A Story from Stone, Shattered Serenity

by BCBB

[Chapter 5] We are all strangers in a strange land, pt2

A Story from Stone
Shattered Serenity
BCBB

[Chapter 5] We are all strangers in a strange land, pt2

---

I can’t believe this luck, how is it that I said that we needed to finish this as soon as possible and here she is? Nox thought to himself. Oh well, sometimes you just don’t look down the dragon's maw. Heh, Moonstone really hates that saying. That being the case, when he first saw the red and brilliant yellow, long feathered hair down to her shoulders, he was not quite sure, but the second her aqua eyes met his, it was all but confirmed.

The possibility that this was not Sunset Shimmer or that it was but not the one he was looking for was still there. He would need to be smart about this, the two girls that flanked her were watching him. The girl on the right that had pointed him out was looking at Nox like she wanted to challenge him to something. She was definitely dressed quite less than the three he just met and the other two present, honestly he was slightly blushing and trying hard not to look at her twice over.

She had rainbow colored hair in a mid-length bob, with the tips barely touching her shoulders. Resting on her shoulders was a cyan sports jacket, leaving the jacket open to reveal a cyan sports bra. Moving down from there, following her skin that was the same color as Nox’s, only more tanned than his. Red sports shorts hugged her curvature quite well. Down on her feet, rested red running sneakers.

“Okay, who are you?” she spoke moving a little closer to Nox, cerise colored eyes held a hint of a competitive spark.

The movement caused her hair to sway, revealing for a split second a cloud with a rainbow lightning bolt in the shape of an earring in her left ear.

“Sorry, my name is Nox,” he replied, extending his hand. “Rarity told me that I might be able to find someone that I was looking for here.”

“Ooh! Rarity sent you!” a high-pitched voice sounded from the girl on the left. She bounced over to Nox, taking his hand in hers, “it’s a pleasure to meet you Nox.”

She was dressed by far the strangest that Nox had encountered. Her big, long, poofy pink hair framed her face to draw your forces to her bright blue eyes and goofy grin. A light pink T-shirt that had the image of a clown slipping on a banana peel, a notable addition that was made to the shirt was a white yarn string that led from the clown’s hand up to a button that had two blue balloons and one yellow. A bright pink poofy tutu, white and blue striped tights and blue high-tops completed her look.

“My name’s Pinkie Pie!” she exclaimed vigorously, shaking Nox’s hand, “are you here to help with the Gala? Oh, the Gala is what the Fall Formal is unofficially called. So, your pretty tall, so you could help hang some of the decorations, or since you also look pretty strong, lifting the heavy stuff, or you could-”

“PINKIE! LET THE GUY GET A WORD IN!” exclaimed the girl that Nox was talking to before Pinkie had introduced herself.

“Oops, sorry. You wanted to talk to him too, right Dashy,” Pinkie commented, letting go of Nox’s hand.

“Sigh, my name’s Rainbow Dash and you said that Rarity told you that someone you're looking for might be here?”

Regaining his composure after the enthusiastic greeting from Pinkie Pie, “That’s correct. I was looking for Sunset Shimmer.”

The two girls quickly glanced back at the girl who had yet to introduce herself. She pointed at herself in confusion, she was dressed in a black leather moto jacket. An amber shirt could be seen with the jacket open, black cut up jeans blended into black studded boots. A red and yellow sun pendant hung low around her neck.

“You’re looking for me? Why?” she said, giving Nox a quick once over, “I don’t think I know you.”

“That doesn't surprise me, the last time we were in the same room, I was on the floor after a ‘comedy routine’ Nox smiled, adding a little more emphasis on the last part.

Sunset’s eyes widened a little at that, noticing the curious looks the other two girls were giving her. She composed herself, “girls, could you give us a moment,” she said as she passed Nox and entered into the hallway.

Nox excused himself to follow after Sunset, with the sound of Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash discussing if he was a comedian. Sunset Shimmer walked a few paces ahead of the doors that lead to the hall. She stopped far enough in that their conversation wouldn't be heard by the others, but out close enough that she could be heard if she called for help. Turning around towards Nox, she knew only the one thing that could confirm her suspicions about who this was.

“Equestria,” she said flatly, waiting for his reply.

“Yes, that's where I’m from and where you’re from as well,” Nox replied.

Sighing, “you’re that Alicorn from the other night, you decided to come by yourself to try and get the crown back. You should've at least brought you dragon friend, if you really want to try and force it.”

