Cipher

by Alfoals Trottenbauer

V - Tower

The fire died out as the sun rose, the sun bathing the forest in dim light as it did.

"We should start moving." Dipper suggested as he stood up.

The other two rose off the leaf-covered ground. A few eyeballs hovered a distance from the camp. Ace cantered along, keeping pace with Twilight, though keeping his distance from the human since he still didn't quite trust him. Twilight however, had no problem with Dipper because she had no reason to not trust him. The eyes looked their way, lazily floating toward the three. After a bit, they came to a large cabin with a sign saying 'MYSTERY HACK' in red. A red letter S had fallen off the sign, now upside down resting on the lower part of the roof. The building was in a bad condition, the roof had moss growing on it and there was a gaping hole in the top of the shack.
The word 'MYSTERY' was crudely painted on in black. Dipper walked in without hesitation, Ace and Twilight cantering cautiously.

An audible creak echoed as the door opened. The inside was pitch, save for one sole lantern in the middle of the room. The lantern had a flickering candle lit inside, the fire waving in the wind from the door opening. The lantern gave a warm light. A tall, young woman wearing a tattered green flannel, a strip of the flannel torn off, being worn as a headband sat in front of the lantern..

"Wendy? Why are you still here?" Dipper questioned.

"I thought I could use this as a shelter for now, what's with the horses?" She glanced at Twilight and Ace.

"We have names, mine is Ace, this is Twilight." Ace pointed towards the lavender mare.

Wendy looked at Ace like she had never seen anything like him.

"We come from Equestria, a different dimension, I guess. I was forced into a deal with Bill, should I not have accepted, he would've destroyed Equestria, but I turned my back on him." Ace explained.

Wendy still stared at him.

"What, have you not seen a talking pony before?" He inquired.

A silence settled in for a few seconds.

"No, I haven't." She replied after a while.

A fumbling somewhere else inside was heard by the four, followed by some footsteps. The footsteps kept getting closer, heavier until another shape emerged from the dark. It was a large figure, wearing a baseball cap.

"Wendy, I got another candle." He said in a slightly baritone voice.

"Good job, man. Ace, Twilight, this is Soos." She introduced.

Soos walked into the light, giving a much less threatening appearance. He had a dark grey T-shirt with a question mark on.

"Hey dudes." He greeted.

"Hello." Ace greeted back awkwardly, gently sweeping a hoof at the floor.

"Woah, the horse is talking, guys." Soos remarked.

"Yes, they know." Ace responded.

"Ace, it's highly unlikely anypony- I mean anyone, here has seen an Equestrian, since this isn't where we're supposed to exist." Twilight corrected.

"I guess that's true, sorry." Ace apologized.

"So, anyway, do you guys have a plan?" Dipper asked.

"Just last out the apocalypse, I guess." Wendy responded.

"I'm just going to try to get back to Equestria." Stated Ace

A loud thumping echoed outside alongside a sloshing of water and screeching metal. A crash resounded from elsewhere within the shack. As if out of nowhere, a piece of the building was ripped from the foundation, a colossal metal support skewered the roof and floor, taking bits of the walls with it. Sunlight poured in as an animate water tower walked along like nothing had happened.

All five of them, pony and human, stared at the now missing chunk of the shack. Their jaws all had dropped.

"S-sweet Celestia..." Ace uttered.

"We should get out of here before it comes back around." Dipper advised.

The five left the building through the new entrance.