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Meanwhile
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Ray was fuming. He’d thought that most of his anger had subsided thanks to some friendly bickering with Discord and the little wrestling match he’d had with the others. However, upon seeing that cartoonish purple pony again, he’d nearly burst with sheer rage. He’d wanted to snap every bone in her miniscule body, curse her with the might of harmonic profanity, and burn the entire world to the ground. Instead, he’d squeezed his arms so hard they were bruised.
Discord stood across the hall from him, seeming to think it best to leave Ray to his own devices. That probably was true, but he figured he should at least try to talk to the draconequus, instead of leaving him in awkward silence. Taking a deep breath, he was about to ask a question, when one of the guards coughed. Right, they weren’t alone.
“Hey, um, sir,” he said to one of the guards, making them turn. Oh gosh, he was a she. “Ma’am, sorry. Would you please excuse me and my companion real quick.”
The mare raised an eyebrow to her fellow guard. “Well,” she said, looking him up and down, “you’re not exactly under our jurisdiction, so yes you can. However, you will need an escort so you aren’t just blindly roaming around the castle.”
“It would be my honor,” Discord spoke up abruptly, “to show my friend here his way around the castle.”
Both guards gave him an incredulous eyebrow raise. They seemed to have experience with the Lord of Chaos, as one of them asked, “Are you sure that you are the best candidate for that?”
“Oh please, ponies,” he said, swiping a paw at them as he pressed his eagle claw against his chest in an arrogant manner. “It’s not like you could do it, seeing how you have to guard the door. Besides, it's not like I’m evil anymore. I’ve been reformed, remember?”
“Yes,” the male guard muttered, “but you're not conformed.”
Ray couldn’t stop himself from chuckling at the guard’s quick wit. This earned him an appreciative smile from him, and a barbed glare from Discord. Still, he could see the small smile that tugged at the corner of his companion’s gray lips. He turned back to the two guards and said, “Well then, fine, don’t trust me and try to get Ray out of the castle while I guard the Princess.”
The effect was almost immediate. Both guards' eyes widened, and one the mare managed a quick, “No no, you can lead him away. We were just curious, that’s all.”
“Curious my cloven hoof,” Discord muttered as he turned to Ray. His face brightened as he said, “Come on then, my human counterpart, let’s go!”
Ray fell in step with Discord, only to find himself back in that checkered abyss. As quickly as he was in the place, he was out. He found that the room around him was rather bare, with the same blue, purple, and pink italics as the rest of the castle. A single window on the far right of the room was the only source of light, but it gave enough that he could see the entirety of the room.
“Well,” Ray began, slightly off put by the sudden teleportation. “that was sudden.”
“Oh, it usually is,” Discord said from behind him. He turned to find him sitting in a stereotypical “talk chair” with a gray fleece jacket and glasses on to top off the psychiatrist look. Ray suddenly felt something push against the back of his legs, forcing him to sit down on an elongated brown chair. Suddenly, he was back in the middle school counselor’s office, talking about the… the- crap, what was it? When was it?
Ray shook his head as Discord asked, “Well, my friend. You seem to have something to tell me about.”
A brief spike of panic shot through him, but he quickly dismissed it. He wasn’t talking about that. He didn’t know about that. He wanted to know about something else. Hopefully.
“What do you want to know about,” he asked, trying to hide the caution in his voice.
“Why, I’d like to know how you got here, of course,” Discord exclaimed. Right…
Involuntarily, the entire story began rolling out of his mouth. The way he’d awakened to the sight of brightly colored ponies, how he’d initially thought it was all a dream, and his attempted escape from the castle. Discord even seemed slightly impressed at the taking out of four of the Princess’s elite. He grew solemn as Ray rambled on about the inner workings of his mind while leaning against the sturdy rock. A smile spread on Discord’s face, one that Ray was unable to identify, as he told of meeting Fluttershy and short discussion. He kept snickering as the tale of how he’d been assaulted by the others unfolded, practically dying when it came to the part about his fake out death over Pinkie’s cannon. In retrospect, it was kind of funny how he’d immediately defaulted to ‘Whelp, I’m dead’ mode, instead of something more logical. Still, a cannon in your face is a pretty terrifying experience.
