The young boy's vision was blurred as he woke. He looked down to the bloody mass that had once been known as his legs and then further to his walking stick, broken on the floor, before he saw a glint out of the corner of his eye. He looked to where the flash had come from to see a dark equine charging his former friend. Without a thought he let out a cry, "Stop!" The darker form faltered and in turn got knocked back. The kid wasn't given time to react before his vision once more shot to black and all went quiet.
"Congratulations, final five! Heather, Jay, Amber, Mike, Dawn; you guys made it! Only four more challenges to go before one of you is named this season's Total Drama winner!" Chris finishes taking his leave, in turn leaving the kids to relax in the moonlight.
The group sits in silence for a few moments until one decides to break it. "I can't believe you guys voted Leonard off!" screamed Jay. "It was Heather who's been lying to everyone for seven seasons!"
The dark haired girl rolls her eyes. "And who would actually vote for me, Crips? It's not like anyone cares about your opinion."
Being protective, Amber steps in. "Hey, both of you just need to chill. Heather, stop making fun of Jay for being disabled. Jay, stop being mean to the witch."
Mike laughs at the joke before speaking up, "Yeah, it's not her fault she has no friends left."
Jay scoffs in reply, "Yeah, it sort of is..."
Heather stands, grabs one of the flashlights that are still working and proceeds to leave the area. "You know what? I don't need this. I have a challenge to win tomorrow." She walks out, and Dawn follows her, feeling bad about the situation.
"Heather, please." The light blonde girl spoke as she followed the other. "It was all in good fun. Come back with me. I promise they will not bother you," hoping she will join, she looks sincerely at her senior contestant.
Rolling her eyes, Heather shakes her head and speaks in a firm tone. "And? It's not like I care what they say. I just said I wanted to be ready for tomorrow. It didn't bother me or anything." She flips her hair from her face confidently.
"Heather, I know that is not true. I can see it in your aura. It is a soothing, but sad blue."
"My aura is just as black as ever, thank you," she said, glaring at Dawn.
"If that is what you wish the others to believe. But I know how you truly feel, even if you, yourself, refuse to believe it."
"You don't know anything!" Heather spat angrily at Dawn.
"Just return with me," Dawn pleaded. "We would like you to spend the night with us. Even if they do not seem like it, we really do."
Heather rolls her eyes, then nods. "Fine, fine... If it happens again, I'm leaving. Got it?"
"Oh, yes! Let us get back to-" her voice gets cut off by the clanging of machinery. Afterwards, a loud thump is heard, followed by a slight whooshing sound.
Dawn jumps slightly, and Heather yells over the sound. "What the hell is that?!"
The camp suddenly goes quiet, then the obvious tapping of Jay's walking stick is heard from the area they had only just left, and a squeal rips away the curtain of silence.
"Oh my god!" he screams, smiling widely. "Guys! Come here! Do you know what this is?!"
Heather and Dawn run back to the campfire pit, seeing Jay, surrounded by Amber and Mike, staring at what seems to be a blue telephone box.
The rest of the group stare at the blue box, then Heather looks over to Jay. "Well, what is it? Why should we care about some stupid box?" she asks with authority.
"It's..." his grin widens as he speaks, "The TARDIS!"
The door to the TARDIS creaks open just a bit to reveal voices from inside. "Why do I have to go look?" asked the voice of a male.
"It was your brilliant driving that landed us here. You go scope things out," came the order from a female voice.
A sigh was heard. "Fine, I'll go." Finally the door opened and the contestants and the voice were staring at one another.
"A...horse? A blue horse?" asked Heather bewildered.
He pushed through the other three to get to her, "Did you just call me a horse? I am not a horse, okay? I am a pony!"
"The difference..?" Heather retorts, obviously irritated.
Jay speaks up to end the confusion, "Well, ponies are actually small horses. The correct name would be pony, because he is not that big."
"Actually..," the female voice is heard again as a white pony with a light pink mane streaked with sea-foam green highlights and clad in armor exits the TARDIS, "the only horses I know of live in other countries. Most ponies live only in Equestria. By the way, my name's Aurora," the pony finished reaching out her hoof to the invalid.
He respectfully shakes the hoof, giving a gentle smile. "And I'm Jay. Pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise." Aurora then turns to the other equine, "Phase."
He perked up at the sound of his name then turned around, "Yes?"
"Go inside and tell everyone it's okay to come out."
