Two Worlds. One Fate.

by Requiem for Gods

The next morning

The next morning came late to the peaceful town of Ponyville, the reason being the royal sisters Celestia and Luna spent the night scouring the Everfree forest after Luna felt a surge of magic two nights ago. "Did you see anything big sister?"

"Nothing I'm afraid. Whatever happened the other night didn't leave any kind of scar on the land." replied Celestia her voice heavy with fatigue.

"How can that be!?" cried Lune, he voice thick with worry. "The amount of magic I felt last night was enough to level the entire forest. Surely it must have left some sign or clue as to what happened."

Celestia hated to say it but she was close to her limit. Yesterday she awoke early to deal with some issues between Equestria's borders and their northern neighbors in Draconia. The deliberations took the entire day, requiring her court to deal with most local matters; much to her irritation.

While Celestia didn't like dealing with all of Equestria's problems, she hated leaving such issues to the dukes and ladies that made up her court. Each and every one of them were descendants of long "noble" families, and while most started out decent enough, dabbling into Canterlot's political system quickly stripped them of their grace and honour. The beacon of honour and chivalry that was once her court, was now a burnt out candle befouling the air as it simple smoldered.

To this end, when she had left ruling Equestria to the court, it's member turned the entire day into a "power grab". Settling issues in ways that benefitted them and only them, furthermore if they could undercut the common pony they would; wearing sickening smiles the whole time. On more than one occasion Celetia dreamt of simply doing away with the court and establishing a new one of more appreciative ponies that would treat their duties with the dignity they deserved; as well as the little ponies. Twilight Sparkle and her friends often came to mind as prime candidates.

However, the laws were absolute. Celestia had promised their forefathers that their descendants would hold positions of authority for their services to Equestria, and disestablishment of the court would violate that contract. Regardless ultimate power lied with her on all matters, so while the court was a problem, so long as she ruled they were a minor inconvenience rather than any real threat.

Their greatest weapon as things were, was to try and bury her in litigation, red tape and bureaucracy, which only stalled her while they exploited any decision they made in her rare absences. Such was the case when Nightmare Moon had temporarily banished her to the sun. Instead of sending aid to Twilight and her friends, they imposed martial law throughout the land and took "liberties" in terms of control over their domains; all in the name of keeping the peace.

The situation was bordering on civil war by the time Luna had been saved by the Elements of Harmony, thereby freeing her from the sun. After returning to Canterlot with Luna, Celestia tried to undo all the chaos her court had enacted. By the time she dealt with removing martial law she thought she'd never undo all their power mongering. If not for Luna she might not have.

Luna, having spent a thousand years in suspended animation/banishment; something Celestia still hadn't forgiven herself for, had perfect recall on ancient laws and loopholes that cleared the way for Celestia to revoke the orders set up by her court. In what would have taken Celestia years to undo, Luna had wrapped up in mere days. This turn of events pleased Celestia to no end, the pony many in her court herald as their greatest gift, turn out to be their greatest enemy.

In truth Celestia had, over the year, became dependent on her little sister when it came to matters of litigation, something that she excelled at. 'Looking for this thing is the least I can do for her, seeing as how much she has done for her.' mussed Celestia as she spotted Fluttershy's cottage. 'Isn't that the home of the Element of Kindness? Fluttershy's the name if I'm not mistaken? Yes, I believe so, Twilight was very detailed about the little cottage so close to Everfree.'.

"Luna? We've both been up longer than we're used to. Perhaps it would be best if we took a quick break. Whatever caused that burst of magic will have to be powerful and I'd rather not face it tired. Do you agree?"

Luna was about to give a retort but when she saw the fatigue in her sisters eyes, she couldn't say no. "Yes, you are right big sister." Luna began to survey the area when her eyes came upon Fluttershy's cottage. "Look over yonder sister. Tis the home of dear Fluttershy, the wielder of kindness. Surely she will grant us haven while you...I mean we rest."

"I believe you are right." replied Celestia, giving no hint as to her knowledge of the home or it's inhabitants. "More so, we could ask her if she's seen anything out of the ordinary in the past couple nights."

