Equestrian Bulwark

by Dubious

Day One

Ignis awoke to find herself sprawled out on a bed with a random anime playing on one of her holoscreens. With a simple hand gesture she closed the window and rolled off of the bed onto the floor with a thump. Standing up with a groan, she waddled her way to the bathroom where she picked up a non-existent toothbrush and put some non-existent toothpaste on it, wetting it under the tap, she stuck it in her mouth, not realizing that said items didn't exist until she picked them up. Spitting and then rinsing, she started up the shower as she took off her pajamas and folded them on the bed. Returning to the bathroom she stepped into the now hot shower and began soaking her hair. After a few seconds she had a sudden realization came to her. "Wait a minute... Hotels don't HAVE toothbrushes or toothpaste... THE FUCK DID THEY COME FROM?!" She yelled out. Returning to her morning grooming with a grumble, she grabbed some previously non-existent shampoo and began lathering her hair. Rinsing the shampoo, she began covering her body in, yet again non-existent, body wash.

After finishing her shower she dried off with a towel and set about brushing her hair with a complementary hairbrush. With a nod of satisfaction that her shoulder length auburn hair was sufficiently brushed, she reentered the room and saw something sitting on the bed.
[he]

Somewhere in the Everfree Forest the cutie mark crusaders had gotten themselves into one hell of a situation. Surrounded by timberwolves on one side, and facing the Everfree Witch on the other. Cowering at their inevitable fate, they watch as the cackling unicorn approached with maniacal glee in her eyes. "So, you thought you could trespass in my forest and get away with it, you little brats? Well you've got another thing coming your way now." She cackled, scaring the timberwolves away and causing the fillies to cower harder. "Let's see how you like spending the rest of your lives as chickens!" The witch threatened, when suddenly a squeal of suck unbridled happiness as to cause the sun to spontaneously glow brighter, swept across the forest. For an inexplicable reason, the witch wanted to give the fillies a gift and shoo them on instead of turning them into chickens for all of eternity. Rummaging in her saddlebags, she procured three necklaces. "Put these on, they'll ward off the creatures of the Everfree." She said, causing the fillies to look at her weirdly.

"Y-you're not gonna turn us into chickens?" Scootaloo whimpered.

"No. Now take them and scram!" The witch yelled, prompting the CMC to grab the neckalces and flee.

---

Back in Ponyville, Ignis held in her hands one of her most prized and treasured possessions. Her teddy bear Alexander the Cuddly. With a grin that would've put Pinkie Pie to shame on her face, she giddily twirled around the room while her only friend was clutched tightly to her chest. A knock on her door sent to spinning toward it with mirthful glee. She opened the door to find a white pony in golden armor standing there with a stoic look.

"You are under arrest for disturbing the peace, come quietly and your sentence will be reduced." The stated blandly. A deadpan look on Ignis' face his only answer before the door slammed in his face as giggling resumed on the other side, followed by sickeningly sweet cutesie talk that almost made the guard dry heave. Smashing against the door, the guard tried to break it down, only to fail. With a grumble, he left the hotel to retrieve a battering ram. Inside the room, Ignis was in the midst of putting her pajamas on. Fully garbed, she grabbed her teddy bear and exited the room, closing the door behind her and exiting the Hotel, a hefty bag of bits clutched in her other hand.

Exiting the building, she looked for some form of cafe or restaurant. While walking around Ponyville looking for a place to get food, she didn't notice all the weird looks the ponies were giving her. Sighting a gingerbread house house, she veered towards it, assuming it sold food. Walking through the door, her auditory senses were immediately assaulted by a pink blur. Looking at the babbling pink blur in confusion, she sidestepped around it and neared the counter, a blue mare standing behind it that appeared to have a glandular problem as she was sweating profusely. Standing in front of the counter she read the menu behind the sweaty mare on the wall. Her mind made up she placed her order. "Hello profusely sweating pony person, I would like two of those breakfast cupcake things, and a cup of coffee."

"O-o-okay, m-miss. That'll be s-seven bits." The mare stuttered.

