great. My body will ping when I’m close and I have to face a challenge to get them. Anything else I should know?"

"Yes. When you return to Ponyville, have Twilight Sparkle teach you how to use your horn. I won’t send her a letter of what happened. But I’ll expect a letter from her when she finds out about this," Princess Celestia said with a big smile.

Blaze already can get an idea of how it’ll turn out. His ears are aching from the potential future pain it might endure. He replied,"Of course, Celestia. I was already planning on asking her for her help. Speaking of Twilight, it has been two full weeks since I was magically turned into a pony. Shouldn't I have transformed back to my human form by now?"

"Magic is a very tricky thing. The exact length of the spell varies when It was rushed. You’ll just have to wait for it to end by itself."

"Very well, Princess. If you would excuse us, we would like to rest up and get ready for tomorrow."

"Of course. Have fun tomorrow. I look forward to all the matches. Especially the ones with humans."

A guard escorted Al and Blaze back to the training grounds. On the way there, they discussed some things.

"I still find it odd that this is happening. We’re getting into something we have no knowledge of. Aren't you afraid of what is to come?" Al asked.

"Not really,” replied the red stallion. “Life is a big unknown and none of these ponies think about it. Why should we? I do see where you are coming from, but we can't drastically change the future to try and prevent it. I’m not going to act like Twilight when she sees her future self. Worrying about the future caused what happened to her."

"I do see that now. Sorry for blabbing about that episode."

"It's ok. All we can do now is prepare for tomorrow's matches. I just hope I don't change back to a human while in one."

"Why's that? Don't you want your human body back?"

"I do, just last time I changed back, it was very painful."

"How much pain could there be?"

"Imagine this. Your whole body feels it is on fire. Your bones break, stretch and shrink. Fingers and toes have grown from nothing. And this lasts for at least 15 minutes."

"That really sucks."

"But once I am back in my human form, I can use shadow transform to change back and feel nothing when it happens."

''That must be sweet to have your own pony body like that."

They got back to the training grounds and saw the others were practicing different moves between each other. When the ponies saw their friends, they all stopped and headed toward them.

"Blaze! Al! What did you find about the book?" Cancer was the first to ask.

"We found out what the book is about and where it came from. That’s it, so don't ask any other questions as we don't know the answer to," Al said.

"The book is about the Elements of Order,” said Blaze. “They were created by a human over a thousand years ago and work with the Elements of Harmony. We don’t know where the gems that go with the book are or exactly how it’s supposed to work. We also don't know how I’m connected to them and how or why I was changed into a Unicorn."

"How could a human create something as powerful as the Elements of Harmony?" Star Dust asked.

"This occurred during our medieval times where magic used to exist. A wizard was a human that can do magic and this one worked with Starswirl the Bearded. Together they harnessed the elemental properties of nature to create them.”

“More questions than answers. I don’t know how you deal with it Blaze. Let’s get back to training. I want to make sure I stand a chance against any of you,” Lightning Trails said.

The trainees headed back to the sparring field and began to teach each other how to handle different situations against different attacks and abilities. We did this till the sun set and the moon rose. The group headed to the mess hall and ate their fair share. They then returned to the barrack and headed to bed to get plenty of rest. Going to need it for tomorrow.
> Chapter 31: Royal Guard Tournament, Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, the recruits all woke up and began to do stretches just outside. Shining Armor strolled up as they were doing hoof stands.

“Blaze, I don’t even know how you got everyone to do these stretches you do,” said the Captain of the Unicorn Guards.

“They saw how I was performing in the sparring rings and how I maintained my balance in very awkward positions,” he replied. “I told them how and they started to follow me in my stretches.”

“And because of it, I no longer get the privilege to wake them up.”

“You did get to wake up Al a few days ago. Did you not enjoy that?” the red stallion asked with a grin.

Shining Armor had a shiver go down his back. He just started to walk away. “After breakfast, head to the arena. I’ll see you there.” He then teleported away.

The trainees laughed and fell over, either onto their backs or onto their stomachs. They collected themselves and headed to the mess hall, just to grab a light breakfast of fruit. As the ponies and the human began to eat, they discussed what the possible matches could be.

“Alright, who do you want to face in round one, fellas?” Star Dust asked.

“I want to go against you, Blaze,” Al replied. “I want an opponent that can handle what I can dish out. Plus, I want to see all those Jutsu and ki moves you know.”

“You can take him. Just dealing with one of his elements was tough enough, said Dragon. “I hope I can fight with my brother. We both know each other's moves and want to prove who is better in the arena.”

“You know I’ll kick your flank this time,” Cancer said.

“But you haven’t yet. You rely too much on speed and that’s why I always beat you.”

“Knock it off you two before I give you another beat down,” Fang said.

“Yes, big sister.” Cancer and Dragon said at the same time.

“You must have given them quite a few to scare them straight,” Blaze said.

“I had to, or they would have destroyed our home several times. Now, the one I want to face is you, Al. I want to see how skillful you are against a living blade.” The zebra then shot a blade out of the top of her head and pointed it to him.

“My daggers will be more than enough to defend myself,” replied Al.

“I don’t care who I get paired up against. They will have to deal with my illusions,” Colorful Sparks said as he created another one of him sitting next to Lightning Trails.

The black Pegasus sent a jolt into the illusion to make it disappear. “Whoever is going to face me is going to get a shock of their life. But won’t die from it,” he said.

“Just remember to keep that anger in check,” the red Unicorn said. “I don’t really care who I face first as you all are worthy opponents and have been a privilege to train with.”

The others all awe at what he said. They finished breakfast and made their way to the arena. When the trainees rounded the corner, they saw lots of guards heading through the main entrance to watch them. They then saw Captain Shining Armor wave to them as he stood next to the participant entrance. The ponies and single human headed over and stood at attention.

“Alright, today is the last part of your training. You’ll be matched up and compete to show what you’ve learned,” said the white stallion. “This is a single-elimination tournament, so the winner will advance and face another one of you that also won their match. Follow me to the arena so we can find out who is in the first match.”

The group followed him as they entered and made their way through the hallways. the party soon exited and arrived in the arena. Blaze looked around and saw the place was packed. The guards that weren’t on duty came to see the event. 

The place was more packed than the match of Swift Blaze and Shining Armor. The recruits stood in the center and faced the royal box where Princess Celestia was, but Princess Luna was absent.

The white Alicorn walked to the front of the box and raised her hoof. The crowd quieted down to listen to what she had to say. “Welcome fillies and gentle colts of the Royal Guard. It's that time again to see how the latest recruit managed to do through all the training you went through,” she said. “You’ll be surprised to hear that this is the first group in a long time to have no casualties during the survival training. They actually picked another up to join them. This new recruit’s name is Al, and is a human.”

The crowd of guards in the stands was all whispering to each other. Al bent over and whispered to Blaze, “Wondering what they are talking about?”

“Probably wondering if you’re like me and can do some of the same things I’ve done,” he replied. “I know some don’t like me for successfully evading them on my first visit to the castle in my human form. Just watch your back for now until we are Royal Guard ourselves.”

“I bet you are all wondering what this human has to offer. So let’s get started with him facing Fang, the Zebra pony,” Princess Celestia said.

“Guess I don’t have to wait for my match then. I’ll see you after the match,” said Al.

“I’ll teleport the rest of you to the participant box next to Princess Celestia’s box. That way you can watch the match. Have fun you two,” Shining Armor said. Then teleported the rest of them out of the ring.

---------------BATTLE MODE---------------

In the arena now only stood Fang and Al. They stood ten feet away from each other. The human took a ready stance to draw out his throwing blades that are in holders wrapped around his upper legs. The zebra prepped herself by having her blade already sticking out of her right forehoof.

“I had a feeling I would be going up against you. Hope you don’t mind fighting a mare,” Fang said.

He replied, “I got over it while in hell. I lost count of the number of women I had to kill. Some were skilled fighters.”

“I don’t plan to hold back.”

“I don’t want you to or this will end very quickly.”

“Let’s see how a human can fight.”

“We fight real good,” Al said in a southern accent

Fang got confused about what the human said. She shook it off and focused on the match.

The referee walked to the center of the ring and announced the rules. “Here are the rules for the match,” he said. “The entire space of the arena is your battleground. A barrier will prevent you, or any attack, from escaping the space. Any weapons that are in the arena is fair game to use, along with your abilities. The match will end with the following, knocking your opponent out, making them submit, or killing them. Anything else is fair game. Are you both ready?” The referee asked them. They both nodded their heads without taking an eye off the opponent. “BEGIN!” The ref shouted and teleported away.

Al drew fast and sent two daggers at high speed toward Fang. She deflected one and dodged the other. The mare then charged for the human to get within striking distance. She jumped up and was spinning to swing her hoof with the blade. Al drew a blade to block hers. 

It was about to make contact when the blade disappeared and reappeared on the Zebra’s back right leg as she was still spinning. Al reacted fast and jumped backward to avoid the hit. He landed several feet away as Fang landed on all her hooves.

“That is a nice trick there. You almost had me,” Al said.

The mare replied, “You have some nice moves too. Shall we continue?”

Al didn’t say anything. His response was throwing three daggers this time. Two at the same time with the third following them. Fang moved her blade to deflect them. The two were blocked with no problem. She then spun out of the way to avoid the third. 

What Fang did next surprised Al. As the third one went by her head, she grabbed the handle with her mouth as she was still spinning and sent the blade back to the human. He quickly moved as fast as he could to avoid it. The edge of the blade made a tiny cut across his cheek. Not enough to bleed, but it was noticeable that he got hit.

“Now that was un-ladylike,” Al said.

She replied, “I was just returning your property. It’s your fault you can’t catch.”

The human decided to change to a different blade. He reached behind his back and pulled out blades that also can be used as brass knuckles. Al slid his fingers into the proper holes and then signaled for Fang to come to get some. The Zebra didn’t argue as she charged faster this time with the blade on her left forehoof. She swung it at him and he blocked it. She quickly swapped it to her other forehoof and swung at him again. Al blocked that one too.

“You aren’t going to get me again with that move,” he said.

“How about this one?” she asked. The mare quickly spun around and did a buck right into his man jewels.

Al felt the hit and flew several feet back. He moaned out in pain as the crowd started to laugh. He coughed and said, “That’s a low blow.”

“Ref said anything goes. Are you going to quit now or do you want some more pain.”

“Not at all, you just surprised me. Now you get to find out why you never kick a man in the groin.”

The ground began to shake around Al. Fang saw what was happening and backed away to get out of range. Small pebbles began to float around Al in an orbit. They soon were joined by bigger rocks. The human looked at what was happening and a big grin showed up on his face.

“I should actually thank you for that kick. Looks like I do have control over gravity around me. Thanks for getting it awakened. NOW FEEL THE PAIN!” Al shouted.

Fang prepared her blade to block what could happen next. He was sending the pebbles out like bullets towards Fang. The Zebra was barely able to block some of them as she was pelted by the rest. They did not break her skin but was the force of a paintball hitting skin. Fang dodged out of their path and made her way to the arena wall and grabbed a metal shield. The pebbles were now pinging off it.

“Looks like I need to use a bigger caliper now,” Al said as he started to send rocks towards Fang.

The mare was still able to block them with the shield, but it was getting dented pretty good. She started to advance towards the human as she hid behind the shield. The speed of the projectiles was starting to slow down as he never used this power before under his control. 

Fang took this opportunity to charge him. She dropped the shield so she can run faster. She jumped and dodged several of the rocks Al had sent to stop her. She was about to strike when she stopped moving forward. The human has suspended the Zebra in the air.

"I take it you forgot I had everyone floating in the barracks yesterday. I waited for you to take the bait and get within range. What are you going to do now seeing you can't move?" Al asked with a hand palm facing her.

"This," Fang replied. She stuck her right forehoof out and her blade came out and went through his hand.

Al screamed out in pain. The human sent the mare flying back towards the arena wall. He grabbed his hand that was now bleeding. Fang collided with the wall and made it crack. She landed on her hooves, but was barely standing. She smiled because she was happy that she landed a hit on this human.

Purple blood dripped from Al’s hand. When it hit the ground, it boiled to nothing. He looked at the Zebra and he was now angry. "YOU BITCH! THIS WAS MY FAVORITE HAND! YOU ARE GOING TO PAY!" He shouted.

"How much?” She asked. “I don't think a human hand is worth that much. I don't even want to know where it has been."

The crowd was in a laughter roar now. This only enraged Al more. The ground around him began to break apart as the boulders were now floating. "Laugh about this!" he shouted as the human sent them flying in every direction. 

The ones heading for the crowds were stopped by the barrier. Fang was dodging the best she could do, but being slammed into the wall did some damage to her. They were brazing her coat as they went by and left scratches. The area around Al was pretty much destroyed. He was pretty much standing on a pillar in a pit. 

The big rocks continued to rise up and then flew towards Fang. Suddenly, one of them landed a hit on her back leg. There was a loud snap as she rolled away and hid behind a boulder.

She cried out in pain as she held onto her left rear hoof. "ENOUGH AL! I GIVE! STOP YOUR ATTACK!" Fang shouted out in pain.

"NO, I AM NOT DONE WITH YOU! YOU ARE GOING TO REMEMBER TO NOT PISS ME OFF!" Al said.

The barrage of boulders continued to fly and started to break apart the one Fang was hiding behind. She continued to cry out in pain.

Just then, there was a poof of smoke behind the human. Swift Blaze showed up and put a grapple wood jutsu on him. "Calm down Al! The match is over! You don't need to kill her. This isn’t hell! Remember, you’re in Equestria!" Blaze shouted as he held the Jutsu.

"But she stabbed my hand! She has to pay!" Al said as he tried to break free.

"You broke her leg! Chill out and regain your senses. Your hand can be healed. Life cannot be revived. Come back to us!"

The human let out a big roar and then went limp. Blaze waited for a few minutes before releasing him and bringing him to the edge of the pit. The medical staff was already getting Fang onto a stretcher and out of the arena. Blaze knelt down to Al and began to heal his hand to stop it bleeding. Shining Armor showed up and stood next to Blaze.

"Thanks for stepping in like that,” said the Unicorn Captain. “I never imagined he would go like that to a small injury. I don't even know if any guard could have stopped him without causing serious injury to him, or death."

"Being in hell for a year has really affected his mind,” replied the red Unicorn. “I detected that same energy from the forest to when he got hit in the balls. It has been growing pretty well since then. Then it boosted rapidly when his hand got stabbed. I have a feeling his gravity powers are anger controlled and he does not know how to control it yet."

"I don't want to lock him up or kill him if he can't control it."

"I will work with him at my house. The Zen garden in my backyard is set up to calm anyone down. I know what would happen if I lost my cool so I never wanted to go that way again."

"Let's get him back up to the participant box. You can finish healing him up there and make sure he doesn’t go into a rampage when he wakes up."

"Of course. I don't think he’ll remember much after the stabbing. He didn’t remember the battle in the old castle when we first found him."

They teleported out of the arena and Unicorn guards went to work getting the arena cleaned up for the next match.
> Chapter 32: Royal Guard Tournament, Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After that last match, the Unicorn guards went to work to repair the arena. Once everything looked good, Princess Celestia stood up to address the crowd.

"That was an impressive match between those two recruits. Let's now cheer for the next recruits,” said the white Alicorn. “These next two have definitely had something to prove from their homeland, and between themselves. That’s correct. The next two are siblings. Even more, they’re twins. Please cheer and put your hooves together for Dragon and Cancer!" she shouted the last part in the Royal Canterlot Voice.

The crowd of the Royal guards cheered loudly as the twins walked out onto the arena floor. Both were smiling as they thought this was pretty much going to be like the other matches they did at home. The only difference is that it’s now in front of a large crowd and the Princess of the Sun and their sister isn’t going to stop them. They stood ten feet away from each other in the center of the arena as they stared each other down.

The ref appeared in the middle and addressed the two participants. “I take you’ve heard what I said to the last pair so I don’t have to repeat myself,” He said. They both nodded. “Then good luck to both of you. And . . . FIGHT!” He then disappeared as quickly as he appeared.

"You ready for this, brother?" Cancer asked.

"I have been more than ready, brother,” replied Dragon. “Ever since we started this training, I’ve been waiting to have a match with you in this kind of setting."

"Well, don't get your hopes on winning as that’s going to be me."

"Dream on, little brother," Dragon said with a big grin on his face.

The red striped Zebra never liked it when he called him that. It aggravated him more to win the match to prove he’s better. The Unicorn was the first to activate his magic and started his speed boost. He charged directly toward the blue striped Zebra, wanting to get the first hit.

Dragon saw this coming and activated his magic to engulf the arena with his speed down ability. The Unicorn did it just in time to barely dodge the punch from his opponent. He countered with a hoof into Cancer's ribs.

The red striped pony saw the hoof coming and twisted his body away to reduce the impact. He landed on all hooves a few feet away. "Glad to see your ability is still up to par with mine," he said.

"I’m glad I was able to slow you down before you hit me with that punch of yours,” replied Dragon. “I still remember the first time you did that. You almost broke my jaw."

"Well, shall we continue?"

"Lead away."

Cancer re-engaged his brother and started to throw different hoof combos. Some were making contact while others were blocked. Dragon also was throwing his hooves in the mix also. This went on for several minutes as they duked it across the arena. 

------Meanwhile-----
(Participant Box)

Swift Blaze was sitting next to Al where he was laying on the couch in the room. The red stallion was doing his best to watch the match, but wondered what was going through the human’s mind. He soon started to stir.

“Mm-hmm. What happened? Who won the match?” he asked while waking up.

“Hey there, Al. Glad to see you are back to normal,” replied Blaze. “You won the match. What’s the last thing you remembered?”

“Um, . . . The last thing I remembered was Fang hitting me in the gonads. Past that, it then starts to get blurry. What happened?”

“Well, it seems that your gravity powers are anger controlled. It’s almost like another part of you gets awakened and slowly takes over. You almost lost it when you got stabbed in your hand.”

“MY HAND!” 

Al quickly sat up and looked over his hands. He saw that they were both fine. He then noticed a small scar on his left hand. 

“I had to heal your hand as it was not healing like how you showed in your mind. Why’s that?”

“The reason is that I have to concentrate on healing to speed it up. I won’t die from the injury, but it’ll take the normal time to recover until I gain consciousness. So what happened after I got stabbed?”

The Unicorn told what he saw and how he had to step in. The human felt sad for what he almost did. He wished in his mind that he could control this so it would not happen. Blaze came and sat next to him. He placed his hoof around the back of Al to comfort him.

“Don’t beat yourself about this. We now know about it and can work on getting this power under control so it does not rely on anger. Just for now, try to keep your anger in check and avoid using your gravity powers.”

“I’ll do that. Thank you for making sure I didn’t go fully out of control.”

“No problem. If I didn’t step in, Shining Armor or some other Royal Guard pony would have. Though, they would have caused serious harm to you, or even try to kill you.”

“You’ll be surprised what I can live through that would kill others.”

They both laughed and return to watch what was going on in the match

--------Back in the arena----------

The Zebra twins soon broke off from each other and stood several feet away from each other.

"That was a nice warm-up. Let's step it up," Cancer said.

"What are you talking about?” Dragon asked. “I’ve been given my all."

"Really? Then this will be a surprise to you then. I've been holding back."

The red striped Unicorn lit his horn up again and increased his speed boost. The Zebra then charged faster than his opponent could react. He landed an upper hoof and sent Dragon flipping backwards. The blue striped Unicorn landed on his stomach and coughed up some blood from the impact. The stallion got back up onto his hooves and smiled at his brother.

“That was very smart of hiding that from me. Guess I should show you what I’ve been hiding,” Dragon said with a smile.

“You just said you’re maxed out on your speed down spell. What more is there?” Cancer asked.

“We are Unicorn Zebra. We can do other magic besides our special talent.”

“You’re bluffing. I would’ve seen you practice it. We always hung out together every day since we were small.”

“You’re right. I’ve never used other magic before. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t read about it.”

Dragon’s horn lit up. Over by a wall near him, a couple of weapons were getting the same glow. They were lifted off the wall and made their way to the blue striped Zebra. The weapons were of different styles of blade weapons. They varied in different lengths as they spun around and orbited around the stallion.

“I would like to see if you can get around my defenses now, little brother.” Dragon said to entice his opponent.

“OH. IT. IS. ON.”

The red striped Unicorn ran faster, but not directly at his brother. He was in his own orbit around Dragon. The running around was kicking up the loose dirt. The dust cloud was now blocking their sight so neither could see each other. Then, the crowd remained quiet as they could not see anything in the cloud either. 

The blue striped Unicorn looked around and listened to where his brother was hiding. He kept the blade weapons twirling around and spinning around his body. There was no sound in the arena. The dust was beginning to settle and Dragon could see better. When he could see the arena walls, he tried to find where Cancer was hiding. He was nowhere in sight. 

The stallion figured that Cancer was probably hiding behind the rubble that remained from the last match. He snuck up quietly to get the surprise attack. The blue striped Zebra was on the other side of the rubble and was about to jump over with the weapons, when the ground began to shake.

All of a sudden, the ground broke apart underneath Dragon. Cancer came out like a rocket and slammed a hoof right into his opponent’s chest. The force of the impact sent Dragon up into the air. It also caused him to lose control of his magic and dropped all the weapons. The blue striped Unicorn landed on his back, hard.

Cancer approached carefully, expecting a possum attack. He could hear Dragon moaning in pain. 

"You ready to go again, bro?" he asked as he was five feet away.

"Ugh. I don't think so. I think several of my ribs are broken and I have a sharp pain in my back. You won the match, Cancer. Congratulations," he replied through the pain.

"You are not messing with me, are ya?"

"Not this time. I’m in serious pain. Now go get the damn doctors!"

Just then, Blaze showed up in the arena. "Did someone call for a doctor?" He asked as if he actually was one.

"I did, but you’ll do. Just get this fucking pain to go away," Dragon said.

"Alright. Lay still so you don't damage anything else."

"No problem."

The red Unicorn placed his hooves together before he placed them over the blue striped Unicorn’s body. They emitted a glow of a light blue color. Dragon's face went from feeling the pain to comfort.

"Yeah, you do have some broken ribs. Four to be exact. Also, some internal bleeding that is swelling around your spine. This is going to take some time to heal," Blaze said.

"How were you able to propel yourself like that from the ground, Cancer?" Dragon asked.

"I figured out how your speed ability works. When you cast it on the arena, you only did the surface and the area above it,” he replied. “The ground below wasn’t affected by it. I found the pit that Al made that was mostly filled in and went underground. I then gained a speed boost as I was digging in the dirt. I cleared enough space so I could get a running start before punching through the ground. I heard where you were and waited for you to get into position. The rest you felt when my hoof slammed into your chest."

"Heh, yeah. I definitely felt it. Ouch," his brother said as he felt a sharp pain.

"I told you to stay still. Now another rib broke,” said Blaze. “Cancer, how about you go and rest in the participant box. Once Dragon is healed enough, I’m going to take him to the medics so they can continue the process and so the next match can start."

"Sorry. See you later, bro. Good luck in your next match," Dragon said.

"Thanks,” he replied. “You know I’m not going to need luck."

"You will as I think your opponent for the next round is Al."

"OH SHIT. I do need good luck. Be back in a bit," Cancer said before he ran out of the arena.

“Did you plan on having your brother face Al?” Blaze asked.

“No. I actually was looking forward to fighting him to get back for my sister. Now Cancer will have to,” Dragon said with a smile.

“So you did not actually lose then. Sort of a Win/Win. A family member gets to take on Al and that no longer has to be you. Plus your brother is going to have to deal with Al. You are sometimes a cruel brother. You do know that, correct?”

“It’s what brothers do to each other, especially twins. I’m actually starting to feel much better.

“Just hold on for a few more minutes before you try to get up. I’m still working on the spine area. I don’t want to cripple you.”

Dragon stayed still so Blaze could finish. When the red stallion backed away, the Zebra Unicorn carefully got up and walked around a bit. “Thanks for the patch job. I feel much better.”

“You should still see the medics so they can finish treating you and give you a clean bill of health. Also, you can go and check on your sister. I’ll see you up in the participant box when you are cleared to come up.”

Blaze teleported out of there. Dragon walked over to where the medics were to take him to the hospital. Once the arena was clear, Princess Celestia stood to speak to the crowd.

“Another excellent battle between recruits and brothers. Let’s get straight to the third match. These next two are going to really put on a spectacular battle for us. Let’s have the next match between . . .”
> Chapter 33: Royal Guard Tournament, Part 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The crowd of guards in the stands applauded and cheered for the twin Zebra Unicorns as they left the arena. Princess Celestia stood up and walked to the front of the royal box to announce the next match. 

“Let’s give another hoof to Cancer and Dragon, for demonstrating their skills and knowledge in fighting. But, for also the dedication they had put into their match,” said the white Alicorn. “Seeing we don’t need to do major repairs to the arena, let’s get going to the third match today.” 

The crowd cheered loudly wanting the next match. 

“This first pony is a Unicorn that came from Manehattan. Don’t be fooled by his charm as he can do the unexpected. Introducing, Star Dust!”

The blue Unicorn stood up in the participant box and waved to the crowd. They cheered for him.

The Princess of the Sun raised her hoof to calm the crowd down to introduce the next pony. “This next pony comes from Ponyville. He’s a unicorn with a fun personality. But, looks can be deceiving as I introduce, Colorful Sparks!”

The other blue stallion stood up and joined Star Dust at the edge of the show box. He waved to the crowd as his opponent started to wave again. 

“I look forward to our match. May the best stallion win,” Colorful Sparks said.

“The same goes to you,” replied Star Dust. “Your illusion spells are going to be an interesting matchup against my cosmic spells.”

“Let’s get you two down there so the match can begin,” Shining Armor said. He activated his horn and teleported them to the center of the ring.

In the center of the arena, the two Unicorns stood away from each other. The referee teleported in. “Alright. I know you heard this before. So blah blah blah, enjoy the fight,” the ref said and teleported away.

“I take he doesn’t like coming down here,” Star Dust said.

“I agree,” replied Colorful Sparks. “Why is there a ref anyway? I don’t know how you can cheat when there are pretty much no rules. Only stay in the arena.”

“Let’s get going then before the crowd starts to boo at us.”

“Fine by me.”

They both went into a battle stance and charged up their horns. Star Dust formed a small meteorite at the tip of his and sent it flying towards the blue stallion with an orange mane. Colorful Sparks changed tactics to use to his illusion one. Several copies of him appeared just as the rock slammed into a fake instead of himself. It disappeared as the meteorite went through.

“That was a close one. You are getting faster casting your spells,” All the Colorful Sparks said at the same time.

“You’re getting faster at making your illusions,” replied Star Dust. “Now then, let’s truly see who’s magic is better.”

“BRING IT ON.”

The blue stallion with black mane charged his horn up again. The other Unicorns ran in random directions to hide the real one. He took his time to try and detect which one was real. The Unicorn launched another meteorite and it made contact. But it was an illusion that disappeared. They were perfect copies. A pony’s eye couldn’t spot a flaw in any of them.

The orange mane Unicorn decided to land some blows while he can. From different intervals and directions, a Colorful Sparks pony would go by Star Dust and land a blow somewhere on his body. He swung his hooves at them, but realized it was an illusion. His opponent was creating more as they were being found.

Star Dust needed to get an upper hoof soon, or he’ll lose to exhaustion. He wished it was night time. That’s when he’s more powerful with the stars’ aid. The black mane Unicorn decided to try and communicate with the stars to hopefully convince Princess Luna to bring the night early. He summoned several meteorites to circle him as a defense barrier as he concentrated. Colorful Sparks ponies stayed away, waiting to see what happened.

------------In the Royal Box-----------

Princess Celestia was watching the match when Princess Luna teleported next to her.

“Luna. What’s going on?” she asked. “You’re normally still sleeping right now.”

“I know, but I was having a strange call from the stars asking to bring the night early,” the blue Alicorn replied.

“Why would they want that?”

“I think because they want to help that Unicorn, Star Dust. I have heard him several times communicate with them at night.”

“I never realized he had that capability. Do you think we should honor the request?”

“It would allow us to truly see what he’s capable of. He’s only been training in the daylight while his abilities come from the stars.”

“True, plus it will make a better match for the sudden change.”

“You really like to watch the guards duke it out in the arena. Shall we, sister?”

“Lets.”

Both Princesses lit their horns up as they moved the sun and the moon. The crowd of guards was wondering what was happening. They then saw the Princesses with their horns glowing and calmed back down.

-------Back in the arena---------

Colorful Sparks was getting tired of waiting. He was about to charge when he noticed it was getting darker. "What’s going on? Why’s the sun setting now?" Colorful Sparks asked.

"I asked the stars to convince Princess Luna if we can have the night early. My spells are better at night," Star Dust replied.

Soon, the sun set and the moon rose into the sky. Around the arena, torches began to ignite and emit light. Everyone could still see everything around them, only now the night sky was there.

"So, what did you need the night for?" the orange mane stallions asked.

"This," the black mane stallion replied.

His horn started to glow. It glowed brighter and brighter, blinding anyone who looked directly at it. Colorful Sparks closed his eyes. Once the shine was gone, he opened his eyes. All of his illusions were now gone. He looked towards Star Dust just in time as he slammed a hoof into his face.

"Found you,” he said. “Do you give up now?"

"Nope. I just need to step up my game," Colorful Sparks replied.

The orange mane Unicorn’s horn lit up and he then disappeared. Star Dust backed away when he realized his opponent went invisible. With the stars’ aid, he summoned several meteorites and had them orbit around his body. The black mane stallion listened carefully to find where the pony was.

He heard a noise from behind him. The Unicorn quickly sent a meteorite in that direction. He broke the object into tiny pieces to spread out, like a shotgun blast. The rocks only came into contact with the wall.

“Aw, were you hoping you had me there for a moment?” Colorful Sparks asked as his voice echoed in the arena.

“Come on out and show yourself so we can finish this fight!” Star Dust said while looking in every direction.

“The night isn’t just for you,” said from the echos. Suddenly, a whisper entered Star Dust’s ear. “I too prefer it.”

The black mane stallion jumped away as he felt a blade touch his front left hoof. The meteorites that were orbiting him, fell to the ground. Star Dust realized just how close he was to a serious injury. He did his spell again, but with more rocks to stay close to him. He needed a way to dispel that invisibility if he wanted a chance to win the match.

"What's wrong? Didn’t like my blade that close to you? I’m just trying to show you should never trust your defenses," said Colorful Sparks.

"I agree. Just like how you use that invisibility to sneak up on your opponents. That too will hurt you one of these days," replied Star Dust.

"Fang has been the only one able to detect me while I have it active. I’d like to see  if you can dispel it."

"With pleasure."

The black mane Unicorn needed to do something to make it difficult for Colorful Sparks to maintain that spell. What did he have that would break the spectrum he was bending. An idea popped into his head. He activated his horn and channeled lots of magic. The stallion sent a beam into the starry sky.

"Was that supposed to do something?" asked his opponent.

"I’ll soon see where you are Colorful Sparks."

The starry sky soon started to change color. The Aurora Borealis appeared and was showing all the colors of the spectrum in the arena. The crowd ooh and awe at the sight. Star Dust looked around the arena, He soon spotted Colorful Sparks ten feet away as he was looking at the sky. The black mane stallion turned his gaze off him so his opponent wouldn’t realize his invisibility was gone.

Colorful Sparks looked down from the sky and looked at Star Dust. He was looking around, trying to see him. The orange mane stallion worked to sneak up behind Star Dust.

"Aw, did you think that the light show was going to dispel my invisibility? Sorry to say it didn’t work," he said.

The Unicorn prepped the blade that was attached to the right forehoof to slash off Star Dust's tail. Before he struck, his opponent said, "I did think that spell would stop yours. And did you know what, it did."

Before Colorful Sparks could react, he was double bucked by Star Dust's rear hooves and sent flying. The hooves made contact with the front of The orange mane stallion’s chest. He went flying back thirty feet and landed just before the arena wall, then slid right next to it.

As Colorful Sparks was getting up, Star Dust charged toward him. Once the orange mane stallion was on his hooves, he started to take hoof blows from his opponent. He did his best to block, but was still recovering from having the air knocked right out of him.

The black mane stallion was throwing every hoof combo and was making a hit. He knew not to give his opponent any breathing room. He didn’t want to deal with more clones or his invisibility spell again. Or worse, both. 

After several minutes, Star Dust was getting tired. His fore hooves were slowing down. This gave Colorful Sparks the time to get off the wall and get some breathing room. Both ponies were now breathing hard. They were only a few feet from each other as they stared each other down.

"How are you able to stand after taking that beating?" Star Dust asked.

"I got beaten up by bullies as a colt. It toughened me up,” replied Colorful Sparks. “Your hoof hits are the worst I have ever received though."

"I had to beat up thugs to protect my little sister. Shall we end this?"

"Go right ahead. I still plan to win."

"Keep on dreaming."

They both began to charge their horns. Colorful Sparks created a dozen illusions of himself as they surrounded Star Dust. They prepared their blades to strike. 

The black mane Unicorn was still charging up his horn. His body soon was emitting a silver aura around him. Now, just above him, a very small moon formed. It shined brighter than Luna's moon. There were tiny sparkles floating around it. They glowed brighter as they started to get bigger.

"Final Move! STAR FALL!" Star Dust shouted.

As on command, the bright objects around the small moon began to fall. They targeted all the Colorful Sparks surrounding him. The orange mane ponies were running around, trying to avoid being hit. It didn’t work as these were acting like heat-seeking missiles. An illusion pony disappeared one after another when the stars exploded on contact. Soon, only the original Colorful Sparks was left. There were still lots of mini stars that were falling, and they were all heading for him. Try as he could avoid them, he still got hit by several of them.

When the smoke cleared from the explosions, both Star Dust and Colorful Sparks were laying on the ground in the arena. Neither of them were moving. The ref appeared between them.

"This match cannot end in a draw. The first pony to get onto all hooves will be declared the winner." The referee pony said.

(Yes, I am doing that ending again.)

Both Unicorns realized they still have a chance to win. They struggled to pick themselves up off the ground. Each had placed their forehooves on the ground in front of them. They then ready their back hooves in a similar position. With all their might, they began to try and stand up. 

Star Dust was the first to get his belly barely off the ground. All of his legs were shaking badly as he continued to get up. His face had lines of sweat rolling off as he tried to pull all the remaining energy he had left.

Colorful Sparks was in a similar situation. It took him several times to get his belly off the ground. His body was pretty bruised up from Star Dust’s hooves and magic blows. He didn’t give into the pain. He pushed himself harder than he ever has to reach the goal to stand first.

Both were now halfway standing up. You would need a measuring stick to see who was in the lead. The crowd could tell both were in pain and exhausted. The guards in the stands were cheering them both on. Chanting their names and stomping their hooves. This raised Colorful Sparks’s and Star Dust’s spirits up. 

Wanting them to push even harder, the black mane stallion cried out in pain as he forced his body to move faster to stand up. He was almost there and was about to lock his knees, when the unexpected happened. His legs gave out and he fell back down to the arena floor.

The orange mane stallion saw this was his moment to take the win. He too cried out in pain as he struggled to stand. His body was shaking all over and lots of sweat was rolling down his body. He pushed harder and harder on the muscles in his legs to get him to stand. He was very close to standing on his hooves.

The ref was watching him carefully to see when Colorful Sparks was standing under his own hooves. He looked over to Star Dust and he was working on getting himself back up again. He was catching back up at a good pace. Neither of them has locked in their legs to get the win yet. Star Dust finally got back to the same level as Colorful Sparks. This is going to be very close.























“WE HAVE OUR WINNER!” The ref pony shouted out. He walked over to the winner and stood next to him. “THE WINNER OF THIS MATCH IS . . .”


















“. . . COLORFUL SPARKS!”

The crowd still continued to cheer for them both as this was a most excellent match. Both Star Dust and Colorful Sparks collapse back to the ground after the winner was announced. They both looked at each other with smiles on their faces.

“That was a good match, Colorful Sparks. Congratulations,” Star Dust said.

“Thanks,” he replied.  “I never realized how powerful you were. You have some amazing spells in your arsenal. I would never have thought those lights would dispel my invisibility. I think I should work on some defensive and offensive illusions spells. That way I will be better prepared for what situation I get thrown into.”

“That sounds like a good plan. There’s some good books in the Canterlot Castle library. I’m sure the Princesses would allow you to look through them to help you out. That’s how I know the spells that I can do.”

“I would like that. Now I just need to find out who I’m going to face next.”

“How about I take you to the medics so you can heal up before you face your next opponent,” A pony said.

They turned their heads and saw Captain Shining Armor was standing there.

“Yeah. I think that’s a good plan. Of course, we’re going to need some help to get there as neither one of us can get up,” Star Dust said.

“That’s why I came down to help you. Let’s get going.”

The Unicorn Guard Captain activated his horn and levitated them up to take them to the nearby medics at the arena entrance.

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stood up to address the crowd. “I don’t know about you all, but I was very impressed with the level of magic those two ponies pulled off. Don’t you agree, Princess Luna?” Princess Celestia asked.

“I agree, sister,” replied the Princess of the Night. “It was also nice to see the Aurora Borealis being displayed against my beautiful night sky. Shall we get onto the last match for the day?”

“I agree. Seeing there are only two recruits left, let's have them come to the arena. The match between Lightning Trails and Swift Blaze will begin shortly.”
> Chapter 34: Royal Guard Tournament, Part 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After Shining Armor helped Colorful Sparks and Star Dust out of the arena and to the medics, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stood up to address the crowd of guard ponies.

“It’s now time for the last match for today. The recruits up to now have done a splendid job in their matches. Let’s all cheer for them once again,” Princess Celestia said.

The crowd of Royal Guards cheered and stomped their hooves so much, it started to shake the arena a bit. Before the white Alicorn could speak again, Princess Luna interrupted her.

“Excuse me, sister, would you mind if I take care of this one. It’s a match at night, so the Princess of the Moon should do it,” she said.

“Of course, little sister.”

Princess Celestia backed away a little bit so everypony was now looking at the blue Alicorn.

“With night time upon us, I think it provides a better stage for these two recruits to demonstrate the spell and abilities they can do. This first pony comes from Cloudsdale. He’s a Pegasus and very energetic with his ability. It might even shock you of what he can do. Please put your hooves together for Lightning Trails!”

The black stallion stood up and flew out above the arena. He quickly summoned some thunder clouds and quickly charged up. He started to shoot lightning off that seemed random. But listening closely, it sort of sounded like music.



The crowd cheered even louder once the performance was done. Lightning Trails landed and waited for Swift Blaze to be introduced.

“That even surprised me of how lightning can be musical,” said Princess Luna. “Now then, onto his opponent. This pony is probably one of the most unique ponies you’ll ever meet. If any of you saw the match Captain Shining Armor was in a few days ago, this is the very same pony. That’s right, it’s Swift Blaze!”

On cue, the red Unicorn stood up and walked to the front of the participant box. Seeing how his opponent decided to show off, he might as well do something to step it up. He got on to the edge of the wall and stood on his back hooves. His fore hooves were stretched out to his side. His body looked like a T and was in a diving position. The guards below were wondering what Blaze was planning to do. All of a sudden, he dove off and started to fall towards them below. The guards gasped and prepared to catch the stallion. But, he pulled up and started to fly towards the arena.

Even with it being night, Blaze could probably have guessed lots of guards had their mouths wide open. He hovered above the arena where Lightning Trails was before. He was about to do his next trick, when a guard from the stands shouted out.

“Hold on!” he shouted. “That’s not the same pony that fought Captain Shining Armor! This is a Unicorn and the other was an Earth pony!”

“Yeah! Plus, how can he fly? He doesn’t have wings because he’s a Unicorn. His horn isn’t even lit up,” another guard said.

Several other guards were shouting stuff also, but nothing could be understood. Blaze had enough of this. He summoned up his chakra and shouted, “FIRE STYLE! FLAMETHROWER JUTSU!” 

The red Unicorn shot fire out of his mouth and spun around in the air. The crowd of guards that were shouting all stopped. With silence in the arena now, Blaze spoke up.

“Alright. Now that I have everyone’s attention, I can explain. I’m the same pony that fought Captain Shining Armor, as you saw from that fire demonstration. The reason I have a horn now is I’ve decided to put one on this form.  It’s to not freak out other ponies with my abilities. I said this form because this isn’t my true body.”

“What do you mean?” A guard asked. “You look and act like a pony.”

“I’m no mere pony. I AM A HUMAN!”

Lots of guards gasp at this. Al shouted, “Nice line Blaze! Very original!”

“I’m the creature that some of you guards chased around the castle a few weeks ago.” Several guards started to shout several things at once. Blaze sent another flamethrower spin to get them to shut up. "The fight with Shining Armor was supposed to quell this. Don't think I will run away again if you all decide to jump me. As to why I’m not showing my human form, magical mishap is the cause."

"Thank you for explaining Swift Blaze. Would you mind landing so we can begin the match?" Princess Luna asked.

"Of course, Princess."

The red stallion landed a few feet away from Lightning Trails, on the opposite side of the arena.

"You weren’t kidding when you evaded several Royal Guards. I think some still have a grudge against you. You might want to watch your back," said the Pegasus.

"Would like to see them try so I can get their attitude adjusted."

The ref pony appeared between them. "Alright. Now let me just go over the rules," he said.

"We know about the barrier that will stop us from leaving and to protect the spectators. Other than that, anything goes. So, get out of here so we can begin," Blaze said with attitude.

The Unicorn just snorted and teleported out of there.

"That was a little harsh, Blaze." Lightning Trails said.

"Sorry. The crowd ruined the entrance I planned on doing. Don't worry, I’ve calmed back down and now focused on our match. May the best pony win."

"I do plan to win. Seeing you aren’t really a pony."

They both rose into the sky and prepared themselves. Lightning Trails had some clouds stay near him and charged him up. With it being night now, you can see tiny lightning sparking off him. Blaze ready both his ki and chakra energy levels. When both were ready, they looked towards Princess Luna.

With her Royal Canterlot Voice, Princess Luna shouted, "BEGIN!"

The black stallion attacked first with a quick bolt of lightning towards his opponent. Blaze knew he could absorb the hit, then dish it right back. He stuck out his hoof to take the hit. When the lightning struck, the Unicorn actually cried out in pain. Something had changed. 

As he was curled up in a ball from the pain, Blaze said, "I didn’t expect that. What did you do with the lightning?"

"I changed the properties of it. Hoped you wouldn’t absorb it. Just like how you shocked me with your lightning chakra. Payback is a bitch, isn't it?" he said with a smile.

"Thanks for making this interesting now. I’ll actually have to work for the win now."

Blaze formed a ki energy ball at the end of his forehoof. He quickly sent them flying in rapid formation. His opponent formed a lightning shield and it was able to block them.

In retaliation, Lightning Trails sent several lightning bolts towards the red stallion. Instead of trying to absorb like last time, Blaze went and dodged them with little effort.

"You aren’t going to get me again with those again," he said.

"You sure about that?" asked the Pegasus.

All of a sudden, Blaze was struck from behind. It was from the lightning bolts he just dodged. The stallion felt the burning pain at each place where the bolts hit him, but he wasn’t screaming out in pain this time.

The Unicorn asked, “How were you able to do that?”

“The first bolt that hit you at the beginning of the match was positively charged,” Lightning replied. “Those were negatively charged. Do you want me to explain further?”

“No, I got it. I actually enjoyed science in high school. Let me show you what I learned there.” The red stallion summoned his sword to him. He took it out of its sheath and held the blade to his side. “I dare you to strike me again.”

Lightning Trails charged up again from the nearby storm clouds. He then sent one massive bolt towards the Unicorn. Swift Blaze ready his sword to block and absorb the energy. When the lightning bolt struck, there was a massive bright light. A few seconds later, when everyone could see again, the crowd looked toward where Blaze was last at. He was still there, except now his sword was now glowing pure white and sparking out lightning.

“Let me show you the move that took out a tornado. LIGHTNING STYLE! LIGHTNING BLADE JUTSU!” he shouted.

The red stallion swung his sword and sent a lightning wave towards Lightning Trails. He flew up to avoid getting hit, but his clouds got hit and burst out with their raw energy. Lightning Trails tried to avoid the strikes, but failed when one got him. After the first one hit him more joined in as he was stuck in the air by the first. He screamed in pain as each one hit. He tried to absorb some of the energy, but felt the mystery chakra energy was mixed in, making it impossible.

After those few seconds, the lightning strikes stopped and the Pegasus was falling. He recovered quickly and only dropped only a few feet. He was catching his breath as he tried to recover from those strikes. “You know, I really hate your lightning,” Lightning Trails said.

“Are we going to chat, or are we going to fight?” Blaze asked.

The black stallion didn’t say anything. Instead, he filled the sky of the arena with storm clouds. It was getting darker as the light from the stars and the moon was now being blocked. The only light was now coming from the torches around the arena. “I think it is time to try some new moves.” He quickly charged up again.

The Pegasus formed several lightning balls and had them orbit around him. He then sent one flying towards Blaze. The red Unicorn prepared to have his sword block and absorb the energy. Just before the blade made contact, the lightning ball exploded and lightning bolts went everywhere. There were too many to block and Blaze got hit several times. His body felt on fire as it spasmed each time the lightning hit him. He coughed up some smoke after that lightning ended.

“That is a nice move. I’m going to have to thank you for covering up the night sky though,” Blaze said.

“Why’s that?” he asked.

“You just set the mood for a ninja to disappear. NINJA ART! NINJA VANISH!”

Blaze sent a massive wind gust around the arena and blew out all the torches. The only light source now was from the split-second from lightning strikes and the lightning balls around Lightning Trails. He quickly looked around for his opponent, but he truly disappeared.

“I’ll just have to light the torches again.” Lightning Trails flew down and headed to where a torch was. When the lightning balls lit up the area, the torch itself was gone.

“That would work, if the torches were still where they were. As you can see, I took them all down. Now, what are you going to do?” Blaze’s voice said as it echoed in the arena.

“I Still Have My Lightning!” 

The black Pegasus then had lightning from the storm clouds start striking the ground to give off light. He looked for any changes in the arena after each flash. One lightning bolt struck something that was not the ground. It shook for a few seconds as it was zapped and fell to the ground with a loud thud. 

“Ha! No pony can defeat lightning!”

The black Pegasus stopped the lightning strikes and flew to where the object fell. He sent a lightning ball ahead to verify what he saw. The shape was a pony body laying on their side with the back facing him. As he got closer, the body had the same color of Swift Blaze. The stallion then noticed the body wasn’t breathing. He started to wonder if he actually killed the Unicorn. He walked around the body and saw it was the red stallion. His greatest fear finally hit him, he killed a pony. Worst, a friend. Lightning Trails collapsed to the ground in front of the dead body.

All of a sudden, wood came out of the ground and held Lightning Trails to the ground. He tried to shock himself free, but the wood absorbed it and dispersed it in the ground.

“You should have checked for vitals before assuming I was dead.” Swift Blaze voiced echoed.

“Huh? Wait. If this body isn’t you, then why didn’t it disappear like your other clones when they got hit.” Lightning Trails shouted while still pinned.

“That, my pony friend isn’t a clone. It’s a stone substitution. A stone dummy if you will.”

“Then show yourself!”

“Gladly.” A bright red glow appeared next to the clouds. A wave of energy was sent out as Blaze disbursed the clouds to bring light into the arena. He flew back down and turned off the red glow Blaze then walked over to Lightning Trails. “You shouldn’t have covered the sky in dark clouds. You would have stood a better chance if you didn’t allow me to use my ninja skills.”

“I can still get you with THIS!” 

Lightning Trails sent a massive lightning bolt and the lightning balls. They all made contact and sent off a massive electrical explosion. There was a thick cloud of smoke where Swift Blaze was standing. 

“I win,” he said with a smile.

“Don’t count on it,” Blaze replied in the smoke.

“How? That would have killed anyone and more than likely seriously injured you.”

Blaze walked out of the smoke with no sign of injury. “Another thing I learned in science class. Glass is a good insulator for electricity.”

The Pegasus was able to get a better look at the Unicorn. His body looked like it had armor plates on him, but they were see-through. “You are wearing glass armor? Where did you get that?”

“I just made it. Easy to break with physical blows. Still works against lightning.”

“Where were you hiding when I had lightning striking everywhere? No pony could have been fast enough to dodge all of them.”

“You are right, I couldn’t have dodged all of them. So I hid in the clouds.”

“You would have been hit lots of times if you were up there.”

“I was. Over a hundred times. The glass armor was working, but the lightning strikes were heating up the glass. I knew I couldn’t stay up there for long or risk being cooked in a glass shell.”

“You are one smart pony, er human, to have thought of that on the spot. I submit the win to you. Also thank you for not using your water jutsu on me. I really thought you were going to win the match easily.”

“What’s the fun in that? To exploit a friend's weakness just to win a battle. I might do that to an actual enemy, but not a friend. Plus, I think the crowd enjoyed the show.”

Lightning Trails and Swift Blazed listened as the crowd started to cheer louder and louder. They were all chanting both names and stomping their hooves. Swift Blaze released the glass armor and let it fall to the ground in a thousand pieces. He then walked over to Lightning Trails. He released the wood jutsu and helped him to his hooves. Without warning, the red stallion helped raise one of the black stallion’s hoofs in the air with his. The crowd cheered even louder. They took in the cheers as they waved to them.

There was a bright flash and Captain Shining Armor appeared with the other winners.
“Congratulations, Swift Blaze. You’ve pulled another win out of nowhere,” he said. “Your tactics and quick thinking are very impressive. I would have never thought about some of the things you did.”

“That match-up was awesome Blaze and Lightning Trails! I was on the edge of my seat wondering what’s going to happen next. You even got me with the fake body,” Al said.

“You really took advantage of the environment. I’ll have to think of that when I go up against Al,” Cancer said.

“Your lightning control is very impressive, Lightning Trails. Where did you come up with those lightning balls that explode?” Colorful Sparks asked.

“I took a page out of Blaze’s arsenal with those things called ki energy balls. I had to practice in secret at night so nopony saw it till I was ready,” he replied.

“I thought I heard a pony move about while I was sleeping,” Blaze said.

“You heard me? I wasn’t making a sound. My hooves didn’t even touch the ground.

“I heard the flapping of your wings.”

“Oh. How sensitive are your ears?”

“Average. I have to concentrate to pick up the slightest whisper.” Shining Armor mumbles something under his breath. “Hey, I respect everyone’s privacy and don’t use this to snoop on others.”

“You heard that?” Shining Armor said.

“I wasn’t going to mention who said it. Thank you for speaking up,” Blaze said with a smile.

“Come on. Need to display the winners and talk about the matches tomorrow. Would you mind putting the torches back so we can get some more light here?”

“They’re already back.”

“WHEN? I know you aren’t that fast to do that within a second.”

“I did it when Lightning Trails was walking over to the fake body.”

“You do move like a ninja when you want to,” Al said.

“The setting has to be right to be effective. Now then, let there be light. Fire Style! Fire Wave Jutsu!”

Blaze jumped and sent out a wave of fire from his body. The wave went around the arena and lit all the torches.

“Next time, warn us before you do that. You almost singed my eyebrows.” Al said.

“Would you rather I used the flamethrower jutsu?”

“Enough you two. Let's head over to the center so you can then get some dinner and rest for tomorrow,” Shining Armor said.

Lightning Trails headed out of the arena and the rest made their way to the center. Once there, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia stood to address everyone.

“Congratulations, Swift Blaze, on winning your match. You and Lightning Trails put on a very entertaining battle. I look forward to your next match. As well to the rest of you,” said Princess Luna. “You’re some of the finest recruits we have ever had to go through the training. Be proud of it. Now, go get something to eat and rest. The next set of matches will start tomorrow. Let’s cheer for all of the recruits.”

The crowd did one more big cheer for them. The recruits waved to them briefly and then left the arena. They made their way back to the training ground. Shining Armor left them in the arena. Once they entered the mess hall, they saw the rest of the recruits were already eating away.

“Hiya guys! Go get some grub and join us.” Dragon said.

They didn’t waste time and gathered food. The trainees sat together and talked about all the matches. They told what happened to those who missed the matches. The group also told what they were thinking and why they chose the way they did. After several hours of chatting, they made their way back to the barracks and quickly fell asleep. The ones who won dreamed about battle scenarios they will need to use against their opponents. The other dreamed what the winners were going to pull off to win the match.
> Chapter 35: Royal Guard Tournament, Part 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, the trainees in the barracks woke up before dawn and headed outside for the stretch routine. They were all getting the hang of it and maintaining balance in the different positions. Once they were done, the recruits headed to the mess hall for breakfast.

“Alright, who do you think is going to win in Al vs Cancer match?” Fang asked.

“I’m rooting for my brother,” Dragon said.

“Thanks, bro,” Cancer replied.

“I too will also root for ya,” Fang said.

“Well, I’ll have to go with Al. Never underestimate a human. It’s in our DNA to fight,” Swift Blaze said.

“I agree. That fake body stunt you pulled on me last night really had my mind thinking dreadful things. Resulting in me letting my guard down,” Lightning Trails said.

“I don’t know. Gravity vs Speed. That’s a tough one to see which will win. I’ll cheer you both on,” Colorful Sparks said.

“I agree. That match will be amazing to see who will actually win,” Star Dust said.

“Either way, that match will probably be close. Now for the match between Colorful Sparks and Swift Blaze. Who’s going to win?” Fang asked.

“Swift Blaze, hands down,” said Al. “I want to fight him in the final round.”

“You first have to defeat Cancer, if you want a chance to battle me,” Swift Blaze said.

“Hey! Don’t think I’ll easily allow you to win against me,” said Colorful Sparks. “I’m going to make you work for it as I want to win.”

“I never want my opponents to make it easy for me. I enjoy a good fight between friends.”

“You’re going to have a difficult time with Swift Blaze,” said Cancer. “I have never heard a pony with so many abilities. He’s probably on the same level as the Princesses.”

“I’m no way as powerful as them. They can move the sun and the moon. My mind is still having a hard time grasping at that from a scientific standpoint. I’m sure they could defeat me if they had to.”

“Now that would be a sight to see. Swift Blaze getting his flank kicked around by the Princesses,” Star Dust said with a chuckle.

Everyone was now laughing at that. They finished eating and made their way back to the arena. Star Dust, Fang, Dragon, and Lightning Trails waved goodbye as they split off to head to the participant box. Al, Cancer, Swift Blaze, and Colorful Sparks went into the arena entrance. Once through the long hallway, they arrived at the arena. It looked different this time as small house structures were everywhere. It was a mini village in the arena. Shining Armor appeared with a smile on his face.

“This is where you’re going to do battle today. If you would please follow me to the center, Princess Celestia will explain,” said the white Unicorn.

They made it to the designated space. The group had to weave around several buildings to get there. It was set up like other towns where they hold markets and festivals. The recruits then looked toward Princess Celestia as she was about to speak.

“Welcome to the next part of the tournament,” she said. “As you can see, you’re going to do battle in this urban environment. This will show us how you handle fighting in tight spaces. All of these buildings are empty except for a few. Some will have things that could help you in battle or you might find some of the traps that will hurt you. Also, with these next matches, there will be no use of your abilities.”

The crowd cheered after hearing this. The recruits were having different feelings among them. They were happy it was an even playing field, yet frustrated with fighting like this. 

Al leaned over and whispered into Blaze’s ear, “Dude, this is C.O.D. in real life!”

“But, there will be no bullets,” the red stallion whispered back. “Still, be on your toes as a pony can still hit you hard with their hooves.”

The white Alicorn started to speak again, “So, for the first match, we will have Al vs Cancer. I’m going to teleport you to different parts of the arena. From there, you’ll have to find your opponent and defeat them with what you find available. Colorful Sparks and Swift Blaze, Captain Shining Armor will take you to the participant box. Good luck everyone.”

With that, the Princess and the Unicorn captain activated their horns and teleported the trainees. Once Al was in another part of the arena, he quickly went into Call of Duty style. He hugged the walls and peeked around the corners. He was having the time of his life right now. As he snuck around quietly, he looked into the building’s window to see if anything was in there. The first several were bare empty. He knew he needed to find a weapon fast if he wanted a chance to survive.

Cancer was walking between the buildings, looking for Al. He did not bother to look in the buildings as he didn’t need a weapon to defeat Al now. The stallion believed he'd only need his hooves and a surprise attack. He looked around each corner and behind himself as he walked. He also tried to listen for any sounds out of the ordinary.

Al finally saw a chest in one of the buildings. He was excited and quickly went in. He looked around for any traps before making his way to the chest. He checked to see if it was locked. Lucky for him, it wasn’t. Once he opened it, he was confused as to why this would be here. Inside was a set of regular clothes. A pair was in a human body and the other was in a pony body. Al wondered why in a tournament match would they supply just regular clothing. 

Realizing ponies normally don’t wear clothes, these must have some unique properties. He changed into the human set right there. He was now wearing gray pants and a gray long sleeve shirt. He left and closed the door and continued to look for Cancer and a weapon.

The Zebra covered about half the arena now as he wasn’t wasting time with the buildings. He then realized they are probably circling each other. He reversed the direction of his search and quickly went back the way he came, while still being quiet.

Al continued his search for a weapon. He wished he had his daggers as he was the best with throwing knives. Thinking about it now, they won’t do him much good in these tight spaces. He needed a sword or a mace. He came into another building that had another chest inside. When he opened the door, he heard something click. All of a sudden, the stone ground he was standing on sent him flying up into the air. He screamed as he flew as a reaction. The human crash-landed through a roof and landed on the floor of another building. He was dazed from landing on his head.

As Cancer was going the opposite way he originally was, he then heard a scream in the air. He looked up and saw Al was falling out of control to the opposite side of the arena. He was so close to him before Al got launched, he wished he could use his ability to catch up. Not wanting to break the rules, the stallion started to run in the direction where Al was falling towards.

The human was shaking off the daze quickly. He knew he had to move quickly as he gave away his position from all that screaming. He looked around to where he landed. He saw he landed in a building with a chest. Al opened and just put on the biggest smile he could do. Inside were weapons. He grabbed a belt inside and put it on. Next, Al picked up a sword and attached it to the belt. He then gathered several daggers and placed them in the holders around the belt. Once done, Al went to leave and now look for his opponent. When he went to open the door, he saw a metal shield hanging on the back of the door. He snagged it and left.

Cancer was getting close as he saw a building in his sight with a big hole in the roof. He then sees Al come out of the door with weapons and a shield. Cancer ducts behind some crates very quickly before he was spotted. He wanted to kick himself in the flank now as his opponent had weapons and he didn't. He now needed some if he wanted to win. 

The Zebra peeked around the crate to see which way Al was going to head. Cancer saw that the human was heading away from him. Once Al was out of sight, he went up to the same building Al came out of. Cancer was hoping there would be some weapons left that he could use. He went inside and straight to the chest. There were two short swords that are designed to attach to hoofs and can fold up. He put them on and left, moving fast and quiet to catch up to Al.

The human was now ready to take on his opponent. He just had to find him. Al moved faster through the mini size village looking for his opponent. After a few minutes, he realized this method of searching was not going to work. He needed a higher point of view if he wanted to spot Cancer. 

Al remembered there was a tall statue in the center of the arena. It was at least twice as tall as these buildings. A good sniper point, if he had a sniper rifle. He looked above the buildings and spotted it. The human ran towards it as fast as he could. Once in the center, Al climbed it and perched himself at the top. He began to scan the area, looking for any movement.

Cancer was now running at full speed. He lost sight of Al and had no clue where he went. He wasn’t paying attention to his path, to make sure he was not overlapping places he has already been. It was difficult as everything looked the same and there was an infinite amount of routes to take from one side to another.

All of a sudden, the stallion heard a clanked sound just behind him. Cancer quickly turned one hundred eighty degrees to see what it was. A dagger has embedded itself into the stone path. From the angle of entry, he saw it was thrown from a high point. He peeked around the corner in the direction the dagger came from. The Zebra saw a tall statue with someone on it.

“Shit. I missed my target. Cancer was really hoofing it for me to miss. It won’t happen next time,” Al said. 

The human had just thrown a dagger over fifty yards once he saw the path his opponent was taking. He prepared another blade to throw once Al saw him.

Cancer now realized how lucky he was that the blade missed him. He had to figure out a way to get to the human, without being spotted. The paths and roofs are out because he will easily be spotted by Al from his perch. The only option he could see was to go through the buildings. 

The stallion entered the first one he was next to. Once the door closed behind him, out of nowhere, he got blasted with a magic spell. This trap spell would cause the pony to be off-balance and not able to focus. The other way to put it, Cancer will appear to be drunk. Stumbling around now, he left the house and staggered around the path. He started to head toward the human on the path the dagger took.

Al saw the Zebra had appeared where he last saw him. Something appeared to be off on him as he was all over the place. He couldn’t get a bead on the path Cancer was taking as it was chaotic. He started to throw daggers, one after another, taking a chance one would injure the pony and stop him from approaching.

Cancer couldn’t tell that daggers were flying by him or how he was able to dodge them. All he could feel is that he needed to get to that big thingy in the center. The human soon ran out of daggers as he looked over his belt for one. 

“Guess I’ll have to fight him directly now. I would like to find out how he was able to dodge me with ease,” he said. 

The human climbed back down and stood in front of the statue. Now he just has to wait for his opponent to finish getting down here. Cancer was making good progress in reaching the center. Even with stumbling around and colliding with crates that were in the path. He finally made it to the center and did his best to stand. 

“Ahh. There you *hic* are Al. Ya ready for a flank whooping?” the Zebra asked while sounding intoxicated.

“Cancer, are you drunk?” the human asked. “Where did you find booze in the arena? Did you save me some?”

“I AIN’T DRUNK! Have not *hic* had any since *hic*coming to training.”

“Dude, you walk like a drunk and speak like a drunk. If not by alcohol, then what caused you to act like that?”

“Don’t know. Maybe the *hic* magic blast I *hic* got hit with.”

“That’s a new way to get drunk without drinking. I don’t want that to happen to me. Shall we get to the fight now.” Al pulled his sword out and readied his shield.

Cancer extended his blades as he tried to keep his balance. “Whenever you are ready, pretty boy.”

The human moved first and swung his sword at the Zebra. Cancer’s body was moving like water and avoided the attack. Al continued to swing his weapon, hoping to land a blow. It looked like the stallion was dancing around his opponent as he avoided each blow. Al was getting frustrated by now. He did a shield slam against Cancer’s head. It made contact and sent him flying backwards a few feet.

Cancer literally got the daze knocked out of him. He could think clearer and regain control of his body. “Thanks for the head blow. You took out that spell that I was under,” he said.

“Great, can we now really fight and not have you dancing around like a drunken fool?” Al asked.

Then Cancer went on the offensive this time and swung both his swords at Al. The human was blocking with his shield and sword. Each blow to the shield created a nice size dent in it.

“Dang, you ponies are stronger than you look. Swift Blaze wasn’t kidding.” Al said. 

He was being pushed back as Cancer wasn’t letting up with his attacks. The Zebra finally got a blade under the shield and cut the straps that were holding it to the human's arm. The shield went flying as Cancer’s sword flung it up.

With nothing to protect that side, Al was going to have to rely on his arm to at least block one blow. With his only sword blocking one of the stallion's blades, he swung the free one at Al. The human closed his eyes and braced for the pain that was about to come.

*CLANK*

Al didn’t feel any pain. He opened his eyes and saw what happened. The clothing he found had transformed into a suit of armor. He shoved Cancer back as he too was surprised at what happened. He looked himself over before turning his gaze to Cancer. 

“Aw yeah!. I got a suit of armor! Time for round two!” Al shouted.

“Where did you get that?” Cancer asked.

“Found it in one of the buildings. Thought it was odd to find normal clothing. Turns out it changes to a nice suit of armor. Prepare for your flank to get KICKED!”

Al charged him with his sword, now being held by both hands. Cancer was now on the defensive as he was still in shock of what happened. He thought he had the match when Al lost his shield. He wanted to kick his own flank for not looking through the buildings when this started. Now Al will kick it for him.

The human saw the stallion was getting fatigued from blocking his attack. He too felt it creeping upon him. Now wearing the armor was putting a strain on his body as he isn't used to the weight of it. He needed to finish this soon. In a quick motion, Al cut the straps that held a blade to Cancer’s hoof. The next one soon followed. With no weapons or armor, the Zebra was pinned in a corner, nowhere to go.

“Do you yield?” Al asked.

“I do. You have beaten me fair and square. Congratulations,” Cancer replied.

Al’s eyes have not left looking at Cancer. He raised his sword behind him like he was about to deal a fatal slash to Cancer. The zebra eyes grew wide with fear. Wondering what has gotten into the human.

“Al, you won. You can stop with the attacks,” Cancer said in fear.

“There can only be one,” Al said with a Scottish accent. 

The stallion closed his eyes and the human swung the blade. He waited for the blow. Nothing happened. He opened his eyes and saw Al’s face was very close to him now. The blade was at the edge of his neck, but not touching.

Al moved one hand up to Cancer’s nose. He squeezed it while saying, “HHHHOOONNNKKK.”

Cancer just fainted right then and fell to the ground. Al turned his gaze to the shocked crowd of what happened. “I’ve always wanted to say that!” Al said. He laughed as he walked away. 

Only one pony joined in the laughter from what Al heard. The pony shouted, “BEST HIGHLANDER MOVE EVER!” Al recognized it was Swift Blaze, who else would get the joke.

Shining Armor appeared in the town center and walked up to Al. "Did you really plan on killing him?” he asked.

“Of course not,” replied Al. “It’s not everyday when I can reenact a movie scene from my world. Blaze and I will tell you about it and you would get the joke.”

“Death sometimes happens during the match as ponies get caught up in the moment. It never happens when one is declared the winner and almost takes the loser’s head off!”

“Chill. I promise you that wasn't going to happen. Besides, this blade isn't sharp enough to go through bones in one slice. I would have gotten it stuck in the spine.”

Shining Armor snorted a puff of smoke out of his nose. He activated his horn and picked up the unconscious Cancer. “Come along. We need to clear the field so it can be reset for the next match.”

With that, they were teleported out of the arena.
> Chapter 36: Royal Guard Tournament, Part 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once Shining Armor has teleported Al and Cancer out of the arena, Princess Celestia stood to address the crowd. 

"What another great display of skill and technique. Although, how Al decided to end the battle even surprised me. Let's cheer for them once more!" she said. 

The guards in the stadium cheered and shouted Al and Cancer's names. The white Alicorn raised her hoof to get the crowd to quiet down. 

"Give us a few minutes to reset the arena and get ready for our next match. For now, let me introduce the recruits in the next match. First, we have a Unicorn pony that showed us in his last match how diverse his illusions are. Now we’ll be able to see how he is with a blade while not invisible. Put your hooves together for Colorful Sparks!"

The blue stallion stood up and waved a hoof to the crowd as they cheered. Down below, there were several Unicorn Guards in the arena. They were cleaning up the destruction and even moving several buildings around.

"This next Unicorn pony displayed how he is stealthy at night. He also showed a wide range of abilities. How will he fare with not being able to use them? Let me hear you cheer for Swift Blaze!"

The red stallion stood up next to Colorful Sparks and joined in waving to the crowd.

"You ready to have your flank handed to you on a silver platter?" Colorful Sparks asked.

"Don't get too cocky just yet," replied Swift Blaze.

"You won't be able to use your powers to help you with this match. I saw how you controlled that sword. I’ve got this match in the bag."

"If I was in my human body, my sword skills are even better. I’ve only had a few weeks of practice wielding weapons in this body."

"I’ll believe it when I see it. Looks like they are ready down there. Time for your flank to get kicked."

Princess Celestia activated her horn and teleported them to different parts of the arena. Swift Blaze was the first to move around where he arrived. After getting a sense of his location, he began to search for gear to help him. He looked into each window as he walked, looking for anything different.

Colorful Sparks was doing a similar thing in his area. Through his searching, he came across a building with a chest. He entered and opened it. "Sweet! I found weapons first!" he shouted. 

Inside was a pair of folding hoof blades. They were similar to the ones he trained with back at the training grounds. The blue stallion quickly slipped them on and left. He still continued looking through the others, just in case he finds something else that can help him.

The red Unicorn kept on finding empty houses after empty houses. He was getting frustrated as he heard the shout from his opponent. He needed to find something soon if he wanted to stand a chance. Without warning, Colorful Sparks walked out of a path twenty feet ahead of him. Blaze quickly hid behind a crate before he looked down his direction. The stallion thought this could not get any worse.

Murphy's law was in effect as Blaze's body suddenly jolted from pain all over. He screamed out from it. The Unicorn quickly realized he was changing back into a human. Of all times to happen, it had to happen during a match. Blaze quickly bolted away from Colorful Sparks as he heard him scream and was heading toward him. It was now a chase through the paths between the buildings.

Blaze knocked several crates and other items to block the path. Colorful Sparks was able to either jump over or plow through them. The red stallion couldn't run at full speed as his body was in pain and it was increasing. In a desperate ploy, he jumped through a window and quickly started to run through the walls. This caused the flimsy buildings to become unstable and fall down. Colorful Sparks backed off so he wouldn’t get caught in the rubble. He stuck to the path and followed the falling buildings.

As Blaze was doing this, he sent a message from his mind to the white Alicorn. Princess Celestia, sorry for the destruction I’m causing. I’m changing back to my human form. Ugh, I’m saying sorry right now for any cursing I’m going to say.

Blaze, are you . . .  she started to send back when a loud shout came from the arena.
"AHHHHHHHH! MOTHERFUCKING TROUT-FACED SPERM BOGLE BASHER SPELL! YOU JUST HAD TO END NOW! WELL FUCK YOU AND FUCK EVERYTHING RELATED TO YOU! AHHHHHHH JESIS CRIST TROLLING BITCH! . . ." The cursing continued as everyone in the stadium could hear it. 

