23
Chapter 1
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The Everfree forest. Home of rogue weather, wild animals, and vicious monsters. A place nopony would willing go. Deep within it, we find a young unicorn sprawled across the ground in a small clearing, dark blue coat rippling in what little wind made it this deep. Slowly, his neon green eyes, the same color as his mane, opened. Blinking, he looked around. Eric, for that was his name, quickly came to realize that he had no idea where he was. He considered the possibility of the VR room working much better that it should, but quickly dismissed the possibility. It exploded after all, he remembered that quite well.
Deciding the next thing he should do would be to check for injuries, regardless of how he felt now, he began a quick, though thorough, inspection of his body. The only problem he found was that he had somehow become a pony. He wasn’t sure why “pony” was the word to use, but he decided to use it until he learned otherwise. He also noticed a mark on his bu, er flank. That’s what he thought it was called on equines. Flank. The mark was a computer monitor with lines of meaningless binary code scrawled across the display. Admittedly, some of it looked like it might have meaning, if it wasn't so fragmented.
Odd, he thought, but something to worry about later.
He had also found a horn atop his head. He figured that made him a unicorn, assuming the theories about those legends coming from goats weren’t true. At least, not here, wherever “here” was.
Turning away from his strange marking, Eric came to a conclusion. New body, structure, and, most likely, world, meant a high probability of a different naming convention. So, in order to blend in a little better should he find civilization, he should have a new name ready. After a moment’s thought, only one name made sense for him. Data. He would be Data Link.
This decided, he stood up, quickly noted the ease with which he used four legs instead of two, checked for the sun, or rather, this worlds stellar equivalent, and, assuming this worlds’ cartographical directions were similar to his, traveled north in search of a landmark, and the rest of his class.
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Sweet Apple Acres, famous for its delectable apples, and being home to the element of honesty. A veritable forest of trees extended out in every direction, on and on, seemingly never ending. In this endless sea of greens and browns, sprinkled liberally with red, lay a pony shaped spot of perfect white. As the spots crystal blue eyes opened, Katherine came to realize that she was lying on her back. The grass she was on was the softest she had ever felt, the shade felt nice, protecting her from the full glare of the sun, and the soft breeze against her fur felt…
Fur?
Her eyes, which had been slowly closing, sprang open in shock. She couldn’t have fur, could she? Slowly, anxiously, almost fearfully, she began to lift an arm into view. What would she find? She didn’t know, and that scared her.
She was almost there; she could almost make it out, when suddenly a pair of green eyes filled her view. She jumped, or would have if she wasn’t on her back. Quickly looking to see what the eyes belonged to, she found that they were placed in the head of orange pony. One with a blond mane tied back in, of all things, a ponytail. It also wore a Stetson for some reason.
“While Ah’m willing to take it as a compliment that you find my orchard such a nice place to relax in, would mind telling me why you’re here?” asked the pony.
“You talked!” shouted Katherine in surprise.
“Well of coursed Ah talked, why wouldn’t I?” spoke the pony once more.
“W-w-w-w-well”, stuttered Katherine, not sure how to proceed from here. ”You’re a pony!” she blurted.
“Of course Ah’m a pony, what else would I be?” she said it as if you’d be rather dim to think otherwise. “You’re a pony as well ya know.”
At this latest statement, Katherines' eyes went wide. Her arm shot up into view. Only, it wasn’t an arm. It was a leg, ending in a hoof. She quickly rolled over and checked the rest of body. Legs were still legs, but most definitely hind legs, also ending in hooves. A peerless white tail came from her backside, matching perfectly with her pure white coat. She’d never seen anything so white before.
For a moment, she almost panicked. In a way, she still did, but she was able to capture, tie up, and place it in some long-forgotten corner of her mind to deal with later once she remembered that she had company. Company that she didn’t know. It would be rude to panic in front of her.
Turning back to the pony, Katherine fought to calm down. “Sorry about that,” she apologized, “I’ve had a really weird day.” Feeling the need to continue the conversation she added one last thing. “Would you mind terribly telling me your name?”
“Ah’m Applejack.” Said the mare, quite proudly.
Applejack?
“My name is Serenity.” Kath-Serenity said, coming up with word she had always been partial to.
“Serenity huh, well that’s a nice name.” Complimented the orange pony. “Now would ya’ll mind answering my first question?”
Serenity blinked. The pony, no, Applejack, had asked question when she first spoke. What was it again? Oh ya.
“I’m really not sure.” she answered, deciding it would be best to tell the truth for now. No point in getting caught in a web of lies after all. Not yet anyways. “The last thing I remember was going on a field trip with my class, followed by an explosion and waking up here. I guess I got separated from the others.” No need to mention being human before, not yet. “Do you think you could help me look for them?”
“Of course Ah will.” Assured Applejack. “But first, ya look as thin as a twig. Let’s head up to the farmhouse and get ya something ta eat.”
