Out of The Frying Pan...
Looking at my own hand, I watched as my body slowly changed. My skin, once, light and beige, became a sickly black, the veins becoming more and more pronounced underneath, almost pressing out of the skin itself. My fingers were lengthening, becoming slim and curled like the branches on a dead tree, knotted and bony, a bright glow of red shimmering on the pointed finger of my right hand. My bones shifted inside me, lengthening painlessly as my muscles stretched to accommodate, making me several inches taller, and much more thin. For some reason, I didn't feel surprised by this, or even slightly worried. All I could feel was a sense of dim acceptance.
Looking directly at the glow caused me to feel sick to my stomach.I could hear whispers in my mind, too quiet to make out, but loud enough to make me shiver. I tried to close my eyes or look away, but I could not manage it. Something was not allowing it.
The red light grew brighter, from a shining mote to a magnificent flash in the blink of an eye, and my entire world turned red.
My eyes shot open, and then stayed that way for a long time.
For the first time since in since I first fell asleep in Equestria, cold and afraid under a rocky outcrop as I was being hunted by wolves, I remembered everything. I remembered where I was, how I got here, and everything that has happened to me within the last few days. I remembered the conversation that I had with the others as though it had happened mere minutes ago, although judging how the light streaming in from the window was much dimmer than it was before, I knew that it was much longer than that.
All of these things, I remembered as soon as my eyes opened, and all of these things were instantly made irrelevant as I came to one simple, overpowering conclusion.
I'm hungry.
And indeed I was. From what I had been told, I had been spoon fed small amounts of processed foods in order to keep me alive while I recovered for two days (the thought of that gave me chills), but right now, I was feeling absolutely ravenous. If I was right, the last proper meal that I had had was about 3 days ago.
The thought of food drove me to a sitting position from where I lay on the floor, a few blankets being the only thing separating me from the hard wood.
I was expecting a wave of nausea or pain when I moved, but was pleasantly surprised when I didn't feel even a single pang of discomfort. Intrigued, I slowly got to my feet, and discovered that not only did I not feel like crap, I actually felt fantastic.
Quickly looking over myself, I realized that there was not a single scratch on my body. My fingers, which I had torn to shreds in the mouth of a timberwolf, and my sides which had been viciously clawed at were completely healed, not to mention a handful of other injuries that were missing. I was even absent a few long lasting scars that I had received years ago that I thought I would have with me forever.
Must have been all that magic. I mused, looking at myself in awe. If only humans were capable of such feats...
Oh wait. I thought as I realized that I had accidentally performed magic the other day in self defence and nearly died because of it. That would actually be kind of...terrible...
I sighed as a loud growl from my stomach brought my attention back to a much more pressing issue. My knees grew week for a moment when my hunger suddenly hit me full force once again, tearing me away from my thoughts and forcing me to move purely on an instinctual desire to find food. I had opened the door before I had even realized that I was moving. Without sparing a second thought, not about how loud I was being or about any of the other ponies who may be around, I made my way downstairs, making sure not to bump my head on any low hanging archways built for a pony's height, the promise of food guiding me to what I hoped was a fully stocked kitchen, my socked feet nearly silent on the hardwood.
Glancing out of the window at the bottom of the flight of stairs, it occurred to me that it would be best if I kept my head down so as not to be seen by any ponies from outside. Not only would I not be able to understand them, the translation spell not extending beyond the ones I've already met, but they were likely already pretty anxious about me already, especially since I had traipsed through town with an unconscious and bloodied Fluttershy in my arms and glowing red eyes. It was a marvel, in my opinion, that none of them had torn down the entire place in search of me, the menacing looking alien.
These ponies are either very forgiving, or very cowardly. I thought wryly, making sure I stayed away from the windows as I looked for food. I hadn't gotten a very good look a the place yet, and it was deceptively large on the inside than what it looked like on the outside. Then again, if I had seen a nine foot tall unknown creature walking around, I'd probably be pretty cowardly too.
Luckily, there weren't any ponies outside to see me. From what I could tell, it seemed to be fairly early in the morning. Most of them were probably still inside, sleeping off the nightmares of the tall, bipedal monster who lives in the tree library.
I sighed dejectedly. I felt a little bit guilty about that to be honest. I hadn't understood a word they were saying, but I certainly understood the screams of terror.
Walking around and looking for the kitchen, I stumbled upon the wide open room that was filled nearly to bursting with books of all sizes, most of them lining the shelves that were built into the walls, and many being stacked on carts, desks, and tables. The shelves themselves were about twice as tall as I was, and each one was filled end to end with books, the alien words on their spines standing out for the world to see. A ladder with wheels on the bottom was leaning against one of the shelves, presumably to let them reach the higher tomes, although I couldn't see how a pony could operate it, or why they would need to considering their magic.
