The Adventures of Emanon Reynawhe Season 1

by Detsella Morningdew

Rating: everyone
Tags: Alternate Universe, Human, Adventure
Length: 21309

A human fan of MLP wishes for more excitement in his life, and is mysteriously transformed. He has to deal with the new repercussions of his wish.

A human fan of My Little Pony wishes for more excitement in his life, and is mysteriously transformed. He has to deal with the new repercussions of his wish.
This is the first season in a series, each chapter being an episode.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2015-06-02 14:18:46 UTC

Episode 2: The Beginning Part 2 of 2

__________________________

I - The Return

__________________________

       Emanon's friends did not have to wait long to find out what had happened to him. A portal appeared at a skewed angle, slowly moving and  somehow "cleaner" than the last one. They stepped back as Emanon quickly jumped through.

       The portal disappeared.

       Emanon ran over to them for a group hug. "I've missed you so much!"

       "Umm...why?" asked Mark. "You've only been gone for five minutes. Your breakfast hasn't even gone cold."

       "Oh...umm..." He picked the food up and started to eat.

       "Wait a minute!" said Caleb suspiciously. "You just used magic. Perfectly. How?"

       "I think that he might have been gone longer than we thought," said Jennifer thoughtfully.

       "Why would you think that?" said Ashley, confused.

       "Miles just seems more...tired."

       "I'm sorry guys, said Emanon sleepily. "I need to go to bed now. That spell takes all of my energy away."

       "Okay, we'll go, said Mark. "But expect some questions when you wake up."

__________________________

II - A Stranger in the Place I Call Home

__________________________

       Emanon woke up to his mother knocking on his door.

       "I told you not to lock your door," she said. "You haven't been down from there all day. And you can't have cleaned those dishes from breakfast."

       "Umm...Mom...I have something to tell you."

       "What is it?"

       "Maybe I should just show you."

       Emanon opened the door.

       "Okay," she said, breathing heavily. "It could be worse. It how are you going to get to school."

       And this is why, Emanon thought, I have an awesome mom.

       "I have a disguise that should work," Emanon reassured her.

       "What disguise would that be?"

       Emanon's horn glowed bright blue, and his old human form shimmered into view.

       "That is really creepy," his mother said. "but it works well. How are you able to keep the image solid?"

       "It is a spell that alters the space around me. If I actually changed shape, that would be much harder."

       "I want to know how you learned all of this magic. I know from you that this is not innate."

       "I sort of accidentally traveled to Equestria..."

       "Okay, but it has only been a few hours."

       "...for twelve years."

       "What?!"

       When I first tried to use magic for the first time, I kind of tried a bit too hard, and I lost control. There was a surge of magic, and I guess I was thinking about the place at the time. I was sent both to Equestria and twelve years in the past."

       "Then why did you not just come back?"

       "As you said, I can't use a spell that I haven't learned. I wasn't even able to pick up a fork."

       "I see. And how did you come back?"

       "I still can't control time. I had to wait for the time to pass in order to hope that my attempt would succeed. I have not aged, because apparently being directly exposed to space-time will age you accordingly. I am just lucky that I was not sent back for much more than I already was."

       "Anyway, your lunch is ready. I think you should come down to the table to eat it."

       "Okay," Emanon said, yawning. "Just don't expect me to be lively. That spell took a lot out of me. I feel ready for bed again."

__________________________

III - A New Old World

__________________________

       Emanon's respect for his mother grew a lot that day. She removed the meat related parts from his lunch without him mentioning it, and she did not prevent him from going back to sleep in the middle of the day. She promised to wake him for dinner. Emanon asked her why she was being so nice, and she explained that if she had been through that much, she would expect the same treatment.

       The next morning, Emanon felt refreshed, but as usual in his countless practices, he still had limited magical ability. His disguise was gone, so he assumed that sleeping must have cancelled the upkeep required for the spell. There was no reason for him to disguise himself inside his own house, so he went down early for breakfast. His mother had not yet made breakfast, so he told her not to bother making a special one for him. He would be eating in the backyard.

        She looked at him, confused for a moment, then nodded. As a pony, he could eat grass quite readily, and was probably better than complex proteins like eggs in the morning.

       As he was eating, he realized that he had not seen his friends since he had come through the portal. He went inside to call them, and was amused to find that the touchscreen was not actually triggered by pressure, but by heat.

       He called them all over and made sure that they would not tell anyone outside their own family. They reassured him that no one would believe them anyway, but he insisted, saying that two people cannot hallucinate identically, and it would raise suspicions.

       Questions were asked of where he went and how long he was gone. He told them of his pony name, Emanon, but he insisted that they still call him Miles in front of otger people. His friends were calmer than before, and seemed to accept these changes.

       Finally, he insisted that he needed to rest again. Even though he was physically tired, he wanted to       magically regenerate. He did not know how tired he would get from keeping the disguise running all day.

       His home was exactly as it was when he left, but everything was different. Even something as simple as eating or calling someone was entirely different.

__________________________

IV - School

__________________________

       The rest of the day was rather dull for Emanon. He no longer had any magic to study, and he needed to rest, so he couldn't practice, either. For the past twelve years, this is what his life was centered around, and it was hard just to drop all of that as soon as he was home again. Here he was, living his dream, his fantasy, and he was dissatisfied.

       He set his alarm, then fell asleep with some difficulty, hoping that somehow, tomorrow would be a better day. What was he missing?

       The next day, he woke up at 6:14 just before his alarm. As he got ready for school, he realized what he should have been doing the night before when he was bored. He had not studied for school at all. The last time he had this material was twelve years ago. Mathematics he was confident in; he had to learn all he could in Equestria. Writing and Language Arts were not practiced, except when he was writing reports on experiments, and although he learned a bit about Equestrian history, American history was sorely lacking.

       Fortunately for him, there were no exams in any of his courses today, but he knew he had to do some late-night studying to make up the deficit.

       The one thing he did dread was Physical Education. There was a dodgeball tournament today. This was the only class that all of his friends were in--it was a required course, after all. But the rest of the class were the worst sort of people in the school. They were unpleasant, vindictive, and unfortunately extremely athletic. He always marveled at how they could get soft foam to hurt that much.

       He understood that with a pony's body, no matter what shape it was in, could withstand more, but he was more worried about his friends. They did not exactly play aggressively.

       The bus came and he say next to his friends as usual. Everything gave him a strange sense of déjà vu. Everything was the same but different.

       Throughout all of his classes, any old topics rediscussed dug out memories in his mind that seemed as long ago as some of his earliest childhood memories. He went around school looking so dazed that many teachers and staff asked him if anything was wrong, but it was always the same answer: fine.

__________________________

V - The Tournament

__________________________

       By the time the dreaded dodgeball tournament came around, Emanon began to wonder why he had even bothered to come back.

       Teams never seemed to be picked by the teacher. They always were picked by team captains. If all of the team captains were athletic, it was usually fine and balanced. They just got picked last. Unfortunately, Caleb was a team captain. He always chose his friends. Although this was a great sentiment, it was not very practical.

       This game, there were three team captains, making three teams of 6 kids.

       The tournament was organized by the teacher to give us mercy, Emanon thought. It made sure we competed the least possible number of times. The tough teams competed first, and then the winners took on us, which meant an almost guaranteed victory. It seemed that beating us was just a prize for winning.

       The other teams competed, and they were a pretty even match. The game would have been exciting, but the only thing on everyone's mind was that we would have to play the winner.

       Finally, it was their turn. Caleb, as team captain, gave the pep talk.

       "Okay guys, we'll completely get demolished out there, but at least we'll do it together."

       "That's your pep talk?" Emanon said incredulously. "Okay, I know that it seems impossible, but I know we can at least hold our own out there. They may be better than us, stronger than us, and more experienced than us, but they do not have the teamwork, the friendship, to play as a unit: a true team. We have the optimism to keep going, loyalty to protect each other, the kindness and generosity to allow another teammate to have the winning ball, and the honesty to admit when we have fouled. It is not what we have on the outside that matters; the inside is what makes a team that is unstoppable."

