A/N: I don't even know what brings me back here to write. Is it procrastination because I don't want to work on a research paper that's due on Friday? Do I like writing and advancing the story? Both. (EDIT: finished it now, but I'm still REALLY busy) Read and review as always.

"T-Twilight, I think he's waking up."

"Brian, can you hear us? Brian?" What just happened? Where am I? A million different questions went through my head at once.

"Y-yeah, loud and clear." My voice sounded like I had eaten gravel. "Where am I? Did we make it to Fluttershy's house?"

"Well, after that… that thing attacked and you passed out, I had to carry you the rest of the way here. So yes, we made it." I looked down and noticed my entire chest was bandaged. Again.

"Wh-what happened to my back?" Twilight and the pony I took for Fluttershy gave each other a grimace, and then turned to me.

"The skin along your back ripped wide open. We… we think you're growing wings." Well the skin on my back rip-Wait, what? It took me a moment to comprehend what they had said. I didn't think that was possible. A human being can't grow wings! Even if one did, they wouldn't be big enough to fly. Would they?

"C-can I see them?" I had to ask. I wanted to know what they looked like if they were really there. A large mirror was brought to me, and I stood up. Sure enough, there was a pair of wings. There was what looked like white fluff on them, and I could feel a breeze through the cottage on them. "Wow," was the only thing I could manage. I wonder if I can fly. Actually, I really shouldn't try that. REALLY shouldn't. I don't need to fall off a cliff or something. Noticing that the two mares were whispering behind me, I turned to them and asked a question that I'd been waiting to ask for a while. "Why is it that you seem so uneasy around me? I'm not going to hurt you. I don't want to. I don't need to. So why would I attack you?" Twilight hid her face, but Fluttershy looked confused.

"What do you mean? I don't see why they'd be afraid of you, other than the fact that they didn't know who you were until yesterday."

"I know, but there seems to be something else." I turned to Twilight. "What, am I destined to destroy the world or something? Because I'm pretty sure that thing we saw would be better suited to do that. This is your world, not mine."

"N-not…" I couldn't hear the rest.

"I'm sorry?"

"N-not destroy it…" Her voice dropped off again.

"One more time, speak up."

"Not destroy. Save." I burst out laughing. There is no way in hell they're telling the truth. Unless those goddamn demon-beetle things come back, there's no way I can be a hero. I don't want to be a hero. I'm not MEANT to be a hero. I'm just a thirteen year old kid who dropped off the face of the earth and landed in a land full of ponies. And now demons.

"You're kidding right? I'm no hero, never have been. Never will be, really. What's next, you're going to tell me this has been foretold in some ancient scroll or something?" I kept laughing, but then I looked at Twilight. Her face was stony and serious. My laughter stopped as quickly as it began. "You're not kidding. Please tell me you're kidding."

"I'm not kidding." She said her voice grave. "When I found you, I brought you back to the library. Of course, I fixed you up to the best of my abilities and made sure you were stable, and then I looked in the library to see if there was any record of a being like you before. There wasn't anything for your species, but I did find an old poem book that mentioned a 'fallen angel'. I didn't make the connection right then and there, but now I see. The poem told of something never before seen, with wings of a Pegasus and the will of an earth pony. It also told of the return of the 'elders'."

"Well… shit." I had a lot of trouble to wrap my mind about what was said. Fallen angel. So I am dead. Or am I? I'm pretty sure the dead can't feel. As far as I know. So… all that cliché bullshit that I read in fantasy books is coming true? With me as the protagonist? Wow, the author of this story really needs to rethink things.

"Twilight… that demon? Was that an 'elder' thing?" I asked. How did it get out of my dreams? Maybe I should learn more about these beasts first. I wanted to know my enemy, know what to do and how to fight them. If I didn't get myself killed first, that is.

