//------------------------------// // Chapter 3. // Story: Love is Blue Remastered // by WildAce //------------------------------// The first thought that rang though my head was ‘Where the hell am I?’ as I looked at the darkness around me. Everything was pitch black, the everpresent hum of tv static filling the otherwise empty void. The difference between tv static and the painful noise I was being subjected to, was you could turn down the tv’s volume. In my case however, the sound was so deafening that I had to cover my ears. To my horror I quickly realized I didn’t have hands or arms, nor could I feel them either. Looking down I could see my whole body was gone as well, replaced with a strange orb-like shape. A short time passed, or maybe a long time… it was hard to tell in the infinite blackness. Eventually, the piercing static started to die down as color began to seep back into the world. I was in a strange room, littered with technical graphs on lit screens and many other consoles flickering with lights. A large screen sat perched on a wall, surrounded  by many other tiny screens all with their own respective buttons and lights. In the middle of the room there was a round table, and on it were a plethora of different things. Model ships, vehicles, weapons, books… among other things.  I noticed the sound was coming from the large screen in the center. 7 signs appeared on it, grabbing my attention. I felt my body being pulled forward until I was right below the shifting static, it’s large imposing screen bearing down on me. As everything stopped, the sound also came to a dead silence. Immediately after, 9 cutie marks were shown, almost all of which I recognized. The first six belonged to none other than the Mane six while the seventh was Starlight’s. However, the other two cutie marks I didn’t recognize at all. Suddenly, Rainbow and Starlight’s marks broke off from the group and each paired up with the two I didn’t recognize, each claiming one of them as their own.  Then everything went black once more, until a large creepy eye pierced the dark and peered straight at me. I could feel goosebumps ripple over my body as I stared back as it quickly transformed into a cloudy horse-like figure. That horse had four horns protruding from it’s skull, each horn adorning strange letters and markings carved into them.  Then, a world appeared. The horse appeared to grow larger, but farther away at the same time… until it swallowed the world itself. In an instant, everything shifted again. The world seemed cloaked in a violet cloud, disasters ravaging the surface in an endless cacophony of noise. Hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanos... Homes destroyed, entire civilizations crumbling to dust before my eyes.  Suddenly the piercing noise waned just a bit… and a feeling of serenity seemed to fill the scarred landscape. Four Alicorns appeared before me, their horns glowing with a brilliant light and casting a soft warmth over the land. These four creatures conjured a shield that stretched over the horizon for miles, beyond the boundary of my vision. Then locals began to emerge from the landscape, looking up to their saviours with renewed hope and courage. The four then commanded a pony, a single pegasus, to defeat a horrible creature and save the world.  The pegasus wielded a curious sword, it’s pommel resembling that of a lion. The blade glinted with a brilliant light… a kaleidoscope of colors seemingly dancing off of it in every hue imaginable. The cross-guard glowed with a golden shine, six uniquely colored stones engraved into its side which glittered like a rainbow.  Three colors in particular shone brighter than the rest: Red, yellow and blue.  Intricate runes etched along the fuller of the sword gave it a powerful yet majestic aura. Standing over the monster, now defeated, the pegasus hefted up the sword and threw it towards me as it impacted the screen. With a jolt I awoke, a cold sweat covering me as I struggled to slow my breathing. “What the fuck was that?” I asked aloud, images of the dream rushing to the front of my memory once again.  It felt so real, so true. However, there was still one problem: It was still just a dream, a construct of my ‘My Little Pony addicted’ mind. Besides, it looked like the plot of some adventure fanfic. Yeah… that seemed logical. Just a dream based on some fanfiction or something weird I must’ve read at some point, but I wasn’t sure… hard to keep track of them all. I gave myself a light smack on the face and shook my head, before pulling off my sheets and getting ready for the day. After all, a dream is just a dream and I still have school today…  Once I was happy with my clothing choices I prepared some breakfast, hoping to at least start off the day in the right mood. As I ate my food my eyes spotted the nearby newspaper on the kitchen counter, and the headline mentioning a virus outbreak in Wuhan. … I shouldn’t even be surprised, as if this year wasn’t cursed enough. Anyway, it looked like things were under control. Damn, I just jinxed it. Hope this doesn’t turn out too badly. I continued eating as my eyes read further down the pages. “Abortion is going to be legal in México, crash that caused 10 deaths, citizen believes he was transported to another dimension...” As my eyes glazed over the headlines, the last title caused me to pause.  