Prologue: Problems and Prophecies

The Elements of Pure Energy

By:
ThePriest
Eridash
and
spu313

A tall, white alicorn stood on the balcony overlooking all of Canterlot, and indeed, all of Equestria. She sighed with happiness, and just a hint of boredom.

Nothing has happened here in a while... She thought wistfully. She almost wished for something interesting to happen. But maybe it’s for the best... The wedding incident had taken place about four months ago, and the denizens of Canterlot were still recovering. She smiled at the memories of their triumph, and how love had defeated tyranny and corruption. As she looked skyward and bathed in the sunlight, she noticed something wrong.

What is Luna doing with the moon? Its barely midday!

As if summoned by thought, the dark blue alicorn appeared on the balcony behind Celestia.

“Luna! The moon is off course! What were you doing?” she accused.

“I’m sorry sister! I took my eyes off of it for seconds!” was Luna’s reply.

“Hurry, we need to fix this,” Celestia said with a stern look.

The two alicorns faced opposite directions, casting their minds about them to retrieve the energy latent in everything around. Using this energy, they stretched their magic deep into the atmosphere and beyond. Luna gripped the moon, while Celestia gripped the sun. They attempted to pull the moon and the sun into their rightful positions, but something was amiss.

“Tia, I-I... can’t!” strained Luna with all her might.

“Me- neither- Gah!”

With a sound like thunder, the magic that gripped the celestial objects snapped. Both sisters fell to the ground and glanced towards the sky.

Looking to the heavens, they saw the stars aligned in a pattern unlike any other. Inside of being strewn about the sky, the stars formed perfect lines that pointed directly towards the sun and the moon. As for the heavenly bodies...

“A solar eclipse...” gasped Celestia.

“Oh no. Those are the signs, aren’t they?” asked Luna solemnly.

“Yes Lulu,” replied her sister, using Luna’s childhood nickname. “Alert the guard, Luna. I have research to do.”

Celestia galloped through the halls of the castle. Downward she went, ever downward. Eventually she came to the place where nopony ever tread, colloquially called the “Hall of Stuff Best Left Untouched.” Formally, it was known as the Hall of the First Tome. But, due to its insane security, all sorts of artifacts were moved down to it. After passing through multiple checkpoints, Celestia came to the final doors, which were guarded with enchantments so powerful that only a fully grown alicorn or the Elements of Harmony could get past them. Opening the doors, Celestia entered the Hall of the First Tome.

One of the many artifacts that had been moved down to the hall was the statue of Discord. Although still trapped in stone, his figure was a horrific sight indeed.

A gravelly baritone chuckling, sinister in manner, filled the room.

Celestia nearly fainted with shock.

“Oh, did I scare you, ‘Tia’?” Discord mocked from within his prison.

“Discord, how-” she began.

“Oh please, don't you think that the Lord of Chaos will reward his most precious pawn? And that’s all that I am, Celestia,” he growled. “A pawn of Utter Chaos himself. The Lord of Destruction. No one matches him in his might!”

“Except for Complete Order,” Celestia mused.

Discord shook with rage within his stone bindings. “DON’T YOU DARE SPEAK THAT NAME TO ME!”

Celestia chuckled. “You hardly hold the means to negotiate.”

“Neither will you when Chaos comes to bring the Final Ending,” Discord said smugly.

“You have been cooped up in that stone for too long, Discord. That’s not how the Prophecy goes.”

“Bahh details. I got bored after I read ‘...and Chaos will rule eternal!’ or something like that,” Discord replied.

“Of course you did,” Celestia sighed. “So, I’ll start from scratch, under the assumption you know nothing of which I speak. True Harmony actually has two opposites: Utter Chaos and Complete Order. While you represent Chaos, you are not Utter Chaos. You are merely a pawn, as you said, used to slightly disrupt Harmony. In fact, you were created almost as a complement to Harmony, for without a little bit of Chaos, True Harmony cannot exist, much in the same way that darkness cannot exist without light. Thus, we are not as much mortal enemies as we once thought we were.

I digress, however. Back to what I was saying. Harmony is the balance between Complete Order and Utter Chaos. It keeps the two in check and spreads peace amongst everything. However, Complete Order and Utter Chaos HATE to be kept in check like that. They are constantly straining, whispering here and there to set seeds of dissent, seeds that are quickly put down. Long before my time, my ancestors settled Equestria and kept Order and Chaos in check with the creation of the Elements of Harmony . However, as the portents have showed, Order and Chaos have escaped their bounds and will now conspire against all those that live in the peace of Harmony.”

“Wait, you’re saying that Chaos and Order are going to work TOGETHER?!” cried Discord.

“Yes I am. For if there is one thing that they hate more than each other, it is being bound. And thus they will set out to destroy all those things which bound them. Soon, Equestria will be beset by the horror that is organized chaos.”

“So essentially, all is lost.”

“No, all is not lost. For I shall consult the First Tome, the compilation of all that was, is, and may be.”

“Oh and what do you think that this vaunted First Tome will give you?”

“Hope,” whispered Celestia.

“Oh wonderful. All of our world is at stake and you look for hope. Goodness you ponies are a brainless bunch.”

Ignoring Discord’s taunts, Celestia turned to the magical force field in the center of the room. After disabling it, she retrieved a key from her mane and unlocked the chest containing the First Tome. She levitated the book out of the chest and opened to a random page. It was blank, as were all the pages in the Tome. “First Tome, the time has come once again to reveal the secrets of the future. Reveal to me the coming of Ordered Chaos and the Prophecy.” The Tome rustled its pages and became silent once more. Then text appeared:

“Thou wisheth to know what may come. Thus shall you be warned: the future is a fickle thing. To Equestria, six shall come. Ponies once were they not, but ponies they shall be when they appear. They will know not of Equestria and it ways, for they shall be as blind to their quest as newborn infants are to the light. However, the fate of Equestria rests with these six. With their will, they will shape and form their own destiny; theirs alone is the power to doom or save.”

A/N: noblemasque was an idiot and forgot his password, so he made a new account: ThePriest. Just explaining the author change. Nnnnnderp lol.

EDIT: We are now opening The Elements of Pure Energy to beta readers. If you're interested, please send us a private message. Thanks!

EDIT2: koopastomper derped out and changed his name to Eridash. Angry face.

Chapter 1: Entrance

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The Elements of Pure Energy

Chapter 1: Entrance

The young man got up from his computer, another glorious day on the wonderful internet! He powered his computer down and checked the clock: “1:00 again?!” Indeed it was 1:00 in the morning, and he had done it again. It just kept happening, and it wasn’t any different than the last time, he already knew that getting up tomorrow was going to be hard, but... "Such is the life of me,” hopping into his bed and pulling the covers over his face, he curled up and began to sleep.

He woke up in the morning...or around noon to be precise, still very much tired and wanting to go to sleep. He knew, however, that today was an important day, he was going to do a job shadow in a local hospital. Getting dressed, he picked out some loose clothing and went to eat breakfast. Nick’s father had already left for work, leaving his mother to cook breakfast. “Good morning mother,” greeted Nick, as he trudged over to his seat at the table.
“You were up late again weren’t you?” She responded.

Damn...how did she know?

She sighed as she handed him an omelette, “Well today is your first day on the shadow. Don’t you think you could have done with a little more sleep?” Nick realized how true this statement was, and ate his omelette sheepishly. Nick checked his watch and realised that he had less time than he bargained for. He hurried out the door and started up his car.

He backed out of his driveway and began down the road; the hospital was on the other side of town, so getting there would take a while. Nick turned on the radio and started to sing along to the songs...quite horribly. It didn’t bother him though, as far as he was concerned, he was a pretty good singer. Suddenly the radio reported a large traffic jam on the road he needed to go. “There is congestion on the 1604 loop westbound, detours are advised, you can divert to highwa-”

Nick turned off the radio and swore under his breath, not only was the fastest route jammed, but now everyone else would divert to that highway and he wouldn’t make it on time that way either. He knew a way that would take him around the outskirts of town though, and that would be his only option if he wanted to make it on time. Exiting the freeway, he saw the empty side road as his only shot.

Nick’s Honda Civic bounced up and down the unmaintained road, sure it was out of the way...but it really was his only shot. It was going to be a long detour, and Nick had calmed down, so he turned on his radio again. “OH THIS IS MY JAM!” he exclaimed happily as his favorite song came on. He began singing and playing the air drums, using his thighs to steer. He had seen his buddy Felix do this tons of times when they drove together, so it seemed fine at the time. The latter proved to be a less thought out decision, as he hit a bump that sent the car veering off the road. “OH SHI-” but he didn’t have time to finish as his car spun out, causing him to hit his head on the window. Nick blacked out.

The dusk began to roll in, and Nick began coming to. “Oww...what the hell...” Then he started remembering what had happened, “Yeah, I’m a genius...so now I’m not only late...” Nick suddenly realised what time it was “AWW DAMMIT,” He yelled, smashing his fist on the dashboard. “I missed the whole thing!” As he groggily opened the car door, he almost fell out of the car; but caught himself on the side of the vehicle before he hit the ground. “Wow, I guess I am kinda beat up...” Supporting himself on the side, Nick finally found his footing and surveyed the area. He was in a wooded area, with many shrubs all around him. He could see tracks in the dirt and dry grass where his vehicle had veered off the road and into the clearing. There was no damage to the car, but dirt was caked on the sides near the wheel. “Well at least this thing is alright...” Getting back into the driver’s seat, Nick contemplated how he would get back onto the road. “I have never taken the Honda off road...or any vehicle off road...” He reached for the seat belt and pulled it into place. As he brought his hands to the wheel, he stopped. Something caught his eye. He looked down and froze: the seatbelt was stained red with blood. “Oh...fuck.” He quickly cupped the side of his head and brought it back in front of him. Flakes of dried blood were in his palms. He checked the mirrors, he had a huge laceration running lateral to his ear. Nick’s pulse started to pick up, how much blood had he lost? Was he in medical danger? Could this get infected?

He brought the car into gear and tried driving. At first he made good progress, rattling over the uneven ground. Getting back onto the road, he headed towards the medical center he originally planned to take his job shadow at. His pulse began rapidly increasing, and so did his stress. Unfortunately this caused his wounds to reopen and he started bleeding again. By now he was driving 60 miles per hour down a rickety old road, the Honda Civic was jumping on the bumps and screeching on the uneven road. Slowly he started noticing that it was getting harder to focus, he was losing too much blood. It became harder to turn, and Nick was getting closer to understeering and going off-road again. The world became dark as tunnel vision gripped his mind. Despite his worsening condition, Nick was able to make out a house on the side of the road. “Oh thank God!” he exclaimed. Perhaps someone could call an ambulance; he was saved!

Nick was seeing double when he finally pulled into the driveway. He was too disoriented and out of his mind to notice that not only was there no car in the driveway, but also that both garage doors were open. If he could have seen the garage, he would have noted that it was empty, but dirty. If his faculties were still operating properly, he would have noticed that all the lights were off. But he couldn’t think straight, he knew one thing and one thing only. Get. Help. It wasn’t strange to him that the door opened on its own with no effort. Nor was it strange to him that the house was the same temperature as the outdoors. “Hell...Hello?” There was an echo, but no response. It began to dawn on him, he was alone. Maybe there was a phone in another room, maybe he could still save himself! Nick tried stumbling into the next room, but finding it impossible to walk, fell to his knees and began to crawl towards the door. Using every ounce of his strength, Nick reached up and turned the door handle. The door creaked loudly in the dark void, revealing a stairway leading into a basement. He saw that it would not lead him to salvation and attempted to turn around. His arms gave way under the ever increasing weight of his body and he fell down the stairs.

I WARNED YOU ABOUT THE STAIRS BRO. I WARNED YOU DOG, Nick’s subconscious screamed at him. His rational thought was draining fast, and he had taken a nasty tumble. Nick felt a burning sensation in his chest and began coughing. He blinked hard and noticed that he coughed up blood; he was hemorrhaging. It began to dawn on Nick that he was going to die here. As the feeling set in, and he began to resign to his fate, Nick heard the sound of water somewhere nearby. The loss of so much blood had depleted Nick’s water supply, and he realized how thirsty he was. He dragged himself on the floor, leaving a trail of blood behind him as he moved forward at a painful pace. It was dark in the basement, but Nick could make out a pool of water. After what felt like hours, he finally reached the edge of the pool and began to drink. The pool was deep and cool, it felt like paradise in Nick’s private hell. The water was so cool and inviting that he lusted for it. He dunked his face in, the coolness sweeping over it, then his shoulders- God it felt so good to cool off! Nick then remembered that he had to breathe, and reluctantly tried to pull his head out of the water. This proved to be more difficult than he had imagined as he tried to pull himself up. The dying young man took deep breaths, inhaling the stagnant air that filled the room. His face hovered inches above the water before the last of his strength finally gave out. He fell into the water. Suddenly, it wasn’t heavenly anymore, it was hell. The water engulfed Nick as he began to sink to the bottom, the weight of his waterlogged clothing dragged him down like an anchor. There was no escaping it now, he was going to die. Nick saw everything go dark, and then he let go.

~~~

The sound of his knuckles repeatedly hitting the unpainted drywall created a beat that was almost tribal. Shocks of pain reverberated up his arm and ended near his elbows. He ignored the pain and kept punching the blank surface with clenched fists. A bead of sweat started forming at the tip of his crow’s nest and made its way down towards his dirty blonde eyebrows. He barely noticed in his hate fueled stupor. The salty mixture slipped down his nose and into his teal- green eye. In a moment of blindness, he flung his arm in a wild haymaker and nicked a protruding corner section of the wall. He grimaced and stuck his hand between his legs, attempting to ease his burning knuckles. I knew punching here would be a problem, he thought to himself. He looked around his room and examined the chest-high dents that roamed from the right side of his door all the way towards his window. I guess there aren’t many places left. He looked down at his hands and examined the damage. More bruised, blackened and bloody fingers to hide. He breathed out a curse and thought about what made him do this. Or who, rather.

His stepfather.

He felt anger brewing up inside of him but quickly bottled it up. He couldn’t afford to go through another episode like that. Next time it might be a broken finger.

He strode over to his laptop with his long legs, covering the entire distance of his room in three steps. The metal legs of the chair scraped along the cement floor of his basement room. When his mother and father separated, he was allowed the entire basement to himself, as a plea from his mother to be nice to his new stepfather, he guessed. He flipped open his laptop and quickly typed in the password. He clicked on the Google Chrome icon and typed in the address to Facebook. Almost instantly bored, he slid the mouse in circles around the page. He let his torso and head fall onto his open laptop and let out an exasperated sigh.

The sound of a new notification went off. He looked up and squinted his eyes to get a better look.

A white square window in the middle of the screen popped up.

“Error 404, The Nexus. Complete Port?”.

He sat up and attempted to exit out; the window refused to close. He rapidly clicked the “X” in the top right hand corner of the window, but it still wouldn’t budge. After attempting “Ctl-Alt-Delete” and “Alt-F4” (to no avail), he sat back and glared at the screen. The window remained open even under the onslaught of daggers shooting from the young man’s eyes.

“Felix! Get up here! Your father just got home!” his mother screeched at him from upstairs.

Felix dragged his hands across his face and started to stand. Making as horrid a face as possible, he flicked off his computer. Instantly his middle finger burst into bright orange and yellow flames. Felix yelped and tripped backwards over his metal chair, which flipped upside down. Unable to get his gangly legs up in time, he twisted and fell face first into his wooden end table, banging his temple just above his left eyebrow. His hand shot up to his forehead, but he could already feel his mind slowing down and his vision blurring. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was his finger slowly extinguish.

~~~

Scipio buckled his chin-strap, checked his mag pouches, and headed onto the field. The sun was beating down and he was already sweating under his chest rig, but he didn’t care. As he walked onto the field, he yelled to his Lieutenant and good friend: “Hey Javi, did you remember to charge the Tornado with propane?”

“Yeah I did, did you remember to get the .25 bbs instead of the .20?”

“Um, yeah, of course...” Scipio cursed under his breath. Wrong bbs again, he thought to himself. As they reached the middle of the airsoft field, Scipio and Javi listened to the briefing.

“To begin today, we will play an infection game. For those of you who don’t know what that is, I’ll explain...”

Scipio zoned out because he DID know how the game worked. He was disappointed that they were starting out with a infection game, but such was life. Airsoft games were usually over in 20-45 minutes anyway, so there was plenty of time to do other game modes. As the briefing came to a close, Scipio fingered his fire selector, changing it from safe to semi auto to full auto.

“Alright human team, make your way to the west city!”

The “city” was a mess of old trailers and rusty sheds. As constructing a real city was quite expensive, airsoft fields often used old scrap trailers and sheds to create a city-like landscape.

Scipio went to the starting point for the humans. The team consisted of 50 players, who would start off facing 10 infected players. The idea was to wipe out the infected, but the infected had an advantage: multiple lives. 5, to be exact. The game was designed to make it almost impossible for the humans to win, and so it was. For most.