"I-I don't know. I've never heard of them before. I'm going to write to Princess Celestia as soon as possible about this, to see if she knows anything." I almost argued with her-I didn't want to be watched by one of the rulers of this country personally. I also wondered as to how she knew a leader of Equestria, when I remembered hearing her talking before I fell asleep.

"Spike, take a letter. 'Dear Princess Celestia, I know that it's late and you need your rest, but the being that I found was brought back to the library. His name is 'Brian', or so he says, and he is 'human'. I'm sorry for wasting your time, but I thought you'd want an update. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."

Faithful student… well that explains living in a library. And now that letter. Who would have thought?

"When can we go back? If I am this 'angel', which, in my opinion, is complete bullshit, I might want to get something that can… you know, protect me? Like, armor? Or SOMETHING? I don't plan on getting my stomach split by these things." I asked, hoping that the answer would be soon.

"I was planning on leaving once you were ready to." She turned to Fluttershy. "Shy, get all of your animal friends and keep them close, we don't want anything to happen to them." The cream colored Pegasus nodded, and Twilight looked back over at me. "Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be." I retorted, having put my jacket back on, albeit somewhat uncomfortable with wings, it still fit. We walked out of the cottage, ready for another showdown.

We didn't have to worry about it. I saw nothing out of the ordinary, other than the corpse of the squashed bug. When Twilight and I got back to the library, I wanted to look at the book where she had found the poem.

"Come on, let me see it! You already told me that you think it's me; why not let me see it?" I asked, trying to reason with her.

"No means no Brian, and besides, it's just some silly prophecy anyway." Obviously unsure of herself, but still steadfast on not letting me read it, I backed down. However, I remembered the armor I wore in my dream. Should I ask? Or should I let it go? Eh what the heck, it's not like getting armor plating could be a bad thing.

"Hey Twilight? Do you know anywhere that I could get body armor?" Twilight gave me a strange look-half out of curiosity and half out of irritation, as she was writing her letter to Celestia. "You know, like the kind I described from my dream? Maybe with holes for my wings?" I was hopeful, as I wanted to have some protection from the monstrosities that plagued my dreams and, more recently, real life.

"I don't know anypony that makes that, but I bet Rarity could do it. She's good with clothes; maybe she could make armor just as well."

"Awesome. Can we go now? I think we should get it as soon as possible-considering the fact we need to be prepared for another attack."

"Fine. For the record, if you get turned down because of your previous actions, I may or may not help you." Pleased with her answer, I held the door to the library open for her.

The walk there was a lot more comfortable than the hellish walk through the crowds to the doctor's. It was almost like I belonged there, ponies went on with their business, and Twilight and I went on with ours. We were about ten feet away when a scream was heard from inside Rarity's house/shop/boutique thing and a unicorn filly was shoved out the front door. I would've laughed had the small unicorn not been angry looking. The filly ran out the door, wearing a small cape. My eyes followed her down the road, and when I looked back two more were right behind her. I shrugged it off and walked inside, only to see absolute mayhem. There was cloth everywhere, papers on the floor, ribbons idly strewn about, and multiple mannequins where toppled over. Rarity was standing in the middle of it, using her magic to put everything back into place.

"Is this a bad time?" I asked, standing in the doorway. The white coated unicorn turned, obviously stressed out.

"Oh, hello Brian." She said, then gasped. "Darling, how's your back? I heard you were hurt." I shrugged, and she decided to drop it. "Please come in, Sweetie Belle was just here with her friends, making a mess as usual." I walked inside, and started to help pick up the miscellaneous debris on the floor. However, Rarity didn't let me. "Let me get that, you don't have to help me." She said, almost like a broken record-over and over, because I never stopped helping. When the job was done, she turned back to me. "Now that that's all cleaned up, what can I do for you?"

"I don't know if you're the right person to go to for this… but…" She looked hopeful at what I had said. "Could you make me," Her eyes widened. "… A suit of armor?" Rarity's jaw dropped to the floor. Literally. I didn't think she could have possibly opened her mouth wider. I couldn't contain my laughter, but I sobered up quickly when she kept staring.

