//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: Welcome to Our Humble Abode // Story: From a Dying World to New Lands // by Electrician //------------------------------// Chapter 8: Welcome to Our Humble Abode Perspective: Jonathon Burley Location: Town Hospital, Ponyville, Equestria Date:??? How cool is this!? We haven’t been here all that long, and already we’re getting to meet members of this world’s ruling class! ‘I wonder what they’re like. Judging by the ponies here, maybe they’re kind and benevolent, and somewhat curious as well? Ooh, I’m so excited, this is awesome and-’ “No, not happening, absolutely not!” ‘yes, not happening…wait what?’ I glanced over at Eddy, who was already looking for a way to bypass the purple mare and leave. “But it’s the princess, you can’t just ignore her. Please, just meet with her?” asked Twilight, still trying to block off Eddy. “Listen ma’am,” responded Eddy irritably. “We’ve just been transported to another planet. Before that, we were having an incredibly bad day, the details of which I will keep private. Pardon my rudeness, but I’m in no mood to meet with anyone else today, so I will be going home. And you can tell your princess that when she gets here.” While he did have a few valid points, simply leaving wasn’t fair to the ponies, especially when they were only curious and had brought their princess out to meet with us. I placed a hand on his shoulder. “Eddy,” I said, grabbing his attention. I jerked my head towards an empty corner of the building, motioning for him to follow me. He looked back at Twilight once again (who was still giving him this pleading look) and followed me. “Listen man,” I said. “I know you’re not happy or comfortable with this situation, but you have to give these ponies a chance. They just want to be friends, and I’d personally prefer to make friends than enemies, especially in a world we don’t know anything about. I just fail to see why you can’t trust them.” “Remember what happened last time we trusted strangers? I distinctly recall some backstabbing. They deserved what happened to them afterwards.” “One time man! It only happened once!” “And it’s never happened again because I didn’t and still don’t trust outsiders.” ‘God-damn he’s stubborn when he wants to be!’ “Alright, you want to play the pros versus cons game? Think about this: they might know something about how we got here. Remember what the nurse said. Twilight left saying ‘it worked’. What worked, and why did it involve us? They might be able to get us back man, they might be able to help us, but that’s not going to happen if you keep being an ass!” He was silent for a moment, contemplating the implications of what I said. He frowned, and let out an exaggerated sigh before turning back towards Twilight. “Alright, we’ll meet her,” he relented. Twilight broke into a grin and started to say something, before being interrupted. “BUT!...but, we’ll do this our way. We’re not meeting here; I don’t like this location. Walk with me outside for a moment.” Twilight released her grip from the door and hurriedly followed Eddy outside. I trailed behind. Once outside, Twilight attention veered off to the pick-up. The look on her face made it abundantly clear that it was killing her to know what the human-made carriage-looking thing was. To her credit, she bit her tongue (somewhat literally) and remained quiet. It almost seemed like she could tell Eddy wasn’t in the mood for questions. Clever girl. Eddy led us to where we could see in the distance the hill our house was on. It was strange to see how the house I always thought was pretty big looked so small from here. “See that building way out on that hill?” asked Eddy, pointing to the house way off in the distance. Twilight nodded. “That’s where we‘ll talk. Jon and I are heading back, meet us there.” I gave the keys to the truck to Eddy, and told him to start it up while I had a quick word with Twilight. “Hey, if he comes off as a jerk, I apologize. He’s…uneasy about this whole thing. Give him some time, he’ll come around eventually.” Twilight smiled in reply. “It’s ok, I can’t say I know what you’re going through right now, but I’d imagine this all must be very confusing and new for you. I’m surprised you’re not bitter about this as well. I’ll explain everything when we meet with Celestia, and I promise to be patient with your friend.” “Thanks for understanding Twilight.” Just then, the pick-up behind us cranked over and started, startling poor Twilight. “What was that? Is that…the carriage? It’s alive!?” “It’s ok, it’s just the truck, and no, it’s a machine, definitely not alive.” “What…what is it?” “Heheh, seems you’re not the only one who was some