//------------------------------// // Different world, familiar faces? // Story: Ultraman Tiga // by Tigapower //------------------------------// Different world, familiar faces? He had no idea how long he was out of it, it could have been minutes, hours, and days even. Upon his awakening, his eyes examined the canopy of moss entangled trees, they grey sky in the center. Rubbing his eyes he examined his surroundings. Lush folia, moss that hung from tree branches, and a somewhat grey sky overhead. He shook his head and stood up, his body somewhat sore from that strange phenomena. The air was thick with humidity, and gnats attacked his ears in no time. "What the, where the hell am I?" He stood up and wiped the water from his hands, his shoes somewhat wet from the humidity that clung to the grass. It looked like the kind of forest you'd see in a medieval fantasy movie. Thick green forest, a grey, hazy sky, but the air was heavy, hot and moist. Suddenly, he felt something prick his back. He turned around to see a horse, or pony due to its small size, holding the iron lance like a human would. He was clad in gold armor, with a blue plume on top of his helmet, exact to the ancient Greeks warrior style. His expression was what shocked him the most, not only was he angry, but it showed. He did not have his ears back and head raised like a normal horse would, his brows were furrowed and his nostrils were widened, a mixture of both a horse and human. "Stay where you are." he commanded, poking Cory in the gut. He stumbled back with his hands up, at loss for words. Did that pony just speak to him in perfect English? From the sky descended several more of these ponies, or in this case "Soldiers" carrying a gold and silver clad chariot of some sort that lacked wheels. How they were able to land it was a mystery, but he watched as they slowed down their flight speed, the chariot illuminating with a white aura before settling on the dampened grasses. Stepping out of the chariot was a larger, and leaner, her mane was flowing by itself, and looked like the colors of the rainbow. Her coat was whiter than snow, and behind the Tiara she wore on her head was an Ivory unicorn horn. There was another mare whose coat was a night blue, a crescent moon adorned her flank. She was a tad smaller than her white counterpart, her eyes were a dark green, almost blue color. Her mane also flowed like the others, but it too like her coat was a dark blue. Both were an absolute sight. They looked exactly like the Pegasi he had seen in children’s books years ago and in medieval lore, like they were taken right from some old fairy tales. The larger white one approached him with a blank expression, but he could see it in her eyes that it was question time. Another soldier stood in front of the human, holding the same type of lance the one behind him wielded. His glare was solid stone, his eyes were bloodshot in self perpetuated anger, its only purpose to make him all the more intimidating. Cory raised his hands to the sky even higher, careful not to move even when the larger, ivory mare inspected him. She used her magic to levitate his shirt up. "What’s the deal?" he shouted. Her expression hardened briefly, but soon returned to one of peace when she took a deep breath, "Do you have any sort of wand?" "Wand?" He repeated, "Of course I... No, I do not have one." She stepped closer to him, nearly eye to eye, "Do you practice any sort of sorcery, witchcraft, do you know of any warlocks?" "Warlocks... But those aren't..." he froze up when he felt the cold tip of a spear poke his back. "You answer the Princess when she asks you a question." The soldier demanded. He swallowed despite the fact his mouth had gone bone dry, "No... But they aren't real." The Night blue Mare stepped down from their carriage, "Does thou take us for fools!? To deny the existence of blatantly real beings is a cause for great suspicion." The white mare laid a hoof on her sister’s shoulder, "You are telling me the truth. Are there any magical humans in your world?" Cory was confused, how did she know about humanity? "No, there aren't any wizards or witches, they're just legend." The two sisters looked at each other in surprise. The darker one was first to look back to him, "Would thou please come with us?" Cory nodded, even if they were going to kill him it would be a far quicker death than starving out in the wilderness. XXXXX The next morning in Ponyville at the golden oaks library, Twilight trotted back and forth, the kitchen rug becoming flat and matted by her constant pacing. She had received a letter the night before about Cory, or “visitor” as he was labeled and how he would be staying in Ponyville with a few ponies to get him acquainted with life in Equestria. "Spike, Spike!" she called, having grown a tad annoyed with her assistants sluggish pace. "I'm coming I'm coming," The small purple dragon mumbled, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "There you are," She trotted over to him, "Seems you've been up late." "Well, not really. That letter I burped