Times are changing

Umbra

Pain

The only thing I felt was complete and utter pain as my body was hit with some unseen force. Most people couldn’t imagine the feeling of atoms being separated and your body flowing into nothingness in a flash of green. I didn’t think the pain would end until the atoms of my head separated, effectively stopping all brain activity. I didn't know what happened at the time, but I knew it was excruciatingly painful. After what seemed like hours, my body slammed together and reformed, the pain returned in full effect. My brain reeled from the sensation of the pain. I didn’t know if it was my nerves or if my body was actually flailing but I felt motion. I felt my back slam into something hard before I passed out.

I came to with a start; My body shot up into a sitting position causing me to scream out in pain from the sudden, forceful motion. My hands, on reflex, grasped the pistol grip of my rifle and brought it up to my chest. I looked around frantically before passing out again from lack of oxygen, seeing as I didn’t breathe the entire time. After a few moments I woke up again, but this time, not of my own accord. I awoke with a scream as a steeled toe boot slammed into my side. My eyes shot wide open as I writhed in pain and gave a seething glare at my attacker whilst raising my gun to their body. Luckily, before I could commit to the pulling of the trigger, I noticed just who I was about to shoot. Standing above me with a cocky smirk on his mouth was Hamus.

"What the fuck man!?!" I screamed at him as I rolled to my stomach only to stop when I heard a chuckle coming from my 'friend'.

"Hurts like a motherfucker, don't it?" He asked with a little chuckle. He offered me a hand which I reluctantly took. I stood up and was hit with a sense of vertigo, my balance was thrown off suddenly. I started falling to my left but luckily Hamus caught me. I cried out in pain from the contact but even that was starting to die down. I opened my eyes and looked around me. I saw very, VERY bright colored flora all around me, I heard the sounds of birds and other woodland critters but saw none of them. As I took in the sights around me only one thought came to my mind.

How very...cartoon-like.

I glanced up at the moon which also looked like something out of a cartoon. The bright orb floating lazily across the night sky.

"So...Any idea where we are?" He asked while rubbing his arm. I guess even he's still feeling the effects of...Whatever the fuck that was.

"Not a fucking clue..This place is so bright. It almost hurts to look at." I said as I looked all around trying to find a clear direction. As I turned to the right I felt something brush against the inside of my arm. Glancing back I saw something fairly important.

"Hey Hamus, here's your rifle back. Try not to drop it again." I said as I chucked his rifle to him. He gave me an ecstatic look before he checked the breach. It must be loaded because he only pulled the charging handle back halfway before letting it ride home. I pulled up my own rifle before taking another, closer, look around. After a few moments I can discern an obvious trail from the rest of the forest. This being filled with trampled grass and dirt while the rest of the forest has vines and grass even higher than me.

"Hey, I found a trail. Think we should follow it?" I asked with a tilt of my head. Hamus looked to where I was pointing before nodding. We both moved through the brush dividing us from the trail. Once we made it through we were faced with another problem.

"Uhh...Which way?"

XxX

Moonglider

The only sound I could hear was the clopping of my hooves on solid concrete and my breathing. I was tasked with the delivery of a message and I’d be danged if I wouldn't deliver it. I sprinted down the endless, identical corridors. I almost trampled some purple unicorn during my rush but I couldn't think of that now, I had a job to do.

"Hey! Watch it!" I heard somepony yell from behind me. No doubt the purple unicorn I nearly crashed into. I traversed yet another turn before I spotted my target. Two pairs of heavily decorated doors sat at the end of the hall, my target was inside. I poured on more speed as I galloped faster than ever. I felt the familiar tingle of magic as I opened the doors. I saw, up on her throne, was my target talking to some unicorn.

"Princess! I come bearing news!" I shouted with my remaining breath before collapsing, gasping in large gulps of the precious air I so desperately needed. Princess Celestia Walked down to me and looked down with concern filled eyes.

"What news could possibly be so important to make one present themselves in this manner?" She asked in a shocked but friendly tone. It gave me some sense comfort as I steeled myself for the next bit of news.

"I was instructed to tell you that there has been a very large dimensional disruption near the edge of the Everfree Forest. It was triple the size of the last one!" I shot out with the last of my breath before a blackness started creeping into my vision. I knew I was going to pass out. I glanced up to Celestia and saw that she was looking, not at me, but into space. She must have been deep in thought. She eventually regained her senses and turned to her guest.