"Yes, ma'am," he responded before trotting back into the box.
Just then, Dawn speaks up. "Excuse me, but... What exactly is going on? How did ponies get here? And why?"
"The Doctor!" Jay shouted gleefully, walking a bit closer and tightly gripping his cane for support. "He's how they got here! Oh my god, is he a pony too?! That would be so cool! I can't wait to see-"
The fanboy was interrupted by a smack to the back of his head. Heather yells from directly behind him, "Shut it, Hobbler!"
He almost loses his balance at the hit, but holds his own and watches a light brown pony with an hourglass image on each side walk from the box.
"Alright, alright!" the pony said, his voice sporting a deep British accent. "What's all this, then?"
Recognizing the voice, Jay loses his grip on his walking stick, falling fully onto his stomach. "Oh my god!"
"Are you alright, there..?" asked the pony, reaching a hoof down. He notices the boy's dark blue hair, giving a light smile as he speaks fairly quickly. "I do enjoy your hair, by the way. I've always been interested in changing my hair. What do you feel about ginger? Hm..."
Accepting the hoof, Jay is lifted to his feet.
His cane is lifted by Amber, and handed back to him. "Careful there, blue bird..."
"Thank you. Both of you..." said Jay, referring to both Amber and the pony.
"Not a problem at all. I do believe introductions are in order?" continued the pony, now speaking faster than before. "I'm The Doctor. My companions here are Aurora, Phase and Princess Luna."
The armored pony bows respectfully. The one sporting a navy blue coat nods at the mention of his name. Lastly, as if on cue, a regal, dark blue pony with a starry mane and both a horn and wings exits the police box.
"I am to assume these are the humans my sister spoke of..?" Luna inquired, looking at the group of five.
"Your sister..?" inquired Dawn, looking slightly confused at them.
"We were sent on a mission by Princess Celestia, as a trial to see how humans would fare in our land of Equestria," The Doctor explains. "You are..?"
The blue haired teen, sporting a grey hooded sweatshirt and a worn pair of jeans looks at the Princess with honorable respect. "I'm Jay, your majesty..." he began, looking at the four behind him. "And this is Amber, Dawn, Mike and Heather..."
In order, the teens shared glances with Luna.
Mike speaks up first. "You said we were going to your land?"
With a nod, Aurora looks at the darker male teen. "You will be watched closely, to keep track of your intentions. But yes, you five have been chosen to accompany us in Equestria."
"Why us..?" asked Jay inquiringly.
"You five seem to be very diverse, and were all in one spot. It was for nothing more than convenience," came the reply.
"Lazy..." said Heather, scoffing at Aurora.
Jay lifts his walking stick high into the air, knocking the girl in the back of the head. "Be nice, Heather."
"I apologize for her... She's quite an inconvenience," added Mike.
"Be happy for your innocence of the knowledge of our world," spoke Aurora as he turned to face Heather. "Otherwise...let's just say it's not exactly safe to insult a noble, much less royalty."
"As if I care if you're royalty," exclaimed Heather with a growl.
Aurora trots forward, looking the girl in the eyes and growls.
Luna outstretches her wing to stop the assertive pony, shaking her head. "Calm, Aurora. Control your emotions."
Taking a semi-controlled breath, Aurora turns away and walks back into the TARDIS.
Dawn steps forward, nodding. "You as well, Heather. Do not anger them. I sense they mean no harm, so neither should you."
Heather shakes her head, sighing. "So, what now?" she began, sarcasm reaching her words . "The magic horses have come to save the day, or whatever... So when do we leave?"
Phase narrows his eyes and growls at the girl. "We. Are. NOT. Horses."
"Yes. You. Are." came the reply. "Now shut up, before I get violent."
"Come now. There's no need for violence," the Doctor interrupted.
Heather turns around to look at her fellow contestants and sparks the question, "So, who here exactly trusts them?"
In reply three of the remaining four nonchalantly raise their hands. Jay, however, looked past Heather to the remaining three equines. "What exactly are we to expect if we go with you?"
The Doctor smirks in reply, "Come with us and find out."
Jay gives a light grin, and proceeds to walk into the TARDIS followed immediately by Phase.
Princess Luna walks in as well, "If anyone would like a tour, come with me."
Mike, Amber and Dawn follow the three before them, leaving Heather outside.
The Doctor looks at the girl, shaking his head. "Are you coming? If not, we'll just find someone else."
She sighs, and walks into the blue box. "I better not regret this..."
