//------------------------------//
// The Talk of the Town 
// Story: Across the Otherverse 
// by Thiocyanate 
//------------------------------//

        The five ponies that Twilight left unconscious in the meadow were still there when she got back, almost none of them stirred from the comforting soft grass and warm sunlight that made a makeshift bedding. Twilight decided on trying to wake up Fluttershy first, she would probably handle the sight of Jonas much more appropriately than the others. Twilight then decided it would be a good idea to have Jonas pretend he was unconscious off to the side of the ponies, it would not only make Fluttershy more sympathetic, but also lesson her fear of him if he acted friendly and grateful for her aid. Jonas, laughed at the idea but agreed, he was convincing, sprawled out in such a way that it looked like he collapsed involuntarily.

Twilight softly nudged Fluttershy, and urged her to get up. The small yellow mare gave out a startled squeak at being suddenly woken out of such a peaceful slumber. Before she could notice Jonas, Fluttershy erupted into questions about where they were and what happened to the hole and why everyone was out cold.

"I'll answer later when everypony's awake, I'm sure I'd have to answer the same questions over and over aga-" Fluttershy quickly interrupted Twilight and ran over to Jonas as Twilight hopes she would.

"Oh dear... Twilight, what is this creature? I've never seen anything like it before..."

Jonas let out a small disgruntled moan as he rolled over slightly to allow the pegasus a better look at him.

'He is certainly a good actor.' Twilight thought to herself as she began to smile inwardly. 

"Don't you worry, whatever you are, we will keep you nice and safe from..." Fluttershy's voice cut off as she remembered her predicament in the unfamiliar environment, the thought of which nearly petrified her with fear. Her voice managed to squeak just a little before cutting off, "Wherever we are..."


With Fluttershy looming over the creature in her caring way, it would be much easier for the rest of the ponies to accept that the creature meant no harm and, hopefully, keep panic to a minimum.

Soon, Pinkie Pie and Rarity roused from their nap and then Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Each of them gave a curious look at the brand new plant life and scenery before them. Each of them then gave the same curious look to the creature that had still occupied Fluttershy's attention. But now that Twilight could explain everything to everypony, she wouldn't hesitate to share her limited knowledge of the situation.

"...And that's when I came across Jonas here" Twilight finished explaining, giving a cue for Jonas to get up, which he followed perfectly, although trying to act hurt so as to not frighten the timid yellow mare looming over him.

"Everypony, meet Jonas, I'm not exactly sure what he is..." admitted Twilight in a sort of embarrassed manner.

Still trying to get over the fact that he stumbled upon a group of talking, colorful, magical ponies, Jonas simply leaned back and said, "I'm a human, and here on this planet, humanoids, which consist of elves and dark elves too, have the domain over the planet. If you are unsure of who is what, sometimes it is hard to tell an elf from a human, don't worry, most other humans look just like me, well... Minus the red arm, that's sorta rare."

Twilight shared the same dumbfounded look as the others.

She stepped back in again, "Jonas here has allowed to take us back to his home town to give us some shelter and hopefully find some way out of this mess. If there is any reason you girls disagree, let us know now."

Applejack stepped up to speak first "Now Twi, ah know your heart is in the right place with this one, but when my first impression of a guy is, look how well he cuts down goblins using just a stick, ah tend to steer clear. What's t' stop him from doing the same t' us?"

Twilight recognized the point Applejack was trying to make, but had to object, "Applejack, there just aren't alot of options for us right now, we had been taken to someplace unfamiliar and he is the only person we have found so far that isn't part of a pack of mindless goblins." Twilight tried her to best to sound supportive, but knew that Applejack was onto something with her argument.

"Ah don't know Twi... Ah just want the safety of the group, but you seem t' know what's going on so ah'll just leave it up to you."

"I actually kinda like this... Human... He certainly doesn't feel like a bad character... And plus, he's hurt... He needs our attention." defended Fluttershy in her usual quiet voice.

"Actually..." Jonas chimed in, "I wasn't actually hurt, we sorta planned that out so you wouldn't be afraid of me. N-not that you guys should!" extra emphasis was placed on should, "Just that you guys are in a pretty rough situation and that's happened to me on more than one occasion, I really wanted to make sure you guys wouldn't scare off."

