Adam's Adventure in War and Friendship

[Krak-Quinn]

Adam Taurus staggered forward, before he dropped to his knees. His life flashed before his eyes, it wasn't a pleasant sight. It was a cold and dark existence, the only thing that kept him going was a burning rage. For a short while, someone was able to light up his life, but that didn't last long, and when she left, the darkness greeted him back.

That was all Adam had, horrible memories, toxic emotions, terrible experiences. In truth, Adam had nothing. No family, no friends, and without the White Fang, no reason to exist.

It was Blake Belladonna's fault, well, her's and the humans. Blake had given him something he never had, only to rip it away from him and then she gave it to the humans. Then she destroyed his home, the place where he was accepted and where he belonged. Humans had taken away any chance of a normal life.

Who was Adam supposed to be? What was he supposed to do?

Adam had donned the mask, and became the monster, the beast, that the humans thought he was. Adam was a monster, a revolutionary, a leader, a hero and he wanted to be a saviour. But now? Adam was just a monster, a monster so full of rage, that it consumed him, blinded him. And he would die a monster, he couldn't blame Blake, not entirely at least, his inner beast had played the biggest role in his downfall. As the realization sat in, that he had failed and that he had lost himself to the flames of anger, he muttered with his final breathe, a soft. "Oh." Then he fell.

After hitting a few things on his way down, Adam felt himself in a familiar grasp. It was cold, dark, and as Adam sunk, it only got colder and darker. Adam could barely think, but what he did manage to wonder was: How could he have avoided going down this path?

Blake.

Blake and her friend.

When he had Blake, she let him be open and exposed, she had cared for him, and now she was off being friends with humans.

Was that the answer? Friends.

People who you could rely on, and who relied on you, a simple give-and-take relationship. If it was so simple, then why was it so illogical? Adam wanted the answers to the many questions he could barely recall thinking of, but darkness had completely swallowed him, and the cold had crept its way into his bones.

The burning rage inside his heart flickered, before being completely snuffed out. Adam Taurus, Faunus, Beast, Leader and Terrorist, no longer roamed the world of Remnant.

---

It took a moment for Adam's train of thought to restart, he recalled his previous thoughts, but only until pain derailed the train. Pain traveled throughout every nerve like lightning, breaking bones and tearing apart flesh, it ended just as fast as it started, leaving only a feeling of numbness haunting his body. Adam snapped fully awake, and a new train raced down the tracks. He could recall the past few seconds, the pain. And he knew that before that, he was dying, he had fell off the cliff and into the water below.

As Adam placed his thoughts, a new pain came forth. It was a blunt pain, and it brought Adam out of his mind. Something had hit Adam, then something else had moved his body. Then a stinging and burning pain came from within. It was his lungs, Adam couldn't breathe. It took a second longer than Adam would like to admit for him to realize he was still underwater, and that he was being carried downstream.

Adam tried swimming, but his body was sluggish and the water was rushing faster than he could struggle. Adam stopped moving when something caught his eye, light. Rays of light penetrated the water, but it didn't come from above. Although Adam had lost his sense of balance, his brain knew the basic, such as: water didn't flow up. The light was the first thing he saw, which made him realize he was in the dark.

Those thoughts left Adam with a few new questions: Was he underground? How long had he been out? How was he alive? Was the water going down or out a tunnel?

Adam ignored the pain in his lungs and the buzzing of his oxygen deprived brain, instead he focused on the light, and went with the flow of the water. Even as the buzzing got louder, Adam waited, even though his body was numb, and his mind was dying, he kept his body under his control. He was fighting his natural instincts, like breathing, if he opened his mouth, then more water would fill his lungs. Adam was nearing his limit, but he was also reaching the light, and this close, he noticed the light wasn't that bright, it had barely breached the water.

For a moment, nothing existed, everything was gone.

Then a cold, nearly freezing, sensation found Adam. In the second Adam was found, he realized the cold sensation was the wind, in the next second Adam realized he was falling. He didn't know what was at the bottom, but his brain had scraped the facts together. Rushing water, a tunnel leading to light, falling. He had exited a waterfall, so water was likely below him. He took a quick breath, if he was lucky, he would only find himself underwater again for a moment, and if he was really unlucky, then the distance would kill him on impact.

---

Adam cursed the Gods as he woke, not to them specifically, but more to the forces that control Chance and Destiny. Just to whoever decided he had to faint again, but not a second later, he realized he also had to thank them for keeping him alive.

Two lethal wounds taken without any Aura, falling off a cliff and being thrown off a waterfall was not something he could've survived without luck. When Adam was fully awake, he blinked, his vision was blurry, but from what he could gather, it was night and he was in the forest, then he waited and felt.

A chilly wind was brushing across his face and back, and water raced over his legs. Overall, his body was numb, and the cold wasn't helping. Deciding he didn't want to catch hypothermia, Adam crawled out of the water.

Well, crawling was an exaggeration, Adam tried to drag himself up, but his fingers were too numb to feel anything. So he had to prop himself up on his palms, hopefully he wasn't crushing any fingers.

The situation with his fingers repeated with his feet, so he dragged his knees up. His body felt heavy, his clothes clung to him dragging his body down, but Adam kept moving forward.

Adam blinked rapidly to clear his eyes, he would've rubbed them, but considering he couldn't feel his fingers, there was a possibility he might poke his eyes out. All the movement got his blood pumping, but oddly didn't do anything for his numb limbs, Adam had expected the pin and needles feeling, it didn't come.

