We're a long way from home.

by RuaTheGreat

Shared Stories

Peters POV

“…scanning this world for Telerium, I encountered the ‘unicorns’ you described. They were all covered in gold armour, which begs the question ‘why?’ They have stronger, lighter and cheaper materials to construct it, so why use gold? Afterwards, they had ordered me to identify myself and state whether I was friend or foe. And since my speaker array was still damaged, you can guess what happened next.” he laughed dryly

“Afterwards, I was hit by a beam which resembled the one you described. But here is the curious part: where did the energy in the beam come from?”

He looked at me expectantly. I blinked and replied dumbly “I dunno, magic? They were unicorns after all.”

He gave me a deadpan stare. “You know as well as I do: the first law of thermodynamics states that energy cannot be created or destroyed in a chemical reaction.”

“Yeah, but we are in a land of Technicolor ponies, and everything that I consider ‘Logic’, has been disprove-“

KITT hushed me with a finger on his lips, and pointed at the door.

You might be asking why we were talking out loud, seeing as we had the mental link and all that. That is because it feels more natural. With all the time I was on the run from ‘The Facility’, I was living in constant fear of being captured and researched. Having people to talk to helps keep me sane. And insanity is something which I never - nor do I plan on – experienced.

I was tempted to ask him why he had interrupted, but he anticipated my question and tapped his ear.

I sent a mental command to enhance my hearing.

I heard a scuffle outside. I sat there listening as it seemed to get closer. I started hearing grunts, groans and cussing. As they got closer I managed to determine that one of the voices sounded female. This continued for an extra 30 seconds until a thud sounded beside me.
Then a voice spoke angrily. "I hope y’ rot in there, y’ filthy changeling! Think y’self lucky that Princess Celestia doesn’t execute prisoners anymore…” There was the sound of spit hitting the ground.

“Wow! They must really hate those ‘Changelings’.”

After that I heard the sound of multiple locks sliding into place and a pair of hooves slowly walking away.

I heard the ‘changeling’ mutter "Talk about rude."

I froze “That voice, could it be?”

I grinned widely and decided to have some fun. Sending some mental commands I manipulated my voice. I felt the Telerium flow down my throat and onto my vocal cords, pulling and prodding at them untill my voice would be no more than a rasp.

I then spoke with a fake wheeze and asked "What are you in for?"

I heard the voice stop mumbling and move closer. "I was accused of being a ‘changeling’, whatever that is."

“Yup, that’s her alright!”

"What about you?" she asked back.

I grinned madly and tested the mental link with Alliana, and it was as strong as it would get.

"Oh, nothing much. Just accused of being a beast with some sort of dark magic," I replied nonchalantly through telepathy. The silence grew to the point where you could hear a pin drop.
Then I finally heard her ask with a stutter “I-is that you, Peter?"

I brought a small blob of Telerium to my hand and replied “Do you know any other humans who can use Telerium?”

After a short pause, she growled and shot a small yet perfectly aimed plasma blast at the little pool in my hand, vaporising it.

“Hey! I only have so much of that, you know…” shaking my hand to cool it.

“Maybe then you should stop squandering it on voice alteration.”

“She does have a point, you know.” Said KITT.

I mumbled something unintelligible and announced. “Well, now that we are all here, I suggest that we plan what to do next. Personally, I would like to hold off busting out until we find out what we are facing. And besides, KITT is running on ‘Critical’ so we won’t get far anyway.”
Alliana nodded “As quiet as I am, a Night Fury would stick out like a sore thumb, and I would bet my tail that we are in the media right now. So everyone would recognise us.”

KITT sighed. “So I guess we wait. We never heard your story of how you got here though.”

She looked away nervously. “It’s a bit of a long story…”

“We’ve got time.” I and KITT said simultaneously, motioning to the dungeon around us. We shared each other a knowing look.

---

? POV
I sat in a tree with my EMR* panels deployed. Jumping dimensions was extremely taxing, and I didn’t want to face a Manticore or a pack of Timberwolves without at least 10% of a tank of Forton Energy. And converting Mana gives me a terrible migraine, so that was out of the question.

I listened to some music while I wrote my log.

Day 74

I have finished my research on Dimension 10 (placeholder name) after spending 3 days there. The results showed that it was a minor deviation from Dimension 9 (placeholder name), which confirmed the Multiverse theory. I originally thought that there was an error in my Jump due to the chances of me arriving in another Multiverse, but the data collected showed that I was indeed in a different dimension.

After the research was concluded, I attempted to return back to Equus, and I partially succeeded. I am in another derivation of the Equus (that as far as I know, I don’t exist in. This is good news as I won’t have any embarrassing encounters with myself.), despite the improbably small chances. At this moment. I am sitting in a tree in the Everfree. I am currently weighing my options right now: should I remain in here, hidden and survive on synthesised food until I recharge enough to attempt another jump, or reveal myself to Ponyville.

The pros of staying in the Everfree are that the chances of me being discovered are rather low, and when I leave no one will be any wiser.

The Cons are that there is still a chance of me being discovered, and that the leaves block most of the sun so I am only capturing UV light right now, so it will take a lot longer to recharge. Plus I will need to use Atomic Manipulation to synthesise food and water, so that will add to the recharge time.

The pros of going to Ponyville are that I will have direct sunlight, decreasing the amount of time it will take to recharge, and I should be able to buy some food and water, removing the need to synthesise it. I might also be able to get donations of Mana to help recharge even faster.

The cons are that there is no telling how Ponyville will react. Last time I had the support of Celestia to prevent panic, but this time I am on my own. Then there is Rainbow Dash and Twilight. Rainbow Dash will likely try to fight me, and Twilight will badger me with questions; with neither being desirable.

I also remember sensing remnants of an unknown energy. It is not Harmonic, Magical, Chaos, Chaotic, Forton, Artron, Electrical, or any other kind I have encountered. Perhaps I am not alone?

I will sleep on this, and decide tomorrow.

End log

I sighed and switched off the music. I had Pinkie promised to Twilight back in my world that I would return by day 75, and as reality bending as Pinkie can be, I doubt that even she can pierce the cosmic veil. But when I return, will Pinkie make me pay for breaking the promise?

I involuntarily shuddered.

Or will she understand the circumstances of me breaking the promise

I chuckled to myself. “That is a problem for tomorrow.”

I switched off my HUD, enabled the proximity alarm, and closed my eyes.

---

Editors bedroom

I sat at my laptop, typing this sentence, when a small, pink pony with a puffy mane and tail bounced through my door.

“Ah, Pinkie. I was expecting you…”

“So, what did you want me for, I still have that couples 25th anniversary party to plan!”

“Its about [Redacted].”

“What about him?” she asked, with her head slowly twisting around.

“He won’t be able to return tomorrow…”

---

Editors Notes: *EMR: Electromagnetic Radiation. Basically: Radio, Microwave, Infrared, Visible (Light), Ultraviolet (UV), X-ray and Gamma Radiation.