Chapter 3: Storm
- Asher -
Day two thought Asher, staring at the ceiling. Those were the very first words that crossed his mind when he woke up at 6 in the freaking morning, unable to sleep any longer.
To say his dreams were strange would be an understatement. Asher couldn't quite remember much about them in particular, except that they had been extremely weird, maybe even more so than the day that led up to it. The result had been a restless sleep and here he was, awake before the sun could even reach their house, and there was no way he could get back to sleep even if he wanted to.
It didn't bode well for the day, because he had hardly been able to fall asleep in the first place. True his original ideas had been hastily constructed, but to have them so quickly frustrated by his short-sighted brother was supremely annoying. The consequence was his brain running through every possible scenario he could think of and not stopping until well into the early morning. He loved his brother, but sometimes he just wanted to strangle that kid.
Never mind he thought, throwing his covers off. Twilight seems reasonable. I'll talk to her about it.
Asher had no idea when to expect the purple pony to show up. He hadn't asked mostly because he wasn't sure how they kept track of time. Heck, he had only assumed that they even slept at night, one of the many unknowns that he had been bouncing around his mind in his fruitless efforts to sleep.
So he went ahead and changed out of his pajamas, something he didn't typically do until after breakfast, and went downstairs as quietly as he could. It was likely his family hadn't slept well either, but they were not as susceptible to anxiety as he was so they would be sleeping in to make up for it.
Breakfast was simple: Eggo waffles topped with peanut butter and maple syrup heated in the microwave. His family had a homemade waffle recipe that he much preferred, but he didn't feel particularly inclined to cooking so early. In fact, Asher didn't really feel like doing anything at 6:30 AM, just like any other reasonable human being. On the plus side, it would be the first sunrise in a very long time that he would actually get to watch.
Finishing his toaster waffles in only a few minutes, Asher plopped down on the couch in the family room. He looked out the window for a moment in the direction of the alien town. The cloud that had been literally dragged down to earth was low enough that it looked like fog from his vantage point. I'll have to remember to tell them they should probably let that thing go. He had noticed the diminutive cloud had actually shown up on the NWS website, and it would be rendered pointless anyway by the afternoon when a rain shower was supposed to come through.
Asher sat on the couch not moving and hoping that maybe he would doze off, but after just a few minutes it was abundantly clear that it still wasn't happening. Choosing the least mentally challenging activity available, Asher got up and shuffled over to the TV, opening the movie cabinet. After a little back and forth, he whimsically grabbed one of the Disney movies and slipped the DVD into the player.
Anne wandered in like a zombie before he had even gotten to the menu. She mumbled something that was probably supposed to be "Good morning" but came out as "gnmm nnin," and then she flopped down on the couch as well. He made sure the volume wasn't up too high before he pressed play, remembering a past experience where he failed to do so that resulted in "the Circle of Life" being blasted at 60 decibels just inches from his ears. He then sat down next to his sister, who sounded like she was already sleeping again, and was about to slip into movie vegetable mode when a light knock at the back door interrupted that.
A glance at the clock revealed it to be 6:41. Asher sighed and got up to answer the door. They're early risers. Great.
Sure enough, it was Twilight Sparkle, accompanied by Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and a small, purple dinosaur with green spikes.
"Hello, Asher, hope we're not too early," Twilight said brightly. Asher didn't reply right away, unable to look away from the bipedal reptile who appeared to be just as tired as Anne was. Asher opened his mouth to speak, closed it again, shook his head, and instead said, "Come on in."
Just go with it he thought as he stole another quick glance at it. Probably a pet.
Asher stepped aside, letting Twilight trot in immediately followed by the dinosaur. She had a couple of brown side-saddle bags that were bulging with what was obviously books. Rainbow Dash was less enthusiastic than her purple companion, giving a big yawn as she crossed the threshold, (but having just enough energy for a slightly suspicious glance at Asher) and Pinkie Pie was smiling but also appeared to be still shaking off the last of sleep.
Asher closed the door quietly, hoping to let his parents and brothers sleep to avoid any more awkward conversations for now. When he turned, the three ponies were staring wide-eyed at the TV.
- Twilight -
Twilight was a little shocked at what she was seeing. There was a black box showing moving, colored pictures in the middle of the house, with no projector in sight and no pops or whistles in the sound. The display looked like it was drawn, but it was moving just like they were real without any skips like the films they were used to. In the center of the screen a monkey was holding up what she inferred was a lion cub, judging by the beautiful lions behind the monkey, as a quieted but still powerful musical number crescendo-ed. When the music peaked, it suddenly stopped and the picture instantly changed to show the words "The Lion King."
"Don't have movies, I take it?" Asher had walked up beside her, looking down from his towering stature. He was only about two heads taller and probably barely weighed as much as her, but it was enough to make Twilight feel quite small when standing so close to him.
"We do have films, but nothing that looks like that," she said, watching as a mouse scurried across the box before being suddenly swatted by a large, clawed paw. That caused Twilight and her other friends to flinch, including getting a stifled squeal from Pinkie Pie.
"We call that animation. They make it by drawing all the frames, making them move little by little. Takes a while but looks pretty good dontcha think?"
Twilight nodded and couldn't help but watch for a couple of minutes, completely mesmerized by the beautiful drawing. If she didn't know what she did about this world, she would say it was magic. Twilight could tell that Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were equally impressed. Pinkie having already bounced onto the couch next to the little human girl, who jolted awake in surprise, while Rainbow Dash had put sidled up to the side of the couch with Spike absent-mindedly following, and was leaning against the huge, padded arm.
"Twilight, I got my stuff over here."
She looked up at the human, who was now standing in the doorway to the kitchen, patiently looking on. Twilight gave her head a quick shake to clear the distraction, remembering why she was here, and followed him into the kitchen. She noticed how he left the door deliberately open as they entered, leaving a clear view between herself and her friends. She also noticed that he was still staring in Spike's direction.
"Don't worry. He may be a dragon but Spike is as docile as they come," Twilight reassured. "He makes pretty good cookies."
"Dragon," repeated Asher, still looking over. "Right."
