//------------------------------// // 5 - Encounters and revelations // Story: Janon - The Resident "Wise" Guy // by Starmarine61321600 //------------------------------// Twilight had just finished a picnic with her friends at the lake. It went nice, a good change of pace from the non-stop adventures lately. Even so, she still can’t wait to get back to the library. She’s going to reorganize the entire library, it’ll probably take all day but that was the plan. As she approaches the door something feels off. As if someone or something is watching her. Shaking her head she says, “Probably Pinkie.” She opens the door and is greeted by a large bipedal figure. The figure is large, maybe even taller than Celestia herself. It was like nothing she’d ever seen before. She knew one thing. It was sitting at her table, in her home, her library like it owned the place. Something was not right. “Uhhh…Hello?” She asks, not wanting to startle the creature. Not turning around I answer, “Sup, Twilight.” She takes a step back, “How’d you know my name? I never told you that.” “You’re the only pony who lives in this library?” I say turning to face her. My face says, "Are you stupid?” “Oh, yeah. Forgot about that.” She says surprisingly calm about this whole ordeal. “So why are you here?” “I got fucking teleported here,” I answer with a voice full of annoyance. “I meant inside the library.” She asks clarifying her question. “I was teleported here. About 2 and a half months ago I was teleported to Equus by Discord. I’ve been living here ever since.” I answer in a neutral tone in hopes of not offending the newest pony princess of Equestria. “You’ve been living here for months now? How hasn’t anyone stumbled upon you yet?” She asks now both confused and intrigued. “I’ve been living in the Everfree Forest,” I answer coldly, my voice not hiding the horrors I’ve seen. “The Everfree Forest? How, Zecora might live there but she’s lived there for decades.” She asks partially impressed and slightly concerned. “Right now, I just want to get home,” I answer plainly, my voice devoid of emotion. “Doesn’t surprise me. I would too. You’ve been dropped into an unknown world filled with unknown history and magical creatures.” She answers, her ears fall flat as she takes a seat across from me. “No, I meant back to where I live in the Everfree,” I answer quickly and look out of the window toward where the forest is. “Why’d you want to return there?” She asks curious as to why I’d want to return to such a dangerous place. “That’s where my home is?” I respond looking at her with a deadpan. “You know like all my life possessions and shit?” “I could probably teleport you there if you want. How far away is it?” “It’s 20 kilometers away from here. So 12.4 miles. I don’t know what units you ponies use.” “Kilometers work fine. I know what they are.” She responds and gets up from her seat. “Want me to teleport you back?” “No, my home is underground. If you mess up I’m dead.” I deadpan. “Hey, I’m very good with magic. That’s why I’m the Element of Magic.” She defends confident in her abilities. “Yeah I know, Element of Magic and Princess of Friendship, yada yada.” “I never told you I was a princess.” “I know a lot about you but let’s not dwell on that,” I respond in an attempt to change the topic. “Okay…so what are you?” She asks not recognizing my species. “I’m a human.” “A hou-man?” “No, a human. Hu-man.” “A human?” “There you go.” “And what is a human?” “It’s a me, Mario.” “Huh?” She says walking back to her seat and sitting back down. “Earth reference you wouldn’t get it.” “Earth? Is that the name of your homeplanet?” “Yes, it is. 3rd planet from the Sun.” “What can you tell me about your world?” “It is a beautiful hell-hole of a planet. With great mountain ranges and valleys. A new war every week and constant starvation and death.” “That doesn’t sound like a peaceful planet.” “I mean when you have 8 billion people on a single planet. It’s only natural.” “8 billion people!? Equus has a few hundred million at most.” “Yeah, Earth is heavily populated. Then again it’s also a few hundred years more technologically advanced than this planet.” “Techno–what now?” “Technologically advanced, it means how advanced the world’s technology is. My world has planes and spaceships. Your’s from what I know doesn’t.” “Oh, what’s a spaceship?” “It’s a large vehicle meant to send objects to space.” “Interesting, so are you just going to stay here or leave?” She raises her hooves, “Not that I mind. It’s just that there’s a motel in town if you need a place to stay for the night.” She quickly says in a single breath. “Calm down, I’m not that easy to offend. One moment and I’ll check.” I say standing up and walking to the corner placing my left hand on my ear. “DT, is the EF up to retrieve me?” “Yes, they’re up for the challenge.” “Okay tell them to take the Kalyani and head west. Ponyville is 20 clicks west. It’s hard to miss it. Tell them to make sure to wear their standard kit, jumpkits included. They have permission to fire upon anything that appears hostile and doesn’t resemble a four-legged equine.” “Jack said that’s oddly specific but they are heading out now.” DT says directly through the link “What are my orders?” he asks ready to retrieve his pilot. “Your orders are to exit the Arc and keep an eye on them. I’m not losing any more people.” “Roger that, pilot,” DT responds. I turn around back to Twilight. “You okay? It looked like you were talking to yourself.” She asks, sounding worried. “I was getting my friends to come and retrieve me. It shouldn’t be long until they arrive. Maybe two hours. They’re 20 clicks out.” “They must be good friends to trudge through the Everfree to reach you.” “I mean they are good friends but they aren’t walking. They’re taking an MRAP. It’s a heavily armored vehicle from Earth. Plus they have orders to shoot anything that tries to harm them.” “You gave them permission to kill!?” Twilight