Princess Luna appeared next to her sister. "Tia, what in Equestria is going on? That shouting woke me up," she said.

"Blaze is changing back to his human form right now. The last time it was painful and he was in a soundproof room when it happened. As you can see, it just started," she replied while trying to talk over Blaze's voice."

They both suddenly got another message in their minds, QUICKLY! PUT UP A SIX LAYER BARRIER AROUND ME OF YOUR STRONGEST ONE! DON'T ASK WHY, JUST DO IT! Blaze said.

Without waiting, both Alicorns activated their magic and placed the layered barriers around the house the stallion last crashed into. It stopped all the shouting. Just a minute later, the house exploded in an instant. The blast also destroyed four of the barriers and cracked the fifth one severely. Inside was a big cloud of smoke that wasn’t dissipating.

Blaze, you alright in there? Princess Celestia asked from her mind.

*Cough* Yeah, he replied. My ki was building up from all the pain I was in and had to release it. Um, can I get some clothes, please?

There is a set in the chest next to you, Princess Luna said from her mind.

He quickly felt around for the chest and found it. The white Alicorn took down the barriers that were remaining and allowed the debris smoke to spread out and dissipate. This time, Blaze had to change out of his torn clothes quickly and into the set that was in there. He didn’t want anyone to see him in torn clothes after causing so much destruction.

Colorful Sparks was circling the house that was inside a barrier a few minutes ago. He knew his opponent was there from all that shouting. The Unicorn wondered if he was ok because he’d never heard such foul language. The blue stallion tried to look through the smoke for any signs of movement. He then heard a voice come from it.

“I know you are out there, Colorful Sparks. I’ll meet you in the center of the arena in five minutes so we can finish this match properly,” Blaze said from within the smoke.

“You ok in there?” Colorful Sparks asked.

“I’m much better now. I’ll explain everything shortly. See you there.”

“I’ll hold you to it. It is five till noon anyway.”

“Perfect.”

Colorful Sparks left the smoke debris and headed to the center. Blaze left the area under the cover of the smoke to an undamaged house nearby. He wanted to make sure the clothing looked good before the actual fight. Once inside, he could look himself over. He was wearing something similar to what Al had, except his outfit was black. The human also saw that he did put it on correctly. That made him feel much better. 

He then felt something brush the back of his legs. Looking behind him, he saw something that was not there before. The human had a tail, a black, pony tail. He quickly felt around his head for anything else that wasn’t supposed to be there. Swift Blaze breathed a sigh of relief as he still has a human head with no pony like features. He only noticed also now that his hair was also black. He wrapped his tail around his waist to hide it, for now. 

With Blaze’s appearance taken care of, he looked around the house. He saw he came to one that had another chest. Blaze opened and revealed he found a weapon stash. Better yet, it was his sword. Guess the universe was actually sorry for the pain he was put through changing back. All he knows now is he doesn’t want to be a pony for quite a while. He grabbed his weapon and headed to the center.

Colorful Sparks waited at the base of the statue in the center. He wanted to get this match over with after all. He heard a clock in Canterlot striking twelve’ o’clock. 

“Alright Blaze. It is noon. Where are you?” he shouted.



“I’m right here,” Blaze said from behind a building. “The spell on me decided to end.” 

“Wait. You’re back to a human now?”

Blaze stepped out from behind the building so Colorful Sparks could see him. “I’M BAAACCKK!”

“Well, this match just got interesting. Now I can see how skillful you are with a blade.”

“Enough talking! Let’s finish this match.”

Colorful Sparks folded out his blades and stood on his hind hooves. Blaze kept his sword in his sheath. The human had one hand on it and the other hand on the sword itself. Being back in human form got him all excited. He can now use the skills of the move he learned from Earth. Both of them were standing still in their battle stance, waiting for the other to strike. The tension was very high in the air.

The Unicorn moved first and charged toward his opponent. He did a double slash at him. Blaze reacted with lightning speed and drew his sword to block. The speed blocked the hit and also caused Colorful Sparks to slide back a bit.

“What the buck was that? You just drew your sword and it pushed me back!”

“The speed I can draw my sword sometimes will create a shockwave and knock the opponent either down or back. Care to continue?”

“You know it!” 

The blue stallion charged again. This time swinging one blade after another. Blaze was able to block each one with no issue. They continued to fight around the center, swinging their blades at each other. Neither of them was able to land a blow. Soon, they pushed either away and stood ten feet away from each other. Both were breathing a little harder to catch their breath.

“That was a nice warm-up. Care to pick it up?”

“I was hoping you were holding back. So was I. Let’s really test each other's skills.”



They both charged at each other, this time at a faster speed. Their movements were starting to become blurry to that of a normal eye. You can hear the clanging of their blades in rapid style, like rain hitting a sheet of metal. This went on for several minutes as neither of them was letting up.

All of a sudden, Colorful Sparks was able to get the blades in the right position and sent Swift Blaze’s sword flying into the air. Before the blade fell back down, the stallion quickly went to continue the onslaught with a double downward slash onto the human's shoulders. Blaze raised both of his arms to block the hits.

*CLANK*

Blaze looked at his arms. They were now covered in black armor. His body was the same way. An identical suit of armor to what Al wore. As the Unicorn was recovering from hitting the metal, Blaze grabbed his falling sword. In a quick motion, he swung it with full force into his opponent’s blades. They shattered upon contact. 

The human continued with a round kick to his gut, sending the blue stallion flying into the statue. The impact knocked it over backwards. Blaze walked up to Colorful Sparks as he had his back against the base of the statue, holding his gut.

“*Couch* Ok, you win. You’re better with a blade than me,” Colorful Sparks said.

“Only in my human form, replied Blaze. “If I had to fight with my pony body, I think you might have beaten me.”

“How do you think I would have done against Al?”

“Hard to say. You are good with short swords. He is good with daggers and throwing blades. I would say whoever was more determined, would probably win.”

“Well, good luck going against him. Who knows what kind of battle Princess Celestia will plan for you two. Now then, how about you come and take care of my injuries. I think you might have broken some of my ribs with that kick of yours.”

Blaze smiled and kneeled down next to Colorful Sparks. He placed his hands above him and began to channel his chakra to begin the healing process.

“Say, how come that part of clothing did not change to armor also?” Colorful Sparks said as he pointed with a hoof to where Blaze had his tail wrapped around him.

“No clue. I did not choose the style of armor. Now hold still, you do have some broken ribs. I don’t want you to make it worse by having them puncture a lung.”

The Unicorn remained still as the human worked on healing him. He continued to look at Blaze’s waist, trying to figure it out. Blaze knew he would have to explain it soon as he can’t hide this forever. He heard someone teleport behind him. He turned his head and saw the rest of the recruits were there with Captain Shining Armor and the Princesses.

The human thought, Oh great. Guess now is a good time as any to explain my new look. He finished healing and stood up to greet the group. The armor finally reverted back to normal clothing so his tail was blended back in again. 

“Hello, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and everyone else. I got my human body back,” Blaze said.

“Nice to see another human here now. I no longer feel like an alien by myself in this world,” Al said.

“Dude, we are aliens here.”

“I know, but not like the ones from the movies back home. I would never do some of the things those directors thought of if an alien showed up there.”

“I’m glad you have your body back, Swift Blaze. Although, the language shouldn't have been necessary,” Princess Celestia said.

“Again, I’m sorry, your highness,” he replied. “Having my bones stretched, shrunk, grown, and my skin on fire is one thing I never want to experience again. If I’m severely injured again, please don’t have Twilight Sparkle change me to a pony again.”

The human bowed to her as a reaction. He soon felt his tail unwrap itself from around his waist.

“Blaze, did something else get changed to your body when you changed back?” Princess Luna asked. “I noticed your mane is black, like your pony form, but I thought I saw something behind you I didn't see before.”

“I think I know what you are talking about and no, I didn't have it before.” He turned sideways so they could see. “ I have a tail.”

They all gasped at Blaze's new addition, except for one. Al was laughing and fell onto his back as he continued to. “YOU HAVE A TAIL! OH MAN, THAT IS RICH!” He said between laughter.

“I think I prefer a pony’s tail instead of a monkey one.”

“Monkey tail?” Star Dust asked.

“The human DNA is very similar to that of an ape. Also, it is an inside joke of a show we watched back on Earth.”

“Do you think this might have to do with what happened in the EverFree Forest?” Dragon asked.

“More than likely. I’m just glad I didn't get a horn on top of my head.”

“That is because you've already had a horn. Between your legs!” Al said while he continued to laugh.

Blaze weaved some hand signs for a jutsu. The ground underneath the other human launched him up into the air. He screamed as he flew up and began to fall. Blaze followed up with an air style jutsu and caught him before he hit the ground. He could tell Al didn't like that. He just smiled as the human picked himself up and stomped towards him.

“You want our match to start now? I’m ready to go!” Al said in my face.

Before Blaze could say anything back, both of us were pulled away from each other by a magical force. He looked and saw Princess Celestia had her horn glowing. She held us in her hold as she spoke, “Your match is going to be tomorrow so both of you can recover and get ready for it. You'll find out the style at the start of the match.”

“Of course, Princess Celestia,” they both said at the same time.

She released them and the humans landed on their feet. Before the Princesses left, Blaze asked, “Um, would it be alright if we dined with you tonight? A certain food source will make sure we will be at our top performance for tomorrow.”

They looked at each other for a few minutes. Princess Luna then said, “I think we can allow that. We certainly want the recruits to be at their best for everyone to see tomorrow.”

Shining Armor took the rest of the recruits back to the training grounds. Al and Blaze followed the Princesses out of the arena. Al whispered into my ear, “What food source did you get us to have?”

“What is one thing that ponies will never eat?” Blaze replied.

Al thought for a few seconds before shouting, “MEAT!”
> Chapter 37: Royal Guard Tournament, Part 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the Princesses and humans headed to the castle, Swift Blaze could see Al was doing his best to not to be crazy excited about eating some meat. He wanted to be on his best behavior so he could be invited back. 

Blaze thought he should help to get Al’s mind off the meat so he can calm down. “Hey Al, are you happy that you will finally get to fight me in the arena?” he asked.

“You know it,” he replied. “I didn’t know if you were still going to be in your pony form or finally get back to your human one. I'm glad it's going to be against this body. I can really see how your powers do well against mine.”

“I'm also glad to have my real body back. I’m grateful it didn’t weaken while I was a pony. I think it might have gotten stronger from the training.”

“Can I see you change into your pony form with your shadow transform jutsu? I want to see how easy it is for you.”

“Of course.” 

Blaze did the hand signs and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Then appeared back in his new pony form. 

“No pain when doing it like this,” said the stallion.

“You’re right. I can also see that the horn is still there, so this form is now a Unicorn.”

“I had a feeling that was still going to be there.” 

The stallion changed back to his human form. 

“I’m still surprised I have a pony’s tail though,” Swift said as he waved it back and forth behind him.

“Just don’t go looking at a full moon.”

“Why shouldn’t Blaze look at a full moon?” asked Princess Luna. “There’s going to be one tonight.”

“A race from the Dragonball Z series known as Saiyan. They look like humans, except they had monkey tails,” replied Blaze. “Whenever they looked at a full moon, they transformed into a giant ape and caused havoc wherever they were.”

“And Al thinks you might change into what, a giant pony?” Princess Celestia asked.

“When I was with God and asked to come here, I asked for ki and chakra abilities. Not the blood of the Saiyans. I think the tail just has to do something with the Elements of Order and nothing from that show.”

Al said, “I think for the safety of Equestria, you should avoid looking at the moon tonight.” He turned and looked at the white Alicorn. “There’s another thing, Princess Celestia. The technical thing about the transformation is that the Saiyans absorb things called Blitz Waves that come from the moon. It’s the refraction of sunlight off a celestial body that creates it.”

“Excuse my language, but this is bullshit!” Blaze shouted. “I’m not going to transform into a monster. I enjoy the nightlife before coming here and more since I did. I promise you, if I do detect myself changing, I’ll teleport to the EverFree Forest and stay there till I change back the coming morning.”

“We know that you never want to harm anyone, Blaze. You proved that when you had that emotional outburst and did the same thing,” Princess Celestia said. “I do think that it’s false of you going to change now. With this new information that Al provided, you would have already started to change.”

“Why’s that?” Al asked.

“My sister and I emit those waves when we control the sun and moon.”

“See, stop thinking everything from TV shows is going to be real,” Blaze said.

“This place is real. Why not others?” Al asked.

“Another dimension probably. Not in this one.”

They finally arrived in the dining room. The Princesses took their normal seats at the end of the table. Blaze took his, across from Princess Luna and next to Princess Celestia. Al took the seat next to  Swift. The waiter came and gave green menus to the Princesses and red menus to the humans. Al had the same look Blaze had from the first time he ate there.

“Red menus are dishes that contain meat,” Blaze whispered to Al.

He nodded and looked it over. Al’s facial expression was that of having a hard time deciding. “Blaze, what is good here?” he asked.

“I’ve only eaten a few items on the menu, but they were all good. It was the Manticore Meatballs, Bourbon Hydra, and Spaghetti with chunks of Quarry Eel.”

“You had that for one meal,” Princess Celestia said.

“Dude, I’m surprised you didn’t get a heart attack from eating that much meat,” Al responded.

“One thing I seem to have picked up from the DBZ show is Goku’s stomach,” replied Blaze.

“I’ve seen that from the meals at the mess hall. You never grab just a plate worth of food. The food tray is your plate.”

“Shut up and pick what you want before I choose something from the green menu for you to eat.”

The Princesses giggled a little bit from our arguing. Al looked over the menu for his selection. The waiter soon came back and began to take the orders. Both Princesses ordered Spaghetti with steamed veggies on the side. They also chose to split a red wine bottle. The name was a spinoff of one of the reds back on Earth. Al went next and ordered a sixteen ounce Bourbon Hydra, cooked medium rare, and a tall glass of hard apple cider. Blaze ordered a double serving of teriyaki stir-fry with Manticore, Hydra, Quarry Eel, and veggies to be mixed in. His drink was just going to be a glass of water. The waiter thanked them for the orders and headed back to the kitchen.

The white Alicorn broke the silence after the waiter left. “So, Swift Blaze, now that you are back to your human body, do you want to take a look and see if you can read anything new in the book on Elements of Order?” She asked.

He replied, “I’m back as a human for only a few hours and you’re wondering about that book? I thought you cared more about me instead of that book. I expected you to ask about how I fared with the last match? Or, what do I think I’ll do with the next one?”

“I’m sorry, Blaze. Just that book has been on my mind since you have brought it back. You do . . .”

“Princess, I’m trolling you.”

Al started to laugh and soon Princess Luna joined in. “I can’t believe you got Tr OUCH!” He started to say before Blaze kicked him under the table.

“What were you about to say?” Princess Celestia asked in a stern voice.

Blaze gave a glare to the other human to not say that name. He regained himself and replied, “I said that I can’t believe you got tricked into that sob story.”

Princess Celestia looked at both of them for a few minutes with a stern look. Al and Blaze remained quiet. Her face switched back to a calm look and said, “Yes, Blaze did a nice job with that joke. I’ll let you decide which subject you want to discuss.”

“I’ll honor your request and take a look at the book right now,” he replied. 

Blaze summoned the book to him and began to look through it. He thought, Well, it looks like the book decides to reveal some more to me. Ah, this explains why. 

“I think I know why this book is not revealing everything right away. I have a letter in the book.”

“Well, read it,” Al said.

“I was getting to it. Don’t interrupt me.”

-------Letter in Elements of Order Book------

Dear future human in Equestria,

I don’t know what year it’ll be there when you read this, but I do know the one who the book chooses to read this is destined to wield the Elements of Order. I’ve placed several incantations to hide this book from prying eyes so you’re the only one who can read it. Even Princess Celestia and Princess Luna will not be able to break this without destroying the book.

If you are familiar with history, I’m the one called Merlin. Princess Celestia informed me that in two weeks, all the humans in Equestria will be sent back to Earth for the safety of her subjects. I looked into the future of several timelines and saw what the Princess feared. I agreed with her decision and began to help her. I also decided to look a bit further to see where the best place for these elements to stay. As you can guess, they stayed in Equestria for a good reason. I cannot reveal the reason why is because it will alter the outcome.

Now onto the locations of the elements. They’ve been placed in hidden locations across Equestria in the last two weeks while helping Princess Celestia. The actual locations are not written down anywhere in this book. This book does contain sections to help you retrieve them once you’re in the place where they’re hidden. I did this because I’ve placed traps and other things to prevent them from being stolen. The locations will be revealed in time like how you found the secret room this book was in.

Good luck with your journey on finding them. I know you will do well.

Sincerely,

Merlin, the Great and Powerful

P.S. Say hi to Tia and Lulu for me.

---------Back to real world-----------

“I never realized Merlin really cared about our world to make sure we were cared for after he left,” Princess Celestia said.

“He also made sure the elements were protected from thieves. I wonder what kind of traps he rigged for each element.” Al said.

“You’re going to help me when I somehow find the location of each one. Us bros have to stick together,” replied Blaze.

“Well, tomorrow, you are getting your butt kicked all over the arena tomorrow.”

“Not if I get yours first.”

The waiter came out of the kitchen with everyone’s dishes. They were placed in front of them. They ate the food in silence as it was rude to talk with our mouths full. Blaze looked at Al and saw he was really enjoying the steak. He took his time and savored the flavor of each bite. His stir-fry was also delicious. They definitely have a great chef back in the kitchen that can make anything. Once the meal was over, Blaze offered to teleport the humans back to the barracks so they could hit the sack quickly. Princess Celestia allowed and they left in a puff of smoke.

The next morning, Blaze woke up a little bit earlier than normal. The anticipation of the final match was probably the cause. He headed outside and started the warm-up exercises he does with a human body. Al soon came out and joined him. He copied his movements as best he could. The rest of the recruits soon followed and began there. 

Once the routine was done, they headed for the mess hall. When Blaze got there, he had to make sure to not grab things that had hay or flowers in them. He wished there was some juicy bacon right now. He gave himself a mental note to check with Princess Celestia if he could get some sort of a pig slab so he can get some bacon. He sat next to Al with everyone else.

Thanks for taking me to have a meal with the Princesses. I can’t wait to cook some of that after this training is done,” Al said.

“Not a problem. I know we need to eat some of that once in a while if we are to stay fit,” replied Blaze.

“The way you eat, you eat enough for a family of at least four.”

“What was this food item that you have to eat to stay fit?” Lightning Trails asked.

The humans saw several of the others face hoof themselves “Think about it. They told us already,” said Fang. “What’s one thing we don’t eat?”

They could see that the cogs were turning in Lightning Trails head as he thought about it. After a few minutes, his face went from thinking to that of about to puke. “You ate meat in front of the Princesses? How could you!”

“Yes, we did, and it was delicious. They didn’t mind as they had other delegates from other nations that also eat meat. Don’t hate it until you tried it,” Blaze said.

“I’ll try it when you eat a flower and some hay.” Lightning Trails said as he challenged him.

“Deal.” 

Blaze quickly changed to his pony form and grabbed a flower and some hay off his plate. He chewed it up and swallowed. Once it was all gone, the red Unicorn opened his mouth to prove it. Finally, the stallion changed back to his human form. 

“Now let me get you some cooked meat for you to eat.”

“You cheated! You were supposed to eat it as a human.”

“You didn’t set the conditions.”

“It’s true, you didn’t. You now have to honor the agreement,” Cancer said.

“You’re not going to get me to eat meat!” Lightning Trails shouted. He then got up and flew out of the mess hall.

“We should get going too. Don’t want to be late for our match,” Al said.

Blaze asked, “You in a hurry to get your butt handed to ya?”

“No, I want to kick your butt right out of the arena.”

“You’ll have to catch me first.” He teleported out of there before Al could say a comeback.

Blaze arrived at the arena in front of the participant entrance. Shining Armor was there and was surprised to see the human teleported to the arena.

“Are you in a rush to get to the match?” the Unicorn Captain asked.

“No. I was enticing Al so he’ll be pumped up for the match,” he replied.

“Why would you do that? It’ll probably cause him to get angry and activate his gravity powers.”

“Exactly. I want to fight him at his best. I need to know if I can handle him if he does go out of control. Plus, I’ve been waiting to cut loose with mine. I have been holding back in all my matches.”

“YOU HAVE! How in Equestria have you been pulling that off? I’ve seen you exhausted in several matches.”

“Besides the match I had with you, have I caused any serious harm to my opponents?”

Shining Armor started to recall the matches. “No, you haven’t. Then why didn’t you hold back against me?”

“Two reasons why. Number one, you’re a very strong opponent that caused me to fight harder. The other reason is you were being a pain in my ass at the start of the training. If you weren’t Twilight’s older brother, I would’ve made sure you were in the hospital for a while.”

Blaze heard the white stallion take a big swallow down his throat. “Yes well, *cough* I’m glad you can restrain yourself. You still promised me to spar with you so I can get a better understanding of your powers.”

“I haven’t forgotten that. We can do it each morning in front of my house when I do my morning routine. We can start it next month. Sounds good?”

“Deal.” The Unicorn looked in the direction of the training ground. “Oh, look, here comes Al. He looks pissed.” 

“SEE YA.” 

The human teleported out of there to just above the arena. He wanted to play it safe until the match.

Just after Swift Blaze disappeared, Shining Armor was laughing. He couldn’t believe that he fell for that. Al was coming, but he didn’t look pissed. He and the other recruits were talking as they approached. They soon split off and headed off to where they are supposed to go.

“Hi Captain Shining Armor, seen Blaze? He teleported out of the mess hall,” he said.

“You just missed him,” replied the white stallion “He went inside to finish preparing for the match. Come along, don’t want to keep the crowd waiting.”

Al followed Shining Armor down the long tunnel to the arena. As they made their way down, inside the space, the crowds of guard ponies were packed in as they all wanted to see the match. They were chanting both Al and Swift Blaze’s names at different times. 

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were both there. Luna didn’t want to go to bed and miss this. Celestia felt the same way. So she actually closed the day court until the match was over. Nothing was planned for today anyway. Both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stood to address the crowd.

“Good morning and welcome to the final match of the latest recruits taking the Royal Guard training,” said the white Alicorn. “We’re definitely in for a great match as it’s not ponies who made it to the finals. It’s the latest citizens of Equestria! Al and Swift Blaze, the Humans!”

The crowd lets out a massive cheer. They soon settled down so the Princesses could continue.

“In all the years we’ve had this tournament, we’d never had it so the finalists were both non-ponies. They have earned their way to get here by going through the same training you all took. It’s now time to introduce them. First off, this human has display marksmanship of the highest in throwing blades. His control over gravity is even more impressive by what he has shown what he can do with it. Let us hear a great big cheer for AL!”

Al headed into the arena and did some aerobatics style moves to wow the crowd. They cheered even louder as he performed them. He landed near the center of the arena and walked off to one side.

They quieten down as Princess Luna was now going to speak. “This next human has amazed us with his elemental abilities of Earth, Fire, Lightning, Air, and Water. He has also shown us his mastery of the sword,” she said. “You don’t want to underestimate what he’s capable of. Clap your hooves together for Swift Blaze!”

The crowd began to cheer for him. Al looked toward the entrance where he came from, expecting the other human to come out of there. After a few minutes, no sign of him. The crowd began to whisper among themselves as to wonder where he was.

“Looks like Swift Blaze was too scared to face me. Guess that means I win,” Al shouted.

All of a sudden, clouds began to cover the sky over the arena. Everyone was wondering what was going on. Lights that were not lightning were flashing different colors and shined out. 

“Don’t claim your victory just yet. There’s one big difference between you and me Al,” Blaze said from inside the cloud.

“Besides the fact you have a pony’s tail out your butt, what’s this difference?” he asked.

“PRESENTATION!”

The clouds opened up and revealed lots of tiny orbs hovering in the air. They created a 3-D image of Blaze’s face. The image of Blaze opened his mouth and the real Blaze walked out of it. The crowd cheered even louder for the human. He then flew away at high speed as the image of Blaze collapsed in on itself. The tiny orbs exploded into a firework display. The human landed next to Al with a big grin.

“Rip off,” his opponent whispered. “You took that from a movie.”

“I was different. He used bots to do his. I used ki balls. Mine was better.”

“Matter of opinion. Mind clearing the clouds away so we can get back to finding out what kind of battle we are going to have?”

Blaze did a jutsu and the clouds dispersed into nothing. The crowd calmed back down after watching that entrance. Princess Celestia stepped up to speak again. “Now that you both are here, I guess you are wondering how you will be fighting. I think it would be best for you to use all your abilities and weapons. A true test to see who is the best in this group. Good luck and may the best HUMAN WIN!”

Al and Swift Blaze only stood a couple of feet away from each other. They stared at each other with serious faces. A flash went off next to them and the referee pony showed up. 

“Welcome to the final match of the recruit tournament. As Princess Celestia said, you may use your abilities and any weapon of your choosing. Do you both understand the rules?” The ref said in a slow monotone.

“Al, do you think the ref needs a wake-up call? He doesn’t seem to be awake,” Blaze said.

“What do you have in mind?” Al asked.

“Wishbone crunch on two?”

Al drew a big smile as he knew where Blaze was getting at. Ref now has his eyes wide open. He was wondering what they were going to do.

“Ready?” Blaze asked. Al nodded. “Two!” They both spun around and slammed their backs into the ref’s head. He staggered for a bit before he collapsed.

Shining Armor teleported down. “What was that for?” he asked.

“For delay of match. Plus, he won’t be needed. Right, Al?” Blaze said.

“That’s correct. Mind taking him so we can begin?” Al said.



Shining Armor picked up the unconscious ref and teleported out of there. Blaze and Al began to circle each other. Increasing the distance between them. Blaze acted first. 

“Ninja Art! Battle Barrier Jutsu!” he shouted. 

Another barrier emerged from the ground around the arena itself and stayed within the one that is already in place to protect the spectators. 

“Now that is up, we won’t have to worry about harming the crowd,” Blaze said. "The other thing is we won’t be disturbed until I bring it down or I get knocked out. Time to fight!”

The black hair human started to run toward his opponent. Al reacted by drawing a dagger and sent it flying at him. The speed of the dagger was impressive by normal standards. You would consider it on the high end of arrow speeds. Al watched the blade get very close to Blaze. It then passed right through his head. The human soon realized he got suckered into an after image. A second later was confirmed when he got a kick to the side of him and sent rolling around the ground.

Before Al could get back up, Blaze performed an Earth jutsu and launched his opponent up into the air. He jumped up to catch up with the spinning Al. Once he did and moved at the same speed, Blaze twisted his body vertically forward and landed his left leg hard in Al's chest. The impact sent him soaring toward the ground at max drop speeds. 

Blaze suddenly felt a sharp pain in his left leg. He looked down and saw a dagger was poking out of it. Al was able to get a blade into it at the moment of impact. The black hair human looked down and saw his white hair opponent corrected himself in mid-flight. Making sure he would land on his feet. Al hit the ground hard and formed a small crater. He landed on one knee and a hand against the ground.

Blaze floated down and tried to take the blade out of his leg. But it caused serious pain as he moved it about. It appeared to have gotten stuck in the bone. He’ll have to fight with it in there, for now.

Al quickly got back up onto his two feet as the black hair human hovered just above the ground. They stared each other down for a few seconds before Al charged at his opponent this time. He held a blade in each hand and the sharp side was sticking out the bottom of the hand. Blaze quickly summoned a kunai to his right hand. The human continued to hover as he didn’t want to put pressure on his left leg.

When Al was face to face with Blaze, they volleyed their attacks and blocks between each other. Both were able to get several hits on different spots across each other's bodies. Purple and red blood began to leak from them where they have been cut. After several minutes of this, they pushed off each other and stood apart twenty feet and continued to stare each other down.

"Looks like I’m not the only one good with daggers,” said Al. “I would say we are about even with this skill."

"I’m just glad I was able to get some hits in," Blaze replied.

"What hits?" Al concentrated on healing and the open cuts were starting to close up and disappeared. "Looks like I now have the advantage."

"Don't count on it." 

Blaze performed several hand signs. After the last one, his body was glowing red. His injuries were now healing quickly as fast as Al's was. The human finally yanked the dagger out to allow the wound to fully heal. Blaze landed on his feet now his leg was no longer injured. 

"You are not the only one who can heal themselves."

"Well then, time to bring this to the next level."

Blaze sensed that Al was bringing up his gravity powers. He quickly flipped backwards until he was out of the range of his ability. His opponent was having rocks come up out of the ground and hover around him. In a quick motion, he sent them flying at Blaze in a machine-gun fashion. Blaze quickly performed a jutsu and had a stone wall appear before him to block the hits. The thickness of it was successful in blocking the first volley, but both knew it wouldn’t last.
 
Each volley was taking chunks out of it. "What is wrong Blaze? You don't have anything in your bag of tricks to stop stones flying at bullet speeds?" Al asked.

"I think it is time to change the field layout,” he replied. “Earth Style! Hundred Stone Totems Jutsu!"

The ground in the arena was rumbling. In rapid sessions, stone totems began to come out of the ground in various locations. They ranged in different heights, from ten feet to easily forty feet tall. One almost clipped Al's arm as it rose up inches from his face. He walked around it and headed to the stone wall Blaze was hiding behind. Al used his power and pulled it down. His opponent was no longer behind it. The white hair human was quickly looking around him for any movements. He prepared several big rocks to launch, once he saw something.

"Nice diversion. Made me pay attention to the totems while you sneaked away. Your ninja skills are very suited to you." 

Al spotted something move in the corner of his eye. He sent a rock flying in that direction. It made contact with a totem and had it topple to the ground. Nothing was behind it. Al continued to take down totems after each shadow movement he saw. 

"COME AND FIGHT ME!"

"How about you come down here."

Al looked down and saw two hands come out of the ground. They grabbed his ankles and quickly pulled him into the ground. He was now buried up to his neck.

Blaze rose out of the ground and stood in front of him. "How’s the weather down there?" He asked with a smirk.

"Lovely. Come down and join me."



Blaze was forced down to the ground as the gravity on him increased tenfold. He hit the surface hard and was forced to lay flat on the ground on his stomach. Al used his powers to get himself out of the hole he was in. He soon was circling his opponent with a big grin on his face.

“Looks like you’re unable to move. I know you haven’t trained with this amount of weight on you,” said Al. “The most you’ve done with your magic weight clothing is about three times gravity. You’re feeling ten against your body. Submit now before I’m forced to make you.”

Blaze grunted against the pull of gravity on him as he lifted his head to look at his opponent. “So, this is what it feels like when Goku trained. I can see why he struggled in the beginning,” he replied. “I’m just glad to see you haven’t lost your cool when using your powers.”

“It took some time to get used to something you didn’t know you have. You know this as well with what you can do.”

“It looks like it is time to bring out another one.” Blaze placed the palms of his hands against the ground. He looked at Al and shouted, “KAI-O-KEN TIMES FIVE!”

A massive ki wave burst from Blaze and knocked Al onto his ass several feet away. The white hair human looked at his opponent and saw he was now standing with no issue. The human had a deep red aura outlining his body. Al got himself back up, then felt a sharp pain in his gut. He looked down and saw a fist where the pain was coming from. Blaze’s speed had increased tremendously. So much, under increased gravity, he did the attack in a blink of an eye.

Al coughed up some blood and said, “When did you learn that? I never saw you used it.”

“Inside my headspace,” his opponent replied. “I never planned on ever using it during the competition, until you forced me.”

“Let’s see how you can handle twenty times gravity!”

Al increased the gravity around him double what it was. Within the boundary, the ground sunk down a few more feet as it was compressed. The white hair human looked at his opponent and saw he was struggling to stay standing. He kept his distance to avoid any possible attack, but made sure Blaze couldn’t easily get out of the area. 

Al pulled a dagger from his holder and launched it at Blaze. The black hair human didn’t try to get out of the way. Instead, he raised a hand and sent a ki blast at the blade.

What happened next surprised Blaze. The blast curved down towards the ground and missed hitting the dagger. The metal continued to fly straight and went into Blaze’s left shoulder. He cringed at the pain, but didn’t scream. He pulled the blade out and let it fall to the ground. The dagger made a loud thud when it landed. Al was now laughing at what happened.

“You can’t even use your abilities as they won’t reach me!” he shouted. “They all have mass and will fall to the ground before ever reaching me! You can’t do anything!” He grabbed two more daggers and prepared to throw them.

That’s when Blaze was trying to come up with something he had learned before more blades were sent his way. Then, a crazy idea popped into his head. “You might have hindered what I can do,” he replied. “That doesn’t mean I’m done. Water Style! Hidden Mist Jutsu!”

The fog started to roll out from Blaze. Because of the gravity, it stayed low to the ground and very dense. It spread out everywhere within the lower field. Al laughed at this. “Were you hoping to hide in this fog? Even laying down will leave you exposed,” he said. “What purpose does this fog hold?”

“To bridge the connection for this.” Blaze performed several hand signs and then braced his right hand by having his left hold the wrist. “Lightning Style! Chidori!” His hand now lit up with lightning and it was sent into the fog bank. The sparking energy was spreading out in every direction where the fog was.

Al couldn’t move fast enough as he was hit by the attack, giving him the shock of his life. The intense pain of it caused him to lose control of gravity, returning the area back to normal gravity.

Blaze felt the relief of his body and quickly moved out of range. He breathed heavily as the stain his body was under that had taken more out of him than he thought. He looked to see how his opponent was doing.

The white hair human was barely standing. Al had scorch marks all over his body from the lightning. A little bit of smoke was also coming from him. He coughed and more from his mouth. 

“That was unexpected,” he said. “Anyone else would have probably been knocked out, or killed by that attack. I’m starting to like having this demon blood in me. Made me able to survive.”

“Looks like neither of us is ready to give up. Ready to continue?” his opponent asked.

“Bring it on, Blaze.”

The black hair human quickly responded with several hand signs. This next jutsu was going to be a powerful one as it was the most he had ever done. His chakra level was rising up to its limit. The dark red aura was now replaced with a bright red. Once he was ready, Blaze shouted, “FIRE STYLE! GREAT BLUE DRAGON JUTSU!” The human opened his mouth and a massive blue flame came out. It quickly formed into a dragon head. It hovered above Blaze for a few seconds before charging towards Al.

The white hair human couldn’t believe that his opponent could cast something that powerful. He soon realized it was coming for him. Al reacted by pulling rocks out of the ground to form a wall to block the attack. When the dragon hit the wall, it exploded in the same fire it was made of. Once the smoke cleared, the wall was gone and Blaze could see his opponent was knocked back to the wall of the barrier from the explosion. His body now had several third-degree burn marks over several parts of his body.

That attack had taken more energy out of Blaze than he expected. He doesn’t know if he could pull off another big one. The human stumbled closer to Al, but maintained his distance out of his gravity control. 

“I know you’re still alive over there,” he said. ‘You were in hell for a year. So I know this wasn’t the first time you got burned by flames. Get up and let's continue this match. Let’s take power use off the table, just man to man.”

Al chuckled and coughed as he got up. “Guess I can’t play possum against you.”

“Not one who is also trained in faking out his opponents.”

“I agree to your terms. Mind if I do a quick heal before we give each other another beat down?”

“Not if you allow me to do so also.”

“Sure. If you have any chakra left. A move like that would surely have drained you.”

“I have created myself a reserve over the past couple of weeks.” 

Blaze did a quick hand sign. The cutie mark on his right shoulder spun three hundred sixty degrees. He then felt the rush as chakra filled his body from that spot. He performed a healing jutsu to get his body back up to par.

Al focused on his regeneration. The pain was intense as his body started to heal. The human didn’t scream as he was used to this level of pain. The burn and scorch marks started to heal. Soon, both Al and Blaze have recovered enough to fight again.



Al walked closer to Blaze. He then took a boxing stance as he faced him. Blaze took a martial art stance. They stood like this for what seemed forever from the crowd perspective but was only a minute. They then charged at each other and began to trade blows. Neither of them went to block the other. This was now a shear test of endurance of who can last the other one out.

They hit each other in the face, chest, ribs, and gut with their fist. Their legs were landing blows on the other legs and sides of their body. This went on for several minutes with neither of them slowing down. The crowd cringed at each blow and was amazed at what a human body could endure. Their bodies were now showing some bruises and were bleeding from several of them.

They were slowing down as fatigue was setting in. They no longer were using their feet to land blows as each one was struggling to stay standing. Blaze and Al each took turns now in landing a blow, hoping the other would finally fall down. They were throwing jabs at the chest and head. Blaze was the first to change tactics and threw a massive uppercut to Al. The white hair human was launched up several feet and fell onto his back. Al coughed up some blood when he landed. He soon started to laugh.

“This will probably be the best fight I’ve ever been in that I’ve enjoyed. I submit the win to you,” said Al. “I know I can probably take some more or heal myself, but what would the fun be if this continued for hours. I’m glad to face you as a friend instead of an enemy. Who knows how it will turn out if you saw me as an enemy.”

“I’m glad you submitted,” Blaze replied. “I was on the verge of exhaustion myself. Thank you for this wonderful match. I now have a good understanding of my powers and what I can endure. I’m glad to call you a friend. If I didn’t, you would have to face some other lethal moves.”

“You’ll be surprised at what I can live through.”

Blaze collapsed to the ground next to Al. They started to laugh at that line. Blaze released the barrier jutsu as he lay there. They soon heard the cheer of the crowd. They were shouting their names, stomping their hooves, and other things. The humans soon saw a flash out of the corner of their eyes. Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Captain Shining Armor, and the rest of the recruits have shown up.

“Congratulations on your win Blaze. You and Al both fought to your limits. Can you explain why you put up a barrier within the one that was already there?” Princess Celestia said.

“I only did that to make sure none of our attacks would penetrate and hit the spectators,” he replied. “As you saw with I changed back to a human, the energy I released destroyed several of your strongest barriers.”

“Plus, he did not want anyone to teleport in and stop the fight. We were both out for drawing blood from each other,” Al said.

“Well, you definitely accomplish that,” Shining Armor said. “I analyzed the barrier you put up and was very impressed with it. I would have never thought of interlacing the properties like that.”

“Wait, you can recreate my Battle Barrier?” Blaze asked.

“I specialize in defensive type magic, like shields and barriers. I’m also the only one who can create one around the entire city, besides the Princesses of course. Would you allow me to analyze some more of your barriers and test them out?”

“Sure. I don’t know that much really about the actual properties. Just know the hand signs and the amount of chakra that is needed to create them.”

“Before we continue the discussion, I think we should heal you two so we can get finished this tournament,” Princess Celestia said.

“That’s fine by me, as long it doesn’t require me to be changed into a pony again by magic. I’m already bruised up and in some pain.”

“That won’t be necessary. My sister and I are skillful to heal any creature,” Princess Luna replied.

“Then heal away so I can stop hearing the ringing in my head,” Al said.

Blaze replied, “Just answer the phone to make it stop.”

“What’s a phone?” Star Dust asked.

Both humans began to laugh. Blaze replied, “Something from our world that allows us to communicate long distances in an instant. Sorta like how you write letters and use your magic to teleport them.”

The Princesses used their magic and started to heal the humans. Blaze felt some warmth from it as all the bruises and broken bones were healing, without any pain. Al was just loving the treatment, like being at a spa and all the pain was melting away.

The humans were soon all healed up and looked like they were never in a fight. Even the fatigue in their muscles was gone. Blaze could still feel his chakra and ki energy levels were still very low. At least now he can stand on his own. Cancer and Dragon helped them up on their feet. 

Princess Celestia turned around to face the crowd. “Let’s give these two recruits another cheer for putting their bodies on the line as they fought,” she said. 

The crowd cheered again as loud as they could. Then, quieten down so the Princess can continue. 

“The winner of the tournament of these fine recruits is Swift Blaze! Also, I would like to congratulate all of them for surviving the training. They are now part of the Royal Guard.” 

The crowd cheered once more for them. 

“With the Gala coming up, I would like to invite them to it so the ponies of Equestria can see the latest ponies joining the Royal Guard. You all can now rest for a month before you are to receive the orders for your first assignment. Congratulations again on passing the training.”

The recruits all bowed to the Princesses as the crowd cheered once more. The guards in the stands were leaving as everyone in the arena did. The Princesses and Shining Armor teleported out of there to return to their duties. The rest of them returned to the mess hall to get lunch and rest up. 

They discussed their tactics during the match and why the humans decided to fight as they did. They told them it was the human way in a friendly fight, to give the other time to recuperate to show a sign of respect to them. The recruits returned to the barracks where Al and Blaze quickly fell asleep on their beds. 

Tomorrow morning, they will return to where they stayed before the training. Except, Blaze was taking Al with him. He doesn’t think Al wants to live in the EverFree forest. The black hair human can’t wait to see what the girls will think when they see another human, let alone explain the new things in his two forms. Oh, tomorrow is going to be full of surprises for everyone.
> Chapter 38: IT’S PARTY TIME! P-A-R-T-WHY? BECAUSE I GOTTA!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, Al and Blaze woke up before dawn. They soon realized they slept through dinner and the night. The humans started to pack up whatever they had with them. They also noticed the others have already left. Blaze thought they must have left after dinner. He wouldn't have blamed them for not saying goodbye. It was a hard training period and they just wanted to return to their homes, or where they’ve been staying. The humans exited the barracks and made their way to the train station.

“Guess we were worn out more than we thought,” said Al. “Glad we’re done with the training. I don’t know if I can take any more of it.”

“The Royal Guard Training might be done, but you still need some more to gain better control of your powers,” replied Blaze. “Let alone, your anger control.”

“Aww. I hate homework!”

“Don’t worry. We won’t be starting it when we get back. Both of us do deserve some R & R after that. Plus, you finally get to meet the mane six. Just remember, no mention of any future thing about them. Better yet, you know nothing.”

“How come?”

“One, they never met you. Two, you know about them, but you never met them in real life. Three, they know nothing about the fact we have knowledge of this world before coming here. Pinkie Promise you will not tell them anything that has yet to happen.” Blaze said with a serious face.

Al thought it over before giving out a sigh. “Fine, I Pinkie Promise not to overreact when I see them or mention anything from the show. Cross my heart. Hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye. OW!” the white hair human actually poked his eye while doing the promise.

The pair finally made it to the train station. Blaze headed to the engine to see if he could find Smoky, the train conductor. After a few minutes, the black hair human spotted him by one of the passenger cars. Blaze lead Al over to him.

“Good morning, Smoky. Mind letting me take my friend along with me?” he asked.

“If you both have tickets. I have no problem with you two boarding,” the stallion replied.

“Come on. You said I could hop on for free for clearing that rock slide and fixing the track.”

“You didn’t fix the track. An Earth pony named Swift Blaze did that. Wait, how do you know about it?”

“I’m the one that did it, I couldn’t show you this form because magic changed me into my pony form. I came here for Royal Guard training.”

“That’s the same thing he said. Ok, now that you’re in this form, show me the pony form that you can change into at will.”

“Alright. Let me just tell you now, that form is no longer an Earth pony.” Blaze performed the shadow transform jutsu. “I’m now a Unicorn pony.”

Smoky dropped his mouth open for a few seconds, before closing it back up. “I guess you’re that pony. Sorry about that. So, that’s your human form. You didn’t mention you also had a tail.”

He transformed back to it. “Another thing that happened while doing the survival part of the Royal Guard Training. I’m still trying to figure out why. Oh, let me introduce you to another human in Equestria. This here is my friend, Al.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Al. Just like I offered to Blaze, you may ride this train for free.”

“Likewise and thanks for the offer,” he replied. “If you need any help with something on the train, let us know.”

They boarded the train and enjoyed the scenery as they made their way to Ponyville. While on the train, Blaze had an idea pop into my head. He wondered if Al would like to pull this prank with him. Being so serious while doing the training, he needs something to lighten the mood. 

He turned to the white hair human and said, “Hey Al, I’m thinking the girls are going to either be waiting at the train station or at my house. I’m itching to pull a prank. You game?”

He just smiled at the idea. “To pull a prank on those pranksters and everyone else, you know I am.”

Blaze whispered the plan to him. Al nodded at each step and almost laughed out loud at the final step. Once they saw Ponyville coming into sight, he grabbed onto the other human and teleported them off and onto the road path that was next to the train. They started the walk towards town. The humans stayed by the EverFree forest, in case they saw or heard a pony coming. The pair went by Sweet Apple Acres, with no sign of the Apple family. They soon rounded the corner and saw Blaze’s house in the distance.

There were several ponies running in and out of the house. Nothing was set up in the front yard from what they could see. Blaze could make out Pinkie Pie was giving out commands to other ponies. Al spotted Rainbow Dash and she was about to do a flyby. Both quickly took a few steps into the woods to stay hidden. She continued to Blaze’s house and stopped in front of Pinkie. The pink mare quickly jumped in the air and they heard her say, “Blaze will be here soon! Everyone to your hiding places!” They all went inside and closed the door.

Blaze turned to Al and said, “Ok, they’re expecting to see a single human come walking down this road to that house. You’re already wearing one of my Gi. So, they’ll think it’s me. You know what to say when you open the door, right?”

“No problem. You’re going to change into a parrot and sit on my shoulder and act like one,” Al said.

“Of course. They have not seen me change into an animal before, only into other ponies. You ready?”

“Dude, I was born ready.”

They bump their fist together. Blaze transformed into a colorful parrot and sat on Al’s shoulder. The human started the walk to the house. They could see several ponies looking through the windows and quickly disappearing from view when they spotted the human. He walked up to the door and placed his hand on the door handle. He looked towards the parrot. Blaze gave him the nod. 

Al quickly opened the door and shouted, “LUCY! I’M HOME!”

All the ponies jumped from their hiding places and shouted, “SURPRISE!” The way they said it was from a happy tone to a confused tone when they saw it was not Blaze at the door, but another human.

“AHHHH! What was that for?!” Al said, acting scared.

“Who are you?” Twilight Sparkle asked the unknown human.

“Name’s Al. I’m going to guess that surprise was for the other human that is in Equestria,” he replied.

“You know Swift Blaze!?”

“Yep. Met him during the Royal Guard Training. Actually, he found me in the EverFree Forest.”

“AAAWK! EVERFREE FOREST!” Blaze said in parrot talk.

“Aw, what a cute birdy you got there. Did you find him in that scary forest?” Fluttershy asked.

“Sure did. He kept me company till Blaze and the other recruits found me on their survival exercise. The forest reminds me a bit of home, except for the dangerous creatures,” Al said.

“AAAWK! DANGEROUS CREATURES!” Blaze said.

“What else can you say, um, what is his name?” Fluttershy said.

“I call him Mr. Cotton’s Parrot,” he replied.

“That’s a stupid name to call a pet.” Rainbow Dash said. 

Blaze flew off Al’s shoulder and landed on top of Rainbow Dash’s head. He then started to peck at her head. 

“HEY! Ouch! Quit that!” 

The blue Pegasus flew around to try and shake the bird off. He stayed on as he gripped her mane with the talons and continued to peck.

“I think you should take that back if you want him to stop.”

“Fine! I Take It Back! Your Name Is Not Stupid!”

Blaze flew off Rainbow Dash’s head and back onto Al’s shoulder. She flew up next to me and stuck her tongue out. The bird quickly snapped at it. The mare screamed from the pain. Everyone is now laughing. Rainbow Dash just flew to the couch and sat down with a pouty face.

“So, Al, do you know where Blaze is?” Twilight Sparkle asked.

“He was very tired from the training and slept in. I took the early train. He told me last night where his house is,” he replied.

“Hold up. My sister would have informed us if she saw another human coming off the train.” Applejack said.

“Well, I didn’t ride inside the train. I rode on top as I had no money for a ticket. I hopped off before coming into town.”

“There’s something going on with ya. I’m feeling a whole bunch of lies coming from ya. Now tell us the truth.”

“Alright, you got us. Guess I can’t pull a joke on you Applejack.” Blaze said in my normal voice.

“Blaze, is that you? How did you become a parrot, darling?” Rarity asked.

“Transformation Jutsu. What? You didn’t think I could only change into other humans and ponies. Did ya?”

“I knew it was you Blaze the entire time.” Pinkie Pie said.

“How did you know?” Twilight Sparkle asked.

“My Pinkie Senses told me silly.”

“Then why did you not tell us?”

“You didn’t ask.”

Twilight was now frustrated. She quickly calmed back down and said, “I take it Blaze you are able to go back to your human form again?”

He replied, “I can, though Al isn’t the only surprise I have to show.” Blaze transformed back into his human form. “I have a pony’s tail.”

“WWWHHHHAAAATTT!” All the ponies in the room shouted at the same time.

“Also, my pony form has changed.” He changed to his pony form. “I’m now a Unicorn in this form.” 

The humans saw several ponies collapse from the double shock. Blaze counted them up. 

“I won the bet. I told you I can get more than eight ponies to faint when I showed what happened to me.” 

He changed back to human form and summoned the Elements of Order book to him. 

“Which side do you want it on?”

“Alright. I’ll take it on the left,” Al said.

Holding the book with both hands, the black hair human wound up and swung the book into the left side of the white hair human’s head. He spun where he stood from the impact. He remained standing and was only dazed for a few minutes.

“WHY DID YOU HIT HIM WITH THAT BOOK!” Twilight Sparkle screamed. 

The purple Unicorn quickly used her magic to try and pull the book from Blaze. He held on tight as he was dragged to her. When the human was close, he flicked at her horn and her magic stopped.

“First, don’t take what does not belong to you,” replied Blaze. “Two, that was how some humans sometimes settle bets. Though, we used phone books.”

“The Elements of Order book has a very hard cover. I think you broke my jaw,” Al said. He used his hands and forced it back into place. “Ah, that feels better.”

“Elements of Order? I have never heard of those.” Twilight said. 

Being very quick, she used her magic and pulled the book out of my hands. Twilight opened it up and tried to look through it. 

“What language is this in? I can’t make out anything in here.”

Blaze walked up to her again and flicked her horn. When the magic hold was gone, he grabbed the book and sent it back to his secret storage in the basement. 

“Next time, ask before taking,” he said. “I’m sorry for flicking your horn.”

Twilight rubbed her horn. “I’m sorry too. Books I haven’t read always interest me. Especially old ones. Where did you get that?”

“How about we talk about that tomorrow. I see you’re trying to throw me a party and here we are just chatting. Where’s the music, food, drinks, and games?”

“They are right HERE!” Pinkie Pie said. 

The pink mare pulled out a small box with a big red button. She slammed her hoof on it. They heard a rumble outside. When everyone stepped out of the front door, the group saw a massive cannon coming out of the top of the forest tree line. It was aimed at Blaze’s house. 

Before he could make a hand sign, it fired. The black hair human closed his eyes and braced for impact from whatever it shot out. After a few seconds, nothing happened. He opened them and saw his front yard was now decorated for a party. Everything for an outside party was there. 

He turned to the pink mare and said, “Congratulations, Pinkie, you’ve finally got me with something I wasn’t expecting.”

She ran over to him and gave the human a great big hug. “Oh, I knew you would like that. I’m just glad it didn’t explode, like in testing.”

“When did you test it and how big of an explosion? You know what, nevermind. Let’s get to partying!”

Everyone cheered and made their way out onto the front lawn. Blaze stuck with the six closest pony friends, Spike, and Al. They all headed to where the punch was. With young fillies around, there was no alcohol in it. The ponies were talking about what happened while he was away. 

Blaze already knew about the dragon napping on the mountain. Turns out, they had the parasprite infestation the next day. The construction workers really worked fast to put the town back together. He was glad they didn’t eat his house. The human thought his chakra barrier on the house mustn’t be to their liking. 

The next week, Rarity made the dresses for the girls. Finally, a few days ago, they met a Zebra named Zecora. They didn’t state about the Poison Joke incident. Both Al and Blaze kept their cool so as to not bring that up.

“I just realized, I haven’t properly introduced everyone to Al,” said the black hair human. “Everyone, this is Al, another human. During my training, we had to do some survival training in the EverFree Forest. I found him at an abandoned castle.”

“That must be the same castle where the Elements of Harmony were,” Twilight Sparkle said.

“It is as Princess Celestia confirmed it.” Blaze pointed to each pony as he went and said, “ Al, this is Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity.”

“Nice to meet you all. Blaze has told me about you while we were in the barracks. It’s nice to put a face to the name,” Al said.

“Allow me to be the first here to welcome you here to Ponyville,” said the purple Unicorn. “I’m sure you’ll adjust to living here as Blaze has.”

“I will, as long as you don’t change me into a pony. I heard the pain Blaze went through when he changed via magic. I’ve had enough pain to last a lifetime.”

“Oh, you poor dear. What happened, if you don’t mind sharing.” Fluttershy asked.

“I’d shared them with Swift Blaze. The things I saw and had to do, well, no one has ever experienced. Thank you for asking, but I don’t want to frighten you with my tale.”

“Oh, you poor dear. It must be dreadful if you think it was that bad. Is there anything we can help you with?” Rarity asked.

“So I don’t have to keep on wearing Blaze’s clothes, you think you can make some for me?”

“But of course darling! Blaze was very specific with what he wanted. Can you allow me to make something that I think you will look dashing in?”

“I do need a tux for the Gala. Princess Celestia invited all the recruits we trained with to it. For normal clothes, I do want a say in those.”

“OH THIS IS GOING TO BE LOVELY! TWO HUMAN ESCORTS TO THE GALA! Come to my boutique tomorrow so I can get your measurements. Blaze can show you where it’s at.”

Al leaned over and whispered to Blaze, “How long were you there to get your measurements?”

He replied in a whisper, “Hours. I had a clone do it though. I did feel the pain from the pricks of the needles when the clone released. I don’t think you will be there as long as she has mine for a template.”

“Thank you for being the guinea pig,” We brofisted.

“What were you two whispering?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Guy stuff,” Blaze replied. “Things you won’t understand.”

“I’m a boy dragon. You can tell me,” Spike said. 

“Sorry, this is for human guy knowledge only. I’ll tell you what. Next weekend, how about the guys hang out for the day. We can include Big Mac.”

Al decided to play a wise ass. “Wait, there is a pony named after a burger from home?” He asked.

The other human saw what he was doing, so he played along. “No, it’s short for Big Macintosh.”

“So, he’s named after the apple computer.”

“No. He’s Applejack’s big brother. I take his name from the Macintosh apple.”

“Ahh. A big, red, juicy apple. Very delicious.”

“What in tarnation are you two going on talking about my brother?” Applejack asked in a serious voice.

“Relax, Applejack. I’m sure your brother is a nice pony,” replied the white hair human. “Working on an apple farm, all the ponies there must smell like apples for eating them all the time. They probably sweat Apple Juice.”

Blaze couldn’t believe Al said that. That human is really going to get it. He quickly backed away from him as he saw what was coming. Applejack spun around and bucked the white hair human right in the chest. He went flying over the house and backyard. He landed several feet in the woods. 

Blaze raised his arms up and shouted, “AND IT IS GOOD!”

“Would you care to join him?” the orange mare asked as she spun her head around.

“No, thank you,” he replied. “I would like to apologize for him right now though. I think his brain is still scrambled from the beating I gave him yesterday.”

“Well, I just don’t like it when someone talks about the Apple family like that. Guess we should go and check and see if he is ok.”

“I FOUND HIM!” shouted Pinkie Pie. “He's not good at playing hide and seek.”

The pink mare was dragging him along by her tail wrapped around a leg. He had several lacerations on his arms from falling through the treetops. Bruises were starting to show and a few limbs appeared to be bent the wrong way.

“I didn't realize I kicked him that hard! I’ll go and get the Doctor,” Applejack said.

“Don’t bother. Those injuries are nothing to him.” Blaze replied. He walked up to the human and gave a kick to his head. “Come on Al and heal yourself. You’re scaring the ponies with your injuries.”

He opened his eyes and sat up. “You’re no fun. Won’t even let me play possum,” he replied.

“Next time you do, I’ll let Twilight change you into a pony so they can heal you.”

“ANYTHING BUT THAT!” 

Al concentrated on healing. The lacerations sealed up, bruises disappeared, and broken bones were no longer broken. He got back onto his feet once he was done.

“How were you able to heal yourself? Do you have the same abilities as Blaze?” Twilight asked.

“No, I don’t. My blood is unique.”

“Is that why your blood was purple instead of red? How did you get it? Were you born with it? Was it some . . . Mmph mmph.”

That’s when Blaze had placed his hand over the Unicorn’s mouth. “Please Twilight, can you not interrogate every new creature you come into contact with? Let us just relax and enjoy the party. If you can, I’ll tell you tomorrow what your next assignment from Princess Celestia is.”

The black hair human could tell she really wanted to know now, but she remained calm and collected herself. “Alright Blaze, you have a deal. Welcome home.”

Twilight Sparkle then reached out and gave me a hug. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Spike, and Fluttershy soon joined in the hug.

“And me without a camera,” Al said.

“I have one!” Pinkie Pie sad. She reached into her mane and pulled one out. Then tossed it to him.

Al grabbed it and quickly took the picture. “That’s a keeper.”

The group hug broke up and Blaze could breathe normally again. Everyone spread out to mingle with the others that were there. The black hair human chatted with several others, including Ditzy Hooves and Lyra Heartstrings. Lyra really wanted to know how he got the tail. He just told her some fluke aftereffect of being magically turned into a pony for two weeks. She bought it and headed off. Blaze decided to find Twilight to ask her something. He spotted her over by the snack stand getting a slice of apple pie.

As he headed over, he said, “Hey Twilight, I got a quick question for you.”

“What is it, Blaze?” Twilight asked.

“I was wondering why you or any of the others were not at the Royal Guard Tournament?”

“I knew about those while I was staying at the castle and being taught by Princess Celestia. I asked her if I could see my big brother when he went through it. She told me due to how the matches are done, it wouldn’t seem right for a filly mind to see the violence and language that occur. That’s why only Guard ponies and the Princesses watch.”

“I do agree with Princess Celestia. They were pretty violent. I think another reason she has the guards watch is so they are used to that type of injury instead of cowering when they see a fellow guard injured.”

“Well, I’m glad you survived it. Though, I still want to know how your forms changed and where you got that book.”

“And I promise you that I’ll tell you tomorrow. Let’s go and finish enjoying the party.”

The party continued into the afternoon. The sun was beginning to set. Blaze looked around and saw a pony was setting stuff up on the stage. The black hair human wondered why he hadn't seen Vinyl Scratch yet. He assumed the mare must have wanted to make sure she had enough energy to get this party to go through the night. 

The human headed up to the stage to talk to her. “Hi, Vinyl. Glad you could make it,” he said.

“Hiya Blaze! Glad to finally see your human form,” she replied. “Of course, I did not expect to have a tail from what Lyra has said about humans.”

“I think that is an after effect from being turned into a pony by magic for two weeks.”

“Magic can do some crazy things. I would never miss throwing a party for the human who saved the town.”

Blaze got pulled away by Al. He whispered, “Dude! I didn’t think you are friends with DJ Pon-3. Have you played any music from our world here?”

“I’ve only met her once before. A few days after stopping that tornado you came through. And no, I haven’t played any music. Why, do you want to?” Blaze whispered back.

“Of course! I know of two songs I know they will all love. Let me get my iPod out.” Al dug into his pocket and pulled it out. “SHIT! The battery is dead. I don’t think I have the cable to charge it up. There goes that dream.” 

Al was now very sad. Blaze was thinking about what he could do. The only idea that came to his mind was one that thought he would regret this, maybe.

“Do you know the song names?”

“But of course!” Al told Blaze the two names he wanted to play. “So do you have some jutsu that can play those songs from my head? Are you going to use lightning to charge my iPod back to full charge? What are you going to do?” Al asked in an excited state.

“Take a chill pill. First, no jutsu to play a song from the head. It will sound awful. Two, no lightning unless you want me to fry it. Three, I have a solar charger you can plug yours in to charge it up tomorrow. Lastly, the reason I have that is,” Blaze summoned his iPad to him. “I have those songs on here too.

Al quickly moved and gave the black hair human a big hug. “OH, MAN! YOU ARE A LIFESAVER!”

“You can let go of me now. Let’s go talk to Vinyl and make sure she can connect to it.”

“I hope she does.”

“Hey Vinyl Scratch, allow me to introduce you to another human. This here is Al,” Blaze said as they walked up to her DJ setup.

“Hi AI, nice to meet you,” Vinyl said.

“I can’t believe I’m meeting the famous DJ Pon-3!” Al said.

“How do you know about my music?”

“Oh, I haven’t heard it myself. I just heard what the guards said while we're going through the Royal Guard Training.”

“Ah, well, the rumors are true. I am famous.”

Blaze whispered to Al, “Nice save. Just watch what you say.” Al nodded. He then spoke to Vinyl Scratch in a normal voice, “Al and I were wondering if you would not mind playing a couple of songs from our world.”

“That would be awesome. How are you going to do that?” Vinyl said.

The human revealed his iPad. “They are stored here. All we need is a cable, like on headphones, to plug into your system,” Blaze said as he indicated the port.

Vinyl looked at the port carefully. “I think I might have a cable that will work. Give me a minute.” She began to rummage through a box of various cables. Vinyl then pulled her head out with a cable in her mouth. “Will this work?”

He took the cable from her mouth and looked it over. One end had the red and white audio plugs. The other end had a headphone plug. “This will work. We will be back after you are all set up and gotten the ponies into the mood. Don’t want to start blasting them with music from another world.”

“I can’t wait to hear what humans are capable of making. Can you give me a hint?”

“There were so many artists of every style across our planet. Pretty much every known style had at least a couple hundred artists playing it. Even there were some DJs like yourself.”

“That many! I better finish so we start bumping out the jam,” Vinyl went back to work running the wires for the sounds and light system.

The humans walked away so Vinyl can focus on it. Blaze took Al into the house to show him around the house. He indicated the guest bedroom he will be sleeping in. Seeing they were going to be playing music from their world, they decided to discuss how they were going to present it. Just playing it would seem boring. After thirty minutes, the humans came with a plan. Blaze and Al made their way back outside and saw Vinyl Scratch was starting to play some music. Rainbow Dash then flew towards them.

“Is it true you are going to play music from your world?” Rainbow asked.

“Who said that?” Blaze replied.

“Vinyl Scratch said that she has a special treat for us with some help from you two. What kind of song are you going to sing? Wait, you can play musical instruments, right?”

“Neither of us can play any musical instruments. You’ll just have to wait when it's our time to be on stage. After the show, you might even say we are twenty percent cooler,” Al said.

“I’ll believe that when I see that.”

“Remember Rainbow, don’t underestimate what we humans are capable of,” Blaze said with a smirk.

The blue Pegasus giggled and flew back over to where several ponies were dancing to the music. The humans went to the drink station to get some punch. They both grabbed a cup that was pre-filled and took a sip.

“This punch tastes different,” Blaze said.

“I think someone spiked it,” replied Al.

“Nah, it does not taste like Spike. No ash flavor.”

We both began to laugh. Another pony comes walking up. “How do you like the punch? It was a little bland before, so I added some booze to it,” the pony said.

“You sure it’s alright with little fillies and colts running around?” asked Blaze.

“It’s fine. They’ve been taken home at sunset. Time for the grown-ups to have fun. I’m Berry Punch by the way,” the mare said.

“Nice to meet you. I am Swift Blaze and this other human is Al.”

“Ah, so you are a different creature. I thought my mind was playing tricks on me again. Now I know I can drink some more. Excuse me.” Berry filled up her cup with more punch. She then stumbled off to chat with some others.

“I like her,” Al said.

“I think I’ll stick to water now.”

Sometime later, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash came up to me after I took a break from dancing. Al was still on the dance floor partying away. “Hey Blaze, are you having a fun time?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“You know it,” replied the black hair human. “I want to thank you for putting this on. I needed this after two hard weeks of training.”

“I’m happy to see you smile.”

“Pinkie and I wanted to give you this special cupcake we made just for you,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Aw, you did not have to,” he said. Blaze looked at the cupcake and saw the cupcake was blue and the icing was pink. He thought it was an interesting choice in colors. He believed they must have chosen those to have him remind me of them. “So what’s the flavor?”

“You’ll have to eat it to find out,” the blue mare said with a quick snicker laugh following.

Blaze thought it over. He decided they weren't going to poison him because they were friends, the human grabbed the cupcake and took a big bite out of it. “Wow! Strawberry flavor. I would have never guessed that. Though, I’m detecting something else. Can’t tell what.”

“Those are just the other ingredients that were needed to make the base of the cupcake silly,” the pink mare said.

“Probably you're right.” Blaze finished the cupcake in two more bites. “Thank you for the special cupcake. It was delicious.”

“Glad you enjoyed it. We’re going to head back onto the dance floor. Want to join us?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Nah. I think Al and I will be doing our thing soon. Want to make sure I have enough energy for that.”

“Can’t wait to hear what you’re going to play.” They both did a quick snicker laugh as they wandered back onto the dance floor and went on dancing.

About an hour later, with the ponies dancing and having fun, Vinyl Scratched turned down the volume to make an announcement. “Alright you party animals, you having a great time!” She shouted into a microphone. The crowd cheered loudly. “That’s what I love to hear. I think it is now time for our guest of honors to come up on stage and show us some music from another planet!” The crowd cheered even louder and started to chant our names.

“Guess it’s time. Ready to make your entrance?” Blaze asked Al.

“Let’s rock this joint,” he replied.

The black hair human performed an Earth jutsu and launched Al and himself into the air in the direction of the stage. They did several flips in the air over the crowd. The humans landed on one knee and one hand touching the stage at the same time. They stood up and took in the applause and cheers. Vinyl Scratch tossed a microphone to Al and Blaze.

“HELLO PONYVILLE! YOU HAVING A BLAST TONIGHT?” Blaze shouted into the mic. The ponies cheer loudly. “Well, thank you for coming. I’m pretty sure you all know me by now. I would like to introduce you to my good friend that has also come from my homeworld. Say hello to AL!”

Al waved his hand in the air as the ponies cheered for him. “Thank you all for accepting me as you did for Blaze. One of the things I liked back on Earth was music. Hearing what you ponies can play puts some of the bands back home to shame. Let’s hear you cheer for the DJ of the night, DJ Pon-3!” The crowd cheered again. “To show my appreciation, Blaze and I are going to play some of the good music. Sorry to say, but neither of us can play an instrument to save our lives.”

“Worry not, for we have the next best thing from our world. The wonders of technology!” said Blaze as he held his iPad up in the air with one hand. “Gives us a moment as we get it plugged in.” 

He quickly went over to Vinyl and grabbed the cord she left out. The human plugged it in and was about to go back when Vinyl stopped him.

“Blaze, how do you work your device?” Vinyl asked.

“I’ll let one of my clones help you.” A quick shadow clone jutsu later and another Blaze appeared next to Vinyl. “I’ll pull up the songs and allow you to adjust the audio levels and lighting to match,” the other Blaze said.

Vinyl replied, “Sounds like a plan.”

Once Blaze was back on center stage, Al started the routine they planned. “Hold a sec Blaze. We can’t perform wearing these plain clothes, you got something to fix this?” he asked.

“Hmm, I know! NINJA ART! TRANSFORM!” Blaze said. 

Both of them disappeared into a cloud of smoke. Only to reappear when the smoke dissipated wearing new clothes. The humans were wearing a white-collar shirt not button up. Their six-back chest could easily be seen showing off the intense training they both went through. Al and Blaze were also wearing black leather jackets that shined in the light. The other clothing items they had on were black jeans, black shoes, and black sunglasses that wrapped around. The humans had our arms behind their backs, waiting for the music to start. The clone Blaze saw the humans were in position and started playing the first song.



Once the music got going, Vinyl Scratch got into the rhythm and began to have the lights match along with it. 

“PARTY ROCK!” Blaze shouted.

“YEA,” Al said.

“Wooo!!!!”

“LET’S GO!!”

“Party rock is in the house tonight,” they both sang. “Everybody just have a good time. And we gon’ make you lose your mind. Everybody just have a good time. Party rock is in the house tonight. Everybody just havea good time. And we gon’ make you lose your mind. Everybody just have a good time. We just wanna see yaa!. . . Shake That!”

Al and Blaze went back and forth with the lyrics while doing the dance moves. The black hair human soon noticed the ponies in the crowd began to pick up the moves and followed along. The others soon followed. By the time the second chorus started, all the ponies were dancing to the song. Blaze gave a nod to his clone. That signaled him to bump up the special effects. He sent out several ki balls and had them explode like fireworks up in the sky, matching the rhythm of the music.

Spike suddenly joined the humans on stage and was keeping up with their moves. Not breaking the rhythm, Blaze did a transform on the dragon to give him a leather jacket and sunglasses to match. The crowd cheered even louder for Spike now. The three of us continued to sing and dance until the song ended.

“Give it up for Spike, the mad dancing dragon!” Blaze shouted into the mic. The ponies cheered and shouted his name. Spike took several bows with hand waves in between. Spike was about to hop off the stage when Blaze stopped him. “Where do you think you are going?” he whispered to him.

“Off the stage, so you can do the next song,” Spike replied.

“Nope. You have some nice moves, so you’re going to participate in the next one.”

“But, I don’t know the moves or the lyrics like you two.”

“This next one is easy. Hardly any lines and the moves are easy. You’ll pick it up quickly.” Blaze summoned a scroll with the lyrics and dance moves on it. “Give this a quick read as we’ll start in a few minutes. I know you can do it.”

“I trust you, so let's get this over with.”

The black hair human headed to the next position he needed to be on stage when Al came over to talk to him. “What’s going on? Spike was not in the plan for these numbers.” He whispered.

“We didn’t know that he could dance. Trust me, it’ll be worth it. It might also help him get recognized by Rarity sooner,” Blaze replied.

