> My Report on Another World > by Piggynator > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Mysterious Ruins. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- My name is Eric Scott. I am an investigative photo journalist. Some people in the field hate how I operate. I'm the sort that tends to dabble in the stories that others dare not touch. After all, the scarier the scoop, the more thrilling it is to cover! But anyways, whats going on right now? As of now, I'm on a military helicopter due to a tip off about a mysterious structure discovered in a desert country I cant remember the name of. I'll have to ask the lads on the way home. The helicopter lands and we disembark. I climb out and put my "PRESS" vest on over my thin hoodie as we make our way over. It takes us about 10 minutes to arrive before my camcorder is out and rolling. I aim my camera around and capture as much as I can. The outside looks like... a castle? Or the remains of a castle. Poor thing looks like it got blown up. PERFECT! I capture as much as I can before we head in. Inside is so much more strange. For example, there are statues of what seem to be horse like creatures. One seems taller than the other "The hell?" I hear one of the marines say. I turn the camera to him and he has a rainbow coloured rock in his hand. "May I have a gander, mate?" I ask. The marine replies with a yes and hands it to me. It gives off a warm sensation. And I swear I can feel it pulsing. It reminds me of a dice someone would use when playing a tabletop role playing game. It kind of looks like one as well. I put it in the small shoulder bag full of extra batteries and SD cards as I hear another marine shout to call us over. I keep the camera rolling as we head over to the location of the shout to find the marine looking up at one of the statue. This one is even bigger than the other one! Thats great to confirm! I eagerly point my camcorder at it and try to capture as much of it as possible. "LADS, I FOUND SOMETHING ELSE!" That got all our attention again as we turned to him to see he is holding a book of sorts. He slings his rifle over his shoulder and starts to read it. Or, attempts to read it. I walk over to him and point my camcorder at the book. The language is like nothing I have ever seen. Like, a bunch of scribbles or something. I know for sure its not Arabic because I took a couple lessons just in case. I take off my sun glasses to get a better look but still no dice. "Could you put that in here, mate" I say as I point to my shoulder bag to which he does so. Damn. All we found were giant statues, a rock and a book with bugger knows what written in it. Here I thought it be more interesting and could be a better scoop to rea- "Is this a library?" I say as I walked past a door and took a peek inside. One of the lads catches me looking in and walks in to have a look. He pulls a book from the shelves and looks through it "I think I may have your scoop, mate" Oh? I gotta see this! He hands me the book. As I expected, the language is unreadable but what isnt unreadable are the pictures. I point my camcorder at the pictures. The hell? THERES WIERD HORSE PICTURES! AND IT LOOKS LIKE THEY'RE... Unicorns? With what look like wings are fighting? Wait, is this guy having me on? Nah, can't be. I saw him randomly pull this book off of the shelf. I document as much of the book as I can as we put it back and rejoin the marines in the hallway. We continue walking about and through a corridoor until we come across a wooden door partially open. I manage to get my hand in along with my camera. Good, the coast is clear. I give the all clear to the lads and we give the door a push. The marines head in and clear the room. They give me the all clear and we head in. The room is bigger than I thought. In the centre of the room, theres a wierd contraption. Theres a large sphere surrounded by 5 other spheres. I keep my camcorder on it. Capturing all of it. Every nook and cranny. After a while I finish up and head out to join up with the marines. After another 10 minutes, we carry on down a corridor until we walk into a throne room. With my camera still rolling, I head on in. There are two thrones. Strange? Unless theres a king and queen, I dont see why there would be two of them. I go ahead of the marines as they paused to set up some equipment of sorts. As I keep walking, My hands start to shake. This might be it. THE SCOOP OF A LIFETIME!!!!! I turn my back to the thrones to go over the footage I captured so far. All looks good. But that book. I cant help but feel like its import- "ERIC, GET OUT OF THERE!!!!!" I hear all of them shout. I frantically shake my head until I see it. THE GROUND. OH GOD!!!!! Its falling in! Or out? It circles around until a circle made of light apppears. "OH CHRIST IN HEAVEN. I'M BEING SUCKED IN!" I feel myself rise up and get sucked in. Out of desperation, I try to swim out to no avail. I look in and see what looks like a throne room? "LADS, GIVE ME SOMETHING. ANYTHING. HURRY! Theres a room in there!" I see the marines looks about in a panic as they shout back "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SAYING? ARE YOU CRAZY?" "I'M TELLING YOU. THERES SOMETHING THERE. THIS COULD BE HUGE. JUST TELL THE WORLD I GET LOST IN A CAVE IN AND FOUND A WAY TO KEEP GOING DEEPER. So just give me SOMETHING!" No sooner did I say that, I see a bayonet still in its sheathe fly to me. I just barely catch it as I am quickly sucked in. > Misunderstanding > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Uuuuugghhhhh... My head.. Who on earth hit me? The ground I guess? I can barely move Although my muscles are coming to. I slowly open my eyes. to see a strange looking room with stained glass windows and it looks... Colourfull? And what are those voices saying? I fully open my eyes and sit up. In front of me are 6 different coloured horses all with their mouthes agape . One pink, one yellow with pink hair, one Orange, one blue with rainbow hair, one white with purple hair and one thats purple with purple hair and different coloured highlights. They're all facing me at eye level. Judging how they are making eye contact while I'm sitting up straight, they must be up to my waist in height. The orange one is the first to break the silence as I grab my camcorder. "What in tarnation are you?" she says as she adjusts her hat and scratches her head in confusion. "I'm a human. Obviously. Where am I and whats going on?" I ask as I pick up my camcorder and check to see if its still rolling (which it is). Between the six of them, they exchange looks of confusion before the purple one responds "Equestria. More specifically, Canterlot castle. Now, how did you get here?" I try to explain as much as I can from the tip off, to the helicopter ride and to the ruins the marines and I explored. It's at this moment I realise that I am talking to HORSES THAT CAN SPEAK ENGLISH AND CAN UNDERSTAND ME. And that I got transported... to another... world. I can feel myself start to breathe faster. Oh no... oh no... OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD "OH GOD HOW DO I GET HOME? MY FAMILY? MY WIFE? MY KIDS? MOM? DAD?" Thats when I realise I am screaming. WAIT, WHY ARE YOU APPROACHING ME? STAY BACK!!!!! WHAT ARE YOU? LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!! My panic turns into dread as I scramble to my feet. I frantically look around in hopes of finding an exit only to find the door behind the six horses in front of me. "Are you troubled? Whats wrong?" I hear a soft voice next to my ear. It sounds motherly. Like a mother comforting her child. As I thought I was calming down, I feel a soft pressure on my shoulder. I jump back to see another horse about my height if not a tad taller standing behind me. My panic is sent into overdrive and before I know it, I take off running. DAMN IT ALL I'M NOT DYING HERE!!! I break into a mad dash for the door. I slip past them while they keep trying to talk to me and keep my stride. I jerk my head back to see the blue one fly past me and stop infront of me in an attempt to get me to stop but as she floats in front of me, I slide under her and keep going. The two guards at the door brace for impact but I dodge past them and open the door just enough to get out the room and close the door. I can hear many footsteps approaching as I continue my sprint down a corridoor. I pass a few doors until I see one thats not open. I push it open to see a spiral stair case. All this time, my camera has not been put down. I raise it up and use the zoom function to see down the bottom to no avail. I carefully and quickly go down the stairs just as I hear footsteps pass by. I take the brief moment to sit on the stairs to rest up before I continue. No sooner had I started going down again, I hear it... Bouncing... Followed by "He's going down the stairs!" BOLLOCKS! THE PINK ONE FOUND ME! I pick up my pace going down the stairs while the pink one is in (semi) hot pursuit. The bottom of the stairs gets closer when I hear it. "Hey, why are you running? I'm Pinkie Pie and-" "BUGGER OFF!" I shout in an attempt to keep her back but my sudden scare causes me to lose my footing. I tumble down the stairs for the last few steps and land sprawled out on the floor. Luckily I put my hands around my head on the last few stairs otherwise I might have been knocked out but damn my body hurts. I grit my teeth together and look up to see the pink horse now only 3 meters away. I audibly gasp as I scamble to my feet, open and close the door to the stairs. I keep up the pace until I see a library. I duck in there and hide myself under a bench. I notice more horses come in and out of here as I attempted to get my breathing under control. thats it, in out in out in ou- "um... are you scared? I'm sorry if we frightened you." My body jerks up and I smack my head on the bench causing me to get dizzy. The one yellow one with pink hair had found me and now I MIGHT BE CAPTURED!!! I roll on my side out of the bench and try to make my way out. I shake off the dizziness and keep going. My legs feel like they're on fire but I keep going. I soon approach a fancy looking door. I burst through it to find a bedroom. I notice the large bed but dart for the wardrobe as I hear more footsteps. I peek through the gaps on the door of the wardrobe to see the white horse walk in. I guess my breathing must have gotten too fast or loud because I looked through the gap of the wardrobe again only to see her slowly approach it. No... please stay away. Dont open it. God, don't let her open it. I strange noise followed by her horn glowing indicates that she might be doing something. I burst out from from the wardrobe causing her to shout out in surprise. Her horn stops glowing and I make a break for the balcony door. I try the door and too my luck, it opens but that good luck came with some bad luck seeing as the other horses appear at the door. I open the door to the balcony when they alert me to their presense. "Are you okay? Whats wrong, darling?" the white one asks. "STAY BACK!! GET AWAY!!" I shout, camera raised. On instinct, I start to back away when my leg catches the balcony that wasnt built for someone my height. My legs go up as I tumble over the edge. God in heaven. I'm going to die. I'M GOING TO DIE! NOOOOO! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHGAHHHHHHHH! My screams are abruptly cut off when I land on the balcony below and black out briefly. When I awaken, I look up at the balcony above to see all six of them looking over in concern. Wait, I'm still alive? How high did I fall? Three meters? Four? No! I cant be thinking about that right now! I slowly get up, head pounding and legs shaky. I make it about three steps before my legs give out and I fall to the ground... I can only watch on in horror as the yellow one with pink hair flys over too my and starts taking a look. I try to crawl away when I feel her touch my back "We are not going to hurt you, sir. I promise you. We want to help if you just talk to us." Are these guys having me on? Are they being legit? Or am I about to be captured? "How do I trust you?" I ask back. She looks for words to respond with when I see the purple one fly down to join her. "I'll take over, Fluttershy" She says to the yellow one (who appears to be named Fluttershy). "When you arrived, me and my friends were in the middle of reporting to Princess Celestia about a concern of hers regarding a magic thought to be destroyed recently. It turns out that spell actually sent it to another plane of existance unknown to us. Ever since it was sealed, it has been trying to find a way back to Equestria using alicorn magic. Or traces of it. The main theory it's the remnants of the darkness that consumed princess Luna's heart and transformed her into Nightmare Moon" "The bloody hell is a Nightmare Moon and what does it have to do with why I am here?" "Nightmare Moon was born out of Princess Luna's jealousy of her sister. But that story will have too wait seeing as you kind of interupted our report to the princess. Can you stand?" I make an attempt to stand. Seeing as I was laying down, my legs got time to recover slightly enough to where I could stand with some effort. My head on the other hand felt like I was having a migraine. I guess falling would do that. I mention my head to the horse and she sends Fluttershy back up to the rest of her group. "By the way, before we go back, Do you have a name?" "Eric. Eric Scott. Investigative photo journalist. You are?" "Twilight. Twilight Sparkle. Princess of friendship." I feel like I should bow after hearing that. She stands next to me and before I can blink, we are stood in the middle of her group. My head still throbbing, I realise my camera has been rolling still. Man, this thing can take a beating, huh. Wait, why am I thinking about this now. I shrug it off and cautiously follow at the back of the six of them. I'm in no condition to run again seeing as my head feels like its going to explode and besides, these horses probably kow this castle way better than I can imagine. I mention my head ache to Twilight and she assures me that she will get a spell ready before we face the princess. While walking, Twilight introduces her friends to me and we all exchange pleasantries but I keep a few things to myself. Like the bayonet cliped onto my belt. By the way, my intuition is on the money seeing as not long after we left the balcony, we arrived at those large doors. Before we go in, Twilight tells me to shut my eyes and as soon as I close my eyes, my head ache is gone. Huh, magic really is a thing here. Interesting. And it seems that spell has helped me calm down some. How that works I do not know but honestly I won't question it. Being able to hold a conversation while being as calm as possible may help me. > Mission. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight uses her magic to open the two large doors and we all head in, with myself plodding along at the back. I can feel the pressure properly now. It feels like i'm carrying a backpack with an anvil in it. Fluttershy notices me slowly falling behind and whispers to me "um... are you doing okay, Mister Scott?" I sigh and whisper back "Honestly, no. Feels like I'm carrying an anvil right now. I'm in the presense of three princesses and not to mention being the only human here kinda makes me more stressed." I sigh when I finish that. Fluttershy does her best to encourage me and while it does help in some places, it does nothing for my main problem: getting home. Thats my main priority and right now, it would be wise of me to stay on their good side. Afterall, these guys might know a thing or two about what brought me here and how to get home. We continue for about a minute before we are acknowledged by the princess herself. We stop quite a ways from the two thrones before Celestia stands up and moves over to us. I notice she is looking me dead in the eyes. Probably sizing me up, like I'm some sort of fantastical creature (which in all fairness, I am). I straighten myself up to the best of my ability while the six ponies around me bow (I think?) Celestia motions for them to stand as she turns her attention back to me. I make sure to get the first word in. "Hey erm.. Princess Celestia, look, I'm sorry for legging it like that. I'm usually a calm chap and I know you were trying to help me, but I lost my cool. So, sorry about that" I say as I rub the back of my neck. Celestia gives a warm and understanding smile before responding "Thats quite alright. I'm more than willing to accept your apology. Now, might you be so kind as to tell me your name? I must say, it is my first time seeing a creature such as yourself" "Oh, righto then. My name is Eric Scott, investigative photo journalist and I am a creature known as a human. I come from another world and was brought here when a portal opened up and sucked me in. If you want proof of my story, I can show you." Intrigued, Celestia says although she wouldn't have asked for any, she asks to see it anyway. I pull out my camcorder (Which has been still rolling by the way), pause the recording and navigate to the menu which has the videos I took in the ruins with the marines. I begin to approach Celestia when her two guards move to block my path "Allow him to approach. I am curious as to the device he holds. I must ask, what is it?" "Its called a camcorder. Its like a camera in which it captures not just pictures, but videos as seen here" I say as get close to her and press play on the recording I shot of the ruins. As the video plays, I notice celestia start to turn pale. As soon as the video comes to where the we go into the throne room, she calls over the other princess (Luna I think?) and she asks to see the video again. This time its Luna's turn to turn pale as the video comes to where we approach the throne room. I pause the video where I wake up in the throne room and resume the recording I have been taking ever since I arrived. Celestia takes a while to compose herself before asking "That book and stone you put in your bag, do you still have them?" "Of course. Why? Are they of great importance?" I ask as I retrieve them from my bag "Yes. That book that your companion just happened to pick out details another element of harmony. It was speculated that it was lost forever but here it is now. I must say, it is in remarkable condition for what its been through but for what it is, no damage doesnt surprise me." Elements of harmony? What the blue blazes is she on about now? I glance at Twlight and her friends to see them conversing with eachother with surprise written all over them. Twilight asks celestia with concern written all over her "Princess Celestia, I thought there were six elements of harmony. Why were we not told about a 7th?" "Thats because, Twilight, it was extremely unstable. Anypony who tried using it was rejected by it with a beam of powerfull energy. But for some reason, Eric here is able to hold it. Which means it may have selected him to be the last and only wielder of it." Hang about, ME? CHOSEN? wait wait wait, why me? Why not one of the ponies? AND DID SHE SAY UNSTABLE? "What do you mean by last wielder? Am I going to die?" "No, you will be fine. But for now, I would highly suggest you keep it safe. That element is highly unstable. I predict it has one usage left in it." Greeeaaat. So not only do I have to try find a way home, but now I gotta look after a ticking timebomb. Great job, Eric. "Um... Princess Celestia, about that report we were making before Eric wound up here, How should we tackle it?" "Yes, in order to counteract the darkness, we will need the elements of harmony. As well as our new friend here. Which is why I'm going to need something from him." Oh boy, whats it gonna be? "What do you need?" "An object you brought with you. Preferably something you're not going to miss. This will allow us to pin point your world for when we send you home. Also I can predict what you're about to say and while I could have done it before the shadow showed up, I cannot do it now. The shadow has slowly but surely absorbing our Alicorn magic to the point where opening portals to other worlds has become nigh impossible." I nod and begin looking through my pockets. All I brought was my phone, camcorder and other camera equipment in a small bag slung over my shoulder like batteries and sd cards. Actually, This world doesnt really seem that unsafe in all fairness. "Would this do?" I say as I take off my PRESS vest and present it too her. Luckily, she nods and I pass it to her. I don't think I'll need it and besides, if I really have to fight, I have the bayonet that the lads threw to me. I feel safer just knowing I have it even though I have no clue how to actually fight with one. Celestia examines the PRESS vest before passing it to her guards to keep safe. I take a deep breath in and exhale before asking my next question "What do I need to do? All I have is the stuff I brought with me." Princess Celestia replied without hesitation "Go with princess Twilight and gather the elements of Harmony." Ok, seems easy enough. I slip the rainbow stone into my pocket and follow Twilight and her friends to the elements of harmony. 