The thought of all these words that were written down by a different species was extremely tantalizing, so much so that I almost forgot all about food and started leafing through pages to see what I could glean from between the covers, but another painful rumble from my stomach reminded me that books were not edible.
After a bit more searching I finally found what had to be the kitchen. I noted with surprise that it contained a small refrigerator and oven, although it was probably average sized for the ponies, but dismissed it immediately with a quick shake of my head. My stomach was going to wake up the entire town at this rate.
Without any further ado, I threw open the refrigerator door, hoping against hope that they didn't stock only foods that I wouldn't be able to eat without some degree of preparation. I didn't trust myself to use that stove after all. The translation spell the Celestia had performed didn't extend to written numbers and letters, and I'd rather not start turning any dials if I can't read the labelling. I couldn't imagine that a kitchen fire would be a very good addition to house that was basically a hollowed out tree.
Fortunately, there was an ample supply of fruits and vegetable for me to choose from, as well as all sorts of other common ingredients that one would find in a refrigerator. All in all, it seemed to be pretty run of the mill stuff as there were only a few things that I couldn't recognize, and that was mainly because I couldn't read the labelling or the ingredients. There was only one thing that was missing...
“No meat...” I whispered to myself bitterly. I wasn't expecting there to be any, it would be foolishness to expect that a race of equines would be omnivorous, but I had been hoping that I was going to be pleasantly surprised.
Yet another loud gurgle erupted from my stomach, causing me to wince. Beggars can't be choosers I suppose. I thought as I reached in and grabbed a ripe, juicy peach and promptly bit into it.
My eyes widened at the taste that I could only describe as what candy made in heaven probably tasted like. The juice ran down my chin and into my already torn and dirty shirt, but I couldn't find the capacity to care about it. All that was important to me at that moment was this one, simple peach.
I closed my eyes, suppressing a moan and smiling slightly as I chewed. How in the world did these ponies manage to make something so delicious from the ground?
Black magic, probably. I reasoned.
I swallowed mightily, sighing at the feeling of food finally reaching my stomach and easing the pain by a hint.
Opening my eyes, I looked down at the peach in my hand, the best thing that has happened to me since I was thrust head first through a dimensional plane, a sizeable bite taken out of it. Funny... I thought wryly. Funny how simply a few days of hell can make those glimpses of heaven that much sweeter.
I smiled sadly at the fruit. Well, if this is hell, then it must have an excellent produce industry.
I took another bite, relishing the feeling of my teeth sinking through the meaty pulp. My stomach wanted to scarf it down as fast as I possibly could, but I wanted to savour it.
“What are you doing?”
I spun around, bits of peach juice flying from my mouth. Behind me, standing in the archway to the kitchen, was the small, purple creature that I had seen before, but haven't really met besides a perfunctory greeting.
The dragon... I thought with a small sense of awe, remembering how he had exhaled fire as simply as I do carbon dioxide.
Of course, looking at him, one would never of guessed that he was a dragon. A little bit plump with purple and green scales, he only came up to my knee. He was no bigger than the average toddler really, although the brightness of his emerald, slitted eyes spoke of obvious intelligence beyond that of a 5 year old's.
I quickly chewed and swallowed my mouthful. The dragon, Spike was his name, was watching me wearily and intently. He was clutching at the frame of the archway he was standing as though it were a lifeline to safety, one leg hidden behind the wall.
He's not as young as he looks, I realized, But he's still pretty young. And if there was one thing that young children were scared of, it was things that they didn't understand. Things like what lived in the dark and creepy basement, or what those strange noises coming from their parents bedroom was, or in this case, what this creature was and what is it doing.
I grinned at him. “Oh, I was just getting something to eat.” I replied casually, as though we were a couple of buddies who went way back.
“Is that so?” he asked, his voice expressionless.
I gulped. “Yup. I haven't eaten in a few days, because I was unconscious and all, so I was really hungry.” I punctuated this statement by taking another bite out of the fruit and smiling widely whilst chewing.
Please don't set me on fire, please don't set me on fire, please don't set me on fire...
His sharp eyes narrowed for a moment, but finally, he shrugged and stepped out from behind the doorway. “Okay.” he said simply.
I let out a silent sigh. I felt a mite ridiculous for feeling so afraid of a child, but considering his claws, teeth, and fire, I felt as though I was justified.
“So what were you doing sneaking around?” he asked. I flushed.
“I was trying not to wake anybody up.” I responded, causing him to snort.
“Nothing is so quiet that a dragon can't hear it.” he boasted, pointing to the membranous fins that graced either side of his head.