On the table was a large, white pad and a thin object that looked kind of like a folded, metal book but it was otherwise clean. Twilight unstrapped her saddle bags with her teeth as Asher looked on with undisguised curiosity. She set it down, the weight of the books landing louder than she expected on the wooden floor. The noise snapped Asher back to attention, getting him to walk over to her.
"I have a bunch a questions for you if we're gonna have any chance of figuring this out, and I bet you do for me too so I figured we'd alternate," Asher said, pulling out a chair and then sitting down in different one. A chair for her she assumed.
"Okay, I like that plan. Can I go first?" Twilight responded, walking to the chair.
"Fine by me."
"Ok, why did you lie to everypony yesterday?"
Asher looked at her in an obvious expression of surprise, though to her own stupefaction he didn't even look angry in the slightest. In fact, after a moment he chuckled quietly.
"Was it that obvious?" he asked grinning broadly, lifting the bill of his ball cap a little.
"Not really, but I've learned how to recognize when it happens," said Twilight, allowing a smile of her own. Her first run-in with Discord came to mind, not to mention the fiasco before her brother's wedding. Plus she was friends with Rainbow Dash, who tried to bluff her way out of trouble at least two times a week.
Asher looked contemplative for a moment, folding his hands together and resting his chin on them as he did so.
"My turn. If you knew I was bluffing, why did ya take the advice anyway?" he finally inquired. Twilight lifted herself onto the chair, perching there comfortably before answering.
"Because the kind of being that would stand between a helpless filly and a monster from another world isn't the kind that does something without a good reason." Twilight meant every word of that. Timberwolves were terrifying in the highest sense, and they would eat a pony without any hesitation. Even a creature the size of Asher would usually think twice about it.
Asher looked surprised again, and this time his cheeks turned a tinge red. Oh my Celestia, he's embarrassed! He never struck me as the humble type.
"So... are we really in danger?" Twilight asked, deciding to switch the subject back.
"I doubt it. I may not trust them all the time, but the government isn't run by monsters," he said, leaning backwards and balancing his chair on its back two legs. "And I respect soldiers more than almost anyone else. Heck, my family has had a lot them."
"So why the all the hiding then?"
"Because I watch too many movies."
Twilight raised an eyebrow at him. Asher snorted a laugh and continued.
"I hadn't intended to make a scene like that, but I hadn't expected David to be so stubborn and then scare ya'll like that, so in the moment it was all I could think of," he explained. He landed his chair again and kept going. "See, my Dad did have some things right. The very worst they would do is probably cordon you off from everyone else for safety, and overall I can't imagine it being worse than what you're doing now. Our family is far enough away that we would probably be fine, even if they find out first. Honestly, I'm a little surprised the National Guard hasn't shown up already."
Twilight tilted her head in confusion for a moment.
"Actually, that's been bugging me. Why would they do that?" she asked. Asher delayed answering, looking at the ceiling as he thought.
"They're obligated to make sure that whatever arrives here is safe to everybody who lives here. And, well, Dad was also right that people don't always react very nicely to people different than them," he finally said, frowning a little.
"You did."
"That's what you think," he said. Worry momentarily spiked in Twilight, but she un-tensed when she realized he was joking.
"I told the truth when I said I wanted to help ya'll get back," he continued. "But I thought it'd be good to plan just in case you can't, and my experience tells me that coming out on your own terms is always better than on someone else's."
Twilight listened in careful attention to detail as he talked. He seemed to be telling the truth, and he definitely knew what he was talking about. Twilight felt inclined to trust him, but there was something still bothering her: She had no idea what his motive was. She would like to think that he was just doing it out of the goodness of his heart, but Twilight had a lingering feeling that he stood to gain something though she didn't know what. But at this point, she didn't feel confident enough to go forward in this new world herself, so gathering her thoughts, she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. For now.
"How long did you have in mind for us to lay low?" asked Twilight, nodding to show she agreed with what he said.
"Four days," he replied resolutely. "I haven't figured out the exact details yet, but the best opportunity will be in three days after today."
"What's in four days?"
"Let's just say a couple of very important people are going to be in town. People who could help us more than any other," he said, grinning confidently. She felt he was telling the truth that he wanted to help them, but any filly could see he was enjoying it thoroughly.
"I think we can do it," said Twilight confidently, returning a grin of her own.
"Just like that?" Asher asked incredulously after a moment. "You found out I pretty much lied to you and you're just going to go along with it?"
"Well...yes."
Asher watched her with one of the deepest looks of contemplation she had ever seen, pony or otherwise, for a couple of moments before saying, "You're very trusting."
"Thank you."
Twilight smiled at him again, which Asher returned warmly as he sat up straight in his chair.
"Ok, so let's get to figuring out what got ya here in the first place," Asher said.
Asher reached for the folded book object and opened it. Twilight leaned over from her chair in fascination to get a closer look. It was some sort of machine! It had a flat, black surface just like the movie player in the other room, but smaller, and the bottom half was covered in little buttons that had letters, numbers, symbols, and a whole collection of other markings on them. It was like a typewriter, but flatter.
The black part came to life, brightly displaying a still picture of a beautiful mountain range and rows of random symbols on one side. Asher moved his fingers on a flat, boxed off part of the bottom and made it do a clicking sound. The screen lit up even brighter, with a mostly white display except for the big, colorful word in the center: Google.
'What's a google?' was what she wanted to ask, but she ended up just stammering to herself. If they had things like this without any inherent magic, what else could they do?
"This is called a computer, and with it I can access almost any of the information in the world we could need," he said proudly. Asher had a slightly smug grin on his face. He was obviously enjoying her amazement at what he probably considered normal and was reveling in it. Twilight got a hold of herself, and gave him her own smug, and slightly challenging, grin.
"Alright then. I don't want to brag, but research is my specialty," said Twilight. She activated her magic, opening the bags and levitating all the books from the floor to the table. She stacked them neatly, making sure she still had them in order to make them easier to organize. Then Twilight stretched her magic into the other room, gathering her scrolls, quills, and ink from Spike and setting them before her. She turned to Asher, about to suggest a starting place but stopped short. The human was looking from her to her things to the other room and back to her, all the while slack jawed and totally speechless. Twilight wondered what she did to cause -
Oh, right. Magic.
