Zombies to Ponies in Ten Seconds Flat

by 8r0ny

34. Ride or Fry

Well it worked. Or maybe he was coming in for a dramatic landing already. Regardless, shortly after my wave, Volcanis flared his wings and came to a stop above the beach before falling to the sand below, shaking the ground with his massive size.

“Yo.” I said, straining my neck to look up at him. “My name is Shawn, welcome to my Island.”

“I am Volcanis.” He said, voice like a rock crusher.

“Hello Volcanis.” I said. “What brings you here?”

“Destruction.” Was his simple reply.

“O, well that's no good.” I said starting to sweat a bit. “Is there a way to keep you from destroying this place?”

“Not here.” He said. “One moment.”

“Ok.” I said confused, if not a little relieved.

Then, the air filled with energy, rolling like thunder and he started to change. I wasn’t sure what was changing, but something was. It wasn’t until my neck stopped hurting that I realized he was shrinking himself. I guess this explains how he and Luna dated…

After a minute and lots of magic, he was small. Well, still twice the size of an alicorn, but small compared to the giant that was there prior.

“There we go.” He said walking closer. “It’s tough to communicate in that form, for whatever reason my size restricts my vocabulary.”

“Well that’s certainly strange.” I said looking at this miniature Volcanis. “Is this your true size or something?”

“O no, what you saw before is my natural form.” He said. “This is a spell Mistress Luna taught me thousands of moons ago. It transforms my body to what it was in early adulthood by temporarily cutting my ties to my hordes.”

“That’s really interesting.” I said, eyeing the bush Luna was in. “I know nothing about dragons, but I think we’re getting off track. What brings you here?”

“Right.” Volcanis said. “I was making my way to a griffon isle up ahead when I saw strange architecture and felt strange and powerful magic on this island. So I decided to fly over and see what was up when you strolled out with Luna and waved me down.”

“Wow, your eyes are better than we thought.” I said waving the bush over.

“And you were already preparing to evacuate when I could see you.” He replied. “How did you know I was coming so soon?”

“My friend Camden picked you up on our radar.” I said as Luna joined my side. “It’s some technology from our world that sends out-”

I was interrupted from an elbow jab from Luna. But it was to late, Volcanis was intrigued.

“You’re from another world?” He said scratching his chin. “That explains the strange magic around this place, and radiating from you.”

“Strange magic huh?” I said, also interested. “Most of my people were transformed into equestrian beings by Celestia, and we have a Changeling Queen here as well as some Royalty and some ponies from Equestria. So I guess I can see how that could cause strange magic.”

“O no no no.” He corrected. “I sense all that, even the presence of a Changeling King, congratulations by the way, that's a new one. But your people have a strange magic about them that seems to lead off into the aether. It’s hard to explain but it feels sort of chaotic, but not malicious.”

“Huh.” I said simply. “This is over my head, Luna?”

“His magic sensing is more powerful than mine.” She said. “I knew you were a Changeling King, and I can sense the remnants of Tia’s magic in you, but I can't find this chaotic energy he speaks of.”

“No, I wasn’t doubting him.” I said shaking my head. “I just wanted some inclination of what that could mean.”

“You trust me out of the blue like that?” Volcanis said in what seemed like a forced neutral tone. “I’m sure Luna filled you in on me as I approached.”

“Yah, she did. And I nearly pissed myself.” I said laughing a bit. “You’re still quite high on my threat meter, but you seem nice enough so...you’re a good guy until proven otherwise.”

“I would usually condemn that line of thought as foolish.” Volcanis said. “Especially from someone of your political stature. But for reasons I can’t quite put a claw on, especially after only meeting you moments ago, it just sounds like something you’d say.”

“Err, thanks I guess?” I said a little confused.

“Well he is spot on with that one.” Luna added.

“Tell me more about this world you are from.” Volcanis said changing the subject. “I wish to know more about you to see what this chaotic magic means.”

