Andrew Fera. Photo taken by Lyra Heartstrings at Sugarcube Corner, Ponyville, Equestria. Saturday, Feb. 24. 7:33 PM
[Chapter 23]
Sunday
Canterlot Castle
9:42 PM
“Princess Celestia?”
“Captain.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Tell you what?”
“My sister was in Canterlot earlier today. Why wasn't I notified?”
“I apologize, Shining Armor. Her visit was strictly confidential.”
“What? Is something wrong? Is it something I should be worried about?”
“Negative, Captain. Everything is quite alright. I don't mean to worry you. Matters have been safely fulfilled between myself, my sister, Twilight Sparkle, and Lyra Heartstrings.”
“Does it have something to do with what happened at sunset, Princess? Ponies around the city and some of my associates are asking questions. Some believe it is a sign of danger, some believe it is a sign of change. Some are just downright confused.”
“I was expecting it would create a public disturbance.”
“Wait, is that why you called me here?”
“Indeed. It was I who caused the temporary solar orbit reversal.”
“YOU made the sun move backwards!”
“Precisely. It was an act of trust for a special matter that concerned my sister. Because it was a large event, I will need you to announce an assembly for all citizens to gather in Canterlot Square tomorrow morning where I will address the full issue before speculation get's out of hoof. I want to avoid a panic. There is no need to be alarmed for we-”
…
The regal flowing mane of Princess Celestia quickly went into a brief shock and ceased it's waving motion, while at the same time her facial expression showed a blank-stricken stare directly ahead of her. The sudden spike in magical energy violently flowed throughout her body and dissipated as quickly as it came. She squeezed her eyes shut and collapsed to the floor.
“PRINCESS!” Shining yelled, but his cry went unheard from deep within the Royal Archives. They were located between two tall library-like bookshelves near the back wall displaying a large portrait of a happy Princess Luna before her banishment. He rushed to her aid as the white alicorn began shuffling to her hooves.
“Humph?” she grumbled.
Celestia soon got back to her feet in seconds time and regained her stature. The sudden attack on her instinctual detection of magic was much stronger than any other another surge that day.
“Are you alright, your Highness?”
“Yes yes, I'm fine.”
“What just happened?”
Princess Celestia stared down at her front hooves for a second, then up to a nearby chandelier while eight small flames danced on white candles hanging from the ceiling.
“It can't be,” she quietly mumbled to herself.
“What?”
Celestia took one long breath. She refused to lie to Shining Armor about that seizure-like episode he unfortunately witnessed, but didn't want to tell him the truth either. She needed some time to process the event in her mind. Her best option so far was to give him a general explanation.
“I'm sorry you had to see that, Captain. This level of magic rarely happens with a surge of powerful energy my sister and I are able to detect. They most often come without warning.”
She hoped her her sister didn't go through the same embarrassing experience. To her relief, Shining Armor accepted the explanation. He still had some concern.
“But what about you, your majesty? You took a rough hit with that magic.”
“I'm fine, Captain. Please don't worry yourself. I am unharmed.” As if she didn't already tell him many times that she was alright, he kept his guard up. He dedicated a keen eye on her condition, observing any imperfections in her mane or tail, hoping to be ready a second time.
“What if it happens again? Should I-”
“NO!” Celestia's deep voice echoed throughout the Archives, startling the white unicorn. “I mean, that won't be necessary.”
Shining couldn't tell if the Princess was upset, anxious, afraid, or all three. Her tone sounded more curious than upset.
“I wish to be alone now, Captain.” Celestia stared calmly at the high-ranking stallion.
Shining took one last moment to second guess himself, then finally agreed to leave respectfully. As Captain of the Royal Guard, Shining Armor was trained to carry out a responsibility with flexible obedience that gave him royal honor. He had earned Celestia's trust. This wasn't the first time he tried to adapt to a situation under the best interest of the crown. He finally bowed before the Princess and left peacefully.
Celestia stared down the row of books as Shining Armor disappeared around the corner. She felt awful for having to send him away, but it was the only way to ease the tension of a growing anxiety if he were to defended his tentativeness. Despite being the ruler of Equestria, she was embarrassed for what happened. She honestly wasn't expecting a surge to come so quickly, and with a high concentration of magic. However, she needed leisure far more than a complete answer. She remembered reading reports from Twilight about the effects of stress and fatigue, and how it affects a pony's mood and behavior. Consequently, Twilight herself had experienced its effects firsthoof shortly before writing her letter. It was upsetting to read how her friends reacted during a 60-hour study to develop a new spell. Celestia thought is was best to take advice from her student than from herself, regardless of her unwavering wisdom.
After a few more minutes of silence alone in the dimly-lit section of the Royal Archives of Canterlot Castle, she stretched all four of her legs and began to trek to her personal quarters where the warmth and comfort of a pillow was waiting for her.
10 minutes ago
Ponyville Public Library
“Do you have everything you need?” Luna asked.
“Yup.”
Andrew threw his duffel bag around his neck, letting it dangle at the foot on his right foreleg. He wanted to dress in his spruced up pants, but since they grew uncomfortable throughout the time he wore them considering how his tail brushed up against the hole it had made, they were left folded on his back. Plus they didn't fit him well enough.
