//------------------------------// // Friends and Enemies // Story: The Captain of Mining // by Raybony //------------------------------// Sparklez felt a gust of wind hit his face as he rode inside a carriage pulled by two pegasus guards. He looked to his sides to see the other occupants of the carriage. To his left Flash was seated straight as he monitored the skies, trying to keep himself busy as they flew towards Ponyville, according to Celestia. Sparklez felt that the guy was a tad bit too young to be a captain, although he was in the guard, not the military. But then again, maybe the guard was the military for this place. But this guy made him feel relaxed, that he could rely on him if a situation presented itself, plus he reminded him of Ryan To his right was Cinnamon who was sunk into the seat, wearing a frown that could tell anyone that he was not enjoying being where he was now. Sparklez really wasn’t looking forward to being taught by this guy, he clearly didn’t care about anyone else and his combat style seemed way too ruthless. Plus, he was pretty sure he wasn’t going to be able to pull any of those stunts that he had done, it took him months to learn the basics of gymnastics, and he had only done it because he thought it was fun. But this? He wasn’t sure it would work out that well. Sparklez sat in silence for awhile longer, and it was starting to be more than he could bear. “So anyone of you want tell something about yourself?” He asked, although a bit forward, he really wanted a conversation to pass the time. “Pass.” Came the quick reply from Cinnamon as his frown intensified. Luckily Flash was a bit more open. “What would you like to know?” Asked Flash in reply as he looked at Sparklez, wanting to take the chance to know more about the human if he were to watch him. “Nothing serious, just things like where you come from or what you do normally.” Sparklez said as he went to start the conversation. “We weren’t properly introduced back at the palace, names Jo-Sparklez, Captain Sparklez.” Sparklez said as he extended a hand into Flash’s direction. Flash looked at the appendage for a bit before taking hold of it and shaking it. “Flash Sentry, but you already knew that. Also, It’s a castle, not a palace.” Flash took his hoof out of Sparklez’s hand before continuing. “A captain eh? What sort of group of humans do you command under your name?” Flash asked, curious about humans with military rank. “Nah, I’m not a captain of anything. It’s just part of my name is Captain that’s all.” Sparklez said to clear away the misunderstanding. (Yes you command a group Sparklez. We are your trusty crew, the Sparklez crew!) Flash raised an eyebrow at that, looking at the human a bit confused. “Really now? Then what happens if a human with a rank name gets that actual rank? Do they repeat the rank?” Sparklez brought a hand to his chin, thinking about the question before shrugging a response. “Beats me, maybe they just call him by the normal name when not in duty? I don’t know.” “Boy, must be a pain in the flank if you have to file their records.” Flash responded with a small chuckle. Sparklez smiled at the small joke. “Yeah, just imagine. Sir, where should I put Mr. Douglas? On G because of his name General? Or in S because of his sergeant rank?” Sparklez said in a mock voice as he went and exaggerated the joke. “Haha, good one.” Flash said finding the human pleasant to be with. But he had to remember what he was capable of during under certain circumstances. “So how did you end up here in Equestria? The princess briefed me that you don’t come from our world.” Flash Sentry asked wanting to take notes on anything he could use later on. Sparklez was about to respond when the voice of Cinnamon butted in. “Most likely the result of a friends prank or he got pulled in by Discord’s magic.” Cinn stated, adjusting himself on the seat, putting his forehooves behind his head. “Actually, Discord wasn’t responsible for this, but rather his sister. Now why would you suggest he is responsible for this?” Sparklez asked, since he was not yet aware of Discord’s past. “Wait a bucking minute, you mean to tell me that Discord is, good?” Cinnamon asked, as he thought the idea was totally crazy, he thought that god of chaos was nothing but trouble. Flash decided to answer for Sparklez, as he was sure that Sparklez wasn’t familiar with this world's history yet. “That would be correct, he was reformed by the element of kindness a few months ago, and now serves under Celestia...Somewhat.” Flash said, saying the last part with a bit of an unsure tone. Cinn looked at Flash in the eyes for a few seconds before he facehoofed. “Faust damn it. Vinyl’s machine sent me to another dimension in the future! I just hope I don’t meet another version of me in town, if I’m there.” Cinnamon said as he rubbed his