A Whole New World

Sorry guys. This chapter took longer to write than I wanted it to. It's easy to lose track of time when you're reading 'Background Pony'.
Damn good fic.

29th Summer's End, 2012

My peaceful sleeping was interrupted as a sharp beam of sunlight cut through the window. Grumbling, I straightened my back and remembered the events of last night, looking over to see Lyra still resting her head on my shoulder. Her mouth hung open, and a small patch of drool was starting to form on my jacket. Smiling, I slowly lifted her head and set it down on the bed, hearing a mumble escape her lips as I left the room.

As I descended the stairs, I got back to thinking about last night at the club. Lyra was going to have the mother of all hangovers when she woke up. I thought about making her a cooked English breakfast, but there was the problem of meat.

Doesn't matter, there's still other stuff I can use, I thought to myself as I searched the cupboards for food. I quickly found the bread and eggs and began cooking what I could of the dish. I even managed to find a tin of beans and some mushrooms, as well as a few tomatoes.

While everything cooked, I wandered around the kitchen. A frame on the wall immediately caught my attention, and I discovered it to be a certificate with golden writing, which had been very well written.

This certificate has been awarded to the unicorn:
Lyra Heartstrings
as recognition of her graduation of Fillydelphia Music Academy

I smiled, and looked up the stairs towards Lyra's bedroom. My thoughts returned to the strange pony I had talked to the night before. If this 'Valiant' was someone I could trust like he said I could, I figured the only way I could find out was by going to the library like he said. Twilight would be there, so maybe we could get some answers together.

I was close to finishing the breakfast when I heard horseshoes entering the room, and I turned to see Lyra standing in the doorway, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Morning sleepyhead," I said, and she immediately winced.

"Agh, not so loud please Dutch. I feel somepony bucked my brain in," she rubbed her temple.

"Sorry," I whispered, "I made breakfast. It's an old human recipe that's supposed to help with hangovers, though there are a few things missing," I poured a glass of water and carried it over to Lyra. She took it with her magic, and I returned to the food, placing it on a plate.

"Thanks," she mumbled as I put the plate in front of her, before rubbing her forehead again, "I hope you had a good birthday. Ugh, how much did I drink last night?"

"Let's just say you entered a drinking contest and lost," I said. A thought occured to me, "Do you actually remember anything from last night?"

Lyra narrowed her eyes in thought, "I remember the dancing, and being carried, but not much else."

"Yeah, that last part was me taking you home. I took you to bed, but you didn't want me to leave, so I slept here." Does that mean she doesn't remember kissing me?

"Oh, thanks." Lyra said, and I swore I could detect... something in her voice.

"Don't mention it," I looked at my watch, it was approaching eight o'clock, "Well, I'm famished. I'm going to get back to my apartment and check on Scootaloo. I'll try and see you again before I leave for Canterlot tomorrow." I stood up, and Lyra waved to me as I opened the front door and left the house.

Lyra watched Dutch leave, and let out a long sigh as her ears folded against her head. There's that familiar feeling again, she though to herself. That same wave of disorientation and sadness she had felt the last time the human had left her. She couldn't understand it, she had lived in this house, on her own, for several years now, since she had first moved to Ponyville from Fillydelphia. Before she had met Dutch, she had only had one friend: Bon-Bon. She should be used to this.

So why, whenever Dutch wasn't around, did she feel so... alone?

Could it be that... No, she pushed that thought aside, How in Equestria would it even work? Not only is he a different species, he's from another world. Sure, Dutch was a good friend; he was considerate, kind, and had introduced her to six other ponies, each of whom was now a friend to her too. But these feelings... they couldn't mean that she liked him more than that...

...could they?

Lyra finished her breakfast and headed towards the door, grabbing her lyre as she went. She needed some time to think about this. Maybe a bit of practicing in the park would help clear her head, or at least get rid of the hangover.

I opened the door to my apartment, and made my way to Scootaloo's room. Sure enough, she was still asleep, so I set to work preparing another pony's breakfast, as well as my own.

