My New Life in Equestria.
Chapter Two:
I am running through a forest that I spotted in the distance of the treehouse. It is dark and scary here, it kind of reminds me of the ascendant realm. A dark and horrible place infested with The Taken. My instincts tell me that animals or creatures are out here watching my every move. But I do not have time to ponder that thought, I must find a place where I can rest and recover before I find my way out of here.
The leaves and branches crunch and snap underneath my hooves, the wind picks up and whistles an eerie tune, the chill in the air becomes brisker and brisker as the evening approaches.
"Is that... light?" I ask myself as I see what looks to be a hut in the distance.
"Well, maybe they live way out here for a reason" I justify to myself before approaching.
As I approach the hut, I take notice of how it looks. It looks like it's been built out of a hollowed-out tree; with decorations placed all over the tree part of it. Along with creepy-looking masks all around the front yard area of the hut.
I start to re-think my decision about asking for help and begin to turn around when behind me I hear.
"And who is this in front of my home; out here by themselves where creatures roam"
I gasp and turn around, ready to run for my life. In front of me is a zebra with gold rings around her neck and left hoof. She's smiling at me; she's smiling at me? Where I come from a smile is rarer than winning the lottery.
"Uh, umm, I'm sorry ma'am, I didn't mean to intrude, I was just-"
She interrupts me before saying.
"Why don't you save your tale for some tea and cake; I've just returned home with ingredients to bake."
"Is she speaking in rhyme couplets?" I think to myself.
I am getting hungry, and I haven't had time to have a cup of tea in many years. I don't get the sense that she wants to hurt me so I sheepishly say.
"Uh, sure I'd love some, thank you."
The zebra nods with a smile and gestures to the hut door. As we walk inside, I notice that it almost looks like an apothecary shop, with bottles and containers of various ingredients placed neatly on shelves. No scary bloodied knives or cleavers in sight.
"I thank you for your kindness, Ms...?"
"Zecora is my name, and potions are my game." she gestures to all the ingredients I spotted before.
"M- my name is Mex" I said sheepishly before breaking eye contact and looking to the floor.
Zecora was about to respond before her gaze fell to my hoof.
"Oh my, oh my, what has happened to you, dear? I get the sense your tale is one of fear."
Zecora pours the tea and serves the freshly baked cake as I tell her everything that happened to me shortly after landing, leaving out the fact that I fell from the sky. She looks me up and down before asking me to remove my cover so she could see my injuries.
"Should I do that?" I ask myself.
From what those two said earlier, alicorns are extremely rare and possibly even royalty. Zecora has been so kind to me; if she can help me recover, maybe she can even help me get home. Either way it'll be great to have at least one ally in this place.
I stand up and begin removing my cover. I pull on the piece of silk tying it to my neck and it falls to the floor. Zecora gasps and says.
"Your injuries are indeed quite bad; to see you in this state makes me sad"
She glances over my entire body before seemingly realising I had both wings and a horn, before looking at me with a raised eyebrow.
"I don't know how or why I am an alicorn, when I woke up that's how I was." I said, being incredibly careful not to mention other details."
Zecora was about to respond when we both heard a commotion outside of her hut.
"Zecora! Zecora! Are you home?!" a familiar voice said.
Zecora smiled and stood up before making her way to the door and opening it. In came three familiar fillies all talking at the same time.
"Zecora! Do you have anything that can-" they stopped themselves as they see me sitting at the table.
Zecora follows them back inside and chuckles. Before saying.
"It is clear to me that you three know my guest; I suspect he is the object of your quest"
"Mex!" All three fillies exclaim at the same time.
"Where did you go?!" Apple Bloom started.
"Where have you been?!" Continued Scootaloo
"We've been so worried about you!" Sweetie finished.
"I- I'm sorry girls, I got scared for dumb reasons, I didn't want to trouble you any further but I can see now that I just made it worse, please forgive me"
Zecora prepares three new tea cups and slices of cake for the fillies as they join me at the table.
As we all drink our tea, Zecora begins treating my wounds as I tell the three fillies what happened before and after they found me. A few minutes later; Zecora was finished and I was strong enough to move about without wobbling all over the place. Dang, whatever Zecora used is amazing.
