Chapter 11: A New Beginning

Canterlot Castle, Canterlot
Local time: 1202
Seventeen days since arrival

When I entered the throne room, I noticed that both Celestia and Luna were on the other side of the room along with Shinning Armor. As I approached them, Luna gave me a comforting smile while Shinning Armor watched me incase I was a danger to the princesses. Celestia looked at me with curiosity in her eyes. When I reached the first step, I bowed as Celestia descended the stairs and stopped in front of me.

"So you're Flamingsteel." I just nodded. "I've heard a lot about you from my sister and Twilight. Luna told me how you kept her safe in the Everfree Forest and for that you have my thanks. However, I need to know about your past, and more specifically, how you were born an alicorn without my knowledge, and also, how you obtained the scars that cover your body."

I stood there gathering my courage because telling them my past is a one way trip. "Are you sure you want to know, princess?" She nodded and all I could think was, "This is it." But before I could tell them about my past, I noticed the shadows behind Luna move. They morphed into three pitch black griffins with glowing red eyes. They slowly approached Luna, careful not to make any noise. Their actions made it clear they were not friendly. Within seconds my combat training kicked in.

I sprinted toward Luna shouting, "Luna! Look out, behind you!" Time seemed to slow down as I ran up the stairs, Luna turned around and all I could think was, "If only I was faster." Almost instantly there was a bright flash and I appeared in between Luna and the griffins. Surprised by what happened, I momentarily forgot about the griffins and allowed one of them to slash my chest. After returning my focus to the griffins, I tripped one and hit another in the throat, causing it to explode into black mist. By the time Celestia and Shinning Armor reached us, the remaining griffins had forgotten about Luna and were circling me. They ran towards me and I broke the leg of one of them while dodging the claws of the other. As me and the griffin traded blows, Shinning Armor restrained the wounded griffin. I let the griffin slash my flank, which destroyed my saddlebag and spilled its contents on the floor, allowing me to buck it in the face. Once my hooves made contact with its skull it exploded into another cloud of black mist.

I limped over to the captured griffin, grabbed it, and was about to interrogate it when it melted into a cloud of black mist. However, unlike the first two, which dissipated into nothing, this cloud stayed together and flew out the window. I was about to follow it, but the adrenalin in my body ran out and the pain from my wounds hit me like a freight train and I collapsed. "Steel, are you ok?" asked Luna. But because I hadn't healed from my fight with the manticore, I barely had the energy to shake my head. And the last thing I saw before blacking out was Luna putting me on her back and taking me to another part of the castle.

Three hours later…

As I opened my eyes I saw that I was in a white room and somepony was sitting next to my bed. But, because of how blurry my vision was I couldn't tell who it was. They must have noticed that I was awake and trying to look around because they stood up and moved closer to me. After a few minutes, my vision returned to normal and I saw that the pony next to me was Luna. "Oh, hey Luna."

She was overjoyed that I was ok and hugged me, "Steel, you're ok! I was so worried." I could tell she was trying not to cry. "They doctors said that because of what happened yesterday you were lucky to survive. But they also said that… that you might never regain consciousness." By now she was crying, I just held her and tried to comfort her.

"It's ok, Luna. I'm fine. Besides, I couldn't let anypony hurt one of the princesses, especially if she's my best friend." She stopped crying and looked at me.

"I'm your best friend?" I smiled and nodded. ""I can't believe you think I'm your best friend. Most ponies are still afraid of me. When they look at me, they don't see Princess Luna they see Nightmare Moon. Even though most of them bow and show me respect I can still tell nopony likes me." Her story is all too familiar.

"Believe it or not I know what that's like. I went and served my country, but when I came home, was I called a hero or shown respect? No, I was called names. Monster, killer, murderer. All because I did what needed to be done." Luna saw the look in my eyes as I recalled that dark part of my past and decided to talk about something else.

"Steel, while you were unconscious the guards repaired your saddlebag and collected your things. While they were getting your stuff, I saw the note from Octavia saying your instruments were ready to be picked up, so I sent one of my guards to get them for you." As she said this she got my guitars from somewhere outside my field of vision. I leaned the bass guitar against the table next to the bed and checked the electric guitar. It looked exactly like the one I used to have so I decided to play a few chords. As I played I saw Luna stare at me, surprised at how good I was. I was also surprised that I could play the guitar with hooves. "Wow, Steel. You're really good." I smiled, it's been way too long since someone complimented me. "So, do you know any songs?" I just smiled and thought of a song.