Then his leg bent, Adam stopped, he was crawling on his knees, there was no place for his leg to bend. That meant it was broken, but there was no pain, the area that bent wasn't numb. Tentatively, Adam straighten his leg, then he bent it again, it felt like a knee, but his knees were holding him up.

Adam raised his knee off the ground then dropped it. It felt like putting a foot down, there wasn't even anything being dragged, so either he was wrong about basic anatomy, or his leg was different.

What else could he be wrong about? His fingers were numb, but were they? Maybe he didn't have fingers. Was his vision blurry, or was he blind?

Adam moved and paid attention to his body. Both his legs were the same, his hands felt like he had fingers, but also felt like he only had three fingers and they only had one joint. He didn't have anything past where his knee should be, except for what felt like toes, but if he ignored the displacement, his legs felt normal, albeit smaller.

Something took a moment to register, then a second to re-register after being thrown out the first time. Adam had a tail. Instead of panicking again, Adam took a calming breath. And realized his jaw was different, it was longer than it should be, he ran his tongue, which was also longer, across his teeth, his many teeth. Adam's jaw was square-er than it should be. Another calming breath, another realization. His nasal cavities were longer.

Adam made a mental image of himself.

Humans and Faunus weren't all the different, aside from some Faunus with more prominent features. Nonetheless, Adam used to be a normal person, with a pair of bull horns protruding from his skull. But now? Small nubs for fingers, legs as long as his arms, a tail and a snout.

Adam felt something stir as he imagined his new body. It wasn't a perfect match, but he was picturing a pig, or, if he had fur, a boar. He growled, anger began swelling, overtaking confusion. Memories of being compared to farm animals coming to his mind.

Adam let loose a roar, a loud bellowing roar, and something took over. For the next few minutes, he was in a haze.

When he came to, he was surrounded by fire, it was a memorizing blend of blue and red flames. Adam stood in a daze watching the flames dance, listening to the roaring fires.

Then he noticed what he was doing, he was seeing. Adam snapped his head down. He didn't have hands, or fingers. He had hooves, cloven hooves to be exact. The last time he had seen cloven hooves, they belonged to another Faunus, she had them instead of feet.

Adam's eyes trailed up his arms, he had fur, pristine white fur. Then his chin met his chest, and he didn't know what to focus on next. The bushy red hair that wrapped around his neck, or his snout, his scaled covered snout.

If he had fingers, he would've felt the scales, but instead he ran a hoof over his hair, the hair grew around his chest, the back of his neck and traveled up his head. On his head, Adam found his horns, they were smaller, but he was still relieved to find them, they were his identity. His whole life was built around his horns. And he also found floppy ears.

Back to his snout, it wasn't as long as he had imagined, so it probably meant his mouth went further back than he had originally thought. Adam moved his head so he could see the rest of his body. His legs were similar to his arms, if slightly thicker, and had tuffs of red hair below the back of his knees.

There were also scales on his back, the scales were the same shade of red as the ones on his snout, but a darker shade than his hair. His tail was thin, but long, half of it was exposed, well the top was, and the rest of it was covered in long and bushy red hair.

Adam compared the confirmed visuals to the mental images of animals he could remember. His torso was too short for him to be a bull, his legs were to thick for him to be a goat, and too long to belong to a pig. The only other animals he could think of were deers or horses, but considering that neither had scales on their backs and snouts, or long and thin tails, he realized he had no idea what he was.

Adam sighed, the fires around him were dying out, and those were another thing to think about.

Why had he blacked out? Why was he surrounded by fire? Adam couldn't explain it, he felt overwhelmed, but he also felt calm. After figuring out a resting position, sitting like a dog, Adam basked in the flames, his attention was stolen by twitch in his ear.

Adam sighed, his new ears were on the top of his head, he tried to catch them with his eyes, but something else had stolen his attention from his ears.

The Moon.

It was clean and unbroken. Adam knew it wasn't time for that side to be showing, so either he was unconscious for longer than he thought, or it wasn't his moon. He wasn't in his body, he wasn't looking at his moon, he probably wasn't on Remnant.

Adam took his gaze away from the moon to look around the forest, not a speck of snow anywhere. He had heard tales of the afterlife, maybe this was his, maybe Blake had actually killed him and this world was his punishment.

Adam looked at the moon again, and his thoughts roamed. As a child, people had told him stories, folktales and religious passages about the moon. Some spoke about how the moon broke by itself, either to give people their Aura or to release the Grimm. Others spoke of outside forces, a angry god who was devastated or enraged, a fallen star that brought evil down to the world. Tales about how the light of the moon guided lost souls, to safety or to their deaths.

Young as he was, Adam thought the moon was nice, it had two sides, the broken, shattered side, and the unblemished, full side, sometimes it would show a face with a mix of each side, but it wasn't two different moons, it was one moon.

Adam reminisced about his past as he drifted off to sleep. He once thought the moon would be a nice place to live, separated from all the trouble and the terrible people.

---

An endless expanse, a cold vacuum, empty space. Adam looked down, he was on a silver dirt, then he looked around, silver dirt and stone was everywhere he looked. No life, no sound, nothing existed here.

Adam smiled, he wasn't bothered by the alien feeling of his new muscles stretching. His tail started swaying from side to side like a snake. There was nothing that could harm him up here, no discrimination existed, no hatred, no back stabbing-

Adam frowned, his previous sense of serenity was interrupted, a feeling deep within his heart pulsed. A heart beat, then lava flooded his veins. Hatred, spite and rage bursted out his body in flames, Adam stumbled back, feeling cold, even as an inferno roared right in front of him.

