Crossing Over

Chapters

Chapter 1: The Impossible Dream
Chapter 2: You've Got A Friend
Chapter 3: You're Not Alone
Chapter 4: Too Shy
Chapter 5: Tell Me A Fable
Chapter 6: Come Together
Epilogue
Chapter 7: The Final Countdown

Chapter 1: The Impossible Dream

Crossing Over
By Alaborn

Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein.

Chapter 1: The Impossible Dream

It was after midnight when I finally got home. The irritating buzz of the street lamps was all that filled my ears as I climbed the stairs to my tiny apartment. I unlocked my door and opened it. The light switch turned on my one lamp, its sixty watt bulb filling the living space with insufficient light. I set down a pizza box on the counter, and shrugged out of my jacket. It was another slow weeknight delivering pizzas, and my tips were meager. I checked my pockets again, hoping that I had somehow forgotten a twenty dollar tip at some point during the night. No such luck. With the amount gas prices had spiked in the last few months, I wondered if I even had covered my expenses.

I did a quick check of my homework. Yes, I finished the math and physics problem sets before I went to work. I loaded my textbooks and the homework into my backpack, ready for tomorrow.

Walking into the kitchen, I checked my phone. One message, from Mom. She always seems to call during the evening, when I’m likely driving, and thus have my phone off. It’s like she wants to be a dutiful parent, but doesn’t actually want to talk to me. The feeling is mutual. I have no real objection to either of my parents, or my upbringing. They stayed married, they cared for me, they’re helping me pay for college. But I really don’t share many interests with them. I’m not interested in Mom’s opinion of the latest reality TV series or in talking sports with Dad. I’m just glad to be living on my own.

I found a clean plate, and loaded it with the pizza I brought home. Josh, the manager, is pretty useless, and spends way too much time smoking out back, but at least he lets us take home the pizzas that didn’t turn out. Room temperature sausage pizza with a huge blister in the crust is still pizza, and you can’t beat that price. I took the plate and sat down in front of my computer.

I don’t feel close to my parents. With the hours I work, and the fact that I commute to a community college, I don’t have any good friends at school. I’ve grown apart from my friends from high school, most of who are out of state now. The only place I feel like a part of a community is online.

No one knows of my intense interest in a certain series. I can’t fathom talking about it in real life. I know it’s targeted to kids. But I like it anyway. And the online community is awesome. It’s incredible the kind of creativity I see every day. There are artists, writers, musicians, and creators of all sorts of mash-ups. Yesterday, I browsed music videos. Who knew a cheesy song like The Final Countdown could be made awesome by setting it to clips from the series? Today, I read some fanfiction. Not all of the recent submissions caught my attention, but I really liked one. That story developed a couple of background characters in a unique and creative way. I hoped the author would update soon.

I checked the clock. It was past 2 AM. I had better get some sleep; I had a test tomorrow. Reluctantly, I turned off the computer and got ready for bed. As I contemplated another day of classes and another night of pizza delivery, I found myself again wishing I could find a way into another world.

I woke up late the next morning, and had to rush to get ready for my noon class. Getting in my car, I knew I would be fine as long as long as traffic wasn’t a problem. It was. I sighed and turned on the radio. All I wanted was a traffic report, but the talk radio station was going on about the upcoming presidential primaries. Normally, my state’s late primaries are irrelevant, but it was looking increasingly like we’d be relevant this year. And that meant I wasn’t hearing the announcer say if there was an accident on the city streets. I eventually guessed the lunch rush had arrived early, and so it was taking longer than normal to get through each traffic light.

I pulled into the student parking lot. Unfortunately, the free campus shuttle was pulling out of the lot at the same time. I’d have to hoof it to class. Even running, I would be late. My only hope was to go as the crow flies, cutting through the woods. I grabbed my backpack, locked my car, and prayed I wouldn’t get lost in the small but unfamiliar wilderness.

Today was overcast and a little chilly, and this stretch of woods was surprisingly dark. At least it was, until a vibrant red something appeared in front of me, about eight feet tall and perfectly rectangular. Distracted by this mysterious door or portal, I wasn’t paying attention to where I was putting my feet. I stumbled over a root, careening forward, directly into the light

I opened my eyes, looked directly into the sun, and immediately shut them again. I felt awful. There was a dull ache in my head, and all over, I was feeling simultaneously numb and in pain. I couldn’t even begin to figure out how. Why was I on my back? That’s right, I fell. The glowing red gate. What was it? It was… I couldn’t think of any explanation other than magic. My heart was beating fast. Last night I thought about my impossible wish; could it actually have come true?

I turned my head, opened my eyes, and looked at my surroundings. I was lying in a grassy field. To my left, a large tree, and everywhere else, grasses. The smell was intoxicating, like the very essence of summer. I noticed it was a lot warmer and sunnier than it had been when I left my home. I wasn’t home anymore. But if I had really traveled through some kind of magic portal, why was I here?

Where were the lofty towers and crenelated walls of Hogwarts Castle?

Or, where were the cobbled streets and mysterious shops of Diagon Alley?

How could I, Jonathan Lockhart, lifelong devoted fan of the Harry Potter series, have traveled through a magical portal and not ended up in his fabulous wizarding world? In fact, this weather didn’t feel at all like England.

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. Or, rather, I tried to. When I tried to bring my hand to my face, I saw a dark green hoof at the end of an olive green forelimb. “Aaaaah!” I screamed. I frantically twisted my body, trying to see what kind of monster I had become. I saw a horse’s body, all that same olive green color, except for a tail of bright yellow. “AAAAAAAH!” I screamed again. “What the….”

As my mind registered that I could still talk, I was interrupted. “Would you keep it down? Some of us are trying to nap!” That was a woman’s voice. Where? I looked back at the tree, and saw an incongruous blue-green patch up in the branches. I must have missed it in my dazed state. It was… another horse?

“Did you say that?” I asked.

She lifted her head and peered down at me from her lofty perch, allowing me to get a better look at her. She had a rainbow-colored mane and… were those wings on her back? “Well, duh. There’s nopony else around. Which is why I chose here to sleep.” She turned back over.

I swallowed hard. My mind was screaming “This is so wrong,” but unlike when that normally happens, I couldn’t wake up from the dream. I was going to have to figure out what was going on. “I’m sorry to interrupt your nap, but… where am I?”

I tried to get to my feet, and failed multiple times. The colorful pegasus watched me with some amusement. “Did you drink a little too much of the Apples’ special cider?” she asked.

On my sixth try, I finally figured out how to stand upright with this body. “I’m serious. I have no idea where I am, and no, I haven’t been drinking cider, or anything harder, either.”

She sighed. “You’re about a half mile south of Ponyville.” I responded with a blank stare. “About fifty miles southwest of Canterlot?” she added. When I still looked at her stupidly, she continued. “In Equestria?”

“I’m sorry, but none of those names mean anything to me. “ I said. I tried walking in this new body, taking a few attempts to find a mechanic that felt natural.

“Look. Either you need a hospital, or you need to talk to somepony smarter than me,” she said. The pegasus stood up, abandoning her comfortable branch, and flew down to me at a speed that defied the laws of physics. “Follow me. Name’s Rainbow Dash, by the way.”

“Jonathan Lockhart. Call me John,” I replied.

“John? What kind of name is that? It doesn’t mean anything,” commented Rainbow Dash. I tried to remember what Jonathan meant, but drew a blank. It was just a name. “Don’t forget your saddlebag,” she added.

I looked back, and saw that yes, there was a saddlebag on the ground near where I was lying. It shared the gray and black coloration of my backpack, but if it was my backpack, it was transformed, just like me. I wondered how to put it on. I picked it up in my mouth, turned my neck, and tossed it over my back. The relatively equal weights kept the saddlebags balanced. Again, Rainbow Dash was looking at me as if I were an idiot.

“Alright. This way!” The pegasus flew off to the north. I trotted behind, desperately searching for a portkey that would take me home.

Chapter 2: You've Got A Friend

High atop the mountains, looming over glittering Canterlot, stands Atallama Observatory. There, a small but dedicated group of unicorns studies the heavens, using devices magical and mechanical. It’s a quiet post, well suited for the dedicated and obsessive researcher. Rarely does anything exciting happen.

“Professor, take a look at these readings!”

Midnight Sky, unicorn in charge of the overnight shift, brought in a long sheet of paper. A dozen enchanted quills had traced a crazy pattern over the previous evening. To his trained eye, he saw evidence of magical energy far beyond the capabilities of the most powerful unicorn. “Incredible, is it not?”

Silver Galaxy, professor emeritus of astronomy, Royal Canterlot University, adjusted his spectacles. Though retired from teaching, he couldn’t tear his tired eyes from his beloved heavens. And it was times like this that made the trek up the mountain worthwhile.

“This is remarkable,” he concurred. “Alicorn-level magic for certain. Multiple instances. But these patterns, they’re like nothing I’ve seen. Even during an eclipse, when the power of both Princesses interact, we don’t see spikes along the Φ and δ axes.”

“All readings show these energies came from the vicinity of Canterlot,” Midnight Sky added. “Should I alert the court?”

“Yes, please do so.” Silver Galaxy ordered. “Keep a close eye on the heavens and on the equipment while we wait for a response. The way I see it, either this anomaly was the work of the princesses, in which case we’ll be told not to worry about it, or it’s something they don’t recognize, in which case we’ll be told not to worry about it.”

“How will we know which it is?” the junior researcher asked.

“Just pay attention to the requests from the university,” Silver Galaxy explained. “If there’s even the slightest change to our everyday observations, it’s for a reason.”

Crossing Over
By Alaborn

Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein.

Chapter 2: You’ve Got A Friend

After a quick and invigorating trot, I started to see signs of civilization. Rainbow Dash and I passed several farms and orchards before reaching a small town. And I do mean small. I saw dirt roads, one and two story homes, and small businesses. There were no cars, no telephone poles, no ambient buzz of electricity that so annoys me at times. The architecture looked sort of American, sort of European, from somewhere in the 1800’s, but a lot more garishly colored.

And the horses. Everywhere, I saw horses participating in the mundane activities of small town life, like characters plucked from an alternate universe Norman Rockwell painting. I think most were normal horses, with a fair number of other pegasi and some that I could only call unicorns. And none of them were colored normally.

“Okay, I’m going to introduce you to Twilight Sparkle. If anypony knows what to do, she’ll know.” Rainbow Dash flew up to a huge tree. Wait, not just a tree – it looks like a house has been built into it. I spotted a number of windows arranged haphazardly, and a door with a candle painted on it.

Rainbow Dash pushed open the door. “Twilight? You there?” she called out. I followed, stepping into a bookworm’s dream home. Every wall was covered with bookshelves, and more books were stacked on the floor.

A tall stack of books glowed purple. Individual books flew of their own volition, filing themselves onto the shelves. With the books gone, I saw a unicorn, with a pastel purple coat that has no place on any living creature. “Right here, Rainbow Dash,” she said, smiling.

“So, yeah,” Rainbow Dash started. “This is John,” she said, pointing to me. “I, uh, found him, outside town. I thought he should talk to you and, uh….” Rainbow Dash leaned in and whispered into Twilight Sparkle’s ear. She talked quietly for a long time, constantly glancing back at me. I ground my hoof into the floor nervously.

“Don’t worry, Rainbow Dash. You head off. I’ll be fine.” Rainbow Dash took off, and Twilight Sparkle turned to me. “So, John, was it?”

“Yeah, that’s me.”

“Rainbow Dash was very worried about you. Were you lost? Are you sick?”

“Yes, and no, or I don’t think so.” I had no idea what to do, so I decided on the truth. I was already thoroughly weirded out, so what else could happen?

“So my name is John, Jonathan Lockhart. I live by myself in Indianapolis. I go to school part time and I deliver pizzas. This morning, I was running to class, tripped through a glowing portal, and woke up here. Oh, and this morning, I was in my own body, not this one. I don’t know where I am, but this is not my world.”

Twilight Sparkle thought for a while. “Well, that’s… interesting. Let me see what I can figure out. Let’s start with the portal. Was it powered by transmutation or evocation energy? Did it act by movement along the n+1 dimensional axis, or via space folding?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Now, Twilight Sparkle looked as confused as me. “But you’re a wizard, right?”

I shook my head. “I can’t do magic. No one can. I mean, in my world.”

“But you’re a unicorn,” she responded.

“I’m a unicorn?” It dawned on me that I hadn’t seen my face since waking up in this nightmare. Twilight Sparkle was quick on the uptake, and used her telekinesis to bring over a mirror. Sure enough, I was a unicorn. My spiral horn was a similar color to my hooves, and I had a mane the same yellow color as my tail. I noticed my face, or muzzle now, appeared squarer than the two women with whom I had interacted. Finally, I saw a marking on my flank, an orange wand and cauldron like what you might see in Professor Snape’s Potions class. Maybe that’s why she thought I was a wizard.

“Okay. We can’t talk the magical particulars, so let’s talk about where you’re from.” Twilight Sparkle used her magic again, bringing over a quill and scroll. “You said you’re from a city I’m not familiar with, but I also heard you say ‘my world’ earlier. What do you call your world?”

“Earth?” I responded, hesitantly. That wasn’t going to describe the situation I was in.

“That’s just an archaic term for this world. Are you from the past? But that wouldn’t make any sense either, to use the ancient earth pony term, since you’re a unicorn.”

“I don’t know what the year is here. But that’s the thing. Even if your earth and my earth had the same year, I know it’s not the same world. My world is the human world, not the horse… pony world.”

Now it was Twilight Sparkle’s turn to be confused. “Human? I’m not familiar with that term.”

“Bipedal creatures?” I explained. “Distantly related to apes or monkeys, but without so much hair?”

“Still doesn’t ring a bell,” she said.

This was going to take a long time. I sat down. That movement reminded me that I was wearing saddlebags. “Okay. Like I said, I was a human, in my human world, when I fell through some magical portal. I woke up in this body. My clothes were gone, but apparently, this bag was with me.”

“Oh, maybe there’s something in there that will help restore your memory,” Twilight said.

“I don’t think my memory’s the problem,” I said. I reached back, pushing the saddlebags off me and onto the floor. I fumbled with the buckles, and was surprised at the flexibility of my hooves. The movements I was used to doing with hands could be duplicated, to some extent. I didn’t think I’d be typing any time soon, but I could grasp straps, undo a buckle, and even open a button.

Inside, surprisingly, I found the contents of my backpack. It wasn’t organized in the same manner as my backpack, but it was all there: my calculus and physics textbooks, my homework, pencils and pens, my cell phone, and my iPod. I also found two items I didn’t recognize: a ring of old-fashioned keys, and a small cloth pouch. That pouch was heavy, and sounded like it contained coins.

I grabbed the physics textbook and opened it. It looked the same. I knew there were photos in it. I found one, showing a student performing one of the lab tests from Chapter 1. “There, Twilight Sparkle. That’s a picture of a human.”

Twilight Sparkle had been carefully examining my pencils and pens. That didn’t surprise me; if she was still using quills to write, a ball point pen would be some incredible invention. She dropped the writing utensils immediately and looked at the picture. “No, I don’t know them.” She then grabbed the book from my hooves.

“What a remarkable book!” she exclaimed. “Such precise printing! Full color pictures! And how did they make paper this thin and uniform?” She paged through it rapidly. “But this book needs a better editor. I don’t think many of these formulas are right.”

“Those formulas are correct,” I said. “They’re correct, in my world. The human world. The world where no one can make books fly with magic.”

“Maybe you’re on to something.” Twilight Sparkle’s horn glowed again, and she grabbed another book off the shelves. “For decades, the greatest unicorn wizards have striven to develop a unified theory of time, space, and magic. The details are far beyond my own level of knowledge, but this book, which discusses the theory in laypony’s terms, makes a very interesting point.” She pointed her hoof to the relevant passage. “‘The very nature of the interaction of these elemental forces of the universe cannot be rendered into laws consistent along observations made by ponykind. This fact suggests the existence of universes beyond the reach of magic known to ponykind, with influences that ripple through all universes, including our own, following laws yet to be discovered.’”

A fascinating theory, but then the implications hit me. “But if you can’t interact with other universes, how will I ever get home?”

“There are magical forces more powerful than unicorn magic,” Twilight Sparkle responded. “For example, in the time since I arrived in Ponyville, the legendary Nightmare Moon threatened to cloak the land in eternal darkness, and Discord, master of chaos, sought to replace the world’s harmony with a reign of disorder and a rain of chocolate milk. Both threats were defeated through the powers of the Elements of Harmony.”

Either of those sounded better than facing an immortal and evil wizard who sought to subjugate all non-wizards and rule the world. Hey, I’ll take my victories where I can find them.

“So, John, while I’ll use every resource at my disposal to figure out what happened, and how to help you, I want you instead to focus on….” Twilight Sparkle paused, and looked past me. I turned my head and followed Twilight’s gaze out the window. Rainbow Dash was hovering there. She was looking at Twilight eagerly, almost smiling, with a heavy white coat with buckles clenched in her teeth. A straitjacket. So that’s the kind of hospital Rainbow Dash thought I needed.

“Uh, Dash, I don’t think we’re going to need that,” Twilight Sparkle said.

