Side Step

by Vocbox

Rating: teen
Tags: Alternate Universe, Other, Original Character, Spike, Comedy, Tragedy, Adventure, Princess Celestia, Human, Main 6, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 19709

WW3 aftermath, HiE, mysterious and powerful being using humans as pawns

World war three has run humans to the edge of annihilation, and a mysterious entity born from the war seeks to remedy it...in his own, destructive way: by moving humans to another world. Meanwhile, Equestria has been enjoying its peace as usual, with Discord imprisoned nearly a year prior. Princess Celestia learns of the entity's influence and alerts Twilight and her friends. Will the elements of Harmony stop the threat, or will everypony have to fight to protect their peace?

Strife plans on having the humans cause conflicts with confidence that they will begin an equestrian world war. None of the humans, or ex-humans in some cases, have any idea what plan they are fulfilling, instead doing as they please in their new surroundings.
Collaboration with user Renegade

Published 2012-02-14 20:54:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-03-28 23:09:10 UTC

WW3 grand tour

War, war never changes. It brings conflict, murder, suffering, and sorrow…Strife. It’s something that I ADORE, personally. It is said that only a few things are certain, death and taxes being among them. But the truth is that some things are always true because humans can’t let them go. Which brings us once again to war…I believe that’s the third time I’ve said it, too. Hmmhmmhmmm, World War Three is in fact the reason I’m here. Finally, something beautiful has come about from mere human selfishness! But unfortunately humans have run themselves into the gutters, the rat-holes in the remains of their once-great planet Earth. ‘Tis a sad fate that they’ve brought upon themselves… which will ultimately end in my demise. So I guess it’s my cosmic duty to pick up Earth’s broken children and force them back to the war they seem to have abandoned. Well, maybe not quite the same way, war would be boring if it were fought the same way each time. So with a heavy sigh I resign myself to scouring the planet’s discordant surface in search of human life worth… reclaiming.

In the great states a man sits at a desk with his name upon it—Captain Bartholomew Samuel Barracuda. He was once a great captain who piloted and commanded a fleet of newly-invented hovercraft to wage war against the various foes. Ha! With the aerial advantage, he slaughtered many humans, and ordered the death of so many more. It was the highlight of his miserable life. He’s quite the man for the job, so long as death is what you are after. How he sits there, purposeless, without drive… it makes me sick. I may have to change that soon, for better or worse.

Another resident of the ruined states of America is Adam Forrest: a scavenger who avoided the whole war. Oh he’s QUITE the little Samaritan, that one. Always does what he can for the other survivors, always looking to avoid conflict. It’s about time he participated instead of sitting in the sidelines. As coach of this post-apocalyptic shindig I think it’s only fitting I pick the players; and he’s definitely a team player… I know he’ll do fine for what I have in store.

A while southwards leads me to a charming young lad with a penchant for his silver tongue, Richard Dixon. He was a conman before the war, and a force to be reckoned with afterwards. I like him, for sure. He’ll be included in this scenario of mine. What better way to stack the odds than with a man who has been stacking odds all his life? He may not be a serpent with all of the children he looks after, but he’s no patron saint either. I can scarcely imagine why such a man could feel for these urchins… he’s off to a good start, but I’ll just have to make sure he heads out on the path I want him to take.
Within South America in a wasteland what was a breathtaking forest only years prior, a “hero” stands upon a cliff, looking…well…he might find it heroic. It’s definitely a pose. Maybe he’s brooding? Ah, no, just surveying--as is the duty of Blake Erickson Stillwater, a bodyguard. He defends the caves nearby quite well from any would-be bandits, never needing to take more than a few shots to dissuade an attacking force, or to simply annihilate them. A strong sense of justice, do I feel. No dull moments around this stalwart hero. I’ll make good use of this one to be sure…

Next up on this grand world tour is a little place not far from Cairo, where a businessman regrets quite a few things that
he has lost. His life he once knew so well had slipped from his fingers the moment his plane landed on the opposite side of the world, when the first attack was sprung and the US was bombarded. A picture of his friends lay at his feet with the toys they had given him as a joke to hold on to while he was away on business. What good were these brightly colored equines supposed to do him, if the life they reminded him of every day was no more than a distant memory? And what could I possibly have in store for Mr. Jason King? Time will tell, I suppose. Only so much can be done, his will is only carried on by holding those small toys, the last remaining link he has, close by at all times.

At last we find the female lead! I had been wondering where all the girls had disappeared off to… I guess they don’t call it the brink of extinction for nothing! Xena Darrow, the poor girl, a loner from before the war, and I can see living in isolation has done her no favors. Perhaps involving this one will give a different flavor to the mix, a bit of salt maybe, just a pinch. A shame to let her continue on as is, though, to be sure. I can’t have lone wolf entities on my team, but I simply MUST get her to realize the potential she has kept under a surface of uncaring attitudes! Hmm, she still clings to her only friend, a doll. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Such bad habits will be broken soon enough…

Well I think that’s good enough for now… A simple group of six should suffice for what I’m about to unleash, or at least should kick it off to a great start. What better way to rejuvenate an entire race than by reintegrating them together somewhere completely different? A change of scenery never hurt anyone. Besides, I can’t just let these pawns of mine get by just because they can rely on their known world! Humankind has been wallowing in the aftermath of its own mistakes for far too long, and this is my plan to change all that.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Meanwhile, in another land, the benevolent and semi-omnipotent ruler sensed an invasion as some other god-entity peeked in on Equestria. It was going to be a very interesting time ahead, this much she could sense. Princess Celestia sighed to herself, remembering how not long ago Discord had gotten freed and run rampant.
“At least this time we have some warning before it occurs. That much shall have to do.” Celestia said with resignation. And with that, she picked up a quill and parchment, preparing the request she would send her faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, to once again be prepared for an extradimensional being’s antics.

My faithful student, Twilight Sparkle,
I am writing to you in order to prepare you for your next task. It seems that once again you might have to take up the Elements of Harmony to halt the progress of a powerful creature. I am sorry to ask this much of you and your friends, but I know that you can handle any task together. You have faced dragons and Discord, deadlines and doldrums, and I believe in you. So far, we know that this being is spying on Equestria, hesitant to make his move. I am sending this to you now only because I wish for you to be prepared, not that you will need to rise to the occasion immediately. Nonetheless, please come to Canterlot with your friends to collect the elements, we must be prepared.

-Princess Celestia

“…we must be prepared. Signed, Princess Celestia…” Spike read aloud while Twilight Sparkle sat stunned next to him. “This is bad news, Twilight! We gotta get everypony right away!”

Twilight stared on for a moment before regaining her senses. “There’s no time to lose, Spike! We’re on another important mission from Princess Celestia again, you get Rarity and Fluttershy, and I’ll find Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. We meet back here as soon as possible.” Twilight began to trot to the door of the library/tree of knowledge. Spike hurried to catch up; being short made it hard to keep up with ponies. They exited the Library and ran off in different directions. It was going to be a more exciting day than planned.

Simple Sending

Suddenly I feel I should probably mention I’m not the only mind behind this, as I am working together with user Renegade. Also, I really don’t own a lot of things, much less My Little Pony. That is copyright Hasbro, bro. Commenting and constructive criticism is greatly appreciated, as I would like to improve on some points. For instance, is "cutie marks" capitalized?

Blotting out the moon, a large solitary humanoid flew across the oceans of the planet Earth. Its skin was separated across its body by rings in which its usual rich brown became a sinister black, veins of magma red visible in some areas around the torso and head. Its face a grotesque malformed shape, it is clear that it is no human. Spiked teeth in a circular mouth pointed towards the center like a lamprey while its multifaceted blue eyes scanned the area at all times. This war-born embodiment of conflict flew from place to place with alarming alacrity, as though wind resistance was no more than a myth. Its wings were a pale red and insect-like, pulsing occasionally with the same illuminating red as its veins. It had just finished gathering the information it needed from the other world. In a deep reverberating voice, the seven foot monstrosity’s slightest whisper reminded itself of its goals and concerns.

“She has begun her counterattack…” It needed to hurry if it was going to set all the pieces in their right places. Traveling between dimensions was time-consuming enough, and although a demigod in many respects, it still had to travel a physical distance in order to get anywhere. Dimensions aren’t known for being close together, after all. If any of its chosen pawns weren’t right where they were last seen, there was likely going to be a fit, destroying another large chunk of the already-torn planet. It made haste towards the closest continent, Africa to find the man who had fallen in his despair.

Jason King hadn’t moved much since the being had seen him. He hadn’t moved much in weeks, much less shaved, with a face full of unkempt hair. He was always lost in thought or zoning out with the small figurines in his hands. He occasionally got up to get some food, drink, or use the bathroom, but other than that, the 5’7’’ 22 year old Caucasian man with short auburn hair just sat in the same corner of the same dilapidated hotel as he had the day previous, and the day before that, etc. Over the recent days his navy blue business suit had been mostly ripped apart from overuse, and his once-white undershirt was ripped in strips, most of them serving as bandages for his left arm he had cut when he lost consciousness when he was walking to the bathroom. The few remaining parts of his ensemble were the Khakis he had found in a nearby room and his “lucky” tie, a reversible tie with black on one side, with a smiling cartoon sunrise on the other.

“Speaking of lucky…” the monster floated to the room’s window. “Today is your lucky day, King.” At first, the man hadn’t noticed, but at the mention of his name, Jason snapped to attention. King began to sweat, convinced he had come down with heatstroke and was seeing and hearing things. “Unfortunately for you, I am real. I am here, and your luck is about to change.” The beast said, melting the window and wall where it stepped through.
“S-stay away…”King managed to sputter before standing up to back away from the nightmare that had just disregarded solid wall moments earlier. “Stay the f-”

“Ah-ah-ahh!” It interrupted him mid-swear. “Why don’t we have a little chat, first?” The monster made a motion, as though sitting as the floor rushed up to meet him shaped like a crudely cut chair.

“This isn’t happening…” Jason said to himself. “I died, didn’t I? Or am I dreaming?”

“Neither.” was the monster’s reply, and the deep voice sounded much more serious than it had been moments ago. “I’m here to invite you to play a game of my own design. Now before you start thinking up millions of other excuses, you WILL listen. And when you are done, you WILL make a choice. But let me make this clear, you don’t choose whether you play in this game of mine, you choose how.” It beckoned him to lean in close, as though it were about to impart a terrible secret. “I am going to send you…elsewhere, shall we say. When you reach this elsewhere, you will do what you want, as simple as that. Suffice to say that all I need from you is what you would do without any real instruction. Know now though, that you will stay there until I decide if you should return to good old mother Earth. I am going to give you a choice. Would you rather fit in with the locals or stay as you are: a lonely and broken man?”

“I, I… what?” he said, his voice pretty high for a guy his age. Jason King had dealt with monsters before, but never anything literal. Usually the monsters that he spoke with were independently wealthy amoral pricks, not giant magical insect monsters. His expertise remained steeped in logic and his job, able to easily judge if a business venture was worth investing in or not, so of course in this mad situation all he could say was a broken sentence and try not to freak out.

“Choose now, or I shall be forced to choose for you.” It rumbled the floor as it spoke this time. “You have ten seconds to answer.” It began to count down with its fingers, of which it had 10.

“I, I ah, shoot, I…” 4 seconds left “I’d rather fit in.” It appeared pleased by Jason’s answer and stood from its seat.
With as much of a grin as a round mouth can muster, it said “Rise then, Jason King, and your new chapter shall unfold…” As he stood, he began to notice a strange feeling, like rubbing against velvet, Jason Began to sway, then collapsed, unconscious. The monster struck his body with a ray of white energy, transforming him into the first of its metaphorical pawns. When the transformation was complete, he disappeared, and so did the powerful being.