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Whitetail Woods were almost as unlike the Everfree Forest as possible, while still having trees. Where the Everfree was scary, “unnatural”, and avoided by Everypony, Whitetail Woods bright, colorful, and encouraged a sense of comfort, making them frequently visited. Hanging upside down from a tree in these woods was a black Pegasus, coat and mane starkly contrasting his surroundings.
Unlike the others, his awakening was not a slow affair, with eyes opening gradually. Instead, Jacksons swinging form slammed his head into the trunk of the tree that so graciously held him aloft. This sudden impact caused the colt startle awake with sharp cry of pain and surprise, hooves rushing to his snout.
A few seconds of rubbing were all it took for him realize that he wasn’t using hands. At first, he denied it, blaming it on hallucinations caused from blood rushing to his brain due to him hanging upside down for however long, and a concussion from hitting a tree head first. Then he looked at the rest of his body. Black furred, horse body, bright red hair and tail, and some sort of zigzagy mark on his butt.
Also, wings.
WINGS!!!!!
He had wings, and suddenly, he couldn’t care less about what body he was in. He had wings! This called for a new name. Something cool. Something awesome! Something that screamed fast, agile, and athletic! His first thought, Rainbow Dash! But that didn’t make any sense. He didn’t have any rainbows! Maybe all the extra blood in his brain was having an effect. Wait, what was the mark on his butt again? He took another look. A black, zigzag bolt, outlined in red. That’d work.
“From this day forward, I shall be known as Black Bolt!” he yelled to the heavens, or tried to. It’s quiet a difficult thing to do when hanging upside down from a tree.
Drawing on his past experience of dealing with this sort of situation, (the “stuck hanging upside down” situation, not the “turned into a horse-thing and hanging from a tree” situation) Black Bolt was able to quickly pull his hoof from the crook it had been stuck in. Unfortunately, this caused him to fall five feet to the ground, enticing another yelp of pain as his back collided with the hard earth.
Groaning, he stood up. As he looked around himself, he finally realized he was surrounded by trees. Which was odd, but not worth worrying about because he had wings. He felt he should try them out. So, stretching them to their fullest extent, he gave one powerful flap…
And promptly slammed his head into the branch he had just been released from. From there, he once more fell onto the ground hard. This was not his bodies’ day.
“Ow.” he groaned, “Note to self ‘don’t take off under trees.’”
Standing back up, and moving out from under the tree, he tried again…
And hit another tree face first.
“No amount of bodily harm will stop me from flying!” he cried out, then tried again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
Each time causing his head to collide with a tree in some fashion or another.
Half an hour later, he came to a conclusion. “I should wait till I’m not surrounded by trees to do this.” And then he walked, well, stumbled, in a random direction.
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Soft, thought Brown to himself, I’m lying on something very soft. But it doesn’t feel right for something solid.
He opened his eyes.
At first, he thought he was surrounded by snow. That would explain the whiteness. But it was too warm for snow. And the consistency was wrong. Still wet though.
It was while he was holding up a piece of the white stuff that he noticed he didn’t have hands. At first, he just stared at it, eyes growing wide as his mind tried, and failed, to process the change. I must be dreaming, he thought, that’s the only explanation. Next, he moved his eyes from where a hoof had replaced his hand down his arm, now leg, and to his body. That, to, had changed. It was obviously quadrapedal in nature, kinda looked like a horse, though different in a way he couldn’t quite describe. He had a brown coat, Ha ha, and a brown, furry tail. His mane was also brown. The only really notably thing, other than the fact that he was suddenly a horse like creature, was the pair of wings on his back. Also brown.
Why do I have wings? He thought to himself, distracted from his panic by the sheer absurdity of an equine creature, much less one off his size, having wings. They can’t possibly work; I’m too big and far too unaerodynamic. What possibly purpose could they have?
It was about then that he notice a couple of other creatures that looked just like him, including wings, that were flying through air.
For a second, his brain stopped working. They’re pegasi, he concluded, and so am I.
With that, he quickly went after the pair. Maybe they knew what was going on.
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Eric had been walking for nearly an hour, most of which had been spent following a creek he had stumbled on, when he suddenly found himself at the tree-line. Before him lay green fields, rolling hills, a pastel, and very quaint, town, and a mountain range, with what appeared to be a palace or city of some sort hanging off a cliff.
More importantly, there was a purple unicorn standing in front of him. She looked quite astonished at his sudden appearance from the forest.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” he started before she could recover, “but could you help me? I was on a class excursion when I got separated from the rest of my peers, and, unfortunately, I am lost. Could you assist me in finding the others and tell me where we are?”
She blinked for a second before responding. “You don’t know where you are?” At the shake of his head she continued. “Alright, do you know what city that is?” she asked, pointing a hoof at the palace on a mountain. He shook his head again. “Does Canterlot sound familiar?” Blank stare. “Capital of Equestria? Home of the Royal Pony Sisters?” More blank stares. She was beginning to look frustrated.