The flames didn't die down, but rather they condensed into a form similar to what Adam's new appearance looked like. Only instead of fur, there was charred flesh, instead of hair, there was fire. And Adam knew his teeth weren't that sharp, but he hadn't seen his own eyes, so it was possible that were just plain white orbs.

The flaming figure stomped, and walked around, leaving a trail of fire behind. Adam calmed down, nothing existed up here. He was on the moon, nothing could hurt him, and he couldn't hurt anything. Only he could only hurt himself.

Adam didn't bother questioning why he was on the moon, he still didn't know why he wasn't a Faunus anymore or why he wasn't on Remnant. Whatever God or Force that did those things to him, probably thought he belonged here.

Adam watched as the figure made of flames came back to him. Adam walked into a crater and laid down on his side, the living flames walked around the perimeter of the crater, building a ring of blue and red flames.

---

I wanted this to be a story for both fandoms, unfortunately I'm not part of the pony fandom, so I will focus on Adam. Not to say pony fans won't get a story, I've done some research. Just sit back and follow Adam as he explores the land and deals with his past.

 

[Krak-Quinn]

Stretching after waking up wasn't new for Adam, but his body was. He copied the movements he's seen dog and cats do. Yawning informed him about how wide he could open his mouth. While stretching, he learned his body wasn't numb anymore, but he still had phantom sensation where his real limbs should be, he also learned his limbs were more flexible than he thought possible.

Adam was still plagued with questions, but there was nothing he could do to get answers. Waking up also brought more questions: What was the deal with the moon and the flaming figure? Why was the moon still in the middle of the night sky?

Adam chose to put those questions on hold until he could find someone to answer him, which brought more questions: Was there anyone out there to answer him? Would they be able to communicate with him? More questions to put on hold.

After stretching, and getting somewhat used to his new body, Adam attempted to speak. His speech was slurred, and it would take a moment before he could use his new mouth to communicate. He took in his surroundings again, moon light illuminated the forest, the place were he slept was charred.

A short while away, Adam could hear water. He didn't need to think about his next step for too long, he headed for what he hoped was fresh water. Walking on all fours was a weird experience, especially when his neck felt like it was in a natural position looking forward.

Adam eventually reached the water, he saw what he thought were his tracks. Now that he could see clearly, he saw that the river turned here, so that meant his body had washed up. He spent a moment deciding how to drink water, was he supposed to do it like dog since he had a longer tongue, or what? Since he was able to pucker his lips, he just sucked the water in.

Then he walked along the edge of the river, talking to himself, trying to get used to speaking. As he walked and tried to talked, he thought about what he wanted, first he wanted answers, but after that he didn't know. Adam was no longer on Remnant, there was no purpose here, no vengeance to enact. Who was Adam supposed to be? What was he supposed to do?

A stray thought, one so random, it might have come from someone else. Maybe he should make some friends? There was no one here who would know of his past. Adam stopped by a calmer part of the river, and examined his reflection. Two blue and unscarred eyes stared back, Adam would need time to get used to his new look, but unfortunately, as with every piece of information gathered, more questions:

Why did he have still have horns, and why did they both have a single white line that bent upwards? Were horns normal here, or would he be labeled a freak? If horns were normal here, was that why he found himself in this world? Adam really needed something to write down all of his questions. He wouldn't find answers staring at his reflection, so he continued to walk and think.

Adam chose to take a wait-and-see approach to making friends, because right now, he had no reason to make enemies. Not a moment later, a growl came from the trees. Adam stopped and turned to face the monster, although he knew it shouldn't be possible, he expected a Beowolf.

He wasn't entirely wrong, it was a wolf, and it wasn't made of flesh and blood, no, it was made of wood, and was twice his size. Adam growled back at the wolf, then he realized he didn't have Aura or his weapon, he couldn't even say he was fighting bare handed, he didn't have hands.

The wooden wolf, with glowing green eyes, stalked towards Adam. Who responded by stalking towards the wolf, but he did it at an angle, then the wolf and him started to stalk each other in a circle. Growing impatient, then wolf lunged at Adam, who turned and ran into the woods, leaving the wolf to hit a tree, breaking off a few twigs and sticks, from the tree or the wolf, Adam didn't know. He just ran as the wolf took a second to gather itself, then it began chasing him.

It wasn't the longest chase, without his Aura and in a new body, Adam didn't get very far. The Wolf was right behind Adam as it stuck down with its claws, intending to shred him, surprising both of them, the claws striked and slid over the scales on his back. Unfortunately, the momentum from the failed strike had succeeded in pushing Adam to the ground, making him trip and tumble across grass and roots.

The Wolf pounced on top of Adam, pinning him down with wooden claws, it opened it's wooden jaw and prepared to rip Adam to pieces. Adam struggled against the claw, and cursed not having Aura, without his Aura he couldn't use his Semblance. It hadn't been a problem until now, and now he would die. Adam's heart was racing in fear and adrenaline, then he felt it beat. Rage overtook Adam, flesh burned and hair caught fire.

The wooden wolf jumped back, and Adam rolled over and launched himself, horns first, towards the wolf. He had slammed the wolf into a tree, then he stomped on the logs and sticks that made up the wolf, he used his horns to rip up the inside of the wolf, and he used his new sharp teeth to tear apart whatever he could bite. The wolf struggled and roared, but ultimately died, and it's wooden corpse caught fire. Adam spent a few seconds destroying the remains, then the fire engulfing him died down.

His flesh was undamaged and his hair was still bushy, but Adam needed a second to catch his breath.