Rainbow Dash dropped the straitjacket. “You sure?” she asked. “You’re really sure?”

“Yes, Rainbow Dash. John is going to be like any other new friend in Ponyville.” Twilight Sparkle’s words were quite reassuring to me.

“Oooo-kay.” Rainbow Dash didn’t sound convinced as she left.

Twilight Sparkle turned back to me. “Like I was saying, John, I don’t want you to feel different. Focus on our similarities. For example, I’m a student too. Star pupil of Princess Celestia, here in Ponyville to study the magic of friendship.”

I laughed. “Not that similar, really. I’m just a kid taking a few courses at the local community college, still with no idea what he wants to do with his life. You seem like a student on a whole different level.”

Twilight Sparkle walked towards the stairs. “Spike? I need you to take a letter.”

The creature that came down the stairs was not one of these ponies. It was a small dragon. He was purple and green, looking a lot more like a human boy than the fierce beasts I pictured Charlie Weasley hunting. “Spike” was ready, with a quill and scroll in his clawed hands.

“Dear Princess Celestia,” Twilight Sparkle dictated. “I have had the honor of meeting a most remarkable new friend. Though he hails from a place nopony has ever visited, we share so much in common. Today, I learned that friendship can come in the most unexpected ways.
“Still, the nature of his appearance is a conundrum to me, and my friend desires to find a way home. I shall summarize my findings in a follow-up letter. I would ask that you share my correspondence with your advisors, and hope that their combined wisdom will help this friend in need.

“Your faithful student,

“Twilight Sparkle.”

Why Twilight Sparkle needed to dictate the letter, I didn’t know. She had been writing notes just fine mere minutes ago. Spike rolled up the scroll, held it up, and suddenly exhaled a heatless green flame. The scroll disintegrated. I didn’t know how dragons are supposed to work here, but since Twilight Sparkle wasn’t perturbed by this accident, maybe that was supposed to happen.

“John, I can only promise that all of us will do whatever we can to help you. In the meantime, please feel free to sleep in the library.”

I could get used to that. “Say, Twilight Sparkle, does the library have any copies of the Harry Potter series?” I asked.

“Never heard of it,” she replied.

Please, get me out of here.

Chapter 3: You're Not Alone

The Salt Lick Tavern was the most happening place in Appleoosa. That’s because it was the only happening place, thought Applejack. She and the rest of the Apples from Ponyville had made the trip to visit their kin, and help them with producing a feast’s worth of apple pies. With the hard work done, the cousins treated them to an evening of music and dancing, Appleoosa style. And Applejack might have enjoyed it, if it weren’t for the ponies in the corner, arguing.

The two mares had done nothing but bicker the entire time. Applejack had no idea what was so important. The two… actors? (Applejack recognized one’s cutie mark as one of those funny masks that theaters liked to display) were only mildly annoying before the performance had started, but they hadn’t shown the common decency to hush when the curtain was raised and the music began.

It was enough to make Applejack want to stomp the floor. Her mind churned, searching for something, anything, she could say to get those two to leave.

Crossing Over
By Alaborn

Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein.

Chapter 3: You’re Not Alone

My stomach growled. I had no idea how much time had passed since breakfast, but I was clearly hungry now. “Twilight Sparkle, since I’ll be here for at least a few days, what am I going to do? I don’t have any food, any money….”

“Don’t worry, John,” Twilight Sparkle said. “Nopony’s going to let any visitor starve. Besides, didn’t you have a coin purse in your saddlebags?”

That’s right. There were those two mystery items. I opened the pouch, and found about two dozen glittering gold coins. If those coins were entirely or even mostly gold, then I was looking at thousands of dollars’ worth of precious metal. If I were back home, of course.

“How much is that?” I asked Twilight Sparkle.

“It looks like twenty-two bits,” she replied.

I facehoofed. “I can see that. What I’m asking is, how much is that worth? We don’t use bits in the human world.”

“Well, a couple of bits will get you some fresh food at the market. A full meal at the café might be five bits.” Twilight Sparkle explained. “A fresh quill….”

I cut off Twilight Sparkle before she described the price of every product in the pony world. Given this place looked like a small town without a lot of mass production, that meal was probably the equivalent of a sit down restaurant, not fast food. That meal might run $10 back home, so I mentally set an exchange rate of one bit equals two dollars.

“I don’t remember exactly how much money I was carrying when I fell through the portal, Twilight Sparkle, but I think twenty-two bits is roughly equivalent,” I said. “Whatever magic brought me here looks like it was careful about equivalency.”

“For someone who believes magic doesn’t work, you sure seem knowledgeable about it,” Twilight Sparkle commented.

“That’s just it. Magic doesn’t work in the human world, but the idea of magic is well understood,” I explained. “It’s a staple of fantasy literature. And since fictional magic can do anything, it only becomes interesting when it’s limited and also internally consistent. I’ve spent a lot of time talking with fans of one such fantasy universe, trying to work out a cohesive magic system based on the glimpses provided in the books.”

“Why would you do that?” asked Twilight Sparkle.

That’s not a question I’ve thought about a lot. Because I found the world fascinating as a child, and still do? Because so many of us bonded over the creative genius of J. K. Rowling? Because having these conversations helps me feel connected to other humans, even if it’s over the Internet? Because I feel closer to my fellow fans than my own parents?

All I said was, “It’s interesting. It’s fun.”

I gathered together all the material goods I now owned. “So let’s talk about my idea of equivalency, Twilight Sparkle. First, the obvious. I was a human, the only sapient species in my world. So the equivalent here is the pony?”

“There are a lot of sapient species here,” Twilight Sparkle responded. “But this is a pony land, so turning into a pony would be most equivalent.”

“Second, I was wearing clothing.” I motioned to her. “But you don’t wear clothing, so that didn’t make the transition.”

“Oh, we wear clothes,” Twilight explained, “but only on special occasions. So to become an everyday pony, you wouldn’t be wearing clothes.”

“Third, I had a few items in the pockets of my clothes. A keychain, a wallet with money, credit cards, my driver’s license and student identification….”

“And you have keys there, and money there,” Twilight Sparkle said. “But I’m not familiar with the rest.”

“Fourth, I carried a backpack. It’s pretty clear the saddlebag is a direct correspondence,” I said. Twilight Sparkle nodded in agreement. “But why did its contents not get changed?”

“Two possibilities come to mind,” said Twilight Sparkle. “One, the magic of this portal saw one item, your ‘backpack’, and not ‘a backpack, two books, papers, and so forth’. Two, the material of your backpack offered protection against the magic. Do you know what it was made of?”

“I don’t know, probably something synthetic.” I prodded the saddlebags, which looked like they were made of canvas. “Not like these saddlebags. But the color was the same, gray with black trim.”

My stomach growled, more urgently this time. “I’m enjoying this conversation, but I really need to get something to eat.”

“My suggestion would be to head to Sugarcube Corner. When you leave the library, turn right, and walk down the road. You’re looking for the building that resembles a gingerbread house. They have the best baked goods.”

“Can you take me there?” I asked.

“Well, I did promise the princess a more detailed letter, so I’m afraid I’ll have to decline. If you get lost, just ask anypony for directions. Oh, and would you leave your two books behind? I’d like to refer to them.”

I shrugged. “Sure.”

Twilight Sparkle pounced on the books with an eagerness I’ve never felt as a student. Meanwhile, I donned my now lighter saddlebags, and left the library.

The streets of Ponyville were a lot less busy than they were when I arrived. I guessed it was near dinnertime. Sugarcube Corner wasn’t hard to find. I had noticed the building on my arrival to town. The Swiss or German style architecture, combined with the omnipresent thatch roofs, was what reminded me of Old Europe.

The building was quiet, and the shutters were closed. But the sign on the door said Open. I pulled it open.

Inside, it was dark. It had to be the right place; I could smell baked goods. “Hello?” I called out hesitantly.

Suddenly, light flooded into the room as lights were illuminated and the shutters flung open. “SURPRISE!” yelled dozens of ponies. I was. Everywhere I saw colorful balloons, colorful cakes, colorful streamers, and of course colorful ponies. A pink pony, with a poofy mane of a color that I think Crayola called hot magenta, bounded up to me, blowing one of those paper horns in my face. *FWEEEEEE*

“Welcome to your surprise party! Were you surprised? Because if you weren’t surprised, then this wouldn’t be a surprise party, which would surprise me, but then it would be a surprise party again, and surprise or no surprise, this party is all about YOU!!! You’re new to Ponyville, and that surprised me, so of course I needed a surprise party to welcome you, and so I say welcome to you! I’m Pinkie Pie!”

I don’t think the hyperactive mare took a single breath in the middle of that diatribe. As for me, I took several steps backwards, trying to reestablish some semblance of personal space, a process that failed when I backed into the wall of the bakery.

“You must be hungry! Cake? Pie? Cupcake? Bonbons? Chocolate covered fruit? Chocolate covered cake? Chocolate covered chocolate?” Her forelegs moved so fast I couldn’t keep track of all the foods she offered me. They all sounded great, but it’s not like I could have grabbed any of them, with how fast she was moving. “Ooh! Can’t forget this!” In an instant, the pink pony put a paper party hat on my head. Then, she dashed into the kitchen, and returned, riding a frightening contraption.

My mouth hung open as I stared into a giant cannon. Was this the ignoble end to my life? Pinkie Pie pulled a cord, and with a pop, confetti shot out, followed by… a perfectly decorated cake? Somehow, I caught the still-warm cake in my hooves. It was already threatening to collapse, so I took a huge bite. It was delicious. I consumed the rest of the cake in two more bites. By this time, Pinkie Pie was bouncing around the room, simultaneously greeting the other guests and attending to the party’s details.

I needed something to wash down the super sweet pastry. I headed over to a table with a punch bowl. I grabbed the ladle in my mouth and poured a cup of the fruity beverage, filling the goblet to the brim. Then I remembered I had to grab it without hands. My hooves worked before, so I tried to take hold of the goblet. So far, so good. I lifted the goblet to my mouth, tilted it awkwardly, and ended up pouring a few sweet drops into my mouth. The rest, unfortunately, flowed over my lip and onto the floor.

I felt foolish. My feeling wasn’t improved by the sharp laughter of the pony next to me. It was Pinkie Pie. She laughed for no more than a second, then stuck a hoof over her mouth to stop her laughing. Pinkie Pie had a look of shock on her face.

Recovering her happy exterior, she grabbed herself a goblet of punch and held it aloft. “Everypony,” she shouted, “I declare this punch good enough to wear!” She then dumped the contents over her head, coloring her mane with streaks of purple. Joyous laughter filled the bakery. “But it’s even better to drink!” Nobody was looking at me and my mess, so I felt a lot better. A few seconds later, Pinkie Pie returned from the back, and placed a container of straws next to the punch.

Pinkie Pie set the needle on a record, using a gramophone straight out of the… actually, I have no idea when people still used gramophones. Music filled the room. I glanced at the impressive spread. Between the cakes and candies and decorations, she must have spent hundreds of dollars, for a party for a complete stranger. This generosity was completely alien to me, but in a good way.

With a now drinkable goblet of punch in hoof, I mingled with the crowd. Between the music (nothing I recognized) and the talking of the crowd, it was hard to actually hear anyone. I shook a lot of hooves, shared smiles, and despite being unable to converse, I felt more welcome than I could remember feeling in a long time. I could get used to this.

The party slowed down after an hour or two. I noticed the sun was setting outside. Then it got completely dark, as my eyes were covered by some pony’s hooves. “Guess who?” said Pinkie Pie. She didn’t even give me a chance to guess before she uncovered my eyes and started bouncing around me.

“This is the end of the surprise party, but I’ve also put together a not surprise party. It’s over at the Carrots’ barn! Normally, the not surprise party would happen here, but Mr. and Mrs. Cake have the two cutest little foals, and it needs to be super duper quiet so they can get their sleep and grow up to be healthy and happy ponies! So are you coming? Huh? Huh?”

“Sure. Sounds fun! Lead the way,” I said.

The whole way to the second party, Pinkie Pie described it in her excited manner. “There’s going to me MORE food and MORE punch and MORE sweets and MORE music, and there’s going to be dancing and we’re going to dance until we can’t move any more, which will be awkward, because we won’t be in our own beds, but we’re going to do it ANYWAY!”

“When you bake, just how much of the sugar ends up in your mouth instead of in the mixing bowl?” I finally had to ask.

“One for me, one for the bowl. One for me, one for the bowl. Two for me, one for the bowl. Three for me, one for the bowl. Five for me, one for the bowl.” She happily counted off her Fibonacci sugar high the rest of the way to the barn.

It appeared that Carrot was the name of a farmer or a farming family, and I spied carrots growing in the outlying fields. There were a few other crops, hard to place in the dim twilight, but I was quite familiar with carrots, having picked them as a child from my parent’s home garden. The Carrots’ barn was unoccupied by animals; it smelled only of hay. Since there probably wasn’t a convention center in Ponyville, a barn like this was the perfect place for a small town party.

The barn was lit by lanterns, and decorated similarly to the bakery. I now noticed the balloons were arranged in trios that mimicked the mark on Pinkie Pie’s flank. Rather than a gramophone, I saw a deejay booth, with a dual turntable setup. Incongruously, these record players looked modern, more like the one on the stereo in my parents’ basement. The deejay, a white unicorn wearing rose-colored sunglasses, was queuing up a pair of records.

Before long, the crowd of ponies was dancing to the music. Again, it wasn’t music I recognized from home, just piano-based instrumentals with a driving beat. But everyone enjoyed it. Now, the mechanics of ponies dancing is hard to even describe, let alone do, but I made my best effort to dance.

I took a break to get some more punch and a snack. A red pegasus was over by the snack table; she was consuming pastries at a frightening pace. I don’t remember having seen her earlier; I think I would have remembered that mane, white and black and pink in a “punk” style. “So, uh, what’s good?” I asked her.

I don’t think she had heard me approach. She turned her head, her eyes wide, an apple fritter hanging out of her mouth. Then she bolted. For some reason, I chased after her, out the door of the barn, and into the clear, moonlit night. I was mentally kicking myself for my stupidity. She could just fly away. But she didn’t.

“Look, I just want to talk!” I shouted to her. Was that a guitar on her flank? “You like rock and roll? I like rock and roll!” My God, that was a stupid thing to say.

But it worked. She slowed to a canter, then stopped. “No, I don’t. Rock and roll is a bloated, stinking corpse! Only the punk rockers are keeping the original spirit of rock and roll alive.” She was certainly passionate about music. My own musical tastes can be described as “whatever I like”; in any case, what I liked wasn’t even enough to fill my iPod.

With the little I knew about popular music, I had to fake it. “So, what bands do you like?” I asked.

“The Pistols, the Ramones, the Damned, the Clash… but I’ll listen to any band. If you have a message and you’re not afraid to say it, I want to hear it.”

“Wait, those bands exist here?” I asked.

The pegasus clutched her head. “I don’t even know where here is!”

“I think here is called Equestria. But tell me, where were you before you came here?”

“Manhattan,” she said, sighing.

“Wait, as in New York City? In the United States?” I responded excitedly.

“How did you know that?” she asked.

“This morning, I was in the United States, too.”

“Then why aren’t you freaking out?” she yelled.

“I did. Then I tried to wake up. Since that didn’t work, I’ve been trying to find a way home.” She looked a lot more uncomfortable than I did. “I’m John,” I said, extending a hoof.

She tentatively touched her hoof to mine. “Bobbie,” she offered.

“Well, Bobbie, let’s just sit down, listen to some music from home, and talk.” She sat down, looking a little better. “What were you doing before you came here?”

“I was at a show. Max’s. Between sets, I went to the restroom, opened the stall door, saw a bright light, and then I woke up here. I wasn’t even drinking, I swear! Some yellow pegasus saw me, shrieked, and ran off.”

“Something like that happened with me, except I was outside at the time, and it was a blue pegasus who found me.” I reached into my saddlebag and pulled out my iPod.

Her eyes brightened. “Is that a Walkman? Because I just traded for some great live performances. I got Devo, and Television, a real classic show.” She reached into her own saddlebags, and pulled out some cassettes, blank with hand-written sleeves.

Cassettes? Walkman? “Say, what day was it when you left Manhattan?” I asked.

“October 25th. No, wait, it was after midnight, so the 26th,” she corrected herself

“What year?” I asked.

She looked at me funny. “1980.”

“I don’t know how to say this, Bobbie. We kind of look like the same age and all, but I wasn’t even born in 1980.” I showed her the iPod. “But at least we have better ways to listen to music in the present day.” I offered her one of the ear buds, and she held it to her equine ear. I selected an album, and pressed play. Bobbie heard Green Day’s American Idiot for the first time.

“Is that what you call punk? Way too commercial,” she scoffed. After a little while, she backtracked. “But there’s something there. The attitude, the message.”

Before the song even finished, though, she passed back the ear bud, and stood up. “I’ve got to go,” she said.

“Wait!” I called. “Where are you staying?”

“That’s not important,” she said. “I’ve stayed on who knows how many couches, cots, and floors. I can take care of myself. Right now, I’m just some yahoo that frightens the locals. I only came into town looking for something to eat. I got that, so I’m going.”