One down, five to go. It made haste to the next destination not too far, Europe. To be more specific, its destination was a surprisingly intact row of houses in Germany. Here was where the girl was last spotted. As luck would have it, Xena Darrow had chosen to board up one house and stay in it. She was small for a girl in her late teens; 17 years old and not much to show for it. Her matted black hair was only neck length, with a single clump of it grouped in the back by an old hair band. She had cut her own hair, of course. If it was too long, raiders could snatch up a young girl by the hair with no problem. She was around 5 feet tall, and not too skinny for being a drifter. Her pale white skin was contrasted by the fluorescent red of the bed she lay in next to her small plush doll, a blonde haired doll with. Her usual attire was neatly folded next to the bed: a simple pair of carpenter’s jeans and a standard green t-shirt, steel covered boots and a thick blue coat was on the floor, she had found it earlier and brought it in case it got cold again.

Her dreams were constantly disturbed by nightmares, events from the past. Her parents were trapped in their house as it collapsed. She could hear their cries for help, and she ran towards them. Before long, the cries turned to anger, blaming her for their misfortune and she ran away, tears welling in her eyes. A group had found her, and they traveled for a while through cities that seemed to pass them by more quickly than they walked. Quite some time later, the group turned to her and struck, tearing at her clothes and shrieking things at her. She was old enough to produce children, they said, and that was the only reason she was still alive. She couldn’t bear it—she scratched at their faces and tried to run. She grabbed a plank of wood and hit one over the head, bringing it to the ground. She struck another and fled.

”This was why!” she said to herself, “This is why I have to be strong!” But as she seemed to regain control, the ones on the ground rose up with twisted smiles and leaped at her…

“NO!!” she screamed, waking up with a start, adrenaline pumping and beads of sweat running down her face. It was just a dream, and minutes later she calmed down, sobbing.

“Now that’s no way to introduce yourself…” a dark voice spoke from beyond where she could see. “Now my little warrior princess, I think it is time to bring you in to the fold. I know all about you, so don’t interrupt. And yes, this time you are awake.” She froze and tried to see what it was that was talking to her. From the floor, up rose the demigod with no more effort than floating to the surface of a pool. Once it was at its full height in the room, it had to lean over not to scrape the ceiling. “You aren’t going to have to worry about much from now on; I plan to use you in a game of mine. So what’ll it be, conform to the shape I desire or stay as you are, just a weak little girl, helpless in every way?”

“Bugger off.” She spat, her British accent clear as day. She wasn’t about to let a figment of her imagination call her weak.
“If you take too long I shall be forced to make the choice for you. Believe me, this will work better if you choose.” It frowned, or at least appeared to. “I have more important matters to attend to than to wait on you humans all day.” Heat began to overtake the room and she couldn’t help but sweat, fanning her face to cool off. Its ten fingers were put up, and one by one, were closed without either of them making a noise. Once it was done, it growled: “Hmm. Well, that was a waste of time.” It then brought one of its hands to bear against the girl and fired the bright beam, enveloping her, and began the transformation process. “And now I have to hurry just to keep up to my intended schedule, I can’t just leave other demigods’ plans waiting on me.” With as much of a smirk as it could muster, it flew right out of the ceiling and turned towards what was once the USA.

At this time, Captain Bartholomew S Barracuda was walking down an old hovercraft hangar. The 6’3’’ silver haired man was disappointed in the wrecks, the only things left from his once-proud fleet. On the hangar, the crafts and even Barracuda’s long sleeved white coat an emblem was found—a sword aimed towards the ground with feathered wings on either side of the hilt. It was his division’s symbol, as a highly mobile battle unit that he had trained himself. Forty seven years old didn’t seem too old to him, but the last few months were torture. Restrained to a desk job, the warrior’s spirit within him roiled and burned. The war was over, but he believed the United States’ government could still take over if they would listen to him and repair the crafts. Not that it mattered, with no electrical system and no gasoline; there was no way to fuel them. The crafts would just look nicer, and still be just as useless. Tilting his NCO hat down, he leaned against the railing.

“And to think…” the gruff voice spoke with many years of experience jading his tone, “…we ‘won’ if you could call it that.” He sighed, resigning himself to another long night of discomfort and outrage. Every day he requested his division’s resurrection, and every day he was denied. He wondered why the government wouldn’t push for worldwide domination, there were no other world powers that could stand up to even one of his machines.

From one of the craft a deep voice barked: “But that’s where you’re wrong!” Moments later, Barracuda had his sidearm drawn and his other hand readied on his cutlass. The cutlass was for show on other captains, but the sword had always fascinated him and he had diligently learned its discipline, making him deadlier in a close up fight than in a firefight. Not that this made him any worse of a shot, but he always proffered to do things himself in any case. “Wrong on both accounts, by the way. Not only did the USA lose the war, but there is still another ‘world power’ that far outclasses your puny cans of metal. I’ll prove that right now, in fact.” From Bartholomew’s point of view, the voice was coming from inside the craft, and moments later it exploded, leaving the captain on his back and the craft in pieces.

Quickly regaining his stance, Barracuda shouted: “Who are you, and what country do you represent!” It was more of a shout than a question, but the voice answered all the same.

“I am myself, and I represent myself. Or did you have a better set of questions before I tell you why I have come?” the voice proclaimed, stepping from the wreckage causing steam to rise wherever it stepped. For once in his career, Captain Barracuda felt fear from viewing his enemy’s presence. He didn’t falter, to his credit, but the fear was evident on his face as his frown turned to grit teeth.

“Yeah, I got one. What are you?”

“I am Strife.”

“That’s who you are, isn’t it? Now tell me what you ARE.”

“I AM Strife.” Strife’s patience had worn thin with the human. His mind obviously couldn’t handle the concept of incarnations existing. “And I am your god, now. As much as I like your daily struggle to get the ball rolling, humans aren’t the ones that are going to get things done your way, I am.” Strife’s words held the man captive. How much did he know? “I know enough, of course.” Strife said with glee. “Now listen here, kiddo—it’s time to scramble the pawns, of which you are one. I will send you to a locale of my choosing; from there you will act as you would. The choice you get is whether you will fit in, or stick out, a human amongst your enemies.”

“I couldn’t care less about what I look like; I’m itching to get back in action.” Captain Barracuda replied, grinning. Strife spoke his language, so he agreed quickly enough.

“Very well, then.” Strife said, and fired the beam. After the transformation was over, Strife’s spell’s secondary effect kicked in, much like the last two, and sent him off to his new battlegrounds.

Not much farther, Adam Forrest was just leaving another house call to a surviving family. He had managed to make the poultice required to stop the infection, but had run himself out of a few necessary ingredients. He walked towards his reclaimed greenhouse, ready to plant a few extra seeds this month. As Adam neared the door, he heard a noise inside. Curious as to why someone would be in his house instead of outside waiting for him. For a 6 and a half foot tall guy with a white do-rag and deep green cloak, he didn’t even consider that someone would have broken in. After all, he was well known around the area, and always offered assistance with little to no cost to those he helped. As he peeked inside, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Breathing a sigh of relief, he entered his sanctum. Suddenly, the door closed behind him by itself, and when he turned to see why, a giant monster stood in front of him.

“Hello, Adam.”Strife took a step forward.”So nice to see you.”

“No kidding, that looks like one heck of an infection. What happened to your face? Are you alright?” Adam wasn’t scared in the least, and this put Strife off guard.

“I WAS BORN THIS WAY!”Strife bellowed, trying to regain his composure. “Now listen here, you. Option A: explore a magical land of flora and fauna you’ve never seen as a local. Option B: have the populace fear you and defend their precious plants from a terrifying monster; namely, you.”

“Hmm, well the second option is out of the question, but how do I even know if you’re telling the truth?” Adam, more used to lies rather than violence, could tell something was amiss. He was just a medicine man who had studied medical science and medical history before the war. Holding out in a bunker, he hadn’t had to deal with violence then, and when he emerged with the others, he was a giant of a man. While he never had to hurt anyone, people at least feared him. But this was the weirdest thing he had ever seen, and if it was contagious, he would need to learn fast. Maybe this thing was from outer space, he mused.

“No, born and raised here on Earth. But you are interested in new plants, correct?” Strife couldn’t let this one human get the better of him. But it couldn’t harm or coerce him either, for the plan it had in mind.

“Yes, I am! I would very much like to go there and see the plants…with as little difficulty as possible, if you don’t mind.” Adam’s decision was hasty, he really was interested, and caution was quickly thrown to the side.

“Enjoy.” Was all Strife said, and fired his spell. It did as it had done before, transforming and transporting Adam.

In Cuba, the man who supplied the orphanage to keep it going was sitting by himself. Richard Dixon’s dreams had long since been cast aside. The idea of wealthy living was impossible in the world’s new state. With a sigh, the 5’8’’man stood up, dusting his black tunic and shirts off. Without standardized wealth, he had to go for the next best thing, fame. Heroes stood out too much, but those who could supply entire towns became the heroes in history. It wasn’t that he didn’t care about the kids, they meant everything to him.

“But a man’s gotta be able to look forward to something, right?” he asked himself aloud in a quiet and strong voice.

“How right you are.” a voice replied from above. Strife floated down, his wings buzzing slightly. “Though in my opinion, you’ve got a lot more to look forward to than charity.” Without giving Richard time to respond, Strife continued: “Now what if I told you that you were about to embark on a trip to a land where gold is currency, and in no short supply?”

“I’d say you’re bluffing” Dixon answered. But Richard knew nothing about non-human poker faces, and couldn’t read him at all. He instead reached for one of his many hidden blades, ready to whip it out should this conversation turn sour.

“And I’d say you were reaching for a hidden weapon. But enough about hypothetical questions, what would you do when I send you to this new land? How would you rather be; conform to the new society or be the top human?”

“Stay true to myself, and of course... to be the man on top, I'd wear whatever mask necessary!” With a still face of his own, Richard added: “But I’m not about to let you take me away!” and flung the blade at where he supposed the heart would be, but Strife was gone.

“Close enough to an answer, I suppose.” Behind Richard, a single ray struck, and transformed him, then it teleported him away. At least he had some bite in his bark. One more to go…

“Bandits or not, survivors or not, everyone knows not to mess with X!” the powerful young voice came from Blake Eckson Stillwater, or as he was known, X. The people he had been speaking to were a remnant band of raiders that had attacked the camp he was guarding. The 6’2’’ man was wielding a shotgun in one hand, his right hand on the handle of a large chunk of steel in the shape of a sword. He was 20 years old, having only been a gamer before the war, he had managed to attain his greatest goal—respect. His style was definitely that of old video game characters. Gun slings, patched leather pants, one shoulder guard, sections of armor reminiscent of samurai, all covered by a giant tan cloak with a shield emblazoned on it. The sword of course, was just for show. Humongous swords are impossible for humans to use; it was actually a shield that was thick enough to take bullets. He even styled his hair to be spiked nearly permanently.

“Groovy.” He said to himself as the bandits scattered and ran away as fast as they could. It was time to loot the bodies, as was part of his rights in the contract he had with the colony he defended. He started off towards the battlefield after holstering his gun, his large boots making impressions in the dirt as he ran.

“Maybe there’s something else that could describe the situation you are in.” a dark voice from behind said. Strife had begun to enjoy sneaking up from behind more than the other directions.

