ASotBTiE: The Equestrian Series
Episode 2: Why James Couldn’t Make It, or “Trapped in a World He’s Only Read Of” Part II
(from “The Show Stoppers”)
Ponyville, Equestria
2 Hours before James' Dimensional Engine...
Twilight was trying to help the Cutie Mark Crusaders in finding their cutie marks. For this, they were going to do a (what James would’ve called) “Rock Opera” for the Talent show.
The Universe though has ways of preventing events from happening. When it can’t, it allows the disaster to happen. Thankfully, there was a bigger “disaster” than what the Crusaders were about to put on. What is meant by that sentence, well… before they could even start, a storm started brewing, and rifts suddenly starting appearing.
From there, all heck broke loose.
Ponyville, Equestria
1 Hour, 15 Minutes after Talent Show…
The Main Six looked around, as ponies panicked from the Sith Lord, Darth Maul, and others ran from a Mad Scientist carrying a small spiky pink ball, shooting them with a ray gun. “SCIENCE!” The Mad Scientist known as Insano exclaimed. Darth Maul stopped to see Dr. Insano standing there with the ray gun.
Dr. Insano stood there as he saw the Sith Lord. Smiling, he aimed his gun at the Jedi and was about to fire, when something shot at Insano. He looked to his side to see Linkara. And just when the Jedi was about to attack the scientist, a DeSoto appeared above him and fell on top of him.
Insano and Linkara looked saw that, and stood there in shock, as well as the Main Six. James brushed himself off and coughed, as the dust settled. The others did the almost the exact thing he did. “Well, that just happened.” Linkara said. Soon both Linkara and Dr. Insano went back to their fighting stance as they started to fight.
The Main Six soon saw in that vehicle was James. “James!” They all exclaimed. James turned towards the source of the voices to see his friends.
“Girls,” he said, as they ran to the DeSoto, “You won’t believe the day I’ve had, and it isn’t even over yet.” “What happened?” Applejack said, as she looked at the scientist being surrounded by all this weirdness.
"Get in," he said, "I'll explain everything."
The DeSoto drove through Downtown Ponyville slowly, as rifts were appearing, and the DeSoto would avoid rifts like potholes in the road. "So wait, you're telling us that you've been stuck traveling through the multiverse, because all of this," Rainbow Dash waved her hoof around to the mass destruction to Ponyville, "Is basically your fault."
James just sat there, blankly staring into space before, "Wow, way to make a guy feel good Dashie." he replied sarcastically. Rainbow just sheepishly smiled, realizing how blunt she was. "But to put it basically and bluntly; Yes, this is my fault." he said, as he adjusted the device.
"So, what are we going to do?" Twilight asked, slightly afraid of what the result of this would happen. James looked at Twilight, then smiled his mad smile. "We are going to save the Multiverse!" he exclaimed excitedly. "How?" Howard said. "I have no idea." he said, still in his excited tone. Suddenly, a pterodactyl grabbed James' arm and carried him away.
"AW Come on!" he exclaimed as the dinosaur flew away, carrying Ponyville’s only known hope. At that exact moment, Sam, Max, and Howard just facepalmed. Sam then quickly turned around the DeSoto, giving off the chase.
James looked to his left to see a small but chubby pink pig being held in the other talon. The pig snorted at him, which James just stared back at the pig. "Hey!" he heard a gruff voice say from above. James looked up to see a old man with a five-o'clock shadow, a fez and glasses on. "Get away from my pig-I mean my niece's pig." he said from on top the pterodactyl.
James looked at the pig, then back at the old man. "Dude, if you haven't noticed, this thing grabbed me. So, your niece's pig and I are in the same boat." he said to the man. The man looked around, confused before finally saying, "Waitaminnute! This isn't Gravity Falls."
Max, I mean Sam soon speeds up fast enough to catch up with the flying dinosaur, while Howard checked on James. "He looks fine. In fact, I think he talking to that pig." he said, looking through a pair of binoculars.