Lune beamed at the prospect of talking to one of the ponies she deemed a friend and even more so, if it meant unraveling this mystery. "Of course! Come sister let us give haste!" Celestia allowed a silent giggle as she chased after her sister, these moments were pure nostalgia for the eternal princess. Nostalgia she always cherished.

Ponyville proper

As the royal sister committed themselves to the search of strange happenings over the Everfree Forest, two nurse ponies began their day. Redheart was the first to get up, though considering all she heard last night that didn't surprise her.

A sudden scuffling of hooves alerted Redheart she was about to have company. "Good Morning Tenderheart, you're up early." commented Redheart as her roommate entered the kitchen. "I would have thought you'd be upstairs asleep..."

As Tenderheart took a seat and began sipping her morning coffee Redheart added; with a sing song voice, "With Grey Wing."

Much to Redheart's irritation Tenderheart kept sipping her coffee without incident, almost as if she hadn't heard her. "Please, Redheart you have to get up earlier than that to get me. Besides, Grey Wing left a little bit ago through my window. You know, you and Mystic Ivory made a nice couple last night..." unlike Tenderheart, Redheart was as shy as a school filly; and Tenderheart knew it, "Maybe if you showed him your stables you'd get him to stay."

Redheart's reaction was priceless, having been eating a bowl of oats, she sputtered a bit of food onto the table only to quickly try and hide her face. "Tenderheart!" cried Redheart, "must you be so vulgar?"

"Ah, loosen up Redheart. You're what? Twenty Seven? And you still haven't bagged a stud of your own?" Tenderheart shinned a toothy grin as Redheart stuck her nose in the air and away from her "vulgar" roommate. After a few seconds Tenderheart grew a subtle grin as she said, "Or maybe the reason you didn't bring him home last night was you were to busy fantasizing about that "BIG" creature at Fluttershy's."

"What!?" was about the only thought Redheart had as her face began to resemble her cutie mark in terms of color. "That's sick! How can you even say such a thing?"

"Calm down. Calm down. It was only a joke." chuckled Tenderheart. Redheart hover didn't sit around for an apology, she sat up from the table and walked downstairs towards the Clinic proper. "Hey, where ya going? Look I'm sorry!" called Tenderheart from the top of the stairs.

When Redheart didn't reply Tenderheart ran down the steps to see her packing a simple first-aid kit and a few other necessities into a nearby saddle-bag. Without so much as a word, Redheart made a start for the door only to be blocked by Tenderheart. Redheart cast her sights to the ground and said, in tones barely over a whisper, "That wasn't funny." For a few uncomfortable minutes, the pair stood looking at each other, niether budging an inch.

During the quiet exchange, Tenderheart kept trying to think of ways to make amends to her red tinted coworker. Just as she was going to say something a silent snort drew her attention to Redheart. Tenderheart's face fell when she saw her co-worker struggling to fight back a laugh, a fight she lost when Tenderheart looked up at her. "Gotcha!"

Under normal circumstances Tenderheart would have been upset about being tricked, but at the moment she was happy Redheart wasn't mad at her. "Real funny." sighed Tenderheart sarcastically.

"Yes well, that's what you get for saying stuff like that without thinking about others." chuckled Redheart, "Now come on, we promised we'd take that..." Redheart gave a quick pause before continuing in sultry, playful, tones,"BIG creature..." Redheart completed the act by placing a fore hoof on her forehead. "off poor Fluttershy's hooves."

Tenderheart rolled her eyes as she walked over to the medicine cabinet to grab some sedatives, "Better take a few of these in case things get out of hoof. You know? I wonder if any of the girls stayed with Fluttershy last night."

"I'm sure they did. In truth if it wasn't for the fact that yesterday was the first day we've had off in months, I would have stayed to." commented Redheart.

"Yeah, I'm sure you would. You spend far too much time helping others, probably another reason you don't have a stallion all your own." commented Tenderheart, earning an annoyed sigh from Redheart. "What, I'm just saying. Girl you need to think about your life sooner or later. You don't want to end up alone do you?"

Redheart took a second to think before speaking, when she did her tones were solemn, yet sorrowful, "Not everypony can live for themselves. If I find the right stallion and everything works out, then maybe." Redheart paused so you could look her friend in the eyes, "But I doubt things will, and I'm find with that." Before Tenderheart could argue Redheart cut her off, "Let's go."

