I'm sorry, Father. I have failed you.
"Failed? Stop talking trash and wake up!"
The stallion's eyelids fluttered and he peered through them into the semi-dark room. Above him was a scaly green face full of concern.
"I told you we should have taken a train," the face said.
The stallion smiled. "No, we should not have."
The dragon nodded. "Good. It's you."
Sitting up, the unicorn asked, "What's with the verbal test? Didn't you know it was me? Please explain how it helps to ask about the stupid train."
The dragon crossed his arms. "No, I didn't know it was you. In fact, I was worried you were a manifestation. Anyone else BUT you would have immediately agreed with me about the train, no questions asked."
"Good point." The black stallion rose up out of his bed and stepped onto the floor. He took a minute to examine their surroundings and his own body. "Where are we?"
"Ponyville Hospital, according to my blank I.D. bracelet," the dragon called over from a table at the other end of the ward. "Twilight and Spike must've brought us over here after we blacked out at the crater."
"That was kind of them." 613 made his way to the window and looked out upon the city in the night. "I want to be outside."
The dragon walked over to him, saying "I don't think we're supposed to be out of bed."
"What makes you think that?" 613 asked, looking around the room. There was a table beside their beds with a bowl of fruit. The walls were covered with patterns and colors, there was a clock on one of them and a hook on another.... Wait, a hook? Looking closer, he discovered that the 'hook' was actually an alarm of sorts, probably set to go off when the ward's inhabitants made an attempt to leave. "I see what you mean. That alarm is going to get us caught if we try to leave."
"Alarm? What alarm?" the dragon appeared at his side, holding a piece of paper. "I was talking about the medical information the doctor pulled out of us. Can you believe it? He thinks I'm diagnosed with ADHD!"
"He's not too far off."
"That's beside the point! How could he come up with such a stupid theory if I wasn't even awake?"
613 facehoofed. This dragon was certainly his friend. Only Avi would act so agitated. "So, back to the alarm: what do we do?"
"Well, duh." Not bothering to explain, Avi marched over to the wall the alarm was on. He looked up at it, noting the good four-and-a-half feet between himself and the device. He unfurled his wings, each one as long as he was tall, and leapt into the air, his wings holding him aloft with the alarm at eye-level. He took a deep breath a breathed a short stream of fire on to the buzzer, melting the plastic and effectively disabling it.
He lowered himself down beside his pony friend. "There we go. Now, lets get out of here." He rushed over to the window and opened it, poking his head out for a look around. "Come on, let go!"
613 gave the room another look-over, making sure he didn't miss anything important, before joining Avi at the window. They were in a ward on the ground floor so they didn't have to jump an extra 10 feet, which would have been the case had they been placed on the second floor. They leapt from the window and out into the night air of Ponyville.
613 started walking, without an exact destination, forcing Avi to follow him. "Come on," he said to his scaly friend, "We need a plan, an idea of somewhere to go."
Avi scratched his dragon head. "We don't know the area. Lets go to the crater. Maybe there's still something there."
613 nodded and the two friends began looking for the hole they had made hours before. After a while they found it, sliding down the sides to check it out.
Avi ran his claw over the smooth crater wall. "Pure iridium. This could make someone here rich."
"I think it's 'somepony'," the unicorn corrected, picking up the cloak that he had left earlier and draping it over his back.
"Oh, that's very funny. What are you looking for?"
613 raised his head from his search. "Where's my satchel?" He was referring to the bag that he carried around with him everywhere. It contained a variety of items he often found himself in need of, and had the habit of hiding it in a trans-dimensional hole when he needed the use of both his hands. Apparently, it had disappeared when the meteor crashed.
"Hmm, where indeed?" Avi mused, glancing left and right. All at once, an idea came to him. He crouched down on the crater floor and began running his claws along the smooth surface. Every now and then he'd stop and breath a small flame onto the spot he picked, melting the iridium and revealing the soil beneath. He repeated this process several times before finally striking gold. Or to be more precise, cloth.