Luckily for the human team, and not so luckily for the infected team, 10 of the humans were part of an airsoft group called Task Force 11. Scipio’s friend Javi was the officer in charge of the group, and although Scipio was a new member, he was already accepted as a veteran. TF11 was the only group currently at the field, but even when there were other groups, TF11 always came out on top. The members of TF11 not only trained together, but hung around each other on and off the field. This meant that the members knew what they were going to do without talking, and this made them work very efficiently as a unit.

The buzzer whines. The game has begun!

TF11 immediately whip out their laminated maps of the city and plan a defense structure. They establish fallback points, pair off,and create a loose defense perimeter. As the infected approach, Scipio puts his fire selector back onto semi-auto to save ammo. One kill. Two kills. Three kills. The approaching group of infected retreats to their base to respawn, each having lost a life. Scipio turns to Javi and they share a quick hi-five before returning to their sights.

“Attention players, there are only 10 humans left. The game has 5 minutes left.”

As Scipio settled into his second retreat point, he breathed a sigh of relief. All of TF11 was intact, as confirmed by the tactical radios, and there were only 5 minutes left. We might actually win this, he thought.

Suddenly a horde of 25 infected appears from around the corner of a house. Scipio frantically switches to full auto and starts unloading on the infected, but its too late. He presses the mic key on his radio “This is Skippy! Retreating from fallback point two, horde of infected inbound. Requesting immediate backup.” But even as he finished talking, he hears other pleas for help. Then he hears Javi’s voice drown out all others: “Perimeter is overrun! Head to regroup point Charlie!”

Crap. Not the woods, Scipio thought to himself. The woods next to the city were dense and thorn filled. They were the perfect cover for the enterprising sniper and a good retreat point, but they were such a pain. And Scipio had the longest run to get to them.

He unleashed the last of his mag on the oncoming infected and then started sprinting for the woods.

As he ran through the woods, Scipio caught sight of a small shack in the woods. It looked like a shack from the city, but Scipio had never seen it before. And he had been EVERYWHERE in these woods. Looking over his shoulder, Scipio saw that he had lost the pack of infected. I guess I could check it out...

Walking around the shack, he saw a doorway. When he looked inside, he saw that the cabin was empty and windowless. Well that was exciting... Scipio then started walking away from the shack. He had barely walked 100 feet when a group of infected passed by. Startled, Scipio ran back towards the cabin. He checked over his shoulder and saw that the infected had passed, neither seeing him or giving chase. Starting to slow, Scipio looked forward just in time to see himself trip over the slightly raised threshold of the door. Everything went black as Scipio flew head first into floor.

~~~

“Yea and cut here, too,” the young man pointed at the side of his head. The barber hesitated; he was taking off inches of long blonde hair.

“Come on bro, I’m paying you to do this!” the client sighed deeply.

The hairstylist winced and finished the cut.

“Thanks bro. Looks good!” The 19 year old paid and walked out the door, sporting a new fohawk.

“Now to get this baby coloured! How’s this for stylish, Rebecca?” he muttered to himself. The things women make me do to get in their pants. He sighed. It was all worth it, he thought to himself. Never had he been in a solid relationship. Women were all the same. All that differed was what he had to do to get with them. He smiled. And oh, had he been with them alright.

With hands stuffed in his pockets, Gabriel whistled a tune to himself. He turned down an alleyway and scanned the streets. No one was in sight. Gabe checked behind him.

Completely empty.

Now was his chance.

He inhaled deeply and began to sing.

“No more talk of darkness.. forget these wide eyed dreams! I’m here, with you, beside you, to guard you and to guide you!”

The sound of his smooth tenor voice rang out and reverberated against the cement walls that surrounded him. There was something about the music from Phantom of the Opera, his favorite play, that put him in a great mood. He had an amazing voice too, but nobody knew that except for him. Singing about love? Please, if he told anyone, he’d never hear the end of it!

He slipped from one song to the next, finally coming to his favorite piece, Music of the Night.

“... Let your soul take you where you long to BE!”

With arms outstretched, he belted the last note. In its entirety, it was crystal clear and flawless. He let the pure sound echo and slowly die in the otherwise silent alley. He dropped his arms and let his head hang. Deep down, he wished for this. He wanted life to be a musical, an opera, a tragedy. Just as he took a breath, a stray newspaper attacked his face.

He stood there as the wind kept the paper flapping around his head.

“We all have our masks, don’t we, Phantom?” he sighed to himself as he ripped the paper off his face. He glanced at it. It was an ad for a new play, opening that coming friday. His eyebrows raised as he became more interested. He kept reading.

“Blah blah blah, opening friday, mhmm mhmm, wait... The Nexus? I’ve never heard of that play...” he stood back and pondered. He had done his fair share of research on playwrights and plays, too; probably more than his fair share, to be honest.

All of a sudden a garbage truck began backing into the alley. Startled, Gabe turned around and looked for the exit on the other side of the street. Except it wasn’t there. Starting to sweat, he ran towards the garbage truck to see if he could get around it. Amazingly, the garbage truck was almost snug to the walls of the alley. He started waving his arms frantically and tried yelling to get the attention of the driver. The garbage truck sped up. He ran back towards the wall and attempted scaling it, but there were no handholds. He spun around just in time to see the waste truck slam into his body full speed. Under the force of the truck, Gabe blacked out.

~~~

The auditorium was full again, it always was. Rufus sighed as he continued taking his notes as the professor droned on about invertebrates. “Lacking backbones, these creatures are limited in size, but have adapted well to fit...” Rufus was quite bored, sure he wanted to be a biology major, yes he wanted to go into ophiology, but good Lord this was terrible! “...which brings us to a very prominent kind of invertebrate that has shown the ability to adapt to many conditions,” yes here we go it’s gonna be snakes, it’s gonna be- “Insects.” Rufus groaned in dismay, he didn’t come here to study some bugs! He liked snakes, he wanted to be an ophiologist so he could study them. Snakes had always fascinated him; well most reptiles did, but he had a strange fascination for snakes. Perhaps it was because he used to handle them in High School, he had helped his biology teacher keep the menagerie of animals in his class. Or it was the way that the snakes lived, without legs, but still slithering along, feared, powerful, and very mysterious. So he sat in his seat and continued to take notes on insects, wishing that the professor would get onto snakes.

Then he realized something: snakes had backbones. Snakes are vertebrates, therefore they won’t be covered today. Rufus felt really embarrassed that he had let a simple mistake like that fool him into thinking that snakes would be covered today; he blushed but was thankful that he kept to himself, he couldn’t stand to be mortified like that. He didn’t even notice the other students starting to pack up as the professor dismissed the class, but as the room started to empty and he realized what happened, he became happy. Rufus was about to go to work, and he loved his job.

“Hello Rufus! On time as usual I see,” a zoo keeper addressed the college boy, “I don’t even have to ask if you are ready, you’re already dressed for work!” Rufus nodded. He wasn’t a man of many words, but he did what he had to. “The snake exhibit needs to be cleaned, simple stuff, feed them and change their water, the works.” The zookeeper led Rufus to the reptile house and to the hall of snakes, it was a large exhibit, and Rufus’ favorite part of the complex.

“There she is,” he said pointing to the majestic Burmese Python coiled inside of her enclosure, “She’s your favorite isn’t she?” Rufus nodded again. He had handled many snakes in his day, most of them pythons, their sheer power alone made them respectable, fearsome, and awe inspiring creatures. “Well I’ll leave you to it, do what you do best.” The zoo-keeper began whistling and singing as he walked away, leaving Rufus in the privacy of his lady.

Going into the exhibit, he began cleaning the shallow pool where the snake could bathe and drink, the snake looked on flicking her tongue at him as if having a conversation with the man. “Hello Sabrina, how are you?” The snake flicked her tongue again and began to move around in her cave. “Oh I know it must be boring for you to sit around in there all day but believe me I know how you feel.” The snake began to move around the enclosure, nearing the pool as if intrigued by what Rufus was doing, “I have to sit around in a classroom all day listening to professor talk forever about boring things. Sometimes I’m jealous of you...” The snake submerged itself in the water, which Rufus had begun to supplement with fresh water.

Rufus left that enclosure and proceeded to the many other exhibits, doing likewise. Reaching the end of the hallway, he stopped at the final enclosure, housing a Black Racer. “Coluber Constrictor,” Rufus read aloud, glancing at the placard beneath the glass, he got ready clean the final exhibit when something caught his attention, “...often found to be 3-4 feet in length. Nonvenomous and a native species of the Nexus.” Rufus was confused, but it turned to anger, some kid had scribbled on the sign. “Some men just want to watch the world burn...” Rufus hurried to finish the final exhibit, doing the same procedures as he had done with the previous exhibits. However as he was cleaning the water, he slipped. He had gotten poor footing and reached out to grab something. He grabbed the rock that the snake was coiled on, startling the creature. It did something that was completely out of character, it bit Rufus in the arm.

Rufus grunted out in pain, and panicked for a bit, but calmed down and remembered that Black Racers were non venomous. He was apprehensive as to this strange behavior, but decided to just leave it be. “I’m already done here anyways,” he said and gathered up his supplies and left. As he walked back to the changing room, he noticed that it was getting harder to walk. He got dizzy spells, and his vision began to blur. “Ohhhh what the heeeeeelll?” His speech also started to slur, but the door was in sight. He lost control of his legs in front of the door, and managed to drag himself to the door. Reaching up, Rufus was able to open the door. Maybe there was someone in there, someone who could help. He opened the door to the zoo-keepers’ lounge, but found himself staring into the black abyss of where the lounge should have been. His strength finally left him and he sat immobilized but conscious. Suddenly he could make out a form in the darkness, small and moving towards him. “Sa-Saaabrinnna?” It took serious effort for him to say the python’s name, but she was there. The Burmese python began coiling itself around the young man, he could feel her solid muscles tensing and easing as she worked her way around him. Rufus was mortified, but he was paralyzed, unable to move at all. This is the end, why does it have to be snakes? But rather than giving the grip of death, the snake was dragging him through the door, inching him through it. As his conscious finally started to fade from him he could feel the snake release him, and he was suddenly gripped by the sensation of falling, the door way appearing to move away faster and faster, Sabrina with it.

~~~

Thud!

The student looked up from his book and rolled his eyes. Stupid jocks. This is a library, for crying out loud. Its supposed to be QUIET. Bloody hell. With that small, inward display of emotion out of the way, the young man turned his grey eyes back to the book. It wasn’t a particularly good book. It wasn’t a fun book to read. But it contained knowledge, and knowledge was what he sought. Jonathan smiled to himself. Even though the book was boring him to death, he was learning. And learning brings knowledge. With the aforementioned knowledge, Jonathon could do a whole host of things. He could act strategically, removing obstacles before they posed a major difficulty. He could also act tactically, taking out issues as they presented themselves. Armed with knowledge, Jonathan was becoming a master of both careful planning and “winging it.”

Yes, even though the idiots in the row next to him were annoying as hell, Jonathan was happy. Because even though those guys were the peak of physicality, strong and tall, this average kid actually had the upper hand.

“Look at that dweeb, over there studying. Lets screw with him!”

“Keep your voice down dude, he might hear you!”

“Nah brah, he’s way too interested in that book.”

Jonathan sat, absorbed in the book and his own thoughts. He was oblivious to the assholes the row over planning to screw with him. Continuing his reading, Jonathan noticed a random and inexplicable line of text in his book about Roman battle tactics:

“The Nexus. It is... The bridge. It is the bridge that connects us all.”

Confused, Jonathan read the line again. And again. Going through the it the fourth time, Jonathan simply could not comprehend what it was saying. Here he was, in the middle of a chapter about Caesar's defeat of Vercingetorix in Alesia, and this otherwise boring but informative book was spouting nonsense about something called a Nexus that was a bridge! Preposterous!

Jonathan started to get up. Looking up from his book, he saw impending doom as the two jocks that had been making noise before prepared to throw some books at him through the library bookcase.

“Hey! What are you blokes doing?”

Startled by Jonathan’s question, the two brutes accidentally pushed a little too hard on the bookcase, causing it to fall. Jonathan could only watch in horror as the bookcase fell on top of him, showering volumes of historical books. Then, everything went black.

A/N: Yes, you read it correctly. There are no ponies in this chapter.

Also, we still need beta readers. If you're interested, just pm this account or spu313. We'll send you a link and then you can read the next chapter a couple days early, provided you give us some feedback.

Chapter 2: The Nexus

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The Elements of Pure Energy

Chapter 2: The Nexus

Nick was dead, he knew it...but, “How do I know that I am dead?” He opened his eyes, and no longer was he in a pool of water, but a strange place. He felt a floor beneath him, but it was the same color as the space all around him, a strange green. “What... I know I’m dead but where am I?”

“Are you really dead?” A loud booming voice called out

Nick jumped up in surprise, “Who are you?”

A large figure stood behind him, dressed in a long flowing robe. “I am the guardian of this realm, it is called the Nexus.” Nick stood perplexed, what did this all mean?

“All right...sir...but what am I doing here?”

The guardian turned around and began walking to a series of bright lights in the distance, “It seems as though you entered the Nexus through one of the very few portals still open on the root world.” Nick was still confused. Sensing this, the guardian spoke once more, “To answer your question, no you did not die...I intervened.”

Nick was suddenly very much elated, he got another shot at life, he wasn’t dead! A big smile appeared on his face as he bowed to the guardian, “I am in your debt, but why did you do this?” The old man turned towards Nick and lowered his head, the tone of his voice changing from majestic and sage-like to melancholic.

“I am the guardian of the nexus, and as is such, I am responsible for watching over the many universes that can be accessed through this ethereal plane.” He bowed his head, “There was a time when I had many assistants who would help me, going to each of the worlds through these windows and protecting them from evils that tried to taint them. Alas, that was many years ago, all of my assistants have died, or have otherwise been incapacitated. It has been years since anyone has crossed through one of these portals.” The guardian turned towards Nick, a sudden gleam of hope lit up his eyes. “I had hoped that you would help me where my assistants have left off.” Nick suddenly felt really uncomfortable, on one hand it would be amazing to help this guardian protect worlds and stuff, but on the other hand, they had all died!

“I don’t know...” Nick began shuffling uneasily in his place, “What if I can’t do it? I’m just one guy, and you saw what kind of state I came to you in! What happens if I die?” The wise Guardian had anticipated such a question and smiled as he answered, “Fear not, I will construct a team for you, you won’t go it alone like my previous assistants. As we speak, your future comrades approach the time when they enter the Nexus and join you.” Nick felt somewhat relieved, he liked doing things with friends, it helped calm him even in the toughest situations.

“All right,” Nick stepped forward confidently, “What would you have your assistant do?” Nick reasoned that he owed the guardian his life, so he would have to serve him for a while.

Nick became startled as both he and the guardian both lifted up, and flew towards the lights, landing in front of them. “There are many worlds that were self sustaining in their order and needed no help to protect them at one point. This world was one such world, but it is self sustaining no longer.” The guardian beckoned to a light. “This world is called Equestria. It is a land basked in harmony. This may change, however, as some unforeseen forces threaten this harmony and may ultimately tear the world apart.”

Nick grew cold, was this powerful being about to entrust the world to his care? What if he should fail? “I don’t know if I can handle such a large burden,” Nick started uneasily, “I don’t know if I could do it alone, your previous assistants have all died as well, what if I fail?” The guardian turned towards him, and calmly spoke.

“Fear not, I am building a team of humans to go with you, you shall lead them in combat against this strange force.” Nick felt even more pressure placed upon his shoulders, The guardian turned towards Nick. “Your teammates will arrive over the course of the next few days you spend in Equestria. I am also giving each of you tools that will help augment your abilities and be an important asset in the battles ahead.” The guardian took out a pair of goggles, which began to levitate and float towards Nick. “These are yours, I think that it would be best that you learn how they work through experience, as each of the Phylacterii behave differently depending on ownership.”

Nick placed the goggles on his face, fitting them comfortably over his eyes, the lenses were tinted slightly in a bluish shade. “So our team is going to have tools that help each member...”

"Not tools, Phylacterii. In your native tongue, talismans. Phylacterii is the plural of Phylacterium, or talisman. They are more than tools."

Nick scanned everything around him, now appearing slightly bluer than before. The guardian turned towards Nick, and looked him straight in the eyes.

“Each of the members on the team you are going with, yourself included, has a specialization. You have latent abilities that are going to help you. It is up to you to help each other realize these abilities and help each other grow in power.” Nick felt really good after that: super powers! Who doesn’t like super powers? Things were looking up for Nick, regardless of the danger that he was about to face. “Are you ready to enter?” He beckoned towards the light, “Simply pass through this window, you will be helped from there, trust me.” Nick wasn’t sure how it would work, all he knew was that he had a great responsibility on his shoulders, he was going to lead a team, save a world called Equestria, and be a hero. It was like a dream come true, and he was going to seize the day!

“I’m ready.” Nick breathed deeply and cautiously and put his hand through the light, it felt weird, like something was pulling softly on his arm. Closing his eyes, he took the step forward gingerly, the light enveloping him. Then everything went black.

~~~

All was silent around Felix. He opened one of his eyes to check his surroundings. He only saw greyness and mist. He rubbed his eyes, rolled over and sat up. Before him stood a tall robed figure. His (or her, he couldn’t tell) arms were crossed stoically.