"How 'bout we start with that," Asher said, pointing with a single finger.
- Asher -
THEY'RE FREAKING TELEKINETIC!! he screamed internally. Asher thought he had mentally gotten over all the surprises, even the newest alien species that had sleepily stumbled through his door not ten minutes before. But this was a whole new level. Fortunately, he managed to suppress the urge to freak out and instead form an intelligent question.
"You have superpowers?" he blurted.
Ok, not that intelligent.
Twilight looked at him for a second after his question, and then promptly burst out laughing. She nearly fell out of her chair as she collapsed into her fit, clutching her sides with her front hooves just like a human would do. Asher buried his face in one of his palms, smiling at his own juvenile outburst. After a few moments, Twilight straightened and snorted away the last of her laughs so that she could talk.
"It's just magic. All unicorns can use it," she said, using a hoof to wipe away a tear.
They also cry when they laugh too hard. They have a lot of characteristics we would call human. the analysis side of Asher's brain noted while the rest of it tried to catch up. She called it magic, just like yesterday. Maybe they had some sort of extrasensory part of the brain that was electrically based. Would that even work? Telekinesis of any kind was something that belonged only in fiction, like Matilda and cheesy cartoons.
Get a hold of yourself! he mentally chided. Just because I don't know how doesn't mean it isn't happening. Pull yourself together! There's a talking, purple pony telling you this. You can figure it out later.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Asher and Twilight both almost fell out of their chairs at the sudden outburst from the other room that practically shook the house. Asher scrambled to the kitchen door, Twilight right behind, to see what was the matter. Rainbow Dash was hovering inches from the TV screen talking low and threateningly, and Pinkie was recoiled in horror on the couch, squeezing Anne and Spike in a double vice-grip hug.
"Scar! You no good, dirty rotten, son of a..." Rainbow was cursing but you could barely hear her because Pinkie was rapidly repeating:
"Please be alright, please be alright, please be alright!"
On the screen, Asher recognized the scene were Simba finds Mufassa dead after the stampede. From the stairs came the sound of pounding feet, and a moment later his Mom and Dad were peering over the stair railing. He noticed his mom was actually carrying a baseball bat, and that was all that was needed to end Asher's composure.
Asher started laughing loudly, having to support himself against the frame of the doorway as he did so. He laughed his way back into the kitchen and leaned with two hands on the table, his own laughing fit robbing him of breath.
"Is everything alright down here?" he heard is mom call out.
"It's okay Mom!" Asher answered between guffaws. "Just some - snort - old fashioned - ha ha he- Shakespearean drama!"
He kept laughing, and it was apparently infectious as Twilight started laughing too. It was several minutes before Asher and Twilight finally shook it off and sat down once again at the table, scrolls, computer, and notepads at the ready.
"Okay, how about we make a list of everything that happened before you were transported from, er, Equestria, right? From Equestria to Colorado," said Asher, fingers on the keys.
- Twilight -
The hours passed surprisingly quickly, and before she knew it, it was nearly three in the afternoon. They had figured out some very interesting things as they talked and shared information. One spooky thing was how many parallels the two worlds had. Speaking the same language, using the exact same reckoning of time, including the names of the days and months, even the use of miles and miles per hour. Twilight and Asher agreed that their worlds may have some sort of deep connection that lead to this, and may be why they ended up here. But beyond that, they had nothing.
The Burgess family had spread out all over the house as the morning had progressed, taking care of various chores and other activities. Asher and Twilight had finally been pulled out of their research when Candace had interrupted them to ask about lunch.
Twilight finally realized the mess they were making. They were quite literally writing down everything, even the ridiculous ideas that they, or somepony walking by, happened to mention. They'd already filled several large pages full of notes made by his blocky print and her loopy cursive.
"I'm still thinking wormhole, but the lightning just doesn't make sense with anything that I've ever read," Asher said.
"Me neither. I asked Rainbow Dash and she said even she's never seen lightning like that. And her mother used to work with the Lightning Corps."
"Einstein said wormholes would be like funnels through space and time, stretching from one point to another," said Asher, drawing a rough sketch on one of the pads next to the extensive notes.
"Like teleportation?" Twilight suggested. Asher stared at her a moment, shrugged, but then wrote the word "teleportation" on the paper in big letters. He'd been doing that "look then shrug" thing a lot all day.
"Um...Twilight, what kinda food do ya eat?" Twilight looked up to see Candace waiting for an answer and looking a little awkward in doing so.
"Oh, you don't have to do that," answered Twilight politely. "Me and my friends can return to Ponyville for lunch."
"Unh-uh, I insist," she replied. "So what'll it be? I have all sorts of fruits and vegetables."
Twilight could see the same kind of determination to be a good host she had often seen with the Apple Family, and that no was not an option. She affirmed that they ate veggies and fruits and tried to go back to their project. Asher was rubbing his temples as he stared at his computer screen.
"Now I'm wishing I had taken that advanced physics course last semester, but I took that dang Honors PolSci class instead," said Asher, sighing and typing something else into the all-knowing Google search.
"Why'd you do that?" asked Twilight curiously.
"One of my professors said it would 'give me an advantage ," he replied with an edge of venom. What's that about?
"At least you know it now. Princess Celestia always told me that all knowledge will one day benefit the student who takes the time to learn it," Twilight offered, opening the Weather Phenomenons Guide to the lightning section again.
"I've been meaning to ask you about that," said Asher, leaning back from his computer. "So, are you just a student of this Princess or you actually royalty yourself?"
"Well, I started out as her student when I was a little filly, but a couple years after I moved to Ponyville, I...." Twilight hesitated. She didn't understand it fully herself yet, having become an Alicorn Princess just a couple weeks before this whole things started. "I was coronated just a little while ago."
Asher nodded. Apparently her answer had probably just been confirmation of what he had already figured out.
"So your leaders are picked out by way of schooling," he said airily. "Interesting method."
Twilight hoped he didn't press the question. She wasn't comfortable with the idea of being royalty yet herself, especially since the Mayor already was relying on her heavily ever since the Event, as she and Asher had termed it. Thankfully it seemed he had just asked the question to distract his mind a little.
