Zaanneby ZaannesonChaptersZaanne and Gabriel's prologue(S) Sticky situations(Z/G) class, bronies and crappy jokes(S) schools out!(Z/G) we beat me up (and stuff goes boom)(Z/G) Morgan freeman sets me on fire(S) i talk to the rockGabe goes green(S) meeting ZaanneScootaloo burns the police(S) fire in the black room(Z/G) Code XAANNE(S) welcome to ponyville(S) Stupid dreams(Z/G) Stupid Dragons(S) preparations(G/Z) My ingeniously stupid plan(S) Scooter power(Zaanne) the aggressive/passive fight(S) Amputee Twister(G/Z) A cliche OC weapon tries to kill me(S) The Map(G/Z) Human to pony, pony to human(S) The future is good and bad(G/Z) fluttershy's shed(S) cliche like-like story(Z/G) No heart does not mean no lovescootaloo prologue(S) breaking waves and reality.(G/Z) I learn how to crashZaanne and Gabriel's prologue"Come out and fight me like a man!" My dad yelled, a sad light in his eyes as he barked complaints from the sidewalk. "You need to leave now!" My stepdad, Sleepy, responded in his regular deep and scary voice."You can't have him!" "He's my son, not yours!" We're American, if you didn't figure that out. "Please stop?" I whimpered, but i was too silent for them to notice. The fact they were yelling so much just because my dad wanted me to stay at his house for the weekend drove me crazy. I was too little to make a difference in their quarrel though, so they continued arguing. The worse the insult, the worse the weather outside seemed to get. Before there wasnt a cloud in the sky. After about three or so minutes of them constantly yelling, black cumulonimbus clouds began forming. "Get out here and fight!" my mind tingled with repetitivity. "Go home, you're too drunk to watch him!" "I'm not the alcoholic, you are!" They reminded me of two six-year olds arguing about a cookie (I'm not a cookie). "I'm not the one taking his shirt off and swinging it around like a dumbass." It seemed my dad was drunk, for he was, in fact, stripping his shirt off and hopping around, taking practice punches in the air. Lightning roared from all around as the trees began to violently away around daddy, as if his rage had stirred up a storm. Sleepy held me closer to his side as the storm raged, but it wasnt making me feel any better since his voice would put a full sized biker in an intimidated state. "You may be Gabriel's birth father, but you're not being a good dad to him, acting like this!" Sleepy yelled over the storm. That seemed to hit a touchy point, for at that moment, the world hit a blinding flash of white, with a booming explosion that looked to try to fry everything. After the lightning disappeared, what was left of my father was just flaming grass and cracked cement, covered in ash and smoke. The storm didnt let up though, and lightning started to strike everywhere. I looked up to Sleepy for instruction, of which he normally gave me, but he seemed to have been struck by the light as well, leaving more ash next to my feet. "DADDY!!!! SLEEPY!!!!" I yelled at the storm, but nobody answered. All that responded was a bolt of lightning, striking me in the heart. Time slowed down as i watched myself turn to dust, bit by bit, slowly losing everything i ever was to just some stupid light, until a that was left of me was dust, just as my parents were. _____________________________________________ "BALLS!!!" I screamed, pushing myself off of my bed. A Knocking of wood came from my door as the voice of my sister, Tristen, came through "Get up, it's Monday!" "I'm up!" I yelled, my voice back from being small and squeaky to a slightly deeper and equally squeeky version. six years did next to nothing for my voccal chords. Rubbing out the drowsiness in my eyes, i got a better feel of who i was. A quick inspection told me that i was still in one piece and not in ashes on the floor.hands, check. Arms, check. Body- Who the fuck cares about the body? Zaanne complained in my head, as he usually does.We have hands and feet instead of hooves, that's bad enough already! Zaanne dislikes both humans and nice speech. If you were trying to make a joke, you didn't think well enough on it. maybe if i wasn't stuck inside such a shitty brain i could make better ones! that crappy brain made you, so i guess you're right i thought to him, smiling to myself as he took the burn. You know what? Fuck you. I laughed as my grandfather, PaPa, yelled from the kitchen "what are you laughing at?" "Waffles!" Was my response, as always. I wasn't the best at making words come out, so to answer minor questions i had always said slightly... Random words. They weren't too random, mostly associated with foods and animal noises. I looked around my room for my school shirt, hopping out of bed and grabbing my every day items. The only thing i normally had on me was basic essentials, like my wallet, iPhone and a synthetic leather wrist watch that displayed both digital and analog time. "Gabe! Get in here!" Tristen yelled from somewhere beyond my door. My sister doesn't like my sleeping habit, which was me sleeping at all. "Gimme a sec!" I yelled back, finding my shirt thumb-nailed to the roof. now how did that happen?, I thought as i pulled it down and put it on. It was a regular school shirt, a black T with the school logo sewn in gold on the chest. Comfy enough, though i still disliked the logo. My mom said i have only been going to this school for half a year, since i switched schools after i left the hospital. Apparently there was something that happened 2 years ago that left me in the hospital with some type of amnesia, leaving me completly unaware of who i was or who the people around me were. For about a week now, i have been getting dreams about scenes from my past self, though they seem to be mixed with the random fantasies that appear in my brain, like lightning whilst arguing or water when I'm in a relaxed memory. The previous dream was apparently an argument about my dad and step-dad's custody over me. So, Zaanne, what kind of dream do you think that was? A crappy one, he responded, no actual violence, no ponies, no nothin! At least everyone died in the end, that made the whole thing better! those were my dads, you shouldn't be so mean! And they aren't dead, Sleepy's back in college and daddy got his life together. and when was the last time you saw either of them? Zaanne asked. Same time i met you; Christmas. By the way, you're a crappy present, may i please refund you? sorry, no refunds to insane people!, Zaanne answered in a laugh. He's a dick. Bosh, I hear nothing but discrimination from thee, I thought in my best British accent. "you're gonna be late for school!" he and Tristen warned me in unison. "Coming!" I yelled, grabbing the rest of my socks and shoes, though it was hard to bend over since i still had thumbnails in my shirt. I exited my room to meet my sister at my door, dressed the same as me except for her pants, which where far too small for her, and the jacket she wore to try to look like she is only fat. God, that bitch is fat, Zaanne said. She's pregnant, what do you expect? She's 16 and we aren't on TV yet? Complete bullshit! Could you quit cussing so much, it hurts my brain. I complained, rubbing my head. it's Monday, so no. My sister gave me a brush and told me to fix my hair, then walked off to help my brothers, Mason and Jaden, with finding their clothes. I walked to her room, tripping on everything in the 7 foot hall i was too lazy to clean. Going to her room, brush in hand, i quickly and obediently threw the brush on her bed when she wasn't looking. Next to her door was a box that she never used, a black box with a red rose burned into it by me. Opening the box, i found nothing in except the mirror papa put in the roof of the wood. Wow, our hair's a mess! Zaanne said. Just how I like it. I thought as I observed my hair, though it was long enough for me to see the front of my hair without the mirror. Every hair was curled and wildly messed around, each strand of dark blond seemed to be trying to repel from eachother. All of the hair was pushed to the right side of my head except for the back, which i let fall an inch below my collar, though the curls didnt allow so. Zaanne grumbled, That's a big paragraph for explaining how your hair looks. what do you mean? "Load up!" Papa yelled, meaning "it's time to get in the van." I tossed the box carelessly onto her bed with the comb and sprinted to my room again to grab my school supplies, which was just a 500 pound black backpack (if you're a high schooler, you know I'm not using any hyperbole),a binder and a drawing journal. Get to the choppa!, Zaanne alluded as I stuffed my journal into the bag and flipped it over my shoulder. My backpack was fairly torn, having ropes as the strap, though one rope broke off at some point, so it was more of a fanny pack that i put over my shoulder like Chewbacca's ammo belt. My binder was the usual white binders you see in Wal-Mart, though the front and back covers had slots for me to put photos in to decorate. It currently had a picture of sonic on one side and the filly Rainbow Dash from "My Little Dashie" on the other side, both of which I drew. If you hadn't guessed, me and Zaanne are fans of My Little Pony. Lifting the binder under my arm, i proceeded to the living room, though not before grabbing a handful of sausages from the kitchen. Now fully prepared, i placed my headphones into my ears, started up a random song on my phone, and bolted to the car. (S) Sticky situationsThe sound of my wings and the wind in my face helped me stop thinking for a while as i continued accelerating down the road, doing occasional ollies and grinds along rooftops and benches to avoid the ponies, fruit stands and, well, anything getting in my way. I once overheared Rainbow dash saying that when she flies fast enough, it helps her forget of the problems around her, so i figured it isn't too different from going really fast on my scooter. Faster and faster i figuratively flew as i weaved my scooter through the morning rush of all the ponies trying to get here and there, saying "hello!" Or "good morning". Though, since it was Monday, the only ones actually having a chirpy attitude in their voice was that grey mailmare that i never learned the name of (RD calles her Derpy, but i doubt that's her real name) and Pinkie pie, who i could see running around town singing good morning to everypony and what seemed to be teleporting from building to box to my wagon. "HI SCOOTALOO!!!" She yelled over my wings' noise. "You going over to sugarcube corner to get Applebloom and Sweetiebelle, right?" "Yeah, we were gonna grab some muffins for the day before we go to school," i said, as if teleporting ponies were a natural thing in ponyville, which it is,"What kinds do you have today?" Pinkie thought for a moment before answering "Well, we have blue berry, regular and strawberry as usual, but we have a super special treat we made last night that looks super duper yummylicious!!!" She yelled, raising her hooves into the air, nearly falling out of the wagon,"the cakes and i were making cupcakes, but silly little Pound Cake pounded the tray of mix into a pan i left on the stove and, oh we're here! Come on, I'll show you what lil poundy made!" Screeching to a halt in front of the bakery, Pinkie decided to hop out in a somersault, using the scooter's inertia to fly straight through the swinging doors of the giant cookie house that strangely looked like a pirate ship if you stared at it the right way. Hopping off my scooter, i parked it next to the window and took my helmet off, shaking my head side to side to flip my mane back to normal. As i did that i heared a small sigh from inside, a distant clatter of pots and pans and what sounded like Sweetiebelle giggling at whoever made the banging noise, though the first noise caught my ear the most since it was right in the window. Looking up,i noticed Applebloom leaning on the violet window seal, watching me with half closed eyes. When she realized i was looking at her, she grabbed some more poise and hopped out of the window, landing safely next to me. "Oh hi Scootaloo!" Sweetiebelle called as she slid through the door, showing that the gang's all here,"poundcake made the best tasting... Thing ever! Ms cake already made five more in just three minutes!" She exclaimed, hopping in circles around me while Applebloom, who seemed to be waiting for me to follow her in. "Yeah, Pinkie told me before i got here, but she never really finished, what is it excactly?" "I'm not quite sure, you would have to taste it to understand." She explained "Pinkie calls it a flatjack for some reason" "Yeah ok" i mumbled, my belly rumbling. I completly forgot to eat the food mom made, but these flat jacks sounded good. Walking in with Applebloom and Sweetiebelle to my sides, we all hungrily trotted to the nearest table, watching as pony after pony walked to the cash register, asked for something, then got their order in a flash. A few seconds of waiting and Sweetiebelle broke the silence. "So, how are we going to get our cutie marks today" she asked, though i was too busy trying to picture what a flatjack could be and Applebloom was concentrating on something directly behind me. "Oh, we'll uh..." Applebloom mumbled, trying to think of an answer,"well, Hearts and Hooves Day is in two days, so we could do somethin related to that" She focused her eyes on me and asked "anythin ya wanna do then?" In her southern accent that was too calm for Applebloom. "The last time we tried that, we had to dig a 8 foot hole and our teacher almost married your brother!" I reminded them, using hoof movements to resemble a hole and a "tough love" potion. "Well, this time we could do something less dangerous, like making our treehouse into a card making place or something like that" Sweetiebelle offered "Or we could try datin?" Applebloom murmured, making both of us look at her. When she noticed that, she blushed and revised her sentence "ah mean we could get a cutie mark at being good at dates." "Well then, who here has experience in dating somepony, cause i don't" i said bluntly "Me neither" Applebloom said,"ah don't like fancy dates much" "Oh, well i have." Sweetiebelle chimed. "Really?!" Me and Applebloom said in unison. "Yeah, well, it wasnt a real one, but Rarity incisted on me learning, so she took me out and demonstrated the steps to a proper date. She said something like 'The best way to understand it is to experience it.'" Applebloom thought for a moment before responding,"So ya saying scoot and ah have to date somepony to get experience in it to help others?" "Pretty much, though i don't know any colts that are avalible for you two, sorry." Applebloom seemed as content with that as i was, though before i could tell Sweetiebelle i wasn't into colts, Pinkie Pie materialized next to us with a huge grin on her face "HI GIRLS!!! Sorry to keep you waiting, Ditzy asked for 20 muffins again and when she wants muffins, she wants MUFFINS! Anyway, your flatjacks are ready, here you go!" She chirped exstaticly, revealing three plates with what seemed to be unfrosted cupcakes that got stampeded by elephants. "Oh thanks, I'm starving!" I said, biting a chunk out of the side. It was crunchier than a cupcake, but chewier than a muffin. An interesting taste of cupcake in the inside made me realize it was just fried cupcake mix flattened, but that made it all the better. Cupcakes for breakfast? That was a dream come true. After savoring the taste for a bit longer, i noticed a slight predicament,"it tastes like a fried cupcake, but there isn't any icing on it." "You can't have icing in the morning silly filly!" Pinkie explained as she watched us eat, "that will get you a tummy ache before lunchtime, and tummy aches never feel too good! Like this one time, poor Spikey wikey decided to eat abunch of strawberry ice cream while twilight tried to stop the fake apacolypes, and he got a huge tummy ache convinently at the same time as Twilight stopped the impending disaster! I went along with them because it looked like alot of fun sneaking into canterlot and since when was the last time you have seen a dragon wear latex!? I mean, it looked hot on twi as well but spike was just the CUTEST thing ever and-" "Okay, okay, no icing in the morning," she was obviosly getting off topic,"but is there anything else that's sweet that you can put on breakfast food?" "Well, i still have some maple syrup from applejack's farm, ima go get some, be right back!" To that she sped off, though there was a small line at the register so she hopped to the morning costumers first. "Sthees 'r stha brs..." Apple bloom tried to say, though her mouth was too full to speak so she attempted swallowing down the flatjacks, failing terribly for a while. "We can plan the rest of the H&H day cutie mark plan at recess today, for now we need to test this maple syrup and flatjack combo, it sounds delicious!" I yelled. "Speaking of recess, how much longer before we have to head to school?" Sweetiebelle asked Checking the clock above Pinkie, i was relived to see that we still had some time, "We have about 20 minutes left, we got here early! Though, so did everypony else." We spent a few minutes watching as pony after pony came and went, every once in a while i'd see a familiar face. Vinyl and octavia came a few minutes after that doctor stallion came, again asking if they saw a blue box lying around. Poor fella lost some big ponybox thing a week ago, hope he finds it sometime. Aside from them, a few interesting faces came by as well, such as soarin the wonderbolt (gotta tell rainbowdash later!) and a flock of bluejays and a bit of yellow under them, prabobly just RD's old friend fluttershy. "Well, I'm bored! As long as we have to wait, we might as well plan some of the dating thing now. So me and Applebloom just have to date somepony?" I asked Sweetiebelle as she swallowed another bite. "Well, would you want to take advice from a pony that doesn't know what they are talking about?" She implied "True, true" "Right, so we just need to find you two dates! You girls have any ideas?" She asked, slightly more chirpy than before. "Uh" Applebloom said, now without being stuffed besides a little bit of flatjack on her muzzle, "remember when ya had said ya had a fake date with Rarity ta learn?" "Yeah, it was a bit odd but she's my sister and she INCISTED on guiding me properly since I'm 'growing to be a fine, young woman'" she said, trying to impersonate Rarity's accent, causing us all to laugh. "Well anyway," AB continued, "Why don't we just go together?" She implied, blushing and looking at me with either happy or longing eyes, though I'm not good with reading that. Why is she blushing to the thought of a fake date?, I thought to myself Is she wanting me to want to go as well, i mean, i have no problem with fake dating Applebloom, but i doubt we will get a cutie mark for that. Wait, she blushes while around me and doesnt mind dating me... If I'm not wrong, that kinda sounds like she- "HEY! I'm back with the syrup!" Pinkie shouted, demonstrating a glass jug holding a deep brown liquid. -Aaaannndddd there goes my train of thought, great. Pinkie began to pour the dark gold sweets over my flatjacks, giving them a new, intensely delicious scent to my face. From the looks of the others (including Pinkie), the smell hit them just as strongly. Needless to say, i could not scarf down the flatjacks fast enough. Sweetiebelle and Applebloom seemed to of had the same problem. Applebloom dug in with hoof and face and Sweetiebelle licked her plate, consequencely covering all four of us in sticky maple syrup. "Well that was fun!" Pinkie concluded, shaking her mane to splatter all of us in syrup. "You weren't eating any, how did you get sticky?" I asked while she was using her sticky hooves to walk on the wall. "Well, you girls were having so much fun with getting that syrup on you that i dumped the rest on my head, and now look at us!" With that, she grabbed me and Applebloom by both of her hooves and threw us in the air. For a pony that only eats candy, she was fairly strong, tossing us all the way up to the roof. Applebloom was somehow able to accidentally kick my tail, instantly sticking us together. I collided with the roof back first thankfully, though Applebloom swung onto me and got stuck on my arm. As for Sweetiebelle, she got stuck in Pinkie's cotton candy tail at one point and they began trying to untangle each other. Looking next to me, Applebloom had wrapped her arm across my shoulder and laughed as she pushed both of us around the roof, so i decided to fight back, getting red and purple mane in both of our faces. Rolling around enough, the stickiness gave way to our weight and we free fell into a table, smashing it to bits. After about three more minutes of laughing and playing around, the two of us were worn out and covered in syrup, splintered wood and bruises from the fall. Sweetiebelle amazingly escaped pinkies forest tail and had stepped back to take a break from her escape trick. AB and i were still stuck together, though we somehow ended up stuck at the chest, faces inches from eachother, giving me a good look of her eyes. They were a bright shade of orange-red, shifting between the two colors in harmony. Though she was covered in the debris of an intense sticky war, those beautiful orbs shown in so much happines, i could still hear her giggling, sending warm breath to my face. After staring into each other's eyes for just a bit longer, i blushed, realizing it might be akward for us to be stuck like that, and tried pulling away, though was quickly reminded we were still stuck together. Pinkie noticed the problem and laughed, picking us onto her back and walking us outside, followed by Sweetiebelle. "Now you three wait right there and ill get us all nice and shiny!" She said as she set us down in the grass running off to get something to wash us off. "We need to get to school as soon as we get this stuff off", Sweetiebelle said, though i wasn't really paying attention again. Looking into Applebloom's eyes, i decided that fake dating her for a day would be easy to accept. Not because of how she looked though, it just seemed fun to hang out with her alone for once. Snapping out of the staring contest we were having, i tried again to push us apart, but the stupid syrup just stuck us closer together. After a while i noticed Applebloom blushing again and looking at me funny. "What?" I asked She blinked a bit then looked away,"nothin, you just got some flatjack on your cheek." "Really? Where?" "Well, don't move, ah'll get it". Leaning a bit to the side, she licked my cheek softly and quickly then pulled back, smiling happily. Out of instinct i pulled back a bit, my face hot, "You could have warned me you were gonna do that!" I grumbled as if i were annoyed, though in the back of my mind i wished the crumb was bigger. "Well it's not like ah can just wipe it off with my hoof!" She yelled, making us look at our hooves that were attached to eachother from our previous struggle to escape. Out of the corner of my eye, i could see Sweetiebelle try to wipe some of the syrup from her face, but now had her hooves stuck to her head. "Where's Pinkie with the cleanup stuff?" "Well it seemed you girls got in a sticky situation!" An all too familiar and annoying voice said from behind me. "What do you want?" I asked the voice that sounded too much like diamond tiara for it not to be. Looking around, fighting the syrup stuck to my neck, my suspicions turned out to be right. "Oh, just walking to school when i noticed you three losers, so i figured i had some time to say hello. I was also wondering what you were doing for hearts and hooves day... Heh, you girls could find a date as easily as a Cutiemark!" To that she laughed, though it also reminded me of a way to get the last laugh. "Well, Applebloom and I have dates, were both going out on hearts and hooves day to... somewhere" we didn't yet plan a place or a time, but i figured we'd get to that at recess. "Oh really, both of you are going out with someone at the excact same time and place?" She smiled and looked evilly at me. "Well i call your bluff, who would even date you two anyway?" You couldn't guess it's the pony I'm pasted to? "I'll give you a hint: the pony has a country accent and red eyes." I said, making it as obvious as possible by looking at the answer with as friendly as a look as i could make, which wasnt too hard. She thought for a moment before answering "Big Macintosh?" Sweet Celestia she's an idiot. "Big Mac has green eyes! She means me!" Applebloom said, looking straight into my eyes to make it seem she was trying to see my brain. "Ya do mean me, right?" Before i could respond, there was a blast of water as strong as a waterfall that had decided to change to attack mode. The aquarush left me sliding down into diamond tiara and Applebloom off into the sugarcube corner stairs. Sweetiebelle swiftly and elegantly faceplanted into a tree. After a few seconds of spinning, screaming and pushing (or hitting, matters on who's reading) diamond tiara as far away as possible, i was able to regain my balance and rise, drenched but free of the syrup previously restricting my movements, which made me a bit happier. Diamond tiara wasnt so happy. She stood with a face of pure hate and slimy makeup washing down her face, huffing and puffing as the big bad wolf should. "What was that?! Who ruined my makeup just before school?" The questioned was answered by the sight of pink pony equipped with a canon that was dripping with water. "Sorry, but there was too much shipping going on". "Shipping?", I asked,"We aren't on a boat, so what does that mean?!" At that moment a bell rang at the edge of ponyville, a fairly loud bell considering we were in the middle of town. I was starting to get tired of having life interrupt my questions. "Oh no, We're gonna be late for class!" Sweetiebelle yelled, but didn't get a lot of moving herself considering her horn had stuck in the tree on impact. As me and Applebloom started to tug our friend out of the tree, diamond tiara trotted away, not wanting to confront Pinkie on the matter of time and that Pinkie was refilling the canon in some new materials. Sweetiebelle's head popped out of the oak, sending my companions down the hillside, but I wasn't really paying attention, watching Pinkie shove random cleaning stuff into the cannon. The multi-use weapon was now full of mops, brooms, Colty Cleans spray and tons of assorted soaps were tossed in and started to bubble like a gypsy's brew. "Uh, Pinkie? What are you doing?" "Need to clean up the store somehow, right?! I could add more brooms, but last time i tried that a cupcake was speared to the wall, though it was a really yummy in your tummy cupcake still!" "Is shooting a cannon indoors a good idea?" I asked, but never got my answer AGAIN due to the ring of the bell. "Oh no, hurry up Applebloom!" "Comming!" She shouted, her and Sweetiebelle running to the scooter's wagon. "Sorry about the mess, Pinkie." Sweetiebelle said as they hopped into the blue wagon. "It's alright!" Pinkie chirpped,"i was the one who gave you girls the syrup to start with, have fun at school, and don't forget to come back for more flatjacks later, oky doky?!" We all said our farewells and i accelerated us towards the schoolhouse, sure to be late (Z/G) class, bronies and crappy jokesOh my god why won't he shut the fuck up?! Zaanne complained in my head. Not sure, but when he does, I'm fairly certain the world won't change from his speech. I continued to ignore my papa's rant about Obama being satanist as i listened to music through my headphones. A bouncy and chirpy song about Pinkie being a gypsy danced through my head, bringing an instant smile to my face, something most songs, or anything at all, can do. So what's new at school? zaanne asked, as if he cared. He was just reasonably trying to distract us from anything but the gypsy bard, which was a thank on his part. You finished your homework, Sonny? I don't do homework at home, and since it was the weekend i didn't do crap. looking out the window, there wasn't much to see. Besides the highway full of random cars and diesels, there was nothing but plains for farming, though nothing will grow in February, even if it was already 80°F and only 7:45 in the morning. "-and the meteor is said to fly by Dallas. I'm sure your teacher would be more than happy to let you go out and see it." My sister said from behind me, breaking me out of my ignorant state. "Won't it look like a spaceship?" I asked, since i could never see the difference between a spaceship in flight and a burning chunk of ice. "Actually, this one is shown to give off green fire due to some stuff in it, so it doesn't look anything like a space ship" my sister pointed out. "It's an unknown ice like element though, so I can't tell you what it is. There could be some metals that can burn green though, but it'd need to be on the outer layer of it, which would be impossible for metal to stay on this ice." You don't say? I thought as I paused the music to listen up, picturing how it might look. Green ice? Sounds more like a crystal, like supermans house. Was his house ice or crystal? Zaanne asked And wouldn't the green crystal not be good for superman? That's kryptonite, not just any crystal, and I figure it's just a metal from another planet stored in the ice. Ooohh, alieny Zaanne said. Ask the encyclopedian bitch if there's alien life on there. I asked Tristen what Zaanne told me, without cussing, and she responded, "Aliens don't exist, and it's too hot for anything to be alive. Nobody knows how the ice is withstanding the heat." Probably because it's in green, Zaanne pointed out. maybe it's poison and will hit the earth and cause a plague on you fuckers It might have metal on it as well, which is chemically fusing with the fire to give off a green flame. Meh, we'll just have to see what it is. "We're here, get your stuff and hurry off" papa said as he parked at the schools kindergarten entrance. The school was fairly small for having a high school in it, being about 20 feet tall at most and about half a football field in area, most of that being the basketball room, or gym. The schools structure was pretty much four cement pillars in each corner of the main room, the gym, having the classrooms pressed into the walls like a baby giant's shelf. The high school classes were on the second floor of the building, which had a hole through the wall for people to watch basketball games from the hallway a story high. As for the walls that weren't open, there was paper covering most of one wall with huge words yelling "DO IT FOR NOAH!!!", Noah being some guy that got bullied so much he committed suicide. Another wall was mainly empty besides the stairs that lead to the science lab and a board full of random papers like "sign up for the talent show!" And "are you up for the challenge?" Having a picture of some girl that got killed in a school attack a few years ago, making the school more depressed than motivated. The last wall had nothing but the school symbol, a blue eagle with "Advantage" under it in bold, and one of the basketball hoops with the other hanging in the air. At this time, the kindergarteners were getting lined up to go to their classes under the ground as they do every day. I told my brother my farewell as he sprinted off to his classmates. My sister had waited in the van again so less people would be around to question her pregnancy, which left me and zaanne alone to walk to class, besides the hundred kids rushing around, trying to beat the bell. I was in no rush, so I went upstairs and strolled into algebra, hearing the students yell and laugh from a few yards away. For a class of an estimated 15 students, they sure know how to keep you from getting to your seat. As for today, they seemed to be all piled in one area, taking chairs from other desks to all sit in a group around some guy. The commotion was fairly incomprehensive but it was obvious they were asking questions, which meant the poor ring leader was either crying and they were comforting him by raising his anxiety through the roof, or he was new to the school, most likely both. Avoiding that group, i sat with my usual friends, which consisted of Kenneth, an African American kid that always wore a furry black jacket and Jacob, who was pretty much neon white, and mainly known for his sideburns. Seriously, his sideburns are probably the only reason he's known outside of me and Kenneth. They were perfect rectangles, spiking out the bottom, extremely dark brown and sooo didn't match his hair, which was gelled down, bowled strangely flat compared to mine. Kenneth was known for having a more famous girl named Michela always being around him and him being strangely smart in most classes besides algebra. I never really considered how they got any fame. As for me, i was more infamous for being... well, that guy thanks to the mix of A.D.H.D., Aspergers Syndrone and the brony thing. I was the only brony in high school at the time, the only other being some 8th grader with an obsession over Applejack. Sitting down next to Jacob, i placed my stuff down next to me only to have my binder expectedly taken by Kenneth, who sat behind Jacob, and began to grab some paper out and pass it around to us, starting math. I pulled out some pencils and handed two mechanical ones to them, since they were going to ask anyway. "Hey Jaykey," i asked, still unsure why i call him that, "who's the new kid?" Jacob looked over at me, obviosly being affected by the Monday plague, "No clue." he huffed, laying his head back down to sleep. I figured Kenneth would have the same answer so i got up, grabbed my binder from him and snuck over to the new person. Give him the creeper approach, Monday treat Zaanne suggested in my head. Sounded like a fun idea to me, so i slowed down my walking and crept closer. You haven't seen "creeper" until you've seen a 200 pound teen with greasy, curly hair give you a full sized, double chinned Jack Douglass creeper face. Hiding behind two fluffy Mexican teens, I started the creeper face and got a look at who i was dealing with. The new kid was fairly athletic looking, skinny yet muscular at the same time. His hair was slick and spiked forward, glowing fire red in the fluorescent lighting. He was holding on to a bag, a typical blue backpack, to his chest as the students swarmed him, interrogating and waiting for him to answer, each time people got all giggly since his voice had a cute British accent added with each word. I stood there waiting until he saw me, and that's when everyone else saw me too. Almost all of my classmates jumped, including him, who probably was anxious to begin with. I couldn't help but laugh, which just made it creepier. Most of my laughs just sound like high pitched, maniacle laughter. I hopped back to let the ones who flinched regain their heads and start yelling at me, making me laugh more. Like i said, I'm that guy. "Seriously Gabriel, what's your problem!?" Wyatt, the "act tough" one, complained. I couldn't think of what to say so i just responded with "kool aid" and set my attention back to the new fella, "hello, human!" I chirped as if i weren't one. "Uhh... Hello?" He asked, still trying to retreat from my attention. "Who are you" "I'm me, and you must be you, so hi you!" god i sound like an idiot, lol ..... What? Lol? Why the hell would you say that?! Zaanne yelled. And once again I sound stupid "No, what's your name?" He asked, slightly agitated now. "Oh right, my name's Gabriel, but you can call me what everyone else calls me, gabe. Well that and faggot." I said before giggling stupidly to myself, switching from a Bo Burnham joke to a Jar-Jar reference. "Now, whosa are yousa?" You can't do Jar Jar, dude, only Jar Jar can do Jar Jar. Dude? And I'm the one with stupid words? "It's Rayden, or just Ray" he replied, still giving me the priceless looks of confusion. "Well nice ta meet ya! Welcome to advantage academy, where they act like we learn! Why are you stuck here?" Before he could respond my teacher called for Ray to sign some papers for him, so we both departed, but not before seeing his hand. There was a not so interesting ring on it, unless you understood it's meaning. It was just a simple plastic ring, maybe cost 50 cents in a toy slot thing. The interesting part was the dark red lightning bolt, barely cut and held on by a poorly made bouncy like wings spray painted gold. If I were just any less of a brony, I wouldn't have thought twice of it, but now that I saw it I had about three times as many questions as the others. "Loyalty eh?" I asked, catching his attention. Guessing he's a closet brony eh? If so that's fairly brave of him to wear that. Guessing you're canadian, eh? He looked back to me as i remembered i was still holding the binder. Showing it to him, I'm pretty sure his eyes grew three sized that day, anime style. "We'll talk about her later, got stuff to do", he said before walking to the teacher. We spent the rest of our classes working, not alot of talking and alot of dozing off due to the day. After 6th period my head was buzzing from constant teachers who didnt appreciate me sleeping in some classes or running in circles for no reason, just random spurts of energy that i needed to take care of before i went even more phyco. Zaanne had the better end of it all, since he can sleep as much as he wants in my head. I don't really see how Pythagorean theorem is gonna help me become a comedian, I thought as he woke up. Well once you start making your own jokes you can do what you want. I do make my own jokes! i thought, hard to express anger if it's in your head. tell me one then, see if i laugh I thought for a moment before responding, so these two ponies walk in a bar. Yeah? Kidding, they trot! ... That was the stupidest thing i have ever heard. Well not as stupid as our congress, I retorted. So what if the joke was republican, it's unexpected so it's virtuous. After a small pause he responded, shit that's stupidly good, though he didn't sound very happy. I jogged to science, nowhere near late but i needed to take out some energy. As of walking into my science teachers room, you could tell from the lack of papers that we were gonna have some fun. Instead of packets or premade notes, there was a small telescope and a map, apparently showing the solar systems orbit with multiple objects. This is a weird setup for biology, Zaanne said, not at all complaining. Then my science teacher came out. He was the perfect golfing grandpa figure, with the thin white hair, wrinkled eyes and tacky 60's clothes. His favorite club, i think a driver, was set up above the labratory door, giving perfect angle to give your head a whole in one if it fell. "Hi Mr. Sanders! What are we gonna do today?" I asked, as if i had to. "Well if you didn't hear, there's a mysterious meteor that we're gonna observe today, glows green for no reason", he said, "There's no shown chemical in it that we know of that burns green like it does, though many substances do emit green photons when hit by a heat source." I didn't know why i cared so much over it's molecular structure but i continued to listen, fascinated by the meteor for no good reason. "Is there any way we can gather this new element for research?" Before he could answer there was a booming noise far away, faint but noticeable. "That would be our ball, lets take a swing shall we?" Ok, that was cheesy as hell Zaanne appropriatly moaned. Agreed, let's go watch crap go boom (S) schools out!As the day normally went by, i decided to plan out my week instead of studying for my test, again. I also got to have a fun time laughing at Diamond Tiara since she had her face covered in about six pounds of makeup that ran down and around her face from the water assault. As funny as it was, i did wonder how the makeup wasn't completely wiped when the super soaker cleared three other fillies covered in syrup. Finally, after a few hours of doing work for stuff we didnt really need to know about, the lunch/recess bells rang to signify half an hour of freedom, most of the time spent to eat. We departed outside to start our lunch, or play on the swings if we were to finish. Applebloom, Sweetiebelle and i got together at the usual tree that we always ate at and began to do such. After about three silent minutes of eating bland hay sandwiches, Sweetiebelle was the first to start conversation. "So, what are you doing for your date?" She asked, looking to Applebloom for her suggestion. "Well, what do you wanna do scoots?" She said, directing my attention from snails, who was at the time getting his horn stuck in a tree again. That seems to happen alot to unicorns. I did a little bit of thinking and said,"I dunno, it's not a serious date so we shouldn't waste alot of bits on it, maybe we can go to sugarcube corner for something? Sweetiebelle, you're the one with dating knowledge, what should we do?" She shuffled and responded, "I don't have alot of 'knowledge' in it, Rarity just showed me the basics," she said, "but since you're going with Applebloom, why not go somewhere apple related, like Sweet Apple Acres?" Applebloom didn't seem to want that. "Ah don't think that's a good idea," she said, "ah live there so it's not really too special a place at all to go to, and ah don't know how kindly they would take to me going out with a filly." "Why would they care about that?" I asked, slightly confused. "From what Rarity told me, Applejack is a lesbian." Sweetiebelle brought up, almost too subtlely So THAT'S what it's called! "SHE IS!?" We both asked quite loudly, though most ponies were more focused on things like passing hearts and hooves cards and getting snails out of a tree to care about our outbursts. "That's what Rarity told me. She pointed out that she's always with Rainbowdash and seems to stare at her alot, with Rainbow doing the same back. If what Rarity says is true, it seems that both of your sisters have a secret crush on each other." "WHAT??!!" We both said in pure unison. Why was I just now hearing of this?! My sis likes mares? That's probably the most interesting thing I never knew about her. Who would have thought that the pony with the rainbow hair and tomboyish voice would be into girls?! Applebloom seemed to be more shocked than I. She just sat on the tree trunk and stared off, mouth half open in a puzzled way. About a minute of akward silence later, she started smiling to herself for some reason. "Are you ok", Sweetiebelle asked. "Just fine, but there is something ah kinda want to say now before the date now, but promise not to laugh!" She asked. "Promise, now what's up?" I asked. "Well, about the whole applejack thing and having a date with Scootaloo thing..." "Yeeeesss???" We asked She blushed, glanced in my direction stuttered quickly, "A-Ahm also into fillies!" After a small silence i decided to speak up with the wisest words i could muster."Ok" "Ok? Ya have no problem with me liking fillies?" She asked, now with a huge grin on her face. "Well, what's wrong with being a lesbian", Sweetiebelle asked "there are many mares and fillies that feel the same way! Besides your two sisters, alot of mares here are homosexual due to the low population of stallions near Ponyville," Ok, why does Sweetie Belle know so much about this, she's like, what, 9? Rarity talks too much, i thought to myself, adding two new long words to the 'use later' file in my brain. "When did ya learn that?" Apple Bloom asked for me. "Rarity told me." she responded, which cleared up her abundant knowledge into relationship status, and proved myself right "She said that of her friends, only her and Fluttershy are 100% straight, though Pinkie is bi." Even for a filly she knows abit more than i would expect. And why is Rarity even passing secrets to Sweetiebelle like that? Seems kinda mean. No, not mean... creepy at least. "What's bi mean?" I asked, but got no response since she was more focused on Applebloom. "Should we be talkin about other ponies without knowing if there ok with it?" Applebloom asked. "Oh, what's a little gossip gonna do to anypony?" Sweetie asked. "Why don't we ask Gabby Gums?" Applebloom answered, bringing up a touchy subject. "Oh, great idea!" Sweetiebelle chirped "'hey gabby, is gossip an ok thing every now and then?'" "We're not gabby anymore." Applebloom grumbled. "You made the name." "You made the papers." "We ALL made the papers!" I figured if best stop their useless quarrel before it gets bad. "Uh, girls?" I interrupted, "I don't think arguing is the best idea." "Why not?" Applebloom asked, now fairly irritated. "Well, consider that when we argue, bad things seem to happen. Remember discord?" "Nah, we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time" sweetie answered," he was prabobly gonna break out sooner or later anyway, as the princess told us" Remembering Celestia explaining what happened after the distorted ponyville incident, I couldn't say much against it. "Yeah, that guy is untamable, he will probably stay evil and enstoned forever now though", i said as a pretty pink butterfly landed on my foreleg. Hey, why is there a butterfly in winter? "When is the next snow day gonna be, Scoots?" Applebloom asked after noticing the bug. "Hmm? Rainbow dash said it will snow over hearts and hooves day, should start around 3:00." I answered as it caught some wind and flew towards fluttershy's cottage in the distance. "Ohhh, that will look beautiful in the night!" Sweetiebelle started, "with all the lights and the snow It will be so romantic and cute and-" After about 2 minutes of girly adjectives that i didn't need to hear, Applebloom rose her forehoof to sweetie's face to shut her up. "Yeah, ok. Hey Scootaloo, can we talk later?" "Sure" i said, unsure of her intentions, "what do you wanna talk about?" "About the date, i need to tell you something before we go." She answered with an earnest look. "The straight look is being ruined by the bow, you know," I said "makes you look more cute than serious" She blushed, looking up at the pink bow tied to her hair and losing whatever serious mannerism she had. "y-you think ah look cute?" She asked, her southern accent getting quieter. "Yeah, what's not cute about you?" I sat up from the tree root i was laying on to get a better look of her. The focus of the chat moved from sarcasm to something else. As usual, she looked great. Her whole body had perfect shape, from her shiny red hair to her strong legs from working on the farm. Her bright face had the sweet hint of scarlet across the top of her cheeks, which significantly added to her beauty. ~wait... What am i thinking?~ Sweetiebelle looked back and forth between us, then seemed to begin a intense thinking stage, with one hoof under her chin and the other making pictures in the air that were either hearts or bad stars. After about 2 minutes of me staring at Applebloom, Applebloom staring at me and Sweetiebelle weirdly spacing out, her eyes lit up as if she apparently learned something new by just looking at us. "Oooohhhhh. I get it now!" She said, breaking my 85% concentration on Applebloom. "Get what?" I asked, clueless to her outburst. Applebloom seemed to understand her though, as she began waving her arms in a "shut up" kind of way. Suddenly the sky behind Sweetiebelle flared a small, neon green light in the sky, slowly flying toward us. "It's that Applebloom li-" that's all she said before before the sky glowed green. The thing sped closer, increasing the tempature of the air enough to melt what snow there was, and soared into the school bell. As it hit, it sent an extreme shock wave that knocked everypony who was standing a good meter back. The ground changed to the tree's trunk as the force blasted me into the bark. Sweetiebelle bounced next to the tree and tumbled downhill. Applebloom almost had the same fate as sweetie, but i caught her hindleg on her backflip. The world shook as an explosion hit the earth, shaking so much that i couldn't see anything. After a strong ten seconds of an ear basting ring from something hard hitting the bell at full speed, my vision came back to full strength. Letting go of AB, i got a first look of what seemed to be the coolest non rainbowdash thing in my life. The entire school had been blasted to peices. Wooden planks shot out from everywhere, random school supplies scattered everywhere. The sky had grown darker as i watched smoke rise from the school. The weirdest part though was the fire, seeing as how it was forest green, with very little yellow and blue at the crests. From what my teacher told me, that shouldnt make sense. green is the mix of yellow and blue, but only with pigments. These flames were dancing as if being painted instead of just illuminated, with the colors swirling around like that. Every so often, ominous shock waves came from the center of the wreckage, each causing a stupid action,, each more random than the last. First a wave of pure green light shot out, covering me in... Was that glitter? Then, after a minute, literal water waves squirted out, dowsing us instead of the green inferno, then drying immediately due to the heat. Applebloom took a scan around the area as she got up. "Wait," She said, walking up next to me, "Where's Ms. Cheerily?" "She was inside the school still!" I called over a sea of rock music. Even with the green fire everywhere, my entire body became cold. In the middle of the wreckage, i could just see her body through the smoke, and it didnt look very good. Our teacher was stuck, wedged between some support beams. She was still breathing, but seemed to be having trouble finding air. Just ten feet above her, the bell was set on some roof parts. There was a gaping hole in the side of the brass shell. Unfortunantly, the fire was hitting the sides of the bell's support, showing weakness to the flame. "We have to help her! I yelled as another green wave shot from the crashed... Thingy. This time, chickens flew everywhere and scattered in fear of the flames. "It's too dangerous, the roof's gonna collapes!" Applebloom yelled. "Yeah, and it's gonna collapse on our teacher if we don't save her!" She nodded to silently agree to that, and we both galloped into the fire. Author's Note So... Sweetiebelle has supreme knowledge of shipping... (Z/G) we beat me up (and stuff goes boom)As we rushed outside, we considered the options of what jokes to say once we got there. How about a big green booger? Nah it's too stupid, Yoda farts were better We discussed that pointless subject until we exited the building and saw the sky. First off, it was green, Skies aren't normally green, are they? Second, there was a green rock flying straight towards the building, pulsating with more of the color, splitting into it's primary colors as if it were a moving painting, blue and yellow spilling out of the back. It wasn't gaseous at all, just a giant green fire flying into the atmosphere. We watched as it started flying closer, changing from a petal to a golf ball to the moon, lighting the whole sky from blue to aqua to green. After about six seconds of thinking and calculating, i realized that the school wasnt the best place to be inside. Maybe a bomb shelter. "Get the students out of the school!" I yelled to Mr. Sanders. He seemed to agree with me and ran inside, yelling at us to run away. His commands went in one ear and out the other. Dude, don't. That meteor will be here in like five minutes, there's more humans anyway! Zaanne complained as I started running to the school. The other kids started a paniced stampede out of the blast zone, pulling ray along with them. I don't care if you care about humans, I can't just sit here and expect a 70 year old to get up the stairs in five minutes! by the time i got to the door, i had about 13 of the 16 students yelling at me to get back. Ray was just staring at me, probably confused on what i was doing. I was tempted to yell back "Gotta go to the bathroom!" As if that were a reasonable excuse to go into my school on point of it's inevitable destruction, but instead i silently opened the glass doors and snuck in to help my least favorite high school. As i charged to the stairs, Mr. Sanders got sight of me and started hollering to go back outside. He had already collected the kindergarteners from the basement, which would have been a good place if it were a tornado. Problem was this one would probably just kill them, even if we were hiding under cement. Pompeii would not come to me today. It's amazing how fast you can run up the stairs when people might die. I began opening the doors and yelling at people "IT'S GONNA HIT THE SCHOOL!!!" Since the intercom had already said that there would be a meteor flying over us. Why nobody hit the fire alarm is completely above me. I had told the last class to get out before the noise of screams came from outside, signaling the meteors income. Running to an open wall, i saw the school roof glow red, then green. The roof itched itself in lines, like a cyborg roof, then exploded. Light blinded me instantly as a shockwave blasted me into the wall, shattering any sence i previously had. It took a good three minutes for me to get my thoughts and vision back, Zaanne regaining speech Holy fuck, what was that?! I couldn't look straight at it since it was still glowing too brightly, but i could see that it wasnt rock, or metal. It was a pure green crystal, as Tristen had said, with bits of it laying everywhere. After a few more seconds it sent a wave of energy, changing what i could see to green. Trying too look at it, i realized from the shadows around me were the only visible things, glowing green in negative lighting. "Night vision?" I asked myself as another wave shot out, bringing the lights back to normal. After a few more waves and more random things, like the walls turning into daggers and two little rock things crawling out of the crystal as if it were syrup, i realized that i was on one of the only standing parts of the school, aside from mr sanders lab and a few classes, suspended by weak pillars We need to get off, don't we? Zaanne asked, as if I weren't going to. To my left, there was a mound of rubble that seemed sturdy enough to walk on, to my right, one of those things that had came out of the crystal started walking towards me, also having a crystal like imorphous structure. It began changing shape until it became... Me. He looked like a perfect copy of me, the messy curls of hair, the chubby face, the muscles that seemed too powerful for a couch potato (oh I'm not being cocky). The only difference being glowing emerald-like eyes and he looked like he was about done with the world he just landed on. Pure fear filled my head, telling me that Zaanne wasn't happy to see our new guests. Aliens? In 2013? Interesting. Kill it please. Why? It's not doing anything bad. I said. It seemed to read my thoughts as it punched the outer wall. The entire hall glowed green and exploded, reveling the outside. The kids were running as fast as they could to... Anywhere but where i was. I was alone besides Zaanne and the clone walking towards me. That's some bad alieny shit there! Zaanne shouted. lets try talking to him. Ok, not my brightest idea, but I was curious. Ok, tell him 'Hola seres de la roca que brilla intensamente, tenemos el placer de conocerte' I had no clue what he had said. "Yeah, no" I said aloud, grabbing his attention. Immediatly he started talking in my voice, with chilling coolness. "Hello, who are you?" He spoke, giving me shivers when he spoke in one of the only voices I've known my whole life, spoke by a complete stranger. Much worse that it was my own. "I-I'm Gabriel. Why did you punch the wall? Are you ok?" I asked shakily. I tend to get caring at bad times. As soon as I said that, the other rock like thing that i completely forgot about grabbed my arms from behind, full Nelson style. He began to change and become me as well, but his voice is what creeped me the most. "We're just here to explore, we like new people" he spoke next to me, giving me the deepest chills as he talked in Zaanne's voice, which was more of a brash and cocky feel "new people to copy and become" H-how the hell did he do that!? Zaanne stuttered. When you scare Zaanne, you've done well. It is not too hard sir, we copy you. Anything you show, we can preform. the thing spoke in my head, scaring me more than needed. Our ship crashed here from it's engine breaking off on our scanning trip to that rock you call Titan, about a week ago. lucky we found your destination so quickly! So... An attack on Titan? Zaanne questioned "Close enough", Gabe2 said "Then how did we know of your coming from a few weeks ago?" I yelled, losing my caring touch, "Astronomers can't tell what you are flying either. Who are you?!" "That's unimportant, for now we need someone to extract for information of this world to create another, for we will make the ultimate world!" Zaanne2 shouted, getting closer to me. "Are we done with questions?" not a thing to ask after making that kind of confrontation. I didn't know what he was talking about, making new worlds and such. This was the only world that had oxygen, so if they scanned that they'd be about 50% ready to build a planet, but with no inhabitants? Also if they scanned me for a world, they would just make a weird version of equestria. Not exactly the "ultimate world". Scanned probably wasn't the best word for it, but i can't think of a better one. Absorbed isn't right and take in sounds wrong. Suddenly i realized i better do something before i get killed, or scanned and take the chance of losing my memory again. Luckily Zaanne was there to tell me what to do. "One more. Do you know battle technics yet?" I asked. Seeing the meteor's shockwave comming, i jumped up and planted my feet on the copy's face, kicking up again to backflip over the other. With his grip broken, he spun to try and grapple me again, but was met by a fist to the chest, knocking him back into his friend. Being me, they were far more than clumsy and heavy enough to be knocked over eachother in the next wave, putting everything in slow motion, making them take their time trying trying to kill me. As they took their time trying to get back up i chimed slowly, "Maccaroni", running to the window area in the wall and jumping out. Maybe jumping out of a story high window into a flaming building wasn't the best idea. I hit the ground rolling, safe enough, but my shirt caught on fire so i patted that out quickly. Zaanne was explaining me the plan, to get to the crystal ship and try deactivating it to see if the aliens would stop working. At least take out the shockwaves. The plan was inturupted when they hopped down to me, meeting me halfway to the ship. "Where do you think you're going?" Zaanne2 asked, adding Zaanne's tinge of annoyance. "Uhh... Around..." I began the other way as another shockwave hit, shooting a blue flame ring in every direction. As it hit them, they started slapping at their new clothes like i had with the previous flame. After a confused look when the fire didn't actually affect us, they focused their attention back to me, which wasn't what i wanted. I ran to Mr. Sanders lab. I rushed through the classroom, the aliens pretty far behind me. It looked nothing like his class, which was on fire at the time. Blue walls surrounded the room, with two rows of bar tables That had sinks and gas things placed in them for his science fun stuff (got a better name?). His lab was safe for now, but heat and smoke filled the roof. He held many chemicals that did not go well with heat, and he stored those in a big red box saying "DO NOT SET ON FIRE" In bold, as if anyone in their right mind were to set it on fire. Luckily i wasn't in my right mind, i was in my left. Taking the only thing i knew about science, i snatched a bottle that had random words on it. My eyes burned in the smoke but i was able to make out: "Magnesium, reactions to fire may cause blindness" That's simple as fuck, Zaanne said. I was quickly getting sick of his language. It was about 20 grams, which I thought is enough to cause a small sun, or make pretty fireworks, or not work at all. When I looked back, they were there, eyeing me devilishly, as if playing with me now. There was a second exit, which led to the crash scene, problem was they were already there, the green fire following them, gaining speed as they hopped over desks and pushed aside chairs. "... Crap". I opened the lid to the metallic material, which were small pebbles used for giving a neat light show, only they were so bright under fire that you weren't supposed to look straight at it. As they got closer, the fire erupted inside, glowing the room a forest green above the blue painted walls. If i stayed near the chemicals, chances are I'd suffocate from their fumes or desinigrate, and the aliens would take me and most likely scan my brain to finish their copying, which would be bad. They had already scanned Zaannes voice, the closest guy i know, and that pissed me off more. One stopped a foot from me, fire passing around them harmlessly. It took abit of nerve to not push them back screaming, but i stood still, and waited for both to surround me. Foolishly they cornered me, the fire now melting the chemicals box, pouring out red smoke slowly. I had about ten seconds before the fire melted through into the flammable crap, so i poured the magnesium and closed my eyes. At first, nothing. Then the ground started to heat, signaling the fire had come to my legs. I ran and squinted my eyes for a second to see the aliens, grab their shirts and toss them behind me. They tumbled again and stood to probably become blinded, since i heard screaming and even could see the glow of red through my eyelids as i went out the door. "That wasn't too hard" i told myself as i slid down some debris to walk to the ship. I hadn't realized the fireworks seared my pants and probably burned my legs, but i had other things to worry about. Before i could look over the crater that the meteor made, another shockwave went through, and i suddenly couldn't control my body. I watched as i held my hand out, apparently testing the new movements, then an all too familiar voice spoke up. At first i thought it was the alien but realized it was much more interesting. "fuck yeah", Zaanne, or I, smirked cockily, "let's do this shit." The wall exploded a few seconds later as the aliens stumbled out of the lightshow, puffing out red smoke from their lungs and stumbling on eachother dizzily, trying to cough out the poison that they had apparently inhaled. Zaanne was there to meet them. "Sup faggots," he shouted in minorly lewd aggression, "done fucking each other or did you just get tired of Gabe's shitty fireworks?" The feeling of the cuss words left a bad taste in my mouth, but i couldn't control that. I wanted to tell him to stoop blabbering and get away, but I figured he'd just attack anyway. After a moment's confusion, gabe2 responded, "what is this 'fucking' you speak of?" I laughed and realized that my voice just echoed throughout my head, like Zaanne's voice does, or used to. "looks like I'm in charge for now" He said, apparently not used to needing to keep words in certain places, like in his head. He started a run at the aliens. I guessed that they copied my previous trick, since they tried punching at Zaanne's chest, only to be blocked by a hand. In less than a few seconds, Zaanne had side flipped one over his shoulder and was starting to the other, who still seemed to be affected by the smoke. A clean kick to the chest made him fall back, ridding him of his problem in a huge puff of red that Zaanne hopped from. He let them fumble back up and look to us maddly, as if WE were the bad guys. Apparently they didn't like being messed around with, since one punched the ground, causing the floor about 3 meters in diameter to glow like the wall and explode. He walked out of the new engulfed crater like nothing happened. The other had began to charge, sticking his fist out. Zaanne hopped to the side, foot out, and swung his leg at the alien. There was a squeak at contact that only i could make from a sharp inhale, and the alien crumpled. Apparently he was new to being kicked in the stomach, or having one at all. Thing 1 and 2 realigned next to eachother after he got back up. Now standing shoulder to shoulder, they paced around us like tigers on the hunt, even growling at us, until we were flanked, stumbling and moaning the whole way, then they charged again, comming at full speed, their fists glowing as they charged another boom punch. This time we both had the same great idea. Zaanne let them get about a foot away then jumped, somehow gaining the air to hop over one, missing a bad headbut by a few inches, and let them crash fists into eachother. As soon as they hit, they both glowed green before a flash of light hit, knocking everyone back. Since they got the most impact they rocketed into the remaining walls, the building peices collapsing on them. Me and Zaanne were thrown a few feet back, sliding safely on the gym floor, but our shirt was ripped so much it eventually was just a peice of cloth, which Zaanne put in our pocket. Our pants seemed just singed from the chemistry lesson. We weren't at all injured, but we looked like we had just slid through a chimney. Our body was coated in black stuff from the ashes and smoke everywhere, my hair was almost pitch black from all the soot around the place. The smoke burned in our eyes, though it seemed to be filtered quickly through the holes everywhere. Holes were kind of an understatement. The school was a mess, all that was left was a blue eagle on the floor, never to fly out. The sun shown brightly everywhere, with absolutely no walls left. The school had became a pile of debris, and the only ones to blame looked exactly like me. After about 20 seconds later, another shockwave hit, flipping me back to having control over myself. That was THE GREATEST THING TO EVER HAPPEN!!!! The aliens seemed they were not gonna (Texan, i'll say gonna if i wanna say gonna) get back up anytime soon after their meetup with the REAL Zaanne. I figured Zaanne gave them a good enough peice of America to initialize 'dont fuck with texas... Or the other 49 states... Or Canada.... Or, know what, just don't fuck with the earth, we do it enough to ourselfs'. getting to the meteor as quickly as i could i noticed it was not something i would like to fly. It seemed to have cooled itself and was showing to be impossible to hold anyone, being about the size of a smart car and shooting jagged spikes everywhere, reflecting blue, yellow and green light across the floor. It glowed deeply with a strange energy, making me think of all things at once for some reason. Every memory that i have recovered and made sprang into my head so quickly that i had to sit down. It seemed to be scanning my entire brain. Every thought, every imagination, fantasy or emotion was scanned into it, filling the crystal until it made a loud "DING" Then it exploded. A flash of light and an ear bleeding BOOM later, and i was weightless, flying several feet, then yards, then meters, away. I'm pretty sure i fell unconceous, but i could still see lights and feel a cold feeling in my chest. I hit the ground, hard. After awhile of bouncing off the ground and crashing through what i thought were trees, i stopped in what might of been grass. The heat of the sun spread over me as i laid there, bleeding a lot from unknown areas, prabobly everywhere. Nothing could function correctly, prabobly because nothing would move. Zaanne was groaning as if he got hit in the head by a truck, or fifty trucks. That's all i could think of before i blacked out... Author's Note I'll fix the capitalization and italisizes once i get a computer, which may be awhile. (Z/G) Morgan freeman sets me on fireOk, so a few things you should and shouldn't do to not explode. First off, you shouldn't run into a building you know will explode. Second, if there are aliens, you should just drop the burrito and hop through the wall they'll inevitably disentigrate. Next, if you have a phycotic idiot in your head, don't let him tell you what to do. I could have sworn i was dreaming, but it felt more real than my memory dreams. I was standing in a room that seemed to go on forever. The world was dimly lit green, with cold steam tickling my feet as it snaked around my legs. It was just me for the moment, until the floor spoke. Hello, human named Gabriel, the voice was abit awkward on it's english, like that was his second language. I am the ship, or the crystal inside you. it took me a second to realize the cold feeling previously must have been a piece of the ships shrapnel that stabbed into my chest, but it wasn't there when i looked down. I was still in my tattered school uniform, but I had seemed to be cleaned, since i was no longer covered in dust and debris. "H-hello?" By then i figured this was probably in my head, which explains why Zaanne wasn't talking. Chances are if i looked around enough, I'd find him somewhere in the distance, complaining about nothing. That didn't stop me from being terrified of the voice. Apparently it was the same ship that blew up on me, so i felt uncomfortable talking to it. Your brain is telling me that you are afraid, no need. I will not harm you like the previous inhabitants of the ship, since you are it's new owner I took a minute to let it sink in. I was in the ship AND my mind, it was reading my brain and Zaanne was nowhere to be heard from. The exact same thing had detonated my school, sent two evil aliens to try and clone my entire planet, and apparently can manipulate the worlds logic. As said before, i hate Mondays. I noticed the room was waiting for me to talk, so i began, "so if you scanned my head, who else did you scan?" It responded immediately, The world. Anything i touched, i became aquatinted with it's knoledge. The planet, it's ozone layer, it's condition, inhabitants, ages, DNA, anything your brain can imagine be real, it was stored into me. I didn't know what was weirder, talking to an alien space ship or that the ship sounded so familiar... "Is that why you sound like Morgan freeman?" I asked, leaving a small chuckle throughout the empty space. Apparently it had a sense of humor. The fog slid from my feet to in front if me and started to morph together, thickening and solidifying into a regular human, the same person that his voice matched. He wore a basic black jacket and a dark purple tee inside. His black pants were neatly ironed and fitted, so he looked like a dark Dr. Phill. His happy, wrinkled face looked pretty much like you'd see him on tv, besides his eyes, which were pure green like the aliens. No pupils, no iris, just a green void that could lead anywhere you imagined. His godly voice spoke from the figure, "I'm sure you will get used to the controls of the ship, but for now you must wake, for your family is awaiting you." He waved his hand and a screen opened from nowhere, showing a moving picture. It was a group of people, a mix of my friends and family, looking through a glass wall in either amusement or shock, i wasn't good at faces. Anyway they were staring at a glowing figure, the only light in the room to illuminate their bodies. I saw Rayden and my brothers all looking into the glass, slightly stunned at whatever scene was behind the wall. Jacob and Kenneth were in the corner, avoiding the crowd but being there for support, which made me happy. "I'm on the other side eh?" Morgan's nod seemed to tell me both "yes", and "hurry up", so i looked up to the empty sky. "Aaaalrighty then, take me back to Earth." As soon as i said that the world of light dissappeared and i awoke on a flaming bed. ________________ "BALLS!!!", i screamed, jumping about ten feet into the air. it's an inappropriate word, i know, but it was the closest thing i could say to a cuss word without feeling crule. Kinda childish but it's nicer than Zaanne's dialogue. After the initial shock of being in fire, I sat up in bed. I was clearly not burned, but my clothes couldn't say the same. This time, my pants weren't so lucky. My entire body was ingulfed in green, which only helped covering me up by literally flashing a new scar my chest like a beacon. On it was a green crystal, a lot like the ship, but much smaller. It was held on my chest by a small leather strap that acted like a necklace, wrapped loosely around my neck so that the shard look like just some flashy Jewlry instead of an extraterrestrial being. My arms and legs covered in glowing green lines, like they had decided to become a computer hard drive. My body tingled with energy, the flames, deep green, dancing maddly across my forearm and whisping away in a transparent neon mist. I remembered the images from my talk with the ship. I haven't got a name for him yet but I just assumed he was the necklace. I looked up and, sure enough, there was a small crowd of maybe ten astonished people, dancing around and seeming to be down to tears from me being ok. Who cares if you're in flames, naked and glowing like a cyborg, as long as you LOOK alive, people will cry for you. Took ya long enough, i was getting bored. Zaanne popped up in my head, which helped my mood about as much as the fire did, Who's this guy that won't stop imitating George Carlin? He did Morgan Freeman for me, and i think it's the space ship talking to us, sounding like people who actually made a voice. There was a moment of silence, besides the bed being baked. It should have been like a thousand degrees in there, but it just felt warm and soothing now, like a mothers hand as you held it for the first time (mawkish, maybe). It was so comfy that i was about to lay back down and sleep when Zaanne came back on, Really? That fucker followed us onto the hospital? Is that crystal around your neck what's keeping your heart from exploding?! I didn't think much about it at first, but then i realized i couldn't feel my pulse, much less my heart. I started to freak out, pressing against my chest roughly. The crystal seemed to shine brighter than before and suddenly i felt a fake "bubump, bubump", coming from my chest. Ok, problem one solved, I thought, Now for the bed No more words needed. Even from thought the flames responded, disappearing instantly. Flames, check, now for the light show. The lights on my body dimmed into my skin, slowly shutting out. The only light in the room now was the crystal, which shone a dimmed emerald. Last but not least, clothes. I figured the blankets would do, but they probably burned off, since i was sitting on a metal plate now like it was a bears lunch tray, and i were it's lunch. I thought about my clothes, before the whole alien thing, and thousands of tiny strands appeared and strung together. They tightened and stretched to form linen and cotton lines, sliding together to create a black school shirt and some basic khakis pants, exactly the way they were before i went to school, yet new and folded, as if a maid decided to clean them without my permission. I did wonder how a pair of pants just formed from nothing right in front of me, but i wasn't in a situation to argue, so i pulled them on. I wasn't fond of shirts, since they were uncomfortable and scratchy and made it too hot for me, so i left that off. Now that i wasn't a lighthouse, i got a better look of the room. In the dark it took a moment to adjust my eyes. It was an interrogation box like in those crime movies with me on the table, but the one-way mirror was instead a tinted window, about the size of a rich man's flat screen television, the LEDs showing my family, all crying inaudibly of joy. Rayden had come, which i found weird, i guessed he had followed Kenneth and Jacob's lead to come see me. All three of them were pressing their faces to the glass, mesmerized by either the pants or the fact i just dismissed fire. How had i done that? I just thought and it happened, no real explanation possible, but it was obvious that it had something to do with the crystal necklace and the Morgan Freeman inside. The crystal still glowed, as if waiting impatiently to unleash more power. I wasn't willing to risk that, since images of myself making things explode by merely punching it still flashed through my brain. A few minutes later, after everyone settled down from seeing me stop glowing, a man in a lab coat said something to my mom, allowing her to enter. As soon as she came in, she tackled me with a hug that was far more constricting than the aliens' grapple. "Gabriel!" She yelled, which seemed plentyful of words. "Yeah, that's my name," I chimed, hugging her back. It felt nice, hugging my mom. It brought back memories that i had forgotten from my random innuendo dreams; me and her playing board games with Sleepy, her and dad talking over whether or not i should take karate, mom laying me down in my bed when i was about six, singing me lullabies that was mainly "Part of Your World", from "The Little Mermaid" and "Twinkle Twinkle". She pulled back and punched me in the chest, making her forthcoming warning clear, "if you EVER do something so god damn stupid again, i will tear your ass open like the Grand Canyon!" she apologized for the way that came out. That only made me grin, holding back a laugh that would probably scare Ray away in a heartbeat, "first off, we both know WHY i went back in. Secondly, the Grand Canyon is far too small to equal what i SHOULD deserve for fighting aliens." She gave me a puzzled look before chuckling,"I guess you're still a little fuzzy feeling from the crash. It's ok, you'll be better soon." After a confused look by me she let her bear grip go, giving me time to breathe. Jacob and Kenneth approached, steadily followed by Ray, who was eyeing the crystal on my necklace cautiously, as if hoping i wouldn't burst into flames while he was too close. Jacob looked me up and down, the way he does with a stranger or a new boss battle he wasn't informed of in a game. "We heared what happened, but wow, you look like a completely different person!" I didn't know what he was talking about until i inspected myself again. With the lightshow over, i now noticed that i wasn't chubby anymore, which made me sad for some reason. My body had seemed to burn away it's fat, which i would have liked, but with the fat gone i was suddenly freezing without my usual layer of cold resistance. My body was also muscular too, the muscles hidden under the fat now chiseled out and pressed uncomfortably against my chest when my arms were down. Then I looked at my hair and nearly had a heart attack, even though i couldn't feel my heart three minutes before. It was dark green, spiked out more but still somewhat curled, giving the image of fire. It was almost anime styled, green strands still hanging in front of my eyes to continue their annoyances. Pulling it abit, it was certainly real, showing slight strands of blue and yellow as well, as if the hair dye had split it's colors slightly, lightening the hair. It tumbled about a foot longer, easily sliding over my shoulders and down my neck. holy shit was all Zaanne could say for a moment. we look like a manga character, straight from the book and colored. He was right, I even felt abit like how they may feel. All my senses were heightened, especially my sight, which could see farther and so well that the tint on the windows wasn't there for a moment. My body still surged with what felt like a continuous adrenaline rush. After a mere twenty seconds of checking myself out, Kenneth shuffled nervously, catching my attention instantly. "What's wrong?" He stopped cold and looked away,"You're not gonna catch on fire while we're in here right?" "Of course not. I won't hurt my friends. That goes for you too, Rayden." His name put him in the spotlight, and he didn't seem happy about that. "Oh, uhmmm... Thanks" He went back to observing his ring as if it were the real element of loyalty. "So, can someone refresh me on what happened?" I honestly had no idea how i got there, but i figured it wasn't fun. Jacob looked around anxiously,"well, we heared the explosion from about twenty miles away, and then you flew into the feild next to us. You were on fire and hit the ground far too hard to survive, according to Mr. Sanders. When we came to you, you had- you..." He stopped, staring at my crystal. He didn't seen to have changed out of his school clothes, so he was dressed exactly what i was wearing. His hair was skewed and his gel had came out, letting his black hair spill messily above his ears. His arms were covered in mud and what seemed to be abit of dried blood, which made me feel terrible. His face i wish i could quite read, but i could never read someone's face for the life of me. As far as i could tell, he was either mad or ecstatic about my awakening. "Some doctors came and took you to the hospital, and you burned away anything that touched you, except for the rock" "Well no need to worry anymore, I'm ok and we got all the students to safety, that's all that matters right now." They seemed to calm a little, but we were still in a hospital. People were dieing every day around me, and i just came out of a space explosion, self combustion, penetration and nudity completely unharmed. It made me feel good and bad that most couldn't survive even one of those. I hopped out of the bed, my legs shaking for a split second before i regained full strength. I breathed deeply, loosening my body and touching the crystal. It had stopped glowing, and i felt my body start to weary and tire out. My arms felt like they weighed about 20 pounds heavier, though my appearance stayed the same. I slowly dragged my feet to the door, opening it with a small tug. The halls were empty granted a nurse, who caught me walking out and approached carefully. "Mr. Plemons, i suggest lay back down, we don't know what might happen if you get too hyper." I wasn't sure why i decided to get smart with a nurse, but flashes of random quotes and sayings were always floating through my head, one of which seemed to slide by easily, so i smirked. "that's my secret, Captain. I'm always hyper" Before i could turn into a giant green guy and terrorize an alien army, again, my mom stepped next to me. "He's ok, he just needs some time to walk about" The nurse looked a lot like, well, a nurse. She had her hair tied back in a bun to keep out of her eyes and light caramel skin that pretty much fit into a Maxim magazine cover. She seemed to be in her mid 20's, holding a clipboard in one hand and a pin in the other, wearing glasses that shone her bright green eyes in the flouresent lights. She wore a medic like outfit that was a tad too small, showing off her curves and a tag that read "Clarrisa" in black cursive. Her shirt was unbuttoned abit too much, making my hyperactive eyes stand perfectly still. Dayum Zaanne said in my head ,you think those are D's? Ok, rude. i thought, but my eyes seemed to play with Zaanne's will. Jacob wasn't as moved, but he did look away. "let him walk around, he healed himself far better than your doctors could, maybe he'll bring you some good luck in this hospital." The nurse bent down and stared at him, as if looking into his brain, which he seemed to be doing right back to her, looking back at her, "Very well dear, roam the halls aimlessly if you please, Jacob, Kenneth, Rayden and Gabriel, I'll be observing your behaviors over time though, to check for diseases or drugs that you took to heal. "Can i go now?" I asked. I was getting anxious and suddenly scared. Clarrisa seemed to notice. If she knew i was still fixed on her she didn't show any offence. "Go on, have fun playing in a hospital." On that weird note, i backed away, pulling my three friends with me. The halls were about as boring as a regular hospital, but what was in it was far weirder. First off, every doctor there was better off as a magazine cover, models as far as the eye could see. Women rushed about, all wearing the same tight fitting clothes as Clarrisa. Yeah, it sounds like heaven, but it just didn't feel right about my awakening in an all girl hospital. The other four, including zaanne, weren't as careful. They had their eyes EVERYWHERE, with Zaanne complaining about me looking away when we got too close to a nurse. c'mon gabe, it's good for your health! Besides, they're everywhere, might as well enjoy their hospitality. as right as he may have been, i was always far too scared to look at pretty girls like that, it just felt wrong to stare. We surfed our way through the mountains and sat down on a bench next to some bathroom/dorm thing for overnight doctors. Kenneth had been lost in the crowd, leaving me, Ray and Jacob to sit there, Zaanne edging me to look while i adverted my eyes from them. "Why are there so many girls?", I asked, hoping they'd have some information. Rayden leaned back and fumbled with his ring, trying to not over react. "Don't know, don't care. But did you see that blonde nurse? I think her name was Jessica!" He and Jacob started having an intense conversation about the girls, Jacob losing his want for modesty, so i rose and strolled down the only empty hall (S) i talk to the rockMy dream was too vivid to be a dream. The sky was green, much like right before the crystal detonated my school, but abit less threatening. The ground was a huge feild, a plane that streatches forever with hills rolling beyond that. In the middle of nowhere, about a fifty feet away, laid someone on the crest of the hill, looking at a clip board and mumbling random words to itself. It wasn't a pony, but from how it looked, it seemed to be the same as the monkey species from the images in the green rock. It wore clothes though, which was different from any monkey i had seen before. It had black baggy pants that covered it's two legs, which confused me. Pants were extraordinarily rare in ponyville since they looked silly on a pony, bought by only lyra. The pants seemed to fit the monkey better than the unicorn though. It had a emerald green shirt over his chest, which was also slightly uncommon to wear recreationally. Around its neck was a green crystal, exactly like mine, wrapped around it on a leather string. Leather bothered me endlessly after Twilight informed what it was made of to me, my friends and fluttershy, whom looked near death after the explanation. What sick freak holds an animal's skin around their neck? Still, the thing was the only one there besides myself, so i approached it steadily. "H-hello?" I asked. My mom said for me not to talk to strangers, but i didn't really think about that until it responded to the sky in a slightly high pitched male voice. "Gabe, who's talking?" After a short pause he continued to himself. "Hello?" More silence. "I know you're there! Don't fuck with me bro, I'm in your head!" He rose on two legs, setting the clip board down from his... what were those? To the end of his appendages were those palms with little moving things at the end, a lot like spike but with more claws, and they didn't look like claws. He eyed the sky frantically before looking upon a man approaching us. He appeared to be the same as the one talking to himself, but much older. He wore a weirder, more antique clothes, like a golfer ponys style. His face was far more wrinkled around his cheeks and eyes, but those shone brilliantly, pure green, like, solid emerald, no black at all. The kid stumbled back, dropping his clipboard, "What the fu-" he paused, scanning the new guest. "George Carlin?" "Hello Zaanne," the one named George spoke, "my appearance may seem like the one whom you refer to as George Carlin, but i am merely the ship that you and your friend, Gabriel, have obtained, for i am what you may call it's A.I. System. "Why the hell do i need a ship, we don't even have water in this part of texas!" He sounded sarcastic enough, as if he knew what the other human was refering to. "And how do you know my name if your a ship?" George seemed ok with being called a boat. "I scanned the world and learned many names and figures, yours being very interesting. You are in Gabriel's brain and speaks with him?" Zaanne seemed to calm down a minor amount, sitting back down but on full alert. "Yeah, i came from Gabe going loco about some harsh words, what's it to you?" I had no clue what they were talking about, or who Gabriel was, so i sat back and listened tacitly to not disturb. "Many others seek help to get rid of such a problem if they can, why does he keep you might i ask?" That seemed to put his rage up. "Wait, I'm a problem? You crashed into Gabe's world, sent aliens at us and demolished his school and you're calling ME a problem?!" He leaped back up, holding his chest out in an attempt to be intimidating. "WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?!" The outburst deemed completely unnecessary in my opinion, and George seemed to agree, though his face didn't say, the tone of his words did, "Your name is Zaanne, you are the product of a human's uneeded depression, like thousands of others, yet you have recently used my power to control the one that controls, if only for a moment. You've seen what it is like to live in one's brain and actively go out, which makes you special." George looked to the sky and looked like he was lost in thought. Zaanne watched patiently, strangely calmed by being called "special". He stood straight and watching the human stare. "You hear him too? He's awake, finally, he's such a lazy ass. I gotta go now, he doesn't get too far alone with his sarcasm and timidity." "Yet you don't stop him from speaking with sarcasm." Zaanne smirked, amused by the observation. "I can't say i control him, im just his best guide, like his gaurdian angel." As he spoke, he began gathered his clipboard and began to walk. "Explain to gabe your crystal stuff and I'll act all ignorant as usual. Tata for now." Zaanne strolled accross the hills leisurely, quickly becoming lost in the horizon. After He left, George turned to me. I hadn't realized they were ignoring me until he spoke, "So sorry for ignoring you, but i wanted to meet him before speaking with you. As he spoke he changed form, which by then was only the second weirdest thing that happened to me then. His body structure collapsed into a mist of green before recollecting itself, gathering and condensing into a solid pony. The transformation made me step back, seeing a species change from one to another was odd enough, seeing it become the mayor of ponyville was just beyond insanity. "Wh-who are you?" I stammered, taking more steps back. He was exactly like the mayor, despite his eyes glowing pure green still. He, or she now, had the same features, same glasses, white (pink) hair and small age wrinkles around her eyes. She smiles, looking to me warmly, "didn't you hear? I'm the ship that Gabriel possesses. You're here due to it's engine breaking off and crash landing into your land of, what was it, equestria? And you must be Scootaloo, the one that braved the ships power. That's very noble of one so small as yourself. How old are you?" "I'm nine years old..." Then a side thought occurred to me, "hey, mayor mare?" "I'm not the real mayor you speak of," she added, "but go on." After noticing what was going on here, i could easily deduct how i saved Applebloom the first time. "Well, apparently you have some sort of magic that i accidentally used to keep me and my friends alive back there in the school that, well, you destroyed. Does that crystal i found also contain more super powers? Like, for say, healing?" "it's a simple feat as long as i understand the condition and scan for it's problems, do you need my assistance again?" She say in front of me and stared into my eyes, scaring me abit. Her eyes were paralyzingly bright, but i spoke, "well, my friend is kinda in a hospital and we have a date soon, can you help me heal her wounds? They aren't too bad, just cuts and bruises and maybe a few burns." I didn't at all feel bad for not saying "fake" or "play" before the word "date", since that didn't really matter. I was really hoping for her to be safe, and it seemed that with that crystal, i could defend her forever. I mean, my friends... I could defend my friends forever. She stared at me for a moment, as if still being slightly amazed by my exsistance. "Obviously, your friend Applebloom doesn't have many bad injuries, besides this," she rose her hoof to the side, displaying a small picture of Applebloom's flank. On it was a gash that made me feel queezy, just her bleeding in general was bad enough, but it looked like it could easily get worse. "Worst this will do is cause an infection, she'll be fine under the doctor's care. "T-That doesn't look good, y-you sure she'll be alright?", I studdered. "Of course, why bother on a few cuts anyway? It's hard to fix things like disintegration and regenerating lost limbs and more advance things as that. Her cut will be an easy fix." "Oh thank you!" Just maybe twenty minutes before we were almost a meteor's collateral damage, so i was relieved nopony was seriously injured. Which brought my next questions, "is cheerily alright? Who else was in the crash?" "Cheerily sustained a broken hoof but is ok mentally. As for whomever else felt my crash, only a boy from the land of Earth." I suddenly remembered the video of that human running to the crystal. He was abit wider than George or Zaanne but showed to be bulkier. The image became more clear as i thought about it, which was weird considering how little of time i had to watch it. The two near him looked the exact same as him before they dissappeared. "That boy, was that gabe, the one you and Zaanne were talking about?" She nodded, "he aquired amnesia a few years ago by a source that my scanning can't find yet, therefore i will stay with him and you, for when you meet him in person, or pony, whatever the case, the two of you will be more aquatinted." I had no clue what the ship was talking about, but i was feeling anxious to meet this Gabe. He seemed brave enough to go to the ship, granted i did as well, that just made me admire him more. If rainbow dash were in our situation, would she have thought to get the crystal under control? I reckoned she would have at least tried, like me. She was too cool too not save her friends, that's just her. "Well, mind if i wake up now? I'd love to go back and take care of Applebloom, the date is on Wednesday." Even with the stuff going on, i couldn't help but keep thinking about that day. A full night with Applebloom would be way more fun than running through a crumbling building. "But of course, me and Zaanne will be accompanying you as you wake, in case we need your help for anything. My suggestion though, don't copy what Zaanne says, his language is rather... Uncouth." As from what Applebloom and sweetiebelle told me, "uncouth" didn't mean good, so i nodded. "Thanks again," i said, "uhh, how do i get out?" "Oh that's easy, just tell yourself to wake up" I looked up, staring to the sky and spoke clearly, "wake up, me!" The sky melted into a hospital room again and i was back to where i was before, sitting in my chair, only Applebloom was gone. Gabe goes greenThe sound of rushing and chatty models lowered as i walked silently through the hospital. The floors were white tile, spread like a huge bleached checkerboard across the floor. The walls were in a deep aqua, trimmed in green, as if the Pacific ocean had colored it. The lights were dim and made close to no shadow from their value. The roof was mainly the usual material as a hospital, but it was also stained deep blue-green. There was so much green for a sick house i felt worse for wearing the necklace, though i wasn't going to risk taking it off, so i continued to walk. The lights began to thin and fade as i strolled down what i guessed was the main hall, since it went on forever. I continued to tread until i could only see the outline of my arms, then stopped. After a moment's thought about light, the crystal glowed, illuminating my walking area, so i forged on. After a while i realized that not many people must come down this area, since it would have been pitch black if it weren't for my crystal. I started talking to Zaanne, or myself, I'd never know. So how far do you think this goes? i asked. How should i know, he responded, dark on both sides now I noticed from a glance behind me that i was now surrounded by black, only a small speck of light in the end we came from, which scared me more than it should have. Being in the dark was bad enough. Being in the dark flanked in a hospital of weird Barbie "creepy hospital" edition impersonators wasn't much better. Without my human friends, i didn't feel safe at all, but like an idiot i kept walking. why does it go on so far? i asked myself. That's when Morgan freeman came back on. It's a continuous hall, made to trap you into the darkest area, which would be the place with no light, but since you are giving off light, you will stay at the farthest edge of the hall lights. It took maybe five seconds to understand him. "Oh. Thanks Morgan, anything else you'd like to inform?" Yes actually, there is a being approaching from behind that has the same essence as one from the my previous users. that got Zaanne and my attention like lightning. We whirled around to be about twenty from Clarrisa. Her eyes flashed brilliantly in the light of the crystal. I swore that she wasn't there before as she hop-skiped closer, bugging my eyes and modesty too much to keep focus of her "Uhh, hello. Are we not supposed to be here? My, ah, friend said this area is doing some kind of magic, so i wanted to check it out." but i just said that, Morgan said,after you fell in the trap. Gee, thanks Zaanne scolded ,couldn't have warned us earlier if it were a trap? Speaking of traps look what we have here. She pursed her lips and leaned forward to keep my height, which made Zaanne shut up from his random perverted jokes. "Poor kid, not understanding how the ship works is bad for you. This ship has the ability to detect magic, aura, B.V. matter, or what you call 'bad vibes', and far more substances that you'll never even imagine, and that's just a small perk to it. It's power is far too much for a simple species like a human. Give us the crystal, Zaanne, and we won't kill you just yet." I didn't get how telling me the power in it would convince me to give it to the bad guy. I stood back, but the light behind her didnt move, so i felt like i was moonwalking without the actual moving part. "Aww, but I'm starting to like it on me, it's a fun rock to talk to, plus it's fashion sence is marvelous!" That didn't seen to be the right choice of words in her opinion. She stood straight up, smiling coldly, "it can also tear your body to bits and cast you to whatever your brain fears most." "Well good thing i fear cake and pizza, that'd be the worst!" I chuckled nervously. I wasn't certain that my sarcasm was making anything better, but she/he/whatever it is was stalled. I needed time to think of a way to get out. "Shame, i thought this form would sway you, but i guess we'll have to use more... displeasuring methods." Her eyes shone brighter than ever. She held her hand out slowly, letting the green fire appear and dance across her palm to her fingers. A neon green flame that swirled like a magic orb set ablaze in her hand, floating a centimeter in front of it before she thrust out her palm. the fireball shot like a rocket at me, the temperature increasing as it got closer. I dove to the side as the flare whizzed past my ear. Standing back, Clarrisa came closer, setting ablaze both of her hands and a chillingly calm smile across her face. "You have nowhere to go, Zaanne, the hall is too dark, you're stuck there." So much for my much needed thinking time. Luckily that little voice in my head decided to be helpful. Well i might be one for the offensive but i do have an idea. Zaanne chimed, The hall is magically made to keep you from the end, right? I dodged another fireball by a few inches, thankfull i wasn't wearing a shirt that would set me off like a torch. "Go on." Well, that means that there IS an end, we just need a light at that end. i matrixed another death ball and fell unbalanced on my back. With the magic energy i had forgotten that i was clumsy. That'll give us the exit, so we just need her to shoot the fireballs to the exit! As i hit the ground, i could see a few things that had caught on fire. If what Zaanne had said was true, we still had a chance. The only problem now was that i was on the floor, Clarrisa looming over me. Her hands illuminated the room around us like a wicked torch, No more words were needed. She put her hand straight down and smiled wide. Then the ship glowed intensly bright on my chest. You need fire, I heard Morgan say "Then give me fire!" I held my hands out to try and keep her finishing shot from my face, shutting my eyes tightly and waiting for the worst. That never came, all i heard was flame whooshing wildly and an enraged shout. When i opened my eyes, Clarrisa was ten feet away, sprawled on the floor with smoke curling off her chest. My hands were now burning brightly like hers had, though all i felt was that soft warm feeling, just like when i was in flames in the bed. I stood, still trying to apprehend what i just did. Either i had shot fire or made something explode, most likely both on the alien, who rose angrily, sputtering curses at me silently. She wasn't burnt, but her clothes couldn't say the same. She looked like Frankenstein's monster's college mate, after getting struck by lightning. "You're not supposed to hit girls you know!" She hollered. "Yeah, but you're not a girl, you're a threat." I rose my hand, the flames glowing brighter. "Zaanne, should we fight or flee?" You know my answer Zaanne said, kick it's ass! "Flee it is!" I extended both arms out of each side of the hall, imagining the fires becoming balls like the ones she shot at me. Immediately, both hands went off like rockets, shooting one ball o' death out of each palm. The one to my right hit the roof a few feet in front of Clarrisa, toppling it's turquoise structure down on her. The other ball wiffled into the darkness, flashing and setting ablaze everything in the room, combusting a hundred yards away on a large pair of steel double doors. Before the fire could spread and set the whole room up, i tore down the hall, the debris pile exploding behind me with an inhumane wail. "GET BACK HERE!!!" Yelled a not so feminine voice from afar. I disobeyed and barreled through the doors. _______________ Sunlight blinded me for a few seconds before my eyes could readjust. We were next to the highway that led to my school, on the side exit of a hospital that wasn't there before. The area WAS reserved to be a Baylor hospital, but i was sure the date of opening wasn't for another year or two. "Morgan, can you tell me what day it is?" Tuesday. February twelth, 2013, valentines day is on Wednesday. "Oddly specific. Why is the hospital already made?" The building was all stone on the outside, hundreds of windows lining every wall like a typical hospital. There were no signs of construction, and the parking lot was empty besides my moms white van and Jacob's dad's Mustang. Besides that it was clear, despite the hundreds of nurses. It's a copy of another hospital, created to keep you stuck in there. "Wait, so now my friends and family are in there with psycho aliens dressed like hot nurses?!" Nobody was around at the moment so i didn't feel too stupid for talking to myself. "they're still in the hospital, being held captive by the other alien." Said the crystal. At some point the ship started projecting his voice from the necklace. "I suggest reclaiming them before they steal any information from your loved ones." I started to plan immediately. I inspected the walls that towered maybe ten stories high. I saw the sun in the sky. With another question i got that it was 4:40 P.M., school should have ended a few hours ago. The doors had pulled themselves closed and seemed to magically lock, but i felt that if we didn't start moving, Clarrisa, or whatever the creep decides to turn into, would love to meet us again. I didn't like that idea. "Mr. Ship, it said you could detect magic and abunch of other things, can you, like, scan the building and tell me what you find?" The crystal on my chest glowed brilliantly again, and my vision went black. I panicked until things started to glow. The building became visible, but half transparent like a hologram. Inside there were little color coded people. There was two green people, one of which was struggling to get stuff off of it, the other about six stories high, leaned over what looked like a table. There were halls of purple including the one i exited and a lot of the back halls, so i assumed that every exit had some sort of magicall trap set into it. Threre was a cluster of blue glowing people that the attentive green one was standing next to. I guessed that the green ones were the aliens and the blue were basic humans. There were white/grey people everywhere, which i figured were the other nurses. "This must be aura. Zaanne, plan?" Well, from the angle of the sun and the temperature of the air, i implore we kick ass until you find the damned humans. it seemed legitimate for Zaanne's style, though his plans ended in me getting beaten a lot of the time. Then again, his last plan turned out better than expected. I could now shoot fire, so i did have offencive means to defend myself. "Ship, are the other nurses of any danger?" "Actually, they aren't real, more of a physical illusion made by these aliens. They'll still attack if threatened, but no harm if you hurt them." "Hey, if you were their ship before, why do you call them alien?" "They don't have a species, they were made from the same DNA of the grey matter in your brain. So if you want, i guess they'd be called Gray People." Then why are they green instead of gray? Zaanne asked. "Is the brain gray?" Ship answered sarcastically. Is it? I never considered ripping someone's skull open and finding out. Is the brain green? I let them discuss body color as i ran to the front door, routing my rescue mission. My vision had returned, but mixed with the other so i could see exactly where we were and the safest path to take. My plan was simple enough: sneak through the safer areas, only using force on parts required. Save my family from an alien that i barely knew about, get everyone out and find a way to stop the grey people from killing off anyone, especially me. Compared to the plan that blew me up a few hours ago, this seemed well fitting to a usual Monday. I spoke up. "Well if we're gonna be doing this, i should wear something abit warmer than school pants, don't you think?" I said, feeling a breath of winter air hit. Truthfully i loved the cold, it was a blessing in the southern states, but i also liked the thought of shooting fire without having a fever, which I'll inevitably get halfway through the rescue mission with my luck. Zaanne seemed to like the idea. I could feel his excitement increasing. ~Actually i thought of a sweet outfit to match the crystal while you were unconceous, think you can make it for me Ship?~ Yes yes, i saw your designs in our meetup. I'll see what we can make. As he finished his sentence, clothes started forming about my body. Pacific green threads intertwined with more threads and eventually formed into a fine green tee, which shone a very faint blue or yellow in different shades of light. It was so light and comfy that i barely felt it around my body, which i was greatful for. Over the shirt came a hoodie, which came in a more flashy style. Flames shot back up my arms, changing to cloth and forming the sleeves from my wrists to my shoulders. The same thing went up my back, fully creating the unzipped body. It finished with creating a hood that veiled over my eyes, though i could still see through it. The school pants changed into shaggy black jeans, having deep green stitching. The crystal blazed with light, glowing the front of my body and edging me onward. Now that my body was mainly covered, i felt a surge of magic tread through my arms, and with a pull back of my new sleeves, i watched the cybernetic lines reform across my arms and stopping at my wrist, symboling the otherworldly energy coursing through my veins. I gaped at the new look, smiling with delight. "Zaanne, you're awesome." Was all i could say, until i remembered to joke about it, "You and Rarity should start a clothing design line! It'd last forever!" One, I know I am. Two, screw that, Rarity's too strict, now let's get to it! And on that command, my hands lit up and i opened the doors to the sadistic aliens' hospital. Author's Note I'll change ~these~ to italics when i can. tada! (S) meeting ZaanneLooking ahead of me, I saw Applejack and Big Macintosh was there with Granny Smith were there, though they didn't seem too worried. When Applejack saw me, she smiled and hopped to me. "Yer awake! Well ya haven't been asleep for long, they just took Applebloom in to check on her, i reckon your teacher is getting checked on too." I was still dreary from sleep but i looked about, blinking out the drowsiness in my eyes. "Cheerily has a broken hoof and applebloom is cut on the flank, could get bad if we don't fix it." Then i looked to Big Mac. "Hey, why aren't you all in there with her? It's not that bad of wounds." Granny Smith nodded slowly "You were the one to save her, we all agreed you should s-" at that point she mumbled off to sleep. Applejack took it up. "You saved her, least we can do is let ya see her first. She ain't been long, maybe two minutes. We'll be there shortly after." I nodded and got up, going to Appleblooms room. None of the nurses stopped me or asked me for my name or anything, which made sad sense. I came here quite often unfortunantly. Crashes into buildings, failed scooter tricks, fights with bullies, exploding schools, and stuff like that always put me bedridden or injured. I even knew what room Applebloom was in before anypony told me. Just a quick glance at the front desk told me she was in room 10, so i entered that room. She was sitting on a chair as a doctor did the usual checkup that you'd do on a minorly hurt pony, checking her hooves and face and dabbing alchohol stuff on her smaller cuts, which she winced abit to until she saw me. Applebloom smiled wide and hopped off the chair. "Hi Scootaloo!" She gave me as big of a hug as she could, which i greeted with one as well. Her mane still smelled like smoked wood from the school. There was a bandage across her flank over the cut. "Hey Applebloom, it's good to see you're ok." She was so happy to either be alive or see me, she shook abit into the hug. The nurse gathered her materials and left, giving us some private time. She stood in silence, keeping her head on my shoulder. "Thank ya for savin me, scoots.", she finally whispered. Her voice was soft and happy next to my ear, and from another look at the bandage on her (yes that is what i was looking at), i felt a small wave of guilt roll over me. "I wouldn't of had to if i didn't tell you to follow me. In the end i put more ponies in danger than i had to." "But if i wouldn't have been there, something much worse could have happened to Ms. Cheerily!" She broke the hug and looked at me, abit annoyed. "If i hadn't followed, would you have been able to save her on your own?" She had a point. I still felt bad, but I decided not to let that show. "I guess not. Mind if i look at the cut?" She eyed the bandaid on her rump and smiled, speaking sarcastically as she waved it abit. "Oh that's what ya wanna look at?" The thought of me considering staring at her like that made me feel funny, and her shaking her flank made my face hot. "Uhhh... I can heal it if you want" She looked at me confused "It'll heal over time, like all of your injuries. Worst I'll get is a scar or something, and ah can live with that" Even with that comment, i knelt down next to her and inspected the cut. Undoing the bandage, the cut looked the same as in the dream, but cleaned out by the nurse. Something glinted on my chest and i looked down, just noticing the crystal on my neck. It was like Zaanne's, but abit smaller and with a chain holding it instead of leather, thankfully. It glowed faintly on me, the ship thing patiently waiting to heal Applebloom, so i let it. I'm not completely sure what i did to help, but it worked. I placed my hoof on her flank and watched. At first, nothing happened. Then, the crystal glowed brighter, sending a warm feeling through my body. As the warmth hit my hoof, the wound on her began to close. She didn't protest, so I figured it was painless, and she seemed content with laying down on the floor. The cut slowly closed into a scar, and even that was fading. It shrank into the size of a paper cut before dissappearing completely. A.B. Had fallen asleep at some point, breathing deeply and leaning abit against me, so i put her back on the checkup bed that is always covered in paper for some reason. She smiled in her sleep, grabbing my hoof before i could move back and hugging it like a teddy bear. I felt weird, having Applebloom hold my hoof in her sleep, but she seemed to like it, and eventually i decided to let her have my hoof until the nurse came back. Her body was warm on my hoof when she pulled it closer, sending a small shiver down my spine for no reason. Then Zaanne came up in my head. Hello? This thing on? He said. "Uhhh hello?" think when you talk to me, no talking to talk, got it? "Uhhhh, no." I had no idea how Zaanne had started talking in my head, since he was apparently in Gabriel's. I guess there's a wireless phone line in brains or something. Ugh fine, one second there was a lot of tinkering noises and the sound of banging hammers, which quickly gave me a headache. After about a minute of the tinkering, the crystal started speaking like a speaker. "Better? Now you don't sound insane in public!" "This is Zaanne right? I saw you in my dream." "Yeah that's me. I can't see you but you sound familiar, who exactly are you? Ben Ten?" "My name is Scootaloo, I'm a pony from ponyville." There was a really long pause on the other end before i heared "HOLY SH-.... Uhhhh you're a pony?" "Yes, is that bad?" "NONONONONONO that's awesome! I'm talking to Scootaloo!? Like no joke, an actual Pegasus?!" "How'd you know I'm a Pegasus?" He didn't seem to hear, he was too busy yapping random things. It sounded like he was fanfillying, which i could understand if i were somepony famous, like spitfire or the princess. This made no sense, to be so happy about hearing me. Applebloom was still asleep so i left her there, she was healed and happy, so i was happy. Even the smaller cuts and bruises had faded away, plus i didn't want to disturb her any more. Once i was back in the lobby, i told Big Mac and Granny Smith that she was asleep. I found Applejack talking to Rainbowdash, laughing and smiling at things i couldn't hear. They seemed so overjoyed to talk to each other i heard myself chuckle under my breath. Applejack heard me and jumped abit, looking startled at me. "Oh, Scootaloo! We were uhh, talking" I had a slight idea of what i interrupted thanks to Sweetiebelle, so i just nodded. "Is Applebloom ok?" Rainbow asked, anxious to go to that subject. Her cheeks were slightly red and she was sitting pretty close to AJ, not that i noticed or anything. "Yeah, she's fine. She's asleep though so i wouldn't wake her up." Zaanne had gone silent then, and I wasn't sure if he was listening of not. The crystal had stopped glowing and hung loosely on my chest. It was so light i barely felt it when i was still. "Well, Cheerily is doing pretty well, only one problem." "Broken hoof, Yeah i know." Rainbow looked suprised, and i was amused that i could intrigue her. "By the way, how did you know her hoof was broken?" Then the thought occurred to me that, if i were to say that a rock told me in a dream with a psychotic monkey that could talk, I'd be put in a padded room with that weird filly Screwball. "I... Uhhh... Noticed it when we were at the school..." I studdered. She seemed to belive it and layed back in a chair, looking out the window. "I don't know what was caused the damage, but it's gone now. Thanks for helping Applebloom, kid, you did good." I thanked her and looked outside. The smoke had dissappeared, thanks to the weather ponies making wind drafts away from the town. I didn't realize how hungry i was until one of the drafts went through the food market and drifted into the building. Applejack heared my tummy rumble and laughed heartfully. "She must be starving after the whole thing, let's getchya something to eat." "Can i come too?" Rainbowdash said "I'm starving!" In the back of my head, i heared mayor mare talk again. ~She ate before she came here, she appears to be full.