Chapter 3: Bayside City
(Nyx's Point of View)
We had just arrived in the city known as Bayside City. When we went into a hotel, it would seem that the hotel manager had known that we were coming. I was about to ask him why he knew we were coming, but M.C. stopped me. I just hope when the next day comes.
I decided to take a bath. This tub was quite large. It was as large as the time I first given a bath by Twilight the night she found me. Although, back then, I was a quadruped and I had cuts all over my body due to the thorn bush I was found in.
The next day, we had a nice breakfast at the hotel. It was good, but then we decided to head out. Traffic here was crazy. I'm guessing it was this bad in Manehattan back in our time.
M.C. drove to where Sonia was setting up her shop. She, Sonic, Tails and Amy got off. Sonia then looked up at M.C. and said, "Okay. Just head for the mall, and you look for a place called Requiem Apartments. That's where Alex Lynol lives."
"Alright," said M.C. "Thanks." He then looked over to Cream and said, "You happy to see your sister again?"
"I am," said Cream.
"Alright then," said M.C. "Let's go."
He then started driving again, and we moved to a very tall building. We drove was looked like a place to park large vehicles. Of course, there was a gate that prevented us from entering. M.C. opened the window and a female voice answered it.
"Who is there?"
"I'm an old friend of Alex," said M.C. "May I ask who this is?"
"Olivia the Rabbit. But, I usually go by Olive."
Cream the Rabbit just gasped and said, "That's my sister."
"Is that Cream?!" asked the voice coming from that box.
"Yep," said M.C.
"Alright, come on in. I'll meet you at the elevator," said the voice. The gate then opened, and the bus pulled in. The bus stopped, and we got our stuff out of the buss.
We headed right towards some place in this room for vehicles, and found someone standing there. It looked like an older version of Cream. She had some orange, spiked hair with the tip of her hair dyed red. She was wearing a red, skintight suit with belts and a zipper, and a black pack around her waste. She had black and red gloves, red boots, and a cyber patch similar to Ava's, but instead of a yellow screen, it was red.
Cream and Cheese ran over to her and they hugged her. The older rabbit responded with, "Hey there, Cream." She then lifted Cream's head and said, "You're bigger the last time I saw you. Have you been getting fit?"
"I have," said Cream.
She then looked over at us and said, "And why have you come here to see Alex? He's not usually taken in requests."
"He was the one who called us," said M.C. "Alex Lynol can see all possible futures up to 72 hours."
"Okay," said the rabbit known as Olive. "We're gonna have a talk with Alex. Follow me." She then led us to some sliding metal doors. Olive put a weird plastic thing to a metal circle and the two doors opened. There was another room in there. "This elevator is meant for loading furniture or appliances up to a floor. This'll be useful to fit... almost all of us."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"I know that M.C. is able to manipulate his own density," said Olive. "But, he's not going to fit in here."
"Good call," said Twilight. "What's an elevator?"
"It's a room that goes up to different floors," said Olive. "It's much easier than taking the stairs."
Then we all got in, leaving M.C. behind for him to take the stairs. As we got in, there was a beeping coming from Olive's headset.
"Looks like my prank on him is working," said Olive.
"You like to pull pranks?!" asked Pinkie Pie.
Olive turned to face her and said, "Yep. Super Speed proof stairs." She then showed an image of M.C. trying to run up the stairs, which was going down as fast as him.
"Super Speed proof stairs, huh?" asked M.C. "Try this."
Then M.C. jumped on the wall, and climbed up the walls super fast.
"Oh, right," said Olive. "He has the wall crawling. And he's prank proof."
"Are you saying that M.C. hasn't been pranked once?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"I tried giving him a classic prank," said Mutt. "Whip Cream in the hand and the nose tickle trick. Totally backfired."
"He slammed the whip cream into your face?" asked Pinkie Pie.
"Worst April Fool's Day start ever," said Mutt.
"What's April Fool's Day?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"It's the first day of April," said Joshua. "Most people celebrate that day pranking people. Not exactly a holiday."
"Oh, but it's good fun," said Mutt.
Then the elevator stopped and outside, was a grumpy looking M.C., crossing his arms, smirking at Olive.
"You're a tier 6 out of 5 spy, which should be rankly impossible, and you waste your skills on trying to prank me?" asked M.C.
"Hey, I like to make some pleasurable moments with some new friends," said Olive. "Plus, I was getting bored today."