“He did bring me,” a deep voice sounded from Nox’s front jacket pocket. A gecko's head popped out, “and if you're looking for a fight, I’m willing to oblige,” Ash threatened.

“Ignore the idiot,” a feminine voice with a slight husk spoke from the bag at Nox’s side. A cat’s head poked out from it, “my name's Moonstone, I’m Nox’s dragon partner. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sunset Shimmer.”

“Wait, the magic of the portal turned dragons into different animals? I wonder if the journals had a record about it,” Sunset pondered out loud.

“I’ll put in a word for you to look through them, as soon as you return the crown and come back to Equestria,” Nox said, trying to bring the conversation back to the original topic.

Sighing, Sunset ran her fingers quickly through her hair. She raised her left wrist to look at the watch she had turned around to her inner wrist. Taking note of the time she returned her gaze to Nox. “I don’t have the crown right now and I don’t have much time to talk about it right now. The library isn't far from here, wait for me there and I will explain everything to you.”

“And why should I believe you?” Nox said leveled.

“Two reasons,” she said, holding up two fingers. “The first is that I have all the information on where the crown is and I’m sure you're curious as to why I took it. As well as why I said it would be returned in three days. The second is that I’ve been in this world longer than you, one word from me and your mission is a failure,” she fished with no hint of humor.

Everyone was silent for a few seconds, Ash was the first to try and speck, but Nox cut him off before he could.

“You have one hour to meet us there, if you are a no show. I won’t care how long you’ve been here or what you can do, I will do whatever it takes to get that crown back,” he said calmly.