“Well, we called our world Earth.” I began summarizing. “We were a super technologically advanced people compared to this planet, no magic at all, and only sentient life we knew of. Then a virus spread that reanimated corpses and those corpses wiped out most of humanity. So we built a portal and ended up here. That's the condensed version.”

“And after arriving?” He said spurring me to continue.

“Well we camped out in the Everfree for a while, changed species, moved, had the option to change back to human form, more people came through the portal, fought zombies that came through the portal, destroyed the portal, changed species again, and encountered a dragon.”

“This all happened over the course of about six years mind you.” Luna added in. “This is indeed a super condensed version.”

“Well, it's hard to determine what could have caused this magic with all of the strange magic you’ve been around honestly.” Volcanis said scratching his chin. “It could have been from your home world, the transfer to Equis, the time spent in the Everfree, or even Equis trying to make sense of you.”

“Not a fan of that last one I gotta say.” I said skeptically. “Gives the magic to much personality. Makes me think one day it’ll just yeet us back to Earth.”

“Yeet?” Volcanis said confused. “I’m unfamiliar with this term.”

“As am I.” Luna added in. “What is it to yeet?”

“Umm...it’s just a fun way to say throw kinda.” I said laughing to myself at the prospect of introducing yet another ridiculous word to Equestrias vocabulary. “I’m gonna go with careless throwing, final answer.”

“Is this a new Equestrian term?” Volcanis asked, apparently missing Luna's confusion.

“No, it’s human I’m sure.” Luna said face hoofing. “He’s full of random stuff like this. What’s amazing is that after six years of knowing him he still surprises us with human culture.”

“Well it’s not like we can have a culture festival.” I said shrugging.

“And why not?” Volcanis said. “I have to say you have captured my interest. Quite a feat considering I’m almost three thousand years old.”

“Well, mostly because we don’t have all of our culture back yet.” I said. The confused looks I got told me to continue. “Human culture is really deeply rooted in technology. So without the technology, you wouldn't get the full experience.”

“But you have technology.” Volcanis said genuinely confused. “Just from what I’ve seen, I can tell you’re much more advanced than any species out there.”

“Ha! We haven't even scratched the surface.” I said grinning. “Sure the portal was one of the more advanced inventions, but we’ve been to space. We had the world's information available on a device smaller than a brick. We could communicate with people around the globe instantly. We could control the weather. AND, we did it all without magic.”

“That's preposterous.” Volcanis said flatly. “Some of these things aren't even possible with magic.”

“It is pretty crazy.” Luna said. “I've heard about their feats many times and it still blows my mind. Just looking at what they have now is mind boggling.”

“Would you like to talk with my main technology guy?” I asked. “We can go to the Lab and you can see some of what we have so far.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Luna asked worriedly. “Won’t Camden freak out at seeing a dragon?”

“He’s been monitoring this conversation the whole time.” I said flatly. “Camden, show us a sign you’re listening in.”

It was only a hunch that Camden was indeed listening in on our conversation, but what surprised me was how he responded. His response came in a deep rumbling that shook the very foundation of the island. The source wasn’t nearby, but it was almost unbearably loud, even with the frequencies being almost too low to hear.

“What in the name of Celestia is that?” Luna said frantically. Her voice was muffled by the noise.

“We get it Camden.” I said, letting the noise die out. “So either you have a backdoor into my clubs speaker system, or you’re making a Bass Cannon. Regardless, we’ll be over in a bit to chat, and we’ll be having a talk later.”

“You mean to say you’re weaponizing sound?” Volcanis asked. “That's quite an odd way to do things, but also quite intriguing.”

“Sound is nothing but a pressure wave.” I said as we started our trek to the lab. “Super low frequencies are known to cause damage so weaponizing them isn’t that crazy.”

“Why are you making weapons in the first place?” Luna said skeptically. “You have allied yourself with many nations already.”

“I don’t plan on battling it out with anyone.” I said laughing a bit. “But it doesn't mean we can't be prepared. We don’t even know if it really was a bass cannon or just the club. It’s temporarily closed down for a reason you know.”