Eventually, the story was completed, and Ray took a deep breath, mouth dry from so much talking. Discord handed him a cup of water, somehow knowing he was thirsty. With a quick “Thanks”, he downed the cup. Not the water, the glass cup. Discord began to laugh hysterically, slapping his knee as Ray’s eyes widened in confusion. The water, still in the form of the cup, fell into his hands. He let go in surprise, which only made the water lose form and splash onto his lap, soaking his boxers. He quickly crossed his legs and cupped his hand over his crotch, hoping that Discord had been too busy laughing to notice anything more… revealing.
When he finally stopped, Ray gave him a flat stare. “Anything else you want to know about?”
“Actually, there is,” he responded, giving him a smug smile. “Why do you wear such ridiculous pants?”
Raymond coughed, a blush instantly lighting up his face as he remembered his attire. Or, rather, lack of it. How would he explain decency to a race naturally clothed by their own fur? The matter was, he’d never worn solely his boxers outside of his bed for more than a minute on end. And now, here he was in a foreign land, walking around for hours as if he needed nothing else. Back on Earth, he would have been carted off to the big boys house for public indecency within the first ten minutes of being outside. Not to even mention the fact that, even without the water flattening it, the boxers would be very revealing at certain moments. He was just praying to whatever god this dimension had that none of the ponies had noticed the boys through the thin cloth.
Of course, Discord caught on to his means of embarrassment, and only further pressed the point. “Well, why? You seem awfully embarrassed about the whole ordeal, so I just have to know why.”
Ray resisted the urge to reach across the short distance between the chairs and slap him, instead opting to give him a twins-worthy eye roll. “It’s for decency. In fact, where I come from, this is also considered indecent. We humans are rather private about our, well, privates.”
Discord quirked an eyebrow in confusion. “Don’t you have fur down there,” he asked.
“Not enough,” Ray muttered under his breath, but Discord still looked like he’d heard it. “Hey, speaking of decency, do you mind helping me get more decent?”
“Why, not at all,” he answered enthusiastically. “That’s what I’m here for, after all! To help everypony who needs it.”
“Right,” Ray said, giving the all too happy draconequus a suspicious glance. “Do you know what pants and shirts are?” Discord nodded. “What about shoes and socks?” Once again he nodded, an eager look on his face. “Coudja perhaps give me a pair of each? Nothing too crazy, please,” he added right before Discord was about to snap his eagle claws. He complied, as Ray suddenly found himself completely clothed in the requested articles.
The shirt was a short T that shared the same sort of color scheme as Discord himself, green bottom, brown middle, and gray top. The shorts he was now wearing could have passed as from Earth, the blue denim slightly faded. His shoes were also accurate representations of sneakers back at home, albeit a size too large. He’d grow into it, at least, if his growth hadn’t somehow been affected by interdimensional travel. The socks were also very near to the Fruit of the Loom pairs he’d worn back at home. It seemed that cotton was also existent in this universe.
“Thanks, Discord,” he said with a smile. “It’s nice to have a god as a friend.”
“Oh, don’t mention it,” Discord insisted. “Besides, I’m not really a god, moreso a personification of Chaos itself.”
“Good, because that would mean I was praying to you earlier,” he joked, reaching up and scratching the top of his head. “Would hate to stoke your ego.”
“A travesty, truly,” the beast agreed, chuckling. His eyes, however, were not directed to Ray’s, but to the hand in his hair. His grin widened as Ray slowly pulled the dirty blond mass down in front of his eyes, only to find that it wasn’t dirty blond. Instead, it was the same white as Discord’s goatee and eyebrows. Ray sighed and gave Discord a “really” kind of look. He had no doubt that if there were a mirror nearby, he would’ve found that his eyebrows were also the same snowy white.