Sunset had to smile a little at that comment and the bravado that he was displaying, “I certainly can admire your conviction to your mission, we both know that we can’t use magic here. But I’ve always been a mare of my word, so I’ll see you at the library before that hour deadline is up,” she said walking past Nox and back into the ballroom.

~~~~~~~

“It’s been half an hour now! Where is she?” Ash yelled before Moonstone hushed him up by knocking him off the window nook with her tail.

A loud shush came from the librarian at the front desk, she could only see Nox and assumed he was the culprit who earned her admonishment. The library was a large two floor building, rows of bookshelves filled the space, accompanied by small step ladders to help get to the books on the higher shelves. Growing up with the Goddess of Books as your mother, taught Nox the importance of books and libraries. In fact, it's been whispered among the other guards that before her time as a Princess, the royal library had only taken the space of one room instead of the three rooms that it did now.

When Nox first entered the library, he quickly took note of the surroundings. He found this window nook fairly quickly. It was partly hidden on the right, so Moonstone and Ash could get out of their hiding spots to stretch out. He grabbed a couple of books on his way over, some for Moonstone and for him to make it look like he was reading while sitting at the spot on the nook that was visible, watching the front for Sunset.

Ash was complaining about what Moonstone did and Sunset not showing up, Moonstone would give him a quick insult and tell him to quiet down, all without looking up from her book. The squabble was background noise to Nox. He set his book aside long enough to take off his jacket, the temperature in the library made wearing it a bit uncomfortable. Returning to the book, Nox found it kind of interesting, but his mind would keep drifting to the girls he had met. Excluding Sunset, the others names would play over in his mind, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie. Each time the cycle of the names ended and started again, his frustration grew.

He could feel the names pulling at the strings of an old memory, every time he tried to grasp the memory, the strings would snap and add to his frustration. Why couldn't he remember what he was missing.

“Excuse me, are you done with that book?” a familiar voice asked.

Nox’s head snapped up, his eyes stared into intellectual violet eyes. He turned his head to the right, thinking he would have to think up a reason for Moonstone and Ash. They were gone, Nox’s bag was still on the floor open.

“Um, are you okay?”

Nox turned his attention back to the girl, standing up he was a head taller than her. Closing the book, he handed it to her, “Sorry, here you go.”

Taking the book from him she looked to Nox and thanked him. Looking at her, Nox had a small voice at the back of his mind about her. Her skin was white to the point of looking like it hadn't seen the sun much. Dark sapphire hair with a single purple and rose streak in it was gathered in a ponytail, looking very familiar to him. A purple blouse with a black vest and tie, was complemented with a dark blue and red pleated skirt. Following down from there, black cotton thigh high socks lead to black loafers. The thing that caught Nox’s eyes the most was the fuchsia colored six-pointed star tie pin in the center of her tie, he had seen that color and shape as a cutie mark.

A bead of sweat rolled down his temple, the realization hitting him like the time when the General did the first time in basic training.

“Are you okay?” she asked with a hint of worry.

Her voice was the same but missing the weight of eons that he was used to. Meeting her eyes, the worry in them struck him the same as always.

“Yeah I’m fine. Where are my manners, my name's Nox’sidus Drakon,” he extended his hand to her.

Grasping his hand, “Pleased to meet you, I’m Twilight Sparkle.”

A strange noise came from Nox’s jacket, which brought a quizzical look from Twilight. Before Nox could answer, a small commotion was happening at the front of the library. Three girls were there with one other student, who was slightly cowering in front of the three girls. Twilight was visibly annoyed with what was happening and she excused herself to deal with the commotion.

“Nox, just what is going on? Was that really Princess Twilight?” Ash hissed, coming out from under Nox’s jacket along with Moonstone.

“No that wasn’t her or at least the version of her that we know. We’re in a different world, the idea that historical figures from our past are alive and walking around shouldn't be far-fetched,” Nox replied.

“Wait there's more than just Princess Twilight?” Moonstone inquired.

“The other girls that we’ve met so far are from the stories that my mother would tell me when I was a foal.”

Before Moonstone could reply, the commotion grew louder. Nox told Ash and Moonstone to get back in his bag as he retrieved his jacket and put it on. Ash was grumbling about having to share a space with Moonstone instead of being in Nox’s jacket pocket. Nox quickly slang his bag over his shoulder as he made his way up front, spurred on by the feeling of helping this world's Twilight, even if the thought that she wasn't his mother was rattling in his head.

Nox reached the front, the student that was cowering in front of the three girls had left to find the librarian that was absent at the front, leaving Twilight to confront them. The three girls at the front had a unique air about them that felt somewhat familiar to Nox. The girl at the front stood a little bit farther ahead of the other two at her sides, giving the clear indication that she is the leader of the three of them. All three of them had the same pale olive skin and were very attractive.

The girl on the left had a ditsy look to her mulberry colored eyes. Her hair was a light arctic blue with streaks of moderate persian blue in a ponytail, a light arctic blue baby doll dress draped her body. A black and red worn plaid shirt hung open over the dress, ripped tights clung to her legs, ending in black chunky ankle boots.

The girl on the right had the same mulberry colored eyes, but she had a disinterested look. Her hair color was a moderate purple with streaks of light brilliant aquamarine, pulled back into pigtails and held by two large metal stars as ties. A black cut out crop top with an open light violet vest with frayed ends, hung on her torso. Black leather shorts began the trail of the fishnet stockings that disappeared into black knee-high boots.

