//------------------------------// // 2 - An unwanted guest from another world // Story: Living where the crossing life leads // by Warioexpert //------------------------------// “Haters Gonna Hate~Haters Gonna Hate~Haters Gonna Hate!” Jack chanted with a grin, marching past the many trees that were part of Smashville with a map showing specific parts marked with X’s. “Now... where is my first target again?” looking at his map he tried to make sense of the confusing map. Most of the locations the map showed were marked with a vague landmark, such as a black colored rock or a pond with blue lily pads. It always seemed so easy for the townsfolk to find their way around the vast land, but Jack still had trouble with finding his way to some of the most common locations. Finally finding the right landmark, he arrived where the map showed an ‘X’ . “Ahhh, there you are my pretty!” He exclaimed as he stood before a large tree. Its outer bark was dull and dead, the branches showed no signs of life whatsoever and the tree leaned dangerously to the side. With a snicker, he meticulously dove his hand into his pocket “Hello there tree, I'm glad we could meet.” he said with a false tone of sadness mixed with sadistic intentions, as he pulled something out of his pocket. First came a wooden handle wrapped in purple gripping leather and his somber expression widened into a wood-thirsty grin as he pulled out a solid gold axe. “Now I really don't want to do this.” he lied with a straight face, placing the axehead between his feet. “It’s not you it’s me.” he said, making a show of spitting into his palms before grabbing the leather handle. “You should be grateful though, another week longer and all sorts of wood maggots would slithering under your bark” Hefting the heavy axe over his shoulder, he got into a classic lumberjack pose. “So with a heavy heart I must accept the duty of putting you out of your misery” he said with his sadistic snicker, getting ready to hack away like an escaped murderer from an insane asylum, if the tree had a face right now it wouldn't look pretty. And just as Jack was about to take his first swing the ground started to shake under his feet, even with the balanced stance he fell flat on his rump. “Oh-no, not again” he thought aloud again, a sweat drop rolled down his eyebrow as the trembling got nearer and nearer and just when he was about to brace for the worst the shaking had stopped. “Huh?” he thought as he looked around in utter confusion. “HEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYY!!!!!” A powerful voice that would make even the toughest man in the world fudge his pants, bellowed from underground. Jack’s pupils shrank to the size of pins before the ground exploded before him. Thoughts clouded his mind as dust clouded his vision, would this be the end for Jack? Would he ever live to see his parents again? Would he live to eat that steak he left in the fridge? Would he ever find true love? “Bleck!” he gagged at that last thought as the dust cleared, a mole standing in an all mighty 2’0’’. dressed in a white shirt, blue overalls and yellow hard hat, stuck out of the ground holding a pickax which had seen some extensive digging by the looks of it. “HEY PUNK! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!? HAVEN'T I TOLD YOU TO NEVER START CHOPPING TREES DOWN WITHOUT MY SUPERVISION!? WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!? THINKING YOU CAN JUST TAKE OFF AND START WHACKING WOOD LIKE THAT!?” the mole flailed his arms around as he yelled at the petrified Jack. “But come to think of it I guess I can't blame ya kid, this is one of those jobs that this town gives ya every day” starting to talk in a casual tone the mole watched as Jack gasped and held his heart. “Resetti... one of these days you're going to GIVE ME A HEART ATTACK!” Resetti’s face went pale for a moment as Jack bellowed back at him. “HEY! At least I'm not the one who goes insane after swinging at a tree for only a few seconds! Do you even remember when you chopped down your first sapling here!? You went on a tree murdering spree; Your axe was reduced to dust! Now that you have that gold axe, you probably won't stop until this entire town is a barren wasteland!” Resetti shouted back in a firm tone that shut Jack up. “Alright alright--Just stop calling me a kid...” Jack mumbled as he got up, grabbing his axe off the ground. Getting back into his chopping stance, Resetti sat there watching Jack with his arms crossed. Jack started to give a few practice swings, memorizing the exact spot to start chopping. “I don't have all day kid!” Resetti said impatiently. “Well I could get this done if you would stop staring at me like that!” he groaned