“A club is a building that plays music and ponies dance in right?” Volcanis asked confused. “What purpose is there in having the ability to shake the whole island? Won’t that hurt?”

“Yes.” I said smiling at the memory. “Excessively. But if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing.”

“You’re lucky your Changeling physiology heals hearing damage at an alarming rate.” Luna said flatly. “Even with our magic you would still be recovering otherwise.”

“Like poor Vinyl.” I said shaking my head. “If you want to blame someone, blame Camden for actually giving me what I asked for. I overestimated figuring he would give sub par equipment. But he met and exceeded my expectations and I couldn't be happier/”

“That logic doesn’t add up.” Luna said simply. “It’s really all your faults. Camdens for enabling you, you for cranking it up to max, and Vinyl for encouraging you.”

“That just sounds like my fault three times.” I said laughing. “Whatever, what's done is done, Camden is fixing up the club to be mostly soundproof from outside and also reinforcing the building...again. Once we get the other speakers in the real fun begins.”

“This is all just going right over my head.” Volcanis said. “I’ve been asleep for the past three-hundred years.”

“And we’re at least 300 years more advanced than anyone on the planet so that doesn’t help.” I said shrugging. “But if you wanna stick around and learn feel free.”

“When did this go from fearing for your peoples lives to inviting a friend to hang out?” Luna interjected.

“When I was like forty five percent sure he wasn't going to murder us all.” I said. “And now I’m up to like sixty seven. No offense to you Volcanis.”

“None taken.” He said. “You’re looking out for your people and my track record is probably less than convincing.”

“You would think Luna would at least stick up for you a little.” I said gesturing at Luna. “But she just threw you under the bus.”

“The what?” Volcanis asked confused.

“Human saying.” Luna said. “And I gave you facts. I couldn’t quite vouch for his personality when I haven’t known him for over a thousand years. Beings change.”

“Valid.” I sad as we approached the lab. “Well we’re here, let’s get you and Camden talking.”

“And what exactly do you want us to talk about?” Camden asked stepping out of the lab.

“Whatever the nice dragon asks about.” I said. “No pressure but we’re all counting on you.”

“For starters how did you know I was coming so soon?” Volcanis asked. “Unless you are constantly sweeping the skies and seas with a telescope I can't fathom how you saw me before I could even see the island.”

“Radar.” Camden said. “It sends out radio waves and by calculating where they were deflected we can get a rudimentary image of things up to fifty miles away.”

“I see.” Volcanis said, obviously not quite understanding. “Shawn I believe I will take you up on that offer. I promise not to destroy your island or harm any citizens if you let me stay and learn about this technology you have.”

“Well when you put it like that it sounds like we all die if I say no…” I said hiding my smile. “But we’d love to have you regardless.”

“Volcanis.” I said holding out my hand. “Welcome to Paulo Fragmin Terra.”

Comments

[ThePonyWriterThing]

I read the first chapters awhile ago so I knew the basics of what I was throwing myself into with this fic. The past 3-4? hours have been a fun experience and now I'm gonna hope my sleep schedule isn't that messed up from reading Chapter 5 onwards.

[8r0ny]

9739171
Yey! Thanks for the love. Now get some rest XD

[Al Duty]

I like dis... So like keep writing... I hope

[Al Duty]

Keeper GOOOIIIIIIIIN!!!!!!!

[PrismStrike]

yay an update. This was definitely interesting and was happy to see you portray an older dragon as something other than just a big blowhard, that wanted to wreck everything. I look forward to when this updates again keep up the good work

[ShadedTz]

Of course he befriends the Dragon

[8r0ny]

9739805
I shall! Just don't hold your breath for the next chapter...unless you can hold you breath for about a month and a half (judging on update frequency lately)

[8r0ny]

9739921
After thousands of years even pointless destruction gets boring. Then some aliens show up. No brainier, harness your inner Twilight and get learnt!

[8r0ny]

9739923
A sentiment echoed by everyone that has ever met him XD

[PrismStrike]

9740186
hahahaha indeed, let the inner nerd shine through