-50 years before Luna's imprisonment, Canterlot-
“Are you positive this will work safely?” a unicorn asked for the one hundredth time. Celestia sighed to herself; the problem with that question was not the frequency it was asked, but rather the fact she had to lie to keep her little ponies from backing out.
“Yes, I have taken every possible precaution. No unicorn in this room is in the least amount of danger,” this was a half lie. There was a good chance the spell would backfire and kill the caster, namely her. But none of the unicorns in the room were in the least amount of danger, they simply helped with the energy source and the theoretical aspects of the spell. Not even Luna was participating in this joyous day, though she had been holed up in her room a lot lately. Today, Celestia and twelve other unicorns would attempt the unthinkable, if not impossible...
To see into another universe.
The study hours that had been put into this were high enough to equal a lifetime. Some ponies had gone weeks without sleep. Today was the make or break. Celestia stood at her tallest in the center of the room as the other wizards mechanically took position around her, as they had practiced thousands of times before. A slow thrum filled the room. It was neither quiet nor soft; neither high nor low, simply filling the room with its complex and unnerving sounds. She felt the energy flow into her, empowering her. She knew exactly how to do this spell. She had rehearsed it and trained for it. She had no need to fear, and she felt even more powerful.
The portal began to open. It was small. Not even a mouse could crawl through it. Celestia began prying it open with her mind. She closed her eyes in concentration. The portal got larger and the view into the universe became more clear. Celestia relented her magic, keeping the portal open rather than making it bigger.
“Well, fillies and gentlecolts, we've done it.” Celestia said as she opened her eyes.
War.
War everywhere. The portal was giving a clean image of spilled blood and merciless slaughter. Large bipedal creatures were across the portal and were killing each other by the dozens with strange staffs. They stepped over their own kinds bodies as if they were dirt. Men, women, and seemingly children were fighting in the battlefield. Cold. Merciless. Dead. Each one.
Sounds of disgust left everyponies mouth at this view. Celestia felt horror creeping up her spine at the sheer death toll. There was a chorus of voices telling her to close the portal, and she felt like doing so had something not caught her eye, one of the creatures seemed to be dragging a larger one away from the fight. A few changes to the spell allowed Celestia to hear what was being said.
“...and you know what happens then? You die for nothing! So please, just for the love of god stay with me,” the smaller one said. Celestia felt a spark of hope kindle.
“Face it, friend. I am dead. Living off of nothing but lead,” he spoke with a strange accent, “Just do me a favor, slit my throat and run away from this war.” The smaller one seemed appalled at this.
“I couldn't do that to you Jack. You got family back home in Moscow, right?”
“What's the chance that they aren't dead from a bombing yet? I don't even know which country is fighting which Brandon. When this battle started, our countries were allies. That was close to five years ago. We have had no contact with our base in that time...”
“Details, Jack! Take off your tin foil hat and stand up! We're getting off this crazed battlefield,” Celestia had heard enough. She knew what had to be done. She drew power once more from the worried ponies around her and cast a spell. A spell that, to the surprise of almost everyone present, brought two bipedal creatures into the room.
-roughly 1050 years later, in a country called Humania-
“...and that's how Humania was born! After that day, Celestia began grabbing human families that were not participating in worsening the all out war to the best of her ability. She was able to save about fifty thousand people total. She helped us set up the country you see around you every day. And that's how Humania was born!” My grandfather finished with a flourish. I had heard this story twenty times, but donned fake enthusiasm to keep my grandfather happy.
“I still don't see why you think I should go to Equestria,” I tried my hardest to keep the malice from my voice. I really hated meeting knew people...err, ponies...and now I had to move to a place I had never been to. Oh how it amuses me so.
“Well,” my grandfather began, “Humania owes a lot to Equestria, but most ponies have only ever heard of humans or human technology. I wouldn't be surprised if some didn't even know that humans exist. I'm sending you in as an ambassador of sorts. This is entirely unofficial, as my advisers said that using too many actual resources to send a trained ambassador to live permanently in a backwash town called Ponyville miles away from any other diplomat would be a sure fire way to get myself kicked out of office,” now would be a good time to explain my grandfathers importance. He was the current leader of Humania, the King President. The King President was elected into power by a majority vote every two years. They were given the most power of any single man and could run as many times as they wanted, so long as they got common vote. My grandad was in the middle of his tenth term.