~ How do you know that? I asked, or thought, or something like that. Planet scan, Rainbowdash was eating a hay sandwich while the medics inspected the teacher. You're kinda nosey for a space ship... Rainbowdash was up with AJ and they left to sweet apple acres, so i followed. I gather information and say what is relevant to it, is that not what a computer should do? Computer.... What's a computer? The complete walk to the apple family's farm consisted of a rock talking in my head over what this computer thing is. Ok ok, so it's a box of electricity that transfers information? That's about it, and you can access games from it. What kind of games? Suddenly the convorsation was inturupted by Zaanne, who came through my head with the sound of explosions. We're being attacked by Megan Fox cheerleaders and you're talking about software?! Get your head in the game! I'm talking on both sides, no need to worry yourself on something you can't comprehend. Well screw you too. Scootaloo, can you help me out? He explained the situation of Gabriel being trapped in some dark magic room, the ship/mayor revising him whenever he exaggerated. I was listening so hard that i accidentally ran face-first into an apple tree. After a few grumbles to myself i found that i had completely moved off the trail from the other two, but they didn't even seem to bat an eye at me. They spent their time, walking slowly about ten yards behind and again picking up the conversation that i couldn't hear. Uhhh, get the nurse to shoot fire at the other end or something, make both sides bright. I decided. It seemed logical enough, having light shot at you would mean you have light to expend. I recalled learning something like that from Ms. Cheerily in "Magic Science Week", where we all try to match scientific theories with magic and mumbo-jumbo like that. It's our best bet, I'll see if it works. they went silent after that, so i regained the path to the Apple farm house and waited for the two there. They must have noticed my stares, since they immediately regained their space bubbles at the sight of me. "So..." Rainbowdash said, "what do you have here?" "Uhhh, you know... Apples?" She looked off at the apple trees, that or RD's tail hitting the sunlight as she walked up the steps of the farmhouse porch for about three seconds. Four seconds... Five seconds... "Right!" She finally stumbled out, "apples it is then!" As she left to gather the nessecary materials for apple products, namely apples, i looked to Rainbowdash. "You two done with the girly crush stuff or is this gonna keep up until hearts and hooves day?" She seemed confused by my question, since i got a well informing "huh?" "Seriously, when Applejacks not checking you out, you're looking at her." I figured i should have kept it to myself, but i had alone time with my non biological sister, so i figured it'd be the best time to ask. "What's up with that?" "Wait, Applejack checks me out?" She said in the same tone you would ask for candy at a candy shop. "Yeah, but why do you?" I already knew the answer, but i felt obligated to hear it from her instead of in some gossip. She scanned around to make sure nopony was looking and motioned me closer, whispering silently into my ear, "Well, if you really wanna know, I've kinda liked her, for a while now... You ok with that?" "Yeah, totally cool with that, I just figured out this morning that most of everyone here is into mares anyway" i told her about what Sweetie said about her friends, realizing i was just as bad with secrets as her right as i finished. Apparently rainbow and I have an equal style of A.D.D. "Oh, Pinkie's bi? That explains that party she threw a few weeks ago!" "Yeah by the way, what's bi mean?" I still hadn't gotten a straight answer on what that was. "Uhhh it mea-" it's someone that likes both genders. mayor mare inturupted. "Oh, thanks." I said out loud "No problem" Rainbowdash said, which made me unsure of who i was refering to. Applejack was trotting back, about ten yards away with a batch of apple pies on her back. There was no possible way that she could have baked three pies in so little time, but they smelled delicious, and I was hungry, so i wasn't going to question. "Oh also, please don't tell AJ what i said, Pinkie Promise you won't." I did the hoof gestures for the Pinkie Promise as the farm pony came, setting the pies on an outdoor table. "Y'all ready for some good ol' apple pie?!" We all ate quickly, smiling in delight of the taste of the pies. Every so often the beings in my head would talk, and i would stop to listen to them. Zaanne seemed to be aggressive but kind hearted to his friend Gabe or anyone that wasn't human, while the ship was pretty much Twilight without the shyness, spouting facts and constantly informing me of what Gabriel was doing, switching voices to random famous or important ponies. As the voice of Princess Cadence was telling me what he about Gabe's new clothing articles, and Zaanne talking about how Rarity could go for some magical accessories, i realized applejack and Rainbowdash were looking at me funny. "Yes?", I asked. "You've been spaced out for almost five minutes now," rainbow asnswered, "what's on your mind kid?" Purple hair? Zaanne said, which made me giggle to myself. The two that couldn't hear him were really looking at me now, seemingly questioning my sanity. "You ok there, sugarcube?" Applejack asked. I figured that i shouldn't stay longer, since they couldn't hear who i was talking to anyway, and having the necklace talk would give me way too much attention. "Yeah yeah, I'm fine. I'll just be going now, check to see if dinners being made or something..." "But you just ate..." But i was already down the steps and galloping off. Now that i had some free time, i asked aloud, "If you can do all that magic for us, why can't you just send Gabe's friends out of the hospital?" "The aliens have set a force feild that disables teleporting anyone that doesn't have the crystal on them.", Ship said as i entered town, sneaking into an alley way to talk. "Why don't they disable the crystal?" "Two reasons." Zaanne said, speaking grimly, "One, they can't do that without the crystal. Two, they want Gabe to give them the ship. They're leading us into a trap." "Then you two get to helping him, you don't need me distracting you." "Actually, we could use you over here. The crystal said, flashing brightly. "Would you like to meet Gabriel?" "That'd be awesome, but isn't he on a different planet?" "Simple teleportation, i can send you there, on one condition." "What would that be?" Me and Zaanne asked. I sat on a crate, looking off in the distance. Gabriel was a few zillion miles away, fighting two insane aliens that wanted to make some thing called "The ultimate world" or at least that's what Zaanne had said. I really wanted to help them out. "You become human while on earth, to lower suspicion of other worlds." I paused to that. "A... Human?" Zaanne didn't seem happy over that. "Why a damn human?! Why can't we just make her an actual horse or something?" "Horses can't talk, they just neigh. Besides, the dominate race is humans on Earth, so it'd be the most reasonable transformation." "Can you make me a human? How does that work anyway?" "The same way that Gabriel aquired a new body. You take the elements of a human being and transfer it to your DNA, morphing you into a human. It's completely painless, i promise you." I hopped off the crate and looked to the town of ponyville, hesitating abit. "Will i be able to go back home?" "Yes" Ship said, voice resembling Soarin from the wonderbolts. Zaanne was grumbling some uncouth comments about humans, which confused me. Why would someone, who lived with humans their entire life, hate them so much? "Then take me to Earth then, to the hospital that Gabriel's friends are at." As i finished my words, the world went white, then green, then in a flash of light, i was standing on my himd legs, green flames circling me as my body changed, the fur on my arms shrank to nothing, leaving skin and bones. I stared in amazement and horror as my hooves shrank and became something new, five appendages coming out of the base of a small square where my hoof once was. "I suggest closing your eyes." I heard Zaanne say right in front of me, so i shut my eyes tightly and waited. "When you open your eyes" A new voice said, who i figured was the ship, "you will be in the room next to Gabriel. For now, rest. The trip won't be long." Scootaloo burns the policeIf i was going to sneak in, I'm not sure why i set my hands on fire before i did. Strangely enough i got noticed immediately. The woman at the front desk eyed me from a magazine, staring at me with a confused face. "Ship, will the nurses attack?" I asked, since i realized i didn't have a plan for if i got caught. "They have the same mind set of a human, but they're only an emulated version of the species. They will attack, but chances are you won't be damaging anyone if you were to attack them." As he was saying that, the nurse broke from her confusion and sat up quickly. "A-are you ok? Are you the special patient my boss told me about?" "Uhh, maybe?" If it was a fake hospital then i figured I'd be the only patient anyway. That must have been what she was talking about. She still studied me in shock. "H-how are your hands on fire?!" She asked shakily. Her manicured fingers were on her desk, inching toward some button. "Magic rock, I don't really know myself." On that, I walked toward the door that had the least amount of traps, pushing on it. It didn't open. "They open from the other side, or by a button on my desk." She pressed a button and a completely different door swung open, which i could feel magic lightning zip through it, waiting to electrocute me. "Your bed is this way, sir. Zaanne is your name, right?" "Uhhh taco." I hadn't noticed that i didn't babble random words since the explosion, but now that my mind wasn't really set on talking (as it never is), i couldn't think of what i was supposed to say. "I mean, sure." Hey, that's my name! i heard Zaanne say in my head. I know, but the aliens apparently refer to us by your name for some reason, so I'm going with that for now. The nurse gestured over to the death hall, which i wasn't reluctant to disobey. With a thrust of my fingers, the fire on my hands bolted into the door, obliterating it into a simmering hole. "I'm good, thank you-", I looked at her name tag, "-Danika. Nice meeting you!" On that note, i skipped through the red-hot door frame, running like a bullet as I heard her yap over some intercom "Patient 001 is loose! His hands are, like, on green fire and stuff, and he's running down hall 10!" This time, instead of females in tiny nurse get-ups, two male cops walked into the hall, ten yards in front of me. They had the usual navy suit, with a gun in one holster and what i figured was a taser in another, though I've never seen one before. They had night sticks equipped in their hands and were tapping them on the walls, waiting for me to come closer. "Why are there cops?!", i yelled, firing two green fireballs at them. They raised their batons and batted the flames as if they were really dangerous base balls, sending them into the walls and causing the hall to catch on fire. I figured the batons were goners, but they didn't even look charred. "They're like the nurses, just... More powerful.", Ship informed, voice changing so he now sounded like Siri. The police officers advanced, looking straight at me with stone cold eyes. They were close to three feet away now, within swinging distance, so I did the logical thing. I yelled "PIZZA!", fired my magic at the walls around me, and ran at them. The walls erupted into a pacific green inferno, encircling the guards as i pushed through them. For the moment, the guards' only reactions were to fall backward, literally, and scramble away from the fire. Their sleeves caught on fire as they tried to evade it. By the time they could gather their wits and snuff out the flames, i was long gone. The next room i ran into had four guards, this time with no other door. The scanner said there was a hall behind them with a trap-free elevator, but i couldn't see any entrance. The door behind me slammed shut with a "click", which ment no turning around. The officers surrounded me, each one having a different weapon out, from the hand gun to the taser to the baton. The fourth one had a metal bat, which didn't seem right for a cop to have. Whenever i looked one way, i could see the gunman and the bat boy, but not the taser or baton guy. I was surrounded. "Lemme at 'em!" Zaanne yelled from the crystal. After what i saw him do at school, I could see how Zaanne could handle himself on one or two cops, but four, with weapons? Before i could decide if i even could switch out for Zaanne, the officer charged at me, raising his bat up. I didn't really think and i ducked from his swing, shooting my fire at his arm. It exploded and he spiraled to the floor, screaming in pain and smoking like a barbecue. He dropped his bat, and I immediately felt bad for him. "Oh, sorry!" He looked at me with pure hate, reaching for the bat with his other hand. At the time i saw the taser man start up the electricity inside the gun. He fired as soon as i ran for the bat man. We both grabbed the bat when the taser hit my arm, making it go numb and sending electricity through the metal, zapping the cop's good hand. I might have apologized again, but there was an electric wire sticking out of my arm, which didn't feel good. I yelped and extended my arm, expecting to light the guy up, but something different came out. As i yelled, the flames on my hands died and switched to white and green electricity, shooting out like i were a taser. The pain in my arm subsided and cop #2 glowed brightly and fell. I looked at my jacket sleeve, which was undamaged somehow. Plasma surged through my arms painlessly. "Fire" i said, and my original magic returned. Taser man was nothing but a pile of clothes and bat man's arms were scorched to his shoulders, with the other two cops staring with awe, or fear, I don't know. My left arm tingled and still wouldn't move, but it didn't hurt and the wire thing from the taser had fallen out at some point. I couldn't register what just happened, but Zaanne beat me to questioning. "What the hell did Gabriel just do?!" Zaanne asked. "He absorbed the electricity that should have paralyzed him and shot it back at the target, which seemed to disentigrate him. Fairly simple feat compared to surviving the grey people." "Wait, I killed the guy?!" The other cops were staring at me, gun and baton pointed as i chatted with myself. "I was just trying to stun him!" The crystal stayed too calm for my comfort. "Don't worry, he wasn't real. He was made like the hospital, you can destroy almost anyone here without hurting a single soul." "Wait, almost? You mean my friends, right?" The police advanced slowly, eyeing my hands as they got closer. "Well, them, and an ally, a newcomer to Earth, she'll be here soon, just finishing her adjustments. You won't mind that right?" "The more the better." The baton guy got over his fears and swung the stick at the back of my neck. I ducked again and tripped him, hopping over him as the other cop fired at my feet. "Well hurry up with your reinforcements!" I shot fire at the cop's weapon, making him drop the now heated gun. "Wait, how did you guys have time to talk to anyone but me?" That sounded selfish after thinking about it, but too late to rephrase. "Multitasking! We can be in two places at once!" I continued dodging and knocking back the police. They both came at me, but I held them back with fire, not anxious to disentigrate anyone else. I didn't really care that they were fake, they still had feelings. After keeping back the two cops with fire and the occasional lightning, the ship said, "Done. She is in the next room, just open the wall and she can help you with your mission." "You couldn't tell me who she is?!", I asked as i grabbed the baton in the cops hand, raising my palm up and burning his head to a crisp. "Sorry!" "I wanted it to be a suprise", Zaanne laughed out. They were hiding something from me, and i wanted to know what. Something about the ally. As the cop fell, I ran to where the hall should have been and touched it. This time, i imagined the explosion that the aliens did at my school. Cybernetic lining burned in the wall and it exploded, sending dust and wood through and causing a giant hole in the wall, showing a hall. The scanner showed a new aura. A yellow glow with a light green inside it. The elevator was right next to it. The remaining cop ran for his gun, which had cooled off, but with a wave of lightning, he turned into a pile of ash. "So sorry, guys!" I couldn't see the person in front of me, but i heared coughing and the sound of a marching band running at full speed down every hall, so i grabbed the human, who was strangely light, and pulled us to the elevator. I pressed the "up" button and we waited. I heard the kid shout, "Hey, you're Gabriel? She sounded about ten, with a slightly scratchy voice that pretty much equaled mine in pitch. From where i had grabbed her, she was about three/fourths of my height. "Yeah, how do you know me? Have we met from somewhere?" Ship and Zaanne had gone silent for the moment. The dust lowered so i could see the kid, but I was too distracted by the cops that came forth. There were about twenty now, all with random police weapons drawn. Guns, tasers, even riot shields, were all aligned in each exit. Every cop's eyes focused on me and the kid as they marched forward. The kid yelled, "how do you shoot fire?!" "I just yell 'Fire'!" Immediatly the flames on my hands grew and i began shooting my fireballs at the cops. A few got through and burned up some cops, but most were just deflected by batons or blocked by the shields. I heared from behind me, "Fire!" And turned long enough to see the girl's hands set ablaze. I wasn't sure who was more suprised, me, her, or the police. That shouldn't have been possible without the crystal. She rose her hands and two green infernos blazed out, rocketing them like torpedoes. The front line of her side of the hall staggered back as the elevator finally opened, and we ran in without hesitation. I turned the flaming hands off to press the top floor button, which was where my friends were at, as she blazed up the hospital guards that tried to approach. They were now scattered, running around like chickens with their heads cut off, their hair on fire in bizzar shades of green. Cops dropped shields and weapons, scrambling about and running into eachother. It would have been amusing if they weren't giving us murderous glances and some still trying to fire guns at us, which we somehow dodged the bullets and electric wires. The doors closed and we slumped down on the floor, breathing heavily. I figured the police would just press the button before we could go up, but the kid did a good job at setting the hall on fire, so they might have been hesitated. "Wh-who are you?" I asked, looking over to her. She wore a red t-shirt with the emblem that i remembered far too well as the Cutiemark Crusaders logo, with the pony and the cape in the royal sheild thing. She has punk style black jeans, with a chain running from two belt loops. Her hair was either purple or so black it appeared purple, i couldn't tell. Her face was caramel colored and red on the cheeks, which caught my eye pretty well. My crystal didn't normally expend physical strength for magic power, so she must have been pretty stressed from something before we met. Then again, I'm terrible at reading faces, so i couldn't tell. That was also a big thing that boggled me. On her chest, in a white chain necklace, was the exact same crystal i had, glowing with energy until she snuffed out her fires. "I'm Scootaloo, nice to meet you too." Truthfully, i should have called bluff, but at that point i figured many impossible things were happening at the moment. Aliens hold my family hostage, Scootaloo appears as a human to me, why not? My reaction was immediate and overdramatic, as i expected myself to react to seeing a pony. "YOU'RE SCOOTALOO?! Like, the pegasus, CMC member, RD's best admirer?!" She laughed, which i couldn't help but hop around the elevator and laugh with her. I was over ecstatic about her existence, but she seemed to be ok with my hyperactivity. "Wow," she said, "you act so much like Pinkie Pie, it's scary! Yeah, that's me, I'm also your reinforcement, so let's go save your friends!" That set me back on track. She was fairly calm, smiling at me with beautiful purple eyes. The crystals flashed on both of us and we sighed deeply as i felt a surge of extra strength roll through. For a rock, it does pretty well with keeping your stamina up. "The room is to the left," the crystal ship said from her necklace, sounding like somepony i couldn't think of at the moment, "but there is company there." I looked with my aura vision. The room still had the captives, but they were in a circle and laying flat on their backs for some reason. The alien was at some desk, tapping on it quickly. At the far side of the hall, i saw the second alien walking with some force, stomping his or her way to the room. "Thanks ship." Scootaloo said, looking at the level on the button. Three more to go, and I'd be fighting aliens again. No magnesium to get me out of this one. "So, you two know eachother?" I asked. "Not too well. He acts like a... It's a computer right?" "Yeah that's it.", Zaanne said from my crystal. She explained her story, about the explosion of her school and how she moved really fast and healed applebloom's wounds, then turned human and appeared in the hall next to me. "Woah, you turned human? How'd ya do that?" "The ship changed me to a human to lower suspicion or something," she said, looking at my crystal, "Maybe he can turn you into a pony." That sounded like the greatest thing to ever happen to me, and i was certain I wanted to become a pony. I'd gladly fight off aliens to do that, I'd even let Zaanne have my human body, just to tick him off. "We are SO doing that later!", Zaanne said as the elevator doors slid open, revealing a dark hallway that glowed faintly with a supernatural humming noise that spread through the hall. The scan said there was a trap down the hall that lead to the designated room, but there was a detour we could take that would get us there. The problem was, the aliens had gathered now, and they were marching side by side in green auras, routing in our direction. "Why are there so many damn halls?!", Zaanne grumbled, and i realized that he was trying to censor himself around the filly/human, which was really kind considering who Zaanne normally is. "It's a hospital, whadya expect?" I couldn't see the grey people with my own two eyes, but they were getting closer. "You got any ideas?", Scootaloo asked, looking down the random halls. I guess she couldn't see the aura or traps. "I got a few, none all that great." The walls were the same aqua-green color as the other halls, a strangely reoccurring color scheme of the whole alien thing. There was a smile on my face, despite the situation. I felt overjoyed from meeting Scootaloo, and now that I was certain that Equestria exsists, i couldn't wait to save my friends and turn myself into a pony, i didn't care what was in my way, whether it be hot nurses or cops or psycho aliens. I must have spaced out because i suddenly felt Scootaloo's small hand grab my arm and pull me into some janitorial closet door. Shutting it, she held her hand over my mouth to silence my confused protest. The aliens were there now, both looking completely different than their previous forms, but obviously alien. They were Asian now, one wearing a white on black tuxedo and the other in a karate gi, a black and red stitched belt around his waist. The gi was impressive, pitch black with flaming dragons encircling the arms, their mouths open at the wrists to show his hands catching in fire, which he could do without the stitched lizards. They're the bad guys, i thought, ~the ones we're fighting to save my family~ They look awesome. Scootaloo responded in my head, making me stare at her for a moment. She was like six years younger than me, why couldn't i figure out telekenises so quickly? The Asians were talking in whispers, looking at the elevator and waiting. I guess they thought we were still in it. Zaanne said We need to get away and get your friends out, before we get killed. It sounded like a great plan if they weren't a few feet from us. The moment they needed some frebreeze, we'd be busted. I say we charge out, disorient them as we get as much distance as possible., Scootaloo said, This would be way easier with my scooter. I'll send it over, ship said, then there was a flash of light. I was suprised the aliens didn't notice. As the light faded, Scootaloo smiled contently. At her feet was her usual scooter. She picked up and studied it. There was some writing burned into the wood, but looking at the flash of light had left too many white spots in my vision to read. Thanks ship, let's start the charge. On that, she kicked open the door and sped off down the safe hall, knocking over the aliens in their shock. I didn't have any skating stuff, so i imagined being the speed of scooter and barreled after the human/pegasus. (S) fire in the black roomAs we twisted down the green walls to save Gabriel and Zaanne's friends, I couldn't help but think through what has happened.So far I have done more impossible feats than most ponies could do in their lives. I've had an alien space ship crash into my school. I've ran at super speed to save my friend and teacher, then healed Applebloom right after. I transformed into a species i barely knew about, then i shot fire from my new hands at an army of police officers. As of turning human, i had expected to have trouble with walking or moving my fingers. As it turned out, Ship had thought of that, and gave me the knowledge of how to control my new form. Since i was only on two legs, i felt much taller than i usually am. Zaanne had set up the clothes, which he said it "-was a mix of the cutie mark crusaders and a street kid." I wasn't too sure what he ment, but it looked cool, so I went with it. Gabriel, well, you don't need magic to tell he's either lost his marbles or never had any to begin with. First off, he never stopped moving. He would try to, but his fingers would constantly twitch and his head would begin darting about randomly. When he spoke, he would finish by mumbling to himself, as if he wasn't sure if he had said what he did. His baby blue eyes would dart around, staring at everything for a few seconds before becoming completely engrossed in a new item. As he was talking to me in the elevator, you could see him scanning every detail on me before registering the lights, then the buttons, then the floor pattern as he mumbled stuff about multiplication. If i didn't know he actually had voices in his head, I'd keep my distance. His hair was spiky green, with blue and yellow highlights under his bangs. The crystal was definantly the one i had, only with a leather necklace holding it instead of a chain. When we used magic, it blared almost a neon green. When Zaanne or the ship spoke through it, the rock would flicker to match their voices. Back to the story. Me and Gabe barreled down the halls, being directed by Gabriel's guidance. Somehow, he was able to find out exactly what rooms to enter, when to avoid traps and when we would have to shoot off the random cop. I didn't have wings as a human, which should have freaked me out, but I made good time on my scooter. Having fingers gives an amazing grip. "We're almost there!" Gabe yelled to me. Right after, I heard him mumble again under his breath, "There, almost? We are?". He sprinted close to me with great speed, so I figured he was using crystal magic to run. "Duck!", Zaanne yelled, and we both hit the floor. With our momentum, we cleanly slid under the axes that spun out to decapitate us. "I thought we were avoiding the traps!" I shrieked as the blades disappeared into the walls. "Every hall has traps from here, raised defense for the-" his sentence was cut short by the bucket of acid that missed by a few feet. It splashed, hitting Gabriel's jacket. I thought it would disintegrate, but it just absorbed it like a super-duper powerful sponge. "That was too close!" We spent the rest of the time dodging traps. We shot fire down both sides of the hall every so often to break the eternal darkness spell. We broke through random knives and darts that would fire at us. Gabe and Zaanne would yell an order, and we would dodge or blow up any trap coming near. "Hit the deck! Fire to your right!" lightning to the front! i still hadn't gotten down the lightning, but Gabriel had a pretty good knack for pulsating with that stuff, so he took care of that as i heated them up. It was too cold, anyway. After a few more traps, we made it to the room their friends and family were at. The place would have been spectacular if it weren't so creepy. It was the size of Twilight's library, but had pitch black walls, as if someone had created them from obsidian. The whole room glowed in green lines that gave most of the light. Wires were tucked into the corners, which tangled themselves around the room and all attached to random computers on desks. The creepy part: the circle of bodies in the middle of the room. There were a little more than half a dozen people, all on their backs, heads toward the midpoint of their little group. In the center stood a rectangular pillar, with a circle on each wall the size of a stallion's hoof. Something told me they were large buttons, and I felt tempted to press them, just to see what happens. Gabriel gasped when he saw the people and ran to them, shaking then gently. "Mom!" He said as he poked an older looking girl, or at least i figured it was female. "Jakey!" He inspected a kid about his size next to his mom. "Rayden?" The one he was looking at had red flame-like hair, with a ring that i could swear on my life looked familiar. He inspected the rest of the bodies: Tristen, Kenneth, Dylan, Sleepy (which sounded like a pony name), Jaden and Mason (who looked like children). He eyed the wall and computer screens and seemed to be processing what was going on when a new voice entered the room. "Nice for you to come, Zaanne", the human in a karate gi said, "We've been awaiting for your arrival." Gabriel looked up to them, his face creepily darkened from his hood. "What have you done to them?" He rose, hands glowing brightly with intense fire. I backed to him as the business man began. "They're ready to help with our great achievement; to create the ultimate world!" As he said it, he rose his hands. The lines on the walls brightened to white, giving a better look to them. Both of them looked the same, tall and slightly wide, with half closed eyes and a small mouth. Their hair was different, one being short and spiky brown and the other long and stringy black. Both had tiny green eyes, but they were glassy and straight, giving no expression or emotion. "What is an 'Ultimate world' to you anyway?" Zaanne asked. "A world of imagination, one that we can maintain and control, of course." He waved his hand to a wall and it opened. We were next to a giant road of concrete, with metallic boxes riding along it. They looked a lot like small trains, but didn't need a track. It was loud, with honking noises and the sound of screeching rubber. "This world is contaminated with disorder. Nobody respects the rule of others anymore, therefore, we shall remake the world, make it perfect." "Nothing is perfect", Gabriel said, stepping over the bodies."Let my friends go, now." "Of course, we'll let them go. Once we are done with them, you can all go merrily on your ways, we just need one thing." "That would be?", I asked. The wall closed and the karate guy pointed to Gabriel's chest. It might have just been me, but it looked like he pointed abit to the left, where i assumed the human heart is. "We need our ship back, thank you." Gabriel looked at his friends, then around the room quickly, deciding to change the subject. "Well we've already been through that, and I already answered, so... What's the pillar for?" I'm not sure if it was because he got nervous or he has bad ADHD. "It takes the thoughts of us to create the world," the business man explained,"but we need the full ship for it to work." At that, they looked at me. Then I thought of something. Hey ship, do you think you could wake Gabriel's friends up? With the magic barrier set, my abilities are limited, so I could only wake one or two. I scanned through the fallen friends. None of them seemed to be in any great body shape to be fighting, except Rayden. He was just as athletic looking as Gabe, even without magic. A shock went through my body when i realized he wore the element of loyalty on his finger; it looked exactly how Rainbow had explained it to be. Wake the red head up. His body started to glow. The karate guy noticed it. "What are you doing to him?" Gabriel seemed equally confused, and Zaanne had gone quiet, though it seemed he was talking in Gabe's head. "Breaking your dream circle." My hands lit up, illuminating the area around me. The process will take about thirty seconds, Ship said. "It could be worse" Gabriel thought aloud. He didn't break eye contact with the aliens, like he was having a staring contest that he couldn't afford to lose. "Scoots, keep them from Rayden." "Not much else to do right now." I said. Well, we could stall, Zaanne added, but I vouch for some good ol' fashioned ass-kicking right about now! "So," one of the aliens interrupted, "will Gabriel or Zaanne control?" Gabriel paused, thinking it through his head. Apparently we were stalling without trying. "If I can get Zaanne to fight for me, I'd prefer that. I'm not the greatest at it and he loves it. Unfortunantly, I still hav-" Suddenly his body straightened. He looked towards the roof and shook slightly. His eyes glowed green. When they stopped, he regained mobility. His eyes had become aqua, squinting slightly over the most insane smile I've ever seen. It wasn't the oh-wow-that-guy-is-crazy smile. More like the oh-sweet-celestia-he's-going-to-sadistically-skewer-me kind. "Ah, aliens. We meet again." His voice was deeper and scratchier than before. He laughed. It sounded like a knife was being scraped across a chalkboard. Apparently he didn't know how to use vocal chords correctly. The flames in his hands became white-hot. The lightning came back too, just to add an overpowered feel to his aura. "Well, what an entrance." Tuxedo alien said, looking at his assistant. "Do you want the kid or the teen?" He never got an answer as Zaanne, at least I thought it was Zaanne, extended his arm. His entire body became a sillouette of light as he fired tendrils of pure energy at the aliens. They rose their hands, but the impact shook the building. I was thrown to the floor next to Rayden. "I think he has this under control" the crystal spoke in Gabriel's voice. He was right. The aliens were knocked into the wall so hard, they left figurine dents in the metal when they sprawled out to the floor. "Stand up, weaklings!" Zaanne taunted, walking to the oppisite side of the room. "Two on one and you can't manage to fight back?" The aliens staggered to their feet. Their skin was smoking and their eyes started to glow. "You underestimate us, boy.", They said in unison. Zaanne leaned back onto the pillar and grinned wickedly. "Yep, the old 'bad guy says he's stronger than I can imagine' cliche. Don't you remember how i creamed you guys last time? We didn't even have the crystal then. But now-" he stood straight, walking slowly towards them, as if he had all the time in the world. "-now i have the ability to be me, which just might be your worst nightmare, as if you ever could dream to begin with." The aliens showed no emotion, but they took a step back, getting closer to eachother. "What will you do when the crystal runs out of energy?" "Huh?" The business man smiled. "The ship has a lot of power, but even it can get tired. And with that last attack, I'd say you could only do that one more time, adding in your journey up here, and you awaking the boy." As they spoke, Rays eyes fluttered open. He started to groan, but i covered his mouth and put my finger to my lips, guessing that to be the human "shh" signal. He nodded and sat up slowly, looking at the glowing walls and Zaanne. Zaanne paused, frowning down in quick thought before smiling again. "Then I'll just make something that doesn't require a constant energy depletion. If Ship can make clothes and bodies, why couldn't he make weapons?" He closed his eyes and concentrated, reaching his hand out. A three and a half foot stick of fire suspended itself in midair, right in front of Zaanne. As i watched, the fire began to solidify, slowly becoming more of what looked like metal. Apparently the aliens knew what he was up to. They charged him, but i intercepted. "Sup? I'm still here." They stopped, and i got the feeling nobody was really going to fight anytime soon, which was kinda boring. "Ah yes. Hello." The karate guy said. Now that I had their attention, I wasn't sure i wanted it. They stared down at me, and the shadows made a creepy smile play on their mouths. "Who exactly are you? You're not on our list of Zaanne's friends. Did you two just meet or something?" "How could they have met, he's been escalating the hospital since he woke up!" The guy in the tuxedo pointed out before turning to me. "Also I must also ask, how did you find the engine? We lost it on our way here." "It crash landed on my world, in Equestria." I didn't think about keeping my home arcane to the bad guys until after it slipped my mouth. "Equestria eh?" His voice rose to a slightly shrill pitch. He gave a slightly cocky look to his face and squinted at me, as if I were some cute mouse he was playing with before he stomped on it. "Maybe I'll stop by on my way to the ultimate world. Grab some space eggs, some space milk, then blow it the ___ up!" there was a harsh squealing noise when he tried to say that word. "Don't you quote Freiza," Zaanne yelled, "you don't even know Team Four Star!" I had no idea what they were talking about, as usual. I took the moment to look behind me to see Zaanne inspecting the thing he created. It was a sword, though I'm not sure how i knew, since I'd never seen one before. A double-edged steel blade with a metal hilt that spiked forward, with an emerald gem halfway down the flat of the blade and the butt end. The blade was glowing green, like it was about to shoot fire from it. "Woah, how'd you make that?" I knew the answer, but i couldn't help busy ask. "I just thought of the design for the blade and it made itself, well balanced too." He swung it around, leaving a green streak behind it. The noise of it slicing through the air sent a chill down my spine. Rayden had gotten up and was leaning on the pillar. His hair was over his eyes, but it was obvious he was confused. He looked me up and down, regarding my shirt, then he looked at Zaanne and the element on his ring. "What's going on?" Zaanne seemed to notice him awake. "World's gonna blow up, Equestria exists, that's Scootaloo over there-" he pointed the sword at me. "-and we need to take care of these guys before we go." At the word "Equestria", Rayden's eyes shot forward. He had a startlingly earnest stare compared to Zaanne, who seemed to joke around with everything he looked at. "Really? What can I do to help?!" "Wait, you had like, two seconds to register what he just said. You're seriously gonna risk helping two strangers with super powers just so you can get to Equestria? What's with you guys and my home?!" There was an akward pause before Zaanne spoke up. "You don't know the show, do you?" "What show?!" "Let's just say Princess Celestia's kinda a creeper." Ray said. The mentioning of her startled me. "Huh? How do you know her? What kind of a world is this?!" I backed to a wall and looked at all of them. It wasn't just the ship telling Zaanne about equestria, like i first thought. They knew the place, and apparently would give their lives to get there. "You know me, too, don't you Ray?" He looked at the ring, smiling lightly. "Mhm. Though I didn't think of ever get to meet you." His voice had a light accent to it, close to Rarity's but more... Masculine. "Are you ok with that, Scoots?" The aliens had sat back to listen. Apparently they had all the time in the world now that he was awake. "So," the one in the gi started, addressing to Zaanne, "are you ready to help us?" "Help you?" He said. The sword had it's tip pointed at them, though nobody made any attempt to back away. "Why the hell would i help you?" "Well, when we take the crystal that you so generously brought to us, we can start up the machine, make you a better world." "What will happen to this one?" I couldn't remember if we asked already, but it felt like a valid question. "It's umpure, so it shan't be remembered." "Remembered as?" The business man said "it just won't be remembered. We will blow it up and send a wave out to erase the memories of anyone that knows of it's existence." "So, again, why should i help you?" Zaanne walked towards them slowly, tightening his grip on the hilt. The man in the suit spoke slowly, softening his voice to a gentle hum. "Well, first of all, you won't have to live in Gabriel's head anymore. You could live in a world all on your own, with absolutely nothing you need to do. Nobody to say no to. Nobody to tell you what to do." Zaanne stopped walking. Apparently he'd considered that before. A lot. To the point that he started to mumble to himself like Gabe. "An entire world to myself? Nobody to tell me what to do..." I was certain that Gabe was telling him how sad that sounded. First off, it was a complete lie. The aliens would just wipe his memory and enslave him. Second, Ship could make him a body whenever he wanted. Even so, he looked at his hands, or Gabe's hands. Then he did something only the brightest of idiots would do in front of twin aliens. He laughed so hard he doubled over. When he straightened back up, he pointed to the roof, though he used the wrong finger for some reason. "You think i dislike being in Gabriel? He's my best friend, I'd never leave him hanging. Besides, they still need me to kick your green asses!" He closed his eyes and put a hand to his chest. And preached, "'I'd rather die of passion and love than to boredom and solitude!'" That last line hurt my head. It was the exact line from my scooter, word for word. I didn't know when he had the time to read it, but it was no doubt that he didn't just make that up. He spoke it like it was his own famous quote, something he's rehearsed a hundred times. I found myself murmuring, "Dad..." The only one that heared me seemed to be Ray, but they were too focused on the aliens for me to tell. "Ship, disable the pillar." I said. It will take at least ten minutes. Hacking into the hospital's mainframe will take longer with all the magic. Only problem: we didn't have ten minutes. "Do you really need to hack through the entire hospital to shut down one object?" "Yes" it said aloud, sounding like princess luna. "And if we break stuff?" "It might work." Then let's break stuff. Get me a weapon." I tapped Rayden on the shoulder. "Um, Mr. Rayden, do you want a sword or something." He gave me an interesting smile and pointed to Zaanne's blade. "That one will be fine." Two more blades started to form, one about two feet and one the same size as Zaanne's. "You know how to use that?" Zaanne said. Ray apparently did. He showed it by grabbing the sword as soon as it was finished and ran to the aliens. The karate one took out two crystal staffs and spun them. Immediatly they changed into katanas, one edged with green and red dragons printed on the hilt. It looked like the Hearths Warming Eve dragon. Before he could toss one of them to his lawyer partner. Ray and Zaanne were right in front of them. "Yeah, I do" he finally answered. I didn't. As soon as i grabbed it, i knew it wasn't my style. Mine looked a lot like an oversized dagger, with the same style of theirs. "Ok, no. I'll just stick with magic. Got anything good for that?" "You have to think of what you want." Zaanne called as the twins equipped themselves with their blades. I figured id be better off with the magic, but i wasnt sure how charged it was after Zaanne's first blast and the weapon designing. I grabbed my scooter and readied the weapon. As i started forward, the fight began. Karate guy, I'm going to call him Gi Guy, charged rayden. Busy the business man went for Zaanne. I figured Zaanne had good enough backup with Gabriel, so i went after Gi Guy. Rayden was doing better than I imagined with the sword. He let Gi come at him, dodging and blocking his swings, letting him tire himself out. Gi was too focused on hitting him to make any strategic movements, which feel right into Rayden's hand. He saw me coming and parried Gi's swing, punching him in the chest with the butt. When Gi staggered back, I rode at him, sword pointed straight forward. Unfortunantly, he saw me too. As soon as I got within stabbing range, he swung at my head. Fortunately, I saw it coming. I leaned backwards, the sword passing inches from my head. As i hit the wall, i pulled the handle back. I'd done this once before, in a ramped wall in ponyville. The momentum of the scooter hit the wall and flipped me upwards, straight on the alien's head. He hit the floor, but rolled out of the way before wood and wheels flattened him. Zaanne went with a magic/weapon mix. He swung first, hitting his blade onto the other as hard as he could. On contact, lightning shook the floor. Heat seared Busy's fancy tuxedo, but he held his ground. The alien came at him, them sharing blocks and swings like they were just playing with eachother, which they might have been. Each strike caused outside collateral damage. I could hear windows shatter, things hit the floor, and about a thousand females scream at once. A small part of me was confused on how Gabe's family could sleep through this. We continued to fight, me going X-games cavalry mode, Zaanne going wizard warrior and Ray just being awesome, until it started to go downhill. The small light in the crystal faded more and more from every hit Zaanne did. Before i could tell him to stop, he stabbed the floor. The blade magically went into the ground like butter. He yelled, and the ground around him glowed, then erupted. A circle ten feet wide shot through the roof. Busy up with it. Gi took the moment to watch his friend go up in flames, literally. Gabriel and Zaanne's crystal light faded, and when the fire fully died, Zaanne staggered to the wall. I got tired too, really tired, and the alien nearly had my head if Ray weren't there to block the attack. Then Zaanne winced, though he now sounded like Gabriel. He grabbed his chest, then hit the floor with a loud "thunk!" "Zaanne!" I rode over and left Ray to Gi, since he had it under control. A block, twist of the hilt, and a quick press downwards, and the alien's weapon skidded out from his hand, changing back to a crystal staff. The alien was close enough to set him on fire, but Ray stabbed the blade through his jacket sleeve, sticking his right arm to the wall. He started to raise his other hand, but Ray gave him a punch that even Rainbow Dash would approve of, and the Gi was out cold. He then ran to accompany me. Gabe was out, too. Ray knelt down and pressed his hand to his chest. "His heart's not beating..." My blood froze and I stared down at the green body in horror. "D-does that m-mean... Is h-he's-" Before i could say "dead", his chest started to move up and down heavily, like he was asleep. "He's alive!" Rayden checked his heartbeat, then his wrist, then his neck. With each part, his face became more and more concerned. "Just one thing." "Yeah?" He looked up to me, his eyes staring straight into mine. "His heart's still not beating. He should be dead right now." Author's Note Longest chapter award goes to the one with waaaay too much pre-fight dialogue. Also, hi Ray. (Z/G) Code XAANNEAuthor's Note Chapters may get abit longer, sorry if you were looking for small ones. (Z/G) Code XAANNE I don't know what a hangover feels like, but what I felt from Zaanne using all that energy was about what i expect from one. When i regained consiencness, the first thing I saw was three Scootaloo's speaking all jumbly, then backing away when they saw me. I stared blankly until the ringing in my ears stopped and there was only one Scoots. When my eyes refocused, she was standing next to Rayden, both of them speechless. "W-what happened?", I asked. "Zaanne blew up an alien," Scootaloo said, "then you passed out for a few minutes." "Who's Zaanne?" Rayden asked. "Nevermind that. We need to get everyone out of here." I remembered where I was, why I was here, and whose fault it was for my family being in peril. "Ship, can you take everyone home, and wipe their memory of this ever happening?" "Meddling with the mind is a dangerous thing", Ship said from the crystal, "plus, the crystal only has the energy to keep you alive for now, you'll need to recharge it before you can use magic again." "Keep me alive?" I asked. I didn't feel too alive. My body felt like it was trying to move through syrup. My eyes were heavy, threatening me to lay down, just for a bit, and sleep for, oh, a month or so? My energy felt dimmer, no special glowing or flaming hands anymore. The crystal's magic aura felt weak and expended. "How can i recharge it?" "Well, it can recharge over time, be back to full power in a few hours. But certain objects can grant abit of juice for it. Put back the swords to get back abit of your energy." I didn't know what he was talking about for a second until I remembered the blade Zaanne had made. The sword had been impaled into the ground, still glowing with power. I wasn't sure how I would pull it out with my state, but luckily Rayden was there. A hard tug and it was free in his hand. "This what the rock meant?" "Yep, thanks." I reached out, but he moved the sword back from me. "Tell me what's up, then we can get going." I didn't know how much free time we had, but if he fought sword-to-katana with an alien because I was stupid enough to mess with their stuff, he deserved the truth. I sat back on the wall. I was too tired to try to move, or make any unessecary noises (by the way, I'm not as ADHD as Scootaloo said I am [normally{wow how many of these are there?}])... Anyway, I patted next to me for him to sit, which he did. Scootaloo had a conversation with the Ship as I tried my best to explain what happened at school, all the weird things of the hospital, and what i knew of the necklace. He sat silently, listening to every word far better than I could have. Once I finished, he looked at the crystal again, thinking over it calmly. "And Zaanne, is he a good guy or what?" "More of a fun bundle of awesome!" Zaanne bragged through the necklace. "Also, he told you what was going on, therefore you must complete the exchange." He shrugged and handed me my sword. The magic blade dissolved into a white energy in my palm, seeping into my skin and exposing the cyber lines on my hand and wrist. Instantly, I felt better. Strength surged through my body like I just drank a five hour energy drink. (When I drink one of those, I begin scaring myself with my hyperactivity.) The lights faded into the crystal, letting it glow wildly for a moment before dimming again, but looking a little more alive. I stood, streatching and flexing. "Better." Scootaloo stood next to me. "The crystal said you should lighten your energy usage until tomorow, given the time. I'll send your friends off and take their memories." She looked to ray, who was about twice her height. "Where did you get that?" She asked, pointing to his ring of RD's famous element. "Oh this? It's not real. Plastic, see?" Despite his previous comment, he took the ring off like he was taking off his wedding ring, which I've only seen once from my mom. "You can look at it if you promise to be careful with it." "Sure" she said, silently gesturing the Pinkie promise. As she looked at it, I turned to Rayden. He had a faint smile, which I didn't understand considering the situation we were just in. "So... RD's your favorite?" He shook off the smile and looked to me. "Yeah, who's yours?" It was a question I answered a lot to Zaanne, since he always wanted to hear it. "I don't like choosing favorites, don't wanna make others feel left out, ya know?" We stayed silent for a bit before he responded, "Well, if you could choose one to meet, which one would it be?" Scootaloo piped up before I could decide, "Hey, guys, what's 'made in China' supposed to mean? Is it some company that makes elements of harmony?" I couldn't help but laugh. "It's a country, on the oppisite side of the planet. Speaking of Earth..." I looked to the pillar, still brimming with the energy to kill us all. "Let's save it before we get going." "Yeah," Scootaloo said as she handed the ring back, "I still have to plan a date." Me and Ray gave her a look, that kind of look that makes people glance back the exact same way accidentally. "You have a boyfriend?" Zaanne asked, stifling a laugh. "Actually, it's a filly. Her name's Applebloom." I lost it. I hit the floor, my ribs hurting from laughing too hard almost immediatly. "APPLEBLOOM?! YOU'RE GOING OUT WITH HER?!" Even Rayden took some time to laugh... out loud. Her face looked exactly like an apple, ironically. "Hey, plenty of mares are into other mares, get over i-" she stopped, like she just realized what she said. "-Into Applebloom? We're just friends!" I couldn't see how her face could be redder, but she pulled it off. "Oh God, it's that kind of ponyville." Ray chuckled. "What's wrong with my world?!" "It's not your world, it's how it runs." I said, holding down squeaks and giggles like a real man should. "What's that supposed to mean?!" She asked, stepping angrily closer to me. Me and Zaanne yelled at once "SHIPPING! Welcome to the fandom Scoots!" "Shipping... Pinkie said something like that at sugarcube corner a while ago. I'm starting to feel that it's not a boat reference." "I'll explain when you're older," I promised, "how old are you?" "Nine and a half, why?" Ray walked off during my conversation with her, taking an interest in the alien. "Well, from my estimate on the age difference from ponyville to here, you should be as mature as my own age." "What are you talking about?" "One point five, I don't think you'd get it." She crossed her arms, apparently mad that she thought she couldn't understand me. "I deal with Twilight's jibberish, can't I at least try to understand yours?" "Ok, well-" I hopped to a wall and touched it. On my touch, a green light popped up, like a marker. I began writing on he wall as I explained my math and logic. "Well, when a dog becomes one year old, that counts as seven in human years. So i figured, what's the difference in ponies to us?" I wrote the equation, given Scootaloo's age. "If you are nine and a half, my best guess is that your human age becomes multiplied by one and a half. So, one point five times nine point five equals fourteen and a quarter, which would make your age about mine." "Ok, so what?" I continued talking. "The reason why mares and stallions get jobs at ages like fourteen and fifteen is because, by human terms, they're about twenty one then. How old is Rainbowdash?" Rayden stopped whatever he was doing to listen. "Fifteen" she answered without hesitation. Rayden grinned. "So, with that knowledge, we can say she's about-" I did the math on the wall, since multiplying decimals was never my strong suit. "-twenty two and a half years old." Rayden gave a pouty face. "So, why didn't I become your age when i became human?" "Good question, my guess, again it's a guess, is that the crystal doesn't mess with your mind when you change, just your body to match your pony body. So, you still don't have the amount of maturity of a fourteen year old, which isn't much different anyway. But your emotions, your time of fruition for your life, A.K.A. your cutie mark, comes when you're in your younger teens as a human. Though, as a human, it's normally dismissed thanks to this economy." "Ok, you lost me." Scootaloo admitted. "He's saying that you get older, quicker." Ray summed up. "Is that what goes through your head when you're bored or something?" "Pretty much.", I said. The alien in the corner, whom of which i completely forgot about, began to stir. "We should get out of here, before thing 1 and 2 come back around" As i said that, there was a brilliant flash of light, and my family dissappeared. I was reasonably terrified until i remembered what Scootaloo and the ship were doing. They can still build their world, ship said in my head, they took your friend's dreams and nightmares and will start it as soon as you leave. "Don't they need the crystal?" "They absorbed enough energy from your blasts to transfer it through." It said aloud. "Once the planet has the energy to form, it will continue on it's own. After it doesn't need Earth to support it, It'll either blow your planet up, of push it into the sun to cla Earths orbit." "Well shit, what now?" Zaanne said as I went to the pillar. Rayden had picked up one of the alien's weapons, which transformed into a belt for him to put on. "Can't we break it?" "I tried," Ship said, "it's indestructible without hacking, and it has a sheild that prevents physical damage." I considered my options, then snapped an idea. "What does it need to turn itself on?" "Four souls that have attachment to the ship, it starts what you might call a dream transfer. Each hand presses one button, which triggers the stored thoughts and transfers them into the planet, which in turn begins creation." I probably should have wondered why they made four buttons, when there was only two of them. Like an idiot, I didn't. "And if we were to disrupt the dreams going in and put my own imagination in?" "From the interference, it would either shatter the planet into multiple peices or create the world anyway, but only using one thought, both of which would in turn demolish the system." "Why would it break?" Rayden asked. "It uses so much energy that the machine was originally a one time use to begin with. It's hit-or-miss for the aliens, and for you." "What's the worst that can happen?" Scootaloo asked. "DON'T SAY THAT!!!" Zaanne yelled. "Every time i hear 'what's the worst that can happen?' It gets worse than what the answer originally was!" "Earth would explode if the planet was created as a whole." "... I swear to me scoots, if whatever Gabe is thinking up fails, I'm gonna kill you." Truthfully my plan was insane to begin with. "Zaanne, i need you to do something with ship as we do this." "Sup?" "I'm going to start up the machine. Me, you, Scootaloo and Gi guy will help start it up, then you will break into the system to put in my imagination instead of everyone else's." "One, now I know you're insane." Zaanne started to complain. "Two, why your thoughts?" "You know better than anyone that my thoughts will be hard for the aliens to control anyway." "... Fine." "Anyway, as the thing breaks, Rayden will turn that weapon into... something big, and smash the machine. At that point, ship will take us to ponyville before we get destroyed by the creeps." Nobody else argued, so I walked to the corner of the pillar, Scootaloo stood on one side and Ray dragged the sleeping alien to the other. "See you on the other side." Rayden said. "I hope you know what you're doing", Scoots murmured. "Countdown until mission 'code world break' begins. 10, 9-" Ship started. "Everyone ready?" I asked. Everyone nodded. "Let's get digital!" Zaanne shouted, and I pressed both hands on two buttons at once. Scootaloo the pegasus punched her button and Gi the alien had his hand pressed to the machine, still passed out. The machine glowed with power, and I closed my eyes and prayed for this to work. And as of me unable to do anything at that point, Zaanne can explain what happened to him in the machine. _______________________ If you ever wondered why our chapter name always has (Z/G) in it, even though Gabriel was the only one to narrorate, well, now you know. Ah, my story time, finally. As the team of organic beings stayed behind to keep the buttons pressed, me and James Bond materialized in a green world. I don't know why the ship decided to become that guy, since he looked way too well dressed to be running through the Matrix. I appeared as my own cool self, with the awesome green hair and the light clothing. The crystal hung proudly in front of me, waiting for me to do some more badass stuff with it. The world around us looked like one of those training simulators that super villains have, only much brighter. There was no floor besides cybernetic squares and random clouds of ones and zeros, which hung about the walls and floor like tiles. No roof either, just empty darkness when I looked up. "Well, this is new." About thirty yards away stood an circular opening in the tile wall, like a tunnel. It was the only thing in the room, so I shrugged and walked to it. There was a weird scent of burning rubber and oil. Apparently Cyberspace smells like a racetrack. A quick look down the hall showed no danger, but I entered cautiously. Something felt off, like I shouldn't be here. Or that I should have always been here, but like for some party that you're three hours late to and everyone keeps starring at you. I've been used to being the Blitz, since Gabe's mom was ten minutes late to every party she's ever attended. I opened my hands and closed them. When I looked down, they were each holding swords. It was hard to see them with the green and black lighting, but they were light enough to be dual wielded. Ship followed behind me, crawling even though the tunnle was about ten feet in diameter. "The roof isn't that low, you can walk." He shook his head silently, so I let it go and stayed quiet until we reached the other end of the tunnel. The next room was the same as the last one, only occupied. Hundreds of little red flaming blocks flew around a giant green orb. It was the size of a truck, with bundles of rocks inside. Every so often, a green mist would coil around the sphere, then dissapear into it. "Fire wall?" I guessed about the bricks. Bond nodded, "We need to get past it for us to transfer Gabriel's imagination into the planet, before it gets created." As I watched, the rocks inside the orb merged together, forming a small bundle of earth. It began growing, first slowly, but it continually got bigger with each minute. "I'll break the fire wall, you get the kid's brain in the planet." I said. As it turned out, I didn't need to fight the firewall. The blocks gathered together to create a fourth foot tall brick wall, which covered our view of the planet. In the back of my head, I heard the wall speak to me. Authorization requires pass code. Virus requires extermination. "And what does Zaanne get?" I asked. It was just ment to be a joke, but the blocks tumbled. They all hit the floor with the loudest clatter I've ever heard. As they fell, they kept yelling random things. "Zaanne!" One yelled. "Authorized virus!" Another chirpped. "Flared blue" a last one said, then they all turned into dust. At "Flared blue" the ship staggered back. "I've heard that before..." His image changed into some blue pony I didn't know, at least, he was never on the show. The ultimate world had gotten about as big as it's orb container, collecting more smoke and dust. "Yeah, that's nice. Let's finish this." I slowly stepped forward. The room darkened around the mass of rock. The pony behind me satbthere, pulling out a small clay vial. "This is Gabriel's imagination. All the good parts, with good people. But, with good people comes bad enemies. If this turns out how I expect it to, it might get... bad." "Well, if it gets too bad, I'll be moving to ponyville. Now if you don't mind." I grabbed the vial from his hoof and stood next to the orb, putting it in my pocket. "First to break it." Swords ready, I scissor sliced at the clay ball. My blades bounced harmlessly off. "What the hell?!" I hit it a few more times, but all I managed to do was waste time, so I threw the swords off, letting them dissipate back into the crystal. "Stupid... things I can't break." After a few seconds of standing there, not knowing what to do, I placed my hand on the orb. It hummed with power, waiting for the aliens to come and control it. I couldn't let that happen. As much as I hated most humans, this just felt unfair to them. "'Code Zaanne', password: 'Scooter'" I told it. I had no idea what the heck I was talking about, but I let instincts take over. "Command: break this new world apart." The mini planet grew cracks all over it's outer shell, and the mist poured out. Once the steam went away, it started to fall to pieces. "If I can't destroy you, I'll be damn sure you won't be a problem." I opened the ceramic vial, and blue and golden mist spilled out, immediatly being attracted to the broken peices of the planet. As they went into the rocks, a weird feeling spread across my body, like someone had just quickly jabbed a pressure point in me. I hit the floor, Ship follong me to the ground, and everything went dark. I didn't actually know I could dream. I was still me, but I felt like I was watching a movie in the first person view. Not exactly like having someone else control though, like Gabe does. I was walking down a metal hall, the blue pony that the ship copied behind me. "-not finished yet, Zaanne. I don't know what will happen. If this turns out how I think it will, things will be... bad." It sounded similar to what the ship had said, which made sense considering who he was copying. "I'm not going to fail you again, I promised you that." I heard myself say. "I need myself to finish this, even if it takes my life." "We need to just wait abit lon-" "No more waiting!" I snapped at the pony, which was totally unlike me, but I could feel stress overcoming me. I had failed on something big far too many times, I could tell. "We're both stuck in this place, and the only way to get you back home is if I finish this, right here, right now!" I could just make out the pony yelling, "Well we need to get back in one peice too!", but suddenly the image went to static, like when Slenderman catches you in the game. ______________________________ I reappeared back in Gabriel, who was also on the ground. He got up, rubbing his head. "Wha-what just happened?" "For once, i have no idea." I said, converting my voice through our crystal. "Rayden, smash the machine." With a strong swing of a warhammer that had miraculously appeared, the block broke like it was made of thin aluminum. The room shook, throwing everyone around, including the alien. "Get us out!" Gabriel yelled. "And for buck's sake, make me a pony!" I yelled in addition. Light flashed around us, and we all appeared in a pure white room. The ship was back as Bond, James Bond, smiling to everyone, who was sprawled about on the floor. Me and Gabriel had split, him being his original chubby blonde self and me as the green wonder. The ship asked, "So, would you like to make the pony design, Zaanne?" With the hair, the color of the crystal, and my clothing. I knew what I wanted me and Gabe to have. "Yep, and get Ray his pony too." I closed my eyes and concentrated. I felt the warmness of magic spread through my body. Standing felt hard, so I went on all fours. My fingers and toes began to morph together painlessly. My ears and eyes grew, along with my back becoming more aligned with crawling. My arms became legs. My back gave a weird tingling feeling under my shoulder blades. My back legs streatched into an equine's backside. Fur grew everywhere, from head to toe, which became muzzle and hooves slowly. As the transformation went on, I could feel the others changing. Eventually, I lost control of my body, letting Gabe take the reigns of our new form. I opened my eyes, and gave the greatest laugh that I could, Gabriel joining in, which made a weird echoing sound. "We just upgraded," I shouted, now in the body of a stallion pegasus, "from badass to badass mother fuckers!" (S) welcome to ponyvilleAs much as I enjoyed being a human, I felt way more comfortable as my filly self. We all three appeared at the same alley that I started the mission in, me landing straight onto the crate. Gabriel had fallen into a bush and Rayden was still on his hind legs, but they both looked completely different. Rayden had the same mane color, but it slid and spiked down his pony neck now. He had a blue fur coat with a rectangular muzzle, a large chest and four powerful legs, now with hooves instead of hands and feet. Zaanne and Gabriel rolled out of the bush, still laughing histerically. They kept the mane, now curling and poking down to their shoulders. The colors filed themselves in order, now with blue and yellow in the middle of forest green. The muzzle was more curved. Their fur was a light green/aqua, with a slight shade of blue in the light. The crystal hung dimly on the pony's chest, now the same size as mine, but still with a leather cord. They both had wings, extending their body length outward on both sides, unlike mine. When they had gained proper poise, Gabriel looked out of the corner of the alley, holding back joyful giggles. "Ponyville?" "Yeah, it's not much compared to Canterlot. That's where the princesses live." "Tia and luna." Rayden hopped onto the crate and looked down on the town. "Ponyville is bigger than on T.V." "What's that?" "A computer, but it only plays movies." Gabriel explained. It sounded about as obsurd as karate aliens. We trotted out of the alley. Nopony was around, though it didn't seem like a lot of time had passed. The sun was about 3/4ths down thanks to Celestia's magic. My scooter had apparently came with me, sitting idly in the alley. The only noise was the trees and bushes rustling and a distant commotion. Zaanne asked, "Uh, where exactly in Ponyville are we?" "The estate area, where most of the ponies live, at least, the ones that don't live at work." I took a stick and drew a quick map in the dirt. "We are there," I said, pointing at the eastern part. "Most of the ponies are probably off for dinner there" I poked the spot where the food areas are, including Sugarcube Corner, in the center of town. Gabriel looked down at it and frowned. "I need a full map. Ship?" It responded. "You two depleted too much energy, with the fight and teleporting so many beings here. I suggest you wait a day or so to refuel. All the reserve energy is being used to keep your blood moving." Gabriel's face paled. "W-what?" I explained to him about how he's been awake without his heart beating. He felt his pulse, or tried to. He ended up just punching his neck and chest with his new hooves. "I need to see Twilight." He announced. "Why not a doctor?" I asked. "After the hospital stuff, I don't trust another medical facility." Nobody argued there, so we started our way to the large tree in the southern part of ponyville. Every so often we'd see a pony eye us before trotting off. Whenever we did, Gabriel's head darted in their direction, giving them a smile that made me stand a foot away. "Uhh, why do you do that?" "Do what?" "That face," Rayden said. "You did that when we met, too." Gabriel took a second to shake his head and give a straight face. "Oh, sorry about that. The one when I met you was on purpose, this was just from excitement! Meeting Twilight is gonna be awesome!" I doubted it would be too "awesome"; more "educational". "Why'd you do it on purpose at first?" Rayden asked as we left the housing area, turning down Plum St. Gabriel cleared his throat and explained, studdering the more he talked. "Well, for the past few years, I've been known to be creepy. Nobody ever wanted to play with me. I never kept a hobby to make any friends with it. Eventually-" he stopped and looked down, picking his words out carefully. For a happy guy, his face suddenly seemed to sadden. "-eventually, I stopped trying to make friends. I couldn't tell when someone was ever truly happy with my actions, even when they said it." He looked to the pegasi flying about. "They could be terrified and I'd barely notice, thanks to some social disorder I was born with. I'm sure most people have that problem, so I don't complain about it. I'd just sit quietly, giving smiles by being the weird kid that people could laugh at." "He's a loner", Zaanne summed up. "He doesn't need his memories to know that." "What about your friends, Jacob and Kenneth?" Ray asked. Before He could answer, there was a streak of pink, and the two hit the floor so hard that dirt shot everywhere. When the dirt cleared, a pink mare was on their chests, smiling twice as wide as Gabriel was before. "HI!" Pinkie Pie chirped. "My name is Pinkie Pie! I just saw you three and thought 'hey, I don't know those two!' Then I realized you two must be new here!" "Pinkie, get off of them, please." I asked. She obeyed, but felt obliged to hop in circles around the stallions, throwing out words at the speed of sound. "You two are pretty cool looking!" She inspected Rayden like he was a national treasure. "You smell like Rainbowdash! What shampoo do you use?" "Uhhh, Axe?" "Woah! You wash with an axe? That must be really hard! That must take a lot of gel to keep your hair intact!" She hopped over to Gabe, completely ignoring Rayden and me. "Hi! Who are you?" "Uhhh, I'm-" He looked to the clouds, as if trying to remember his own name. "-Zaanne. That's Rayden, by the way." Me and Rayden gave him a confused look while Pinkie started back from the top. "Zaanne? That's a really cool name! You have awesome hair! Ooo, What's that thing?" She reached for the crystal on "Zaanne's" neck, but he pulled back. "Please don't touch that! I-It's important to me." He said. "Oh, ok. Well can you tell me what your cutie mark means? I love hearing those stories!" She hopped to Gabriel's backside and poked it. We all looked and backed away from Zaanne. "How did you get that?!" I demanded. "You just got here!" "Huh?" He looked at it and smiled. "I got my cutie mark! What is it?" It was a good question. At first glance, it looked like a black smiley face with a big nose. But with a closer look, it also looked like the bass note on it's side, the colon being the smiley face's eyes. Without looking at the dots, it looked a lot like a wave as well. "It's like one of those papers splattered in ink." Rayden commented. "Only abit more direct." "Wonder what it means." Gabriel thought aloud. The crystal stayed silent, but I could tell the real Zaanne was talking in his head. Gabe's head would twitch to the side, like he was trying to listen to someone that wasn't there. "How could you not know what your cutie mark means?!" Pinkie asked, looking extremely concerned. "Are you ok?" It was completely unfair. I spend a year trying to get mine unsuccessfully, and he just hops in with a free cutie mark? He didn't even know what it represented! "I think so." Zaanne continued walking, still a little too lost in thought to talk. "He's pretty cool, all mysterious! Just like Mare Do-well!" Pinkie said. "Weren't you Mare Do-well, Pinkie?" Rayden asked. I'm not sure how he knew that, but he seemed fairly certain. Pinkie giggled and smiled brightly. "Oh yeah! I guess I was!" She laughed and ran off, leaving us to follow Gabriel. They could see the library over a few buildings now, so I didn't need to guide them. This area was more filled, with a lot of pegasi flying about and earth ponies and unicorns running around, laughing and chatting everywhere. Gabriel and Zaanne eventually left LaLa Land and started popping off names of ponies they somehow knew, Rayden joining in. "There's lyra and Bon Bon!" Zaanne yelled. "It's Roseluck!" Gabe pointed out. "Hey, there's Derpy!" Ray yelled, pointing to Ditzy Doo. Finally, after naming half of the ponies on the road, we made it to the library. The tree loomed over me, as usual considering my height, the trunk hollowed out to make a big house inside. The door was left open, which was odd considering the occasional cold winds that swept throuout the street. I was the first one in, followed by the others. The main room was nothing but a circle of books, most organized through the wooden walls, some on a table in the middle with a star design engraved on it. The only wall without a shelf had stairs cut into it, spiraling to the space that Twilight lives in. "Cool books." Gabriel said, poking one about flower growing. Rayden looked at the shelves, silently observing the library. I couldn't read his mind, like Zaanne or Gabriel, but he seemed interested in few books. "May I help you?" A voice asked from the doorway. We turned to meet the violet unicorn herself, standing at the door. She looked the same as ever. Her purple body was matched with her dark purple nerd hair, with two pink highlights to compensate for all the violet. Her eyes stared down the two stallions quizzically, as if about to start a game of 20 questions. The sparkling star on her flank was still behind the door she entered from. Gabriel walked to her, holding out a hoof. "Hi, my name is Zaanne. Do you happen to know how to check a pulse?" He asked as if it were a completely typical question. She blinked her purple cat eyes quickly, looking him up and down. "You don't know how to check your own pulse? I'm sorry, but don't you learn how to do that in, like, fifth grade?" "I learned how to check my pulse in third, but..." He couldn't really say he was really a monkey from outer space, and didn't know how to do an actual pony's pulse. "I forgot. Please help, I think something's wrong." She gave him a puzzled look as she shook his hoof. "Well ok then, best spot is right here-" she poked a part of Gabriel's neck. Immediatly, he laughed and flinched at the same time, backing away. "Sorry about that. Sensative skin, I'll check there." He pressed his hoof to his neck again lightly and waited. Ten seconds went by before he let go, confusion in his eyes. "I don't feel anything." "You were pressing on the right area," Twilight said, "you should feel it. Did you try, oh I don't know, your chest? That's normally where your heart is." He tried but shook his head. "Nothing." He looked at a small door in the back. "Mind if I try your pulse machine thing? Just to make sure." "My what?" "You know," he started, "the thing in the basement of your library that checks your heart rate and stuff. Isn't that where your labratory is?" She looked thuroghly shocked. "How do you know about that? Have you been spying on me?!" She looked at the crystal on his neck, ignoring mine for some reason. "There's magic in that, isn't there?" "Yeah, that's one reason why I wanted to be checked out." He thought through his words then stammered "I-I mean, not like checking a person out as in the creepy way! Like, checking blood and insulin and stuff like that!" "Insulin?" I asked. "Material that comes from the pancreas," Twilight and Gabriel said in unison, "it helps regulate the amount if glucose in foods while passing into the intestines." There was a silent pause between the two before Twilight spoke up. "Books." "Brother has diabetes", Gabriel explained "Oh my, type one or two?" "The bad one, so one I belive." "Well then," Ray inturupted the nerd fest, "can you record his pulse? We already know what we'll find, so why bother?" Gabriel looked at the hundreds of books, as if one of them could help him understand the crystal. "I want it on paper. I don't trust myself to give an accurate assumption." Twilight hesitated before opening the door to the basement, which he went down slowly. "I don't have anything scheduled for the next twenty minutes, I might as well help you strangers. Scootaloo, you should go meetup with your, ah, other friends." She looked at the crystal like it was made of one of Spike's muffins that Applejack poisoned. "I'd be careful with that necklace. If it's dangerous, I don't want you to get hurt." I promised to be safe and headed out. Rayden followed Twilight down to the basement as well, probably to make sure Zaanne didn't blow anything up again. I hid behind the library to make sure nopony was looking, then summoned my scooter and rode off to Sweetiebelle's house. So far, all she'd seen is the school blow up, then her two best friends take off to the hospital. She deserved an explanation. Even so, I didn't rush. Without the crystal being needed, it's power was kept to a minimum, leaving me aching and tired. The only things that felt fine were my wings, probably since humans don't have those, so i leaned against the handles and propelled myself forward. Along the scooter ride, I couldn't help but think through all the crazy things that had happened over the day. Not just the aliens, or the crash. There was an entire world somewhere that nopony knew about. That other planet had knowledge of my world, even though we've never met. When Zaanne had landed in ponyville, he had acted like it was the greatest thing in his life. Questions bubbled in the back of my head, but there were too many to answer. Where did the aliens come from? What happened to Gabriel that made his heart connect to the crystal? What else is in the other place, besides China and a hospital? When was the last time I looked at the road? Is that a wall? I didn't register that last question until i was flatcaked to the Carousel Boutique. I hit the wall hard enough to get the attention of Rarity, which I know because of the suprised yelp from inside. The fashionista looked out of her home/shop and noticed the filly sprawled out against her wall. "Good heavens dear, are you ok?" She came out and gasped loudly. "Why Scootaloo, you're all dirty! Come inside and freshen up this instant!" Apparently getting dirty was more shaking than getting hurt to her. She was right, of course. I was head to tail covered in dirt and ash. Apparently the crystal didn't clean my body up when I left, though I was sure it did when I last fell asleep. Rarity brought forth a sponge. At first, I thought she was going to neat freak me to death. Instead she wiped off the streak of dirt from my impact point. "Go inside and shower, Sweetiebelle was just about to bathe anyway. I suppose I'll get the last of your friends while I'm out." She then saw the jewel hanging off my chest. "Also, emerald isn't your color. Try amethyst." She left, so I entered. "She really trusts you and Sweetiebelle to be alone in a fashion store?" Zaanne asked through the rock. "Why not? We know our way around." I went to the back of the store to enter the bathroom, where Sweetiebelle was setting towels and warming the tub. "Oh hey Scootaloo!" She chirped. "What's that?!" She poked at my gem and I moved her hoof. "It's a necklace, obviously. Mind sharing the bathtub?" She looked me up and down, as If just registering my filth, and then laughed. "Of course you can, Scoots!" She was pretty dirty herself, with twigs in her curly pink mane and brown and sappy splotches mixed in her white fur. It must be horrible to have to wash yourself when you have white for a body, Zaanne added, you'd be in the bath forever! Is there, like, pony bleach or something?" Well it's nice to see you're joking around again. Haven't heard much from you since the pillar exploded. I let Sweetiebelle get in first, then followed her in. The water felt amazing against my muscles, and I began to relax immediatly. "So, how's the school?" I asked, realizing that was a stupid question. "It... Could be better." She responded, taking the soap. "By that, you mean we're not having scool tomorow, don't you?" "Pretty much." She splashed me with some soapy water, which immediatly started an aqua war of epic proportions. She fired soapy missiles using a sponge-on-bar technique, and I pushed her around in the water to knock off her concentration, which is pretty easy with her. I don't know about the rest of the team, but either Sweetiebelle is a little slow (no offence if you are, sweetie) or she has slight ADD problems. After a few minutes of batting eachother around, we were squeaky clean. But I really didn't want to get out. The water was so warm and the outside was so cold, laziness overtooke me and I slipped my neck deep into the tub. "This day has been really weird." "Yeah, with the meteor and the fake date planning, you've had a full day, and it's just now 7:30!" You guys have dinner at 7:30? Really? "Yeah. It's been a really long day. So, what am I supposed to do for that date?" Bubbles were all through my mane, so I poked them until they popped. "Well, I'm sure Applebloom would like it if you took her somewhere better than her own home. I still suggest Sugarcube Corner, it'll look beautiful at night!" "Won't it be freezing at night? It'll be snowing then." "Oh, it's been snowing for almost three minutes now." Sure enough, when I looked out of the window, white flakes batted lightly against the glass. Besides, Zaanne said, the colder it is, the closer you get to be to her. For a person who found violence to be a hobby, Zaanne apparently liked to play with emotions just as much. The idea made my body tingle. I imagined sitting next to AB, keeping eachother warm next to a night's snow glowing orange from a fireplace. For some reason, seeing red fire instead of green sounded delightful. We could talk and laugh and sing and keep close. It was a warmth greater than any fireplace or magic could accommodate for. "Hello?" Sweetiebelle had to shake me to bring me out of my thoughts. "Scoots to equestria." "H-huh?" I realized I was still looking out the window, so i slid back in the tub and stared at Sweetiebelle. "Yeah?" "You spaced out at the snow. Are you ok, your face is red." I eyed the sink's mirror and saw that I was blushing. "Uhhh, the heat of the tub, that's all." The scene was still painted in the back of my head, along with Zaanne's laughter. Sweetiebelle studied my face, and after a few seconds she asked, "How important is Applebloom to you?" "Wh-what?" She repeated the question, squinting her green eyes at me. "Oh, she's, you know, a... friend." Thinking through the right words when you're tired and in a hot tub was hard, that's what was wrong. "Mhmm," she sat closer to me. "you both like mares, right?" "Hey, if you have a problem with that, you can just say it up front." She rose her hooves in defence. "All I'm saying is that you're both into eachother... eachother's gender. And you're best friends, like really good friends." She stared at me like I wasn't getting something. "Soooo we're super best friend?" I don't know who I heard the facehoof from first, Sweetiebelle or Zaanne. Ship added. It seems she's implying that you and Applebloom either are or should be in a closer relationship than 'friends'. What so like, super ultra best friends? Even Ship had to take a moment to sigh. No... I didn't get what they were talking about, or why they were pressing the matter so much, so I just set it aside. "Well, if you three aren't going to make sense, I'm just gonna sum this up. I'm taking Applebloom to Sugarcube Corner Wednesday night for apple pie, to figure out how to date so we can give accurate advice to others." That was the plan from the start, but it seemed everypony forgot about it. "Rarity showed Sweetiebelle, so I'll learn by taking Applebloom." "Wait, 'you three'?" Sweetiebelle looked around the bathroom. "Who else is in here?" "Uhh, the rubber ducky?" I hopped out of the tub, now completely clean, and grabbed a towel from the rack. Sweetiebelle followed, grabbing her own pink towel with white designs running through it. I ditched the bathroom in enough time to meet Applebloom at the door. The cuts and bruises on her completely gone now. She looked like she just got out of the bath, like me. In the front door, with the setting sun, her wettened yellow fur glinted amazing shades of gold, like a hundred bits shining under water. Her mane and was like lava spilling downward, pressed against her neck and shoulders and spread with her yellow body. For some reason, she kept the tattered red bow in her mane, even though it wasn't helping much to keep the hair out of her eyes. She must have been freezing from being outside, but she smiled like it was a warm Summer day. "Hi Scoots! Hey Sweetiebelle!" The words didn't really process at first. Applebloom looked great in a soaked kind of way. I couldn't help but keep looking at her, setting blinking as a side priority. I didn't respond until a unicorn elbowed my side, which totally wasn't needed. "Ow! Uh, hi Applebloom." I'm starting to see what Gabriel meant, Zaanne thought, about the age thing. Huh? I skillfully responded. Well, you're nine years old, but the way you look at her is like how a regular teenager would look at someone they liked. It's like your maturity is mixed between a nine year old and a fourteen year old. I only half heard him, still a little dazed at something I wasn't sure of. Applebloom approached, shaking like a dog. Ice cold water slapped our faces, but I didn't care. Seeing her in full health again made me feel warm to the bone. "It's great to be out of the cold!" She looked to Sweetiebelle. "You ok Sweetiebelle? Last i saw of ya was you being tossed like a sack of apples down the school hill!" "I'm fine", she responded. "Scootaloo planned out the fake date into more detail while we took a bath." She said "fake" like it was foreign to the sentence. "Lucky, my bath included Pinkie Pie blasting me with the party cannon again, yelling stuff about ships and me needing to be clean for it." We laughed for a bit before she cleared her throat. "So, what's our date gonna be?" I explained how the day would go. She stole my towel and slumped down on that couch that randomly appeared in Rarity's house, or anywhere that the dramatic unicorn was at. I had nothing against teleporting furniture, so I sat with her. "You like apple pie, right?" I finished. "I'd love that, thank you." Her accent made "love" sound a lot like "lawve", which was cute in it's own way. She draped half of the towel around me, and i was relieved. It was still pretty cold, and she was great at sharing her warmth. I pulled my half of the towel over my back. "Hey, if it's a fake date to teach others how to do it, shouldn't it be the day before the day that everypony starts dating?" Sweetiebelle answered, "it needs to be as real as possible!" I hadn't realized the only one not to sit was her until just then. She stood there, shuffling akwardly in place. "I see you two could use abit of time to, uh, dry off and stuff. I'll go do... Stuff." She trotted off quickly, talking to Rarity's cat, Opal. We stayed silent for a while before Applebloom spoke up. "When you came to check up on me, I accidentally fell asleep. When I woke up, all my injuries were gone." She studied her forehooves. "What happened there?" I wasn't sure how to respond, but I gave it my best shot. "Well, the meteor that crashed into our school had some healing powers that hit us, so we healed over time." "You were just fine when you came in, and you wore that necklace-" She poked the magic crystal that helped me save Gabriel's planet. "That's part of the meteor, isn't it?" I nodded, displaying the magical ship in my hooves. "It's alive, it talks to you when you wear it, along with some other things I met while you were asleep." Applebloom deserved the truth, so that's what I gave her, even though I originally planned on coming to clear things up with Sweetiebelle. I told her about everything, from the point of the crash to the fight with the aliens Gi and Busy. I spoke about Ship, and Gabriel and his weird friends, Rayden and Zaanne. "They talk to me through the crystal. Gabriel and Rayden are at Twilight's house right now, getting a checkup." She stared at me like I just fell out of the sky. "That sounds insane! You sure you didn't just bonk your head really hard?" "She's calling me a bonk to the head?" Zaanne asked through the crystal. "Would you liked to be called that?" Applebloom didn't move, but her face was dead set on the crystal. "Did it just talk?" "Technically, the crystal doesn't talk." Ship started. "It amplifys thoughts that are preceded as words, translating and converting them into speech through the generator, like a microphone." Ship's newly acquired voice sounded familiar. "Spitfire?!" Applebloom stared at Scootaloo in wonder. "You have Spitfire in it?" "Ah, no. That was the ship, we call it, well, Ship. It does that sometimes. The one before was Zaanne." I figured Applebloom had no more sense in not running away from the freak with voices on her neck, but she did the exact oppisite. She got even closer, placing a hoof to my chest and looking closely into the crystal. "Wow, they can hear me?" Something in my chest went "boom" by her touch, which has never happened before. She was so close that I could feel her breath on my chest, tingling my skin weirdly. "Y-yeah, they can." I was aware of the towel still around us, despite that we were now dry. Her hair was back to it's normal self, her tail wagging lightly against mine. Something in the back of my head was nagging to pull her closer, which was stupid. She was my best friend, why would I want her so close? I shook the urge and hopped off the couch. "Well, I best be checking on Gabriel, see if his appointment with Twilight is done." Sweetiebelle sighed, as if I were her only company, without the Apple family or Sweetiebelle or a hundred other ponies that would be more fun to hang out with. "Well ok. I'll watch over Sweetiebelle. Take care of yourself!" I promised I would and ran out the door. Freezing air cooled off my face, which was burning for reasons I couldn't understand. I turned one last time to see Applebloom. She stared back with her beautiful amber eyes, covered in a towel and holding a smile. Her cheeks were slightly red, and her smile quavered, like she was hiding a frown. Then she turned to the white unicorn and started talking to her, letting the door shut behind us. You know, Zaanne murmered, there's oblivious, then there's just plain stupid. She's not stupid, Ship snapped. It was odd for him, or her, to show emotion. He considered his outburst and suggested, Ah, try ignorant, maybe. whatever, she's fairly clueless on Applebloom's feelings. "I know how she feels!" I responded out loud. "She's sad for some reason, that or concerned. She smiled to me and frowned to Sweetiebelle, so either I upset her somehow or she didn't want to stay with Sweetiebelle." "To find the answer, you'd have to dig abit deeper." Ship suggested. The sun was almost down now, taking away any heat that I had before. I wished I could set my hooves on fire, but that would cause too much attention. I worked my way down the street as snowflakes danced in the sky, collecting on the rooftops. Sundown brought an amazing orange blanket across the rim of the horizon. I was afraid of slipping on the ice after a snowboarding incident a few weeks ago, so i walked without my scooter. Even though I felt like a Popsicle trotting through falling snow, I still had the warm image of Applebloom in my head. Us next to a fire, chatting like best friends, or better. I sighed, setting that image aside, and galloped to the library. Author's Note Special early chapter for valentines day. (S) Stupid dreamsAuthor's Note sorry for such a short chapter. Last time on Zaanne: "'up up and away!' 'Nope!'" This time on Zaanne... (S) Stupid dreams I made it home just before the snow picked up. Still, I felt like stalagmite on my scooter as I parked it. I quickly went inside. I had apparently left the door unlocked, not that I lived in a bad neighborhood or anything. With the sun set, the house was dark, quiet, and cold, as usual. Dust had collected on the living room furniture; we never got a chance to sit around in here. My trophie case sat old dusty cups and plaques. The goblet that said "Xtreme pony 1st place" had cobwebs spread across to a metal plate with a ribbon engraved on the side that said "Wing cancer awareness marathon winner" The house could warm itself due to some pegasi magic-stuff, but I had no clue how to do that, so I trudged on to my room upstairs. The crystal gave enough light to see myself to my bed, and I plopped down onto it like a sack of potatoes. "Where's your parents?" Zaanne asked. He seemed genuinely concerned. "My mom works out of town. She's not always here." "And your father?" I looked out the window, watching the snow fall mutely against the homes around us. "Never really met my dad, he ditched us around the time I was born." "They were married, right?" He asked. "Of course, why wouldn't they be?" "Well, you got one thing better than Gabriel there." I sat up, looking at the crystal. "His parents weren't married? I thought you had to be married before you had kids." The wind whistled against the house. "I'll let him explain. Just know that the human world is messed up." "For now," Ship said, "get some sleep. I sence a long day tomorow." Not the best comment for sleeping, but the crystal streamed soft music through my head, a song about some girl named Delilah, and I quickly drifted off to Dream Land. Unfortunantly, my dream land was a little broken. In my dream, I was galloping through ponyville, with Gabriel next to me. We were going as fast as possible, my scooter gone. Gabriel (or Zaanne, I couldn't see his eyes) looked beat up, but I saw myself pointing to a mountain in the distance, yelling something at him. My voice was drowned out by a loud roar not too far behind us. The whole town had taken a beating. Random houses were on fire, and a few homes in complete ruin. The sky was dark and ashen, the snow in the sky turning black for some reason. It reminded me of a snow storm of ashes. "We need to get to that mountain!" I heard myself yell at Gabriel. The roar picked up again, louder and much closer. The floor rumbled, like the earth was breaking under us. "Well then, let's get going!" He shouted, sprinting down ponyville. He shot his head to the side and yelled, "The machine is there? Why did they even make another one?!" I figured he was asking Zaanne, so I focused on galloping. The scooter appeared in front of me so I sped forward on that. Gabriel kept our speed by doing some hop/glide with his wings. The thing behind us roared, and the dream buzzed out. When my vision came back on, I was back in the dark room with a new machine next to me. I wasn't focused on that though, I was more worried about Applebloom, who was in some animal cage. She didn't look harmed, but she was obviously scared. She was also mad about something, grumbling to herself and looking in the dark. "Calm down, AB." I said. "We can't get you out without Zaanne though, and he's, ah, busy with something." "Ok" she grumbled. The room shook violently, tossing me into the machine. When I looked up to it, I got a nice picture of something I didn't want to see. It looked like a giant fish bowl flipped over. Inside was pure black, with little lights flashing on and off inside the bowl. Every few seconds, a light would glow blue, and it would stay there. There weren't many, maybe three, but more were popping up. As if on cue of weird events, the walls shook and light poured into my eyes. When the light faded, I was back in the white place with Ship and Zaanne. The place was boring, nothing but white with a slight green tint in any way you look. The floor was like marble, but it didn't reflect my image, so more like a tile floor without lines. Ship was a human that I didn't recognize. He looked more like a Supersized bowling ball covered in a tropical shirt and tan shorts. His head was popped out though, a chubby mound of meat with eyes and a huge smile on his face. "Why are you so fat?" I asked. Not the nicest thing to say, but he was seriously big. "I'm not fat, I'm fluffy." He hobbled from Zaanne and waved to me. "He's transformed into a comedian again. His name is Gabriel Iglesias, not our Gabe though, so don't confuse the two chubbies." Zaanne was in his pony form, looking at the same clipboard from the afternoon. "What are you looking at?" I asked, pointing a hoof to Zaanne. "Oh this?" He held up the clipboard like it was an unimportant peice of wood. "It's plans for stuff, like the things we summon or new uses for the magic." He slid the board to me and i took a look at it. The stuff he put made no sence with too much clarity. It had a picture of a fire with random words around it like "blow up" and "fire punch". Next to it was a lightning bolt with a few less words spiraling around that. "Water" and "storm" were circled in blue. Under that had a funny picture of a stick human holding a sword. There were plenty of things there, most of which were circled. "Dragon voice", "Keyblade", "Food", and "Ubercharger-thingy" was circled twice. "What's an 'Ubercharger-thingy'" I asked. "It's a backpack thing with a canon thing that shoots good thingies!" Zaanne was by far the greatest person to explain stuff. "Well that's nice," I said. Until humans made more sense, I was going to wear a cowboy hat upside down everywhere. "Ship, what happened to the aliens?" The Hawaiian bowling ball tapped the side of his pudgy head. "They're doing something in the Everfree Forest, that is all i can see. I do sense that Gabriel knows more of their whereabouts." "You 'sense' him? How does that work?" For the guy that knew everything, he seemed puzzled by the question. "I'm not entirely sure how, I figure it's some internal energy source in me." Ship sat down on the floor and crossed his arms, or tried to. "Zaanne, what happened to the time machine you were making? Did you just stop working on it?" "I finish what I start, unlike most people." The green stallion rolled onto his hooves. "I merely took a quick break after something in it broke." "If you mess with time, you might not like the outcome." "Yeah yeah, anyway-" Zaanne waved a hoof to the air and a video appeared. "-This is what happened." The video showed him, as a human, working on something that looked like a big blue box. It could probably fit three people at the maximum. It was about 8 feet tall, with windows lining the top of the doorway. The top of the wooden box said "Police Box", but it looked like it could fit under the description of "Cookie Box". Zaanne kept banging the sides of it with a hammer, muttering to himself before taking the crystal necklace off. That seemed like a really risky move considering the rock was keeping Gabriel alive. Zaanne tossed the ship/rock/crystal to the top of the machine, where an open light was set. The crystal fell into the light, and the machine hummed smoothly before going completely silent. Zaanne didn't seem satisfied, so he ran into the box. I couldn't see in it, but the entire construction started making a loud whooshing noise and slowly dissappeared. It reappeared, but it looked abit different. First off, the color changed to green, which didn't suprise me at all. Second, the light had turned on and glowed brightly. I wasn't sure what I was looking at. "Okay, so you made a teleporting box. Why did you make everything green though?" "Keep watching." Zaanne ordered. The human hopped out of the box and grinned like a madmare. Immediately, things went downhill. The box itself glowed brighter than the light, making Zaanne cover his eyes. The whole image went into a series of random colors, swirling through space with the sound of explosions and a thousand people talking at once rolling out like a extremely broken tape. When the colors and voices died, Zaanne was on the floor, next to a circle of ash and the crystal. "That's what happened." He cut off the show and dissipated the screen. "I'm not entirely sure what all that stuff was though." "If I may guess," Ship said, "you broke the time vortex while trying to make the heart of the time machine." "I'm not sure what that is." I said. "Wibbly-wobbly stuff. It's all timey-wimey." The pegasus frowned. "If it is, then we need to be careful of what happens around us. Scootaloo, what did you dream of before you came here?" "Why?" I asked. "I just wanna know. If the vortex thingy hit the crystal, it might have effected you." It seemed logical enough, for something with no logic at all. I told him my dream, about the roar and the mountain and the new machine. I left out the part of Applebloom, partially because is didn't seen important. Partially because it felt like it should be my responsibility to save her. "So, the aliens are doing something again eh?" Zaanne laughed, bringing up his cheery side. "They'll be sorry they tried to mess with ponyville!" "Or 'will try'." Ship pointed out. "It could have been a dream of the future." I said, "Well, since i haven't seen the new machine yet, I'm going for future on my dream." "Come to think of it, that explosion happened before we blew up the last machine." Zaanne looked to the sky. "So that might explain my dream as well." "You can dream?" I asked. "Well it's more like a vision, like the one you had. Me and some blue pony yelled at eachother for a few seconds, then it ended." "Blue pony..." I thought about the writing on my scooter, and how Zaanne had preached it word for word, as if he said that every Sunday. "Zaanne, do you remember what you said, right before the sword fighting?" "Yes, 'I'd rather die of passion and love than to boredom and solitude'. Why, is it important?" I didn't know if it would work in a dream, but I rose my hoof. With a quick flash of light, the scooter appeared. I rolled it to the pony. "Read what's under it." Zaanne flipped the board and read the words aloud. After he did, he re-read it, and reviewed it again. "It's a convinent message, the things most people want yet never get, but it can also be used in reverse. A lot get passion and love but must first live with boredom and solitude. But a lot of people just want to be alone, and have to fake compassion to obtain it." He looked at the initials. "B.F.? Is it from your best friend?" "No, it's from my dad, his name was Blur Flare, or something like that." The name made Ship shuffle nervously, which again was odd for a computer. Ship had started to gain more and more emotion, considering the first time I met him, all he did was speak completely monotone. "When we were in the machine, some of the firewall bricks said 'Flare Blue'. Maybe he what they meant." The information made my head buzz. What did the aliens know about my dad? They apparently knew him and Zaanne more than Gabriel, but Zaanne had never left Gabe since... well, I'm not sure when. I realized I was probably overthinking it, so I forced it out of my mind. Even then, the room seemed to get ten degrees colder over the conversation. "We'll talk about it later," Ship decided, "for now, it seems that Scootaloo has had a dream from the future, with the information presented." He transformed into a tall man in something that was either a black karate gi, or a dark bathrobe. He had curly dark brown hair and a scar down the side of his face. His voice changed to have the same accent as Rayden. "I suspect that, if she had a dream of the future, and Zaanne had that vision of his apparent past, Gabriel should be currently dreaming of the present tense." "So, I have a past I apparently don't know, aliens are still trying to kill us, and Scootaloo's daddy issues might have something to do with it?" Zaanne laughed at the sky, as if he wasn't psychotic enough. "This story just keeps getting better and better!" Before I could respond to that, there was a weird fold of light next to me, and Gabriel appeared, sprawled out on the floor. He was human, but slightly fatter, though not as chubby as the other Gabriel, and with curly blond hair instead of Zaanne's flame spikes. "Nice of you to join us." Zaanne chided as Gabe sat up quickly. "Care for a blankie as you lie about?" He ignored Zaanne. "Guys, we have a problem!" He stopped when he saw Ship. "Anakin Skywalker? Why are you him?" "That's not important, share your information please." "Well the problem is that the aliens are up to something!" I fiddled with the handles of my scooter. "We got that already, they're making another machine, and we don't know what it does." "How do we know all this?" Ship grunted. "Zaanne tried to make the Tardis." Gabriel stared at the pony stunned. "What made that seem like a good idea? We already have teleporting transportation!" "Yes but the crystal cannot travel time." He summoned a ball and rolled it in his fingers. "The crystal can copy the powers that change stuff, like explosions and fire, but time is constant. You can't stop it, so you can't copy it, which is the crystal's specialty. Therefore I was going to make a Tardis to help us out, but it backfired." How Zaanne could come with such a conclusion, then call something an "ubercharger-thingy", I had no idea. Zaanne had been able to tap into the crystal's power and summon a storm of fire without even trying. Granted, it took his life force out for a moment, he still was able to use it, and considering we had about twelve hours of improper training, it seemed improbable. I shot the ball with fire as he tossed it in the air. "And now we all get dreams of the past, present, and future. So, what was your dream?" "Well if that's true, then we're more screwed than I previously thought." Gabriel eyed the sky like it was about to roar at him and announced, "We have dragons coming to town." (Z/G) Stupid DragonsMy dream was nice and sweet for an amazing twenty seconds. I was in a forest in the night time, with a canopy of trees the size of towers looming over my head and flowed off to the edge of my vision. Since most of the leaves had fallen, moonlight glittered across the ground in astonishing patterns and colors, mainly brown and blue from the dead leaves scattered about. Wind rippled through the leaves, giving a soft chill to roll across my back. It smelled like fresh, unpolluted nature, something I couldn't perceive at first. Being a Texan (or an American in general), there weren't too many places open to actually enjoy such feelings. There was also another smell that reminded me of chewed gum, which felt off to the tranquil setting. I had just finished absorbing the sights as i saw something glitter in a tree. An egg, about the size of an ostridge's egg, layed in a homely nest. The sphere was patterned with blue and white spots, sparkling against Luna's light. It was by far the most beautiful egg I've ever seen, so much so that I nearly told my dream to go grab it for me. Not two seconds later did I see a shadow as long as a trireme zip through the trees and grab the shiny bird's egg. It hit the ground, the poor baby clamped in razor sharp claws. At that point, the moon could have shut off, because I really didn't want to see the little fella go. The beast was almost the size of the trees, glowering at the egg as if it was his least favorite dish. He (I assumed it was a he) gleamed his scales like a crimson disco ball across the trees, showing a reptilian body with thin, bony wings like the world's largest, most pissed off bat/iguana hybrid around. Green spikes curved out of his spine, starting from the battering ram of a tail and trailing up to his forehead. The first thought that came was, that's the evilest Mohawk I have ever seen. The second was, he better not eat that pretty egg! When he opened his mouth, the gum smell got worse, mixing with thousands of meals that really needed some breath mints shot into. That all added to his dangerous appearance. Rows of teeth deadly enough for Zaanne to fangirl over seemed to sparkle in the twilight (pun intended). The baby bird was the size of a bowling ball, but the dragon popped it like a pill. I looked away as he ate, which later felt like a stupid idea if I were actually standing there. I'd most likely be his next meal. Something stirred behind the dragon, and a human came out of the shadows. I was only partially startled when I realized it was one of the duo of aliens. She didn't look like them, now being a skinny girl with long curly red hair, shaggy blue jeans and an XL jacket with a peace mark glinting in the dark. Looks were deceiving with them, though. It's the eyes that tell the story; they were glowing faintly green, illuminating around her face like superman about to use eco-friendly heat vision. "Hello." The hippy said softly. The dragon reared his head over to the girl and growled deeply. It spoke deeply, the words echoing through the forest. "Who do you think you are, approaching a mighty dragon like an equal?! Cower!" The alien didn't seem to care about the insult of being a lesser being, and continued to inch forward. "I can be a friend, or maybe I can be an enemy. The chances of me just being eaten is also to be considered." She spread her arms out. "I'm sure you can distinguish who I will be forthcoming this chat." The lizard scratched his head, which sounded like a knife being dragged across solid steel. Once he registered the words, he scowled in a very dragon-like way. "What's your name?" "I haven't got one..." The question seemed to puzzle the alien. "The only name I've been called is Gi, and Clarissa, but i don't think those are right." She shook her head and looked into the dragon's yellow eyes. "Anyway, I came to suggest a new entrée for you next supper." They were squinting down at the puny insect, as if he wanted to eat it, yet was amused by the fact it could talk. "You have ten seconds to explain, and five more to tell me where it is." The alien pursed her lips. "Well if you have an appetite for ponies and magic crystals, I have just the place for you." "And why shouldn't I just eat you?" It seemed like a great idea to me. "Oh you can eat me later, but first I'll show you where to get some nice, warm ponies to gobble up!" She sounded like how my sister acts when Awolnation has a concert in town. "But you mustn't be greedy, there's plenty of ponies to share with the rest of your kin." At the word "share", he growled deep enough for a full grown lion to cower. "They will NOT, this meal is mine!" He sniffed the air, trying to find something else to eat until supper. "Ponies, that shouldn't be too hard to eat." "Oh, there has only been one dragon that has meddled with this group, and I heard he left crying. It might be too much to-" The dragon roared so loudly, the trees momentarily parted, showing his entire murderous image. "YOU DO NOT SPEAK OF MY RACE AS SUCH WEAKLINGS!" His literacy felt off in my head, though he might have said it correctly for all I know; the words were still buzzing in my ears. "Then we leave at noon, it'll be about two hours of flight there." "What's in it for you then?" The dragon asked. He had at least a little common sense. I'm not sure if I liked it. "Why bother telling me about this place?" "Two reasons," the alien started, sitting on the dragon's foot like a cute green kitty. "First off, they have a specific crystal I'd like to get my hands on. Secondly-" she directed her attention to the side, and I swore her eyes were straight onto mine. "I need to buy some space eggs and milk." "Then I appeared here." I said, finishing up the story to the gang. "Alright then," Zaanne sat up, mixed with excitement and determination. "What are dragon types weak to?" The ship said, "They are weak to dragon and ice, recently they have a new weakness to fairy type moves. Resistant to nearly all other types." "To hell with any of this new Pokémon crap, we're being original here." He looked at a ball that Scootaloo hit with fire. "Anypony know how to control ice?" Scootaloo stayed quiet during the entire story, but she spoke up. "If they attack ponyville with a dragon, can't Fluttershy just tell him off?" I responded. "My guess is that the other dragon Fluttershy faced was tired to begin with, which made him easier to break down. This guy looked wide awake to me." Fluttershy was amazing for getting a full grown dragon to leave without it blowing up her team, but he was also about to take a century nap. It was most likely too exhausted to want to go through the trouble of eating before bed. Zaanne had stopped listening as i spoke. He looked off and mumbled to himself, his face showing deep thought. "With your weak magic, I'm not sure we could hold off the dragon, and I can't switch out for more than a few minutes for now." "For now?" I asked. He stared away from the group, now lost in his head, which I could relate to at the moment. "You two wake up, get Pinkie to make this-" a piece of paper floated into my lap. "-only tell Twilight, Pinkie and Applebloom about the dragon, then get as far away from Ponyville with them." Ship seemed to just realize how spaced out Zaanne was. "You planned that out quickly, do you know what will happen?" "I may not tell the future like Scootaloo, but if I'm right, Twilight should be able to get everypony out of town before the attack and Pinkie will be a great help with the defenses." He pointed to Scootaloo. "And we need to hide your girlfriend from the aliens." The color drained from Scootaloo's face, immediately becoming bright red. "S-she's not my girlfriend!" "Really?" I leaned to her, examining her face. I couldn't read emotions, as usual, but the Pegasus' eyes wouldn't meet mine, and they blinked a lot. Her eyebrows curved upwards, though i couldn't tell if that was from embarrassment or confusion. "How many hints do you need to get you on your way with her?" Zaanne inturupted. "We don't have time for relationship status problems! Now you two wake up, and do what i told you!" He snapped his fingers and I reappeared on Fluttershy's sofa. It had finished snowing last night, and the fire I had summoned died a while ago.My brain said it was about 3:00, since the sun had barely peaked above the horizon. Fluttershy was up early as well, sipping some tea at the table we ate at and staring out the window. She wore some rubber boots and the scarf and sweater again, the ski cap set aside her. She hadn't noticed my awakening, she just sighed and stared out to the snow-covered world. I looked out and my eyes widened. The land was covered in white, unleaved trees lining far away like a miniature forest of silver. I hadn't seen anything so still, yet so amazing. No wind, no talking, the area was calm and nice, nothing like a dragon's eating ground. I looked back to the mare, and the snow felt insignificant. She must have noticed me, because she broke her concentration to look into my eyes. "Good morning, did you sleep well?" It took a second to realize she spoke. Seeing into her eyes, I realized how animals must have felt when she have them the Stare. Disturbing her was intolerated, disobeying her was suddenly unheard of. I tried to say something about having a terrible dream, but all that came out was, "Uhhhhmm- huh?" She realized she was staring into my soul and blinked, releasing my brain. "S-sorry!" She whispered, "I was just looking at your eyes and the Stare came out." I couldn't tell how intentional it was, considering, last i checked, she controlled it herself. "It's alright." I rubbed the weariness out of my eyes, staring out the window. Humans complimented my eyes a lot, seeing as how they're baby blue, sometimes even grey. I didn't think much of it, considering humans just complimented when they wanted something from me. Speaking of humans, i remembered there were two human impersonators trying to kill me. "But I do have a suggestion for what to do today." "Yes?" She crossed her forelegs gently to the floor and leaned forward on them. "There's something coming, something bad. You should go warn Twilight to get everypony away from town." She sipped her tea through a straw, which seemed a little unconventional for a teacup. I guess it helped when you didn't have hands. "What's coming?" A psychopathic duo of aliens and a typical dragon, why not? I didn't say that since she was afraid of dragons, so I used the half-truth explanation. "Some bad monsters are comming to try and eat us up, and one intends on stealing Applebloom, if I'm correct." Even with avoiding the word "dragon", her face showed obvious worry. She stood up quickly, voice quavering. "Oh no! I-I'll go get Twilight, can you please make sure Applebloom is okay?" She was already halfway out the door when I responded. "Scootaloo's already on that, I'm off to get Pinkie help defend the town." She nodded and we raced to town square, where Sugarcube Corner stood brightly in the snow. "Be carefull," Fluttershy warned before galloping to the library. Outside felt like a Winter wonderland, but I'd have to enjoy the snow after fending off the dragon. I ran in. Pinkie pie was up already, in nothing but a pink scarf with purple polka-dots and four ice skates slung over her back. She tossed the blades to a table that looked like it had been assaulted with syrup. "Hi Zaanne!" She yelled, hopping over to inspect my clothes. I recalled taking most of the clothes off at Fluttershy's house, but now I was fully dressed for winter again, thanks to the crystal. "Come here for some delicious cupcakes? Or maybe some flatcakes!" "You mean pancakes?" She gasped and smiled up to her ears. "That's the perfect name for them! It's a cupcake made in a pan! 