“Alright, you know what, go to Ponyville, somepony there will help you, and if you still need it when I get back I’ll help. Right now, I need to go into the Everfree to track down a burst of magical energy. Almost anything that comes out of the Everfree means trouble.” And with that, she started to move by.
“Wait.” Eric said. She stopped. “How many of these ‘bursts’ were there?”
“23.” She said, turning back to him. “Why?”
“There were 23 of us altogether. I believe I may have been the cause of the ‘burst’ that you are currently following.” He explained. “I said I got separated, but I didn’t say how. We were on a, well, field trip to an R&D firm when one of the experiments exploded with us in it. After that, I woke up in the forest you saw me walk out of. The others likely ended up in similar circumstances. Does that answer the question that would have been brought up by my first explanation?”
Once more, she could only blink. “Um, no.” She finally said. “What caused the explosion? Why’d you end up in the Everfree? Why would it even cause you to go somewhere else in the first place!?”
“I don’t know.” He stated simply. “I’ve told you the limit of my knowledge on the incident.”
She sighed, obviously not satisfied with the answer, but realized she wouldn’t get any further by questioning him. “Alright, let’s go to Sweet Apple Acres. One of the bursts came from there.” And with that, she turned towards the town. “Oh, by the way, my name’s Twilight Sparkle. What’s yours?”
He grinned. Internally. “I’m Data Link”
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“You’re a dainty eater, aint ya?” Said an old, green mare by the name of Granny Smith. “From the looks of you, I figured you’d be famished and start wolfing down this food right away.”
Serenity, who had spent the last hour with the Apple Family at lunch, was dexterously cutting off small pieces of pie before eating them. Compared to the rest of the tables’ occupants, she appeared to be moving at a snails’ pace. She’d also had a tenth what the others had eaten.
“I apologies if I may appear inconsiderate for slowing your family down to my pace, but old habits can be hard to ignore.” Said Serenity. “Besides, I wish to take the time to thoroughly enjoy this delectable food of yours.” What she didn’t say, was that having hooves instead of hands made eating politely rather difficult, and thus, they didn’t tell her that it looked as if she’d been eating with them her whole life.
“Well, why do you have habits like that?” piped up a little yellow filly by the name of Apple Bloom.
Serenity gave a little chuckle, How cute. She thought. “I eat like this because of the company I usually keep.” She explained. “You see, in some places eating in any other way is often considered despicably uncivilized. The way I eat is to show respect to your host, those you’re eating with, and the per, uh, pony that made the food. It also helps to avoid making a mess and wasting any of the good food. Do you understand?”
Apple Bloom gave a little nod, face scrunched into an expression of deep thought. After a few moments, she looked toward serenity and started to ask another question.
“Well, if we’re going ta find your friends, we should start looking.” Applejack said before she had the chance to start.
“Of course.” Said Serenity, before turning to Apple Bloom. “You can ask me later, k?”
And with that, they went out the door.
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Bolt couldn’t help but look on in awe. Before him were two creatures just like him. Only one was blue with a rainbow mane, I bet Rainbow Dash would be a good name for her, while the other was butter yellow with pink hair. The blue one was hovering in the air, seemingly giving a pep talk of some kind to the yellow, who was sitting oh-so meekly on the ground.
Bolt felt a grin forming on his face from the shear Awesome and Cute radiating from the two.
“Hey!” Bolt shouted, causing the yellow one to jump in surprise, “Could you help me? I’m lost, separated from my friends, and, worst of all, have no idea how to use my cool new wings!” He then put a big grin on his face to show that he was friendly.
At first, they just stood there, the blue creature staring as if he was the crazy one. Then, it started laughing. “That’s a good one.” It, no, she, called. “Can’t use your wings, he he, right. You almost had me going for a second.”
“No, really, I’ve only had them for about an hour or so, and have only managed to use them to get my head hit a couple dozen times.” Bolt insisted, feeling a little annoyed. It did make sense, though, that he wouldn’t be believed.
“Right.” Said the blue one, almost dismissively. “How’d you get them then?” she asked, with a smug little smirk.
“I don’t know.” Bolt admitted. “I was on a field trip with my class, there was an explosion from nowhere, and the next thing I knew I was hanging from a tree as a horse thing with wings.”
“Horse thing?” asked the blue, sounding a little offended, “We’re pegasi. You know, ponies with wings?”
Pegasi? Doesn’t she mean Pegasus? I really should have paid attention in mythology. Bolt thought to himself. “Alright, but I still don’t know where I am or how to fly.”
“Uhhhh.” The blue one groaned. “Fine, I’ll teach how to fly. But let’s go get something to eat first, I’m starving.” And with that, she took off in a burst color, leaving the other two behind.
“Um, you don’t happen to know where she was going, do you?” Bolt asked the other Pegasus.
“Oh, um well, she was probably…” the yellow Pegasus began, before the blue one returned just as quickly as she had left.