I stood up, but that only made her run away.

As much fun as the party was, I wanted to talk to Twilight Sparkle about this new visitor. Not surprisingly, she was studying when I returned to the library. She was going over my two textbooks, comparing them to other books from her library.

“Twilight Sparkle! I met someone at the party!” I said excitedly.

“That’s wonderful!” Twilight Sparkle responded. “Oh. Do you need to see the Your Body And You book?”

I flushed. My entire muzzle must have been bright red at that moment. “No, I didn’t mean that!” I sputtered. “I met someone, and I think she’s also from the human world.”

Twilight’s expression turned deadly serious. “Your arrival could be explained as a random happening in a world blessed with an abundance of magic. Two similar events happening at the same time can only be explained by deliberate action. Where is she?”

“I don’t know. She ran off. I think she had a bad encounter with one of the locals, and she’s more than a little freaked.”

“First thing tomorrow, we need to find her,” Twilight Sparkle said. “Please excuse me, John. I must go inform the Princess of this new development.”

Chapter 4: Too Shy

Rarity nearly danced through the streets of Canterlot. Her fashions were a huge hit in this summer’s fashion show. She relished the many compliments received from her fellow fashion designers, including those whose work she respected most. Retailers in Fillydelphia, Las Pegasus, and Baltimare would be displaying her fashions for the first time. At the trade show, she made contact with a number of new cloth makers, jewelers, and importers. And Rarity had acquired some truly stunning new fabric. She couldn’t wait to design with it.

The porter walking next to Rarity wasn’t dancing. The earth pony stallion was carrying said fabric, along with Rarity’s multiple bags, on his strong back.

Rarity passed by Pony Joe’s donut shop on the way to the train station. She glanced through the window at the treats inside. So tempting, so tempting. Her view was partially obscured by an unfamiliar unicorn. He was looking hungrily at the displayed pastries.

Rarity turned up her nose. “Hooligan. Ruffian!” She paid him no mind as she headed on.

Rarity paused. What was she thinking? That pony looked like he needed help. She turned around, but he had disappeared into the crowd.

Crossing Over
By Alaborn

Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein.

Chapter 4: Too Shy

I reclined on a mattress on the ground floor of the library. There was a light shining upstairs, and I heard the quiet scratching of quill on paper and the occasional hoot of an owl. Twilight Sparkle was a unicorn possessed. I tossed and turned, trying to find a comfortable position. Each movement reminded me that I was in an unfamiliar body and an unfamiliar world, and still had no idea how or why.

I must have found a comfortable position, because the next thing I knew, Twilight Sparkle was nudging me awake. She seemed no worse for wear after what I assumed was a long night working. Today, it only took me two tries to stand up.

“Let’s try to find your friend today. Do you have any idea where she might be staying?” asked Twilight Sparkle.

“No, she wouldn’t tell me,” I responded. “It kind of sounded like she found shelter, but not in anyone’s house. Are there any abandoned buildings here?”

“Why would anypony abandon a building?” Twilight Sparkle said incredulously.

“Then a building that wouldn’t normally be used at night? An old barn? A tool shed?”

“Hmmm. I have one idea,” said Twilight Sparkle. “Are you ready to go?”

“Sure,” I said.

Twilight Sparkle led me outside town, to one of the farms, or rather an apple orchard. No one was around. Hidden among some of the trees was a small building of crude construction, a child’s clubhouse. “That’s pretty nice,” I said.

“Since Apple Bloom is out of town right now, the other fillies aren’t going to stop by the clubhouse, either. It’s the most logical place a pony could find shelter and not get noticed,” explained Twilight Sparkle.

I climbed the ramp as quietly as possible, being careful to wedge my hooves between the ramp and the steps. I peered through the window. No pegasus. There were neat piles of yellow cloth, perhaps from some half-finished project, that were not disturbed. If I had stayed here, I would have used those as blankets. “I don’t see her, and I don’t think she was here,” I said.

I walked down the ramp. Yellow. “Bobbie said something last night. She met a yellow pegasus, and frightened her.”

“Fluttershy. She lives outside town. Maybe she’s the one who saw your friend.” Twilight put her hoof to her chin and searched her thoughts. “But I don’t know. She’s afraid of big dragons, and confrontation, and sometimes her own shadow, but she’s the kindest pony you’ll ever meet. She might be shy, but she shouldn’t be scared.”

I shrugged. “It’s worth a shot. And Bobbie isn’t my friend,” I added.

“Why not?” Twilight Sparkle asked.

I had to think about that one for a while. “That’s not how friendship works for humans” was the best explanation I could find.

“But you have so much in common!” Twilight Sparkle said.

“I only talked to her for five minutes. And in that time, I learned she lives half a country away from me, is passionate about a style of music I don’t care much for, and on top of everything, she’s from decades in the past! The only thing similar about us is that we’re from the human world, and I can’t be certain we’re from the same human world!” I explained.

“Wait, there are multiple human worlds?” said Twilight Sparkle, looking even more excited.

“How would I know?” I responded. “A day ago, I would never have thought this world existed. You’d be much more able to explain if it’s possible, with your knowledge of magic.

“Let me try to describe it this way. In my world, there’s the Harry Potter series of books, which you said doesn’t exist here. I’d love to talk about the story some time, but what’s relevant now is the world presented in this book. There’s this entire secret world of wizards and magic, hidden from the knowledge of normal humans like me. Now imagine you met a human from the Harry Potter world, not my world where Harry Potter is just a fictional character.”

“I’d love to meet a human wizard! There’s so much about alternate magical theories I’d love to learn.”

“Again, Twilight Sparkle, magic isn’t real! In my world, that is. And even if it were real, but I weren’t part of the secret world, I couldn’t help you.”

I chuckled. “Did you know I’ve often thought how awesome it would be to wake up in the Harry Potter universe? After this experience, all I want is to be a boring non-magical human again.”

As cultivated lands began to give way to forested wilderness, Twilight Sparkle and I approached a cottage at the edge of the forest. It was an animal lover’s dream, with multiple bird feeders and a chicken coop, and unafraid wild animals everywhere. I suddenly feared they would break into a Disney song and dance number.

Twilight Sparkle knocked on the cottage’s door. “Are you there, Fluttershy?” she called.

The door was opened by a pastel yellow pegasus with a light pink mane. “Oh, Twilight,” she said quietly. “It’s so good to… eep!” She looked at me, and stepped back, covering her head with a wing.

“Uhhh,” I uttered, raising a foreleg. “Hi?” A small white rabbit jumped between me and Fluttershy. He didn’t talk, which was a welcome respite from this world’s craziness, but he showed unnatural intelligence with his actions.

“What’s wrong, Fluttershy?” asked Twilight Sparkle, worry evident in her voice.

The yellow pegasus peeked out between her feathers. “I… I don’t know,” she slowly said. Fluttershy lowered her wing, and took a deep breath.

“Why don’t we try this again,” Twilight said. “Fluttershy, this is John. He just came to Ponyville yesterday from… very far away.”

“Nice to meet you, Fluttershy,” I said, extending my hoof.

Fluttershy tentatively reached her hoof towards mine. As she drew closer, her foreleg started shaking more and more, until she suddenly pulled back. “I’m sorry, I can’t do it.” If this was Bobbie’s introduction to ponykind, I can see why she was so freaked out.

Twilight Sparkle looked very worried now. “Fluttershy, I’m here for you. I can help you. But you need to tell me--what’s going on?”

“I feel so… strange. The closer I get to John, the more I feel… I feel… not liking.”

“You mean hate?” I said.

Fluttershy screamed – although it came out more like a squeak – and buried her head under both forelegs and both wings.

My heart sank. How could this be happening to her? She seemed so gentle, so kind, and she couldn’t even shake my hand… hoof.

“I’m sorry, Fluttershy. It’s just that… I’m cursed.” I lied. Do they have curses in their magic system? I sure hope so. Twilight raised her head, looking ready to interject. I mouthed to her, “Play along.”

Again, Fluttershy’s sad eyes peeked through her wings. “I don’t care if we can’t shake hooves,” I said, hopefully reassuringly. “It makes me very happy to know you want to be my friend, and I’m thrilled to accept your offer of friendship.”

Fluttershy stood up again, and composed herself. “That makes feel so happy I could scream.” She inhaled audibly, and then issued a barely audible “yay.” That white rabbit, however, was not convinced. With a reassuring glance from Fluttershy, he finally retreated.

“Twilight Sparkle and I came by for a reason,” I said. “We’re looking for a friend of mine, a red pegasus. She’s also new to town, and she’s also cursed like me.”

“Oh my,” said Fluttershy. “I did see a red pegasus yesterday, and I remember that horrible not like feeling. Is she okay?”

“I don’t know,” I said.

“Fluttershy, would you help us look for her?” asked Twilight Sparkle.

“Of course,” she replied. “A pony in need is a friend indeed.”

I explained to Fluttershy what little I suspected about Bobbie’s shelter. The other two ponies were particularly worried, talking about the dangers of something called the Everfree Forest; apparently, we were near the edge of it. It didn’t look any different to me; I thought it would be a nice place to go camping. Then Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy described the dangers therein: hydras, sea serpents, cockatrices, giant death bears, and any number of other mythological creatures that were as real here as magic.

Having a pegasus along was helpful. She was able to fly and get a better vantage point than us, though she didn’t spend much time far from the ground. Often, she appeared to be talking to the animals. Unlike the ponies, the animals in the forest didn’t talk; I also thought they looked a lot more like Earth animals, lacking those ridiculous color schemes. On the other hand, they were certainly a lot less skittish than Earth animals.

During one of those moments when Fluttershy was preoccupied with the forest animals, Twilight Sparkle turned to me. “A curse, you said?”

“I don’t know. I just didn’t want Fluttershy to feel like it was her fault for feeling so bad. Do curses exist in your system of magic?”

“Curses, charms, enchantments, compulsions… there are a number of negative forms of magic,” Twilight Sparkle explained. “While I haven’t sensed anything like that from you, any of those are theoretically possible. I’ll need to search the library for the appropriate spells to better diagnose your condition, if you do in fact have one.”

I laughed. “One of those things humans fear about being in an alien place is being captured, strapped to machines, and endlessly analyzed.”

“Thanks for letting me know that, John. I’ll be sure not to hook you up to the laboratory equipment in the basement.”

Twilight Sparkle changed the subject. “So Bobbie is your friend now?”

I sighed. “If I can say I’ll be friends with a pegasus who’s deathly afraid of me, then maybe I can be friends with her, too.”

“I’m so glad you are experiencing the magic of friendship, John,” Twilight Sparkle said.

I shook my head. If I was brought to another world just to learn a lesson in friendship, then someone has some serious explaining to do.

“I have something,” Fluttershy said. She gently fluttered to the ground, a chipmunk resting on her head. “Mr. Chipmunk here says there’s somepony sleeping by one of his food caches, and his mate and babies are very hungry, and wouldn’t we do something about it?”

“Well, then, lead the way,” I said.

“Mr. Chipmunk wants you to promise not to tell anypony where his cache is,” Fluttershy added.

“Of course,” Twilight Sparkle responded.

I facehoofed. “Sure, fine, whatever.”

The chipmunk chittered, and Fluttershy led the way between a pair of oaks. Choosing a path through the wilderness, we reached a rocky area. About five feet below us, a stream ran through a gully. “She’s in a cave by the stream,” Fluttershy said. The chipmunk gave Fluttershy a quick nuzzle, and jumped off, disappearing into the underbrush.

We climbed into the gully. Sure enough, Bobbie had taken shelter there. She was dirtier, with that same stressed expression of a person who has experienced a terrible shock. I got a better look at the mark on her flank; it was an electric guitar over paper… a page from a book?

“Bobbie!” I said. “You don’t have to stay out here. Come into town.”

She looked up. I think she had been crying. “I said I can handle myself.” Bobbie noticed Fluttershy. “YOU!” she yelled.

Fluttershy flew backwards. “I’m terribly sorry for the way I reacted earlier,” she said quietly. “I didn’t know you were cursed.”

“Cursed?” Bobbie exclaimed. “This whole place is a curse!”

“Bobbie, this is Twilight Sparkle,” I said, motioning to the violet unicorn. “She’s going to help me get home. She’s going to help us get home. But she can’t do it if you’re hiding out here.”

“The forest is a dangerous place,” Fluttershy said. “Why, at any moment, a manticore could try to eat you, or a cockatrice could turn you to stone.”

“What?” Bobbie said. The way she was grinding her hooves into her head, she must have a terrible headache. She looked totally exasperated.

“Maybe you’d feel better after a nice dinner?” Twilight Sparkle offered. “My treat!”

“I said I’m fine,” Bobbie responded.

She sounded less sure of herself this time. I pressed the issue. “But what have you been eating?”

She lowered her head. “Grass,” she said, less confidently. “I mean, I’m a horse, right?”

“Pony,” I corrected her. To say that so quickly, I must really have gotten used to this world. That was a scary thought.

“Please come with us, Bobbie. Let me show you what a good grass meal is. I know just the place in Ponyville,” said Twilight Sparkle.

Bobbie relented. “Fine.”

It was early evening when the four of us made it back to Ponyville. Twilight Sparkle took us to a restaurant near the railroad station, specializing in stir-fried wild grass dishes. And she wasn’t kidding about the restaurant being good. The flavor reminded me of Chinese noodle dishes, with garlic and ginger and hot peppers. The technology level of this world is all over the place, but they must have a decent system of trade, to import all those spices. The way Bobbie attacked her food, she hadn’t eaten much. Then again, we hadn’t eaten since breakfast. A dozen plates were stacked at the edge of the table when we finally finished dinner.

We heard the sound of a train whistle in the distance. “Rarity should be on that train,” Twilight Sparkle said. “Do you want to meet her? She’s another of our good friends.”

“Sure,” I said. Bobbie didn’t look thrilled, but she assented as well.

Twilight Sparkle left a handful… hoofful of bits on the table, and we walked the short distance to the railroad station. The passengers were in the process of disembarking from an old-fashioned steam train. Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy honed in on another unicorn, brilliant white with an elegantly-styled bluish-purple mane. Her horn was glowing as she magically carried bolts of fabric alongside her.

“How was the fashion show, Rarity?” asked Twilight Sparkle.

“It was fabulous!” she replied eagerly. “The buyers just loved my designs, and I found such gorgeous new fabrics in Canterlot. I predict months of inspiration!” Rarity looked over at me and Bobbie. “Well, aren’t you going to introduce us?”

“Rarity, this is John, and this is Bobbie. They’re both visiting Ponyville from far away. Bobbie, John, this is Rarity, owner of the Carousel Boutique and talented fashion designer.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said, extending my hoof.

Rarity shook my hoof. “A pleasure,” she replied. Her accent was sort of upper class, East Coast or proper British. I wondered if it was an affected accent, since no one else I talked to spoke like that.

Bobbie and Rarity then shook hooves, reluctantly. I gathered that Rarity really didn’t like Bobbie’s hairstyle, and that the feeling was mutual. But the greeting was finished with all due politeness, and certainly without the fearful reaction we had seen with Fluttershy.

Near the train, a worker was looking lost. The pony, a young earth pony stallion wearing soot-covered overalls, was checking a note and trying to get his bearings. Fluttershy flew over to him. “Do you need any help, sir?” she asked.

“That’s mighty kind of you, ma’am,” he replied. “This is my first evening stop in Ponyville, and I’m looking for the Railside Inn. I’m afraid these directions I have aren’t helping me.”

“It’s over there,” she replied, pointing to the north. “If you just go through the station building and out the other side, you’ll be able to see the inn’s sign on your right.”

“Well, thank you kindly, Miss…”

“Fluttershy,” she replied, holding out her hoof hesitantly.

“Little Ironhoof,” replied the not-so-little stallion. He shook her hoof vigorously. “I just joined the railroad as a coaler last week.”

Fluttershy smiled broadly. “You enjoy your visit, sir!” she said.

With a tip of his hat, the coaler departed. Fluttershy just looked at her now soot-stained foreleg, and smiled.

Twilight Sparkle and I had been watching their interaction. “I think she needed that,” she said.

“What?” I said.

“I think she just wanted to be sure she could still be kind to a stranger. Now, let’s get back to the library,” Twilight said. “Bobbie, I insist you accept my offer of hospitality, and stay with me tonight.”

“I don’t know,” Bobbie said.

“If you’re thinking of going back to the woods, you might want to take a look up,” Twilight responded. The sky was abuzz with pegasi, moving black clouds all over Ponyville. “It looks like the weather team is bringing in a pretty fierce storm tonight.”

Bobbie muttered something like “Weather control?” She sighed. “Okay, I’ll stay with you tonight.

Mere seconds after we returned to the library, Twilight Sparkle was pulling books off the bookshelf. “Hmmm. The Conundrum of Curses: A practical guide to impractical magic.” She flipped through the book rapidly.

“Really? Curses?” Bobbie commented.

“I threw out the idea earlier today, and Twilight Sparkle seems to be running with it. Like you, I have no idea how we got here, but it’s bound to be because of ‘magic’. So if magic is the cause, then someone who knows magic should be looking at us. And she seems to know magic.”