Spike walked over to where I stood, walking past me and peering inside of the fridge for a moment before reaching in and withdrawing a large, wonderfully ripe looking apple. Without hesitation, he took a big bite out of it, even going so far as to bite straight through the core which crunched loudly in his mouth as he chewed.
He noticed me staring at him and shrugged his shoulders. “Twilight says I should start eating more hard things to condition my teeth.” he explained matter of factly. Swallowing, he frowned at the apple that now was missing a sizeable chunk from its bottom. “It's better than munching on rocks, but doesn't beat gems.”
“R-rocks?” I replied dumbly.
He nodded regretfully. “Tastes like dirt, but it has to be done if my teeth are going to grow properly.” Much like a child would, he tilted his head up and opened his lips to show me a mouthful of small, sharp looking teeth.
I nodded observantly at his pearly whites. “Very interesting.” A thought occurred to me, and I smiled. “Hey, you guys wouldn't happen to have meat, would you?”
He shot me a strange, almost scandalized look. “You eat meat?” he asked incredulously.
I looked at him back, eyeing the sharp teeth that I imagined would be very capable of ripping through flesh and muscle. “You don't?” I asked, equally incredulous.
Before he could answer, a sleepy voice called out from somewhere else in the library. “Spike? Is that you?”
“In the kitchen Twilight!” he called, loudly enough to be heard and softly enough that it wasn't too loud.
“What are you doing up so early?” she called back, her voice and hoofsteps getting louder with each second.
Early? So it's morning after all.
The purple unicorn rounded the corner, her head low and her hair messy. “This is earlier than even I would wake up.” she said sleepily. “Usually I have to fight you to get out of bed,...”
Spike shrugged from where he stood next to me and said nothing.
“Well, I'm glad you're taking the initiative to-” she stopped as she noticed me, her eyes, slightly red, widening considerably. “You're awake!”
I didn't know what I was supposed to say at that, make a joke, agree, or anything at all, so I simply nodded and continued to eat my peach.
Twilight's mouth opened and closed like a fish. “I...how....you....” Finally, she shook her head violently, her mane flying around her head in a halo of purple strands, making it even more disheveled, and cast me an accusing look. “You're not supposed to be walking yet! We don't know if you're well!”
I blinked. She sounded genuinely annoyed at me for some reason. “Well, I feel fine.” I said in between mouthfuls. “Just really hungry.”
Now it was her time to blink. “You feel fine?” she asked. “Your body was in the process of being restructured on a molecular level due to an incredibly powerful magic, so powerful that it's really a miracle that you're even alive, and you feel fine?”
I grimaced, very pointedly not glancing at the small metal band around my finger. “Well when you put it that way...”
She raised a hoof to stop me. “Never mind.” she said curtly. “That doesn't matter. What matters now is that you're awake.” she lowered her hoof and looked me straight in the eye. “Now, I need you to tell me exactly how you felt when you woke up, and exactly how you feel right now.”
I was taken slightly aback, but the hard look in her eye made me acquiesce. The next few minutes were spent explaining in great detail what happened from when I woke up to the present moment, and describing how I feel both physically and mentally. Spike simply stood nearby and listened interestedly.
When I was finished, she had a skeptical look on her face. “Well, I don't know much about your biology or psychology, but you seem to be alright...” she said slowly, adopting a contemplative look. “I guess Princess Celestia's magic really did its job.”
I frowned at the unicorn. “How long were you expecting me to be out for?”
She looked up at me expressionlessly. “I was expecting you to be unconscious for at least another day. I don't know why you woke up now though. It could be something about the ring that let you heal so quickly, or maybe you just lack an inner resistance to magic that would have slowed down the process.” She shrugged and smiled at me. “Oh well, it doesn't really matter. What matters is that you're alright.”
I smiled back. “Yep.” For now at least.
Twilight glanced at the pit that I held in my hand; I had finished my peach without even realizing it. “You shouldn't eat anything else.” she said with a touch of reproach. “You need to give your body time to adjust as you haven't eaten solid food in a while, or you could have some serious problems. For now, just drink a lot of water.”
I looked at her in surprise, and then glanced regretfully at the fridge. In truth, my stomach was actually already feeling satiated, probably due to it shrinking, so I felt like I could last a while longer without anything more to eat.
I sighed and threw away the pit in a nearby wastebasket. Twilight gave me a satisfied nod.
“Good. Now, I'm going to send a letter to the Princesses and tell them that you awoke earlier than expected and that we should be set to leave later on in the afternoon. She'll make all the arrangements needed.”
This caught me by surprise. “You're leaving?”
“Not me.” she replied. “Us. Or rather, us and the rest fo the girls.”
I furrowed my brow in consternation. The last time I had left these walls, things had not gone well for me, and I wasn't very eager to try to brave the outside once again, especially not on such short notice. “Where are we going?”