"Shining Armor! Take this guard to the infirmary. I must go speak with Princess Luna immediately." She said in a soft but commanding tone. The type of tone that said 'if you don't do as I say, you'll regret it'. Shining Armor immediately sprang into action and picked me up in his magic before placing me on his back. I was losing consciousness fast! The last thing I remembered was Princess Celestia vanishing from the room with a blinding, golden flash and her hearing the words “Thank you”. I passed out as soon as I was brought back through the double doors.

XxX

Umbra

"We're so lost..." Hamus said for the fourth time in five minutes. I rolled my eyes at his comment but held my tongue. I kept following the pathway until we reached yet another bend. Once we walked around I immediately stopped and backed up, bumping into my partner along the way.

"The hell's going on?" He asked as he stumbled backwards. I placed a hand over his mouth and made a shushing noise. I merely pointed at the path and he took the initiative to go look. He peeked and stood stock still, that cold, calculating gaze scanning over what he saw. He returned a moment later and said with mock happiness.

"Time for recon!"

"Ouch! Fucking thorns.." I whispered in annoyance as I bumped into yet another thorn bush. Hamus and I had been walking through this forest for 20 minutes now. We'd seen strange things in this forest, trees that look like they have faces, branches that seem alive, animals that I've never seen before. Around 5 minutes ago we passed by a giant lion, bat, scorpion thing, Hamus called it a Manticore but I wasn’t in any position to deny the name. Once we saw what looked to be a town through the clearing we thought it best to check it out. We spotted a nice looking trench a few meters away that looked perfect and decided to hop inside and set up camp. Hamus Jumped in first...And splashed face first in a mud puddle.

"BWAHAHA!" I bursted out in uncontrolled laughter as I fell on my back. Turns out it wasn't my smartest idea, I slid down into the hole and covered my entire back in mud.

"Pft...pfft.." I brought up my head and was greeted with a very muddy Hamus ready to bust out into tears of laughter. I shot him a venomous leer and watched as the laughter left his body. Nice to know I could still scare him shitless when needed. I stood up, boots sliding around in the uneven, slippery substance. I prepared myself for the worst and brought my DSR around to my front, only to see it completely caked in mud.

I let out a groan of frustration and started to wipe it off. This wasn't the time or place to do a complete cleaning so I wiped off as much as I could and cleared the action. I tossed Hamus a pair of binoculars from my pack and found a nice spot to set up shop. I found a small clearing, just big enough for the scope to go unobstructed and rested my rifle on the berm. I glanced to my left and saw Hamus getting comfortable for the long stay. He glanced at the village before raising the binos to get a better look.

"Right. Umbra, you check the east side and the path into the forest. I got the west and the clearing." He said as he situated himself to get a better view. I wordlessly adjusted so I could view my zones effortlessly. I watched as the night town lay still. I could see some lights on and by the looks of it they were oil lanterns. That struck me as a bit odd but that wasn't the only thing I noticed.

Wait a second...This town looks like something out of medieval times.. I thought to myself as I brought my eye away from the scope and took a bigger look.

"Hey Hamus. Do you notice anything...off about this place?" I asked as I lowered my head back to the scope getting the headache inducing parallax that you get for going to a high zoom from regular eye magnification.

"Not anything in particular. It seems like a regular little town to me." He said as he looked over to the west end of the town.

"Nothing huh? Well then tell me, why do they have oil lanterns and single story straw roof homes." I said as I saw the zoom of movement but couldn't quite identify what it was. “There isn’t any debris or signs of fighting either.” I heard nothing from Hamus for a minute until he said the thing that's been on our mind since we got here.

"We aren't in Kansas anymore, are we?"

XxX

Twilight

"Hey! Watch it!" I yelled as a Lunar guard nearly tramples me. I gave her a seething glare but she didn’t seem to take notice. I glanced back at my friends and saw Rainbow ready to take off after her. "No Dash, let her go. We have to see the princess anyway." I said as I started walking down the way the guard sped off in, no doubt to get to the princess herself.

"So what're we here to ask the princess again?" I heard AppleJack ask from behind me.

"We're here to let the princess know that there was some form of strange magic near the Everfree earlier today." I said as I cast a sideways glance to the orange mare behind me.

"So what Twi? It's the Everfree! There's weird stuff there all the time." I heard Rainbow complain from beside me. I rolled my eyes at the Pegasus and answered.

"Because if we don't and it turns out to be something dangerous, who knows what could happen?"

"I...Uh...T-think it would be best to tell the princess...If that's ok with you." I heard Fluttershy murmur from my right. I felt a small amount of happiness as she agreed with me. Much better than the other two.

