The Strangest Things

“Where exactly are we going again?”

Me and the girl who appeared in my window, whose name was apparently Jade, were riding in a Greyhound bus that was heading to the northeast. There were only three or four passengers on board, a dark-skinned man, a large wrestler looking guy, an elderly woman, and a young man, maybe twenty five.

“New York. I have a safe house there in the Bronx, and we can figure out just what happened with you. As you now know, my name is Jade. You, Nathan, are vital to someone dear to one of my friends.”

“Honestly, I find this all a bit ridiculous.”

“You should, but it’s not.” She pulled out two short rods out of her messenger bag. They looked like lightbulbs on sticks. “But we shouldn’t talk here. It could be dangerous. Your magic and my magic are similar, but somewhat weak in comparison to the other people. And this bus doesn’t exactly make me feel secure.”

At that, she closed her eyes, and stared at the large black man, who was staring at me for a while now. He squinted, and the bus came to a halt at Times Square.

“Let’s go.”

We step off quickly, and the man follows. As we tried to get lost in the crowd, the man got more aggressive, more forceful. He placed a hand on Jade’s shoulder.

“I’ve been looking for you, girl. I think you can help me.”

At this point, I decided to be stupid and punch the man in the jaw.

“You think you can beat me? I have a world of knowledge in my brain. The intelligence of the future! A man gave me powers like no other! And now, you die!”

He lunged at me, his arm morphing into a wicked looking blade. I dived to the left, and all the people around us scattered in fear. But not Jade. She closed her eyes, and the two sticks floated in the air. With a clench of her fists, the batons charged with a bright blue electricity, and started spinning.

“Nathan!” she called, as she was busy fighting odd Mr. Prototype, “How far were you in your studies on indirect influence?”

“Not far.”

“Well, first think of concentrating the air to solid mass using magic. Then figure it out.”

I focused, and the air concentrated into a ball I could feel. I flung it at the man, who winced and turned to look at me.

“Bad move.”

I tried again, and a wall of shining air appeared, which Mr. Prototype bounced off of as he tried to rush me. I smiled. Time to go videogame on this guy. A dozen spines of light appeared, and I launched them with magic, one at a time, directly at him, so he had to focus on dodging. That gave Jade enough time to get him with her buzz batons. He stumbled, but did not fall.

“It will take more than that to kill me!”

Jade grumbled,  Wasn’t trying to kill you.”

I tried a different tact, and formed a cube around him. Man, this was fun. I shrunk down the cube, tossed it into the air, and shot several light spears after it. I had to say it.

“Pull!” I said as the spears launched.

He managed to break the cube and salsh most of my spears out of the sky. But one hit him in the arm, and he went down, hitting his head in the sidewalk. Jade buzzed him for good measure.

“Let’s go,” she said, and we walked to her safe house, leaving Mr. Prototype unconscious, and her body language just a little bit more open, connected, alive.

In the safe house, I finally relaxed. I thought there were more than just Mr. Prototype running around, but what I was really scared of was the fact that we were in Times Square. Super public, and there was a magic show of death in the middle of a crowd.

“Finally safe.” said Jade, plopping on a couch, “Now, let’s get working on how to get you back to Fluttershy.”

“You have scrying magic, correct?”

“Yeah,”

“I guess that means I have to train you, then. I am of the white magic, that allows me rudimentary, rough, versions of all the others. When trained, you could easily beat me in an influence duel, but I’m a wild card.” She smiled. “A jack of all trades.”

I still didn’t know who this person was, but she was my last shot at staying safe.

“OK, train me.”

Two weeks later...

Jade looked over the training that had just ensued.

“Good. You have a powerful imagination, and that helps immensely. Although when summoning air minions, you seem to like stick figures with shields and spears, and I don’t exactly know why.”

“Easier to control.”

“True, but there’s no flair, no style! The enemy will be distracted by the power, the look of an angry Spartan, or the sound of a charging Minotaur. Not stick figures. Presentation is key.”

“But the stick figures will make my opponent underestimate the weapons I gave them. They’re poisoned with concentrated cigarette smoke. And the shields freeze things on contact. Solid nitrogen can do that.”

“You can specify and gather specific gases and compounds? I can’t do that. I guess I hit my limits on how much I can teach you. So now, time to regain my honor on the battlefield.”

They fell laughing to the ground, another type of fight ensued. Surprisingly enough, they had grown close over the training period, and it was time for the daily tickle fight. No need to get into specifics.

“Fluttershy, are you okay?”

Twilight entered Fluttershy’s cottage. Fluttershy was curled into a ball, still crying, still shivering, still stunned. Twilight still didn’t understand why Fluttershy was still crying. She picked her up with magic, and set her down on the couch.

“Fluttershy, you cried long enough. I don’t think you cried for a pet for so long.”

“I wasn’t crying for a pet.”

“Then what are you crying for?”

“Nathan.”

“But Nathan was a pet, just an animal, right?” Twi still wasn’t sure if he talked or not.

“Nathan was a companion, and an equal, but he was never a pet. He, if anything else, was a friend. The best friend I’ve ever had. Even,” she blushed, despite her tears. “ eventually, more than that, given time.”

Twilight decided now was the best time to reveal what was happening. Jae had told her what had happened, and what they could do.

“Fluttershy, Nathan wasn’t from this world, or even from this universe. He was a human, a super advanced race from the planet Earth. He was sent here by accident, from his family and friends. And with what just happened, I believe Nathan is alive.”

“Really?”

“And we can bring him back. He is currently with Jade, and they are hearty and healthy, and growing close... oops.” Twilight shut her mouth, but the words already escaped.

“Really?!” Fluttershy thought for a moment. “But that wouldn’t do, would it. It seems that Jade and Nathan are having a good time, and I don’t want to tear him away from his life again. Tell Jade that I’m fine that he is alive. And to have a good life.”

You know, being alone just doesn’t work for me. I like being with ponies, or people, or intelligent beings of any kind. I’m having a good life, developing my skills, traveling with Jade, and armed with the knowledge that there are others like her out there, others that want to hurt us, and that we can handle ourselves. And through it all, Fluttershy was okay with it. My almost pony girlfriend is okay with me being with my magic for sure girlfriend. And I still love them both.

Man, sometimes, I go through the strangest things.

The End