up gave me a wicked stomach ache." He grimaced. He fell back and sighed, head throbbing from the lack of his sleep. "So it seems." She broke from her pacing and levitated her satchel onto her back, "The visitor is coming to Ponyville today." He sat up from laying on his back, "And we are the ones to give him a warm welcome, right?" She placed a few food items in one side of her satchel before zipping it shut, "Not quite, a few mares who volunteered for community service accepted that job." "Why's he staying with them?" he scratched his head in confusion, "You're her student, don't you think it would make more sense if this visitor stayed with you?" "I understand Spike, I thought the same thing too. But I am needed at the Crystal Empire with Cadance. Plus with it being Apple buck season, fall weather coming, and Rarity's boutique making a lot of business, it’s just better if he stays with someone else gets him acquainted. They all know he'll be in town and can help out the volunteers if needed." He slumped down onto the floor, "I guess that makes sense." He yawned and stretched his arms. Twilight giggled and levitated him onto her back, he yawned once more and fell asleep. She trotted out into the early morning rays of sun. The mornings here were always peaceful. She loved the smell of dew in the late summer, the warm yet not overbearing sun always sent barrages of positivity in the townsfolk, despite a few occasions such as the temporary reign of Discord. Nonetheless, she was always able to wake up and marvel at the earth's beauty. XXXXX "Lyra!" A mint green unicorn froze up when another mare screamed her name, she fell onto her back, her light brown colored hoof becoming stuck to the floor. The other pony, whose hair was both a dark navy blue on one side and pick on the other, trotted over to her dazed friend. "What did I tell you about sneaking into the kitchen? And what’s that on your hoof?" "Aheh, um," Lyra sat up from the floor, pulling her hoof free from the hardened candy mixture, "Lets just say i got a little too impatient this time." "Lyra! Because you had to go and put your dirty little hoof in there the candy batter is ruined!" She pressed her nose against her roommate. Lyra winced and looked to her right, "Sorry Bonny..." Bon Bon sighed and put a hoof to her forehead. She grabbed some money from her drawer and put her satchel onto her back, "I'm gonna go get some more ingredients. And next time Lyra, just wait..." Lyra saluted her friend with her candy coated hoof, "Got it!" She glanced at it before happily licking away. After cleaning herself up, she too exited her home and trotted down the streets, growing more and more curious about what her friend Sapphire was up to that day. Her eyes were closed, her breaths slow, yet focused. The smell of the incense wafted into her nostrils as she relaxed every muscle from her head all the way down to her flanks. With her mind clear, she could sense that she was almost there, at last she could accomplish what she so longed to do. Her mind was slipping away into a state of subconscious, dipping into a mental realm, almost a dimension that few ponies had ventured into. She was going to finally experience an out of body experience and... "Hey Sapphire!" Her eyes snapped open as she squeaked in surprise, turning her head to see Lyra smiling at her from the doorway. Sapphire groaned, "I was so close..." "Close to what?" Lyra asked, her head tilting to the side. "Nothing." Sapphire stood on all fours. "I at least wanted to get some decent meditation in before I head off to Canterlot this afternoon." "Oh yeah!" Lyra's eyes brightened up, "I remember now. With the Elements of harmony busy and with Twilight and Cadence at the Crystal Empire there's no one else to help get this new pony settled here. Where did she say he came from again?" "She didn't really say," Sapphire adjusted her bow, "She just said he was a, visitor." She lowered the paper with her magic. "Hm,” Lyra sat back on her haunches, "I wonder if he's a griffon! Or maybe a Zebra?" "Or maybe a human." Sapphire joked, rolling her eyes and smirking. "Hey! We've already talked about this!" Lyra pouted, her face flushing red. Sapphire giggled, "I was only kidding Lyra, but at times you're a bit too into your cryptozoology." "This is coming from the meditator." "Well I... Never mind." Sapphire gave up, her comment would have only turned the situation ugly. She sat up from her pillow and gestured for Lyra to follow her. Lyra trotted by her side through town as they made their way to the train station. "You'll be nice to him right?" Lyra asked, her eyes narrowing just a tad. "Maybe, we'll see. It’s already a burden sharing my space with you and Ditsy half the time." She chuckled. Lyra turned her head away and rolled her eyes, "I'll take that as a no." XXXXX Cory stood with Celestia at the station, two guards on each side of him. Their expressions were solid stone, along with that their armor clad bodies were motionless even as they occasionally glanced over at him. Their ruler wasn't making any of it