“Yes, you told me that already. My question remains though. Why me specifically?” I all but shout. He looks hurt for a second and I briefly feel remorse.
“I thought it would be good for you, Dax. You never get out of your workspace and you don't talk to your own parents about yourself. You're twenty one now so as your grandfather I can't make you go, but as the leader of your country I can!” My grandfather towered over me. I was a little tall by human standards at about six feet but my grandfather was a eight and a half foot tall giant.
“You have a day to pack. Celestia will be over tomorrow at six in the morning to introduce her sister Luna. When they leave, you're going with them,” he thought for a second, “you can bring that changeling friend of yours. She owes this family,” he began walking away.
“She has a name, you know,” I called after him, “it's Pestilentia!”
-5 minutes later; Dax's and Pestilentia's house-
I hate social interactions. As a child, the only friend I had was Pest. This led to other kids mocking me for being a “bug lover” and getting bullied. Pest didn't know, and I'm glad. She already feels indebted for my family taking her in when she was seven and living in the streets. She had been the only social interaction I had ever had and probably would ever need. Why couldn't I be left to my research? I would be much happier out in an urban jungle somewhere than an out of date pony country town called...
“What was the town called again?” I asked myself out loud.
“I don't know, what town?” I looked up to the dangerously set up hammock in the ceiling to see none other than Pestilentia herself. Like all changelings, she stood about a meter tall, had insect like wings, and had holes in her legs, as if they were decomposing. She regularly cleaned her black chitin so it seemingly sparkled.
“Hey Pest. I'm getting relocated to some town in Equestria. Want to tag along?” The question was mostly rhetorical. Pest would never let me go without her and I wouldn't leave without her.
“I don't know, I was thinking of starring in a porno...are you kidding? Tartarus yes! Any restrictions on how much we can pack up?” I would never understand her enthusiasm. For every aspect I was introverted and melancholy, she was extroverted and sanguine. We were odd friends, but she always gave me a flip side to every situation.
“Not that I was made aware of. But they're taking us over on a chariot so something tells me they won't have the space to take all my equipment from my garage,” my garage referred to the space I used in the house to work on my engineering and other miscellaneous mechanical objects I felt like making or heard how to make from the Internet...
Oh Celestia, would Ponyville even have Internet? If they don't I'm going to die. Humans quickly were able to rebuild their previous technological advances solely because of the discovery of a hidden magic. An innate ability of altering the world into an industrialized and mechanical one that was drastically increased upon entering the new world. Even he dumbest of humans could boast mechanical and technological intelligence and understanding beyond that of the smartest of any other race. Humans even had a separate IQ grading system. But ponies didn't have that technological ability, very few understood how to even repair the mechanics that humans made.
“Hello? Equis to Dax? Can you hear me?” Pest asked.
“Yeah, just worried,” she wordlessly asked me to continue, “I'm gonna have to leave behind a lot when I go. I don't know if I can even come across half the materials I have here in Equestria. It's just...” She stopped me with a hoof motion.
“I understand your concerns, and allow me this rebuttal; screw you it'll be great. It just reeks of adventure and romance! And it's not like you have friends to worry about!” Pest and I mocked each other a lot, but it was all in fun.
“Hey, at least all my friends know who I really am,”
“Oh wow. A whole one person knows you! I'm impressed!” Okay that one hurt.
“Fine, you win this round. I'm going but I'm not going to like it,” she seems satisfied with this answer and leaves the room. Probably to break off of all her current friendships with her disguises.
The question still remains. What should I pack? I do a three-sixty of my room and realize just how little I own in the aspects of common luxury. The mat in the floor that I call my bed was the only thing in the room that was mine. Everything littering the floor was Pest's. I grab a duffel bag and open my closet to get my clothes. Did I say clothes? I meant jumpsuits. That's really all I own: thirteen navy blue jumpsuits, ten plain white T-shirts, six pairs of boxer-briefs and a utility belt. At least I would have more room to pack my tools and materials.
What could I even take? My laser welding supplies would probably blow up or ignite something if I tried packing them. What's it like were I'm going? Am I going to have the space and solitude to keep up my research? Even if I can take my laser supplies, I don't want to end up giving half the town crippling cancer. And it's very likely that that would happen if I had a place near the town square.
