I walked through the park just as dusk was starting to fall, the surrounding cityscape was pretty this time of day, I was fortunate enough to live a few miles outside the city limits, but it was still nice to visit now and then. Continuing down the pathway, I heard a soft whimpering, like the sound a scared puppy would make, looking around I saw nobody else in the area, or the whole park for that matter...
I was pushed to the ground, falling forward and face-planting onto the sidewalk.
"Thank Celestia! I thought I was all alone out here!"
The voice sounded almost frantic, I felt my 'attacker' get off of me and I stood up and dusted myself off.
"Look miss, I-"
'Wait, did she just say 'thank Celestia'?'
Being the brony I was I just assumed she was a big 'MLP' fan, using terms from the show and the like, I turned around and didn't see what I expected to see. A furry figure almost as tall as me, wearing a dark, faded purple vest- a few of its pockets lined with gems and glittering jewels, the form was standing on its hind legs, two of her longer teeth poking out from her mouth. I soon got over my shock only to have it hit me, again and again and again... I mentally slapped myself and came to the only logical conclusion.
This was a Diamond Dog, not some fan in a disguise... an actual, factual Diamond Dog- I've heard of stuff like this other people have posted on the web, some character from the show gets sent to the real world, and vice versa...
"Y-you-" "You can't believe how relieved I am to see another one of my pack out here, I thought I was lost! Though I can't help but notice you don't have any fur, do have a shedding condition?"
Staring dumbfounded, I did the only thing I could think of-
"Here, put this on and follow me" I said, handing her my hoodie "Why? Where are we going?" She asked, putting it on "Hurry, we have to get back to my house, we should be safe there" "In what danger are we in here?" "None at the moment, but security'll flip when they see a five foot tall dog walking the streets-" "What-?" "I'll explain everything once we get there" I said "So what's your name?"
"Amethyst Shard" "Nice to meet you Amethyst, I'm Jonas" "Likewise, Jonas"
We made it to my car with out any problems I got inside and she looked confused
"What?" "I have'nt seen a cart like this before..." "It's fine, just get in, please?"
She aprehensively opened the car door and sat in the seat, closing the door behind her.
I stuck the key in the ignition and the car came to life "Wh-what's happening?!" "Take it easy, everything's alright, this is normal- we'll be there in a few minutes" The poor thing was shaking "So, what's Equestria like?" "You should know, we are in Equestria" "No we aren't, this is a planet called 'Earth'" "WHAT?! I'M IN A DIFFERENT WORLD?!" "Pretty much, and it looks like you're stuck here, I'm sorry for dumping all this on you, I'm just as freaked out about this as you are" "Why?" "In case you haven't noticed, there aren't 'many' other Diamond Dogs around here" "Yes, I only found you..." "Yeah, why is that? I look like anybody else my age" "I have seen many other strange creatures while hiding, but- something made you stand out to me, I can't explain it, I felt some sort of familiarity with your presence" "Even though I'm not a Diamond Dog?" "In all honesty, I think you are-" "I'm not, I'm one of those 'strange creatures' you saw earlier"
She squinted and her yellow eyes narrowed, she opened them again before her eyes rolled backinto her head and she fainted.
"Should have seen that one coming..."
The rest of the ride was in silence, (1) I was afraid of waking her up, and (2) the radio was broken.
I pulled into the garage and shut off the car, looking to my passenger (who was still unconsious I might add), I got out and went to the other side, I opened the door and carried her bridal style into the house, she groaned and shifted in my arms, and saw a faint smile on her face (muzzle?), I walked into my room and placed her on the bed; I considered pulling the blankets over her, but she had the hoodie and her fur. Turning out the lights, I went to the couch and settled down. I began to wonder how she got here in the first place, which led me to think there might be more of them here, not Diamond Dogs necessarily, but others- say, Twilight, Big MacIntosh, or even possibly the crusaders.
'If Discord's here too, I'm screwed' I thought to myself I felt a breeze and realized that one of the windows was open, getting up, I went to the window I was about to close it when-
"Girls, wait!" a voice cried "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS MONSTER CATCHERS, YAY!" Three more voices shouted
I found myself being forced backwards and three sets of hooves were pressed against me 'Dear lord...' "Did we get 'em? Did we get 'em?" "Nope" The three *Gulp*-ed simultaneously and looked at me nervously
A flash enveloped the room and it looked like more were in the room, I saw a big shadow overme and felt a sharp kick to the head, colors swam in my vision before I lost consiousness
X X X X X X X
"Big Mac, what in the world did y'all do that for?" Applejack asked "We agreed that Twi would put the thing to sleep!" "I say he reacted quite well, given the circumstances..." Luna said, slightly amused "Though I do not think it would have been necessary had three fillies not ambushed it"
The crusaders grinned sheepishly
Luna picked up the creature with her magic and set it on the couch
"What do you suppose it is, princess?" Twilight asked "I am not sure, never in our long lives have we seen a creature such as this" "How did we wind up here anyhow?" Sweetie Belle asked "I believe it had something to do with that spell I cast at the Summer Sun Celebration" Twilight said nervously "IF that's the case, I need to start searching for a way to undo it so we can get back to Ponyville- SPIKE!" "I-is it s-safe to come in?" "Yes, Spike"
A purple and green dragon hoisted itself from the windowsill and bounced onto the rug.
"Whoa, this place is huge" Spike said "It looks almost as tall as you and Celestia, Luna" Spike said, indicating the monster.
A groan came from the couch and the ponies jumped back, startled. "I'm going to try to communicate with it, and I don't want you to buck it in the head again, Big Mac"
He gave a reluctant nod "OOOhhhh, owowowowowow"
X X X X X X X
I sat up to see ponies in my house, ponies, if I remember there was Big MacIntosh, Twilight, the Crusaders, Spike, Applejack, and Princess Luna.
"Um, hi?" I offered "Ahem, I am-"
Oh this is going to be fun...
"-Twilight Sparkle, personal protege to Princess Celestia herself" I finished Her jaw hit the floor "How did you-?" "Well you ARE the Element of Magic, I expected nothing less- " Her jaw hit the floor a second time "Now hold on a minute-" she mangaged to choke out "how do you know-" "-that I know that you know Celestia? Well you're the Elements of Harmony, I would expect you'd be closely associated with her anyway"
The look on their faces were priceless
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAAHAAHAA" "What's so dang funny?" Applejack asked "Y-you sh-should have seen your fa-faces!" "Didst we miss something?" Luna asked "N-nevermind" "You seem to have a lot of books, mister..." Applebloom said "Books?" Twilight said
She turned her attention to the massive bookshelf with a grin on her face, she lunged and shouted "MINE!" Twilight was enveloped in a blue aura and was pulled backwards
"I believe my sister's student may have gotten a little overzealous" "A little?" "Ahem... yes" "That reminds me, I've gotta go check on Amethyst" "Amethyst? There are more of us here?" "As far as I can tell, now if you'll excuse me for just a moment"
I left the room and saw that she was stirring in her sleep, her eyes trailed around the room and stopped on me
"Wh-who are you?" "I can tell you for sure that I'm not a Diamond Dog, other than that- I don't know what to tell you..."
She got up, still keeping her distance
"So, you must be hungry after all of this, you want something for dinner?" "Do you have any sapphires?" "Nnnnnoooooo, sorry I don't" "Nevermind, I think I have one..." She jammed one of her paws into one of the vest pockets and pulled out a blue gem, she held it up to her mouth and started to munch on it
"There are some others in the next room"
She took off towards the living room
I followed her and found out one thing- she didn't realize they were ponies
"What in the-" "I should have known..." she whispered "What?" I asked "I should have known that you would do this!" "Do what?" "Isn't it obvious? You're turning me in!" "I am not! I just met them a few minutes ago!" They looked uneasy, even Big Mac had a slightly worried look on his face
"Equestrian law says that any Diamond Dogs that are captured are to be sentenced by the princesses" Twilight spoke up "Okay, a few things- One, you're not in Equestria, which makes me think that any jurisdiction you make here is null and void, second- I didn't capture her, I brought her here because she was scared and alone- Three, that's really unfair if you think about it"
"I was not scared..." She muttered "Right, the way I figure- you can't do anything to her on foriegn soil, and since none of you are supposed to exist here, I think you're just going to have to get over it"
"He's got a point there, sugarcube" "But-" "I did not know you had such knowledge of law"
"I don't, I just took a shot in the dark- I just said what made sense to me" Twilight's jaw hit the floor for the third time. "Wait, you said that we aren't supposed to be here, what does that mean?"
"How many other talking, colorful ponies have you seen here besides yourselves?"
"None"
"Exactly, dragons, griffins, manticores and the like don't exist here, humans are the only sentient species on the planet" "Whoa" "This is horrible!" Twilight shouted
I flinched and saw that she was looking through one of her spellbooks
"Yeah, I suppose it is, I know others out there who'd flip if they saw you outside" "No! Not that! We're stuck here until the next Summer Sun Celebration!" "What?! Why?" Spike said "There's a certain way the stars are aligned that allows the spell to work, for me to cast it again we'll have to wait until this time next year..." Twilight explained "Well you're welcome to stay here, I mean, I don't think you'll be able to walk around freely out there without somebody noticing you" "We see your point" "-And there's alot of room in the backyard for you to run around and stuff, or whatever the heck it is you do, there's a few spare rooms upstairs if you want..." "We shall convene and come back to you" Luna said "Alright, I'll leave you to it then" I left the room and noticed Amethyst following me "Yes?" "I wa-wanted to th-thank you" "For what?" "Y-you defended me" "I'm sure somebody else would have done the same thing" "No, they would not have, Diamond Dogs are hated amongst the ponies" "Can I guess it was all because ponies are kidnapped by Diamond Dogs?" "How did you know about that?" she muttered, her ears flopping against her head "I have my ways..." I grinned "You'll have to elaborate on that, but yes, that is basically the reason" " -and they haven't forgiven your species" "They have, but the still don't want to be anywhere near us" "I guess they're just afraid that it'll happen again" "Why are you not afraid? Most ponies would run in fear at the sight of us" "Dunno, guess it's just because you haven't given me a reason to, and I guess the other part was curiousity; it's not everyday you see a Diamond Dog running around the park" "Hmmm" "-but I suppose it was mostly because I was afraid what might happen to you if the government captured you" "You were- worried? about...me?" "Well yeah, I mean-"
I felt her pull me into a tight bear-hug
"Th-thank you, thank you s-so much" "What exactly did I do?" I felt a wet substance fall onto my shirt 'Sh-she's crying? What did I do?' "You are the fi-first one who did not lo-look upon us with pr-prejudice"
I returned the hug
"Pl-please don't cry, come on, cheer up, please?" "You mi-misunderstand, I am cr-crying because I'm so ha-happy" "Forgive me, I don't have much experience with the opposite sex"
She giggled as I blushed
"WE HAVE REACHED OUR DECISION, PLEASE COME BACK AT ONCE!" "What in Tatarus was that?" Amethyst asked "I think Luna just used the Royal Canterlot Voice; I'd hate to be right next to her when she uses it, there's a spare room upstairs if you want to sleep there, I have to go talk to Luna and the others" "Thank you again" She smiled "Forgive me" "For what?" "I just- broke down like that, I'm sorry" "Think nothing of it, we've all gotta let it out at somepoint or another" "I think I will go upstairs to rest for a while" "Alright, I guess I'll see you later"
She turned and went up the stairs, her tail wagging at a semi-rapid pace as she went "*Sigh* better get this over with" I mumbled as I went back to the living room "I assume you've made your decision?" "Yes, we have" Luna said. Twilight stepped forward "Sir, we graciously accept your invitaion" "Great, so I know all of you, I haven't said who I am; my name is Jonas" "Hello Mr. Jonas" "Greetings Princess Luna" "So what do we do now?" Scootaloo asked
Twilight stared longingly at the bookcase I walked to it and pulled out a book, walking back I handed the book to Twilight
"What's this?" "The Encyclopedia Brittanica" She squealed and ran to the couch, sitting down she buried her head into the book
"That should keep her occupied..." Spike's stomach growled "Hehehe, you wouldn't happen to have any gems, would you?" "Nope, sorry, they aren't as common here as they are in Equestria, and if you do find them they're really expensive" "Awwww" "But I suppose you could ask Amethyst for some of hers after she wakes up" His face screwed up "Why don't we go into the kitchen, I could probably find something to make for us"
I walked to the kitchen, with the others following
"What to make, what to make..." "Do ya have any hay?" "Nope, but I've got some lettuce in here, I could make salads" "That sounds good, that okay with you Big Mac?" "Eeyup"
I pulled the bag of lettuce out of the fridge and went to the counter
"Anything we can do to help sugarcube?" "Nothing at the moment, I'm almost done anyway" "Can we help, mister?" Sweetie Belle asked
"Well, I guess if you're careful you could set the table" I got out some napkins, a fork for myself, and a few glasses. "Maybe we better help y'all with that, 'Bloom, we don't want glass all over the floor" "'kay"
I finished making the salads and picked up as many as I could, Luna picked up the rest with her magic and set them onto the table
"Thank you" I said, putting the last of the bowls on the table "'Twas no trouble" "Miss Applejack, could you please go upstairs and tell Amethyst that dinner is ready?" "Sure thing, I'll be right back" "I'd better go get Twilight" Spike said
"So, you seem calm after discovering you won't see Celestia for a whole year" "I have been imprisoned in the moon for a thousand years, it will be painful, this will be much easier than a thousand years" she said sadly "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up" "Thou was merely making idle conversation, if anything We should not have mentioned it" "Oh, nonononono, I-" "We are amused by your attempts to preserve our feelings, but there is no need" "But-" "We get enough of that from the Canterlot nobles" Luna laughed "I suppose that this situation is not all bad" "Looks like someone found the silver lining" "The what?" "It's an expression people sometimes use, they say 'Every dark cloud has a silver lining' which basically means there is some good in a seemingly bad situation" "We think We understand now" "Jonas!" "What?" "Twilight wanted to ask if it's okay to use a teleportation spell to bring the other Elements here" "Sure, but-" "He said it's okay Twi!" Spike shouted back
A bright flash came from the next room and quickly dissipated
"What the hay?" came the unmistakable voice of Rainbow Dash
"Alright, dinner's rea-"
I was tackled by a cyan blur
"Applejack! Help me tie it up!" she looked around "Where's Applejack?" "Rainbow Dash, you get off of him right this instant!" Fluttershy said "But-"
"No buts! He hasn't done anything to you"
She hopped off and hovered a few feet off the ground
"Fine, but I'm watching you"
"I heard shouting, is everthing-" Amethyst stopped when she saw the Elements
She back-pedaled into the hallway
"Hey Amethyst, what's the-" she stopped too "There y'all are, when'd you get here?"
"Just a few minutes ago, darling" Rarity said
"You're just in time, we're just about to eat dinner"
"My table isn't big enough, why don't I just set down a blanket and we can eat out here?" "Sounds like a good idea" Twilight said
I went to the closet and set out the blanket, then proceeded to move the napkins and bowls 'Wait, is Amethyst still out in the hall?'
I walked out there and sure enough, there she was
"Hey, what's wrong?" "N-nothing, it's just th-that I get nervous around ponies" "Well so does Fluttershy, but she gets along with the others just fine; Dinner's ready, you want anything? I find it hard to believe that sapphire was enough to fill you up" "Y-yes, but-" "If it'll make you feel better, I'll sit with you through the whole meal" "Re-really?" "Yeah, I can only imagine how nervous you must be"
I got up and she did the same, we walked back into the living room. Everbody else had starteddigging into their salads, she was practically hanging onto me like a security blanket, keeping a safe distance from the others
We made it to the kitchen and I started looking into the cupboards "So what do you usually eat besides gems?"
"We are not restricted to just gems and jewels, we are able to eat an assortment of other metals" "Based on the shape of your teeth, I'd say that you can eat meat, too" "I don't point it out, but yes, we can; I suppose that's one of the other reasons ponies are skittish around us" "If it makes any difference, I'm an omnivore" "What's that?" "It means I eat both plants and animals"
A loud *CRASH* came from around the corner and Rainbow Dash appeared
"I knew IT!" she shouted and disappeared back into the living room "Dash? Dash, wait!"
"Jonas? What's wrong?" "N-nothing, I lost my appetite, I think I'll just go to bed" "Ooooookkkkaaayy, goodnight" "Goodnight" I said and quickly went up the stairs
I got to my room and closed the door, once I was sure I was alone, I flopped on my bed in thought; 'They're probably scared now that they've found out'
I failed to notice a dog-shaped shadow outside my door
X X X X X X X
"Guys! We gotta bolt, Now!" Rainbow Dash said as she flew down the stairs "Why Dashie? What's wrong?" Pinkie Pie asked
"The weird looking thing that lives here? He's a carnivore!"
She could swear Rarity went white in the face "His name is Jonas, Dash" Twilight said "Well that's not too bad..." Fluttershy said "Not too bad? How can you, of all ponies say that?" "Some of the animals I care for are carnivores..." "But this is different! This thing can think! How long do you think it is before he eats one of us?" "Dash, I really don't think-"
The Diamond Dog came down the stairs
"I hope you're satisfied!" She said angrily "What did I do?" Rainbow asked
"He was going to keep it a secret! That's why he told me in confidence" "Still, he had this secret, who's to say he doesn't have more?"
"We think there is a lesson in friendship to be learned even here" Luna smirked
"Maybe he didn't want us to be afraid of him?" Fluttershy suggested "And now he's upstairs, he locked himself in his room!" Amethyst continued "What's the big deal anyway? I seriously doubt he was going to eat one of you, I've seen steaks in that box" "Dash, I think you'd better go and apologize" Twilight said "What for?" "You did kind of...tell us his secret..." "That doesn't matter! He eats meat for Celestia's sake!" "So do I! Spike and I eat gems, it's part of our diet! I don't see you making a big deal out of that! Now if you'll excuse me"
She turned on her heels and headed back up the stairs
X X X X X X X
*Knock Knock Knock*
"Go away..." I said "Jonas, it's Amethyst" a voice said from the other side "*Sigh* Come in"
The door opened and Amethyst walked in
"How are you doing?" she asked "I've been better" I chuckled "Why are you so sensitive about being an om- omna" "Omnivore? I'm not, to be honest- they're ponies, I figured that if they found out, they'd want to leave" "Truth be told they seemed torn when the rainbow-maned one told them"
"Really?"
"Yes, the yellow pegasus said that it was natural for your eating habits, the others didn't seem overly upset about it, just a little concerned"
"In hindsight, I think I did overreact" "'Think'?" "Okay, I did" "Of course, I seemed to tick off the blue pegasus when I went off on her" "Y-you did that?" "Yes, though it occurs to me now that may not have been the best course of action" "Hehe, probably not; but the gesture itself was nice of you"
She blushed, then proceeded to look around my room
"These pictures are very nice, did you draw them?" She asked, indicating the numerous pictures and scribbles tacked to the walls
"Y-yes, I'm a car-cartoonist"
"What does that mean?"
"I get paid by different people to draw characters, landscapes, that kind of stuff" "It looks like you're good at what you do" "Th-thanks, no-one's really been in here before" "Are you going to be alright?" "Yes, thanks, I needed that" "Anytime, it's what-" "What?" "-it's what...friends do"
I had a huge grin on my face
"You know what that means?" I said "What?" "Think about it..."
She gasped in realization
"There we go" "I-I must be somewhere else..." She got up and left the room "Goodnight" I called after her
"You can come out now, I know you're there"
"Was it really that obvious?" Applebloom asked "Obvious enough that I know you don't have your cutie marks for spying" "Shoot" Scootaloo said "And I happen to know that Someone else is there, too" "How'd you know he was there?" Sweetie Belle asked as Big Mac walked out from behind the wall
"I doubt Applejack would've let you come up here alone when Rainbow Dash spilled the beans"
All four ponies blushed, I thought it near impossible when Big Mac did
"-but, who am I to judge? Dash IS the Element of Loyalty" "I think somepony has a marefriend" "I-I- like her and- I-I-I- b-but" "Relax you silly filly, I'm just messing with you" "Y-yeah, hehehe, funny; I think you three should get to bed, your room is at the end of the hall" "'kay, thanks Jonas" "G'night, I guess I'll see you later too Big Mac; you'll be sharing a room with your sisters, is that alright?"
"Eeyup" he said as he went down the hall
I laid down as the thoughts in my head turned to what Scootaloo said, did I like Amethyst? If I did, would the species difference be a problem? Does she even like me back? Come this time next year, she'll have to go back to Equestria; I don't want to get into a relationship with her just to break her heart... what would our kids look like?
I shook that last thought from my head
'What does she see in me anyway? I'm nobody special'
That last thought sunk in as I drifted off to sleep
X X X X X X X
"I don't know, Twi, do you think we should ask him before ya do this"
"Don't worry Applejack, this transformation spell will allow us to shift between the creatures that look like Jonas and our regular selves, it'll wear off as soon as we get back to Equestria"
"I still think you should ask him..." Fluttershy said
"This spell is perfectly safe, Fluttershy"
"If you say so..."
Twilight lit up her horn and cast the spell
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I woke with a start and saw that the time on my clock read 8:30 Getting up, I went to the bathroom and found that Rarity had beat me there
'I should have guessed'
"Hello darling, I hope you don't mind; my mane is just dreadful in the morning" "No, take all the time you need, just remember the others might need the bathroom, too"
I went downstairs and saw that Twilight was already up, along with Spike
"What's the word, science nerd?"
"Hey!" "Calm down, I'm kidding" "Oh"
"What're you two doing up this early anyway?" "Just practicing, it's 8:30, I'm usually up much earlier than this" "Uh-huh, what're you practicing?"
Both of them were enveloped in a blinding light I opened my eyes and saw that Twilight and Spike weren't there, in their places were a teenage girl and a dog
"T-tw-twilight? Sp-spike?" "How can you only walk on your hind legs?" Twilight asked "Yeah, you don't even have a tail! It must be hard to keep your balance" "Not really, I guess we're not front heavy, which makes it easier for us to stand and walk"
My phone buzzed and I checked the text, I froze as I read the words on the screen.
The kids and I are on our way, be there in a few hours, love- your little sis
"What's the matter Jonas?" Spike asked "M-my sister and niece and nephew are visiting..." "That sounds fun, I can't wait to meet- Oh" " -And there is where our dilemma lies" "No problem, we've got our disguises" Twilight said "How exactly am I supposed to explain that I'm living with a stallion, three fillies, seven mares, a Diamond Dog, and a dragon?" "Easy, you just-" "Don't start Spike, it's going to be a long day" "You're telling me-"
"Look, you don't have to stay in disguise, just stay upstairs until they leave. Okay? I guess the only exceptions would be Amethyst and you, Spike; but dogs can't speak, so you'd have to be silent most of the time"
"I could do that"
"Good, I suppose Amethyst won't have any trouble with her new form"
"What new form?" She asked as she walked out of the kitchen "Twilight said she cast a spell that allows the others to look like humans" "Why?" "We wouldn't want to be snagged by the government and sent to Area 51, now would we?" "Where?" "Nevermind, I just need you to concentrate on being a human"
Her face screwed up in concentration and a light filled the room, Amethyst stood there in her new form
"H-how do I l-look?" "I-I don't know how to answer that-"
She looked almost the same, save for the fact she was human and her spiked collar hung around her neck, which looked almost oversized in her human form
"Am I not attractive?" "Y-yes! I-I mean, you- jeez" I left the room, blushing "You might want to take off your collar until his sister and niece and nephew leave" Twilight said "Why?" "He plans to introduce you, of course" "He wants me to meet his f-family?" "That's what he said"
Amethyst left the room, considerably happier than when she entered
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
*Ding Dong* *Ding Dong*
'Alright, keep calm, everyone else is upstairs'
I opened the door "Hi Joe, it's been awhile" "Yeah, I guess it has, Sara, you could have given me a little more warning before you got here"
"Uncle Jonas!" Two voices said at once "What's up, kiddos?"
"Nuthin', we had to get up real early this morning"
"I'll bet you did, please come inside" Sara, Jack, and Erica walked into the house
"So Jonas, how has the cartoon industry been treating you?"
"Pretty good, I should have another client in a few weeks" "Awww, Jonas, you didn't tell me you adopted a pet" she cooed, picking up Spike
"Yeah, he feels more like a brother than anything else" I said, shooting a knowing look at him
"Jonas? Is you sister here yet?" Amethyst asked, walking into the room "Yes, they just got here, Amy" "Jonas? Who's this? You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend" Sara smirked
"Oh, sh-she's not my girlf-friend, her apartment caught f-fire and she needed somewhere to live for a little while"
"Well aren't you going to introduce us?" "R-right, Sara, Jack, Erica, this is Amy Shard; a friend of mine" "Nice to meet you all, Jonas has told me so much about you"
"Yes, I find it interesting how we've heard nothing about you" She said, shooting a glare at me
"Uncle Jonas, can we go play outside?" Jack asked "Sure, just stay inside the yard" "So tell me about yourself Amy"
'Oh crap, I didn't prepare for this'
"Mom!" Erica and Jack came running down the stairs, holding Amy's vest. 'Dear lord...' "I thought you two went outside?!"
"We came back in" was all they replied "But look what we found!"