The leader of the three had berry colored eyes as well, only hers was a raspberry color. Long luminous vivid orange hair with streaks of brilliant yellow, frames the sides of her face and falls down past her shoulder and down her back. Most of her hair is gathered and tied back with a black leather tie with spikes, the sight of it gave Nox the impression of a campfire in reverse. A black long sleeve hollow out buckle crop top clung to her chest, looking like it was barely containing her assets, a light gold leather jacket with silver spiked shoulders, draped over her top with the sleeves of the jacket ending at her elbows. Black leather paints hugged her hips, wrapped around half her waist, a dark red shimmering sheer skirt ran down her right leg, tapering off to a point to the top of her black platform boots, her left half of her side was left open, except for the small gold chain at the ends of the fabric that held the skirt in place.

Nox noticed that all three had black chokers with blood red gemstones that seemed to have a pale glow to Nox’s eyes.

“Well now, who is this? I don’t believe that I've seen you on compass before,” the supposed leader of the three inquired and she eyed Nox with a mix of hunger and intrigue.

Twilight noticed Nox, but turned her attention to the three girls, “we’re not done talking Adagio. You can’t just-”

She was cut off by Adagio raising her right hand to hover in front of her face.

“Yes we are Bookworm. Now do be quiet for a moment, while I talk to the new guy,” she said while not breaking eye contact with Nox.

Nox wasn't sure if Twilight was just shocked by that utter lack of respect or if that was something this world's Twilight was used to, but she did go quiet. He did not like that one bit, her mannerisms and speech were so similar to his mothers, that it filled him with anger. That small exchange between Twilight and Adagio, gave Nox a brief look into the two of them. This world’s Twilight biggest difference to his mother was the fire she had within her, his mothers was a bonfire that would turn into an inferno when what she held close to her was threatened, hers was smothered down to embers.

Adagio was a type that Nox knew all too well, the type that had craved power and control, gotten it, had lost it, but was getting it back one step at a time. Nox put on his beast diplomat face when he addressed her.

“Nox’sidus Drakon,” he said, reaching up with his left hand to take her hand she still had in front of Twilight’s face, “it’s a pleasure to meet you my lady,” he finished bringing her knuckles to his lips.

That brought the attention of the other two girls to him as well.

“My aren't you charming,” Adagio purred, slightly hesitating to remove her hand from Nox's “Adagio Dazzle,” she replied and placed her hand on her hip.

“Aria Blaze,” the girl on the right spoke with an affront of boredom.

“Sonata Dusk! Do you know if the cafeteria is serving tacos?” the girl on the left seriously questioned Nox.

“Can it, Sonata!” Aria chastised Sonata.

“Girls enough.” Adagio chastised them, turning her attention back to Nox. “Would I be correct in assuming that you are a new student? Then again, it is a bit late in the year.”

“I am new, there were some certain circumstances that prevented me from coming here earlier.”

Adagio moved closer to Nox after what he said, she tentatively placed her hand on Nox’s chest. The top of her middle finger just barely touching the base of one of his tags, “if you need someone to show you around, I would be willing to.”

Nox felt a slight tingle at the back of his neck, his thoughts fading with only a sliver of his consciousness noticing the brightening of the stone around her neck.

“That’s enough Adagio, he’s coming with me.”

Adagio dropped her hand from his chest, spinning to face who had spoken to her. “Sunset,” she said with a hint of malice and something mixed in.

The two girls stared at each other for a moment, Adagio broke away first pushing past Sunset, followed by Aria and Sonata.

“Thanks for the help Sunset.” Twilight said.

“No problem Twi,” Sunset said with a soft smile, “I’m here for this guy, forgot that I was supposed to show him around.” Sunset commented pointing at Nox.

“If you want, I can help you show him arou- “

“That’s okay Twi, I got it covered. See you later.” Sunset said, cutting off Twilight, grabbing Nox’s arm and leaving the library before Twilight could reply. When they were a good distance away, Sunset turned to Nox with a mixed look of worry and hope in equal measure.

“Hey, it’s okay, just listen to the sound of my voice,” She said soothingly, placing her hands on the side of his face gently, “Focus on breathing.”

Moonstone and Ash poked their heads from Nox’s bag, “What’s going on!? What are you doing to him!?” Ash was the first to speak.

“I need you to be silent for a bit,” she said, not breaking eye contact with Nox, “she didn’t have him long, but he had zero resistance.”

“What’re you talking abou- “Ash was cut off by Moonstone covering his mouth, she gave him a look that told him that he absolutely needed to be silent this time.

“Nox listen to me, I’m sorry that you met them. I should’ve warned you about them, but I didn’t think that you would meet them so soon. I should’ve met up with you sooner,” she shook her “no I should have gone with you when you first found me. What Adagio did, you can undo. It’s your mind, you can make the rules.” She said clearly but with a small hint of pleading.

Slowly Nox blinked, he lifted his left arm and placed his hand on top of Sunset’s hand. Sunset let her left arm fall from his face at the same time that Nox had placed his hand on hers. He blinked hard, leaning his head to both of their hands, as a small groan escaped his lips.

“Whoa, you’re okay.” Sunset said soothingly.

“Wha- what was that? I was somewhere dark, but I heard your voice calling me and then…” Nox trailed off.

“Looks like you’re going to have more questions.” Sunset said with a smile.

“Oh, just a few.” Nox chuckled.

Nox opened his eyes, meeting Sunset’s eyes. They stood like that for a minute, before Sunset spoke.

“Thirty minutes from here, there’s a café that we can talk at. It’s a good place for us not to be overheard.” A small smile formed on her lips, “can I get my hand back?” the barest hint of a blush colored her cheeks.

Nox smiled sheepishly, “Shall we?” he said with a sweep of his arm towards the exit. “I’ve been in this world for a couple of hours and already my head is spinning, I have a feeling that after we talk, I’m going to be dizzy.” He said, chuckling.

“Can we start talking again?” Ash asked.

“shh!” Moonstone directed towards Ash.

“I was wondering why you guys were so quiet, what’s going on?” Nox asked.

“Oh, nothing, just being curious.” Moonstone quickly said.

“Okay…” Nox pondered.

Sunset walked past Nox during his questioning of his friends. Before she got too far, she turned to him with a mischievous grin on her face.

“It’s a thirty-minute walk to the café, but if we take my bike we can cut it in half if maybe more.”

All three asked the same question “What’s a bike?”

Sunset's grin grows wider.