'PANCAKE'!" She hopped from table to table, chanting with far too much energy for it being so early in the morning, "Pancakes Pancakes Pancakes!" "Actually, I'd like what's on this list-" from my jacket pocket, I pulled out the list, reread it, then gave it to the mare. "- and a shot of whatever makes you the most hyper." She looked at the paper and stared back, fairly stunned. "Well this is an odd list, with such a weird request under it." She giggled like a maniac and skipped to the kitchen. "It'll be right out, plus one 'Super Duper Pinkie-style Cocoa'!" That sounded dangerously delicious, so I sat next to a table and watched the hyperactive pony bolt from the kitchen to up the stairs, then the cash register, the table, the kitchen, the roof (not sure why), then dissappeared back into the bakery. I'll be damned if you survive both the dragon AND the cocoa, Zaanne muttered in awe of Pinkie's multitasking skills. A few seconds later, Pinkie Pie trotted back with two coffee mugs covered in whip cream. "It's warm, but cool enough to drink at once." She showed this by emptying her entire drink in one gulp. She smiled and ran around some more. I shrugged and took a sip. It wasn't more than a milliliter, but the world slowed down around me. I could feel my pupils dilating as the energy hit me tenfold compared to the magic crystal. "What's in this?!" "Compressed magic sugar crystals, i think." She flipped off a beam in the roof and landed next to the broken table. "The effect only lasts about ten minutes or so, but it leaves you wide awake!" She looked at Zaanne's list and nodded. "I'm gonna make your order now. Also, your glowing, thought I should say that." Then she was gone. She was right; after another sip, the magic tattoos reappeared across my body. My senses went into overdrive, hearing every pony in ponyville yawn and shuffle around drowsy. I didn't even look outside to know that Scootaloo was riding her scooter to Sweet Apple Acres, which was nearly a mile away. It was like I could smell the snow just by looking at it. The fact that I could almost smell colors only slightly bothered me. Alrighty then! Zaanne feels what I feel sometimes, so I guess he got hit with the hyper treat as well. With this cocoa, we'll surely be able to kick some reptilian ass! Ship found the perfect time to ruin the mood. "The aliens gathered more than one dragon." "What?" I asked hypothetically. "Go to the roof of the building and listen." Ship commanded. Getting to the roof was easy, I just batted my wings and jumped from my hind legs, firing me up like a rocket. When I reached the tip of the building, I closed my eyes and listened as hard as possible. The sugar rush made it so I could hear much farther than ponyville. After some mental thought to find dragon roars, I sensed about five or six growls and wings flapping from somewhere far away. "Well, crap." "Save the rest of the hot chocolate," Ship suggested, still sounding like the Chosen One. "There's also an item that'll help us out in Twilight's labratory, if my memory serves right." I made the cup of hot chocolate dissapear to wherever all of my stuff goes, then headed off to the library, leaping over buildings with a single bound and running on walls, just for the fun of it. With no more wind messing with my flight, I wasn't crashing every time I glided, but it was still about as easy as riding a unicycle without pedals. I hit the ground and used my momentum to zip through Twilight's open window. I landed safely enough, though I had to roll to avoid crashing into Twi. Fluttershy stood at the door, but jumped to my sudden appearance. "Z-Zaanne?" "Hey Fluttershy, how's the conversation going? Good, great!" I flipped over the unicorn to the lab entrance. "Mind if I borrow your magic enhancer-thingy?" "Wait, what's going on?" Twilight asked. "Is it the same problem that Fluttershy stated?" "Yes, but it's abit worse than I had expected." I sped through what I had heard, still avoiding the dragon part. "So, i have the energy, but now i could really use some extra magic to help us out." Fluttershy said, "But you're a pegasus..." Twilight shook her head, far too calm for what i needed "Everyone has magic, just some species can activate it easier." I tugged impatiently on the handle "Great, so can you help us all and unlock the door?" The unicorn really didn't have too many reasons to trust my instincts, so a small part of me figured she'd just toss off the words, or suspect I'm secretly with the bad guys, considering most people don't just dream of monsters attacking the place. "Well..." The unicorn pulled out some keys and hovered it into the door's lock. I didn't recall there being a lock on the door in the show, but now it had a metal key hole under the knob. With a twist and click, the door swung open. if you die, Zaanne said crossly, I'm keeping our body. I muttered under my breath, "Thanks, i feel sooo confident." I looked behind me. Fluttershy was staring back, confused, and Twilight stood next to me, since i didn't know how to get the machine working. "Flutters, you coming?" She looked to the dark tunnel to the lab and frowned. "That looks a little dark." But for some reason she followed along anyway. "Onward!" All three of us went back to the lab. Author's Note The descriptions slowly got worse for some reason... (S) preparationsMost ponies my age had to worry about stuff like getting to school on time and playing sports. Me? I get to try to hide my best friend from some stingy dragons that apparently smell like gum. I snapped awake, hoping this doesn't happen every pre-Hearts and Hooves Day. Zaanne gave fairly specific instructions to warn Applebloom about the baddies, then try and find a place where she wouldn't be thought to have any connections with me or Gabriel. My bedroom felt strangely fictional compared to the constant moving and yapping of the other guys. The only thing that controlled itself was the chicken alarm clock, which rang ten minutes after I woke up. Before I left, i brushed my teeth, had another bath, made breakfast and read the engraving on my scooter once more. All of which Zaanne rushed me through. "Hurry up; Gabriel doesn't even eat breakfast! Shower faster! Read that later! Your teeth are animated, it's not like they get dirty anyway!" I put a snow cap over my mane, since it was still wet, and rode off to Sweet Apple Acres. I saw Zaanne run out of Fluttershy's house on my way there, but I didn't make any attention to him. He had things to do as well, so I accelerated downhill to the thousands of apple trees in the distance. I could see Big Macintosh sitting idly on the front porch of their house, in the chair that Rainbow sat in yesterday. "Is Applebloom awake?" I asked. "Nnnnope" he said simply. "What will she be awake?" He pointed to the clock hanging off the wall. "Soon enough." I nodded and sat oppisite to him, waiting for AB to come downstairs. It had stopped snowing, and the world was blanketed in white, practically untouched besides my hoofprints. There was an odd silence that fell along the land; normally pigs and cows made a large racket. I realized that this was the most likely reason Big Mac had sat out there. He loved silence. The chair had been caked with snow and ice as well, so I curled up like a cat to stay warm. I'd have to check the crystal's instruction booklet for "how to summon instant heaters" later. Big Mac fell asleep in his chair, but I didn't notice at first because it looked like he was just closing his eyes for a deep thought. He had a stick of hay hanging out of his mouth, though it wasn't there five seconds ago. "This is boring," Zaanne said aloud, "how does Big Mac stand the silence?!" "Some ponies are patienter." I muttered. My tail was slapping my face, so i passed the time by blowing it away when it moved. "Patienter isn't a word i belive," Ship spoke. "Try 'more tolerable'." "I don't need a living dictionary in my head." I heard a door open and a pair of hooves travel slowly down some stairs. "It'd be more accurate for me to be a thesau-, right, sorry." The hoof steps moved to the living room, and I could see Applebloom's head through the window. She wasn't wearing her typical bow, and her red hair split off down the sides of her neck instead of bundling in one place as usual. I found it cute, not that it mattered, but she also just woke up, most likely comming down for breakfast; not the perfect time to say hi. I adjusted myself to be able to watch her through the window (it's not creepy if it's important), swishing my tail across my muzzle. I figured i should knock, but I was really comfortable being a cat, curled up like a ball, so I stayed just like that. Zaanne seemed to want to yell at me for being too slow, but i could feel his energy rising, like he just had one of Pinkie's secret sugar treats. After a few short minutes, Applebloom walked outside to see Big Mac sleeping in one chair and a curled up orange and purple thing in the other. "S-Scootaloo?" She stammered, obviously not a morning pony, "why are you acting like a cat?" Part of me wanted to meow at her, but the urge went away. "It was cold." "Ya could have come inside." She saw Big Macintosh and sighed. "He slept outside again? He's afraid of his bedroom ever since a chicken landed on his window seal the night we told him about the cockatrice." I couldn't help but laugh. AB threw a red blanket over Big Mac and brought me in. "Ya hungry?" She asked. "Nah, i had breakfast before i came." She nodded and sat down to a plate of apple fritters and a basic red delicious. She smiled to the food, which saved the trouble of having to fully wake her up. "Hi Applebloom." Zaanne said quickly. "Hia Zaanne, hi Ship! Ya'll two being good to Scootaloo, right?" Ship spoke softly, "Of course, Ms. Bloom. We wouldn't dare out her in anymore danger than we're already in." "Wait wha?" We took turns explaining the dragons about to attack and how I prophesied her abduction. Zaanne's story included three extra dragons and the alien begging for mercy. Ship's version was so spot on, you'd figure he was the one who dreamed about it, but he added so many details that the story was slightly boring, and my story seemed to trail more and more off the subject. "He was all like, 'oh no, don't hurt me!' And cowered like a freaking dog!" Zaanne yelled. Ship said, "The constant tone of his voice indicated that he most likely was trying to convince the beast with reverse psycology, using extra phrases to provoke him into comming to eat us." "Gabriel saw a hippy talking to the dragon, and the dragon is about to come and-... Can dragons really talk? How could the alien communicate with that thing? What kind of apples do you use to make apple fritters?" After a few well spent minutes of distorted speaking, Applebloom shook her hooves around frantically. "Okay okay! Dragons are comming, taking me, and those bad guys are about to do something, well, bad again. "Sums it up pretty well." Zaanne said. "Gabriel is preparing our defences and buffing himself with random crap, and we're here to make sure you don't get caught." Ship added, "Also there's a few more dragons, but that's aside the point for now." AB's face paled. "And they're all about to come and attack ponyville? Can't they wait until, like, after Hearts and Hooves Day?" "Dragons are about to attack, and you're worried about your date with Scootaloo?" Zaanne asked aloud. She registered the selfishness and blushed like a red delicious (what, it's the name!) "S-sorry! It's just that, well, uhh..." "What's wrong Applebloom?" I asked. She studdered too much to understand her. "Me, you, date, girls, derp, fire, special, us..." I thought she was talking about some romance movie when she put her hooves to her face and took a slow breath. "Hard to explain." "Especially to such an unknowing pony," Zaanne muttered. "Applebloom," Ship said smoothly. "If you are too embarrassed to explain it properly to her, i could try to help." She sighed slowly. "No, I'll get it soon enough, thanks." "Get what?" I asked aloud, then in my head, Why don't any of you explain what's going on with her? There are some things that you have to do on your own, Zaanne said, which didn't help at all for me. I closed my eyes and cleared my mind, thinking through what Applebloom has shown. The red heart on the gifts. Her constant blush when she's around me. The fact that she's into mares. "Ohhhhh, i get it! you really love the color red!" The Earth pony didn't seem amused by my answer. "Well yes, but that's not it exactly." "Hmmmm, right before Ship blew our school up, Sweetiebelle was trying to say something. 'Its that Applebloom li-' then BOOM! I'm assuming 'li-' means 'like', so what do you like?" Zaanne interrupted. "Dragons are coming. walk and talk please." "Where am I taking her anyway?" "I'd head for Twilight Sparkle's lab," Ship suggested, "she'd be fairly safe from the dragons, and still in town to check up on her." "And Gabriel's there getting a power-up." Zaanne added. "Let's go there." Nopony argued, so we made our way to the library. Applebloom and I trudged through the snow glumly, staying side-by-side. The farm filly was silent for the entire trip, only speaking up when she remembered she forgot her bow. I said, "It's alright, you look fine without it." Her face brightened and she trotted closer, which I was okay with. In my dream, she was trapped in a dark room with some giant star sheet as dragons destroyed Ponyville. Being close to me as we walk through the snow to a library sounded much more relaxing. As I came closer to the building, something felt off. The ground under me had melted, leaving mud on my hooves, and the earth heated itself as we got to the door. "What's going on in here?" Zaanne explained, Buffing up for the dragons. Twilight can give you more detail. So, without knocking, we cantered through the door and to the unicorn's basement. If a giant yellow elephant stormed through the room, the sight wouldn't have been weirder. A dark shade of green had grown along the walls, like the place was sporadically caked in mold. Books and scrolls were frozen in the air, suspended by a translucent black haze swirling in the air. The cold dissapeard, changed to heated air which blew in my face. The floor hummed deeply, causing my hooves to vibrate soothingly. The gentle hum of the ground made my eyes droop, sapping off my energy and leaving me as tired as when I fell asleep. Considering this not a good nap time, we entered Twilight Sparkle's lab. Gabriel wasn't too hard to spot out, since he was a miniature green sun. A wave of heat dried my eyes out, so I looked away. Behind a flipped table, I could barely make out Twilight and Fluttershy in the shade of the intense light, eyes shut and muzzles to the floor. Eventually, the blinding light faded, leaving a smoking pegasus on the floor. Me eyes adjusted to the dimmed light, showing Gabriel standing back up slowly. He looked, well, darker, even though he was still glowing along lines across his body. His breath slowed down, and the constant moving and nervous energy had dissappeared. He acted so much like himself that I thought Zaanne and him had switched places, but when he looked up, Gabriel's blue eyes still shone. "Z-Zaanne?" Fluttershy stammered, walking to him. "Are you okay?" "Y-yeah." He said, somehow as silent as the shy pony. He stopped talking after. is he really alright? i asked the real Zaanne. I could feel the energy given off from outside! He has some clinical depression, which is why he's like this sometimes. The majority of his energy was stored in the crystal. He is correct, Ship stated, we are at 608% power now, 304% for each. Don't i get an energy reserve? Zaanne asked. So long as you don't fire all of our power out at once like last time, you'd each have about 152% in total. Ohoh, say the full equation for Pi now! Zaanne chirped "What's Pi?" I asked, not caring whether it's in my head or not. Twilight and Ship answered with a copious string if numbers, the only one I registered being a three. "-So, Zaanne. How do you feel?" Twilight said after she finished. "I feel like it's Meteor Monday again." He joked softly. "The hot chocolate might help. Or perhaps another lullaby, that song was adorable." I was not sure what he was talking about, as usual, but since Fluttershy smiled timidly, I bet she did the singing. "You can take a nap later," I said. "Twilight, can you watch over Applebloom in here while this goes down?" A.B. is pretty independent, so I figured she would say something about taking care of herself, but she stayed silent. The unicorn nodded, with a slight smile ticking at her cheeks. "I'm happy to see that you care for your friends. She may stay here while I help everypony else in town." She then frowned. "That's a lot of ponies though. Fluttershy, would you mind helping me?" "Of course." Fluttershy was still staring at Gabriel though. "Will you be okay, since you still can't fully fly yet." Gabriel nodded earnestly. "So long as everyone is safe, I can deal with these baddies." He looked to the top of the room, having a quick conversation in his head. "Also, the problem here is dragons, so you should hurry up." Twilight didn't seen suprised, but fluttershy looked like she got hit in the face with a frying pan. Fake Zaanne walked up to her and patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, if we hurry, nopony should get hurt. Go with Twilight and gather the towns people up." She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and gave Gabriel a good-luck kiss on his cheek "Okay." Fluttershy whispered, and walked back upstairs with a baffled Twilight. "Uhhhh... Gabriel?" I waved my hoof in front of home but he just stared at the wall. "Depression faded yet?" Applebloom pulled up a chair and sat down on it. "Ah can't be entirely sure, but ah think he likes her." "Touching, really." Zaanne scoffed, though his voice was light. "Can we go finish our job now?" "As soon as Gabriel wakes up." I stride behind him and whacked him in the back of the head. He jumped, backing up to the energy machine. "What!?" "Dragons, Ponyville, hippy aliens. Time to go." the time is 1:50 P.M. Ship informed. How the time passed so quickly from when I awoke, i had no clue. As a filly, my mom told me that time flies when I'm having fun. Nothing about this situation screamed "fun" to me. Zaanne said, "It'd be a real dick move to bring someone else into this fight..." Then the room brightened up. When the light faded, pony-Rayden was sprawled on the floor. He bolted up, looking around frantically. "Wha-?!" The magic weapon thing had transformed into an intricate chest plate, like the ones the royal guards wore. "Scootaloo, Gabriel... You could warn me before you do that!" "That was Zaanne, not us," Gabriel sighed. "and he had a good reason." The green pony summoned a cup of dark brown liquid. "But first, I'm gonna have some cocoa." (G/Z) My ingeniously stupid planAuthor's Note Yay, chapter 20! I might take abit longer to post and edit each chapter, due to my sister needing help with some kittens. Not like any more than three people care about this story. (G/Z) My ingeniously stupid plan When I arrived, it look exactly as weird as i had expected it, and a few other ponies had stopped to stare with me, as if they hadn't seen it before. A wall of brown bread-like blocks that were dotted with various foods lined along the outer area of ponyville. The foundation towered up even over Rainbow's cloud mansion, spanning out a perfect circle around ponyville. Each brick was matted and cemented with peanut butter, which dried together in the little sun we had. At the top of the pillar was a pink pony. She was smearing the top with peanut butter. "Pinkie!" I called. She couldn't hear me, but i could register her giggling and singing about peanut butter ponies. "Do i have to go up there?" No response. With a strong jump of my hind legs, i hit the wall, running up at her. My forehooves would have pushed me off, so i just kicked up like a satyr with wings, using them to keep my body forward. Ten seconds later, I was at the top. Wind ripped through my fur, being at a higher elevation, which made me fold my wings. At the top, i had a beautiful view of the entire land of Equestria. Mountains spiked along the horizon, trailing throughout the landscape. Beyond that was the colder areas, where the Crystal Empire stood in it's love barrier. The Everfree Forest seemed to be raining in it's area, a wall of clouds swirling violently through it. Our village had been powdered in white, besides Twilight's library. The town looked sad, surrounded by a mile tall wall. I knew it was for the best, since the place would get destroyed if it wasn't. "Pinkie!" I shouted over the wind. This time, her ears perked up. She looked to me, smiling even though she looked like she took a bath in peanut butter. "Hi Zaanne!" She skiped to me and gestured a hoof to the wall. "Just as you asked! 130 thousand blocks of fruitcake in a wall around the town, covered in peanut butter-" she looked at a leather watch that appeared out of nowhere. "-by noon too!" "Bravo Pinks, you've really outdone yourself this time. Now if i may ask for one more thing." "What might it be?!" Her hair was covered in the fruit peices and bread, smiling up with a cute twinkle in her eyes. "Twilight and Fluttershy are escorting everypony out to Canterlot. Being the main jester here, can you go encourage the town to go? We don't have much time." Before she could ask why, a roar broke through the cloudy sky. I could hear the townsponies start to chatter cautiously, from the dragon and the fruitcake fort. Pinkie's hyperactivity melted into confusion. "What smells like bubble gum?" "It's not bubble gum, i think it's eucalyptus leaves. Dragons like them." I could smell the minty scent as well, obviously wafting from the outer side of the wall. "Uh, how do you know that?" "Zoë and Ladon, it's in a book." "Ooh i love books! They take you to worlds far beyond your imagination!" She smiled to me, waiting for a response. "Imagination is the door to all worlds, the key to these worlds is the knowledge that all fantasy has a sliver of reality to it, which is what pulls you to it. Therefore the things in your imagination can lead to being real events in some cases." Drop the mic. Pinkie seemed to calm down by that somehow. "That's one way to look at it. I better get to helping the others." She jumped off the side like it were a two foot high diving board. "So were gonna go kill dragons now right?" Zaanne asked impatiently. "We won't kill them, just make sure they don't attack the ponies." The plan formed in my head, going from hard, to dangerous, to just plain impossible. Fortunately, I had an odd knack for doing impossible things. I survived an explosion to the heart, psychotic aliens with a control problem and amnesia. Why not a team of dragons? Unfortunantly, it would also mean Ponyville would definantly be destroyed, which was not my original plan. But every pony will be healthy. I summoned some paper and pencil and wrote a note. Walking to the edge of the inner wall, i tossed the note, noting the wind sticking it to the fruitcake. "So," Zaanne cleared his throat, "what's the plan? Just gonna jump from here and hit them hard?" "That's step one." I remembered when the aliens fought Zaanne for the first time, and what happened when they punched eachother's fists. "Ship, inform Scootaloo and Rayden I'll be out." "What are you planning to do?" Ship asked, strangely amused. "I'm gonna hit them hard." I charged the destructive punch through my hind legs and forehooves, then jumped into the air. Angling my back to the direction of the dragons, I slammed all of my legs together. The limbs glowed in cybernetic lining, and everything went white... again. _____________________________________ If I had a bit for everything that could go wrong here, I could properly pay off the million fruitcake barrier. I could miss the dragons, i could hit a tree, or another pegasus, or a cloud (which are apparently like the ooblic of high velocity pegasi.) and an endless amount of injuries could show. So, you might be asking, "Why did Gabriel rocket propell himself to demon lizards on his own?" Well, silly reader, the answer is the exact reason you asked. It would completely confuse the enemy. The aliens know I have most control over the body, and that either me or Ship would make the planning, which would be a far more defencive side of staying together. They wouldn't expect us to follow any of Zaanne's satanic ideas. Therefore, to have the element of suprise, choosing a stupid idea sounded the most logical. What, it's legit. I must say though, unless you are either the main character or rival to the main character, don't do suicide missions. The white turned into large spots in my eyes, allowing me to take an overview of where I was flying. Wind screamed in my ears hauntingly as I spiraled through the sky, over strong clouds and through the weaker ones. The dragons were close, i could feel their energy thanks to the crystal. I repositioned myself to face the dragons' presence, then spread my wings. I'm unsure how, but gliding after I got shot like a rocket was easier than basic takeoff. My wings cut through the wind and stiffened out, balancing me immediately. With a quick look behind me, I could see that I somehow made one of those comet trails that Rainbow Dash could make when she flew fast enough, though mine was green with a blue and yellow glow. As cool as it would have been to explode into rainbows, the acceleration remained too constant. I concentrated forward and soared through the sky. The clouds finally parted from it's snowy environment. I was flying over a sea of trees, none bigger than the library but still a good height. It spanned in all directions and dissappeared into the horizon. The sun beated down on my fur coat, making things far too hot for my type of comfort. Dragons aren't hard to find when they're in a group. There were six, each one different sizes and shapes. The tiniest one was electric blue and about the same size as Spike, but with wings long as his body. The second one appeared to be a neon green Komodo Dragon, with skinny bat wings and yellow spikes running along it's body. The spikes sparked with charged electricity. Third dragon appeared to be a biped, red with orange down the belly, puffing out his chest and giving a cocky grin that Zaanne really wanted to smack off him. It didn't take me three seconds to remember he was Garble, one of the dragons that Spike had ventured with for a short time. The three taller dragons appeared full grown, growling in the sky and roaring at eachother. These three looked relatively the same, though it was obvious they resembled different types of dragons. Big Red was there, spitting fire at trees and causing a huge mess of the forest we flew over. Big guy #2 was white with beautiful blue eyes, it's roar sounding just like the wind in my ears. It's spikes were transparent, but glowed in it's core like giant blue glow sticks. It breathed out pure snow. Anything it touched would immediately freeze, so his flight path became a path of snowclouds and hail. The last dragon held a green and yellow mix of scales, and the only one with no spikes at all, not counting it's claws. It coursed with lightning, like Zaanne had in the black room, but this guy was more than just a show-off. Tendrils of electricity sparked the clouds, making thunder storms where he passed, sending more forest life on fire. It's roars sounded like the sky booming with thunder. I would have landed to let the hot chocolate crawl back down from my throat, but I realized I still couldn't land. Luckily I found two aliens to break my fall. I had plenty of time to examine the dragons, since they flew through the air, but the aliens were simply perched on a high tree. Rocketing to them, I spun back-down and kicked my legs out, bucking one clean off the branch. I reached out and snapped the branch like it was butter as i flew by, making the other alien drop like a stone. By the time we hit the floor, I lost nearly all of my momentum, so landing on the alien in horse mode wasn't nearly as satisfying for Zaanne as we had hoped. I rolled off before the alien I landed on, who was apparently the hippy girl, could regain its senses. Alien two landed on it's feet, brushing itself off carelessly. It was now dressed like he/she was cosplaying. Female, with an intricate white dress that looked like ice. It was close to a ballerina outfit, really fluffy but only going down to her knees. Her hair was bleach white and very long, some of it tied into a bun at the top. She had a weapon, some spear-like sword with multicolored gems around the hilt. Her eyes were obviously alien, the usual green glow, but added with a gentle scowl. Her voice was stern, like an annoying eighteen year old. "What a rude little horse we have here, running into us. Though you aren't a horse, are you?" The dragons were too far away to make very loud noise, but it still sounded like explosions in the distance. "What a rude woman, trying to destroy my planet. Though you aren't a woman, are you?" It suddenly clicked in my head that I didn't have a weapon, nor did I have the hands to hold one. "This isn't your planet, why should your kind care?" Hippy was starting to get up, still too dazed to talk. "Because it's not suddenly okay if it's not Earth, which need I remind you that you also tried to destroy that place?" "With no prevail, thanks to one badass here." Zaanne commented. "Ugggggg~" hippy alien groaned. "Duuuuuuuude." "What are you even morphed as? A killer Barbie?" Ship scanned for information. "She is Weiss Schnee, a character in a show called RWBY, it will be viewable by Rooster Teeth this July. They have character previews on YouTube, if I'm correct." Considering it was only February, I just assumed they were still making the show. Weiss smiled sweetly. "Thank you, computer. You may service us with more useful information if you and your green haired friend were to come with us." I laughed out of habit. "Real smooth on the invitation there bud, but no." My hooves flickered into four green infernos. "We'll be taking you two down now, again." Hippy had collected herself and stood behind me. "It's two bodies against one, and we have become stronger. As you can see, we can now travel great distances, we obtained the energy to create two weapon staffs, though your friend took mine." Hippy circled slowly around me to Weiss. "You have only learned how to destroy things. Zaanne has the better knowledge of this crystal than you and that A.I. system has together." Weiss' green eyes beamed gleefully. "Yes. Zaanne has far greater power than you three realize. He shouldn't have to waste his time with you people. Why take us down, Zaanne?" My brain buzzed from both sugar and concentration. Though I couldn't stand to stay put another second, I really wanted to hear the aliens' words. "If the ship controls the crystal's power, why would Zaanne know more about it?" In the back of my head, I could feel Zaanne's want for sudden control, also pushing to shut them up, but I settled him with my will. "If you succeed at stopping us, that being very unlikely, then a hint will present itself, like last time." Weiss' smile faded. "When you die though, I'm sure whatever high being that controls the universe will explain." "Challange accepted." I grinned, my body flickering with energy. "I'll destroy you two, save Ponyville, learn about Zaanne and this stupid crystal's past, and unlock it's full potential. I'll start with stopping you." alright, destroy isn't my style, but they were about as real as Kim Kardashian's face. they were also ticking me off, and I was a bit too hyper to listen to reason. An odd wind had picked up, blowing through at near tornado speeds. I stood on my hind legs and crouched down for balance, preparing to battle. I had expected the duo to prepare as well, but they simply tisked and smiled again. "We have no need to fight you," Weiss cooed. "You have much bigger problems, if I'm correct." She spun in her frilly dress and shouted, "Oh Garble!" Within ten seconds, the teenage dragon landed next to them. He was easily their height, flapping his yellow wings. "What do you want?" He asked rudely. "Be a dear and eat this pony up. He is far too much of a bother, but he comes with a delicious reward." Hippy motioned her hand to my crystal, which had begun to glow with a slight blue tint. "Nobody tells me who to eat!" But Garble eyed the glowing rock curiously and sneered. "I'll eat this punk, but not because you told me to!" I sighed of boredom. "Sweet, one day here and I get to fight an idiot. But I guess you can help me find dragon weaknesses." The magic fire circled around my body as the wind whirled faster and I smiled to the annoying dragon. "Come at me, bro." I honestly expected a better fight. He huffed, puffed, and belched out a column of red fire at me. Again the heat only struck me as a warm stroke. I walked toward him slowly, fanning the flames with my wings as my own became bigger, now in a complete green sphere of inferno around me. After a moment of realization, Garble stopped shooting flame at me. "Fire won't protect you from me, stupid pony." "And fire won't protect you, idiot, so we're even there." The fire sheild died to my will, but the wind continued. "I'm not sure how I'm doing that, though..." Zaanne was the one to explain, weirdly. "Pressure from the crystal storing a lot of energy, then being released. The steady use of fire created a constant pressure release, like when you slowly press on a whoopie cushion" "So the crystal can fart too? Awesome. Why is it still going then?" As I asked, I grabbed the branch that had snapped from the top of the tree. It was sharp and pointy at the end, but too unbalanced to count as a spear. how I was holding it with a single hoof was not a current concern. "It's preparing to do more magic, since we have so much." I planned on saving the magic for the larger dragons, since my idea had been formed for them on the flight there. Garble stopped listening and charged me, baring his shark teeth and razor talons. I rolled to the side and swept his legs with the branch. He tried again, but i just hopped the opposite direction and planted the stick to aim at his chest. the thinner side dug into the ground and the splintered section caught him in the ribs. It didn't cut him somehow, but he did pole vault over it and into a tree. He hit the grass on his hard head and was out. "Think before you react, hothead." I turned to the aliens, who snacked amused on a bowl of popcorn that randomly appeared. "I'm ready to fight you now!" They gave me the answer I was hoping for. "Ah ah, not yet." Weiss mumbled crossly. "You still have four dragons to deal with." Hippy looked up and shouted at the small blue and green one. Blue was there half a second later and green slithered down the side of the tree creepily, hissing and spitting plasma. Weiss turned to the blue one. "Go ahead and find the pony Scootaloo, she's orange with a purple mane." He was as hyper on the outside as i was on the inside. "Purple hair, orange body! Or was is orange hair... Who was i after?!" He mumbled through the order with apparent short term memory, spinning around the team like a blue tornado. "Just get the small pony with the shiny thing that looks like his shiny thing, and take her to the mountains." Little blue registered "shiny" and broke through the trees at Rainbow speeds. That left the Komodo dragon and three Titan lizards. By Ship's word, i haven't even spent ten percent of my divided energy, even when Zaanne's included. I still didn't call that an even match. Little Green hissed at me and started moving in, shocking everything nearby it. I started to back up. I was fireproof, but i wasn't so sure with lightning. Zaanne gave me some deep knowledge that i didn't understand. "To create lightning, you must first understand it." Then the dragon roared, shooting a wave of electricity at me. I had just enough time to hear a Namekian tell me to dodge before it hit. Tasers can go screw off. I knew before that the crystal would buffet most of the pain from absorbing stuff, but I still felt like i was being branded in the brain. I rocketed back into a tree, my eyes seeing white spots everywhere again. Though it hurt like most female dogs and a lot of humans I know, I did get a pretty good understanding of how lightning works. Whatever it's attracted to, it'll go through a lot to get to it. Even air, which is somehow an insulator, allows it's passage to get to where it wants, which is some proton/electron stuff I need not go into right now, mainly because i forget exactly how the scientific way is described. It loves some things, and is wild when approached with such things, like water, volcanic ashes, metal... I got up, not caring that I was now smoking along the sides of my shoulders, or that everything stung. "Hey, Miss Weiss? What is the stabby sword called?" Despite the ballerina's shocked look, she held up the dark grey blade. "It's called a rapier, but, unlike the regular blade, it uses Dust to activate specific spells." With a wave of it, a light blue trail followed that looked nothing like regular dust. "Care for a demonstration before we leave?" Before i could decline her generous offer, she waved the thing like an orchestral stick. The blue separated into five miniature cerulean missiles, which, to nopony's surprise, shot at me. They were not to fast, about the speed of a weak teen's football throw (i wouldn't know; never played football). Jumping the first two, I flapped my wings to bounce me over the rest of them, but they spiraled back. I summoned the flame sheild, which came quite easily now, but it only blew up three before blowing up the defense, knocking me to the floor. No time to recover as the last two flew at my face, so i watched as they went, dropped at me, then exploded overhead. There was a confused look from all of us, including the Komodo dragon, who apparently was calm enough to sit back and enjoy watching me get tossed about. Rayden the pegasus leaped through the trees, firing two small rockets at the aliens and landing in front of them as the shots created a fiery explosion, consuming the entire area behind him. "Dayum" Zaanne muttered. Rayden now had a full suit of armor, making his body gleam silver. His hooves and chest had glowing rockets attached to them, humming with energy. He didn't wear a helmet, but i could see an opening behind his neck, as if a helm could file out of it. Ray didn't look too happy. "Do you know how annoying it is to track you two by some explosion on the side of a thousand foot wall?!" He pulled out the note i left them. "What is up with this note, too? 'Gone fishin'? Where's your fish at? I couldn't help but smile, partially to his anger and partially to his accent. "I'm a horrid fisher. And what took you so long?" "These guys were like ten miles away, and i can't fly!" He demonstrated how the razor blades also directed his wings for him. "I had to get Ship to instruct me from Scootaloo's crystal." "Well it's nice that you're here, we done talking now? We have four dragons and two aliens to fight." The Komodo was getting restless and Hippy nodded bored. "I'll deal with these three, you take the big guys, since you have the crystal." "Fair enough, and i might as well hit hard. Zaanne?" "Yeah?" He asked excitedly, knowing what i would say. We needed some insanity. So, even though his main mission is to destroy another machine, why not give him a little fun? "Switch out!" I shouted, and just like that, Zaanne took control of the pony. (S) Scooter powerAuthor's Note Comment the word "taco" if you read this. (S) Scooter power After the fruitcake barrier, i wasn't sure if Zaanne and Gabriel could possibly come up with a dumber idea. After Rayden flew down to tell me about the note, i realized i was wrong. "They're going after the dragons." I translated from the small paper, which merely said "Gon fishin". "It says they were fishing though." Ray re-read the paper. "Were they lying?" "Yes, it's called sarcasm." I folded up the letter. "You take things too literal sometimes." There was a streak of colors in the sky, then Rainbow Dash landed next to us. "Scoots! Why are you still in ponyville, Dragons are comming!" "Applebloom is safer here, so I'm staying to watch over her." I gestured a hoof to the library, which wasn't too far behind us. Applebloom suggested to stay inside, since the fruitcake wall couldn't possibly keep the dragons out; they'd most likely fly over it. R.D. inspected the crystal around my neck. "That other stallion had one of those. Zaanne, right?" She turned to Rayden and got nose to nose with him. "Where's your friend at?!" Rayden seemed unable to speak, so I tapped Rainbow's shoulder. "Zaanne is fine, he's out to slow the dragons down, or possibly stop them." She scoffed, apparently vexed by Zaanne's stupid action. "On his own? No way, I'm going after him!" She started to take off, but Rayden interrupted her. "Wait, there's more than dragons, if I'm correct." The redhead nodded to me. "If anyone does happen to get by and attack Scootaloo, how would you feel about that? Stay here, protect your town. I'll go help Zaanne, I've got this armor so i should be alright. Rayden had completely tricked out his clothes/weapon stick. It was now entirely mechanical, with almost thirty random attributes to it, like lazer shooting, a stun gun and the gauntlets became roller blades if the rocket boosters broke. The dagger wings had a mix of red and blue on it, sparkling in the sky and creating a violet blur when he flapped them. The chest plate had a lot of other neat trinkets that Ship suggested to him, with Rayden's ring design engraved on the metal. Rainbow stared him down, and he looked back with a straight face. "Why should i trust you?" Why should you trust anypony? Zaanne muttered. You trust Gabriel, i asked, don't you? The human world is a screwed up place, filled with the worst of people, and never the best. Gabriel can't subconsciencely feel empathy, so he doesnt relate himself to others without purposely doing so. Therefore, with the amnesia and your world of friendship, he's a fairly good kid. Geez, Zaanne, you sound like Ship. Rayden eyed the wall. "As the element of loyalty, it'd be best to stay here. I don't want to see you get hurt." "I can handle myself if that's what you're talking about!" Rainbow turned back to me though. "I'm staying here, for the sake of Scootaloo-" she peeked at the chest armor. "-and because you've got a nice taste for armor." He didn't say anything but his face flushed slightly. I guess he didn't expect rainbow to notice her own element on his chest or something. After a minute he turned and walked down the path, murmuring to himself, "at least these dragons aren't evil pirates." After a thought of a pirate in a red suit sadistically beating them up (Zaanne's fault, I'm not sure why he put that image up though), I went back into the library, closely followed by Rainbow Dash. You treat rainbow like your sister, and vise-versa, Zaanne observed. Ship informed him, My Little Pony's timeline is dated backwards a few episodes. We are currently set about a week after the events of "Sleeplessness in Ponyville". You six went camping in the winter?! Rainbow and I walked around the library, not talking much besides Rainbow's annoyed grumbles. After those insane dreams with the princess of the night, I had less nightmares, but far more questions. How does dream walking feel? Where does Luna's physical body go when she enters ones mental state? Can I get a Cutiemark in psychology? But Gabriel and I are in the break after season three! We already know what happens! wait, what happens? I hopped to a window seal and stared out to the mass of cloud above the walls. Spoilers, all I'll say is you'll be bucking pissed at Twilight in a few weeks. he paused for a moment before asking, But seriously, did you guys go camping in February?! It's, like, ten degrees here! "Hey, Scoots. You there?" I looked over to see a pair of magenta eyes. "You alright?" "Y-yeah, why?" "You've been spaced out for nearly ten minutes now, what's on your mind?" The wind picked up abit, rustling throughout the tree branches. "Just, you know, voices in my head. Quite normal for a kid my age." "Oh, alright." She shuffled her hooves nervously. Her annoyance seemed to fade since Rayden looked away. "May i ask you a question? Sis to Sis?" "You don't have to ask me to talk." I sat on the Twilight's bed but kept an eye out the window. "Well, it might seem to be off the topic of dragons, but you seem to know abit about these two. Tell me what's going on." I sighed, mainly because I was getting tired of trying to explain it, to ponies and myself. "Long or short story?" She went with short, so I put the crystal in my hooves. "This necklace is part of a magic living spaceship. Zaanne's real name isn't Zaanne, it's Gabriel. The real Zaanne lives in our heads, along with the ship's conscience." I pointed to the barrier. "The first people to ride in the spaceship are attacking us for it, since it's power can destroy/create planets if used in the wrong hooves." I paused for her to ask anything. "People?" Was the first question. "Gabriel and Rayden are not from this world." "So they're-" "Aliens, technically yes. But they're good aliens, and me and Zaanne are being attacked by bad aliens." Her eyes closed slowly. "So it's their fault that we're in trouble?" "No! This could have happened to anypony!" "Actually," ship started through the crystal, "the bad aliens set course for Zaanne specifically, which is why it hit Gabriel's school. Your place was hit because they flew into Titan on the way to earth, knocking part of the ship off. Knowing to shoot down a school, part of me found the second closest one, being in ponyville." "What about the school in canterlot?" "I was looking for a charter school." Rainbow asked the obvious question. "Did that rock just talk?" "Yeah, he does that some-." There was loud BANG outside, startling me off the bed. Rainbow's ears perked up. "Go check on Applebloom," she ordered, "I'll go see what that was." I nodded quickly and rushed downstairs as rainbow flew out the window. Applebloom was still in the lab, jumping to each machine and inspecting it. "There's so many cool things in here!" She yelled excitedly as I entered. "Yeah, it's awesome." I scanned the place for any bad guys, but there were none. It was a little dim though, so the crystal brightened the room nicely. Applebloom was messing around with the potions. "Maybe i can get mah cutiemark being a scientist!" She tossed a random mixture of herbs with other premade vials together and stirred, filling the room in a plume of green smoke. After a fit of coughing and feeling around, i found Applebloom's back. "I think that's more Twilight's deal!" The smoke cleared. "Nah, Ahm sure anypony can do it if they try hard enough, like mah sis Applejack!" She took out a large container of some yellowish rocks. Ship warned her, "That's a lot of sodium, it can be deadly if used badly." Applebloom did the smart move and set it back on the table. I looked at the other items set out. There was a bowl of water, some orange liquid in a glass beaker, some hot plates, a funny looking metal tube attached to a metal tube and Applebloom's new potion. "Iron chef here." Zaanne whistled. I didn't know if that was a famous human scientist or not, but I decided not to bother asking. AB asked, "You're gonna be alright when the dragons get here, right?" If Gabe went out to go stall them, we had maybe two minutes of free time. My dream showed Applebloom in a cage, and i started to wonder if she was safer there, or surrounded by hundreds of dangerous chemicals. I smiled anyway. "Yeah, and we're still on for Hearts and Hooves day, right?" Applebloom giggled cutely and nodded. "So long as this fruitcake plan works." Zaanne said that it wasn't necessarily made to protect the ponies so much as the town in general, though it still didn't serve a purpose in air combat. I thought back to Fluttershy giving Zaanne a good luck kiss, so I figured, Why don't i do it? I might have been a little more straightforward on it though. I took Applebloom's hoof gently and leaned forward, kissing her on the cheekbone. "If anything happens to you, I'll make sure those aliens get it." Applebloom stared back dumbfounded, and I wondered if the good luck thing only worked for older ponies. Her face was deeper red than Gabriel's, and she sat down, losing all her curious energy. Uhm, why did you kiss her? Zaanne asked. "It was for good luck." Something in the back of my head told me it wasn't just for good luck, but I set it out. She managed to speak. "T-thanks... You're gonna be fighting soon, I wish ah could help." She ran up and hugged me, pressing my crystal to her chest. "Be careful!" I couldn't think when she hugged me, that thing in the back of my head was shouting now, but i couldn't hear it. It as drowned by a crashing noise upstairs. I had expected it to be rainbow, since at fires all I saw was a blue blur. The blur changed into what looked like a winged cerulean version of spike. It spotted us immediately, shouting "SHINY THING!!!" Before flying at us. I was knocked to the floor in a miniature shockwave from his speed, the crystal dimming. When I sat up, the baby dragon had began flying around the room rapidly, knocking over various objects. At some point he knocked the sodium open and pushed half of it into the water. After a series of explosions and a new plume of smoke, I stood to see Applebloom in his claws. He didn't look twice when he took off up the stairs. "Hey! Wrong pony!" I made it up the steps in two hops and bolted out the library door. "Ship, scooter!" I jumped into the air and landed on my ride, which had appeared in a flash of light within seconds. Rainbow Dash was airborne, chasing after the stupid lizard at full speed. So much for keeping her safe! Zaanne yelled at me as I bolted down the town. There were plenty of ramps and empty streets to accelerate through, and soon I was leaping houses in a single bound. The crystal continuously supplied energy (which ship said required little power from him) so I didn't have to conserve it like I used to in hard tricks. The dragon had Applebloom over his shoulder, flying nearly twenty feet above me. "Zaanne, how can I get up there?!" The blue guy was nearing the wall, speeding up and laughing like a maniac. "Your scooter should be connected to the crystal as you hold it, so try transferring the fire trick into it." "How do I do that?! I'm not a computer!" Rainbow had shot upward into the clouds after seeing me chase the dragon. "Just think!" Was Zaanne's last response. I hit a flat-roofed building and shut my eyes while driving forward. I imagined the scooter being so fast it created a spark from the friction, then a fire. The scooter was alright, but the speed required for that buzzed my imagery, even making my grip feel warmer. I pictured the scooter being used like a rocket, firing upward into the sky. When i opened my eyes, the world glowed green and the edge of the building was at my feet, so I jumped. Forget jumping a few houses, I cleared half of the town. I laughed in freedom as the air ripped through my lungs, the dragon right in front of me. "Too shiny!" Blue yelled before shooting upward. I hit the wall and kicked off it into the clouds. I was obviously on fire, with a green and purple comet tail glowing behind me. Even though I can't fly, I can still walk on clouds. Riding on the cumulonimbus like solid ground, i followed him from above. Obviously I couldn't see him through the clouds, but i followed the glowing blue dot under me, i guess his aura or something like that. When i took a moment to look up, the sight was beautiful. Rolling feilds of white to the edge of a two mile radius ended in a flood of blue. The sun beat down over my head, but the clouds kept me cold. Wind whipped through the layer, puffing up thin clouds and flicking them through the air like steam, which it kind of is. Zaanne was singing something about a neverending story, Ship had begun to concentrate on the magic use (I used about 15% overall from the magic scooter) and I was only thinking of two things, give Applebloom back and how does the scooter not fall through the cloud? It's not a pegasus... Above the canopy of clouds, I saw RD forming clouds together. With a kick, a streak of lightning shot down at the dragon. There were two paniced screams, but the bolt misfired into the fruitcake wall. I figured the wall was toast, but it looked like nothing happened to it. The dragon shot upwards from the pastry, apparently having enough sense to not go head in against the fruitcake. Rainbow collected another charged cloud, but i shouted for her not to. She then noticed the ball of green fire that was me. "Scootaloo?! What's going on?" "Just catch him!" I had zero time to explain as I kicked off a cloud, spiraling through the sky after the dragon. Too late. The idiot flew it to the top and made a beeline to the mountains. "Scootaloo!" Applebloom cried out as she was dragged through the air. I was seconds from cloud bouncing after her when Gabriel yelled at me to stop. "If you go, the dragons and aliens will destroy Ponyville! Zaanne, Rayden and I can hold them off, but we can't take them all on without the entire ship, which includes you." "But they have Applebloom!" Gabriel's voice became stern and earnest "I get that, but remember your dream. You will see her again, I promise. Let Rainbow follow him, she can scout him out easier with flying." The cyan pegasus landed next to me. I explained the plan. "I'll get 'em! Don't worry!" With that, she flew into the clouds and dissappeared. Honestly, It took a lot to keep me from going with her, but I could hear louder roars and multiple dots in the distance. The aliens were actually easy the first time, but now they seem more into it. "Ugh, stupid dragons!" I kicked on my scooter's magic speed and tore through the feilds, making the area where I began explode in a shower of dirt. (Zaanne) the aggressive/passive fightAlright, my own chapter for once! Much better than being mixed with one of Gabe's. Always with Scootaloo or Gabriel, but why no love for Zaanne? I think they're racist against green people! I guess we start at when me and the human switched out. Have ever been on a roller coaster that broke halfway on a loop, then it suddenly lurches forward at full speed? That's how it feels to change from a mental to physical being. It's awesome! As soon as I took control, the white dressed alien rose her rapier again, but Rayden got to her before she could go into magic missile mode again. Her swing at him missed as he rolled under it, spinning backward and jabbing her in the side with his hoof. There was a light blue explosion and Weiss was tossed back. "Zaanne," Gabe yelled. "Dragon fighting time!" "Bitchin'!" Random word, yes, but it seemed unreasonable enough to say. With a flap of my wings, I was airborne. Apparently I'm one hell of a pilot, without even trying. I weaved through tree branches and broke into the sky within seconds. The dragons had begun to yell at eachother in reptilian hisses as I landed on a cloud. Nobody seems to see that I actually do plan some things. I held onto a pile of thicker clouds and compressed them, making one larger, far darker cloud. Grabbing that, I flew far above the Dragons' heads. Big Red was spitting fire and growling out at the green guy. In the back of my head, I could understand what they were saying, which I found odd. "This village is my meal!" Big Red's eyes bored into the lightning dragon. They were nose to nose now (or muzzle, what do dragons have?), one filled with anger and another with an insane glint in his eye. I let them argue as I gathered more clouds, creating an ultra condensed mass of water. Green dragon hissed back in a series of thundering booms. "The monkeys said it was mine and MINE ONLY!" "I need some more." I muttered to myself. My plan would only work if I could completely douse a house. So far I could most likely give someone a light car wash. Looking back down, I could see the Ice dragon blowing frost over some trees, getting a little too close to comfort to Rayden as he fought. As badass as I am, Ray had a few nice tricks. It looked like He was going with his wing blades as his primary melee weapon, using miscellaneous rockets to keep them separated. Weiss's blade had changed colors, now swinging in a red streak. Each slice cut a tree clean in half when she missed her slices at Rayden, which was nearly every try. Hippy had summoned some fire and lugged balls of heat at the pegasus. Little Green hissed like a firecracker and strode slowly toward them. I had a brilliant idea that would most likely get all of us killed, which wasn't my first idea. Gabe normally did the planning, but I know how to piss people off! I waited until the ice dragon got bored enough to take flight and hopped through the air after him. As of getting about ten feet to his back, the air tinged in cold. The area turned into a blizzard. The only reason I hadn't forced to death was because of the crystal heating my body. Gabriel loved it, laughing and singing in my head like we were in a winter wonderland. He was raised in Texas by a hockey fan, so he's pretty, well, chill with being a popsicle. I barreled through the snow that he seemed to create from nothing and landed next to a spike. It was the size of a small skyscraper, glowing and giving off the most of the cold aura. I put a hoof to it and closed my eyes. "Scan," i told myself. Immediately, the crystal responded, sending information into my head about the dragon. It's a monster that spends most of it's time in the colder climates, like outside the crystal empire. Ice dragons bland with the snow and let it collect over it, making a form of igloo until prey comes near. It uses it's teeth only to eat, preferring to use it's ice breath to freeze the victim before eating it. It's heart runs from generating this extreme cold, like a being made of dry ice, only... Actual ice. That all popped into my head within seconds. The beast didn't seem to notice me on his back, but he did spot the cloud of black in the sky. Not being one to let it rain, he took after it. That made my job easier and harder. Summoning as much heat as I possibly could, I concentrated it into my hoof and punched the spike. I imagined the heat spreading, melting down anything that got in it's way. With a loud CRACK, the spike popped off the dragon and fell back to me. The demon lizard shrieked and shot sideways from my cloud. I flew into the air and extended a hoof. With the thought, long ropes shot out and entangled the spike. They immediately became caked in frost, but held tightly. 100% power left, Ship warned, though I already knew that. I'm not sure how, but I figured out a lot of the crystal just by being around it. I gripped the spike and flew to the cloud. The stupid block was a million pounds, but I lugged it up to get above to the cloud. Careful not to have them touch, I commanded the ropes to catch fire, melting the icy water into the miniature mass. It swelled into a huge bundle of cumulonimbus, distilled of it's magic ice powers now. "That's how you make a rain cloud!" The ice dragon had landed and reared it's neck to the broken spike, breathing lividly. "Now to make it rain!" The other two dragons were still going at it, calling each other weak and roaring out into their faces. I stood on my cloud and jumped repeatedly on it. The darkness cleared as heavy rain fell down. I directed the cloud at Big Red, and The water doused the scarlet dragon's aura immediately, just as planned. Seconds later, part two of my plan started. Green's lightning aura kicked into overdrive with so much water on the other, coursing Red with electricity. "What did you just do?!" Gabriel asked aloud. "I made a fucker shoot a fucker using anothah' mothah' fuckah'!!!" The ice dragon had apparently caught wind of my plans and was in the air again, inhaling deeply. I could see a blur of green and purple in the far distance behind him. "It was super effective!" I turned and hopped into the air, bucking the cloud to get immediate liftoff. There was a sound of thunder and also one of a pissed off dragon getting zapped in the face. Green dragon stared stunned at his brother, who had fallen backwards into the forest. His entire front smoldered and twitched with some lightning shooting about. Rayden had taken down Hippy and began a laser-on-sword fight with Weiss. Weiss had grown accustom to the offence, though, and switched to having a white sword style. Now, when she pointed at something, a white platform would appear for her, letting her hop randomly around Rayden and slash at his armor. Suddenly something hit me. That wasn't his fight. Even if he could win the battle, those assholes weren't after him, they'll just get back up, waiting to fight the one they wish to catch. The one who they tried to be, who they first transformed into. They saw Gabriel, but they felt someone else. Ship wasn't there yet, they could have easily stayed inside of the crystal if they really wanted that power, right? No, they were after me, that was my fight. I stared to the town, in complete lockdown in the distance. I recalled the destruction of both schools, how Gabriel had his heart blown up because of some people looking for me. The idea that i could have caused this kind of destruction for a being that wasn't even half human made my blood boil for some reason. "If they want me, then that's what they'll get." I realized I had spaced out just in time to avoid the white dragon's burning cold breath. "Get the dragons first!" Gabriel shouted. "Scootaloo can help Rayden again, they're an easy match for us." "It's not your decision, human!" The aliens pissed me off the more I thought about them. Why come for me? Why destroy the world? Why use dragons?! Obviously i had something to do with the crystal, maybe if I could find that blue pony from the dream, he could recollect my memory. first, dealing with the lizard demons. The plan to stop the dragons from fighting hit immediately. "Gabe, do that talking thing you do!" "What talking thing?" The red dragon stood, now beyond any definition of upset and glaring up at me. I wanted him to think big green zapped him on purpose, but it apparently failed considering I now had two enraged and one confused dragon flying after me. "That thing that seems to make everyone stop fighting!" The beasts flew in a circle around me, considering how they could deep fry me for a pre-Ponyville snack. "I don't know what you're talking about!" "Who are you talking to?!" The white dragon hissed. That was it; Gabe's talking trick. When we were fighting the aliens the first time, he just asked a question, and they completely paused the battle. In the dark room, they were ready to obliterate us, instead we had a good ten minute chit-chat with the bad guys. Gabriel actually sucks at being social, but he still likes people, and for some reason, they like him back. Weird, eh? "Gabriel, he's my assistant. Welcome to Equestria, everyone!" I smiled to the towering demons, giving my best hosting look. "May I take your coats?" "We don't have coats, it's just scales." Frosty the Hothead flew closer, eyes revealing a cold heart that belonged to him. "You shouldn't be worried about that, instead consider why shouldn't I kill you on the spot." "Oh, because those stupid humans told you to?" I laughed, half forced and half in real amusement. Project manipulation sprang. "You do know they're using you!? Why should an almighty dragon have to follow the commands of such weak creatures?" "They know where a large group of delicious ponies like you are at." The red one smiled greedily and hissed. "I'll get them all!" "Again, another fine point they didn't talk about!" I took to the air and got face-to-face with the red dragon. "It's not just for you, is it? The hippy probably stated that you would be coming alone, did she not?" I've never seen an almighty being look embarrassed, but he seemed to give such an expression. "Uhh... Did they?" He looked to his brethren, who had their shoulders raised with confused looks on their faces. I was aware of Scootaloo entering the fight under me, which was totally supposed to be my fight, but I kept eye contact. "Now, think. If you came alone, you'd get several thousand ponies to yourself. But no, you have five other monsters, born of greed, ready to snatch up whatever you try to keep for yourself!" I backed up as the idiots stared each other down. The auras grew stronger, though Big Red still retained the spark from Big Green. The green dragon spoke, now in a weird accent. "You two are not stealing my treasure!" White hissed at Red, who Roared at Green, who boomed at White. "The real treasure is not of the town, it is of having you guys fight, which you are doing now. Get it in your head that the humans set you up. When you get to town, there's no doubt that the princesses will come and defeat you all!" Apparently Celestia and Luna had a reputation on dragons. They reared their necks and shouted out bad names for Sunbutt and Mooner. The white one hissed, "They are evil, ponies of alicorn magic!" Green one apparently got more distracted than the other two. "How did you know what I spoke? That was in pure dragon tounge." "Sounded like you came from Canada to me." Ship explained that one. "The TARDIS you tried to make might have put a natural translator in your head, along with the time dreams." "Too convenient, if you ask me." The dragons now looked down at the aliens. Hippy had gotten up and fought Scootaloo, while Weiss began to get a few good blows on Rayden. The jet rockets sparked and smoked, far too overheated to use. The armor had been covered in gashes and dents, though Ray was in fairly good shape, besides a good sized cut on his cheek. "Those guys sent you all to attack ponyville and eventually each other because they were looking for me. If they get me, there's a very good change they'll just try and kill you too." "NONSENCE!" Red sneered, "nobody can defeat an elder dragon such as us!" "Well, wanna help us take them out? Saves you the trouble of being back stabbed and it gives you a meal you will rarely get." I sat on a cloud and rose my hooves up. "It's a win-win thing here!" The trio considered, then started to glide to the ground battle. Scootaloo had gotten a good kick to the side of her head and spiraled off her scooter, which she set on fire. "You know," Gabe started, "out of all of this, we're the only ones left uninjured." "Oh, we'll have to fight the dragons after they take care of the aliens, plus they still have Applebloom." In the back of my head, i knew the crystal still had 100% left, considering I hadn't done anything with it outside of making it rain. "Also, the aliens are my problem to deal with, I'll be the one to take them down. With a flash of light, Rayden and Scootaloo appeared to my sides. Ray fell back, exhausted, since he didn't have anything to regenerate his stamina. "Ugh..." Scootaloo looked as tempestuous as my storm cloud, her purple eyes darkened as she stared down at the dragons, who were currently bad-mouthing the aliens. "They took Applebloom..." She hissed silently. "You two need to brighten up, it's just one pony." I tapped Rayden's forehead and transferred some of the magic energy to wake him up. Scootaloo gave me that evil eye that only a girl could give. "We have the power to find her, where did that dragon go?!" "He's in the mountains, but you won't be able to pinpoint him until that event in the future takes fold." Ray's armor now switched back into the weapon staff, which he turned into a back pouch and slung it over him. "Where's rainbow? Isn't she going after her?" Gabriel sighed, "'She', 'her', they're both pronouns that describe the same type or person, which is confusing. Zaanne, if all you wanted to do was zap dragons then talk to them, why couldn't i have done that?" "Because i knew that you can't fly well, you also don't know how to control the weather, so I had to do that. You can have the body back, but remember something." "What?" He asked, immediately regaining control. When we face the aliens, in the end, it won't be Gabriel who they want to kill. You're only a side problem to them. The one they want is good ol' Zaanne, and that's who they're gonna get! Author's Note Due to my only way to edit this story (school) being taken out of my options, i can't do so until further notice. Also this chapter almost included a scene of prince Artemis crossdressing, thanks to my stupid memory and the powers of copy/paste appearing. (S) Amputee TwisterAuthor's Note Name two people who care that i haven't posted any chapters in a month. (S) Amputee Twister So, after sitting on that cloud and watching the aliens have their flanks kicked in by giant dragons, I realized my day could be a lot worse. "What do we do now?" Rayden asked as the green one slapped the aliens into a tree with it's tail. "Well," Zaanne started, or was it Gabriel now? "Your vision showed me looking beaten up when you showed where the right mountain is, so i belive the dragon's will beat us up abit more before we find the place." I leaned forward and got a glance into his eyes. They were bright blue, which meant it was Gabe. "So we just wait?" "No, no more waiting." He stood up and spread his wings. "I still can't fly well, but we should be able to glide back." He eyed Rayden curiously. "You wanna go home? Last chance to see Rainbow Dash. The blue pegasus stood quickly. "What do I do?" It was too obvious that Rayden liked my sister. He didn't seem to hide it either. Gabriel and Fluttershy were also eyeing eachother, plus that kiss could give the wrong idea there. The only thing I was confused about was why a human would like someone outside of their own species... Or planet. I decided to ask Spike about it later, since he's a dragon wanting a unicorn. "She's following the baby dragon," ship told him, "my scanner says that she will return soon." The useless information made me lean more over the cloud. "If you can scan where Rainbow's at, can you not tell me where Apple Bloom is?!" "The machines that the aliens make disrupt my scanning abilities, so i would have to assume she is being held captive in the mountain already." The aliens were getting yelled at the aliens in dragon tounge, which i could translate for some reason, though they didn't have the cleanest language. Part of me wanted to ask why they were attacking the human fakes anyway, but I figured it had something to do with Zaanne, since they gave Gabriel small glances every so often. "Ship?" Gabriel asked loudly. "Random question!" "How random is it?" He responded urgently. "Can amputees play Twister?" You could hear the silence sting. Even the dragons stopped beating up the aliens to look back at him. The only thing making a noise was Zaanne, who was laughing his head off. "How is that relevant?!" The blue and white dragon hissed. "I'm just wondering! It was in the back of my head all day!" "Is not really the best time to question it though?" Rayden asked "It's always a good time to ask questions!" Gabriel answered loudly. He say back on the cloud and blew air through his nose. "What if they get 'hand on blue'?!" What do they do there?!" Zaanne slowly stopped cracking up. "You could seriously be offending the three people reading this, man. Not that i care, it's a legitimate question to me." He then went on to sing "if you're happy and you know it", though with hands and feet instead of hooves. Now Gabriel began to laugh, though he looked more embarrassed for accidentally saying something offencive. "It was just a question!" He insisted. Even Ship chuckled "Proposal is also a question, but it can sometimes screw the rest of your life up." That brought up my own question. "When were you married, Ship?" "Hm, not sure..." There was a pause in the commotion. "Maybe it's just in my brain." I was about to remind him that computers don't have brains (which he was the one that told me such), but the roars of the dragons came back up, drowning out my voice. Gabriel shouted over them, "Well we should get back to this problem at hoof!" "What was our plan again?!" I asked. "You and go back home with Rayden and wait there, i have to go get beaten up!" And with that, the genius hopped into the demon trio. "He's insane." I decided. Ray shrugged. "Maybe is his Asperger's syndrome giving him ADHD. Or maybe he's an idiot." "I don't like burgers, i feel like they're missing something..." "Like meat?" Zaanne asked. "Nah, maybe it's that they always overcook them at Pegaburger." "The he-... The heck is that?" He studdered. "No time to worry about it. I put my hooves into the cloud and started up my wing power (which is apparently under .05, according to Twilight). Catching the wind, our cloud sputtered through the sky. I wasn't going nearly as fast as i wanted to go, but I didn't want to waste the crystal's magic any more than i needed to. Not that i was running out. "So what do we do?" Ray asked, starting to help by flapping his much wider wings. The town was still fairly snowy, and the fruitcake barrier's open roof was now concealed in the large wall of clouds over ponyville. We directed the cloud to the rim of the wall and slid off. "We're supposed to wait for Gabriel." I looked down to the town, and tried to recollect the vision. "In my dream, the library was just to my right, so I'm going to wait for them over there." "And what about me?" Ray looked out to the sky, which became invisible to the fog shrouding the top of the pastry sheild. Zaanne responded, "You go ahead, try to find Rainbow. We will meet up with you two when Gabe gets back, which will be soon." "How soon?" Ray asked. "He's purposely getting his flank handed to him, I'd give Boy Wonder here about three minutes." "And why can't i go after them? That's my sis and best friend out there, one of which could be in danger!" "The vision starts in Ponyville, now go." And with that, Ray took the cloud and hovered off. There was not much to say as i passed through the empty streets of Ponyville, an eerie wind passing through my fur and violet mane now as wind picked up. Too much was on my mind to keep thinking straight. Too many to ask ship, because my questions mixed with my emotions. My father had something to do with the psycho aliens hunting us down, but they seem to have a weird interest in Zaanne. I became certain my dad knew him, which means he knew my dad. Not that I cared about Blue Flare in the least bit. But, if I could find him... he has some child insurance to pay, that's all. ~Scootaloo,~ Ship spoke, ~are you alright?~ "Of course I am." I lied, thinking of my dad made me angry, but I'm not one to talk about my feelings with a fragment of data. "Why do you ask?" "Well, your heart rate is increasing, along with your soul reacting to something." "We can see souls? What do they look like?" "Imagine a translucent, glowing orb. The stronger the soul, the bigger that orb." "That's an anime!" Zaanne complained. Gabriel came up in the conversation too. "The anime where Satan's son is raised in a church or the one where Vic Mignogna is a pervert father? They both work with souls right?" "The Vic Mignogna one," Zaanne answered, "and no, the Satan one is more about choosing your own path and stuff like that instead of having a sound soul. Do you even know who Vic is?" "He played Broly right?" "Who?" I asked. "Yes, but really dude, you gotta watch more animes. Or at least stop forcing yourself to sleep before Adult Swim comes on!" "I don't like the shows on there! Why are there dolls being murdered?!" They began an argument over robotic chickens, and I tried to block them out, even though they were broadcasting out of my necklace. After about two minutes of skipping through the empty town, the great wall behind me made a loud BOOM!!! Like my sound effects? Really rumbles through your brain. I spun on the back of my hooves to the wall, where a green dot spiraled over the wall. I thought Gabriel was flying for a second, then I heard his screaming, him being consumed in a ball of green fire, and a loud explosion not too far away. A few scooter kicks later, I came upon a heap of green, yellow and blue hair. "How'd that beat up theory work out for you?" I asked. "Waffle!" he rolled to his hooves, smiling like an idiot. "I mean... Perfect! The next thing in your dream showed a few houses on fire and it snowing abit of soot." "So the dragons do destroy the place?!" I could hear the dragons roaring fairly far away, but still about fifty miles too close for comfort "Not if I can help it!" He walked up to one of the buildings, nodding abit to himself. "I have an idea to screw with your future sight." "What? Is this like beating yourself up?" "Close," he nodded to me like a pony bobble-head. "Watch." He yelled out, "ghost fire!" And extended his hoof. Instead of green flames, light blue shot out and engulfed the building, changing to red on collision with a physical object. I was in the right mind to walk over and knock him out with my scooter, but Zaanne explained. "It's fake fire, like literal ghost flames, hence the wording." "When did he learn that?!" "I taught him, but we saw the crystal do it before it exploded." After setting a few houses on fire, he made a real fire and shot it into the sky, along with some burning sticks. Shortly after, black specks started to fall, like negative snow. "Everything is set, i still have 60% of my crystal power, and the dragons will be here soon, there's only one more thing to do-" He directed himself to the mountainous horizon. "-we run that way like it's the end of the world!" We didn't get too far before the roars came back. I figured the wall of cake was done for, but after six or seven heart pounding bangs and a series of annoyed roars from behind, I started to appreciate the ludicrous idea. Apparently fruitcake becomes cement with the addition of dry peanut butter. Nearly twenty seconds later, I looked up into the mountains. The expanse of peaks faded from blueish-brown into white as it got longer, except the center mountain, where Canterlot stood regally. On a seperate place, nearly having the wall hide it, a small black dot resembled a cave. Occasionally, blue flickers of light would become visible inside the speck of darkness. I rose my hoof quickly at the mountain and shouted, "that mountain!" but a ticked off roar drowned my voice. As soon as i did that, Gabriel waved his hoof quickly, making the fake flames dissapear. "You can extinguish fire?" He was slowly getting out of breath. "No, that's fake fire!" And he continued running. "Now, can we save Applebloom?!" "Yes!" Zaanne confirmed. "And get out of Ponyville as fast as you can!" ~finally!~ I thought, and resummoned the scooter. ~let's get Applebloom back!~ (G/Z) A cliche OC weapon tries to kill me"Where the hell is Celestia at this time?" Zaanne complained as we tore through the sky, Scootaloo by turning her scooter into some fireball and me by rocket jumping. "You'd think she could spend maybe five minutes to come and handle her own town's problem?" "Well," i said, "if everyone here is apparently lesbian or bisexual, then perhaps they have Molestia for their leader." "Who's that?!" Scootaloo yelled over the high winds. "Don't worry about it!" We hit the ground not too far from the correct mountain, about half a mile from it's base. I bounded through the trees like Tarzan while Scoots just rode through. Luckily we weren't currently on fire, so no trees were harmed in the making of this trip. I only then realized we had no plan after this, nor did anybody expect to use one. The dragons apparently left the town to go find where the inhabitants went, which meant they'd be raiding Canterlot soon. I shrugged that off easily, safe knowing there's two princesses there. "So," Scootaloo began, "you talk a lot about how many lesbians there are around here, so what are you?" "Gabriel's definantly a lesbian," Zaanne chirped. He laughed. "Shut up Zaanne. I can't say I'm entirely straight, but I'm not gay, or bi... Ship, what other sexualities are there?" ~well there's transsexuals, but i feel it should be just a gender, and there's pansexual, which is like bisexual, but adding transsexuals.~ A.D.D. threw me off. "Too many words. Hey what chances do you guys think Rayden has with Rainbow Dash? Isn't she only into mares?" I skidded under a branch and sprang over a squirrel, who i most likely gave a heart attack to. "Sorry Mr. Squirrel!" Thanks to Zaanne's amazing TARDIS work, i could hear every pretty word that colorful little rodent had to say. "Well technically she's bi-curious," Ship informed. Before Scootaloo could ask what that meant, he answered her. We trekked up the mountain, this particular one having no train to take you up like a good little mountain should. Scootaloo and I hopped from ledge to ledge, getting closer to the supposed cave entrance. Again, I can take no credit for being able to scale that dumb rock. The crystal kept my energy at full, and the hot chocolate made it even stronger. Luckily, I wasn't afraid of heights. After three ledges crumbling under my hooves and two on scoots' scooter, we made it to a flat walkway, nearly a football feild's length above the land. Sure enough, a large, gaping hole made an appearence to me about twelve feet away. I had just began to wonder if this was the correct one, and some inside explosions and an annoying voice ecgoing throughout the cave ascertained it. "That was Rainbow!" Scootaloo yelled. I found that pretty obvious, and the two (four counting Ship and Zaanne) hurried through to help them out. The cave was 100% cave, with stalagmites and stalagtites, occasional water dripping, along with it being pitch black. Our necklaces were the only light for a while, until we entered a large cubic room. "EXPLODE!!!" An maniacle shreak of glee bounced off the walls, and just that command happened. It was like a pyromaniac got ahold of the world's most intense fireworks. The light blinded me momentarily. By the time i could see properly, Scootaloo was gone, and Little Blue cackled with insane delight. "Hello, little pony!" He hissed at me and walked towards me, far too slowly for his obvious needs. "You were the one who tried to fight the humans, no?" "Actually, the dragons did most of the damage to them, and to eachother. Also, I'm not very small by pony standards, i look to be nearing fully growth in Equestrian terms." To my left was a beated down duo of blue ponies, one with a rainbow of hair color and the other with simple shades of red. "Hey Ray, hi Rainbow. You having fun cuddling?" The last blast that Blue apparently set off left Rayden flying straight into Rainbow's chest, knocking them to the floor. The weapon staff rolled away into the corner, back to the green tree branch mode. Rayden rolled off her quickly, sitting up and blushing deeply. Not showing much obviously positive personality, as usual, he appeared to be either terrified or embarrassed. Rainbow copied his flushed cheeks, but I could quickly assume she was pissed. What i couldn't guess is who she was pissed at. "Aw, you guys look so cute!" Zaanne teased. "C'mon, what were her eyes like Ray? A glowing pollinated sunset?" Ray didn't speak fast enough, but the other did. "What about my eyes?!" "Your eyes are fine, Rainbow Dash." Rayden stood. "There's not a single problem with them, so long as I'm concerned." "Can you die now?!" The blue lizard impatiently spat electrified... stuff to a floor spike and hissed. "I'm bored!" "Well, isn't that for you to decide?" I walked to him and spread my wings, just 'cause. "Go on, kill me. I can't say I won't fight back though." He laughed creepily and jolted after me. His first hit was too fast for me to react, and he raked my chest with his claws. Immediately after, he flipped upside down and bucked me backwards, cartwheeling a good distance. The force behind it wasn't very strong, but it was enough to keep me from whacking him with a hoof. My chest stung, but i appeared physically undamaged when I looked down. The next trick for him was shooting electricity. "Hey green guy! Ima firin' mah lazah!" He opened his mouth, and thunder shook the cave and broke stalactites off the roof, smashing into the ground. The main portion of the lightning fused into a beam of pulsating light, firing just for me. "Charge!" Zaanne yelled, so I did. Dumb, maybe, but if the lightning beam killed me, i figured I might as well make sure it leaves me medium rare. Something burnt, i could smell it, but i was too blinded and deafened by the thunder and lightning to see what happened. The weird thing was that it wasn't me, but i figured beforehand the crystal would block the majority electric attack. After realizing I was fireproof, then getting struck by Little Green's electricity, Ship most likely created an immunity to the ability. Nearly at full speed now, i stabbed my hoof at wherever the source of the light was. Unfortunantly, that source was a dragon's mouth. The only reason why I still have a hand today is because he didn't see that coming. "Fire!" And just like that, he inflated like a dumb, blue balloon, puffing green smoke out of his nose. "MPHHH!!!" He rolled downhill into a spike, and i witnessed that cartoony thing where someone farts out of a room like a balloon after it's supposed to just be popped first hand... Or hoof. One moment of silence later, I moved to pick up the weapon staff. "Catch." I tossed it back to Rayden and sat next to him to take a breath. "Thanks." It transformed into a ring, which i noticed was the same one from earth, and he put it on his wing. I realized Rainbow was pissed at me. "Good for you to show up, alien!" "You have a problem with aliens?" She sprang to her feet and stomped to me. "Truthfully, i don't care if you're from a different planet, galaxy, or universe. The town has now been completely evacuated because you couldn't move your stupid fights outside of Equestria! Don't you have, like, some other planet for you to ruin?" "Nope, Earth has already been ruined. It's been ruined ever since colonization began. Doesn't help that the humans there seem to be devolving back to apes." She pinned me to the wall and glared into my eyes. "Well, i belive i told you to not get Scootaloo hurt as well. So, where is she?" Taking a quick look around her evil stare, there was, in fact, one less Scootaloo than before. "If I were to guess, she's be with Apple Bloom. And if that dragon were still with Apple Bloom, I'm sure she would have been much more hurt." I slid from Rainbow's pin and looked about the room. "I know i got a lucky shot, being energy-proof, but really, you two had almost ten minutes to take one dragon down. Was he really that hard?" Ray was watching RD, obviously upset by her anger. "The lazers he shot explode on contact with anything." He gestured a hoof to where i was before he fired. The ground was ashen, and the wall behind it had become a column of crumbling rubble. Letting that sink in, I looked at my chest. "Okay, Ship, how'd i live that one?" "The crystal converts it's own energy to create a layer of defence on your body. When you get attacked, you deplete energy, but you can also withstand fairly powerful hits. Granted, it only sheilds your body, not your center of gravity. Explosions will still give you a knock back." "And if my energy reaches 0%, my magic heart stops." I sighed abit. "My mana and health bar are the same thing in this occasion. Zaanne, can you direct me to where Scootaloo is?" "Why yes i can, please follow the path directed before you." The floor under me drew a line of sparkly orange dust, like a quest tracker. It was the same thing as the aura power, only I couldn't see it through any of the walls. "By the way, brilliant work blowing up that lil' smurf shit with fire." "I try to make a nice show. Like right now. Ship, can you change me back to a human?" The path led into a seperate tunnel in the shadowy corner of the room, which is when i realized the entire cave was glowing vividly. The hole was human sized. "45% left, would you like a weapon to go with that?" Ship asked as my body began to glow, changing shape and the fur morphing back into cloth. Within seconds, I was back to being the green haired human. "Sure. I belive Zaanne designed a keyblade for me. Though it's the most cliche magic weapon in history, minus deity weapons, mind summoning up one for me?" The air within my hand heated up, and flames shot out. When they died, the sweetest stick of metal in history glowed in my hand. If you haven't seen a keyblade before, take the word "key", and "blade", and use your imagination. Mine was mainly forest green, belive it or not. The hilt was big enough for me to hold it with one or two hands, covered in leather for a good grip. The guard of a regular sword appeared more like the head of a weird key, curved backwards into celadon flame designs, making the entire key's handle. For the blade part, it was nearly three and a half feet long, with a blue and yellow stripe running down the middle of the prismic shaft. Instead of a regular sharpened edges of a sword, it was dulled, more like a stick. The area that would have the grooves for keys definantly was not for an average bedroom. It looked more like a snowflake, strangely enough, with tiny versions of the crystal for each tip of the flake. That rounded about a foot in diameter. If you have not played Kingdom Hearts, or never had a giant metal key hit you in the head, it might seem like a weird thing to use as a weapon. I realized it was the stupidest weapon to use for myself as soon as i became too weak to stand up. My chest burned immediately, like my insides desides to explode for no reason. I dropped the keyblade and fell to my knees, suddenly gasping for air. When i let go, i could breathe again, but my hand was steaming and raw. My hearing and vision buzzed together for a second, but i could make out Rayden trotting to my aid. "Gabriel!" He yelled. I sat back and closed my eyes, letting my body recover. "I'm an idiot, if you couldn't tell." "What happened?" He asked. "The keyblade has the ability to lock or unlock people's hearts, but it attaches to your heart to be soul bound or something." I opened my eyes to see how many Raydens there still were. How i could still think didn't make sense to me. "It most likely thought i was a heartless, which it gives supernatural damage to, trying to unlock a heart that isn't really there." Rainbow stood far back, stunned at just me becoming human. Don't they see that every day? Zaanne groaned. "So, since your heart's gone, you can't use the keyblade? If you already knew that, why would you ask me to make a keyblade for you?!" "Because, i think there's a way to fix that." I pulled the necklace off my neck and observed the shining crystal hanging on some leather. Such a little object to bring up so much trouble. Looking at the crystals on the weapon, it was obvious they weren't glowing with life. At the pommel was the thing that may or may not be helpful; a little golden ring, almost like the ones on curtains that never actually keep your curtains up. Setting the necklace to the ring, I waited. There wasn't a way to untie the leather, but it got the right idea. With a very fast flicker, the leather fused into the ring, changing into one string attached to the bottom of the keyblade. I grasped the hilt, letting the warmth of the crystal wash over me again. Picking it up, the crystals glowed with new power. "You can't have a keyblade without a keychain." ~how does this make any sense whatsoever?~ Ship asked in my head. ~It doesn't.~ was my answer. ~The closest thing to logic on this is that i gave an artificial keyblade an artificial heart. What percent do I have?~ ~after creating a new weapon, it sucking your energy, and you synching the keyblade to the crystal, you individually have 27% remaining. Scootaloo has 86% and Zaanne still has almost 100% somehow.~ ~because I'm conservative, and nobody lets me out to play!~ The new keyblade felt comfortable in my hand, lighter than a longsword but heavier than a katana. There was still a tugging sensation, like the blade was still wanting a real heart to lock or unlock, but not fully wanting to cooperate with me to do so. I forgot another important thing. "Didn't each keychain for a keyblade give it a new name?" Ship dug into some video game knowledge, something i could actually make use of, and cited, "Keychains are used to alter the keyblade's abilities, stays and even it's appearance within the Kingdom Hearts game series." "Have you even played Kingdom Hearts?" Zaanne asked. "Once, when i was nearly six, i played through a few areas. The images are fuzzy, but that dream involved me boiling in fire as some juggling stick man tossed me like a burning salad." "Rainbow snuck closer to me and observed the human body. "So, you're just a monkey who can talk?" "Yep. Rayden, wanna show her your human form as well?" "Sure, change time, Ship." I poked his shoulder with the keyblade, attaching ship's power to him (don't ask how that makes sense). With that, Ray became consumed in green fire, growing to become slightly taller than Zaanne and I. When the flames died, the redhead was back, with a neat look considering he had time to change clothes on earth. It was basic but nice, a loose, scarlet collared shirt, possibly Tommy Hilfigure (great choice), untucked over some well fit jeans. The weapon staff changed into a sword, which i could only see the grip of because it hung onto his back by a leather sheath. And, again, some flaming red hair gleamed in the dim light, making him strangely as anime-looking as me. "Really man, what gel do you use?" "None, why?" "... No reason." Rainbow stared up and down Rayden. "Wait, if you could change Ray into a pony and human, can you make me human?" I looked at the keyblade and tisked. "Oh, sorry, I'm almost out of power. Maybe some other time?" She frowned, which I figure is a sign of dissapointment, but continued speculating Ray. "When are we gonna go find Applebloom?" I completely forgot she had been taken hostage. "Right now, let's go!" I ran down the glowing path and yelled behind me, "stop oogling at his body!" The pegasus watched me run for a moment before galloping after, getting quickly ahead. "Humans are so slow!" Ray was next to me within a minute, pacing as the cave grew larger. He didn't say anything, but his eyes were definantly focused on something in front of us, though the only thing i could see was the glowing path, Rainbow's backside and dimly glowing walls. Zaanne laughed, RD flew, Ray sprinted, and I skipped, all the way deeper into the mountain. Author's Note Kingdom Hearts spoilers (do not own, all Kingdom Hearts based content is by Square Enix and Disney, please support official release. (Or not, I'm not your mom, i can't tell you what to do)) (S) The MapApplebloom was, in fact, just as ticked as she was in the dream. She wasn't even hard to find. Two hallways, no traps, no bad guys (aside from the blue Spike), just a straight walkway to the cage containing A.B. and the star map machine. The earth filly had huddled herself in a corner of the cage, murmuring to herself angrily. The crystal deciphered something about angrily exploding sodium in the alien's face. "Applebloom, it's okay, It's Scoots." Her ears perked upward to my voice and she sprang to her feet, running to the front of the cage. "Scootaloo! How did ya find me?" "I pointed and guessed correct, i guess." Scanning the lock on the door, there wasn't a city key that could fit. The keyhole was almost as big as me, with no gears on the inside, just darkness that seemed to have no back. The cage itself had it's bars a few feet apart from eachother, so Applebloom could easily slip out if she wanted. But alas, this is a story about a cartoon, we can't just walk through open space. "Calm down, AB." I said. "We can't get you out without Zaanne though, and he's, ah, busy with something." "Well can ya think at 'em to hurry it up?" She sat bored and blew her hair out of her face. The bow had come undone and laid on the floor not too far away. I took it up and passed it through the bars to her. "They'll be here soon." I promised, holding her other hoof. She blushed and tied the bow around my arm, instead of putting it in her mane. "For good luck." It was my turn to blush, and I stared down at the ribbon thing. "T-thanks." I broke to the fishbowl map and frowned. "Destroying that and freeing you are things only Zaanne and Ship can do... so what do I do?" A preppy female voice spoke far away. "You can be a dear and die, that'll be quite helpful." The shadow that the map made his a human in entirely white, complimented frilly white dress. She showed herself elegantly, it not really working for her though, since her dress was charred and her snowy white hair had black soot stuck in it. She was intimidating enough with the sword, so I kept back. "Wonderful evening, don't you belive?" The girl strode towards us, but without much energy. There was a slight cut over her head. Making the left side of her head alittle bloody. Her eyes still gleamed the evil green eyes of the alien though, showing she still had abit to kill with. "Where's your friend?" I asked. "He will be here soon enough," she scoffed, "but he should not be of your current worries." She rose her blade, which looked like a giant push pin with a rainbow hilt. .My scooter lit up, as if it had it's own nervous energy. "What about this giant black thing? Should that be my current worry?" "Hm? Nah, it doesn't do anything itself, just locates some places for me." The blade glowed a weird blue now. "Same rules apply for it though, gotta get through me to find out what it actually finds." "You're treating this like it's a game." I mumbled. "It is very similar, if you think about it. We both have goals, one is to stop the other." She rose her sword to her lips and smiles gently into it's reflection. "The supposedly main character weilds an overpowered item, but it's not completely OP until you fully learn how to use it, it can be well related to leveling up, or advancing in a board game." She strode towards me, attempting to be graceful, but her step was off balance, and her poise wobbled. "Now, do i have to be the bad guy here and steal the crystal?" The adrenaline started up, so I charged her, dagger appearing in my hoof as i jumped upward. "You are the bad guy!" Blades collided in a shower of sparks. Weiss (new name according to Zaanne) pushed me back and kept my body at the point of her sword. "Am i the bad guy?" I hit her blade downward and ran up it, now only on my hindlegs. She cocked her head and the kick i attempted flew past her. The ballerina grabbed my arm with an iron grip on my way down. With a girly grunt, she flung me into a wall, knocking the breath out of my lungs. Her eyes squinted with annoyance "You attack us, take our space ship, hide the brilliant creator, and you accuse US of being a bad guy?!" Weiss seemed generally disturbed, as if it was my fault for thinking she was evil. I simply laid there, unable to breathe for the time being. The wall had been harder than i had expected, and ship's magic sheild felt weaker. Everything was still fuzzy as i stood, my breath comming back. "I-if I let you take the crystal, y-you'll destroy Gabriel's planet." "You still on about that?" She now laughed, a sweet, lovely and ugly laugh that reminded me far too much of Diamond Tiara. "Oh no, his planet shan't need destruction anymore!" She extended her hand dramatically, giving me as honest of a stare as she could pull off. "I have no intention of hurting you, or your friends of any world!" I was back up, and took the dagger up. "Show me how the plan changed to where destroying planets isn't an option." Weiss drew my attention to the black orb, now with about ten different dots. "Zaanne and the ship scattered the planet we created, creating smaller planets, some the size of earth, some smaller and some bigger. We do not plan to waste a single speck of dirt." She pointed to one star, and the map zoomed on it. What i saw was unlike anything on any planet. A giant golden orb of mist the size of the sun swirled around, whisping yellow dust off it in slow motion. "It's a planet?" I assumed. "Only a memory of a planet, one that never existed." She zoomed into the smokey atmosphere and showed what was inside the place. I was Earth, a beach in front of what looked like a summer camp. There weren't many campers, and a good amount of them didn't seem human, or pony. Granted, most were humans, but alot of them were some goat-guy things. "Where's that?" I asked. "Gabriel can explain to you every fragment of imagination that is in here." Weiss closed a fist, and the image returned to the stargazing mode. "It may take up to a year or two to locate every planet Zaanne and the Ship created." ~A year or two? How many planets did he make?~ ~imagination can create a world from almost nothing,~ Zaanne explained, ~so there are many ways that this could make twenty or even a hundred new worlds. The chances of them having enough thoughts to create a world, though.~ I didn't know what he said, but i didn't care anymore. Why does there have to be almost twenty planets to save from these guys now? That's crazy! Granted, it's not like we were in any danger with the first two worlds. Sure, ponyville had to evacuate and Gabriel lost his heart, but it could be worse. These bad guys have been pretty straightforward about what they're doing, and why. Create a world for them to control by using humans' imagination. I would actually be okay with it, if it didn't include destroying a planet. Sure, let's have a new planet. I'll stop by from time to time to share chips and soda or something. Just don't resolve to death and violence to create a new world. Weiss stood there, patient for me to hear her out. Ship spoke in my head, ~Scootaloo, their plan doesn't require destroying one planet, but it will ruin the numeral worlds that me and Zaanne created.~ "Ship's words are true, but you shouldn't be mad about it, these worlds were not meant to exist as it is." "And were you meant to exist?" I asked. She made a face, as if she were trying to respond but couldn't. After some hesitation, she responded. "Hm... If you mean do i exist through natural birth, i cannot say me and my apparent sibling are any different from these planets. But the matter is that i am here, and whoever brought me here has given me a mission to create a new world." She displayed her sword confidently. "And we will not rest until that mission is complete. Now, let us complete our simple little goal so you and your marefriend can live happily together." Before i could decide to attack or try to pull out another speech, Rainbow and the team burst through the entrance (not literally). Rayden and Gabriel reattained their human forms, most likely to hold weapons easier. Ray had a sword on his back and Gabe had a green... stick? It had spikes on the top right of the stick. "Get away from Scootaloo!" Rainbow yelled, even though i wasn't near her. RD charged at Weiss, only to get punted into the cage, which made Rayden try, which made Rayden fail. We now had two out, two to go. Gabriel noticed the lock that Rayden got thrown into by the chick. "I think i can unlock that, if you can tolerate Weiss for a few seconds." Ray and RD were back on their feet, abit more prepared. The alien seemed reluctant to attack. She must have realized that she was outnumbered now. "Actually, i have someone to go find. He was supposed to be here for this part." She cartwheeled away before i threw my dagger at her. "A little parting gift, though." With a swing of her sword, a flurry of blue lazers shot out and hit the roof and walls in large explosions. The room began to shudder. Rocks fell everywhere, blocking the entrance, which was also the exit. "Well, that happened." Rayden observed the map carefully. "There's no buttons or way to use it," He confirmed. Gabriel had looked closer at the lock and nodded. "We don't have the same amount of time as we did with the last machine, so let's destroy this one quickly." "Actually," i said, "let's not destroy this one." He looked at me like i was crazy. "This cave in won't break it, we have to before we go!" "Or, we could use it." I waved a hoof towards the map to bring back up the things Weiss showed me. Ray sat back. "This can lead us to the planets through the images of them." "True," ship agreed, "the teleportation requires memories of the specific area. If Gabriel has a strong enough imagination with some of these places, we could use this as a warp to the other planets." Gabe spun around from the cage. "You sure that'll work?" Then he saw the picture on the map, of abunch of humans in orange shirts and half-human things sitting around in a stawberry feild, something i hadn't noticed before. At that, the human's face lit up, and he was suddenly unable to talk. "You know this place?" I assumed. "Keep the map!" He commanded, face now back to being wickedly happy."I want every planet in the galaxy found with it by the end of Summer Break!" "The alien said it'll take a year or two." He frowned, dissapointed, but immediately smiled again. "Ship, how long before we can fully locate that camp?" "About a week." Ship confirmed. Ray stared abit confused at the images. "That looks a lot like-" "Yup!" Gabriel picked him and Rainbow up. "I know exactly where I'm going for summer vacation!" Author's Note I don't know. (G/Z) Human to pony, pony to humanAuthor's Note I'm sorry (G/Z) Human to pony, pony to human I honestly expected a trap. The sudden surrender from the alien, the map they just left behind, the fact that half of us were tossed like rag dolls but they still didn't seem strong enough. Really?! As it turned out, no obvious trap was shown. The lock was easy, too. I pointed my keyblade to the key hole, and a beam of light unlocked it immediately. The lock fell to the floor in a loud CLANG before dissolving in neon green light. The gate swung open in an equally loud creaking noise, and the yellow filly inside hopped out. "Hey Applebloom." I mumbled, still a little dissapointed in the ease of the mission. She didn't even hear me. She tackled Scootaloo with a hug. No talking, no warning, just a random cuddle bug. I didn't realize how bored i was until i found myself running after the alien. "Hey, Weiss! I actually had some more questions!" She stopped suddenly to look back at me. "You do realize I'm supposed to kill you?" "I don't care, kill me later." I desummoned my blade, the crystal teleporting back to my neck. "You have your reasons for making that perfect world, and i get that. Just explain why you're running away right now? You haven't lost yet." "Are you asking me to kill you now instead of later?" She inquired. "Oh nonono, by all means, kill me later." I strolled to her, even though her rapier was aimed between my eyes. "I'm just wondering why you don't just finish us off." "Hm." She smirked and began to go away, a light hop in her step as she skipped off. "I see that you guys are well grouped. It'd be pointless to attack. Go enjoy Valentine's Day, i simply adore chocolate! I'll be back, let's see, a week? Meet you at Camp Half-blood later." She then dissappeared out the cave. I knew there wasn't a point in following her, so i turned back to my new friends, all waiting for me to come back. They watched me walk in, and continued to stare as i monitored the map. "What?" I asked, a little too forced to sound friendly. "Well, we still need access to the map.", Scootaloo said. "It has to be used from the inside, like the planet thingy, according to Ship." "Zaanne, do you want to enter it again?" ~Sure~, he responded unsurely. He didn't say much about their memory in there, but It seems Zaanne also had a past he has to figure out. I guessed the blue pony was also important, but to what extent? He was a major part in tossing the firewall aside last time, and maybe contact with another device will give him more refined details. I placed my hand on the machine, closing my eyes and attaching myself to it with my will. A small intangible string of energy flowed through my fingers, up my arm and into where my heart should have been. I then felt Zaanne's presence swell abit from my chest, passing through the connection into the machine. "If Zaanne is in, why do you still have to hold on?" Scootaloo asked, also feeling him leave the crystal momentarily. "I think he's like a bridge back to the crystal," Rainbow considered, "when me and the gang used the Elements of Harmony to turn Discord back to stone, that's kinda how it felt to me." My veins glowed green with magic blood, the crystal glimmering with a soft light that reminded me of the grass mid-Spring, back in Texas. Blue Bonnets were my favorite flower, and i enjoyed picking them for my mom. The world melted away for me, leaving me in my own head. Memories flooded to me in a slow pace, much nicer and clearer than my stupid amnesiac dreams. It was like small images of my past telling their thousand word stories all at once, but voices over by the real Morgan Freeman. My mom wouldn't keep the flowers, losing them quickly. I still treasured them to myself. Getting pretty things was my hobby before i started school; finding the most colorful specks of nature and watching how they blended together. After i went through pre-K and kindergarten, i became more violent, natural for most children. My stepfather, Sleepy, told me that if i didn't become kind, I'd become my biological dad, who began to go in and out of jail. Memories became slower, making me long for more, the real world drowning back into existence. After a few punishments, i stopped doing bad things. At least, not on purpose, and when it was on purpose, I'd react baddly to it, like Jim Carey saying no in "Yes Man". A memory of me pranking Sleepy by putting a fake spider on my hand popped up clear as day, outside of the fading memories. I recall that because i shared his fear, dropping the toy as soon as he got startled from it. From then on i was deathly arachnephobic, even more than Sleepy was. I was not even able to think of them without going into a mental lockup. After almost seven years, the memory of that stupid toy knocked me out of the trance. I almost let my hand go, but I held on long enough for Zaanne to flow back in, him giving a deep sigh. ~Well, we aren't in any trouble for now, but it seems the map is still searching for your imaginary planets.