The Life Of D-Pad: Brave New Worldsby FoxVillain321ChaptersChapter 1: Hoofston, We have a Problem.Chapter 2: StarfallChapter 3: This isn't our EquestriaChapter 1: Hoofston, We have a Problem.“Good morning, dear.” D-Pad awoke to the sight of Octavia laying in bed with him. “Good morning, my love.” He cooed as he kissed her. He pulled off the covers. There in the morning rays, he looked over his love. A gray earth pony with a purple treble clef cutie mark. That gorgeous dark gray flowing mane and tail and those enchanting purple eyes. He wanted to lay in bed with her forever. But he knew he had work to do. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of thumping dubstep music coming from downstairs. “Vinyl’s cleaning dishes again, I hear.” Octavia chuckled. “I suppose I should get ready.” He chuckled with her. He walked over to a mirror. He looked himself over. A yellow, bat-winged pegasus. A brown, untidy mane and tail with eyes as green as emeralds. They weren’t slits like other bat-winged pegasi, although to him, that didn’t matter at all. He looked at his flank and saw his video game controller cutie mark. “You look handsome, dear.” Octavia complemented him. D-Pad blushed. “Thanks…you don‘t look to bad yourself…” Octavia giggled as she got off the bed. She walked over to him and kissed him full on the mouth. “Have a good day.” She spoke as she broke the kiss, smiling. D-Pad walked downstairs, the thumping from the wubs getting louder. “OH YEAH! THIS IS MY JAM!!” Vinyl shouted over the blaring dubstep, bobbing her head to it. D-Pad watched as the white mare with blue hair, red eyes, and a bridged eight note cutie mark started dancing wildly. “GOOD MORNING VINYL!!” D-Pad shouted over the wubbery. “YO! YOU GETTING READY FOR WORK!?” She shouted back. “YEAH! DO YOU KNOW WHERE MY STUFF IS?!” He shouted in question. “BY THE DOOR!!” She shouted in reply. D-Pad walked over to the door. Beside it was a sandwich board with the words “Pegasi for hire” on it. He then picked up a bell beside it. There was a knock at the door, to which D-Pad opened it. “GOOD MORNING LANCE!!” “Augh!” Lance shouted in surprise. The gray bat-winged stallion with a black crew-cut mane, gold slit eyes, and a red lance as his cutie mark raised an eyebrow at him. “What are ya tryin to do, make me go deaf?!” “Sorry, Vinyl’s cleaning dishes again.” He embarrassedly stated, rubbing the back of his head. Lance laughed. “I’m just bucking with you, I could hear the music a couple blocks away.” “Well, wubs ARE the best way to clean dishes…anyway, you ready to go?” D-Pad asked. “Yep. Lets get going! We got ponies to help!” Lance exclaimed with determination. The two jetted of into the sky. “PEGASI FOR HIRE!!” Lance shouted. The two stallions sat in the middle of the Ponyville marketplace, ringing their bells and shouting to potential clients. The market was buzzing with activity. The sound of bits falling to countertops and ponies talking about their days and whatnot filled the market. PEGASI FOR HIRE!!” D-Pad shouted. “So D-Pad…you finally finished moving in with Octavia?” Lance inquired as he rung his bell. “Yep. Moved into the basement, but that don’t mean I’ve been using the bed down there.” D-Pad replied with a smirk. “Hah! With the way you and Octavia are, I’m not surprised.” Lance laughed. “I told you, I love that mare with all of my heart.” D-Pad chuckled. “So…have you two lovebirds tried to copulate yet?” Lance asked, nudging D-Pad. D-Pad looked at Lance in shock. “Dude! We’re really gonna talk about this!? In the middle of the market!?” D-Pad replied, wide-eyed. “Yep. So didja?” Lance asked again. D-Pad sighed. “No, we have not “Done it” yet.” “But you two have been together for what, eight months?” Lance commented. “Just because we have been together for quite a while doesn’t mean we have to mate.” D-Pad grumbled. “I just thought you’d be the kinda stallion that goes deep into her flower as soon as possible.” Lance chuckles. “DUDE!” D-Pad shouted. “I’m bucking with you, ya dunce.” Lance laughed. “It’s still embarrassing…why do you do that?” D-Pad asked, his cheeks reddening. “Well…I’m kinda jealous…” Lance admitted. “You did tell me you were interested in Vinyl right? Go ask her on a date.” D-Pad stated. “But what if she says no?” Lance asked apprehensively. “You’ll never know if you don’t try.” D-Pad replied. “I’m just worried…I’ve never had a girlfriend before.” Lance sighed. “You’ll do fine…” He reassured Lance. “Excuse me?” The two turned to a white unicorn mare. She had a long blonde mane and bright blue eyes. She had a purple star as her cutie mark. “Are you the pegasi for hire I’ve heard about?” She asked with a cocked head. “Yes ma’am.” D-Pad replied cheerfully. “My name is D-Pad, and this is Lance.” Lance gave a friendly wave. “Great! My name is Starlight. I need some help delivering a package.” She said with a chipper tone. She gave them a large box. “Hey, uh…not for nothing, I mean we need the work…but isn’t this more of a job for a mail pony? I know there’s a post office down the street.” Lance commented. “I know, but he works at the post office, and it’s a super secret present. I just don’t want to risk it.” She explained. She pulled out a sack full of bits. “Please, I’ll pay you double.” “That won’t be necessary.” D-Pad chuckled. “We’ll take it to your friend for 10 bits.” “Thank you so much!” She exclaimed happily. She gave them 10 bits. “He lives next to Sugarcube Corner. A bright red cottage, you can’t miss it.” “What’s in the box, if I may ask?” Lance inquired to Starlight. “It’s a secret.” She giggled and winked at him. “Thanks again!” She trotted off. D-Pad was about to place his bits into his jar when her realized it wasn’t there. “Buck…I knew I forgot something. I forgot our bits jar.” He grumbled, face hoofing himself. “Hey, no worries…Octavia’s house is on the way to Sugarcube Corner. We’ll just stop and grab the jar, then just head to the friends house.” Lance reassured D-Pad. D-Pad nodded and the two walked down the street. D-Pad waved and nodded hello, stopping once to say hello to a pony selling pears and buying a pear for both him and Lance. Lance thanked D-Pad and happily bit into his pear. “I’ll save mine for later.” D-Pad said as they continued on. “So…how are you and Octavia doing?” Lance asked. “Great.” D-Pad replied. “I mean we have our ups and downs…we had another fight a few weeks ago, but we both apologized and made up.” “What was it this time?” Lance inqured. “Nothing big, it was just…” “It was about her father again wasn’t it?” D-Pad sighed. It had been four months since he had killed Octavia’s father after her father had become…something unholy born from genetic splicing. D-Pad remembered having to go tell Octavia’s mother about it, to which she cried a river of tears in front of him. Octavia never really healed after the incident. She still had trouble coping with the fact that he was cloning ponies and performing evil, ungodly experiments on them, just so he could try to become stronger than Celestia herself. “…Yeah…” D-Pad said in a depressed tone. “Hey…it’s all over with…what’s done is done…we can’t change it.” Lance reassured him. “It still hurts…I sometimes sit up nights with Octavia as she cries into my shoulder.” D-Pad sighs. Lance patted his back. “D-Pad, you ain’t a Time-lord or whatever they call it now, so you ain‘t gonna be able to solve this problem. You blokes need to move on. All dwelling in the past will do is make you both feel miserable.” D-Pad sighed. They walked up to a small, two-story white house. It had new window shutters and some new shingles that were put on by D-Pad and Lance. They could hear dubstep being played inside. “Home sweet home…” D-Pad chuckled. They walked in. “D-Pad?! What are you doing home so early?” Octavia asked, looking concerned. “Nothing big, just forgot to grab our bits jar.” D-Pad replied, grabbing the jar. The dubstep ended as Vinyl walked over to them. “Sup D-Pad. What’s in the box?” Vinyl asked. “I don’t know. The mare that gave us this said it was a secret present for someone.” D-Pad responded. “Aww, that is so sweet.” Octavia cooed. “Well, the real mystery is why it’s so light. I kinda want to see what’s in it.” Lance commented. “Well, you have to curb your curiosity. We got to get it to the red cottage near Sugarcube Corner.” D-Pad stated. “You mean that abandoned cottage?” Vinyl asked. “…What?” Both D-Pad and Lance inquired in unison. “Yeah.” Vinyl responded. “That place has been abandoned for a few months. I think the place used to be a holding place for some illegal goods. Nowadays, nopony goes near it.” “…I think we better take a look in that box…” Lance stated as he started to open the box. D-Pad tried to stop him, but Lance had already opened the box. The four looked inside. There was a cloth placed over a large bump in the box. D-Pad pulled off the cloth, revealing the Elements of Harmony, which had been wrapped together in plastic wrap. “Oh my Celestia!!” Octavia shouted. “Dude…” Vinyl gasped. “Nope! Nope! Nope!!” D-Pad exclaimed. Lance just sat there, his mouth agape. The other ponies continued to stammer in disbelief. “What do we do?!” Octavia shouted. “Everypony calm down.” Lance stated calmly. “We didn’t know what was in the box, so they can't blame us for stealing them, if they were.” “Yeah! They……they were most likely…lost