Prologue
A boy, two adults, one small girl, and another boy ride to their destination in their car, unaware that one of their lives is about to change drastically; while the others will not have a life to change. As they cross an intersection, a truck pulls out in front of the car, causing it to crash. Suddenly, a portal opens up and takes the car into its maw. The car reappears in what looks to be a forest. The car slams into a tree and everyone loses consciousness.
1
The boy woke up at night, head pounding and leg on fire. The first thing he realizes as he regains thought of his surrounding area is that all of his remaining family is dead. He starts to cry but stops himself. 'Time for mourning later.' He thinks.
Varos
I get a hold of myself. I had to survive even when they didn't. I reach past my dead grandmother into the glove compartment and sigh with relief to see that the semi-auto PDW-57 was still locked in place. I dug under the carpet and opened the trap door under my foot to find that not only had the ammo stayed in place, but the entire floor had come off during the crash, so I now had a way out. Now why was my leg in so much pain? I looked at it, and almost threw up. My shin was mangled and trapped under the passenger seat. Blood was pouring down down my leg.
"I always knew you would be the death of me Yiayia. Σκύλα." I muttered. I smelled burning gas. I'm in a car. Oh shit.
"Help! Can anyone hear me?! I need help over here!" Suddenly, a flash of purple filled my vision and a calming voice addressed me.
"Shhh. It's okay. Let me get my friend to teleport you out of there." Before I could ask what the hell she was talking about, I was engulfed in a purple aura. Thinking fast, I grabbed the PDW and ammo, knowing I would need it later. Just as I grabbed the last mag, I appeared outside the burning wreck. Remembering something of extreme importance, I hopped over to the trunk, opened it, and grabbed my duffel bag. I didn't get two feet away before it exploded. One of the doors blew off its hinges and landed on my bad leg and I screamed. The purple aura came over the car door and it was lifted off me. I crawled out from under it, not knowing how long the aura could hold that door. As I crawled out from under it, the door was dropped to the muddy earth. I tried to get into a kneeling position to thank my saviors. I knew there was at least two. I looked up and saw six horses surrounding me? No, they were too small. Ponies then. Six ponies surrounding me. I didn't get a good look at them, so I couldn't get a look at any distinguishing features.
"Thank... you." I managed to say as I lost consciousness from blood loss.
PONYVILLE, THREE HOURS AFTER FIRST CONTACT
I woke up in a bed with everything screaming in pain. I noticed that my leg was healed but I was engulfed in a golden aura. Much like the purple aura. Except gold. That and this one burned my skin. I looked to my right and saw a very tall pony with a horn that was glowing the same color of the aura I was engulfed in. She also had wings and a mane with the colors of the rainbow that seemed to always have a breeze going through it. She scowled when she realized I was awake.
"How many of you are there?" She asked without so much as a 'how are you feeling?' The aura let up.
"I am the only one that survived the crash." I managed to croak out after a minute. My throat was dry. How long was I out?
"Where am I? And where are my things?" I asked. Her scowl deepened.
"You have no right to ask things of me. You are lucky I haven't killed you yet." I frowned in confusion.
"What did I do wrong Mrs..."
"Celestia. Princess Celestia. And to answer your question, you are a human. You are nothing but trouble." A navy blue pony like Celestia came in calmly. Her eyes lit up as she laid them on me. She had a warm, motherly smile that made me believe everything would be okay.
"Sister, remember that he is but a foal. Maybe 13 revolutions. Please be kind to him. He has done nothing wrong and he is unaware of the crimes committed by his ancestors." Celestia scoffed but didn't deny it. She moved over and went into another room. The new pony moved to the front of me and sat on her haunches.
"My name is Princess Luna. I am the one that brought you here. I am glad you are safe." I held out my hand to shake. She took my hand in her hoof and shook.
"That's a first." At her look of confusion I elaborated. "My family hated me. But I don't have to worry about them anymore. I am sad my brother and my sister didn't survive though. But I think they are in a better place now. Thank you." Luna smiled that heartwarming smile. She stroked my head with her hoof. It was surprisingly soft. I felt my eyelids grow heavy. Before I fell asleep I asked one last question.
"Am I safe here?" Luna simply smiled and nodded.
Twilight ; 3 HOURS 45 MINUTES AFTER FIRST CONTACT
While Luna was upstairs tending to the alien in my room, and with Celestia gone, we were in the main library looking through its things. Applejack pulled out a rectangle with a circle on the bottom that looked like a button.
"What do ya reckon this is?" She asked.
"I don't know. Push the button there." She did and it lit up. There was a picture of a piece of paper with writing on it. It said, 'the password is burden' it had glowing letters that said 'swipe to unlock'.
"Do it." I said. She did and it said to enter a password. We entered what the picture said and it make a click sound as the password screen faded and was replaced by another screen that said music. The was a triangle that was on its side and a dial that was all the way to the right. I had a feeling that the triangle was a button or mechanism like that.
"Press the triangle Applejack." The others gathered around in curiosity. She pressed it and music came out. She dropped it in surprise. After a few bars, a colt's voice came out.