~ "How many has it located?" Scootaloo shuffled to me, but i was in no mood to talk, or move. "Five so far. This place, two Earths, a huge country that looks like it could possibly be related to Pokèmon, and some place called Death City." Even though i made the places, i hasn't felt like I've heard of Death City before. Maybe it was a small part of some book i read or something. The bad memory continued to burn in my head, but i heard hoofsteps echo through the cave, so i tried to force it out. In came Twilight, who flashed through with a glowing flashlight for a horn. "Rainbow Dash!" She ran to her, delighted to see her friend was okay. "Do you know how long ponyville has been empty? We have to get everypony back to town!" Then she noticed the giand swirling vortex of space in the orb, and the unicorn went into a hushed gasp. Rayden moved from R.D., whom he hadn't left the side of. He walked to the exit and motioned us along. "Right, lets get the ponies safely back." We dismissed from the map room quickly, me at the end. Twilight would not stop asking Rayden questions about human anatomy, but Ship was the only one who answered her questions, which forced her to ask more questions, which, in turn, made me ask questions to contradict Twilight's. Zaanne hadn't said much since he left the system, though neither had i. He obviously got another memory, one he was more reluctant to tell. I was happy for the silence in my head, but i also became concerned for him. I didn't like when someone acted sad, even though i couldn't ever tell whether they were or not. I figured asking him wouldn't get me anywhere, so I strolled silently out of the cave. "We could go get a reward for all of you helping save Ponyville." Twilight said. I didn't have the heart to tell her that the dragons had a chance of coming back, considering we didn't necessarily scare them off. They just got bored and left. "Since you two are new to Equestria, do you have any bits yet?" "No." Said Ray glumly. He'd been starring over the edge of the mountain, checking for a way to get down without teleporting, since none of us had enough mana to do so anymore. The changing to human, transferring Zaanne into the map and pulling him out had dropped me to around 20%, Scootaloo had just enough to rocket her's and Applebloom's way down, to Twilight's amazement, but the rest of us had to slide down. Ray and RD sped down at a good speed, Rayden keeping his hands in his pockets to show off for the pegasus. Zaanne. Twilight and I slid down slowly, taking our time to keep from tripping. "So," Twilight spoke up, "this is your human form?" "Mhm, from a completely different planet." "But Rayden doesn't have a magic crystal, so you changed him yourself?" "That'd be my doing." Ship commented proudly. "So, can you turn me into a human?" She asked quickly. I hit the floor and halted. "Hm... I don't see why not. Ship?" Ship shrugged in the back of my head. "Would you like to test it?" I was starting to wonder how much actual math was put into the crystal's power percentage, considering how enthusiastic ship was about this. Zaanne hadn't said anything for almost ten minutes, which rang plenty of warning lights, but i waited and watched Twilight. "Just stand still now." Immediately she became consumed in Ship's signature flame. The figure changed into a column before lowering, showing a whole different species from the previous unicorn. Now stood a five foot talk Asian-American girl, with a small nose and ears, bright violet eyes, long and flat purple hair and a pink highlight running through it. The tail and horn were gone, but traded with fingers and toes. She looked just like a thirteen year old cosplaying as Twilight Sparkle, doing a seemingly perfect job at it too. Still, something felt wrong. "Zaanne, make some clothes for her." "Damn Twilight, that a B-cup?" Fabric spiraled around her like a purple tornado until she was in some fitted clothes. A purple T-shirt with darker jeans equal colored, along with some neat gloves with pink Rhombuses on the tops. "There." "You know if we made her blonde, she'd look like a female version of Odd..." Since i knew nobody knew who Odd Della Robbia was, i figured I'd leave it at that. She stared at herself stunned, completely lost of words. Honestly, she looked pretty cool in my opinion. I had nothing against purple, and she pulled off the "nerd" aspect pretty well, even without glasses. "I added something non-human to those gloves." Zaanne announced. "They can channel your magic energy outward, like your horn. May take some practice, but it should look badass if you can pull off being a Mage as well as a unicorn." She tested it, raising a hand toward a large rock. The boulder, along with her arm, became enveloped in a pinkish glow, the rock floating up into the air. "It's not too hard." She dropped the rock. "Well then, let's go back to Ponyville. Mind if i change everybody back to ponies? We might cause more uproar that there already is." Twilight nodded assent, so we switched back to pony, including Rayden, and headed back to town. You know when you're just randomly hit with depression after a while? That started to form as the town gathered together in the center of Ponyville. That was about when the wave of guilt rolled through my shoulders as i hid away from the crowd. Their version of valentine's day was just around the corner, and i pretty much ruined their preparation time. It shouldn't have been much of a deal, since it was a safety requirement for the dragon invasion, but it still hurt abit inside. Mayor Mare announced that we would be using the unharmed fruitcake as a community event, so a large group was taken out to begin sawing the fruitcake barrier down. Rayden went out with Rainbow, Applejack and her sister to harvest some apples, which seemed to foreshadow an akward moment. Scootaloo and I got to join Sweetiebelle in decorating, since Rarity had insisted after hearing the story. She was mainly interested in how Zaanne could design clothes from the back of his head, or, my head. I figured I could trust the Mane6 with the "aliens coming over to fight aliens" secret. "So, you can freely create any form of fabric," she asked, "so long as you know what the fabric is?" "Yep!" Zaanne went off on a few different types of material, smartly not mentioning any animal skins. "I can also make latex outfits, but I doubt anybody would need it." They babbled a lot about stuff i didn't care about, but i listened. I had a slight warmth in knowing Zaanne wasn't being droopy anymore, even though i was. I didn't need to fly, since Rarity hung everything magically. The tables were almost immediately placed by the Cutie Mark Crusaders' teamwork, so i didn't have anything to do. I trudged over to the main hall, where Spike and some other ponies had begun assembling instruments. "Need some help?" I asked in monotone. "N-no thanks," Spike tripped over a drum and crashed into the grand piano, which didn't budge to his puny weight. "Well I'm gonna help anyway." I pushed up the drums with my muzzle. "You alright?" "Just fine!" He rolled to his feet and hopped onto the piano bench, playing a random note. "Sounds good!" He smiles up to me. "How can you be sure?" I sat next to him and played Chopsticks, suprisingly easy with hooves. It was completely natural to me, but Spike became transfixed on it. "What song is that?" "Uh, it's called Chopsticks." I played it on a lower octave and looked up to him. "Ponies play piano, right?" "Well sure, but not often. Nice song by the way." He played something that sounded similar to "Ol' McDonald" before hopping off to go prepare the cello. I looked behind me slowly. ~Ship, can you give me just my hands and wrists for a second?~ My arms became human quickly. Scanning to see if anypony was watching, I quickly played something way more fun than Chopsticks. Honestly, i didn't memorize the names for songs i played, they just sounded cool. As it turned out, ponies started to gather, marveling at the piano playing that a 10 year old human could play. After a while of repeating the Jeporady and Zelda theme, i had almost fifteen ponies sitting around and smiling up to me. This meant i should stop, in my head. As i hopped away, hooves back, ponies clopped and cheered. "It feels like they're enjoying different cultures or something." I started to fly off before crashing into a building. "They are," Ship confirmed. "It is much like how you have Halloween while Mexican culture has the Day of the Dead. Try to go find some differences in your version and their version of Hearts and Hooves Day. "Guess I'll be doing that until tomorow." "What are you doing tomorow?" Zaanne asked. "Somethin'." I strolled to the apple orchards, thinking about how to make a free picnic. (S) The future is good and badAuthor's Note Do people even read this anymore? Also the timeline for these are random. (S) The future is good and bad Have you ever been with your friends, being the only one seeing the akward moment forming, but not wanting to warn anyone? If so, that's what happened while watching my sister, applejack and Rayden try to buck apples together. RD would kick down some apples, Rayden would try to make a compliment, then applejack would attempt to throw his compliment off with logic. "Cool, how do you kick down a full half of the apples in one kick?" He asked. Instead of bucking the apple trees, he did the more human approach of cutting the stems with a dagger. "The other half are hard to get" Applejack informed. "Since they're on the other side of the tree and such." Me and Applebloom decided to begin making the applesauce. We had a big container full of apples, which we just stomped on to squeeze out the applejuice, leaving the thicker material to be mashed up. There were more conventional ways to do it, but I found this to be fun. It didn't take long for me and AB to begin wrestling in the applesauce. She pushed me into the ground as i kicked her into a pile of yellowish goo. She made the cutest giggles on equestria until she sank into the sauce, dissapearing into the stuff. Seconds later, Applebloom exploded out and tackled me again, pinning me to the wall of the bowl. "Gotchya!" I laughed and tapped her hind-hoof, immediatly causing the filly to slide and fall under me. "Not quite," i chimed. We continued to push and pin eachother, finding ways to slip out of the other's grasp. After almost an hour, Applebloom and I laid flat on our backs, my wings spread to let the sticky stew of apples trinkle through my feathers. The crystal's magic energy boost had turned off, now that we were not in any serious trouble. That left me hot and tired, making the relaxing apple bath a lovely bed. "So." She huffed, obviously equally tired as I had become, "are you going with Gabriel to save those other planets?" "Yeah," i panted. "You can come with us, I'm sure you'll have fun." "Nah, ag'd just get in y'all's way." She rolled onto me and rested her head onto my chest, the crystal squished to my heart slightly painfully. I didn't care in the slightest. I placed a hoof into her mane and stroked the chunks of apple out of it. Her ribbon was still wrapped on my arm. "Let's go get cleaned up, the sun is almost down." I couldn't actually see the sun, but I could feel what Gabe was looking at in the back of my head. Applebloom shuffled on me nervously. "Uhm, would you like to stay the night here? Or do your parents want you home at a certaint time?" "My mom won't be home for a while." I stood quickly and pulled her up. "Sure, I'll stay. Besides, you guys have a warm shower." We leaped out of the applesauce and trotted towards the Apples' home. The filly kept close to me, wiping her hooves clean in the grass. Applejack had finished bucking the apples and slipped into the kitchen with Granny Smith, who was cool with me staying the night. Applebloom decided that we should take showers in different bathrooms, though I wasn't sure why she cared. After a quick shower, some apple pie and an extra cookie dessert, I felt warm and cozy, even though the snow had picked up drastically, nearly making a blizzard outdoors. Me and Applebloom sat in the living room, close to the fireplace. Nopony was anxious to go to sleep, except Granny, who passed out in her room as soon as dinner was over. AB pulled a red blanket over us and stared into the fire. Her eyes glowed a beautiful aray of warm colors, which seemed to melt together like lava. "What happened today?" She asked it silently, as if she was miffed about all of the weird events that occurred over the day. "Pinkie built a wall out of fruitcake, You got kidnapped, Gabriel got a giant key and I chased a dragon across a mountain to help you." I shouldered her lightly. "And in a week or two everybody is planning to go to new worlds." "You're going too?" She asked. "I have to go, I'm the fastest one in the team, so I'll be needed." The words felt cold in my mouth. What team was I even talking about? We have me, the pyromaniac, the guy with manic depression issues, a living computer and a human with an obsession with my sister but not with anything else in the universe. More than half of the group has some form of amnesia, I barely know any of them and I'm saying we'd be some type of team? I have the crusaders, I shouldn't turn my back on them. ~There have been worse teams,~ ship said after reading my mind. ~me and Zaanne were a very strange duo, apparently.~ ~you two were?~ I heard gabriel ask. ~Zaanne can explain the memory later.~ and then they were silent. "Wait," Applebloom scooted closer to me. "tha blue pony is named Ray right?" "Yeah, what about him?" She was very close now, touching flanks. My face felt like it was going to melt off when she began wagging her tail, hitting my back so lightly. Her eyes twinkled a happy light. "From what ah saw, he doesn't have a cutie mark!" It never accurred to me that he was a blank flank. Sure, I noticed when we first got here, but at that point i had other things on my mind. The little crusader in the back of my head knocked away all other thoughts now, except that Applebloom was now pressing her entire side to mine, making my body feel weak. "He could be a crusader with us!" I smiled giddly. "Let's ask him tomorrow!" Her face changed from excitement to some mix of shock and urgency. "But we have the date!" I almost forgot about the date, and I did completely forget we were going on the date because we needed to learn how to... Do something. I should really read back on this, we planned this like twenty chapters ago! "Right, well then we'll wait until Thursday to ask him." I rested my head on the ground, feeling tired now. She laid next to me, eyeing the bow on my hoof. "Get to sleep then Scoots." she said wearily, "prepare for a fun day tomorow." I wasn't in the mood to sleep, even though I was tired to the bone, and the fireplace flickered softly in my face. Zaanne's magically homely fire had no comparison to the real thing once I felt it. Ship played some more soft music, and my body shut down. Thanks to the stupid future dreams that the magic box gave me, I wasn't exactly resting in peace. This dream lead me to the camp that the alien showed me. Me and Gabriel stood behind a large... Was that a pony? He was huge! At least, I figured it was a he, considering the height. We were human now, but this colt was still almost a foot taller than me just to his tail. He was older looking and white, with a bushy brown tail out the back. Then the pony turned around, and something in my head broke. It was human from the waist, a slightly muscular man who looked much older than Gabriel. He had a beard and hair looked similar to his tail, also equipped with a bow over his shoulder. The bow had his apparent name, Chiron, burnt into the top limb. His legs were horse legs, so he didn't seem to need any clothes, but it still rattled my head about the horse-human thing. His face showed something like curiosity towards us, as if he knew who we were just by looking at us. "These are the cabins." He said in a civilized voice, but with a kind tone. I hadn't realized we were walking until we stopped at a large assortment of the weirdest buildings i had ever witnessed. Each one looked nothing like the others, except the front two, though those also had small differences. They looped around in a circle, with an extra semicircle on the outside. Each one was numbered, though the numbers were weirdly placed. I found them all amazing (except for the cabin with an 11 on the front, which was the only normal one), Gabriel was mesmerized by the third, which looked like a house made out of stuff from the bottom of the ocean. Chiron continued his apparent tour. "You will be seperated by who your godly parent is, when you are determined." My parents were a mailmare who didn't even stay home half a day and a guard who's most likely dead now, nothing godly about that. "What about titans?" Gabriel strolled closely next to him, looking over every detail he could after thuroghly examining cabin three from a distance. Chiron nodded gently. "We are still considering whether or not to make cabins for the minor titans." "Who are the major titans?" I asked. "His dad," Gabe muttered. Chiron looked less offended than I expected, but I found it rude to call the horseman's dad a titan. The scene started to change, showing me a few hours ahead. Now I was in some sort of arena, with about 20 kids in orange shirts surrounding me. I had some bronze sword in my hand, covered in armor that felt like an elephant sitting on me. Gabriel was still next to me, now with a huge grin on his face. His eyes showed behind a helm that it wasn't really Gabe, but Zaanne now. He was also wearing an T-shirt like the others, edging on a girl a few years older than him to spar. After she accepted, they started practicing swordplay. I didn't know what to do until some boy my age pushed me to the ground. "I win!" He laughed along with some other idiots. I got up quickly and figured he was my sparring partner, so i charged him. Seconds later I was back on the dirt, a mace the size of my head pressed to my chest plate. "Brain the chick!" A kid yelled behind him. "Nah, still need a punching bag!" He pulled the mace off and kicked me up. Before I could figure out what to do, he swung the mace like a baseball bat at me, and everything went white as if to say, "That's all folks!" When I woke up, Applebloom had gone into the kitchen and was cooking something with Applejack. I didn't feel like getting up, but it was already a new day. "I'm gonna hate next week," i growled, then dragged myself to eat. (G/Z) fluttershy's shed"Okay, Cheesecake, Apple slices, caramel, Apple juice. Simple enough." I put the list to the top of my vision, like I had some touch screen glasses on. Sounds stupid, I know. "Hey ship, mind a few more questions?" "I'm always open for them?" I trotted towards the cupcake building. I hadn't completely given up flying yet, but it was way too hard on all fours. "If I have a new body, why are my vocal chords the same?" "Words have power, therefore your voice contains an attachment to your soul, like your name and brain." "Αlright, next one." I pushed through the swinging doors, their squeak grinding against my brain like Mr. Sanders' chalkboard did. "I know you made a human version of Scootaloo and Rainbow, so what's up with this body having a crystal heart?" "The body you control connects directly to your crystal. Like before, your soul only attaches to certain parts of your body, both in a physical and spiritual aspect. The crystal keeps both your blood and spirit flowing. Imagine the crystal as a type of LAN network console. Instead of your soul attaching to a few things, you become part of everything in your body, but rerouted." "... Dumb it down for me." I ordered my list of things to Pinkie, who gleefully began making my things, apparently finding me talking to my necklace completely natural. "Before the new body, your soul only attached to your brain and heart. With the new body, your soul can reattach to your heart, along with attaching to extra things in your head, like imagination, spirit and memories." A part of me knew exactly what he was talking about, but I hid that part of me when Zaanne started looking though my head's files. I was afraid he'd burn me stupid. I got my order in a large warm bag (paper, of course) with a sparkling cupcake on the front, like some kind of glittery logo. "Don't build a giant fort without me!" She yelled as i trotted off. I promised not to make anything like that without her around, then booked it out of town. It took three wrecking balls to break down the fruitcake wall, but now everypony in town had some crappy christmas food for hearts and hooves day. I honestly thuroghly disliked fruitcake, since I was never entirely sure if it was real fruit. One time I thought I broke off a skittles wrapper on one, and there was definantly something alive in mine last holiday. Cheesecake was yummy though. "Ship, can you hold this in the white room for me?" I hadn't gotten down using teeth to hold stuff yet, though I've tried as a human (What, i didn't want to take two trips with groceries). I was curious if I could copy unicorn magic with the crystal, but I didn't really keep the thought in for long. The bag dissapeared in a flash of light, which I found neat. Things you summon on own appears in green fire, while things that come and go from the ship's interior just glowed before dissapearing. It's like different ways to save something in different formats. "Will there be anything else?" Ship asked, much like a sarcastic waiter. "Can you tell me where the mane6 and my friends are currently? Yes, all of them." I had something planned out for tomorow, but i was also curious on what everyone else was doing, in here and in Earth. "Scootaloo has proceeded to wrestle in applesauce with Applebloom (no fair, I love applesauce!), Rayden got a tour around ponyville and a few bits to stay the night in a hotel (ponyville had those?), Rainbow asked Applejack to the hearts and hooves party Pinkie began preparing for after you left. Twilight sent a report to the princess of your arrival to this planet, and Rarity is speaking to Fluttershy about... I best not say. And Zaanne is currently trying to fix the TARDIS he blew up. As for Earth, your parents are becoming worried about your absence, Jacob and Kenneth were transferred to a nearby school, and your mom is becoming more intimate on some female." That slightly threw me off in the end. My mom is getting more chicks than me? I don't care if I don't care about relationships, that's bullcrap! "Did my phone survive that school explosion?" i asked. "It's an iPhone, what do you think?" He summoned a burnt pile of plastic for me to see. Part of me felt terrible, I loathed wasting people's money (my old school was cheap so I didn't care then), it made me feel like I didn't respect one's gifts. The phone was good too, my first phone. Seeing something like that in ruins made my depression come back. "Well... Can you send my parents a voicemail under an unknown number?" Next to my list of grocery stuff came a little phone app. "Just tap it to call," he said in a slightly lower tone. I left a message telling my mom and dads that i was having fun, being out of state and such. I left an excuse for sounding down, and promised to go back home later. I didn't give a specific time because i didn't know when we'd be back. "Tell my friends that they shouldn't worry about the school. Those things can be replaced." I held the crystal close to my chest. With a magical heart that can heal people, it'd be a dick move to just leave Earth in such a crappy state. After a few minutes of considering, I figured the world won't learn anything unless they fix their problems on their own. Some other feelings were passed around in my head, guilt and confusion mostly, but i set those aside for later complaining. First, I had something pretty obvious planned. Before the sun could go down, i trotted to Fluttershy's nature home. When i knocked on the door, I was answered by Angel, her pet bunny. He was about a third of a foot tall, a clean white coat worn with large ears covering his head. He would have been cute if I didn't know him too well. "Where's Fluttershy?" Even though Zaanne screwed up on the Tardis, his translation box seemed to be on overdrive. "Why do you need her?" He asked in a small voice that might have been Australian. "I just wanted to inform her of some things and ask her about some other things." "She's in her shed, washing up before bed." "Thanks, hey shouldn't you be hibernating?" "Yeah, don't tell anyone im awake." He bounced away, showing a well groomed tail. "Is it safe to go?" Zaanne asked lightly. "Why wouldn't it be?" I proceeded to the small house-like thing behind her chicken coop, really edging closer to the Everfree Forest. It took almost seven knocks to hear a little voice yell out, "be just a minute!" About sixty seconds later, Fluttershy appeared, creeping the door just enough to see one sparkling eye in the setting sun. "H-hello Zaanne, how are you doing?" Her voice shivered abit, like she was cold. "Very good," Zaanne asked, "you?" She opened the door more before responding. "I am d-doing okay, I think. C-Come in, if you want. You don't mind if I call you both Zaanne, d-do you?" "I don't mind at all," i said before he could be sarcastic. The shed looked a lot like a miniature spa. There was a steaming bath tub, a shelf filled with random relaxation oils and lotions of all the colors on the rainbow. Something smelled like lemons, which caught my nose quickly. I normally have a terrible sense of smell, but lemons (and GermX) help me smell the good things in life. For instants, the mare next to me had a vanilla scent again. "S-so, I'm guessing you haven't found a place to stay yet?" She dabbed a hoof into the steaming tub, apparently unsure how hot it was. "Nah, I could just sleep in a tree." The incoming blizzard wasn't affecting me, since the crystal have me a high body heat. "That won't be good for you. You can sleep in my house again... On the couch, of course." She smiled warmly to herself but frowned again when she checked the water. "Hm, still a little cold..." Zaanne decided to mess with her then. "Watch out, might get too hot if you get in." She took a second to get what he was saying before blushing, hiding her face behind her mane. "O-oh no, the w-water just needs t-to heat up abit more." "If you do that, it'll evaporate before you get in." She made some sort of flattered giggle before coming back from her hair hideout. "Y-you really think I-I'm h-hot?" I said, "well, I prefer cute, but in that case you're adorable." Okay, didn't think that compliment through, so what? Why can only Zaanne say the slick things? She didn't seem to mind, though her blush was equivilant to mine. "Let's not go into flirting for now. Do you need a place to stay again? I don't think a tree would suite for a good bed in this weather." I eyed the large snow storm bustling through Ponyville, though not as violent near the Everfree, ironically. "Sure, but I'll have to pay you back triple then." My eyes moved to wander around the room. "What is this place anyway?" She finally slipped her lower body into the tub, sighing happily as the water enveloped her. "When my friend, Rarity, can't go to the spa with me, I come here and treat myself to some of the smaller luxuries of it. Lotus gave me some of these relaxation bubbles and things like that for fun, too." "Doesn't a spa normally have someone else treat you?" She paused to contemplate that to herself, then smiled softly to me, taking up a strangely confident voice. "Well it's a good thing you owe me three things." ~this is how some of that freaky Internet shit starts,~ Zaanne laughed, ~she gonna rub your lamp and get three wishes?~ ~shut up~ i told him. "I guess that counts, what would your first wish be?" ~you should be asking for her first SFW wish, this story's only set to teen not mature.~ She slipped deeper in the steaming tub, relaxing more. I suddenly found it akward to be in the room while she took a bath, but I stayed for instruction. I needed to repay her for chilling at her house, plus I figured ponies don't really worry about gender-specific bathroom rules. After a moment to warm up, she said, "if you want, you could wash my mane. Of course, you don't have to, it might be a lot to ask." Though her hair was a river of thick pink, it looked to be easier than my old hair, which could have been a golden bush plopped on my scalp. "Sure, do you mind singing while I do that?" She looked up at me as I got behind her. "You are interested in my singing?" "I'm not sure if anypony has told you, but nature itself makes time to listen when you sing." I found a bottle of shampoo and squirted some on my hoof. If she wasn't bluahing before, she sure was now. She began singing happily, some song she never sang on the show. Still, it was better than any morphine for my depression. Each line gave a buzzing numbness through my body, warming me better than any magic fire could. I almost forgot to clean her hair as she sang. Her mane was pretty long, so i strode it over my arm and washed with one hoof. I filled her mane up with shampoo, which took almost the entire bottle, then washed it out. Luckily the shed was set up like a real spa, fit for fluttershy, so there was a water sprayer thingy like on kitchen sinks. Spray heads, right? I repeated the process with conditioner, which took forever. How do you know when the it's washed out?! Flutters was cool with it, still singing for me. The song was something about a flower dieing before the winter, then regrowing in spring. It was a little depressing at the beginning, but her tone showed to be more understanding of the flower's future than sad of its present state. When her tone was sad, i became sad. When it turned hopeful, so did my attitude. That was one of the great things about music in general, and I wish more people could influence emotions other than wrath or lust in their songs. Fluttershy even regulated the tempo of the song so she'd finish by the time I completed her mane, which was pretty impressive considering it felt like forever. She smiled up to me as I laid down her mane. "Thank you," she said. "Anytime." Then i recalled the list of stuff I bought, still waiting in the white room, along with why I bought them. "Mind if I ask you a few things?" "Did you not just ask me a thing?" I really did not expect a sarcastic answer, which made it funnier to me. I laughed and sat next to her as she cleaned her forehooves off. "I guess so. Do you have anybo-, anypony taking you out for Hearts and Hooves Day tomorow?" She shook her head abit, washing her face quickly. "Unless somepony were to ask me now, I think I would just stay home and tend to the-" she frowned abit. "Most of the critters are sleeping through the winter, aren't they?" "Yep, most of them," Zaanne said. I turned politely as she began to wash her torso, which didn't really help since there was a mirror on the other wall. "Well then you seem to have some free time on your hooves tomorow, unless you want to go for a picnic with me tomorow." She blushed a lot thinking over that, but apparently expected me to ask her out, since she smiled before i gave the suggestion. "I would love to, but let's not have any fruitcake." I grinned happily, excitement making my wings open. "Definantly, I don't like fruitcake anyway" I trotted to the exit. "I'll let you finish up in here, if you need anymore favors, I'll be in your house." She nodded and I closed the door behind me. The blizzard made it next to impossible for me to see past her house, but that was all I needed to get to, so there wasn't any problem. I lowered the magic heat abit to enjoy the freezing snow whipping against my face. It reminded me of skating as fast as I could while playing hockey, knowing I would fall but loving the cold air that falling gave me. "You got a date for once in your life," Zaanne said, "good for you." "Yeah! Now let's go to sleep, I'm getting tired." I didn't walk though. Forgetting to refold my wings, the high winds caught me from behind and rocketed me into her kitchen window, throwing me into her refridgirator, where a startled Angel ran away quickly. "Day two of ponyville, and you still can't fly worth shit." "Thanks." (S) cliche like-like storyIt's impressive how easily ponies can clean up after dragons blew up the perimeter of Ponyville. By afternoon, the town had completely stopped conversation of the problem and moved to something slightly unexpected. Princess Cadence, the princess of love, stood at the top of some pink covered stage. Hundreds of ponies, pegasi, earth and unicorn, gathered in town square, waiting for Cadence's apparent speech. She took her time, setting up a flash card to read off and clearing her throat to silence the bustling crowd. "Hello everypony! I am pleased to hear nopony was hurt in recent events that have occurred, which Twilight Sparkls informed me of in a letter. I decided to come over to lift a few spirits." She looked down at the card, now reading off it. "We gather here today to celebrate the day of love, sharing each other's hearts and expressing such love in a brilliant party tonight!" "WOHOO!!!" Pinkie hollered. "Yes, very wohoo'y! Now let's begin today's fun!" She shot multiple hearts from her horn, each erupting in a waves of reds and purples. All the ponies cheered and departed, pulling heart-shaped cards and candies out of bags and passing them around. Pinkie and Rarity had made the majority of gifts, the former giving them out at the speed of pink. Applebloom decided to stay next to me, following me to Sugarcube Corner. "When is our date?" She asked. "Right now, before everyone steals the tables." I summoned my scooter and pulled her on. She wrapped her forearms around my torso and held herself close to me, making me blush. Two days ago, that might have been uncomftorable, but finally I started to get it down. Applebloom liked hearts, so she just wanted to be near one. I was cool with it, I loved the warmth. We sped off toward the vacant restaraunt, kicking in the second Mr. Cake flipped the sign to "OPEN". Grabbing two seats and a table, I sat her down and side flipped to my chair. Granted, i didn't have to, but something felt good in me that day. We didn't have to deal with anything bad for a full week, my dream was for a day far enough away for me not to care; like, March or something. "Two Apple pies please!" Applebloom called into the kitchen. "Put it on Applejack's tab!" I was not aware there could be a tab on things like pie. A few minutes later, two steaming pastries appeared on our table. Just in time too, a plethora of ponies began lining up for food following our order. Rayden popped in for a bit to grab a few apples, and he waved when he saw us. Asking him about the Crusaders recruitment would have to wait, but it was clear as day now that he was a blank flank. I waved back and returned to eating up the food. Once again, Sweet Apple Acres and Sugarcube Corner made a wonderful display of tastes for me, which i made sure to spend time indulging in it. Applebloom seemed to show little interest in it, and looked at the ponies surrounding us, also on small dates. It was then that i fully recalled what we did this for. "Hey, I know Sweetiebelle has already done this before, but why didn't she even show to see Cadence?" "Maybe she's planning things elsewhere." "Without us? That's not much like her." I figured she didn't want to disrupt us, so she spent the day with Rarity. And by i figured I mean Ship told me. "So, this is how a date goes?" "I think so." Applebloom nibbled the pie slowly. She looked good today. Her mane seperated into two bows that made a heart with the loops, her fur coat was shiny and a little longer thanks to the winter almost over, but that was slightly hidden in a small red scarf. She also decided to wear abit of perfume. It wasn't very like her, but the smell of cheeries she gave off was both intoxicating and confusing since she was an Apple. We finished the pies relatively quickly, and Mr. Cake introduced us to milk and pink oatmeal cookies. They weren't as yummy as the previous treat, but they gave us something to eat while we talked. "What's the next place you and them humans are off to?" Since I couldn't recall if i covered more detail on the place than what the Map showed, i emphasized with Ship's help. "It's a human world with some attri- attributes? It's got some things in common with both of our worlds. Apparently it's a battle camp, and im supposed to be beaten up by a guy with a mace..." With that happily answered, we moved off the subject. I was happy for that since the past two days have been "SCHOOL'S GONE! GO TO EARTH! FIGHT COPS, FIGHT ALIENS, GET HOME, FIGHT ALIENS, CHASE DRAGONS, READ THE MAP!!!" It was abit too much that two nights can't sleep off. First we talked about what we could do to help cherrily. After that thing that happened she became a little down. We decided the best thing to do would be to let her use out Crusader's Headquarters as a schoolhouse until hers could be fixed. "It's the best we can do, I'm sure she'll like it." I said "Hopefully more than that last hearts and hooves incident." We laughed and ate more cookies. It was a nice day, with the snow outside now on the ground instead of our faces, we could enjoy the day with a happy face; which was good. Many dates were going on outside of ours. Roseluck was here with some red stallion, Derpy found a mare with blue hair and tan skin, though i lacked her name as well. Big Mac wasn't doing anything special, but he still gave a hello to occasional ponies. "Hey, what gender does Big Mac go for?" It was a random question but we lost the school topic quickly. "Hm, never asked him before. Does your crystal know?" Ship responded, "He's straight. The only reason there's so many females who are into same sex relationships is because the population is mainly females. "Yeah, Sweetiebelle told us that. So that would mean your straight right?" "What makes you think i was raised in Ponyville?" He brought a good point on that, but it just felt as though he lives here. Probably because he knew so much about it. "Dunno, kinda sounds like you know the place." "that's just the information the crystal gives me." He sounded like he was defending himself, which wasn't good. I decided to drop it. "So Gabriel is straight or the Bi thing? He never really answered that." "Ship says pansexual," Gabe's voice came up. "I don't care about gender. Next subject, and can you guys mute us from the chat until after the dates are done?" The silence meant yes. Applebloom gave a small giggle, apparently talking to myself looks amusing. "So after these cookies, where do you want to go?" I made a mental list of things in a casual date, which wasn't much. Lunch, check, now to some activity. I knew the perfect one for her, since we both haven't done much so the childlike hyperness was still in us. Not that I'm a child though. "Let's go outside, I wanna try something." "Can it get us our cutie marks?" "Doesn't hurt to try, c'mon." I hopped to my hooves and pulled her with me. "Cookies got cold anyway." Together we trotted out the door and made our way to the dead apple trees of Sweet Apple Acres. Though the black and brown branches created a ominous and slightly depressing scene, it was also a fun place to run through. There was also familiar territory not far away. "We going to tha Hangout," she asked. I nodded and raced off in front of her. She got the idea and caught up to me. We slid to a hault on the icy pathway, taking a moment to breathe. The cold wind against our faces sucked the air out both of us. Before Applebloom could finish catching her breath, i had hidden behind a tree. "Scoots?" She called for me a few times. SPLAT! Her calls were greeted by a snowball against her side. Her shock was ended after two more balls hitting her. I gave her a minute to hide behind another tree not to far away. She's throw a snowball and graze my tail, I'd catch some of her shoulder, and it went on like that. When i ran out of good snow, i rolled to another tree, getting a face full of Applebloom's barrage. She moved too, so I hit her with a larger snowball. Again it hit on her side, and she rolled off laughing excitedly. A fun idea came to me. I hopped into my tree and bounced from branch to branch until I was above her. She noticed quickly and got a few good hits on my chest and belly. Then I jumped up and down on her tree, shaking it's snowy contents off. I slid down and smiles to Applebloom, who had only a hoof that wasn't hidden in the snow. "I win!" She pushed her way out of the snow and giggled. "Yah cheated!" "If I wanted to cheat, I could have melted the snow under you." Just to prove that, i concentrated the crystal's magic heating system around her. She was suddenly surrounded by water instead of snow. The suprised filly got up and tackled me into the snow behind us. "Ah know silly, thanks for getting me wet now." I could feel her body tremble from the cold, which made me feel guilty. "Let's go warm up in the hangout!" I melted a path to the stairway so not to freeze her legs off, and we trotted along to the treehouse. Settled up inside, we rested in a corner. We lacked any dating or snowball cutie marks, but i lacked the ability to care at the time. It wasn't as warm as the fireplace last night, but there was a better feeling to it. There wasn't anypony else around, not for almost a mile. I could be all alone with Applebloom. She seemed to notice that too. Once we sat down, she wrapped her foreleg around my shoulder, pulling me close to her head. "Mind using your magic to warm me up?" I did so quickly. She was so close that we could share the supernatural heat. She sighed in relief of the cold, though her clothes were still drenched in melted snow. I helped her get those off, and together we laid in the safety of the room. "Thanks," she mumbled. "Don't fall asleep just yet, it's barely three in the afternoon." "But it's so comfy here~" she laid her head on my chest and smiled, the light from the crystal making a funny shadow on her face. "Your heartbeat is fast." I hadn't noticed that, but now that she was so close I noticed my belly felt funny, and my heart had increased its pumping. It was as if i were scared of something, yet also comforted by the fear. After a bit of considering what I was afraid of, Applebloom cleared it up to me. "Scootaloo? I have something to say." What Zaanne would want me to say: "Didn't you just say something?" What i really said was, "What's on your mind?" We've been writing this for almost three years now, I've gotten to know Zaanne better. Her voice became quick and shaky, trying to pick the right words out. "W-we've known each other for a good while now, so I might as well come clean with it..." I let her pick out her words, though with anypony else I'd be way to impatient for this. "Over our time of looking for our cutie marks, y-you've been pretty n-nice to meh, nicer than most ponies. "Mhm?" "W-well, ah tried to tell you by those little projects ah did for you, but I'm not sure if Ya noticed or not." I recalled the clock, all the chickens, and the small heart on every one of her gifts. "S-so I just wanted to tell you, face to face, that, uhm..." Before she finished, she decided to move up to my face and kiss my cheek. Well now I certainly knew what was up with her. She wanted to say it before Hearts and Hooves day ended, but lacked courage with so many ponies around. "I like you Scoots. Like, like-like, not just a like." We didn't need magic heat anymore. My body felt like it was on real Fire, and her blood red face showed she had an equal feeling. I kept her close, not minding the heat, or the wetness on her body. I just hugged her. Being alone with her was pretty cool. Something else that was cool, I figured out what she was talking about, and trying to tell me for about two years. The feeling I got around her, why I looked at her differently than everypony else, why she's always helping me be awesomer each day, and why I think she's awesome all the time. I told ship to leave a message for Gabriel, "always return something nice, because kindness is something to be shared." She like-likes me, and, thinking through it, I like-like her too. Author's Note Not making many chapters, got a lot of things on and off my mind. (Z/G) No heart does not mean no loveTwo things I didn't think through before going out with fluttershy. The first thing was that, since I wasn't technically a pony, the Stare might work differently on me. I felt like I was in an on/off hypnotism every time we made eye contact. Second thing, when she was in the mini spa in her shed, she was relaxed, therefore easy to talk to. Out in public, with no spa or evil aliens to distract her, she was back to her usual shy state. I was okay with this, since my being socially akward didn't make me very good around others either, pony or not. I grabbed our picnic stuff and whispered goodbye to Angel, who hid in the white snow until we left. I planned on going to whitetail woods, since my knowledge of solitary Equestrian landmarks is quite limited. She wouldn't like the large crowds of ponyville festivities as much as the woods, I figured. Apparently my figuring was both wrong and right. She was abit more on edge from not being home, but she kept herself collected enough to make small jokes with me. "Taking a girl out all alone in the woods could be a weird first date, you know?" "You're no ordinary girl though." I continued walking, not knowing her emotion but knowing she was staring at me. "Are you calling me weird?" She smiled lightly. Zaanne saved me there in the stupidest way possible. "Yes, you're weird compared to most ponies. But that's what makes you special to him." I looked back to see her give a timid smile, but hiding it in her mane. That, along with her slightly rosy cheeks, was enough to make the coldest of of men have a heart attack. Luckily, I wasn't a man, nor did i have a heart, but I still had that feeling of lightning going up my spine. Fluttershy dressed nicer than the day I met her. She now wore a dark green sweater and long things on her hind legs that were either the pony version of sweatpants or stockings, leaving holes for her tail and wings. The pants weren't very tight, but it still showed off her great figure, firm legs but plump and good sized flank... Where was i? Right, date. I looked away from her before she noticed my staring. I knew ponies dressed lightly, even during winter, so i focused on being inquisitive instead of looking at her. "So," i started, "you seem to like animals." No shit Sherlock "Mhm," she stared up at the dead branches, as if expecting a bird or squirrel to be hopping about. "Spring is almost here, so I'll get to see all my little friends again soon." If I weren't a fan of the show, that could have sounded creepy. Alas, I understood that, outside of her little group of ponies, she was best friends with almost every creature on the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. I realized why she decided to live so close to that crazy place then. It was to protect the small animals who couldn't survive in such a wild environment. Though she was afraid of the place, she not only helps creatures in there, but lives next to it. That Zaanne and I found to be pretty cool. "You take care of all your little friends by yourself?" We arrived at a flat area in the woods and i laid the picnic blanket down. "Yes, well, other ponies come by and pay me to watch over their pets or take care of them, so it's a job for me along with making so many cute new friends..." She strayed off and eyed a large rock. I set the rest of the picnic stuff down and trotted over to fluttershy, who had taken an inspection of the rock. "There a critter?" She responded by picking the thing up and showing it to me, which i really could have done without. A spider, about the size of her hoof's diameter, stood there, looking up at me with all however many eyes the bucker had. Somepony squeaked, and there was a fast rush of wind. I didn't know who it was until I was behind fluttershy, staring at the bug (Arachnid, bug, I don't care) like it was the antichrist. She reacted with a simple "oh?!" I mimicked a cat hissing and hopped behind a tree. From a "safe" distance, i inspected the spider. The thing was blue, sky blue, with 8 beady black eyes dotted like a screwed up alien from SPORE. It's spiky legs made up most of its body, which was a stupid big circle fused to a smaller circle. I forgot the broken TARDIS thing, again. The spider turned to me again and made a slow, strained voice coming from its fangs, which were a light Aqua. "Well sorry for disturbing your picnic by sitting here! I was here first you know!" "I know you were." The magic necklace seemed to turn off, because i was frozen, though my chest and face burned. Fluttershy smiled down to... My head named him Jim, don't ask why. "Isn't he spectacular?! It's a Frost Spider, they only come out when it's cold." Zaanne didn't seem effected by the thing. Quit being a pussy, Scootaloo's having a better date than you, and she's nine! "Spiders are no-nos for me." I slipped to the blanket. "What does he eat?" "He's not going to eat you, silly" she giggled, and the cold in me evaporated. "Frost spiders freeze things and suck the nutrients out through their fangs. As for what he eats, it doesn't matter, just needs to be edible." "Touching. Does he jump?" "Why don't you just ask me?" Jim asked. "And would you like to find out?" "No, no I wouldn't." I started to take out the food. After a few thoughts and second guesses, i broke off a considerable chunk of cheesecake and tossed it to them. "Here you go. Happy Valentine's Day." Jim clasped the crumb with his forelegs, or feelers, and bit it. The bread immediately became encased in a sparkly dust, then froze faster than liquid nitrogen. After that he started breaking peices of the ice off and chewing it. Fluttershy set Jim down and moved to sit with me. "That was kind of you, i thought you were scared of them." "So long as I'm nice, it has no reason to attack me. Cheesecake?" We are the food for a while, talking about random things. She was cool with me naturally being an omnivore, which was a relief. I don't like changing to match someone's interests, and I really like the Mc. Chicken. What, it's one dollar of yummy meat and mayo! No homo. Yet no hetero... I re-explained all the stuff that's happened recently, and she informed me of what everypony did durning the dragon problem. Apparently they couldn't all get to the bus, so the pegasi split into flying groups to lead everyone off. "You fought dragons?" She seemed amazed by that. "They didn't try to gobble you up did they?" "The bigger ones considered it, but Zaanne lead them to attack the bad guys." "The dragons weren't the bad guys?" "Technically, no. You know dragons eat ponies, so they're just predators. They're naturally greedy, so it's not their fault that they came." I sipped some lemonade and looked out over Sweet Apple Acres. I could see the two crusaders throwing snowballs at each other. I muted the crystal a few minutes after last chapter's conversation, but Zaanne stayed on for some reason. "I did all the work! Minus the small blue dragon, Gabe took him out." I described the fight in the cave, summoning the Keyblade to show her how it works. "It's mainly made to lock or unlock hearts, but it's also a universal key." I put it back before it could start sucking out my life again. I had trouble telling when others want to talk, but Fluttershy seemed very patient. She waited until I finished what I had to say before asking any questions. "So you plan to use that to fight bad guys?" I nodded. "I know you're nonviolent normally, but I can't find any way around it sometimes." "You talk people out of it?" Zaanne implored. "Eh." I tossed another crumb to Jim and slid further away from him. Seems odd that three days ago, i couldn't fight a mosquito without slapping myself. Now i can take an electric laser beam head-on and walk away particularly unscathed. nice perk of this body, but I knew it wasn't my body. Conversation switched from past to future. I made a deal of solids with Fluttershy. She'd let me sleep on her couch if I were to help her take care of the critters when I was around. She found it great that I could talk to animals, and asked me if I could assist her in the animal care. I agreed for a few reasons. First, we made eye contact, which sealed any deal from the start. Second, I didn't want to go home until the bad aliens were under control. Third, I get to spend way more time with Fluttershy! While i originally didn't like the idea of picking a favorite pony, she would count as a #1. Jim eventually went back under his rock, and i relaxed abit. I felt happy to be out talking with Fluttershy, i also found it great to be resting from some of the weirdest crap to happen to me. "Fluttershy? What day is winter wrap up?" "A week or so away," was her response. I nodded and nibbled some food. A slight ring popped up in my head, and Zaanne spoke into me. ~Scootaloo said to return your blessings.~ I figured she was messing with me about returning fluttershy's kiss. The thought burned noticeably against my face. She noticed and smiled lightly. "A-Are you cold?" "Nah," i looked off before her eyes pulled me into hypnosis. "Just a small reminder for later." She seemed to understand that she'd be told later, and finished her meal. My cheeks flushed more every time I thought through it, and the cold crept back up my spine. I didn't mind the cold too much, I actually prefer lower temperatures. Just because someone's texan doesn't mean they like things 90°F or higher. We cleaned up and started back to her place. I loved her outfit and couldn't help this time but stare for a few moments. She looked lovely, enough to make a heartless have cardiac arrest (sorry if I offended anyone here who has died by cardiac arrest). I figured she wouldn't mind me telling some jokes, so I tried some. Problem is, jokes aren't good if you think about them. Another issue was that she wasn't knowing of any celebrities i knew. Justin Beiber and Barack Obama sounded like foreign food brands to her. We made it to her place after a few laughs about restaraunts. Again her giggles mesmerized me, along with a small squeak she made right before laughing that made my brain buzz. We entered and sat on her couch, discussing animal behaviors. The sun had fallen and the town was lit like christmas, pink and red hearts glowing in the distance. "They seem to be having a big party out there." "Oh, they do that every year." Flutters propped her hooves on the window seal and looked out on the glowing snow. "It looks crowded." "Sounds pretty fun, do you want to go?" She shook her head and sat back next to me. "I think home is a good place for hearts and hooves day." She looked up to me. "You called it Valentine's Day, why might that be?" "We have a similar holiday today, but it's abit more serious than just some candies. My world likes to overdramatize things." "So what do they do?" "Same thing here, but with more dating and broken hearts. I prefer to stay alone during this holiday." I shot a fireball into the fireplace and lit it with a light green. "You spent all day with me, did you not want to?" She blushed abit and looked off. "You didn't have to go out with me just because i let you sleep here." Now could have been a good time to return her kiss, but I had something to say, and I was happy to say it. "I loved going out with you, and I'd do it again even if I lived in space." "It was a little dull though, plus that frost spider seemed to scare you..." I took her hoof lightly to get her to face me, staring into her eyes as well as i could. Her greenish-blue eyes made my soul burn, but i kept eye contact. "You fear dragons, so I'll protect you from dragons. I fear spiders, so I know you'll keep me safe from them. As for it being dull, i liked the subtle date. Nothing insane and nothing boring, just natural enough for it to be fun. Her face was red, and she seemed slightly stunned by me bringing up her fear over dragons. "Y-you'll protect me from dragons?" "Mhm. Oh, and another thing-" i quickly moved up and pressed my lips to her face, right over her adorably flustered cheek. "-you did that for me before I fought your fear, so touchè there." She made a cute squeak, but didn't back away. She smiled brightly and poked her muzzle to mine, which i guessed was a nuzzle. "Th-thanks Zaanne- uhm, Gabriel?" Well I was Gabriel, but Zaanne switched with me. He cleared our throat lightly and stared back into her eyes. "We're color coded. Green eyes means Zaanne, Blue is Gabe. Also, it's my turn for a kiss." Fluttershy and i expected another kiss on the cheek, but Zaanne doesn't seem to play that way. He pulled her close, like, really close. Chests and nuzzles were pressed together as he kissed her lips. I know I've already done almost three lists in this chapter, but here's a few more things that i appreciated. One, I could still feel everything zaanne felt, so I got a full sharing of the kiss. Two, Fluttershy didn't freak out. She took the kiss happily, even pushing back on it some. Three: me and Zaanne are two different people, along with being aliens from a different planet. This shouldn't have happened I didn't mind sharing a Fluttershy kiss with Zaanne, since we pretty much share everything. Zaanne was a lot more assertive than me, holding his kiss and slowly pressing her back on the couch. After a bit i switched back with Zaanne, pulling her up and petting her head akwardly. "Y-yeah, that was Zaanne." Her entire face had become red, and she lacked words. That meant something, I was sure of it. It was getting late, so I poked her nose to snap her to reality. "Go get some sleep, I'll be down here if you need anything." She nodded lightly and fluttered to bed, keeping her clothes on. I laid back on the couch, staring at the roof. I met a pony yesterday, and kissed her today. Something said "too soon", but I really didn't care. "You should sleep too," Ship said. "I don't wanna sleep," i moaned boredly. The day was over, the danger was gone (for now), and my brain was buzzing with everything that had happened over the week. Me and Zaanne met Rayden at school, with weirdly good sword skills and the greatest accent I've ever heard. Scootaloo met me after my heart exploded from a meteor, which turned out to be a space ship. Then we all moved out to ponyville. After that, random chaos. Killer dragons, slightly uncoordinated aliens and a crystal with a identity problem. According to Zaanne he apparently has as much amnesia as me, same with Ship, who may or may not be a real ship. Fluttershy met me because I couldn't fly worth the life of me, and let me live with her. Again, all of this happening within three days. "Ship, play me some piano music." I summoned a blanket and two pillows, resting head on one and hugging the other. The pressure on my chest felt good. He started up some soft string piano, which somewhat helped me relax. "Zaanne, you know much about Camp Half-Blood?" "Not outside of what you've read while with me." I closed my eyes and relaxed. "Tell Scootaloo to meet us up in the White Room, we have some planning to do..." Author's Note This will most likely be the last chapter in this story. I Might make a sequal to it later, but I can't keep up with it right now, plus only like one person cares for this story. Merry Christmas and stuff. scootaloo prologue"You think you can do it this time, Scoots?" Rainbowdash asked as i prepared my wings for another go at the sky. I nodded quickly, eyes focused ahead of me. "I will get it down this time! Trust me" i declared confidently as i put my wonderbolts themed goggles over my eyes. I didn't really need goggles considering my past stunts with my scooter, but these were actually rainbowdash's, so I felt awesomer wearing them. Looking out at the wooden ramp above the 4 foot ledge that i continued to crash from previosly, i could feel something different about this next try. This is the time, i thought to myself, This time i will prove to my sister that i CAN fly. "Ok get ready for me to wave the flag" RD said, picking up the white flag next to her hoof. "I know. let's do this sis!" I called, picking up my blue scooter by it's red handles as Rainbow flew over me. The plan was for me to charge as fast as i could possibly go with my wing-scooter combo onto the ramp, then i was to spread my wings and glide. Twilight said before that "the glide should give you the velocity and inertia to blah blah blah then to get your wings to flap at a speed higher than blah blah blah something about air in order for you to fly" To put it simply, i needed to fly once i left the ground. Looking straight at the ramp, I started up my wings, making a loud buzzing noise as i held my ground with the breaks. Above me, i heared Rainbow's voice at first yell "ready!?" Then a small pause. "SeeiiinnNNNGGG" came next, breaking my concentration for a moment. What came next was a ringing noise that most certainly was NOT Rainbow Dash. It got louder and more annoying as my world spiraled out into nothingness in the blink of an eye. ____________________________________________________________________________________ "BLAH!!" I yelled as i shot my head up from my bed, without opening my eyes. Slowly waking up, i first noticed the light from behind my cyan window curtains. After my bleary eyes started to become more focused, i tried to recall everything that happened in my dream. "That's like the hundredth time i had that dream, and i almost made it that time, i could feel it" I whispered to myself. Sure, it sucked that I couldn't fly, but it was so much fun trying that my dreams turned into my training. "RRRRRRIIIIIIINNNNNNGGG!!!" That awful noise continued to rattle through my brain. Looking at the wooden desk next to my bed, I found the evil dream-stealer. Another ear-piercing ring came out of my chicken shaped alarm clock as i went to slapped the off button. I thought of just taking out the batteries from the evil bird's stomach, but it was a hearth's warming eve present from my best friend, Apple Bloom. It would be mean to her if i did that, especially after all the hard work she put into making it. I had said thanks, as I recalled, staring into the chiken's eyes. "It was nothin" she had said when i looked up,"I hope you like it." I did like it, i just didn't like its job. It was a wonderfully made chicken, even if i don't really like chickens after the cockatrice incident (long story, including an evil lizard, the stare master and a rock hard unicorn). She didn't seem to let off the chicken joke, considering that anytime she does anything with me and art involved, she makes me a chicken with some heart on it. I didn't notice at first, but i realized that with each chicken project she makes, she puts a heart on it somewhere. As for the chickalarm, the heart was the snooze Button's shape. Hopping out of bed, i took off the rainbow striped socks that were up to my shoulders. I don't normally wear socks, or any clothes besides my Cutie Mark Crusaders cape Sweetie Belle, my other friend, gave me, but it was winter, and it was freezing at night. A few years ago, Applebloom, Sweetiebelle and I made a team called "The Cutiemark Crusaders", or CMC for short. It's a group that helps people aquire their cutie marks. Though, the only ponies in it right now is us three and AB's cousin in fillydelphia, since we are the only ones in our class that don't have our cutie marks. The only one that has ever had a cutie mark was Apple Bloom, but that didnt count since she got like 50 at the same time (also a long story, this one consisting of flowers, the loopty hoop and a zebra with a speech impediment). Hopping out of my blue and white cloud bed, i tossed my socks at the empty clothing hamper, missing entirely. I did a few stretches to make sure i woke up in one piece. Streatching the legs and wings first, there was a funny popping noise come from the left hind leg that felt great. As i start stretching my back, i heard a familiar voice that was my mom's shout, "Come on down for breakfast!" I assumed she sense my awakening with her mommy powers. After the stretch routine and doing my bed, I started down the stairs for something to eat. Looking to my left, i got a good look of myself as i walked next to a mirror in our stair's walls. My purple mane was a huge mess as it frequently was in the morning. My violet tail looked as if it had been zapped by lightning. I took a closer look at myself to see my slick purple eyes and blank orange flank. A small frown went to me as i saw the plain nothing. I have been working for almost two years now, trying as hard as i could to get a cutie mark, and i know i will get it soon. How i know, well, i don't, but I'm always ready to get it. I'm sure that Sweetiebelle is talented in singing, seeing her make the cmc theme song off the top of her head, and Applebloom is good with building, as she did with the main CMC headquarters, which was in a damaged state that made recovering it seem insane. I'm not good at those things, just my scooter; Oh well. Taking some time to go back to my room and brush my mane, i finally went down to follow the yummy smell of hay bacon strips and biscuits that my mom had cooked. Sitting at our rounded cumulus table, i waited for Mom to sit down next to me and fill two glasses of apple juice and some hay bacon. "So how's school been?", she asked me. We normally don't get many chances to talk since she's normally in canterlot at work, but today she seemed to have enough time to have breakfast with me, which i was happy for. "Good, if you don't count the whole 'hearts and hooves day in a week' stuff. It's fun at first but It gets annoying after a while!" "Well, have you found somepony to spend that special day with?" She asked jokingly. "Nah, i don't need a special somepony, I'm fine on my own", i responded, but the thought stayed in my head. It was true that i didn't know anypony that I liked right then, yet every year at this time, i get a slight empty feeling, though it goes away while I'm around my friends. Luckfully, H&H day is on Wednesday, while today was... What was today? Looking at the calendar next to the sink that you obviosly know the destination of, i realized i had run out of time to talk, for the day of my most hated feelings and dread come from this very day. "Oh great, it's Monday! My least favorite day of the week!" I shouted, growing tired of school just HAVING to be on every single Monday. "Well, i guess i should make my leave now" Mom said, readying her bright orange wings and fixing her mane that was so dark of black that it occasionally would glow purple in the right light,"We can talk about the colt that can fit you best for hearts and hooves day when i get home." She said, making me slightly sad that we both had to leave. The only problem i had talking about colts was that i don't actually like colts, they never seemed attractive or cute to me. As for mares or fillies (around my age, of course), i could easily start some relationship, i just don't really want to. There was a word for that, but i never bothered to figure it out, though it may start with an L or F or something like that. Twilight says that i should know more advanced words since I'm 9, almost 10 and all, but in truth, who would understand what something like 'paradoxical' means, so why use those really long words when i could say 'absurd' or 'insane'? Then i remembered what i was supposed to do every Monday "Whatever, I'll go to school on my own today, gotta pick up Applebloom and Sweetiebelle from sugarcube corner, anyway," i murmured as she took flight from our cloud home that was only floating about 6 feet off the ground (because SOME fillys can't just fly out). I doubted Mom and I would see each other long enough to talk about anything until after H&H day. It's always just me around my house, though I'm never home, since i spend most of my time practicing on my scooter and getting my cutie mark. With my mom always at work for what seems like days or weeks, I never have any family to be with, and I was always alone in my home until i met Applebloom and Sweetiebelle. At least, that was my mom. As for my dad, i never met him. My mom said he went to join the royal gaurd and set out for a mission that required him to say goodbye to us for a while, even though that "while" has been 8 years now. The only thing i have to know him by is my scooter, which he ingraved a note in the bottom and sent to me when i was 4, having the words "I'd rather die of passion and love than to boredom and solitude", burned into the wood with a signature that initialed "BF", prabobly for "blue flare", since that's what mom said his name was. We have been good enough without him, he probably left when he heard he was a father, I thought to myself, he chickened out and left my mom to have to care for me on her own. We're good without his help! I said that to my mother once, she just shook her head slowly and continued to do whatever she does. I decided to shake the thought out of my head for now. no use distracting myself before I ride. i hopped from our door to my scooter, which was safely parked under the house and attached to the carrier wagon. Reving my wings up and putting my purple and white striped helmet on, i sped off towards the gingerbread looking building in the middle of town. Author's Note I honestly don't know how this'll turn out. 2015 now, this story sucked balls (S) breaking waves and reality.Galloping at what seemed like the speed of light, i still felt like i couldn't get to my teacher fast enough. It wasn't making the situation better that the thing that had crashed continued making things as weird as possible. After the chickens dissappeared, more random things either came out of it or changed stuff around us, like the trees turning purple or fireworks shooting into the sky, making immorphous shapes as they detonated. We reached our teacher as the roof started to shake, the bell pleading to dive onto us. Applebloom was prying Ms. Cheerily out of the wood as i pulled her out. She was pretty heavy and unconscious, which made the weight worse. As we tugged her out a large peice of wood fell with a lot of rocks and sticks, apparently some stones that had been previously thrown to the roof. The the wood caught applebloom's tail and rocks pelted all of us. "Scootaloo! A-Ahm stuck!" She yelled, and i released my teacher to run to her "I've got you!" I shouted over the fire, trying to lift the wood. No good, it was far too heavy for me. Smoke poured around us, making us cough uncontrollably. I needed to get everypony out as quickly as possible, before we suffocated. Appleblooms tail was really stuck, and pulling on it wasn't working. Nothing sharp was around to cut it either. I stood for a moment, thinking over what to do. Then another wave hit. My mind suddenly spun, new ideas came to my head. New theories, thoughts, guesses, plans. I predicted every event of the next 10 minutes. The bell was going to fall at about 6 minutes, the wood was connected to the support, so that would break as the bell fell, giving Applebloom about 1.5 seconds to get out of the way. The shockwaves happened once every minute and lasted about equal the time, having a small knockback as it hit, with the fire getting worse aside each wave. The best bet was to either stop the shockwaves from happening, since that's what seemed to be controlling the fire, stick with Applebloom and Miss Cherrily and try to stop the bell (which was impossible), or leave Applebloom and get my teacher to safety. That last one wasn't going to happen. Even if it ment dieing, i was NOT going to leave Applebloom. She had too much of a life to fulfill. The way she always strived to get her Cutiemark was amazing, never giving up, even when it seemed pointless. The more i thought of it, the more i found that i cared for Applebloom more than i did Sweetiebelle, or any other pony. My dad left me, my mom was never there, but Applebloom had always been there, even when Sweetiebelle couldn't. I am not going to lose Applebloom, we haven't even had our fake date!~ The wave left about ten seconds later, leaving me standing, feeling a new sensation, an urge to protect my friend by any costs. I smiled proudly when i realized that that must have been what Rainbowdash feels like with her friends, especially Applejack. "Never leave your friends behind." I mumbled to myself. "Get to the rock and stop the fire! I'll be ok with cheerily, just go!" Applebloom said, apparently having the same hypothesis as me. She seemed to be in bad shape from the rocks that fell on her, which meant she could get more hurt if the wave did so. I nodded and leapt through the flames, yelling to my out-cold teacher to watch her. The closer i was to the crashed object, the better of a look i could see of it. It was definitely crystal, and it was certainly green, and it was positively not anything I've seen before. Flames danced across the sides of it, but it seemed to be cooling, glowing less from heat than something bright inside of it. The crash had made it sink about ten feet into the dirt and debris, with sharp planks sticking out everywhere like a giant toothpick cup. I slid down the debris, dodging the planks and catching onto level ground, just above the crystal. It radiated power, showing an intense amount of energy as it shot out a new wave. The closer i got, the more my fur stood on end. This crystal wasn't anything i had ever seen or felt, and it was simply awesome. That didn't matter to me then. Applebloom was in trouble, and the crystal was making it worse. I figured i had about eight minutes to get the crystal, that i had no knowledge of, to stop firing random stuff from it. I hopped off the level floor and slid the rest of the way. Before i could touch it, the crystal shimmered, and i felt something go into my head and start bringing all my memories up. A few seconds later i realized the crystal was taking in what i knew, what i have seen and learned, and storing it into itself. I reached out my hoof and touched the crystal gingerly. It was fully cooled and was slick to the feel. As i ran my hoof across it, the feeling of it's info storing stuff stopped and inside glowed a small scene, fully tinted green so i had a hard time making out what i was watching. It had what i thought was a monkey, but it stood more like Spike, running from what seemed to be two other things following it. There was a flash of light and the thing stood in place, watching as the other two circled him and ran, after another flash of light and the two dissappearing, the thing ran where the camera would be. A final flash and pictures started flying up and in front of the shimmering video. What came up were random things, like butterflies then knives, then what seemed to be a giant key with a full handle, then a tree. It showed close to twenty items, switching from dangerous to peace making. After a chiming noise, the play glowed and dissappeared, making me realize i lost track of time. There was a bright flash of light then nothing. The meteor was gone, replaced with what seemed to be just a shard. I walked to it and picked it up quickly. I didn't have time to question how that happened or even what just happened, Applebloom needed me. The waves had stopped and the fire seemed to dissappear with the rest of the crystal, but the bell was still in bad shape. I didn't know how long i was in the pit, staring at a rock, but i figured i didn't have time to slow down. I planted my hooves to the ground, holding the shard in my mouth, and began up the hill. Applebloom was watching the bell start breaking the weakened support as i came to her, shard in my mouth. Mrs. Cheerily was looking at the Bell, awake now and horrified, not daring to pry the wood off. AB noticed me as the wood finally broke, snapping the wood trapping her. I was still a hundred feet away, never to get there in time. Ms Cheerily screamed and bolted to her, forgetting that the bell was about to toll on them. Time slowed down. My heartbeat picked up. The only thought in my head was ,save Applebloom. Immediately the world blurred as i ran, the sides of my wings felt warm and tingly, so i flapped them. One flap and i felt like i was on my scooter, jumping long leaps. Flapping my wings again, i cleared the school in less than a second. Within the moment the brass death toy started to make a shadow upon her i leaped. beating the bell quick enough to grab Applebloom by the waist. Cheerily grabbing my arm and we rocketed out as the brass hit the ground with the loudest DING, missing my hoof by a centimeter. I realized too late that i had no way to stop. My hop to get Applebloom was too powerful somehow, and we all sped out like the wind. We flew into the ground and slid into a stop, or more so, as i got up to see, that i caused a five foot area of quaked ground. I knew i should have felt extremely worn out, but i stood on four legs. Applebloom was laying down, breathing heavily and shaking. Her tail was ripped abit and she was covered in smokey soot, but she seemed okay. I was checking on Cheerily, who also seemed fine, when i remembered the crystal in my mouth. As i spat it out to the ground, i felt as if i took a fifty mile run in ten minutes and had an elephant sitting on me. All four legs felt like lead and i dropped. Pulling my front leg up, i used all my remaining strength to grab the crystal. Immediately i felt my body surge with power again, so i stood resilient. I saw Applebloom look up giddly and become wide eyed before passing out, so i looked behind me to the school, making me stare dumbfounded at what i did. The trail i made from the crater to where i was was covered in dark green flames, which glowed brightly before getting cooled off by the winds of February. The weather ponies seemed to be veering off, avoiding the smoke left in the sky, too afraid of it even though the fire was gone. I saw a rainbow mane fly into the cloud of smoke, and in a few quick seconds the smoke imploded, then dissappeared, leaving my favorite pony to hover in the air, scanning the crash scene. "Rainbow!" I yelled, grabbing her attention. I didn't have anywhere to put the crystal that was giving me my strength, so i held it in my hoof. She swept down and landed next to me, checking me intently. "Scoots! You ok kid?", She rushed, searching around me for broken bones or cuts, "Just scratches right? Good, brush off, they could be hurt, even with the fire gone." She grabbed my teacher, who still seemed to be in shock, and slumped her in her back. "Get Applebloom", she said, pointing to my scooter, which had itself stuck in a tree that amazingly wasn't destroyed from the explosion. Applebloom was knocked out when i placed her in the wagon and rode off. Looking at the crystal in my hoof, it seemed to be more than a shard. It was filled with the same glow as the full rock, cut into a rhombus and spiking just slightly out of the middle. I didn't have anywhere to put it still, so i just held onto it as i rode through town to the hospital. Maybe Twilight will know what to make of it. I thought as I sped up, my wings returning to it's normal strength. The crystal stopped glowing, now looking like an ordinary emerald. Applebloom had slept through the ride, so i parked next to the hospital and placed her on my back carefully, walking us in. The hospital looked pretty empty, with only about a dozen ponies, which was good considering there had just been an explosion at a kids school (or for any occasion it's good). A random nurse came up to us, seeing our condition i guess made her pretty convinced we were hurt, so she took Applebloom and i followed closely. I kept the shard on me, it made me feel more comforted by holding it. She escorted us in a waiting room and set Applebloom up in a chair, who was still out of it. She said the waiting time would be about an hour and it looked that she was going to be alright. I thanked her and decided sleeping would be a good idea, so i laid my head next to Applebloom and placed the crystal in my lap. It glowed abit before going back out, so i pulled her closer to me and rested her on my shoulder, though she slid off and her head also fell to my lap. She seemed comfy enough, besides being covered in dirt and cuts from the rocks and smudgy stuff from the fire. Her hair was swirled around messily, coated black in spots with her bow undone. Her eyes were shut tight and she was nuzzling my belly, mumbling abit, so i figured she wasn't having the best of dreams. I patted her head and rubbed her ears, stringing her hair back and fixing the bow. She smiled abit and stopped moving, so i slouched to the side and fell asleep instantly. (G/Z) I learn how to crashThe stupid thing about having Asperger's syndrome, some of the people that have it have really high sences, which makes you really ticklish. It also gives an annoying concentration to certain actions while completely blocking out other, most likely more important, activities. Like, for say, when you've been in ponyville for almost a strong five minutes, and you throw out a labratory's area right off the bat, not really considering if people wanted to keep that down. It's not like the place is secret, but not really something to throw out there. Another thing with aspergers, added with my already hyper self, you normally gain ADHD. For example, as I was walking down the stairs to Twilight Sparkle's lab, I couldn't stop talking. "Who made the room for the lab down here?" I asked. "It was originally just a basement, but I fixed it up to be more useful." Twilight answered. "Is it legal to have this place?" "When you're the princess' assistant and student, yes." She said that with so much pride that I actually noticed that emotion. "Is it illegal to use dark magic as her assistant?" "Why would that matter?" Rayden asked, following slowly behind me. He had been abit more talkative in the pony world, but he still kept his cool pretty well for just entering his fandom's home. "Just wondering. What's that thing do?" "It's a machine that calculates brain waves and records them into a readable graph over there." She gestured her hoof to a large printing machine. ~We'd just love that,~ Zaanne said. ~It'd probably break!~ Ship responded, ~Actually, everyone has voices in their head, you people just emphasize it more.~ "What's that?" I asked, pointing to a weird crystal ball. "That's a magic enhancer, it amplifies the magic in a unicorn to make them more in tuned with it." "Like when your eyes went white and you turned your parents into plants" I realized I shouldn't have known that when she whirled around, staring at me creepily. "How do you know about that? Did Scootaloo tell you?" "No. I just, uh, know." I looked to Rayden to get some backup. "Uhh, one of the inspectors from your exam was a friend of ours." he lied, "He told us about your awesome powers and stuff." I figured that I would tell Twilight about the crystal after the checkup, but I didn't bring it up yet because she might think I was some stalker. She blushed modestly and stopped at the pulse machine, which looked like a white Lego block, wired with suction cup squid tentacles tangled everywhere. The Lego had a black screen on the side and a green and red button underneath it. "What's that?" I randomly asked, pointing to a glass orb inside another random machine, filling itself with brown liquid. "Is it also a magic stimulator?" "Ah, no. That's what we in the town call a 'coffee machine'" I'm not sure why she was being sarcastic, since that's normally Pinkie and Rainbowdash's job. "Oh." She began to magically untangle the wires, sliding each one through themselves carefully. "Hey, doesn't magic negatively affect electronics." "Yes, but the rubber coating on these are specially made to register pulsations, and that material convinently rebuffs magic abit." She finished untangling it and waved me over to a circular metal plate on the floor. As I stood on it, she shot the suction cups into me. They were everywhere, on my fore and hind legs, my chest, sides, neck, cheeks and my forehead. The impact tickled, which was really starting to annoy me. "There, now to check your pulse." She pressed the green button on the device and it whirred to life. It gave a soft hum to it and a neon green line appeard on the screen. After a few seconds of a line and a high pitched continuous beep, Twilight readjusted the suckers, only to find the line again. "It might be broken." She said, looking behind the machine, to find unplugged wires I figure, but she apparently didn't see any. "It's weird though. I don't see anything wrong with it." "So, he doesn't have a heartbeat?" Rayden asked. Twilight thought for a while before trotting over to a small tan wall on wheels, rolling it over to me. "Lean over this, please." I did so and she stood back a few feet, keeping Rayden behind her. She got in a balanced position and ignited her horn with the sparkling light of magic, closing her eyes slowly. She aimed the horn at me. Again, random questions popped in my head. ~If she bats her eyes fast enough from there, will we feel the wind move?~ I decided to keep that one back. Suddenly, my chest glowed purple. My skin and fur became transparent. I got a creepy image of my own ribs before Twilight concentrated harder, making those fairly unnoticeable. The unicorn opened her eyes to inspect her work, then screamed and hopped back, breaking the magic concentration. She stumbled into Rayden and they hit the floor. Before the magic fully stopped, I got a pretty good look at why she freaked out. I figured my heart would just be stopped, but no. The thing wasn't there. "Y-your heart! It's gone!" Twilight yelled. ~No shit, Sherlock.~ "No, I let it take a walk through the park before I got here, it'll be back any minute. Of course it's gone!" I hopped to her, but she retracted to the wall. "You ok?" She started breathing, which was most likely good for her health. "How could your heart just be gone?" She asked slowly but steadily. "My opinion," Rayden said, "as Ship said, the crystal is his heart now. Try detecting for magic items." She nodded and tried to concentrate again. The same procedure happened, only It just made the crystal glow violet/green. Then, where my heart should be, another crystal glowed, slightly brighter. "That, what in the world is that?!" The way I said "I don't know" sounded more like if you tried pronouncing all the vowels at once. "Probably that spaceship that exploded in my face." She'd seen enough, so I explained. Rayden helped me out, since half the time I blurred my words together or stumbled over facts that were apparently important. She summoned a clipboard and a quill with the ink cup and began to write. "So you're saying that you have voices in your head? You know everyone has them, most just put them in the back of their mind." "I'm way more than a voice," Zaanne said from the crystal. "I'm the greatest damn voice ever to live in somepony's head!" "You must be Zaanne, hello." She said that as if that were normal, which either meant she fully understood now or we drove her insane. Ship introduced himself as well, now in the voice of Dane Cook, though I wasn't sure how smart the comedian actually was. When we got to the part of breaking the planet maker, Zaanne took up the story. "Me and Ship went into the machine and broke down the defences inside. We broke the fire wall and set the forming planet to scatter itself far away." "That's not all that happened." Ship responded. "We had this dream-" "That wasn't important." Zaanne interrupted quickly. "Just about stuff like flying sheep and stuff. Ship, might we talk for a bit?" The crystal stopped talking, but Twilight stared at it anyway. "What's wrong with him?" "Dunno, Zaanne's a little weird." "You're a little weird." Rayden reminded me. There was hoof steps above us, which I most likely wouldn't have heared without having enhanced hearing from either the crystal, being a pony, or both. Twilight detached all of the wires from me before galloping upstairs. Leaving me to turn off the machine and follow her. When me and Ray got up there, she was with a cyan pegasus with an amazing aramgement of colors spilling out of her head and flank. Rayden beat me at reacting, which never happens. When I see something that I find awesome, I'm normally the first one to speak up. In this case, my friend's eyes widened like moons. "Rainbow Dash!" He called excitedly. I hadn't noticed his wings before, but now they flapped excitedly as if they had a mind of their own. The pony looked to him. "Dude, you stole my hairstyle." I gave Rayden's mane a second look. As of becoming a pony, the spikes and the trail of hair down his neck looked exactly like RD's, only it was red and orange instead of a Lucky Charms marshmallow. She didn't seem too angry about it. "That's cool. You have good taste to pick such an awesome pony to copy!" Spike had entered the room with a broom, sweeping off the stairs, even though there was barely any dust on it. Maybe Twilight's OCD rubbed off on him? I counted out four ponies in the room, including me, and one purple dragon. Then I guessed the diameter of the room while Rayden tried to pick out words. "You, y-you're here? Like, right here, alive for me to see?" ~The room is about twenty feet wide and twenty feet four inches long. That means the circumference is close to thirty-two feet.~ The math popped in my head randomly, but that happens when I space out. Nothing was aligned unless perfect, and nothing is perfect. ~And what might that mean?~ Ship asked. ~That means I'm getting anxious, no need to worry.~ I wasn't sure if I was talking to myself or not, but Ship seemed content with the answer. Apparently I had been staring at the floor for too long. "Hey, green guy. You-hoo!" I looked up to find a pair of magenta eyes at my face. "Who are you? The other one is fangirling too much to talk straight." Rayden was grinning like me and Pinkie, mumbling to himself. "She's real! Like, right there!" "I'm Zaanne, that's Rayden." I guess I should explain the naming. I started calling myself Zaanne because the body that people knew as Gabriel had either transformed or disentigrated, and in Pokèmon, when a Pokèmon evolves, it's name changes. I liked the concept, so I kept Zaanne, which would also stop confusion in name calling when we switched out. I asked Zaanne if he was alright with that, and he said, ~As long as we're ponies, I couldn't give less of a shit about our name.~ Yay, a not-so-new nickname for myself. "Well, apparently you two already know my name, but I'll say it again, in case you forgot." She back flipped onto a table and puffed out her chest. "My name is Rainbowdash, upcoming Wonderbolt and fastest flier in Equestria!" Twilight levitated her to the floor. "Yes, you're Rainbowdash. And yes, they already know you. But they also know other things that I wish to discuss with them." She eyed me like i was a new specimen to dissect. "Now, what is it you need?" "Well," RD said, "a few things actually. First off, the meteor dissappeared. I'm not sure where, so don't go asking." Rayden looked out of the window, where smoke was thinning away in the distance. "That's Scootaloo's crystal, if I'm right." "What, the necklace thing she's wearing?" Rainbow studied my crystal and approached me. "Is it dangerous?" I stepped aside before she could touch it. "Yes, very dangerous. But only to me, no need to worry about Scootaloo." I scolded myself for saying that the second after. Really, very dangerous? I might as well have said, ~she's screwed with it, but she'll be just fine as long as she's away from me!~ Rainbow Dash fixed her eyes to mine and got uncomfortably close. "That's good. Don't hurt Scootaloo, buddy." She said "buddy" like Dane Cook would say "pal", or "chief", or "fuckface". "The only danger she may be in is the danger of adventure, which you can't stop her from having." The pegasus nodded and backed off. She turned to Twi. "The second thing is that the snow for the Hearts and Hooves Day party has begun to fall. If you haven't found somepony special, I suggest you start looking." I got Rayden's attention and mouthed "shipping" to him. Unfortunantly, I'm not good at mouthing words, so I really don't know what he got. Ray was still staring at Rainbow Dash like she was a giant diamond. Poor Tom. "It's fine," the unicorn sat next to the table and looked at the windows. "Pinkie Pie invited me over for a slumber party for the occasion." "Speaking of her, did you know Pinkie's bisexual?" Twilight gasped quickly. "That explains that one party!" "What happened at 'that party'" I asked. The room was fairly big, but the longer I stayed in it, the smaller it felt. With social problems, that was about routine. I figured it would start happening as soon as I entered, but I guess I could roll better with ponies than humans. Twilight blushed. "I'd rather not talk about it." But the crystal had different ideas. One quick flicker of light around Twilight and the image in front of me changed to a party. It looked like Pinkie's house, but it was filled with apple cider. Pinkie was on some makeshift couch with Twilight. The pink pony was extremely close to Twi, whispering stuff in her ear. I couldn't hear what they were saying over ungodly loud mariachi music, but I got the picture of what was going on. Rainbow was laying on both of their laps, singing something about dried grapes. Pinkie continued flirting, playing with the librarian's mane and whispering more compliments to her, though I'm not sure how much she heared. Most of the time, she just nodded giddly and giggled a lot. All three looked like they had a little too much cider. Before Pinkie Pie could start nibbling her ears, I waved my hoof quickly across the image, taking it away. I wasn't sure what had happened, but I got the feeling I wasn't supposed to see that. "What was that?" Twilight asked immediatly. I was back in the library, with two completely sober mares, a baby dragon and Rayden. I didn't know enough about him to really give him a good adjetive. Blue? Quiet? "Uhh, I'm not sure. What did you see?" "I glowed green for a moment, then you closed your eyes. It's been almost ten seconds." "Hm, one second please." I sat down and looked to a wall. I did that so I didn't start staring at anypony while I spaced out, which I've done way too often as a Primate. ~Ship, what the heck just happened?~ ~You asked for what party she was talking about, so i scanned her and gave you an image of that memory.~ ~Do you know how rude that is? Sneaking into someone's head isn't much better to wiping their memory!~ ~Well now I feel offended.~ Zaanne said. ~Anyway, don't do that until I actually say to, kapish?~ ~Understood Sir.~ I stomped on the floor loudly, unsure why though. ~And don't call me Sir. I'm a kid, nothing more.~ I hadn't realized the four pairs of eyes on me until Twilight cleared her throat. "Well, I'm not sure what else I can help you two with. Unless you'd like to check out a book." She waved a hoof to her collection. I got a book about Asperger's syndrome, just because I love looking up stuff about myself, and we left to the outside. "You're really going to read that?" Rayden asked. The book itself wasn't heavy, but I had no clue how to hold it without hands, so Ship put it with all of our other stuff. "Just the key points. Symptoms, social reactions, stories in it." "Isn't Aspergers some social problem? Makes kids really smart, but they have trouble with other people, right?" "The social problems are just the top of the pillar, like the side effect of having the syndrome. It starts with the sensory part of yourself." I went on to explain as much as I could about a brain disorder that he probably didn't care for. I noticed him looking off, him nodding boredly, the fact that his eyes were glazed over from my speech. Because of that stupid social disorder, I didn't comprehend if he was bored or not. Part of it might have been my own ignorance, but another part of me was too boggled by the day to care. After the speech, I realized I had nowhere to go in ponyville. "Uhh, what are we supposed to do now?" "We could go tell our parents that we're ok." Rayden and I stopped in the center of town and sat down on a bench. "I'm sure they'll be fine." "Maybe yours." he looked to the snow falling around us, slowly coating everything in frost. "But mine just know that the school exploded on the first day that i went there, then I randomly disappear with some other kid. That's sounding fairly suspicious when you think about it." I tried to see it in the eyes of a detective. The only one to register into Advantage Academy recently would probably be Rayden, who came from out of state. As he enrolled, a meteor that nobody worried about came crashing down on our school, without anyone trying to guess it's trajectory. About an hour later, he's in a hospital that just appeared, then dissapears with a kid. If I were a detective, I'd look into that. "Yeah, you should go say hi or something." "Ship," Ray said, "can you take me home for now? As a Human? You can bring me back when I'm done." "Ok" Ship said, and Rayden dissappeared. The sun was begining to set, which felt weird after such a long day. It became strangely quiet in the village. There were very few ponies, none of which I recognized. Most of them were inside to prepare for afternoon activities I presumed. The snow had picked up, causing freezing winds to hit my face, though I didn't mind. I loved the cold. Texas heat way too hot for me. One time my step-dad, Sleepy, had claimed that he wanted to move to Canada, since it was way too hot in Texas. Not just that, but he loved hockey to the heart, never missing a Dallas Stars game on T.V. for the world. I, on the other hand, wasn't much for sports. It was fun to play, but I wasn't a fan of hurting people. I played hockey for a year, then left when checking was permitted in my age group. I know, that's kind of childish of me, but I didn't see the fun that came out of running into people at full speed. Then Zaanne, the most violent person I know, pops into my head. It's like, "Hey, I know you're antiviolent, but here's a guy that wants to kill everyone! Hope you don't mind if I stick him in your head!" I didn't resent him for being violent, but it was quite annoying when I would try to play video games. ~kill this~ and ~kill that~, even in a game like "Dance Central". When it came to violent video games though, I was the Hitler of them. I'd kill everything and still manage to lose in the end. "So, what do we do?" Zaanne asked. "Ray has to clear his name and Scootaloo has her girlfriend to screw around with, what do you have?" "Aliens that want to kill me, a super powered crystal and an annoying voice in my head." Other than that, I had nothing. I already assigned the ship to create a letter saying I'd be out of town for a while. I'm not sure if my parents would belive that, but it seemed like the right thing to at least show them that I was alright. Then again, I wasn't entirely sure how alright I really was. My life depended on a stone hanging on my chest, no bigger than a good sized pebble. Ship said,~Well, if you would like some things to do here-~, a green menu opened in the corner of my eye, like a quest log in first person video games. ~-these are the problems throughout the land of Equestria.~ There weren't a lot of things on there, mainly small things like cats stuck in trees and weather needing to be sped up. Both of which sounded menial due to pegasi exsisting. That reminded me of something. "First thing, I need to learn how to use these." I flapped my wings, but it felt like I was trying to wave frantically. They caught the wind, and I flew backward, straight into a tree. ~I could teach you magically, if you so wish.~ "No." I said, shaking off the slam into the bark. "Some things should be taught manually." I tried again, positioning myself forward, but i ended up face-planting into a wall. "OW!" Zaanne yelled. "Can you not do that in town?" I realized I'd probably cause some bad collateral damage doing that around civilization, so the ship conjured me a map menu and I escorted myself out of town. Once we reached the back-end of town, I quickly found a nice plain to play around in. It was several dozens of acres of rolling hills, leading far off to a set of mountains in the distance. The sky was cloudy for the snow, keeping the place well shaded. A line of deep forest rested a few yards away. Next to the woodland stood a cottage. The house was in a nature theme, a good sized tree-home sitting on a hill, with a dirt path over a tiny creek leading to an equally small lake. The waterway was dry, not being used because of hibernation. Not many animals were present, but the area all around was dotted with crevices and tunnels. Far behind it lay a shed that I dare not go into. Nopony seemed to be home, but I knew who lived there. I turned from the cottage and spread my wings, telling myself to concentrate. Wind picked up, and I escalated. Immediately, I lost my balance, slamming into a hill. In the winter, with the ground so cold, it felt like falling on solid rock. "Time lapse, commence!" Zaanne shouted as I prepared to try flying again. __________________________ By the twentieth time of eating the dirt, I was getting ticked. "Up up and away!" BAM. "Flame on!" BOOM. "I belive I can fly!" NOPE! I lost count of all the times I failed, so I kept a list of all the things that got me in the air. My wings spread would catch the wind and make me airborne, but after that, I would be better off with vertigo on a tight rope. Flapping my wings propelled me in any direction that the they were facing opposite to, which messed with my head. I had just gotten down the ancient art of chicken flapping when I heared an odd sound behind me. I got distracted by it immediately, lost concentration, and hit the floor again. The thing that made the noise appeared next to me, talking in an extremely soft voice. "Oh my, I'm so sorry!" I poked my head out of the crater like an ostridge and shook it. "Why would you be sorry? I'm the one that crashed." "Well, you were almost flying, and my noise seemed to startle you." With each word, she became quieter. I looked over to the mare and almost had a metaphoric heart attack. She had yellow fur, which was partially covered in a green silk sweater with a red heart on it. Her pink mane was hidden under a ski cap, but some strands hung loosely out the sides and between her eyes. Her eyes, they were like the ocean, beautifully mixed with blue and some green. She blinked a few times, showing off long delicate lashes. A long tail laid behind her, swishing from side to side every so often. "F-Fluttershy?" Was all I could say, almost as quietly as her. "You know my name?" She sat on her haunches, looking me up and down. I was covered in dirt from my failures, scratched and bruised up, plus I'm pretty sure I didn't smell the best. "Uhhh" I said some philosophical quote like, "Gah, uhm, I do. You are Fluttershy? Like, the real Fluttershy?." "Yes, I am Fluttershy, I own the cottage over there." She pointed her hoof to the house on the hill. "If I may ask, who are you?" "Zaanne, I live, well, far away." I remembered to blink, then I hopped up quickly, brushing myself off. "Never flown before, trying to get the hang of it." I realized I sounded stupid. What pegasus hasn't flown at this age? "Oh, well would you like some help?" Her voice was too gentle to deny, so I nodded and let her rise again. "Just let me get you some warmer clothes first." "Uhuh." She trotted to her house, edging me to follow, which I did. I tried to relay a message to Zaanne, but I'm not sure what he got. ~What happened to being 'manually taught'?~ Ship asked. ~Having help is different than downloading the knowledge.~ She led me into her house, which was like Twilight's library, but smaller and filled with animal houses instead of books. There was also more furniture, chairs and couches scattered around in the living room. Fluttershy trotted up the stairs with ease, and I sat on her couch. Even with the pony rummaging through stuff upstairs, it was oddly quiet in her home. After being around screaming guards and exploding stuff, the silence was nice, but a little out of place. Every so often I'd hear a shuffle, like fur rolling over carpet. ~What's she doing?~ Zaanne asked. ~I'm pretty sure she's trying to help me fly safer.~ She flew back down, literally, holding folded clothes in her hooves. "I think these might fit you." She gave me them and landed. I nodded and looked at the clothes. It was a navy blue ski jacket with padded insides, a black snow cap, boots and a yellow scarf. "You don't have to wear them, I just thought, you know, it's cold, and you might like something to keep you warm while practicing. The jacket might help with the crashing." "Thank you, you're very, well, kind." I zipped the jacket up and put on the boots and cap, wrapping the scarf around my neck. The jacket had two extra holes for wings, thankfully. "How do I look?" "Like a professional skier," she said, "with a bright scarf." I tried not to laugh too loudly for the sleeping animal's sake, but it's hard for me to control laughter volume. I've never skied or snowboarded before, but my experience with skateboards makes me think it'd be about as easy as flying. "A very colorful skier, that's for sure." She smiled and walked to the door. "Would you like some help on flying? I'm sure my friend Rainbow Dash wouldn't mind." "Actually," I didn't really want to have RD laughing at me for not being able to fly. Plus, her drilling isn't my style. "I'd be happier if you were to come and watch instead. If you have the time, I'm not sure how much you have during hibernation season." She blinked, considering. "I'm not the best flyer myself, I'm not sure how much help I would really be." "You've been very helpful by letting a stranger into your home just to give them some clothes. I couldn't ask for more than that." I went to the door and patted her shoulder. (do ponies even have shoulders?) "It's your choice to help or not." She nodded and placed her hoof over mine. "Be careful, now." Her touch was friendly enough, but she was so gentle that my entire arm tingled, like it was lightly being tased again. She showed so much concern and kindness in her voice that I wasn't suprised when she said, "I'll come and watch if you want. I don't have anything to do until bed time, anyway." I held the door open for her to come back out. "Ladies first." She smiled brighter and walked out, letting me follow. As nice of a picture I might have had from behind, I really wanted to be beside her. At some point she had taken off her cap, letting her mane tumble down her sides and over her face. We were the same height, her hair giving herself an inch or so more. Her wings were a bit smaller than mine, but the feathers were neatly preened. To summarize, Fluttershy looked great. She walked slowly, keeping her head up. There were very few microscopic imperfections on her, like how she would blink a few milliseconds too quickly and the rythym of her hoofsteps being out of place, but other than small things like that she was fine. Walking with her didn't last nearly long enough when we reached the open area again. "Here we are." I announced. "Have fun, and be safe. If you need help on lift-off, try kicking off the ground and flapping your wings." ~And don't forget your lunch money!~ Zaanne chimed. I ran to the middle of the feild, prepared to succeed. I flapped my wings, jumped from all four hooves, and rocketed into the ground. The jacket buffeted the fall, thankfully, but it still didn't feel to great. "Just gotta keep trying." I muttered. And I failed again. And again, and again... Fluttershy cheered me on from a hilltop. "You can do it!" Even with that, I was getting frustrated. It took only two tries to get down using chopsticks, and it never takes more than four fights for me to get every control in a video game down. This was like relearning how to walk, without watching anyone besides the pegasi we saw on our way to Twilight's library or by pressing the R3 joystick forward. Eventually, I was able to glide for a few seconds before falling upside-down on the ground. "Fluttershy?" I asked, after biting the dirt right next to her. "Can I ask for another favor?" "What do you need?" She asked sweetly. "I have some lemonade if you're getting tired." I wasn't thirsty quite yet, but I could fight a bear if it was keeping me from getting some lemonade. "That'd be nice," I answered, "but I'd actually like something else, as well." "Yes?" "Could you fly around, so I can see how and stuff." I figured if I watched closely at somepony else doing it, I'd get down what to do. "Oh, well ok, but wouldn't you rather have someone like Rainbow Dash to show you? She's really fast, and probably has better form than me." I shook my head slowly, partly from being dizzy. "Rainbow is abit too fast for me, your wings will be easier to moniter. Plus, I can't fly, much less fly fast." I recalled a video telling me that Rainbow Dash can achieve Mach 10, which is abit overpowered. Then again, I did shoot fire out of my hands. "Alright, you can watch me fly to get the lemonade. It's getting late, so we can't fly a lot after:" She spread her wings and looked to her house. With her hair catching in the wind, and her wings spread a yard out each side, she looked like a yellow and pink angel. She galloped to the next hill and flapped her wings, immediately taking flight through the air. ~That's right,~ Zaanne said, ~keep a real good eye on her.~ Which I did. I sprinted under her, already tired from trying to fly so much. The clothes were weighing me down, and it trapped the heat in, but the sun was practically set, so it was a little nice to have the warmth, even if I looked like a hipster pony. Fluttershy was about five feet in the air. She would look down to see if I was still following, and slow down for me. I tried getting to her level by gliding, but the wind was just pushing me on my back when I tried. I spent so much time looking at her, I nearly ran into her mailbox. The two minute walk didn't take twenty seconds when she flew. She landed at the door and waited patiently for me to trot up next to her. "Did you get to see enough?", She asked. Truthfully, she was the color of the sunset, so it was a little hard to watch her. "I had trouble seeing enough, but I think I get how to take off now." The way she started to fly, galloping before flapping her wings, she would start with perfect balance in the air. "That's good, now, would you like some lemonade?" I nodded and we went inside. When she entered, she sighed deeply and shook abit. I felt terrible, realizing her flying through the winter sky was probably freezing her up, with just the sweater on. Ponies didn't exactly have heaters in their house. "Are you cold?" "A little, yes." She didn't fly too high, but even I could feel the temperature dropping from the snowfall. It cooled up quickly in Ponyville. "Here." I took off my ski cap and scarf and started to put it on her. She kept me warm, so I decided to keep her warm, even if we were just strangers to eachother. I wrapped the scarf around her neck and she asked, "B-but won't you be cold?" "It's cool, I love the cold. Besides, I owe you a few for helping me and for the upcoming lemonade. They're your clothes anyway." I patted the cap on her head, which luckily wasn't too sweaty. Her cheeks were a light red, most likely from the cold air hitting her face. "Thank you, Zaanne." She went to a different room, which I assumed was the kitchen. ~Awwwwww,~ Zaanne popped up. ~Has somepony made a new friend?~ ~I guess, how many friends do you have?~ ~Well let me just check my Facebook.~ ~I don't belive you have a Facebook.~ Ship said blatantly, now sounding like Soarin. ~Would you like to make an account?~ Zaanne declined and mumbled something about FarmVille, when Fluttershy came back with two glasses of lemonade. "Do you like cookies?" "Yes, how good are your peanut butter cookies?" Weirdly enough, I'm not the biggest fan of chocolate. Things like Reese's and chocolate chip cookies are fine, but stuff like chocolate pudding or milk is rubbish in my opinion. She made us some cookies and I took the boots off. It was a funny snack for dinner time, but I'm fairly sure she had already eaten, and it was getting too dark to practice flying or go out to eat. ~Scootaloo is looking for you.~ Ship said as I snacked happily with the pegasus. ~Tell her to go get some sleep. It's not good for somepony so young to be up so late.~ Too parental? Maybe, but I had to go to sleep at 10:00 every night when I was her age, and I was a fairly happy kid. ~She asked where you're going to sleep,~ Zaanne informed me. The smart thing would be to go home, but I was enjoying Ponyville too much. There were so many things that I wanted to do, like learn how to fly, research the ponies, or maybe make some real friends for once. I didn't realize I had spaced out again until Fluttershy spoke up. "So," she said, "you said you came from far away?" "Oh, um, yes." I stammered quickly. "Really far away." ~how far away is Ponyville from planet Earth, Ship?~ ~You don't have a unit of measurement to easily describe how far away you are. The only reason we were able to get here was because I'm good with teleportation.~ "I came from Cloudsdale, but I work better down here, with all of these woodland critters." She gestured her hoof to a small ball of fluff with a bow that I assumed was a cat. "Interesting." I sipped on lemonade and watched the sun finally sink under the horizon. "I'm here with Scootaloo to help out with whatever I can, at least, until I have to go home." She readjusted the scarf on her shoulders and followed my gaze out the window. "Scootaloo is a very nice filly, I do hope she doesn't hurt herself with her stunts." I nodded in agreement. The room was cold, but I still felt pretty warm. Though hot chocolate would probably be the smarter thing to drink on a night like this, and would go better with the cookies, lemonade was too good to resist. There was a long silence, though it wasn't akward at all. Being quiet and just looking out the window was just as good as talking, and I senced Fluttershy would be more content like that. The sky was all but what I was used to. In the suburbs of Dallas, there weren't too many stars that peaked through. Out here, with no city lights or pollution, thousands of stars rippled throughout the layer of clouds. It was snowing faster now, flakes sticking to the earth. And covering the ground like powdered sugar. I was used to snow being in late January to early February, but Texas never gets more than a few inches most years. ~Way cooler than your home, I'd say.~ Zaanne said. Fluttershy sat up and gathered the cups and cookie plate. "It's getting late, we should go to bed." Having insomnia, that felt like a minor priority. But her words had a gentle urgency to them, so I nodded. I looked over to the kitty, sleeping on some fireplace she never seemed to use. "Do you mind if I light the fireplace?" I asked. "It might be getting cold." Fluttershy said from the other room, "I'm out of matches, sorry." She was still in the kitchen, out of eyesight, so I put a big log into the hole. I hadn't tried to summon fire as a pony before. I extended my hoof and willed it to heat up. Instantly, green flame engulfed it. The second before Fluttershy came in, I shot the flame at the log and turned off the flaming hooves. She eyes the fire, which glowed red after hitting the wood. "How did that happen?" She looked at me. "Did you do that?" I shrugged, acting as ignorant as i could. "Rubbed two sticks together?" "Uh-uh." She pulled a blanket and pillow out from the closet and layed them out on the couch. "Here you go. Sleep tight, ok?" I'm not sure when we agreed to a sleep over, but I layed back on the sofa. "I have trouble sleeping, sorry if I'm not out right away. She thought to herself for a moment before fluffing my pillow and tucking me into bed. I knew she was kind, prabobly the kindest intelligent being I knew. I didn't expect fluttershy to be so... motherly though, but I didn't complain. She inhaled slowly and closed her eyes. And then she sang. I knew the song, it was the same one she attempted with the CMC in that one episode about the chicken-Medusa. Sleep deprivation was no match to Fluttershy's voice. Her tone was as close to perfect as possible, every note making my eyelids heavier. The weight of the long, hard day leveled down on me gently. I didn't have time to question why she'd sing for me before everything went black. Author's Note I know there's a crystal heart joke somewhere in there...