"I-I don't know what to say," She said, somewhat contradicting herself. "I've never had anypony who needs something as brutish as armor!" I must've looked discouraged, because Twilight wrapped her… arm? No… one of her limbs around my shoulders, getting up on two legs. However, when I looked back up, Rarity was right there, a look of determination in her eyes. "I'll do it. If you can show me how it is designed, I can do it." It took everything in my willpower to keep me from jumping for joy-I was really happy, more than I have ever been. Why am I so happy? Maybe it's the fact that she's just agreed to make something that is literally from my dreams, and not only that, something that may save my life. I thanked her about a million times, and then we got to work. I sketched out some of the designs, as I had to show her how (I thought) the armor fit together. It took hours, but the final design was almost finished (I had to convince her to leave the back part of the cuirass alone for wing growth, if any)-and it looked exactly like it did in the dream.

"Rarity, I'm assuming you're a perfectionist when I say this, but… nothing you have ever done before has been this perfect, and I haven't even seen any of your work. This… is beautiful, from a male's perspective. And that's saying something, considering the only things I have ever considered beautiful before are nature, and women. Not so much the latter in some cases." I said truthfully, speaking my mind in front of the designs.

"It's nothing so far, dear; the armor itself still has to be made. I know just the metal to use, and I'm sure it will turn out perfectly." I looked up at her, raising an eyebrow at the last statement.

"What metal? Something durable and lightweight, I hope I really don't want to be stuck wearing something that weighs almost twice as much as me. Getting killed, perhaps for a second time, makes for a very bad day."

"I believe it is called titanium, with a mixture of magic allowing for resilience and near-feather weight property." The unicorn with a coat of white replied.

Where do they get all this scientific information? I have yet to see a car-oh my goodness I'm a dumbass. "That's great! In fact, that's better than great! That's awesome! I can't thank you enough for this." A thought popped into my head, causing me to facepalm and groan.

"Brian? What's wrong?"

"Nothing… I just don't have any money to pay you with. How long do I have to work for you? Is there some way I can pay this off? Or am I going to jail?" I saw the naïve librarian begin to glance nervously at Rarity, the door, and then back to me. Needless to say, her reaction surprised me.

"Of course not! This might be the first time that I've had to do something like this, but you're a friend of Twilight's, no?" Twilight and I shared a glance that seemed to say, "Just go with it."

"Yes, but there's got to be something I can do, even if it doesn't involve physical money… any odd jobs to do? I mean, the materials are probably expensive and hard to get."

"There's no need for that-I can handle the price. Although, there is one thing." I had zoned out a little, and when Rarity suddenly appeared next to me I jumped a little.

"And that would be..?" The other unicorn appeared to my left, taking the words before I could say them.

"Well, I could use some assistance digging up gemstones for a client." Digging up gemstones? Seems simple. Wait a second…

"Digging up gemstones?" I questioned, an eyebrow raised. "Back on Earth, one does not simply 'dig up' gemstones. Sounds almost like a death sentence to me."

"Oh, no, not at all. You see, I can find gems using magic, and all you have to do, is dig them up out of the dirt." Assuming these gemstones are in dirt…

"… I'll do it. Just tell me when, considering the only other thing I could be doing is… is…" I failed to voice my thoughts, and Twilight once again came to my rescue. Can she read my mind? Probably not. Note to self; don't think of ANYTHING that might be inappropriate in the presence of unicorns.

"Learning how to fly?" She said, confusing Rarity.

"What could mean by that? He doesn't have… oh. Oh my." I had taken off my jacket, holding it at my side. The downy feathers were still there, if a little rumpled. I realized I could move the wings a little bit, and tried to flap them to no avail. After Rarity's initial surprise, she started asking questions, almost faster than I could answer them-if I could answer them at all. Most of them involved how I got them, when I got them, if I could fly or not (she must've failed to remember Twilight's previous statement), and something about waffles? I couldn't make out what she said there, but I just shrugged. Eventually, Rarity calmed down to the point of comprehensibility. "We'll have to leave the back of the chest piece for later, you know-have to adjust for growth." I considered this while Rarity lifted up a quill and left a note with her magic. Magic… wait, that's it!