"Here you go, Twilight," Candace got her attention again, setting down a plate in front of her. On it was a long sandwich with big, poofy looking bread
"It's a veggie sub sandwich," said Candace. "No meat."
Meat? Twilight thought in alarm. They eat meat? But that had seemed so unlikely. Their teeth didn't appear very sharp and they didn't have any claws like Griffons, so Twilight had assumed they were mostly herbivoric like them, perhaps with eggs or something as well. She realized that she probably seemed rude just sitting and staring at the food, and she could ask more about it later, so she thanked Candace and lifted the sandwich with her magic to take a bite, pushing the thoughts of meat out of her head. Good thing, because the sandwich was positively delicious.
"Wow, Mrs. Burgess, this sandwich is fantastic!"
"I know right?" Patrick said, walking into the kitchen (but still keeping his distance from Twilight).
"Mom bakes the bread herself," added Asher. "I'm not sure I could even eat store-bought bread again."
Twilight might have to agree. She had tasted many homemade treats made by the Apples and the Cakes, but neither family did much in the way of bread except for the occasional rolls (which were to die for). But if this was any indication, the Burgess family had some good cooking of their own.
"Rainbow! Pinkie! Spike! You should try these sandwiches!"
The two ponies came in, followed closely by Anne and Spike, and all four chattering away about what had been the third movie of the day. Earlier in the day, Twilight had introduced Spike to Asher and the Burgesses, all of whom were a little insistent that he was a dinosaur. That is until he demonstrated a short burst of his flame, and they were convinced of his dragon status. The incident had led to a long discussion about dragons in Equestria, and how there were none save in legend in the human world.
"It was so funny when Po got bounced around that obstacle course!" Pinkie said giggling
"And that big kung-fu fight at the end was Awesome!" Rainbow Dash said, punching a hoof into the air.
Candace graciously made two more of the veggie sandwiches, which were greedily consumed at breakneck pace. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash also agreed as to the splendid taste of the sandwich, Pinkie even asking for another one. The family also brought out something they called 'soda' from their big icebox, a drink that tasted delightfully tangy with citrus and bubbled so much it tickled Twilight's lips as she drank it.
A knock at the back door froze everypony for a moment, but upon Andrew opening the door it was revealed to be Rarity, who was wearing one of her many chapeaus. Twilight excused herself from the kitchen to talk to the white unicorn.
"Wow, I really like your hat!" Anne was saying, looking starstruck. Anne was constantly saying things like how adorable and cute all of them looked, sometimes reminding Twilight of both Pinkie and Rarity in that way. Rarity was all too happy to receive the praise.
"Why, thank you. I made it myself!" Rarity said, brimming.
"Hello, Rarity. We're just having some lunch, you wanna come in?"
"Sorry, Twilight, I'm afraid the Mayor needs to talk to you," she reported. Twilight nodded in acknowledgement, trying not to laugh as Rarity stared with unabashed curiosity at the various humans looking on. Twilight called to Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, and Spike, telling them that they needed to go back to Ponyville, much to their disappointment.
Twilight gathered her own scrolls and books back into her bags, the humans watching in awe as she levitated them, and strapped the saddlebags onto her back. She thanked Asher and promised to return the next day, to which he asked that maybe they'd come a little later instead, citing something about starting after the sun came up.
As she walked out the door and into the yard, Twilight stopped in her tracks.
"What's up Twilight? We leaving or not?" asked Rainbow Dash, in a much better mood than she had been that morning.
"Hold on, I want to check something," she replied. Twilight gathered her concentration and cast the magic detection spell she had used several times so recently. What she found this time was puzzling.
"That's strange," she muttered.
"What's strange, Twilight?" Pinkie Pie asked, looking a little concerned.
"Yesterday when I would check for a natural magic field, I could only feel it around Ponyville, or when I was standing near another Pony. But today, I can feel it all the way over here," she explained, poking her hoof into the manicured grass.
"Ooooooo," awed Pinkie. "So what does it mean?"
Twilight started walking again as she said, "I have no idea."
"No way! Me too!" Pinkie said happily, bouncing along after them. Twilight laughed while Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.
- Same Day - NASA Research Center - Mountain View, CA
"And you're sure it's not coming from the sun?"
"No, sir. I triple checked the solar output and it's at normal levels."
"And the magnetosphere?"
"Again, the readings indicate it is unchanged. The atmospheric interference is. as far as we are able to see, unrelated. Maybe it's just fluke lightning activity. Besides, it doesn't appear to be dangerous. An airliner actually flew through one of them."
"One is an anomaly, two is fluke, three is a pattern"
"What's the pattern sir? The locations seem totally random, and all three have been different in strength."
"But they're getting more frequent, and that last one over Africa was massive. We can't just write this off."
"I still think we need more data to be conclusive. If it happens again than we can say for sure if there really is a pattern. Sir you have to remember we don't have the budget to deviate, so we should be positive."
....
"Fine, we'll wait and see. But if I see any indication of this getting more frequent and there's even a chance that's it's dangerous, I'll go to Homeland Security if I have to."
- Rainbow Dash - Day Three -
"Twilight, how much longer do we have to keep doing this?" asked Rainbow Dash, hovering inches from the ground. The movies had been fun, but the only time Twilight had allowed her, or any pegasi, to fly higher than a few feet was two days before when she went up and grabbed that cloud. Apparently the chance of being spotted before they were ready was too high, even way out here in the middle of nowhere. Even from the highest point on the way to the Burgess home, they couldn't even see another human building. Just a distant road with what Rainbow assumed were carts moving along it.
"Asher says he has a plan for two days from now, so just until then, Rainbow," answered Twilight, trotting along briskly. They had waited to around 9 this time to come, so Rainbow at least felt more awake this time, but Twilight was obviously anxious to get back into her egg-head study with Asher.
Rainbow heaved an over-dramatic sigh, dragging one of her hooves along the ground.
"Rainbow Dash! What kind of fun things do you think they'll have today?" Pinkie asked, going sidelong with Rainbow Dash in her deer-like gait.