Zaanne and Gabriel's prologue"Come out and fight me like a man!" My dad yelled, a sad light in his eyes as he barked complaints from the sidewalk. "You need to leave now!" My stepdad, Sleepy, responded in his regular deep and scary voice."You can't have him!" "He's my son, not yours!" We're American, if you didn't figure that out. "Please stop?" I whimpered, but i was too silent for them to notice. The fact they were yelling so much just because my dad wanted me to stay at his house for the weekend drove me crazy. I was too little to make a difference in their quarrel though, so they continued arguing. The worse the insult, the worse the weather outside seemed to get. Before there wasnt a cloud in the sky. After about three or so minutes of them constantly yelling, black cumulonimbus clouds began forming. "Get out here and fight!" my mind tingled with repetitivity. "Go home, you're too drunk to watch him!" "I'm not the alcoholic, you are!" They reminded me of two six-year olds arguing about a cookie (I'm not a cookie). "I'm not the one taking his shirt off and swinging it around like a dumbass." It seemed my dad was drunk, for he was, in fact, stripping his shirt off and hopping around, taking practice punches in the air. Lightning roared from all around as the trees began to violently away around daddy, as if his rage had stirred up a storm. Sleepy held me closer to his side as the storm raged, but it wasnt making me feel any better since his voice would put a full sized biker in an intimidated state. "You may be Gabriel's birth father, but you're not being a good dad to him, acting like this!" Sleepy yelled over the storm. That seemed to hit a touchy point, for at that moment, the world hit a blinding flash of white, with a booming explosion that looked to try to fry everything. After the lightning disappeared, what was left of my father was just flaming grass and cracked cement, covered in ash and smoke. The storm didnt let up though, and lightning started to strike everywhere. I looked up to Sleepy for instruction, of which he normally gave me, but he seemed to have been struck by the light as well, leaving more ash next to my feet. "DADDY!!!! SLEEPY!!!!" I yelled at the storm, but nobody answered. All that responded was a bolt of lightning, striking me in the heart. Time slowed down as i watched myself turn to dust, bit by bit, slowly losing everything i ever was to just some stupid light, until a that was left of me was dust, just as my parents were. _____________________________________________ "BALLS!!!" I screamed, pushing myself off of my bed. A Knocking of wood came from my door as the voice of my sister, Tristen, came through "Get up, it's Monday!" "I'm up!" I yelled, my voice back from being small and squeaky to a slightly deeper and equally squeeky version. six years did next to nothing for my voccal chords. Rubbing out the drowsiness in my eyes, i got a better feel of who i was. A quick inspection told me that i was still in one piece and not in ashes on the floor.hands, check. Arms, check. Body- Who the fuck cares about the body? Zaanne complained in my head, as he usually does.We have hands and feet instead of hooves, that's bad enough already! Zaanne dislikes both humans and nice speech. If you were trying to make a joke, you didn't think well enough on it. maybe if i wasn't stuck inside such a shitty brain i could make better ones! that crappy brain made you, so i guess you're right i thought to him, smiling to myself as he took the burn. You know what? Fuck you. I laughed as my grandfather, PaPa, yelled from the kitchen "what are you laughing at?" "Waffles!" Was my response, as always. I wasn't the best at making words come out, so to answer minor questions i had always said slightly... Random words. They weren't too random, mostly associated with foods and animal noises. I looked around my room for my school shirt, hopping out of bed and grabbing my every day items. The only thing i normally had on me was basic essentials, like my wallet, iPhone and a synthetic leather wrist watch that displayed both digital and analog time. "Gabe! Get in here!" Tristen yelled from somewhere beyond my door. My sister doesn't like my sleeping habit, which was me sleeping at all. "Gimme a sec!" I yelled back, finding my shirt thumb-nailed to the roof. now how did that happen?, I thought as i pulled it down and put it on. It was a regular school shirt, a black T with the school logo sewn in gold on the chest. Comfy enough, though i still disliked the logo. My mom said i have only been going to this school for half a year, since i switched schools after i left the hospital. Apparently there was something that happened 2 years ago that left me in the hospital with some type of amnesia, leaving me completly unaware of who i was or who the people around me were. For about a week now, i have been getting dreams about scenes from my past self, though they seem to be mixed with the random fantasies that appear in my brain, like lightning whilst arguing or water when I'm in a relaxed memory. The previous dream was apparently an argument about my dad and step-dad's custody over me. So, Zaanne, what kind of dream do you think that was? A crappy one, he responded, no actual violence, no ponies, no nothin! At least everyone died in the end, that made the whole thing better! those were my dads, you shouldn't be so mean! And they aren't dead, Sleepy's back in college and daddy got his life together. and when was the last time you saw either of them? Zaanne asked. Same time i met you; Christmas. By the way, you're a crappy present, may i please refund you? sorry, no refunds to insane people!, Zaanne answered in a laugh. He's a dick. Bosh, I hear nothing but discrimination from thee, I thought in my best British accent. "you're gonna be late for school!" he and Tristen warned me in unison. "Coming!" I yelled, grabbing the rest of my socks and shoes, though it was hard to bend over since i still had thumbnails in my shirt. I exited my room to meet my sister at my door, dressed the same as me except for her pants, which where far too small for her, and the jacket she wore to try to look like she is only fat. God, that bitch is fat, Zaanne said. She's pregnant, what do you expect? She's 16 and we aren't on TV yet? Complete bullshit! Could you quit cussing so much, it hurts my brain. I complained, rubbing my head. it's Monday, so no. My sister gave me a brush and told me to fix my hair, then walked off to help my brothers, Mason and Jaden, with finding their clothes. I walked to her room, tripping on everything in the 7 foot hall i was too lazy to clean. Going to her room, brush in hand, i quickly and obediently threw the brush on her bed when she wasn't looking. Next to her door was a box that she never used, a black box with a red rose burned into it by me. Opening the box, i found nothing in except the mirror papa put in the roof of the wood. Wow, our hair's a mess! Zaanne said. Just how I like it. I thought as I observed my hair, though it was long enough for me to see the front of my hair without the mirror. Every hair was curled and wildly messed around, each strand of dark blond seemed to be trying to repel from eachother. All of the hair was pushed to the right side of my head except for the back, which i let fall an inch below my collar, though the curls didnt allow so. Zaanne grumbled, That's a big paragraph for explaining how your hair looks. what do you mean? "Load up!" Papa yelled, meaning "it's time to get in the van." I tossed the box carelessly onto her bed with the comb and sprinted to my room again to grab my school supplies, which was just a 500 pound black backpack (if you're a high schooler, you know I'm not using any hyperbole),a binder and a drawing journal. Get to the choppa!, Zaanne alluded as I stuffed my journal into the bag and flipped it over my shoulder. My backpack was fairly torn, having ropes as the strap, though one rope broke off at some point, so it was more of a fanny pack that i put over my shoulder like Chewbacca's ammo belt. My binder was the usual white binders you see in Wal-Mart, though the front and back covers had slots for me to put photos in to decorate. It currently had a picture of sonic on one side and the filly Rainbow Dash from "My Little Dashie" on the other side, both of which I drew. If you hadn't guessed, me and Zaanne are fans of My Little Pony. Lifting the binder under my arm, i proceeded to the living room, though not before grabbing a handful of sausages from the kitchen. Now fully prepared, i placed my headphones into my ears, started up a random song on my phone, and bolted to the car.
(S) Sticky situationsThe sound of my wings and the wind in my face helped me stop thinking for a while as i continued accelerating down the road, doing occasional ollies and grinds along rooftops and benches to avoid the ponies, fruit stands and, well, anything getting in my way. I once overheared Rainbow dash saying that when she flies fast enough, it helps her forget of the problems around her, so i figured it isn't too different from going really fast on my scooter. Faster and faster i figuratively flew as i weaved my scooter through the morning rush of all the ponies trying to get here and there, saying "hello!" Or "good morning". Though, since it was Monday, the only ones actually having a chirpy attitude in their voice was that grey mailmare that i never learned the name of (RD calles her Derpy, but i doubt that's her real name) and Pinkie pie, who i could see running around town singing good morning to everypony and what seemed to be teleporting from building to box to my wagon. "HI SCOOTALOO!!!" She yelled over my wings' noise. "You going over to sugarcube corner to get Applebloom and Sweetiebelle, right?" "Yeah, we were gonna grab some muffins for the day before we go to school," i said, as if teleporting ponies were a natural thing in ponyville, which it is,"What kinds do you have today?" Pinkie thought for a moment before answering "Well, we have blue berry, regular and strawberry as usual, but we have a super special treat we made last night that looks super duper yummylicious!!!" She yelled, raising her hooves into the air, nearly falling out of the wagon,"the cakes and i were making cupcakes, but silly little Pound Cake pounded the tray of mix into a pan i left on the stove and, oh we're here! Come on, I'll show you what lil poundy made!" Screeching to a halt in front of the bakery, Pinkie decided to hop out in a somersault, using the scooter's inertia to fly straight through the swinging doors of the giant cookie house that strangely looked like a pirate ship if you stared at it the right way. Hopping off my scooter, i parked it next to the window and took my helmet off, shaking my head side to side to flip my mane back to normal. As i did that i heared a small sigh from inside, a distant clatter of pots and pans and what sounded like Sweetiebelle giggling at whoever made the banging noise, though the first noise caught my ear the most since it was right in the window. Looking up,i noticed Applebloom leaning on the violet window seal, watching me with half closed eyes. When she realized i was looking at her, she grabbed some more poise and hopped out of the window, landing safely next to me. "Oh hi Scootaloo!" Sweetiebelle called as she slid through the door, showing that the gang's all here,"poundcake made the best tasting... Thing ever! Ms cake already made five more in just three minutes!" She exclaimed, hopping in circles around me while Applebloom, who seemed to be waiting for me to follow her in. "Yeah, Pinkie told me before i got here, but she never really finished, what is it excactly?" "I'm not quite sure, you would have to taste it to understand." She explained "Pinkie calls it a flatjack for some reason" "Yeah ok" i mumbled, my belly rumbling. I completly forgot to eat the food mom made, but these flat jacks sounded good. Walking in with Applebloom and Sweetiebelle to my sides, we all hungrily trotted to the nearest table, watching as pony after pony walked to the cash register, asked for something, then got their order in a flash. A few seconds of waiting and Sweetiebelle broke the silence. "So, how are we going to get our cutie marks today" she asked, though i was too busy trying to picture what a flatjack could be and Applebloom was concentrating on something directly behind me. "Oh, we'll uh..." Applebloom mumbled, trying to think of an answer,"well, Hearts and Hooves Day is in two days, so we could do somethin related to that" She focused her eyes on me and asked "anythin ya wanna do then?" In her southern accent that was too calm for Applebloom. "The last time we tried that, we had to dig a 8 foot hole and our teacher almost married your brother!" I reminded them, using hoof movements to resemble a hole and a "tough love" potion. "Well, this time we could do something less dangerous, like making our treehouse into a card making place or something like that" Sweetiebelle offered "Or we could try datin?" Applebloom murmured, making both of us look at her. When she noticed that, she blushed and revised her sentence "ah mean we could get a cutie mark at being good at dates." "Well then, who here has experience in dating somepony, cause i don't" i said bluntly "Me neither" Applebloom said,"ah don't like fancy dates much" "Oh, well i have." Sweetiebelle chimed. "Really?!" Me and Applebloom said in unison. "Yeah, well, it wasnt a real one, but Rarity incisted on me learning, so she took me out and demonstrated the steps to a proper date. She said something like 'The best way to understand it is to experience it.'" Applebloom thought for a moment before responding,"So ya saying scoot and ah have to date somepony to get experience in it to help others?" "Pretty much, though i don't know any colts that are avalible for you two, sorry." Applebloom seemed as content with that as i was, though before i could tell Sweetiebelle i wasn't into colts, Pinkie Pie materialized next to us with a huge grin on her face "HI GIRLS!!! Sorry to keep you waiting, Ditzy asked for 20 muffins again and when she wants muffins, she wants MUFFINS! Anyway, your flatjacks are ready, here you go!" She chirped exstaticly, revealing three plates with what seemed to be unfrosted cupcakes that got stampeded by elephants. "Oh thanks, I'm starving!" I said, biting a chunk out of the side. It was crunchier than a cupcake, but chewier than a muffin. An interesting taste of cupcake in the inside made me realize it was just fried cupcake mix flattened, but that made it all the better. Cupcakes for breakfast? That was a dream come true. After savoring the taste for a bit longer, i noticed a slight predicament,"it tastes like a fried cupcake, but there isn't any icing on it." "You can't have icing in the morning silly filly!" Pinkie explained as she watched us eat, "that will get you a tummy ache before lunchtime, and tummy aches never feel too good! Like this one time, poor Spikey wikey decided to eat abunch of strawberry ice cream while twilight tried to stop the fake apacolypes, and he got a huge tummy ache convinently at the same time as Twilight stopped the impending disaster! I went along with them because it looked like alot of fun sneaking into canterlot and since when was the last time you have seen a dragon wear latex!? I mean, it looked hot on twi as well but spike was just the CUTEST thing ever and-" "Okay, okay, no icing in the morning," she was obviosly getting off topic,"but is there anything else that's sweet that you can put on breakfast food?" "Well, i still have some maple syrup from applejack's farm, ima go get some, be right back!" To that she sped off, though there was a small line at the register so she hopped to the morning costumers first. "Sthees 'r stha brs..." Apple bloom tried to say, though her mouth was too full to speak so she attempted swallowing down the flatjacks, failing terribly for a while. "We can plan the rest of the H&H day cutie mark plan at recess today, for now we need to test this maple syrup and flatjack combo, it sounds delicious!" I yelled. "Speaking of recess, how much longer before we have to head to school?" Sweetiebelle asked Checking the clock above Pinkie, i was relived to see that we still had some time, "We have about 20 minutes left, we got here early! Though, so did everypony else." We spent a few minutes watching as pony after pony came and went, every once in a while i'd see a familiar face. Vinyl and octavia came a few minutes after that doctor stallion came, again asking if they saw a blue box lying around. Poor fella lost some big ponybox thing a week ago, hope he finds it sometime. Aside from them, a few interesting faces came by as well, such as soarin the wonderbolt (gotta tell rainbowdash later!) and a flock of bluejays and a bit of yellow under them, prabobly just RD's old friend fluttershy. "Well, I'm bored! As long as we have to wait, we might as well plan some of the dating thing now. So me and Applebloom just have to date somepony?" I asked Sweetiebelle as she swallowed another bite. "Well, would you want to take advice from a pony that doesn't know what they are talking about?" She implied "True, true" "Right, so we just need to find you two dates! You girls have any ideas?" She asked, slightly more chirpy than before. "Uh" Applebloom said, now without being stuffed besides a little bit of flatjack on her muzzle, "remember when ya had said ya had a fake date with Rarity ta learn?" "Yeah, it was a bit odd but she's my sister and she INCISTED on guiding me properly since I'm 'growing to be a fine, young woman'" she said, trying to impersonate Rarity's accent, causing us all to laugh. "Well anyway," AB continued, "Why don't we just go together?" She implied, blushing and looking at me with either happy or longing eyes, though I'm not good with reading that. Why is she blushing to the thought of a fake date?, I thought to myself Is she wanting me to want to go as well, i mean, i have no problem with fake dating Applebloom, but i doubt we will get a cutie mark for that. Wait, she blushes while around me and doesnt mind dating me... If I'm not wrong, that kinda sounds like she- "HEY! I'm back with the syrup!" Pinkie shouted, demonstrating a glass jug holding a deep brown liquid. -Aaaannndddd there goes my train of thought, great. Pinkie began to pour the dark gold sweets over my flatjacks, giving them a new, intensely delicious scent to my face. From the looks of the others (including Pinkie), the smell hit them just as strongly. Needless to say, i could not scarf down the flatjacks fast enough. Sweetiebelle and Applebloom seemed to of had the same problem. Applebloom dug in with hoof and face and Sweetiebelle licked her plate, consequencely covering all four of us in sticky maple syrup. "Well that was fun!" Pinkie concluded, shaking her mane to splatter all of us in syrup. "You weren't eating any, how did you get sticky?" I asked while she was using her sticky hooves to walk on the wall. "Well, you girls were having so much fun with getting that syrup on you that i dumped the rest on my head, and now look at us!" With that, she grabbed me and Applebloom by both of her hooves and threw us in the air. For a pony that only eats candy, she was fairly strong, tossing us all the way up to the roof. Applebloom was somehow able to accidentally kick my tail, instantly sticking us together. I collided with the roof back first thankfully, though Applebloom swung onto me and got stuck on my arm. As for Sweetiebelle, she got stuck in Pinkie's cotton candy tail at one point and they began trying to untangle each other. Looking next to me, Applebloom had wrapped her arm across my shoulder and laughed as she pushed both of us around the roof, so i decided to fight back, getting red and purple mane in both of our faces. Rolling around enough, the stickiness gave way to our weight and we free fell into a table, smashing it to bits. After about three more minutes of laughing and playing around, the two of us were worn out and covered in syrup, splintered wood and bruises from the fall. Sweetiebelle amazingly escaped pinkies forest tail and had stepped back to take a break from her escape trick. AB and i were still stuck together, though we somehow ended up stuck at the chest, faces inches from eachother, giving me a good look of her eyes. They were a bright shade of orange-red, shifting between the two colors in harmony. Though she was covered in the debris of an intense sticky war, those beautiful orbs shown in so much happines, i could still hear her giggling, sending warm breath to my face. After staring into each other's eyes for just a bit longer, i blushed, realizing it might be akward for us to be stuck like that, and tried pulling away, though was quickly reminded we were still stuck together. Pinkie noticed the problem and laughed, picking us onto her back and walking us outside, followed by Sweetiebelle. "Now you three wait right there and ill get us all nice and shiny!" She said as she set us down in the grass running off to get something to wash us off. "We need to get to school as soon as we get this stuff off", Sweetiebelle said, though i wasn't really paying attention again. Looking into Applebloom's eyes, i decided that fake dating her for a day would be easy to accept. Not because of how she looked though, it just seemed fun to hang out with her alone for once. Snapping out of the staring contest we were having, i tried again to push us apart, but the stupid syrup just stuck us closer together. After a while i noticed Applebloom blushing again and looking at me funny. "What?" I asked She blinked a bit then looked away,"nothin, you just got some flatjack on your cheek." "Really? Where?" "Well, don't move, ah'll get it". Leaning a bit to the side, she licked my cheek softly and quickly then pulled back, smiling happily. Out of instinct i pulled back a bit, my face hot, "You could have warned me you were gonna do that!" I grumbled as if i were annoyed, though in the back of my mind i wished the crumb was bigger. "Well it's not like ah can just wipe it off with my hoof!" She yelled, making us look at our hooves that were attached to eachother from our previous struggle to escape. Out of the corner of my eye, i could see Sweetiebelle try to wipe some of the syrup from her face, but now had her hooves stuck to her head. "Where's Pinkie with the cleanup stuff?" "Well it seemed you girls got in a sticky situation!" An all too familiar and annoying voice said from behind me. "What do you want?" I asked the voice that sounded too much like diamond tiara for it not to be. Looking around, fighting the syrup stuck to my neck, my suspicions turned out to be right. "Oh, just walking to school when i noticed you three losers, so i figured i had some time to say hello. I was also wondering what you were doing for hearts and hooves day... Heh, you girls could find a date as easily as a Cutiemark!" To that she laughed, though it also reminded me of a way to get the last laugh. "Well, Applebloom and I have dates, were both going out on hearts and hooves day to... somewhere" we didn't yet plan a place or a time, but i figured we'd get to that at recess. "Oh really, both of you are going out with someone at the excact same time and place?" She smiled and looked evilly at me. "Well i call your bluff, who would even date you two anyway?" You couldn't guess it's the pony I'm pasted to? "I'll give you a hint: the pony has a country accent and red eyes." I said, making it as obvious as possible by looking at the answer with as friendly as a look as i could make, which wasnt too hard. She thought for a moment before answering "Big Macintosh?" Sweet Celestia she's an idiot. "Big Mac has green eyes! She means me!" Applebloom said, looking straight into my eyes to make it seem she was trying to see my brain. "Ya do mean me, right?" Before i could respond, there was a blast of water as strong as a waterfall that had decided to change to attack mode. The aquarush left me sliding down into diamond tiara and Applebloom off into the sugarcube corner stairs. Sweetiebelle swiftly and elegantly faceplanted into a tree. After a few seconds of spinning, screaming and pushing (or hitting, matters on who's reading) diamond tiara as far away as possible, i was able to regain my balance and rise, drenched but free of the syrup previously restricting my movements, which made me a bit happier. Diamond tiara wasnt so happy. She stood with a face of pure hate and slimy makeup washing down her face, huffing and puffing as the big bad wolf should. "What was that?! Who ruined my makeup just before school?" The questioned was answered by the sight of pink pony equipped with a canon that was dripping with water. "Sorry, but there was too much shipping going on". "Shipping?", I asked,"We aren't on a boat, so what does that mean?!" At that moment a bell rang at the edge of ponyville, a fairly loud bell considering we were in the middle of town. I was starting to get tired of having life interrupt my questions. "Oh no, We're gonna be late for class!" Sweetiebelle yelled, but didn't get a lot of moving herself considering her horn had stuck in the tree on impact. As me and Applebloom started to tug our friend out of the tree, diamond tiara trotted away, not wanting to confront Pinkie on the matter of time and that Pinkie was refilling the canon in some new materials. Sweetiebelle's head popped out of the oak, sending my companions down the hillside, but I wasn't really paying attention, watching Pinkie shove random cleaning stuff into the cannon. The multi-use weapon was now full of mops, brooms, Colty Cleans spray and tons of assorted soaps were tossed in and started to bubble like a gypsy's brew. "Uh, Pinkie? What are you doing?" "Need to clean up the store somehow, right?! I could add more brooms, but last time i tried that a cupcake was speared to the wall, though it was a really yummy in your tummy cupcake still!" "Is shooting a cannon indoors a good idea?" I asked, but never got my answer AGAIN due to the ring of the bell. "Oh no, hurry up Applebloom!" "Comming!" She shouted, her and Sweetiebelle running to the scooter's wagon. "Sorry about the mess, Pinkie." Sweetiebelle said as they hopped into the blue wagon. "It's alright!" Pinkie chirpped,"i was the one who gave you girls the syrup to start with, have fun at school, and don't forget to come back for more flatjacks later, oky doky?!" We all said our farewells and i accelerated us towards the schoolhouse, sure to be late
(Z/G) class, bronies and crappy jokesOh my god why won't he shut the fuck up?! Zaanne complained in my head. Not sure, but when he does, I'm fairly certain the world won't change from his speech. I continued to ignore my papa's rant about Obama being satanist as i listened to music through my headphones. A bouncy and chirpy song about Pinkie being a gypsy danced through my head, bringing an instant smile to my face, something most songs, or anything at all, can do. So what's new at school? zaanne asked, as if he cared. He was just reasonably trying to distract us from anything but the gypsy bard, which was a thank on his part. You finished your homework, Sonny? I don't do homework at home, and since it was the weekend i didn't do crap. looking out the window, there wasn't much to see. Besides the highway full of random cars and diesels, there was nothing but plains for farming, though nothing will grow in February, even if it was already 80°F and only 7:45 in the morning. "-and the meteor is said to fly by Dallas. I'm sure your teacher would be more than happy to let you go out and see it." My sister said from behind me, breaking me out of my ignorant state. "Won't it look like a spaceship?" I asked, since i could never see the difference between a spaceship in flight and a burning chunk of ice. "Actually, this one is shown to give off green fire due to some stuff in it, so it doesn't look anything like a space ship" my sister pointed out. "It's an unknown ice like element though, so I can't tell you what it is. There could be some metals that can burn green though, but it'd need to be on the outer layer of it, which would be impossible for metal to stay on this ice." You don't say? I thought as I paused the music to listen up, picturing how it might look. Green ice? Sounds more like a crystal, like supermans house. Was his house ice or crystal? Zaanne asked And wouldn't the green crystal not be good for superman? That's kryptonite, not just any crystal, and I figure it's just a metal from another planet stored in the ice. Ooohh, alieny Zaanne said. Ask the encyclopedian bitch if there's alien life on there. I asked Tristen what Zaanne told me, without cussing, and she responded, "Aliens don't exist, and it's too hot for anything to be alive. Nobody knows how the ice is withstanding the heat." Probably because it's in green, Zaanne pointed out. maybe it's poison and will hit the earth and cause a plague on you fuckers It might have metal on it as well, which is chemically fusing with the fire to give off a green flame. Meh, we'll just have to see what it is. "We're here, get your stuff and hurry off" papa said as he parked at the schools kindergarten entrance. The school was fairly small for having a high school in it, being about 20 feet tall at most and about half a football field in area, most of that being the basketball room, or gym. The schools structure was pretty much four cement pillars in each corner of the main room, the gym, having the classrooms pressed into the walls like a baby giant's shelf. The high school classes were on the second floor of the building, which had a hole through the wall for people to watch basketball games from the hallway a story high. As for the walls that weren't open, there was paper covering most of one wall with huge words yelling "DO IT FOR NOAH!!!", Noah being some guy that got bullied so much he committed suicide. Another wall was mainly empty besides the stairs that lead to the science lab and a board full of random papers like "sign up for the talent show!" And "are you up for the challenge?" Having a picture of some girl that got killed in a school attack a few years ago, making the school more depressed than motivated. The last wall had nothing but the school symbol, a blue eagle with "Advantage" under it in bold, and one of the basketball hoops with the other hanging in the air. At this time, the kindergarteners were getting lined up to go to their classes under the ground as they do every day. I told my brother my farewell as he sprinted off to his classmates. My sister had waited in the van again so less people would be around to question her pregnancy, which left me and zaanne alone to walk to class, besides the hundred kids rushing around, trying to beat the bell. I was in no rush, so I went upstairs and strolled into algebra, hearing the students yell and laugh from a few yards away. For a class of an estimated 15 students, they sure know how to keep you from getting to your seat. As for today, they seemed to be all piled in one area, taking chairs from other desks to all sit in a group around some guy. The commotion was fairly incomprehensive but it was obvious they were asking questions, which meant the poor ring leader was either crying and they were comforting him by raising his anxiety through the roof, or he was new to the school, most likely both. Avoiding that group, i sat with my usual friends, which consisted of Kenneth, an African American kid that always wore a furry black jacket and Jacob, who was pretty much neon white, and mainly known for his sideburns. Seriously, his sideburns are probably the only reason he's known outside of me and Kenneth. They were perfect rectangles, spiking out the bottom, extremely dark brown and sooo didn't match his hair, which was gelled down, bowled strangely flat compared to mine. Kenneth was known for having a more famous girl named Michela always being around him and him being strangely smart in most classes besides algebra. I never really considered how they got any fame. As for me, i was more infamous for being... well, that guy thanks to the mix of A.D.H.D., Aspergers Syndrone and the brony thing. I was the only brony in high school at the time, the only other being some 8th grader with an obsession over Applejack. Sitting down next to Jacob, i placed my stuff down next to me only to have my binder expectedly taken by Kenneth, who sat behind Jacob, and began to grab some paper out and pass it around to us, starting math. I pulled out some pencils and handed two mechanical ones to them, since they were going to ask anyway. "Hey Jaykey," i asked, still unsure why i call him that, "who's the new kid?" Jacob looked over at me, obviosly being affected by the Monday plague, "No clue." he huffed, laying his head back down to sleep. I figured Kenneth would have the same answer so i got up, grabbed my binder from him and snuck over to the new person. Give him the creeper approach, Monday treat Zaanne suggested in my head. Sounded like a fun idea to me, so i slowed down my walking and crept closer. You haven't seen "creeper" until you've seen a 200 pound teen with greasy, curly hair give you a full sized, double chinned Jack Douglass creeper face. Hiding behind two fluffy Mexican teens, I started the creeper face and got a look at who i was dealing with. The new kid was fairly athletic looking, skinny yet muscular at the same time. His hair was slick and spiked forward, glowing fire red in the fluorescent lighting. He was holding on to a bag, a typical blue backpack, to his chest as the students swarmed him, interrogating and waiting for him to answer, each time people got all giggly since his voice had a cute British accent added with each word. I stood there waiting until he saw me, and that's when everyone else saw me too. Almost all of my classmates jumped, including him, who probably was anxious to begin with. I couldn't help but laugh, which just made it creepier. Most of my laughs just sound like high pitched, maniacle laughter. I hopped back to let the ones who flinched regain their heads and start yelling at me, making me laugh more. Like i said, I'm that guy. "Seriously Gabriel, what's your problem!?" Wyatt, the "act tough" one, complained. I couldn't think of what to say so i just responded with "kool aid" and set my attention back to the new fella, "hello, human!" I chirped as if i weren't one. "Uhh... Hello?" He asked, still trying to retreat from my attention. "Who are you" "I'm me, and you must be you, so hi you!" god i sound like an idiot, lol ..... What? Lol? Why the hell would you say that?! Zaanne yelled. And once again I sound stupid "No, what's your name?" He asked, slightly agitated now. "Oh right, my name's Gabriel, but you can call me what everyone else calls me, gabe. Well that and faggot." I said before giggling stupidly to myself, switching from a Bo Burnham joke to a Jar-Jar reference. "Now, whosa are yousa?" You can't do Jar Jar, dude, only Jar Jar can do Jar Jar. Dude? And I'm the one with stupid words? "It's Rayden, or just Ray" he replied, still giving me the priceless looks of confusion. "Well nice ta meet ya! Welcome to advantage academy, where they act like we learn! Why are you stuck here?" Before he could respond my teacher called for Ray to sign some papers for him, so we both departed, but not before seeing his hand. There was a not so interesting ring on it, unless you understood it's meaning. It was just a simple plastic ring, maybe cost 50 cents in a toy slot thing. The interesting part was the dark red lightning bolt, barely cut and held on by a poorly made bouncy like wings spray painted gold. If I were just any less of a brony, I wouldn't have thought twice of it, but now that I saw it I had about three times as many questions as the others. "Loyalty eh?" I asked, catching his attention. Guessing he's a closet brony eh? If so that's fairly brave of him to wear that. Guessing you're canadian, eh? He looked back to me as i remembered i was still holding the binder. Showing it to him, I'm pretty sure his eyes grew three sized that day, anime style. "We'll talk about her later, got stuff to do", he said before walking to the teacher. We spent the rest of our classes working, not alot of talking and alot of dozing off due to the day. After 6th period my head was buzzing from constant teachers who didnt appreciate me sleeping in some classes or running in circles for no reason, just random spurts of energy that i needed to take care of before i went even more phyco. Zaanne had the better end of it all, since he can sleep as much as he wants in my head. I don't really see how Pythagorean theorem is gonna help me become a comedian, I thought as he woke up. Well once you start making your own jokes you can do what you want. I do make my own jokes! i thought, hard to express anger if it's in your head. tell me one then, see if i laugh I thought for a moment before responding, so these two ponies walk in a bar. Yeah? Kidding, they trot! ... That was the stupidest thing i have ever heard. Well not as stupid as our congress, I retorted. So what if the joke was republican, it's unexpected so it's virtuous. After a small pause he responded, shit that's stupidly good, though he didn't sound very happy. I jogged to science, nowhere near late but i needed to take out some energy. As of walking into my science teachers room, you could tell from the lack of papers that we were gonna have some fun. Instead of packets or premade notes, there was a small telescope and a map, apparently showing the solar systems orbit with multiple objects. This is a weird setup for biology, Zaanne said, not at all complaining. Then my science teacher came out. He was the perfect golfing grandpa figure, with the thin white hair, wrinkled eyes and tacky 60's clothes. His favorite club, i think a driver, was set up above the labratory door, giving perfect angle to give your head a whole in one if it fell. "Hi Mr. Sanders! What are we gonna do today?" I asked, as if i had to. "Well if you didn't hear, there's a mysterious meteor that we're gonna observe today, glows green for no reason", he said, "There's no shown chemical in it that we know of that burns green like it does, though many substances do emit green photons when hit by a heat source." I didn't know why i cared so much over it's molecular structure but i continued to listen, fascinated by the meteor for no good reason. "Is there any way we can gather this new element for research?" Before he could answer there was a booming noise far away, faint but noticeable. "That would be our ball, lets take a swing shall we?" Ok, that was cheesy as hell Zaanne appropriatly moaned. Agreed, let's go watch crap go boom
(S) schools out!As the day normally went by, i decided to plan out my week instead of studying for my test, again. I also got to have a fun time laughing at Diamond Tiara since she had her face covered in about six pounds of makeup that ran down and around her face from the water assault. As funny as it was, i did wonder how the makeup wasn't completely wiped when the super soaker cleared three other fillies covered in syrup. Finally, after a few hours of doing work for stuff we didnt really need to know about, the lunch/recess bells rang to signify half an hour of freedom, most of the time spent to eat. We departed outside to start our lunch, or play on the swings if we were to finish. Applebloom, Sweetiebelle and i got together at the usual tree that we always ate at and began to do such. After about three silent minutes of eating bland hay sandwiches, Sweetiebelle was the first to start conversation. "So, what are you doing for your date?" She asked, looking to Applebloom for her suggestion. "Well, what do you wanna do scoots?" She said, directing my attention from snails, who was at the time getting his horn stuck in a tree again. That seems to happen alot to unicorns. I did a little bit of thinking and said,"I dunno, it's not a serious date so we shouldn't waste alot of bits on it, maybe we can go to sugarcube corner for something? Sweetiebelle, you're the one with dating knowledge, what should we do?" She shuffled and responded, "I don't have alot of 'knowledge' in it, Rarity just showed me the basics," she said, "but since you're going with Applebloom, why not go somewhere apple related, like Sweet Apple Acres?" Applebloom didn't seem to want that. "Ah don't think that's a good idea," she said, "ah live there so it's not really too special a place at all to go to, and ah don't know how kindly they would take to me going out with a filly." "Why would they care about that?" I asked, slightly confused. "From what Rarity told me, Applejack is a lesbian." Sweetiebelle brought up, almost too subtlely So THAT'S what it's called! "SHE IS!?" We both asked quite loudly, though most ponies were more focused on things like passing hearts and hooves cards and getting snails out of a tree to care about our outbursts. "That's what Rarity told me. She pointed out that she's always with Rainbowdash and seems to stare at her alot, with Rainbow doing the same back. If what Rarity says is true, it seems that both of your sisters have a secret crush on each other." "WHAT??!!" We both said in pure unison. Why was I just now hearing of this?! My sis likes mares? That's probably the most interesting thing I never knew about her. Who would have thought that the pony with the rainbow hair and tomboyish voice would be into girls?! Applebloom seemed to be more shocked than I. She just sat on the tree trunk and stared off, mouth half open in a puzzled way. About a minute of akward silence later, she started smiling to herself for some reason. "Are you ok", Sweetiebelle asked. "Just fine, but there is something ah kinda want to say now before the date now, but promise not to laugh!" She asked. "Promise, now what's up?" I asked. "Well, about the whole applejack thing and having a date with Scootaloo thing..." "Yeeeesss???" We asked She blushed, glanced in my direction stuttered quickly, "A-Ahm also into fillies!" After a small silence i decided to speak up with the wisest words i could muster."Ok" "Ok? Ya have no problem with me liking fillies?" She asked, now with a huge grin on her face. "Well, what's wrong with being a lesbian", Sweetiebelle asked "there are many mares and fillies that feel the same way! Besides your two sisters, alot of mares here are homosexual due to the low population of stallions near Ponyville," Ok, why does Sweetie Belle know so much about this, she's like, what, 9? Rarity talks too much, i thought to myself, adding two new long words to the 'use later' file in my brain. "When did ya learn that?" Apple Bloom asked for me. "Rarity told me." she responded, which cleared up her abundant knowledge into relationship status, and proved myself right "She said that of her friends, only her and Fluttershy are 100% straight, though Pinkie is bi." Even for a filly she knows abit more than i would expect. And why is Rarity even passing secrets to Sweetiebelle like that? Seems kinda mean. No, not mean... creepy at least. "What's bi mean?" I asked, but got no response since she was more focused on Applebloom. "Should we be talkin about other ponies without knowing if there ok with it?" Applebloom asked. "Oh, what's a little gossip gonna do to anypony?" Sweetie asked. "Why don't we ask Gabby Gums?" Applebloom answered, bringing up a touchy subject. "Oh, great idea!" Sweetiebelle chirped "'hey gabby, is gossip an ok thing every now and then?'" "We're not gabby anymore." Applebloom grumbled. "You made the name." "You made the papers." "We ALL made the papers!" I figured if best stop their useless quarrel before it gets bad. "Uh, girls?" I interrupted, "I don't think arguing is the best idea." "Why not?" Applebloom asked, now fairly irritated. "Well, consider that when we argue, bad things seem to happen. Remember discord?" "Nah, we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time" sweetie answered," he was prabobly gonna break out sooner or later anyway, as the princess told us" Remembering Celestia explaining what happened after the distorted ponyville incident, I couldn't say much against it. "Yeah, that guy is untamable, he will probably stay evil and enstoned forever now though", i said as a pretty pink butterfly landed on my foreleg. Hey, why is there a butterfly in winter? "When is the next snow day gonna be, Scoots?" Applebloom asked after noticing the bug. "Hmm? Rainbow dash said it will snow over hearts and hooves day, should start around 3:00." I answered as it caught some wind and flew towards fluttershy's cottage in the distance. "Ohhh, that will look beautiful in the night!" Sweetiebelle started, "with all the lights and the snow It will be so romantic and cute and-" After about 2 minutes of girly adjectives that i didn't need to hear, Applebloom rose her forehoof to sweetie's face to shut her up. "Yeah, ok. Hey Scootaloo, can we talk later?" "Sure" i said, unsure of her intentions, "what do you wanna talk about?" "About the date, i need to tell you something before we go." She answered with an earnest look. "The straight look is being ruined by the bow, you know," I said "makes you look more cute than serious" She blushed, looking up at the pink bow tied to her hair and losing whatever serious mannerism she had. "y-you think ah look cute?" She asked, her southern accent getting quieter. "Yeah, what's not cute about you?" I sat up from the tree root i was laying on to get a better look of her. The focus of the chat moved from sarcasm to something else. As usual, she looked great. Her whole body had perfect shape, from her shiny red hair to her strong legs from working on the farm. Her bright face had the sweet hint of scarlet across the top of her cheeks, which significantly added to her beauty. ~wait... What am i thinking?~ Sweetiebelle looked back and forth between us, then seemed to begin a intense thinking stage, with one hoof under her chin and the other making pictures in the air that were either hearts or bad stars. After about 2 minutes of me staring at Applebloom, Applebloom staring at me and Sweetiebelle weirdly spacing out, her eyes lit up as if she apparently learned something new by just looking at us. "Oooohhhhh. I get it now!" She said, breaking my 85% concentration on Applebloom. "Get what?" I asked, clueless to her outburst. Applebloom seemed to understand her though, as she began waving her arms in a "shut up" kind of way. Suddenly the sky behind Sweetiebelle flared a small, neon green light in the sky, slowly flying toward us. "It's that Applebloom li-" that's all she said before before the sky glowed green. The thing sped closer, increasing the tempature of the air enough to melt what snow there was, and soared into the school bell. As it hit, it sent an extreme shock wave that knocked everypony who was standing a good meter back. The ground changed to the tree's trunk as the force blasted me into the bark. Sweetiebelle bounced next to the tree and tumbled downhill. Applebloom almost had the same fate as sweetie, but i caught her hindleg on her backflip. The world shook as an explosion hit the earth, shaking so much that i couldn't see anything. After a strong ten seconds of an ear basting ring from something hard hitting the bell at full speed, my vision came back to full strength. Letting go of AB, i got a first look of what seemed to be the coolest non rainbowdash thing in my life. The entire school had been blasted to peices. Wooden planks shot out from everywhere, random school supplies scattered everywhere. The sky had grown darker as i watched smoke rise from the school. The weirdest part though was the fire, seeing as how it was forest green, with very little yellow and blue at the crests. From what my teacher told me, that shouldnt make sense. green is the mix of yellow and blue, but only with pigments. These flames were dancing as if being painted instead of just illuminated, with the colors swirling around like that. Every so often, ominous shock waves came from the center of the wreckage, each causing a stupid action,, each more random than the last. First a wave of pure green light shot out, covering me in... Was that glitter? Then, after a minute, literal water waves squirted out, dowsing us instead of the green inferno, then drying immediately due to the heat. Applebloom took a scan around the area as she got up. "Wait," She said, walking up next to me, "Where's Ms. Cheerily?" "She was inside the school still!" I called over a sea of rock music. Even with the green fire everywhere, my entire body became cold. In the middle of the wreckage, i could just see her body through the smoke, and it didnt look very good. Our teacher was stuck, wedged between some support beams. She was still breathing, but seemed to be having trouble finding air. Just ten feet above her, the bell was set on some roof parts. There was a gaping hole in the side of the brass shell. Unfortunantly, the fire was hitting the sides of the bell's support, showing weakness to the flame. "We have to help her! I yelled as another green wave shot from the crashed... Thingy. This time, chickens flew everywhere and scattered in fear of the flames. "It's too dangerous, the roof's gonna collapes!" Applebloom yelled. "Yeah, and it's gonna collapse on our teacher if we don't save her!" She nodded to silently agree to that, and we both galloped into the fire. Author's Note So... Sweetiebelle has supreme knowledge of shipping...
(Z/G) we beat me up (and stuff goes boom)As we rushed outside, we considered the options of what jokes to say once we got there. How about a big green booger? Nah it's too stupid, Yoda farts were better We discussed that pointless subject until we exited the building and saw the sky. First off, it was green, Skies aren't normally green, are they? Second, there was a green rock flying straight towards the building, pulsating with more of the color, splitting into it's primary colors as if it were a moving painting, blue and yellow spilling out of the back. It wasn't gaseous at all, just a giant green fire flying into the atmosphere. We watched as it started flying closer, changing from a petal to a golf ball to the moon, lighting the whole sky from blue to aqua to green. After about six seconds of thinking and calculating, i realized that the school wasnt the best place to be inside. Maybe a bomb shelter. "Get the students out of the school!" I yelled to Mr. Sanders. He seemed to agree with me and ran inside, yelling at us to run away. His commands went in one ear and out the other. Dude, don't. That meteor will be here in like five minutes, there's more humans anyway! Zaanne complained as I started running to the school. The other kids started a paniced stampede out of the blast zone, pulling ray along with them. I don't care if you care about humans, I can't just sit here and expect a 70 year old to get up the stairs in five minutes! by the time i got to the door, i had about 13 of the 16 students yelling at me to get back. Ray was just staring at me, probably confused on what i was doing. I was tempted to yell back "Gotta go to the bathroom!" As if that were a reasonable excuse to go into my school on point of it's inevitable destruction, but instead i silently opened the glass doors and snuck in to help my least favorite high school. As i charged to the stairs, Mr. Sanders got sight of me and started hollering to go back outside. He had already collected the kindergarteners from the basement, which would have been a good place if it were a tornado. Problem was this one would probably just kill them, even if we were hiding under cement. Pompeii would not come to me today. It's amazing how fast you can run up the stairs when people might die. I began opening the doors and yelling at people "IT'S GONNA HIT THE SCHOOL!!!" Since the intercom had already said that there would be a meteor flying over us. Why nobody hit the fire alarm is completely above me. I had told the last class to get out before the noise of screams came from outside, signaling the meteors income. Running to an open wall, i saw the school roof glow red, then green. The roof itched itself in lines, like a cyborg roof, then exploded. Light blinded me instantly as a shockwave blasted me into the wall, shattering any sence i previously had. It took a good three minutes for me to get my thoughts and vision back, Zaanne regaining speech Holy fuck, what was that?! I couldn't look straight at it since it was still glowing too brightly, but i could see that it wasnt rock, or metal. It was a pure green crystal, as Tristen had said, with bits of it laying everywhere. After a few more seconds it sent a wave of energy, changing what i could see to green. Trying too look at it, i realized from the shadows around me were the only visible things, glowing green in negative lighting. "Night vision?" I asked myself as another wave shot out, bringing the lights back to normal. After a few more waves and more random things, like the walls turning into daggers and two little rock things crawling out of the crystal as if it were syrup, i realized that i was on one of the only standing parts of the school, aside from mr sanders lab and a few classes, suspended by weak pillars We need to get off, don't we? Zaanne asked, as if I weren't going to. To my left, there was a mound of rubble that seemed sturdy enough to walk on, to my right, one of those things that had came out of the crystal started walking towards me, also having a crystal like imorphous structure. It began changing shape until it became... Me. He looked like a perfect copy of me, the messy curls of hair, the chubby face, the muscles that seemed too powerful for a couch potato (oh I'm not being cocky). The only difference being glowing emerald-like eyes and he looked like he was about done with the world he just landed on. Pure fear filled my head, telling me that Zaanne wasn't happy to see our new guests. Aliens? In 2013? Interesting. Kill it please. Why? It's not doing anything bad. I said. It seemed to read my thoughts as it punched the outer wall. The entire hall glowed green and exploded, reveling the outside. The kids were running as fast as they could to... Anywhere but where i was. I was alone besides Zaanne and the clone walking towards me. That's some bad alieny shit there! Zaanne shouted. lets try talking to him. Ok, not my brightest idea, but I was curious. Ok, tell him 'Hola seres de la roca que brilla intensamente, tenemos el placer de conocerte' I had no clue what he had said. "Yeah, no" I said aloud, grabbing his attention. Immediatly he started talking in my voice, with chilling coolness. "Hello, who are you?" He spoke, giving me shivers when he spoke in one of the only voices I've known my whole life, spoke by a complete stranger. Much worse that it was my own. "I-I'm Gabriel. Why did you punch the wall? Are you ok?" I asked shakily. I tend to get caring at bad times. As soon as I said that, the other rock like thing that i completely forgot about grabbed my arms from behind, full Nelson style. He began to change and become me as well, but his voice is what creeped me the most. "We're just here to explore, we like new people" he spoke next to me, giving me the deepest chills as he talked in Zaanne's voice, which was more of a brash and cocky feel "new people to copy and become" H-how the hell did he do that!? Zaanne stuttered. When you scare Zaanne, you've done well. It is not too hard sir, we copy you. Anything you show, we can preform. the thing spoke in my head, scaring me more than needed. Our ship crashed here from it's engine breaking off on our scanning trip to that rock you call Titan, about a week ago. lucky we found your destination so quickly! So... An attack on Titan? Zaanne questioned "Close enough", Gabe2 said "Then how did we know of your coming from a few weeks ago?" I yelled, losing my caring touch, "Astronomers can't tell what you are flying either. Who are you?!" "That's unimportant, for now we need someone to extract for information of this world to create another, for we will make the ultimate world!" Zaanne2 shouted, getting closer to me. "Are we done with questions?" not a thing to ask after making that kind of confrontation. I didn't know what he was talking about, making new worlds and such. This was the only world that had oxygen, so if they scanned that they'd be about 50% ready to build a planet, but with no inhabitants? Also if they scanned me for a world, they would just make a weird version of equestria. Not exactly the "ultimate world". Scanned probably wasn't the best word for it, but i can't think of a better one. Absorbed isn't right and take in sounds wrong. Suddenly i realized i better do something before i get killed, or scanned and take the chance of losing my memory again. Luckily Zaanne was there to tell me what to do. "One more. Do you know battle technics yet?" I asked. Seeing the meteor's shockwave comming, i jumped up and planted my feet on the copy's face, kicking up again to backflip over the other. With his grip broken, he spun to try and grapple me again, but was met by a fist to the chest, knocking him back into his friend. Being me, they were far more than clumsy and heavy enough to be knocked over eachother in the next wave, putting everything in slow motion, making them take their time trying trying to kill me. As they took their time trying to get back up i chimed slowly, "Maccaroni", running to the window area in the wall and jumping out. Maybe jumping out of a story high window into a flaming building wasn't the best idea. I hit the ground rolling, safe enough, but my shirt caught on fire so i patted that out quickly. Zaanne was explaining me the plan, to get to the crystal ship and try deactivating it to see if the aliens would stop working. At least take out the shockwaves. The plan was inturupted when they hopped down to me, meeting me halfway to the ship. "Where do you think you're going?" Zaanne2 asked, adding Zaanne's tinge of annoyance. "Uhh... Around..." I began the other way as another shockwave hit, shooting a blue flame ring in every direction. As it hit them, they started slapping at their new clothes like i had with the previous flame. After a confused look when the fire didn't actually affect us, they focused their attention back to me, which wasn't what i wanted. I ran to Mr. Sanders lab. I rushed through the classroom, the aliens pretty far behind me. It looked nothing like his class, which was on fire at the time. Blue walls surrounded the room, with two rows of bar tables That had sinks and gas things placed in them for his science fun stuff (got a better name?). His lab was safe for now, but heat and smoke filled the roof. He held many chemicals that did not go well with heat, and he stored those in a big red box saying "DO NOT SET ON FIRE" In bold, as if anyone in their right mind were to set it on fire. Luckily i wasn't in my right mind, i was in my left. Taking the only thing i knew about science, i snatched a bottle that had random words on it. My eyes burned in the smoke but i was able to make out: "Magnesium, reactions to fire may cause blindness" That's simple as fuck, Zaanne said. I was quickly getting sick of his language. It was about 20 grams, which I thought is enough to cause a small sun, or make pretty fireworks, or not work at all. When I looked back, they were there, eyeing me devilishly, as if playing with me now. There was a second exit, which led to the crash scene, problem was they were already there, the green fire following them, gaining speed as they hopped over desks and pushed aside chairs. "... Crap". I opened the lid to the metallic material, which were small pebbles used for giving a neat light show, only they were so bright under fire that you weren't supposed to look straight at it. As they got closer, the fire erupted inside, glowing the room a forest green above the blue painted walls. If i stayed near the chemicals, chances are I'd suffocate from their fumes or desinigrate, and the aliens would take me and most likely scan my brain to finish their copying, which would be bad. They had already scanned Zaannes voice, the closest guy i know, and that pissed me off more. One stopped a foot from me, fire passing around them harmlessly. It took abit of nerve to not push them back screaming, but i stood still, and waited for both to surround me. Foolishly they cornered me, the fire now melting the chemicals box, pouring out red smoke slowly. I had about ten seconds before the fire melted through into the flammable crap, so i poured the magnesium and closed my eyes. At first, nothing. Then the ground started to heat, signaling the fire had come to my legs. I ran and squinted my eyes for a second to see the aliens, grab their shirts and toss them behind me. They tumbled again and stood to probably become blinded, since i heard screaming and even could see the glow of red through my eyelids as i went out the door. "That wasn't too hard" i told myself as i slid down some debris to walk to the ship. I hadn't realized the fireworks seared my pants and probably burned my legs, but i had other things to worry about. Before i could look over the crater that the meteor made, another shockwave went through, and i suddenly couldn't control my body. I watched as i held my hand out, apparently testing the new movements, then an all too familiar voice spoke up. At first i thought it was the alien but realized it was much more interesting. "fuck yeah", Zaanne, or I, smirked cockily, "let's do this shit." The wall exploded a few seconds later as the aliens stumbled out of the lightshow, puffing out red smoke from their lungs and stumbling on eachother dizzily, trying to cough out the poison that they had apparently inhaled. Zaanne was there to meet them. "Sup faggots," he shouted in minorly lewd aggression, "done fucking each other or did you just get tired of Gabe's shitty fireworks?" The feeling of the cuss words left a bad taste in my mouth, but i couldn't control that. I wanted to tell him to stoop blabbering and get away, but I figured he'd just attack anyway. After a moment's confusion, gabe2 responded, "what is this 'fucking' you speak of?" I laughed and realized that my voice just echoed throughout my head, like Zaanne's voice does, or used to. "looks like I'm in charge for now" He said, apparently not used to needing to keep words in certain places, like in his head. He started a run at the aliens. I guessed that they copied my previous trick, since they tried punching at Zaanne's chest, only to be blocked by a hand. In less than a few seconds, Zaanne had side flipped one over his shoulder and was starting to the other, who still seemed to be affected by the smoke. A clean kick to the chest made him fall back, ridding him of his problem in a huge puff of red that Zaanne hopped from. He let them fumble back up and look to us maddly, as if WE were the bad guys. Apparently they didn't like being messed around with, since one punched the ground, causing the floor about 3 meters in diameter to glow like the wall and explode. He walked out of the new engulfed crater like nothing happened. The other had began to charge, sticking his fist out. Zaanne hopped to the side, foot out, and swung his leg at the alien. There was a squeak at contact that only i could make from a sharp inhale, and the alien crumpled. Apparently he was new to being kicked in the stomach, or having one at all. Thing 1 and 2 realigned next to eachother after he got back up. Now standing shoulder to shoulder, they paced around us like tigers on the hunt, even growling at us, until we were flanked, stumbling and moaning the whole way, then they charged again, comming at full speed, their fists glowing as they charged another boom punch. This time we both had the same great idea. Zaanne let them get about a foot away then jumped, somehow gaining the air to hop over one, missing a bad headbut by a few inches, and let them crash fists into eachother. As soon as they hit, they both glowed green before a flash of light hit, knocking everyone back. Since they got the most impact they rocketed into the remaining walls, the building peices collapsing on them. Me and Zaanne were thrown a few feet back, sliding safely on the gym floor, but our shirt was ripped so much it eventually was just a peice of cloth, which Zaanne put in our pocket. Our pants seemed just singed from the chemistry lesson. We weren't at all injured, but we looked like we had just slid through a chimney. Our body was coated in black stuff from the ashes and smoke everywhere, my hair was almost pitch black from all the soot around the place. The smoke burned in our eyes, though it seemed to be filtered quickly through the holes everywhere. Holes were kind of an understatement. The school was a mess, all that was left was a blue eagle on the floor, never to fly out. The sun shown brightly everywhere, with absolutely no walls left. The school had became a pile of debris, and the only ones to blame looked exactly like me. After about 20 seconds later, another shockwave hit, flipping me back to having control over myself. That was THE GREATEST THING TO EVER HAPPEN!!!! The aliens seemed they were not gonna (Texan, i'll say gonna if i wanna say gonna) get back up anytime soon after their meetup with the REAL Zaanne. I figured Zaanne gave them a good enough peice of America to initialize 'dont fuck with texas... Or the other 49 states... Or Canada.... Or, know what, just don't fuck with the earth, we do it enough to ourselfs'. getting to the meteor as quickly as i could i noticed it was not something i would like to fly. It seemed to have cooled itself and was showing to be impossible to hold anyone, being about the size of a smart car and shooting jagged spikes everywhere, reflecting blue, yellow and green light across the floor. It glowed deeply with a strange energy, making me think of all things at once for some reason. Every memory that i have recovered and made sprang into my head so quickly that i had to sit down. It seemed to be scanning my entire brain. Every thought, every imagination, fantasy or emotion was scanned into it, filling the crystal until it made a loud "DING" Then it exploded. A flash of light and an ear bleeding BOOM later, and i was weightless, flying several feet, then yards, then meters, away. I'm pretty sure i fell unconceous, but i could still see lights and feel a cold feeling in my chest. I hit the ground, hard. After awhile of bouncing off the ground and crashing through what i thought were trees, i stopped in what might of been grass. The heat of the sun spread over me as i laid there, bleeding a lot from unknown areas, prabobly everywhere. Nothing could function correctly, prabobly because nothing would move. Zaanne was groaning as if he got hit in the head by a truck, or fifty trucks. That's all i could think of before i blacked out... Author's Note I'll fix the capitalization and italisizes once i get a computer, which may be awhile.
(Z/G) Morgan freeman sets me on fireOk, so a few things you should and shouldn't do to not explode. First off, you shouldn't run into a building you know will explode. Second, if there are aliens, you should just drop the burrito and hop through the wall they'll inevitably disentigrate. Next, if you have a phycotic idiot in your head, don't let him tell you what to do. I could have sworn i was dreaming, but it felt more real than my memory dreams. I was standing in a room that seemed to go on forever. The world was dimly lit green, with cold steam tickling my feet as it snaked around my legs. It was just me for the moment, until the floor spoke. Hello, human named Gabriel, the voice was abit awkward on it's english, like that was his second language. I am the ship, or the crystal inside you. it took me a second to realize the cold feeling previously must have been a piece of the ships shrapnel that stabbed into my chest, but it wasn't there when i looked down. I was still in my tattered school uniform, but I had seemed to be cleaned, since i was no longer covered in dust and debris. "H-hello?" By then i figured this was probably in my head, which explains why Zaanne wasn't talking. Chances are if i looked around enough, I'd find him somewhere in the distance, complaining about nothing. That didn't stop me from being terrified of the voice. Apparently it was the same ship that blew up on me, so i felt uncomfortable talking to it. Your brain is telling me that you are afraid, no need. I will not harm you like the previous inhabitants of the ship, since you are it's new owner I took a minute to let it sink in. I was in the ship AND my mind, it was reading my brain and Zaanne was nowhere to be heard from. The exact same thing had detonated my school, sent two evil aliens to try and clone my entire planet, and apparently can manipulate the worlds logic. As said before, i hate Mondays. I noticed the room was waiting for me to talk, so i began, "so if you scanned my head, who else did you scan?" It responded immediately, The world. Anything i touched, i became aquatinted with it's knoledge. The planet, it's ozone layer, it's condition, inhabitants, ages, DNA, anything your brain can imagine be real, it was stored into me. I didn't know what was weirder, talking to an alien space ship or that the ship sounded so familiar... "Is that why you sound like Morgan freeman?" I asked, leaving a small chuckle throughout the empty space. Apparently it had a sense of humor. The fog slid from my feet to in front if me and started to morph together, thickening and solidifying into a regular human, the same person that his voice matched. He wore a basic black jacket and a dark purple tee inside. His black pants were neatly ironed and fitted, so he looked like a dark Dr. Phill. His happy, wrinkled face looked pretty much like you'd see him on tv, besides his eyes, which were pure green like the aliens. No pupils, no iris, just a green void that could lead anywhere you imagined. His godly voice spoke from the figure, "I'm sure you will get used to the controls of the ship, but for now you must wake, for your family is awaiting you." He waved his hand and a screen opened from nowhere, showing a moving picture. It was a group of people, a mix of my friends and family, looking through a glass wall in either amusement or shock, i wasn't good at faces. Anyway they were staring at a glowing figure, the only light in the room to illuminate their bodies. I saw Rayden and my brothers all looking into the glass, slightly stunned at whatever scene was behind the wall. Jacob and Kenneth were in the corner, avoiding the crowd but being there for support, which made me happy. "I'm on the other side eh?" Morgan's nod seemed to tell me both "yes", and "hurry up", so i looked up to the empty sky. "Aaaalrighty then, take me back to Earth." As soon as i said that the world of light dissappeared and i awoke on a flaming bed. ________________ "BALLS!!!", i screamed, jumping about ten feet into the air. it's an inappropriate word, i know, but it was the closest thing i could say to a cuss word without feeling crule. Kinda childish but it's nicer than Zaanne's dialogue. After the initial shock of being in fire, I sat up in bed. I was clearly not burned, but my clothes couldn't say the same. This time, my pants weren't so lucky. My entire body was ingulfed in green, which only helped covering me up by literally flashing a new scar my chest like a beacon. On it was a green crystal, a lot like the ship, but much smaller. It was held on my chest by a small leather strap that acted like a necklace, wrapped loosely around my neck so that the shard look like just some flashy Jewlry instead of an extraterrestrial being. My arms and legs covered in glowing green lines, like they had decided to become a computer hard drive. My body tingled with energy, the flames, deep green, dancing maddly across my forearm and whisping away in a transparent neon mist. I remembered the images from my talk with the ship. I haven't got a name for him yet but I just assumed he was the necklace. I looked up and, sure enough, there was a small crowd of maybe ten astonished people, dancing around and seeming to be down to tears from me being ok. Who cares if you're in flames, naked and glowing like a cyborg, as long as you LOOK alive, people will cry for you. Took ya long enough, i was getting bored. Zaanne popped up in my head, which helped my mood about as much as the fire did, Who's this guy that won't stop imitating George Carlin? He did Morgan Freeman for me, and i think it's the space ship talking to us, sounding like people who actually made a voice. There was a moment of silence, besides the bed being baked. It should have been like a thousand degrees in there, but it just felt warm and soothing now, like a mothers hand as you held it for the first time (mawkish, maybe). It was so comfy that i was about to lay back down and sleep when Zaanne came back on, Really? That fucker followed us onto the hospital? Is that crystal around your neck what's keeping your heart from exploding?! I didn't think much about it at first, but then i realized i couldn't feel my pulse, much less my heart. I started to freak out, pressing against my chest roughly. The crystal seemed to shine brighter than before and suddenly i felt a fake "bubump, bubump", coming from my chest. Ok, problem one solved, I thought, Now for the bed No more words needed. Even from thought the flames responded, disappearing instantly. Flames, check, now for the light show. The lights on my body dimmed into my skin, slowly shutting out. The only light in the room now was the crystal, which shone a dimmed emerald. Last but not least, clothes. I figured the blankets would do, but they probably burned off, since i was sitting on a metal plate now like it was a bears lunch tray, and i were it's lunch. I thought about my clothes, before the whole alien thing, and thousands of tiny strands appeared and strung together. They tightened and stretched to form linen and cotton lines, sliding together to create a black school shirt and some basic khakis pants, exactly the way they were before i went to school, yet new and folded, as if a maid decided to clean them without my permission. I did wonder how a pair of pants just formed from nothing right in front of me, but i wasn't in a situation to argue, so i pulled them on. I wasn't fond of shirts, since they were uncomfortable and scratchy and made it too hot for me, so i left that off. Now that i wasn't a lighthouse, i got a better look of the room. In the dark it took a moment to adjust my eyes. It was an interrogation box like in those crime movies with me on the table, but the one-way mirror was instead a tinted window, about the size of a rich man's flat screen television, the LEDs showing my family, all crying inaudibly of joy. Rayden had come, which i found weird, i guessed he had followed Kenneth and Jacob's lead to come see me. All three of them were pressing their faces to the glass, mesmerized by either the pants or the fact i just dismissed fire. How had i done that? I just thought and it happened, no real explanation possible, but it was obvious that it had something to do with the crystal necklace and the Morgan Freeman inside. The crystal still glowed, as if waiting impatiently to unleash more power. I wasn't willing to risk that, since images of myself making things explode by merely punching it still flashed through my brain. A few minutes later, after everyone settled down from seeing me stop glowing, a man in a lab coat said something to my mom, allowing her to enter. As soon as she came in, she tackled me with a hug that was far more constricting than the aliens' grapple. "Gabriel!" She yelled, which seemed plentyful of words. "Yeah, that's my name," I chimed, hugging her back. It felt nice, hugging my mom. It brought back memories that i had forgotten from my random innuendo dreams; me and her playing board games with Sleepy, her and dad talking over whether or not i should take karate, mom laying me down in my bed when i was about six, singing me lullabies that was mainly "Part of Your World", from "The Little Mermaid" and "Twinkle Twinkle". She pulled back and punched me in the chest, making her forthcoming warning clear, "if you EVER do something so god damn stupid again, i will tear your ass open like the Grand Canyon!" she apologized for the way that came out. That only made me grin, holding back a laugh that would probably scare Ray away in a heartbeat, "first off, we both know WHY i went back in. Secondly, the Grand Canyon is far too small to equal what i SHOULD deserve for fighting aliens." She gave me a puzzled look before chuckling,"I guess you're still a little fuzzy feeling from the crash. It's ok, you'll be better soon." After a confused look by me she let her bear grip go, giving me time to breathe. Jacob and Kenneth approached, steadily followed by Ray, who was eyeing the crystal on my necklace cautiously, as if hoping i wouldn't burst into flames while he was too close. Jacob looked me up and down, the way he does with a stranger or a new boss battle he wasn't informed of in a game. "We heared what happened, but wow, you look like a completely different person!" I didn't know what he was talking about until i inspected myself again. With the lightshow over, i now noticed that i wasn't chubby anymore, which made me sad for some reason. My body had seemed to burn away it's fat, which i would have liked, but with the fat gone i was suddenly freezing without my usual layer of cold resistance. My body was also muscular too, the muscles hidden under the fat now chiseled out and pressed uncomfortably against my chest when my arms were down. Then I looked at my hair and nearly had a heart attack, even though i couldn't feel my heart three minutes before. It was dark green, spiked out more but still somewhat curled, giving the image of fire. It was almost anime styled, green strands still hanging in front of my eyes to continue their annoyances. Pulling it abit, it was certainly real, showing slight strands of blue and yellow as well, as if the hair dye had split it's colors slightly, lightening the hair. It tumbled about a foot longer, easily sliding over my shoulders and down my neck. holy shit was all Zaanne could say for a moment. we look like a manga character, straight from the book and colored. He was right, I even felt abit like how they may feel. All my senses were heightened, especially my sight, which could see farther and so well that the tint on the windows wasn't there for a moment. My body still surged with what felt like a continuous adrenaline rush. After a mere twenty seconds of checking myself out, Kenneth shuffled nervously, catching my attention instantly. "What's wrong?" He stopped cold and looked away,"You're not gonna catch on fire while we're in here right?" "Of course not. I won't hurt my friends. That goes for you too, Rayden." His name put him in the spotlight, and he didn't seem happy about that. "Oh, uhmmm... Thanks" He went back to observing his ring as if it were the real element of loyalty. "So, can someone refresh me on what happened?" I honestly had no idea how i got there, but i figured it wasn't fun. Jacob looked around anxiously,"well, we heared the explosion from about twenty miles away, and then you flew into the feild next to us. You were on fire and hit the ground far too hard to survive, according to Mr. Sanders. When we came to you, you had- you..." He stopped, staring at my crystal. He didn't seen to have changed out of his school clothes, so he was dressed exactly what i was wearing. His hair was skewed and his gel had came out, letting his black hair spill messily above his ears. His arms were covered in mud and what seemed to be abit of dried blood, which made me feel terrible. His face i wish i could quite read, but i could never read someone's face for the life of me. As far as i could tell, he was either mad or ecstatic about my awakening. "Some doctors came and took you to the hospital, and you burned away anything that touched you, except for the rock" "Well no need to worry anymore, I'm ok and we got all the students to safety, that's all that matters right now." They seemed to calm a little, but we were still in a hospital. People were dieing every day around me, and i just came out of a space explosion, self combustion, penetration and nudity completely unharmed. It made me feel good and bad that most couldn't survive even one of those. I hopped out of the bed, my legs shaking for a split second before i regained full strength. I breathed deeply, loosening my body and touching the crystal. It had stopped glowing, and i felt my body start to weary and tire out. My arms felt like they weighed about 20 pounds heavier, though my appearance stayed the same. I slowly dragged my feet to the door, opening it with a small tug. The halls were empty granted a nurse, who caught me walking out and approached carefully. "Mr. Plemons, i suggest lay back down, we don't know what might happen if you get too hyper." I wasn't sure why i decided to get smart with a nurse, but flashes of random quotes and sayings were always floating through my head, one of which seemed to slide by easily, so i smirked. "that's my secret, Captain. I'm always hyper" Before i could turn into a giant green guy and terrorize an alien army, again, my mom stepped next to me. "He's ok, he just needs some time to walk about" The nurse looked a lot like, well, a nurse. She had her hair tied back in a bun to keep out of her eyes and light caramel skin that pretty much fit into a Maxim magazine cover. She seemed to be in her mid 20's, holding a clipboard in one hand and a pin in the other, wearing glasses that shone her bright green eyes in the flouresent lights. She wore a medic like outfit that was a tad too small, showing off her curves and a tag that read "Clarrisa" in black cursive. Her shirt was unbuttoned abit too much, making my hyperactive eyes stand perfectly still. Dayum Zaanne said in my head ,you think those are D's? Ok, rude. i thought, but my eyes seemed to play with Zaanne's will. Jacob wasn't as moved, but he did look away. "let him walk around, he healed himself far better than your doctors could, maybe he'll bring you some good luck in this hospital." The nurse bent down and stared at him, as if looking into his brain, which he seemed to be doing right back to her, looking back at her, "Very well dear, roam the halls aimlessly if you please, Jacob, Kenneth, Rayden and Gabriel, I'll be observing your behaviors over time though, to check for diseases or drugs that you took to heal. "Can i go now?" I asked. I was getting anxious and suddenly scared. Clarrisa seemed to notice. If she knew i was still fixed on her she didn't show any offence. "Go on, have fun playing in a hospital." On that weird note, i backed away, pulling my three friends with me. The halls were about as boring as a regular hospital, but what was in it was far weirder. First off, every doctor there was better off as a magazine cover, models as far as the eye could see. Women rushed about, all wearing the same tight fitting clothes as Clarrisa. Yeah, it sounds like heaven, but it just didn't feel right about my awakening in an all girl hospital. The other four, including zaanne, weren't as careful. They had their eyes EVERYWHERE, with Zaanne complaining about me looking away when we got too close to a nurse. c'mon gabe, it's good for your health! Besides, they're everywhere, might as well enjoy their hospitality. as right as he may have been, i was always far too scared to look at pretty girls like that, it just felt wrong to stare. We surfed our way through the mountains and sat down on a bench next to some bathroom/dorm thing for overnight doctors. Kenneth had been lost in the crowd, leaving me, Ray and Jacob to sit there, Zaanne edging me to look while i adverted my eyes from them. "Why are there so many girls?", I asked, hoping they'd have some information. Rayden leaned back and fumbled with his ring, trying to not over react. "Don't know, don't care. But did you see that blonde nurse? I think her name was Jessica!" He and Jacob started having an intense conversation about the girls, Jacob losing his want for modesty, so i rose and strolled down the only empty hall
(S) i talk to the rockMy dream was too vivid to be a dream. The sky was green, much like right before the crystal detonated my school, but abit less threatening. The ground was a huge feild, a plane that streatches forever with hills rolling beyond that. In the middle of nowhere, about a fifty feet away, laid someone on the crest of the hill, looking at a clip board and mumbling random words to itself. It wasn't a pony, but from how it looked, it seemed to be the same as the monkey species from the images in the green rock. It wore clothes though, which was different from any monkey i had seen before. It had black baggy pants that covered it's two legs, which confused me. Pants were extraordinarily rare in ponyville since they looked silly on a pony, bought by only lyra. The pants seemed to fit the monkey better than the unicorn though. It had a emerald green shirt over his chest, which was also slightly uncommon to wear recreationally. Around its neck was a green crystal, exactly like mine, wrapped around it on a leather string. Leather bothered me endlessly after Twilight informed what it was made of to me, my friends and fluttershy, whom looked near death after the explanation. What sick freak holds an animal's skin around their neck? Still, the thing was the only one there besides myself, so i approached it steadily. "H-hello?" I asked. My mom said for me not to talk to strangers, but i didn't really think about that until it responded to the sky in a slightly high pitched male voice. "Gabe, who's talking?" After a short pause he continued to himself. "Hello?" More silence. "I know you're there! Don't fuck with me bro, I'm in your head!" He rose on two legs, setting the clip board down from his... what were those? To the end of his appendages were those palms with little moving things at the end, a lot like spike but with more claws, and they didn't look like claws. He eyed the sky frantically before looking upon a man approaching us. He appeared to be the same as the one talking to himself, but much older. He wore a weirder, more antique clothes, like a golfer ponys style. His face was far more wrinkled around his cheeks and eyes, but those shone brilliantly, pure green, like, solid emerald, no black at all. The kid stumbled back, dropping his clipboard, "What the fu-" he paused, scanning the new guest. "George Carlin?" "Hello Zaanne," the one named George spoke, "my appearance may seem like the one whom you refer to as George Carlin, but i am merely the ship that you and your friend, Gabriel, have obtained, for i am what you may call it's A.I. System. "Why the hell do i need a ship, we don't even have water in this part of texas!" He sounded sarcastic enough, as if he knew what the other human was refering to. "And how do you know my name if your a ship?" George seemed ok with being called a boat. "I scanned the world and learned many names and figures, yours being very interesting. You are in Gabriel's brain and speaks with him?" Zaanne seemed to calm down a minor amount, sitting back down but on full alert. "Yeah, i came from Gabe going loco about some harsh words, what's it to you?" I had no clue what they were talking about, or who Gabriel was, so i sat back and listened tacitly to not disturb. "Many others seek help to get rid of such a problem if they can, why does he keep you might i ask?" That seemed to put his rage up. "Wait, I'm a problem? You crashed into Gabe's world, sent aliens at us and demolished his school and you're calling ME a problem?!" He leaped back up, holding his chest out in an attempt to be intimidating. "WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?!" The outburst deemed completely unnecessary in my opinion, and George seemed to agree, though his face didn't say, the tone of his words did, "Your name is Zaanne, you are the product of a human's uneeded depression, like thousands of others, yet you have recently used my power to control the one that controls, if only for a moment. You've seen what it is like to live in one's brain and actively go out, which makes you special." George looked to the sky and looked like he was lost in thought. Zaanne watched patiently, strangely calmed by being called "special". He stood straight and watching the human stare. "You hear him too? He's awake, finally, he's such a lazy ass. I gotta go now, he doesn't get too far alone with his sarcasm and timidity." "Yet you don't stop him from speaking with sarcasm." Zaanne smirked, amused by the observation. "I can't say i control him, im just his best guide, like his gaurdian angel." As he spoke, he began gathered his clipboard and began to walk. "Explain to gabe your crystal stuff and I'll act all ignorant as usual. Tata for now." Zaanne strolled accross the hills leisurely, quickly becoming lost in the horizon. After He left, George turned to me. I hadn't realized they were ignoring me until he spoke, "So sorry for ignoring you, but i wanted to meet him before speaking with you. As he spoke he changed form, which by then was only the second weirdest thing that happened to me then. His body structure collapsed into a mist of green before recollecting itself, gathering and condensing into a solid pony. The transformation made me step back, seeing a species change from one to another was odd enough, seeing it become the mayor of ponyville was just beyond insanity. "Wh-who are you?" I stammered, taking more steps back. He was exactly like the mayor, despite his eyes glowing pure green still. He, or she now, had the same features, same glasses, white (pink) hair and small age wrinkles around her eyes. She smiles, looking to me warmly, "didn't you hear? I'm the ship that Gabriel possesses. You're here due to it's engine breaking off and crash landing into your land of, what was it, equestria? And you must be Scootaloo, the one that braved the ships power. That's very noble of one so small as yourself. How old are you?" "I'm nine years old..." Then a side thought occurred to me, "hey, mayor mare?" "I'm not the real mayor you speak of," she added, "but go on." After noticing what was going on here, i could easily deduct how i saved Applebloom the first time. "Well, apparently you have some sort of magic that i accidentally used to keep me and my friends alive back there in the school that, well, you destroyed. Does that crystal i found also contain more super powers? Like, for say, healing?" "it's a simple feat as long as i understand the condition and scan for it's problems, do you need my assistance again?" She say in front of me and stared into my eyes, scaring me abit. Her eyes were paralyzingly bright, but i spoke, "well, my friend is kinda in a hospital and we have a date soon, can you help me heal her wounds? They aren't too bad, just cuts and bruises and maybe a few burns." I didn't at all feel bad for not saying "fake" or "play" before the word "date", since that didn't really matter. I was really hoping for her to be safe, and it seemed that with that crystal, i could defend her forever. I mean, my friends... I could defend my friends forever. She stared at me for a moment, as if still being slightly amazed by my exsistance. "Obviously, your friend Applebloom doesn't have many bad injuries, besides this," she rose her hoof to the side, displaying a small picture of Applebloom's flank. On it was a gash that made me feel queezy, just her bleeding in general was bad enough, but it looked like it could easily get worse. "Worst this will do is cause an infection, she'll be fine under the doctor's care. "T-That doesn't look good, y-you sure she'll be alright?", I studdered. "Of course, why bother on a few cuts anyway? It's hard to fix things like disintegration and regenerating lost limbs and more advance things as that. Her cut will be an easy fix." "Oh thank you!" Just maybe twenty minutes before we were almost a meteor's collateral damage, so i was relieved nopony was seriously injured. Which brought my next questions, "is cheerily alright? Who else was in the crash?" "Cheerily sustained a broken hoof but is ok mentally. As for whomever else felt my crash, only a boy from the land of Earth." I suddenly remembered the video of that human running to the crystal. He was abit wider than George or Zaanne but showed to be bulkier. The image became more clear as i thought about it, which was weird considering how little of time i had to watch it. The two near him looked the exact same as him before they dissappeared. "That boy, was that gabe, the one you and Zaanne were talking about?" She nodded, "he aquired amnesia a few years ago by a source that my scanning can't find yet, therefore i will stay with him and you, for when you meet him in person, or pony, whatever the case, the two of you will be more aquatinted." I had no clue what the ship was talking about, but i was feeling anxious to meet this Gabe. He seemed brave enough to go to the ship, granted i did as well, that just made me admire him more. If rainbow dash were in our situation, would she have thought to get the crystal under control? I reckoned she would have at least tried, like me. She was too cool too not save her friends, that's just her. "Well, mind if i wake up now? I'd love to go back and take care of Applebloom, the date is on Wednesday." Even with the stuff going on, i couldn't help but keep thinking about that day. A full night with Applebloom would be way more fun than running through a crumbling building. "But of course, me and Zaanne will be accompanying you as you wake, in case we need your help for anything. My suggestion though, don't copy what Zaanne says, his language is rather... Uncouth." As from what Applebloom and sweetiebelle told me, "uncouth" didn't mean good, so i nodded. "Thanks again," i said, "uhh, how do i get out?" "Oh that's easy, just tell yourself to wake up" I looked up, staring to the sky and spoke clearly, "wake up, me!" The sky melted into a hospital room again and i was back to where i was before, sitting in my chair, only Applebloom was gone.
Gabe goes greenThe sound of rushing and chatty models lowered as i walked silently through the hospital. The floors were white tile, spread like a huge bleached checkerboard across the floor. The walls were in a deep aqua, trimmed in green, as if the Pacific ocean had colored it. The lights were dim and made close to no shadow from their value. The roof was mainly the usual material as a hospital, but it was also stained deep blue-green. There was so much green for a sick house i felt worse for wearing the necklace, though i wasn't going to risk taking it off, so i continued to walk. The lights began to thin and fade as i strolled down what i guessed was the main hall, since it went on forever. I continued to tread until i could only see the outline of my arms, then stopped. After a moment's thought about light, the crystal glowed, illuminating my walking area, so i forged on. After a while i realized that not many people must come down this area, since it would have been pitch black if it weren't for my crystal. I started talking to Zaanne, or myself, I'd never know. So how far do you think this goes? i asked. How should i know, he responded, dark on both sides now I noticed from a glance behind me that i was now surrounded by black, only a small speck of light in the end we came from, which scared me more than it should have. Being in the dark was bad enough. Being in the dark flanked in a hospital of weird Barbie "creepy hospital" edition impersonators wasn't much better. Without my human friends, i didn't feel safe at all, but like an idiot i kept walking. why does it go on so far? i asked myself. That's when Morgan freeman came back on. It's a continuous hall, made to trap you into the darkest area, which would be the place with no light, but since you are giving off light, you will stay at the farthest edge of the hall lights. It took maybe five seconds to understand him. "Oh. Thanks Morgan, anything else you'd like to inform?" Yes actually, there is a being approaching from behind that has the same essence as one from the my previous users. that got Zaanne and my attention like lightning. We whirled around to be about twenty from Clarrisa. Her eyes flashed brilliantly in the light of the crystal. I swore that she wasn't there before as she hop-skiped closer, bugging my eyes and modesty too much to keep focus of her "Uhh, hello. Are we not supposed to be here? My, ah, friend said this area is doing some kind of magic, so i wanted to check it out." but i just said that, Morgan said,after you fell in the trap. Gee, thanks Zaanne scolded ,couldn't have warned us earlier if it were a trap? Speaking of traps look what we have here. She pursed her lips and leaned forward to keep my height, which made Zaanne shut up from his random perverted jokes. "Poor kid, not understanding how the ship works is bad for you. This ship has the ability to detect magic, aura, B.V. matter, or what you call 'bad vibes', and far more substances that you'll never even imagine, and that's just a small perk to it. It's power is far too much for a simple species like a human. Give us the crystal, Zaanne, and we won't kill you just yet." I didn't get how telling me the power in it would convince me to give it to the bad guy. I stood back, but the light behind her didnt move, so i felt like i was moonwalking without the actual moving part. "Aww, but I'm starting to like it on me, it's a fun rock to talk to, plus it's fashion sence is marvelous!" That didn't seen to be the right choice of words in her opinion. She stood straight up, smiling coldly, "it can also tear your body to bits and cast you to whatever your brain fears most." "Well good thing i fear cake and pizza, that'd be the worst!" I chuckled nervously. I wasn't certain that my sarcasm was making anything better, but she/he/whatever it is was stalled. I needed time to think of a way to get out. "Shame, i thought this form would sway you, but i guess we'll have to use more... displeasuring methods." Her eyes shone brighter than ever. She held her hand out slowly, letting the green fire appear and dance across her palm to her fingers. A neon green flame that swirled like a magic orb set ablaze in her hand, floating a centimeter in front of it before she thrust out her palm. the fireball shot like a rocket at me, the temperature increasing as it got closer. I dove to the side as the flare whizzed past my ear. Standing back, Clarrisa came closer, setting ablaze both of her hands and a chillingly calm smile across her face. "You have nowhere to go, Zaanne, the hall is too dark, you're stuck there." So much for my much needed thinking time. Luckily that little voice in my head decided to be helpful. Well i might be one for the offensive but i do have an idea. Zaanne chimed, The hall is magically made to keep you from the end, right? I dodged another fireball by a few inches, thankfull i wasn't wearing a shirt that would set me off like a torch. "Go on." Well, that means that there IS an end, we just need a light at that end. i matrixed another death ball and fell unbalanced on my back. With the magic energy i had forgotten that i was clumsy. That'll give us the exit, so we just need her to shoot the fireballs to the exit! As i hit the ground, i could see a few things that had caught on fire. If what Zaanne had said was true, we still had a chance. The only problem now was that i was on the floor, Clarrisa looming over me. Her hands illuminated the room around us like a wicked torch, No more words were needed. She put her hand straight down and smiled wide. Then the ship glowed intensly bright on my chest. You need fire, I heard Morgan say "Then give me fire!" I held my hands out to try and keep her finishing shot from my face, shutting my eyes tightly and waiting for the worst. That never came, all i heard was flame whooshing wildly and an enraged shout. When i opened my eyes, Clarrisa was ten feet away, sprawled on the floor with smoke curling off her chest. My hands were now burning brightly like hers had, though all i felt was that soft warm feeling, just like when i was in flames in the bed. I stood, still trying to apprehend what i just did. Either i had shot fire or made something explode, most likely both on the alien, who rose angrily, sputtering curses at me silently. She wasn't burnt, but her clothes couldn't say the same. She looked like Frankenstein's monster's college mate, after getting struck by lightning. "You're not supposed to hit girls you know!" She hollered. "Yeah, but you're not a girl, you're a threat." I rose my hand, the flames glowing brighter. "Zaanne, should we fight or flee?" You know my answer Zaanne said, kick it's ass! "Flee it is!" I extended both arms out of each side of the hall, imagining the fires becoming balls like the ones she shot at me. Immediately, both hands went off like rockets, shooting one ball o' death out of each palm. The one to my right hit the roof a few feet in front of Clarrisa, toppling it's turquoise structure down on her. The other ball wiffled into the darkness, flashing and setting ablaze everything in the room, combusting a hundred yards away on a large pair of steel double doors. Before the fire could spread and set the whole room up, i tore down the hall, the debris pile exploding behind me with an inhumane wail. "GET BACK HERE!!!" Yelled a not so feminine voice from afar. I disobeyed and barreled through the doors. _______________ Sunlight blinded me for a few seconds before my eyes could readjust. We were next to the highway that led to my school, on the side exit of a hospital that wasn't there before. The area WAS reserved to be a Baylor hospital, but i was sure the date of opening wasn't for another year or two. "Morgan, can you tell me what day it is?" Tuesday. February twelth, 2013, valentines day is on Wednesday. "Oddly specific. Why is the hospital already made?" The building was all stone on the outside, hundreds of windows lining every wall like a typical hospital. There were no signs of construction, and the parking lot was empty besides my moms white van and Jacob's dad's Mustang. Besides that it was clear, despite the hundreds of nurses. It's a copy of another hospital, created to keep you stuck in there. "Wait, so now my friends and family are in there with psycho aliens dressed like hot nurses?!" Nobody was around at the moment so i didn't feel too stupid for talking to myself. "they're still in the hospital, being held captive by the other alien." Said the crystal. At some point the ship started projecting his voice from the necklace. "I suggest reclaiming them before they steal any information from your loved ones." I started to plan immediately. I inspected the walls that towered maybe ten stories high. I saw the sun in the sky. With another question i got that it was 4:40 P.M., school should have ended a few hours ago. The doors had pulled themselves closed and seemed to magically lock, but i felt that if we didn't start moving, Clarrisa, or whatever the creep decides to turn into, would love to meet us again. I didn't like that idea. "Mr. Ship, it said you could detect magic and abunch of other things, can you, like, scan the building and tell me what you find?" The crystal on my chest glowed brilliantly again, and my vision went black. I panicked until things started to glow. The building became visible, but half transparent like a hologram. Inside there were little color coded people. There was two green people, one of which was struggling to get stuff off of it, the other about six stories high, leaned over what looked like a table. There were halls of purple including the one i exited and a lot of the back halls, so i assumed that every exit had some sort of magicall trap set into it. Threre was a cluster of blue glowing people that the attentive green one was standing next to. I guessed that the green ones were the aliens and the blue were basic humans. There were white/grey people everywhere, which i figured were the other nurses. "This must be aura. Zaanne, plan?" Well, from the angle of the sun and the temperature of the air, i implore we kick ass until you find the damned humans. it seemed legitimate for Zaanne's style, though his plans ended in me getting beaten a lot of the time. Then again, his last plan turned out better than expected. I could now shoot fire, so i did have offencive means to defend myself. "Ship, are the other nurses of any danger?" "Actually, they aren't real, more of a physical illusion made by these aliens. They'll still attack if threatened, but no harm if you hurt them." "Hey, if you were their ship before, why do you call them alien?" "They don't have a species, they were made from the same DNA of the grey matter in your brain. So if you want, i guess they'd be called Gray People." Then why are they green instead of gray? Zaanne asked. "Is the brain gray?" Ship answered sarcastically. Is it? I never considered ripping someone's skull open and finding out. Is the brain green? I let them discuss body color as i ran to the front door, routing my rescue mission. My vision had returned, but mixed with the other so i could see exactly where we were and the safest path to take. My plan was simple enough: sneak through the safer areas, only using force on parts required. Save my family from an alien that i barely knew about, get everyone out and find a way to stop the grey people from killing off anyone, especially me. Compared to the plan that blew me up a few hours ago, this seemed well fitting to a usual Monday. I spoke up. "Well if we're gonna be doing this, i should wear something abit warmer than school pants, don't you think?" I said, feeling a breath of winter air hit. Truthfully i loved the cold, it was a blessing in the southern states, but i also liked the thought of shooting fire without having a fever, which I'll inevitably get halfway through the rescue mission with my luck. Zaanne seemed to like the idea. I could feel his excitement increasing. ~Actually i thought of a sweet outfit to match the crystal while you were unconceous, think you can make it for me Ship?~ Yes yes, i saw your designs in our meetup. I'll see what we can make. As he finished his sentence, clothes started forming about my body. Pacific green threads intertwined with more threads and eventually formed into a fine green tee, which shone a very faint blue or yellow in different shades of light. It was so light and comfy that i barely felt it around my body, which i was greatful for. Over the shirt came a hoodie, which came in a more flashy style. Flames shot back up my arms, changing to cloth and forming the sleeves from my wrists to my shoulders. The same thing went up my back, fully creating the unzipped body. It finished with creating a hood that veiled over my eyes, though i could still see through it. The school pants changed into shaggy black jeans, having deep green stitching. The crystal blazed with light, glowing the front of my body and edging me onward. Now that my body was mainly covered, i felt a surge of magic tread through my arms, and with a pull back of my new sleeves, i watched the cybernetic lines reform across my arms and stopping at my wrist, symboling the otherworldly energy coursing through my veins. I gaped at the new look, smiling with delight. "Zaanne, you're awesome." Was all i could say, until i remembered to joke about it, "You and Rarity should start a clothing design line! It'd last forever!" One, I know I am. Two, screw that, Rarity's too strict, now let's get to it! And on that command, my hands lit up and i opened the doors to the sadistic aliens' hospital. Author's Note I'll change ~these~ to italics when i can. tada!
(S) meeting ZaanneLooking ahead of me, I saw Applejack and Big Macintosh was there with Granny Smith were there, though they didn't seem too worried. When Applejack saw me, she smiled and hopped to me. "Yer awake! Well ya haven't been asleep for long, they just took Applebloom in to check on her, i reckon your teacher is getting checked on too." I was still dreary from sleep but i looked about, blinking out the drowsiness in my eyes. "Cheerily has a broken hoof and applebloom is cut on the flank, could get bad if we don't fix it." Then i looked to Big Mac. "Hey, why aren't you all in there with her? It's not that bad of wounds." Granny Smith nodded slowly "You were the one to save her, we all agreed you should s-" at that point she mumbled off to sleep. Applejack took it up. "You saved her, least we can do is let ya see her first. She ain't been long, maybe two minutes. We'll be there shortly after." I nodded and got up, going to Appleblooms room. None of the nurses stopped me or asked me for my name or anything, which made sad sense. I came here quite often unfortunantly. Crashes into buildings, failed scooter tricks, fights with bullies, exploding schools, and stuff like that always put me bedridden or injured. I even knew what room Applebloom was in before anypony told me. Just a quick glance at the front desk told me she was in room 10, so i entered that room. She was sitting on a chair as a doctor did the usual checkup that you'd do on a minorly hurt pony, checking her hooves and face and dabbing alchohol stuff on her smaller cuts, which she winced abit to until she saw me. Applebloom smiled wide and hopped off the chair. "Hi Scootaloo!" She gave me as big of a hug as she could, which i greeted with one as well. Her mane still smelled like smoked wood from the school. There was a bandage across her flank over the cut. "Hey Applebloom, it's good to see you're ok." She was so happy to either be alive or see me, she shook abit into the hug. The nurse gathered her materials and left, giving us some private time. She stood in silence, keeping her head on my shoulder. "Thank ya for savin me, scoots.", she finally whispered. Her voice was soft and happy next to my ear, and from another look at the bandage on her (yes that is what i was looking at), i felt a small wave of guilt roll over me. "I wouldn't of had to if i didn't tell you to follow me. In the end i put more ponies in danger than i had to." "But if i wouldn't have been there, something much worse could have happened to Ms. Cheerily!" She broke the hug and looked at me, abit annoyed. "If i hadn't followed, would you have been able to save her on your own?" She had a point. I still felt bad, but I decided not to let that show. "I guess not. Mind if i look at the cut?" She eyed the bandaid on her rump and smiled, speaking sarcastically as she waved it abit. "Oh that's what ya wanna look at?" The thought of me considering staring at her like that made me feel funny, and her shaking her flank made my face hot. "Uhhh... I can heal it if you want" She looked at me confused "It'll heal over time, like all of your injuries. Worst I'll get is a scar or something, and ah can live with that" Even with that comment, i knelt down next to her and inspected the cut. Undoing the bandage, the cut looked the same as in the dream, but cleaned out by the nurse. Something glinted on my chest and i looked down, just noticing the crystal on my neck. It was like Zaanne's, but abit smaller and with a chain holding it instead of leather, thankfully. It glowed faintly on me, the ship thing patiently waiting to heal Applebloom, so i let it. I'm not completely sure what i did to help, but it worked. I placed my hoof on her flank and watched. At first, nothing happened. Then, the crystal glowed brighter, sending a warm feeling through my body. As the warmth hit my hoof, the wound on her began to close. She didn't protest, so I figured it was painless, and she seemed content with laying down on the floor. The cut slowly closed into a scar, and even that was fading. It shrank into the size of a paper cut before dissappearing completely. A.B. Had fallen asleep at some point, breathing deeply and leaning abit against me, so i put her back on the checkup bed that is always covered in paper for some reason. She smiled in her sleep, grabbing my hoof before i could move back and hugging it like a teddy bear. I felt weird, having Applebloom hold my hoof in her sleep, but she seemed to like it, and eventually i decided to let her have my hoof until the nurse came back. Her body was warm on my hoof when she pulled it closer, sending a small shiver down my spine for no reason. Then Zaanne came up in my head. Hello? This thing on? He said. "Uhhh hello?" think when you talk to me, no talking to talk, got it? "Uhhhh, no." I had no idea how Zaanne had started talking in my head, since he was apparently in Gabriel's. I guess there's a wireless phone line in brains or something. Ugh fine, one second there was a lot of tinkering noises and the sound of banging hammers, which quickly gave me a headache. After about a minute of the tinkering, the crystal started speaking like a speaker. "Better? Now you don't sound insane in public!" "This is Zaanne right? I saw you in my dream." "Yeah that's me. I can't see you but you sound familiar, who exactly are you? Ben Ten?" "My name is Scootaloo, I'm a pony from ponyville." There was a really long pause on the other end before i heared "HOLY SH-.... Uhhhh you're a pony?" "Yes, is that bad?" "NONONONONONO that's awesome! I'm talking to Scootaloo!? Like no joke, an actual Pegasus?!" "How'd you know I'm a Pegasus?" He didn't seem to hear, he was too busy yapping random things. It sounded like he was fanfillying, which i could understand if i were somepony famous, like spitfire or the princess. This made no sense, to be so happy about hearing me. Applebloom was still asleep so i left her there, she was healed and happy, so i was happy. Even the smaller cuts and bruises had faded away, plus i didn't want to disturb her any more. Once i was back in the lobby, i told Big Mac and Granny Smith that she was asleep. I found Applejack talking to Rainbowdash, laughing and smiling at things i couldn't hear. They seemed so overjoyed to talk to each other i heard myself chuckle under my breath. Applejack heard me and jumped abit, looking startled at me. "Oh, Scootaloo! We were uhh, talking" I had a slight idea of what i interrupted thanks to Sweetiebelle, so i just nodded. "Is Applebloom ok?" Rainbow asked, anxious to go to that subject. Her cheeks were slightly red and she was sitting pretty close to AJ, not that i noticed or anything. "Yeah, she's fine. She's asleep though so i wouldn't wake her up." Zaanne had gone silent then, and I wasn't sure if he was listening of not. The crystal had stopped glowing and hung loosely on my chest. It was so light i barely felt it when i was still. "Well, Cheerily is doing pretty well, only one problem." "Broken hoof, Yeah i know." Rainbow looked suprised, and i was amused that i could intrigue her. "By the way, how did you know her hoof was broken?" Then the thought occurred to me that, if i were to say that a rock told me in a dream with a psychotic monkey that could talk, I'd be put in a padded room with that weird filly Screwball. "I... Uhhh... Noticed it when we were at the school..." I studdered. She seemed to belive it and layed back in a chair, looking out the window. "I don't know what was caused the damage, but it's gone now. Thanks for helping Applebloom, kid, you did good." I thanked her and looked outside. The smoke had dissappeared, thanks to the weather ponies making wind drafts away from the town. I didn't realize how hungry i was until one of the drafts went through the food market and drifted into the building. Applejack heared my tummy rumble and laughed heartfully. "She must be starving after the whole thing, let's getchya something to eat." "Can i come too?" Rainbowdash said "I'm starving!" In the back of my head, i heared mayor mare talk again. ~She ate before she came here, she appears to be full.~ How do you know that? I asked, or thought, or something like that. Planet scan, Rainbowdash was eating a hay sandwich while the medics inspected the teacher. You're kinda nosey for a space ship... Rainbowdash was up with AJ and they left to sweet apple acres, so i followed. I gather information and say what is relevant to it, is that not what a computer should do? Computer.... What's a computer? The complete walk to the apple family's farm consisted of a rock talking in my head over what this computer thing is. Ok ok, so it's a box of electricity that transfers information? That's about it, and you can access games from it. What kind of games? Suddenly the convorsation was inturupted by Zaanne, who came through my head with the sound of explosions. We're being attacked by Megan Fox cheerleaders and you're talking about software?! Get your head in the game! I'm talking on both sides, no need to worry yourself on something you can't comprehend. Well screw you too. Scootaloo, can you help me out? He explained the situation of Gabriel being trapped in some dark magic room, the ship/mayor revising him whenever he exaggerated. I was listening so hard that i accidentally ran face-first into an apple tree. After a few grumbles to myself i found that i had completely moved off the trail from the other two, but they didn't even seem to bat an eye at me. They spent their time, walking slowly about ten yards behind and again picking up the conversation that i couldn't hear. Uhhh, get the nurse to shoot fire at the other end or something, make both sides bright. I decided. It seemed logical enough, having light shot at you would mean you have light to expend. I recalled learning something like that from Ms. Cheerily in "Magic Science Week", where we all try to match scientific theories with magic and mumbo-jumbo like that. It's our best bet, I'll see if it works. they went silent after that, so i regained the path to the Apple farm house and waited for the two there. They must have noticed my stares, since they immediately regained their space bubbles at the sight of me. "So..." Rainbowdash said, "what do you have here?" "Uhhh, you know... Apples?" She looked off at the apple trees, that or RD's tail hitting the sunlight as she walked up the steps of the farmhouse porch for about three seconds. Four seconds... Five seconds... "Right!" She finally stumbled out, "apples it is then!" As she left to gather the nessecary materials for apple products, namely apples, i looked to Rainbowdash. "You two done with the girly crush stuff or is this gonna keep up until hearts and hooves day?" She seemed confused by my question, since i got a well informing "huh?" "Seriously, when Applejacks not checking you out, you're looking at her." I figured i should have kept it to myself, but i had alone time with my non biological sister, so i figured it'd be the best time to ask. "What's up with that?" "Wait, Applejack checks me out?" She said in the same tone you would ask for candy at a candy shop. "Yeah, but why do you?" I already knew the answer, but i felt obligated to hear it from her instead of in some gossip. She scanned around to make sure nopony was looking and motioned me closer, whispering silently into my ear, "Well, if you really wanna know, I've kinda liked her, for a while now... You ok with that?" "Yeah, totally cool with that, I just figured out this morning that most of everyone here is into mares anyway" i told her about what Sweetie said about her friends, realizing i was just as bad with secrets as her right as i finished. Apparently rainbow and I have an equal style of A.D.D. "Oh, Pinkie's bi? That explains that party she threw a few weeks ago!" "Yeah by the way, what's bi mean?" I still hadn't gotten a straight answer on what that was. "Uhhh it mea-" it's someone that likes both genders. mayor mare inturupted. "Oh, thanks." I said out loud "No problem" Rainbowdash said, which made me unsure of who i was refering to. Applejack was trotting back, about ten yards away with a batch of apple pies on her back. There was no possible way that she could have baked three pies in so little time, but they smelled delicious, and I was hungry, so i wasn't going to question. "Oh also, please don't tell AJ what i said, Pinkie Promise you won't." I did the hoof gestures for the Pinkie Promise as the farm pony came, setting the pies on an outdoor table. "Y'all ready for some good ol' apple pie?!" We all ate quickly, smiling in delight of the taste of the pies. Every so often the beings in my head would talk, and i would stop to listen to them. Zaanne seemed to be aggressive but kind hearted to his friend Gabe or anyone that wasn't human, while the ship was pretty much Twilight without the shyness, spouting facts and constantly informing me of what Gabriel was doing, switching voices to random famous or important ponies. As the voice of Princess Cadence was telling me what he about Gabe's new clothing articles, and Zaanne talking about how Rarity could go for some magical accessories, i realized applejack and Rainbowdash were looking at me funny. "Yes?", I asked. "You've been spaced out for almost five minutes now," rainbow asnswered, "what's on your mind kid?" Purple hair? Zaanne said, which made me giggle to myself. The two that couldn't hear him were really looking at me now, seemingly questioning my sanity. "You ok there, sugarcube?" Applejack asked. I figured that i shouldn't stay longer, since they couldn't hear who i was talking to anyway, and having the necklace talk would give me way too much attention. "Yeah yeah, I'm fine. I'll just be going now, check to see if dinners being made or something..." "But you just ate..." But i was already down the steps and galloping off. Now that i had some free time, i asked aloud, "If you can do all that magic for us, why can't you just send Gabe's friends out of the hospital?" "The aliens have set a force feild that disables teleporting anyone that doesn't have the crystal on them.", Ship said as i entered town, sneaking into an alley way to talk. "Why don't they disable the crystal?" "Two reasons." Zaanne said, speaking grimly, "One, they can't do that without the crystal. Two, they want Gabe to give them the ship. They're leading us into a trap." "Then you two get to helping him, you don't need me distracting you." "Actually, we could use you over here. The crystal said, flashing brightly. "Would you like to meet Gabriel?" "That'd be awesome, but isn't he on a different planet?" "Simple teleportation, i can send you there, on one condition." "What would that be?" Me and Zaanne asked. I sat on a crate, looking off in the distance. Gabriel was a few zillion miles away, fighting two insane aliens that wanted to make some thing called "The ultimate world" or at least that's what Zaanne had said. I really wanted to help them out. "You become human while on earth, to lower suspicion of other worlds." I paused to that. "A... Human?" Zaanne didn't seem happy over that. "Why a damn human?! Why can't we just make her an actual horse or something?" "Horses can't talk, they just neigh. Besides, the dominate race is humans on Earth, so it'd be the most reasonable transformation." "Can you make me a human? How does that work anyway?" "The same way that Gabriel aquired a new body. You take the elements of a human being and transfer it to your DNA, morphing you into a human. It's completely painless, i promise you." I hopped off the crate and looked to the town of ponyville, hesitating abit. "Will i be able to go back home?" "Yes" Ship said, voice resembling Soarin from the wonderbolts. Zaanne was grumbling some uncouth comments about humans, which confused me. Why would someone, who lived with humans their entire life, hate them so much? "Then take me to Earth then, to the hospital that Gabriel's friends are at." As i finished my words, the world went white, then green, then in a flash of light, i was standing on my himd legs, green flames circling me as my body changed, the fur on my arms shrank to nothing, leaving skin and bones. I stared in amazement and horror as my hooves shrank and became something new, five appendages coming out of the base of a small square where my hoof once was. "I suggest closing your eyes." I heard Zaanne say right in front of me, so i shut my eyes tightly and waited. "When you open your eyes" A new voice said, who i figured was the ship, "you will be in the room next to Gabriel. For now, rest. The trip won't be long."