This was probably what to Adam happened last night, or when he woke up by the river, if night hasn't passed. It also happened on the moon, but different. The cause was clearly strong negative emotions, but was it limited to his own, or could someone else set him off?

At least he wasn't defenseless. Then he noticed that the fire was beginning to spread. Adam spent the next few minutes snuffing out the flames, then waited a minute longer to make sure the cinders weren't going to rekindle the fire. After that was done, Adam walked back to the river, on his way, he noticed the air smelled better.

Then he realized the bad smell had come from the wooden wolf, probably some sort of pheromone to deter other predators, which was a distressing thought; since the Wolf was twice as big as Adam. Adam then noticed he didn't smell like the wolf, most likely because had been on fire. Which when Adam thought about, made him realize the the last time he was on fire had dried him off.

Adam reached the water, and continued to follow the stream. His new abilities raised more unanswered questions, but it was something Adam could work on. It was emotion fueled, and fire related, maybe Adam should keep an eye out for a water type. He snickered at his joke, then he stopped. Adam wasn't normally the type to make jokes, he had occasionally joked around with Blake, but that was to help relieve her tension.

Without his past life, it seemed he didn't know what type of person he was. The White Fang had been his life. And Blake had taken that from him.

A Beat. Adam felt his blood boil, but he didn't burst into flames. He checked over his body, his feet- hooves had caught fire, his thoughts seemed to be a roaring of anger and betrayal. A few deep and calming breathes later, the fire died and the roaring faded.

Seems his power were tied deeper into his emotions than he thought. Adam went back a few thoughts, back before he got distracted by his joke, he had a fire ability, and the wolf was made from wood, so it shouldn't be impossible for other element based creatures to exist. Remnant had Grimm, Monsters of pure evil, and they had many forms. Since Adam was a creature now, maybe the world was populated with creatures, and no Faunus or humans existed. There might be a city in the sky ran by bird-like creatures, or a city underwater ruled by deep sea monsters.

Or maybe Adam was letting his imagination get the best of him, the wooden wolf hadn't spoken a single word.

Although, Adam realized, some of the Grimm he heard about used to be just fairytales. Like Dragons, so maybe all sorts of creatures existed, maybe he heard of some in legends and other he couldn't even imagine. Adam left his mind when something caused his ear to twitch, a slight rustling of leaves, not caused by the wind.

Adam kept walking, but watched the forest. A white bunny crept out the trees and froze in its tracks when it saw him, it was just a few feet ahead from him. Adam watched as the bunny put on an exaggerated face of helplessness. He growled at the bunny, he knew it was acting, Adam knew what helplessness felt like, and he could remember what it looked like when he caused humans to feel it.

Adam's imagination went back up, was this a real bunny? It could be an illusion, if it was real, then was it trained to act like that, or was it smart enough to pretend. He growled again and took a step forward, his ears picked up the sound of rushing wind, from above him, he ducked and rolled away from the river.

Something heavy impacted where he used to be, kicking up a cloud of dust, then, just as fast as it landed, it disappeared, the falling dust left a trail over the river and into the trees on the other side. Leading Adam to believe his attacker had fled that way, so either they had super strong legs, or they could fly.

Adam spun around, the bunny was gone, the whole forest had gone silent, the only sound was the slow moving river. Like thunder, the forest shook and bursted with sounds. Thumping, clattering and the trees being shaken, the intention was clear, hiding a tree in a forest, whoever was attacking Adam had realized he had heard their earlier attempt.

The tactic had raised a few questions: How many attackers were there? If enough to shake the trees around Adam, then why didn't they ambush him? Unless there was only one attacker, and they had illusionary abilities that could mimic sound, but then why not make a huge monster to scare him, there could be limits.

An ambush Adam could handle, he was used to those, from both sides of them. Maybe this was a scare tactic, maybe they couldn't win in a fair fight and now without the element of surprise they wanted him to flee. Adam thought of two choices, he could leave, there would be nothing wrong with that, or he could fight, maybe win or lose, maybe kill or die. Or maybe he could try something new, he had nothing to lose.

Adam stood up straight, took a deep breathe. "Why did you attack me?" He asked calmly. Hearing his own voice talking out loud, and for a reason aside from practicing, felt weird.

The sounds eventually died down, then after a few seconds of silence, he got an answer. "Can you not think of a reason?" A soft feminine voice filled with venom responded.

Adam took a moment to find his response. "Considering the only thing I've done since I woke up was kill a wolf made of wood, and before that I woke up at the edge of this river, nope can't think of a single reason." Adam sat down, and thought of possible reasons, maybe he was trespassing?

"And before that? The reason you entered the forest?" She asked, and Adam had pinpointed her location, in front of him, a couple feet to the left and on top of a tree.

Adam probably couldn't sell the fact that he was from a different world, but he had learned from Blake, that the best lies were true. "I have no idea how I ended up here, and I have no memories of walking this world before today, tonight, last night. Sorry, I'm a bit confused about the moon." Honestly, with his dark emotions locked up with his power, even having a conversation felt different.

Another second later, with nothing but chirping birds to fill the silence, she spoke, with less venom. "Your story checks out, now leave."

 

[Krak-Quinn]

Adam could feel his anger rushing to his heart, nearly sparking the fire. "I want to know why you attacked me, I actually have a whole lot of questions, and you're the first thing I could ask. So either you answer me or-" Adam couldn't actually think of an alternative, but the thought of not get any answers did spark, a brief flame washed over Adam, then he calmed himself down.

"Was that a threat?" The venom was back, and she was moving as she spook, considering she was passing trees while off the ground, she was either jumping from branch to branch, without disturbing them, or she was flying, or gliding. Unless she realized he could hear her and was using an illusion to throw him off.