“I must inform you that this spell involves a decent amount of concentration that requires a peaceful setting.” Luna looked at the line of ponies. “I ask each of you to remain silent throughout the spell, understood?”
Each of them nodded in agreement.
“Alright everypony. Let's give Andrew some space.”
Luna's crystal clear voice carried over to each mare in the room and Spike. Each pony complied and stepped back a few paces. Lyra and Twilight, however, positioned themselves side by side, opposite of Princess Luna. Andrew moved towards the center of the hollowed out room of the library, to the point where the tree rings converged in a small, disfigured circle. He sat down and curled his tail to hug his body.
“Ready?”
“Waitwaitwait!” squeaked Pinkie Pie as she threw herself at Andrew.
“Wha-UMPH!”
Before Andrew had any idea where that voice came from, he was met with the crushing force of a hug from the happy pony. She pressed her head against his chest to feel the thumps of his heartbeat.
“Easy there, partner,” Applejack trotted to them. “Ah think he's had enough.”
The farm pony speedily pried Pinkie from her grip on the poor stallion and pulled her by the tail with her mouth. The rest of the ponies saw the friendly embrace as nothing more than, well, a friendly goodbye hug. They resisted the urge hug him as well.
“BYE!” Pinkie squealed as her friend dragged her away.
“Bye,” he said, coughing once.
“Are we ready now?”
“Fire away.”
Without any more distractions; Princess Luna, Twilight Sparkle, and Lyra Heartstrings simultaneously illuminated their horns. As they closed their eyes to focus more power into a single point on the tip of their horns, the lighting in the room gradually rose to conditions like that of a sunny day. A distinct – almost deafening – high-pitched sound scratched the eardrums of everypony pony in the room, including Spike. The intense combination of blue, purple, and teal tinted light pulsed with beams of magical energy flickered to create a heatless spectacle that eventually consumed the entire library to a point where each pony squinted their eyes just to get a glimpse of the event.
Every pony present shielded their eyes from the bombardment of photons. Unseen from within in the veil of white, Luna cried out to her two benefactors.
“NOW!”
With seemingly perfect coordination, all three mares quickly lowered their heads and aimed their horns towards the center of the room, directly at Andrew. For a moment, the bearable shower of magical light dissipated, then, in a fraction of a second, the three bolts of magic overwhelmed the library with microscopic shock waves.
*zzzztzzztzztzt*
Precisely on target, the strong blots of energy impacted head on, onto a single point on the tip of Andrew's own horn. As a result, a quiet thunder blasted into his ears and the intense pulses became almost unbearably painful. He felt a neural surge rush through him far quicker than the red blood cells circulating through his bloodstream, making every hair on his thin coat stand on end and causing his eye to flicker as if having a seizure. The constant stream of magic entering his physical body was unlike any feeling he has ever experienced in his entire life. Ten times greater than that of his use of magic to teleport to Sugarcube Corner just ninety minutes earlier. He could almost feel his body suspend itself off the ground.
*SSSsssss*
Suddenly, the extreme brisk rush of magic ceased almost immediately, allowing Andrew to breath out a huge buildup of air that coalesced his lungs. His panted loudly from that exhausting spell.
…
Andrew shook away a terrified shiver shortly after the strong enchantment came to an abrupt stop. He slowly opened his eyes as they naturally adjusted back to normal.
…
He looked around to a familiar sight. Shelves of books carved in wood, a sliver of blue hair hanging down from his mane blurred in front of his eyes, and... … a vivid pink pony, staring intimately at him with eyes wide in curious observance. He groaned.
“Ughghh...”
“Hey you!” she squeaked.
“Pinkie Pie?”
“That's me.”
“Umm...” He licked his lips. “What happened?”
“You're still here.” She started giggling. “You make a good silly face.”
She then made a face that mimicked his, which was indeed silly. He shook his head to wipe it off, which in turn, his sight became clear again.
“What?”
“Ughh,” groaned other voices in the room. Andrew pivoted his head to both side where three ponies appeared just as disoriented.
“Did it work?” said Twilight while keeping her eyes closed. She was shivering, naturally regaining muscle functions in her legs as she tried to rise from her slumped posture.
“Apparently not,” Lyra replied in her friend's ear. A number of thoughts began flowing back into the mint-green unicorn's mind after the spell's ingredients started to fade away. She sat staring at Andrew's unscathed figure. He looked back just as confused.
“It seems our magic had no effect,” Luna bluntly stated, also recovering from the lost of magical integrity. “I don't understand.”
“What do ya reckon we do now, Princess?” Applejack asked as everypony looked at each other, wondering the same. They aware that the spell didn't go as planned. If it did, Andrew would be gone. The problem demanded a solution.
“I'm not sure what happened. It should have worked.” Luna looked over to her assistants. “Are you two alright?”
“Yes, Princess,” they both said.
“I don't understand either,” Twilight began to form an evaluation. “With the output of magic formulated onto a single point, it should have been more than enough to take the all physical matter closest to it and send it through a portal where they would rearrange on the other side. Unless one of us did it wrong.” She glanced at the unicorn next to her.
“Hey, it wasn't me,” Lyra denied.