explaining to do. We’ll talk at the house. Oh, and there’s a total of four of us, so don’t be alarmed if you find two more humans at the house.” “Humans…is that what you are?” “Yes, yes we are. See you soon!” I made my way to the pick-up, and climbed in. Eddy complained about ‘taking so long’, but I completely dismissed him. Once again we were off; the ride home would fortunately be short. The streets emptied out again, just like when we drove in. Seems it would be a while before anyone got used to the truck and its diesel engine. Once we hit the edge of town, I picked up the pace. The ride back was uneventful, but after all we’ve been through in the last 24 hours, peaceful and uneventful was a very nice break. As I pulled up to the house however, it was clear that something was awry. A few of the windows we boarded up were broken again. More bullet holes decorated the walls of our lovely home. Speaking of holes, something had dug multiple deep holes around the house, their purpose unknown to me. Finally, a massive black scorch mark painted the grass to the left of our house, Edgar and Mike standing over it quietly. Eddy and I shared a look of confusion, both clueless as to what occurred here. When the heard the truck, they spun around. I quickly parked the truck, switched it off, and disembarked. I walked over towards Edgar and Mike, while Eddy went inside the house. Guys, what the hell happened here?” I asked. Edgar looked away, while Mike didn’t seem too comfortable telling me what happened. Mike met my gaze and opened his mouth when- “Damnit guys, we just cleaned this place up!” yelled Eddy from the entryway. “There’s fucking wood splinters and blood everywhere, and we’re having guests over real soon!” This seemed to bring both of them back, as Edgar and Mike looked up at us in surprise. “WHAT!?” 7 minutes later The frantic scramble to ‘hide the evidence’ continued as everything was quickly washed. Edgar and Mike relayed to Eddy and me what took place in this house while we were gone. I have to say; I didn’t see that one coming. I didn’t really like the dog aliens, but not even they deserved mass slaughtering. When they finished recounting their story, we told them what happened at our end, and who was coming to ‘visit’. I glanced over amused at Eddy working away. “You know Eddy, for someone who didn’t want to meet the princess, you’re working awfully hard to impress her,” I commented jokingly. “I just don’t want her to label us as a bunch of savages and take our heads off,” he replied. ‘Great, here we go again.’ “Come on man, why do you have to be so damn cynical about this whole situation? They just want to get to know us better. They’re harmless!” “Well ‘Pinkie’ managed to disarm me rather quickly. They’re obviously more dangerous than what meets the eye.” “What?” Mike asked. “How’d she disarm him?” “Oh don’t listen to him. He’s just grumpy because Pinkie managed to startle him and he dropped his pistol. She has this bubbly and hyper personality, and got right up in his face to say hi, which Eddy here didn’t like.” “Hahaha! Afraid of pretty pink ponies Eddy?” Mike jabbed. “Shut the hell up!” “You should have seen her,” I continued. “Didn’t look like she could hurt a fly, yet she pinned Big Bad Eddy down with her ‘vicious’ promises of cake!” “HAHAHAHA!!!!” “Guys, fucking drop it!!” “Ahh Eddy, you really need to learn to relax,” said Edgar. “I’m sorry, but for the last four years of my life, every time I’ve tried to ‘relax’, I’ve almost ended up dead! So you’ll excuse me if I’m a little more than untrusting of fucking strangers, especially aliens!!” The room went quiet after that; seems we went too far. “Eddy, I’m so-” “Hey! We’re not all bad! You don’t have to be a meanie-face a-mpff” “Pinkie, be quiet!” …well, this is awkward. Seems like our guests have arrived, and are- ahem -really curious. “Well, you can add espionage to the list of reasons I don’t trust you,” Eddy called out. “Eddy, shut up!” I said “Funny, I distinctly recall my request for the same thing being denied.” “Just…somebody go get the door…” “I’ll get it,” said Mike. Perspective: Mike Britowski Location: Ponyville Outskirts, Equestria Date:??? “……heeeeey…….” “Is…this a bad time?” “Oh no, no, it’s alright!” “Are you sure?” “Yea of course, come in! Sorry about the mess, the trip over was uhh…rough, to say the least.” I stepped aside as five mares, a princess and four guards entered the house. Two of the guards appeared to be male, as their body and facial structure differed from the mares. The first uh, stallions I believe is the term, we’ve seen around here. All of them were looking around, fascinated by all the strange new tech. Some of the items, like