Prologue: In Search of Fred
My dad was looking for his uncle, see, who he’d had to leave years ago to take care of an experiment of his in another world -- the one we ended up going to, by the way! My dad was accepta-- okay with it at first, because he had to take care of me, but once I grew up, he started becoming obsessed with finding Fred.
Getting obsessed means that you focus on something, so much that you-- You get it? Okay.
Anyway, I was 28 when I found him in his study, in the middle of an experiment…
“Dad?” I called out, my breathing quickening at the sight of the sparking gateway. I saw a faint silhouette in front of the machine. “Dad!” He threw a lever on the side of the machine side, and nothing happens at first.
My father had been working on a secret experiment, and it’d never worked before, or at least never enough that I noticed. Apparently, that time, it did. Suddenly, after a moment of quiet, the circular gateway sparked into life, a swirling blue vortex crackling as it illuminated the dark laboratory and my father. The sparks faded, leaving nothing but the vortex itself. I heard my dad whisper something, and then say louder, “I’m coming, Uncle Fred.” He sounded like he was nervous, but excited all the same.
My eyes widened. He was still looking for his uncle! After all of these years… He was wearing an adventure suit like the one from so many years ago. I ran to a locker on the side, knowing it was where he kept his old one, which as we had discovered to my delight, fits me well. I tore open the metal door -- thankfully, it wasn’t locked -- grabbed the suit, then stepped into it. I fumbled with the latches for a moment before finally getting them closed. My dad was a step away from the portal by then, but suddenly he paused. He took a deep breath, then briskly stepped through, the portal deforming around him before snapping back to its original shape.
I’d barely gotten the boots on when the portal starts to collapse, and I hope against hope that it hasn’t torn my father to pieces. There was no doubt in my mind: I was going after my Dad. I dashed towards the gate as it let out a shower of sparks and jumped through the portal moments before it closed. I found myself landing right next to my dad in some kind of throne room with a bunch of small, horse-like creatures staring at us.
The first thought that passed through my mind was, Why are they pointing spears at us?
Naturally, I don’t regret jumping through that portal, even today. What kid in their right mind would argue against doing something, anything, to break out of the boring routine of life?
What do you mean, you don’t believe this happened?
Yes, this is real! I know, I can barely believe it myself. One of these days, we need to get Gramps to tell you his story. It’s just as cool. He ended up going to the right place, by the way -- you’ll see, just be patient! Sheesh.
Chapter 1: What's With the Spears?
I shook my head, my vision clearing. I turned my head to see my Dad, his expression just as confused as mine. I blinked, and turned back to the several horse creatures closing in with their sharp spears raised at us. Their coats were all the same color, a pristine white, while the golden armor they wore was just as untouched. They looked like guards, but their armor had never seen combat, or had been expertly repaired.
I lifted my hand, glancing down at the fingertipless metal glove on my right hand, making sure the three line segments in a circle were lit. For a moment, I considered trying to use the suit, but I had no idea how to even activate it, so I just sat there, eyeing the --
Ponies? Yes, I think that’s what they were called.
Eyeing the ponies. I began to lift myself up off the ground, slowly getting to my feet. A few of the guards nudged their spears forward a little bit, trying to frighten me. I know I probably should’ve been scared, but when I stood at my full five feet, six inches, I was about a foot taller than them. Plus, despite their armor and weapons, they almost looked kind of cute, in a kill you to death kind of way.
My dad scrambled to stand as well, backing up to where I was. We were both backpedaling slowly, the ponies still encroaching upon us.
“It’s gonna be fine, Sammy … Just, uh … Don’t panic. Whatever you do, don’t panic …” my Dad whispered, trying to search for a solution to the situation. I almost rolled my eyes at him. A long time ago, he had told me a story about his adventures as a kid, and all of the dangerous things he had encountered.