annoyed, Resetti sighed and turned his back. “Alright-alright if it makes you feel better I’ll keep my back turned while you work... But no funny business!” he said, while Jack stuck his tongue out at him. “Thank you!” Jack said sarcastically as he winded up his arms again, suddenly an idea came to mind. His face turned into a sickening grin as he decided to sidestep slightly around the tree. Looking from this angle he noticed how the tree leaned over the unsuspecting Resetti. With a maddening look in his eyes, Jack chopped away at the bark, quickly reaching the core while the tree started to tip over. “Timber!” he shouted out before Resetti glanced back for a second to see the tree was about to topple over him. “GAH!” the mole yelled in surprise, his eyes bulging out of his head before crawling back into his tunnel as the dead tree fell on the hole. “Hah! See Ya!” Jack said with a smirk before he bolted. Resetti then bursted out of another hole right next to the fallen tree as Jack ran like the dickens. “WHY YOU LITTLE PUNK! WAIT TILL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!” Resetti yelled, shaking his pick-axe threateningly as Jack dashed out of sight. After a few hours of merciless wood hacking and jogging around town, Jack finally stopped at a large moss covered boulder that stood close to his house. “Wow... That was a workout” he said, sighing, as he sat down on the grass leaning the prized axe against a boulder. Contemplating the quiet scenery around him, a smile crept on his face as he layed on the lush, green grass. “Alone at last...” he thought aloud, closing his eyes and slowly drifting into a blissful state of sleep. For minutes he laid there, sleeping without a care or worry in his little world. For some reason he started to get a warm and fuzzy feeling wrapping around his body, similar to the feeling of hugging a plush toy. When the sensation suddenly included the feeling of paws pressing on his chest, his eyes shot open and a vein popped out on his forehead as he stared into the large brown eyes of Maple. “Hiya Jack~” Maple whispered with a devious smile on her face, Jack was silent as he felt Maple sitting on his lap, with both her paws on his chest. As flocks of birds flew from the trees in fright, Jack dusted himself off before grabbing his axe off the mossy rock and resting it on his shoulder. Taking a moment to check the time on his pocket watch, he headed home, leaving behind an unconscious honey bear with a smoldering red bump on her head. “Greetings Master Jack” said Lloyd, gyrating as Jack walked closer to him “I trust you where able to complete your daily objectives listed to you by the Mayor?” “Yep” Jack answered with a stern look on his face, trying to ignore the gut wrenching moment he just had a moment ago, Lloyd started to gyrate slightly to the right. “I detect an incoming visitor in the vicinity” Lloyd beeped as he spun faster. A orange colored alligator wearing a red t-shirt with a red ‘M’ emblem was jogging towards Jack with a butterfly net in his claws “Jack! Hey Jack!” he shouted excitedly before he tripped on a pebble and fell on his chin. “Omf!” “Owie” he said with a painful look on his face “I'm Okay!” “What’s up Alfonso?” Jack said as he took the gator’s claw and helped him back on his feet. “Well... What was it again? Oh Yeah!” Alfonso said snapping his fingers “Are you going to be at this years chestnut festival?” he asked. “Of course I am. I’m helping to prepare most of the lumber needed.” Jack stated proudly, subtly caressing the golden axe in his hands. “Thats good to hear... because I heard from a little bird that...” Alfonso said, quickly looking around before pulling Jack in close. “‘He’ is going to be at the festival as well this year” Alfonso whispered into his ear, causing Jack to smirk. “Ah, my old nemesis...” Jack said in a devious tone, turning away from Alfonso to rub his chin. “This time I’ll make sure he won't make a fool out of me this year!” “Yeah!” Alfonso said, holding his bug net over his shoulder while pumping his fist. “Oh! I almost forgot Alfonso” Jack looked at his reptile friend with a mischievous smile. “I got that prank letter from you yesterday” Still lost in the moment it took a few seconds before Jack’s words sunk in. “What letter?” tilting his head, the gator looked quizzically at Jack. “Come on, don't act like you don't know!” Jack nudged him on the shoulder. “I know it was you who sent that letter with the fancy handwriting.” seeing Alfonso at a total loss Jack felt confusion set in. “It was you... right?” Alfonso scratched his head “No, I don't remember sending any letters this week...” Jack could easily tell that Alfonso was just as confused as him. “So... if it wasn't