and she wanted to bring them back herself…yeah that’s it…” Octavia reasoned, which sounded more like she was trying to convince herself. The elements began to glow and vibrate. They then shot upward, tearing through the roof of Octavia and Vinyl’s house. They began spinning around in a large circle as a white light began forming in the center of the elements. “Hoofston…we have a problem.” Lance gasped as he pointed upward. “OPEN THIS DOOR!” A stern voice shouted from behind the door as it was beng bashed upon. “Nopony’s home!!” Lance shouted back. The white light sucked in the Elements of Harmony before jettisoning downwards towards the house. “This is the royal guard!! I said open this door!!” The stern voice shouted again. “Do you have an appointment!?” Lanced shouted back. The white light encompassed the house. Everything in the house began to levitate. D-Pad and the others floated around as they began to lose consciousness. “Octavia…No matter what happens…I will love you always…” D-Pad wearily spoke. “I…will love you always…too…” Octavia replied before passing out. As the rest of the inhabitants passed out, the house ripped from the ground and began floating upward. The house then began to spin as the light began emanating even brighter. Soon, the light emitted the same light as the very sun. And like that… …the light and the house disappeared. Chapter 2: StarfallD-Pad awoke to find himself all alone. He was laying on a brick path that seemed to be floating on nothing. He looked off the side of the path to see nothing but the void of space. Around him, islands floated around as white, rippling lights floated freely around. Stars twinkled as he started to make his way down the path. “Hello?! Octavia?! Lance?! Vinyl?! Anypony?!” He shouted as he walked along. The path shifted as he walked. Brick by brick, the path built itself to one of the islands. D-Pad walked cautiously over to the island. On it was a black unicorn stallion with a short, white mane and blue eyes. He had a white star as a cutie mark. He was looking around at the void. “Beautiful, isn’t it…” The unicorn stated. “Uh…I suppose…uh, could you help me? I’m looking for my friends.” D-Pad inquired. The unicorn continued to look out at the void. D-Pad began waving a hoof in his face. The unicorn didn’t seem to be bothered at all by this. “Hey! Bud! Anyone there? Yoohoo! Equestria to unicorn!” D-Pad shouted “Huh? Oh, hi there…Wait…What are you even doing here?” The unicorn questioned. “The better question is, where even am I?” D-Pad inquired. “An even better question is why even are you?!” The unicorn replied with a silly look. D-Pad looked at him in question. “…Riiiiight…look I just need to find my friends.” “The earth is round, there is no up or down.” The unicorn whispered to D-Pad, then he floated upwards. D-Pad raised an eyebrow as the unicorn floated upward. “…Did you even hear me?” “Probably not.” The unicorn replied. D-Pad face hoofed himself. “I am looking for my friends.” He stated in bemusement. “Oh yeaaaaaaaah…no clue…” The unicorn replied, shrugging. D-Pad groaned as he walked away from the unicorn and began scanning the area. As he did so for a couple of minutes, The unicorn floated above his head. D-Pad grumbled as he continued to scan. “You know, you’re not going find them that way.” The unicorn commented. “And you have a better idea?” D-Pad questioned in a grumbling manner. “Yeppers! Where do you think they would be?” The unicorn asked. “…What kind of question is that? I’m literally in a place I’ve never been to before. I have no clue…” “SHSHSHSHSH…Hush my little dreamboat. The waves of knowledge are choppy, and your little brain sail can only take you so far…” The unicorn replied, putting a hoof on D-Pads mouth. D-Pad gave him a look of confusion as he slowly backed away from the unicorn. “Think, and you will find what you search.” The unicorn said as he jumped off the edge of the island. D-Pad looked down where the unicorn jumped. He saw nothing but the starry void of space. He sat down and pondered what the unicorn said. He shrugged and began to look around at the other islands. He looked at one particular island. “…There…My friends are there…” The brick path began to form in front of him. It twisted and turned in an elaborate path that stretched out to the island. He stepped onto the path and began to walk along the path. As he walked forward the bricks behind him fell and began to float around in the void. As he made his way to the other island, he could see Octavia looking around in a panic. “Octavia!” D-Pad shouted as he ran over to her. She looked to him and smiled brightly as the two embraced in a hug. “Well, that was easy enough.” Lance said from above them as he fluttered down with Vinyl. “For a while there, I thought we were never gonna find you.” “Oh hey! You found your friends!” The unicorns voice came from behind them as he walked up from the underside of the island. “Uh…who…who are…you know, never mind. Just point us the way out of this place.” Octavia stated. “Oh, you can’t go back. Your way to get back is kind of…well…” The unicorn replied, as he rubbed the back of his head. “Kinda what?” Vinyl asked. “…Kind of sealed up. See, whatever you guys did to get here pretty much closed up your portal.” He stated as he pointed upward. As they looked up, they all noticed that one of the white rippling lights was a deep purple. “What do you…okay…where in Equestria’s name are we?” D-Pad asked. “You are all in the center of all universes. The gateway to all and any realm you wish to see. You are in the hall of the Multiverse. I am Starfall, the keeper of the Multiverse.” There was silence as the ponies all stared at Starfall. “What? You’ve never seen a deity-like being? As I believe, your world is run by one, or so you ponies call her that.” Starfall commented. “Wait…how d’you know that?” Lance asked. “I spend centuries watching over all of these universes. It’s bound to happen that I look upon your universe once in a while.” Starfall stated as he levitated in a reclined position. “This…I can’t even muster the words to speak about this situation…” Octavia sighed in befuddlement. “Well, you got plenty of time. You’re stuck here until that portal to your world opens up.” Starfall stated as he floated above their heads. “And that could take how long?” Vinyl asked. “…Give or take a millennia or two…” Starfall replied, smiling nervously. All of the ponies’ jaws dropped. “WHAT?!?!” They all shouted in unison at Starfall. “You used an astronomical amount of magic to get here! It’s not my fault!” Starfall commented. “…When I get my hands on the Elements of Harmony, I’m gonna melt them down…” Lance growled. Starfall’s ears perked up. “Did you say Elements of Harmony?” “Yeah, that’s how we got here. They did this weird swirly thing then got sucked into this white light, which then sucked us all in. Then it must have brought us here.” D-Pad explained. “I see…this does change things.” He responded as he grinned. “And…you got the Elements of Harmony from a mare named Starlight, correct?” “…Yeah…how’d ya know that?” Lance asked as he raised an eyebrow. “Let’s just say we have a history…a very, veeeery long history that would bore the daylights out of you and slowly drive you mad…gloriously, gloriously mad to the point at which that might cause you all to hang yourselves and strip the flesh from your bodies. ” He replied smiling sweetly, although giving off a sadistic tone. “…Okay…” Octavia said as she and the other backed away from Starfall. “…Er…what was I saying? Eh, doesn’t matter. Anywho, I think if you got back the Elements of Harmony from this place, I should be able to open the portal and send you all home.” Starfall stated, clapping his hooves together. “Awesome. Let’s split up and look around this realm for…” Vinyl began. “Um, sorry to burst your bubble but finding them is far more complicated then that.” Starfall interrupted, to which the ponies looked at him in question. “Let me explain. What you know about these Elements of Harmony is that they are six artifacts that have properties of harmony. Pulled from the Tree of Harmony to defeat Discord, they represent six elements of friendship.” “Okay, so what’s that got to do with that?” D-Pad asked. “I’m getting there.” Starfall replied. “Brought together, they can be used bring peace and balance back to Equestria. However, there is another purpose of bringing them together. If brought together under the right conditions, they can be combined into a…well for lack of better words, a super element. This “super” element has the ability to stop evil dead in its tracks, make the weakest ponies ungodly strong, and can even make blackest hearts turn pure.” All of the ponies looked at him in skepticism. “I know, it doesn’t seem possible, but it is. Unfortunately, you got to see what happens when they are brought together under the wrong conditions.” Starfall stated. “And you would know this because?” Octavia questioned “I know a lot of things about your world, Octavia.” She looked at Starfall with surprise. “Oh yes, I know all of you. Vinyl, Lance, and D-Pad.” He continued as he pointed to them as he said their names. “I know pretty much everything. Things from what has happened, what’s happening, and what is going to happen. Trust me, I know what I’m talking about.” Starfall