“…Trouble, huh?” Blake had stopped running and now stood without facing the source of the voice. “What’s your issue mis-” as he turned, Blake saw Strife, an imposing figure to be sure.

“My issue is your issue, hero. No monsters left in this world, only men.”

“And what does that make you?” Blake was not sure if what he was seeing is what he was really facing. Such a large abomination of nature surely didn’t exist, unless… unless video games had been right all along, and he only saw monsters because he was strong enough to face them. This, he mused for a second before being cut off mid-thought.

“A monkey’s uncle, or perhaps their son.” Strife let out a chuckle as Stillwater’s expression changed to confusion. “I come to bring you to a land where monsters are aplenty. YOUR choice is simple: human or native?”Not much time left on Strife’s clock made it antsy to complete this as soon as possible.

“Man, I don’t know… wouldn’t being a native make me a monster, if that’s where monsters are from?” Blake answered honestly, but wondered what it meant by choosing if he was human or not.

“That’s enough of an answer for me.” Strife raised its arm again and fired the spell. Blake’s reflexes managed to bring the shield in-between him and Strife, not that it stopped the spell from teleporting him, shield and all.

At last, all the pieces were in place. Strife’s plan was in action, now all Strife had to do was count on the humans being as human as possible, and its death would be delayed inevitably. Perhaps it would even be able to sustain itself in the other dimensions, as well. A horrifying thought that brought a smile to Strife's face.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In Princess Celestia's audience chamber in Royal Canterlot Castle, two unicorns, two pegasi and 2 earth ponies bowed in front of the royal white Alicorn with a flowing mane like the dawn's colors. One pink earth pony with a brighter pink fuzzy mane bounced up after the bow.

"SO!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, "Who's the badpony this time, huh? We'll get him good... unless he's misunderstood and scared and alone and all he really wants is friends to play with and have parties with and-oh, I could throw him a party, and then I guess we'll befriend him, but really what are the chances of that?"

"Calm yerself, Pinkie. That's what we're here to find out about." The orange mare with the cowpony hat and southern accent said. Applejack then faced Princess Celestia again. "Ain't that right?"

"Indeed it is; the reason I have gathered you six here, again, is to wield the Elements of Harmony in defense of Equestria. I have sensed the demon's intent and I know that today is the day he will strike. Here is a marked map where the six sites of his invasion are occurring." Celestia levitated a map to the group. She appeared sorrowful as she began the next sentence, "I know this is much to ask of you and your friends, Twilight Sparkle, but I have faith in your abilities and your links with the Elements."

"We won't let you down,Princess Celestia!" Twilight Sparkle, the lavender unicorn with a dark purple mane that had a streak of pink running through it was the speaker that time. "We've handled tougher situations before."

"Yeah, we'll be fine..." the blue pegasus with a rainbow mane started with a smirk, "...as long as we don't have to turn him in before the end of the week, right, Twi?" Rainbow Dash chuckled. That episode was water under the bridge, but it didn't stop being funny. Twilight's cheeks were red from that statement, the embarrassment she felt back then rising to the surface.

"Well, I for one am looking forward to this whole ordeal being done with." Rarity, a white unicorn with a perfectly curled purple man piped in, eager to change the subject and save her friend from the situation. She threw in a glare at Rainbow Dash for bringing it up.

Sensing the awkwardness of the situation, the princess spoke again. "The demon's name is Strife, and he is a powerful and deadly monster. He does not cause suffering for amusement, but for nourishment. He strives only to see death and destruction on a level Equestria has never seen, and I hope will never see." The solemnity of the princess' words sucked the wind out of the six mares' sails. "He takes a bipedal form like an insect or leech, with magma coursing through it's veins. I want you to be careful out there, my little ponies." Discord had been terrible and borderline insane, but he didn't kill anypony. This made the threat of this new demigod all the more dangerous.

While the other five mares donned the necklaces that took the forms of their respective cutie marks, Twilight Sparkle levitated her starburst jeweled tiara and placed it on her head. "We will, Princess Celestia." They then left the throne room towards the specified zones Celestia had given them instructions to be.

Now alone, Celestia looked towards the gardens, where Discord's statue was kept once more. "I hope so, Twilight...my brightest and most faithful student. I truly hope so."

Awaken, Pawns

Collaboration effort of Vocbox and Renegade. MLP FiM is copyright of Hasbro and the Hub Network, I think. All references hitherto of characters or people, alive or dead in this story are purely for hilarious results.

Just outside the audience chamber, the six ponies conversed, planning their strategy to handle Equestria’s newest threat. “Alright, girls…” Twilight Sparkle began, “we’ve got six areas to see, so either we make a circuit between them, or we split up and risk being separated. Now, we can’t actually use the elements of harmony’s full power if we split up, but gathered that the enemy has split his attempts, we shouldn’t have too much to worry about.” Twilight was unsure how her friends would react, but both plans were good. She secretly hoped they wouldn’t split up though, and had left out the obvious side effect of plan number one, that they would inevitably take longer. She put up a great smile, an obvious tell that she had left something out. Applejack looked at her with her usual no-nonsense straight face. With a resigned sigh, she spoke again, “Well, and it’ll take a bit longer if we travel as a group, whoever or whatever is at each of the sites could have left before we get there as a group, and so our best chance is still to split up.”

“I could just fly over them all and make sure they’re there, if it makes ya feel any better, Twi.” Rainbow Dash offered.

“Thank you, but your time is best spent going after the farthest section, over past Ponyville, it appears to be in the clouds, and it’s much farther than any of the others.”Twilight appreciated her friend’s gesture, but they did have to split up to get this job done. Sure, if Rainbow Dash saw the things at the specified areas, she could come back and tell the others, but it’s still be splitting the group, and there was no assurance they would get to each area before the enemy left anyway. “Rarity, I need you and Fluttershy to go to these two areas closest to Ponyville.” Pointing to two circles on the map, an area was circled next to the Southern side and Eastern sides of Ponyville. She then continued: “If the worst is to occur, I need you two to go back to Ponyville to have the townsponies evacuate.”

“The…worst? Oh…alright, we’ll do our best, Twilight.”Fluttershy said, exchanging glances with Rarity.

“Alright, well for the last few; Pinkie, you’re needed here,” Twilight said, again pointing at the map, this time North of Canterlot where a city labeled Trottingham was.“…Applejack, I need you at this point here,” She pointed to a section along the railroad, to the West of Ponyville, the desert. “…finally, I will go here.” Pointing to an area smack-dab in the middle of the Everfree forest, it was an area the six had familiarity with—the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. “We’ve been there before, so I can teleport there and back.” With a nod and a shared sense of solemnity, the six mares headed off to their respective locations. Before Twilight teleported away, she shouted a reminder back: “And we’ll meet up again as soon as we can here in Canterlot! Good luck, girls!” The castle halls fell silent and empty once more.

Waking from what felt like a long rest, Xena struggled to her feet. She found it far too easy to push herself up, but couldn’t get upright. Opening her eyes to see what the issue was, she found that bright white appendages had replaced her arms. She craned her neck down to look under herself, and saw more white equine legs and a black tail behind her. Slowly backing her neck up to its correct position, her eyes widened as she tried not to believe what possibly could have happened.
“What the hay is going on!?” Xena was incredulous. For a long time now, she was used to surprises and nightmares, and even surprising nightmares. This was… mares? She decided to roll with it. Taking an uneasy step forward, she splayed her wings to the sides for balance. Hold on, wings? “Did I just…” No, it wasn’t going to distract her, not this time. She took a few more steps, testing her balance. It was kind of easy, she thought. “Hey, I may as well test the wings too.”

With a triumphant leap, she took to the air… but sadly, did not keep there. She managed to land on all four…hooves, she guessed. Flapping her wings was considerably more difficult than she thought. After a few minutes of effort, she managed to flap her way off the ground. Before she could rejoice at her newest success, a loud pop noise came from above her, and the clothes she had left at her bedside fell on her, knocking her to the ground. Obviously whatever brought her here had a sense of humor, as all of her clothes were made for humans, of which she didn’t think applied to her anymore. Which reminded her… what was the thing that invaded her bedroom, and why was she here anyway? She remembered it said something like: her being a warrior, or a princess, a game was involved… and it called her WEAK. Anger surged; she wasn’t weak, and anyone who said so paid for it! Stamping her left rear hoof into the dirt, she noticed it gave a visible indentation. She supposed that this leg strength was attributed to her horse-like form, but was proud of it all the same—she specialized in kicks in her fighting style.

A snap in the trees nearby caught her attention. Her focus was intensified, as she didn’t make a move while trying to discern what exactly made the noise. In her lifetime, sudden noises meant traps, ambushes and the like. She had to be wary not to fall for anything ever again. Suddenly, something fell from the tree--or rather, somepony.

”Ow… uhhh. Hi!” the voice was feminine, belonging to a light brown pegasus with blonde hair. There was a mark on her flank, a Lute in front of a Sais. “Umm, I’m sorry I was sorta spying on you, but it was because you kinda popped out of nowhere, and then that cloth landed on you, also from nowhere, and I was so startled I fell from this tree here, see?”
Spying on her? Again with others, it was always the same, spying on you to learn your weakness and then use it to get your trust so they can take advantage of you. Miss Darrow was fed up with this rubbish. Spies and scoundrels she dealt with almost every day, and she’d deal with this one all the same… or she would, if she could figure out how to kick as a horse. Readying a stance, Xena instead tried intimidation. Just because this girl-horse had come right out and SAID she’s spying doesn’t make her trustworthy!

“Just back off! Leave me be!” she practically yelled at the poor filly, “I don’t care WHO you are, just stay away, SPY!” Seeing the girl fall to a sitting position, Xena assumed her words had successfully made that blonde girl back down. Quickly, Darrow scooped up her clothes and boots, and flung them over her back. She hadn’t tried running yet, but it couldn’t be that hard. She was right, and made her escape before the tan pegasus even got over the shock of what had happened. Looking over her shoulder for a second, Xena saw tears well up in the girl’s eyes before she was out of view. “Who cares, tears won’t help you--I won’t fall for it.” Xena said it to keep her resolve, not that she said it loudly, but she felt she might have backed up and apologized if it wasn’t spoken out loud.

Alone once again, Jason King looked at himself just to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. He was now a unicorn of some kind; he knew that much from what he had seen in a nearby lake’s reflection. His hair on his head had remained the same, but his…skin color… was definitely weird. It reminded him far too much of My Little Pony for comfort, being a dark blue hue in the middle of a brightly colored clearing in what appeared to be a forest of rather tall trees. Perhaps he had changed size as well as shape. Checking around for something that he knew the height of, he found a pinecone. It measured up to around where it felt like his wrist. That meant that he probably was still a relative height to before, although shorter to the ground. His clothing had fallen after he had, comically landing on his face to dunk him into the lake when he saw himself the first time. They were now drying on a low lying branch—his necktie, khakis and ruined jacket. It occurred to him he was the same color as the jacket, as he looked that way before trying to figure out why any of this had happened.

Some creature, a terrifying bug-winged behemoth with a leech’s head and a volcano’s colors had sent him here, to what he assumed was Equestria. Now he could fit in, or something along those lines. The more he thought about it, the more he doubted such a thing could be true. As his emotions compelled him, he dragged himself through his older memories. How he couldn’t do anything when the war started, how he was essentially at the enemies’ mercies. He was spared, but he was always just left as he was. Even once he was freed after the war, all he could do was go to the hotel he had originally planned on staying in and mope about for weeks at a time. His mind played him throwing everything off a table with rage, and outside his mind, his magic activated. He telekinetically flung all the clothes he had set up to the ground. Realizing he had actually used magic, he stopped.