A bolt of lightning flashed outside, and thunder punctuated our conversation.

“Just as long as there’s no Dr. Frankenstein laboratory in the basement,” Bobbie said.

I declined to mention the laboratory Twilight Sparkle had said was in the basement.

“Okay, I think I’ve found a good diagnostic spell,” Twilight Sparkle finally said. “You shouldn’t feel anything.” Her horn glowed yellow, and a similarly colored aura enveloped us. She was right; I didn’t feel anything.

Twilight Sparkle concentrated for a long time, longer than I had seen her using her magic. Finally, the glow ceased, and she said, “Nothing.”

“So we’re not cursed?” Bobbie asked.

“No, nothing. The spell shows nothing. I’ve never seen that before.” Twilight Sparkle immediately turned to her bookshelves. “Enchantments. Magical wards. Auras.” More books flew around the library.

Twilight Sparkle started another spell. Again, there was a glow, pink this time, and an aura that enveloped me. Again, I felt nothing. And again, Twilight Sparkle was disappointed. She tried spells from two other books, with no effect.

“Are you sure she knows magic?” whispered Bobbie.

Finally, Twilight Sparkle set the books aside, and looked at me. Her horn glowed, with no effect. “John, that last bit of magic was one of the first spells I learned as a filly, one that I’ve used for years to style my mane. It couldn’t move a single hair in your mane. None of my magic is working on either of you. It makes no sense!”

“Is it because we’re from a non-magical place?” I wondered aloud.

We heard a sudden flare upstairs, like alcohol igniting. Spike stepped up to the railing and waved at us. “Twilight, you have a letter from the princess!”

Twilight Sparkle drew the scroll to her and opened it. “The princess is requesting my presence, along with any ‘guests from certain faraway locales’. She wants us to come on the first train tomorrow.”

Bobbie scoffed. “A PRINCESS? You have got to be kidding me.”

“Princess Celestia is a wise and powerful alicorn, Bobbie. If there’s anyone with the power to send you home, it’s her,” said Twilight Sparkle.

“Sorry, it’s just… I’ll explain later,” Bobbie said. “I’m definitely in. I won’t go back to hiding in the forest.”

Twilight Sparkle selected three books. “I have some more studying I want to do before I turn in. I’ll see you in the morning.”

I curled up on a couch, leaving the mattress to Bobbie. As the rain fell outside, I wondered if tomorrow would be the day I’d finally figure out what was going on.

Chapter 5: Tell Me A Fable

Numerous used coffee cups were stacked on the corners of desks and tables in the large laboratory at Royal Canterlot University. But it was mostly adrenaline that kept the professors and research assistants working strong. The phenomenon, really a series of mysterious phenomena, came to the university described by energy readings from the Atallama Observatory, but were rumored to be of particular interest to the princesses themselves. Could the inverse of these energy signatures be computed?

Further compounding the mystery of these observations was an additional series of mathematical formulae that arrived a day later. The accompanying letter was particularly cryptic, consisting of five words: “In the absence of magic”. Soon, there was a eureka moment: test the hypothetical formulas of the unified theory in the simplified case, with magic-related variables set to zero.

“Professor!” shouted one senior student. “Take a look at the inversion equation. The way we’ve been analyzing it, the variables could never converge. And the results are undefined with the magic-related variables at zero. But look what happens when θ follows this equation, with a limit of zero as t approaches infinity.” The equation was not solved, but it was no longer divergent.

“This might be the breakthrough we’re looking for!” the professor said excitedly. Immediately, he started working on the equation under other distributions of θ.

Crossing Over
By Alaborn

Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein.

Chapter 5: Tell Me a Fable

I was still exhausted when I was awoken by Twilight Sparkle. “Quick, get ready to go!” she said. “I have one stop to make before boarding the train.”

I looked outside. It was barely dawn, definitely an hour when I would prefer to be sleeping. Maybe I could catch a nap on the train.

“Don’t forget anything!” nagged Twilight Sparkle. “With a bit of luck, Princess Celestia will be able to send you home today!”

I wasn’t that hopeful. But both Bobbie and I gathered our saddlebags. The one benefit of being in these pony bodies was not having to worry about a suitcase of clothes.

Twilight Sparkle led us to a curious building, round and decorated with carousel horses. Didn’t Twilight Sparkle mention that Rarity owned the Carousel Boutique? In any case, what was so important to bring us here at this hour?

Twilight knocked on the door of the carousel building. After a while, Rarity opened the door, wearing a bathrobe, cap, and slippers. “Why, Twilight!” she said. “Whatever could be so important to interrupt somepony’s beauty sleep?”

“It’s just a matter of time pressure, Rarity,” Twilight Sparkle explained. “We’re on our way to Canterlot this morning, but we have a job for you while we’re gone. You see, John was just mentioning how much he’d like one of your cloaks.”

That was sure news to me. I looked to Twilight Sparkle, who mouthed “Play along.” I smiled. Turnabout is fair play.

Rarity looked at me crossly. “For him?” she said.

“Consider it a favor to me, Rarity,” replied Twilight Sparkle.

Rarity’s expression brightened considerably. “For you, Twilight, anything!” she said. “Come in, come in.” With a glow of magic, Rarity’s night clothes flew off, and without any further effort, she appeared as stylish as she had appeared yesterday.

A tape measure wrapped around me as Rarity took my measurements. Then, she browsed her fabric selections, checking several swatches against my mane and coat. “Now, what style would be best?” she mused. “Classic, elegant, modern? But something’s missing, and I can’t put my hoof on it.”

“Perhaps a new mane style to complement the fashion?” offered Twilight Sparkle.

“Yes!” exclaimed Rarity. “Twilight, that was simply genius!” Rarity levitated over a mirror, and I stared at myself. The mane with which I had appeared was rather boring, I had to admit, hanging straight and plain, much like a horse’s mane. To be honest, my human hair was just as boring.

A mild but pleasant tingle covered my head, and I saw my mane change while Rarity provided running commentary. “A yellow like that could use a lighter highlight. Now, perhaps a light wave. No, too much wave. Or how about a streak of color? Perhaps an orange to match your cutie mark?” As I watched the magic work on me, I figured out why Twilight Sparkle thought this trip was worth an early rise.

“She’d better keep that horn away from my hair,” Bobbie whispered to me.

She didn’t whisper quietly enough. “I wouldn’t worry about that, dear,” Rarity responded. “Even I can recognize a lost cause when I see it.”

Twilight Sparkle finally had to interrupt Rarity’s work. “I’m afraid we’ll need to be going, Rarity,” she said.

“Thank you for stopping by, Twilight Sparkle. I can’t wait to get creating!”

“Was that really necessary?” asked Bobbie.

“Shopping? No. A confirmation to my theory? Yes,” said Twilight Sparkle. “We have a long train ride ahead of us. I’ll explain then.”

“It’s the magic, isn’t it? Rarity’s magic worked on me,” I said.

“There’s more to my theory than that. I hope you’re up for some stories,” Twilight Sparkle said.

I was. Bobbie rolled her eyes. I don’t think punk rock was known for storytelling, at least not in the way Twilight Sparkle was planning.

We boarded the train, having a car to ourselves. Comfortable upholstered benches invited us to stretch out. As the train departed, Twilight cleared her throat. “Let me tell you the story of Hearth’s Warming Eve,” she began.

“Long ago, the three tribes of ponies lived as separate groups. Both the pegasi and the unicorns relied on the earth ponies, with their talent for growing food, to feed them. But the earth ponies, in turn, relied on the pegasi to create the weather, and the unicorns to bring about the sun’s daily rise, for these elements were necessary for their crops to grow. This begrudging relationship continued for years, until one unrelenting winter.

“The winter was beyond the power of either pegasus wingpower or unicorn magic to control. And, of course, nothing could grow in the cold. The three tribes accused each other of being responsible for the winter, and they grew further and further apart. Eventually, all realized they would have to abandon their home, and seek shelter where winter could not reach. They departed separately.

“Whether by coincidence or providence, the three tribes arrived at the same land, an unspoiled paradise. Yet their tensions came with them, and their fighting resumed. And as they fought, winter descended on the new land. Even as winter threatened to end all life, the obdurate leaders continued to bicker. Only when the leaders were completely consumed by winter did the other ponies find that they had no reason to hate each other. They discovered the winter was not natural, but brought by windigoes, evil spirits that feed on hatred and convert it into deadly cold.

“Only by putting aside their hatred, and recognizing that they were all first and foremost ponies, did the three tribes defeat the windigoes. Now, joined together in harmony, the three tribes worked together to build the land of Equestria.”

“And they all lived happily ever after,” added Bobbie.

Twilight Sparkle’s eyes widened. “Yes! You’ve heard this story?”

“No, Twilight Sparkle. Bobbie’s just quoting the well-known ending to a kind of story we call fairy tales,” I said. “In case you actually have fairies here, perhaps the term you use is a fable.”

Twilight Sparkle nodded. “A fable is a good term. The tale has few specifics, and nopony has ever found the past pony home spoken of in this story. I told you this story because I want to know what you humans know of harmony.”

“Harmony?” exclaimed Bobbie. “There’s wars all over the Middle East, hostages in Iran, planes being hijacked, murders, the ever-looming threat of total nuclear annihilation, and radio thinks we should be hearing songs about piña coladas?” But I kind of like that song, I thought.

“I think that’s a little pessimistic,” I said. “There are so many good things humans do, and we can form close relationships, especially in smaller groups. But I live in a city of eight hundred thousand humans. There’s no possible way I can meet them all, let alone be friends with them.”

Twilight Sparkle’s jaw dropped. “Eight… hundred… thousand?”

“That’s not even a large city,” I continued. “Bobbie, how many people live in New York?”

“Something like seven million,” she said. “More, if you count Jersey. And I don’t.”

Twilight Sparkle shook her head. “I’d like to hear more about your relationships, your friendships, your human harmony. Bobbie, I haven’t had much of a chance to talk to you. Would you please tell me more about yourself? What makes you happy?”

“My life revolves around my passion, punk rock,” Bobbie said. “When I first heard it, it inspired me like nothing before it. I’ve been on my own for several years, living in New York City, the heart of the scene. I publish the zine London Falling with other fans, plus do some other odd jobs. It’s not the easiest job, but I wouldn’t give it up for anything.” Bobbie reached into her saddlebags, and pulled out two copies of a handmade magazine, giving them to me and Twilight Sparkle. It was typed, with grainy photos, a haphazard layout, and an editing style that could only be described as stream of conscience. Production-wise, it’s probably the best quality work she could have done with little budget and 1980 technology. But there’s no doubt it was passionate work.

“Fortunately, the scene is quite supportive, helping each other when we need help. But some aren’t quite as supportive. There are quite a few men that think women just don’t understand punk rock, even as they have to ignore the Slits and Poly Styrene. They’re probably happy I’m in a land of princesses and ponies.”

“So you are closest to a small group of people, even though you don’t always agree?” Twilight Sparkle inquired.

“I guess,” Bobbie said. “What we share is more important.”

“So, how about you, John?” asked Twilight Sparkle.

“Much the same, I guess. One of the big differences is my best friends are people I’ve never met,” I said. I contemplated the best way to explain this. “In the present day, technology allows for easy communication over any distance, at any time, and it’s easy for people with similar interests to find each other. Imagine you created a new piece of music, and imagine you could place it somewhere where anyone who liked that kind of music could listen to it. Then they could give you feedback on it, or even use it to inspire their own creation.”

“That could revolutionize magical research!” said Twilight Sparkle. She looked like she was ready to create a magical version of the Internet right this moment.

I continued with my explanation. “Due to the nature of my interest, it will never be my job. That’s why I’ll need to figure out what to do with my life. I’ll need to get a college degree, and hopefully find a career that isn’t too bad. I’ll need to earn a living, and delivering pizzas just won’t do it.”

“So humans don’t know what their special talents are? When I met you, John, I thought your special talent was magic, because that’s what your cutie mark shows,” said Twilight Sparkle.

I visibly cringed at hearing that awful name again. “No, humans don’t get… marks. A lucky few will discover their talent, and that talent will be something they can earn a living doing. The mark on my own flank represents something I’m most passionate about.”

Twilight Sparkle summoned a scroll and quill. “My main observations so far are as follows: There are too many humans to build close friendships. There are stresses in the form of population, not knowing one’s talent, and the importance of earning a living, even if it’s not your special talent. These stresses are obstacles to finding harmony.”

I thought Twilight Sparkle’s summary served to highlight how alien a world this is. “There’s one thing I’ll add,” I said. “The closest thing to harmony, the thing that brings large groups of humans together, is facing a grave threat. Unfortunately, those threats normally come from other humans. So we’re more like those separate tribes in your fable.”

Twilight Sparkle made a few additions to her scroll, and then set it down. “Now, I have another story, the tale of Night Mare Moon,” she said.

“Long ago, two sisters ruled the peaceful land of Equestria. The older sister represented the sun, and the younger sister the moon. But the younger sister grew jealous of the attention focused on the older sister and the sun, and so she became the wicked spirit known as Night Mare Moon. With a heavy heart, the older sister banished her younger sister to the moon, and her story was all but forgotten. But it was foretold that after one thousand years, on the longest day of the year, Night Mare Moon would return, and bring with her a reign of perpetual night.

“What was thought to be legend by all but one pony was in fact true. Night Mare Moon returned, and that one pony knew Night Mare Moon could only be banished with the power of the Elements of Harmony, artifacts of legend. Joining together with her friends, these ponies journeyed into the foreboding wilderness, seeking the Elements of Harmony in the abandoned castle where the sisters once ruled. Night Mare Moon placed challenge upon challenge in front of these brave ponies, but they persevered. They reached the castle, and uncovered the Elements, in the form of ancient stones. But before their power could be unlocked, Night Mare Moon destroyed the Elements. Yet all was not lost, for the power of the Elements was not within the ancient physical forms, but in the hearts of the ponies themselves. Each pony represented one of the Elements: honesty, kindness, laughter, generosity, and loyalty. Together with the lost sixth element, the magic that comes from friendship, the six ponies banished the spirit Night Mare Moon, and restored the true, kind nature of the younger sister.”

“Another ancient fable?” said Bobbie.

“No,” replied Twilight Sparkle. “That actually happened, about a year and a half ago. And both of you have met some of the Elements. The consequences of these meetings are what have made it so urgent for you to journey to Canterlot with me.

“John, when Rainbow Dash introduced you to me, she thought you were crazy. She saw a unicorn who couldn’t use magic, and had a hard time even walking. Her thought that you needed to be sent to an institution seemed like an overreaction to me. But now I see she was trying to abandon you, even though she is the Element of Loyalty.

“Fluttershy experienced an emotion I’ve never seen her exhibit, one so unlike her that she couldn’t even say it. The Element of Kindness should never feel hate.

“Then, when I tried to cast spells upon you, they simply didn’t work. For the Element of Magic to be unable to perform any magic was unfathomable. I searched for an explanation for this most unusual happening. But then it occurred to me that my magic had been working without incident, until the moment I directed it towards you.

“Finally, this morning’s visit with Rarity demonstrated that the reason for my magic’s failure wasn’t you, but me, or rather the interaction between you and me. It also revealed another unusual behavior. Did you see how Rarity was unwilling to create a cloak for you, until I described it as a favor to me? Rather curious behavior for the Element of Generosity, don’t you think?

“The only conclusion I can reach is that, for whatever reason, your presence in this world interferes with the harmony upon which we, the Elements, ultimately rely. Thus, it is urgent to seek the counsel of Princess Celestia and her advisors.”

“So we’re a bad influence?” said Bobbie. “Not like I haven’t heard that one before,” she muttered.

“Only in one way, Bobbie,” Twilight Sparkle replied. “John, you got to meet more of the citizens of Ponyville. Did you feel like you were a bad influence?”

“Not really,” I said. “Every pony I met was friendly. Well, there was that one moment where Pinkie Pie laughed at my pathetic first attempt to drink out of a cup, but then she did something else to make everyone laugh.”

“Hmmm. Also unusual.” Twilight Sparkle made another note on her scroll.

With Twilight Sparkle again focusing on her work, I finally got a chance to observe the Equestrian countryside passing outside the window. It was beautiful, as if pulled from the pages of a storybook. A gleaming castle dominated the city we were approaching, which I assumed to be Canterlot. The architecture of the city looked unnatural, like something that could only be created in a world where magic could tell gravity to look the other way. Truly remarkable.

About half an hour later, the train pulled into the station. Twilight Sparkle put away her notes, and gently nudged Bobbie awake; she had fallen back asleep just moments after Twilight Sparkle finished her second tale. Upon disembarking, I was struck by how different Canterlot was. The city looked more urban and the ponies looked more urbane. Clothing was far more popular here; though not covering their bodies completely, I could see the resemblance to high-society styles back home. Whereas Ponyville was Norman Rockwell, Canterlot was Puttin’ on the Ritz.

We headed immediately to the castle. Inside, it resembled what I remember of Earth castles, but there was far more color in the stone. We arrived at a pair of giant doors. The armored unicorn guards, who I saw wielding spears instead of firearms, nodded to Twilight Sparkle, then opened the doors.