Scootaloo burns the policeIf i was going to sneak in, I'm not sure why i set my hands on fire before i did. Strangely enough i got noticed immediately. The woman at the front desk eyed me from a magazine, staring at me with a confused face. "Ship, will the nurses attack?" I asked, since i realized i didn't have a plan for if i got caught. "They have the same mind set of a human, but they're only an emulated version of the species. They will attack, but chances are you won't be damaging anyone if you were to attack them." As he was saying that, the nurse broke from her confusion and sat up quickly. "A-are you ok? Are you the special patient my boss told me about?" "Uhh, maybe?" If it was a fake hospital then i figured I'd be the only patient anyway. That must have been what she was talking about. She still studied me in shock. "H-how are your hands on fire?!" She asked shakily. Her manicured fingers were on her desk, inching toward some button. "Magic rock, I don't really know myself." On that, I walked toward the door that had the least amount of traps, pushing on it. It didn't open. "They open from the other side, or by a button on my desk." She pressed a button and a completely different door swung open, which i could feel magic lightning zip through it, waiting to electrocute me. "Your bed is this way, sir. Zaanne is your name, right?" "Uhhh taco." I hadn't noticed that i didn't babble random words since the explosion, but now that my mind wasn't really set on talking (as it never is), i couldn't think of what i was supposed to say. "I mean, sure." Hey, that's my name! i heard Zaanne say in my head. I know, but the aliens apparently refer to us by your name for some reason, so I'm going with that for now. The nurse gestured over to the death hall, which i wasn't reluctant to disobey. With a thrust of my fingers, the fire on my hands bolted into the door, obliterating it into a simmering hole. "I'm good, thank you-", I looked at her name tag, "-Danika. Nice meeting you!" On that note, i skipped through the red-hot door frame, running like a bullet as I heard her yap over some intercom "Patient 001 is loose! His hands are, like, on green fire and stuff, and he's running down hall 10!" This time, instead of females in tiny nurse get-ups, two male cops walked into the hall, ten yards in front of me. They had the usual navy suit, with a gun in one holster and what i figured was a taser in another, though I've never seen one before. They had night sticks equipped in their hands and were tapping them on the walls, waiting for me to come closer. "Why are there cops?!", i yelled, firing two green fireballs at them. They raised their batons and batted the flames as if they were really dangerous base balls, sending them into the walls and causing the hall to catch on fire. I figured the batons were goners, but they didn't even look charred. "They're like the nurses, just... More powerful.", Ship informed, voice changing so he now sounded like Siri. The police officers advanced, looking straight at me with stone cold eyes. They were close to three feet away now, within swinging distance, so I did the logical thing. I yelled "PIZZA!", fired my magic at the walls around me, and ran at them. The walls erupted into a pacific green inferno, encircling the guards as i pushed through them. For the moment, the guards' only reactions were to fall backward, literally, and scramble away from the fire. Their sleeves caught on fire as they tried to evade it. By the time they could gather their wits and snuff out the flames, i was long gone. The next room i ran into had four guards, this time with no other door. The scanner said there was a hall behind them with a trap-free elevator, but i couldn't see any entrance. The door behind me slammed shut with a "click", which ment no turning around. The officers surrounded me, each one having a different weapon out, from the hand gun to the taser to the baton. The fourth one had a metal bat, which didn't seem right for a cop to have. Whenever i looked one way, i could see the gunman and the bat boy, but not the taser or baton guy. I was surrounded. "Lemme at 'em!" Zaanne yelled from the crystal. After what i saw him do at school, I could see how Zaanne could handle himself on one or two cops, but four, with weapons? Before i could decide if i even could switch out for Zaanne, the officer charged at me, raising his bat up. I didn't really think and i ducked from his swing, shooting my fire at his arm. It exploded and he spiraled to the floor, screaming in pain and smoking like a barbecue. He dropped his bat, and I immediately felt bad for him. "Oh, sorry!" He looked at me with pure hate, reaching for the bat with his other hand. At the time i saw the taser man start up the electricity inside the gun. He fired as soon as i ran for the bat man. We both grabbed the bat when the taser hit my arm, making it go numb and sending electricity through the metal, zapping the cop's good hand. I might have apologized again, but there was an electric wire sticking out of my arm, which didn't feel good. I yelped and extended my arm, expecting to light the guy up, but something different came out. As i yelled, the flames on my hands died and switched to white and green electricity, shooting out like i were a taser. The pain in my arm subsided and cop #2 glowed brightly and fell. I looked at my jacket sleeve, which was undamaged somehow. Plasma surged through my arms painlessly. "Fire" i said, and my original magic returned. Taser man was nothing but a pile of clothes and bat man's arms were scorched to his shoulders, with the other two cops staring with awe, or fear, I don't know. My left arm tingled and still wouldn't move, but it didn't hurt and the wire thing from the taser had fallen out at some point. I couldn't register what just happened, but Zaanne beat me to questioning. "What the hell did Gabriel just do?!" Zaanne asked. "He absorbed the electricity that should have paralyzed him and shot it back at the target, which seemed to disentigrate him. Fairly simple feat compared to surviving the grey people." "Wait, I killed the guy?!" The other cops were staring at me, gun and baton pointed as i chatted with myself. "I was just trying to stun him!" The crystal stayed too calm for my comfort. "Don't worry, he wasn't real. He was made like the hospital, you can destroy almost anyone here without hurting a single soul." "Wait, almost? You mean my friends, right?" The police advanced slowly, eyeing my hands as they got closer. "Well, them, and an ally, a newcomer to Earth, she'll be here soon, just finishing her adjustments. You won't mind that right?" "The more the better." The baton guy got over his fears and swung the stick at the back of my neck. I ducked again and tripped him, hopping over him as the other cop fired at my feet. "Well hurry up with your reinforcements!" I shot fire at the cop's weapon, making him drop the now heated gun. "Wait, how did you guys have time to talk to anyone but me?" That sounded selfish after thinking about it, but too late to rephrase. "Multitasking! We can be in two places at once!" I continued dodging and knocking back the police. They both came at me, but I held them back with fire, not anxious to disentigrate anyone else. I didn't really care that they were fake, they still had feelings. After keeping back the two cops with fire and the occasional lightning, the ship said, "Done. She is in the next room, just open the wall and she can help you with your mission." "You couldn't tell me who she is?!", I asked as i grabbed the baton in the cops hand, raising my palm up and burning his head to a crisp. "Sorry!" "I wanted it to be a suprise", Zaanne laughed out. They were hiding something from me, and i wanted to know what. Something about the ally. As the cop fell, I ran to where the hall should have been and touched it. This time, i imagined the explosion that the aliens did at my school. Cybernetic lining burned in the wall and it exploded, sending dust and wood through and causing a giant hole in the wall, showing a hall. The scanner showed a new aura. A yellow glow with a light green inside it. The elevator was right next to it. The remaining cop ran for his gun, which had cooled off, but with a wave of lightning, he turned into a pile of ash. "So sorry, guys!" I couldn't see the person in front of me, but i heared coughing and the sound of a marching band running at full speed down every hall, so i grabbed the human, who was strangely light, and pulled us to the elevator. I pressed the "up" button and we waited. I heard the kid shout, "Hey, you're Gabriel? She sounded about ten, with a slightly scratchy voice that pretty much equaled mine in pitch. From where i had grabbed her, she was about three/fourths of my height. "Yeah, how do you know me? Have we met from somewhere?" Ship and Zaanne had gone silent for the moment. The dust lowered so i could see the kid, but I was too distracted by the cops that came forth. There were about twenty now, all with random police weapons drawn. Guns, tasers, even riot shields, were all aligned in each exit. Every cop's eyes focused on me and the kid as they marched forward. The kid yelled, "how do you shoot fire?!" "I just yell 'Fire'!" Immediatly the flames on my hands grew and i began shooting my fireballs at the cops. A few got through and burned up some cops, but most were just deflected by batons or blocked by the shields. I heared from behind me, "Fire!" And turned long enough to see the girl's hands set ablaze. I wasn't sure who was more suprised, me, her, or the police. That shouldn't have been possible without the crystal. She rose her hands and two green infernos blazed out, rocketing them like torpedoes. The front line of her side of the hall staggered back as the elevator finally opened, and we ran in without hesitation. I turned the flaming hands off to press the top floor button, which was where my friends were at, as she blazed up the hospital guards that tried to approach. They were now scattered, running around like chickens with their heads cut off, their hair on fire in bizzar shades of green. Cops dropped shields and weapons, scrambling about and running into eachother. It would have been amusing if they weren't giving us murderous glances and some still trying to fire guns at us, which we somehow dodged the bullets and electric wires. The doors closed and we slumped down on the floor, breathing heavily. I figured the police would just press the button before we could go up, but the kid did a good job at setting the hall on fire, so they might have been hesitated. "Wh-who are you?" I asked, looking over to her. She wore a red t-shirt with the emblem that i remembered far too well as the Cutiemark Crusaders logo, with the pony and the cape in the royal sheild thing. She has punk style black jeans, with a chain running from two belt loops. Her hair was either purple or so black it appeared purple, i couldn't tell. Her face was caramel colored and red on the cheeks, which caught my eye pretty well. My crystal didn't normally expend physical strength for magic power, so she must have been pretty stressed from something before we met. Then again, I'm terrible at reading faces, so i couldn't tell. That was also a big thing that boggled me. On her chest, in a white chain necklace, was the exact same crystal i had, glowing with energy until she snuffed out her fires. "I'm Scootaloo, nice to meet you too." Truthfully, i should have called bluff, but at that point i figured many impossible things were happening at the moment. Aliens hold my family hostage, Scootaloo appears as a human to me, why not? My reaction was immediate and overdramatic, as i expected myself to react to seeing a pony. "YOU'RE SCOOTALOO?! Like, the pegasus, CMC member, RD's best admirer?!" She laughed, which i couldn't help but hop around the elevator and laugh with her. I was over ecstatic about her existence, but she seemed to be ok with my hyperactivity. "Wow," she said, "you act so much like Pinkie Pie, it's scary! Yeah, that's me, I'm also your reinforcement, so let's go save your friends!" That set me back on track. She was fairly calm, smiling at me with beautiful purple eyes. The crystals flashed on both of us and we sighed deeply as i felt a surge of extra strength roll through. For a rock, it does pretty well with keeping your stamina up. "The room is to the left," the crystal ship said from her necklace, sounding like somepony i couldn't think of at the moment, "but there is company there." I looked with my aura vision. The room still had the captives, but they were in a circle and laying flat on their backs for some reason. The alien was at some desk, tapping on it quickly. At the far side of the hall, i saw the second alien walking with some force, stomping his or her way to the room. "Thanks ship." Scootaloo said, looking at the level on the button. Three more to go, and I'd be fighting aliens again. No magnesium to get me out of this one. "So, you two know eachother?" I asked. "Not too well. He acts like a... It's a computer right?" "Yeah that's it.", Zaanne said from my crystal. She explained her story, about the explosion of her school and how she moved really fast and healed applebloom's wounds, then turned human and appeared in the hall next to me. "Woah, you turned human? How'd ya do that?" "The ship changed me to a human to lower suspicion or something," she said, looking at my crystal, "Maybe he can turn you into a pony." That sounded like the greatest thing to ever happen to me, and i was certain I wanted to become a pony. I'd gladly fight off aliens to do that, I'd even let Zaanne have my human body, just to tick him off. "We are SO doing that later!", Zaanne said as the elevator doors slid open, revealing a dark hallway that glowed faintly with a supernatural humming noise that spread through the hall. The scan said there was a trap down the hall that lead to the designated room, but there was a detour we could take that would get us there. The problem was, the aliens had gathered now, and they were marching side by side in green auras, routing in our direction. "Why are there so many damn halls?!", Zaanne grumbled, and i realized that he was trying to censor himself around the filly/human, which was really kind considering who Zaanne normally is. "It's a hospital, whadya expect?" I couldn't see the grey people with my own two eyes, but they were getting closer. "You got any ideas?", Scootaloo asked, looking down the random halls. I guess she couldn't see the aura or traps. "I got a few, none all that great." The walls were the same aqua-green color as the other halls, a strangely reoccurring color scheme of the whole alien thing. There was a smile on my face, despite the situation. I felt overjoyed from meeting Scootaloo, and now that I was certain that Equestria exsists, i couldn't wait to save my friends and turn myself into a pony, i didn't care what was in my way, whether it be hot nurses or cops or psycho aliens. I must have spaced out because i suddenly felt Scootaloo's small hand grab my arm and pull me into some janitorial closet door. Shutting it, she held her hand over my mouth to silence my confused protest. The aliens were there now, both looking completely different than their previous forms, but obviously alien. They were Asian now, one wearing a white on black tuxedo and the other in a karate gi, a black and red stitched belt around his waist. The gi was impressive, pitch black with flaming dragons encircling the arms, their mouths open at the wrists to show his hands catching in fire, which he could do without the stitched lizards. They're the bad guys, i thought, ~the ones we're fighting to save my family~ They look awesome. Scootaloo responded in my head, making me stare at her for a moment. She was like six years younger than me, why couldn't i figure out telekenises so quickly? The Asians were talking in whispers, looking at the elevator and waiting. I guess they thought we were still in it. Zaanne said We need to get away and get your friends out, before we get killed. It sounded like a great plan if they weren't a few feet from us. The moment they needed some frebreeze, we'd be busted. I say we charge out, disorient them as we get as much distance as possible., Scootaloo said, This would be way easier with my scooter. I'll send it over, ship said, then there was a flash of light. I was suprised the aliens didn't notice. As the light faded, Scootaloo smiled contently. At her feet was her usual scooter. She picked up and studied it. There was some writing burned into the wood, but looking at the flash of light had left too many white spots in my vision to read. Thanks ship, let's start the charge. On that, she kicked open the door and sped off down the safe hall, knocking over the aliens in their shock. I didn't have any skating stuff, so i imagined being the speed of scooter and barreled after the human/pegasus.
(S) fire in the black roomAs we twisted down the green walls to save Gabriel and Zaanne's friends, I couldn't help but think through what has happened.So far I have done more impossible feats than most ponies could do in their lives. I've had an alien space ship crash into my school. I've ran at super speed to save my friend and teacher, then healed Applebloom right after. I transformed into a species i barely knew about, then i shot fire from my new hands at an army of police officers. As of turning human, i had expected to have trouble with walking or moving my fingers. As it turned out, Ship had thought of that, and gave me the knowledge of how to control my new form. Since i was only on two legs, i felt much taller than i usually am. Zaanne had set up the clothes, which he said it "-was a mix of the cutie mark crusaders and a street kid." I wasn't too sure what he ment, but it looked cool, so I went with it. Gabriel, well, you don't need magic to tell he's either lost his marbles or never had any to begin with. First off, he never stopped moving. He would try to, but his fingers would constantly twitch and his head would begin darting about randomly. When he spoke, he would finish by mumbling to himself, as if he wasn't sure if he had said what he did. His baby blue eyes would dart around, staring at everything for a few seconds before becoming completely engrossed in a new item. As he was talking to me in the elevator, you could see him scanning every detail on me before registering the lights, then the buttons, then the floor pattern as he mumbled stuff about multiplication. If i didn't know he actually had voices in his head, I'd keep my distance. His hair was spiky green, with blue and yellow highlights under his bangs. The crystal was definantly the one i had, only with a leather necklace holding it instead of a chain. When we used magic, it blared almost a neon green. When Zaanne or the ship spoke through it, the rock would flicker to match their voices. Back to the story. Me and Gabe barreled down the halls, being directed by Gabriel's guidance. Somehow, he was able to find out exactly what rooms to enter, when to avoid traps and when we would have to shoot off the random cop. I didn't have wings as a human, which should have freaked me out, but I made good time on my scooter. Having fingers gives an amazing grip. "We're almost there!" Gabe yelled to me. Right after, I heard him mumble again under his breath, "There, almost? We are?". He sprinted close to me with great speed, so I figured he was using crystal magic to run. "Duck!", Zaanne yelled, and we both hit the floor. With our momentum, we cleanly slid under the axes that spun out to decapitate us. "I thought we were avoiding the traps!" I shrieked as the blades disappeared into the walls. "Every hall has traps from here, raised defense for the-" his sentence was cut short by the bucket of acid that missed by a few feet. It splashed, hitting Gabriel's jacket. I thought it would disintegrate, but it just absorbed it like a super-duper powerful sponge. "That was too close!" We spent the rest of the time dodging traps. We shot fire down both sides of the hall every so often to break the eternal darkness spell. We broke through random knives and darts that would fire at us. Gabe and Zaanne would yell an order, and we would dodge or blow up any trap coming near. "Hit the deck! Fire to your right!" lightning to the front! i still hadn't gotten down the lightning, but Gabriel had a pretty good knack for pulsating with that stuff, so he took care of that as i heated them up. It was too cold, anyway. After a few more traps, we made it to the room their friends and family were at. The place would have been spectacular if it weren't so creepy. It was the size of Twilight's library, but had pitch black walls, as if someone had created them from obsidian. The whole room glowed in green lines that gave most of the light. Wires were tucked into the corners, which tangled themselves around the room and all attached to random computers on desks. The creepy part: the circle of bodies in the middle of the room. There were a little more than half a dozen people, all on their backs, heads toward the midpoint of their little group. In the center stood a rectangular pillar, with a circle on each wall the size of a stallion's hoof. Something told me they were large buttons, and I felt tempted to press them, just to see what happens. Gabriel gasped when he saw the people and ran to them, shaking then gently. "Mom!" He said as he poked an older looking girl, or at least i figured it was female. "Jakey!" He inspected a kid about his size next to his mom. "Rayden?" The one he was looking at had red flame-like hair, with a ring that i could swear on my life looked familiar. He inspected the rest of the bodies: Tristen, Kenneth, Dylan, Sleepy (which sounded like a pony name), Jaden and Mason (who looked like children). He eyed the wall and computer screens and seemed to be processing what was going on when a new voice entered the room. "Nice for you to come, Zaanne", the human in a karate gi said, "We've been awaiting for your arrival." Gabriel looked up to them, his face creepily darkened from his hood. "What have you done to them?" He rose, hands glowing brightly with intense fire. I backed to him as the business man began. "They're ready to help with our great achievement; to create the ultimate world!" As he said it, he rose his hands. The lines on the walls brightened to white, giving a better look to them. Both of them looked the same, tall and slightly wide, with half closed eyes and a small mouth. Their hair was different, one being short and spiky brown and the other long and stringy black. Both had tiny green eyes, but they were glassy and straight, giving no expression or emotion. "What is an 'Ultimate world' to you anyway?" Zaanne asked. "A world of imagination, one that we can maintain and control, of course." He waved his hand to a wall and it opened. We were next to a giant road of concrete, with metallic boxes riding along it. They looked a lot like small trains, but didn't need a track. It was loud, with honking noises and the sound of screeching rubber. "This world is contaminated with disorder. Nobody respects the rule of others anymore, therefore, we shall remake the world, make it perfect." "Nothing is perfect", Gabriel said, stepping over the bodies."Let my friends go, now." "Of course, we'll let them go. Once we are done with them, you can all go merrily on your ways, we just need one thing." "That would be?", I asked. The wall closed and the karate guy pointed to Gabriel's chest. It might have just been me, but it looked like he pointed abit to the left, where i assumed the human heart is. "We need our ship back, thank you." Gabriel looked at his friends, then around the room quickly, deciding to change the subject. "Well we've already been through that, and I already answered, so... What's the pillar for?" I'm not sure if it was because he got nervous or he has bad ADHD. "It takes the thoughts of us to create the world," the business man explained,"but we need the full ship for it to work." At that, they looked at me. Then I thought of something. Hey ship, do you think you could wake Gabriel's friends up? With the magic barrier set, my abilities are limited, so I could only wake one or two. I scanned through the fallen friends. None of them seemed to be in any great body shape to be fighting, except Rayden. He was just as athletic looking as Gabe, even without magic. A shock went through my body when i realized he wore the element of loyalty on his finger; it looked exactly how Rainbow had explained it to be. Wake the red head up. His body started to glow. The karate guy noticed it. "What are you doing to him?" Gabriel seemed equally confused, and Zaanne had gone quiet, though it seemed he was talking in Gabe's head. "Breaking your dream circle." My hands lit up, illuminating the area around me. The process will take about thirty seconds, Ship said. "It could be worse" Gabriel thought aloud. He didn't break eye contact with the aliens, like he was having a staring contest that he couldn't afford to lose. "Scoots, keep them from Rayden." "Not much else to do right now." I said. Well, we could stall, Zaanne added, but I vouch for some good ol' fashioned ass-kicking right about now! "So," one of the aliens interrupted, "will Gabriel or Zaanne control?" Gabriel paused, thinking it through his head. Apparently we were stalling without trying. "If I can get Zaanne to fight for me, I'd prefer that. I'm not the greatest at it and he loves it. Unfortunantly, I still hav-" Suddenly his body straightened. He looked towards the roof and shook slightly. His eyes glowed green. When they stopped, he regained mobility. His eyes had become aqua, squinting slightly over the most insane smile I've ever seen. It wasn't the oh-wow-that-guy-is-crazy smile. More like the oh-sweet-celestia-he's-going-to-sadistically-skewer-me kind. "Ah, aliens. We meet again." His voice was deeper and scratchier than before. He laughed. It sounded like a knife was being scraped across a chalkboard. Apparently he didn't know how to use vocal chords correctly. The flames in his hands became white-hot. The lightning came back too, just to add an overpowered feel to his aura. "Well, what an entrance." Tuxedo alien said, looking at his assistant. "Do you want the kid or the teen?" He never got an answer as Zaanne, at least I thought it was Zaanne, extended his arm. His entire body became a sillouette of light as he fired tendrils of pure energy at the aliens. They rose their hands, but the impact shook the building. I was thrown to the floor next to Rayden. "I think he has this under control" the crystal spoke in Gabriel's voice. He was right. The aliens were knocked into the wall so hard, they left figurine dents in the metal when they sprawled out to the floor. "Stand up, weaklings!" Zaanne taunted, walking to the oppisite side of the room. "Two on one and you can't manage to fight back?" The aliens staggered to their feet. Their skin was smoking and their eyes started to glow. "You underestimate us, boy.", They said in unison. Zaanne leaned back onto the pillar and grinned wickedly. "Yep, the old 'bad guy says he's stronger than I can imagine' cliche. Don't you remember how i creamed you guys last time? We didn't even have the crystal then. But now-" he stood straight, walking slowly towards them, as if he had all the time in the world. "-now i have the ability to be me, which just might be your worst nightmare, as if you ever could dream to begin with." The aliens showed no emotion, but they took a step back, getting closer to eachother. "What will you do when the crystal runs out of energy?" "Huh?" The business man smiled. "The ship has a lot of power, but even it can get tired. And with that last attack, I'd say you could only do that one more time, adding in your journey up here, and you awaking the boy." As they spoke, Rays eyes fluttered open. He started to groan, but i covered his mouth and put my finger to my lips, guessing that to be the human "shh" signal. He nodded and sat up slowly, looking at the glowing walls and Zaanne. Zaanne paused, frowning down in quick thought before smiling again. "Then I'll just make something that doesn't require a constant energy depletion. If Ship can make clothes and bodies, why couldn't he make weapons?" He closed his eyes and concentrated, reaching his hand out. A three and a half foot stick of fire suspended itself in midair, right in front of Zaanne. As i watched, the fire began to solidify, slowly becoming more of what looked like metal. Apparently the aliens knew what he was up to. They charged him, but i intercepted. "Sup? I'm still here." They stopped, and i got the feeling nobody was really going to fight anytime soon, which was kinda boring. "Ah yes. Hello." The karate guy said. Now that I had their attention, I wasn't sure i wanted it. They stared down at me, and the shadows made a creepy smile play on their mouths. "Who exactly are you? You're not on our list of Zaanne's friends. Did you two just meet or something?" "How could they have met, he's been escalating the hospital since he woke up!" The guy in the tuxedo pointed out before turning to me. "Also I must also ask, how did you find the engine? We lost it on our way here." "It crash landed on my world, in Equestria." I didn't think about keeping my home arcane to the bad guys until after it slipped my mouth. "Equestria eh?" His voice rose to a slightly shrill pitch. He gave a slightly cocky look to his face and squinted at me, as if I were some cute mouse he was playing with before he stomped on it. "Maybe I'll stop by on my way to the ultimate world. Grab some space eggs, some space milk, then blow it the ___ up!" there was a harsh squealing noise when he tried to say that word. "Don't you quote Freiza," Zaanne yelled, "you don't even know Team Four Star!" I had no idea what they were talking about, as usual. I took the moment to look behind me to see Zaanne inspecting the thing he created. It was a sword, though I'm not sure how i knew, since I'd never seen one before. A double-edged steel blade with a metal hilt that spiked forward, with an emerald gem halfway down the flat of the blade and the butt end. The blade was glowing green, like it was about to shoot fire from it. "Woah, how'd you make that?" I knew the answer, but i couldn't help busy ask. "I just thought of the design for the blade and it made itself, well balanced too." He swung it around, leaving a green streak behind it. The noise of it slicing through the air sent a chill down my spine. Rayden had gotten up and was leaning on the pillar. His hair was over his eyes, but it was obvious he was confused. He looked me up and down, regarding my shirt, then he looked at Zaanne and the element on his ring. "What's going on?" Zaanne seemed to notice him awake. "World's gonna blow up, Equestria exists, that's Scootaloo over there-" he pointed the sword at me. "-and we need to take care of these guys before we go." At the word "Equestria", Rayden's eyes shot forward. He had a startlingly earnest stare compared to Zaanne, who seemed to joke around with everything he looked at. "Really? What can I do to help?!" "Wait, you had like, two seconds to register what he just said. You're seriously gonna risk helping two strangers with super powers just so you can get to Equestria? What's with you guys and my home?!" There was an akward pause before Zaanne spoke up. "You don't know the show, do you?" "What show?!" "Let's just say Princess Celestia's kinda a creeper." Ray said. The mentioning of her startled me. "Huh? How do you know her? What kind of a world is this?!" I backed to a wall and looked at all of them. It wasn't just the ship telling Zaanne about equestria, like i first thought. They knew the place, and apparently would give their lives to get there. "You know me, too, don't you Ray?" He looked at the ring, smiling lightly. "Mhm. Though I didn't think of ever get to meet you." His voice had a light accent to it, close to Rarity's but more... Masculine. "Are you ok with that, Scoots?" The aliens had sat back to listen. Apparently they had all the time in the world now that he was awake. "So," the one in the gi started, addressing to Zaanne, "are you ready to help us?" "Help you?" He said. The sword had it's tip pointed at them, though nobody made any attempt to back away. "Why the hell would i help you?" "Well, when we take the crystal that you so generously brought to us, we can start up the machine, make you a better world." "What will happen to this one?" I couldn't remember if we asked already, but it felt like a valid question. "It's umpure, so it shan't be remembered." "Remembered as?" The business man said "it just won't be remembered. We will blow it up and send a wave out to erase the memories of anyone that knows of it's existence." "So, again, why should i help you?" Zaanne walked towards them slowly, tightening his grip on the hilt. The man in the suit spoke slowly, softening his voice to a gentle hum. "Well, first of all, you won't have to live in Gabriel's head anymore. You could live in a world all on your own, with absolutely nothing you need to do. Nobody to say no to. Nobody to tell you what to do." Zaanne stopped walking. Apparently he'd considered that before. A lot. To the point that he started to mumble to himself like Gabe. "An entire world to myself? Nobody to tell me what to do..." I was certain that Gabe was telling him how sad that sounded. First off, it was a complete lie. The aliens would just wipe his memory and enslave him. Second, Ship could make him a body whenever he wanted. Even so, he looked at his hands, or Gabe's hands. Then he did something only the brightest of idiots would do in front of twin aliens. He laughed so hard he doubled over. When he straightened back up, he pointed to the roof, though he used the wrong finger for some reason. "You think i dislike being in Gabriel? He's my best friend, I'd never leave him hanging. Besides, they still need me to kick your green asses!" He closed his eyes and put a hand to his chest. And preached, "'I'd rather die of passion and love than to boredom and solitude!'" That last line hurt my head. It was the exact line from my scooter, word for word. I didn't know when he had the time to read it, but it was no doubt that he didn't just make that up. He spoke it like it was his own famous quote, something he's rehearsed a hundred times. I found myself murmuring, "Dad..." The only one that heared me seemed to be Ray, but they were too focused on the aliens for me to tell. "Ship, disable the pillar." I said. It will take at least ten minutes. Hacking into the hospital's mainframe will take longer with all the magic. Only problem: we didn't have ten minutes. "Do you really need to hack through the entire hospital to shut down one object?" "Yes" it said aloud, sounding like princess luna. "And if we break stuff?" "It might work." Then let's break stuff. Get me a weapon." I tapped Rayden on the shoulder. "Um, Mr. Rayden, do you want a sword or something." He gave me an interesting smile and pointed to Zaanne's blade. "That one will be fine." Two more blades started to form, one about two feet and one the same size as Zaanne's. "You know how to use that?" Zaanne said. Ray apparently did. He showed it by grabbing the sword as soon as it was finished and ran to the aliens. The karate one took out two crystal staffs and spun them. Immediatly they changed into katanas, one edged with green and red dragons printed on the hilt. It looked like the Hearths Warming Eve dragon. Before he could toss one of them to his lawyer partner. Ray and Zaanne were right in front of them. "Yeah, I do" he finally answered. I didn't. As soon as i grabbed it, i knew it wasn't my style. Mine looked a lot like an oversized dagger, with the same style of theirs. "Ok, no. I'll just stick with magic. Got anything good for that?" "You have to think of what you want." Zaanne called as the twins equipped themselves with their blades. I figured id be better off with the magic, but i wasnt sure how charged it was after Zaanne's first blast and the weapon designing. I grabbed my scooter and readied the weapon. As i started forward, the fight began. Karate guy, I'm going to call him Gi Guy, charged rayden. Busy the business man went for Zaanne. I figured Zaanne had good enough backup with Gabriel, so i went after Gi Guy. Rayden was doing better than I imagined with the sword. He let Gi come at him, dodging and blocking his swings, letting him tire himself out. Gi was too focused on hitting him to make any strategic movements, which feel right into Rayden's hand. He saw me coming and parried Gi's swing, punching him in the chest with the butt. When Gi staggered back, I rode at him, sword pointed straight forward. Unfortunantly, he saw me too. As soon as I got within stabbing range, he swung at my head. Fortunately, I saw it coming. I leaned backwards, the sword passing inches from my head. As i hit the wall, i pulled the handle back. I'd done this once before, in a ramped wall in ponyville. The momentum of the scooter hit the wall and flipped me upwards, straight on the alien's head. He hit the floor, but rolled out of the way before wood and wheels flattened him. Zaanne went with a magic/weapon mix. He swung first, hitting his blade onto the other as hard as he could. On contact, lightning shook the floor. Heat seared Busy's fancy tuxedo, but he held his ground. The alien came at him, them sharing blocks and swings like they were just playing with eachother, which they might have been. Each strike caused outside collateral damage. I could hear windows shatter, things hit the floor, and about a thousand females scream at once. A small part of me was confused on how Gabe's family could sleep through this. We continued to fight, me going X-games cavalry mode, Zaanne going wizard warrior and Ray just being awesome, until it started to go downhill. The small light in the crystal faded more and more from every hit Zaanne did. Before i could tell him to stop, he stabbed the floor. The blade magically went into the ground like butter. He yelled, and the ground around him glowed, then erupted. A circle ten feet wide shot through the roof. Busy up with it. Gi took the moment to watch his friend go up in flames, literally. Gabriel and Zaanne's crystal light faded, and when the fire fully died, Zaanne staggered to the wall. I got tired too, really tired, and the alien nearly had my head if Ray weren't there to block the attack. Then Zaanne winced, though he now sounded like Gabriel. He grabbed his chest, then hit the floor with a loud "thunk!" "Zaanne!" I rode over and left Ray to Gi, since he had it under control. A block, twist of the hilt, and a quick press downwards, and the alien's weapon skidded out from his hand, changing back to a crystal staff. The alien was close enough to set him on fire, but Ray stabbed the blade through his jacket sleeve, sticking his right arm to the wall. He started to raise his other hand, but Ray gave him a punch that even Rainbow Dash would approve of, and the Gi was out cold. He then ran to accompany me. Gabe was out, too. Ray knelt down and pressed his hand to his chest. "His heart's not beating..." My blood froze and I stared down at the green body in horror. "D-does that m-mean... Is h-he's-" Before i could say "dead", his chest started to move up and down heavily, like he was asleep. "He's alive!" Rayden checked his heartbeat, then his wrist, then his neck. With each part, his face became more and more concerned. "Just one thing." "Yeah?" He looked up to me, his eyes staring straight into mine. "His heart's still not beating. He should be dead right now." Author's Note Longest chapter award goes to the one with waaaay too much pre-fight dialogue. Also, hi Ray.
(Z/G) Code XAANNEAuthor's Note Chapters may get abit longer, sorry if you were looking for small ones. (Z/G) Code XAANNE I don't know what a hangover feels like, but what I felt from Zaanne using all that energy was about what i expect from one. When i regained consiencness, the first thing I saw was three Scootaloo's speaking all jumbly, then backing away when they saw me. I stared blankly until the ringing in my ears stopped and there was only one Scoots. When my eyes refocused, she was standing next to Rayden, both of them speechless. "W-what happened?", I asked. "Zaanne blew up an alien," Scootaloo said, "then you passed out for a few minutes." "Who's Zaanne?" Rayden asked. "Nevermind that. We need to get everyone out of here." I remembered where I was, why I was here, and whose fault it was for my family being in peril. "Ship, can you take everyone home, and wipe their memory of this ever happening?" "Meddling with the mind is a dangerous thing", Ship said from the crystal, "plus, the crystal only has the energy to keep you alive for now, you'll need to recharge it before you can use magic again." "Keep me alive?" I asked. I didn't feel too alive. My body felt like it was trying to move through syrup. My eyes were heavy, threatening me to lay down, just for a bit, and sleep for, oh, a month or so? My energy felt dimmer, no special glowing or flaming hands anymore. The crystal's magic aura felt weak and expended. "How can i recharge it?" "Well, it can recharge over time, be back to full power in a few hours. But certain objects can grant abit of juice for it. Put back the swords to get back abit of your energy." I didn't know what he was talking about for a second until I remembered the blade Zaanne had made. The sword had been impaled into the ground, still glowing with power. I wasn't sure how I would pull it out with my state, but luckily Rayden was there. A hard tug and it was free in his hand. "This what the rock meant?" "Yep, thanks." I reached out, but he moved the sword back from me. "Tell me what's up, then we can get going." I didn't know how much free time we had, but if he fought sword-to-katana with an alien because I was stupid enough to mess with their stuff, he deserved the truth. I sat back on the wall. I was too tired to try to move, or make any unessecary noises (by the way, I'm not as ADHD as Scootaloo said I am [normally{wow how many of these are there?}])... Anyway, I patted next to me for him to sit, which he did. Scootaloo had a conversation with the Ship as I tried my best to explain what happened at school, all the weird things of the hospital, and what i knew of the necklace. He sat silently, listening to every word far better than I could have. Once I finished, he looked at the crystal again, thinking over it calmly. "And Zaanne, is he a good guy or what?" "More of a fun bundle of awesome!" Zaanne bragged through the necklace. "Also, he told you what was going on, therefore you must complete the exchange." He shrugged and handed me my sword. The magic blade dissolved into a white energy in my palm, seeping into my skin and exposing the cyber lines on my hand and wrist. Instantly, I felt better. Strength surged through my body like I just drank a five hour energy drink. (When I drink one of those, I begin scaring myself with my hyperactivity.) The lights faded into the crystal, letting it glow wildly for a moment before dimming again, but looking a little more alive. I stood, streatching and flexing. "Better." Scootaloo stood next to me. "The crystal said you should lighten your energy usage until tomorow, given the time. I'll send your friends off and take their memories." She looked to ray, who was about twice her height. "Where did you get that?" She asked, pointing to his ring of RD's famous element. "Oh this? It's not real. Plastic, see?" Despite his previous comment, he took the ring off like he was taking off his wedding ring, which I've only seen once from my mom. "You can look at it if you promise to be careful with it." "Sure" she said, silently gesturing the Pinkie promise. As she looked at it, I turned to Rayden. He had a faint smile, which I didn't understand considering the situation we were just in. "So... RD's your favorite?" He shook off the smile and looked to me. "Yeah, who's yours?" It was a question I answered a lot to Zaanne, since he always wanted to hear it. "I don't like choosing favorites, don't wanna make others feel left out, ya know?" We stayed silent for a bit before he responded, "Well, if you could choose one to meet, which one would it be?" Scootaloo piped up before I could decide, "Hey, guys, what's 'made in China' supposed to mean? Is it some company that makes elements of harmony?" I couldn't help but laugh. "It's a country, on the oppisite side of the planet. Speaking of Earth..." I looked to the pillar, still brimming with the energy to kill us all. "Let's save it before we get going." "Yeah," Scootaloo said as she handed the ring back, "I still have to plan a date." Me and Ray gave her a look, that kind of look that makes people glance back the exact same way accidentally. "You have a boyfriend?" Zaanne asked, stifling a laugh. "Actually, it's a filly. Her name's Applebloom." I lost it. I hit the floor, my ribs hurting from laughing too hard almost immediatly. "APPLEBLOOM?! YOU'RE GOING OUT WITH HER?!" Even Rayden took some time to laugh... out loud. Her face looked exactly like an apple, ironically. "Hey, plenty of mares are into other mares, get over i-" she stopped, like she just realized what she said. "-Into Applebloom? We're just friends!" I couldn't see how her face could be redder, but she pulled it off. "Oh God, it's that kind of ponyville." Ray chuckled. "What's wrong with my world?!" "It's not your world, it's how it runs." I said, holding down squeaks and giggles like a real man should. "What's that supposed to mean?!" She asked, stepping angrily closer to me. Me and Zaanne yelled at once "SHIPPING! Welcome to the fandom Scoots!" "Shipping... Pinkie said something like that at sugarcube corner a while ago. I'm starting to feel that it's not a boat reference." "I'll explain when you're older," I promised, "how old are you?" "Nine and a half, why?" Ray walked off during my conversation with her, taking an interest in the alien. "Well, from my estimate on the age difference from ponyville to here, you should be as mature as my own age." "What are you talking about?" "One point five, I don't think you'd get it." She crossed her arms, apparently mad that she thought she couldn't understand me. "I deal with Twilight's jibberish, can't I at least try to understand yours?" "Ok, well-" I hopped to a wall and touched it. On my touch, a green light popped up, like a marker. I began writing on he wall as I explained my math and logic. "Well, when a dog becomes one year old, that counts as seven in human years. So i figured, what's the difference in ponies to us?" I wrote the equation, given Scootaloo's age. "If you are nine and a half, my best guess is that your human age becomes multiplied by one and a half. So, one point five times nine point five equals fourteen and a quarter, which would make your age about mine." "Ok, so what?" I continued talking. "The reason why mares and stallions get jobs at ages like fourteen and fifteen is because, by human terms, they're about twenty one then. How old is Rainbowdash?" Rayden stopped whatever he was doing to listen. "Fifteen" she answered without hesitation. Rayden grinned. "So, with that knowledge, we can say she's about-" I did the math on the wall, since multiplying decimals was never my strong suit. "-twenty two and a half years old." Rayden gave a pouty face. "So, why didn't I become your age when i became human?" "Good question, my guess, again it's a guess, is that the crystal doesn't mess with your mind when you change, just your body to match your pony body. So, you still don't have the amount of maturity of a fourteen year old, which isn't much different anyway. But your emotions, your time of fruition for your life, A.K.A. your cutie mark, comes when you're in your younger teens as a human. Though, as a human, it's normally dismissed thanks to this economy." "Ok, you lost me." Scootaloo admitted. "He's saying that you get older, quicker." Ray summed up. "Is that what goes through your head when you're bored or something?" "Pretty much.", I said. The alien in the corner, whom of which i completely forgot about, began to stir. "We should get out of here, before thing 1 and 2 come back around" As i said that, there was a brilliant flash of light, and my family dissappeared. I was reasonably terrified until i remembered what Scootaloo and the ship were doing. They can still build their world, ship said in my head, they took your friend's dreams and nightmares and will start it as soon as you leave. "Don't they need the crystal?" "They absorbed enough energy from your blasts to transfer it through." It said aloud. "Once the planet has the energy to form, it will continue on it's own. After it doesn't need Earth to support it, It'll either blow your planet up, of push it into the sun to cla Earths orbit." "Well shit, what now?" Zaanne said as I went to the pillar. Rayden had picked up one of the alien's weapons, which transformed into a belt for him to put on. "Can't we break it?" "I tried," Ship said, "it's indestructible without hacking, and it has a sheild that prevents physical damage." I considered my options, then snapped an idea. "What does it need to turn itself on?" "Four souls that have attachment to the ship, it starts what you might call a dream transfer. Each hand presses one button, which triggers the stored thoughts and transfers them into the planet, which in turn begins creation." I probably should have wondered why they made four buttons, when there was only two of them. Like an idiot, I didn't. "And if we were to disrupt the dreams going in and put my own imagination in?" "From the interference, it would either shatter the planet into multiple peices or create the world anyway, but only using one thought, both of which would in turn demolish the system." "Why would it break?" Rayden asked. "It uses so much energy that the machine was originally a one time use to begin with. It's hit-or-miss for the aliens, and for you." "What's the worst that can happen?" Scootaloo asked. "DON'T SAY THAT!!!" Zaanne yelled. "Every time i hear 'what's the worst that can happen?' It gets worse than what the answer originally was!" "Earth would explode if the planet was created as a whole." "... I swear to me scoots, if whatever Gabe is thinking up fails, I'm gonna kill you." Truthfully my plan was insane to begin with. "Zaanne, i need you to do something with ship as we do this." "Sup?" "I'm going to start up the machine. Me, you, Scootaloo and Gi guy will help start it up, then you will break into the system to put in my imagination instead of everyone else's." "One, now I know you're insane." Zaanne started to complain. "Two, why your thoughts?" "You know better than anyone that my thoughts will be hard for the aliens to control anyway." "... Fine." "Anyway, as the thing breaks, Rayden will turn that weapon into... something big, and smash the machine. At that point, ship will take us to ponyville before we get destroyed by the creeps." Nobody else argued, so I walked to the corner of the pillar, Scootaloo stood on one side and Ray dragged the sleeping alien to the other. "See you on the other side." Rayden said. "I hope you know what you're doing", Scoots murmured. "Countdown until mission 'code world break' begins. 10, 9-" Ship started. "Everyone ready?" I asked. Everyone nodded. "Let's get digital!" Zaanne shouted, and I pressed both hands on two buttons at once. Scootaloo the pegasus punched her button and Gi the alien had his hand pressed to the machine, still passed out. The machine glowed with power, and I closed my eyes and prayed for this to work. And as of me unable to do anything at that point, Zaanne can explain what happened to him in the machine. _______________________ If you ever wondered why our chapter name always has (Z/G) in it, even though Gabriel was the only one to narrorate, well, now you know. Ah, my story time, finally. As the team of organic beings stayed behind to keep the buttons pressed, me and James Bond materialized in a green world. I don't know why the ship decided to become that guy, since he looked way too well dressed to be running through the Matrix. I appeared as my own cool self, with the awesome green hair and the light clothing. The crystal hung proudly in front of me, waiting for me to do some more badass stuff with it. The world around us looked like one of those training simulators that super villains have, only much brighter. There was no floor besides cybernetic squares and random clouds of ones and zeros, which hung about the walls and floor like tiles. No roof either, just empty darkness when I looked up. "Well, this is new." About thirty yards away stood an circular opening in the tile wall, like a tunnel. It was the only thing in the room, so I shrugged and walked to it. There was a weird scent of burning rubber and oil. Apparently Cyberspace smells like a racetrack. A quick look down the hall showed no danger, but I entered cautiously. Something felt off, like I shouldn't be here. Or that I should have always been here, but like for some party that you're three hours late to and everyone keeps starring at you. I've been used to being the Blitz, since Gabe's mom was ten minutes late to every party she's ever attended. I opened my hands and closed them. When I looked down, they were each holding swords. It was hard to see them with the green and black lighting, but they were light enough to be dual wielded. Ship followed behind me, crawling even though the tunnle was about ten feet in diameter. "The roof isn't that low, you can walk." He shook his head silently, so I let it go and stayed quiet until we reached the other end of the tunnel. The next room was the same as the last one, only occupied. Hundreds of little red flaming blocks flew around a giant green orb. It was the size of a truck, with bundles of rocks inside. Every so often, a green mist would coil around the sphere, then dissapear into it. "Fire wall?" I guessed about the bricks. Bond nodded, "We need to get past it for us to transfer Gabriel's imagination into the planet, before it gets created." As I watched, the rocks inside the orb merged together, forming a small bundle of earth. It began growing, first slowly, but it continually got bigger with each minute. "I'll break the fire wall, you get the kid's brain in the planet." I said. As it turned out, I didn't need to fight the firewall. The blocks gathered together to create a fourth foot tall brick wall, which covered our view of the planet. In the back of my head, I heard the wall speak to me. Authorization requires pass code. Virus requires extermination. "And what does Zaanne get?" I asked. It was just ment to be a joke, but the blocks tumbled. They all hit the floor with the loudest clatter I've ever heard. As they fell, they kept yelling random things. "Zaanne!" One yelled. "Authorized virus!" Another chirpped. "Flared blue" a last one said, then they all turned into dust. At "Flared blue" the ship staggered back. "I've heard that before..." His image changed into some blue pony I didn't know, at least, he was never on the show. The ultimate world had gotten about as big as it's orb container, collecting more smoke and dust. "Yeah, that's nice. Let's finish this." I slowly stepped forward. The room darkened around the mass of rock. The pony behind me satbthere, pulling out a small clay vial. "This is Gabriel's imagination. All the good parts, with good people. But, with good people comes bad enemies. If this turns out how I expect it to, it might get... bad." "Well, if it gets too bad, I'll be moving to ponyville. Now if you don't mind." I grabbed the vial from his hoof and stood next to the orb, putting it in my pocket. "First to break it." Swords ready, I scissor sliced at the clay ball. My blades bounced harmlessly off. "What the hell?!" I hit it a few more times, but all I managed to do was waste time, so I threw the swords off, letting them dissipate back into the crystal. "Stupid... things I can't break." After a few seconds of standing there, not knowing what to do, I placed my hand on the orb. It hummed with power, waiting for the aliens to come and control it. I couldn't let that happen. As much as I hated most humans, this just felt unfair to them. "'Code Zaanne', password: 'Scooter'" I told it. I had no idea what the heck I was talking about, but I let instincts take over. "Command: break this new world apart." The mini planet grew cracks all over it's outer shell, and the mist poured out. Once the steam went away, it started to fall to pieces. "If I can't destroy you, I'll be damn sure you won't be a problem." I opened the ceramic vial, and blue and golden mist spilled out, immediatly being attracted to the broken peices of the planet. As they went into the rocks, a weird feeling spread across my body, like someone had just quickly jabbed a pressure point in me. I hit the floor, Ship follong me to the ground, and everything went dark. I didn't actually know I could dream. I was still me, but I felt like I was watching a movie in the first person view. Not exactly like having someone else control though, like Gabe does. I was walking down a metal hall, the blue pony that the ship copied behind me. "-not finished yet, Zaanne. I don't know what will happen. If this turns out how I think it will, things will be... bad." It sounded similar to what the ship had said, which made sense considering who he was copying. "I'm not going to fail you again, I promised you that." I heard myself say. "I need myself to finish this, even if it takes my life." "We need to just wait abit lon-" "No more waiting!" I snapped at the pony, which was totally unlike me, but I could feel stress overcoming me. I had failed on something big far too many times, I could tell. "We're both stuck in this place, and the only way to get you back home is if I finish this, right here, right now!" I could just make out the pony yelling, "Well we need to get back in one peice too!", but suddenly the image went to static, like when Slenderman catches you in the game. ______________________________ I reappeared back in Gabriel, who was also on the ground. He got up, rubbing his head. "Wha-what just happened?" "For once, i have no idea." I said, converting my voice through our crystal. "Rayden, smash the machine." With a strong swing of a warhammer that had miraculously appeared, the block broke like it was made of thin aluminum. The room shook, throwing everyone around, including the alien. "Get us out!" Gabriel yelled. "And for buck's sake, make me a pony!" I yelled in addition. Light flashed around us, and we all appeared in a pure white room. The ship was back as Bond, James Bond, smiling to everyone, who was sprawled about on the floor. Me and Gabriel had split, him being his original chubby blonde self and me as the green wonder. The ship asked, "So, would you like to make the pony design, Zaanne?" With the hair, the color of the crystal, and my clothing. I knew what I wanted me and Gabe to have. "Yep, and get Ray his pony too." I closed my eyes and concentrated. I felt the warmness of magic spread through my body. Standing felt hard, so I went on all fours. My fingers and toes began to morph together painlessly. My ears and eyes grew, along with my back becoming more aligned with crawling. My arms became legs. My back gave a weird tingling feeling under my shoulder blades. My back legs streatched into an equine's backside. Fur grew everywhere, from head to toe, which became muzzle and hooves slowly. As the transformation went on, I could feel the others changing. Eventually, I lost control of my body, letting Gabe take the reigns of our new form. I opened my eyes, and gave the greatest laugh that I could, Gabriel joining in, which made a weird echoing sound. "We just upgraded," I shouted, now in the body of a stallion pegasus, "from badass to badass mother fuckers!"
(S) welcome to ponyvilleAs much as I enjoyed being a human, I felt way more comfortable as my filly self. We all three appeared at the same alley that I started the mission in, me landing straight onto the crate. Gabriel had fallen into a bush and Rayden was still on his hind legs, but they both looked completely different. Rayden had the same mane color, but it slid and spiked down his pony neck now. He had a blue fur coat with a rectangular muzzle, a large chest and four powerful legs, now with hooves instead of hands and feet. Zaanne and Gabriel rolled out of the bush, still laughing histerically. They kept the mane, now curling and poking down to their shoulders. The colors filed themselves in order, now with blue and yellow in the middle of forest green. The muzzle was more curved. Their fur was a light green/aqua, with a slight shade of blue in the light. The crystal hung dimly on the pony's chest, now the same size as mine, but still with a leather cord. They both had wings, extending their body length outward on both sides, unlike mine. When they had gained proper poise, Gabriel looked out of the corner of the alley, holding back joyful giggles. "Ponyville?" "Yeah, it's not much compared to Canterlot. That's where the princesses live." "Tia and luna." Rayden hopped onto the crate and looked down on the town. "Ponyville is bigger than on T.V." "What's that?" "A computer, but it only plays movies." Gabriel explained. It sounded about as obsurd as karate aliens. We trotted out of the alley. Nopony was around, though it didn't seem like a lot of time had passed. The sun was about 3/4ths down thanks to Celestia's magic. My scooter had apparently came with me, sitting idly in the alley. The only noise was the trees and bushes rustling and a distant commotion. Zaanne asked, "Uh, where exactly in Ponyville are we?" "The estate area, where most of the ponies live, at least, the ones that don't live at work." I took a stick and drew a quick map in the dirt. "We are there," I said, pointing at the eastern part. "Most of the ponies are probably off for dinner there" I poked the spot where the food areas are, including Sugarcube Corner, in the center of town. Gabriel looked down at it and frowned. "I need a full map. Ship?" It responded. "You two depleted too much energy, with the fight and teleporting so many beings here. I suggest you wait a day or so to refuel. All the reserve energy is being used to keep your blood moving." Gabriel's face paled. "W-what?" I explained to him about how he's been awake without his heart beating. He felt his pulse, or tried to. He ended up just punching his neck and chest with his new hooves. "I need to see Twilight." He announced. "Why not a doctor?" I asked. "After the hospital stuff, I don't trust another medical facility." Nobody argued there, so we started our way to the large tree in the southern part of ponyville. Every so often we'd see a pony eye us before trotting off. Whenever we did, Gabriel's head darted in their direction, giving them a smile that made me stand a foot away. "Uhh, why do you do that?" "Do what?" "That face," Rayden said. "You did that when we met, too." Gabriel took a second to shake his head and give a straight face. "Oh, sorry about that. The one when I met you was on purpose, this was just from excitement! Meeting Twilight is gonna be awesome!" I doubted it would be too "awesome"; more "educational". "Why'd you do it on purpose at first?" Rayden asked as we left the housing area, turning down Plum St. Gabriel cleared his throat and explained, studdering the more he talked. "Well, for the past few years, I've been known to be creepy. Nobody ever wanted to play with me. I never kept a hobby to make any friends with it. Eventually-" he stopped and looked down, picking his words out carefully. For a happy guy, his face suddenly seemed to sadden. "-eventually, I stopped trying to make friends. I couldn't tell when someone was ever truly happy with my actions, even when they said it." He looked to the pegasi flying about. "They could be terrified and I'd barely notice, thanks to some social disorder I was born with. I'm sure most people have that problem, so I don't complain about it. I'd just sit quietly, giving smiles by being the weird kid that people could laugh at." "He's a loner", Zaanne summed up. "He doesn't need his memories to know that." "What about your friends, Jacob and Kenneth?" Ray asked. Before He could answer, there was a streak of pink, and the two hit the floor so hard that dirt shot everywhere. When the dirt cleared, a pink mare was on their chests, smiling twice as wide as Gabriel was before. "HI!" Pinkie Pie chirped. "My name is Pinkie Pie! I just saw you three and thought 'hey, I don't know those two!' Then I realized you two must be new here!" "Pinkie, get off of them, please." I asked. She obeyed, but felt obliged to hop in circles around the stallions, throwing out words at the speed of sound. "You two are pretty cool looking!" She inspected Rayden like he was a national treasure. "You smell like Rainbowdash! What shampoo do you use?" "Uhhh, Axe?" "Woah! You wash with an axe? That must be really hard! That must take a lot of gel to keep your hair intact!" She hopped over to Gabe, completely ignoring Rayden and me. "Hi! Who are you?" "Uhhh, I'm-" He looked to the clouds, as if trying to remember his own name. "-Zaanne. That's Rayden, by the way." Me and Rayden gave him a confused look while Pinkie started back from the top. "Zaanne? That's a really cool name! You have awesome hair! Ooo, What's that thing?" She reached for the crystal on "Zaanne's" neck, but he pulled back. "Please don't touch that! I-It's important to me." He said. "Oh, ok. Well can you tell me what your cutie mark means? I love hearing those stories!" She hopped to Gabriel's backside and poked it. We all looked and backed away from Zaanne. "How did you get that?!" I demanded. "You just got here!" "Huh?" He looked at it and smiled. "I got my cutie mark! What is it?" It was a good question. At first glance, it looked like a black smiley face with a big nose. But with a closer look, it also looked like the bass note on it's side, the colon being the smiley face's eyes. Without looking at the dots, it looked a lot like a wave as well. "It's like one of those papers splattered in ink." Rayden commented. "Only abit more direct." "Wonder what it means." Gabriel thought aloud. The crystal stayed silent, but I could tell the real Zaanne was talking in his head. Gabe's head would twitch to the side, like he was trying to listen to someone that wasn't there. "How could you not know what your cutie mark means?!" Pinkie asked, looking extremely concerned. "Are you ok?" It was completely unfair. I spend a year trying to get mine unsuccessfully, and he just hops in with a free cutie mark? He didn't even know what it represented! "I think so." Zaanne continued walking, still a little too lost in thought to talk. "He's pretty cool, all mysterious! Just like Mare Do-well!" Pinkie said. "Weren't you Mare Do-well, Pinkie?" Rayden asked. I'm not sure how he knew that, but he seemed fairly certain. Pinkie giggled and smiled brightly. "Oh yeah! I guess I was!" She laughed and ran off, leaving us to follow Gabriel. They could see the library over a few buildings now, so I didn't need to guide them. This area was more filled, with a lot of pegasi flying about and earth ponies and unicorns running around, laughing and chatting everywhere. Gabriel and Zaanne eventually left LaLa Land and started popping off names of ponies they somehow knew, Rayden joining in. "There's lyra and Bon Bon!" Zaanne yelled. "It's Roseluck!" Gabe pointed out. "Hey, there's Derpy!" Ray yelled, pointing to Ditzy Doo. Finally, after naming half of the ponies on the road, we made it to the library. The tree loomed over me, as usual considering my height, the trunk hollowed out to make a big house inside. The door was left open, which was odd considering the occasional cold winds that swept throuout the street. I was the first one in, followed by the others. The main room was nothing but a circle of books, most organized through the wooden walls, some on a table in the middle with a star design engraved on it. The only wall without a shelf had stairs cut into it, spiraling to the space that Twilight lives in. "Cool books." Gabriel said, poking one about flower growing. Rayden looked at the shelves, silently observing the library. I couldn't read his mind, like Zaanne or Gabriel, but he seemed interested in few books. "May I help you?" A voice asked from the doorway. We turned to meet the violet unicorn herself, standing at the door. She looked the same as ever. Her purple body was matched with her dark purple nerd hair, with two pink highlights to compensate for all the violet. Her eyes stared down the two stallions quizzically, as if about to start a game of 20 questions. The sparkling star on her flank was still behind the door she entered from. Gabriel walked to her, holding out a hoof. "Hi, my name is Zaanne. Do you happen to know how to check a pulse?" He asked as if it were a completely typical question. She blinked her purple cat eyes quickly, looking him up and down. "You don't know how to check your own pulse? I'm sorry, but don't you learn how to do that in, like, fifth grade?" "I learned how to check my pulse in third, but..." He couldn't really say he was really a monkey from outer space, and didn't know how to do an actual pony's pulse. "I forgot. Please help, I think something's wrong." She gave him a puzzled look as she shook his hoof. "Well ok then, best spot is right here-" she poked a part of Gabriel's neck. Immediatly, he laughed and flinched at the same time, backing away. "Sorry about that. Sensative skin, I'll check there." He pressed his hoof to his neck again lightly and waited. Ten seconds went by before he let go, confusion in his eyes. "I don't feel anything." "You were pressing on the right area," Twilight said, "you should feel it. Did you try, oh I don't know, your chest? That's normally where your heart is." He tried but shook his head. "Nothing." He looked at a small door in the back. "Mind if I try your pulse machine thing? Just to make sure." "My what?" "You know," he started, "the thing in the basement of your library that checks your heart rate and stuff. Isn't that where your labratory is?" She looked thuroghly shocked. "How do you know about that? Have you been spying on me?!" She looked at the crystal on his neck, ignoring mine for some reason. "There's magic in that, isn't there?" "Yeah, that's one reason why I wanted to be checked out." He thought through his words then stammered "I-I mean, not like checking a person out as in the creepy way! Like, checking blood and insulin and stuff like that!" "Insulin?" I asked. "Material that comes from the pancreas," Twilight and Gabriel said in unison, "it helps regulate the amount if glucose in foods while passing into the intestines." There was a silent pause between the two before Twilight spoke up. "Books." "Brother has diabetes", Gabriel explained "Oh my, type one or two?" "The bad one, so one I belive." "Well then," Ray inturupted the nerd fest, "can you record his pulse? We already know what we'll find, so why bother?" Gabriel looked at the hundreds of books, as if one of them could help him understand the crystal. "I want it on paper. I don't trust myself to give an accurate assumption." Twilight hesitated before opening the door to the basement, which he went down slowly. "I don't have anything scheduled for the next twenty minutes, I might as well help you strangers. Scootaloo, you should go meetup with your, ah, other friends." She looked at the crystal like it was made of one of Spike's muffins that Applejack poisoned. "I'd be careful with that necklace. If it's dangerous, I don't want you to get hurt." I promised to be safe and headed out. Rayden followed Twilight down to the basement as well, probably to make sure Zaanne didn't blow anything up again. I hid behind the library to make sure nopony was looking, then summoned my scooter and rode off to Sweetiebelle's house. So far, all she'd seen is the school blow up, then her two best friends take off to the hospital. She deserved an explanation. Even so, I didn't rush. Without the crystal being needed, it's power was kept to a minimum, leaving me aching and tired. The only things that felt fine were my wings, probably since humans don't have those, so i leaned against the handles and propelled myself forward. Along the scooter ride, I couldn't help but think through all the crazy things that had happened over the day. Not just the aliens, or the crash. There was an entire world somewhere that nopony knew about. That other planet had knowledge of my world, even though we've never met. When Zaanne had landed in ponyville, he had acted like it was the greatest thing in his life. Questions bubbled in the back of my head, but there were too many to answer. Where did the aliens come from? What happened to Gabriel that made his heart connect to the crystal? What else is in the other place, besides China and a hospital? When was the last time I looked at the road? Is that a wall? I didn't register that last question until i was flatcaked to the Carousel Boutique. I hit the wall hard enough to get the attention of Rarity, which I know because of the suprised yelp from inside. The fashionista looked out of her home/shop and noticed the filly sprawled out against her wall. "Good heavens dear, are you ok?" She came out and gasped loudly. "Why Scootaloo, you're all dirty! Come inside and freshen up this instant!" Apparently getting dirty was more shaking than getting hurt to her. She was right, of course. I was head to tail covered in dirt and ash. Apparently the crystal didn't clean my body up when I left, though I was sure it did when I last fell asleep. Rarity brought forth a sponge. At first, I thought she was going to neat freak me to death. Instead she wiped off the streak of dirt from my impact point. "Go inside and shower, Sweetiebelle was just about to bathe anyway. I suppose I'll get the last of your friends while I'm out." She then saw the jewel hanging off my chest. "Also, emerald isn't your color. Try amethyst." She left, so I entered. "She really trusts you and Sweetiebelle to be alone in a fashion store?" Zaanne asked through the rock. "Why not? We know our way around." I went to the back of the store to enter the bathroom, where Sweetiebelle was setting towels and warming the tub. "Oh hey Scootaloo!" She chirped. "What's that?!" She poked at my gem and I moved her hoof. "It's a necklace, obviously. Mind sharing the bathtub?" She looked me up and down, as If just registering my filth, and then laughed. "Of course you can, Scoots!" She was pretty dirty herself, with twigs in her curly pink mane and brown and sappy splotches mixed in her white fur. It must be horrible to have to wash yourself when you have white for a body, Zaanne added, you'd be in the bath forever! Is there, like, pony bleach or something?" Well it's nice to see you're joking around again. Haven't heard much from you since the pillar exploded. I let Sweetiebelle get in first, then followed her in. The water felt amazing against my muscles, and I began to relax immediatly. "So, how's the school?" I asked, realizing that was a stupid question. "It... Could be better." She responded, taking the soap. "By that, you mean we're not having scool tomorow, don't you?" "Pretty much." She splashed me with some soapy water, which immediatly started an aqua war of epic proportions. She fired soapy missiles using a sponge-on-bar technique, and I pushed her around in the water to knock off her concentration, which is pretty easy with her. I don't know about the rest of the team, but either Sweetiebelle is a little slow (no offence if you are, sweetie) or she has slight ADD problems. After a few minutes of batting eachother around, we were squeaky clean. But I really didn't want to get out. The water was so warm and the outside was so cold, laziness overtooke me and I slipped my neck deep into the tub. "This day has been really weird." "Yeah, with the meteor and the fake date planning, you've had a full day, and it's just now 7:30!" You guys have dinner at 7:30? Really? "Yeah. It's been a really long day. So, what am I supposed to do for that date?" Bubbles were all through my mane, so I poked them until they popped. "Well, I'm sure Applebloom would like it if you took her somewhere better than her own home. I still suggest Sugarcube Corner, it'll look beautiful at night!" "Won't it be freezing at night? It'll be snowing then." "Oh, it's been snowing for almost three minutes now." Sure enough, when I looked out of the window, white flakes batted lightly against the glass. Besides, Zaanne said, the colder it is, the closer you get to be to her. For a person who found violence to be a hobby, Zaanne apparently liked to play with emotions just as much. The idea made my body tingle. I imagined sitting next to AB, keeping eachother warm next to a night's snow glowing orange from a fireplace. For some reason, seeing red fire instead of green sounded delightful. We could talk and laugh and sing and keep close. It was a warmth greater than any fireplace or magic could accommodate for. "Hello?" Sweetiebelle had to shake me to bring me out of my thoughts. "Scoots to equestria." "H-huh?" I realized I was still looking out the window, so i slid back in the tub and stared at Sweetiebelle. "Yeah?" "You spaced out at the snow. Are you ok, your face is red." I eyed the sink's mirror and saw that I was blushing. "Uhhh, the heat of the tub, that's all." The scene was still painted in the back of my head, along with Zaanne's laughter. Sweetiebelle studied my face, and after a few seconds she asked, "How important is Applebloom to you?" "Wh-what?" She repeated the question, squinting her green eyes at me. "Oh, she's, you know, a... friend." Thinking through the right words when you're tired and in a hot tub was hard, that's what was wrong. "Mhmm," she sat closer to me. "you both like mares, right?" "Hey, if you have a problem with that, you can just say it up front." She rose her hooves in defence. "All I'm saying is that you're both into eachother... eachother's gender. And you're best friends, like really good friends." She stared at me like I wasn't getting something. "Soooo we're super best friend?" I don't know who I heard the facehoof from first, Sweetiebelle or Zaanne. Ship added. It seems she's implying that you and Applebloom either are or should be in a closer relationship than 'friends'. What so like, super ultra best friends? Even Ship had to take a moment to sigh. No... I didn't get what they were talking about, or why they were pressing the matter so much, so I just set it aside. "Well, if you three aren't going to make sense, I'm just gonna sum this up. I'm taking Applebloom to Sugarcube Corner Wednesday night for apple pie, to figure out how to date so we can give accurate advice to others." That was the plan from the start, but it seemed everypony forgot about it. "Rarity showed Sweetiebelle, so I'll learn by taking Applebloom." "Wait, 'you three'?" Sweetiebelle looked around the bathroom. "Who else is in here?" "Uhh, the rubber ducky?" I hopped out of the tub, now completely clean, and grabbed a towel from the rack. Sweetiebelle followed, grabbing her own pink towel with white designs running through it. I ditched the bathroom in enough time to meet Applebloom at the door. The cuts and bruises on her completely gone now. She looked like she just got out of the bath, like me. In the front door, with the setting sun, her wettened yellow fur glinted amazing shades of gold, like a hundred bits shining under water. Her mane and was like lava spilling downward, pressed against her neck and shoulders and spread with her yellow body. For some reason, she kept the tattered red bow in her mane, even though it wasn't helping much to keep the hair out of her eyes. She must have been freezing from being outside, but she smiled like it was a warm Summer day. "Hi Scoots! Hey Sweetiebelle!" The words didn't really process at first. Applebloom looked great in a soaked kind of way. I couldn't help but keep looking at her, setting blinking as a side priority. I didn't respond until a unicorn elbowed my side, which totally wasn't needed. "Ow! Uh, hi Applebloom." I'm starting to see what Gabriel meant, Zaanne thought, about the age thing. Huh? I skillfully responded. Well, you're nine years old, but the way you look at her is like how a regular teenager would look at someone they liked. It's like your maturity is mixed between a nine year old and a fourteen year old. I only half heard him, still a little dazed at something I wasn't sure of. Applebloom approached, shaking like a dog. Ice cold water slapped our faces, but I didn't care. Seeing her in full health again made me feel warm to the bone. "It's great to be out of the cold!" She looked to Sweetiebelle. "You ok Sweetiebelle? Last i saw of ya was you being tossed like a sack of apples down the school hill!" "I'm fine", she responded. "Scootaloo planned out the fake date into more detail while we took a bath." She said "fake" like it was foreign to the sentence. "Lucky, my bath included Pinkie Pie blasting me with the party cannon again, yelling stuff about ships and me needing to be clean for it." We laughed for a bit before she cleared her throat. "So, what's our date gonna be?" I explained how the day would go. She stole my towel and slumped down on that couch that randomly appeared in Rarity's house, or anywhere that the dramatic unicorn was at. I had nothing against teleporting furniture, so I sat with her. "You like apple pie, right?" I finished. "I'd love that, thank you." Her accent made "love" sound a lot like "lawve", which was cute in it's own way. She draped half of the towel around me, and i was relieved. It was still pretty cold, and she was great at sharing her warmth. I pulled my half of the towel over my back. "Hey, if it's a fake date to teach others how to do it, shouldn't it be the day before the day that everypony starts dating?" Sweetiebelle answered, "it needs to be as real as possible!" I hadn't realized the only one not to sit was her until just then. She stood there, shuffling akwardly in place. "I see you two could use abit of time to, uh, dry off and stuff. I'll go do... Stuff." She trotted off quickly, talking to Rarity's cat, Opal. We stayed silent for a while before Applebloom spoke up. "When you came to check up on me, I accidentally fell asleep. When I woke up, all my injuries were gone." She studied her forehooves. "What happened there?" I wasn't sure how to respond, but I gave it my best shot. "Well, the meteor that crashed into our school had some healing powers that hit us, so we healed over time." "You were just fine when you came in, and you wore that necklace-" She poked the magic crystal that helped me save Gabriel's planet. "That's part of the meteor, isn't it?" I nodded, displaying the magical ship in my hooves. "It's alive, it talks to you when you wear it, along with some other things I met while you were asleep." Applebloom deserved the truth, so that's what I gave her, even though I originally planned on coming to clear things up with Sweetiebelle. I told her about everything, from the point of the crash to the fight with the aliens Gi and Busy. I spoke about Ship, and Gabriel and his weird friends, Rayden and Zaanne. "They talk to me through the crystal. Gabriel and Rayden are at Twilight's house right now, getting a checkup." She stared at me like I just fell out of the sky. "That sounds insane! You sure you didn't just bonk your head really hard?" "She's calling me a bonk to the head?" Zaanne asked through the crystal. "Would you liked to be called that?" Applebloom didn't move, but her face was dead set on the crystal. "Did it just talk?" "Technically, the crystal doesn't talk." Ship started. "It amplifys thoughts that are preceded as words, translating and converting them into speech through the generator, like a microphone." Ship's newly acquired voice sounded familiar. "Spitfire?!" Applebloom stared at Scootaloo in wonder. "You have Spitfire in it?" "Ah, no. That was the ship, we call it, well, Ship. It does that sometimes. The one before was Zaanne." I figured Applebloom had no more sense in not running away from the freak with voices on her neck, but she did the exact oppisite. She got even closer, placing a hoof to my chest and looking closely into the crystal. "Wow, they can hear me?" Something in my chest went "boom" by her touch, which has never happened before. She was so close that I could feel her breath on my chest, tingling my skin weirdly. "Y-yeah, they can." I was aware of the towel still around us, despite that we were now dry. Her hair was back to it's normal self, her tail wagging lightly against mine. Something in the back of my head was nagging to pull her closer, which was stupid. She was my best friend, why would I want her so close? I shook the urge and hopped off the couch. "Well, I best be checking on Gabriel, see if his appointment with Twilight is done." Sweetiebelle sighed, as if I were her only company, without the Apple family or Sweetiebelle or a hundred other ponies that would be more fun to hang out with. "Well ok. I'll watch over Sweetiebelle. Take care of yourself!" I promised I would and ran out the door. Freezing air cooled off my face, which was burning for reasons I couldn't understand. I turned one last time to see Applebloom. She stared back with her beautiful amber eyes, covered in a towel and holding a smile. Her cheeks were slightly red, and her smile quavered, like she was hiding a frown. Then she turned to the white unicorn and started talking to her, letting the door shut behind us. You know, Zaanne murmered, there's oblivious, then there's just plain stupid. She's not stupid, Ship snapped. It was odd for him, or her, to show emotion. He considered his outburst and suggested, Ah, try ignorant, maybe. whatever, she's fairly clueless on Applebloom's feelings. "I know how she feels!" I responded out loud. "She's sad for some reason, that or concerned. She smiled to me and frowned to Sweetiebelle, so either I upset her somehow or she didn't want to stay with Sweetiebelle." "To find the answer, you'd have to dig abit deeper." Ship suggested. The sun was almost down now, taking away any heat that I had before. I wished I could set my hooves on fire, but that would cause too much attention. I worked my way down the street as snowflakes danced in the sky, collecting on the rooftops. Sundown brought an amazing orange blanket across the rim of the horizon. I was afraid of slipping on the ice after a snowboarding incident a few weeks ago, so i walked without my scooter. Even though I felt like a Popsicle trotting through falling snow, I still had the warm image of Applebloom in my head. Us next to a fire, chatting like best friends, or better. I sighed, setting that image aside, and galloped to the library. Author's Note Special early chapter for valentines day.
(S) Stupid dreamsAuthor's Note sorry for such a short chapter. Last time on Zaanne: "'up up and away!' 'Nope!'" This time on Zaanne... (S) Stupid dreams I made it home just before the snow picked up. Still, I felt like stalagmite on my scooter as I parked it. I quickly went inside. I had apparently left the door unlocked, not that I lived in a bad neighborhood or anything. With the sun set, the house was dark, quiet, and cold, as usual. Dust had collected on the living room furniture; we never got a chance to sit around in here. My trophie case sat old dusty cups and plaques. The goblet that said "Xtreme pony 1st place" had cobwebs spread across to a metal plate with a ribbon engraved on the side that said "Wing cancer awareness marathon winner" The house could warm itself due to some pegasi magic-stuff, but I had no clue how to do that, so I trudged on to my room upstairs. The crystal gave enough light to see myself to my bed, and I plopped down onto it like a sack of potatoes. "Where's your parents?" Zaanne asked. He seemed genuinely concerned. "My mom works out of town. She's not always here." "And your father?" I looked out the window, watching the snow fall mutely against the homes around us. "Never really met my dad, he ditched us around the time I was born." "They were married, right?" He asked. "Of course, why wouldn't they be?" "Well, you got one thing better than Gabriel there." I sat up, looking at the crystal. "His parents weren't married? I thought you had to be married before you had kids." The wind whistled against the house. "I'll let him explain. Just know that the human world is messed up." "For now," Ship said, "get some sleep. I sence a long day tomorow." Not the best comment for sleeping, but the crystal streamed soft music through my head, a song about some girl named Delilah, and I quickly drifted off to Dream Land. Unfortunantly, my dream land was a little broken. In my dream, I was galloping through ponyville, with Gabriel next to me. We were going as fast as possible, my scooter gone. Gabriel (or Zaanne, I couldn't see his eyes) looked beat up, but I saw myself pointing to a mountain in the distance, yelling something at him. My voice was drowned out by a loud roar not too far behind us. The whole town had taken a beating. Random houses were on fire, and a few homes in complete ruin. The sky was dark and ashen, the snow in the sky turning black for some reason. It reminded me of a snow storm of ashes. "We need to get to that mountain!" I heard myself yell at Gabriel. The roar picked up again, louder and much closer. The floor rumbled, like the earth was breaking under us. "Well then, let's get going!" He shouted, sprinting down ponyville. He shot his head to the side and yelled, "The machine is there? Why did they even make another one?!" I figured he was asking Zaanne, so I focused on galloping. The scooter appeared in front of me so I sped forward on that. Gabriel kept our speed by doing some hop/glide with his wings. The thing behind us roared, and the dream buzzed out. When my vision came back on, I was back in the dark room with a new machine next to me. I wasn't focused on that though, I was more worried about Applebloom, who was in some animal cage. She didn't look harmed, but she was obviously scared. She was also mad about something, grumbling to herself and looking in the dark. "Calm down, AB." I said. "We can't get you out without Zaanne though, and he's, ah, busy with something." "Ok" she grumbled. The room shook violently, tossing me into the machine. When I looked up to it, I got a nice picture of something I didn't want to see. It looked like a giant fish bowl flipped over. Inside was pure black, with little lights flashing on and off inside the bowl. Every few seconds, a light would glow blue, and it would stay there. There weren't many, maybe three, but more were popping up. As if on cue of weird events, the walls shook and light poured into my eyes. When the light faded, I was back in the white place with Ship and Zaanne. The place was boring, nothing but white with a slight green tint in any way you look. The floor was like marble, but it didn't reflect my image, so more like a tile floor without lines. Ship was a human that I didn't recognize. He looked more like a Supersized bowling ball covered in a tropical shirt and tan shorts. His head was popped out though, a chubby mound of meat with eyes and a huge smile on his face. "Why are you so fat?" I asked. Not the nicest thing to say, but he was seriously big. "I'm not fat, I'm fluffy." He hobbled from Zaanne and waved to me. "He's transformed into a comedian again. His name is Gabriel Iglesias, not our Gabe though, so don't confuse the two chubbies." Zaanne was in his pony form, looking at the same clipboard from the afternoon. "What are you looking at?" I asked, pointing a hoof to Zaanne. "Oh this?" He held up the clipboard like it was an unimportant peice of wood. "It's plans for stuff, like the things we summon or new uses for the magic." He slid the board to me and i took a look at it. The stuff he put made no sence with too much clarity. It had a picture of a fire with random words around it like "blow up" and "fire punch". Next to it was a lightning bolt with a few less words spiraling around that. "Water" and "storm" were circled in blue. Under that had a funny picture of a stick human holding a sword. There were plenty of things there, most of which were circled. "Dragon voice", "Keyblade", "Food", and "Ubercharger-thingy" was circled twice. "What's an 'Ubercharger-thingy'" I asked. "It's a backpack thing with a canon thing that shoots good thingies!" Zaanne was by far the greatest person to explain stuff. "Well that's nice," I said. Until humans made more sense, I was going to wear a cowboy hat upside down everywhere. "Ship, what happened to the aliens?" The Hawaiian bowling ball tapped the side of his pudgy head. "They're doing something in the Everfree Forest, that is all i can see. I do sense that Gabriel knows more of their whereabouts." "You 'sense' him? How does that work?" For the guy that knew everything, he seemed puzzled by the question. "I'm not entirely sure how, I figure it's some internal energy source in me." Ship sat down on the floor and crossed his arms, or tried to. "Zaanne, what happened to the time machine you were making? Did you just stop working on it?" "I finish what I start, unlike most people." The green stallion rolled onto his hooves. "I merely took a quick break after something in it broke." "If you mess with time, you might not like the outcome." "Yeah yeah, anyway-" Zaanne waved a hoof to the air and a video appeared. "-This is what happened." The video showed him, as a human, working on something that looked like a big blue box. It could probably fit three people at the maximum. It was about 8 feet tall, with windows lining the top of the doorway. The top of the wooden box said "Police Box", but it looked like it could fit under the description of "Cookie Box". Zaanne kept banging the sides of it with a hammer, muttering to himself before taking the crystal necklace off. That seemed like a really risky move considering the rock was keeping Gabriel alive. Zaanne tossed the ship/rock/crystal to the top of the machine, where an open light was set. The crystal fell into the light, and the machine hummed smoothly before going completely silent. Zaanne didn't seem satisfied, so he ran into the box. I couldn't see in it, but the entire construction started making a loud whooshing noise and slowly dissappeared. It reappeared, but it looked abit different. First off, the color changed to green, which didn't suprise me at all. Second, the light had turned on and glowed brightly. I wasn't sure what I was looking at. "Okay, so you made a teleporting box. Why did you make everything green though?" "Keep watching." Zaanne ordered. The human hopped out of the box and grinned like a madmare. Immediately, things went downhill. The box itself glowed brighter than the light, making Zaanne cover his eyes. The whole image went into a series of random colors, swirling through space with the sound of explosions and a thousand people talking at once rolling out like a extremely broken tape. When the colors and voices died, Zaanne was on the floor, next to a circle of ash and the crystal. "That's what happened." He cut off the show and dissipated the screen. "I'm not entirely sure what all that stuff was though." "If I may guess," Ship said, "you broke the time vortex while trying to make the heart of the time machine." "I'm not sure what that is." I said. "Wibbly-wobbly stuff. It's all timey-wimey." The pegasus frowned. "If it is, then we need to be careful of what happens around us. Scootaloo, what did you dream of before you came here?" "Why?" I asked. "I just wanna know. If the vortex thingy hit the crystal, it might have effected you." It seemed logical enough, for something with no logic at all. I told him my dream, about the roar and the mountain and the new machine. I left out the part of Applebloom, partially because is didn't seen important. Partially because it felt like it should be my responsibility to save her. "So, the aliens are doing something again eh?" Zaanne laughed, bringing up his cheery side. "They'll be sorry they tried to mess with ponyville!" "Or 'will try'." Ship pointed out. "It could have been a dream of the future." I said, "Well, since i haven't seen the new machine yet, I'm going for future on my dream." "Come to think of it, that explosion happened before we blew up the last machine." Zaanne looked to the sky. "So that might explain my dream as well." "You can dream?" I asked. "Well it's more like a vision, like the one you had. Me and some blue pony yelled at eachother for a few seconds, then it ended." "Blue pony..." I thought about the writing on my scooter, and how Zaanne had preached it word for word, as if he said that every Sunday. "Zaanne, do you remember what you said, right before the sword fighting?" "Yes, 'I'd rather die of passion and love than to boredom and solitude'. Why, is it important?" I didn't know if it would work in a dream, but I rose my hoof. With a quick flash of light, the scooter appeared. I rolled it to the pony. "Read what's under it." Zaanne flipped the board and read the words aloud. After he did, he re-read it, and reviewed it again. "It's a convinent message, the things most people want yet never get, but it can also be used in reverse. A lot get passion and love but must first live with boredom and solitude. But a lot of people just want to be alone, and have to fake compassion to obtain it." He looked at the initials. "B.F.? Is it from your best friend?" "No, it's from my dad, his name was Blur Flare, or something like that." The name made Ship shuffle nervously, which again was odd for a computer. Ship had started to gain more and more emotion, considering the first time I met him, all he did was speak completely monotone. "When we were in the machine, some of the firewall bricks said 'Flare Blue'. Maybe he what they meant." The information made my head buzz. What did the aliens know about my dad? They apparently knew him and Zaanne more than Gabriel, but Zaanne had never left Gabe since... well, I'm not sure when. I realized I was probably overthinking it, so I forced it out of my mind. Even then, the room seemed to get ten degrees colder over the conversation. "We'll talk about it later," Ship decided, "for now, it seems that Scootaloo has had a dream from the future, with the information presented." He transformed into a tall man in something that was either a black karate gi, or a dark bathrobe. He had curly dark brown hair and a scar down the side of his face. His voice changed to have the same accent as Rayden. "I suspect that, if she had a dream of the future, and Zaanne had that vision of his apparent past, Gabriel should be currently dreaming of the present tense." "So, I have a past I apparently don't know, aliens are still trying to kill us, and Scootaloo's daddy issues might have something to do with it?" Zaanne laughed at the sky, as if he wasn't psychotic enough. "This story just keeps getting better and better!" Before I could respond to that, there was a weird fold of light next to me, and Gabriel appeared, sprawled out on the floor. He was human, but slightly fatter, though not as chubby as the other Gabriel, and with curly blond hair instead of Zaanne's flame spikes. "Nice of you to join us." Zaanne chided as Gabe sat up quickly. "Care for a blankie as you lie about?" He ignored Zaanne. "Guys, we have a problem!" He stopped when he saw Ship. "Anakin Skywalker? Why are you him?" "That's not important, share your information please." "Well the problem is that the aliens are up to something!" I fiddled with the handles of my scooter. "We got that already, they're making another machine, and we don't know what it does." "How do we know all this?" Ship grunted. "Zaanne tried to make the Tardis." Gabriel stared at the pony stunned. "What made that seem like a good idea? We already have teleporting transportation!" "Yes but the crystal cannot travel time." He summoned a ball and rolled it in his fingers. "The crystal can copy the powers that change stuff, like explosions and fire, but time is constant. You can't stop it, so you can't copy it, which is the crystal's specialty. Therefore I was going to make a Tardis to help us out, but it backfired." How Zaanne could come with such a conclusion, then call something an "ubercharger-thingy", I had no idea. Zaanne had been able to tap into the crystal's power and summon a storm of fire without even trying. Granted, it took his life force out for a moment, he still was able to use it, and considering we had about twelve hours of improper training, it seemed improbable. I shot the ball with fire as he tossed it in the air. "And now we all get dreams of the past, present, and future. So, what was your dream?" "Well if that's true, then we're more screwed than I previously thought." Gabriel eyed the sky like it was about to roar at him and announced, "We have dragons coming to town."