"Trust me, you won't," the Doctor spoke as he followed her in and closed the door.
Luna motions around the room, attempting to explain the sights, when the Doctor walks in. "Oh, there's somepony who can explain this better!" she yelled happily.
The Doctor nods with a chuckle before walking to the center of the room. "Well, here you have the mainframe. This baby helps me control the entire thing. Around it are--"
Mike interjects, sounding surprised. "It's a lot bigger on the inside, isn't it?"
The Doctor sighs, shaking his head. "No, no it's not. It's just smaller on the outside."
"But..." starts Dawn inquiringly. "Doesn't that make it bigger on the inside?"
The Doctor shakes his head, speaking louder. "That's beside the point... Anyway, as I was saying, there are these structure things that look like art sculptures! They're the only thing in this room that isn't bronze! Isn't that delightful? Or actually they might be. Maybe it's just the glowy green thing in the middle of the mainframe shining on them...hmm... Now, on the walls, there are these hexagon indents. inside those, there are circle things! What are the circle things, you may ask? I don't know, but god do I love them. Oh, and there's a whole other floor underneath, but that has a ton of wires and stuff down there... and a hatch... don't touch the hatch."
Jay looks around the room in awe, taking in his surroundings. "This is amazing..." he mumbled to himself.
Luna looks at the group, chuckling. "If anyone wants to be shown around, come with me. But no going off by yourselves!"
The Doctor watched as both Jay and Mike walked to take Luna up on her offer. He then turned his attention to Amber and Dawn, who are sitting next to each other. "So, what do you think of my companions?" he asked.
Heather began to walk to another door, using the Doctor's lack of attention to her advantage.
Dawn spoke up, smiling lightly. "Oh, I enjoy the presence of the Princess. She's so regal."
"And I really like it when Aurora is around..." Amber added, smiling. "You know? I've never been so attracted to a mare before."
The Doctor looked at her awkwardly, clearing his throat. "Erm... About that... She is a he... A colt."
Amber tilted her head. "Are you sure? I mean, her look, and her voice, and..."
"Absolutely sure. Trust me, yes. He may look like a girl. He may sound like a girl. But he definitely has something... down there..." He lowered his head, embarrassed at the clarification.
Amber silently gags, pouting. "Ew. Men." Dawn lightly chuckles at this.
"So," the Doctor continues, "What about your group? Tell me about your friends."
"Well," Amber began, smirking lightly. "Jay is your average fanboy. He's smart, and yet, not very bright. Heather is your average queen bee. She gets what she wants, when she wants it. If not, there'll be hell to pay."
The Doctor listens intently, nodding as he plays with the TARDIS' controls.
"And then," said Dawn, picking up where Amber left off. "Mike... He is sweet. Sort of quirky, but I guess that just adds to his personality... Well, at least this one..."
Curious, the Doctor looks at her. "'This one...?'"
Amber nods, elaborating a bit. "So, in total, there are five, besides Mike. Chester is, to put it kindly, old, in every sense of the word. Svetlana is a gymnast, and the only female of the group. Agile to no extent. Vito is someone you should look after. He tries to be tough, and sometimes is, but he usually just gets himself into trouble. Manitoba is very... adventurous. He'll do anything to be able to go on his own, and explore. Each of them have their own triggers, but I won't go into that."
The Doctor looks up into the air, mumbling to himself. "One... two... three... four? You said five." He gradually began to get louder as he spoke, not to anyone in particular. "Okay, let me see here. She said five... but she explained four. That was four, right?! She spoke of a Chester... Svetlana, Vito and Manitoba. That's only four! Five doesn't equal four. So..." he looked at the two, more so to Dawn. "Who wasn't mentioned?"
Dawn looked to the ground, sighing. "Mal..." she said, looking back up at the pony.
He looked at her in confusion, before Amber spoke up to clarify. "Mal. He was a personality that was not shown until a bit later. We don't speak of him much, but just know that he's not someone you'd want to mess with. He'll do anything to cause destruction..."
Her voice trailed off into near silence, and the Doctor nodded in understanding. "I see... Fun stuff!"
He turned his attention away from them, returning to the controls of the TARDIS.
"So," Amber asked, smirking lightly. "What about you? You seem to have an odd crew."
"Well... is there anyone specific you wish to know about?" The Doctor asked in reply.
"Aurora..." Amber said quietly, looking up and speaking in general. "I'd still like to get to know he- Er... Him."