Making sure nopony was needing their immediate assistance, Redheart hung a sign on the door saying, "Emergency House Visit! Will return A.S.A.P. " Tednderheart meanwhile just looked at her friend with a sad expression on her face. As the pair made their way through town they spotted Ponyville's fashion pony, Rarity, heading in the same direction.

"Good morning darlings." called Rarity as she trotted over to the pair. "Where are you two heading so early in the morning?"

With the addition of Rarity to the group, Redheart adopted a cheerful demeanor and said, "Good morning Miss Rarity..."

"Please darling, Rarity is fine. No need for formalities between friends."

Tenderheart rolled her eyes as Redheart continued, "Alright then, Rarity. We're just on our way over to Fluttershy's cottage."

"Oh my stars! Tell me she alright!" gasped Rarity.

Tenderheart, having grow bored of sitting on the sidelines, jumped in on the conversation, "She's fine. We're going over to play veterinarians today. Turns out some weird creature showed up at her house yesterday and we were called to take care of it."

"How odd." commented Rarity as Fluttershy's cottage came into view. "What kinda creature is it?"

The nurses were going to explain as a shadow appeared overhead revealing the Royal pony sisters. As the pair of towering royal ponies landed gracefully in front of the trio, the smaller mares bowed their heads in respect. "Please my little ponies. You needn't bow." spoke Princess Celestia in her normal peaceful tones.

"Hello, Princess Celestia, and of course you too Princess Luna." spoke Rarity with an air of familiarity.

"GOOD DAY!" roared Luna, forgetting to turn of the traditional Canterlot voice, resulting in Rarity's hat to go flying in the wind. "Oh no!" cried Luna as she caught the hat with her magic. "My apologies Miss Rarity. I am still not accustomed to speaking as a normal pony of this day."

Taking her hat with her magic and securely placing it on top of her head she gave Luna a bright and happy smile. "It's quite alright, and if I may your highness. Rarity is just fine."

After a second Luna shined an equally happy smile and said, in a whisper that'd give Fluttershy a run for her money, "Alright, Rarity." Celestia smiled as she saw her little sister getting to know the other two with Rarity and after a bit the group of ponies made it to Fluttershy's cottage. "Pray tell, what brings all of you to Dear Fluttershy's?"

Rarity was the first to answer, pulling out a lovely pink silk scarf with yellow trim at the end. "Oh! I just wanted to give Fluttershy a new scarf. You see, I had this large order to fill for some Canterlot ponies and with some of the scrap pieces of cloth I made this lovely scarf that just goes perfectly with Fluttershy's natural tones."

The others all agreed that the scarf was lovely before the nurses shared their reasons. "We're on our way to help Fluttershy with some strange creature that came to her doorstep last night."

"How strange." commented Celestia as she raised a hoof to knock on the door, "From what Twilight Sparkle has told me, Fluttershy was the resident expert on all sorts of creatures."

"She is. But this creature is like nothing anypony has ever seen." commented Redheart just as Celestia's hoof rapped the door.

Princess Celestia and Luna shared a quick glance as the door began to glow red, the standard color of Celestia's star pupil, Twilight Sparkle.

Fluttershy' Cottage

Morning came slowly to the quaint little cottage, or at least it did to John. It would appear the voice wasn't simply part of a feverish dream, as John played out his role through Armageddon, no different than the last. Either way his body seemed to have slept well, his sore muscles no longer screamed in protest to any movement on his part, and his head no longer felt like a drum at death metal concert; though it still hurt. "Sometimes I think my immune system is the only thing I've got going for me." groaned John as he messaged the bridge of his nose.

As the sun rose over the horizon John heard the clips and clops of hooves sounding off from up stairs. "Best. Day. Ever." thought John as the first of the ponies from up stairs entered into the living room. To no surprise to John, it was Twilight Sparkle leading the pack. When she saw John sitting up right on the coach, wrapped in his sleeping bag, she walked over to a nearby cushion. "You seemed to be feeling better."

"Yeah. I'm sure I have you girls to thank." replied John with a smile. "So tell me, what happened last night?"

