//------------------------------// // Dropping In // Story: Stranger Things Have Happened // by Mulldragon //------------------------------// There was a moment of silence after my question. All five ponies around the table were wide-eyed with surprise at what I had just asked. Eventually this silence was broken by two ponies. Oddly enough, it was not a response from one of the princesses that broke the silence but a simultaneous outburst from Nightshade and Brightblade. “Of course she’s a goddess!” They shouted in unison. This seemed to bring the other three back to their senses and Luna decided to speak up. “Lieutenants, calm thyselves.” The soldiers seemed to realize their outburst and obeyed Luna’s words. She then turned to me “A rather bold query to pose to us necromancer. Did it occur to though that if we are deities then asking this may be dangerous?” “Yeah but i’m willing to take that risk. Not knowing would really bug me. You see, I have a history with deities and it’s not a particularly good one.” Celestia chose to take this as an opportunity to speak “Oh? And what would that history entail I wonder?” “Mostly it consists of being hunted by their followers, having my every important move judged by them,...” I leaned back in my chair and pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to get rid of the headache that just thinking of all the divine problems i’ve had has caused “... and of course there are the handful of times when I have had to step in and do what one of these so called ‘all powerful’ gods could not. It is quite the annoying history I have and I’d like to know just how much of it will be repeated here.” Celestia sighed looked toward her sister and then the three guards around the table before returning her gaze to me “In the past, thousands of years ago, it was common practice to view us as goddesses and worship us but over time we managed to change that. Now most ponies just see us as their rulers but there are still a few that follow the old ways, Nightshade and Brightblade chief among them. So yes, I suppose we would be considered deities, though we prefer just to be seen as princesses. As for your worries of history repeating itself, we will be keeping an eye on you but that is to be expected. We won’t have anyone ‘hunting’ you unless you do something to warrant it and even then we are more likely to handle it ourselves. And as for having to step in and ‘do what we can not’ I will not lie and say we will never ask you to do anything. There will likely be times when we request your assistance with some matters but Equestria is a peaceful place so they will not be frequent.” “Great, so I am dealing with divinity again. At least you aren’t like the others I’ve met so far.” I sighed and leaned forward again in my chair’ folding my arms on the table “Why can’t anything that is supposed to be simple ever go as planned? I just wanted to stash my phylactery somewhere safe and then this happens.” “Actually, that brings up a good question. If your phylactery is still outside of this world couldn’t you get out of here that way?” I gave Celestia a deadpan stare “Well, first off you’re basically asking me to kill myself and that is never a reasonable thing to ask. Death may not be permanent for me but it is still a quite unpleasant experience.” I dropped my stare and put my head in my hands “On top of that, i’m not even sure that my phylactery would work with a world barrier in the way. This was just supposed to be a test. I was supposed to leave my phylactery outside of my world, go back home, and then wait till the next time I died. If I came back by my backup then I would need to keep researching and if I came back by the one I moved then I could move on and continue my work. For all I know I may be unable to reach my phylactery from here and my soul will just wander this world if I die. And besides, getting stuck in the Aether is what got me here in the first place, I don’t particularly want to go back until I have an idea on how to navigate it.” “I see.” Celestia put her hoof to her chin in thought for a moment before setting it back down and looking back up “Anyways, If that is your last question for now I would rather like to go to bed. Nightshade and Brightblade will help you collect your things and escort you to one of the castle’s guest rooms.” “And if I should need something for my research?” “Research?” “You don’t expect me to sit around for three weeks doing nothing do you? I have a lot of research to do if I want to get home.” “You are allowed access to more than just your room. The guards can show you to the library if you need a book and anything else they will help you get, within reason.” “Thank you, princesses. I will leave you to your rest now.” With that we all stood up and I motioned for the lieutenants to lead on. While we walked on I let my thoughts wander to what I may need for my work. When we reached our first destination I had a rough list of basic supplies I thought might be useful and while I was gathering my things I spoke up. “I’m going to need a quill, ink, parchment, and some chalk. All of mine are currently floating around in the Aether.” The unicorn turned to the pegasus “Nightshade, you go get that for him. I’ll escort him to the room closest to the library, you can meet us there.” “Why me? Why don’t you get that stuff?” “Because you’re quicker.” “Fine.” With that, Nightshade left the room. Brightblade and I weren’t far behind but by the time we left he was already out of