“Huh.” That was all he said. Trying to tap into his anger again, he attempted to will his clothes to be grabbed. The result was his clothes flying in different directions. “Maybe…anger isn’t the best emotion to use for something like holding things.” He tried to just will his tie to be picked up with no success. Logically, if emotions weren’t the catalyst for magic, it was memories, or perhaps envisioning the action to take place. He then tried to remember picking his tie up the first time, surrounded by his friends for his birthday, then unwrapping the box and holding aloft that two sided tie. The tie responded by being covered in an aura similar to his body color, and lifting off the ground. He envisioned it floating closer and retying it to his neck. It did as he envisioned with only a little difficulty going around his horn, he would have to get used to that. When he finished, King noticed he was sweating pretty heavily; magic took more out of him than it looked like on the show. Without much else to do, he decided to ditch the rest of his old clothes. Ponies didn’t often wear clothes, so his tie was more than enough, he figured. He looked once more to ensure the figurines he had weren’t with him in this world—it would be too much of a hassle to explain besides not having a cutie mark at his apparent age.

With that decided, he walked towards mountaintops that were visible with the clearing as wide as it is. If he was really in Equestria, and if he was really in the Everfree Forest, the only named forest with such large trees, he was best suited leaving the forest as soon as possible, and he remembered that Canterlot was on the side of a tall mountain in the show. He didn’t ever think to check the lake as he trotted away, where his human shoes and a small toy lay at the very bottom.

Captain Barracuda, now a copper stallion with a short silver mane, had been testing his wings for a little over an hour now. He found that the principles of flight were the same, wherever he was; the only difference being that he was the one flying, instead of being the pilot. His hat had followed him, along with his coat and weapons, but as Barracuda quickly discovered, he can stand on clouds, but that didn’t make them solid to other things, too. It was time to get his stuff back. This form was comfortable enough; he would wear his jacket even if he had to cut holes in it for his new wings. Diving off the cloud, he pulled his forelegs together and sped straight down towards the ocean below. Nearing the water’s surface, he opened his wings and tilted up, then balanced himself to a hovering position just above his fallen articles.

Using his forelegs, he lifted his hat and replaced it upon his head. It was only a little wet, anyway. Luckily, his sword and its scabbard were held aloft by his coat a short distance away. He wasn’t keen on trying to swim with wings, so his gun was likely long gone beneath the waves. Getting his scabbard to clip around himself was simpler than one would assume, for a horse. In this world, pegasi appeared to be able to bend around and move more closely to humans than horses ever could. After that, he grabbed his coat and wrung it out, holding it with his hooves instead of his teeth. He then flew back up to his original cloud and scouted for nearby land or any of the inhabitants. In the distance he saw what appeared to be a blue dot with a rainbow behind it, but disregarded it immediately.

“Rainbows, peh. Where’s my army I was promised by Strife? I wanted to fight and have the United States finally achieve world conquest; not sit on a cloud in the middle of nowhere! If I’m a ‘local’ shaped creature, I don’t think I’ll ever have to worry about the enemy having guns, at the very least.” He reached for his sword, and pulled it out. “Physics here don’t seem to matter; I’m holding a sword without any freaking fingers.”

Right after he said that, Barracuda realized that his language had subconsciously been toned down. He had meant, in all honesty, to swear at least three times with his last sentence; damn and fucking being the words of choice. Freaking had been the closest thing to a cuss word he’s managed to utter. Putting a conscious effort into it this time, he forced the words out.

“F…fffuuuu…gkk!“ It was as if his own words were choking him. ”Piece of sh-chhhhit.” Well, if he wanted to swear, he’d have to keep it in his head, or alter it. Sheathing his sword, he gave up. Swearing wasn’t too terribly important anyway. What was important was a blue dot trailing a rainbow, because it was headed his way, and it was coming in fast.

Richard Dixon was quite confused—no two ways about it. He awoke to his belongings falling on his head, but once they were out of his eyes, a sight best left described as cartoonish lay in front of him. There was a lush green forest, a rare sight since the war, colorful patches of flowers, and the whole place just seemed so peaceful. In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time he had seen a live tree; a whole forest was undeniably out of place.

“This can’t be real.” He told himself. “Is this a dream?”

He got up, and realized he had achieved his full height on all fours. After looking himself over, he was a unicorn with dingy yellow fur, had a horn on his head, and still had his rocker hairdo, but instead of the blonde he had bleached it to, his hair had returned to its original light brown, with only a streak of his favorite color remaining. Well, so much for sleight-of-hand tricks and throwing knives—no fingers.

“Alright then, I’ll just get my bearings, here…” he began, but as he took his first step, he stumbled to the ground. “…Right, well; that could have gone better, I suppose. And it could have been worse, I at least have some of my stuff, even if I can’t use it.” He kicked at his Kevlar-lined tunic and knife belts. “I’d better stash these somewhere, then.”

He began to dig at the ground with one hoof until there was a sizeable hole deep enough to fit his things into. It took some more time, as clumsy as he was in his new body, to shove everything in the hole, cover it up, and place some rocks on top of it. It was all worth it, he told himself; in due time, he could probably get his clothes retrofitted for his new body, or just sell them if he needed to. First though, he needed to find civilization, or at least water. Digging was thirsty business.

Walking to the top of a nearby hill, he was surprised to see a town so close. It wasn’t very late; around 4:45 he judged. He could make it there before nightfall, no problem. He remembered that the monster he saw had promised that this new land’s base currency was gold. If such a thing was true, he could easily make it big. It would be easier if he could perform some kind of acrobatic feats, but in his current state, his best bet was to outwit whoever or whatever had some cash. Without further ado, Richard left the mound behind, taking care to remember how to return to it, should the need arise.

Adam Forrest hadn’t any clue how long he’d been walking in the desert heat. He had been following train tracks shortly after waking up, his bandana and cloak covering him. He was glad he had them, as he suspected he might have had a heatstroke by now, being uncovered; whether he was a green pony now or not. Weirdest part is how his bright blonde hair had grown to a length down his neck, like a horse’s mane. He had kept short hair almost all his life. While he was on the subject of weirdness, his mind brought him to remembering why he had agreed: to see new exotic plants. Well, so far he had seen a thousand cacti, each one same as the last…or were there a thousand of the same one cactus?
“Man, this heat is… brutal…” He had to keep going. Water wasn’t an issue, there were cacti, and he knew there was water inside them, but it was just so hot and bright! ”That…liar… thinks he’s soooooooo funny… dropping me in a desert.” He stopped walking, and sat down. “Man… I shouldn’t have done this; I could have just left, maybe. Everyone back home has no idea what to do when it comes to medicine, or how to take care of the plants… I hope they come out of it alright.”

Just then, in the middle of the desert, he saw the most wondrous flower. It was beautiful, it was big, it was orange …it was talking to him? It was wearing a hat… yup, that was a mirage, he managed to tell himself.

“Now what in tarnation are ya doin’ out here in the middle of the desert?” the flower demanded.

“I’m looking for plants…” Adam managed to reply. He was certain at this point that he wasn’t going to make it.
The flower sighed, and then began to talk again. “Well, ya ain’t gonna find much out here asides from tumbleweeds and cactus. Lemme help ya back up. Let’s get you back to town.” The cowboy hat wearing plant picked Adam up and placed him over its stem, then began to walk the same direction Adam had been going. “You got a name, there?”

Mumbling, the only audible words Adam managed before passing out were “It’s…Forrest.”

Not that Adam could hear anymore, his mirage spoke. “Great, now I gotta tell Twi I didn’t make it to the site. But I could NOT in good conscience leave a pony out in the middle o nowhere to die from the heat! Huh, this savin Equestria business isn’t as easy as it felt like it was before.”

Centered in the middle of the most dangerous forest in all of Equestria, a lone human stood. He was sure that just seconds ago he was in a wasteland, and that he had blocked that monster’s attack with his thick shield-blade (copyright pending, according to the human.) It was Blake Eckson Stillwater, Earth’s last great action “hero”. He put his shield-blade back under his cloak on his back, and looked around. He could see a ruin in one direction, a rope bridge in the other, and a forest all around him.

Whistling, Blake began to talk to himself. “Now if that isn’t the biggest invitation to a boss fight I’ve EVER had the pleasure of seeing! Our brave hero ventures forth, into the depths of the unknown castle… for justice!” He started walking towards the ruins, taking in the broken pillars’ shapes and size, enraptured with the videogame-like experience of the place he had been transported to.

Reaching the door, he gave a hearty “HYAH!” and shoved it wide open. Inside, its courtyard was full of lichen covered pillars, most broken, and one humongous statue that looked like a model of a solar system, only with all the planets removed. Besides that, there were only six spaces where planets could go aside from the central orb of stone, which was obviously the sun. Some of the walls were missing in the room, and many of the windows had lost their panes. From the windows, he could see a spire on the other side of the castle, and a couple of other structures that had become broken down. For him, though, the spire would be for last.

“I’ve a whole castle to explore first, I don’t think the boss would mind if I went after map completion.” With that remark, Blake began to wander around, checking every nook and cranny, finding no monsters, traps, decorations or any perfectly preserved rooms at all. All that was left, disappointingly, was the spire.

“I can’t believe I just wasted all that time.”Blake wasn’t tired; he was used to having to carry a lot of things and travel for a long time. However, he was definitely annoyed, having walked around for an hour and a half without seeing or hearing a single thing that could be considered a monster. Well, not much left to do but head for the tower, he supposed.

The steps up to the spire were surprisingly solid, and there was minimal debris, compared to all the other rooms in the castle, and Blake would know, having walked through the whole place. Once he reached the top of the stairs, 400 exactly he noted dryly, he reached a room with a raised dais. The whole room was rather complete, with just a few broken windows and hanging vines being the extent of disuse. He noticed as well that while the rest of the castle was covered in dust, this room had its dust pushed around, like a struggle had taken place a while before. Skid and scorch marks covered the areas in front of and on the dais, respectively.

“Man, it looks like I already missed the big fight! What the hell happened here?” Blake leaned in close to the skid mark and rubbed a finger against it, then rubbed a finger on his other hand against the ground nearby. There was dust on both fingers, although there was a lot more dust where the skid wasn’t. “Phew, at least it didn’t just happen as I looked around. Man, I’d have been so mad!”

Behind him, a loud noise and a bright light filled the room. When he heard a voice from the same place, it caught Stillwater off-guard. “Hold it right there, Strife!”

“Strife?” Blake had no idea why a girl's voice had called him Strife, but he turned to face them, putting his hand on his shotgun’s handle. For the second time, he had been surprised by something weird behind him. A purple unicorn now stood in front of him, horn glowing, with a face that was extremely easy to read: angry. “What ARE you?” he asked the question before realizing he had said it.

“That’s what I’m supposed to say!” Twilight responded, her magic aura fading. “You aren’t Strife! Ohhhhhh, Strife must have made these disturbances so we would split up!” with a gasp, she added “My friends are in danger!”

“Hold on, who is Strife? What are you, where am I?” Blake was confused, but he didn’t want to be ditched; it sounded like there was a monster or some kind of dastardly evil to beat. Speaking of, that train of thought reminded him of the monster that sent him here in the first place—that leech-like magma-colored chimera. “Is Strife an insectoid monster capable of teleporting things and people?”