“To the Crystal Empire of course.” she said easily. “The only way to get that ring off of you and send you back home is to find its power at the source.”
That sounded familiar to me, and I remembered it being mentioned as the place where Sombra was fought before, and subsequently defeated and banished. To the In Between, I think it was. The void that separated dimensions.
“You should get ready.” Twilight said seriously, bringing my attention back to her. “It's a long trip to the Crystal Empire, and I don't know what's going to happen when we get there.” I nodded dully, not liking the sound of that.
“Come on Spike, let's go send that letter.” she said as she turned around, addressing the young dragon who leaped to attention and scurried after her, leaving me alone in the kitchen.
“You got it Twi'!” he called enthusiastically, pleased as punch at the thought of being of assistance. I, however, just felt vaguely sick.
Twilight and Spike disappeared for while after that, leaving me to amuse myself however I saw fit. I briefly considered going back to sleep, but then discarded the idea, reasoning that I had had enough sleep over the past few days to last me a week. A better idea came to me however, and it was with no small amount of excitement that I made my way to the main library where all those books had been sitting on those shelves, waiting to reveal their secrets to those curious enough to open the covers.
I looked up at the tall, imposing shelves with wonderment. The words of pony scholars, philosophers, and scientists are right in front of me, and I don't have a hope in hell to read them. I thought to myself with a touch of sadness. What could I learn from these ponies, from these creatures capable of magic? What secrets that have boggled the minds of the finest that humanity had to offer for centuries have they managed to unlock? It was a small tragedy, I thought, that I would likely never know.
Well, it wasn't all bad, I figured as I reached up and withdrew a well aged book from its spot on a random shelf. I could always look at pictures and see what I could learn from that. The elegant, flowing script on its cover was written in shiny black ink and curved over a rearing pony standing on a desolate battleground wearing vicious looking metal armour with spikes protruding from the helmet, shoulders, and hooves.
A fantasy novel. I realized as I quickly flipped through the pages to see nothing but indecipherable lines of script. Closing it and putting it back in its spot, I moved to a different shelf. Stories of brave heroes and epic battles between good and evil weren't going to help me much right now, even if I did somehow find myself in the shoes of what could very well be the a character in a fantasy story.
It took a lot of opening and closing of books, mostly ones that caught my eye for no other reason than what it looked like or I liked the way the script looked on the spines and covers before I was able to find something interesting. It was a big one, tall and wide with thin pages, but what interested me most about it was that picture of a globe on the front that drew my eye as soon as I pulled it out. It was not, however, the globe that I was used to seeing.
Smiling with excitement, I noted the area that I withdrew the book from and sat down cross legged in front of the shelf, the book laying open in my lap. I could have sat in one of the chairs in the room, but they looked to be a little too small to be comfortable. No, the floor was good enough for me.
The binding creaked as I slowly opened the book, starting at a random page somewhere near the beginning. Inside, I was met with what looked to be wireframe pictures of ponies of various genders, sizes, and races. Little multicoloured lines ran through their bodies, displaying important information about the way that their body worked that I was not aware of. In the unicorns, the lines were more focused around the head and horn, for the pegasus they were near the wings, and for the average pony, near the midsection and hooves.
Looking over the diagrams with interest, I skipped over the text and turned the page with a small smile. I felt like a child going over a brand new picture book, caring only for the pretty illustrations rather than the story.
I shifted and straightened, getting myself more comfortable. I didn't know how much time I had before things started to get hectic again, but I was going to make the best of it.
I had been “reading” for a few hours, wandering around Twilight Sparkle's library and leafing through books at random before the librarian herself walked in and told me that it was time to go. At this point, I was starting to get sick of doing nothing but looking at pictures in the books, especially considering I couldn't make heads or tails out of most of them.
Although, the dusty tome that I had found in a random pile filled with all sorts of intricate diagrams of two ponies in...intimate positions had been all too easy to understand. I didn't look at that one for very long, but a morbidly interested part of me wanted to.
Even across dimensions, some things never changed...
The purple unicorn had been extremely excited to know that I had taken an interest in her collection, and the moment that she saw me with a book in my hand, started asking me everything from my personal tastes in literature to what kind of paper are human books made out of, to which I answered mystery, and the thin, white kind.
Eventually, she calmed down enough to tell me that it was time to go. “I just received word from the princesses.” she said. “Everything has been arranged. We're going to the Crystal Empire.”
I blinked at this and looked down at the book that was currently in my hand. It was some kind of bestiary, with pictures of strange and somewhat dangerous creatures that apparently existed in this place. I had seen pictures of spiders the size of my head, snakes with the heads of a chicken, and creatures with scales, claws, and fangs that looked like they could tear my throat out without a second thought. Thinking back, I seemed to remember hearing an inexplicable lion's roar in the Everfree Forest, and I couldn't help but shudder. I didn't even want to know what had made that noise...
