//-------------------------------------------------------// The Land Before Ours -by bellilou42- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter I - The Callenge //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter I - The Callenge      I'm Flim, and that's Flam, and we are the World Famous Flim Flam Brothers. Basically, we just steal people's jobs with our inventions in a contest. Town last town was a disaster, we didn't even get to have the pie-baking contest! It kind of ruined our reputation, so we're on our way to Ponyville again, but this time for Zecora. Zecora is the "magician," if you will, of her land. We are going to face her with our new invention, the Dimensional Traveler.      We have arrived in Ponyville, and ponies apparently hear we were coming. There is a large crowd surrounding the station like we were celebrities. Only, they didn't look too happy. One step,one step, and they threw tomatoes and paper at us. We bolted towards the forest, and dragged the heavy briefcase behind us. Man, I never knew tomatoes could hurt this bad!      The forest was a lot darker than I'd expected. We set up our tents and went to sleep. The night was cold, and when we woke up, it wasn't any better. In fact, it was worse. No breakfast restaurants seemed to want to welcome us, in fear we'd attempt to steal their shop. Flam looked at me, and I knew we had the same thought: It's time.      Zecora's hut was a lot farther into the woods than we thought. It was almost lunch by the time we had reached it. Inside, she was muttering something strange, to the tune of a humming noise. I only caught a little but but here's what I heard: “I often tend to speak in rhyme, even though it takes most others much time. This is good for most of my days because they may not understand my ways. If I challenge those ponies to a duel, which potion will prove them big fools?”      What on Earth is she doing in there? We knocked, and the humming stopped. She answered the door, and acted as if she just woke up. She let us in, apparently not knowing who we were. The room felt kind of dark and scary, but Zecora was obviously just fine. So I went with it. We challenged her to a magic-off, and she accepted. She didn't know of our weapon. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter III - The Land Before Ours //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter III - The Land Before Ours I was not out of breath or in pain, yet I still heaved in and out heavily. Zecora smiled. “Top that, and you may win. But your device may very well be ruined.”      Our turn. We step forward, turn the lever to ‘Human Dimension’, and step aside. “What shall we put in?” Flam asks. The portal makes a funny noise, but it doesn’t worry us, but what Zecora says does; “Us, I say, for if not I cannot see if it works or rots. We all shall go, but beware we may not end up as fillies and mares.”      Flam and I look worriedly at each other, but Zecora interrupts by screaming and jumping in. Without thinking, Flam and I jump in after her. The whole world just disappears, and is replaced by repeating mirrors of us stretched all around in a tube shape. As we fall through the tube, Zecora shouts out in amazement. I finally see a light at the end of the tunnel, but it is multicolored. I land softly on the grass, but this grass looks weird. It is lighter in color, and there is a different animation. I look up. The whole land is a different animation. Flam and Zecora are a different animation. We have arrived in the MLP 3G world.      All I am able to do is look at Flam and Zecora. Suddenly, ponies with this new animation come skating towards me. They skate on their hind legs? Then, a little filly hot pink with tropical-looking hair, comes up to me. She introduces herself as princess Rarity. She, as I can easily see, is very clumsy. She blows a whistle, and a large cloud carriage appears in the sky, pulled by two pegasi. There is another pony in there, and she, unlike Rarity, looks like a princess. She escorts us to a small village nearby. The houses are wonderful! They are decorated with rainbow ribbons and kites. There is one house I found rather interesting: a blue one with the most decoration I have ever seen. We are told to look around, so we split up and introduce ourselves.      I quickly chose the blue house first. It is the home of a wize pony named Rainbowdash. She is the head decorator. She is the most rainbowiest pony I’ve ever seen! Next, I go to a hot air balloon-shaped house. Inside lives a young girl named Pinkie Pie. She is the most planniest planner of parties. Lastly, I visit the bakery, and meet everyone there: Minty, Sunshine Glimmer, Lickety-Split, and the rainbow cake. The rainbow cake was the most delicious thing we’ve ever tasted! It was made of rainbow jelly that only came once a year, at the Rainbow Festival. They had just finished the celebration, which explains the decorations. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter V - Animation Difficulties //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter V - Animation Difficulties      It has been three days, and there is still no sign of the Dimensional Traveler. Ponies here are beginning to get suspicious of our sudden arrival. We must find the way out, and quick. Honestly, I don’t exactly know what the D.T. will do once someone goes through. It may go with them, it may stay in place. And honestly, I haven’t exactly been looking and trying to escape. I just think that the food here is just too good to say no to. You try their food, then argue with me.      Anyway, Flam is, again, out looking for the D.T. while Zecora is visiting other ponies. I am just lying here under a tree, eating this delicious cake. WHAT? My hoof is changing! What is going on? It’s getting duller and rounder and WHAT? My other hoof, too! I have to go find Zecora and Flam!      