//------------------------------// // The Stage Is Set // Story: A New World... For Jack. // by Dream Searcher //------------------------------// A New World… For Jack Chapter 6: The Stage Is set Timeline: The next day Lyra could feel the heat of the sun going through the windows and stopping to warm her body that was currently being kept warm by her duvet. It was the first of November, and she could feel that. The nights were beginning to become colder, as were the days, but the sun still managed to give a little bit of its warmth to the world and its inhabitants. She liked autumn. She liked seeing the world change around her, the leaves becoming orange and brown, the animals searching food so they could start their hibernation, and the other ponies who were beginning to wear boots and scarves. Autumn was a season of changing; it was her season. She turned around so that the sun couldn’t make her get out of bed. She enjoyed its warmth, but it didn’t have the right to tell her when to come out of bed. Thus, turning around was the best course of action so that the light couldn’t shine in her eyes and make her to get out of bed to close the blinds. She was trying to rest one of her hooves on her marefriend’s shoulders but realized after a few seconds that she was grasping nothing else than air. She shrugged and didn’t bother to open her eyes; Bonbon was probably just in the bathroom or doing something else in the house. She didn’t care, she just wanted sleep to take her away again. She didn’t have to wait long since sleep had taken her away to the land of dreams in less than two minutes. If she was awake, she would have seen the laptop lying next to her, right on Bonbon’s pillow. ***** After 2 more hours of sleeping in, Lyra finally woke up because she had to go to the toilet. Those extra hours of sleep made her feel refreshed. She felt like she could handle all the things the world could throw at her. Slowly, and with much resistance, she opened her eyes. She knew she had to start the day sometime and now seemed the perfect moment, even if there were some body parts of her that didn’t want to cooperate. She opened her eyes and looked to her left, maybe Bonbon had returned to the bed. But that wasn’t the case. Instead, she saw something else, a small metallic-like rectangle. She began to study the device, maybe she could find a way to operate it. It was a small rectangle with the letters HP printed on it, and it seemed there was a way to open it. After a few seconds of trying to open it, she finally managed to open the locks and push half of the device open. She stared at a black screen, whilst the rest of the device had letters and numbers. She didn’t know how to operate it because she had never seen something like it. It was like a kind of technological breakthrough that had never been seen in Equestria. She closed the device, and when she heard that click, she got out of bed and walked to the bathroom. First she was going to do her morning ritual, then search for Bonbon in the house, and then ask around town about the strange device. Still, the thought that something had happened to Bonbon never left her mind. ***** Jack awoke when he felt a kiss on his cheek, but it didn’t change his sour mood. Since Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash had occupied the bed, he had to sleep on the couch. He had voiced his opinion about Rainbow’s order, but she didn’t want to listen. Since he was a stallion, he had to sleep on the couch, so that Scootaloo and she could sleep in the bed. Mares and foals are more important, she had said. In a country where there are five mares per stallion this could be considered as gender racism, he thought, but he knew he couldn’t fight Rainbow. He just had to accept that he was the submissive one in their relationship. He grumbled and turned around, now facing the back of the couch. He really didn’t like it that he had to give up his soft mattress and his fluffy covers to sleep on a hard couch with an old blanket. He would give Rainbow payback, one day she could expect payback. Rainbow rolled her eyes. She knew Jack didn’t like sleeping on the couch, but she couldn’t make Scootaloo sleep on the couch, not now, not ever. “Come on, you can’t be that mad?” she asked as she trotted to the kitchen, she was going to get some apple juice. Jack grumbled once again and said something Rainbow couldn’t comprehend, it was probably something she wouldn’t want to hear anyway. Jack could nag like an old mare when things didn’t go his way, but soon he would stop doing that, she was going to make him stop nagging. It wasn’t like she wanted blind obedience of him, but it was common in Equestria that the mares are dominant and especially if you’re from Cloudsdale. It might be different in his world, but he was in her world now and he had to accept the rules. She returned a few minutes later with two glasses and a bottle of apple juice tucked under her right wing. She placed the objects on the table in front of the couch and poured the apple juice in the two glasses. She then took one of the glasses in her hoof and took a swig, downing the apple juice all at once. Her throat felt dry and she needed that. She let out a soft belch and placed the glass back on the table. She saw that Jack still hadn’t moved and walked over to him