“Who the hell are you?” Felix demanded.

No answer.

Felix cursed and stood up. Standing a few inches away from the figure, he stared directly into its eyes.

“Who are you and where am I?”

The robed figure pulled back its hood, revealing pale blue skin with blank eyes. The figure was distinctly male, but he did not have any hair upon his head, not even eyebrows. Felix’s nostrils flared with disgust and fear, and he swung his right arm in a quick uppercut. Immediately the man grabbed his wrist, twisted him around, and punched him in the side. The force of the punch sent Felix flying, finally rolling to a stop 20 yards off.

“Shit!” he yelled, then pushed himself off the ground and brought his fists up, ready for another go.

“Do you even know why you fight?” asked the man solemnly. The voice reverberated all around him. Felix spun on his heel.

The robed man was behind him, arms crossed again.

Felix paused and slowly put his fists down. “You’re not here to hurt me?”

“Of course not. Does your side ail you?” he asked in his deep, bass voice.

Felix lifted up his shirt and checked his skin. Where he should’ve had bruised skin and maybe a broken rib, he felt nothing.

“No,” he said, in complete awe.

“I am the Guardian of the Nexus. This-” he lifted his arms “-is the Nexus. The trunk that connects the roots to the branches, so to speak.”

“What... wha- am I in a coma?”

The Guardian chuckled softly and shook his head. “You have much to learn, about yourself and of those around you. I would suggest learning to control your anger first.”

“I can control it!” Felix yelled with clenched fists.

“You think your anger fuels you, that it aids you when you need it. But your anger does not help you, it controls you.”

Felix grunted and cast his eyes towards the ground.

“You will learn in time, or perish along with the rest of them,” the Guardian smiled.

Felix’s eyebrows raised. What is he talking about?

“Here, you’ll need this.” He handed Felix a watch-type object “It is called a Phylacterium,” the Guardian placed it into Felix’s open palms.

“A phlem-terryum. Seriously, I’m not gonna remember that. Wait, why the hell am I even talking to you? I must seriously be screwed up, up here,” he gestured towards his temple.

The Guardian chuckled. “The last one did not know what it was either. In your tongue, it is known as a talisman. Now, we have delayed for too long. If you would,” the robed man swept his arm towards a hatch floating in mid-air. Felix stepped up to it. Eyes full of concern, he looked towards the Guardian for the last time.

“You’ll do just fine, son,” assured the man, but in a voice that sounded just like his father. His real father. Suddenly his forehead, right above his left eyebrow began to hurt. He winced in pain but ignored it and opened the hatch. The darkness that swept him in was blacker than night.

~~~

Pain. Immense, insane pain wiped out all of Scipio’s thoughts. Then the pain receded, becoming a memory of what it once was, but still there. Scipio found that he could think again. He felt immaterial, nonexistent. But no sooner did he think that then he felt himself again. He was in a fetal position, with his eyes closed. Forcing his reluctant body to respond to his will, Scipio opened his eyes and took a look around. It was dark and misty, he couldn’t tell whether he was even on a material plane. Where was he?

After getting up, Scipio started walking around. “What is this place?” he wondered aloud.

“I could answer that with words for you, but it would take many years. Allow me to show you.”

Scipio whirled around: “What? Who was that? Show yourself!”

A voice called out: “Young one, you trust too much on your eyes. I am material and nonmaterial, existent and nonexistent. I choose not to appear before you now because you rely too much on your eyes. You have yet to learn that your ears are your greatest power, follow your ears.”

“My ears?! Really?”

“Yes. Follow your ears, Scipio. Come to the doors.”

The old man continued to talk about many things. Scipio could not make sense of it but followed his ears. He came to to doors, so vast that he could not see the tops nor the bottoms nor the hinges. He pushed on the doors. They budged not. Frustrated, he pushed harder. And harder. And harder. He put his ear up to the door as a last resort. Stepping back, he looked at the door. His anger rising, he looked at the door and yelled at the top of his voice: “WHY WON’T YOU OPEN?” The doors swung inward silently.

“REALLY? All I had to do is yell? This is stupid!”

“Stupid it may seem now, Scipio, but later all will be revealed. Pass through the door, Scipio. See what awaits on the other side.”

“I’m not dead, am I?”

The voice chuckled. “Indeed you are not, far from it in fact. You have been called because a world is in desperate need of your powers.”

“Powers? I’m afraid you got the wrong guy.”

“The world chooses its own heros. You and 5 others have been called. Go through the doorway, seek the portal that has the most pleasant sound to you.”

Scipio stepped through the doorway. Immediately the space that was previously blank was transformed into a constellation of lights. Stepping close to one, he heard a horrid screech of pain. Going to another, he heard fingernails scraping down a whiteboard. Scipio walked from light to light, hearing horrid sound after horrid sound. Finally, after what seemed like ages, he came to a light that had the pleasant sound of trickling water. Looking into it, he saw ponies and unicorns and pegasi cantering about. “Horses? No wait... Ponies? Technicolor ponies? Really?”

“It matters not what they look like, what matters is that their world is pure. They are undeserving of the horrible fate that is about to rain down upon them, and you need to help save them.”

“Look Mr. Mystic Guy. I’m cool with saving people and all that stuff, but, come on bro, I don’t have any skills with fighting fate and crap like that. Also, I’m human. I don’t even look like them.”

“You will learn what you need to there. Also, as to your human problem, once you enter the world you will be transformed into a pony, which will -”

“Woah slow down dude. I’m being turned into a technicolor pony. Is that permanent?”

“No it is not permanent. It will last as long as you are in that world. Also, you will need one more thing before you are sent into the world. You will need a Phylacterium.”

“A what now?”

“In your language, a talisman. Take these,” the mysterious figure said, handing over a pair of sick earphones.

“Noice! What’s that say? Dj-Pon3? Pon3? Pawn-3? Pwn-3? Oh. Pony. Duh. Internet language. What is the point of having these?”

“Since your ears are your greatest asset, these will augment this. They will block out harmful sounds and amplify things that you need to hear. They will play appropriate music for the state you are in. Essentially, they will serve to warn you through your ears.”

“So with these on I have super selective hearing, and music plays like my life is a movie?”

“In so many words, yes.”

“Cool. I still don’t see how these will help me defeat this great evil you speak of...”

“That will be revealed in time. Now, Scipio, go.”

Scipio’s vision went black for the second time.

Scipio awoke in yet another dark place. This time, however, the pain had finally faded and he was feeling great. Turning around, he saw a white light. He walked to it and saw through it a series of shifting images. Looking around and seeing pure darkness everywhere else, Scipio decided that he must enter the light.

“Well here goes...”

The darkness reached out to him once more.

~~~

Gabe woke up coughing. He rolled onto his side and felt his lip. Warm blood. He stretched out his legs and inhaled deeply for a few moments before opening his eyes. He was surrounded by mist.

“What the heck?” he questioned. Gabe sat up and felt his stomach and ribs. Nothing was amiss.

Even his shirt was unscathed.

“Hello? Is there anyone here?” he asked the silence.

He was answered with an organ playing a tremendous and terrible tune. It was as beautiful as it was nerve racking and spine chilling. Gabriel walked towards the origin of the music. After a few yards it cut off. In from of him, a pillar of mist rose from the ground and dissipated, leaving a tall man dressed in a tuxedo in its place. The man swirled around, his short cape billowing after him. Gabriel gasped and looked up at the mysterious man’s face: it was covered completely by a white mask. All that showed were the man’s eyes. They were as black as night.

“I, too, like a dramatic entrance, Gabriel,” the man said in a soft whisper.

Gabriel bowed low. “It is nice to finally meet, Phantom.”

The man chuckled. “Oh no, I’m not the Phantom. I am the Guardian of the Nexus. This-” he whispered softly “-is the Nexus.”

The mist lifted away to reveal a theatre hall. Gabriel and the Guardian stood on the stage, lit by the blinding theatrical lights.

Gabriel had to force himself to exhale. It was the famous French opera house, the Palais Garnier.

“Is this... the Palais-” Gabriel began.

“Garnier? Sadly, no. I previously stated that this was the Nexus. I’m afraid you didn’t hear me...” interrupted the Guardian.

“No I heard you... I just, I don’t understand...” sighed Gabriel. “What is the Nexus? Why am I here? Am I dead? Or unconscious?”

“You are here because this is the resting place for those who traverse worlds. The Nexus is like the curtain that separates the audience from the stage. Only a few like yourself are able to break this Fourth Wall,” the Guardian explained.

“So there are others like me?”

“Like you? No. You are unique, that’s why you were chosen. But there are more. Five others to be exact. But before the curtains close, you’ll need a Phylacterium.”

“A wh-”

“It’s a talisman!” the Guardian growled, throwing his hands up in exasperation. Then he sighed heavily, “The others before you did not know either, I don’t know why I keep bothering...” he trailed off.

Gabe stood there awkwardly with his hands folded.

“Ah, yes. We have lingered for too long. Here,” said the Guardian as he lifted his hand to his face and removed his mask. The piece separated from his face with a hiss.

Haha, just like Darth Vader... Gabriel thought to himself with a snicker. Shut up! Pay attention! he scolded himself. The now faceless Guardian handed him the mask.

“Hopefully one day you will not need any type of mask, but until then, this will serve you.”

Gabriel took the mask, which shifted in his hands. He placed it against his face. The mask molded to his face, but left open areas for both his eyes and his lower mouth. Then it slid down his neck with the consistency of slime. He shivered in disgust. Finally the mask came to a rest at his collarbone in the form of a necklace.

“Sweet brah,” he muttered, reverting back to his public personality.

“Now it is time to bid farewell,” this time, the Guardian bowed to Gabriel. The lights faded, the curtains closed, and Gabriel was alone in the darkness.

~~~

When Rufus came to he was laying on his back. He used his arms for leverage as he pushed himself off the ground. “Ugh...what?” He tried to recall what had happened, “That snake, the bite...but...black racers aren’t venomous...”

“That is correct, Rufus.” A loud voice suddenly called out to him from behind. Rufus whipped around and came face to face with a tall figure, snakes coiled at his feet. Rufus shrank back, who was this guy? “There is no need to fear me Rufus, I mean you no harm.” Rufus calmed slightly, looking around. He realized that he wasn’t in the shed, or even in the zoo for that matter. Everything appeared strange and misty, like there was no floor and the plane he was standing on went on forever into the horizon.

“W-where am I? A-am I d-dead?” Rufus’ pupils dilated and he began to panic once more.

“No Rufus, you are very much alive. Welcome to the Nexus!” At that, Rufus’ mind snapped back to the sign in front of the Black Racer exhibit. He looked down and saw a Black Racer coiled around the guardian’s arm. Seeing that the two were looking at each other, the strange figure spoke, “I assume you have already met.”

“Already met?” Rufus started, “THAT THING TRIED TO KILL ME!” Rufus was very upset indeed, his nostrils flared and he was shaking his fist.

“You should know more than anyone that the Black Racer is non-venomous. Look closer.” Rufus approached the strange man and the snake, and noticed something that he should have back at the exhibit.

“That’s...not a Black Racer...that’s...” Rufus saw that it looked like the snake in question, but something was different: there were strange markings on its back. “I have never seen such a specimen!” Rufus grew very intrigued. He observed the triangular golden patterns running down the snake’s back. “What kind of snake is this? Who are you? How do you have these snakes at your beck and call?”

The man retracted his hand, the snake slithered up his arm and coiled around his shoulders. “I am the guardian of the Nexus, the bridge between many worlds. You were brought here for a reason, Rufus.”

“So you were behind putting the snake in the exhibit? Writing on the signs?! ALMOST KILLING ME?!” Rufus’ was very perturbed, rage filled him for all those inconveniences. Now he was in the Nexus or whatever, wherever that was...

“I’m sure Boris meant no harm.” The guardian patted the snake’s head; “You are needed. It is for a good cause that you are here.” The guardian turned, and pointed to a series of lights off in the distance. The snakes hissed and coiled in response, Rufus found it otherworldly and mesmerizing. “You have friends on the other side who need your help Rufus.” Rufus froze. Oh no, other people. “Your friend Gabe is among them” Now Rufus really was upset, He was so different; they didn’t get along well. They weren't really friends? “You are going to help him and four others save the world they are in.” Rufus’ heart dropped,

“S-s-save the world? With five other guys I don’t know?” he was sweating bullets, “I-I’m not s-s-sure I can do this...” His eyes darted everywhere looking for the door, he wanted out.

“Fear not, Rufus. I am not sending you into this task unprepared.” He beckoned to one of the snakes. A large burmese python uncoiled itself and slithered towards Rufus. “Sabrina?”

“I see you two have already met.” the guardian noted. The python curled around his body and began to glow. It got so bright Rufus had to shut his eyes. When he opened them, Sabrina wasn’t coiled around him any longer. He looked at his arm and found a golden snake coiled around it like an armlet. It covered his whole forearm, but felt really light.

The guardian explained, “That snake is now your Phylacterium, or talisman. It will help you on your quest. Each one of the people you are about to meet has such a tool assigned to them. These tools will aid you on your quest, as they help enhance your powers.” Wait, powers? Ok, this is getting much cooler. “Your friends are waiting for you, Rufus. Enter through the gateway and join them.” Nick suddenly found himself standing in front of the gateway amd looking into the light. He looked back at the guardian and the snakes.

“Thank you,” he said. Rufus then turned around and stepped into the portal. It became exceedingly bright, so bright that he had to cover his face. Then darkness took him.

~~~

Jonathan awoke in a strange place. Where am I?

“Ades in Nexum, Jonathan.”

“Dices Linguam Latinae?”

“Si. Dico Linguam Latinae. Nonne dices?”

“Minus. Quid dicemus Latinam?”

“I can speak English if you so wish, Jonathan.”

“Marvelous. Honestly, you were stressing my Latin speaking skills. I’m much better at German. But if we can stay in English, that would be... Most advantageous to the conversation,” Jonathan said in his crisp British accent.

“Of course, Jonathan. Now, I assume you have some questions?”

“Assumptions have a tendency to make an ass of you and me. But yes, I have questions. Who are you? Is this actually the Nexus? If so, what is its purpose? Where exactly is it? Why was there that wonky statement about the Nexus in the book I was reading?”

“Some of your questions I will answer now, others will be explained later. The book was simply a means of transporting you here. The Nexus is not on any plane of normal existence. You will not be able to “find” it, you must be summoned. The purpose of the Nexus, is, put simply, to connect worlds and dimensions. Now, to answer the question you left unasked, you are here because another world has need of you skills.”

“Skills? What skills?”

“Your mind, Jonathan. You and five others have been summoned, as you alone can save this world from eternal misery. Look into this book, Jonathan, and view the world you must save...”

“Equines. Multi-colored horses. That’s preposterous, they don’t exist like that in nature.”

“This is a different world than your own, Jonathan. Its basic laws are the same, but its other laws... Let us just say there is a large difference. When you enter the world, you will become a pony like those you see before you.”

“I see. What am I facing? How will it be defeated?”

“That information cannot be shared with you right now. Come child, our time is running out. Before you leave, I must give you one last thing.”

“Which is?”

“Your Phylacterium.”

“Oh. Why would I have need of a talisman? And what is it?”

“Finally! Someone who knew what it was! Anyways, your talisman will help defend you in times of trouble and forewarn you to prevent trouble. Here it is.”

A pipe popped into existence in front of Jonathan.

“A pipe? Smashing. Never smoked one of these before... Granted, I’ve never really smoked before... Or drank... I really need to get out of my books and studies sometime...”

“This pipe is special. It will not give you a nicotine addiction or rush, it is a tool in your arsenal that will aid you in your journeys. Now it is time for you to go.”

“How do I go?”

“Enter the world of the book.”

“How do I do that?”

“The way you do it normally.”

“Oh. Reading. Well, here goes...”

Jonathan opened the book to read:

“Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together, and created harmony for all the land...”

All-enveloping darkness took Jonathan.

A/N: Kudos to anyone who got the reference to Season 1, Episode 1. I

Also, as I said in the blog, there will be an explanation as to how they become ponies, the answer will not simply be "magic." But that won't come any time soon, the characters have to discover it themselves. If you wanna beta read for upcoming chapters, message me. Please!

Chapter 3: Through the Threshold (Part 1)

View Online

The Elements of Pure Energy

Chapter 3: Through the Threshold (Part 1)

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

“...what am...do with...library?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

~~~

"Hello? Are you alright?”

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

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

“Eeyyup,” came the sheepish reply.

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

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

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

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

“Eeyyup,” was the reply once again.

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

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

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

“Holy shucks....” he swore.

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

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

Applejack and Big Macintosh hoisted Felix to his hooves.

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

“Nnnoope.”

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

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

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

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

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

“Well, I’m from-”

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

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

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

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

“Cloudsdale.” she said and kept trotting.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Twilight and Applejack gasped and ran over to him.

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

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

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

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

“Uhhh, Felix...” began Applejack.

“SHUT IT, BLONDIE!” he yelled.

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

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

~~~

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yea sure Rainbow Dash, whenever you wan-”

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

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

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

Chapter 3: Through the Threshold (Part 2)

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The Elements of Pure Energy

Chapter 3: Through the Threshold (Part 2)

Felix awoke to the sound of hushed murmuring and trotting hooves on a hardwood floor. “Ahh buck, my stomach!” he groaned loudly. This was followed by a yelp and a flurry of winged activity.

