//------------------------------// // Gettin' Around Town // Story: Ponies and Interdimensional Travel // by Lain_UX //------------------------------// "Well, here we are. Got any more bright ideas?" "Yes. Has fog machines been invented yet?" "Well, yes. There is this minotaur named Iron Will," "Heehee, Iron Will." "and he had a fog machine for one of his shows on assertiveness." "How much would one cost?" Twilight ran the numbers through her head. "Do you have 1399 bits?" "Sheesh. Alright, bring me a fan, a small stove or anything that can boil water, and some food coloring. Go and pick whatever color you want, but be sure to bring back some blue." "What would that do? Oh, I see what you're getting at." "Twilight, let's go make a fog machine." ~~~ "When I find Tal, I'll rip him apart." Needless to say, I just survived a long fall down on top of the mountain I was in. Never before have I went through pain that felt like swords ripping through flesh. What cooled my anger, though, was the sight of blood drips and footprints leading from the tree I was at. They broke a few branches for me, but that meant I had to hit the other ones harder than they had to. Following the footprints took hours, and I'm pretty sure they looped around a little. The soda cans in my hand quickly wore me down, as the last bits of cold left the cans. I figured bringing warm soda was punishment enough. One time, we didn't cool the soda down for the IVs, and his heart started to fail. Now, he has a makeshift defibrillator in his chest just to make sure he doesn't die on us. Technically, he died a couple times, if it weren't for that defib unit of his, he would've only died once. Of course, that thing nearly ended him too. He had it on the outside of his chest instead, as a prototype, and he took a shower. It took hours for the paramedics to take that stupid hunk of junk off his chest. Enough about him. I'm nearly at the foot of the mountain, and I think I see fireworks going off. ~~~ "Why the heck do you need a fog machine, Tal?" Taylor and Twilight said, in union. "Look, ya got a fresh new species in this world, and ya want to announce his existence. What better way to do it with fog machines and fireworks?" "Fireworks?" Taylor and Twilight were more than just confused, they were a bit worried. "Yep!" "Are you serious?" "Do pastel colored ponies talk?" "..." "Good! Let's go say 'Hi' to Mayor Mare!" "Wait! Wait, hold on a second. Are you going to promise me that we'll do this inside, with no fireworks?" said Twilight. She put on her serious face. What a grumpy pants. She's still best pony though. "Does using Geico save yo--" SLAP. Twilight was pissed. "Okay okay. Ow. Ow ow. You didn't have to do that!" "Maybe I did. Stop fooling around and go talk to her!" "Why me‽" "Because you have to make a good impression! Now shoo! Go say hi to her! I've already called her, so you can't quit now!" "Mhpmpmhpmph!" said Pinkie Pie. I forgot I was holding her. I put her down next to Twilight, but with my hand over her mouth still. "When do I get to talk?" said Taylor. "When we talk to Mayor Mare, apparently." said me. "SHOO!" Twilight pushed us into the office and closed the door. Actually, it was more of a slam, but a controlled one. Ahdunno. "Are you Mr. Tal and Mr. Taylor?" "Uh, yeah. I'm Taylor, and this blond doofus is Tal." Taylor said, in a businessman tone. "Well, I'm glad Ms. Sparkle informed me of your...interesting appearance, before we met." She was very unsure in her words. "Sorry to, um, cause any interruption you may have had." I said. "Oh no no no! Not a problem at all! When would this introduction of yours start?" "Would an hour be fine? Two hours?" "...what did you say? I thought I heard two hours." "...Yeah...I was nearly found by a certain pink party pony. I want to have a introduction to show everypony that I'm not some evil psychopath or something. If word were to get out that wasn't controlled by some form of government and slash or democracy, they would probably start their own rumors and flip out." "I guess you're right. Would Pinkie Pie be helping today?" "I'll put her to good use that isn't related to pies." we both laughed a little. "Glad to see that we both have some sense of humor around here. Everypony else here has a stale sense of humor." "Heh. Glad to see the first mayor in this world is the first out of many mayors to be funny. Could we have the Hall for an hour or two of Q&A?" "Sure! As long as you don't break anything, of course." "Great. We promise to clean up afterwards, right Taylor?" Taylor was dozing off. "Huh? Oh, sure." "Anything you want to add, Taylor?" "Sleep." "Don't we all. Alright, I put in a time block for you two for