“I take it he is going to take the lead on this one.”

“He will be perfect for it. Come on, get ready before the crowd gets angry and start to throw tomatoes.”

Once everyone was in position. The Clone Blaze cuts the light to the stage. Blaze did another Transform Jutsu and changed their clothes. Then, did a low fog jutsu to roll off the stage. Clone Blaze started up the next song and sent several ki balls to light them up from behind.



A spotlight shined on Al as he said, “Oppa Gangnam Style.”

The next spotlight shined on Blaze when he said, “Gangnam Style.”

The humans were both wearing the same clothing. They had black shirts buttoned up and were sparkling in the light. Their pants were solid black and very baggy. The cross-section between the legs was below the knees. Their hair was styled to the back and they kept the shades from before.

The final spotlight shined on Spike. He was wearing a light blue tux with black trim on the collar and pockets. He also had a white shirt and black bow tie. His shades changed to classic black sunglasses. Spike began to sing the lyrics as all three of them performed the dance moves. The crowd was in awe at seeing how well Spike was doing.

We all then shouted, “OPPA GANGNAM STYLE!” The three of them began to dance like they were riding an animal and throwing a lasso over our heads.

Blaze saw the crowd was enjoying it as they began to try and copy the moves as best as they could do. The group on stage began the next set of lyrics. This time taking turns at them. Clone Blaze moved the ki balls around as Vinyl Scratch controlled the stage lighting to the music.

When the second chorus began, Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash joined on stage. They all danced in rhythm as the crowd did as well. The ponies were cheering as they danced.

Al, Spike, and Blaze continued to sing and dance the rest of the song as all the ponies followed along. When the song finally ended, the lights cut out. The ponies cheered and were chanting for an encore. 

Al came up to Blaze and whispered, “What are we going to do? I don’t know of another song they will like.”

“I got this one. Just follow along to the music,” he replied.

The black hair human signaled the other him to start the next song he planned, just in case. As the clone started to pull the song up, Blaze Earth Jutsu several solid, big gemstones to the front of the stage. 



When the music began, Blaze fired weak ki blasts at the gems, causing them to light up to the timing of the music. Al recognized the song and took the lead in singing. The stage lights were slowly coming back up, till they went full blast when the volume increased. The ponies easily caught to the dance moves as the lyrics. They jumped when the song said to and twirled in a circle when told to move around. Blaze continued to fire blast at the gems and danced at the same time.

When the song ended, the humans took their bows as the ponies cheered. Vinyl Scratch got on a mic and said, “Let’s hear it for Al and Swift Blaze, the HOTTEST humans in Equestria!” The ponies cheered even louder now.

The ponies soon began to leave as the party was now over. Al and Blaze helped the mane six and Spike with the cleanup. The black hair human said goodbye to them as they headed to their homes. the humans headed inside and went to their rooms. Blaze felt that was an awesome party. He was glad to be back home now with his friends. The only thing on his mind now was wondering what tomorrow will bring for him?
> Chapter 39: NOT AGAIN!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blaze woke up the next morning feeling very groggy. He was thinking, ”Ugh, why do I have this headache. I only had one drink of alcohol punch. That must have had very hard liquor in it. Need to remind myself not to drink the punch if Berry Punch made it.” He rolled out of bed to get ready for the day.

*THUD*

“Oww.” 

Blaze landed on the floor, hard. He didn’t think his bed was that high off the ground. He assumed his balance must just be off. As Blaze began to push himself up, he noticed something different. He was in a pony body, but this one was different. It had a green coat. 

Blaze sat up and rubbed his eyes with his forehooves to get them to focus. The stallion then noticed something was very off. Everything in the room was bigger than normal. He walked to the mirror on the back of his door and saw his worst fear. The room did not get bigger, he shrunk. 

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” the colt screamed at the top of his lungs. Blaze was now in the body of a colt, Earth pony with a green coat and black mane. He also saw his cutie mark was also gone.

Al opened the door a few minutes later. “What is with that wake-up scream? You ruined the dream I was having,” he said as he looked for the human. He then spotted Blaze in my new form. “Hey there, little guy. What are you doing here?”

“Shut up Alvin. It’s me, Bob,” the colt replied in an aggravated tone.

“Bob, is that really you? Why did you transform into a colt?”

“I DIDN’T! I WOKE UP LIKE THIS!”

“Have you tried changing forms?”

Blaze face hoof myself. He started to try to do the shadow transform back into a human. That didn’t work. He went for his real pony form and got nothing. The colt tried several times and still got nothing. 

“Al! I Can’t Do My Shadow Transform Jutsu!”

“Check your other abilities to see if they are working.”

Blaze went down the list. Basic jutsu, check. Wind jutsu, check. Water jutsu, check. Earth jutsu, check. Fire jutsu, check. Lightning jutsu, check. Ki energy, check. 

“Everything else is working. Why can’t I do my Shadow jutsu?” Just then, the doorbell rang. “Shit! I can’t let anyone see me like this. You answer the door.”

“Alright, Alright. I’ll get whoever is at the door to go away. You just need to stay quiet.”

As Al headed downstairs, Blaze stayed at the top so I could listen to who was down there. Al opened the door to see who was there.

“Morning Al!” said Rainbow Dash. “I was wondering if Blaze is up for our rematch race. I think I can now beat him.”

“I’m here to cheer Rainbow on. So, where’s Blaze?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“I’m sorry girls. Blaze is not feeling too good,” replied Al. “A ‘little’ under the weather.”

Out of reaction, I shouted, “I HEARD THAT!”

“Funny, he doesn’t sound sick,” said the blue Pegasus. “Are you afraid I’m going to beat you?”

Without warning. Rainbow flew past Al and was making her way upstairs, fast. Blaze ran to the bathroom and closed the door and locked it. There was banging on the door soon after.

“Go away Rainbow! I’m not feeling well to race you,” Blaze said while trying to sound sick.

“Just open the door so I can SEE how sick you are. Unless you want me to go around Ponyville and say you’re chicken to race me.”

Chicken? CHICKEN! Out of impulse, not thinking of his condition, the colt quickly opened the door. 
Blaze shouted, “Nobody, I mean NOBODY, especially a PONY, CALLS ME A CHICKEN!”

“Is that really you Blaze?” Rainbow starts to laugh on her back. “Oh My! You are a little kid! This is HILARIOUS!”

Al and Pinkie Pie finally come upstairs. When Pinkie saw the colt, she too joined in the laughter. “Oh, man Blaze! I never expected it to do this to ya!” Pinkie said while laughing.

“Wait, you did this to me!?” Blaze shouted again.

“Um.” They both said as they have stopped laughing. 

Before they could get up and escape, the colt performed a wood jutsu and had a piece of wood pop out of the floor and wrap around their chest. Pinning them to the floor. 

“Alright you two. Time to talk,” Blaze said where they could see him.

“I ain’t talking!” Rainbow said.

“Please Blaze. This isn’t funny anymore,” Pinkie said.

“It’s also not fun being turned into a young colt against your will,” he replied.

“It kinda is, Blaze,” Al said.

“Shut it. Thinking back on it now, you two must have put something in that cupcake to cause it. What was it?”

“We never thought it would do that to you. Just some simple joke.” said the pink mare.

Hearing that, the colt was thinking, Hold on. Joke? Did they put Poison Joke in that cupcake? 

“A joke? I’m beginning to recall a plant I read about in the EverFree Forest. Was it a blue flower that acts like poison oak, but the results on the infected creature is some kind of a joke?”

“Buck! He’s onto us,” said the blue mare.

“And you just confirmed it. That cupcake had Poison Joke in it. I have one more question, why?”

“BECAUSE YOU HAVE BEEN PRANKING US AND WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO GET YOU!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

“Oh, cruel irony. What comes around, goes around.” Al said with a smile.

Blaze pointed a hoof at the human and sent a ki ball into his face. It went off. Now, his face was covered in black soot. He coughed some out. The girls laughed at what happened. The colt joined in the laughter and realized that it was funny that this happened to me. He released the wood jutsu and allowed them to get up. 

He said, “Ok, I do see how funny it is. Please tell me there is a cure.”

“There is. We were exposed to that also while you were gone. You just have to take a dip in a special herb bath,” Rainbow said.

“We are sorry for doing this to you. Do you forgive us?” Pinkie Pie asked with her pouty face.

“Aw, I could never stay mad at you gals. I forgive you,” replied the colt. “I also want to say I am sorry for the way I reacted. I was having an adrenaline rush trying to figure out what happened.”

They both bent down and gave him a hug. Al was just beside himself, making some awe sounds. When the hug session ended, Rainbow Dash said, “Let’s go and get you cured so we can really race. We will have to stop at Twilight’s place to pick up the book with the cure.”

“Fine. Guess some more laughter is to be expected. Let’s just keep this knowledge between our close friends. Not like we have to inform everyone in Ponyville of what happened to me.”

They stepped outside and made our way to Ponyville.  Blaze soon heard a burst of faint laughter, it almost sounded like the Princesses. The colt looked around in the sky for their peep portal. Blaze soon found it and reacted quickly before they could close it. The green Earth pony did an Icy Water Jet Jutsu and aimed it at the peep portal. He had it blasting it for a few minutes, until they heard a scream in the distance. When the jutsu ended, the colt turned to the others. He could tell they had some questions.

“What were you hitting at with your jutsu, Blaze?” Al asked.

“Just someone that I thought was going to stop peeping in on me,” he replied.

Just then, a letter magically appeared before the colt. It rolled out so he could read it.

Dear Swift Blaze,

Another point to you for hitting my sister. I told her not to as she promised you to stop. Now her mane is filled with ice. I take it you have found out with her Royal Voice laughter. I think she will take down the portal spell now so you don’t have to worry about it.

Sincerely,
Princess Luna.

Blaze did a Fireball jutsu at it before the others could read it.

“So who was this pony that was spying on ya. Anyone we know?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“That letter was from them and they promised to not do that anymore. I think I got that pony good with an icy water blast this time.”

“You’re not going to say who it is,” Al said.

“Nope.”

The group continued their journey to the library, with no other hiccup. Once there, Pinkie Pie knocked on the door. Spike showed up and answered the door.

“Morning Pinkie, Rainbow, Al. What brings you here?” the dragon asked.

“We need the book that has the cure for Poison Joke. Another pony has come into contact with it,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Who is it!? What funny thing happened to them!?”

“You laugh, I will zap you,” Blaze said in a low voice.

“That you, Blaze? When did you come into contact with the plant?”

“You can blame it on these two jokers. Gave me a laced cupcake with it.”

Spike was doing his best to hold back his laughter. The colt just continued to stare at him. “Alright, come inside and I will get you that book.”

They entered and heard Twilight speak up, “Spike who’s at the door? We don’t open for another hour.” The purple Unicorn was coming down from the living quarters that were upstairs.

“It’s Rainbow, Pinkie, Al, and Blaze,” replied the dragon. “Blaze got infected by Poison Joke by Rainbow and Pinkie. They are here to get the book that has the cure.”

“Did they not learn their lesson when it infected them? Wait, where is Blaze?”

He replied, “I’m right here.”

Twilight just burst into laughter when she saw him. Spike couldn’t hold it in and joined in the laughter. Blaze just sat there with his forehooves crossed as they laughed, waiting for them to finish. Once they were done, Twilight regained her composure and said, “I’m sorry, Blaze. That plant really pulled a big joke on you. Instead of getting the book, how about we go and visit Zecora. We are going to have to see her get the ingredients anyway.”

“Let’s get going then. I want my human body back.”

As the group left the library, they bumped into Applejack as she was pulling her food cart to the market. “Howdy, everyone. What are y’all up to?” She asked.

“We are on our way to see Zecora. A certain someone got infected with Poison Joke,” Twilight Sparkle replied.

Applejack had a shiver run down her spine. “I never want to go anywhere near that dang plant again. So who is the pony that got infected?”

“Take a wild guess,” the colt said while sounding annoyed.

“Blaze? You are a little colt? How in tarnation did you get infected?”

“That credit goes to the pranksters of Ponyville. Gave me a cupcake yesterday that was laced with it.”

“Now why would you two do something like that?” Applejack said, now sounded angry.

“We already said we’re sorry for it. Was supposed to be a harmless joke. You know, change his hair color, mess with his abilities, something harmless,” Pinkie Pie said.

“We never expected it would change him into a young colt,” Rainbow Dash said.

“I reckon he is about the age of my little sis, Apple Bloom,” said the orange mare.

“I don’t want this to go any further than the ponies here, Al, Spike, Fluttershy, and Rarity,” said Blaze.

“Of course. If Apple Bloom does see ya, I think she will want you to join the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”

“The what now?” the colt said acting dumb.

“It’s a club that my sister, Rarity’s little sister, Sweetie Belle, and an orange Pegasus filly named Scootaloo. They go around and try to get their cutie marks at everything they can think of.”

Blaze saw Al snicker a bit of the thought of that. He stared at the human with the eyes expressing that he’s lucky these ponies are around or he would have given him another beatdown. 

The colt said, “Well, let’s get to Zecora before they see me.”

The group continued their trek to Zecora’s place in the EverFree Forest, now with Applejack in tow. They soon came near Carousel Boutique. As everyone walked by, the door to the place opened and Blaze saw Fluttershy and Rarity were coming out. He guessed they were on their way to the spa. But, they saw the group and headed over to them.

Fluttershy was the first to speak. “Morning everyone. Who’s this little colt? He is SO cute.” She said. Before Blaze could stop her, she picked him up and began to rub his belly, causing the little Earth pony to laugh.

“Umm, Fluttershy. That’s Blaze you’re holding,” Twilight said.

Fluttershy ‘Eep’ and quickly put him back down on his hooves. “How can this be our darling Blaze? Was it another magic overload, Twilight?” Rarity asked.

“It wasn’t. Pinkie and Rainbow gave him a laced cupcake of Poison Joke.”

Pinkie and Rainbow were feeling sheepish again for being blamed for his condition. The colt caught them both back up as to what happened and of today’s morning events. They decided to come with them for moral support. Once the group entered the forest, they decided to share what happened to them when they were exposed to the plant. It did cheer up Blaze’s mood as he laughed at what happened to them. Al joined in the laughing.

They soon arrived at Zecora’s hut. Twilight walked up to the door and knocked. Zecora came to the door and said. "Hello Twilight Sparkle and companions,” she said. “Seeing you here so soon brings me quite a confusion. For what do I owe for this visit?”

"Hello, Zecora. A friend of ours got exposed to Poison Joke. It turned him from a human to a little colt as you can see," Twilight said as she pointed to Blaze.

Zecora looked at Al and said, “Ah, so this is what a human looks like what you said we last spoke.  I must say they are more unusual than they look.” She then turned towards Blaze. "Pray tell how did this little one get infected? You all know what Poison Joke will do to those affected.”

“It was supposed to be a harmless prank. He has gotten us several times and we could never get him. Until now,” Rainbow Dash said.

“We already said we were sorry for what we did and he did forgive us. Can you make another bath to cure him?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“I would if I’m able to, but I’m out of the ingredients to make the brew,” Zecora replied.

“Great, how long is it going to take to get them?” Blaze asked, sounding frustrated.

“A few days to a week perhaps. You will just have to deal with it, those are the facts.”

“That Long! I just got my human body back! Now I am stuck as a pony! AGAIN!”

“Hey, look at it this way,” said Al. “You get to have fun as a child to replace those bad memories. Think of all the fun you could not do back on Earth. What can go wrong?”

“Actually, being around Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom’s age. He’s going to have to go to school,” Twilight said.

Blaze looked towards Al and said, “You just had to jinx it by saying ‘What can go wrong?’. There’s your answer.”

“Um, another thing is the Gala is not this Friday, but next Friday. If you want to know,” Fluttershy added.

“I AM NOT GOING TO THE GALA LIKE THIS!” The colt shouted.

“Calm down there, partner,” said the orange mare. “I’m sure Zecora will have the ingredients by then. Just enjoy your time off from big pony things. Though, we can’t really call you Blaze for obvious reasons.”

“I need time to think. Let’s head back to Twilight’s library. I promised everyone that we’ll talk about what happened during training. Specifically, finding Al, that book, and how my other forms changed. Zecora, will you get started on gathering what you need to change me back?”

“I shall and don’t you fret. You will be back to yourself in no time. That you can bet,” the zebra replied.

The group left Zecora’s hut and headed back to Ponyville. The girls and Al were talking about something, but Blaze didn’t listen. He was deep in thought of what he was going to do. His thoughts were, “Great, I’m stuck as a colt till Zecora can make the cure. Worse, I have to go back to school. All because of my size. I’m going to need to come up with a name for me as I don’t want everyone to know it’s really me and start to laugh. It will be kinda fun to be a kid again.” The colt continued to be in deep thought until a voice interrupted his thinking.

“Blaze. You alright there sugarcube?” the orange earth pony asked.

He looked around while they were still walking to see who called his name. He then saw it was Applejack. “Sorry. I was gathering my thoughts for the discussion,” the colt replied. “ Just so much as happened recently, I’m still trying to figure it out.”

“We are all here to help you out however we can. You don’t have to do everything by yourself. You taught me that.”

“I remember. I guess the horseshoe is now on the other hoof.”

Everyone started to laugh. They laughed the rest of the way to Twilight’s place. Once inside, everyone grabbed a cushion and formed a circle. Blaze began to tell them the tale of finding Al staying at the old castle. He didn’t go into detail about how he was first reacting. Just finding him drained and barely alive. The colt could see Al was happy that he didn’t tell the whole truth. Blaze did notice Applejack was giving him a little stink eye but did not say anything. 

Before the green Earth pony went into the next topic, he had everyone Pinkie Promise not to tell any other pony about what he was about to discuss. Except, the Princesses and Shining Armor, as they know about this as well. They performed the promise. Blaze began to tell them about finding the mysterious room in the castle. Al helped out in telling the tale. After telling them about my pony transformation, the colt summoned the Elements of Order book to him. He was glad that was still working. 

“Just like your Elements of Harmony book was used to help you find the elements, this is supposed to help me find the Elements of Order,” Blaze said.

“How are you able to read that?” Twilight Sparkle asked. “When I looked at it, I could not make any sense out of it.”

“That is because Merlin, a human wizard, had cast several enchantments and spells on it. Another thing is that it seems I’m the only one who can read it. Even Al isn’t able to read what is in here. The book chose me to find it.”

“How is that possible? If that book has been here for over a thousand years, how could it have chosen you, darling?” Rarity asked.

“I’m still not sure myself. A good chunk of this book has not even revealed the info to me. The only info I know is what the book is about and a letter from Merlin himself.” I began to read the letter to prove that I can read from the book. Once done, everyone had a look of surprise and confusion on their faces.

“So you have to travel over Equestria, wait for your body to tell you are close to an element before you can go and retrieve it? That’s messed up.” Rainbow Dash said.

“I’m sure it is more than that,” Al said. “He’ll probably be given clues to the locations at some point. I don’t know about any of you, but I haven’t eaten since last night. I’m going to grill up some of that tasty stuff we humans can eat.”

“No, you’re not. Not while I’m stuck like this,” Blaze said.

“You can’t stop me.”

“I already have. My weapons room and meat locker in the basement are made of granite walls that are a foot thick. There is no seam where a door will be as I use my jutsu to open and close them.”

“You can’t do that! I need meat to survive.”

“My house, my rules. Besides, you need to get used to eating other things besides meat. I don’t mean to start eating hay and flowers. There are plenty of fruits, veggies, dairy, and eggs to give you the same nutrition.”

“You are a real jackass. It wasn’t my fault you got changed into a little kid.”

“Think of it this way, this is the first step towards balancing yourself. The step of a balanced meal.”

Several ponies groan. “I blame this child's body for coming up with that joke.” Blaze’s stomach let out a loud growl like a dragon’s roar.

“Spike, I told you to not roar in the library,” Twilight said.
“That wasn’t me. Honest,” replied Spike.

“I think that was Blaze. He might have a body of a colt, but his stomach is still as big as ever,” Al said.

Everyone was now laughing at the human’s joke.

“How about I make some daffodil sandwiches and a salad for you Al. Sounds good?” Twilight asked.

“Can I get a dozen of those then?” the colt asked.

“You think you can eat that many?”

“I could eat more, but I don’t want to clear out every food item you have.”

“Eeyup. Bottomless pit,” Al said with a little Big Mac style of speaking.

Twilight just shook her head. “Spike, care to help me with making them? Seeing I have to make more than I planned for a little colt,” She said.

Blaze just sat there and snorted out a breath. Not wanting to fall into that joke trap. While Twilight and Spike were making lunch, Applejack spoke up and said, “After lunch, I think someone should take Blaze to see Miss Cheerilee get him enrolled in school and tell her what is going on.”

“Remember, I don’t want to use my name so the other ponies won’t laugh at me. Had enough of that growing up once already,” Blaze said.

“Then what name do you want to be called while in public?” Rarity asked.

“How about Rocky?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Now why would he want to be called after a rock?” Rainbow Dash replied.

“Hold up. I think it might be appropriate,” said the colt. “I look like an Earth pony and it will allow me to use my Earth Style jutsu without being suspicious.”

“True. There was a Pegasus pony that trained with us that can manipulate lightning. He can call it a rare gift an Earth pony can get.” Al said.

“What? A Pegasus can literally control lightning? What sort of a freak is he?” Rainbow Dash asked.

On pure instinct, Blaze sent a lightning bolt at Rainbow. It was weak, but the blue Pegasus still screamed from being zapped. “I would have never expected a Pegasus would call another one of them a freak. Let that be a warning,” Blaze said in a stern voice.

Rainbow coughed a little smoke out of her. She then shook herself to get her fur and feathers straightened back out. “You did not have to zap me to make your point,” She replied.

“I’m sorry about that. That’s one word I didn’t like while growing up. I was called that for being too smart for my own good. Out performing the entire class in projects and assignments. I could have beaten up the ones who were calling me that. I didn’t though as it would bring me down to their level. I just did my best to ignore them and remain calm.”

“Yea, I can kinda see where you're getting at. I hated the name I was being called during Flight School. The other ponies were calling me Rainbow Crash on the account I flew into several things while there.”

“One of which was the principle. On more than one occasion,” Fluttershy said.

“I thought you promised not to tell any ponies.”

“Technically he is a human. Not a pony.”

Everyone was laughing again. Twilight and Spike soon came back with a big stack of sandwiches and a bowl of salad. The salad was split between Spike and Al. Everyone else got a sandwich. Blaze ate his dozen with no issue. Once lunch was done, the green Earth pony asked, "Alright, who wants to go and see Miss. Cheerilee and explain the situation?"

"OH! ME! ME! ME! ME! ME! PLEASE PICK ME!" Pinkie said while waving her forehooves above her head.

"No volunteers? Then I guess I have to choose. Hmm. . . . Pinkie, would you like to?"

"Let me check my schedule." She pulled out a notepad and began to flip through the pages. "I think I can squeeze you in for this afternoon."

"Pinkie, you are so Random," Rainbow Dash said.

"Let's get going then. Al, I will see you at home once we are done."

He gave a hand wave as he was busy talking to Rarity about something. Pinkie and Blaze left the library to go and find Miss Cheerilee. He didn’t know where she would be today, so the colt just followed Pinkie Pie. We soon find her in the park. When we were close enough to talk, Pinkie Pie said, "Hi Miss Cheerilee! It’s a beautiful day we are having."

"Hello, Pinkie Pie. Yes, it’s quite lovely today. The Pegasi did a nice job. Who may I ask, is this cute colt with you?" asked the magenta mare.

"This is my cousin, Rocky."

"Second cousin," the colt corrected.

"He’s from Dodge Junction and is staying with me for a week. His parents have some important business in Canterlot but didn’t want to drag him around to BORING meetings. I offered to watch him. They agreed as long as he gets to go to school so he doesn’t follow behind."

"Well, hello Rocky. I am Miss. Cheerilee and will be your teacher. Can you tell me what you have learned so far?" the magenta Earth pony asked.

Blaze was thinking, “Oh straight to the hard question. Um,  . . . Let's see . . . Ah! "Well, I’ve learned so much. It will take a while to go over every single thing. How about if I have trouble with what you’re covering, I can let you know," he said.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea. I will look forward to seeing you in class tomorrow. The class starts at nine am."

"Thank you for accepting me to your class while my parents are in Canterlot," Blaze said as he bowed to her.

"Oh, what a polite little colt you are. I think you’re going to fit in just fine."

"Bye Miss. Cheerilee. Need to get some school supplies for him," the pink mare said.

They waved goodbye to the teacher and walked away. Once they were far enough away, Blaze said to Pinkie, "Nice cover story. That was very creative. I was expecting you to tell her about me getting infected with Poison Joke."

"You said you didn’t want anyone else to know. I’m glad you caught on and went along with it."

"Thank you for that. You know, finally talking to you one on one, I think you are hiding how smart you really are."

"I prefer to be the fun, party pony instead of a serious know it all like Twilight, no offense. I was pretty sad growing up on a rock fan. Not much fun there when your work is to push rocks around in fields."

"You don't have to tell me. I had my fair share of boring jobs I didn’t like."

Just then, Twilight magically appeared in front of the two in a panic. "BLAZE! You forgot to tell me what my next assignment from the Princess is. I need to get a start on it!" She said.

"Excuse me, ma'am, I think you have me confused with some other pony. My name is Rocky. I’m Pinkie Pie's second cousin," Blaze said with a wink after.

"Ah, I'm sorry about that." Twilight leaned closer to whisper. "So what’s my next assignment from Princess Celestia?"

"It was going to train me in magic. That’s now on hold while I’m in this form."

"Oh, I can still teach you. I’ll bring some books to your house so you can get a head start on reading before the actual lessons."

Before the colt could object, Twilight disappeared the same way she appeared. Blaze was not excited about doing a double assignment. Schoolwork and whatever Twilight is going to be leaving at his house. More than likely, he’s expecting an entire bookcase on Unicorn magic.

Pinkie headed off to do her thing and Blaze returned to his home. When he opened the door, the colt got buried beneath a pile of books. He wondered why the purple Unicorn placed the books there. He climbed out from the pile so the colt can see just how many books she sent over. He estimated the size to be about fifty. That was not a few books. Not wanting the books to stay like that, Blaze did several wood jutsu to create a bookcase in the library room and then placed the books in it. Just as he got done, Al came into the living room.

"Hi Blaze, you all set to be taught by Miss Cheerilee?" the human asked.

"Yea and by Twilight now too," the colt replied as he looked at all the books.

"Was that there yesterday?"

"No. Twilight said she was going to send a FEW books over to read before I can do the actual lessons."

"To her, this is a few books. Just be happy she did not send the entire library over."

"Nah, she would have just moved the entire library closer to here." they both laughed at that sight. Once both had calmed down, Blaze said, "You know, I think it is finally sinking in that we are in Equestria. How can two bronies get so lucky."

"You got lucky. I went to hell and have to fight my way to earn the chance to leave. You think we will see any more humans?"

"Who knows. There are infinite dimensions of everything and timelines based upon our actions. Anything can happen. I just never expected these Elements of Order stuff. Do you recall anything from your school time about something like this?"

"Can't say I have. Of course, I was not an egghead, unlike you."

"I’m not an egghead. I’m well-read." They both began to laugh some more. Blaze led Al to the Zen garden. "Seeing I’m going to be taught by two ponies, I think we should get started to control your anger and gravity powers."

"Shoot. I thought I was going to get a pass while you are like this."

"Nice try. Lesson number one."

"Wait, I thought the first lesson was a balanced meal?"

"Of course not, that was a joke."

"OH THANK GOD! I thought I would have to borrow Pinkie Pie's cannon and use it like a cannon to break into the meat locker."

"I would never do that to a fellow human. Now, where was I? Ah, lesson number one." Blaze used jutsu and created a wood stick and hit Al on the top of his head. "No back talking to the teacher."

"OW! You like to play it rough." *WHACK* "Alright! Alright! No backtalk. You are just as bad as Rafiki.”

“You are the one that is a baboon,  and I’m not. Now then, the actual first lesson is to learn how to calm the mind. Find the place in your head where you can go to shield yourself away from anger. This Zen garden will help you. Sit down here and close your eyes.” They sat on the grass by the stream. “Now, close your eyes. Breathe in slowly. Hold it for a few seconds. Then breathe out slowly. Repeat. Breathe in. Breathe out. Concentrate on the calmness of the surroundings to guide you to calm your mind.”

The two of them did this for several hours. The colt could sense the human’s anger was slowly disappearing. When they were almost done, Blaze decided to test it. He quietly picked up the stick to give Al another wack. He swung and the human caught it. He opened his eyes and said, “Nice try. You are not going to get me with that stick.”

“I just proved what the first lesson does. By calming the mind, you were made aware of your surroundings,” said Blaze. “Soon, you will be able to see anything in the bitch back as though it was daylight. That is enough for today. Time for some dinner.”

They entered the house and noticed two full sacks on the table with a note. Al picked it up and read it out loud:

Dear Al and Blaze,

Here is your first payment for now being part of the Royal Guard. You will receive this once a month. The one that is slightly fuller is for Blaze. Compensation for I was still spying on you and you caught me. You actually froze my mane with that water. I have taken down the spell so you will not be spied on.

Sincerely,
Princess Celestia

They both opened their sacks and did a quick count. Al got 1,500 bits and Blaze got 2,500 bits. “That was very generous of the Princess to do that,” Al said.

“I know, so I’m going to write her a thank you letter,” replied Blaze. He went to grab some paper and pen when he realized something. He never wrote with hooves or his mouth before as a pony. “Umm, Al, do you think you can write it? I’m all hooves at the moment.”

Al replied, “I suppose. Just don’t start calling me your number one assistant. Writing as a pony might be something you want to learn from Cheerilee.”

“True, it would be useful. Thank you.”

Blaze dictated to Al what the letter needed to say:

Dear Princess Celestia,

Thank you for the money. We shall spend it wisely and not on junk food (Earth joke). I was wondering, can also please send us a slab of pig meat. You can do so by placing the second paper with this letter onto the meat. The symbol on it will activate when you touch it twice within a few seconds. The meat will be sent to the meat locker. I have a barrier jutsu seal in my basement.
I look forward to the Gala (and getting my real body back, again).

Sincerely
Swift Blaze and Al

P.S. I would have not caught you if you did not do the Royal Voice Laugh.

Al rolled up the letter with the seal. Blaze used a jutsu and sent it to the Princess. A few seconds later, they heard a thud come from downstairs.

“Let me show you how you can access the basement. I didn’t show this to you yesterday on account all the ponies that were here,” Blaze said. The colt leads them to the wall with the hidden door. “Now then, all you have to do is say, ‘Al, the Demon Blood Human requests access’.”

Al repeated the line and the door revealed itself. “Nice trick. I was expecting to say Open Sesame,” he said.

“I’m not going to rip that off. Besides, not many ponies know you have demon blood.”

The pair headed down into the basement and Blaze showed the human the two storage rooms and explained the same phrase will grant you access. They first entered the meat locker and Al grabbed a thick steak that was sitting on a stone table. On the middle table, that’s where the pig slab landed. They exited and then the colt then showed where all Earth possessions are to be kept when they are not on them. Once the two entered, Blaze just heard Al say, “DHAAAAMMMM. What were you preparing for, war?”

“On the Mayan D-Day, I told you, I stayed home in my rural house. What I didn’t say is that I heard some of the riots were spreading out to the suburban areas. I didn’t want to take a chance on getting killed. I went to my collection and only grabbed this stuff that I know I could carry. I had a lot more but didn’t want to weigh me down if I was running. I hope I never have to use these guns in this world. I’m only keeping them as a reminder of the world we left.”

“Dude. I know what you’re feeling. We both lost friends and family on that day. I failed the test as I went on a violent rampage when my pet got killed. I know we could have asked to restore the earth back to the way it was. But, the violence would have still been there. I’m sure some other humans must have done that way in another dimension. Come on, let me grill this steak and get something you can eat too.”

They left the basement and headed to the kitchen. Blaze lit the fire pit outside that can also serve as a grill. The colt informed the human the grill was ready. Al was preparing some veggies to grill at the same time. He grilled the steak and veggies. They ate in silence, cleaned up, and got ready for bed. Blaze began to ponder what he will be in store at the pony school.
> Chapter 40: So, What Did You Learn?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Morning came and Blaze still woke up before the sun. Al did too. They headed outside for morning exercises, starting with a jog. Being in a little colt body made it feel like Blaze went twice the distance with short legs. He could feel the magical weight clothing was still on him, but could not see them. 

The next thing they did were different stretches as the sun was beginning to rise. The pair finished up and headed back inside. Blaze headed upstairs to take a shower before school. Al went to the kitchen and made them breakfast. When the colt came out of his bathroom, he could smell the wonderful aroma of bacon. He cursed that Poison Joke. If he ever sees that plant, it’s toast.

Blaze came downstairs and saw Al made eggs and pancakes. His plate also had bacon. He was enjoying eating the meat right in front of me. “I see you’re liking the meat,” the Earth pony said.

Al replied, “You know it.”

“While I’m off at school, you are going to do some more of the mind-calming exercises. This time, on that.” The colt pointed outside to the back yard. Al looked to see what he was pointing at. Blaze then did an Earth Jutsu and created a nail bed made of stone.

The human turned around and said, “You have to be joking. How can I keep calm with those spikes poking at me.”

“That is the POINT. Being able to stay calm in stressful situations. I’m off to school. Have fun.”

The green colt finished his breakfast and quickly left before Al could make a comeback remark. Just as Blaze was out the door, he slammed into something. The little Earth pony rolled with it until he was stopped by the front yard fence. After shaking the daze away, he saw that he ran into Pinkie Pie.

“Pinkie, what are you doing here?” Blaze asked.

“Silly, I’m going to walk you to school,” replied the pink mare. “Miss. Cheerilee is going to be expecting that.”

“Huh. I did not think of that.”

“You can’t always be smarty pants all the time. Enjoy this time and have fun.”

I smiled at the idea of having fun. “You’re right, Pinkie. I shouldn’t look at this as an illness. More of a vacation from myself. Now I just need for Twilight to not pester me with learning Unicorn magic this week.”

“You don’t worry about Twilight. Your cousin Pinkie Pie can keep her occupied. Oh, here is your saddle bag with your school supplies.”

“Thanks, Pinkie.”

As they were walking through town, toward the school, the colt noticed the pink mare’s tail began to twitch. She quickly held him back as a flower pot fell right in front of Blaze. They both looked up and saw a pony sticking their head out their window.

“Sorry,” The pony said.

Pinkie replied, “It’s alright.”

The pair continued on towards school. As they walked, Blaze asked Pinkie, “How did you know that was going to happen?”

“My tail was twitching and that means my Pinkie sense was telling me something was about to fall,” the pink Earth pony replied.

“Huh, I normally get a gut feeling if something is off. Or I’m hungry.”

“I get stomach growls too! Do you have Blaze sense? Does your body do other things to try and tell you something?”

“Not that I am aware of. Oh! There’s the school. Bye Pinkie! See you later.” Blaze said as he started to run to the school. The colt looked back and saw Pinkie Pie was waving. He stopped and waved back. The pink mare then turned and began to skip back into town. Blaze continued onward to the school. He was wondering what level they’re learning at, compared to the grade levels back on Earth. He will try his best to not be an egghead, much.

As the green colt was getting close, he could see the other kids heading to the school from different locations. Blaze then spotted Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. They had two fillies in front of them. If he had to guess, they were Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. That tacky tiara Diamond wears always gives her away. The Earth pony could barely hear the conversation, but he knew the basics of it. Diamond Tiara was calling them several things, including blank flanks. Those two fillies turned away and laughed as they continued on to school. 

Blaze thought, “Laugh about this.” He performed an Earth jutsu so two small rocks would come up right in front of their forehooves. The result was they tripped and landed on their faces. Diamond Tiara’s tiara went flying into the nearby woods. Those two quickly got up and ran to get it. The CMC were just laughing and continued on toward school.

The green colt followed the trio ponies into the school a few feet back. He walked up to Miss. Cheerilee and said, “Good morning Miss. Cheerilee.”

“Good morning, Rocky. I’ll be starting class soon. I will introduce you and then you can tell everyone something about yourself. In the meantime, how you go and take the empty seat in the back.” Miss. Cheerilee said.

“Thank you again for allowing me to take your class while my parents are in Canterlot taking care of some business.”

“You're most welcome.”

Rocky headed to the back and took his seat. A few minutes later. Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara came walking in. Their perfect manes now had tiny sticks and leaves coming out of it. Diamond Tiara’s Tiara had some mud on it. The way it looked is as if they tried to clean it before coming in. All the kids were laughing. The green colt joined in the laughter too.

“Girls! What happened? Why are you two covered in dirt?” Miss. Cheerilee asked.

“We tripped over a rock and my tiara flew into the woods,” replied Diamond Tiara. “I had to get it and Silver Spoon helped me look for it.”

“Well, I’m glad you found it. Now go take your seats. You can get cleaned up at recess. We have a lot to cover today.” They headed to their desks and sat down. Miss. Cheerilee moved to the front of the class. “Alright class, we have a new student that will be joining us for a while. Say hello to Rocky. Would you like to come up to the front and tell us about yourself?”

He stood up and headed to the front. The green pony turned around and said, “Hello everyone. My name is Rocky. I live in Dodge Junction working on my family’s rock farm. I’m staying here in Ponyville while my parents are taking care of some business in Canterlot. The reason why I’m staying here is that my second cousin lives here. Do you all know Pinkie Pie?”

“We do!”  The three Cutie Mark Crusaders said at the same time. The other kids just nodded their heads.

“Yea, well I am not as bonkers as she. I do like her as a cousin. it’s just some of her stories don’t make any sense. Well, as you can see, I have yet to get my cutie mark. I can feel it has to do with something with rocks. I just haven’t found it yet.”

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were quietly laughing between themselves as the colt walked between them. He then heard Diamond Tiara whisper behind my back, “Blank Flank.” The green Earth pony stomped his back right hoof a little harder as he continued to walk. Rocky channeled some ki into that hit. The result was that Diamond Tiara’s chair broke apart. The class was now laughing at her again. She was looking around at who caused it. The colt was the closest pony, but he didn’t look back as he finished heading to his desk.

“Alright class, settle down. Diamond Tiara, I’ll get a spare chair out of storage at recess,” said Miss. Cheerilee. “For now, you’ll have to stand or sit on the floor. Alright class, take out your notebooks. We are going to work on our math skills.”

A couple of ponies groan at the subject. Blaze liked math, it was one subject he didn’t have a problem with. The green colt looked and saw Diamond Tiara whispering to Silver Spoon. Silver Spoon then passed her chair over to Diamond Tiara. Miss. Cheerilee just got done writing a few equations onto the blackboard.

“Ok class, where we left off, we were working on our multiplication tables. Let’s continue on with the multiplications of 7. What is 7 x 3?”

The class said, “21.”

“Very good. 7 x 5?”

“35.”

“Correct. 7 x 9?”

“63.”

“You all have been practicing. Soon you will be able to solve problems like 13 x 456.”

“5,928,” Rocky said.

“Excuse me?” Miss. Cheerilee asked him directly.

“I think that is the answer. 13 x 456. Yea, it is 5,928.”

Miss. Cheerilee walks to her desk and works the problem out. She looked up and said, “That is correct.”

Snips said, “Wow. How were you able to do that?”

“Growing up on a rock farm, there’s not much to do. So I counted rocks and got good with math.”

“It looks like you won’t have trouble with keeping up. Now let’s continue.”

The class continued with the math lesson and Rocky followed along. After an hour, they finished and moved onto history. The colt was able to keep up from the reading he did while at the Twilight’s library. Once the history lesson was done, Miss. Cheerilee told us it was time for recess. The class cheered and ran out of the door. The green Earth pony followed right behind them.

Once outside, Rocky looked around to see what everyone was playing. Snips and Snails were chasing each other. Several fillies and colts were playing in the jungle gym. Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara were doing their best to clean themselves up with a hose. It was funny to watch them as the hose whipped around like a snake. Then, a pony tapped the colt on his shoulder. He turned around and saw it was Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were standing behind her.

“Hi there Rocky. My name is Apple Bloom. This is Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo,” the yellow filly said while pointing to her friends. “So, you’re from Dodge Junction? That’s a mighty far to travel.”

“Hello. Yeah, the train ride was rather long. I had to come as my folks did not want me to stay by myself for over a week. They say I’m not a big pony to stay by myself. Luckily, my cousin accepted the offer to watch me while they continued on to Canterlot. I would be just as bored there as I would be at home.”

“What are your parents doing in Canterlot?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Who knows? Probably some business deal.”

“More than likely going to sell the farm as there is no profit in plain old rocks,” Diamond Tiara said.

Rocky replied, “You mean like that cheap knock offs in your fake crown?”

“HAY! These are real diamonds! My dad gave me this crown and I got my cutie mark shortly after. What do you know about gems?”

“Gems are rocks and my family grows them. I can tell the difference between real and fake ones.”

“Maybe your family grows fake ones and sells them as real.”

“I can prove it.” Rocky took the top gem off her tiara.

“GIVE THAT BACK!”

“I will, just let me explain. A diamond is one of the strongest minerals known. The only thing that can break a diamond, besides a dragon’s mouth, is another diamond. If this is real, I should not be able to break it with my hoof.” Before she could stop me, the green Earth pony swung his forehoof down that held the diamond. He concentrated his chakra on that hoof to mimic diamond hardness. When the hoof and diamond hit the ground, the gem shattered into several pieces.

Diamond Tiara teared up and shouted, “You BASTARD! You ruined my TIARA!” She then lunges at the colt, trying to tackle him.

Rocky stepped out of the way. Before she could attack again, he said, “Wait! I would have not done that if I could not fix this. I can get an actual diamond to go up there. Watch.”

She and the other ponies watched. Rocky stomped his forehooves against the ground. The colt had channeled an Earth jutsu to pull a diamond out from the ground. A small piece came out. The green Earth pony then manipulated it to make it look like the other one and placed it back on Diamond Tiara’s tiara. No one would be able to tell the difference.

Diamond Tiara took it off so she could closely inspect it. Silver Spoon joined in the inspection. Once they were satisfied, the tiara went back onto the pink filly’s head. They walked away and both said, “See you later, Blank Flanks!” Rocky then heard Diamond Tiara say in a low voice, “and freak.”

Rocky thought, ”After I just fixed your stupid tiara, you call me a freak? You SPOILED, LITTLE, BRAT!” The colt stomped his hooves again to have rocks come up again to trip them. They did and now realized he was the one who tripped them this morning.

They got up and headed back to the green Earth pony. Diamond Tiara stood in front of his face as she said, “You know what? I think I know the real reason why you’re here while your parents are in Canterlot. They’re looking for a place to dump their little FREAK of a son and never see him again.”

Blaze knew his back story was fake, but just that word, freak, really aggravated him. The colt acted on impulse and emotion after she said it. In a quick movement, he punched Diamond Tiara in the face. She fell to the ground a few feet away. Rocky walked up to her while still angry. She was still awake as she was covering the spot where he hit her. The colt said, “Now see here, one thing I despise is ponies picking on others. I can tolerate ‘Blank Flank’ once in a while. Just one word I will never accept a pony to call another, a freak. You’re wrong about why my parents are in Canterlot. Now prepare yourself for a thrash that you deserve.”

Before the green Earth pony threw another punch, a pony shouted, “ROCKY! STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!” He turned to see who said that. It was from Miss. Cheerilee and she looked angry. The colt stepped away from Diamond Tiara. When Miss. Cheerilee was next to us, she said, “Now, explain yourself!”

“Well, Diamond Tiara came over and was saying some mean things about my family’s farm. I decided to play a small trick and told her the diamonds in her tiara were fakes. They are real, but I wanted to prove they weren’t. You see, I have a rare ability some Earth ponies are born with. I can control rocks and things like that. I was able to shatter that diamond, pull one from the ground and form it back into the one I destroyed. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon walked away and called us Blank Flanks. That did not aggravate me as what Diamond Tiara said in a low voice. She said Freak also. I used my ability to trip them so I could confront her.” At this point, Rocky teared up and got angry again. “She then said why she thinks my parents were in Canterlot, so they can find a place to leave a freak like me with and never see them again. I just lost it and punched her. The rest was a blur as I was enraged.”

“Is this all true?” She asked the other ponies that were there. They all nodded. “Well, I don’t atone for what Diamond Tiara called you, but that does not give you the right to hit here. I’m sorry, but I have to give you detention and will have a talk with Pinkie Pie about this. Now you two, say sorry to each other.”

“I’m sorry for hitting you and saying your tiara was a fake,” Rocky said.

“Um, I’m sorry for calling you a freak,” Diamond Tiara said.

“Alright, now let’s all go inside. I have some magical lotion that will take that bruise away,” Miss. Cheerilee said.

The ponies headed inside. Diamond Tiara got the lotion applied and the bruise went away. Rocky stayed quiet and paid attention to the class as best as he could. Lucky, Miss. Cheerilee did not call on him. The colt looked outside and noticed Pinkie was near the school. Her nose itched a few seconds before she ran for cover under the horseshoe slide. A minute later, a swarm of bees flew by and went to town on a bush at the edge of the school grounds. Rocky just looked back to what Miss. Cheerilee was covering.

Lunchtime came and all the kids headed outside to have their lunch. The green Earth pony didn’t bring one on the account he didn’t know if he had too. Rocky looked in his saddlebag and saw Pinkie Pie did pack him one, nothing but sweets though. The colt wasn’t that very hungry though. 

Blaze’s mind was recalling the recess events. ”Even here, I cannot control my anger when I’m called that name. The problem now is, I’m so powerful, I could have easily hurt the pony. Thinking back to my school days, when I was first called a freak, was only because I was smart and advanced several grades. How can I help it with how quickly I could learn things. That should not make me a freak.” The colt continued to debate in his mind until a pony placed their hoof on his shoulder. He looked up and saw it was Miss. Cheerilee

“Rocky, how come you didn't eat your lunch?” the magenta mare asked.

“Not that very hungry,” the green Earth pony said as he returned my head back down looking at his desk.

“Why’s that?”

“This isn’t the first time I was called, that name. I had a similar incident.”

“Do you want to talk about it? We are the only one in the school. Everyone else is having their lunch outside.”

“I guess. It started at the last school I went to. I’m actually smarter than I looked. So I got advanced in the learning. The other ponies didn’t like it that I was smarter. So, I was beginning to be called a freak. I did my best to ignore it and just focused on my studies. I thought while I was here, I could avoid being called that. Guess I was wrong. I’m sorry for hitting Diamond Tiara. It was just that she broke my last nerve when she also talked about my parents.” The colt began to tear up again.

“Shh. It’s ok. I’ve known she likes to talk like she is better than anyone. I’ll have a talk with her. Seeing she probably still feels that hit you gave her, I think it will sink in this time to not pick on other ponies because they’re different. Now come on and eat your lunch. You are still growing and need to have a good meal.”

“I will need to tell that to my cousin as she packed nothing but sweets for my lunch.” Rocky showed the lunch in his saddlebag.

The mare smirked a bit, but quickly regained herself. “Yes, well, Pinkie Pie pretty much eats nothing but sweets. I hope you’ll be able to get some healthy food in you while you stay with her.”

He nodded. Miss. Cheerilee headed out to call the other kids back in. They came back in and class began again. The green Earth pony was feeling better after the chat with the teacher. He thinks she should know that it’s actually Blaze after helping him. It only seems fair. Once class ended and the other kids left, he made my way to Miss. Cheerilee’s desk.

“Yes, Rocky? You need something?” Miss. Cheerilee asked.

“I think you deserve to know the real truth,” replied the colt. “My name is not Rocky. It is Swift Blaze. Poison Joke turned me into a colt pony and I am stuck like this until Zecora can make the cure for it.” 

“If you really are Blaze, tell me what you said when you talk about your cutie mark.”

“My cutie mark is a symbol called the yin and yang symbol. What it stands for is the belief I have for balance and that can be anything. Want me to continue?”

“I just can’t believe that plant pulled this kind of joke on you. I saw what it did to Twilight and her friends. I think this tops it. So, was everything you said about when you were young, was that fake too?”

“No, it wasn’t. I was called a freak in my school days. Being so smart and advancing in grades, the other kids did not like it. The problem is I did nothing to stop the bullying and name-calling. I just ignored them and focused on my studies. I did make friends that were into the same things I was. That did help while growing up. I guess stuck a kid again and being called a freak brought back all those memories that I could not control my actions. I will make sure I won’t harm any of the kids ever again.”

“I believe you will honor that. Just like you said, being a kid again brought up some bad memories. Now then, you are still going to have to stay here for an hour for hitting Diamond Tiara. After that, you can go home. I’ll let you explain what happened to Pinkie. Don’t worry about your secret. I won’t tell anyone or your classmates. I’m going to finish grading these assignments while you return to your desk and make use of this hour. Maybe even take care of your homework assignments.”

“I will do that. Thank you, Miss. Cheerilee for understanding.” 

Blaze returned to his desk and worked on the homework. It did not take him long as this was elementary school level stuff. Once done, the colt just sat quietly and did some reading about Equestria’s history, the only book that would spike my interest. Once the hour was up, he said goodbye to Miss. Cheerilee and headed home.

Along the way home, Blaze saw Pinkie Pie was skipping through town. She saw him and headed in my direction. “Hi Rocky! How was school today?” She asked.

“Um, it didn’t go the way I thought it would,” the colt replied in a low voice.

Pinkie stopped skipping and walked normally beside him. “What happened?”

He began to tell her about everything that happened and what he told Miss. Cheerilee about my childhood past. Pinkie’s hair was starting to deflate a little while the green Earth pony talked about his past. Once he was done, the pink mare stopped him and pulled the colt into a hug. He embraced it as it felt good. 

She whispered into his ear, “Oh Blaze, I never like it when one of my friends is sad. I’m sorry again to have given you that laced cupcake. I never knew you had a tough childhood and had to relive it again.”

“It’s ok, Pinkie. There’s no way you could have known what that plant would have done. Nor about my childhood past. Having you all my friends and letting me share is helping me by not sealing the emotions back up.”

The pink Earth pony pulled away from the hug and looked at the colt. “I know what can cheer both of us up. Let’s go to Sugarcube Corner and have some Blaze’s Chocolate Drops. I know you like them.”

“How about we have these.” He opened his saddlebag to reveal the uneaten lunch Pinkie packed him.

“You didn’t eat your lunch!”

“Pinkie! This isn’t what a growing colt needs. Fruits and veggies are good for a proper lunch. A small sweet is ok to have too, but the entire lunch can’t be dessert items.”

“I only packed what I normally have for lunch.”

“Pinkie, you have a lot to learn when you are taking care of children. Let’s get some real food as I’m starving.” His stomach growls with the mention of food. They both laughed and smiled after that.

Pinkie Pie’s hair returns to normal. The two headed to a café and had a proper meal. Blaze ate a normal amount for a colt to eat, but he was still very hungry. They ate the sweets afterward that were in his lunch as Pinkie walked the colt back to his house. Blaze said goodbye to her and reminded her he needs a proper lunch for tomorrow. Not heavy on sweets. She replied with her usual OK response and began to skip back to Ponyville.

Once inside, Blaze headed to the backyard to see if Al was working on his calm mind training. The colt found him, still on the spikes, snoring. He didn’t expect him to actually sleep. He believed it was time to wake the human up. The green Earth pony performed an Earth jutsu to make the spikes go away and he fell to the ground, hard.

“OW! What the hell Blaze! You didn’t have to wake me up like that,” Al said.

“Well, I didn’t expect you to actually fall asleep on the spikes,” he replied.

“Yea, I actually slept on something like this when I was in hell. Yours was very comfortable.”

“I guess that mind-calming while in pain was useless.”

“No, it did work. I was able to calm my mind while feeling the pokes. Just a little too good and fell asleep. You think I can have a spike bed in my room?”

Blaze just facehoof himself. He should have known this human would be used to this kind of pain. He was in hell. The colt needed to change his strategy. “I’ll think about it. For now, it's dinner time and I AM STARVING,” he said as his stomach growled, yet again.

“You’re always hungry. Did you not get lunch?”

“Pinkie Pie packed me a lunch with nothing but sweets. Plus, I was not in the mood to eat.”

“That is a first. Why not?”

The green Earth pony began to tell the white hair human about what happened. Al laughed when he got to the part of hitting Diamond Tiara. Blaze just glared at him till he stopped. When the colt explained why he did that and everything else he told Miss. Cheerilee, the human came down and gave him a hug.

“Dude, I never knew your school life was also tough. I’m beginning to think my time in hell was not as bad,” Al said.

“I might have thought I was in hell while at school, you actually were there. Your torment is worse than mine. But look at it this way, I’ll be joining you in the anger management exercises,” Blaze said. His stomach growled again to remind him how hungry he was.

Al broke the hug and said, “Let’s subdue that beast you call a stomach with a big dinner.”

“Let’s go before I go carnivore.”

They both laughed as the two headed to the kitchen. Blaze did his best to help out while he was still in the colt form. Al had the steak again and the Earth pony had a platter of roasted veggies with fresh fruit on the side. The two ate dinner and cleaned up the dishes. They both headed to bed after washing up. As Blaze was falling asleep, he began to think about what happened today. The colt really thought he had had his anger under control since the last outburst in the EverFree Forest. He does hope tomorrow will be better.
> Chapter 41: What’s Going On?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blaze opened his eyes and saw that he was in Ponyville, but something was different. He could not tell as it was dark. His eyes could normally see pretty good at night with the moon out. He looked for it in the sky. What was found was even more surprising. There was a solar eclipse happening. Blaze thought ”Strange, those normally last a few minutes. I didn’t know it was possible with the Princesses controlling the sun and the moon. What were they up to?”

The human looked around to find another pony to ask what was going on. As he walked through town, he kept on hearing doors and window stutters slamming close. Blaze thought, ”Ok, this is really strange. Why are the ponies afraid of me? Let’s shed some light here.” 

He launched a ki ball into the sky and had it hover over town, what he saw was nothing the human expected to see. The town looked like there had been a battle. Scorch marks were on every building. Some were totally destroyed. Blaze needed to find Twilight, NOW! The human ran to the library and burst through the door. Inside, he saw cobwebs over the bookshelves and dust on the top of the tables. He started to panic. He teleported out of there and headed to the castle.

Blaze hit something upon appearing. He looked to see what it was. The magic barrier was up around Canterlot. This was so strong that he couldn’t teleport in. The human headed over to where the entrance was. It was easy to find as that area was lit up. As he was walking up to the guards posted there, Blaze said, “What’s going on? Why is the barrier up and what are the Princesses doing with the sun and moon making a solar eclipse?”

When the guards saw him, they fired magic spells at the human. These were faster than normal as he was barely able to dodge them.

“Woah! Woah! Woah! I’m on your side!” he said as he continued to dodge.

One Royal Guard pony said, “ We have orders to kill you on sight.”

Blaze thought, ”WHAT! KILL ON SIGHT! TIME TO GO!” The human teleported out of there, not wanting to die. He reappeared at his house. Luckily that was still there. He headed inside to see if Al or anyone was there. Just like the library, this place looked like no one has been here for a long time. He headed downstairs to check his weapons were still there. Once he opened the doors, the human saw everything was and in its place. He headed up to Al’s room to see if I could find any clues.

When Blaze entered his room, it was in the same condition as the rest of the house. Al’s weapons and personal belongings were gone. Blaze thought he might still be alive. The white hair human had a desk with a book on it. It didn’t have a title on the front, nor the spine. Blaze opened it up to see what was inside. It was a journal. He couldn’t recall when Al had started one. He read the only entry.

To whom that finds this book,

I’m writing this out, in case there is some hope that something out there can save us from this tragic event. It all started when Discord escaped. Blaze and I knew what to do in order to seal him up again. We had collected four of the five Elements of Order and hoped the fifth one would reveal itself soon. When we confronted Discord, he had already grayed the mane six. When Blaze had me go and inform Princess Celestia to send the letter Twilight had been writing to her about Friendship. I should have never left Blaze.

Discord somehow corrupted Swift Blaze. 

The human immediately dropped the book after reading that. There was a shocked look on his face. Blaze didn’t want to believe what he read. How did he get corrupted when he was right here? What in Equestria happened? The human picked the book back up and was hesitant to continue to read. Did he want to know what happened? No, he NEEDED to know. Blaze opened the book and continued to read where I left off.

Discord somehow corrupted Swift Blaze. His coat was dark red, the white in his eyes were now black, and his cutie mark was a solid black circle. He no longer went by Swift Blaze or Bob. He declared himself as Shadow Torch, Lord of Darkness.

He went on a rampage on Ponyville. Destroying buildings and sending all the ponies running. The normal Royal Guards were powerless to stop him. I had gathered the special ops team we formed to take care of matters like this. We all fought very hard to try and stop him. We all failed. What he did next is what everyone feared. He sent a black orb up into the sky and it blocked the sun.

I’m now leading a resistance from Canterlot, the last place that has not been destroyed. He has yet to break the new shield Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle created together. I don’t know how much longer we can hold out.

That was the end of the entry. Blaze placed the book down gently back on the table. He sensed something was behind him.

“How long have you been there?” he asked.

“Ever since you walked into your old house. Why did you come here, Shadow Torch?” The mysterious figure replied.

“I don’t know what is going on or what happened. But my name is not Shadow Torch, It’s Swift Blaze.”

“You aren’t going to trick me like the others. You move a little bit without my permission, I will kill you in an instant.”

“I’m not playing a trick. One moment, I was sleeping in my bed in colt form after the first day of school. I then wake up to this world and see all this. Please tell me what in Equestria has happened.”

“Turn around. Slowly.” That Blaze started to turn. “SLOWER!”

Once the black hair human was turned around, he saw who was behind him. It was a human shape standing there with two crossbows pointing at his body. The person had a cloak covering their body and a hood hiding their face. Blaze didn’t need to guess who it was.

“Alvin, what do I need to do to prove I am Swift Blaze, aka Bob, and not that other thing you mentioned in your entry.”

“You just did by calling me Alvin, plus your eyes. How did you get here?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. Now tell me what happened after that entry. Where is everyone else?”

“Bob, you killed them.”

“WHAT!!! Why would I kill my friends?”

“Not this you, Shadow Torch killed them.”

Blaze just fell to his knees and banged against the floor. This went on for a few minutes. Once he had calmed back down, the human picked himself up. He wiped the tears away that rolled down his face. He looked to Al and said, “Where is this bastard that did this.”

“He now stays at the old castle in the EverFree Forest. He had slaved ponies rebuild and fortify it. It’s impossible to get in without being seen.”

“If this Shadow Torch is me, then I know I would have placed an escape route in case something did happen. Let me get something from the basement to help us out.”

Al nodded and they headed to the basement. Blaze opened the weapon storage and headed inside. Just after he entered, the black hair human felt a sharp pain in the back of his right shoulder and fell to the floor. He looked to see what it was. A crossbow arrow has been impaled into him. Blaze looked up at Al and saw he was laughing evilly.

“I can’t believe you trusted me. You’re nothing like me.”

“What’s going on Al? I thought we were friends,” The black hair human said while holding his injured shoulder.

“I am not that pathetic human.” He pulled out a vial and drank it. His form changed to what was read in the journal. “I, AM, SHADOW TORCH!”

“Why are you doing this? Killing our friends?”

“Because it’s so much fun, you should try it. One thing I still can’t figure out is how I was ever like you.”

“But you were me and we cared about this world. We swore to protect it!”

“You did, I didn’t. Now then, thank you kindly for opening this weapon stash for me, I can now finish my plans.”

“I won’t let you get away with this!”

As the black hair human was trying to get up, Shadow Torch grabbed a gun off the wall and shot both of Blaze’s knees. He screamed out in pain. The pain there was far worse than his shoulder. Shadow Torch kept the gun pointed at him.

“You have served your purpose.”

While still in serious pain, Blaze said, “If you wanted these weapons, why didn’t you open the door yourself?”

“Funny thing, while in rage mode, all chakra abilities don’t work. I didn’t want to blast my way in and destroy the goodies inside. So I’ve been working on summoning you from a previous time to do this. Thank you for your help. I will say hi to your remaining friends as I slowly kill them.”

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Blaze screamed at the top of his lungs.

Shadow Torch pulled the trigger and the black hair human saw the bullet coming to his head.

-------------------------------------------------------

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” The colt screamed as he sat up in bed.

Al came bursting in through the door with his daggers at the ready to throw. “What’s going on?” He asked.

Once Blaze realized he was still in his room and in colt form, he replied, “Sorry for waking you, Al. I think I just had one hell of a nightmare. It seemed so real.”

The human placed his daggers down on the bedside table and sat on the edge of the bed. “I’m glad you’re ok. I never heard you scream like that, so I was thinking of the worst. I had my fair share of nightmares while I was in hell. They want to make you think it’s real to scare you more. Have you ever had a nightmare before?”

“I had when I was little. They happened after the incident with my father. They were nothing like what I just had though.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not tonight. That nightmare really took the energy out of me. Make sure I wake up in the morning for school.”

“You got it, buddy. Go and have sweet dreams of Candyland.”

“What are you trying to do? Get me some cavities?”

“Nah, I wanted you to laugh.” They both laughed for a while. The two said good night to each other. Al left and closed the door. Blaze laid back down to try and get some sleep. He sure hoped that was only a nightmare.
> Chapter 42: Enter the Crusaders
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the early morning hours, Blaze heard a voice speaking softly. “Blaze. Blaaazzzeee. Time to get up.”

Still mostly asleep, he replied, “Mmm, five more minutes.”

“Now, unless you want me to pour a bucket of water on you.” The voice said.

Still asleep with his eyes closed, the colt pointed a hoof in the direction of the voice. He launched a ki blast.

“AHHH! BLAZE, WHAT THE FUCK!”

The shouting woke the green Earth pony up. He sat up in bed and looked in the direction of where it came from. Al was crouched down, had his hands on top of his head. Above him, Blaze saw a nice circular hole with scorch marks going up all the way and through the roof.

The human composed himself and stood back up. “I’m never going to try and wake you up again. You almost took MY HEAD OFF!”

“Sorry dude.  You know I’m never like this. I’ll repair the hole shortly. What time is it?” Blaze said as he began to get out of the bed.”

“Just after sunrise. Man, that nightmare must have been an awful one for you to wake up after sunrise. What was it about?”

Recalling what he saw and felt, a massive shiver went up his back. “I don’t really know, but I think I should consult with Princess Luna as she protects the night and dreams.” Blaze performed several jutsu to repair the hole and make it look like nothing happened.

“Let’s head downstairs and have breakfast before it gets cold.”

The colt sniffed the air to try and smell what was made. His mouth began to water as he recalled the smell. “Oh, you made chocolate chip pancakes. Race you down.”

“You’re ON!” 

Al ran out the door and closed it behind him to try and slow Blaze down. The colt just smirked as he teleported to the dining room table. The Earth pony began to eat his dozen tall stack just as Al came running into the room.

“Beat you,” Blaze said with his mouth full.

“I should’ve known you would do that. Also, don’t talk with your mouth full. Just discussing.”

The colt just smiled and continued to eat. He said bye to Al as the green Earth pony put his saddlebag on and headed out the door. Out in his front yard was a pink mare standing there, waiting for him. Blaze put a smile on and walked up to her. “Morning Pinkie. Making sure I head to school?” he asked.

“That, plus to give you your lunch,” Pinkie Pie replied. She pulled a brown bag from her saddlebag.

“Not all dessert stuff again, correct?”

“Nope. I asked Mrs. Cake to help me pack a healthy lunch. I told her the story of my second cousin and explained why you were not staying with me due to my crazy party planning I do each night for the next day.”

“Thank you for not telling the actual truth. I don’t know if my mind could handle if everyone found out what happened to me and began to laugh.” Blaze let out a big yawn as headed to the school.

“Aww, did little Rocky didn’t get enough sleepy weepy last night?”

“My body probably did. I don’t think my mind did. I had an odd dream, or should I say nightmare. I’m trying to figure out what it means.”

“You poor thing, how about you tell your cousin about these bady wady dreams?”

Before he could respond, Blaze heard his colt name being shouted from behind them. The pair stopped and looked back to see who was shouting. It was Apple Bloom and she ran to catch up with them.

“Morning Rocky. Why are you and Pinkie Pie out here instead of coming from Sugarcube Corner?” the yellow filly asked after she caught up.

Rocky responded first by saying, “Even though Pinkie promised to watch me while my parents are in Canterlot, I couldn’t sleep with her there. She does party planning into the late hours of the nights. Plus, all those sugary treats would taunt me with their smells.”

“So, I asked Swift Blaze and Al if he could stay there for this week,” said the pink Earth pony. “They both said it was alright, as long as I take him to school and make his lunch for him. They can cover breakfast and dinner time.”

“Oh, you met the two humans? What do you think of them?” Apple Bloom asked while excited.

“Well, I’ve only met Blaze very briefly,” replied Rocky. “He said he had to take care of some paperwork in Canterlot and would be gone a few days. As for Al, he looks to be a good pony, er human. He just acts a little weird sometimes.” 

“I’ve only seen him at the party. Did not get a chance to talk to him. Do you know if he has a cutie mark?”

“Can’t say I have.”

“Speaking of cutie marks, my friends and I created a club for colts and fillies that don’t have theirs yet. We do lots of fun things as we try to figure out what we are good at.”

Blaze was able to recall some of the stuff from the show that they did. They usually create havoc when trying to find them. “Sounds like fun. What’s the name of this club?” The colt looked at Pinkie Pie and she just had a big grin on her face.

“It’s the Cutie Mark Crusaders. We actually have a meeting/sleepover at Sweetie Belle’s sister’s house. We’re going to work on getting our cutie marks. Do you want to join and come over?” Apple Bloom asked with the infectious puppy dog eyes.

“Well, I would like to join. Seeing Pinkie is watching me, I’ll need her permission to stay over.”
“Of course you can, Rocky. I never want to stop you from having fun. Just make sure you play nice with the other fillies,” the mare replied.

“I will.”

They arrived at the school. Pinkie said goodbye to the filly and colt, then headed off to do her thing. Apple Bloom ran up to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo and informed them of the news. When Rocky caught up, they were both happy. All three of them were jumping around him and chanting, “We have a new crusader.”

A pony from behind them said, “Well, well, well, looks like you have joined where you belong. With the other Blank Flanks.”

The girls stopped jumping and everyone turned to face the only filly who is obnoxious, Diamond Tiara. “Hello there Diamond Tiara, how is that bruise feeling?” Rocky asked.

The pink filly placed a hoof over the spot where the colt had hit her. She looked very mad for bringing that up. “Just so you know, I told my daddy what you did. He hired some Royal Guards to watch me. So, if you cause harm to me or Silver Spoon, they have orders to arrest you and take you to the dungeon.”

Blaze thought, ”Really? Royal Guards are being paid to watch brats? Let’s see where these guards are at.” The green Earth pony looked at the nearby bushes and forest. It didn’t take him long to spot them with their shining armor poking out of the shrub. Blaze was surprised to only see three. It isn’t even worth the effort if they knew who he really was. “I’m sorry for hitting you, alright? Just leave me and my friends alone and everything will be fine.”

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon glared at the colt for a few seconds. They then walked around the crusaders and continued on to school. They were glancing down a few times. Probably expecting the colt to trip them again. Rocky just hoped they wouldn't bother them again. The kids entered the school and took their seats. Blaze thought, ”Another boring day. The only thing I can only look forward to is recess time, lunch, and school ending. It’s going to be a LONG day.”

----------Elsewhere----------

Al just got done cleaning the dishes and kitchen from cooking breakfast. He looked around to see what to do next. The human didn't have that spike bed to work on his anger control. He decided he’ll go into town and take care of a few things he planned to do if he ever came to Equestria. 

Leaving the house, Al made his way into town. He waved to the ponies as he walked. They smiled and waved back. The white hair human soon came by Rarity's place. Slamming a fist downward to his open palm hand, he thought, That's right! I need to pick up my clothes Rarity made for me. I know I went plain into the design, but I never liked anything fancy style to wear. I liked to see it when others wear it. You will just never see me in those getups.

Al opened the door and headed inside. The bell over the door rang as he opened and closed the door. Rarity said, "Coming! Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where every garment is chic, unique, and magnifique. Now then, what can I help you with?"

"Morning Rarity,” replied the human. “I came by to get the set of clothes you said you were going to make for me. Are they ready?"

"But of course. They have been made to what you requested. I still don't know why you and Blaze won't allow me to spruce them up for you."

"It’s because human males would rather see the females look all fancy in their clothing. Men only do so also for special occasions. Like the coming Gala. Both of us will be wearing tuxedos in order to look good for you and the others we are escorting."

"Speaking of, I need to make the final adjustments to it. It’s hanging in the changing room over there. Please put it on and come back out so I can look you over."

"Certainly Rarity. I’ll be back out in a minute." 

It was Al’s turn to be a pin cushion. He hoped it doesn’t take that long.

----------Back at School----------

Finally! Recess. Rocky thought it would never come. The other kids and himself were heading outside like a stampede. The CMC came up to the green colt as he looked around for something to do.

“Hey, Rocky! Can we see some other things you can do with your ability?” Scootaloo asked.

“Uh, sure. Let’s see,” he replied. The colt began to think of what he could do with his Earth Jutsu that they would like. The green Earth pony stomped his forehooves on the ground. He brought up a round, stone table and stone benches.

The CMC had their eyes go big at the site. Rocky went to one bench and the others took a seat on the others. They looked at the design as they felt the surface.

“You really have a talent at this. Besides gems, I have never seen anything so nice,” Sweetie Belle said.

“That may be true,” replied the colt. “As you can see, I don’t have a cutie mark yet.”

Apple Bloom said, “At least you have an idea what you are good at. You just have to be a little bit more specific. We still don’t have any clue what our cutie marks are.”

