The Elements of Pure Energy

by The Collective

Chapter 3: Through the Threshold (Part 1)

The Elements of Pure Energy

Chapter 3: Through the Threshold (Part 1)

Nick had no idea how long he had been under, but slowly he became aware of his state. He heard voices above him, one female and one like a child.

“...what am...do with...library?”

“I don’t know...pour water...wakes up?”

Nick groaned and started to open his eyes, the brightness of the world flooded him and everything appeared blurred.

“Oh thank Celestia! He’s waking up!” A strange purple blob was talking to him. As his vision began to clear, he could make out its form better. Was that a...pony?

“I have no idea how you got in here,” The purple mare started in a concerned voice, “But it sure was weird to have you drop in so unexpectedly? Just who are you?”

“Yeah!” Nick heard the childish voice again, “who do you think you are to just bust in like that?” He began to sit up but found doing so incredibly difficult, like his body wasn’t used to such a position. “I...well...” Nick lifted his hand to his face to rub his eyes, but instead found that a large object was where his hand should have been, his eyes immediately opened and his pupil dilated, those weren’t hands.

“OH MY CELESTIA!” Wait that was weird, he didn’t even have the intention to say that, but that didn’t matter, those were hooves where his hands should have been, he then scanned the rest of his body. A tail? Pale white skin covering his body? Hold on, that isn’t skin.... Nick tried standing up, but fell over backwards, “OW! WHAT THE BUCK!?” Wait, he didn’t even try to say that either!

“Whoa! Calm down!” The purple pony began looking scared and her horn started glowing. This was getting stranger and stranger, but Nick couldn’t panic any more even if he wanted to. He found himself levitated and surrounded by a purple force that felt like water. Slowly he calmed down, finally remembering what the guardian had said about changing form. Nick blushed deeply thinking about the tantrum he had thrown- it was quite out of character for him.

“I-I’m sorry,” Nick began, “I was just startled, something strange happened, and I have no idea how it happened, but I ended up here.” Nick thought it best perhaps to keep the purple unicorn in the dark about his extraordinary circumstances.

“Oh you were startled?” The childish voice began, Nick turned to see that it came from a small purple dragon, “I didn’t know that ponies who broke into other ponies’ homes were supposed to be such scaredy pants!” Nick didn’t know who this purple dragon was, but he was starting to get on his nerves.

“SPIKE!” The purple mare started, “I don’t think we need to worry so much about this colt, I think he might be innocent of any heinous deeds as you accuse him.” She turned towards Nick and addressed him as she lowered him to the ground, “Hello, My name is Twilight Sparkle, what is your name?”

Nick stood stiffly on his four legs, this was going to be a challenge, “Well...my name is Nick, I’m sorry for bursting into your library, I have no idea how I got here.” Twilight Sparkle began to notice something strange about her intruder. Not only did he have a strange name, but he looked uncomfortable standing there, even tense, as though he couldn’t move. Also, it seemed his cutie mark was a black cross, but at the same time it looked more like a plus sign.

“You aren’t from around here are you?” Twilight began cautiously

Horseapples! She was reading Nick like a book, he started to sweat and his brain went into overdrive.

“No! No I don’t come from around here! I...uh come from from a ways away!” Twilight knitted her brows and looked very suspiciously at him.

“You have no idea where you are...but you know you come from far away?” Oh horseradish, this was it, game over, I didn’t even last two minutes.

“Maybe he’s messed up in the head after his break in,” Spike piped in. Oh thank Celestia. I owe you one little dragon, Nick thought to himself. Twilight eased up but kept a suspicious eye on him.

“I guess you are right Spike, but that still doesn’t explain how he got here.” At that point, Nick realized that he was not only in an alien world, but that he couldn’t come up with a convincing story as to how he got there in the first place because he had no idea what they would believe. He knew nothing of this place, some hero he was...

“I think I need to rest...I’m feeling weak after what just happened...” In truth he was, and he needed an excuse to buy time to figure out how to tell Twilight Sparkle that he wasn’t what he appeared to be.

“Are you sure it isn’t just the goggles on your face constricting the blood flow to your head that’s making you dizzy? Perhaps you should remove them.” Twilight Sparkle stated rather nonchalantly. Nonchalant, however, was the last word that one would use to describe Nick at this point; how could it be possible that she was seeing every flaw, reading every weak point, pointing out everything strange? She was smart, this Twilight Sparkle, real smart. It figures, Nick mused to himself, she lives in a library, she probably reads all day.

