Chapter XIII: Remnants
For a party thrown by cute cuddly ponies, it wasn't half bad. The games themselves were too simple for me to be amused, though hearing the Crusader's stories about their attempts to get a Cutie Mark was amusing. Then, all that food... After that feast, I need to keep an eye on what I eat or I'll end up fat and bloated. I still wondered how Pinkie wasn't fat from all the sweets she ate. Before the party came to a close, the ponies showed me just how damn kind they were when I received some gifts from them, though most of them were toys that I probably wouldn't touch. I did get one of those bags they wear on their backs, although I couldn't recall what they called them, but then I overheard them saying that I would be going to a place called 'school' soon, though that was another word that I had yet to learn.
It was late in the afternoon when the party started to slow down to an end with the attendees making their leave, when suddenly, we all heard an explosion. Looking up, we saw a cloud of smoke in the sky, with what looked like debris falling from it. Twilight suddenly took command of the situation, as Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and some yellow coated pegasus with a pink mane formed a group together and headed off in the direction of where the debris would have fallen.
"Do you think we're being invaded by aliens?" Sweetie Belle asked as the four of us stood outside Sugarcube Corner as we watched Twilight and her friends run off.
"If they were aliens, my sister and her friends will fight them off," Apple Bloom stated.
"Maybe we should go check it out, maybe we can get Cutie Marks at fighting aliens!" Scootaloo said, excited at the idea as I rolled my eyes at it and wondered what an ‘alien’ was. The trio clapped their forehooves together, which to me was the signal to cover my ears with my hooves, but even with that their yelling was still painful to hear.
Turning her head towards me, Sweetie asked, "Do you want to join us, Aether?"
Hmm... to join them on their little 'trip' or not... I thought to myself as I looked up at the cloud again. While these three are a bit loud for my ears, that cloud... the debris raining down from it... if it what I think it is, I may be able to salvage something useful. Looking at the trio, I answered, "Yes, I will go with you three."
Grinning to themselves, they rushed over to some kind of red cart that was attached to some two wheeled transportation device, putting on some sort of helmets from the cart. Before I could even ask what they were doing, Apple Bloom slammed a helmet onto my head as Sweetie Belle pushed me into the cart. Adjusting the helmet so that I could see, I saw Scootaloo standing on the two wheeled device on her hind legs.
"What are you three doi—" was all I could say before Scootaloo rapidly flapped her wings, causing the transportation device, and the cart, to zoom off. The sudden launch sent me falling down into the cart, my head banging off the edge. Thankfully, the helmet prevented me from getting a concussion. As the other two crusaders sat in the cart comfortably, I hung onto the edge for dear life while amazed that we were moving so fast thanks to just one filly's wing power. It wasn't long until we left the town limits, as I saw that we were heading to some familiar woods.
Whatever caused that explosion probably came from another dimension or world, like I did, though I wonder if this occurrence is gonna be localized to this forest, or if it’ll happen anymore. I shivered, remembering some of the horrors that resided in other dimensions. Eventually we came to a halt near the woods' edge, where I tumbled out of the cart, glad to be on solid ground again.
"Pfft, it's like this is her first time on a cart," Scootaloo said in a nonchalant tone, to which I give her a glare.
"You could have said we would have gone fast!" I complained, with the fact that young children (myself technically excluded) shouldn't be moving so fast by themselves.
"We're sorry, it sorta slipped past our minds," Sweetie Belle said as she awkwardly rubbed a hoof behind her head after she removed her helmet.
Looking into the woods, Applebloom said, "It'll be mighty hard to find the aliens. We got a lot of ground to cover."
"Do you think those aliens will be friendly or be the kind that want to suck up our brains?" Sweetie said, eyeing the forest nervously.
"I think the... 'aliens', as you say, will not be here, maybe parts of something, but not 'aliens,'" I commented as I finally took off my own helmet.