Twilight was unsure whether to believe her. She had a feeling that whatever she and Andrew shared in their private conversation back at Sugarcube Corner had temped her to sabotage the entire spell. Detecting lies was not her skill set. That was Applejack's job. Evidently, Applejack herself didn't seem to smell a sliver of dishonesty while overhearing the two of them talk. Twilight sighed.
“Then I'm plain out of ideas,” Twilight concluded.
“What now?” Andrew asked.
“Why don't you have Rarity help you?” Pinkie jumped next to her cloud white friend.
“Me?” Rarity responded, pointing a hoof at herself. “Heavens no! I am simply incapable of such magic as superior as Princess Luna.”
Twilight trotted over to the podium where she left her spell book open. She thoroughly scanned for anything she might have missed. Lyra joined her. Spike and Rainbow Dash proceeded to act bored about the whole ordeal in their usual ways while the rest of the ponies gathered in a circle around Twilight. Luna glanced over shoulder where the four mares searched for an explanation, then back Andrew in the center of the room. For some reason, something felt... off... about him. She couldn't quite put a hoof on it. Maybe it was the saturation of color on his coat. Maybe it was his height. Maybe it was both. One thing was clear, his horn appeared longer than before.
“Prosperity dwells upon the discretion of the soul.” Twilight read, quoting the last line of the text for the spell. It provoked a puzzled face on her face. “What does that mean?”
Luna took interest in the line Twilight read aloud. She turned around to join the group.
“Perhaps it suggests another factor in the equation,” she said.
“What factor?” Lyra asked.
The entire group glanced over to Andrew as he sat oblivious to anything else but his own business, then back at each other.
“Does anypony else notice something peculiar about Sir Andrew?” inquired Rarity.
All went silent among them. As they took one last look at Andrew (who innocently looked up at the ceiling and back at the floor), they each noticed something different about him. They looked back at each other whispered among each other, excluding Luna. Unknown to all present in the room, a subtle change in lighting grew ever so slightly.
Andrew looked up at his horn, which was strange, considering it was easier to see than before. It was noticeably sharper in detail, which could only mean one thing.
*zzzt* *zzzt*
The extend horn began to make faint static screeches in short bursts that only Andrew could hear. He panicked inside and his heart rate elevated.
*ZZT*
Andrew's heart stopped. The sound came out of the blue that was almost deafening to his ears. He snapped his head over to his left where he found every pony staring at him. Their eyes darted all around his vicinity. Rainbow and Spike were also stirred up by what they heard.
“What was that!?” cried Pinkie Pie.
Andrew opened his mouth to speak, but was too afraid to say anything. He slowly raised his shoulder to shrug.
“I-”
An intense pulse suddenly resonated within him, cutting him off. Half a second later, his horn quickly gleamed with a passion from the tip of his horn in a glorious light, blinding everypony watching and engulfing the entire room with said light.
*ZZZZT*
…
*BANG!*
A loud thunder echoed across the room with howling, causing everypony to cover their ears and several items fall to the floor. The shock wave lasted only a second, but had each pony struggling to keep their balance, with exception of Rainbow Dash flying in the air. The pegasus still felt a displacement of air pressure around her, making an effort to stay in control. Spike fell backwards.
…
The room went silent again and the lighting returned to normal.
“Is everypony okay?” Luna cried.
All ponies she looked at nodded in response.
“What happened!?” Applejack asked with high concern.
“Isn't it obvious?” Luna focused her gaze at the center of the room. She clued in for each pair of eyes to follow her line of sight. There, in the center of the library, was nothing.
“Andrew!” Twilight shouted. “He's gone!”
“Was it one of you girls?” asked Rarity.
“I didn't do anything,” Lyra negated.
“Me neither,” Twilight seconded. “Princess?”
“I had not part in it,” Luna affirmed.
“Then what happened?”
“I believe the spell is complete. It was exactly as the last line of the spell described,” Luna confidently explained. “Its meaning was that, in order for the spell to finish, Andrew needed to forge the spell using his own supply of magic.”
“But he barely knows how to lift a cupcake off the ground,” Twilight argued. “How can he even do that?”
“Think of what we have already done, Twilight. We provided the information about the precise workings of the spell and transferred the magic to him, allowing an innate reaction that only he was capable of. Besides, have you forgotten that Andrew was the one who teleported us to Sugarcube Corner?”
“Ooooohh.” Lyra and Twilight sang simultaneously. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity said nothing, having not understood a word Luna said.
“Now that our mission is complete, it is time to close this investigation as a success.”
Without a word of rebuttal, each pony scrambled around to go their separate ways.
“Aaaaah need get back to the farm,” Applejack yawned. “Mah family is waiting for me.” With that, she staggered out the front door, letting in a draft of cool evening air.
“I better go finish up my lovely new designs at the boutique,” Rarity followed. “This has been a wonderful experience. I must put Sir Andrew's fashion statement to the test.” The elegant unicorn trotted out in to the dark with her saddlebag in tow.
“Bummer, dude,” Rainbow uttered to herself. She was disappointed in letting an extremely rare opportunity slip away: a chance to teach an alicorn to fly, ironically. She quickly flew out the door without any formal farewells.