head, trying to accept the new information. Both Flash and Sparklez looked a bit confused after what Cinn said. “Ok, that brings a new question. What’s this talk of dimensions?” Sparklez asked remembering he had heard Cinn mention something about it during the brief fight between him and Flash. Cinn groaned a bit before responding. “I’ll tell you another day, or when I feel like it.” Cinn answered before sulking down on his seat again, losing the interest to talk. Sparklez looked towards Flash, who gave him a small shrug, not sure what was that about either. Before anyone could say something else, the voice of one of the guards pulling the cart called out. “Sir, we are approaching Ponyville now.” Flash Sentry nodded towards the guard in acknowledgement as he sat back down. “Thank you Crystal Gust.” Flash looked to Sparklez to address him. “We can continue talking once we arrive.” Sparklez nodded as he looked to the front again, looking at the roofs of the colorful town as they came closer. Witnessing a couple houses that were demolished or foundations being planted on the ground, most likely to make new buildings. Sparklez frowned a bit, remembering when the ghast came and attacked the town. It wasn’t right, he felt that he could have done something to stop the mob from attacking and killing some of the ponies. But what’s more, how did the ghast get out of the nether? As soon as the group arrived, they dismounted the carriage, which Flash immediately motioned for the guards to take off and return to Canterlot. Sparklez saw the carriage leave, he also saw from the corner of his eye that Cinnamon was already walking away from them, which Flash also took notice pretty quick. “Where do you think you’re going?” Flash asked in a serious tone, not wanting to have an inconvenience just as they arrived to the town. “Going to look around the place, check what is here and what isn’t from my dimension.” Cinn responded without looking back at them. “We aren’t to separate until I have checked us into the towns Inn, you are to remain with us until that time, then you may leave to do what you like, within reason.” Flash said sternly, he really didn’t like this pony’s attitude. “Do you want a repeat from earlier?” Cinn asked, stopping to turn his head slightly to look back. “Would it make you happy if I said I’m going to check a friend’s house and then I’ll go straight to the Inn? I know there is only one.” Cinn said smugly since he hated guys who went so much to the book. Flash glared down at the stallion, but knew that it was best not to act on him and cause a scene. So he let out a sigh before agreeing to the terms. “Very well, but you better be in the Inn when we get there.” “Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” Cinn responded before he continued walking, soon disappearing from Flash and Sparklez’s view. They stood in silence for a bit before Flash broke it. “I don’t trust him.” Sparklez looked at the pegasus before looking back to where Cinn disappear to. “Don’t know about that. Rude, yes. Untrustworthy? Maybe not. We still have yet to know him better.” Sparklez said, he didn’t want to just block the pony out like that. “I guess we’ll see.” Flash said before he started trotting towards the town. “But we better go to Ponyville’s hospital. Celestia told me that you would like to see your friends first.” Flash said giving the man a small smile. Sparklez nodded, then he went to walk next to the pegasus guard. Sparklez and Flash walked along the streets of the town, but started noticing the looks that the ponies on the streets were giving Sparklez, fear. “Strange, I heard that this place was more vivid and friendly. This feels a bit gloomy.” Flash said as he continued walking. Sparklez looked around seeing some of the residents of the town look at him for a brief second before turning away. Sparklez didn’t like that look, he remembered how the town was very joyous with the residents always having a smile on their face. Even when he first got here the most he got was weird looks. So this new scenario felt wrong. As he and Flash kept walking, Sparklez saw the faces of the ponies, ranging from fear, uncertainty and even a few of anger. He was feeling more and more worried about what had happened the other night, but was brought back to reality when looked back in front of him. In front of him stood a wide two story building that had a more modern design to what Sparklez was used to, but still had a victorian style. On the front and a bit to the side stood a plaque with a red cross as well as small letters that read ‘Ponyville’s General Hospital’. Sparklez stood looking at the building for so long that he didn’t notice that Flash was already by the door until he had to call him. “Hey, are you coming or what?” Sparklez looked at the stallion in slight surprise, but soon