Twilight gave him a sharp glare for revealing that he tricked the group.

"Oh..." Fluttershy let out a small disappointed sigh. "Well, I still want to know a little more about him... That is if everypony else is ok with going."

"I personally enjoy the idea of being escorted around by such a gentlecolt." Said Rarity in her ever present aristocratic voice.

The thought of being called a colt put an odd look on Jonas' face, he wasn't ready to be referred to in such a manner, but like most other things, he quickly shrugged it off to the fact that there were 6 talking, colorful, magical, ponies in front of him.

Each pony eventually got their say in on the subject and minor arguments continued for a short time, nothing more severe than "Just think about what you are saying Rainbow." and "You couldn't possibly think that anybody who dresses like THAT would be capable of hurting someone innocent." It was decided, they would head back to Elvenguard with Jonas before it got too late out, which would had to have been soon, the sun was just starting to set over the tips of the break in the trees. Nopony was really aware of what time that meant it was, probably around four.

The forest seemed to be cut out clearly with pathways for the ponies to go, there were also little glowing archways that helped light the pathways to more note-worthy parts of the forest, including one with a decrepit sign that lead into a cave with the words, "By the order of the Royal Myre guards, no person is allowed past this point."

It had taken them all of 20 minutes from where they had started originally, which made them feel silly for spending almost the same amount of time debating over it, to reach yet another break in the trees. This time, the trees gave way to what looked like a cobblestone pathway. followed up by a few flags that held an insignia that Twilight was curious about.

"It's the insignia of the Belle Myre Principality, and for most of us, a much needed welcome home sign." Jonas explained.

The pathway had lead to a small village with a few huts lying around, the huts were simply nothing more than what they sounded like, small tents and a few cabins, nothing really too extravagant to be referred to as anything more than just a hut. Tall trees adorned the surrounding area, the trees in the forest had been tall but not like this, which provided the area with a very beautiful glow as light penetrated random spots in the branches. In the far distance their had appeared to be a lake, it couldn't technically be considered far, but from the ponies' low view point it looked alot farther than what it was. In the far end of the town, a tree with a huge trunk had been carved out and made into a residence, this caught the eye of Twilight, who remembered that the only other time she saw a building like that was her own lodging back in ponyville.

Twilight's curiosity got the better of her, "And what building is that?"

"That, my little pony, is the library, of course, we call it Seria's gate. It is where Seria makes her home, creates the clothing, and offers to help those in need."

Almost in unison, the eyes of Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy grew instantaneously as they asked and pleaded for Jonas to take them to her.

Jonas couldn't help but laugh as the three of them became excited, but he had to rope them back in "Now hold up, there are a couple people we need to meet along the way." 

By now, most people came out of their homes or respective places of employment and began to wander the streets and stop and give passing glances to the 6 ponies and Jonas. Jonas was used to people stopping and taking a look at his arm with a moment of uncertainty, he was sure that this must feel somewhat awkward for the ponies as they walked along.

A familiar voice stopped Jonas during his tour, "Well well, I didn't take you to be the guy who would bring back all of the colorful woodland creatures Jonas, I always took you to be the guy who would come back wearing one as a suit! Hahaha-"

The voice had been settled by a slap right across the face. "Richter, shut the hell up, I've been following Jonas into the woods and these things aren't just mindless ponies." The second voice was a woman's voice, sort of deep and commanding.

Rainbow Dash didn't take too well to either comment, but she let the second comment slide and immediately flew into the face of the man behind the first voice, "WHAT THE HAY DID YOU JUST SAY TO M-" her voice stopped and turned into a small squeak as the man she rushed after, Richter, grabbed her and pinned her to the ground with a pistol aimed straight at her head.

"Sweet Empyrian Rose, the bloody pony can not only fly, but it can talk too!" Richter's voice wasn't surprised as much as it was teasing, "Jonas, why didnt you warn me before this little one almost got blown away."

Another Slap rang out as Richter spun around a few times and then fell to the floor, "Because your mouth is as fast as her attitude" The woman shot a look down to Rainbow, who just slinked away. "Now how about we get things cleared up before we move on, I'm Kyria."