Pinkie Pie bounced out of the library without a sound. She didn't need to say anything, she had already said bye to Andrew. That was enough for now. She only wished she could meet his brother and his best friend. They seem nice.
Twilight yawned and closed the spell book in front of her. She was satisfied with how the day turned out since receiving Princess Celestia's vague letter that morning.
“Well, I had fun,” she said, half asleep. “I definitely learned something that I think Princess Celestia would want to know. I'll send her a letter.” She turned to walk over to her desk where she kept blank parchments.
“That's won't be necessary, Twilight.” Luna softly said. “I will tell her everything myself.”
“Oh. Well in that case, time for bed Spike!”
“Finally,” he agreed, wandering after Twilight as they sluggishly walked up the stairs. With the sound of a door slamming shut, Luna and Lyra were the last ponies in the room.
“Had enough for today?” Luna asked.
“mmmm... yeah.”
“When would you prefer to start our partnership?”
“First thing tomorrow.”
“Very persistent are we?”
“I don't mind. I don't have much to do anyways.”
“Well then, we shall discuss a few terms at a time and place of your choosing.”
“Sounds good. At least our first investigation went well. We did gain one thing out of all of this.”
“What's that?”
“A new friend.”
Princess Luna smiled at Lyra's comment. Lyra smiled back.
“Time to go.”
The majestic dark-blue alicorn turned and departed out the front door. The musical mint-green unicorn lifted her saddlebag onto her back and trailed close behind her new mentor. As soon as Lyra made it to the doorway, she paused and took one last look back at the empty library. She took out the flexible white wires from a bag pocket and placed each bell-shaped end into the innards of her ears. They fit perfectly snug. She levitated the sleek black music player out of the same pocket and plugged in the wire in the round hole. Unsure of anything other function, she pressed the only button visible and then touched the screen with a hoof. Moments later, a soothing piano tune began playing in her ears, followed by a beautiful female voice that began singing a soft melody.
“I know there's something in the wake of your smiiile...”
Lyra widened her own smile. The song was so entrancing that she listened to it for longer than she planned. She lowered her head and looked at the ground. When the voice sang a particular lyric, it peaked her admiration building up inside. She waited a few seconds before taking advice from the singing woman, deriving it to be a love song.
“Goodbye, Andrew.”
She took a deep breath, turned out the lights, and gently closed the door.
*ZZZAP!*
The sudden shock of flickering white light startled every last bird in the vicinity of a dark and quiet urban neighborhood. However, the distinct static sound could only be heard no more than a few feet away. The bright flash of light came faster that the blink of an eye. The resulting energy from the blast completely dissipated in a matter of seconds, returning everything back to normal.
“Humph!” uttered the newly formed being onto the soft cold ground.
The human figure was knocked slightly off balance, but his arrival was as stable as ever before. For the first time, the teleportation came without any major side effects upon entry despite the fact that it was an outstanding feat across two different realms with unfathomable distance. The teen merely fell on his back, breathing heavily.
“Ouch,” Andrew exaggerated loudly to himself. The subsequent feeling was possibly the strangest feeling one could endure.
The ground was cold and damp. Andrew could not see a thing but faint white dots in the darkness. The points of light twinkled every now and again, indicating a clear night sky painted with distant stars, mocking Andrew with their splendor. The rustling of leaves and faint sound of brown noise flowed into each of his ear drums. Other than that, it was completely silent. He could hear his own heartbeat.
For a few more seconds, he laid perfectly still on his back with his head to the sky and knees bent, pointing upwards. The full moon was barely visible in his peripherals. He wondered what time it was, but had no device on him with a working clock. It was probably a couple hours before midnight. Maybe later. He didn't know. He decided to be patient before moving any body parts yet, giving himself time to think some more. He wasn't sure if he even human yet. The muscles and skin of his body were numb.
Andrew took a deep breath and stretched his facial muscles out of a cramp. He opened his mouth as wide as he could a few times to shake off crystallizing ice molecules that formed on the surface of his skin. He raised his arms, twirled the palms of his hands, and flexed his fingers to see if they were still working. He wiggled the toes on his feet, but fount it to be challenge. They were awfully cold, like they were ready to break off his legs. He touched his face, rubbing his eyes, and eventually placing a hand on his forehead. No horn. That's good. He checked the end of his spine. No tail. Swell. He then ran his fingers further up the length of his back beneath his long-sleeve shirt. No wings. Well, it was good while it lasted.
Human body parts... check. Nighttime... check. Freezing air... … oooh yeah. Damn it's cold, he complained.
Using his elbows to lift his upper body off the moist bed of prickly grass, he balanced his weight on a hand to push himself to a seated position. He rubbed his eyes again with his cold hands and let his gaze wander around the immediate surroundings. It was dark, no doubt, but he managed to let out a sigh of relief as the silhouette of a large house met his gaze. He instantly recognized it.
Andrew still wondered how he ended up back home with pinpoint accuracy with the teleportation spell that he supposedly forged. Even more mysterious was it being the same location within his backyard, a couple meters from the apple tree next to him. The back out the house was partially lit by the moonlight. The remaining light originated from the second floor window. His room.