started going towards the building. When Sparklez came through the door, he noticed that there was quite some activity inside. Pushing through, the man came into the waiting space for the hospital, seeing multiple doctors and nurses were going at a quick pace, clearly showing that the building was at its busiest. But soon all activity started to cease as some of the ponies noticed the man, some even backing away slightly as if they were in the presence of a beast. Sparklez felt really uncomfortable, but dared not to move in the off chance that he would make the situation even worse. In the time the stare down took place, Flash had walked towards the receptionist, bringing the attention of the white pony that was attending it. “Good day miss. We’re here to see Princess Twilight’s personal assistant.” Flash stated, ignoring the pressure around the room, giving the mare a small smile. The mare looked at Flash, then to Sparklez, gulping silently as she looked through the files in her desk. “Room number is 103, down that corridor.” The mare said as she pointed with her hoof down one of the aisles. “Thank you ma’am.” Flash said as he turned to the man, signaling him to follow. Sparklez did so and went after the pegasus guard, trying to ignore the scared looks from the other ponies. They walked down the corridor as they passed the other patient’s doors, Sparklez still feeling totally worried about what had happened the other day. Soon, they had arrived at the room, and Sparklez was even more worried than ever at what he may find in there. But that was replaced when he heard a voice coming from the other side. “And then he looked even more angry once he got sent back to the tree. He started cursing about how he would get that shark, and that he wouldn’t rest until he did.” The voice said, and Sparklez had never heard this voice before, so he was sure it wasn’t anyone he knew. “And let me guess, Sparklez got his butt kicked again?” Came the familiar voice of a prismatic mare that Sparklez knew all too well. “Oh you bet girl.” The voice said again, followed by a few small laughs. Sparklez frowned a bit, now aware that he was the centre of conversation, and he would stop it before it got too out of hand. Pushing the door open, Sparklez looked into the green sterile room, which was being occupied at the moment by the large group of ponies, that were the girls, plus the animal companion of Sparklez, Kerry, plus a bedridden Spike who seemed to have been in a serious accident. As soon as Sparklez had opened the door, all attention was drawn to him, which soon followed by a large burst of greetings. “Sparklez!” They all exclaimed at the same time, followed by a pink blur that launched itself at the man. “Yay! Sparky is back!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed hanging from the neck of the man. Making Sparklez have to hold her with his arms, he would have been dragged to the floor if he didnt. “The whole party is back!” Sparklez gave a chuckle, letting Pinkie rub her face against his cheek, her antics have yet to stop being enjoyable. “Good to see you too Pinkie.” Sparklez said, trying to let go of the mare, which only made her hold on tighter. “Pinkie, I think he would prefer if you didn’t crush his neck with hugs.” Twilight stated as she went next to the mare, resting a hoof over her shoulder in attempts to calm her excitement. “OK.” Pinkie said, letting go immediately. Sparklez tumbled slightly since he didn’t expect the sudden release. “Well, good to see the shark bait wasn’t going to be gone forever.” Rainbow said, walking next to the man, then rested an arm over his shoulder. Sparklez looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Shark bait? Where did you get that?” Sparklez asked, recalling what he heard a minute ago. “That would be yer little partner, who’s had a fair share of adventures with ya as Ah hear.” Applejack said, giving a smirk to Sparklez. “Who?” Sparklez asked, before feeling a small object land on his head. Prompting Sparklez to try and look at his hair from his position, which resulted in him meeting a pair of green bat eyes. “Hey there big guy.” Gary said, he soon jumped off the man’s head and flew to land on his shoulder, gripping his clothes with his tiny claws. “Been a long time huh?” Blinking, Sparklez tried to work on his quick memory for his videos for the identity of the bat. “Wait. Is that you Gary?” “The one and only.” Gary said as he gave a toothy smile. “Ya have no idea, how long ah had to travel with this knuckle-head to find you.” Sparklez just looked confused at the bat, he wasn’t aware of the events of the other night yet. Twilight soon interrupted, as she noticed the look of Sparklez. “It’s a long story. But tell us, how do you feel Sparklez?” Twilight asked, wanting to drift the conversation somewhere else. Sparklez