two hours, which will start in three. Have fun! Can't wait to show up to it tonight." "Hopefully I don't mess up too bad." I said. "Also, would we have announcements through the town?" "Of course! All important meetings in Town Hall have a couple rings of the bell before the most important of the meeting. Fifteen minutes before it starts, there will be three rings, and that will be your cue to get on stage! I can't wait!" "Awesome, thanks." "Wait, do I get to say something?" Taylor said, with a waking startle. "Uh, sure Taylor. Go ahead. I'm going to help set up." Twilight and Pinkie must have already known we would have the time block, because the same stage that Nightmare Moon preached on, was covered in party decorations and assorted makeshift fog machines. By the way, don't make a fog machine with spare parts, and if you do, don't put your fingers next to them. They'll burn right off. That would probably hurt. "Uh, Pinkie, I'm ba-" "HI!" "Of course. Before you go on rambling about something else, - not that I don't like your rambling, of course, - you can ask me any question you want. Twilight, can you hand me a speaker or two? I have an amazing idea." "Alright, fine. I'm pretty surprised to see Iron Will was the only person to do this kind of thing before." Twilight said, handing me a big speaker and motioning towards a ladder. "Pinkie, fire away. I mean, your question." Saying something that would be odd with no context would certainly let me end up with a chatterbox on my hands. "Do you have parties where you come from? I do, and they're awesome! You get a bunch of balloons and you get your friends to come and then you get some cake and some party ga--" "Yes Pinkie, we have parties. I'm pretty sure no one gets as hyped up about them as you do, though." I slammed a nail into the wall through the speaker's nail hole. I don't know what to call them. Nail holes seem pretty good to me, for now though, at least. "I guess it would be Twilight's turn now. What's your question?" I said, finishing my nail job with one fell swoop of a hammer. I looked at it with satisfaction. "How did you get here?" I stopped cold. I nearly fell off the ladder right there. I then realized that I could tell it without telling them that they are a show in our world. "I made an interdimensional portal device that let us travel inside and on the edge of our dimension. Apparently, your dimension was inside our dimension, and that's how we got here. Our portal failed and caused a black hole, which also caused those dark clouds I've seen around. That black hole was really tiny, but it managed to suck us inside it and immediately vanish. I have the blueprints for it, but it's going to take a lot of smoke detectors..." Suddenly, the door to Mayor Mare's office burst open. "Tal! I got us a plot of land!" It was at this point where I really fell off the ladder. If Twilight didn't catch me, well, I wouldn't be telling any of this story. Taylor would. With extreme bias. "TAYLOR! I NEARLY DIED FROM EXCITEMENT, NERVOUSNESS, AND A FALL! Thanks Twilight." "Sorry bro, but it's big enough for...y'know, the house." "I'm glad I'm not on the ladder this time around." "Plus, get this, it's almost like our blueprint! We just need to renovate the living room, and add in the second bathroom!" "YES! Taylor! For once, you have done well in your life! I present to you, nothing! You get to help renovate the living room." "ALL DECORATIONS ARE UP AND READY!" yelled Pinkie. "Great job Pinkie!" my stomach growled. "Who wants to go out for a bite to eat? Wait, no. Actually, I can't really eat leaves and grass...so, yeah. Do you have any meat specials at your favorite restaurant?" "Uh, yeah. Ham sandwiches are all the rage right now." "I could go for a ham sandwich. Yum. Oh, before you ask, Twilight, I'm not too scared of being found out anymore." Twilight put her hoof down. A minute walk later we got to the restaurant. Ponies everywhere gave us weird looks, and what they learned about Zecora, y'know, don't be a racist bastard, kinda lost it's touch everywhere. It took forever for the waiter to serve us, and when he did, he was sweating bullets. Poor guy looked to be the equivalent of 16 years old, with zero confidence. The zits made the man, of course, and he had them. "Uh...h-hello s-sir. M-may I h-h-help you?" "Yes sir, you may. I brought my own drink; could I have a glass with some ice?" "Uh...y-yes sir. And you, miss?" "I'll take the leaf sandwich special with a glass of milk." said Twilight. "Okay, and, what w-would y-you like s-sir?" The waiter only freaked when talking to humans. Poor guy. "I also brought my own drink, sorry, glass of ice? I'll also take a ham sandwich." "R-right