The Dead of night. A lone nightingale chirped. The only sounds that could be heard were the scratching of chalk on earth. Mark Leganos wiped the sweat of his brow, and looked at his work. A theorized Transmutation circle and theorem. He had found it in a box of books scheduled to be disposed of at the Central Library, and he had sworn to preform it. As he placed the offerings into the center, he smiled. He state Alchemist's watch glinted in the moonlight. As he prepared to activate the Circle, he checked his gear. A Browning M1910 pistol. Check. A MP19 SMG. Check. Theros sniper rifle. Gauntlet imbued with transmutation circle? Check. All set.
"This better fucking work." Mark said to himself, and he activated the circle. As soon as he touched the circle, bright purple light enveloped him. As he started to scream, the light fully consumed him. As he yelled out, he vanished.
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As he slowly woke up, he noticed that he wasn't in the same forest. In fact, he couldn't tell where he even was anymore. The stars were all messed up. As he slowly got up, he checked his weapons and his gauntlet. All good. As he started to walk, a thought struck him. He broke off a stick from a tree, and took out his lighter. He ignited the end of the stick, making a rudimentary torch. As he walked around, tying to get his bearings, he noticed a paw print in the ground. As he knelt down, he noticed it was bigger than a mountain lion, or any animal from Amestris, for that matter.
"So where the hell am I?" The thought to himself, as He continued to walk, he saw a large ruin in front of him. As he walked closer and entered the ruin, he could see that nobody had been here in a very long time. Moss and dust covered the walls. As he moved his torch around, he saw a tapestry of a horse below a sun.
"Interesting. Whoever lived here liked horses, that's for sure." he said with a smile, and as he continued to walk, he noticed a door that was ajar. As he climbed up some rickety stairs, he noticed that the room was well-lit, and a large bookshelf had been set up, alongside a couch and several chairs. As he scanned the titles of the books, he grew more and more confused.
"History of Equestria, volumes one through three. Griffon-Equestrian Relations, etc. What is going on here? Did that theory take me to another world?" He said, frustrated. Suddenly, he heard noises that sounded like hoof-steps from a horse. As he quickly dove under the couch, he quickly thought of something. He tapped the ground, and his gauntlet's circle began to glow. A stone wall came up, sheltering him from view. He left a small hole so he could see. As he watched, he saw hoofs, like on a horse, and a smaller set of legs. He could clearly see the lavender coloring, and the purple/magenta tail. He frowned to himself.
"A pastel-colored horse? I'm starting to think that this is some sort of joke." he whispered, frowning at the thought.
"Spike, I'm sure. When Celestia sent me that letter about the energy surge in the Everfree, IT DOES NOT MEAN ALIENS!" the purple one said, clearly exasperated.
"But come on, Twilight! Strange energy readings in the middle of the night, plus weird marks in the ground equals something extraterrestrial!" the smaller creature said.
"Spike, for the final time, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS ALIENS!" "Twilight" said again, frustrated. "But was has me concerned is the marks on these books. They're like Minotaur hands, only smaller and more prehensile. AND the fact that those marks in the ground led directly to here."
"Twilight, IT HAS TO BE ALIENS!" "Spike said eagerly. "I mean, what would a Minotaur be doing out in the Everfree? It makes no sense!"
"You have a point, Spike. But I just can't believe that there are aliens here."
"This could be a while." Mark thought, then an idea struck him. He unloaded his pistol, and pulled out a single cartridge. Giving it a light toss, he threw the bullet out the door, and into the ground, making a dull "Ping!"
"What was that?" "Spike" said, nervously.
"Let's check it out!" Twilight said, and as they were out of earshot, Mark slowly got out from underneath the couch, and slowly walked out, towards the east wing of the ruin. Seeing a small hole in the wall, he took his chances. As he sprinted by the two beings, he jumped out, landing on the ground, and took off running.
Meanwhile, back in the castle, Twilight had found the bullet. As she examined it, she looked, and saw that the trajectory could only have come from one room. The library. As she and Spike rushed back, they found a torch lying near the door, and the couch at the far end was overturned, and a small wall, with streaks running across it, had been made exactly to fit the couch's opening.
"Spike, I think you were right. Something alien is here, and I think we just missed it!" she yelled, and she rolled her eyes at Spike's triumphant "YES!" "Send a letter to the Princesses. We may be onto something!"
As Spike and Twilight rushed out, they didn't notice a black figure, complete with red stripes, with a strange sigil of a snake eating it's own tail, watching them.
"Well, this should be interesting. He cackled, and as he faded back into the shadows, he smiled.
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As Mark walked slowly towards what looked like a farm, he noticed that he was hungry. Very hungry. As he walked into an Orchard, he smiled at what was growing. Apples. As he picked a few, he stowed them in a pouch on his jacket, and left. As he walked towards the town, he noticed that most of the buildings had thatch roofs, but what surprised him most was the burnt stump of a tree near the center of town. As he examined it, he could still smell the ash. But then he looked up. A large castle of some sorts, made out of some blue crystal, greeted him. He smiled and walked up. As he entered, he could see an owl sleeping on a perch. As he sat down on a chair, he pulled out his journal. beginning to write, he noticed that his transmutation circle was glowing slightly. As he ran his fingers over the crystal, he felt calm, and at ease. As he exited, he checked his pocket-watch. 12:33 PM. He smiled as he walked into the plaza. He smiled at the house that looked like some overzealous cake decorator had designed it. As he walked past, he could hear voices.
"I'm telling you, it came this way!" "Twilight's" voice said.
"Are you SURE that it was the same being that stole your apples, AJ?" A feminine voice said.
"Af COURSE! I just wanna get my hooves on that thief!" A heavy accented voice replied.
"Well, I hope it likes cupcakes!" a very excited voice said.