"Take the wheel, Max!" Sam said, to which Max gladly did. Sam stood up as he pulled out his massive .45 Caliber Six-Shooter. "Holy!" Howard exclaimed. Sam aimed at the pterodactyl, then said, "Die, you sonnnava-!" *BLAM!* The bullet hit the flying terrible lizard, dead on. It yelped in pain, causing it to drop James, but not Waddles. Suddenly, a rift opened, sending the pterodactyl back to Gravity Falls.
James however wasn't going to make it, or so it seemed. For just as it seemed that he was about to hit the ground, a rift opened up and sent James into the unknown. The rest of the gang missed him.
They stood there in shock as chaos happened all around them. "Well s*it! What do we do Sam?" "I'll tell you what we're going to do," Twilight said, causing everyone to turn to her, "We're going to stop James' engine."
"What do you mean that we should destroy him?" The Character said in a upset tone. The floating balls of energy, near their glass-like table top, floated there above The Character, as if it was a council table. This was the Council, a group of higher multi-dimensional beings that kept an eye on the Multiverse, and right now they were upset that a human had caused this... for the umteenth time in history.
"I mean Character, that we should remove him as he is causing this destruction." The Council member on the far left said. The Character quickly shook his head. "We are not going to destroy one human, just because he activated something that he doesn't understand... just yet."
"And Why not?" the Center Council member said. "Because," he started, "He'll stop it. I mean he isn't planning on trying to destroy us, right?"
At that moment, the Cosmos decided to play with both The Character and James, as it suddenly dropped James right on top of The Character. The Council gasped as they had seen the human they were talking about, appear in their realm. "Oooohh! What did I land on?" James said.
"What the heck?" The Character exclaimed, pushing James off of him. "Who's the-" He paused for a moment, as he saw the one person he was fending for. "Oh poop." "Character! It's so good to see you." James said, hugging him. He then stopped hugging the multidimensional being in his cartoonish form, and got a good look at him.
"What's going on? Where am I?" he asked as he got up. The Character and James brushed themselves off, then they started to brush each other off. If the Council had faces, they would've looked at each other at what they were watching. After that, comical moment, which ended with James slapping The Character in the face a couple of times, The Character just gave him a dirty look before rubbing his face.
"It's simple James. You're beyond a place where no human has ever been... at least of your Earth." The Character said. James looked up to see The Council, and nervously smiled, knowing he was dealing with higher powers. "Good evening, Ladies and Germs." James said, bowing respectfully to them.
"First off," the one on the far right said, "You are in a timeless state. No evenings, nighttimes, mornings, or noondays."
"And second off," the one next to it, "We are neither gender, nor of protoplasm that existed from the beginning of the-" They suddenly stopped for a moment, as The Character silently spoke to The Council on information on the humans and their many greetings. Then, what appeared to be seconds afterward, they contemplated on what the Character had informed them on humans... so far (again).
"Yes well," the one on the right said, "There's still the problem that you know of The Character." James looked at The Character, to which he looked back at James. They both looked back at The Council. "So what if I know him?" James said, talking with knowledge of his last encounter with The Character. "He just helped nudge me back to reality with my friends. Did I tell anyone?" He paused. "Only my entrusted friends and my boss (of sorts) the Princesses."
The Council soon started speaking in a language too advanced for James to pick up, but not The Character, even though he had taken a more primitive form. "What are they saying?" James said to the Character. The Character looked at James again, then focused on what They were saying. "They're talking about what to do with you since you have appeared here and have knowledge about them." he said.
James then placed a hand on The Character's head and started focusing on what he knew. The Council stopped talking as they saw what flashed through James' head.
"Weird Al" Yankovic playing in UHF...
"I'll be back." The Terminator said...
"That's all folks!" "You're despicable!"
"Either leave us or finish us." Capt. Jean-Luc Picard said, "Temper, temper mon capitaine, I'm merely trying to assist a pitiful species." Q said.