“I-I’m fine, I just need to lay down a bit, I’ll come to in a little,” Nick stammered. “Do you have a bed I could use?” He asked sheepishly, “I think I’m going to pass out unless I rest...” The room started spinning, and he was seeing double.

“All right... I have a bed you can use, just head upstairs, it’ll be on your right through the door.” Nick began to trudge towards the stairs, “Ugh...a little help Twilight Sparkle?” He was nearly falling over when Twilight came to him, Nick leaned on her as he ascended the stairs. “Thank you,” He managed to say through his heavy breathing. Twilight said nothing but kept a worried look on her face, guiding Nick to her guest room and letting him lay down. She shut the door behind her and came back down the stairs.

“Why did you let him stay Twilight? What if he’s a spy?” Spike piped up.

“I don’t think so Spike...” She began, “I have a feeling that he might not be an ordinary pony...” After tapping her face with her hoof, she stomped it on the ground, “Spike! Take a letter!”

~~~

"Hello? Are you alright?”

Felix’s mind was swirling. He felt like he was going to puke. He could barely make out the words someone was screaming into his ear. Ugh. He thought to himself. This is worse than a hangover. He managed to peel open his left eye. Above him stood a orange pony with bright green eyes. Her blonde mane, which was tucked into her cowboy hat, was bunched into a messy bun at the far end.

“Oh goodness! Thank Celestia you’re awake! You scared the living daylights outta me and Big Macintosh! I told him that pushin’ this cart was gonna be dangerous! Didn’t I, Big Mac?”

“Eeyyup,” came the sheepish reply.

“Good God, talking ponies. What's next, dancing zebras?” Felix asked sarcastically.

“Well, I only know one zebra, and she dances sometimes while she’s makin’ her potions,” said the orange pony thoughtfully.

“Ah, yes of course you do,” Felix rolled his eyes. “Well, I’m assuming I’m hallucinating, would you mind throwing me in the nearest lake? Killing me would work just fine, too.”

The orange pony stared at him, then burst out into laughter. “Bahahaha! You’re one of the funniest pegasi I’ve ever met! Speakin’ of which, mah name’s Applejack! This here’s mah brother, Big Mac. He’s the one that hit you with the apple cart. We’re terribly sorry about that, ain’t we, Big Mac?”

“Eeyyup,” was the reply once again.

“Well aren’t you a talkative one, ‘Big Mac,’” said Felix. He attempted to sit up, but Applejack pushed him back down.

“Nuh uh, you’re bleedin’ pretty bad just above yer eye. We got some rags here. What’s your name? You new to Ponyville? I haven’t seen you around here.”

“Name’s Felix. I just, uhh, dropped in. I shouldn’t be here for too long. Thanks, can you give me a hoof?” He cleared his throat. “Sorry, I mean hoof? What the buck?! Buck? BUCK! FFFFFFFFFFF- BUCK! Why can’t I swear?!” Felix slammed his hands against the ground. Or hooves, rather. He brought them close to his eyes and stared at them with jaw agape.

“Holy shucks....” he swore.

“Uhh, you doin’ alright, partner?” asked Applejack slowly.

“Doin’ just fine! I’m insane, that’s all!” Felix grinned.

Applejack and Big Macintosh hoisted Felix to his hooves.

“You sure are a weird one, Felix,” said Applejack. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to mah friends! Big Mac, you don’t mind finishin’ up here, do ya?”

“Nnnoope.”

Felix watched as the large red horse slipped underneath the harnesses and made his way back towards the apple fields.

“Come on, silly-pony, Ponyville is this way!”

Felix turned to see Applejack trotting down the dirt path he woke up on. He made his way after her.

“So, tell me about yerself, Felix,” Applejack turned and smiled.

