//------------------------------// // Briefing. // Story: Exploration turns out to be much longer than expected. // by Totito30 //------------------------------// The path back to Ponyville was short compared with the time it took J´zar to meet Celestia. J´zar thought it was due to the haste he felt. “This needs to be done quickly, before he gathers enough strength how to summon his army” J´zar keep telling to himself “If I am too late, this dimension will be easy prey”. Landing at the town plaza, he thanked the pegasii and walked away, thinking about where to start. Of course he would not leave immediately; he first needed to learn more about the dimension he was in, and maybe getting familiarized with any linguistic expression the locals might have would not be hurting at all. "Hummm… ¿Jay Zeer?" A voice asked. J´zar turned around to see who had horribly misspelled his name (The correct phonetics would be “Ghe-Zar”, but everybody called him “Je-zar” to simplify). Behind him was a purple-colored pony carrying a rump mark of numerous stars, with a horn protruding from a fringe, which was, just like her tail, colored both light pink and deep blue. "My name is “Je-zar”, but yes, that’s me" He said to the slightly embarrassed pony he was now looking at "¿Who are you?" "My name is Twilight Sparkle" She said, bowing her head slightly "but you can call me Twilight" "¡Do not forget me, Twilight, your loyal scribe!" a high pitched voice coming from behind Twilight’s neck pierced J´zar’s ears. "And he is Spike, a baby dragon" Twilight sighed, with the expression of having done that several times that day. J´zar was impressed with the baby dragon, for he had only heard histories about the mythical creature. But there were more important matters to attend. "Tell me Twilight, ¿are you a…magician?" J´zar asked. He was determined to end this mystery. "Well, I´m sort of a magician" she said, using an expression J´zar would have associated with remembering "¿How did you guessed that?" "Because of your mark" J´zar answered, pointing his gauntlet’s finger at Twilight’s rump. "¿You mean my Cutie Mark?" She said, looking at J´zar as if it was the most common thing in the world, something even a child would know. "Yes" J´zar said sighing softly. Throughout the ages, he had to learn many things. First it was flintlock muskets, then radios, then computers and now this. "Well, it is something you get that marks you as being skilled in something nobody else is skilled at" Twilight explained. "¿Why are you here?" J´zar had never met that pony before. "Celestia sent me a message informing me of your arrival" she said, visibly shocked by how direct J´zar was being. "¡That’s impossible! ¡It would have never reached you before I got here!" J´zar exclaimed. "Luckily, I got Spike for that" she said "¡I just remembered! Spike, inform Celestia of our meeting with J´zar" "Wait, ¿what?" Spike said with a surprised pitch. "¡Tell her we got J´zar!" Twilight Sparkle yelled at him, annoyed by the scribe’s ignorance. "¡Okay, okay! No reason to get so angry, Twilight " the baby dragon defended himself. “Yet another servant which is treated with too much informality” J´zar thought. "You should accompany me. The girls are meeting and we are speaking about this “quest” you have" Twilight Sparkle said, quickly losing what little formality did she had. J´zar didn’t want to go with Twilight Sparkle, but he had received orders to accept any help offered, so he followed her throughout the town, sometimes stopping for Twilight to have a quick chat with people she seemed to know. Finally, J´zar and Twilight Sparkle reached a building which had all its lights on and which emanated flour smell. A big red sign hanging over the main entrance read “Sugarcube Corner”. "Here we are" Twilight said. J´zar was able to feel her confidence. Twilight Sparkle was the first one to advance and knock on the door. "¡Come on in! We don’t want you freezing to death out there ¿do we?" the happy voice of Pinkie Pie greeted them from behind the door. Twilight Sparkle entered and J´zar followed, his cape surrounding his entire body as he silently walked into the bakery. The place was very illuminated and four other ponies were sitting around a bar table. The first one going clockwise was a white pony with a very stylized and twirled purple mane and a Cutie Mark of three glittering diamonds, the second on was Fluttershy and then there were two empty stools. On the other side of the table there sat two other ponies, one of them colored yellow with blonde mane and a Cutie Mark of several red apples (This pony also wore a felt hat, which J´zar found quite stylish), and another one with cyan body, wings the same tone and a Cutie Mark of a storm cloud firing a rainbow thunder. Most strange of all was her mane, which had seven different colors (those of the rainbow). Twilight started speaking, but the only words J´zar could hear before all six ponies started chatting at the speed of light was “Hello girls!” J´zar spent the next few hours sitting in a spare stool, trying to listen and fit in the comments of the other ponies, but he was never heard or his commentaries were short lived. Finally, Twilight Sparkle pointed her hoof at J´zar: "After all, ¿why are you here J´zar?" She asked, obviously believing J´zar had listened every word she said. J´zar proceeded to tell them all his history. "But I have not introduced myself!" J´zar said, embarrassed by his lack of memory "My name is J´zar, nice to meet you…?" "Rarity, pleased to meet you too" said the purple-maned mare. "I have already met you before, Fluttershy" J´zar said to her "Twilight Sparkle, the same for you too". He walked to stand right before Pinkie Pie. "You must be Pinkie Pie. I’ve heard of you" J´zar said. "¡I’m so excited to meet you! ¿Are you excited? ¡Because I am excited!" The mare spoke so fast J´zar barely understand her. "¿And who are you?" Asked J´zar to the yellow pony. "Applejack, nice to see ya fella" mumbled the hat-wearing pony. "¡And I’m Rainbow Dash, the pleasure is all yours!" Screamed out the multi-colored mane. "There’s still one thing I do not understand, J´zar" spoke Twilight Sparkle. "¿What is it?" answered J´zar. "Why is it so important to catch Ix?" Twilight asked. The room was now fully silent. Not even Pinkie Pie smiled, for it was the moment they all were expecting. "Around nine hundred years ago, a Crusade was being waged in my dimension…" J´zar started speaking. "We got some crusaders over here too…ouch!" Pinkie Pie had started speaking, but she was quickly quenched with a neck bite and a “¡shhhh!” J´zar proceeded, oblivious to the interruption: "…the crusade was being fought over a temple, a very important one. But my commander in those days, a mighty warrior known as Tu´ihs brought to bear a counter-crusade on them. He fought on many battles, and defended the gates of Jerusalem on his own. But one of his fellow men, a Principal named Ix, betrayed him and killed him, earning the position of commander himself. But his treason was discovered, and his fortress in Syria came under attack. He defended himself by trying to summon creatures from other dimensions. He tried to open a portal, but we stopped him before he could. Ix was banished forever to a prison between universes called “The Maw”. If he is here, he’ll try to open a portal to other, much scarier places. And trust me, you don’t want to battle what we had to battle inside that place". J´zar finished his speech abnd took a deep breath. "Ummm…but…eh…ummm" babbled Fluttershy "¿How do we stop him if he’s defending himself against us?" "First, we need to de-activate his barriers, then, we must enter is fortress and then I will battle him" explained to everyone J´zar. The reunion did not last much longer. Everyone went to their homes when it got too late for them.