The royal audience chamber was simply breathtaking. Large windows, some in stained glass, flooded the room with sunlight. The floor was gleaming marble tile. A plush red carped lined the path to a raised dais, with a golden throne that looked three times as tall as it needed to be. The throne was empty, but four more unicorn guards stoically stood guard nearby.

Of more interest to me was the assembled group of ponies who weren’t part of the castle’s staff. There were a number of older-looking ponies, mostly unicorns, who definitely had a scholarly look to them. Some were wearing stylish attire, while others had that rumpled look that just screamed “professor” in my mind. One of the professors hurried to speak to Twilight Sparkle; they then left through one of the room’s rear doors.

Of all the ponies there, I was drawn to another unicorn, not quite as old as the rest, and who had a familiar fish out of water look to him. He had a yellow coat and electric blue mane, and a mark on his flank showing three of the Platonic solids, in different colors.

Bobbie and I walked up to the new unicorn. “So, what are you in for?” I joked.

“Is it that obvious I don’t belong here?” he replied, laughing nervously. “Name’s Dan Brooks. I’m 37, divorced, no kids, currently living by myself outside Milwaukee. I’m your typical computer geek, handling system installations and managing the network at my office.

“Now, picture this. Two days ago, I was out, jogging before work. There’s a nice walking trail in my subdivision; it winds among the neighborhoods and through the adjacent park. So, I’m in the park area, I suddenly see red, and then I open my eyes to find myself here, and looking like this.”

“A red flash. Sounds familiar,” said Bobbie.

“The same weirdness happened to both of us,” I said. “I have a few questions; I’m wondering if there’s some pattern to our situations I can figure out. First question, just to be sure: you’re human, right?”

“Uh, yeah,” Dan said. “Guess that isn’t obvious anymore.”

“Second, what was the day, including year, when you left?”

“July 16th, 1998,” Dan responded.

“Interesting. You’re both from the past, then, but Bobbie is from even further in the past,” I said.

“Last I saw, it was 1980,” Bobbie added.

And finally, why didn’t you mention your big interest?” I motioned to his mark. “I somehow doubt you’re a geometer.”

Dan scratched the back of his head nervously. “Yeah, I don’t normally talk about my hobbies a lot.”

“I can’t help feeling that our biggest passions are somehow important to us being here,” I said. “So, talk about your hobby as if I were a fellow gamer.”

“I was introduced to Dungeons & Dragons back in high school,” Dan started. “I’ve never stopped playing, really. My basement has a pretty impressive collection of rule books, published adventures, and miniatures. I started a campaign during college, and this core group of friends has continued to meet twice a month, for nearly two decades. My best man and two of my groomsmen were my fellow players. Our campaign has survived graduation, new jobs, marriages, children, Second Edition, collectible card games, and the demise of TSR. As far as I’m concerned, being polymorphed into a unicorn and sent to another world is not an acceptable excuse for missing the game! It’s Saturday back home, and I should be rolling some dice right now.”

I nodded politely. I only had a vague idea how the game worked, but it was obvious he was a lot more passionate about this than he was about his job.

“The worst part is, I can’t figure out how to use any of the unicorn’s powers. I could quote you the Monster Manual rules for unicorns, but I can’t figure out how to teleport or heal,” Dan said.

“I haven’t the faintest idea how to fly, either,” said Bobbie.

“I’m perfectly content to never find out, if it means I can go home,” I said.

Our conversation was interrupted by the clarion call of numerous trumpeters. I looked up. All eyes gazed towards the throne. Three of the unicorns, including a returned Twilight Sparkle, stood nearest the throne, on the red carpet. Warmth and brightness filled the room as a truly majestic creature entered the room. More than twice the size of ponies, she bore both the horn of a unicorn and the wings of a pegasus. Her coat was pure white, and her flowing mane, which sparkled, appeared to be woven from pastel sunlight. I was flooded with sensations: power, grace, peace, authority, love.

All around the room, the ponies bowed to the princess. I immediately imitated their gestures, stretching out my forelegs and lowering my head to the floor. My rear hooves lost their purchase on the smooth marble tile, however, and I ended up unceremoniously sprawled on my stomach. I glanced up. Dan had lowered his head, while Bobbie defiantly did nothing.

“Rise, my little ponies.” The princess’ voice was soothing, yet still demanded respect. All in the room rose. “We have gathered to discuss the unusual events of the last two days and how we can help those most affected by these events. Professor Silver Galaxy, please begin with your report.”

One of the three unicorns up front, an elderly gray unicorn, responded. “Three nights ago, the celestial recorders at Atallama Observatory registered an incredibly powerful outburst of energy, stretching from Canterlot into the heavens. The energy signatures showed both an incredible power level, and acted in ways never seen before by ponykind.”

“Professor Bluesight, your conclusions?” directed Princess Celestia.

“The professors and students of Royal Canterlot University, acting under my direction, were able to isolate seven distinct energy signatures underlying the observed phenomenon,” said the blue unicorn. “Each represented an act of magic unprecedented in history, a connection that traveled not only through space and time, but across dimensions. Each signature represented the act of bringing one individual from this other dimension to Equestria. Yesterday, we studied the subject ‘Dan’ in detail, finding he corresponds to the third energy signature.”

“Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student. Tell me about your new friends,” said Princess Celestia.

“Two days ago, I met John, an individual from a world he called the ‘human world,’” said Twilight Sparkle. “Although transformed into the body of a unicorn, he maintained possession of artifacts from the human world, showing creatures and glimpses of a world unlike anything we’ve seen, or imagined. Later, I met Bobbie, also from the human world, but from further in the past. Both are good as individuals, but their world does not know harmony as we do. I have communicated my findings to you, Princess Celestia, and I urge you to send them home.”

“Professor Bluesight, have you determined the way to reestablish connections with this other world and reverse the transfer?” asked the princess.

“We have finally computed the magical energies that can reverse the transfer. The ritual involved will be delicate, Princess. The transfer must by necessity involve magic of a power only you or your sister could control, but due to the nature of the destination, the magic used must fade to nothingness at the precise end of this virtual tunnel. Without this technique, a stable pathway can never be established.”

“Thank you, my subjects,” said Princess Celestia. “I have good news to report. When we first learned of what happened, Luna spread word via certain channels to be on the lookout for unusual ponies. We have found the other four guests to Equestria. All are en route to Canterlot, and will arrive tomorrow morning. Two were found in Fillydelphia, and two in Appleoosa, by Twilight’s dear friend, Applejack.

“I have further asked the remaining Elements of Harmony to journey to Canterlot. I do this only as a precaution.

“Now, I must bid you leave. There remains much to be done.” Princess Celestia rose, and with a different clarion call, departed the audience chamber.

Professor Bluesight and Twilight Sparkle both walked over to the three of us humans. “Professor Bluesight wanted to meet you, and figure out which of the seven you were,” Twilight Sparkle said.

“May I suggest we head out to the courtyard first?” he said. “It is a fine day.”

We looked at each other, and shrugged. “Sure,” I said.

The sun above the castle was perfectly positioned to illuminate the courtyard. An artful arrangement of trees and flowers added life to the bright stone walls and metal fixtures. Once in the center of the courtyard, Professor Bluesight’s horn glowed, and magic lightly flowed over us. “John, you were drawn here by the first signature, and Bobbie, you are the seventh.”

“What does that even mean?” asked Bobbie.

“We have ordered the seven signatures by the amount of time displacement,” explained the professor. “That means that John, you are from closest to the present date, and Bobbie, you are furthest.”

“I’m from the past too?” I said. Now that I said it, I realized it was a pretty silly assumption that my time had to be the present date.

“Yes, all of you are. If can let me know the relative difference between your two times, I can tell you approximately what the present date is in your world.”

“It was April 9th, 2008 where… when I came from,” I said.

“October 26th, 1980,” said Bobbie.

“That’s 28… 27 and a half years. A little less,” I said.

Professor Bluesight’s horn glowed. An abacus appeared out of nowhere, and he performed calculations with ease and grace. “The present day is approximately four of your years from your own time, John.”

What was so special about 2012? The end of the world? But I thought that was supposed to happen later in that year.

“In any case, we unicorns working on the unified theory believe that time is a constant force through the universe, no matter what the dimension. A second in your world is a second in ours,” explained Professor Bluesight. “Your world proves that magic is not present at the same level, but we believe time is the same.”

“Do you have any idea why we were pulled from the same place, but different times?” asked Dan.

“Honestly, I have no idea. There’s no pattern I could discern to the time displacements,” said Professor Bluesight. “As for the question of place, I suggest that it so difficult to cross dimensions, that opening pathways to multiple dimensions at the same time would be an order of magnitude more difficult. Compared to that, different times are trivial. Why, a skilled unicorn can master a simple time travel spell.”

“Don’t remind me,” said Twilight Sparkle. “Professor, I would like to help you with your final calculations.”

“I think we have everything under control,” replied the professor.

“Please, Professor. It is crucial that this ritual works!” she said urgently.

Rainbow colors danced across the courtyard as Princess Celestia gracefully glided towards us. She flew in behind Twilight Sparkle and Professor Bluesight, so Twilight did not notice her arrival. Her pleading with the professor was interrupted by Princess Celestia tenderly placing her horn atop Twilight Sparkle’s head.

“Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student,” she said gently. “I understand how much you want to help. But please don’t forget that there are three guests here, who are alone and in need of a friend. And who best to share with them the magic of friendship than you?”

“Princess,” she started.

“Twilight Sparkle, spend a day away from your research. Show our guests around Canterlot. And please, have some fun,” the princess ordered. She spoke kindly, but there was no doubt it was an order.

“Yes, Princess,” replied Twilight Sparkle. “John, Bobbie, Dan, I think I know just where to start.”

Chapter 6: Come Together

A brown earth pony sat on a bench in the Fillydelphia train station, happily munching a sandwich. “This Filly cheesehay sandwich is really quite good,” he thought. “I bet if I introduced the rest of Equestria to this sandwich, they’d enjoy it.” He smiled as he thought of the possibilities. His cutie mark, resembling a desert island, gave no hint to his special talent, and should have looked particularly out of place as far north as Fillydelphia. But here, like other parts of Equestria, no one paid any particular attention to this pony, sitting in the background.

The train arrived, one of the older models pulled by a quartet of well-muscled stallions. The arriving team undid their harnesses and wiped the sweat from their brows. A station employee arrived with large cups filled with cold water, which the tired stallions happily consumed. A mechanic performed a routine check of the train as the new team got ready. Porters unloaded trunks and crates. “Next stop, Canterlot. All aboard!” called the conductor.

The brown stallion made no move to board the train. Rather, he observed. A pair of stallions, one pegasus and one earth pony, were among those eager to depart Fillydelphia. They weren’t particularly unusual, except for the company they kept. Seeing them off were one of Fillydelphia’s finest, and a mare who anypony would recognize as the mayor’s spokespony.

It took a mere five minutes for the exchange of passengers to finish. The train’s whistle sounded, and the team pushed against their harnesses as one. The train lurched, and slowly built speed. A routine daily event, completed again.

The earth pony frowned. He had finished the last bite of his sandwich. Reluctantly, he rose, discarded the wrapper, and joined the crowd.

Crossing Over
By Alaborn

Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein.

Chapter 6: Come Together

“There are few greater works of art than Canterlot Castle itself,” said Twilight Sparkle. “Let me show you around.”

The three of us newcomers followed Twilight Sparkle as she led us through the castle. The tapestries, suits of pony armor, and pottery looked impressive to me, but apparently Twilight Sparkle didn’t find them worth discussing. She didn’t stop until reaching a long corridor, both walls decorated by stained glass masterpieces. The thick carpet deadened our hooffalls as we walked.

“In this hall, you can see great moments of Equestrian history, captured in colored glass. Here, you will see representations of the founding of Equestria, the rise of the sisters, their establishment of Harmony, the creation of the Elements of Harmony, the founding of the great cities, and more.”

We all viewed the stained glass artwork wordlessly. There was a distinctive style to the images, obvious even to my untrained eye. The craftsmanship attained by the ponies was remarkable, and they accomplished this without hands. Of course, magic would make the task easier, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find these were made without magic.

I stopped by one of the windows, a familiar purple color catching my eye. The lead came holding together this window’s glass was significantly less tarnished than the other windows. “This is you, isn’t it?” I asked Twilight Sparkle.

“It is,” she said. “This window represents the defeat of Night Mare Moon, and our use of the Elements of Harmony. Further down the hall, you will see us again, in a representation of the defeat of Discord.”

It struck me just how important this Twilight Sparkle was. Her early description of herself as Princess Celestia’s star pupil could have been random bragging, or padding one’s resume. But the princess did value her opinion highly, and at that moment, I saw she’s pretty much a national hero. And she basically dropped whatever else she was doing to help me, for three days now, and today was happily playing amateur docent. That was just so… inhuman. Inhuman, in a good way.

After visiting an art gallery, with paintings resembling a Renaissance style, Twilight Sparkle took us out the rear of the castle. A massive garden stretched out before us, with a hedge maze directly ahead.

“The hedge maze has been carefully cultivated for centuries. The princesses often change the pattern. I wouldn’t recommend getting lost today!

“The gardens collect flora and fauna from all over Equestria. Together, they represent the gracious rule of the princesses, and the beauty possible when living in harmony.

“Also throughout the garden, you will find statues representing pony ideals. Look, and you will see Victory, Friendship, Harmony, Knowledge, Generosity, Loyalty, and others.”

Like the stained glass, there was a common style to the statuary. The stone surfaces were clean and obviously well cared for. Twilight stopped when she came to the only non-pony statue in the garden, a chimera that looked like it was built off an Eastern dragon. Her horn glowed, and a magic circle in brilliant white briefly appeared around the statue.

“What is that?” asked Bobbie.

“Discord, the spirit of chaos incarnate,” Twilight Sparkle replied. “Like Night Mare Moon, a force defeated with the power of the Elements of Harmony. Sadly, there was no gentle soul to redeem, and so Discord will remain bound forever. I just can’t walk past this statue without double-checking the security of the magical bindings.”

The logic of keeping someone like that just outside the castle was lost on me. There’s probably some magic-based explanation.

After finishing our tour of the gardens, Twilight Sparkle escorted us through the streets of Canterlot. She showed us her old school. Young unicorns chatted, practiced magic, read, and grouped to listen to teachers. My own high school memories still fresh in my mind, I was insanely jealous of the freedom these students had. We passed by a building that was of great personal importance to the purple unicorn, the library and royal archives. The way Twilight Sparkle kept glancing back at the building, it appeared her mind was half-focused on some unfinished research.

Our next destination was what Twilight Sparkle called “historic downtown Canterlot.” The older stone buildings were set close to each other, but were clean and well-maintained. Twilight Sparkle mentioned the many uses for the buildings in the past: nobles’ residences, embassies, museums. Most were repurposed as government offices today, she explained. She’s a natural tour guide, I thought.

*CLANG*

I looked around, saw nothing, and then looked up. Above our heads, a gray pegasus was wrapped around an antenna. No, it wouldn’t be an antenna here. A lightning rod? The pegasus slid off the now-bent rod, then her wings extended, and she glided to the ground. “Who put that there?” she said.

Twilight Sparkle rushed up to the mare. “Are you all right?” she asked.

I got a better look at the pegasus. She was carrying what looked like a mailman’s pouch. She had a blond mane and a mark on her flank resembling bubbles, but her most noticeable feature was her yellow eyes. The poor thing hit her head so hard, it crossed her eyes!

The mare tried to focus her eyes. “Twilight Sparkle?” she said. “Did I make a wrong turn and end up back in Ponyville?”

“No, Derpy, you’re in Canterlot,” Twilight Sparkle replied reassuringly. “I just happen to be visiting too!”

“That’s wonderful, Twilight!” Derpy replied cheerily. “I just don’t know what went wrong there! I followed the same warm air pattern that I always follow, but that’s the first time I hit that pole!”

A creaking sound alerted us to a fresh problem. The metal rod twisted, and detached from the roof. “Look out!” I called.

Everyone scattered, just in time. The metal rod, about as long as my pony body and as thick as my foreleg, hit the cobblestone street and tilted over, rattling loudly. The harsh metallic vibration echoed off the facades of the stone buildings. The errant rod finally came to a rest in the middle of the street.

“Let’s at least get this to the curb,” I suggested. I pushed it with my hooves; the rod was surprisingly heavy. Bobbie joined in, and the rod began to roll faster. When Dan added his own strength, however, the rod glowed with a strange energy. The energy jumped from the rod to Dan like electricity from a live wire.

“Yow!” Dan screamed, and fell backwards. The fall broke the connection, and he recovered quickly.

Twilight Sparkle, who had been checking on Derpy, rushed over to Dan. “What happened?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Dan replied. “It’s like I got a shock when I touched the pole.”

“I didn’t feel anything,” said Bobbie.

“Neither did I,” I added. “Do you know what that is, Twilight Sparkle? A lightning rod?”

“I’m not sure,” she replied.

I looked closer at the rod. It didn’t look old. I searched the buildings. I didn’t see anything similar from where I was standing. “Can your magic discern anything about it?” I asked.