until she was just standing next to the couch. Oh, she was going to enjoy what was going to happen next and Jack probably too. She extended her right wing and began to tickle Jack’s right side. Almost instantly she received what she was looking for, his laughter. “Hahahaha… Stop, please. I can’t take it. Ha.. Stop, I yield!” he yelled as he wiped some tears from his eyes and tried to push Rainbow’s wing away with his hooves. After a few more seconds of tickling, Rainbow pulled her wing away, and Jack could finally breathe again. “Ho. Alright, you got me. Happy now?” he asked her, that annoyed tone still present in his voice, but significantly less than a few minutes ago. Rainbow nodded, she was glad that Jack was a bit more happy again. “Damn right I am, is it so bad to sleep on the couch for one night?” Her tone turned into one that was scolding a foal. Jack lowered his head and took the glass in his hooves. “I guess not,” he said as he drank the liquid. The glass was soon placed back on the table. Rainbow nodded. Jack could act like a foal sometimes, and then she had to pull him back to adulthood. “Good, now I want you to fly to Ponyville to get us some tomatoes, I don’t have enough to make us all a morning salad.” Jack sighed. “Why don’t you do it, you’re way faster than me,” he asked her, and he received a frown in response. He instantly knew that he was going to be the one that had to fly to town to get those stupid tomatoes. “Ugh, fine, I’ll do it,” he said as he got off the couch and began to walk to the door. “Jack, saddlebags and money?” Rainbow asked, shooting a grin at him. “Oh… right.” ***** “Excuse me, do you know what this is?” Lyra asked as she floated the device in front of Roseluck’s eyes. Roseluck had just opened her stall and was ready to begin selling flowers, but then Lyra came to her with the strange thing in the grasp of her magic, and thus she had to make time for one of her friends. “No, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it before,” she said, as she cast a quick look at the device and went back to making sure her stall was perfect. Time was money, after all. “Okay, thank you,” Lyra thanked Roseluck and walked to the fountain in the middle of the marketplace. She had asked at least twenty ponies about the strange thing, but all of them couldn’t answer her question. She had also searched for Bonbon in the house, but she was nowhere to be found. It didn’t worry her that much, maybe Bonbon went for a walk, but it did give her an uneasy feeling. If anything had happened to her marefriend while she was sleeping deeply and warmly under the covers of her bed, she would never forgive herself. Just when she was about to leave the fountain, she saw a brown stallion landing next to Roseluck’s stall. It was Jack, and he was one of the ponies she hadn’t asked about it. Maybe he and his knowledge of another world might give her the answer she desperately needed. She trotted to him when she saw that he was folding his wings and making sure that his saddlebag hadn’t fallen off during his flight. “Hey Jack, can you spare a few minutes?” Jack looked at the origin of the sound and saw Lyra trotting towards him with a laptop in her levitation field. He briefly wondered how she had gotten her hooves on a laptop since he didn’t see them in Equestria, but maybe the ponies were as technically advanced as humans. “Hey Lyra, what’s up? Bonbon still mad about me scaring her?” he asked and added a chuckle. It was hilarious at the moment and it still was. “I don’t think so, I haven’t seen her today. I woke up alone, and she wasn’t in the house. But that’s beside the point, do you know what this is?” She levitated the device in front of his face, and to her surprise, he nodded. “Yes, that’s a HP laptop. It’s a very common computer on Earth. Is it yours?” Lyra shook her head and replied, “No, I just found it placed next to me in bed, on Bonbon’s pillow. What is a computer exactly?” A relieved tone could be heard in her voice, she was just so happy she had found somepony who could identify the ‘laptop’. By now Jack knew that the ponies weren’t familiar with computer, thus some kind of freaky shit had happened, or otherwise the laptop wouldn’t be in Equestria. “A computer is a device that is like a…” he briefly though about a way to explain it to her and nodded to himself when he found the perfect explanation. “It’s actually a kind of mechanical brain. It can write, play videos, you can listen to music, play games, and countless of other things. It’s a human invention, and it’s very common on Earth because it helps us in our lives,” he finished and looked at Lyra who had her mouth slightly agape, and she had stopped blinking. He smiled because he knew that the ponies couldn’t comprehend human technology, or at least not that fast. “Lyra.EXE has stopped working?” Lyra blinked and shot a confused look at him. “What?” Jack snickered, even if his joke wasn’t understandable to these ponies, it was still damn funny to him. “Nothing, it’s a human joke.” He stared at the stand near the end of the marketplace, the vegetable stand, and realized that he came here with an objective. “Alright Lyra, I’m going to buy some tomatoes now, give them to Rainbow, eat my morning salad, and then I’ll go with Rainbow to Twilight’s library to send a letter to