Lying at the bottom of the hole he had burned out wasn't 613's satchel, though. The bag Avi had found was divided into two separate units, joined together by a set of straps. The bags were fastened shut with clasps in the shape of the black stallion's cutie mark: a blue six-pointed star.
"What are these?" Avi asked his 613, gesturing towards his find.
The prophet pony bent down and pulled the bags out with his teeth. He laid them on the ground and opened it up. Inside were two sets of small black leather boxes, each set wrapped inside a white shawl. There was also a deck of blue-and-black cards.
"Hey, my deck reappeared after all!" Avi bent down and pulled out the deck, quickly going through the cards. "Nope, still blank."
613 held up one of the boxes and unwrapped the leather straps around it, checking its length. "Looks like my satchel turned into a saddlebag for my own convenience." After he put the box back, he took the saddlebags and slung them over his back under his cloak, reworking his balance. "Nice. I like it." Turning to his friend, he asked, "What should we do now?"
Avi sniffed and then stuck out his tongue. "Away from here. The smell is starting to get to me.
*
The two friends wandered through Ponyville, discussing the events of earlier.
"It seems that Twilight's magic influenced your power over the healing spell and forced us to transform," Avi pointed out.
"That still doesn't explain why the manifestation was so informative. Why would he spill the beans on his allies?"
"Who knows? And less importantly, who cares? Maybe they're getting soft and they're starting to rebel. Whatever the case is, we need help."
"No help from the outside," 613 reminded. "The TDST closed behind us, giving only enough time for those who were intent on following us to get through."
Avi slammed a fist into his open claw. "Then we're going to have to learn what we can do. You're a unicorn, try using magic."
613 shrugged and then started to focus. A bright blue aura shimmered around his horn and a rock to his left flew into the air, also wrapped in a blue aura. He held the rock in the air for a minute before slowly letting it down. "It's not so different from my normal powers," he noted.
Avi nodded while biting into a large green apple. "Good work, 613."
Staring at his friend, 613 asked, "Where did you get that?"
"From the fruit bowl at the Hospital, duh." Avi tossed a second apple over to 613, who caught it in a magic aura and took a bite.
"This is really good, but we're getting off topic." A spark leapt off of 613's horn. He watched it fizzle out before continuing. "We are currently in an alternate world with limited resources and no contacts."
"Yeah, that's what you told me Gabriel said. Did he say anything else?"
"The usual: no help from the celestial brigade and advising us to change our names. Speaking of which, what are we going to call ourselves now?"
The dragon looked at him and grinned, showing off his sharp fangs. "We'll think of something."
"Good. Now that that's settled, who do we turn to for assistance?"
*
"I just can't help but worry about 613. He probably doesn't even know what happened to Avi and himself."
Spike sighed wistfully. Twilight wasn't the only one who was concerned about the new arrivals' well-being. Thoughts of the two humans and green dragon filled his mind, leaving him with an empty feeling.
"There's nothing more we can do," he told Twilight. "The doctor said we can only wait and hope that they'll get better."
"I know, Spike, but I'm not sure if waiting's going to help them. I just wish—"
Knock! Knock! Knock! Someone was at the library door, hammering at it in a wild frenzy. Twilight walked over and opened it, finding none other than Doctor Stable on the doorstep. He looked worried.
"What happened, doctor,?" Twilight asked, trying to keep calm.
"Miss Sparkle, it's awful. They've disappeared!"
"What?" gasped Twilight. "What do you mean they disappeared?"
"Well, the nurse went into the ward about fifteen minutes ago and found their beds empty and the window open. They must have melted the alarm which we use, in case a slightly dangerous patient tries to leave."
Ignoring the 'slightly dangerous' comment, Twilight continued to question the doctor." Have you done anything to try and find them?"
"We have nearly our entire staff out in Ponyville, including most of our security ponies. We've been searching ever since we've found out they'd gone."
"Thank you, doctor. If you find them, please let me know."
"I will. Goodnight." The doctor left the library, leaving a cold air behind.
"So now what?" Spike asked, his eyes betraying his fear.