“And I think you four will be forever, Blank Flanks,” Diamond Tiara as she walked up to us.

“Nice one,” Silver Spoon said while beside the pink filly.

Rocky thought, “Oh great, there goes the fun I hoped to have at recess.” The ponies all turn to face them. The colt said, “Please Diamond Tiara, I don’t want any trouble. Just leave us alone.”

“Fat chance. You humiliated me yesterday. You tripped us into the mud. Destroying the original top to my tiara. Finally, you hit me!”

“Listen, I said I was sorry for hitting you. I made an exact copy of your precious topper. Finally, you deserve being tripped into that mud seeing you treat everyone else like mud.” Rocky stood up and had his forehooves on the table. “I’m trying to be nice instead of giving you the beating your parents should be giving you, ya spoiled brat.”

That really made the pink filly mad. Silver Spoon was actually holding her back. The Cutie Mark Crusaders got up and stood by Rocky’s side. They were probably making sure the colt didn’t get into a fight. Diamond Tiara shook the grey filly off her. Taking a few deep breaths, the pink filly then said, “You’re not worth it. See you later, Blank Flanks and Freak.”

Rocky remained calm as those two started to walk away. Diamond Tiara suddenly tripped on her own. She quickly got up and shouted, “GUARD! ARREST THAT PONY FOR TRIPPING ME!”

“He did not trip you!” replied Scootaloo. “He’s right over here and didn’t use his ability as his hooves never left the table.”

The three guards came out from the places they were hiding. All three were Unicorns. They surrounded the ponies at the table. One guard spoke up and said, “Come with us, quietly.”

“He didn’t do anything!” Apple Bloom shouted.

“You can’t take him!” Sweetie Bells chimed in.

By this time, Miss Cheerilee heard the commotion and quickly came over. “What’s going on?” she asked.

“Miss, we’re to take in this young colt for tripping, Miss Diamond Tiara,” another guard said.

Rocky replied, “I didn’t trip her Miss. Cheerilee. I promise.”

“I know you didn’t. I’m sorry, but you can’t take him. He’s enrolled in my class. So, during school time, all of these kids are under my supervision. So, if you don’t mind, I’m going to take these kids back in so I can teach them.”

“I’m afraid we’re under orders if he brings any harm to Miss Diamond Tiara. Now, please step aside before I arrest you too,” The guard commanded.

By this time, the rest of the kids have stopped playing and gathered around to see what will happen. Rocky knew he shouldn’t fight these guards without bringing harm to these kids. He guessed he had no other choice. “I will go with you, as long as you leave everyone else alone.”

“Rocky, you don’t have to do that. We all know you are innocent,” Miss. Cheerilee said.

“Except for Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon,” Scootaloo added.

“I don’t want you to get arrested too for trying to protect me. Who will watch after your students? I’ll be fine. Just go and find Pinkie Pie and Al and tell them what happened. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

The magenta mare nodded. One guard activated his horn and tried to pick the green colt up. “How heavy is this colt? I can’t pick him up,” he said.

“Let me help you,” the second guard said. He activated his horn and joined in trying to pick Rocky up. Those two were really struggling and making no improvement.

“What kind of weaklings are you? Guess I have to bail you out,” The third guard said. When he activated his horn to join the others in lifting the little pony up. Rocky was just an inch off the ground when he came back down. The Royal Guard horns stopped glowing. They were breathing heavily.
The colt thought, “How many weak guards are there? Can’t even lift something weighing about 600lbs. 500 of which is magical. This is just pathetic.” 

“I said I was going willingly. You don’t have to carry me,” Rocky said.

“It’s regulation to place the accused in a bubble and carry them so they don’t escape,” one guard said.

“One side effect with my rare ability. It makes me as heavy as a rock also. I’m guessing I weigh about 600lbs.”

“600 POUNDS! How are you even walking?” Another guard shouted.

“How about I just walk with you seeing as you can’t pick me up.”

They all nodded. Rocky was placed in the middle of a triangle formation. He looked back and saw Miss Cheerilee telling Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo something before they ran off in other directions. The colt then saw the magenta mare look angry at Diamond Tiara and scooted her to get inside. Rocky thought he might be going to jail for a little bit. But, you’ll have to deal with the wrath of Miss. Cheerilee. He saw detentions in the pink filly’s future.

As Rocky was walking between the guards, he decided to send a mental message to Princess Celestia. Princess Celestia, do you read me?

Princess Celestia replied, Blaze, I promised that I have not been spying on you.

I know you haven’t. I’m contacting you regarding another issue. This time, it’s not my fault, Well not entirely.

What’s going on Blaze?

The colt told her what happened yesterday and what just happened. He told her that he said he was sorry several times. Blaze even shared his memory of what happened as proof. He could feel the Princess was thinking this over for a little bit.

I shall send Captain Shining Armor to take care of this. It will be a couple of hours before he will get there by a flying stagecoach. Hope you don’t mind?

Not at all. I can work on my mind on other thoughts. I do request to save punishment when I get my form back. I want them to realize who they dealt with.

I think that sounds fair. So how is it being a colt?

Can’t really tell as trouble keeps on finding me. I’m actually hoping tomorrow will be a better sense of normal, not my kind of how trouble keeps on finding me.

With what you had to go through back on Earth, I think this might be a reward to get another chance to have fun at a young age. Well, I need to get back to Day Court. Can’t keep the citizens waiting.

Thank you for sending some help.

With that Blaze broke the connection. He looked and saw they were about to arrive at the guard station in Ponyville. They led the colt into a jail cell and locked it. With any of his abilities, he knew he could break out of here with no issue. Blaze thought, “You’re just lucky I don’t want to be charged with escaping.”

--------------Carousel Boutique-------------

Al was happy that he was finally done with getting his tux fitted. He lost count on being poked after a hundred times. The human stepped out of the Boutique with his new clothes wrapped up in a bundle and placed in his saddlebag he was using as a backpack. He looked around to where he should head next. The white hair human then saw Sweetie Belle running toward him. When she got there, the white filly was out of breath. “Hi Sweetie Belle, where is the fire? I thought you would be in school with Rocky?” Al asked.

While breathing hard, Sweetie Belle replied, “Rocky was (breath) arrested by (breath) Royal Guards (breath) because of (breath) Diamond Tiara.”

Al thought, “Great, what did Blaze get himself into.” He leaned down to the filly’s level and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Alright, calm down, then tell me what happened.”

---------------Somewhere in Ponyville--------------

Pinkie Pie was skipping through town. She waved to the other ponies as she went by them. All of a sudden, one of her Pinkie Senses went off. She got a sharp pinch on her back and her tail spiked out. She knew she never had felt this combo before as she tried to interpret what it could be, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo came running up.

“Pinkie! You have to come with us!” the yellow filly shouted.

“Rocky has been arrested!” the orange Pegasus added.

Pinkie now knows what that combo meant. Blaze was in trouble. “Come along girls and tell me what happened,” the mare replied.

They began to tell her about this morning and what just happened at recess.

---------In the Jail Cell--------

Blaze thought, “So, this is what the Jailhouse blues feels like. If only I had a harmonica to play it.” The colt sat on the cot, now thinking about the dream he had. The green Earth pony had nothing better to do. 

That dream, or should he say nightmare, didn’t feel like a normal one. Blaze actually felt pain. You can’t feel pain in a dream. He could feel it when he was in his mind space, training. In that space, he normally could control it. But, this one the human had no control. Also, where in Equestria did he come up with the name Shadow Torch? He looked like himself, just a very, dark, and evil version. The colt sure hoped this was just a nightmare.

Rocky suddenly heard shouting coming from the entrance area.

“I demand you release that colt! You have no right to take him in for something Miss Cheerilee could have handled. Since when do Royal Guard ponies take orders from civilians? I should clobber you right now! You do not deserve to be part of the Royal Guard!” Al shouted.

“Sir, I must ask you to leave, before I arrest you too for disturbing the peace and threatening an officer,” A guard said.

“I would like to see you try.”

“Al! What are you doing here?” Rocky now heard Pinkie Pie said.

“Trying to get Rocky out of jail for false imprisonment,” Al replied.

“I’m his guardian while his parents are in Canterlot. Please, let me handle this. Can you watch the fillies outside?”

“Sure Pinkie. I’m just frustrated that this happened.”

The colt heard the door to the outside open and then slammed closed. Rocky really needed some one on one with the human to help with his anger. He was able to keep it in check this time. The colt really doesn’t want him to go berserk.

“Excuse me, sirs, would it be alright if I can see Rocky and see how he is doing?” Pinkie asked.

“I don’t see that being a problem. Oh, and thanks for throwing me a birthday party last week. My friends and I had a blast,” the guard said.

“I’m glad you had fun.”

Rocky heard the door leading to the jail cells open and two ponies came walking down the hall. He first saw the guard and then Pinkie Pie showed up to mine. The guard opened the jail cell and let the pink mare in.

“I will be back in a few to give you some privacy. Need anything, just shout,” the stallion said and left.

“How are you doing, Blaze?” Pinkie asked quietly.

“Doing good. Not how I expected the colt's life to be,” he replied.

“I’m sorry it’s not what you were expecting,” the mare’s hair began to deflate.

“It’s not your fault, Pinkie. This you could have never predicted. Please, don’t be sad.”

“I just don’t know how to get you out of here so you won’t have to spend the night here and miss the sleepover with the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”

“I’ve already taken care of that. I sent a mental message to Princess Celestia. She is sending Captain Shining Armor down to get these guards back in line.”

“I hope he’ll really take care of these meany pants.”

“Oh, he will. I’ll just have to deal with the laughter from him when he sees me like this. How are you dealing with Twilight? I saw you yesterday outside the school doing something.”

“Oh, Twilight was trying to figure out how my Pinkie Sense works. My nose was itchy yesterday. That means a swarm of bees was coming. I think she got hit by them. She followed me for the rest of the day. I got the shakes all over my body which told me that there was a doozy at Foggy Bottom Bog. Fluttershy was there to move some of her froggy friends to a new place to live. Applejack, Twilight, Spike, and I went to check on her. She was fine. Then we came across a Hydra.”

“A HYDRA!”

“A very mean one. We were able to escape. Then, Twilight said she believed in my Pinkie Sense. That was the doozy. Finally, I saw you in Ponyville. I think her mind is off training you for now.”

“Thanks, Pinkie. I just didn’t want to deal with learning magic at this time. If I’m stuck like this, I want to have fun.”

“Well, I don’t see how being in here can be fun.”

“It’s better than what Diamond Tiara is dealing with Miss. Cheerilee. Say, do you have two harmonicas?”

Pinkie Pie pulled them out of her mane. “I do but, I don’t see how this will be fun.”

“Just follow along.”

----------Couple hours later--------

Al just got done chatting with the CMC. They all asked lots of questions. A few were how did he get here, how he met Blaze, what can he do, and if he had a cutie mark. The white hair human answered them the best he could without saying anything scary. When he told them he didn’t have a cutie mark, they begged the human to join their club. They all did the big pouty eyes. Al’s only, one, true, weakness. No one can say no to a face like that. He said yes and they were all thrilled. They had to go and get their sleepover ready for tonight. Al said goodbye as they left.

After they left, a pony started to talk behind him. “So, what did Blaze do that neither of you could straighten out?”

The human turned around and saw Captain Shining Armor was standing there. “Well, you see, none of the Royal Guard believed I’m one of them. I told them I just joined and did not have the suit of armor, or whatever I need to prove I am. Blaze, on the other hand, is in more of a pickle to prove WHO he is,” replied Al.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Let’s just say he ate a laced cupcake that had Poison Joke in it. It turned him into a green, Earth colt. About the same age as those fillies that just left.”

Captain Shining Armor just laughed out loud. While doing so, he said, “So the human that won the last Royal Guard Tournament, and kicked my flank, is now stuck as a colt? I have to see this.”

The captain regained his composure before he entered the guardhouse. When the white stallion opened the door, the three guards quickly saluted and said, “SIR! We were not aware you were coming, SIR!”

The Unicorn Captain looking all serious, replied, “Care to explain the reason why you arrested a colt while he was AT school?”

“Sir, the colt tripped a filly just outside of the school during recess. We had orders if the filly got hurt by this colt, we’re to take him in for assault. Sir,” one guard said.

“Where did this order come from? Hmm?” Shining Armor sounding a little pissed off.

“We can’t say it, sir,” another guard said, sounding scared.

“Can’t say to a COMMANDING OFFICER! I ORDER YOU TO TELL ME WHO!”

“We were paid to do it by the filly’s father, Filthy Rich,” the third guard spoke.

“Taking a bribe from a civilian. You three just earned time in the Canterlot Dungeon. Officer Al, hold them down while I release the colt from his jail cell.”

“With pleasure,” the human replied. Before the Unicorns could react, Al increased the gravitational pull on them. They collapsed to the ground, hard. They tried to get up but failed. When he saw one tried to use their magic, the white hair human quickly made the unicorn fly up to the ceiling, then back down to the floor, knocking out the guard pony. He looked to the other two and said, “Don’t try it or the same will happen to you.”

Shining Armor opened the door and heard music playing.



He headed to the jail cell where the music was coming from. The Unicorn saw a pink mare playing all the instruments quite well and Blaze, aka Rocky, was on vocals and harmonica. He couldn’t believe how Blaze looked. He cleared his throat to get their attention. 

Once the music stopped, he said, “So, the mighty have now become a colt.”

“Let me give you some Poison Joke and see what funny thing it will do to you,” Blaze said.

Shining Armor just started to laugh again. All of a sudden, he got hit with a bolt of lightning to his face. He coughed and then said, “Yep. That is you, Blaze. I can tell your bolts from others.”

“Laugh again and I’ll see if I can knock you out with the next one.”

“Blaze! That was not nice,” Pinkie Pie said.

“He started it!”

“That does not give you the right to shock him like that.”

“It’s alright. That bolt was more for show than to cause harm. I know he can dish out a lot more,” the Unicorn stallion said.

“Still, he shouldn’t do that to a friend,” Pinkie replied.

“I think there is still a little grudge still from how I had first treated him while training him.”

“And that’s why I challenged you and kicked your flank around the arena,” Blaze replied.

“You only won because you surprised me with that strange move and caused me to get a major nosebleed.”

“Do you want me to do it again?”

“How about I leave you in here if you do?”

“You know this simple jail can’t keep me in here.”

“I know, but you know if you escape, you will be breaking the law.”

“Then please, let me out. I have plans tonight with a couple of fillies.”

“What are you going to do?”

“It’s just a sleepover. They’re working on getting their cutie mark. My colt form does not have one. So I was pressured to join their club.”

“So, they don’t know it’s really you, Blaze.”

“I’ve been going by Rocky. Only a few ponies know what has happened. You demonstrated the reason why.”

“Yes, *small chuckle*, I can see that clearly. Well, let’s get you out.” Shining Armor opened the jail cell. Pinkie and Blaze headed out and followed the Unicorn to the front.

-	Once the ponies were back in the front of the guard station, Blaze looked at the three guard ponies that were pinned down. “Hey Al, glad to see you are getting better control of your ability,” he said.

“How come you did not take care of these punks yourself?” Al asked.

“One, I didn’t want to harm the other kids at the school. Two, I’m still going as a colt named Rocky.”

“If these guards only knew they were actually messing with Blaze.”

“Wait? Blaze as in, Swift Blaze? The creature that won the latest Royal Guard Tournament?” A guard said while still pinned to the ground.

“And now they know. Thank you for blabbing that out,” Blaze said. He turned to the pinned guards that were still awake. “Yes, I am Swift Blaze. I got stuck in this form by Poison Joke. If you don’t believe me, let me show you.”

The colt created five elemental orbs and had them stay above him. He floated in the air as the green Earth pony created a ki ball at the end of each hoof. The conscious guards were now showing fear on their faces. Blaze dissipated the orbs and ki, then came back down on the ground.

“Now then, Captain Shining Armor is going to be taking you back to Canterlot where you’ll wait for your punishment when I get my real body back. You know taking bribes was wrong. I don’t care how much the money was. You know the duty of the Royal Guard is to keep the peace and protect the ponies from danger. Stuff that happened at school between kids is kid stuff. We all did it and we sometimes get punished by the teacher if we took it too far. I did get detention yesterday for hitting that filly. I did say I was sorry to her. I didn’t do any harm to her today. She just tripped on her own. I hope you share what I said to your unconscious buddy over there.”

They both nodded. Blaze was thinking they were just wondering what punishment he had planned for them. The colt actually needed to come up with it. But, he has time.

“Seeing I’m taking these three back to Canterlot, would you mind covering the night guard duty, Al? I’ll send some guards down in the morning to relieve you,” Shining Armor said.

The human replied, “Not a problem, I actually like the nightlife. So calm and relaxing.”

“Well, I’ll see you all again at the Gala. If not, sooner if you keep finding trouble.”

Al released his hold and Shining Armor placed the guards in magic bubbles. He levitated them out and headed back to Canterlot. Pinkie and Blaze left Al to take care of his guard duty. As the colt was walking with the pink mare, he just realized something. Well, his stomach reminded him.

“Pinkie! I left my saddlebag back at the school and the lunch you made me,” he said.

“Well then, let’s go and get them.” the pink Earth pony replied.

The two ponies quickly made their way back to the school. Pinkie waited outside while Blaze headed in. When he opened the door, Miss Cheerilee was still there. The colt then saw Diamond Tiara at the blackboard. She was writing ‘I will not falsely accuse another classmate.’. The pink filly was writing over and over, covering every inch of the blackboard. Blaze thought this was too rich! Her hoof is going to be very sore by the time she is done.

The green Earth pony walked up to Miss Cheerilee and said, “Hi Miss. Cheerilee, I’m back. What did I miss?”

“Hi, Rocky. Glad to see you are ok,” replied the magenta mare. “I was not expecting to see you till tomorrow.”

“I got released for false imprisonment. I just came by to get my bag and my homework.”

“How did you get out?” asked Diamond Tiara. “I was told you were going to stay in there till your parents came to get you!”

“Young Missy, you just earned another week of detention,” said the teacher. “If I hear another word, I will double it.” Diamond Tiara didn’t say anything and went back to writing on the board. “So, how did you manage to get out, Rocky?”

“Diamond Tiara’s father isn’t the only pony to have connections with the Royal Guard,” he replied with a wink.

“Well, your bag is where you left it. As for homework, you don’t have any for the ordeal you had to go through.”

The colt went and put on his bag. “Thank you, Miss. Cheerilee. I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye Diamond Tiara.”

The pink filly stuck her tongue at the green Earth pony as he left. As Rocky closed the door, he heard Miss. Cheerilee doubled the filly’s detention and the teacher was going to be speaking with her parents. Blaze just felt how sweet justice never tasted so fine. He walked up to Pinkie with a big smile on his face.

“It’s nice to see you smiling, Rocky,” said Pinkie. “I’m just wondering what caused it?”

“Let’s just say karma just dealt a blow to Diamond Tiara,” he replied. “I don’t think she’s going to be picking on any kid for a while.” His stomach growled at him. “Guess it’s time to feed the belly beast.”

Pinkie laughed as they headed to Sugarcube Corner. Once inside, the colt headed to a table and pulled out the lunch the pink mare gave him. Pinkie went behind the counter and grabbed a couple of Blaze’s Chocolate Drops. The green Earth pony quickly ate his lunch first so he could savor the sweet flavors of the desert. As they were eating the drops, Mrs. Cake popped out of the kitchen.

“Ah, so this is the young colt cousin you said you were going to be watching. I see he really liked our most popular seller.”

Pinkie started to giggle as Mrs. Cake did not know it was really Blaze she was talking to. “I am ma’am. My name is Rocky,” he said. “I really do like this dessert. I believe Pinkie called it Blaze’s Chocolate Drops. I take it Swift Blaze is the creator of this?”

“That he did, dear. It came from his homeworld. I have to talk with him sometime to see if he has another treat that he thinks ponies would like. Oh and you can just call me Mrs. Cake.” Pinkie is starting to laugh even harder now. “What is so funny Pinkie Pie?”

“I think she is just recalling a rock joke I told her and is now getting it.” That really caused Pinkie to laugh even more. “Thank you for the treat. I need to go as I have a sleepover with some new friends I have made.”

“Then how about you take a baker’s dozen of cupcakes too? It’s on the house.”

“Thank you very much.”

Mrs. Cake boxed up the cupcakes and placed them on the colt’s back. Rocky said goodbye to her and to Pinkie Pie. The green Earth pony is now off to the sleepover. Oh, he does wish nothing bad happens.
> Chapter 43: Who Sleeps At A Sleepover?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Rocky was heading to Carousel Boutique, he noticed the fillies running out with Fluttershy in tow. They saw him and headed towards the colt.

“Rocky! We’re so glad you’re not in jail? How did you get out?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Pinkie Pie worked her charm and convinced the guards to let me go,” he replied. “Nice capes by the way. What does that symbol stand for?”

“Thank you, I made them,” replied Sweetie Belle. “That is the crest for the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”

“You should have seen how mad Miss. Cheerilee was at Diamond Tiara,” said Scootaloo. “She actually gave her detention. Little miss princess is not so perfect anymore.”

“I saw when I had to get my saddlebag from school,” he replied. “Miss. Cheerilee was having her write a sentence over and over on the blackboard. As I was leaving, I heard her get two more weeks of detention, and Miss. Cheerilee is going to have a chat with her parents.”

“I wish I had a picture of that!” said the white filly. “I’m just glad you are able to go to the sleepover now.”

“I was just heading over as I picked up these cupcakes from Sugarcube Corner. Mrs. Cake gave them, on the house, for us,” the colt said.

“Sweet! Oh, change of plans. The sleepover is now at Fluttershy’s cottage,” said the orange Pegasus.

“Why’s that?”

“My sister has a big order due and I accidentally used the last of the gold silk to line the inside of these capes,” replied the white Unicorn filly. “She’ll be working all night in order to get the order completed and delivered.”

“That wasn’t nice to use her material without permission.”

“I know. Luckily, Fluttershy offered to watch us. So, we won’t disturb my sister. Here, I made a cape for you too.”

“Thanks. It does look cool with the gold on the inside.”

Fluttershy now spoke up and said, “Alright little ones, let’s get going.”

“Fluttershy, this is the newest member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Rocky,” Apple Bloom said.

The colt winked at Fluttershy to let her know to play along. “Thank you for accepting to watch us. I know we’ll be good angels while at your place,” he said.

“You're most welcome. I heard how you stood up for your friends. That was really brave,” the yellow mare said.

“Thanks. I just never like bullies. I try my best to not get in a fight. It was just yesterday, being my first day there and already being called names like I was back in Dodge Junction. I sorta lost it for a sec.”

“You did say you were sorry several times. Diamond Tiara still didn’t like what you did and tried to have you stay in jail,” Scootaloo said.

“Oh MY! You were . . . in . . . jail?” Fluttershy asked.

“It was for only a couple of hours. Pinkie Pie kept me company till I was released,” the green colt replied.

“Were you at least scared?”

“Not really. I was just frustrated that Diamond Tiara could have pulled something like that off.”

“She had been picking on us all year. We’ve told Miss Cheerilee and others, but they just saw the innocent side she shows off,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Now, she has shown her true side and several ponies know. It’ll be hard for her to pull anything off,” Apple Bloom said.

“I just wish I could see the look on her face when Miss. Cheerilee has a talk with her parents,” Scootaloo said.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders and Rocky laughed from imagining that. As the other Crusaders were running ahead, playing around town, the colt stayed near Fluttershy. It’s been a while since he actually played like a kid. He hoped the Crusaders didn't expect anything.

"Blaze, you alright? How come you are not playing with the others?" Fluttershy whispered to him.

"To be honest, I think I forgot how to play as a little kid,” he replied. “I had to grow up at a young age, most of those memories are almost forgotten."

"Just do what comes naturally to you. It’ll come back."

"Alright." Rocky gave Fluttershy the cupcake box and headed off. He finally caught up with Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle in playing around the water well.

The colt soon picked up the fillies were playing tag, and he became it upon joining late. Rocky managed to tag Scootaloo as she tried to fly away from him. She quickly went after Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle got tagged when Scootaloo jumped over the well opening to cut her off. Sweetie tried to tag the colt, but he managed to slip her reach when the green Earth pony jumped onto the top of the roof that was over the well. Rocky looked down at white filly with a smile as she looked at him, with a crooked smile. He was wondering why she was smiling when she missed? The colt found out why when a hoof pushed against his back, causing him to fall to the ground. He landed on my hooves, but could not move out of the way before Sweetie Belle tagged him.

Now being it, Rocky wanted the pony who pushed him off the roof. He looked up and saw it was Apple Bloom. The green Earth pony immediately jumped after her. She jumped off before he could tag her. He followed the yellow filly quickly as they ran through the town square. Seeing Rocky wasn’t able to catch up to her on hoof, he swapped to another method of travel. The colt jumped into the air and dove toward the ground, quick jutsu and he went into the ground. While underground, Rocky saw he could sense what was going on above and heard what the ponies were saying.

Apple Bloom stopped in her tracks when she saw the colt was no longer behind her. The other girls walked up to her. "Where did Rocky go?" Apple Bloom asked. Did he tag one of you?"

"No, he was still it. He looked determined to tag you as you pushed him off the roof," Scootaloo said.

"I hope he’s not mad and left." Apple Bloom said.

"I don't think he did. I think he’s planning a trap to tag one of us," Sweetie Belle said.

"Keep an eye out for him. He has to be somewhere around here. It is not like he can vanish into thin air," said the orange filly.

Rocky thought maybe not in the air, but in the ground is a good place. He sensed how they were walking. They had their flanks being covered by the others so the colt couldn’t sneak up behind them. That doesn’t stop him from down here. Deciding to make his move, the green Earth pony carefully crawled through the dirt so he would not shake the ground. When Rocky got close enough, he pushed his hoof out and touched all three of their legs.

They screamed as they jumped forward in the directions they were facing. The colt finished pulling himself out of the ground. They saw it was him as he brushed the dirt off of him.

"Rocky! How in Equestria did you do that?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I thought a snake grabbed my hoof," Sweetie Belle said.

"I was not scared," Scootaloo said while trying to act brave.

Rocky answered, "Just like how I can manipulate rocks, I can make the ground soft enough for me to travel through."

"COOL!" All three said.

"Did you get your cutie mark?" Sweetie Belle said.

I turned my flank so everyone could see. "Nope, nothing. Guess ground tunneling isn’t it," he replied.

"Your special talent must be very specific if it has not shown up yet," Apple Bloom said.

"I still get the thrill to try more stuff until I figure out what it is."

Rocky looked over to Fluttershy and she just got done talking with Twilight. He was thankful that the purple Unicorn didn’t bug him on learning magic. He breathed a sigh of relief.

Fluttershy walked up to the kids and said, "Alright, time to get going before it gets dark."

They all nodded and fell in line, behind Fluttershy, as she continued to lead them to her cottage. As the group got close, the colt soon saw her place with all the animals running around the ground and flying in the air. Angel opened the door for them. Everyone headed in and Rocky was the last one in the line. As he walked through the doorway, the bunny slammed the door into his face. It sent him tumbling back a little bit. The green Earth pony shook the dizziness off when the door opened again.

“I’m so sorry, Rocky. I’ve never seen him act this way to any other pony,” Fluttershy said at the doorway.

The colt got up and shook the dirt off him. He replied, “It’s no big deal. I think he doesn’t like male strangers.”

“Well, come inside.” There was then a loud crash. "Oh my!" Fluttershy said after hearing that. She headed inside quickly to see what happened.

Rocky moved quickly also so Angel couldn’t slam the door into his face again. Once inside, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were already running around, looking at all the things that were in the house. They were testing out what their cutie mark could be. Fluttershy worked on trying to calm them down. The colt headed over to where the bunny was watching the action.

"Alright Angel, I take it you realize it is me," he whispered. Angel nodded with his arms crossed. "If you don't cause any more trouble with me tonight, I’ll make you carrot soup from my world that is served at fancy restaurants." Angel thought about it for a few seconds before sticking his paw out for him to shake it. The colt shook it with his hoof.

Once that was taken care of, Rocky looked to see what the Crusaders were up to now. Scootaloo just hopped onto the back of Apple Bloom with a basket on her head and a rag wrapped around to hide their bodies.

“Arrrr! I’m a dangerous creature from the Everfree Forest! Roar!” Scootaloo said in a monster voice.

Catching on what is going on, the white filly said, “Halt, dangerous creature from the Everfree Forest. I’m Sweetie Belle, the creature catcher, and I'm here to catch you!”

“You can never catch me! I’m far too powerful and dangerous!” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo began to run away.

“You cannot run from me!” Sweetie Belle said as she gave chase.

The orange filly let out another roar as they ran around through the cottage. The green colt jumped in on this fun and cut the creature off.

“My, you’re the biggest creature I have been sent to catch. You’ll get me a nice reward. Come Here!” Rocky said.

The yellow filly turned and headed away from the creature catchers. They joined up in the chase around the living room.

Fluttershy was watching in a worried state. She said, “Um, oh, maybe that's not such a...” None of the little ponies were listening. “Now, kids, how about we do some nice coloring. Dhh...”

Sweetie Belle and Rocky shouted, “Come back, dangerous creature, so we can catch you!”

Scootaloo replied, “Never!”

Seeing what was about to happen, Fluttershy said, “Careful... you don't...”

Too late, the kids collided with a table. It broke apart into several pieces. They stopped playing and looked at the destroyed table. The little ponied looked at the remains as they were now sad for what they did.

Sweetie Belle was the first to speak. “Sorry, Fluttershy,” she said.

Scootaloo came next as she said, “Yeah, sorry.”

“I guess we aren't creature catchers,” Apple Bloom said.

“More like furniture destroyers,” Rocky said.

Fluttershy smiled and walked up to us. “It's ok, kids. I’m just glad none of you got hurt,” she said. “Now then, how about you all help me with making dinner. Doesn’t that sound like fun? I’ll see if Blaze can fix the table when he gets back from Canterlot.”

They all nodded. Rocky knew he could fix that table, just not in front of the Crusaders in this form. That would be a dead giveaway of who he was. The fillies and colt followed the yellow mare into the kitchen. She told them to get different ingredients. As they gathered them from the pantry and fridge, Fluttershy handled any of the cutting and the actual cooking. Rocky recognized the ingredients, they were having vegetarian stir fry. He knew these fillies were in for a treat. Fluttershy saw the colt with a big smile as she knew that he would recognize the dish and smells.

“What are you making Fluttershy? It smells very good,” the white filly asked.

“It’s a dish Blaze shared with me one evening. I think he called it, a stir fry.” the yellow Pegasus replied. She looked at the colt and he nodded to confirm.

“I never knew he could cook,” the orange filly said.

“Oh, yea. When he stayed at Sweet Apple Acres, he made some very tasty pancakes,” said the yellow filly. “He also gave a recipe to Mr. and Mrs. Cake. They’re called Blaze Chocolate Drops.”

“I had those! They’re very tasty.”

“I liked them too!” the green colt said.

“Let’s have dinner first. Then we can have the cupcakes Rocky brought.” Fluttershy said. “Now how about you four go and set the table. The stir fry is almost ready.”

The Crusaders and Rocky quickly gathered the dishes and silverware for five ponies and headed to the dining room. They set the table just in time as Fluttershy started to bring in the plated food, one at a time. She asked what they wanted to drink. Each one said some sort of juice. Apple Bloom asked for apple juice, Sweetie Belle asked for grape juice, Rocky asked for orange juice, and Scootaloo asked for cherry juice. Fluttershy went and got them. The mare decided to just have water.

Everyone ate all the food on their plates and enjoyed it. The Crusaders said they normally don’t like some cooked veggies, but this is one of the better dishes. The colt just said he liked the unique flavor. As Fluttershy collected the dishes to go and clean up, the Crusaders and Rocky headed back to the living room to continue discussing what cutie marks they can try for next.

"So, what talent should we try next?" Sweetie Belle asked them.

"We can try and fix that table," Scootaloo suggested.

"We could be Cutie Mark Crusaders Carpenters!" Apple Bloom said.

"I don't know,” replied Rocky. “This will require some great skill and talent to properly fix it. Just look at all the broken pieces."

"We won't know until we try," said the orange filly.

They surrounded the remains of the table. "We need hammers," said the yellow filly.

"Got it," the Pegasus said before running off to find some. She quickly returned. "I was only able to find three."

"You take them. I have my own method," said the colt.

"How are you going to do that?" asked the white filly.

"Yea, are you going to use your head like a hammer?" Scootaloo asked.

"No, I’m going to use my rock hard hooves," said the green Earth pony. He placed a nail on board, making sure it stayed in place. He then gave it a karate chop, slamming the nail into the board.

"You are a hammer," said the yellow Earth pony.

"Remind me not to get in a fight with you," said the orange Pegasus pony.

"You don't have to worry about that. You’re my friends. I would never want to bring any harm to you,” said Rocky

They all smiled at the thought. Now, with all of the little ponies with a hammer, or hammer-like, they started to bang the boards back together. The fillies and colt were just hammering away, not paying attention to where the boards were going.

Fluttershy quickly came in after she heard all the banging. "What is going on kids? I heard all those bangs and feared the worse. Oh . . . my."

The Crusaders and Rocky just finished with the last piece. They took a few steps back to see their handiwork. Well, what four kids with hammers are capable of. The resembled wood pieces were going off at different angles, looking nothing like a table.

"That does not look like a table." Sweetie Belle said.

"We were making a table?" Scootaloo asked.

"Someone should put this thing out of its misery." Apple Bloom said.

Rocky walked back up to it and said, "Alright, stand back." He gave it a gentle buck at one connection. It fell apart with no issue back into the rubble it started from. He looked at the others once that was done. Again, big eyes and open mouths. Is the colt ever not going to surprise these ponies by accident? “What?” he said to try and break the stance.

“I didn’t really think you were going to do it,” the yellow filly said.

“Rocky, you could have hurt yourself by doing that,” Fluttershy said in a motherly tone.

“If I didn’t, it could have toppled over some other pony. From breaking rocks on the rock farm, I can see the weak point to make them split in half. In this case, cause it to collapse in on itself,” the colt said as he thought it up at the moment.

“Just please, be more careful. You’re still only a kid. I hate to see anything bad happen to you.”

Blaze thought Fluttershy really saw him as this colt. He wanted to get his real body back! The green Earth Pony looked up to her and said, “I’m sorry for scaring you.”

“It’s alright. How about we play a nice game?”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders and began to wonder what game. Apple Bloom asked for the group, “A game?”

Fluttershy smiled and said, “It's called ‘Shhh!’”

Even more confused, Scootaloo said, “What's that?”

“Well, it's a game about who can be quiet the longest. Sound fun?” None of the kids weren’t really impressed with the game. “I’m the world champ, you know. I bet you can't beat me!” Fluttershy puts on a big smile. She then takes a deep breath and holds it.

Seeing neither the Crusaders nor Rocky, was interested in the game, they all spoke one after another to make themselves loose. The little ponies then started to look around for more ideas to test for their cutie marks. Fluttershy let out a sigh and her breath, realizing that idea of a game was not going to work.

Scootaloo was bouncing on an animal bed when she said, “Okay, now what can we do?”

Apple Bloom popped her head out of the chimney, covered in the black residue from the chimney. She said, “Oooh! How about Cutie Mark Crusader coal miners?”

Rocky didn’t know how, but Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle somehow joined Apple Bloom in being in the chimney. All three were dirty from being in there. The colt didn’t join as he knew about the lifestyle of some coal miners from back on Earth.

Fluttershy had to put a stop to this before it got out of hand. She shouted a stern ‘NO!’ to them. They all stopped running around and looked at Fluttershy. “I didn’t mean to shout. I just did not want any of you to get hurt. Now then, let's get you all clean and up off to bed. Aren't you excited to get all toasty and warm in your snuggly-wuggly widdle beds?”

“Snuggly-wuggly? But we have more crusadin' to do!” the yellow filly said.

“We made plans to stay up all night to get our cutie marks,” the orange filly said.

“We’re not even *yawn* tired,” the green colt said while rubbing his eye.

“I’m sorry, but you can’t as it’s a school night. Now, come along,” the yellow mare said.

The Crusaders and Rocky obliged and followed her upstairs. Fluttershy has them all hop into the bathtub together and cleaned us up. Now, all squeaky clean, the Crusaders were tucked into the head of Fluttershy’s bed and the colt was tucked in at the foot of the bed.

“I don’t see how going to sleep will help find our special talent,” Apple Bloom said with her forehooves crossed.

Fluttershy flew up and blew out the candle that was on the mantle above the fireplace. “Maybe you'll have a lovely little dream about your special talent,” the Pegasus said as she finished tucking them in.

“But we’re not even tired!” Scootaloo said.

“*yawn* Speak for yourself,” Rocky said as he closed my eyes.

“If I sing you all a lullaby, would that help you all fall asleep?” Fluttershy asked.

Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle nodded their little heads. The colt did as well with his eyes closed. Fluttershy cleared her throat before she started to sing.

Hush now, quiet now
It's time to lay your sleepy head
Hush now, quiet now
It's time to go to bed

That is one effective lullaby. Rocky never realized how exhausting it is to be a kid. No wonder they like to eat sweets. The colt was heading off to dreamland. He was then woken by loud singing. Sweetie Belle was now singing the lullaby at top vocals.

Hush now! Quiet now!
It's time to lay your sleepy head!
Said hush now! Quiet now!
It's time to go to bed!

The green Earth pony jumped out of the bed and grabbed onto the boards that were on the ceiling. 

Fluttershy was trying to quieten her down when she said, “Okay Sweetie, that was . . .” Sweetie Bell just continued on singing.

Driftin' (driftin') off to sleep!
Exciting day behind you!
Driftin' (driftin') off to sleep!
Let the joy of dream land find you!

Fluttershy tried again to quieten her down. No luck.

Hush now! Quiet now!
Lay your sleepy head!
Said hush now! Quiet now!
It's time to go to BBBBBEEEEDDDD!

Once the singing was done, Rocky fell back down to the ground. His eyes showed he was wide awake now. “Sweetie Belle, you do have a nice voice. I just have a small suggestion. Sing lullabies softly and quietly to not wake up the pony you are singing to,” he calmly suggested.

“Sorry, Rocky. I’m just so excited about this sleepover, I got carried away,” replied the white filly.

Before he could respond, there was a noise coming from outside. Scootaloo hopped out of the bed quickly. She headed downstairs and outside. The others joined her outside to see what was causing the ruckus.

Apple Bloom was the first to say what was making the noise. "Fluttershy, your chickens are on the loose!"

Sweetie Belle said, "I wonder what could have caused that." Acting like she didn’t have a clue.

"Don't worry, Fluttershy, the Cutie Mark Crusaders will handle this!" Scootaloo said in a proud voice.

"Cutie Mark Crusader chicken herders! Yay!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed.

The three fillies began to run around with the loose chickens inside the fenced area. Fluttershy was doing her best to calm the girls down and the chicken.

The green Earth pony’s adrenaline rush from Sweetie Belle's singing was wearing off. He was yawning up a storm. He was too exhausted to try and help. This colt wanted some sleep. He headed back inside. Rocky never felt this exhausted before. He looked at the stairs and didn’t want to even climb up them. He didn’t even want to try and teleport. The colt was that exhausted. He looked at the couch and saw how comfy it looked. He got up on it and lay down. It did not take Rocky a minute before he was asleep again.

The colt was suddenly awakened by someone shaking his body to wake him up. It was Fluttershy and she was in a panic state. "Uh, Fluttershy? What is going on?" he asked.

"Blaze! You have to help me! The girls are not here! I think they might have gone into the EverFree Forest!" Fluttershy said while being very worried.

Knowing how dangerous that place can be, he was fully awake now. "Let's go outside and look for any signs that they did."

The two headed outside and began to look around. "Blaze, look, there is a hole in the chicken fence." Fluttershy flew to the chicken coop and looked inside. When she brought her head back out, she said, "Elizabeak is gone!"

"Don't panic Fluttershy. From the looks of these tracks, she walked out on her own free will," Blaze indicated with his hoof.

"Here are some hoof prints following the chicken ones," Fluttershy pointed out.

"Look, a torn piece of cloth from one of their capes. They definitely went after your missing chicken."

"Don't they realize how dangerous the EverFree Forest is?"

"You don't have to tell me. Come on, we need to find them and make sure they are safe."

Blaze started to run as Fluttershy flew. They stuck together as the two were calling out the filles names. They soon saw a body standing in the distance.

"That must be Twilight. She was heading to Zecora to get the ingredients for her tea" Fluttershy said. The clouds were covering up the moon so the pair didn’t have a clear view. "Thank goodness I found you Twilight. The girls ran into the forest to find my missing chicken. You think you can help Blaze and I find them?"

Twilight said nothing, didn’t even move.

"Come on Twi. You don't have to give us the silent treatment,” said Blaze. “I’m sorry for missing the lessons on how to use magic. I do promise when I get my body back, I’ll see you every day, if possible, to learn how to use magic. Twi?"

The clouds began to move and let the moonlight shine. They saw why Twilight wasn’t responding. This was either a statue to look exactly like Twilight or she was turned into stone. The yellow Pegasus gasped and quickly flew off, calling for the girls even louder. The colt chased after her, wanting to know what she knows.

"Fluttershy! Hold up! Do you know what caused Twilight to be turned into stone?" he asked.

"There’s a Cockatrice on the loose!" Fluttershy quickly said.
> Chapter 44: Whatever You Do, Don't Open Your Eyes!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Fluttershy! Hold up! Do you know what caused Twilight to be turned into stone?" Blaze asked.

"There is a cockatrice on the loose!" the mare quickly said.

Once she said the name, the colt recalled what it was from that creature book. His face showed fear. "We need to split up if we want to find the Crusaders faster. I know you don't want to, but it is the only way."

"But Blaze, I don't want you to lose you too. You don't know what that creature is capable of."

"I do. I read about it. Head of a chicken with red eyes. Its body is that of a snake. Don't look it in the eyes or it will turn you into stone. I’ll be fine."

The Pegasus saw how courageous he was. She simply nodded before they took off in different directions. As Blaze ran through the forest, shouting out the fillies’ names, he was thinking about how he was going to fight a creature that he can't look at. The colt soon heard some rustling in the bushes nearby. He stopped in his tracks and looked directly at the bush.

"Apple Bloom? Sweetie Belle? Scootaloo? If that is you, please respond. If it’s you, Cockatrice, prepare for a beatdown!" he said.

Nothing was said from the bush. The green Earth pony prepared to launch an attack at whatever was there. In one quick motion, the creature popped out. It was Elizabeak.

Blaze breathed a sigh of relief. He found the chicken, but he wondered where were the Crusaders? He then heard a twig snap behind him. He turned his head to see who was behind him. Right behind the colt was a pair of red eyes on a chicken head.

He quickly closed my eyes, but the green Earth pony was already affected. He tried to back away, but his back hooves didn’t want to move. The colt could still move the front ones. Half of my body has been turned into stone. Blaze had nothing in his jutsu list that he could think of on the spot to fix this. His mind was racing at fast speed as he tried to guess what was going to happen next. The colt’s heart was going at the same pace.

Blaze heard Elizabeak running away. He did hear the Cockatrice was still there, but couldn’t pinpoint where to launch an attack. The green Earth pony stomped a hoof to try and intimidate the creature. He heard the stomp echo for a sec. ”Wait! Maybe I can find the creature with that,” he thought.

The colt calmed his heart down so he could concentrate. He stomped a hoof at the same intervals and listened to the world around him. The green Earth pony started to picture his surroundings with his mind just as Blaze recalled before he closed his eyes. He felt something go against his back. He swung a hoof at it but hit nothing but air. The colt’s mind picture was beginning to get clearer, but he still couldn’t detect where the creature was. He started to feel the airflow through the forest. Combining the feel of the air with the sound, the green Earth pony thought he was now able to find where this creature was hiding.

Listening for any subtle changes, Blaze soon heard the flapping of the Cockatrice's wings. Waiting for the right moment, when the creature was about to attack, the colt somersaulted forward towards the creature. His back legs made of stone made contact with the creature. He felt the stone break away. Now that he had full motion control, the green Earth pony ran away before the creature could give chase. He kept my eyes closed and continued to listen for the others.

Blaze soon heard Fluttershy and the Crusaders voices. He turned towards them and ran at full speed. The colt was able to avoid hitting the trees and limbs as he ran. The Crusaders screamed. The green Earth pony picked up the pace as he wanted another round with that creature. 

The colt jumped over a bush and landed when Fluttershy ordered the girls to get behind her. They quickly did so. Blaze joined the Crusaders while keeping his eyes closed. Sweetie Belle was first to notice that he joined them.

"Rocky! Where did you come from?" the white filly asked.

"I was helping Fluttershy find you three. We came across Twilight over there and feared the worst," he replied as the colt pointed to the petrified Twilight. "We split up to find you. I’m just glad none of you got hit with that creature's curse."

Just then, Fluttershy spoke up as she was talking to the Cockatrice.

“YOU! Just who do you think you are, going around turning others into stone?” the yellow mare said in a stern voice. The Cockatrice then used its curse to start to turn her into stone. The Pegasus continued with her lecture. “You should be ashamed of yourself. I have a mind to find your mother and tell her what you've been up to, young man.” Fluttershy activated her STARE. The Cockatrice was now scared. The stone covering Fluttershy was beginning to fluctuate. “Now you go over there, and turn Elizabeak and my friend Twilight back to normal, and don't ever let me catch you doing this again. Do you understand me?”

The Cockatrice curse on Fluttershy broke. The parts that were stone on her shattered off into a thousand pieces. She now looked like nothing happened. The creature headed off to undo the curse on Elizabeak and Twilight. Fluttershy turned towards the kids and said, “Are you kids alright? I was so worried.”

“Yeah, fine!” Scootaloo said with a smile on her face.

“Thanks to that stare of yours,” Sweetie Belle said.

Getting all excited, Scootaloo said, “You’re like the queen of stares. You’re the . . . “ Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle joined in. “Stare Master!”

Fluttershy then saw the colt was behind the girls with his eyes still closed. “It’s ok, Rocky. The Cockatrice is gone,” she said.

The green Earth pony stomped his hoof a couple of times. He detected the creature was several hundred yards away. Rocky opened his eyes and said, “Yea, it is at least two hundred yards away.”

“How are you able to tell?”

“I can detect its movements from the ground.”

“Even with your eyes closed?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“It was how I was able to find you once I discovered I could do this. Had to do this when I went up against that Cockatrice.”

“WHAT!” Fluttershy actually screamed at a higher octave.

“It got the jump on me and got me with its eyes. My back legs got turned to stone. I couldn’t run away.”

“Then how did you escape?” Scootaloo asked.

Rocky told them about what happened. How he listened to the forest and vibrations in order to create a picture of the area in my mind. Once he finished, Fluttershy and the Crusaders came up to him and started a group hug.

"Oh Rocky, I’m just glad you are alright," Fluttershy said.

Twilight finally woke up and joined us. “What . . . what happened?” She said as she rubbed the side of her head.

“You ran into a nasty creature,” replied Rocky. “Fluttershy saved you.”

Twilight lit up her horn so she could see everyone better. Once she saw the colt, Twilight let out a loud gasp. “What happened to your tail, Rocky!”

He looked back and waved his tail around. It was still there, only thing is that it now looked like it was made of stone. “Huh, guess that was also turned to stone. How come I can still move it like a normal tail?”

“I don’t know, but I think that is not the only thing different about you.”

Now everyone was looking me over. The Cutie Mark Crusaders then shouted, “YOU HAVE YOUR CUTIE MARK!”

Rocky quickly looked at his flank. He was expecting to see his Yin and Yang cutie mark. Instead, the green Earth pony had a different one. It was a red rescue shield. In front of it was a lantern. Instead of shining beams of light, the lantern was emitting sound waves.






Blaze’s mind just went into overdrive. ”WHAT THE FUCK! How can I have another cutie mark? It’s IMPOSSIBLE! Did that Poison Joke make me lose the one I had and now I have this one? I sure hope I don’t have the Cutie Pox. Wait, how could I? I did not eat a lot of that Hearts Desire plant. I haven’t even seen one.” His mind continued to run a ton of questions, coming up with no answers. The colt snapped back to reality when something touched his shoulder.

“Are you ok Rocky? You look like something is troubling you,” Fluttershy said. She continued to rub his shoulder as he turned his head to look at everyone.

“Yeah, I think I’m ok,” he replied. “I was just surprised I got my cutie mark in a place like this.”

“It hasn’t been a day since you joined our club and you already have your cutie mark. It’s just not fair,” Apple Bloom said with a pout.

“I’m sorry. You know cutie marks will only appear when you discover what you are good at. I’m good at several things. It wasn’t until now that I found mine. I still want to be a Cutie Mark Crusader and help you three in getting yours.”

That did cheer the yellow filly up as she wiped some tears away. “Thanks, Rocky. I’m happy you found your talent.”

“So what does your cutie mark mean?” Scootaloo asked.

“If I have to guess, I say my talent is in search and rescue. More specifically, finding them with sound and vibrations,” Rocky said.

“Well, it’s getting late. You kids need to get to bed quickly as you have school tomorrow,” Fluttershy said.

Sweetie Belle spoke up, “Before we go Fluttershy, we like to say we're sorry we snuck out of the house and into the forest.”

“Yeah. We'll listen to you from now on,” Apple Bloom added.

“We promise,” Scootaloo said.

The yellow Pegasus saw they meant it but decided to have some fun. “Oh, you DO, do you? Well, you better, or I'll give you . . . The Stare,” she said.

Everyone was now laughing. The group headed back to Fluttershy’s cottage. Once they were out of the woods, Twilight waved goodbye as she headed to her home. Fluttershy scooted the kids inside and straight upstairs. The fillies and colt got tucked in and quickly went to sleep.

The next morning, Blaze woke up at his usual time, just before sunrise. He quietly got out of bed and floated downstairs. The colt saw that Fluttershy was asleep on the couch. He then noticed the mare had kicked a blanket off her. The green Earth pony picked it up and placed it back on her. As he made his way to the door, he saw the rubble of the broken table. Blaze performed a wood jutsu and had the table rebuilt itself. He also made it stronger so it will be harder to break. The colt got to the door and quietly tried to open it. Halfway through, it creaked.

Fluttershy woke up from the sound and looked at the front door. While rubbing one eye, she whispered, “Rocky, why are you up so early?”

“I normally get up at this time to do my morning training. I promise to be back before the other fillies get up. Now go back to sleep,” he whispered back.

“Just don’t go into the forest,” the mare said as she went back to sleep.

The colt quickly left and closed the door. Now outside, he took a big breath of the cool, morning air. He thought the morning mist was perfect for a jog. The green Earth pony increased the magic weights by ten pounds and started his jog. The distance was a little further today as Fluttershy’s cottage was further away from town. While on the jog, it allowed him to organize some thoughts that have been on my mind.

Guess the first thing that was bugging Blaze was getting another cutie mark. He looked back at his flank while he continued to jog. He doesn’t know any pony has ever had two cutie marks unless they had the cutie pox. The colt doesn’t think that’s the case here. It was a legit earn on finding a talent. So what, did he have multiple personalities? That can’t be it as he still knows it’s him, Swift Blaze, aka Bob. The green Earth pony just chose a different name for this body. ”HUGH! What in Equestria is going on!” He rubbed the side of his head with one hoof as a slight headache was coming on.

Rocky then saw a flash out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head towards it. It was Twilight Sparkle and she was running to catch up with the colt. He slowed down a bit until the mare did.

“Morning Blaze, still doing your pre dawn morning jog I see,” the purple mare said.

“Hey Twilight. Yeah, even though I’m in this form, I still like to keep up with my training,” Rocky said.

“So how much weight are you using?”

“I think I’m at five hundred and ten pounds, by the magical weight.”

“Wow, if you took that off, you would probably break the sound barrier while running.”

“Or I can jump over tall buildings in a single bound.”

“Huh?”

“Human joke. So why are you up?”

“Oh, I wanted to head back to Fluttershy and write a report to Princess Celestia about what happened last night.”

“I take it you are going to include me getting another cutie mark,” the colt said in a monotone.

“What’s wrong, Blaze? You don’t want me to mention it?”

“It’s not that, it is the fact that I did. I read about pony history and the average life you all have. I never saw a mention of a pony getting more than one cutie mark. Have you?”

“No, can’t say I have. But remember, you’re not really a pony. You said, when we first met you, that some humans can be good at several things. So don’t think bad of it. Think of it as a new skill to add to the ones you can already do.”

“Thanks. Now the question is, will this mark appear on my human form and other pony form?”

“You won’t know till you are cured of that Poison Joke.”

“Speaking of cures, did Zecora say how much longer when you went and saw her last night?”

“I think she said she will have everything ready by this weekend.”

“That's great! I hate lying to the people about who I am.”

“Just remember, once you are back in your original body, you owe me time to teach you about how to use magic.”

“You heard that last night?”

“I remember hearing your voice, but that is pretty much what I remembered while I was turned to stone.”

The green Earth pony rubbed his head again at the headache. “I haven’t forgotten. I have so many things I need to do, I don’t know where to start.”

“Just calm down and focus on things a colt does. We can worry about magic and the other things till later.”

Blaze thanked her for that. The pair soon arrived back at Fluttershy’s cottage a couple of minutes after the sun had risen. The colt slowly opened the door to try and not wake Fluttershy, nor the other girls. He looked inside and saw Fluttershy was not on the couch anymore. Twilight and Rocky headed in. He found the yellow mare in the kitchen working on breakfast.

“Morning Rocky. Oh, hiya Twilight. What brings you here this early?” Fluttershy asked.

“I just wanted to come by and see if you would allow me to write a report to Princess Celestia about last night,” the Unicorn replied.

The Pegasus acted a little nervous, she said, “Uh, sure. If you really want to. Rocky, how about you go and get cleaned up. I will call when breakfast is ready.”

“Sure thing Fluttershy,” the colt said. 

He headed upstairs and entered the bathroom. As the green Earth pony was washing up, he was still getting a slight headache. He thought he might be a little dehydrated. As Rocky drank some water  from a cup, someone knocked on the door. 

“Be out in a minute,” he said. The colt finished up and opened the door. A yellow filly was standing there with bed hair mane. “Morning Apple Bloom. The bathroom is all yours.”

“Thanks, Rocky. Mind waking up Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle? They did not want to wake up to me,” she said while still a little groggy.

“Sure thing.”

Rocky headed into the bedroom. Sure enough, they were still in bed. He crept up to the foot of the bed. The green Earth pony pondered how he should wake them up. Gentle like a mother would do or something they will regret for sleeping in, choices, choices. Well, Apple Bloom went gentle. Guess he’ll go the other way.

The colt stood up on his hind legs, took in a deep breath, then let out a shout of one of the most popular wake-up calls, “GGGOOOOOODDDD MMMMOOOOOORRRRNNNIIINNNNGGG CRUSADERS!!!”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo both jump out of bed with fright. When they saw Rocky was the only pony in the room, they became a little mad for the rude awakening.

“Rocky! Why in Equestria did you shout to wake us up? I had a wonderful dream flying with Rainbow Dash,” Scootaloo said.

“Yeah! Though, my dream was being as popular as my big sister,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Apple Bloom tried to wake you, but you didn’t. So, she asked me,” he replied. “I got those kinds of wake up calls if I didn’t wake up on the first try. Breakfast is almost ready and we have school, remember?”

“I wonder what is for breakfast?” Scootaloo asked.

The colt sniffed the air. “Smells like pancakes.”

“PANCAKES!” They both shouted, before running past him and downstairs.

Rocky quickly followed behind their flanks. As they ran down the stairs, he jumped over them and landed at the bottom. The colt was now in the lead and got to the table first. Scootaloo came next with Sweetie Belle to follow.

“What in Ponyville were you running down the stairs for?” Apple Bloom said.

The green Earth pony looked to his left and saw she was at the table before us, already eating a stack of pancakes. “We wanted to make sure we had enough time to eat before we headed to school,” he said. The others nodded in agreement.

“You sounded like a stampede. We have plenty of time.”

Just then, three plates of pancakes levitated and were placed in front of them. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looked like they wondered who did that. “Oh, Twilight Sparkle arrived earlier this morning. She wanted to talk to Fluttershy.”

They nodded and began to dig into the food. Rocky joined in a heartbeat. Once they were done, it was still early, so Fluttershy allowed the kids to play outside before they had to go to school. As the Crusaders were running around, Rarity showed up and started to talk to Twilight and Fluttershy. Rocky continued playing with the fillies.

Soon, the white Unicorn came over to where the fillies and colt were running around. “Kids! Get your things. Time to go. Kids! “ Rarity said while trying to speak over the Crusaders and Rocky’s laughter. He stopped when the colt saw Rarity was there. The Crusaders continued to play. “Girls! Time to-- Girls! Your things! Girls! It's time to-- GIRLS!”

Fluttershy walks up next to Rarity. “Allow me. *clears throat* Girls?”

Instantly, the girls stopped running around and moved to stand in front of Rarity and Fluttershy. “Yes, Fluttershy?” Apple Bloom asked.

Scootaloo then said. “You called?”

“Go and get your things. Rarity is here to see you to school,” the yellow mare replied.

“Of course, Fluttershy, right away!” Sweetie Belle quickly said.

They ran inside and grabbed their saddlebags. When the kids were back outside, they saw Fluttershy was trying to convince Opal to take her claws out of Rarity’s coat. The Crusaders and Rocky giggled at the sight. Once the cat was off and back in her basket, they headed off to school.

Along the way, the white mare gasped at something, then said, "Rocky! When did you get your cutie mark?"

"Uh, last night during hide and seek. Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo are very good at hiding,” he replied while making up the story on the spot, “Turns out my talent is being able to find things with the aid of vibration from the ground or the air."

"That explains the lantern and what looks like sound waves. What about that other part behind them? I have seen that on some fire rescue ponies."

”Think! Think! Think!” "Um, Apple Bloom got stuck where she was hiding and I was able to get her out."

"So your special talent is search and rescue. What a marvelous talent for such a brave colt. I’m sure when you grow up, all the mares will adore the work you will do."

"Luckily that won't be for a LONG time."

The group continued towards school. Sweetie Belle got a little closer to Rocky and whispered, "Thanks for not telling her what really happened. She won't let me leave the house if she found out we went into the EverFree Forest after dark."

"I'm a Crusader now. We have to stick together," he replied.

The white filly nodded as so did the others. They soon arrived at school. Rarity waved goodbye as she headed back to Carousel Boutique. The Crusaders and Rocky continued on to school. Until they got stopped by their least favorite duo, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Rocky wanted at least one day where these two are not pestering him or his friends.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here. All the blanks flanks are wearing matching capes so we can spot them from a distance. What's the matter? Wanted to be more noticeable that you do not have your cutie marks?" Diamond Tiara said in her normal banter.

"Diamond Tiara, how’s your hoof feeling, by the way,” asked the colt. “I’m guessing it’s sore from writing all those lines on the board."

Rocky could tell she felt some pain when he mentioned it. Her eyes went all narrow and looked like they wanted to send daggers at him. "I don't have to put up with this. Come on Silver Spoon, let's go mingle with ponies that do have their cutie mark. See you later you four, Blank Flanks."

"You should know that one of us just got their cutie mark!" Scootaloo shouted.

"Oh really? Which one?" Silver Spoon asked.

Rocky turned his flank so they could see it. "Me, that's who,” he replied. “Mine is way cooler than yours by a landslide. Mine has a purpose. Yours doesn't look like it."

"What. . . How?" Diamond Tiara tried to say. Only jumbled words came out.

"If Miss. Cheerilee allows it, I will explain in class. Come along Crusaders."

The Crusaders left Silver Spoon holding back Diamond Tiara. She was telling her don't do it or she will get longer detention.  They laughed quietly as the kids finally reached the school.

Miss. Cheerilee was outside to greet all the students as they walked in. "Hello, girls. Hello Rocky. What are you laughing about?" She asked.

"Oh, it's nothing,” replied Sweetie Belle. “Guess what Miss. Cheerilee, Rocky got his cutie mark!"

The colt turned his flank again so the mare could see it. "That's wonderful. Rocky, do you want to show or tell what your special talent is?"

"I would like to show it during recess as that would be the best conditions for it," he said.

"Sounds like a plan. I will go over one subject, then we will break early for recess so you can show us."

They nodded and headed inside. The rest of the students soon followed in. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were the last ones. Miss Cheerilee informed the class of what is going to be covered today, including seeing Rocky’s talent. The first subject was math. The green Earth pony just followed along and answered the question when called upon. Once they were done, the magenta mare took the kids outside for the demonstration.

"Alright Rocky, go ahead and tell us about your cutie mark." Miss. Cheerilee said.

"My special talent is search and rescue by vibrations from the ground and in the air. The best way to demonstrate is we all play hide and seek," he said. The class all cheered. "Now, I’ll be the one who’s ‘it’ to demonstrate. I’ll close my eyes while everyone else goes and hide. I’ll then tell Miss. Cheerilee where you are and she will check to verify. Anything else you want to add Miss. Cheerilee?"

"Yes, please stay within the school grounds."

"Sounds good. I will count to twenty before I will start looking for everyone."

The colt closed his eyes and began to count. He heard all the kids running all over the place. After the ten count, the green Earth pony didn’t hear any of them close, but he continued to count. When he reached twenty, Rocky shouted that he’ll now search for them.

The colt gave a forehoof a couple of stomps on the ground to get the layout. He then listened for any disturbances. He could feel the teacher was being patient as he looked for the first pony.

With his eyes still closed, Rocky said, "Ok, the first one is hiding underneath the slide. They are giggling pretty hard."

The magenta mare headed over and found the pony. She shouted, "Correct, Rocky."

"One is behind the bush behind you Miss. Cheerilee."

"Again, correct."

This continued on until he found most of the ponies. Apple Bloom had climbed into a tree, Sweetie Bell was under the jungle gym, and Scootaloo hid inside the school underneath Miss. Cheerilee's desk.

"Alright Rocky, all that is left is Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Where do you think they are?" the teacher asked.

"Everyone, look towards the woods," Rocky said. 

They all turned their heads. The colt did an Earth Jutsu to bring the ground up where they have been hiding. Their bodies appeared behind a bush. They all clapped as he now found everyone. They all headed inside to finish the lessons.

--------Meanwhile----------

Al was busy cleaning up and organizing the guard post. He couldn’t believe how those guards were able to get any work done with all this mess. He did have to deal with a couple noise complaints. Other than that, the night shift was very quiet. He was in a back storage room when he heard the front door open and several ponies walked in.

"Sir! Replacement Royal Guards reporting in!" The pony said.

"Be right there!" Al shouted as he lifted a box onto a shelf. When he walked into the front, he was surprised by the ponies that were there. "What are you all doing here?"

The ponies that were standing in front of Al were Lightning Trails, Star Dust, Colorful Sparks, Cancer, Dragon, and Fang. They were all wearing the standard Royal Guard armor.

"Well, Shining Armor asked us if we were willing to help cover the guard post here until he is able to find some other guards for a more permanent position to take over," Cancer said.

"Plus, we wanted an excuse to see you and Blaze again," Dragon said.

Lightning Trails said, "We planned to come down soon anyway to hang out and see what you two have been up to."

"Where is Blaze by the way? Why isn't he helping you with this?" Star Dust asked.

"Oh, um, he is currently preoccupied with some other things. I will say he’s going to have a field day when he sees you all here," Al said with a big smile.

"So, how do we want to handle the shift duty?" Fang said.

"Let's do this, two will stay here for eight hours. Two will be out on patrol for that same amount of time. Lastly, the remaining will get some sleep before they start their shift. And we will rotate in that pattern."

"Sounds good to me," Colorful Sparks said. The others nodded in agreement.

"Cancer and I will take the first shift at the guard post," Dragon said as he placed a hoof around his brother's neck.

"Then I guess Colorful Sparks and I will take patrol then," Lightning Trails said as he nudged Colorful Sparks on the shoulder.

"Then I and Fang get to rest before we start," Star Dust said.

"Do you have a place to crash while you are here?" Al asked.

"We just got into town. I think we were planning to stay at the local hotel if there is one," Cancer said.

"You know, I don't even know myself. Blaze allowed me to stay at the place he built just outside of town. I don't think he will mind if you crash there too."

"That would be sweet!" Colorful Sparks said.

"Then let me show you all where it is before everyone starts their shift."

They all left the building and made their way to Blaze's house.

--------Back at school, several hours later----------

School has just been let out and all the kids ran out. All except for Diamond Tiara. Rocky was glad it was over, but the headache from this morning had not gone away. It was steadily increasing in pain. The colt just wanted to head home so he can work on healing this away.

Before they left, the class was informed that there is going to be a talent show on Saturday. The kids were allowed class time to begin to work on it. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo decided to do a musical number. They asked Rocky if he wanted to join. Once the colt heard that he recalled the episode of this. The green Earth pony kindly said no as he had another idea that he wanted to try. They said goodbye as they went in different ways.

Once home, Blaze set his bag by the door. "Al! I'm home! How was guard duty?" he shouted. No answer.

The colt headed upstairs to see if he was in bed after staying up all night. He looked into Al’s room and saw the bed was empty. The headache throbbed even more. ”He’s an adult. I don't need to know where he is. I just want this headache to go away.” Blaze headed for his room. When he entered, the colt saw a body was in his bed.

"WHO IN EQUESTRIA IS IN MY BED!" he shouted.

The pony in question popped their head up very quickly to see who was shouting. "Hey there little guy, are you looking for Blaze or Al?" Star Dust asked.

"Uh, no. I was wondering why you are in my bed, Star Dust," the green Earth pony replied.

"Well this is, . . . wait. How did you know my name?"

Blaze didn’t feel like playing the charade of who he was pretending to be. "Can you please stand over there for a sec," he said while pointing to a spot on the floor.

The blue Unicorn got out of the bed and went over to the spot. "You have still not answered my question little kid."

"Well, here’s my answer." 

Blaze touched his forehooves together and then touched the floor. The spot where the stallion was standing suddenly opened up and he fell to the first floor. The colt walked up to the opening and looked down. He landed on the couch in the living room. "Care to take a guess who I am?"

"Blaze? Is that really you? What happened?" Star Dust asked as he looked up.

"Long story. I will tell you later. I need some sleep." 

Blaze closed up the opening and lay down on his bed. He focused his chakra on trying to get this headache to go away.

About an hour later, the colt heard the door to his room burst open. "You have to be kidding me. I have to see this for myself," Cancer said. "You are right! Blaze is a colt! This is hilarious!"

The green Earth pony sat up with an angry face. "Laugh some more and see how you feel when I kick your flank while I’m stuck like this," he said.

"I think you don't have the same amount of power as you did before. I think I can take ya now."
"Want to test that out?"

"We all want to," Dragon said. "We’ve been itching to have another round against the one who won the tournament.”

"Outside. Now."

Blaze teleported to the front yard. Shortly after, the six ponies and the human came out the front door. He performed an Earth Jutsu and created a twenty-foot by twenty-foot platform made of stone, and rose up a couple of feet from the ground.

"Rules are simple. You lose by either touching the ground or any nonliving object besides this arena. You lose by tapping out or being knocked out. Lastly, no killing. Other than that, anything goes." They are all nodded in agreement to the terms. The colt landed in the center. "Alright, who wants their flank to be kicked."

------Couple of hours later--------

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were walking down the road from Ponyville to Sweet Apple Acres. As they were walking, they heard some fighting in the distance.

"You hear that girls? Sounds like someone is fighting up ahead," Apple Bloom said, sounding worried.

"Sounds like it is coming from Blaze's place," Sweetie Belle said.

"Let's go and check it out," Scootaloo said, all excited.

They picked up the pace and ran towards the sound. When they rounded the bend and saw the house, they could make out that several ponies were fighting on a stone surface. They saw Al was standing nearby. When they got closer, they recognized the pony in the ring. It was Rocky and he was going up against several big stallions. They hurried over to Al to see what was going on.

"Al! Why are these ponies fighting Rocky?" the white filly asked.

The yellow filly said, "How come you are not in there stopping this? He could get hurt!"

"Blaze is doing just fine,” replied the human. “These others are the other ponies we trained with back in Canterlot."

"Wait . . . Blaze? I don't see him there," the orange filly said.

Realizing that he just blabbed out Blaze was in there, Al tried to correct himself. "Blaze? I meant Rocky. Yeah, he wanted to learn some defense maneuvers before returning home," he quickly said.

"Hold up, are you saying Rocky is Blaze?" Apple Bloom said while she stared directly at the human.

"I guess the jig is up. He’ll explain once he’s done taking care of these other ponies."

Al and the three fillies watched as Blaze was almost done with two zebra ponies. In one quick move, both were sent flying out of the arena in opposite directions. Blaze just stood there, in the center, breathing hard.

"Now do you believe that I’m Swift Blaze and that I can still kick your flanks while I’m stuck like this!" Blaze said. He looked around and then spotted the three fillies next to Al. "Uh, hi girls," the colt said as he was trying to think of a reason to explain this.

"Hi Rocky," Sweetie Belle said.

"Or should we call you Blaze?" Scootaloo asked.

"Busted," the green Earth pony said.
> Chapter 45: Mmm, Much to Learn Young One
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Girls, I can explain," Blaze quickly said.

"You’re going to explain why you have been lying to us?" Apple Bloom asked.

Scootaloo asked, "Or how you decided to be a colt?"

"What about messing with our feelings and pretending to be our friends?" Sweetie Belle asked.

All three looked very upset about finding out that Blaze had been lying to them. He knew they deserved to know the truth after what they had been through. The green Earth pony told them and the others about how he got turned into a colt and how he can't change back until he gets a cure from Zecora. Blaze explained why he kept what happened to him a secret, as Cancer clearly showed why when he found out. When the colt finished, the Crusaders had a couple of tears come from their eyes.