"Couldn't you do some magic mumbo-jumbo so it would grow around it? Also, for the wings, wouldn't we have to armor those as well? Considering the enemy I'm up against."

"We're up against," Twilight corrected. Rarity was, once again, confused.

"What ever could you mean by that dear?"

Twilight and I summarized the events of the battle, me explaining more of the graphic parts, and the pony librarian telling what happened after my back split. I had to restrain myself from laughing at Rarity's increasingly disturbed facial impression as the tale unfolded, and once we were done I had to go into the other room for a moment so I could calm myself. When I came back, Rarity pointed me out the door.

"Twilight already left, you might as well. Perhaps you should talk to Rainbow Dash; she could help you with your wings."

"I'll see what I can do. Where can I find her?" Rarity chuckled and looked down for a moment, before taking a pose that resembled a warrior in a movie I once saw at Aidan's apartment.

"Ha! Brian, one does not simply FIND Rainbow Dash!" She said, snickering all the while. "You might want to check the fields south of Ponyville, that's where she likes to practice." I laughed as well, remembering that night with Aidan. A bittersweet memory from only a year ago resurfacing didn't surprise me as much as it might have others. I had gone to his apartment for the second time after we had become friends, if you could call it friendship. He did most of the talking; I just listened, and laughed along. That night, he showed me what it was like to 'hang out.' I never really had fun until I visited his apartment. We played video games, which it seemed I had natural talent for, as I beat him out multiple times consecutively, watched movies, hell, I felt like a normal kid!

"Thanks Rarity-and remember, I owe you one." I walked out the door before she could protest.

I searched the fields for a long time before I finally gave up the search, figuring if she's not here now then she'll be here later. Walking to a nearby tree, I began to climb, hoping for a vantage point from which to survey the land around me. Reaching the near top, I looked through the thin veil of leaves and scanned the land and skies, searching for Rainbow. I assumed that Rainbow was the cyan pegasus with spectrum of colors for a mane, one that I hadn't had too much exposure to, so I was a little nervous. Sometime later, a noise similar to that of a car slamming on the brakes and crashing into the rear end of another was heard, and I immediately went to investigate. Surely enough, the rainbow-maned pony was there, lying next to a boulder. Strangely enough, the boulder looked like the one Twilight dropped on the Elder. I wonder… no, no time for that.

"A-are you alright? That sounded like a pretty bad crash." I moved to her side, but there was surprisingly little injury.

"I'm fine, thanks. Hey, aren't you that ha-yew-mah-n thing?" She said, slowly and incorrectly pronouncing my species.

"Again, it's hyoo-man. Okay? Human. And I have a name, you know, Brian? Remember? The guy who sort of almost died?" I think if I had a mirror, my facial expression would have been deadpan, or at the least very cynical.

"Brian, got it. Nice to meet'cha Brian, I'm Rainbow Dash, the greatest flyer in all of Equestria." I chuckled for a moment, then spoke again.

"That's why I'm here, I need something."

"What? You need to see the Dash in action? I can do that!" She jumped into the air and started flying, moving at astonishing speeds. She slalomed threw a row of evergreen trees, flew so fast around clouds that they began to twirl almost as fast as her, and then veered into a dive. I could only look on, impressed, until I noticed something strange. It seemed that there was a disturbance in the light and air in the wake of Rainbow, getting more and more visible every second. A burst of light and a loud noise came suddenly, and a HUGE shockwave of every color imaginable shot through the sky. I looked back where Dash had dived, only to see a longer lasting more visible rainbow trailing through the sky. Soon enough, she came back.