Twilight Sparkle nodded, and then concentrated. Her horn and the rod glowed a pale green for about ten seconds. She then looked at Dan, concentrated, and sighed. “There’s something in the rod, but I can’t sense anything about you, Dan. I just know there’s a connection, though.”

Twilight Sparkle turned to Derpy. “I have a letter for the princess. Could you deliver it right away, Derpy?”

“I sure can!” she responded.

Twilight Sparkle summoned a scroll and quill, and rapidly scrawled a note. Magically rolling the scroll, she passed it to Derpy. The gray mailmare stuffed the scroll in her bag, gave Twilight Sparkle a quick salute, and flew off.

“I apologize for interrupting the tour, everypony, but I think the Princess needs to learn of this development,” said Twilight Sparkle. She concentrated, and the metal rod rose in the air.

We headed back to the castle, retracing our steps. Although Twilight Sparkle wasn’t doing anything physically, the strain of lifting a heavy object was wearing her down.

“Need any help, Twilight?” I turned, and saw the rainbow-maned pegasus I met on my first day here.

“Rainbow Dash!” exclaimed Twilight Sparkle. “How did you get here so fast?”

“I flew. Of course.” She flew into a vertical position, puffing out her chest. “If the Princess needs me, I’m not going to sit in some stuffy train car! I’m going to fly here. And nopony flies faster than Rainbow Dash!”

“And yes, I could use some help,” said the exhausted unicorn.

Rainbow Dash flew under the levitating pole, and carefully balanced it across her back. She looked unsteady for but a moment as Twilight Sparkle released the magic holding it aloft. Then, Rainbow Dash instinctively balanced the movements of her body and wings, and the pole didn’t budge. “Piece of cake!” she said.

With Rainbow Dash helping us, we were able to return to the castle at a faster pace. As soon as we arrived, Twilight Sparkle spoke to one of the guards. “Please inform the Princess that I have returned, and have urgent business to discuss, as mentioned in the letter I sent minutes ago.” The guard nodded, and trotted off. Another guard escorted us to a conference room.

Rainbow Dash twisted her body slightly, causing the metal rod to roll onto the table. She then stretched, popping her shoulder and wing joints. “Ahh… better.”

Two pegasus guards opened the door to the conference room. Without the fanfare from this morning, Princess Celestia entered the room, followed by one of her unicorn advisors. “Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student, whatever is so important?” She spoke warmly, but I wondered if she was suspicious of her student’s motive.

“It’s this,” Twilight Sparkle said, motioning to the rod. “It may not look like much, but I sensed an unusual energy that may be tied to our visitors. Dan reacted rather strangely when he touched it,” she explained.

Princess Celestia lowered her horn. If she was using magic, it wasn’t showing the normal visible effects I had seen with unicorn magic. She raised her head, and said, “I think your conclusion is right, Twilight Sparkle. And that there may be…”

“…six other of these things!” said Twilight Sparkle, finishing the thought.

The princess nodded. She turned to one of the guards. “Lieutenant Silverwing, inform the guards to ready as many chariot squads as possible.” To the unicorn, she said, “Bring the professors. I want them to study this item, and look for similar magical signatures throughout Canterlot.”

“I’m going to go with one of the squads. You know, in case they need any help,” announced Rainbow Dash.

“Of course, Rainbow Dash,” said the princess, smiling.

Twilight Sparkle looked ready to say something, but Princess Celestia was ready. “I know you want to help too, Twilight Sparkle, but you wouldn’t want to miss your dinner reservations at the Aerie, would you?”

Twilight Sparkle’s eyes, well, sparkled. “The Aerie? How did you know?”

“I’ve seen you cast your gaze upon the restaurant, my pupil. And besides, what better place to go for a group of visitors who want to see Canterlot?”

Twilight Sparkle was bouncing around like Pinkie Pie as she described the restaurant. “The food’s great, but you can find great food all around Canterlot. But this restaurant, it’s up high, and it SPINS!”

“I take it you’ve never been there?” said Bobbie.

“No,” Twilight Sparkle replied. “My parents talked about taking me there when I graduated, but then I left my formal schooling to study in Ponyville, so I don’t know if I’ll ever go there, and the restaurant is so expensive….”

I was surprised she was so excited about one meal. On the other hand, I wasn’t going to turn down a fine meal. It beats cold pizza and fast food any day of the week.

We arrived at a tall tower. Near its top, there was a wider disc-shaped room. We entered the tower, and a uniformed unicorn maître d' acknowledged our group. “Miss Twilight Sparkle and guests? Please follow me.” He escorted us to the center of the tower, a glass-walled cylinder stretching up the length of the tower. Another uniformed unicorn, resembling an old-fashioned elevator operator, opened the glass door, and we stepped onto a cylindrical lift.

The elevator operator’s horn glowed, and the lift slowly rose. Twilight Sparkle was smiling and enjoying the sights. To me, it just felt like any other elevator. Finally, the elevator broke through the ceiling of the tower, and we entered the restaurant.

The circular dining room featured about two dozen tables alongside the windows, with what I assumed to be a kitchen occupying the room’s center. The rotation of the restaurant couldn’t be felt. The restaurant itself might be nothing special to someone from Earth, but the view was astounding. Again, the brightness of this place was evident. There was none of the grayness of old, crumbling stone, like in Europe’s old castles. The predominant color was gleaming white, with bright pastels from roofs, pennants, flowers, and decorative trim.

The meal was something I’ll never be able to forget. I lost count of how many courses were brought out over the evening. Several dishes were prepared tableside, including a salad, a pasta course, and their version of cherries Jubilee for dessert. The courses were well-portioned and spaced out so that I didn’t feel particularly full until it was all done.

The service was incredible, too. The wait staff made sure our water glasses were full and not a crumb was left dirtying the tablecloth. And they never showed any sign of noticing what had to be terrible table manners from us transformed humans. The unicorns serving us all had marks on their flanks related to food service, such as cloches and silverware. I wondered what they thought about finding out their special talent was waiting tables. I know I don’t want to spend my life delivering pizzas, and to have someone say that’s what I should do?

There were a lot of questions I still had about this place, but my sincere hope was that I wouldn’t stick around long enough to have the chance to ask them. Twilight Sparkle directed our conversation over dinner, focusing mostly on Dan. He repeated his story about his life, how he got here, and his passion for Dungeons & Dragons. She asked familiar questions about humankind, friendships, relationships, and harmony. Dan, having lived through the end of the Cold War and having witnessed humankind not destroy itself, also had a more positive outlook on our species than Bobbie had.

Twilight Sparkle seized on one comment Dan made. “You said you don’t normally talk about your hobby, even though it’s your special talent. Why is that?”

“Special talent? I don’t know about that,” mused Dan. “I mean, how can you quantify something done for fun, seen by few people? It’s not like it’s my job, where I get an annual review.”

“That’s the whole point of cutie marks,” said Twilight Sparkle. “Even if no one judges you on it, it’s very important to you. Why don’t you share it with everypony?”

“Maybe people are different here, but it’s just not socially acceptable to a lot of people in my world. Fundamentally, what I enjoy is a game, and games are something adults aren’t supposed to do,” explained Dan.

“Well, that doesn’t make any sense,” said Twilight Sparkle. “Then what are adults supposed to do?”

“Watch television,” said the three of us, almost simultaneously. We laughed.

“Everyone has hobbies,” says Dan. “This may sound cynical, but how acceptable a hobby is can be determined by how many people do it. Almost everyone watches some television, so no one will think twice if you mention watching last night’s episode of Friends. In fact, because they probably watched it too, it gives you something to talk about in the break room. Yet move from passively watching some fictional world to actively creating one and sharing it, and suddenly you’re weird.”

“Do you all feel this way?” asked Twilight Sparkle. We looked at each other, and nodded.

“That doesn’t seem like a good way to live,” said Twilight Sparkle. “For me, magic is such an important part of who I am that I can’t just not be magical!”

I thought for a moment. “Tell me, Twilight Sparkle, what’s your favorite type of magic?”

“Right now, I’ve been researching improvements to teleportation magic. It’s my current area of interest,” she replied.”

“Tell us about your research,” I continued.

“Well, where to begin? I think the exclusion principle is a fascinating topic,” started Twilight Sparkle. “For those few unicorns who choose to study such a difficult school of magic, they start with the simple personal line-of-sight teleportation. The exclusion principle is ingrained into the basic theory of the magic, due to its importance. Teleporting oneself and oneself alone, and not the nearby ground or other living creatures, is paramount to both safety and reliability. Yet these two subjects are completely distinct! With modifications to the exclusion principle, it is possible to teleport much more than oneself. The complementary exclusion principle can allow one to teleport physical objects, although it must be further altered to allow for the teleportation of two distinct ponies at the same time. Each pony is unique, and magic will react differently in each pony’s presence. It takes a simple awareness to….”

Twilight Sparkle continued speaking, despite the confused expressions on our faces. It wasn’t until the next course was served that she realized she was talking about matters way over our heads.

“Sorry about that,” she said.

“That’s exactly how I feel when discussing real music with someone whose ears are closed,” said Bobbie.

“Or me, when I talk about Harry Potter with someone whose only exposure is through reading the books once, or , God forbid, just watching the movies,” I added.

“All those unicorn waiters, would they have understood what you were saying?” asked Dan.

“I doubt it,” replied Twilight Sparkle. “As Rainbow Dash might say, I was being a super-egghead right there.” She thought for a moment. “Maybe that’s another consequence of you being from such a large world. If ten thousand ponies know something, then I probably know at least one of them. If ten thousand humans know something, you may never meet one of those people.”

It was at that moment that the dessert preparation began. “I don’t know about you, but I think everyone can agree that dessert is the best part of a meal,” I said.

On the way back to the castle, I asked Twilight Sparkle, “How was the meal?”

“Not as good as I had imagined it,” she replied. “But wonderful anyway. It’s just that I’ve built up this place in my mind since I was a filly, and it’s hard to live up to that kind of unrealistic expectation. I would recommend this place again, but it certainly helps if the Princess is paying the bill.”

Once we entered the castle grounds, a rainbow blur streaked across the courtyard, catching the dying rays of the evening sun. The blur faded as a blue-green pegasus stopped, hovering over our heads. “Today was a total success!” crowed Rainbow Dash.

“Oh, you have good news?” asked Twilight Sparkle.

“Yep! We found all those metal things you said we should be looking for. And we found something else. Or, rather, somepony else!” said Rainbow Dash.

“Who?” replied Twilight Sparkle.

“No idea,” admitted Rainbow Dash. “Just go check it out. Bring your friends, too.”

With a bit of dread, we walked down several flights of stairs into what I assumed was a dungeon. Armored guards, both unicorns and pegasi, stood vigilant. Finally, Rainbow Dash pointed her hoof into one of the cells. “There!” she shouted.

Around the cell stood several guards, along with the ponies I had already met in Ponyville, including Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity. One pegasus broke from the crowd, grinding his hooves into his temples. “I can’t take this anymore!” he cried.

I raised my head, peeking into the cell. There was a pink pony with a blue and white mane in there, her front hooves bound in a straitjacket. Despite being unable to fly, she was bouncing around the cell, flying with the aid of the propeller on a beanie. Her cutie mark featured a screw and a baseball. I thought looking at her would make me crazy. Then she spoke.

“Azoic concupiscence elutriates glycosidic inelasticity! Metonymy poniards sanative uremia!”

I felt a migraine coming on.

“Crepuscular eponymy fusillades lotic metaplasia! Oncogenesis photolyzes recoupable tortoni!”

Rainbow Dash, who had what appeared to be pieces of cloud stuffed in her ears, turned to Rarity and said, “See? I told you it was a good idea to bring the straitjacket!” Rarity harrumphed.

Twilight Sparkle looked at the bizarre pony curiously. “I can’t help but feeling I’ve seen here before. Rainbow Dash, where did you find her?”

Rainbow Dash plucked the cloud out of one ear. “Huh?”

“I said, where did you find her?”

“She was buzzing around one of your mystery poles,” replied Rainbow Dash. “I know you’d want to talk to her, but she’s tough! She’s beating all of the Princess’ interrogators.”

“I can see why,” said Twilight Sparkle. “Look, I’m not sure it will benefit any of us to stay here. Just keep this place locked securely. I’m going to want to speak to Princess Celestia. Meanwhile, I have some friends who need rooms for the night.”

Sleep did not come easy that night. My mind kept thinking about the morning. Everyone was sure I’d be going home tomorrow, but I kept dreaming about things going wrong. I awoke with a start in the middle of the night, after a dream where I had remained trapped in Equestria. Every time I fell back asleep, I returned to the dream, twisting it each time to form a new problem. I felt myself dissolve into nothingness. Then I found myself home, but unable to be seen by anyone. Then I returned home, but to the wrong time.

My final dream was interrupted by a rapid pounding on my door. “John, wake up! Wake up!” called Twilight Sparkle.

“I’m awake,” I croaked.

“I’m going to take you to the conference room,” she said. “Everypony, or every human, is going to gather there while the Princess and the spellcasters get ready.”

I was apparently last to wake up. Bobbie and Dan were already there, along with two men I didn’t recognize. I did recognize the marks on their flanks, however. The pegasus with a light gray coat and silver-blue mane had a green lightsaber cutie mark, and the ochre earth pony with a bright yellow mane had a cutie mark that looked like those badges worn by the characters in Star Trek. I chuckled at the idea of these two meeting for the first time.

Before I could introduce myself, three other female earth ponies arrived. An orange pony with a blond mane, cowboy hat, and a mark of three apples was confidently leading two others. The pink pony with a red mane had an indistinguishable yellow-gold cutie mark. The royal blue pony with a silver-white mane bore a drama mask on her flank, and unusually, was wearing a black cloak. There was a palpable tension among the three ponies.

The orange pony’s attitude brightened considerably upon seeing Twilight Sparkle. “Twi!” she shouted; she sounded as if she were from the Deep South. “Am Ah glad to see you, an’ that’s the gosh-honest truth!”

“Welcome back from Appleoosa!” replied Twilight Sparkle. “I’d say welcome home, but we’re not home yet.”

“Glad to be back among friendly faces,” said the orange pony. “Now would ya mind tellin’ me what was so durn important that I had to rush straight here an’ spend a whole day in the train with these two… ponies?” She turned to them. “No offense, sugarcubes.” The pink pony rolled her eyes and the blue pony shook her head.

“Well, Applejack, now that you’re here, we’re going to do a briefing with the Princess and some of her advisors, plus some of the professors from Royal Canterlot University. It’ll be the condensed version, but I want everypony to have an idea of what’s going to happen,” explained Twilight Sparkle.

With that, Twilight Sparkle and Applejack departed, leaving us alone in the conference room. Two pegasus guards maintained their vigil outside. Apparently, her “everyone” didn’t include the seven of us.

“I can’t believe her!” shouted the blue pony. “I’m from a small town in the South, and I know damn well that ‘No offense’ means ‘I just offended you, and I’m going to keep offending you.’” Her accent sounded Southern, but much milder than Applejack’s.

“I can’t believe we went from the Wild West to Fantasyland in just one day,” said the pink pony.

“Wait, South, like the American south?” the gray pegasus asked the blue pony.

“Yeah, where else?” she replied.

“So what, we’re all in the same boat?” asked the ochre pony.

“I think so,” I said. “Did you all fall through a red portal, about three days ago?” Everyone nodded. “And you were human, and woke up like this?” More agreement.

I pulled a notebook and pencil out of my saddlebags. “Now that we’re all here, I’d like to see if there’s any sense at all to where we came from, when we came from, or why we might be here.”

“I’ve got nothing better to do,” said the gray pegasus.

“So let’s go around the table and introduce ourselves,” I said. “Say your name, where you’re from, the date it was when you disappeared—including the year, that’s important—and what you’re most passionate about. If you’re in the same boat as me, Bobbie, and Dan, it’s going to be symbolized in that mark on your side.”

“This mark?” asked the pink pony.

“Yeah, Twilight Sparkle called them…” I started, before being interrupted by maniacal laughter from the blue pony.

“Wait, wait, I’ve spent three days listening to her,” started the blue pony, pointing to the pink pony, “go on and on about a book called Twilight, with vampires that sparkle, and there’s someone here named Twilight Sparkle?” Her laughing continued, and she even started slapping the table with her hoof. The pink pony looked rather uncomfortable.

“Um, yeah,” I said, secretly embarrassed to have not noticed that. “Anyway, they’re called cutie marks, and they’re supposed to represent what you’re good at, but that seems to be a little different for us. Once you calm down, why don’t you start?” I said, looking at the blue pony.

“Sorry, I guess I’m a bit punch-drunk. That probably wouldn’t be as funny if I weren’t feeling so sleep-deprived.” She took a deep breath. “I’m Shannon Sullivan, from Dobson, North Carolina, currently a senior English major at UNC. Others might know me as Desdemona, Primogen of Clan Nosferatu, in our long-running LARP… live action role-playing game… for Vampire: the Masquerade. The creatures of the night are under my control. No secrets are unheard by my ears. And I don’t sparkle in the sun! Anyway, it was October 7, 1995, our monthly game, over in Battle Park. I was under cover of obfuscation, and approaching the site where the Gangrels were meeting, ready to spy. Except, that’s when the portal sucked me in. And I came to, looking like this, and instead of being 11 PM, it was early morning, and there was some celebration being planned, with lots of ponies and buffalo around. Then I saw Brianna, who also looked confused, and we’ve been forced together by these unusual circumstances.”