After the breakfast was done, I woke up Scootaloo and we both sat down to eat.

"So we're going to spend some time together today right?" Scootaloo asked eagerly.

"Yes, but," I saw the light in Scootaloo's eyes fade, "I need to see Twilight today about something important. Don't worry, I'll be sure to see you this afternoon. Tell you what, if you play with Applebloom and Sweetie Belle this morning, we can meet back here at say... noon, then we can have the rest of the day. I'm not in any hurry to break a Pinkie Promise."

Scootaloo gave me an honest smile, "Ok, I'm sure you know what happens when you break a Pinkie Promise."

I shuddered as I remembered Twilight's experience a month ago. She had made a Pinkie Promise without fully understanding the gravity of what she was doing. She broke it not one hour later, and had a surprise practice session in teleportation magic as she spent the next several hours being chased around town with an angry Pinkie in pursuit. It took me, Rainbow Dash and Applejack to restrain her while Twilight apologised.

"Don't remind me kid," I said, and Scootaloo giggled. The smile was gone after a short while when another thought entered her mind.

"You're leaving tomorrow, aren't you?"

I nodded, "I'm afraid so Scoots, but I think Rainbow Dash would be more than happy to look after you while I'm gone. I'll talk to her about it before I meet up with you."

A small smile returned, "Ok,"

We both finished breakfast, leaving the apartment and headin downstairs. As Scootaloo walked out the door, I stopped to speak to Full Pint.

"Hey Pint, I'm heading to Canterlot tomorrow, and I'm going to be gone for a few weeks. Do I still have to pay the rent for those days?"

Full Pint thought for a moment, "Is the kid going to be staying here?"

"Probably not."

"Then that's fine. You can start paying the rent again when you get back."

"Thanks Pint."

I headed outside to see that Scootaloo had already disappeared to find her friends. I made my way towards the library, my thoughts returning to the mystery pegasus. I guess now was the moment of truth, unless this guy was lying and I'd never hear from him again. But the majority of me said that probably wasn't going to happen.

I approached the library and knocked on the door, watching it open almost immediately to reveal Spike standing in the doorway.

"Morning Spike, is Twilight around?"

"Yeah, she's in the other room, come on." I followed him through the library, where I saw Twilight sat down by a table reading several books at the same time. Our footsteps didn't seem to attract her attention however, so Spike cleared his throat.

"Twilight, Dutch is here," his announcement snapped the purple pony out of her trance as she looked over to us.

"Oh, good morning Dutch. I'm glad you're here, you're just the guy I needed to see."

"What happened to your hangover?" I asked, puzzled at Twilight's lack of wincing or head-rubbing.

"I used a simple spell on myself that dulls the pain, if not completely removing it," she replied with a smile.

"That is so cheating," I said, "If you're going to do that, you might as well teach Lyra the spell. I had to whisper so I wouldn't rattle her brain."

"I'll keep that in mind," Twilight said with a giggle.

"So anyway, what's up?" I asked. Twilight's horn glowed, and a book floated off the shelf towards me. I plucked it out of the air and saw the title read Applied Magic: Magic's Effects on the World Around Us. I saw there was a bookmark about three quarters into the book and opened it to that page. The chapter was 'How Magic Affects the Creatures of Equestria'.

"I found something in there you may want to read," Twilight said, returning to her studies.

With my interest piqued, I began to read through the chapter. It described how every species was affected by magic differently, whether it was the natural magic that existed throughout the land, or through direct exposure from a caster. It mentioned the three types of ponies; unicorns having the ability to control magic directly, pegasi being able to control the weather and walk on clouds, while earth ponies were given natural skills with plants and animals, as well as extra strength or endurance, depending on their role.

"This is all very good, but is there something I'm supposed to be looking for?" I asked.

I saw Twilight roll her eyes, "You obviously haven't found the right section yet."

My eyes returned to the book, and I kept reading until one particular section caught my attention. The title was Magic's Effects on Non-Magical Beings, and I began to read out loud, my interest too high for me to keep quiet.