"Do you think they'll have another movie?" That was Sweetie Bell. Her, Scootaloo, and Applebloom had begged to tag along, and were permitted only to do so with Applejack accompanying them. The orange farm-pony was bringing up the rear of the group, just happily taking in the tall, mountain scenery around them.
"Oh yeah! They had hundreds!" Pinkie answered joyfully. The Crusaders, whom had been given intimate details of what Pinkie, Dash, and Spike had watched by the pink pony the night before, jumped and clapped their hooves together as per they usually did when celebrating.
When they reached the house, Twilight politely knocked on the back door while Rainbow Dash scanned the sky. She hadn't seen any flying humans yet and she was really hoping to catch a glimpse of one. After all, how else would they get their weather?
Asher answered the door and let them in, though he wasn't initially paying attention to the ponies. The family was talking among one another.
"But we go every year!" Jonathon said in a pleading voice.
"I know, but we have different circumstances this year," answered back the Mom, giving a pointing glance at the ponies as they walked in. Oh, now we're a 'circumstance.' It's not our fault we're stuck here.
"I don't see why ya'll can't go Mom. It's not like it'll make any real difference," said Asher nonchalantly. Then Rainbow watched his face get a little mischievous as he said, "In fact, it would probably be more suspicious if you didn't."
"Asher, stop teasing your mother," said the Dad. "Honey, I think it'll be fine to go see the Thunderbirds."
Candace looked unsure for a second, but then relented, "Ok, everybody who's going get ready. I'll be staying though."
"Don't worry, Mom, I'll be here too," said Asher, beckoning to Twilight.
Before they could even leave the room Pinkie Pie asked, "What are the Thunderbirds?"
"Stunt fliers!" said Patrick excitedly, recoiling after he realized how jaunty he had just been and heading out of the room. Guy still scared of us, huh? thought Rainbow Dash, even as her own interest level rose rapidly.
"They perform every year for the Air Force Academy graduation," explained Asher, standing in the doorway to the kitchen. "It's kind of like a big party for everyone over in the Springs."
"We gotta go see that!" Rainbow burst, in exact sync with Pinkie Pie and Scootaloo. Twilight opened her mouth to protest, as well as Asher, but Rainbow didn't let them.
"I haven't been allowed to really fly for nearly two days!" she complained. "At least let me see how humans fly! C'mon! Maybe you'll get some crazy idea about how to get home just from watching them!"
Rainbow Dash didn't have a very good pleading face, but fortunately Pinkie Pie did. And even hers paled in comparison to the Crusader's combined powers. Asher and Twilight both looked overwhelmed by the wide, pleading eyes before them. They looked at each other, each begging for the other's help with their eyes.
"Twilight..."
"Yes?"
"I'm a sucker for puppy-dog eyes."
Both Asher and Twilight sighed simultaneously. They're practically clones of each other thought Rainbow Dash.
"Fine," said Asher. "I know a place off the old Denver Highway where no one will be. We could probably watch from there and be seen by no one."
"YES!" Rainbow Dash yelled in celebration, somersaulting in the air and barely missing the ceiling.
"Simmer down, Dash. Ya don't wanna put a hole in their wall," said Applejack, steadying a lamp that Rainbow's wind nearly knocked over. Rainbow complied and set lightly onto the floor next to Applejack.
"MOM! I'll need to take the van!" called Asher, walking after his parents towards the front of the home. Rainbow Dash followed him, having never been to that part of the house before.
"What for?" his mother replied.
"They wanna see the jets. I'm gonna take 'em to Mt. Herman," Asher explained. Candace reached into her pants pockets and pulled out a small set of keys, handing them to Asher and telling him to be careful before disappearing to another part of the house.
"Hey ya'll! Come out through the front!" he then called before walking out himself. Rainbow Dash didn't wait for the others, zipping out after him excitedly.
The front of the house had a well tended yard of grass, but it also had a huge, grayish rock slab on one side. Parked on the slab were three strange, wagon-like contraptions the likes of which Rainbow Dash had never seen. Most of the Burgess family had climbed into one of these, a silver colored one, and then it began to move like it was being pulled by invisible ponies. It had a low growling sound as it moved, driving off down the wide dirt path towards the distant road.
Asher walked up to another, boxy shaped one and slid open a side door.
"Ya'll jump on in. The windows are tinted so nobody should be able to see ya," said Asher. Scootaloo, Sweetie Bell, and Applebloom blazed forward without hesitation and jumped into one of the human-sized seats together. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Twilight squeezed their way into the "van." They left the front, right seat open because the windows there were clear.
Asher jumped into the front seat, which had a wheel, put the keys into a small lock, and brought it to life with a turn. He then pulled a little lever and did something with his feet, and they lurched forward just like the other one. It traveled even smoother than a train as it rolled down the dirt path and reached the road.
"Wow, how did you get it into one big rock?" asked Twilight, leaning forward and trying to see the black surface better.
"We call it asphalt, it's a rock mixture that's heated up, then they spread it out and cool it to make the road," summarized Asher. "It's easier and safer to drive on than dirt."
Asher turned left onto the road, and accelerated. Dash was surprised as they gained speed, and soon they were moving much quicker than any pony could run. Other vehicles passed them going the other way on the opposite side of the lines the ran down the middle. Twilight would ask different questions about the rules and how things worked as Asher controlled the van through its winding curves. Rainbow Dash had to admit it was impressive. Equestria had rudimentary engines that would self-propel vehicles, but none of them could move very fast at all, and especially not this quietly.
But it was when they came out from behind the mountain that Rainbow Dash felt her jaw drop. She had seen big cities before like Manehatten and Baltimare, but what was impressive about this one was how far it spread, from horizon to horizon. There were massive roads with hundreds, no, thousands of vehicles of every size and color, and there were buildings and large houses that were too numerous to count. Rainbow couldn't see any humans specifically other than a handful in the front seat of some passing vehicles, but there had to be thousands.
"Welcome to Colorado Springs, Colorado,. Population: 300,000," said Asher like he was a tour guide, even sweeping a free hand.
"300,000?" exclaimed Applejack. "Landsakes! That's 'bout as much as Fillydelphia, ain't it?"