you, then who was it?” feeling stumped Jack tried to think of other possible pranksters. A sudden yell from behind the two friends made them both jump in surprise. “Master Jack, there is mail in your Letterbox” Lloyd announced, facing Jack’s mailbox which had the blue joint flap up and blinking. Alfonso stared at it for a few moments before turning to Jack. “I didn't see Pete delivering mail here today...” “Me neither...” Jack answered, staring at the blinking flag. “Well... aren't cha gonna open that?” Alfonso said, shielding himself behind Jack while slightly pushing him forward. “I-I don't know... Stop Pushing Me!” Jack snapped at Alfonso before turning around and grabbing him by his protruding mouth “You go!” Jack exclaimed, judo throwing the gator. Alfonso tumbled through the air before slamming into the mailbox “OW!” he cried, before rubbing his face “Not cool Jack!” Looking around, Alfonso thought Jack had run away for a moment, before he saw his head pop out from behind a boulder. Alfonso looked at the mailbox fearfully while the light on it kept blinking. Trembling uncontrollably, he slowly reached for the lid and closed his eyes tightly before quickly opening it. There was nothing but silence for a couple of seconds as Alfonso cowered in a ball. “Eh?” Alfonso said feeling something land on his back, before opening his eyes to see what it was. “Hey, its a scroll!” he picked up the rolled up piece of parchment off the ground to take a closer look. “Looks fancy too.” “Let me see that.” Jack said, snatching the scroll out of Alfonso’s claws “Hey! This is exactly like that prank letter I told you about!” Jack exclaimed as he broke the gold colored wax on the red ribbon. Alfonso looked over Jack’s shoulder, curiously eyeing the mysterious piece of paper as his friend began to read the message aloud. “Dear Jack, No amount of words can express how exhilarated I feel for this breakthrough in the history of Equestria, coming in contact with an extraterrestrial being from another dimension had never been heard of, much less tried by pony kind. I have wasted no time in making preparations in coming to visit you and all of your friends in Smashville, If my calculations are correct I will be able to travel to your dimension soon See you then, Twilight....” After finishing the letter they both stared at the letter in silence until Alfonso decided to break the silence. “Wow...” looking at him, slowly tilting his head “That sure is a bizarre letter if I've ever seen one.” he managed to say before Jack gave him a withering glare. “This is serious man! The last time I got a letter like this, I burned it!” Jack shouted, crumpling the paper in his fist before stuffing it in his pocket. “I must be losing my mind...” “Well it sounds to me like this visitor might be nice” Alfonso said with a smile, followed by a muffled yelp as Jack grabbed the gator by the mouth again. “Or... this so called ‘visitor’ might be a hostile invader bent on enslaving us!” Jack said, shaking Alfonso’s head up and down like a paint mixer. “Mmmf Mmmmfmm Fmmmm” Alfonso muffled. “Wha?” Jack said, letting go of him. “I said, you've played too many video games.” he stated holding his head as the world continued to bob up and down. “Don't be so close minded about it.” Jack narrowed his eyes at Alfonso “What I don't understand is how you can be so open minded about it.” he slowly took a firm grip of the axe handle as he continued in an accusing tone. “You seem to take this inter-dimensional letter business all too casually.” Alfonso quickly put up his arms defensively, seeing a dangerous gleam in his friend’s eyes. “Its seems like this is similar to that time when that, Alien crash landed here” he explains, nervously glancing between his friend and the axe’s sharp blade. “Gah! I already told you that he wasn't an alien! he was just some crazy seagull in a flying contraption!” a vein popped out on Jack’s forehead before before his axe went flying towards a nearby tree, the blade making a dull *thunk* as it stuck. “Um... Nice throw?” Alfonso said with a nervous chuckle. Letting out a sigh, Jack walked towards the tree and pulled his axe out. “Maybe all this tree chopping just has me tired, maybe if I take a nap all of this will go away” Before Alfonso could say anything there was a sudden shade covering them, surprised they both look around to find that outside had darkened significantly. “Is there going to be a storm?” Alfonso said, shielding his eyes while looking at the sky. Jack looked up as well, putting his axe back in his pocket. “The forecast said it was going to be clear today. What gives!?” he yelled at the sky, shaking his fist. Seeming to hear Jack, lightning sparked in the dark