(Little Wonders by Rob Thomas)

Let it go,
Let it roll right off your shoulder
Don't you know
The hardest part is over
Let it in,
Let your clarity define you
In the end
We will only just remember how it feels

Our lives are made
In these small hours
These little wonders,
These twists and turns of fate
Time falls away,
But these small hours,
These small hours still remain

Let it slide,
Let your troubles fall behind you
Let it shine
Until you feel it all around you
And I don't mind
If it's me you need to turn to
We'll get by,
It's the heart that really matters in the end

Our lives are made
In these small hours
These little wonders,
These twists and turns of fate
Time falls away,
But these small hours,
These small hours still remain

When I started playing this part, I noticed Celestia standing in the doorway. I could tell she was happy that her sister was smiling and surprised by my talents.

All of my regret
Will wash away some how
But I can not forget
The way I feel right now

In these small hours
These little wonders
These twists and turns of fate
These twists and turns of fate
Time falls away but these small hours
These small hours, still remain,
Still remain
These little wonders
These twists and turns of fate
Time falls away
But these small hours
These little wonders still remain

"Steel! That was amazing!" exclaimed Luna. "You can play that instrument and you can sing! You must be really talented. But I'm confused… I thought you said you couldn't use magic?" Now it was my turn to be confused. "No… I can't use magic, why?"

"Because we have seen you use magic twice today." said Celestia. "You teleported when we were attacked in the throne room and just now you used a spell I'm not familiar with."

"But I didn't use any spell, all I did was play my guitar." Luna looked confused, "But Steel, I saw you use the spell." Celestia nodded in agreement, "While you were playing your horn glowed a silver color and I heard the sounds of other instruments."

"But that's impossible I don't know how to use magic." Celestia smiled and shook her head. "You did use a spell, you just didn't know it. With some training, I'm sure you could learn how to control your magical abilities and I'm also sure Luna wouldn't mind teaching you."

"Thank you, but I'm afraid I can't accept your offer. I don't feel right about receiving a gift without giving one as well." As I was talking, I noticed that Luna kept glancing over at my guitars and Celestia saw this too. Then I had an idea. "I've got it, Luna can teach me about magic and I can teach her how to play the guitar, if it's ok with her." She was so excited that when she hugged me she nearly crushed me. "I'll take that as a yes. But, Luna could you let go… your hug… can't breathe." She let go and I saw her blushing.

"Well Steel, the doctors said you are healthy enough to leave the hospital, but you should remain in Canterlot for the next week just incase. After you tell us about your past and the party Luna will escort you to your room."

I sighed. "You really want to know about my past, fine. But you won't like what you find. I'll start with the short version." As I looked out the window I began my tale. "I'm not really a pony, I wasn't born one. I'm not even from this world, I'm from a different time, planet, or dimension… in fact I'm not even sure. I joined the military and was given the rank of corporal. I served for two years in the army. I was a soldier, I served my country by killing others so the people back home could live in peace. On the way back home from the battlefield I was attacked and died, allowing two of my fellow soldiers to escape, then the entity that controls the afterlife, who we call God, sent me here. But judging by the looks on your faces you want to hear my story from the very beginning. I was born on April 2, 1990 in a city called New York…" I told them about my life from my childhood to my death. I also told them about my mom, my sister and the rest of my family, only then realizing how much I missed them. I left out the part about us viewing their world on TV. "… I was wounded and stayed behind so the rest of my team could escape. After I died, I entered the afterlife where I was given a second chance to rediscover two things I lost in my life, happiness and friendship. I was sent here and turned into the alicorn you see now." I continued to look out the window and mentally prepared myself for when they tell the guards to put me in the dungeon or kill me. But, I was wrong. Instead of acting hostile towards me they only showed me kindness. Luna hugged me, "I'm sorry you had to go through all that." Celestia nodded in agreement.

"So, you're not afraid of me?" They shook their heads, "But I not from this world, I have advanced combat training. I could be a threat to your safety or the safety of your ponies."