"Aether may be right, but I'm sure I can take on any aliens if they want to suck up our brains," Scootaloo said as her wings buzzed in excitement. "I say we split up to cover more ground, so we can find any aliens before it gets too dark and they escape into hiding." After taking a moment to figure out what she said, I nodded, causing the other two to follow my lead in order to appear to be brave. "Just make sure to shout if you find any aliens, so we can take them out together and get our cutie marks," she said as she stuck out a hoof, which to me was the signal to clamp my hooves down on my ears as the other two bumped their hooves against hers.
"Cutie Mark Crusaders Alien Fighters!"
Fucking limbo, if there were any aliens nearby they would hear these three and be off running for the sake of their own ears! I thought to myself as I started to edge away from them. "Since we are going different ways, I will go this way," I said before trotting off to avoid anymore ear bleeding screams from the trio. When I was finally far enough away to not get hurt by their shrieking, I let out a sigh of relief as I made a mental note to myself to always wear earplugs around those three.
So... just what caused that explosion, since based on how the ponies acted, that isn't a regular occurrence? I can think of at least twenty things that would cause that, half of which would be very bad for this world, but... I thought to myself before I saw a pile of branches that had smoke coming out of it. Knowing that the only thing that would be smoking was the fallen debris, I quickly made my way to the pile, clearing the branches to see a twisted heap of metal and wires.
As I rubbed a hoof against my chin and wondered what object this could be, I spotted a familiar sight that sent chills down my spine. Embedded into one piece of scrap was a crystal shard of a swirling black and purple coloration. Looking at it from another angle, the shard coloration mix seemed to shift, confirming my suspicions. Damn it all, a fuckin’ shard of a Maralus core. Just what this world needs. This means that this is probably some probe, judging by the size of the explosion. Though, I wonder what caused that explosion... probably whatever caused me to end up in this world and be turned into a pony... still... got to hide this shard, and possibly any others, before the ponies find them.
Grabbing the shard with my mouth, I pulled it out as I noted its horrible taste. Looking around, I found that no one was in sight, allowing me to cover the scrap heap with the branches before I left, noting that, due to my light weight, I didn't leave any tracks that I would have to cover up. After making some distance from the heap, I noticed a tree stump that would serve as a perfect spot to remember as I dug a hole near its roots, burying the shard. Taking a deep breath, I resumed my hunt for more of the wreckage in order to find as many Maralus shards as I could, for I knew that this world was not ready for dimensional travel. Though, the probe did confirm one thing in my mind; I was in another dimension, not just another world.
Looking down at some kind of wreckage, Twilight and her friends pondered what the metal scrapheap used to be- well, except for Applejack and Pinkie Pie, where the former was keeping the latter from poking her nose into wreckage.
"Now hold on there sugarcube, we don't know if that thing is safe to touch, much less what it is," Applejack said through her clenched teeth as she kept a hold on Pinkie's tail with it.
"Applejack is right, I never seen anything like this before. I even can't tell what kind of metal alloy this is..." Twilight said as she gingerly lit up her horn with her magic, casting a bubble around the wreckage before she carefully tried to lift a piece of it with her magic. To her relief, it lifted up into the air without issue, allowing her to deposit it closer to her as she carefully examined it with a magical scan.
"Hmm... Oh sweet Celestia! This the wreckage of some device judging by the wires my scan is picking up, but it's something I can’t even remotely recognize! There are so many different components and materials that I can't even speculate as to this machine's purpose. Oh if it was just intact, it could help advance Equestria by decades! Even this wreckage alone can he-" Twilight exclaim in wonder before Rainbow stuck a hoof into her mouth.
"Yeah yeah, egghead stuff. Let's get to the point, is this thing dangerous? Are we being invaded by aliens?" Rainbow asked before removing her hoof.
"Well, I would say there is no such thing as aliens, but since I can't determine the origins of this object, I can't refute that claim. Though, from the readings of my scan, this part of the wreckage is fine, no toxins or even magic is detected, which is more mysterious since it doesn't have any magical resonance," Twilight answered as she pondered about the nature of the device before she spotted something off in the rest of the wreckage.