Without even having to ask, Discord changed his hair back to its correct color. Discord looked like he was about to say something, when his mouth suddenly shut and his eyes became fixed on an unknown object. Nodding, he looked back at Ray, he said, “It seems that good ol’ Twilight would like to talk with you now.”
Anger resurfaced, but barely had time to show thanks to the sudden tug at his stomach and pull through the dimensional rift. Ray fell to the ground as he found the chair that had been supporting him was replaced by empty air. He heard equine and draconequus laughter alike at his blunder, grumbling as he got up. Even Fluttershy had a soft smile on her pretty little face. Brilliant.
“Next time,” he began, before taking a calming breath. “Next time please warn me before poofing me around.”
“He won’t,” Rainbow Dash said, giving him a smile. “He says he will everytime, but he doesn’t.”
Discord pouted at her. “Now Dashy, that’s not true at all. Imabouttoteleportus!” Before Raymond could even blink, the two were gone and back in a flash, leaving Dash with the misfortune of being off balance and falling to the ground. Admittedly, it was funny, but Ray restrained himself from laughing. At least karma was still up to her usual shenanigans.
“The Princess is waiting for you,” the female guard said, reminding him of the gray reality of why he was here. He felt his brow furrow into the beginnings of a scowl, his lips downturned. He nodded to the group, then wordlessly pushed through the heavy doors and walked into the chamber.
Immediately, he had to shut off his anger, which also meant shutting down every other emotion he had to face. Sorrow died away, dragging hope with it, who in turn cried for help from joy. Joy simply blundered and tripped over Angers body and tumbled away with the other two. Confusion tried to take over, shoving at Trust, but pushed too hard and toppled down with Trust. All the while, Ray’s damn legs carried him closer to that damn pony.
There was something accompanying the Princess this time. It looked reptilian, with its purple body scales and tan stomach and throat scales. It seemed to have the same birth gene that pegasi, its wings the same color as its primary lavender. It had lime green frills on its face, slightly darker green plates, lining its spine from head down. Its emerald green eyes were squinted in observation, and Ray could tell it was trying to read him. Good luck with that, he thought sardonically.
As he closed the distance between them, Twilight drew herself up in false confidence. It was easy to tell, with the way her ears seemed to be glued solidly to the side of her head and that slight trembling. Still, she looked him straight in his eye, chin tilted up in a sense of imperious control. A small part of him, more instinctual than emotional, wanted to snap that flimsy confidence in half. The opportunity came almost as soon as he had the thought, when she said, “You have one sentence to say anything, and then I’m talking and you’re silent.”
“You’re a bitch,” he said without a moment’s hesitation.
The effect was instant, her pillars of confidence crumbling away like sand. She actually flinched away from him, her head turning down as her eyes squeezed shut. He’d just won the battle, and she knew it. In three simple words, he’d just exposed her weakness, exploited it, and tore through her papery credence.
The creature growled, flaring its wings aggressively, a puff of smoke shooting out of its snout. Ray gave it a moment, registering that the creature must’ve been a dragon, or something like that.
“What’re you,” he asked it. “A pet?”
The creature bared its teeth as it took a step forward. It was actually funny how little distance that covered, given its miniscule size and stubby legs. It must’ve had, based on how easily that went its skin, the maturity of a teen in its race. This almost made him laugh out loud, and it saw that, because it began grinding its teeth together in agitation.
“Hey,” Twilight suddenly snapped, “you have no quarry with him. It’s me you're mad at, and nopony else.”
“He growled,” he muttered, glaring down at the two.
“I was mad,” the dragon said, its voice dripping with anger, “because you called Twilight a-a-a…”
“A bitch? What’s wrong? Too much of a big boy word for you,” he mocked it, gaining an actual glare from Twilight.