"We should be getting back to Ponyville" said Apple Bloom.
Sweetie Belle was the first to notice my hesitant expression.
"It's okay Mex, everypony in Ponyville is very friendly and wants to meet you!"
I give a half smile and nod before standing up and putting my cover back on and then making my way to the front door with the others. Zecora stood in the door way seeing us all off.
"Farewell friends new and old; remember Mex, be bold"
Zecora said while waving goodbye to us with her hoof.
I nod and smile as I wave back.
As I let the others lead me back to the local town, I noticed the three ponies wouldn't let me out of their sight this time. Apple Bloom was leading us in the front, while Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were behind me making sure I didn't perform another disappearing act.
"Girls," I said after turning my head to face them.
"It's okay, I've calmed down now and won't be running away anymore"
Scootaloo just narrowed her eyes at me in a sort of "I'm watching you" sort of way while Sweetie replied.
"Better to be safe than sorry with you"
"Oh great..." I think to myself. "Now it really does feel like I'm a prisoner." I chuckled to myself at my attempt of a joke.
"Yeah, we're just worried about cha, that's all, can't have you go running off again when you're hurt." said Apple Bloom.
"I suppose so" I said.
"Hey Mex, do you have a place to stay tonight? It's getting pretty late." Scootaloo said.
I shrug and say.
"I'm sure I'll figure something out; I've heard the floor and a leaf blanket aren't too bad, and I've definitely slept in worse conditions."
I think back to the time I had to sleep under a pile of dead cabal corpses to avoid being discovered. I see the girls share a raised eyebrow with each other.
"We'll help you figure something out that doesn't involve sleeping outside, it's dangerous outside at night in the forest." Sweetie replied.
"Really, it's okay, I'll meet your friends/siblings so they stop worrying about me but I'll be fine."
The girls share a concerned look with each other as we continue to walk along the path towards the town.
When we get to the boarder of the town, we spotted a pink pony bouncing around while looking in every direction. Apple Bloom stepped forward waving her hoof and called out.
"Pinke Pie! Over here!"
Pinkie stopped mid-air and looked over at Apple Bloom before zooming up to us.
"Hey guys! Did ya find the colt? I've been looking everywhere! And-"
She stopped mid-sentence as she sees me before taking out a cannon out of seemingly nowhere and firing off a couple blasts of confetti followed by a loud squeal.
"Guys! Guys! He's over here! The Crusaders found him! Over here! Over here! Over here!" Pinkie says as she's bouncing on the spot.
"Wow, she's so full of energy" I thought to myself as I see five other ponies running over to us, one of which was the older pony from before.
"Look guys! The new pony in town! We're gonna have to have to have a welcome par-" Pinkie started before being stopped by a purple alicorn.
"Is it true you're an alicorn?!"
The pony said in what appears to be a half panic half excited tone and volume.
"Uh" I hesitated
"I think so?" I finished.
"Yeah, Twilight! He is!" Said Sweetie Belle.
"Show them Mex!" Said Apple Bloom.
Should I be careful who knows about this? The last thing I want is to be drawing attention to myself, then again, I do need allies, and allies should know everything about each other. That much I know from fire teams; "You can't cover each other's back unless you know the back you're covering" that's what Demi told me when we first met. Fine; I'll show them.
"Uh, okay, I guess so." I said while grabbing the little piece of silk that ties my cover together and pulling on it.
The silk covering fell to the ground to reveal my horn and wings to the night air, followed by gasps from all the adult ponies.
"B- but h-how?!" Stuttered the pony apparently named Twilight as it looked like her brain had short circuited.
After the others had finished picking up their jaws from the floor the orange pony with a cowboy hat stepped forward and chuckled.
"Well Sugar cube, it looks like you broke Twilight"
"How is this possible?" said the white and purple unicorn.
"I think introductions are in order," said the orange pony.
"My name is Applejack; you've already met my sister Apple Bloom."
"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! The party pony of Ponyville!" said the pink pony.
"I'm Rarity, Sweetie Belle is my little sister." Said the white unicorn with a purple mane.