"We can't really do anything but wait. We don't know where they've gone." Suddenly, Twilight's horn began to shine, casting its shimmering glow on the bookshelves.
"What's going on?" Twilight spluttered. She certainly didn't cast any spell, but her horn was clearly being affected by magic. All at once, she found herself being dragged towards the door by her horn. She tried to stop, but ended up colliding with the door, her face getting flattened dramatically. Spike quickly opened it and Twilight went flying out of the library. She dug her hooves into the ground, attempting to slow down and stop, but only managed to make furrows in the earth. Spike ran after Twilight, shutting the library door behind him, trying to keep up with the out-of-control mare. She bucked and struggled with all her might but no matter what she did she couldn't slow herself down.
Finally she stopped at the foot of a cliff. Her horn stopped glowing and Twilight looked up at the bluff above her head. The full moon hung at the peak, almost as if it were attracted to it. In the light of the moon, at the very top of the cliff, stood a figure shrouded in black.
Spike caught up and, gasping for breath, pointed up. "Who's that?"
"I don't know Spike; whoever it is, they're wearing a cloak."
"Maybe we should just go up there and see if we can spot those guys we found earlier." Spike was just about to start climbing when something slammed down in front of him, frightening the young dragon and forcing him backwards, where he crashed into Twilight. Twilight quickly turned towards the figure, squinting through the darkness. Standing in front of them was none other than the green dragon.
The dragon breathed a glowing ember into an open claw, casting a warm soft light on the surrounding area. "Come with me," he said, waving the two over.
Twilight and Spike exchanged looks. They had discussed the possibility of the green dragon being Avi, but had very little evidence to prove it. But considering everything that's been going on, Twilight figured that even though it might be risky, they could use a lead.
The green dragon began to walk up the path that lead to the peak, Twilight and Spike following behind him. Twilight decided to try to talk to their guide, even though it was a long shot, "Excuse me, but where are you leading us to?"
The dragon stopped and slowly turned around, a smile on his scaly face. "You were looking for us, weren't you?"
Spike beamed when he heard this. "Yes we were," he said, and then added, "How are you feeling?"
"Just fine. I owe you my life, Spike. Without that ember I may not have made it through the night. Giving me a piece of your firepower with barely a second thought shows your willingness to trust another dragon. Yes Twilight?" he added when he noticed the purple mare's patient look.
"Would you mind telling us your name?" she asked.
"Before, my name was Avraham," the dragon said, giving Twilight the necessary information to answer her other questions. "But now, you can call me Fang."
"Cool," Spike said, hurrying forwards so he could walk beside the taller dragon.
"I've had to change my name a lot of times before," Fang continued. "Me and my buddy, we would take on so many different forms that sometimes we'd just stick with a separate form and keep it for longer than we had to."
"You must be pretty powerful to sustain transformations for so long," Twilight said.
"Yes, those were the days." Fang sighed. "Oh well, no use crying over spilt milk. 'Whatever Works', as our friends would say."
They continued to climb up to the top of the cliff in silence, Twilight and Spike thinking about the encounter they would have at the peak. When they arrived at the top, the figure on it came into view. It was the black unicorn stallion from the crater, wearing 613's obsidian cloak. He was looking down at Ponyville, watching small glowing lights run around the town.
"Looks like the Hospital ponies are still on our tails," he said calmly. "You'd think we did something wrong."
"Yeah right," Fang scoffed. "The only thing we may have done wrong was take apples out of a fruit bowl."
The stallion turned around to face the three behind him. His bright blue eyes were filled with wonder and amazement, as if they couldn't believe what they saw. "But it looks like the credit of finding us goes to you two."
Fang, still holding the warm ember, walked over and stood by the stallion's side. "As always, he finds himself looking at the problems, and then goes on to ignoring them at our own peril."
Nudging the green dragon playfully, the black pony continued. "Enough of this fruitless talk. I think reintroductions are in order. After all, I'm not exactly the same as I was before."
"Fang mentioned you've done shape-shifting before," Twilight said, "and changed your names as well."