"'If a non-magical creature gets exposed to ambient magic, they can occasionally take on abilities similar to those they encounter. There have been several instances in history where a being who has not encountered magic before (usually somepony from a distant land, the most recent being a zebra) has gained unique magical abilities based on ponies they met.'"

I paused, and Twilight saw this as an indication to add her input, "When you first arrived in Equestria, who were the first ponies you came across?"

"The Apple family," the pieces started falling together, "So when I met them, I took on some of their abilities?" I looked at Twilight, who nodded, "Well, that explains why I can run a mile flat-out without breaking a sweat."

"But there's more," Twilight said mysteriously, and I returned to the book.

"'Direct exposure to magic can also have an effect on non-magical beings, especially if said magic affects or alters the being's physical form. However, both of the above cases are extremely rare, as there are very few creatures who do not become infused with natural magic at birth.'"

My eyes widened, and I saw Twilight had stopped studying and had now turned to face me, "Is this implying that when you gave me wings in the dream, my lack of exposure to magic made it a permanent effect?"

"In laypony's terms, yes,"

I smiled, "Well, I guess I owe you one."

She smiled back, and was about to return to her books, when she suddenly drew a distant gaze, as if remembering something. Her tone became serious, "Dutch, there's something we need to discuss," she turned to Spike, who was busy dusting the shelves, "Spike, can you leave the library for a minute? Dutch and I have a private matter we need to talk about."

"Alright then," Spike said, but his young, curious mind got the better of him, "What kind of private matter?"

"Spike, stop being awkward!" Twilight snapped, getting irritated, "Just... go out and buy an ice cream or something."

Spike laughed, "Now that, I can do." He quickly left the library, the pattering of his scaled feet slowly becoming quieter.

I turned to Twilight, "What is it Twi?"

"Last night, after the club, did anything... unusual happen?"

"Well, Lyra was drunk enough to kiss me as I carried her home. Luckily, she doesn't remember that, but-"

"No!" Twilight said, blushing, "Not like that. I mean did you see any strange ponies?"

"Oh." I had an idea of what she was referring to, "Yeah, there was this pegasus that appeared out of nowhere and told me to meet him here, then disappeared like he was never there. He said his name was Valiant."

Twilight rubbed her chin, "Interesting. Eclipse mentioned that one of them was called 'Valiant'. I guess that was who you met."

"Wait, wait. Who's Eclipse?"

"I am," said a female voice behind me. I turned round to look at the source, and my jaw hit the floor.

Standing before me... was a human. She was young, with purple hair and pink highlights. She looked identical to the human version of Twilight when she visited my world. The pegasus from the night before was standing next to her.

"Wha...?" Was all I could say as I focused on maintaining my balance.

"As Twilight explained, my name is Eclipse," the human explained, "Twilight Sparkle is my host, just as you are Valiant's. The other five should be here shortly, as we have arranged each of our hosts to meet here at this time."

Wait. Eclipse, plus Valiant and five others meant seven. That number held significance.

I finally found my voice, "So there's seven of you? Does that mean that...?"

"Yes," said Valiant, "We are the Elements of Harmony."

My mind was on the verge of melting, and I turned to Twilight to see a distinct lack of surprise on her face, "How long have you known about this?"

"Eclipse explained everything to me last night after I had calmed down from the alcohol a bit. Why? Didn't Valiant do the same?"

We all looked at the dark green pegasus, who raised a hoof, "In my defence, you and Lyra looked cute together, and I didn't want to bother you."

Eclipse sighed, "Please excuse him. Valiant was always a bit like that."

At this point, we heard the door open, and several sets of hooves enter the library. We entered the main room to see the other Bearers of the Elements standing in front of us, accompanied by five other humans - two men and three women, all in their late teens or early twenties - each of whom held some similarity in appearance to one of the ponies.

