The Weary Traveler

by The Psychopath

The first step

A loud, deafening hum terrified everypony in the auditorium, but without knowing the source, they could do nothing. Luna turned to Twilight and whispered to her.

"Did you call upon the other elements?"

"Yes. They'll be here shortly," Twilight whispered back.

"Hey boss, look what I found," a female voice shouted.

It was the mare robot that hated Celestia. She was carrying the other five elements, all knocked out, in a bag. She tossed them haphazardly at the feet of the cephalopony without a care. Twilight gasped and rushed to them.

The robot mare chuckled. "I caught them all, the weirdos," she congratulated herself.

The traveler raised two eyebrows. "Did you kill them?"

"Did you want me to?" she asked with a hint of bloodthirst. "I can always resolve that issue." She smiled and looked down at her 'hooves'.

"Shut up, Scleretin" the visitor growled. "Your 'humor' is unpleasant."

Scleretin shrugged and stepped away from the mares, leaving the cephalopony to approach the unconscious mares and pull something out from his tentacles. Twilight jumped in front to protect them from further harm, however.

"Do be aware, Twilight Sparkle, that if I were really here to kill you, I would have done so easily seconds prior."

"But you hurt my friends! What else are you going to do to them?!"

"I did not hurt them." He turned and pointed to the robot mare that cared little for her actions. "She did. They have free will. I only give them orders, and this was not one of them." He crushed whatever was between three tentacles, creating a crackling sound not too dissimilar from crackers being turned into a fine dust. "If you do not let me to your friends, they're unlikely to awaken unhindered." He glared at Scleretin. "She has a way of almost killing everyone."

"That doesn't reassure me," Twilight replied.

The traveler shrugged. "That is why I always carry some medical supplies on myself at any given moment, and waiting here to discuss the validity of my actions will see your friends delve deeper and deeper into this 'coma'."

The lavender unicorn reluctantly stepped back, leaving the cephalopony to spread the medication on the ponies. It resembled a cloud of sand that filtered through their pores, and seconds after the medication was used, the mares bounced up, terrified and unaware of their location.

"What's going on?! Where are we?" Rainbow Dash sputtered as she darted in every direction.

"Rainbow, RAINBOW!" Twilight shouted. "It's okay. You're in Canterlot. With the princesses and I."

Rarity rubbed the back of her head and groaned in pain. "How did we end up here?"

"That would be the work of my companion," the traveler said.

Rarity looked towards the source of the voice, and her face gradually became gray in fear and fill with terror. She yelped and hopped behind Twilight, terrified of what she was seeing, clearly unaware of the crowd watching them all.

"Wh-what is that?!" she stuttered.

The traveler turned to face the crowd and continued his presentations. "Your technology and your magic are disjointed. As such, I have prepared basic technological levels that will use your magical proficiency as a way to train you in using both for your needed purposes. They are still easily used by non-unicorns, but I shall have the experiment first conducted in the city of Canterlot." A wooden frame holding copper-colored pipes snaking around it appeared out of thin air right next to him. "The start will be plumbing: The cornerstone of society in many cases." He walked to the side and tapped his hooves on the ground. "And when you've understood how the basic functions of self-cleaning pipes work, then we'll get to the interesting stuff."

"Twilight? What's going on?" Rarity asked.

Pinkie bounced into view. "I don't remember what happened, just that that metal meanie over there attacked us when we got here."

Scleretin waved a hoof and smiled mischievously at the mares. Her bizarre demeanor made Fluttershy cower and Applejack wretch.

Celestia stepped between the robopony and the elements, visibly annoying the metal mare.

"She's a bad pony," Celestia started. "I would keep my distance from her since I think our guest has a very long leash on her."

The traveler stopped speaking and, in the same second, spun towards Celestia. His tentacles pushed something on his neck, and a bright light illuminated that dimly lit chamber. It was accompanied by the screams of pain of Scleretin. The nearest ponies backed away at the sight of the robopony writhing in agony on the floor while white lightning raced through her body and the nearby wood. The cephalopony casually strolled up to his companion.

"S...Stop this...pleeeease!" Scleretin begged.

"Why should I?" the traveler asked. "You constantly disobey me when you're the one who asked to come with me. I told you all that you were free to accompany me during my one goal, and I gave you immortal bodies to do so." He scratched his beak-shaped muzzle. "You asked me for this, so why do you still try to kill everyone? You tried killing Celestia just now."