       "Umm...guys," said Mark uncertainly. "Is it just me or are we...glowing?"

       "Yeah," said Emanon. "I think I know what this is. I just hope that nobody is seeing this."

       Then his eye glowed white and then...

       Nothing.

       Then the coach blew the whistle for the game to begin.

       Emanon suddenly felt quite aware of his surroundings. He started to pick up balls and throw them. He realized suddenly that they did not come up with any strategy whatsoever, but his friends were doing strangely great. So was he actually. He was full of energy, and he seemed to know where every ball was coming from. Caleb seemed to be acting as defense, holding a ball in his hands and blocking incoming missiles. Ashley supplied balls to everyone and Mark was the heavy offense. Miriam was unpredictable, running around the field randomly, and fake-throwing towards the opponent. Jennifer was reluctant to throw anything at first, but when Miriam was hit, she realized the necessity. She assisted wherever there was need for it. At last, the tournament was over.

       "We won!" said Miriam triumphantly. "But what was that weird bit in the beginning? Ooh, look, a bracelet. I don't remember wearing that!"

       "That," said Emanon. "Is something I would never suspect. It seems that the Elements of Harmony may be no more than symbols, gimmicks. When the spirits of the elements are present, and the need is great..."

       "Wait a minute," Mark interjected. "So you're telling me that these are the Elements of Harmony that you were talking about from your show?"

       "Yes, but at first, I thought that they were unique and only worked when all of the physical ones were present. It seems like that is not the case."

       "So, if I lost mine," Caleb asked. "It wouldn't really matter?"

       "No, that doesn't seem right. I think that the newly created Elements attach to the part of you that that element represents. That is why when an Element is altered, so is the person to whom it is attached."

       "That is vaguely creepy," Mark said. "Still, why didn't the elements do much?" I understand that in the show, there was usually something that exploded as a result."

       "The Elements of Harmony only do what it is in their nature to do: restore harmony. It does this by balancing out the power. In every episode that they used the Elements, there was one person who upset the balance of things. The Elements solved the problem by taking their power away, and in the case of Discord, turned him to stone, as his chaotic powers are part of who he is. In our case, the Elements only balanced the power; our teamwork was the thing that made us win the battle."

       "So the Elements are not actually all that dangerous?" asked Jennifer quietly.

       "Exactly. But, on another note, not only have I discovered this surprising piece of information, but I think I finally know why I wanted back here so badly. You five are more important to me than anything this or any world could offer.

Episode 3: The Return

__________________________

I - Arrangements

__________________________

       The rest of that week was uneventful, although rather difficult for Emanon. He was so used to using magic in Equestria, that he kept catching himself trying to levitate objects.

       That Saturday, he called his friends over to discuss some things.

       "Let me get straight to the point: I don't think that we should just go around wearing our Elements. They should be stored in a safe place here. We don't want another incident to occur with them."

       "Why?" Caleb asked. "People will do anything to come up with a reasonable explanation for it. They didn't notice the last time it happened."

       "Repeated instances will arouse suspicion, and that is the last thing we want to do. Also, it seems too much like cheating to magically balance any competition or problem we are in. We should only use the Elements in real emergencies, not just conflicts we want to avoid."

       "Yeah, that bothered me a bit, said Mark. When I want to win something, I want to do it fair and square."

       "So it's agreed then?"

       "Yep"

       "Yeah"

       "Sure"

       "Okay, I'm going to hide them now where no one can find them."

       He took a clear plastic box that had once carried a model airplane, and concentrated. The box shone with a blue light, which faded away slowly.

       "What did you do?" asked Caleb.

       "I put a magical marker on it, so I can find it again. I'm going to pu it underground, so we need to go outside. "

       Emanon put the Elements in the boxand they all walked outside.

       Jennifer asked, "Why does the gem in yours have a different shape than ours?"

       "I assume that it has to do with you not being ponies. Mine takes the shape of my cutie mark, but I guess that they keep their default form for you."

       They walked into Emanon's backyard. A portal appeared, and it gave a spectacular view of dirt.

       "This is why I wanted to do this outside. Mom would not be happy with a cubic yard of dirt in the house."

       He levitated a quantity of dirt out of the "hole" and his friends packed down the sides. When they were done, there was a nice sort of dirt cave for the box to rest in. They placed the box in neatly, and Emanon removed the portal.

       "In an emergency, all I have to do is recreate the portal relative to the marker I placed on the box. Now I can get back to the real reason I brought you here. The spell used to disguise me in school took less energy than I thought...and I did all of the calculations..."

       "What's your point?" Mark said abruptly.

       "Would you like to visit Equestria?"

__________________________

II - Back Again

__________________________

       "Wait a minute," said Mark. "You were out for two days when you came from there last time. By the time you would recover enough to travel back, it would already be time for school on Monday. Plus, after that second spell, you would be way too exhausted for school."

       "It took me two days to recover, because of the time pressure. I had already tried and failed to make the portal only two minutes before I succeeded with that one. It takes me only five hours to recover normally, but since I had to do it twice to get back on time, it was exponentially worse."

       "So if there is a high probability that you will fail, why do you think that it is a good idea to bring us along? Or even go at all?"

       "The reason it was so hard to do in the first place, is because I had to do it with no point of reference. Now that I have placed markers in both Equestra and here, it will be so much easier. The magic itself is just as hard, but the markers make it so that I don't waste an attempt."

       "Okay, I guess it's fine," said Miriam.

       "Also, there are some ponies that I think you would want to meet."

       Emanon concentrated, his horn glowing brighter and brighter. Slowly, a portal appeared and widened enough for someone to walk through. This one seemed to radiate energy, and was brighter than the one he used to hide the Elements.

       "Jump through! Jump through!" Emanon said urgently.

       They all scrambled inside, and Emanon leaped after them.

__________________________

III - Equestria

__________________________

       They landed in Emanon's old room in the castle. He was surprised that Celestia had not cleaned it out yet. It had already been a week. It felt great to be near all of those books again, but he needed to show his friends around first. The first thing to do was to see Celestia. He felt that it would be best to ask her permission before other ponies saw humans. Also, he could tell her about the new discovery he had made regarding the Elements of Harmony.

       He knocked on Celestia's door. A thought struck him. He was probably the only pony that knew where Celestia personal room was, except for the royal guards and the other Princesses, Luna and Cadence.

       Celestia opened her door.

       "I knew you would come back when you had the chance.

       "I wanted you to meet my friends that I talked so much about. This is Mark, Jennifer, Caleb, Miriam, and Ashley."

       "It is nice to finally meet you. But I do not think that that is the only reason that you came here."

       "Yes, I would have written a letter to you, but that is about as hard as coming here in person. About five days ago, we had something very strange happen to us. Apparently, I chose my friends well, because the Elements of Harmony appeared to us. This seems to mean that the elements are created by the ones using them. Although it also seems to me from my observations of Equestria that once they are made, it is permanent, and if one is missing, they will not work."

       "Interesting."

       "It seems that my friends had the five elements all along, but it required the sixth, Equestrian magic, as the catalyst."

       "That does seem to fit our experiences, but of course, we will need more proof to be sure."

       "Also, I'm sure you probably know this, but the Elements do not just solve any situation immediately. It would seem that way, but we saw that in situations if less need, it only balanced the situation. The Elements do not destroy, but instead restore, well, harmony."

       "Yes, I knew about that, but congratulations on discovering that on your own, and for choosing such excellent friends."

       "Is it okay with you for us to visit certain friends of mine in Ponyville? I understand if having humans here would be too disrupting."

       "It should be fine. Just avoid being seen by too many ponies. Go straight to Twilight's library and you shouldn't be seen by many."

       "All right, let's go, everybody. We only have until tomorrow morning to visit."