sight. Seems he really is quick. The walk to the guest room was quiet and uneventful and we arrived only about a minute or two later. When we got there I stepped inside and took off my random items pouch, not even bothering to look at the room. I quickly got to work pulling out several books about multiverse theory and the research made when my two worlds merged. By the time Nightshade returned I was pulling out the last book and I quickly got up to get the materials I requested. The guards took up positions by the door and I got to work. ----------------------------------------------------- One Week Later I was interrupted in my work by a knock at the door. I glanced at the nearby clock and realized it was early morning, time for the lieutenants to change shifts. Brightblade simply turned to the door and opened it, stepping out and letting Nightshade in. Nightshade cast a quick glance around the room and shook his head as the door closed. Over the week I had slowly shifted all of the furniture away from two of the walls as I repurposed them. One wall was covered entirely with written notes on everything from the natural order of this world to complex magical formulas and comparisons of ley line research between my world and this one. The other wall, and parts of the floor and ceiling, was where I made use of the chalk I had asked for. The area was covered in various complex runes and symbols, all of which ended with little to no success. In the corner was a large pile of broken quills, empty ink wells, and balled up pieces of parchment. Scattered around the room were so many open books that even I had trouble walking around, It must have been nigh impossible for a quadruped. As Nightshade took up his position in one of the few clear spaces on the floor he spoke. “The princesses have asked me to deliver a message to you.” I looked at him and when he said nothing I made a ‘go on’ gesture “A small party for the nobility has been organized to be held tomorrow and you are requested to attend.” “What?! They can’t possibly expect me to stop all of this...” I gestured to the chaotic mess of research that was the room “to meet a bunch of damned stuffy nobles!” “You’re gonna have to be introduced to the public before you can travel anywhere and this is the best way to do it. Unless of course, you want to be mobbed by curious ponies and send others running screaming when you go to leave the castle.” I hung my head in resignation “I would almost prefer that. But no matter how much I hate nobles, I see why I need to do it.” I looked back up and gave Nightshade a questioning look. “Anything else?” “They also want you to wear the robe you were given and leave your bags behind.” I let out an annoyed sigh “Of course they do. Well, I suppose I don’t have much reason to say no. What time do I need to be there?” “The party will begin at seven tomorrow night.” “Then it’s back to work for now.” ------------------------------------------------------------ I returned to my room the next night leaning slightly on my staff and massaging my temples. The moment I walked in I made a beeline for the bed and laid down. Dealing with nobles is an exhausting experience. Nightshade followed in soon after “Well, for one who hates nobles you seemed to handle them pretty well. If I didn’t know better I’d think you were one yourself.” “Pandering to those with power is something I picked up for survival’s sake. Still doesn't mean I like it.” “Hey, at least things went well. Relatively speaking anyway. They don’t love you but at least they aren't terrified and their curiosity has been sated for now.” “That’s not gonna last long. Hopefully though, this has helped my case during this probationary period. I’m getting nowhere with my research in this room.” “It should, at least it made you not look like a monster to the public.” “I’ll admit, you ponies have been far more accepting of this than humans would. If another species showed up wielding dark power, most humans would have them either dead or in a testing facility within minutes. If I was going to be stranded anywhere, at least it was here instead of somewhere more vicious.” I let out a long yawn “But, that can be pondered on later. Right now, I’m mentally drained and it’s time for me to get some sleep. Good night Mr. Dust.” ---------------------------------------------- The next two weeks went by rather uneventfully and when the agreed upon three weeks were up the princesses chose to let me leave with surprisingly little difficulty. There were only two conditions. The first was that Nightshade and Brightblade would accompany me to keep an eye on me. And the second was that I would be temporarily restricted to Ponyville and the Everfree Forest. Not much of a hitch in my plans seeing as I already wanted to go there anyways. I was all packed up and the lieutenants were standing by my door with bags of their own ready to go. We were to catch a train in a few minutes and we decided to leave without further delay. However, getting there wasn’t as easy as expected. It seems two guards aren’t enough to stop a veritable herd of curious ponies trying to get at the new creature. It seems that the nobles had made me look like a meek helpless little creature rather than a powerful, terrifying lich. I suppose that works out better for public opinion but it also made us miss our train. “Well, that’s inconvenient. When does the next train show up?” “The schedule says there won’t be another train to Ponyville for a couple of hours at