the Princess; she needs to know about this. Can you come to the library in about an hour?” She nodded. “Yes, in the meantime I’ll continue to look for Bonbon. I’m just glad that I now know what this is, even if I don’t understand it completely.” She gave Jack a wave and trotted away, glad that the device wasn’t a bomb or something similar. Now she had to find her marefriend. ***** “So if I understand correctly, you want to send a letter to the Princess because you found some kind of human technology in Equestria, am I right?” Twilight asked as she was sitting behind her desk, quill in her levitation field and parchment on the desk, ready to be filled with letters. Jack nodded, he knew Twilight wouldn’t send a letter to the Princess because of a minor problem, but he had explained to her that laptops are a human invention, so somebody or something on the other side had sent it to Equestria. He didn’t have another explanation, but maybe the Princess had, and that’s why she needed to be warned about it. “Yes, it’s absolutely necessary that the Princess knows about this, maybe she can help us with this little problem,” he answered and took a bite from the cookies that Spike baked for them. Lyra and Rainbow hadn’t said much about the laptop, so they began to talk to each other while he and Twilight discussed the problem. Twilight nodded and began to write. “Alright, you win. I’ll send a letter to the Princess.” And so, she began to write the letter. It’s wasn’t that large; it was just a request that asked the Princess to come to Ponyville because of a strange problem. When it was finished, she gave the letter to Spike, and he enveloped it with a flame, sending it on its way to the Princess in Canterlot. “So, how long do we need to wait?” Jack asked and took another bite from the delicious cookies Spike made. He could really taste the chocolate, and he loved chocolate. Twilight shot a grin at him and gave him a wink. “Five… four… three… two… one.” Just as she said one, a golden glow began to show itself in the library, next to the couch Jack, Rainbow, and Lyra had occupied, and after a second, Celestia had teleported into the room. She stood there in all her glory with a mane that flowed in a nonexistent wind, and regalia that covered parts of her body; Jack always had to rub his eyes when he saw the Princess, her beauty couldn’t compare to any woman on Earth, but no one was more beautiful that his Rainbow Dash. “I hear there’s some kind of problem?” she asked, and looked around to make eye contact and give a smile to every occupant of the room. At first she didn’t want to go to her student’s library, mainly because she was just having her hooves polished, but when she read that her student had a problem, she knew she had to come. So now there she stood, waiting for a reply from one of the ponies. Twilight coughed, attracting all the attention to her. “Well, I’m not exactly sure, it seems some kind of human technology has made its way to Equestria. I’m sure Jack can tell you more about it,” she asserted and nodded to Jack, signalizing that he could explain everything that was happening. The Princess raised an eyebrow, but focused her attention on Jack nonetheless. When Jack was sure he had everpony’s attention, he opened the laptop, pushed the power button, and began to explain. “This is a laptop, it’s something we use on Earth to make our lives easier. It has many functions. You can write documents with it, play games, watch movies, stay in touch with everyone you know, and so on. But, that’s not important, what’s important is to find out how this laptop managed to get into Equestria.” “That won’t be necessary,” a voice answered. It was a rather deep voice and it had a certain ‘age’ to it. Jack turned his head to the origin of the voice and saw a man sitting on the other side of the screen. Since he was looking at the Princess, who was sitting next to him, he didn’t see the screen turning on and immediately starting a video chat. The rather old man with gray hair and a cigar between his fingers began to grin and pulled at his cigar. After a few seconds, he blew the smoke out of his mouth. He liked surprised expressions, it gave him a feeling of power and control, he was the one in control and no one else. “Surprised or shocked?” He asked tauntingly, his grin never leaving his expression. Jack just sat there on the couch, his mouth agape and his eyes not even blinking, he didn’t even register all the ponies in the room sitting now next to him to catch a glimpse of the intimidating human. After a while, his brain decided to work again. “But how?” The old man chuckled, it was a mix of an evil chuckle and an undertone of ‘are you really that stupid?’