“Its okay, Fluttershy. I think he’s just hungry,” said a familiar voice. Who is that? Starlight? Skylight? Celestia, what’s her name? ….And who the hay is Celestia?!

Felix moaned and attempted to sit up, pushing the heavy comforter off of him. Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of a mirror. His jaw dropped and he did a double take. The stallion in the mirror was lean, but very large. His coat was a glossy golden-yellow, and his mane was red orange, like a slow fire. His eyes, his eyes were Felix’s: an intense teal green. Felix gasped and stepped backward. As he did, glorious and magnificent wings unfurled behind him.

“Whoa there big guy, don’t want to spill your breakfast!” said a saucy voice at his back. He turned and was greeted by a cyan mare with a mane like a rainbow. If Felix’s jaw could’ve dropped any farther, it probably would have hit the floor.

“Good morning, ‘Mr. Mayor’,” she winked. “The name’s Rainbow Dash, if you were wondering. I hear your friend calls you Felix? I like it; sounds... dangerous,” she winked again and set down his food, then flew off in a flurry of giggles and feathers. For some strange reason, Felix was slightly aroused. Sure wish I had pants, he thought to himself.

Wait, friend? What friend? No way it could’ve been Applejack or What’s-her-face, he had basically screamed at their faces. Speaking of which, what the hell happened? He had so many questions, he didn’t know where to start. But for now...

He slurped down the concoction as fast as possible, and even though it was almost boiling hot, he didn’t feel any pain when it went down his throat.

“Ahh, that was good,” Felix said to himself.

“Oh, you really think so? I-I... I made it myself, it helps ponies recover,” said the most timid little voice he had ever heard. He looked around and saw a pink mane sticking out from behind a corner of the room.

“Yea, it was great... thanks!” he replied. “And you are...?”

“Oh, my name’s Fluttershy, but you can call me whatever you want...” she gradually lost volume until she was barely speaking in a whisper.

“Uhm, thanks, but I’ll call you Fluttershy, if that’s your name,” Felix chuckled. He took a step towards her and she immediately vanished with a yelp. Felix rolled his eyes. I’ll never understand women, even when I’m hallucinating.
He headed towards the arched threshold of the room he slept in and realized that he was no longer in the town library. I must be in someone’s house, he thought.

As he made his way around the home, he heard the sound of several voices conversing and arguing. He pushed open the door to the kitchen.

“Ahh! The Mayor is awake! Please, come in!” said the purple pony (sweet Luna, what was her name?) he had met last night.This was acknowledged with several giggles and stifled laughs.

“Oh hey, *murmur*-light. Sorry about last night, I-” he began.

“Last night? Oh, you mean three nights ago? Yes, forgive and forget. You know how it is. Come on over; we have much to discuss.”

Felix glanced around and noticed several other ponies gathered around the kitchen table. A total of 9 ponies (not including himself) were seated in a circle, surrounding the table, which was riddled with parchments.

“Wow, its like bucking King Arthur in here,” said Felix as he took up the only open seat.

“Sorry brah, already made that joke,” retorted a silver-coated colt. His mane was similar to Rainbow Dash’s, who sat next to him. But instead of coming down in bangs, he had it gelled up in a ridiculous rainbow mohawk. He nudged Rainbow Dash, who only rolled her eyes. She glanced over at Felix, then smiled wide at him. He returned the gesture, though he didn’t know exactly why.

“Hey Felix, long time, no see, pal,” said a familiar voice next to him.

Felix turned towards him. “... Nick? Is that you?”

“Sure is! Good to see you finally woke up!” replied his longtime friend with a smile.

“How long was I out? What happened? And what are you doing here?!” Felix demanded.

Nick just laughed. “Didn’t you hear Twilight?” Oooh yeah, Twilight. “You were out for like three days, bud!” he laughed again.

“But what about-” Felix began.

“Alright, quiet down everypony. Felix, I’m sure you have many questions- as do we all. I spoke with Celestia about this. We’re apparently waiting for two more ponies, afterwhich we are to meet Princess Celestia at Canterlot. We will travel by train as soon as we have all 6 ‘visitors,’” explained Twilight.

Her response was a chorus of interjections, accusations, and all around confusion from both parties: the four that recently arrived and the wielders of the Elements of Harmony.

“Okay! Okay! Everypony please!” yelled Twilight above the voices of the group. “For the sake of our guests, I’ll start from the beginning.”

Twilight spun a very shortened and brief version of the history of Equestria, its ruling class, the story of how Twilight first came to Ponyville, the defeat of Nightmare Moon and Discord with the Elements of Harmony, and all the events up to three days before.

“This is where I come in,” whispered Nick while nudging Felix. Felix didn’t hear him; he was still organizing all the information inside his head.

“So I was reading in the library- studying Starswirl the Bearded’s seventh Tome on the construction of spells that deal with door hinges, to be precise-”

Felix and Rainbow Dash sighed and rolled their eyes at the same time. Their eyes met, but this time it was Felix’s turn to wink. Rainbow Dash blushed and played with her bangs. Felix smiled. He liked it here.

“-when all of a sudden, I heard a loud sound downstairs. When Spike and I ran down, we found Nick on the floor, unconscious. After waking him up, we discovered that he had no idea where he was or what was going on. I let him borrow one of my spare rooms to get recuperated. I wrote a note to Celestia, telling her all about this strange visitor. Her reply was to ‘Trust him’.”

“Wait, hold up, how did you mail that so quickly? It should’ve taken at least three days by horse,” interjected a black stallion. His green mane shook slightly with confusion, but his purple headphones stayed firmly on his head.

“Spike sent it, of course. Don’t you have some sort of instant communication from where you come from, Scipio?”

“Well, we have these little-”

“There are several ways actually-”

“If you’re using a computer, you can-”

“-but I prefer texts.”

The four males in the room looked at each other; they had all tried speaking at the same time.

“Yes, we do. But not by dragons. Please continue Twilight,” said Nick.

“Anyways, while Nick was resting, Applejack dropped by. With Felix.”

“Mayor of Cloudsdale!” shouted the entire group, minus Felix. They all laughed. Nick slugged Felix in the shoulder.

“We only talked for a few minutes before something strange happened,” continued Twilight.

“I’ve heard this part before; this is where it gets juicy,” said the colt next to Rainbow Dash with a smile. He rubbed his hooves together in anticipation.

“Gabe, shh!” shouted Rarity from across the table.

Twilight pushed through the interruptions, but not without a stern glare at both Rarity and Gabe. She swallowed hard, trying to form her next sentence. “Felix... you caught fire,” she said slowly.

“I what?”

“You literally burst into flames. Good thing you knocked down the water tower or the library would’ve been razed,” she replied.

Everypony in the room stared silently at Felix. He blinked several times and sat back in his chair, hooves crossed. He cleared his throat.

“Go on,” he stated blandly.

“You were giving off so much heat, that the tiles on the roofs began smoking. Also, you were glowing so brightly that it looked like it was day. It would have been quite incredible had it not ended so poorly.”

“What did I do next?” Felix asked.

“Its not what you did, it's what Nick did to help,” retorted Applejack, speaking for the first time since Felix last saw her.

Twilight continued. “Nick tried to help, alright Applejack? He didn’t mean anypony harm.”

“He could’ve killed somepony!” yelled Applejack, pounding her hoof against the table.

“What matters is that he didn’t, okay?” Twilight responded earnestly. She turned towards Felix. “Nick tried to pull you out of the water, but instead of using actual magic, he produced real lightning. The whole of our water supply was gushing down the streets of Ponyville with approximately 300 million volts of electricity running through it. We thought you were dead, Felix. You’re lucky to be alive.”

Felix turned towards Nick, who was looking sheepishly towards the ground. “Sorry bro, I was only trying to get you out of there. I heard Twilight say your name and I knew it was you.”

Felix laughed and slung his arm around Nick. “It’s alright bud, I would’ve done the same. Well, that’s a difficult situation to recreate, so lets just say, I would’ve tried to save you in any way I could, too.” Then Felix looked upwards, thinking hard. “300 million volts, that’s like-”

“Stronger than some lightning strikes. I did the calculation. It really is a miracle that you aren’t dead,” Nick chuckled.

“Good thing Dashie stayed by your side for those two days! She really is a loyal pony!” shouted a completely pink mare with a crazy afro.

“Pinkie!” shouted Rainbow Dash, turning red in the face. Pinkie tried to continue but Rainbow Dash slapped her hoof over her mouth and led her out the door. “She, uhh, needs to go feed Gummy! Besides, this is the boring part,” she said whilst blowing Gabe a raspberry.

“Ohh, I’ll go with you! I’m tired of all this shouting,” said Fluttershy as she got up from her seat.

“Come back soon girls! We still haven’t got through all the things on the checklist!” shouted Twilight after the two of them. “Well, that was two nights ago.The next day, these two-” she said while gesturing towards Gabe and Scipio, “showed up.”

~~~

Scipio found himself in yet another dark place. He realized that he didn’t know up from down and felt suspended in the air. Just as the water soaked through his clothes, he breathed in a mouthful of it. Scipio realized he was drowning.

“Help!” He tried to say, but it came out like: “Ugphflp!”

As he began to lose consciousness, he felt a tug and movement.

Scipio came to on the bank of a pond, coughing up water: “Ugh. Ow. Where am I?”

“Not drowning in a pond! What were you doing there anyway?”

“Huh? What? Who?”

“What: I just saved your life! Who: I’m Rainbow Dash, the best flier in all of Equestria. Who are you?”

“I’m Scipio and-” Scipio’s jaw dropped as he realized what he looked like: “-woah.”

Looking down at himself, Scipio realized he was no longer human. He had four legs, a black body, and seriously cool green hair. Its a called a mane, stupid, he criticized himself. Giving himself a more thorough examination, Scipio realized he didn’t have a horn or wings, making him a normal pony. Earth pony, some hidden part of his mind whispered to him. Wait, how’d I know that? Scipio then realized that he had a tattoo... On his posterior. Woah. What is that? He asked himself.

Its a cutie mark.

A cutie mark?

Yeah.

What is that?!

Its a symbol of your special talent.

Oh. Cool. Wait, are you me?

Yeah.

So I’m talking to myself...

Yep.

Thats it. I knew it. I’m officially crazy.

Nope. You’re perfectly sane.

Is my sarcasm really that deadpan? I can’t tell whether you’re - I’m - being serious.

I’m being totally serious bro. I’m not part of your normal subconscious.

What does that mean?

It means that when when you were human I wasn’t there. Since you’re a pony now, I’m your pony subconscious. I make sure you don’t fall over in your new body and help you understand what everypony else is saying.

Does every human that comes here get a new subconscious?

Yep.

Do they talk to it like this?

Nope. Just you.

So I am insane.

No. You’re special.

Insane.

Special.

Insane.

Special.

The very fact that I’m arguing with myself proves that I’m insane.

Well... Fine. You’re slightly insane. But I’m cool, seriously.

Whatever.

“Hey Scipio, you okay? You got a seriously weird look on your face...”

“I’m fine, just thinking.”

“You know, you never thanked me for saving you...”

“Oh right. Thanks. Where am I, exactly? I’m sorta... Lost.”

“Oh you’re just outside Ponyville. You’re not from around here, are you?”

“Nope. In fact, I think that I’m from another dimension.”

“Oh. I guess we better head on over to Twilight’s. I wish you were a pegasus right now, I really wanna fly.“

“I’ll walk. I’m still pretty roughed up from the Nexus. Also, doesn’t it bother you in the least that I’m from another dimension?” The two ponies, one confident and one totally confused, started walking towards Ponyville.

“Well a little. But Twi said we need to bring everypony that arrives from another dimension to her house immediately.”

“Wait so you’re saying that interdimensional travel is normal here?”

“No. But Princess Celestia sent us this letter telling us to expect you and some others. Two of them are already here, Nick and Felix. Felix has been unconscious though so I’ve been looking after him...”

“Why you and not the town’s doctor or nurse or whatever?”

Rainbow Dash blushed. “Uh... The doctor is busy...”

“Mhhm. Of course. LAME EXCUSE. I’ll pretend my ninja ears didn’t hear that lie.”

“Ninja ears?” Rainbow Dash collapsed onto the ground laughing. “Did you... did you just say... *snort* NINJA EARS? Bahahahahaha!”

“It wasn’t that funny...”

“Its not funny, its ridiculous! Ninja ears! Haha!” Rainbow Dash collapsed onto the ground laughing.

“Stop laughing at me! It isn’t funny!”

She’s mean.

Hey. You just said ninja ears. That’s pretty stupid sounding. Just saying.

Oh no, you too?

I am you. So yes, myself and yourself too.

Horsefeathers! Wait, horsefeathers? What the heck! I meant HORSEFEATHERS! No! Why can’t I say horsefeathers? Fine! Since I can’t say it, SHITZU! There! I said it!

No. You said a breed of dog...

Yeah well you know what I meant. Cause you’re me. Why can’t I cuss?

Cause me.

That makes no sense.

Well, as your subconscious, I prevent you from using human cuss words. You’ll find that every time you try to cuss a pony explicative will come out instead of your human explicative.

“YEAH? WELL BUCK THIS!”

“Whoa. You ok Scipio?”

“Yeah. I’m just BUCKING dandy. Don’t you have somepony else to laugh at?”

“Woah Nelly. What’s going on y’all?” An orange pony with a blonde mane asked as she walked towards the source of the yelling.

“Well this is Scipio and he’s being a potty mouth.”

“Yeah well you’re being... uh... ugh. You’re a meanie, Rainbow Dash!”

“Is that really the best you can come up with? Hahaha!”

“Woah there. What in tarnation is going on?” The pony reiterated, staring at the pair of quibbling ponies, obviously confused.

“Who are you?” Scipio asked, his hurt fading a little.

“Ah’m Applejack, but my friends mostly call me AJ. Mighty pleased to meet ya, Scipio.” The three ponies resumed their trek towards town.

“My friends call me Skippy or Skip. My squad calls me Skipper. You can call me any of those. Diggin’ the Stetson, btdubs.”

“Haha you got called Skipper? What did you do, skip out on them?” Rainbow Dash once again collapsed laughing, both at the ridiculousness of Scipio’s nicknames and her own pun.

“Haha. Very punny.” Scipio quipped, his expression deadpan.

“Just ignore her, Skip. Oh look, we’re here.”

“And where is here?”

“Well Skip, welcome to Ponyville!” Applejack dramatically swept her hand over the scenery and took a bow.

“Oh. Cool. Tell me Applejack, do y’all have airsoft here?”

“Air what now?”

Scipio then proceeded to describe to an intrigued Applejack and a curious Rainbow Dash the game of airsoft. Or sport. Or hobby. There are many ways to view it.

Before they knew it, the trio of ponies arrived at the library tree. Knocking on the door, they were answered by a voice from inside:

“Hold on! I’ll be right there!” True to her word, a purple unicorn mare stepped out. “Oh hi AJ. Hi Rainbow. And you are -?”

“I’m Scipio. But you can call me Skip.”

“Or Skipper.” Rainbow Dash snickered, earning her a glare from an annoyed Scipio.

Twilight extended her hoof. “I’m Twilight Sparkle. I’m assuming that you’re going to tell me you’re not from Equestria?”

“Yeah. How did you know?”

“I got a letter from Princess Celestia and I have two others in the same dilemma staying here. One, Nick, has been here for two days, the other, Felix, has been here for almost as long, but he’s spent most of his time unconscious. They’re both staying here, you’re welcome to as well, I guess.”

“Oh! Thanks. Can I come in?”

Twilight stepped back. “Of course! Where are my manners? Come in, come in.”

“If you don’t mind Twilight, I have some weather to take care of. You ok taking care of him yourself?” Rainbow Dash asked, starting to back away from the door.

“Speaking of places to be and things to do, I have some apple trees that need bucking. D’ya mind if I go too, Twi?”

“You can go. The others are asleep, so I can handle Scipio.”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash started to leave, but Rainbow Dash stopped: “Wait, can I check on Felix? I wanna make sure he’s ok.” Applejack rolled her eyes and walked off.

Twilight also rolled her optical receptors. “For the thousandth time Rainbow, he’s fine. But sure, feel free to check on him.” Even before Twilight finished speaking, Rainbow Dash zipped inside and up the stairs to where Felix was.

“I swear, she hovers over him like he is going to die without her...” Twilight shook her head.

“Yeah I know. I’ve spent barely thirty minutes with her and I can tell she’s taken with him. It’s pretty obvious.”

“I can hear you, you know! And I’m not the only one hovering over someone else! Don’t think I haven’t noticed you staring at Nick!” A voice from upstairs called. Twilight blushed.

“Ok, now I’ve heard it all. I just got hit by a wave of tired. Is there a place I can turn in?”

“Oh yes, of course. You look like you’re about to fall over. Oh Spiiiike! Could you show Scipio to the other guest bedroom?” A small purple and green dragon appeared from upstairs: “Hi! I’m Spike. I guess you’re Scipio? Well, follow me.” Scipio followed the little purple dragon. It just gets weirder and weirder...

If you think this is weird, just wait...

Horsefeathers. It gets worse?

No. You’re just in for some serious culture shock tomorrow.

Buck.

Yep. That’s about right.

I need to stop talking to myself.

But that would be no fun!

Shut it. I’m tired.

So am I. Cause I’m you.

Yes, we already established that. Goodnight, me.

Same to you bro. Sweet dreams. I’m really not in the mood for nightmares right now.

Same.

The dragon showed Scipio to a small room with a sink and a bed. “Well here you are Scipio, enjoy!”

“Thanks little guy.” Scipio yawned. “Now, its time for some sleep...” Scipio collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep so quickly that he forgot to remove his headphones. Not like it matters though, they’re magical.