Twilight paused; this thing knew what Strife was! Thinking quickly, she ordered the being to come close. “You’re coming with me, let’s go!” Blake complied without another word. She teleported the both of them away, leaving the ruins to fall silent once again.

Encounter

Still a collaboration effort on part of Vocbox and Renegade—with some editing help from my friends! MLP FIM belongs to Hasbro n Hub Network, may their marriage be forever. Songs within belong to their owners as indicated.

Rarity had reached Ponyville by train along with Fluttershy, and immediately set off for her boutique. It wasn’t terribly out of the way; she just wanted to make sure Sweetie Belle, her sister, and Opal, her cat, were alright. She opened the door, calling out to the two of them.

“Sweetie Belle? Opal, darling? I just came to check up on the both of you! Oh, what’s this?” A note was stuck to one of her ponnequins, and was labeled with her name on it. Rarity read the addressed note aloud: “Rarity, I went out to find my cutie mark with Applebloom and Scootaloo, wish me luck! Signed, Sweetie Belle.” Her face turned to anger, this wasn’t the first time she had just left without permission to play with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. But then her face was overtaken by fear; what if they went to the Everfree Forest? They had done so on a number of occasions, but if they went there today… “Oh, no! Sweetie Belle, I’m coming!” and Rarity burst back out through the door, and ran straight to the area designated that Strife had appeared in.

Coming up on the area, it was a small clearing with a portion of the usual brightly-colored trees. It was close enough to the Everfree Forest that most animals stayed away from it, but there was a small lake that had obviously been used recently. Rarity took not that the water had settled, but the area around it was very wet, and hoofprints were pressed near the edge that led away from the lake for a short distance before fading. There was no sign of the CMC, as it was easy to tell where that troublesome trio of fillies had been, so Rarity allowed herself a sigh of relief.
“Phew, I can’t believe I immediately thought the worst of Sweetie Belle and the others; at least now I can get on to the job Twilight entrusted me… Now, if this lake is the area Strife was attacking, why is the only evidence a set of hoofprints?” Rarity looked into the water, the telltale sign of flowing fabric catching her attention. “Hmm? What’s this?”

Levitating the tattered jacket and pants out of the water, she was dumbfounded—what could have possibly worn such oddly shaped (not to mention dreadfully out-of-fashion) clothes? She looked deeper into the water for anything else that would clue her in to what manner off creature these clothes belonged to. She found a few things at the bottom, and levitated these above the water as well. They appeared to be some kind of boots for a creature with an elongated hoof, but inside them was a child’s doll, a small unicorn with randomized colors and no cutie mark. On its hooves read “Made in China”, not that Rarity had ever heard of such a place in all of Equestria.

“What on Equestria could this possibly mean?” Rarity mumbled to herself. “I suppose I’m too late, for whatever was here does not appear to have remained in the area.”

Just then, a clamor of birds and other animals sounded from the direction the hoofprints had led. That must be it, Rarity believed, that must be Strife, or at least his doing. She trotted over to the tracks, and once she was sure they led towards the disturbance, she galloped towards its source. As she came closer and closer to where she guessed the animals had run, she noted the mountain that held Canterlot Castle was the direct path. What was this monster that would head directly for the castle from the Everfree Forest?

Her answer came as she cleared the next thicket of trees—she had been traveling into Everfree in order to follow the monster, and now came upon a pride of manticores! Stopping suddenly with only the tiniest of a “Meep”, Rarity backpedaled behind the thicket once more. She looked again, and she saw a deep blue unicorn who had somehow managed to get himself into a tree that the manticores were surrounding; he was obviously why they hadn’t noticed her intrusions seconds earlier.

It was then that the mystery pony realized there was hope again, and called out for her, with enough wisdom to know directing his yells would only get the manticores’ attention drawn towards his would-be savior.
“I could use some assistance please, maybe a distraction in another direction so I could get down and we could get out of here?”

The manticores didn’t notice her even after the strange stallion’s outburst—this was Rarity’s chance! Levitating some nearby fallen branches, she changed them into pony silhouettes, and placed them on the opposite side of the clearing. Making one branch snap loudly near them, the manticores looked over to the noise’s source with unnerving alacrity, and pounced at it in a flash. The window of opportunity was wide open now, and the stallion that was in the tree leapt off it into a bush. Seconds later, he popped out, and while shaking branches out of his mane, he dashed in the direction he saw Rarity from when she had entered the clearing. She was a bit ahead of him, waiting for him to come her way, and as he galloped full speed past her, she followed, eventually taking the lead.

“Thank…you…so much…miss!” the young stallion managed to say between gasps as they ran.

“Don’t mention it, darling! Just run!” Rarity replied. It became clear that as often as she had been running with her friends this way and that all across Equestria, this particular sprint had not drained her nearly as much as she expected it to. Rarity smiled to herself, then began to lead the two of them through the winding thickets to the clearing she found before entering Everfree. “We’re almost there, just keep going!”

Minutes later the two had safely returned to Rarity’s home: Carousel Boutique. It was safe after they broke from Everfree, but they didn’t stop to see if the manticores were there until they were inside. The navy blue unicorn stallion was holding one of his forehooves to his torso and breathing heavily while sitting on his haunches, gripping his necktie in what passed for a grip with hooves.

“Sorry, but I never quite caught your name; I am Rarity, I own and run the boutique we are currently in.” She introduced herself hoping to begin the conversation to a point where he explained what exactly it was he was doing in the Everfree Forest that got him surrounded by manticores. Luckily, the bait worked, and he talked.

“Thank you, Rarity. My name’s King…” he trailed off for a second, his eyes glossing over, and then he returned to normal. Neither unicorn noticed as a mark resembling three eyes appeared on his flank. He continued where he left off, saying:

“Rapids. King Rapids is my name. I was, uh...” His eyes shifted again, and returned seconds later. “I-I’m sorry, my second sight is, is… weird.” He shook his head and refocused his eyes, blinking a few times before finishing. “Haha, well, my name is King Rapids, I used to be an investor—second sight helps when I can tell whether or not the investment will help or not. I was in the Everfree Forest because that’s where I woke up. I couldn’t tell where I was so I headed straight towards Canterlot Castle, as it was my best bet for getting out of the forest. It surprised me too, because here I am, out of the forest!”

King wasn’t just pulling out words at random; he had seen into the future and knew exactly what to say for Rarity to believe him, right down to the name. It was a bit scary for his ability to suddenly manifest, and he had seen just enough to understand what to do. Flashes of future moments in which he had answered truthfully and been under suspicion, and when he lied and everything fell apart, and the balance between them both. It had happened in the first instant. The second instant told him what Rarity would have said next, her inquisition to what he did and why he was in the forest. It had seemed imperative to tell her of his second sight because her next question was to be one that would involve what he was doing. Afterwards the visions had ceased, but not before showing him one more thing—the being that had sent him here.

“My plan is just about complete. All that remains are those infernal six, and then NOTHING can stop me! I’ll become a TRUE GOD, AND ALL SHALL KNOW MY NAMESAKE! I AM STRIFE! HAAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!”

“Well…” Rarity was surprised—second sight? Could he truly see the future? “…I’ve certainly never met anypony with the ability to see the future.”

“Oh, well it isn’t as great as it sounds—it’s not exactly an ‘on command’ kind of ability, but it comes up when it’s important, usually.” King answered quickly, Rarity’s comment reminded him suddenly of all the pronouns he’d have to replace pony-wise if he wanted to keep up his charade.

“Alright, well, I have to go now, but feel free to browse until I come back! Tata!” Rarity left, rushing towards Spike, who had been left in the library. She needed to send a letter to Celestia, and Spike’s magic breath was much faster than taking the train. When she reached the great tree, she telekinetically knocked twice. It was late in the afternoon, but Spike should still be awake, she hoped. To her relief, Spike answered quite quickly.

“Oh, hey Rarity!” Spike was enthusiastic to see her, like always. “What do you need?”

“Spike, take a letter, please. I need to inform Princess Celestia of an impending attack.”

“Oh! I’m right on it!” Spike disappeared for a second, then popped his head right back into the doorframe. “Come on in!” A few seconds later, Spike had attained a quill, ink, and parchment.

“Ahem. Dear Princess Celestia, at the site I investigated near the border of the Everfree Forest, I found evidence of a being I’ve never seen before. Following its trail, I came across a unicorn with second sight who had been chased up a tree by a pride of manticores. It is my belief that the manticores might be under Strife’s control, and that we may have more than just Strife around causing all of this. Signed: your subject, Rarity.”

“…your…subject…Rarity. I’ll send it right away, madam!” Spike rolled the parchment in one movement with skill only granted by being Twilight’s number one assistant for his entire life, tossing it into the air and breathing his magic green flames. The letter sailed out the window with unerring accuracy; it would reach the princess in seconds. “Is…that all, Rarity?”

“Yes, Spike, thank you very much! Well, I must return, I’m entertaining that unicorn stallion I found as a guest, and I don’t want to leave him alone longer than necessary—it’s rude to leave one’s guests, after all.”

Back at the boutique, King was slowly adjusting to the situation. He had just been rescued by one of the “mane 6” and was now inside her residence. She really was generous, he guessed. He realized he had left a hole in his story: he had only woken up there in the forest, and had answered as such. Apparently his second sight didn’t think it was important, but King knew better; he would just keep his mouth shut and remember to come up with something, should suspicion arise. His thoughts were interrupted as Rarity opened her boutique door again.

“Sorry for the wait, I just had to send a letter to the princess about those awful manticores. What could have made them attack you anyway? They aren’t exactly known for roaming in packs.” Rarity stopped for a moment and wondered what to do. She had saved this gentlecolt, but where was he from anyway? Not Ponyville, for sure. Rarity was sure she would’ve seen Pinkie Pie throw a party for the poor stallion before. His cutie mark was a set of three eyes arranged in a pyramid; the bottom two eyes were closed but the top was open. Strange, but she had seen stranger, she supposed.

“Ah, well I may have wandered into their lair. I wasn’t sure which way was ‘out’ of Everfree, so I headed for the mountain.” Remembering what he said earlier, King quickly added: “Second sight kicked in and showed me going that way and exiting, so I figured it was safe. That’s when I accidentally stepped into their territory, and got stuck up a tree.”

Rarity had decided that that was enough questioning the poor stallion, and it was time to see if she could get him someplace to stay before she headed back to the castle for her rendezvous with her friends.

“So, have you anyplace to stay?”

Pinkie Pie wasn’t very happy getting so few lines, and being effectively written out of the previous conversation. In fact, she was bummed!

“It’s not fair you know. Maybe if I had more lines everypony would be our friends faster and we wouldn’t have to have split up…” Pinkie looked straight at the monitor. “So let’s hurry up, up UP so we can be together again and throw a PARTY!”

Pinkie had been like this since she left, springing across the fields and plains North of Canterlot to The area near Trottingham. She had said, frequently enough, that if anypony was there for a scene change she could just jump in and save some time. There wasn’t, however, and now she had to hop skip and jump her way there all by herself. Trains didn’t head directly to where she wanted to go anyway. Somehow, Pinkie knew that her target had already left the area they were in and where to go to find them.

“Yeah! It’s almost like I’m reading the narration or something, but that would be silly because you can’t read narration of course because this totally isn’t a story being typed up by some strange colt with fingers or anything, that’s be just plain silly!” And with that, Pinkie giggled.

After a few more minutes of traveling, she had reached her destination. Pinkie bounced past a light brown pegasus filly with a yellow mane. She was sitting on her haunches and crying softly, burying her muzzle in her forehooves, and couldn’t even see that Pinkie was right there. Pinkie Pie, being herself, was saddened by this stranger, and decided immediately to help her smile before continuing.