__________________________

IV - Meeting Old Friends

__________________________

       Emanon's friends started walking towards the door, but he stopped them. He opened a portal.

       "Ohhhh...this is a lot more fun than walking," Miriam said cheerfully. "The edges just look so sparkly!"

       "Umm...just don't touch them. I'm not that good at making them safe yet. If I put the portals on walls, it would be apt safer, but these edges are infinitesimally thick. You don't want to touch them."

       "Okay, all right, I won't touch them."

       "Why did we go to the outside of this Twilight's house?" Caleb said, confused. "If we are trying not to be seen, why not just go directly inside?"

       "Because Miles isn't rude," interrupted Mark. "Sorry, here you're called Emanon. I still haven't gotten used to that."

       Emanon knocked on the library door. Twilight opened it.

       "Oh, hello. I can tell you made it home. Good job, by the way. These must be the friends you were always talking about."

       "Did you tell everyone here about us?" whispered Mark.

       "Well, did you expect all of my conversations to all be about magic?" he whispered back.

        "Anyway, I just came to visit, and introduce you and the others to my friends here. Could you call them over here? Celestia advised against many ponies seeing them, and I am really tired from coasting that spell. Maybe you could talk for a while. I just need to go to bed."

       "I'm sorry, I quite understand. You can use the guest bed. I'll get the others. Help yourselves to any books that seem interesting while I go get them."

       Twilight left, leaving the five alone in the library.

       "All of these books seem to be about magic," said Mark, disappointed.

       "Well, I'm just going to wait patiently, said Ashley. "I'm sure she won't be gone long."

       "Anyway, there are books on legends as well," Caleb said. "and a few fiction books. These "Daring Do" books look a lot like Indiana Jones."

       "Let me see those," Mark said, with a lot more interest.

       A while later, Emanon came back.

       "What's taking her so long?" asked Ashley. "I thought she was just getting her friends."

       "Her friends could be anywhere in Ponyville. They don't exactly have cell phones here. Anyway, here they come now."

       Twilight trotted in, bringing along the rest of the Mane Six.

       "Don't be put off by their strange appearance. Humans are just as much of a person as we are."

       "It's just so strange to finally meet you all," said Jennifer. "To finally meet the M..."

       Emanon flashed her a warning glance.

       "...to meet all sorts of ponies!"

       Twilight looked suspiciously at her, then continued, "I'm sure that we'll all become great friends. From what I have heard Emanon describe, we seem to have a lot in common."

__________________________

V - The Mane Six

__________________________

       They talked for a while, his friends asking questions about pony life while Emanon caught up with Twilight.

       "So your friends became Elements? How does that even work with non-ponies?"

       "I don't quite know that yet. I told Celestia my findings. She can probably explain it better than me."

       "Why are you even telling me this? It's not exactly like we advertise being Element bearers."

       "Well, I know that you are studying the magic of friendship. But it is mostly out of necessity. If it ever becomes possible for you to visit our world, you need to be sure to leave your Elements behind."

       "And why would we need to do that."

       "As far as I can tell, there can only be one set of Elements in a given world. That is why, when you are missing one of the Elements, another is not created. I do not know what would happen if you forcibly brought a set where another is present."

       "I see. There could be all sorts of side effects. The Elements are extremely powerful magical objects."

       "When Nightmare Moon smashed the existing Elements, it only made it easier for them to bond to you. They never really completely bonded to Celestia anyway, since she was just one pony."

       "How did you know about that?"

       "Everyone knows of your defeat of Nightmare Moon."

       "No, that she smashed the Elements. We didn't tell anyone about that!"

       "Oh, you didn't have to tell anyone about that, Twilight," interrupted Pinkie Pie. "Millions of people have watched that episode!"

       "What! How did you know...nevermind. Anyway, don't worry about it, Twilight. I'll tell you, but not now. After you see my world, I'll tell you about it. Right now the information would be just weird."

       "All right," said Twilight, still not convinced. "I'll wait."

       "Anyway, we should probably leave for Canterlot. It's almost sunset, and I need my strength for tomorrow morning when we go home. Also, could you sort of prepare ponies in Ponyville for our visit next week? I don't want to have to stay in the library all day, and we're not exactly inconspicuous. Other ponies are not all that accepting either. Remember how they treated Zecora at first?"

       "How did you...nevermind. It doesn't matter. I'll try my best to make sure you're accepted. It'll probably take some time for them to get used to you though."

       "Thanks. Let's go, guys!"

       Emanon opened a portal, this time on a wall. He did not want an incident. He trusted himself not to touch the sides, but accidents happen.

       They walked through to Emanon's room in the castle. He was surprised to find that Celestia had provided extra beds for them to sleep on. He was grateful. He had not thought about the fact that they needed to sleep, too.

       They fell asleep, contented. Tomorrow, they were going home.

__________________________

VI - Dilemma

__________________________

       Emanon woke up, uneasy. Something was bothering him, but he couldn't pinpoint it. He was about to go back to bed to wait for his friends to wake up when there was a knock at the door. He opened it, and one of the royal guard stood there.

       "Letter for Emanon Reynawhe."

       "That's me."

       "I wonder what this could be about." he thought, confused." I've only gotten letters from Celestia before, and she knows that I'm right here. She could just talk to me personally. Anyway, she knows I'm about to leave, anyway. What could it be?"

       He read, "Princess Celestia cordially invites you to the marriage of Princess Niamora-Cadenza and Shining Armor."

       Wait a minute. That was the problem. He finally found out what had been bothering him: nothing strange had happened. Before he had become a pony, he had never missed an episode of My Little Pony. They came out on a Saturday. But he had come here on a Saturday. If he remembered right, the next episode would have been the season finale. The weird things should have been happening yesterday, on Saturday, but it was happening here on Sunday, a day too late. Then it occurred to him: universes have a fixe distance from one another in four-dimensional space. It would make sense, then, that there would be a time distance. He was lucky that it was small; a distance of one day wasn't too hard to deal with. But now he had a bigger problem: the invitation. He would love to go--from what he knew of the episodes, the Mane Six were always there, but there also was his friends; it wouldn't be fair to deny them admission just because they looked different. There was the fact that he would be exhausted for school, but he thought he might make it. And knowing that this was a season finale, he knew that Twilight and her friends might need help. But that brought up another factor: his friends would be in grave danger if something did happen. Humans were a lot more fragile than ponies, at least in this universe. One stray bolt of magic might kill them. Now there was no choice; with his friends in possible danger, he could not accept the invitation.

       He went to Celestia's room again and knocked. She opened the door.

       "What is it?"

       "I'm sorry, I cannot accept the invitation."

       "I knew you probably could not accept it, but it was a formality I had to do. You are one of Twilight's friends, after all."

       "So I was just worried for no reason at all?"

       Celestia smiled. "See you next week!"

       At least he had learned something; it was safe to come to Equestria on a Saturday, but he would have to be creative if he wanted to stay longer. Maybe...

__________________________

VII - Denouement

__________________________

       Once all of his friends woke up, he started to make the portal to get them home. Of course, he kept his resolution to keep them set onto walls at all times. At least when others used them. They quickly scrambled through, landing comfortably in his room.

       "Shouldn't we have told someone when we left?" asked Jennifer. "Ponies there might get worried."

       "I talked with Celestia before you woke up. She knew we were going to leave this morning. Everything was settled."

       "Then why do you look so worried?" thought Jennifer.

       Emanon placed the scroll that contained the invitation on his bedside table. "I hope you guys will be okay."

       "Don't worry," Jennifer reassured him. "They'll be fine."

Episode 4: A Quest For Permanence

__________________________

I - The Idea

__________________________

       After his friends left, Emanon paced his room. There had to be some other way to kept contact with his friends in Equestria. The spell he was using was just to difficult to do every single time he wanted to go there.

       Every single time. Every single time. If he could just...