responded. “So…where are the elements?” Vinyl asked. “Well, what I presume happened was that Starlight was trying to make the super element, but did it under the wrong conditions. Discharges of biding magic, that white light you saw, should have bound them together. But without the right spell, it could not bind them correctly, hence turning the white light into a dimensional rift. Now once inside the rift, I presume the elements found their way into other dimensional rifts. With that much magic coursing through them, I surmise that the dimensional rifts opened up and sucked them right in like water through a straw.” Starfall explained, to which he made a slurping noise. “Well…bollocks…So we got nowhere to start.” Lance grumbled. “Not necessarily.” Starfall stated. “All it takes is a keen eye and knowledge of the place.” With that, Starfall began to look out at the void. “Psst…D-Pad…” Vinyl whispered to D-Pad. “What?” D-Pad whispered back. “I don’t know if we can trust this stallion. He seems very…strange…smart, but strange.” Vinyl commented in a whisper. “Me either, but what other pony can we turn to? He’s the only one here.” He replied in a whisper. “FOUND ONE!!” Starfall replied in a giddy tone. “I can send you there first thing in the morning!” “First thing in the morning? Why not send us there now?” Lance questioned. “Dimensional traveling is not as simple as it seems. There’s a lot of physics and sciency stuff involved. Why just setting all of the rifts up takes hours of time. First I got to…” Starfall began. “No, no, shut it. Spare me the details, I seriously can’t stand any more of your science bullshit.” He grumbled as he rubbed his temple. “See, it’s impatience like that that led to your father leaving your mother, Lance.” Starfall commented. “DON’T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT MY FAMILY, YOU BUGGARING BASTARD!!” Lance roared. The ponies went silent. Starfall shrugged. “Whatever. I’m going to go get that rift prepared. You guys should get some rest.” With that, he flew off. Lance was still seething with anger. “Lance? Are you going to be alright?” Octavia asked, concerned. Lance took a few deep breaths. “Yeah…yeah…I’m fine…” He stated as he turned and began to walk around the island. The rest of the ponies looked concerned at him. “…Hey Lance! Wait up!” Vinyl shouted as she ran over to him. “Oh…hey Vinyl…” He said as he tried to look as calm as possible. “…What happened that you don’t wanna talk about your parents?” Vinyl asked. “Vinyl…I just…I really don’t want to talk about it.” He sighed. “But why keep it all inside until…” “STOP!! I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT, OKAY!?!?” He shouted. She looked at him in surprise. “…I…I…I’m sorry…I…I shouldn’t have yelled at you…” He apologized. “Is it really that bad?” She asked in concern. He stood there, hesitant to say a thing. After a minute, he nodded his head. “…I got ya…look, when you’re ready to talk about it, you can always come talk to me about it.” She responded, putting a hoof on his shoulder. “…You…really mean that?” He asked, to which Vinyl nodded her head. “…Vinyl? Can I tell you something?” “Sure dude. Fire away.” She stated. “Okay…I…I…I been thinking about how to go about this, and I really don’t know how to tell you. I never really had any experience in this, so the only thing I know to do is be blunt…I…I really like you…in a sense of like…like I feel like my whole world feels complete with you…like I want to be around you…like…like you are the most beautiful mare that I have ever seen…” Lance stated as he looked deep into Vinyl’s eyes. Vinyl’s cheeks turned a bright red as she looked back at Lance. “…y…you…really think that?” She asked. “I know it sound’s weird being so blunt, but I really don’t know any good sappy shit to tell you, so I just said what I thought. Vinyl…when this is over…do…do you want to go on a date?” He asked. She blushed even brighter. “…Uh…s…sure…I..I would like that.” She replied. She then walked back to D-Pad and Octavia. “Wow…I’ve never seen that look on your face.” Octavia giggled. “Huh? Oh…right…yeah…” Vinyl responded, though she seemed a little out of it. “What’s up? You’ve never been asked out on a date before?” D-Pad chuckled. “Oh Tartarus, when I work at the nightclubs I get asked all to go out on a date. Sleazy and drunk is not the best way to approach a mare, let me tell you. But Lance…he…he seems so…different from the rest…he looks so innocent…and…y’know it’s kinda nice not being asked out and the stallion isn’t slurring his words.” She stated. Octavia yawned as she put a hoof to her mouth. “Goodness. I didn’t think I was that tired.” She spoke as she yawned again. “Yeah, we should really catch a few winks before we go out on another wild adventure.” D-Pad joked. The mares laughed as Lance walked back over to them. “Well, at least this time let’s try not to put me in a cast.” They all laughed heartily as they all bedded down for the night. Chapter 3: This isn't our Equestria“WAKEY WAKEY, FOUR LEGGED FANCIES!!” Starfall shouted. The ponies grumbled as they woke up. “Shut your face, you buggaring idiot…” Lance growled. “Well, you want to leave as soon as possible right? All I’m doing is just speeding you along.” Starfall said as he brought out a pot and a wooden spoon. “Don’t make me have to use Bangy and his pot friend Clangy!” “Please don’t…” Octavia yawned as she stood up. “I will punch you if you do…” Vinyl growled. Lance chuckled at Vinyl’s statement as he stood up. D-Pad stood up and stretched outward, hearing a satisfying crack in his back. “Mmph…okay…you woke us up. So, where is that rift?” D-Pad asked. “Right over her, sugarlumps.” He replied with a silly look. “…Never say that to me again…” D-Pad stated in bemusement. “Hey I’m just saying what I’ve heard. I’m mean that’s what Octavia called you last night in her sleep.” He commented as Octavia turned a bright red. D-Pad blushed as he looked at Octavia, giving her a smirk. Starfall beckoned them to follow him on another winding brick path. As they walked along, they could see that the brick path led to a bright red column of light that seemed to warp and distort. They soon came face to face with the column of light. “We’re here.” Starfall said. “Great! Let’s get in there and…” D-Pad began. “Hold it right there, Eager McBeaver.” Starfall interrupted sternly as he stepped in front of the portal. “We have ground rules to lay down.” The ponies nodded at Starfall. “First off, DO NOT do anything to mess with the system. I don’t care what’s going on. You’re here to get the Element of Harmony and THAT’S…IT…” He growled. The ponies nodded in understanding. “Secondly, DO NOT bring anything from that world with you. I cannot tell you how many civilizations have gone down the tubes because of some dimensional traveler being greedy…” He began to mumble. “…Steal a Dwemer artifact, will you? well lets see what happens when I cave your skull in with my Ebony mace, you blathering…” “Uh…Starfall…” Octavia spoke up. “LASTLY!!” He shouted, which made the ponies jump. “I don’t care how wonderful things may be there, or how much you want to help them. YOU. DO. NOT. BELONG. THERE. The longer you stay there, the more you’ll WANT to stay there. It’s like an auto correct for the universes. The universe is going to try to integrate you with itself and make you part of that universe, so I stress this. Get the element and get out as soon as you can.” Lance raised a hoof. “What?” Starfall asked. “Will we be able to talk to ponies in the other realm?” Lance responded “I do not see harm in it. The more information the better. Just remember that you aren’t there to solve problems. Find Element. Get Element. Leave. The rift will be open until you come back. To others, it will look like some normal everyday object, but to you it will be a red pillar of light.” Starfall replied. “Understood. Is Everypony ready?” D-Pad asked the others. “Yup!” Vinyl replied as she put on her glasses. “Ready when you are.” Octavia said as she smiled. “As I’ll ever be.” Lance stated as he flapped his wings. “Once you get in there, you’re on your own. Look for anything that pertains to a Element of Harmony. That’s the best I can tell you. Oh…and brace yourself…first time dimensional traveling is always the worst.” He said as he rubbed the back of his head. D-Pad nodded and took a deep breath as he stepped into the rift. As he hurled through the Space time continuum, he gasped and yelped in agony as his body contorted and stretched in ways he didn’t even think were possible. He swore as he tried his best to soldier on through the pain as he watched his body warp. The pain slowly overtook his as he drifted into unconsciousness. D-Pad opened his eyes and blinked a few times. He was looking up at a bright blue sky. He rubbed his face with his hooves as he stood up. All of his friends were sprawled out near him. “I guess it was too much for all of us…” D-Pad said to himself. He looked around at the surroundings. Strangely enough, it looked like Equestria. In fact, it looked EXACTLY like Equestria. There was the same lush, green, grass. The same fresh air. The same tweeting birds. Everything seemed the same. D-Pad heard his friends moan as they started to wake up. “Eveypony…I think were back in Equestria…” D-Pad gasped. With that comment, everypony snapped