The Life Of D-Pad: Brave New Worlds

“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.