Twilight's face slowly grew a blush and she stammered out a response, both of which caused John to cock his eyebrows "W...what do you mean?"

Before John ask about her blush, Apple Jack came into the room and with an gently laugh she sat down next to Twilight. "Good mornin' there big fella! How yah feelin'?"

"I'm feeling great, thank you." answered John before he brought his attention back to Twilight, but as last time he was interrupted; though by a much softer voice.

"Good morning John, are you feeling better?" asked Fluttershy as she checked his forehead for a temperature. John was going to respond however Fluttershy popped a thermometer in his mouth after being dissatisfied with checking his forehead. "Now let's wait to see what the thermometer has to say, alright?" directed Fluttershy, her tone carrying the same mannerisms one would use for little children or animals.

'Had that been anybody, or anypony, else, they'd be picking up their teeth with two broken arms; or legs.' thought John as the thermometer rose to a stable 99.6 degrees.

"Oh my, you still have a bit of a fever...I think? commented Fluttershy as she took the thermometer from John's mouth only to realize she knew next to nothing of him say what he told them last night, and most of that she wished she could forget.

Picking up on her confusion John said, "Yeah, the average temp for a human is roughly 98.6 degrees fahrenheit, or 37 degrees celsius."

"Humans? Is that what your species is called?" asked Twilight, cutting off Fluttershy.

"Homo Sapiens is the scientific term, but yes..." John would have elaborated more but a deep and harsh cough took hold of his lungs. The girls each had their own reactions but all of them adopted a worried look, save one.

"Keep it down down there, some of us are trying to sleep up here!" yelled Rainbow Dash, her voice sounding like a dump truck rolling down an avalanche.

With a chuckle John called back, "Sorry Rainbow Dash! I'll try to be quieter!" Twilight looked like she was going to scold somepony, be it John or Rainbow was anyone's guess, but before she could a loud ruckus could be heard up stairs as Rainbow Dash woke up. "Well, so much for sleep, huh?"

"You're real!?" screamed Rainbow Dash as she saw John on the couch. "I was hoping you were just a dream."

"Rainbow!" yelled the others.

"Was that what that moaning was earlier? Rainbow Dash, you naughty, Naughty pony." Rainbow's face lit up like a red neon light as she crashed to the floor. While the others looked at Rainbow with a mix of disgust and concern, John simply laughed his flanks off. "Oh, man that was better than I was hoping for. By the way Rainbow, you look adorable when you blush."

"What!?" cried the girls, now looking at John.

"Yeah, there wasn't any noise or moans, my mouth just got away from me there, and I picked up on the chance to poke fun at Rainbow Dash. My bad." The group of mares just gave him a stern, cross look before he apologized, "Look, I'm sorry. please forgive me."

Rainbow Dash looked around to her friends who nodded their consent, "Fine, but you better watch it buddy, or you'll have to deal with these babies." to clarify her point she used her wings to stand upright and shadow boxed a bit.

With a laugh John said, “I'll be sure to keep that in mind.” Rainbow Dash, gave John a suspicious pout but eventually gave a reluctant nod. “How about we shake on it?” Rainbow smiled and spit into her hoof before holding it out. John grimaced at first, but did so as well; fighting the need to scream out in disgust.

The others shared a laugh, mostly at John's slightly contained disgust, but a bit at how the situation played out. As John and Rainbow broke the hoof/hand shake, he let go of his grimace and wiped his hand off on his pants, causing Rainbow to laugh. With his hand cleaned John turned to Twilight to ask about her blush from earlier when his stomach started to growl; loudly.

Fluttershy immediately reacted, “Oh my. Would you like something to eat?”

John looked up at Fluttershy's big, adorable, eyes and couldn't help but say, “Yay,” seeing the confused look on her face John corrected himself. “Yes, I would love some. Thank you Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy flashed a bright smile and asked, “What would you like?”

“Anything would be fine.” replied John as he stood up and began to stretch.

“Okay!” said Fluttershy as she trotted off to the kitchen, after a few seconds she called out, “I'll have coffee and tea in a minute, please make yourselves comfortable!.”

John decided to take a seat on the floor, allowing the girls to take the couch. “Are yah sure sugarcube?” asked Apple Jack as John finished wrapping himself in his sleeping bag.