awake, stood up, and began to look around at the area. “Struth…Ha! Well how about that!” Lance chuckled. “…It…does seem that way…” Octavia commented. “Wait a second, everypony. Something seems off about this place.” D-Pad said as he continued to look around. “Come on, D-Pad. It looks just like Equestria.” Vinyl commented. “I know, but something about this place rubs me the wrong way.” D-Pad stated. “Look, if it is Equestria, why don’t we head to Ponyville? At least then we can get our bearings.” Lance suggested. “That sounds reasonable.” D-Pad responded. “But it’s still strange that we’re back in Ponyville…I thought he said our rift was sealed…” “He did say that…” Octavia agreed. “…Then perhaps we should tread lightly…” Lance stated. The ponies nodded as they began to make their way out of the forest. After a while, they made it to the edge of the forest. With Ponyville in sight, the group continued their trek to the town. “Looks like a normal day in Ponyville.” Octavia commented as the walked into town. Indeed it was. The town of Ponyville was bustling with activity. Ponies were buying and selling their wares in the market. There was much chattering between ponies about the day to day activities and the usual chit-chat. While it looked like the typical day in Ponyville Market, D-Pad still looked around cautiously. “D-Pad, I think we’re all good…” Vinyl said. “I…you know…something just rubs me the wrong way…I just don’t believe this is OUR Ponyville…Tartarus…I don‘t even think this isn‘t our Equestria.” D-Pad stated. “Excuse me…do I know you?” A mare’s voice came from behind them. They all turned to a dark gray pegasus mare. She had silver eyes and short black hair, although it was a little sparse on top. She had a blacksmiths anvil as her cutie mark. D-Pad shook his head and blinked a few times. “…Uh…I…I don’t think so…” D-Pad stated, continuing to blink. “You sure? I swear you look just like my daughter…” The mare said as she rubbed her chin. “Uh…no…My name is D-Pad…” D-Pad stated as he held out his hoof in greeting. “Oh well hello, my name is Anvil. If you see my daughter around here with her coltfriend, please tell her to not forget that we are going out for her fathers birthday next week.” She replied as she shook his hoof. “We’ll get the message to her.” D-Pad responded as he smiled. “Thank you kindly.” She said as she walked away. “What the buck…” D-Pad gasped as he watched Anvil walk away. “D-Pad? Did…Didn’t she look a lot like your dad?” Octavia spoke up. “…She looked exactly like my dad…” D-pad said, as he pulled out a picture of his adopted family. He focused on his father, A dark gray pegasus stallion with a black comb over mane. “Bloody Tatarus…” Lance gasped. “It…It can’t be possible…it…it must be coincidence!” Octavia reasoned. “…My mothers birthday is next week…” D-Pad added. The group of ponies went silent. “You mean…” Lance started as he turned to a mare. “Excuse me, but who is the ruler of Equestria?” “Uh…Prince Solaris and Prince Artemis…Have you been living under a rock?” The mare replied. Lance’s jaw dropped along with the rest of the group. “…Mother of Celestia…” D-Pad gasped. The mare eyed them suspiciously before walking away. “Okay…we are definitely not in our Equestria.” Vinyl said as she looked around. “It…it just can’t…this can’t be happening…” Octavia stated as she shook her head in disbelief. “Okay…now we really need to find the element and leave…” Lance stated as he began scanning around the market. “Okay…but how? We don’t have any leads or anything.” D-Pad asked. “We got one now.” Lance responded as he pointed at a news stand. D-Pad raised an eyebrow as he walked to the news stand. He looked at the headlines of a nearby newspaper. “Strange Comet Lights Up Sky Over Ponyville.” D-Pad read aloud. “Well, that answers that. Looks like it landed a couple kilometers north of Ponyville. Let’s get going!” The other ponies nodded as they all took off to the north. “So…are we somewhere…were the mares are stallion, and vice versa?” Octavia asked. “Looks about like that, and it’s all the more reason to get the element and leave.” Lance replied as he took the lead. They walked for a while, accepting greetings from passerby. As they left Ponyville, D-Pad caught a glimpse of what looked to be his older brother Quicksilver, which was now his older sister. The dark red Pegasus mare with no mane stopped and looked at him in confusion. “…Do I know you?” The mare asked. “Nope, can’t say I have, pardon me, I’m busy!” D-Pad said as fast as he could as he passed by. The ponies rushed away from the mare. “This is just getting weirder and weirder.” D-Pad sighed as he rubbed his temples. “Just keep moving.” Lance said as he took the lead again. They continued to walk northward. As a half an hour passed they saw what seemed to be a crater about the size of a house in the ground. The ground around the crater was blackened, dirt flung around from the impact. “I think we found it. Lets just get it and go.” Lance spoke. D-Pad nodded as he climbed into the crater. As he carefully stepped around smoldering embers, he noticed a small clump in the center of the crater. He walked over and brushed off the clump. In the clump was a shimmer of orange as D-Pad pulled out a gold necklace with an apple shaped orange gem. “I found it! I found the Element of Honesty, guys!” D-Pad exclaimed jovially. There was silence from outside of the crater. “Didn’t they hear me?” He asked himself. “HEY! I FOUND THE ELEMENT OF HONESTY!!” He shouted. …Silence… D-Pad looked up in concern. He flew upwards, element in hoof, to see his friends staring. “Guys…I found the…hey! Guys?” They all ignored him as the seemed to be staring past him, jaws agape. He looked at them for a minute, then followed their gaze. It was then D-Pad’s jaw dropped. D-Pad couldn’t believe his eyes. There, standing a few meters away from him, was two mares, and two stallions. One mare was a yellow bat-winged Pegasus with a shoulder length mane and bushy tail. She had green eyes and a game controller as her cutie mark. Then stood the mare next to her, a gray bat-winged pegasi mare with short hair and a red lance as a cutie mark. “…L…Lance? A…are…you seeing what I’m…seeing?” D-Pad spoke in astonishment. Lance slowly nodded, as D-Pad looked at the stallions. One was a gray earth pony with a pompadour-ish mane, purple eyes, a purple tie, and a purple treble clef as a cutie mark. The other was a white unicorn with red eyes under his DJ glasses, Blue spiky hair combed to one side, and a black bridged eighth note as a cutie mark. “…Well…uhm…this is…awkward.” The gray stallion spoke up. “…Yes…Quite…awkward…” Octavia commented. The stallions ears perked up. “Hehe…you sound like me…well, granted you look like me…with the exception that you are a mare, but still…Oh excuse me…I’m Melodicai…” The gray stallion greeted them. “Octavia…and this is Vinyl Scratch.” Octavia said as she pointed to Vinyl. “Sup.” Vinyl responded with her usual greeting. “Yo. Name’s Record Skip. Or DJ ST4LL10N if you want.” The white unicorn stallion said as he took of his glasses. “This…this is just…I don’t…I cant even…” Lance tried to find the word to explain what he was seeing. “..How…How in Tartarus did you blokes even get here?” The gray bat-winged mare spoke up. “Oh thank the maker…your…your me right? Name’s Lance.” Lance said as he put out a hoof in greeting. “Lancet.” She stated as she shook his hoof. D-Pad and the yellow bat-winged pegasus mare examined each other. They circled around each other as they examined each others bodies. “Wow…this is really…just wow.” D-Pad chucked. “This is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. Hi there. My name is Joystick.” The yellow bat-winged mare greeted D-Pad as she smiled and outstretched a hoof. “Mine is D-Pad. Nice to meet you.” D-Pad said as he shook the mares hoof. The ponies began talking to their counterparts. They talked for what seemed to be an hour “I thinks its funny. Here I am…talking to a mare version of me.” D-Pad chuckled. “Well, the same could be said for me.” Joystick giggled. “Well, we do have to get going…but…I have one more question…”D-Pad stated. “Well, ask away.” Joystick responded. D-Pad got close. “…How…can you tell when your mate wants to…you know what?” He whispered. Joystick giggled and blushed. “…If Octavia is anything like Melodicai…she puts her hoof on your flank and gives you the “look".” She whispered back. D-Pad blushed. “Well…good to know…” “Come on D-Pad! We’ve stuck around long enough!” Lance shouted as he was heading out. “Right…Well, it’s been…well, one heck of an interesting talk.” He chuckled. “As it has been for me…I hope we meet again.” Joystick said as she walked back to her friends. “…Oh! Your family is going out for your fathers birthday next week!” D-Pad shouted to her. “Thanks for that!” She yelled back. D-Pad smiled as he walked forward with his friends. “Well, that was nice.” Octavia commented. “And that looks like our exit.” Lance stated as he pointed toward the forest they came from The others looked forward. They could just make out a column of red light peaking over the tops of the trees. They nodded. D-Pad picked up Octavia as Lance picked up Vinyl. They flew over to the light. As they got close, the rift opened up for them to fly through. Lance and D-Pad closed their eyes and flew right into the rift opening. And like that, the four ponies and the rift were gone.