the TV and computer, haven’t been used in a long time, and have gathered dust. Twilight’s critical eye left no corner unexplored though, and she looked over even the dusty contraptions with a curious stare. The guards were also intrigued, though they kept a close watch on the princess, not that I blame them. Eddy made it abundantly clear the level of trust he has with them, no reason they should trust us any more than he does. I led the party into the living room, probably the only place large enough to fit all of us at once. Jonathon and Edgar smiled and waved at the group, Eddy crossed his arms, a look of indifference on his face. “Your Highness, welcome to our humble abode,” I said and bowed out of courtesy, Jon and Edgar following suit. It was awkwardly quiet in the room. “Eddy, you’re supposed to bow,” whispered Twilight urgently. “Bowing is a sign of loyalty and respect,” replied Eddy at normal volume. “I neither know your princess enough to respect her, nor owe any allegiance to any crown. And for that matter, neither do you ass-kissers!” I wonder what the legal process is here for getting someone out of a freaking dungeon! ‘Why can’t he read the situation like a fucking normal human being and respond accordingly!?’ The guards were obviously less-than-pleased with Eddy’s answer. With a glare, they angled their spears, while Eddy withdrew his pistol. ‘Shit, this situation’s already getting out of hand!’ “Try it, I dare you,” Eddy warned through grit teeth. Imagine everyone’s surprise when at this exact moment, the princess giggled. I wasn’t the only one confused, right…right? She quickly composed herself and spoke, her voice naturally smooth and melodic. “I apologize; it’s just been so long since somepony’s been courageous enough to express their real opinion,” she said. “It’s refreshing actually, thank you for that. None of you are required to bow to me; what your fellow human says is true.” Everyone looked at her in surprise, both human and pony alike. The guards were the first to recover and relaxed their stance, still keeping a wary eye on Eddy. “Well…not what I expected, but whatever,” Eddy said, pocket-holstering the pistol. “My name is Celestia, and on behalf of ponies everywhere, welcome to Equestria!” Celestia said. “Pleasure to meet you Princess, my name is Jonathon, but most call me Jon,” said Jonathon. “This is Mike, that’s Edgar, and ‘Mr. Meanie-Face’ as someone put it, is Eddy.” Everyone snickered, Eddy snorted with a ‘not amused’ face on. “And you lovely ladies are?” “Applejack, pleased to meetcha!” “Pinkie Pie here!” “Rarity, charmed.” “F-F-F-Fluttershy.” “Twilight, nice to meet you.” With introductions out of the way, we began conversing, each side asking a question, and the other responding before asking one in return. In this manner, they slowly learned of our race, technology, and in particular our situation. There was just one little fib we stuck to. We described Earth to them…as it was in 2021, before…well, you know. They don't need to know about the horrors that accompany that tale. The guards always kept quiet, breaking silence only when Celestia addressed them. The rest fired questions away. There seemed to be ‘categories’ in the questions depending on who asked them. Applejack seemed very interested in our farm tech, Rarity our fashion (which we were able to answer very little about), Pinkie about parties and clubs, Fluttershy about animals and shelters, and Celestia about Government and Policies. Then there was Twilight. She seemed to want to know everything about everything! From anatomy to technology, she wrote everything down on parchment with a quill. Speaking of which, talk about colonial tech! Still, it was impressive to see her magic go. When she first levitated her quill and parchment, it caught all of us (humans) off guard. She had to explain magic and its basic concepts to us, and asked us whether we used magic. We informed her of our lack of magic, and our use of technology to compensate for that fact. Eddy (of course) wasn’t pleased that ‘the aliens had super-powers’, but he quieted down eventually. She scribbled furiously on her parchment until the inevitable happened; her inkwell ran dry. “Oh darn, I knew I should have brought two,” she cursed. Without a word, Eddy stood up and started walking towards the entryway. “Stay here,” he said, glancing at Twilight with an apathetic look. She nodded, though she wore a look of confusion on her face. Eventually, Eddy returned with what to them must have looked like a plastic cylinder with a tapered point. “Here,” said Eddy. The confused look didn’t disappear as she took the pen. “Push the button on the end.” She did as she was told, and the tip came out. “I still don’t understand,” she said. Just try writing with it.” After a few scribbles, the ink started flowing, and the pen left dark black lines on the page. “Incredible! A writing utensil with a built-in inkwell. Your species and your technology are amazing! Um, thanks.” “Whatever.” ‘…What the heck did I just watch unfold?’ Eddy…not being an ass! Well, not a complete ass, but it’s a start. “Alright, now that we’ve covered a few topics, I’d like to discuss our current situation,” said Edgar. “Yes of course,” replied Celestia. “I should start from the beginning. A few weeks ago, a new spell was presented to me after rigorous theoretical checking. The spell would allow us to connect this dimension and another one, assuming it existed. The spell was created to finally put to rest the question ‘Do parallel universes exist?’.” “Wait, so you’re saying we’re in an entirely different universe than our own!?” I asked, astonished. “That is correct. The spell required a tremendous amount of power to cast, especially with all the added safeties we placed. It took until mere hours ago for me to build up the energy required to cast it. The spell would open a ‘gate’ and pull the object that was above it through. Are you all familiar with the reference to the universes as ‘fabrics’?” “We’ve heard something about it yes,” I replied. “Well, the theory is that if a hole is simply ripped in this fabric…bad things happen. The spell solves this problem by immediately binding to the broken threads to create a sort of permanent tube between universes. The ring above this house is this universe’s end of the tube, though it should have ended up in Canterlot.” “Canterlot?” “Yes, where the spell was originally cast,” explained Twilight. “One of the safeties must have kicked in. You see, all spells have safeties; otherwise, we would accidentally teleport ourselves into solid objects, or over-power a spell and have the excess energy backlash and hurt us, things like that. Had this entire house teleported into the throne room in Canterlot Palace, it might not have fit, so the safety redirected it to somewhere it would.” “So you teleported our house, and we were dragged along for the ride,” Eddy said. “That leaves one question; we had some…uhh, ‘friends’ over. How come they didn’t tag along too?” “Hmm, that is interesting,” said Twilight. “The other safety should have made sure to teleport any living organic matter within the object of choice to prevent accidents. An example would be teleporting a multi-story building with occupants inside, which would send anypony in the higher floors plummeting to their deaths when the building disappeared.” “Well that explains it,” Jonathon blurted out. “It does?” “NO, I mean no, it doesn’t, right Jonathon?” I said, jabbing him in the side discreetly. ‘Think before you act or talk man!’ “Uhh, no? Just forget I said anything…” he replied. Smooth… “It’s great we know how we ended up here, but I’d like to skip to the part where we find out if going home’s possible and how long,” Eddy said. Celestia grinned. “Do you wish to return that badly to your home world?” she asked. “Yes.” Her smile faltered ever-so-slightly. “…Very well, I have no right to keep you here if you don’t wish it. It will take two weeks from today though to build up the required energy to send you back. I ask for your cooperation in getting along with the townspeople until then.” “Two weeks!?” Eddy said. “I guess we’ll see our friend then, if they’re ‘still around’.” “If you’re worried about a disruption in time in your universe caused by your absence, you don’t need to worry about it,” said Celestia. “Oh? And why is that?” Eddy asked. “You see, during the weeks I was building energy for the spell, my brilliant student Twilight came up with the same concern, that pulling an object from another universe would cause a disruption. Working closely with a stallion by the name of Dr. Whooves, the spell was changed ever so slightly so the ‘tube’ could deposit an object anywhere in that universe’s timeline, within a limited range of one month in either direction, that is, a month ahead or behind the present. Because of that, we can return you two weeks into the past, back to your original time. See? No disruptions.” “That’s incredible, thank you!” I said. “We really need to get home. Not that this is a bad place; Equestria’s a very nice place, but…we’re needed back home. I hope you understand.” “It’s quite alright. There is just one favor I need to ask of you,” said Celestia. “This technology of yours…would it be alright if I sent somepony here to examine it? I feel there is a lot we could learn." I turned around to face my friends. “Well