"Close, Fillydelphia has a little bit more, though it's nowhere near as big as Manehatten," Twilight stated.
"Fillydelphia and Manehatten huh? No kiddin," remarked Asher quietly. "Actually, it's not even the biggest city in our state let alone the country. Denver is just about an hour north, and it has over a million people. Maybe one day you can see Manhatten, there's about six million there."
"Wow!" Twilight exclaimed. "And you made up for your lack of magic by creating technology."
"I guess you could say that," said Asher thoughtfully.
Ok, so these humans are even more impressive than I thought. mused Rainbow Dash.
"But you can fly," said Rainbow Dash, phrasing it more like a question than a statement.
"Well, not on our own like you. A little over a hundred years ago we built machines called airplanes to help us do that," said Asher. "The first ones could barely get off the ground, but now we have ones that can go faster than the speed of sound. Several times faster actually."
"So is that how you do the weather?" Dang, I sound like an egg-head right now.
Asher craned his neck to look back at Rainbow for a moment before turning back to watch the road.
"I don't think I get the question," he said.
"Well, who makes your weather and pushes it around so that you get your rain or keep the sky clear? Sheesh, it's pretty simple," specified Rainbow. She had already been disappointed that apparently humans can't fly on their own, and was worried about the answer to this question being just as lame.
"No one," said Asher. "It works and moves naturally. We can't control it at all. Wait! Did you learn to move clouds by doing that?"
"You mean the clouds are made and move all on their own!?" Twilight asked, voicing the same shocked question all of them had. "But that sounds like..."
"The Everfree Forest!" all the ponies finished together. That was much worse than lame. It was dangerous. It was -
"But that- That just ain't natural!" said Applejack. Asher was looking positively lost as to what to say, and he ended up not saying much at all for the next several minutes as the ponies fretted some more.
"Ok, girls, calm down!" Twilight finally said in a commanding tone. "We've already been here almost three days and nothing bad has happened yet!"
That calmed down the ponies enough to settle into a slightly awkward silence. Rainbow Dash found herself staring out at the beautiful scenery. The weather wasn't controlled, but today it was still beautiful even with the large but fairly sparse clouds. And the view of the mountains from this side was fantastic, particularly of the big one in the center.
"That's Pikes Peak. 14,110 feet, or 2.6 miles tall," recited Asher, stating it in a way like it was a source of pride.
"Pfft, I've flown that high before," said Rainbow, trying to sound unimpressed despite the fact she was, knowing it would mess with Asher a little. Cloudsdale usually floated at around that height except when around Canterlot, when it raised itself to get over the mountains easier. It was not an easy height for somepony not used to it. Fluttershy could hardly even fly at that elevation with her weak wing-power because of the thin air.
Asher also pointed out the Air Force Academy as they passed it, explaining how a lot of the pilots were trained there but how it was also a full-function university.
As they passed the strange looking school and continued north on the huge highway, Pinkie Pie started a game of counting the different "car" colors and seeing who could find the most of each one with the crusaders. Soon Rainbow and Applejack had joined in and it became a ruthless competition.
By the time Asher finally made a turn off on a road titled "Baptist Rd.," Applejack and Rainbow Dash had claimed 32 red cars each and were straining their eyes for new ones.
"There's one!" Rainbow Dash called as they took the bridge over the highway.
"That don't count! You already used that one earlier!" Applejack argued.
"Oh, you definitely saw that one earlier, Dashie! I remember, it had the little yellow ball on the wire thingy!" Pinkie Pie said bubbily.
"Aw, Pinkie!"
- Asher -
I don't think a roadtrip with these ponies could ever possibly be boring thought Asher as he drove down into the backroads. His family had lived in the area before his Dad's retirement, so he knew them well. Soon, there were no more buildings. He went down the Old Denver Highway towards the lower Mt. Herman campground. It was the middle of the week, so when they reached it, there was predictably no campers.
Asher stopped and got out, looking around to make sure nobody was really around before he told his passengers that it was clear.
"Stay on this side of the van just in case someone pulls up, that way you could all get in quickly," he suggested. The ponies nodded and stretched as they got out, looking around in excitement. The three littlest in particular seemed like they could barely contain it. Asher could understand why, betting he had felt the exact same way when he walked into Ponyville for the first time. True, he wasn't trying to hide from them, but still.
They didn't have to wait long for the show to start.
"Look! Here they come!" Asher said, pointing to the north. The F-16 jets roared overhead in formation on their way to the graduation flyover, only a thousand feet or so off the ground and the sound seemingly shaking the earth.. Even though he'd seen them before they were still awe inspiring, and he could see the ponies felt the same thing twenty fold.
"WOW!" Scootaloo thrilled, jumping and buzzing from her perch on Rainbow Dash's back and onto the hood of the car. Asher flinched at the weight but decided she probably couldn't do any damage as long as she didn't jump up and down.
They watched the sky in fascination as the stunt jets went into huge circles and pulled aileron rolls over the town, all the while staying in formation. The ponies ooh'd and aah'd just like young children. Asher couldn't help but envy their innocent nature. Even though they were clearly intelligent, probably even more so than humans in some areas, they still seemed to maintain the mindset of young children. This even though, upon an earlier question from Asher, he had learned that they were roughly close in age to himself.
He turned to watch the ponies for a second as the Thunderbirds made another pass. He wished he had thought to bring a camera with him, because their expressions were priceless.
But something was....missing. Asher looked around and in the car for a second and peered into the woods. He silently counted.
"Isn't there supposed to be a Rainbow one of you?" Asher asked, still rotating and looking for the pegasus. The ponies looked at each other and realized the same thing.
"Oh, she better not have done anything -" Twilight started.
"Look! She's up there!" Scootaloo called out, pointing upwards.
"She did," finished Twilight as Asher whipped around to look at the sky. To his shock, it looked like a rainbow-colored missile was streaking through the sky. Rainbow Dash had an impossible contrail at speeds he wouldn't have thought even possible for a living creature. She streaked right towards the speeding jets, and proceeded to literally fly circles around them before pulling up and away. The jets scrambled apart into a loose formation, obviously taken completely off guard. Asher couldn't imagine what the pilots were thinking. Or what they had seen.