Chapter 1: Hoofston, We have a Problem.“Good morning, dear.” D-Pad awoke to the sight of Octavia laying in bed with him. “Good morning, my love.” He cooed as he kissed her. He pulled off the covers. There in the morning rays, he looked over his love. A gray earth pony with a purple treble clef cutie mark. That gorgeous dark gray flowing mane and tail and those enchanting purple eyes. He wanted to lay in bed with her forever. But he knew he had work to do. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of thumping dubstep music coming from downstairs. “Vinyl’s cleaning dishes again, I hear.” Octavia chuckled. “I suppose I should get ready.” He chuckled with her. He walked over to a mirror. He looked himself over. A yellow, bat-winged pegasus. A brown, untidy mane and tail with eyes as green as emeralds. They weren’t slits like other bat-winged pegasi, although to him, that didn’t matter at all. He looked at his flank and saw his video game controller cutie mark. “You look handsome, dear.” Octavia complemented him. D-Pad blushed. “Thanks…you don‘t look to bad yourself…” Octavia giggled as she got off the bed. She walked over to him and kissed him full on the mouth. “Have a good day.” She spoke as she broke the kiss, smiling. D-Pad walked downstairs, the thumping from the wubs getting louder. “OH YEAH! THIS IS MY JAM!!” Vinyl shouted over the blaring dubstep, bobbing her head to it. D-Pad watched as the white mare with blue hair, red eyes, and a bridged eight note cutie mark started dancing wildly. “GOOD MORNING VINYL!!” D-Pad shouted over the wubbery. “YO! YOU GETTING READY FOR WORK!?” She shouted back. “YEAH! DO YOU KNOW WHERE MY STUFF IS?!” He shouted in question. “BY THE DOOR!!” She shouted in reply. D-Pad walked over to the door. Beside it was a sandwich board with the words “Pegasi for hire” on it. He then picked up a bell beside it. There was a knock at the door, to which D-Pad opened it. “GOOD MORNING LANCE!!” “Augh!” Lance shouted in surprise. The gray bat-winged stallion with a black crew-cut mane, gold slit eyes, and a red lance as his cutie mark raised an eyebrow at him. “What are ya tryin to do, make me go deaf?!” “Sorry, Vinyl’s cleaning dishes again.” He embarrassedly stated, rubbing the back of his head. Lance laughed. “I’m just bucking with you, I could hear the music a couple blocks away.” “Well, wubs ARE the best way to clean dishes…anyway, you ready to go?” D-Pad asked. “Yep. Lets get going! We got ponies to help!” Lance exclaimed with determination. The two jetted of into the sky. “PEGASI FOR HIRE!!” Lance shouted. The two stallions sat in the middle of the Ponyville marketplace, ringing their bells and shouting to potential clients. The market was buzzing with activity. The sound of bits falling to countertops and ponies talking about their days and whatnot filled the market. PEGASI FOR HIRE!!” D-Pad shouted. “So D-Pad…you finally finished moving in with Octavia?” Lance inquired as he rung his bell. “Yep. Moved into the basement, but that don’t mean I’ve been using the bed down there.” D-Pad replied with a smirk. “Hah! With the way you and Octavia are, I’m not surprised.” Lance laughed. “I told you, I love that mare with all of my heart.” D-Pad chuckled. “So…have you two lovebirds tried to copulate yet?” Lance asked, nudging D-Pad. D-Pad looked at Lance in shock. “Dude! We’re really gonna talk about this!? In the middle of the market!?” D-Pad replied, wide-eyed. “Yep. So didja?” Lance asked again. D-Pad sighed. “No, we have not “Done it” yet.” “But you two have been together for what, eight months?” Lance commented. “Just because we have been together for quite a while doesn’t mean we have to mate.” D-Pad grumbled. “I just thought you’d be the kinda stallion that goes deep into her flower as soon as possible.” Lance chuckles. “DUDE!” D-Pad shouted. “I’m bucking with you, ya dunce.” Lance laughed. “It’s still embarrassing…why do you do that?” D-Pad asked, his cheeks reddening. “Well…I’m kinda jealous…” Lance admitted. “You did tell me you were interested in Vinyl right? Go ask her on a date.” D-Pad stated. “But what if she says no?” Lance asked apprehensively. “You’ll never know if you don’t try.” D-Pad replied. “I’m just worried…I’ve never had a girlfriend before.” Lance sighed. “You’ll do fine…” He reassured Lance. “Excuse me?” The two turned to a white unicorn mare. She had a long blonde mane and bright blue eyes. She had a purple star as her cutie mark. “Are you the pegasi for hire I’ve heard about?” She asked with a cocked head. “Yes ma’am.” D-Pad replied cheerfully. “My name is D-Pad, and this is Lance.” Lance gave a friendly wave. “Great! My name is Starlight. I need some help delivering a package.” She said with a chipper tone. She gave them a large box. “Hey, uh…not for nothing, I mean we need the work…but isn’t this more of a job for a mail pony? I know there’s a post office down the street.” Lance commented. “I know, but he works at the post office, and it’s a super secret present. I just don’t want to risk it.” She explained. She pulled out a sack full of bits. “Please, I’ll pay you double.” “That won’t be necessary.” D-Pad chuckled. “We’ll take it to your friend for 10 bits.” “Thank you so much!” She exclaimed happily. She gave them 10 bits. “He lives next to Sugarcube Corner. A bright red cottage, you can’t miss it.” “What’s in the box, if I may ask?” Lance inquired to Starlight. “It’s a secret.” She giggled and winked at him. “Thanks again!” She trotted off. D-Pad was about to place his bits into his jar when her realized it wasn’t there. “Buck…I knew I forgot something. I forgot our bits jar.” He grumbled, face hoofing himself. “Hey, no worries…Octavia’s house is on the way to Sugarcube Corner. We’ll just stop and grab the jar, then just head to the friends house.” Lance reassured D-Pad. D-Pad nodded and the two walked down the street. D-Pad waved and nodded hello, stopping once to say hello to a pony selling pears and buying a pear for both him and Lance. Lance thanked D-Pad and happily bit into his pear. “I’ll save mine for later.” D-Pad said as they continued on. “So…how are you and Octavia doing?” Lance asked. “Great.” D-Pad replied. “I mean we have our ups and downs…we had another fight a few weeks ago, but we both apologized and made up.” “What was it this time?” Lance inqured. “Nothing big, it was just…” “It was about her father again wasn’t it?” D-Pad sighed. It had been four months since he had killed Octavia’s father after her father had become…something unholy born from genetic splicing. D-Pad remembered having to go tell Octavia’s mother about it, to which she cried a river of tears in front of him. Octavia never really healed after the incident. She still had trouble coping with the fact that he was cloning ponies and performing evil, ungodly experiments on them, just so he could try to become stronger than Celestia herself. “…Yeah…” D-Pad said in a depressed tone. “Hey…it’s all over with…what’s done is done…we can’t change it.” Lance reassured him. “It still hurts…I sometimes sit up nights with Octavia as she cries into my shoulder.” D-Pad sighs. Lance patted his back. “D-Pad, you ain’t a Time-lord or whatever they call it now, so you ain‘t gonna be able to solve this problem. You blokes need to move on. All dwelling in the past will do is make you both feel miserable.” D-Pad sighed. They walked up to a small, two-story white house. It had new window shutters and some new shingles that were put on by D-Pad and Lance. They could hear dubstep being played inside. “Home sweet home…” D-Pad chuckled. They walked in. “D-Pad?! What are you doing home so early?” Octavia asked, looking concerned. “Nothing big, just forgot to grab our bits jar.” D-Pad replied, grabbing the jar. The dubstep ended as Vinyl walked over to them. “Sup D-Pad. What’s in the box?” Vinyl asked. “I don’t know. The mare that gave us this said it was a secret present for someone.” D-Pad responded. “Aww, that is so sweet.” Octavia cooed. “Well, the real mystery is why it’s so light. I kinda want to see what’s in it.” Lance commented. “Well, you have to curb your curiosity. We got to get it to the red cottage near Sugarcube Corner.” D-Pad stated. “You mean that abandoned cottage?” Vinyl asked. “…What?” Both D-Pad and Lance inquired in unison. “Yeah.” Vinyl responded. “That place has been abandoned for a few months. I think the place used to be a holding place for some illegal goods. Nowadays, nopony goes near it.” “…I think we better take a look in that box…” Lance stated as he started to open the box. D-Pad tried to stop him, but Lance had already opened the box. The four looked inside. There was a cloth placed over a large bump in the box. D-Pad pulled off the cloth, revealing the Elements of Harmony, which had been wrapped together in plastic wrap. “Oh my Celestia!!” Octavia shouted. “Dude…” Vinyl gasped. “Nope! Nope! Nope!!” D-Pad exclaimed. Lance just sat there, his mouth agape. The other ponies continued to stammer in disbelief. “What do we do?!” Octavia shouted. “Everypony calm down.” Lance stated calmly. “We didn’t know what was in the box, so they can't blame us for stealing them, if they were.” “Yeah! They……they were most likely…lost and she wanted to bring them back herself…yeah that’s it…” Octavia reasoned, which sounded more like she was trying to convince herself. The elements began to glow and vibrate. They then shot upward, tearing through the roof of Octavia and Vinyl’s house. They began spinning around in a large circle as a white light began forming in the center of the elements. “Hoofston…we have a problem.” Lance gasped as he pointed upward. “OPEN THIS DOOR!” A stern voice shouted from behind the door as it was beng bashed upon. “Nopony’s home!!” Lance shouted back. The white light sucked in the Elements of Harmony before jettisoning downwards towards the house. “This is the royal guard!! I said open this door!!” The stern voice shouted again. “Do you have an appointment!?” Lanced shouted back. The white light encompassed the house. Everything in the house began to levitate. D-Pad and the others floated around as they began to lose consciousness. “Octavia…No matter what happens…I will love you always…” D-Pad wearily spoke. “I…will love you always…too…” Octavia replied before passing out. As the rest of the inhabitants passed out, the house ripped from the ground and began floating upward. The house then began to spin as the light began emanating even brighter. Soon, the light emitted the same light as the very sun. And like that… …the light and the house disappeared.