“Sorry, forgot you ‘couldn’t fly yet.’ I’ll go slower this time, so come on.” She said. “Oh, and my names Rainbow Dash,” Ha, called it, “and this is Fluttershy.”
“My name’s Black Bolt.” Bolt told them, “but you can just call me Bolt.”
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Prof. Marks woke up feeling as if his students had decided to throw impromptu science fair again. Namely confused, disoriented, and with a raging headache. He was also floating about ten feet off the ground which, surprisingly, was nothing new.
The room he found himself in was luxuriously decorated, so much so, he almost believed the gold molding was made of actual gold. There was a massive, circular bed, draped in white sheets and comforters. Bright bookshelves, full of books and nick-nacks, lined the walls. A grand window led to massive balcony that looked out upon beautiful cityscape. And everywhere he looked was a sun motif.
Just then, he heard the doors open. Looking over, he saw a large, white, regal looking pegacorn enter the room. She was wearing a golden tiara, and necklace, both inlaid with magnificent looking jewels, and a set of golden horse shoes, though not of a type he’d ever seen before.
And then, it spoke in a beautiful, almost ethereal voice. “I see you have woken my little pony.” Pony? What? “Now, would you mind explaining what you were doing in my private chambers this morning, and how you got in without anypony noticing?”
It was then he noticed that her horn had a slight golden aura around it, and that he was enshrouded in the same.
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“Hi, I’m Pinky Pie!” the, appropriately enough, pink pony said. “I’ve never seen you before, so you must be new, but you’ve already made a new friend, do you want to be my friend to, do ya, do ya?!” she finished, then stared at Data with an expectant look and ever growing smile.
Data, in turn, repaid her energetic and overly enthusiastic greeting with a well-practiced non-reaction, giving her a half-lidded, bored look, and standing perfectly still.
They stayed like this, neither moving, staring into each other’s eyes. Ponies passing by paused to watch the impromptu event, unknowing and uncaring of what caused it, just wishing to see who would win. Whispered bets were placed as all eyes focused on the two ponies, while Twilight looked around in perplexed confusion.
This went on for some time, seconds becoming several seconds, slowly evolving into dozens of seconds, which became minutes.
Finally, after waiting a seemingly never-ending 5 minutes, Data blinked. A roar rose from the crowd as bits passed hooves and Pinkies name was cheered by the winners! And then, the crowd dispersed.
“Sure.” Said Data, seemingly unfazed by the events that had just transpired around them. “My name’s Data Link.”
“Wait, wait why did that just happen?” asked a thoroughly confused Twilight. “Why did they even care? Why are you just accepting it?” She went on, but they ignored her.
The pink pony, on the other hoof, went right into making the new pony feel welcome. “Data Link? Does that make you a super smarty pants like Twilight?” nod. “No wonder you became friends so fast! Do you know a lot of cool magic to? Hey, I should introduce you to my other friends. Wouldn’t that be awesome? Where are you from anyways? I’m from a rock farm, but I live the Cakes in Surgarcube Corner now. What are you doing in Ponyville? Just visiting? Well I hope you enjoy your stay! Wait, why are you traveling alone?” all this said in one breath.
“I’m not, or at least, I wasn’t.” Data told her. ”We were on a class field trip and it kind of exploded. When I woke up, I was in what Twilight called the Everfree Forest. I’m trying to find the others now.”
“Gaaaaasppp”, Pinkie gasped, “You lost your friends! Oh you poor creature.” She patted him on the head. “But don’t you worry! Detective Pinkie Pie is on the case!” she announced, suddenly putting on a costume reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes. She then zoomed off in a random direction.
For a few seconds, Twilight just stared at Data. “Wait,” she finally got out, “none of that surprised or bothered you in way. I know that the first time most ponies meet Pinkie they find her to be little much.”
“She’s of the Loony archetype with Cloud Cucoolander tendencies.” He stated, as if it should be obvious to anyone, “Honestly, I’d probably be more surprised if nothing odd had happened. Now, she mentioned magic?”
“What about it?”
“Where I’m from, magic is considered fictional.” Data told her. “If magic exists here, I would appreciate the opportunity to learn some. I’m certain it will be very useful.”
“Fictional?” Twilight had to stop for a second. “Um, sure, I guess can teach a bit, but let’s check Sweet Apple Acres first.”
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“No one’s seen any new ponies yet.” Serenity sighed as she and Applejack entered the town square.
“Ah, don’t fret, Serenity. I’m sure we’ll find them soon.” Applejack reassured her. “We’ve been looking barely an hour after all. We’ll find them.”
“Right.”
Suddenly, they heard a loud gasp from the other side of the square. Looking over, they saw a white unicorn with a purple mane coming their way.
“Darling, you look absolutely gorgeous!” she said once they could hear each other.
“Well shucks, Rarity, I knew you’d see great this hat was eventually.” Applejack responded.
“Not you, Applejack, dear.” Rarity said, swatting at Applejack, before turning to Serenity. “I’ve never seen a pony as white as you are, and such a pure white to. However do you keep it so pristine?”
