//------------------------------//
// Clean Slate 
// Story: Detour 
// by Jetset0099 
//------------------------------//

       Everything was silent as the three stallions stood in the hall. Jake and Draplen were in a stare down, while Mac was trying to keep calm in his position. Jake finally spoke up. 
"This doesn't make any sense. First off, what good would it do to kill Mac? You have no business with him. Hell, you don't even have any business with ME. I get what you're saying about being trapped in this world, but why kill us?"
Draplen scoffed. 
"You don't even know half of what it's like to be imprisoned like I am! You're a fool for thinking you do. That's why you don't deserve to be here. You simply were brought here by accident. I, on the other hand, spent half of my life developing the device that brought you here. It was supposed to be me in your position. I was going to be the first test subject. Who knows, maybe things would've turned out different. It's also that idiotic Docter Navorno's fault. If only he'd listened to me and not fired the canon until we had proper barriers set up so the beam wouldn't have hit you. Damn that fool! Too bad once I get done wasting you two, he'll be next on my list."

"I think not, Doctor."

Just as Draplen turned his head to look down the staircase, a grey unicorn sprang up and tackled him. It didn't do much, but it was enough for Mac to squeeze out of his hold and scramble over to the club leaning on the wall. The black pegasus was on the floor in a daze, and before he could get up, Mac swung the club down delivering a blow to the back of his head, knocking him out cold. 
The grey pony got up and turned to face Mac and Jake, his left front leg had a long gash down the side of it, and it was bleeding badly. Jake saw his face for the the first time, and found that it was Fritzer Mach, the carpenter. 
His horn glowed, and his face winced in pain. The cut on his leg slowly sealed, leaving a dry blood stain without a source. He cleared his throat. 
"I'm sorry it had to happen like this. I've been trying to find him for years now. As he said, my real name is Doctor Fredrick Navorno, but please call me Fritzer. I don't want anypony else to know. 
Mac went over to him and shook his hoof. 
"Thank y'all fer tacklin' him when ya did. Ahm afraid ta think what woulda happened if ya hadn't shown up in time."

"No problem my boy."
He turned to the pilot standing next to Macintosh. 
"Jake, it's time we have a little talk. Follow me. Oh, and you can come too Mac."
As they were about to walk downstairs, Navorno stopped next to Draplen. 
"Almost forgot about him."
He levitated the unconscious body in front of him and led the two down the stairs. They made their way out into the cold night air, and sat down on the front porch. The carpenter cast a petrifying spell on Draplen, and threw him in the bed of the Dodge, which was parked in front of them about twenty feet away. Navorno began his explanation. 
'He should be out for at least twenty four hours. You can turn him in before then. I can tell you that Doctor Draplen wasn't always like that. Nine years ago, we were both partners in a massive project to develop a canon that could teleport someone or something at the speed of light, thus sending them through time. However, I now know that that canon did much more. Not only does it let you travel through time, it lets you travel through dimensions."
Jakes was stunned.  
"So you mean that this isn't some distant planet in the same universe?"
Fredrick nodded. 
"Precisely. The beam managed to warp the fabric of space and time, and for reasons even I can't explain, open up another dimension."
The trees rustled in the wind as a small gust picked up, making Mac shiver.
"Why in the hay do we have ta be outside?"
The unicorn laughed. 
"I always loved the night air, so deal with it lad. Anyways, we finished the canon seven years ago, and were going to test it at Area Fifty-One. It was the only place with a chamber large enough to hold it securely. It wasn't secure enough however, because when we fired it, the beam shot up and out through the roof, into the desert. That's what hit your plane Jake. That's what brought you here."
The pilot had a confused look on his face. 
"I don't understand this. How have you been here longer than me, if I came here before you?"

"I'm getting to that my boy, I'm getting to that. So after the test fire went wrong, we immediately locked down the base and went up to the ground floor to assess the damage. As we got up there, the base commander told us that the beam had hit an aircraft that was flying nearby, and it vanished. Teams searched for hours for any debris from the wreckage, but there was none. The only conclusion was that it transported you. I was incredibly happy and sad at the same time. Happy that it worked, but sad that I had just sent however many people into an unknown location. I was sure that whoever it was, was going to die. For a couple days, me and Doctor Draplen tried to figure out a plan. The one we opted for was to go after you, and see for ourselves what it did."
Mac spoke up. 
"But how did ya know that y'all were even gonna live if ya went through it?"
He doctor chuckled. 
"As Draplen had already told you, we spent half of our lives developing the canon. I could even say I've spent my ENTIRE life. If it meant risking it to find out if my life's work payed off, it was worth it to me."
He looked around and out to the orchard, admiring the landscape, and sighed.
"And I think it did pay off."
Jake was getting restless. 
"But that still doesn't answer my question."

"Ah yes. As I was saying, we decided to beam ourselves. But I had a theory on how to go about doing it. I assumed that if we were to put the canon on full power, the test was only seventy-five percent, we would travel faster, thus arriving at the destination years before you did. You see, the canon doesn't exactly need to travel at light speed to transport, just as close as you can get. I guess three quarter's power was enough to transport you into another dimension. When Draplen and I were beamed, we traveled at light speed. We got here seven years before you did. My theory had worked. The only downfall was that at the time, I didn't know exactly how far apart our arrivals would be staggered. But I was able to calculate the power difference, and conclude that it would at least be in my lifetime. I knew that wherever we entered the world, that's where you would enter as well. So we both settled down here in Ponyville to wait for you. I must say, it took us awhile to get used to our new forms. I have yet to discover why we changed upon entering this dimension. Anyways, after settling down, we lived quietly for about a year. I opened up my carpentry shop, and started my new life, eager to make the best of it. Draplen on the other hand, didn't like it here as much. Some nights I would walk into his room to find him talking to himself in a corner. I tried to help him, but he only got worse. Finally, after two more years of him slowly falling into insanity, he came into the house one day, yelling something about how we don't belong here. He started going crazy and throwing things at me. I managed to fend him off with a couple defense spells. He ran away to the south, and I never saw him again until earlier at the party. He was lurking around the outskirts of Ponyville, waiting to follow you home. I followed him, tackled him, and now we're here. Any questions?"
His audience of two took a second to process everything in their brains, before Jake spoke. 
"Well I'm sorry about Draplen. I'm sure he used to be a great guy."
The doctor made a so-so gesture with his hoof, resulting in laughter from the three. Mac looked up to the sky, then back to Fredrick. 
"Listen Frizter, ah can't even say it's gettin' late, 'cause its gettin' early already. Ahm gonna go back ta bed an' try ta get at least another hour o' sleep. Yer more than welcome ta sleep on the couch in the livin' room tonight considering it's a long walk back to yer home."

"Thank you for the offer my boy, but like I said, I enjoy the night air, I'll make the trip back."

"Well alright then. G'night."
He made his way into the house and up the stairs, leaving Jake and the doctor on the porch. 
"Listen Jake, I want to also let you know that there's no way back. At least not in our lifetime. I know this might be hard to handle, but we're both here for the rest of our lives, so I would try to make it count."
Jake sat in silence before slowly nodding his head.
"I'm sorry, but even if I could build another canon, I wouldn't be certain it would take us back to Earth. This location was completely random."
He sighed. 
"Well I best be getting home now. Are you going to be ok?"
The captain nodded again. Doctor Navorno patted him on the shoulder and turned to leave. As he was walking to the gate, he called back to Jake just as he was about to close the door. 
“Jake, you only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” 
He left the pilot to think as he turned back and headed out to the road, lit by the faintest rays from the moon as Princess Luna was lowering it to make way for her sisters sun.