Theo once again found himself walking into Twilight's castle. With his sudden paranoia, he believed finishing the teleportation spell training would prove useful, and whatever spells he could learn beyond that would also help.
Contrary to last time, the castle was packed with various ponies. even Pinkie could be seen darting around the place. It seemed Theo accidentally discovered Pinkie's secret party location. Theo thought briefly of trying to escape from the party and doing more training with Starlight, but that remained as a concept. Most of his mind power was spent trying to stay out of sight, and succeeding!
Theo was about to make a break for the hallway, when he saw Pinkie incoming. His instincts and nostalgia took over, and he slipped under a nearby cardboard box. It was only after he did so when he realised what a shitty idea this was, hoping to whatever god ruled this world to allow him to go undetected, and either through divine intervention or sheer luck, he was.
After Pinkie passed by (which Theo was aware of due to the lack of bouncing noises), Theo exited the box, only to be caught off guard by Starlight. He jumped at first, but relaxed after realising it was her. She looked at the box Theo hid under.
"You hid under a cardboard box?" She asked, seeming sceptical of Theo's method
"It worked, didn't it?" Theo responded. "Besides, it worked. Nobody suspects a cardboard box". Starlight rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, but through sheer luck. It'd be easier to teleport away." She explained. Theo shook his head.
"Yeah, we didn't finish that, remember?" Theo reminded her. It was then when they heard somepony walking towards them. Starlight looked at Theo.
"Twilight's coming, hide." She whispered briefly before pushing him behind a nearby curtain.
Twilight walked towards Starlight after turning from another corridor. Her coat was purple, lavander specifically. She seemed to have both wings and a horn, making her vastly unique compared to others. Her cutie mark was a star surrounded by five sparks. She wore a small tiara with small purple gemstones encrusted into it.
"Starlight! How've you been?" Twilight asked, moving over to Starlight slowly. Starlight attempted to move in front of Theo in the hopes that she won't notice him.
"Princess Twilight, I wasn't expecting you back so soon." Starlight said to her. Twilight seemed suspicious over Starlight using her full title, it usually meant one of two things. The first was that she wanted something from her, but since she just got back, this option was less likely. The second was because she was hiding something from her. It was then that Twilight carefully looked over at her, and noticed another set of hooves behind her, and another colour entirely.
"What are you hiding?" Twilight asked her. Starlight seemed surprised by her response and how quickly she caught onto her.
"Hiding what?" Starlight asked her back. Twilight didn't buy this however, instead choosing to move the curtain, and revealed Theo in the process. Theo looked over at Starlight.
"That's why I chose the cardboard box, nobody suspects a cardbo.." Theo tried to say before starlight stopped him.
"Twilight, this is Theo. he is one of the ponies who Pinkie is making the party for." Starlight explained." He wanted to use the library to learn a few spells." Twilight looked at him closely.
"He wants to use the library? Nopony ever asked to use the library except the school ponies." Twilight questioned. Theo felt a case of déjà vu.
"Honestly, what's the big issue with somepony wanting to use a library? You'd think its a crime." Theo moaned. Twilight continued her look, but suddenly turned it into a more caring one.
"If you both want to use the library, feel free to." Twilight said." I'll keep Pinkie at bay." Starlight and Theo looked at each other with glee. Theo then looked back at Twilight.
"Thanks Princess." He praised. Twilight winced at this.
"Just 'Twilight' is fine." Twilight smiled." Now go before Pinkie gets back." As if instant, Theo and Starlight ran to the library.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Ivan and Made hadn't moved from their earlier spot, and had settled down to talk. There was the odd raised voice every now and again, but with nopony around to hear them, their free speech took over.
"Hey, watch this." Ivan declared as he took to the air. He grabbed a cloud from the air, dragged it nearer to the ground and sat on it. Made gawped at this.
"That doesn't seem physically possible." She exclaimed. Ivan had a large grin on his face.
"Pegasus ponies can manipulate the weather. It's fucking awesome." Ivan declared." Also, clouds are really soft. Well, that's not saying much." Made giggled.
"You love to show off, don't you?" She asked him. Ivan rubbed the back of his neck.