"You hid your skeletons when I had shown you mine,
You woke the devil that I thought you'd left behind.
I saw the evidence, the crimson soaking through.
Ten thousand promises, ten thousand ways to lose.
And you held it all, but you were careless to let it fall
You held it all, and I was by your side, powerless."
After a few more bars of instrumental music, the voice picked up again.
"I watched you fall apart, and chased you to the end.
I'm left with emptiness that words cannot defend.
You'll never know what I became because of you,
Ten thousand promises, ten thousand ways to lose.
And you held it all, but you were careless to let it fall.
You held it all, and I was by your side, powerless."
"Turn it off." A colt's voice said above us. We looked to the balcony and saw the alien. Luna was next to him (I assumed it was a he). I pressed the two vertical lines that appeared in the place of the triangle and the music stopped. He jumped off the balcony, much to the agitation of everyone else. He landed gracefully.
"Σας ευχαριστώ Σαληνιακό." The alien said to Luna. At least, I think he was talking to Luna. I could understand his second(?) language. But just barely.
"You speak Gryphic?" I asked him. He gave a look that said 'the heck is Gryphic?' He started speaking in equestrian again.
"I would appreciate it if you would leave my equipment alone. Some of that stuff is extraordinarily dangerous." Rainbow Dash scoffed.
"Like what?" She asked. Instead of answering, he looked to Luna. She gave an almost indiscernible nod, and he picked up one of the mechanisms that we couldn't figure out. He picked up what we thought was a container and slid it into the mechanism and flicked a switch on the side of it. He did it in such a fluid way that we almost missed it. I pulled out a notepad and began taking notes on the objects. He pulled back a lever and let it slide forward as he pointed it at a wall.
"Νέα!" He yelled as he was teleported out of the room by Princess Luna. We looked to her to see she had a look of shock on her face. Her horn glowed and we saw what she saw. He was teleported to a nest of five full grown Manticores. Fluttershy almost fainted, and she would have, if not for her worry for the brave alien. He pointed the mechanism at one of the beasts and pulled the trigger three times in rapid succession. We covered our ears as the mechanism let off a deafening roar as the Manticore's head was almost blown off. Fluttershy squealed as she saw the brutal display of violence. He repeated the process four more times before he clicked the switch on the side and put a sling around his neck. A black mist swirled around his legs and turned into a familiar form.
"Nightmare Moon!" We all yelled. Luna tried teleporting him back but it was no use. Her magic wasn't working for some reason. We listened to what Nightmare Moon had to say, we had no other option.
"Nice to finally meet you 'Burden'. I am the Nightmare." Burden didn't react. He lifted his hand to shake. She took his hand in her hoof and they shook.
"Can you dissolve this bond? I would like to speak in peace." Nightmare smiled and her horn glowed. The next thing we knew, we were back in the library. We all thought of what to do.
"Let's get the Elements! We can save him from her influence!" I yelled. The others agreed.
"No one can tell Celestia. She was ready to kill him anyway. This will give her a justified reason to do so." Luna warned. We all nodded and with that we went to the Everfree.
Varos ; 4 HOURS AFTER FIRST CONTACT
After Nightmare severed the connection, we got down to business.
"Now that, was fast." I said impressed. "I didn't think I could contact you so quickly. Now, what was that deal you spoke of? Also, while my name means burden, I go by Varos." She nodded.
"My deal is that you allow me to inhabit your body and in return you get my magic." This deal seemed kind of sketchy.
"Can you control my body?" She shook her head and I let out a relieved sigh. But then I stopped. Something didn't add up.
"Then why do you want my body?"
"I need a host to survive. It's like having a house to protect yourself from the elements. It's a need for survival." This made sense so I agreed. She shifted into black mist and went down my throat. I coughed and sputtered until she went down my throat.
"Testing." I heard Nightmare's voice in my head.
'Nice.' I thought. I heard her giggle.
"Indeed. Now I can inform you on anything you need. I will teach you to use your new magic later. Right now the Elements of Harmony are on their way here. Play dead. Or unconscious. With my powers, you can do both." I heeded Nightmare's words and acted unconscious. Twilight found me and yelled to the others. Luna, Rarity, and Twilight picked me up with their magic and brought me back to the tree house. I noted with no small amount of amusement that none of them touched the PDW if they could help it. They set me on the couch in the main library.
"Hold on. I'm going to use a diagnostic spell." Luna said.
'Oh. That's bad right?' I asked Nightmare. Somehow I visualized Nightmare nodding. I decided to 'wake up'. I groaned and sat up, blinking. Everyone gasped and backed up. The hell?
"What? What's wrong?" Instead of answering, I was given a mirror. My left eye was completely black!
"Oh, that is so wicked cool!" I yelled. Twilight and the others still seemed nervous, and they flinched when I grabbed my PDW. I heard Nightmare chuckle.
'They fear you.' I unconsciously grunted, causing the others to look at me.
'Nothing new there. I'll explain when I'm not about to be vivisected.'
"What's going to happen now?" I asked Luna. Not that I was trying to undermine anyone else, but I mean come on, she is a princess.