"What's this?" Twilight said as she approaches the scrapheap, spotting a peculiar purplish black crystal shard among the wreckage. Casting another scan with her horn, she said, "Hmmm.. doesn't seem to be dangerous either," before using her magic to levitate the shard. Instead of floating into the air as expected, the shard instead began to vibrate. Blinking in shock, Twilight tentatively applied more magic to the shard, causing it to vibrate more instead of floating.
"I... I’ve never seen something like this before," Twilight said in wonder as she stopped using her magic, seeing that the shard had stopped vibrating as well. Cautiously, Twilight approached the lone shard, giving it a tap with her hoof before rapidly teleporting away. Looking at the shard, she saw that nothing had happen. "Rarity, have you ever seen a gem or crystal that reacted like that to magic?"
"Can't say I have, dear. I’ve never even seen its likeness before, though I find it a bit poor in its coloration. There is only so much one can do with those colors," Rarity answered, as Fluttershy remained behind her, fearful of being closer to the object than she already was.
"Well, whatever it is, I can't carry it with my magic. I'm going back to the library to get a container for it and to get Spike to send a letter to the princess. Can you girls please go look for any more wreckage? Judging by the number of smoke trails that came out of the cloud, this device shattered into so many pieces that there will be more all over the woods, and we have to gather it before anypony comes across it," Twilight said before vanishing with a pop, leaving the girls to split up to go on the search, with Fluttershy of course sticking with Rarity.
At the library, Spike was shelving some books when he heard the telltale pop of Twilight's teleport. "Hey, Twilight. What did you found out about that explosion?"
"Hard to say. We found some wreckage of an unknown origin."
"Wait, you mean... we're being invaded by aliens!" Spike said in a panic.
Groaning, Twilight replied, "Not you too Spike, and no, we're not being invaded. Look, just send a message to the princess about the explosion, that we found some wreckage in White Tail Woods, and there's this weird crystal that reacts mysteriously to magic. I have to find a container to safely store the crystal in."
Giving Twilight a nod, Spike quickly wrote down a letter before alighting it with his fire breath. Moments later, he burped out a letter that he opened to read, "Dear Twilight, it was fortunate that you sent this letter for we faintly heard the explosion from Canterlot and were wondering where it originated. For the safety of Ponyville, I am sending a detachment of the Royal Guard to secure White Tail Woods. I would like to receive an update when the matter has been resolved."
"That's good. We could certainly need more ponies to keep the area secure. Can't have any ponies tampering with something they don't have experience with," Twilight replied as she put on a saddlebag, placed several glass jars into the bags, and teleported back to the forest.
After she arrived, Twilight received the unexpected surprise of Applejack and Rarity scolding the Cutie Mark Crusaders as Fluttershy sat nearby, far away from the wreckage. "What is going on?" Twilight asked in confusion.
Turning to Twilight, Rarity said, "Oh, there you are, Twilight. Right after you left, Pinkie found Sweetie Belle wandering the woods, and after I confronted her, she revealed that she and her friends, including Aether, were looking for any signs of aliens for their Alien Fighting cutie mark. We found Scootaloo and Apple Bloom shortly afterwards, but Rainbow and Pinkie are still looking for Aether."
"Seriously, why is everypony thinking that there are aliens‽" Twilight grumbled, before turning her attention to the mysterious shard. Putting an open jar on its side near the shard, Twilight levitated a stick that she used to push the shard into the jar. Sealing the jar shut, she placed it in her saddlebag before returning her attention to her friends.
"Have you girls found any more wreckage sites?"
"We have, sugarcube. We found seven more crash sites, some of them with more of those weird crystals," Applejack answered.