clouds that started to spread over the blue sky, roars of thunder also started to go off, but there was no drop of rain to be felt. “I think you made it angry...” Alfonso said shivering in place while Jack looked around “That’s stupid” Jack answered before a massive thunder clap made them both jump. “Ahhhhh! Scary!” Alfonso shouted as he curled up again in fear. After the thunder clap, the white lightning started to turn purple “What is that!” Jack said in disbelief, making Alfonso briefly peek through his fingers, as a bright violet sphere of light appeared from the dark clouds. “U-F-O!!!” Alfonso shouted pointing at the glowing sphere as it started falling in the direction of the beach. Jack, who had watched the anomaly dumbstruck, shook his head and looked at Alfonso with determined eyes. “Come on, we have to find out what that was!” Jack said to Alfonso before he darted in the direction of the light. Alfonso looked up at the sky again to see the dark clouds clearing up. “What is going on...” he said before hurrying after Jack. “Hey wait up!” Jack easily ran past the trees and vaulted over rocks as Alfonso panted and tripped trying to keep up with his friend. He soon arrived at the beach in the south-west corner of town with Alfonso in tow. Before the two, stood a tall gravel hill topped with a pile of boulders, blocking the entrance to a cave. “Old Seismos Cave...” Jack stated as Alfonso doubled over with his claws on his knees, trying to catch his breath after running halfway across town. “Look!” Alfonso followed Jack’s finger to see the violet light floating over them before it disappeared behind the cliff wall. “Well... I guess that’s that!” Alfonso said, trying to sound unhappy, before turning tail. Feeling his feet slapping uselessly against the ground, the crock looked back to see what was stopping him. *gulp* “Uh-Oh...” Jack had a firm grip on the gator's prized shirt Quickly dropping to his knees, Alfonso started to beg.“Oh please, please, please don't make me go there!” Thinking it over for a few second, Jack sighed. “Fine... You big baby...” he replied, starting up the hill. The loose gravel made for a difficult climb, but Jack finally made it to the top without sliding back to the bottom. Standing before the boulders, he tried to think of a good way around. As a proverbial light bulb flashed over his head, an idea came to mind. Grunting as he bent down, Jack placed his hands under the boulders and started to lift. Surprised by their light weight, Jack started to smirk. “Hah! I knew I was super strong, these rocks aren't even a challenge!” he said, smugly, before chucking the boulders out of his way. “Ever since I got here I've always heard about this cave, and how an ancient beast lurks behind this wall.” throwing away the last rock, he uncovered a hole just big enough to crawl into. “And now its finally time for me to explore it!” Jack’s eyes gleamed as he got down on his knees and crawled into the opening. From the bottom of the hill, Alfonso watched as jack vanished into the dark hole “Wow... he does play too many video games...” Alfonso scratched his head before getting on his feet and heading up the hill, after Jack. Jack coughed as he crawled through the dusty tunnel. “Fudge, I can't see my hand in front of my own face.” Jack thought aloud as his eyes started to adjust to the dark. As time past in the silent darkness, Jack started to feel a chill, when a light appeared at the end of the tunnel. “Am I dead?” Was the first thing he thought before a sharp stone scraped his knee. “Nope still alive... better keep moving” he said, gritting his teeth from the sharp pain. Squeezing through a tight space, the tunnel widened enough for him to stand up. He was about to continue towards the light, before a voice from behind suddenly stopped him. “Jack!” Alfonso yelped as his mouth stuck out of the rocks “Are you in here?” “Well-well-well, look who decided to come crawling” Jack chuckled. “Not funny Jack!” the mouth scowled as it wiggled to and fro. “Can you please help me, I'm stuck...” “Fine, don't get your scales in a bunch” Jack remarked with a snicker as he grabbed Alfonso by the mouth “Heave-Ho!” he shouted as he yanked the crock out with a single pull. With a slight *pop*, Alfonso flew out of the tunnel and made the two friends fall in a unkempt heap. Pushing the heavy gator off him, Jack slowly got up and offered him a helping hand. “Sorry about that” Jack said. “Its fine... I'm use to it by now” Alfonso sighed, accepting the help and dusted off his shirt. The two walked down the long tunnel for what felt like hours, the light being their only guide. Seeing the light grow brighter, the two broke into a jog. Before them stood an underground