"Twilight!" Pinkie said, bouncing up to us, "This totally amazing thing happened last night! I had just taken you home, 'cos you were sooo drunk, and when I got back to Sugarcube Corner, there was this wierd thing in my room. It kinda looked like Dutch, 'cos it was tall and wore clothes, but I knew it wasn't Dutch 'cos it had really big pink hair, kinda like mine, and it said it was a 'she' and then she said I had to go to the library, and then she disappeared and I was really--"

Pinkie was immediately silenced as a pink-haired girl wearing a pink t-shirt and matching skirt placed a hand over her mouth, "I think that's enough Pinkie," she turned to us, "It is good to meet you. I am Morale, the Spirit of Laughter."

The other two women in front of us introduced themselves. One had curly purple hair and wore a white evening dress, calling herself Charity, the Spirit of Generosity. The other had long, pink hair, a yellow turtleneck sweatshirt and a long brown skirt that reached her ankles. Her name was Angel, the Spirit of Kindness.

Finally, the two male Spirits stepped forward. The first had short, rainbow hair, a bright blue hoodie and jeans. His name was Guardian, the Spirit of Loyalty. The seventh Element had blonde hair in a short ponytail, an orange shirt with a collar and also wore jeans. He introduced himself as Oath, the Spirit of Honesty.

Once the introductions were out the way, Charity cleared her throat and said, "I understand that you will inevitably have questions for us, but I think it is best if you all ask your seperate Elements if you have any queries."

"She's right," said Guardian, gesturing for Rainbow Dash to follow him, and each of the ponies went to a corner of the library with their Elements. It seemed Eclipse had already answered Twilight's questions, as they simply started a conversation about each other. I sat down with Valiant, and in the light of the day, I saw his cutie mark. It was a white shield, identical to the symbol that had been on the necklace during the Summer Sun Celebration.

"So," Valiant started, "What do you want to ask?"

I had already had my first question lined up since I first saw Eclipse, "Why are you a pony, while the others are humans?"

"Simple enough," he replied, "When an Element chooses a host, it cannot take the form of said host. Instead, it must take the form of whatever else it can find. We got unlucky when Princess Celestia was our host; we had to take the form of various insects that happened to be in the room at the same time. I pulled the short straw and became a snail. Can you believe it? Me, Valiant, the Spirit of Bravery, a damn snail!"

His voice had raised, and Oath called across the room, "Calm down Valiant. At least you don't have to worry about it now."

"Damn right!" Valiant shouted back, flexing his wings, "Oh man, that feels good. Anyway, finding a form for me was easy enough, as you aren't a pony in any way. But the others had to find something else, so they latched onto the first living thing they found."

"I assume that was me." I said.

"Exactly."

"So if you're spirits, who can actually see you apart from us?"

"No one," Valiant said, "Only the hosts can see the Spirits, and only if that particular host is present. For example, if your friend Fluttershy wasn't here, you wouldn't be able to see Angel. Celestia used to be able to see all of us, but now that you are our new hosts, she can't."

"Sounds harsh,"

"Not really, she's just passing on the flame. She'll still remember us, so you can send her our regards the next time you see her."

"So are you guys as old as Celestia?"

"Nope, older," Valiant said, almost boastfully, "I assume you've been told about the story of the three pony tribes that discovered Equestria," I nodded. Twilight had told me almost everything about Equestrian history, "We were born from the fires of friendship, when those three ponies discovered how important harmony is. Back then, we were simply part of the land, maintaining that harmony wherever we could. As a result, we were weak when Discord came to power.

"That's where the alicorns come into play. Celestia and Luna found us, and focused our power into physical objects, which became the Elements of Harmony which you found in the forest. We became stronger, and the sisters used that newly found strength to defeat Discord," he suddenly sighed, "I'll never forget the day we had to do the same thing to Luna, but at least she's back to normal now."

I noticed his expression, and tried to divert the subject quickly, "It's wierd. If you're thousands of years old, I would've expected you to speak more cryptic or old-fashioned."

He cocked his head, "What's wrong with getting with the times?"