“Hey there!” Pinkie popped up right in front of the sobbing mare. “What’s got you so sad?”
In-between sobs, she choked out: “She, she yelled at me… I just wanted to know, and now I-I…” the filly continued to cry, unable to finish her sentence.

Pinkie’s ears flattened beside her head. How was she supposed to cheer her up? If only some idea happened to come to her… and then it did! Pushing a stage in front of the filly, Pinkie got on it and pulled out a microphone. And, predictably, she began to sing.

“Chin up, chin up
Everybody loves a happy face
Wear it, share it
It'll brighten up the darkest place
Twinkle, sparkle
Let a little sunshine in
You'll be on the right side
Looking at the bright side
Up with your chinny chin chin!

Chin up, chin up
Put a little laughter in your eyes
Brave it, save it
Even though you're feeling otherwise
Rise up, wise up
Make a little smile begin
You'll be happy hearted
Once you get it started
Up with your chinny chin chin!

Chin down, you can't come frowning
Turn around
Starting, clowning
Think sad
Your troubles double
Think glad
They burst like bubbles

Chin up, chin up
Every little time your spirits wilt
Chin up, chin up
Give your attitude an upward tilt
Twinkle, sparkle
Make a little fun begin
You'll be on the right side
Looking at the bright side
Up with your chinny chin
Chin up!“

Pinkie, upon finishing the song, was tangled in a web that spelt out “Chin Up” and nonchalantly hopped out of it without disrupting the web at all. She trotted over to the pegasus again, who was no longer crying.

“Do you feel any better?”

“-snf-Uh…uh huh. Thanks miss.”

“No problem-o!” Pinkie was felling better now that she had helped this girl out. “My name’s Pinkie Pie, what’s yours?”

“My name is Gabrielle.” Sensing that Pinkie Pie wanted to know why she was crying, she added: “I met another pegasus, she’s white with a black mane, and well, I saw her as I was flying overhead and then some stuff fell on her, so I sat in a tree to see. I fell out of the tree and apologized for watching her, and she yelled at me, a-and she told me to-to…” Gabrielle was tearing up again. “She said to, to back off, and leave her alone, and she was so angry.”
“Well, sounds like SOMEpony is in dire need of a friend, if they’re so closed-hearted to yell at somepony over something like that.” Pinkie struck a pose as though this was her undertaking. In truth, it was something she loved to do: making friends. Beyond that, her keen Pinkie Senses led her to believe that this mystery mare was exactly who she was here for. “Do you wanna come along too, Gabrielle?”

“Sure Pinkie Pie. I-if that was all she was mad about, th-then maybe I could be her friend too!”

The two of them then headed in the direction Gabrielle had last seen the white mare run off to. On the way, to pass the time, they chatted and laughed, making silly faces or doing somersaults.
“So what’s your cutie mark for?” Gabrielle inquired.
“It’s to show how much I like parties and throwing parties! I like to see everypony smile, and a big party makes it alllll worthwhile! Heehee, I rhymed. So what’s yours?”
“Mine’s a symbol of my favorite thing—performing! I like playing music for others, and I like to do acrobatic tricks, so when I managed to do them both together, my cutie mark appeared! So, yeah, I really like being in the spotlight.” Gabrielle was a lot more talkative now, as well as relaxed.

Minutes later the duo had come to a small shelter of large branches up against a bush. Poking out from the side was a black tail—the two guessed it was likely the pegasus Gabrielle had met earlier. Inside it was indeed the black and white mare, but she didn’t notice her two unexpected guests because she was in the throes of another nightmare. After thrashing for a few seconds, tears fell from her face before she calmed down again. Pinkie decided it was best to wait this one out. Pinkie resumed conversation to pass the time.

“So what’s her name?” Pinkie asked.

“I don’t think she gave her name, and she left before I gave her my name.”

“Where’s she from, do you think?”

“Her accent was kind of weird, but I only noticed her because she teleported, she didn’t seem to come from anywhere.”

“WOW-EE-WOW!” Pinkie got a little too loud from her excitement. “So she’s a pegasus that can teleport? Or maybe a friend of theirs teleported her, but that’s not how teleportation works. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm…”

In the ruckus of Pinkie Pie’s fascination with the girl’s mysterious teleportation, the girl awoke, gripped with fear as two distinct voices conversed just outside her makeshift tent. People were only trying to get close to use her. It was always like that. Xena was strong because she wouldn’t let anyone use her ever again. Even though as a human, she had gotten exceptionally good at fighting, she never got over her fear of others. As a pony creature with wings, she had lost a measure of confidence. She had forced some of her clothes back on to her new body, not much of it fitting but the coat, but that kept her wings in, which she needed to balance when running. This, of course, is what she planned to do. This plan of running away, however, did not work because of one very simple factor: Pinkie Pie.

“Hi!” Pinkie’s head poked right through her tent. “Sorry to wake you but I’ve got a couple of questions for you. Can you really teleport? Where are you from, what’s your name?”

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!” Was Xena’s reply. This was understandable—even without her history, being snuck up upon by someone or somepony else when you were sleeping is frightening.

“No, it’s pronounced: HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!” Pinkie enthusiastically creamed alongside Xena.

After a few more seconds of simultaneous shrieking, Xena finally stopped to catch her breath. Pinkie Pie did not appear to need to and went right back to conversing with Xena by bombarding her with more questions.

“So! Why did you yell at Gabrielle like that? What were you doing out here at a Strife Site? Why are the clothes you have not shaped for your body? Why did you just freeze up?”

Xena had stopped moving almost immediately after Pinkie Pie said Gabrielle. Gabrielle was the name of her one and only true friend, a doll she was given by her grandmother when she was five years old, the very same doll she had with her a few hours ago in Germany that had not traveled with her. But the thought of Gabrielle traveling with her suddenly felt more real, this was when Gabrielle herself, the pegasus, poked her head in the tent’s flap. She had the exact same color scheme! Was it fate, was it chance? Xena was overcome with emotion at the prospect that her friend had not only traveled with her to this new place, but had also come to life. Remembering how she had yelled at her not too long ago caused her to tear up.
“I’m sorry.” Xena was now actively crying. “I’m so sorry, Gabrielle, I didn’t know, I’m so sorry!” Xena got up and wrapped her hooves around Gabrielle, who smiled. “Can you ever forgive me?”

“Yeah, I can do that miss… what’s your name again?” Gabrielle put a hoof around the crying mare’s head.

Xena didn’t think that maybe she wouldn’t just have her friend for free, and she was supposed to become her friend on her own. Oh well, Xena thought, if this is all I have to do to have my friend in real life, then it’s easy.

“I’m Xena Darrow.”

“And I’m Gabrielle, but I think you knew that already. I forgive you.”

“Will you be my friend?”

“Sure thing, Xena.”

“Would you be my friends too?” Pinkie Pie came up from below, grabbing both of them in a hug.

“Of course!” Gabrielle replied.

“I guess so, so what were those questions you were asking?”Xena had stopped crying and was grateful to Pinkie Pie for bringing Gabrielle here so Xena could apologize to her.

“I’ll ask ‘em on the way, I think you gals should come with me.” Mission accomplished: Pinkie Pie style.

Richard was a clever pony. As he made his way towards the town, he had already come up with a few tricks to wow the crowd. All he needed was a bit of money before he could start putting that money to use, improving his shows to a point that he wouldn’t need to spend any in production, which would turn 100% profit as fast as humanly (ponily?) possible. His excitement was showing outwardly as he chuckled to himself. His happy thoughts were interrupted by a small voice off to his side.

“Um, excuse me.”

“Huh? Who’s there?”

Behind a bush, a yellow head with a long pink mane popped up. Richard stopped to look at the sight. At least this proved it; the inhabitants were brightly colored horses. It was when she flew out from behind the bush that he was legitimately surprised.

“Whoa! A pegasus!” He was a unicorn, so it was to be expected that other legendary horse types existed. Were there also centaurs, seahorses, and the four horses of the apocalypse? Well, it couldn’t be any more outlandish than the large red worm with wings he saw before getting here.

“Um, if you don’t mind, have you seen anypony weird around here?”

“Weird? Nah, I haven’t seen…anypony weird.” Oh boy, pronouns are different here. Better get used to them if I want to fit in, Richard thought. “In fact, the only pony I’ve seen out here is you.”

“Oh, well, it’s just that you’re out here, all alone near the Everfree Forest and…it’s dangerous.”

“Oh.” Dangerous in the woods, got it. Unfortunately this means I’m suspicious, I better come up with an excuse for coming out of a place apparently well known for being dangerous. “Well, that’s because I wanted to see how tough I was by proving that I could go in and come out unharmed.”

“But you could have been hurt! Or worse! Oh…my!” The yellow mare was suddenly concerned about this stranger, and the sudden change was making Richard uncomfortable.

“Uh, yeah? That’s the point isn’t it?” As soon as he said it, he knew it was the wrong answer. The mare’s face widened into shock, then turned into a disapproving frown. Her eyes intensified…and then she calmed down.

“That’s very irresponsible of you, mister. You’d better hurry home before you worry anypony else…if that’s alright.”

“Yeah.” Richard was just sure he had narrowly avoided something fearsome, but couldn’t place what it could have been. Shaking his head, he hurried towards the town. Before leaving he noticed three butterflies imprinted on the yellow pegasus’ sides. Weird mark, he told himself, and continued along.

Likewise, Fluttershy noticed the stallions flank was bare before she had begun her stare. It was just like the Cutie Mark Crusaders, she supposed, not knowing their talent and trying to force it by doing a great many things, many of which were potentially dangerous. It didn’t feel right to be upset at a pony just because they were trying to realize who they were. With a sigh, Fluttershy resumed her path towards the Everfree Forest.

Fluttershy had been inspecting the area specified for a few minutes, noticing nothing out of the ordinary save for a small clump of dirt that had roots sticking out of it, as though it were upside-down. She didn’t know what to do; was she supposed to warn everpony that something dangerous could be headed to town? Was there anything here at this area to begin with? She decided that it was probably for the best…and a lot safer, if she just went back to Ponyville and told Rarity what happened. And so she hurried back to the Carousel Boutique.

On the way back, Fluttershy noted that the stallion she saw from the forest wasn’t on the path. Perhaps he really did go hurry home, she thought, or maybe she spent too much time near Everfree. In any case, she knocked on the boutique door.

“Umm, Rarity? Come out please, that is, if you’re home.”

“Just a minute, darling!” It was definitely Rarity on the other side of the door. Maybe this meant she had already handled her spot’s disturbance? A few seconds later, Rarity opened the door. “Ah, hello Fluttershy!” Rarity seemed surprised. “I’m entertaining a guest right now, is it something important?”

“Um, well, I think so, there wasn’t anything or anypony where I was supposed to go. What do I do?”

“Oh! Well, perhaps you should have Spike send a letter. I did, after all.”

“Alright. See you…later I guess.”

“Tata!” And with that, her boutique door was closed once again.

With an audible sigh, Fluttershy walked towards the library. “I hope Spike doesn’t mind.”

“Hope I don’t mind what?” Spike’s voice came from around the bend of Rarity’s boutique.

“Oh! Spike, I need you to write a message to the princess!” Fluttershy looked up to see Spike along with Sweetie Belle.

“Hello, Sweetie Belle, have you discovered your talent yet?”