The smile was contagious; Felix found himself grinning for the first time in a while. He chuckled. How am I going to explain this?

“Well, I’m from-”

“Cloudsdale, right?” interrupted Applejack. “You being a pegasus and all.”

“....Right! Cloudsdale’s where I’m from! And I...”

“Are you in Politics? Cause you seem like you could!” said Applejack in her southern accent.

“Uhh... yes... I’m actually the.... Mayor of Cloudsville-”

“Cloudsdale.” she said and kept trotting.

“Right, Cloudsdale, that’s what I said...”

The shock of what Felix had said finally hit her. “Sweet Celestia! You’re the Mayor of Cloudsdale?! Well I’ll be! You should meet the Mayor of Ponyville! I’m sure y’all could have a nice long chat about politics and other-”

“Well actually,” Felix struggled to continue his lie, “I’m here... for vacation! And yea... no politics please...” he could feel the beads of sweat beginning to form at his brow.

“Fair ‘nough” was Applejack's reply. “Here we are!”

Felix looked up. As the shadows lengthened, he could see the sun-lit tip of the tree that was Ponyville’s library.

“This is Twilight’s place. You need somewhere to stay, right? I think she has a few extra rooms available. Let’s go!” Apple Jack burst through the front door without knocking. “Watch yer step!”

Felix looked down and saw his four hooves. Suddenly he couldn’t remember how he had been walking the entire way from Sweet Apple Acres.

“Hey Applejack! What are you doing here?” By her voice and where she lived, Felix judged that this “Twilight” was a booksmart nerd. He hated nerds. They always made him look like an idiot. Felix wasn’t dumb, he was just slow to understand things and to connect-the-dots, so to speak. He sighed, frustrated at his entire situation. Then he remembered where he was, at the threshold to the library, standing there like an idiot who forgot how to walk.

And that’s exactly what he was. His anger built up inside him.

“Twilight, I want you to meet the Mayor of Cloudsdale, Felix!”

At that moment, Felix attempted to move his hooves, but only managed to lean forward and fall flat on his face. His anger rose up.

Twilight and Applejack gasped and ran over to him.

“Are you alright, Mr. Mayor?” Twilight asked.

Felix growled and pulled himself up. “I’m bucking fantastic! Stuck in this hell-hole of a body, hallucinating about talking horses, and you ask me how I am!” Felix attempted to get a hold on his anger, but it felt good to let it out. He didn’t care if Twilight didn’t deserve it.

“How are you, you sorry little unicorn? And you, Applejack? After you hit me in the head with your bucking apple cart! I bet that was hilarious!”

Twilight and Applejack began backing away, terror evident in their eyes.

“Uhhh, Felix...” began Applejack.

“SHUT IT, BLONDIE!” he yelled.

Felix’s eyes darkened. His wings, which previously lay useless on his back, unfurled. Felix felt something inside him, like a click. Suddenly the room became warm. No, more than warm. Hot. Very hot. Sweltering even. It was too much to bear.

Felix stepped outside into the night air. He needed something upon which to take out his anger. The first thing he spotted in the bright night were the supports to Ponyville’s water tower. Wait, why was the night so bright? He had seen the sun set just a little while ago. Bah, details. He could figure that out later. He aimed his hoof towards the tower and swung with all his might. As the tower crumbled, he was struck with the ice cold water it had previously held. Suddenly, the night was neither dark nor warm. He was cold. And tired. So tired. He slipped away right as the onslaught of water carried him down the streets of Ponyville.