"Is there really much to tell? He's a guard. A soldier. Tolerable... but still a soldier. He protects the princesses. I mean he leads Celestia's guard now, but that's about it. Not much else to know I don't think. Speaking of guard, there is a princess on board as you know. Princess Luna, princess of the night. Ironic, because if you know any Spanish, her name is literally 'moon'. She's very gentle, however, at times she is more serious than her sister. Those times are few and far between... and sometimes not fun," he gets quiet for a moment. "Those were dark times... Anyway, Phase. He's a timelord like me. The difference? He is actually from the universe we are heading to. If you noticed, like Aurora, he is a pegasus... yet, he is a terrible flyer... like, can't fly at all. He's also clumsy, but he has his moments. That's about everyo-... Oh, yeah! Perhaps I should mention him. I mean, he is on board with us. He's just in a different room. Do you two want to know about him?" the Doctor finally stopped talking, waiting for an answer.
In the walkway of the center of the TARDIS sits a changeling staring up at the near infinite energy source. He appears as most of his race does: equine in stature, yet more bug-like. Body a dark grey, holes in legs, insect wings, fangs, eyes a gradient from light blue to a white pupil, the smallest tuft of what can be seen as a mane and tail, and a horn to top his head.
"I knew this thing was big... but powered by a literal sun. Or I suppose a star would be more accurate. Still... how did they get it in he-," the changeling stopped and looked to his left. "What was that?" The door to his left started to open and on instinct he changed. A green fire shot up around him, morphing his body into more of a stature of Luna's, however, taller and still male. His coat became a tinge darker fading to black. Like the alicorn, he had both a horn and wings. The wings, however, were more akin to that of a bat's. He now also has a full mane and tail, which are both a deep raspberry, streaked midnight blue throughout.
He stares as the door fully opens to reveal Heather. She looks around the room, spotting the equine in the middle. "Who are you..?" she asks, an irritated tone in her voice. "Another dumb horse?"
The other began to speak in objection, but then decided against it. He quietly nodded. "Pony, not horse... But yes. And you are..?"
"Did I say you could ask questions?!" came the response. "What are you even doing, sitting in an empty room?!"
Confused, the disguised changeling looks around. He looks up at the star above his head, then back at her. "Empty room?"
"What are you even looking at?" she asked demandingly.
He took a light breath, smirking as he looked around the room, realizing that the TARDIS is masking the contents from her. "You know what? You're right... This room is kind of pointless, isn't it? How about we go somewhere else? Get out of this boring, plain room..."
Rolling her eyes, Heather walks past the changeling, to the door behind him. She opens the door, and the equine follows after.
In the next room, there are rows upon rows of books. The changeling looks around in awe at the view, walking up and down the aisles.
He then walks into the centre of the room, and his eyes go wide. A large pool sits in the area, clear water rippling throughout.
Heather walks with him, narrowing her eyes. "What are you looking at?!"
The equine simply smirked before running and jumping into the pool, splashing Heather. She gasped, looking at him in anger and yelling, "You little shi-" She was interrupted by her own thoughts. "Wait... This is a library. Right? And there's a pool..?"
The disguised changeling looks at her, tilting his head and speaking in a mocking tone. "Yeah, so? Don't libraries in your world have pools?"
"No..?" she answered, irritated.
From behind a row of books, two other voices are heard. They get closer, before their owners are shown. Phase and Aurora. They see Heather, and both become seemingly angrier.
"Of all of them to show up here, it had to be her?" asked Phase.
"Better question:" Aurora started, turning his attention to the point of interest, "if you're here, where is your guide? Luna? The Doctor?"
"Myself." she plainly stated in response, rolling her eyes. "And what are you two doing here?"
"Leaving you, so we can calm down," they answered in unison.
From the pool, the 'colt' laughs. The attention of the two other ponies shifted from Heather to him.
Phase's mouth opened slightly, looking at him in amazed confusion. "B-But... What?! I watched you... Die! How..?"
Aurora lifts his right fore-hoof and covers his face with it. He sighs and begins to speak. "Phase... Yes. He is dead. But you do realize we have a friend who can change into anypony he pleases... Right?"
Phase looks down in embarrassment, nodding. "Oh, right... Wait, so then that's..?"
"Jay..." Aurora said quietly as the colt in the pool turned back into his original form.
Heather looks at him in disgust. "Jay? What kind of stupid name is that? And... What is that thing? A bug pony?"
