//------------------------------// // Chapter One // Story: The M-R-7 // by AKA MrJ //------------------------------// It was midnight in the city of Manehattan. The major traffic from the city in daytime had long since dispersed, and any noise from nightclubs had died down leaving the city quiet. Or at least as quiet as it could get in a city that never sleeps. But it was quiet enough for seven humans in prison uniform to enter unnoticed. They had entered the city via the Hooflynbridge, and had quickly made their way underground. Literally underground. An abandoned project to build an underground train system had left many empty tunnels and platforms beneath the city, it was on one of these platforms that the humans gathered to 'discuss' their next move. “Is this Manhattan?" It was the second shortest of the group who had asked. He was pale, his black hair buzzed to near nonexistence. Hints of tattoos could be seen at his neck and right wrist, and a small silver skull acted as a stud in his left ear. "There's no way in hell we could be in New York is there?" "Grimm, didn't you see the way it was spelled on those signs earlier?" It was one of the girls who had responded, a hint of a southern accent in her voice. She stood only a few inches taller than Grimm. She was also a little pale but had a healthy farmers tan. Her hair was a dirty blonde color, and tied back in a (slightly) long braid. "This place is called Manehattan, MANEhattan. With an E." "And what the fuck does that mean South!?" The next outburst had come from the oldest of the group and the second tallest. He was paler than Grimm, almost white in fact. His hair was wild, sticking out at every angle and dyed in streaks of red and blue. "What?! Are we in some fucked up alternate New York?! Is that what it means?!" "I think that's exactly what it means Xan." It was the tallest who had spoken next. He stood a good foot and half taller than Xan's six-five. His skin was very dark, same as his hair which hung down in dreads. "Besides, didn't you see what's missing?" "No, what's missing?" Xan said, turning on the giant. "The people." The second girl said softly. She stood at the same height as South. Her skin was the color of cinnamon, with short straight hair just a few shades darker. "I didn't see anyone on the streets, we didn't even see anyone when we got here." "Emily's right. We didn't see any cars either and for Manhattan it's unheard of to not see people on the streets, no matter what time it is... So this really can't be New York." The third tallest said. He was pale like Grimm, and his brown hair was kept in a neat military cut. He also wore a pair of dog tags around his neck. "What do we do then? Sit around all night? We need a plan of action. King?" "What? Don't you have a plan Soldier ?" Xan asked a little accusingly. "No, I don't. And King has been quite this whole time. King?" King, as he had been addressed, was the shortest of the group standing an inch shorter than Grimm. He had brown skin and black hair that was smoothed down and parted to the right. A thin gold chain hung at his neck, a small golden Hindu symbol fastened to it. "King?" Soldier prompted. King blinked, coming back from wherever his thoughts had led him. Glancing around King addressed the group at large. "Alright, here's what we do. Soldier, you find out anything you can about where we are. Libraries, tourist booths, historical sights. Grimm, South, most people are going to notice us if we keep walking around in prison uniforms, you two are going to find us some proper clothes. Buddy and Emily. See if you two can find us somewhere to stay. Xan and I will grab breakfast. As soon as we're done we meet back here. If we're not done by dawn, we drop everything and hide. Until we know where we are, no moving around in daylight." "Agreed." Everyone replied before pairing up and moving off in different directions. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "This is so weird." South said staring at a pony shaped manakin dressed up what she assumed was the current trend in...whatever the hell this place was called. "This is so fucking weird." Grimm and South had split off from the others some hour and a half ago, although she couldn't be sure of that. Making use of side streets and alleys had kept them from being seen by any locals, unfortunately it hadn't kept South from finally seeing the locals herself. And what she saw were ponies. South had spent enough time on farms and ranches to know an equine when she saw one. 'Ponies' was the first thing that South had thought after seeing brightly colored equines in a Manhattan setting, behaving like humans and speaking perfect English. Then she started freaking out. Her panic lasted until Grimm had unceremoniously pulled her into the department store that they were currently raiding. "Hey!" Grimm called snapping her attention away from the pony-manakin. South turn to Grimm to see him out of his prison garb and fully dressed up 'normal' clothes. A dark blue button up shirt (that he wore untucked), black tie, dark gray denim jeans, Grimm had even found a pair of black and white sneakers. A silver chain hung at his neck over his tie and he had silver rings on each finger. "Are you done freaking out? Cause we've got stuff to do, and I have no idea what to get for you or Emily." "Grimm we're on an alien world, how can I not freak out?! And where the hell did you find all of that?!" South said half whispering, half shouting. "I looked around." Grimm said calmly. "It's strange. This is a world inhabited by small horse creatures, yet they have things that are clearly designed with humans in mind." "That's what you find strange?" South said with disbelief in her voice, "That there's clothes for humans here? Also we're calling them ponies." "Well it is odd. Why would they need things for humans in ponyland?" South decided to remain silent. She didn't have a good answer to that. "Just help me help find some clothes dammit!" "K.k." Grimm said grinning. The grin immediately dropped when the lights came on. "But fast." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Soldier closed the textbook he had been reading and set it aside while reaching for the next one. His adventure had led him to a library located in the same place as one he used to visit back in New York. Of course this wasn’t New York. Glancing out the window on his left showed that it was still dark out. He had chosen this particular seat for three reasons, one was that it was next to a window, two was that the window had a fire escape for a quick getaway, three it was in the history section. It amazed Soldier really. He had gone through two textbooks already and had been amazed at how some events lined up with earth history. Of course there were some events that he had trouble believing. 'The reign of the chaos spirit Discord, the defeat of Discord and the rise of the two alicorn sisters, the rise and fall of Nightmare Moon.' It all sounded a little far fetched. But considering that he didn't know much about where he was Soldier decided that everything should be taken at face value. For now. Soldier glanced out the window again, and seeing the faint hints of dawn, decided to head back. The trip was short enough, out the window, down the fire escape, across seven blocks, down a manhole and he was there. Xan and King had gotten to the platform before him and had found breakfast (which turned out to be two boxes of donuts) as promised. Soldier took a seat against the wall, helping himself to a donut. "You have any trouble getting around?" King asked. "Nobody saw you right?" "No." Soldier replied, grabbing another donut, "I didn't have any problems. It was strictly in and out. You?" "Well... Xan had to karate chop someone." "He saw us!" Xan said, cutting in. "Therefore I was allowed to hit him." "Riiight. Anyway Soldier, what did you learn?" "So," Soldier said, swallowing the last of his donut, "first off this city really is called MANEhattan. It's the largest city in the country, which is called Equestria." "Equestria? Really?" Xan asked. "Yes really. Now as far I know the country is still ruled by its two queens, who some seem to confuse with goddesses. Okay what else... Right magic!" "Magic?" King asked, "Magic exists here?" "Yeah. It exists. And every one of these ponies has some. There are four styles, earth ponies get magic relating to growing, and strength. Pegasus can fly, walk on clouds, and manipulate weather. Unicorns...right, they get actual spells. So I guess that makes them the most diverse. No I take it back, second most diverse after the rulers. They get everything." "Makes sense. Ruler gets it all... Can magic explain how we got here?" "No. There are some other forms of magic here, but none of it could really help explain our situation very well." "Shame." "But on the bright side I think we'll be good to walk around outside. Well once Grimm and South get back we will." "And once Buddy and Emily get back." "Right them too." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Buddy and Emily had made their way into what Buddy concluded to be a 'gang territory'. From there it took them less than twenty minutes to find a place they liked and evict its current tenants. After that the two of them were alone together for the first time in months. It had been a bit of a rush to find a bed big enough for the two of them, and had taken to long to do so in Emily's mind. But the wait had definitely been worth it. Being away from her had left Buddy pent up, and Emily was more than happy to receive everything that Buddy had in him, even if she was a little sore after it. After Emily had fallen asleep Buddy had decided to tour their new home. To the untrained eye the place just looked like a cheap rundown apartment building. However anyone who had read The Godfather would recognize a base when they saw one. The previous tenants wouldn't be reporting their eviction to any authorities. The Building wasn't much, four floors of the same basic apartment with the same basic necessities. Seeing as how light was starting to come in Buddy decided to head back to Emily, upon returning to the fourth floor apartment that he and Emily had taken, he discovered Emily awake and cooking breakfast. And (to his dark delight) was very pleased to see that she had only bothered with putting on a shirt leaving her callipygian ass on display. Buddy paused in the doorway staring, he was now torn between two desires. On the one hand breakfast cooked by loving girlfriend, on the other hand, loving girlfriend's tight ass. "Nither are going to happen if you keep standing