They held up the vest, which still held all the gems it carried
"Where did you get that?" Sara asked "We were lookin' around upstairs" "That is mine!" Amy said, taking the vest from them
She blushed and quickly ran upstairs
"Where do you suppose she got 'em?" "Maybe she's a jewel thief!" "She is not" I snapped
"You two shouldn't have been looking through her things anyway" Sara scolded "I think you two should go up and apologize to her" "Sara, they don't have to do that-" "Yes they do, now both of you, upstairs" "I don't think-" "Jonas, I'll handle this"
Erica and Jack trooped up the stairs, back to the room where they found the vest; they got to the door and were about to pass through when they heard voices from the other side
"I don't know, they seemed to like me- but I'm not sure" came the voice of Amy "Don't worry, sugarcube, just be yourself and everything'll work itself out" said a country sounding voice
"That sounds like Applejack" Erica whispered "Who?" "The character, from My Little Pony" "That junk you watch?" "It's not junk" "Whatever"
"...I was hoping to make a good impression on her and her foals" "I'm, um, sure you'll...um, do just fine-" "Thank you miss Fluttershy, I really should get back down there"
'Miss Fluttershy?!'
The two peeked through the crack in the door and saw a tall, dog like figure standing in the room
In a flash, the figure was replaced with the familiar form of Amy
"Wh-what should we do?" "We gotta go downstairs and tell mom and uncle Jonas that Amy's a werewolf!"
"...and then the pot falls over with the corn on the cob inside, which goes all over the floor, so then, of course-"
"MOM! MOM!" "What? What's the matter?" "Amy is a werewolf!" Jack blurted "What?" "We were going to apologize and we saw her transform!"
I froze
"-and she was talking to these two people we couldn't see, and they sounded just like Applejack and Fluttershy!" Erica said
Spike shot up the stairs
"I think you two let your imaginations get the better of you"
"But we SAW her-" "Hello, I was just in the bathroom" Amy said as she came down the stairs "No you weren't! You were-" "Jack!"
"Sara, could you please leave us for a few minutes? I'd like to talk with these three alone" "Um, sure- I'll just be...outside"
She left and I turned to Jack and Erica
"Now I should yell at you two for spying, and stealing Amy's vest- but I won't, I think we'd better show them, Amy" "A-are you su-sure? I-I- don't th-think we sh-should"
"Show us what?" "Amethyst, it'll be fine; I'll be right here in case anything happens"
She took a deep breath and light filled the room; she stood there in her normal form
"Un-uncle Jo-jonas?" "Th-this was a b-bad id-idea" Amy stammered
"AAAHHHH! Werewolf!" "She's not a werewolf!" "Then what is she?"
"I am a Diamond Dog..." She admitted 'Jeez, what have I done?'
"Amethyst, I'm sorry I made you do this; this was obviously a big mistake..." "No, this was my choice, I will deal with the consequences"
Sara chose the absolute worst time to walk in
"Jonas are you almost-"
She stopped when she saw Amethyst
"Sara, just let me explain-" "Explain? EXPLAIN? HOW CAN YOU 'EXPLAIN' THIS MONSTER!?"
"Now hold on, she is NOT a monster" "Are you BLIND?! Just look at it! What is it? Jack, Erica, I want you to get away from that thing!"
"First of all, I want you to stop referring to her as 'thing' and 'it', second; she isn't a danger to anybody"
"Are you kidding! Look at those teeth! She could easily rip us apart right now!"
Amethyst's eyes started to water and she ran upstairs
"Thanks Sara, I thought you of all people would understand"
I went up after her
"Mom, she wasn't that bad" "Yeah, she was nice" "You both saw what that thing was!" "-but she was real nice before you found out, and she was still the same, even after she changed" "But-" "Didn't you always tell us; 'Don't judge a book by its cover'?" Erica said with a hint of a smile on her face
"This is no ordinary book... but I suppose you're right- thank you"
I started to climb the stairs as a single thought popped into my head
'I'm starting to believe the old saying 'You learn more from your kids than they learn from you'
X X X X X X X
"Mr. MacIntosh, is it too much to ask for me to be understood by more than one pony?"
"uh, nope" He said, a hint of discomfort in his voice due to the situation
"He's right, y'know" I said, walking into the room
"I am sorry that I upset your sister" "No, I'm the one that should be sorry, I sort of forced you into revealing yourself"
"As I said before, that was completely my choice, and I must live with it"
"Besides, you don't have just one friend, you've got Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and the others"
"They only do that out of fear or hate"
Big Mac walked to the door
"Where're you going, Big Mac?"
The red earth pony stood beside the door and kicked it open with one of his hind hooves to reveal Sara standing there 'I swear he's got a Pinkie Sense...'
Sara stared in shock at Big Mac as he sat down a few feet from me
"Wh-wha?" "Sara, meet Big Macintosh, Big Macintosh, meet Sara" "N-nice to m-meet you" She stuttered "I believe you already know Amy"
She blushed
"Yeah, about that- I'm sorry Amy, I shouldn't have reacted the way I did"
"I would have been more suprised if you reacted a different way"
"I believe we haven't properly met, I'm Sara" She said, hesitanly holding out a hand
"Hello, I am Amethyst" The two shook hands (paws?)
"SO Jonas, care to explain why you're living with ponies and Diamond Dogs?" "Don't forget the dragon" "You're kidding right?" "Nope"
Sara's jaw dropped as she stared at Big Mac with newfound shock
"Well you already know, you might as well meet the others" "Others? There are more of them?"
"Yes, it's a long story, and I think it'd be easier to explain with everyone there" "That sounds like the best course of action"
"Sara, I need you to go downstairs and wait with Erica and Jack" "How do you plan to get them to understand any of this?" "They're younger, it shouldn't be too hard- and they've already met Amethyst"
"Right, well I'll leave you to it then..."
Amethyst got up and left the room with Sara I got up too and paused at the door
"I'm screwed, aren't I Mac?" "Eeyup"
I left and went to Twilight and Spike's room "Hey Twilight?" "Yes?" "Could you please get everyone downstairs? Undisguised?" "But what about-"
"Sara, Erica, and Jack found out, I might as well introduce everyone to each other now and get it out of the way" "Alright, if you're sure- we should be down in a few minutes"
'I sincerely hope so...'
Heading back down the stairs, I heard Sara talking with Amethyst
"...so you eat rocks?" "Not rocks specifically, I am able to eat gems and other types of metal" "-how do they taste?" "Like gems, I suppose-" "That's not what I... Nevermind, I still don't know what to make of all this" "You are not yet comfortable with our current situation?" "Of course not! I mean, who could: be given the circumstances"
"Do you think Jonas is?" "Well, Jonas is a different case, he seems to be perfectly fine with this- strange as it seems and just the fact that you and the others are here is amazing enough, I just don't think I could cope with this as well as he is" "I'm not 'coping' with this, Sara, I'm actually fine with it" "Wha? How?!"
"I can't explain it, it just feels like all of this is no big deal, but I guess-"
I stopped when I felt a tugging at my pant-legs, I looked down and saw the crusaders hiding behind my legs.
"Can I help you?" "Um, no, we're fine-" Sweetie Belle said "Yeah, we were just, uh, checking for...lint!" Scootaloo said
"Well I'd like you three to meet my sister Sara" "H-hello"
Both sides hesitated until she knelt down
"Hi, it's nice to meet you, what're you're names?"
"You have wings..." She whispered "Y-yeah, I'm a pegasus" Scootaloo said "Do they work?" "'Course they do, I just can't fly very well"
"What's wrong with having wings, huh?" Rainbow flew circles around Sara
'Of all the times, Dash...'
"N-nothing! It's not everyday you see a pony with wings, I just- was a little suprised, is all"
"What? You don't have pegasi here? How do you control the weather?" "We don't, we can predict it, but that's about it"
Dash's jaw dropped
"That's horrible! I'd be out of the job if I lived here" "You kind of are, remember what Twilight said? All of you are stuck here until the next summer solstice"
"A whole year?!" Sara exclaimed "Eeyup"
I turned to see Big MacIntosh coming down the stairs with Rarity, Applejack, Spike, Twilight, and Fluttershy.
"I'd better get to the living room before Luna gives Jack and Erica a heart attack..."
I entered the living room with the crusaders following close behind, upon entering, I saw Luna looking around the room.
"Please come out, little ones, We wish to make peace with thou"
I noticed that both of them were hiding behind the couch
"Erica, Jack, come on; she only wants to make friends"
"B-but-" "I want both of you to be nice, Luna and the others are going to be my guests for a little while"
The finally stood up and hesitantly walked over to Luna
"GREETINGS, WE ARE PRINCESS LUNA, IT IS A PLEASURE TO MAKE YOUR AQUAINTENCE" "Princess, you don't need to use the RCV" "WE ARE- ahem- We are sorry, we have tried to make the transition since our return"
"Could you do that again, Princess? I don't think the neighbors down the block heard you" Spike said, stumbling into the room. "Spike! You can't talk that way to Princess Luna!"
"Please calm yourself, Twilight Sparkle, we think he was using 'sarcasm'" Twilight blushed Soon everyone was in the room; we just sat in awkward silence
"So, Rainbow Dash was telling me that you can't manipulate the weather" Twilight said "Um, yeah, unlike you, we don't have pegasi and unicorns, there are 'earth ponies' as you would call them, but they aren't sentient like you- anyway, based on what Dash has told me, clouds aren't really solid here, which means we can't make them disappear or move them, the weather just sort of takes care of itself"
"If you don't have unicorns here, how can you use magic?" Sweetie Belle asked "Because magic doesn't exist in this world"
All the ponies' jaws hit the floor.
"Th-that's impossible!" "You want to talk impossible? I'm sitting in a room with Unicorns, ponies, pegasi, and a dragon!" Sara blurted "We aren't able to use magic, to us it's no more real than you're supposed to be. uh, no offence, I mean- you are real, but-"
"We think we understand what you are trying to say"
"I'm glad someone does..."
The next few hours or so were spent discussing our worlds, Twilight seemed intrigued by ourscientific advancements, I stayed off the topic of weapons (for obvious reasons).
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Let me get this straight, you can fly? You don't have any wings!" Rainbow Dash asked "Not under our own power, but yes" "How?" "I'll explain later..." "You enjoy messing with me, don't you?" "How else would I spend my free time?" "Hmmph" "Well I've gotta get back to work Dash, I'll see you later"
She nodded and flew off
Heading up to my room, I heard the Crusaders playing with Erica and Jack
"There! I just bought Park Place" Jack said "No fair! That means you've got a mon- mono-" "Monopoly?" "Yeah, that's it"
"It is too, fair- you should have bought the Boardwalk when you had the chance" "It cost too much! I couldn't make change anyway"
I giggled to myself as I went into my room and sat down at my draft board
"Whatcha doin' sugarcube?" Applejack asked "Just waiting for inspiration..." "Yeah? What're ya tryin' to be inspired for?"
"Nothing really, I'm just thinking of what might be a good idea for a new character"
"Maybe it'll just come to ya..."
"Yeah right, it usually takes days for me to come up with even a decent idea, I'd sooner grow wings and fly-"
I felt pressure against my back and saw that there was nothing there, but I still felt cramped in my shirt
"I'll be right back-" I got up and went to the bathroom, closing the door I looked at the full-body mirror, hopingto fix my shirt I tried adjusting it- giving up after the fifth try, I took off the shirt and couldn't believe what I was seeing.
"Jonas? Are you alright? Applejack says she thinks you aren't feeling well-" Twilight said as she pushed the door open
Her jaw dropped at the sight in front of her, there stood Jonas, albeit with one minor difference- he had a pair of dark-blue thestral wings spread out behind him.
"I-I- have wi-wings-s" "I- can see that..." "Hey Twi, is Jonas al-"
She stopped at the scene before her
"-right?"
"This isn't normal- " 'The understatement of the millenia, thanks Twilight'
"Based on what you've told me, humans don't have wings or horns, this doesn't make any sense!" "This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with that spell ya cast, would it Twi?" "Spell?"
"I kinda cast a spell that allowed us to transform ourselves into human forms; but it should have caused a full transformation, nothing partial" "I honestly have no idea how your magic works, so you're on your own with this one" "Did anything happen that suddenly caused this?"
"No, not that I can think- we were just talking about his work"
"-then I said I was looking for inspiration, and I said I was more likely to grow a pair of wings than come up with ideas right away..."
Realization dawned on Twilight
"My spell must have had some side-effects on you- but I'll still need some time to figure out how the spell mutated, and if it affected you specifically or not remains to be seen"
"So how can I make them go away?" "The only advice I can offer at the moment is to just concentrate on making them disappear"
"*Sigh* Alright, I'd like to hear any breakthroughs you make" "I'll be sure to let you know" Twilight said as she left the room "You gonna be okay, sugarcube?" "Yeah, it's just going to take awhile to get used to these" I said, giving a slight flap of my wings
"Okay, as long as you're sure" "Thanks Applejack, I really need to get back to work now" "Alright, I'll leave ya to it then" She left
I picked the shirt up off the floor, taking a pair of scissors out of one of the drawers, I cut two long slits into the back of the T-shirt, I put the shirt back on while trying to fit my wings into the slots (which is no easy task, let me tell you)
Walking back to my room, I sat down at my draft board and waited, for what, I wasn't sure...
"Hey Uncle Jonas, we finished our game, can you think of any- WHOA! When'd you get wings?"
'There it is'
"Something to do with Twilight's spell-" "Wow, you think we can do that?" "Somehow I doubt it, squirt" "Can we watch you work?" "I guess, it's probably going to be boring though"
"Okay"
The crusaders trooped in, followed by Erica and Jack, they all sat down on the bed "What are you going to draw?" "I don't know yet-" "Have you tried drawing ponies?" Applebloom asked
"No, I can't say that I have, who should they be?" "A colt?" "He should be green and have radioactive super powers!" "Oooookkkkaaaaayy, let's build on that- any other ideas?"
"Could his mark be the hazard symbol?" "I think I'll use that, but I don't think I'll give him his cutie mark"
"Why not?" The crusaders chimed in
"'Cause if I give it to him now, how's he going to find out what he's good at?"
"I guess that makes sense" Scootaloo said "What color should his mane be?" "White" "...and finally a name, I don't think it should be something obligatory"
"How about Meltdown?" "Na, it's gotta be something that fits" "Toxic Waste?"
"I think that would suit him just fine, I dub thee Toxic Waste" I said, writing his name on the page
"Can we help somemore?" "No thanks, I think that got the juices flowing, thanks for your help"
"Can we watch anyway?" "I guess, it'll be pretty boring though"
"Hey, how about we play another game?" Sweetie Belle suggested "Sure, let's go" "Be sure to tell Rainbow Dash that she can quit spying on me on your way out" "Rainbow, Uncle Jonas says you can stop spying on him" Erica said as she and the others left the room "What? You gotta Pinkie Sense now?" "No, I just heard your wings flapping" "Drat"
"It probably came from these" I said, extending my wings
Dash stood there, mouth agape
"Wh-what? Y-you.... and, and... I don't-"
"I know right? I was thinking of testing them out, wanna have a race?"
That seemed to snap her out of her stupor
"A race? Are you kidding me? You can't beat the fastest flier in Equestria"
"How about we see who's the fastest flier on Earth?" "Well when you put it like that, you're on!" "Great, meet me in the backyard"
She flew out of the room
I thought for a moment before opening the window and squeezing through the open window, I tested my wing strength before doing a few lazy circles and touching down to the ground
"You ready to get beaten?" Rainbow asked "I was about to ask you the same thing" "Mr. Tough Guy, huh?" "Nope, let's set some ground rules first, (1) It's pretty overcast today, so we stay above the clouds, (2) I don't want the FBI on our backs, so no Rainbooms; and third, first one back to the house wins, got it?" "Sounds good to me, let's get going!" "Ready...Set...Go!"
Rainbow Dash took off, with me following close behind- we past the 'cloud-line' I guess you'd call it, and one thought was going through my head
'I can see why Dash enjoys flying so much'
I manuvered a short ways out of her slipstream and sped up
Seeing me approach, she flew ahead of me in a burst of speed; she banked, which caused me to stop short to prevent me colliding with her.
I dove to avoid said collision, then dipped into the cloud bank, or tried to, I quickly found myself facedown- on a cloud- about a thousand feet or so in the air; I was sitting on a cloud!
"-clouds are a lot softer than I thought they were..."
I 'stood' up and took off once more, just in time to see Rainbow zoom towards a passing cloud and slam into it, falling at an alarming rate (Pinkie's Pinkie Sense is probably going nuts)
I flew after her and tried to catch her, practically falling myself I felt my body beginning to pick up speed, I was steadily getting closer- I caught her just as a loud explosion filled the air, quickly realizing the ground was fast approaching I pulled up and flew back above the clouds and towards home, but before I hit the clouds, I saw several rings of black and orange spreading out in a spiderweb-like pattern.
'D-did I do th-that?!'
I've really gotta start paying more attention to what Twilight says when she goes on one of her rants
I looked down at Dash as I continued to fly towards home,
'Didn't the explosion wake her up?'
As if on cue, she woke up with a look of terror on her face
"AAAAHHHH! I'm awake! Where am I?" She demanded "Calm down, you hit a cloud and passed out" "Hmmph, guess you win then" "Nope" "Huh? Why not? I didn't finish the race"
"True, but I did a 'Rainboom' of my own, so you win by default"
It was a technicality, but why not, I'll let her have this- didn't matter to me anyway
Before she could respond, the house came into view
"Here we are"
I flew through my window and set Dash down on the bed "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine ACK!" she held one of her wings in pain
"Oh god...just hang on a moment, I'll go get Fluttershy"
I left the room and went to find her
"FLUTTERSHY!" "EEEKKK!"
The yellow pegasus jumped in fright as I yelled "I'msorrybutDashhurtherwingcanyouhelp?"
"O-okay, I'll need so-some bandages, a-and a splint, if you d-don't mind"
'Wow, she actually understood all of that?'
"Okay, I'll go get them, go help Dash, she's in my room, I'll be there as fast as I can" "A-alright" she said as she buzzed off
I went to the bathroom, grabbed the necessary supplies, then rushed to my room
"How is she?" "She's fine, her wing is just a little sprained" Fluttershy said, inspecting Rainbow Dash's wing I handed her the splint and bandages
"Will she be okay, 'Shy?" "She'll be okay, she won't be able to fly for a few days, maybe even a week, but other than that she's alright" She said as she finished wrapping the bandages around Dash's wing
"Jonas! You gotta get downstairs quick! Twilight said it's really important!" Spike said, running into the room "Okay, I'll be there in a moment, are you finished, Fluttershy?" "Yes, there"
I went down the stairs and saw that Twilight had the T.V. set to a news channel, a national news channel
"...where not moments ago, two UFO's were seen flying through the air at an incredible rate, ameture footage that was taken by witnesses in the park has been reviewed by a select few scientists; they have not yet come to a conclusion as to what the objects were, or what the- hang on, I'm being told that they've released the footage"
The screen cut to a shot of the sky from earlier that day, one blur was diving towards another and finally the 'Rainboom' I performed spread out in the familiar pattern.
"How do you suppose that happened?" Spike asked "I wonder, it definitely looked like a Rainboom- but the colors weren't chromatic like Dash's is"
" -any evidence to explain this?" "Well no, not exactly, what we can tell though is that a close up of one of the creature's wings show that they appear thestral"
"Are you saying we're dealing with a vampire?" One of the anchors joked
"HaHahaha, no, nothing like that, at the moment we're trying to figure out how and why this- 'explosion' occurred" "I see, any possible leads?" "Not yet, no" The anchor turned to face the screen "Thank you professor, more on this story as it develops"
"Hmmmm"
X X X X X X X
"Shining Armor, can I assume you saw that as well?" "Yes your highness, I think the entire surrounding area and saw it" "Do you have any idea of what caused it?" "We're still trying to invesigate, we still don't know what it was or what caused it" "And your personal opinion?" "It looked to me like one of what Rainbow Dash calls a 'Sonic Rainboom', but the colors were off..." "I see, thank you Captain, you may return to your post" "Princess, may I tell you something?" "Yes, please continue" "As much as I would like to investigate further into this, I feel I must detach myself from this project for the sake of finding my sister and the Elements"
"I know you're concerned for your sister's saftey, you've bearly stopped to eat and sleep; but I suggest you use this oppritunity to distract yourself from the problem at hoof"
"With all due respect your highness, Twilight and the other Element bearers are missing! There's no telling what could happen in their absence, nopony has seen a trace of them since the Summer Sun Celebration! Their families are worried sick, what if-"
"Calm yourself, Captain; while the family members of the Elements are worried, they have been notified of the situation" "Yes princess"
"Now as I said, you are dismissed, please return to your post" Shining Armor nodded and left the balcony
'Please come back soon everypony...'
X X X X X X X
"So what happened after you did the Rainboom?" "I'm not sure, when I looked down, I think I saw glimpses of a town, more rural than the city here" "What did you see?" "It looked like there was this giant merry-go-round as one of the buildings, then there was what looked like a great big tree with a door and a few windows, there could have been a gingerbread house too, but I wasn't sure" Twilight looked like she was deep in thought
"Twi? You okay?"
She turned towards me with a confused look on her face
"No, it isn't possible, is it? Could it be?" "It sounded like he described my boutique, darling" "Ooh! Ooh! I bet the gingerbread house was Sugarcube Corner!" Pinkie exclaimed "I think he was talking about the library in Ponyville Twilight" Spike said
"Wow, I know Rainbow Dash broke the sound barrier, but I think you broke the dimensional barrier" Scootaloo said "Is there even such a thing?" Luna asked "I'm not sure, but do you know what this means?! We don't have to wait until next year to get back home!"
"How do ya figure, Twi? Based on what he's told us, he was only able to stay there for a few seconds"
" -but don't you see? If Rainbow and Jonah would do a Rainboom together, we might have a chance at getting back to our world!" "About that..." "What?" "Dash and I sort of had a little race, I don't know what happened but she hit a cloud and fell- Fluttershy said she sprained her wing, she said she'll be able to fly in a few days"
"That throws a wrench into our plans..."
"Eeyup" "So, we'll have to return in a few days?" Amethyst asked "Yes, it looks like it" Twilight replied
Tears formed in her eyes, she walked over to me and pulled me into a hug
"I do not wish to leave" "Wh-what?"
"I cannot leave, I wish to stay with you" "Amy, I can't let you do this, you won't have a real life outside the confines of the fence- I like you too, and as painful as this is, you need to go with Twilight and the others"
She started sobbing, I tried to comfort her as best I could
"Besides, you deserve someone better" "*Ahem* If I can interrupt, when you do the Rainbooms, it will take us all back to Equestria, and that includes you, Jonas"
"Wow, just, wow...so if I do this, I won't be able to come back?"
"Yes, at least until the next Summer Sun Celebration, then I should be able to teleport you back here"
"Well, I don't have anything going for me here...sure, why not? Sounds like living in Ponyville for a year would be a good change of scenery" "You will come with us?"
"Well yeah, what other choice do I have? I'd rather get you back home than keep you here longer than you need to be"
"We appreciate the effort you are giving to help us" "It's no problem" "If I just heard you correctly, did you just say that going to another world wasn't a problem?"
"Well yeah, if it'll help them get home"
"What if Mom or Dad asks where you went? I'm pretty sure they're going to notice that you've disappeared off the face of the earth"
"We could tell them I'm going on a business trip and won't be back until next year"
"That sounds like it would work" "-and we still have a few days before we gotta go, which gives me plenty of time to say goodbye to you, Erica, and Jack"
"I don't know..." "Sara, I don't have a choice- they need to get back to their home, their world"
"Alright, I'm going to turn in for the night, we've got a busy week ahead of us" "I suppose you're right"
I went up the stairs with a few ponies following me, Amethyst, Big MacIntosh and Applebloom went into their respective rooms, I noticed the other two crusaders still following me, Sweetie Belle went into her and Rarity's room, I sat down on the bed- only to find a certain orange and purple pegasus filly glaring at me
"What?" "How could you do that?" "Do what?" "You hurt Rainbow Dash" "What? No I didn't!" "Yes you did, you said so yourself!" "When?" "Just now, downstairs"
I can sort of see where she's coming from, but it was an accident- Dash hit the cloud herself, not me.
"Scootaloo-" "I want you to confess" "What?" "You did this to her" "Didn't I already sort of 'confess' downstairs?" "I want to hear a full explaination"
I stopped and thought for a moment
'Almost forgot, Rainbow Dash is Scootaloo's idol (which is an understatement to say the least) -so it's either confess to something I didn't do, and have Scootaloo hate me, or tell the truth and put Dash in a bad light'
I looked back at an impatient Scootaloo
'Option number one it is...' "Alright, I was trying to pull off a move and I bumped into Dash- that caused her to hit the cloud bank"
"Hmmph, you're half the flier Rainbow Dash is"
"-and don't you forget it" I said, pushing her out of the room
I woke up and stretched, popping the kinks in my back, getting up, I went down to the kitchen to make some breakfast
I was just getting the cereal out when I heard someone coming down the stairs.