Did I read that clearly? I put down my food and pulled the paper over to read it more clearly. ‘As the story goes, he states he was transported to a place called ‘Equestria’, where ponies could talk.’ I blinked slowly at the page, grabbing it in both hands and forgetting my food completely. ‘-however the victim, while muttering many things that were unintelligible, did have some interesting statements. He constantly referred to himself as ‘Starswirl’, calling himself “Doomed” and that “Nothing else matters anymore - a hundred years have I lived and now I must restart”. Many specialists have said this looks to be some form of dementia or schizophrenia. Not only is this sudden case of schizophrenia strange but even more so the family states he had been missing for a whole month prior to this. The family says that he lost an incredible amount of weight, and has tendencies to eat only vegetables, along with a plethora of knowledge rivaling that of even our top scientists. We will update as the situation changes.’ I read a bit further down, and saw even the church was getting involved. Talks of demonic possession and learning new languages as signs of dark times. Then there was also that name… Starswirl. It seems there are fans out there even more deprived than moi. I glanced up at the clock.  6:40 a.m. ‘Oh shit, I’m gonna be late!’  In a flurry I finished getting ready and sped towards the school, all within the speed limit I swear.  The drive was uneventful aside from the impending feeling of tardiness as I parked in the lot and ran into the building. Upon reaching class I breathed a sigh of relief when I noticed it hadn’t started yet… the professor must have been running late. I counted my blessings and made my way into the class as whispers and topics danced around me from the talking students. I heard a variety of gossip as I walked, the most prominent being that guy who claimed to be Starswirl the Bearded. Such audacity.  I glanced around the packed room for James before something poked me in my ribs from the side. “Boo!” James screamed, electing a jolt from me. “Holy fuck!” I yelled. “James, what the hell dude?” I hissed as I gave him a small shove as he, in turn, exaggerated falling over… a hand on his head. “Oh no! He just pushed me like a common bully!” He wailed out with fake terror. “Har, har, yeah laugh it out. Karma will get you sooner or later.” I warned him, hiding my small smile as I sat in a nearby chair. “Ha! Karma can kiss my ass, see if I care about it.” He said with a wave of his hand. Soon class was in session, or so it should have been. The teacher tried to begin but it seems the chatty masses were still in their own world.  In a swift movement he slammed his hand down on the book on his desk, eliciting a loud THUMP. “That’s enough! You all will be quiet or there will be pain, studying and pain!”  Then everything went quiet.  After a quiet few moments the teacher cleared his throat and began again. “Ok class, today we’ll be starting ‘An introduction to Intermediate Accounting’. So first things first… who could tell me what-” The voice of the teacher fading away as I stared out the window.  ‘What a beautiful day. The quietness, the way the leaves rustle in the heat of summer. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to be on summer vacation. The sea, bikinis, beers, sleepless nights, video games with the boys… just the total experience of a kick-ass summer. Come on, just a couple more weeks and freedom!’  However this peace and tranquility was broken by screams of joy, chatter, and the occasional mocking cry directed at me (or maybe the whole class, though I felt like it was directed at me) could be heard and seen outside the class window.  