guys, what do you think? I’m for it if everyone else is.” “Yea sure!” said Edgar “Don’t see why not,” said Jonathon. “Not so sure about this…” said Eddy. Twilight turned to face him, and put on an adorable pouty face. “Pleeease?” she begged. Eddy was having trouble looking her in the eye, for some strange reason. Wonder what it was. “…ugh fine, but our weapon tech stays under lock and key , got it!?” he conceded. Everyone smiled at him, Twilight grinning from ear-to-ear. “Deal! Thank you so much” she beamed. A guard stood up and whispered something to Celestia. “Pardon my rudeness, but it appears other matters await me back at the castle. It was certainly a pleasure meeting with all of you; it’s a shame the sixth element bearer could not be with us at this time. I hope you get the chance to meet her.” “Element bearers?” I asked confused. “It is a story for another time, perhaps next time we meet.” We all stood up, the ponies to leave, humans to escort their guests. It seemed everyone had gotten comfortable in the human household, as we were all talking like old friends. Heck, even Eddy was briefly answering questions, though a few responses came off as a little dodgy. He was describing to Rarity why the place looked ‘unsightly’ as she put it, saying the place was indeed damaged and would need repairs. Fluttershy stopped hiding behind Applejack and walked like everyone else. She’s actually kinda pretty she’s not cowering in fear and out of sight. And that necklace she’s wearing…is…familiar. Wait… Looking at it again, I recognized the three pink and baby-blue butterflies on it, it was her! “Fluttershy,” I called. She ‘eeped’ and stopped, the rest of the group stopping with her. She spun around. “Were you here earlier by chance? The necklace design seems identical to the design of these bandages.” “Well…I…I mean…um…oh dear. I’m sorry.” She used her mane to hide most of her face. “So this is your handiwork. You don’t have to apologize, in fact I thank you! These were very well done.” Slowly, she came out from under her mane. She addressed us, very softly at first, but growing more confident as she went on. “The animals told me a building appeared from out of nowhere,” she said. “At first I wanted nothing to do with it, but when they told me there were injured creatures inside I rushed over. I found you all knocked out. Mike, you seemed to have the worst injuries, so I treated you first. I was going to treat all of you, but…Jon started waking up…and I got nervous…and ran.” “Wait, so you knew about them when we were at the hospital?” Pinkie asked. “Why didn’t you say anything!? Then I could have had more time to plan, and the super-duper party would have been super-duper-duper!” “I tried, but…nopony listened,” she said sadly. “Hey, this is great and all, but could you maybe pick another time to have this conversation?” Eddy asked. ‘Ah, there’s old Eddy! For a moment I thought he became nice and REASONABLE, but it was all in my head……damnit.’ “Okie-Dokie-Lokie!” replied Pinkie, not phased at all. We saw our guests off, Twilight promising to return tomorrow. After everyone had left, we stood there in silence, processing what just happened. “Well, that was interesting,” I commented. “They seem nice, which is always a plus. At least we have a way home, right?” The others nodded in agreement. For all the misunderstandings and bad things that happened today, things are finally starting to look up. Its’ like a mini-vacation from Earth, only when this one’s over…well, ‘work’ is really going to suck. “Hey guys,” Edgar called from the living room. “What’s this?” Perspective: Edgar Worthington Location: Ponyville Outskirts, Equestria Date: 9th month, 6th day, year 4723 (Lunar Calendar Date) (Humorously, this translates into October 26, 2025) “Does anyone recognize this?” I asked, holding a little pink envelope with the words ‘To Hue-mains’ on the front. Nobody knew whose it was, or who left it there. We all agreed that it was probably supposed to say ‘To Humans’ and therefore intended for us. The ponies were just here though; why leave a letter? Carefully opening it, I withdrew the contents. Inside was a hand-drawn map, along with a message: Please come to Sugarcube Corner at 7. Don’t be late! ~Pinkie Pie “Should we go?” I asked. “Yea, it could be fun,” Mike answered. “Besides, you and I haven’t gotten to see the town yet.” “Prepare to be disappointed” murmured Eddy. “Oh come on, it wasn’t bad,” said Jonathon. “Sure their technology is a little behind. So what?” “*Sigh* Yea sure,” Eddy conceded. “We’re going to be stuck here for two weeks anyways, might as well do something.” “Cool, so that’s settled. So, now what?” Mike asked “We could re-board up the windows,” I suggested. “Jon can fix the generator while we’re at it. We’ll freshen up, and leave by 6:30. Shouldn’t be too far.” “Sounds good, only there’s no wood left, but Jonathon can go and start repairs on the generator,” said Mike. “Right, forgot about that. I guess we’ll add it to the list of things we need to check the availability of here,” I replied. “Well, we could fill those holes outside; they’re ‘unsightly’, as Rarity put it.” We all chuckled at the fashion diva’s comment, before agreeing to the set tasks. Jonathon went into the generator shed, while the rest of us went into the workshop and retrieved some shovels. With any luck, this won’t be too difficult. 