"I'm Rainbow Dash! Scootaloo's step-in sister and the fastest pony ever to touch my skies!" Said the blue pegasus with a rainbow-colored mane.
"I- I'm Fluttershy," said the yellow mare with a pink mane.
"And the one who looks like her brain is fried is Twilight Sparkle." Applejack finished.
"H-hello every... pony." I wave at everyone.
"I- I don't understand, it looks like she's an alicorn as well" I say pointing at Twilight. "So, you've all seen an alicorn before, why am I so special?"
"Well, darling" began Rarity.
"There's never been a male alicorn before"
Twilight shook off her shock before adding.
"There's not even a myth or legend about a male alicorn; the question has been asked before but nothing has ever been found to prove the possibility"
"How old are you darling? Where are your parents?" Rarity asked
I think on this a moment before looking over at the three fillies that have slowly begun to become my friends, and estimate they're about seven years old. I can also feel my maturity dropping fairly quickly, like wherever I am, I'm beginning to "Act my age." As for parents, I haven't had parents since my first life before I became a guardian, not that I remember anything from that time but I must have had parents to be born at all.
"Uh" I start hesitantly.
"I'm eight, I don't have parents"
All the ponies gasp at my words. The yellow pegasi with a pink mane steps forward and asks in an almost squeaky voice.
"You have no one? No brothers or sisters? Uncles or aunties?"
"No," I said while hanging my head and a frown on my face."
At this moment, a little purple and green dragon comes running up to the group.
"Twilight!" He calls out.
"Princess Celestia has replied to your message, it says to meet her and Luna in your castle in 10 minutes to- whoa." he said after spotting me.
"Is he a-" he started before being cut off by Twilight.
"Yes, he is. Wait until we get to the castle and we'll tell you everything."
The ponies lead me through the town as the sun has nearly disappeared behind the horizon. Passing many buildings until we reach a gigantic castle made of what appears to be crystal in the shape of a tree with a big star a top of the entire castle. There were flags coming out of different sides which looked to bare the same mark that Twilight has on her flank. I'll have to ask about those later.
As we approach the front door, I look up to see two figures flying very quickly towards to castle, they land beside us before approaching the group. Twilight approaches the two figures and gives a quick curtsey. The figures walk closer and are illuminated by the last of the sun's rays.
One of the figures was a white alicorn with a much larger horn than Twilight or Rarity, she had a beautiful gem encrusted golden chest plate with a similarly gold and gem encrusted crown. But the most eye-catching feature, was her beautiful mane and tail, cyan, green, a light and dark purple mane with twinkling sparkles flowing in a seemingly invisible ethereal wind. She reminds of the sun if it had a physical body.
The other figure was a bit shorter than the first, she was a dark fur 'ed alicorn with a similarly longer horn than that of Twilight or Rarity, but not quite as long as the first figure. She had a dark as night chest plate with a depiction of the moon on the front, with a similar colour crown. And once again, the most eye-catching feature of all was her gorgeous dark mane and tail, dark and lighter purple also with twinkles flowing in an invisible ethereal wind. She reminds me of the moon in physical form.
"Celestia! Luna!" Twilight said.
"Thank you for coming and agreeing to help"
The mare now known as Celestia nods in the classical regale manner before speaking.
"Of course, Twilight, my most faithful student."
"We were hoping you could elaborate on the letter Spike sent us," said Luna.
Luna levitates a scroll of paper before reading.
"Greeting's princesses, Twilight has asked me to write to you and request your presence in Ponyville for assistance in a rather baffling situation." Luna finishes reading as she moves the scroll to show a raised eyebrow.
Twilight gave Spike a quick side-eye before addressing the princesses.
"Uh yes, well; you see." She starts before she turns to me and says.
"Mex? Would you please come up here and meet the princesses."?
I am extremely nervous, considering I'm still not 100 percent sure that I won't be killed as an intruder to their lands. But never the less, I step forward to accept my judgment.
I can hear very audible gasps from the princesses as they appear to take notice of my alicorn state.
"H- Hello princesses" I begin as I try my best to bow politely.
"M-my name is M-Mex your majesties, I- I do not mean t-to cause any t-trouble." I say still bowing with shaky legs.
