We walked under the castle, having talked up a storm. “I feel like going for a high-speed flight right now… Meh, I can do that some other time. Pinkie seems to be doing something interesting over there.” I said to myself, getting the attention of the stallions when I mentioned Pinkie.
“Yeah. I wonder why she would need to ball herself up like that.” Said Dusk Shine. We all turned to head inside, letting Pinkie be Pinkie, before I heard the iconic Transformer soundeffect.
“Ok, who the heck invited Bumblebee?” I said as I turned around, not seeing a yellow, humanoid figure. Oh yeah, it was Pinkie. I thought, giving her a look that said ‘Really?’.
“Who’s Bumblebee?” asked Twilight.
“It’s not important. What is though, is that Pinkie is invoking copyright… But not in this country!” I said, using a tearable joke. It was such a rip off too… Meh, my puns are better. I thought, assuring myself that I will make them all laugh yet again. “Anyways, let’s get a move on! I wanna explore the castle.” I said, causing everyone to head for the door.
-----10 minutes later-----
“Well that didn’t take as long as I thought it would.” I said as we walked into the throne room. The guards pointed their spears at me, causing me to stop. “I’d say that this is quite the welcoming party, but crystal spears are worse that what the Royal Guards in Canterlot use to protect my sisters.” I said.
“State your business, creature, before we take you to the dungeons.” One of the guards demanded. I dispersed before moving closer to Rainbow Dash and reforming as Shade Blitz.
“Offensive. I’m here because I was invited. Next time, instead of pointing spears, just block someone’s path.” I said. Some guards took to the air to try and catch me, but I dispersed before they could, causing them to fly through me. I spread out, moving slowly to the ceiling, where I blended in enough to move towards the throne. As everyone watched the general area where I touched the ceiling, I sunk behind the throne, reforming as a Night Fury and hauling my head over the top of the throne in a stalker-like manner.
“Oh hey! He’s being himself again! Taking every opportunity to scare someone.” said Bubble Berry, pointing a hoof at me. I stared at him, not too pleased that he blew my cover, before I finally noticed my sisters.
I quickly dispersed a reformed as a human, summoning my wings and flying around with the sole pegasus guard in the room following me. I flew up towards the ceiling, hoping that the guard was following me before making a quick nosedive towards the floor. When I pulled up, I heard a crash behind me. I turned to see him face down on the floor. “Work on your reaction time and then try chasing me. Now then, would someone please call off the rest of the guards before someone else gets hurt.” I said, causing Luna to hold up her hoof, which relaxed the guards. “Thank you, Luna.” I said, deciding to land.
“We have so much to discuss, but I can see that you all are tired from your journey. Now off to bed, all of you.” Celestia said, getting cheers from everyone while completely ignoring my stunt.
“I swear, if you six clock out now, then I’m leaving you here.” I said, gesturing to the stallions. we all left in search of our rooms for the night.
-----30 minutes later-----
“Okay, does everypony know their rooms?” said Twilight.
“We’ve gone over this for at least five minutes, Twilight. We all know our rooms and the stallions know that they aren’t getting any tonight.” I said, causing said magical robots, except Butter Scotch and Elusive, to groan. “Next place for you four is the SCP Foundation. Now man up and deal with it, you’re on guard duty tonight.”
“I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took the God of Rage to the everything.” Bubble Berry said, earning a deadpan look from me.
-----5 minutes later, Twilight’s room-----
I watched as her wings burst open before laughing. “Oh! Oh dear lord! Sorry Twi, but that is too funny!” I said before continuing to laugh for a few seconds. “I sincerely apologize, but it’s just my personality. Anyways, here’s a tip. Try thinking of something that you like to do. The less attention you give to your wings, the sooner they’ll fold up on their own.” I advised, watching as her wings slowly began to close.
“Thank you, Alex.” she said. closing her eyes and drifting off.
“It was nothing. Just sharing experience.” I said before laying back down on the cloud I brought in from the window and falling asleep.
-----3 hours later-----
I woke up to the sound of the door creaking open. That’s strange. I’m a heavy sleeper and everyone else should be asleep or inactive. I thought as I lifted my head up enough to see the door, noticing a pony in a cloak walk in. This is interesting. I wonder who it is. The cloaked pony walked over to Twilight’s bedside, taking her element in their magic, accidentally knocking over the lamp, and replacing it with what seemed to be a fake. They went to leave before tripping over the young dragon’s tail, making a feminine grunt and waking the dragon.
“Huh? What?” He said, which woke up Twilight.