“Alright.” I replied stoically, picking myself up off the ground and filling in the gap in the shelves from where the book came from. “No sense putting it off.”
“That's the spirit!” the unicorn chirped, causing me to raise an eyebrow. “We're going to be taking a train there, so it won't be too long.” She paused for a moment. “Um...Do you know-”
“Yes, I know what a train is.” I said quickly. Twilight grinned with a blush and nodded.
“Right. Of course.” she replied, embarrassed.
Sighing, I put my hands on my knees and hauled myself to my feet, wobbling slightly as blood flowed through legs that were numbed from sitting on the wooden floor for so long. Twilight watched me interest.
“You know, you have a very fascinating body structure.” she commented. “Similar to Spike's, and to a lesser extent, to that of a minotaur, but unique in its own way. Skinnier, less muscle, longer, yet completely functional. How are you even able to maintain your balance without a tail?”
My first instinct was to reply sarcastically that it was “magic,” but I knew she would probably believe me if I did, so I simply shrugged my shoulders and walked over to her. She stepped to the side as I approached, and we both left the room side by side and made our way through the library.
“What's even more fascinating is that even though you have a completely different body structure, you're gestures are very similar to ours. A nod or shake of the head signifies assent or dissent, a shrug of the shoulders indicates indifference or ignorance. It's the exact same as for us.”
“I guess some things are so universal that they span dimensions.” I muttered noncommittally. Her eyes widened at this we approached the front door that led to the outside world. Next to it lay a few small bags and an impatient dragon tapping his foot.
“Now that's an interesting theory...” she said, more to herself than to me. “That completely different sentient beings across dimensions essentially share certain cultural aspects despite their differences? Fascinating!”
I let out a small, amused smile at this. These ponies were anything but boring creatures.
“You guys ready yet?” Spike said as we approached the door.
“Yes yes, we're good to go.” Twilight replied distractedly, a contemplative look on her face that I imagined would stay there for a while. I held in a chuckle.
“Well, for something that's so important, you seem to be taking your sweet time about it.”
I looked at the little dragon with confusion, and Twilight spoke up. “I explained the details to him. He'll be coming with us.” she said as she lifted her bags and strapped them to her side, like the pony equivalent to a backpack.
I raised my eyebrow, but said nothing. Spike was staring at me impassively, and under the gaze of his innocent, yet dangerous looking eyes eyes, I didn't really feel up to protesting. He may be young, but he was still a dragon after all.
“Alright then, let's go.” Twilight said, reaching out and putting a hoof on the door. She glanced back and cast me a meaningful look. “It would be best if you stick close to us. The Princess was able to reassure them, but after your last public appearance, Ponyville's citizens are likely going to be...somewhat wary of you.”
Well that's putting it lightly. I thought, nodding to her. I didn't really feel like going out and exploring anyway.
Looking satisfied, Twilight turned her hoof and pushed open the door. A rush of wind greeted us, causing her mane to sway gently and for the hair on my arms to stand up on end. The faint sound of birdsong could be heard, carried on the wind that held a faint smell of pine.
Stepping forward, I had to shield my eyes with my arm. Staying indoors for so long had caused me to become used to the dimmer light, and now my retinas were searing as I was met with the full force of the sun bearing down on me. I was forced to squint and look down at the ground just so that I could see where I was going until my eyes adjusted.
I heard the sound of the door closing behind me. “Alright, this way.” Twilight spoke, gesturing for me to follow her along the dirt roads. “The train leaves in half an hour.”
Glancing at her and nodding, we set down the path, the library, my last haven of safety, quickly disappearing behind us as it was hidden from view by other buildings and structures.
That's the eighth one. I thought to myself as a shrill scream pierced the air. In front of me stood a dark grey pony with a blue mane in the shape of a mohawk, eyes transfixed on me with horror and mouth agape. Without hesitation, the frightened pony turned around and took off with frightening speed, despite Twilight's protests that there was nothing to be afraid about.
“Wow.” Spike said, crossing his arms as he watched the receding dust cloud that was the pony. “I didn't know Thunderlane could hit that high of a note.”
Twilight lightly stamped the ground in frustration. “Why do they insist on running away?” she muttered to herself irritably.
We hadn't come across many ponies on our walk, but almost every single one we did cross paths with had immediately bolted on site. A few had simply given us a wide berth, looking at me curiously or suspiciously, and one had actually even walked up to me and began examining me closely. It was a very small pony, a child who was playing by herself with a ball on the side of the road, and she seemed rather excited to come face to face with me. In fact, it took quite a few stern words from Twilight to get her to leave me alone as she kept on pulling at my pant legs and jabbering nonsensically at me.