"H-how is this possible?" Celestia said after a short silence.
"What is going on Twilight?" Luna followed.
"Well." Twilight started.
"I think it's best if we all went inside and little Mex here can explain what happened." She finished.
After we all made out way inside Twilight's home and got settled into the library, Spike prepared and brought out a platter of snacks as all eyes were on me.
"Okay Mex." Twilight started
"Why don't you tell us everything that you've been through?"
I look around at all the pony and dragon eyes on me. I hesitate and choke up, before Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo walk up beside me and put a hoof on my shoulder and give me a smile and nod.
"O- okay." I say.
"But please, don't judge too hard when you hear my story."
Celestia and Luna look at each other before Celestia replies.
"Judge you? Why would we judge you my little pony?"
Under my breath, I whisper. "I hope so"
What should I say? That I'm a guardian born in light to defend the last city against the forces of darkness? They'll look at me like I'm insane. Maybe I should lie and say I ran away from home or something, wait for a chance and then slip away. No! These folks have been nothing but kind to me ever since I got here, maybe they can even help me if I tell them the truth.
Okay, maybe not the entire truth; but they at least deserve to know I was the one in the meteor. The rest would be too much.
"U-uh" I stutter out.
"M-my name is Mex; I opened my eyes this morning and I was falling."
"Falling?" Applejack asked.
"What do you mean sugar cube?"
"All I know is that I opened my eyes and it was hot, I felt like I was falling and before I knew what was happening, I hit the ground."
The ponies gasp as Twilight says.
"The meteor! That was you?!"
I nod my eyes as tears start welling up in my eyes.
"I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to cause such destruction on your lands, I just got so scared that I ran away."
I bury my face in my hooves and begin to silently sob. Celestia stands up, walks over to me, and places a hoof on my shoulder.
"Mex, none of this is your fault. But I feel you aren't telling us everything. We may be able to help you but you must be honest with us. We want to help you."
I look up at Celestia who is smiling down at me.
"Oh, screw it," I think to myself.
"Alright, I'll tell you everything."
Celestia sits back down with Luna and listens in. At this moment, a bright flash appears out of nowhere, and there stands what I can only describe as a failed experiment. I believe Draconequus is what this creature is called.
"Oh, hello everypony! I was in the neighborhood when I sensed something rather odd. Something I've never seen before, it's like magic but it feels different. Kind of like-" The Draconequus stops talking as he sees and rushes over to me.
"You! It's coming from you!" He notices my wings and horn and gets curious.
"Oh, this is sure to be interesting," he says rubbing his chin.
"Discord!" Twilight says before he can continue speaking.
"Discord" the apparent name of the Draconequus turns to see Twilight with a stern face.
"Oh, fine. I'll stay and see how this plays out" he snaps his lion paw and immediately appears on a floating couch with a container of popcorn and starts munching away.
"Go ahead Mex" Twilight says before sitting back down.
I smile, nod, inhale and exhale. Before putting my head down.
"My name is Mex, I am- no... was a guardian..."
"A guardian is a soldier, a protector of the last of humanity, we have a force known as The Light. The Light, through a little robot known as a ghost, can heal our injures on the battlefield and even resurrect us should we fall in battle, which I have done many times."
I look up and see everyone's jaws half open and completely silent. I continue.
"This morning my fire team was given a mission to kill a hive wizard named Pholmo, who had somehow gotten a hold of the light and was using it to perform a ritual capable of destroying the entire solar system."
"I had gotten separated from my fire team and was facing Pholmo all by myself and-" I get choked up as I try and say the next part.
I steady myself and continue.
"Pholmo had drained my ghost of its light and therefore its ability to resurrect me was gone. My fire team was in trouble and- and."
I put my face in my hooves again before steeling my nerves and finishing.
"Pholmo had a hold of me and stabbed me with her claws, I was dead at that point so I took out a grenade, an explosive device, and detonated it between us, I'm not even sure if I killed her, but..."
I trail off a bit as I realise what I'm about to say to them.
"It definitely killed me."
"The next thing I knew I was falling in that meteor."
I look up at their faces, and they're just staring at me with complete and utter shock. I get extremely nervous and start backing up.