"Wow, shit's cheap here. This'd probably cost seven hundred dollars where I come from." Ignis said, handing the mare seven of the coins in her pouch.

"That sounds e-expensive."

"Yeah... World economy ain't doing too well where I come from. But that third world war lurking on the horizon should fix that rather quickly." Grabbing her order, she sat down on a nearby table, looking at the still babbling pink pony by the front door. She began eating with a shrug, enjoying her first taste of real sugar is six years. "Oooooh, I nearly forgot how good real sugar tasted, stupid plague killing off sugar cane plants." She grumbled, ignoring Pinkie's gasp.

"How could you nearly forget how sugar tastes?!" The pink pony said, suddenly on the table in front of Ignis.

"Plant species that it's made from was wiped out by a plague, just like all water life, and apple trees."

"Whoa, your world must suck." Pinkie surmised.

"Yeah, so I might not go back if I have the chance. Hell they'll probably fire me for winding up in another universe without clearing it with them first."

"Well, your parties at six." Pinkie said, vanishing in a blur.

"What a weird pony-person." Ignis muttered, sipping from her coffee.

---

Twilight was freaking out about how she could coerce Ignis into sharing her wealth of knowledge with her. Wishing she bothered to learn that mind reading spell, she sighed and slumped against her chair, having resigned to just pleading with her until she cracked. She levitated a book over to her and started to read it. With a sigh of exasperation she set the book down and trotted towards the libraries exit. She instead found herself being bowled over by a cyan blur that crashed through one of the windows. With a dazed groan, she looked up and saw Rainbow Dash's apologetic grin. "Rainbow, what have I told about using the front door?" Twilight deadpanned.

"That, uh, I should use it instead of the windows?" Rainbow Dash cringed.

"Exactly, could you get off of me?"

"Sure. So, are you gonna go see Ignis?"

"I guess?"

"Mind if I tag along? I wanna see if she can pull of those jumps she did yesterday again."

"Rrrrright, well let's get going." With that Twilight and Rainbow exited the library in search of Ignis. It didn't take them long as they came across her exiting Sugar Cube Corner. Taking note of the teddy bear clutched in her grasp, Twilight approached Ignis. "So, I was wondering... Could you tell me about where you're from?"

"I guess? I mean, it's not like I'll be telling you the intricacies of how a cold fusion reactor operates." With a gesture, she led them to a convenient bench nearby. Once they were all sat down she started speaking again. "Right, so, where I come from, everything has gone to shit."

"W-what?!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Geez, let me continue. Anyway, as I was saying, everything has gone to shit, polar ice caps are melting, world economy is gasping its last raspy breaths, China and Russia have formed a coalition with India and are invading Europe, a meteor crashed in the ocean and unleashed an alien virus that killed all sea life and gave birth to the greatest terror the world has ever known, Sea Bees, and quite a few plants have gone extinct, limiting the amount of farmable crops."

"What's a Sea Bee?" Rainbow asked.

"Imagine a bee with dark blue and gray stripes. Now imagine it three times the size of me, able to swim at speeds of up to three hundred kilometres an hour, and top it all off with a poisonous sting that melts the flesh of anyone hit with it. And yes, no one lives near the oceans anymore. Fuckers can walk on land."

"I, see. So, I take it that even if you could go home, you wouldn't want to?" Twilight asked.

"Yup, fucking six hundred dollars for a cup of coffee. Not to mention the impending third world war and the potential Armageddon looming in the distance. So all-in-all, I'd rather stay here." She nodded, leaning back on the bench.

"So, how about you show me those moves you pulled earlier, eh?" Rainbow asked.

"The fuck are you, Canadian? And I'll try, not really sure HOW I did it though." With that she stood up and crouched, tensing her leg muscles in preparation to jump. She then tried to jump lightly. She instead jumped twelve metres into the air, before she began to plummet to the ground below, landing with a loud thud. With a look at herself she could only gargle incoherent responses.

"Whoa, you jumped really high there. But I bet you can't beat me in a race!" Rainbow boasted.