'The scarier the scoop, the more thrilling it is to cover'. That was my catchphrase for myself and boy did I live up to it today. All this other world malarky is getting to me. I place my left hand next to my left pocket with my thumb tucked into it and raise my camcorder up to get a better angle of the throne room while we make our way out of it, and head to where the so called "Elements of Harmony" are located. > Questions > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I have to say, Twilight, the architecture in this place is amazing." I say as we continue moving through the castle towards the exit. Twilight starts to talk about the castle which slowly but surely turns into rambling about equestrian history. I make an effort to pause her "Hey, I know you want to keep talking, but can I do something really quick?" "Sure, Eric. Whats wrong?" Twilight asks. I respond by stopping the the video of my camcorder and turning it off. I then swap the batteries and SD card with fresh ones before switching the camcorder back on and resuming the filming. "Eric, what did you just do?" "Well, Firstly I stopped my recording and turned off my camcorder because the SD card and batteries were almost spent. Now, batteries are what keep the camcorder powered up. The Sd card is what holds all the footage and pictures. Think of it like... filling out a book completly and then when you swap the cards, you're starting to create a new book." All of their faces all have dropped open by this point. Honestly, I dont blame them. This tech must be unthinkable to them. I chuckle to myself as we approach the castle doors. We exit out of the castle and walk through the town. God above, I have never felt so many eyes on my at once. I instinctly pull my hood over my head as I pan my camera around capturing as much of the city as possible. The kids all stare, point and whisper to their parents as I walk past them. I give a polite wave as they awkwardly wave back. Christ, I feel like I'm on a gameshow or something. Round 2, Eric you have the floor! What is making the ponies stare? Why its the fact I look like an orangutan! Correct, thats £500 added to your prize pot! I chuckle to myself as we approach the train station. Twilight asks whats so amusing but I brush her question off by saying "Its nothing". As we approach the station, a brave soul comes up to us and asks "Excuse me, what are you?" Instantly as soon as that left their mouth, the mother rushes over and tries to take their kid away. I crouch down and reply "Well, I am what they call a 'human'. And I come from a whole other world filled with all sorts of stuff vastly different from here. Like this" I say as I pull out my mobile phone, snap a photo of them and show it to them. Their faces are priceless! Both mouths wide agape with shock. Damn, I gotta remember to take photos and not just record everything. Twilight calls me back over while I say goodbye to the mother and her kid. We board what seems to be a train and I take my seat. The train soon moves off and while we are moving, the part I had kind of feared started. The questions. In all fairness, it wasn't as bad as I had thought. Just the stuff I had expected like what earth is like, the types of people lived there, the sort of things we wore and even what we ate. I decided to not mention the whole eating meat thing. It was then, Fluttershy asked one that got me really talking "What was it like coming to our world? What were you doing before you arived?" "Um... Well, I recieved a tip off from an unknown source about some ruins that had suddenly appeared in a desert and I managed to get a ride in with a team of marines. After arriving, we explored for a bit until we came to a throne room. While the marines stopped to regroup, I wondered past them a bit. Low and behold, a portal sucked me in and we all know the rest." I get a few oooos and aaahhhhssss before Twilight changes the subject a hair bit "That phone thing you said it can take pictures, Right? Does it have pictures of your family on it? You mentioned that you had a wife and children just now" "Yeah, here" I reply as I pull out my phone and open the gallery app to the correct folder. All six of them huddle around me to look at the photo. Its a picture I had a mate take of me, my wife and my twin kids. My son is on my shoulders and my wife is holding my daughter. I snicker at this photo a bit. I gotta say, seeing this fills me with a new determination to return home like never before. Rainbow Dash is the next to ask a question "Hey, is taking photos all that thing can do?" "I'm glad you asked! It can do tons of things. It can make and recieve phone calls and texts, surf the internet, take photos and videos and can even play music. But these things are just BARELY scratching the surface. "Make and recieve phone calls and texts?" Rarity asks "Surf the internet?" Rainbow asks "Play music?" Twilight asks "Yep!" I reply. All six of them are all now staring intently at my phone with sheer wonder. A good long while goes by when Twilight asks to hear music from it. Hm... Music from earth? What should I play? All my playlist has are songs from shows I enjoy and zero organisation at all. I guess I could scrounge together a playlist of sorts. Some of the best needs to go in. My wife likes Im still standing, in it goes! I quite like eye of the tiger so in it goes as well! My daughter likes Let it go and honestly, so do I. In it goes! My son is a bit like me in terms of music tastes. He really likes It's not over yet same as me. In it goes! those four along with sixteen other masterpiece songs go in. I feel like Frankenstein creating his monster. I resist the urge to shout ITS ALIVE!! Inner gloating finished, the playlist is done and I get their attention. "Hey guys! Heres a FRACTION of what earths music has to offer! " I click play and soon, the sounds of music fill the train car. > The magic of song > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Heh heh... I feel like I just opened their eyes to another world. Actually, scratch that, I did. Okay, let me go over what happened: I shuffled the playlist and the sounds of music kicked off. A few songs in, I could tell their minds were blown at not only the music itself, but the fact that sound was coming out of my phone! The first few songs went down a treat, but as the playlist was coming to a close, chandalier and Let it go played. It was those two songs that really lit their fires. Before I know it, we're replaying the songs and all singing along (with the lyrics on my phone). Plus, my voice sounded amazing! The playlist ended as I gasped and asked "What just happened? Why was my voice so... fantastic?" Twilight is quick to answer "Honestly, I'm not sure. I guess, we were all caught up in the joy of song so much, magic must have subconsciously altered your voice. Why not try singing a song off of the top of your head to test?" I could try that. Now, what