My initial attempts to take notes by hand had failed. My hoof did a fine job picking up the pencil, but any pressure, like with trying to write, caused it to pop out. I picked up the pencil in my mouth, and found writing that way felt a lot more natural.

The pink pony, Brianna, continued the introductions without prodding. “I’m Brianna Dubois, a high school student from Colorado Springs, and yes, I love the Twilight series. You can find my fan creations by looking up Allandra90 on deviantart.com and fanfiction.net. I was up late, writing, on January 8, 2007. I noticed a red light in the backyard, and like an idiot, I opened my bedroom window. I got pulled into the portal. And instead of arriving in Forks, I found myself in Dodge City, or Appleoosa as they call it.”

Dan continued. “Dan Brooks, computer geek from Brookfield, Wisconsin, and fan of real role-playing, the kind played with dice and graph paper maps. My Dungeons & Dragons campaign is older than some of the players at the local store. It was early in the morning on July 16, 1998 when I ran into my own red portal.”

Next, the gray pegasus spoke. “Tim Fitch, from Richmond, Virginia. Underwriter by day, Star Wars fan by day, night, and every moment in between. I disappeared on June 15 or 16, 1997. I’m guessing this red portal you’re all talking about appeared in my bedroom, because I went to sleep in my own bed, and woke up in Fillydelphia. I’m really hoping the portal didn’t damage any of my toys at home. My greatest fear is that time flows differently here, and I’m going to return home having missed the premiere of Episode 1.”

I made a noncommittal grunt and continued my writing. I decided not to ruin Tim’s hopes just yet.

“Star Wars! Finally, something I’ve heard of!” said Bobbie.

“And Fate apparently has a wicked sense of humor, since I almost immediately met a Trekkie,” said Tim, motioning to the ochre pony.

“Trekker, not Trekkie,” he corrected.

“What’s the difference?” asked Dan.

“I don’t own a pair of Spock ears. I have kissed a girl,” he replied. “Chris Kirk, from San Diego. Freshman at UCSD. Star Trek fan, both original series and Next Generation. I’ve attended Star Trek conventions throughout the Southwest. I’m honest enough to recognize the shortcomings of each series, and the movies, but I’m well able to focus on the best elements. It was about 3 AM on Sunday morning, March 7, 1993. I was walking back from a party—a normal frat party, mind you—and ran into the red portal. While I had something to drink, it shouldn’t have been enough for me to wake up here, that’s for sure.”

Bobbie introduced herself next. “Bobbie Jensen, from Manhattan, though my extended family is in Albany. Punk rock aficionado, scene follower, writer for a zine. And since it was 1980 when I left, I don’t even have an idea what most of my fellow humans are talking about. But it’s nice to know the world is still there in the future.”

It was my turn. I spat out the pencil. “John Lockhart, college student and pizza deliveryman, living in Indianapolis. It was April 9, 2008, around noon, when I ran into my own portal. I’m well-versed in a universe where magic works. Unfortunately, that universe is the Harry Potter universe, and not one with talking ponies.”

I glanced down at my notes. I couldn’t see any pattern to the dates or the locations. And our interests were similarly random. “Okay, I have no idea why we’re here,” I said. “For that matter, what is here? I mean, they call this place Equestria, but what is it?

“Yesterday, I heard the pony fable of Hearth’s Warming Eve. It almost sounds like an allegory for a long ago time, when leaders caused a nuclear war and nuclear winter covered the land. But it doesn’t fit with other ‘facts,’ particularly how everyone is convinced our world is a different world. And I hope they’re right, because I want to go home. Does anyone else have an idea for what this place is?”

“My first thought was Gulliver’s Travels, after a bad acid trip,” said Bobbie.

“Planet of the Apes, except with ponies,” said Tim.

“An alternate prime material plane, but no Dungeon Master would be evil enough to create a world like this,” said Dan.

“I have no idea,” admitted Brianna.

“I don’t know, but I like it,” said Chris. “It’s kind of how I imagined life on Earth in the Star Trek universe.”

“What do you mean?” I said.

“You know how there are replicators, that turn energy into matter? And there’s pretty much limitless energy? It’s hard to imagine want in a world like that,” explained Chris. “And I think all this magic I’ve seen is like the technology in Star Trek. It makes for a peaceful place.”

“I’m pretty sure this is My Little Pony,” said Shannon.

“What?” I said. The rest of us were confused as well. All of us, except Bobbie, likely recognized the name, but it didn’t mean anything to me.

“You know, the toy line?” Shannon said. “I mean, I wasn’t a fan. I liked art and books. But I had a sister, and she played with the toys, and so too many times I had to play with her. It’s primarily these unnatural colors that remind me of the toys. And I think there were unicorns and pegasus toys. But I don’t remember anything like a world for the toys. Nothing like an Equestria.”

Our speculation ended with the return of Twilight Sparkle. “We’re ready,” she said.

A large group proceeded to the gardens in the rear of the castle. Joining us seven humans were Princess Celestia, the six ponies called the Elements of Harmony, a half dozen unicorn scientists and advisors, and a dozen unicorn and pegasus soldiers. The scientists and advisors carefully scribed a large circle on the lawn, and instructed the soldiers to arrange seven metal rods equally around the circle. They gave a final review to some scrolls, before passing them to the princess. Twilight Sparkle stood protectively over a small, ornate chest, and watched the grounds nervously.

“Guards, head to the established perimeter,” ordered Princess Celestia. The guards departed. “We must have no disturbances. My visitors, please stand within the circle, near your rod, but do not touch them. The scientists will help you find the right one.” We followed their instructions. I noticed that I was standing next to the shortest rod, and Bobbie was next to the tallest rod.

“Now, please be silent. I will begin the ritual. My faithful advisors and honored researchers, please lend me your strength and guide the magic.” Princess Celestia’s horn started to glow, as did the horns of six other unicorns.

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that, Celestia,” said an unfamiliar voice.

Epilogue

Crossing Over
By Alaborn

Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein.

Epilogue

Ever since returning to my world, I felt a strong desire to do something real. Math. Science. I thought engineering would suit me well. After two years of community college, and a 4.0 my second year, I transferred to Purdue University. The mere act of living in a dormitory for the first time forced me to be more social than I had been in the past. I tried random activities with the guys on my floor, though the less said about our intramural Ultimate Frisbee team, the better.

I also made a stronger effort to connect with my parents. I still didn’t care much about sports or television, so I just tried asking for advice. It didn’t matter what subject I chose. It didn’t matter if I really needed the advice. What it gave me was some actual, adult conversations. I gained new respect for all the things they did right in their lives.

I had hoped to complete my bachelor’s degree in the traditional four years, but it looked like an extra semester was going to be necessary. With trying to finish a degree as fast as possible, I didn’t have as much time to devote to the Harry Potter fandom, maybe visiting my favorite Web sites twice a week. To the average person, that might sound like a lot, but trust me, it isn’t. But late in the fall of my senior “year” was an exception. The first part of the final Harry Potter movie had just been released; I of course caught a midnight showing. It was something fresh for us fans to discuss, and discuss it we did.

The big argument was whether the final book really needed to be split into two movies. I took the side that it wasn’t necessary. I repeated an argument I had made back when the final book had been released, that there were so many scenes that could be condensed or skipped to make a more exciting movie, one that could easily fit in a normal movie’s running time. The thread on the forum was passionate, to say the least.

Refreshing the thread, one poster’s response to my perfectly reasoned argument was one of those stupid lolcat pictures, with the caption “U MAD?” Normally, I’d ignore those, except for what was on that picture. My jaw dropped when I saw a blue-green pegasus with a rainbow-colored mane smiling at me.

“Where’s that picture from?” I typed in response.

I probably ruined my mouse clicking refresh every three seconds. Finally, I got a response, the cryptic message “Join the herd” with a hyperlink to YouTube.

What is this? “My Little Pony, Friendship Is Magic, Episode 1?” A story… one I heard before. “But how could they possibly…” And then the narrator’s voice faded into a familiar voice. The animated storybook was replaced by a book being read by… Twilight Sparkle.

No. Way.

Chapter 7: The Final Countdown

The previous evening, Twilight Sparkle confronted Princess Celestia. “Princess, today I felt like you were constantly pushing me away. I want more than anypony to help send these humans home. I’ve been close to the problem since the first day, and was the first to let you know about these strange happenings. So why didn’t you want me to help? Don’t you respect my discoveries?”

“Twilight Sparkle, my diligent student,” Princess Celestia began, “I do respect your discoveries. I respect your thorough documentation of your observations, and have read your theories with great interest. And it is out of respect for your work that I have held you back.”

“What do you mean?” asked Twilight Sparkle.

“Your reported the unusual void that occurred when you tried using your magic on our visitors. I do not know how far this effect extends,” explained Princess Celestia. “Would it affect your ability to calculate the magical forces needing to send them home safely? I cannot know. I do know, however, that you would not forgive yourself if something did indeed happen to them, as a result of your failed calculation.”

Princess Celestia smiled reassuringly. “Besides, I knew these visitors needed a friend, and I knew you were the one most qualified to show them the one form of magic not affected by these strange circumstances, the magic of friendship.”

“I see,” Twilight Sparkle said. “It just… it just doesn’t feel like I’m helping if I’m not researching or doing magic!”

“I also want you to know that I greatly respect your judgment,” said Princess Celestia. “Your suggestion that these events were orchestrated was agreed to by all, but your subsequent fear that these events were a major threat to Equestria was seen by most as overreaction. It was I that ordered the highest level of preparation here in Canterlot. It was I that ordered the Elements of Harmony here.”

“The Elements!” exclaimed Twilight Sparkle. “Have you checked on them?”

“Yes, my faithful student,” replied Princess Celestia. “The physical Elements of Harmony are safe in the vault. I have refreshed the wards, and I have asked Princess Luna to rule the night from outside the Elements’ chamber, rather than from her favorite observation platform. As for the spiritual Elements, know that your friends are being protected by a double shift of guards. And pegasus patrols are flying over the trains from Fillydelphia and Appleoosa, so know that Applejack is protected as well.

“Tomorrow, when I perform the ritual to send our visitors home, the Elements of Harmony will be gathered, in case there are troubles. Do not worry, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Thank you Princess,” replied Twilight Sparkle. “But I still can’t shake the fear that something bad will happen.”

Crossing Over
By Alaborn

Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein.

Chapter 7: The Final Countdown

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that, Celestia,” said an unfamiliar voice. A nondescript male earth pony, brown with a sandy mane, stood in the grounds of the garden. I was certain he wasn’t there before.

The magical glow faded from the horns of Princess Celestia and the unicorns. The incredibly gentle visage of the princess was replaced with intense furor. “GUARDS!” she roared. She turned to the stranger. “Who are you to invade my gardens?” she demanded.

“Who am I? Now, that’s something I wouldn’t expect you to know, but it’s a fair question for these fine ponies,” he said, motioning to the Elements of Harmony. “After all, I’ve been in Ponyville for months.”

The brown pony turned back, watching the guards. They were unable to approach, futilely pounding on a dome of force. “Oh, and this doesn’t involve your guards. Or those other unicorns.” The six spellcasters assisting Princess Celestia were surrounded by giant soap bubbles, and rose into the air, suspended out of our reach.

Twilight Sparkle’s horn glowed, but her magic suddenly dissipated. “Now, now, no magic. Use your eyes and your brains,” the stranger said.

Pinkie Pie circled the stranger, examining him from every angle. She put her ear to his chest. She poked his side and flicked his mane. She sniffed him. The stranger grabbed Pinkie Pie’s tongue before she could examine him with a fifth sense.

“Buh tha ihah…” The stranger released her tongue. “But that’s impossible! I know everypony!” said Pinkie Pie, flustered.

“Oh, really? I find that hard to believe, watching you ignore all us humble ponies in the background. At first, I thought it to be too great a challenge. So I made a few changes.” The stranger motioned to his flank, and the image of a desert island was replaced by a trio of horseshoes. Then it became a scroll.

“What in tarnation are you talkin’ about?” said Applejack.

“And how could you be using magic?” asked Rarity.

“See, you’re asking the wrong questions,” said the stranger. “You should be asking, why didn’t I notice this before? In fact, you didn’t even notice a change like this.” He clapped his hooves, and turned into a pegasus. “And I’ve even spoken in different voices,” he continued, in a higher-pitched voice.

“What do you want?” demanded Rainbow Dash. She flew up to the stranger, and raised her hooves, in an imitation of a pugilist. “You looking for a bruising?”

“Oh, Rainbow Dash, so brash,” he said. “But surely you remember all the attention you’ve received?” The stranger shifted again, into a gray earth pony with a camera. The camera flashed, and Rainbow Dash staggered back, dazzled.

“And dear Applejack, surely you remember these moves?” The stranger changed into a larger green earth pony, wearing a cowboy hat and neckerchief. A lasso appeared out of thin air, flew out, and trussed Applejack with lightning speed.

Applejack craned her head. “You!”

“You mean me, first place in the lasso competition at the Canterlot Rodeo?” The pony stuck an oversized blue ribbon to his chest.

The stranger changed again, into a unicorn. “Remember that high society party I invited you to, Rarity? You were so excited, you were willing to break a promise you made to your friend… and yourself!” Rarity fumed.

He changed again, into a goat. “And it was easy to send a certain minotaur in the direction of Ponyville.” Fluttershy stepped back, bad memories of “new Fluttershy” returning to her.

“ENOUGH!” shouted Princess Celestia, her royal voice powerful enough to stop even the smarmy stranger. “I know there’s only one creature cruel enough, wicked enough, to toy with my little ponies. Reveal yourself!” she commanded.

The goat shrugged, morphing back into a pony, then flashing through dozens of forms before finally growing. The resulting form was that of a tall chimerical creature. I recognized it from the statue in the gardens. It was….

“Discord!” shouted Rainbow Dash.

“In the flesh,” he responded. “Did you miss me?”

“But how?” asked Twilight Sparkle. “We defeated you, and bound you again in stone!”

“Oh, Twilight Sparkle,” he said. “Surely, you remember that I was bound for centuries by the powers of the Elements of Harmony… and the magic of the Princesses. Now, while your own magic is at quite a respectable level,” he said, placing his eagle claw hand at Twilight Sparkle’s eye level, “surely you realize that the magical capabilities of a humble draconequus are at, shall we say, a much higher level.” He raised his lion paw hand above his head, then his arm stretched ever upwards, indicating the very high opinion he held of his own power.

Discord’s unnaturally stretched arm fell to the ground like a rubber hose, then reached out, encircling the Elements of Harmony. He pulled them close, into a hug that was the very opposite of tender. “So you see, my little ponies, your magical bonds ended up as constrictive as this little hug.”

“But… but… the statue…” said Fluttershy.

Discord abandoned the hug. “Oh, that old thing? Shoddy workmanship. It makes me look fat, and doesn’t capture my noble chin at all.” The stone statue rose, floated towards the group, and then fell, shattering into dozens of pieces when it hit the ground. The statue was revealed to be hollow, and a brown, viscous substance flowed onto the grass.

Pinkie Pie walked up to the broken statue, sniffed the goop, and scooped up a healthy portion with her tongue. “Discord turned into chocolate pudding!” she exclaimed. She took an even bigger bite. “Delicious chocolate pudding!”

Discord slapped his forehead with his lion paw hand. “I’m right here, you silly thing. I will admit it took a considerable amount of time to find a chocolate pudding of sufficient quality to be worthy of taking my form. But that’s neither here nor there. What is important is that it took mere moments after my ‘defeat’ for you ponies to argue once again. And that first argument created a loose thread, which I merely had to pull to unravel the entire binding ritual.”

I stood in the magic circle with my fellow transformed humans, watching the scene unfold before us. We were pretty much forgotten at this point, as this old rivalry was monopolizing everyone’s attention.

“What the hell did we get dragged into?” said Bobbie.

“I don’t know, but I want to slap that monster,” said Shannon.

“He’s monologging! He’s totally monologging!” Brianna complained.

“He sounds just like Q,” said Chris.

“There’s just one of him against seven good guys,” I said. I hoped that was enough for the good guys to win.

“We’ve heard just about enough,” said Twilight Sparkle. Her horn glowed, and the ornate chest opened. Pendants that looked carved from solid gemstone rose, and flew to the necks of five of the ponies. Each pendant took a different shape, tied to the ponies’ cutie marks. A larger crown, a star like her cutie mark at its center, settled itself onto Twilight Sparkle’s head. “You failed to steal the Elements of Harmony this time. The power of our friendship and the Elements of Harmony will defeat you again, and with the help of Princess Celestia, we will bind you away forever.”