~~~

Nick slept deep, and began to dream. In the dream, he resumed his human form. His goggles were in hand, so he decided to put them on. When he did, at first the view looked normal, but then his lenses began to glow. Suddenly he could see strange things. A strange glowing aura surrounded him, and a similar kind of aura coursed through the ground in veins. When he removed his goggles, he could see that where the veins of aura were was now the location of wiring. Intrigued by this, he replaced his goggles. He could see the auras again, and looked around further. A person stood in the distance, quite far away. Nick focused on the person, and the goggles zoomed in, he could make out the figure. It was a man in a suit, but turned away from him. Slowly the man began to turn, Nick removed his goggles in shock, but the man was suddenly standing in front of him. The man pulled out a knife and lunged towards Nick. Nick stumbled backwards and raised his hands, there was a bright flash of light and a loud bang. And then Nick was in darkness again.

“NICK! NICK! WE NEED YOUR HELP NOW!” Nick was startled from his sleep- a loud bang followed the voice of Twilight Sparkle. Nick felt rested, and he jumped out of bed. Somehow he had gotten used to walking on four legs, and so he ran towards her voice.

“Hey! What’s going on here?” He started, but looking outside at the deluge of water coursing through the streets, he no longer wondered. “What happened?!”

“Some pony gone rogue appeared here and punched the water tower!” Nick stared in awe at the broken structure. “No normal pony could have done that...he appeared just like you, randomly and making outrageous claims!” Wait, this sounds familiar...

“I don’t know if you know him, but you would definitely be the one to get to him!” Nick, Twilight, and Applejack ran out the door, hooves pounding and splashing the water everywhere. “Nick! He’s going to drown!” Nick panicked and looked around, he couldn’t see anything through the rushing water, then he remembered his goggles. Putting his goggles on, he tried to focus. Nothing happened at first, but then everything gained a blue tint as the goggles activated. Nick could see the auras again, a white glow emanated from him, with trails of what he assumed was energy radiating from him. He glanced back towards Twilight and Applejack. He noted that his energy sparks were reacting with something; Twilight had a strange purplish aura around her, which was also emanating sparks. The sparks arced and came together between them. Strange.

“DO YOU SEE FELIX?” Twilight called out, bringing Nick’s attention back to the situation at hand.

“NO, I thought I saw him behind us...” Then Nick stopped, “His name is Felix?”

“Yeah! That’s what Applejack told me!” Applejack nodded as the two other ponies continued searching the area. Nick began to panic again, if this was the Felix he thought it was...
He focused more, he knew Felix! He pictured him in his mind and continued searching. His goggles picked up a faint orange aura off in the distance.

“I think I found him!” Nick’s heart was racing as his hooves splashed in the water. As he got closer he could see that the form was stuck under some debris. He couldn’t reach his friend from here. Twilight and Applejack were running along the side of the current, out of the water.

“Nick! Use your magic! You can’t reach him from there!” Twilight called out.

“Umm Twilight?” began Applejack, “I don’t know if he can even use magic...” Twilight realized that this could possibly be true and started to call out to Nick. Suddenly a cart that had been swept up by the current came barreling towards the two ponies. Twilight put up a forcefield to block the cart as Nick tried to figure out how to use his magic.

“Ah! Think! Focus!” Nick began focusing on the branches that covered Felix, “Come on, move!” Suddenly the aura around Nick intensified, he felt himself get lifted up off the ground and a large amount of energy collect around him. He was in the air when he attempted to move the branches, focusing all his effort into moving the branches. “HNNNGGG!” The branches lifted up out of the water, and Felix bobbed up to the surface. Seeing this, Nick decided to release the branch. However in doing so, he released his control of the spell. Suddenly there was a bright flash and sparks of lightning erupted from his body. They struck the water and lit up the river that had formed, destroying some of the debris in spectacular explosions. Nick slowly floated down to the ground, thunderstruck by what he had just done. Felix looked very out of it now, assuming he hadn’t looked like that before his shocking experience. He hurried over to his buddy, “Oh sweet Celestia...HELP!” Twilight and Applejack came out from behind their cover, dumbfounded by what they had witnessed. Nonetheless, they helped bring him to shore, Twilight levitating him with her magic.

“I have no idea what you just did there Nick...” Twilight began, “It’s a very different kind of magic, one I have never seen before...” She looked on at Nick with both curiosity and fear. Applejack, hearing these words, became somewhat worried too: these strangers showing up with their weird magic that was never seen before.

“To be honest Twilight,” he started, “I don’t even know myself.” He looked worriedly at Felix as Twilight applied healing magic to him. He noted that Twilight’s magic was calmer, more focused on its target. If he could harness his energy with precision like that... “Twilight, when this is over you gotta teach me how to controooooo....” His o’s elongated as he fell unconscious, the large amount of magic going into the spell draining his energy. Applejack rushed over to him and put Nick in recovery position.

“Well don’t that beat all?” she started, adjusting the stetson on her head. “Two mighty powerful ponies in one day... do ya think Celestia might know about this?”

“Spike has already sent my letter, but she will only know about Nick.” The two ponies continued conversing and tending to their patients as both laid there incapacitated.