easier. In fact, she seemed a bit annoyed that whomever they were meeting was late. Even though it’s only been one minute. "We are a tad early." She murmured, "Perhaps I should let it slide." "So, uh," Cory stood awkwardly between the two guards, "How long you two been doing this?" He asked lamely. As he predicted, he got no response from either asides from a grunt in annoyance. After another minute passed, that’s when he saw them, two mares walking along the dirt path at a fast pace. One wore a red bow in her sea blue mane. It had a horn on its forehead just like Celestia and the guards. The other, a unicorn mare with a two tone mint green mane, and yellow, golden eyes. Her coat was a minty green color, much different in contrast to the almost grey one of the previous mare. "I'll be damned..." He remembered the dream he had before he awoke in this world, "It’s them, but, but how?" The two of them bowed to Celestia, "Thank you two for coming here. Your help is much appreciated. Something strange has certainly fallen upon us, and, with the Crystal Empire in need of Twilight's assistance and my own, I have left it to you to help our visitor." She stepped to the side, "Please come forth and..." "Incoming!" Shouted a somewhat nasally voice. Coming in hot was a gray Pegasus mare, her blonde mane flowing in the wind. She tried to brace herself for her clumsy impact, only to crash and slide on her bottom, coming to a sliding stop next to Sapphire. Her eyes went crossed as she smiled at Celestia. Celestia returned the expression, "Well, it seems you three are here after all." She finally stepped aside, reveling the human that stood behind her, "Please come forth." When they locked eyes with him, the shock Cory had felt earlier was now mutual, "He's a..." Sapphire's jaw was agape in disbelief. "A human!" Lyra's eyes were wide with excitement, "She tackled the human and sat back on his lap, but soon hopped off as a guard thrust his lance towards her. "Keep your distance from him until the Princess allows it." The guard demanded, retracting his weapon. "You three are aware of why you're here, correct?" Celestia asked. Derpy bounced up and down like an eager child, "I know, you wanted us to watch the visitor right?" "Right you are Ditsy, not only do i want you to watch him, I want you to also get him acquainted with his new..." She paused for a moment, "Residence. For the time being that is." Sapphire raised her left brow, "So, we're babysitting?" "Excuse me?" Cory snapped. He felt the cold tip of a lance poke his back he raised his arms back up, but not without rolling his eyes. Even though the guard wouldn't dare impale him without Celestia's consent, Cory figured that it'd be best to stay on her kinder side to ensure his survival. Sapphire turned her nose to the air away from Cory. He could tell they were going to get along “great”. As Celestia and her guards made their way towards the Princess' carriage, the white mare stopped and beckoned for Cory to come closer. Cory looked back at the three mares before he walked to Celestia. Her face hardened a tad, her eyes looking into his as if she was scanning them for the least bit of deceit. "I have one more question for you. Will you answer it honestly?" He nodded, "Yes I will Princess Celestia." "In your realm, do you have any legends that include bipedal Titans?" "Yes we do, but they're mainly fairy tales for children." "Mhm," Celestia bit her lip, "Thank you. Enjoy your stay here." "Well that was, weird." He thought to himself. "Hey biped, still with us?" Sapphire asked, her voice growing impatient. Her friend Lyra nudged her shoulder, "Remember what Celestia asked? Hospitality!" "Whatever," she snorted, keeping quiet on their way back to Ponyville. As they walked through the town, ponies looked at Cory with suspicion, worry, and some with fear. He didn't blame them at all really, from what he could gather most have never seen one quite like him, and save for a few, most were fairly small compared to the equines back at home. "Boy, you seem pretty popular!" Ditsy smiled, looking up at him with her wall eyes stare. "Not the kind of attention I wanted." He said nonchalant. "Well, you dos tick out like a sore thumb." Sapphire added, "Not only are you freakishly tall, but you're also, well, bald everywhere." His face grew red, "Boy, you know how to make a guy feel welcome." "You could say that, that is, if you were welcome." Lyra bumped his side and gave him a more reassuring look. Her smile faded when she saw the uncertainty in his eyes. "You ok mister?" Disty asked, her eyes going crossed again, "Does someone need me to hug them?" She bounced up and down. Sapphire shook her head, "Let him alone Derpy, its going to take more than that to get this weight off his shoulders." "Hey! It’s Ditsy! Not Derpy!" She huffed, her eyes cork screwing in frustration. They came to a large, almost medieval style house. A garden of various spice plants and flowers surrounded the housed perimeter asides from the entrance where a large wooden door stood. Sapphire used her magic to unlock