(Z/G) Stupid DragonsMy dream was nice and sweet for an amazing twenty seconds. I was in a forest in the night time, with a canopy of trees the size of towers looming over my head and flowed off to the edge of my vision. Since most of the leaves had fallen, moonlight glittered across the ground in astonishing patterns and colors, mainly brown and blue from the dead leaves scattered about. Wind rippled through the leaves, giving a soft chill to roll across my back. It smelled like fresh, unpolluted nature, something I couldn't perceive at first. Being a Texan (or an American in general), there weren't too many places open to actually enjoy such feelings. There was also another smell that reminded me of chewed gum, which felt off to the tranquil setting. I had just finished absorbing the sights as i saw something glitter in a tree. An egg, about the size of an ostridge's egg, layed in a homely nest. The sphere was patterned with blue and white spots, sparkling against Luna's light. It was by far the most beautiful egg I've ever seen, so much so that I nearly told my dream to go grab it for me. Not two seconds later did I see a shadow as long as a trireme zip through the trees and grab the shiny bird's egg. It hit the ground, the poor baby clamped in razor sharp claws. At that point, the moon could have shut off, because I really didn't want to see the little fella go. The beast was almost the size of the trees, glowering at the egg as if it was his least favorite dish. He (I assumed it was a he) gleamed his scales like a crimson disco ball across the trees, showing a reptilian body with thin, bony wings like the world's largest, most pissed off bat/iguana hybrid around. Green spikes curved out of his spine, starting from the battering ram of a tail and trailing up to his forehead. The first thought that came was, that's the evilest Mohawk I have ever seen. The second was, he better not eat that pretty egg! When he opened his mouth, the gum smell got worse, mixing with thousands of meals that really needed some breath mints shot into. That all added to his dangerous appearance. Rows of teeth deadly enough for Zaanne to fangirl over seemed to sparkle in the twilight (pun intended). The baby bird was the size of a bowling ball, but the dragon popped it like a pill. I looked away as he ate, which later felt like a stupid idea if I were actually standing there. I'd most likely be his next meal. Something stirred behind the dragon, and a human came out of the shadows. I was only partially startled when I realized it was one of the duo of aliens. She didn't look like them, now being a skinny girl with long curly red hair, shaggy blue jeans and an XL jacket with a peace mark glinting in the dark. Looks were deceiving with them, though. It's the eyes that tell the story; they were glowing faintly green, illuminating around her face like superman about to use eco-friendly heat vision. "Hello." The hippy said softly. The dragon reared his head over to the girl and growled deeply. It spoke deeply, the words echoing through the forest. "Who do you think you are, approaching a mighty dragon like an equal?! Cower!" The alien didn't seem to care about the insult of being a lesser being, and continued to inch forward. "I can be a friend, or maybe I can be an enemy. The chances of me just being eaten is also to be considered." She spread her arms out. "I'm sure you can distinguish who I will be forthcoming this chat." The lizard scratched his head, which sounded like a knife being dragged across solid steel. Once he registered the words, he scowled in a very dragon-like way. "What's your name?" "I haven't got one..." The question seemed to puzzle the alien. "The only name I've been called is Gi, and Clarissa, but i don't think those are right." She shook her head and looked into the dragon's yellow eyes. "Anyway, I came to suggest a new entrée for you next supper." They were squinting down at the puny insect, as if he wanted to eat it, yet was amused by the fact it could talk. "You have ten seconds to explain, and five more to tell me where it is." The alien pursed her lips. "Well if you have an appetite for ponies and magic crystals, I have just the place for you." "And why shouldn't I just eat you?" It seemed like a great idea to me. "Oh you can eat me later, but first I'll show you where to get some nice, warm ponies to gobble up!" She sounded like how my sister acts when Awolnation has a concert in town. "But you mustn't be greedy, there's plenty of ponies to share with the rest of your kin." At the word "share", he growled deep enough for a full grown lion to cower. "They will NOT, this meal is mine!" He sniffed the air, trying to find something else to eat until supper. "Ponies, that shouldn't be too hard to eat." "Oh, there has only been one dragon that has meddled with this group, and I heard he left crying. It might be too much to-" The dragon roared so loudly, the trees momentarily parted, showing his entire murderous image. "YOU DO NOT SPEAK OF MY RACE AS SUCH WEAKLINGS!" His literacy felt off in my head, though he might have said it correctly for all I know; the words were still buzzing in my ears. "Then we leave at noon, it'll be about two hours of flight there." "What's in it for you then?" The dragon asked. He had at least a little common sense. I'm not sure if I liked it. "Why bother telling me about this place?" "Two reasons," the alien started, sitting on the dragon's foot like a cute green kitty. "First off, they have a specific crystal I'd like to get my hands on. Secondly-" she directed her attention to the side, and I swore her eyes were straight onto mine. "I need to buy some space eggs and milk." "Then I appeared here." I said, finishing up the story to the gang. "Alright then," Zaanne sat up, mixed with excitement and determination. "What are dragon types weak to?" The ship said, "They are weak to dragon and ice, recently they have a new weakness to fairy type moves. Resistant to nearly all other types." "To hell with any of this new Pokémon crap, we're being original here." He looked at a ball that Scootaloo hit with fire. "Anypony know how to control ice?" Scootaloo stayed quiet during the entire story, but she spoke up. "If they attack ponyville with a dragon, can't Fluttershy just tell him off?" I responded. "My guess is that the other dragon Fluttershy faced was tired to begin with, which made him easier to break down. This guy looked wide awake to me." Fluttershy was amazing for getting a full grown dragon to leave without it blowing up her team, but he was also about to take a century nap. It was most likely too exhausted to want to go through the trouble of eating before bed. Zaanne had stopped listening as i spoke. He looked off and mumbled to himself, his face showing deep thought. "With your weak magic, I'm not sure we could hold off the dragon, and I can't switch out for more than a few minutes for now." "For now?" I asked. He stared away from the group, now lost in his head, which I could relate to at the moment. "You two wake up, get Pinkie to make this-" a piece of paper floated into my lap. "-only tell Twilight, Pinkie and Applebloom about the dragon, then get as far away from Ponyville with them." Ship seemed to just realize how spaced out Zaanne was. "You planned that out quickly, do you know what will happen?" "I may not tell the future like Scootaloo, but if I'm right, Twilight should be able to get everypony out of town before the attack and Pinkie will be a great help with the defenses." He pointed to Scootaloo. "And we need to hide your girlfriend from the aliens." The color drained from Scootaloo's face, immediately becoming bright red. "S-she's not my girlfriend!" "Really?" I leaned to her, examining her face. I couldn't read emotions, as usual, but the Pegasus' eyes wouldn't meet mine, and they blinked a lot. Her eyebrows curved upwards, though i couldn't tell if that was from embarrassment or confusion. "How many hints do you need to get you on your way with her?" Zaanne inturupted. "We don't have time for relationship status problems! Now you two wake up, and do what i told you!" He snapped his fingers and I reappeared on Fluttershy's sofa. It had finished snowing last night, and the fire I had summoned died a while ago.My brain said it was about 3:00, since the sun had barely peaked above the horizon. Fluttershy was up early as well, sipping some tea at the table we ate at and staring out the window. She wore some rubber boots and the scarf and sweater again, the ski cap set aside her. She hadn't noticed my awakening, she just sighed and stared out to the snow-covered world. I looked out and my eyes widened. The land was covered in white, unleaved trees lining far away like a miniature forest of silver. I hadn't seen anything so still, yet so amazing. No wind, no talking, the area was calm and nice, nothing like a dragon's eating ground. I looked back to the mare, and the snow felt insignificant. She must have noticed me, because she broke her concentration to look into my eyes. "Good morning, did you sleep well?" It took a second to realize she spoke. Seeing into her eyes, I realized how animals must have felt when she have them the Stare. Disturbing her was intolerated, disobeying her was suddenly unheard of. I tried to say something about having a terrible dream, but all that came out was, "Uhhhhmm- huh?" She realized she was staring into my soul and blinked, releasing my brain. "S-sorry!" She whispered, "I was just looking at your eyes and the Stare came out." I couldn't tell how intentional it was, considering, last i checked, she controlled it herself. "It's alright." I rubbed the weariness out of my eyes, staring out the window. Humans complimented my eyes a lot, seeing as how they're baby blue, sometimes even grey. I didn't think much of it, considering humans just complimented when they wanted something from me. Speaking of humans, i remembered there were two human impersonators trying to kill me. "But I do have a suggestion for what to do today." "Yes?" She crossed her forelegs gently to the floor and leaned forward on them. "There's something coming, something bad. You should go warn Twilight to get everypony away from town." She sipped her tea through a straw, which seemed a little unconventional for a teacup. I guess it helped when you didn't have hands. "What's coming?" A psychopathic duo of aliens and a typical dragon, why not? I didn't say that since she was afraid of dragons, so I used the half-truth explanation. "Some bad monsters are comming to try and eat us up, and one intends on stealing Applebloom, if I'm correct." Even with avoiding the word "dragon", her face showed obvious worry. She stood up quickly, voice quavering. "Oh no! I-I'll go get Twilight, can you please make sure Applebloom is okay?" She was already halfway out the door when I responded. "Scootaloo's already on that, I'm off to get Pinkie help defend the town." She nodded and we raced to town square, where Sugarcube Corner stood brightly in the snow. "Be carefull," Fluttershy warned before galloping to the library. Outside felt like a Winter wonderland, but I'd have to enjoy the snow after fending off the dragon. I ran in. Pinkie pie was up already, in nothing but a pink scarf with purple polka-dots and four ice skates slung over her back. She tossed the blades to a table that looked like it had been assaulted with syrup. "Hi Zaanne!" She yelled, hopping over to inspect my clothes. I recalled taking most of the clothes off at Fluttershy's house, but now I was fully dressed for winter again, thanks to the crystal. "Come here for some delicious cupcakes? Or maybe some flatcakes!" "You mean pancakes?" She gasped and smiled up to her ears. "That's the perfect name for them! It's a cupcake made in a pan! 'PANCAKE'!" She hopped from table to table, chanting with far too much energy for it being so early in the morning, "Pancakes Pancakes Pancakes!" "Actually, I'd like what's on this list-" from my jacket pocket, I pulled out the list, reread it, then gave it to the mare. "- and a shot of whatever makes you the most hyper." She looked at the paper and stared back, fairly stunned. "Well this is an odd list, with such a weird request under it." She giggled like a maniac and skipped to the kitchen. "It'll be right out, plus one 'Super Duper Pinkie-style Cocoa'!" That sounded dangerously delicious, so I sat next to a table and watched the hyperactive pony bolt from the kitchen to up the stairs, then the cash register, the table, the kitchen, the roof (not sure why), then dissappeared back into the bakery. I'll be damned if you survive both the dragon AND the cocoa, Zaanne muttered in awe of Pinkie's multitasking skills. A few seconds later, Pinkie Pie trotted back with two coffee mugs covered in whip cream. "It's warm, but cool enough to drink at once." She showed this by emptying her entire drink in one gulp. She smiled and ran around some more. I shrugged and took a sip. It wasn't more than a milliliter, but the world slowed down around me. I could feel my pupils dilating as the energy hit me tenfold compared to the magic crystal. "What's in this?!" "Compressed magic sugar crystals, i think." She flipped off a beam in the roof and landed next to the broken table. "The effect only lasts about ten minutes or so, but it leaves you wide awake!" She looked at Zaanne's list and nodded. "I'm gonna make your order now. Also, your glowing, thought I should say that." Then she was gone. She was right; after another sip, the magic tattoos reappeared across my body. My senses went into overdrive, hearing every pony in ponyville yawn and shuffle around drowsy. I didn't even look outside to know that Scootaloo was riding her scooter to Sweet Apple Acres, which was nearly a mile away. It was like I could smell the snow just by looking at it. The fact that I could almost smell colors only slightly bothered me. Alrighty then! Zaanne feels what I feel sometimes, so I guess he got hit with the hyper treat as well. With this cocoa, we'll surely be able to kick some reptilian ass! Ship found the perfect time to ruin the mood. "The aliens gathered more than one dragon." "What?" I asked hypothetically. "Go to the roof of the building and listen." Ship commanded. Getting to the roof was easy, I just batted my wings and jumped from my hind legs, firing me up like a rocket. When I reached the tip of the building, I closed my eyes and listened as hard as possible. The sugar rush made it so I could hear much farther than ponyville. After some mental thought to find dragon roars, I sensed about five or six growls and wings flapping from somewhere far away. "Well, crap." "Save the rest of the hot chocolate," Ship suggested, still sounding like the Chosen One. "There's also an item that'll help us out in Twilight's labratory, if my memory serves right." I made the cup of hot chocolate dissapear to wherever all of my stuff goes, then headed off to the library, leaping over buildings with a single bound and running on walls, just for the fun of it. With no more wind messing with my flight, I wasn't crashing every time I glided, but it was still about as easy as riding a unicycle without pedals. I hit the ground and used my momentum to zip through Twilight's open window. I landed safely enough, though I had to roll to avoid crashing into Twi. Fluttershy stood at the door, but jumped to my sudden appearance. "Z-Zaanne?" "Hey Fluttershy, how's the conversation going? Good, great!" I flipped over the unicorn to the lab entrance. "Mind if I borrow your magic enhancer-thingy?" "Wait, what's going on?" Twilight asked. "Is it the same problem that Fluttershy stated?" "Yes, but it's abit worse than I had expected." I sped through what I had heard, still avoiding the dragon part. "So, i have the energy, but now i could really use some extra magic to help us out." Fluttershy said, "But you're a pegasus..." Twilight shook her head, far too calm for what i needed "Everyone has magic, just some species can activate it easier." I tugged impatiently on the handle "Great, so can you help us all and unlock the door?" The unicorn really didn't have too many reasons to trust my instincts, so a small part of me figured she'd just toss off the words, or suspect I'm secretly with the bad guys, considering most people don't just dream of monsters attacking the place. "Well..." The unicorn pulled out some keys and hovered it into the door's lock. I didn't recall there being a lock on the door in the show, but now it had a metal key hole under the knob. With a twist and click, the door swung open. if you die, Zaanne said crossly, I'm keeping our body. I muttered under my breath, "Thanks, i feel sooo confident." I looked behind me. Fluttershy was staring back, confused, and Twilight stood next to me, since i didn't know how to get the machine working. "Flutters, you coming?" She looked to the dark tunnel to the lab and frowned. "That looks a little dark." But for some reason she followed along anyway. "Onward!" All three of us went back to the lab. Author's Note The descriptions slowly got worse for some reason...
(S) preparationsMost ponies my age had to worry about stuff like getting to school on time and playing sports. Me? I get to try to hide my best friend from some stingy dragons that apparently smell like gum. I snapped awake, hoping this doesn't happen every pre-Hearts and Hooves Day. Zaanne gave fairly specific instructions to warn Applebloom about the baddies, then try and find a place where she wouldn't be thought to have any connections with me or Gabriel. My bedroom felt strangely fictional compared to the constant moving and yapping of the other guys. The only thing that controlled itself was the chicken alarm clock, which rang ten minutes after I woke up. Before I left, i brushed my teeth, had another bath, made breakfast and read the engraving on my scooter once more. All of which Zaanne rushed me through. "Hurry up; Gabriel doesn't even eat breakfast! Shower faster! Read that later! Your teeth are animated, it's not like they get dirty anyway!" I put a snow cap over my mane, since it was still wet, and rode off to Sweet Apple Acres. I saw Zaanne run out of Fluttershy's house on my way there, but I didn't make any attention to him. He had things to do as well, so I accelerated downhill to the thousands of apple trees in the distance. I could see Big Macintosh sitting idly on the front porch of their house, in the chair that Rainbow sat in yesterday. "Is Applebloom awake?" I asked. "Nnnnope" he said simply. "What will she be awake?" He pointed to the clock hanging off the wall. "Soon enough." I nodded and sat oppisite to him, waiting for AB to come downstairs. It had stopped snowing, and the world was blanketed in white, practically untouched besides my hoofprints. There was an odd silence that fell along the land; normally pigs and cows made a large racket. I realized that this was the most likely reason Big Mac had sat out there. He loved silence. The chair had been caked with snow and ice as well, so I curled up like a cat to stay warm. I'd have to check the crystal's instruction booklet for "how to summon instant heaters" later. Big Mac fell asleep in his chair, but I didn't notice at first because it looked like he was just closing his eyes for a deep thought. He had a stick of hay hanging out of his mouth, though it wasn't there five seconds ago. "This is boring," Zaanne said aloud, "how does Big Mac stand the silence?!" "Some ponies are patienter." I muttered. My tail was slapping my face, so i passed the time by blowing it away when it moved. "Patienter isn't a word i belive," Ship spoke. "Try 'more tolerable'." "I don't need a living dictionary in my head." I heard a door open and a pair of hooves travel slowly down some stairs. "It'd be more accurate for me to be a thesau-, right, sorry." The hoof steps moved to the living room, and I could see Applebloom's head through the window. She wasn't wearing her typical bow, and her red hair split off down the sides of her neck instead of bundling in one place as usual. I found it cute, not that it mattered, but she also just woke up, most likely comming down for breakfast; not the perfect time to say hi. I adjusted myself to be able to watch her through the window (it's not creepy if it's important), swishing my tail across my muzzle. I figured i should knock, but I was really comfortable being a cat, curled up like a ball, so I stayed just like that. Zaanne seemed to want to yell at me for being too slow, but i could feel his energy rising, like he just had one of Pinkie's secret sugar treats. After a few short minutes, Applebloom walked outside to see Big Mac sleeping in one chair and a curled up orange and purple thing in the other. "S-Scootaloo?" She stammered, obviously not a morning pony, "why are you acting like a cat?" Part of me wanted to meow at her, but the urge went away. "It was cold." "Ya could have come inside." She saw Big Macintosh and sighed. "He slept outside again? He's afraid of his bedroom ever since a chicken landed on his window seal the night we told him about the cockatrice." I couldn't help but laugh. AB threw a red blanket over Big Mac and brought me in. "Ya hungry?" She asked. "Nah, i had breakfast before i came." She nodded and sat down to a plate of apple fritters and a basic red delicious. She smiled to the food, which saved the trouble of having to fully wake her up. "Hi Applebloom." Zaanne said quickly. "Hia Zaanne, hi Ship! Ya'll two being good to Scootaloo, right?" Ship spoke softly, "Of course, Ms. Bloom. We wouldn't dare out her in anymore danger than we're already in." "Wait wha?" We took turns explaining the dragons about to attack and how I prophesied her abduction. Zaanne's story included three extra dragons and the alien begging for mercy. Ship's version was so spot on, you'd figure he was the one who dreamed about it, but he added so many details that the story was slightly boring, and my story seemed to trail more and more off the subject. "He was all like, 'oh no, don't hurt me!' And cowered like a freaking dog!" Zaanne yelled. Ship said, "The constant tone of his voice indicated that he most likely was trying to convince the beast with reverse psycology, using extra phrases to provoke him into comming to eat us." "Gabriel saw a hippy talking to the dragon, and the dragon is about to come and-... Can dragons really talk? How could the alien communicate with that thing? What kind of apples do you use to make apple fritters?" After a few well spent minutes of distorted speaking, Applebloom shook her hooves around frantically. "Okay okay! Dragons are comming, taking me, and those bad guys are about to do something, well, bad again. "Sums it up pretty well." Zaanne said. "Gabriel is preparing our defences and buffing himself with random crap, and we're here to make sure you don't get caught." Ship added, "Also there's a few more dragons, but that's aside the point for now." AB's face paled. "And they're all about to come and attack ponyville? Can't they wait until, like, after Hearts and Hooves Day?" "Dragons are about to attack, and you're worried about your date with Scootaloo?" Zaanne asked aloud. She registered the selfishness and blushed like a red delicious (what, it's the name!) "S-sorry! It's just that, well, uhh..." "What's wrong Applebloom?" I asked. She studdered too much to understand her. "Me, you, date, girls, derp, fire, special, us..." I thought she was talking about some romance movie when she put her hooves to her face and took a slow breath. "Hard to explain." "Especially to such an unknowing pony," Zaanne muttered. "Applebloom," Ship said smoothly. "If you are too embarrassed to explain it properly to her, i could try to help." She sighed slowly. "No, I'll get it soon enough, thanks." "Get what?" I asked aloud, then in my head, Why don't any of you explain what's going on with her? There are some things that you have to do on your own, Zaanne said, which didn't help at all for me. I closed my eyes and cleared my mind, thinking through what Applebloom has shown. The red heart on the gifts. Her constant blush when she's around me. The fact that she's into mares. "Ohhhhh, i get it! you really love the color red!" The Earth pony didn't seem amused by my answer. "Well yes, but that's not it exactly." "Hmmmm, right before Ship blew our school up, Sweetiebelle was trying to say something. 'Its that Applebloom li-' then BOOM! I'm assuming 'li-' means 'like', so what do you like?" Zaanne interrupted. "Dragons are coming. walk and talk please." "Where am I taking her anyway?" "I'd head for Twilight Sparkle's lab," Ship suggested, "she'd be fairly safe from the dragons, and still in town to check up on her." "And Gabriel's there getting a power-up." Zaanne added. "Let's go there." Nopony argued, so we made our way to the library. Applebloom and I trudged through the snow glumly, staying side-by-side. The farm filly was silent for the entire trip, only speaking up when she remembered she forgot her bow. I said, "It's alright, you look fine without it." Her face brightened and she trotted closer, which I was okay with. In my dream, she was trapped in a dark room with some giant star sheet as dragons destroyed Ponyville. Being close to me as we walk through the snow to a library sounded much more relaxing. As I came closer to the building, something felt off. The ground under me had melted, leaving mud on my hooves, and the earth heated itself as we got to the door. "What's going on in here?" Zaanne explained, Buffing up for the dragons. Twilight can give you more detail. So, without knocking, we cantered through the door and to the unicorn's basement. If a giant yellow elephant stormed through the room, the sight wouldn't have been weirder. A dark shade of green had grown along the walls, like the place was sporadically caked in mold. Books and scrolls were frozen in the air, suspended by a translucent black haze swirling in the air. The cold dissapeard, changed to heated air which blew in my face. The floor hummed deeply, causing my hooves to vibrate soothingly. The gentle hum of the ground made my eyes droop, sapping off my energy and leaving me as tired as when I fell asleep. Considering this not a good nap time, we entered Twilight Sparkle's lab. Gabriel wasn't too hard to spot out, since he was a miniature green sun. A wave of heat dried my eyes out, so I looked away. Behind a flipped table, I could barely make out Twilight and Fluttershy in the shade of the intense light, eyes shut and muzzles to the floor. Eventually, the blinding light faded, leaving a smoking pegasus on the floor. Me eyes adjusted to the dimmed light, showing Gabriel standing back up slowly. He looked, well, darker, even though he was still glowing along lines across his body. His breath slowed down, and the constant moving and nervous energy had dissappeared. He acted so much like himself that I thought Zaanne and him had switched places, but when he looked up, Gabriel's blue eyes still shone. "Z-Zaanne?" Fluttershy stammered, walking to him. "Are you okay?" "Y-yeah." He said, somehow as silent as the shy pony. He stopped talking after. is he really alright? i asked the real Zaanne. I could feel the energy given off from outside! He has some clinical depression, which is why he's like this sometimes. The majority of his energy was stored in the crystal. He is correct, Ship stated, we are at 608% power now, 304% for each. Don't i get an energy reserve? Zaanne asked. So long as you don't fire all of our power out at once like last time, you'd each have about 152% in total. Ohoh, say the full equation for Pi now! Zaanne chirped "What's Pi?" I asked, not caring whether it's in my head or not. Twilight and Ship answered with a copious string if numbers, the only one I registered being a three. "-So, Zaanne. How do you feel?" Twilight said after she finished. "I feel like it's Meteor Monday again." He joked softly. "The hot chocolate might help. Or perhaps another lullaby, that song was adorable." I was not sure what he was talking about, as usual, but since Fluttershy smiled timidly, I bet she did the singing. "You can take a nap later," I said. "Twilight, can you watch over Applebloom in here while this goes down?" A.B. is pretty independent, so I figured she would say something about taking care of herself, but she stayed silent. The unicorn nodded, with a slight smile ticking at her cheeks. "I'm happy to see that you care for your friends. She may stay here while I help everypony else in town." She then frowned. "That's a lot of ponies though. Fluttershy, would you mind helping me?" "Of course." Fluttershy was still staring at Gabriel though. "Will you be okay, since you still can't fully fly yet." Gabriel nodded earnestly. "So long as everyone is safe, I can deal with these baddies." He looked to the top of the room, having a quick conversation in his head. "Also, the problem here is dragons, so you should hurry up." Twilight didn't seen suprised, but fluttershy looked like she got hit in the face with a frying pan. Fake Zaanne walked up to her and patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, if we hurry, nopony should get hurt. Go with Twilight and gather the towns people up." She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and gave Gabriel a good-luck kiss on his cheek "Okay." Fluttershy whispered, and walked back upstairs with a baffled Twilight. "Uhhhh... Gabriel?" I waved my hoof in front of home but he just stared at the wall. "Depression faded yet?" Applebloom pulled up a chair and sat down on it. "Ah can't be entirely sure, but ah think he likes her." "Touching, really." Zaanne scoffed, though his voice was light. "Can we go finish our job now?" "As soon as Gabriel wakes up." I stride behind him and whacked him in the back of the head. He jumped, backing up to the energy machine. "What!?" "Dragons, Ponyville, hippy aliens. Time to go." the time is 1:50 P.M. Ship informed. How the time passed so quickly from when I awoke, i had no clue. As a filly, my mom told me that time flies when I'm having fun. Nothing about this situation screamed "fun" to me. Zaanne said, "It'd be a real dick move to bring someone else into this fight..." Then the room brightened up. When the light faded, pony-Rayden was sprawled on the floor. He bolted up, looking around frantically. "Wha-?!" The magic weapon thing had transformed into an intricate chest plate, like the ones the royal guards wore. "Scootaloo, Gabriel... You could warn me before you do that!" "That was Zaanne, not us," Gabriel sighed. "and he had a good reason." The green pony summoned a cup of dark brown liquid. "But first, I'm gonna have some cocoa."
(G/Z) My ingeniously stupid planAuthor's Note Yay, chapter 20! I might take abit longer to post and edit each chapter, due to my sister needing help with some kittens. Not like any more than three people care about this story. (G/Z) My ingeniously stupid plan When I arrived, it look exactly as weird as i had expected it, and a few other ponies had stopped to stare with me, as if they hadn't seen it before. A wall of brown bread-like blocks that were dotted with various foods lined along the outer area of ponyville. The foundation towered up even over Rainbow's cloud mansion, spanning out a perfect circle around ponyville. Each brick was matted and cemented with peanut butter, which dried together in the little sun we had. At the top of the pillar was a pink pony. She was smearing the top with peanut butter. "Pinkie!" I called. She couldn't hear me, but i could register her giggling and singing about peanut butter ponies. "Do i have to go up there?" No response. With a strong jump of my hind legs, i hit the wall, running up at her. My forehooves would have pushed me off, so i just kicked up like a satyr with wings, using them to keep my body forward. Ten seconds later, I was at the top. Wind ripped through my fur, being at a higher elevation, which made me fold my wings. At the top, i had a beautiful view of the entire land of Equestria. Mountains spiked along the horizon, trailing throughout the landscape. Beyond that was the colder areas, where the Crystal Empire stood in it's love barrier. The Everfree Forest seemed to be raining in it's area, a wall of clouds swirling violently through it. Our village had been powdered in white, besides Twilight's library. The town looked sad, surrounded by a mile tall wall. I knew it was for the best, since the place would get destroyed if it wasn't. "Pinkie!" I shouted over the wind. This time, her ears perked up. She looked to me, smiling even though she looked like she took a bath in peanut butter. "Hi Zaanne!" She skiped to me and gestured a hoof to the wall. "Just as you asked! 130 thousand blocks of fruitcake in a wall around the town, covered in peanut butter-" she looked at a leather watch that appeared out of nowhere. "-by noon too!" "Bravo Pinks, you've really outdone yourself this time. Now if i may ask for one more thing." "What might it be?!" Her hair was covered in the fruit peices and bread, smiling up with a cute twinkle in her eyes. "Twilight and Fluttershy are escorting everypony out to Canterlot. Being the main jester here, can you go encourage the town to go? We don't have much time." Before she could ask why, a roar broke through the cloudy sky. I could hear the townsponies start to chatter cautiously, from the dragon and the fruitcake fort. Pinkie's hyperactivity melted into confusion. "What smells like bubble gum?" "It's not bubble gum, i think it's eucalyptus leaves. Dragons like them." I could smell the minty scent as well, obviously wafting from the outer side of the wall. "Uh, how do you know that?" "Zoë and Ladon, it's in a book." "Ooh i love books! They take you to worlds far beyond your imagination!" She smiled to me, waiting for a response. "Imagination is the door to all worlds, the key to these worlds is the knowledge that all fantasy has a sliver of reality to it, which is what pulls you to it. Therefore the things in your imagination can lead to being real events in some cases." Drop the mic. Pinkie seemed to calm down by that somehow. "That's one way to look at it. I better get to helping the others." She jumped off the side like it were a two foot high diving board. "So were gonna go kill dragons now right?" Zaanne asked impatiently. "We won't kill them, just make sure they don't attack the ponies." The plan formed in my head, going from hard, to dangerous, to just plain impossible. Fortunately, I had an odd knack for doing impossible things. I survived an explosion to the heart, psychotic aliens with a control problem and amnesia. Why not a team of dragons? Unfortunantly, it would also mean Ponyville would definantly be destroyed, which was not my original plan. But every pony will be healthy. I summoned some paper and pencil and wrote a note. Walking to the edge of the inner wall, i tossed the note, noting the wind sticking it to the fruitcake. "So," Zaanne cleared his throat, "what's the plan? Just gonna jump from here and hit them hard?" "That's step one." I remembered when the aliens fought Zaanne for the first time, and what happened when they punched eachother's fists. "Ship, inform Scootaloo and Rayden I'll be out." "What are you planning to do?" Ship asked, strangely amused. "I'm gonna hit them hard." I charged the destructive punch through my hind legs and forehooves, then jumped into the air. Angling my back to the direction of the dragons, I slammed all of my legs together. The limbs glowed in cybernetic lining, and everything went white... again. _____________________________________ If I had a bit for everything that could go wrong here, I could properly pay off the million fruitcake barrier. I could miss the dragons, i could hit a tree, or another pegasus, or a cloud (which are apparently like the ooblic of high velocity pegasi.) and an endless amount of injuries could show. So, you might be asking, "Why did Gabriel rocket propell himself to demon lizards on his own?" Well, silly reader, the answer is the exact reason you asked. It would completely confuse the enemy. The aliens know I have most control over the body, and that either me or Ship would make the planning, which would be a far more defencive side of staying together. They wouldn't expect us to follow any of Zaanne's satanic ideas. Therefore, to have the element of suprise, choosing a stupid idea sounded the most logical. What, it's legit. I must say though, unless you are either the main character or rival to the main character, don't do suicide missions. The white turned into large spots in my eyes, allowing me to take an overview of where I was flying. Wind screamed in my ears hauntingly as I spiraled through the sky, over strong clouds and through the weaker ones. The dragons were close, i could feel their energy thanks to the crystal. I repositioned myself to face the dragons' presence, then spread my wings. I'm unsure how, but gliding after I got shot like a rocket was easier than basic takeoff. My wings cut through the wind and stiffened out, balancing me immediately. With a quick look behind me, I could see that I somehow made one of those comet trails that Rainbow Dash could make when she flew fast enough, though mine was green with a blue and yellow glow. As cool as it would have been to explode into rainbows, the acceleration remained too constant. I concentrated forward and soared through the sky. The clouds finally parted from it's snowy environment. I was flying over a sea of trees, none bigger than the library but still a good height. It spanned in all directions and dissappeared into the horizon. The sun beated down on my fur coat, making things far too hot for my type of comfort. Dragons aren't hard to find when they're in a group. There were six, each one different sizes and shapes. The tiniest one was electric blue and about the same size as Spike, but with wings long as his body. The second one appeared to be a neon green Komodo Dragon, with skinny bat wings and yellow spikes running along it's body. The spikes sparked with charged electricity. Third dragon appeared to be a biped, red with orange down the belly, puffing out his chest and giving a cocky grin that Zaanne really wanted to smack off him. It didn't take me three seconds to remember he was Garble, one of the dragons that Spike had ventured with for a short time. The three taller dragons appeared full grown, growling in the sky and roaring at eachother. These three looked relatively the same, though it was obvious they resembled different types of dragons. Big Red was there, spitting fire at trees and causing a huge mess of the forest we flew over. Big guy #2 was white with beautiful blue eyes, it's roar sounding just like the wind in my ears. It's spikes were transparent, but glowed in it's core like giant blue glow sticks. It breathed out pure snow. Anything it touched would immediately freeze, so his flight path became a path of snowclouds and hail. The last dragon held a green and yellow mix of scales, and the only one with no spikes at all, not counting it's claws. It coursed with lightning, like Zaanne had in the black room, but this guy was more than just a show-off. Tendrils of electricity sparked the clouds, making thunder storms where he passed, sending more forest life on fire. It's roars sounded like the sky booming with thunder. I would have landed to let the hot chocolate crawl back down from my throat, but I realized I still couldn't land. Luckily I found two aliens to break my fall. I had plenty of time to examine the dragons, since they flew through the air, but the aliens were simply perched on a high tree. Rocketing to them, I spun back-down and kicked my legs out, bucking one clean off the branch. I reached out and snapped the branch like it was butter as i flew by, making the other alien drop like a stone. By the time we hit the floor, I lost nearly all of my momentum, so landing on the alien in horse mode wasn't nearly as satisfying for Zaanne as we had hoped. I rolled off before the alien I landed on, who was apparently the hippy girl, could regain its senses. Alien two landed on it's feet, brushing itself off carelessly. It was now dressed like he/she was cosplaying. Female, with an intricate white dress that looked like ice. It was close to a ballerina outfit, really fluffy but only going down to her knees. Her hair was bleach white and very long, some of it tied into a bun at the top. She had a weapon, some spear-like sword with multicolored gems around the hilt. Her eyes were obviously alien, the usual green glow, but added with a gentle scowl. Her voice was stern, like an annoying eighteen year old. "What a rude little horse we have here, running into us. Though you aren't a horse, are you?" The dragons were too far away to make very loud noise, but it still sounded like explosions in the distance. "What a rude woman, trying to destroy my planet. Though you aren't a woman, are you?" It suddenly clicked in my head that I didn't have a weapon, nor did I have the hands to hold one. "This isn't your planet, why should your kind care?" Hippy was starting to get up, still too dazed to talk. "Because it's not suddenly okay if it's not Earth, which need I remind you that you also tried to destroy that place?" "With no prevail, thanks to one badass here." Zaanne commented. "Ugggggg~" hippy alien groaned. "Duuuuuuuude." "What are you even morphed as? A killer Barbie?" Ship scanned for information. "She is Weiss Schnee, a character in a show called RWBY, it will be viewable by Rooster Teeth this July. They have character previews on YouTube, if I'm correct." Considering it was only February, I just assumed they were still making the show. Weiss smiled sweetly. "Thank you, computer. You may service us with more useful information if you and your green haired friend were to come with us." I laughed out of habit. "Real smooth on the invitation there bud, but no." My hooves flickered into four green infernos. "We'll be taking you two down now, again." Hippy had collected herself and stood behind me. "It's two bodies against one, and we have become stronger. As you can see, we can now travel great distances, we obtained the energy to create two weapon staffs, though your friend took mine." Hippy circled slowly around me to Weiss. "You have only learned how to destroy things. Zaanne has the better knowledge of this crystal than you and that A.I. system has together." Weiss' green eyes beamed gleefully. "Yes. Zaanne has far greater power than you three realize. He shouldn't have to waste his time with you people. Why take us down, Zaanne?" My brain buzzed from both sugar and concentration. Though I couldn't stand to stay put another second, I really wanted to hear the aliens' words. "If the ship controls the crystal's power, why would Zaanne know more about it?" In the back of my head, I could feel Zaanne's want for sudden control, also pushing to shut them up, but I settled him with my will. "If you succeed at stopping us, that being very unlikely, then a hint will present itself, like last time." Weiss' smile faded. "When you die though, I'm sure whatever high being that controls the universe will explain." "Challange accepted." I grinned, my body flickering with energy. "I'll destroy you two, save Ponyville, learn about Zaanne and this stupid crystal's past, and unlock it's full potential. I'll start with stopping you." alright, destroy isn't my style, but they were about as real as Kim Kardashian's face. they were also ticking me off, and I was a bit too hyper to listen to reason. An odd wind had picked up, blowing through at near tornado speeds. I stood on my hind legs and crouched down for balance, preparing to battle. I had expected the duo to prepare as well, but they simply tisked and smiled again. "We have no need to fight you," Weiss cooed. "You have much bigger problems, if I'm correct." She spun in her frilly dress and shouted, "Oh Garble!" Within ten seconds, the teenage dragon landed next to them. He was easily their height, flapping his yellow wings. "What do you want?" He asked rudely. "Be a dear and eat this pony up. He is far too much of a bother, but he comes with a delicious reward." Hippy motioned her hand to my crystal, which had begun to glow with a slight blue tint. "Nobody tells me who to eat!" But Garble eyed the glowing rock curiously and sneered. "I'll eat this punk, but not because you told me to!" I sighed of boredom. "Sweet, one day here and I get to fight an idiot. But I guess you can help me find dragon weaknesses." The magic fire circled around my body as the wind whirled faster and I smiled to the annoying dragon. "Come at me, bro." I honestly expected a better fight. He huffed, puffed, and belched out a column of red fire at me. Again the heat only struck me as a warm stroke. I walked toward him slowly, fanning the flames with my wings as my own became bigger, now in a complete green sphere of inferno around me. After a moment of realization, Garble stopped shooting flame at me. "Fire won't protect you from me, stupid pony." "And fire won't protect you, idiot, so we're even there." The fire sheild died to my will, but the wind continued. "I'm not sure how I'm doing that, though..." Zaanne was the one to explain, weirdly. "Pressure from the crystal storing a lot of energy, then being released. The steady use of fire created a constant pressure release, like when you slowly press on a whoopie cushion" "So the crystal can fart too? Awesome. Why is it still going then?" As I asked, I grabbed the branch that had snapped from the top of the tree. It was sharp and pointy at the end, but too unbalanced to count as a spear. how I was holding it with a single hoof was not a current concern. "It's preparing to do more magic, since we have so much." I planned on saving the magic for the larger dragons, since my idea had been formed for them on the flight there. Garble stopped listening and charged me, baring his shark teeth and razor talons. I rolled to the side and swept his legs with the branch. He tried again, but i just hopped the opposite direction and planted the stick to aim at his chest. the thinner side dug into the ground and the splintered section caught him in the ribs. It didn't cut him somehow, but he did pole vault over it and into a tree. He hit the grass on his hard head and was out. "Think before you react, hothead." I turned to the aliens, who snacked amused on a bowl of popcorn that randomly appeared. "I'm ready to fight you now!" They gave me the answer I was hoping for. "Ah ah, not yet." Weiss mumbled crossly. "You still have four dragons to deal with." Hippy looked up and shouted at the small blue and green one. Blue was there half a second later and green slithered down the side of the tree creepily, hissing and spitting plasma. Weiss turned to the blue one. "Go ahead and find the pony Scootaloo, she's orange with a purple mane." He was as hyper on the outside as i was on the inside. "Purple hair, orange body! Or was is orange hair... Who was i after?!" He mumbled through the order with apparent short term memory, spinning around the team like a blue tornado. "Just get the small pony with the shiny thing that looks like his shiny thing, and take her to the mountains." Little blue registered "shiny" and broke through the trees at Rainbow speeds. That left the Komodo dragon and three Titan lizards. By Ship's word, i haven't even spent ten percent of my divided energy, even when Zaanne's included. I still didn't call that an even match. Little Green hissed at me and started moving in, shocking everything nearby it. I started to back up. I was fireproof, but i wasn't so sure with lightning. Zaanne gave me some deep knowledge that i didn't understand. "To create lightning, you must first understand it." Then the dragon roared, shooting a wave of electricity at me. I had just enough time to hear a Namekian tell me to dodge before it hit. Tasers can go screw off. I knew before that the crystal would buffet most of the pain from absorbing stuff, but I still felt like i was being branded in the brain. I rocketed back into a tree, my eyes seeing white spots everywhere again. Though it hurt like most female dogs and a lot of humans I know, I did get a pretty good understanding of how lightning works. Whatever it's attracted to, it'll go through a lot to get to it. Even air, which is somehow an insulator, allows it's passage to get to where it wants, which is some proton/electron stuff I need not go into right now, mainly because i forget exactly how the scientific way is described. It loves some things, and is wild when approached with such things, like water, volcanic ashes, metal... I got up, not caring that I was now smoking along the sides of my shoulders, or that everything stung. "Hey, Miss Weiss? What is the stabby sword called?" Despite the ballerina's shocked look, she held up the dark grey blade. "It's called a rapier, but, unlike the regular blade, it uses Dust to activate specific spells." With a wave of it, a light blue trail followed that looked nothing like regular dust. "Care for a demonstration before we leave?" Before i could decline her generous offer, she waved the thing like an orchestral stick. The blue separated into five miniature cerulean missiles, which, to nopony's surprise, shot at me. They were not to fast, about the speed of a weak teen's football throw (i wouldn't know; never played football). Jumping the first two, I flapped my wings to bounce me over the rest of them, but they spiraled back. I summoned the flame sheild, which came quite easily now, but it only blew up three before blowing up the defense, knocking me to the floor. No time to recover as the last two flew at my face, so i watched as they went, dropped at me, then exploded overhead. There was a confused look from all of us, including the Komodo dragon, who apparently was calm enough to sit back and enjoy watching me get tossed about. Rayden the pegasus leaped through the trees, firing two small rockets at the aliens and landing in front of them as the shots created a fiery explosion, consuming the entire area behind him. "Dayum" Zaanne muttered. Rayden now had a full suit of armor, making his body gleam silver. His hooves and chest had glowing rockets attached to them, humming with energy. He didn't wear a helmet, but i could see an opening behind his neck, as if a helm could file out of it. Ray didn't look too happy. "Do you know how annoying it is to track you two by some explosion on the side of a thousand foot wall?!" He pulled out the note i left them. "What is up with this note, too? 'Gone fishin'? Where's your fish at? I couldn't help but smile, partially to his anger and partially to his accent. "I'm a horrid fisher. And what took you so long?" "These guys were like ten miles away, and i can't fly!" He demonstrated how the razor blades also directed his wings for him. "I had to get Ship to instruct me from Scootaloo's crystal." "Well it's nice that you're here, we done talking now? We have four dragons and two aliens to fight." The Komodo was getting restless and Hippy nodded bored. "I'll deal with these three, you take the big guys, since you have the crystal." "Fair enough, and i might as well hit hard. Zaanne?" "Yeah?" He asked excitedly, knowing what i would say. We needed some insanity. So, even though his main mission is to destroy another machine, why not give him a little fun? "Switch out!" I shouted, and just like that, Zaanne took control of the pony.
(S) Scooter powerAuthor's Note Comment the word "taco" if you read this. (S) Scooter power After the fruitcake barrier, i wasn't sure if Zaanne and Gabriel could possibly come up with a dumber idea. After Rayden flew down to tell me about the note, i realized i was wrong. "They're going after the dragons." I translated from the small paper, which merely said "Gon fishin". "It says they were fishing though." Ray re-read the paper. "Were they lying?" "Yes, it's called sarcasm." I folded up the letter. "You take things too literal sometimes." There was a streak of colors in the sky, then Rainbow Dash landed next to us. "Scoots! Why are you still in ponyville, Dragons are comming!" "Applebloom is safer here, so I'm staying to watch over her." I gestured a hoof to the library, which wasn't too far behind us. Applebloom suggested to stay inside, since the fruitcake wall couldn't possibly keep the dragons out; they'd most likely fly over it. R.D. inspected the crystal around my neck. "That other stallion had one of those. Zaanne, right?" She turned to Rayden and got nose to nose with him. "Where's your friend at?!" Rayden seemed unable to speak, so I tapped Rainbow's shoulder. "Zaanne is fine, he's out to slow the dragons down, or possibly stop them." She scoffed, apparently vexed by Zaanne's stupid action. "On his own? No way, I'm going after him!" She started to take off, but Rayden interrupted her. "Wait, there's more than dragons, if I'm correct." The redhead nodded to me. "If anyone does happen to get by and attack Scootaloo, how would you feel about that? Stay here, protect your town. I'll go help Zaanne, I've got this armor so i should be alright. Rayden had completely tricked out his clothes/weapon stick. It was now entirely mechanical, with almost thirty random attributes to it, like lazer shooting, a stun gun and the gauntlets became roller blades if the rocket boosters broke. The dagger wings had a mix of red and blue on it, sparkling in the sky and creating a violet blur when he flapped them. The chest plate had a lot of other neat trinkets that Ship suggested to him, with Rayden's ring design engraved on the metal. Rainbow stared him down, and he looked back with a straight face. "Why should i trust you?" Why should you trust anypony? Zaanne muttered. You trust Gabriel, i asked, don't you? The human world is a screwed up place, filled with the worst of people, and never the best. Gabriel can't subconsciencely feel empathy, so he doesnt relate himself to others without purposely doing so. Therefore, with the amnesia and your world of friendship, he's a fairly good kid. Geez, Zaanne, you sound like Ship. Rayden eyed the wall. "As the element of loyalty, it'd be best to stay here. I don't want to see you get hurt." "I can handle myself if that's what you're talking about!" Rainbow turned back to me though. "I'm staying here, for the sake of Scootaloo-" she peeked at the chest armor. "-and because you've got a nice taste for armor." He didn't say anything but his face flushed slightly. I guess he didn't expect rainbow to notice her own element on his chest or something. After a minute he turned and walked down the path, murmuring to himself, "at least these dragons aren't evil pirates." After a thought of a pirate in a red suit sadistically beating them up (Zaanne's fault, I'm not sure why he put that image up though), I went back into the library, closely followed by Rainbow Dash. You treat rainbow like your sister, and vise-versa, Zaanne observed. Ship informed him, My Little Pony's timeline is dated backwards a few episodes. We are currently set about a week after the events of "Sleeplessness in Ponyville". You six went camping in the winter?! Rainbow and I walked around the library, not talking much besides Rainbow's annoyed grumbles. After those insane dreams with the princess of the night, I had less nightmares, but far more questions. How does dream walking feel? Where does Luna's physical body go when she enters ones mental state? Can I get a Cutiemark in psychology? But Gabriel and I are in the break after season three! We already know what happens! wait, what happens? I hopped to a window seal and stared out to the mass of cloud above the walls. Spoilers, all I'll say is you'll be bucking pissed at Twilight in a few weeks. he paused for a moment before asking, But seriously, did you guys go camping in February?! It's, like, ten degrees here! "Hey, Scoots. You there?" I looked over to see a pair of magenta eyes. "You alright?" "Y-yeah, why?" "You've been spaced out for nearly ten minutes now, what's on your mind?" The wind picked up abit, rustling throughout the tree branches. "Just, you know, voices in my head. Quite normal for a kid my age." "Oh, alright." She shuffled her hooves nervously. Her annoyance seemed to fade since Rayden looked away. "May i ask you a question? Sis to Sis?" "You don't have to ask me to talk." I sat on the Twilight's bed but kept an eye out the window. "Well, it might seem to be off the topic of dragons, but you seem to know abit about these two. Tell me what's going on." I sighed, mainly because I was getting tired of trying to explain it, to ponies and myself. "Long or short story?" She went with short, so I put the crystal in my hooves. "This necklace is part of a magic living spaceship. Zaanne's real name isn't Zaanne, it's Gabriel. The real Zaanne lives in our heads, along with the ship's conscience." I pointed to the barrier. "The first people to ride in the spaceship are attacking us for it, since it's power can destroy/create planets if used in the wrong hooves." I paused for her to ask anything. "People?" Was the first question. "Gabriel and Rayden are not from this world." "So they're-" "Aliens, technically yes. But they're good aliens, and me and Zaanne are being attacked by bad aliens." Her eyes closed slowly. "So it's their fault that we're in trouble?" "No! This could have happened to anypony!" "Actually," ship started through the crystal, "the bad aliens set course for Zaanne specifically, which is why it hit Gabriel's school. Your place was hit because they flew into Titan on the way to earth, knocking part of the ship off. Knowing to shoot down a school, part of me found the second closest one, being in ponyville." "What about the school in canterlot?" "I was looking for a charter school." Rainbow asked the obvious question. "Did that rock just talk?" "Yeah, he does that some-." There was loud BANG outside, startling me off the bed. Rainbow's ears perked up. "Go check on Applebloom," she ordered, "I'll go see what that was." I nodded quickly and rushed downstairs as rainbow flew out the window. Applebloom was still in the lab, jumping to each machine and inspecting it. "There's so many cool things in here!" She yelled excitedly as I entered. "Yeah, it's awesome." I scanned the place for any bad guys, but there were none. It was a little dim though, so the crystal brightened the room nicely. Applebloom was messing around with the potions. "Maybe i can get mah cutiemark being a scientist!" She tossed a random mixture of herbs with other premade vials together and stirred, filling the room in a plume of green smoke. After a fit of coughing and feeling around, i found Applebloom's back. "I think that's more Twilight's deal!" The smoke cleared. "Nah, Ahm sure anypony can do it if they try hard enough, like mah sis Applejack!" She took out a large container of some yellowish rocks. Ship warned her, "That's a lot of sodium, it can be deadly if used badly." Applebloom did the smart move and set it back on the table. I looked at the other items set out. There was a bowl of water, some orange liquid in a glass beaker, some hot plates, a funny looking metal tube attached to a metal tube and Applebloom's new potion. "Iron chef here." Zaanne whistled. I didn't know if that was a famous human scientist or not, but I decided not to bother asking. AB asked, "You're gonna be alright when the dragons get here, right?" If Gabe went out to go stall them, we had maybe two minutes of free time. My dream showed Applebloom in a cage, and i started to wonder if she was safer there, or surrounded by hundreds of dangerous chemicals. I smiled anyway. "Yeah, and we're still on for Hearts and Hooves day, right?" Applebloom giggled cutely and nodded. "So long as this fruitcake plan works." Zaanne said that it wasn't necessarily made to protect the ponies so much as the town in general, though it still didn't serve a purpose in air combat. I thought back to Fluttershy giving Zaanne a good luck kiss, so I figured, Why don't i do it? I might have been a little more straightforward on it though. I took Applebloom's hoof gently and leaned forward, kissing her on the cheekbone. "If anything happens to you, I'll make sure those aliens get it." Applebloom stared back dumbfounded, and I wondered if the good luck thing only worked for older ponies. Her face was deeper red than Gabriel's, and she sat down, losing all her curious energy. Uhm, why did you kiss her? Zaanne asked. "It was for good luck." Something in the back of my head told me it wasn't just for good luck, but I set it out. She managed to speak. "T-thanks... You're gonna be fighting soon, I wish ah could help." She ran up and hugged me, pressing my crystal to her chest. "Be careful!" I couldn't think when she hugged me, that thing in the back of my head was shouting now, but i couldn't hear it. It as drowned by a crashing noise upstairs. I had expected it to be rainbow, since at fires all I saw was a blue blur. The blur changed into what looked like a winged cerulean version of spike. It spotted us immediately, shouting "SHINY THING!!!" Before flying at us. I was knocked to the floor in a miniature shockwave from his speed, the crystal dimming. When I sat up, the baby dragon had began flying around the room rapidly, knocking over various objects. At some point he knocked the sodium open and pushed half of it into the water. After a series of explosions and a new plume of smoke, I stood to see Applebloom in his claws. He didn't look twice when he took off up the stairs. "Hey! Wrong pony!" I made it up the steps in two hops and bolted out the library door. "Ship, scooter!" I jumped into the air and landed on my ride, which had appeared in a flash of light within seconds. Rainbow Dash was airborne, chasing after the stupid lizard at full speed. So much for keeping her safe! Zaanne yelled at me as I bolted down the town. There were plenty of ramps and empty streets to accelerate through, and soon I was leaping houses in a single bound. The crystal continuously supplied energy (which ship said required little power from him) so I didn't have to conserve it like I used to in hard tricks. The dragon had Applebloom over his shoulder, flying nearly twenty feet above me. "Zaanne, how can I get up there?!" The blue guy was nearing the wall, speeding up and laughing like a maniac. "Your scooter should be connected to the crystal as you hold it, so try transferring the fire trick into it." "How do I do that?! I'm not a computer!" Rainbow had shot upward into the clouds after seeing me chase the dragon. "Just think!" Was Zaanne's last response. I hit a flat-roofed building and shut my eyes while driving forward. I imagined the scooter being so fast it created a spark from the friction, then a fire. The scooter was alright, but the speed required for that buzzed my imagery, even making my grip feel warmer. I pictured the scooter being used like a rocket, firing upward into the sky. When i opened my eyes, the world glowed green and the edge of the building was at my feet, so I jumped. Forget jumping a few houses, I cleared half of the town. I laughed in freedom as the air ripped through my lungs, the dragon right in front of me. "Too shiny!" Blue yelled before shooting upward. I hit the wall and kicked off it into the clouds. I was obviously on fire, with a green and purple comet tail glowing behind me. Even though I can't fly, I can still walk on clouds. Riding on the cumulonimbus like solid ground, i followed him from above. Obviously I couldn't see him through the clouds, but i followed the glowing blue dot under me, i guess his aura or something like that. When i took a moment to look up, the sight was beautiful. Rolling feilds of white to the edge of a two mile radius ended in a flood of blue. The sun beat down over my head, but the clouds kept me cold. Wind whipped through the layer, puffing up thin clouds and flicking them through the air like steam, which it kind of is. Zaanne was singing something about a neverending story, Ship had begun to concentrate on the magic use (I used about 15% overall from the magic scooter) and I was only thinking of two things, give Applebloom back and how does the scooter not fall through the cloud? It's not a pegasus... Above the canopy of clouds, I saw RD forming clouds together. With a kick, a streak of lightning shot down at the dragon. There were two paniced screams, but the bolt misfired into the fruitcake wall. I figured the wall was toast, but it looked like nothing happened to it. The dragon shot upwards from the pastry, apparently having enough sense to not go head in against the fruitcake. Rainbow collected another charged cloud, but i shouted for her not to. She then noticed the ball of green fire that was me. "Scootaloo?! What's going on?" "Just catch him!" I had zero time to explain as I kicked off a cloud, spiraling through the sky after the dragon. Too late. The idiot flew it to the top and made a beeline to the mountains. "Scootaloo!" Applebloom cried out as she was dragged through the air. I was seconds from cloud bouncing after her when Gabriel yelled at me to stop. "If you go, the dragons and aliens will destroy Ponyville! Zaanne, Rayden and I can hold them off, but we can't take them all on without the entire ship, which includes you." "But they have Applebloom!" Gabriel's voice became stern and earnest "I get that, but remember your dream. You will see her again, I promise. Let Rainbow follow him, she can scout him out easier with flying." The cyan pegasus landed next to me. I explained the plan. "I'll get 'em! Don't worry!" With that, she flew into the clouds and dissappeared. Honestly, It took a lot to keep me from going with her, but I could hear louder roars and multiple dots in the distance. The aliens were actually easy the first time, but now they seem more into it. "Ugh, stupid dragons!" I kicked on my scooter's magic speed and tore through the feilds, making the area where I began explode in a shower of dirt.
(Zaanne) the aggressive/passive fightAlright, my own chapter for once! Much better than being mixed with one of Gabe's. Always with Scootaloo or Gabriel, but why no love for Zaanne? I think they're racist against green people! I guess we start at when me and the human switched out. Have ever been on a roller coaster that broke halfway on a loop, then it suddenly lurches forward at full speed? That's how it feels to change from a mental to physical being. It's awesome! As soon as I took control, the white dressed alien rose her rapier again, but Rayden got to her before she could go into magic missile mode again. Her swing at him missed as he rolled under it, spinning backward and jabbing her in the side with his hoof. There was a light blue explosion and Weiss was tossed back. "Zaanne," Gabe yelled. "Dragon fighting time!" "Bitchin'!" Random word, yes, but it seemed unreasonable enough to say. With a flap of my wings, I was airborne. Apparently I'm one hell of a pilot, without even trying. I weaved through tree branches and broke into the sky within seconds. The dragons had begun to yell at eachother in reptilian hisses as I landed on a cloud. Nobody seems to see that I actually do plan some things. I held onto a pile of thicker clouds and compressed them, making one larger, far darker cloud. Grabbing that, I flew far above the Dragons' heads. Big Red was spitting fire and growling out at the green guy. In the back of my head, I could understand what they were saying, which I found odd. "This village is my meal!" Big Red's eyes bored into the lightning dragon. They were nose to nose now (or muzzle, what do dragons have?), one filled with anger and another with an insane glint in his eye. I let them argue as I gathered more clouds, creating an ultra condensed mass of water. Green dragon hissed back in a series of thundering booms. "The monkeys said it was mine and MINE ONLY!" "I need some more." I muttered to myself. My plan would only work if I could completely douse a house. So far I could most likely give someone a light car wash. Looking back down, I could see the Ice dragon blowing frost over some trees, getting a little too close to comfort to Rayden as he fought. As badass as I am, Ray had a few nice tricks. It looked like He was going with his wing blades as his primary melee weapon, using miscellaneous rockets to keep them separated. Weiss's blade had changed colors, now swinging in a red streak. Each slice cut a tree clean in half when she missed her slices at Rayden, which was nearly every try. Hippy had summoned some fire and lugged balls of heat at the pegasus. Little Green hissed like a firecracker and strode slowly toward them. I had a brilliant idea that would most likely get all of us killed, which wasn't my first idea. Gabe normally did the planning, but I know how to piss people off! I waited until the ice dragon got bored enough to take flight and hopped through the air after him. As of getting about ten feet to his back, the air tinged in cold. The area turned into a blizzard. The only reason I hadn't forced to death was because of the crystal heating my body. Gabriel loved it, laughing and singing in my head like we were in a winter wonderland. He was raised in Texas by a hockey fan, so he's pretty, well, chill with being a popsicle. I barreled through the snow that he seemed to create from nothing and landed next to a spike. It was the size of a small skyscraper, glowing and giving off the most of the cold aura. I put a hoof to it and closed my eyes. "Scan," i told myself. Immediately, the crystal responded, sending information into my head about the dragon. It's a monster that spends most of it's time in the colder climates, like outside the crystal empire. Ice dragons bland with the snow and let it collect over it, making a form of igloo until prey comes near. It uses it's teeth only to eat, preferring to use it's ice breath to freeze the victim before eating it. It's heart runs from generating this extreme cold, like a being made of dry ice, only... Actual ice. That all popped into my head within seconds. The beast didn't seem to notice me on his back, but he did spot the cloud of black in the sky. Not being one to let it rain, he took after it. That made my job easier and harder. Summoning as much heat as I possibly could, I concentrated it into my hoof and punched the spike. I imagined the heat spreading, melting down anything that got in it's way. With a loud CRACK, the spike popped off the dragon and fell back to me. The demon lizard shrieked and shot sideways from my cloud. I flew into the air and extended a hoof. With the thought, long ropes shot out and entangled the spike. They immediately became caked in frost, but held tightly. 100% power left, Ship warned, though I already knew that. I'm not sure how, but I figured out a lot of the crystal just by being around it. I gripped the spike and flew to the cloud. The stupid block was a million pounds, but I lugged it up to get above to the cloud. Careful not to have them touch, I commanded the ropes to catch fire, melting the icy water into the miniature mass. It swelled into a huge bundle of cumulonimbus, distilled of it's magic ice powers now. "That's how you make a rain cloud!" The ice dragon had landed and reared it's neck to the broken spike, breathing lividly. "Now to make it rain!" The other two dragons were still going at it, calling each other weak and roaring out into their faces. I stood on my cloud and jumped repeatedly on it. The darkness cleared as heavy rain fell down. I directed the cloud at Big Red, and The water doused the scarlet dragon's aura immediately, just as planned. Seconds later, part two of my plan started. Green's lightning aura kicked into overdrive with so much water on the other, coursing Red with electricity. "What did you just do?!" Gabriel asked aloud. "I made a fucker shoot a fucker using anothah' mothah' fuckah'!!!" The ice dragon had apparently caught wind of my plans and was in the air again, inhaling deeply. I could see a blur of green and purple in the far distance behind him. "It was super effective!" I turned and hopped into the air, bucking the cloud to get immediate liftoff. There was a sound of thunder and also one of a pissed off dragon getting zapped in the face. Green dragon stared stunned at his brother, who had fallen backwards into the forest. His entire front smoldered and twitched with some lightning shooting about. Rayden had taken down Hippy and began a laser-on-sword fight with Weiss. Weiss had grown accustom to the offence, though, and switched to having a white sword style. Now, when she pointed at something, a white platform would appear for her, letting her hop randomly around Rayden and slash at his armor. Suddenly something hit me. That wasn't his fight. Even if he could win the battle, those assholes weren't after him, they'll just get back up, waiting to fight the one they wish to catch. The one who they tried to be, who they first transformed into. They saw Gabriel, but they felt someone else. Ship wasn't there yet, they could have easily stayed inside of the crystal if they really wanted that power, right? No, they were after me, that was my fight. I stared to the town, in complete lockdown in the distance. I recalled the destruction of both schools, how Gabriel had his heart blown up because of some people looking for me. The idea that i could have caused this kind of destruction for a being that wasn't even half human made my blood boil for some reason. "If they want me, then that's what they'll get." I realized I had spaced out just in time to avoid the white dragon's burning cold breath. "Get the dragons first!" Gabriel shouted. "Scootaloo can help Rayden again, they're an easy match for us." "It's not your decision, human!" The aliens pissed me off the more I thought about them. Why come for me? Why destroy the world? Why use dragons?! Obviously i had something to do with the crystal, maybe if I could find that blue pony from the dream, he could recollect my memory. first, dealing with the lizard demons. The plan to stop the dragons from fighting hit immediately. "Gabe, do that talking thing you do!" "What talking thing?" The red dragon stood, now beyond any definition of upset and glaring up at me. I wanted him to think big green zapped him on purpose, but it apparently failed considering I now had two enraged and one confused dragon flying after me. "That thing that seems to make everyone stop fighting!" The beasts flew in a circle around me, considering how they could deep fry me for a pre-Ponyville snack. "I don't know what you're talking about!" "Who are you talking to?!" The white dragon hissed. That was it; Gabe's talking trick. When we were fighting the aliens the first time, he just asked a question, and they completely paused the battle. In the dark room, they were ready to obliterate us, instead we had a good ten minute chit-chat with the bad guys. Gabriel actually sucks at being social, but he still likes people, and for some reason, they like him back. Weird, eh? "Gabriel, he's my assistant. Welcome to Equestria, everyone!" I smiled to the towering demons, giving my best hosting look. "May I take your coats?" "We don't have coats, it's just scales." Frosty the Hothead flew closer, eyes revealing a cold heart that belonged to him. "You shouldn't be worried about that, instead consider why shouldn't I kill you on the spot." "Oh, because those stupid humans told you to?" I laughed, half forced and half in real amusement. Project manipulation sprang. "You do know they're using you!? Why should an almighty dragon have to follow the commands of such weak creatures?" "They know where a large group of delicious ponies like you are at." The red one smiled greedily and hissed. "I'll get them all!" "Again, another fine point they didn't talk about!" I took to the air and got face-to-face with the red dragon. "It's not just for you, is it? The hippy probably stated that you would be coming alone, did she not?" I've never seen an almighty being look embarrassed, but he seemed to give such an expression. "Uhh... Did they?" He looked to his brethren, who had their shoulders raised with confused looks on their faces. I was aware of Scootaloo entering the fight under me, which was totally supposed to be my fight, but I kept eye contact. "Now, think. If you came alone, you'd get several thousand ponies to yourself. But no, you have five other monsters, born of greed, ready to snatch up whatever you try to keep for yourself!" I backed up as the idiots stared each other down. The auras grew stronger, though Big Red still retained the spark from Big Green. The green dragon spoke, now in a weird accent. "You two are not stealing my treasure!" White hissed at Red, who Roared at Green, who boomed at White. "The real treasure is not of the town, it is of having you guys fight, which you are doing now. Get it in your head that the humans set you up. When you get to town, there's no doubt that the princesses will come and defeat you all!" Apparently Celestia and Luna had a reputation on dragons. They reared their necks and shouted out bad names for Sunbutt and Mooner. The white one hissed, "They are evil, ponies of alicorn magic!" Green one apparently got more distracted than the other two. "How did you know what I spoke? That was in pure dragon tounge." "Sounded like you came from Canada to me." Ship explained that one. "The TARDIS you tried to make might have put a natural translator in your head, along with the time dreams." "Too convenient, if you ask me." The dragons now looked down at the aliens. Hippy had gotten up and fought Scootaloo, while Weiss began to get a few good blows on Rayden. The jet rockets sparked and smoked, far too overheated to use. The armor had been covered in gashes and dents, though Ray was in fairly good shape, besides a good sized cut on his cheek. "Those guys sent you all to attack ponyville and eventually each other because they were looking for me. If they get me, there's a very good change they'll just try and kill you too." "NONSENCE!" Red sneered, "nobody can defeat an elder dragon such as us!" "Well, wanna help us take them out? Saves you the trouble of being back stabbed and it gives you a meal you will rarely get." I sat on a cloud and rose my hooves up. "It's a win-win thing here!" The trio considered, then started to glide to the ground battle. Scootaloo had gotten a good kick to the side of her head and spiraled off her scooter, which she set on fire. "You know," Gabe started, "out of all of this, we're the only ones left uninjured." "Oh, we'll have to fight the dragons after they take care of the aliens, plus they still have Applebloom." In the back of my head, i knew the crystal still had 100% left, considering I hadn't done anything with it outside of making it rain. "Also, the aliens are my problem to deal with, I'll be the one to take them down. With a flash of light, Rayden and Scootaloo appeared to my sides. Ray fell back, exhausted, since he didn't have anything to regenerate his stamina. "Ugh..." Scootaloo looked as tempestuous as my storm cloud, her purple eyes darkened as she stared down at the dragons, who were currently bad-mouthing the aliens. "They took Applebloom..." She hissed silently. "You two need to brighten up, it's just one pony." I tapped Rayden's forehead and transferred some of the magic energy to wake him up. Scootaloo gave me that evil eye that only a girl could give. "We have the power to find her, where did that dragon go?!" "He's in the mountains, but you won't be able to pinpoint him until that event in the future takes fold." Ray's armor now switched back into the weapon staff, which he turned into a back pouch and slung it over him. "Where's rainbow? Isn't she going after her?" Gabriel sighed, "'She', 'her', they're both pronouns that describe the same type or person, which is confusing. Zaanne, if all you wanted to do was zap dragons then talk to them, why couldn't i have done that?" "Because i knew that you can't fly well, you also don't know how to control the weather, so I had to do that. You can have the body back, but remember something." "What?" He asked, immediately regaining control. When we face the aliens, in the end, it won't be Gabriel who they want to kill. You're only a side problem to them. The one they want is good ol' Zaanne, and that's who they're gonna get! Author's Note Due to my only way to edit this story (school) being taken out of my options, i can't do so until further notice. Also this chapter almost included a scene of prince Artemis crossdressing, thanks to my stupid memory and the powers of copy/paste appearing.
(S) Amputee TwisterAuthor's Note Name two people who care that i haven't posted any chapters in a month. (S) Amputee Twister So, after sitting on that cloud and watching the aliens have their flanks kicked in by giant dragons, I realized my day could be a lot worse. "What do we do now?" Rayden asked as the green one slapped the aliens into a tree with it's tail. "Well," Zaanne started, or was it Gabriel now? "Your vision showed me looking beaten up when you showed where the right mountain is, so i belive the dragon's will beat us up abit more before we find the place." I leaned forward and got a glance into his eyes. They were bright blue, which meant it was Gabe. "So we just wait?" "No, no more waiting." He stood up and spread his wings. "I still can't fly well, but we should be able to glide back." He eyed Rayden curiously. "You wanna go home? Last chance to see Rainbow Dash. The blue pegasus stood quickly. "What do I do?" It was too obvious that Rayden liked my sister. He didn't seem to hide it either. Gabriel and Fluttershy were also eyeing eachother, plus that kiss could give the wrong idea there. The only thing I was confused about was why a human would like someone outside of their own species... Or planet. I decided to ask Spike about it later, since he's a dragon wanting a unicorn. "She's following the baby dragon," ship told him, "my scanner says that she will return soon." The useless information made me lean more over the cloud. "If you can scan where Rainbow's at, can you not tell me where Apple Bloom is?!" "The machines that the aliens make disrupt my scanning abilities, so i would have to assume she is being held captive in the mountain already." The aliens were getting yelled at the aliens in dragon tounge, which i could translate for some reason, though they didn't have the cleanest language. Part of me wanted to ask why they were attacking the human fakes anyway, but I figured it had something to do with Zaanne, since they gave Gabriel small glances every so often. "Ship?" Gabriel asked loudly. "Random question!" "How random is it?" He responded urgently. "Can amputees play Twister?" You could hear the silence sting. Even the dragons stopped beating up the aliens to look back at him. The only thing making a noise was Zaanne, who was laughing his head off. "How is that relevant?!" The blue and white dragon hissed. "I'm just wondering! It was in the back of my head all day!" "Is not really the best time to question it though?" Rayden asked "It's always a good time to ask questions!" Gabriel answered loudly. He say back on the cloud and blew air through his nose. "What if they get 'hand on blue'?!" What do they do there?!" Zaanne slowly stopped cracking up. "You could seriously be offending the three people reading this, man. Not that i care, it's a legitimate question to me." He then went on to sing "if you're happy and you know it", though with hands and feet instead of hooves. Now Gabriel began to laugh, though he looked more embarrassed for accidentally saying something offencive. "It was just a question!" He insisted. Even Ship chuckled "Proposal is also a question, but it can sometimes screw the rest of your life up." That brought up my own question. "When were you married, Ship?" "Hm, not sure..." There was a pause in the commotion. "Maybe it's just in my brain." I was about to remind him that computers don't have brains (which he was the one that told me such), but the roars of the dragons came back up, drowning out my voice. Gabriel shouted over them, "Well we should get back to this problem at hoof!" "What was our plan again?!" I asked. "You and go back home with Rayden and wait there, i have to go get beaten up!" And with that, the genius hopped into the demon trio. "He's insane." I decided. Ray shrugged. "Maybe is his Asperger's syndrome giving him ADHD. Or maybe he's an idiot." "I don't like burgers, i feel like they're missing something..." "Like meat?" Zaanne asked. "Nah, maybe it's that they always overcook them at Pegaburger." "The he-... The heck is that?" He studdered. "No time to worry about it. I put my hooves into the cloud and started up my wing power (which is apparently under .05, according to Twilight). Catching the wind, our cloud sputtered through the sky. I wasn't going nearly as fast as i wanted to go, but I didn't want to waste the crystal's magic any more than i needed to. Not that i was running out. "So what do we do?" Ray asked, starting to help by flapping his much wider wings. The town was still fairly snowy, and the fruitcake barrier's open roof was now concealed in the large wall of clouds over ponyville. We directed the cloud to the rim of the wall and slid off. "We're supposed to wait for Gabriel." I looked down to the town, and tried to recollect the vision. "In my dream, the library was just to my right, so I'm going to wait for them over there." "And what about me?" Ray looked out to the sky, which became invisible to the fog shrouding the top of the pastry sheild. Zaanne responded, "You go ahead, try to find Rainbow. We will meet up with you two when Gabe gets back, which will be soon." "How soon?" Ray asked. "He's purposely getting his flank handed to him, I'd give Boy Wonder here about three minutes." "And why can't i go after them? That's my sis and best friend out there, one of which could be in danger!" "The vision starts in Ponyville, now go." And with that, Ray took the cloud and hovered off. There was not much to say as i passed through the empty streets of Ponyville, an eerie wind passing through my fur and violet mane now as wind picked up. Too much was on my mind to keep thinking straight. Too many to ask ship, because my questions mixed with my emotions. My father had something to do with the psycho aliens hunting us down, but they seem to have a weird interest in Zaanne. I became certain my dad knew him, which means he knew my dad. Not that I cared about Blue Flare in the least bit. But, if I could find him... he has some child insurance to pay, that's all. ~Scootaloo,~ Ship spoke, ~are you alright?~ "Of course I am." I lied, thinking of my dad made me angry, but I'm not one to talk about my feelings with a fragment of data. "Why do you ask?" "Well, your heart rate is increasing, along with your soul reacting to something." "We can see souls? What do they look like?" "Imagine a translucent, glowing orb. The stronger the soul, the bigger that orb." "That's an anime!" Zaanne complained. Gabriel came up in the conversation too. "The anime where Satan's son is raised in a church or the one where Vic Mignogna is a pervert father? They both work with souls right?" "The Vic Mignogna one," Zaanne answered, "and no, the Satan one is more about choosing your own path and stuff like that instead of having a sound soul. Do you even know who Vic is?" "He played Broly right?" "Who?" I asked. "Yes, but really dude, you gotta watch more animes. Or at least stop forcing yourself to sleep before Adult Swim comes on!" "I don't like the shows on there! Why are there dolls being murdered?!" They began an argument over robotic chickens, and I tried to block them out, even though they were broadcasting out of my necklace. After about two minutes of skipping through the empty town, the great wall behind me made a loud BOOM!!! Like my sound effects? Really rumbles through your brain. I spun on the back of my hooves to the wall, where a green dot spiraled over the wall. I thought Gabriel was flying for a second, then I heard his screaming, him being consumed in a ball of green fire, and a loud explosion not too far away. A few scooter kicks later, I came upon a heap of green, yellow and blue hair. "How'd that beat up theory work out for you?" I asked. "Waffle!" he rolled to his hooves, smiling like an idiot. "I mean... Perfect! The next thing in your dream showed a few houses on fire and it snowing abit of soot." "So the dragons do destroy the place?!" I could hear the dragons roaring fairly far away, but still about fifty miles too close for comfort "Not if I can help it!" He walked up to one of the buildings, nodding abit to himself. "I have an idea to screw with your future sight." "What? Is this like beating yourself up?" "Close," he nodded to me like a pony bobble-head. "Watch." He yelled out, "ghost fire!" And extended his hoof. Instead of green flames, light blue shot out and engulfed the building, changing to red on collision with a physical object. I was in the right mind to walk over and knock him out with my scooter, but Zaanne explained. "It's fake fire, like literal ghost flames, hence the wording." "When did he learn that?!" "I taught him, but we saw the crystal do it before it exploded." After setting a few houses on fire, he made a real fire and shot it into the sky, along with some burning sticks. Shortly after, black specks started to fall, like negative snow. "Everything is set, i still have 60% of my crystal power, and the dragons will be here soon, there's only one more thing to do-" He directed himself to the mountainous horizon. "-we run that way like it's the end of the world!" We didn't get too far before the roars came back. I figured the wall of cake was done for, but after six or seven heart pounding bangs and a series of annoyed roars from behind, I started to appreciate the ludicrous idea. Apparently fruitcake becomes cement with the addition of dry peanut butter. Nearly twenty seconds later, I looked up into the mountains. The expanse of peaks faded from blueish-brown into white as it got longer, except the center mountain, where Canterlot stood regally. On a seperate place, nearly having the wall hide it, a small black dot resembled a cave. Occasionally, blue flickers of light would become visible inside the speck of darkness. I rose my hoof quickly at the mountain and shouted, "that mountain!" but a ticked off roar drowned my voice. As soon as i did that, Gabriel waved his hoof quickly, making the fake flames dissapear. "You can extinguish fire?" He was slowly getting out of breath. "No, that's fake fire!" And he continued running. "Now, can we save Applebloom?!" "Yes!" Zaanne confirmed. "And get out of Ponyville as fast as you can!" ~finally!~ I thought, and resummoned the scooter. ~let's get Applebloom back!~
(G/Z) A cliche OC weapon tries to kill me"Where the hell is Celestia at this time?" Zaanne complained as we tore through the sky, Scootaloo by turning her scooter into some fireball and me by rocket jumping. "You'd think she could spend maybe five minutes to come and handle her own town's problem?" "Well," i said, "if everyone here is apparently lesbian or bisexual, then perhaps they have Molestia for their leader." "Who's that?!" Scootaloo yelled over the high winds. "Don't worry about it!" We hit the ground not too far from the correct mountain, about half a mile from it's base. I bounded through the trees like Tarzan while Scoots just rode through. Luckily we weren't currently on fire, so no trees were harmed in the making of this trip. I only then realized we had no plan after this, nor did anybody expect to use one. The dragons apparently left the town to go find where the inhabitants went, which meant they'd be raiding Canterlot soon. I shrugged that off easily, safe knowing there's two princesses there. "So," Scootaloo began, "you talk a lot about how many lesbians there are around here, so what are you?" "Gabriel's definantly a lesbian," Zaanne chirped. He laughed. "Shut up Zaanne. I can't say I'm entirely straight, but I'm not gay, or bi... Ship, what other sexualities are there?" ~well there's transsexuals, but i feel it should be just a gender, and there's pansexual, which is like bisexual, but adding transsexuals.~ A.D.D. threw me off. "Too many words. Hey what chances do you guys think Rayden has with Rainbow Dash? Isn't she only into mares?" I skidded under a branch and sprang over a squirrel, who i most likely gave a heart attack to. "Sorry Mr. Squirrel!" Thanks to Zaanne's amazing TARDIS work, i could hear every pretty word that colorful little rodent had to say. "Well technically she's bi-curious," Ship informed. Before Scootaloo could ask what that meant, he answered her. We trekked up the mountain, this particular one having no train to take you up like a good little mountain should. Scootaloo and I hopped from ledge to ledge, getting closer to the supposed cave entrance. Again, I can take no credit for being able to scale that dumb rock. The crystal kept my energy at full, and the hot chocolate made it even stronger. Luckily, I wasn't afraid of heights. After three ledges crumbling under my hooves and two on scoots' scooter, we made it to a flat walkway, nearly a football feild's length above the land. Sure enough, a large, gaping hole made an appearence to me about twelve feet away. I had just began to wonder if this was the correct one, and some inside explosions and an annoying voice ecgoing throughout the cave ascertained it. "That was Rainbow!" Scootaloo yelled. I found that pretty obvious, and the two (four counting Ship and Zaanne) hurried through to help them out. The cave was 100% cave, with stalagmites and stalagtites, occasional water dripping, along with it being pitch black. Our necklaces were the only light for a while, until we entered a large cubic room. "EXPLODE!!!" An maniacle shreak of glee bounced off the walls, and just that command happened. It was like a pyromaniac got ahold of the world's most intense fireworks. The light blinded me momentarily. By the time i could see properly, Scootaloo was gone, and Little Blue cackled with insane delight. "Hello, little pony!" He hissed at me and walked towards me, far too slowly for his obvious needs. "You were the one who tried to fight the humans, no?" "Actually, the dragons did most of the damage to them, and to eachother. Also, I'm not very small by pony standards, i look to be nearing fully growth in Equestrian terms." To my left was a beated down duo of blue ponies, one with a rainbow of hair color and the other with simple shades of red. "Hey Ray, hi Rainbow. You having fun cuddling?" The last blast that Blue apparently set off left Rayden flying straight into Rainbow's chest, knocking them to the floor. The weapon staff rolled away into the corner, back to the green tree branch mode. Rayden rolled off her quickly, sitting up and blushing deeply. Not showing much obviously positive personality, as usual, he appeared to be either terrified or embarrassed. Rainbow copied his flushed cheeks, but I could quickly assume she was pissed. What i couldn't guess is who she was pissed at. "Aw, you guys look so cute!" Zaanne teased. "C'mon, what were her eyes like Ray? A glowing pollinated sunset?" Ray didn't speak fast enough, but the other did. "What about my eyes?!" "Your eyes are fine, Rainbow Dash." Rayden stood. "There's not a single problem with them, so long as I'm concerned." "Can you die now?!" The blue lizard impatiently spat electrified... stuff to a floor spike and hissed. "I'm bored!" "Well, isn't that for you to decide?" I walked to him and spread my wings, just 'cause. "Go on, kill me. I can't say I won't fight back though." He laughed creepily and jolted after me. His first hit was too fast for me to react, and he raked my chest with his claws. Immediately after, he flipped upside down and bucked me backwards, cartwheeling a good distance. The force behind it wasn't very strong, but it was enough to keep me from whacking him with a hoof. My chest stung, but i appeared physically undamaged when I looked down. The next trick for him was shooting electricity. "Hey green guy! Ima firin' mah lazah!" He opened his mouth, and thunder shook the cave and broke stalactites off the roof, smashing into the ground. The main portion of the lightning fused into a beam of pulsating light, firing just for me. "Charge!" Zaanne yelled, so I did. Dumb, maybe, but if the lightning beam killed me, i figured I might as well make sure it leaves me medium rare. Something burnt, i could smell it, but i was too blinded and deafened by the thunder and lightning to see what happened. The weird thing was that it wasn't me, but i figured beforehand the crystal would block the majority electric attack. After realizing I was fireproof, then getting struck by Little Green's electricity, Ship most likely created an immunity to the ability. Nearly at full speed now, i stabbed my hoof at wherever the source of the light was. Unfortunantly, that source was a dragon's mouth. The only reason why I still have a hand today is because he didn't see that coming. "Fire!" And just like that, he inflated like a dumb, blue balloon, puffing green smoke out of his nose. "MPHHH!!!" He rolled downhill into a spike, and i witnessed that cartoony thing where someone farts out of a room like a balloon after it's supposed to just be popped first hand... Or hoof. One moment of silence later, I moved to pick up the weapon staff. "Catch." I tossed it back to Rayden and sat next to him to take a breath. "Thanks." It transformed into a ring, which i noticed was the same one from earth, and he put it on his wing. I realized Rainbow was pissed at me. "Good for you to show up, alien!" "You have a problem with aliens?" She sprang to her feet and stomped to me. "Truthfully, i don't care if you're from a different planet, galaxy, or universe. The town has now been completely evacuated because you couldn't move your stupid fights outside of Equestria! Don't you have, like, some other planet for you to ruin?" "Nope, Earth has already been ruined. It's been ruined ever since colonization began. Doesn't help that the humans there seem to be devolving back to apes." She pinned me to the wall and glared into my eyes. "Well, i belive i told you to not get Scootaloo hurt as well. So, where is she?" Taking a quick look around her evil stare, there was, in fact, one less Scootaloo than before. "If I were to guess, she's be with Apple Bloom. And if that dragon were still with Apple Bloom, I'm sure she would have been much more hurt." I slid from Rainbow's pin and looked about the room. "I know i got a lucky shot, being energy-proof, but really, you two had almost ten minutes to take one dragon down. Was he really that hard?" Ray was watching RD, obviously upset by her anger. "The lazers he shot explode on contact with anything." He gestured a hoof to where i was before he fired. The ground was ashen, and the wall behind it had become a column of crumbling rubble. Letting that sink in, I looked at my chest. "Okay, Ship, how'd i live that one?" "The crystal converts it's own energy to create a layer of defence on your body. When you get attacked, you deplete energy, but you can also withstand fairly powerful hits. Granted, it only sheilds your body, not your center of gravity. Explosions will still give you a knock back." "And if my energy reaches 0%, my magic heart stops." I sighed abit. "My mana and health bar are the same thing in this occasion. Zaanne, can you direct me to where Scootaloo is?" "Why yes i can, please follow the path directed before you." The floor under me drew a line of sparkly orange dust, like a quest tracker. It was the same thing as the aura power, only I couldn't see it through any of the walls. "By the way, brilliant work blowing up that lil' smurf shit with fire." "I try to make a nice show. Like right now. Ship, can you change me back to a human?" The path led into a seperate tunnel in the shadowy corner of the room, which is when i realized the entire cave was glowing vividly. The hole was human sized. "45% left, would you like a weapon to go with that?" Ship asked as my body began to glow, changing shape and the fur morphing back into cloth. Within seconds, I was back to being the green haired human. "Sure. I belive Zaanne designed a keyblade for me. Though it's the most cliche magic weapon in history, minus deity weapons, mind summoning up one for me?" The air within my hand heated up, and flames shot out. When they died, the sweetest stick of metal in history glowed in my hand. If you haven't seen a keyblade before, take the word "key", and "blade", and use your imagination. Mine was mainly forest green, belive it or not. The hilt was big enough for me to hold it with one or two hands, covered in leather for a good grip. The guard of a regular sword appeared more like the head of a weird key, curved backwards into celadon flame designs, making the entire key's handle. For the blade part, it was nearly three and a half feet long, with a blue and yellow stripe running down the middle of the prismic shaft. Instead of a regular sharpened edges of a sword, it was dulled, more like a stick. The area that would have the grooves for keys definantly was not for an average bedroom. It looked more like a snowflake, strangely enough, with tiny versions of the crystal for each tip of the flake. That rounded about a foot in diameter. If you have not played Kingdom Hearts, or never had a giant metal key hit you in the head, it might seem like a weird thing to use as a weapon. I realized it was the stupidest weapon to use for myself as soon as i became too weak to stand up. My chest burned immediately, like my insides desides to explode for no reason. I dropped the keyblade and fell to my knees, suddenly gasping for air. When i let go, i could breathe again, but my hand was steaming and raw. My hearing and vision buzzed together for a second, but i could make out Rayden trotting to my aid. "Gabriel!" He yelled. I sat back and closed my eyes, letting my body recover. "I'm an idiot, if you couldn't tell." "What happened?" He asked. "The keyblade has the ability to lock or unlock people's hearts, but it attaches to your heart to be soul bound or something." I opened my eyes to see how many Raydens there still were. How i could still think didn't make sense to me. "It most likely thought i was a heartless, which it gives supernatural damage to, trying to unlock a heart that isn't really there." Rainbow stood far back, stunned at just me becoming human. Don't they see that every day? Zaanne groaned. "So, since your heart's gone, you can't use the keyblade? If you already knew that, why would you ask me to make a keyblade for you?!" "Because, i think there's a way to fix that." I pulled the necklace off my neck and observed the shining crystal hanging on some leather. Such a little object to bring up so much trouble. Looking at the crystals on the weapon, it was obvious they weren't glowing with life. At the pommel was the thing that may or may not be helpful; a little golden ring, almost like the ones on curtains that never actually keep your curtains up. Setting the necklace to the ring, I waited. There wasn't a way to untie the leather, but it got the right idea. With a very fast flicker, the leather fused into the ring, changing into one string attached to the bottom of the keyblade. I grasped the hilt, letting the warmth of the crystal wash over me again. Picking it up, the crystals glowed with new power. "You can't have a keyblade without a keychain." ~how does this make any sense whatsoever?~ Ship asked in my head. ~It doesn't.~ was my answer. ~The closest thing to logic on this is that i gave an artificial keyblade an artificial heart. What percent do I have?~ ~after creating a new weapon, it sucking your energy, and you synching the keyblade to the crystal, you individually have 27% remaining. Scootaloo has 86% and Zaanne still has almost 100% somehow.~ ~because I'm conservative, and nobody lets me out to play!~ The new keyblade felt comfortable in my hand, lighter than a longsword but heavier than a katana. There was still a tugging sensation, like the blade was still wanting a real heart to lock or unlock, but not fully wanting to cooperate with me to do so. I forgot another important thing. "Didn't each keychain for a keyblade give it a new name?" Ship dug into some video game knowledge, something i could actually make use of, and cited, "Keychains are used to alter the keyblade's abilities, stays and even it's appearance within the Kingdom Hearts game series." "Have you even played Kingdom Hearts?" Zaanne asked. "Once, when i was nearly six, i played through a few areas. The images are fuzzy, but that dream involved me boiling in fire as some juggling stick man tossed me like a burning salad." "Rainbow snuck closer to me and observed the human body. "So, you're just a monkey who can talk?" "Yep. Rayden, wanna show her your human form as well?" "Sure, change time, Ship." I poked his shoulder with the keyblade, attaching ship's power to him (don't ask how that makes sense). With that, Ray became consumed in green fire, growing to become slightly taller than Zaanne and I. When the flames died, the redhead was back, with a neat look considering he had time to change clothes on earth. It was basic but nice, a loose, scarlet collared shirt, possibly Tommy Hilfigure (great choice), untucked over some well fit jeans. The weapon staff changed into a sword, which i could only see the grip of because it hung onto his back by a leather sheath. And, again, some flaming red hair gleamed in the dim light, making him strangely as anime-looking as me. "Really man, what gel do you use?" "None, why?" "... No reason." Rainbow stared up and down Rayden. "Wait, if you could change Ray into a pony and human, can you make me human?" I looked at the keyblade and tisked. "Oh, sorry, I'm almost out of power. Maybe some other time?" She frowned, which I figure is a sign of dissapointment, but continued speculating Ray. "When are we gonna go find Applebloom?" I completely forgot she had been taken hostage. "Right now, let's go!" I ran down the glowing path and yelled behind me, "stop oogling at his body!" The pegasus watched me run for a moment before galloping after, getting quickly ahead. "Humans are so slow!" Ray was next to me within a minute, pacing as the cave grew larger. He didn't say anything, but his eyes were definantly focused on something in front of us, though the only thing i could see was the glowing path, Rainbow's backside and dimly glowing walls. Zaanne laughed, RD flew, Ray sprinted, and I skipped, all the way deeper into the mountain. Author's Note Kingdom Hearts spoilers (do not own, all Kingdom Hearts based content is by Square Enix and Disney, please support official release. (Or not, I'm not your mom, i can't tell you what to do))
(S) The MapApplebloom was, in fact, just as ticked as she was in the dream. She wasn't even hard to find. Two hallways, no traps, no bad guys (aside from the blue Spike), just a straight walkway to the cage containing A.B. and the star map machine. The earth filly had huddled herself in a corner of the cage, murmuring to herself angrily. The crystal deciphered something about angrily exploding sodium in the alien's face. "Applebloom, it's okay, It's Scoots." Her ears perked upward to my voice and she sprang to her feet, running to the front of the cage. "Scootaloo! How did ya find me?" "I pointed and guessed correct, i guess." Scanning the lock on the door, there wasn't a city key that could fit. The keyhole was almost as big as me, with no gears on the inside, just darkness that seemed to have no back. The cage itself had it's bars a few feet apart from eachother, so Applebloom could easily slip out if she wanted. But alas, this is a story about a cartoon, we can't just walk through open space. "Calm down, AB." I said. "We can't get you out without Zaanne though, and he's, ah, busy with something." "Well can ya think at 'em to hurry it up?" She sat bored and blew her hair out of her face. The bow had come undone and laid on the floor not too far away. I took it up and passed it through the bars to her. "They'll be here soon." I promised, holding her other hoof. She blushed and tied the bow around my arm, instead of putting it in her mane. "For good luck." It was my turn to blush, and I stared down at the ribbon thing. "T-thanks." I broke to the fishbowl map and frowned. "Destroying that and freeing you are things only Zaanne and Ship can do... so what do I do?" A preppy female voice spoke far away. "You can be a dear and die, that'll be quite helpful." The shadow that the map made his a human in entirely white, complimented frilly white dress. She showed herself elegantly, it not really working for her though, since her dress was charred and her snowy white hair had black soot stuck in it. She was intimidating enough with the sword, so I kept back. "Wonderful evening, don't you belive?" The girl strode towards us, but without much energy. There was a slight cut over her head. Making the left side of her head alittle bloody. Her eyes still gleamed the evil green eyes of the alien though, showing she still had abit to kill with. "Where's your friend?" I asked. "He will be here soon enough," she scoffed, "but he should not be of your current worries." She rose her blade, which looked like a giant push pin with a rainbow hilt. .My scooter lit up, as if it had it's own nervous energy. "What about this giant black thing? Should that be my current worry?" "Hm? Nah, it doesn't do anything itself, just locates some places for me." The blade glowed a weird blue now. "Same rules apply for it though, gotta get through me to find out what it actually finds." "You're treating this like it's a game." I mumbled. "It is very similar, if you think about it. We both have goals, one is to stop the other." She rose her sword to her lips and smiles gently into it's reflection. "The supposedly main character weilds an overpowered item, but it's not completely OP until you fully learn how to use it, it can be well related to leveling up, or advancing in a board game." She strode towards me, attempting to be graceful, but her step was off balance, and her poise wobbled. "Now, do i have to be the bad guy here and steal the crystal?" The adrenaline started up, so I charged her, dagger appearing in my hoof as i jumped upward. "You are the bad guy!" Blades collided in a shower of sparks. Weiss (new name according to Zaanne) pushed me back and kept my body at the point of her sword. "Am i the bad guy?" I hit her blade downward and ran up it, now only on my hindlegs. She cocked her head and the kick i attempted flew past her. The ballerina grabbed my arm with an iron grip on my way down. With a girly grunt, she flung me into a wall, knocking the breath out of my lungs. Her eyes squinted with annoyance "You attack us, take our space ship, hide the brilliant creator, and you accuse US of being a bad guy?!" Weiss seemed generally disturbed, as if it was my fault for thinking she was evil. I simply laid there, unable to breathe for the time being. The wall had been harder than i had expected, and ship's magic sheild felt weaker. Everything was still fuzzy as i stood, my breath comming back. "I-if I let you take the crystal, y-you'll destroy Gabriel's planet." "You still on about that?" She now laughed, a sweet, lovely and ugly laugh that reminded me far too much of Diamond Tiara. "Oh no, his planet shan't need destruction anymore!" She extended her hand dramatically, giving me as honest of a stare as she could pull off. "I have no intention of hurting you, or your friends of any world!" I was back up, and took the dagger up. "Show me how the plan changed to where destroying planets isn't an option." Weiss drew my attention to the black orb, now with about ten different dots. "Zaanne and the ship scattered the planet we created, creating smaller planets, some the size of earth, some smaller and some bigger. We do not plan to waste a single speck of dirt." She pointed to one star, and the map zoomed on it. What i saw was unlike anything on any planet. A giant golden orb of mist the size of the sun swirled around, whisping yellow dust off it in slow motion. "It's a planet?" I assumed. "Only a memory of a planet, one that never existed." She zoomed into the smokey atmosphere and showed what was inside the place. I was Earth, a beach in front of what looked like a summer camp. There weren't many campers, and a good amount of them didn't seem human, or pony. Granted, most were humans, but alot of them were some goat-guy things. "Where's that?" I asked. "Gabriel can explain to you every fragment of imagination that is in here." Weiss closed a fist, and the image returned to the stargazing mode. "It may take up to a year or two to locate every planet Zaanne and the Ship created." ~A year or two? How many planets did he make?~ ~imagination can create a world from almost nothing,~ Zaanne explained, ~so there are many ways that this could make twenty or even a hundred new worlds. The chances of them having enough thoughts to create a world, though.~ I didn't know what he said, but i didn't care anymore. Why does there have to be almost twenty planets to save from these guys now? That's crazy! Granted, it's not like we were in any danger with the first two worlds. Sure, ponyville had to evacuate and Gabriel lost his heart, but it could be worse. These bad guys have been pretty straightforward about what they're doing, and why. Create a world for them to control by using humans' imagination. I would actually be okay with it, if it didn't include destroying a planet. Sure, let's have a new planet. I'll stop by from time to time to share chips and soda or something. Just don't resolve to death and violence to create a new world. Weiss stood there, patient for me to hear her out. Ship spoke in my head, ~Scootaloo, their plan doesn't require destroying one planet, but it will ruin the numeral worlds that me and Zaanne created.~ "Ship's words are true, but you shouldn't be mad about it, these worlds were not meant to exist as it is." "And were you meant to exist?" I asked. She made a face, as if she were trying to respond but couldn't. After some hesitation, she responded. "Hm... If you mean do i exist through natural birth, i cannot say me and my apparent sibling are any different from these planets. But the matter is that i am here, and whoever brought me here has given me a mission to create a new world." She displayed her sword confidently. "And we will not rest until that mission is complete. Now, let us complete our simple little goal so you and your marefriend can live happily together." Before i could decide to attack or try to pull out another speech, Rainbow and the team burst through the entrance (not literally). Rayden and Gabriel reattained their human forms, most likely to hold weapons easier. Ray had a sword on his back and Gabe had a green... stick? It had spikes on the top right of the stick. "Get away from Scootaloo!" Rainbow yelled, even though i wasn't near her. RD charged at Weiss, only to get punted into the cage, which made Rayden try, which made Rayden fail. We now had two out, two to go. Gabriel noticed the lock that Rayden got thrown into by the chick. "I think i can unlock that, if you can tolerate Weiss for a few seconds." Ray and RD were back on their feet, abit more prepared. The alien seemed reluctant to attack. She must have realized that she was outnumbered now. "Actually, i have someone to go find. He was supposed to be here for this part." She cartwheeled away before i threw my dagger at her. "A little parting gift, though." With a swing of her sword, a flurry of blue lazers shot out and hit the roof and walls in large explosions. The room began to shudder. Rocks fell everywhere, blocking the entrance, which was also the exit. "Well, that happened." Rayden observed the map carefully. "There's no buttons or way to use it," He confirmed. Gabriel had looked closer at the lock and nodded. "We don't have the same amount of time as we did with the last machine, so let's destroy this one quickly." "Actually," i said, "let's not destroy this one." He looked at me like i was crazy. "This cave in won't break it, we have to before we go!" "Or, we could use it." I waved a hoof towards the map to bring back up the things Weiss showed me. Ray sat back. "This can lead us to the planets through the images of them." "True," ship agreed, "the teleportation requires memories of the specific area. If Gabriel has a strong enough imagination with some of these places, we could use this as a warp to the other planets." Gabe spun around from the cage. "You sure that'll work?" Then he saw the picture on the map, of abunch of humans in orange shirts and half-human things sitting around in a stawberry feild, something i hadn't noticed before. At that, the human's face lit up, and he was suddenly unable to talk. "You know this place?" I assumed. "Keep the map!" He commanded, face now back to being wickedly happy."I want every planet in the galaxy found with it by the end of Summer Break!" "The alien said it'll take a year or two." He frowned, dissapointed, but immediately smiled again. "Ship, how long before we can fully locate that camp?" "About a week." Ship confirmed. Ray stared abit confused at the images. "That looks a lot like-" "Yup!" Gabriel picked him and Rainbow up. "I know exactly where I'm going for summer vacation!" Author's Note I don't know.
