Chapter 30
“Agent Jonathan, come in please.”
“You wanted to see me Mr. Alex?”
“Have you made any progress on tracking your target?”
“Yes sir, we are currently working on a device that should allow us to travel through dimensions and to the one the subject escaped too.”
“Good, how long till it’s done?”
“You must understand, this is delicate and complicated, we’re talking about traveling between worlds here.”
“How….long?”
“It should be ready in a few months or so.”
“Agent Jonathan, what about the two scientists heading up this project?”
“They are in full cooperation sir, they are doing as told and working very diligently.”
“Don’t screw this up Jonathan, or the only work you’ll be able to get is cleaning toilets for a living. Understood?”
“Yes sir, Understood.”
Back in Equestria:
“CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP!” Charles was in a panic, it was two days to Hearth’s Warming and he had completely forgotten to get his marefriends a gift. “Crap! How could I be so thoughtless? These girls give me their love and I don’t even have the common sense to get them anything for the holiday…….CRAAAAAAPPP!” He was flying frantically over town in his red and yellow winter outfit with his black jeans and shoes, trying desperately to think of what to get the mares he was to wed. “Come on THINK, there has to be something you can get them……ok, personalities, Rarity is classy, generous, and is a fashion designer. Pinkie is happy-go-lucky, loves parties and is an excellent baker. Applejack is a hard worker, honest, works on an apple orchard, and isn’t afraid to get her hooves dirty. Twilight loves books, is very smart, and has a caring heart. So what can I get them?”
“Use that brain of yours, now Twilight, I guess is simple enough, I could get her a book….oh but what kind of book, she has so many already. It would have to be something special.” Charles stopped and landed on a cloud to sit and think for a moment. “Let’s see, book, book…….AHA, perhaps a piece of literature that doesn’t exist here…..which means I may have to go back to earth………….AM I OUT OF MY MIND?! I can’t go back there, well, I could thanks to Twilight’s teachings and teleport back, but how would I be able to get her anything, I don’t have earth money, I would just end up stealing. Then again, why should I worry about stealing from anyone there, all THEY ever did was hurt me. Besides, the kind of book I have in mind for Twilight is sure to impress her, and she is definitely worth it, they all are.”
“Ok, so I know what I want to get Twilight, what about the others, Rarity likes jewelry and dresses, maybe I could get her a nice dress or fancy jewelry, but what? I do recall some fashions on earth that Rarity would simply love, perhaps I could get something like that for her from earth too, maybe a fashion magazine that could give her ideas on some new fashion designs to help her business. HAH, that would be perfect. Ok, Rarity and Twilight are covered.”
“Ok, now Pinkie Pie, let’s see, Pinkie, Pinkie……she loves parties, loves baking…..perhaps something to do with that, but what?” Charles stood up and paced in thought on the cloud. “Baking, baking, baking……a cook book? I suppose, but what kind? If it’s going to be something special, it should be a cook book with recipes she doesn’t have. Hmmm, perhaps I would have to get something from earth for her too. YES, that’s it, HA HA, I am so brilliant!”
Charles stopped his pacing. “Ok, Pinkie, Rarity, and Twilight are covered, now what about Applejack? Think, think, think…….GAH! This is going to be hard, how do get something for a farm pony that’s already happy with what she has? There has to be something I can get her to show her how much I care about her……come brain, WORK!” He proceeded to rub his hands on his head and messed with his hair. “A new hat maybe…..no that’s too simple, then again, she does seem to love that hat she’s always wearing, would she even want a new hat? I don’t know, I just can’t seem to think of anything else, so I guess I could try and get her a nice new hat for her, I’m sure she would love it.”
Charles finally made his decisions on what to get his marefriends for Hearth’s Warming. “All right then, I’m going to have to make a trip back to earth and just get these things, good thing I remember a one stop shop type of store I saw when I was in New York, I can pop in, get the things I want, then pop out back home…..home, heh, I really have a home here. MAN that feels good to say.”
Charles focused his magic as Twilight taught him to when using a teleport spell, but since he would be crossing dimensions, it would take a lot more than what was needed for a simple teleport, luckily, he had it since he was able to do it befor. Last time when he tried it, it was an accident, now that he had training and knew where he was going, it was going to be easier. “Come on, New York, Time Square, here I come” His body became enveloped in his white aura as he closed his eyes in focus. In a brilliant flash, he vanished.