“Um, thanks?” said a surprised Serenity. “I wasn’t aware that it was anything special. You look beautiful as well. I've never seen a mane styled that way before.” Technically true, since she’d never seen a mane styled before, even if she had seen a similar hair styles.
“Well, aren’t you just a flatterer.” Said Rarity. “But where are my manners?! My name is Rarity, Ponyvilles' local fashinista and seamstress.”
“Pleased to meet you, Rarity. My name is Serenity, diplomat in training.” Serenity said. Although the ‘diplomat in training’ part wasn’t strictly true, it was the role she tended to have.
“Diplomat you say?” Rarity continued after Serenity nodded. “Well you’ll just have tell me all about it. Have you been to any foreign lands? How about Canterlot? I’m sure you have many stories to tell about it.”
“Rarity, I hate to interrupt,” Interrupted Applejack, “but we were looking for the ponies Serenity came here with. Apparently they got separated and she’s a little lost. Maybe you could continue this later?”
“Oh, of course.” Said Rarity, “Why didn’t you say anything, darling. I’ll help you look.” She fell in beside the other two as they walked to the other side of the square. “Why don’t you tell me a little bit about them dear.”
“Well, there were 23 of us, and I only know some of them well enough to consider friends.” Serenity said. “Besides, I don’t really look like I did before the explosion separated us, so I’m not sure telling you what they looked like would help.”
“Oh well, what were their names.” Rarity asked. “I’m sure that could be helpful.”
“Err, maybe.” Serenity said. “But if I know them, and I do know most of them, then any one of them that transformed would have done like I did and changed their name.”
“Wait.” Applejack stopped walking and looked at Serenity, “Serenity ain’t your real name?”
“It’s not my given.” Serenity corrected. “My given name is Katherine Cole, but I’ve always wanted to be Serenity. So, when you told me you name was Applejack, and acted as if that was normal, I figured my name would be odd, and picked something more fitting. So, Serenity I am.”
“You’re also going to have to explain this ‘transformation’ bit, dear.” Said Rarity.
They were interrupted by another voice. “See Data, Telekinesis is easy.” It said.
The three of them looked to the source of the voice to find two unicorns, one purple, one blue, standing by the side of the street. The blue ones horn was lit up in a green aura, and a small stick was floating in front of his face.
“Easy conceptually,” the blue one responded to the purple, “but convincing myself that it I can actually do it this way is much more difficult.”
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The three pegasi were strolling down a street in Ponyville. Since leaving the field they had met in, Black Bolt and Rainbow Dash had been talking almost non-stop, while poor Fluttershy had remained meekly quiet.
“Hey, we should probably figure out where we want to eat.” Rainbow dash suddenly said.
“You do realize I don’t have any money, right?” asked Bolt. “Where would I even keep it anyways?” he said to himself.
“You don’t?” Rainbow asked, surprised. “Well, we’ll just go to my place then.”
“But, Rainbow, you don't have any food at your place, remember?” squeaked Fluttershy. “Besides, Bolt can’t fly yet.”
“Oh yeah.” Chuckled Rainbow Dash. “I forgot about that. Oh well, we’ll just go to Surgercube Corner, I’m sure Pinkie will throw him a massive party!”
“That’ll work.” Bolt agreed. “But wouldn’t that be taking advantage of this Pinkie?”
“Na,” Rainbow Dash dismissed him. “She’d actually be really upset if we didn’t bring you to see her. Even more so if she didn’t get to throw you a party cause you’re new. She loves parties.”
“Oh, well, no problem then”
Suddenly, they heard a loud crash down the street they were passing. Fluttershy disappeared into a bush, while the other two turned to see what caused the noise.
What they saw were five ponies, three unicorns, one blue, one purple, and one white, as well as two earth ponies, one white and the other orange. The blue unicorns’ horn had a quickly fading green glow, and all five were looking in the same direction. Towards a now smashed window.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” the white unicorn was saying over and over again. “I didn’t know you were practicing or would never have called out like that.”
“It’s fine.” Said the purple one. “I’ll just fix it really quick and nopony will know the difference.” Then her horn and the window lit up in magenta, as the window began to repair itself.
“Hey girls!” Rainbow shouted. “What are you doing?!” she then flew over to them.
Bolt, on the other hand, found himself staring at the group. Two ponies in particular. The blue unicorn and the white earth pony looked familiar, not that that made any sense. They appeared to be thinking the same thing, and at almost the same moment, all three started moving towards each other.
They met halfway, a short distance from the other ponies.
“Jackson? Eric?” the white pony asked first.
“Yes.” Said Eric. “But I’m calling myself Data Link while we’re”
“That so fits you.” Bolt chuckled. “Call me Black Bolt.”
“And I’m going to be Serenity.”
“Do either of you find it odd that three of us were immediately able to identify each?” Data asked.
“Well, ya, I guess so.” Bolt said. “How about us transforming into ponies? Why’d that happen?”