"I hope you forgive me for lying to you,” said Blaze. “I do want to be your friend, and will gladly still join the Cutie Mark Crusaders. If you still accept me that is."

The fillies got into a huddle and discussed. When they came out of it, they nodded to each other. All of a sudden, all three jumped at the green Earth pony and tackled him to the ground.

"Of course we forgive you," said the yellow filly.

The white filly said, "We do want you to join the Cutie Mark Crusaders."

"And we do want to be friends," the orange filly said.

"As long as you come with us sometimes when we go crusading," Apple Bloom said.

"Deal,” replied Blaze. “Maybe I will discover a third special talent and get another cutie mark."

"Wait! Third? How did you get a second one? I still don't have one for me," Al said with an angry tone.

"I was just as surprised as you are. I don't know if it will only appear on this form, or will I also have it on my others."

"Now I need to work extra hard to get mine."

The colt grabbed the side of his head as the headache returned after the adrenaline wore off. "Ugh, now if I can just get rid of this stupid headache, everything will be peachy. For some reason, I can’t heal it myself.”

“Let me take a look,” Colorful Sparks said. His horn lit up and touched Blaze’s head. The blue stallion was then sent flying back. “I didn’t expect that. That isn’t a normal headache you’re feeling.”

“Then what the hell is it!”

“You are experiencing what Unicorns get when they don’t use magic for a long time. You have magical buildup, and it’s massive. I’d never felt that much magical energy in a pony before.”

“How do I make it stop.”

“You have to use magic.”

Blaze just face hoof myself. He thought, ”Great, I have magical energy and I don’t know how to release it. Guess I’ll have to go see the only Unicorn that can possibly help.” 

“Seeing I need to use magic, yet I don’t know-how. Guess I have to go see Twilight help me. I’m going on ahead, Al. You can lead the others to where she lives.” Before anyone could object, the colt teleported out of there and arrived in the library.

Once there, the green Earth pony quickly looked for Twilight. He found her organizing a bookshelf. Before he could say anything, the purple Unicorn spoke first. “I know you’re there, Blaze. You are not going to scare me this time,” she said.

“I see you’re becoming aware of your surroundings,” the colt replied.

“No, I have a spell active that informs me when someone doesn’t use the front door as they should.”

“Well, this is sorta an emergency. I need your help.”

Twilight stopped what she was doing and walked over to where he was standing. “What’s wrong?”

Blaze placed a hoof against his head as another wave of pain hit. “I thought I was just having a normal headache throughout the day. I just found out it is actually a magical buildup. I need your help in getting rid of it.”

“It can’t be that bad. You’re still new to the magic. So, your magical font can’t be dangerous to you.”

“My friend that determined I had this was sent flying from the recoil of it. I think it is bigger than you think.”

“Let me take a look at myself. This will only take a sec.”

“Just be careful so you don’t get sent flying back too.”

The purple Unicorn activated her horn. She touched the colt’s head with it. The mare quickly pulled away. “That was close! How are you still standing? Any other Unicorn would be screaming out in pain or be knocked out by it.”

“Don’t ask me. I just want the pain to go away.”

“The only safe way is to teach you how to use magic. I’m going to have to give you a crash course in it. Spike, if anyone comes in, we are not to be disturbed.”

“Will do!” said the little dragon.

“Alright Blaze, the first step to use magic is to know where it is in your body. We’re going to dive into your mind to find your magical font. Are you ready?”

“Come on in.” Twilight activated her horn and dove into Blaze’s head. Inside, he was in his human form in the empty white space. “Alright, we need to find where in your body your magic is being stored. I need you to close your eyes and look inside yourself for a small spark.”

“Ok” He closed his eyes and began to search. The space around them was showing various things at hyper speed. The Unicorn couldn’t make out what she was seeing. It soon landed in an area where they were on a cliff looking over three bodies of water. The human opened his eyes to look at them.

“Blaze, you sure this is where your magic spark is at? This nothing like us Unicorns have.”

“I believe so. What does your font look like to you?”

“It’s a beach next to a very large lake. I think the Princesses are about the size of a sea.”

“Well, I felt for the spark, or something different, in my body and that led us here. If I have to take a guess, one of them is my ki source and the other is my chakra source.”

"How come we’re looking at them from here?"

"I wanted to verify which one is which. Don't want to go to one and have nothing happen. Give me a minute."

Blaze started to build up his ki first. In the center of a lake, a vortex formed and began to draw the water up to the sky. When he stopped, the vortex went away too. He moved to build up chakra energy. This time, a vortex appeared on another lake. Then, one appeared in the clouds above, heading higher into the sky. The human released the energy and they disappeared. He looked at Twilight and she looked confused at what she saw.

"Blaze, how come one lake showed a vortex, the other had one on it and on the clouds above?"

"The first one is my ki source. I only need that for my ki abilities. The other one is my chakra source. It requires that and some of my spiritual energy to use them.  Too much of one or the other will affect how the jutsu reacts. It has to be the proper balance to make them work."

"So I assume that the third body of water is your magic font."

He nodded. Suddenly, Blaze got another wave of headache pain. The area around shook like an earthquake. They quickly back away from the edge as it started to fall apart. Once the pain subsided, so did the shaking. "Let's hurry before they get even worse." He said. The human moved them so they were now next to the magic source.

Twilight quickly looked around and was impressed at what she saw. The body of water was bigger than she realized, she couldn’t see the other side of it. The mare turned to Blaze and asked, "I was expecting yours to be the size of an average Unicorn, which is a small lake. It now looks like you might have a bigger source. It isn’t as big as mine, but still very big for being new in the magical world. We need to work fast before another shakes this place up."

The human nodded in agreement. "So what’s the next step, oh The Great, Wise, Twilight Sparkle?" he asked while bowing to her, stroking her ego.

"Time for you to take a dip." The Unicorn then quickly shoved Blaze into the water.

He jumped up and shouted. "BURRR! The water is icy cold!"

"That’s because you haven’t found how to handle it. Magic is more of a feeling. If you’re nice to it and not force it, it will help you with what you are trying to do. By forcing it, you can create a backlash and it could lead to dire consequences."

"So, I need to treat magic as a friend and ask for it to aid me when I need it. Was it necessary to push me in the water then?"

"No, that was for all the times you scared or tricked me. Now, take in the magic into your heart and let it flow. Let it embrace your feelings. Magic like happy type feelings like joy, compassion, and love. The best emotion to use with magic is serenity. Do you feel it?"

Blaze closed his eyes and started to focus on this. He had his hands down to his side in the water. The human soon felt the water was slowly traveling up the arms and headed to his chest where the heart is. The magical water started to warm up to him. He let it feel his emotions that Blaze has for this world. He could actually feel the magic embracing them.

Twilight was watching this take place. She readies herself in case something went wrong. The world in the human’s mind was changing. The nearby trees and bushes sprouted beautiful flowers of every color and style. Some of them were even the colors of the rainbow. Twilight was happy that he was taking this well.

--------Out in the Real World--------

"Come on Spike. We want to check on Blaze to see how he is doing," Al said.

"Twilight told me to not let any creature in while she is helping him get his magic under control,” replied the little dragon. “I’m sorry, but you have to wait out here."

There was then a loud crash within the Library. Everyone outside feared the worst. The human grabbed Spike and picked him up. The purple dragon thrashed out a bit and blew some fire at him. 

"I’m sorry for this Spike, but we cannot wait any longer," said Al.

Lightning Trails went to the door and quickly opened it. When he stepped inside, the Pegasus got hit by several books. He jumped back outside to avoid any more hits.

"What happened?" Colorful Sparks asked.

"I got bombarded by several books. I think they were thick ones," the black stallion replied as he rubbed the side of his head where he got hit.

The others looked through the opened doorway and saw what’s going on. Twilight's horn was still glowing it’s a light purple color. The odd thing now was Blaze’s whole body was glowing yellow. The objects around the room had the same color around them. Both of them were in the center of the room, so none of the objects were getting near them.

Spike free himself and quickly closed the door. “Now you see why Twilight said she didn’t want to be disturb here,” he said. “She was worried they would get hurt while she tried to get Blaze’s magic under control.”

“We’re sorry for trying to barge in,” replied Colorful Sparks. “It was just the amount of pain I felt when I scanned him was nothing I never experienced. We’re all hoping he is doing fine.”

“He’s with Twilight Sparkle. Her special talent is magic,” Sweetie Belle said.

“We don’t know another pony, besides the princesses, that knows so much,” Apple Bloom said.

“If anyone can help Blaze, it is her,” Scootaloo said.

“That’s right.” the dragon said. “One thing I’m wondering though, who are these other ponies? I know Al, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom. I don’t know the rest of you, nor how you know Blaze?”

“They are the other ponies Blaze and I trained with while in Canterlot,” Al said. “Let me introduce you to Star Dust, Lightning Trails, Colorful Sparks, Cancer, Fang, and Dragon.” He pointed to each one as he said their name.

“Nice to meet you all. Though, I have one question, why’s your name after my species?” Spike asked Dragon.

“My brother and I were named after the constellations. They were glowing the brightest when we were born. So, our parents decided to name us after them,” Dragon replied.

“Plus, when they called for him, the townsfolk thought an actual dragon was coming into our village for a while,” Cancer said.

“I recently met another Zebra recently. Although, she doesn’t talk the same way you do. She talks in rhymes” said the purple dragon.

“You must have met a Shaman,” replied Fang. “They are priests who practice in magic and other things. They talk that way as most of the spells they use rhyme too.”

“Yeah, she’s currently working on gathering the ingredients to cure Blaze of the Poison Joke. It’s very funny what that plant does to those who get infected.”

“Would you mind telling us her name and where she lives?” asked the white Zebra with red stripes. “We just would like to know as there are not many Zebras in Equestria.”

“Her name is Zecora. She lives in a hut in the EverFree Forest. I still don’t know why she wants to live in that dangerous place.”

The Zebra siblings were shocked when they heard that name. They recognized it from their hometown. They don’t know if she would recognize them after all these years.

-----Back in Blaze’s Mind-------

“You’re doing good, Blaze,” said Twilight. “Now I need you to slowly let go of the magic. Let it flow back into your font. That’s it.”

The human followed her instructions and let the magical energy leave on its own free will back out of his body. Once it was all gone, he opened his eyes and saw what his mind created. “Did I imagine all this from my emotions?” he asked.

“You did, Blaze. You really do have a big heart and care about everything around you. I think this is more beautiful than Canterlot Gardens.”

“It’s very close, depending on the pony’s perspective. I think the headaches have stopped.”

“That’s good. Now let’s head back and see what you did to my library,” the mare said with a sigh.

“Sure thing. Wait, what do you mean?”

“You’ll see.”

They left Blaze’s mind and returned to the real world. The colt looked around and saw all the books and everything else was scattered out on the floor. “What happened here? This isn’t how I saw it when I arrived.”

“You happened. When you tapped into your magic, it was not focused on a task. So you pretty much picked everything up and it was spinning around us. That’s why I asked Spike for no disruptions as they would have been hit by them.”

Just then, the front door opened slowly. “Is it safe to come in now? We heard all the books dropping to the floor,” Spike said from behind the door.

“We? Who else is out there with you?” Twilight asked.

The little dragon finished opening the door and let everyone standing out there to come inside. They all carefully walked in, making sure not to step on anything, besides the floor.

“Hey Blaze, you feeling better now?” Star Dust asked.

“Al, who are all these ponies and how do they Blaze?” the purple Unicorn asked, looking more confused.

“These are the other ponies we trained within Canterlot. They arrived this morning to temporarily be placed at the Royal Guard post here,” Al said. He went down the line again and introduced them.

Once introductions were done, Twilight said, “Well, it’s nice to meet the other ponies and Zebras that trained with Blaze and Al. I’m sorry you had to wait outside while I helped Blaze.”

“We saw the reason why,” Fang said.

“And felt it,” Lightning Trails said as he rubbed the sore spot on his head.

Twilight looked at all the books lying on the ground with a sad face. “Well, the good news is Blaze doesn’t have a magic build-up anymore. Bad news for me is I’m going to be up all night organizing all these books, again.”

The green Earth pony placed a hoof onto Twilight’s shoulder. “Allow me to help you, seeing I caused this mess,” he said.

“I know in your human form, you were able to quickly put back some of the books that gathered on the floor. This is the ENTIRE library. There’s no reference to where everything was next to. I’ve been meaning to label the shelves, it’s just some projects that have been keeping me busy. How are you going to put them back while stuck as a colt?”

“With magic.”

“You can’t use magic! You haven’t gotten any training in the incantations and focusing your magic. You can really hurt yourself!”

“She’s right Blaze. You need proper training in the basics before you try something like this.” Colorful Sparks said.

The colt replied, “I had lifted all of this with no focus while I was discovering my magical font. I think I have a way. Please trust me and stand back.”

“I’ll be at the ready to stop you if it becomes too much for you,” Twilight said.

Blaze nodded. As he moved to the center of the room, the purple mare joined him while the others back into the entryway. The colt stood on his hind legs and closed his eyes. He raised his forehooves in front of him. The green Earth pony repeated the process of how to access his magic. 

Blaze opened his eyes and saw the hooves were glowing the same yellow as before. He focused on the books and asked the magic to help him guide them back to where they belong in the library. It started slowly. About a minute later, a book glowed the same color as his hooves. It slowly floated into the air and moved around the space. But it soon found its place on the shelves. Soon, more books follow, increasing in numbers.

Twilight whispered into his ear, “Blaze, how are you able to do this so soon and know exactly where these books are to go?”

“The control part is similar to chakra. When I use it to hold myself to walls and ceilings or be able to walk on top of the water,” replied the colt, while staying focused. “With magic though, it feels like actual arms are extending out and picking up the books. As to how I know where they’re to go, I don’t know. I’m actually letting the books guide my magic back to where they are supposed to be.

“You are very skillful and creative in some of the things you do. Not thinking the normal way to solve a problem, but to find a way with what you have access to.”

“It’s the Macgyver principle, to think out of the box and use what you have access to complete your objective.”

Al started to laugh. While laughing, he said, “So true!”

“Who’s this Macgyver?” asked Twilight, while sounding very interested in this character. “I never heard of that pony. Can you show me some of his work? I would like to understand more of his principle to see if I can apply it to some of my research.”

Blaze had to keep his focus as I placed the last book on the shelf. He wanted to laugh so hard right now. The colt’s face was hurting from trying to hold it in. Once his magic was done with placing the books, he fell onto his back and laughed out loud. Al was banging on the wall the entire time while laughing. The other ponies and the little dragon in the room were all wondering why they were the only ones laughing.

“What’s so funny, Blaze? Did you make up that name?” Lightning Trails asked.

The green Earth pony pulled himself together so he can do my best to answer. While laughing a bit, he replied, “I didn’t make him up, but he’s a fictional character from our world. Oh, you should hear about some of the things he did with everyday items he used to get himself out of a jam.”

“Seeing you got levitation down, somewhat, we can get on to the next part of magic, barriers,” Twilight said.

“Would love to Twi, but I’m still a colt and I have homework from Miss. Cheerilee.”

“Oh no you don’t!” The purple Unicorn quickly placed him in a magic bubble barrier. “You have been dodging me all week. How am I supposed to teach you magic, like Princess Celestia requested if you’re not here?”

The colt replied, “One, she didn’t set a deadline for you. Two, that was before I got poisoned and turned into an Earth pony colt. While I’m stuck like this, I plan to have fun. Crusaders, I’ll see you at Sweet Apple Acres. For the rest of you, I’ll be home later tonight so we can catch up.”

“I don’t see how you’re going anywhere while you’re in there. I got this from my brother last year. It’s his most powerful barrier.”

“Really, guess he hasn’t told you I already busted out of one of these already. But, I’m not going to do that here. Don’t want to destroy your place. So I’m going to do this, Ninja Art! Teleport!”

Blaze filled the bubble space with smoke. Once it dissipated, the colt was no longer there. Twilight quickly looks over the barrier for any signs of stress. “How in Equestria can he do that, no pony should be able to escape from this,” she said.

“Remember,” said Al, “he’s actually a human that is currently stuck in a colt body,” Al said.

The purple Unicorn was getting very furious by now. “I’m going to Sweet Apple Acres and see if Applejack can help me tie him up so I can teach him. Spike, you’re in charge of the Library!”

Twilight stopped the magic to the bubble barrier Blaze was last seen in. The mare left and slammed the door behind her.

“I don’t want to be Blaze right now. It’s never good when Twilight is determined to complete an assignment from Princess Celestia, and he’s delaying it,” said the little dragon.
> Chapter 46: You Can't Catch Me!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I don’t see how you’re going anywhere while you’re in there. I got this from my brother last year. It’s his most powerful barrier.”

“Really, guess he hasn’t told you I already busted out of one of these already. But, I’m not going to do that here. Don’t want to destroy your place. So I’m going to do this, Ninja Art! Teleport!”

Blaze filled the bubble space with smoke. Once it dissipated, the colt was no longer there. Twilight quickly looks over the barrier for any signs of stress. “How in Equestria can he do that, no pony should be able to escape from this,” she said.

“Remember,” said Al, “he’s actually a human that is currently stuck in a colt body,” Al said.

The purple Unicorn was getting very furious by now. “I’m going to Sweet Apple Acres and see if Applejack can help me tie him up so I can teach him. Spike, you’re in charge of the Library!”

Twilight stopped the magic to the bubble barrier Blaze was last seen in. The mare left and slammed the door behind her.

“I don’t want to be Blaze right now. It’s never good when Twilight is determined to complete an assignment from Princess Celestia, and he’s delaying it,” said the little dragon.

“Me neither,” A tiny voice said.

“Who said that?” Cancer asked as he looked around.

“I did.” The tiny voice said again.

Everyone was now looking around for the source. They didn’t see any new pony or creature in the library that was not there before.

“Alright, show yourself!” Al shouted.

“Ow, you don’t have to shout. I was going to anyway.” 

Blaze’s colt body was growing in the middle of everyone. He hovered in the air while this happened. Once back to his normal size, the green Earth pony placed his hooves back on the floor. Blaze looked around and saw several ponies had the expression on their face as they couldn’t believe what they saw. 

“What?” the colt asked.

“Since when have you been able to do that?” Dragon replied with another question.

“I could have done it for a while now. This was just the first time I actually tried it out.”

“We thought you actually left and headed to Sweet Apple Acres,” said the yellow filly.

The white filly asked, “How come you didn’t?”

“Now why would I go to a place I said I was going to when Twilight is still chasing me down. It’s a misdirection. Oh, before I forget, you six need to call me Rocky as that is what everyone else thinks who I am. This is only until I get cured of the Poison Joke. Zecora will be done with it soon. So, until then, I still want to try and enjoy a kid's life again.”

The three Zebras in the room reacted again upon hearing that name. Fang spoke up first, “ Well, we need to get back onto patrol and take care of some other things. We’ll see you later tonight for dinner at your place, Blaze.”

“Yea, see you later.” Cancer quickly said.

Dragon also said goodbye before the three of them quickly headed out the door. Everyone else wondered what got into them.

“Hold on, I thought me and Fang were paired up? We have the guard post soon,” Star Dust said.

“Let it go. The plan was never set in stone. I’ll join you on your shift. You alright with that?” Al asked.

“I think they need to discuss something among themselves just as they found out another Zebra is living nearby,” Lightning Trails said.

“I hope everything is going to be fine,” Blaze said.

“Zecora is a very nice Zebra,” said Apple Bloom. “I’ve delivered some apples for my big sis a couple of times to her hut. While there, I chatted with her for a bit before I had to head back.”

“She seemed nice to me too. So what plans are there for the Crusaders today?”

“Applejack said she wanted to show us something on the farm. I asked her what about, but she wanted to show it to all of us.”

“Then let’s get going.”

“Hold up! How are you going to get onto the farm if Twilight is still looking for you?” Scootaloo asked.

“You’ll see when that time comes.”

They said goodbye to the others as the kids left the library. The Crusaders made quick progress to get to the Apple Farm. Once it was in view, Blaze quickly looked around for Twilight. By the barn, he spotted a purple pony talking to an orange one. He knew what they were talking about and didn’t want to go into a chase scene so soon.

“Looks like it is time for me to go incognito,” Blaze said. 

The colt performed a transform jutsu and changed into a red flower that had a black center. He appeared in Sweetie Belle’s mane.

“You can change into plants too?” Apple Bloom asked, sounding all surprised.

“Yes I can, but I only look like the object. I don’t have the same properties as them. Now shush, they will think something is up if they see you talking to a flower.”

“It will be more suspicious for the plant to be talking back,” replied Scootaloo.

“True. Yikes! Here they come.”

Blaze shut himself up. The Crusaders continued to the farm as Twilight and Applejack were coming from there. Everyone stopped in the middle of the road when they came together.
“Alright girls, do you know where Blaze was planning to meet you?” The Unicorn asked in a stern voice.

“We don’t know where, Twilight,” the orange filly said.

“We figured he would reveal himself when he wanted to,” the white filly said.

“Honest,” Apple Bloom said with a little nervous tone in her voice.

Both mares looked them over. 

“That is a mighty interesting flower you got there, Sweetie Belle. Where did you get it?” Applejack asked.

“Oh, this old thing. I . . . found it in my old things. It reminded me of Blaze, so I wanted to show it to him,” Sweetie Belle said, while nervous too.

“Interesting, you didn’t have that on earlier when you came by the library,” Twilight said.

“Um . . . that is because we stopped by her place so she can get it,” Scootaloo said, now nervous too.

“You three are sending signals of lying to us. Now, where is he?” Applejack asked in a stern voice.

The three fillies tried to come up with some sort of truth to get out of this jam they are in. 
The purple Unicorn was looking closely at the flower in Sweetie Belle’s mane. “I don’t recall seeing this breed of a flower in my studies. Would you mind if I take a closer look at it, Sweetie Belle?” she asked.

Sweetie Belle’s only reply was, “Ummm.”

The mare’s horn lit up. Before she could grab the flower, it flew out of the mane and towards the apple orchard. In mid-flight, Blaze changed back to the colt form and continued to fly off. Twilight was in hot pursuit of the green Earth pony as she was firing magic spells at him. “GET BACK HERE SO I CAN TEACH YOU MAGIC!” the mare screamed at the top of her lungs.

“Why won’t you let me finish living out as a colt till I’m cured! I promised I was going to see you next week to start the training!” Blaze shouted back while avoiding being hit by her magic.

“You saw what happened by not using it. You need to be trained. I don’t want you to get that close again or get further!” Twilight said in the chase.

“What would happen? Bigger headache than before?”

“MAGIC EXPLOSION!”

Blaze stopped dead in his tracks and turned around. Twilight catches up and stands a few feet from him. She started to breath harder to catch her breath.

“Backup, what do you mean by ‘Magic Explosion’?” the colt asked with a concerned look.

“It rarely happens nowadays, as we have medical devices to prevent that. Before we had them centuries ago, if a Unicorn was in a coma and hadn’t used their magic, they were carried off into the woods. They are left there until their body can no longer regulate the magic. The end result was they blew up.”

“You mean, they died?” Blaze sounding all scared.

“No, their body would just release the magic in one great burst. It does do some damage to the surrounding area, but no harm came to the Unicorn.  But based upon your magic level, you would level a block if it happens to you.”

“Thanks for the four-o-one. Now I believe you were trying to catch me, you still going to?”

The purple Unicorn charged her horn quickly and fired a magic spell at Blaze. It made contact and bust into a bright puff of smoke. 

“I got you now,” Twilight said with a big smile on her face. 

Once the smoke cleared, she saw what she hit. It was a wood dummy of Blaze’s colt form. It was hogtied with rope.

“Are you done playing with that dummy so we can continue the chase?” Blaze asked from a tree above the mare.

Twilight quickly looked and saw where the colt was. She was very mad now. A little bit of smoke was now coming off her mane and tail. Blaze jumped out of the tree before getting hit with another magic blast. The chase continued.

After running through the apple trees, they emerge into an open field. With nothing to block the magic beams, Blaze took off into the sky. Twilight continued to fire her magic at the green Earth pony. Soon, Rainbow Dash saw the commotion and flew by to see what was going on.

“Hey Blaze, what did you do to get Twilight this mad?” the Pegasus asked.

“Oh, nothing really. Just her assignment from the Princess was to teach me magic and I’ve been avoiding her all week,” he replied as he dodged another beam. “You almost got me with that one, Twilight!”

“I have to teach you magic! So get your flank down here so we can get started!” Twilight screamed again at Blaze.

“Wow, I’m surprised she didn’t start this sooner,” Rainbow said.

“Pinkie Pie kept her busy and distracted. It wasn’t till today she remembered after helping me with my magic buildup,” he said.

“Wait, how can you have a magic buildup while an Earth colt?”

“I don’t know. How about how am I flying with no wings?” Blaze said sarcastically. “Not a real pony, remember?”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “So, are you interested in a race to Canterlot?”

“Sure. It has been a while since I broke the sound barrier. How goes your training?”

“Let’s race so you can see.”

“OH NO YOU DON’T! YOU ARE NOT LEAVING HERE TO GO TO CANTERLOT!” the purple Unicorn shouted with more magic beams coming from her horn.”

“See you at the castle Twilight. I’m going to give a progress report to the Princess! Ready, 1 2 3 GO!”

Blaze and Rainbow took off like bullets, both now easily getting to Mach One. Twilight was so mad now, her mane and tail burst into flames. She screamed Blaze’s name so loud, everyone in Ponyville and Canterlot could have heard it.

The colt stayed ahead of the blue mare to entice her to fly faster. Rainbow had determination in her eyes to fly faster than ever before. Blaze knew if she kept up with her training, she would break Mach Two.

--------Meanwhile---------
At the edge of the EverFree Forest

Cancer, Dragon, and Fang were walking along the edge of the forest. They were trying to find the path to Zecora’s hut.

“Do you really think it’s her?” Dragon asked.

“I don’t know, but I don’t know of another Zebra named Zecora. What they said and how she talked, it does make it more convincing that it’s her,” Fang replied.

“Then should we ask a pony for directions to her hut, big sis?” Cancer asked.

“We haven’t made friends with most of the ponies in Ponyville, yet. I mean, they didn’t run away when they saw us. But, they were staring at us. Like we’re freaks still,” the black Zebra mare replied.

“I think their stares were more at me and bro for us having horns,” said the Zebra stallion with blue stripes.

“I agree, they got used to a normal Zebra. Now they saw two with horns. They probably thought ‘What next, Zebra with wings?’,” said the Zebra stallion with red stripes.

The mare was still looking for the path the ponies made to Zecora hut. “Ah! This must be the path. See the multiple hoof prints going to and from the forest. Let’s get going. I want to get this question that’s on our minds answered,” she said.

The three Zebras started running down the path to Zecora’s hut. Just as they were a little way in, they heard a pony shout Blaze’s name. All the birds in the area flew off.

“Should we turn around and make sure Blaze is ok?” Dragon asked.

“I’m sure he’s fine. It sounded like that Unicorn that was trying to teach him magic,” Fang said as they continued to run.

“He can handle himself just fine. If anything, Al and the others are available to help him out,” Cancer said.

With that, they continued on deeper into the EverFree Forest.

--------Back in Ponyville------

“Ditzy!” Colorful Sparks shouted at the grey Pegasus flying overhead. The mare spotted the Unicorn stallion and made a quick landing. They quickly hug each other. “How are you doing?”

“I’m doing fine. But look at you, you’re now a Royal Guard. I’m so happy for you,” Ditzy Hooves said.

“It was a brutal training regiment, but I managed to survive. Oh, let me introduce you to some new friends I made. This here is Star Dust, Lightning Trails, and Al, a human,” the blue stallion said as he pointed to each one.

“Nice to meet you all. Oh! That reminds me, I’ve been meaning to give this letter to you Al. I didn’t know where you lived. It just says `the other human in Ponyville’.” She pulled the letter out of her mail saddlebag and gave it to Al.

The human opened it and read it. “Huh, they wanted me to go back to Canterlot so they could get measurements for my Royal Guard suit of armor. I’ll see if Rarity can send the measurements she has for me to them. That way I don’t have to stand like a statue again.”

“I’m sure that will work for them. We’re wondering why you and Blaze did not show up when they did ours,” Star Dust said.

“We now know why Blaze wasn’t able to. I’m still laughing about what happened to him,” Lightning Trails said with a laugh.

“What happened to Swift Blaze? He looked fine at the party at his house,” the grey Pegasus asked.

“It’s nothing. So you know, I’m staying at Blaze’s house. The only place that’s suited for a human,” Al said.

Ditzy pulled out a pad and wrote the info down. “Got it. I just got done with my route for the day. Want to head to Sugarcube Corner?”

“I can go for a tasty treat. What do the rest of you say?”

“Sure, if you are buying,” Lightning Trails replied.

“I will buy, if you cook dinner.”

“On second thought, let me buy the treats. I’m not very good when it comes to cooking for others.”

Everyone started to laugh. They headed into the pastry shop and grabbed a table. Ditzy and Lightning Trails went to the counter and placed their orders. Ditzy came back with her favorite muffin, blueberry filled with blueberry jam. Lightning Trails came back with a baker’s dozen of their most popular pastries. Once everyone grabbed one and took a bite out of it, they soon fell in love with the tasty treat.

“Lightning Trails, what is the name of this desert? I’ve never tasted something so delicious!” Star Dust said.

“I’ve had this before. It’s called Blaze’s Chocolate Drops,” Colorful Sparks replied.

“You mean, it was named after Swift Blaze? How did he manage that?” Lightning Trails asked.

“Oh, it’s a recipe he shared from our world,” replied the human. “It’s actually called something else, but Mr. and Mrs. Cake decided to change it so everyone will know who created this treat.”

“It’s good, but I still love my muffins,” the grey mare said before she took a big bite out of the muffin she bought.

As they ate the treats, a pink mare popped out of the center of the table. “HI!”

Star Dust and Lightning Trails jumped back from the table after the surprise. Everyone else was just laughing at them. Breathing hard, while his heart was beating fast, Star Dust said, “Where did she come from! How come you three did not react the same?”

“Say hello to Pinkie Pie. She puts on all the parties that happen in Ponyville. As to how she did that, we don’t bother to figure out,” Al said.

“We’re used to her methods of appearing out of nowhere,” Colorful Sparks said.

“My Pinkie Sense has been growing crazy! It was telling me several new ponies have come to Ponyville that I have never met before. I was running all over town trying to find them and here you are!” the pink mare said in her hyper-excited voice.

Lightning Trails return to the table after his heart calmed back down. “Ahem, well it’s nice to meet you, Pinkie Pie. If you don’t mind, can you not appear like that around me? I don’t want to hurt you by accident,” he said.

“Why?”

“My special talent is being able to manipulate lightning. So much that I can create it within my body. I’m just glad that I didn’t go off.”

The human said, “Dude, I’m eating here. That kind of talk belongs in the bedroom.”

“Al, you need to get that head out of the gutter,” replied Star Dust.

“But we're not playing bowling.”

Colorful Sparks said, “Finish eating your treats, Al, and let the big ponies finish their talk. Pinkie, I know you could probably avoid it, but let’s not scare the Pegasus anymore, please.”

“Okie Dokie Lokie.” Pinkie Pie’s body suddenly did a combo, twisted tail, itchy back, and poofier mane. “Oh! I have not found all the new ponies yet!” She jumped off the table and ran fast right out of the store. She almost knocked down some customers but managed to miss them.

Star Dust turned his head back to the table. “Is that mare always like that?” he asked.

“Eeyup,” Al replied.

“I can’t wait to hear how the others are going to react to her,” Lightning Trails said.

Everyone laughed at the thought.

-------In the EverFree Forest---------

Fang, Cancer, and Dragon finally come up to Zecora’s hut. They didn’t run into any of the animals that lived there. Cancer looked to his siblings as he said, “Are we sure we want to see her? I don’t know if she will recognize us.”

“I’m sure she will,” replied his brother. “Two Zebra colts with horns are hard to forget. She was one of the few that did not shun us for being half breeds.”

“She really did like you two,” said the mare Zebra. “Being able to use magic like the Unicorns in this land is a great feat she told us. Zecora was sad that the other villagers saw it as more of a disease or some curse. When we had to leave, she did wish us good luck on our journey and hope we can see her again.”

“Well, let us go and see her then,” Cancer quickly said.

They walked the rest of the way. When they got to the door, Dragon went and knocked on the door. “I will be there in a minute if you don’t mind being patient,” Zecora said from behind the door.

“It does sound like her,” Fang said in a low voice. The door opened. Just as Zecora was about to greet them, she saw who was there and just froze. Taking the initiative, the black Zebra spoke up in their native tongue, “Hallo, deur God se genade jy is goed?”

Zecora smiled and said, “Baie goed. Mag jy altyd skaduwee van die harde son. For what do I owe this honor to see you, little ones? How have you been, while in this land?”

“We recently went through the Royal Guard Training and passed it,” Cancer said.

“Captain Shining Armor gave our first posting to Ponyville for the time being.” Dragon said.

“The locals talked about another Zebra that lived nearby. When they described it was you, we had to see for ourselves,” Fang said.

All three started to tear up as they all said, “We Missed You, Zecora!” They ran to her and did one group hug.

“I missed you too, young ones. It’s great to see how well you have grown up,” the grey mare said with tears coming from her face too.

Breaking from the hug, everyone wiped their tears away. “Zecora, when did you come to Equestria?” Dragon asked.

She replied, “It was about a year ago when I left our homeland. I wanted to see what makes Equestria so grand.”

“I really miss your rhymes. I always found them funny,” the stallion with red stripes said.

“That’s no way to talk to a shaman! Apologize right now,” The black mare ordered.

“It’s quite alright. They were very little when they left the village. How about you share what happened to you over a bite?”

“Do you still have the recipe for that soup that we like? None of us had a bowl since we left.,” the stallion with blue stripes said.

Zecora nodded her head. They all had big smiles on their faces. The grey mare went to work making the soup. Cancer, Fang, and Dragon told her everything that happened since they arrived in Equestria.

--------Canterlot---------

“You’re doing much better, Rainbow Dash. You almost broke Mach Two. Keep that training up and you will get there,” Blaze said.

They were on top of the roof of one of the towers of the castle. The colt got to it a few seconds before Rainbow. Both were breathing pretty hard. They flew from Ponyville to there in under ten minutes.

“Thanks, Blaze. I never thought I could go this fast. How much weight did you take off to stay ahead of me?” the blue Pegasus asked.

“None.”

“NONE AND YOU WERE STILL ABLE TO FLY FASTER THAN ME!”

“I could have, but then I would have not gotten a work out of pushing my ki limit at this weight. Even in this colt form, I can only do so much with. I need my human body back so I can get back to training.”

“Are you up for a race back to Ponyville?”
“Nah, my ki is almost used up. Besides, I have some ponies I would like to catch up with before Twilight gets here.”

“We left her in our dust. It’s going to take her at least an hour by train to get here.”

“I saw her flame up, so I think she’ll be here sooner than you think.”

“Good luck with her. You’re going to need it.”

“I don’t need luck, my charming personality will calm her down.”

Rainbow laughed out hard. “Oh Blaze, you are a riot.”

With that, the blue Pegasus took off and headed back to Ponyville. The colt wondered who he should see first before Twilight arrived. Her brother’s name was the first to pop up. He quickly looked around to see if he could spot the white stallion. After a couple of minutes, he spotted Shining Armor walking down an empty hallway. He teleported behind him and continued to float. Blaze stayed very quiet as he followed the Unicorn Captain. Every once in a while, Shining would look behind him. The green Earth pony would move out of view to remain in his blind spot.

Soon, Blaze decided to reveal himself. Staying above him, he tapped onto Captain Shining Armor’s helmet. The stallion jumped and almost collided his head into the colt. Shining quickly charged his horn up to attack who snuck up behind him.

“You're a little jumpy there, Captain?” the green pony asked while floating in the air with a grin on his face.

“Blaze! Where in Equestria did you come from? How long were you following me?” the captain asked as he powered down his horn and began to calm down.

“First, from Earth, you know that. Second, oh . . . I say for at least ten minutes.”

Shining Armor just shook his head for walking into that. “Why are you here Blaze? I thought you were not going to come until you get your real body back.”

“I still am. This is just an unplanned visit. I raced Rainbow Dash here. Wanted to visit before I head back.”

The Unicorn put on a big smile as he said, “So, what do you think of the guards I sent to Ponyville.”

The colt’s face went to a frown. “That wasn’t cool. You knew they were going to find out about my condition.”

“I know, but they were the only guards I had available under short notice. What did they do when they found out?” Shining Armor asked with a smile on his face.

“What you expected would happen, they laughed.” The white stallion laughed at that. Blaze decided to let it slide, this time. “They thought since I was stuck as a colt, they could defeat me in a match.”

After calming back down, Shining Armor asked, “What happened?”

“I kicked their flanks to Timbuktu!” the colt shouted proudly.

“I haven’t heard of that place in Equestria. Where is it?”

Blaze laughed this time. “It doesn’t exist. It’s a human saying when the person beats up another, badly.”

“It sounds like a place that does exist.”

“Probably, but I’ve only been to Ponyville and Canterlot. I’ve read about some of the other towns and cities in Equestria. Probably on my journey for the Elements of Order I’ll go through some of them.”

“Speaking of that, have you gotten any clues to their location?”

Blaze’s expression turned to a depressed state as he recalled that dream he had. “I don’t think so. The only thing odd is a very strange dream I had one night. I don’t even know if it was a dream, or something else.”

“Maybe you should discuss it with Princess Luna. While on duty at night, she does watch over the dream world of the ponies. Maybe she can shed some light on what you dreamed about.”

“Maybe.”

All of a sudden, they heard a mare at the end of the hall behind them shout out Blaze’s names. They turned their heads and saw Twilight was there, and she was pissed.

“Blaze, what did you do to my sister?” Shining Armor asked in a stern voice.

“I may have been avoiding her all this week. She has an order from Princess Celestia to teach me magic. Time to continue the chase.” The colt took off, away from the angry mare. As he was leaving, he shouted. “See you this weekend!” With that, he turned down a corridor and continued to run.

Twilight caught up to Shining Armor. “Big brother! How come you did not stop him!. I have to teach him magic! There’s so much to cover!” she said, just below a shouting voice.

“Twily, one thing I have learned is, Blaze will come to you when he is ready. You can’t force him to do something without it backfiring back to you,” he replied.

“But this is an order from Princess Celestia! Doesn’t he know how important those are?”

“I’m sure he does. I think being stuck in a colt body might have brought out the child’s side of him. Let him enjoy it.”

“Have you heard some of the crazy things he’s done? I’ve never met a kid that much out of control. Was I like that?”

“No, you were a perfect little angel,” the stallion said as he hugged his sister. “Now then, don’t you have a colt you need to catch before he gets in serious trouble?”

Twilight didn’t answer, she just took off after Blaze. She went and turned down the same corridor he did. Just as she did, the green Earth pony was there leaning against the wall, with a toothpick hanging out of his mouth.

“What kept ya? I was about to fall asleep from being bored,” Blaze said.

The purple Unicorn quickly sent a magic beam at the colt. It made contact and formed a triple layer barrier around him.

“HA! I would like to see you get out of that!” Twilight said, sounding very proud.

Blaze still had a smirk on his face. He took the toothpick out and said, “Ok.” He channeled chakra into the toothpick and began to cut a hole in the barrier. Once done, he pushed the piece out and jumped through the hole. “Come and get me for the next lesson!” He took off again down the corridor. Twilight moved quickly to stay on his tail.

Going through the castle, they passed several guards and some VIPs. The mare managed to not hit them with her spells as she was aiming at Blaze. The colt came really close in getting hit by them several times. None of the guards bothered to stop them as they were not destroying anything, important.

Blaze couldn’t believe how determined Twilight was into teaching him. He had to get this to stop. He soon saw the doors to the courtroom coming up.

"Time to give my report to the Princes!" the green pony shouted back.

"NOOOOOO!" Twilight screamed. She quickly sent a powerful spell at the doors. Massive wooden blocks came across the door and fused with it. "Good luck getting in there now!"

Blaze was running too fast to stop quickly on the smooth floor. As he tried to, he tripped and began to tumble forward. The momentum caused the colt to tumble at a rapid speed. He collided with a column of marble and took a big chunk out of it. He was able to quickly get back up and was not dazed from spinning.

The purple Unicorn came over in a panic state. "Blaze, you alright? Please be alright," She was saying as she looked him over.

"Twilight, I'm fine. I didn’t feel a thing," he replied as he got out of her hooves.

"You slammed into a solid marble column and took a big chunk out of it. How can you be fine?"

The colt was pondering the same thing. After a few seconds of thinking, an idea came to him. He smiled as he hoped what he was thinking would be correct. "Twilight, you might want to stand back."

"What is going on Blaze?"

"I’m going to perform an experiment. You guards might want to move too."

One guard by the door said, "We do not take orders from a little colt and his foal sitter."

"Do you have an appointment to see Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?" The other guard asked.

Blaze looked at Twilight as she backed away from him. She knew those guards were going to get it. Once she was a safe distance away, the green Earth pony backed up a bit and stood in a charge stance. The two guards charged up their horns and prepared to stop him. He did a quick run before he jumped into the air. Blaze then forced himself into a ball and spun forward at super speed. All you could see was a green ball with a grey line in the middle.

He landed and quickly headed to the door. The guards began to fire spells at the Blaze ball. They were being bounced off as he had created a tight, air current around him from spinning so fast. Realizing they can't do anything to stop him, they jumped out of the way just in time as he hit the door. Instead of going through it, Blaze climbed up the door. He slammed into the wooden beams, causing them to split apart and fall down. When he cut the last beam, the doors swung open and Blaze continued forward. He quickly stopped the spin and landed back on his hooves.

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were sitting on their thrones, looking down at Blaze, the guards, and Twilight Sparkle.

"I’m so sorry, Princesses, for disturbing you! I did my best to stop him." Twilight said as she was bowing her head up and down in apologizing style.

"It’s quite alright. Your brother informed us with a message stating you were in the castle and what’s going on." Princess Celestia said. "Would you care to explain your actions, Blaze?" She said with a stern voice.

Blaze bowed his head as he said, "Your highness, I just wanted to say directly to you how thankful I am for you allowing Twilight to teach me about magic."

"But I’ve only taught you how to access it. You’ve been avoiding me all afternoon in Ponyville and in the castle."

The colt stood back up. He turned his head to the purple Unicorn as he said, "You may have not taught me what you planned on teaching, but I did learn some useful things about magic indirectly from today."

"Would you like to explain exactly what you learned?" Princess Luna asked.

"I’ve learned levitation first, as it’s similar to my chakra control. It relates to when I use it to hold myself to walls and ceilings or be able to walk on top of the water on my hooves. I learned how to make it look like I disappeared within a barrier, convincing the caster to drop it. I also learned different methods of dodging magic spells. I then figured out how to get out of a barrier with my chakra without causing it to burst open. Finally, I learned a new method to deflect magic beams while in pony form."

"We really tried to stop him, your highnesses," one Guard said.

"Our spells did make contact, but they just bounced off," the other said.

"It’s quite alright. Blaze has an interesting way sometimes doing the impossible," Princess Celestia said. "You’re dismissed."

They bowed and left, closing the door behind them.

"So, as I was chasing you, you were learning defensive ways against magic?" Twilight asked, while confused.

"I did, but I wanted to show you that there are other ways of learning things instead of books. You can have fun while doing it," Blaze said.

"It was nice to stretch my legs out. I’ll need to have Spike remind me to do some jogging each day."

"You can join me in my pre-dawn jog I do each morning."

"Thanks, but no thanks. I do need the sleep I manage to get to juggle the next day's agendas."

"It would appear you both have learned some useful lessons. Would you both like to join us for dinner? We can teleport you back to Ponyville after."

Twilight and Blaze looked at each other and nodded. "We would love to join you," Twilight said.

"Thank you for the honor," Blaze added.

All four left the courtroom and headed to the dining room. While there, they discuss Blaze’s magic font and the size of it. Both Princesses were impressed that he was starting with a good size capacity. Blaze demonstrated his levitation control as they ate dinner. When they were done, but before they were sent home, Princess Luna came up to the colt.

“Blaze, Shining Armor also mentioned that dream you had. When you’re ready, I would like to help you with it to understand its meaning,” she said.

“Thank you, Princess. I’ll probably come to see you this weekend when I get my body back,” he replied.

“I shall be waiting.”

With that, both Princesses teleported them to their homes. It was late, so the Blaze’s house was dark. He headed inside quietly to not wake Al up. When the colt got to his room and turned on the lights, Blaze shouted at the sight before him, “GET OUT OF MY BED!”
> Chapter 47: Equestria's Got Talent, Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blaze walked into his room after having dinner with the Princesses and Twilight Sparkle. The Alicorns teleported him home afterwards. When he turned on the lights to his room, he was shocked to see who was in his bed. The colt shouted, "GET OUT OF MY BED!"

The character in question shot up in the bed with a startled look on their face, wondering who was shouting.

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU IN MY BED!"

"Dude, turn the voice down. Everyone is trying to sleep," Al said.

"I WILL NOT STOP SHOUTING UNTIL YOU EXPLAIN WHY YOU ARE IN MY BED! YOU HAVE YOUR OWN BEDROOM!"

"I offered my bed to our friends as they don't have a place to stay while they are here. I didn’t know if you were going to come back tonight, so I took your bed."

"Well I’m back, so get up and out. I have school in the morning."

"Where do you expect to sleep? The couch is also taken."

"Go sleep on the bed of nails you fell asleep on earlier this week."

"Oh! Good idea. Night Blaze, see you in the morning. I’m going to make some Belgian waffles for breakfast."

The colt just waved at the human to leave. Al walked out and closed the door behind him. Blaze scuffled to his bed and just crashed as he lay down. No meditation tonight after exhausting his ki from racing Rainbow Dash.

The next morning, the green Earth pony managed to get up before dawn to begin his training regiment. He cleaned up beforehand as he still had some marble and wood debris in his mane. He had no problem sneaking downstairs and outside. When the colt stepped outside, a good chill went down his spine from the cool morning air.

"Same weather conditions here as to where I lived on Earth for this time of the year. I need to get Rarity to make some winter clothing and coats for me and Al. That fur coat from the Manticore will make a good liner,” Blaze said to himself.

He started his jog after increasing the weight again. It was a quiet morning as all the ponies and animals were still sleeping. The one time he can enjoy the beauty of this world without distractions. There was a low fog over the fields as he ran to town. Showing the signs that the seasons will be changing soon. He did a lap around the empty town square before heading back. Blaze made it back in time to watch the moon set and the sun rise from the horizon. Just before he started his exercise routine, several other ponies and a human came out of the house.

"What, you could have not waited for us to join you?" Al asked.

"Morning everyone,” the colt replied. “I didn’t think that you all were still doing this."

"Even though we’re no longer in the training course, we still like to keep fit,” said Lighting Trails. “You’re stuck in that colt body, yet you were able to beat us one after another. It proved that we cannot slack if we ever want to beat you."

"Plus, this exercise regimen you taught us has improved how we fight by agility and dexterity. You don't need full strength to beat your opponent," Star Dust said.

"You need a calm mind to outthink your opponent. Charging in with no plan will likely make you lose the battle," Al said.

"Unless you're someone who thinks of strange methods that no one expected their opponent to do,” said the black Pegasus. “You just have to tell us where you came up with those fighting styles."

Blaze just smiled as he replied, "There are some things I can't reveal where I came up with those. This world isn’t ready for that kind of teaching."

"What teaching, you ripped some of those moves off of TV shows and movies," the human said quickly.

"TV shows?" Star Dust asked with a confused look.

"Human entertainment coming from a magic box. Too much to go over to really explain it," the colt said. "Let's get the exercise over with. A certain human promised to make breakfast this morning. Hope you have enough ingredients to feed an army."

The other ponies laughed. The laughter soon ended as they started the routine. Once it was done, Al headed to the kitchen to get breakfast going. Blaze headed to the bathroom to freshen up. When he stepped out, he smelled the recognizable smell of Belgian waffles. As he got downstairs, he saw Star Dust and Lightning Trails were putting on their armor.

"You two off to work?" the green Earth pony asked.

"Someone has to watch the town. By the way, what was with the screaming last night?" the Unicorn stallion asked.

"I came home late after being chased around Ponyville and Canterlot castle. How was I supposed to react when I see someone in my bed," Blaze replied.

"You could have not screamed and woken the rest of us up," the Pegasus stallion said.

"You’re right. I could have actually teleported him back to his bed without him noticing. Although, there would have probably been a couple of screams in the morning, now thinking about it."

Star Dust was laughing as Lightning Trails was coughing pretty hard. "Yes, um, thanks for not doing that. I don't think Star Dust could have handled it," the Pegasus said after he cleared his throat.

"HAY! I slept on the couch while you took Al's bed. Something about your wings would be cramped if you had to sleep like that," the Unicorn replied.

From the kitchen, Al shouted,  “Hey, I don’t mind where I sleep. I slept on a spike bed in hell. Waking up to something soft and warm would be a nice change.”

Upon hearing this, Lightning Trail’s wings popped straight out. Star Dust laughed some more after seeing this. Blaze joined in the laughing.

"I didn’t think you swung that way!" the blue stallion said in between laughs

"I DON'T! Al's comment just surprised me!" the black stallion said as he worked on getting his wings back under control.

"Alright everyone, come and get breakfast before it gets cold," said the human.

They headed to the dining room and chowed down. Blaze snagged a dozen waffles and applied plenty of strawberries and whipped cream to the stack. The others just snagged two. As they were eating, the front door opened, and entered Cancer and Dragon.

"Morning everyone. What smells so good?" Cancer said as he walked into the dining room.

"Mmhmm, Belgian waffles Al made. Very good," the colt replied with his mouth stuffed.

Star Dust finished chewing the food in his mouth before speaking. "They’re very good. Why are they called that?"

"The actual name for them is Lie`ge Waffles. It’s another recipe from our planet. Very popular in the country of Belgium as that is where it came from," Al said.

"How were you able to remember the recipe?" Dragon asked.

"I didn't. It was on Blaze's device where he has the other recipes that he likes."

"And where did you have time to go through my iPad?" Blaze asked with no food in his mouth.

"You left it on your nightstand. I wonder what you read some nights before you go to bed. Nice collection by the way."

The green Earth pony placed his hooves together and did a jutsu to teleport the device back into his human devices vault in the basement. "Thanks for reminding me where it was so I can re-secure it again."

"What’s this contraption you two are speaking of? Just sounds like a book or journal to me," Lightning Trails questioned.

"Human technology that I brought with me. The rest of it is classified. Well, I’m off to school, see you this afternoon," the colt said. He grabbed his saddlebag and quickly headed out the door.

After a few moments of silence, Al broke it by saying, "So, Cancer and Dragon, how was your visit with Zecora?"

"How did you know we went to see her?" replied the Zebra with red stripes.

"When Blaze mentioned he ran into another Zebra, you two and your big sister, Fang, all went big eyes and surprised. It was for either hearing about another Zebra or you actually knew Zecora from your homeland. So, which is it?"

Both Zebras looked a little sheepish for hiding their plan from their friends. "It’s the latter," Dragon said with his face looking towards the floor.

"You two and Colorful Sparks owe me five bits each for our bet," the human said as he looked at the stallions at the table. They dug the money out of pouches that were underneath the armor and tossed them to Al on the table.

"Wait, you all placed a bet as to the reason why we left the library so quickly?" Cancer asked.

"It was placed during dinner as you three did not show up for it. We figured Fang joined Colorful Sparks on patrol and you two went to the guardhouse," Star Dust said.

Lightning Trails said, "Three of us thought you just wanted to see this other Zebra. The odds were slim of you actually knew her."

"And you three lost the bet. I’ll collect from Colorful Sparks later. For now, join us for breakfast before you hit the sack for some needed sleep."

The Zebra stallions nodded before taking a seat at the table. When they took a bite of the waffle, they too really enjoyed the flavors of them.

------Meanwhile------

As Blaze was walking to the School, he heard several tiny hooves running up behind him. He jumped into the air before he was going to be tackled by three fillies. He landed and saw Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom were lying across one another.

"Why were you trying to tackle me?" the colt asked.

"We wanted to see if it was really you, or an illusion," the white filly said as she pulled herself off the pile.

The yellow filly was the next to get out of the pile. She said, "We didn’t know what happened to you after you were being chased by Twilight."

"Plus, we wanted to see if you could detect us coming up from behind you," the orange filly added.

"Yes, it’s the real me. Twilight chased me all the way to Canterlot castle, but never caught me. I heard your hooves several yards back so I didn’t need to use my ability to track you," the green Earth pony replied to all.

Just then, Pinkie Pie came walking up in her cheerful mood. "Morning girls. Morning Rocky. I have your lunch here for you," she said.

Blaze took the lunch and placed it in his saddlebag. As they continued the walk to the school, the colt said, "Pinkie, they know it’s actually me."

"We found out about it when he sparred against some of his friends from his Royal Guard training," Apple Bloom said.

"We saw him buck their flanks with no problem," Scootaloo said in an excited tone.

"Girls! You should never use fighting to prove you’re better than another pony,” said Blaze. “I’m sorry you had to witness that. The magic buildup I had was affecting me pretty badly. It was making me act like an athlete on steroids," he said in a remorseful tone.

"What are steroids?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"It’s a drug enhancer back on Earth to improve one's body. It has some serious side effects. One is making the user more aggressive. I hope to never see that drug come here."

"Oh, Rocky, why didn't you tell me you had magic build up yesterday?" Pinkie Pie asked in her worried tone.

"I thought it was only a headache. It was only slight in the morning but got worse as the day went on. Twilight did help me get rid of the build-up. She then chased me for the rest of the afternoon wanting to teach me magic."

"I really thought I got her mind off of it when she wanted to understand my Pinkie Sense." The pink mare then got a combo again of new ponies in Ponyville. "Oh, where are those Zebras I have yet to meet. My senses have been going off since yesterday. You would think it would not be hard to find them with the stripes on their bodies."

"That’s racist profiling! They can't help it as they are born with it. Pinkie, of all the ponies, I would have never expected you to say that," Blaze said in a harsh tone.

The pink Earth pony’s hair deflated all the way to her flat look. She sat down on her flank and put on her sad face. The CMC and Blaze stopped and turned towards her.

The colt knew she probably didn’t mean it. So, he now had to somehow cheer her back up. He walked up to Pinkie and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “I’m sorry I said that. It’s another human thing we have. Some of my kind doesn’t like the way some others look. Mostly it’s the skin color. We humans are not as colorful as you ponies are. The skin color varies from light tan to a pink range and from light to dark brown.  We can dye our hair and put tattoos on our bodies to make ourselves more unique. It’s still the skin color from where we migrated from different countries on our world centuries ago and the human history itself that has brought that up. I hate the ones who hated others because of their skin color and where they grew up.”

Pinkie turned her head towards the colt. Several tears have fallen from her eyes. She sniffs her nose a bit before saying, “The human race is really that bad? They just can’t get along like you and Al?”
“Majority is still like that. It’s been decreasing over the past century, but it’s the parents teaching their kids this by expressing how they feel. The child can either follow the parent’s method towards others or reject it. I rejected my father after what he did to my mother and me. I never wanted to act like that to anyone. Now then, how about you turn that frown upside down and I’ll tell you why you didn’t see them.”

Pinkie wiped away her tears and started to smile.

“They are part of the Royal Guard, so they had their armor on. It was probably hiding their stripes. If you hurry, you will find two of them back at my place.”

In an instant, her mane returned to normal. Pinkie Pie bolted down the path to Blaze’s house, leaving a fire line in her wake.

“When she wants to meet a new friend, nothing will stop her,” Blaze said. The Crusaders and Blaze continued off to school, hoping it will be normal, for once.

--------Back at Blaze’s House-------

The Zebra brothers had taken off their armor and just finished eating their breakfast. Star Dust and Lightning Trails had left for work. Al was in the kitchen, cleaning up and doing the dishes.

“Wow, those waffles you made Al were very yummy. I don’t know if I’ve ever been this full,” Cancer said.

“I can’t wait for the next dish you’re going to make from your world,” Dragon said as he patted his stomach bulge.

“I’m no chef, but I can follow instructions for the dish with no problem. Just don’t expect me to cook each meal. There will be some that are for humans only,” Al said as he continued to scrub the plates.

“Why’s that?” Cancer asked.

“It’s because it’ll contain meat, you doofus,” Dragon replied.

“Hay! I was just asking. I know he eats meat. He explained it before he butchered up that dead Manticore,” the brother said in a louder voice.

“Then don’t ask stupid questions that you know the answer to, little brother!” the older brother said, now shouting.

Both brothers were now staring each other down. They looked like they were about to start fighting right in the dining room. Cancer and Dragon now turned their bodies so they faced each other. Each one began to stomp a hoof as if they were getting ready to charge. The human heard the stomping and quickly turned around to see what was going on. Just as the Zebras started to charge, Al activated his gravity powers and forced them to the ground, one foot from each other.

“THAT’S ENOUGH! I WILL NOT HAVE YOU START FIGHTING IN BLAZE’S HOUSE! IF YOU WANT TO BEAT EACH OTHER TO A BLOODY PULP, TAKE IT TO THE ARENA OUTSIDE!” he shouted at the top of his voice. “So, what’s your decision? Stop fighting or take it outside.”

The Zebra Unicorn stallions looked at each other, knowing what the other was thinking. At the same time, they both said, “Outside.”

“Now then, I’ll allow you to get up and head out. If so much as start fighting before you’re out there and break something, not only you will have to deal with me, but Blaze as well. I don’t even want to know what he will do if someone breaks something.”

The human released the gravity hold he had on them. They got up and were making their way to the front door. Cancer was in front and used his magic to open the door. Once he opened the door and looked outside, he saw a pink blur coming up to the house fast. He activated his ability in time to dodge being slammed by the object. Just as the stallion moved out the way, Dragon activated his to capture the speeding object.

Now, suspended in midair by time, was Pinkie Pike. Her body was slowly moving as if she was trying to put on the breaks from running. Both Cancer and Dragon looked at the strange mare, wondering why it was running so fast to get here.

Without warning, Pinkie started to say, "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie. You must be the Zebras I have been looking for. You were very good at hiding yesterday. I’m so happy Blaze told me where you were so I can meet you and become your friends. Oh, this is so great to finally find two more friends. Wow, this is weird. I’m talking way faster than my body is moving. Weeeeee! I’m flying!"

"Hold up. How are you able to talk? My brother has his speed down active on you. Your whole body should be affected," Cancer said.

"Don't know. But it’s really fun to be in the air like this. Weeeeeee!"

"Guys, let her down,” said Al, while still in the kitchen. “When she meets new ponies or a human in my case, she normally talks so fast that you can't understand her. For once I was able to since you did that."

Dragon slowly released the spell so the pink Earth pony would easily land on her hooves. Once the mare was standing on them, Dragon said, "Well, it’s nice to meet you Pinkie Pie. My name is Dragon and this here is Cancer, my little brother."

Now talking normally, Pinkie said, "Wow you two look almost alike, except for the stripe colors. Oops! I didn't mean to talk bad about them! They are nice and unique. Oh! I did it again. What I mean . . . mph."

A hoof from Cancer got shoved into Pinkie's mouth to stop her from saying anything else. "We get what you were trying to say Pinkie Pie. You don't need to be careful about what you say to us. Just as long as you don't diss us, we would be happy with what you are saying," he said in a compassionate voice.

"The reason we look the same as we are twins. Clearly not identical. We would also like to say that we would gladly accept to be your friends. Just from now on, don't run at super speed. If we had not opened the door, you would have probably broken it," Dragon said in a concerned tone.

Pinkie nodded her head. She then grabbed both of them into a great big hug. Any tighter, the Zebra's eyes would have popped out. She released the hug and allowed them to catch their breath.
Al walked into the entryway and was finishing drying his hands with a towel. "Pinkie, it’s not like you to be concerned with what you say to others. We know what you normally say is nothing bad. So, why now?" Al asked.

The pink mare told what happened a few minutes ago when she was talking to Blaze and the Crusaders. Once she was done, Pinkie said, "I never knew you humans had so much hate for one another. Why couldn't they all be friends?"

Al just pinched the brow of his nose before he spoke. "I don't know Pinkie. I think Blaze's colt form is affecting his mind. He knows you didn’t mean what you said. So try and forget what he told you about our world. You ponies are nothing like the humans back on Earth."

Pinkie smiled and nodded. Her Pinkie Senses went off as she still had another new friend to friend. "Goodie! I have another friend to find. Wonder where I will find them," the mare said, sounding all excited.

"Have you met our big sister, Fang? She too is a Zebra," Dragon said.

"No, I haven't! That must be the new friend I need to find!"

Pinkie Pie quickly turned around and was about to run out the door, if Cancer didn’t grab her tail with his mouth to stop her. "WAIT! If you do see her, do not charge straight to her or sneak up. You’ll be asking to get hurt as she can pop out blades out of her body from any location," the stallion said while her tail was still in his mouth.

"Okie Dokie Lokie." Pinkie pulled her tail away and still ran out the door.

The twin brothers were still confused about how Pinkie Pie could do the things she was able to. Then again, they were Zebra with horns. They stood there for a few minutes. Then Cancer asked, "What were we about to do?"

Dragon shrugged his shoulders as he said, "I can't remember. Do you remember, Al?"

Not wanting them to fight, Al quickly said, "You heard something coming, so that is why you opened the door. Now then, you have three choices of where to sleep, my bed, the couch, or on a bed of nails on the back deck."

"I think we’ll take the bed and couch." Cancer replied for them.

"Why did you offer us to sleep on the nail bed? That just sounds painful!" Dragon exclaimed.

"It was an offer. I slept on it last night and had no issue. Though, it could because that is what the bed was when I was in hell."

The Zebra brothers both put on a strange look on their face after hearing that. They soon both yawn and just headed off to one of the choices to sleep. Dragon took the couch and Cancer headed upstairs to Al's bed. The human headed off to the backyard to continue his training and control over his anger.

--------At Twilight’s house/Ponyville Library---------

Twilight was going through several books at one time. She was putting them away this time when she was done with them.  Her face looked like that of a concerned pony for a friend. Spike walked in carrying a platter with a tea kettle and a tea cup. He placed it near Twilight after avoiding being hit by a flying book.

"What’s this latest research project you are working on Twi?" the dragon asked.

"It’s nothing Spike," Twilight said, trying not to sound concerned.

"I know you better than you know yourself. The last time you did this level of book reading was when you were trying to find what caused your horn to go all floppy."

"Am I that easy to read?"

"Let's just say you don't know how to hide what you are trying to do. So, what has made you so worried?"

The Unicorn gave out a sigh. "I guess I should tell you so you can maybe help me." Twilight set down the books in her magical grasp. She poured herself a cup of tea and took a quick sip. "Well, before Blaze and I were teleported back home by the Princesses, Princess Luna walked up to him. She said my brother informed them of a strange dream Blaze told Shining. When he is ready, she wants to help him understand what that dream is telling him."

"Sounds like they will have it under control. So why do you worry about it?"

"He didn’t mention it to any of us. That’s what is worrying me. What kind of a dream can be so bad that he needed to see the Princesses? Dreams are just a fantasy our subconscious creates to play out our desires from what I read.”

"Maybe it was not a dream, but a nightmare!"

"Nightmares only happen if something is really bothering the creature. You can't get hurt in them. Once you feel pain, that would cause the dreamer to wake up."

"Well, he was changed into a colt without his permission. That might have caused whatever he had to occur. I think you worry a little too much, Twilight."

"Maybe you're right. It’s just that he came from his world, where most of his kind went violent and failed the test that his God has placed. I don't know how he’s coping with it so well. To lose all your friends and family like that, I would probably close myself off if I lost any of my friends. I just learned how wonderful it’s to have them. I want to be there for him with whatever I can do to help him."

"I suggest you let him decide when to share his dream with us when he feels like it. He would take it badly if you decide to poke around his head without his permission."

"Again, you are right Spike. But I’m still going to prepare to help when he does ask." Twilight dove back into her books.

Spike whispered to himself, "At least Blaze is no longer being chased by you to learn magic."

--------Several hours later--------
At the schoolhouse

“It was so cool for Miss. Cheerilee to give us tomorrow off from school so we can work on what we’re going to do for the talent show on Saturday,” Apple Bloom said.

Blaze, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom were hanging outside the schoolhouse. The three girls were discussing the items they are going to be needing for the musical number. The colt just listened as they went over what they needed to make the scenery and the costumes.

The white filly turned her head towards the green Earth pony and asked, “Are you sure you don’t want to be part of our skit, Rocky? We could really use your abilities to take it to the top and win.”

“I’m sorry girls, but you should do this without me,” he replied. “If I help you with it, then more than likely you won’t get your cutie mark. You need to do this one just you three. I’ll be doing something for the show, but I will still cheer you on.”

“Oh! What are you going to do? Some mad skill with your ability over rocks?” Scootaloo asked with excitement in her voice.

“I’m not going to share exactly what, but it will be a show stopper of a performance,” Blaze said with a big smile on his face. “Now then, if you would excuse me, I have a Zebra I need to see about something.”

The colt jumped up and did a backflip in the air. As he was heading back down, he performed a jutsu to pass right through the ground without disturbing it. Once in the ground, he teleported to Zecora’s to check on the poison joke cure. Hoping it will be ready on time for the show.

The Crusaders were impressed with how he made himself head off without disturbing the ground. They all looked at each other and began to wonder what Blaze’s act was going to be.

“What do you think he is going to do?” the yellow filly asked.

The white filly replied, “I don’t know, but it’ll have to be something with water as he’s heading to Zecora to check on the potion.”

“How’s taking a dip in the water going to be exciting?” the orange filly asked, “We’re going to be on stage. There’s no watering hole nearby.”

“Whatever he’s planning, he did say it would be a show stopper,” Apple Bloom said.

The Crusaders laughed as they headed off to get the supplies. Off in the bushes by the woods, two fillies were crouched as they were watching them.

"This is boring. Why are we wasting time keeping an eye on these Blank Flanks," Silver Spoon whispered.

"I’m more interested in that new colt friend of theirs,” Diamond Tiara whispered back. “Something seems familiar to him. I also wanted to know how he was able to get out of jail so quickly. No pony could have gotten out of jail without help."

"He did ask those Blank Flanks to get some other ponies. Maybe they are the ones who managed to get him to be released."

"You need wealth and leverage to pull something like that. A little colt from Dodge Junction doesn’t have either of those. My daddy had to pay a big fine for bribing those guards. Luckily, he’s able to make that money up in a week."

"I don't know. If he’s able to do that, who knows what else that colt can do."

"Just shut up and do what I say. Come on, we need to follow those Blank Flanks so we can see if they will meet up with that colt later."

They crept out of their hiding spot and began to follow the Crusaders.
> Chapter 48: Equestria's Got Talent, Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------At Zecora's Hut----------

Blaze appeared just outside of Zecora's hut. Knowing where it saved him the time of walking through the EverFree Forest. He walked up to the door and gave it a quick knock. A few seconds later, Zecora showed up and opened the door.

"Ah, my little colt friend, you could not wait for this weekend?" the Zebra asked.

"I’m just checking to see if you will have it ready on Saturday. I plan on doing a feat with it at the talent show. Will you have it ready by then?" Blaze asked.

"Worry not your little mind. I’ll have it all ready by that time."

The colt got slightly mad at that remark. "Hey, I might look little, but I have knowledge of things you can't even comprehend."

"You already told me you are a human that I have yet to see. How about you share some of your knowledge over a cup of tea."

"Alright, I’ll share with you some things about my world and some of the other things I can do."

The mare headed off to get the tea going. The green Earth pony found a stool over by a table and sat down. Zecora came back holding a platter in her mouth with a tea kettle and two cups on it. She placed it on the table and poured the tea into the cups. Blaze grabbed one and to a sip.

“Hmm, interesting flavor. A good, sweet flavor with a slightly nutty in it. Reminds me of a tea that came from another country back in my world. I think it was called, Rooibos Tea.”

“That’s extraordinary, that’s the name of the plant from my country.”

“Interesting. Now then, let me tell my tale about me.”

-------Couple hours later--------

Blaze finished his tale and left Zecora’s hut. He decided to walk home as he wanted to see how the Crusaders are doing with their skit. No creatures bothered the colt as he walked out of the EverFree Forest. Once out, he was now on edge of Sweet Apple Acres. He knew the Treehouse was somewhere on the farm, but never actually saw the location.

The green Earth pony started his vibration detection technique to find them. After a few minutes, he found an object on wheels moving fast just arriving at the farm. Blaze thought it must have been Scootaloo on her scooter pulling the wagon. As he followed their movements, he sensed a pair of small hooves were following them. He moved quickly and quietly to intercept the mysterious pair. He stuck to the tree limb to avoid having his hooves heard.

Blaze arrived at the point where the two should be going through. He felt lucky to have a green coat so he could blend with the leaves. As the colt watched the ground below, he saw the Crusaders were moving along with their supplies. He made note of the direction to catch back up. A few minutes later, he spotted the pair, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. The two fillies that had been a pain to him and any blank flank kid. The colt wondered why those two were following them. He figured they were probably up to no good.

The green Earth pony stayed above them and listened for any conversation. They soon arrive at a small clearing. In the center was the Treehouse Apple Bloom had restored. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon stayed on the edge to spy. Blaze was above and listened.

“Come on Diamond Tiara, we shouldn’t be doing this. We could get into serious trouble,”  Silver Spoon whispered.

“I told you, I want to know what secret that colt Rocky is hiding. He humiliated me and my family. I want something on him so I can blackmail him,” Diamond Tiara whispered in an angry tone.