"No, that was something I don't understand and need help with, I want to know why I'm here, what I am, what am I supposed to do and what's going on in general." Adam answered.

Another silence, void of chirping birds.

"I can't help you." She spoke softer, with less venom, and clearly lying.

Adam sighed. "Thanks anyways, and sorry in advance." He stood up and walked away.

"Sorry for what?" She took the bait.

Adam looked back and tilted his head, a universal sign of innocent confusion. "For burning down the forest, obviously." Then he continued to follow the river.

"What do you mean?" She hissed.

"Well I've lost my temper three times already, the first time I was wet so that probably helped, and I got lucky the fire from the wooden wolf didn't spread faster than I could put it out. And the third time I was only thinking about the wolf, so clearly the more I use my power the more extreme it gets. The only logical next step would be accidentally starting a forest fire, it'll probably be something small like I don't know the name of something, and I'll remember I could've asked you." Adam rambled, hoping to not give the feminine speaker time to process what he said, giving it a bigger impact.

Another silence, this time filled with chirps and squeaks, which was probably not coincidental, a handful of small woodland creatures would be able to create a distraction. But also wouldn't be able to take on a bigger creature without some casualties. So either the speaker was a parrot like bird, or she could communicate with animals, and she also didn't find it odd he could speak, she must also be a creature or at least familiar with them, and she's the defender against bigger prey. Which was perfect for Adam, she cared about the animals in the forest, so she had to care about what could happen to it, like say a fire.

Adam kept the grin off his face as he turned back to his path and walked.

"Wait," she started, then an audible flap, and another flap. "I'll help you." She grumbled as she landed behind Adam.

Adam turned around and saw the speaker. She was a head smaller than him, but roughly had the same design, there were a few difference. Adam took a step closer and started circling the girl. "You don't have horns or scales, instead you have feathered wings, and your hooves aren't cloven." Her fur was also yellow and her hair was pinkish, with some flowers braided in, her tail was also different, but those were cosmetic. "How odd." Adam finished.

The girl, annoyed by his actions, clenched her jaw and spoke in a sharp voice. "Follow me." Then she started walking back into the forest.

Adam took a moment to drink some water before following. They walked in silence, the sounds of rustling leaves and grass caused by the small animals following them acted as white noise. A few minutes later, they reached a cave. Adam took a moment to think, underground caves weren't normally a safe place to go with a stranger, but considering the circumstances, Adam was willing to take the chance.

A couple more minutes later, spent in the barely lit tunnel and complete silence, they reached an opening, inside the walls were covered in glowing blue moss, illuminating the cavern.

Adam took a moment to appreciate the sight. "Can I get some answers now?" He asked and sat down.

The girl sighed. "Yes, ask away, but know I probably don't have all the answers." She said.

Adam nodded. "So where am I? I have no idea."

"The land is called Equestria, this forest is called the Everfree Forest, I call this cave the Glow Room."

The information was pretty basic, but it was useful to Adam . "What am I? What are you?"

"I don't know what you are, but I'm a Pegasus Pony, which is one three types of Ponies, the other two are Unicorns and Earth Ponies, but there's also Crystal Ponies, which just look different, same with Bat Ponies, they're the same as Pegasi. And then there's the Changelings, which look like bug Alicorns, but they can shapeshift to look like anyone, oh, and an Alicorn is a Unicorn with wings, or a Pegasus with a horn." She rambled, giving Adam the impression she didn't talk to people often.

What Adam gathered from her rambling was that the species called themselves ponies, and that the three categories were flying, horned and possibly made from dirt or lived underground, the others were subcategories that acted the same but took on a different appearance.

Adam reorganized his thoughts. They were like Faunus', maybe Earth Ponies were the human counterpart, and the features that made someone special were either wings or horns, and some were lucky enough to get both, and cosmetic differences were just a cultural thing. "Are you sure I'm not a Unicorn, and what sets the different types of Ponies apart from each other?"

"Unicorns only have one horn, located on their forehead, and they can use magic with it. Pegasi have wings, so we can fly and can use weather magic. Earth Ponies have a strong connection to nature. Crystal Ponies have a crystal like appearance but are otherwise the same. Bat Ponies are the same as Pegasi, but with sharp, featherless wings, razor-like teeth and they can see in the dark, oh and they aren't good with weather magic. Alicorns have a horn, wings, and a connection to nature. Changelings can take the appearance of any other creatures, but they aren't as good as natural Ponies, they feed off of love."

Less of a cultural thing and more of a different breed. "What else is there?"

"Uh, well for non-magical there is: goats, mules, donkeys, horses, bisons, buffalos, yaks, diamond dogs, sheeps, pigs, cows and bulls. For somewhat magical there is: zebras, deers and reindeers. For magical there is: minotaurs, centaurs, gremlins and brezzies." Her head bopped with everytime she listed something.

Adam noticed Equidae seemed to have a strong presence here, which, considering the land was called Equestria, made sense, but also raised questions, and some were not the kind he could ask and get a answer.

It sounded like most of the creatures descended from Equus animals, but now they were diverse enough to not notice, and 'Ponies' seemed to evolve with magic, which led them to be at the top of the social order.

It reminded Adam of a talk he had with an octopus Faunus, he had a theory that humans and Faunus shared an ancestor, and he thought the diverging point was caused by magic. On the genetic level, Faunus' had something humans didn't, unfortunately, no one could explain it.

It seemed this world's version of Faunus, the Ponies, had succeeded in becoming the ruling party. It made Adam wonder if when they first showed up were they treated as monsters or revered as miracles.