“I can't really blame them.” I said. I remembered that particular pony as one that I had come across when walking bloody and bruised through town with Fluttershy in my arms. From his perspective, seeing a red eyed monster who was almost twice as tall as you had to be a pretty traumatizing experience.
I winced guiltily. I was only trying to help... I thought to myself pitifully.
Twilight grunted in response. “Well, it doesn't matter.” she said as we turned one more corner. “We're here.”
A wide one story building with white painted walls showing the discolouration of age came into view. Flanked by it were two raised wooden platforms that sat perpendicular to a long, rusty looking track running far off into the distance.
“The girls are probably already waiting for us.” she said as we approached the station, passing a few bewildered ponies. “We'll find them and leave right away.”
I nodded absentmindedly, eyeing the ponies around me as they did the same to me. “Sounds good.” I replied.
Fortunately, the train station wasn't busy. Only a small number of ponies, cups of what looked like coffee clutched in their hooves and an assortment of bags and suitcases stood on the platform or in line for tickets. They looked at me wearily as I stepped through the door of the station, this time not having to duck my head under the unusually tall doorway. Thankfully, suspicious glances and nervous shuffles were all that they spared me as looked anxiously up and down the track that the train was soon to come on. It seemed that not even I was able to interrupt their daily commute.
I couldn't help but marvel over the fact that I was actually considered to be stranger and more of a threat than the dragon walking alongside me was.
Due to the small number, no more than twenty, it wasn't hard to locate the others, especially since one pony in particular was bouncing up and down and waving her hoof so frantically that it looked as though it were about to fall off.
“Over here guys, over here!” she cried to us, the others standing around her looking over to us.
Twilight raised a hoof in greeting and walked over, Spike and I promptly following her.
“Hey everypony.” she called as we approached them. “Are you all ready to go?”
“You betcha!” Applejack said with a grin. A loud groan from behind her caused her grin to fade slightly. “Well, most of us are.”
She turned around to look at Rainbow Dash who, to my great surprise, was laying sprawled out on what seemed to be a giant cotton ball that was hovering over the ground and supporting her weight. Her eyes, bloodshot and narrow, trained on us.
“There is something seriously wrong with you ponies if you think this is an acceptable time to be awake.” she mumbled. Applejack looked at her and huffed.
“It's 9 o'clock, Rainbow.” she said.
“Like I said, seriously wrong...”
“What is that thing?” I blurted out before I could stop myself, referring to the fluffy white mass that she was laying on. She raised an eyebrow and looked at me dubiously.
“What, you've never seen a cloud before?”
I didn't answer, instead looking around at the other ponies faces to see if what she just said sounded as strange to them as it did to me.
It didn't, evidently, and they paid it little mind. Instead, they continued on talking amiably amongst one another, friend greeting friend. Fluttershy, I noticed, was looking at me rather anxiously. Probably worried about my wellbeing.
I flashed her an easy smile and she relaxed, smiling back at me. I did not, however, feel the same way.
I'm putting my life in the han-hooves of these ponies? I thought despairingly as I watched them talk. Twilight was talking to Rarity about something involving crystals while Spike stood next to her and gazed up at the white unicorn with a look of adoration. Applejack seemed to be trying to calm down an overly excited Pinkie Pie who was bouncing up and down, as per usual. Rainbow Dash was lying on her...cloud with a look of irritation on her face, and Fluttershy was simply standing to the side and looking content.
I had to restrain a sigh. If I was being honest with myself, I didn't see how much help they were going to be in trying to prevent a powerful and ancient evil from taking over my mind. I know Luna said that they had beaten him before, although I can't possible see how...but is this really going to work?
Looking around at the ponies crowding the train station, many of which immdiately reverted their eyes when I caught them staring at me and tried to not look nervous, I couldn't help but feel a pit of dread settle deep in my gut.
They're all as cowardly as I am... I thought glumly, looking back to the smiling, multicoloured group. And they are going to be putting their lives at risk to help me...
“Alright everyone, here are your tickets.” Twilight announced, levitating some yellow strips of paper from her bags and giving one to each of us. “Princess Celestia sent them to me. I requested that we get a private car for ourselves so that we don't...bother...the other passengers.”
This time, I really did sigh, but was largely ignored as Pinkie Pie started bouncing up and down again, chattering excitedly.
“Ooh, look! There's the train!” she said, pointing off into the distance. Sure enough, a red speck with what looked like smoke puffing out of it could be seen, and as it came closer and closer, I could just about make out the details of a rustic looking steam engine barrelling towards us.