to sing? Actually, it doesnt need to be something big. Just a single verse should suffice, right? I try singing a theme song from a show my kid likes to watch. As expected, I sound no better than a football hooligan trying to sing his team's chant. "Magic of song, eh? Thats interesting theory." I say as I point my camcorder out the window. "How does it work?" Twilight puts her hoof on her chin before shaking her head. Well that sucks. If I could do that at anytime, that would be ideal! I could win Anyones Got Talent easily! Pinkie interupts Twilight's theory crafting with an outburst "Hey guys! all this laughter gets me in the mood for a song of my own!" Oh yeah, Pinkie is the element of laughter. I guess this must have gotten her hyped on something. She gets up and starts singing a song which actually, to her credit, isn't all that bad. In fact, I can feel myself tapping my thighs to a beat. The song seems top be about making ponies smile. Before I know it, I ended up finding myself singing along to the very end of it! Wait, how do I know the lyrics to a song I have never heard before? My inner thoughts are interrupted as a whistle sounds and the train pulls up to the station. We step out and the staring begins again. > To Twilight's castle! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Like before, I pull my hood over my head and sheepishly trail behind everyone. As we are making our way through ponyville (I think thats what this town is called) 3 kids stop us. Their cutiemarks all kinda look the same. A small shield with something in the middle of it. In all honesty I've zoned out to the point where all chatter just sounds like mumbling. Must be tired from all the running and injuries. I shake my head and slap my cheeks a few times to wake myself up a bit as the conversation wraps up. "By the way sis" the one with the bow in her hair asks "who is the monkey behind you?" I sigh and answer before anyone else "first of all, I'm a human. Not a monkey. Second, my name is Eric Scott, I come from another world and I am an investigative photojournalist" I reply as I direct my camcorder around the town and back to them. They all at the same time ask what my camcorder is and I give the same explanation I gave Twilight back in canterlot. As expected, they want to try it. I stand firm, pass the camcorder to Twilight and fold my arms. I'm so glad I have kids back home. They pulled THIS EXACT SAME THING when they were younger so I know how to handle it. Thankfully, Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash shut them down. The one with the bow quickly says " Well, if you change ya mind, come see us! I'm Applebloom, Sweetiebelle is a unicorn and Scootaloo is a pegasus! And together we're the CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!" Ouch, there goes my hearing. As my hearing recovers, we say goodbye (thankfully) and continue on until we stop outside a massive crystal castle. "Is this made of.. Crystals?" I ask. Twilight responds with the affirmative. Struth, she wasn't kidding. I knock my knuckle on it a few times and sure enough, no cracks. I notice Twilight and her friends seem to be snickering at me as I grumpily make my way back to the group and we enter the castle. To be expected, its a maze. Again. Gotta say, I'm glad these guys know where they're going. I am told to wait in the throne room while they go to get these so called 'elements of harmony'. Gotta say, the furniture is nuts. Seven thrones surround a large circular table. Each throne has each of the cutiemarks belonging to twilight and her friends. After choosing the one with Twilight's cutie mark, I sit down for a quick nap. I put my feet on the large table and shut my eyes. To be expected, its as hard as a rock but I do manage to nod off. After waking up. cracking my back, my neck and have a stretch, I decide to pull out the 'element' I found. Honestly, it looks like something you would find in a gift shop in a musuem or something. And the book tells me nothing seeing as I cannot read it. I'm brought out from my thoughts as I hear a voice. "Hey, you must be the 'human' Twilight mentioned." I look up to see a small purple fella standing next to me. He introduces himself as Spike the dragon and we get to tallking. Turns out not only did Twilight raise him since he hatched, but he also can read and write the written language of equestria. I introduce myself and tell him my story of how I arrived in equestria and everything before that. Oh! speaking of things before I arrived, that gives me an idea! I present the book to him but alas, he shakes his head. Seems like he can't read it. He says something about an ancient language or something. I sigh, put the book away and he sits in the small throne next to me. Actually, now seems like a better time than ever "Hey Spike, whats the deal with this whole 'Nightmare Moon' thing?" I ask while directing my camcoder toward Spike. He ponders before spilling the beans. From what I can gather, Luna was upset over all the attention Celestia's days had over her night times because everyone sleeps through the night. So she manifested a dark magic, transformed into Nightmare Moon and battled Celestia. Celestia had no choice but to banish Luna to the moon with the elements of harmony for 1000 years. Once again, for the millionth time today, I'm flabbergasted. I lean back into the throne to ponder the info I just recieved when Spike pipes up "Twilight and the others were with you, right? Where are they?" "She said she was going to get the so-called elements of harmony. She asked me to stay here while she and the others got them. "Oh" Spike replies. "Well, In that case, we have some time to spare." "That we do, mate. You got any hobbies or something?" I ask. "I like building models, reading comics and playing video games." Spike's eyes widen before saying "I like comics as well! Please tell me, what sort of comics do you have in your world? I love the power ponies comics! Do you want to trade someday?" I grin a very smug grin before responding "You can check out some of my comics right now if you want." I say as I pull out my phone and load up a manga/ comic reading app "Whats that?" Spike asks. "It's my mobile phone it has a bunch of functions that I already explained to Twilight but the one I'm showing you allows me to buy and store comics in a virtual library. Think of it as a book shelf you can access at any time." To be expected, Spike is confused. So I boot up the app andflick around to what I wanted to find. "Now, let me introduce you to Green Lantern." > Collect the elements > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spike, now a massive green lantern fan, finishes what I showed him. His eyes filled with a giddy sense of excitement! I chuckle as I put my phone away and at that moment, Twilight walks into the room. Her eyes scan the room before they land on Spike and I. Even from where we are sat and the door, I can hear her sigh. "Spike, have you and Eric been getting along?" The both of us nod. "Good, we're now