Fluffy marshmallow horses hardly seemed to compare. Still, the spears they held got their point across, and neither of us moved a muscle once we hit the wall behind us. My dad laughed quietly, once, probably remembering something like it in his past. He loves -- loved -- seeing that kind of connection to his past adventures.
“Halt!” a voice called out, the spears only inches away from us now. Instantly, the ponies retracted the weapons, holding them upwards, and backing off. I could hear the sound of foot -- err, hoofsteps coming closer and closer to us. I was a tiny bit worried at first, but soon, I managed to catch a glimpse at our savior.
She was tall and lean, much bigger than the rest of the ponies, and resembled a horse more so in that respect. Her tail and mane swirled and pulsated so her ethereal, rainbow hair was constantly in motion. Well, not quite rainbow, because it was only four colors.
Anyway, as soon as she spoke, the guards stood down and took a few steps back. They parted to let her through, and I found myself looking up into a kind face. Her features were soft, her eyes were filled with compassion, and a warm smile graced her face. She was quite beautiful.
That smile never left her face as she looked at me, then at Dad, before speaking in her comforting voice. “There is no cause for alarm. They will not harm you,” she said, a wing extending from her back to gesture at the guards. “Now, what is your name?” she asked my father.
My father smiled nervously. “I’m.. I’m John. This,” he said, gesturing to me, “is my daughter, Samantha.”
I cut in. “I’d rather be called ‘Sam’.”
The tall pony -- who, I noticed, had a horn as well as wings -- smiled. “My name is Princess Celestia. I’m the ruler here, alongside my sister Luna.” She frowned at her guards, who wilted slightly at displeasing their princess. “Please forgive my guards as well. Recently, we’ve had a spate of various… villains, I suppose would be the best word. They’re all on edge.”
My father nodded and said, “It’s fine.” He smiled slightly, relaxing. “I’d be pretty worried if two random people fell out of nowhere into your-- Well, I’m assuming it’s a throne room.”
Celestia nodded. “Tell me,” she began, her voice suddenly earnest, “what are you wearing?”
My father blinked in surprise, then raised a hand and looked at the back of it. I noticed that it had six sections instead of three, like mine. The circle in the middle glowed a bright white, and he grabbed my hand. He grinned outright. “An adventure suit.” Suddenly, we were flying through the air. My father reach out with his other hand -- which also had six segments on it -- and activated the grapple beam, yanking us towards the landing of the stairs above us. I held on for dear life.
Celestia was too startled to do anything, so by the time we had landed safely, she was just starting to turn around. My dad shouted down at her, “Isn’t it awesome? My daughter’s wearing the older model.” He started to walk down the stairs and I hesitantly followed. “I made a few upgrades to mine make it easier to use and more versatile. And to make it fit me, of course.” He chuckled. Celestia just watched, smiling, as we made our way to the ground again. The guards formed a circle around us again, but their demeanor was gentler, and they had their spears pointed upwards instead of towards us.
Celestia walked calmly between the rows of ponies, that gentle smile of her never seeming to leave her face. It was starting to get somewhat worrying. My dad had taught me to never judge a book by its cover, but there was something about this one… I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but it was like just being around her gave you that warm fuzzy feeling. That really worried me.
“That was certainly quite… interesting. “ she said, trying to search for another more adequate word. She gestured for the guards to return to their ready positions, the crowd dispersing. “I’d like to speak with you two in private,” she said, her smile dropping. “We have much to discuss.” She walked out of the door, clearly expecting us to follow.
I gulped and exchanged a glance with my dad, whose face looked as nervous as I felt. Together, we followed Celestia, four guards following us with spears at the ready.
Chapter 2: A Chat in the Garden
We followed her through a large set of double doors that seemed to open themselves, a faint yellow aura surrounding them as they did. We walked through them.
Within a few moments of walking down the expansive hallways, filled with elegant tapestries and masterfully carved stained glass windows, we came upon a door that was overgrown with vines and ivy. On closer inspection, I realized that they weren’t living plants, but rather exquisitely detailed carvings. This door opened itself as well, the same aura around it, revealing a surprisingly small garden, considering we had landed in a palace.