The void between worlds:
“WOO HOO!” Charles cried as he flew through the dimensional void to earth, he was surrounded by the same swirling colors as before when he first came to Equestria.
New York City, Time Square:
In a brilliant flash in a random alley near time square, Charles appeared. “Whoa, what a rush.” He wobbled on his feet a bit. “Ok, need to sit down now, whew, man. That takes quite a lot out of me, gonna have to rest for a bit before I try that again.” He sat down and leaned against the brick wall behind him. He looked to his right and could see the busy streets of New York before him, the whole city and streets were a bustle with people and the stores were decorated for Christmas, it was night at the time. “Hmpf, humans, I can’t believe I’m actually calling myself one with the way they treated me. What am I saying, I am a human, they’re the monsters.” Charles said to himself as he glared at all the people passing by. The alley was dark so if anyone happen to look his way, they would most likely not see his wings.
After almost an hour, he felt he had gained back enough of his magic to teleport back to Equestria, he stood up and was about to walk out but then remembered something. “My wings, I can’t let them see my wings, if they do, it’ll all start over again and I won’t be able to get the gifts for my mare friends. I know, I’ll just cast a simple illusion spell to hide them.” He focused his magic to his wings and they faded out. “Perfect, now to just make my way to the store I recall seeing the last time I was here, just hope it’s still there.” He made his way out of the alley and joined the other humans going about their business, unaware of the being from Equestria.
“It sure is weird being back in this world, after being among so many that actually care about me, this place is the one that feels alien now.” After a bit of a walk, he finally came to the store he was searching for. “HAH, perfect, it’s still here.” It was a large building with glass double doors, the inside had two floors with books in one section, clothing in another, various nick knacks in one and food in another. Charles first made his way up the second floor where the books were. “Let’s see, literature, literature, AHA, here we go, perfect, the complete works of Shakespear, Twilight is sure to love this.” Charles took the book under his arm and went to the section with magazines.
“Ok, gaming….no….news…no….celebrities…no…..here we go, fashion magzines, the latest trend. Rarity is sure to love this.” Charles placed it under his arm with the book he picked up. “Now to find a cook book for Pinkie.” He went on and continued searching for said item. It didn’t take him long to find the section with cook books and found one with vegetarian dishes and one with recipes for sweets that pinkie had never heard of. “And now for Applejack.” Charles made his way back to the first floor with the clothing and searched through a section that had western style wear.
He searched through the hats trying to find the perfect one for Applejack. “No…no….no…no…hmmm, this looks nice, and it even has an apple on it, this is perfect, I just know she’ll love it.” Charles picked out a hat that was similar to Applejack’s in color, but had a braid surrounding the base and an apple attached to it on the front.
“Applejack, that’s a funny name for a girl.” A woman commented who had come up next to Charles as she went through the hats.
Charles turned to her and retorted. “And just what is wrong with Applejack for a name?”
“It just sounds weird to me.” The woman appeared to be in her 30’s, she had long black hair and stood two inches taller than Charles.
He didn’t like some stranger bad mouthing one of his marefriends. “Look here, I think it’s a fine name, just like Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight. They are fine names belonging to four fine mares that I’m marrying.”
The woman looked at him with shock and confusion. “Four…..mares? Are you saying you’re getting this for a horse and marrying four?”
He decided to have fun here. “Actually their ponies, and they are four of the kindest, nicest, sweetest ponies I have ever met, of course I don’t expect a human to understand.”
“Excuse me?” the woman raised an eyebrow.
Charles kept his smirk as he dismissed his spell hiding his wings. The woman backed off with fear on her face. “That’s right, you heard me, now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going home. So long freak.” He gave a small salute as he focused his magic and once again his body was enveloped with his white aura, and in a flash, disappeared from sight, leaving behind a confused and bewildered woman.
The void between worlds:
“WOO HOOO, YEAH!” Charles cheered for joy as he flew through the void between dimensions surrounded by the colors he saw the first and recently second time he did this.