Andrew carefully got his feet, struggling to find his balance. Noticing how freezing his legs were, he realized he had no pants on. His stitched-up pale blue jeans were laying next to him, still folded as they were when he placed them by his side in the library. He grabbed the pants and shivered while he stuck each leg into their respective slots. Strangely enough, they felt a little heavier than he remembered. A warm sensation slowly came back to his legs as he blindly searched for his duffel bag in the dark. His small silver flashlight would have been helpful if they weren't in the bag he was looking for. Taking one step back, he finally found the bag by a distinct crunching sound.
He let out a burst of hot air rush out his nose in an angered snort.
“Great,” Andrew sarcastically grunted to himself. There's only one sound that could make him cringe with displeasure. It didn't matter, his sunglasses were useless and dumb anyways.
Gathering his composure, he wrapped the pack around his back and because the ground was so cold, he quickly jogged to the yard patio. On his way there, his kicked something soft. A stuffed bunny went flying towards the patio and landed next to the glass door. As that happened, the orange floodlight above the patio turned on, lighting most of the backyard. He wound up sprinting in a futile panic and pressed his back against the cement wall of the house. His breathing eased back to normal and the shivers that plagues his body faded from that childish panic.
Calming down a bit to move on, he turned to the side where the reflective surface of glass shot back a symmetrical image of the patio. As it was that afternoon, the sliding glass door was halfway open when he chased down Alex earlier that day. Ignoring the plush toy animal, he tried to be as quiet as possible while entering the house. Squeezing his way through the door frame, he noticed that the temperature inside was just as cold as the outside. It was probably left open all day.
Once inside, Andrew took one cautious step at a time through an eerily quiet and dim-lit hallway. Each step produced a small creaking noise. The freezing hardwood floor eventually turned into an equally cold carpet. Every second felt like minutes. Every step got him closer to the stairs at the other end that paralleled the hallway. For a moment, he thought how ridiculous his horrified stance actually was. This was his house after all. Creeping around was just pointless. So he changed his approach and casually strolled up the staircase.
Before he got to the top, he paused. He found a single ray of light streaking across the floor when his eyes met the upstairs hallway at eye level. The yellowish glow came at an angle, originating from around the corner. Curious, Andrew followed the bar of light on the carpet as he trekked the last few steps. He suspiciously advanced further until he found where the light came from.
Off to the side, two doors down, was his room. Makes perfect sense. His room was lit through the window from the outside. The light pointed like an arrow through a crack in the doorway. The door was inched open very slightly. The stillness of the air and a faint sniffle slipped through the opening of the door and bounced in his ears. It stopped him dead in his tracks, but continued on with a spike in heart rate. Standing tall with his hands to his side and his eyes directly on the entrance to his own room, he advanced slower than before.
One last step. He took a long and quiet breath, then extended an arm to push the door open.
To Andrew's surprise, door did not creak with an obnoxious sound. The light was far more intense than he anticipated. He was hit by a shower of fluorescent light for no more than a second, but he squinted his eyes to a point where they were almost closed. The exposure of light in his retinas finally adjusted to normal, but by then, his general idea of what his room would look like was nothing like he pictured it to be.
Scattered everywhere on the floor, Andrew found several pencils, paper, and a whole lot of books spread in disarray. The wooden bookshelf had been emptied of its contents as it appeared to have spilled everything in front of it. The most disturbing sight was a large crimson stain by the foot of the bookcase bearing an strong odor that almost made him cough. Either it was soy sauce, or something far more alarming.
Not long after discovering the mess, his eyes met the first person in the real world he wanted to see. There, sitting on the desk chair, was his best friend with his elbows on his knees and his palms covering his forehead. The teen sat facing Andrew's bed and sniffled once more. He had his back towards Andrew and seemed oblivious of his friend's presence.
“Dale?” Andrew said softly, trying not to startle him.
To Andrew's failure, the teen suddenly flinched at the voice and whirled his head around. His eyes met those of his unmistakeably human friend. His best friend. Staring at each other with a mix of strong relief, Dale's face displayed a number of dry tears that fell down his face. His mouth opened in shock. Dale slowly rose to his feet, wiped away the tears with a sleeve, and smiled sadly. Andrew smiled back.
Dale ran forward and widely wrapped his long arms around Andrew in a tight embrace, pushing the teen back a few feet. It was the first time he hugged the person he cared about the most in a very long time. He buried his face in Andrew's shoulders, squeezing eyes shut and letting out another sniffle. Dale just couldn't keep it together. Andrew completed the hug with his own arms.
Several seconds into their reunion, Dale let go and took a step back, then punched him in the gut. Andrew flinched and winced in pain.
“What happened to you!?” he asked in a upset tone. “Where did you go?”
Andrew paused to recover from blow from Dale's fist. He didn't let it bother him because he was more focused on his questions. “I- uh... you won't believe where I ended up.”
Dale finally got over his sobbing voice that made it hard for him to speak without feeling embarrassed.
“Tell me anyways.”
“I landed in Equestria.”
“Where the hell is Equestria?”
“That's what I said.”
“So where is it?”
“I have no idea.”
“Is it somewhere in the Europe.”
“No.”
“Asia?”
“No.”
“Then where?”
“It's- uh, not on Earth.”