“No, he just doesn’t need curse words to deal with the dimwitted, arrogant, cloven-hoofed, imbecile in front of him,” Twilight yelled, flying up in front of his face. She was panting from her tirade, anger sparking in her eye as real confidence had taken hold in her. Her ears were perked up, and her look dared him to try to retort. She took a breath, regaining her composure. “Just because your day is absolutely terrible right now, doesn’t mean you have a right to ruin others.”
Ray opened his mouth to argue, but Twilight was instantly up in his face, pressing her muzzle against his nose. “Your word quota has been hit,” she growled. “You’ve said what you wanted to. It’s my turn now.”
She flew back a bit, and settled on the ground. “What I’m about to tell you is confidential, so this is between you and me. I did tell the girls some things, but not all. There’s much to be discussed, so you might wanna sit.”
Raymond did so, confused by this newer front of Twilight. Where was the timid, unsure pony that had kidnapped him? She seemed to have died away completely, replaced by a determined, solemn counterpart.
“One year ago, as of next Tuesday, I was crowned Chief ruler of Equestria and all of her dominions. At the time, I was nervous, not entirely sure how I was supposed to lead a nation. I was given the powers of the sun and moon, and the knowledge that came with them. I was advised by my former rulers on how to be the best ruler I could, by leading with kindness, passion, and friendship. The one piece of knowledge that I didn’t receive was what the future had in store for Equestria.
“If you haven’t already noticed, or don’t know, I’m an alicorn. Amongst ponies, that means I’ll never age. I’ll rule this land until either I find a pony to take my place, or Equus itself ends. However, the latter seems more likely than the former, thanks to some more recent insight I’ve gained access to.
“After being crowned, one of the first things I did was consult with some other very high level mages. After weeks of research, experimentation, and study, we were able to perfect a spell that allowed divination of the future. I, being the head of this endeavor, was the one who went through the gateway formed. Under the spell, I was able to view future days in minutes. Most of the things I saw were trivial. That is, until I reached two years, two months, and thirteen days into the future.”
Twilight took a deep breath as her demeanor faltered under whatever memory she was having of what she’d seen. Fear, disgust, and sadness flashed across her countenance, as she too sat down under the wait of her emotions. Her reptilian companion patted her softly in a silent urging to carry on. With a last deep breath, she continued.
“Equestria is invaded by a force like none other before it. Minotaurs will come to our shores in massive fleets, thousands of their warriors spreading throughout our land. They will hold no morals, killing even our youngest in a bloodthirsty wave that will cleanse Equestria of all creatures. They will wear the skins of my ponies as trophies, feast on our flesh, and use our bones as weapons against our allies.”
Twilight was trembling now, silent tears streaming down her face and dripping against the marble. She looked like she didn’t want to say anything more, but her mouth continued to move, and sound continued to come out.
“I saw it. They invaded Canterlot, killing ponies as they ran by. The streets became red tributaries to a river of blood. Guards stood their ground, but were hewn down like grain in the field. And then I saw Ponyville.
“They were unprepared, some even unknowing of the oncoming slaughter. They attacked through the far side of the Acres, killing the Apples as they passed. They wore their skin, blood and all, as they rampaged through the town. I didn’t see everypony, b-but I- I saw Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. They couldn't laugh their w-way out, and no amount of k-kindness did it…”
She trailed off as the first sob echoed in the hall. Twilight’s head turned down as her emotions got the best of her, tears leaving a puddle on the floor. The dragon was now hugging her tightly, tears slipping out of the corners of his eyes as he comforted his ruler. Ray sat there silently staring at the swirly purple floor, trying to comprehend.