It took a long time and two trips to bring both of the unconscious ponies back to the library. They had to drag them into hiding first, as Ponyville was now swarming with ponies wanting to know what had happened and cleaning up the streets. Felix was very tall for a pegasus, so Twilight had to levitate him as Applejack slung Nick over her back. Twilight’s library was in an open area, so they had to sneak the ponies in one at a time. Using a cart that had washed up towards the library, the two rolled Nick and Felix inside . They took a breather as the door slammed shut behind them.

“Applejack, Nick is dry so he can just go into the guest bed near my room.” Applejack nodded and carried him upstairs. “As for Felix...” he was dripping wet, so he wouldn’t be able to get into the guest bed without soaking everything.

“You’re sleeping in the tub then,” Twilight levitated him into the bathroom and began to towel him off gently. Then taking a clean towel, she made some bedding in the tub for him to sleep on.

She went back out into the main area, calling out to Applejack. “Everything all settled?”

“Yeah Twilight, he’s settled in snug as a bug in a rug.” she chuckled, “Those two are quite a hoof-full aren’t they?”

“They sure are Applejack...I wonder -” Twilight was cut off by the sudden entry of a rainbow pegasus.

“What happened?! I came when I heard all the loud noises and bright lights! The streets are swamped!” Rainbow Dash was talking at a million words a minute.

“Quiet Rainbow, you don’t want to wake up the ponies-” Applejack started, but she was cut off by an indignant Rainbow Dash.

“What ponies? The ones responsible for this? Are they here? Just who do they think they are for just busting in like that and wrecking Ponyville?!” She began flapping her wings agitatedly while pumping her fists, “Why I ought to give them what for!” She began searching the house frantically.

“Rainbow, wait!” Twilight hissed, but Rainbow had already ascended into her bedroom.

“Who is this guy?!” She demanded, pointing at Nick who was asleep in Twilight’s guest bed.

“This is Nick, we don’t know very much about him.” Twilight answered. She walked to the bedside, “He wields a strange kind of magic that I have never even studied. He saved the other pony’s life and caused the electrical storm that you heard.” Rainbow stood and eyed the sleeping unicorn suspiciously.

“Well he’s in for questioning in the morning... What about the other pony?” She demanded the answer, to which Applejack responded.

“Follow me.” And she led them downstairs and to the bathroom. Rainbow strutted in to see the second culprit, and found Felix laying on a blanket in the tub. “A pegasus...”

Rainbow Dash stopped. No words left her mouth. Applejack nudged Twilight, then gave her a questioning look. Twilight responded with a silent shrug. Rainbow Dash inched closer to Felix, her eyes never leaving his sleeping form. As she came closer, she softly trailed her hoof across his face. She sat down at the edge of the tub and rested her head upon the rim, eyes still locked on Felix. She cleared her throat and whispered, “What’s his name?”

“His name is Felix; he told me he was the Mayor of Cloudsdale,” Applejack responded.

Rainbow Dash giggled. “I bet he’s really funny,” she said dreamily.

“Hey Rainbow, we best leave him be for now. He went through a lot today,” Applejack said. Rainbow Dash shook her head, as if recovering from a trance. “Yea, you’re probably right...” she trailed off. The three ponies trotted down the stairs in silence. As Twilight opened the door to let them out, Rainbow Dash stopped suddenly.

She cleared her throat again. “Hey Twi, can I come see- can I check on Felix tomorrow? If that’s okay with you?” she asked, with color rushing to her face.

“Yea sure Rainbow Dash, whenever you wan-”

“Thanks Twilight! You’re the best!” she yelled as she dashed off.

Twilight was alone in her house again, save for the two strange ponies that had shown up that day. She walked up the stairs towards her room, stopping to check on Nick. Nick was still there, sleeping deeply. He must have been outright exhausted after all the energy required for that magic. She silently shut his door and returned to her room. She climbed into bed, pulled the covers over herself, and slept uneasily, thinking about what these strange ponies might mean to Equestria.

A/N: Sorry this one took so long, guys. Been hard getting the other authors to cooperate (well that and the fact that college gets time consuming sometimes... for all of us)... But here it is. This will be a three part chapter. Yay. I'd like to thank dusher4 for proof reading and invite anyone else who wants to proof read to do so. Thanks for reading! Constructive criticism is always welcome.

Comments

[dusher4]

Love it!

[The Collective]

1276350 Thanks! Its always good to hear that somepony likes our work