~~~~~~~

Nox had feared for his life more than once on Sunset’s bike. She explained that the technical name for it was a motorcycle, but most just called it a bike. Her explanation also included that it was like flying on the ground. How wrong that Nox felt could not be expressed in words, in the air there were multiple directions of evasions, on the ground, left or right. Not to mention Ash and Moonstone were actually clinging to each other in his bag. The speed at which she was going with the very limited options for dodging resulted in a couple of close misses and Nox wishing that he could fly again.

As a way for his mind to escape, he remembered back to his time in basic. He and the other flyers had to take an unofficial aptitude test on top of learning aerial combat. The two instructors had been representatives of the Wonderbolts and Shadowbolts. Not many came close to matching the Shadowbolt instructor, Nox was one of the very few that lasted for minutes, the instructor commented that if he could use his magic, he would have lasted a few seconds longer. He lasted three minutes with the Wonderbolt instructor. The rematch between the three of them was his favorite part of that day, the two female instructors had flexibility and he had reach.

On arrival, Nox snapped out of the memory and watched as Sunset got off the bike, removed her helmet and flashed him a brilliant smile.

Chuckling Sunset commented, “I had the same reaction when I first got on one.”

Nox remained silent as he removed his helmet, Ash and Moonstone just groaned a little from his bag.

“I’ll grab us something, over on the right-hand side, towards the back, is a window seat table. You can put your bag on the window ledge, but make sure your friends don’t come out of the bag. If anyone sees them, we're going to get kicked out,” Sunset said.

Nox nodded his head wordlessly and made his way to the table. He sat the bag that held his friends on the window seal, as he took his seat. “I know that you two would have a lot of questions for her as well, but in this setting, it may be best if I’m the one who talks and both of you watch for anything suspicious.” Nox said.

His friends didn’t have a chance to reply, as Sunset had reached the table. She sat a saucer and cup in front of him, the scent wafting off of it was instantly recognized as coffee. She sat across from him with her own cup.

“Didn’t know how you take your coffee, but we can get them if you’d like. I also got some food coming, I didn’t get a chance to eat breakfast this morning and I figured you and your friends would be hungry.” She said, leaning back a bit and smiling, “I'm glad that there aren’t too many people here, if we're careful, we can sneak some food to your friends here.”

Nox gave an appreciative smile as he lifted the cup, “This how I like anyways.” He said after taking a sip, “So, I have about a thousand questions, but I’ll settle with the most immediate one.” He said before taking another sip of his coffee, “Where is the crown?”

Sunset was quiet for a moment, answering only after she sat her cup down, “I don’t have it anymore” she said, not meeting his eyes. A second passed before she looked up, meeting his gaze, she could see the follow up question he wanted to ask reflected in his orange eyes. She appreciated that he gave her time to answer, despite what she said to him when he found her in this world, he was holding all the cards even if he didn’t know it, she needed his help and she made up her mind to tell him everything in order to get him to stay and help.

“After I left and came back to this world, I used the magic in the crown for about a second before I was almost seen using magic. Assistant Dean Luna has impeccable timing, and I had to play off that the crown in my hands was the replacement for the one that was broken last week.”

“Wait, Luna?” Nox said “Tell me if any of these names sound familiar, Jer’rahd Kaisur, Rhetoric Pelt, Starfall Silvertail, Velkorn Bleu Scale, Spike and Celestia.”

“I recognize all of them, Jer’rahd Kaisur is the chief of security on campus and Assistant Dean Luna’s husband, the crown is in his office, which makes getting it back almost impossible. Rhetoric Pelt is a professor of history and economics, his wife Velkorn is in charge of the entire medical department of the college. Starfall Silvertail is the coach of many of the girl’s sport teams, Bleu Scale runs the theater department. Twilight has a little dog named Spike, wait she has a brother named spike as well, he actually got her the dog and named it after himself. According to Twilight, he did it so she would always have her number one assistant with her and Celestia is the Dean of the college.” Sunset said with a quizzical look.

Nox looked out the window, a small smile on his face, “Just some names that I know, only ever knew two of them. I’m just glad that there’s more here that I somewhat know about.”