Dale blankly stared at his friend.
“You're crazy.”
“Fine, don't believe me.”
Dale decided to throw Andrew's lies away and change the subject.
“Why didn't you answer my phone? I called you twice.”
“Twice?”
“Yeah, the first time it went to voice mail, and the second time someone picked up and then I heard weird voices.”
“When?”
“I don't know, like five hours ago. Where the hell were you?” Dale sounded more agitated than usual.
“Like I said, I was in Equestria. A country populated by very nice ponies.”
“Ponies? Like what you turned into?”
“Yeah! You also will not believe what I found there. Unicorns, Pegasuseses-es, even a dragon!”
“Well,” Dale looked off to the side. He made a quick distinction in his head on how that sounded to him. “You're crazier than I thought!”
Andrew glared at him and let an awkward silence attack his friend. Dale became uncomfortable with the stare Andrew gave him.
“What?”
“Never mind. I'm not gonna even bother.”
“No seriously. What happened to you?”
“Did you forget that I was a unicorn all day? Alicorn actually. Turns out I had w-” Andrew stopped before he could make his story any worse. It was too late. “Never mind. It doesn't matter anymore.”
“Yeah it does,” Dale objected.
“No it doesn't. As long as nothing bad happened to me, everything's fine. Don't worry about me, I'm still in one piece.”
“Fine.” Dale's mood shifted from sorrow to strong relief since hugging his best friend. Maybe Andrew's logic wasn't lame after all. He exited the into the hallway behind him, leaving his friend staring at the mess that was his bedroom.
Andrew scanned the room and the scene suddenly came back to him. It hit his brain like a soccer ball to the face, metaphorically speaking.
“Where's Alex!?” he shouted, turning to face friend in the hall.
Dale didn't answer right away. Instead, he looked to the ceiling, then off to the side. He took a deep breath.
“He- uh... he-” Dale had a hard time delivering such news, knowing Andrew was unaware of what happened after his disappearance. He gulped. “He's hurt bad.”
Andrew's heart dropped. “What?”
“When you, um, teleported again, you kinda... almost killed your brother.”
“What!?” His heart dropped a little further.
“You threw him into the bookshelf and gave him a concussion.”
“WHAT!?” Andrew's heart finally hit the floor and he violently grabbed Dale by the shoulders.
“Dude calm down!” Dale tried pulling away, but the grip too tight. “He's fine. He's in the hospital now. The paramedics got here just in time. Steven and Peter helped stop the bleeding.”
Although Andrew was relieved that his brother was alive, he still couldn't help the fact that it was all his fault. Unacceptable! He now had a more important reason to see Alex, along side his brotherly love. Andrew let go of his friend and sprinted down the stairs.
“Where are you going!?” Dale yelled after him.
Andrew stopped dead in his tracks.
“Where's my mom?”
“She's at the hospital with Alex. Why?”
“I have to get to the hospital, but it's too far.”
“Okay.” Dale paused to think. “Well, there's a cop outside. We can ask him to drive us.”
“Are you crazy? What if he thinks I-”
“He won't.” Dale jumped the next few steps to the base of the staircase, right next to Andrew. “Let's go.”
“Hold on.” Andrew spotted his cheap sandals by the rug below the front door. He slipped each foot into the correct slot. “Now let's go.”
“Aren't you cold?” Dale asked as Andrew opened the front door, letting in a rush of air of slightly lower temperature than the inside.
“Screw it, dude. My brother needs me.”
Dale simply shrugged and followed his friend out the door, slamming it behind him. Just as Dale vaguely described, a ST.LPD squad car was parked in the closest spot on the street to the house with the officer sitting inside. When they got halfway, the policeman opened his door and casually walked in clear view of the approaching teens, leaning over the hood of the car. Dale did not recognize the man. He was younger, had more hair, and a lighter skin tone illuminated from a yellow street light above the sidewalk.
“What are you fellas doing here?” he asked in a subtle Japanese accent with a suspicious tone.
“Hi officer, I need to get to the hospital,” said the boy with a summer clothes, sandals, and a gray pack hanging by his side. “But I have no way of getting there. Can you drive us?”
“I'm with him,” said the other teen dressed in a similar attire, minus the bag.
“Who are you?” the man said. “You shouldn't be here.”
“My name is Andrew Fera. I just found out about my brother, Alex. He was hurt and taken to the hospital. I need to see him.”
“And who are you?” The man looked at the other teen.
“I'm his best friend, Dale Larsen.” He thought that saying his name wouldn't mean anything, but it was worth a try. He remembered what a different policeman told him earlier that day. “Um, Officer Ramsey said if I- we, needed any help, he'd be waiting outside.”
“Chief William Ramsey?” the policeman said.
“Yes sir,” Dale replied, a bit nervous.
“Please, officer,” Andrew begged. “It's really important.”
“Alright boys.” He waved Andrew and Dale to the car. “Hop in!”
Andrew quickly flung himself into the front seat. Dale got in the back where criminals would sit, but he didn't mind. The cop put the key in the ignition and brought the car to life, revving up the engine a couple times. Digital numbers of a clock lit up, telling Andrew it was 11:48 PM. He could have sworn it was much earlier than that before vanishing from the Ponyville Library. How long did that teleportation spell last? There's no way he jumped forward in time. Soon after, red and blue lights flashed onto the environment outside the squad car. Andrew was nervous. It was the first time he'd ever been inside a police car.