"Then where the hell is he?" "The Better question is 'When the hell is he?'. You see, Einstein is the World's First Time Traveler." Dr. "Doc" Emmett Brown said, "I sent him into the future. One minute to be exact..."
"Waitaminute, Doc." Marty McFly said, "Are you telling me that you built a Time Machine, out of a DeLorean?!"
"Time is an illusion, lunchtime... doubly so." Ford Prefect said, drinking his beer.
"Wibbly-Wobbly, Timey-Wimey." The Doctor said.
Soon they stopped, James letting go of The Character's head as they both fell down, exhausted. The Council floated there in silence, sorting out the thoughts that James transmitted to them.
It was silence for 5 full minutes.
They soon started talking in their advanced language, talking about the culture James had grown up in. You see, James was more diverse, as he liked to look at the past's best films, and prefered almost all types of music from techno and dubstep, to classic rock and classical music. He was different in that way, and prefered it to be that way.
Finally, The Council focused back to James. "How-how did you see all of these events?" the center one said. "Have you traveled the multiverse?" the one on the far right said, and that soon lead to James being bombarded with questions. He covered his ears, and yet he could still hear their voices.
Finally, The Character decided to put a stop to it and explain. ENOUGH! The Character said, blasting a psy wave that would have rippled across the cosmos. Thankfully, they were in a pocket universe.
"Look, he comes from Earth Prime, where the energies of other universes leak out of their dimensions and splash into Earth Prime where the most creative pick up the signals of the Multi-Cosmos." The Character said, with a smile.
The Council thought for a millisecond before realizing that he was right. They could feel the resonance of his Earth. "So, what happens now?" James said, as the Character thought for a moment.
The DeSoto drove up to the house, as a swirling vortex hung in the sky, high above the house. Everyone got out as they entered the house, Sam avoiding a Battle Axe to the head. He then punched Genghis Khan in the face, causing The Black Knight, and Hitler to be pushed aside and land in a pile. The Freelance Police stood there with Howard the Duck and the Mane Six watched this historical incident happen.
"Well, that happened." Max said, before Twilight ran past the Freelance Police and lead them down to the Basement. She quickly punched in the emergency code, causing the door to open. The door opened, revealing a messy lab caused by the many of people who passed through it.
"One question Twi'" Applejack yelled, as the winds howled and lightning zapped across the walls. "How do we shut down the machine?" she said. Before Twilight could reply, James suddenly faded into reality, standing right where he was when it all began. "JAMES!" Twilight yelled.
James turned towards his friends, then said, "Well, so long friends. Hope to see you in another lifetime." He then grabbed onto the engine, and opened it, as energy zapped and flowed all around. It seemed to hit James the most as he tried to pry the two wires apart. Energy zapped and high winds blew as a swirling twister of energy started to form from the engine.
"JAMES!" Twilight cried, as the energy seemed to engulf him. He then pulled them apart as he soon disappeared from Space-Time itself... and straight into the unknown. The swirling twister of energy slowly dissipated, and the rifts slowly closed up. Objects from pasts that never were and futures of yet to be disappeared and returned back to their own worlds. People faded back to their own times and places, some quickly, and others slowly.
The only people that didn't return back to their own realities were Howard the Duck, Beverly, and Sam & Max: Freelance Police. They stood there in surprise that their friend had sacrificed himself for the sake of the multiverse. Yeah sure, they didn't know him very well, but in those few moments, they could tell that he was a good character.
They all got near the engine, surprised that it was somehow still intact, aside from the burnt marks from the energies it was producing, and some damage from people. Suddenly, there were a couple of sparks from the machine, mainly from the two wires that were separated. Suddenly, energy flowed back to the machine, as if it was attempting to reverse the damage it had made.
As soon as the energy passed through the chair, James suddenly appeared in a glowing form, before it faded, leaving his solid form. Everyone gasped, except for the mostly unconscious James, to which he stirred from what happened. "Urgh, wha-what happened?" he said, as he slowly got up.