"You can fly, seems hardly fair to me." Ignis said, flicking her wrist absently, the effect was almost instantaneous. A burst of plasma burst forth from her hand, incinerating the nearby fountain. "OHGODSWHY?!" She screeched as she tried to help put out the burning rocks of the former fountain.

"That. Was. AWESOME!" Rainbow exclaimed, oblivious to the minor panic attack Ignis was having and the threat of incendiary stone near wooden structures.

"Less fanfillying and more rain making!" Twilight yelled, snapping Rainbow into action as she bolted around gathering up clouds and placing them over the burning fountain. Ignis was trying to put out the fire by making wild hand gestures, only succeeding in making the fire brighter or change colours. With a frantic clap, the fire turned into water and splashed on the ground. With a look of shock, Ignis said only one thing.

"Did I do that?"

---

After seeing Ignis through a minor panic attack, Twilight asked Rainbow to gather their friends. Once all were assembled, she explained the events of what happened in the marketplace and recited what Ignis had told her of her home world. With a heaving sigh, Twilight turned to check on Ignis, who stared at her hands with a terrified expression. "So girls, what do you think we should do about Ignis?"

"I think we should inform the Princesses about this power of hers. The ability to shoot plasma and turn fire into water sounds rather dangerous, perhaps she'll know how to help Ignis control it?" Rarity suggested.

"We could just ditch 'er back in the Everfree, problem solved." Applejack grumbled.

"I-I think we should help her her... Um, if that's okay with you." Fluttershy whispered.

"I think we should help her learn to use her cool power." Rainbow Agreed.

"I think we should throw her a "Congratulations on being able to control particles!' party!" Pinkie confetti-ed, lathering the room in a burst of confetti.

"Well, I guess we should inform the Princess about this, she could help." Twilight decided, ignoring Pinkie's outburst. "Spike! Take a letter!" Twilight called out, her draconic assistant waddling down the stairs at her call.

"Right away Twilight!" He said, wielding a quill and piece of parchment.

Clearing her throat, Twilight began dictating a letter to Princess Celestia. "Dear Princess Celestia. After an accident involving Ignis, I have discovered that she has the ability to shoot gout's of plasma from her hands and turn fire into water. I humbly request that you send me any books from the Royal Archives pertaining to this sort of ability, your faithul student, Twilight Sparkle." With a look over the finished letter, she gave Spike the command to send it. A few minutes later He belched up another scroll. Taking it in her magic, twilight opened it up and read aloud. "Dear Twilight, I am intrigued to hear of this new development, but unfortunately, I have never heard of this ability before and cannot find anything on it in the archives. I am sure your will be able to help her learn to control this power and am eagerly awaiting a report on what she is capable. Signed Princess Celestia."

"Oh darn. Well Ah guess we'd better help 'er out." Applejack said.

"But didn't you want to throw her into the Everfree forest?" Rarity asked.

"Nope." Applejack lied, badly.

"Anyway, we should take Ignis out somewhere non-flammable location to help her learn how to control her power." Twilight said, picking the still sulking Ignis up in her magic and exiting the library

---

EXPOSITION!

---

Ignis looked around her, taking in the sights of a barren rocky field. She turned to look at the six ponies standing next to her. At their nods, she stepped forwards and made a motion with her hands. Which, instead of shooting plasma as it did earlier, shot a beam of light. With another nod, she tried to focus her mind, imagining a giant statue of a catgirl in front of her. The image firm in her head, she flicked her fingers and the air coalesced into a marble statue of a catgirl, much to her awe. "Holy shit! I can control matter!" She cheered, an absent flick of her hand blasted out a strong microwave burst that melted the the catgirl statue. Looking at the remnants of her surprising grasp on hr new power, she grinned sheepishly. "Or I guess I can control the basic building blocks of the universe?"

After several more hours of various experimenting, she had discovered she could only control so many particles at once before she reached the limit of her powers. With that knowledge firm in her mind, she returned to her hotel room and loaded up a random movie, settling down to watch her designated entertainment. for the night.

Author's Note:

Yup, I'll be writing each chapter as one whole day of her time in Equestria.