"*Yawn* Hey Jonas" "Morning Spike" "Ready for the big day?" "Yeah, I suppose, got a few essentials packed; I guess I'm a little nervous too" "I guess I would be too, traveling to another world and all" "Are the others ready to go?" "As far as I know" "Alrighty, then; I heard Dash's wing healed suffiently fast" "Yeah, she's been driving me nuts complaining she can't fly anywhere" "At least she kept herself occupied, I thought she was going stir-crazy"
"Jonas, I want to speak to you" Dash said, flying into the room "Sure, what is it?" "Scootaloo told me how you confessed to the accident being your fault"
"Oh, about that..." "Why?" "Why what?" "Why'd you tell her that?" "Well I know how much she looks up to you, she came to me and asked me if I would tell her what happened, so I told her that you got hurt because of me" "So you told her that just so she wouldn't be a little disappointed with me?" "Yeah, I-"
"Hey Rainbow" Scootaloo said, walking into the kitchen "Hey squirt, whatcha doin'?" "Just wanted to see if he apologized to you yet" She said, giving me a glare "Listen squirt, about that- he didn't make me fall, I kinda did that myself" "What? How?" "I guess I got kinda cocky and I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going, and- well, you know the rest" "Wha-?" "Dash, really, how about we forget all this happened, water under the bridge"
"I'm sorry Jonas, I kinda jumped to conclusions"
"Don't worry about it, I probably woulda done the same thing"
I sat down with my cereal and ate, whether it was anxiety or not, I felt I ate the cereal rather quickly
I put my bowl in the sink and went to the living room where the others were waiting
"We have made the preparations, ist thou ready to depart?" "Yeah, I got all I need here" I said, holding up a duffel bag "Good, we better get going before the cloud-walking spell wears off" Twilight said "Alright, let's get going"
Twilight cast a teleportation spell and they were all standing on a nearby cloud, save for me and Rainbow Dash
"You sure this'll work?" Dash asked "According to Twilight" "Alright, let's do this"
We both took off in the opposite direction, once at the right distance we did a 180 and sped towards the cloud It felt as if the atmosphere was going to shatter into pieces as we continued to pick up speed
'5...4...3...2...1...'
We both performed our Rainbooms just as we reached the cloud, I felt myself rebound off of it, which incidentally sent me speeding towards Canterlot.
X X X X X X X X
(Castle guard barracks)
"Captain!" "What is it Flashpoint?" Shining Armor asked "You know that 'Rainboom' thing that happened about a week ago?" "Yeah?" "It just happened again, this time there's two of them" "Get everypony to their posts, I want a full scan of the area as well" "Yes sir"
Shining Armor ran back to his quarters as fast as he could
"Two? There's two of them? How? Rainbow Dash couldn't pull that off, unless-"
He looked out his window in time to see a bat-winged creature fast approaching, at first he assumed it was one of Luna's gaurds, but she was missing as well... He turned just in time to see the object crash through his window and fall to the floor, the odd creature groaned as one of its wings twitched
"Guards!" Shining shouted Two of the solar gaurds burst through the door "Sir?" "Take this...thing in the dungeons, and be sure to place precautionary spells on its cell" They nodded and one of them picked it up with his magic
"Sir, we have another report" "What did you find?" "Your sister has been found just outside Canterlot, along with-" Shining Armor took off before he could finish
"Where do ya think he went?" Applejack asked "Based on his trajectory, and the wind speed, and position of the cloud-" "In a language we can understand, please" Rainbow Dash said "He's somewhere in Canterlot" "Oh, well then, we should find him in a couple of weeks" Rainbow said sarcastically "Don't you think we should get to the castle and inform the princess we've returned?" Rarity asked "An excellent suggestion" Luna said as her horn lit up
"-and what exactly is the nature of this creature, Captain?" Celestia asked "It's like nothing I've ever seen, Your Highness, the best I can describe is that it looks to be a hairless Diamond Dog, and its wings appear to be thestral" "Interesting, what was found in the bag it had with it?"
"A number of things, no weapons thankfully, it appears to be clothes, a stack of papers, drawings, brushes, little yellow sticks..." "Has its belongings been returned to it?" "Yes, one of the guards just put it back in the cell" "What of these explosions outside Canterlot?" "One of them actually was a Rainboom, and the other was just like the one we had about a week ago"
A bright flash appeared in the throne room and a number of ponies materialized, along with Princess Luna
"Sister!" Celestia shouted, suprised "Twiley!" "Shiny!" "Cupcakes!" Pinkie said
Everypony looked at her, confused
"What? Everypony else said something"
"We have made our return" Luna said, approaching her throne
"-just in time, sister, I was beginning to worry" Celestia joked "Your student managed to find a way to get here" "I see, how did you find your way?" "Well, um, I didn't exactly have a hoof in getting back here, per se" "Oh?" "We met somepony, I found out that he was able to do a Rainboom like Rainbow can" This especially caught Celestia's attention "-and that by doing so, he was able to catch a glimpse of Ponyville, so we figured that if he and Rainbow did a simultaneous Rainboom, we might be able to get back home" "An amazing discovery, tell me, where is this friend of yours now?" "That's what we were on our way to ask you, we don't know where he is, the last we saw of him, he was on his way here"
'That creature couldn't be the one they're referring to? Could it?'
"What does he look like?" "He's almost as tall as you, princess, he doesn't have any hair except on top of his head,and he's got this pair a' scary lookin' bat wings" Applejack said "That monster?!" Shining shouted "What do you mean 'that monster'? I doubt you've met him" "That thing is in one of the dungeons" "What? Why?" "He crashed through the window in my quarters" One of the solar guards came into the throne room "Captain, the creature in the dungeons is starting to wake up" Shining Armor left, with the group in tow
Upon arrival, two voices were heard arguing "Let me guess, hospitality isn't your strong suit?" "For the last time, I'm not going to let you out" "I didn't say anything of the sort" "Ugh" "Is that hoofsteps I hear?" "I don't- Princess!" "Greetings, Swift, please open the cell" "Are you sure, your majesty?" "Yes, please unlock the cell" Swift hesitantly put the key in the lock and turned it, opening the cell door and allowing Celestia access "-and who might you be?" "I am Princess Celestia" "I know, Luna's told me alot about you" "She has?" "Yeah" "How much do you know?" "Depends, how much do you think I know?" "-an interesting choice of words, I notice how you've failed to answer my question" "Nor you have mine, Princess" "Why are you here? I have never seen a creature such as you" "You and all of Equestria, as for why I'm here, it was basically the only way to get Twilight and the other Elements back here" "So I heard" Celestia said, sounding suspicious "It was either that or wait a whole year for something Twilight called 'The Summer sun Celebration'" "Very well, you may go" "Just like that? No tests? No interrogation?" "No, you are free to go" "Th-thanks, so where do we go from here?" "You may leave whenever you wish, though I request you stay for dinner tonight" "Princess I'm flattered, but we've only just met, I doubt this is the right time for a first date" 'I can't believe I just said that...' Celestia blushed, and I swear I could hear Twilight being stunned out in the hallway "-but seriously, I'd love to stay, thank you" "Your welcome, dinner is in a few hours" She left the cell with me following "Shining Armor, could you please show our guest to his temporary quarters?" "Yes your highness, please follow me...sir" Shining walked up the stairs leading to the upper floors with me following "So, Captain of the gaurd, huh?" He grunted something I could only assume as a 'yes' We walked a little further until we reached a medium-sized room "This should suffice" he said with a certain arrogance "Yes, it'll be fine" He continued to glare at me "Is there something wrong Cap-" "Listen, I don't know what you are, but Twilight and the princesses seem to trust you- but that doesn't mean I'm letting my guard down, you just watch your back" "Thank you Captain" I went into my room and closed the door 'I've got a few hours to kill, might as well doodle for a little while' I pulled out a few pictures I'd previously drawn and separated them into two separate piles, ones that were pony related, and non-pony related
Looking at the pictures, I found that some of them looked kinda silly now that I thought about it, one was of Big MacIntosh as a mare (Which has a few stories written about him by the way), a draconequus named Feedback with digitized pupils, Toxic Waste, a pony made of ink, what I think Jack Skellington would look like as a pony, and some ghosts. I set the pictures down on the bed and got up, I started pacing the room, hoping to get ideas;
"If only the were real..." I chuckled to myself There was a loud 'POP!' and a flash, I shielded my eyes from the light and stumbled backwards I opened them again and my jaw hit the floor "Wow, look at the size of this room!" a green and white pegasus said "It definitely is, Toxic" the ink pony replied "Wait, how'd you know my name?" "Hmmm, I don't know, perhaps he does" he said, indicating me I shifted on my heels uncomfortably "Um, yes...I do, everypony please stay here, I have to step out for a moment" I left the room and closed the door, then bolted to the throne room
"'Tis a slow day, We wish something exciting would happen" "Haven't you been through enough in the past few weeks Luna?" "We suppose..." An out-of-breath Jonas ran into the throne room, startling the guards "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS- oh greetings, Jonas, what hast brought thou here?" "Room...drawings...life...help...gotta go!" He said in-between breaths He ran back through the doors presumbably back to his room "Be careful what you wish for, sister" Celestia smiled "Doth he not realize we can simply teleport to his quarters?" "Yes, but I think he seemed too panicked" "Shall I give him a headstart?" "I think that would be best"
"Whoa, look at these, he's got pictures of all sorts of monsters and stuff" Toxic said "His art style is commendable" "What's your name? I can't keep calling you 'ink pony'" "I don't think I have one, what should it be?" "Ummm...how about, InkHeart?" "That has a rather nice ring to it" "Nice to meet you InkHeart, I'm Toxic Waste" "Likewise" Toxic looked up and saw three ghosts circling the room, then at the other two ponies in the room "Hey mister, you okay?" "Yes I suppose, why?" "You're all white and- and-" "Skeletal?" "Yeah, that's it" Jack went to the bathroom and saw his reflection "Huh, guess I am a skeleton..." Feedback remained silent through the whole thing Jonas arrived and entered his room "Alright, I think I took care of that situation pretty well" I said sarcastically "What situation?" Toxic asked "Oh, nothing" "It's something to make you dash out of the room like that" InkHeart said "Yeah, it's just that-" "What is it you wanted to tell Us, Jonas?" Luna said, teleporting into the room "Um, everypony this is Princess Luna" They all looked at the both of us in shock, even the ghosts had stopped what they were doing, 'I have to give Luna credit, she doesn't seem fazed at all by this' "Wow, you're tall!" Toxic exclaimed "-and what is your name, little one?" "T-toxic Waste, your highness" "'Tis a pleasure to make your aqueintance, Toxic" "Hey, I just noticed something, you look just like Jack" "Jack?" "Somepony say my name?" Jack walked into the room and stared at Luna "Um, who's this?" "See? He's tall, just like you" "Huh, guess I am..." "This is an unexpected suprise, we did not expect another pony with our height to exist" "Really..." "I'm certain my sister would like to meet you all" "Who's you sister, your highness?" "I shall explain on the way, I believe my sister is waiting for us" "Well, I suppose we'd better be on our way then" I said "Very well, follow me"
"You requested my presence your highness?" "Yes Captain, I'm sorry to pull you from your time with your sister, but I felt I needed you here for when my sister returns" "Of course, but why?" "Jonas had informed us of a situation and I was slightly concerned" As if on cue, Luna appeared with Jonas and a small group of ponies "Greetings Captain Armor" Luna said "-Sister, would you care to elaborate who these ponies are? I don't believe I've met them before" Celestia said, taking notice of the specters flying around the room "Your highness, if you'll allow it, I'll tell you after dinner, though I'm not sure you'll like the answer" Jonas said Celestia gave me a confused look and quickly regained her composure "Very well, I expect a full explaination" "Thank you" "Now, I believe proper introductions are in order, I am Princess Celestia" InkHeart stepped forward "Hello your highness" "Hello Mr..." "InkHeart your majesty" "Hello InkHeart" "I'mToxicWasteprincess" Toxic blurted "Could you please speak a little slower? I didn't quite catch your name" "T-to-xic Was-waste, princess" "Nice to meet you, Toxic" He mumbled something and backed up towards the group "And who is this?" "My name is Jack, your majesty" "Hello Jack, forgive me, but it's not everyday you meet another alicorn" "I just found out who I was a few minutes ago your highness, no apologies needed" "I see, may I ask who these three are?" "Spooky" "Grim" "Mist" The three replied without stopping their flight around the throne room "Hmmm, Big MacIntosh, I thought you went home with your younger sister" "Who's he?" the mare asked Startled, Celestia inquired further "You're a mare!" It was more of a statement than a question "Eeyup" It took every fiber of my being to keep from laughing right there and then We soon finished the introductions when... "Your majesty, the evening meal is ready" "Thank you, Silver; Shall we move to the dining room?"
We sat in silence, occasionally giving each other uncomfortable glances, I think Applejack knew about Red Gala, but if she did she didn't let on. The Elements seemed to distance themselves from Jack and the three specters, who entertained themselves popping out of the floor and walls. "So, what do you plan to do after you leave Canterlot?" Twilight asked, trying to break the silence "Well if it's alright with you, I'd like to come back to Ponyville with you, it sounds like a nice place" I said "Ooh, I better start planning your 'Welcome to Ponyville' party!" Pinkie said before she ran off "She seems to like parties an awful lot" Toxic said "Well it is her special talent, after all" Rarity said The conversation picked up from there and the meal was soon finished, the Elements went to ' their respective rooms; leaving me, Luna, and Celestia in the dining hall. "Princess, I believe you wanted an explaination?" "Yes, I wish to know how those ponies got into the castle without being detected by the Royal Guard, and I'm especially curious as to why they don't have records in our files" "That can easily be explained- " I hesitated "Oh?" "Yes, this is the best I could figure it out, but I was sitting in my room with the drawings of all the ponies you met; I made an off-handed comment about what I'd do if they were real, and poof, there they were" "I find this hard to believe-" "-Said the Alicorn who raises the sun and rules over a land of mythical creatures with her sister" "We aren't 'mythical' as you put it" "In my world you are, but I digress, I've got the copies of the drawings in my bag if you want more proof" "That won't be necessary, I'll have to take your word on this for now" "That means a lot, your highness, now if you'll excuse me I'd like to get to bed" "I suppose I should get some rest as well" I spread my wings and flew out of the dining hall and towards my room, where I found everypony asleep, well, almost everypony, Jack was out on the balcony, those three ghosts were probably off haunting some other part of the castle, and Toxic was looked like he was trying to get to sleep- all the others were sleeping soundly on the bed. "Mr. Jonas?" "What's up kiddo?" I asked as I sat down in one of the chairs next to the bed "I'm having some trouble sleeping, can you help?" "I'll do the best I can..." He crawled off the bed and jumped onto my lap, once he was settled I hummed a soft tune, hoping it was enough to get him to sleep "mmmm, g'night daddy" he mumbled as he drifted off My heart melted and broke at the same time as he said it, I'm not his father- but could I be? Did he get caught in the moment? He's tired, that sounds right, he must've been really tired, but that thought still lingered in my head as I felt myself dozing off, is it possible that I really am his father? He just sort of came to life, I feel that he's my responsibility, they all are now that I think about it-
I didn't finish my inner monolouge as I fell asleep
"Up and at 'em everypony! Wakey Wakey" Pinkie Pie shouted as she bounced down the halls 'How does she have so much energy this early in the morning?' I thought to myself as I was jolted awake by her shouting I looked at the bed and saw that the others were still asleep 'It's a miracle she didn't wake them' I looked down at the sleeping colt in my lap, contemplating the best way to wake him up "Time to wake up, kiddo" I said as I ruffled his mane He opened his eyes and tiredly jumped off my lap, getting up I noticed Feedback was already awake, giving me an amused grin "What?" "No morning hug?" "Not today I'm afraid, now for the task of waking everyone up" "I'll take care of it" he said He snapped his talons and an airhorn materialized in his grasp "At least wait until me and Toxic are out of the room, I'd like to keep him from seeing them kill you" "You got it, Cap" "Come on, Toxic; the train leaves in a few hours, why don't we go check out the gardens?" "Sounds good to me Jonas" It was both a relief and a disappointment to hear him use my name "Great, let's go" I was sure to pick up my bag and we were off, on our way down we looked at some of the paintings that hung on the walls "-so Princess Luna was evil?" Toxic asked with a hint of fear in his voice "She was when she was Nightmare Moon, but Twilight and the others used the Elements on her to change her back to her normal self" "Wow, so they're like heroes?" "I guess you could say that, they'd probably say otherwise though" "Whoa, how long ago did all this happen?" "Well let's see, about a year ago Nightmare Moon returned during the Summer Sun Celebration, that night Twilight and the Elements got Luna to return to her normal self" "Wow, so a year ago?" "Yeah, I want to ask you to not mention any of this to her, she's still pretty upset at what she did and the subject is a little touchy" "But why? What she did was because of Nightmare Moon, it wasn't her fault" "Someponies see it that way, but I think there are others that think she's still bad; and she blames herself for what happened" We entered the gardens and Toxic stared in awe at the statues "Who're all these ponies?" "They did great things to help Equestria, that's Clover the Clever and Starswirl the Bearded over there, those are the only two I know..." "Wow, that one almost looks like Mr. Feedback" Toxic said, pointing to the statue of Discord "Yep, that's Discord, god of chaos" "What's he famous for?" "Actually, he's infamous" "What's that mean?" "It's like the opposite of fame, he did something bad, so that's what ponies remember him for" "What'd he do?" "He plunged Equestria into chaos, Celestia and Luna used the Elements on him about a thousand years ago" "So what happened to him?" "He's standing right in front of you" "Y-you mean, th-that's him? They turned him to stone?" "The Elements did, yes" "It must be pretty awful to hold that same position for over a thousand years..." Despite the serious look on his face, I burst into laughter "What? What'd I say?" "Nothing kiddo" "Oh, well how about we take the long way back, we should be ready to leave by the time we get back" "'kay, Mr. Jonas can I ask you something?" "Just Jonas is fine, sure what is it?" "Why do you look so different from everypony else?" "You want the straightforward answer or the one the answer that'll probably confuse you?" "What's the difference?" "There isn't one now that I think about it...anyway, short answer is that I'm an alien" I supressed a laugh as Toxic's eyes nearly popped out of his head "Really?" "Yep, whole different world spiel and everything" "You're pulling my leg" "Do I need to get Applejack down here?" "What's Applejack got to do with it?" "She's the Element of Honesty" "Oh, what are the other Elements called?" "Um, Applejack's the Element of Honesty, Rarity is Generosity, Rainbow Dash's element is Loyalty, Pinkie Pie is Laughter, Fluttershy is Kindness, and Twilight is the Element of Magic" "Wow" "So if Discord is here, should we be concerned about what the princesses will do to Mr. Feedback?" "What do you mean?" "Well he's the same kind of creature that Discord is, what if they decide he's here for revenge or something?" "That's a good point, but I think that as long as he doesn't cross a certain line, he'll be fine" "Oh" "Well let's get back inside, we should be on the train to Ponyville in about a half an hour" "'kay, let's go" We re-entered the castle and headed to the throne room where everyone else was waiting "Good to see you decided to join us" Shining Armor said with a certain coldness in his tone "Um, yeah we were in the statue garden" "No matter, the train will depart soon, are all of you ready?" Celestia said A round of "Yes, your highness" went up "Good, the train will leave soon, I suggest you get on your way" "Thank you your majesty, for everthing" I said "Think nothing of it, a simple show of hospitality" "I hope to be granted the same priviledge, Princesses" I smiled as I lifted off the ground "I'll meet you at the station" I said, turning to Twilight I turned and flew out of the throne room with Toxic using his own wings to follow me, out of the corner of my eye I saw Grim, Spooky, and Mist give chase "What? Nothing better to do?" I asked "Na, some of the guards can see us, but they don't even flinch when we scare 'em" Spooky said "Party poopers..." Grim muttered "So what exactly are we going to do when we get to the train station?" Toxic asked "I was hoping we could stand around and wait for them to get here" "Ooh! How about we possess the train conductor!" Mist cackled "Or better yet, the train itself!" "Why don't you wait until Halloween to do that?" "Are you kidding? That's months away!" "-But if you do it now, Celestia will probably find a way to put you in prison" "Yeah, you're probably right" Grim said "Hey, you think anypony else can see us?" "Based on the stares we're getting, I'd say not" "Here comes our little entourage now" Spooky said, pointing to the approaching group The group was attracting a lot less attention than I thought, only a few frightened screams and a stallion running in terror, much to the specter's delight "Alright, the train leaves in a few minutes, let's get on board everpony" Twilight said We walked to the passenger car and all the others boarded the train, I was about to step into the car when I was stopped by a burly stallion "Um, can I help you?" "Yeah, I ain't lettin' a monster ride this train" "What's it to you?" "I been ridin' this train a long time, and I ain't about to let somethin' like you board" "Oh, so just because you ride this train too, that gives you the right to deny me access?" "That's right, you've got wings anyway, beat it freak" "I-" "All Aboard!" the conductor called as the doors closed "Great! You made me miss my ride!" Before he could reply, I flew upwards and landed on the roof of the train, I stuck my tounge out at the earth pony as the train pulled away.