Celestia walked to a metal, cushioned chair, fashioned out of wrought iron. Dad and I sat down across from her, and a moment later a guard appeared with tea.
"Would either of you like some tea? It's quite nice," she said as the plain porcelain teapot floated over to her cup and filled it. My father shook his head, as did I.
"Very well." She nodded. I noticed that her horn had the same golden aura as the teacup she drank from, but wasn't sure what to make of it. Celestia quietly sipped her tea as my father fidgeted.
Eventually, he said, "So why are we here?" His voice was impatient. Dad never was very good at waiting. Celestia looked up, her kind demeanor gone.
"Who sent you?" she demanded forcefully, but in that same sing-song voice of hers. "Was it Discord? Is he getting that loose already?"
My dad and I bore the same confused expression. I was about to ask who Discord was when Celestia spoke again.
"Clearly not. Who built those suits for you, then? And who taught you Equestrian?"
My father answered immediately."I built my own suit, and my uncle built the one that Sam is wearing. He invented the tech behind it, too." His pride in his uncle's work and his own colored his voice. “Furthermore, we sent ourselves. As far as I know, the language we’re speaking is English, not… ‘Equestrian’. I have no idea why I ended up here. I’m sure I calibrated the portal perfectly, so it shouldn’t have sent me here, goddammit!” He stood up from his chair, frustration in his voice.
Celestia set her tea down, looking over my father, surprised at the sudden outburst.
“Now, tell me where my uncle Fred is. I don’t have time for this!” my Dad said, trying to contain his anger and impatience. His eyes were wild, and he seemed like he might just attack Celestia. She, on the other hand, remained calm, taking another quick sip of her tea before setting it down again, the aura vanishing from around the porcelain.
“First of all, John, you will be respectful in my presence,” she said sternly, the pale aura encasing my Dad. The energy outlined him, and as he was lifted into the air a few inches, Celestia rose from her seat.
“What are you doing to him? Let him go!” I said loudly, trying to mask my worry. I realized I was standing now, having bolted upright as soon as he began to levitate. Celestia glanced at me for a moment, her eyes instantly softening as she peered into my own. She sighed, and looked down, the glow around my father fading.
He fell a few inches onto his feet, regaining his composure as he glared daggers at Celestia. She spoke in an apologetic tone.
“When I said everypony around here was on edge, I forgot to mention that included myself. I shouldn’t have been so hasty to assume you… Nevermind.”
“No, tell me what you think we are. I want answers, and I want them now!” my Dad said loudly, undeterred by the incident. I sat back down, my eyes pleading for my Dad to do the same, but he remained standing. Celestia took her seat, before sighing, preparing to speak.
“I mentioned someone earlier, by the name of Discord,” she began. We nodded, my Dad still impatient. “He’s been imprisoned for as long as I’ve been the ruler of Equestria. My sister and I thought we had sealed him away for good, but…” Her voice faltered slightly. “…but now we’ve been hearing reports of cracks in the statue he’s imprisoned in.” My Dad looked unimpressed.
“So what, you think a statue sent us directly into your throne room, to… do what exactly? Lady, you are thirty-two different kinds of crazy right now,” my Dad said, annoyed. He had calmed down a bit, but he was still obviously frustrated and angry.
“That’s not the whole story I’m afraid. Discord is the spirit of disharmony and chaos; I only imprisoned him in stone to prevent him from doing any further damage. But like I said, his power has begun to seep through recently, and everypony around here is vigilant for any signs of his corruption. Discord isn’t evil, per se, but if he’s known for anything, its the sheer randomness of how he manifests himself. The both of you just appearing seemingly from nowhere just …”
“Made you think this Discord person was behind it? ” My dad finished Celestia’s sentence. She nodded before my Dad continued. “Okay… Okay, okay, okay… That’s all fine and dandy, Celestia,” he said, “but -- and not to be rude here -- I honestly don’t care,” He paced around in front of her. I shifted in my seat a little, checking the lights on my glove one more time.