Chapter 2: StarfallD-Pad awoke to find himself all alone. He was laying on a brick path that seemed to be floating on nothing. He looked off the side of the path to see nothing but the void of space. Around him, islands floated around as white, rippling lights floated freely around. Stars twinkled as he started to make his way down the path. “Hello?! Octavia?! Lance?! Vinyl?! Anypony?!” He shouted as he walked along. The path shifted as he walked. Brick by brick, the path built itself to one of the islands. D-Pad walked cautiously over to the island. On it was a black unicorn stallion with a short, white mane and blue eyes. He had a white star as a cutie mark. He was looking around at the void. “Beautiful, isn’t it…” The unicorn stated. “Uh…I suppose…uh, could you help me? I’m looking for my friends.” D-Pad inquired. The unicorn continued to look out at the void. D-Pad began waving a hoof in his face. The unicorn didn’t seem to be bothered at all by this. “Hey! Bud! Anyone there? Yoohoo! Equestria to unicorn!” D-Pad shouted “Huh? Oh, hi there…Wait…What are you even doing here?” The unicorn questioned. “The better question is, where even am I?” D-Pad inquired. “An even better question is why even are you?!” The unicorn replied with a silly look. D-Pad looked at him in question. “…Riiiiight…look I just need to find my friends.” “The earth is round, there is no up or down.” The unicorn whispered to D-Pad, then he floated upwards. D-Pad raised an eyebrow as the unicorn floated upward. “…Did you even hear me?” “Probably not.” The unicorn replied. D-Pad face hoofed himself. “I am looking for my friends.” He stated in bemusement. “Oh yeaaaaaaaah…no clue…” The unicorn replied, shrugging. D-Pad groaned as he walked away from the unicorn and began scanning the area. As he did so for a couple of minutes, The unicorn floated above his head. D-Pad grumbled as he continued to scan. “You know, you’re not going find them that way.” The unicorn commented. “And you have a better idea?” D-Pad questioned in a grumbling manner. “Yeppers! Where do you think they would be?” The unicorn asked. “…What kind of question is that? I’m literally in a place I’ve never been to before. I have no clue…” “SHSHSHSHSH…Hush my little dreamboat. The waves of knowledge are choppy, and your little brain sail can only take you so far…” The unicorn replied, putting a hoof on D-Pads mouth. D-Pad gave him a look of confusion as he slowly backed away from the unicorn. “Think, and you will find what you search.” The unicorn said as he jumped off the edge of the island. D-Pad looked down where the unicorn jumped. He saw nothing but the starry void of space. He sat down and pondered what the unicorn said. He shrugged and began to look around at the other islands. He looked at one particular island. “…There…My friends are there…” The brick path began to form in front of him. It twisted and turned in an elaborate path that stretched out to the island. He stepped onto the path and began to walk along the path. As he walked forward the bricks behind him fell and began to float around in the void. As he made his way to the other island, he could see Octavia looking around in a panic. “Octavia!” D-Pad shouted as he ran over to her. She looked to him and smiled brightly as the two embraced in a hug. “Well, that was easy enough.” Lance said from above them as he fluttered down with Vinyl. “For a while there, I thought we were never gonna find you.” “Oh hey! You found your friends!” The unicorns voice came from behind them as he walked up from the underside of the island. “Uh…who…who are…you know, never mind. Just point us the way out of this place.” Octavia stated. “Oh, you can’t go back. Your way to get back is kind of…well…” The unicorn replied, as he rubbed the back of his head. “Kinda what?” Vinyl asked. “…Kind of sealed up. See, whatever you guys did to get here pretty much closed up your portal.” He stated as he pointed upward. As they looked up, they all noticed that one of the white rippling lights was a deep purple. “What do you…okay…where in Equestria’s name are we?” D-Pad asked. “You are all in the center of all universes. The gateway to all and any realm you wish to see. You are in the hall of the Multiverse. I am Starfall, the keeper of the Multiverse.” There was silence as the ponies all stared at Starfall. “What? You’ve never seen a deity-like being? As I believe, your world is run by one, or so you ponies call her that.” Starfall commented. “Wait…how d’you know that?” Lance asked. “I spend centuries watching over all of these universes. It’s bound to happen that I look upon your universe once in a while.” Starfall stated as he levitated in a reclined position. “This…I can’t even muster the words to speak about this situation…” Octavia sighed in befuddlement. “Well, you got plenty of time. You’re stuck here until that portal to your world opens up.” Starfall stated as he floated above their heads. “And that could take how long?” Vinyl asked. “…Give or take a millennia or two…” Starfall replied, smiling nervously. All of the ponies’ jaws dropped. “WHAT?!?!” They all shouted in unison at Starfall. “You used an astronomical amount of magic to get here! It’s not my fault!” Starfall commented. “…When I get my hands on the Elements of Harmony, I’m gonna melt them down…” Lance growled. Starfall’s ears perked up. “Did you say Elements of Harmony?” “Yeah, that’s how we got here. They did this weird swirly thing then got sucked into this white light, which then sucked us all in. Then it must have brought us here.” D-Pad explained. “I see…this does change things.” He responded as he grinned. “And…you got the Elements of Harmony from a mare named Starlight, correct?” “…Yeah…how’d ya know that?” Lance asked as he raised an eyebrow. “Let’s just say we have a history…a very, veeeery long history that would bore the daylights out of you and slowly drive you mad…gloriously, gloriously mad to the point at which that might cause you all to hang yourselves and strip the flesh from your bodies. ” He replied smiling sweetly, although giving off a sadistic tone. “…Okay…” Octavia said as she and the other backed away from Starfall. “…Er…what was I saying? Eh, doesn’t matter. Anywho, I think if you got back the Elements of Harmony from this place, I should be able to open the portal and send you all home.” Starfall stated, clapping his hooves together. “Awesome. Let’s split up and look around this realm for…” Vinyl began. “Um, sorry to burst your bubble but finding them is far more complicated then that.” Starfall interrupted, to which the ponies looked at him in question. “Let me explain. What you know about these Elements of Harmony is that they are six artifacts that have properties of harmony. Pulled from the Tree of Harmony to defeat Discord, they represent six elements of friendship.” “Okay, so what’s that got to do with that?” D-Pad asked. “I’m getting there.” Starfall replied. “Brought together, they can be used bring peace and balance back to Equestria. However, there is another purpose of bringing them together. If brought together under the right conditions, they can be combined into a…well for lack of better words, a super element. This “super” element has the ability to stop evil dead in its tracks, make the weakest ponies ungodly strong, and can even make blackest hearts turn pure.” All of the ponies looked at him in skepticism. “I know, it doesn’t seem possible, but it is. Unfortunately, you got to see what happens when they are brought together under the wrong conditions.” Starfall stated. “And you would know this because?” Octavia questioned “I know a lot of things about your world, Octavia.” She looked at Starfall with surprise. “Oh yes, I know all of you. Vinyl, Lance, and D-Pad.” He continued as he pointed to them as he said their names. “I know pretty much everything. Things from what has happened, what’s happening, and what is going to happen. Trust me, I know what I’m talking about.” Starfall responded. “So…where are the elements?” Vinyl asked. “Well, what I presume happened