"Just proving I'm not a dipshit." He answered.
All of a sudden, Ivan's cloud was destroyed from underneath him by something moving incredibly fast. Luckily, Ivan managed to recover from his fall before he hit the ground, but was clearly pissed.
"Hey, who was that?" He called out, but received no answer. He felt a tap on his back, but turned to see nothing. He felt it again, but still saw nothing. He then heard some giggling from two places. The first came from Made, which was completely normal, but he also heard laughter from above him. He quickly glanced up and caught the pony prankster off guard. The mare in question was l light blue in colour with a rainbow coloured main. Her mark was a rainbow lightning bolt coming from a cloud, ironic considering what she just did. He was clearly pranked, but didn't find it amusing.
"What the hell was that for?" Ivan asked, more pissed than his usual demeanour. The mare was oblivious to this though.
"I got bored and saw you flirting with your marefriend." She said in a raspy voice." Besides, I'm bored."
"WE DON'T DATE!" Ivan and Made yelled in unison. They then looked at each other in sync, and Made blushed lightly. Ivan remained oblivious, as is expected from him.
"Besides, our connections have nothing to you. And if you think that was funny, your wrong." Ivan spoke sternly.
"It was kinda funny." Made sniggered. Ivan looked over at her.
"Made, not helping." Ivan muttered while gritting his teeth. The mare just seemed to laugh slightly.
"Ok, Ivan was it?" The mare asked him." Sorry if I scared you, but it was just a joke." This small apology didn't really make Ivan feel better, but earned Made's trust, somehow.
"Sorry about him, he hates being knocked over," Made said." You should see him In the morning. He's the kind of person who'd blame someone for tripping over a rock." Ivan winced, slightly embarrassed." Sorry Ivan."
"Not an issue Made." Ivan said despite his slight embarrassment." Just give us a heads up next time, whoever you are."
"Rainbow Dash, but I can't make any promises." She answered him." You are two of the new ones, aren't you?"
"Yeah, but the third one, Theo, went to the library about 15 minutes ago." Made told her.
"Let me guess, he's the egghead of the group." Rainbow guessed.
"Nope, he just does it so we don't have to." Ivan told her, still pissed.
"So, he's an egghead." Rainbow repeated.
"Yeah, pretty much." Made answered. However, Dash had dropped the topic and was now staring at Ivan.
"I've heard you took my spot as a weather pony from Shade. Is that right?" She asked him, slightly stern.
"Maybe I have, what's that to you?" Ivan said back with the same tone.
"Well, I may be a Wonderbolt now, but I'm still gonna make sure your up to my level." Rainbow snarled. It seemed Ivan had a rival, and Made had a new form of entertainment.
"Hey Ivan!" Made called up to him, getting his attention. "I'm gonna have a look around town. You coming?" Ivan landed on the ground to join his friend.
"See you later?" Ivan looked over to Dash, who was about to leave.
"Count on it!" She called to him in response.
-0-0-0-0-0-
"Okay. Now you've gathered the energy, focus on where you want to go to." Starlight said slowly as Theo prepared to teleport.
If he did that is. The two of them had been working on this spell for ages. They even learned another spell by complete accident. The spell allowed the caster to turn whatever they aimed at into an orange. While Starlight found it funny yet stupid, Theo thought it may come in handy someday, despite its limited uses.
Theo's horn emitted a light green glow that slowly grew darker the more he focused, his face filled with mixtures of hope, effort and large chunks of focus. This green aura slowly coated the rest of him, ready to perform the spell.
"Now when your ready, I want you to release that energy all at once." Starlight told him. Theo had to say, she made one hell of a coach.
Theo took a slow breath, gained his composure and released his energy. It was sudden, but he felt a large sum of energy overwhelm him for a slight moment. He noticed he moved to the other side of the room. A small sigh of relief went off from within him, but on the outside and his head, he was more giddy that he was for months.
"Holy cow! Did you just see that?" He asked Starlight, more looking for praise rather than confirmation." That was awesome!"
"All you need to do is improve your speed, but I think you've got it down. Good job!" She said to him. "It took you 2 days to figure it out, while I took two months."