there." Emily said without turning away from the stove. "We'll eat first and then go to round five, okay?" ".....Yah." Buddy said, taking his seat at the kitchen table. He had forgotten for a moment that she could read him like a book. Buddy watched Emily as she continued to cook, he wondered how long it has since the two of them had enjoyed a meal together. Of course he knew it had only been two months, but it felt like longer. He, King, Grimm, Soldier had all been on death row. Xan and South had received life sentences. And Emily had gotten twenty years. Sitting on death row was painful, not because he was afraid of dying, he was ready for that. But because Emily wouldn't be with him at the end. That had scared the hell out of him, he couldn't handle the fact that he would die alone, without Emily to stand by him. Buddy was brought back to reality by Emily bringing him into a hug. It took a moment for Buddy to realize the dampness on Emily's shirt was from him crying. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Grimm was having a ball. It hadn't taken him long to ditch South and head out on his own. It felt wonderful to be free again away from that cramped cell in solitary confinement. It didn't even matter to him that the...ponies...were giving him funny looks. “Let them stare!” Grimm thought. He was a free man in a new world “It's a new day, full of opportunities!” And Grimm spied his first opportunity in the form one pony leading two more down an alley. Quickly crossing over to where he had spotted the crime to be, Grimm took a moment to observe what was happening. From the looks of it, it was nothing more than a five on two mugging. That was disappointing for Grimm, it would have been more profitable for him if it had been a drug deal. Still he could probably get a reward if he saved the two...girls?...mares?.... Females. From their would be muggers. Stepping fully into the alleyway brought the attention of all seven ponies onto him. “Morning.” Grimm said donning a shit eating grin. “And who the buck are you?!” Shouted a brown unicorn, a knife was held in his hoof, and pointed at Grimm. Grimm stared at the knife, trying to figure out how it was being held without fingers. “Hey answer him ya big ape!” Grimm’s grin dropped replaced by an angry scowl. “I’m sorry. Did you just call me a..?” Grimm asked very slowly venom dripping off every word. “That's right an ape! What are you gonna-” it was at that moment when Grimm attacked them. A knee to to the chin for the unicorn in front of him followed by a punch to the side of the head was enough to knock out the unfortunate pony. One of the would be victims, a orange pony wearing a stetson, took advantage of her attackers surprise to rear up on her front and kick the mugger directly behind her. Meanwhile Grimm, had moved on to the third and fourth mugger catching the third between a simultaneous knee to the chin and an elbow to the top of his head before kicking him to the side. Grimm simply grabbed the fourth one and threw him into the third. Grimm turned to the last mugger to find that the orange pony had hogtied him with some rope. For a moment Grimm wondered where the rope had come from but quickly dismissed the thought. “You two okay?” Grimm asked. “Yup.” Replied the orange pony, “Thank you for helping us mister…?” “Grimm. My name is Grimm. And you are?” “I’m Applejack, and this is Rarity.” Applejack said indicating the pony next to her. Several thoughts came to Grimm when he looked at Rarity. His first thought was that she was pretty. His second thought was realizing that Rarity was not, in fact, human. His third thought was questioning if that mattered. Grimm's fourth thought was that he had been standing here for the last minute staring like a slack jawed idiot, and that he should say something. He settled with. “Pleased to meet you.” “Likewise.” Said Rarity, “Although I wish it were under better circumstances.” “Yeah.. These kids didn't hurt you two did they?” “Oh not at all! Although I dread to think of what might've become of us if you hadn't intervened. Why, we simply must give you a reward for your heroics.” “Err perhaps after the police get here?” Applejack said, clearly hesitant to reward Grimm with anything more than a thank you. “Oh, yes you're quite right A.J..” It didn't take long for the ponies in blue to arrive and haul the muggers away for processing. And after a ‘quick’ trip to a station to get their statements. Grimm, Rarity, and Applejack found themselves back on the streets loading a cab to take Rarity and Applejack back to Grand Central Station. “Thanks again for your help.” Applejack said, climbing into the cab. “No problem.” Grimm said. “Wait, before we take off. Isn’t there something you'd like? As a reward I mean.” Rarity said leaning over from her side of the cab, a hopeful smile on her face. “Well… You said you were going to Ponyville right? Well I'm actually headed there myself pretty soon. Perhaps you could treat me coffee? And we could try meeting without the assailants?” “Alright then, coffee it is. I’ll look forward to it darling, take care now!” Rarity said waving as the cab drove off. Grimm watched them until they turned a corner and vanished from view. Turning to go Grimm realized an unfortunate cost to today's little adventure. “Where the fuck am I?”