Sunset smiled at Nox’s statement, “I know the feeling,” she said lifting her cup to take a sip, “I was so glad that some names from my world were her too.”

Nox turned to her with a surprised look just as the waitress brought their food. Before Nox could ask, a loud ‘WHAT!?’ from his bag. The startled waitress looked towards the bag, then to Nox, a question forming on her lips.

“Sorry about that,” Sunset said with an apologetic smile to the waitress. “My boyfriend thinks that notification is funny, I can’t tell you how many times I asked him to change it,” she said with a little bit of exasperation.

The waitress gave a knowing smile to Sunset and a side eye to Nox before leaving.

Sunset whispered fury towards the bag, “Keep it down in there, we’re not gonna be able to explain two talking animals.” She looked towards Nox for his input, her voice stopped short in her throat when she saw Nox blushing heavily. Her own blush started at the realization of her statement to the waitress, “H-Hold on are you blushing because I called you my…” she trailed off. She and Nox looked away from each other, small smiles upon the faces as Sunset said quietly, Your cute.``

They were quiet for a few moments till Moonstone spoke, snapping both back to reality.

“Two questions, first question; why am I a cat when both of my parents are human. Second question and probably the most important one; what did you mean when you said ‘my world’?”

Ash inserted his agreements to Moonstone’s questions as she spoke.

Sunset looked to Nox for clarification about Moonstone’s first question.

“Her parents are Spike and Bleu, both of them were dragons in our world. But I am curious why Ash and Moonstone aren’t human.”

Sunset leaned back thinking, “As far as I can tell, they should have been too. I wonder if the magic from the crown somehow affected it…” Sunset trailed off. She looked at Nox, she could tell that he was waiting for her to answer the second question. She sighed, Not how I wanted this expiation to start with, she thought to herself. “You already know that I’m Sunset Shimmer, but I’m not the one from your world. In my world the leaders of the ponies were Celestia and Luna, there was a war going on when Princess Celestia sent me here through a different mirror, that was three years ago this world's time.”

She paused then continued, “Then four months ago I felt something change, when I went to the statue's pedestal, I could tell that a portal on the opposite side of the one I came through had opened. When I stepped through it, I was in your world. I spent a day reading as many of the journals that I could, luckily, I learned from the first journal that there was a time differentiation of thirty, one month here is a single day there. Whoever Solomon was, they are a genius for getting it figured down right to the seconds.” She said taking notice of Nox’s face at the mention of the name, “Someone else you know?”

“Only by reputation, he eventually went by a different name after an incident, it’s a long story. One thing that I’m still wondering about is the Dazzling’s, I’m guessing that there not from your world.” Nox replied.

Sighing, “There not, I think that there from yours. It was two years ago that I met them, it was only last year that I was hanging out with them. I think on some level we could sense that we went from this world and just gravitated towards each other. Adagio and I … we were close,” she trailed off. “I didn’t realize till three months ago that they could use magic, I think when the portal opened it let in tiny traces of magic and just like I noticed I think they did to. They were always a little bitchy, but they changed. What happened to you, I’ve seen happen to others, it happened to me once. It's why I moved out of their place and moved in with Twilight and her friends.” Sunset was silent for a moment, the weight of what she was about to say becoming real, “I believe that there the Sirens of your world.”

Everyone was silent, stunned by what was said. It was Ash that broke the silence.

“How is that possible, weren’t they destroyed eons ago by Starswirl the Bearded?”

“Not necessarily,” Moonstone replied, “It's documented that Starswirl and his companions fought them, but it’s a topic of debate on what the outcome was with the Sirens' defeat.”

“It’s possible, we are talking about the first Starswirl the Bearded,” Nox thought out loud, “he created most of the spells still used today. If he had a spell that could open a portal, maybe even it being powered by the Elements.” He stopped when he saw Sunset’s puzzled look. “We’ve had multiple Starswirl’s over the years.”

“Fascinating,” Sunset smiled.

“So, to recap,” Nox said, stretching. “You’re from another world and were stuck here till a little while ago. Wait a second, how did you know that Twilight’s crown was what you needed?”

“Oh, that. I had a spell of precognition from my world, it could only be used once, then it would be erased from your mind. It showed me Twilight and then her crown, it left the solution tied to it.” Sunset said.

“My turn to say Fascinating,” Nox smiled, “but that’s something for another time. Getting back to the topic at hand, a crown with highly condensed magic is locked up in an impregnable office. And to top it off, the three legendary Sirens are here and most likely noticed the power of the crown, but haven’t noticed that the portal or three individuals form their world are here.”