the door, stepping followed by the two other mares and the human who had to almost duck down when he entered. Disty trotted up the stairs into her room, coming down not even a minute later with an empty satchel and blue mail man cap. "Well, I gotta deliver mail today. By Cory!" She gave him a hug, much to his surprise and discomfort. She was surprisingly warm to him. She let go of him and trotted away from the house happily humming to herself. For such a troubled looking mare she seemed so, happy, even in the presence of an alien such as Cory. Lyra also trotted by his side with a small basket in her mouth. She giggled and placed it down, smiling at him and nudging his side, "I'll just be outside, and I think it'd be best to talk Sapphire for a bit." Either Cory gave her a funny look or she could read minds, "She's not that bad once you get to know her." Without saying another word, she too exited the house and tended to her spice garden, collecting mint leaves and pruning off dead growth. He sighed and walked to where Sapphire sat on her pillow, flipping through the pages of her book. She seemed very absorbed into what she was reading, her eyes danced across the pages of the book. She glanced up at him with her eyes and then back down at the book. He sat down instead, growing rather impatient with her sour attitude. The other two mares had been kind to him, the grey one named Ditsy Do especially. She lowered her book just enough to peer at him just above the pages, "Is it normal for your kind to just stare at others?" His brows furrowed, "You don't like me at all, don't you?" "Not that I don't like you. I'm like this to everyone." She giggled. "So, plainly you're a bitch?" She nodded, "You could say that." "What good will acting that way do?" She closed her book, shooting him a cold glare, "Another thing about me, I don't have to explain myself to you at all. I am who I am, got it?" Cory smirked, "Is that so?" In a way, her snooty attitude reminded him of his sister whenever they argued back at home. A knock at the door followed by Lyra opening the door caught their attention. Smoke billowed into the room which brought both Cory and Sapphire to their feet. "Ok I screwed up." she coughed, rubbing her teary eyes. They followed her to the kitchen where Derpy still in her postal uniform blew out the flames with a fire extinguisher, granted most of it missed its intended target. "Open a damn window," Sapphire coughed. Cory opened the front door while Lyra pushed open the kitchen window shutters. She hung her head outside while wheezing for fresh air. Cory stood outside spitting the taste of smoke from his mouth. "Well..." BonBon stated plainly, "Guess its takeout for tonight." XXX "What the cinnamon toast fuck is this?" Cory thought as he looked at the spread before him. An assortment of hay, grasses, and a few bits of fruit here and there were splayed out on the table. There was a center dish that had several blocks of different cheese that he eyed as he sat down. He eyed the corn husk wrap in front of him. It almost looked like a tamale dish. Lyra gave him a worried look, "Is something wrong?" "Er, no, I'm good." He said plainly. "No I'm not fucking good, I have no idea where the fuck I am, I'm starving, and the only food here is livestock feed." But still, the food smelled amazing. He grabbed his utensils and cut into the dry husk. It was indeed like a tamale! He put the first bite into his mouth. The flavor was amazing, but the texture, hell he thought, it was like eating crunchy lawn trimmings. He chewed it slowly, the whole dinner table watching him as he did so. "How is it?" Sapphire asked, raising her eyebrows. Cory swallowed it begrudgingly, "Its, great!" he forced a smile. "You're not supposed to eat the husk." Lyra plainly stated. "Balls." he thought, removing the husk and eating the seasoned pepper within. He grabbed an extra block of cheese off the center of the table and altered between bites of that and the tamale. "You're odd mister." Derpy said. BonBon jabbed and elbow into Derpy's side, eliciting a small paned grunt from her friend. "I'm gonna get some rest. I'll, see you all in the morning." He sat up from his chair, leaving his plate on the table. "Weirdo." Sapphire mumbled, levitating an apple to her mouth. Lyra shot daggers at the two and walked towards Cory's bedroom. She sat down on his bed as he stared up at the ceiling. "You enjoy dinner?" She asked, smiling warmly as she sat down on her rump. "Yeah. I was actually able to eat a little something for once." Lyra's ears slightly dropped down, "You seem, bothered by something. And I don't mean bothered from being away from home. Did what Sapphire say really bother you that much?" Cory put his hands behind his head, "Not really, Just trying to figure out, just, what the hell is going on." "Like what?" She tilted her head. "I don't belong here, this isn't home hell this isn't even my world! None of this makes any sense and I know for a fact I'm not dreaming!" "Here," her forelegs wrapped around him. This shocked him, she seemed far more