"What?!" the princess screeched.

"Yes. And nopony here noticed, because she's a crafty being," the traveler huffed. "So what will it be? This is the second time I've had to tell you to stop. Will you stop trying to kill everyone?"

Scleretin bared her teeth and glared at Celestia. The princess did not falter, but she never saw eyes fill with such hatred and malice. There was such rage in them. What exactly had her 'counterpart' done in her timeline that made this mare detest Celestia with such vigor.

"Not...her..."

The traveler shrugged. "Then you will die, your goals unfulfilled and your soul full of regret and doubt. I don't care."

The huge robopony put a hoof on the traveler and looked at the cephalopony with sadness. The traveler clicked his muzzle a few times and turned the device off, freeing the robomare.

"Go to Chinch'k Kuchuk. Now," the traveler threatened.

The mare struggled to get to her feet, slapping the helping hoof of the large pony away, making him whimper in the process. Scleretin limped away whilst cursing under her breath. Celestia couldn't help but feel some pity for the sad state her would-be assassin was in. While she was grateful that the traveler stopped her, she was also unsure of how to feel due to her not having all the pieces of this puzzle.

"What in Equestria was that?" one of the crowd asked.

"A demonstration that my companions are on a very short leash for things like this." The Cephalopony returned to his pipes. "This also is just to show you that I'm very observant of things, as is my job. I don't have five eyes just for show." He cracked his neck and resumed his demonstration.

"That was...awful..." Fluttershy whimpered.

"Ah gotta say that ah wasn't expectin' that either. But...just who is he?" Applejack asked.

The princesses explained the situation to the five mares, surprising them.

"Applejack!" the traveler shouted. "You'll be part of the experiment for the agricultural process. You'll have 'Stairway Farms'."

"What."

"I'll show you later."

"How'd he know mah name?"

"I told you, Applejack. He's from another timeline."

"Ah gotta say, Twilight, that ah don't understand this fanceh science talk. Ya know ah was never that good with that kinda stuff."

"I'll explain to you when he's done with his presentations, like that I can make comparisons without interrupting or being interrupted."

"His plumbing is surprisingly simple yet complex for what it shows," Luna commented.

Celestia raised a brow and smirked. "Finding interest in what he has?" She put a hoof to her chin. "Perhaps having one of us with him at all times would allow us to properly determine what his true intentions are."

"But I thought he already mentioned them," Twilight said.

Luna looked at Twilight as though she were a naive filly. "Somepony with such power always has an ulterior motive. The stupid or impatient ones throw it around and get destroyed because they look down on anyone that isn't at their level, making it easy for them to be cast down." She looked back at the cephalopony explaining the interior of the pipes and the magic that is used within. "It's the crafty ones that remain passive and don't attack immediately that are the dangerous ones." The princess narrowed her eyes. "He probably wants to use his position of knowledge as a way to take over Equestria in our stead in a way that looks passive and normal."

Celestia stared at her sister with a baffled expression. "What ARE you talking about?" she asked.

"You'll see," Luna insisted.

A commotion happening next to the ponies led them to view what was irritating their eyes, and they realized that it was Pinkie and the giant ball of a robot pony who were doing a bunch of strange twirls, hoofbumps over and under, bizarre leg motions that went from simple bends to twisting up and down to crossing each other's forelegs together and sticking a hoof in their mouth. Pinkie was picked up and placed on the round pony's back

"Hey, he's a Pie, too!" Pinkie blurted out joyfully.

"Um, I'm not a 'he'?" The pony stated in a formal manner. He placed a hoof on his prominent chest. "I identify as a grape, because I'm plump, round, and juicy."

There was a long pause before the two burst out in laughter.

"I don't get it..." Rainbow sighed.

Comments

[Sir Budginton]

"I don't get it..." Rainbow sighed.

Same here rainbow, same here.

[Starlight Nova]

Does the Weary Traveler sound like Professor Paradox from Ben 10 Alien Force?

[The Psychopath]

8561342
If you want him to. His voice is in your head.

But normally, he has a weary, tired, low-tone of voice. It goes higher in baritone to his normal voice when he speaks at higher volumes.

[LostArchivist]

Interesting (and slightly disturbing) idea. I have no idea where it's going, so I look forward to more chapters.

[The Psychopath]

8801698
I got the next chapter set up, so I just need to work on it.

[AnormalUnicornPony]

The more I read the more the author's name makes sense.

[The Psychopath]

8821988
How so?