       That was it! He had to find a way to make the spell permanent. Right now, though, keeping the portal open was the most difficult part. How was he supposed to do it?

       Just practicing more was out of the question. It took him years to get him to the level he currently was. To be able to keep a portal open constantly would take more than a decade. And that was time he didn't have.

       He had to think differently. He had to go back to the roots. What was a portal? It was a wormhole, a passage through space-time. Why did he need to hold it open? It was an unstable wormhole, and would collapse when he released the energy that held it open. So what was the solution to his problem? A seemingly equally problematic one; he had to learn to create a stale wormhole in about a week. With that on his mind, he went to sleep; he still had not recovered from their last excursion.

__________________________

II - Theoretical Physics, Because Trial and Error is Overrated

__________________________

       Emanon's first impulse was to go to the books Celestia had given him. Then he remembered that no one in Equestria had done what he was doing, or at least not that anyone had remembered.

       But then, he remembered another resource that he did not have in Equestria: the Internet.

       Not for magic; he had learned enough about that in Equestria. What he needed to know was what were the requirements for creating a stable wormhole. He was out of the realm of magic and into the realm of science.

       As he logged on to his computer, using magic to press buttons and move the mouse, he got an idea. A terrible idea that he quickly pushed out of his head,because it was way too dangerous. But he wrote it down anyway. Instead of pressing buttons laboriously, he could use magically created electrical impulses, and therefore use less energy to work the computer. It would also run faster that way. But that was a distraction. Right now he needed to focus on more important matters.

       When searching, he discovered that wormholes are usually unstable, which made sense; that is the reason that he worked so hard to keep them open. But, in theory, to create a stable one, you needed to make one that was surrounded either by matter with negative mass or use negative energy to create one.

       This created another problem; how do you implement it? This was theoretical, not definite.

       Maybe he just needed to research some more about the negative energy. This seemed easier to him than creating a sizable amount of matter with strange properties.

       He needed all the information possible before attempting it - attempting a thing like this might put him out for two full days. He only wanted to have to do this once.

       (Note: If you want to avoid confusing theoretical physics, skip the rest of the chapter. The only thing you need to know is that he finds a workable method. If you like this sort of thing, or are good at understanding the general idea, go right ahead)

       He researched negative energy, and found a lot of things it could explain, along with what it would be used for, and a description of its properties, but not a definitive description of what it was.

       He then searched for matter of a negative mass. Descriptions of this were even more vague, and it had some problems with rule violations that negative energy did not. He concluded that there would have to be a better explanation of gravity to be sure to any extent. Attempting to create negative energy was the only option.

       He researched further, and found a gem: Hawking radiation. Everywhere, so-called "virtual particles" were created and annihilated constantly.

       If he could capture those negative photons, he would have all of the negative energy he needed. The problem was, the theoretical stable wormhole required tons of negative energy.

       In order to reach the amount he needed, he would have to gather it almost constantly.

       He could gather the particles with magic, but his magic did not work while he was sleeping.

       He thought about this for a while, then came up with a plan; he could create a ball with a perfect mirror on the inside. He would leave a literally microscopic hole in the mirror to insert the particles.

       The ball could really be any size, so in order that it be inconspicuous, he made it about the size of a marble.

       While he was sleeping, almost none would leak out, and he could manipulate the negative particles into the ball.

       The positive photons left over, since they won't have been annihilated, will be free, but it wouldn't be conspicuous, Emanon thought. They would just make everyone's day slightly brighter.

       He started collecting them from the air and directing them to the ball. He needed to start now if he was going to get the massive amount of energy he needed. It was a boring job, but necessary. Now of he could only keep it up all week, then this plan might just work.

__________________________

III - Concentration

__________________________

       The rest of the day was exceedingly boring for Emanon. Harvesting the virtual particles took a lot of concentration, but was very dull. His mind kept wandering, and he needed the maximum concentration possible.

       School the next five days would take up a lot of his mind, which would mean decreased production. He needed the maximum amount of energy while he did not have to use his mind for other tasks.

       Finally, at around 10:30 at night, he decided it would be more productive to sleep and be refreshed for tomorrow. It was going to be a long week.

       The next day, he used all of his spare time collecting photons. Every single moment that did not need his direct attention, he focused on collecting.

       Teachers would ask of there was anything wrong. He looked distant always "staring off into space".

       The quality of his work went down, and he often didn't pay attention to what the teacher was saying. His advanced academic level helped, of course, but people were still worried.

       He stayed up late each night, collecting every last bit he could. For the first time, he resented school. "If only it were summer," he thought. "I would have finished this in about three days. Not six."

       Time seemed to move slower. Seconds dragged on to minutes. Minutes into hours. Finally, the moment came. He was ready.

__________________________

IV - The Setup

__________________________

       Now that he was ready to perform the spell, he ha to find a good place, a place that no one would see or suspect. What could be used, that could be easily disguised...

       Mirrors. A bit cliché, perhaps, but very easily disguiseable. mirror surfaces were one of the most easily created magical objects. He could create the illusion of a mirror over the portal, which he would put in the mirror frame.

       This was perfect. He could bond the other side with the oval mirror in his room in the castle.

       Nobody (or pony, for that matter) purposely touches a mirror. A human would get fingerprints on it, and a pony would probably just break it.

       The only problem was getting a mirror on the side he was on currently. Sure, he could technically use his bathroom mirror, but he really did not want to climb over the sink to get to Equestria. He had to make another mirror, next to his dresser. Yes, that would be inconspicuous enough.

       He could make the mirror easily with magic, but the frame was harder. Where could he find a frame that big. His mother had a mirror exactly how he wanted it, but he doubted she would really give it up for his experiment.

      So he went to a yard sale and bought one. (Nothing riveting happened there. It was a yard sale. If you really want to know what exactly happened there and who he talked to, you are probably reading the wrong type of story)

       It was a plain sort of frame, but it was the sort of old-fashioned sort of quality that you only seem to find in yard sales or Equestria.

       He would have time to personalize it later. Doing anything too fancy was worthless if the experiment failed. Anyway, he was pretty sure this spell was going to take all the magic he had.

__________________________

V - The Moment of Truth

__________________________

       Finally, the moment came. He was thankful that he had been so paranoid when he had left Equestria. He had marked everything, including the mirror he planned to use.

       He started the spell, creating the unstable wormhole as before, placing both ends in the respective mirror frames.

       Then came the part he dreaded, yet was the part he had been studying for all along. He took the mirror sphere, and brought all of the negative photons towards him.

       With great difficulty, he broke the gluons that kept them together.

       Then everything became weird. Fast. He had negative strength, negative magic. Now he realized what he had to do; he directed all of his focus to uphold this side of the wormhole--the home side.

       It immediately disappeared, then reappeared, this time, orange? What was going on?

       His energy completely drained, he blacked out.

__________________________

VI - After the Fact

__________________________

       He woke up to find all of his friends, including his mother, all standing over him.

       "Should we call a vet or something?" his mother asked, worried.

       "I don't know," said Jennifer. "He's not exactly a normal pony. They would notice."

       "I vote no," said Emanon. "I'm fine."

       "Thank goodness," said Caleb. "I was starting to get worried about you."

       "How long was I asleep?"

       "Correction; you were in a coma for about 9 hours," said Mark.

       "That seems about right."

       "And you were bright orange when we found you."

       "Oooh, that's interesting; I didn't know that would happen."

       "And you didn't think to TELL us that you were doing this little experiment?" he said, pointing towards the portal, which was still orange-colored.

       "Ummm...no?" Emanon said uncertainly. "I guess I was do caught up in all this, that I forgot who I was doing it for. I'm sorry that I neglected you, and I will make sure to letting k ow of any crazy ideas I have in the future."

       "That's better. Anyway, why was everything orange?"

       "Well, I think that the negative energy has something to do with it. I'm not quite sure."

       "Negative energy? So you used dark magic?"