~~~

“Uhh darling, are you okay? You really shouldn’t sleep on these rocks, its bad for your posture!”

The colt groaned and stretched. “Uhhh, Rebecca I love that British accent you got going.... sexy....” he said contently. He smacked his lips and grinned sheepishly with his eyes closed.

“Oh please, I’ve heard plenty of better pick up lines than that before. Besides, my name is Rarity, not Rebecca,” Rarity responded.

His face twisted in confusion. He slowly peeked his eyes open.

“Luna’s lip balm, what the heck are you!?” he screamed and frantically got to his hooves. He stopped suddenly. All was quiet in the peaceful field. The stallion lifted his head slowly.

“What in Celestia’s name did I just say?” he asked Rarity in a quiet voice.

“Uhh...”

“So it wasn’t a dream!” Gabriel shouted with glee. He attempted to snap his fingers, then looked at his hooves. He burst into laughter.

“The name’s Gabriel,” he grinned wide at her.

Rarity stood there, mouth open, aghast at this pony’s strange behavior.

“Oh, Rarity, why the long face?” Gabe asked with a pout.

She stuttered, and he burst into laughter again.

“Get it? Long face? Hahah!”

Rarity frowned at this new and unwelcome visitor. But she was still slightly curious, and couldn’t just send him away. In the name of gossip, she pressed on.

“So, Gabriel-” she fluffed her mane “-where do you come from? And why did you fall asleep on these rocks? I was out here just gathering gems for my new dress.”

“Well actually I was hunting for this peculiar object; some say it doesn’t even exist,” Gabriel explained with mystery.

Rarity’s eyes widened with interest. “Is it... valuable?”

“To me, the most valuable thing in the world.”

“Well, have you found it?!” asked Rarity.

“Thanks to you, Rarity, I have,” smiled Gabe.

Rarity scoffed incredulously. “Well? What is it?!”

He looked at the ground, then smiled softly at her.

“Love,” he winked.

Rarity sighed and gave up. Using her magic, she gathered her things and turned towards Ponyville.

Gabriel laughed and followed her down the trail.

“So, tell me about this place, Rarity,” he pestered.

“What, Ponyville?” Rarity answered with confusion.

“Ah, yes, Ponyville. I’m not from around here. I’m from...” he started.

Rarity opened her mouth and raised her eyebrows, ready to interrupt with a strange accusation. “From another dimen-”

“-Phillydelphia. It’s a wonderful city. Have you been there?” continued Gabe.

Rarity exhaled with relief. “Yes, I have visited once or twice. The city folk just love my spring and summer line.”

Suddenly Gabriel gasped in shock. “No, it couldn’t be. YOU are... Rarity herself? Goodness my mare-friends just love your designs! Really smashing work!” he said, mimicking her accent.

Rarity blushed with pride. “Why, thank you, I did not know I was so popular in Phillydelphia! I should hold fashion shows there more often!”

“You absolutely should! You are the only artist I buy from, really,” Gabriel continued with his lie, making it more and more intricate.

Rarity beamed and held up a hoof to her mouth, while wagging the other at Gabe. “Oh stop, please. You flatter me, darling!” she giggled.

“You know, I would love it if you could design a new style for me, Rarity,” Gabriel said.

Rarity gave him a quick up-and-down. Although Gabe wasn’t the tallest earth pony, he was built lean, with thin hips and sculpted shoulders. He was also very handsome- small lips and a smooth face; a perfect male model.

“It would be my pleasure, Gabriel!” Rarity smiled.

Rarity unlocked the door to her studio and led him inside. “Let me put these gems upstairs- I’ll be down in a moment!” she told Gabe.

“Take your time, princess,” he said with a bow. She tittered and quickly galloped upstairs.

When she made her way back down to the studio, she found Gabe snoring on her couch. She huffed and made her way towards him. Gabe started murmuring in his sleep.

“Gabriel! Wake up!”

“Hehehum...” he chuckled.

“GABE!” Rarity yelled in his ear.

“Ahh!” he screamed and awoke from his slumber. “Good Celestia, what the hay Rarity?!” he asked in frustration.

“Oh, terribly sorry, Gabriel. I had no intention of waking you up,” she smirked. “Let’s get on with the design, shall we?” Gabriel nodded and wiped his face with both hooves. “Hmm, with you body style we could tailor down a few pret-a-porter styles, but I could also do some haute couture; it really is my specialty,” she added with a smile.

Gabriel’s jaw went slack- he had absolutely no idea what she was saying.

“Well, which do you prefer?” she asked.

Gabe stuttered. He fumbled around with tons of options in his head, but none of them seemed to work out. His lie was slowly breaking apart.

“Gabe, you do know fashion, correct? You said you lived in the city...” she continued.

Oh buck, what city name did I guess earlier? He thought to himself. Stallion... no... Colt....

Rarity’s squinched her eyes together with realization. “You didn’t come from the city, did you? You can’t even remember what you said earlier! I bet you don’t know a thing about fashion!” she accused him.

With his mind still groggy from the cat-nap, Gabriel attempted to argue, but his words wouldn’t leave his mouth.

“Get out, you fake! Leave my studio!” Rarity yelled, shoving him out the door. As soon as he crossed the threshold, she slammed it shut.

“Good day to you, sir!” she hollered, her voice muffled from inside.

“Wait, Rarity, I-” he stopped himself. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on her door.

The door opened just enough to show Rarity’s hurt face. “Well?!” she asked harshly.

“I’m not from here, okay? I only lied because... well... I wasn’t sure what else to do. It’s kind of my fall-back, you know?” he explained.

“Well, where are you from then?” she asked quietly.

“It’s hard to explain...”

“I believe you. Come in. We’ll head to Twilight’s tomorrow. There are some others waiting for you, darling. You aren’t the only one in this situation,” she chuckled. “Oh Sweetie Bell! Would you be a dear and whip up something for our guest to eat, please? ….On second thought, nevermind darling!” she yelled through the house.

“Aww, please sis!” squeaked a tiny voice in reply. A tiny unicorn scrambled down the stairs. “Who’s that?” she asked, forgetting about the food almost instantly.

“Just a friend, Sweetie,” Rarity replied. “Aren’t you going to a sleepover at Apple Bloom’s house? The Cutie Mark Crusaders won’t get their cutie marks by staying at home, now will they?”

Sweetie Bell pouted and ran past Gabriel, who had to sidestep to avoid her.

“Please ignore her, Gabe; just a young filly trying to get her cutie mark. Come in! Don’t stand out there in the cold!”

Gabriel glanced around him and noticed the weather change; it had dropped several degrees since he first met Rarity. As he stepped inside, a gust of cold air followed him.

“Ohhhh!” Rarity shivered. “Looks like winter’s coming a little early this year!” She closed the door behind Gabriel. “Let me get you some hot chocolate and dinner- you must be starving! Feel free to make yourself at home on the couch... much like earlier today,” she cleared her throat.

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Get used to it, ‘darling’,” he said, grossly mimicking her accent again. The way he pronounced it sounded more like “daaahhling”. Rarity scoffed and trotted into the kitchen.

He sat down on the couch and closed his eyelids. For some reason, the weight of the heavy necklace on his chest seemed slightly less. He sighed contently as Rarity brought him his meal.

The last thing Gabriel remembered was tucking himself into the blankets on the couch.

~~~

Scipio woke up with an amazing headache. Not amazing in a good way, but amazing in a bad way. He was amazed at the fact that it was possible his head hurt so much. Ow. Wondering why his head hurt so much, Scipio thought about what could have transpired. Lets see, is this a hangover? No, thats not it. I haven’t been drinking. What’s up with my head? Hm... Remembering the Nexus and his arrival in the land of technicolor ponies, he doubted the truth. I dreamt I was turned into a pony. A black and neon green pony. That’s one weird dream.

Dude, it wasn’t a dream.

Oh. Hi.

The truth started coming back to Scipio. He was indeed in a land of technicolor ponies and was a pony himself. He was in Ponyville, which apparently was in Equestria. He was here to team up with some people (ponies?) he didn’t know to save the world (and himself now, too) from total destruction. Or something along those lines. Oh, and he was officially crazy. He had held full conversations with his subconscious. Things were looking weird.

Dude. Its not that weird.

Stop butting into my head like that!

Can’t help it. I live in your head after all...

How does that work, exactly? Are you a separate person feeding off of me like a parasite?

Scipio chuckled. Actually, his subconscious chuckled. In his brain. Weird. No. I am you. You’re just especially in tune to yourself.

Crazy. This is so BUCKING crazy. You realize that, don’t you?

Yep. Maybe you should talk to Twilight, she seems like the smart type. Maybe she can help you. Us. Whatever.

Yeah, great idea. Talk to the purple pony that is so graciously letting me sleep here. If she finds out how crazy I am, she might kick me out. Or just lose all hope that I can save the world and commit suicide. Or both. I’m not telling ANYPONY about this. About you. Me. Whatever you/me are.

Cool story bro.

Shut it. I’m gonna open my eyes now and do something that does not involve conversing with myself.

Scipio stayed true to his word and opened his eyes. Looking around him, he realized he was not alone in the guest room. In another bed, on the other side of the room, lay a sleeping white unicorn with black, curly hair.

“That’s Nick.”

Scipio jumped out of bed. “Holy crap! You scared me Twilight!”

“Shhh. You might wake him...”

Scipio rolled his eyes and made a disgusted face at her obvious infatuation. “Good Celestia y’all’s faces are much easier to read than humans. You gotta work on concealing your feelings and such. Seriously. This stuff is gettin’ weird.”

“So what do humans look like?”

“Um... Well we aren’t brightly colored, thats for sure. I don’t think I’m the one to give you a lesson in human anatomy. Ask someone smarter. But I can tell you that we walk on two legs, have two arms with hands and four fingers and opposable thumbs and we do all sorts of cool stuff. Oh, and we always wear clothes. Speaking of clothes, I feel kinda naked. Do y’all wear clothes here in Equestria? Or does everypony just walk around naked? Does this count as naked? Cause I have fur and stuff... Am I naked? Oh and what about -”

“Scipio. Quiet. You’re talking almost as fast as Pinkie. It hurts my brain. Yes, we wear clothes on special occasions. No, this does not count as naked. I don’t know if anything does here. Now, you must be hungry. Lets go get breakfast.”

Scipio followed Twilight to the kitchen. Spike, the little purple and green dragon, was making pancakes. Weird. Anyways, the little dragon served the pancakes. They were pretty good. Scipio didn’t even try to understand how his hooves held the silverware. They just did. I give up. What the heck.

Look dude, its not that weird. This is what I’m for, to make sure you can do basic stuff without looking like a total dolt.

Awesome. This defies every law of physics that I paid attention to, and probably all the others I slept through the teacher talking about.

Different world dude. Different physics. If you think this is weird, just wait.

I feel like I’ve heard that before...

As breakfast progressed, Scipio found himself pelted with questions. Questions about daily habits, culture, and hobbies. Scipio described all the things he held dear: all kinds of music, the internet, headphones, airsoft, pop culture, clothing, computer games, YouTube, and chilling with friends. Then the questions started turning turning intellectual. Twilight asked about history, philosophy, literature, and other smart stuff that Scipio really didn’t know or care about. He answered most of the questions to the best of his ability, but some he simply couldn’t answer. Finally he had enough: “Look Twilight, I was never a good student. Heck, I was a horrible student. I slept through class or played Minecraft. Or both. I barely passed most of my classes. I was really only interested in the history of airplanes and guns and things that went boom. Actually, scratch that. I wasn’t even interested in their history. I just knew they went boom. If you want to hear about history, literature, and all things intellectual, you need to talk to me friend Jonathan. He’s pretty bucking smart. He saved my sweet plot on many occasions.”

Plot? What the...

I don’t even know. For some reason that means your rear end.

Da heck?!

I know right?

“Scipio? You have a weird expression on your face...”

“Sweet Celestia! Everypony keeps telling me that!”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“Hey Twilight. Hey Spike. Oh, you’re new.” The white unicorn with curly hair walked into the room, looking exhausted. And hungry.

“Yep. I’m new. The name’s Scipio, but you can call me Skip. Nice to meet you, ...?” Scipio held out his hoof.

The white unicorn shook it. “Nick. Good to meet you too, Scipio.”

“Nick, you look famished. Spike, get Nick some food.” The purple unicorn began fretting over Nick. Scipio rolled his eyes. He decided to see if Nick was in the same boat as him.

“So, Nick, digging the glasses. Are they a talisman, by chance?”

“Yes they are. I assume your earphones are your talisman, right?”

“Yeah. Thank Celestia I’m not the only interdimensional traveler here.” Checking to see that Twilight was over at the stove and not in earshot, Scipio whispered: “Did you get any details on what we are supposed to be fighting? I didn’t. This is trippy, dude. Its like something from a bad Sci Fi movie...”

“No I didn’t get anything about the enemy we face. Only that its bad, really bad. And yeah, I’ll admit this is a little weird. Its helpful to have a friend from our world to ground me.”

“Dude, not saying you’re not cool and all, but we just met. I don’t know if we qualify as ‘friends’ yet.”

“Agreed. I was talking about Felix. He’s a friend from Earth, but he’s still unconscious.”

“You two can stop whispering, you know. I can hear you. Skip, Felix is a pegasus pony. He came in soon after Nick and is currently passed out in the bathtub. He managed to catch himself and the library on fire, knock over the town water tower, and get himself shocked with Nick’s lightning-”

“Woah. Hold up. Nick has lightning? Dude that’s bucking awesome! And weird. This really is a Sci Fi movie...”

Twilight had an offended look on her face. “Scipio, I would appreciate it if you didn’t cuss so much. It's unbecoming.”

“Sorry. Force of habit. Not around girls much, too much time out on the field or ingame on a computer, I guess...” Scipio said sheepishly.

“But the fact of the matter is Felix is out cold. He’s taken quite a beating. Which is a problem because we need to get him to Fluttershy’s house so she can check up on him.”

“I think Nick and I can carry him, I mean, how hard-”

Scipio was interrupted by some knocking on the door. “Coming!” Twilight sang as she headed for the door.

“No! I wanna get it! I’m still figuring what I can and can’t do with hooves!” Scipio yelled as he raced for the door. As he opened it, he saw a white unicorn and a silver pony with a rainbow dyed mane.

“Sup brah.” The silver pony gave Scipio a “sup” nod.

“You’re not Twilight...” The unicorn began.

“No he’s not, but I’m right here. He insisted on opening the door so that he could test out his hooves. His name is Scipio, he got here yesterday.” Twilight explained to Rarity. Meanwhile, the two stallions were having a different conversation.

“I’m Scipio. Nice necklace,” Scipio extended a hoof.

“Name’s Gabriel. Totally diggin’ the headphones brah.” Gabriel took the hoof.

“Who’s this?” Attracted to the noise, Nick had appeared in the main room of the library.

“This guy is Gabe. You mind if I call you Gabe? No? Too bad. Gabe, this is Nick. Apparently there’s another dude passed out in a tub. His name is Felix.”

“Welcome to the team, Gabe.” Nick and Gabe shook hooves. The three began an amicable conversation. As the dialogue progressed, Scipio sensed that Nick was a natural leader. Figures. He got here first, the leaders always pop in first. He also sensed that Gabe had a huge ego issue. And did he hear a lying problem? I never realized how much I depend on my ears... I can tell all I need from a person from listening to them. I always could do that, but now its just more... pronounced.

Duh. The Nexus dude enhanced your hearing. Nnnnnderp.

Shut it. Scipio rejoined the conversation before the others noticed his mental absence. Sadly, neither of the other stallions were airsoft players.

“Ok boys. Its time to get over to Fluttershy’s. We will meet all of my friends there and discuss the issues at hand. Nick, Skip, go get Felix. Gabe, tell me about yourself. Quickly. We need to get going or we’ll be late.” Scipio and Nick headed off to the bathroom. There they found a lanky yellow stallion passed out in a nice little bathtub bed. “Tell me again, Nick, why is he in the bathtub?”

“Because he almost burned the library down when he self-ignited.”

“Oh. Awesome. I hope he doesn’t burn my back.” Scipio said, looking slightly worried.

“I don’t think he will. Here, let me get him on you. He’s not super heavy, just really tall. You can handle it, you’re stockier but almost as tall as he is.”

“Aight, cool.” Scipio accepted the extra weight with no problem. Even though he was shorter than Felix, he could already tell that Felix was quite a bit lighter. Interesting. I guess its cause he has to fly, extra weight would not be helpful for flying... Scipio walked back to the main room of the library, with Nick keeping Felix steady.

“Alright. Is everypony ready?” Twilight asked. “Yes? Good. Let’s go.”

The walk to Fluttershy’s was not particularly long, but it dragged on for Scipio. Felix was starting to get heavy and the conversation was boring. After what seemed like an hour they arrived at Fluttershy’s cottage. It was crawling with an assortment of animals. Is it normal for animals to be like that? Aren’t they scared of us? Oh wait, we are animals... Goodness. Weird.

You think this is weird? Well, -

STOP IT. I KNOW IT GETS WEIRDER. STOP SAYING THAT. SWEET APPLEBUCKING CELESTIA. Scipio walked into the cottage. There he saw a bouncy pink pony, who he assumed was Pinkie Pie, having heard the name earlier and deciding it described her. He also recognized Applejack and Rainbow Dash from the day before. There was a yellow and pink pegasus that was doing her best to shrink into nothing. He walked up to her. “Hi, I’m Scipio.”

“I’m Fluttershy...” The pegasus said, her voice barely perceptible. She hid behind her mane.

“Good thing I have great hearing. Hi Fluttershy. Where can I dump Felix? He needs your help, I guess.” Fluttershy gestured to a couch on the other side of the room. Scipio deposited Felix there. Walking to the other room, he entered just in time to hear Gabe say: “Its like bucking King Arthur in here...” Looking around, Scipio noticed that the center of the room was dominated by a large round table.

While Gabe, Nick, and Scipio laughed at the joke, the other 6 ponies looked around, confused.

“Who’s King Arthur?” Twilight ventured to ask.

“Great warrior of legend. Awesome guy. But that’s a topic for another time. Why are we here, Twilight?” Nick answered. Everyone began to sit down and get comfortable, the explanation looked like it was a long one. Everyone except Fluttershy, that is. She trotted softly over to Felix to check on him.

“Ok. Well, I was just about to-”

Twilight was interrupted by a loud, “Ahh buck, my stomach!” followed by a yelp.

I guess Felix is awake...

A/N: Well, this is it. Longest chapter yet. Done with that. Expect the new chapter in a few says, I'm already almost done with it. Lol King Arthur is a boss. Anyone who doesn't agree is wrong. Boom.

Chapter 3: Through the Threshold (Part 3)

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Scipio was bored. Twilight had been going on with theorems and postulates for hours. Pinkie Pie was still gone, as was Fluttershy. No idea what they’re doing... But it’s probably better than this. What exactly is going on?

Well. Good question. Mostly, it’s Twilight babbling as she tries to come to terms with the fact that we are from a different dimension and that there is something that the Elements of Harmony can’t stop.

Fun. So essentially the only useful thing we’ve heard is that Celestia wants us to head over to Canterlot as soon as all six of us aliens are here.

Yep. Pretty much. This is boring.

This is the type of thing Jonathan or Javi would enjoy. Not my thing.

Well at least you have me. And I have you. We have each other.

I have me and you have me and we have ourselves. This is trippy. Sweet Luna, why can’t something happen? When is another pony gonna show up?

As if to answer his prayers, Pinkie Pie burst through the door with a dull greyish-blue pegasus in tow.

Thank Celestia.