"True enough, if not lacking in details," he replied, shooting a disappointing look at Fang, who merely shrugged. "I was indeed 613, but now you should call me by my new name, Spirit Guide."
"Spirit Guide?" Spike said, scrunching his nose. "How did you even come up with that?"
"I'll tell you," Spirit replied. "About a year ago, I was in mourning for my parents and siblings who were killed in a terrorist attack."
Twilight gasped in horror. Spike looked like he was done hearing the story. Spirit paused for a moment and then continued. "I have a tradition of staying at home during the first week of mourning. When the week was over, He who created the universes as we know them gave me a mission: to protect his nation and lead them to redemption. He also granted me my wish: to create a world where beings of every kind can live together in peace and harmony."
Twilight was in awe. "So much I don't understand. It's amazing."
Spirit nodded. "That's how me and Fang got into the habit of visiting other worlds and befriending the people—or ponies, as it were—who lived there and offering them a place in the alternate dimension me and Fang created."
"You created an alternate dimension?" To a knowledgeable and studious pony like Twilight, this seemed impossible. "Do you know how much energy is required to do that?"
"Yes we do," Fang chimed in. "We had to take a break because somepony fell unconscious for a few days."
Spike's eyes went wide. "Really?"
Rubbing the back of his head, Spirit answered, "Yeah, but it was worth it. After I woke up, I found myself in the most beautiful place I could imagine."
"Which is funny," added Fang, "because we did imagine it. Literally created with imagination."
"I'd like to see that place one day," Twilight said wistfully.
"I'd like everypony here to see it," Spirit said. "But until I can figure out how to open the Time-Dimension-Space-Tunnel, me and Fang are stuck here."
"Well, why don't you come over to the library so we can work some thing out?"
Now it was Spirit and Fang who exchanged looks. Being invited into the house of a magical creature and her talking dragon friend who they'd only met tonight? The answer was obvious and the two friends said it together.
"Sure. Thanks."
Beaming, Twilight and Spike led their new friends down the cliff and towards the library, stopping only when they bumped into Doctor Stable and the hospital staff. After Spirit and Twilight explained what had happened, the doctor and his team left and the two unicorns and their dragon friends made their way to Twilight's and Spike's home.
Spirit and Fang stared at the tree-house library in admiration. "You actually live here?" Fang asked.
"Yep," answered Spike, "Ever since we came to Ponyville."
Fang gave a crazy grin. "Wicked."
"Come on in," Twilight beckoned, opening the door. The interior of the library was well lit, books littered the floor as well as the table. A fresh sheet of parchment lay on a raised desk, several sets of quills and ink bottles sitting beside it. The whole place felt cozy and snug.
"Wow," exclaimed Fang. "You've got quite a thing going on in here."
Spike frowned. "The only thing that usually goes on down here is reading and writing."
"Awesome!" Fang leapt into the air, snagged a book off the highest shelf, landed on the floor with barely a bump and started reading.
"I'm glad someone here likes books besides me," Twilight said happily.
"Fang tries to do as much as he can whenever he's not doing anything else," Spirit explained. "He just won't sit still."
The two unicorns walked over to the table and sat down. Spike came over with four cups of water and seated himself beside Twilight. "So," she began. "The two of you came to Equestria in a meteor from another dimension?"
"That's right," Spirit said. "We were trying to decide the best way to get here, although all Fang wanted was to take a train." He stopped for a minute because the residents of the library were trying to hold back their laughter. Spirit glared at the green dragon while Twilight and Spike burst out laughing. "I told you they'd find that funny!"
Fang looked up from his book and shrugged. "Whatever. We still should have taken a train."
Shaking his head, Spirit returned his attention to Twilight. "Don't get me wrong, I did have enough power to be able to enchant a train engine to the point where it could travel through dimensions. It just seemed really, really unnecessary."
"Tell me more about the dimension you came from," Twilight begged. "The one you created."