       "Of course I didn't! Why would I do that? Negative energy is a theoretical force that physicists came up with to explain certain things."

       "So you just assumed that what these physicist people said was true without any proof, then you performed a dangerous experiment with unproven material without even telling anyone?!"

       "Well when you put it that way..."

       "Do you realize that if this experiment failed, it probably would have caused an explosion that would destroy half the town?"

       "Umm..."

       "This might have been acceptable in Equestria, but you need controlled conditions on Earth. People could have died. It's not just your life in danger."

       "I see what you mean. I've been extremely selfish. I need to think of other people: how my actions affect others. I won't act so foolishly again."

       "That's better, said Jennifer."

       "So, do you guys want to visit Equestria now?"

       "Did you learn anything?" asked Caleb incredulously.

       "Yes, but all my work will be useless if we don't even try. Also, you didn't really get a chance to explore last time."

       "All right, it's fine."

__________________________

VII - Through the Looking-Glass

__________________________

       Emanon stepped through first; he wanted to make sure that it was safe. Celestia was waiting on the other side.

       "What did you do to this mirror?"

       "I'm sorry that I did not ask your permission. I created a portal in it, so that I could come here more easily."

       "You misunderstand me. The magic you used; it was--strange. It is unlike anything that I have ever encountered, and it certainly is not magic that I have taught you."

      "I'm sorry that I had no way to warn you."

       By now, his friends, seeing him talking with Celestia, deemed it safe to cross as well.

       "I see. Well, as you may have heard from your own sources, there was a bit of a mishap yesterday at the wedding."

       Emanon started, but kept a blank face.

       "I'm sure Twilight and her friends will want to tell you all about it."

       "All right. Let's go."

       If his suspicions were correct, though, it would have to be a short visit.

       They stepped into his portal to Twilight's library, and knocked. She opened the door, and gasped.

       "I thought that you were coming next week! I didn't prepare or anything!"

       "That's just fine. I didn't warn you. It isn't your fault."

       His friends gave him questioning looks, but he silenced them with a glance.

       "Come in!" said Twilight cheerfully. "You missed quite a lot yesterday."

       "I can only stay for about 30 minutes or so. We have...things we need to do."

       "All right, that's okay."

       When they got inside, Twilight told the story that Emanon knew, but had to pretend not to. Her friends interjected at times. Rainbow Dash was clearly too excited about fighting the changelings. That seemed to be the hi light of the whole day. Getting caught wasn't, though, so Twilight told the rest of the story.

       By now, the time was running out, and Emanon wanted to err on the side of caution.

       They left, promising to come back in a day or two.

       Emanon then led his thoroughly confused friends back to the castle, and back through the mirror.

       When they got back through, it was dark outside.

       "What's going on?" Mark said, unnerved.

       "It seems like Equestrian time is slowing down for the summer."

Episode 5: What Did You Do Over Summer Vacation?

__________________________

I - An Unsettling Discovery

__________________________

       Next weekend, Emanon was a lot better, in body and in mind. He was back on good terms with his friends, and ready for adventure.

       He gathered everyone around the portal, and brought the notes he had taken. Celestia would be interested in his notes on a permanent portal.

       This was fortunate. He went towards the portal, levitating the papers in front of him, when they suddenly froze. The papers, I mean. He let go of them. They hung in midair in the Equestria side of the portal, immovable.

       "Oh no. I was hoping I was wrong."

       "I thought you said this worked," said Caleb.

       "It did; we walked back and forth across it."

       "Let me think," Ashley said. "Well, it's been two weeks since the season finale."

       "But that's just the show. Things happen that are not shown on TV. Wait...time has always been funny there...If it is what I think it is, either Equestrian years are shorter than ours by half a year, or time is just warped compared to ours. I calibrated this wormhole to make sure it kept the time one day off, since that is what I first observed. But since it is between seasons, and ponies in Equestria do not experience a hiatus like we do...we can't go into Equestria right now."

       "Why not?" asked Miriam, clearly disappointed.

       "Time is frozen there right now. If we went through, we would be stuck there until November and not even notice."

__________________________

II - What To Do?

__________________________

       His friends all stood around him, disappointed.

       "So, we can't go there for how long now?" asked Mark, realizing what that meant.

       "As long as there is a hiatus for the show."

       "But going over there all summer was going to be so FUN," said Miriam, her face downcast.

       "You know, going to Equestria isn't the only thing fun that we could do this summer."

       "It isn't?"

       "We could build a tree fort."

       "A tree fort?" said Caleb. "Really? That's the best idea you have?"

       "Well, it would be our hideout, so no one sees where we're going when we do go to Equestria."

       "Compared to traveling to another dimension, it's still boring."

       "It doesn't have to be. Tell me you haven't wanted to design your own dream house."

       "Yeah, I have, but still, a dream house is meant to be unrealistic. We couldn't possibly..."

       "There's tons of scrap wood I the garage, and remember--whatever you need, I can probably help. I can use magic. But still, don't get too ridiculous. I'm not THAT good."

       "Okay, this might be fun. But it still doesn't make up losing the ability to go to Equestria. Remember, we only saw it twice, and the second time was so short."

       "Yeah," Mark agreed. "It would have been nice to see a bit more before it was ripped away."

       "I know, I wish that it could have been different. I know that this won't replace it either, but you should really watch the old episodes. I forget that you don't know much about Equestria. But I'll just advise you; skip the theme song."

__________________________

III - Planning

__________________________

       They waited impatiently for school to end. During the weekends, they watched old episodes of MLP together, and Emanon watched them with new interest now that he knew that they were real events.

       It was even weirder when he realized that he had been at Canterlot, studying magic, at the same time these events were happening.

       Then, they started to plan out the treehouse. Each person would have their own section. It took them a while to get used to what they could really do with their creativity, but they got into it eventually.

       Emanon reminded them that he could open up portals across our universe easily. Then they realized what this meant. It was just as easy for him to open a portal that went ten feet as one that went millions of miles.

       They just had to make sure they could do without when he wasn't there to open those portals. He could enchant objects to perform certain spells, but this drained not his energy, but his capacity for magic.

       If he enchanted an object to create a portal, he would be severely crippled magically.

__________________________

IV - Planning - Mark

__________________________

       This was Mark's final plan:

       He loved working with metal. Since it would be unadvisable with wood, he based his main forge underground. With the access of Emanon's portals, he could have forges in all sorts of environments, including a location on the moon. Lower gravity would enable fine detailing in his work.

__________________________

V - Planning - Jennifer

__________________________

       This was Jennifer's final plan:

       She would have the outdoors indoors. Each room would have habitats for each of the animals she took care of, although the flowers were strictly off-limits to Emanon, who tended to eat them accidentally.

__________________________

VI - Planning - Caleb

__________________________

       This was Caleb's final plan:

       Caleb, who loved to tinker, created a workshop that lacked nothing. Everything he needed was in reach. It seemed to cluttered to the others, but he liked it that way. He refused help from Emanon to magically create space-saving contraptions. Any gadget made for his workshop would be made by him and him only.

__________________________

VII - Planning - Miriam

__________________________

       This was Miriam's final plan:

       No one knows. She made a plan in her head, but she wants it to be a surprise. Everyone now knows it probably is a good idea to stay away from her room.

__________________________

VIII - Planning - Ashley

__________________________

       This was Ashley's final plan:

       It was an art studio; cozy, but with plenty of space to work with. There were all sorts of art types: painting, sculpture, fabric, you name it. It was clearly meant for group usage, but had a smaller room to the side for personal projects.

__________________________

IX - Planning - Emanon

__________________________

       This was Emanon's final plan:

       He had two different areas, each with a different purpose. The room near the top of the treehouse was his library, for both books that he had collected, and that Celestia had given to him. Rare or dangerous ones, he kept in a different place, only accessible by portal. Using an old and forgotten magic was the safest lock; even in Equestria, getting to them would be virtually impossible. He simply picked a random spot underground, and placed a bookshelf there. When he needed a book, there they were. His second room was completely underground--it was for the more dangerous experiments that would endanger others. He had to stop using the underground; there was only so much dirt his mother's garden needed.