Ponies, bright, knee-high creatures, would be slaughtered by the thousands, for existing. Pinkie Pie, the over eccentric, loony pony that seemed to be eternally happy for no reason but life, a bloody piece of fur on some monster’s shoulder? And Fluttershy, the first pony to show him any form of humanity in this dimension, guts laid out on the street, lifeless eyes staring up at a bloodied sky? It was scary how easy it was to imagine it. The thoughts, though, instantly made him growl with the “not under my watch” tone that came naturally as an elder sibling.
“Wh-what I... I’m trying t-t-to say,” Twilight stuttered, making Ray look back to her, “is that we ponies would be completely overwhelmed. Unable to stand against these beasts of death, we’d be eradicated entirely, with only ruins to tell our tale.”
“Couldn’t you just fight back,” Ray questioned. “Your guards have spears and armor, and you mentioned you have allies. Couldn't you assemble a force to stop this all?”
“No,” she replied. “The mind of an equine is not meant to handle violence. The act of killing is unheard of amongst many ponies, and actually committing to it snaps the mind of a pony. Being around death is sometimes even enough to break our minds. Many of our allies are the same, and those that aren’t would either be too reckless, or too untrustworthy to have as defense. We may call them allies, but in truth, they just have a piece of parchment stating that they will yada yada and will not blah blah blah.”
“Wait, you’ve said Equestria’s been invaded before,” he said, holding up a hand. “What happened then.”
“Which time,” she asked blandly.
“If you’ve been invaded before,” Ray began exasperatedly, “why don’t you have set defenses for this sorta thing?”
“Because in my life,” Twilight calmly explained, “all of the invasions have been internal, save one aerial assault. None have been done by coast before, and the old Equestrian Unification Wars were all on the continent.”
“Unification Wars? So you've fought in the past? Why not now?”
“I’ve asked Celestia the same thing, but she simply told me that after the wars, she locked away any violent tendencies we might have. She used a mental block that passed on genetically, just in case she ever needed to use it again.”
“Then why don’t you just stop the mental blocking. This Celestia seems to be one of the previous rulers you were talking about, so why didn’t she pass on that information to you. Sounds like it’d be pretty important knowledge to have.”
“Well, Celestia did pass on the information, in a way,” Twilight explained, rubbing a hoof on a spot under her horn. “I only know about this whole mental block thing because of this, but I can’t undo it since I wasn’t the one who cast the spell. Since Celestia doesn’t have the power of the sun, she can’t undo it. Besides, the introduction of violence into the pony's minds would create anarchy. Murders would be committed, disputes would become violent, and war could break out internationally, if the wrong feathers were ruffled. It also doesn’t help that Celestia hadn’t thought that far ahead.”
“Speaking of which, why didn’t Celestia or the other ruler just look into the future? The must’ve been alicorns too, from what you’re saying. Why didn’t they do all the predicting and crap?”
“You must understand that one of them was banished to the moon for a thousand years, and the other had to take over both the daily and nightly tasks of ruling Equestria. With barely enough time to sleep, I’m pretty sure discovering the secret to divination was not one of the main priorities of Celestia.”
“Oh.”
“Anyways, after discovering what the future held, I tried to find any way to stop the invasion. Ponies fighting was off the table, and since there was no force in our known world, I decided to call in the sisters in for help. They told me that since there was no force in our world, then I had to bring one in.”
“Me,” Ray muttered. His brain was currently a roller coaster of thought as the new information saturated every level of his focus. The smallest bit of him felt injustice, but the rest of him was too confused to even register proper speech. Finally, he managed to say, “B-but I’m only one kid. How do I fight it off, when I’m not even a fighter.”
Liar.
“You can fight, you just aren’t formally trained,” Twilight said, giving him a pointed look. “You have over a year to train for the coming future.”
“Only a year? Why didn’t bring me here sooner?”
“It took me almost three months, with the help of my friends, to perfect a spell that allowed interdimensional viewing and interaction. Since I couldn’t devote much time to it, it took me another month to find your dimension. It took another six months to find you. The perfect candidate.”