least.” Brightblade adjusted his saddlebags and looked away from the list. “Looks like we have a while to wait.” I looked out over the mountainside and my eyes locked on to a small village out in the distance with a light scattering of clouds over it. “Is that Ponyville out there?” Nightshade followed my gaze to the town. “Yeah, that’s it. Why?” “I think I can get us there a lot quicker than the train could anyway.” I rolled my shoulders and tightened my grip on my staff “It doesn't look to be too far away, I could probably just teleport us there.” “You sure about that? didn’t you say the magic here was harder for you to use?” “Yeah, it is but I’ve been resting for three weeks doing little in the way of complicated spells. I need to test my abilities eventually and the worst that can happen is that we only get part of the way there and I have to rest a bit before finishing the job.” Brightblade cautiously walked over to my side “Well, if you’re sure.” “I am absolutely certain that this will most likely work.” I said as Nightshade stepped closer to me. “Wait, most likely? I’m not sure...” That was all he got to say before I had gathered the energy I needed and with a snap of my fingers released it while focusing on that town in the distance. One moment we were standing on the train platform in Canterlot... … And the next we were suspended high in the sky, well above the clouds, with nothing but air below us. As we began falling I immediately reached into my belt pouch looking for my ring of feather falling. Only to find that it wasn’t there. Okay, this isn’t a problem I just need to cast the spell. Which requires a feather. And all of my feathers were in my ritual bag now in the Aether. Shit. Just as I realized this a blur of dark blue appeared in the corner of my vision and I realized Nightshade was trying to catch Brightblade. Acting quickly, I shot my hand out towards the pegasus and plucked one of his feathers. He lost control of his flight and his mouth opened in an obvious shout from the sudden pain but the sound was lost to the wind and I could apologize when we were safe. I gripped the feather tightly and focused the power of the ley lines into an area around me. I channeled it through the feather which then disintegrated into a fine dust which spread out, despite the wind, and covered the three of us. Less than a second later I felt the spell take effect and our fall suddenly turned into a casual drift down to the ground. Sadly, said ground was still far, far below us. Looks like we’re in for a long fall. The rush of wind was no longer in my ears but It was almost instantly replaced by the shouts of a pissed off pegasus. “What the buck was that for!? What reason could you possibly have for ripping out one of my bucking feathers?!” “Saving Brightblade and myself from becoming stains on the ground, that’s what. I needed a feather to cast the spell and yours were the only ones I had available.” he opened his mouth to protest but I quickly interrupted him “And before you say anything, I highly doubt you could fly us both down. Even if you could get a grip on us I’m not exactly light.” As I was saying this we passed through a cluster of clouds. Or we would have if we hadn’t landed on it. “What in the hells? How am I... OOF” I was interrupted in my self questioning by two pairs of hooves hitting me in the stomach at the same time, knocking the wind out of me and sending me falling backwards. Luckily, the feather fall spell was still in effect so I didn’t fall to my death when the expected result of me getting launched off of the cloud happened. When i recovered from the shock of the sudden double buck I looked up to see that the lieutenants had also hopped off of the cloud and weren’t far above me. I coughed a couple of times as i tried to get enough air back in my lungs to speak. I managed to do this around the time that I finally reached the ground. “Okay, I suppose I deserved that, but it was the only choice that I could see that prevented an abrupt and painful meeting with the ground.” At this time the other two reached the ground, looking understandably angry. Luckily I was saved from further assault by a gasp behind me. I turned around and saw that I had apparently teleported us to, or at least above, a park. There was a fountain surrounded by a circular path that had branches leading off in opposite directions. Down the far path I could barely see a pink pony following after what looked like a blue pegasus in the sky. More importantly though, was the purple unicorn on a bench almost immediately in front of me. It looked to be a mare and her coat was lavender while her mane was a dark purple with a stripe of pink and a stripe of lighter purple. On her flank was the image of a large six pointed purple star on top of a white one and surrounded by five smaller white ones. She was staring at me with a great deal of shock, confusion, and barely suppressed... excitement? “You’re here early? You were supposed to be on the train that won’t show up for another ten minutes!” While she started rambling about something involving a schedule I turned back toward my companions with a grin. “See? I told you I could get us here faster.” “And almost get the two of you killed in the process!” And Nightshade was still shouting. Great. Brightblade looked at me with noticeably less anger and with a bit of curiosity as well. “What’s with that anyway? Why did we end up miles above the ground?” I sighed and leaned against my staff, which I had