"That's pretty interesting," said Twilight. "It's like she's a spy version of Pinkie Pie."
Pinkie Pie was laughing and said, "She totally is!"
"Alright, now let's get you to meet Alex," said Olive.
She then escorted us to a door down the hall, and walked to one door, grabbing that same plastic thing, and put it against something under the door handle. That thing beeped, lit up a green light, and then Olive opened the door. Inside was a very large apartment.
"Wow," said Applejack. "This apartment is bigger and fancier than the apartment that my aunt and uncle orange had."
"And yet, it's been left in my name by my deceased grandfather," came a voice. We looked towards what looks like a four door refrigerator and behind it was an otter. It was the otter we were coming to see.
"You must be..." Twilight said.
"Alex Lynol," he said. "But my camping buddies in Archery Camp call me Midpoint, because I always hit my mark in the center. A pleasure to meet you, Princess Twilight Sparkle."
"How did you...?" asked Twilight. Then she got a realization. "Oh, that's right. We were told that you had the ability to see all possible futures."
"Yep," said Alex. "Why did you think I sent you that bus so you'll be able to get all the way here?"
"So, how are you able to afford a place like this?" Applejack asked.
"I took it in after my grandfather passed away," said Alex. "Along with his appliance company, "Shadow Appliances." Even though he turned me into an otter, I'm still living on his legacy."
"So, you were born human as well?" I asked.
"Yep," said Alex. "Although, if I stayed human, I would've died. I was shot by black alien stragglers on Space Colony ARK."
"What were you doing on a Space Colony?" Twilight asked.
"My grandpa and I were picking up one of his projects he left behind up there," said Alex.
"That would mean that your grandfather was one of the scientists that worked up there," said M.C. "So, what was it? The project you were getting?"
"Well," said Alex. "You might find this a surprise. I'm not the first human to become a Mobian."
"You're not?" asked Twilight. "Then, who is?"
"Once upon a time, there were some government agents that was shutting down the progress of what was going on in Space Colony ARK," said Alex. "They believed that Project: Shadow was a weapon that would destroy the world. A living weapon that was conjured up by black alien terrorists. But, they were only half right. Project: Shadow was created by one black alien, and one human. A man named Professor Gerald Robotnik."
"Robotnik?" asked Twilight. "Isn't that the name of the scientist that attacked us on the way here?"
"No, that was Julien Robotnik," said M.C. "Although, he is the grandson of Professor Gerald Robotnik. He also had his granddaughter living with him up there. She was sick with NIDS."
"Neuro-Immune Deficiency Syndrome," said Alex. "It was an incurable and fatal disease. But, that's not how she died."
"A human had a deadly disease, and she didn't die because of it?" Twilight asked. "Then, how did she die?"
"By one of these," said M.C., holding up a small piece of metal. "It's called a bullet. It's shot out of a weapon that shoots it over twice the speed of sound. That's what killed her."
"Or at least, it would have," said Alex. "My grandfather was hidden in a secret compartment in that room where Maria was shot, and Shadow was sent down here. That was over 50 years ago."
"Oh, so that's why you called Shadow 'old man,'" said Twilight.
"But how did he look so young?" asked Rarity.
"Did he have some moisturizer that makes him look younger?" asked Twilight Velvet.
"No," said Alex. "Suspended Animation. It's kinda like time travel, but he went the long way. Anyway, after the government agent left that room, my grandfather grabbed Maria, and took him to a secret lab that only him and Professor Robotnik knew about. But Professor Robotnik had no idea what my grandfather was doing."
"What happened?" asked Fluttershy.
"See for yourself," said Alex, pointing towards the staircase.
Coming down the stairs was a blonde hedgehog in a blue dress, similar to Amy's, with a red heart on where the heart on bipedal creature is. She also had on blue boots, a blue hairband behind her ears, and gloves like Shadow's, except those things on it weren't red, but blue.
"Are you...?" I asked. "Are you that girl from the story?"
"I am," she said. "My name is Maria. Maria Robotnik."
"My grandfather saved her," said Alex. "In order for her to keep living, she had to lose her humanity. She doesn't have the NIDS anymore, but she did gain the same abilities as Shadow the Hedgehog. Not as powerful as the real thing, but she has them. But she also has something that keeps her from coming home without a scratch."