After a fairly short train ride, the locomotive pulled into the Ponyville station, I sighed as I flew down to the platform just as the doors opened "There you are, Jonas; I was wondering where you went" Twilight said "Some jerk wouldn't let me board the train, I guess he ignored the fact that I have wings" "Who was it?" "I don't know actually, for some reason our names didn't come up in the conversation" I said sarcastically "Gee, I wonder why" Spooky said "So what do we do now?" "I don't know about you, but I'm going to go to our house and get unpacked, you all are free to do what you want" "What do you mean 'our house'?" InkHeart asked "It seemed kind of cruel of me to just leave you hanging like that, so unless you have other living arrangements, you're free to stay at my house" "I guess that makes sense" "Well, I'm off then" I walked to my house, relying on the description Celestia gave me The ponies in the immediate area kept their distance, forming a circle around me, most of them were in shock or fear, walking to the house I unlocked the front door and went inside; the interior of the house was perfect for my height, there were a few furnishings (a bed, a coffee table, and a couch) 'It almost reminds me of my house back on Earth' I went upstairs to the bedroom and put my bag on the floor, opening it I immediately taped my drawings on the walls and began to put my clothes in the small but spacious dresser in the room, setting the few valuables I brought on top of said dresser and shoving the bag under the bed 'Well that's taken care of, now what to do' Checking that I had my key, I left the house and took to the sky, enjoying the shocked looks of the pegasi that I passed; spotting an out-of-the way cloud I flew to it and settled down 'No wonder Dash sleeps on these, they're really comfortable'
"What do you suppose that is?" Flitter asked "I dunno, it's wings look like the ones Luna's guards have" Cloudchaser replied "That's definetly not a pony..." "Tell me about it, look at its claws! I've never seen anything like that before, and its hind hooves look really weird" "What the hay is that?" Thunderlane asked, flying into the area "We don't know, it just kind of flew in and laid down" "You suppose it's a monster?" "I don't know, I've never seen something like this; it looks like a Diamond Dog with wings" "But it doesn't have any fur except right there at the top of its head" Soon the rest of the weather team was gathered around the cloud with the sleeping creature "Jonas! Jonas? Where are you?" "Hey, never seen him before..." "Must be new in town" The creature arched its back and stretched
"Jonas! Jonas? Where are you?" 'That sounds like Toxic' I thought as I woke up I strectched as I arched my back and sat up on the cloud, only to come face to face with a frightened pegasus "Oh buck, it's awake!" the pegasus cried as she and the group flew off in different directions I had the urge to call out "I know where you live", but shook it off and flew down to Toxic "What's up sport?" "Nuthin', I was just bored, what was that all about?" "I have no idea...anyway, how can you be bored? You've got an entire town to explore" "I don't really know anypony around here, and all the other ponies my age are in school" "That's right, I'll have to arrange that with the mayor and Cherilee...I don't have anything going on, how about we go look around town?" "Sounds fun" "Okay, onward!" We walked down the road and soon came across Sweet Apple Acres "This is where Applejack and her family live and work" I said "What do they do?" "They're apple farmers, best tasting apples in Ponyville" "I wouldn't say that, sugarcube" Applejack said, walking out of the barn "There's Applejack now" "In the flesh, now who's this?" "This is Toxic, he- um- we met each other a few hours ago, he's showing me around Ponyville" "But-" "Toxic, why don't you go ask Mr. MacIntosh about apple farming?" "Uh, sure, who is he?" "Big red pony, can't miss him" He gave me a confused look and set out towards the apple orchard "Ya do realize I'm the Element of Honesty, right sugarcube?" "Yes, I had to make up something on the fly, I panicked" "Why couldn't ya have just told me the truth?" "It's hard to explain, I already went through this with the princesses, I couldn't say anything when Toxic with him in earshot" "what exactly can't you say?" "Alot of things..." "Out with it-" "I'm sorry, not here, if you get Twilight and the others together I might be able to explain all of this a little better-" At that point, Toxic came running back into the field "Jonas, Mr. MacIntosh wouldn't say anything, so I came back here" "Hee hee, sorry about that Toxic, Big Mac doesn't have all that much to say" "Eh, it's alright" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Red Gala approaching "Well I'll be, your the spittin' image of Big Mac" 'More than you know, Applejack' "Hey Ms. Gala!" Toxic smiled "You here to check out the farm too?" "Eeyup" Applejack cocked an eyebrow at that "I'm here lookin' for work" She said "Well, I reckon you'd have to talk to Granny Smith about that, she might be in the house" She nodded and Walked towards the farmhouse "I doubt she'll get the job..." Applejack commented once she was out of earshot That was strangely out of character for her "Why? She looks like she's capable" I said "I didn't say it to be rude, it's just that this is a family-owned business, I just doubt Granny Smith'll let a pony who ain't an Apple work on the farm" "It kinda sounds like discrimination when you put it like that..." "She said it's a family-owned business" Toxic said "Still..." "Well, I better get back to work, can't let Big Mac buck those apple trees by himself" "Okay, we better get going too, see ya AJ" "Alright, don't be a stranger you two" We left Sweet Apple Acres and were soon on our way back to Ponyville "What'd you talk about when I was gone?" "A couple things..." "Jonas, can I ask you something?" "I think you just did, but okay" "Do you know who my parents are? I don't think I remember them, or if I had any at all" 'I should have seen this coming...' "Toxic, what I'm about to tell you, you have to Pinkie Promise not to tell anypony" "Oooookkkaaayy" "What's the first thing you remember?" "Um, I remember opening my eyes and being in your room with the others" "That's because-" "Because?" "I- I- don't know exactly what happened, but I drew pictures of you and the rest- and you all just sort of, appeared..." "So, the we're just pictures you made" "Toxic, you know it isn't like that" "How can you say that?! We're just figments of your imagination! You created us by mistake!" "You're more than that-" "No! Just stay away from me! That means Ms. Gala and the others too!" "Toxic, I..." I could only watch as he ran into town "...I'm sorry" 'Way to go, Jonas, you just screwed up your son's and all the other's lives' Part of that thought made the gears in my head grind to a halt 'I guess he is my son, not in the conventional sense, but still...' I felt horrible, I just wanted to crawl into a hole and rot 'What was I thinking? He's just a foal, I should've waited 'til he was ready' I felt a few tears escape as I curled up at the base of a tree and cried 'I lost my son' 'You drove him away' I cried harder
(Time Skip)
"Alright Big Mac, that should be enough for now, let's go inside and get ready for dinner" Applejack said as she bucked the last tree "Eeyup" The two walked back to the farmhouse and found Applebloom helping Granny Smith "I just remembered something, what'd you think of that mare that came by, Granny Smith?" "What mare?" Applebloom asked "A mare came by today while Toxic and Jonas were here, askin' if she could work on the farm" "Who's Toxic? What'd you say, Granny?" "Why don't you go ask her, she's out workin' in the barn" Granny Smith replied The three heard the front door open and Red Gala walked into the kitchen "Wow, you look just like Big Mac!" Despite her fur, Red Gala blushed "I believe you two haven't met, Red this is our brother Big MacIntosh, Big Mac this is Red Gala, Granny hired her to work on the farm" The two remained silent "Uh, why don't we set the table and eat?" The plates were on the table and they began the meal, soon after everypony was finished and went outside, Red Gala and Applebloom were star-gazing while Granny Smith, Applejack and Big MacIntosh were sitting on the porch "Where'd she come from?" Big Mac asked suddenly "Jonas said he met 'em in Canterlot and they moved here just today; You sure you don't have a twin?" "I'll admit, the similarities between the two of you are startling to say the least" Granny Smith said 'Similarities? I haven't gotten a good look at her cutie mark, I wonder...' Applejack's jaw dropped as she looked at Red Gala, then to Big Mac, then back to Red Gala "I have to see Twilight about something, I'll be back in a little while" Applejack said as she ran off "What's gotten into her?" Applebloom asked "She said somethin' about going to see Ms. Sparkle" Granny Smith said "Wonder why" "Beats me, now it's almost time for bed Applebloom, you best get upstairs" "'Kay" Applebloom went into the house and headed up the stairs "I'd better get home, thank you for your hospitality, Ms. Smith" Red Gala said "No thanks needed, and please call me Granny; can I expect to see you here bright and early tomorrow morning?" "Eeyup" "Good, you best be on your way then" Red Gala nodded and took off at a trot towards Ponyville
*Knock Knock Knock* "It's a public library, you don't need to knock!" Spike called Applejack entered and looked around the room "Howdy Spike, is Twilight around?" "She just went upstairs, what's the rush?" "I got a question for her" "Okay, Twilight! Applejack's here!" Twilight walked down the stairs carrying a few books "Hey Applejack, what brings you here?" "I just had a question" "A question? Sure, what is it?" "Is it possible for two ponies to have the same cutie mark, that aren't related?" "Hmmm, there are a few cases where twins have the same mark, but I've never heard of two unrelated ponies having similar marks..." "You know a pony named Red Gala?" "No, I don't believe I do-" "Apparently she and a few others moved here just today with Jonas from Canterlot, and I just realized she and Big Mac have the same cutie mark" Her interest piqued, Twilight went into focus mode "Spike, pull all the books we have on cutie marks, I'll make a pot of coffee; If our resources are limited, send a request to the Canterlot Archives for their books on the subject" Twilight said, running into the kitchen "Sorry about that, Spike" "Eh, I didn't have anything planned tomorrow anyway" Spike said, climbing the ladder on the bookshelves "Well I'd better get back home, bye Spike" "Bye AJ" Applejack left the library and was on her way back to Sweet Apple Acres when she met Jonas on the way "Howdy Jonas, what're you doing out this late?" He acted as if he didn't hear her and continued walking down the road "Um, sugarcube?" "...Applejack..." Her ears perked up "...I don't know what else to do" "What?" "Toxic ran off after I told him about where he came from" "Wait, Toxic ran away? Why'd he do that?" "I'll...explain later, I need help finding him" "I hate to say it, but it's too dark to do anything, you should go home and get some sleep" "Applejack, if you see him, tell my son I'm sorry..." 'Son?' "I'll be...sure to, get on home now" "Th-thanks" He took a running start and flew close to the ground towards the direction of his house Applejack got back to the farmhouse and went to bed after checking on Applebloom
X
"I'm tellin' ya, somethin' seemed off with him, he sounded real depressed last night" Applejack said "Maybe he was just tired, he did just move here" Twilight said "That's another thing, those ponies that moved here yesterday with him seem awfully peculiar, which reminds me, did you find anything about Red Gala and Big MacIntosh?" "No, I even checked the Canterlot Archives, I didn't find a thing" "What didn't you find, dear?" Rarity asked "Yesterday I noticed Big Mac and Red Gala have the same cutie mark, and they ain't related; Jonas said he'd elaborate, and that's what I intend to get him to do" "An interesting predicament" Rainbow Dash knocked on the door, InkHeart answered "Can I help you?" After getting over their shock, Rarity spoke "Yes, we decided to drop by to visit Jonas" "He's in here, we've been trying to help him find Toxic since he woke up" "Yeah, we're here to help him look" Rainbow said The six entered the house and saw Jonas on the couch in the living room, but he was...different His entire body was grayscale and his wings were close to dragging the ground "You alright there, sugarcube?" "How can I be when he's out there somewhere, lost?" "Who?" "Who else? Toxic" "Why'd he run off?" "Alright, listen; I told him where he came from and he got upset and ran away" "That's what you said last night, where does he come from?" "Since everypony is here, I might as well tell you- but I won't blame you if you get mad" "Spit it out already" Dash said impatiently "Okay, InkHeart, this concerns you and the others too, the reason you all were in my room that night was because I drew pictures of all of you and somehow, you all came to life..." "What?" "That's outrageous" "It's scientifically impossible!" "You're the Element of Magic Twilight, I don't think you're the one to tell me what is and isn't possible; scientific or otherwise" "So what's the plan? We just can't leave him out there" "Okay, how about this" I said "Dash, while you and the weather team are on duty, can you keep an eye out for him?" "Gotcha" "I've already looked around Ponyville, but is there such thing as a location spell Twilight?" "I could try, but I can't guarantee anything" "I'll take what I can get; I'm going to go out and fly around for a little bit" "Um, is there anything we can, do, to help? If that's okay" Fluttershy said I didn't hear her as I walked out the door "Why don't the rest of us go out and look around town again, maybe he missed him somehow" Feedback suggested Everypony gave him a confused look "What? I may not act like it but I care about the kid, too" "Aren't you the least bit confused at what Jonas told you?" "Na, it was obvious in retrospect" "If ya don't mind me askin', how many of you are there?" Applejack asked "Let's see, there's me, Toxic, Red Gala, InkHeart, Jack, and those three over there are Grim, Spooky, and Mist" "Where are they?" "Right there" "I don't see anything" 'I could have some fun with this...'Feedback thought to himself "Nevermind, let's get searching!"
X
'whereisheWhereisheWhereishe' "HELP!" 'There he is' "Toxic!" "J-Jonas? What're you-" "No time, get behind me" He obeyed and ducked behind my legs as three sets of glowing green eyes emerged from the trees "Horseapples, Timberwolves" "wh-what do we do?" "I could try and fly away, but I think they'd catch us before we got high enough" "Are we gonna fight 'em?" "I'm going to, I want you to turn tail and get back to Ponyville as fast as you can" "But-" "GO!" Toxic hesitated for a moment before turning and exiting the forest
"We've checked everywhere twice, we haven't found him anywhere" Rainbow Dash said "He must be here somewhere, he couldn't have gotten far" Twilight replied "TWILIGHT!" Twilight turned and saw Toxic running out of the Everfree "Toxic! We've been looking everywhere for you! What were you doing in the Everfree? It's dangerous in there" "I know, Jonas is holding off some Timberwolves, you gotta help him!" "We will, Red Gala, can you take him back to the house? We'll be back soon" "Eeyup" Red Gala walked away with Toxic in tow "Come on, I don't think Jonas can stop those Timberwolves by himself" Applejack said The six started the journey into the forest, they came across a clearing and found what may have very well been the oddest thing they'd ever seen- there was Jonas standing over a Timberwolf, scratching its belly "Jonas?" The Timberwolf rolled over and barred its fangs at the six "Easy, they're friends" "I-Is th-that a T-T-Timberwolf?" "Yeah, she's alright though" "H-how? Th-this isn't- it doesn't make sense!" Twilight stammered "I think you learned a while ago that alot of stuff that happens with me doesn't make sense" "But- but- but-" "Don't leave your mouth hanging open, you'll catch flies" The Timberwolf walked deeper into the forest "Okay, see you later then" "What? You speak Timberwolf now?" I shrugged "Apparently, I don't know how, what comes across to you as barks and howls is perfect English to me" "Yes, well there's a certain pegasus colt waiting for you at home" Rarity said "I almost forgot! Thank you all!" I jumped and flew at top speed towards my house, once there I burst through the front door and made a beeline for Toxic and gave him a hug "I'm sorry" I whispered "I should have waited until you were ready" "I shouldn't have run off" Toxic said, returning the hug "I'm really sorry..." "Looks like we both messed up, huh?" "Eeyup" Red Gala said "Do any of you have a problem with what I told you earlier?" "It's a little weird, but I'm fine with it" "Nope" "Like I said before, it was obvious in retrospect" Feedback said "Well I'm just happy you're back" "I'm going to bed, 'Night all" Gala said, walking upstairs "That's a good idea, time to sleep Toxic" "Aww, do I gotta?" "Yes you 'gotta', it's been a long day and it's time for bed" "Can- can I sleep in your room?" "I would love that" I smiled I quickly changed into my pj's and laid down with Toxic next to me "Goodnight son" "'Night dad" And all was right with the world
X
The next day we woke up and went through our morning chores- baths, brushing teeth, etc. "Jonas, can I go play outside?" Toxic asked "Sure, just don't go too far" I replied "Now why in the world would he ask permission to go outside?" Feedback mused "He's my son, plain and simple; Is Gala up yet?" "Yup, she left a few hours ago, probably to go to that farm" "Right, well I've got nothing better to do today, you want to help me with a little side project?" "Eh, why not? What is it?" "Well 1) I've gotta go talk to Cherilee, and 2) -"
*Knock Knock Knock*
"I'll get it" I said, walking to the front door I opened it and there stood Amethyst "Amy? What happened? I haven't seen you since a few days ago" "Oh, I had some business to take care of with my pack" "Really? Like what?" "Just had some loose ends to tie up" "Alright, I was just about to go down to the schoolhouse, you want to come with me?" "Sure" I locked the door and we walked down the street, the both of us curious glances and stares "Jonas?" "It's alright, I'm right here" I reassured her Walking past the library, we made it to the schoolyard soon after "Hi Jonas! Hi Amy!" the crusaders greeted "Hey girls, what's up?" "Just recess is all" Applebloom said "Well is Miss Cherilee around?" "Yeah, she's inside" Scootaloo answered "Thanks" I went into the building and saw Cherilee behind her desk "Miss Cherilee?" "Hmm? Be with you in a moment" She said, putting down a few papers and looking up "Oh my..." "Yes, I know I'm not a pony, No, I'm not a Diamond Dog, and I'm here to enroll my son in your classes" "Er, yes, what's his name?" "Toxic Waste" "Alright, now what's his age?" 'Three or four days old' "He's three" "Okay, now the school year has just started so he won't miss much, has he been here long?" "As a matter of fact he just moved here" "That's nice, I look forward to teaching him" "Great, thank you Miss Cherilee" "No problem at all" "Thank you again, bye" "Goodbye" I waved as Amethyst and I left the school and went back to our house "Did you have anything else planned today?" Amy asked "Well I was hoping to start an idea I had with Feedback, but that's about it" "Oh..." "Why?" "Nothing..." "Oooookkkkkkaaaaaayyyyy, I'll see you later then" "Wait!" "What?" "Nevermind..." I left to find Feedback "Hey Feed, you in here?" "Where else would I be?" "Right, well let's get started" I pulled a paintbrush out of my pocket and painted a door on the wall "How did you do that?" "Magic, apparently Twilight's spell hasn't worn off yet" I grabbed the doorknob and walked through "Coming?"
'You sly author, you, making the readers wait'
"Be right there" He said, flying through the door and closing it behind him
"Jonas? Are you here?" Twilight asked as she entered the house
She noticed the door Jonas and Feedback had passed through earlier
"Odd, that wasn't there before..."
Her curiousity got the better of her and she went through the doorway, minutes later she bolted out of the house and down the street shouting "Spike!"
Incidentally leaving both of the doors open
X X X X X X X
"I'm not going in there" Berry Pinch said "Aw come on, who knows what could be in there" Rumble said "It could be dangerous" Dinky pointed out "Look, there's another door right there, and it looks like it goes outside- so if anything happens, we've got an escape, okay?" "I still don't know..." "Well I'm going in, you two can hang out here if you want" Rumble said
The two fillies looked at each other with uncertainty
"Um, I think I hear momma calling for me" Dinky said, walking away from the house "I need to think about this" Berry Pinch mumbled, sitting outside the door
(Jonas P.O.V)
I walked out of the house and saw a magenta filly sitting outside "Hey" I said She looked up at me with a look of terror on her face
"So what's your name?" "B-Berry P-Pinch" "Nice to meet you Ms. Pinch, what are you doing just sitting there?" "IWaswaitingformyfriendRumbletocomeoutpleasedon'te atme!" "Wait, he went in here? He didn't go through that door did he?" I asked pointing inside
She gave a slight nod
"*Sigh* Well, we'd better go get him, and by the way, I have a rule against eating sentient creatures" "D-Do I really need to come with you?" "I don't know what he looks like, so I'm going to need your help" I walked back into the house, opened the door and motioned for her to pass through
'I really need to put a lock on this door'
Berry Pinch couldn't believe her eyes, her young mind could just barely comprehend what she was seeing, it seemed almost an entire world was crammed into this itty-bitty doorway, so many strange creatures- some tall, others were short- some looked like and were ponies, but others were just so- so- otherworldy
"Where are we?" Pinch asked "That depends on what they decide to call this place" I said "Oh, so where do you think Rumble is?" "I don't know, he couldn't have gotten too far"
We walked through the small city, enjoying the antics of the citizens; I pulled Pinch into a soda shop and she sat down at the counter
"You stay here, I should be able to find Rumble- I'll be back in a few minutes" I said as I left
Pinch sat on her stool, waiting for him to return
"Can I get you something, hon?" A mare behind the counter asked "Um, I don't have any bits" "You want some water? It's free" "Uh, sure..."
The mare disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a glass of water
"Thank you"
She quickly gulped it down and was staring at the bottom of her glass until she noticed somepony sit next to her, she turned and came face to face with another filly- but that wasn't the weirdest part, she didn't quite look like a normal pony, she had hooves and claws poking out of her front, her eyes were all black, her coat was striped black and yellow and didn't have a tail, a little lower than where her tail would've been, she had a stinger
"Who are you?" She asked "B-Berry P-Pinch" "Nice to meet you, I'm Buzzer" "Hi" "So are you new here?" "No, I'm just waiting for somepony" "Oh, so what's your favorite color?" "What?" "Dad says that to make friends you have to find out stuff about them" "Green" "Really? Mine is orange" "Hey Buzzy, the usual?" The mare asked "Uh-huh, thanks" "Um, Buzzer-" "Please, call me Buzzy, everyone does" "Fine, but only if you call me Pinch"
"Hey Pinch, I see you made a friend" I said, walking into the shop with Rumble right behind
The filly and the bee-pony were sitting at a booth drawing with some paper and crayons
"Yup, we've been having a lot of fun!" "Well I hate to ruin the moment, but I found Rumble, and your mother's probably wondering Where you are" "Awww, do we have to go now?" "I'm afraid so, yes" Pinch frowned "But I'm sure you two could plan a day to see each other again" The both of them perked up and talked to one another
"...should ask my mom, but do you think you could come over to my house?" Pinch said "That'd be great! Saturday then?" "Saturday" "'Kay, bye!" "Bye!"
The three of us left the soda shop and we were soon back in my house with the two foals walking out my front door
"If you want to come and visit, just ask next time" I said as they walked away I was about to close the door when I Twilight and the other Elements came into view
"Hey girls, what's up?"
They looked at each other
"What?" "Twilight told us what's behind there" Dash said, pointing behind me to the door "I believe she was hinting at wanting to look for ourselves" Rarity said "*Sigh*, Fine- follow me" I said, leading them
X X X X X X X
"I must say, this town is...peculiar to say the least" Rarity said as she and the others looked up, jaws agape at the ponies and non-ponies milling about "Did you- do all of this?" Twilight asked "In a sense" I replied "I gave them the tools necessary, they did the rest on their own" I added in a whisper "Why are you whispering? And what do you mean 'tools'?" "Well they can make buildings and anything else they need, and it can be erased with 'Dip'" "What the hay is DIP?" Dash shouted
Everyone in the town scrambled to get back to their homes, soon it was only Jonas and the Elements in the square
"What did I say?" I face palmed
"Dash, the ponies here aren't like the ones outside my house, they can be erased by DIP just like the environment; naturally they're scared of it"
"What? Why not just make them normal ponies?" "They are normal" "Wait a minute, are Toxic, Red Gala, Jack, and the others aren't resistant to this stuff, are they?" "Actually they are, but it took alot of work" "So what exactly makes it so dangerous?" "Follow me"
We entered a warehouse filled with large oil drums, I went to one of the canisters and tore the lid off
"Oh goodness, what is that acrid smell?" Rarity said, covering her muzzle "This would be DIP" I said "Now watch this"
I stuck my hand in the green-yellow liquid and brought it back out
"So?"
I picked up a mallet off the ground
"Now observe"
I dunked the handle of the mallet into the drum and a soft sizzling sound was heard as vapor rose out of it I pulled it back out and showed it to them
"How does that work?" "This mallet was made of ink and paint, much like almost everyone and everything here; if this was to be applied excessively..." I shuddered "I don't want to think about it, which is why I keep it here under lock and key"
"Are you saying this liquid is lethal?" "Not to you, but yes" "Then why did you make it?" "They needed someway to modify the land to how they see fit, if used carefully, this allows them to do that" "Do you mind if I take a sample of this?" Twilight asked "Sure, but just be careful with it until you leave here"
She nodded as she took a vial out of her saddlebags and took a sample of DIP "That should be enough"
"Alright, well this has been fun, but I think it's almost time for lunch and I'd really appreciate it if we could go now" "Well would you look at that, you're right" Applejack said "I suppose you're right, I have to get back to the farm anyhow" "I suppose I'd better be getting back to the boutique" "Well if all of you are going home, I could send you there from here" "How?" I snapped my fingers and they all went to their respective homes
(Canterlot)
Princess Luna walked down the hall, on her way to the throne room- she had learned to get there herself since most of the guard went to great lengths to avoid her
She sighed to herself and went on "Um, excuse me, miss?"
She looked to her left and saw a small filly standing there
"What ist thou doing by thyself, little one?" "I-I- don't know, I was just at home, and- and then somepony shouted 'DIP' and I don't know where I am and-" The filly was practically in tears
"Can you help me, miss?" "We shall do the best We can, wouldst thou like to meet Our sister?" "Um, yes please" "Very well, follow us" Luna led the filly to the throne room and a waiting Celestia "Greetings sister, hast thou had any problems?" "Not yet, sister; who is this?" "Pardon us, We forgot to ask thy name" Luna blushed "Um, it's Blizzard, miss" "Dost thou not know who we are?" "Um, no, I never saw you before" "I am Princess Celestia, this is my sister Luna, we rule Equestria together" "Wow" "Where did you say you lived, Blizzard?" "A place called ToonTown, a few miles away from Mean Street" "Sister, those places do not exist within Equestria" Luna whispered "Yes, but you found her in the castle" "And she does not know who We are" "This is peculiar" "Little one, do your parents know where you are?" "Um, I think so, mommy can get around really fast so she should be able to find me" "She is skilled with magic?" "Nope" "She is a fast flier then?" "Uh-uh" Both Luna and Celestia were confused "What? Was is something I said?" "Your mother is an earth pony?" "Yes" "And what of your father?" "He's a pegasus" A blue earth pony walked into the throne room "Bliz? You in here?" "Forge?" The filly ran over and hugged the stallion "Your father We assume?" "Nope, this is my brother" "Bliz, we've been looking for you everywhere" "I don't know what happened, one minute I was there, the next I'm here" "Looks like we need to work on your speed there, well let's get home- Mom, Dad, and Light are probably worried" "'Kay" The filly ran up to Luna and hugged her leg "Thank you miss" Luna didn't notice the smile on Celestia's face as this went on "Excuse Us, but may we come with you?" Luna asked "We would love to see your town" "Sure, we could give you a tour" "Excellent, how do we get there?" "I'll get us there, now hold my hoof" "What?" "If I'm going to take both of you there, you'll need to be in contact with me" Luna hesitantly held his hoof, Blizzard did the same She remembered seeing the landscape melt into a blur for a few seconds before she found herself and the other two in an open field "What sorcery is this?" "What? It's just Toon speed, can't you use it?" "No, the fastest way to get around is teleportation" "Huh, weird, well let's get started on that tour, shall we?" "Yes...lead the way"
Hours later
"Hello, Lulu- I trust the tour of this mysterious town went well?" "You could say that" Luna responded shakily "Was it a nice place?" "T'would give the chaos god himself a run for his bits" Celestia's eyes widened "What of the ponies there?" "They aren't ponies, at least not all of them are" "Tell me about it"
X X X X X X X
*Knock Knock Knock*
"Coming" Berry Punch said, opening the front door "Hello? Is this where Berry Pinch lives?" I asked "It is, just how do you know her?" "Well see, she just sort of wandered into my house one day and she met a friend of mine's foal and they hit it off" I lied "I'll talk with her about that later..." Punch mumbled "Pinchy! You're friend is here" "Who? OH! Hi Buzzy!" The bee-pony hid behind my legs "H-hey Pinchy" "Well you two have fun, I'll be back in a few hours to pick you up" I said to Buzzer "'Kay bye Jonas! C'mon Buzzy, let's go play in my room"
Berry Punch shook her head and went into the kitchen
X X X X X X X
*Flash* "Gah! You couldn't have knocked first?!" I screamed "I'm terribly sorry to intrude like this, but I must speak with you" Celestia said urgently "Oookay, what about?" "Might you have opened a portal to another world?" "I didn't just open it, I sort of created it" "Sort of?" "Like I told Twilight and the Elements, I just gave the beings life, they did the rest on their own" "My student and her friends already know?" "Eeyup. How did you find out anyway? The only way there is through this door" "A filly by the name of Blizzard appeared in the castle, a short while later her older brother came looking for her" "Whoops" "And Luna went with them to see their world" "Oooooohhhhhh, sorry about that Celestia, it won't happen again" "I hope not, my sister spoke of them throwing exploding sticks at each other, they bash themselves over the head with giant hammers, and disappear in one place and appear in another" "It's just their nature, not all of them can do things like that, but I would prefer we keep this a secret- who knows what would happen if word got out" "Yes, now have any of these...ponies gotten out like Forge and his sibling?" "Not escaped per se-" "Jonas" "Fine, a few days ago Rumble got lost in there and I had to go in there and find him" "And?" "AND I had to take Berry Pinch in there with me because I didn't know what he looked like, anyway, she met Buzzy while we were there, and Buzzy's over there right now for a play-date" "Is she dangerous?" "She's a filly! What's she going to do?" "Based on what I've heard, a number of things" "Well I'm going to pick her up in a few hours, and your sister and the Elements already know, would you like a tour of your own?" "Sadly, I cannot, I have other business to attend to in Canterlot" "Alright, bye Celestia" "Goodbye Jonas" She teleported out of the house and back to the castle Toxic came bounding into the room "Hey dad, whatcha doin'?" "Nothing much- hey, you wanna do something today?" "Sure, like what?" "Um, how about you pick" "You mean it?!" "Yup, so what sounds good?" "Let's go explore the Everfree!" "Remember our last little trip out there?" "Yes" He blushed "Uh, there's a convention or something going on in Canterlot- can we go?" "You of all ponies want to go to a convention?" "Um, yes" "I swear, you're going to be just like Twilight" "Does that mean-" "Yes, I'll get our train tickets" "Alright! Can we fly?" "Do you want to?" "Uh-huh" "Then let's go, just let me make sure the door's locked and we can leave" He grinned and ran outside After checking to make sure everything was locked, we left the house and took off towards Canterlot
"That was exhausting, I've really gotta start stretching these more" I said as we landed "I don't think it was that bad" Toxic said "Well I guess it wouldn't be to you, you're a pegasus" "Oh, right" "So let's see what this convention is all about" We walked around the city and quickly found one thing This was a science convention "Twilight would enjoy this" Toxic commented "Yeah, wonder why she isn't here" "Probably something to do with her friendship reports" "Yeah-"
We passed a table where two stallions were arguing "-will work! I've tested it!" "But you haven't mixed it with other chemicals! You could easily take out half the city!" The first stallion ignored the second and poured the orangish liquid into a beaker of blue liquid An explosion resulted from the two volatile mixtures, I was sent flying to the castle gates and I lost track of Toxic "What in Tatarus happened?" One of the guards asked "Two ponies were arguing about a formula, one of them tried it and it caused an explosion" One of the other guards turned "Alert Shining Armor, get as many guards as we can to contain the spill" "Spill?" "There were other chemicals in the area, the explosion could have caused leakage-" "Then I'm coming with you, my son is in there" "I'm sorry sir, you'd be a liability- we can't allow you to enter" I felt my teeth grind together and hissed "Fine, but if you don't find him, I'm going in there myself" "We'll do our best sir"
"Mister? Mister are you okay?" Toxic asked, prodding the unconcious stallion The answer he recieved was a groan "Dad? Daaaaadd! Are you here?" Toxic was met with silence "Hmmm, I guess I'd better go find help" He walked around the streets and found nopony "Hey! Where did everypony go?"