Rainbow Dash groaned and whacked her hoof against the...cloud...that she was laying on, and it promptly dissipated with a poof, falling to the ground on all floors. One by one, they all grabbed their stuff and waited by the station near the tracks as the train approached
I glanced down at the golden band on my finger as they others were distracted by the oncoming train. There's a good chance that we could all die from this. Suddenly, I found myself flashing back to the forest, watching as a group of hungry wolves approach a defenceless pegasus. My hand clenched instinctually and a knot formed in my jaw.
I won't let that happen. I vowed as the train came to a squealing stop in front of the platform. No matter what I have to do, I won't.
Clutching my ticket, I stepped onto the train as the doors opened, following the ponies in front of me and presenting my ticket. My newfound vigour deflated slightly as I saw Fluttershy shyly give her ticket to the attendant and walk away.
No matter what I have to do...
Funnily enough, the the attendant on the train didn't react to me in the slightest when I handed him my ticket which he levitated with a dark green aura and slipped into a small pouch by his side. He simply turned around and showed us to our private car and then left us, not sparing a second glance. In a way, I was somewhat thankful, although I couldn't tell if he was being professional or just plain rude.
The ceilings of the cars were fairly high, so I didn't need to stoop low when walking or standing, and while still somewhat small, the seats were a pretty decent size and somewhat comfortable. The floors were a clean, grey metal, and the walls, much like the outside of the train, where a bright red colour.
I chose my seat directly next to the large window looking out to the station as the others stowed their bags under seats and on racks. Outside, I could see a small procession of multicoloured ponies walking onto the train single file, presenting their tickets and being gestured through.
It all struck as so similar as what I would see back home in Toronto in the underground subways. “Bizarre...” I muttered under my breath as I saw one scrawny pony struggle to drag a large bag with them through the door.
“What's that, Sugarcube?” Applejack asked good naturedly.
I blinked. “Oh, uh...nothing.”
A train whistle pierced through the air, a shrill whine that signified it was about to start moving, and the others took to their seats. Fluttershy sat a few seats away from me, and the rest sat on the bench opposite me side by side.
The train jerked once, and then started to slowly move forward. The train station slid out of view, the weathered building and the wooden platform being replaced by trees and open fields.
I exhaled slowly and closed my eyes, letting my head rest against the vibrating window pane behind me. It was somehow comforting, like a rough head massage, and the stress of the past few days slowly started to ebb away.
I exhaled slowly. This is probably going to be the last moment of peace that I get in the next little while, so I might as well enjoy it.
“Alright, so here's the plan.” came Twilight's voice. “When we get to the Crystal Empire, we'll meet with my brother who will show us where we need to go to find Sombra's palace. After that, it's only a matter of finding the source of his power which will be located in the throne room, the place that he was defeated.”
Opening my eyes again, I looked at the unicorn dubiously as I chewed on the inside of my lip, not wanting to say anything. As far as plans went, that one sounded to unnervingly simplistic and straightforward.
“Ooooh! We get to see Shiny again!” Pinkie Pie squealed, happily clapping her hooves. “How is he? How's Cadence? Any itty bitty foals on the way yet?”
Twilight smiled at her. “They're doing fine Pinkie.” she replied before making a distasteful face. “Or at least, they were doing fine until they heard what was happening.” With a sigh, Twilight shook her head. “I was told that his reaction involved quite a few words that I'd rather not repeat.”
Pinkie Pie giggled.
“It will be a pleasure to see them again, the circumstances notwithstanding.” Rarity commented brightly, hoping to change the topic to a lighter tone.
Twilight nodded, her smile growing wider. “That's true.”
“We should play a game in the meantime!” Pinkie Pie announced. “It'll take a few hours for us to get there after all.”
Rainbow Dash groaned from where she lay sprawled over several. “How about we all just go back to sleep?” she moaned, eliciting laughs and rolled eyes from her friends.
“Hey...” Spike said from where he sat besides Twilight, drawing all attention towards him as he looked at me. “Why don't you tell us a little bit about where you come from? That would be kinda fun.”
This got their attention. Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Applejack looked at me with interest plain on their faces. A bright light shined in Twilight's eyes, telling me that she liked that idea immensely, and even Rainbow Dash's ears perked up a bit, although her baggy eyes remained closed.
I shrugged. “I suppose that'd be alright.” I answered. “But, in exchange, you'll have to tell me a bit more about your world.”
They nodded eagerly, and I smiled, amused at their interest.
“All right then.” I said as I straightened myself as much as possible in my small seat. “What do you want to know?”
For the next few hours, both I and the ponies and dragon that I was with had our minds blown numerous times. A good portion of that time was spent trying to wrap my head around the idea that the sun and moon rose simply by the power of the two princesses, and not the movement of the celestial bodies as I was used to. Compared to that, the idea that all weather was controlled by the pegasus ponies was laughably believable.