Equestria, Ponyville:
Charles reappeared, keeping his forward momentum. He made a bit of a rough landing and rolled in the snow upon re-entry, he landed on his back in a fit of joy. “HA HA, WOO, oh man HA HA, that was fun.” He lay on his back sprawled out with his gifts for his marefriends lying on the ground next to him spread out a little.
“Um, Charles, what are you doing?” Shinning had asked as he looked down at Charles.
From Charles’s point of view, he looked upside down. “Oh hey Shining, I just got back after doing a bit of last minute shopping for my girls.”
Shining stepped back to let Charles up. He picked up the things in his aura and looked at them curiously. “What is all this?”
Charles informed him. “I got a book for Twilight, a pair of recipe books for Pinkie, a fashion magazine for Rarity, and a new hat for Applejack. I just made a little trip to earth to get them, and quite frankly, I’m a little worn out, crossing dimensions isn’t easy.” He said as he sat back down.
Shining looked at Charles with confusion. “You went to earth?”
“well yeah, it was the only place I could think of to go to get something special for them. What better place to go shopping for someone you really care about than another dimension right?”
“I…..guess so.”
Charles looked around and noticed he was in front of Applejack’s house. “Oh crud.” He said a little worried.
“What is it?” Shining asked upon picking up on Charles’s distress.
“I can’t let the girls see this stuff yet, it’s a surprise, Shining, think you can help me hide these until I can get them wrapped up?”
Shining Armor gave him a smile. “No problem.” He then made them disappear.
Charles looked at him curiously. “Where did you…”
Shining cut him off. “The room I’m staying in while I’m here.”
Charles smiled again. “Thanks Shining, I owe you.”
“No problem.”
Charles then got an idea. “Shining, how would you like to be one of my best stallions at the wedding?”
Hearths Warming Day:
Hearths Warming Day had finally come. Everypony had gathered in the main living room and families passed out gifts for one another. Charles was wearing a new grey sweater with a white zig zag line at the center Rarity made him. It was now his turn to pass out his gifts to the ponies he was marrying. Shining brought them out for him and floated them over to him. “Thanks Shining, I appreciate it.”
“Thank you for giving me the honor of being one of your best stallions.”
Charles was sitting down on the floor next to the fire place as he presented each gift to his marefriends, Twilight was first. “Twilight, I know how much you like books and reading, so I got you something I just know you’re going to enjoy.” He handed her a large rectangular object that was wrapped up.
“Thank you Charles.” She opened it and saw what it was, she eyed it curiously. “The complete works of Shakespear, who is that?”
“Well, I wasn’t sure what to get you all so I made a quick trip to earth and got you all something from there, Shakespear was a popular play writer from earth history and that book holds every piece he ever wrote, I hope you enjoy it.”
Twilight smiled. “Charles, you went back to earth to get this?” He just nodded. “Thank you so much, I can’t wait to take a look.” She then came up to him and they shared a gratifying kiss. Twilight held the book in her aura and set it aside for now.
Charles then presented Rarity with her gift. “Rarity, since you like fashion and all, I figured maybe you’d like to know more about earth fashion, so I picked up a fashion magazine and thought you might be able to come up with some new designs or something.”
Rarity opened her gift and smiled as she looked through the magazine. “Oh my, just look at those dresses, and those suites, heavens, this is magnificent.” She turned her attention to Charles. “Thank you Charles, this is very thoughtful of you.” She then came up to him and gave him a kiss as well.”
Then it was Pinkie’s turn. She was smiling big before Charles gave her her gift. “Pinkie, since you like to bake and stuff, I figured you might be interested in a few earth recipes.”
Pinkie opened her gift and gave each book a quick look through. “Wow Charles, these recipes look tasty thank you so much.” She just leapt at him and pressed her lips to his, which he gratefully accepted.
Finally it was Applejack’s turn. “Applejack, I’ll have to admit, I wasn’t sure what to get you at first, but after some thought……well, I just hope you like it, it may not seem as thoughtful as the other gifts, but I just wasn’t sure what to get you, I just hope you at least like it.” Charles then handed Applejack her gift.