ready to go." Upon those words I practically spring up on my feet, camcorder in hand and follow everyone out the door. While being led through many corridors, I try to strike up conversation "Hey Twilight, theres something thats been on my mind." "Whats wrong, Eric?" Twilight asks "Cutiemarks. How do they work? How does one aquire one?" "Well, when a filly gets their cutiemark, that means they discovered something about themselves that sets themselves apart from others. They're often related to the personality, proclivity, or talent of their owners. For example, My cutiemark for shows my higher understanding of magic because I studied magic and mastered it when I was a filly." Twilight is cut off by Rainbow Dash "And mine represents my love for speed and adventure!" She boasts. "Don't forget who dodged you, skittles" I quickly quip back with a smirk "And don't you forget who was running away in terror screaming like a chicken!" she claps back while making flapping chicken wing motions with her fore hooves. "Grrr... touché." I grumble through gnashed teeth. The front doors to the castle open as we step out and upon leaving, they close behind us. We continue on through Ponyville (and many more stares LORD ABOVE MAKE IT STOP) until we come up to the entrance to a very dense forest. So dense in fact, I dont even think I can see another entrance a part from the one we are approaching. I point my camcorder at the forest while approaching and turn to Twilight before asking "Hey Twilight, this forest is as thick as my neighbor's hedge when they're about to trim it. Whats it's deal?" "This is the Everfree Forest. It is a dangourous forest filled with mysterious plants and predators such as Poison joke and Timberwolves just too name a few. It's well advised that we do not linger here for very long seeing as it is gets darker and darker the further we go in." "Darkness I can deal with" I say as I gently tap my camcorder and phone "Predators that are more than likely gonna kill me? I'm gonna chill in the rear thank you!" As we continue on, sure enough, its getting darker. The foliage really is thick, huh? No problem for me! I turn on my camcorder's night vision to better see. By now, Rainbow Dash is hovering next to my head, also looking through my camcorder. "Hey Scott, how are we able to see through that thing? You're not a unicorn and Even Twilight doesn't know what your corder-thing does." Rainbow asks. "It's the night vision function of my camcorder. As the name suggests, it allows me to see in the dark." I explain. "Take it like this, magic here MIGHT have an equivalent in my world as far as I know. For example, magic that allows one to see in the dark could be matched with a torch or, in my case, night vision." "You can see in the dark with that thing?" Twilight asks. "That sounds a bit too convenient, honestly." I pick up my pace to match Twilight's and lower my camcorder to her eye level. Sure enough, she is mesmerised by the grey look of the night vision. Seeing as I'm almost unable to see, I pull it away from her and keep my eye on it. Not a minute goes by when the darkest part of the forest looms into view followed by a cave. Twilight tells me to turn off the night vision as she makes her horn glow. Illumination spell, huh? Called it! I had a feeling magic here had to have a sort of equivalent SOMEHOW. I remove my immaginary tinfoil hat and follow the six ponies to the cave, capturing everything I can. The cave looks like a normal cave until we step inside. Purple crystals line the wall that and all go further and further in until we happen upon a large opening at the end of the tunnel. At this point, I can feel a gentle hum in my pocket. Sure enough, its that mysterious 7th element Celestia was banging on about. I pull it out of my pocket to examine it when I start to feel it ever so slightly tug at me. I pick up my pace to lead the pack when the stone drifts out of my hand slowly. I clutch it between my fingers as I let it guide me. "Eric, darling" Rarity asks "I get you may be eager to get ahead but you simply must be carefull" "I don't know why but the stone has a slight pull to it. Ever sine we entered this cave, I can feel my element sligtly pulling. Like it has a string attached to it or something. Maybe it has something to do with the other elements we're currently going after?" I give myself a pat on the back for that smart sounding theory as we go through a large opening until a... TREE MADE OF CRYSTAL? A TREE MADE OF CRYSTALS? HOW MANY CRYSTAL OBJECTS ARE THERE? My mental freak out is interrupted when Twilight and her friends approach the tree. They appear to do something and then six necklaces (I think) with a gem inside of it wrap around each of their necks. Spike, who had been standing next to me gives me the all clear. I continue rolling my camcorder when a beep lets me know that another SD card is getting full. Like before I switch off my camcorder, swap the batteries and SD Cards and switch my camcorder back on. As I power it on, a brainwave hits me. Spike has claws! That means... "Hey Spike, I wanna try something" "Whats up?" Spike's question is answered as I pass him my camcorder. He looks at me with a puzzled explanation while I explain "Basically, mate, you have the perfect shaped hand and fingers to hold my camcorder. Thats ideal for me as now I can get different angles for shots and have a chance to take this for a test drive" I reply as I slide my back pack off and pull out a small shrink wrapped box. At this point, Twilight and her friends have rolled up to see whats happening. Spike shrugs his shoulders as I eagerly unwrap the shrink wrap, slice the tape with the bayonett and pull out what was in there. A small black rectangular camera with a torch function and records in 1080p! "This is a head camera. Brand spanking new!" I exclaim "Its a smaller camcorder like device that attaches to my head to capture shots from my point of view. It basically frees up my hands. I have also allowed Spike to be my temporary camera- dragon!" I demonstrate my new toy by giving the instructions a once over, inserting an sd card that came provided and switch it on. I then put it on my head and tighten the straps. I ask Fluttershy to see if there is a small red dot glowing on the top. After she gives the affirmative, Twilight then asks why I entrusted Spike with my camcorder. "Eric has hands and I have claws. He thought I could hold this comfortably and I can!" he says as he waves it around. I ask him to be carefull as its been through enough today. He salutes as the others laugh. We begin to head out and while we're on our way, I give Spike a crash course on how to camera-man and how my camcorder works. To his credit, he is an incredibly good learner! Not even five minutes later, he's taking shots like a pro! He knows how to enable and disable the night vision and can stop/start recordings! That card is the largest storage on I have so he should be ok with the storage. As I'm contemplating all these thoughts, A boom sound appears at the