"I've always been a quick study. No wonder I'm so good." Theo was about to get ready to move onto the next spell, until Starlight asked him the one question he didn't want to hear.
"So, what's your life been life before this?" She asked him. Theo quickly scrambled for an answer.
"What's so interesting about my village?" He asked her, but when Starlight shook her head, Theo became slightly scared for her answer.
"I'm from a village. You don't have a village face." She told him." This face has seen things. So spill, what's it like?"
A thought flew through Theo's head. One thought seemed impossible, clearly a bad idea. But, there was just something about this mare Theo found trustworthy. Still, he was hesitant.
"I wish I could say, it's complicated." Theo explained.
"And teleporting isn't?" Starlight said back. Theo sighed.
"You don't know the half of it. That's how we ended up here in the first place." Theo began.
It was through the corse of roughly 30 minutes that Starlight sat in awe at every detail of Theo's story. From his first contact with his friends, the portal mess-up and his transformation. It would've been easier for Starlight to simply call it BS and have it over with, but the sheer detail and flow made the whole thing more believable. It still seemed impossible, crazy even. Aside from his name, Theo seemed to fit in too well to be from another world, and since Starlight never met Ivan or Made, there was no other example to go from.
Two minutes had gone by in silence since Theo finished his story. He felt he might've said something to soon, but he had no other choice, he could never keep anything to himself, even from his pathetic idiot of a dad. As the silence reached the third minute however, Starlight finally spoke.
"Wow.. That's, well.. How do I say this." She tried to put together an answer, being afraid saying the wrong thing could set him off." Your from another world?"
"World, dimension. Ivan had a theory we were in the Bermuda Triangle." Theo answered, relieved to get an answer. Starlight tilted her head.
"What's the Bermuda Triangle?" She asked, before deciding it wasn't important right now." Wait, forget it."
"You seem to be taking this rather well." Theo commended her, although he knew her head was swarming with more questions than he could answer.
"How did you adapt so quickly if you've only been here for 3 days?" She asked, and although it wasn't the question he expected, Theo still answered.
"That's something I've picked up over the years. Having moved countless times, I'm used to converting dialect." Theo explained to her. However, Starlight wanted a different answer, so rephrased the question.
"I meant your magic. How can you just.. Use it? It typically takes most unicorns years until they even get a sign of magic. You just walk up and.. Do it. How?" She seemed slightly envious of this skill, but it was something Theo didn't really understand himself.
"Not a clue. Honestly, I just think about it and it happens. Isn't that how it works?"
"Yeah, but you must go through lots of educational and spiritual training so your aura can take the strain." Starlight explained. While it seemed convoluted at first, Theo somehow understood it.
"Aura? You mean like your soul or something?" Theo asked, making sure it still meant the same thing.
"Yeah, that's right. Your body uses your aura as an energy source to power your magic. In order for you to just do it straight away, your aura must be incredibly strong, something that can be passed down through bloodline." She told him. Somehow, Starlights explanation made complete Sense to Theo, but he couldn't help but yawn. It was getting pretty late and he thought of going to bed. That was until he remembered to party being set up down the hall. He briefly face-palmed, thinking of a way to get himself out of it.
"You sure I can't just stay up here? I'm not the biggest fan of parties." Theo asked. Starlight quickly became aware of the change of subject, but disagreed with his plan.
"Pinkie has spent the whole day planning this party for you and you friends, at least turn up." Starlight told him. Theo growled, but knew he wasn't gonna win an argument with starlight, no matter his struggle.
"I guess." He mumbled as the two of them began to tidy the the room. Theo then asked her." Could you keep this quiet for a while? Don't exactly want everypony to know this stuff." Starlight laughed a little.
"Don't worry, your secrets safe with me. Not that anypony would believe me anyway." Having tidied the room up, the two of them opened the door to be met by Pinkie Pie, attempting to knock on it with her head. But upon seeing the door open, she spoke instead.
"Hey Theo, your friends are waiting downstairs for your DUPER SUPER BEST PARTY OF ALL TIME!" Pinkie yelled the last part, causing a few books in the background to fall off the shelves." How was your time with Starlight?"