“Probably so it’d be easier for us to blend in due to narrative causality.” Data said. The others just gave him blank looks. “The universe doesn’t want humans, so it made us into the closest approximation it had. Though I’m not sure if that means culturally or just in general role and placement.”
“The ‘Universe’ doesn’t like humans, so it made us into ponies.” Serenity skeptically asked. “That makes sense.”
“To the best of my ability to determine, we may very well be in another reality. Who knows what rules it operates under?” Data explained. “Besides, I actually have very little information at the moment on what caused the explosion or how that got us here, but I doubt it was coincidental. If who or what ever caused the explosion did so intentionally, there’s a good chance our transportation and subsequent transformations were as well. The only real question is why.”
“Maybe they just like us?” Bolt suggested.
“I doubt it.” Said Serenity. “If they liked us, why didn’t they give us a choice? Why would they have caused the explosion in the first place?”
“Maybe the explosion was going to happen anyways, and they couldn’t do anything about it until then.”
“Unlikely.” Dismissed Data. “The VR room was well built and wouldn’t have exploded on its' own. Weren’t you two listening when Brown explained what was used in its’ construction? Nothing in it could have exploded that way.”
“Uh hm.” Twilight interrupted, “I think you three have some explaining to do.”
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At first, he didn’t know where he was. It felt like he was laying on concrete, and when he opened his eyes, he found that that was exactly what it was. Concrete walls surrounded him, marking the barriers of a basement filled with racks of unopened packages of knives.
He smiled.
Looking around, he found the stairs up, and went to ascend them. Pushing the door open a crack, he looked through, and saw colorful ponies on the other side.
So this is normal here. He thought to himself, before looking back down the stairs. Well, whatever’s normal here, and wherever here is, I’ll just have to make the best of it.
And with all these knives,
It should be easy to do that.
I’ll just have to show them why I’m called
Skinner.
23
Chapter 2
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“All right, we’re alone. Now explain.” Twilight demanded of the three odd new ponies.
The eight of them had moved to Twilights’ library in order to talk in private. They were sitting in the main lobby, Data between Serenity and Bolt on one side, while Twilight and the others sat on the opposite.
“Why don’t you take this one Data.” Said Serenity.
“Yeah, this seems like your kinda thing.” Bolt agreed.
Data considered glaring at them to show his displeasure, but decided it’d be pointless, and that they were right. “Alright. To begin with, we’re not ponies.”
“Well duh.” Said Pinkie. “I mean, really, what unicorn doesn’t know a little magic? And how many pegessises can’t fly?”
Bolt and Serenity, shocked at her sudden appearance, jumped. “How did you get up there?! And where did you even come from?!” shouted Bolt.
“She’s a Looney, ignore it.” Data told them. “Continuing on, we’re actually human. Or at least we were. There are a few questions about how that actually works, but we’ll figure that out later. Before you ask, Twilight, humans are nearly hairless, bipedal creatures with a resemblance to apes. Assuming you know what those are. If not, I’ll find another comparison. We are the only known sentient and sapient species on our planet.”
“The only one?” Twilight asked. “Really? How could you know that? I mean, a planet is a big place, how could you have been everywhere?”
“Personally? With a significant expenditure of time, money and effort.” Data said. “Not that I’ve had the opportunity to do that yet. As a species though, we number at nearly 7 billion, have technology that allows us to travel around the globe in a few hours, and devices placed in orbit that let us see most anywhere on the planet at any time. We have explored the majority of our world, with only the exceptions being the deepest parts of the oceans and some of the deeper cave systems.”
“Without magic?” Twilight seemed skeptical. “Even we don’t have that sort of ability. So if you don’t have magic, how could you?”
“I could show you if I had the materials.” Data said, almost boastfully. “Unfortunately, I don’t, and, even if I did, I doubt that I would have the time. I can give you a more detailed explanation later, but for everyone else’s sake, not right now. The best, short explanation I can give is that, without any other means of development or gaining control of our world, humans concentrated on discovering the physical laws of our reality and put them to use through advanced and complex machines. The more complex the machines became, the more we could, and had to, learn, and the more we learned, the more complex our machines became. Now it’s your turn to answer some questions. First, how many sentient species are you aware of?”
“Not including sub-species, like pegasus or unicorn for ponies, there are 38 known sentient species on Alair.” Twilight immediately answered, going into “lecture” mode. “The ones that you are most likely to encounter in Equestria are Ponies, like us, Griffins and the occasional dragon, like Spike.” Twilight suddenly looked confused. “Where is Spike anyways? And hey, we’re supposed to be asking the questions here!”
“Oh, hey!” a blue hoof shot up with the voice. “I have a question! What’s the most awesome thing humans have ever done?” Rainbow asked.
“The most awesome thing?” Said Bolt. “We went to the moon, girl! In a giant tube that shot fire to move! Even in black and white, it was spectacular!”