She unwrapped it to reveal a box, she took off the lid and lifted the hat out. “Well I’ll be.” She smiled at it. “Charles, this is perfect, I love it.”
Charles spoke nervously. “Really, you sure, cause if not, I’m sure I could come up with something better to get you.”
Applejack chuckled. “He he, this is just fine partner, thank ya.” She took off her old hat and tried on the new one. “It fits perfectly, thank ya so much Charles, I love it.” She too then gave Charles a grateful kiss.
The day pressed on as everypony enjoyed one another’s company during the holiday. Before it came time to turn in for the night, Charles figured now was as good a time as any to begin the discussion of when the wedding will be. “All right, can I have everyponies attention please.” Every pony quieted down and turned their attention to Charles. “Thank you. Now then, I believe now would be a good time to discuss whent the wedding will be.”
“Ooh ooh, can we have it in the summer, summer is nice.” Pinkie said.
“I think we could have it during fall, it would be so romantic to walk down the aisle with all those leaves at that shade of orange as we say our I do’s.” Rarity swooned.
Charles interjected. “Actually girls, I would like to have it before spring.”
They looked at him curiously. Twilight stepped forward. “Charles, why so soon?”
Charles began to explain. “Twilight, in case you all forgot, I’m supposed to go off and find these things called the elements of life, it’s a long trip to where I have to go and I would like to know I have four beautiful mares I can call my wives waiting for me back home. I know this isn’t an easy subject, but there is a threat looming that I need to be ready for. I’ve learned all I can from you Twilight, and It’s about time I go and find the elements of life.”
“Oh, right, guess we kinda forgot about that.” Applejack hung her head.
“Awwe, but we don’t want you to go.” Pinkie whined.
Charles took them all in a hug. “I know you don’t want me to go, I don’t want to go either, but this is something I have to do, besides, once this whole mess is over and done with, we’ll have our whole lives ahead of us as a herd.”
Rarity started. “Well, if you have to go, couldn’t we at least get married on the first day of spring, after winter wrap up, please.” She looked at Charles with saucer sized eyes.
“Rarity, I don’t know if…”
Charles was cut off as all the mares in his arms gave him the same look, he was completely and utterly helpless. “Ugh, fine, I guess I can wait until Spring comes around, but after that, I have to go.”
The mares all smiled at him. Night light came forward. “So then its settled, we’ll have the wedding the day after winter wrap up.”
“YAHOO, A WEDDING ON THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING!” Pinkie cheered.
Charles then asked. “So, who are we going to get for our wedding planner?”
“I can do it, I am very organized after all.” Twilight offered.
“Really, you want to be the wedding planner for your own wedding?” Charles asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Of course, why not?”
“Well, ok then, so who are we going to get to plan the party?”
Pinkie spoke up. “Uh, DUH!” She said as she pointed to herself with a smile.
“I should have known.” Charles said with a head shake.
“Of course, who else to plan a wedding party than some pony who’s specialty is planning parties?!” Pinkie cheered again. “And don’t worry, I’ll make sure to coordinate everything so it’s to every ponies liking. I’m of course referring to you three.” She pointed to Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack.
“OOH, and I could design the wedding dresses.” Rarity perked up.
“And I can take care of the catering.” Applejack offered.
Charles was smiling big. “Well then, I guess the wedding is well taken care of. We’re going to have one fine spring day wedding.”
Out of nowhere, Spike belches out a letter. “Twilight, we got a letter from Celestia.” Every pony turns their attention to Spike as he reads it out loud.
My dearest student Twilight, I do hope I am not interupteing your holiday, but something urgent has come up, I need you, the other elements of harmony, and Charels to come to Canterlot right away, please come as soon as you can.
Princess Celestia.
Twilight was the first to comment. “Gosh, I wonder what could be wrong, we’d better get going. Come on girls, and Charles, let’s go.”
Earth, undisclosed location:
“Keith, are you sure about this?”
“Marie, we have to do this, this could be our only chance, we have to take it.”
“Your right, we have to get him back, I just wish we never made that agreement all those years ago.”
“Don’t worry Marie, we’ll do whatever it takes to get him back, I promise.”
“Do you really think he’ll come back to us after what we did to him?”
“I……I don’t know, but we have to at least try.”