“Yeah,” replied John, “I don't mind. Besides what kind of gentlemen sits on a couch while making ladies sit on the floor.”

“Shooee, don't let this one near Rarity, she'd never let 'em go.” laughed Apple Jack as she got comfortable on the couch.

“No chance of that,” replied John, “Rarity's Spike's girl. I ain't about to get between him and his crush.” Rainbow Dash and Apple Jack busted out laughing while Twilight starred at John with her mouth hanging open.

“Alright, I've got to know. How do you know all this stuff?!” cried Twilight, her patience pushed to it's limits. “First, you have that picture of me. I'm still wondering about that! Second, you have us all singing on a strange little device. Then you know our names, you know Spike, Rarity and even Spike's “secret”.” John had to admit that seeing Twilight waver her hooves up an down like someone making “Finger Quotes” was just adorable.

John was about to answer when Fluttershy brought out the tea, coffee and a few sweets to the table, “Here you go everypony, I hope you like it.”

John gave the confections a glance over and picked up a small chocolate chip cookie and a warm cup of tea. 'Never been one for warm tea, but Fluttershy made it....' Not wanting to appear rude John took a sip of the tea and; in one bite, ate the cookie. The girls watched in awe as John devoured the cookie in a single gulp only to have his eyes grow to a size on par with theirs. “WOW THAT'S GOOD TEA!” yelled John before he finished off the cup.

He was going to ask for more but Twilight put her hoof down. “John, would you please answer my question....please!?”

Twilight adopted a pleading puppy dog look, “Alright, alright. The truth of the matter is...” John was cut off by some muffled voices from outside; all feminine. “Sorry, Twi, but were you guys expecting company?”

Twilight looked like she was about to explode before Fluttershy said, “Oh, yes. Nurse Redheart and Tenderheart were going to come over to check up on you.”

“Sweet. I was going to bring up going into Ponyville to see them....well you four at least.” John paused a moment after seeing Twilight's ears twitch after hearing him saying, “Ponyville”, “I know how the ponyfolk reacted to Zecora...” again Twilight's ears twitched. John grinned as he went on trolling the purple pony, “and I rather not have Celestia's...” twitch, “ or Luna's...” twitch, twitch, “guards coming after me. Or Celestia herself banishing me.”

Fluttershy stifled a giggle as she saw John's eyes track Twilight's ears, “John, please stop teasing Twilight. You don't want to see her angry.”

“What, like that time a “Froggy Bottom Bog.” when she burst into flames about Pinkie Pie's Pinkie sense?” This time, Twilight's eye developed a twitch, “Alright, sorry. I just couldn't help myself, she's too cute when she's angry.” Twilight's face developed a faint blush, but she kept her angry look about her. The voices grew closer during all this, “Okay, Twilight I'll answer all your questions, but you've got to help me with a prank.”

“Ooohhh, I could go for a good prank.” chuckled Rainbow Dash.

Twilight spared her friend a quick sideways look before sighing, “Okay, what is it you want.”

“Well....” John was going to make another inappropriate joke, but decided not to push his luck, currently at any rate. “How about you open up the door when they knock while I stand behind it, looking as scary as I can.”

“What? NO!” yelled Twilight, “That's just mean.”

“Oh, come on. The worse that could happen is they run away, Rainbow can catch them in 10 seconds flat,” John paused so Rainbow Dash could pose, “so what's the problem?”

Rainbow decided to help John get Twilight to agree. “Yeah, come one Twilight. It sounds like fun.”

Twilight sighed again and then caught John with a stern, almost teacher like, glare, “You promise to answer my questions?

“Yes.”

“All of them?”

“Well, within reason, though I doubt any of them will be inappropriate. So sure.”

With a shake of her head, Twilight gave in. “Fine.”

Just then a knock came from the door and John bolted up and took his position. John spread out his hand and opened his mouth wide to show his teeth. Twilight, assuming he was ready, wrapped the door with her magic and opened it up. With John blocking the door she couldn't see who was standing in front of him, but she could her him say, “Ah, crap...”

Comments

[Meta Knight]

Excellent

[ShadowlessNight]

Twilight's magic isn't red.