"A healing factor like M.C.?" asked Mutt.
"Indeed," said Alex. "Along with an immunity to deadly diseases."
"Did she use any of those abilities?" asked Princess Cadance.
"Only speed and Chaos Control she can control," said Alex. "She doesn't want to use the other abilities because she fears that she could hurt people. But... there was a glitch to her abilities. They can be activated by a mama bear instinct."
"Kinda like when Fluttershy sees an innocent creature in trouble, and she stares it down with her stare," said Twilight. I could see Fluttershy blush at that.
"Well, it's a little different," said Alex. "Her eyes go from blue to red when it happens."
"I don't really like it when that happens," said Maria. "It just happens when I see something bad happens. Like a gang of bank robbers, or a psychotic murderer. I just can't help it."
Fluttershy then walked up to her and said, "Well, I'll tell you this. You're only focused on the bad things that happens. But think about the good things that happens."
Maria then started remembering everything that happened. And thought about the good things. She smiled and said, "I guess I never thought about that. I'm still a little weirded out by these outfits."
"Suspended animation after the transformation," said Alex. He then pulled out an old magazine and gave it to Rarity. "Here's a fashion magazine from 50 years ago."
"Wow," said Rarity. "These designs are... a little..."
"Outdated," said Alex. "It was Sonia who gave me that magazine last week when she first met Maria."
"Sonia did?" asked Rarity. "I guess this is mighty generous of her."
"Wow," said Cadance. "So far, we've seen a lot of Mobians here, but so far, it's like there are some Mobians that act like Twilight's friends. Sonia's generous, Maria's kind, and that Olive girl tries making us laugh."
"I gotta do something to keep myself entertained," said Olive. "I won last year's prank war."
"That's generosity, kindness and laughter," said Twilight. "But who would have Honesty, Loyalty and Magic?"
"I think Loyalty would go to Mutt," said Rainbow Dash. "He's been following M.C. ever since that day M.C. saved him from the fire that night."
"Alex is the one who is honest," said M.C. "He's never lied. His grandfather, on his mom's side, was in the war 55 years ago. He went by a code."
"There ain't no honor if their ain't no honesty," said Alex. "Grandpa Arnold was a good military man."
"Wow," said Applejack. "Ya must be an honorable feller, ain'tcha?"
"Indeed," said Alex. "There are a lot of things my grandfather told me in his stories. In fact, Grandpa Arnold helped me with a history project when I was in high school. And I was six years old. I'm incredibly smart."
Rainbow Dash groaned and said, "This guy sounds like a real egg..."
M.C. then covered up her mouth and said, "You do not want to finish that sentence."
"Why not?" asked Joshua.
"There are a lot of people who aren't bothered by being called an egghead," said M.C. "Alex is not one of those people."
"M.C. called Alex an egghead, he was punched to the moon," said Mutt. "Not kidding."
"I still have the punch mark under my fur," said M.C. He then removed his hands from Rainbow Dash's mouth.
"Now I'm scared of even saying that word," said Rainbow Dash.
"Okay," said Twilight. "There's Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity and Loyalty. There's only one more."
"A long time ago, there were six mighty warriors who gave off aspects..." said Alex. "...aspects similar to the Elements of Harmony. The strong and genius marksman of Honor. The beautiful telepath of Heart. The skillful bringer of Pleasure. The caring healer of Grace. The following companion of Reliability. And the the great dragon warrior of Power. These six warriors came together to stop a dark bringer that might destroy the planet."
"I've heard that legend," said M.C. "It was in this book that explains my family's history. And that great dragon warrior... he wasn't really a dragon. He was one of my ancestors." He then pulled out a huge book. It looks like it was six inches thick."
"WHOA!!" said the other ponies.
"That... is the biggest... book... I have ever seen," said Twilight. "How did you fit that in your fur?"
"I'm sure get a lot of answers soon," said Alex. "But, how about now, we go on a tour of the city?"
"I think that would be good," said Twilight. "But, what about these plans for the Time Machine."
"Right," said Alex. "Follow me."
We then followed Alex up the stairs to the third floor of the apartment. I didn't even know apartments had their own floors. We went into a room with a solid steel door. Then Alex put his right hand onto a scanner, and his eyes into another scanner, and said, "Lynol."
"Welcome, Midpoint," said a voice. Then the door opened, revealing what looks like a lab.