“That’s the long and sort of it, if they did notice the portal, I doubt that they would want to go back in a weakened state. So, it’s safe to say the crown is their target. With them being the ones to vote for, other than myself, they’ll probably get it.” Seeing Nox’s confused face she added, “This college is a little weird, it has its own version of prom royalty. It’s a tradition that’s been around for a while, it doesn’t have a whole lot of power, other than the winner becoming part of the student council.”

Moonstone started to ask some questions of Sunset, while Ash just asked for food. Nox sat back in contemplation, remembering the story about the Sirens and their power.

“’Their songs would cause strife and discord to all that hear them’, is that sentence still an apt description of their powers?” Nox asked Sunset.

“Yes, to a certain extent. I’ve seen them turn a group against each other, after a while they went back to normal and couldn’t remember why they were fighting, then there’s the enchantment that’s happened to us both. That one is their strongest and weakest power, they don’t need to sing for it to work, but they need to be in an arm’s reach. However, the good news is that it only lasts for a day or if they whacked out of it and it won’t work on you or I again, if you have a knowledge of magic and know what’s happening to you it won’t take a hold of you.” She paused remembering something, “Twilight and her friends… I think that they're immune to the Dazzling’s songs. That group I mentioned before, Twilight and her friends were within earshot of the song. It’s possible that because they weren’t the target, it didn’t affect them, but I’ve seen it influence others not involved before.”

An idea was starting to form in Nox’s mind, “I might have a plan, but I need to know a few things. First; is the Fall Formal within the time frame of the portal closing?”

“It's on the last night the portal would remain open, we would have till midnight. The fall Formal doesn’t start till five and the winner is crowned at eight.” Sunset answered.

“Second & third question; can people put forth their names up till the day of the formal and is there a limit on how many can enter?”

“It would be a week before the formal and there isn’t a limit.”

“Final question; can the Dazzling’s use their powers to influence the vote?”

“Not fully, they can control a few people to vote for them with their enchantment. I’ve only seen Adagio use it. If I thought that all three could use it, I wouldn’t have entered my name.”

Nox looked down at his now cool coffee, picking it up. He drained the contents before looking at Sunset, “We’re going to need help, I need you to get Twilight and her friends tougher so that we can talk.”

Sunset reached into her jacket for her phone, she realized what Nox’s plan was. She had thought about trying this plan before and decided against it. She decided to talk to Nox more while waiting for everyone. “Come on, let's go to my place.”

~~~~~~~

“You do know that this is a bad idea, right?” Sunset stated as she walked through the door of her home that she shared with Twilight and the others. Dropping her bag and slipping off her jacket, she turned to Nox, “I already considered this plan, I decided against it, because I didn’t want to get thrown in the looney bin.” She plopped down on the couch, she motioned to a chair that Nox could sit in. “I get that you’re new to this world, but this place doesn’t exactly believe in magic.” She sighed, putting her hands behind her head,” Make yourself at home, they’ll be here in a few minutes. Oh, and you can let your friends out, there are a few other animals here, but they're well behaved.”

Nox sat down the bag that held Moonstone and Ash, Moonstone hopped out looking slightly annoyed with Ash riding on her back. Nox took off his jacket and sat it next to Sunset’s, he made his way to the chair. “We don’t have much of a choice, besides there’s four of us now and two of them are talking animals. One thing that still doesn’t make sense, how are the Dazzling’s able to use magic when we can’t?”

“The Red crystal chokers, somehow magic in objects can be used when your own internal magic can’t.” Sunset replied. She was silent for a moment, “We didn’t talk about what happens when we get the crown back.”

Nox was watching Moonstone get up on the counter to look at a book that was left open, Ash just sat down beside her. “Assuming we get it back with time to spare, you can use it to try and open the portal to your world. But I need to know that whatever you're going to try doesn’t interfere with the portal to my world.”

Everyone was silent for the next few minutes, unsure about what to say. The sound of laughter could be heard at the front door. Applejack was the first through the door to see Nox sitting in a chair and Sunset laying on the couch. Sunset stretched and got up as the last person entered, she walked over and leaned against the counter.

She gestured to Nox, “So introductions first, if you haven’t met him yet, That’s Nox.”

The girls all said that they met him as they took up spots on the now vacant couch, Rarity stood next to Applejack with her sitting on the right arm of the couch.

Sunset smiled at Nox, “Someone was making the rounds looking for me. So, Nox, Moonstone and Ash,” She pointed to the cat and gecko that turned around to look at them, “are going to need to stay here for three months, I figure Nox could sleep on the couch or take a spot in Rarity’s studio. Applejack, I think that you have some of Big Mac's old clothing, hopefully Nox can borrow them. And before you start asking questions, Nox is going to tell you everything and what he’s about to say is true.” She paused for a second, “I should have told you the girls the truth sooner, I just didn’t know how to.” She turned to Nox, giving him the silent go ahead.

Nox took a deep breath, “My name is Nox’sidus Drakon Sparkle and I’m not from your world.”