I smiled, and another question entered my head as I noticed something, "Valiant, why have you got a chunk of your left ear missing?"

"Because you're missing that," he answered, pointing at my left ring finger, "Obviously, ponies don't have fingers, so I had to find something else to lose when I took a physical form. A piece of an ear seemed less important than, say, an eye or a wing."

We continued to talk for some time, but I realised I had to stop when I looked at my watch, seeing the hands approach twelve o'clock. I stood up and said, "Sorry guys, but I've got to go. I promised Scootaloo I'd spend some time with her today."

Everyone nodded in understanding, and I walked over to where Rainbow Dash and Guardian were sitting.

"Hey Dash, can you do me a favour?"

"Sure, what do you need?" She asked.

"Since I'm leaving tomorrow, could you look after Scootaloo while I'm gone? She sees you as a role model, so I figured you'd be my best bet."

"Hey, no problem," she said with a smile, "I'll take care of her. You only need to look at the guy next to me to know that."

I smiled, giving a grateful nod to both of them, and left the library. As I walked away, I looked over my shoulder, but Valiant was nowhere to be seen.

I only had to wait a few minutes at the Bannered Mare before three fillies appeared around the corner. They were talking and laughing amongst themselves as I made my way over to them.

Applebloom was the first to notice me, "Howdy Dutch,"

"Afternoon girls,"

"So now can we do stuff?" Scootaloo asked.

"Of course," I said jokingly, turning to Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, "Do you two want to come along too?"

"Actually, we were looking for our sisters," Sweetie replied, "Do you know where they could be?"

"Yeah, they're both in the library," I watched the two fillies disappear down the street, before turning to Scootaloo, "So, what do you want to do?"

"There was a shop in the town centre that I wanted to get something from," she said, "Can you come and help me buy it?"

"That depends on how much it costs, but yes, I can. Let me just go and grab some bits."

After grabbing enough bits to buy anything that was reasonably priced, Scootaloo and I had made our way to the town contre, where she immediately headed for a shop called, 'Acceler8 - Free Wheel's shop for any mode of transport'.

We headed inside, whereupon we were greeted by a blue earth pony with a tire for a cutie mark, "Hi Mr Wheel," said Scootaloo as she entered.

"Afternoon Scoots. You must be here for that scooter you've had you're eye on," she nodded, and Free Wheel turned to me, "And I suppose you're that Dutch fellow that she always talks about."

"I am indeed," I looked over at Scootaloo, "A scooter?"

"Yeah! Come and check it out."

She dragged me over to a corner of the shop, where a blue scooter sat. It was much simpler than a human scooter; it was essentially a plank of wood with four wheels and handlebars, but Scootaloo was practically drooling over it.

"Can we get it? Please please please?"

I rolled my eyes and looked at the price tag, Well within my budget, "Yes Scoots, we can get it."

Scootaloo was hugging my leg as I carried the scooter over to the counter and handed across the bits Free Wheel was asking for. As he gave me a receipt, Scootaloo snatched the scooter off the counter and ran outside, giggling uncontrollably.

"Kids eh?" Free Wheel said, giving me a wink and a laugh.

"Tell me about it."

I bid farewell and walked outside, but Scootaloo was nowhere to be found. I sighed to myself, and was just about to start searching for her, when I heard some commotion and a strange buzzing noise coming down the street. As I turned around, an orange and purple blur shot towards me and skidded to a halt at my feet. Scootaloo gave me the biggest grin as she leant on the handlebars.

"Have you been practicing?" I said with a sly grin.

"Nope. I guess I'm just good with speed," she took off back down the street, driving off a sloped plank of wood and doing a flip in the air, And acrobatics it seems. She's like a miniature Rainbow Dash.

I leant against the wall as I watched Scootaloo ride back and forth, laughing her head off with glee as other ponies leapt out of the way. One pony with a pink coat and yellow mane simply fainted in the middle of the street as she passed by, but I couldn't help but laugh. This was going to be one of the last times I would see Scootaloo for a while, I may as well enjoy it.