She yawned, before turning to the sound and noticing her crown. “My crown! She’s got my crown!” I heard faint hums and groans as everyone woke up. I hopped down as the mare ran out of the room and down the hall. “Stop! Thief!”
I noticed the stallions poke their heads out with the other Elements of Harmony. “Cmon, boys! Double time it!” I said, which caused them to spring into action. I followed behind, managing to keep pace as their hydraulics and servos warmed up.
“She’s stolen my crown!” Twilight shouted from behind me, causing the mares to join in pursuit.
“This reminds me of Hot Pursuit from Rivals, but with me as a cop car instead of in my Sesto Elemento.” I said, briefly reminiscing.
Twilight teleported in front of the thief. “Stop!” she demanded, but the cloaked mare only teleported past her, leaving her cloak behind and revealing an orange mare with red and yellow streaks in her mane a tail, cerulean eyes and a two toned sun cutiemark. This caused me to stop in awe of her appearance.
Beautiful. What reason would she have for stealing the Element of Magic? I thought, being broken free of my awe by the shouts of Rainbow Blitz.
“Hurry up! We’re gonna lose her!” He shouted at me as I resumed the chase. I was now too far behind to hear any exchange between the mysterious mare and Twilight, so I followed in relative silence, trying my best to up my speed.
I watched as Twilight managed to trip the mare, causing the Element to bounce around the room and disappear into the lone mirror in said room. I ran in just as the mare jumped through the portal. “I have a feeling that I’ll be on the other side of that sometime soon.” I said.
-----4 hours later-----
“This is no ordinary mirror. It is a gateway to another world. A gateway that opens once every thirty moons.” Luna said as Pinkie placed her hoof on it.
“Sparkly!”
“It has always been kept in the throne room of Canterlot Castle, but when Princess Cadance took over the Crystal Empire, we sent it here for her to watch over.” Luna said, I heard a sigh, turning around to see Celestia approaching us.
“I had always hoped that Sunset Shimmer would someday use it to return, to come back to Equestria, seeking my guidance. Obviously, this is not what has happened.” She said.
“Twilight, you must use the mirror to go into this other world and retrieve your crown. Without it, the other Elements of Harmony have no power and Equestria is left without one of it’s most important means of defense.” Cadance said. Twilight stopped in front of the portal, staring at it with reluctance.
I turned to the stallions, who were all looking at me, sharing the same thought that I have. No matter what we are told, we will follow Twilight through that portal. I smiled, the expression being shared between the seven of us.
“Your crown does not belong in the place Sunset Shimmer now calls home, and in her possession, your Element of Harmony will no doubt be used to bring harm to the inhabitants of this other realm. They will not have the power to defend themselves.” Luna said, causing Twilight to adopt a thoughtful look.
Out of nowhere, saddlebags covered in a blue glow settled themselves on Twilight’s back before Celestia approached her. “Do you understand the importance of your task?” she asked.
“Of course.”
“Good. Then you must go at once.” She said, causing Twilight to become determined.
“Woah, woah, woah. If she’s going, we’re going with her. Right girls?” asked Rainbow Dash, getting affirmatives from the other Elements.
“I’m afraid I can’t let you go.” Celestia said, getting shocked looks from all the Elements.
“What!? Why not?” asked Rainbow Dash, clearly unhappy with the situation.
“Well, if what my gut tells me is right, then the world beyond that mirror is like a mix between Equestria and my birth place.” I said. “ In other words, for all we know, there could be copies of you six there.”
“Indeed, which means that Twilight must do this alone.” Celestia said.
“Nope. I don’t care what you say or what you do, the stallions and I are on an adventure!” I said, getting a sigh of defeat from Celestia, knowing that there would be nothing that could change my mind.
“Time is of the essence. When the moon reaches its peak in the night sky on the third day, the gate will close. If it does, it’ll be another 30 moons before you’ll be able to use it to return.” Luna said.
Twilight got words of encouragement as we followed her to the mirror. She stuck her hoof in it, testing to see if it was safe. she pulled it out, turning to receive confirmation from Celestia that it was ok as the mares began putting up a fit about why the stallions get to go.
I turned to them before saying, “Start recording once we’re through the portal, then edit and play it when we get back.” receiving nods in return as we began going through the portal, the small dragon running in a few moments after.
-----Moments later, CHS lawn-----
I heard groans from Twilight and the stallions as I slowly opened my eyes. “Uh, everyone?”
“Spike? You’re not supposed to…” Twilight trailed off, noticing Spike’s new form. “Uh, Spike? Are you a… dog?” She said, surprised.
“I think so. But I have no idea what you are!” He said, causing me to look at Twilight.