~~~~~~~

It took a couple of hours for Nox’s explanation to be accepted by all, at one-point Rarity Swooned on to a red loveseat behind her, Nox swore that it had not been there a second ago. It took Moonstone and Ash talking to fully convince them.

“So, to clarify,” Applejack spoke, “Ya’ll are from two different worlds, but both ya’ll are ponies,” she said addressing Nox and Sunset. Pointing at Nox, “You’re a demigod and the son of a Princess,” addressing Moonstone and Ash next, “you’re a dragon god and the daughter of Spike and Bleu,” she said to a purring Moonstone, she climbed up into Fluttershy’s lap for her to pet when she looked like she was going to faint, it helped calm her.

“And you’re just a dragon,” she said to a board looking Ash. “And you Sunset,” Applejack said with a bit of edge in her voice, “despite living with us for months and knowing us for longer, you didn’t say anything. Instead, you go to another world to steal a crown, that belongs to Twilight, who is a Princess, a god and a pony,” gesturing to a still shell-shocked Twilight

“And that crown has an enough magical power to destroy the collage and a little bit of the surrounding area, if used in the wrong hands,” she took a deep breath, “If I did know ya’ll were telling the truth, I think we’d all gone crazy!” she exclaimed.

“Blood pressure, Darling,” Rarity soothed. “Still a prince… if there’s a way to keep that portal open, imagen the business opportunity.” Applejack shot her a look. “Oh, Darling, I’m just thinking of the future prospects.”

“So, the Dazzling’s are from your world Nox?” Pinkie Pie asked “That makes sense, they always seemed out of this world to me!”

“So, the crown is in Luna’s office,” Rainbow Dash said, everyone chose to ignore Pinkie pie’s joke, “why don’t you guys just go and grab it?”

“if you’re Jer’rahd Kaisur, is even close to what mine is like, breaking into that office is off the table,” Nox replied, Moonstone and Ash added in their agreements on that

.

“So, what do you need us to do for your plan to work?” Flutter Shy spoke up, “Please tell me that it’s not dangerous,” she said worriedly.

“I promise you won’t be in danger; we know that the crown is going to be at the formal. We just need it to a specific place.” Nox said. He got some confused looks, he continued, “all of you would just need to enter your names and hopefully either one of you or Sunset wins. In the event that one of the Dazzling’s wins, we’ll have a backup plan.”

The girls talked among themselves for a few moments. Twilight turned to Nox; she had a little bit of the fire that his mom had.

“We’ll do it, and you can stay here in the meantime. Rarity can give you a spot in her studio to sleep, so long as you help clean it out, Applejack has some of Big Mac’s old things that Rarity can alter or she can make something for you. The three of you can discuss that, and while you’re here, if you can help out around the place, it would be appreciated.” Twilight said.

Nox, Moonstone and Ash agreed to the terms of the living condition. Pinkie pie jumped up and shouted that there was going to be a welcome party for the new roommates, everyone clapped and cheered. Nox and Sunset shared a moment, this had gone easier than what had been expected and both knew that the hard part was about to happen.

Author's Note:

So going to try a new idea, from now when this gets published (25th of July) till December 31st, I want all of you to send me messages on who you'd like to win the Fall Formal Crown.
your nominees are Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rarity Reignolds, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Sunset Shimmer, Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk.

So, because the window for this going to be large, I plan to work on the next chapter to the point of the winner being chosen and as many of the fallowing ones. if this goes well, I may do something like this again. I want to try and push myself in my writing as much as possible.

We are all strangers in a strange land, longing for home, but not quite knowing what or where home is. We glimpse it sometimes in our dreams, or as we turn a corner, and suddenly there is a strange, sweet familiarity that vanishes almost as soon as it comes. Madeleine L'Engle