"While that was undeniably awesome, that's not what I'm here for." Rainbow, looking somewhat exhausted before, now looked exasperated.

"Well what is it?" She snapped, wiping her forehead with the back of her hoof.

"I was hoping to ask if you could teach me…" I took my jacket off and hung it on a tree branch as my wings spread out. I looked over my shoulder for a moment, and noticed that they had grown at an exponential rate and were much larger now, although the downy feathers were still there. Turning back to the pony, I finished my sentence. "… how to use these." I got what I was expecting, an open mouthed reaction, although she recovered much faster.

"Omigoshomigoshomigoshomigosh! You, want me, Rainbow Dash, to teach you how to fly? OF COURSE!" Rainbow was beaming, a wide smile splitting her muzzle. I couldn't help but smile as well, but I was still pretty nervous. What if I can't fly? I'd have wasted her time. Maybe I shouldn't ask. Then the logical side of my brain kicked in. I need to learn this, I don't need a pair of broken, useless wings. What I do need, is to learn. Learn how to fly. Maybe… maybe there's some human instinct that we have or something that already knows how to fly. Ha, wishful thinking.

"You still with me? Hello, anypony home?" A cyan hoof was being waved in my face, as I must have spaced out while thinking.

"Yeah, sorry about that. First things first, how the hell do I fully open these things? I kind of have to know how to move them." She looked somewhat surprised.

"You don't know how to move them already? Ugh…" She facepalmed. Or would it be facehoofed? I'll think about it later. "Just… think about trying to move them. Think of what it'd be like to fly or something like that." She looked away for a moment, and then shook her head. "Can you do it?"

"Haven't tried that yet. Didn't exactly give me much time to think, you know." I tried so hard to move them, but I failed. "I don't think I can… any other ideas?"

She looked at me strangely, then said I was trying too hard. "You need to relax. Chill out a little, think of the wind in your mane… err, hair. Try to imagine yourself soaring among the clouds, anything that reminds you of flying. That's often what gets the little pegasi off the ground, once they're ready." I tried again, this time, relaxing as much as I could. Granted, that wasn't very much, taking into consideration all the problems I have. However, I could've sworn I felt them move, if only a little. My eyes opened to disappointed-looking Rainbow.

"Did it work? Did they move?" She shook her head slowly.

"Hate to tell you, Bri, but-"

"Don't call me that." I cut her off. This is why I hate nicknames. People, or in this case, ponies, give me REALLY stupid names.

"Alright, Bri," She said, emphasis on that dumb name, then continued normally. "They're probably not ready yet. Usually, and I'm assuming that your wings are like pegasi wings, wings are for the most part immobile until they are fully grown. Although I've heard if the 'fight or flight' thing is triggered, which is rare, they can be used sooner. Granted, yours probably aren't large enough to carry you right now, if ever. Besides, what would scare you enough to trigger that?"

"Don't say it." I warned, knowing full well what could happen if she said the line that screws everything up. Of course, she paid me no heed.

"I mean, it's not like Discord is going to pop out of nowhere or something."

"Please stop talking."

"Why should I? I mean, what could possibly-"

"DON'T YOU DARE FINISH THAT SENTENCE!" I screamed, but it was too late.

" … go wrong?" I hit the deck, figuring that something was going to explode, or maybe a freak storm would hit. I waited for a moment, before Rainbow spoke up.

"Are you alright?" I stood up for a moment, and scanned the horizon.

"Nothing happened. Huh, I could've sworn…" A ear-shattering shriek split the calm, and a huge black spike breezed by my face and stuck in the ground.

"Jinxed it." I said, trying to put a brave face on for Rainbow. She looked right back at me, equally scared, equally unwilling to show it.

"Well… buck."

A/N: Sorry it took so long, but this is the longest chapter yet-and I'm hoping I have time to make them even longer in the future. I know what I'm doing is clichéd, but if you don't like it? Don't read it. As always, love and tolerate, and PONY ON!