~~~

Things were dark for a long time. Rufus slowly began regaining his senses, it felt cold where he was. He opened his eyes and tried to focus them. He was in a dark room, the light shone from a dim light bulb and barely lit up the room. Rufus sat up and rubbed his head. “What...happened?” His confusion was only worsened when he realized that it wasn’t a hand that rubbed his head, “Wh-what?! Hooves?” He looked at himself through the dim light, “I-I’m a small horse?” He was more shocked than scared, scanning the room. The floor and walls were stained with red, there was a banner hung across the wall that said, “Life is a party” Scrawled in red, with some of the red paint on the letters dripping down. There was a dress of many colors, poorly stitched together. There were strange patterns on the individual pieces of the dress, one had three apples on it, another three diamonds, a blue one had a red blue and yellow thunderbolt coming out of a cloud. The place he was in was so surreal, like a horribly written horror story. Suddenly he heard footsteps, and turned around. clop...clop...clop...clop...slow methodical steps sounded off in the distance. Rufus was positively terrified at this point, sweating bullets. As the steps drew nearer, Rufus hid behind a chest, shuddering and wishing he were somewhere, anywhere else. The door opened, and a pink pony walked in.

Her hooves were stained red, and her mane was flat and dripping wet. She carried a huge knife in her mouth, and had two sacks draped over her back. Oh gravy, Rufus thought, I wound up in the basement of some psychotic pony murderer! The pink pony began walking towards the chest he was hiding behind, ohbuckohbuckohbuckohbuckohbuck. She opened a drawer, and placed the knife in there. Rufus held his breath, petrified with fright. The pink pony moved to a far corner, and placed the sack in the corner with many others. I...figured it out, she cuts up her victims and puts them in flour sacks, she takes their skins and makes that dress! I bet she even cooks her victims... The pink pony walked over towards the dress and sighed, “It’s just not the same...” Rufus realised that now she was distracted, it was his chance to escape through the door! In a flash, he bolted out from his hiding spot, knocking over the chest and making a lot of noise. The pink pony jumped up and turned around, yelping in surprise.

“YOU’RE NOT GOING TO KILL ME, YOU CRAZY PONY!” Rufus yelled and dashed for the door. Rufus was making good way until he almost reached the door. His hooves slipped and he tumbled into the wall. The force knocked over some furniture which now pinned him against the wall. He struggled in vain to free himself as the pink pony began to...skip towards him? Great, now I know she’s psychotic. Well this is the end, it’s over!

“Hi! My name is Pinkie Pie and I’ve never seen you before! I know everyone here in Ponyville, which means you aren’t from Ponyville, and do you know what that means?” The pink pony was talking at an insane speed, her overly happy smile and big eyes making quite the impression on Rufus. He remained silent, staring fearfully into the eyes of his captor. “It’s time for a party, silly!” She pulled out a party blower and threw some confetti around the place. Now Rufus was unsure what to feel.

“P-p-please d-don’t hurt me” he was shivering violently. The pink pony stopped skipping around and came back to him.

“Why do you think I would do that?” She looked very intrigued sitting down in front of him.

“The knife, the bloody hooves, the flour sacks, the dress, the red walls, it’s too scary!” He said all this as fast as he could turning his face away and shut his eyes.

“Oh you silly!” the pink pony began reorganizing the room, putting all the knives back in the drawer. “I don’t know how you got here, but this is the basement storage room for sugar cube corner!” she opened up one of the flour sacks and pulled out a light bulb, she replaced the dim one and the room lit up. “Oh silly me, you’re still trapped there!” She pulled away the furniture and Rufus breathed easy. He noticed that her hooves smelled oddly like...berries? “I was mashing berries to make jam for the pastries I bake, It kinda looks like blood doesn’t it?” She licked a hoof, before screaming, “I’m a vampire, I’m gonna drink your bloooooooooooooooooood!” Rufus flinched and Pinkie Pie giggled, “Sorry, I guess you’re really shy. What’s your name?”

“I’m Rufus...” he said quietly, slowly calming himself.

“Well hello Rufus! I’m sure we’ll be great friends!” She walked towards the dress again, “I have a friend named Rarity, she loves to sew and make dresses!” She turned around and looked sheepishly towards Rufus, “I thought I would try out sewing a dress together out of patches of cloth with the cutie marks of all my friends embroidered on them, I call it my friendship dress! It’s just...” she paused and allowed Rufus to see all the uneven stitches, “well Rarity is much better at it anyways. It’s pretty cold because of all the rain we have been having, the moisture is causing the paint to run! Except that’s not paint, I thought it would be nice to paint the walls with the berry jam, but...” Rufus already knew what that would lead to: ants, ants everywhere. “Well come on upstairs! I can make a mean hot cocoa, it’ll warm you right up!” Rufus was more than happy to leave the storage room.

Upstairs was much brighter, a fire crackled in the fireplace and the room was quite warm. Rufus looked around and saw the cash register and counter where the baked goods could be sold. “Here you go Rufus!” A warm mug of hot chocolate awaited him. He reached out to drink it, but then remembered that he didn’t have any hands...He stood there staring at the drink, while Pinkie Pie watched in amusement. “Aren’t you gonna drink it?” He turned around to see how Pinkie Pie had done it. Somehow her hoof fit through the grip on the drink, and she was enjoying it. Rufus tried to fit his hoof through the grip- it worked rather well to his surprise. He brought the drink to his mouth and began imbibing the warm drink. It felt so good inside him, warming up his cold body.

“Thanks Pinkie Pie...” he looked away feeling like he was intruding. He did pop into her basement somehow, and he had trashed the place and called her a murderer...

“Aww you’re like my friend Fluttershy! She really likes animals too! I don’t know about snakes though...” She said, motioning towards the armlet adorning his fore hoof. Rufus brushed his hooves against the ground uneasily, not sure how to answer that, or even how to explain. Pinkie changed the subject after she brought up Fluttershy. “OOH! We have to go!” She bounced up and down and grabbed Rufus. “There’s a meeting at Fluttershy’s house, and there are cakes, cookies, apple fritters, apple pie...” She kept going as the two exited the bakery.

The rain had stopped, leaving a nice cool and damp feel to the air. Rufus breathed deeply as Pinkie continued her rant. Why was he doing this? Rufus couldn’t really have refused her if he wanted to. He felt bad for suddenly imposing himself on her like so. So the two continued until they saw a little house built into the side of a hill. “...and candied apples! Those are my favorite! Well, maybe not my favorite because brownies are my favorite, but they’re still really good!” Pinkie skipped up towards the door, knocking a fine beat. The door opened and a purple pony greeted Pinkie.

“Is he here?” She asked, seeing Rufus she shifted her attention, “Hi! I’m Twilight Sparkle, we’ve been waiting for you!” She opened the door wider and beckoned Rufus to enter. Pinkie bounced in first, with Rufus slowly entering in behind her. Rufus could suddenly hear jovial talking. Four other ponies sat around the table, while Pinkie and Twilight stood near them. Rufus kind of watched as they continued conversing, Twilight’s group inquiring the other group, and vice versa.

“Aren’t you going to join them?” Rufus heard a soft voice speak out. A yellow pegasus with a pink mane stood beside him. At his turning toward her, the yellow mare shrunk back a little before regaining her composure.

“Well...” Rufus began casting his eyes down. Fluttershy cocked her head at first, but then smiled and said,

“Oh I see. There is no need to be shy around these ponies, they are my friends! My name is Fluttershy,” Rufus was a bit taken aback. This pony was quiet, soft spoken, and even had shy in her name. It fit too damn well.

“My name is Rufus,” Rufus began, at this everything was suddenly quiet as both groups stared at Fluttershy and Rufus. Rufus was at a loss for words when all of a sudden one of the ponies called out his name.

“Ay, did you say Rufus!” Oh no...was this? “It’s me, Gabe!” Horse apples...might as well get this over with. Rufus took a deep breath,

“My name is Rufus, I have no idea who most of you are, or how we even got here...” He took a step forward, “but whatever it is that I need to do, I’ll do it.” Rufus didn’t have moments like that often, but when he did...it felt so good. Several of the ponies nodded silently, but Gabe started laughing quietly.

“Alright Mr. Hero, sit your flank down and listen.”

~~~

Scipio rolled his eyes and groaned inwardly. With the arrival of Rufus, Twilight decided to begin all over again. He tried to escape the table but she made him sit down again.

Goodness. This is worse than Mrs. Grant’s class.

Who’s that?

Dude. You’re me. Check my memories. She was a crazy literature teacher. Hated every moment of that class.

Oh. Ew. Well I don’t think that Twilight is that bad. These memories suck.

Fine. I was exaggerating. But its still bad.

You’re right. I’m bored.

Me too. Watch. With our (my?) luck, as soon as she finishes the last pony is gonna show up.

Oh buck. You’re right, Murphy’s stinking law.

Scipio continued to converse with himself for the next hour. Just as Twilight wrapped up her presentation for Rufus, Scipio heard a squeal outside. Going outside to check out the noise, he saw a spring green unicorn trying to talk to Fluttershy. He heard the name “Jonathan” said in a British accent.

Dude! It’s my friend Jon!

Cool. You know this means that Twilight is gonna start all over again, right?

Will the quest fail if I kill myself?

~~~

Bloody HELL. What happened to my head? Jonathan opened his eyes. Looking around him, he saw a forest on one side, a cottage on the other. The cottage was rather mismatched, it looked like something out of a cartoon. Figures. The equines I saw were oddly colored and shaped... Jonathan decided he would have better luck looking for somepony at the hut than in the woods. Slowly getting to his feet, Jonathan looked at himself. He was, indeed, an equine. A brightly colored equine. His body was an interesting spring green, and his mane was blonde and wavy. “Well, this is interesting...” Looking up at the cottage again, Jonathan noticed a horn protruding from his forehead. “Even more interesting. It seems I am a unicorn.” Obvious though this statement might be, it helped Jonathan come to terms with reality. Jonathan continued his list of knowns: “What do I know? Let me see... I was reading in the library. Then two idiots hit me with a bookcase. Knocked my lights out. Woke up in a dark place called the Nexus. Some hooded bloke started talking to me about saving a world. He gave me a pipe, which he said had special powers. Oh wait, where in the blazes is my pipe?” Jonathan started looking around him for his pipe. It was nowhere to be found. Jonathan tossed his mane in frustration. The pipe flew out from where it was tucked behind his ear like a pencil. “Well. That is an odd place for a pipe. Ok. Pipe, check. Lets see, where was I? Right. Hooded bloke. He told me that the pipe has special powers. I guess I’ll have to wait to see. Started reading a book. What did it say? Oh. Yes. This land is called Equestria. Fitting name for a land of equines. It is ruled over by two sisters. Apparently they are the source of harmony in the land. I appeared here, at the edge of a forest. In front of me is a cottage. I am assuming that the indigenous people of the land are peaceful, which means I should not have to worry about getting attacked. Do I have a weapon in case I get that’s false?” Jonathan searched himself. “No I do not. I suppose that I could always use the pipe...”

With his list of knowns completed, Jonathan trotted towards the cottage. As he neared the cottage, he noticed a variety of wildlife climbing on and around the cottage. He stopped and observed the animals. After he decided that the various small life forms posed no threat, Jonathan trotted towards the cottage. He inspected the door. Deciding not to knock for the time being, he listened through the crack. He could hear many voices. Trotting around the cottage, Jonathan saw a chicken coop. Close to the chicken coop he saw a yellow and pink pegasus tending chickens. He quickly analyzed the situation, his procedure almost robotic. Subject is a yellow pegasus with a pink mane. Appears to be female. Assumed to be non-hostile. Jonathan quietly walked up to the yellow pegasus. She was occupied by a an unruly chicken, so she did not notice his presence until he spoke up.

“Good day. Pray tell, what is the name of this place?”

Fluttershy screamed and jumped into the air.

“Oh. My apologies. I am Jonathan, but you can call me Jon.” Fluttershy shrunk from his gaze and mumbled off a few words that Jonathan could not make out. “Excuse me, but what did you say?” More mumbling. Well this is daft. “Could you repeat that one more time?”

“Her name is Fluttershy.” Now it was Jonathan’s turn to yell and jump. From behind him materialized a black pony with green hair and purple headphones. “Yo, whassup Jon. Its Skippy.”

“Scipio? No way... How did you hear me out here?”

“Apparently my special talent is hearing and stuff. Sick, right?”

“Indeed. I wonder what mine is...”

“Probably something all smartical and such. Hence the wizard eyes cutie mark over there. Oh and Fluttershy scares easily, don’t you, Fluttershy?”

Jonathan looked over for the yellow pegasus, but she was nowhere to be seen.

“I think she has disappeared...”

“Yep. Probably inside. Speaking of inside, we should probably go inside. Everypony is probably waiting for us.”

“Roight then Skip, lead the way.” Scipio didn’t move. He had started staring off into space with an absent look on his face. “Skip? Skippy? Scipio?” Jonathan knocked Scipio on the head with his hoof.

“Ow! Why did you... Oh. Nevermind.”

“Care to explain what that was about?”

“Um... No. Maybe later.”

“Whatever you say. Now, shall we go inside?”

“Yeah.” Scipio lead Jonathan inside the cottage. In it was an assortment of ten other ponies, four male and six female, sitting around a large round table. Makes me think of King Arthur... Jonathan spotted Fluttershy, but did not recognize any of the other ponies. Scipio started rattling off names and pointing.

“Ok. Now that the introductions are out of the way, would you please take a seat?” Twilight gestured to an empty chair. Jonathan sat. He had the urge to start asking questions but, before he could begin, Twilight silenced everyone with a hoof.

“Ok everypony, I’m going to recap what I told all of you to Jonathan here...”