"So, why didn't Rarity and Pinkie come again?" Rainbow asked as she lazily flew backwards in front of me.

"Well, Rarity said she has a big order to fill for Fancy Pants. Something about 30 golden capes by Thursday. And Pinkie couldn't come because she has to watch Pumpkin and Pound cake while Mr. and Mrs. Cake are away on business." I said as I turned another corner and saw my BBBFF carrying the same guard from earlier. I gasped and ran up to him.

"What happened!?" I shouted as I reached him and looked over the unicorn on his back. She had a dark brown coat and a deep blue mane. Her sharp fangs were out for all to see. Her horn seemed a little shorter than mine…

I don't remember them allowing Unicorns in the Lunar guard...

"She knocked herself out running to the Princess with a message about strange activity in the Everfree." He said as he stopped walking and looked at the Unicorn on his back. He glanced back at me and gave me a smile. "It's good to see ya Twili." He said as he gave me a little hug.

"You too, you should get her to the infirmary before we catch up." I said as I released the hug. I was about to ask where the princess was when I saw a golden flash from behind me. Turning around I came face to face with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Me and my friends immediately fell into a deep bow.

"Rise my student. We have much to discuss." Celestia said with a serious tone. I rose and watched as both the princesses trotted down the hallway. I looked back to my friends with a confused glance before following after them. I heard the clopping of hooves behind me letting me know my friends were following me. I followed the princesses into the throne room and waited as they went to their thrones.

"As you no doubt know, there has been very strange activity in the Everfree. I have multiple reports of a blinding flash coming from within. Neither my sister nor I have any idea what could have caused this but would like to know what it is. I hate to ask this of you all but will you check out this disturbance?" She asked with a tired sigh. She glanced up to us with hopeful eyes, the kind I could never turn down.

"Of course princess. That's what we originally came here to find out anyway." I said as I heard a quiet sigh from behind be. I tried to shoot Dash a scornful glare from the back of my head but, as expected, it did nothing.

"Thank you my student. You have no idea how much this means to me." She said with a small smile and a look of gratitude. "I can teleport you and your friends back to Ponyville but you will be on you own from there on." She said as she started charging her horn, causing the room to glow in a bright yellow. I saw her release her magic and felt myself go weightless before appearing in the library. We looked around the room quickly before I turned and looked at the clock.

"Ugh, it's 3 AM, you all are welcome to stay here for the night. We can head out in the morning." I said as I started to trot up the wooden stairs to my room. I barely heard the sounds of my friends agreeing as I trudged my way to my bed. I fell with a thud but I was out before my head hit the pillow.

XxX

Umbra

I looked on with disbelief as I stared at the literal tree house in the middle of the town. I could’ve sworn I just saw a golden flash and three multicolored horses appear. I shook my head clear of sleep but I still saw them. I looked on with disbelief as I tapped my boot against Hamus. He scooted over to me and brought up his binoculars.

"What'd ya see?" He asked in a hushed tone. I grabbed his binoculars and pointed them at the tree house. I felt his grip go tense and he didn’t make a sound. I watched with interest as the horses moved their mouths, lips and tongues in some form of speech. I watched closely and thought I saw one of them mouth out the words 'welcome to stay', but that's all I got from the movements alone.

"Hey Hamus, what're the chances of these talking horses speaking our language? I could have sworn I just saw them mouth English..." I said as I watched the horses with bated breath. That flash looked vaguely familiar, it almost reminded me of the flash I saw before I got here but it was off color.

"Well, I see what you're talking about so I'd say likely...So, I guess the million dollar question here is...What the fuck is going on and where the fuck are we?" He asked as he lowered the binoculars and looked at me. I took my head away from the scope but found a crosshair burned into my vision.

Guess I stared through the scope to long. Ah well, it'll go away in a bit.

I looked at my partner and sighed. "I haven't a fucking clue...But I do know we're going to find out, tomorrow. We should get some sleep, maybe this is just our subconsciousness saying to pass the fuck out." I said as I slouched deeper into the trench, leaving my rifle sitting up above, hidden by the brush. I looked over to see Hamus doing the same.

"0800 we get up and scouting." He said before setting an alarm on his watch, closing his eyes and relaxing. I nodded and looked around me and found a pile of leaves. Stacking them on top of me I gave myself some makeshift insulation along with some camouflage. I threw some on top of Hamus as well before laying back and falling into a dreamless sleep.

Author's Note

I'm not quite sure how this chapter turned out. It was kinda difficult for me to get the "Meeting" right. Let me know in the comments below.