"Cupcakes? what the hell are those?" he said to himself. As he slowly walked towards the edge of town, he noticed a hill overlooking the town. As he sprinted off, he could hear voices.
"What was that! Sounded like somepony was running hard!"
'Ah bet it's the thief! AFTER IT!"
Soon, he could hear hoof-steps. As he pulled up the rim on his coat, he ran harder. Then they got louder. He turned around, and saw what was chasing him. Six pastel colored horses, of similar body shape, were pursuing him. The "Twilight" one had wings and a horn, while the others had one or the other, or neither. As he continued to run, he reached the top of the hill, where he caught his breath. As he watched them run up the hill, he smiled.
"YOU LITTLE...FLANKHOLE!" a rainbow colored one said, and it lunged at him. He laughed, sidestepped, and countered, slamming it into the ground. As it tried to trip him, he jumped, and readied his transmutation circle. As he focused his portal of truth, he slammed the ground, causing a wall of earth to erupt, sealing the hilltop off. As he turned, he noticed that the rainbow horse had gotten up and was growling. He smiled and said out loud.
"You idiots just don't give up!"
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Rainbow was shocked. The creature had just SPOKEN. Not only that, it had spoken perfect Equestrian. She growled and threw a punch, but the creature sidestepped, and threw an axe kick that she failed to react to. His foot slammed into her side. As she soared into the wall, breaking it open, Mark smiled.
"You are going to have to do much FUCKING better than that!" he said jauntily.
"Says you!" that rainbow one said as she threw a flurry of punches, all were blocked by the being. Suddenly it leaped backwards and pressed its appendages to the ground. There was a bright blue glow, and to Rainbow's surprise, a wall of spikes came up from the ground. As she flew up to dodge, the spikes missed her and impaled themselves in the wall.
"OKAY THAT DOES IT! WHAT KIND OF FAUST-FORSAKEN BEING ARE YOU!" she yelled, and to her surprise, it began to laugh.
"Okay, I have seen some creepy things today, but his just takes the cake. Faust is your kind of god right?" It said in between chortles.
"Yeah?" Rainbow said warily.
"Well, gods and my kind don't really get along. Even if I died and went to heaven, God would probably send me right back where I came from! Besides, Us alchemists are always trying to play in god's realm."
"Alchemist?" Twilight said, confused, while stepping through the hole in the wall.
Both the being and Rainbow looked at Twilight.
"Okay, we need to discuss this in a place where Rainbow won't try to beat you up."
"Definitely. Besides, YOU were being a bit to reckless, in my opinion."
"RECKLESS?!" the creatures all yelled.
"You..Horses..or whatever you are, attacked me for no reason. I admit I took some apples, (AJ growled at this.) but I only did it because I was hungry. AND you guys really aren't a good welcoming committee. I end up in this world, not knowing why, and you horses ATTACK me? Not a good idea. Especially when you are dealing with a seasoned combatant like me. Besides, your Rainbow friend here, in my opinion, was amateur in her fighting style. No real sense of flow."
"WHAT!?!" Rainbow asked angrily.
"Listen everypony, calm down. We can talk this out back at the castle. Besides, I think we had better go soon."
"Agreed."
As Mark walked over, Twilight got a good look at him. he was clothed in a blue knee-length jacket, with white designs. His boots were black, and on his side was some sort of L-shaped pouch. he had a kind face, with brown eyes, slightly tan skin, and brownish-blonde hair. What confused Twilight the most was the metal gauntlet on his right arm. It was inscribed with some sort of rune. As they walked to the castle, it smiled.
"Never thought I'd be here twice."
"Twice?" Twilight asked.
"Before you and your friends assaulted me, I came for a stroll around town, trying to find a good place to sleep for the night. I had a look inside. Didn't touch anything."
"I see. We'll we'd better get you inside."
As they walked in, they sat themselves down at a table. Mark stood and leaned on the table.
"So, why are you here?"
"Not sure. As an State Alchemist, I was doing some research in the Central library, when I came across a old alchemical theory. I preformed the transmutation, a bunch of purple light enveloped me, next thing I know, I'm here."
"State Alchemist?"
"Simply put, I'm a dog of the military. State Alchemists are employed by my country's government as part of an elite program. Members are given a silver pocket-watch that amplifies out alchemical reactions. In exchange for obeying three basic rules, we get all the good stuff an Alchemist needs. Research grants, labs, and materials, plus unlimited resources from the Government. We are sometimes ordered into battle as shock troops, though. Not proud of that part. Besides, we all get a military rank equivalent to that of a Major in the Army. If you are wondering what species I am, I'm a human male."
"Interesting. What are the rules?"
"Do not create gold, which is to keep the economy stable, Obey the military, and do NOT create Humans."
"You can create yourselves?" a white unicorn asked, confused.
"Not exactly. To transmute a human soul, is one of the most forbidden of alchemical taboos. I've heard that little-to-nothing can equal it's value."
"Value?"
"Alchemy is based off a certain set of laws. In order for something to be created, something of equal value must be given up. This is the law of Equivalent Exchange. You can't get something for nothing. Alchemy has three stages. Construction, Deconstruction, and Reconstruction. Besides, Alchemy has many forms. Many hospitals have alchemists skilled in Medicinal alchemy to heal patients that can't normally be healed under current technology. But most alchemy is based around war. Fire alchemy is what I specialize in. I was given the title "Smokeheart Alchemist." when I became a state alchemist. Hey, we can talk more tomorrow. I need to get some sleep."
"Sounds fine. I got a spare bedroom. Second door on the right."
As he walked up, he smiled and waved to the ponies, who waved back. Ass he flopped into the bed, he quickly pulled off his boots, jacket, and gauntlet, before falling asleep.