"WHOA!" said Nyx. "This is amazing!"
"It almost looks like the lab my parents had," said Joshua. "Except, it was in the basement, not the attic."
"Well, I own whole apartment," said Alex. "Plus, whenever there's an elevator problem, I'm the one who fixes it." Then we looked over at a machine that was halfway finished. It looks like a platform of some kind.
"What is that?" I asked, pointing a finger at it.
"That's the time machine I'm working on," said Alex. "It's called the Quantum Jump."
"Quantum Jump?" asked M.C. "Is it similar to that Quantum Tunnel in Avengers: Endgame?"
"Yep," said Alex. "But, we'll get it finished when the power source is finished."
"How long until then?" Twilight asked.
"Three months," said Alex.
"But, what are we going to do until then?" I asked.
"Well, we got some time," said Alex. "Now, how about I show you to your rooms? I've already got the rooms set up for you all. Although, you all have to share rooms."
"I guess we can do that," said Twilight. "After all, I did share a room with Spike." She then paused. "And Nyx." Another pause. "And Joshua." Another pause. "Before we got that new castle."
"I've already placed pictures on the rooms where you all will be sleeping," said Alex. "There are pieces of paper that'll show you which room you are in. On the second floor, the rooms to be shared are: Applejack and Apple Bloom, Rarity and Sweetie Belle, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo, and Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. Maria will show you the rooms when she comes up. There are also some bathrooms."
"The rest of you are on the floor above them," said Olive. "Although, there are two rooms where four must share."
"One room," said Alex, "Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Nyx and Joshua. Another; Shining Armor, Cadance, Guard and Flurry Heart." That made Flurry Heart giggle. "One room will be for M.C. and Mutt. The last room will be for Twilight Velvet and Night Light. Now, everyone, head to your assigned rooms, and put your stuff there."
We all nodded. We got our bags, and headed up the room where we were assigned to stay. In the room we were staying at, there was one bed and a weird bunk bed that is cornered.
"Whoa!" said Joshua. "A bunk bed for three. I call top bunk."
He then headed for one of the top bunks, on the left side. I decided to go on the top bunk on the right.
"I guess I'll have the bottom bunk," said Spike. I then put my bag down next to the bed, took off my shoes, and climbed up onto the bunk.
I looked over at Twilight and said, "This might be an interesting stay."
"I hope you're right, Nyx," said Twilight. "I just hope that we can get home."
"I'll make sure of it," came M.C.'s voice. We looked and saw him in the doorway. "Alex is a genius. He'll get us through it and we'll make sure that we're all back home, safe and sound."
"I hope so," said Twilight. "I just hope that we can get back home before Starlight starts to worry."
We all looked out the window. Joshua then spoke up and said, "This place reminds me a lot of San Francisco."
"It actually does look like San Francisco," said M.C.
"What's San Francisco?" asked Twilight.
"It's a city on Earth," said M.C. "Joshua actually lived in Oakland, which is a bridge across from San Francisco."
"It's true," said Joshua.
"Well, I hope that we can get to know this place as long as we're here," said Twilight. "So much to study."
Then M.C. said, "We're going out to eat for dinner. There's a nice diner just around the corner. Just to let you know ahead."
"That sounds good," said Twilight. "We'll just stick to the vegetarian foods."
"Good call," said M.C. "Josh might help you explain. But, how about today, we go see a movie that's in theaters?"
"Sounds like fun," I said. "What movie are we going to see?"
"We'll have to see what's in theaters," said M.C. "I'll see what's the least rated movie in theaters."
M.C. then walked out of the room. We then followed him. We came to the living room, seeing Alex looking for some movies for us to see in theaters.
"Looks like they're playing a classic Disney Movie in theaters," said Alex. "101 Dalmatians."
"Cartoon or Glenn Close?" asked M.C.
"Cartoon," said Alex.
"Book it," said M.C. "That should make Fluttershy go crazy for them."
"Hopefully," said Alex, putting on a mask over his eyes. "I just hope she won't want to try and grab one from the screen."
"What's with that mask?" I asked. "Is it something to keep you from being a spoiler."
"I always wear this mask to the movies," said Alex. "I have made this mask not to tell people what's going to happen. It took me multiple tries, but I got this mask made to temporarily block my precognition."
We all nodded, and then everyone came down, and we headed out. Hopefully, this classic movie might be fun to watch.