(G/Z) Human to pony, pony to humanAuthor's Note I'm sorry (G/Z) Human to pony, pony to human I honestly expected a trap. The sudden surrender from the alien, the map they just left behind, the fact that half of us were tossed like rag dolls but they still didn't seem strong enough. Really?! As it turned out, no obvious trap was shown. The lock was easy, too. I pointed my keyblade to the key hole, and a beam of light unlocked it immediately. The lock fell to the floor in a loud CLANG before dissolving in neon green light. The gate swung open in an equally loud creaking noise, and the yellow filly inside hopped out. "Hey Applebloom." I mumbled, still a little dissapointed in the ease of the mission. She didn't even hear me. She tackled Scootaloo with a hug. No talking, no warning, just a random cuddle bug. I didn't realize how bored i was until i found myself running after the alien. "Hey, Weiss! I actually had some more questions!" She stopped suddenly to look back at me. "You do realize I'm supposed to kill you?" "I don't care, kill me later." I desummoned my blade, the crystal teleporting back to my neck. "You have your reasons for making that perfect world, and i get that. Just explain why you're running away right now? You haven't lost yet." "Are you asking me to kill you now instead of later?" She inquired. "Oh nonono, by all means, kill me later." I strolled to her, even though her rapier was aimed between my eyes. "I'm just wondering why you don't just finish us off." "Hm." She smirked and began to go away, a light hop in her step as she skipped off. "I see that you guys are well grouped. It'd be pointless to attack. Go enjoy Valentine's Day, i simply adore chocolate! I'll be back, let's see, a week? Meet you at Camp Half-blood later." She then dissappeared out the cave. I knew there wasn't a point in following her, so i turned back to my new friends, all waiting for me to come back. They watched me walk in, and continued to stare as i monitored the map. "What?" I asked, a little too forced to sound friendly. "Well, we still need access to the map.", Scootaloo said. "It has to be used from the inside, like the planet thingy, according to Ship." "Zaanne, do you want to enter it again?" ~Sure~, he responded unsurely. He didn't say much about their memory in there, but It seems Zaanne also had a past he has to figure out. I guessed the blue pony was also important, but to what extent? He was a major part in tossing the firewall aside last time, and maybe contact with another device will give him more refined details. I placed my hand on the machine, closing my eyes and attaching myself to it with my will. A small intangible string of energy flowed through my fingers, up my arm and into where my heart should have been. I then felt Zaanne's presence swell abit from my chest, passing through the connection into the machine. "If Zaanne is in, why do you still have to hold on?" Scootaloo asked, also feeling him leave the crystal momentarily. "I think he's like a bridge back to the crystal," Rainbow considered, "when me and the gang used the Elements of Harmony to turn Discord back to stone, that's kinda how it felt to me." My veins glowed green with magic blood, the crystal glimmering with a soft light that reminded me of the grass mid-Spring, back in Texas. Blue Bonnets were my favorite flower, and i enjoyed picking them for my mom. The world melted away for me, leaving me in my own head. Memories flooded to me in a slow pace, much nicer and clearer than my stupid amnesiac dreams. It was like small images of my past telling their thousand word stories all at once, but voices over by the real Morgan Freeman. My mom wouldn't keep the flowers, losing them quickly. I still treasured them to myself. Getting pretty things was my hobby before i started school; finding the most colorful specks of nature and watching how they blended together. After i went through pre-K and kindergarten, i became more violent, natural for most children. My stepfather, Sleepy, told me that if i didn't become kind, I'd become my biological dad, who began to go in and out of jail. Memories became slower, making me long for more, the real world drowning back into existence. After a few punishments, i stopped doing bad things. At least, not on purpose, and when it was on purpose, I'd react baddly to it, like Jim Carey saying no in "Yes Man". A memory of me pranking Sleepy by putting a fake spider on my hand popped up clear as day, outside of the fading memories. I recall that because i shared his fear, dropping the toy as soon as he got startled from it. From then on i was deathly arachnephobic, even more than Sleepy was. I was not even able to think of them without going into a mental lockup. After almost seven years, the memory of that stupid toy knocked me out of the trance. I almost let my hand go, but I held on long enough for Zaanne to flow back in, him giving a deep sigh. ~Well, we aren't in any trouble for now, but it seems the map is still searching for your imaginary planets.~ "How many has it located?" Scootaloo shuffled to me, but i was in no mood to talk, or move. "Five so far. This place, two Earths, a huge country that looks like it could possibly be related to Pokèmon, and some place called Death City." Even though i made the places, i hasn't felt like I've heard of Death City before. Maybe it was a small part of some book i read or something. The bad memory continued to burn in my head, but i heard hoofsteps echo through the cave, so i tried to force it out. In came Twilight, who flashed through with a glowing flashlight for a horn. "Rainbow Dash!" She ran to her, delighted to see her friend was okay. "Do you know how long ponyville has been empty? We have to get everypony back to town!" Then she noticed the giand swirling vortex of space in the orb, and the unicorn went into a hushed gasp. Rayden moved from R.D., whom he hadn't left the side of. He walked to the exit and motioned us along. "Right, lets get the ponies safely back." We dismissed from the map room quickly, me at the end. Twilight would not stop asking Rayden questions about human anatomy, but Ship was the only one who answered her questions, which forced her to ask more questions, which, in turn, made me ask questions to contradict Twilight's. Zaanne hadn't said much since he left the system, though neither had i. He obviously got another memory, one he was more reluctant to tell. I was happy for the silence in my head, but i also became concerned for him. I didn't like when someone acted sad, even though i couldn't ever tell whether they were or not. I figured asking him wouldn't get me anywhere, so I strolled silently out of the cave. "We could go get a reward for all of you helping save Ponyville." Twilight said. I didn't have the heart to tell her that the dragons had a chance of coming back, considering we didn't necessarily scare them off. They just got bored and left. "Since you two are new to Equestria, do you have any bits yet?" "No." Said Ray glumly. He'd been starring over the edge of the mountain, checking for a way to get down without teleporting, since none of us had enough mana to do so anymore. The changing to human, transferring Zaanne into the map and pulling him out had dropped me to around 20%, Scootaloo had just enough to rocket her's and Applebloom's way down, to Twilight's amazement, but the rest of us had to slide down. Ray and RD sped down at a good speed, Rayden keeping his hands in his pockets to show off for the pegasus. Zaanne. Twilight and I slid down slowly, taking our time to keep from tripping. "So," Twilight spoke up, "this is your human form?" "Mhm, from a completely different planet." "But Rayden doesn't have a magic crystal, so you changed him yourself?" "That'd be my doing." Ship commented proudly. "So, can you turn me into a human?" She asked quickly. I hit the floor and halted. "Hm... I don't see why not. Ship?" Ship shrugged in the back of my head. "Would you like to test it?" I was starting to wonder how much actual math was put into the crystal's power percentage, considering how enthusiastic ship was about this. Zaanne hadn't said anything for almost ten minutes, which rang plenty of warning lights, but i waited and watched Twilight. "Just stand still now." Immediately she became consumed in Ship's signature flame. The figure changed into a column before lowering, showing a whole different species from the previous unicorn. Now stood a five foot talk Asian-American girl, with a small nose and ears, bright violet eyes, long and flat purple hair and a pink highlight running through it. The tail and horn were gone, but traded with fingers and toes. She looked just like a thirteen year old cosplaying as Twilight Sparkle, doing a seemingly perfect job at it too. Still, something felt wrong. "Zaanne, make some clothes for her." "Damn Twilight, that a B-cup?" Fabric spiraled around her like a purple tornado until she was in some fitted clothes. A purple T-shirt with darker jeans equal colored, along with some neat gloves with pink Rhombuses on the tops. "There." "You know if we made her blonde, she'd look like a female version of Odd..." Since i knew nobody knew who Odd Della Robbia was, i figured I'd leave it at that. She stared at herself stunned, completely lost of words. Honestly, she looked pretty cool in my opinion. I had nothing against purple, and she pulled off the "nerd" aspect pretty well, even without glasses. "I added something non-human to those gloves." Zaanne announced. "They can channel your magic energy outward, like your horn. May take some practice, but it should look badass if you can pull off being a Mage as well as a unicorn." She tested it, raising a hand toward a large rock. The boulder, along with her arm, became enveloped in a pinkish glow, the rock floating up into the air. "It's not too hard." She dropped the rock. "Well then, let's go back to Ponyville. Mind if i change everybody back to ponies? We might cause more uproar that there already is." Twilight nodded assent, so we switched back to pony, including Rayden, and headed back to town. You know when you're just randomly hit with depression after a while? That started to form as the town gathered together in the center of Ponyville. That was about when the wave of guilt rolled through my shoulders as i hid away from the crowd. Their version of valentine's day was just around the corner, and i pretty much ruined their preparation time. It shouldn't have been much of a deal, since it was a safety requirement for the dragon invasion, but it still hurt abit inside. Mayor Mare announced that we would be using the unharmed fruitcake as a community event, so a large group was taken out to begin sawing the fruitcake barrier down. Rayden went out with Rainbow, Applejack and her sister to harvest some apples, which seemed to foreshadow an akward moment. Scootaloo and I got to join Sweetiebelle in decorating, since Rarity had insisted after hearing the story. She was mainly interested in how Zaanne could design clothes from the back of his head, or, my head. I figured I could trust the Mane6 with the "aliens coming over to fight aliens" secret. "So, you can freely create any form of fabric," she asked, "so long as you know what the fabric is?" "Yep!" Zaanne went off on a few different types of material, smartly not mentioning any animal skins. "I can also make latex outfits, but I doubt anybody would need it." They babbled a lot about stuff i didn't care about, but i listened. I had a slight warmth in knowing Zaanne wasn't being droopy anymore, even though i was. I didn't need to fly, since Rarity hung everything magically. The tables were almost immediately placed by the Cutie Mark Crusaders' teamwork, so i didn't have anything to do. I trudged over to the main hall, where Spike and some other ponies had begun assembling instruments. "Need some help?" I asked in monotone. "N-no thanks," Spike tripped over a drum and crashed into the grand piano, which didn't budge to his puny weight. "Well I'm gonna help anyway." I pushed up the drums with my muzzle. "You alright?" "Just fine!" He rolled to his feet and hopped onto the piano bench, playing a random note. "Sounds good!" He smiles up to me. "How can you be sure?" I sat next to him and played Chopsticks, suprisingly easy with hooves. It was completely natural to me, but Spike became transfixed on it. "What song is that?" "Uh, it's called Chopsticks." I played it on a lower octave and looked up to him. "Ponies play piano, right?" "Well sure, but not often. Nice song by the way." He played something that sounded similar to "Ol' McDonald" before hopping off to go prepare the cello. I looked behind me slowly. ~Ship, can you give me just my hands and wrists for a second?~ My arms became human quickly. Scanning to see if anypony was watching, I quickly played something way more fun than Chopsticks. Honestly, i didn't memorize the names for songs i played, they just sounded cool. As it turned out, ponies started to gather, marveling at the piano playing that a 10 year old human could play. After a while of repeating the Jeporady and Zelda theme, i had almost fifteen ponies sitting around and smiling up to me. This meant i should stop, in my head. As i hopped away, hooves back, ponies clopped and cheered. "It feels like they're enjoying different cultures or something." I started to fly off before crashing into a building. "They are," Ship confirmed. "It is much like how you have Halloween while Mexican culture has the Day of the Dead. Try to go find some differences in your version and their version of Hearts and Hooves Day. "Guess I'll be doing that until tomorow." "What are you doing tomorow?" Zaanne asked. "Somethin'." I strolled to the apple orchards, thinking about how to make a free picnic.
(S) The future is good and badAuthor's Note Do people even read this anymore? Also the timeline for these are random. (S) The future is good and bad Have you ever been with your friends, being the only one seeing the akward moment forming, but not wanting to warn anyone? If so, that's what happened while watching my sister, applejack and Rayden try to buck apples together. RD would kick down some apples, Rayden would try to make a compliment, then applejack would attempt to throw his compliment off with logic. "Cool, how do you kick down a full half of the apples in one kick?" He asked. Instead of bucking the apple trees, he did the more human approach of cutting the stems with a dagger. "The other half are hard to get" Applejack informed. "Since they're on the other side of the tree and such." Me and Applebloom decided to begin making the applesauce. We had a big container full of apples, which we just stomped on to squeeze out the applejuice, leaving the thicker material to be mashed up. There were more conventional ways to do it, but I found this to be fun. It didn't take long for me and AB to begin wrestling in the applesauce. She pushed me into the ground as i kicked her into a pile of yellowish goo. She made the cutest giggles on equestria until she sank into the sauce, dissapearing into the stuff. Seconds later, Applebloom exploded out and tackled me again, pinning me to the wall of the bowl. "Gotchya!" I laughed and tapped her hind-hoof, immediatly causing the filly to slide and fall under me. "Not quite," i chimed. We continued to push and pin eachother, finding ways to slip out of the other's grasp. After almost an hour, Applebloom and I laid flat on our backs, my wings spread to let the sticky stew of apples trinkle through my feathers. The crystal's magic energy boost had turned off, now that we were not in any serious trouble. That left me hot and tired, making the relaxing apple bath a lovely bed. "So." She huffed, obviously equally tired as I had become, "are you going with Gabriel to save those other planets?" "Yeah," i panted. "You can come with us, I'm sure you'll have fun." "Nah, ag'd just get in y'all's way." She rolled onto me and rested her head onto my chest, the crystal squished to my heart slightly painfully. I didn't care in the slightest. I placed a hoof into her mane and stroked the chunks of apple out of it. Her ribbon was still wrapped on my arm. "Let's go get cleaned up, the sun is almost down." I couldn't actually see the sun, but I could feel what Gabe was looking at in the back of my head. Applebloom shuffled on me nervously. "Uhm, would you like to stay the night here? Or do your parents want you home at a certaint time?" "My mom won't be home for a while." I stood quickly and pulled her up. "Sure, I'll stay. Besides, you guys have a warm shower." We leaped out of the applesauce and trotted towards the Apples' home. The filly kept close to me, wiping her hooves clean in the grass. Applejack had finished bucking the apples and slipped into the kitchen with Granny Smith, who was cool with me staying the night. Applebloom decided that we should take showers in different bathrooms, though I wasn't sure why she cared. After a quick shower, some apple pie and an extra cookie dessert, I felt warm and cozy, even though the snow had picked up drastically, nearly making a blizzard outdoors. Me and Applebloom sat in the living room, close to the fireplace. Nopony was anxious to go to sleep, except Granny, who passed out in her room as soon as dinner was over. AB pulled a red blanket over us and stared into the fire. Her eyes glowed a beautiful aray of warm colors, which seemed to melt together like lava. "What happened today?" She asked it silently, as if she was miffed about all of the weird events that occurred over the day. "Pinkie built a wall out of fruitcake, You got kidnapped, Gabriel got a giant key and I chased a dragon across a mountain to help you." I shouldered her lightly. "And in a week or two everybody is planning to go to new worlds." "You're going too?" She asked. "I have to go, I'm the fastest one in the team, so I'll be needed." The words felt cold in my mouth. What team was I even talking about? We have me, the pyromaniac, the guy with manic depression issues, a living computer and a human with an obsession with my sister but not with anything else in the universe. More than half of the group has some form of amnesia, I barely know any of them and I'm saying we'd be some type of team? I have the crusaders, I shouldn't turn my back on them. ~There have been worse teams,~ ship said after reading my mind. ~me and Zaanne were a very strange duo, apparently.~ ~you two were?~ I heard gabriel ask. ~Zaanne can explain the memory later.~ and then they were silent. "Wait," Applebloom scooted closer to me. "tha blue pony is named Ray right?" "Yeah, what about him?" She was very close now, touching flanks. My face felt like it was going to melt off when she began wagging her tail, hitting my back so lightly. Her eyes twinkled a happy light. "From what ah saw, he doesn't have a cutie mark!" It never accurred to me that he was a blank flank. Sure, I noticed when we first got here, but at that point i had other things on my mind. The little crusader in the back of my head knocked away all other thoughts now, except that Applebloom was now pressing her entire side to mine, making my body feel weak. "He could be a crusader with us!" I smiled giddly. "Let's ask him tomorrow!" Her face changed from excitement to some mix of shock and urgency. "But we have the date!" I almost forgot about the date, and I did completely forget we were going on the date because we needed to learn how to... Do something. I should really read back on this, we planned this like twenty chapters ago! "Right, well then we'll wait until Thursday to ask him." I rested my head on the ground, feeling tired now. She laid next to me, eyeing the bow on my hoof. "Get to sleep then Scoots." she said wearily, "prepare for a fun day tomorow." I wasn't in the mood to sleep, even though I was tired to the bone, and the fireplace flickered softly in my face. Zaanne's magically homely fire had no comparison to the real thing once I felt it. Ship played some more soft music, and my body shut down. Thanks to the stupid future dreams that the magic box gave me, I wasn't exactly resting in peace. This dream lead me to the camp that the alien showed me. Me and Gabriel stood behind a large... Was that a pony? He was huge! At least, I figured it was a he, considering the height. We were human now, but this colt was still almost a foot taller than me just to his tail. He was older looking and white, with a bushy brown tail out the back. Then the pony turned around, and something in my head broke. It was human from the waist, a slightly muscular man who looked much older than Gabriel. He had a beard and hair looked similar to his tail, also equipped with a bow over his shoulder. The bow had his apparent name, Chiron, burnt into the top limb. His legs were horse legs, so he didn't seem to need any clothes, but it still rattled my head about the horse-human thing. His face showed something like curiosity towards us, as if he knew who we were just by looking at us. "These are the cabins." He said in a civilized voice, but with a kind tone. I hadn't realized we were walking until we stopped at a large assortment of the weirdest buildings i had ever witnessed. Each one looked nothing like the others, except the front two, though those also had small differences. They looped around in a circle, with an extra semicircle on the outside. Each one was numbered, though the numbers were weirdly placed. I found them all amazing (except for the cabin with an 11 on the front, which was the only normal one), Gabriel was mesmerized by the third, which looked like a house made out of stuff from the bottom of the ocean. Chiron continued his apparent tour. "You will be seperated by who your godly parent is, when you are determined." My parents were a mailmare who didn't even stay home half a day and a guard who's most likely dead now, nothing godly about that. "What about titans?" Gabriel strolled closely next to him, looking over every detail he could after thuroghly examining cabin three from a distance. Chiron nodded gently. "We are still considering whether or not to make cabins for the minor titans." "Who are the major titans?" I asked. "His dad," Gabe muttered. Chiron looked less offended than I expected, but I found it rude to call the horseman's dad a titan. The scene started to change, showing me a few hours ahead. Now I was in some sort of arena, with about 20 kids in orange shirts surrounding me. I had some bronze sword in my hand, covered in armor that felt like an elephant sitting on me. Gabriel was still next to me, now with a huge grin on his face. His eyes showed behind a helm that it wasn't really Gabe, but Zaanne now. He was also wearing an T-shirt like the others, edging on a girl a few years older than him to spar. After she accepted, they started practicing swordplay. I didn't know what to do until some boy my age pushed me to the ground. "I win!" He laughed along with some other idiots. I got up quickly and figured he was my sparring partner, so i charged him. Seconds later I was back on the dirt, a mace the size of my head pressed to my chest plate. "Brain the chick!" A kid yelled behind him. "Nah, still need a punching bag!" He pulled the mace off and kicked me up. Before I could figure out what to do, he swung the mace like a baseball bat at me, and everything went white as if to say, "That's all folks!" When I woke up, Applebloom had gone into the kitchen and was cooking something with Applejack. I didn't feel like getting up, but it was already a new day. "I'm gonna hate next week," i growled, then dragged myself to eat.
(G/Z) fluttershy's shed"Okay, Cheesecake, Apple slices, caramel, Apple juice. Simple enough." I put the list to the top of my vision, like I had some touch screen glasses on. Sounds stupid, I know. "Hey ship, mind a few more questions?" "I'm always open for them?" I trotted towards the cupcake building. I hadn't completely given up flying yet, but it was way too hard on all fours. "If I have a new body, why are my vocal chords the same?" "Words have power, therefore your voice contains an attachment to your soul, like your name and brain." "Αlright, next one." I pushed through the swinging doors, their squeak grinding against my brain like Mr. Sanders' chalkboard did. "I know you made a human version of Scootaloo and Rainbow, so what's up with this body having a crystal heart?" "The body you control connects directly to your crystal. Like before, your soul only attaches to certain parts of your body, both in a physical and spiritual aspect. The crystal keeps both your blood and spirit flowing. Imagine the crystal as a type of LAN network console. Instead of your soul attaching to a few things, you become part of everything in your body, but rerouted." "... Dumb it down for me." I ordered my list of things to Pinkie, who gleefully began making my things, apparently finding me talking to my necklace completely natural. "Before the new body, your soul only attached to your brain and heart. With the new body, your soul can reattach to your heart, along with attaching to extra things in your head, like imagination, spirit and memories." A part of me knew exactly what he was talking about, but I hid that part of me when Zaanne started looking though my head's files. I was afraid he'd burn me stupid. I got my order in a large warm bag (paper, of course) with a sparkling cupcake on the front, like some kind of glittery logo. "Don't build a giant fort without me!" She yelled as i trotted off. I promised not to make anything like that without her around, then booked it out of town. It took three wrecking balls to break down the fruitcake wall, but now everypony in town had some crappy christmas food for hearts and hooves day. I honestly thuroghly disliked fruitcake, since I was never entirely sure if it was real fruit. One time I thought I broke off a skittles wrapper on one, and there was definantly something alive in mine last holiday. Cheesecake was yummy though. "Ship, can you hold this in the white room for me?" I hadn't gotten down using teeth to hold stuff yet, though I've tried as a human (What, i didn't want to take two trips with groceries). I was curious if I could copy unicorn magic with the crystal, but I didn't really keep the thought in for long. The bag dissapeared in a flash of light, which I found neat. Things you summon on own appears in green fire, while things that come and go from the ship's interior just glowed before dissapearing. It's like different ways to save something in different formats. "Will there be anything else?" Ship asked, much like a sarcastic waiter. "Can you tell me where the mane6 and my friends are currently? Yes, all of them." I had something planned out for tomorow, but i was also curious on what everyone else was doing, in here and in Earth. "Scootaloo has proceeded to wrestle in applesauce with Applebloom (no fair, I love applesauce!), Rayden got a tour around ponyville and a few bits to stay the night in a hotel (ponyville had those?), Rainbow asked Applejack to the hearts and hooves party Pinkie began preparing for after you left. Twilight sent a report to the princess of your arrival to this planet, and Rarity is speaking to Fluttershy about... I best not say. And Zaanne is currently trying to fix the TARDIS he blew up. As for Earth, your parents are becoming worried about your absence, Jacob and Kenneth were transferred to a nearby school, and your mom is becoming more intimate on some female." That slightly threw me off in the end. My mom is getting more chicks than me? I don't care if I don't care about relationships, that's bullcrap! "Did my phone survive that school explosion?" i asked. "It's an iPhone, what do you think?" He summoned a burnt pile of plastic for me to see. Part of me felt terrible, I loathed wasting people's money (my old school was cheap so I didn't care then), it made me feel like I didn't respect one's gifts. The phone was good too, my first phone. Seeing something like that in ruins made my depression come back. "Well... Can you send my parents a voicemail under an unknown number?" Next to my list of grocery stuff came a little phone app. "Just tap it to call," he said in a slightly lower tone. I left a message telling my mom and dads that i was having fun, being out of state and such. I left an excuse for sounding down, and promised to go back home later. I didn't give a specific time because i didn't know when we'd be back. "Tell my friends that they shouldn't worry about the school. Those things can be replaced." I held the crystal close to my chest. With a magical heart that can heal people, it'd be a dick move to just leave Earth in such a crappy state. After a few minutes of considering, I figured the world won't learn anything unless they fix their problems on their own. Some other feelings were passed around in my head, guilt and confusion mostly, but i set those aside for later complaining. First, I had something pretty obvious planned. Before the sun could go down, i trotted to Fluttershy's nature home. When i knocked on the door, I was answered by Angel, her pet bunny. He was about a third of a foot tall, a clean white coat worn with large ears covering his head. He would have been cute if I didn't know him too well. "Where's Fluttershy?" Even though Zaanne screwed up on the Tardis, his translation box seemed to be on overdrive. "Why do you need her?" He asked in a small voice that might have been Australian. "I just wanted to inform her of some things and ask her about some other things." "She's in her shed, washing up before bed." "Thanks, hey shouldn't you be hibernating?" "Yeah, don't tell anyone im awake." He bounced away, showing a well groomed tail. "Is it safe to go?" Zaanne asked lightly. "Why wouldn't it be?" I proceeded to the small house-like thing behind her chicken coop, really edging closer to the Everfree Forest. It took almost seven knocks to hear a little voice yell out, "be just a minute!" About sixty seconds later, Fluttershy appeared, creeping the door just enough to see one sparkling eye in the setting sun. "H-hello Zaanne, how are you doing?" Her voice shivered abit, like she was cold. "Very good," Zaanne asked, "you?" She opened the door more before responding. "I am d-doing okay, I think. C-Come in, if you want. You don't mind if I call you both Zaanne, d-do you?" "I don't mind at all," i said before he could be sarcastic. The shed looked a lot like a miniature spa. There was a steaming bath tub, a shelf filled with random relaxation oils and lotions of all the colors on the rainbow. Something smelled like lemons, which caught my nose quickly. I normally have a terrible sense of smell, but lemons (and GermX) help me smell the good things in life. For instants, the mare next to me had a vanilla scent again. "S-so, I'm guessing you haven't found a place to stay yet?" She dabbed a hoof into the steaming tub, apparently unsure how hot it was. "Nah, I could just sleep in a tree." The incoming blizzard wasn't affecting me, since the crystal have me a high body heat. "That won't be good for you. You can sleep in my house again... On the couch, of course." She smiled warmly to herself but frowned again when she checked the water. "Hm, still a little cold..." Zaanne decided to mess with her then. "Watch out, might get too hot if you get in." She took a second to get what he was saying before blushing, hiding her face behind her mane. "O-oh no, the w-water just needs t-to heat up abit more." "If you do that, it'll evaporate before you get in." She made some sort of flattered giggle before coming back from her hair hideout. "Y-you really think I-I'm h-hot?" I said, "well, I prefer cute, but in that case you're adorable." Okay, didn't think that compliment through, so what? Why can only Zaanne say the slick things? She didn't seem to mind, though her blush was equivilant to mine. "Let's not go into flirting for now. Do you need a place to stay again? I don't think a tree would suite for a good bed in this weather." I eyed the large snow storm bustling through Ponyville, though not as violent near the Everfree, ironically. "Sure, but I'll have to pay you back triple then." My eyes moved to wander around the room. "What is this place anyway?" She finally slipped her lower body into the tub, sighing happily as the water enveloped her. "When my friend, Rarity, can't go to the spa with me, I come here and treat myself to some of the smaller luxuries of it. Lotus gave me some of these relaxation bubbles and things like that for fun, too." "Doesn't a spa normally have someone else treat you?" She paused to contemplate that to herself, then smiled softly to me, taking up a strangely confident voice. "Well it's a good thing you owe me three things." ~this is how some of that freaky Internet shit starts,~ Zaanne laughed, ~she gonna rub your lamp and get three wishes?~ ~shut up~ i told him. "I guess that counts, what would your first wish be?" ~you should be asking for her first SFW wish, this story's only set to teen not mature.~ She slipped deeper in the steaming tub, relaxing more. I suddenly found it akward to be in the room while she took a bath, but I stayed for instruction. I needed to repay her for chilling at her house, plus I figured ponies don't really worry about gender-specific bathroom rules. After a moment to warm up, she said, "if you want, you could wash my mane. Of course, you don't have to, it might be a lot to ask." Though her hair was a river of thick pink, it looked to be easier than my old hair, which could have been a golden bush plopped on my scalp. "Sure, do you mind singing while I do that?" She looked up at me as I got behind her. "You are interested in my singing?" "I'm not sure if anypony has told you, but nature itself makes time to listen when you sing." I found a bottle of shampoo and squirted some on my hoof. If she wasn't bluahing before, she sure was now. She began singing happily, some song she never sang on the show. Still, it was better than any morphine for my depression. Each line gave a buzzing numbness through my body, warming me better than any magic fire could. I almost forgot to clean her hair as she sang. Her mane was pretty long, so i strode it over my arm and washed with one hoof. I filled her mane up with shampoo, which took almost the entire bottle, then washed it out. Luckily the shed was set up like a real spa, fit for fluttershy, so there was a water sprayer thingy like on kitchen sinks. Spray heads, right? I repeated the process with conditioner, which took forever. How do you know when the it's washed out?! Flutters was cool with it, still singing for me. The song was something about a flower dieing before the winter, then regrowing in spring. It was a little depressing at the beginning, but her tone showed to be more understanding of the flower's future than sad of its present state. When her tone was sad, i became sad. When it turned hopeful, so did my attitude. That was one of the great things about music in general, and I wish more people could influence emotions other than wrath or lust in their songs. Fluttershy even regulated the tempo of the song so she'd finish by the time I completed her mane, which was pretty impressive considering it felt like forever. She smiled up to me as I laid down her mane. "Thank you," she said. "Anytime." Then i recalled the list of stuff I bought, still waiting in the white room, along with why I bought them. "Mind if I ask you a few things?" "Did you not just ask me a thing?" I really did not expect a sarcastic answer, which made it funnier to me. I laughed and sat next to her as she cleaned her forehooves off. "I guess so. Do you have anybo-, anypony taking you out for Hearts and Hooves Day tomorow?" She shook her head abit, washing her face quickly. "Unless somepony were to ask me now, I think I would just stay home and tend to the-" she frowned abit. "Most of the critters are sleeping through the winter, aren't they?" "Yep, most of them," Zaanne said. I turned politely as she began to wash her torso, which didn't really help since there was a mirror on the other wall. "Well then you seem to have some free time on your hooves tomorow, unless you want to go for a picnic with me tomorow." She blushed a lot thinking over that, but apparently expected me to ask her out, since she smiled before i gave the suggestion. "I would love to, but let's not have any fruitcake." I grinned happily, excitement making my wings open. "Definantly, I don't like fruitcake anyway" I trotted to the exit. "I'll let you finish up in here, if you need anymore favors, I'll be in your house." She nodded and I closed the door behind me. The blizzard made it next to impossible for me to see past her house, but that was all I needed to get to, so there wasn't any problem. I lowered the magic heat abit to enjoy the freezing snow whipping against my face. It reminded me of skating as fast as I could while playing hockey, knowing I would fall but loving the cold air that falling gave me. "You got a date for once in your life," Zaanne said, "good for you." "Yeah! Now let's go to sleep, I'm getting tired." I didn't walk though. Forgetting to refold my wings, the high winds caught me from behind and rocketed me into her kitchen window, throwing me into her refridgirator, where a startled Angel ran away quickly. "Day two of ponyville, and you still can't fly worth shit." "Thanks."
(S) cliche like-like storyIt's impressive how easily ponies can clean up after dragons blew up the perimeter of Ponyville. By afternoon, the town had completely stopped conversation of the problem and moved to something slightly unexpected. Princess Cadence, the princess of love, stood at the top of some pink covered stage. Hundreds of ponies, pegasi, earth and unicorn, gathered in town square, waiting for Cadence's apparent speech. She took her time, setting up a flash card to read off and clearing her throat to silence the bustling crowd. "Hello everypony! I am pleased to hear nopony was hurt in recent events that have occurred, which Twilight Sparkls informed me of in a letter. I decided to come over to lift a few spirits." She looked down at the card, now reading off it. "We gather here today to celebrate the day of love, sharing each other's hearts and expressing such love in a brilliant party tonight!" "WOHOO!!!" Pinkie hollered. "Yes, very wohoo'y! Now let's begin today's fun!" She shot multiple hearts from her horn, each erupting in a waves of reds and purples. All the ponies cheered and departed, pulling heart-shaped cards and candies out of bags and passing them around. Pinkie and Rarity had made the majority of gifts, the former giving them out at the speed of pink. Applebloom decided to stay next to me, following me to Sugarcube Corner. "When is our date?" She asked. "Right now, before everyone steals the tables." I summoned my scooter and pulled her on. She wrapped her forearms around my torso and held herself close to me, making me blush. Two days ago, that might have been uncomftorable, but finally I started to get it down. Applebloom liked hearts, so she just wanted to be near one. I was cool with it, I loved the warmth. We sped off toward the vacant restaraunt, kicking in the second Mr. Cake flipped the sign to "OPEN". Grabbing two seats and a table, I sat her down and side flipped to my chair. Granted, i didn't have to, but something felt good in me that day. We didn't have to deal with anything bad for a full week, my dream was for a day far enough away for me not to care; like, March or something. "Two Apple pies please!" Applebloom called into the kitchen. "Put it on Applejack's tab!" I was not aware there could be a tab on things like pie. A few minutes later, two steaming pastries appeared on our table. Just in time too, a plethora of ponies began lining up for food following our order. Rayden popped in for a bit to grab a few apples, and he waved when he saw us. Asking him about the Crusaders recruitment would have to wait, but it was clear as day now that he was a blank flank. I waved back and returned to eating up the food. Once again, Sweet Apple Acres and Sugarcube Corner made a wonderful display of tastes for me, which i made sure to spend time indulging in it. Applebloom seemed to show little interest in it, and looked at the ponies surrounding us, also on small dates. It was then that i fully recalled what we did this for. "Hey, I know Sweetiebelle has already done this before, but why didn't she even show to see Cadence?" "Maybe she's planning things elsewhere." "Without us? That's not much like her." I figured she didn't want to disrupt us, so she spent the day with Rarity. And by i figured I mean Ship told me. "So, this is how a date goes?" "I think so." Applebloom nibbled the pie slowly. She looked good today. Her mane seperated into two bows that made a heart with the loops, her fur coat was shiny and a little longer thanks to the winter almost over, but that was slightly hidden in a small red scarf. She also decided to wear abit of perfume. It wasn't very like her, but the smell of cheeries she gave off was both intoxicating and confusing since she was an Apple. We finished the pies relatively quickly, and Mr. Cake introduced us to milk and pink oatmeal cookies. They weren't as yummy as the previous treat, but they gave us something to eat while we talked. "What's the next place you and them humans are off to?" Since I couldn't recall if i covered more detail on the place than what the Map showed, i emphasized with Ship's help. "It's a human world with some attri- attributes? It's got some things in common with both of our worlds. Apparently it's a battle camp, and im supposed to be beaten up by a guy with a mace..." With that happily answered, we moved off the subject. I was happy for that since the past two days have been "SCHOOL'S GONE! GO TO EARTH! FIGHT COPS, FIGHT ALIENS, GET HOME, FIGHT ALIENS, CHASE DRAGONS, READ THE MAP!!!" It was abit too much that two nights can't sleep off. First we talked about what we could do to help cherrily. After that thing that happened she became a little down. We decided the best thing to do would be to let her use out Crusader's Headquarters as a schoolhouse until hers could be fixed. "It's the best we can do, I'm sure she'll like it." I said "Hopefully more than that last hearts and hooves incident." We laughed and ate more cookies. It was a nice day, with the snow outside now on the ground instead of our faces, we could enjoy the day with a happy face; which was good. Many dates were going on outside of ours. Roseluck was here with some red stallion, Derpy found a mare with blue hair and tan skin, though i lacked her name as well. Big Mac wasn't doing anything special, but he still gave a hello to occasional ponies. "Hey, what gender does Big Mac go for?" It was a random question but we lost the school topic quickly. "Hm, never asked him before. Does your crystal know?" Ship responded, "He's straight. The only reason there's so many females who are into same sex relationships is because the population is mainly females. "Yeah, Sweetiebelle told us that. So that would mean your straight right?" "What makes you think i was raised in Ponyville?" He brought a good point on that, but it just felt as though he lives here. Probably because he knew so much about it. "Dunno, kinda sounds like you know the place." "that's just the information the crystal gives me." He sounded like he was defending himself, which wasn't good. I decided to drop it. "So Gabriel is straight or the Bi thing? He never really answered that." "Ship says pansexual," Gabe's voice came up. "I don't care about gender. Next subject, and can you guys mute us from the chat until after the dates are done?" The silence meant yes. Applebloom gave a small giggle, apparently talking to myself looks amusing. "So after these cookies, where do you want to go?" I made a mental list of things in a casual date, which wasn't much. Lunch, check, now to some activity. I knew the perfect one for her, since we both haven't done much so the childlike hyperness was still in us. Not that I'm a child though. "Let's go outside, I wanna try something." "Can it get us our cutie marks?" "Doesn't hurt to try, c'mon." I hopped to my hooves and pulled her with me. "Cookies got cold anyway." Together we trotted out the door and made our way to the dead apple trees of Sweet Apple Acres. Though the black and brown branches created a ominous and slightly depressing scene, it was also a fun place to run through. There was also familiar territory not far away. "We going to tha Hangout," she asked. I nodded and raced off in front of her. She got the idea and caught up to me. We slid to a hault on the icy pathway, taking a moment to breathe. The cold wind against our faces sucked the air out both of us. Before Applebloom could finish catching her breath, i had hidden behind a tree. "Scoots?" She called for me a few times. SPLAT! Her calls were greeted by a snowball against her side. Her shock was ended after two more balls hitting her. I gave her a minute to hide behind another tree not to far away. She's throw a snowball and graze my tail, I'd catch some of her shoulder, and it went on like that. When i ran out of good snow, i rolled to another tree, getting a face full of Applebloom's barrage. She moved too, so I hit her with a larger snowball. Again it hit on her side, and she rolled off laughing excitedly. A fun idea came to me. I hopped into my tree and bounced from branch to branch until I was above her. She noticed quickly and got a few good hits on my chest and belly. Then I jumped up and down on her tree, shaking it's snowy contents off. I slid down and smiles to Applebloom, who had only a hoof that wasn't hidden in the snow. "I win!" She pushed her way out of the snow and giggled. "Yah cheated!" "If I wanted to cheat, I could have melted the snow under you." Just to prove that, i concentrated the crystal's magic heating system around her. She was suddenly surrounded by water instead of snow. The suprised filly got up and tackled me into the snow behind us. "Ah know silly, thanks for getting me wet now." I could feel her body tremble from the cold, which made me feel guilty. "Let's go warm up in the hangout!" I melted a path to the stairway so not to freeze her legs off, and we trotted along to the treehouse. Settled up inside, we rested in a corner. We lacked any dating or snowball cutie marks, but i lacked the ability to care at the time. It wasn't as warm as the fireplace last night, but there was a better feeling to it. There wasn't anypony else around, not for almost a mile. I could be all alone with Applebloom. She seemed to notice that too. Once we sat down, she wrapped her foreleg around my shoulder, pulling me close to her head. "Mind using your magic to warm me up?" I did so quickly. She was so close that we could share the supernatural heat. She sighed in relief of the cold, though her clothes were still drenched in melted snow. I helped her get those off, and together we laid in the safety of the room. "Thanks," she mumbled. "Don't fall asleep just yet, it's barely three in the afternoon." "But it's so comfy here~" she laid her head on my chest and smiled, the light from the crystal making a funny shadow on her face. "Your heartbeat is fast." I hadn't noticed that, but now that she was so close I noticed my belly felt funny, and my heart had increased its pumping. It was as if i were scared of something, yet also comforted by the fear. After a bit of considering what I was afraid of, Applebloom cleared it up to me. "Scootaloo? I have something to say." What Zaanne would want me to say: "Didn't you just say something?" What i really said was, "What's on your mind?" We've been writing this for almost three years now, I've gotten to know Zaanne better. Her voice became quick and shaky, trying to pick the right words out. "W-we've known each other for a good while now, so I might as well come clean with it..." I let her pick out her words, though with anypony else I'd be way to impatient for this. "Over our time of looking for our cutie marks, y-you've been pretty n-nice to meh, nicer than most ponies. "Mhm?" "W-well, ah tried to tell you by those little projects ah did for you, but I'm not sure if Ya noticed or not." I recalled the clock, all the chickens, and the small heart on every one of her gifts. "S-so I just wanted to tell you, face to face, that, uhm..." Before she finished, she decided to move up to my face and kiss my cheek. Well now I certainly knew what was up with her. She wanted to say it before Hearts and Hooves day ended, but lacked courage with so many ponies around. "I like you Scoots. Like, like-like, not just a like." We didn't need magic heat anymore. My body felt like it was on real Fire, and her blood red face showed she had an equal feeling. I kept her close, not minding the heat, or the wetness on her body. I just hugged her. Being alone with her was pretty cool. Something else that was cool, I figured out what she was talking about, and trying to tell me for about two years. The feeling I got around her, why I looked at her differently than everypony else, why she's always helping me be awesomer each day, and why I think she's awesome all the time. I told ship to leave a message for Gabriel, "always return something nice, because kindness is something to be shared." She like-likes me, and, thinking through it, I like-like her too. Author's Note Not making many chapters, got a lot of things on and off my mind.
(Z/G) No heart does not mean no loveTwo things I didn't think through before going out with fluttershy. The first thing was that, since I wasn't technically a pony, the Stare might work differently on me. I felt like I was in an on/off hypnotism every time we made eye contact. Second thing, when she was in the mini spa in her shed, she was relaxed, therefore easy to talk to. Out in public, with no spa or evil aliens to distract her, she was back to her usual shy state. I was okay with this, since my being socially akward didn't make me very good around others either, pony or not. I grabbed our picnic stuff and whispered goodbye to Angel, who hid in the white snow until we left. I planned on going to whitetail woods, since my knowledge of solitary Equestrian landmarks is quite limited. She wouldn't like the large crowds of ponyville festivities as much as the woods, I figured. Apparently my figuring was both wrong and right. She was abit more on edge from not being home, but she kept herself collected enough to make small jokes with me. "Taking a girl out all alone in the woods could be a weird first date, you know?" "You're no ordinary girl though." I continued walking, not knowing her emotion but knowing she was staring at me. "Are you calling me weird?" She smiled lightly. Zaanne saved me there in the stupidest way possible. "Yes, you're weird compared to most ponies. But that's what makes you special to him." I looked back to see her give a timid smile, but hiding it in her mane. That, along with her slightly rosy cheeks, was enough to make the coldest of of men have a heart attack. Luckily, I wasn't a man, nor did i have a heart, but I still had that feeling of lightning going up my spine. Fluttershy dressed nicer than the day I met her. She now wore a dark green sweater and long things on her hind legs that were either the pony version of sweatpants or stockings, leaving holes for her tail and wings. The pants weren't very tight, but it still showed off her great figure, firm legs but plump and good sized flank... Where was i? Right, date. I looked away from her before she noticed my staring. I knew ponies dressed lightly, even during winter, so i focused on being inquisitive instead of looking at her. "So," i started, "you seem to like animals." No shit Sherlock "Mhm," she stared up at the dead branches, as if expecting a bird or squirrel to be hopping about. "Spring is almost here, so I'll get to see all my little friends again soon." If I weren't a fan of the show, that could have sounded creepy. Alas, I understood that, outside of her little group of ponies, she was best friends with almost every creature on the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. I realized why she decided to live so close to that crazy place then. It was to protect the small animals who couldn't survive in such a wild environment. Though she was afraid of the place, she not only helps creatures in there, but lives next to it. That Zaanne and I found to be pretty cool. "You take care of all your little friends by yourself?" We arrived at a flat area in the woods and i laid the picnic blanket down. "Yes, well, other ponies come by and pay me to watch over their pets or take care of them, so it's a job for me along with making so many cute new friends..." She strayed off and eyed a large rock. I set the rest of the picnic stuff down and trotted over to fluttershy, who had taken an inspection of the rock. "There a critter?" She responded by picking the thing up and showing it to me, which i really could have done without. A spider, about the size of her hoof's diameter, stood there, looking up at me with all however many eyes the bucker had. Somepony squeaked, and there was a fast rush of wind. I didn't know who it was until I was behind fluttershy, staring at the bug (Arachnid, bug, I don't care) like it was the antichrist. She reacted with a simple "oh?!" I mimicked a cat hissing and hopped behind a tree. From a "safe" distance, i inspected the spider. The thing was blue, sky blue, with 8 beady black eyes dotted like a screwed up alien from SPORE. It's spiky legs made up most of its body, which was a stupid big circle fused to a smaller circle. I forgot the broken TARDIS thing, again. The spider turned to me again and made a slow, strained voice coming from its fangs, which were a light Aqua. "Well sorry for disturbing your picnic by sitting here! I was here first you know!" "I know you were." The magic necklace seemed to turn off, because i was frozen, though my chest and face burned. Fluttershy smiled down to... My head named him Jim, don't ask why. "Isn't he spectacular?! It's a Frost Spider, they only come out when it's cold." Zaanne didn't seem effected by the thing. Quit being a pussy, Scootaloo's having a better date than you, and she's nine! "Spiders are no-nos for me." I slipped to the blanket. "What does he eat?" "He's not going to eat you, silly" she giggled, and the cold in me evaporated. "Frost spiders freeze things and suck the nutrients out through their fangs. As for what he eats, it doesn't matter, just needs to be edible." "Touching. Does he jump?" "Why don't you just ask me?" Jim asked. "And would you like to find out?" "No, no I wouldn't." I started to take out the food. After a few thoughts and second guesses, i broke off a considerable chunk of cheesecake and tossed it to them. "Here you go. Happy Valentine's Day." Jim clasped the crumb with his forelegs, or feelers, and bit it. The bread immediately became encased in a sparkly dust, then froze faster than liquid nitrogen. After that he started breaking peices of the ice off and chewing it. Fluttershy set Jim down and moved to sit with me. "That was kind of you, i thought you were scared of them." "So long as I'm nice, it has no reason to attack me. Cheesecake?" We are the food for a while, talking about random things. She was cool with me naturally being an omnivore, which was a relief. I don't like changing to match someone's interests, and I really like the Mc. Chicken. What, it's one dollar of yummy meat and mayo! No homo. Yet no hetero... I re-explained all the stuff that's happened recently, and she informed me of what everypony did durning the dragon problem. Apparently they couldn't all get to the bus, so the pegasi split into flying groups to lead everyone off. "You fought dragons?" She seemed amazed by that. "They didn't try to gobble you up did they?" "The bigger ones considered it, but Zaanne lead them to attack the bad guys." "The dragons weren't the bad guys?" "Technically, no. You know dragons eat ponies, so they're just predators. They're naturally greedy, so it's not their fault that they came." I sipped some lemonade and looked out over Sweet Apple Acres. I could see the two crusaders throwing snowballs at each other. I muted the crystal a few minutes after last chapter's conversation, but Zaanne stayed on for some reason. "I did all the work! Minus the small blue dragon, Gabe took him out." I described the fight in the cave, summoning the Keyblade to show her how it works. "It's mainly made to lock or unlock hearts, but it's also a universal key." I put it back before it could start sucking out my life again. I had trouble telling when others want to talk, but Fluttershy seemed very patient. She waited until I finished what I had to say before asking any questions. "So you plan to use that to fight bad guys?" I nodded. "I know you're nonviolent normally, but I can't find any way around it sometimes." "You talk people out of it?" Zaanne implored. "Eh." I tossed another crumb to Jim and slid further away from him. Seems odd that three days ago, i couldn't fight a mosquito without slapping myself. Now i can take an electric laser beam head-on and walk away particularly unscathed. nice perk of this body, but I knew it wasn't my body. Conversation switched from past to future. I made a deal of solids with Fluttershy. She'd let me sleep on her couch if I were to help her take care of the critters when I was around. She found it great that I could talk to animals, and asked me if I could assist her in the animal care. I agreed for a few reasons. First, we made eye contact, which sealed any deal from the start. Second, I didn't want to go home until the bad aliens were under control. Third, I get to spend way more time with Fluttershy! While i originally didn't like the idea of picking a favorite pony, she would count as a #1. Jim eventually went back under his rock, and i relaxed abit. I felt happy to be out talking with Fluttershy, i also found it great to be resting from some of the weirdest crap to happen to me. "Fluttershy? What day is winter wrap up?" "A week or so away," was her response. I nodded and nibbled some food. A slight ring popped up in my head, and Zaanne spoke into me. ~Scootaloo said to return your blessings.~ I figured she was messing with me about returning fluttershy's kiss. The thought burned noticeably against my face. She noticed and smiled lightly. "A-Are you cold?" "Nah," i looked off before her eyes pulled me into hypnosis. "Just a small reminder for later." She seemed to understand that she'd be told later, and finished her meal. My cheeks flushed more every time I thought through it, and the cold crept back up my spine. I didn't mind the cold too much, I actually prefer lower temperatures. Just because someone's texan doesn't mean they like things 90°F or higher. We cleaned up and started back to her place. I loved her outfit and couldn't help this time but stare for a few moments. She looked lovely, enough to make a heartless have cardiac arrest (sorry if I offended anyone here who has died by cardiac arrest). I figured she wouldn't mind me telling some jokes, so I tried some. Problem is, jokes aren't good if you think about them. Another issue was that she wasn't knowing of any celebrities i knew. Justin Beiber and Barack Obama sounded like foreign food brands to her. We made it to her place after a few laughs about restaraunts. Again her giggles mesmerized me, along with a small squeak she made right before laughing that made my brain buzz. We entered and sat on her couch, discussing animal behaviors. The sun had fallen and the town was lit like christmas, pink and red hearts glowing in the distance. "They seem to be having a big party out there." "Oh, they do that every year." Flutters propped her hooves on the window seal and looked out on the glowing snow. "It looks crowded." "Sounds pretty fun, do you want to go?" She shook her head and sat back next to me. "I think home is a good place for hearts and hooves day." She looked up to me. "You called it Valentine's Day, why might that be?" "We have a similar holiday today, but it's abit more serious than just some candies. My world likes to overdramatize things." "So what do they do?" "Same thing here, but with more dating and broken hearts. I prefer to stay alone during this holiday." I shot a fireball into the fireplace and lit it with a light green. "You spent all day with me, did you not want to?" She blushed abit and looked off. "You didn't have to go out with me just because i let you sleep here." Now could have been a good time to return her kiss, but I had something to say, and I was happy to say it. "I loved going out with you, and I'd do it again even if I lived in space." "It was a little dull though, plus that frost spider seemed to scare you..." I took her hoof lightly to get her to face me, staring into her eyes as well as i could. Her greenish-blue eyes made my soul burn, but i kept eye contact. "You fear dragons, so I'll protect you from dragons. I fear spiders, so I know you'll keep me safe from them. As for it being dull, i liked the subtle date. Nothing insane and nothing boring, just natural enough for it to be fun. Her face was red, and she seemed slightly stunned by me bringing up her fear over dragons. "Y-you'll protect me from dragons?" "Mhm. Oh, and another thing-" i quickly moved up and pressed my lips to her face, right over her adorably flustered cheek. "-you did that for me before I fought your fear, so touchè there." She made a cute squeak, but didn't back away. She smiled brightly and poked her muzzle to mine, which i guessed was a nuzzle. "Th-thanks Zaanne- uhm, Gabriel?" Well I was Gabriel, but Zaanne switched with me. He cleared our throat lightly and stared back into her eyes. "We're color coded. Green eyes means Zaanne, Blue is Gabe. Also, it's my turn for a kiss." Fluttershy and i expected another kiss on the cheek, but Zaanne doesn't seem to play that way. He pulled her close, like, really close. Chests and nuzzles were pressed together as he kissed her lips. I know I've already done almost three lists in this chapter, but here's a few more things that i appreciated. One, I could still feel everything zaanne felt, so I got a full sharing of the kiss. Two, Fluttershy didn't freak out. She took the kiss happily, even pushing back on it some. Three: me and Zaanne are two different people, along with being aliens from a different planet. This shouldn't have happened I didn't mind sharing a Fluttershy kiss with Zaanne, since we pretty much share everything. Zaanne was a lot more assertive than me, holding his kiss and slowly pressing her back on the couch. After a bit i switched back with Zaanne, pulling her up and petting her head akwardly. "Y-yeah, that was Zaanne." Her entire face had become red, and she lacked words. That meant something, I was sure of it. It was getting late, so I poked her nose to snap her to reality. "Go get some sleep, I'll be down here if you need anything." She nodded lightly and fluttered to bed, keeping her clothes on. I laid back on the couch, staring at the roof. I met a pony yesterday, and kissed her today. Something said "too soon", but I really didn't care. "You should sleep too," Ship said. "I don't wanna sleep," i moaned boredly. The day was over, the danger was gone (for now), and my brain was buzzing with everything that had happened over the week. Me and Zaanne met Rayden at school, with weirdly good sword skills and the greatest accent I've ever heard. Scootaloo met me after my heart exploded from a meteor, which turned out to be a space ship. Then we all moved out to ponyville. After that, random chaos. Killer dragons, slightly uncoordinated aliens and a crystal with a identity problem. According to Zaanne he apparently has as much amnesia as me, same with Ship, who may or may not be a real ship. Fluttershy met me because I couldn't fly worth the life of me, and let me live with her. Again, all of this happening within three days. "Ship, play me some piano music." I summoned a blanket and two pillows, resting head on one and hugging the other. The pressure on my chest felt good. He started up some soft string piano, which somewhat helped me relax. "Zaanne, you know much about Camp Half-Blood?" "Not outside of what you've read while with me." I closed my eyes and relaxed. "Tell Scootaloo to meet us up in the White Room, we have some planning to do..." Author's Note This will most likely be the last chapter in this story. I Might make a sequal to it later, but I can't keep up with it right now, plus only like one person cares for this story. Merry Christmas and stuff.
scootaloo prologue"You think you can do it this time, Scoots?" Rainbowdash asked as i prepared my wings for another go at the sky. I nodded quickly, eyes focused ahead of me. "I will get it down this time! Trust me" i declared confidently as i put my wonderbolts themed goggles over my eyes. I didn't really need goggles considering my past stunts with my scooter, but these were actually rainbowdash's, so I felt awesomer wearing them. Looking out at the wooden ramp above the 4 foot ledge that i continued to crash from previosly, i could feel something different about this next try. This is the time, i thought to myself, This time i will prove to my sister that i CAN fly. "Ok get ready for me to wave the flag" RD said, picking up the white flag next to her hoof. "I know. let's do this sis!" I called, picking up my blue scooter by it's red handles as Rainbow flew over me. The plan was for me to charge as fast as i could possibly go with my wing-scooter combo onto the ramp, then i was to spread my wings and glide. Twilight said before that "the glide should give you the velocity and inertia to blah blah blah then to get your wings to flap at a speed higher than blah blah blah something about air in order for you to fly" To put it simply, i needed to fly once i left the ground. Looking straight at the ramp, I started up my wings, making a loud buzzing noise as i held my ground with the breaks. Above me, i heared Rainbow's voice at first yell "ready!?" Then a small pause. "SeeiiinnNNNGGG" came next, breaking my concentration for a moment. What came next was a ringing noise that most certainly was NOT Rainbow Dash. It got louder and more annoying as my world spiraled out into nothingness in the blink of an eye. ____________________________________________________________________________________ "BLAH!!" I yelled as i shot my head up from my bed, without opening my eyes. Slowly waking up, i first noticed the light from behind my cyan window curtains. After my bleary eyes started to become more focused, i tried to recall everything that happened in my dream. "That's like the hundredth time i had that dream, and i almost made it that time, i could feel it" I whispered to myself. Sure, it sucked that I couldn't fly, but it was so much fun trying that my dreams turned into my training. "RRRRRRIIIIIIINNNNNNGGG!!!" That awful noise continued to rattle through my brain. Looking at the wooden desk next to my bed, I found the evil dream-stealer. Another ear-piercing ring came out of my chicken shaped alarm clock as i went to slapped the off button. I thought of just taking out the batteries from the evil bird's stomach, but it was a hearth's warming eve present from my best friend, Apple Bloom. It would be mean to her if i did that, especially after all the hard work she put into making it. I had said thanks, as I recalled, staring into the chiken's eyes. "It was nothin" she had said when i looked up,"I hope you like it." I did like it, i just didn't like its job. It was a wonderfully made chicken, even if i don't really like chickens after the cockatrice incident (long story, including an evil lizard, the stare master and a rock hard unicorn). She didn't seem to let off the chicken joke, considering that anytime she does anything with me and art involved, she makes me a chicken with some heart on it. I didn't notice at first, but i realized that with each chicken project she makes, she puts a heart on it somewhere. As for the chickalarm, the heart was the snooze Button's shape. Hopping out of bed, i took off the rainbow striped socks that were up to my shoulders. I don't normally wear socks, or any clothes besides my Cutie Mark Crusaders cape Sweetie Belle, my other friend, gave me, but it was winter, and it was freezing at night. A few years ago, Applebloom, Sweetiebelle and I made a team called "The Cutiemark Crusaders", or CMC for short. It's a group that helps people aquire their cutie marks. Though, the only ponies in it right now is us three and AB's cousin in fillydelphia, since we are the only ones in our class that don't have our cutie marks. The only one that has ever had a cutie mark was Apple Bloom, but that didnt count since she got like 50 at the same time (also a long story, this one consisting of flowers, the loopty hoop and a zebra with a speech impediment). Hopping out of my blue and white cloud bed, i tossed my socks at the empty clothing hamper, missing entirely. I did a few stretches to make sure i woke up in one piece. Streatching the legs and wings first, there was a funny popping noise come from the left hind leg that felt great. As i start stretching my back, i heard a familiar voice that was my mom's shout, "Come on down for breakfast!" I assumed she sense my awakening with her mommy powers. After the stretch routine and doing my bed, I started down the stairs for something to eat. Looking to my left, i got a good look of myself as i walked next to a mirror in our stair's walls. My purple mane was a huge mess as it frequently was in the morning. My violet tail looked as if it had been zapped by lightning. I took a closer look at myself to see my slick purple eyes and blank orange flank. A small frown went to me as i saw the plain nothing. I have been working for almost two years now, trying as hard as i could to get a cutie mark, and i know i will get it soon. How i know, well, i don't, but I'm always ready to get it. I'm sure that Sweetiebelle is talented in singing, seeing her make the cmc theme song off the top of her head, and Applebloom is good with building, as she did with the main CMC headquarters, which was in a damaged state that made recovering it seem insane. I'm not good at those things, just my scooter; Oh well. Taking some time to go back to my room and brush my mane, i finally went down to follow the yummy smell of hay bacon strips and biscuits that my mom had cooked. Sitting at our rounded cumulus table, i waited for Mom to sit down next to me and fill two glasses of apple juice and some hay bacon. "So how's school been?", she asked me. We normally don't get many chances to talk since she's normally in canterlot at work, but today she seemed to have enough time to have breakfast with me, which i was happy for. "Good, if you don't count the whole 'hearts and hooves day in a week' stuff. It's fun at first but It gets annoying after a while!" "Well, have you found somepony to spend that special day with?" She asked jokingly. "Nah, i don't need a special somepony, I'm fine on my own", i responded, but the thought stayed in my head. It was true that i didn't know anypony that I liked right then, yet every year at this time, i get a slight empty feeling, though it goes away while I'm around my friends. Luckfully, H&H day is on Wednesday, while today was... What was today? Looking at the calendar next to the sink that you obviosly know the destination of, i realized i had run out of time to talk, for the day of my most hated feelings and dread come from this very day. "Oh great, it's Monday! My least favorite day of the week!" I shouted, growing tired of school just HAVING to be on every single Monday. "Well, i guess i should make my leave now" Mom said, readying her bright orange wings and fixing her mane that was so dark of black that it occasionally would glow purple in the right light,"We can talk about the colt that can fit you best for hearts and hooves day when i get home." She said, making me slightly sad that we both had to leave. The only problem i had talking about colts was that i don't actually like colts, they never seemed attractive or cute to me. As for mares or fillies (around my age, of course), i could easily start some relationship, i just don't really want to. There was a word for that, but i never bothered to figure it out, though it may start with an L or F or something like that. Twilight says that i should know more advanced words since I'm 9, almost 10 and all, but in truth, who would understand what something like 'paradoxical' means, so why use those really long words when i could say 'absurd' or 'insane'? Then i remembered what i was supposed to do every Monday "Whatever, I'll go to school on my own today, gotta pick up Applebloom and Sweetiebelle from sugarcube corner, anyway," i murmured as she took flight from our cloud home that was only floating about 6 feet off the ground (because SOME fillys can't just fly out). I doubted Mom and I would see each other long enough to talk about anything until after H&H day. It's always just me around my house, though I'm never home, since i spend most of my time practicing on my scooter and getting my cutie mark. With my mom always at work for what seems like days or weeks, I never have any family to be with, and I was always alone in my home until i met Applebloom and Sweetiebelle. At least, that was my mom. As for my dad, i never met him. My mom said he went to join the royal gaurd and set out for a mission that required him to say goodbye to us for a while, even though that "while" has been 8 years now. The only thing i have to know him by is my scooter, which he ingraved a note in the bottom and sent to me when i was 4, having the words "I'd rather die of passion and love than to boredom and solitude", burned into the wood with a signature that initialed "BF", prabobly for "blue flare", since that's what mom said his name was. We have been good enough without him, he probably left when he heard he was a father, I thought to myself, he chickened out and left my mom to have to care for me on her own. We're good without his help! I said that to my mother once, she just shook her head slowly and continued to do whatever she does. I decided to shake the thought out of my head for now. no use distracting myself before I ride. i hopped from our door to my scooter, which was safely parked under the house and attached to the carrier wagon. Reving my wings up and putting my purple and white striped helmet on, i sped off towards the gingerbread looking building in the middle of town. Author's Note I honestly don't know how this'll turn out. 2015 now, this story sucked balls
(S) breaking waves and reality.Galloping at what seemed like the speed of light, i still felt like i couldn't get to my teacher fast enough. It wasn't making the situation better that the thing that had crashed continued making things as weird as possible. After the chickens dissappeared, more random things either came out of it or changed stuff around us, like the trees turning purple or fireworks shooting into the sky, making immorphous shapes as they detonated. We reached our teacher as the roof started to shake, the bell pleading to dive onto us. Applebloom was prying Ms. Cheerily out of the wood as i pulled her out. She was pretty heavy and unconscious, which made the weight worse. As we tugged her out a large peice of wood fell with a lot of rocks and sticks, apparently some stones that had been previously thrown to the roof. The the wood caught applebloom's tail and rocks pelted all of us. "Scootaloo! A-Ahm stuck!" She yelled, and i released my teacher to run to her "I've got you!" I shouted over the fire, trying to lift the wood. No good, it was far too heavy for me. Smoke poured around us, making us cough uncontrollably. I needed to get everypony out as quickly as possible, before we suffocated. Appleblooms tail was really stuck, and pulling on it wasn't working. Nothing sharp was around to cut it either. I stood for a moment, thinking over what to do. Then another wave hit. My mind suddenly spun, new ideas came to my head. New theories, thoughts, guesses, plans. I predicted every event of the next 10 minutes. The bell was going to fall at about 6 minutes, the wood was connected to the support, so that would break as the bell fell, giving Applebloom about 1.5 seconds to get out of the way. The shockwaves happened once every minute and lasted about equal the time, having a small knockback as it hit, with the fire getting worse aside each wave. The best bet was to either stop the shockwaves from happening, since that's what seemed to be controlling the fire, stick with Applebloom and Miss Cherrily and try to stop the bell (which was impossible), or leave Applebloom and get my teacher to safety. That last one wasn't going to happen. Even if it ment dieing, i was NOT going to leave Applebloom. She had too much of a life to fulfill. The way she always strived to get her Cutiemark was amazing, never giving up, even when it seemed pointless. The more i thought of it, the more i found that i cared for Applebloom more than i did Sweetiebelle, or any other pony. My dad left me, my mom was never there, but Applebloom had always been there, even when Sweetiebelle couldn't. I am not going to lose Applebloom, we haven't even had our fake date!~ The wave left about ten seconds later, leaving me standing, feeling a new sensation, an urge to protect my friend by any costs. I smiled proudly when i realized that that must have been what Rainbowdash feels like with her friends, especially Applejack. "Never leave your friends behind." I mumbled to myself. "Get to the rock and stop the fire! I'll be ok with cheerily, just go!" Applebloom said, apparently having the same hypothesis as me. She seemed to be in bad shape from the rocks that fell on her, which meant she could get more hurt if the wave did so. I nodded and leapt through the flames, yelling to my out-cold teacher to watch her. The closer i was to the crashed object, the better of a look i could see of it. It was definitely crystal, and it was certainly green, and it was positively not anything I've seen before. Flames danced across the sides of it, but it seemed to be cooling, glowing less from heat than something bright inside of it. The crash had made it sink about ten feet into the dirt and debris, with sharp planks sticking out everywhere like a giant toothpick cup. I slid down the debris, dodging the planks and catching onto level ground, just above the crystal. It radiated power, showing an intense amount of energy as it shot out a new wave. The closer i got, the more my fur stood on end. This crystal wasn't anything i had ever seen or felt, and it was simply awesome. That didn't matter to me then. Applebloom was in trouble, and the crystal was making it worse. I figured i had about eight minutes to get the crystal, that i had no knowledge of, to stop firing random stuff from it. I hopped off the level floor and slid the rest of the way. Before i could touch it, the crystal shimmered, and i felt something go into my head and start bringing all my memories up. A few seconds later i realized the crystal was taking in what i knew, what i have seen and learned, and storing it into itself. I reached out my hoof and touched the crystal gingerly. It was fully cooled and was slick to the feel. As i ran my hoof across it, the feeling of it's info storing stuff stopped and inside glowed a small scene, fully tinted green so i had a hard time making out what i was watching. It had what i thought was a monkey, but it stood more like Spike, running from what seemed to be two other things following it. There was a flash of light and the thing stood in place, watching as the other two circled him and ran, after another flash of light and the two dissappearing, the thing ran where the camera would be. A final flash and pictures started flying up and in front of the shimmering video. What came up were random things, like butterflies then knives, then what seemed to be a giant key with a full handle, then a tree. It showed close to twenty items, switching from dangerous to peace making. After a chiming noise, the play glowed and dissappeared, making me realize i lost track of time. There was a bright flash of light then nothing. The meteor was gone, replaced with what seemed to be just a shard. I walked to it and picked it up quickly. I didn't have time to question how that happened or even what just happened, Applebloom needed me. The waves had stopped and the fire seemed to dissappear with the rest of the crystal, but the bell was still in bad shape. I didn't know how long i was in the pit, staring at a rock, but i figured i didn't have time to slow down. I planted my hooves to the ground, holding the shard in my mouth, and began up the hill. Applebloom was watching the bell start breaking the weakened support as i came to her, shard in my mouth. Mrs. Cheerily was looking at the Bell, awake now and horrified, not daring to pry the wood off. AB noticed me as the wood finally broke, snapping the wood trapping her. I was still a hundred feet away, never to get there in time. Ms Cheerily screamed and bolted to her, forgetting that the bell was about to toll on them. Time slowed down. My heartbeat picked up. The only thought in my head was ,save Applebloom. Immediately the world blurred as i ran, the sides of my wings felt warm and tingly, so i flapped them. One flap and i felt like i was on my scooter, jumping long leaps. Flapping my wings again, i cleared the school in less than a second. Within the moment the brass death toy started to make a shadow upon her i leaped. beating the bell quick enough to grab Applebloom by the waist. Cheerily grabbing my arm and we rocketed out as the brass hit the ground with the loudest DING, missing my hoof by a centimeter. I realized too late that i had no way to stop. My hop to get Applebloom was too powerful somehow, and we all sped out like the wind. We flew into the ground and slid into a stop, or more so, as i got up to see, that i caused a five foot area of quaked ground. I knew i should have felt extremely worn out, but i stood on four legs. Applebloom was laying down, breathing heavily and shaking. Her tail was ripped abit and she was covered in smokey soot, but she seemed okay. I was checking on Cheerily, who also seemed fine, when i remembered the crystal in my mouth. As i spat it out to the ground, i felt as if i took a fifty mile run in ten minutes and had an elephant sitting on me. All four legs felt like lead and i dropped. Pulling my front leg up, i used all my remaining strength to grab the crystal. Immediately i felt my body surge with power again, so i stood resilient. I saw Applebloom look up giddly and become wide eyed before passing out, so i looked behind me to the school, making me stare dumbfounded at what i did. The trail i made from the crater to where i was was covered in dark green flames, which glowed brightly before getting cooled off by the winds of February. The weather ponies seemed to be veering off, avoiding the smoke left in the sky, too afraid of it even though the fire was gone. I saw a rainbow mane fly into the cloud of smoke, and in a few quick seconds the smoke imploded, then dissappeared, leaving my favorite pony to hover in the air, scanning the crash scene. "Rainbow!" I yelled, grabbing her attention. I didn't have anywhere to put the crystal that was giving me my strength, so i held it in my hoof. She swept down and landed next to me, checking me intently. "Scoots! You ok kid?", She rushed, searching around me for broken bones or cuts, "Just scratches right? Good, brush off, they could be hurt, even with the fire gone." She grabbed my teacher, who still seemed to be in shock, and slumped her in her back. "Get Applebloom", she said, pointing to my scooter, which had itself stuck in a tree that amazingly wasn't destroyed from the explosion. Applebloom was knocked out when i placed her in the wagon and rode off. Looking at the crystal in my hoof, it seemed to be more than a shard. It was filled with the same glow as the full rock, cut into a rhombus and spiking just slightly out of the middle. I didn't have anywhere to put it still, so i just held onto it as i rode through town to the hospital. Maybe Twilight will know what to make of it. I thought as I sped up, my wings returning to it's normal strength. The crystal stopped glowing, now looking like an ordinary emerald. Applebloom had slept through the ride, so i parked next to the hospital and placed her on my back carefully, walking us in. The hospital looked pretty empty, with only about a dozen ponies, which was good considering there had just been an explosion at a kids school (or for any occasion it's good). A random nurse came up to us, seeing our condition i guess made her pretty convinced we were hurt, so she took Applebloom and i followed closely. I kept the shard on me, it made me feel more comforted by holding it. She escorted us in a waiting room and set Applebloom up in a chair, who was still out of it. She said the waiting time would be about an hour and it looked that she was going to be alright. I thanked her and decided sleeping would be a good idea, so i laid my head next to Applebloom and placed the crystal in my lap. It glowed abit before going back out, so i pulled her closer to me and rested her on my shoulder, though she slid off and her head also fell to my lap. She seemed comfy enough, besides being covered in dirt and cuts from the rocks and smudgy stuff from the fire. Her hair was swirled around messily, coated black in spots with her bow undone. Her eyes were shut tight and she was nuzzling my belly, mumbling abit, so i figured she wasn't having the best of dreams. I patted her head and rubbed her ears, stringing her hair back and fixing the bow. She smiled abit and stopped moving, so i slouched to the side and fell asleep instantly.
(G/Z) I learn how to crashThe stupid thing about having Asperger's syndrome, some of the people that have it have really high sences, which makes you really ticklish. It also gives an annoying concentration to certain actions while completely blocking out other, most likely more important, activities. Like, for say, when you've been in ponyville for almost a strong five minutes, and you throw out a labratory's area right off the bat, not really considering if people wanted to keep that down. It's not like the place is secret, but not really something to throw out there. Another thing with aspergers, added with my already hyper self, you normally gain ADHD. For example, as I was walking down the stairs to Twilight Sparkle's lab, I couldn't stop talking. "Who made the room for the lab down here?" I asked. "It was originally just a basement, but I fixed it up to be more useful." Twilight answered. "Is it legal to have this place?" "When you're the princess' assistant and student, yes." She said that with so much pride that I actually noticed that emotion. "Is it illegal to use dark magic as her assistant?" "Why would that matter?" Rayden asked, following slowly behind me. He had been abit more talkative in the pony world, but he still kept his cool pretty well for just entering his fandom's home. "Just wondering. What's that thing do?" "It's a machine that calculates brain waves and records them into a readable graph over there." She gestured her hoof to a large printing machine. ~We'd just love that,~ Zaanne said. ~It'd probably break!~ Ship responded, ~Actually, everyone has voices in their head, you people just emphasize it more.~ "What's that?" I asked, pointing to a weird crystal ball. "That's a magic enhancer, it amplifies the magic in a unicorn to make them more in tuned with it." "Like when your eyes went white and you turned your parents into plants" I realized I shouldn't have known that when she whirled around, staring at me creepily. "How do you know about that? Did Scootaloo tell you?" "No. I just, uh, know." I looked to Rayden to get some backup. "Uhh, one of the inspectors from your exam was a friend of ours." he lied, "He told us about your awesome powers and stuff." I figured that I would tell Twilight about the crystal after the checkup, but I didn't bring it up yet because she might think I was some stalker. She blushed modestly and stopped at the pulse machine, which looked like a white Lego block, wired with suction cup squid tentacles tangled everywhere. The Lego had a black screen on the side and a green and red button underneath it. "What's that?" I randomly asked, pointing to a glass orb inside another random machine, filling itself with brown liquid. "Is it also a magic stimulator?" "Ah, no. That's what we in the town call a 'coffee machine'" I'm not sure why she was being sarcastic, since that's normally Pinkie and Rainbowdash's job. "Oh." She began to magically untangle the wires, sliding each one through themselves carefully. "Hey, doesn't magic negatively affect electronics." "Yes, but the rubber coating on these are specially made to register pulsations, and that material convinently rebuffs magic abit." She finished untangling it and waved me over to a circular metal plate on the floor. As I stood on it, she shot the suction cups into me. They were everywhere, on my fore and hind legs, my chest, sides, neck, cheeks and my forehead. The impact tickled, which was really starting to annoy me. "There, now to check your pulse." She pressed the green button on the device and it whirred to life. It gave a soft hum to it and a neon green line appeard on the screen. After a few seconds of a line and a high pitched continuous beep, Twilight readjusted the suckers, only to find the line again. "It might be broken." She said, looking behind the machine, to find unplugged wires I figure, but she apparently didn't see any. "It's weird though. I don't see anything wrong with it." "So, he doesn't have a heartbeat?" Rayden asked. Twilight thought for a while before trotting over to a small tan wall on wheels, rolling it over to me. "Lean over this, please." I did so and she stood back a few feet, keeping Rayden behind her. She got in a balanced position and ignited her horn with the sparkling light of magic, closing her eyes slowly. She aimed the horn at me. Again, random questions popped in my head. ~If she bats her eyes fast enough from there, will we feel the wind move?~ I decided to keep that one back. Suddenly, my chest glowed purple. My skin and fur became transparent. I got a creepy image of my own ribs before Twilight concentrated harder, making those fairly unnoticeable. The unicorn opened her eyes to inspect her work, then screamed and hopped back, breaking the magic concentration. She stumbled into Rayden and they hit the floor. Before the magic fully stopped, I got a pretty good look at why she freaked out. I figured my heart would just be stopped, but no. The thing wasn't there. "Y-your heart! It's gone!" Twilight yelled. ~No shit, Sherlock.~ "No, I let it take a walk through the park before I got here, it'll be back any minute. Of course it's gone!" I hopped to her, but she retracted to the wall. "You ok?" She started breathing, which was most likely good for her health. "How could your heart just be gone?" She asked slowly but steadily. "My opinion," Rayden said, "as Ship said, the crystal is his heart now. Try detecting for magic items." She nodded and tried to concentrate again. The same procedure happened, only It just made the crystal glow violet/green. Then, where my heart should be, another crystal glowed, slightly brighter. "That, what in the world is that?!" The way I said "I don't know" sounded more like if you tried pronouncing all the vowels at once. "Probably that spaceship that exploded in my face." She'd seen enough, so I explained. Rayden helped me out, since half the time I blurred my words together or stumbled over facts that were apparently important. She summoned a clipboard and a quill with the ink cup and began to write. "So you're saying that you have voices in your head? You know everyone has them, most just put them in the back of their mind." "I'm way more than a voice," Zaanne said from the crystal. "I'm the greatest damn voice ever to live in somepony's head!" "You must be Zaanne, hello." She said that as if that were normal, which either meant she fully understood now or we drove her insane. Ship introduced himself as well, now in the voice of Dane Cook, though I wasn't sure how smart the comedian actually was. When we got to the part of breaking the planet maker, Zaanne took up the story. "Me and Ship went into the machine and broke down the defences inside. We broke the fire wall and set the forming planet to scatter itself far away." "That's not all that happened." Ship responded. "We had this dream-" "That wasn't important." Zaanne interrupted quickly. "Just about stuff like flying sheep and stuff. Ship, might we talk for a bit?" The crystal stopped talking, but Twilight stared at it anyway. "What's wrong with him?" "Dunno, Zaanne's a little weird." "You're a little weird." Rayden reminded me. There was hoof steps above us, which I most likely wouldn't have heared without having enhanced hearing from either the crystal, being a pony, or both. Twilight detached all of the wires from me before galloping upstairs. Leaving me to turn off the machine and follow her. When me and Ray got up there, she was with a cyan pegasus with an amazing aramgement of colors spilling out of her head and flank. Rayden beat me at reacting, which never happens. When I see something that I find awesome, I'm normally the first one to speak up. In this case, my friend's eyes widened like moons. "Rainbow Dash!" He called excitedly. I hadn't noticed his wings before, but now they flapped excitedly as if they had a mind of their own. The pony looked to him. "Dude, you stole my hairstyle." I gave Rayden's mane a second look. As of becoming a pony, the spikes and the trail of hair down his neck looked exactly like RD's, only it was red and orange instead of a Lucky Charms marshmallow. She didn't seem too angry about it. "That's cool. You have good taste to pick such an awesome pony to copy!" Spike had entered the room with a broom, sweeping off the stairs, even though there was barely any dust on it. Maybe Twilight's OCD rubbed off on him? I counted out four ponies in the room, including me, and one purple dragon. Then I guessed the diameter of the room while Rayden tried to pick out words. "You, y-you're here? Like, right here, alive for me to see?" ~The room is about twenty feet wide and twenty feet four inches long. That means the circumference is close to thirty-two feet.~ The math popped in my head randomly, but that happens when I space out. Nothing was aligned unless perfect, and nothing is perfect. ~And what might that mean?~ Ship asked. ~That means I'm getting anxious, no need to worry.~ I wasn't sure if I was talking to myself or not, but Ship seemed content with the answer. Apparently I had been staring at the floor for too long. "Hey, green guy. You-hoo!" I looked up to find a pair of magenta eyes at my face. "Who are you? The other one is fangirling too much to talk straight." Rayden was grinning like me and Pinkie, mumbling to himself. "She's real! Like, right there!" "I'm Zaanne, that's Rayden." I guess I should explain the naming. I started calling myself Zaanne because the body that people knew as Gabriel had either transformed or disentigrated, and in Pokèmon, when a Pokèmon evolves, it's name changes. I liked the concept, so I kept Zaanne, which would also stop confusion in name calling when we switched out. I asked Zaanne if he was alright with that, and he said, ~As long as we're ponies, I couldn't give less of a shit about our name.~ Yay, a not-so-new nickname for myself. "Well, apparently you two already know my name, but I'll say it again, in case you forgot." She back flipped onto a table and puffed out her chest. "My name is Rainbowdash, upcoming Wonderbolt and fastest flier in Equestria!" Twilight levitated her to the floor. "Yes, you're Rainbowdash. And yes, they already know you. But they also know other things that I wish to discuss with them." She eyed me like i was a new specimen to dissect. "Now, what is it you need?" "Well," RD said, "a few things actually. First off, the meteor dissappeared. I'm not sure where, so don't go asking." Rayden looked out of the window, where smoke was thinning away in the distance. "That's Scootaloo's crystal, if I'm right." "What, the necklace thing she's wearing?" Rainbow studied my crystal and approached me. "Is it dangerous?" I stepped aside before she could touch it. "Yes, very dangerous. But only to me, no need to worry about Scootaloo." I scolded myself for saying that the second after. Really, very dangerous? I might as well have said, ~she's screwed with it, but she'll be just fine as long as she's away from me!~ Rainbow Dash fixed her eyes to mine and got uncomfortably close. "That's good. Don't hurt Scootaloo, buddy." She said "buddy" like Dane Cook would say "pal", or "chief", or "fuckface". "The only danger she may be in is the danger of adventure, which you can't stop her from having." The pegasus nodded and backed off. She turned to Twi. "The second thing is that the snow for the Hearts and Hooves Day party has begun to fall. If you haven't found somepony special, I suggest you start looking." I got Rayden's attention and mouthed "shipping" to him. Unfortunantly, I'm not good at mouthing words, so I really don't know what he got. Ray was still staring at Rainbow Dash like she was a giant diamond. Poor Tom. "It's fine," the unicorn sat next to the table and looked at the windows. "Pinkie Pie invited me over for a slumber party for the occasion." "Speaking of her, did you know Pinkie's bisexual?" Twilight gasped quickly. "That explains that one party!" "What happened at 'that party'" I asked. The room was fairly big, but the longer I stayed in it, the smaller it felt. With social problems, that was about routine. I figured it would start happening as soon as I entered, but I guess I could roll better with ponies than humans. Twilight blushed. "I'd rather not talk about it." But the crystal had different ideas. One quick flicker of light around Twilight and the image in front of me changed to a party. It looked like Pinkie's house, but it was filled with apple cider. Pinkie was on some makeshift couch with Twilight. The pink pony was extremely close to Twi, whispering stuff in her ear. I couldn't hear what they were saying over ungodly loud mariachi music, but I got the picture of what was going on. Rainbow was laying on both of their laps, singing something about dried grapes. Pinkie continued flirting, playing with the librarian's mane and whispering more compliments to her, though I'm not sure how much she heared. Most of the time, she just nodded giddly and giggled a lot. All three looked like they had a little too much cider. Before Pinkie Pie could start nibbling her ears, I waved my hoof quickly across the image, taking it away. I wasn't sure what had happened, but I got the feeling I wasn't supposed to see that. "What was that?" Twilight asked immediatly. I was back in the library, with two completely sober mares, a baby dragon and Rayden. I didn't know enough about him to really give him a good adjetive. Blue? Quiet? "Uhh, I'm not sure. What did you see?" "I glowed green for a moment, then you closed your eyes. It's been almost ten seconds." "Hm, one second please." I sat down and looked to a wall. I did that so I didn't start staring at anypony while I spaced out, which I've done way too often as a Primate. ~Ship, what the heck just happened?~ ~You asked for what party she was talking about, so i scanned her and gave you an image of that memory.~ ~Do you know how rude that is? Sneaking into someone's head isn't much better to wiping their memory!~ ~Well now I feel offended.~ Zaanne said. ~Anyway, don't do that until I actually say to, kapish?~ ~Understood Sir.~ I stomped on the floor loudly, unsure why though. ~And don't call me Sir. I'm a kid, nothing more.~ I hadn't realized the four pairs of eyes on me until Twilight cleared her throat. "Well, I'm not sure what else I can help you two with. Unless you'd like to check out a book." She waved a hoof to her collection. I got a book about Asperger's syndrome, just because I love looking up stuff about myself, and we left to the outside. "You're really going to read that?" Rayden asked. The book itself wasn't heavy, but I had no clue how to hold it without hands, so Ship put it with all of our other stuff. "Just the key points. Symptoms, social reactions, stories in it." "Isn't Aspergers some social problem? Makes kids really smart, but they have trouble with other people, right?" "The social problems are just the top of the pillar, like the side effect of having the syndrome. It starts with the sensory part of yourself." I went on to explain as much as I could about a brain disorder that he probably didn't care for. I noticed him looking off, him nodding boredly, the fact that his eyes were glazed over from my speech. Because of that stupid social disorder, I didn't comprehend if he was bored or not. Part of it might have been my own ignorance, but another part of me was too boggled by the day to care. After the speech, I realized I had nowhere to go in ponyville. "Uhh, what are we supposed to do now?" "We could go tell our parents that we're ok." Rayden and I stopped in the center of town and sat down on a bench. "I'm sure they'll be fine." "Maybe yours." he looked to the snow falling around us, slowly coating everything in frost. "But mine just know that the school exploded on the first day that i went there, then I randomly disappear with some other kid. That's sounding fairly suspicious when you think about it." I tried to see it in the eyes of a detective. The only one to register into Advantage Academy recently would probably be Rayden, who came from out of state. As he enrolled, a meteor that nobody worried about came crashing down on our school, without anyone trying to guess it's trajectory. About an hour later, he's in a hospital that just appeared, then dissapears with a kid. If I were a detective, I'd look into that. "Yeah, you should go say hi or something." "Ship," Ray said, "can you take me home for now? As a Human? You can bring me back when I'm done." "Ok" Ship said, and Rayden dissappeared. The sun was begining to set, which felt weird after such a long day. It became strangely quiet in the village. There were very few ponies, none of which I recognized. Most of them were inside to prepare for afternoon activities I presumed. The snow had picked up, causing freezing winds to hit my face, though I didn't mind. I loved the cold. Texas heat way too hot for me. One time my step-dad, Sleepy, had claimed that he wanted to move to Canada, since it was way too hot in Texas. Not just that, but he loved hockey to the heart, never missing a Dallas Stars game on T.V. for the world. I, on the other hand, wasn't much for sports. It was fun to play, but I wasn't a fan of hurting people. I played hockey for a year, then left when checking was permitted in my age group. I know, that's kind of childish of me, but I didn't see the fun that came out of running into people at full speed. Then Zaanne, the most violent person I know, pops into my head. It's like, "Hey, I know you're antiviolent, but here's a guy that wants to kill everyone! Hope you don't mind if I stick him in your head!" I didn't resent him for being violent, but it was quite annoying when I would try to play video games. ~kill this~ and ~kill that~, even in a game like "Dance Central". When it came to violent video games though, I was the Hitler of them. I'd kill everything and still manage to lose in the end. "So, what do we do?" Zaanne asked. "Ray has to clear his name and Scootaloo has her girlfriend to screw around with, what do you have?" "Aliens that want to kill me, a super powered crystal and an annoying voice in my head." Other than that, I had nothing. I already assigned the ship to create a letter saying I'd be out of town for a while. I'm not sure if my parents would belive that, but it seemed like the right thing to at least show them that I was alright. Then again, I wasn't entirely sure how alright I really was. My life depended on a stone hanging on my chest, no bigger than a good sized pebble. Ship said,~Well, if you would like some things to do here-~, a green menu opened in the corner of my eye, like a quest log in first person video games. ~-these are the problems throughout the land of Equestria.~ There weren't a lot of things on there, mainly small things like cats stuck in trees and weather needing to be sped up. Both of which sounded menial due to pegasi exsisting. That reminded me of something. "First thing, I need to learn how to use these." I flapped my wings, but it felt like I was trying to wave frantically. They caught the wind, and I flew backward, straight into a tree. ~I could teach you magically, if you so wish.~ "No." I said, shaking off the slam into the bark. "Some things should be taught manually." I tried again, positioning myself forward, but i ended up face-planting into a wall. "OW!" Zaanne yelled. "Can you not do that in town?" I realized I'd probably cause some bad collateral damage doing that around civilization, so the ship conjured me a map menu and I escorted myself out of town. Once we reached the back-end of town, I quickly found a nice plain to play around in. It was several dozens of acres of rolling hills, leading far off to a set of mountains in the distance. The sky was cloudy for the snow, keeping the place well shaded. A line of deep forest rested a few yards away. Next to the woodland stood a cottage. The house was in a nature theme, a good sized tree-home sitting on a hill, with a dirt path over a tiny creek leading to an equally small lake. The waterway was dry, not being used because of hibernation. Not many animals were present, but the area all around was dotted with crevices and tunnels. Far behind it lay a shed that I dare not go into. Nopony seemed to be home, but I knew who lived there. I turned from the cottage and spread my wings, telling myself to concentrate. Wind picked up, and I escalated. Immediately, I lost my balance, slamming into a hill. In the winter, with the ground so cold, it felt like falling on solid rock. "Time lapse, commence!" Zaanne shouted as I prepared to try flying again. __________________________ By the twentieth time of eating the dirt, I was getting ticked. "Up up and away!" BAM. "Flame on!" BOOM. "I belive I can fly!" NOPE! I lost count of all the times I failed, so I kept a list of all the things that got me in the air. My wings spread would catch the wind and make me airborne, but after that, I would be better off with vertigo on a tight rope. Flapping my wings propelled me in any direction that the they were facing opposite to, which messed with my head. I had just gotten down the ancient art of chicken flapping when I heared an odd sound behind me. I got distracted by it immediately, lost concentration, and hit the floor again. The thing that made the noise appeared next to me, talking in an extremely soft voice. "Oh my, I'm so sorry!" I poked my head out of the crater like an ostridge and shook it. "Why would you be sorry? I'm the one that crashed." "Well, you were almost flying, and my noise seemed to startle you." With each word, she became quieter. I looked over to the mare and almost had a metaphoric heart attack. She had yellow fur, which was partially covered in a green silk sweater with a red heart on it. Her pink mane was hidden under a ski cap, but some strands hung loosely out the sides and between her eyes. Her eyes, they were like the ocean, beautifully mixed with blue and some green. She blinked a few times, showing off long delicate lashes. A long tail laid behind her, swishing from side to side every so often. "F-Fluttershy?" Was all I could say, almost as quietly as her. "You know my name?" She sat on her haunches, looking me up and down. I was covered in dirt from my failures, scratched and bruised up, plus I'm pretty sure I didn't smell the best. "Uhhh" I said some philosophical quote like, "Gah, uhm, I do. You are Fluttershy? Like, the real Fluttershy?." "Yes, I am Fluttershy, I own the cottage over there." She pointed her hoof to the house on the hill. "If I may ask, who are you?" "Zaanne, I live, well, far away." I remembered to blink, then I hopped up quickly, brushing myself off. "Never flown before, trying to get the hang of it." I realized I sounded stupid. What pegasus hasn't flown at this age? "Oh, well would you like some help?" Her voice was too gentle to deny, so I nodded and let her rise again. "Just let me get you some warmer clothes first." "Uhuh." She trotted to her house, edging me to follow, which I did. I tried to relay a message to Zaanne, but I'm not sure what he got. ~What happened to being 'manually taught'?~ Ship asked. ~Having help is different than downloading the knowledge.~ She led me into her house, which was like Twilight's library, but smaller and filled with animal houses instead of books. There was also more furniture, chairs and couches scattered around in the living room. Fluttershy trotted up the stairs with ease, and I sat on her couch. Even with the pony rummaging through stuff upstairs, it was oddly quiet in her home. After being around screaming guards and exploding stuff, the silence was nice, but a little out of place. Every so often I'd hear a shuffle, like fur rolling over carpet. ~What's she doing?~ Zaanne asked. ~I'm pretty sure she's trying to help me fly safer.~ She flew back down, literally, holding folded clothes in her hooves. "I think these might fit you." She gave me them and landed. I nodded and looked at the clothes. It was a navy blue ski jacket with padded insides, a black snow cap, boots and a yellow scarf. "You don't have to wear them, I just thought, you know, it's cold, and you might like something to keep you warm while practicing. The jacket might help with the crashing." "Thank you, you're very, well, kind." I zipped the jacket up and put on the boots and cap, wrapping the scarf around my neck. The jacket had two extra holes for wings, thankfully. "How do I look?" "Like a professional skier," she said, "with a bright scarf." I tried not to laugh too loudly for the sleeping animal's sake, but it's hard for me to control laughter volume. I've never skied or snowboarded before, but my experience with skateboards makes me think it'd be about as easy as flying. "A very colorful skier, that's for sure." She smiled and walked to the door. "Would you like some help on flying? I'm sure my friend Rainbow Dash wouldn't mind." "Actually," I didn't really want to have RD laughing at me for not being able to fly. Plus, her drilling isn't my style. "I'd be happier if you were to come and watch instead. If you have the time, I'm not sure how much you have during hibernation season." She blinked, considering. "I'm not the best flyer myself, I'm not sure how much help I would really be." "You've been very helpful by letting a stranger into your home just to give them some clothes. I couldn't ask for more than that." I went to the door and patted her shoulder. (do ponies even have shoulders?) "It's your choice to help or not." She nodded and placed her hoof over mine. "Be careful, now." Her touch was friendly enough, but she was so gentle that my entire arm tingled, like it was lightly being tased again. She showed so much concern and kindness in her voice that I wasn't suprised when she said, "I'll come and watch if you want. I don't have anything to do until bed time, anyway." I held the door open for her to come back out. "Ladies first." She smiled brighter and walked out, letting me follow. As nice of a picture I might have had from behind, I really wanted to be beside her. At some point she had taken off her cap, letting her mane tumble down her sides and over her face. We were the same height, her hair giving herself an inch or so more. Her wings were a bit smaller than mine, but the feathers were neatly preened. To summarize, Fluttershy looked great. She walked slowly, keeping her head up. There were very few microscopic imperfections on her, like how she would blink a few milliseconds too quickly and the rythym of her hoofsteps being out of place, but other than small things like that she was fine. Walking with her didn't last nearly long enough when we reached the open area again. "Here we are." I announced. "Have fun, and be safe. If you need help on lift-off, try kicking off the ground and flapping your wings." ~And don't forget your lunch money!~ Zaanne chimed. I ran to the middle of the feild, prepared to succeed. I flapped my wings, jumped from all four hooves, and rocketed into the ground. The jacket buffeted the fall, thankfully, but it still didn't feel to great. "Just gotta keep trying." I muttered. And I failed again. And again, and again... Fluttershy cheered me on from a hilltop. "You can do it!" Even with that, I was getting frustrated. It took only two tries to get down using chopsticks, and it never takes more than four fights for me to get every control in a video game down. This was like relearning how to walk, without watching anyone besides the pegasi we saw on our way to Twilight's library or by pressing the R3 joystick forward. Eventually, I was able to glide for a few seconds before falling upside-down on the ground. "Fluttershy?" I asked, after biting the dirt right next to her. "Can I ask for another favor?" "What do you need?" She asked sweetly. "I have some lemonade if you're getting tired." I wasn't thirsty quite yet, but I could fight a bear if it was keeping me from getting some lemonade. "That'd be nice," I answered, "but I'd actually like something else, as well." "Yes?" "Could you fly around, so I can see how and stuff." I figured if I watched closely at somepony else doing it, I'd get down what to do. "Oh, well ok, but wouldn't you rather have someone like Rainbow Dash to show you? She's really fast, and probably has better form than me." I shook my head slowly, partly from being dizzy. "Rainbow is abit too fast for me, your wings will be easier to moniter. Plus, I can't fly, much less fly fast." I recalled a video telling me that Rainbow Dash can achieve Mach 10, which is abit overpowered. Then again, I did shoot fire out of my hands. "Alright, you can watch me fly to get the lemonade. It's getting late, so we can't fly a lot after:" She spread her wings and looked to her house. With her hair catching in the wind, and her wings spread a yard out each side, she looked like a yellow and pink angel. She galloped to the next hill and flapped her wings, immediately taking flight through the air. ~That's right,~ Zaanne said, ~keep a real good eye on her.~ Which I did. I sprinted under her, already tired from trying to fly so much. The clothes were weighing me down, and it trapped the heat in, but the sun was practically set, so it was a little nice to have the warmth, even if I looked like a hipster pony. Fluttershy was about five feet in the air. She would look down to see if I was still following, and slow down for me. I tried getting to her level by gliding, but the wind was just pushing me on my back when I tried. I spent so much time looking at her, I nearly ran into her mailbox. The two minute walk didn't take twenty seconds when she flew. She landed at the door and waited patiently for me to trot up next to her. "Did you get to see enough?", She asked. Truthfully, she was the color of the sunset, so it was a little hard to watch her. "I had trouble seeing enough, but I think I get how to take off now." The way she started to fly, galloping before flapping her wings, she would start with perfect balance in the air. "That's good, now, would you like some lemonade?" I nodded and we went inside. When she entered, she sighed deeply and shook abit. I felt terrible, realizing her flying through the winter sky was probably freezing her up, with just the sweater on. Ponies didn't exactly have heaters in their house. "Are you cold?" "A little, yes." She didn't fly too high, but even I could feel the temperature dropping from the snowfall. It cooled up quickly in Ponyville. "Here." I took off my ski cap and scarf and started to put it on her. She kept me warm, so I decided to keep her warm, even if we were just strangers to eachother. I wrapped the scarf around her neck and she asked, "B-but won't you be cold?" "It's cool, I love the cold. Besides, I owe you a few for helping me and for the upcoming lemonade. They're your clothes anyway." I patted the cap on her head, which luckily wasn't too sweaty. Her cheeks were a light red, most likely from the cold air hitting her face. "Thank you, Zaanne." She went to a different room, which I assumed was the kitchen. ~Awwwwww,~ Zaanne popped up. ~Has somepony made a new friend?~ ~I guess, how many friends do you have?~ ~Well let me just check my Facebook.~ ~I don't belive you have a Facebook.~ Ship said blatantly, now sounding like Soarin. ~Would you like to make an account?~ Zaanne declined and mumbled something about FarmVille, when Fluttershy came back with two glasses of lemonade. "Do you like cookies?" "Yes, how good are your peanut butter cookies?" Weirdly enough, I'm not the biggest fan of chocolate. Things like Reese's and chocolate chip cookies are fine, but stuff like chocolate pudding or milk is rubbish in my opinion. She made us some cookies and I took the boots off. It was a funny snack for dinner time, but I'm fairly sure she had already eaten, and it was getting too dark to practice flying or go out to eat. ~Scootaloo is looking for you.~ Ship said as I snacked happily with the pegasus. ~Tell her to go get some sleep. It's not good for somepony so young to be up so late.~ Too parental? Maybe, but I had to go to sleep at 10:00 every night when I was her age, and I was a fairly happy kid. ~She asked where you're going to sleep,~ Zaanne informed me. The smart thing would be to go home, but I was enjoying Ponyville too much. There were so many things that I wanted to do, like learn how to fly, research the ponies, or maybe make some real friends for once. I didn't realize I had spaced out again until Fluttershy spoke up. "So," she said, "you said you came from far away?" "Oh, um, yes." I stammered quickly. "Really far away." ~how far away is Ponyville from planet Earth, Ship?~ ~You don't have a unit of measurement to easily describe how far away you are. The only reason we were able to get here was because I'm good with teleportation.~ "I came from Cloudsdale, but I work better down here, with all of these woodland critters." She gestured her hoof to a small ball of fluff with a bow that I assumed was a cat. "Interesting." I sipped on lemonade and watched the sun finally sink under the horizon. "I'm here with Scootaloo to help out with whatever I can, at least, until I have to go home." She readjusted the scarf on her shoulders and followed my gaze out the window. "Scootaloo is a very nice filly, I do hope she doesn't hurt herself with her stunts." I nodded in agreement. The room was cold, but I still felt pretty warm. Though hot chocolate would probably be the smarter thing to drink on a night like this, and would go better with the cookies, lemonade was too good to resist. There was a long silence, though it wasn't akward at all. Being quiet and just looking out the window was just as good as talking, and I senced Fluttershy would be more content like that. The sky was all but what I was used to. In the suburbs of Dallas, there weren't too many stars that peaked through. Out here, with no city lights or pollution, thousands of stars rippled throughout the layer of clouds. It was snowing faster now, flakes sticking to the earth. And covering the ground like powdered sugar. I was used to snow being in late January to early February, but Texas never gets more than a few inches most years. ~Way cooler than your home, I'd say.~ Zaanne said. Fluttershy sat up and gathered the cups and cookie plate. "It's getting late, we should go to bed." Having insomnia, that felt like a minor priority. But her words had a gentle urgency to them, so I nodded. I looked over to the kitty, sleeping on some fireplace she never seemed to use. "Do you mind if I light the fireplace?" I asked. "It might be getting cold." Fluttershy said from the other room, "I'm out of matches, sorry." She was still in the kitchen, out of eyesight, so I put a big log into the hole. I hadn't tried to summon fire as a pony before. I extended my hoof and willed it to heat up. Instantly, green flame engulfed it. The second before Fluttershy came in, I shot the flame at the log and turned off the flaming hooves. She eyes the fire, which glowed red after hitting the wood. "How did that happen?" She looked at me. "Did you do that?" I shrugged, acting as ignorant as i could. "Rubbed two sticks together?" "Uh-uh." She pulled a blanket and pillow out from the closet and layed them out on the couch. "Here you go. Sleep tight, ok?" I'm not sure when we agreed to a sleep over, but I layed back on the sofa. "I have trouble sleeping, sorry if I'm not out right away. She thought to herself for a moment before fluffing my pillow and tucking me into bed. I knew she was kind, prabobly the kindest intelligent being I knew. I didn't expect fluttershy to be so... motherly though, but I didn't complain. She inhaled slowly and closed her eyes. And then she sang. I knew the song, it was the same one she attempted with the CMC in that one episode about the chicken-Medusa. Sleep deprivation was no match to Fluttershy's voice. Her tone was as close to perfect as possible, every note making my eyelids heavier. The weight of the long, hard day leveled down on me gently. I didn't have time to question why she'd sing for me before everything went black. Author's Note I know there's a crystal heart joke somewhere in there...