looked at her before responding with a small frown. “I’m fine, but what I would like to know,” He said as he came to the end of the bed that Spike was using, looking a bit saddened by what he saw “is how are ‘you’re’ doing buddy.” Spike looked at his casted arm with a small grim look. “Not too bad I guess, the doctors said I was a lot worse yesterday.” Spike said, remembering some of the details that the doctors had said about him. “He suffered multiple broken bones from what the doctors showed us, and they even said that it could take months to get proper equipment in hopes to bypass Spike’s new, status.” Twilight said,  trying to get the mental images of what it could have been. “Funny enough, when they went to check on Spike, they discovered him awake, although in pain. This was very strange to them, they knew that Dragons can’t regenerate wounds of that magnitude by themselves. Which made them go and check his bones again to discover that most of them were now fractures.” Twilight said, finding the odd occurance very intriguing, even if it was in account of her friend’s misfortune. “Hmm, seems that the healing ability of Minecraft is passed on here as well.” Sparklez said as he scratched his chin thought, just before something that Twilight said crossed his mind. “Wait a minute, if Spike is immune to magic, how did the doctors found out about the bones?” “Oh silly Sparky, they used an x-ray machine. What else did you think they had?” Pinkie asked with a smile on her face, like the whole thing was obvious. “Wait, wait, wait, wait. You have x-ray machines!?” Sparkle asked suddenly, since he didn’t think the ponies had any advanced technology, seeing that they still relied on chariots, swords and the various victorian style houses. “Well of course, this is an earth pony town, so they don’t rely purely on magic to do stuff here. Although they do try to keep their traditional ways that has been used for the past two millennia, according to historical records.” Twilight answered as she brought a hoof to her chin in thought. “Ugh, when did this become a lecture? This is boring.” Rainbow groaned as she rested herself against the wall, crossing her arms in mild annoyance. Gary could be seen sleeping on her head, he had fallen asleep for some reason. (Probably boredom) Ignoring Rainbow’s comment, Twilight looked at the man confused at the weird question. “Oh, no real reason, just curious.” Sparklez said with a dismissive wave, although he thought on what Twilight had said. ‘Had X-rays for nearly two thousand years, and still have a very old fashioned society. Either magic is the main technology here, or advancement is pretty unappreciated.’ A knock from the door brought the attention of everyone as they saw Flash Sentry in a very straight posture. “Pardon the interruption, but myself and the human Sparklez still required to get accommodated within the town, and it would be best if we were to depart soon.” Flash stated as he took a more professional behavior around the others, opposed to what Sparklez had seen on the trip from Canterlot. “Oh Flash Sentry, didn’t see you there.” Twilight said as she smiled at the stallion. “It is quite alright Princess, it was my fault for not announcing myself earlier.” Flash Sentry responded with the same tone as before, not breaking code when addressing royalty, the only exception was when he bumped into her during his off duty time, as he had ended his day shift as a guard, so the conduct code wasn’t a priority in his mind in that moment. While the guard and Princess spoke to each other, Sparklez noticed that Rarity was murmuring something to Applejack, both of them sporting a grin, as if something was funny at that very moment in the room. “Mr. Sparklez,” Flash said as he addressed the human, who then turned his attention to him. “We should really get going, you will be allowed to visit your friends in the morning, before we start training in the afternoon.” “Trainin’? Not to be rude or anythin’ partner, but pony guard training ain’t gonna cut for what Sparklez has told us he needs to do.” Applejack said as he gave a confused and curious look at the stallion. “He isn’t, we found a pony that should help me learn a bit of combat. I think you’ve met him, at least from what Celestia told me.” Sparklez answered, putting his hands in his pockets, feeling the energy that was a mere wooden sword and some wood, but the material not becoming solid. At that, Twilight and Kerry both stared at Sparklez with shock and confusion. “Wait, you mean to tell me that crazy stallion is who Celestia was looking for!?” Twilight asked, not believing that such rude, aggressive and totally irritating stallion could be their only choice at better fighting the monster from Sparklez’s world. “Notch save us all.” Kerry said, putting a paw to her face, shaking her head