was that Starlight was trying to make the super element, but did it under the wrong conditions. Discharges of biding magic, that white light you saw, should have bound them together. But without the right spell, it could not bind them correctly, hence turning the white light into a dimensional rift. Now once inside the rift, I presume the elements found their way into other dimensional rifts. With that much magic coursing through them, I surmise that the dimensional rifts opened up and sucked them right in like water through a straw.” Starfall explained, to which he made a slurping noise. “Well…bollocks…So we got nowhere to start.” Lance grumbled. “Not necessarily.” Starfall stated. “All it takes is a keen eye and knowledge of the place.” With that, Starfall began to look out at the void. “Psst…D-Pad…” Vinyl whispered to D-Pad. “What?” D-Pad whispered back. “I don’t know if we can trust this stallion. He seems very…strange…smart, but strange.” Vinyl commented in a whisper. “Me either, but what other pony can we turn to? He’s the only one here.” He replied in a whisper. “FOUND ONE!!” Starfall replied in a giddy tone. “I can send you there first thing in the morning!” “First thing in the morning? Why not send us there now?” Lance questioned. “Dimensional traveling is not as simple as it seems. There’s a lot of physics and sciency stuff involved. Why just setting all of the rifts up takes hours of time. First I got to…” Starfall began. “No, no, shut it. Spare me the details, I seriously can’t stand any more of your science bullshit.” He grumbled as he rubbed his temple. “See, it’s impatience like that that led to your father leaving your mother, Lance.” Starfall commented. “DON’T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT MY FAMILY, YOU BUGGARING BASTARD!!” Lance roared. The ponies went silent. Starfall shrugged. “Whatever. I’m going to go get that rift prepared. You guys should get some rest.” With that, he flew off. Lance was still seething with anger. “Lance? Are you going to be alright?” Octavia asked, concerned. Lance took a few deep breaths. “Yeah…yeah…I’m fine…” He stated as he turned and began to walk around the island. The rest of the ponies looked concerned at him. “…Hey Lance! Wait up!” Vinyl shouted as she ran over to him. “Oh…hey Vinyl…” He said as he tried to look as calm as possible. “…What happened that you don’t wanna talk about your parents?” Vinyl asked. “Vinyl…I just…I really don’t want to talk about it.” He sighed. “But why keep it all inside until…” “STOP!! I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT, OKAY!?!?” He shouted. She looked at him in surprise. “…I…I…I’m sorry…I…I shouldn’t have yelled at you…” He apologized. “Is it really that bad?” She asked in concern. He stood there, hesitant to say a thing. After a minute, he nodded his head. “…I got ya…look, when you’re ready to talk about it, you can always come talk to me about it.” She responded, putting a hoof on his shoulder. “…You…really mean that?” He asked, to which Vinyl nodded her head. “…Vinyl? Can I tell you something?” “Sure dude. Fire away.” She stated. “Okay…I…I…I been thinking about how to go about this, and I really don’t know how to tell you. I never really had any experience in this, so the only thing I know to do is be blunt…I…I really like you…in a sense of like…like I feel like my whole world feels complete with you…like I want to be around you…like…like you are the most beautiful mare that I have ever seen…” Lance stated as he looked deep into Vinyl’s eyes. Vinyl’s cheeks turned a bright red as she looked back at Lance. “…y…you…really think that?” She asked. “I know it sound’s weird being so blunt, but I really don’t know any good sappy shit to tell you, so I just said what I thought. Vinyl…when this is over…do…do you want to go on a date?” He asked. She blushed even brighter. “…Uh…s…sure…I..I would like that.” She replied. She then walked back to D-Pad and Octavia. “Wow…I’ve never seen that look on your face.” Octavia giggled. “Huh? Oh…right…yeah…” Vinyl responded, though she seemed a little out of it. “What’s up? You’ve never been asked out on a date before?” D-Pad chuckled. “Oh Tartarus, when I work at the nightclubs I get asked all to go out on a date. Sleazy and drunk is not the best way to approach a mare, let me tell you. But Lance…he…he seems so…different from the rest…he looks so innocent…and…y’know it’s kinda nice not being asked out and the stallion isn’t slurring his words.” She stated. Octavia yawned as she put a hoof to her mouth. “Goodness. I didn’t think I was that tired.” She spoke as she yawned again. “Yeah, we should really catch a few winks before we go out on another wild adventure.” D-Pad joked. The mares laughed as Lance walked back over to them. “Well, at least this time let’s try not to put me in a cast.” They all laughed heartily as they all bedded down for the night.
Chapter 3: This isn't our Equestria“WAKEY WAKEY, FOUR LEGGED FANCIES!!” Starfall shouted. The ponies grumbled as they woke up. “Shut your face, you buggaring idiot…” Lance growled. “Well, you want to leave as soon as possible right? All I’m doing is just speeding you along.” Starfall said as he brought out a pot and a wooden spoon. “Don’t make me have to use Bangy and his pot friend Clangy!” “Please don’t…” Octavia yawned as she stood up. “I will punch you if you do…” Vinyl growled. Lance chuckled at Vinyl’s statement as he stood up. D-Pad stood up and stretched outward, hearing a satisfying crack in his back. “Mmph…okay…you woke us up. So, where is that rift?” D-Pad asked. “Right over her, sugarlumps.” He replied with a silly look. “…Never say that to me again…” D-Pad stated in bemusement. “Hey I’m just saying what I’ve heard. I’m mean that’s what Octavia called you last night in her sleep.” He commented as Octavia turned a bright red. D-Pad blushed as he looked at Octavia, giving her a smirk. Starfall beckoned them to follow him on another winding brick path. As they walked along, they could see that the brick path led to a bright red column of light that seemed to warp and distort. They soon came face to face with the column of light. “We’re here.” Starfall said. “Great! Let’s get in there and…” D-Pad began. “Hold it right there, Eager McBeaver.” Starfall interrupted sternly as he stepped in front of the portal. “We have ground rules to lay down.” The ponies nodded at Starfall. “First off, DO NOT do anything to mess with the system. I don’t care what’s going on. You’re here to get the Element of Harmony and THAT’S…IT…” He growled. The ponies nodded in understanding. “Secondly, DO NOT bring anything from that world with you. I cannot tell you how many civilizations have gone down the tubes because of some dimensional traveler being greedy…” He began to mumble. “…Steal a Dwemer artifact, will you? well lets see what happens when I cave your skull in with my Ebony mace, you blathering…” “Uh…Starfall…” Octavia spoke up. “LASTLY!!” He shouted, which made the ponies jump. “I don’t care how wonderful things may be there, or how much you want to help them. YOU. DO. NOT. BELONG. THERE. The longer you stay there, the more you’ll WANT to stay there. It’s like an auto correct for the universes. The universe is going to try to integrate you with itself and make you part of that universe, so I stress this. Get the element and get out as soon as you can.” Lance raised a hoof. “What?” Starfall asked. “Will we be able to talk to ponies in the other realm?” Lance responded “I do not see harm in it. The more information the better. Just remember that you aren’t there to solve problems. Find Element. Get Element. Leave. The rift will be open until you come back. To others, it will look like some normal everyday object, but to you it will be a red pillar of light.” Starfall replied. “Understood. Is Everypony ready?” D-Pad asked the others. “Yup!” Vinyl replied as she put on her glasses. “Ready when you are.” Octavia said as she smiled. “As I’ll ever be.” Lance stated as he flapped his wings. “Once you get in there, you’re on your own. Look for anything that pertains to a Element of Harmony. That’s the best I can tell you. Oh…and brace yourself…first time dimensional traveling is always the worst.” He said as he rubbed the back of his head. D-Pad nodded and took a deep breath as he stepped into the rift. As he hurled through the Space time continuum, he gasped and yelped in agony as his body contorted and stretched in ways he didn’t even think were possible. He swore as he tried his best to soldier on through the pain as he watched his body warp. The pain slowly overtook his as he drifted into unconsciousness. D-Pad opened his eyes and blinked a few times. He was looking up at a bright blue sky. He rubbed his face with his hooves as he stood up. All of his friends were sprawled out near him. “I guess it was too much for all of us…” D-Pad said to himself. He looked around at the surroundings. Strangely enough, it looked like Equestria. In fact, it looked EXACTLY like Equestria. There was the same lush, green, grass. The same fresh air. The same tweeting birds. Everything seemed the same. D-Pad heard his friends moan as they started to wake up. “Eveypony…I think were back in Equestria…” D-Pad gasped. With that comment, everypony snapped awake, stood up, and began to look around at the area. “Struth…Ha! Well how about