She was truly booking it, outstripping the jets easily as she looped back around from her skyward rise. Asher couldn't believe how fast she was moving. Easily faster than sound, probably way more as she made towards the Earth. Then the sky, and Asher's mind, exploded.
An immense shock wave bursting with every color of the rainbow was spreading over the entire city, encompassing several miles in mere seconds. Asher stumbled backwards and landed on his backside, unable to look away from the colorful blast. It raced by overhead, accompanied first by an explosion sound and then a strange sound which Asher had nothing to compare to. The jets dove towards the Earth to avoid it as the wave passed at high altitude, barely missing the top of Pikes Peak.
Part of him wanted to pick it apart and figure out what was going on, but he could barely hear that part because the rest of his mind was stunned. Rainbow Dash, now sans her impossible rainbow contrail, landed among the group, looking pretty pleased with herself.
"Now that's how you fly," she said smugly.
The only cognitive words that managed to make it through Asher's mind, and he actually said them out loud, were:
"We're all freaking screwed."
- Peterson Air Force Base - Colorado Springs, CO -
"What the heck was that!?"
"An aircraft?"
"Too small, too fast!"
"I want all stations on full-alert! Get those birds out of the air and back to base!"
"Maybe it was a drone!"
"From where!? We detected nothing until it was right on top of us!"
"Stop this and shut up! All of you alert squadron commanders that they are to be ready to fly at a moments notice! Contact NORAD and see what they know..."
"Yes sir!"
"And for heaven's sake! Can someone tell me what in the name of Sam Houston just invaded our airspace?"
"Sir, I got Washington on the line and they wanna know the same thing..."
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God. DAMNIT.
RAAAAAAAAAIIIIIINNNNNBOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!
Okay I can't resist but think this:
You post a new chapter right before I got to bed
I need sleep dang it
This chapter has just earned a "Dammit, Dash."
Dammit, Dash.
Oh, hey, my hometown got mentioned!
Also, goddammit
LeeroyRainbow.Rainbow Dash you stupid horse.
You just scared the US military and Government.
The shit is going to hit the fan so hard, Rainbow you dun goofed YA DUN GOOFED.
CONSEQUENCES. WILL NEVER BE. THE SAME!!!
Ah man, Rainbow! Now look what have you done!
... Rainbow Dash deserves a major slap right now for her utter stupidity. Not cockiness, stupidity. That was one of the dumbest things I've ever seen her do.
...Nice. Good job, Dash. Guy tells you to lay low because government, so you pull the ATOMIC RAIN-NUKE in government airspace, alongside government planes, DURING AN AIR SHOW FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT, just to be a show-off. Nice job, stupid.
Like the story so far. Keep it up!
Also found some mistakes:
should be his
and
After the is there should be a comma instead of a period.
Need a period after pattern.
God dammit Rainbow
Twilight should have tied down her wings with magical ropes or something before allowing her along, because I can't say I'm quite surprised this happened .... should have known better. I hope Rainbow gets seriously chewed out for this bullheaded move when they are explicitly trying to stay hidden for now, and not one of Twilight's typically friendly lectures that she gets to shake off, because she just jeopardized the plans and preparations of a whole freaking town and potentially put them in a worse situation. Just ... urgh.
---
Rainbow's piggheaded recklessness aside, I might have a theory as to what's going on, what with even more lightning storms appearing all over the world ... and I bet that, if one were to closer examine those places, they would find some pretty interesting things.
With all the obvious parallels between Equestria and Earth (And all of our ancient legends featuring creatures of myth that are part of everyday life in Equestria) it's obvious some sort of a connection between the worlds existed at one point ... or, I'd dare to say, perhaps at one point our worlds were one and the same, with something happening in the past we'd consider beyond ancient that caused them to split. I wonder if Celestia/Luna (or Discord) know anything about this ...
I imagine some sort of a lingering connection might have remained (which would explain the language and naming parallels between modern cities), but whatever caused the original separation is, evidently, coming to an end or being reversed and it looks like the worlds are sort of starting to merge back together. I sort of expect more and more of Equestria/their whole world to start popping up all over the place ... even the locations seem to match up perfectly - I mean, Ponyville still gets to sit in their valley and the bridge was still placed over a river like it was in Equestria, as if it was always meant to be there. And there are mountains not far from Ponyville for Canterlot to rest on ... Might also be why she is starting to sense more magic al around the place, other things might be ripe for popping up ...
Holy smokes, if this indeed is what's happening, this is going to be big. A whole new biosphere, hydras, manticores, quarry eels ... dragons. Whole new nations appearing all over the place ... yeah, this will devolve in to so much chaos that Discord will be tickled pink.
Assuming I'm not way out in the left field, of course :P Either way, looking towards how this whole thing is about to go down.
---
On another note (and because I don't particularly care for this false trope being employed) - the "ponies" from MLP are not herbivores and are perfectly omnivorous. We see them consume things like eggs and dairy products in the show (which, incidentally means they are perfectly capable of consuming and processing meat as well, though obviously don't ... all animal life in Equestria seems frighteningly intelligent after all, with some species like cows being pretty much sapient, and I suppose it might not appeal to their taste buds in the first place), so ... while not incorrect for them to say that veggies and fruits are just fine, green stuff is hardly the limit (nor their in-show sole preference) for their diet :P
I'll be moving back to Colorado Springs in late August for College (I attend UCCS), it's a beautiful city, very picturesque. Also, my little brother's name is Asher....... This is getting a little weird for me.
4696151 Raaaaaainbooooooooow Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaash!
So, now, because they didn't immediately inform the gov't, and Rainbow just scared the shit out of the Air Force, the ponies are going to be national security breach number one, and the Burgesses are going to be jailed for treason. Joy.
If the Burgesses don't get their door kicked in by spec ops and Ponyville doesn't get quarantined by the military, this story is going to lose my vote of confidence. If you piss off the US gov't and the armed forces, there are going to be consequences. We had better see some consequences, next chapter.
Also, I hope to god you don't show President Obama in this story.