The Main Six all tackled him, caused him to fall to the ground. The Freelance Police and Howard just chuckled at the antics that happened. "What is this feeling that tickles inside me Sam?" Max said. Sam just chuckled, then said, "I think that means that it's your good nature." Max looked at him wide eyed, then just gagged. "I think I'm going to be sick."
Suddenly, the Freelance Police, Howard the Duck, and Beverly started to glow a neon light blue energy. "Uh, what's happening?" Max said. James pushed some of the girls off of him, then said, "It looks like you guys are returning back to your own worlds." He then smiled, as his theory was proven right, they were returning back to their homes.
"I hope we meet under better circumstances." James said, as he got up. He then shook their hands, as they said goodbye. "Will we remember any of this?" Max said. James thought about it, then said, "Well, since we were in the center of the energy source, probably, as the events will probably give us dual memory sets while our respected universes rewrite events to be causing everyone else that had witnessed everything to almost completely forget. Well, except for gods." James said.
"And who's a god?" Max said, to which James rubs his chin, thinking it over for a moment. "Well, there's the princesses over in Canterlot. They'll probably remember." James said. Soon, they waved goodbye as the Freelance Police, Howard, and Beverly all faded back to their universes.
---------------------------------------------------
Dear Princess Celestia,
Today was a unusual day, as my invention accidentally caused rifts in the Space-Time-Dimension Continuum and caused me to end up in the Marvel-verse where I met Howard the Duck. After building a Rift Device that could detect rifts and also generate them, myself and my new friends traveled to get back to Equestria.
There, I met Sam and Max: Freelance Police who helped us get back. From there, I got caught by a pterodactyl and fell into a space-time rift into a pocket universe. After a bit of work, I was kindly returned back to Equis, and "Reversed the Polarity", so to speak.
Anyways, my friends are returned back to their respective worlds, and I continue my work on the experiments and to study the Magic of Friendship. On a personal note, I still have hope that I will one day return back to my home, Earth. If and when I do, it doesn't mean that I'm leaving forever
Signed, Your Scientific Advisor
James Rouse
P.S: You'll be getting a letter from The Character soon.
P.P.S: Attached to the letter is a comic of Howard the Duck, and Sam & Max: Freelance Police.
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Celestia finished reading the letter left by her Scientific Advisor, then looked at the Comic Omnibuses that Luna was looking at. She started laughing hard at what she had read. "Quack-fu. That just sounds rediculous." she said before busting out laughing again. Celestia just shook her head, then picked up the "Sam & Max: Surfin' the Highway" Comic, and started to read it.
Opening it, a letter suddenly fell out landing on the floor with a papery *THUD!*. Celestia looked at the letter, marked "To: Princess Celestia". She picked up the letter, then turned it over to see it marked, "From: The Character", to which she opened it.
The letter was written in some kind of paper-like material, yet it seemed metallic-like. Here's what the letter said:
Dear Celestia,
First off, I thank you for keeping your people calm in a crisis across the MultiDimension-Verse. Your Scientific Advisor caused it, mainly because he's impatient to return to his home, but it isn't time yet. He has a long way to go before he gets to where he's needed.
He did show some heroics, as he stopped his own invention from tearing reality (as we know of ) apart. I would like to note that when Twilight notes that James sacrificed himself to stop the machine, that's true. He also did return back to you guys, which this time I had nothing to do with. He somehow returned back on his own, without my help, but note that for a brief moment, he couldn't be sensed by my people or me.
Keep an eye out in case something unexpected happened in those 10 or so seconds that he was gone.
I will tell you that he is telling the truth, he did meet Howard the Duck, and the Freelance Police. I just hope that when trouble... very unusual trouble shows up, you and your sister will know how to handle it and who to call. I have a copy of my address book I use for emergencies. I trust you enough for this.
The Character.
Inside the envelope was a small black address book that seemed to sparkle, as if it had the cosmos coursing through it. Both Luna and Celestia felt the presence of this book, then Celestia teleported it to their dangerous artifacts vaults.
It was the beginning of something new.