“No, and we even spent time looking in the library! We’re running out of good ideas…”

“Oh…my. I’m sorry. Well, your sister is just inside with a guest, so please be quiet when you go in, alright?”

“Will do, Fluttershy!” Sweetie Belle went inside the boutique. Unsurprisingly, what followed were a few crashes and shrieks from Rarity.

Fluttershy winced before turning her attention back to Spike, who had already pulled out a pen and parchment.

“What? Gotta be prepared to write at any time, y’know?”

Fluttershy nodded. “I need you to write down that there wasn’t anything where I went to check for Strife. I don’t think there were any monsters involved, and I only found one set of hoofprints leading away from that… one…” Fluttershy remembered how the hoofprints lead away from the site, but not towards it. It wasn’t out of the ordinary to see the hoofprints because she met the stallion on the way there, and didn’t think about how strange it was until now.

“That one what?” Spike asked, having written down everything else she said already.

“Oh, nothing, I have to go find the unicorn who I met on the way there, hold off on sending that letter, if it isn’t too much trouble.”

“You’re the boss, I guess. I’m going back to the library now; I was just walking Sweetie Belle home.” What he really wanted to do was see Rarity again, but now she had guests, and he didn’t want to be rude. “See me there if you want to finish your letter.” With that, Spike trudged back to the library.

“See you later, Spike.” Fluttershy tried to remember what the stallion looked like. He was a yellow shade with a long mane that held a single streak of brown in it. That shouldn’t be too hard to find, she hoped. Walking into town with her new task didn’t make her feel better, but it had to be done.

Richard hadn’t had a great time on his side either. Every time he tried to get a good setup and perform for some cash, he had been laughed off by the phrase “blank flank” and it had begun to actually faze him. He noticed, after a time, that all the larger horses (or ponies if the pronoun anypony was to be used as a base) had a different mark on their back legs. He was no animal specialist because the war had removed most animals from existence back home, but he was sure ponies weren’t so randomly colored or have these pictures on them naturally. It only seemed to really upset him when two small ponies had called him a blank flank. Logically, this meant it was something these things got as a child, and so he was an adult that had less than a preteen in this society.

He stopped his attempts at performing and had begun to just observe all the other ponies, attempting to blend in and see what he could learn. What he discovered was that there were an equal number of ponies with wings, with horns, and with neither; among them, most were female. Unicorns like him seemed to be able to utilize a telekinesis and do other things; he saw one light a torch with their horn. He was also able to view their mannerisms and positions: most ponies lied down or sat on their haunches, save for a single mint green pony that sat in a chair eerily similar to a human. Eye contact was used frequently during conversations, most greeted with smiles and waves before conversation. In addition, so long as he wasn’t getting anypony’s attention he wasn’t teased about his “blank flank”. At this point, he decided to just take a walk around the town and get a better feel for it, as well as looking for a possible place to sleep or eat later.

His walk led him through the entire town. There was a library, town hall, sweet shop, an orchard within view of the town, something labeled a boutique, and a couple of various stores for mundane things, each store specializing in it. No such thing as Walmart, here. The money type being exchanged was coins, of which there were three types: gold, silver and copper, called bits and cents. His best shot at discovering what all these things meant was the library, but when he reached it he found a sign that read, in English of all languages, “Closed, be back in a few minutes” and sighed quite audibly.

“Whatcha need?” a young voice behind him said.

“I just gotta check a few books out is all I need, do you know where the librarian is, or is it too late to go in?” Richard turned and found a small purple and green…dragonling? Now he was sure of it, there was probably every kind of creature in this place, no need to ever be surprised again, just expect everything to talk, he told himself.

“Oh, right. I’m Spike, the assistant to the librarian, Twilight Sparkle.” Spike proudly introduced himself. “Go on in, I’ll just unlock this…” Spike pulled a key out of who-knows-where and put it in the lock. “…door. Need help finding a book?”

“Uh, I’ll look for it myself. I’ll give you a holler if I need something, ok?”

Richard took a moment to rationalize a few things. Twilight Sparkle was a pony’s name, and Spike is a dragon’s name. He had heard similar names while in town, Heartstrings, Diamond Tiara, Snails and the like. If he wanted to avoid suspicion he would need an equally weird name. Stepping in he noticed there were many shelves, and even a ladder. It became obvious quickly that he was going to have to concede some pride first—there was no way to check every book by hand (hoof?) and no way to use the ladder. He was going to need that telekinesis, and he’d have to ask for it.

“Hey...do you have a book on magic?”

“Pshh, only like, a ton of ‘em. What do you need?” Spike replied with a roll of his eyes.

Shoot, he didn’t want to specify. Sacrifices must be made, though.

“On telekinesis.”

“Huh?” Spike looked like Richard had asked him how to breathe. “Why do you need that, aren’t unicorns naturally good at it?” Suddenly, Spike covered his mouth for a second, then said: “I’m sorry, uh, yeah I’ll go grab it.”

It was like being handicapped, Richard supposed, a unicorn without magic was probably considered as such. Oh well, he’d get over it just as soon as he tapped into that magic. He was already imagining ways to utilize it in his performances, cutting costs on things he would need for the more advanced tricks. Now he was excited and eager. Spike had retrieved the book from the top shelf (good thing Richard asked, he’d never have found it) and placed it on a nearby table.

“Good luck… what was your name again?”

Oh come on, Richard was definitely unprepared for this; he needed more time to research names first. Pull it together, man…think…think…a nickname he had once maybe? It’d have to do.

“Flashcard.” Well, now he had committed himself to it. Better memorize this point too, he thought dryly.

“Alright. Good luck, Flashcard”

An hour had passed, and Fluttershy still hadn’t found that strange unicorn. Well, she didn’t want Spike to wait all night, so she went directly to the library. To her surprise, upon opening the door she found the pony she had been looking for deeply engrossed in a book. He didn’t look up, but Spike did.

“Hey Fluttershy, didja find that unicorn?”

“Um…well, yes?” Fluttershy pointed to Richard. “That’s him.”

“Whoa, neat coincidence. That’s Flashcard.”

At this point, Richard realized he was being pointed at by the same yellow pegasus as earlier. Well, this was a surprise. And now they knew each other’s names. He hoped that she wasn’t going to talk to him yet, he wasn’t done assimilating pony mannerisms. Heck, he wasn’t even finished reading Magic for Colts and Fillies, something he assumed was the equivalent of a beginner’s book for boys and girls. He had tried to use his “innate unicorn ability” earlier to no avail, and had forced himself back to reading.

“Um, Mr. Flashcard, if you don’t mind, I found something that was weird and I wanted to know if, maybe, you knew something about it?”

“What is it?” He hoped he had enough patience to sit through all of her ums and maybes.

“Well, it’s just that your tracks lead to a place that something big happened in, but there’s no evidence that you came there in the first place, and I was wondering if maybe you fell there, or teleported, or maybe…” she trailed off, and Richard couldn’t hear her. “…so, um, yes.”

“I didn’t catch that last thing.”

“If maybe you came out from Everfree Forest.”

Wuh-oh. “Of course not.” Think quickly: backstory is about to be needed, here.

“Well, if you aren’t from the forest, did you see anything out of the ordinary? Monsters?”

“Nothing, it was a relatively uneventful walk. You were the only pony I saw, no monsters, I swear.”

“Oh…alright.” Fluttershy ended the situation right there. Not that Richard was complaining.

This girl seemed pretty shy; he didn’t have to worry about her prying into his history. Speaking of, this girl’s mark was 3 butterflies, and her personality was shy. Flutter + shy; her name had her mark and personality. Well shoot, his name would fit right in, he supposed. Richard was a little flashy, and primarily used card tricks to start off his wealth back home. He hoped this revelation wouldn’t affect him any, and checked his flank to be sure. Phew—still blank. It would’ve been awkward to have a card on him, literally, at all times. These names were a correlation to the pictures, but not what caused them. Maybe he’d study them next now that he didn’t need to bother looking at names.

“Good luck discovering your cutie mark, Mr. Flashcard.” Fluttershy began to leave, having finished her business with Spike while he was lost in thought.

“My…cutie mark.” He managed not to be too loud or sound like he was asking a question. At least he had a lead to what those marks were really called. “Hey Spike, can I get a book on that as well?”

After breathing green fire on a scroll, which disappeared in a green mist out the window, Spike turned his attention back to Flashcard.

“Yeah, just one second!”

“Thank you.” Maybe tomorrow would be more promising, Richard hoped. Attempting to use his telekinetic power again, he managed to get the page to turn. Instead of awe or surprise, he chuckled. Then again, maybe tonight held all the promise he needed.

Rainbow Dash was speeding along to her destination, careful not to unleash a Sonic Rainboom, because that might scare off whatever she was going to fight. Well, fight wasn’t usually in the to-do list, but it happened often enough that Rainbow decided it’s probably be better to be prepared for a fight. It wasn’t a fight OR flight instinct, she had a fight AND flight instinct! Talking wasn’t her strong point anyway. Strife was in for a world of hurt when she got there, she told herself.

Nearing the approximate area (like she was going to bother memorizing where she had to go) R.Dash managed to spot another pegasus standing on a cloud, looking directly at her. As she got closer, she noticed that this off-brown colored pegasus with a grey mane had donned a white cap and held a shiny stick in one of his hooves; it began to swing the stick around, sending reflections of the sunlight right into RD’s eyes.

“Ugg! I hope you’re ready for a fight, because you sure are starting one!” Not that the pegasus could hear her from so far away.

The pegasus appeared to put the stick in a scroll-case of some kind and then looked back at her, unmoving.

“Aha, you got the idea already, huh? Nopony messes with me, Rainbow Dash, the strongest and fastest flier in all of Equestria.” Again, it couldn’t hear her…no, wait: he. At this distance it looked like a stallion more than a mare. Once Rainbow Dash was within yelling distance she shouted: “Hey you! Don’t go anywhere!”

He apparently obliged, and took a sitting position. Great, maybe this would be over on her end faster and she could go back to her friends much quicker!

“Alright, let’s start with who you are and why you’re out here.” Rainbow decided to be on the offensive for this conversation.

“I believe one must give their own name first.”

“You mean you don’t know who I am? I’m Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier in all of Equestria!” She was a little huffy he didn’t know her.

“I am called Captain Barracuda… Mrs. Dash.” Rainbow Dash, what kind of whacked-out name was that? Made sense though, what with her rainbow colored hair and being ‘the fastest flier’ etc. Barracuda knew how to talk, and even sound respectful to those who he believed weren’t deserving of any patience or respect. Some brash native girl wasn’t going to get the upper hand.

“And why are you here?” RD demanded.

“I have my own reasons.” He flashed a grin.

“Why…you! Alright! That’s IT!” Rainbow got right in front of Barracuda’s face before he even noticed she moved. “What in the HAY are you doing out in the middle of nowhere? Are you a SPY? Is it a fight you want, huh? Bring it!” She jumped back and made a pose like a boxer, punching (if you could call it that) a few times.

In reaction, Barracuda leapt back and drew his sword, pointing it directly at RD.

“I advise you not to take that tone with your elder, foal.” More word filtering, huzzah. Swears and insults alike, it seemed, were under scrutiny. “I am a soldier, if that wasn’t clear when I announced my rank as Captain. Listen up, and listen good; your actions have consequences, no matter what. It would behoove you think a little before running your mouth with accusations.” That should take care of that. “I am out here, for your information, because I got the idea that something was happening that I should want to stop. It appears there is nothing here or upon the water’s surface, so I would take my leave now, were I you.”