"I- I'm sorry, I knew you would think of me as a crazy nut job"
I hang my head low and start to walk towards the front door.
"I didn't mean to cause any trouble for you truly kind folks"
Celestia stood up first and said.
"Wait, Mex. We're all just a little surprised, that's all. We don't think you're crazy at all."
Discord jumps off the couch before it vanishes in a white flash and he appears in front of me; lion paw on his chin.
"Hmm, whoever brought you here has some serious juice behind them. I can send ponies across dimensions with ease but resurrection is an entirely other ball game"
Discord starts spinning a basketball on his eagle claw with a grin.
"And..." Discord gets close with a serious expression on his face.
"I would not recommend going back to where you came from, at all."
I looked surprised with a shocked face as did everypony else.
"Wh- why not?" I ask getting upset.
"Because..." Discord starts before creating a blackboard out of thin air and donning a teacher's attire and a pointer.
"If what you say is true, and you're... no longer alive; returning your soul to your dimension would result in your instantaneous demise. As you don't have a body there anymore"
Discord clicks his pointer inwards and everything vanishes.
Luna stands up and joins her sister before speaking.
"Discord, do you mean to say that Mex here can never go home?"
Discord turns to Luna and Celestia.
"Yes, unless you want him to find his final and permanent demise"
I hang my head while tears begin to well up in my eyes before wiping them away and saying.
"Could you, do it?"
Discord turns back to me with a slightly surprised expression on his face.
"Do what?" Discord asks with a cocked head.
"Send my soul back"
Gasps are heard throughout the ponies before Discord replies.
"Did you not just hear what I said?! You would- oh... I see."
Discord turns back to the other ponies and speaks.
"Would you excuse us for a moment? I need to have a chat with Mex here; won't be long"
Discord snaps his lion paw and we're suddenly in a house that appears to not follow any laws of gravity.
"This is my home, and we need to have a chat."
I close my eyes and hang my head before nodding.
"Listen." Discord starts.
"I do not know who or what sent you to Equestria or even why, but I have a feeling it's a reward."
I shoot my head up and open my eyes.
"A reward?!" I asked shocked.
"Yes, I am a very good lie detector, and you told no lies in your story, that makes me believe that whoever sent you to Equestria, recognises your heroics and has decided to send you here to live your afterlife."
I lower my head again before saying.
"I did nothing special; any other guardian would have done the same thing in my situation."
"Yes, but you actually did it" Discord quickly replies
A moment of silence later I raise my head and say.
"But why here? Why Equestria and why am I an alicorn?"
"I don't know, but Equestria is a magical place and you've just made a bunch of pretty great new friends, as for your alicorn status, I would assume the cosmos deemed you worthy when you entered. You see; alicorns are not born here, ponies earn their alicorn status."
And take it from me; a newly reformed villain, friends are the most important thing you could ever have in your life, more important than money, power, or fame."
I chortle a bit.
"Yeah, Kai and Demi were true friends. I can't imagine how much they're hurting right now; Demi has probably already cleared the moon of hive and Kai is probably already dominating the crucible leader boards"
Discord looks confused but decides not to push it further.
"They will hurt for a while, but they too will make new friends; let's go back, and do not ask me again to send you to your death."
"Could you have done it though? I know you could physically send me but how hard is it to find the correct dimension?"
"Nearly impossible actually, I tried to trace your "Light" to a dimension but it's everywhere! In every single dimension apart from a few that I searched"
"Anyhow, let's get back to Twilight's castle before they get really mad at me for taking you and start a cross-dimensional search party for you."
Discord and I let out a laugh.
I just laughed! A true, genuine laugh! I haven't laughed since I was found by Ghost and brought back for the first time. Maybe I do belong here.
Discord snaps his eagle claw talons and in a flash of light; we were once again in the library of Twilight's castle with everypony looking at Discord with extremely disapproving eyes.
"Whaaaaat? He's fine! See?" Discord says as a giant neon glowing sign appears above my head that says "Perfectly fine" with an arrow pointing to me.
"This guy is hilarious!" I think to myself and look up at Discord who gives me a wink with a big smile.