"It's a beautiful place. Grassy plains as far as the eye can see, all centered around a single body of freshwater contained inside a huge space surrounded by cliffs. The drop from the top to the water below is about 100 feet, and then it's about another 250 feet to the seafloor, but the water is so clear you can see for miles in every direction. We have an establishment inside the cliff, after me and Fang dug out the whole place, and every friend we made was given a room to stay in. There is also a second group on the opposite cliff." At this, Spirit made a scary face, dropping his eyebrows over his eyes which narrowed dangerously and stretching his smile in a most unpleasant way.
Spike shuddered. "What kind of things live there?"
"I'll tell you another time," Spirit promised, returning his face to its former, pleasant state.
"Wow, you've done some amazing things," Twilight said in awe, "If you really did all that."
"One day, Twilight, you will see the Fictional Republic in person."
Fang got up from his spot by the bookshelf, put his book away and walked over to the table. "It's kind of late. We should get some sleep."
Spirit nodded, then realized something. "We were so busy trying to find our way around that we didn't even bother considering where we're going to stay while we're here."
"You can stay in the library with us," Twilight said. "There's a spare bed upstairs and I've got a basket that Fang might like."
"That sounds great," Fang said happily. "What say you, Spirit?"
The black pony looked at Twilight, Spike and then at Fang. His eyes wandered around the library as he debated. On the one hand(or was it 'hoof'?), they were new to Equestria and didn't really know how things worked. On the other hoof, they didn't have anywhere else to go and it would be a good thing to have somewhere they can always turn to when they needed something. The answer was clear.
"Thank you."
"YES!" Fang fist bumped the smaller dragon, who then led him upstairs.
Twilight slowly approached Spirit. "I hope you'll enjoy your time in Ponyville," she said.
"I'm looking forward to seeing just what it has to offer," Spirit replied. The two ponies walked upstairs to the second floor, where they found Spike tossing Fang a large basket, a blanket and a pillow. "Looks like these two are already settled in."
Twilight pointed at one of the beds in the room. "You can have that one, unless you have a preference for sleeping on the floor."
"No, this should do just fine." Spirit dropped his saddlebags beside the bed and ran his hoof over the sheets, checking the mattress and pillow before finally laying down on the bed. "It's quite comfy."
Fang plonked his load down beside Spirit's bed, placing the blanket and pillow inside the basket. "Never thought I'd find myself sleeping in a basket." He jumped into the woven container, curling up like a cat.
Twilight went downstairs and locked the door, putting out the lights in the library before joining her friends in the bedroom. "We should probably get some sleep now."
"No arguments here," Fang said in agreement, closing his eyes. "Night, everyone."
Spirit, Twilight and Spike climbed into their beds and made themselves comfortable. "Tomorrow, I'll introduce you to my friends," Twilight told Spirit.
Spirit punched his pillow with his hoof. "I'm looking forward to meeting them. There's just so much more to tell you."
"Save it for the morning," Spike murmured, already drifting off.
"Goodnight, Spike."
"Night, Fang."
"Goodnight, Twilight."
"Goodnight, Spirit."
The library's four occupants wished each other a peaceful night's sleep and laid their heads down on their pillows. Spirit stared out the window, watching the moon and stars shining in the night sky. He felt someone poke his shoulder and rolled over to the other side of his bed.
It was Fang. "So, what have you got to say for yourself, about everything up until now?"
Spirit stared at the ceiling. "We are never truly beyond the reach of G-d," he said mysteriously.
The dragon nodded in agreement. "True, so true." He fell back on to his bed. "Night, Spirit."
"Goodnight." Spirit continued to stare at the ceiling, thinking about the day's events. He wondered how all his other friends back in the Republic were doing. Although the time zones of the two world wouldn't be synced until he fixed them together on the grid, he often pondered what was going on while he was away from the place he had shaped with his own power, together with his best friend's imagination. Were the others keeping the dark forces at bay? Was the balance still maintained? And what about the Inn? Were they okay? All these troubling thoughts were not helping Spirit sleep so he pushed them all away with an ancient epigram.
"This too is for the best."