says shocked by the revelation. “Yes, I did, I’ve already lost one friend due to the Everfree. A manticore took him from me. That was its day. It had a quick death, just like him.” I say solemnly, even though weeks have passed the memory is fresh on my mind. “I’m sorry for your loss. It must have been difficult.” She says attempting to comfort me. “I feel more anger than sadness. It shouldn’t have been able to sneak up on us. I still have just to figure out how it did. Maybe it was the fog. That wouldn’t cover the noise though. It doesn’t make sense.” I say still trying to make sense of the events. “The Everfree is known to have magical fog, so maybe that disrupted your equipment. We’ll likely never know. Remember this, don’t let his memory die.” Twilight says thoughtfully. “Thank you, Twilight. My name is Janon, I think you’ve earned the right to know. I touch my ear once more. “DT, tell them not to pull directly into the town. Tell them to stay on the outskirts of the forest.” “Roger that, pilot. I’ll notify them.” DT responds. “Thank you, DT,” I say turning to Twilight. “I’m going to take my leave. Follow me if you want.” “I would like to meet your friend if that’s alright with you,” “I see no issue with it,” I say standing from my chair. “Do you have like a backdoor or something so I don’t have to walk through Ponyville in broad daylight?” “Oh, I could teleport the both of us to the outskirts of Ponyville if that’ll work.” She says hopping up from her seat. “That’ll work,” I say preparing to be teleported, with permission for once. In a flash of light, she teleports the two of us to the outskirts of Ponyville. “So, Janon, what are we looking for?” “Imagine a large metal carriage,” I say trying to figure out a way to describe it that she’d know. “Okay, I’ll keep my eyes out.” She says looking around for the vehicle. “You could just fly up,” I remark knowing she’s still new to the whole alicorn princess thing. “Oh, right.” She says with an awkward chuckle before taking to the skies. It’s a good ten minutes before she returns. Ten minutes I spend pacing in a circle. I hear a gust of wind followed by an oomph. Turns out she still can’t land. Is Rainbow Rash giving her lessons in this universe if not she certainly needs to. “Nice landing,” I say with a grin. “Oh, shut up,” She says with a glare, “They are less than a minute away.” “Wonderful, I can’t wait to punch a literal Demigod.” “What!?” She says, giving me an astonished look. “Why would you punch a literal god?” “Cause the fucker teleported me into your library forcing me to make contact with you,” I say looking out for the MRAP. “I know, but violence is never the answer.” “I agree it’s the question and right now the answer is yes.” I rebuttal as I hear the sound of an engine. “That’s my ride.” A large vehicle screeches to a stop in front of me. “This Twilight is a MRAP.” “Woah, it’s massive,” Twilight says with an awestruck expression. Inside the MRAP a single phrase is heard, “That’s what she said” followed by laughter. “By the gods, can you guys have a little maturity.” I groan. Laguna opens the driver's side door. “No, we can’t not until you get in.” she lays eyes on Twilight, “The fuck is that? A tiny pastel-colored horse” “Rude, I’m a pony. Also, I am not a whorse.” “Yeah, she’s a pony princess, also for future reference whorse is their variant of a whore.” “Noted for both of those.” Laguna replies, “Guys don’t call the ponies horses. It’s a slur.” “Okay, only call them whorses then think it’s funny, noted.” Says Jack with a chuckle. “Jack, don’t be mean to the locals,” George advises with a cautious voice. “I’m not being mean. I haven’t called her whorse.” Jack replies with a defensive tone. A quick glare from Laguna changes his mentality, “Fine, I won’t call them whorses.” “Thank you,” Laguna says with a nod. “Still, Janon, you need to get ready to leave.” “Oh, yeah. Nice to meet you Twilight.” I say giving the mare a wave before getting into the vehicle. “Goodbye, Janon.” She says waving her hoof as the vehicle speeds off. “Is Cosmos still there?” I ask the rest of EF. The “The unicorn? Yeah, I asked why and he said, "I am waiting to see how this ends.” He surely is an interesting individual” George answers “That he is,” I respond still annoyed at him for disrupting my day. “You're going to kill him aren’t you,” William asks with a smirk “Nope, he’d just either dodge the bullet and smack me with a shovel or just respawn,” I answer flatly knowing that would be a losing battle. “He is an apostle of the Ancient One. A divine being.” Joshua says proud to have met a student of the Ancient One. “Doesn’t make him less of an asshole.” I quickly reply. “True. But he still has his role. One seems very loyal to uphold.” Joshua responds “I know his loyalties and duties. I was the one who wrote him into existence. Remember this realm was literally created in my mind as an alternate universe. One I didn’t expect to end up living in.” I say firmly. “I forgot about that,” Grant says. “Must make things really awkward when talking to natives.” “That’s why I don’t. It’s kinda like knowing the entire history of Earth. Then ending up in 1900s Europe.” I sigh, my situation getting more complex with each passing day. “Know it all makes sense,” Anne says with a shallow exhale. “Then why didn’t you want to make contact with the natives?” “I didn’t want them to freak out about humans, much less armed humans showing up.” I explain, “Granted with Twilight’s reaction you have my permission as overseer to leave the Arc and explore the lands. I’ll make the official announcement once we arrive.” “Really?” They all say, surprised at my sudden change in mindset on revealing our presence. “Yes, it’s time for you to see the world. I may have created each of you but you have no obligations to me. All I ask is when I need a hand to come to my call.” I say knowing this could end badly but I have faith in their abilities.