Jay looks at the human in disgust, flies from the pool and hovers right above her. "I am a changeling. Not just some bug pony! And I'll have you know I was named by Scorpia himself!"
She rolls her eyes. "Now I have to deal with two Jays? Great... A know-it-all and a pest..."
The changeling's ears lay against his head as his hooves touched the ground. "I am not a pest... And another Jay?"
Interrupting the small spat, Aurora walks between the two. "You'll get to meet him soon enough. Oh, and ignore her," he gestured to Heather, "She's just an instigator. Causing problems is what she does."
Immediately, Heather spoke up. "Excuse me? I call it as I see it. And, trust me... the other Jay isn't someone worth seeing."
"Like anything means much coming from you," Aurora replied simply.
"Everything means a lot when it comes from me," Heather said with a smirk. "But you? You're just a horse. You don't have any say in what I do."
Phase growled and Aurora gestured to him to calm. She then turns to where the changeling would be, but much to her surprise, he was gone.
The three look at the puff of smoke left in his place, and Phase looked in awe. "Woah... wait. What... what just happened?!"
In an instant, Aurora was on top of Heather, growling. "What did you do to him?! Humans and your damne-"
And just like that, the guard pony was gone as well. Followed by Phase and Heather simultaneously.
Back in the main room, everyone stands in front of the Doctor. He grinned, looking around. "Thank you, sexy," he said with a chuckle, before looking back to the nine. "Now that you're all here, I have a little announcement. We have landed!"
Slowly, he opened the door, grinning while he spoke, "Welcome... to Equestria!"
Beyond the door of the TARDIS, rows upon rows of books are seen.
"Or..." the Doctor began. "At least the inside of the castle."
Jay slowly walks from the ship, and immediately notices an hourglass in the center of the room. The rest of them follow, looking around the room, some in awe and others in utter boredom.
Heather is the first to speak up, mumbling; "Wow, another library... Where's the pool in this one..?"
Aurora rolled his eyes, sighing. "This is the Starswirl the Bearded wing. He is one of the greatest unicorns known to ponykind."
"And what's with this thing..?" Amber asked as she walked towards the hourglass, knocking on it lightly.
"That..." said the Doctor as he rushed over to pull her away. "Is not to touch! Stay away."
Heather then walked over to Jay, knocked him over and grabbed his walking stick. She slowly went to the hourglass, raised the cane in the air and began to swing down.
"No!" yelled Phase as he tackled her to the ground. "Don't. Touch!"
The girl tried to squirm out of the pony's grip as Amber grabbed Jay's cane, helping him to his feet.
Aurora pulled Phase off of Heather, growling. "Damnit, Phase... You know how Princess Twilight is about violence in the lib-"
"Keep your voices down, we're in a library!" yelled Twilight angrily.
Heather looked at the purple alicorn as she stood. "Uhm... You're yelling too."
"I am not!" the princess yelled louder in retort.
Luna walked to her from the TARDIS, putting a hoof on her back. "Yes, Twi... You are."
Twilight looked around at the others, all silent, then lowered her head in slight embarrassment as her face became a faint red. "Oh..." came the simple, quiet reply.
Luna chuckled, removing her hoof and motioning to the five bipedal beings. She waved at them, smiling. "This is Amber, Mike, Jay, Dawn and... Heather..." she revealed their names in order of appearance.
Twilight nodded, walking towards them, looking up and down each one. She raised her hoof and poked at the decently sized mound on Heather's chest. "What is..?"
The girl pushed her away, blushing a dark red. "Do NOT touch those."
Twilight resumed inspection, commenting on each human's appearance. She then looked at Jay, motioning towards his walking stick. "Are you... Injured?"
At this, he nodded. He watched as she poked at his legs and he hardly moved at all. She hit them, and they immediately gave way. He fell to the ground and chuckled.
Twilight gasps, catching his walking stick with her magic before it can hit the ground. She looked at it closely. "So, this is the only support for your legs..?"
Jay nodded as he was helped up by Mike and Dawn. "Yep... I mean, I'm working on walking again, but progress is slow..."
Twilight gave him his cane back, and nodded. "Hm, interesting. Well, now that you're here, I guess it's time to go meet the princess!"
Luna looked at her, rolling her eyes. "She's not the only one anymore remember? To them she will be the third of four, Twi... There's you, me, Cadance..."
"Oh... Right..." she responded slowly.