We don't need the fundraiser-in-chief. :P
EDIT: Huh. Wonder what's up with the downvotes?
4696436 In an effort to remain mostly neutral, I'm just going to make up the president. No worries for anybody there.
She just HAD to do a Sonic Rainboom!
4696345 actually the word was had not and
Rainbow better get in trouble for this because what she just did was beyond stupid it was full blown retard.
And i bet she wouldn't be so smug if she could see how fast those jets can really go the only reason they didn't leave her in the dust is because her sudden appearance freaked them out
Rainbow better get chewed out severely for this. She needs to realize the consequences of her actions are very serious.
Rainbow...
mememagnetic.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/what-have-you-done-meme-rage-face.jpg
Rainbow in this story is an idiot. I don't care how restless you are, when you are on an ALIEN planet, you shut up, sit down and do as you are told. (not saying this is out of character for RD mind you.)
I'd like to volunteer as an editor for you. You will probably be the eighth person I've edited for within the last few months.
Also,
This is the one thing that I still remembered by time I finished the story. When I read with editing in mind I can catch almost anything.
Due to my schedule, I can get most things edited in a very snappy fashion except in the morning. Just a warning, I am best in sentence wording and grammar and I am less good at the finer points of punctuation. I also would like to recommend picking up more than just one editor.
4696475 We all appreciate that.
What I'm not too sure of is how you have Rainbow holding the idiot ball here. I man, c'mon, I know the fandom likes to have her portrayed as an idiot, but she's really not. If anything the "Testing, Testing, 1,2,3,4" episode shows that she actually has a very keen mind, just that it's not always focused. I'm pretty sure "being thrown into an alternate world of aliens" would be enough to focus her so she wouldn't mess it up.
All in all, it felt rather heavy-handed, the actions of an author fiat and not a natural character behavior. Rather disappointing.
Dont worry, I freaking say freaking all the time.
My prediction is that since the sky was mostly open, the gov. will use their satellites to follow rainbows trail, to find the van, and then follow it home... Dun Dun DUUUUUN!
I have but one thing to say to Dash.
fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2014/128/1/3/you_have_f____up_now_by_zutheskunk-d7hmanb.png
4696171 And its the U.S Government... Not wise!
Leroooy Dashhhhiiiieee!
Personally if I was in that situation and rainbow did that I would have taken all the other ponys back to their village apart from Rainbow I would have turned her into the government in a fit of rage!
Well Rainbow Dash gone and done it again and for that I loved it
Also laughed very hard at this and the us airforce reaction over it, it was the very best part at the end of the story.
Funny thing I been thinking for a few years doing something similar to this but never got to doing it because of my Zaps Apple story. Oh well.
Great story so far and keep it up
And when the government agents bust into the Burgess' house, Pinkie will be sitting on the couch watching a film. Because the raid will likely be loud, Pinkie will ask them all to raid more quietly because she's watching a movie and it's the polite thing to do. The agents will agree with her request, and a few seconds later, all of their brains will have to restart because of what just happened. And when they turn back to the couch area, Pinkie has gear on that's similar to their own.
Use that idea if you want.
And thus he promptly forgets to do just that.
On a different note, I've been to Pike's Peak
I actually have a stuffed cougar that I got from the gift shop that says 'Summit Pike's Peak' then the height of the mountain on it. We weren't able to go right to the top though, the roadway was blocked by snow(and we went in mid April too), but we got pretty far up.
So far so good. Keep up the good work
Though if that magic field growth thing the s out to be a prelude to a 'conversion bureau' sort of deal, then I'll not be amused
im starting to catch more tropes here mang.
"Humans react irrationally to things" trope: check
"Humans are irrational in general" trope: Check
Dude, stay away from those. It's those same tropes that cause fics like this to tank. Humans aren't as you described in this fic. If anything, from what the show has given us, the ponies are the most xenophobic race in existence (herd mentality.)
Humans revolve around the individual, so you can get mixed reactions. Some will question it, many will act in curiosity (wanting to learn more etc, etc), and fewer would be frightened. Some would even have no opinion at all. Humans don't act in a unit when it gets right down to what is in our nature. We are INDIVIDUALS not HERDS.
Rainbow Dash just fucked up! Big time!
Nice job, Rainbow Dash, you just put the country on DEFCON 3. You'd better hope that the military isn't particularly trigger-happy at the moment...
4696352
Yup. The whole "herbivores" thing always bugs me as well. They consume a metric f-ck ton of baked goods all the damn time. Just about EVERYTHING they eat has eggs in it. Which is somewhat disturbing considering the whole animal intelligence thing... It would be one thing if the chickens hadn't seemed just as intelligent as all the other creatures. I mean, the ponies are eating their unborn young. *shudder*
Rainbow, you freaking showboating dumbass.
I hope you enjoy your stint in a government lab.
If I were the Burgeses family I would turn in the ponies to the government before the stupid mentally impaired shit-tarded fucks do anything else that could harm people. It would also be nice to get some sort of reward money or at least become famous as being known for the people who turned in an entire town of dangerous fuck tards before they could kill anyone.
Great now the military is gonna be going over anything that could be a lead no matter how trivial and sending out recons until they find out exactly what happened. Also they might not be as friendly as they might have been if they just found them before Rainbow did that.
4696475
Try for a female president.
So close to "It's a bird! It's a plane!" and yet so far.
4697023 Ordinary eggs for consumption are unfertilized. Cultures that eat eggs with chicks actually in them exist, but are generally considered disturbing by the rest of us.
I heard someone call my name... Editor.
Uh oh. First the weather then this. Dammit! Stay Low!
4696772
Well, she could have fucked with the North Korean government...
4696487 my mistake
was reading it last night
at least you caught what i wanted to say
Good job with not confusing barrel rolls with an Alison roll.
Send in the navy seals and the secret military projects.
4697282 Yeah but its still like eating an intelligent animal's period
You know, for everyone calling Rainbow Dash an idiot, did anyone actually explain WHY she couldn't fly instead of just telling her not to?
stream1.gifsoup.com/view5/2438040/he-s-dead-o.gif
That's how I would describe Rainbow
Rainbow, those AAMRAM missiles could be really painful.