I can’t find them anywhere! There, in the bakery! They appear to have different tails and hooves, too. I inform them of what is happening, but they don’t seem to notice any changes. What now? I am changing so fast, soon I’ll be a 3G pony, permanently! //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter II - Her Turn First //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter II - Her Turn First      The day has arrived, we will be facing Zecora's magic with our amazing Dimensional Traveler! We all know what you've been thinking this whole time: "What does it do?" Well, by the push of a button, it will take us to any dimension possible. It is well known for taking us ponies into what is called the "human" world. Now, we have programmed it to take us to any dimension at all. It has been tested once, but with a butterfly. It was sent to the art world, and has been on the internet ever since.      Zecora pulls out her potions and begins brew something that smells like old, moldy lizard guts. Flam pulls out a long, cylinder-shaped pole. Zecora stopped in her tracks, apparently she knew what it was. “You dare to challenge with this thing without know what it may bring? You know not what this can do, but when you get lost, I can’t help you..” We already knew she sang in rhyme, but in person it just sounded like a hypnotizing riddle.      We start up the device immediately. The pole suddenly transforms into a portal. Zecora does not look amused. She throws in a few more pink liquids to her cauldron. As the bubbles simmer down, she tells us what next. “I go first, and then you. We try the magic and find the better who. We all must test the magic first, but I warn you, bad doings will activate a curse.” That was intense. Zecora pulls out three flasks and pours the now-orange liquid into them. Zecora picks one up, and we float the other two towards us with our magic. “Drink up, my friends, and you will see exactly what you deserve to be.”      We pull the floating glasses closer towards our mouths, but Zecora already drank hers. She seems perfectly fine, but now it’s our turn. Flam looks at me nervously, but the banana smoothie-flavored potion is already in my mouth. It tasted like the best drink I’ve ever had! Something in my mind went off, and I just had to have more! I ran over to the full pot, and started drinking right out of it. I tried to stop myself, but I couldn’t, it was out of my control. The pot was almost empty, and Flam hadn’t even sipped his glass yet. He sat on the other side of the room, staring at me with it floating in front of him. Zecora just smiled and whispered in my ear: “This is a potion to make you unwillingly addicted I am immune, so I cannot be conflicted.”      She clicked her hoof on the ground, and I immediately stopped and fell to the floor. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter IV - Into Hiding //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter IV - Into Hiding      Thankfully, there was no 3G Flim, Flam, or Zecora, so we didn’t run into anything suspicious. We were invited to stay at the Breezies’ garden. We had set up a tent, but we needed to figure out how to get home without anypony noticing. How would we do that? I stayed up all night trying to figure that out, and only came up with one plan: find a hiding place. Where would the hiding place be? We barely know our way around the streets, and how do we know which places were empty?      I wake up to the delicious smell of fresh pies and pancakes. I’m the only one awake. I follow the smell into the streets, and then the bakery. Inside, Lickety-Split is trying to help Sunshine Glimmer bake for the party that evening; the last night of the Rainbow Festival is the most important day of all. The first rainbow of the year will begin to fade today. Decorations will be left for weeks, though. Spike, the dragon, told me all about it. There is even a special shooting star pattern and magic wand wave. Stories of this year’s unusual adventure are everywhere. Apparently, Princess Rarity had quite an adventure. (See it here)      Zecora found me, and she discovered a place to hide. There is a small tree outside of the Breezy garden, and under it is a hole that leads to an abandoned room underneath the tree.Flam has already begun the Dimensional Traveler search, while Zecora is out looking for herbs to make potions with. No idea why we’d need potions. I was sent to go distract everypony from this strange event of three new ponies coming from nowhere. Strange… I just realized that I have not seen a single stallion here yet…. curious… //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter VI - Home? //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter VI - Home?      I ran all the way to the Pinkie Pie’s pink house and spill the secrets. She tells me she already knew that. She saw us appear and was the only one who noticed the difference in animation quality. She knows where the portal is. I quickly grab my amigos and head back. She is waiting with a strange device. It is in a strange, cartoonish animation. She explains how this has happened before, how a strange man and three super-powered girls came once. The man was a scientist, and he had created the girls. He was smart enough to figure out how to escape, and he left this portal-tracker with them just in case. What luck she’s the one I told!      We’ll be heading back in no time, but the portal may malfunction again and send us somewhere random again. I hold my breath, hold Flam and Zecora’s hooves, and jump. We are sent swirling through our twisted reflections again. The light comes, but it looks different this time. It is purple and I catch the smell of a familiar smoothie scent.      We land in Zecora’s hut, but the ceiling seems taller. I look down, and I am completely back to my normal animated pony self. But there is something about this that doesn’t seem right… I walk outside to find these strange creatures walking around on twos. They have fur on their heads, except for one, who is fuzzy everywhere. I suddenly realize where we are, and apparently at the same time as Flam and Zecora. We are not home yet.