. “Allow me to explain, because I see you all don’t understand a thing that’s happening right now. I’m General Jones and I have a business proposition and yes, we’ve sent the laptop to your world. Now, I understand there’s a monarch with you, can I speak with her?” Jack looked at the Princess who nodded and levitated the laptop in front of her so she and the General could clearly see each other. She cleared her throat and began to speak. “First of all, General, aren’t you surprised to see talking ponies?” “No, not at all. You see, we’ve been spying on your little world for quite a while now. I even know little old Jack here is actually a human, isn’t that right, Celestia?” Again that mocking tone in his voice. Celestia knew by now that she wasn’t dealing with somepony who wanted to have a healthy relationship. No, the man on the other side of the screen had evil intentions, and she had to be on her guard or he could place her back against the wall. He wasn’t Discord, Sombra, or any other villain. No, he was a dangerous predator who wouldn’t back down from a challenge and neither would she, but she had to tread carefully and couldn’t afford making a single mistake. “Alright, General, you had my curiosity, but now you have my attention. What is this business proposition you speak of?” she asked with some reluctance, she knew something wasn’t right here. “Well, our people need oil, a resource that’s slowly running out in our world, but your world has plenty of it. Now, a normal person would set up a trade route, but I’m not a normal person,” he answered and tugged on the leash which was held in his hand. Two seconds later, a collared Bonbon came into view. Back in the library, Lyra gasped like there was no tomorrow and tears began to roll down her cheek. “No, Bonbon!” she shouted. The General arched one eyebrow and a few seconds later, he began to grin. “Oh, you all know this pony? Well, that’s even better. Now, this is my business proposal. You will not resist when my army invades your world and you will let us use your resources until they are depleted, in return you’ll get this lovely pony back. If you do not accept these terms, this pony will die, and we’ll invade with the necessary force to kill you all. A reasonable deal, no?” Next to Celestia, Lyra began to scream as loud as she could, hoping for a miracle. She couldn’t live without Bonbon, she just couldn’t. Her life would be a black hole of depression, sadness, and anger. If Bonbon died, she would die too. She tried to jump towards the laptop, but Rainbow Dash held her back. She desperately tried to get out of Rainbow’s firm grip, but it was too strong, thus she ceased her struggling and began to weep against Rainbow’s coat instead. Celestia had an intern fight. One part of her wanted to accept the General’s terms so she could safe Bonbon, one of her subjects she swore to protect, but her other part knew she couldn’t agree to those terms or else she would doom the pony race and even the whole planet. It was the life of one pony against that of millions. She knew the right choice was obvious; one must be sacrificed for the greater good. She sighed and lowered her head. “I-I can’t accept those terms,” she replied, knowing she had just condemned one of her ponies to death and hurt another one beyond measure. The moment Lyra heard that, her body became limp and darkness surrounded her vision. Her monarch had just sentenced her marefriend to death and that took its toll on her mind and body. She collapsed in Rainbow’s forelegs and drifted to unconsciousness. Rainbow suddenly had to stop Lyra’s body from falling to the ground, and it was quite the struggle, but luckily for her, Twilight helped by levitating Lyra to one of the empty seats on the couch. Rainbow gave Twilight a nod and took place next to the unconscious Lyra. On the other side of the connection, the General’s grin disappeared and a frown took its place, he certainly wasn’t happy to hear that. “So it’s going to be like this? Okay then,” He yanked at the leash and Bonbon, who was crying her eyes out, once again came into vision. “Take a good look, Celestia, because it will be the last time you see her.” Celestia looked into Bonbon’s eyes. They just screamed for help, for some comforting, but their pleas fell on deaf ears, Celestia just couldn’t give up her race for one pony. A tear went down her cheek and she softly whispered, “I’m sorry.” The General decided he had lost enough time already and gave the leash to the soldier who stood behind him. “Bring her back to her cell, I’ll be there shortly to finish the job.” The soldier nodded, took the leash, and began to drag Bonbon away. She resisted, but a quick kick against her ribs stopped that. The General smiled at the scene in front of him and turned his attention back to the computer. “You’ve made your choice, Celestia. Be prepared, because our invasion can start any moment and when it starts, you’ll know that your race will go extinct,” He gave Celestia one of his taunting smiles and disconnected. Celestia closed the laptop, placed it on the coffee table, and sighed. She had done something unforgivable, something a pony should never do, but she didn’t have a choice. It was Bonbon or the pony race, and of course the lives of millions are more important than the life of one pony. She knew that it was a weak excuse and that Lyra would keep feeling miserable for the rest of her days, but like she said, she didn’t have a choice. She stared at Twilight, Rainbow, and Jack, and they all stared at her with fear, sadness, and nervousness. “Everything that has been said in this room, won’t leave it, understand?” she asked them, and they all nodded in return. She gave them a small, sad smile and stood up. “I’m going back to Canterlot to prepare the army, tell Lyra I’m sorry and that she has to come to Canterlot a soon she can. I need some private time with her,” She gave her student a quick nuzzle and