On the other hand, they seemed to be absolutely fascinated with human achievements and culture. Obviously I wasn't the most qualified person in either of out worlds to represent my race, but I did my best. Twilight was absolutely giddy at the thought of the internet, the idea of almost all of human knowledge being stored digitally making her nearly vibrate in her seat with excitement. Rainbow Dash loved the idea of cars and airplanes, especially when I told her that we had broken the sound barrier, Pinkie Pie was fascinated with the music and entertainment, Applejack was interested in farming practices and city development, Rarity wanted to know about the culture itself, especially the fashion side of it, and Fluttershy and Spike were content to just sit and listen.
By the time we arrived at our destination, we were all boggling at the possibilities. I was given a somewhat lengthy description of what magic was and what it was capable in this world, and they were given one of technology in mine, and now each and every one of us was imagining what we could do if we could somehow combine the two. There were so many problems that I could think of that we would be able to solve if we were could do what these ponies were capable of.
It was an amusing and fascinating thought, but it was pushed out of my head with the squeal of the breaks announcing our arrival, reminding me why I was on this train in the first place.
“Oh boy, we're here!” Pinkie Pie cried, grabbing her saddle bags and darting out of the car door, surprising absolutely nobody. We followed at a much more reasonable pace, silent as we walked through the train and out of the doors, the attendant checking us off on a clipboard that floated in front of him.
As soon as I stepped out of the train, a blast of cool wind hit me. It was a fair bit colder here than it was in Ponyville, but not enough to make it uncomfortable. Besides, considering the weather that I was used to experiencing around the northern provinces of Canada, it simply felt rather mild.
I breathed in deeply as I stepped out of the train onto a station that was identical to Ponyville's, except for being a lot busier, the ponies here strangely having an odd, almost shiny look to them, and then paused. There was something different about this place, something that I couldn't quite place. It was almost as if the air was charged with a sort of...energy that I could somehow sense, like a smell or a sound that was so small that I could barely recognize its presence. I could feel it on my body as well, my skin tingling all of the sudden for no good reason, feeling like little licks of electricity were running across it.
“This place feels...strange.” I said aimlessly, ignoring the surprised and fascinated looks from the ponies around me that only grew in number when I spoke.
“Why do you say that Sugarcube?” Applejack asked curiously? “Something biting at your tail?”
I let the figure of speech pass without correction. “I don't really know why.” I said slowly, looking back at them. “The air just feels...heavy.”
Rarity adopted a surprised look and Twilight took on a grim one. The rest just looked confused.
“It's the effects of the ring.” Twilight said gravely, motioning to my hand. “It's subtly changing you, making you more sensitive to magic as though you were a pony. A unicorn to be exact, as it is usually only unicorns who can sense levels of magic saturation.” She looked around, breathing deeply. “I can feel it as well, and so can Rarity. The Crystal Empire has one of the most dense magical concentrations in the entire world.”
I felt my mouth go dry. “Oh.” I said simply. Had I been in a better state of mind, I would have realized that many ponies were now gaping open mouthed at us, and I would have realized it was because, to them, I was basically speaking to Twilight in one language, and she was speaking back in another completely different one. It must have been an odd sight from their perspective.
“Hey Twi', where's your brother? Shouldn't we have some sort of, I dunno, royal escort or something?” Rainbow Dash asked, already hovering above the heads of the other ponies.
“Not this time Rainbow.” The unicorn answered. “That would cause a lot of commotion, and we'd rather keep things low key.”
Rainbow stared at her, and then at me. “Yeeeaaah...good luck with that.”
Smiling slightly, I shook my head and chuckled, intensely aware of that disturbing, yet small pressure that I could feel somewhere in the back of my mind. When I was a kid, I'd always dreamed of what life would be like if magic was real, but it was nothing like this.
“He should be around here somewhere...” Twilight said quietly, scanning the crowd. “He said he'd meet us on the station...”
“Well, hopefully he'll hurry up and get here if he's not already.” I said dryly. “I don't think that this Sombra fellow will be willing to wait for...” I trailed off as I realized that Twilight was frantically gesturing at me, motioning her hoof across her neck and looking pained.
“What?” I asked her, my voice sounding strangely loud all of a sudden. I realized that the station had been plunged into an almost complete silence, save for a few vague whispers from its occupants. The others noticed it as well, and seemed to be just as confused as I was as all the eyes in station were now focused on us.
“You shouldn't say that around here...” Twilight whispered urgently.
“Say what? Sombra?” Her eyes widened, and it was only then that I realized what she was trying to tell me.
Oh shit.
And that's when the screaming started.