When Blaze heard this, he almost gave himself away. He just wanted to jump down and kick their flanks. He remained steady and continued to listen.

“Once we know he’s there, we’ll sneak up and listen in on their conversation,” the pink filly said.

Now knowing their plan, the colt teleported out of there and to the Cutie Mark Crusaders Treehouse. He arrived in the attic part of the building. He jumped down to the main level where Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle. He startled them by his entrance.

“Holy Smokes! Where in Equestria did you come, Bl . . . mmph!” the orange filly started to say. Before Blaze put a hoof over her mouth.

“Shh. We have a couple of spies watching us. Don’t say my real name,” he whispered.

Scootaloo nodded as did the others. The green Earth pony took his hoof off her mouth. She wiped it clean before she talked in a quieter voice. “Who would want to spy on us? We’re just normal fillies.”

“I’ll give you one guess of the pair that are hiding in the bush. They actually want to spy on me to get some dirt on me to try and blackmail me.”

“Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon,” the yellow filly whispered.

“Bingo. Diamond wanted this for me getting her in trouble and having her dad pay a hefty fine for bribing those guards.”

“But, all of that was because of how she acted to us and other blank flanks. She can’t blame you for that,” the white filly whispered.

“I know that, but she wants to get her way.”

“Then, how about we go down there and teach her a lesson,” Scootaloo said.

“If you’re implying of kicking their flanks, then we would get in trouble for it. I have a better plan.” Blaze began to tell them of the plan. They smiled and had to hold back their laughter.

-------Outside the Treehouse------

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were keeping an eye on the area. They were looking for Rocky to come up and head to the Treehouse. All of a sudden, they heard a voice come from there.

“Yawn. Oh, hey Crusaders. When did you get here?” Blaze said while acting tired.

“Shoot, he must have gotten here before the other Blank Flanks. Come on. We need to scoot up quickly,” the pink filly said.

They moved from their hiding spot to closer to the tree. As they crept up, they listened to the conversation.

“Hey Lord Rock, I take it your meeting with Zecora went well?” Apple Bloom asked.

“It sure did. The ability enhancement potion will push what I can do to new heights. Just in time for the talent show. Once I win that, I can push my plans forward to take over this land,” the colt said, following up with a burst of evil laughter.

All the Crusaders started chanting, “All hail to Lord Rock.”

The grey filly was now scared of what she heard. Diamond Tiara was instead excited about this. “This is exactly what I need to make sure he’ll get locked away for a long time. Come on, we need to tell the Royal Guards,” the pink filly said.

As they turned around, Silver Spoon stepped onto a twig. Causing it to snap loudly. They stood still, hearing if they heard that.

“Lord Rock, I think we have intruders on the premises,” Sweetie Belle said.

“I’ll take care of this. ROCK GOLEMS! GO AND FIND THESE INTRUDERS AND BRING THEM TO ME!” the colt shouted.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon started running. As they approached the tree line, Rock figurines were coming out of the ground. They were just bigger than fillies. Each one stood on two stubby legs, their chest and arms were buffed out, and the heads had eye sockets that glowed green. The two fillies screamed and tried to go another way. But, they saw more coming up to block them. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were soon surrounded by a dozen Rock Golems. They were shaking and hugging each other as they were scared of what was going to happen.

Two Golems stepped away as Rocky and the Crusaders went and filled the gap. The green Earth pony was in front of the three fillies. He had an evil-looking grin on his face. The grey and pink filly were now shaking even more.

“So, it was you two spying on me. Trying to learn my secret plans?” Rocky asked.

“We already heard it and won’t let you get away with it. My daddy will come to look for me,” Diamond Tiara shouted.

“What are you talking about?” Scootaloo asked.

“We heard Rocky talk about a potion and taking over this land. Also how you called him Lord Rock,” Silver Spoon tried to say while shaking scared.

The Crusaders and Rocky were laughing. “You must have misheard me. The potion is to improve my singing voice. Lord Rock is going to be my stage name,” the colt replied.

“Then, what’s with all of these rock creatures you summoned?” Diamond Tiara asked.

“Guess I can give you a sneak preview of what I’m going to do in the talent show. Girls, mind joining them while I get a stage setup?”

The Crusaders nodded their heads and moved behind Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Rocky walked away and the Rock Golems followed. He stomped his hoof and a small rock stage rose up from the ground. He hopped up and turned around.

“Now then, I don’t have my music ready or the potion for my voice, so this will be a silent act.”

(Blaze and the Rock Golems perform the movements in the video with no music or singing)


When they were done, he had the stage and golems go back into the ground. He walked over to the fillies to hear what they thought about it. “So, what did you all think?” the colt asked.

The Crusaders were all looking at each other, trying how to word it as best they could. Before they could say anything, Diamond Tiara said, "Of all the things I expected you to do, that’s probably the weirdest thing you could have done. I can't wait to see you get laughed off the stage. Come on Silver Spoon, let's go before we catch his weirdness."

Silver Spoon replied, "Nice insult DT."

With that, those two got up and left, in a snobby fashion. Once they were out of sight, Apple Bloom first spoke, "Rocky! I thought you were going to teach them a lesson for spying on you! Now they saw what you are going to do for the show and will laugh."

"What was with the dancing anyway? I don't know how you are going to incorporate taking a dip to cure yourself of the Poison Joke," Scootaloo said.

"Girls, that isn’t what I’m going to be doing. I lied to them by doing something bad. That way, they will show up and expect me to get laughed off the stage," he replied.

"It's not?" They all said at the same time.

"Nope, I do have my routine planned out for what I think will be good. I just thought that thing together on the spot."

"I sure hope we don't get laughed at for our musical number," Sweetie Belle said in a sad tone with her head low to the ground.

The green Earth pony placed a hoof under the white Unicorn’s chin and raised her head. "Hey, don't get all sad now. Remember, you three are trying to get your Cutie Marks. So you need to do your best if you want it to happen. You want me to tell you something from my childhood back on Earth?"

The Crusaders all nodded. They sat together to hear Blaze's tale.

"When I was about ten years old, my school also did a talent show. My mom suggested I take part in it to just have fun. I was also scared of being laughed at."

"What did you do for it?" the orange filly asked.

"Well, I wasn’t that good at anything that I could easily show off. I decided to try my hand at Karate. I was still a novice at it, but it was the only thing I could show."

The yellow filly was all excited as she said, "Oh! I love Karate too! Watch this." She got up and did some karate chops while saying, "KIIIIYYYAAAA!"

Apple Bloom was in the moment and did a flying kick, but it was heading straight for Blaze. The colt was able to stop it with his fast reaction time. He stuck a hoof out and concentrated to grab Apple Bloom with his magic. The hoof glowed red. Before she could make contact, her body glowed the same color and forced her to stop in mid-air.

"What? How . . . How are you doing this Blaze?" Apple Bloom panicky asked.

"One word, magic."

"When in Equestria . . . Oh wait, you learned that when you went to see Twilight about the Magic Build Up," Sweetie Belle said.

The green Earth pony nodded, then set the yellow Earth pony down, gently. He released the magic hold on her once her hooves touched the ground.

Apple Bloom smiled and said, "You’re getting very good at that. It has only been a day since you learned how to use it."

Sweetie Belle was frustrated at how easily magic control came to Blaze. "I wish Rarity could start teaching me magic. But she says I’m still too young," she said.

"You’ll learn when you’re ready. I had to take a crash course in it as it was causing me great pain in my head. Now then, can I get back to my story?" Blaze asked. Apple Bloom headed back over and sat back down to listen.

"Ok, so on the night of the talent show, I was very nervous about making a fool of myself. When it was my turn to go on stage, the stage helpers helped in positioning my props on stage that I was going to use in my performance. I did some simple moves with my hands and legs before I headed to my first prop. What I was going to do was a roundhouse kick through a board that was at my head height. It was being held by a stage helper. When I went to do it, guess what happened?"

"You broke the board," Apple Bloom quickly said.

Sweetie Belle said, "You missed the board."

"You hit the stage helper instead!" Scootaloo shouted.

"Sweetie Belle was the closest. I missed the board and fell onto my butt," Blaze answered.

"Did the crowd start to laugh?" the white filly asked.

"They did. But I didn’t cry or leave the stage. I got back up and tried again. I broke the board on the second try. I then moved on chopping other boards that were supported between blocks. I used my hands and feet and had no issue breaking them."

"That must have been a cool sight to see you do that," the orange filly said.

"Yes it was, but the lesson from this was if you do get laughed at, know that you tried your best and that’s all that matters. You’re not expected to be perfect the first time you try something. You learn from your mistakes so you can do better the next time. Just like trying out different things to get your Cutie Mark. Go with what you feel you are good at as that may lead to your destiny."

"But how did you get so good with your other abilities?” asked the yellow filly. “I would think it would take years to learn all the stuff you are able to do."

"You’re right. For a normal human or pony, it would take several years to master the skills. I was able to find a loophole in this. When I enter my mind space, I create several dozen clones of me in my mind to practice them. When one has learned something interesting, it’s shared with the others to improve their methods of practice."

“That must be really helpful,” the white Unicorn said.

“You have no idea. Well, it is getting late. If I don’t see you tomorrow, I’ll see you on Saturday at the Talent Show.”

“Bye Blaze,” All the Crusaders said at the same time.

With that, the colt jumped into the air and flew off, heading to his home. It didn’t take him that long to reach his house. The green Earth pony landed in the front yard and headed inside.

“Al, I’m home! Have you got dinner done yet? I’m starving!” he shouted.

“He stepped out to do some grocery shopping. Your food stash was good for the two of you. Not for an additional six ponies,” Colorful Sparks said from the Living room.

The colt walked into the room. He saw Colorful Sparks was reading a book by holding it up with his magic. “What are you reading?” he asked.

“Oh, it’s one of the books off that shelf unit over there. How come you have so many books on magic?”

“They’re from Twilight Sparkle. She sent them over here in haste when she learned that she was going to teach me magic. She called the amount ‘light reading’.”

The blue stallion laughed, then said, “I take it she really wants to teach you everything.”

“She chased me all the way to Canterlot. Yea, she’s a little excited. Well, call me when dinner is ready. I’ll be out back, meditating.”

The Unicorn nodded. The green Earth pony left the living room and headed to the back of the house. He opened the back door. Outside was his peaceful garden that he made. Nothing was out of place. On the far side of the yard, Blaze saw Fang was practicing some of her fighting her style with her blade. He headed over but kept his distance to avoid her blades. The Zebra mare was really focused on the movements that she didn’t see, nor heard the colt approaching.

Blaze said, “How’s it going, Fang?”

The mare reacted by swinging her blade at him, stopping dead center of his nose. The green Earth pony remained still, he didn’t move an inch from the spot where he stood. Fang responded, “You know, you shouldn’t sneak up on me while I’m training. I could have killed you.”

“I know you would have stopped before striking me. So what’s with the intense training? You would have normally detected me or anyone else approaching you."

The Zebra hung her head lower a bit with an angry expression showing. "I ran into a pink mare that totally caught me off guard and was able to dodge my strikes with no problem."

"Let me guess, this pink mare's name is Pinkie Pie." Fang nodded. "From what I know about that mare, you don't stand a chance of landing a blow unless she wants it to."

Fang raised her head and asked, "Does she always pop out of nowhere like that?"

"She’s done even stranger stuff than that. How about you share what happened."

"I guess. Maybe you can explain how she is able to do it."

-------Earlier that day-------
Ponyville Town Square

Fang and Colorful Sparks were patrolling through the square, not expecting any trouble in this small town. Ponies were walking around, taking care of what business or errands they had.

"Not a bad first assignment. Everything is nice and quiet," Fang said.

"I know what you mean. I’ve always liked living here, now I get to help protect it," Colorful Sparks said.

"Sorry about ditching you yesterday. My brothers and I had to see an old friend from our homeland. The last time we saw her, we were forced to leave our hometown and come to Equestria."

"Not a problem, Al didn't mind helping out. Sorry about having to hear about your family being forced to leave."

"I’ve gotten over it. The visit with Zecora was nice and got to have some food from our homeland."

"That's good. I have yet to meet this Zecora, but I heard about the commotion that occurred the last time she was here. None of us knew about Zebras. So, when she showed up prior, we all hid in our houses."

"She shared what happened. I’m glad she is now accepted to this town."

All of a sudden, Colorful Sparks’ helmet went up and a pink mare was standing on his head.

"I finally found you!" Pinkie Pie shouted.

Fang screamed and swung a hoof with her blade extended out at the mare. Pinkie Pie easily jumped up in the air to avoid the attack. She flipped onto the back of the Zebra and stood on her hind legs. The black mare retracted her blade and was having it pop out of her back where Pinkie was standing. Pinkie was able to move her hooves out the way by dancing around. The blue Unicorn was just laughing at the scene as well as other ponies that saw the commotion.

Fang shouted to Colorful Sparks, "Don't just stand there and laugh, GET THIS PONY OFF OF ME!"

The stallion eased up on the laughter a bit and said, "Alright Pinkie, I think you have had enough fun messing with Fang. Come on down and introduce yourself."

The pink mare said, "Okie Dokie Lokie." With that, she jumped off of Fang and landed on her hooves in front of her. "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie. I’m SO happy to finally find the latest new friend that has come to Ponyville!"

The Zebra mare was confused as to what happened and how this mare was able to dodge her. Her expression was a pissed off look for being made a fool in front of everypony.

Colorful Sparks placed a hoof on her teammate and said, "Calm down, Fang. This is just how Pinkie likes to meet new ponies, sometimes. By catching them off guard."

Fang just responded, "I never had a pony catch me off guard like that and also managed to dodge my blade so easily. How the buck can she do that!"

"Don't try to focus on that. The rest of the ponies in Ponyville, including myself, just accept what she does. You’ll just hurt yourself trying to figure it out. Just ask Twilight Sparkle."

"Your brothers were right with how you might react. I just knew my Pinkie Sense would help me in staying safe. That was fun dancing on your back avoiding that blade. I could get my friend, Vinyl Scratch, to put some music to that and we can do that at my next party," the pink Earth pony said. Her eyes went big as she said, "Oh! I need to start planning the Welcome party for all the new ponies and Zebras that have come to Ponyville. This is going to be another GREAT PARTY!" With that, Pinkie bolted away, leaving a smoke silhouette of where she stood.

"I think that pink mare is stranger than humans," Fang said.

"Don't worry about it. You’ll get used to her methods. She does throw the best parties in Ponyville. Actually, she puts them all on," the blue stallion said. "Come on, we need to get back onto our patrol. Also, next time you see Blaze, I think you might want him to repair that armor of yours. It looks like you just came back from a major battle with all of those cuts in it."

The Zebra mare looked back and saw all the holes she made with her blade. “Yea, I would hate to keep on destroying the armor every time I have to use my blade. I wonder if Blaze might have some better idea of armor to prevent that.”

“He does think of strange things of different armor for different purposes.”

They both started laughing at the thought of some of the ones he could make. They headed off and continued their patrol.

---------Back to the Present---------

Fang brought out her armor from behind a rock and showed it to Blaze. “So, do you think you can repair it?” She asked.

The colt walked up to the shredded armor and took a look at it. “Hmm, it should be pretty easy to repair these holes,” he said as he finished looking at the damage. “As for an armor to protect you and still allow your ability blade to pop through, I’m going to have to think about what material would be good.”

“Alright. Now then, can you share your knowledge on this Pinkie Pie?”

“Just like what Colorful Sparks said, you shouldn’t dwell too hard into it. I don’t even know exactly how she’s defying physics sometimes. Pinkie Pie will sometimes pop from where you least expect her. She’ll pull objects from unknown locations. Finally, the mare has an ability called Pinkie Sense. It allows her to predict very soon events, like falling objects, doors opening, and other things.”

“I take that explains how she was able to dodge all my blade strikes.”

“I think so. Let me just tell you one to watch out for if you see her. If Pinkie’s tail is twitching, you better head to cover for something is about to fall. Now then, let’s repair this armor.”

The mare nodded and placed the armor on the ground. The green Earth pony stood on his hind legs so he could perform some jutsu. He clapped his forehooves together and started to have the shredded parts move back into place and seal together with the others. After a few minutes, the armor was good as new.

Fang looked it over to look at the quality of the repair. “I can’t even spot the places where I destroyed it. I think it’s better than when I first got it. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. Really, don’t blab it out. I don’t want to be the one to repair all the Royal Guard’s armors. They have blacksmiths that can do as good as a job.”

“Not a problem.”

Just then, Al shouted from the house, “Fang, Blaze, dinner is ready. Come and get it before we eat it all.”

The two quickly headed back to the house to get some of the grub. After everyone had their fair share of the food, Blaze headed up to take a shower before heading to bed.

The next morning, the colt did his pre-dawn run and returned in time to join Al, Lightning Trails, and Star Dust in the morning exercises. Once done, the human headed to the kitchen to get breakfast going, Blaze headed upstairs to get cleaned up, and Lightning Trails and Star Dust was getting their armor ready to put on after breakfast. Al made veggie omelets for the ponies and he added meat to his. Blaze drooled a bit from smelling it.

Lightning Trails laughed when he saw that. He said, “Wow, Blaze, you must be really missing not being able to have meat.”

The colt wiped the drool away before he said, “Imagine this, you have a favorite dish that you like. You know you can easily get it but are being denied to have it. Now imagine that feeling for over three weeks. You get how I feel now?”

“I think so. I still don’t get how you humans could stand to eat the flesh from another being.”

Blaze and Al tried to explain human anatomy and briefly about the history of the human race. “Pretty much, it’s in our DNA to consume meat to gain the protein we need to survive. Yes, there are other sources for it, but that has the highest concentration,” Blaze concluded.

“Besides, it’s only been a week, Blaze, since you last had meat. We had dinner with the Princesses and you ate the amount of a football team,” Al quickly added.

The green Earth pony slammed his forehooves onto the table and sent a jutsu into it. It created a wooden fist that popped out where Al was sitting. It gave him an uppercut that caused him and his chair to fall backwards.

While lying on his back, still sitting in the chair, the human shouted, “I regret NOTHING!”
Star Dust turned his head to Blaze and asked, “Why did you do that?”

“He ate meat all week and made sure I smelt it. Torturing me knowing I can’t eat that while I’m in a pony body. Besides, he knew it was coming,” the colt replied. He had the fist return back into the table.

Al got up and righted his chair before sitting back down on it. “I was expecting him to do it on the second day. He has better control than I thought he would have,” he said.

“Blaze, don’t you have to get to school soon?” Lightning Trails asked.

“Nope. Miss. Cheerilee has given the class the day off to get ready for the talent show,” he replied.

“That’s cool,” said Star Dust. “So, what are you planning on doing?”

“That is for me to know and for you to come and see it there. Bye!” With that, Blaze teleported away before they could pester him some more.

“Guess he wants to get back to getting whatever he is planning ready,” Al said.

The other two just nodded as they finished their breakfast.

------Outside Blaze’s house-------

The colt reappeared just outside his door. He was glad he got away before being asked any more questions. He started to wonder what he’s going to do today. He had already planned out what he’s going to do for the talent show. The Crusaders are working on their musical skit. Thinking of what some of the others are possibly doing, the green Earth pony realized what he could do. . . ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

Taking this thought, Blaze flew up into the air and looked for the best cloud to lay on. He found one that was hanging above the town hall. He flew towards it and got comfortable on top of it. Blaze was still amazed at how soft a cloud could feel. So, the colt just relaxed and stared at the clouds above.

Not realizing how much time has gone by, the green Earth pong heard his colt name being called out from below. He popped his head through the cloud to see who the pony was. It was Pinkie Pie and she was staring directly at him. Not wanting to fly down from where he is at, Blaze teleported to an alleyway nearby. He walked out to the street, heading towards Pinkie. 

Blaze said, “Hi Pinkie, were you looking for me?”

Pinkie turned her head towards the colt and said, “Hi Rocky, why were you up there?”

“I was just staring at the clouds, letting time go by. What are you up to?”

“I’m getting the talent show ready. I was going to have some ponies help me with the stage, but they were just pulled away to take care of an emergency in another town.”

“Sorry to hear that. Do you want me to help you with it?”

“Absolutely! With many of you, that stage will be done in no time!”

“Uh, Pinkie, I can’t use my Shadow Clone technique. The Poison Joke is somehow blocking it.”

“Still having one of you will be very helpful.”

So, Blaze followed Pinkie to the empty stage that was outside. He followed her instructions on where to put the speakers and the stage lighting. Some of the positionings of them were frustrating as having to move it ever so much back and forth. It reminded him how Pinkie had Rainbow positioned a thunder cloud during prank wars.

Once the stage was set, Pinkie Pie thanked Blaze as he flew off back to his nap cloud. He arrived and saw Rainbow Dash had taken it over and was napping. There was no room for him to get on that cloud. So, the colt thought it would be funny to make one of his and place it on top of the blue mare. He made it thick enough so the Pegasus would be able to stand on the cloud she was on, but not be able to poke her head through his.

Blaze got comfortable on the chakra cloud and dozed off to sleep as he watched the clouds and other Pegasus go by. About an hour later, he heard a scream from below.

“What the? We are not scheduled to have fog! Ugh, why can’t I get rid of it!” Rainbow shouted from within.

The green Earth pony positioned himself to move the chakra cloud wherever the mare went. She went flying in every direction above Ponyville. Blaze kept up with her as he sensed her movements in the cloud. They did loop-de-loops, corkscrews, and other air flight maneuvers. From the view of the ponies on the ground, they were seeing a green Earth colt having the time of his life riding on a strange cloud. Rainbow Dash never flew into any of the buildings while doing this.

When they were over the EverFree Forest, Blaze decided to end this shenanigan. He stopped the cloud he was maneuvering. The Pegasus bolted out of it into the blue sky. She quickly stopped and floated in the air. "Wow, that was some intense fog. I thought I would never get out of it," she said as the mare wiped some sweat off her forehead. Rainbow Dash turned around to get a look at the fog bank she was in. What she saw was a small cloud and Blaze was on top with a big smirk. Her facial expression went from exhausted, to surprise, then to sheer anger. Rainbow shouted, "What the? YOU! I’M GOING TO GET YOU BLAZE!"

"You have to catch me first!" he replied.

The colt stood up and went to the edge of the cloud. Using it as a springboard, he dove off and headed into the forest below. Rainbow was on his tail as they weaved through the trees and vines. She was catching up quickly to Blaze in this chase. The green Earth pony rounded a bend up ahead. Just as the blue Pegasus did, she saw him standing there with a hoof as Blaze shouted, "Stop!"

The mare put on the brakes and managed to stop an inch away from his hoof. While breathing hard, Rainbow said, "What the BUCK Blaze are you doing? First, trapping me in your strange cloud as I flew around trying to get out of it. Then you had me chase you through this forest. What the BUCK is going on!"

"I have something to show you," he softly said. The colt then walked through a thick bush nearby.

Rainbow carefully followed. When she emerged, she saw they were in a slightly open area in the forest. There was a nice calm pond as birds and other small creatures were around. Blaze was by the edge on top of a flat rock. He motioned her to come to him. The mare slowly does as she was expecting him to pull another prank. She was now standing next to him. "So what is it you just had to show me?"

"Look down there and tell me what you see," Blaze said as he pointed to the water.

Rainbow walked to the edge and looked down at the water. "I see my reflection and I look awesome."

"Look harder."

The blue Pegasus moved her head closer for a better look. She was thinking of what Blaze ment. All she could see was her reflection on the mirror-like surface. Just as she was about to pull her head away, Blaze popped out of the water and pulled her into the pond. Rainbow Dash brought her head back to the surface. She screamed from the sheer sensation of the cool water. The green Earth pony was nearby with just his head above the water.

The mare turned her head towards him. You could see the water was steaming off of her. She was really angry. While grinding her teeth, she said, "Give me one reason I should not come over there and kick your flank into the next town."

Blaze just smiled and said, "Hakuna Matata."

Rainbow Dash's expression switched to very confused. "Eh, what?"

"Ha-kun-a Ma-ta-ta. It means don't worry and just be happy."

"But that still does not explain why you did all of this."

"Tomorrow, during the talent show, I’m going to be changing back to my normal form. I wanted today to be nothing but fun to replace some of the memories back when I was actually a child. Keep the good ones, but get rid of the bad ones. Consider this payback for the Poison Joke laced cupcake."

"I did say I was sorry for doing that."

"I did accept it, but I didn’t say that I wasn’t going to get you back."

"But now everyone in Ponyville will laugh at me for getting trapped in a cloud."

"No one saw you in that cloud. All they saw was an Earth colt riding on a cloud, having the time of his life."

"Well, I'm glad you got to have fun in your predicament. How did you find this place?"

"Found it during my survival training in the EverFree Forest."

"We're In The EVERFREE FOREST!" Rainbow said as she bolted out of the water. "We have to get out of here!"

"Calm down, Rainbow, we’re perfectly fine. I can sense when a big animal will be approaching. I’m shocked to see that you are scared."

The mare calmly floated back down into the water. "I’m not scared. I was worried about your safety. So you actually had to survive in this strange forest?"

Blaze told her some of the things he and the others had to do while here. They just floated in the water on their backs during this time. The colt finished it up by saying, "This forest isn’t that different from back home. Except for the strange creatures and plants. Other than that, it kinda reminds me of home."

The blue Pegasus shifted her position so she was now floating vertically. "Do you still miss your planet?"

Blaze looked down at the water as he pondered the question. He was wondering if he made the right choice of coming here instead of wishing Earth to return to normal and that day never happened. ”Sure, the human race has its many flaws. But for it to end like that, it started to feel like something God should haven’t done.”

Something in the colt's mind started to tell him that he made the right choice and this is what he desired. Those other humans that went violent don't deserve a second chance. Blaze started to get a headache as he listened to the voice. When it went away, so did the headache. He shook his head once the pain was gone.

"So, you don't miss your world?" Rainbow asked.

"What? No, I mean yes. I do miss it sometimes, but I’m happy to have come here. I made great friends, including you."

The mare smiled before she started to splash water at Blaze. He retaliated by splashing back. Both were laughing while doing this.

Off in the distance somewhere, there was a subtle sound of laughter, sounding somewhat evil.
> Chapter 49: Equestria Got’s Talent, Part 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The day has finally come for the talent show. All the fillies and colts participating were finalizing their acts and skits they were going to do. Several ponies helped Pinkie Pie with last minute things that had to get done before the show. Some ponies had brought over their food carts and set up their stands. Behind the stage, Twilight helped Miss. Cheerilee with organizing the kids to know when which act was going on next.

One group was the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Rarity had set up private screens for them as they wanted to keep it a secret what they were going to do. Snip and Snails were going over the different magic tricks they were going to do after getting inspired by Trixie. Lastly was Blaze, aka Rocky in his colt form. He was not running around like the others. He was pacing back and forth with a little worried and excited face.

Today was the day when he’ll finally be changed back to his normal form. He just needed Zecora to come with the potion for him. If she didn’t get here in time, his stunt wouldn’t work as he planned in his mind. He really wanted his old body back as he couldn’t really do the exercises that he does. Nor has been able to really practice magic as he planned. Lastly, Blaze really wanted to go and find those Elements of Order, but he has no clue where to start. He hoped Princess Celestia would have had better knowledge about them when he told her. His mind was going a mile a minute, the colt didn’t see a couple of fillies walk up to him.

"Well, well, well, a little nervous are you? You think you’re going to make a fool of yourself in front of everyone?" Diamond Tiara asked with a smirk.

Blaze looked up at Diamond Tiara. He also saw Silver Spoon was by her side, as always. "What do you want? Can't you see this area is for participants only?" He replied.

"I just came back here to make sure you weren’t going to back out. I would really hate to see all of these ponies that I invited, talking about your act and what you’re going to do," the pink filly said. She then laughed and the grey filly joined in.

"I wasn’t planning on backing down. In fact, how about you get into the front row to get a good view."

"Oh, we plan to," Silver Spoon said.

"I also bought a case of tomatoes to throw if you really do poorly like what you show us," Diamond Tiara added.

Blaze just thought, ” Even in this world, they would waste good tomatoes on bad acts. Won't they be surprised by the ACTUAL thing I plan to do.” "If you would excuse me, I must practice my lines and get the music prepped."

The colt headed off away from them as he didn’t want to hear any more of their snootiness. They turned and walked away. Both were laughing while Diamond Tiara said, "Good luck, you little freak."

Blaze just wanted to buck that filly until she was black and blue. He thought, ” How could a filly be raised like that in this world. Oh wait, it’s because her family is rich. That's why she thinks she’s better than everyone. Now, where is that Zebra with my cure?”

---------Hours later---------

The evening was now setting in as everyone in town had gathered for the event. The food stands were busy selling their items to the audience. Miss Cheerilee walked onto the stage and gathered the crowd's attention.

Once the crowd quietened down, the magenta mare said, "Welcome everyone to Ponyville's Talent Show! We have several fillies and colts that want to show off their skits and acts."

The crowd cheered and stomped their hooves.

"Our first act is going to be a magic act done by Snip and Snails. Please give them a round of applause."

As the crowd cheered, backstage was Blaze as he was keeping an eye out for Zecora. He was starting to panic a little bit as he wondered where she was. The Crusaders were behind a crate wearing cloaks to hide their costumes and makeup. Twilight came up to them and said, "How are you doing my little ponies?"

Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle all said at the same time, "Nervous." As they show the expression on their faces.

"You might be nervous, I’m starting to panic!” said the green Earth pony. “Where in Equestria is that Zecora?"

"Did someone say my name?" the Zebra mare said as she walked up calmly to the group.

The colt ran up to her and quickly asked,  "Do you have it?"

"Worry not your little mind. If you look in my bag, that’s what you will find."

Blaze walked over to her bag and opened it up. He saw several different herbs and other things in there. "You sure you have everything? All I have to do is place this stuff in a tank of water and go in for a dip?" he asked.

"That’s all you have to do to go back to your true form. I am curious why you sent a little filly and her friend to get a singing potion to help you perform."

"I didn't. Did you give them something?"

"I had a feeling her intentions were unclear. That is why I gave her a potion where only the truth is what you would hear."

The colt smiled as he was happy with Zecora's deception. He then heard the teacher announce the next skit. It was Sunny Daze and Peachy Pie that were going to sing a song while on roller skates. He turned his attention back to Zecora. "Thank you again for putting a rush on getting the ingredients. I don't know how to repay you. Oh, would the potion still work if I put dry ice into the water as well?"

"It’s not a problem, my little friend. It gave me an excuse to see this event and attend. As for your question, it should work with no affection."

Blaze removed the ingredients out of the Zebra’s bag and placed them in a box nearby. Miss. Cheerilee then walked off stage and informed the Crusaders were up next. She then walked up to Blaze and said, "You’ll be after them, Rocky. I look forward to what you are planning."

"Oh, don't worry. I have something planned that no pony would expect a colt to do,” he replied. “It’ll be safe for me to do, but probably not for another pony."

"Just try and be safe. I don't want an accident to happen where someone got hurt."

"Everything will be fine. I have planned out several scenarios to recover if it starts to go bad. Oh, looks like the ponies on stage are about to finish."

"Thanks, Rocky." With that, the magenta mare headed back on stage just as they finished.

The colt headed over to the Crusaders and Twilight were at. He began to hear the conversation they were having.

Apple Bloom then said, “And I'm the main dancer. Hi-ya!” She did a karate chop as she said the last part.

The purple mare started to look a little worried when she said, “Oh?”

“And I'm in charge of . . .” Sweetie Belle started to say.

“Costumes?”

“. . . and sets and props. How'd you know?”

“Really, girls? Are you sure . . .”

"Well, I think you three will do fine. Whatever happens, know that you did your best and you had fun doing it. Now go out there and break a leg," Blaze said.

"Thanks, Blaze," all three fillies said. They then took off their cloaks and got into position on stage.

The purple Unicorn leaned her head down to the green Earth pony and whispered, "Please tell me their act is good from what you saw when you were with them."

Blaze just replied, "I have no knowledge of what they are planning. Now shush, they are about to start."

The Crusaders started their performance the same way they did on the show. Seeing it live though was a little worse as you could hear off-key their voices were. The Crusaders finished their singing just before the last of the background scenery fell over. They waited to see the reaction from the crowd. 
What the crowd did was they started laughing. The curtains were drawn closed soon after. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo walked off stage with their head down low.

Blaze walked up to them and said, "Nice job girls. That was a good performance."

"Are you kidding? That was terrible," Scootaloo said.

"The ponies laughed at us." Sweetie Belle said.

"I don't know if we can ever show our faces in Ponyville again." Apple Bloom said with a sad tone.

"I know that was probably not the reaction you were expecting, but remember, you had fun getting ready and doing it. That’s all that should matter," the colt said.

Miss. Cheerilee then walked up to us. She had a sad face as she said, "I’m sorry, Rocky, but I don't think we’ll have time for you to do yours. It will take some time to clear off the stage and make it safe again."

"Miss. Cheerilee, I can take care of that with no problem. I have to anyway make the things I’m going to be needing with my Jutsu."

"I totally forgot that it was you, Blaze. Then go right ahead and get ready."

The green Earth pony headed on stage and went to work. He first used his Jutsu to have all the wood reshape into a large, wooden cauldron. He then began to fill it with water. He formed several blocks of dry ice from the air and placed them in the water. Lastly, he placed the wooden box of ingredients behind the cauldron so the crowd couldn’t see it. Blaze signal Miss. Cheerilee to set the lights and draw the curtain open.

From the crowd's view, they saw a spotlight shining straight down on the smoking cauldron. The green colt walked into the light from behind it. He had his face look like he was planning something evil. The crowd remained quiet as they waited to see what was going to happen.

He started to chant in an evil tone, "Double, double, toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble. Double, double, toil and trouble." He said random plant names as he was tossing the ingredients into the water. When he put the last one in, the Earth pony was looking like he was about to say something. After a few seconds, he pulled a script from the box and looked it over. The colt turned his head to look off stage. "Blaze! You gave me the wrong script! I told you I didn’t want to do a scene from this Macbeth!" With that, he threw the script towards the offstage, where no one was standing.

Rocky walked to the front of the stage to address the crowd. "I’m so sorry folks,” he said. “My planned performance got backfired by a certain human. Don't worry as I have a backup plan and this tub of water will get used. What I’m going to do is dive from a one hundred foot tall diving board into this tub of water. I would like to ask all Pegasi and Unicorns to refrain from trying to rescue me as I perform this. I will be perfectly safe. I’ll say that no other pony should try this."

The colt walked to the right side of the tub, from the crowd’s perspective. He turned his head again off stage and said, "Blaze, would you mind creating the diving board underneath me?"

The green Earth pony tapped his hoof as he channeled the jutsu into the wood, causing the platform to form and rise up into the air. It continued to rise up to the desired height. Once it was there, he looked down at the tub below. It was the size of a pinhead. The ponies' heads were mere color dots in his vision.

The colt walked to the edge of the diving board. He stood on his hind hooves and assumed a diving position. He had his forehooves stretched out to above his head. He did a couple of small jumps on the board to check the bounce. Rocky then did a big one and dove off. He formed into a cannonball position and started the sonic spin. He used his ki to make slight adjustments to stay on target.

Upon impact with the water, it created a huge column that came down on the ponies in the front row. They were now soaked to the bone. Due to the speed of the fall, Blaze crashed through the tub, the stage, and went deep into the ground. The force of hitting the ground caused a tiny earthquake that everyone on the ground felt.

The cure for the Poison Joke worked instantly when he was surrounded by the water. The only problem now is that Blaze was in his human form, in a cannonball position, in the ground, and was stuck. He wiggled his hands closer together to teleport. The black hair human managed to do so and teleported to a spot off stage. While in that puff smoke, he created a shadow clone. The clone then shadow transformed into Rocky and teleported back into the hole.

The human Blaze came walking out onto the stage and picked up the tub to reveal the hole in the bottom of it. The crowd gasps at the sight. Blaze puts the tub back down nearby. He then shouted down the hole in the stage, “Rocky! Are you ok?”

The colt Blaze replied from the hole, “I’m ok! A diamond broke my fall. I think it’s bigger than me.”

From the crowd, a white Unicorn was heard shouting, “OH! A DIAMOND BIGGER THAN A COLT! I MUST SEE IT! I MUST!”

“Calm down, Rarity. Let’s get Rocky out of there first. Then, we’ll talk later about retrieving it and splitting the bounty on it,” the black hair human said. “Now, Rocky, I’m going to activate ‘Old Faithful’ to get you out.”

“Wait, old what now?” The colt Blaze shouted.

Blaze then did several hand signs. Once done, he shouted, “Water Style, Water Geyser Jutsu!”

The ground started to rumble. The ponies on the ground were looking for the source. All of a sudden, a column of water burst out of the hole in the stage. Soon after, a green body could be seen coming up in the water. The colt was flung into the air by the force of the water.

Once Blaze spotted the green pony, he stopped the jutsu. The human was moving around the stage as he was looking up as the green colt was now falling back down. Blaze was shouting, “I gotcha! I gotcha!”

The colt was falling towards the stage while waving his legs in a panic state. Ten feet off the ground, Blaze jumped into the air to catch the pony. Once caught, they did a forward spin towards the front center of the stage. The black hair human landed on one knee with both of his arms out to the side. Rocky landed on the human’s head. He was balancing on one hind hoof as he took his pose. 
Together, they said, “TA DAAAAAA!”

The crowd cheered at the amazing stunt show they just watched. They both bowed and left the stage. In the backstage area, two fillies tackled the human one and another tackled the colt to the ground.

“That was amazing!” Apple Bloom said with excitement.

Sweetie Belle then added, “You have to teach us how you did that!”

“I think Rainbow Dash would have made it look cooler,” Scootaloo commented.

Miss. Cheerilee walked up to the pile of ponies and single human. “Alright my little ponies, we need to go and get back on stage. It’s time to hand out the awards.”

The colts and fillies went back on stage and lined up in the skit order as they went on. Once they were all lined up, the magenta mare said to the crowd, “Let's hear it for all our talented fillies and colts. Our first award goes to...” They go through the different awards, from the best magic act, best skit, and best comedy. Then, Miss. Cheerilee concluded by saying, "The judges and I decided to add another award for this little pony for doing something spectacular. The award for best stunt goes to Rocky!"

The crowd cheered and applauded. Rocky got out of the lineup and walked up to Spike to receive his award. The medal was a round circle with an action star exploding in the middle.

"Let's hear it again for all of those who participated," the magenta Earth pony said.

The crowd cheered once more, then started to disperse. The other kids were also leaving to return to their homes. Blaze watched the entire thing from backstage. The Crusaders exited on the other side from where he was at. He saw how happy they won an award. Just like the show, when they pulled off their costumes, their flanks were still blank. Twilight walked up to them and was chatting about something. He then turned his attention back to the stage.

Blaze saw his other self was stopped by Diamond Tiara. Silver Spoon was nearby but was not standing next to her. He decided to walk up closer to listen to the conversation.

The pink filly said, in an angry tone, "You lied to me! You never planned to do that thing you showed us in the woods. Now, what am I going to do with all of these tomatoes?"

The colt replied, "I had to do my backup skit as I never got the potion from Zecora. I’m just glad Miss. Cheerilee allowed me to change it at the last moment."

Blaze was now close enough to them to speak without shouting. "What’s going on, Rocky? Is Diamond Tiara giving you some trouble?" He asked.

She looked up at Blaze with an angry look. Both he and Rocky were listening closely as they thought they heard her grinding her teeth. Diamond Tiara replied, "No. I was just leaving," with her teeth clamped down.

With that, she walked off stage. Silver Spoon followed while having a small box of tomatoes on her back. The human and colt were then approached by the Mane Six, the Crusaders, and Blaze’s new friends from Royal Guard Training, the ones that were not on duty.

"Well I see ya got your body back," Applejack said.

"Nice trick there, Blaze. I would have pulled up at the last second and flew across the crowd," Rainbow said. Showing her ego.

"How come your colt form is still around? Did the cure not work correctly?" Twilight asked.

"Remember Blaze, you promised we can go after that diamond later," Rarity said.

"Nice performance Blaze. Woohoo," Fluttershy said in her soft voice.

"IamsohappyyougotyourbodybackBlaze! Inowneedtothrowyouanotherparty! Oh, Ineedballoons,streamers,confetti,cupcakes,drinks,andeverythingelse!" Pinkie said in her hyper mode.

“Ok. First, I’m happy that I’m a human again, Applejack,” Blaze replied. “Rainbow, I couldn’t pull up without blowing my cover. The cure did work, Twilight. This colt is a shadow clone. I Didn’t want anyone to think the worst. Don’t worry Rarity, we will. That diamond isn’t going anywhere. Thank you, Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie, don’t take this the wrong way. I have something else I need to take care of before I will even think about partying.”

“And what is that, sugarcube?” the orange mare asked.

“Something I’ve been dreaming since I got turned into a colt. Al, you coming?”

“Sure am!” replied the white hair human. He quickly started to follow the other human and colt.

“What do you think is more important?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Fang spoke up, “I think I know what it is. Something humans say they need, but I think something they crave once in a while.”

They all were thinking about it. Then several put a disgusted face as they came to what that thing is.
> Chapter 50: Order In The Court
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blaze woke up from his bed feeling really relaxed. Getting to eat meat and taking a good shower felt really good. The downside though was the meat supply was low. So, he’s going to either hunt, or ask the Princesses if he can take some of what they have. After putting on a clean gi, Blaze headed downstairs to see his fellow housemates for breakfast. He decided to take a break from the morning routine as it is a good idea to not overdo yourself.

Once down in the living room, he was greeted by Cancer. “Morning sleepy head. You missed morning practice,” he said.

“With what my week has been, I can take a day off from training. Besides, I’m kinda doing a workout all the time,” Blaze replied.

“How’s that?”

The black hair human pointed to one of his magical weight bands. “Every day I’m increasing the weight of my clothing.”

“Oh, yea. What are you at now?”

“Um, I think I’m at seven hundred pounds total.”

“How the buck are ya able to walk? I’m surprised you have not fallen through any floors yet.”

“I actually did last night. But that was part of the act I did for the talent show. Won the award for the best stunt. The other reason is I’ve been also practicing my ki to keep me at my normal weight when I walk around.”

“I don’t know why you put your body through that kind of training. Wouldn’t lifting weights be just as easy?”

“If I didn’t have these on, I couldn’t improve my training. I wouldn’t feel the burn from my runs or from the exercises. Just lifting weights would only bulk me out. I need more Cardio style training to increase stamina.”

They then heard a voice from the kitchen. “If you are done chatting, breakfast is ready,” Al said.

Cancer and Blaze left the living room and headed towards the dining room. They saw Lightning Trails was sitting there, reading a newspaper. He put it down when he saw them walking in. “Morning, Blaze. I see your colt form made the front page of the newspaper. That must have been some stunt you pulled, frightening all the spectators like that,” the Pegasus said.

“I had to do something with a tub of water that had the Poison Joke cure in it. It would draw suspicion if I just went in as a colt and came out as a human,” replied the black hair human.

“Well, they did catch the image of the big splash you made. Take a look.”

He retrieved the newspaper from Lightning Trails. Then, folded it open to the front. The title of the article reads, ‘Talent Show and Talent Showers’. It goes into the evening events at the talent show. Briefly talking about the other acts that happened and if they had won an award. It even mentioned the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ performance on how funny their musical act was. The article finished by going into detail about the final performance that was done by a young, green colt named Rocky. The audience chuckled when they heard Swift Blaze, a human and local protector, gave the colt the script to something called ‘Macbeth’, something from his world more than likely.

“Don’t you ponies have classical plays that you perform?” Blaze asked.

“Not really. If we do, it would probably be in Canterlot. Also, more than likely only those fancy and uptight ponies go and see it,” Lightning Trails replied.

“Yea, some plays you don’t get. All though, this one mentioned is one of the good ones from my world.”

Blaze continued reading the article. 

When Rocky was on the platform and jumped off, everyone remained silent. They were waiting to see if he would hit his mark, or get injured from this. As the colt was falling, the green Earth pony started to spin forward so fast, all you see was a green blur falling down. Upon impact with the water in the tub, he made it splash up as high as the staging lights. When the water came down, it drenched everyone that was in the front row and center stage.

The black hair human laughed out loud. The article included an image of the soaked ponies. Right in the middle of it was Diamond Tiara. Her tiara was on the ground as her mane and tail were soaked and lost their poofiness.

“Oh, this really made my day already!” Blaze said in between laughs.

“What? Seeing all the soaked ponies from your stunt?” Cancer asked.

“No, just one in particular. She’s been a pain in the flank on me and the Crusaders.”

Al walked over from the kitchen to see the image. He too laughed as he said, “Really? Diamond Tiara was at center stage. Now why was she even there?”

“I may have tricked her when I gave her a sneak peak in a fake act,” Blaze replied. “I was so bad, she invited other ponies to see Rocky get humiliated on stage. She even bought a case of tomatoes to throw at me if I was bad. See? There they are,” he pointed to the case nearby in the pic.

The other ponies and human looked closer to where Blaze was pointing. Sure enough you can make out a box with tomatoes in it. It was behind several hooves of the audience.

“Well, I should get back to the kitchen and bring the food out,” the white hair human said.

Before he could leave the dining room, Blaze puts a hand on Al’s shoulder to stop him. “Hold up. Let me get the food,” he said.

The other human nodded. He then went and took a seat at the table. Cancer and Lightning Trails did the same. Blaze stood in front of them with his hand sticking out, palm open, and towards the kitchen. He concentrated on his magic font to levitate the food on the plates to the dining room table. His hand soon started to emit a red magical aura around it. The plates of food began to have the same aura around them. They took off from the counter like a Harrier Jump Jet fighter. The flying plates pitch and yaw as they headed to the dining room, landing in front of the person or pony it was for.

Everyone clapped for Blaze for the quick show. Cancer then said, “You’re getting pretty good with levitation magic. Have you tried to do others yet?”

“No I haven’t. I’ll go and see Twilight tomorrow as I promised her to teach me,” he replied.

“Well, this is one flying saucer I won’t mind having me beamed up,” Al remarked as he continued eating.

“Flying what now?” Lightning Trails asked with a confused look.

“Human inside joke. Don’t worry about it.” The black hair human took some more bites and swallowed before talking again. “So, what is on the agenda for everyone today?”

“Lightning Trails and I will be going onto guard duty soon. Colorful Sparks and Dragon will be finishing up and coming back here to eat and sleep,” Cancer said.

Al said, with no food in his mouth this time, “I’ll make another trip to the market to replenish food supply. Speaking of it, we’re getting low on the meat stash. How are we going to get more?”

“We can either go hunting or ask the Princesses,” Blaze said.

“I would rather not hunt, it took all of us to take down a Manticore. Who knows what other creature we would run into.”

“Then I guess I will ask the Princesses . . .”

Just then, Blaze vanished in a bright light with his chair and eating utensils. The other three quickly looked around to see if he would appear shortly.

Al decided, after a few minutes, “Well, I’m not going to let his breakfast go to waste. More for me for a change.” He grabbed Blaze’s plate and began to chow down on what was left, including some bacon.

--------------Meanwhile-------------

After the bright flash over Blaze’s eyes, he continued with his sentence, “ . . . Princesses if I can procure some meat from them?” He slowed the sentence down after realizing he was no longer in his house. Once a quick look around confirmed he’s in the middle of the throne room of Canterlot Castle. The black hair human then realized how odd he must be looking. He had a fork in one hand, knife in the other, and a napkin tucked into the top of his undershirt, acting like a bib. He quickly removed the napkin and wiped his face with it. Blaze then placed it behind him with the eating utensils as he stood up.

"So, what do I owe for this meeting, Princess Celestia?" he asked.

The white Alicorn was sitting on her throne with two guards at the bottom of the steps leading up to it. "I believe we have some business to discuss on several things," she said.

"One I take is about those three guards that were bribed?"

"Indeed. You told Captain Shining Armor that you wanted to be here when sentencing was going to be given. But had to wait until you were cured of the Poison Joke. I received a letter from Twilight Sparkle this morning with a copy of the local newspaper in Ponyville. That was an interesting way to jump into a tub to get cured."

"Indeed it was. I wanted to keep my secret of getting infected with that plant and what it did to me. All my close friends knew it was me since day one. I then informed others on a needed basis."

"Well, I’m glad to see you are back to your normal self. Shall we proceed to their sentencing?"

Blaze bowed as he said, "By all mean, your highness."

Princess Celestia horn lit up for a few seconds. Then, it returned to normal. The black hair human thought she probably sent a message to have the guards be brought up from the dungeon. As they waited, he sent the chair back home along with the napkin and utensils. He took a standing position on the right side of the throne, behind a table and chair. Another pony appeared on the left side with a small desk with a stack of paper and several inkwells. Blaze thought that must be the pony to transcribe all the court sessions, for the record.

About ten minutes later, the doors to the throne room open. Entering were the three guards without their armor. They had two guards escorting them. When they saw Blaze standing there, all three were showing fear on their faces. The expression on the human’s face was as serious as you would see on any guard, no emotional display of what he was thinking. In his mind, he was having a big smile as he was thinking about what was going to happen to them.

They were brought to a desk on the left side of the room. You could hear them gulp down their throats. Princess sat tall and firm before she spoke, "You three have been charged for taking bribes, false imprisonment, and aggravated assault. How do you plead?"

Just then, the doors opened again and a Unicorn stallion came running up with a brown briefcase. He had a brown coat and a black mane. It was slicked back and styled. “Hold up your highness. My name is Pony Right and I’m the defense lawyer for these three. Would you please allow me to have a brief word with them before they submit their plea?” He asked.

“Very well.”

The three guards and lawyer got into a huddle and whispered for a few minutes. When they were done, they got back to stand facing Princess Celestia. "Not guilty," all three said.

“Very well. Would you like to start your opening remarks as to why?” the white Alicorn asked.

Pony Right bowed and said, “Of course your majesty.” He walked further ahead to address. “These fine stallions have served as your Royal Guard for many years. They followed the orders they were given by their commanding officer. I will prove that these charges are false and the actual pony who should be charged is Swift Blaze for falsifying who he was all last week.”

“For my first witness, I would like to call Diamond Tiara to the stand.”

The Princess nodded. She activated her horn and created a small pedestal on the left side of the throne room. The doors to the room open up once again. The pink filly came walking up and took her place on the platform. A Unicorn Royal Guard walked up to her and said, “Upon entering this room, please note that there is a magical field active that will detect when you lie. Speak the truth and no harm will come to you.” Diamond Tiara nodded. “Speak your name for the record.”

“My name is Diamond Tiara,” she said.

The guard walked away and Pony Right walked up. “If you please tell us how you know the accused, Swift Blaze?”

Diamond Tiara told where she first saw him in Ponyville when he was introduced to the town and put on a quick show. He then made an appearance at her school when Miss. Cheerilee was talking about cutie marks. While she was talking with her back turned the class, She tried to pass a note to Apple Bloom, trying to get her into trouble. Somehow, Swift Blaze snagged it without no one seeing it. When she tried for a second time, the teacher caught her. Later on in the class, Blaze showed his human form and talked about where he came from.

“So, now that you saw who this stallion was, what were your first thoughts about him?”

“I thought he should return back to where he came from,” the filly replied. “I had to stay after class for the first time because of him catching me in the act.”

“Let’s move onto last week. Do you recall a new colt by the name of Rocky?”

“Yes.”

“Did you know that was Swift Blaze?”

Her eyes went wide as she now realized that would explain what that colt was able to do. “No I didn’t. If I did, I might haven’t done some of the things I did.”

“Tell us what happened, Monday morning.”

“It started out like any other school day. Me and my pal, Silver Spoon, start out by picking on a couple of fillies that don’t have their cutie marks. As we turned and headed to the school, a rock appeared out of nowhere, causing us to trip and my tiara flying into the woods. We got covered in dirt and leaves as we searched in the bushes.”

“A rock appearing out of nowhere. How odd. Please, continue.”

“After the colt, Rocky introduced himself to the class, I whispered behind him ‘Blank Flank’ as he walked back to his desk. My chair suddenly broke for no reason. The entire class was laughing at me.”

“A chair you have been sitting on, suddenly breaking with no reason? What happened during recess?”

“Well, Rocky was talking to the other fillies I made fun of earlier. I overheard him say he didn’t know why his parents were in Canterlot. I made the comment that they are probably going to be selling the farm as they make no money from plain rocks. He said that the diamonds in my tiara were fakes. We argued and he then snagged it to prove that. That colt somehow was able to destroy the top piece as if it was glass.”

“How did that make you feel?”

“I was angry! It was a gift from my dad and how I got my cutie mark!”

“What happened next?”

“He somehow managed to pull a diamond from the ground and reshape it into the topper that was there. I looked it over closely and it looked exactly the same. Silver Spoon and I walked away and said ‘Blank Flanks’. I then quietly added ‘and Freak’.”

“What followed after you made that comment?”

“Another rock popped up and tripped us. After what I saw just then, I put it together that he tripped us that morning. I got back up and then said ‘You know what? I think I know the real reason why you are here while your parents are in Canterlot. They are looking for a place to dump their little FREAK of a son and never see him again.’.”

“How did he react to that comment?”

“He punched me and got very angry. Miss Cheerilee stopped before he could continue what he called, a thrashing.”

“That must have been very traumatic for you,” Pony Right said. He then turned to address the Princess. “Even as a colt, he overused his powers to show off and almost sent this filly to the hospital. No further questions.” He then walked back to the ponies he is defending.

Blaze was doing his best to remain silent during this entire time, instead of going straight to arguing with the events. He looked towards the Princess and said, “Princess Celestia, may I redirect?”

“OBJECTION! This human is not a licensed lawyer. What does he know about the processes in court?” Pony Right shouted.

“True, I don’t know the laws of Equestria at the moment. But in any society, there are common laws that do not change. With your permission, I would like to act as the prosecutor as I’m aware of all of these events as I have a direct connection.”

“Overruled. I will allow Swift Blaze to question for the prosecutor. Tread lightly with your questions,” the white Alicorn said.

“Thank you, your highness.” The human then walked up calmly to Diamond Tiara. “Before I had ever met you, did you always pick on others that did not have their cutie marks? Remember, we will know if you are lying.”

“Objection! That has nothing to do with this case,” Pony Right shouted.

“I’m showing her credibility that even when I wasn’t there, she did the same things.”

“I will allow it. Please answer the question, little filly,” Princess Celestia said.

“Well, um, yes I did,” the pink Earth pony replied.

Blaze then asked, “Why did you pick on those that have not learned what their special talent was?”

“It was just funny that they have not discovered it after all this time.”

“Could it also be you got yours so early, you did not get to have the thrill and excitement of discovering what you are good at? At what age did you actually get yours?”

“On my sixth birthday a month ago.”

“Did others get theirs before you?”

“Yes.”

“Did they pick on you when you did not have one?”

“Well, no. But all my friends really liked it when I got mine. They said it was very pretty.”

“Would you mind telling the court what your talent is then? Hmm?”

“Well, I got it when I got my diamond-encrusted tiara from my dad.”

“Wait, you got yours when that tiara was placed on your head? Interesting. I can’t really see that as a special talent then. Can you?”

“It has to mean something! Why would I get one when the tiara was placed on my head? Maybe I’m destined to be a Princess. Daddy always calls me that.”

“Or maybe it means you will be either making or selling them. Sounds like you might have gotten yours, but you have yet to discover what it means.”

The filly started crying as she lay down on the pedestal. “It’s true! I don’t know what I’m good at! I’m jealous that those three can go on adventures to discover what they are good at to get theirs!” She said in-between crying.

Swift Blaze went down to one knee next to her. He began to stroke her mane to calm her down. 
“Remember what I said to the class when Miss. Cheerilee went over cutie marks? How that humans don’t get them?” Diamond Tiara nodded. “We don’t need one to discover what we are good at. We CHOOSE what we want to be good at. The same can be applied to you. Even with one, it does not lock you into what you are good at. How about you wipe those tears away and tell me what your dream was to be before you got your cutie mark.”

The pink filly did so and stood back up. The human did so too and stepped back a bit. “Well, I dreamed of wearing beautiful dresses and showing them off to everyone and special events. But, even with my dad’s money, I don’t think I could afford to have all of those dresses made.”

“I think I now know what that cutie mark is supposed to mean.”

Her face lit up as she said, “You do?”

“Yes. Back on my world, you of course know that we humans like to wear clothes all the time.” She nodded. “Well some pretty girls, about your age, like to compete to see who is prettier. These competitions are called Beauty Pageants. The winner of one gets a beautiful tiara. Like the one you have. I believe you are to be a fashion model.”

“You really think so? How do I become one?”

“That, my dear, I think you should ask a certain white Unicorn mare back in Ponyville. I think she will gladly help you if you stay nice to her little sister.”

“I will, from now on.”

“Good. Now then, let’s get back to this trial.” Blaze turned towards Princess Celestia. “I’m sorry for the delay Princess. I only have a few more questions to ask.”

Princess Celestia smiled as she said, “It’s quite alright. I’m glad to see you were able to help this filly out with her issue.”

The human turned back to the filly to continue with the questioning. “Ok, Did Miss Cheerilee have both of us say sorry to each other?” He asked.

“Yes.” She replied.

“What kind of punishment did I get for hitting you?”

“You were given detention and Miss. Cheerilee was going to have a talk with Pinkie Pie.”

“That’s correct. Now to the matter at hand, have you seen these three stallions that are over there?” Blaze said as he pointed to the defendants.

“Yes. They were the guards my dad hired after I told him what happened that day."

"Were you there when he told them what they are to do?"

"Yes."

"Objection!" Shouted Pony Right. "All here say. The filly could have misinterpreted what was said."

"With your highness permission, and Diamond Tiara, I propose then we go and look at the memory ourselves. I could also compile it from the three guards also if you would like."

Blaze looked towards Pony Right and the three stallions. They were whispering among themselves. After a few minutes, they ended the huddle. The lawyer cleared his throat before saying, "How do we know this will be my client's memories and the filly's? Not some fake thing this human created to make them look guilty."

"I will vouch for Swift Blaze's ability as I have seen them myself. I will scan his mind while we see these memories to verify he is not creating them," the white Alicorn said.

The ponies at the defendant's table went into another chat session among themselves. This time, it did not take that as long. The lawyer then said, "I think that won’t be necessary. My clients are wondering if there is a plea agreement available?"

Princess Celestia looked towards Blaze and sent a mental thought, Are you actually capable of displaying other's memories for everyone to see?

Blaze replied in his mind, I might be able to do many things with my techniques, but this is one that I truly cannot do.

Did you lie? The detectors did not go off.

I didn’t say I will do it. I PROPOSED the idea of doing something like that. It would be nice to be able to do that.

Very clever with your use of words to get around the truth. So, what do you propose the punishment should be?

Blaze thought for a little bit. He placed a hand on his chin as he wondered what should happen to them. Then, he found a good solution of what should happen. He told the Princess in thought. Once done, she smiled and nodded. She turned her head back to the defendants.

"After some deliberation of what it should be, I considered throwing you into the dungeon for six months. Then, be dishonorably discharged and banished from Equestria." Again, you could hear the three stallions take a huge gulp down their throats. "Swift Blaze reminded me that this was a minor infraction and no pony got hurt. So here’s the proposal. You will still remain in the Royal Guard. You’ll go through the training regiment two times while wearing magical clothing to increase the weight on you. Lastly, if you accept the terms, Blaze has one more thing that will be done before you go and repeat the training."

She waited for a little bit as they were discussing it between themselves. Princess Celestia then said,  "If you don’t accept these terms and are found guilty, it’s three to five years in the dungeon and dishonorable discharge from the Royal guard."

They went back into a huddle. You can see some were talking a little louder than a whisper as they argued. One guard stuck his head up and asked, "Can we know what Swift Blaze will be doing?"

"Nope. Those are the terms. Deal or No Deal?"

Back in the huddle, they argued some more. Once done, they stood behind their table, with their chest sticking out and heads held high. Pony Right then said, "We shall accept the terms of the plea agreement."

Princess Celestia nodded. Then said, "You three plead guilty to the charges against you. You will go and repeat the Royal Guard Training regiment two times while wearing weighted clothing. You will also accept to take whatever Swift Blaze has in mind. Is that correct? I need each one of you to answer."

Guard one said, "I accept the terms and plead guilty."

Guard two said, "I also accept the terms and plead guilty."

Guard three said, "I will also accept the terms and plead guilty."

"Very well." Princess Celestia said. "Pony Right, you are dismissed as you are no longer needed. Diamond Tiara, you may go as well. I hope you have turned over a new leaf with what you have experienced here today."

The filly nodded. Then, looked at Blaze, "Thank you for helping me with what has been troubling in the back of my mind. I’ve only been acting that way as I thought I should. Some rich pony that is better than others."

Blaze went back down to her level and said, "Money never brings you true happiness. It's making friends and sharing experiences as you grow up."

She smiled as a small tear went down her face. She then jumped up at the human and gave him a hug. He caught her and gave the hug back. Diamond Tiara then whispered into his ear, "Can you be my friend?"

"Of course. I was hoping you were wanting me to be one."

After the moment passed, she jumped down and headed out of the throne room. She looked like she had a happy skip with it as she left. Blaze got back up and saw the only ones left in the room were Princess Celestia, himself, and the three guards that pleaded guilty. He walked to the middle in front of the bottom step. His hands were behind his back. "Now then, before we begin, may I have your names?"

They were confused as to why Blaze would ask this. Guard one replied, "My name is Meteor Sky."

The second guard went next as he said, "Mine is Lasso McGee.”

The final guard said, “You may call me Cannonball.”

The human placed a hand to his chin as he was happy with the names. They at least had the first letter in their name of what he was hoping for. With quick hands, he brought out three shadow clones in pony form. The human Blaze then created a stage behind the guards, with a hidden second level so the audience cannot see what goes on backstage. The shadow clone ponies jumped into the air and landed on the stage. As the three guards were turning around, they performed a jutsu that sent their shadow out on the ground. When those made contact with the shadows of the guards, they were no longer able to move.

“What’s going on?” Meteor asked as he struggled

Lasso was doing the same thing as he said, “I can’t move!”

“Neither can I! What did you do?” asked Cannonball.

The human responded, “You three just made contact with a jutsu called Shadow Imitation. It allows the one who casts it to control the one their shadow comes into contact with. As you can see.”

On cue, the shadow clone ponies started to move their bodies. The guards copied the exact movements as they did not have control of their bodies. They struggled to try to gain control, but are unable to do anything with their magic. They had rings on their horns that were blocking them from using it.

“As you can see Princess, they have no control over their bodies,” said the human. He then turned back towards Meteor, Lasso, and Cannonball. “What you’re going to do now is help with a skit I have in mind. Actually, you’re going to reenact one from my world. No physical harm will come to you by any of me. Seeing you made a fool of the Royal Guard by taking a bribe, you should have no problem being a fool in front of Princess Celestia.”

With that being said, they were brought up onto the stage. Blaze placed other clones with them as secondary characters. He then added props and staging to set the scene. With everything all set, the human moved up to stand next to Princess Celestia. “Without further ado, presenting a classic tale of Moe, Larry, and Curly, the Three Stooges!”



The puppeteers did the voices of Moe, Larry, and Curly as they acted out the scene. Princess Celestia was doing her best to keep her composure as she watched. The human Blaze was laughing at all the funny points of the slapstick comedy. Hearing the laughter, she too joined in small chuckles. Then, grew louder. Once it was done, all the clones disappeared and the stage with it. Meteor Sky, Lasso McGee, and Cannonball were laying on their stomachs, now being able to have control over their bodies.
Princess Celestia leaned over and whispered, “Thank you for the show. I needed a good laugh. Now promise me you won’t use that jutsu on any of my subjects. Even criminals shouldn’t have to suffer like that.”

“Of course, your majesty. Now I’ll apply a Genjutsu to take that out of their memory. Don’t want word to get out about this.”

The Princess nodded. Blaze did the hand signs for a Genjutsu to wipe their memory from now to after they pleaded guilty. When they woke, the guards felt their bodies were aching for some unknown reason. Their heads were throbbing with a headache from the Genjutsu. Of course, they don’t know that.

“Ugh, what happened?” Cannonball was the first to ask.

"You tell me. I remember pleading guilty. After that, I’m drawing a blank," Meteor Sky replied.

Blaze spoke up, "You three just completed the task I had you do. That’s why you’re feeling sore and have a headache. It will pass."

"What did you have us do?" Lasso McGee asked Blaze.

"I had you go through a beta test of an obstacle course I’m developing for the training of the Royal Guard. I found I need to make adjustments to it before I get permission to implement it. Don't you agree, your highness?"

The Alicorn let out a quick smirk after recalling a funny point. "Yes, there needs to be some adjustments done before I will let the Royal Guard go through it to enhance their combat skills." Celestia then whispered, "I take you to have one in the works, Blaze?"

He replied, also in a whisper, "Yes, I do have something in the works to train them in Taijutsu. I have actually been having the ponies I have been trained to do the first part in the morning exercises."

Princess Celestia turned her attention back to the three guards. They have managed to get back onto their hooves. They rubbed a couple of sore spots as they waited. "You three will report to the training grounds Monday morning to go back through it. Until then, you are confined to the barracks. Dismissed."

They bowed and slowly walked out of the throne room. Some were limping as they went. When the doors closed behind them, Celestia turned her attention back to Blaze. "Now to the next matter at 'hand'. As you humans would put it," she said with a smile.

"How come I got the feeling that your agenda for today involves me?"
> Chapter 51: Tell Me, What Do You See?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Now to the next matter at 'hand'. As you humans would put it," Princess Celestia said with a smile.

"How come I got the feeling that your agenda for today involves me?" Blaze asked.

"It was put into the agenda from the last time we met."

"Alright, so what is the next thing you wish to discuss?"

“The next topic is about the special tactical group that you’re to lead.”

“Ah, yes. I think before we inform them, we should actually discuss what you want us to do, who should know about us, etc.”

“Very well.”

Princess Celestia summoned a round table and two chairs at the bottom of the throne steps. They made their way down and sat in the closest chair to them. Blaze started off by explaining some of the teams that were back on Earth that he had heard about and some of the things they had to do. He left out some of the gruesome tasks of assassins and tortures, as he didn’t want to explain how cruel the human race has become since the middle ages.

“Bob,” the white Alicorn said, “I know you’re trying to hide some of the crueler things humans have done.”

“Are you trying to read my thoughts again?” Blaze asked in a shy tone.

“No, your expression revealed that you were not telling me everything. I figured then that you didn’t want to talk about some of the bad stuff.”

Blaze lets out a sigh, “You’re correct. I’ve heard of some of the terrible things some of these groups had to do. Just thinking about some of them makes my skin crawl. I never really gave thought to them. I guess it was human nature to accept some of them. When your opponent does some of the cruelest things to innocent people going out of their everyday business.” 

Blaze then recalled the morning of September eleventh and what happened. It was the second time he cried so hard after seeing the devastation that occurred. He knew some of the people that lived there and just prayed and hoped they were ok back then. A tear was rolling down his face as he looked back at those memories.

He felt something against his shoulder. It was a wing of white feathers. Blaze looked to his other side and saw the Princess was sitting next to him with her wing on the other side. “I take it you just remembered another sad memory from your past?” She asked.

“Yes, the devastation I pray to never see happen here. I don’t think this world could handle something like that.”

“Discord must have corrupted some of the humans before they left. The hatred and corruption must have been passed down from parent to child if your world really needed these kinds of teams.”

“I think it existed before any humans ever came here. It always starts with a ruler either wanting more power or money that caused the conflicts in the past. I’m just glad I wasn’t around when actual wars happened. I would have grown up differently and more than likely killed in one of the battles.”

“Well, you didn’t. You’re now here and have the heart that loves this world and every creature that lives here.” Celestia then got up and folded her wing back to her side. “Let’s finish our discussion so we can inform your team what they will be expected to do.”

Blaze nodded as he wiped the tears away. They chatted for several more hours until they have gone over everything that they can at this point. The white Alicorn sent the table and chairs away. She then had a guard come in to send a chariot to Ponyville to summon the others on the team. An hour passed before the doors opened once again. In comes walking Al, Start Dust, Lightning Trails, Colorful Sparks, Dragon, Cancer, and Fang. They bowed to Princess Celestia as she sat on her throne. 

When they stood straight up, Al was the first to notice Blaze over against the wall. “Ah, so this is where you disappeared off to this morning,” he said.

“Princess Celestia wanted to start early on her agenda and I was first on her docket,” the black hair human replied.

“Then, why have you summoned us, your highness?” Lightning Trails asked.

“I’ve called you here to tell you what your positions are going to be in the Royal Guard. There’s no secret why you all were part of the same training group. You all have a unique ability or talent,” Princess Celestia said.

“If you already knew we were going to be put into a team, then why have us go through the training?” Dragon asked.

“The week-long part of the exercises were first to help you build a bond with the others that you are going to be working with. The tournament was to let you see how the others handle combat. It was also to help determine who will be the captain of this group. Swift Blaze won, so he’ll be your captain.”

Al walked over to Blaze and gave him a high five. “Way to go! Already a captain. Did you know this was going to happen before we met?”

“Not everything. I just mentioned the idea of one,” he replied quietly to the white hair human.

The white Alicorn cleared her throat to regain everyone’s attention. The humans rejoined the others back in front. “Now then, I was just going over the details with Captain Blaze in order to find the best way for this to work. This team will be covert style, so no one will know what you actually do. You’ll live every day doing normal Royal Guard duties in Ponyville. I’ll have some engineers come down to build living quarters next to Blaze and Al’s home.”

The ponies and Zebras in the group were happy to hear this. Some were happy to not have to keep on sleeping either on the couch or in another’s bed. Others were glad they were still going to be close to their human friends. After the quiet cheers among them, they straighten back out to listen to the next thing the Princess will have to say.