Dawn looked up, smiling. "We are to meet another member of royalty..?"
Twilight nodded, spreading her wings and grouping the humans up. She began to trot towards the door, guiding them.
As they followed, Luna explained the big sights of Equestria.
"Right outside of the castle is the Canterlot Express. There, you can take trains to anywhere you'd like. Every half hour, there are trains going to and from Ponyville. And today, there is travel to the Crystal Empire and Manehattan. In Ponyville, there's a lot to do. There's a library, an inn, a few food places, and..."
Luna went quiet for a moment, then took a breath. "The Everfree Forest. However, I do advise you to stay away. There are many beasts who have never seen humans before. They may see you as hostile..."
The majority of the group nodded as they listened. Then, a male voice spoke up. "Okay, this might seem like a stupid question, but I need to ask..." Mike began, looking around. "Is there any way I could get a burger..?"
"Well, we have hay burgers!" said Twilight happily, chuckling.
"Hay burgers..?" asked Jay, raising a brow.
"Twi..." started the Doctor. He then whispered something in her ear, and she gasped.
"WHAT?!" came her immediate response. "YOU EAT ANIMALS?!"
Dawn spoke up, shrugging. "Well... They do. I do not."
Twilight smiled, patting Dawn's back with here front hoof. "Phew! Good!"
"As for the rest of us..." began Heather, smirking as she sees the pony's horror. "We eat animals all the time! Cows, pigs, and whatever else Chef puts together. You know, there might even be a bit of horse meat in there..."
At this, Twilight screamed and flew up to the ceiling. "What?! NO!"
"Yes..." Heather replied as she snickered.
After a few minutes of silence, aside from quiet, overhead whimpers, Luna and Twilight had gotten them to the door to the throne room.
Twilight turned to them and grinned. "Are you guys ready? You're about to meet the most amazing, most important pony in all of Equestria!"
Luna looks at Twilight, frowns, sighs and stays quiet.
Quickly, Twilight Sparkle burst the doors open, and flew into the middle of the throne room, barren of all life. The group walk in after her, and they all look around.
"Wow," began Heather, obviously fed-up. "What a leader you have!"
Aurora pushed her to the ground with her forehoof. "Shut it, girl..."
"No..." said Heather as she helped herself to her feet.
"Would you want to be cooped up in here? Just sitting on that chair for hours on end unless you have the off-chance to do something else? Were I in the same position, I'd wish to wander as well," Aurora argued as he walked back into the hallway.
"Well," Jay began, looking around. "Where do you think she might be?"
"Possibly in the gardens? That's where she goes to relax, if I remember correctly." explained the Doctor.
"Then lead the way," said Mike quickly, rubbing the back of his head.
Aurora turned and walked back out the doors the group originally came through before calling to them, "Got a few more corridors and a flight of stairs or two to the main room. The sooner we get going, the better."
Phase was the first to follow after in a small gallop. He turned his head to address the group behind, "Besides, don't you want to start exploring as soon as you can? A whole new world, surely it sparks your interests?"
"To some of us." Jay said humbly, nodding. "But to others, we wish to stay as close to the castle as possible. Treat this as what this is. A sort of diplomatic mission."
"Diplomatic?" asked the Doctor, tilting his head. "Were we not to choose a group of adolescents? Diplomacy was definitely not the first thing on my mind..."
"Any mission involving one or more from another dimension should be seen as diplomatic..." Jay replied with a light chuckle, looking around.
"He's correct..." Aurora began to explain as they walked. "Princess Celestia did want me to gather them to discuss diplomacy. I did not quite understand how it would work until I met this group. A few among them truly would be able to fulfill her wishes."
"What do you mean by that?" Dawn asked, seeming a bit puzzled at how it was stated.
"Ah, perhaps that was worded wrong," the Doctor began to explain. "If the Princesses wanted you here for some sort of political reason, it is most likely because you are the most diverse of the small groups we could find."
"Maybe," Aurora starts, "but rather than speculate the reason for gathering them we could just get them to Princess Celestia and let her explain her intentions."
"Well then, let's get to it!" Jay enthusiastically states, tapping his cane twice on the ground. "Take us to her, and let us see what we can do."
For the next few minutes they walked on in silence until they entered the ballroom. Once there, Aurora started heading towards the door before stopping halfway and turning to face everyone else. Amber is the first to step into the extravagant room, behind Aurora, her eyes wide in awe. Heather in turn leans against the door frame, rolling her eyes at Amber. Dawn is the next to walk in, closely followed by Mike. Jay then makes his way to the front of the group. Twilight, the Doctor, and changeling Jay make their way over next, the Doctor taking a seat.