"I went to sleep and then I was suddenly in the moon, and when I woke up I was back here, and it was still night, what's up with that?" Adam asked.

"Those are called dreams." She whispered with some amusement.

Adam knew it was probably a dream, but it felt too vivid, but then again, magic. So maybe magical creatures had really detailed dreams.

She had lost the small amusement as she answered the next part of his questions.

"The moon has been in the sky for over a year, and the sun hasn't risen in that time. They call it the Everlasting Night."

"What happened?"

"Over a year ago, Nightmare Moon, an Alicorn, returned from her banishment in the moon, and she banished Princess Celestia, also an Alicorn, to the Sun and refuses to raise it, then she took over Equestria."

So Alicorns control the Sun and the Moon, and if they did it from here, then it was possible the world was flat, or maybe the other side of the world didn't have any Alicorns to take control from them, and maybe they were all dead from being cooked by the sun for a year. Adam nodded.

"What's the situation with all the kingdoms?" A strange question no doubt, but a good one to know.

She paused. "Equestria is at War with the Crystal Empire, the Changeling Queen was killed so her subjects have spread across the land. Griffonstone, oh, Griffons are like Pegasi, but with claws and beaks and they're like lion birds. Griffonstone was at War with the Dragons. Dragons are- Do you know what a dragon is?" She asked.

"Giant fire-breathing reptiles who like hoarding gold?" Adam answered, taking his knowledge from fairytales.

She nodded and continued. "Griffonstone had teamed up with the Crystal Empire, since The Dragonlord had teamed up Nightmare Moon, but then King Sombra, leader of the Crystal Empire, unleashed the Shadow Ponies, they, uh, are like ponies made of smoke and evil, Griffonstone then broke apart and no one knows exactly what happen, but the Dragons had taken over and then they declared war on Equestria and the Crystal Empire. I don't think I mentioned everyone in the Crystal Empire is under a mind control spell, every Dragon has to listen to the Dragonlord, Nightmare Moon is a tyrant who would kill you for thinking about her wrong. Meanwhile, there's civil unrest inside Equestria since the crops are dead, and food is scarce, and something about Buffalo running over a town and Cloudsdale, a Pegasi city made of clouds, saying they can't do anything about the cold weather." She looked like repeating the events had taken a toll on her, which, considering all that happen in little over a year, made sense.

Equestria was fighting a War on two sides, and had to deal with a tyrant queen, food shortages, cold weather and, unless he was mistaken, an infestation of shapeshifting love parasites. The Crystal Empire was ruled by a king so mad he would enslave all his subjects and unleash pure evil. Adam didn't know enough about the Dragons to care, but they were probably doing hit-and-runs with fire all over Equestria.

"Okay, I fully understand the weight of the problems, but this is going to bug me for a long time, shouldn't King Sombra be Emperor Somba, it's the Crystal Empire, right?" Adam asked, the whole war thing was bad, but so was misinformation.

The girl scrunched her face in confusion. "Maybe that's just his name?" She tried. "Maybe he's really Emperor King Sombra?" She didn't sound convinced. "But that would make Princess Celestia, Princess Princess Celestia."

"Why wasn't she Queen Celestia?"

"She wasn't married?"

"Was the Changeling Queen married?"

"No, the Changelings lived in a hive, so I think she had full control."

"Don't hives normal have backup plans for dead Queens?"

The girl nodded in confirmation. "Yeah..." She trailed off at got a lost look her eyes. "Crab-cakes, the Changelings are probably playing dead so they could infiltrate the Kindoms and strike at the right moment."

"What's the history of Equestria? Just the main events."

"I don't know a lot of it, but basically over a thousand years ago, the three pony tribes came together to form Equestria. Then Princess Celestia, the first recorded Alicorn, was crowned ruler of Equestria. Other major events that happened around that time are: the disappearance of the Crystal Empire, Nightmare Moon trying to block out the sun and being banished to the moon. A few things happened in between then and now, like peace treaties and such, but nothing major. Until a year ago, when Nightmare Moon returned, then a month later, Queen Chrysalis tried to overthrow her but was killed, then another month passed and the Crystal Empire returned and King Sombra started the War, and I told you how that turned out."

Adam had listened to her answer, but was caught of the timeline. One thousand years was a long time, back in Remnant, the oldest Kingdom was Vale and was established around two hundred years ago. The youngest Kingdom was Atlas, the technological wonder, at only one hundred years. Adam had to wonder:

What kind of technology had they made?

What discoveries had they found?

What would Remnant look like if they had one thousand years of peace, unity, and magic?

Adam stood up. "What's the most basic information you got?"

"Uh, we speak Ponish, our currency is called Bits, prices and taxes are inflating, we're in a magical forest, don't talk to strangers, I don't have a Cutie Mark, Apples were tasty. Orang-"

"Wait, go back."

"Apples?"

"No."

"Cutie Mark?"

"I don't know what that is, but that's not what I talking about."

"Oh, the magical Forest part."

"Yep, explain please."

"The Everfree Forest is an unnatural, striving ecosystem, about half a year ago, it started growing again, it's now triple the size it used to be. It's basically alive."

Adam paused, thought, then asked. "Would the Forest have killed me if I started a big fire?"

"Yes." She answered calmly.

"Oh, thanks for not letting me die, I guess."

"Are you satisfied?" She asked as she stood.

"Yeah, I think I got everything I need." Adam started walking out the cave. "So why were we down here?"

"It's a good place to have a private chat, and I couldn't bring to my home."

"Why not?"