She screamed before I could tell her to stay calm. “Listen Twilight,” I said, once she settled down, “You’re a human now, and there’s no need to freak out. Just walk like I do; Two legs, not four. OK?” I said, helping her up after getting up myself. She nodded. “Good. Now then, let’s head inside and see what’s up. Spike, in the bag.” I gestured to Twilight’s bag, causing her to unzip it and let him inside.
“That’s a nice castle, although I don’t see any guards.” Twilight said, confused.
“Looks more like a high rated school to me, to be honest.” I said, getting a good look at it. As we approached the doors, Twilight attempted to open them with magic, running into them right after. “Magic is just a concept here Twilight. In other words, the more you try to use magic, the more doors you’ll run into.” I said, getting a confused look in return.
“But how do these ponies live without magic?” she asked.
“I thought we already cleared this up. Technology and ingenuity, Twilight. Oh, and prepare for meat items during lunch.” I said as I opened the door. Looks empty… not sure if class period, or before school. I thought to myself, deciding to wander off after telling Dusk to remain with Twilight and help her if need be.
The other stallions, although I guess guys would be a better term now, joined me on my endeavour around the building. We didn’t get too far before the bell rang and the halls began to get crowded. I was shoved into a muscular guy, who turned and slammed me against a locker. I noticed the guys rushing him and signaled them to stop.
“You got a problem with me, stickbug? Or do you just find it funny to shove the toughest guy in school around?” he said, trying to intimidate me.
“Your intimidation skills are so tearable, they’ve become a rip off.” I said, making puns to show that I’m not intimidated.
“Grr, I oughta beat the lights out of you.” he said, threatening me. I yawned, having dealt with worse.
“Look here, I’m tired, so if you want to punch me, be my guest. Just be prepared for what comes next.” I said as I noticed the halls begin to thin out. He nailed me on the nose, having dealt with my attitude for long enough. My nose was bleeding horribly, but that didn’t stop me from busting a certain asset, causing him to let me go. “What did I tell you? You buff guys are often complete idiots. Cmon, let’s go register for the school. Getting that Element back will take a while.” I said, earning nods from the guys. “Nurse! Man down!” I shouted, noticing the nurse’s office conveniently placed just down the hall.
She rushed over after noticing the pained man kneeling over. We walked away, which slowly allowed me to gain some compassion, having lost it the moment that guy shoved me against a locker. So much for the toughest guy in school. It seems that there won’t be many who can handle a low blow like that and tough it out. I thought.
We turned a corner and saw the principal’s office was just down the hall. When we entered, we noticed that the room was relatively dark. “What are your names?” Asked a familiar voice. Sounds like Luna… If I’m right, then Celestia is principal and Luna is vice-principal.
“I’m Shade Blitz, and these five are Rainbow Blitz, Applejack, Butter Scotch, Bubble Berry, and Elusive.” I said. She looked us all over before adopting a look of confusion.
“Why do I get the feeling that there is more to all of you than meets the eye?” She asked, causing me to shut and lock the door before turning back to her.
“What you are about to see must not, under any circumstance until three days from now, leave this room. Understand? What we are hasn’t been seen in this world and the government may try to figure us out should the info become known.” I said, earning a very confused and suspicious look from her. I pulled out my Ruby, letting it float above the palm of my hand.
“This gem is called a Rage Ruby. This is the only known one, and the location of its descendant is unknown. What I have managed to gather is that there is always a replacement that goes dormant once it’s 100 year growth is finished, and awakens once having fully absorbed the power of its broken ancestor. Also, they can only be used by a special individual that it deems worthy enough to use it. Said individual becomes the God of Rage, and this one chose me to wield it.” I said, causing her eyes to widen in surprise. “As for these five. They’re robots with self-aware AIs. There are six in total, with the missing one known as Dusk Shine. They work as either bodyguards for six important people who shalt be named, armor for me, or a humanoid combat robot when I need assistance in battle.”
“This is rather shocking, and I can somewhat believe you being what you are, but I hold doubt for the five behind you.” She said. I turned and nodded to the guys, moving out of the way when they returned the nod so Luna may watch. The sequence was relatively the same as when I put them on after waking them, but instead of folding up, the plating on Rainbow Blitz’s lower arms and legs retracted up said limbs, exposing his internals. “I do believe that is enough proof. May I ask what brought you into my office?” She asked, having regained her composure.
“We would like to attend this school. You see, we have reason to believe that a powerful artifact has been brought here after being stolen from it’s rightful owner.” I pulled out a holobar, having it display the Element of Magic. “This is called the Element of Magic. It was replaced with a copy with colors that weren’t as vibrant, but the thief didn’t even manage to leave the room before tripping. I am willing to help out in any way I can as payment for this inconvenience.” I said. Luna thought for barely even a second before giving me a serious look.