“Well…then…what were you waiting on me for!?” It seemed the bluff was successful, so Barracuda sheathed his weapon again.

“I was unaware if YOU were the occurrence, and so I waited to confirm it with my own eyes.”

“FINE. Then, one more question, what’s that thing you’ve got?” RD pointed to his cutlass.

“This is a sword, of course. What are they teaching you in basic training these days, I wonder?” Throw a little truth, a little insult…this girl should get the idea.

“You!” her face twisted in rage for a few seconds. “Don’t think this is over!” And with that, she sped away, back the way she came.

As Barracuda looked around, he found that in the opposite direction of her flight was naught but clouds and ocean. If he wanted to find civilization, his best bet was to follow the prismatic hot-head, or at least go in her general direction. At least her rainbow contrail proved useful as a beacon, all he had to do now was keep up.

One hour later Bartholomew S Barracuda learned an important lesson: if they say that they are the fastest, they probably mean it. He had lost sight of the blue blur and her rainbow trail, and was struggling to stay in the air. He knew he could rest on a cloud, but there were no clouds in sight either. Normally, Barracuda would never think of landing in what he considered enemy territory, but he had no choice; he couldn’t chance pushing his newfound wings past their limit.

Gliding down took forever, but he wasn’t sure where to land anyway when his mind took a bad turn: he realized that his only landings had involved clouds. God have mercy. Flapping furiously to slow his descent, his glide had got him more inertia than he wished for. His struggles ceased abruptly, when he got to know a tree a little more intimately than one should. Surprisingly, he was fine, though he felt…flattened.

“Urg…” was all the speech Captain B. could manage.

Peeling himself off of the tree, he shook his head and took another look around. He was now at the border of a large valley. Well, wasn’t this a pleasant sight: a section of land untouched by civilization, untainted by human influence. Taking over this world would definitely be profitable, and the only inhabitant he had met didn’t know what a sword was, so it was going to be easy as well. But for now, he had to hurry and find somewhere to rest that was easily defendable while his wings rested from their strenuous use.

From behind the tree, a voice spoke.

“I trust you find your current state pleasing, Barracuda.” It was Strife… or more correctly, an image of Strife. “I know how eager you were to fly again, and now you can fly all the time.”

“Strife, what is it you’re after anyway?”

“I’m after something simple, Sam. I’m after my own namesake. I thought I told you that before. Oh well, no need to work semantics. I just stopped by to congratulate you on escalating this euphoric conflict; you know, only you and Stillwater have accomplished anything worthwhile in these last 30 minutes.” The image stayed still, occasionally flickering like an 80’s movie hologram.

“I don’t care. What I want to know is how I’m supposed to have a war without materials, intel or backup.” Barracuda glared up at Strife, expecting an answer. He was promised a war, after all.

“I think you know the answer to that, Captain. You do it YOURSELF. Though, did you really want that intel?”

“The less I know, the worse off I am. Spill it.”

“Well then, your opponent is a goddess of the sun accompanied by one goddess of the moon, leading an army of 350 soldiers wielding magic.”

“I’m facing WHAT?” Shock placed the captain right onto his flank. Magic, Goddesses; what in the ever-loving hay was Strife going on about?

“So long captain, and good luck.” The image faded.

Time passed as Barracuda tried to wrap his brain around what Strife said. Was it even true? Magic existing? Strife called himself god once; perhaps he meant two others at his level of influence? And he sat there, frowning harder and harder.

“Then what the hay am I fighting THEM for!?”

Rainbow Dash was almost back to Canterlot now. Soon, she thought to herself, she’d show that jerk captain a thing or two. She just had to complete her duty first, and relay what she saw to the princess. Easy as pie.

Applejack, having traveled twice to reach her destination found the designated area predictably empty. Letting loose a long sigh, she continued and went all the way to Appleoosa, just to make sure nothing had happened there earlier. For all her effort her reward was nothing but a wild goose chase. The stallion from the desert still hadn’t woken up yet, so she decided to ask the most social of Appleooseans: her cousin, a yellow earth pony, Braeburn.

“Nope, sorry cousin AJ. I haven’t heard about anything unusual lately, besides your surprise visit, and I didn’t hear about that at all! So is this ‘big emergency’ what you’re visiting for?”

“Well, it sorta is, Braeburn. But if nothing’s goin’ down, then that’s all there is to it. Otherwise I’d have to ask about seein’ anypony new, or strange creatures running about.” Applejack chuckled for a few seconds before remembering that she DID have something else to ask about. “Oh yeah, I found a green feller, an earth pony, between here an’ Canterlot. His head’s wrapped up, and he was wearing a large cloak. He seemed lost; did anypony fittin’ that description come from out here?”

“Hmmm…” Raising a hoof to his chin, he looked like he was in deep thought. Seconds later, he spoke again. “…can’t say that he sounds familiar. Which way was he headed?”

“He just kind of stumbled around, walking in a circle. He said he was lookin’ for plants before he right fainted on me.”

“Well, I’ll put the word out, but I really don’t remember anypony like that being from here. Maybe he’s from Canterlot?”

Suddenly, Applejack remembered that everypony had agreed to meet up back at the castle. She had already taken a few hours to travel, with and without the train’s help.

“Well, I’m gonna find out soon enough. I gotta head back to Canterlot, an’ fast. Ah’ll take him there myself, and if he wants to come back here, I’ll take care of the bits.”

The train conductor looked at Applejack funny when she hoofed him the bits, but still allowed her to carry onboard the unconscious pony. After all, she was an Element of Harmony, the element of Honesty to be precise. There was nothing untoward going on, se she was let on without hassle. Hours had passed, and the green stallion still hadn’t stirred. He had been taken care of well enough by the physicians at Appleoosa, and he was force-fed enough water to keep from dehydrating while he rested from his heatstroke. All that remained now was the wait for him to regain consciousness.

“Jus’ who are you?” Applejack wondered aloud.

The trip to Canterlot ended without incident, and Applejack opted to take her unconscious friend to the castle. It wasn’t like she knew where the hospital was anyway; she never much cared for the big cities.

Twilight Sparkle and Blake Stillwater appeared in Celestia’s audience chamber. X was taken off guard by the teleportation and started to feel sick, taking to one knee and holding his mouth just in case. After recovering, he stood back up and noticed Twilight, who had begun a kind of bow and looked at him with an expectant expression. She bobbed her head one way and raised her eyebrows. He followed her direction and noticed where he was: a throne room with someone in the chair. It was a large white horse with wings and a unicorn horn. Its mane was flowing without aid of wind, and resembled the colors of dawn. Its hooves were adorned with gold, and it had a golden necklace with a single purple jewel inside it, identical to a tiara on its head. After a few seconds, he got the idea that he was most likely in the presence of royalty.

“Oh!” He got back down on one knee towards the white horse; a little ashamed he hadn’t gotten the hint as quick as he thought he should have. He looked to the purple unicorn to see if she was going to say anything. As luck would have it, she began to speak.

“Princess Celestia,”

Aha, it was a girl, and her title was princess. Good to know, Blake thought.

“I have returned to inform you that at the specified site at the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters I found this…male…something.” She looked over at the bizarre biped again before returning her gaze to Celestia. “I believe that Strife sent one of these to every location, and Strife himself might be at one of the others, I want to check up on each of my friends, and leave this being here while I do so.”

“Rise, my most faithful student.” Celestia bade her student up with a motion of one of her hooves.

This purple one is under direct tutelage of a princess? Yeesh, what kind of people were these ponies? Blake’s eyes widened, but he said nothing.

“I already know that Strife is not at any of these disturbances. Your friends are already meeting with the others that he has sent.”

“What should I do, then?” Twilight inquired.

“You should probably learn some more about your friend here, as well as teach him a few things, he seems confused.” Celestia chuckled to herself. “Go on and wait in the hallway for your friends, I am sure that the couches and chairs will be a more comfortable wait than the floor in this antechamber.”

Walking out to the hall, Twilight realized that they still hadn’t introduced themselves. Once they sat down, the human in a chair and Twilight lying on a couch, she cleared her throat.

“A-hem. Well, I’m sorry I didn’t say this earlier. I’m Twilight Sparkle, the protégé of Princess Celestia. And you are?”

“I’m…” Blake wondered for a second if he should give her his usual spiel or a standard introduction before deciding on his first option. “…Blake ‘X’ Stillwater, the strongest one-man army in the Americas and Defender of the… the…” He lost the word. He practiced this speech every day, and now that he was saying it, he forgot the last word! “…Innocent!” Aw, come on! Now it sounded like a lie because he took so long. Better to just tell her the normal description. ”I fight for those who can’t defend their colonies, fighting off bandits and the like. It pays pretty well in food and stuff because we don’t have a currency after the war. Oh, and you didn’t seem to know what I was. I’m a human.”

Twilight looked at him incredulously for a second, and then went back to talking.

“Well, nopony has ever seen anything like you before, so where are you from? We’re in Canterlot Castle in Equestria.”

“Canterlot sounds like Camelot. Huh. Oh—it’s a horse pun! I get it. I’m from the United States of America. You know, I never heard of anywhere called Equestria on Earth, so what planet is this?”

“Earth.” Twilight looked at him with one eyebrow raised. “And I’ve never heard of an A-Mare-Ica.”

“Haha, man, these puns slay me! Mare, America, anypony, anybody. Well, no joke though, this is Earth? You got the same constellations like Big and Little Dipper, Orion’s Belt, Cancer, Taurus, Gemini and stuff?”

“Yes, we do, in fact. So what are those things you’re carrying anyway?”

“This is my gear; I never leave home without it.” He pulled each item out as he described it. “This is my shieldblade. It’s a sword big enough to be a shield, and its thick enough to stand up to bullets. This is my shotgun. I only use it when--”

Stillwater was immediately cut off from Twilight’s shrieking.

“Hey, I’m not gonna shoot you with it.”

“Those are weapons!”

“Yeah, I said I fought bandits, words aren’t half as effective as bullets! What did you think I meant?”

“Those things KILL, Blake! Putitawayputitawayohhhhh sweet Celestiaaaa!”

After putting the weapon away, Blake sighed and slapped his forehead with his hand. Of course, the thing that you need fingers to use is the thing that freaks out the person (pony?) without fingers. How did they even know what those things were? After a few more moments of awkward silence, Twilight began to speak again.

“You haven’t… killed anypony before, have you?”

“Pshh, no. I can safely say I haven’t fired at any ponies. I only shoot monsters.”

“Like manticores or basilisks?”

“Actually, that’s what I came here to do: fight monsters. But no, I haven’t shot a literal monster; just those who were inhuman. I don’t know what ‘bandits’ pass for here, but where I’m from, they kill anyone and anything that gets in their way. They slaughter men and women alike, steal their food and belongings, torture children, kidnap young girls… definitely not the acts of a human.” Blake’s hands were cleched so tightly they were shaking. Bandits were what made him so great back home, but they were everything that was wrong with home too.

“That’s horrible!”

“That the bandits do that, or that I’ve killed a bunch of them?”

“BOTH!”

Twilight had become suddenly afraid of Blake, as murders were not only the worst thing a being could do to another, but that murder is practically unheard of in Equestria. If she had any doubt that Blake was telling the truth before, this threw all that doubt out the window. Nopony or any being has been murdered in thousands of years. Even Discord was imprisoned in stone twice instead of being put to death, regardless of the threat he posed to Equestria. The concept that anypony, or human for that matter, would ever kill another made her sick to her stomach. Silence resumed, and they just sat there, waiting.

(Chin Up is from the cartoon of Charlotte’s Web)