terrarium that had spiraling walls with a hole at the peak that filtered in natural sunlight. As they made their way down a steep incline, they took in the breathtaking scenery of cave crystals, fluorescent mushrooms and babbling brooks that all lead to a glowing lake in the center. “Wow... this is amazing... How come no one’s ever tried coming back here?” Jack said, before noticing Alfonso had suddenly stopped. “Alfonso, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a--HOLY FUDGE!” Jack’s eyes bulged out of his head as he followed the gator's gaze. “M-MONSTER!” Alfonso screamed in terror pointing at a giant lizard skeleton encased by the spiraled wall across the lake. After a few seconds of panicked screaming, Jack finally noticed something that made him calm down. “Hey, easy there! That's not a monster” he said placing his hands on his friends shoulders in an effort to calm him down, which seemed to work considerably. “AAAAHHH...Its not?” the crock said, curious, before lowering his arms down. “Than what is it?” they both looked back at the ancient portrait on the cave wall. “A Seismosaurus” Jack stated, remembering one of Blather's mind numbing lectures. “the largest dinosaur to ever walk the earth in more than a million years” slowly he walked towards it with an outreached hand, as if to touch it.) Alfonso chuckled nervously as Jack got closer to the lake. “Maybe he’s my long lost relative or something...” “Now’s not the time for speculation Alfonso.” Jack stared back at him with a stern look, before looking towards the opening in the ceiling. “We have more pressing matters." “Right... the U-F-O.” Alfonso nodded as he went up to him “But I don't see it anywhere. Maybe we should just head back, probably gone by now.” almost defiantly, an eerie glow started to emanate from the ceiling, as the mysterious violet sphere appeared in the opening. “Oh me and my big mouth!” Standing his ground as Alfonso looked for a place to hide, Jack reached into pocket while the sphere descended slowly. “Take cover! things are about to get hectic!” Jack said with a confident smirk as he pulled out a silver slingshot with a blue handle. Loading it with a pebble, he aimed at the center of the glowing sphere and pulled the strap as far as it would go. “Its time to kick butt and chew bubblegum, and I'm all outta gum!” Jack said before he let the strap go. The pebble whistled as it flew through the air and shattered the outer shell of the sphere like glass, causing the glow to fade. “ Bulls-eye!” Jack yelled, pumping his fist in victory. “Oh come on, is that really your big line!?” Alfonso scowled at him for the cheesy one-liner. That's when he noticed the silhouette of a figure shining through the dying sphere. “Jack! there's someone inside!” “Huh!?” Jack stopped his victory dance just long enough to see the figure slip through the crack in the sphere. “Quick! It could be someone they abducted!” Alfonso exclaimed as he tossed something at Jack. “Whoa!” Jack held up his arms as he caught it, it was a flat red crystal shaped like a board. “Right!” he said. Noticing a ramp to his right, Jack acted quickly. Using the crystal as a skateboard, he slid down the ramp. In a matter of seconds he reached high speeds before realizing he had no clue what he was doing. “Fudge what was I thinkiiiINNNGGG!?” he yelled as he flew off the ramp and into the air. Noticing a flash of violet fur passing him, Jack grabbed the falling person and crashed into the water. Long seconds passed as Alfonso paced along the lake shore. “Come on Jack...” Suddenly, bubbles began to surface before Jack emerged, gasping for air, with the person he caught on his shoulders. “C-Cold!” Jack said with chattering teeth as he quickly swam to shore. Alfonso ran up to them “Jack! are you alright?” he asked concerned “I'm fine, just really really cold!” Jack answered as he shivered “at least this guy is okay...” Alfonso stood there silently with his mouth open “Why do you have that face?” Jack asked with a scared look on his face, Alfonso looked back at him. “Um... you're not gonna like this...but...” Alfonso slowly turned Jack’s head to the person he had saved. Jack’s face suddenly went as red as a tomato. Lying on the lake shore beside him was a girl! She was a violet colored pony that had long, dark purple hair, with lavender and pink stripes running down it, the same went for her tail, and she had a single horn protruding from her forehead that seemed to have a slight crack. Jack hadn't noticed any of this. All he'd noticed was that she was completely naked. “Uh-Oh...” Alfonso instinctively covered his ears before Jack let loose a terrified scream. “AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!”