Multiple heads slammed the table.

Chapter 4: On the Road to Canterlot

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“All aboard!” the train conductor yelled. The group of 12 ponies walked single-file through the doors of the Ponyville Express and found their seats. Celestia had given them a first class coach all to themselves. The band of ponies sat in the cabin rows facing each other. The Elements of Harmony sat on the the left side of the cabin, the new ponies sat on the right. The ride to canterlot was more than half of a day, so there was plenty of time to talk.

Nick could see quite plainly that Twilight Sparkle was the leader of her team. She was able to command her friends to do what needed to be done, she carried herself well, and she always had a plan. Nick wasn’t sure how he was becoming his team’s leader though. Somehow the others looked to him when there were things to be done. Granted, Nick had experience in leadership, but he didn’t expect it to come so quickly. Nick saw this train ride as a good opportunity to ask Twilight for some leadership tips. He quietly began making a list of questions as the train continued down the track.

The train rumbled down the track noisily as each pony retreated into their own minds. The quiet was bothering Scipio. Or, rather, the lack of conversation was. The train was quite loud. To alleviate the burden of the train, and to make sure he didn’t start talking to himself, Scipio decided to start up a conversation.

“So this one time, I was playing airsoft. And it was awesome. There were twelve of us pinned down at Whiskey Outpost by two hundred ragheads. No, I’m not exaggerating. It was twelve versus two hundred. But we had a base and they didn’t. So, anyways, my team and I are just sittin’ there pwning some idiots when a tornado grenade comes arching over the wall. Then I caught it. No joke. I. CAUGHT. A. BUCKING. GRENADE.”

“Uhh Skippy, what’s a grenade?”

“Don’t interrupt! I wasn’t even at the good part!” He took a huge breath, then stopped. “Wait!” Scipio looked at the pink mare in confusement, “You don’t know what a grenade is?”

“Nope! Is it candy? I love candy! If it’s candy I want to catch one too!”

Scipio’s hoof met his face at novel speeds.

“No, in real life its something that explodes and kills lots of people. In airsoft it just sprays people with bb’s so they are eliminated.”

“Oh yeah! I forgot to ask, what is airsoft?”

“I didn’t explain it to you? Oh sweet Celestia... Jon, please?”

“I have your back, Skip. Pinkie, airsoft is considered by many to be a backyard game. However, to the more intense players like Skip, it is more than a game. It is a military simulation. Essentially, teams dress up in army uniforms and use realistic bb-guns to simulate real guns. If you get hit by a bb, you are ‘dead.’ This means that you are out for the rest of the match.”

“Why would you want to pretend to kill people? That’s just silly!”

“Humans are much more... violent... than ponies. Killing and warfare is much more day-to-day and glory on the battlefield is a good thing. Throughout history, -”

Scipio put a hoof to his mouth and made a gagging noise. “Ewww, history.”

“And what is wrong with history, Scipio?” a female voice interjected. Scipio looked over and saw Twilight with a flustered expression. However, before he could answer, Rainbow Dash spoke up.

“Nothing’s wrong with it... for eggheads. But if you’re normal, it’s boring.”

Felix chuckled. He couldn’t help agreeing with every word that came out of Rainbow Dash’s mouth. “So, when’s dinner? Or lunch? I haven’t eaten in like... 2 whole hours!” he groaned.

Rarity, who was sitting right next to him, nudged him reprovingly. “Be patient, Felix!” she said, “You’re being rude!”

“Lighten up, Rarity, the big man’s gotta eat!” yelled Gabriel as he flung his arms into the air. He nodded towards Felix as if to say, ‘you’re welcome’.

“We’ve been on this train a few times, we should be gettin’ some grub pretty quick here,” responded Applejack.

“Well...” Started a rather quiet voice, “I was getting kind of hungry...food right now would be nice...if that didn’t bother anyone,” Rufus looked over at Fluttershy and nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, when I used to take care of animals, they would always be picky about when and where they wanted their food,” he continued.

“Animals? You take care of them too?” Fluttershy’s eyes lit up as a smile suddenly beamed across her face.

“Yeah, I mostly take care of snakes but I really like animals,” Rufus found that he could easily identify with the yellow pegasus, who now began conversing with Rufus.

Nick had very mixed feelings about this whole discourse; his team was very different. Sure, it was nice to see them all act so jovially, but he couldn’t help but worry about whether the team could hold together in times of trouble.

As the sun lowered in the sky, a waiter pony came in and handed out menus.

“The finest array of Canterlot cuisine from Canterlot itself, for the guests of her lady, Princess Celestia,” he bowed, then gave them time to decide what they wanted to eat.

Felix slowly flipped through the pages, then frowned and flipped through them again. “Uh...” he cleared his throat, “where’s the meat?”

“Yea,” nodded Scipio in agreement, “I can only find vegetarian dishes on here.”

The conversation stopped immediately. The females stared incredulously at the two who spoke.

“You- you can’t be serious, can you?” asked Rarity with eyes wide. Fluttershy squeaked quietly with ears drawn back in fear.

Scipio’s eyes ran back and forth in the train cart. His headphones roared with the crescendo of a whole orchestra of violins.

But suddenly the music stopped. A lone flute played a soft melody.

Nick quickly seized control of the situation, “Haha what a morbid joke, guys,” he said, winking. Gradually, everyone started chuckling, then they burst into laughter- each for their own reasons. Rufus wiped his brow nervously and let out a sigh.

After they received their food (without any meat, of course), the conversation turned towards everyone’s special talents. The mares explained the concept of the “cutie mark” to those who hadn’t heard it, then they explained each of theirs.

“Well, how about ya’ll?” asked Applejack. Twilight nodded vigorously. “Yes! Tell us yours! We’ll go this way around the table,” she said, pointing at Gabriel first.

“Well,” he said, looking down at his flank, “mine is a prism, so that obviously means...” he trailed off. Everyone leaned in.

“I have absolutely no idea,” he finished with a smile. Half the audience rolled their eyes, the other half chuckled.

Jonathan was sitting next to Gabriel. “Well, my turn. My ‘cutie mark’ is a pair of squinting eyes. So that probably means that my ‘special talent’ is discernation or inductive reasoning, if I’m not mistaken,” he sniffed and inspected his hoof modestly. “Your turn-” he started, but was interrupted by Pinkie.

“Ohh! Show us!” she yelled loudly, pounding her hooves on the table.

He cracked his neck and regulated his breathing. His eyes swept towards Rufus, who was sitting next to him. “Rufus... You work at a zoo, but not for the money. You enjoy taking care of animals, but a certain type more than the others. Lets see.. amphibious? Not quite. Snake most likely. What type you ask? Hard to tell, except not if you know their biomes. By the residue on your hooves I would have to guess Asian or Indian. Since you work at a zoo, most likely the Burmese Python- one of the largest snakes in the world. Very big attraction at a zoo. Now that brings about the attention of where you live- or lived rather. Difficult to tell, now that you have changed species. But, judging by the residue in your left ear and the slight accent you have, I would have to say Florida in the United States- which helps my theory of the Burmese Python, due to the fact that they also live there. Any questions?”

Everyone’s jaws were almost touching the table, except for Scipio, who was just smiling.

“No? Right. Scipio, I know you already, it would hardly be fair to repeat that on you. So we move on to Nicholas. Let’s see... slightly nearsighted, due to spending too much time on the computer. How are those wrists treating you? You know you can get carpal tunnel syndrome from too much typing. Hm, a doctor in training if I’m not mistaken, which, I’m not,” he laughed. “I take it that by your quiet calculating nature that you like to assume leadership positions, yes? May I assume that you were part of some organizations such as the Boy Scouts? You have most likely earned the Eagle Scout rank. Then, judging by the story of you fearlessly wading out into the raging waters during Felix’s episode, I take it that you like outdoor activities? Entering raging waters without trepidation doesn’t come without experience you know...” Jonathan paused and looked over at Nick, who was smiling.

“Fascinating!” exclaimed Nick in admiration, “That was very accurate...almost eerie.” Nick applauded as the other ponies murmured. Twilight had to push Rarity off of her, who had swooned and fallen on top of her.

“Moving on yet again to Felix. Lower, right wisdom tooth is impacted, which causes your clenched jaw. You hold a lot of anger in you, as apparent through the stress lines on your forehead and beneath your eyes. I’m guessing a fatherly figure has caused you this?” Felix grunted and shifted in his seat. “.. but not your birth father. You work as a.... mechanic? Assistant mechanic due to your age. But not in a car shop. In a... hmm... laboratory? Not quite. Something to that effect, though.” Felix narrowed his eyes.

“How could you possibly know these things?” he asked with a glare.

“Its quite obvious when you look at the facts given. As I stated earlier, the stress lines led me to believe you held an immense amount of anger inside you- stemming from your younger years. This could come from your parents. Mothers who walk out on their sons cause more sadness and depression than rage. Therefore that leaves your father, and when I mentioned him I knew to study your reaction. You gave me one, but not what I was looking for. If I had hit it spot on, you would have glared at me immediately. But since I was close, you became angry and uncomfortable. Now the stuff about the mechanic-”

“Enough!” Felix yelled, slamming his hooves down on the table. He flared his nostrils and some steam escaped from them. He pushed himself away from the table and made his way to the back of the cabin. As he slammed the door shut, the table cloth ignited where his hooves hit previously. Rainbow Dash and Jonathan hurriedly put out the fire.

“Good goin’, egghead,” Rainbow Dash muttered. Twilight and Nick also gave Jon a condescending gaze. He sighed heavily.

“My apologies everyone. I will make amends promptly,” he stated as he excused himself from the table.

“Well I guess you’ll never know me,” Gabriel scoffed and leaned back in his chair, hooves crossed behind his head.

Jonathan spun himself so that he faced Gabriel directly. “Please. Narcissist that enjoys the company of women by telling them horse-feathered lies. You trick your family and friends to gain social status and importance in the eyes of your peers. You are as fake as Pamela Anderson’s mammary glands and as two-faced as the change you carry in your pockets. I can read you easier than a book, sir, and you rival the Twilight series in your lack of good literature. Good night,” he bowed and made his way after Felix.

Gabriel didn’t utter a word. The only sounds in the otherwise quiet cabin were the dishes clanking together as the servants removed them and Pinkie Pie clapping her hooves together in awe.

~~~

Jonathan quietly shut the carriage door behind him and joined Felix as he stared out at the moonlight landscape around them. The train horn’s blare was lost to the wind; all that could be heard was the sound of the train’s engine chugging along the tracks. Jonathan took a deep breath, but before he could say anything, Felix spoke.

“Peaceful, isn’t it?”

Jonathan let out his pent up breath. “Yes, it is,” he smiled.

“That’s quite a trick you’ve got there, Jon. I hope you can teach me that one day. How do you do it?”

“Well, its elementar-”

“Don’t even say it.”

They both chuckled softly. Jon began to apologize. “Look, Felix, I didn’t mean to anger you, I just...”

“It’s alright,” Felix interrupted once again. “It’s just a touchy subject, you know? My father. I forgive you, by the way. No hard feelings and all that other buckery.” He groaned, “Sweet Luna I hate these new expletives. They have no where near the effect I want them to have.”

Jonathan nodded his agreement. “Quite silly indeed.”

They went back to staring at the beautiful night sky.

Felix sighed. “Wish I had a smoke...”

“I think I can supply that, actually. Here.” He handed Felix a cigarette.

“Wait, how did you know I smoked? Aww hell, don’t tell me. I faintly smell like smoke, or there are some tobacco leaves in my mane...”

“I saw you eyeing them at the train station and I decided to get them, just in case.”

“Ahh,” he laughed, “how about a light?”

“.... Ah horsefeathers....”

“I think I can supply that,” grinned Felix. He concentrated for a moment, and a small flame sprung up at the tip of his hoof. It illuminated their faces and the porch they stood on for a few moments while Felix lit the pipe. Jonathan watched in amazement. “You have to teach me how to do that,” he said. Felix tilted his head thoughtfully. “I’m pretty sure it’s my special power or something,” he explained as he placed the cigarette in his mouth.

He inhaled deeply, then rolled his shoulders and exhaled. “Ahh... much better. Not too bad for tobacco from Equine-stria.”

“I do believe it’s Equestria...”

“Whatever. Here,” he passed Jon the cigarette.

Jonathan stared at the tobacco before placing it in his mouth. He inhaled, and almost immediately started coughing.

Felix laughed boisterously and patted Jonathan on his back. “It’s alright, you’ll get it sooner or later,” he said while smiling.

“Haha, thanks,” replied Jonathan, returning the smile. “Right. I’m about to turn in. It was good chatting, Felix. Thanks for the smoke,” he patted Felix on the shoulder. The door clattered behind him, leaving Felix in solitude once again.

~~~

Jonathan is a valuable teammate. Nick thought, But Felix, on the other hand, is a loose cannon. I have to come up with a way to keep him stable... Nick tried to fold his hands in front of his face, as was custom to when he thought, but instead of interlocking fingers, his hooves collided and pressed against each other. Ah...yes, hooves. Regardless, Felix has quite the interest in Rainbow Dash, and luckily for him, she seems to return the interest. Nick was so focused on his thought train, that he didn’t notice everyone slowly start to stare at him. He sighed, “I suppose you want to hear about me now, correct?”

He scanned the colourful group of ponies around him.

“We gotta share! We gotta ca-” Rainbow Dash proceeded to forcefully slap her hoof over Pinkie Pie’s mouth, shutting her up.

"Go on, Nick,” Rainbow Dash smiled. Applejack silently thanked Celestia for a moment of peace.

“Well...as you can recall from Jonathan’s observations, I like to assume leadership positions. This has been a large part of my life, as I come from parents with great expectations. I don’t suppose you also have a de-facto leader, do you Twilight?” He glanced over at the purple mare who nodded in agreement.

“Well...yes, that leader usually happens to be me.” The other mares nodded in agreement. Nick smiled and lowered his hooves before continuing.

“Wonderful, I foresee us working together a lot in the future.” Twilight smiled as Nick continued. “ As for my cutie mark...a plus sign...a positive symbol... I’m positive this has something to do with my electrical abilities.” Nick waited as some snickers and groans went around the cabin. He chuckled and continued, “Bad puns aside, I find it rather odd that it isn’t a negative symbol, electrons are the negative parts of an atom after all, and electricity is free flowing electrons.” The rest of the ponies murmured: was this really the place for a science lecture? Twilight seemed a little curious, but Nick cleared his throat and continued, “Perhaps...I’m full of positive energy? I’m not sure yet. Whatever it might really be, I will do everything within my power to ensure that all goes well.” He resumed his silent and distant position as the rest of the cart began to murmur again. This was interrupted by Jonathan’s sudden re-entry. He had a pleased look on his face, and calmly trotted back to his spot.

“Rest assured,” he began, “Felix is doing all right.”