"Starlight, what's the situation?" Shining Armor asked "We've evacuated the area, and we've got a clean-up crew scanning the area as we speak, sir" "Good, everything's under control then"
"Is that all of it?" One pony asked "Almost, we've got this block to clear and then we can do a second sweep of the area" "Hey, is that a colt up ahead?" "What? I thought everypony was evacuated" "Apparently not, he's right there- clear as day" The green pegasus colt walked up to the other two ponies, his hooves covered in a thin film of slime "Hi! Have you seen my dad?" "Is he a real tall fella? No fur or hooves?" "Yup! That's him!" "Span, do a scan spell on him, we want to get him cleaned up as soon as possible" The colt was enveloped in a red aura and the stallion fell on his flank "N-Not possible!" "What? What is it?" "Th-those chemicals, they- they should have eaten through his flesh by now" "WHAT? Get him to a clean-up station! Quickly!" The stallion picked up the colt with his magic and the other ran after him back to the castle gates
"Sir, we've found your son" A pegasus guard said "That's great! Where is he?" I asked "He's getting a saftey check" "What? What for?" "They found some dangerous chemicals on him" "Is he okay?" "Yes, it's the strangest thing- they chemicals haven't affected him, oddly enough" 'Toxic's going to be bouncing with joy in a moment' "Ah, there he is now" "Hey dad! What's up?" "Nothing much Toxic, did those nice ponies over there say you could leave?" "Yep! The keep looking at me funny, though" "You wanna know why?" "Why?" "Look behind you" He turned and saw he now had something emblazoned on his flank
A black-and-yellow hazard symbol
He gasped and looked about ready to explode *THUMP* "Awww"
"Hello Jonas, how- *Gasp* Oh my goodness, what happened to Toxic?" Fluttershy said "He's alright Fluttershy, just got a little over-excited" "Why?"
I knelt down and showed her Toxic's cutie mark "That's wonderful!" "I know! He got so excited he passed out" "Good for him- I mean, not that he...Um-" "It's okay, Fluttershy- I know what you mean, I've got to get him home and then go pick up Buzzy from Berry Pinch's house" "Who's that? If you don't mind me asking..." "Just a friend's foal from out of town" I replied "Oh, well I have to get back to my house now, goodbye Jonas" "Bye 'Shy"
I walked down the road to our house and pushed the door open (one of the benefits of having magic) and set him down on his bed when someone knocked on the door
"Yes?" "Hi Jonas!" Berry Pinch and Buzzy said in unison "Hey girls, is it time for you to go home already Buzzy?" "Uh-huh, we saw you fly into town- is Toxic home?" "Eeyup, but he's sleeping right now" "What for?" "He got his cutie mark and passed out" "He did?! Lucky!" "Yeah, I guess he is, well you'd better get home before your mother starts to worry, Pinch" "'kay, see you later Buzzy!" "Bye!"
I closed the door as Pinch went back to her house
"Sounds like you two had fun" I said "Uh-huh, we did lots of stuff! We played fort and then she was the evil pirate captain and I was the princess defending her kingdom- and then this group of dragons showed up to eat all our jewels and the both of us teamed up and..." "Take a breath B, you're not Pinkie Pie" She blushed and walked through the door "You sure you know the way back to your house?" "Yep, Dad gave me a map in case I got lost" "Okay, you take care now" "I will, thanks!" "No problem" I closed the door and went into Toxic's room "It's been a long day, hasn't it buddy?" I whispered I pulled up the covers and tucked him in, turning on his nightlight as I went "So Ms. Gala, how're things on the farm going?" I asked "Pretty good, we gotta get ready for harvesting soon" "Wow, things have been going well over there?" "Eeyup" "So...Are you alright with knowing where you came from? I mean, I probably flip if I found out something like that" "I was pretty suprised when ya told us, and I'm still tryin' to wrap my head around it- but I'm not real mad at ya for what ya did, in fact I'm kinda happy that y'all were honest with us" "Oh, so how are the others?" "Jack's been up in Canterlot with Princess Luna for some odd reason, I think Inkheart's been hanging around the library for a while, and come to think of it I haven't seen Feedback in a while" "Alright, I'll let you get back to whatever it is you were doing, I'm going to take a nap" She nodded and I went upstairs
Two hours later...
"*Yawn*, whoa- how long was I out?"
"Approximately...two hours and thirty-three seconds" Feedback said, floating past my door "Thirty-four, Thirty-five, Thirty-six..."
"Alright, I get it, thank you" "Anytime..." "Where have you been anyway?" "Up in Canterlot with Jack, pranking a certain alicorn-" He said simply
'Celestia is going to need all the help she can get when she decides to release Discord...'
Which made me wonder just when or if the show was accurate in representing Equestria and to a lesser extent Ponyville and Canterlot If that was the case, when would the events of the next episode start? Or had my presence in Equestria already changed the timeline?
It was only a matter of time before I found out...
"Dad! Dad! Dad!" "What is it Toxic?" I asked, feigning ignorance "Look!" He turned to the side, giving me a full view of his cutie mark "That's fantastic buddy!" He jumped into my arms and I gave him a hug "Can I go and tell my friends?" "Sure, be back soon!" He bolted out the front door
'Cue Pinkie Pie...'
"Jonas! Jonas! Jonas! Jonas! CanIthrowToxicapartythanksbye!" She popped out of existence just as soon as she appeared
'Twilight- you've got your work cut out for you...'
(Sugarcube Corner)
The music played from the record player as the party got underway Jonas and Toxic entered the bakery with the Crusaders as Pinkie came out of the kitchen with a tray of baked goods.
"Hi! Come on in! The party's just getting started!" "Um, hi Pinkie, I invited a few of my friends if that's okay..." Toxic said "Sure! The more the merrier!" I opened the door to the bakery as Toxic's friends came into the shop
Of course the record player stopped right as they walked in, the group of four attracting more attention than I thought they would
The first looked somewhat like Discord, her mane covering one of her eyes and two horns sticking out of her hair- the filly had the body of a pony, her forehooves was a talon and a paw of a lion or manticore, one of her hindhooves was that of a normal pony, and the other was reptilian- like a dragon's, she also had a pair of wings, one of a bat and the other of a pegasus.
The second was a normal filly- with the exception of the horn, wings, and a pair of turquiose draconic eyes.
The third filly had a long, dark-blue mane with snake-like eyes and two sharp fangs poked out from her mouth, and instead of hindhooves she had a long tail that was coiled around her in nervousness.
The only colt in the group was the most normal looking of the group, the only abnormality being his cutie mark of a pawprint.
The Lamia-pony was the first to speak "Thesssse decorationsss are beautiful"
"Thank you!" Pinkie said, running back and forth between the kitchen and the counter, seemingly not fazed at all by the misfit group
Toxic and the others scampered off to join the party, and I was quick to realize that most ponies kept their distance from the foals, save for the crusaders, Dinky, and Berry Pinch.
I saw Twilight approach out of the corner of my eye and turned to her
"Alright, before you go all 'panic-mode' on me, let me just say-" "Hi Mommy! I didn't expect to see you here, I thought you said you didn't want to come with me" the midnight-black coated filly said, walking up next to Twilight
Twilight in turn gave me a confused look and was just about to set her straight when I knelt down and whispered in her ear "Just go along with it, I'll explain everything later" She was just about to tell me off when I stepped in-front of the filly, blocking Twilight from view
"Nyx, why don't you go find Rattler and tell her about how great the party is?" I said
The alicorn filly nodded and was on her way around the bakery
"Would you mind telling me just what the heck is going on?!" Twilight shouted once we were outside "She was an alicorn! Where did she come from? If I didn't know any better I'd say she looked just like-"
She trailed off as her pupils shrunk to pinpricks
"Twilight, I know what you're thinking, just hold on..."
"How could you?!"
"Twi, wait-" "Wait? WAIT? You resurrected Nightmare Moon for Celestia's sake!" "Twilight, keep your voice down" "No! Not until you answer my questions!" "Yes, not exactly..." "What do you mean by that?" "Yes...she is Nightmare Moon, No- she's not who you know her to be" "That's another thing! Why'd she call me 'mommy'?"
"Alright, just listen, in an alternate timeline...you're her mother"
"WHAT?!" "Keep it down!" "There is no possible way I could ever be a mother to somepony like her...with all she's done? No way"
She saw his eyes widen
"Uh, Twilight?" "In fact, I have half a mind to go tell Princess Celestia right now"
"Um, Twilight?"
"You know what? That's exactly what I'm going to do!" Twilight said, turning around
She came face-to-face with Nyx, tears threatening to spill from her eyes
Nyx ran out from behind the bakery and toward my house, I ran after her while at the same time shooting a glare a Twilight.
I soon reached my house and walked in, finding Nyx crying into her hooves on the couch with Toxic and the others trying to comfort her
"Toxic, are you and the others back so soon?" "Nyx was feeling down, so we're trying to cheer her up" "Nyx? Are you okay?" "Wh-why d-does m-m-mommy hate m-me now?" She sobbed "She doesn't hate you Nyx...She's not the Twilight you know and love" "H-huh?" "Your mom is back through there" I said, pointing to the door that led to ToonTown "But- but she looked just like her" "Is that why my mom didn't recognize me either?" Joyful Madness asked, remembering the incident in the bakery with Fluttershy "Yes, both of your mothers still love you, the ones out there aren't the ones you know; so what do you want to do now?"
"I d-don't th-think we should go b-back out th-there" Nyx said
"Can I assume you don't want to go back to the party?"
She nodded
"C-c-could I st-stay here?" "Sure, as long as you like" "I think I might go hang around out there" Joyful said "I could wreak havoc with these guys without even trying!" "Not the best time to be doing that Joyful" Her ears fell against her head "But I'm sure you could get away with pulling a few pranks" She grinned and walked back out of the house
Amethyst walked down the stairs
"Are you alright? Why are you crying?" She asked, crouching down to Nyx "N-nothing, I-I-I'm fine..." Nyx soon found herself pressed into Amethyst's fur "Please don't cry young one, everything will work out, you'll see"
Nyx returned the hug- or tried to at least, trying to wrap her little hooves around her large frame
"Th-thank you Miss Amethyst" "Anything to comfort a foal" She smiled I was just about to head upstairs when the front door flung open, revealing Shining Armor and a battalion of guards
"Hey! Let me go you big bully!" Joyful shouted, suspended in mid-air by Shining Armor's magic
"By order of the princesses, we place you under arrest" Shining declared I could do little as they slapped some handcuffs (hoofcuffs?) on me and escorted everyone in the house into a chariot pulled by two pegasi
A group of ponies had pooled around the chariot, including more than a few with cameras, and as if that wasn't enough, Nyx had started crying again; not that I blame her, the possibilities of what could happen to us once we reached Canterlot made me want to break down and curl up on a psychiatrist's couch- maybe Screw Loose could make a recommendation (Yes, yes, I'm all evil and stuff for harping on a mental patient, complain about it in the reviews)
ANYWAY... that's where we were now, in a chariot on our way to Canterlot under arrest for some crime I have (or haven't) committed.
Zip-i-dee-doo-da
X
A pegasus guard shoved me into a cell, along with Toxic, Amethyst, Joyful, Nyx, Rattler, and Tumbleweed
"Don't try anything" He warned
"Gee whiz Mrs. Cleaver, I left my slingshot at home" I said sarcastically
The others didn't get the reference, but they giggled anyway based on the sound of it.
I heard the heavy iron door slam shut as I sat on one of the cots next to Amethyst "Jonas...what will become of us?" "I don't know Amy...I really don't..." "Dad?" I looked to Toxic, fear in his eyes "I don't know buddy..."
The sun was setting outside the barred windows as Toxic and the others laid down on the other cot in the cell "I'll take the floor, you can sleep on the bed Amy" I said, laying on the floor "Jonas-" "Yeah?" "You- you could uh, sleep on this cot- with- with me, if you want, you don't have to sleep on the floor..." I looked up and saw that she was blushing furiously
"I wouldn't mind a bit, Amy"
X
The next morning we were all escorted out of our cell and into a large courtroom where Celestia and Luna sat
(This could just be paranoia, but I couldn't help but notice there were guards stationed at every entrance and exit in the room)
"Could I ask what this little field trip is all about?" I asked as we sat down at a table
"I believe you already know why we summoned you here" Celestia said, narrowing her eyes at Nyx and Joyful
"Are they the reason for all of this? Listen, I know what you must be thinking, but it's not what it looks like"
"Not what it looks like?" Luna said "Dost thou have any idea what the repercussions are of thy actions?" "Yes, I won't deny that Nyx is Nightmare Moon"
I saw Nyx wince out of the corner of my eye
'Sorry Nyxie'
"But she's not the same Nightmare Moon that you know" I finished
Celestia and Luna cocked their eyebrows "How so?" Before I could answer, the large doors behind us swung open, allowing Twilight and her friends to enter "Alright, hold everything- you can't just banish her to the moon!" I practically shouted "Pray tell, what would thou suggest we do?" "Give her a fair trial of course!" "What reasons are there for us to show her mercy?" Celestia asked "You're kidding me right? She's a filly for God sakes!" The sisters talked between themselves before turning back to us "We concede, Nightmare Moon will be given a fair trial- here and now" "Alright, I call my first witness; Twilight Sparkle!" "WHAT?"
A smaller door opened off to the side and a second Twilight entered the room
"Mommy!" Nyx got up from the table and shot towards the Twilight doppleganger
Mother and daughter embraced each other as Celestia, Luna, the Elements, and the guards looked on in wonder at the two.
"If everypony is present, let the witness take the stand" Celestia said, masking her shock.
Nyx's Twilight sat on the witness stand
"Hold on"
I snapped my fingers and a green bow appeared in Twilight's mane, distinguishing the two
"Really darling, green does not compliment her coat" I heard Rarity whisper to Fluttershy "Oh, um, I think- it looks nice" she replied barely above a whisper
"Now, where to start..." Twilight said, putting a hoof to her muzzle
A short while later, the Twilight on the witness stand finished her explaination of what had happened to her and Nyx (For the full story read Past Sins)
I looked around the room and saw that the princesses were conflicted in passing judgement, both of them obviously wanting to let the poor filly go, but appeared aprehensive about it because she was quote 'Nightmare Moon' unquote
"Jonas, you may continue your case" Celestia said after a short while "Thank you your highness, I would like to call my next witness to the stand" I said "Not another one..." One of the guards muttered
An alicorn about the same size as Cadence appeared in the room, her hair was almost like Luna's save for her dark-blue coat, rather than Luna's navy blue; her mane was a midnight blue with a few twinkling stars bringing out the light green- which contrasted with her light blue tail
"Hiya Nyx! Whatcha doin?" The alicorn asked, trotting up to the table "I don't think I know..." "Miss Unara, I hope I'm not intruding- but could you please come up here and speak on Nyx's behalf?" I asked, gesturing to the witness stand. "Sure!" She bounced up to the stand and sat down "What do you want to know?" "Anything you could tell us would suffice" Celestia said
"Oh, well um...let's see, we see each other alot...uh, she's really nice, I remember last Christmas she gave some of her allowance to ponies who needed a home; I know one time she shared some of her lunch with me when I foalsat her once... uh, that's all I can think of right now..."
"Thank you, you may leave now" Luna said
Unara gave her a confused look
"What's the matter mom? Don't you recognize me?" She asked, tilting her head 'Ah jeez, not again...' I facepalmed 'Please Luna, please please please just play along'
"Of course, We were...merely joking!" 'Whew, nice save' "Since when did you start using that 'Royal We' thing again?" She asked 'So close'
"I am sure I don't know what thou means, We have always spoken this way"
"Huh?" Unara turned to me
"You got any idea what's going on here?" she asked
"Yeah, your mother lives in OsTown, this isn't your mother, but still the same pony"
"Oh, well that makes alot of sense"
"Would you mind running that by Us again?" Luna asked "Luna, I'd like you to meet your daughter Unara"
Everypony's jaws dropped, including the guards'
"Let's just get this over with..." Twilight sighed
(Several excrutiating hours later)
"Joyful Madness, Nyx, I am terribly sorry to have inconvenienced you like this" Celestia said "S'okay Princess, I probably woulda done the same thing after all that happened" Nyx said as her ears fell against her head
"Well, if we're all finished, I'd like to get them home" I said, pointing to the foals
"Might We spend some time with Unara?" Luna asked, draping a wing over the alicorn filly "Yes, just be sure to bring her back before dawn, lest I might need to protect you from yourself" I smirked "Noted- Let us depart" Luna and Unara left the throne room
"Such a sweet pony" Celestia said "Who? Luna or Unara?" I asked Celestia shot me a playful glare "Kidding, kidding"
"Jonas, there has been something I've been meaning to ask you" "Yeah? What is it?" "Since your arrival, my sister and I have witnessed a hoofull of oddities, and I was hoping to investigate myself" "I can see why Twilight takes after you, alright- let me know when you've got the time and I'll be happy to give you the tour" "Thank you"
With that, the group of foals, Toxic, and I left the throne room- heading back into my world.
"I almosssst forgot how beautiful it isss here" Rattler said as we went "Yeah, it is pretty nice, isn't it?" Joyful said, backstroking through the air "But it could use a lake of orange soda right about there..." "Well I'm going home, ssssee you guyssss later"
Rattler slithered off towards her house, a few others following suit
"Hey Dad?" Toxic asked "What's up sport?" "I've been wondering- where do you get all your ideas from? For all of this, I mean" He waved his hooves, indicating our location- which just happened to be a park near Mean Street
"Truth be told" I started "Most of this wasn't my idea, you see it all started with a man named Walt Disney..."
X X X X X X X
"So Mr. Disney did all that?" "Well, some of it- his works are still shown around the world today" "But what about all the forgotten and unused stuff you told me about?" "That's the beauty of this place, old and new combined- all the forgotten Toons can live here with the more recent ones"
"Wait a minute, what about all the ponies around here? They don't seem like the kind in Ponyville or Canterlot" "There's a few that're normal, but most are from 'What could have been' and 'What has been'" "What do you mean?" "Well take you and Red Gala for example" "Okay" "You're a Pegasus and she's an Earth Pony" "Alright, go on" "Now imagine Rattler or Joyful" "Oh, I think I get it- the both of them are kind of different from me or any other pony out there" "All of the ponies and non-ponies here are each different from each other" "Oh..."
A few Bunny Children hopped across the sprawling grass as the sun was slowly setting "Wow, it's that late already? We'd better get home"
Toxic and I waved goodbye to a few of the ponies in the park before leaving
As we went, I noticed a certain brown Earth Pony stallion staring intently at a flowerbed of tulips
"Havin' fun there Doctor?" "Hmm? Oh, yes-" I nodded and we soon reached the door to my house, I opened it and allowed Toxic to pass through
"Hey Jack, didn't expect to see you here" Toxic said, seeing the skeleton pony in the living room "Yeah, I was visiting the Princesses up in Canterlot for a few days, though I can't wait to get back home" "Oh, well goodnight then" he said as Jack passed through the door
I closed it and turned to Toxic
"Alright buddy, time for bed" He yawned and slowly climbed the stairs
X
"Patchwork, would you mind looking after the shop while I put Sweetie to bed?" Rarity asked The rather large, multi-color coated mare nodded and stood behind the check-out desk
As Rarity trotted up the stairs to tuck in her little sister, her thoughts kept getting drawn back to the peculiar mare There were a few strange things about the mare, her odd coat notwithstanding It looked as if somepony had stitched odds and ends of fabric into her coat, though the sight was something to behold- it still made her queasy to think about it.
"Goodnight Sweetie Belle" Rarity said, kissing her sister on the forehead "'Night Rarity" Rarity prepared to walk out of the room when she heard Sweetie call "Rarity?" "Yes?" "Will Ms. Patchwork be staying with us?" "If she agrees to it, come to think of it- she hasn't mentioned anywhere she has to live" "D'ya think she's homeless?" She asked, sitting up in her bed "I don't think so, but I don't want to hear you pestering her about it, now it's time for bed" Sweetie nodded and laid back down as Rarity left her room
"Ms. Patchwork, would you mind coming in tomorrow?" "N-no! I'd l-love t-t-to"
Bless her heart, large as she is- she's about as timid as Fluttershy
"Then you should have no qualms about staying here for the night" "Wh-what? I-I couldn't!" "Oh, but I absolutely insist! You may stay in the guestroom upstairs" "W-well, if it's really important to you..."
Correction: she's had enough of living the way she does; locked in an orphanage and nopony adopting her.
Sighing to herself, she crawled out of her window and flittered down to the city street. Manehattan wasn't the best place to be roaming around at night.
'I'll run away, I'll find somepony who loves me, they've gotta be out there somewhere'
Steeling herself, the filly trotted down the darkened street, wanting nothing more than to be free of this place forever.
As she went, her thoughts went to all the friends she had made- well, the ones that were nice to her-
Or even spoke to her as a matter of fact...
She shook her head to clear her mind
I'm getting out of here, and nopony's bringing me back
X X X X X X X
"B-but please? Just for a little while?" Eve asked, looking at me with pleading eyes "I'm sorry Eve, I really am- but I can't just let you wander out there alone" I said, trying not to be affected by her eyes "What if I go find mommy? Then I could go out- couldn't I?" "Eve, please don't do this to me...your mother is out there, but she's not...there" "What?"
If I have to explain this to everyone who comes through here, I'm going to go nuts
"The Cheerilee out there won't recognize you- she won't know what to do" "Why?" "It just is...I'm sorry, I know how much you've wanted to go look around town, but you can't-"
I stopped midsentence as I noticed her eyes starting to fill with tears
"Hey, don't cry, it's alright- we'll probably be able to figure something out, okay?" "*Sniff* Okay..."
I leaned in to give her a hug, I wrapped my arms around her as she put her claw and paw around my neck Standing up, I walked through the door and closed it behind me
X X X X X X X
"So, thou art my daughter?" Luna asked, sitting on the bed in her chambers "Yes, well- you aren't my mother, but you are- I need to think this through" The alicorn mare sighed and sank to the floor, rubbing her temples with her hooves
"So what can you tell me?" Luna asked
"Well, my mom and I live in OsTown, I've always liked it there- Ortensia's nice, though that phone in Mickey's house and Prescott are always fighting about something or other...I think Moody's a bit odd, but then- who isn't? I sometimes babysit for Oswald and Ortensia when they go out or have something to get done"
"Who are these ponies thou speakest of?" "Oh, right, um- they're our neighbors, we actually live on Mean Street- but we spend so much time in OsTown it's almost like a second home" She mused "Ah"
"So that's about it for me, what about you?" "Well We- pardon me, I have only recently returned from my banishment on the moon..." Luna sighed "It's okay, mom was really depressed when she first came back too"
"How did she fare?" "It was a little rocky at first, it took her a couple of months to get her to stop shouting at everypony" Unara giggled
Luna only blushed
"Oh, right- uh, sorry about that..." "'Tis fine, we have only begun to learn thy modern language" "-and it's coming along fine, just keep at it and I'm sure everything'll work out" "Thou reminds Us of Our niece Cadence" "That sounds like somepony I'll have to meet" "Yes...yes...so, I can't help but ask- what does thy cutie mark mean?" Luna asked
Unara turned her attention to the symbol emblazoned on her flank- which was what looked like a black circle with a bright blue light shining behind it, surrounded by a thin layer of fog.
"Well, I was sort-of born with it, mom and Aunt Celestia sometimes lets me raise the sun and moon if either of them can't do it" "You can raise the sun AND the moon?!" "Yeah, but what I really enjoy is making an eclipse" "What is an eclipse?" "Well- wait a minute, you don't know?"
Luna shook her head
"Oh, that's right- you and Celestia control the moon and sun" Unara muttered to herself "What was that?" "Nothing! I'll probably tell you later..."
X X X X X X X
"Good morning Patchwork, how are you this morning?" Rarity asked, trotting into the front of the shop "F-fine Mrs. Rarity" "Please, just 'Rarity' is fine- now, what's our schedule for today?" "Um, I think you finished most of the orders yesterday- but there are a few here marked 'fine details need work'" "Oh! I had almost forgotten about those, thank you Patchwork- how about you help me with some of these clothes, then I think we could go visit Fluttershy- perhaps spend the day together? Hmm?"
Patchwork nodded and followed Rarity into the sewing room
"Now, where should we start?" "Uh, this suit-and-tie ensemble could use a little adjusting" Patchwork said, inspecting the tag pinned to the suit "Oh of course, this jacket seems a little too long, I know just who this will go to- so I'll get started on the correct measurements"
Patchwork started to inspect the other suits and dresses, taking down notes for Rarity to make the workload easier on her.