“The only ones that will know what you actually will be doing is me, my sister, Princess Luna, and Captain Shining Armor. Other ponies might be told if the need arrives that they need to know. Next, I’ll allow Swift Blaze to explain what the team will be learning.”

He stepped forward and turned to face the team. “What this group is expected to be is an elite class of warriors. I’ll be training you in some new moves to improve your fighting style. You’ve actually started with the morning exercises by improving your balance. Behind my house, I’ll build our training area within the forest. I will say this right now, you will get injured while doing this.”

The black hair human walked back and forth in front of them. “I’ve seen soldiers with lots of training to fight the enemy. One thing they failed to learn is how to deal with pain. Al, would you come up here.”

He shrugged. “Why do I have to be the guinea-pig for this?” He stepped out of line to face his captain.

The black hair human had his hands behind him as he faced the other human. “One, you have dealt with this before. ‘B’, you can heal yourself. Lastly, . . .” Before Al could react, Blaze had brought out a hunting knife he summoned and stabbed the white hair human in his upper right leg. “ . . you said you like the pain.”

Al’s face cringed from the massive jolt his body was telling him about the pain. He didn’t scream though. The blade was still in the leg as purple blood came out of it. With one quick motion, he pulled the blade out with his right hand. Still holding onto the blade, he looked towards Blaze and said, “If you were an enemy, I would have sent the blade up where the sun doesn’t shine afterward.” He let the blade drop onto the ground and began to concentrate on healing. “Be happy you are my friend.” With that, the wound was healed with no scar. All that was left was the hole in his jeans and the blood that soaked around it. “I’ll let you explain to Rarity why you ruined something she made.”

“I’ll mend that later.” Blaze turned toward the others. “Now then, if you still want to be part of this team to serve the Princesses and Equestria, step forward. Remember once you do, you are committed to my training and harsh tactics.”

They all didn’t even hesitate as each one took one step forward, together. Both the Princess and Blaze smiled to see how determined these ponies were after the demonstration. He looked into each of their eyes and saw how strong their devotion and pride is.

“Welcome to the Phantom Regiment.”

Blaze began his pacing once again. "Training will begin next week after the Gala. I still have some things to go over with Princess Celestia. So, until then, dismissed."

The ponies and the white hair human saluted before turning and heading out of the throne room. Once the doors closed behind them, Blaze turned his gaze back to Celestia. The look on her face was starting to worry him. She looked very angry, almost wanting to cause injury to Blaze.

"Was that demonstration really necessary?" She asked in a strong tone.

After taking a big gulp of his dry throat, he replied, "I wanted to see their reaction of me injuring a friend for no reason. Also, it demonstrated how they need to be when in battle."

"Next time, tell me what your plans are. I was two seconds from sending a magic bolt at you."

"I’m sorry, your highness. I also wanted to see your reaction as well. You took it rather well."

"I have seen many things in my lifetime. Some of which you could not even understand."

"I can only imagine. What you lived through and experienced must have been hard. I don't even want to even think about the many friends you have made. Only to see them die before your eyes."

The white Alicorn lowered her head a bit as she was recalling them all. "Yes, each one was painful as the last. But my new ones helped me through it. Also, they’re still alive within my memories." She began to chuckle at some of the happy ones. "I could tell you some of the fun times we had."

"If you told me every one of them, it would overfill the Canterlot Library."

She chuckled louder at that thought. After she calmed back down and regained her posture, Celestia said, "Onto the next thing on the agenda."

"The armor for my squad."

"What’s wrong with normal Royal Guard Armor?"

"It would be hard to be covert if you wear something shiny and clang as you move, would it?"

"I can see your way of thinking.”

They discussed the design concepts. The material for durability and resistance. The color choices from camo to full black, as well as others, depending on where they get deployed. The actual protection was going to be even more difficult to choose. Limited by what the ponies could produce, a lot of the ideas he had from humans designed had to be thrown out. They did finally come to a decision on the choice. A combo of metal and magic. To make it strong and light. When it came to the actual design, Blaze summoned a scroll he doodled on last night.

Celestia looked it over after the human handed it over. After a few minutes, she said, "Blaze, I’m rather impressed with what you have designed here. Where did you come up with it?"

"I took stuff from what the human military wears for some. Then the rest from video games and movies. Then adjust it to how a pony moves, even with wings as you see here."

"You humans do have an active imagination to dream something like this up. Would you mind if I ask you to design something to improve the Royal Guard's armor? I think it is time to . . ."

"To bring it out of the middle age era?"

The Princess blushed a little. "Is it that old to you?"

"To be honest, you have not needed to update the design as you don't deal with major battles every few years. Once the humans were away from magic, science and technology were what we depended on. Some were good, while others should have never been created."

"Like those things that created those massive mushroom clouds?"

Blaze this time lowered his head at that thought. "Yea. After they were used those two times during that war. They were never used again. Several nations have them and said they will use them if the other side does."

"So the threat of those coming down again was in the thoughts of every human mind?"

"No, those nations were all on good terms with each other. Yea, there were some small conflicts with smaller nations. They never escalated to another World War."

Princess Celestia looked at the human's face. She saw this topic was getting pretty hard for him. With gentle movement, her wing wrapped around the back of his body. "You miss your world, don't you?"

Blaze looked up at the Princess. A couple of tears were forming in his eyes. "I do. I just never expected the world to end like that. I had always thought it would end by some natural disaster or another great war where those bombs get used."

"Do you think you made the right choice in coming here instead of wanting to restore your world like that day never happened?"

Blaze was thinking about his decision again. ”Did I really make the right choice? God could have easily granted what Celestia said and made that day had never happened. Could I still call myself a human for being selfish and get what his fantasy dream comes true?” He felt something again tell him he did make the right choice. Those humans that went violent got what they deserved. This feeling was creating a slight headache as it occurred. His face did show some sign of pain.

"Are you alright, Blaze?"

He regained his senses as the pain went away. "I’m fine. I believe I did make the right decision to come here. It’s what my heart desired after seeing how peaceful this world is."

The Princess wasn't quite sure what was going on with Blaze when he was pondering her question. This human has been through a lot since coming here. She decided to put it in the back of her mind, for now.

The doors to the throne room opened. When they looked to see who was coming in, the black hair human smiled to see it was Princess Luna. "Good afternoon dear sister, I take your agenda with Swift Blaze is done. It’s almost time to lower the sun and raise the moon," she said.

The white Alicorn looked outside the window and saw how low the sun was. "Wow, the time has really flown by. I can't believe we worked right through lunchtime."

"I think I see where Twilight got her study habits from, your highness," Blaze said.

The blue Alicorn laughed as she walked up to the throne. "He’s right, Tia, your faithful student picked up your study habits. I sense many nights where she stays up till the morning working on different research projects."

Celestia cleared her throat before saying, "Yes, well, let's take care of our duties before we go and get dinner."

A loud stomach growl echoed in the chamber. Both Princess looked at each other for a little bit before turning their gaze at Blaze. He had his hands over his stomach. "Sorry about that. My stomach likes to speak out loud when I miss mealtime, sometimes." Everyone was laughing. Once they calmed down, they continued on doing the task at hand before going to dinner.

--------Meanwhile--------

Back at Al's and Blaze's house, the white hair human had gone to the basement to see what meat he could scrounge up for tonight's meal. Once in the meat locker, he looked around and saw there were only a few scraps of the less desired parts of the Manticore meat. Some organs and some chunks that came from the head. Looking at them, the human was thinking about what kind of dish he could do with the stuff he never used before. He felt like one of those chefs where they’re given odd ingredients and having to make a dish out of it. Al clearly knew he’s no master chef when making up fancy meals.

Without warning, a portal opened up above him. Just as he looked up, slabs of meat were falling out of it and landed on top of him. Al was soon buried under a mound of meat in the meat locker. He struggled to pull himself free from it. It took some time, but without warning, the human popped out of the meat pile and slammed into a nearby wall. 

His mouth drooled as the eyes now saw exactly how big the stack was. The bottom of the stack was roughly eight feet in diameter and was just as tall. He could see all the different kinds of meat he hasn’t seen before. Just before the portal closed, a scroll popped through and rolled down the mound to Al's feet. He picked it up and opened it to see what it says.

Dear Al,

Here’s the meat Princess Celestia and Luna have kindly allowed me to take for us to have. When you get this, I want you to sort the meat by species to make some sense in the chaotic pile. I’ll be home late as I’ll be having dinner with the Princesses again. See you in the morning.

Sincerely,
Captain Swift Blaze

P.S.: Don't go and sleep in my bed or I will make you wish you haven't.

Al thought to himself, ”Well, I no longer have to try and decide what to have. Just need to decide which species now. Oh, this is going to take a while.”

---------Back at the Castle---------

After dinner was done and they all had their fill, Celestia said goodnight as she left to head to her quarters. Luna asked Blaze to accompany her back to the throne room. Once there, he was about to take his leave when Princess Luna said, "Wait, I thought we could now take the time and discuss that dream you had last week."

"I see it, I’m also on your agenda for tonight," the human said.

"I really don't have one since hardly anyone comes here at night time."

Blaze saw this saddened Luna's face. Knowing he should not put it off any longer, he decided to take care of it tonight. "Luna, would you help me to understand a dream I had a couple of nights ago actually means?"

This perked up her spirit. She replied with, "Of course, Captain Swift Blaze." Princess Luna's horn lit up as she had a fluffy pillow appear for her and a couch that looked like what you see in a psychiatrist’s office. "Please, lay down and tell me what occurred in this dream of yours."

"Actually, how about I show you."

"How?"

"By diving into my mind of course."

"Normally, you cannot recall a dream like you can with a memory."

“As you can see, I'm not normal. Trust me, I know what I am doing."

The blue Alicorn thought about it for a few minutes. Then, nodded her head. The human sat next to her and closed his eyes and focused on his mind space. She closed her eyes and used her magic to enter his mind. When they opened again, the Princess of the Night saw she was in a blank white space. "Where are we?"

"I call it the Construct. This is where I go in meditations to practice jutsu and other fighting techniques. In this area, I can create anything from my imagination."

"Ah, so this is the place my sister talked about when you first showed her some of your abilities."

"That’s correct. I’ve also used this to imagine what the three energy sources in my body would look like."

"Three? I thought you only have two?"

"I did. It was that book on the Elements of Order changed me and granted me access to use magic. Remember?" Blaze said as he showed his tail to her.

"Ahh, yes. May I see the size of them?"

"Of course." Blaze turned away from the Princess. He placed his right hand in the air and a screen revealed itself. "Siri, bring up the mind design of the energy pools from the rock cliff."

The screen responded in a nice, computer voice, "Of course, Swift Blaze."

“Who was that?” Luna asked as the blank, white, landscape started to change to the desired view. 

“Oh, just some random artificial voice I remember. Always find her to be a pain when she doesn't want to cooperate.” 

The area around looked like they were traveling at sonic speeds as the scenery passed by them. They soon arrived at the same view the human had shown Twilight. "This is some view, Blaze. How come we are all the way over here instead of down there?"

"Down there, you would haven’t been able to see the actual size of the pools. If I had to actually guess the size, it would bet between a large lake or a very small bay."

"All three pools of energy? I didn’t realize you have an above-average magical font. Unicorn’s magic font average from the sizes of small to medium lakes. Twilight Sparkle is another Unicorn I know that has a way above average."

"Her special talent is magic. She’s also the bearer of the Element of Magic. One would think it should be above average. But mine is smaller than hers."

"Agreed. Now then, let's get back to why I’m in your mind. That dream you had. Can you please call it up?"

“Sure thing.” Blaze raised his right hand again to show the screen. “Siri, begin memory playback of E.N.-01.”

“Command confirmed. Begin memory playback.” The computer voice said.

Once again the scenery around them changed just like before. The area they could see was just outside of Ponyville. Something was off. Blaze looked towards the town. It did not look like it was destroyed and on fire. The skies were blue and the sun was shining as bright as ever.

“Hold up, this isn’t the dream I had,” the human said, while confused.

“Normally, bad dreams start out good before going bad. Let’s see what happens,” Luna said.

From behind, they heard something. Their gaze turned towards the sound. Off in the distance, you could barely hear something very happy and excited. Once the voice of the object rounded the bend of trees, it was clearly able to see where they were coming from.

It was Blaze, in his human form, wearing normal street clothes. He was jumping with joy as he made his way into town. He was now close enough so Luna and Blaze could hear him. “I Can’t Believe It! I. AM. IN. EQUESTRIA! I can’t wait to see Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy. Plus all the other ponies! THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER!” He was shouting at the top of his lungs.

The Blaze by Luna quickly said, “STOP PLAYBACK RIGHT NOW!” Instantly, the other one stopped dead in his tracks in midair. “I’m sorry you had to see that Princess. This is the wrong memory.” He revealed the screen once again. “Siri, this is the wrong memory. I asked for E.N.-01, you played E.F.-01. Playback the correct memory this time.”

The computer voice replied, “Sorry Blaze. Beginning playback of Equestria Nightmare 01.”

The scenery began to change once again. While it changed, Luna asked. “So, what was the memory that we saw?”

“Um, before I came here, I had other dreams of what it would be like if I came here. That was the first one I thought of,” the human said in a shy tone.

“You had fantasies?”

He nodded with a little blush.

“How many have you thought of?”

“Um, over three hundred,” he said in a quiet voice.

The blue Alicorn was a little surprised to hear that amount. “You really do like this world and all the lives that live here.”

“I do, Princess Luna.” The area around finally finished changing to that nightmare. “Ok, this is the correct one.”

Luna looked around at all the destruction that occurred. “This was your dream? I can see why you would classify it as a nightmare. How did you come up with this?”

“I didn’t. Nothing like this ever happened in the show and I never want it to get this way. Come along. There’s my dream version of me over there.”

The two followed the Dream Blaze as he reenacted the dream. Luna asked Blaze what was going through his mind as he saw all this. He said he was worried about his friends and wanted to know exactly what happened. Dream Blaze then teleported out of their sight.

“Where did you go?” Luna asked.

“I teleported to the castle. Let’s catch back up.” 

Blaze did his teleport jutsu and brought them close to Canterlot. Once the smoke cleared, Luna looked around to see where he had teleported them. She saw Canterlot with its protection barrier active. It looked different than she last saw it get used.

“Blaze, I thought you were going straight to the castle? How come we are way over here?”

“I tried to teleport in, but that barrier prevented me from doing so. See, there I am analyzing it.”

The dream watchers continue to see it get played out. Dream Blaze made his way to the guarded entrance. Once those guards saw him, they began to fire their magic at him. He teleported away before getting hit.

“Pause playback.”

“This dream or nightmare is very confusing, I actually detected what spells they were using,” Luna said. “If you got hit by one of those spells, it might have actually killed you. I thought my sister and I had forbidden the use of those over a thousand years ago.”

“That’s the interesting part. I didn’t know what they were firing. How can I have a dream where I have knowledge of spells that haven’t been used in a very long time?”

“I’m beginning to think this is not actually a dream. Please, continue so I can get a better evaluation.”

The human resumed the playback. Then, took Princess Luna and himself to his place. They arrived just as Blaze found Al’s journal on the desk. The blue Alicorn walked over to read it over Dream Blaze’s shoulder. Her eyes widened at the same time he dropped the book.

She turned towards Blaze and said, “Discord is going to corrupt you?”

“Pause playback.” Everything froze. “That’s one thing I want to figure out how. Not wanting to reveal anything from the show, but I saw what he’s capable of. With that, if I hold onto my values and beliefs, this will not happen. Again, this is only a dream, right?”

“That remains to be seen. Continue the memory please.”

He does so and it began where it had left off. Luna continued to read the entry as Dream Blaze did. As this was happening, the other Blaze saw the cloaked figure enter the room. He knew who it actually was. He played this part several times the past two nights, trying to get some clue to spot the fake. There was none, it was a perfect copy of Al.

Dream Blaze finished reading and placed the book down on the table. Luna looked up and saw the cloaked figure. “Blaze! Look Out Behind You!” She shouted, not at the Royal Canterlot Voice level.

“Luna, it’s a memory, remember?”

She blushed a little as she joined the real Blaze to watch the events. The dream characters discussed what happened to catch Dream Blaze on what happened. Once done, the two made their way to the basement. Just as before, once Blaze opened the weapons depot, Al shot his crossbow into the shoulder of Blaze. Just before Al, now Shadow Torch, could fire the weapon and end the dream, Blaze paused the playback.
 
"The next part wakes me up. Also, I don't know if it will actually show how that weapon will do damage to me. It's definitely something I should have never brought here," Blaze said as he looked at Shadow Torch.

"You could have never predicted something like this could happen, or might."

"What do you mean?"

"I believe this is not a dream. Dreams are places where you can never get hurt. Yes, you can get scared in nightmares. But no bodily injury."

"Then, what is this then?"

"I think you had a vision of the future."

Blaze mouth dropped as he fell back a bit, to lean against the worktable. "A vision?" He stumbled to say. "How, how did I get one?"

"Even my sister and I are unclear how ponies get them. They might be something brief, say knowing when a beautiful sight might occur. In your case, your mind and body entered the vision and became part of it. To interact with it in order to see what transpires."

Blaze turned around and placed his hands on the table. His head hung low. "Tell me, Princess Luna, do all these visions come true?" He then looked again at Shadow Torch.

"I’m afraid they mostly do. I’ve yet to hear of one not coming true." Luna placed a hoof on his shoulder. "A wise creature once said, if you try and prevent the future, you may as well be leading it to the outcome."

The human looked at the Alicorn with tears forming in his eyes. "I said that."

"Not word for word, but you made your point. Knowing what the future may hold is anyone’s guess. You have to take one day at a time and deal with what is given to you."

Blaze wiped the tears away. As he stood back up, Luna took her hoof off his shoulder. She was then surprised as he went for a hug with her. After a few seconds, her hooves and wings wrapped around Blaze.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“Not a problem. Just remember, you have friends here that are willing to help you with whatever situation that comes up. You don’t have to attack it head-on by yourself.”

With that, Blaze ended the vision recall and exited the mind space. They both opened their eyes to see they were back in the throne room. In slow motion, they got up and stretched out their stiff joints. The human bowed to the Princess and began to take his leave.

“Blaze, one sec,” Luna said.

He turned around and said, “Yes, your highness?”

“I’ll be discussing this with my sister in the morning of what you shared with me. If we come up with something, I’ll summon you.”

“Thank you. Also, next time you teleport me, just send me a letter. I don’t want to arrive naked if you snagged me from the bathroom.”

This caused Princess Luna to blush through her dark coat. Before another word could be said, Blaze teleported out of there, back to his home. He knew he wasn’t going to get that much sleep tonight. Instead, he went into meditation to begin the plans.
> Chapter 52: Lesson #1, Obey The Instructor
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, Blaze exited his mind space. He didn’t go to sleep as the conversation with Princess Luna was still fresh in his mind. After a quick shower and change of clothes, it was now time for the morning exercise. With ninja style, he made it outside without a noise. After the front door was closed, a voice behind him shouted, "Morning Cap!"

The black hair human spun around to see who said that. It was Al as he had the biggest grin. The others of the newly formed regiment were standing in formation next to him. The captain walked down the steps and stood in front of them. "Ahh, I see everyone is eager for the training I have in-stored," he said.

"SIR, YES, SIR!" They shouted.

"That’s what I like to hear. 10k run. GO!"

The soldiers about-face and started to run down the road to town. Blaze followed, after increasing the weights a little bit.

They did their best to keep the noise of the run down to avoid waking any sleeping pony. The black hair human tested the team as he had some obstacles of rocks, pop up from the ground, ahead of where they were running. None of them tripped or stubbed through that portion. The course was to the far side of town, to where they entered, and circled back to the house.

When done, each team member was breathing a little hard after not doing any warm-up routines. Blaze too was panting a little bit. "Well done. You’ve successfully taken care of the first part of the new training, move fast and quietly," he said once he caught his breath.

"We figured you might do something like this," Star Dust said.

The captain raised one eyebrow and said, "Oh really?"

Al replied, "You called the group, Phantom Regiment. Not hard to tell we’ll need to be stealthy on missions."

"Was a little surprised when all those rocks came out of the ground just ahead of us," Fang added.

"Guess I can increase the training as you seem to know what I’ve planned. Triple Morning Exercise Routine! BEGIN!" Blaze said.

None of them made a sound of complaint, but their faces showed they weren’t going to like it. Two hours later, the routine finished and everyone was sore and hungry. The sun came up thirty minutes after they started. Each one slowly walked inside for breakfast as Al made his way to the kitchen to get it going. He was doing better than the ponies as he was used to the positions.

Blaze had gone up to use one shower and Dragon raced Cancer towards the other. Caner won as he slammed the door into his brother's muzzle. Blaze was out first and in a different gi that was clean. Dragon was about to step into that bathroom, but Fang stopped him with her blade. "Ladies first."

The younger Zebra gulped and slowly nodded. Colorful Sparks, Star Dust, and Lightning Trails were lined up at the other bathroom door, waiting for Cancer to finish up. The black hair human shook his head and thought, ”Need to remind the Princess to install a mass style bathroom so multiple ponies can wash up.”

I already have it in the plans. Princess Celestia’s voice was heard in Blaze's head.

Are you spying in my head now?

No. I just opened the link to talk with you when you thought of that.

So, what is it that you wanted to discuss with me? Blaze said in his mind as he sat down on the couch in the living room.

Just a couple quick things. The engineers and their crews will be down this afternoon to begin work on your team's living space. Would you mind taking care of the foundation? It will save them a week from having to dig and pour concrete.

Sure, that much won't be taxing on my chakra levels. What’s the next point?

Princess Luna informed me of the vision you had. With you knowing Discord is going to come back and this vision, I fear for what exactly is going to actually happen.

I know you’re as scared of me as I am, but we cannot dwell on that. Remember the episode about time travel of knowing the future, I’m not going to something like that as it might very well cause him to come sooner. I don't know how he was able to convert me, but I’ll make preps to try and prevent that. I’m not going to tell you exactly what. This is my burden and I’ll share this with Al, seeing he wasn’t converted.

Blaze could hear a sigh from the Princess, before she responded with, I know you have every intention to protect us from threats and now, from you. I just hope it would not lead to having to kill you if it comes to it.

The future is never set in stone. It's created based upon our actions and how we react to them. Try not to dwell on it and stay focused on the present events. That’s all that I can ask.

I’ll do so, Captain Swift Blaze. One last thing.

What’s that Celestia?

Someone is at your door.

Sure enough, one second later, there was a knock at the front door. The black hair human got up to see who it was. Once the door was opened, he was engulfed in magic and lifted off the floor. The pony standing there was Twilight Sparkle.

"Well, good morning Twilight. I take it you’re mad about something?" Blaze asked.

"You owe me BIG time on teaching you magic. Now then, will you come with me so we can begin? Or am I going to have to knock you out and drag you to my library?" Twilight asked with a stern voice.

"Can I at least have breakfast? I'm starving." His stomach then growled to confirm.

"I saw you training already, so I know you must have already eaten."

"I train BEFORE eating so I can replenish my strength for the day."

"That doesn't make sense. My brother told me the Royal Guard always eats before training. Why would you change that?"

"Maybe because I want to do something different for MY squad."

The Unicorn then looked confused. "Your squad? You just became a member of the Royal Guard. How can you already have your own squad?"

"Maybe because Princess Celestia made me CAPTAIN for winning the tournament and for also kicking your brother’s flank during training."

"Captain? Princess Celestia must really like you to promote you all the way to that rank."

"She saw good talent and did not want it to go to waste."

Twilight set Blaze down gently and released her magic hold on him. "I'm so sorry! Please don't report me to the Princess!" she said as she begged.

"I'm not going to do that. Besides, I do owe you some time to teach me magic. I was going to come over all week for a couple of hours in the morning and in the afternoon. Let me have breakfast first."

The purple mare nodded as they made their way to the dining room. She began to sniff the air. "What is that odd smell? I have never smelled anything like it."

From the kitchen, Al said,  "That would be bacon."

"Hay bacon never smelt like that before. What herbs are being applied to change the smell? I can't pick any up."

"That's because it's not hay bacon. It's the bacon humans eat, and we never add anything to it. That's blasphemy."

The Unicorn looked queasy after realizing she was smelling meat. Blaze saw this and put a hand on her shoulder, before saying, "Twilight, would you like me to meet you at your library after I eat? I can see you are having a little issue with the smell of cooked meat."

She nodded her head. Her horn lit up and she quickly teleported out of the house. Not wanting to spend another second there.

The white hair human came in holding a plate and a platter of food. He looked around the room for a sec. "I thought I heard Twilight. Was she here, or was I hearing voices?" He asked.

Blaze responded, "She was here. The smell was bothering her after realizing what it was. I’m going to head over to the library after eating to start the magic lessons. I’ll take care of the foundation for the team's living quarters first."

"Yea, they are great and all. Just didn't want to do so much shopping for food. I thought you ate the most. Them combined have beaten you."

"I’ll reimburse you, once I get the next pay from Celestia."

A big bright light flashed on the table. Once done, it revealed eight sacks of bits. Seven of them are the same size. The last one was a little bigger. Luckily, none of them landed on a food plate. 

Blaze looked around above while trying to look like he was searching for something. Once he spotted the spy portal near the ceiling light, the plan began to form for the payback. His hands were under the table so making jutsu signs was easy to do. The black hair human raised his arms out from under the table and stretched for a yawn. The index finger on his right hand pointed to the portal. In a quick blast, a jet of air was launched, from the finger, towards the portal. It made its mark as a woman could barely be heard screaming before it closed.

Al looked towards Blaze and asked, "Celestia trolling you again?"

"Nah, I think it's for the fact she is worried about the vision I had," he responded.

"What vision?"

"That night you came running in when I was screaming."

"I thought that was a nightmare?"

"I did too until I chatted with Princess Luna about it last night."

Blaze discussed what they went over when viewing the vision. Once done, Al placed a hand on the Captain’s shoulder. "Listen, whatever we need to do, we’ll make sure that vision never comes true. Or, we’ll find some way to bring you back. We humans have to stick together in this world. Right, bro?" he said, then stuck his hand out that was on Blaze's shoulder for a hoof bump.

The black hair human smiled and returned the gesture. "I know you will. First thing first, we have to find those Elements of Order. I know they have an important role. I feel it in my gut."

"Mmhmm, the gut is strong in you," the white hair human said in a Yoda voice.

Blaze laughed and Al joined in. As they were laughing, Fang and Cancer walked into the dining room. Both were still a little wet in some spots of the fur. Fang spoke first, "What are you humans laughing about?"

Al was still chuckling when he replied, "Oh, it's nothing. Just something human-related. By the way, breakfast is served and your pay sack is on the table."

"Who gets the bigger one?" Cancer asked, reaching a hoof out to it.

Blaze slapped his hoof to stop him. Then snagged it before anyone else went for it. "That would be for the Captain. If you would excuse me, I need to get the foundation made for your place before I head off to Twilights." 

The black hair human sent his sack to the weapon storage in the basement for safekeeping. Then got up from the table and walked out the front door.

Outside, the scenery was beautiful as usual. Blaze then noticed the Pegasi were busy getting clouds into position to cover the sky. ”Hmm, looks like they scheduled it to rain today.” He made his way over to where the area for the barrack was going to be built.

Over at the site, there was a chalky color Unicorn looking over some blueprints. His mane and tail were a slick solid blue and was wearing a white hard hat. Once he saw the human coming up, the blueprints were placed down on a workbench. "Good morning. May I help you, sir?"

"Good morning to you too. I’m actually here to help you," he replied. "My name is Captain Swift Blaze."

"Ah, yes. Princess Celestia was going to ask you to see if you can help out. I take it, with you being here, that you accepted to help?"

"That I did, mister . . ."

"Oh, how rude of me. My name is Square Edge. I’m the architect Princess Celestia hired to design and build the living quarters for your squad. I must have to say, your home looks amazing. Mind telling me who designed it?"

"That would be me, Square Edge. Did engineering work back in my world. That design is the basic concept for my dream home. Had to modify it based upon what’s available here."

"How were you able to afford all the material and labor to build it?"

"I did it all. So no cost, in terms of bits."

"How?" The Unicorn stallion asked with a very confused look.

"The same way I’m going to take care of the foundation. Now then, are these the prints?" Blaze asked as he pointed to the blueprints.

"Yes, they are." He used his magic and brought the plans to the human.

Blaze said, "Thank you." He then rolled it open and began to look at the design. "No basement?"

"Nope."

"Crawl Space?"

"Yes."

"Height for that?"

"Three feet, minimum."

"And these posts here are for floor stabilization?"

"That’s correct."

"Alright, I think I have the layout down in my head."

"That's good. So how long will it take you to get this done?

"Give me about ten minutes. Then your crew can begin putting the floor down."

"I still don't know how you can do that with no tools. What, you're going to magically have a stone foundation pop out of the ground?"

"Sort of, but not with magic." Blaze walked up to where the building corners are marked out. The chakra started to gather inside as the human was in a stance to keep a good balance. While doing the hand signs, he shouted, "Ninja Art! Earth Style! Stone Wall Jutsu!"

The ground was rumbling and shook around them. Square Edge grabbed hold of the workbench to say on his hooves. Soon, stone walls and pillars rose out of the ground. It matched up to what was on the print. Once they got to the desired height, Blaze ended channeling his chakra into the jutsu.

He took a couple of deep breaths as the stallion looked over his work. "You sure you want to be in the Royal Guard? I can see you have a great job in the construction field," he said.

"Appreciate the offer, but I see more of a need there. Plus, I don't want other ponies to lose their jobs over me."

"Well, if you are ever looking for a change in career, look me up in Canterlot."

"Will do, Square Edge. If you excuse me, I have another appointment to get to. I’ve already delayed meeting with her for the lesson. If I put her off anymore, I’m afraid what she will do if she goes and hunts me down."

"Then you better get running before you face the wrath of a mare," the Unicorn said with a joking attitude.

"Why run when I can teleport." Blaze placed his hands together. Then, disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Square Edge looked around to verify he had left before saying, "Great, another creature that can do magic, or something close to it. I can't wait to return back to Canterlot where everything is normal. What's next? Are pigs going to sprout wings and help manage the weather clouds?"

------Outside Ponyville Library-------

The black hair human reappeared outside of the tree. He went over to a window and looked inside to see where Twilight was. She was busy looking back and forth from a book next to her and a moveable chalkboard. A piece of chalk was floating in her magical field, writing different things. Blaze saw she was very focused on her task. He believed this would make another good time to scare her.

Using a wood jutsu, the human merged with the tree to pass through it. Inside, a small shadow slowly moved along the floor. It circled Twilight once before approaching her from her right side. Once close, Blaze's hand emerged from the shadow. It reached slowly to her back right hoof. Just as the hand was about to grab it, the wooden head bust that was on a table in the middle of the room, it slammed down hard on the human's hand.

The pain was intense enough, he jumped out of the shadow, knocking the bust over, and grabbed onto the ceiling with his feet and chakra. "OWWW! That hurt!" Blaze said as he cradled his injured hand.

"YES! IT WORKED! MY DETECTION SPELL WORKED!" Twilight said as she jumped up and down, clapping her forehooves together.

The human was rubbing his injured fingers, seeing them start to swell up. "I take it you came up with that spell recently. How does it work?"

The purple mare stopped jumping and looked up to Blaze on the ceiling. "It works by placing a field over the area you want to protect. When something goes through it, by a different means from what you’ve indicated safe paths, like a door, it will alert the spell caster within their mind about the intruder. It will then track their location so you know exactly where they are."

"Very clever. Guess I can't sneak in here and startle you anymore."

"Not without your hands being crushed by this." The Unicorn waved the bust in the air with her magic.

"You crush my hands with that again, I’ll blow it up into toothpicks to pick the meat out that might be stuck between my teeth."

"Then I’ll upgrade to a metal one and have it slam on your head."

Blaze raised his hands in the air and said, "We’re getting off track. I’m here to learn about magic. Unless you want to reschedule again so we can talk some more about nonsense?"

"No! We’re going to cover magic today. Please, take a seat at your desk student." Twilight pointed to it with her hoof.

The human released from the ceiling and landed on the floor. He then walked over to the desk and looked at it. The size of it is what he sat at the Ponyville school last week. A desk designed for a little colt or filly. Not intended for an adult human.

"Um, Twilight, I think this desk is too small for me. You think you have anything OUCH!" Blaze cried out.

The mare just wracked him on the back of the head with a ruler with her magic. "It's Professor Twilight or Professor when class is in session. For now, you’re going to have to make do with that desk. It’s the same one I had when Princess Celestia taught me."

The human rolled his eyes as he thought, ”Of course she would keep the desk she sat at. She practically worships the ground she walks on, literally.” "How about I just used my jutsu to make my own desk. It won't take OUCH!"

Again, the mare struck him in the same spot. "Nope, that desk will do fine. Another thing, you are to learn magic in your pony form first. From there, you can figure out how in your human form. Now then, are you going to change yourself, or will you have to change you to your pony by me?"

"NO! NO! NO! I can take care of that! My way is less painful and I don't like being changed against my will. No offense."

"None taken."

Blaze placed his hands together and transformed into his pony version. He carefully took a seat, trying not to break it. Once comfortable in the colt chair, the legs gave out and his flank came crashing down to the floor with it.

Twilight came over quickly and said, "Are you alright? I have never seen one break so easily."

"I'm fine. These chairs are just not designed to handle the magical weight I’m currently at."

"What’s the total weight at?"

"I’ve increased it to seven hundred twenty-five pounds of additional weight over my own body this morning. I was surprised you were able to pick me up with no issue."

"I had a little issue with the Ursa Minor. They weigh roughly around five to seven tons at that size. You would not think a celestial animal would weigh that much."

"Your magic is indeed strong. Can't wait to learn what you have in store."

The Unicorn paced in front of the desk Blaze was sitting behind. "Now then, did you happen to read any of the books I sent to your house?" she asked as her eyes looked at the stallion with a stern face.

"Um, no. OUCH!" Another hit with the ruler.

"No, what?"

"No, Professor Twilight. I haven’t read any of them. OW! What was that one for!"

"That was for not reading the homework I gave you."

"You gave me over fifty books to read while I was stuck as an Earth colt. How the heck can I read that in that allotted time. OW! Quit hitting me!"

"Mind your language. At least we have covered how to access your magic. Let's review that, shall we? Please try and pick up that bust and place it on the table over there."

Blaze stuck his hoof out toward the bust and began to concentrate his magic. Just as his hoof started to glow, Twilight struck it with the ruler. "OW! What? I’m doing what you asked, Professor."

"Don't channel your magic to your hoof. Channel it to your horn. It's closer to your magical font."

"Excuse me, I never had one before. Also, all my other abilities, I either use my hands or hooves. Why not with this?"

"Because it's not normal for the magic to come from one's hooves."

"I'm not normal, remember?"

Twilight smacked Blaze again with the ruler against his head. This time, it snapped in half upon impact.

"Hah! Now you can't hit me with a broken ruler."

The Unicorn used her magic and opened a draw underneath one of the bookshelves. What came out was another ruler. "You were saying?"

"Damn. OUCH!"

"Bad language. Now then, concentrate your magic to your horn and move the bust onto the table."

The stallion mumbled some words that no creature could understand as he turned his gaze to the bust laying on the floor. He could feel where the magic is within his body, trying to drive it to the horn was the difficult part. After minutes had gone by, Blaze relaxed and looked to the mare.  

"Professor, how am I supposed to move magic to my horn when I have no feeling where it is? "

"This will help you then." Twilight quickly took the ruler and smacked it against his horn.

"OW! That hurts worse!"

"A Unicorn's horn has more nerves within it to help direct magic through it."

Blaze mumbled, "It's not just for magic." The purple mare struck his horn again. "HEY! What was that for?"

"That was for your comment. Now get your mind out of the gutter and get back to the task at hand."

The red Unicorn turned his head to back to the target. With the pain coming from his horn, he could now feel where to send the magic energy to. The horn lit up with a red glow. Remembering how he took care of the books, Blaze repeated the process. He focused his mind hand on the bust. The aura around the horn grew brighter as the bust got the same glow. Blaze was sweating a little bit. It was a different feeling than using chakra or ki, but that did not stop him. The wooden horse head started to rise off the ground and make its way to the table in the center of the room.

After ten minutes, the bust was placed in the center of the table. The magic aura disappeared from it and Blaze’s horn. He slumped down on the desk and began to breathe hard. “That was tougher than I thought. I underestimated how heavy that thing weighs,” he said.

Twilight smiled, then said, “Oh, no you didn’t. I had magically increased its weight before you arrived.”

“WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT!”

“To see what level of control your magic is at. You did struggle but maintained control the entire time. We can now move onto the actual lesson.”

The mare started to explain how magic works for a Unicorn. Going on about the different types of spells. The basic ones where you think of a word and cast the spell. Next level involved saying a chant in order for it to work. Lastly, the most difficult spells require special ingredients at the precise measurements, or the spell will backfire. 

The next topic was how some Unicorns can do some spells while others can't do them. All involving the cutie mark they received. As Twilight continued the discussion and wrote stuff on the chalkboard, Blaze was getting bored listening to it. He was even drifting off to sleep. Without warning, the ruler slapped against his desk, waking him from his daze.

"Blaze! I'm trying to teach you magic and here you are, falling asleep." Twilight shouted in the stallion’s face.

"I'm sorry. I thought it would be interesting learning magic. The thing is, and don't take this personally, your teaching method is a bit dry. DON'T HIT ME!" Blaze said, then covered his head on the last part.

"Explain."

"You see, I’m more of a read and try it style of learning. You're teaching more of the theory of how it actually works and not going straight to the spells themselves."

Twilight looked at Blaze with a stern face. He could see in her eyes that she was processing what was just said. After a few minutes, she closed her eyes and walked back to the chalkboard. "I guess your right. I was so excited about this task, I didn’t consider the actual teaching method I should use. I wanted to cover everything that I read and was taught, that I didn't consider it was the same knowledge you wanted."

"It's ok, Twilight. I’ve seen similar things to others back on my planet. They would get so deep in projects and assignments, they forget the actual principle they were supposed to go after."

"Seeing my lesson plan is out the window now. What exactly do you want to know?"

-----Hours later-------

Blaze was still at the library, back in human form, and was reading a magic book on locating spells. He thought it would be useful in help trying to track down those Elements of Orders. With that vision in the back of his mind, the drive to find these was higher than before.

The Unicorn mare also had her muzzle in a book on the other side of the library. She was reading parts of it, then wrote some notes down on a scroll that was being held in her magic.

The human closed his book and looked towards the pony. "Hey, Twilight, what are you researching now?"

While still looking at the book, she responded, “With the Gala coming up this weekend, I’m looking for a way to magically create a chariot to take us to it. The Princess won't be able to send any to us as they have already been rented out by other ponies in Canterlot."

Blaze smiled as he said, "Well, good luck with that. I'm sure you will find what you are looking for." An idea popped into his head. "Oh! Um, if you would excuse me, I just remember I need to inform Al about something."

"Alright. I expect to see you back here tomorrow morning to go over the homework assignment I gave you."

"I will, Professor Twilight."

With that, Blaze got up from the chair he was sitting on. He grabbed his homework assignment, which was to read six books tonight. The other part is a demonstration of some of the spells within them.

Doing a one handed sign, Blaze teleported out of the library and headed back to his place. He arrived outside the front door. Before going inside, he looked over to the construction site nearby. They were making some progress. A basic frame was done, the first floor was covered in plywood, the second floor was in progress, and they were almost done with the roof. No inner walls were put up yet. The black hair human thought they must want to get the roof on before the Pegasi started making it rain.

Sure enough, rain drops started to fall. Started out at sprinkle level, then increased to casual rain. The workers were moving inside where it was dry to continue their work.

Blaze quickly headed inside to avoid getting soaked and damaging the books with the rain. Once inside, he walked to the living room. Where he found Al, reading one of the magic books Twilight sent last week.

"Ah, just the human I wanted to see," Blaze said as he placed the books on the coffee table.

The white hair human closed the book. Then, looked at his roommate and said, "Dude, I'm the only other human besides you that is in this world. Woah, what’s with the bruises on your melon? Did you get into another fight? How come you didn't invite me?"

"First, how often could you say that line, hmm? Next, I wasn’t in a fight. Twilight hit me lots of times with rulers."

"Rulers? Exactly how many?"

"I think she went through at least thirty of them before she decided to enchant them to not to break."

“You have one thick head to take that slaughter. I'm surprised you're not in the hospital getting those healed."

"Thanks for reminding me." Blaze puts his left hand close to his head. He then used his chakra to heal the bruises and make a slight headache go away. After several minutes, they were all gone. "Ahh, much better."

"How come you didn't do that down at her place?"

"I tried, but she just hit me again with the ruler."

"Those must really hurt like hell."

"You tell me." Blaze pulled a ruler out from behind him and tossed it like a dagger. It nailed Al right between the eyes.

"OW! What was that for you bastard!"

"I thought you said you like pain. I mean you went to sleep on a bed of nails and asked me to create one in your room."

The white hair human picked up the ruler. "I can handle pain when it’s expected. It still hurts out of the blue." He then tossed the ruler underhanded at Blaze.

The black hair human reacted quickly enough to snag it out of the air. He twirled it between his fingers as he said, “I also managed to grab them before they hit me. That was until she brought out more than I could stop.”

“So, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Oh yea. Quick question, what was your job back on Earth?

“A mechanic. Why?”

“Perfect. I have an idea for something for the Gala and you can help me. We have no time to waste if we want to get it done on time.”

“So, what are we doing?”
> Chapter 53: We're off to the Gala!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The day has finally arrived. Tonight was the big night event in Canterlot. The Grand Galloping Gala dance has finally come. And all the ponies with tickets were busy getting ready.

In Ponyville, Carousel Boutique was closed as Rarity and her friends were using the place to get ready. Also, Al, Swift Blaze, Cancer, Dragon, Fang, Star Dust, Colorful Sparks, and Lightning Trails were also getting ready there. Princess Celestia had sent the uniforms for the ponies earlier that week. The only ones not going to wear them were Al and Blaze as Rarity had made tux suits for them.

Outside, Pinkie Pie was jumping on a trampoline. She was excited as ever to attend the biggest party in Equestria. Twilight was nearby, reading a book. She was going the last minute things on the spells she has been working for. It was kinda hard with the pink mare jumping nearby, sounding all excited.

"Pinkie! Please, stop shouting! I'm trying to concentrate!" Twilight shouted towards the pink Earth pony.

Rarity opened her door. She saw the party pony jumping and said, "Pinkie Pie, stop that right now. It's time to prepare for the Gala, and I refuse to let you put on your new dress when you're all sweaty."

Pinkie stopped jumping and hopped off the trampoline. She walked over to where Spike was standing. She asked him, "What's Twilight doing?"

The dragon responded, "She's got an awesome magic spell she's been working on for the Gala."

"Yea, every time I came over for our study session, her nose was buried deep in that book," Blaze said as he was walking up to them.

Following them was Al and the other ponies on his team. Each one has an excited look on their face. Al could hear behind him some of the chatter between them.

"So, what’s everyone’s planned to do at the Gala?" Al asked.

"I'm going to hang out with Pinkie. Wherever she is, I’m sure it’ll be lots of fun," Colorful Sparks answered.

Star Dust said, "I'm going to get my sis and take her into the Canterlot Gardens. She’ll love to see what that place looks like at night under the stars and moon."

"Well I'm going to try and get into the VIP section to try and hang out with the Wonderbolts," Lightning Trails said with determination in his voice.

"What about you three?" Al said, pointing to the Zebra ponies.

"Well, seeing we’re the first Zebras in the Royal Guard," Cancer said.

"We’ll probably be slammed by congratulations from the noble ponies," Dragon added.

"I'll be looking after these two to make sure they don't start any challenges," Fang said.

"Sis! We are full-grown stallions! We don't need to be looked after," said the younger brother.

"Yea. We promise not to do any challenges at the Gala. Have to be an example for our team," said the older brother.

"We put all of those challenging things behind us. We're now part of the Royal Guard now."

"Then explain why I saw the two of you do a challenge this morning on who can eat their breakfast the quickest,” said their sister. “Or how about yesterday when you two raced to see who could get back to the house first."

"We’re twins," Dragon said.

"It's what we do," Cancer added. "What are you and Blaze going to do there?" he asked Al.

"Me? I’m going to head over to where the food will be placed. When will be the next time you get to eat such fancy food," the white hair human replied, drooling a little bit.

The black hair human said, "You do realize most of the stuff will have some sort of flower in it. Which we can't eat. I also don't expect to see any meat there either."

"With us coming, I'm sure Princess Celestia will make sure there is a table of food for us humans. What are you going to do, Blaze?"

"Well, honestly, I haven't really thought hard about it. Probably hang out with all my friends. Tonight, I'm just going to have fun." He leaned over and whispered to Al, "I know we both know what most likely going to happen tonight. We’re not to prevent it."

Al whispered back, "Why do you think I’m going to hang out by the food? It's going to be dinner and a movie for me. And it’s going to be in 3D. No, make it 4D. I’ll be able to smell the food flying."

"Also, I’ll be going in my pony form. I do have something planned for later in the evening. If everything happens the same way again."

"It's not. We’ll be there this time. As well as our teammates."

"What are you two whispering about?" Star Dust asked.

"Trying to figure out what meat dishes they might have," Al said quickly.

The blue Unicorn shook his head, trying to get that image out. He walked inside with the other ponies on his team.

Rarity was looking around the area. "Where are the others? It's getting late," she said.

On cue, Applejack and the other rounded a building. The orange mare replied, "Hold your horses, girl. We're here."

The purple mare slammed her book closed and said in a happy tone, "Perfect! I'm ready."

Rainbow Dash responded, "You don't look ready for the Gala. Whatcha ready for?"

"For this. Spike, if you would be so kind."

The little dragon revealed two very shiny red apples from a bag. Pinkie Pie did her thing as to guess what was going to happen. Twilight channeled her magic into her horn. As it glowed, the apples received the same aura color around it. They then started to get bigger and change their shape. Once done, the apples were now chariots, but still looked and smelled like an apple. Everyone was amazed at the spectacle of what they would be riding to the big event.

"Alright, phase one is done. Fluttershy, did you bring what I asked?" The Unicorn asked.

The yellow mare responded in a soft and concerned voice, "Yes I did." She revealed eight mice in her saddlebag. Twilight picked them up with her magic. The Pegasus stuck her hoof toward them as she said, "Will they be safe, Twilight?"

"You have my word." 

The Unicorn placed the mice down in an open area. A beam of magic came from her horn and hit them. A big puff of magic cloud covered the area. When it cleared, it revealed the mice were now full-size horses. Except, their faces looked to have a similar feature to the mice.

Everyone didn’t know what to say. Al whispered to Blaze, "I think she used the wrong words in the spell."

Blaze responded in a whisper back, "Yea. I think it would have worked better with Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo."

The two humans chuckled among themselves.

"Neat, huh? Don't worry Fluttershy. Your mice friends will be back to normal at midnight," Twilight said as she showed them off.

Opalescence head popped out of a nearby bush. She looked towards the mouse-horses. Even though they looked like them, to her, they still smelled like mice. Very delicious mice. The biggest she has ever seen. Just as the cat jumped out of the bush, Fluttershy tried her best to stop her. The claws in her paws dug into the flank of the closest prey. The animal screamed in pain, shook the cat off, and started to run away. The other seven joined in as they ran away at stamped speeds.

The purple mare stuck her hoof out as she said, "Wait! Come back!" They didn’t stop as they continued into a nearby forest. She turned to her friends. "Those horses were supposed to pull our carriages. How  will we get to the Gala now?" She said in a worried tone.

The white mare raised a hoof to her head as she said, "Whatever shall we do?" In a sarcastic tone. She walked over to a nearby fence where a couple of stallions were hanging out. Using the mare charm, she said to the pair, "Uh . . . ahem. Excuse me. Uh, would you boys mind pulling our carriages to the Gala?"

The first stallion spoke up and said, "We would love to, but we have dates we're taking to the Gala."

"I don't think our marefriends would like us showing up all sweating from pulling carriages. Sorry," said the other one.

"Oh. Yes. That would be rather rude." Rarity walked away and joined her friends again. She prepared her response to what happened. "Of all the worst things that could happen! This is possibly the WORST! POSSIBLE! THING!" She finished by placing a cushion behind her and falling down onto it.

The mares were all worried now as they had no way to get to the Gala. Train tickets have been sold out and all other carriages have been rented as well. It was also improper to teleport there or even walk all the way to it. They began to discuss other possible methods they could do to get to the Gala.

Al and Blaze watched on, seeing how worried they were getting. "Ladies! Please! Calm down! I was going to save this for another time, but I think it's needed now. Al, is it ready?" Blaze asked.

"I wanted to put another clear coat on the body before revealing it. But, yea. I think so," Al replied.

"What the hay are you two talking about?" Applejack asked.

"How about you all go inside and get ready. I’ll be right back with the surprise," Blaze said. "No Pinkie! I know what you’re thinking. You need to stay here and get ready. I'll be back in a flash." He put his hands together and disappeared.

"How did he know I wanted to see the surprise first? Is he also psychic?" the pink mare asked the group.

"I don't think so, Pinkie. I think he might be able to predict what you might do though," Al said.

"Oh! Then he has something like my Pinkie Sense. I didn’t see any twitches in his body though. How does his Blaze Sense work? Oh! Maybe he can actually see into the future and know what is going to happen," the pink Earth pony said, sounding very excited.

"I doubt it, Pinkie," Twilight said. "He told us what all his powers can do. He wouldn’t hide something like that from us, would he?" She finished as he looked towards Al.

The others joined in looking at the lonely human. Feeling the pressure of their eyes, Al responded, "Don't you ladies have to get ready for your first Gala? Don't want to waste any more time."

The girls nodded and went inside. The white hare human wiped his forehead to remove the sweat that built up before following them. Blaze reappeared inside a few minutes later. He was close to Spike as he was banging on a door. "Come on, you guys. Let me in!" the dragon said.

Inside the room, Blaze heard Rainbow say, "Sure thing, Spike."

Another voice was heard as a set of hooves slammed on that side of the door. "Heaven no! We're getting dressed." That was coming from Rarity.

After a few more minutes, the door glowed and was soon opened. Spike walked in and Blaze followed. The dragon chatted with them about how excited he was to go back to Canterlot and to show all the different places there.

The black hair human walked up to the white mare as she was magically putting on some long, fake, eyelashes. He asked, "Rarity, um, where are my tuxedos so I can go and put them on?"

"They’re in the room to the right of this one. Al is already in there with the other stallions getting their formal wear on," she said.

"Thank you." The human left and headed into the next one.

Inside, he saw his team were almost done putting their formal uniforms on. He saw two privacy screens on one side. Al's clothing was draped over one, so Blaze headed over to the other. Behind it, the two tuxedos were on hooks on the wall.

As the black hair human was taking his gi off, a voice on the other side of the screen. “Hey Blaze,” the voice coming from Star Dust, “what’s this that I hear we might have transportation to the Gala issues?”

“No reservations were made as Twilight was going to magically create it for us. She did an awesome job on the carriages, although . . .” he said.

“The method she planned to pull them ran off as a cat chased them,” Al timed in to say behind his screen.

“Are we going to have some other stallions pull them then?” Colorful Sparks asked.

“None were available, according to Rarity.” Blaze replied.

“Then how come you don’t use your clones and pull them?” Lightning Trails interjected with.

“For two things. One, once the clones poof away, I would feel their tired bodies and ruin the tux Rarity had made. Two, Al and I had a backup plan in place in case something like this were to happen.”

“So that explains why we keep on hearing beating and banging down there in the basement,” Cancer said.

“We were wondering what you two were up to. How do you plan to get whatever you were making out of there?” Dragon asked.

“Already taken care of,” Blaze said. He finished putting on his human tux a short time later. With a quick hand sign, he transformed into his pony form. 

The magic control with his horn has improved over the past week. It’s starting to get easier to do the spells Blaze was learning. Twilight did have to dumb down the lessons quite a bit and make them more horn on learning. The first couple of tries with a new spell did cause a little backlash. Twilight was ready though to stop the spell before any serious injury could occur.

The red stallion magically applied the pony tux to his body. He stepped out behind the screen to show how he looked. The other ponies were impressed with the overall design and how well their captain made it look.

Al walked out from behind his privacy screen. When he saw Blaze, he said, “Alright. Who are you and what did you do with our captain?”

“The name’s Blaze. Swift Blaze. I’ll have a martini. Shaken, not stirred,” the Unicorn said in the James Bond style.

“I’m sorry sir, but you’re not on the list. Could you please step back and allow these other fine gentlecolts through?” Al said. Sounding like a snob waiter at a fancy restaurant.

“Looks like you won’t be joining us. We’ll tell you how the Gala goes,” Lightning Trails commented.

“How are you going to get there without me? Walk?” Blaze replied.

“Ahh! Here’s your name. Sorry about that, sir,” the white hair human said.

The ponies and humans left their room and went outside. A few minutes later. The mare emerged from the building. Fang was in her uniform and the others were in their dresses. Spike was wearing the top part of a tux. The stallions and humans had their mouths open, staring at their beauty.

“You ladies look . . . wow. You actually took my breath away,” Blaze said.

“I could say the same thing with you fine gentlemen. But I know those would look good as I designed them.” Rarity said. “Blaze, would you mind changing back to your human form? I would like to show the others how that one looks on you as well.”

“Sure thing.” Blaze released his jutsu. His human form slowly revealed as the smoke dissipated. It started at the feet and rose up. Once the smoke was all gone, the human was standing with his hands in the pockets of the pants. His hair was slicked back and looked wet.

The mares looked him over. Impressed with how well the human can clean up with the right clothing. The first one to speak was Twilight. "Wow Rarity, you really do have an eye when it comes to designing the perfect clothing for your clients." She said. "Now I really feel bad for having you take that time to redo ours when these were perfect."

"It's quite alright, Twilight. After that second showing. I did get lots more orders for similar designs. All of them were wanting it for the Gala as well. I can't wait to see all my designs spread out on everyone," Rarity said in a very happy tone.

"Alright, Blaze and Al, where is this mysterious thing that is to take us to the Gala?" Applejack asked.

The black hair human reached into the left side of the jacket. What he pulled out was a round cylinder object. "Right here is how we're going to get there," he said.

"Beg your pardon, but that just looks like a rolled-up scroll. How the hay is that to get us there?"

"The scroll itself is not the actual thing we will be using. It's what's been sealed into it."

"Just bring the damn thing out Blaze!” said Al. “I want to show them all the features you and I have built into it. And under five days no less!"

"Alright, alright. Man, a guy can't bring out the suspense a little bit?"

"Not if we want to get there in time."

"Fine. Alright, everyone. Please stand behind me and be amazed at this masterpiece that I’m about to reveal." 

The ponies and humans took a safe distance behind Blaze, near the edge of the building. While holding the scroll, he began to do several hand signs as his chakra was being gathered into the scroll. At the last sign, he shouted, "Ninja Art! Summoning Jutsu!"

A big, long, cloud appeared in front of them. After a few seconds, it started to rise off the ground, slowly dissipating. The ponies watched on, trying to figure out what the humans had made. The black hair human turned around and looked at their expressions. Almost all the ponies had their mouths open. Their facial expressions ranged from confused, amazed, and excited.

"Behold, mares and gentlecolts, our transportation to the Grand Galloping Gala," Blaze said with one hand gesturing to it. Al was on the other side, mirroring the motion.

The first pony to speak was Fluttershy. She said, "Oh my." 

"What is it?" Applejack asked.

"I've never seen anything like this. Even in Canterlot," Twilight said.

"OHHH! Shiny!" Pinkie shouted, all happy.

"Are those real diamonds?!" Rarity said with her eyes big as ever.

Cancer said, "Where did you come up with that design?"

"We never saw anything like that in our travels," Dragon added.

Fang said, "Even I don't know what to make of it."

"It looks spectacular!" Colorful Sparks said.

Star Dust said, "the two of you built that in the basement? And only in five days?"

"Very impressive." Lightning Trails said.

Finally, Rainbow Dash said, "How fast does it go?"
> Chapter 54: We're off to the Gala!, Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Behold, mares and gentlecolts, our transportation to the Grand Galloping Gala," Blaze said with one hand gesturing to it. Al was on the other side, mirroring the motion.

The first pony to speak was Fluttershy. She said, "Oh my." 

"What is it?" Applejack asked.

"I've never seen anything like this. Even in Canterlot." Twilight said.

"OHHH! Shiny!" Pinkie shouted, all happy.

"Are those real diamonds?!" Rarity said with her eyes big as ever.

Cancer asked, "Where did you come up with that design?"

"We never saw anything like that in our travels," Dragon added.

Fang said, "Even I don't know what to make of it."

"It looks spectacular!" Colorful Sparks said.

Star Dust asked, "The two of you built that in the basement? And only in five days?"

"Very impressive," Lightning Trails said.

Finally, Rainbow Dash said, "How fast does it go?"

Let me introduce the very first, steam-powered, automobile," Blaze said.

With the cloud gone, what the humans revealed was a long, white, carriage style vehicle. There was no hookup in the front for ponies to hitch up to and pull. The driver's cab was enclosed. The best way to describe it, Model T style stretched out to a limousine length. The body is a glossy white with gems placed in a decorative style. The wheels are made of wood and solid black. It also has spring leaf suspension and tinted windows behind the driver's cab.

"Auto what now?" Applejack said.

"Automobile," Al said slowly. "Meaning, a vehicle that doesn’t require a pony to pull it. Or needing tracks, like the train."

"More specifically, this is also known as a limousine,” said the black hair human. “A fancy vehicle that was used back on Earth to bring humans to big events. Similar to the Gala."

"How does it move? Also, how do you control it?" Twilight asked.

Blaze looked at her and should have expected this. The purple Unicorn had a scroll out in her magic, with a quill and inkwell. "Similar to how a train moves, a boiler gives power to a piston that rotates the back wheels. The front wheels can spin on an axis that is controlled by that wheel inside," he said as he pointed. "It's also known as a 'steering wheel'." A couple of ponies laughed, seeing how obvious that name stands for. "So we don't want to be any later. I’ll go into more detail at the next study session on Monday. Okay, Twilight?"

The mare nodded. With a quick poof of light, the objects disappeared, returning to where they came from.

"Alright everyone, hop into the back. Spike, you're riding up with me," Al said.

"Sweet!" said the dragon.

"Hey! I was going to call shotgun!" Blaze said.

"You have a seat in the back already! How else are we supposed to get some heat to the boiler?"

"We wanted to get the build done fast, I had to be the heat source. Once we find a better way. I get to drive."

"Good. Then you can chauffeur me around."

Blaze transformed into his pony form and stepped into the back. Al closed the double doors. Then, opened the front passenger door for Spike. Finally, he hopped into the driver's side.

"Ok Blaze, bring the heat so we can get moving," said the human.

The red stallion placed his right forehoof onto a small circle that was built into the seat in the back. He channeled his ki into a low energy beam and sent it down the tube. The ponies could hear a piston starting up in the back. Slowly, they were moving, picking up some speed as well.

As the limo was making its way to Canterlot, the ponies inside were looking at everything they have placed in there. Instead of normal seats that would be in there for humans, the ponies sat on very soft cushions, covered with silk. The floor and ceiling were covered with a piece of red velvet fabric. The area around the windows had black transparent curtains that were pulled back. On one side of the vehicle, sat a beautiful piece of furniture made from wood. There were doors there on the sides and top.

“I must say, Swift Blaze, you did a fabulous job in designing this fancy carriage. How in Equestria were you able to buy this material?” Rarity asked.

He responded, “The wood and metal, I used my jutsu to create the frame. As for the fabric. I used most of my pay and bought them in Canterlot. Is everything expensive there?”

“Yes, dear. All the rich and famous ponies either live there or in Manehatten.”

“Glad I decided to plant roots in Ponyville. I don’t think I could afford what the food prices might be.”

Twilight then spoke up, “So, this explains why you were somewhat distracted during our study sessions. How come you didn’t tell me what the two of you were planning?”

Realizing that he didn’t want to spill the beans of knowing these events, the red Unicorn quickly said, “Well, um, we actually didn’t think we would have it ready in time. We had setbacks for the first two days. Trying to come up with the best way to work the steam engine.”

“Guess that explains those small explosions we heard from the basement then,” Dragon said.

“EXPLOSIONS?!” Several ponies said rather loudly.

“It wasn’t anything major!” Blaze sounded defensive. “I might have applied too much heat to the testing boiler. Causing it to burst open and let out all that steam.”

“It was a nice, instant steam room though. Did wonders for my complexion,” Al said.

“Keep your eyes on the road.”

“Aye, aye, Captain. We need more power to climb this mountain.”

“Aye sir, I’ll give her all she got.” Blaze said in a Scottish accent. He increased the output of ki and the vehicle sped up.

Rainbow Dash leaned over to Lightning Trails and whispered, “Do you know why Blaze changed his voice like that?”

“He tried to explain a previous time,” replied the black Pegasus. “Something about mimicking the voice of someone. I didn’t understand the rest though.”

“Oh! He was doing the voice of a man named Scotty,” Pinkie said.

Blaze looked very confused. “How did you know that?”

“Just a hunch.”

The red stallion couldn’t comprehend how Pinkie Pie could have known that. As he was trying to work this in his mind, the ki flow stopped. The limo began to slow down. Al shouted back to Blaze asking what happened to the power. No response came from the red Unicorn. His face was that of total shock. The ponies in the back were wondering what’s going on.

Star Dust was sitting next to Blaze in the back. He shook his shoulder, trying to get a reaction. Nothing. The vehicle slowed down even more. Al tried to maintain control with no power. He put on the brakes and pulled over to the wall side of the mountain. Once the vehicle stopped, Al turned around in his seat and looked into the back. He shouted, “Blaze! Snap out of it!” The human then used his powers and slammed the Unicorn into the roof, then back down onto the floor.

This snapped Blaze out of his mind funk. As he was rubbing his head, Blaze said, “Ow! What the hell, man. What was that for?”

“That’s for stopping the supply of your power to the engine,” the human replied.

“I did?”

“Ya did, sugarcube,” Applejack said.

“Sorry about that. I was trying to figure out how Pinkie Pie knew that when I never mentioned it.”

“Don’t bother,” Twilight began to say. “Remember, I too tried to figure out her Pinkie Senses. I now realize some things can’t really be explained. Especially with Pinkie.”

Blaze nodded. He got back to his seat and resumed supplying his ki to the boiler. Al started to have the limo continue its journey back up the mountain to Canterlot. With the vehicle back in motion, the ponies in the back began to wonder what they should talk about now.

Fang decided to break the silence. “Blaze, do you have anything to drink in here?”

“I sure do. They’re in that ash wood hutch over there,” the stallion said while pointing. “I would get up and pour the drinks. But I’m currently supplying the power to the engine.”

Cancer asked, “Why don’t you use your magic?”

“I never tried to channel magic with one of my other energy sources in the same body. I don’t think this would be a good time to test it out.”

Colorful Sparks then said, “Ok, Blaze, we’ll get our drinks ourselves. One thing though, how do you open it? I don’t see any doors.”

“See my cutie mark engraved on the top in the middle?” The blue stallion got up and walked over to get a better look. He nodded when his eyes found it. “Now, push down on it.”

The Unicorn does so. The emblem did retract in. He released it and it came back up. What happened next shocked and awe at how the hutch was doing it. Two hidden doors on the front spun around to reveal storage shelves that contained mugs and glassware. Offset from the center on the top, two more panels opened. Then from within the hutch, bottles rose up. The bottom stopped a few inches from the top surface to keep them from falling over.

“Blaze, how did you do that? I thought you were not doing any magic?” Twilight asked.

He responded, “I didn’t. That was all mechanically done. I always liked how secret switches would reveal stuff like magic.”

“This what humans must make seeing they can’t do magic. Well, excluding you and Al,” Star Dust said.

The human driver commented, “Hey, Blaze is the only one who can do real magic. I can’t explain the source of where mine comes from. I’m not an egghead like Blaze.”

“You’re an egghead when it comes to vehicle mechanics. I would still be months out, trying to figure out how to even make the engine. Don’t ever sell yourself short. Each one of us is some of an expert in something.”

"You're right. There was no way in hell you could have finished this in time. Even with all your clones."

All the ponies laughed. The limo continued rolling along up the mountainside towards Canterlot. It soon joined up with other carriages that were heading to the Gala. Ponies along the road were wondering where this strange thing came from. Some wondered what famous pony could be in there. The rest wondered where they could get one for themselves.

Canterlot Castle was starting to come into view. All the mare ponies piled to one side to see all the decorations and how everyone else was dressed. Rarity recognized some of her designs on the ponies. There were beautiful banners hanging from the castle. Lanterns were lit and had decorations on their poles.

The limo soon came to a stop in front of a red carpet. Al had aligned it so the back doors were on center with it. Spike hopped out of the vehicle and opened the back doors. Flashes from the bulbs on cameras were going off. The paparazzi were trying to get the best picture of who was in the mysterious vehicle. Blaze allows the mares to walk out first. Each one had a happy and excited look on their faces, realizing they were finally at the most popular event.

Once the mane six had stepped out, the new Royal Guards started their exit of the vehicle. When Al stepped out of the driver's cab, the frequency of flashes increased. He put a big smile on as he waved to the ponies. The group could hear some of them shouting questions to the human. Al didn’t say anything as he stood on one side of the opened doors.  Blaze was the last one to exit it. His face looked like those rich folks that think they deserve this attention. 

Al and Spike closed the doors to the limo. Blaze stomped his right forehoof on the ground. He channeled the sealing jutsu in that hit. The white vehicle quickly was engulfed in a white cloud. Once gone, what sat in its place was the scroll it came from. Blaze used his magic and picked it up and stored it in an inner pocket of the jacket.

Al leaned over to the red stallion and whispered, "You don't want the valet to park it?"

Blaze responded, "How can they? They don't know how to operate it. Plus I'm its fire source.”

The human chuckled at the thought of them trying to get it going. When he turned his attention back ahead, he saw the mane six were doing their musical number. All the other ponies around were also singing during the choir parts. The team followed behind them as they sang into the entrance. Once the number was done. Everyone scattered to do what they came to, leaving Spike, Al, and Blaze by themselves.

"Guess it's just us then," said the dragon.

"Nope. I'm off to the buffet table. Want to try all the fancy food they have out," replied the human. He then dashed off himself.

Spike then asked Blaze, "What’s he expecting to be there?"

"Probably something for humans. Most likely something with meat. He's going to get a rude awakening."

"Yea, most everything they serve at these events has some sort of flower in them. I never even heard them having any gem embedded pastries for us dragons."

"Well, sorry to leave you, Spike. I'm off to go and mingle. We'll meet up later. Sounds like a plan?"

"Sure," replied the little dragon, sounding disappointed. "Go and do what you plan on doing." He then walked off with his head and tail hung low.

The red stallion was sad to see him like this, but he didn't want to change what's going to happen, much.

After the main doors the ponies entered, it led to a big entrance area. There were several corridors and hallways on the main floor that led to different parts of the castle. In the back, there was a stairway that led up to a landing. It then splits off to continue heading up to the next floor.

When Twilight spotted the pony that was standing on the landing, she quickly ran to greet her mentor, Princess Celestia. On the way up the stairs, the purple Unicorn passed by other ponies that were walking up the steps at a formal, slow pace. She was too excited to see her teacher again. All the things the mare wanted to discuss was filling her with excitement.

At the landing, Twilight quickly said, "Princess Celestia!"

The white Alicorn looked down to see who called out her name. Once she saw who it was, she said, "Twilight! It's so lovely to see my star student."

"Oh, I'm so excited to be here! We have so much to catch up on."

Princess Celestia smiled. "Well, I want you right by my side the entire evening, so we'll have plenty of time together."

The Unicorn quickly moved to stand beside her teacher. "That's just what I was hoping you'd say," she said with a smile to her.

---Elsewhere---

Star Dust was quickly making his way through the castle to the guest wing. He couldn’t wait to see his little sis, Flower Dust. He last spoke to her the day when he was assigned to be posted in Ponyville. The stallion promised her that he will be back to bring her to the Gala. 

The Unicorn guard quickly rounded the corner and soon came upon the doors to her room. He quickly caught his breath before slowly opening the door. Star Dust peeked inside to try and spot his sister. She was out on the balcony with his telescope, looking at the night sky. She was an Earth filly with a teal color body and soft blue mane. Her cutie mark has not shown up yet, but that didn't bother her. How many fillies can state they got to live in the castle? Not many. Flower Dust knew it would come when she finally discovers what her special talent is.

Using the latest training from Swift Blaze, Star Dust snuck into the room without making a sound. He kept close to the walls and big objects that he could hide behind. The training worked as Flower Dust didn’t hear or see him. He managed to get behind her and waited for the right moment.

The filly picked her head up from the eyepiece and looked up at the big night sky. Just as she did this, Star Dust raised his forehooves and covered her eyes from behind. “Guess who?” he asked.

“Starry! You’re back!” Flower Dust cried out. She turned around and dove into a big hug around his neck. The stallion returned the hug as he placed his forehooves around her body. "I missed you big brother."

"I missed you too, little sis. I told you I was coming back soon," Star Dust said.

They broke the hug and moved back inside to some cushions. "You did promise that. And you have never broken a single one. It's just not as fun without you being around. The guards here are all boring and don't want to play with me."

"Hey, your bro is also a guard, remember?"

"I do." Flower Dust then looked at what he was wearing. "Wow, Starry, you look very fancy in that. Why are you in it?"

"I'm in my formal wear for the Gala."

"That's tonight!? I wish I could go."

"Well, I'm here to bring you to it. Want to show you the Canterlot Gardens at night."