“My sister was recently taken from our home and the local police say that they can’t find her. If what I assume is correct, then is there any way you can find her? Running Canterlot High is hard enough with the two of us. I’m afraid that I might get fired by the school board soon if she doesn’t return.” She requested.
I turned to they guys, who are still in their transformed state. “I want the five of you to locate Dusk Shine, transform back, and help out Twilight as much as you can. I have no idea how long I may take, but I hope that I can make it back in time to head home.” I instructed. Blitz turned to me.
“How are you going to get around town? I don’t remember you ever coming to this world before.” he said.
“That’s easy. Artemis, look around on the web for any suburban home listings and a good car for high speed travel, specifically super sports.” I said, watching as a display appeared on my corneas. It changed rapidly as I left the office, then one side stopped on a black Lamborghini Sesto Elemento with red rims on the wheels. The specs showed that it had a high top speed, acceleration, durability, and strength. I call Rivals! I thought, noticing the rather costly price on it. The other side stopped, showing a picture of a small, two story house with a dark stone driveway that splits toward a closed garage or an open air one car parking area. The second floor had a balcony with a guard rail and I can barely see a bed in the left window. the front lawn looked well kept and I noticed that the listing had a good price
“Excellent finds, Artemis. You honestly surprise me with how skilled you are.” I said, receiving a giggle.
“I blame you for my personality, seeing as how you programmed me.” she said.
“Oh hush. Can you call the dealership about that car?” I asked, hearing a ringing sound in my ears a moment later.
“Hello, you’ve reached the Canterlot branch of Lamborghini dealerships. This is Violet Stars, how may I help you?” I heard once the ringing ended.
“I’d like to purchase a black Sesto Elemento, if possible.” I said. I heard Violet typing on the other side.
“You’re in luck. We are down to five Elementos, and while none of them are black, there is one that hasn’t gotten it’s paint job yet. If you can come to the dealership a few miles down the road towards the city from CHS, I can talk out any customizations or decals you may wish to have.” She said. I began my trek towards the city, now having a good idea of where the dealership is.
“Thank you, Ms. Stars. I should be there in around 45 minutes.” I said before I heard her hang up. “Now onto the house. What company is selling it?” I asked Artemis.
“That would be Millenia22. They appear to have a high percentage of successful sellings. This house has many potential buyers, but I’m certain you can out-price any of them with all the bits you have in your vault.” she said. “How much do you wanna pay?”
“Out-price the highest amount by three. This will ensure that we get the house.” I said, watching as the numbers were typed in.
“Done. I’ll keep a tab open on Gmail and check on it every so often. We might need somewhere else to stay for tonight.” she advised.
“That is true, but let’s hope that isn’t the case. I did tell you to put a stupidly high price on that.” I told her. “Anyways, wanna play some checkers for a bit, then some 2048?” I asked. I watched as what appeared to be a 3D chess board formed in front of me, with small discs instead of chess pieces. What? I suck at chess. I thought as I broke the 4th wall. “I call black!” I said as I raised my hands in order for Artemis to register my moves.
I moved my pieces into a defensive position, two diamonds, in order to defend the pieces that I had at the back and prevent my digital opponent from jumping me. Artemis recognized what I was doing, but was too slow to stop me. I slowly went on the offensive, losing some pieces but taking more as payment. My tried and functional strategy worked multiple times, since the defense was the only definitive part. We eventually moved on to 2048, with our score being 5 to 4. Neither one of us successfully received the 2048 tile that the game was named after before I reached the dealership.
I walked in, noticing a metallic silver car in the maintenance area of the place through a window. I approached the counter, gaining the attention of the staff member sitting there. “I’m here to see Violet Stars about a Sesto Elemento.” I said. The staff member checked the logs, noticing an appointment scheduled with Violet Stars about customizing an unfinished car.
“Is it about the unfinished car in the maintenance area?” I nodded. “Third door on the left.” was all the person said. I walked back, knocking on the door for permission to enter.
“Come in!” I heard her say. I walked in, seeing a dark purple woman wearing a classic business suit and low heel shoes with a white moon with violet stars surrounding it. Her hair started as a sky blue and slowly transitioned to lavender. It appeared to be long, since it was styled into a bun on the back of her head. Her twilight colored eyes stared at me for a moment before she spoke. “I suppose you’re here about customizing your car? It seems I never got your name.” she said.