       Finally, he created a common room; a room that they could all be comfortable in and be together without invading each other's privacy. It was also a place to keep any guests trusted enough to keep secrets.

__________________________

X - Building

__________________________

       It took the entire summer to build it, even with Emanon's magical help. Caleb categorically refused his help on any part of his section of the house. Miriam wouldn't allow any help on hers except the basic structure. Apparently "it was a surprise".

       When the treehouse was finally completed, it was time for school. November 10th seemed such a long way off, but time labored on, and the date finally came; they would be traveling once more.

Episode 6 - Exploration of Ponyville

__________________________

I - The Note

__________________________

       On that important day, the 10th of November, that day at which they finally could return, all of Emanon's friends came over. He didn't even have to call them this time; they came automatically. Only the start of school had stopped them from just jumping through anyway and skipping the rest of summer.

       They gathered around the portal and walked through. Nobody cared that the show had not started yet; they would be sped up anyway, and Emanon knew that the actual events of the show usually started on Sunday morning. Better get there before all of that happened.

       Emanon immediately made the portal to Ponyville. Celestia already knew that they would be coming. To them, the summer on Earth did not even exist.

       This time, they teleported to the edge of Ponyville, and walked to Twilight's library. Traveling normally was always the best option, and most of them believed that letting other ponies get used to them was a good thing. Only Luke seemed to disagree.

       "Why can't we just teleport inside the library? I see no reason that we should walk all that way. And everyone keeps staring at us."

       "Everypony."

       "Whatever."

       "You never know when you might meet a new friend. Anyway, if there is an emergency in Ponyville or something, we don't want that to be the first time they see us."

       "Uh huh. That doesn't make me like it."

       "Anyway, it looks like we're being accepted, anyway. See, there's a pony...nevermnd."

       A teal-green pony was following them, beaming.

       "What do you mean by that?" said Ashley suspiciously.

       "That's just Lyra," said Emanon. "She's obsessed about humans about as much as bronies are about ponies."

       "Oh. Wow."

       "Anyway, we're here. We should get inside before..."

       A note greeted them on Twilight's door.

       "Gone to Canterlot. Be back around noon."

       "Well, that's not too bad," Miriam said.

       A second note was underneath it.

       "Revision: Gone to the Crystal Empire. If you don't know what that is, I can't help you. Don't know when I will return."

__________________________

II - Tour of Ponyville.

__________________________

       "That's a bit worse. What do we do now?"

       "Well, I could show you around Ponyville. I know quite a few good places to visit."

        They all agreed, some more reluctant than others, but all a bit disappointed. They had all come up with interesting things to talk about with their pony counterparts. They weren't identical to their fellow Elements, but they loved talking to someone (well, somepony) that had similar interests.

       Their fist destination was Sugarcube Corner. They were all ready for a treat.

       The Cakes were a bit uneasy around Emanon's friends, but got used to them quickly. Nobody was weird enough to faze them after Discord.

       They left the shop, feeling pleased and a bit fuller than before.

       "That was great," said Mark. "But strange; I never thought oatmeal would taste good in cupcakes."

       "Indeed," Ashley agreed. "I guess well have to get used to a lot."

       "So this isn't a good time to show you hay fries?"

       "NO," they all said together.

       "I was just messing with you. It took me a year to even consider it. And I was a pony at the time. I doubt that human stomachs can even handle it."

       They walked around, looking at shops, when the Doctor walked past. He immediately stopped short.

       "That is SO not fair."

       "What?" asked Miriam.

       "He turned into a pony, I turned into a pony, and everyone I've met has turned into pony form one way or another. HOW are YOU like THIS! It's not fair."

       Emanon stepped in. "I became a pony before I came here, not because I did. Anyway, my form of travel is different. I seem to age with the time that I travel through. You don't."

       "That still doesn't explain why I'm a pony. I'm completely protected in the TARDIS - if anything, you should have turned into ponies, since you're directly exposed."

       "Maybe the TARDIS just realized the general form of the inhabitants of this universe and 'helped'."

       "Okay, maybe, but still! It's not fair!"

       "If you say so. Anyway, I'm trying to show my friends around. You were quite rude."

       "Fine. Go ahead. I'll just stay here. Maybe I'll give the TARDIS a piece of my mind."

       Mark looked at him, contemplating how crazy this pony actually was. "I don't think that'll--"

       "Just leave it," said Emanon.

       "All right."

       They toured the rest of Ponyville, and by the end of the day, ponies started to overcome their initial bias. There were plenty of things in Equestria weirder than them.

__________________________

III - Disappointment and Return

__________________________

       By sunset, they began to realise that their pony friends would not be returning today. They walked towards the edge of Ponyville.

       "After all that time of waiting, we don't even get to see them?" Caleb complained.

       "We need to stop being so selfish, Ashley said. "I'm sure they are doing something very important to be away from here for so long."

       "I just hoped that we could've made it before they left," said Emanon sadly. "But maybe it's for the best. They might have invited us along. And as cool as that might have been, I don't want to invoke myself in affairs that aren't mine to meddle in."

       "What do you mean?" Mark asked.

       "I mean that if we interfere, and whatever happens is featured in an episode...I don't even know what will happen."

       "I don't get it. Being in an episode would be so cool."

       "I mean what would happen at home. Or more specifically, at DHX. Would they spontaneously create new characters? How would people react if some of them were human with no explanation?"

       "Ohhh, that IS a problem."

       "Exactly. We have to be content with the time we do have. I only wish that we could stay here for a while, but summer is out of the question."

       "We just have to be patient," said Jennifer. In about two years, we won't have to deal with school anymore. Then we can come here whenever we want."

       "That is, if we have no other life." said Mark. We might actually want to get jobs. Or go to college."

       "Well, we won't solve it by staying here," Emanon said. "Let's go home."

       "Agreed."

       They went home, recieving only a slight shock to discover that it was already Sunday. Time had been slightly faster in Equestria, and it was around noon.

       They ate lunch, their dinner, at Emanon's house, and watched the latest episode on YouTube, as they had missed the show at the actual time.

       Watching it was nerve-racking. They knew that the danger was real. Very real. And they were not so sure now that there would always be a happy ending and the conclusion.

Episode 7 - The Discovery

__________________________

I - School

__________________________

       Emanon did well in school, as he always had, but now most of it was downright boring. In Equestria, he learned all he could about math, and science was so much more interesting there.

       History was the only subject that was challenging enough, although it was hard relearning human events that were considered elementary.

       The only courses he had real interest in were electives, like computer science and robotics, which were virtually unknown in Equestria.

       Although his friends weren't in every class of his, he saw them often, especially in required courses. They were all in the same grade.

       The only problem at school were the people who knew him both before and after the transformation; they noticed a change, too. His other friends and acquaintances were confused. "Miles" was the same, but somehow different. He laughed less at their jokes, and he just seemed more serious than before.

       His teachers liked the new change. He was more mature, more dependable. If all kids were like that at the school, their job would be much easier.

       But it was the small things that led some to believe that he was hiding a secret. Nobody ever saw him on the buses. He never missed class no matter how long he was delayed, and on a completely unrelated note, he used a quill. Seriously, who does that?

       Maybe that last one wasn't important. But the point is, some believed he had a secret, and they were determined to find out what it was.

       Nobody expected it to be remotely important. But in high school, everything insignificant seems like the most important thing ever.

__________________________

II - Secrets Revealed

__________________________

       One fateful day, at the cafeteria, one of his friends named Luke decided to speak up.

       "Okay, what's going on with you?"

       "What do you mean?"

       "Well, since the end of last year, you've been acting a bit weird...and I've seen...other things."

       "Like what?"

       "I've seen you come from doors that I know for a fact are locked. And when you think no one is looking, you seem to use the Force."