Discord raised his taloned hand to his mouth. “Oh, my. How could I have forgotten the Elements of Harmony? My flawless plan, revealed to have a flaw.” He dramatically put the hand to his forehead. “I’m ruined.” He fell backwards, landing on a couch that wasn’t there seconds earlier.

“How DARE you imitate me, you ruffian!” shouted Rarity.

Discord stood up, the couch no longer present. “I guess it’s time to face the music. Perform your little ritual, and send me away for good,” he said, completely insincerely. He held his arms out, as if he were looking to be handcuffed.

Doubt crossed the faces of the six ponies. Twilight Sparkle rallied them. “Don’t fall for his tricks. Do it, now!”

The six ponies concentrated, the five respective amulets glowing. A pale white energy connected each element to Twilight Sparkle’s crown. She rose into the air briefly, but the energy sputtered, then dissipated entirely. Twilight Sparkle collapsed into the ground.

“What’s happening?” asked Fluttershy.

Discord collapsed to the ground, laughing and pounding the ground with his fists. “Oh, this is so precious. Watching the Elements of Harmony without their precious harmony? You should see yourselves.” He produced a mirror out of nowhere, so the ponies could in fact see themselves.

“Try again!” ordered Twilight Sparkle. Again, whatever the Elements of Harmony were trying to accomplish didn’t work.

“While I admire your spunk, my little ponies, surely by now you realize that the Elements of Harmony require harmony to work,” explained Discord.

Twilight Sparkle looked at the seven of us. Then Discord turned his head. Soon, everyone was looking at us. I groaned. This situation was going to get blamed on me, somehow.

Discord jumped into the middle of my group. Motioning broadly, he said, “Meet the elements of disharmony. The element of weirdness, the element of strangeness, the element of bizarreness, the element of…” Discord started paging through a thesaurus that had suddenly appeared in his hands.

“Wait, which is which?” asked Pinkie Pie.

Discord discarded the thesaurus. “Does it really matter? They’re all weird. And more importantly, they have never known, and will never know, harmony. Such a lovely feeling, don’t you agree?”

“But how did you find us?” I asked. If this jerk was willing to monolog like a stereotypical villain, I might as well take the opportunity to get some questions answered. As long as he was talking, he wasn’t going to be hurting us. And I held a slim hope that the delay would allow someone to figure out a way to defeat him.

“You see, my little alien, there’s a rather strong though recent connection between your world and mine,” said Discord. “Since I was trapped for so long with nothing but my unparalleled mind to keep me company, I was well positioned to notice this change. I suppose Celestia’s been too busy with her ‘raising the sun’ and her ‘ruling beneficently’ thing to notice.

“And what a world it is! A spell of astral projection enabled me to feel such wonderful emotions. Fear! Hatred! Mistrust! Dishonesty! Discord, in its purest and most potent form! Why, just a dash of these negative feelings could destroy the overweening harmony so carefully enshrined in this world!

“And thus, I crafted a backup to my original genius plan. Oh, I was confident that I could turn each of you away from your individual elements, and I was right. But the magic of friendship,” Discord sneered, making finger quotes with his incongruous hands, “had grown a lot more potent since my last reign. Your work, I suppose, Princess.”

“This time, I’ll let you have all the elements you want. Laugh away, Pinkie Pie. Love everything, Fluttershy. Stand by your friends, Rainbow Dash. Generously give of yourself, Rarity. Stay true, Applejack. Be Equestria’s biggest magical egghead, Twilight Sparkle. But how is that working out for you right now?”

Discord sidled up to Applejack. “I’m sure you enjoyed that long train trip with your two bickering friends. I bet you’d say anything to get them to shut up, wouldn’t you?”

“That’s a lie!” yelled Applejack. Then she looked shocked. “Wait, that was a lie,” she admitted to herself.

Discord appeared behind Pinkie Pie. “Look at those pathetic fools. Don’t you just want to laugh at them?”

“Laugh at? But that’s the bad kind of laughter,” said Pinkie Pie.

“They aren’t worth lifting a hoof to help, are they, Rarity?” Discord continued. A scowl was her only response.

“And sweet Fluttershy,” said Discord maliciously. “Are you enjoying the feelings these visitors inspire in you? Feelings of....”

“Don’t say it!” screamed Fluttershy, her eyes shut tight. She exhaled, and stomped her hoof. Opening her eyes, Fluttershy stared at Discord. “And you’re wrong. John said he wanted to be my friend.”

“A friend whose only goal is to leave you forever?” said Discord. “Oh, that’s what the best friendships are made from.”

“But why did you steal us from the past as well?” I asked.

Discord turned again to face us. “Do you want to be here?”

“No,” I admitted.

“Do any of you want to be here?”

Everyone else said no, with several choice unprintable words modifying the nos.

Discord clapped his hands. “Exactly! Dragging someone here who wanted to be here wouldn’t suit my plans at all. Thus, a blast from the past. But enough chit-chat. It’s time to begin the second reign of Discord.

“I’m feeling a bit hungry. Shall we have an early lunch? I’ve come to truly appreciate the Filly cheesehay sandwich. You should try it.” Discord snapped his fingers, and a giant sandwich formed around Rarity. She squealed as long strands of straw were stuck to her coat by the yellow-orange cheese sauce.

Princess Celestia’s horn glowed, and the giant sandwich disappeared. “I will defeat you myself if I have to, Discord,” she said. Her horn glowed with the yellow light of the morning sun, and a beam shot out at Discord.

Discord raised his lion paw, and an untidy wave of red energy flew into Princess Celestia’s beam. The energy of the two beams dissipated with a hiss and sparks of orange energy, but with no effect. Discord casually inspected his eagle talons and yawned.

“Didn’t we do this thirteen centuries ago, Celestia? I can keep this up all day,” said Discord. “Our powers will forever be at the same level. You know you need to do something else to defeat me, and without your precious Elements of Harmony, it’s time to admit it. YOU LOST.” Discord’s last two words echoed throughout the garden. I could feel them shake my body. The landscape seemed to shimmer as the power of his voice spread across the land.

The magical duel between Discord and Celestia continued to do nothing. Various attacks by the other ponies were shrugged off by Discord as if he were brushing away gnats.

“That’s it. We are officially screwed,” said Tim. “The dark side has won.”

“He’ll never send us home,” said Brianna.

“He’s Q, with an even worse attitude. I didn’t think that was possible,” said Chris.

“I don’t care what animal parts that thing is crafted from. He is 100% ass,” spat Shannon.

I watched Twilight Sparkle’s horn glow with an intense orange energy. Whatever spell she cast washed over Discord, barely warranting his notice. Why couldn’t I do the same with my horn?

I had an epiphany. I knew magic better than almost any human. I’ve thought about spells, words, motions, magical theory, the whole otherworldly logic of it. I must be able to draw upon this. I concentrated, and stared at Discord.

“Avada Kedavra.”

I feared not the consequences to my soul of uttering the Unforgivable Curse. These were desperate times. I would take the risk to save everyone’s life and defeat this tyrant. I pictured the scene where this Unforgivable Curse was uttered against poor Frank Bryce. I thought to the movie, remembered the exact gestures, and echoed them with movements of my horn. I remembered the final battle at Hogwarts in Book 7, the passion, the desperation.

“Avada Kedavra!” I shouted.

This is the point where I’m supposed to finally master the power I know is in me. I save the day in the nick of time. I earn the eternal gratitude of Albus Dumbledore and the begrudging respect of Severus Snape. I receive the hearty congratulations of my fellow students in the common room, and have my pick of any of my fellow students. (Hermione.)

Again, I was reminded that I didn’t make it into the Harry Potter universe. Absolutely nothing happened, except that everyone was looking at me incredulously. If I were honest with myself, I’d have to admit I knew it wouldn’t work. The horn on my head was nothing but a useless lump of bone. Or ivory, or keratin, or whatever it was. I pounded my horn into the ground in frustration. Vibrations ran through the tough horn and into my skull.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. A horn that can’t be used for magic is still a horn. I lowered my head and started running. My horn pointed straight forward, and I charged at Discord, imagining him as the enemy knight in a joust.

I think I briefly brushed his goat leg, but he jumped in the air, still maintaining all his magical effects. He looked at me; I took some comfort in the fact that I actually surprised Discord. “Temper, temper,” he scolded. He waved his taloned hand, and a force like a moving car slammed into me, sending me into the air.

As I was falling, a pair of strong forelegs grabbed me. Rainbow Dash caught me and returned me to the ground. “Thanks,” I said.

“Ah, don’t mention it,” she replied. “We won’t let you down.” Rainbow Dash flew off to rejoin the futile battle.

A chunk of rock from the destroyed Discord statue smacked Discord in the back of the head. Discord turned and saw Dan, hefting another chunk of rock. “Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?” he said, ignoring the fact that none of us were anywhere near the draconequus’ size.

Discord stared at us. “Why don’t you learn your place?” he hissed. All the magical effects between him and Celestia continued to operate on their own. Discord’s attention was fully on us.

Discord’s comment incensed Bobbie. She picked up a large piece of statue and hurled it, though it fell short. Meanwhile, Shannon pulled off her cloak, and was waving it in front of her, like a matador’s cape. “Olé, sucker,” she said.

Discord imitated a bull, lowering the mismatched horns on his head and pawing the ground. Then he stood up, laughing uproariously. His lion’s paw covered his face while he slapped his goat’s leg with his eagle’s talon. “Whatever inspired you to think I’d charge you like….”

The rest of Discord’s words were muffled as the cloak, thrown by Shannon the instant Discord was distracted, wrapped around his head. I made the most of the opportunity granted by Shannon’s action, and charged. I hit. Discord’s draconic hide was surprisingly tough, but my horn sank deep enough to draw blood.

More stones flew, thrown by Dan and Bobbie. One of Bobbie’s throws slammed into Discord’s chest, and he tumbled backwards, landing hard on the ground. As he continued to struggle with the cloak wrapped around his head, I started kicking his prone form as fast as I could. Chris and Tim soon joined me. Shannon rushed up and jumped on Discord’s body, planting all four hooves on his chest as hard as she could. Brianna ran up and bit down hard on Discord’s arm. Dan rushed up with a large rock, as did Bobbie, a long piece of stone that was once the statue’s tail clutched in her teeth.

Discord finally ripped off the cloak. His eyes first fell on Bobbie, anger obvious in her eyes. She stared at Discord, and smiled wickedly. “Go… to… hell!” she said, through clenched teeth, as she swung her makeshift bat between Discord’s legs.

Discord’s surprised scream ripped through the gardens. Twilight Sparkle suddenly stood up tall. “Girls! Use the Elements of Harmony, now!” she ordered.

The five ponies surrounded Twilight Sparkle and concentrated. A vibrant energy, tinged a brick red color, surrounded each amulet, and flowed into Twilight Sparkle’s crown. The energy surrounded her, raising her into the air, soon followed by the other five ponies. Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes, her pupils vanished from the orbs of pure energy. Suddenly, a wide beam of energy streaked out, encasing a still-stunned Discord.

Before my very eyes, I watched as the evil Discord petrified, forming a statue made of basalt. When the last bit of flesh had turned to stone, the glow ceased, and the six ponies collapsed. They appeared unhurt, merely depleted.

Princess Celestia rose. Her own magic formed spectral chains, wrapping around the form of Discord.

All around me, things returned to normal. The sky, which I hadn’t even noticed had turned stormy, cleared. The trapped unicorn spellcasters returned to their ground, their bubble prisons popping. The guards who had been trapped outside rushed in, looking for any further dangers.

Twilight Sparkle was quick to stand. “Is he trapped for good, Princess?”

Princess Celestia smiled gently. “Do not worry, Twilight Sparkle. Discord shall not be free for a long time.”

Twilight Sparkle turned to us. “I want to thank you, John. You’re the one who told me how humans feel a kind of harmony when united against a common foe. It’s not the way harmony is supposed to feel, but it was enough to allow the Elements of Harmony to function again.

Pinkie Pie rose. “Why do I have the sudden urge to use sarcasm to make people laugh?” she wondered. “Like that would be a good idea,” she continued.

Rarity shook her head. “I feel like I need a very long and very hot bath,” she announced. “And not just to get rid of these awful cheese stains.”

“I’m having bad feelings of new Fluttershy,” the yellow pegasus admitted.

“Ah’m just glad this is over,” said Applejack.

“I guess you guys are all right,” Rainbow Dash said to us. She gave each of us a hoof bump.

Fluttershy hesitantly walked up to me. She extended her foreleg. I extended mine. They touched, briefly.

“Does that mean you’re no longer feeling ‘not like?’” I asked.

“I still feel very strange,” she admitted. “Instead of not like, I feel… weird. But it’s a nice kind of weird.”

I’ll call that a victory.

Again, we stood within the magic circle. Spellcasters were practicing their incantations. Princess Celestia was ready to power the ritual.

“Wait!”

Pinkie Pie rushed into the circle. “I’m sorry we don’t have time for a ‘You’re leaving Equestria forever’ party, or even a proper ‘Welcome to Equestria’ party before the ‘Leaving Equestria’ party, which I have thrown before, unlike the ‘Leaving’ party, because who’d want to leave Equestria forever, and…”

“Pinkie!” yelled Rainbow Dash.

“Oh, so I thought the least I could do is give you a going-away cupcake.” Pinkie Pie handed each of us a box, sized to fit a large cupcake, then left the circle. I shrugged, and put it in my saddlebags.

Princess Celestia raised her horn. It glowed, as did the horns of the six spellcasters. I quickly glanced around, then focused on the basalt statue of Discord. It remained unmoving. My mane and tail rose as electrical charge grew within me. I tingled. Energy formed around me, and connected with the metal rod at my back. I felt a strange twisting sensation. Then, blackness.

“Did it work?” asked Twilight Sparkle.

“It did,” replied Princess Celestia. “As best as I can tell from where I stand, in our world, the visitors are safe in their home world. The magical changes to their form should be undone.”

“But what can we do about Discord?” asked Twilight Sparkle. “Is it true that he risks being freed every time the Elements of Harmony change hooves? Are we doomed to fight him every generation?”

“Discord is a fundamental force in this world. His magic is too strong to eliminate forever,” explained Princess Celestia.

“This world? Princess, what about….” Twilight whispered an idea into Princess Celestia’s ear.

Princess Celestia smiled. “I think that’s an excellent idea, my student. Would you like to help me with the calculations for the ritual?”

My head hurt. I opened my eyes. I was on my stomach, sprawled on the ground, dead leaves everywhere. I crawled to my hands and my knees. Hands! I patted my body. I was back to normal!

I stood up and grabbed my phone from the side pocket of my backpack. 11:56 AM, April 9, 2008. I remembered days of… something that made absolutely no sense. Was it a dream? If so, that was the shortest dream ever. I don’t even think a minute had passed. There was no sign that anything had happened in this wooded area that I had been running through….

The test! I ran as fast as I could, and made it to class only three minutes late. I put the exam in front of me. I struggled to remember the formulas. Yesterday’s cram session now felt like so long ago.

Time was called. I sighed. If I didn’t do well on this test, I’d just have to do better on the final.

As I left physics class, everything felt normal again. I remembered the campus walkways, the fliers posted on the outdoor bulletin board. I thought about tomorrow’s shift at the pizza place.

By the time I sat down for my 1:30 PM calculus class, I had convinced myself that nothing had happened after all. Then I opened the main section of my backpack to retrieve my homework. There was a box there. Opening it, I saw a large chocolate cupcake.

When I returned home that afternoon, the first thing I did was turn on my computer. I typed up everything that I remembered happening on my “trip.” I read it over and over. Then I closed the file, and moved it to an obscure subdirectory of my hard drive. I ate the cupcake. Dark chocolate, with a cherry center and chocolate-cayenne buttercream. It was delicious.

I also found that issue of Bobbie’s punk rock zine in my backpack. I scanned it and e-mailed it anonymously to a punk rock history website. I hoped they would enjoy it.

With that done, I took out my copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone—the original Bloomsbury edition—and started reading.

Discord stewed. He was trapped again. How could these aliens find their own harmony in such a short time period? And how could they restore the power of the Elements of Harmony? He had thought through the plan for months. How could it have gone wrong?

Powerful magic reached out, gripping Discord’s very essence. This power was too good, too pure. It had to be Celestia. He felt himself being stretched, pulled, twisted, and reoriented. Discord’s keen mind analyzed the observed sensations and translated them back into theory. He could sense he was traveling across dimensions!

Discord’s essence reformed into one metaphysical piece. He felt himself still trapped in stone, a somewhat unfamiliar stone shape, but then he felt something wonderful. Something powerful. Something chaotic. All around him, Discord felt the potent disharmony, the very feature that attracted him to this world.

“I can rule this place,” he thought. With such power everywhere around him, he would make Earth the chaos capital of the multiverse. He reached out to pull strands of chaos, to fashion some chaotic playthings.

Nothing. Discord did nothing. Discord could do nothing. In a world where magic did not function, all his power was for naught. It was only the primal power of being the spirit of chaos incarnate that left him with enough magic to know he was alive.

A pigeon settled on his stone form. “Shoo. Scat. Get away,” thought Discord. The pigeon did not react. Its tail feathers twitched and rose.

“Don’t you dare,” thought Discord.

*plop*

“He dared.”