away s-sir." He then looked at Pinkie, and as he did, his weak smile turned into one with great pleasure. "And what would you like miss? The usual?" Pinkie nodded. "Ham sandwich and a glass of ice, please!" I answered. "Right away, s-sir." I looked at our waiter as he hurried into the kitchen. Customers everywhere were staring at us as we attempted to fit in. Twilight was analyzing our every movement, for future reference and research. As the waiter went inside, I watched him. He was very busy with the other patrons as they eagerly awaited their food. He looked like a nice guy, hope he shows up tonight. "Alright, so, Tal, ever think of what we're actually going to talk about when we do the actual Q&A? Like, any answers thought up, or, y'know, ANYTHING?" "Yes. I can see it now. Music blaring through the speakers, as I come up on stage. The crowd cheers as I slowly reveal myself onto the stage. Then--" "I think you're a bit full of yourself, Tal. Do you two agree?" said Taylor. The two ponies were a bit busy eating their food, but then quickly swallowed and prepared their own answers. "Will there be balloons?" said the pink one. "Of course! Balloons for all!" I said. I was having an amazing time right now. However, I felt my 'good time' was unrealistic, even for me. "Tal, your sugar levels are low, again." said Taylor. "Oh shi-- I mean shoot, you're right. Let's pop open our sodas and calm down a bit." Funny story. One time, I went a whole camp-out at Boy Scouts without sugar, because, y'know, dieting and stuff. Don't ask me, ask mom. Anyways, I grew increasingly hyper without my caffeine and sugar. Usually, I'm hyper, but I was almost literally bouncing off the walls at the scout reservation. I was checked for diabetes and ADHD, surprisingly, I only have ADD. We called it Tal Syndrome, but we eventually dropped it, because it was too awesome for Taylor. Taylor Note: It was dumb, and he took it too far. The End. I cracked open my soda, and the two ponies with us and the surrounding tables jumped up a bit when the loud 'crack' sound came out of the soda. Within a minute, the entire restaurant kinda thought there was a bomb or something. "What w-was that?" said Twilight. "Was that a b-bomb or something?" "Nah silly! Its a soda! Everypony knows that!" said Pinkie. She giggled. "Ten points to Gryffindor for outstanding knowledge of what a fine drink Coca-Cola is!" said I. "Yeeeesss!" Pinkie hoof bumped the air. "Twenty points for Pinkie accurately knowing what Gryffindor is, and why it's the best house!" "What the hay is going on here?"" said Twilight. Taylor was sniggering too hard to tell her what. "We had a book series that was also a movie series back then. Harry Potter. A boy who gets to become a wizard. Magic in our world doesn't exist, but here, it's everywhere. I know ten people that would cut their arms off to get to go to where Harry Potter did." "Magic doesn't exist in your world?" "We have science, that's just as good. Magic is too much of a fantasy in our world." Twilight seemed upset for a bit, but then quickly levitated a notepad and pencil and wrote something down. She calmed down a bit, but still seemed peeved for a bit. "In fact, that's how I got here in the first place. I built this inter-dimensional portal, and I guess this place was floating next to ours, and that's how I ended up here. So, yeah. Want a sip?" I motioned my soda towards Twilight. She looked off about drinking stuff from other worlds, but she levitated the coke out of my hand and drank it a little. She immediately jumped a little, having never tasted this drink in her life. She then proceeded to chug it down in a very euphoric manner, savoring every last drop of it. She dropped the can, and only moved when the can hit the ground. Only then, she jumped at the loud sound the can made on impact. The entire establishment went silent. Every pony in the place stared as she started to vibrate. Her horn glowed brightly and started to vibrate as well. Everyone started to panic and rushed to the doors. She started to hover in the air as her body vibrated even harder. I was laughing and screaming at the same time. Soda just gave me a bit of hyperactivity, I didn't know it did this to ponies. Wouldn't it do less? Or is it because she was magical? Either way, I grabbed Taylor and Pinkie and ran out the door. Suddenly, as I pushed the door, she stopped vibrating and sunk into her chair. Her horn started to crackle with electricity as she stared forward at a wall. She was astounded at what just happened, and so was I. "What. The. Hay. Was. That! You could have killed me!" "Guess what? It didn't! Does it feel good?" I attempted to deflect the anger. "Uh, a