~~~~
"Thank goodness for you, Patchwork- that would have simply taken forever to finish, thank you for your help" Rarity said as she and Patchwork walked out of the boutique
"So, uh, where're we going?" "I thought it might be nice to visit my friend Fluttershy, we take trip to the spa a few times every month" Patchwork only nodded and trotted after Rarity
X
"Hey Bonnie, what should we do today?" Lyra asked as she and Bon-Bon sat in their house "I don't know about you, but I've got to get to work" Bon-Bon said "Awww, but it's so BORING when you're not here" "I'm sure you'll find something to do" Bon-Bon said, waving goodbye to her roomate
Lyra sighed as she picked up a newspaper and started to read it Huh, stocks are down... Nothing good in the comics today...
*FLASH* *POP* *FIZZLE*
"Ow!" A famliar voice said "Last time I try teleportation magic..."
Lyra quickly noticed the voice was her own A tall figure walked out of the kitchen in a daze What. the. hay.
The creature's skin was green, the same shade as her coat as a matter of fact- the same two-toned white-and-green as her mane, and a unicorn horn poking out of the forehead
"Wha? Where am I?" The biped asked They locked eyes with each other and screamed
"Who are you? Where did you come from?" They both said at the same time. "Uh, you first" Lyra said "I'm Lyra Heartstrings" The biped said "Wha? That's my name!" Lyra replied "Wait, are those- hands?" "Uh, yeah, why?" "omigoshomigoshomigoshomigosh! I have so many questions for you!"
Lyra began to run excitedly around the room, looking for a quill and a piece of paper
She stopped as she was enveloped in a green aura and placed on the couch, next to the biped double of herself Lyra blushed and held up the quill and parchment
"So, what did you want to know?" "What's it like?" "What's what like?" "Having hands" "Well, what's it like having hooves?" Lyra stopped and thought "Well, I can pick things up with my magic, but I don't think it'd be the same as having actual hands" "Huh, well, having hands is like using magic, but in my opinion you can do alot more with it and you use up less energy"
She nodded and started to furiously scribble on the parchment
"Okay, second question, why do you look like that?" "Look like what?" "How can you stand on two legs? It's painful isn't it?" "No, I've always been able to walk on two legs-" "But how? You're me! I think, why do we look so different?" "I don't know, I didn't know you existed until a few minutes ago" "Nor did I you" "So is there another version of Bon-Bon too?" "Yeah" "Big MacIntosh?" "Eeyup" "Time Turner?" "Uh-huh" "Roseluck?" "Listen, why don't I just show you, and we can answer your questions back at my- our, house"
"Um, okay, how do we get there?" "Like this"
The biped Lyra grabbed Lyra by the hoof, everything went by in a blur and they were in the same spot "What happened? We didn't go anywhere" "Didn't we?"
"Hey Lyra, I was just talking to Carrot Top, she said-" "Hey Bonnie" "What did you do this time?" She asked, face-palming
"Nothing!" Both Lyras said simultaneously
X
I walked back into my house just as Red Gala came storming in
"What's got you so worked up?" I asked "Nuthin' really, first Twilight has got ta decide who she wants to take to the Gala, then Big Mac gets hurt after part o' the barn collapses, now Applejack's gone and decided to bring in the harvest herself!"
That's the most I've ever heard her say in a single sentence
"Well, don't worry too much about it, I'm sure it'll work itself out"
If it doesn't, I guess the joke's on me then
"Ah hope you're right, just concerned about her is all" "So how have Granny Smith and Applebloom been doing?" "Good, the other day Applebloom wanted to try and use Hammerspace" Gala laughed "She and her friends kept tryin', wound up goin' in circles and makin' themselves dizzy" "Have they thought about asking some of the other foals to join their group?" "Don't think so, why?" "Eh, no reason..." "Well, better get back to the farm, Applejack's gonna need all the help she can get..." "Alright, see you later then"
X
Lemon Lime was beginning to think that it wasn't the best idea to leave Manehattan
Especially since she was in the middle of the Everfree
"Just keep it together Lime" she muttered to herself "You'll get out of this"
The filly kept walking until she was almost certain she could see sunlight
Just a little further and I can-
She stumbled into yet another clearing
"How long does this forest go on?!" She shouted
*Snap* *Rrrrrrrrr*
Lemon gulped and turned around, seeing several pairs of glowing green eyes staring back at her from a cluster of trees
She shivered as a pack of Timberwolves broke the tree line, slowly circling her while licking their chops.
"P-please g-g-go away" She whimpered, curling up into a ball
The Timberwolves continued circling until they had her trapped
Tears threated to fall as one of the Timberwolves tried to nip at her wings
The pack prepared to move in, when a shadowed figure leapt over the trees and landed in the enclosing circle
Lemon quickly turned, and came muzzle-to-muzzle with the open maw of a Timberwolf, she lost conciousness at the sight and fell to the ground with a soft thump
X
Lyra could only look on in awe at the biped versions of the citizens of Ponyville, or as her other self called them 'anthropomorphics'
They were sitting in a small cafe, she had taken interest in not only the anthropomorphic versions of her friends, but a number of other beings (pony and non); Or more specifically, two arguing creatures known as 'gremlins'.
"Jamface, have you seen Markus anywhere? I've been looking for him all day- we're supposed to be doing repairs on the spinning tea cup ride in a few minutes" a yellow-skinned creature in a purple jumpsuit and helmet asked "Can't say that I have Sunstar, have you tried asking Nova?" asked a similar creature "Na, he's working in Tomorrow City this week-" "I can't give you much advice except to check if there're any others that could help back at the castle" "...yeah, there probably are- thanks Jamface" 'Sunstar' said, floating away
"This has got to be one of the strangest/greatest days of my life" Lyra said "I think we passed that mark when we met each other" Anthro Lyra laughed "Yeah..." The anthro Lyra tugged at the collar of her orange T-shirt and shifted in her seat "You alright?" "Yeah, it's just a little warm in here" "Oh? We can leave then if you want- in fact, Bonnie should be back soon anyway, I suppose I should start heading back home..." "Guess you're right, ready?" "Ready" Anthro Lyra took Lyra's hoof in her hand and 'warped' back to Lyra's house in Ponyville
X
"Aloe and Lotus seemed awfully nice" Patchwork said as she and Rarity trotted into the spa "Oh yes, you could say that Fluttershy and I are regulars here" The pegasus in question was already waiting for Rarity and Patchwork by the baths "Hello dear" Rarity said "Hi" "Oh, h-hello..." "I'm Patchwork" "I, uh, I'm Fluttershy..."
"Did I do something wrong?" Patchwork whispered to Rarity "Oh no, dear- she can be quite shy around new ponies" "Oh" "Well let's get into the bath, shall we?" Rarity and Fluttershy trotted up the stairs and eased into the hot water, Patchwork however- stood at the edge of the water, unsure
"Well don't just stand there darling, the water is just perfect" "Uh, I, um, don't do well... in water" "Afraid of swimming are you? Well the water is very shallow, so there's nothing to worry about" "Um, that's not, it" "Well I'm sure it's going to be fine, just enjoy the treatment" "Uh, um, if- if you say so..." Patchwork said, easing into the water "There we are, just relax and enjoy"
X
Warmth
Lemon Lime slowly came to her senses, feeling the flickering heat of a fire She ever-so-slowly got to her hooves and tried to get a bearing on her surroundings
Broken stone walls, eroded ramparts, and once immaculate and tall towers now stood crumbling
She looked around, wondering how -and why- she was in a castle
The last thing I remember is getting attacked by Timberwolves...
Scanning the high walls, she caught sight of a figure dart behind a wall
"C-c-come out! I kn-know you're th-there!" She said, doing her best to not sound afraid
Then suddenly, she saw it-
A tall, pure white pony, twice- maybe three times her height, wearing a black suit and red tie with a white undershirt, the suit ended in sort of a coat-tail, which slightly covered cutie mark- which she noticed was an imperfect circle with a large "X" through it.
She looked up, and up, and up, and up- her neck trying to bend further to get a look at the stranger
Once she did, she let out a shrill scream when she realized...
Lemon Lime could only shiver as the face-less pony slowly approached her
'This thing only saved me to do what the Timberwolves would have done' she thought
The thing stopped about a foot away from her
Please do not be afraid- I will not harm you
Her eyes shot open "Wh-what?! Wh-who said that?" She cried
I did
She looked frantically around the courtyard, and stopped on the mystery pony
"Wh-what do y-you want with- with me?"
Some company is all- there aren't many out here to have a conversation with
"Th-then why not j-just go out there" she asked, pointing over the horizon
Would you be able to go out there looking like I do?
Her ears flopped against her head
I thought not
"H-how can you speak?"
I'm not sure, I only know I can speak through minds
"Wow..."
The tall pony sighed and turned away, his elegant shadow dancing as the fire continued to burn in its pit
"What's your name?"
I am known as Slendermane
"I'm- I'm Lemon Lime"
Nice to meet you
His long neck lowered
"Is something wrong?"
You must want to go back home- I'll take you there now
"NO!"
Suprised by her outburst, Slendermane rose back to full height and turned towards her
"Um, I mean, no- could I, could I stay here? With you?"
Slendermane cocked his head
I am confused- you do not wish to go back to your home? Your family?
Lemon winced
"I- I don't have any family, I've lived in an orphanage for most of my life..."
Though he had no features, she could somehow tell there was a look of sympathy on his face
...this forest is too dangerous...
Her heart sank as he made his point
...however, you may remain with me if you wish-
He didn't finish his sentence as a set of hooves wrapped around his long neck, he wasn't quite sure what to do as the filly continued to hold him.
What are you doing?
"It's called a hug"
'A hug?'
Slendermane felt a warmth eminate from his chest
He decided right then and there that he enjoyed 'hugs'
X X X X X X X
"Alright girls, time to get out" Aloe said, handing a towel to each of the mares "I just love a nice soak in the spa baths, don't you?" "Oh, um, yes" Fluttershy said
Rarity stopped as she realized that their group was minus one mare
"Where did Patchwork run off to?" "I'm- um, over here!" she said, waving to the two from behind a large towel that had been hung up "Goodness, what are you doing over there?" "Nothing..." "Well come on out darling, we're going to the next part of the treatment" "Oh, uh, I might stay here for a little while-" "Nonsense" Rarity said, pulling down the towel "I'm sure what ever it is-" Her jaw dropped as she saw Patchwork-
Her hind-right leg on the floor a few feet away
Rarity and Fluttershy screamed
X X X X X X X
Jonas fidgeted as he waited for Celestia to arrive "Nervous much?" Feedback asked "Kinda-" "...well good luck with that" "What? No sarcasm today? Not even a little smugness?" "Eh, doesn't work on you..." he said dismissively "Well, gotta go- old Celly'll be here soon" "Doesn't that nickname annoy her?" "When I use it yes-" he muttered "Remember to behave yourself" "Yes Father" he said sarcastically
Feedback left, which left me alone for a few minutes There was a burst of light and after it cleared, the white alicorn herself was standing in my living room
Now if only I could say that with a straight face
"Hello Celestia" "Hello Jonas, how are you today?" "Great! So are you ready for your big tour?" "Yes, I must admit I've been looking forward to this for days" "Trouble with the nobles?"
I thought I heard her mutter "You have no idea", but wasn't quite sure
I opened the door and did an over dramatic bow "After you, your highness" Celestia giggled, then passed, with me following
Now given the longevity of her and Luna's lifespans, you would assume that she would've seen everything- apparently not, judging by the look on her face right now.
"This- this is- very impressive to say the least..." Celestia said, stunned "Oh, it's not much- just a little project I've been working on" I said indifferently "So, where would you like to go first?" "Where should we start?" "Anywhere" I gestured "Lead the way" I nodded and walked into the town- Celestia trailing
X X X X X X X
"Patchwork- darling- are you sure you're feeling alright?" Rarity asked, regaining her composure "Yeah, these silly lacings are always coming loose" she said nonchalantly, picking up her severed leg "Would you happen to have a needle and thread?" "Er, yes-"
Rarity went to her saddlebags and pulled a spool of thread and a needle out
"Here you- are" "Thankth" she said, taking the spool in her mouth
Patchwork threaded the needle, then pierced her leg where it was severed, and laced it through the rest of her leg- she proceeded to do this several times before grabbing a loose end and pulled- connecting the leg with the rest of her body
She stood up and stomped her hind-right leg a few times
"There we go- good as new" "D-doesn't that hurt?" Fluttershy asked "Huh? Oh, uh- no, I've been doing that since I was a filly" "Oh- well in that case, let's enjoy the rest of our treatment, shall we?" Rarity said, oddly calm
X
"How I wish I could do this in Canterlot" Celestia said, sitting on a bench
We were in the park near a playground in ToonTown, lots of trees and open space
"Yeah..." Celestia giggled as a few Bunny Children hopped across the field, hopping around her excitedly- followed by a few foals
We left the park soon afterwards and found ourselves in a small cafe "So peaceful here" she commented "Yeah, you should here some of the music they play here" I said, gesturing to a small but sturdy bandstand- complete with a cello or two laying about Celestia and I sat in the cafe, talking- when a group of crows came into the building, carrying instrument cases
"C'mon, I'll show you around" "I was sort of hoping to stay and listen to their performance" Celestia said, motioning to the bandstand "You don't want to hear them play, believe me" "And why ever not?" "Just between you and me- they can't play to save their lives" Celestia smiled and followed me out of the cafe
"So where should we go next?" she asked "That depends; Ventureland? Mickeyjunk Mountain perhaps?" I prepared to head towards the jungle-village when Amy came running into view
"Amy? What's the matter?" I asked "Your house- " she gasped "Need...get...there...emergency"
I pulled out a pair of binoculars and saw a tiny figure hovering over the Dip Refinery.
"Oh my god!" I jumped into the air, and the wind caught my wings, I then took off towards the building- hoping I was going to make it in time
X X X X X X X
Celestia sat waiting with Amy, waiting for Jonas to return
"I'm getting worried about him" Amy said "Maybe we should go look for him?" "Yes, perhaps we should-"
The Solar Diarch was cut off as a blue box faded into existence
"What in the world is that?"
The box flashed in and out of existence a few more times before stopping and becoming silent
Above the doors were the words "Pony Public Call Box"
The door creaked open and a brown Earth Pony stallion wearing a red tie with an hourglass for a cutie mark appeared in the doorway
"Ah, just the ponies I wanted to see- quickly quickly, get inside" He said "Both of us? In that small box?"
The pony sighed and dragged both of them through the door, into a large room with a consol at the center Amy gawked at the sight of this place, all of it being able to fit inside this small box?
"Go ahead and say it, almost everypony does"
Amy quickly ran out of the room and circled the box before heading back inside
"It's smaller on the outside" she finally said
The stallion frowned and shrugged "Close enough" "Good to see you again Doctor" "Likewise Celestia, what's it been? 200? 300 years?" "Yes, would you mind telling me what this intrusion is about?" "It's not an intrusion- my TARDIS" He said, patting the consol "The what?" "Time And Relative Dimension In Space" "-but you're the one who dragged us in here, now why?" "Because my dear, I know how this is supposed to play out- and you two aren't supposed to be there when it happens" "When what happens?" "A great cataclysm is supposed to occur today" He said grimly "B-but Jonas!" "He's still out there, I know" "You have to save him!" "As much as I'd like to- I can't" "Why not?" "This is the way things are supposed to work out" "What exactly will happen Doctor?" Celestia asked "-I'm afraid to say..."
X
Twilight and her five friends were trotting past Jonas's house "Where is Jonas? I haven't seen him almost all day" Rarity said "Why're all those ponies runnin' away from his house?" Applejack "Maybe it's a prank" Pinkie suggested "Ah don't think so- look at the way the door was forced in" "Let's go-"
Krack-crack-a-boooooooooom!
The sound of the explosion bounced off the walls of nearby houses- everypony covering their ears at the noise
"What the hay was that?" Rainbow asked "I don't know, let's go check"
Twilight and the other mares trotted closer to the house, sizzling green liquid flowing out of the door
"Oh goodness, what happened?" Patchwork asked trotting up "Miss, y'all better stay away from that!" Red Gala said, running towards her "What? Why?" "Don't y'all recognize it?" "N-no, I don't, what is it?" "It's Dip"
They all gasped
"But if this is the same stuff Jonas was tellin' us about, doesn't that mean-" Applejack was cut off as a rapidly expanding dome burst out of the doorway to Jonas's house, enveloping the Elements- everypony else having run away
The wave passed over them, causing them to black out.
X X X X X X X
Beep.
Wha?
Beep. Beep.
What in tarnation is that?
Beep. Beep.
Applejack groaned and sat up, finding she was in a hospital room, another pony occupying the bed next to hers
'Somethin's off, but what?'
She looked around the room, trying to put her hoof on what was out of place
A nurse trotted into the room 'Now that's funny, why does she look so small?'
"Oh, you're awake your highness!" the mare said, bowing "Uh, why're y'all bowin' ta me?" "You're a princess- aren't you?"
Applejack gave her a confused look
"Ah don't know what yer talkin' about, Ah'm not-"
Applejack stopped as she looked down at herself, her hooves were abnormally long- and now, she noticed, her mane was longer than it originally was, her Stetson hat now sat uncomfortably on her head. She went to move it, only to find an object blocking her
"Huh? I've got a horn?" "Yes, why wouldn't you?"
'Somethin' strange is goin' on here'
Applejack moved and felt like there was something stuck to her back- she looked over her shoulder, and found a pair of wings
Applejack blushed as the ponies bowed to her as she walked down the hall with the nurse
'I wonder if Princess Celestia and Princess Luna feel this way all the time' "Your friends are through this door, your highness" "Uh, could y'all please not call me that? Ah'm not really a Princess" "Of course, your hi- Applejack"
The nurse left and Applejack walked into the room, the rest of her friends were gathered there, one of which (she assumed Rainbow) was under a blanket on one of the beds
"Twi? What happened to you?" Applejack asked "I- I- don't know! All I know is, I woke up like this" Twilight said, gesturing to herself
Twilight's horn was gone, but a dragon horn and an antler poked out of her mane instead, her left eye was yellow with a red pupil and her normal tail was replaced with a red-scaled one with a tuft of white fur on the end, a sharp tooth jutted out from her upper lip, and she now had wings, one of a pegasus, the other of a bat.
"Whoa, and I thought what happened to me was bad" "On the contrary dear, I think you may have benefitted most from this little debacle" Rarity said from behind the hospital bed "Did anything even happen to you?"
Rarity walked out from behind the bed, or rather, slithered
"Good gravy! Y'all got a snake tail!"
Rarity's top half was normal, but transitioned into a long snake tail, leaving her with only two forehooves
"Thank you ever so much for pointing that out" "Sorry, but other than that- you look okay" "Ooh! Ooh! Me next! Me next!" Pinkie chirped Pinkie wasn't her normal pink-color, her entire form was colored black-and-white, wearing a pair of overalls with two white buttons on the front "What in the world?" "I know right? This is like the time I painted myself blue! Except it's black and white and it won't come off! And then there was this other time that-" Applejack tried to block out Pinkie's rambling and looked around the room for Fluttershy "Hey, where's Fluttershy?" "Oh, um, I'm here..." Applejack looked up (a little) and saw what looked like Fluttershy mixed with a spider, four hooves, plus two extra arms on her front, eight eyes, and two pincers in the corners of her muzzle "Fluttershy? Are you alright sugarcube?" "Oh, I'm fine...I was just standing here..." "Uh, right...that reminds me- where's Rainbow Dash?" The blanket on the bed moved "She's under the blanket" Twilight said, rolling her eyes "Rainbow, y'all come out of there" "No" came the muffled response "I look weird" "We all do darling, now come out of there" "No" Applejack took the blanket in her teeth and tugged, pulling the sheet off of the bed entirely
The creature on the bed was black, with holes in its hooves, horn, and mane of rainbow colors. "Dash? Is that you?" "Yeah..." "What in the world are you?" "I don't know-" "Any suggestions Twilight?" "No...this is all very strange..." "Y'all can say that again" "No...this is all very strange..." Pinkie echoed "Well, what should we do now?" "I think we should go and ask Jonas about this, but he doesn't seem the type of pony to do something like this without asking first" "Well we sure can't go to his house" Pinkie said, looking out the window "Why not?"
"Because it's gone" she said, pointing out the window
X X X X X X X
After checking out of the hospital, the six mares arrived at Jonas's house, or what was left of it "This doesn't make sense- where did his house go?" "I don't know...maybe we should ask Princess Celestia about this" "That would be the best course of action- come to think of it, I haven't seen Jonas since we woke up in the hospital- or anywhere for that matter" "Maybe we could try asking Amy first" Pinkie suggested, seeing the diamond dog walking down the street "Hey there Amy, have you seen Jonas around?" "Oh Applejack...it's terrible..." "What is? What happened Amy?" Amy started sobbing and hugged Applejack
She awkwardly draped one of her new wings around her "It's alright sugarcube, just let it all out" Amy had calmed down a little and let go of Applejack "Now can y'all tell us just what the hay is going on around here?" "We- we- were in the TARDIS, and- and-" "Whoa, whoa, whoa, what's a TARDIS?" Rainbow asked "*Gasp!* The daleks aren't invading are they? ARE THEY?!" Pinkie cried Amy ignored them and continued "...th- then there was- was- an explosion- and the Doctor- the Doctor let us out, and- and when we did..." Amy broke down sobbing again "It's alright Amy, maybe if I ask Princess Celestia about this, we can clear things up"
Twilight went off to the library to find Spike, leaving the five mares and Amy
X
After Twilight had contacted Princess Celestia, they took the earliest train possible to Canterlot to talk to Luna and her about their current predicament
"To be honest my student, I'm not quite sure what to make of this...Jonas's magic was foreign to me enough as it is- truth be told I'm not sure there is a way to reverse it" Celestia said "You mean we're gonna be stuck like this Princess?" Applejack asked "For the time being, yes, though I can't help but wonder what happened to Jonas..." "Uh, your highness- we saw all of that Dip come outta Jonas's house before it went and disappeared, ya got any idea what that could mean?"
"Unfortunately I do, please follow me everypony" The six mares plus Spike followed Celestia to the dungeons, where they found all of the doors wide open
"Aren't these door supposed to be closed?" "They are- but I made an exception because of recent events..." "Like what?" "Do you remember what Jonas had told you about that substance? How it was harmful if used incorrectly?" "Yes..." They responded "The guards are still investigating, but we have reason to believe that the world and its inhabitants suffered a great deal of damage" "Is that why-" "I'm afraid so, yes"
Creatures of all shapes and sizes ran in and out of the cells, or disappearing in one place and reappearing in another
"Where did they all come from?" "Th-the D-Dip Refinery imploded- all of them made it out" Amy said, indicating the hall "We don't know if there are others trapped or not"
The gravity of the situation sank in as they watched the different figures go about their business
"How could they do something so awful..." Fluttershy said, seeing some of the creatures sobbing "They probably didn't know what it'd do, sugarcube" "Hey, isn't that Feedback?" Rainbow asked "Looks like it is, maybe he'll know something about this"
The draconequus flew up to them, giving a half-hearted wave
"Hey girls..." "Feedback, what happened?" "I'm not sure myself, but I found this in my room a few days ago" he said, handing them a scroll "You can have it" "You're just giving this to us? Not asking anything in return?" 'This really is a serious problem if Feedback's lost his sense of sarcasm' Twilight thought "You weren't there- you didn't see..." "See? See what?" "I can't tell you...I don't think I want to talk about it anyway" "Well- thank you- why don't you go and find Luna?" Celestia suggested "Maybe that would brighten your mood" "I doubt it..." He said The depressed draconequus phased through the ceiling, ending the conversation 'I hope he feels better soon' Celestia thought, suprising herself
When she'd first met the chimera, it took Jonas a few hours to convince her to not call the Elements, now she was concerned for his well-being She silently thanked Jonas for his intervention; as the draconequus was able to provide comic relief when she had been paticularly stressed during several points in the week Celestia, the elements, and Spike continued to walk down the hall, until they reached a paticular cell
"Why's he cryin' at that statue?" Applejack whispered "It's not a statue" he said
He turned and came out of the cell, a black and white rabbit a little taller than a normal pony wearing a pair of blue shorts.
"When the Thinner Disaster happened, all the life was sucked out of Ortensia, until we can get things up and running again...she's stuck like this" The rabbit turned back to his cell and walked inside "So sad..." Rarity said, wiping a tear from her eye "His children seem to not notice her abscence, I'm partially thankful for that" Celestia said, looking down at the hopping Bunny Children "Oh my goodnes- they're so adorable!" Fluttershy said, watching the blue fuzzballs dance around her "Might want to keep an eye on them miss, they'll swallow spatters whole if you don't watch them" an orange-skinned creature in a purple jumpsuit and helmet said "Name's Habel, nice to meet you" "Oh- hello-" *Crash!* "Oh for heaven's sake, pardon me" He said, saluting and disappearing "Perhaps we should head up to the deliberation room, maybe then we can discover why Jonas left us this scroll" Celestia said Amy and the six mares nodded and followed Celestia to one of the many deliberation rooms in the castle
Twilight laid the scroll flat on the table, so everypony could get a look at it "What's it say?"
She cleared her throat and read the letter
"To whom it may concern, I knew this had to happen at one point, I just didn't realize it would be this soon- if you absolutely positively insist on coming after me, find and ask Bass Flight or Feedback to get you there, the rest is up to you"
"What the hay does that mean?" "Where exactly is 'there'?" "Wait, it says more-"
"-Princess Celestia, if you're reading this, that means the Doctor was able to get you and Amy out in time; Toxic is safe with me"
"No wonder we haven't seen him around" "I was wondering where he ran off to"
"What are you two laughing at?" Twilight asked "Do you even realize what you're saying?" "Yes, it's a chan-" Twilight stopped and thought "Darn it, he got me again"
"-once Rainbow and Pinkie have stopped laughing, please let Amy read the next part of the letter" Twilight levitated the letter to Amy and she took it, after a few moments of reading, tears welled in her eyes and handed it back to Twilight.