“You watched the tapes of the original moon landing?” Serenity asked. “You? I find that hard to believe.”
“Data showed them to me.” Bolt defended himself. Data gave a little nod.
“You went to the Moon?” Twilight said, sounding skeptical, then shook her head. “Never mind. While I find that hard to believe, you’re right, a full explanation can wait. You said that the device that brought you here couldn’t have worked that way. If that’s true, than do you have any idea of how you got here?”
“Outside interference.” Data told her. “Who, what, why and how are unknown, as is whether our transformation has to do with the means we got here or with your reality. Beyond that, since magic exists here, the means of our transportation are more likely to have been magical in nature than technological. That means you’re better equipped to answer those questions.”
“Well,” Twilight started, hoof to her chin, “trans dimensional travel is supposed to be impossible due to the energy cost. Beyond Discord, I can’t think of anyone that would have the potential to bring you here. I can think of a number of theories on how it might have been accomplished though. To begin with…”
________________________________________________________________________________
And now they’re talking about the really boring stuff I could follow if I felt like paying attention. Serenity thought to herself. But I can think of better ways to spend my time. She finished, looking towards a certain, bored looking Pegasus.
Standing up, she made you way around the two over-intellectuals, careful not to interrupt, and went straight for her dark-furred friends female counterpart.
“Rainbow Dash, wasn’t it?” She asked as she approached, bringing the pegasus out of her growing melancholic state.
“Hu? What? I’m awake!” She stated, rather loudly, as her head swung around in search of anyone that may try to contradict her claims. Or perhaps, disprove them for her. After a few moments of this, her gaze settled upon the snow colored mare that called to her. “Err, what do you want?”
Giving a calming grin, Serenity walked up to her multi-chromatic soon-to-be-friend, and sat down beside her. “I just wanted to talk, Rainbow Dash. Get to know my new friends a little better. Is that so wrong?” She asked, giving the biggest pair of puppy-dogs eyes she could.
“We,w,well…” Rainbow began, before stumbling to a stop. Looking into those eyes was like staring out at the sea. Calm and peaceful, with not a care in the world, but with the ever-present reminder the sea can turn cruel and harsh at a moment’s notice. This pony could be like the Sea, and Rainbow really didn’t want to see cruel and harsh. “I…” she began, nervously fidgeting. She tried to look away. She couldn’t look away. “I guess that’s okay?” she squeaked.
“Good.” Serenity smiled, allowing her eyes to go back to normal. “Now friend, tell me a little about yourself.”
“Okay?” Rainbow said, not sure how to feel now that she wasn’t trapped in that gaze. “I’m Ponyvilles Weather captain?” She finished. Her cyan body was no longer shaking, but now she felt a bit of perspiration forming on her brow.
“The Weather Captain?!” Serenitys' eyes went wide in appreciation. Obviously, this mare was very important, if only locally. And Weather Captain implied some control over the weather. That was good to know. But her friend still seemed a little nervous. What to do about that? What to do indeed. “Such an important job must be very difficult. But I bet a pony as great as you must have no problems at all.” That should do the trick.
“Oh, well, of course not!” Rainbow jumped into the air, and out of the embrace she hadn’t know she was in. “I’m Rainbow Danger Dash! Fastest Flyer in Equestria! I’m so Awesome, I have my own fan-club.” She finished, lightly landing on the ground, chest puffed out and wings raised. She also wore the cockiest grin Serenity had ever seen.
Perfect.
“That’s wonderful.” She cheered. “But why don’t you tell me some more?”
“Like what?” Rainbow asked cheerfully.
“Everything.”
________________________________________________________________________________
Bolt was in a similar state of mind as Dash was. Even if he did actually know what an Einstein-Rosen Bridge was, he simply wasn’t interested. Unfortunately, Serenity had just stolen Dash, and there was no chance he’d be able to get her for a while.
“Bolt, was it?” a voice suddenly asked him.
Turning towards the source, Bolt came face-to-face with the other white pony in the tree. “Yes it was.” He answered. “And you are Rarity, if I remember right.”
“Correct.” She said, with a small smile and a nod. “Now, since everypony seems to be busy at the moment, I thought we could chat?”
Looking around, Bolt found that she was correct. While Data and Twilight were going ever deeper into theoretical methods of transdimensional translocation (their words, not his), and maybe transiting into in-depth cross-cultural analysis, everyone else had decided to ignore them, and find something else to do. Serenity was busy “befriending” Dash, while Pinkie had apparently roped Applejack and Fluttershy into helping set up her party.
Which left Bolt with Rarity.
“Sure.” He said after a moments thought, giving a shrug. “What about?”
“Well,” Rarity began as she sat down, “I was thinking we could talk about you.”
“Me?” He asked, raising his eyebrow. “You’re not trying to pull a Serenity on me, are you?”
“A … Serenity?” She asked, giving him an odd look. “Whatever is that?”