"But you are not a threat, you have proven this when you saved my sister twice. There are two things I want to know before we go to the party. First, what was your race called? You have told us about the achievements of your species and your life but you have yet to tell us what you call yourselves. And second what is your real name?"

"My real name was Daniel, but everyone I knew called me Dan. We call ourselves humans."

"But that's impossible, humans are only a myth!" said Celestia. Luna started to draw circle on the floor with her hoof, "Well that's not entirely true. Steel… er… Dan has a picture of humans, I check it and it was real, and he also had a bad dream that had humans." I looked at her, "Luna, you can still call me Steel. And that wasn't a dream, it was a memory." I looked back at Celestia, "Besides you're talking to a person who clams he is from a different world and was turned into a pony and you're saying it's impossible. Besides on earth, unicorns and pegusi are considered myths."

"So on your world unicorns, pegusi and alicorns are considered myths." said Luna, "What about earth ponies?"

"Actually, only unicorns and pegusi are myths. Alicorns are not myths, the term alicorn was created when people created ponies with wings and horns for fictional stories, it's quite a coincidence you call your selves alicorns too. (I thought to myself, if they ever find out I'm lying to them, they'd be so pissed.) And earth ponies… well, there are ponies on our planet, but they are no more than mindless beasts." They both looked sad knowing there is or was a group of ponies that couldn't think. There was an awkward silence until Celestia spoke up. "Well, we can talk more about your past later, Steel. Right now we should go to the party." As we started to leave Celestia stopped me, "Steel, you need to tell the rest of your friends about your past. I suggest doing it when you return to Ponyville."

"Fine, I'll tell them when I get back." We started to walk down the hall when Luna asked another question, "Wait, you never told us how you got those scars." I stopped walking, "I'd rather not talk about it more than once and hopefully they will be covered when my coat grows back, I don't like to be reminded of what happened. I still can't believe that nurse Redheart had to shave my back. By the way, what is the party for?" Luna started to giggle while Celestia smiled.

"The party is for you, Steel. It's to celebrate your heroic actions when you saved Luna. But it's also to celebrate you earning your cutie mark." After she said that I looked at my flank and saw that I had earned my cutie mark. My cutie mark was an iPod that was turned horizontally with five fifty caliber bullets lined up in front of it. "It's perfect, when did I get it?"

As I was carrying you to the medical wing my sister noticed it. But you could have gotten it during the fight." said Luna. "Steel, your cutie mark, what is it?"

"The five pointy cylinders are bullets, they are used by soldiers. They represent my ability to protect others and my ability to fight. The black object behind them is an iPod, it can store and play music, you can read books on it, you can play games on it, and it does much more. The iPod represents my ability to be more than a soldier, but having the iPod behind the bullets means I'm always a soldier first."

When we arrived at the party in noticed that Vinyl, Twilight and all my other friends were there, even Octavia came. They congratulated me, we partied, and talked about what had happened. Eventually, Octavia went home, the others went back to Ponyville, and Luna took me to my room. When I saw my room, it reminded me of the rooms kings had in Europe during the medieval times.

"Here is your room. If you ever need anything my room is across the hall." She left and I got in the bed. As I started to fall asleep I thought about my friendship with Luna. "I can't believe it, even after learning about my past and my origins, she still wants to be my friend. Perhaps my life is going to start getting better."

POV change: ?

Location: Unknown
Time: 0000

A cloud of black mist flew silently through a forest into a cave. Once it entered the cave, it took the form of a griffin, but when it landed on the floor, steel chains burst from the ground tied it up and forced it to the ground.

"You are a failure, and normally I would kill you in the most entertaining way possible. But, even though you failed to kill the princesses, you have brought me valuable intelligence so I will kill you quickly." The chains vanished but before the griffin could move a beam of pure dark energy came from the shadows and killed it, causing it to explode into a black mist.

"So this new alicorn is friends with Princess Luna. This is too easy. All I need to do is capture him and use him to bring Luna to me. And once her sister is missing, Celestia will go looking for her and fall into my trap. However, his ability to fight is a minor inconvenience... Flamingsteel, you will help me one way or another." An evil laugh echoed throughout the cave while the shadows left the cave in search of a better place to plot.