cave's enterance. "Princess Luna!" I say "You look me after a football game!" "This is no time for joking!" She desperatly shouts "Its my sister!" Everyone's eyes widen as Twilight nervously asks "Whats wrong with celestia?" "That magic we discussed before you left" Luna continues "One hour after you left, it burst into the trone room and charged me. Celestia protected me and it went into her. And now 'she' is here in the real world! a creature from the realm of dreams!" Dream realm? Thats an actual thing? I may have to have a chat with Luna when this gets sorted out. "Who's Dream was it from?" Twilight asks. Luna swallows as she states "It was Starlight Glimmer's dream From when she swapped Celestia cutiemark with mine. It was an evil version of my sister. It's name was...Daybreaker." > Daybreaker > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Daybreaker? Who or what is Daybreaker? I turn to Twilight to ask her only for Luna to explain. Basically, from what I gather, Daybreaker was a figmant of Starlight Glimmer's dream that was kind of a what-if where Celestia and Luna kept fighting I believe. Daybreaker is basically Celestia's nightmare moon in a sense. Actually, now that I think about it, the evil alter egos of the two princesess remind me of Jeckyl and hyde in a sense. Wait, nows not the time to be thinking this! Luna is as pale as a sheet and as far as I'm concerned, this can only mean bad things. This 'Daybreaker' character must be evil if Luna is this shaken. Luna takes a moment to collect herself before adressing us "We need to get back to canterlot as soon as possible. Daybreaker will wreak havoc otherwise. Hold on, my friends!" no sooner does she say that, everyone bunches together like sardines (and all pull me in) and a navy blue poof is all I see before we are back in- "OOOOO WOAAAAHHHHHH GER WOAAHHHH" I babble out as I open my eyes, drop to my knees and I supress the urge to barf. I take a few deep breaths before asking what happened with a raspy voice. "We teleported, darling." Rarity says. HOW ARE THEY NOT FEELING THIS? Oh wait, they're either used to it or it doesnt affect them. Figures, seeing as they are all interacting with magic all the time. But still, TELEPORTATION? HOW, THE HOW? My questions cease as my eyes readjust to see we are back in canterlot. Albiet, a bit deserted. I guess someone must have warned the citizens to evacuate. We move through the city until we approach canterlot castle. Nothing new really. Have to say, for a supposed villian, you would have thought they would have destroyed the castle or something. Hell, even redesigned it. I go to pan my camera at the castle only to remember Spike has it. He gives a thumbs up as he scans the castle with it. We slowly enter the castle to not alert anyone where we are only for two guards to be there. They stand there motionless as we walk past them. Ok, I gotta say, everyone just being normal in here is odd. Where are the evil minions? Where is the lava dripping down the walls? What about us being captured? My internal questions are ceased as we approach the throne room door. A certain uneasiness creeps into me as we push open the doors only to find, Nothing. A bare throne room with nopon-... nobody around. Not even the mighty princess to bestow mighty wisdom upon us. What hasn't gone away much is the dread in me as we carry on in. Seeing as going on in first to a throne room got me here last time, I hang back and observe everyone do their thing. "I don't like how quiet it is. It properly stinks of a trap." I say. " Almost as if she- GWAARG!" my sentence is cut off as I am picked up with magic and thrown across the room. *WHACK* is all I hear as I collide with the throne and land spralled out in it. "Excuse me, I do believe that belongs to me." A voice says to me, with malice woven in. I can physically feel the warmth of her breath hit my face. I can barely function as the air in my body struggles to stay in. I take a few deep breathes in and out to try and help myself. Thats it, Eric. Deep breathe in, and out. Deep breathe in, and out. At this point, Twilight and everyone else has turned and seen what has just happened. They make their way over as fast as they can only to be stopped by a wall of fire. "You six, I'll deal with later. This HAIRLESS APE is what I want first." The figure says. I finally have my breathe back as I crane my neck to look up. Only to this time start breathing faster. All I see first are the eyes. The eyes of a snake. They pierce my soul like knives. Her mane being purely fire gently dances as a stark contrast to the evil toothy grin plastered on her face. If Celestia's cutiemark wasn't on the armour on her, I would have misstook her for someone else entirely. Wait, this... AM I STARING DOWN DAYBREAKER? Everything surrounding her goes blurry as my vision only focuses on the being in front of me. As scared as I am, I eventually get a question out. "Y-you wouldn't happen to be D-Daybreaker?" I ask. All my bravado gone as all I feel is fear. She eases the grin, cocks her neck back slightly and replies "Yes. What gave it away?" she replies as her horn starts glowing. FEAR. Fear is all I can feel now. I desperatly look to the others for help only to see them holding hooves and babbling on about something or rather. Main point is, the elements around their necks start to glow. Spike stands off to the side and watches from a safe distance. Daybreaker turns to face the elements and while she's distracted, I scarper from the throne. I gently climb down and stand against the wall while I hear weird noises. Suddenly my leg is grabbed by making and I'm hoisted in the air "If you do not want this ape to be hurt, I would reccomend you cease tis attempt to defeat me!" Daybreaker exclaims. Twilight and the others exchange looks before ceasing the rainbow beam thing. "Good." Daybreaker says with glee "Now we won't be interupted." As soon as that leaves her lips, All I hear is a pop and my vision goes black. I awake to the sound of rope. My legs have been tied down and my jacket, shirt and undershirt have been removed and thrown to the other side of the room. I observe my surroundings. It's a dark room. Probably a large cupboard or something. I cant tell as its pitch black. Thats when I hear it. Or, her should I say. "Finally, now, how did you get to equestria?" Thats all she had to ask. I spill everything. Frantically. In as much detail as I can. All the while her evil smug smile turns into a big toothy grin. As I'm explaining, I realise my arms are not tied down. I wait for her to get closer. To the point of her physical body warmth being like I'm standing next to a bonfire on bonfire night. Thats when I attempt a swing. I try to throw a right hook only to have it caught in magic. "Your first mistake was thinking of trying to strike me. THE SECOND WAS ACTUALLY TRYING IT." She cackles. I use my left hand to grab the bayonett and try to slice my bindings. Alas, it just passes through them. However, she releases my arm and legs. I pant as I try to sprint