"Then you would know, and if you knew and took the information out the Forest, then Nightmare Moon could find me."

"How?"

"Nightmare Moon can enter dreams, that's how she finds people who plan to rebel or even dream of Celestia coming back, which counts as treason now, the forest can protect you if you sleep here. But I can make an amethyst dream catcher if you want to have dreamless sleep outside the forest."

"I'm good." Adam dreamed about the moon, he had nothing to hide, and if dreams were always as vivid as the last time, then it was practically a paradise.

As they exited the cave, Adam took a deep breath, he now had new information. "Hey." He called out to the girl as she went airborne. "It was nice to meet you, I'm Adam Taurus."

The girl looked down at Adam. "You were decent company, Atom. I'm Fluttershy, and I hope we never meet again." With her final words, she flapped her wings and disappeared.

Adam ran back to the river, thinking about how weird of a name Flutter was.

 

[Krak-Quinn]

Adam walked through the overgrown forest and thought about the answers he received, he didn't feel bad about abruptly ending his meeting with Flutter. There was way too much that he needed to think about. He was in a different world, and it was at war.

He still didn't know why he was here but before he could dwell on that any longer, his stomach growled. Adam needed food, he hadn't eaten since the day before he caught up to Blake.

Adam started scanning the trees and the ground as he walked, he noticed that there were green vines that sprouted from the ground and encircled the trees, he also noticed a few black vines that defied gravity as they held themselves upright. After a few more moments of observation, he could see the tips of the black vines wiggle, then Adam remembered what he heard about the forest from the Pegasus and he carefully avoided going near the vines.

Time was hard to judge in large increments since the Moon was constantly in the center of the sky, and wouldn't move, but that didn't matter to Adam. As his hunger grew, time seemed to crawl ever slower.

Buried in a green sea of flora, Adam noticed a pattern on a leaf that resembled what he remembered to be an edible root. He wasted no time and lunged at it, before coming to a complete stop. He didn't have hands any more. Cloven hooves started to dig into the ground as Adam held the stem with his teeth, careful to avoid biting more than necessary.

It took a painstaking long time, annoyance had built up and almost sparked within Adam, but he managed to calm himself down. He only continued digging because he had uncovered the top of the root, and biting into it tasted pleasant to his hungry mouth.

Adam fell backwards and dirt flew up, the ground had finally relinquished its hold on the root, and it now was completely held by Adam's teeth. It was greenish-white in color. almost two feet long, and six inches at its thickest.

Adam gnawed at it as he walked around, survival was his main goal. He needed to find shelter and a steady source of food. Since Adam no longer had hands, he didn't quite know how he was going to construct anything. With his mouth full, he couldn't even drag anything around.

As he searched for a suitable stop to set up his home and more food, he thought back to what he learned about ponies. Flutter has said Unicorns used magic. He hadn't asked what it was that they qualified as Magic. He knew that Dust, Aura and Semblances were thought to be magic in the early days of his world, but were now regarded as scientific.

Which brought his mind to the matter of his Aura, his Soul. He was still Adam, but he couldn't feel his Aura or Semblance. The closest thing would be the flaming rage, it felt the same as activating his Semblance. The sensation was like coating his skin with energized wax, it was thick and completely cut off his body from the rest of the world, but he could feel the vibrations of energy as it passed through.

Adam took a deep breath and tried to manually call upon his new power, he looked inwards and saw an inferno of red, blue, black and white flames, mixing and twisting, expanding and collapsing, burning itself as fuel and drinking up the darkness that surrounded it. He could hear the roaring of the flames, as they cried out in pain.

It felt like he was trapped in the moment Blake betrayed him, the moment the White Fang abandoned him, the moment he got branded.

His heartbeat thundered in his mind, he was going to lose himself in another outburst of rage.

Then he could taste the juices of the root he bit through with his clenched teeth, his eyes snapped open, he was back in the forest, but the rage was still bubbling upwards.

Adam broke into a run, his hooves leaving scorch marks with every step, he could see the hairs on his main ignite. It was pointless, he was too far into the forest to find his way out, but he continued running, hoping to find a clearing or cave, anywhere he could unleash his rage without the forest fighting back.

His vision blurred and he was beginning to lose his sense of self, flames had engulfed his body, burning up the air before it could touch him. The remaining piece of the root in his mouth was incinerated.

Adam couldn't feel his legs anymore and he ended up tripping over a large rock, he was sent tumbling forward. He resigned himself to stop fighting against his rage as his body hit the floor, not that he could feel it, but he did feel something. He felt his horns smash against the ground. Adam could still sense his horns, he could feel his rage sink into them, preventing them from being coated in flames.

It was a remarkably familiar sensation, like using his sword to absorb thermal energy.

Adam didn't bother pondering any further, he just focused the entirety of his rage surging to his horns. Slowly, he regained the feeling in his limbs, but he didn't stand up until he could feel his entire body. It took a few minutes until he got up, and when he did he noticed that a glowing white light was being emitted from his horns. His horns provided as much light as a lantern would.

Adam no longer had to rely on moonlight to guide his path, so he was able to differentiate the leaves that came from edible plants much easier. He started amassing a collection as he reflected on what just occurred.

His new power was almost certainly his old power, it had changed alongside his body. His Semblance had been about getting revenge, and it seemed his new power was about utilizing his rage as a weapon. He could no longer say it didn't belong to him, that it was a burden or a gift, it was simply an aspect of his soul. He had to name it, to understand, to use it, own it, and to exist with it.