I sauntered over to my garage and, as neatly as possible, shoved all my non-electric powered tools into the bag. A split second later I realize I had just put them on top of my clothes. I watched in horror as various silicone lubricants and gelatinous fluids seeped into my clean clothes. I sighed inwardly. I probably wouldn't have time to wash them and still be introduced to Princess Luna. I had already met Princess Celestia a couple of times, though it has been a considerable amount of time since I last did. When was it? I was about nine...
-15 years prior, Washington Castle, New London city-
“This is the single best idea I have ever had!” Pest shouted, over the whir of the machinery. I was beginning to think less along those lines as I tampered with teleporter to make it quieter (it was loud). So much could fail or go wrong. One miscalculation on my part and I put a baseball sized intrusion inside someone's diaphragm. Pest had even taken on one of her more obscure disguises, that of a lanky and light honeydew green coated earth pony filly, to have a chance of avoiding trouble
“This technology was iffy at best when it was a weapon. Are you sure we should be using it for pranks?” I was feeling pretty bad. We had already given my grandmother a heart attack by teleporting a big spider onto the book she was reading. The fact that she didn't hear the thing warm up (it was loud) made it easier for Pest to justify what we did.
“Dax? Did you not hear me, earlier? ‘Single best idea I have ever had,’ Ring any bells? Now take me through how to work this jury rigged contraption,” Pest always exceeded confidence in herself.
“Pick a target object, then use these,” I pointed at three nobs, “to control distance, altitude, and direction from center target point. It's very sensitive and requires precision,”
Before I could count to five Pest had shoved a kool-aid filled water balloon into the chamber. She looked around for a second before her eyes settled on the guard in full battle dress in front of the Throne Office. Her hooves blindly fumbled with the three nobs indomitably until she felt cocksure that whatever she was hoping for would happen. There was a muffled bang as the inside contents of the water balloon appeared inside the guards helmet. The balloon itself appeared ten feet to the left.
The guard began running and jumping about erratically. Kool-aid dripping from his helmet and gas mask, blinding him. Apparently this was everything Pest wanted and more, as she was rolling on the floor of the castle and laughing maniacally.
“Looks like you still have some bugs to work out, Dax!” She managed to heave in between her fits of laughter.
“Yeah, and you're one of them,” I mumbled nervously under my breath.
“Well, looks like the Throne Office is open to high jinks. Brains before beauty?” She said while opening the now unguarded doors for me. No matter how many times you enter the Throne Office, it always gets you. A shiver would run down your spine at the sheer feeling of the room. A feeling of... maybe patriotism? It was large enough to fit 1,000 comfortably and was designed to do just that. In the center of the amphitheater like room was a desk were my grandfather sat, from there he would listen to the problems of any who stepped forward.
“... and since that day we have never had a problem with the space in the Throne Office,” I would recognize my grandfathers voice no matter how long it had been since I had last heard it. I looked for the source until my eyes rested upon his colossal form. Next to him stood an unfamiliar pony. She stood almost taller as the average human, but seemed short compared to my grand father. She had both a horn and wings. Her green and pink mane waved in a seemingly etherial manor. There were two guards, one Human and one Equestrian, following closely behind them.
I feel another shiver run up my spine as an all to familiar whir starts up behind me. I only have time to turn around before Pest has lit a smoke bomb and shoved it into the chamber of the now running teleporter. Time seems to slow down as the smoke bomb disappears from my immediate view. I turn back around in time to see the human guard burst into a smokey explosion. My grandfather looked at me and Pest with sheer rage on his face. The unfamiliar pony looked close to laughing at the scene unraveling before her.
“Dax and Pest,” My grandfather whispered demonically...
“Y-Yes, Grandad?” I quietly stuttered.
“Yeah?” Pest asked, carefree an seemingly oblivious tone.
“Get out,” I bolted as soon as the words left his mouth.
-current time, Dax's garage-
I snapped back to the present. It was beginning to get dark out. Normally this meant nothing to me as I stayed up late and slept through the day, but something told me I would need my energy. I sighed outwardly as I crawled into my bed, fully prepared for a horrible nights sleep.