"Thank you everypony; for the talk and the chance to get all my stresses off of my chest. I am feeling quite sleepy right now so I must respectfully take my leave"
I follow this with a polite bow and head for the door. While Celestia, Luna, and Twilight walk up beside me. Twilight speaks first.
"Where are you going to sleep tonight Mex?"
I shrug my shoulders.
"Not sure, probably gonna go find a nice and comfy rock or tree."
I chuckle and add.
"Trust me, it's not the worst place I've slept before"
Suddenly I feel my tail being tugged on and turn around to see Twilight's horn is glowing and my tail sticks straight out.
"Hold on there young colt, you're much too young to be sleeping out by your own"
Even though I still felt like myself, I could feel my maturity disappearing piece by piece, like I was being acclimatised to my new body's age.
"Uh, remember? I'm actually like 55. I'm just in a younger ponies body for a still unknown reason."
Twilight's eyes narrow before Luna says.
"You may have been that old as a guardian, but here you are very young."
Celestia nods and adds.
"Yes, plus, your knowledge of this world is extremely limited, what if you were to encounter a threat?"
I shrug as Twilight let's my tail go and say.
"I'd do what any guardian would do, face it head on and overcome it. Yes, you're right, I don't have much knowledge of this world, but I'll figure it out pretty quick, good night everypony" and begin to walk again.
Luna and Celestia sigh before Celestia says.
"That's not what we mean Mex. Hold on a moment"
Celestia turns to the cutie mark crusaders and says.
"You know girls, I know a certain pony who doesn't have his cutie mark yet either."
The three fillies' eyes light up and run over to me.
"Yeah! What a great idea princess!" Apple Bloom says
"What is?" I ask.
"Why don't you join us in our search for our cutie marks!" Scootaloo adds.
"Yeah! It'll be great fun! And having an alicorn join us would be amazing! We'd show that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon a thing or two!" Sweetie Belles says while rubbing her hooves together.
"What's a cutie mark?" I ask.
Twilight steps forward and says.
"A Cutie Mark is a symbol that represents your talent that you'll find out later in your life, they look like something that best represents you, for example this is my cutie mark"
Twilight turns to the side and shows a mark that kind of looks like a tattoo, it looks identical to the marks I saw on the flags outside of the castle.
I think on this for a moment before I nod in understanding and say.
"Friends? Like; true friends?"
The Cutie Mark Crusaders nod emphatically with big smiles on their faces.
"The only friends I've ever had were Demi and Kai, they were my friends through the heat of combat and not really there for me personally."
"I- I would like that, thank you, girls."
Celestia nods with a satisfied smile on her face and says.
"Now that's sorted, what are we going to do about-"
I stopped listening at that point because I suddenly felt like my head was going to explode and heard an all too familiar screech inside my head, I collapsed to the floor holding my hooves to my head and screaming in agony.
Before I knew it, I was in an empty field, back in human form with my guardian equipment. And...
"No!" I scream as I see Pholmo floating in place getting ready to fire an attack at me.
Pholmo fires her darkness blast towards me and I roll out of the way before taking cover behind some boulders.
"What is going on?! I was just in the library with the others"
Pholmo screeches and appears next to the boulder I was taking cover from. I jump up and draw my rifle and begin the barrage of bullets towards her.
"Hey fugly! Horrible to see you again!" I say with sass oozing out of my voice.
"Guardian! We have unfinished business you and I!" Pholmo says.
I poke my head around from my rifle's optic sight.
"You can speak?!"
"YOU! You fool! You killed us BOTH! And now I'll erase you from your new body and assume control of it."
"Yeah? And how are you going to do that after I cut off your head?"
She screeches and charges forward through my stream of bullets.
Author's Notes.
Hello everypony! I'm still new to writing so there may be a couple of unresolved questions floating about in the air.
As for the story, this is not going to be a story about Destiny villains entering Equestria and start destroying everything, this is a true story about friendship and helping a new friend get through traumatic events in the past. It's not going to have a huge amount of action in it. It's going to have adventures with the CMC, regular day-to-day life, etc.
I apologise if it's not something you were hoping for or interested in but this is what I really want to write. Thank you and have a great day/night.