Before Twilight could inquire for their locations, Rainbow and Pinkie returned with Aether on Pinkie's back, who was grumbling to herself quietly. After waiting for Pinkie to place Aether with the rest of the crusaders, Twilight approached the four as she said, "Now, you four, you should know better than to go to someplace that could be dangerous, even if you're after your cutie marks. You three especially," as she pointed at the crusaders. "Aether shouldn't be out here where it could be dangerous after that explosion."
"I'm ashamed of your deplorable behavior Sweetie Belle," Rarity scolded.
"Ya been raised to know better than that Apple Bloom," Applejack said.
"Eh, I'll let your parents talk to you, squirt," Rainbow nonchalantly said, only to receive glares from the older sisters.
Releasing a sigh, Aether said, "Do not blame them for me coming here. They gave me choice, I choosed to come here, do not get them trouble because of me."
Cocking an eyebrow, Rarity said, "That's very ladylike of you to admit your own wrongdoings, but these three are still in trouble for coming here in the first place."
"I think it's time these four go back home. The Princess is sending over the Royal Guard to secure the area, so they can assist me in finding the remaining wreckage sites as well as gather them to be moved to a safe location," Twilight interrupted, causing the four filly's caretakers nod in response before they began to take the fillies home.
As I sat on Pinkie's back after being deposited there, I sighed after thinking on the current situation while Pinkie bounced towards home. Before I was caught by Rainbow Dash, I was able to stash away four more Maralus core shards. Hopefully with so many shards missing the ponies wouldn't be able to restore the core or even realize that they all fit together. I really don't want to imagine what would happen if they accidentally trigger a dimensional rift, I thought before I shuddered at the memories of the horrors I’d seen, much less the greater horrors that I had heard of.
As the sun began to set, I saw in the sky a formation of armored pegasus heading towards the forest. Great... just what I need. Guards to thwart any simple extraction plans, I thought to myself, knowing that I would have to return to retrieve those shards to move them to a more secure location. Disposal wasn't an option due to the sturdiness of the shards, as will as the potential hazards if the shards were ground down into powder. Though, after thinking it over, there may be some uses for the shards if I were to experiment with them, as those shards have some very unique properties.
I just hope those shards don't have a negative reaction in regards to the properties of the strange radioactive world.
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Mighty fine Chekhov's gun ya got there...
Good story!
Well, him not telling Twi about how dangerous the shards are is gonna cause trouble later.
Very nice story. If there are any flaws in it, I guess it's not focusing enough on Aether and his emotions, feelings and his past. Something that we, as readers, can cling to. He is stuck there and as a filly, but because he is safe, we need conflict. Not just conflict from those shards and impending doom, but of anything he is missing. Maybe he misses being a grownup or has a dimension he enjoys staying in? A friend? Shrugs, still a nice story.
Depending on how advanced Aether is, this could soon be easily noted. Especially in regards to math. I am not so sure about science cause they have this thing called "magic" which fucks up everything!
Unless these horrors are turned into ponies as well.
Wonder if the crystals will react to being teleported, cause I feel magic would still act on them.
you know, I've never seen '‽' before.
6070881
that would be hilarious.
6161188
"I am Chthulhu, fear me!" Shouted the cute little green filly with the seaweed like hair.
6174574 adorable, I bet someone has drawn that
6038104 her*
He is a her now
shard of a Maralus core.
EXPLAIN?!?
6352667
The gender of the main character isn't really important, if it's so easily malleable. Also I doubt, despite how well Aether is coping with the change, that they've completely given up on their past thoughts and preferences.
I suspect the perfect place for Aegis to hide the shards would be in the catacombs below Canterlot Castle. The ponies would NEVER find them...among all the other maralus crystals that make up the mountain
Irony at its finest.
Probably true.
What exactly is a Maralus core?
7116988
Oh you'll see.
Oh. Not quite the Gambit. Okay, story not broken.
And let's not summon C'thun, Yogg'Saron or something like that. Please.
Small Brian!!
I think “this” should be there instead.
Fucking limbo. what amazing Interdimensional Cursing
Love it and yoink