“I’m gonna check on him, just in case,” said Rainbow Dash said as she made her way outside.

~~~

Felix sighed again contently. He hadn't felt this calm for a while. Something about this place, and the ponies in it. Suddenly two arms wrapped around his waist from the back. Acting on instinct, he flinched, but then relaxed as he realized it was Rainbow Dash. "Hey," she said quietly, "you feeling any better? I thought it best for you to cool off," she giggled. "Literally." He laughed along with her.

"Yes I am, thanks," he said returning her smile. He pulled her around and lifted her up, then sat her on the rail in front of him. She inhaled with fright at the sight of the quickly moving ground beneath her.

"I got you," he said reassuringly. She sniffed and embraced him.

"Don't tell any of the others, but I'm nervous about visiting the Princess. I don't know how this will turn out. I'm just.... lost." she said softly.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I'm here for now, lets just enjoy this while we can." They both grinned and hugged again. As they broke their embrace, Felix and Rainbow Dash locked eyes- there was a slight pause before Felix drew back and stifled a chuckle. The two looked up at the beautiful night sky. Felix spoke first, “You know Rainbow...” but he stopped there. She looked at Felix and noticed his sudden change in attitude and looked at him questioningly. Felix stared blankly at the ground for a few seconds before seemingly coming to life again, “It’s so weird being around you... almost everything you say, I agree with. Usually I’m more... prone-,” he said, spitting out the more educated vocabulary word as if it were garbage, “-to disagreeing with ponies. But you...”

“I know what you mean,” she said. “I love arguing with others for fun, especially stallions,” Rainbow laughed as she kicked her dangling hooves. “Tell me about yourself, the good bits. I don’t think Jonathan painted a good picture,” she snorted at the mention of Jonathan.

“Well, let’s see,” he said, trying to think of the good things, “I, uh, like Jonathan said, I do work as a mechanic, in my dad’s old position- mechanical design and innovation. But, I don’t get paid for what I do. It’s mostly like an internship...” he glanced at Rainbow Dash, who obviously had no idea what he was talking about.

“Like, engines and machine design!” he clarified, gaining an “Ahh!” from Rainbow.

“Yea, but I’m really lazy a lot of the time; everyday after I get home from school I-”

“Take a nap?” she interjected with a smile. He grinned. “How’d you guess?”

“I do the same! Except I don’t go to school anymore. I work on my own time, and take naps on clouds whenever I want!”

“You can sleep on clouds?! How is that even possible?” he asked incredulously.

“All pegasi can walk on clouds! We’re light enough to do that. Simple physics, Felix,” she winked.

He snorted. That was anything but simple physics.

“Keep going!” she said, her smile bright enough to rival the moon itself.

He grinned and continued, “But I have really sweet ideas, improving machinery to benefit mankind and such, you know, be the hero.” He chuckled as he stared at the extinguished cigarette bud on the floor. “If I make something amazing, something really revolutionary, maybe I can make enough money to get out of the situation I’m in...”

“Your, situation?” asked Dash.

“Yea, my-” he exhaled and cracked his neck. “Living with my stepfather. I can’t do it anymore. As soon as I make enough bits, I’m going to rent out an apartment and live by myself. I think I’m almost there though. This new project that I just finished- I think I found out a way to combust more natural and replenishable items to make into fuels. It’s a little more explosive than I intended, but-” he coughed and looked at Rainbow Dash, who was completely lost again.

He chuckled and apologized. “Sorry, seems like I lost you,” he said.

“No, its okay! I just didn’t take you for someone so smart!”

“Well, I like these types of things. Logical and factual. I’m not witty whatsoever,” he laughed.

“Well that’s okay. If you ask me, we have too much of that in our group,” she giggled.

His smile grew greater as he lost himself in her gaze.

“You okay, Felix? Don’t fall asleep on me!” she grabbed his shoulders and shook violently.

“Yes! I’m fine, its just that,” he scoffed at the ridiculousness of the subject, “I’m pretty sure that’s the first time I’ve ever received a compliment from a mare. I mean mare. Buck,” he coughed, struggling through the Equestrian words. “Most mares are intimidated by me. The ‘bad stallion’ factor doesn’t really work for me,” he explained.

“I like it,” she said quietly, blushing. Felix coughed and felt his face flush. What is this? I’m just talking to her and I feel like a foal! He decided to change things up.

“So what about you? I’m sure you’re a real... stallion’s mare...” he said blandly. He attempted to emphasize this with gestures, but his limbs ended up moving in circles. He decided to give up and rest them on the railing.

She sat quietly for a while before answering. “I guess you could say that! Who wouldn’t want a piece of this?” she said, winking. But she lacked conviction.

“So you’ve been with several stallions? Sorry not been with, but like...” he couldn’t think of the words to fill the void he created.

His phrase seemed to strike a chord with her.

The awkward silence that surrounded them lasted for more than two minutes.

Felix finally cleared his throat and began to apologize.

“No, it’s okay,” she whispered. “It’s just so weird being around you. I’ve never felt this way before. Even though we just met-”

“I feel like I know so much about you,” Felix finished.

“Exactly.” She turned her head skyward and stared intently at the stars above.

Felix was the first to break the silence. “So, even though I have wings, I have no idea how to use them. Do you think you can teach me? I heard you’re a darn good flyer,” he added smirking.

“Yes!” she laughed, “Of course! And it’s always been my dream to join the Wonderbolts! But now, I’m not so sure,” she ended flatly.

“Why?” Felix responded lamely.

“Well, one of the members, Soar-” she stopped herself, but tried to play it off as a cough. “One of the Wonderbolts and I are not exactly in the best situation. If I join the Wonderbolts, I want to join because I’m the best flyer, and not because of someone on the inside.”

Felix could tell there was much more to the story than she was telling. He tried to play it off as ignorance.

“Well, I’m sure they’re missing out on the best flyer in Equine-stria, err, Equestria!” he exclaimed with a goofy smile on his face.

“Yea!” she responded. She threw her arms into the air and pretended as if she were about to fall off the railing. Felix exclaimed in fright and tried to grab her, but she tipped over the side.

“Rainbow!” he yelled, but she was back on the porch in an instant, laughing.

“Wings, remember?” she asked while wiggling her back.

“Oh yeah,” he chuckled.

"Come on, lets head back in." While he stepped out of her way, she pecked him on the cheek. He stuttered as she laughed and dashed inside. His grin reached both ears as he followed her back into the cabin.

~~~

Scipio was bored again. Nick was talking everypony’s ear off about leadership positions and nothing interesting had happened.

Jon needs to do his little intuition thing again.

Why?

Cause it’s interesting, duh.

Right.

I’m bored again.

This seems to be a pattern...

It’s not my fault that everypony is boring! I mean, seriously, between Nick and Twilight I might as well be back in school...

It’s not that bad...

Yes it is.

Nope.

Yep.

Nope.

Yep.

Nuh-uh.

Uh-huh.

Nuh-uh.

Are we really doing this? Seriously? I’m arguing with myself like a three year old child...

So?

Shut up. I’m going to sleep.

Felix and Rainbow Dash had just re-entered the car when Scipio stood up and yelled, “Hey everypony! I’m going to sleep! GOOD. NIGHT.” He walked off to the sleeping car, leaving some bewildered ponies in his track. Felix and Rainbow Dash looked at each other, wondering if they had caused his outburst.

Jonathan sat, looking at Scipio walk off. He looked at the clock, “Well, it seems Scipio has a point. Look at the time. I do believe that now would be a good time to turn in.” He followed Scipio. The other ponies sat there for a little longer, looking at the clock, then saw the wisdom in Jonathan’s words. They got up as one and walked off to their respective beds. Felix kept wondering if his entry had caused Scipio’s outburst, or if it was simply bad timing. He decided he would ask Scipio first thing in the morning.

~~~

Felix woke up in a cold sweat. He knew he had a bad dream, but he couldn’t recount any of it. The more he tried to remember, the more he felt he forgot. He shivered violently and pulled the sheets closer to himself. He laid there for a few minutes, unable to get warm. He thought about sneaking to Rainbow Dash’s bunk. No, I can’t, he thought to himself. She was making moves, but he couldn’t tell what she was after. He felt so hopeless when it came to women. It made him frustrated. Getting out of bed, he paced around the room. He could tell there was something different about Rainbow Dash, or the situation between them. He thought hard- maybe he could emulate what Jonathan had showed him earlier.

Rainbow Dash... why is she attracted to me? Well, I’m not that bad looking, maybe even handsome or whatever; supposedly that transfers to this world, too. But that doesn’t seem to be all of it. There’s more to it- because I feel myself unnaturally attracted to her. What was her Element of Harmony again? Loyalty? Yea that’s it. And my special power is... fire? There’s gotta be something there... Gah! What is it?

He needed Jonathan’s intuition desperately. But he couldn’t just wake him up. He’d have to wait until tomorrow. He sighed as he realized that he had a lot of talking to do tomorrow. He got back into bed and stared at the bunk above him where Nick was sleeping. After much more thinking and several more hours, he finally fell back asleep.

~~~

Scipio’s headphones slowly brought him to consciousness. He looked at the clock. 1:00 a.m.

Perfect. These headphones are amazing. They have an alarm clock built in!

Yep. They’re pretty cool.

Go away. Nopony loves you.

Scipio rolled out of bed and headed for the dining cab. As he entered, he found Jonathan sitting at a table with a solitary lamp on it.

“Wow Scipio, you’re actually on time.”

“These headphones have a built in alarm clock!” Scipio exclaimed quietly, “Ready to get you plot whooped?”

Scipio pulled out a paper, one side of which was filled with numbers and calculations, while on the other side was a sketch of the area surrounding Lake Trasimene.

“Ok Jon. Here we have a likeness of the terrain surrounding a certain lake in Italy. You can see a large force entering an ambush by another, smaller force. What was the battle and war and what were the troop and commander dispositions? What about the outcome?”

“Pshh. Easy. Romans under Gaius Flaminius versus Carthaginians under Hannibal Barca. The Battle of Lake Trasimene took place on June the twenty-first, in two hundred B.C. Crushing defeat for the Romans, second Punic War.”

“Well look at you, you got the basic facts right. Troop numbers?”

“Romans: approximately 40,000. Carthaginians: more than 30,000.”

“Good job! What were the casualties?

“Romans: 15,000 or more lost. Carthaginians: around 3,000 lost.”

“Wrong! Hannibal only lost around 2,500. Boom!”

“Yeah well what about this, military genius?”

Jonathan pulled out his own paper. On it was sketched a crude likeness of a city on a hill being besieged by towers. Scipio assumed that said towers were fortifications of the besiegers. Another huge force was attacking the besiegers from the outside of their fortifications as the defenders in the city attacked the besiegers from the inside.

Ok. Lets do this. We agreed to stay with Roman Republic era battles. The fortifications for the besiegers are definitely Roman. Hilltop city, large relief effort. Oh, its Alesia. Boom pwned.

“You insult me with such an easy one. Plus your drawing is crap. Anyways, its the Battle of Alesia, 52 B.C. Gallic Wars. 60,000 Romans under none other than Julius Ceasar. 80,000 Gauls under Vercingetorix in the city. Somewhere between 120,000 and 300,000 large Gallic relief for-”

“What in tarnation are y’all doing talkin’ history this early in the morning? And didn’t ya say you hated history, Skip?”

Jonathan and Scipio both looked up in surprise at Applejack’s intrusion. They looked at each other frantically, trying to come up with a valid excuse. Attempting to play it off as a joke, Jonathan looked at Applejack, and, while slowly moving his hoof through the air in Jedi mind trick style, said, “You didn’t see anything...”

“Ahh didn’t see anything...” Applejack mumbled, her eyes growing unfocused. Scipio and Jonathan looked at each other in amazement. Jonathan wove his hoof again,

“You will go back to bed and forget this ever happened...”

“Ahh will go back ta bed and forget this ever happened...”

Applejack exited the room in a stupor. When she had gone, Scipio and Jonathan burst into fits of quiet, barely restrained laughter.

“Oh Celestia, I can’t breathe! Man, you just went all Obi-Wan on her plot!”

“That was amazing! I did not expect that to work, it was totally in jest...”

“But still! Sweet Luna! That’s amazing!” Scipio fell out of his chair, laughing.

“Shhh! You’ll wake somepony else! Then I’ll have to ‘go all Obi-Wan’ on their plot!”

“Hahaha you said it. It sounds so much funnier coming out of your British mouth. Say ‘may the Force be with you.’”

“We’ve done this a million times. My accent is only slightly like Obi-Wan’s.”

“Say it!”

“Ugh. May the Force be with you.”

Stifling one last laugh, Scipio sat in the chair again. “Ok I’m done. As I was saying, the Gallic relief force was around...”

The two talked of history for another hour before going back to bed. Scipio went to bed amazed with Jonathan’s mind trick, while Jonathan went to bed wondering how Scipio could transition from literally rolling on the floor laughing to reciting troop numbers in less than five seconds. It was not an original mystery, however. Jonathan had been wondering about that and Scipio’s millions of other oddities for the years he had known him.

~~~

Beams of sunlight gently played upon Rufus’ face as he stirred from his sleep. Yawning, he quietly eased himself out of his bunk and exited his cabin. The train was peacefully quiet as he made his way down the corridor. Rufus wanted to grab some fresh air; early morning was his favorite time of day. He approached the last door when he heard some laughing on the other side of it, he could make out the voices...was that...Felix?

“And...but he...and I...so...engine!” and then he heard someone else laughing, it was that rainbow pony. Rufus sighed, it wasn’t like he wanted to intrude or anything, so he turned around and started to walk back. He had walked a few paces when suddenly a door opened, Rufus almost jumped back at the shock, but was relieved to see Fluttershy exit her cabin. She turned towards him, and stammered a greeting.

“O-oh! Good morning Rufus! I didn’t expect to see you up so early...” She shuffled her hooves around before smiling, “Were you enjoying the quiet of the morning?” Rufus nodded,

“Yes, it’s so peaceful in the early mornings, I like to sit outside with a hot drink and just admire the sunrise, it’s really beautiful.” Fluttershy motioned over to an empty cabin, and beckoned Rufus to follow.

“We aren’t going to get a lot of time to talk if we wait for the others to wake up, want to, you know, chat? If that’s alright with you...” She looked down at the floor before smiling and looking back at Rufus awaiting his response.

“Yes,” smiled Rufus as he followed Fluttershy into the cabin. They opened a window and to draw in the fresh air. He inhaled deeply before sitting on one of the benches. “You have a lot of interesting friends Fluttershy, they are all so different: personalities and likes and so.” He paused before continuing. “What keeps you together?”

“Well, it isn’t easy...but we get along fine because we understand each other, we all have our ups and downs, and we work to help one another.” She beamed happily and smiled at Rufus, who laughed, and slumped down in his seat.

“I hope our group can do it. We are just so different.” Rufus waved his hooves in the air, “We’ve apparently got a big mission ahead of us, but I’m afraid that we might fail...” He sighed, Fluttershy put her hoof on his shoulder

“We’ve been in rough spots before but we always pulled through, I’m sure we can all manage this.” She got up and walked to the door, “Come on, let’s grab some breakfast, the others ought to be up by now.” Rufus closed the window and followed her out smiling- he had found hope in a new friend.

~~~

Just then Felix and Rainbow Dash opened the door to the cabin. “... but what they didn’t know was, nitrogen was part of the reaction!’” said Felix, ending a possibly bad joke. They both burst out laughing and took their spots next to each other at the table. Felix instantly dug into a breakfast roll. With her mouth in an “o” shape, Twilight gave them both a questioning look. Felix responded with a “carry on” motion as he swallowed.

The waiting staff stepped in with the drinks. “Excuse me, but could I get a glass of orange juice?” Felix asked. “One for me too!” Rainbow said.

The waiting staff returned with everyone’s drinks, except Felix’s. He stared at Rainbow Dash’s full cup of orange juice. He cleared his throat forcefully, gaining the attention of the nearest servant. “Excuse me, sir, if you wouldn’t mind, I would love a glass of orange juice to complement this fine meal,” he asked slowly, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Rainbow slapped him upside the head reprovingly. “No but really, could I get some bucking orange juice? Been waiting as long as Nightmare Moon here!” he said.

“Right away, sir!” responded the colt as he galloped towards the kitchen.

“So, what’s the plan of attack, Twilight? If I may call you Twilight, that is,” Jonathan asked from across the table.

“Yes, that’s fine Jonathan. When we reach Canterlot, we’ll see Princess Celestia and Princess Luna immediately. We’ll probably be there for several days, most likely staying for the Giving of Thanks,” All the mares in the room gasped and started talking excitedly.

Twilight turned towards the males and began explaining. “The Giving of Thanks celebration is the time of year when autumn turns to winter. We celebrate this by expressing our gratitude towards everypony around us with feasting and presents!”

“And parties!” interjected Pinkie Pie.

“Yes Pinkie, and parties,” responded Twilight.

“Sounds a lot like Thanksgiving to me,” said Gabriel.

“I’ve noticed many similarities between Earth and Equestria actually,” interrupted Jonathan. “There’s got to be several more links and such, much like what the Guardian talked to me about in the Nexus.”

The other stallions immediately dropped what they were doing and started shouting questions towards Jonathan. Nick eventually quieted them down and spoke first.

“You’re saying that you’ve met a ‘Guardian of the Nexus’ and been inside of the Nexus?” he asked Jon.

“Why yes, have you all done the same?”

The six solemnly nodded.

“Why haven’t we talked about this before?” asked Gabriel. “Pretty sure this is an important subject, guys,” he scoffed.

“Well, what was everyone’s experience like?” asked Scipio.

Everyone described the Nexus and the Guardian, all save Gabriel who sat quietly.

“What was yours like, Gabe?” asked Rufus quietly.

“Oh, same as everyone elses’, I guess. Swirly mist and big scary man,” he said nonchalantly. Jonathan stared at Gabe, attempting to discover if he was lying or telling the truth. Gabriel, noticing Jon, turned towards him and glared unblinking into his eyes.

Twilight broke the silence with a groan. “Where have I read this before? I know I have!” she said while pounding her noggin.

“Hey, its alright, we’ll ask the Princess when we reach Canterlot in a few hours, okay?” Nick said as he grabbed Twilight’s hooves from causing further harm.

The staff headed back in the room to hand out seconds and retrieve plates. One colt headed towards Felix with a glass of orange juice on a platter. “Here you are, sir, we apologize for the wait,” he said as he handed Felix the glass.

“Finally!” Felix yelled and motioned to take a sip. Suddenly a loud explosion came from the front of the train that rocked the cabin. Felix exclaimed in surprise, but was able to keep any juice from spilling.

“Ha!” he said triumphantly and moved the glass towards his mouth. Another bang rocked the cabin, and his juice spilled across his face and neck. He started breathing heavy as his eyes darkened.

“I swear I will kill whoever’s fault this-!”

An immense force ripped the train off the tracks and flipped it into the air. Dishes, ponies, and furniture went flying as everyone yelled at the same time.

A/N: Sorry this took so long to get out! We'll be better about time next time...

The Elements of Pure Energy

by The Collective

Prologue: Problems and Prophecies

Chapter 1: Entrance

Chapter 2: The Nexus

Chapter 3: Through the Threshold (Part 1)

Chapter 3: Through the Threshold (Part 2)

Chapter 3: Through the Threshold (Part 3)

Chapter 4: On the Road to Canterlot

On Hiatus