comfortable around him than he had imagined. He lightly returned the hug and felt his hand trace her side as she pulled back. She had a warm look in her golden eyes, they sent him a clear message that he had her hospitality, "I'm so sorry, I know we don't have answers either but if there's anything I can do, please tell me." Her eyes were warm and had tears on their corners. She was surprisingly empathetic towards him. He could hear her heartbeat, her breathing. She was real, that much was certain. "Thank you." He felt his spirit being lifted. Since he met her and the wall eyed winged equine, a warm sense of security washed over him. As he thought over their hospitality, her eyes trailed amongst his form. He certainly was different, but it peaked her interest, "Raise up your arms." He gave her a puzzled look but obliged, raising them from his sides. She inspected them with her large, amber irises. His form peaked her interest, the veins in his arms stuck up in some places underneath his skin. he pulled them back a bit as her hoof traced the small bit of hair he had on his arms. He placed his hands down onto the mattress that was a tad bit small for him, making his feet hang off the edge. She blew out the candle but allowed for her horn to illuminate the room as she turned to leave for the night. However, She noticed Cory's stare in both amazement and confusion. "How do you do that?" "Magic!" She chirped, "You humans are like earth ponies, right?" By the look he gave her she could tell he had little idea of what she was talking about. "What I mean is, humans don't have magic, right?" "I guess you didn't hear me talking to your ruler early." He sat up, bringing his feet in closer, "Its all just a gag where I come from. How are you so sure that your horn isn't bio-luminescence?" She giggled, "Could bio, whatever it is do this?" She levitated him from the mattress, making him flail his arms in annoyance. She toyed with him for a minute before she dropped him back down. "Ok ok, I get it now." He rubbed his eyes, his head aching slightly from being toyed with. Lyra giggled and illuminated the room once more before leaving, "Sweet dreams." She stopped in the doorway and awaited his reply. He nodded, "Goodnight. And, thanks." "No problem. Now get some sleep you." She smiled. And without another word she closed the door. Finally alone in the bedroom, he looked out the window that allowed from moonlight to spill onto the floor. Sighing as he lay his head back onto the pillow, he slowly, but surely, fell asleep. Lyra trotted to her bedroom just down the hall when Sapphire stopped her, her expression was one of mischief. "So, you seem rather concerned for his well being. I know you're thrilled to see your little 'crypt' turned out to be real, but you seem to have a whole different kind of interest in his well being." Lyra's face flushed red, "I'm just doing what Celestia asked of us." "She said to just watch him and make sure he stays out of trouble, not to baby him just because he thinks my jokes are mean spirited." Sapphire rolled her eyes and trotted away, "Goodnight Lyra, make sure you stay in your own bedroom." "Funny." Lyra mumbled. Illuminating her horn, she closed her bedroom door and turned in for the night. As she lay in bed, a touch of giddiness brewed in her. She giggled and rubbed her hind legs together, "He is real, I knew it all along!" She nuzzled her pillow before drifting off to sleep. XXXXX "Do you really think he's returned?" "It is hard to say Luna, a human has not existed in Equestria for almost a Millenia." Celestia flipped through the pages of her book, "Mother of me, I know this is the book, where, just where is the end of the prophecy!?" Luna stood by her side, eyes also glued to the book, "You’re truly resorting to those dusty old books? This could have been a freak phenomenon. The most we should do is keep an eye on him, at least until we can confirm he is not like the others." "Here it is," Celestia sighed in relief. She tried turning the page of the book, but a crimson feather bookmark stuck the pages together. She used her hoof to split the two pages, and casted the feather away. As it fell to the ground, she gasped in shock at what she saw "Wait, what is happening?" The lettering on the page began to morph into a variety of symbols, a different language unknown to modern ponies. Both of them could read exactly what it was, and what they read made their blood run cold. "GREAT WAR CHIEF." The two gasped as celestia dropped the book. Her horn burned from holding it with her magic earlier. She felt sick, and her legs turned to jello. Luna cried out her sisters name as she knelt by her side. Celestias hoof began to darken as she lay unmoving, sweat beading her forehead. On the ground, a small feather had fallen from the book. She examined it cautiously. She gasped in horror as she realized what was happening. The feather, her sister suddenly being poisoned, and more importantly, the words on the page. The book had finally finished displaying it's message." "GREAT WAR CHIEF GERONIMON."