Conflicted Reality

by Wayofthepen

Chapter 2: Absurd Explanations

Scott just sat there, staring at her. "These are the two that were near the portal." Rainbow looked at her, cocking her head. "What do you mean 'portal'?" Scott got up from the table and walked towards her. "Dash, we're not from here." She hadn't taken her eyes off him. "Well obviously, I know every pony around here." Scott couldn't help but smile at her remark. "Well, this is hard to explain...Can you close the door? This is kind of private information." Dash nodded and closed the door. "Well, how to put this...We're from another universe where the entire world is...Corrupt, you could say." She asked him how it was corrupt, eyes following him as he paced around the library. "We are in a state of civil war. Ponies fighting each other over food and clean water. What I can tell you though, is we don't even know how we got here. We heard a bang outside our home and there was a hole with light coming from it. We were ambushed and I was wounded." He pointed to where a small hole was on his side, no longer bleeding. "So let me get this straight. Your world is exactly opposite of us?" Scott nodded, he had a bad feeling of where this was heading.

"Then why don't you do something about it?" Mateo at this point was informing Twilight about the terrors of his world. "Dash, it's not that simple. They have weapons and we're two fourteen year old...Stallions." He caught himself from saying humans. This world would take some getting used to. "Besides, we're stuck in here. Personally, I am in no rush to go back." Rainbow Dash still had a confused look on her face. "That still doesn't explain why you can't fly." Here is what Scott was worried about. He had to think fast. "We don't remember how to use them. We both hit our head's pretty hard..." She looked at him, buying it for now. She wasn't fully believing what he said, flying is an instinct for any pegasus. This gave her an idea.

Scott stared at Rainbow Dash, who was pacing around. "Anyway...I need to find out how we got here. Maybe Celestia can shed some light on this." He turned around to Mateo and Twilight laughing at something they had just said. "Twi, think you can send a letter to Celestia?" He knew she hadn't been paying attention, but then again, he was a man of actions rather than words. Twilight nodded to him, and went to get Spike to write the letter for her. Dash nudged him. "So, you have no idea how to fly?" Scott nodded. "Well, someone has to teach you. Come with me, I would bring your friend but he is more interested in reading." He looked over his shoulder and saw that Mateo had started to read one of the books on the table. "Yeah, let's leave him behind..." He looked back to Rainbow Dash, who was staring at him funnily before motioning him to step outside. He didn't trust her.

- - - - - - - - -

It took them a little bit longer than Dash wanted it to for them to reach the training ground. She smiled as her plan was about to unfold. "So uhhh, where are we?" Scott said to her, looking around as the road stopped. "You'll see, just past these bushes." They waded through many bushes, and finally reached their destination. A Cliffside, with a very long drop to match. "Perfect," Dash thought to herself, "If he was speaking truly about not knowing how to fly, then I will have to save him. If not, he will have some explaining to do." Scott had moved to the side of the cliff and looked down. Dash had snuck up behind him, and shoved him off. "What the! Dash!" He yelled falling. A feeling of weightlessness took over, making him uneasy all over. He began to panic when a voice inside him shouted. "You're going to satisfy her by letting her save you? Flap those wings of yours and show her whose boss!" His eyes opened and shifted to a position of determination. He stretched his wings out and began to glide down. "That's it, you got this." He was amazed at himself, both for learning how to use his wings and for the look on Rainbow's face. He landed after a few minutes, standing in triumph. Rainbow Dash flew down next to him, having a smile on her face.

"Don't know how to fly huh?" She said to him. He shrugged. "Sometimes the instinct of survival takes over. You get used to it where I'm from." He said responding to her in playful manner. Her smile remained as she thought to herself. "He said he doesn't know how to fly, yet gliding came as instinct. Good. He will learn fast." She put a forearm around him and they began to walk home. "Tomorrow we'll focus on actual flying. Will come in handy. You know, you're a little small for a stallion." He looked at himself, noticing he was only a little smaller than another pony of his age. "Huh, your right." That was the last thing they said for a long while.

- - - - - - - - -

The flying thing was getting easier, but Mateo was slow to the idea since their first entrance two weeks ago. "You do nothing but read all day. You might as well move in with Twilight. I, on the other hand, am going to learn how to fly with Dash." That was the last thing he said before he had spent most of his days practicing with his wings. The pain from using them all the time subsided eventually by even more training in the mornings. "Hey! Lighten up, he'll want to learn soon enough." Dash said to him with a smile on her face. He shot a smile back to her. "You know, these past two weeks have been the most fun I have had in a long time. Thank you." She was caught off guard by this remark. "Don't think you'll get me in a sappy mood. I don't do mushy." She said still smiling.