slightly as she imagined how this could all turn out. “I, guess so. I take it you didn’t have a good first impression with him either.” Sparklez said as he eyed the guard pony, who was slightly frowning at the memory, but tried not to show it. “You have no idea, Luna was nearly tempted to send him to her moon. I swear, some ponies just don’t know when to not cross the line.” Twilight said, remembering the events a few nights ago. “Which makes the need to check into the inn more urgent. We need to confirm that he is there and hasn’t done anything to disturb the peace here.” Flash said as he started to exit the room, trying to avoid wasting more time and letting the violent stallion to roam free too long. Sparklez turned to look at the rest of his friends, then gave a worried look. “Are you gonna be alright without me?” Sparklez asked, more to the fact that only him and Rainbow could handle the strange things that now threatened the town and the land. “We will be fine dude, it’s gonna take a lot more than a few pesky monsters to bring us down, plus, I have this.” Rainbow said, making her harmony stone come to her hand then it expanded into her lighting shaped sword. “Heh, just don’t start getting into trouble. That’s my job.” Sparklez said, which elected a few chuckles before he waved his goodbyes, then followed after Flash Sentry to the inn where he would be staying for some time. Meanwhile, in another part of town, Cinnamon could be seen walking through the streets of the town looking around with a weary eye. He then messed with a metal bracelet that he had strapped to his right fore hoof. “‘Test out the dimensional jumper’ She said, ‘It will be fun’ she said, ‘What could possibly go wrong?’ Ugh, last time I let Vinyl convince me to be her guinea pig.” Cinnamon said as he searched for the house that he was looking for. “No, it wasn’t because I believed her. It was because I knew she would try to convince Octy next, seeing as Enigma said no from the start.” The stallion said to no one, like if he had an invisible entity following him. “Look, I’m just going to find this dimension's Vinyl and hope she can help me. If not, it rests on the others back home to find me.” He said this as he hit the bracelet with his hoof, making a metallic clink as he hit it. “Stupid transponder, had to break.” “No, I didn’t break it. I tried everything to turn it on. So stop telling me what to do.” Cinnamon growled the last part, showing his irritation. The stallion seemed to continue with his self conversation when he spotted the house he was looking for. Trotting at a more quicker pace, he went to knock on the door when he noticed a small poster stabbed to the woodwork. “What!? She went for a gig in Manehattan!? Ugh, worst luck in my life.” Giving a sigh, he turned around and went to go back to the inn he was told to go to afterwards. “Guess we are gonna have to try in a few weeks.” Cinnamon walked down the streets, a small look of defeat on his face since he couldn’t get what he wanted at the moment. Unbeknownst to him, a trio of silhouettes hid within a dark alley, watching the stallion leave the house. “You sure this is the guy that Paw mentioned to us?” One of the shadows spoke as it turned to it’s companion in the dark. “Positive, she did tell us that he would be related to that human that is in town.” Came the reply from the hidden individual, as he kept his gaze on the pony. “Whatever dude, but I still think we should have attacked him here, didn’t seem much of a threat to me.” Came the voice from the final member of the group, sounding as if she was taking the whole thing as boring. “Looks can be deceiving, Paw told us to get this target for a reason, and if possible, get rid of the human in the process.” Came the voice of the first individual, sounding a bit more stern than before. “Agreed, and you heard what they said back at the castle. He is going to train the human, so we can use that moment to attack them by surprise.” Responded the second voice “Heh, well the sooner the better. Can’t wait to use my toys on them.” The third voice said as small lines of blue neon light up in the dark corridor, showing the body shape of a bipedal creature. “You will get your fun soon Vi, but we have to be patient right now.” Came the second voice, as he turned around to go deeper into the alley, disappearing into the shadows even further. “Still, they will be fun to mess with, don’t you think Octy?” Octavia gave a small sigh as she responded. “I swear Vinyl, even now you are as childish as ever in this matters.” Octavia said as she turned around and followed the other individual, disappearing as well. “You can never have some fun like E huh?” Vinyl gave a small chuckle before heading towards the shadows as well, anticipating what would happen tomorrow, where fun would be guaranteed for them.