“Shade Blitz. I’ve waited years to finally get an Elemento, and you have no idea how happy I am to be able to customize it’s paint job.” I said with a large smile. I am so putting a Rivals decal on it. Won’t feel right without a decal when the cops start chasing me. Heh. I thought to myself, discussing the paint job afterwards with Violet Stars. In the end, I went with black as the primary and red mirrored racing stripes as the secondary, with red rims and special tires that gave me an all terrain grip. The interior had red seats and a red leather cover was on the steering wheel. I took a good look at the engine and, with the help of Artemis, discovered that it was custom built for high speed and quick acceleration. I paid for it with bits, surprising everyone at the dealership, staff and all.
“Alright. Now that the car is taken care of, how is the inbox? Any emails from Millenia22?” I asked Artemis as I got in the car and started it up.
“Yep. Someone came close to out-pricing us, but we pulled ahead by 200,000. That house is now in your possession.” she said.
I only have one word for that win. “Knowledge.” I decreed as I got on the road. “I need a route to my new home as well as a line to the boys.”
“On it.” Artemis said. I watched as the word ‘Calculating…’ showed up as well as a ringing sound in my ear, which soon went away to be replaced by the sounds of a cafeteria or school hallway.
“Hello?” I heard Dusk Shine ask.
“Sup? I’m running around the suburbs in a sports car that I just bought to find my new house that I just bought. Tell me, what rhymes with Houdini?” I questioned.
“Nothing I ca-” Dusk Shine said before he was cut off by a familiar voice.
“Lamborghini!” Rainbow Dash shouted.
“Where!?” I heard multiple students shout. I laughed, finding amusement in how fast Dash figured it out and what I imagine the reactions of the students to be like.
“She got it! I have a Lamborghini Sesto Elemento now, and the house that I got should have enough room for all of us.” I said, pulling into the neighborhood. “And it looks like it isn’t too far from the school. You could even walk there.”
“That’s good. So when do you start looking for the Principal?” Dusk asked.
“As soon as I have the furniture and such taken care of.” I said. “First, though, is the fact that I have no idea what side of the road the house is on.”
“Is Artemis guiding you? Shouldn’t she know what side of the road it’s on?” Dusk questioned.
“While I have no info on what side of the road it’s on, what I have managed to find is that the house is on a cul-de-sac at the end of this road.” Artemis said. I sped up a little, wanting to get there sooner rather than later.
“Well that helps. Might give us a good sized back yard.” I said.
“Wait, what was that about the Principal?” I heard Applejack say.
“Dusk, put me on speaker.” I said. I waited a moment to be sure it was on speaker before explaining. “Tell no one else, but apparently Principal Celestia has gone missing. Vice Principal Luna asked me to aid in the search for her. Expect her back in three days time.”
I saw the house as I drove up on the cul-de-sac, pulling in and getting out while the girls processed the info I gave them. “How do you expect to find her?” I heard a hushed voice ask.
“Artemis. You see, Artemis is a self aware assistance AI designed to help me out with things that I may not be able to do on my own. Think of her as the Internet mixed with a maid or guide.” I said, hearing murmur on the other side. “Anyways, I just pulled into the garage and-” I cut myself off, remembering something that would be amazing to do at the time. I pulled out a holodisc, activating its two way feature and turning my back to my car.
“Here in my garage, with my brand new deditated wamborghini.” I said, hearing held in laughter. “You know what I like more than my wamborghini?”
“Knowledge.” The guys and I said at the same time. “Wait, wait, wait. I have another one. Here in my garage, with my pasta linguini. You know what I like more than my pasta linguini?”
“Knowledge?” Questioned Rainbow Dash.
“Macaroni. I eat one box of macaroni every day. But you know what I like more than macaroni?”
“Knowledge.” Said Twilight, attempting to guess what I was going to say.
“Soup.” I said simply. “Now that I got that out of my system, who wants to see the house with me? Dusk, three-sixty.” I said, laying the holodisc flat on my hand, causing a hologram of the guys and their counterparts to show up. We toured the house, finding bathrooms, bedrooms, and even a pool. Once we were done, I hung up and searched for a nearby furniture store and bought beds, couches, chairs, tables, etc. Luckily for me, they just got a fresh shipment of everything I needed for the time being and delivered it a few hours later. Once everything was in place, I noticed that it was around 6:30. Frisco time! I thought, hopping in my wamborghini and getting a Frisco with extra bacon.
-----A few hours later-----
I was sitting on the couch, watching some Monday Night Football when I noticed the time. 9:54. Keep ‘er goin’ to that nice new bed in the master bedroom. Woo! Doesn’t beat a cloud but it sure does beat hardwood flooring. I thought as I got in bed, planning for the next day.