"What? What does it say?" "Would it be alright if we read it dear?" Rarity asked Amy silently nodded
"-Amy, I know we've known each other for a little while, and you've become one of my closest friends; the few weeks I've known you, I feel we've been drawn together by...something- I can't explain it in this letter, but what I think I'm trying to say is-"
The six mares gasped at the next part of the letter
"-I like you Amy, alot, more than words can describe"
"Well, uh, I'm happy for y'all, but don't ya think we should get to findin' Jonas? Let's go find this Bass Flight feller, he's gotta be down there somewhere" "You're right Applejack, maybe he'll know where he is"
X
"Baaaaasssss Fllliiigggghhhht!" Pinkie called "I hope we find him, we've got to find him to find Jonas- what if it was the other way around and Bass Flight was missing and we had to find Jonas to find him, or what if there was-"
"I heard you were looking for me- what's up?" a young colt asked, trotting up "Are you Bass Flight?" "I am, what do you need?" "Jonas told us you might be able to get us somewhere" "Oh, yeah...sorry, can't help you" "What why not?" "I've just got my reasons" "...shoot, maybe we'd go back up and ask Princess Celestia if she can't find us another way to get there" Applejack said
"C-C-Celestia? D-don't go to h-her, I'll t-t-take you there- right n-now if you w-want!"
"Wow, look at your wings!" Pinkie said "These? They've always been this way" He said, fanning his wings "Looks like they're made outta fire" "Sort-of, let's go, we need to get you there soon" "Where exactly is 'there'?" Rarity asked
He didn't answer her as his wings burned brighter and blinded the six mares
"What in the world-"
The light continued to grow brighter and nopony could see anything
X X X X X X X
"Well, here we are" Bass Flight said The six uncovered their eyes and saw they were standing in a city street "Whoa...look at all of this..." Rainbow said
Twisted and broken buildings lined the street, cracked pavement and the glass of a few shop windows were busted
"I know...the Thinner Disaster did all of this..." Bass said sadly "You should have seen it before, this used to be one of the most populated areas" "What exactly is this place?" "Mean Street, or it was..." "Goodness, is that a haberdasher?" Rarity asked "Yeah, but-"
Rarity slithered towards the shop, her five friends trailing "Rarity! Wait!" "Just a second" she called, going into the building
The inside of the shop was dimly lit, a black and white dog standing behind the desk
"Welcome to the Mad Hatter's!" he said "We all go a little mad sometimes, so why not buy a hat when it happens?" "Er, yes-"
"Rarity! You just can't run off like that, we're here to find Jonas, remember?"
"Hello there, can I interest you in a nice lamp post? They make wonderful doorstops"
"Uh, no thank you...we were just leaving" Twilight said, leading the group out of the shop
"I'm terribly sorry girls, I just don't know what came over me"
"It's alright sugarcube, your curiosity got the better of ya, now Bass- where'd ya say Jonas was?" Applejack asked, turning to Bass Flight
"Last I heard he was on Mickeyjunk Mountain, but I think I heard Warner say he was in one of the castles"
Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie, Rainbow, and Bass Flight walked down the street, seeing the state the buildings and street itself was in. They stopped, however, as it abruptly ended
"That's it? The street ends right here?" Twilight said "Not exactly" Bass said, walking around the statue of a human holding the hand of the rabbit they'd seen in the makeshift home in Canterlot Castle The end of the street was centered around the statue, acting as a hub or a cul-de-sac "Where're we supposed to go? There's nothing here but a bunch of projector screens" Dash pointed out "Anywhere you like, Ventureland - OsTown - Tomorrow City - Bog Easy" "How the hay does that work?" "Why don't you find out for yourselves?" "What?" "Pick one" "Uh, that one-" Twilight said, pointing to a screen "Alright, hop through then" "Wha-"
Bass Flight grabbed Twilight and threw her towards the screen, she expected it to rip under the force with which she was thrown
It didn't; as she felt herself actually pass through the screen and land...somewhere
"What- the- hay- was- that?" "Projectors- the only way to travel" he grinned
The other elements came through the projector and looked around
"Where are we?" Rarity asked "OsTown, we're going to check Mickeyjunk Mountain first- and we need to pass through here first"
OsTown
Just like Mean Street, OsTown was in disrepair- a fountain with a broken statue of the rabbit was spraying green liquid onto some of the houses, a sunken tugboat sat in a large pool of the green liquid.
"Hiya Bass, what brings you here?" a tall figure asked In appearance, the figure looked like a broken foal's toy, one metallic arm ending in a white glove, a torn orange shirt and blue pants, the head was dog like, a green hat with a black band resting on the top of its head, two large white eyes cracked in the centers, leaving a black void and a single, glowing green eye.
"Hi Goofy, we're trying to get to Mickeyjunk Mountain- preferably as soon as possible" "Gawrsh, I don't know if you could get up there- Oswald disappeared after the Disaster" "I'll handle that part, can you just tell us how to get there?" "Hmmm, the projector's been broken for a while, maybe you could go talk to Prescott" "Fine, where is he?" Bass groaned "In the Gag Factory" Goofy said, pointing to the large building "Thanks, come on girls" The rest of them thanked Goofy and followed Bass into the Factory
Inside, the group found an orange-skinned creature in a dark blue jumpsuit and helmet, working with a device in his hands, the suit itself was fitted with additions made by the creature wearing it. A pair of teeth and two other small machines were squeaking and hopping near the gremlin
"Oh chatter off, you worthless little-" He stopped, noticing the group. He threw the device he was working on into a trunk, closed it and sat on it.
"Well, well, look who's decided to grace us with his presence" he said sarcastically "Pleasure to see you too, Prescott" Bass said, rolling his eyes "We need to get to Mickeyjunk Mountain, are the transport tubes still working?" "Not exactly, it's down in that thinner sink-hole" He said, suddenly taking interest in the hopping machines
He jumped off the trunk and crushed the trinkets with his boot, dragging his foot along the ground
"Jamface gave Goofy some thinner pumps, naturally I told Goofy how to upgrade them" he said pompously
*Ka-booooom*
The group ran outside to see what caused the explosion, just in time to see Goofy fly through the air, save for Prescott who just rolled his eyes and teleported outside
"Goofy! What happened?" Bass asked "*Groan* I was tryin' to fix these pumps, just like Prescott told me, don't know what I did though, because they all went kablooey"
"I told him to overcharge one pump, not three" he said defensively, holding up his hand to display the numbers "Yes it makes the pumps slightly unstable, but it also gets the job done faster" "Gawrsh, they looked more that slightly dangerous to me, I think I'll just go ahead and use the pumps how Jamface told me" Goofy said, getting up
Prescott teleported to the front of the Gag Factory "Fine, but when you'd like to do things quickly- come talk to me"
Twilight and her friends were faced with two options, either do it Goofy's way and take a little longer pumping out the thinner, or go with Prescott's way and possibly get closer to finding Jonas.
"What should we do?" "I think that depends on what your priorities are" Bass said "Slow and steady always wins the race, let's go talk to him" Applejack said, pointing to Goofy. "Jonas's letter did sound urgent, I suggest we go to this Prescott fellow" Rarity said "Decisions, decisions, decisions" "I say we do things Goofy's way" Pinkie suggested "I agree with Applejack...if that's okay with you" Fluttershy said "Please! If we do it that way, it'll take way too long!" Rainbow declared "I'm going with Prescott" "Looks like it's decided, we need to gather all three pumps and see what Goofy needs us to do with them" Twilight said, walking up to Goofy
"Where are the pumps?" "I think I saw one land on Ortensia's roof, the other is in that lake over there, and the last one is on top of the Gag Factory" "Thank you" Twilight pulled the first two pumps towards her and Goofy, and took the last one from its perch on top of the Factory "Now all ya need to do is to hook up those pumps by Oswald's statue, then we can start draining the thinner"
Twilight picked up one pump and placed it on the loading platform, the lightbulb on top of the station port activated and the screen lit up, showing a black lightning bolt against a blue background
"Don't listen to that goof! My supercharger will get the job done with just one pump machine!" Prescott shouted
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm doing this his way" Rainbow said, grabbing a pump and flying to Prescott
He said something to her and she took the pump to the side of the building, presumably to Prescott's supercharger
She came back with the pump, an active current bouncing around in its glass dome
Rainbow took off the pump Twilight placed and slammed her own onto the pump station, then turned to Goofy. "You just watch, all of this will be cleaned up in ten seconds flat"
A deep rumbling sound was heard beneath them shortly after Rainbow placed the pump "Wh-what's going on?"
The charged pump flew off the station and streams of thinner shot straight up in the air, and now instead of spraying just one house, the fountain was now spraying three.
The seven looked to Prescott
"Well...I told you it would work! Yes, maybe the Thinner stream's worse, but the sinkhole's lower!" Twilight rolled her eyes "Didn't believe me, eh? Well I showed you, didn't I? Now if I give you a reward will you leave me alone?"
"Come on girls, the tube should take us straight to the base of the mountain" Bass said
Five of the mares followed him, Rainbow looked to the damage she was responsible for
"Don't worry, things will be up and running before you know it, it'll just take a little longer" Goofy said
"...thanks..." Rainbow flew after the others
The group had followed Bass through the tubes, which was basically a giant underground tunnel
"Welp, here we are, Mickeyjunk Mountain" Bass said, climbing out
"Jonas is all the way up there?" Applejack asked, looking up at the mountain "Possibly" "Well we'd better get going then..." They all started up the steep incline of the base, and stopped when a playing card walked up to them "Just what do you think you're doing?" "Trying to get to the top of this here mountain" "Well you're never going to get there that way, follow me" They followed the playing card and saw him climb into a crane
They saw the crane activate and the mouth of the crane pulled down the lid of a lunch box melded into the side of the mountain, revealing another projector screen.
"There you go, now you can get up the mountain easier" "Er, thank you, we never caught your name" "It's Decker, good luck on your trip" "Thank you" Bass said, following the six mares into the projector
X
"Just how tall is this mountain?" Applejack asked as they came through the third projector "Not much further, Oswald's old sanctuary is just up ahead" Bass said
"Why would anypony ever live on this atrocious junk-heap?" Rarity asked, avoiding a questionable gumball machine's perch above them
Bass shot her a glare
"...but it's a very stylish atrocious junk-heap" "Nice save" he said sarcastically "The projector that goes up to the peak is right here" "Well, what're we waiting for?" They jumped through the projector and landed in a large room, part of the floor being made up of a sign with a mouse's face painted on it "Who is that?" Rainbow asked, pointing to the floor "Mickey- Oswald's brother" "Why's it look like somepony tried to erase his ears?" "They, uh, didn't have the best history before...they managed to patch things up though" "Oh, how did they do that?"
"They blew up a giant maniacal blot-monster"
"...that sounds awesome" was all he got in reply. From Rainbow.
"Well shoot, he ain't here, what're we supposed to do now?" Applejack asked "We search one of the castles" Bass said "This'll take forever..." Rainbow grumbled "Not necessarily, this projector goes straight to the throne room of one of them" "At least we don't have too far to go..." They went through and came in and spread out into a throne room
"Twilight? Applejack? Is that you?" "Toxic?"
They saw Toxic and two other ponies, one was a grey pegasus mare with a blonde mane (not Ditzy), and the other was a dark-coated pegasus stallion with a dark-blue mane and completely blue-green eyes, no pupils or irises- two fangs poked out of his mouth, his cutie mark was eighth notes making up a white star on his flank.
"I'm so happy you're here! That means you got dad's letter!" "Yes, we did, where is he?" "He's- uh, in the next room, but he's changed a little..." "Can we see him?" "Sure, just don't act suprised"
Toxic led everypony to the next room, Pinkie and the grey pegasus chatting while the stallion exchanged idle conversation with Bass Flight.
"Toxic, who exactly are these ponies?" Twilight asked "This is Suprise" he said, indicating the grey pegasus "She and Pinkie look like they could be sisters" "I know right? I have no idea where dad came up with half these ideas" "I think I might have a few guesses" Pinkie piped up "-and who is this?" she asked, looking to the stallion "This is Rain Chaser, one of my closest friends" "Hello" he said "Hi...I can't help but notice you look just like Rainbow does now, except without a horn- or holes for that matter" "Huh" "You aren't much for talking, are you?" "No"
"Did your eyes just change color?"
He looked into a nearby mirror, then hit himself in the head, his eyes reverting back to normal
"Sorry, sometimes they do that..." "What else can you do?" "I can't change gender, I can change species for some reason, and I sometimes can't control my eye color, sometimes they switch on their own" "Oh..."
The ten ponies entered the room at last "Jonas isn't here, that...thing...looks like him though" "Correction; he's right there" The biped turned, revealing itself to be a Alicorn, his cutie mark was a blot of blue liquid on one flank and a blot of green liquid on the other "Is just anypony turning into an Alicorn?" Rarity asked "I'm not a real Alicorn, somethin' made me this way" Applejack sighed
"Oh, hello there" the biped said "Hello Jonas" "That's funny, everypony keeps calling me that- strange, isn't it?"
"What happened to him, Toxic?" Twilight whispered "After the Refinery blew up, I think dad put everything he had into keeping it contained; there...there were alot of ponies here that got dipped...we've been trying different spells to bring them back" "Wait a minute, Jonas sent us this letter, and now he doesn't know who he is? What the hay is going on here?" Rainbow said "Our best guess is that he sent it right before everything went to Tartarus" Rain Chaser interjected "I'll kindly ask you to not use that sort of language in the prescence of a foal" Rarity said "Right...sorry" "Now that we found you- Why did you turn us into freaks?!" Rainbow cried "I'm sorry, I don't know who you are" Alicorn Jonas said
"Dash, he's got amnesia, he probably doesn't even remember what he had for breakfast this morning" "Oatmeal with a little cinnamon" "Sure...that he remembers..." Rain Chaser grumbled
"Don't worry RC, he'll be back to himself in no time!" Pinkie and Suprise said simultaneously "Twi? Are you seein' what I'm seein'?" "It can't be..."
There were two Pinkies in existence
"SO...what'll we do with him, now that we found him?" "Simple, I take us all back to Canterlot, and we can cure his amnesia- somehow..." Bass Flight said, flaring his wings "Oh, as if that will solve anything" Rain Chaser said "what we need is to find out how he did this, so we can bring back all the ones we lost" "If he gets his memory back, we won't need to find a way, he can do it like he did before"
The two continued bickering and Twilight turned to Suprise
"Do they always fight like this?" "No...it's usually much worse" "Doesn't that get dangerous?" "No, I think they compliment each other pretty well" "I think the author had something to do with that" Pinkie said "I know, right? I mean, these things always have us breaking the fourth wall at some point, and then the rest of the characters never get the joke" "What?" Twilight asked "See! That's exactly what I'm talking about! They should come up with something original maybe-" "-bring the author themselves into it!" Pinkie finished "Perfect!" "And then they complain that there are too many plot twists! I mean, the whole 'X-turned-alicorn' thing has been beaten to death already- but come on! It's a good story device! They should be open to other ideas!" "Ooooh, I know, have you read that one where-"
Twilight turned away from the two mares, her head ready to explode from the nonsense rambling
"-then they wrote 'Cupcakes', which was just really, really mean- I never hurt anypony! Just because of that one scene, and some of that other stuff-"
"Alright, we're going back to Canterlot" Bass Flight announced "We're coming, we're coming"
The group gathered around Bass Flight, and his wings opened, glowing like before- the blinded them once more and they found themselves in the throne room of Canterlot Castle
"My student, what brings you back so soon?" Celestia asked "What do you mean, princess? Feels like we've been gone for weeks" Applejack said "Only a few hours have passed since your departure" "Did time slow down here? Or speed up there? Or both? Or maybe we actually got sent back in time, and Celestia is still downstairs,ohmygoshifsheisthenwe'realldoomedwecouldcauseaparadoxandbreaktheuniverseorsomethingthenitwouldbejustterribleiwouldn'tevengettosaygoodbyetothecakesandtheniwouldntbeabletothrowanendoftheworldpartyandicouldntfindanypartyfavorsandthen-"
Pinkie was cut off as Applejack put a hoof to her mouth
"Princess, we found Jonas, but he's been turned into...this" "I see, and what of the others you've brought with you?" "Survivors, you might say, your majesty" Rain Chaser said "Princess, this is Rain Chaser, Suprise, and-"
Twilight noticed Bass Flight had disappeared from the room
"Where did Bass go?" "I don't know, he was here a second ago..." "Guess we'll find out next chapter" Suprise said "Well, it's wonderful to have you back Jonas" Celestia said "Who?" "You are Jonas, aren't you?" "I don't know, everypony keeps calling me that, so I suppose so" "We think he has amnesia, your highness"
"I was planning to keep him here to make sure he was alright- but given this new information, I think it'd be best to have him go back to Ponyville with you all" "Thank you, Princess" "As for Suprise and yourself, Rain Chaser, you may stay here in the castle until your home is repaired" "Thank you, highness" he said, bowing
Rain Chaser and Suprise had gone below the castle and Twilight and her friends boarded the train back to Ponyville
"Do you think they'll react badly to how we look?" Rarity asked "If they do, we'll just have to bear through it, I'm sure it can't be that bad" Applejack said "...even if we did have a way to reverse it ourselves, I'm sure they'll accept us- remember that big deal they made about Zecora coming into town? Everypony knows her now, and she enjoys coming into town" "Will it all work out?" Fluttershy asked
'I sincerely hope so'Twilight thought to herself
"I'm sure it will, Fluttershy..." she said, not sure to believe her own words
"-and you actually live here? This place is amazing!" Jonas said, walking down the street "Is that a gingerbread house?"
While Twilight enjoyed Jonas's enthusiasm, the continous stream of questions and comments were starting to irritate her.
"Jonas?"
"Hmm?"
"Does any of this look familiar? Jog your memory?"
"Nope, sorry Miss Twilight"
"You don't need to keep calling me 'miss'"
"Oh...sorry"
"It's alright- the library's just up ahead"
Twilight and Jonas trotted into the tree-shaped building, where Amy and Bass Flight were waiting
"There you are! We haven't seen you anywhere since we got bacK" Twilight said "Well...I've been here the whole time!" "Right, but you could've stayed long enough to meet Princess Celestia" "Er- na, I bet she wouldn't want to see me..." "Why do you get so nervous around Celestia?" "It's...uh, nothing" Before Twilight could respond, Bass shot out of the library- off to Celestia-knows-where.
"Ooookay, Jonas, we should work on getting your memories back" "Alright- where should we start?"
X X X X X X X
"This isn't helping" Twilight groaned, sitting on the floor
"What isn't?" Jonas asked
"...nevermind...let's try later..." "Okay"
"You really have no idea who you are?" "I don't think so...my memory is a little fuzzy, what happened?"
Twilight was about to respond, when Spike belched- a letter forming from his fire-breath She took the letter, her mouth curling into a wide grin as she read
"This is perfect! Why didn't I think of this before?"
"What is it?" "Princess Celestia, she suggested we try taking you to visit your sister!" she said excitedly "How will we do that? Don't we need Jonas and Dash to do a Rainboom at the same time?" "Well, yeah..." "I think I know somepony that can help!" Jonas said "Really? Who?" "It's a suprise" he said
"Ugh..."
X X X X X X X
Jonas had led Twilight and Spike deeper into the seemingly nonsensical, upside-down world, soon reaching a town unlike anything they'd seen before.
"Ah, Jonas, Twilight, Spike! I'm deeply sorry about what happened...So, how have you been?" Jack asked "Great! How's everything going here?" Jonas replied "Fantastic! We're almost ready" "Huh? Ready for what?" Spike asked "It's a suprise" "Wait a minute...this is where you've been all this time?" Spike asked "Nope, I spent some time in Canterlot before finding this place" "Where exactly is 'this place'?" "Why, Halloween Town, of course!" "What's Halloween?" "Oh, Nightmare Night, sorry" "That would explain the ghouls...and witches...and zombieponies!" Spike cowered
Jack waved a hoof dismissively
"Anyway, to what do I owe the pleasure?" "We need to get back to the human world, preferably as close to his sister's home as possible" Twilight said, indicating Jonas "Though I can't figure out why we'd need to come to you"
"Ah, well follow me, we'll get this whole thing sorted out in no time"
Twilight and Spike nodded, and followed Jack into a large graveyard, a large hill in the center of the area The hill curved towards the blinding light of the moon, and spiraled into itself
"Here we are" Jack said, stopping the group at a large headstone
"How will this get us back?"
"Easy"
Without another word, he pulled at the stone doors, and they swung open Inside, it was pitch-black
"How is this going to help us?" Spike asked "Easy" Jack replied "Just step through" "I don't think I'll ever understand this place..." Twilight muttered as she, Spike, Jack, and Jonas walked into the darkness
"Where are we going?" "We're almost there, just a little longer" "How is this going to get us back to Earth?" "You'll see- here we are!"
Jack pushed open another set of stone doors, the light blinded the other three as they trotted out into another graveyard
"Alright, hold on"
Twilight, Spike, and Jonas took hold of Jack's coat, and the landscape melted into a blur Jack stopped suddenly, and the four found themselves in a small home, in front of a couch with a very suprised Sara. She lept off the couch and hid behind it
"Twilight? Spike? What are you doing here? Who are these two?" she asked, peeking out from behind the couch
"Sara, was it?"
At her hesitant nod, Twilight continued
"There was a little...incident...with Jonas..."
She immediately stood up
"What happened to him? Where is he?" she demanded
"You might want to sit down, this is going to take a while..."
X X X X X X X
Eve sighed to herself as she sat on her perch at the tip of Mickeyjunk Mountain, allowing her a full view of the destruction and chaos in result of the Thinner Disaster.
"It's lonely at the top, isn't it kid?"
She jumped as another draconequus seated itself into a tea cup.
"Er, who are you?" "Feedback, of course- prankster extraordinaire; now what's a chaos wreaking spirit like you doing up here all by your lonesome?" "Nothing" she sighed "Go away..." "What's the matter? Don't want a little company?" "No..." "Why not?" Eve ignored him and stared down the steep inclines of the mountain
"It's a long way down, isn't it?" "Yes..." she sighed "I know what you're thinking" "No you don't...nopony or no one does..." "I'm sure your mother would..."
Her ears fell against her skull
"Where is she by the way? I would think-" "Shut up..." she said quietly
"-she wouldn't just let you climb a mountain, much less-" "Shut up" she said a little louder
"-one of this height, after all-" "SHUT. UP!" Eve conjured a sharpened candy cane and pinned Feedback against the ground
"Did I strike a nerve?" he asked boredly
She pressed the sharp end of the candy cane against his long neck
"No need to get snippy" "Go. Away." "What? And leave you up here by yourself?" "Don't you think there might be a reason I'm up here?" "Nothing comes to mind"
Eve released her grip on him
"I wanna be alone, go away" "You-"
"Didn't you hear me, you big meanie? Leave me alone! Go away! Bye bye!"
"I will kid..." he finally said "but he'll forgive you, y'know- you just gotta tell him"
The other draconequus dove olympic-style off of an overhang and spun as he plummeted towards the base of the mountain
Eve briefly smiled at his antics, and flopped backwards, laying on the ground
'How did all of this get so screwed up?'
X X X X X X X
A dark grey pegasus stallion with a black mane and tail walked the gloomy streets of Blot Alley, he adjusted his black bowtie as he passed through the narrow back alleys and up to Club 13. He pressed doorbell with a hoof and stood back
The double doors swung open
"Well, well, looky who we got here" "Don't start with me, Petetronic" the stallion growled "Just let me in" He stepped to the side and let the stallion in
He entered the club and sat at the bar
"Hey doc, the usual?" the bartender asked, wiping a glass "I told you not to call me that" he grumbled "Sorry, slipped my mind, anyway- the usual?"
"On the rocks" The bartender walked to the other end of the bar and prepared the drink
"-and I mean ice!" the stallion called
"So, see any blotlings out there?" "It's Blot Alley; what do you think?" "Just makin' conversation..." The bartender hoofed him his drink
The stallion downed the entire drink in one go, and slammed his glass on the counter "Another" "You're going to be sick if you keep downing drinks like that" "Do I look like I care?" The bartender cocked an eyebrow and set the drink on the counter
"Huh, never seen them around before" the bartender commented, spying two the two figures entering the club The stallion turned and saw a purple unicorn and an alicorn bi-ped sitting down at a booth "Dunno" he replied "Never saw them" His left ear flicked as he picked up the conversation the two were having
"-utter waste of time...you sister wasn't very much help..." the unicorn sighed "She seemed nice" "We're running out of ideas..." "Those two kids were cute too, who were they again?" "Jonas- maybe we should just get home, I need to get back to Spike and the library" "Okay, let's go, then"
'How did they even manage to get in?' the stallion thought He set his glass on the bar and got up to leave
Pushing the couple from his mind, he exited through the front doors of the club Upon entering the street, he spied Petetronic and Prescott talking
'The oaf, isn't it his job to be guarding the doors?'
The stallion ignored the two and headed the opposite way down the alley
'Another night alone in a big blue box' he thought idly, staring up at the moon as he trotted through the narrow streets.
X X X X X X X
"I just don't know, Jonas- I'm out of ideas...Sara wasn't able to help us, the only other option I could think of would to ask Princess Celestia..."
Jonas sighed and stretched his wings "Eh, I can wait- I wouldn't want to bother the Princess..."
"Jonas, this is a serious problem! I'm sure she'll want to be notified now that you've turned into- this" He shrugged and laid belly-first on the floor, splaying his wings
Twilight took a quill and parchment in her magic, and began writing- she put the quill down and rolled up the paper.