Phase makes his way past Aurora and over to the garden door, "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go see the pr-" He promptly gets cut off by a wing and Luna's magic.
"Use your ears idiot," Aurora hisses. Through the doors a light, soothing melody can be heard. "Never interrupt a performance. I don't care what the occasion is. Well... there is one that I can think of, but this is certainly not it."
"Okay, I get it... can you let go now, Luna? Please?" Phase replied before the magical grip held on him was released and Aurora returned to his previous stance. After being released he sat down and let the melody play out to its end. As the piece reached its final note Phase and the Doctor stood up and Aurora went to open the door.
He first looked to the mare closest to him. She wore a grey coat, a straight black mane with the thinnest grey streaks running throughout. Her eyes an amethyst and her cutie mark being a light purple treble clef. Fastened around her neck is a bowtie in pink. "Beautiful as always, Octavia," Aurora complimented.
"Oh, thank you. We haven't met, have we miss..?" Octavia asked.
"Aurora Dawn, and no, I haven't had that pleasure until now. I do, however, try my best to keep up with the arts. I don't miss a performance if I can help it. Duty calls, however. Speaking of, if you'll excuse me," Aurora replied before walking up to a taller mare. Her coat was alabaster and her mane a flowing concoction of light shades of turquoise, cerulean, and pink. "We've retrieved a small, diverse group as you have requested, princess."
From the doorway, Heather walks in, unable to disguise an obvious laugh. "You're the one in charge here? What, did they base it on whoever has the brightest colors or something?"
Aurora rolls his eyes and looks to Celestia who simply looks at Heather with a slight interest. Seeing that no reply was coming Aurora decided to reply in Celestia's stead. "You do realise that her sister, Princess Luna, is ruling right alongside her and she's on the darker side of the color spectrum, correct?"
Jay walked up behind Heather, the sound of his cane tapping against the floor, drawing the attention of Celestia. "Don't mind her, your majesty. She's just a bit sour..," Jay finished, quietly.
Celestia smiles lightly before replying, "She's perfectly fine. With the differences between our worlds I can understand whatever skepticism any of you might have. I've asked you here in order to see how your species would interact with our world. To see if a bridging between worlds may be possible, and if so, whether or not it would be beneficial for us both to do so.
"What exactly it is that I want you to do is to simply go out and explore. Perhaps make a friend or two. Have some fun. I'm certain my sister has already explained this on your way here, but the trains are open to you for the duration of your stay. Ponyville is a destination that has grown in renown as of late and thusly has trains going to and from quite often. It's a simple little town and arguably one of the friendliest places in Equestria. This, however, certainly doesn't mean that it lacks a taste for adventure.
"Today, directly from Canterlot there will be trains heading towards the Crystal Empire and Manehattan. The Crystal Empire, ruled over by my niece, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, as well as her husband, Prince Shining Armour, has only just recently resurfaced after nearly a millennium. As per it's name, almost every structure is made of crystal. It's quite a sight to behold.
"Manehattan, It's a bustling city of enterprise. It may not be the most lavish city in the country, or even the easiest to live in, but it is easily one of the largest, especially when it comes to business. Some of the most well-known ponies in Equestria, chances are, come from and/or reside there.
"Finally, of course, if you just want to explore Canterlot, that is fine as well. Once the day comes to an end we have rooms set up for you here, should you wish to rest. For now, I just ask that you go out and be yourselves." Celestia finished before looking to Twilight, then Aurora, and finally back to the group. "Twilight will accompany whomever wishes to make their way to Ponyville. It is her home at the moment. Aurora will also escort all of you to the train station, just in case."
After Celestia finished, Aurora walked to the door and looked to the group. "Right this way, please."
Author's Note
Okay... so this chapter took absolutely forever to get out, slightly over 14 months, and I apologise for that. When I started this... it's a collaboration with a friend in New Jersey. I was there for two years, but moved shortly after the story was started. We now live 600+ miles apart and he doesn't have a mic to use for Skype, so we have been getting it written here and there through... text messaging. So, here's chapter two, and we are hoping that after this chapter our output will increase significantly for the characters will now actually begin to do things. I apologise again for anyone who had been interested before and figured me "dead".