       "What? Oh, that's what you mean."

       "Frankly, what happened to you?"

       "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

       "Try me."

       "All right, but I still won't tell you."

       "But--"

       "I'll show you. But not here in front of everyone."

       "I suppose. But what if I told someone else?"

       "Trust me, no one would believe you. But bring the rest of our friends. I don't want to have to do this more than once. I'm sure you're not alone in your curiosity."

__________________________

III - Discovery

__________________________

       They all agreed to meet in an unused classroom after school. Luke was the first to speak.

       "So what is this all about? What's the deal?"

       "This."

       Emanon transformed, or rather, dropped his simulated disguise. All conversation ceased. His five best friends were there, and they, of course looked unsurprised, but all of the others were in shock.

       "What the --"

       "How...?"

       "I don't know why or how, but on April 7th this year, I became a pony. A unicorn, as you can see."

       He then proceeded to tell them his story, how he was transported into Equestria and how he struggled to get back. He had no trouble with keeping them quiet. They were in too much shock.

       As he was coming to a close, and people seemed to be accepting both him and his story, disaster struck. They heard voices out in the hall.

       "You need a room for the chess club? This one should be available."

       The principal walked in with Emanon's trigonometry teacher. They froze, taking in the scene. Emanon's teacher, Mr. Grant, started pinching himself. This must be a dream. The principal stared disbelieving at Emanon, then started smiling.

       "Well this is unusual."

       Mr. Grant backed slowly away from the room.

__________________________

IV - Containment Protocol

__________________________

       Emanon couldn't believe his luck. The strictest principal in the world was a brony. That just seemed so weird.

       After the ordeal, he gave a suggestion to Emanon. Unless there was someone visiting the school, he should drop the disguise. It just would make things worse. No one would tell anyone else. The story was just too unbelievable.

       Emanon walked around the school now as a pony, feeling very strange. Why had a group of people so resistant to small changes so accepting of a large one?

       Maybe they were just in shock. Fear and anger would come later.

       As time went on, nothing seemed to change. Sure, people stopped avoiding talking to him or looking at him, but nobody actually hated him. Why?

       The school staff agreed to make sure all the legal documents showed no anomalies. They did not want the government investigating into the matter too closely. They could do almost anything for "national security".

       The students over time got used to him, but it took months for them to get used to magic. Emanon made sure that he did it as least as possible, but it was almost impossible for him to write without telekinesis. Sure, other ponies used hooves, but he had never learned how to write with them legibly.

       As soon as he was in the public eye, however, he changed back into human form. For example, when a visitor came to the school, he was alerted.

       Emanon was entirely relieved. He could relax now. He hadn't realized just how much a secret could take out of you.

       Plus, he had an idea. A crazy idea. That could totally backfire horribly. Perfect.

Episode 8 - Teacher Appreciation Day

__________________________

I - Back to Equestria

__________________________

       The six of them were glad for the weekend, when they could visit Twilight and her friends again. But Emanon saved his idea for after their visit. That could wait.

       This time, when they returned, nobody in Ponyville stared at them when they went to Twilight's. Sure, ponies were interested in what they were doing. It was a small town. But nopony was reacting negatively.

       In the library, they caught up on news. It was at this point that they decided as a group not to watch any episodes until they were told firsthand. It ruined the experience completely.

       Twilight was particularly interested in the strange time difference.

       When they arrived in Canterlot as they went home, Emanon presented his idea to Celestia.

__________________________

II - The Idea

__________________________

       She agreed, and they went home.

       "What was that about?" Mark asked.

       "You'll see."

       They spent the next day rather uneventfully. Emanon moved the portal mirror to his room in the treehouse, and everyone was generally bored.

       The travels to Equestria had taken up all of their thoughts for the last few months, and it was hard to think of anything else.

       Emanon, however, was busy planning. He wanted to make sure that his plan did not fail.

       He went to his underground lab. If this did not work, the result could be catastrophic. He had to make sure that a portal could pass through another one without breaking the universe. Or just making a really big explosion. Once he was confident in success, he returned to bed. Tomorrow would be a big day.

__________________________

III - First Contact

__________________________

       Emanon went to school like he always did; he made a quick portal into the multipurpose room that everyone stayed in before going to class. The main difference is that he brought with him a large oval mirror. THE large oval mirror.

       He immediately went to talk to the principal for permission, who kept mumbling things about giving advance notice next time, but in the end, he agreed. Nobody was scheduled to visit that day, so it was fine. Celestia could visit for the day.

       Emanon gave him a look.

       "Okay, the cafeteria will not be serving anything remotely meat-related. We don't want to make a bad first impression."

       "Or be sent to the moon," Emanon added under his breath.

       "What was that?"

       "Nothing."

       "I thought I just heard you say--"

       "Nevermind. She wouldn't. Probably."

       The principal watched nervously as Emanon dropped the barrier on the portal. Emanon had told Celestia the time to come through, and she had moved the mirror to a place more...formal than Emanon's bedroom.

__________________________

IV - Introductions

__________________________

       Emanon bowed as Celestia walked through the portal, and so did about half the crowd. Another quarter did afterward, noticing that everyone else was doing it.

       Emanon kept the portal open, but covered most of it with a mirror-like material. This was arranged with Celestia beforehand; it allowed her to retain control of Equestria's sun. Although the portal never really closed, neither of them knew if a perfect physical barrier would interfere. It was better to be safe.

       The rest of the school had already gotten used to Emanon, so there was no particular panic, but Celestia just seemed less approachable. Nearly everyone there knew who she was, but that didn't exactly help.

       Despite how good they knew Celestia was, they couldn't help being intimidated.

       Celestia immediately introduced herself to the principal, and made sure that he knew that he knew that this was not Equestria. She was not the ruler here and did not intend to be.

       The bell rang, and students filed out. Emanon gestures for Celestia to follow him as he went to class. History was first.

       While Emanon sat at his normal seat, Celestia sat at the back of the room reading a history book to pass the time.

       "Umm...do you think that's a good idea--," the history teacher began.

       "Mr. Laundreth, Princess Celestia is over a thousand years old. She has witnessed history firsthand, and in many cases, participated in it."

       "But Equestria--"

       "Has had history that is just as bad, if not worse. For example, King Sombra's reign in the Crystal Empire was so psychologically damaging that it caused collective amnesia. And Discord's reign, it wasn't much better. Nopony could make sense out of anything. Sometimes life can be worse than death."

       They continued the lesson, more subdued than usual. At the end of the class, everyone was relieved to leave. It was overwhelming to be so close to someone that had witnessed things like that. It made it all too real.

__________________________

V - Return

__________________________

       The rest of the day went rather smoothly, if you discount the expected awkwardness that comes with a person watching in the back of the class.

       Finally, the end of the day came, and it was time to return home.

       "I hope it wasn't too boring for you, Princess."

       "Not at all. Nothing can be more boring than what I had to do back home. Anyway, it was nice to see how you interact here."

       "I'm still a bit embarrassed about our lack of tolerance, though. Humans tend to have an innate fear of anything different."

       "Remember, our history isn't free of prejudice, either. Anyway, thank you for the visit. It is refreshing to get away for a while, even of it's not the most interesting place to be."

       "And I hope that someday, you won't have to just stay in this boring old school. But I suppose I'm just dreaming. One school might accept you, but everyone else? Not so much."

       "You never know."

       Emanon dropped the barrier, and she walked through, back to Equestria. Maybe...someday.

Episode 9 - Programming for Ponies - Mini Episode

__________________________

I - Minor Experimentation

__________________________

       Emanon, when he was still called Miles, loved computers. They could do so many amazing things, including, of course, games. As a pony, he found it quite difficult to operate a computer. Sure, he could press buttons and move things with telekinesis, but the agility that he had with his hands was gone. There had to be another way.