They had been flying for about half an hour. Scott suddenly had an idea. "So Dash, is the 'best flier in all of Equestria' just a little something you came up with or does it have some truth behind it?" Her facial expression changed very quickly. "Do I hear a bet coming on?" They both gave each other a smile that meant 'Bring it on'. "On the count of three....One....Two....Three!" Scott took off extremely fast, but was easily caught up to by Dash. "Till the other one is tired!" She shouted as she past him. "I don't think so!" He sped up, feeling the adrenaline rush. The two flew all over Ponyville, each one easily catching up to the other. Whether it was from one being tired or the other going easy was a mystery to the townsponies below. "Catch up to this, if you can!" Rainbow Dash suddenly flew forward at lightning speeds, leaving nothing but a rainbow trail. "Whoa...Time to show her that I got moves too!" He felt a jolt through his body that went straight through his wings. A bang was heard from behind him as he zoomed forward, catching up to Dash inch by inch. She turned her head around at the sound and saw him catching up. Her eyes were wide open, wings beating faster than a hummingbird's. Suddenly, Scott was getting extremely tired and decided to land. She smiled, knowing that she had beaten him. "Man...Your fast..." He said to her, trying to give her a weak smile. "You weren't so bad yourself. Work on your stamina." The two started laughing as somepony began to approach. "Rainbow, you flew faster than usual. Who's this with you? Another friend from flight school?" The two turned and saw Rarity standing there. Time to explain to another one, Scott thought to himself.

"Oh, uh...Hi Rarity." Rainbow said to her out of breath. "I'm waiting." She said in a polite yet impatient tone. "I'm-" He was cut off by Rainbow Dash. "Not from around here. You could say he is a friend from flight school..." She said still catching her breath. "Just try to stay away from Pinkie. The last thing a new comer would want is a party thrown by her." Scott thought back to the first episode in season one. He shivered at the thought. Rarity must have noticed. "You've already heard of them, I take it. Anyway, I was heading over to Twilight's to get Spike and go gem hunting. Care to join me?" Both of them nodded and began walking with her. All that was left to meet was Fluttershy, Applejack, and the notorious Pinkie Pie. He decided he would wait on Pinkie.

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It was much easier to fly to Twilight's, but Rarity insisted on him walking. She was asking so many questions that he couldn't keep up with his answers. "Rarity, I really can't answer too many questions. My memory is bad enough as it is." She turned around and gave him an awkward look, then returned to walking forward. They had finally reached Twilight's house, which starting to look cleaner each day. "Mateo, where you at?" Twilight poked her head from upstairs. "He's reading on the balcony. He reminds me of myself." She had a smile on her face, but Scott didn't. He flew up to the second floor and went out to the balcony. Sure enough, Mateo sat there reading up on the history of Equestria. "You need to live a little Mateo. We don't even have our marks yet. In case you haven't noticed, we are only a little bigger than colt's." Mateo looked down at some of the fillies playing in the street, then back to Scott. "You're right...But something still doesn't make sense." Scott tilted his head to the side, waiting for an answer. "I can't fly so good, but you got it instantly. How?" Scott shook his head. "I have been training with Rainbow Dash, maybe? In our world, we didn't even have wings let alone hooves. I don't care if your reading to find a way back, because if we do I refuse to go." Mateo looked shocked. "You would rather stay here than in our world where we belong?" Scott nodded, an angered look on his face. "You still don't get it, do you? Our world is nothing but death and destruction. I got shot for heaven's sake! You can read all you want, but flying is my calling. You can tell them if they need me I am going to be clearing my mind." He took off at lightning speeds before Mateo could finish.

He had been resting on a cloud for about an hour now, wondering if his friend was right. "Why would he want to go back? Does he think that we will stay this way forever?" Thoughts like these plagued his mind for the entire time. He shook them from his mind as he heard a voice from below. "Can you tell me more of your world?" It was Twilight. "I told you everything already." He looked over his cloud. "Really?" He nodded. "Well, why don't you come inside. I got a letter from Celestia." At this, Scott flew down to them. They looked shocked to see him. "Well? Let's hear this letter." He told them, walking ahead of them. Inside was Spike holding the letter. Twilight told him to read it aloud. "My dear student, I have already been investigating what happened. I am sorry I cannot come in person, my royal duties have doubled since the sound of the explosion was heard all over Canterlot. Again, I am sorry. -Princess Celestia" Spike rolled the letter back up and put it on the table. "Well that doesn't help." Mateo said aloud. "Well, looks like we will have to wait a bit longer. I think I will start working around town, earn up some money to get myself my own home." Twilight nodded. "There's plenty of work at Sweet Apple Acres. Just tell Applejack that Twilight sent you." Scott thanked her, and trotted outside. He was getting ready to lift off when Mateo came outside. "Scott, wait. I wanted to ask you something." Scott cocked his head to the side. "Can you...Teach me to fly?" Scott smiled. "Sorry, I can't at the moment. I am still learning myself. Besides, you've read enough books to figure it out yourself. " He shot a smile before he took off.

- - - - - - - - -

Sweet Apple Acres was easy to spot due to the fact it had about one million apple trees. He admired the hard work put into all of these trees. He landed right outside the main house. "Dash, is that you ah heard?" Applejack just stepped outside the front door, with a confused look on her face. "Twilight told me that this would be a good place to get honest work. She scanned him over. "Ah'm not one to doubt a friend, but ah don't know." He looked a little disappointed, but she gave him a look that told him she wasn't done. "Ya'll can start today, just be sure to not mess up." He smiled towards he, as she motioned him to follow. For the rest of the day, she was showing him how everything on the farm works. At the end of the day, he could barely keep his eyes open as he flew to Twilight's. He walked in and fell asleep at the table. He was happy to find people, well ponies, that were kind and trusting. It was a nice change from his world, he thought to himself as he drifted to sleep.

Comments

[Noakwolf]

I have like 4 chapters to read now Why must everyone make chapters every other day? jk I'll read them tomorrow or tonight.