"I want to check you out. I do not know how Nightmare Moon knew your name, or where she went, but she obviously did something. Now hold still."
'Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! What do I do now?!' No response. I really hope she can deal with this. Luna scanned me with her magic. I unconsciously winced when she scanned my head.
"The Nightmare seems to have done something to your soul." Luna said. This made the 'Elements' charge. Luna told them to wait before they blasted me, thankfully.
"Do I seem anymore dangerous now after Nightmare Moon did something?" They nodded. When I raised an eyebrow, I saw their eyes flick to my gun for a second, hoping I wouldn't notice. Oh, I noticed. I grabbed the gun and took off the sling, causing every pony to back up. I frowned and furrowed my brow. I hated this feeling. Being feared. I ejected the mag, making sure the safety was on, and pulled the slide back to take the remaining bullet out of the chamber.
"This is why you fear me? This is literally called the Personal Defense Weapon! I swear on my honor that I will never bear this weapon on a friendly force." They still seemed unsure.
"Look. Can we at least get to know each other before you use the Elements of Harmony on me?" Twilight cut me off.
"How do you know about the Elements?!" My face grew a wicked grin. I had a feeling this did not help me, but with all the shit I've been through, I think I deserve a little fun.
"For starters, I know Applejack is the element of honesty, Rarity is the element of generosity, Rainbow is the element of loyalty, Pinkie is laughter, Fluttershy is kindness, and you, Twilight Sparkle, the student of Princess Celestia, you are the sixth and most mysterious of the elements. You are the element of magic." I turned away from their shocked expressions and dropped jaws and spoke to Luna. But before I could speak, Twilight spoke up.
"Did Nightmare tell you those things?" I nodded.
"Some. Only that you had the mysterious element. Plus even if she did fill me in on everything, how would I know about Discord? Right now he is a statue in the Canterlot garden with a shocked and frightened expression." I saw I couldn't move because Luna had grabbed me with her magic. She made me face her. She looked angry but sad for some reason. She had tears running down her cheeks. I instantly regretted what I said.
"Princess Luna. I'm sorry. I don't mean to be this way. Συγχώρεσέ με. Ήμουν βασανίζεται όλη μου τη ζωή. I vow to control myself. All I've ever known is how to scare someone off. I've never had a friend, so I don't know how to make one." From off to the side Twilight whispered in sorrow.
"You're whole life?" Luna set me down and embraced me. I broke down and cried into her shoulder. She held me while the others crowded around. Eventually I fell asleep.
Luna ; VAROS' DREAMSCAPE, 4 HOURS 30 MINUTES AFTER FIRST CONTACT
I went into Burden's mind to find him in a building with a partition of either side of him with a target down a range. I noticed with no small amount of apprehension that The Nightmare was on one side of the partition with a metal stick looking thing. It looked like Burden was giving her tips about the stick. But there was Burden in the main partition. There was two of him? Without looking at me, one of the Burdens spoke.
"Yo boss, we got company! Other than our VIP. Engage?" Both Burdens trained their guns on me. I looked around and saw that I was surrounded by Burdens. A booming voice from the 'sky' responded to the query.
"Stand down. She is not a hostile entity until proved otherwise. Hound, Law, keep training Nightmare. I will take care of the trespasser. The rest of you fan out and make sure no one else followed her in. We don't need another incident like that." The copies of Burden shuddered. What happened? Another Burden materialized in front of me. He looked angry
"Why the hell does everyone call me Burden?! My fucking name is VAROS!" One of the Bur- Varos' came up to the one that materialized in front of me.
"Sir! We have combustion on the upper left extremity!" As he said that, my horn burned. Varos furrowed his brow in confusion.
"Why in the hell is my hand on fire? And, a better question, why don't I feel it?" He looked over at Nightmare.
"Law! Hound! Bring Nightmare over here!" They did so, and I happened to notice that Nightmare was smirking. He gave her the report that the other Varos had given him, and he asked the same questions.
"Remember the magic that I said you would gain?"
"What?!" I yelled in disbelief. Varos glared at me. Then looked over to Nightmare in interest.
"This is part of that?" Then realizing that he answered his own question, he yelled to one of the other impersonations of himself. After a couple commands in Gryphic, we appeared in a war room with massive screens on each wall. He yelled to the men in the room. I spared a glance to the two other impersonations next to us and saw that they were staring at me with a screen showed what he saw on the outside. Celestia was over him, looking confused.
"Well shit." Hound said next to me. Varos nodded.
"Let's hope we aren't on entity's shit list. Drake! Wake up cycle ASAP! Listen up everyone. We got Celestia outside ready to blast our ass to kingdom come! When the wake up cycle is complete, we will not engage until she does! Am I understood? That means you too bloodlust!" I heard a groan as everyone else yelled 'Sir!' Simultaneously. Varos turned to me, an imploring look on his face.
"Please don't tell Celestia about the Nightmare." I nodded. He thanked me and disappeared. I in turn woke up. Thankfully, Varos' hand had been extinguished. As I regained consciousness, I heard one sentence with a word I never expected out of Celestia's mouth.
"What the buck is going on here!?"