little." "Have you noticed your horn is surging with electricity?" "Uh, no. What would happen if I were to use my horn now?" "Shit would happen, that's for sure." I said. Taylor doubled over in laughter and fell down. I was about to join him until Twilight hovered me up in the air. "Oh my Celestia! You're lighter than air now! It used to take a lot of magic to lift you up, and now look!" "If you're saying I'm fat, I could kill you if you let me go." "Please tell me you have more of this soda." "Matter of fact, I have three left. Want some to go?" "You bet I do." ~~~ "When find Tal, I'm going to kill him." No sooner had those words left my mouth than I tripped over a branch. The Coca-Cola spilled out of my backpack and tumbled everywhere. What? What backpack you say? I don't know. I guess it flew farther than me when it got sucked through the portal, because this thing would not hold on a pony's body. Not just that, but it had Coca-Cola stains on it. What was more important, though, was for me to get the soda to Tal. Remember the soda IV thing? He nearly died, until we managed to get it on. I don't know what happened to him, but some shit went on. Ah, finally. Ponyville. As soon as I got here, I saw Tal giving Twilight a soda at the diner. She started to shake like crazy and then hover in the air, then lightning was all over her horn and stuff. I don't really remember anything but that happening to her, and I don't think anything else happened. Twilight managed to pick up Tal in one burst of magic, and put him down just as quick. She rifled through Tal's backpack and grabbed another soda with her teeth, and set it down on the table. I can't wait to see another human being! I ran forward to Tal, yelling, "Guess whooooo?" ~~~ Twilight then proceeded to put me down gently, and then go through my backpack like some sort of wild animal. She pulled out a coke and set it down on the table, and magicked the can open, and chugged it. "Chug chug chug chug!" yelled Pinkie. "This is too freaking hilarious. I can't wait for the Q&A thing. By the way, Tal, did you set up the laptop?" said Taylor. "You bet your sweet ass I did." we then highfived. "Guess whooooo?" said someone. "Oh my Lord, is it you?" said I. "You bet!" "I can't believe it! How did you know to come to my house and activate the portal?" "Automatic e-mail system. So, I heard you like soda?" she then threw her bag on the table, and stared at us with a smirk as the coke rolled out of the bag. "You are a god, Liz." "You know I like to be called Elizabeth, but for this time, just this time, I'll let it fly." "Aww, I like calling you Liz." "How many houses did you burn down? Five? Ten?" "Nah, we might burn Town Hall down with our Q&A tonight. It's going to start in a bit." Right on cue, the bell struck. "We better go, I've got some tunes about to start."Just like that, the three humans and the two ponies went off to the town hall. Elizabeth would be briefed later; but this is important. However, something much more important was going on back at Tal's world... ~~~ "Hello?" said the Mrs. of the house. "Officer Moore here, with the state police. We heard you call about a missing person?" "Yes, he has been gone for three days now. Please, come inside." "I'll make some coffee while I go get Peter. It's very late you know." "Oh, thank you, Amy. Half and half please. Did you say the victim's room was to the right?" "H-his name was T-Tal, and It's to the r-right." "Thank you." He had enough kidnapping shit. Three kids have been reported missing lately. A girl, and two boys. All around the age of fourteen, and were mutual friends. It was time to get to the bottom of this nonsense and find the trio before whoever got them manage to get away. However, instead of finding blood, bullets, or any usual evidence, he found nothing but the carpet and a mysterious portal. Looking around it and dusting for fingerprints, he dialed up HQ's science lab. "Rose? We have no fingerprints except on the weird portal frame here. This kid was into arcane shit right here." "Alec, enough dillydallying, send me the fingerprints." Alec quickly looked through his small binder of fingerprints, and found that the fingerprints on the lever matched all of the missing children's fingers to the very curve. "I don't think we need fingerprints. I've found the culprit right here." "What?" "I'm pretty sure this teleporter thingy works. The lever has all the fingerprints, and I've put them next to the kids' fingerprints. This shit checked out for sure." "I'll send in a investigator squadron, don't touch anything." Of course, simply pulling the lever from the side wouldn't do anything, now would it? Oh, was he so wrong...