6:30p.m Come on guys, we’re gonna be late!” I called from the base of the stairs. We all showered, and dressed in clothing that’s not torn and covered in blood. I bet we don’t reek of death anymore too! We exited and locked the house, and preceded to the truck. On the way, we passed the Model X, which reminded me… “Hey guys, don’t we still have to unpack that?” I asked, pointing to the electric vehicle. “Yea, we do,” said Eddy. “My baby also needs a charge; that last trip wore her out. Unfortunately, until Jon over here fixes the generator, that’s not happening.” “Now that you mention generators and chemicals, if they have vegetable oil here, think you could whip up some biodiesel?” asked Jonathon “The generator’s at 1/3 tank.” “Don’t worry, my truck’s got less.” I replied. “Yea I’ll whip some up.” We continued conversing as we all piled in and drove to the town. As we entered though, the conversation died off quickly; something was wrong. Normally, we would have ran into some ponies by now, and they more than likely would have been scared and ran off, if what Jonathon and Eddy told me was anything to go by. There wasn’t a soul here though. It’s like the whole town just upped and left! I let off the gas and slowed to a crawl, headlights on and all. After a few turns I stopped in front of a building that looked like it was made of candy, just pure candy. I guess the name “Sugarcube Corner” wasn’t just for show. “I don’t get it,” I thought aloud. “According to the map, this is the right place. But looking at it, it appears they closed shop or something; there’s no lights on.” “Let’s go check it out,” Mike said “Why?” complained Eddy. “Can’t we just leave it? We’ll just tell Pinkie it was closed. Maybe this is the wrong place after all; she can’t expect us to just know our way around here by now.” “Well, a quick knock won’t hurt, right?” Jonathon asked. “*Sigh* sure, let’s knock on the stupid door so we can get out of here already.” I shut off the Ford, and everyone hopped out. I walked up to the door, the group right behind. *KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK* *CREEEAAK!* The door creaked open ominously just a crack. I tried peering inside, but the darkness consumed any light that made it past a foot in there. It was pitch black. “It’s unlocked,” I commented unnecessarily. “This is a bad idea,” said Eddy. “I really don’t like this, it could be a trap.” “Eddy, that absolutely ridiculous!” I chastised. “Just go in there and see if anyone’s home.” “Why me!?” “Because you’re being unreasonable, now go.” He muttered something under his breath, before he reluctantly walked up beside me and pushed the door all the way, exposing the black void within. “Hello? Anybody home? Hello?” He stepped in. All of a sudden, light exploded out of the dark foreboding void, filing the room with light and revealing the contents inside. “SURPRISE!!” At that moment everything slowed down. Maybe it was the adrenaline. Maybe it was something else. What I do know is that I suddenly was very aware of every detail. The decorations and food items around the room. The large banner that says ‘WELCOME TO EQUESTRIA HUE-MAINS!!’ Pinkie in the middle, surrounded by a large gathering of other ponies, all smiling at us. And out of the corner of my eye, a black metal object being leveled at Pinkie…‘wait, shit!’ “I knew it was a trap!” “EDDY NO!” *BANG!!!* Silence. No one moved, no one said a word. Even Pinkie was uncharacteristically quiet, a look of surprise on her face. The others had similar reactions to the pistol’s report. Slowly, Pinkie reached up to her head, and gingerly felt around. 3cm from her forehead, her naturally super-curly mane sported a 9mm hole in it. “W-what was that?” she asked, also uncharacteristically quietly and short. ‘Think brain, how do we fix this!?’ “Um…” ‘Think Edgar, think! Don’t blow this, you can do it! Just think fast!’ “Uhh…um…eh…counter surprise!” I said, mustering the biggest fake smile I could. ‘…We are so. Fucking. Dead.’