Another class was having an extra hour of spare period since they won our most recent soccer tournament. Some of my classmates groaned at the sight as I remembered the painful memory of how we choked and lost against them in the finals. The soccer tournament was an idea that the department of Human Resources came up with. The class that defeated everyone in football was granted the chance to either have an hour of free time with some pizza and drinks… or some points on their final grade. It was an all or nothing from the start. Everyone knew what we were up against, yet against all odds we made it to the finals. We had some of the best players of our college on our team and we still barely scraped by… it’s amazing what motivation and an ounce of courage can do for the underdogs. We barely made it, however there was another team that was younger and faster than us. It’s interesting how karma works, between us and that team there were some grudges that had definitely formed. The most notable being that they apparently thought we cheated in one of the tournaments. However, this last match was the pinnacle of everything. Everyone in my group had at least one serious grudge with the other group and vice versa. If we win, we would all recover our honor. However, if we lost, there is a possibility of living the rest of our College lives in shame as laughing stocks. ‘Just wasn’t meant to be, I guess…’ I thought to myself as I peered out the window at the celebrating masses once more. The day flew by and nothing else particularly interesting happened… a couple quizzes, lunch at a taco stall… to name a few things. Soon the lessons came to a close as the day dragged on, and before I knew it I was walking towards my car, key in hand. I started to unlock the door while gripping the handle with my other hand, until I started to fumble and dropped it onto the pavement below… a sudden wave of dizziness washed over me. I brushed it off as an effect of the heat, it had been a particularly hot day today. The drive home was uneventful as I pulled into my parking spot and hurriedly made my way to the front door. As I entered the house It felt like the whole world was shifting, making me nauseous in an instant. By now my suspicions had morphed into worry, I couldn’t understand what was going on. Did I drink alcohol somehow? Maybe someone put something on my soda… or was it really just the heat? I tried to walk but my steps became dumber and more erratic, making me crash into things and almost fall onto the floor. I aimed for the sofa by the entrance and fell onto it as my vision quickly blacked out as the pressure peaked from my headache. I could feel every atom of my body being pulled and pushed at the same time, it felt both like nothing and everything. I tried to scream but couldn’t find my voice as I felt myself gag (That’s what she said! Ha! Boom! Roasted! Jajajaa Am I making any sense in this situation?) As soon as my body finished feeling like it was in a taffy puller everything stopped, except the rapidly spinning world around me forcing me to close my eyes to avoid throwing up. I felt as if I was floating in the air, completely weightless for a few moments. Then… SLAM! Right into the floor, stomach first as my ears rang and my teeth chattered together. “Aahhg… Holy fuck! What the hell was that?” I groaned out as wet grass stuck to my face.  Wait… Grass? I tried to get up but failed as I slammed once again into the floor. I groaned in increasing annoyance and tried again. This time, I tried to think what went wrong. It felt like my center of balance was completely off, like my arms and legs came to an end in… stumps.  *Blink* I slowly blinked, processing the image before me. …hooves… ‘You’ve got to be kidding me…’ I shifted my stance from biped to quadruped, which of course is the most logical action to do when you suddenly transform into a freaking horse!  This all felt like a freaky dream, but at this point I should’ve woken up… it all feels too real as my new senses cranked into overdrive and began to overwhelm me. Besides, the pain had a level of realism that no dream could imitate. I took a look around and analyzed my surroundings. I crashed into a forest, a creepy forest at that… containing strange weeds and plants. The ground was moist with liquid as my hooves pressed into it… giving the feeling of a swamp. But the flora near me seemed to indicate otherwise. Even if this was a swamp or a forest, it’s still a good idea to get out of here as fast as possible. “I hope all my weekends watching Bear Grylls can help me get out of here. Preferably alive and in one piece, I have too much to live for to just die in this god forsaken place.” I spoke aloud to myself, nothing but the silence of the forest and the occasional critter greeting me back. I racked my brain for the next step. Maybe… search nearby to see if anything is worth taking? It made enough sense to me and I quickly started scrambling around the area, looking for anything that could help. It took a little bit to get used to my changed form, after all living with two legs my whole life leaves you with some movement ‘Quirks’ I had to get used to. Like which order to take my steps in… for that I remembered how I saw ponies walking in the show and tried my best to replicate it. Ten minutes of searching and stumbling later and the only thing I found were some delicious smelling berries. I tried one and found out that they were actually pretty good. I hope they weren't poisonous... but that worry faded the more time passed, something told me they were just normal blueberries. I knew the only way things were going to get better is if I put my… hoof… forward and got to work.  ‘Hopefully getting out of here won't take too long though…’ Even with the sweet flavor of berries fading from my tastebuds I could feel my current situation really sink in. I was alone in this forest and I had no idea which way to go. I trotted for… I wasn’t sure how long. Ten minutes… an hour? More? It didn’t matter at this point as this forest didn’t seem to change even a little bit, I felt as if I was going in circles but had no way to really tell. Eventually something caught my attention… almost calling me in a way. Something that was in the environment had changed, a static in the air put me on edge. I stopped and looked around for a sign of… anything really.  Suddenly a small glint, a barely noticeable spec of light, flickered through the foliage and trees. My gaze locked with it instantly, my eyes widening and my ears giving a small involuntary flick. ‘Finally! An end to this damn forest!’ My excitement peaked as I bolted towards the light, hoping to find some village or building or… something. Yet, as I came closer, it took shape of not buildings but… a white pillar? I raised my brow and approached it, examining it as I circled the strange landmark. The pillar was placed very deliberately in a small open patch of forest. It looked like it had been used as part of a ritual. Against my better judgment, I touched with my hooves to the pillar’s surface and a strange energy flowed through me.  The entire experience happened so fast and was so overwhelming I blacked out not a moment later. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Beep* *Beep* *Beeeeeeep* *Beep* *Beep* Two purple ears appeared from underneath a small desk in a dimly lit room, the small beeps and sounds of machinery permeating the area. Paper billowed from a nearby computer as the small lavender figure rushed to it with a quill and parchment floating nearby in a similarly colored aura. She held back from writing anything as she watched the paper spew out of the machine, watching to see if it repeats itself. As, according to ‘Magical disturbances and its uses’ written by Starswirl the bearded himself, stated that magical disturbances always had an echo of sorts, the first being shorter and in higher pitch than the second. Clear sign of large magical disturbances.  *Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Beep* ‘Come on, come on, baby. Show yourself…’ She bit her lip as she scanned the pages printing out, until… *Beep* *Beep* *Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup* *Beep* *Beep* She did a small little dance with a small ‘Squee’ and furiously scribbled onto the parchment. —- Dear Princess Celestia, As per your instructions I’ve been on constant surveillance of all the magic disturbances around both Ponyville and Canterlot. Attached is the strongest and weirdest I’ve seen yet, maybe ever. I already checked if it was a mistake of the computer, or a software glitch but the result is the same each time: The action is high-pitched and short, while the echo, or reaction, was low-pitched and long. According to the Magical Placement Sensors located in Everfree Forest and Froggy Bottom Bog, the magical disturbance should be in there somewhere. What it was that caused this I haven't determined yet. More interestingly enough is the frequency suggests it originated from a very powerful source, more powerful than you and Princess Luna combined… which seems very worrying. I have various hypotheses for this: Perhaps Tirek is involved somehow, it’s been a few years since the incident… and then there's the nearby allied counties, perhaps it’s a magical experiment of some kind? I don’t know what’s happening,but if there’s anything else you need, I am at your service. Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle —- “Spike!” Yelled Twilight.  Immediately a short purple dragon appeared with a pink apron which adorned a very pink heart with the text ‘Best Chef’ “Yes, Twilight?” He asked hesitantly. “Could you please forward this to the Princess?” Spike only had to look at it for a moment before he lept into action and grasped the letter. Using his green fire breath he incinerated it to ashes as it swiftly flew out the window towards its destination, a certain solar Princess.