to a door only to hear that *POP* sound. Daybreaker then uses her magic to get my right arm in a vice like grip. "To think, you actually thought you could strike me. Well, let me tell you something. YOU WILL NOT BE LEAVING HERE CLEAN!!!" she bellows. I struggle to pull my arm away. I grab it with my left and pull it, I try pulling with my body weight and trying just running. She slowly walks up to me. Dragging out this encounter to make it as excruciatingly long as possible. When she stops, she knocks me to my knees. "I read your mind while you were passed out. It seems you hold a bit of admiration for Celestia. She, unlike me, is a weakling. Its a shame really, if I were on your mind I would have allowed you to walk out with a bruise. But instead, it's that WEAKLING. SO YOU CAN WEAR THAT WEAKLINGS MARK. PERMANENTLY." I didnt have time to actually process what was about to happen. Maybe it's my rising panic attack, or the fact that I am alone having to endure this. Because, thats when it happens. My arm starts to burn. I scream at the top of my lungs. The fiery blast scorches my arm in an orange coat. It feels like my flesh is bubbling to a boil as all I hear are my screams. All the while, Daybreaker is laughing away. Jesus bloody christ. That was just the circle of the sun. She doesnt give me time to rest as I feel a zap at my chest "DONT PASS OUT JUST YET, WE'RE ONLY JUST GETTING STARTED!!!" I'm jolted awake by the bolt. My throat feels as dry as a desert as she continues. Each spike part of the sun. Gently burned into my arm. All the while that maniacal laughter is burned into my ears. She finishes up and drops my arm. I grab it and roll on the foor in pain. I actually think a tear or two fell from my face "Now then, onto the elements." Daybreaker calmly says as she teleports away. All I can do is try tolook at my arm in the dim light but I can't even bring myself to try. I'm too scared to see the aftermath of what felt like a branding. My thoughts are completly scattered but I make an attempt to stand. I have to get out. My legs feel like jelly though. I make an attempt to stand but my legs fail me. I struggle a few steps and fall to my knees. As of now, my body has been super shaky but thats when my stomach catches up and I throw up whatever I ate before coming here. With all just I went through, I can't even pass out. Instead, I simply find a wall and slump against it. ... I don't know how much time has passed. Maybe an hour or even five minutes. Time is irellevent right now. My thoughts are inturrupted by the sound of galloping. I start to squirm when I dont hear Daybreaker's voice but "Mister Scott! Are you in here?" "Princess Luna?" I ask. The lights come on and Luna hurries over to me. My eyes adjust shortly and thats when I get a look at my arm. Its exactly as Daybreaker said. Celestia's cutiemark has been etched into my arm. Colour and everything. I try to rub it off only to be met with nothing. The burning hasn't gone away but it's not as bad as it felt when Daybreaker was etching it in. I notice Luna has been holding her breathe this whole time. Probably smelled my mess and didn't like it. I quickly grab my clothes, backpack and head camera while taking extra care to cover my right arm. I'm not ready for another look just yet. As we make our way out of that room, Luna asks what happened to which I explain. I leave out all the details about my new (kinda) branding on my arm but I do tell her it happened. Just the cliff notes version. Luna is in shock but regains her composure. Pretty sure for my sake but regardless, I appreciate someone trying to keep their head straight. "I have a question if you don't mind. How was daybreaker defeated in the first place? I remember she was in a dream but how did she go orginally?" "Once, Celestia and I had our cutiemarks switched accidently. When our marks switched, so did our magic. I got hers, and she got mine. But thats a story for another day. The pony behind the accidental switch was Starlight Glimmer and the guilt built up into a nightmare. That was where Daybreaker was born." "If I had heard all that before today, I would have gone with it to get a quick bit of cash from article clicks. Now however, having experienced magic, I one thousend percent believe you. Anyway, you were saying?" "Yes, When Celestia tried to use my magic to help Starlight, she found herself unable to convince herself to do it. It took a pep talk from me to give her the determination to expell Daybreaker." "And now this magic has nabbed her and turned her into Daybreaker? Just my bloody luck." As we are talking, the stone in my pocket starts humming again. Guess it just now decided to wake up. I pull it out of my pocket and it starts tugging again. Wait, this happened when we went to get the elements of harmony from that crystal tree! We can get back! My enthusiasm is halted as I remember what I would be returning to. NO! NO MORE RUNNING. MAN UP, ERIC. YOU HAVE BEEN IN TOUGH SCRAPES AND GOTTEN OUT OF THE STILL KICKING! I psyche myself up and hold the stone up to about level with my chest. It pulls me down a corridoor and a window that Luna opens. We peek out. Nothing new. The stone pulls to a direction that would be impossible for me to go to as I cannot fly. "I can use my magic to levitate you while I fly just as long as you keep an eye on where that is pointing." I give a meek "yeah, sure" before I am lifted from my feet and levitating. I have never been afraid of heights. But this did worry me. I have always had a knack for reading people and as far as I can tell, Luna means no harm. After I stop flailing around, I calm myself and hold the stone out. It points to a balcony I think. I point up to it and Luna flies up with me in tow. We land on the balcony and duck behind a to a wall next to a window. Good god, it led us RIGHT BACK. Right back to the throne room. Luna gently whispers "Listen, Eric. I'm afraid we must part ways. I wish I could help more but I can't" "Lemme guess" I say, "If you get closer, Daybreaker may be able to sense you?" Luna nods. Well, at least she was able to get me here so thats a plus. She bids me farewell and I scan the room. Twilight and the others are trapped in a fire cage of sorts and Daybreaker seems to be sat waiting on the throne. The cage is slightly closer to the window so I figure I can sneak in and use something to unlock it? hm... "How nice of you to join us." I hear as I'm thrown. I smash through the window and land just in front of the cage. Twilight and everyone snap turn around to see my wrecked self. I scramble to my feet and try to be stopped my a tug on my hoodie. "Did you really think!" *POW* I'm punched in my left cheek. "That you could!" *POW* I'm punched in m,y right cheek "SNEAK PAST ME?" *POW* I'm kicked with both her back legs in the chest. I'm sent flying away from the cage and over to the other side of the room. That all too familiar *POP* happens in front of me once again with Daybreaker looming over me. I just realised I may be in over my head With this 'rescue'.