Adam glanced upwards without moving his head, his horns were almost blinding to look at, but he couldn't see them so that didn't matter. Previously, he had questioned himself about magic, and what ponies qualified as it, but now he was sure this was part of it.

Using emotions as energy and channelling it through their horns, they were able to accomplish things they couldn't explain as anything other than magic. There had to be more to it, but he hadn't had enough experience to even guess what that was. And he couldn't preform any tests in the living forest, he need clear ground.

Adam ate more than half of what he found and used his tail to carry the rest, then he continued on his way.

Eventually he smelled a scent he only experienced once before, the foul odor of a Wooden Wolf, or simply a Woodwolf.

With his new body, came new features, a nose that allowed him to pick up on the scent of fresh blood, and ears that heard the sounds of people, or ponies, fighting, presumably against the Wolf.

Adam took a moment to decide on his next actions, but ultimately decided to assist the ponies, and see what he could get for it later, hopefully shelter, even if it's only temporary. He discarded the food held by his tail and broke into a sprint, he weaved through trees, vines and rocks as he closed in on the source of the smell and sound.

As he broke through a thin part of the forest, he entered a small clearing with four Woodwolves and six ponies, but on a closer look, it was four Earth Ponies and two Deers. They were all covered in patterns of greenish mud, and somehow wielding stone tipped wooden spears.

Two ponies, a light tan one with red hair and a pink one with green hair we're fighting one Woodwolf with less than stellar results, a pale red pony with yellow hair was fighting along a small female deer with a helmet that resembled antlers, and the final combatant was another light tan pony but this one had blue and pink hair, and was holding off two Woodwolves on her own, with no weapons. In the center of them all was the body of Deer with shuddering breaths and a gash on their back. He knew it was from the Woodwolf's claws, he could remember that move being used against him, it was a fairly smart move, to attack the spine and incapacitate your prey.

Adam imagined his Rage in his feet, hooves, then he charged forth, and right before impact, he pictured releasing kinetic energy from his skull, horn included, he tore through the two Woodwolves that were attacking a single warrior. He skidded to a halt and jumped pass pony's right and towards the Woodwolf attacking the struggling pony and deer duo, he didn't have enough speed or ground for another charged tackle, so he imagined concentrated release of energy as a projectile that launched forward. A bolt of red and blue flames smashed against the body of the Woodwolf, the wolf howled as it was engulfed in expanding flames, then Adam crashed into and brought it to the ground, with a heave he smashed his hooves down against the wooden skull with a roar.

It exploded into splinters and chips, then Adam drank the flames into his body before they could spread. He looked over at the only remaining Woodwolf, and saw that the warrior pony had already defeated it, he was satisfied that they were competent enough to focus on confirmed threats instead of attacking potential threats, which would be him in this case.

The pale red pony and female deer both jumped back towards the wounded deer but facing him, with a spear and antler ready to attack him. And when Adam looked right, he could see the warrior take front and center, in between the tan one on the left and pink one to the right, both of them, had their spears ready, but the center pony stood relatively relaxed, they were ready for an attack, but they were prepared to go on the defensive. Were they weak and knew they couldn't beat him? Or were they just cautious, and wanted to observe his style and moves?

Adam stood on the pile of charred wood and continued the stare down, eventually the other side broke.

"What do you want!?" The light tan pony with red hair shouted, letting Adam learn she was female and suspect he wanted something, did they have something that people would attack them for? Or was that just a question?

"You're a Changeling! Aren't you!? Then hurry up and leave! Your kind isn't allowed here!" The pink pony with green hair shouted with a level of confidence that didn't match how long she stayed silent for, she was the type join in with her friends.

Adam probably could have learnt more about their group dynamics if he stayed silent a little longer, but he didn't want to needlessly antagonize them any more than necessary. "Don't you have more pressing matters at hand." And he glanced at the fallen deer. He noticed how the ponies shifted in their stances, but he also noticed how they squinted at the word hand. It took a moment for him to realize why, he was already mentally correcting himself every time he thought the word and remembered that he no longer any, so he hadn't thought about correcting it's verbal use. And since there existed shape changing parasites, any mistakes he made in pony culture would paint him in proof. "Or Hooves." He added.

As Adam's rage rose with their inaction, his horn grew brighter. The ponies suddenly looked ready to bolt, either at him or away from him, except for the female deer and the warrior.

"How about a deal?" The warrior pony, who was also female, started as she raised a hoof. "You power done your spell and we'll lower our spears. How does that sound?" She said as if she thought the deal would go through, but from what Adam was sensing from her, she was ready to argue. It didn't take long for him to figure out why, in a situation like this, Magic needed a preparatory period before use, whereas spears were always at the ready. If he was a someone else entirely, then he might negotiate something like that.

"It's just a light, but if I must." Adam said and slowly dimmed the light, until his horn only had a single glowing line. "There."

The warrior pony nodded at the female deer, who reluctantly but hurriedly spun around to the wounded deer. She picked something off the ground with her teeth, a small wooden barrel, a popped it open, then scooped a white paste out and rubbed it over the big gash, it was probably some sort of medicinal paste.

"Good." The warrior said, and looked at her allies until they lowered their spears. The only one out of the three to not do so was the light tan one with red hair. "Rose." The warrior hissed out.

"What Sweetie Drops!? Why are we even talking to a Parasite? It could be stealing our love right now!" The one now named Rose said and jabbed her spear at Adam's direction.

Then the pale red pony with yellow hair spoke up. "I'm pretty sure that Changeling Magic is green." And unsurprisingly to Adam, she was also a girl.

Adam sat down on his hind legs as he prepared to find a way to prove that he wasn't a Changeling.