"Really! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!" Flower Dust then jumped at him again to give another hug. "Wait! I don't have any fancy clothes to wear to it."

"Yes, you do." The Unicorn used his magic to pull a package out of his saddlebag. "A beautiful filly like you also needs a beautiful dress to wear."

The teal Earth pony grabbed the gift and took the lid off. Inside was the most amazing dress she had ever seen. Star Dust levitated it out so his sister could get a better look at it. The dress was white and had sparkling flowers arranged around the neck. At the center of each flower was a gem. There was also glitter across it, making it sparkle out like the night sky.

Flower Dust was tearing up a bit at what his brother was letting her wear on this special night. "Oh, Star Dust, it's so pretty. I don't know what to say. How in Equestria could you afford this?"

"While stationed in Ponyville, I met a pony that loves to make dresses named Rarity. When I told her who it was for and when she insisted on making this for this special night. I asked how much for it, she said for a filly with a great brother, no charge."

"I want to meet her and thank her personally!"

"Then let's get you into your dress and head down to the party."

"OH! All the other fillies are going to be jealous that I got to go to The Grand Galloping Gala."

The stallion helped her sister into her dress. Once on, they left the room and headed back down to the main hall.

Cancer, Dragon, and Fang walked into the main hall where everyone was gathering. They held their heads high and proud to show how they looked as Royal Guards. Cancer and Dragon were feeling on the inside the excitement and attention that is about to come to them. Fang, on the other hoof, never really liked being out in the open. Her previous job did involve working in the shadows.

As the three Zebras walked down the red carpet that was in the middle of the room, they looked around to see which pony was going to congratulate them on becoming a Royal Guard. None of the noble ponies turned their attention away from the ones they were having conversations with.

"The night's still young. I'm sure these ponies will soon crowd around us. Asking lots of questions," Dragon said.

Cancer replied, "You're right. More ponies are still coming in. Let's stand over there and see who will come to us first."

They made their way over to a side wall section that was currently empty. As the ponies made their way over, Fang thought, ”'I'll be happy staying out of the center of the attention.”

Out in the gardens, Fluttershy entered through the gate. Her eyes were wide open, filled with joy. She couldn't wait to see all the different animals that live in the gardens of Canterlot Castle. As the yellow mare happily trotted through the grass, she began to hear an interesting chirping coming from a bird.

The yellow Pegasus quickly looked around for where the bird was. When her eyes spotted it, she said, "Oh my! A Meadowlark!"

The bird took off and the mare quickly followed. The Meadowlark got out of her sight as she rounded a bush. Being disappointed about losing it, she began to turn back around and head back to the party. Her ears soon heard a whistling sound of a melody.

"I think she's calling to me. It's exactly what I wished for!" Fluttershy said in a soft, yet excited voice. She soon began to hum the same tune as she began to track down the source.

Elsewhere in the garden, Star Dust was leading his little sister over to a special place he heard of from other guards. According to them, the Grand Galloping Gala is always determined to occur when a special flower in the garden would be at peak bloom.

As they were walking, Flower Dust said to her brother, "Big bro, where are you taking me?"

The blue stallion responded, "Something magical. From what I heard, it only happens on the night of the Gala."

"What is it! What is it!" She said while jumping with joy.

"You'll see when we get there. Let's hurry up so we don't miss it."

The two picked up the pace as they went deeper into the garden.

Back inside the castle, a white Unicorn mare was looking around for a certain pony. As she looked around at the different groups of ponies in different areas around the room, her eye finally spotted him. He too was a white Unicorn. His mane and tail were a bright yellow. As he was walking out the door to the gardens, he turned his head back toward the room. The bright blue Unicorn eyes looked in the direction where Rarity was standing.

The mare squealed with excitement as she began to chase after him. She softly talked to herself as she ran. "Hurry Rarity." The mare then went from a run to a strolling speed. "Oh, but not too fast." She then picked up the pace. "But don't want to lose him." The speed went to a halt as the white Unicorn said, "WAIT! Have to play it cool." The mare then back to a normal walking speed. "Oh, but don't be cold. I can't lose him, I can't! He's everything I imagined!"

Rarity looked over the garden to try and find his dream stallion. As she spotted him, he turned his head back again. His face showed a smooth smile and half-opened eyelids. The eyebrows wiggled as he looked towards her.

Rarity said under her breath, "Even better than imagined."

Over in an open area of the garden, Applejack was pushing her mobile vendor cart. Once she saw it was in a good place to sell her apple treats, the orange Earth mare gave the cart a slight kick. It scooted a few feet before springing to life as it opened. The lid split in the middle and swung open to the sides. Shelving popped up displaying some of the nice goodies the Apple family makes and sells. Lastly, two flags popped up on top with a nice red apple on it.

Just as Applejack walked behind her cart, a light blue Pegasus stallion in a flight suit uniform was walking up.

Applejack said to her first customer, "Howdy, partner. You hungry?"

The Pegasus said, "Like a horse."

"Well, whatcha hankering for?" Applejack then pointed to each item as she called them out. "Caramel apple? Apple pie? Apple fritters? Apple fries?"

He pointed with his hoof to what he really wanted. "I'll take that big apple pie!"

He took some bits out and dropped them into the bucket that was in the middle of the cart. Applejack hooved over the pie and thanked him. He took it with his mouth and began to walk away. 
"Yee-haw! In the first minute, I made my first sale. Just like I expected," she said. Now, the mare waits for the next customer to come in the next minute.

Elsewhere in the castle, in the main event hall, Lightning Trails and Rainbow Dash were scanning over the crowd. They were looking for the VIP section where their favorite flyers are supposed to be. Lightning spotted it first and pointed it out to Rainbow. The two pegasi began to make their way to the roped-off area where the Wonderbolts were hanging out. They finished another amazing performance outside of the castle.

"How do you think we can get in there?" Rainbow asked. "There are Royal Guards at each post. It would be too obvious to just fly over them and get caught."

"Relax, Dash, "Lightning Trails began to say. "I'm sure I can convince one of them to allow us in. Being a Royal Guard myself should grant me access."

"You better be sure. I don't want to be tossed out on our flanks for trying to get in there. Don't you know the level of embarrassment that would create? I'll be a laughing stock!" the blue Pegasus said as she started to panic.

The black Pegasus placed a hoof on her shoulder and said, "Calm down. You’re overthinking. If we can't get in, more than likely they will just turn us away."

"Yea. I guess you're right. Oh, look! There’s Spitfire and Soarin! The Co-Captains of the Wonderbolts!"

Over by the entrance to the roped-off VIP area, stood a yellow mare Pegasus. She was wearing the flight suit of the Wonderbolts. She was looking around and saw her teammate was approaching her. In his mouth, he was holding a whole apple pie as he walked over.

She said to him, "Always hungry after a show. Eh Soarin?"

The stallion responded with, "Heh. Yeah." As he did, he lost his grip on his pie and it began to fall to the ground. "MY PIE!"

Rainbow saw the pie was falling. She took off flying towards it through the crowd in order to catch his meal. The rainbow mane Pegasus was able to make it in time and catch it before it landed on the ground. Lightning Trails was walking quickly through the crowd of ponies to catch up.

As Rainbow hovered off the ground, holding Soarin's pie, he said to her, "You saved it. Thanks."

Rainbow replied while acting cool, "Hey, no prob."

She hoofed the pie over as Lightning Trails arrived next to her. He said, "Rainbow, tomorrow, I want you to teach me how you were able to move through the crowd with ease."

"Sure thing."

"Hey, I know you," Spitfire said as she pointed to Lightning.

"You, know, me?" He asked as he pointed to himself. "You sure you got the right Pegasus?"

The Wonderbolt Captain nodded. "You are the Pegasus that just passed the Royal Guard Training. I heard you did some amazing things during the tournament from some other guards."

"Thanks. That means so much that you liked what you heard."

"Maybe some other time, you can demonstrate those unique abilities of yours."

"I would like that," Lightning said as he started to blush a little.

"Are you coming in to join us in the VIP area?"

"I'm allowed in there?"

"Of course. Any Royal Guard not on duty is allowed to go in there. They can also bring another pony with them. Didn't you know?"

Lightning Trails was now feeling like an idiot for not checking prior to coming. He and Rainbow also feel foolish for thinking of trying to sneak in there. "I'm still new to this."

"I understand. Let's head on over. You comin Soarin, or do you want some alone time with your pie?"

He shook his head no while still holding onto the pie with his mouth. Spitfire leads the group to the entrance. 

As they headed in Rainbow whispered to Lightning. "It's so awesome that Spitfire wants a personal demonstration. She’ll get to see my moves this spring at the Young Flyers Competition," she said.

"The way you moved through the crowd, I'm sure you are going to win it. Let's hoof it so we can spend as much time as possible with them tonight," the black stallion replied.

The two followed the co-captains in, holding back the urge to go all fan crazy.

Elsewhere in the main room, stood a pink Earth pony mare and her friend, a blue Unicorn stallion. They were looking over the entire room. Letting their eyes take in what kind of a party these fancy ponies have.

Pinkie Pie then said in her excited way, "The shiny dance floor. . ."

Colorful Sparks added in the same tone, "The pretty party ponies."

"The fancy band. SHINY!"

"PRETTY!"

"FANCY!"

"Come on Pinkie, LET'S DANCE!"

The two excited ponies quickly made it to the supposed dance area. They began to sing a song expressing how happy they are to be at the Grand Galloping Gala. Pinkie and Colorful Sparks danced around the room as they sang. When they finished singing a high note, the two noticed the band had stopped playing. The ponies around were glaring at them for such indecent behavior.

They then whispered the last line between themselves, "It's all we've ever . . . dreamed?"

In another part of the castle, Swift Blaze was walking down the hallway to the throne room. He guessed that was where Luna was during the night events were happening. As the red Unicorn went around the corner, he saw two guards standing in front of the massive doors to the room. 

The red Unicorn approached the guards and said, "Captain Swift Blaze, requesting an audience with Princess Luna."

They nodded and opened the doors for him. Inside the room, Princess Luna was sitting on the throne. Her face was that of boredom. As she sighed, her eyes looked towards to see who was coming in. 
The frown on the Princess's face changed to a smile as she recognized who it was. "Good evening, Captain Blaze. What brings you here instead of attending the Gala with my sister?" she asked.

"Hello, Princess. I'm not a guard tonight. So please, call me Blaze," he replied when he finished approaching the bottom steps that lead to the throne.

"Very well. As long as you call me Luna."

"But of course. As to your question, I could ask you the same thing."

"We, I mean I, thought it was better to stay here. Take care of the Night Court. Just in case there is someone that has an issue they want me to address."

Blaze looked at the blue Alicorn, taking in that isn’t the real reason. "Luna, I take that is what you told your sister. Now then, what is the REAL reason why you are not attending an event, a night, in the Canterlot Castle?"

Princess of the Night averted her eyes away from the red stallion. Trying to hide her feelings as to why. "Am I that easy to read?"

"Luna, I know you are afraid of what the nobles are going to think of you after being gone for so long. You have to let them get to see the real you if you want to have them not be scared of you."

Luna turned her face towards Blaze. A couple of tears have escaped from her eyes. She wiped them away before saying, "Thank you Blaze, I needed that. I think I shall attend."

"Then allow me the honor to escort you," he said as he bowed to her.

"No, the honor will be mine."

Luna got off the throne and walked down the steps towards Blaze. He had stopped bowing and turned around to face the doors. She stood on his right side as they began to leave the throne room and headed to the main hall where the Gala occupied.

As they walked, Blaze said, "I can tell you, Luna, tonight will be a night no pony will forget."

"Why would you say that?" She asked.

"Oh, just a hunch," he said as he smiled.

Back in the main hall, Al was looking over the buffet tables. Trying to find where the meat was. All he found were fancy things that had flower parts mixed in with it. Absolutely nothing the human could digest.

A server pony walked up to him and said, "May I help you, sir?"

Al responded in a calm, low tone, "Yes, mind telling me where the Hors d'oeuvre are for humans?"

"Excuse me?"

"You know, the ones that have no flowers. They have meat instead."

The pony's face went scared and ran away.

Al shouted, "You could have just said no!" He looked back at what was available again to eat. Seeing nothing he decided to hit Applejack’s stand that was outside.

Out in the garden, Rarity found a rose bush with a beautiful red rose. As she was smelling it, a white Unicorn stallion approached and said, "Well, hello." The mare looked up and couldn't believe who it was. "I am Prince Blueblood." He finished saying. He put a big smile on anyone to be impressed with.

The Unicorn mare regained herself quickly enough to respond. "I am . . . Rarity." She said as she bashed her eyelashes at him. Her gaze returned back to the single rose. "Oh my, what a lovely rose."

Prince Blueblood bent down and picked the rose from the bush. Rarity’s face was filled with excitement as she was hoping he was going to hoof that rose to her. 

He said, "You mean . . . this rose?" as he showed it in front of her. Rarity nodded her head.

In quick fashion, the Prince trimmed the rose. Instead of giving it to the mare, he placed it on himself. "Thank you. It goes with my eyes."

Rarity sighed a bit like the dream moment passed by, never expecting that to happen.

Elsewhere in the garden, Fluttershy continued to hum to the tune of the source of the whistle. When she thought she was close, the mare happily said, "My little meadowlark is right around this bend!"

When her eyes finally saw the source of the whistle, it was not what she was expecting. Instead of a little bird, she was thinking, it was a brown Earth stallion. He was holding a rake and was busy gathering some fallen leaves. The tune continued to be whistled from him as he worked.

The yellow Pegasus timidly asked, "Was that you?"

The stallion responded with, "Yep! I love whistlin' while I work." He whistled the tune as he continued to rake the leaves away.

Embarrassed, Fluttershy said as she tried to hide her face with her mane, "Oh! Yes . . . Well . . . excuse me."

As the yellow mare walked away, her head was low to the ground. She then heard various animal sounds. When her eyes looked at the source, her sad face was replaced with a very happy one.

Over in the distance, various animals have gathered around a couple of trees. They were running around the trunk, sitting on some branches, or flying around the trees themselves. Fluttershy was calling out the names of some of the new animals she has never met before. She quickly took to the air to close the distance to them. The animals saw and heard her approaching and scattered in different directions before the mare landed.

Seeing the animals had run off, the Pegasus said to herself, "Oh, Fluttershy. You're such a loudmouth."

In another part of the garden, Star Dust was looking around to get his bearings on where he and his sister were. The two were distracted by the night sky.

"Big bro, I think we're lost," Flower Dust said with a sad face.

"We can't be lost,” he replied. “I followed that guard's direction to the letter. Give me a sec and I will find out exactly where we are."

He closed his eyes and sent magic to his horn. The stallion established a connection to the stars. Being night time, his power is higher. This allowed the Unicorn a better view from the stars above.

Once he saw where they were, he thanked the stars and severed the connection. "Alright. We're almost there. First, a left, then a right, and finally straight to our target," he said.

His sister responded as an excited filly, "Let's get going!"

Just as the two were about to get moving, a bunch of animals crossed in front of them in a rush. When the path was cleared, Star Dust looked in the direction they came from. "Wonder what startled them?" He asked.

"I don't know. Maybe they are running to that yellow Pegasus mare you mentioned," Flower Dust replied.

Back in the main hall of the Gala, in the VIP section, it was starting to get a little crowded. With so many conversations happening, anyone couldn't listen to a conversation that was happening nearby. Two ponies were having a hard time trying to get through the mob packed VIP area.

Lightning Dust and Rainbow Dash were squeezing and pardoning themselves through the others that were there. They are trying to get back with Spitfire and Soarin. Finally done with the last blocking ponies, the two pegasi were now standing in the open area where the Wonderbolt Captains' occupied. 

The blue mare trotted over to Spitfire. The black stallion was soon to follow. When she was standing next to the mare Captain, Rainbow said, "Hey, Spitfire! You ever have done a rain cloud double backflip" Tring to say over the other conversations happening.

Spitfire didn't respond. She was looking straight ahead to the stallion that was telling her a story.
Not giving up, Rainbow moved over by Soarin. She said to him, "You ever soared past lightning? It's AWESOME!"

Again, no response came from the pony she was talking to. Soarin just walked away as he spotted someone in a different direction.

Lightning Trails walked next to Rainbow and said to her, "Look, Dash. They’re major celebrities. I know you want to hang out with them. Everyone else in this area wants to also."

The blue Pegasus didn't respond. She scrunched her nose as the mare decided that she would go and make them notice her.

Back in the main hall entrance, Princess Celestina and Twilight Sparkle were standing on the stair landing. The white Alicorn was greeting all the guests that have come to the Gala. Every time Twilight thought she would have a chance to inform her mentor, another pair of ponies would walk up to get greeted. The purple Unicorn looked down the stairs and saw a good size line had formed to be greeted by the Princess. The purple mare sighed and said to herself, "Looks like getting a chance to talk to the Princess is going to be a magic trick itself."

Elsewhere in the Gala, the new Zebra guards were still standing by the wall. The area around them has opened up as if the other ponies were trying to avoid them.

Fang decided to make her way to the area where they had drinks and hors d'oeuvres. As she waited to get a glass of the drink they were serving, she was overhearing a conversation from a couple of mares that were nearby.

"Have you read about the latest recruits that graduated from the Royal Guard Training?" A Unicorn mare with a light purple mane and pastel purple coat said.

The other mare has a pastel yellow coat and brown mane. She too is a Unicorn. This mare responded, "I know, I was surprised to read that three of them are not from Equestria."

"The ambassador from their country must have convinced the Princess to allow them in."

"They must be running low on recruitments if they allowed this mismatch set to pass."

"I'm grateful that they’re not going to be posted here in Canterlot. Those stripes on their bodies won't hide with the magic armor the guards wear. It can only change the coat color so they all match the squad they're in."

"I agree. I hope they get posted to the edge of Equestria and never seen from again."

The two mares were laughing in a fancy tone between themselves. Fang was doing her best to remain calm. She imagined turning around and beat them unconscious for their remarks. But the Zebra guard kept her cool.

She picked up a glass of the punch and started to head back to her brothers.

Just as Fang passed behind those two mares, she quickly sent out her blade and sliced their tails off like butter. What was left was stub short.

Fang smiled as the blade went hidden again. She soon spotted the Zebra siblings, where she left them. The mare was also happy that they didn't get into any trouble.

When Cancer saw Fang returning, he quickly elbowed Dragon and pointed to her. They saw the smile on her face as she approached. "What's got you in a good mood?" Cancer asked.

"Oh, just liking this punch they are serving," she replied.

A few seconds later, two loud screams were heard. They were followed by, "MY TAIL! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY TAIL!"

The three Zebras spotted two mares running at full speed out of the hall. Dragon turned towards Fang and asked, "Did you have something to do with that?"

Fang sipped some of her punch for a few seconds. "Good punch," she said.

"I thought you told us to not get into trouble?" Cancer asked.

"I did tell you that."

"Then how come you did that?" Dragon asked.

"If either of you tried to do that, you would’ve been caught. I wasn't." Fang then finished her punch as she recalled how embarrassing those two mares looked as they ran out.

Back in the garden, Applejack stood behind her apple cart. She was counting the minutes as they went by. Hoping to get a sale a minute like she dreamed of. Sad to say, the orange mare only made one sale since she set up her cart.

Pinkie Pie and Colorful Sparks sat next to a table back in the Gala hall. Both were sad with the turn of events this party has turned out. All these fancy ponies are doing is mingling with each other and listening to some classy music.

Each pony of the mane six were getting depressed as this night they've dreamed of since they were fillies hasn't turned out as they wanted. Realizing the night was still young, they were now determined to make it how they wanted. What could possibly go wrong?

Fluttershy was putting the last finishing touches on a harmless trap to capture a little animal. The design was basic as it could get. A box being propped up with a stick. Underneath it was a tasty carrot. Happy with how it looks, the yellow mare picked up the string that was tied to the stick. She quickly scrammed out of the area.

Once out of sight, the yellow Pegasus said, "I'm so sorry to have scared you, my friends!" Her voice was louder than normal so the animals could hear her. "But I'm leaving now, so you can all come out!"

Once the mare heard the sounds of the carrot being eaten, she quickly pulled on the string. "Gotcha!" Fluttershy cried out in joy. She walked up to the trap to see what creature had set it off. Her head was low to the ground. Her voice was soft as she said to it, "It's ok. I promise not to hurt you. I just want to be your . . . friend?" In the last part, she raised her head as she was surprised to see what was in the box.

It was no animal creature that was eating the carrot. It was the gardener pony she met earlier. As he finished the treat, the stallion said, "Mmm. Sounds good to me."

Fluttershy wasn’t happy that he ruined her trap. Now she needed to try harder if she wanted to get close to these animals.

Star Dust and Flower Dust finally found the spot they were looking for.  It was an open area of the garden where special events can occur. Other couples of ponies have already taken several spots as they sat on cushions that were provided. All of them were facing the same direction. 

At the edge of the area, there were two stone fountains that were three-tier tall. Between them, there was a marble flower vase. The flowering plant that was inside of it could not be seen as a curtain was wrapped around it.

"Hurry Star Dust! Let's find a spot near the front. I don't want to miss it," the filly said as she was trying to pull her brother along.

He responded with, "I see a spot over there where two cushions are empty." He pointed with a hoof.

The siblings quickly navigated between the others that were there. They were only a few feet away when a pair of unicorns teleported onto those empty spots. Flower Dust started to look for another pair for them.

There was nothing near the front. The blue stallion found a set in the middle over on the left side. "Hold on, sis," he said.

The teal Earth pony grabbed onto his leg. The Unicorn used his magic and teleported over there. After the quick flash, the little filly said to her big bro, "I didn't know you can teleport, Starry."

"I've been practicing. I can only do line of sight right now. It also takes a good chunk of magic so I can do it only a few times," the stallion said. His breathing was a little hard.

"You'll get used to it big bro. Soon, you could do it with your eyes closed!"

"We'll see, little sis. For now, let's take a seat and watch what is about to happen."

A little way in front of them, they saw a white Unicorn mare and stallion. The stallion was pulling a cushion into place for the mare. She has a purple mane and is wearing a fancy deep pink dress. Just before that mare could take a seat on the cushion, the stallion she was with sat on it instead. She reluctantly took a seat on the grass next to him. Not before lifting the dress up enough so it won't get any grass stains.

Flower Dust recognized the stallion. She spotted him several times in the castle. The filly had to bow to him each time as he is some sort of Prince. She leaned closer to Star Dust and whispered, "Starry, I recognize that Unicorn stallion over there." She pointed with her hoof. "His name is escaping me, but he's a prince. It wasn't very nice that he didn't let the mare take the cushion."

The blue Unicorn looked towards where his sister was pointing to. Once he saw the stallion, he too recognized him as Prince Blueblood. The Unicorn mare next to him was another he knows, Rarity. 
The new guard has heard some rumors from other guards about this Prince. None of them were anything nice. If he knew that Rarity was going to spend the Gala with Prince Blueblood, he would have advised her that it would be a bad idea. Star Dust wouldn't have told her exactly what he knew as the stallion had never seen these himself.

Carefully choosing his words, he lowered his head to Flower Dust and replied in a whisper, "That's Prince Blueblood. The mare next to him is the same one that made your dress."

"Really?!" The filly said with excitement in her voice but kept it at a whisper level. "I have to go and thank her!"

"We can do it later. She’s with her date, I believe. Besides, take a look towards the front area."

The siblings looked towards the front as they saw the curtains began to be drawn open. Flower Dust's eyes were as wide open as she could get them. Star Dust looked down at her sis and was proud to see how happy she is.

Up by the fountains, the curtain was being drawn open ever so slowly. After the minutes that went by, everyone could now see the plant that was in the flower pot. Inside it, there was a single, closed, flower bulb, yet to bloom. The flower petals were white with purple around the edges and the stems. It stood tall above the green leaves.

The filly whispered to her brother, "Is that what I think it is?" She asked with a little excitement in her voice.

"Maybe," Star Dust replied. "What do you think it is?"

"I've read about it in books but never seen any pictures. If the descriptions are correct, that flower is called Brahma Kamal. It's also known as the Night Blooming Cereus. I can't believe I'm going to see it bloom!"

The ponies in the garden watched quietly as the flower began to open up. The only sound that could be heard were small creatures and insects that were in the trees.

The flower's outer purple petals started to slowly unwrap themselves to allow the white ones to follow behind. It moved ever slowly as it began to reveal a single stigma with several stamens around it within the white petals.

Once the flower was in full bloom, a Unicorn stallion with a tan coat and a slick back, black mane walked up behind a pedestal that was near the flower. He used his magic and lifted a small, wood hammer that was on there. This pony had it bang against to get everyone's attention.

Flower Dust looked to her brother and asked, "Stary, what's going on? Why is that pony standing next to the flower?"

"I don't know," he replied. "I was only able to find out about the location and what flower was going to be on display at the Gala."

The pony in front soon began to speak, "Good evening mares and gentlecolts. After seeing that wonderful blooming of the Brahma Kamal, it's now time to auction it off to the highest bidder."

"Why in Equestria are they auctioning off this beautiful flower?" the teal Earth pony filly asked in a louder voice.

A mare nearby replied to her, "Why to eat it of course. It's a rare delicacy and everyone here wants to taste it. I came close to winning last year's special flower, but Prince Blueblood beat my highest bid. Over 2 million bits! I'm prepared this time to win."

"That's not right! Don't you know the flower has medical benefits?"

"Who cares about that. It's a rare flower and I want to taste it. I don't know when they are going to have another one.”

Flower Dust turned to the blue Unicorn. "Star Dust, you have to stop this! This isn’t fair to the plant." Her tone was angry as she said this.

"I know you are upset little sis," Star Dust began to say, "But there isn't anything I can do. No Equestrian law is being broken."

The teal Earth pony wasn't going to stand for this. Before her brother could stop her, she ran to the front where the auctioneer pony was standing. The filly leaped up onto the pedestal and turned to address the crowd there.

"Listen up everyone!" She shouted. "What you're doing isn’t right. This flower is one of the rarest on our planet. So, you rich ponies are bidding on it to just see what it tastes like? What's wrong with you!"

A Unicorn stallion stands up and responds, "A little filly like you wouldn't understand. This has been happening at every Gala for over one hundred years. It's tradition!"

"I may still be young, but I know more about this plant than any other pony here. Don't you know this plant can be used in medicine to help heal very sick ponies?"

A pony perked up his head. "This plant has curative properties? Now I want it even more!"

A mare in the back replied, "What can a plant do that magic can't? Most doctor ponies are Unicorns for a reason."

Several other ponies began to respond in agreement.

Flower Dust started to bring all her hooves together as she tried to think of a response for the mare. "Well,  . . . um, . . . you see."

This time, a Pegasus stallion got up and said, "It may be rare because no pony has found a big stash where they grow. I'm sure the Princesses have some Earth pony taking of some others in a secret location."

"Like Sector 51!" A pony shouts from the crowd. Several ponies laughed hard after hearing that.

The filly stood up straight on her hooves and said, "We don't know if there is another one out there. I'm asking you, mares and gentlecolts, to look into your heart. See how wrong this is. What I think should happen is to not sell this plant. Instead, allow me to take care of it and use it to grow more Brahma Kamal."

"Then it won't be a rare plant." A mare shouts out from the back. "Besides, are you telling me that you know better than Princess Celestia? Also, what's going to stop you from eating it for yourself?"
Several ponies agreed with the mare.

"I won't eat it because I see how useful this plant can be instead of being eaten."

"I think you’re only doing this because you don't have enough bits to buy it yourself," a different mare said.

Even more, ponies shouted their agreement.

"I'm only a filly. Of course, I don't have the bits to compete with you rich ponies. I didn't even know this auctioning occurred at the Gala."

A stallion responded, " Yes . . . wait, you somehow got through security. Bidding is only for adults. Can we get security over here?"

Other ponies started to say similar things to Flower Dust. She looked around as she tried to come up with the words to convince them to agree with her. Without warning, she felt a magic field enveloped her. She was taken off the podium and moved over to one of the sides of the clearing. The filly soon saw it was her big bro that picked her up and was moving her to him.

Once she was back on her hooves and the magic field went away, Flower Dust said, “Star Dust, why did you do that?” You could see in her eyes that the filly was on the edge of crying.

"I know you mean well to protect that plant, but it seems these high society ponies do this sort of thing at these events. I only heard rumors from other guards at other events. I never thought they did it at the Gala. I'm so sorry for bringing you here," the stallion responded as he hugged his sister. Once the hug was finished, he wiped away some of the tears on her face. "Let's get out of here. I still want to show you to all my friends."

The little filly started to follow him, then pulled on his back hoof. "Wait. I want to see this through."

"Are you sure? This is your night, so I'll do what you want to do."

"I want to see the end of the auction big bro."

"Okay. Let's watch from the side over there." Star Dust pointed to an area on the side of the clearing. "That way, we can avoid the crowd once it's done."

She nodded and followed her brother to that spot. Once there, the auctioneer started the bidding a few minutes later. The starting bid was 100,000 bits. It was climbing up higher very quickly. 250 thousand, 1/2 million, 1 million. The bidding was narrowed down to a few ponies, Prince Blueblood, a yellow Pegasus mare, a light gray Unicorn stallion, and a pastel green Pegasus stallion. 

Between them, the price for the plant was rising up in 100,000 increments. The last called out was 3.1 million bits, made by Prince Blueblood. The mare Flower chatted with prior had her forehooves crossed her chest. She was angry about being outbid again by him.

The auctioneer said to the participants, "I have 3.1 from Prince Blueblood. I'm looking for 3.2. Who wants to place a bid for 3.2 for this lovely Brahma Kamal? Anyone else has a bid?"

He waited a few seconds.

"Going once!"

Few more seconds of waiting.

"Going twice!"

He scanned the ponies for any more bids.

"Last call!"

"4 million bits!" A stallion's voice shouted as the auctioneer's hammer was coming down.

Everyone turned their heads towards the source. The pony that said it was another Unicorn stallion. He had a dark blue coat and a silver mane. He was wearing the top part of a black tux and had a monocle over his left eye. His cutie mark is of stars in some sort of pattern.

The auctioneer resumed the bidding. "I have 4 million from blue Unicorn. Do I have 4.1?" He asked.

"4.1," from Prince Blueblood.

"4.2," from the Blue Unicorn.

"4.3."

"4.4."

"4.5 million bits!" Prince Blueblood shouted as he stood up and faced the other pony.

The blue Unicorn was calm as he said, "4.7 million."

"4.8!"

"This is amazing, ponies! We have a bid for 4.8 million from Prince Blueblood. I have never seen such a rare flower go for that high of a price," the auctioneer said. "Do I have 4.9 from you, good sir?"

The Unicorn in blue stood up and straightened his tux. He responded with, "5 million."

The crowd gasps at a high price. Prince Blueblood was getting frustrated by now. "I demand to know who you are, sir." He said.

"If you must know, my name is Steel Prism."

Several ponies began to whisper among themselves after hearing that.

Prince Blueblood's face would have gone whiter if he didn't already have a pure white coat. He cleared his throat and said, "The Steel Prism? As in, the owner of Astro Co.?"

"Oh,  so you have heard of me. Was wondering if you were going to recognize me. I have made regular visits to the castle. Even passed you in the hallway a few times. Guess your ego was making you blind to your surroundings."

Several ponies started to chuckle and laugh for a little bit. Before settling back down.

The auctioneer cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention before saying, "Um, I have 5 million bits from Mr. Prism. Do you want to make it 5.1 Prince Blueblood?"

Prince Blueblood turned his gaze to the auctioneer. Then, towards the flower. Finally, back to Steel Prism. After a few minutes of remaining silent, he responded with, "No. As much as I want to continue and win, I know that I don't stand a chance against someone with deep pockets. The flower is yours." Under his breath, as he turned his head, he said, "I hope you choke on it."

The auctioneer slammed the hammer against the wood and said, "SOLD! For 5 million bits to Steel Prism. Come up and claim your prize."

All the ponies clapped their hooves as Steel Prism made his way up to the front. Once there, he used his magic and summoned five bricks that look to be made of platinum. The auctioneer accepted the payment and walked away.

Flower Dust turned towards her brother and said, "Star Dust, can we go now? I want to leave."

"Sure thing, little sis. Let's head back to the party," he replied.

As they made their way towards the exit, a voice called out to them. "Excuse me, little miss? May I have a word with you?"

Both siblings turned around to see who it was. Steel Prism was behind them and he had the potted plant in his magical grasp. He had a smile on his face as he looked down at the little filly. "I was rather impressed with what you know about this plant. I never knew it could be used for medical purposes.”

Flower Dust politely said, “I find all plants very interesting. I hope you enjoy your prize, sir. If you could please, I would like to leave with my brother back to the party. I really don’t want to see you eat the Brahma Kamal.”

“Oh, I have no intention of eating this rare flower, little filly. I was thinking instead of giving it to you to take care of.”

Her face suddenly lit up with excitement. “REALLY?”

“Yes. I was moved by what you said. That’s why I paid what I did to win it. It was also a plus to beat Prince Blueblood.” He lowered the plant down to Flower Dust. “So, will you look after this rare flower and use it to make more?”

The filly was very excited that there was a pony that she managed to reach with her words. Even better, they saved the plant by bidding the highest that anyone has. She just wanted to just jump and give him a great big hug, thanking him over a dozen times. But this was a high society pony. She held back her excitement and politely responded, "Thank you very much, Mr. Prism, for the honor of taking care of this plant. I will do you proud."

"I know you're trying to be proper and all, but you don't need to hold back your initial response. I have several grand fillies and colts that I love when they tackle me with their hugs. You can if you, OFMPH!"

Before he could finish what he was saying, Flower Dust did the hug tackle to his neck. She was also thanking him lots of times as she held on.

Star Dust spoke up, "Thank you for letting my sister do this for you. You have made it the best night for her. In more ways than one," he said with a big smile.

Flower Dust stopped the thanking and turned her head to her big brother. "What do you mean Starry? How could this night get any better than saving a rare plant?" 

He gestured with his eyes to look where he was looking.

She does so. The filly, now saw what her brother was seeing, could not hold back her excitement for this.

"I GOT MY CUTIE MARK!"

--------------------------

Elsewhere in the castle, Swift Blaze and Princess Luna were walking in a hallway that was next to the Canterlot Gardens. They faintly heard a filly voice shouting about something. Blaze turned his head towards the garden.

"What's going on down there?" He asked.

Luna looked over to see also. "Oh, that’s where an auction is held for some high society ponies to bid on some rare delicacies. I never quite understood why someone would pay such high prices for a rare flower."

Blaze quickly turned his gaze back to Luna with a shocking look on his face. "Wait, ponies are bidding on flowers?"

"Yes. They think because it's a rare plant, getting to eat it, it would raise them up in society's opinions."

Blaze raised up onto his hind hooves and said, "News flash! Some rich pony got to eat a rare plant after bidding a huge god awful price. He rose up three positions in the rich rankings," he motioned his forehooves as if he was displaying what he was saying. Back on all four, he finished with, "I'm sorry Princess if you might be offended by this, but that is the most STUPID thing I've ever heard."

"I thought you knew this world?"

"So did I, your highness. So did I. We should continue heading to the Gala. Don't want to miss it." Blaze said with a smile.

Back at the Gala, in the VIP section, Rainbow Dash was trying to figure out how to get the Wonderbolts to notice her in this crowd. Lightning Dust was standing nearby, keeping an eye on her. Hoping that she wasn’t going to do anything crazy.

As he was surveying the area, a Pegasus mare walked up to him. “Hello there. I was hoping to see one of the new guards at the Gala.” She said. “I’ve always found them to be quite strong by surviving that hard training. What’s your name big fella?”

Not even turning his point of view, the black Pegasus stallion response was, “My name is Lightning Trails, madam.”

“Well, Mr. Trails, how about you come with me so we can get to know each other better?”

“I’m sorry, but I have other plans with someone else tonight.” He then noticed Dash was whistling a tune as she was approaching an unknown stallion. “If you would excuse me, I have something to take care of.”

With that, Lightning Trails walked away from the mare. Not even looked at who he was chatting with. She snorted air out of her nose in anger. Her head went up high as she said, “Well, I never.” Then walked away to find some other willing pony.

Just before he could stop Rainbow from her plan, she sent that stallion up into the air. Seconds passed as he went up, and soon was falling back down to the marble floor. The black stallion saw the rainbow mane Pegasus quickly flew around the other ponies. In order to make it in time to catch the same pony, she launched.

The Pegasus mare looked towards Spitfire and Soarin to see if they noticed her amazing feat. Her mood went back to angry as she saw them getting their pictures taken with some other VIPs she didn’t know. Not waiting for the stallion on the back to get off, she did a small buck and had him finish falling down to the floor. He was still dazed as to what happened to him as Rainbow walked off.

Lightning Trails approached the mare and said in a low voice, “Not a smart move to endanger another pony's life to get noticed.”

“What would you suggest I do then? Put on a grass skirt and do the hula?” Rainbow responded.

“Try juggling some liquid-filled object and not have them spill.”

Elsewhere in the main hall, Rarity came walking in next to Prince Blueblood. Her best night with him hasn’t turned out as well as she dreamed of. The white, Unicorn mare was hoping his princely side would show up soon.

As the two continued to walk, Prince Blueblood brought up his forehoof in front of Rarity to stop her. “Miss Rarity! Stop!” he said.

The white mare looked around to see why. Her eyes fell upon a spilled drink that was on the floor in front of them. With a joyous feeling, she responded with, “Oh. Prince Blueblood! How chivalrous.”

“One would hate to slip.“

“Yes. One  certainly would.”

“One's cloak should take care of the problem.”

“Oh, of course, it will.”

It took Rarity a moment to realize what the Prince wanted her to. Reluctantly, she put the cloak of her dress over the puddle. Allowing the white, Unicorn stallion to walk over the spot instead of around it like everyone else would have done.

Once he was over, the white Unicorn mare picked up the now wet cloak and draped it back over her back. She wasn’t happy with what the Prince had her do.

Over by the buffet, Al was nibbling on the only food there that didn’t have flowers with it, cheese and crackers. He has been observing how the gala has been progressing. The human was wondering when Pinkie was going to get on stage and try to get these stiffs to dance.

As if on cue, a tapping sound was being heard over the speakers. Al turned his head and saw Pinkie Pie and Colorful Sparks were on stage. ” Here we go. Wish I had some popcorn and 3-D glasses. This next part is going to be great,“ Al thought.

“C'mon, everyone!” Pinkie shouted into the mic.

Colorful Sparks stepped in and said, “We know what will make you shake those groove-thangs!”

The two mares began to sing a song that you would normally hear at a little filly or a little colt birthday party. Both were performing the dance routine that goes with it as they sang. Out on the main floor, none of the rich ponies were paying attention and doing the same dance steps.

The two ponies finished the number by standing on their hind hooves and their forehooves pointed to the ceiling. They had their eyes closed as they waited for the applause.

None came.

A mare near the stage spoke up and said, “Young lady, this is not that kind of party.”

Both mares looked at each other, with confused looks as they thought what kind of party she meant. Pinkie spoke up when the idea popped into her head, “Ohhhhhh... They don't want a party.” She said as a light bulb that was glowing and floating above her head.

Colorful Sparks caught on and replied, “These ponies want a party!”

Pinkie Pie pulled on the cord above to turn the light off. The two-party mares split off in opposite directions to begin getting what was needed for the actual party the fancy mare suggested.

Elsewhere in the Gala hall, the Zebra family just finished watching what the pink mare and blue stallion had put on to liven up the crowd. None of them joined in. They didn’t want to embarrass themselves after hearing what Fang overheard from the snob mares. They’ve been discussing among themselves what they could do in order to change their attitudes.

“You know what I want to do?” said Cancer. “I want to zip around all these snobby rich ponies and dump punch juice over their heads.”

Dragon said, “I want to slow them all down so we can cut up their fancy outfits into ribbons.”

Fang replied, “And I told you that will get you caught and thrown into the dungeons. We can’t play childish pranks. We’re now Royal Guards. Even more, we’re a special unit. We can’t cause trouble for our captain. Let’s just enjoy this party and lay low.”

“You never let us have any fun,” said the younger Zebra brother.

“Why is it you are so uptight now?” asked the older Zebra brother.

The Zebra mare said, “We can have fun, as long as we don’t make a major scene. How about you get some treats from that apple mare that rode up with us? I think she’s in the garden space.”

“Sure, anything in particular you want?” asked Cancer.

“I think she has some apple dumplings. I’ll take some of those.”

“Alright, we’ll be back in a few,” said Dragon. “Don’t get into any trouble while we’re gone.”

The Zebra twins started to head outside. Over by the food tables, the white hare human was getting bored now as no one was bothering to chat with him. All the cheese and crackers were gone. What he was able to eat was an appetizer size amount. He craved more fulfilling foods. He too made his way to the orange Earth pony apple food cart outside.

Outside at the apple stand, Applejack was staring off into space as ponies walked by, not even looking at the food she has to offer. Soon, a pair of white ponies walked up. It was Rarity and Prince Blueblood.

The Unicorn mare walked up to the booth and said, “Two apple fritters, please.”

The Earth pony mare woke up from hearing that and happily replied, “Two apple fritters comin' right up.” She pulled them out from below and had them on a serving platter. “That'll be four bits.”

Rarity looked up to her stallion date and expected him to pay. She said, “Ahem.”

Bring a supposed prince, Blueblood was expecting her to pay. He replied, “Ahem.”

The white mare said, “Ahem!” at a louder tone.

He too replied, “Ahem!” at a louder tone.

Not wanting to drag it out anymore, Rarity sighed, then said, “I'm going to have to pay, aren't I?”

Seeing how unhappy her friend was, Applejack said, “It's okay, Rarity. I got you covered.”

“Thank you, Applejack. At least someone here has good manners.”

The two Unicorns used their magic and each picked up one of the apple treats. The stallion was first to take a bite. He spitted it out and gasped. He actually looked this time to see what was available. “Oh! Fritters! Dumplings! Caramel apples!” he cried out. “My royal lips have touched common carnival fare! I'm going to the buffet for some... hors d'oeuvres.” He turned around and left to go back inside.

“Well, no wonder nopony wants my food,” said the orange Earth pony mare. “They're fillin' up on those fancy-schmancy vittles. Well, my down-home apples are plenty good enough for this crowd. I'll just dress 'em up a bit and prove it to 'em.”

“Before you head off, mind if we buy something? We’re hungry,” said someone behind the pony.

Applejack turned around and saw the human and Zebra brothers were walking up.

“I’ll never say no to a customer. Now whatcha hankering for?” asked the mare.

“Our sis wants two of your apple dumplings. I’ll take three of your apple cupcakes,” said Cancer.

“I’ll take a caramel apple, please,” said Dragon.

“And I’ll take a dozen apples,” said Al. “All that fancy food isn’t suited for a human.”

They each paid for their orders and headed back inside. The orange mare packed up her cart so she can begin to dress up what she has to something a fancy pony would like.

Elsewhere in the garden, a yellow Pegasus was finishing the final touches on a net trap she laid out on the ground. Her mane was a mess and her coat was dirty. But, Fluttershy was determined to get one of these critters. “I'll catch you yet, my pretties,” she said in a creepy tone. “Oh yes. As soon as one of you little birds or monkeys or bears touches this net... you'll be mine! Mine!”

The mare cracked into evil laughter. Without warning, she accidentally falls onto the trap and sets it off. She’s now wrapped up in the net and is hanging from a branch.

A pair of ponies walk up onto the distressed Pegasus. It was Star Dust and his little sister. She was carrying the rare plant she received on her back as she occasionally looked back at her cutie mark. When the filly finally noticed the yellow mare in the net, she said, “Brother, I think we should help her out.”

The stallion replied, “Do we have to? She looks so content up there. I think she did this so the animals realize they don’t have to be afraid of her.”

“Starry! No pony likes to be hanging from a net.”

“Alright, alright. I’ll get her down, gently.” The blue Unicorn used his magic to untie the knot of the net and slowly lowered it.

Once the Pegasus was back on her hooves, she thanked them, quietly. Then the mare ran off.

“Aww, I was hoping she was wanting to see my cutie mark,” said Flower Dust.

“You’ll see her again. I know her from Ponyville. We rode up together in a somewhat carriage type vehicle,” said the stallion.

The two started their journey back to the Gala hall to see what’s going on.

Back in the halls of the castle, Princess Luna and Blaze were almost at the doors to the Gala. As they got closer, classical music was suddenly changed to an upbeat remix tone. The pair poked their heads through the doorway to see what’s going on.

The blue Alicorn said, “I don’t recall this music being on the list of approved music. What’s going on?
“Oh, I have an idea,” replied the red Unicorn. “And we haven’t missed the climax of the party.” Let’s just wait here and watch.”

The princess nodded and just watched from the doorway with her stallion friend.

Up on the stage. Pinkie Pie and Colorful Sparks had set up a turntable DJ setup and had just started to play music from it. The pink mare went around and tried to get the fancy ponies to start cutting a rug to the beat.

Applejack opened the doors from the kitchen and was pushing a cart with an eight-tier cake that was apple flavor and fancy decorated with icing. She announced to the room, “Okay, all you high-class ponies. Here's a highfalutin apple cake for your hoity-toity taste buds.”

Rarity had just finished holding the door open for Prince Blueblood. She was not happy with how this stallion had been treating her like a servant and not like a princess. Anything more would more than likely make her snap.

All of a sudden, the pink mare on the stage announced that she was doing a stage dive. Just after she jumped, the ponies she was aiming for had moved out of the way. Applejack wasn’t paying attention as she was pushing the cart of cake around. Pinkie Pie hit it and launched the cake into the air. On the other side, Prince Blueblood noticed the cake in the air was falling towards him. He grabbed the white mare he was with and used her as a shield.

Rarity was surprised by this action and tried to get out of the way. But, there wasn’t any time. The cake landed on her and went everywhere. Her mane and face were covered in cake. Her dress was covered in icing. The white Unicorn mare was now mad.

She turned to the stallion and said, “You, sir, are the most uncharming prince I have ever met! In fact, the only thing royal about you is that you are a royal pain!”

The white stallion didn’t like the mess on the mare. He said, “Ewww...! Uh, stay back! I just had myself groomed!”

“Afraid to get dirty?!” Rarity shook her head and some of the icings on her went flying everywhere.

This caused the prince to stumble back to avoid the mess. He fell and bumped into the base of a pony statue, causing it to topple. Rainbow Dash saw this as an opportunity to show her skills. The mare flew to the falling piece of art and caught it on her back. Not realizing the weight of it, the Pegasus started to lose her balance. She stumbled around and had the statue slam into the decorative columns.

This started another chain reaction of them falling down into each other, knocking them all down. No one was injured from them falling. Once the debris smoke cleared, this was when Princess Celestia and Twilight Sparkle entered the Gala hall.

The purple Unicorn said to herself, “Well... it can't get any worse.”

As if on cue, a rumble was coming from outside. The doors to the garden burst open and a lot of animals came running in. Behind them was a yellow mare that had a very determined look on her face.

Fluttershy shouted, “You're... going to love me!”

All the ponies started to run about, avoiding the wild animals that were making more of a mess. Twilight signaled her friends to come with her and leave the castle. Rarity lost a glass slipper on the staircase. Pinkie Pie noticed this and informed the white mare that her prince would be able to find her with that. The Unicorn panicked and quickly smashed it into lots of pieces. Then continued to run out of there.

Back in the hall, Fang and the Zebra twins decided to step up and herd the animals back outside. They worked in different areas of the space. Lightning Trails took to the sky to help get the flying critters out. After fifteen minutes, they were done. But, the hall space was a complete mess.

The tables were tossed all over the place, banners were torn, and everyone’s outfits were dirty. The only ones that remained clean were the Princesses and Swift Blaze. They were still standing in the doorways.

Luna said, “If I knew these parties get this wild, I would have joined in the beginning.”

Blaze replied, “The fun isn’t over, yet.”

“Fun? Fun? Do you call this fun? This is a total disaster! And it’s all those common ponies from Ponyville’s fault!” shouted Prince Blue Blood.

The red stallion didn’t like this Unicorn disrespecting his friends. He left the blue Alicorn’s side and walked toward the white Unicorn. “I’m sorry, sir, but this isn’t their fault. It was you that triggered the events that cause all of this destruction,” said Blaze.

“Me? I was not! It was that crazy pink pony thinking this was some commoner’s kid party. That kind of attitude is unwanted at the Grand Galloping Gala.”

“It is your fault. If you were more of a gentlecolt and protected that mare from being hit with that cake, then all of this mess would have not happened. Only you would be a mess right now.”

“How dare you place the blame on me! I’m a prince!” the white stallion shouted.

“A prince of what? What do you have control over?” asked the red stallion.

“ I have a royal blood connection from my aunt, Princess Celestia.”

“I don’t think that should grant you the title of prince. I see maybe a lord or duke. But, you’re not the son of the Princess of the Sun, nor grandson. You’re not even an Alicorn.”

The white Unicorn was getting furious with this pony. “I don’t have to take this from the likes of you! I can have my aunt throw you in the dungeon for bad talking royalty.”

“Let’s settle this like gentlecolts.” Blaze used his magic and brought out a hoof glove from an inner pocket. “I challenge you to a duel!” He then slapped the white stallion with the glove.

Prince Blueblood was shocked at this. No one has ever challenged him for anything. But seeing this unicorn was smaller than him. He assumed he'd have the advantage. With his magic, he grabbed the glove from the red stallion’s grasp and returned the slap. “I accept. We’ll duel with swords out in the garden in thirty minutes.”

Blaze didn’t flinch when he got hit with the glove. He smiled and replied, “Looking forward to it.”
> Chapter 55: We're off to the Gala!, Part 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Elsewhere in Canterlot, a little dragon was hanging out in a donut shop, drinking some cocoa and eating donuts to pass the time as his friends were having the time of their lives at the Grand Galloping Gala. He was the only patron there as everyone else was at the party.

Spike had placed his mug on the counter a little hard and said, “ Hey, Pony Joe. Another donut.”

The keeper of the shop, a light amber Unicorn stallion, walked up to the dragon and replied, ”Don't you think you've had enough?”

Spike slammed the mug down again and responded, in an angry tone, “Another donut! Extra sprinkles!”

Just then, the bell to the shop rang when someone entered. The stallion looked to see who it was. “Twilight Sparkle, haha! Long time no see,” he said.

The purple dragon turned around and saw Twilight and the rest of the mane six were there. They were standing in front of the doorway. Their dresses were dirty and torn in several places. The ponies’ faces were a mix of sad and disappointed expressions.

Spike got down from the barstool and ran over to see them. He said, “Hey, how was the Gala? How was your best night ever?”

They gathered around a table and ordered a platter of donuts. Each one told their tale of what they experienced. They didn’t spare any detail of what they went through.

The purple dragon said, “That sounds like the worst night ever!”

All the ponies around him responded, “It was!” Then laughed about it.

Suddenly, the bell rang again. It was Al and he was running to their table. He was a little out of breath.

Applejack said, “Woah there, sugarcube. Where’s the fire?”

As he was catching his breath, he replied, “You need to come back to the Gala. Swift Blaze might be in trouble.”

Twilight responded, “I didn’t really see him at the Gala. What did he do?”

“He challenged some snob Unicorn to a duel with swords. I don’t know who it is, but we need to be there for our friend.”

All the ponies and little dragon paid their tab and made their way back to the castle.

-----Back at the Gala-----

Prince Blueblood and Swift Blaze were preparing for the duel in separate areas of the garden. The white Unicorn was putting on the typical protective gear for a fencing duel, as he was trained in. The red Unicorn has taken his tux off to avoid getting it torn and dirty. He summoned his sword as he refused to use the thin blade. He didn’t put on any of the protective paddings.

When the time was almost up, they ventured to an open space where everyone else had gathered to watch. The Princesses were up on the balcony. Shining Armor was standing in the center of the match space. All of Swift Blaze’s teammates that were there stood on his side of the field. They had discussed the stories and rumors of what that white stallion was like.

As soon as Prince Blueblood saw his opponent was not wearing any protective gear, he said, “Are you coming to say you’re backing out? I will totally understand that you’re afraid of my greatness. I have been taught by the finest teachers money can buy. They told me that I’m a match for no one.”

“No, I’m not backing down,” Blaze replied. “I’m the one that issued the challenge. I would hate to tarnish my name. As to why I’m not wearing that stuff, I find it restrictive in movements. I’m not afraid of a little scratch from that toothpick sword you have there. If, you think you can land a hit.”

“Oh, a little overconfident are you over there. I’ve chatted with my fellow ponies and none of them have heard of you. You must be a party crasher. Or worse, a peasant that is trying to take what they weren’t born into.”

“It’s not that. I just know from skill levels, you are nowhere near my level. It’s true I’m not from Canterlot. But, I was invited, personally, by both Princesses. I consider them close friends. I’m getting tired of this banter. Can we please move this along? I do have several friends waiting for me to wrap this up so we can head out of here.”

“If you’re that anxious to be beaten, I will gladly bring it to you.”

The two unicorns entered the match space. The Captain of the Royal Guard cleared his throat to get the ponies watching their attention. “If I may have your attention. The duel between Prince Blueblood and Swift Blaze is about to commence. Here are the rules. Number one, you must stay within the boundaries of this match field. If you step out, you lose. Number two, any sword type weapons are allowed. Number three, only levitation magic is allowed to hold the weapon. Any other spell will be an automatic loss for you. Lastly, the match will end when someone surrenders, is knocked out or is killed. Do you both agree?”

The red Unicorn nodded his head. He then stood up on his hind hooves and drew his reverse blade sword. The white Unicorn also nodded. He activated his magic and grabbed onto his sword.

Shining Armor walked out of the area. He signaled the Princess. The blue Alicorn, in the Royal Canterlot Voice, said, “Let the match, BEGIN!”

---A few minutes before the match---

A group that was led by a white hair human, made their way back to the castle. Al escorted his friends to the balcony where the Princesses were going to watch from. When they arrived, it was when the two unicorns arrived at the field.

Twilight was the first to speak, “Princesses, you need to stop this duel!” she said.

“Al told us what Blaze did,” said Applejack. “He has nothing to prove in this.”

Princess Luna replied, “I believe he does. He wanted to restore Rarity’s honor and disgrace Prince Blueblood for what he did to her.”

“But I no longer care about that Unicorn,” said the white Unicorn mare. “I thought being a prince, he would treat any maiden with grace and respect. I was mistaken.”

“It’s not your fault, Rarity,” replied Rainbow Dash. “He was being a total snob. I think he deserves what’s coming to him.”

“But Blaze doesn’t have to do this,” said the purple mare. “I’m going down there and stopping this.”

Al responded, “Please don’t. He’s asked me to have everyone stay up here instead on the field. He knows you don’t want him to do this, but he’s already issued the challenge. If he backs down. What kind of a rep would he have as a new Royal Guard that backs down? He knows what he’s doing. Please have confidence in our friend and cheer him on.”

They all nodded and gathered at the edge of the balcony. Princess Luna noticed Shining Armor was walking off the field. She prepared her announcement to the guest to begin the match.

-----Back to the match-----

Blaze remained in a defensive stance with his sword. He didn’t want to strike first. The red stallion wanted to see the sort of training stallion paid for. The white Unicorn wasted no time in advancing. He didn’t do a full sprint, more of a gallop to his opponent, he wanted to have style in the fight and show off to all the mares watching.

Prince Blueblood kept the blade horizontal, for quick thrusts. Once he thought he was close enough, the unicorn trusted his blade at the red stallion. Blaze responded by easily deflecting the attack to the side.

The white Unicorn repeated the thrust several times. Each one was deflected. He switched to slash attacks. The red Unicorn blocked them with no effort. They stepped away after a few minutes. Neither of them landed a blow.

As Prince Blueblood saw his opponent seemed to know what they were doing, he said, “I have to ask, if you appear to be skilled with a blade, why are you using one where the edge is towards you instead of your opponent? Also, why are you not using your magic?”

“If you must know,” said Blaze, “I prefer this blade as it won’t cause serious injury to my opponent, just some major pain. For the magic, I find it causes a distraction.”

“If you don’t use magic, you mustn’t be very skilled in it. Having to move one’s body around with the blade is so, peasant-like. You probably can’t even do the simplest of lifting a feather. Hahaha.”

“At least I didn’t have to pay others to teach me. I haven’t even moved. If you’re going to hit me, then HIT me!”

The white stallion went on the attack again. He increased the speed of the slashes and thrust combos. The red stallion simply continued to block with minimal effort. “Is this your true best?” he asked.

“You want more? I’ll give you more!”

Prince Blueblood summoned three more blades to his side. He started to use all the blades at the same time. Blaze picked up the pace and continued to block or dodge the attacks. Being able to defend from four blade directions is quite a feat to see. It almost looked like the stallion created two more forehooves to hold a second blade at the speed he was moving.

The white stallion’s horn was glowing brighter and brighter as it forced the blades to move faster. He no longer cared about how he looked in his attacks. He wanted to land a hit and cause some serious injury. The Unicorn couldn’t believe that he still hasn’t used any magic.

Blaze saw fatigue was starting to set in on his opponent. He guessed this would be a good time to finish this schoolyard fight. Just as an attack was about to hit, the red stallion performed an after image technique. It made it look like the blades when right through his body.

Prince Blueblood first thought he landed the hit. But, as his opponent didn’t react to it, the body soon faded away. The white stallion quickly looked around to where he went. He soon felt the tip of a blade at the back of his head.

The red Unicorn was standing off to the left side of his opponent. He had his blade being held with his right forehoof and it was extended pointing directly to the back of the white Unicorn’s head. Blaze asked, “Do you yield?”

“That must have been magic you used!” Prince Blueblood shouted. “Admit it so I can be declared the winner.”

“That wasn’t magic. I’m just quick on my hooves. Captain Shining Armor can confirm it as he’s been scanning the field for magic. Am I correct?”

The captain replied, “The red stallion has not used any sort of magic since the beginning of magic.”

“This is some sort of scam to make a fool of me,” said the white stallion. “I will not stand for this!”

Blaze replied, “Okay.” He moved quickly and hit the forelegs of his opponent with his blade to make him fall forward in the front. He also lightly tapped the horn to cause the levitation magic spell on his blades to end. With that, the blade tip was placed back to the head again. “Do you have any other request?” he asked.

“You can’t treat me like this. I’m a prince! I will have you thrown in the dungeon!” shouted Prince Blueblood.

“Were you acting like a proper prince? Let’s ask a mare I know.” The red Unicorn looked toward the balcony where the princesses and his friends were at. “Ahh, Lady Rarity, were you with this stallion most of the night at the Gala?” he asked.

“I was,” replied the white Unicorn mare.

“Did he treat you nicely like a prince or gentlecolt should to a mare?”

“I’m afraid he didn’t.” Rarity recounted what happened that evening so all the crowd could hear.

Blaze turned back to his opponent and leaned closer. “Now do you understand why I challenged you? Didn’t give the mare the flower, wouldn’t hold the door, made her use her clothing to cover a puddle of a spilled drink, wouldn’t pay for the treat, and lastly, you used her as a shield instead of blocking the flying food yourself. Do you have anything you wish to say?”

“I’m a prince! She should be grateful that I allowed her to be near me. Any mare would be happy to do all that stuff for me because I’m a prince. I deserve to be treated as such,” said the white stallion.

“No, you’re a spoiled brat that got everything you demanded from your parents. You didn’t work hard and earn it. I think it’s time to finish this.”

Prince Blueblood closed his eyes. He remained in the same position with his rear end still standing and the front is on the ground. The stallion took a big gulp as he was expecting a killing blow. But, he then heard something.

“Four!” shouted Blaze.

The red Unicorn had moved closer to the back part of his opponent. He was holding his sword, with the longer side of the blade, like a golf club. He was in the beginning part of the swing when he shouted. Afterward, he swung the blade down and forward. The side of the blade made contact with the family jewels of Prince Blueblood.

The white stallion screamed a very high pitch. Like the sound of a boiling steam pot. He also flew through the air several feet while holding onto the pain source. The unicorn landed just outside of the match field. The stallions in the area cringed at the sight of what happened.

Captain Shining Armor stepped next to the red Unicorn and said, “The winner of the duel is Swift Blaze!”

The ponies around stomped their hooves lightly, then departed the area. The red stallions friends up on the balcony cheered loudly. The princesses clapped their forehooves together. His teammates headed over to their captain to congratulate him.

“Nicely done there, Blaze,” said Star Dust. “We all knew you would win.”

“Did you even work up a sweat?” asked Colorful Sparks.

“I’m glad that snobby stallion got what he deserved,” Lightning Trails said. “I’ve heard some stories from the other guards of how he treated them and the staff of the castle.”

“We know you could have ended that a lot sooner. You really restrained yourself,” said Fang.

“Our sis got to mess with some mare’s tails,” said Cancer.

“You dealt with that stallion,” said Dragon.

Together, they said, “and we only got to herd some wild animals.”

“Was it necessary to hit him down there?” asked Shining Armor. “Even I cringe from pain just seeing that.”

After listening to their responses, Blaze replied. “That was more for fun. I might have shed a tear of laughter after landing that hit. I too heard the rumors. I’m glad I was there to see what he did and make the challenge. As to why I aimed for that, he was being a dick. He now has a new name. Prince Blueballs!”

The group laughed after hearing the name. The red stallion asked, “Even though this isn’t exactly what everyone thought tonight was going to happen, did everyone at least have some fun?”

“I just want to blow this joint and get some real grub,” said a voice behind the red stallion. He turned around and saw it was Al who spoke. Behind them were the rest of the friends and princesses that were up on the balcony.

“I told you that they weren’t going to have any human level food,” said Blaze.

“I did find some. Applejack had them.”

“That was some intense swordplay,” said Rainbow Dash. “How come you didn’t use any of your abilities?”

“It was a sword duel. I followed the rules to ensure victory,” replied the red Unicorn. “Plus, I’m still learning what I can do with magic. I’m only a week into the studies.”

“And you’re still on the most basic of spells,” said Twilight. “I learned all that while in Magic Kindergarten.”

“Umm, you were born a Unicorn. I wasn’t. Give me some time to get used to it.”

At the edge of the field, some Royal guards were helping Prince Blueblood back to his hooves in order to escort him to a doctor. The white Unicorn stallion barely caught onto the conversation. The pain from his neither region was still ringing his brain. He said, “Wait, my opponent is not a true Unicorn? Then what in Equestria is he?

The group heard the question and turned toward the prince. Blaze walked back up to his opponent. He replied, “Do you really want to know who I am?”

The white stallion nodded.

“Let’s see, I’m in the Royal Guard. Recently joined and finished the training. I’ve been made Captain. Oh, one last thing.” The red stallion placed his forehooves together and released the Shadow Transform Jutsu. A puff of smoke engulfed his body. Once dissipated, he said, “I’m a very unique, Human.” Blaze leaned in closer and whispered, “If I hear you mistreating guards, staff, or some other pony, what I’ve done here is child’s play. You don’t want me to come back and have another chat with you. Right?”

Prince Blueblood took a dry gulp and quickly nodded.

The black hair human stood back up and said, “Good. I suggest you get some ice on that bruise before they swell up anymore and may need to be cut off.” He chuckled at the last part.

The two Royal guards that were helping quickly lifted the Prince and took him inside.

Blaze turned to his friends. He then said, “Someone mentioned food. Where shall we go?”

“The girls and I were just at a donut shop. We can go back there if you want,” replied Fluttershy.

“Pastry circles do sound good after a night like this. Princess Luna and Princess Celestia, would you like to join us?”

The white Alicorn replied, “Sure. I can easily teleport us there.”

Al responded, “Why teleport when we can get there in style.”

“Oh, you must see what Blaze and Al made, The technology involved is very fascinating,” said the purple mare. “But, I don’t know if they can sit comfortably in it.”

The black hair human said, “What? You didn’t think I’ve shown all the features on the way up here, did ya?”

“There’s more?” asked Pinkie Pie with excitement.

“Follow us,” said Al.

The humans led the group back to the front where all the carriages were at. Now no one was there now. Blaze pulled the scroll from inside his jacket pocket. While holding it, he did the same hand signs as before, while his chakra was being gathered into the scroll. At the last sign, he shouted, "Ninja Art! Summoning Jutsu!"

The cloud dissipated and revealed the limo. Princess Celestia walked up to it and said, “Some of the ponies at the gala mentioned seeing a strange carriage that had no horses. I take it, this is it?”

“It is, your highness,” replied Al. “Blaze and I tackled this for a week to get it to this level. It’s still only a prototype. But it runs nicely.”

“Yeah, when I’m supplying the heat power to the steam engine,” said the black hair human. “That’s the first thing to fix so I can drive it as well.”

“Would you mind explaining how this works?” Asked Princess Luna.

The two humans went over it again of the various components that were used for movement. The two sisters walked along the outside as they talked. Once done, it was time to show another feature.

“Alright, this mode is good for the premiere and special events when you want to be secretive of who’s showing up. This next one is going to throw you a loop,” said Al.

He hopped into the driver’s seat and flipped a couple of switches. The following is what happened. The top of the roof split down the middle and rows up to be in line with the walls. The next thing is it collapsed down in several sections into the walls. The windows also went fully down and out of sight.

“Behold, a limo convertible,” said Blaze. “This mode is good for when you want the wind in your mane and have no obstruction on the view. Also good when you’re taller than an average pony.”

“Your feats of engineering are still astounding,” said Twilight. I can’t wait to go into further detail of it.”

“That will have to wait. It’s grub time. All aboard!” said the black hair human.

“Wait,” said Star Dust. “Would it be alright if I bring my little sis?” She’s been wanting to get out of the castle.”

“I don’t see a problem. Just hurry up before Blaze’s stomach gets to an uproar,” said the white hair human.

The blue Unicorn quickly teleported away. A few minutes later, he popped back in the same spot with his sister next to him. He introduced her to everyone individually. “Lastly, this is Rarity. She is the mare who made your dress,” he said.

“Oh! Miss Rarity!” said Flower Dust. “I just love this dress. Thank you so much!”

The white Unicorn mare replied, “You’re quite welcome. I just enjoy making dresses. Especially for friend’s family members. I’m happy you love it. Did you have a wonderful night?”

“Oh yes, I did. I just enjoyed the garden at night. The best part is that I got my Cutie Mark!”

“That’s wonderful, sweetie,” said Twilight. “How about you tell us the tale as we head out for a snack.”

The group all piled into the open-top limo. Blaze took his same spot in the back and Al got behind the wheel. They headed out and made their way to the donut shop. Once parked, everyone stepped out and went back into the diner.

Pony Joe said, “Woah, I didn’t expect you to come back. And you brought more friends. Also Princess Celestia and Princess Luna? I better make some more fresh donuts for everyone.”

“I think six dozen glazed donuts should be good,” said Blaze.

“For all of you?” asked the amber Unicorn stallion.

“No, just for me,” replied the black hair human. “I could go for more, but I don’t want to hold up the others. Actually do mine last.”

“Don’t mind him, sugarcube,” said Applejack. “He just has the bottomless pit in his stomach. He won’t gain any fat from eating that much.

“It’s true,” said the white hair human. “You should see how much he spends on groceries. Just a week would feed others for at least two months.”

“Hey, who’s been getting the hard to get items?” asked Blaze. “Besides, everything just tastes so much better here than back where we came from. Enough of this pointless banter. Everyone, go place your orders so we can enjoy it.”

“And don’t fret everyone,” said the blue Alicorn. “My sister and I shall pay for all of this. Let us just enjoy the rest of this, wonderful night.”

“Why thank you, Princess Luna. That’s very generous of you,” said Rarity.

They all placed their orders and gathered around various tables. As they ate their pastries, they shared their tales of what they experienced at the Gala. They all laughed at the funny points. They then moved toward the duel.

“So, Blaze,” said Lightning Trails, “Why did you make that challenge?”

“Yeah, why would you bother dealing with a rich snob?” asked Rainbow Dash.

The other ponies and Spike also nodded to wondering about it.

Blaze said, “Alright. So, as you know, I didn’t really attend the Gala. When we split up, I headed to Princess Luna. I took a guess she wasn’t attending and just needed encouragement. When we arrived, it was just as Pinkie Pie switched to a DJ type music and Applejack rolled in that huge cake. I saw what transpired. When you all left, I decided to confront that stallion.”

The black hair Human told what happened that led up to the challenge.

“So, you did all of that, as he disrespected the friends from Ponyville?” asked Fang.

“In a way, yes,” he replied.

“Why didn’t you reveal yourself earlier?” asked Colorful Sparks.

“Then if he knew about the recent Royal Guard training, I thought it would have backed out from the duel. It doesn’t take a genius to recognize a coward that hides behind money and status.”

“Why then did you drag out the match? We all know you could have ended it with one hit,” said Cancer.

“Now where is the fun in that? Yes, I could have. But, that stallion needed some teaching. Money may buy you someone to teach you something. The true method of learning is wanting to learn the skill. He didn’t have that. Prince Blueballs saw that more of a pin on his status. He had basic skill techniques. Then, just went wild with how he was thrusting and slashing. More so when he brought in multiple blades.”

“Hah! Prince Blueballs shouted Al. “That’s the most perfect name for him now. Every time I run into him, I’m going to call him that.”

“I’m sure he will remember the pain. And doesn’t want an encore of it.”

Everyone laughed at that thought. The Princesses took their leave and flew back to the castle. Everyone else got back in the limo and headed back to Ponyville. They left the top down to enjoy the night sky. The Royal Guard was dropped off at Blaze and Al’s house so they could get changed and get back onto duty. The rest of the mane six were dropped off at their houses.

When Al pulled back up to his home, the humans got out. Blaze sealed the limo back into a scroll for the time being. They made their way inside, cleaned up, and headed off to bed.

Tonight was a night that no one will ever forget.