“Hold tight.”
The man smiled at the passenger next him, put the car in drive, and pressed down on the gas pedal.
*VVVVVVRR*
They quickly accelerated forward, giving both teens a heart-pounding jolt. The loud noise of the siren heightened the thrilling ride and they sped down their neighborhood at fifty miles per hour. When they approached the first intersection, the car slowed to turn down the main boulevard and picked up to max speeds down the street at over seventy miles per hour. It was almost surreal for Andrew and Dale to be in a police car while it blazed right through stop signs and red lights. The hospital was over six miles away, but at the speed the vehicle was going, they were halfway there in just a couple minutes. Not many cars were out on the road at that hour, but it was still a nerve-racking experience.
Quickly passing a sign for St. Louis General Hospital ahead a few more crossroads, the officer slowed their speed from almost eighty, down to a safe twenty. The policeman finally turned into the parking lot of a large white building with cylindrical pillars supporting a concrete awning roof above the emergency drop-off. The car's lights stopped flashing and they parked directly behind an ambulance near the curb. At first glance, the building appeared closed for business, if not abandoned.
“Here we are, boys,” said the cop. Andrew wasted no time in getting out of the racing deathtrap of a law enforcement vehicle, and neither did his best friend. Before they could run off too far, the officer rolled down the passenger side window and leaned over.
“If you see Lieutenant Ramsey, tell him that Officer Ian Wray did you the favor of drivin' you over.”
“Will do!” Dale responded as he chased after Andrew who ran ahead to the entrance. The cop car pulled out of the lot and drove away.
Andrew cold feet were no match for his motivation to be by his brother's side. He opened the modern glass door and rushed inside. He stopped just before running down some random hallway. Nobody but a lone clerk at the front desk was walking the halls. You gotta be kidding me, he thought. He stood in place until Dale entered the lobby and walked up behind him.
“What's wrong?” Dale asked.
“Huh?” Andrew snapped out of a memory. “Oh nothing.”
Andrew stepped towards the front desk that joined two hallways at a corner.
“Hi.”
“Hello.” The woman looked up. “Can I help you locate someone this evening?” she asked. Her curly brown hair hid most of the left side of her face, but she brushed it away with the flick of the head.
“Yes. Which room is Alex Fera in?” Andrew asked in a very anxious voice. He hated the way he spoke, like he didn't know what he was doing.
“Are you here for a family visit?”
“Yes, I'm his older brother, Andrew. This is my friend, Dale.”
The young woman searched through some manifests. She didn't have to check long before giving him the necessary information like the room number and directions.
“Here we are. Patient #46, Alex Samuel Fera, Male, Age 12. Correct?”
“Yeah, that's him.”
“He is being treated in Room 115 by Dr. Fischer and Nurse Claiborne.” She then pointed behind them. “Take the stairs to the second level. Down the hall to the right, you'll find room one fifteen.”
“Thank you, ma'am,” Andrew nodded and headed straight for the stairs. Dale trailed after the persistent kid as he lunged every other step to the second floor.
“Take care!” the lady cried after them.
Without a proper reply, the first floor disappeared below the teenagers' feet as they ran to where the she directed. Before getting back to her work, she viewed the mental image in her photographic memory of a sizable red stone she saw clipped onto the jeans of the first teen, Andrew. It kinda looked like a ruby. It looked nice on him.
Andrew counted the numbers on each door he passed by each one.
Room 110.
111.
112.
113.
114.
As soon as Andrew got to his final destination, he slowed to a stop, nearly making Dale run into him. They stared at the door for a few seconds as a silence flooded the hallway with a tense atmosphere surrounding both teens. Andrew inhaled, then exhaled very slowly. Dale was just as nervous and did the same. Andrew extended an arm out in front of him, firmly grabbed the cold silver doorknob, and twisted it.
*creeeak*
The white door force itself open with an obnoxious sound, grabbing the attention of the two women inside: one standing at a counter and another sitting on the other side of the hospital bed.
“Hello there,” greeted the lady at the counter. She wore none other than a white coat and round glasses.
“Hi, is- uh, my brother-” Andrew's eyes fell upon the sleeping face of his brother on the hospital bed, answering his own question. The woman sitting beside the bed rose to her feet, taking in the sight of her oldest son for the first time that day. She sniffled.
“Andrew!”
“Mom!”
His mother rushed over to give Andrew a hug. So much hugging today. He tried to keep the embrace short so he could walk over to the one person he was there for.
“I'll leave you three alone then,” Nurse Claiborne said, then left the room.
Over his mother's shoulder, the body of a young boy laid perfectly still on the hospital bed with a tan colored bandage wrapped around the top his head. His arms lay flat above the sheets while the rest of the body slid under the aqua green covers. His head laid resting on a white pillow with his eyes closed. The boy didn't seem to acknowledge anything occurring in the room at that point. Alex appeared in pretty bad shape.