"Fine I guess.. Wait, did you know I was here to begin with?" He asked, pinkie nodded. "Were you ok with me being here?" Her nodding resumed, but he was now slightly annoyed because of his effort to go undetected was pointless. "But I did the whole cardboard box thing. Come on." Theo began to get annoyed, but then starlight briefly put her hoof around his shoulder to calm him.
"Let's get you to the party, your friends are waiting for you." Starlight told him. He was about to think about another excuse to try to get out of it, but instead chose to just go. The party might not be that bad, what's the worst that can happen?
-0-0-0-0-0-
Ivan and Made now stood in front of the crystal castle, and their expectations were shattered. While the structure was viewable throughout the town and Theo had given them a thorough description of the place, nothing described the feeling of seeing it ones self. A few groups of ponies could be seen going inside the building, with a small crowd gathered outside talking.
After entering the building, Ivan and Made saw pinkie darting from each table inside the main hall, and decided to go up to her. Made was the first to speak.
"Hey pinkie." She called over to pinkie, getting her attention." Do you know where Theo is? He told us he'd be here." Pinkie darted over to the two of them.
"He's upstairs in the library with Starlight, want me to go get him for you?" She asked. Before the chance for an answer came up, pinkie darted towards the library to get Theo. It was then when Ivan spoke.
"Who's Starlight?" He asked Made." Also, is pinkie always like that? Must be a nightmare for Theo to deal with."
"Starlight sounds like a girls name." Made answered." Pinkie doesn't seem that bad, just a bit hyperactive. Kind of like you." Ivan rolled his eyes, now accustomed to Made's typical method of winding him up.
After a short wait, Pinkie could be seen walking alongside Theo and some other mare towards them. After goth girl down the stairs, Theo split apart from the two of them to join with his mates, looking slightly exhausted from practice.
"How'd it go then?" Ivan asked him. Theo grew a confident smirk on his face.
"Watch this." He said, coating himself in magic and teleporting between the two of them. This caught Made off guard, but Ivan just seemed to accept it.
"Jeez Theo, give me a heads up next time." Made moaned, scared out of her wits. Theo then turned to Ivan, who never really gave much of a reaction.
"Sorry mate." He said." Teleportation is an overplayed trope in most cartoons and anime, not to surprising." Theo rolled his eyes, about to continue until Pinkie bursted forward as per the norm.
"Hi, you wanna meet my friends?" Pinkie asked abruptly. However, despite sceptical looks, Theo answered.
"Sure, I guess." He said." Not that we were doing much anyway."
With a confident grin, Pinkie pushed the trio to her group.
" Ivan, Made and Theo, meet Twilight, Apple Jack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Fluttershy." She said quickly, as per usual. Ivan and Rainbow stared at each other.
"We've met.." They muttered simultaneously. Theo lightly sniggered and looked over at Fluttershy, who seemed a little, well, shy.
"Hey, you okay Fluttershy?" Theo asked her politely. She seemed slightly distracted, yet turned to the group now.
"Erm, yes. Sorry, I'm not to keen on parties." She told him,being slightly more confident with her friends around her.
"Well, that makes two of us I guess." Theo said," to crowded for my liking. Sometimes find it hard to breathe." This small amount of openness seemed to bring out Fluttershy's trust, finding Theo somewhat trustworthy. Ivan looked over at Rainbow dash, his earlier conflict with her still in his mind.
"Sup." He said to her.
"Hey." She responded, nothing else came from this greeting. The two of them seemed to form some kind of a rivalry.
"They've met ah guess?" Applejack asked Made, the last of the group to talk.
"She knocked a cloud from under him." She told her, sniggering from the memory.
"Trust me darling, ms Dash here has done worse, but we get her back one way or another." Rarity told her."
"How are you finding town then?" Twilight asked the three of them. Ivan and Made didn't know how to answer, leaving it to Theo, as usual.
"Slightly hectic, but that is probably gonna go away soon. Besides, everypony here seems nicer than I expected." Theo said. Twilight smiled.