Bolt snorted before answering. “What I call a Serenity is what she just happens to be doing with Dash at the moment.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “It’s when you go up to someone and start asking them all about themselves, making them feel oh so important and special. All without telling them anything about yourself. It’s how she makes ‘friends’.”
“Does she do that often?” Rarity seemed a little shocked, going so far as to back off a little. Or maybe she was rearing up a bit.
“She does it to most everybody she meets.” He said with a sigh and a roll of his eyes. "I think she just hasn’t had the time today. Data and I are the only people I know who are completely immune to her, and that’s mostly just because we’ve all know each other a good ten years or so.”
“Ah, well I suppose I won’t be trying anything like that anytime soon.” She said in mock disappointment. Becoming more serious, she continued. “Really though, I just wanted to get to know you a little better. The three of you seem to be about the same age, but you have very different interests, not that my friends are any different. However did you three meet?”
“Oh, we met way back in first grade. We were each the only ones in our class that were interested in our particular areas. Or at least, the only ones who could come close to understanding what the other two were talking about.
" Serenity, if it wasn’t obvious, has always had an interest in understanding how people work, how to convince them to get along, and stuff like that. This lead to her delve pretty deeply into psychology, sociology, politics, political history and other stuff like that at a very early age.
"Data has always been more interested in mechanical and digital sciences. He’s studied thing like engineering, programing, and advanced mathematics.
"'I prefer to focus on the physical. Mostly that of the body. My goal is to win all the Olympic gold medals. To that end, I practice every event that they have at every opportunity, and have done a fair amount of study into physical training, biology, anatomy, and medicine. I help to train others on occasion to help pay for the equipment I need.”
He stopped as realized just how much he had said, before shrugging and moving on. “No one else came close to understanding everything else we knew at the time, so we talked to each other.”
Rarity blinked as she tried to process everything. ”If you met in first grade, then you were studying all this when you were, what, five?” She gave him an Incredulous look. “That would mean you three are fifteen. Oh you poor dears, you should be trying for your first jobs about now, not being thrown into an unknown world like this. Don’t worry, we’ll do whatever we can to help.” She promised with a smile.
“Thanks. We appreciate it.” He smiled back. “But I think we were actually six when we met.”
________________________________________________________________________________
Ashley woke up struggling against a constraining, smothering, force. It tangled her legs and blinded her eyes, becoming tighter the more she tried to escape. There was nothing she could do.
And then she rolled off the bed.
A giggle and a sigh alerted her to the other presences in the room.
“Really, Ashley?” One, who’s voice she recognized as Alexis, said. ”You’re falling out of bed again? Didn’t you get over that a few years ago?”
“Oh, be nice, Alex. You know how Ash can be at night.” The other, Abbey, defended her. “Besides, she wasn’t screaming this time.”
“Oh, ha ha. At least I don’t need mommy to sing me to sleep at night.” Ashley shot back at Alexis. “And aren’t you the one that still thinks there’s a monster in your closet, Abbey?”
“Oh, low blow, Ashley, low blow!” Alexis cried out.
“Right in our keesters, to!” Abbey exclaimed.
And suddenly, they were all laughing. They hadn’t talked to each other like that in years. Not since they found out how much they liked one another, anyways.
After they all calmed down, Ashley took a look around the room they were in. It was luxuriant. The room was a hexagon. The walls were painted in bright reds, pinks and oranges, portraying the setting sun. Two windows were placed in each wall, one on each side of the three beds that the girls occupied.
And that’s when she noticed that they were ponies.
Abbey was a beigeish pony with a pair of wings on her sides. Ashley supposed that made her a pegasus. Alexis was a deep blue color, and had a horn sticking out of her head. Guess that makes her a unicorn. Ashley herself was a bright red with no extra adornments whatsoever. Was she just a normal talking pony then?
“Do you two have any idea how we ended up as ponies?” Ashley asked.
“No clue.” Said Abbey. “We just woke up this way.”
“You know what we should do?” Asked Alex. “We should come up with some new names. Completely reinvent ourselves.”
“Yeah!” Laughed Ashley. “Then maybe you can be something other than…”
Right then, the door opened, admitting a white unicorn stallion in a tux.
“Ah, good to see you three are awake.” He said. “I hope you’re doing better?”
“Yes.” Alexis answered, with some hesitation. “Who are you?”
“My name is Fancypants.” Fancypants answered. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Might I inquire as to your names?”
The girls look at each other before Alexis answered. “I’m Symphony.”
“I’m Melody.” Abbey says.
“And I’m Rave!” Ashley declares, pumping a hoof into the air.
“Of course you are.” Symphony deadpaned.
Author's Note
So, sorry for the exceptionally long wait.
After putting out the first chapter I got busy (work, mostly), then got distracted, and when I finally got back to being able to work on this, I forgot most of what I needed to write.
This chapter was also going to be three times as long, but I figured it's been too long since I put this out as is.
I'm also going to give myself a deadline of the 31st to get the rest of this chapter out, so hopefully, the next wait won't be as long.