“But why me,” he asked, feeling completely numb with confusion. Was his life really being lived in a hyper realistic, pony run world, as the involuntary champion of the innocent beings that populated this land? Yes, yes it was.
“Well, one of the major factors was that your English is an exact duplicate of Ponish. There’s also the fact that you needed to be a little mature, while also being young. Your intelligence also is a key detail. Your ability to quickly respond to any situation is admirable, and considering your past…”
Ray didn’t hear the rest of what she was saying. His past. She was referring to those two… two… Ray stared at the ground, trying to remember exactly what it was he’d forgotten. He didn’t know how long he’d been sitting there, simply staring at the floor, before he was snapped out of his daze by Twilight clearing her throat.
“Raymond? Are you okay,” she asked, actual concern in her voice. Of course there was. He was Equestria’s only defense against the tide of blood that would wash through her land.
“No. I’m not,” he said, looking back at her. “You should know that. But still, there must’ve been other candidates with the same attributes as me. Why me?”
“There were others,” she admitted. “The deciding factor, though, is the fact that, well, you… you died the day I took you.”
Silence veiled the room as Ray searched her eyes. There was no lie in them. She looked down quickly, as if it was her fault that he would’ve died. He knew that couldn’t have been the case, but his suspicions grew anyway.
“It’s why I waited until today to bring you here. I wanted you to enjoy your life amongst your own kind as much as you could, before I took you. I took you in the early morning, before you woke up so you wouldn’t have to deal with the side effects of interdimensional travel.”
“How did I die?”
“You would’ve been killed by one of those vehicles that you use. Your death wouldn’t have been immediate either. It took hours before you finally succumbed to your wounds.”
“My family, what about them?”
“Exactly how you might imagine it. They lack the funds to function without you. Your siblings are taken from your parents and put into foster care. Both of your parents end up committing suicide, along with one of your siblings, Ben. Your sister goes on to become an author, and your other siblings find their own passions, but aren’t able to properly function thanks to their disabilities.”
Each word was a knife to Ray’s heart, wrenching back and forth at the end of every sentence. He knew that this is what would’ve happened, but the reality of the situation made tears once again slide down his cheeks. Almost inaudibly, he asked, “And how will it be any different with me here?”
“Your dimension will readjust to compensate for its loss. Most likely, your family will be shifted so that your sister will be the eldest. Your family will have more of a capability to take care of themselves, and may even be adjusted so that mental disabilities are removed.” Twilight seemed to want to stop talking, but instead said, “They might just do better without you.”
Raymond gave her a blank stare. She cringed at what she said, biting down on her lip.
“Let me summarize,” he said. “You horses can’t fight a bloodthirsty mob, so you brought me to fight them instead.”
“Y-yes,” she reaffirmed.
“Screw you,” he yelled. “No.”
As he stormed away, he heard Twilight call, “Wait. Aren’t you wondering where you’ll stay?”
She was right. He turned back to her, glaring. Even if this was an attempt to bribe him, it would do to have at least a roof over his head while he slept. The thing was, no matter how much he resisted, he would end up facing the same fate as the rest of these ponies. Twilight had mentioned something about over a year till the invasion came, so that was at least a year longer than what he would’ve gotten back on Earth. Might as well enjoy it.
“I figured you’d be pretty mad at me, so I at least had the foresight to have a house built for you. It’s in Ponyville so you can stay away from me, but also close enough that you don’t run away. The house is as close to a representation of a human home I could get without having the builders asking too many questions. If anypony but the girls asks, you stumbled out of the Everfree.”
“And why should I exactly keep your little abduction of me a secret,” he asked bitterly.
“The reason why, of course,” she shot back. "Wouldn't want ponies to realize that they were doomed, and their only potential savior just refused to help take a stand." Caught him there. He simply growled in response. Not much else he could do.
“Alright then, send me ‘home’.”
“As you wish.”
An all too familiar feeling of tugging in his gut began, and the world once again flashed away in purple and white.