Andrew's mother let him go and stepped away to hug Dale. She was taking this event very emotionally. After her hugging spree, she left the room to converse with the nurse waiting outside. Andrew quietly stepped forward and knelt down to eye level with Alex's ear as he quietly snored in his sleep.
“Hey buddy,” he said.
Seconds later, Alex woke and carefully inhaled the sterile air around him. The boy tilted his head to one side to find where the familiar voice came from.
“Hm?” he hummed with a noticeable deep pitch to it. The boy managed to open his sleepy eyes halfway, and then made the best surprised face he could.
“Yeah, it's me, Andrew.” He paused, unable to keep himself from crying. “Listen, I- uh, I- I'm really sorry this happened. I hate myself for doing this to you. I can't stand to see you like this.”
Alex continued to stare into Andrew's human eyes. He was no doubt back to normal. A sight for sore eyes, quite literally. Another silence lingered on as Dale sat in a chair next to the door.
With barely enough strength, Alex shuffled in his bedsheets and attempted to sit up. Although, he couldn't have succeeded without the assistance of his older brother lending a hand. The very sight of Andrew as his normal human self was enough to give Alex a boost in energy to pull himself up.
“Are you alright?” Andrew asked, genuinely concerned. “I hope it's not too serious. I took a hit, too.”
Alex looked at him with confusion and wonder.
“Whe- where, d-did you... go?” he softly stuttered in between his painful breathing.
“It's kinda long short story. You already know the half of it.”
“He told me he went to some place called Equestrio or something,” Dale finally said, walking over to the reunited brothers. “I still think he's making it up.”
“Equestria.” Andrew corrected. “I'm not joking.”
“Wh- where's that?” whispered Alex.
“I'll tell you when you're better, man. You need to rest.”
Andrew looked at the digital clock on the far wall. Saturday, Feb. 24th, 11:57 PM. Andrew suddenly remembered an important thought that surfaced above all other thoughts at that moment. He turned to his best friend and held out a hand.
“Let me see your phone.”
“What about yours?”
“Just give it to me.” Andrew rose his voice higher than he intended.
“Fine.” Dale grunted. “You don't have to yell at me.”
Dale reached into his right pants pocket and took out his dark-blue cellphone and handed it to his eager friend. Andrew carefully began dialing his own number. He hit the call button and held the device up to his ear, impatiently tapping his fingers on his knee.
*brrrring*
…
*brrrring*
Several long seconds later, the ringing was cut off and replaced by whining background noise.
“Hellooo?” said a female voice through the earpiece.
“Hello Lyra?” Andrew replied. “It's me.”
“Andrew!?” the female voice cracked with excitement when it recognized the familiar voice. Andrew shared a similar level of enthusiasm.
“Awesome, you figured it out.” He paused for a moment. “Why don't you introduce yourself,” Andrew spoke to the recipient at the other end of the line.
“Okay!”
“W-Who, i-is that?” Alex asked his brother in a delicate tone between more careful breaths.
Andrew pressed another button, setting it to speaker, and cautiously placed the phone in Alex's right hand. Alex grasped it as firmly as he could and looked at Dale with disbelief. The silence was broken by a noticeably teenage female voice originating from the small blue cellphone and the tune of the clock on the wall as it struck midnight.
“Hello humans! Greetings from Equestria!”
Author's Regards:
I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to read Gifts and Curses here on FiMFiction. I know it's far from original and it's just another Human in Equestria story. I had my faults in being as accurate as possible with the settings and location from the show. This was my first fan fiction of any kind and I tried to make it as appealing as I could for those who enjoy this type of story. I might have gotten a little carried away with its characters. The character of Lyra is interpreted in so many different ways among the fandom, so this is my rendition of her persona with added traits set by other people. I tried a realistic and soft approach that explored specific human behaviors for such a situation. It was all set around a basic idea within the extremely jaded genre of Humans in Equestria. Love it or hate it, I enjoyed writing it.
I'm curious to know how many of you who liked the story would like to see a sequel. If not, then I'm okay with that too.
A short disclaimer:
All human characters and names are fictional and are not based on real people. The main character does not reflect my personal life, nor do I strive to be him. Reference to real world settings and events are completely fictional. I have never been to Missouri. The only connections I have with the human characters are small depictions of social status and the like. I do not own any of the pony characters portrayed throughout this fan fiction, official and unofficial. I honor and credit JasonTheHuman with the characters Lyra's parents. They could be changed upon request.
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic was created by Lauren Faust and belongs to Hasbro, Inc. and their respective owners. No copyright infringement was intended. This story was created purely for pleasure and was never distributed for commercial benefit or other methods of profit whatsoever.
There are a number of irrelevant plot elements that you may have noticed throughout many chapters that weren't given an explanation and left you wondering what and why. For instance; Alex's favorite TV show, Lyra's unmarked CD, the empty hospital, the color of the sky outside Andrew's house, the ruby. Just to name a few. They imply a sense of mystery is the basic principle of the story.
I thank my good friend and fellow brony, 1childish1, for revising a few of the chapters.
Thanks again,
~flamevulture17
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Andrew Fera. Photo taken by Lyra Heartstrings at Sugarcube Corner, Ponyville, Equestria. Saturday, Feb. 24. 7:33 PM