“With that out of the way, I need to know where Fred is,” Celestia tilted her head slightly in confusion at my Dad’s demand. He began to speak, but held the comment back, probably for the better.
“Alright, fine. Listen, I need to speak to somebody that knows where my uncle Fred is, and I need to speak to them right now,” he said frantically, looking right at Celestia. She remained in a confused state, unsure of how to respond. My Dad was obviously getting impatient, but an idea seemed to grace his mind, as his eyes lit up.
“So you can’t tell me where Fred is, but maybe you can tell me where he might be. Look, when I last visited Fred, who’s a human like me, he was living amongst these… frog people. They were about as tall as my daughter, they could speak English the same as we do, and they wore clothes. Also, they looked amphibious in nature, hence frog people,” my Dad said, trying to act out what he was saying and winding up looking just as crazy as he thought Celestia was.
“I’m sorry to disappoint you John, but…” She trailed off, what she was about to say on the tip of her tongue. After a moment, she suddenly brightened, exclaiming, “Wait! there is one pony that might know where to find your uncle.”
“Excellent! Where can I find him? Does he know about Maddie too? Has he been spying on Fred? Ha--”
“John, I only saidmight know where to find Fred. There’s no guarantee she will know where to look.” Celestia said, cutting him off, her eyes contemplative. She was obviously regretting even mentioning this pony. My dad, however leaped at the lead, slim as it was.
“That’s fine! Just, tell me where I can find her.” Celestia mulled over the answer for a moment before replying.
“Very well, I will tell you where to find her. But first, you’re going to help me with something. I need you to--”
“Stop Discord from breaking out of his statue prison, I presume?” my Dad interjected. I turned my head a bit to make sure there were no guards around. With a sigh of relief, I continued to listen to the conversation, the guards having stayed out of the garden.
“How did yo--” Celestia began, a little surprised.
“I’m not stupid Celestia. If what you’re telling me about this Discord guy is true, stirring up all this anxiety even among what seems like your military, then he’s gotta be trouble. Not only that, he’s doing all of this while he’s encased in stone correct?” Celestia nodded. “This guy sounds like something straight out of Doctor Who,” my Dad muttered to himself, looking down at the floor. He looked back up at Celestia, a determined expression gracing his face.
“Alright then Celestia, I’ll be your stonemason, for now, and get that statue all patched up. The question is, can you convince Sammy?” he said, taking a seat beside me, and crossing his legs. He looked at Celestia smugly, while taking a moment to smooth his frazzled hair down.
“Of course I’ll help. Why wouldn’t I?” I said cheerfully.
“What’s in it for you Sam? You’re the one who kept telling me to stop searching for uncle Fred, after all,” he replied. I thought about it for a moment, but was interrupted by Celestia.
“What would you like Samantha?” I winced at being called my full name, but after seeing Celestia’s empathetic eyes I was a bit more comfortable with it. I contemplated what I wanted for a moment, going through the list of things I’d desired all my life.
Among the common stuff like money and fame that everyone wanted, there was one particular thing that I craved the most. It was what had gotten me to believe in my father’s tale about his search for his uncle Fred. Something that had changed my view on the universe, and was pretty darn cool to boot. I leaned over to my father, as I whispered it in his ear.
“No. Absolutely not.”
“Dad, I’m not a little kid anymore, I can handle it. You showed it to me plenty of times before.”
“I just-- I don’t think it’s safe, Sam.”
I disregarded him as I spoke to Celestia. “I’d like for my Dad to give me one of his spare kinesis modules,” I said, gesturing to a rack of small cylinders in the back of his adventure suit. Celestia obviously didn’t know what I was talking about, but she understood that one of the cylinders was what I wanted. She eyed my father, jerking her head sideways slightly towards me.