"Spike!" "On it" the dragon said, hopping down the stairs He took the scroll and burned it with his breath
"That was cool! Can you do it again?" Jonas asked, amazed "Maybe later..."
"Oh...okay"
X X X X X X X
Meanwhile- In Canterlot
"Are they asleep?" Princess Celestia asked, peering at the two fillies curled beneath Luna's wings.
"Yes, they are- the poor things..." Luna replied sadly
"Have you managed to find out what happened?" Celestia asked, her voice dropping to a whisper
"I have not, they were in a state of shock when they first arrived"
"I see...perhaps when they awake we will know"
"Yes, for now- we let them rest"
Celestia nodded and gave her sister a brief hug before leaving the room
Luna laid her head between her forehooves, and heard Unara whimper from beneath her wing
"Unara? Art thou alright?"
She had started squirming now
"Unara?"
Luna moved her wing and saw the child thrashing on the bed
Unara slowly opened her eyes, tears already streaking her face
"Unara?" Luna asked softly
"I'm- I'm fine..."
"Art thou sure?"
"Y-yeah..."
"Thou wast screaming like a filly not ten seconds ago" "Bad memory..." "Ah, what might that memory be?" "It's nothing mo- *ahem* Luna"
Luna smiled as Unara blushed, attempting to hide beneath her wing
"Are you ready to tell Us what happened?" "N-not yet...Oh Luna! It's just so horrible!" she cried, covering her face with her forehooves. Luna soothed both of them as Unara wept.
X X X X X X X
Clockwork hummed to herself as she drove the hammer into the armor, working out the dents and scratches as she checked the internal wiring of the mechanical behemoth splayed out across the work table.
"Just a little longer, and we'll have you all fixed up" the tall mare muttered, re-routing the main diode cores in the chest cavity of the machine.
"Mistress, you'll surely drive yourself to insanity if you continue talking to yourself" a male-voice said.
She looked up from her 'project', and saw a small dog staring up at her from the floor. Almost the entire body of the dog was infused with metal, cogs attached to its chest and small pipes running in and out of its body- pumping out puffs of steam One of its eyes were glowing red, parts of the coat that weren't fused with metal revealed thin, pink scars.
"I'll be fine, dear- I'll need to go out and gather more parts, anyway; would you mind taking care of things here for a few hours?" "Do you think I won't?" "I know you will, I just wanted to be sure" The dog nodded as Clockwork picked up her cloak and saddlebags as she left.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Heartswirl wept as she and her husband sat in front of the casket, sitting in the mostly- empty room of the funeral home.
"She's gone, Steel...she's really gone" she cried "I know, sweetie" the stallion sighed, tears spilling down his muzzle "Why did this have to happen to her? She was such a sweet little filly"
The mare broke into fresh sobs as she looked upon the picture next to the casket, showing a dark blue pegasus filly grinning at the camera lens.
The couple continued to grieve as another pony entered the room, the new mare's entire form was covered, save for her head and neck. She adjusted the red bowtie around her neck as her glowing, red eyes wandered around the room- inspecting the two ponies positioned in front of the casket.
"Perhaps this is not the best time" the mare stated, stopping just behind the two "but would you mind directing me to the nearest recycling facility?"
Heartswirl spun in place and prepared to backhoof the mare, when she took notice of the mare's glowing eyes.
"Wh-what are you?" she asked "A pony, the same as yourself" she replied bluntly "Go away, let us mourn in peace..."
Those red eyes shifted to the casket, then back to the couple
"Do you miss her?"
"Of course we do!" Heartswirl spat
"Did you love her?"
"I think you should leave, Miss" the stallion growled
"Yes or no?"
"How could you even ask such a thing?! Of course we did!"
"What would you do to have her back?" "Anything! Everything!...something..."
"I may have a solution; but you must swear to me, you will not- must not- tell anypony of what I am about to do, and where I am about to take you"
"Why should we go anywhere with you? Let alone trust you?"
The mare's red eyes saddened "Sir, you and your spouse have demonstrated deep love and care for your child, I am already taking a great risk by making this offer- I am not forcing you to choose, merely presenting an option"
Heartswirl bit her lip, and looked to her husband
"I just want her back..." "I know, honey- I do too, but how can we be sure she-" He waved a hoof at the brown mare "-is actually telling us the truth?"
"Sir, both of you have my solemn word- I will complete the task to my best ability"
The couple looked to each other
"This is insane- I can't believe I'm doing this...we'll do it..."
Heartswirl glanced to her husband as they followed the cloaked mare carrying their daughter's casket. The three were trotting down an old, beaten path- a house just a few miles away starting to come into view. The house looked rather run-down, old machine parts littering the small lawn.
"I'm starting to have second thoughts about this..." she whispered, looking to her husband "all of this is ridiculous, we never should have agreed to this" "You're right, maybe we are being silly, there's no way-"
"If you two are having doubts- I can simply take you home, and we can forget all of this ever happened"
Both of them stiffened, and looked to the mare leading them "I- I- this- I can't do this...her...passing...was hard enough...but- but desecrating her- her corpse...we just can't..."
"Ma'am, what I plan to do is not to desecrate her in any sense of the word, I will be able to bring her back, and then she will go with you" "But- but- how will you do it?"
"...that is for you to find out..."
X X X X X X X
"Jonas, I can't take this anymore, I want to go back to having just one horn" Twilight groaned
She and the other Elements were gathered in the library, still stuck in their changed forms
"Yes, I'd like to be able to walk on four hooves again, as well" Rarity said
"An' this horn ain't makin' applebuckin' any easier" Applejack said
"Okay- just hold still" he said, raising his hands "This won't hurt- I think- maybe it will, I don't know"
Twilight and her friends braced themselves as his horn lit up, a large dome went over the six mares, and pulsed as the spell took effect.
The dome disappeared, and the six collapsed to the floor
"At least they're back to normal" Spike said "Will they be okay?"
"They should be fine" Jonas said, picking up Twilight "I'm going to put Twilight in bed, then I think we should take them all back home"
"Right, I'll tell the Princess everything's back to normal" Spike said, taking a quill and parchment in his claws.
Jonas walked up the stairs, his hooves clacking againgst the wooden floor as he placed the unconcious Twilight in her bed, then walked back downstairs.
"I'm going to take Rarity back to the boutique, then Applejack back to Sweet Apple Acres"
The quill dropped from Spike's grip as he stared up at Jonas.
"What?" "Jonas! You remembered!" "What?" "You remembered where Applejack and Rarity live! This is great! I'll add that in the letter to the princess"
Jonas looked at him, confused, as he scratched his head
"...that was weird...well, I guess I'd better get going- see ya Spike" "See ya"
Spike waved goodbye as Jonas ducked under the doorway as he left the library, carrying Rarity and Applejack over his shoulders.
X X X X X X X
Clockwork flicked on the light switch as she trotted to her work table- carefully setting the casket on the floor. The couple hesitantly followed her, they jumped as a rather large machine activated and removed itself from a table.
This...creature...had four, spider-like legs, the larger-still upper body looked like some modified chariot, two yellow lights glowing on the front. The creature's blue, demonic head and two large cannons poked out from under the red chariot.
The mare, for her part, was completely unfazed, staring into the thing's eyes
"Sorry dear, we'll have to finish later, I've got another matter to attend to"
Heartswirl half-expected the creature to get angry, to attack, but it didn't- it simply nodded and walked calmly past them.
Heartswirl looked to the mare, and her jaw dropped as the she removed her cloak, her flank and legs were covered in metal and bronze pipes, her metal legs hissed and whirred as she set the cloak off to the side.
Clockwork
"You may want to leave the room" Clockwork advised "You may not wish to see this, there is a tray of tea in the next room- you may remain there if you wish"
Both of them nodded shakily, and exited the room, leaving Clockwork to her own devices.
X X X X X X X
Rarity rubbed her eyes as she sat up in her bed
'Wait, why am I here?' she wondered 'the last thing I remember was being in the library with Jonas and the others...'
She hesitantly looked down (*Mwah* Goodnight Everybody!) and saw her body had returned to normal.
"Oh joy! Jonas' spell worked!" she cheered, leaping off the bed. She did a small jig as she bounded down the stairs and into her shop.
"Oh dear, I'd better check on the others..." she realized, trotting out of the boutique and down the street.
X X X X X X X
"Heya Toxic! Where've ya been?" Applebloom asked, trotting up to the colt with her two friends.
"Oh, y'know, here and there" he said
"Well, we're headin' over to Sweet Apple Acres- you want to come with us?"
"Sure, that sounds fun" he smiled, following the three fillies down the road.
"So, how'd you get your cutie mark, anyway?" Scootaloo asked.
"Yeah, what's it mean?" Sweetie Belle chimed.
"Well, me and dad were up in Canterlot for this big science event-"
"Wait- why'd you want to go do that? Sounds boring" Scootaloo interjected
"-and then there was this big explosion, see? There was nopony in sight, and there were these liquids all over the street, after I was decontaminated, I found dad again- then I remember finding my cutie mark, and passing out"
"So what's your special talent?"
"I dunno, maybe I was resistant to all those chemicals"
"Ooh! We gotta try that!" Scootaloo exclaimed
"I don't know...Rarity'd be mad if those stains didn't come out of my coat"
"'Sides, alotta those chemicals are poisonous anyhow"
Scootaloo huffed as the four continued on the path to the treehouse.
X X X X X X X
Applejack groaned as she came to, squinting in the bright sunlight streaming through her bedroom window.
"Sis? Y'alright?" came the deep baritone of her brother. "Big Mac? Izzat you? What happened? Where am ah?" "Jonas brought y'all home, good as new" "Wha? How in tarnation-" AJ shook her head "Well at least mah wings an' horn are gone...where is Jonas, anyhow?" "Left a couple hours ago" "Where's Applebloom?" "Off with her friends" "Well...ah guess we'd better get back to applebuckin' then, shouldn't we?" "Eeyup"
Applejack and Big Mac trotted down the stairs and returned to their chores.
X X X X X X X
"Doctor, what's wrong?" Ditzy asked, watching the brown-coated stallion rush around the Tardis as alarms and blinking red lights went off.
"This is bad...this is very, very bad...we're merging" The Doctor replied.
"Merging? Merging with what?"
"The Tardis"
"But...aren't we in the Tardis?" "You remember how I explained time to you?" "Yes" "We, that is, my other selves and I, occasionally run into each other when in the Time Vortex" "How does that work?" "No time! No time! Here he comes!"
The console sparked as another stallion appeared in the room, his coat a dark grey and a pitch-black mane matching his black bow-tie.
"So...which one are you?" Ditzy asked awkwardly. The stallion didn't reply, and ignored the both of them, turning to the console.
Ditzy prepared to approach the stallion, when the Doctor held her back with a hoof. A dead stare locked on the stallion.
"Don't go anywhere near him" he stated coldly. "Why?" "You don't need to worry about it" "But Doctor, who is he?" "It doesn't matter, he's part of my past, that's it" "Why do you want to forget him if he was you?"
"Everytime I regenerate, there's a set of rules I always follow, a promise, if you will" The Doctor replied, keeping his eyes on the stallion "He's the one that broke the promise"
"What I did-" the other Doctor said suddenly "-was for the preservation of peace and sanity, you know that as well as I do" "I know"
"I also carry a message"
"And what would that be?"
"One day very soon, you and I will become one and the same once more" His eyes shifted to Ditzy. "Love her, cherish her, and be prepared for when the time comes"
A single tear slipped down his muzzle as the alarms once again blared throughout the Tardis, and he disappeared.
"What does it mean, Doctor?"
"I...don't know..."
X X X X X X X
Eve's entire frame shook as she slithered discreetly into the library, slipping past the baby dragon resting in a basket and a lavender unicorn dozing in her bed.
She quietly stepped down the stairs and found what she was looking for. A tall, cyan biped with wings and a horn. The Creator himself.
The Creator looked down at her, his expression confused.
"Hello there, can I help you?"
Eve sniffled.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
She burst into tears as her claws wrapped around his waist, the tears flowing freely as he spoke soothingly.
Eve jumped as a white unicorn trotted into the library, stopped, and stared at herself and the Creator.
I held Eve as she cried, soothing her as her tears flowed- Rarity just stared, mouth open in shock.
"Did you need anything?" I asked, turning to her. "N-no...I just came to check on Twilight and the others..." "I took them all home- Twilight's asleep upstairs" "I'll just be a minute then"
I nodded as she trotted up the stairs, after she did, I looked down to Eve.
"Wh-why do you do this, Creator?" she asked shakily. "Do what?" I asked, confused. "Why do you show such...affection? A-after what I did?"
I thought for a moment, then sat down with her.
"Did you have a good reason for what you did?"
"I-I- just wanted to see my mommy..."
"You know what I told you?"
"Yes..."
"And why I said no?"
"Yes" her voice cracked.
"Yet you still tried anyway?"
"Y-yes"
I pulled her into a tight hug.
"Then I forgive you..." "Bu-but why?" she cried in shock. "Because it's the right thing to do, and I never believe in destroying another life, even if they did something worse" "I practically destroyed everything!" "Yes...and I'd like to think you weren't in your right mind, it was about 50/50- and I'll make you a deal" "Wh-what?" she whimpered in fear.
"You help with the clean-up, no magic, and I'll take you to see Cheerilee" Eve sat flabbergasted in my arms, her mood settling on poorly hidden surprise.
"Wh-what? Why?" "I believe in second chances"
She grew quiet, then floated into the air.
"Thank you, Creator...I'll think about it..."
She disappeared from the library, and I sat there, contemplating what to do next. The decision was made for me, however, as Rarity trotted down the stairs.
"How is she?" I asked. "Still a bit tired, she should be fine, Spike as well" the white unicorn replied. "Good to hear" "Yes...might I ask who that was?" "You all saw what happened in the world I had created, correct?" "Yes" "She...she caused it..." I clamped my hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming.
"Rarity, before you say anything, yes, I know, and- I trust her" "Trust her?! She made a mess of everything! And you actually trust her?!" "Yes" "Why?!" "I'll tell you the same thing I told her...because I believe in second chances" "A second chance?! For her?" "If you were in the same position, and had done the same thing as her...wouldn't you want to be forgiven?" "Well...I suppose I would..." she relented "But that shouldn't give her any reason to do something...like that!" "I agree, and I believe I handled the situation" Rarity nodded as I stood up, being careful not to tip over.
'Note to self: change back to human form'
"Well darling, shall we go and check up on the others?" "I think that'd be a good idea" I said, following her out of the library.
X X X X X X X
Silver Bells slowly came to, darkness still clouded her vision as she groaned to herself, trying to sit up.
"Try not to move around too much, dearie" a mare's voice called, gently holding her with a large hoof. "Wh-who are you? Where am I?" "Just a friend, dear- I need you to hold still for a little longer"
She was about to ask why, when a loud drilling sound made itself known, the smell of oil and something burning filling the air. The noise stopped, and heard something being set down.
"Alright dear, try to stand" the mare's voice said, holding her hoof. She planted her forehooves, and wobbled as she stood up, her legs shaking as she attempted to walk. She fell forward, and felt the mare catch her.
"Here dear, drink this, it's my special blend" she said, holding a teacup to her lips. Silver felt the liquid run down her throat, a delicious mixture of honey and...something...
"There we are..." "Where am I?" she asked again.
Silver's vision cleared, and she found herself being inspected by a pair of glowing red eyes, a large brown earth pony attached to them. She held stock still as the large pony went about, testing her reflexes.
"Why is my hoof covered in metal?" she asked. "Your hoof isn't covered in metal dear, it's made out of metal" the mare replied. "Wh-why?!" "You suffered an accident" she replied simply "Come" Silver's mind went into overdrive, trying to figure out what was going on, when she felt herself being hugged very tightly.
"My darling little Bell..." She felt wetness dripping into her mane as she was hugged. "M-mommy?" the filly asked. Heartswirl and Swift Steel wept as they held their daughter, tears of joy spilling as they refused to release their grip.
Clockwork smiled weakly as she left the room, her metal legs clanking against the floor as she went.
X X X X X X X
The Mane-iac was having the time of her life as she leapt across the buildings of Mare-tropolis, the police hot on her tail as they gave chase from below.
"Simpletons..." she spat, leaping across a gap in the buildings.
The sirens of police cars wailed as they followed in the streets, still vigilant to catch their prey.
She crawled into an alley, and took the time to inspect her prize.
'Pitiful diamonds...is this what I have to do to catch their attention?'
She was snapped out of her thoughts as headlights shone into the alley. Five figures hopped out of the truck, each brandishing a weapon.
"What have we got here?" a brooklyn-accented voice called "Anotha robbery?" "Duh, looks like it boss" a fat weasel in a beanie asked. "Yep"
"Fools! You can't catch me!" she stated, ascending the alley with her mane. "Grab 'er, boys!" She heard a psychotic laugh as a razor nearly missed taking a chunk out of her.
"Nice shot" she commented, dodging the bullets being fired at her "Bad aim" "You're the one that's bad, ya crazy mare!" "I'm NOT CRAZY! I'm derranged" "Whateva..." "And besides...I'm not bad...I'm just drawn that way..."
Her mane shot out, forcing the five weasels into unconciousness, then ran off into the night, the city in a panic behind her.
I stepped through the door to the doughnut shop with Twilight and her friends, Toxic, and Spike. I readjusted my suit as I held the door open for the others, I had thankfully managed to revert back to human form, allowing me to walk safely through regular-sized doorways without ducking. Amethyst followed close in a stunning blue dress, accentuating her eyes.
"Dad...can't I come with you?" Toxic asked, standing next to Spike. "Sorry bud" I said, crouching down "but I really don't think you'd like it, there're going to be a lot of grown-ups at this thing, and you'd be bored to tears" "Why couldn't the crusaders come?"
I felt a shiver run down my spine, the mere thought of what the crusaders could do giving me chills.
"Let's...not think of that possible disaster" I laughed, hugging him "behave for Joe and Spike for me, okay?" He nodded hesitantly as I set him down, and left with Twilight and the others.
"So, this Gala then?" I asked, feigning ignorance. "Only the biggest social event of the year, darling" Rarity gushed. "Didn't we already explain this to you?" Rainbow asked, tugging a bit at her dress. "Guess I just forgot" I shrugged.
"Yay! We're here!" Pinkie cheered "Those time skips are quick!" "What in the world are you...never mind..." Twilight sighed. I chuckled as we walked into the palace, the party seeming to just get started as other ponies filtered into the hall.
"So Jonas...what are you going to do?" Applejack asked. "Why are you asking me specifically?" I replied, cocking an eyebrow. "Ah don't know what yer talkin' about" "Never mind" I said.
I spied the band climbing onto the stage, and I turned to Amethyst as they began tuning.
"So...would you like to have something to eat with me?" I asked. "S-sure" she replied.
The both of us left for the food table, leaving Twilight and her friends to their own devices. Given how the Gala ended in the show, I think I'd better watch my back tonight.
"So...um...how've you been?" I asked.
'Really? That's the best you could come up with?'
"F-fine" Amy replied nervously.
"Oh..."
"S-so...uh...things are good with you?" "Yeah..."
'Jeez, I'm horrible at this...'
We collected our food from the table, and wandered together around the hall, admiring the ornate decorations and slowly swelling music.
"Hey Amy..." I said. "Y-yes?" "Would you, um-"
"Hiya!" Pinkie shouted, hanging off my shoulders.
"Ah! Pinkie..." "Hello" Amy said. "What are you doing?" I asked as the pink mare hopped off of me. "Oh, nothing..." she responded, a huge grin plastered on her face. She grabbed the plates from our hands, and tossed them, the ceramic disks flying out of view.
"What do you think you're-"
I was cut-off as I found myself face-to-face with Amy, I looked to the culprit, who was waving sporadically.
"*Ahem* Would you like to dance?" I asked. "If you insist" she laughed.
She and I began a clumsy waltz, I admit I'm not the best dancer. We began by just swaying to the music, my right hand wrapped around her waist as I held her paw with my left, her doing just the opposite.
"Is something wrong?" she asked, her head tilting a little. "No..." I responded "It's just...you..." She smiled a bit, her front canines showing as we danced.
"You know, I've never danced in my life" I said. "Really? You do it so wonderfully" I blushed as we continued, we did a small spin as the song ended, finishing our rather unimpressive dance.
"That was fun" she said "Thank you" "My pleasure" I said, doing a small bow.
She giggled as Applejack made her way over with a cart full of apple-related treats.
"Care fer somethin', love birds?" she grinned. Amy's muzzle turned scarlet as I felt my own do the same. "I...I think I'll just have an apple fritter..." I replied. "I think I'd like the same, please" Amy said. "Sure thing!"
The orange mare hoofed us our fritters, and quickly went on to some of the other ponies in the crowd.
"I got an idea" I said, munching on my fritter "you want to go out to the gardens?" "Oh...um...no thank you..." 'That was unexpected...'
"Alright then" I said, smiling "what would you like to do?" "Um...I don't know..." "Well, there's no reason we have to do anything, right?" She nodded. "We can just talk for a little while"
She nodded again.
"Well...do you have any family?" I asked. "Yes, I have a mother, father, and a few siblings" she responded. "I think I'd like to meet them sometime" "Wh-what?" "Sure, I mean...not unless you want me to..." "I think...we could...maybe talk about that some other time..." "Sure" I smiled.
The band finished their next song, and I walked toward the stage, where the ponies there were just setting up. Octavia sat to the right, tuning her cello, as another was preparing the piano.
"Uh, excuse me" I said.
The stallion at the piano looked up from his sheet music, and his eyebrows shot up as soon as he saw me.
"Y-yes?" "I'd like to play something for her" I said, pointing to Amy from across the hall. The stallion looked to Octavia, who shrugged in response.
"Uh...sure..." he said, a bit confused "who exactly do you plan to-" "It's a surprise- now shoo" I said. Both of them gave me a strange look before leaving the stage.
'Alright...let's see...'
I think I have just the thing!
"Uh...sugarcube? You seein' what I'm seein'?" Applejack asked, spying short, white figures filter onto the stage through a door off to the left of the ballroom. "Indeed, it seems Jonas has something special in mind" Rarity said, keeping an eye out for her date. "Ah don't know...somethin' seems unsettlin' about those red eyes o' theirs..."
After about three dozen of the creatures crawled onto the stage, Jonas stepped up in front of them, addressing the crowd. He cleared his throat and tugged at his collar before he spoke.
"H-hello everypony, I'd- I'd like to dedicate this song to- to- Amy"
Amy's face turned crimson as she stared, her face unreadable.
I tapped the conductor's stand, and all of the turrets stood at attention.
"Begin" I whispered.
With that, four of the turrets stepped forward as the windows swung out, revealing the huge form of a giant turret in the gardens.
Eve withered under the gaze of the Creator, despite his friendly smile. Both of them sat on a wooden bench, the rest of the toons around them eating lunch. What frightened her even more, was that he had taken the form of some fleshy creature, only a short mane atop his head. At least when he was one of the biped-ponies, he had flat teeth.
"I see that repairs are coming along nicely" he said, his eyes idly wandering around the area. "Y-yeah...we still got alotta work to do..." Eve replied, twiddling her thumbs. She thought for a moment, then peered up at the Creator. "What gave you inspiration for all of this? Why?" she asked, almost afraid of the answer. "Why do I draw, you mean?" he replied. She nodded. "There's a few different reasons" he started "First and foremost, it's my job, it's what I do for a living" "They can pay you for drawing pictures?" she asked incredulously. 'Ponies are crazy' she thought. "Where I come from they do...anyway, I enjoy doing it, it makes me happy- it's been that way since I was a kid..." "You were a goat?" He snickered. "No, 'kid' is another word for foal" "Oh...what else?" "I've always wanted to make people smile, maybe even laugh" "Why?" He stared down at her, and she shrank. "Think about it...if you can get somepony to smile at something you made, it just...gives you...a sense of pride, I guess..." "Oh..." "Well, guess we'd better get back to work, huh?" he asked, standing up as other toons went back to work. "I guess...um...actually..." "What is it?" "...could you teach me to draw?" "Of course" he smiled "What brought this on?" Her heart fluttered in her chest. "I want to show...that...I'm...sorry..." He smiled again, and leaned down to run his hand through her messy, white hair.
X X X X X X X
*Knock Knock*
'Wonder who that could be...' I wondered, sighing as I walked to the door.
*Knock Knock Knock*
I gripped the doorknob, and pulled the door open- coming face-to-face with a large Diamond Dog. "Hey...you...Jonas the Human?" he grunted. "Um- yeah, I am. Why?"
He raised a fist, and it sped toward my face. I felt it connect, before I dropped to the floor, clutching my nose in pain.
"What the hell?!" I shouted, feeling blood drip down my face "What was that for?!"
"That..." he responded gruffly, shaking off the pain in his fist "...was for my daughter..." "I didn't do anything to her!" I groaned, getting off the floor. "Tartarus you didn't!" he roared "She left home because of you!" "I think that's hardly my fault" I shot back.
He reached out, and grabbed me by the front of my shirt, my face just a few inches from his sharp canines.
"Stay away from my daughter...or else...get it?" He shoved me backwards as he let go, forcing me to land harshly against the floor.
"No" I smirked, standing up. "What did you just say?" he growled, turning around. "You heard me"
He only grinned, showing all of his canines, as he cracked his knuckles.
X X X X X X X
Toxic watched in horror (and a bit of fascination), along with the other ponies gathering in the street, as his dad wrestled with a brute of a Diamond Dog. They rolled in the street, throwing punches as the kicked up dust and dirt. The Diamond Dog let out a string of swear words as both of them tumbled. Two of the Royal Guard arrived, and broke up the fight, much to the dismay of a few onlookers in the crowd.