that!” Lance chuckled. “…It…does seem that way…” Octavia commented. “Wait a second, everypony. Something seems off about this place.” D-Pad said as he continued to look around. “Come on, D-Pad. It looks just like Equestria.” Vinyl commented. “I know, but something about this place rubs me the wrong way.” D-Pad stated. “Look, if it is Equestria, why don’t we head to Ponyville? At least then we can get our bearings.” Lance suggested. “That sounds reasonable.” D-Pad responded. “But it’s still strange that we’re back in Ponyville…I thought he said our rift was sealed…” “He did say that…” Octavia agreed. “…Then perhaps we should tread lightly…” Lance stated. The ponies nodded as they began to make their way out of the forest. After a while, they made it to the edge of the forest. With Ponyville in sight, the group continued their trek to the town. “Looks like a normal day in Ponyville.” Octavia commented as the walked into town. Indeed it was. The town of Ponyville was bustling with activity. Ponies were buying and selling their wares in the market. There was much chattering between ponies about the day to day activities and the usual chit-chat. While it looked like the typical day in Ponyville Market, D-Pad still looked around cautiously. “D-Pad, I think we’re all good…” Vinyl said. “I…you know…something just rubs me the wrong way…I just don’t believe this is OUR Ponyville…Tartarus…I don‘t even think this isn‘t our Equestria.” D-Pad stated. “Excuse me…do I know you?” A mare’s voice came from behind them. They all turned to a dark gray pegasus mare. She had silver eyes and short black hair, although it was a little sparse on top. She had a blacksmiths anvil as her cutie mark. D-Pad shook his head and blinked a few times. “…Uh…I…I don’t think so…” D-Pad stated, continuing to blink. “You sure? I swear you look just like my daughter…” The mare said as she rubbed her chin. “Uh…no…My name is D-Pad…” D-Pad stated as he held out his hoof in greeting. “Oh well hello, my name is Anvil. If you see my daughter around here with her coltfriend, please tell her to not forget that we are going out for her fathers birthday next week.” She replied as she shook his hoof. “We’ll get the message to her.” D-Pad responded as he smiled. “Thank you kindly.” She said as she walked away. “What the buck…” D-Pad gasped as he watched Anvil walk away. “D-Pad? Did…Didn’t she look a lot like your dad?” Octavia spoke up. “…She looked exactly like my dad…” D-pad said, as he pulled out a picture of his adopted family. He focused on his father, A dark gray pegasus stallion with a black comb over mane. “Bloody Tatarus…” Lance gasped. “It…It can’t be possible…it…it must be coincidence!” Octavia reasoned. “…My mothers birthday is next week…” D-Pad added. The group of ponies went silent. “You mean…” Lance started as he turned to a mare. “Excuse me, but who is the ruler of Equestria?” “Uh…Prince Solaris and Prince Artemis…Have you been living under a rock?” The mare replied. Lance’s jaw dropped along with the rest of the group. “…Mother of Celestia…” D-Pad gasped. The mare eyed them suspiciously before walking away. “Okay…we are definitely not in our Equestria.” Vinyl said as she looked around. “It…it just can’t…this can’t be happening…” Octavia stated as she shook her head in disbelief. “Okay…now we really need to find the element and leave…” Lance stated as he began scanning around the market. “Okay…but how? We don’t have any leads or anything.” D-Pad asked. “We got one now.” Lance responded as he pointed at a news stand. D-Pad raised an eyebrow as he walked to the news stand. He looked at the headlines of a nearby newspaper. “Strange Comet Lights Up Sky Over Ponyville.” D-Pad read aloud. “Well, that answers that. Looks like it landed a couple kilometers north of Ponyville. Let’s get going!” The other ponies nodded as they all took off to the north. “So…are we somewhere…were the mares are stallion, and vice versa?” Octavia asked. “Looks about like that, and it’s all the more reason to get the element and leave.” Lance replied as he took the lead. They walked for a while, accepting greetings from passerby. As they left Ponyville, D-Pad caught a glimpse of what looked to be his older brother Quicksilver, which was now his older sister. The dark red Pegasus mare with no mane stopped and looked at him in confusion. “…Do I know you?” The mare asked. “Nope, can’t say I have, pardon me, I’m busy!” D-Pad said as fast as he could as he passed by. The ponies rushed away from the mare. “This is just getting weirder and weirder.” D-Pad sighed as he rubbed his temples. “Just keep moving.” Lance said as he took the lead again. They continued to walk northward. As a half an hour passed they saw what seemed to be a crater about the size of a house in the ground. The ground around the crater was blackened, dirt flung around from the impact. “I think we found it. Lets just get it and go.” Lance spoke. D-Pad nodded as he climbed into the crater. As he carefully stepped around smoldering embers, he noticed a small clump in the center of the crater. He walked over and brushed off the clump. In the clump was a shimmer of orange as D-Pad pulled out a gold necklace with an apple shaped orange gem. “I found it! I found the Element of Honesty, guys!” D-Pad exclaimed jovially. There was silence from outside of the crater. “Didn’t they hear me?” He asked himself. “HEY! I FOUND THE ELEMENT OF HONESTY!!” He shouted. …Silence… D-Pad looked up in concern. He flew upwards, element in hoof, to see his friends staring. “Guys…I found the…hey! Guys?” They all ignored him as the seemed to be staring past him, jaws agape. He looked at them for a minute, then followed their gaze. It was then D-Pad’s jaw dropped. D-Pad couldn’t believe his eyes. There, standing a few meters away from him, was two mares, and two stallions. One mare was a yellow bat-winged Pegasus with a shoulder length mane and bushy tail. She had green eyes and a game controller as her cutie mark. Then stood the mare next to her, a gray bat-winged pegasi mare with short hair and a red lance as a cutie mark. “…L…Lance? A…are…you seeing what I’m…seeing?” D-Pad spoke in astonishment. Lance slowly nodded, as D-Pad looked at the stallions. One was a gray earth pony with a pompadour-ish mane, purple eyes, a purple tie, and a purple treble clef as a cutie mark. The other was a white unicorn with red eyes under his DJ glasses, Blue spiky hair combed to one side, and a black bridged eighth note as a cutie mark. “…Well…uhm…this is…awkward.” The gray stallion spoke up. “…Yes…Quite…awkward…” Octavia commented. The stallions ears perked up. “Hehe…you sound like me…well, granted you look like me…with the exception that you are a mare, but still…Oh excuse me…I’m Melodicai…” The gray stallion greeted them. “Octavia…and this is Vinyl Scratch.” Octavia said as she pointed to Vinyl. “Sup.” Vinyl responded with her usual greeting. “Yo. Name’s Record Skip. Or DJ ST4LL10N if you want.” The white unicorn stallion said as he took of his glasses. “This…this is just…I don’t…I cant even…” Lance tried to find the word to explain what he was seeing. “..How…How in Tartarus did you blokes even get here?” The gray bat-winged mare spoke up. “Oh thank the maker…your…your me right? Name’s Lance.” Lance said as he put out a hoof in greeting. “Lancet.” She stated as she shook his hoof. D-Pad and the yellow bat-winged pegasus mare examined each other. They circled around each other as they examined each others bodies. “Wow…this is really…just wow.” D-Pad chucked. “This is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. Hi there. My name is Joystick.” The yellow bat-winged mare greeted D-Pad as she smiled and outstretched a hoof. “Mine is D-Pad. Nice to meet you.” D-Pad said as he shook the mares hoof. The ponies began talking to their counterparts. They talked for what seemed to be an hour “I thinks its funny. Here I am…talking to a mare version of me.” D-Pad chuckled. “Well, the same could be said for me.” Joystick giggled. “Well, we do have to get going…but…I have one more question…”D-Pad stated. “Well, ask away.” Joystick responded. D-Pad got close. “…How…can you tell when your mate wants to…you know what?” He whispered. Joystick giggled and blushed. “…If Octavia is anything like Melodicai…she puts her hoof on your flank and gives you the “look".” She whispered back. D-Pad blushed. “Well…good to know…” “Come on D-Pad! We’ve stuck around long enough!” Lance shouted as he was heading out. “Right…Well, it’s been…well, one heck of an interesting talk.” He chuckled. “As it has been for me…I hope we meet again.” Joystick said as she walked back to her friends. “…Oh! Your family is going out for your fathers birthday next week!” D-Pad shouted to her. “Thanks for that!” She yelled back. D-Pad smiled as he walked forward with his friends. “Well, that was nice.” Octavia commented. “And that looks like our exit.” Lance stated as he pointed toward the forest they came from The others looked forward. They could just make out a column of red light peaking over the tops of the trees. They nodded. D-Pad picked up Octavia as Lance picked up Vinyl. They flew over to the light. As they got close, the rift opened up for them to fly through. Lance and D-Pad closed their eyes and flew right into the rift opening. And like that, the four ponies and the rift were gone.