"Well, if you ever need anything, I'm right here." Twilight told them openly. Despite her status, she seemed very down to earth kind of person, I mean pony! (God dang, even I'm still struggling). It was after this the trio disbanded to join the party.
-0-0-0-0-0-
The party was in full swing. Ponies were mixing and meeting the trio, food was being eaten, Ivan was drunk on the floor. Yes, Ivan found out cider was a thing in this world and decided to take advantage of the lowered alcohol limit by getting smashed. Made seemed to stay away from him out of embarrassment, trying to get out of sight.
Theo kept to the outskirts of the party, grabbing the occasional piece of party food and scanning the area. If there was one OTHER thing he learned from games other than combat, it was that open public spaces seemed to attract the wrong sort quite regularly. The air was heavy and warm, and the building was slightly to cramped for Theo's liking, so he made his way to the exit of the castle to get some air. He wasn't to surprised to see Fluttershy outside sat down, clearly for the same reason as him.
If Theo had one weakness, it was that he made friends to easily, often the reason for his lack of speaking was to avoid such a thing from happening. Something was different about this place however, it seemed to unravel whatever safeguards he developed over the years and made him talk more, especially with the likes of Starlight and Pinkie. Fluttershy was another of those he couldn't help but try to talk to.
"To crowded in there I'm guessing?" He asked her, getting a slight jump when she noticed him. Thanks to the earlier introduction however, she seemed a little more brave around him.
"Oh, yes. Don't really like large groups of ponies. You should see me on nightmare night." She responded to him. Theo figured nightmare night was this worlds variant of Halloween, sitting down next to her and looking to the clear night sky. He sighed.
"Hope things are alright dad." Theo said while looking at the sky. Fluttershy looked over to him.
"You miss him?" She asked. It seemed a sensitive subject, but Theo answered anyway.
"Kinda. It always used to be just me and him, him being an idiot and me mostly taking the parent role." Theo explained." Just feels weird without him I guess."
"Didn't you ever say goodbye to him?" Fluttershy asked, feeling slightly sad for Theo.
"The opposite actually. He told me to never say goodbye. If you don't say goodbye, you aren't really gone, your.. Just not here right now." He said, getting slightly sad over it." Always thought it was kinda cheesy, but now I get where he's coming from."
"What about your mother?" She then asked him, unaware of his situation.
"I.. I never met her. Tried to ask as well, dad used to play her off as some kind of God, saying she gave him hope when he had nothing." He said with a warm look on his face. "Wish I knew where she is."
"I hope you find her someday." Fluttershy spoke timidly, trying not to get him upset. Theo secretly knew the chances any family member again was very slim, almost near impossible. That being said, if most of equestria was as nice and welcoming as the few he's met thus far, he wouldn't mind it that much. But then a thought popped up, what about the others?
"He was forced by them to get them home, and part of him didn't want to break that promise. But if getting here was possible, getting back could be possible, but was as unlikely as getting here in the first place. Yet still, he felt something would come up, so he decided to stop overthinking things.
It was now that Theo and Fluttershy heard screams of terror and fear coming from the party. Theo darted up to investigate, with Fluttershy following closely after him. Uncountable numbers of ponies now flooded from the entrance to escape, making it hard for the two of them to pass through. After the large hoard was passed, Theo turned to Fluttershy.
"Get your friends and get out of here, I've got this handled." He told Fluttershy, his voice still calm for her so she wasn't scared. After nodding, she made a break to find her friends.
Theo did something stupid however, he decided to get closer to whatever or whoever caused the commotion. But whatever he expected wasn't close to the terror of what he saw.
The being he saw looked near identical to a pony, say for a few features. It was a bright-ish white in colour, had something reminiscent of a horn, a rugged main that went to.. The left..
It was now that Theo realised it was a near duplicate of him! Say from a few insect parts. Throughs these observations, the creature never moved once, just staring at him throughout. Theo spoke up.
"What, who are you?" He asked, more for himself than as an actual question. But to his surprise, the beast answered.
"I'm you, and everything you feared you'd become." A look of fear, confusion and anger appeared on his face. He felt that something bad was about to happen.