teleported to Canterlot, Luna needed to know about the imminent disaster. It was quiet in the library, nopony said something, all of them were recovering from the shock and this kept going on for a couple of minutes. It was Lyra who snapped everypony out of their trance. “Was I dreaming? Please tell me it was just a very bad dream,” Lyra asked while she slowly got up. She scanned each of their faces, just to find a little glimmer of hope, but the only thing she could find was sadness. “I’m sorry, but Bonbon is dead,” Twilight answered with a grim tone in her voice, she’d never suspected to say something like this to another pony. Lyra lowered her head, almost giving up, but then memories began to invade her mind. Memories of the good times she had with Bonbon, like the walks in the park, their love for chocolate, and their plans for their wedding. It were those memories that placed a determined expression on her face. “No, I know she’s still alive, there’s still some time.” Twilight cocked her head, not fully understanding Lyra, but she could guess where Lyra was headed. “You aren’t saying you want to save her, right?” Lyra nodded, “That’s exactly what I’m saying, but I need some help.” She gave each of them a pleading look, but it was Jack who reacted. “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” he began,” I like your confidence, but I’m not exactly willing to risk my life. They’re humans, my species, and the humans you want to confront have weapons which can kill you in less than a second. If I could, I would save Bonbon, but going back to Earth is a ticket straight to death. Besides, you don’t have a way to go to Earth, since Celestia doesn’t know of your plan and only she has the spell to teleport to my home planet,” He felt like a jerk, but he loved his own life more that Bonbon’s. “Actually, that isn’t true,” Twilight remarked,” You see, when we got back from Earth, the Princess taught her spell to traverse between worlds and universes, one that is safe and won’t backfire,” Lyra gave Twilight a little smile. “So, you’ll help me?” Twilight nodded. “Yes, I know I’m risking my life, but Bonbon needs us. What about you, Rainbow?” she asked the very silent mare. It was true, Rainbow hadn’t said a word since the Princess’ departure, but she had a good reason for that. She was conflicted between saving the life of a pony and her own life, but in the end, her element made her choice; it was her destiny. She gave Lyra and Twilight one of her trademark smiles and opened her wings, positioning herself in a fighting stance. “Let’s teach those hairless apes a lesson.” Lyra’s smile widened, she’d never guessed she had such loyal and good friends who wanted to put their own lives on the line to save another pony. If they came out of this unharmed, she would repay them by offering them a dinner in Canterlot’s finest restaurant and even then she would still be in their debt. But, there was still one pony she had to convince, because he was the expert on humans. He was essential to the team. “Jack?” Jack shifted his gaze between Rainbow, Lyra, and Twilight who were all pushing him to put his own life on the line. He really wanted to save Bonbon, but his fear held him back. From what he had seen, he had to fight against a General who had an army. The army had guns, fighting skill, and were larger in size. The only thing ponies had were wings and magic, and that wouldn’t help a lot. It was David against Goliath, it was a fight they were destined to lose. But then he looked at Rainbow Dash and her warm smile. He could sense her telling him that everything was going to be alright, that she was going to protect him. That was enough to push him over the edge. “Fine, you win. I’ll join your suicide mission. It’s sad really, I loved Ponyville so much, it’s a shame to-“ He couldn’t finish his sentence since Lyra had tackled him to the ground and gave him a hug. Twilight smiled at the display and levitated her teleportation spell book to her desk. “Stand in front of my desk, everypony,” she ordered her friends and in less than a minute smiling, but determined Lyra, a loyal Rainbow Dash, and a very annoyed, but lightly smiling Jack stood in front of Twilight’s desk. “Alright, I don’t know the exact location, but if I follow the path the laptop has taken, we should arrive somewhere near its place of departure.” Twilight closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to block out every source of magic so she could find the path easier. One by one every source of magic disappeared, and her mind placed her on the path. It felt strange. Normally she should have a connection with the path, but now she didn’t. There was only one solution, the path wasn’t made of magic, but it was created by an external device. That made things harder, because now her guide, the magic, was gone. It wasn’t a total loss, she could still see the path in front of her, but she had to be extra careful when walking on it, since one wrong step could place her miles away from her destination, or she could even end up in teleportation space with no way back to Equestria. With that in mind, she opened her white eyes and teleported her friends and herself to Earth. A few minutes later, Spike came out of the bathroom ad saw that the whole library was empty. “Wha? Where is everypony?