“You heard her. If you want me to give you the location of the pony that might know where these frog creatures are, and by extension, your uncle, then you’ll give your daughter what she wants first,” Celestia said gently but forcefully and just a tad smug. My Dad shifted uneasily, letting out a long sigh as he reached back, disengaging the spare kinesis module and reluctantly placing it in my hand.
“On that model it goes on--“
“Yes I know, the right shoulder. It’s not like you’ve shown me every week for the past year or anything,” I said sarcastically as I slotted the small cylinder into place on my right shoulder. It fit snugly into the indentation, and I twisted it into place like a screw as I checked my gauntlet.
Excitedly, I pushed down the circle in the center of the top side of the glove that was now illuminated a bright white. I waited a second, and with low humming noise, the light turned red. I smiled slowly, realizing it had worked just as I’d imagined it would.
Of course I didn’t know how to actually use any part of the suit yet, but I knew that the kinesis module would definitely come in handy. I pressed the circle again, as the light returned to white, accompanied by the same humming. I grinned gleefully at my Dad who tried to look happy, but was clearly a bit distraught.
“Wonderful. Now then, it’s getting late and I suppose you two would like some rest,” Celestia offered.
“Well, actua--” My dad stopped, then just as suddenly continued, “You know what? Sure.” He’d apparently decided not to argue any more than he already had.
“Excellent, my guards will escort you to a guest room, you can spend the night there. In the morning you can ask a pony in the hall where to find me, and we can discuss the details of our arrangement,” she said kindly, taking one last sip of her tea before standing up. She gestured us towards the door we came in through, her horn glowing that same pale aura as the door opened. We stepped out into the hallway where the four ponies were still waiting, and Celestia followed right behind us, closing the door.
“Sergeant Steady Hooves, I’d like you to take John and Sam to the guest room closest to the throne room. 7A I believe. Thank you,” she ordered, but she did so as if she were asking a question forcefully. This Celestia sure was a weird one. A light blue pony nodded lightly, as he began to walk down the hall.
“Come along,” he said glancing over his shoulder. My father and I shot each other a look before we began trailing the pony.
“I don’t want you having that thing, Sam,” he whispered to me as we walked.
“Why? You seemed to be perfectly fine with giving it to me,” I replied.
“Showing and actually using something is not the same, especially when it’s dangerous like that module,” he rebuttled as we came around a corner, entering into a smaller hallway adorned with doors.
“Then you’ll just have toteach me how to use it, because I’m not giving it back. C’mon, Dad! I’ve always wanted to try it out, ever since you first showed me it.” I tried to sound forceful, and yet imploring at the same time. He grumbled something to himself before responding.
“Alright fine, you can keep it for now. But you are not allowed to use it without me around. Understood?” he made himself clear as the pony stopped next to a beautifully carved door.
“Understood…” I mumbled to myself. The guard began to speak.
“Here we are, room 7A. If you just follow the short path we just came, you’ll reach the throne room, its only a minute or two away,” the gua-- Steady Hooves, right, said, before nudging the door open and heading back down the hall. I was still a bit weirded out at how well these ponies could speak English, or ‘Equestrian’ as Celestia had called it. Dad didn’t seem phased at all, though.
Then again, he once told me a bedtime story of how he had met these frog people, and of this one particular girl named Maddie. They went on a fantastical adventure in a strangely beautiful place to find Fred. I smiled, remembering it was the same story he’d told me a hundred times -- when he reached the part about the ice caverns, I could almost recite it word for word, because it had been my favorite part as a child.
I never really believed it until I was in my teens, when he first showed me the kinesis module, and I realized it was all true. It all felt so surreal now, wearing the adventure suit.
And yet in a way, ever since I had first listened to that story about my Dad’s uncle, I knew there were other creatures out there who were sentient, like us.
I just never expected them to be ponies. Or as fluffy and, frankly, adorable as they were.