luckily managed to hold on to throughout all of this. “‘Magic is a fickle thing. So full of hope and promise one minute, then everything goes pear shaped’ I’ve never known a more true saying. It seems the magic of this world doesn’t like me much and changed my spell around a little. Both of them actually, I’m betting my feather fall spell is what caused us to stand on the cloud instead of falling through. Though that may have been because I used a pegasus feather, I’m gonna have to research this further later.” “I don’t give a flying feather about your research! I’m not going to be able to fly properly for at least a week.” He extended his wing and craned his head back to inspect the damage. “At least you didn’t get a primary.” “Look, I am sorry about that but it was mostly a gut reaction. I’ll also try to keep the high chance of mis-casts here in mind so I don’t end up doing something like that again.” Seeing that the lieutenants seemed to be placated for now I turned to the lavender unicorn who was now going over a massive checklist of what seemed to be her day’s tasks. “Excuse me, would you happen to know where I can find...” I paused, trying to remember the name I was given. Having no luck remembering the name I chose to use the only other thing I knew about her. “... the bearer of the element of magic?” She looked up from her list, startled as if she had forgotten I was there. “Oh, I forgot to introduce myself didn’t I? sorry. I am Twilight Sparkle, personal protege of Princess Celestia and bearer of the element of magic” “Huh, well that would explain why you knew about my arrival. I assume the Princesses informed you of who I am and Why I’m here?” “Yes, Princess Celestia told me that you are a necromancer from another world and that you think the Elements of Harmony hold the key to getting home.” “Well Ms. Sparkle, you obviously know this already but it is only polite to introduce oneself. I am Yetagain, adventurer and mage of Eberron and I will be studying the power of those elements. I have hopes that you and your friends will be willing to cooperate with me on this, the process will be much easier with the help of the bearers.” “Oh, I’ll gladly help you, and I hope that I can pick your brain a little while you’re here.” “What would I know that would be of use to you? do you wish for knowledge of dark magic?” “Oh, not really. I just want to know about your world.” She got a far off look in her eye and continued talking. “I mean, the implications of it’s existence alone are astounding. If there are other worlds then there is so much we could learn from them.” “Are you proposing a trade? I answer your questions about my world and in exchange you help me research a way back home?” She was brought out of her musings by my question “What? Oh, yes! that sounds like a wonderful idea. we can have a Q&A session and exchange information. It will be like studying together!” “...Okay.” I said, drawing the word out. “Well then, when would you like to do this?” “As soon as possible.” “Well, I’d like to find a place to set up camp first then I’m going to take a look around the town, always good to know your surroundings.” Twilight’s ears turned back and she blushed lightly, barely visible under her coat. “Oh, of course. Sorry, I forgot that you would want to get settled first.” “Oh, not a problem. I am just as eager if not more so to get started on this, the sooner we begin the sooner I get home after all, but I have a feeling I’m going to need to be in peak mental condition for this and I did just teleport from Canterlot and snap cast another spell. I also need to figure out why my ring is missing. If someone took it then I’m going to be a bit annoyed, it was always so convenient to have around.” I put my hand to my chin in thought for a moment. “How does tomorrow work for you? this is probably not going to be a short conversation.” “Yes, that works fine. See you in the morning then?” “Sure, see you then Ms. Sparkle.” With that we parted ways and I pondered on just how accepting these ponies have been so far. It was odd to say the least but a pleasant change of pace from the usual. I went to the outskirts of town and wandered around for a while before finding a large, dark forest that I assumed to be the Everfree that I had heard about. This looked like as good a place as any to set up and I quickly informed the lieutenants that this was where I was going to camp. They nodded and began setting up their own camps, having been told beforehand that we would likely be sleeping outside. After we set up camp I decided to explore the town with the guards so that the residents of Ponyville wouldn't be surprised by me tomorrow. Nightshade chose to stay behind and watch the camp and rest up so the two of them could go back to watching me in shifts. Brightblade and I wandered around the town for the majority of the day. The ponies were generally staring at me with a mixture of fear and curiosity but were calmed slightly by the presence of the guard. None of the ponies acted particularly accepting but they also didn't do anything against me and one shopkeeper even carried on a short, though nervous, conversation with me when I asked about his business. All in all the ponies were less readily accepting than the others so far had been but still far more so than my normal expectations. At the end of the day we went back to the camp and both Brightblade and I laid down while Nightshade kept watch. All in all, my first day in Ponyville was quite uneventful.