       And now that he has more free time on weekends, he was determined to find that method. Visits to Equestria had been fewer, and the novelty had worn off. Unless there was big news, he could just send his mail to Celestia through the portal.

       Now, he finally thought of Earth as home again. Those years took from him more than he thought.

       He started his computer, monitoring the complex electrical signals running down the wires. Pretty, but way too complicated for him to decipher. He decided running the whole computer was way too complex. He needed to isolate signals from objects like the mouse and keyboard.

       Once he logged on the tedious way, he began experimenting. He opened Notepad, and started simple. He pressed the letter Q. A certain signal ran down the USB cable. He recreated the small electrical charges. Another Q appeared. Success!

       He repeated this for all keys on the keyboard, learning the codes for both capital and lowercase letters.

       He began to practice typing. A bit awkward at first, and he kept forgetting letters, but eventually, he began to type relatively competently.

       The mouse, although there was less to memorize, was a lot harder. It was easier just to move it. The keyboard was the main problem anyway. He abandoned it.

         Now that he had conquered that, he was bored. The perfect time to get bad ideas.

__________________________

II - Virtual Reality

__________________________

       He thought about how My Little Pony was a show in his world, but also real in another universe. Was it possible that that applied to games as well? How would that even work?

       He loved a game called Robocraft. It was a block-based capture-the-flag type game. (It's free, you should check it out) If he could somehow play in first-person...

       How would he even travel there, anyway? How would he know what universe it was? Well, he would find out. Eventually. He would just have to keep searching until he found it.

       He spent several weeks searching in his spare time. It was great practice for his magic; he hadn't had a workout like this in a year. But other than that, it was almost useless. There were some interesting universes, and he bookmarked those by placing markers, but after three weeks, he gave up. There was no way he would find a specific universe, the odds were too small.

       He did learn something important; alternate universes were connected to each other. Universes that were created by "fiction" on Earth were connected to this universe. That is why is was so relatively "easy" for Emanon to return. When he was in other universes, he had access to a different set, plus the one he came from. "Fiction" that was well-known had a stronger connection; it was easier to travel. But there was no "parent" world. Some universes had tales of Earth. But it was clear: no video games.

       At least he got some practice from it.

Episode 11 - Exposure Part 1 of 2

__________________________

I - In Hiding

__________________________

       For the first time in over half a year, Emanon began to realize the true repercussions of his transformation. He was always hiding something, always concealing his true self from view.

(This looks familiar)

       He had some relief at school, but he was always nervous, always looking around for some unfamiliar face that he had to hide from. His "human form" worked well, but each time he bent space in that way, it got harder. And harder. Soon it would be just as difficult to make an inter-dimensional portal.

       Mostly, he avoided human interaction period. It was much safer. But he felt like a wanted man. Pony. Whatever. Still, what happened next? The obvious choice was to abandon Earth and move to Equestria. But to abandon his family and most of his friends. And his five best friends-what would they do? Would they come with him, never to return. They didn't belong in Equestria. Not really. Ponies in Equestria were quite durable. His friends could be easily killed in an accident considered minor in Equestrian standards. No, he couldn't just run away from his problems.

       Still, how would he be able to disguise himself in the future. He thought maybe an invisibility spell, but traditional invisibility spells were unbelievably hard, and bending space around him would leave him...where? In the void? There had to be some other way.

       In the meantime, the best he could do would be to teleport away. The traditional way, without portals. With portals, he would already have to be moving to get away fast enough. Traditional teleportation had its uses. Celestia forced him to learn it first before he learned it any other way.

       Also, normal people could discount flashes of light as something else, as opposed to a dark void closing up behind something. That would arouse much more suspicion.

       It would have to work for now. The next step, though, was to figure out why in the world, or any other world, for that matter, the disguise was getting so hard to reproduce. Magic usually got easier as you practiced it, not harder. But that was for another day. Sleep would help. Sleep clears the mind in the most magnificent way.

__________________________

II - Boredom

__________________________

       Emanon woke up the next morning, refreshed. It was a Saturday. He didn't have to do anything today. He could just stay at home and relax. He had forgotten how important it was just to stay at home, with nothing to do...who was he kidding? It was way too boring.

       He went downstairs, and for something to do, made some eggs and toast for himself. Since he had been so busy lately, he had mostly been eating grass in the morning, and was surprised at how good it tasted to actually have variety in his food.

       His mother came down for breakfast.

       "Oh, fancy seeing you down here. It's kind of lonely eating breakfast alone."

       "I'm sorry. I've just been making myself so busy, I guess I've forgotten to spend any time with you."

       "I understand. It's okay. But it is nice to see you again."

       "Is there anything I can do to help with, well, anything?"

       "Why do you ask?"

       "Well, you see...I'm...bored."

       "I see."

       "So..."

       "I suppose you could do the shopping for me. It's not exactly that exciting, but-"

       "Perfect."

       He started to leave, then stopped and turned back.

       "Where's the list?"

__________________________

III - A Secret Revealed

__________________________

       He walked to the store, glad to do something. At least it was useful. Sure, it was a bit hard to keep up the disguise, but anything that got him out of the house was great in his eyes. The store was only a few blocks away. He lived in a small town, so it only took a few minutes to get there.

       There were only a few items on the list, and it should have been easy. He knew the store well. The difficulty came with his disguise. It took more and more effort to keep it up.

       At last, he gathered all of the items in the cart and went to the register. He lived in a small town, so the owner knew him. As he ring up the items, he began to talk.

       "It's nice seeing you here, Miles. Very thoughtful of you to do your mom's shopping for her."

       "Yeah, I guess."

       He was barely paying attention to the conversation. All of his attention was on keeping human form.

       "Ever since your father passed away, she's had so much to do. It's mighty nice of you to help her out like this."

       Emanon looked up, surprised. "What?"

       His form flickered, then went steady again as Emanon refocused.

       "What the--?"

       He saw. Emanon threw down the money his mother had given him, grabbed the groceries, and ran, reverting into his pony form as he did so.

       The grocery store owner looked in shock as the kid he knew so well turned into a navy blue unicorn, groceries floating out after him. He had to be going crazy. He had to.

       He went home, pondering the events, and holding the money he had been paid with, along with the receipt. If he had been hallucinating, why did he have physical evidence? Something was fishy, and he was going to figure out what it was.

       But how could he prove his sanity to anyone. No one would believe such a ridiculous story. Except--

__________________________

IV - Flight

__________________________

       Emanon raced back home through hardly-used streets and alleyways. He was safe. There was no way anyone would believe the store owner's story. It would be too ridiculous. That fact had always saved him in the past.

       Even the receipt wasn't any proof of anything. It wasn't exactly a picture ID. Nothing could prove that...Oh, he was so stupid! The store had security cameras. Everything he did was recorded on tape.

       He couldn't stay here. He had to go someplace safe. But first, he needed to go home. Tell his mother what had happened.

       Then he stopped himself. Why was he running back home? He mentally slapped himself, then made a portal back home.

       He dropped the groceries on the kitchen counter.

       "You're back a little early. Did you find everything? You look stressed. What happened?"

       "The store owner saw me."

       "Well, that's normal. It's not like you're invisible."

       "No, I mean, saw me as a pony."

       "Why did he see you like that? I thought you were disguised."

       "It's been getting harder to do, and he distracted me enough for me to revert."

       "Well, he has no proof...security cameras?"

       "Yep."

       "Well, you can't live here anymore. We have to find a new place to live."

       "No, I have to find a new place to live. I don't want you to get into any trouble just for me."

       "But--"

       "I don't want anything to happen to you. I will visit. I promise. It's quite easy for me."

       "Okay. It's your decision. I just hoped we would have a bit more time together before you had to leave."

       Emanon hugged her. "I have to go find my friends. I will stop by back here before I go."

       "Goodbye!"

       "Goodbye."

__________________________

V - Betrayal

__________________________

       The grocery store owner took the relevant security tape home with him. He needed as much proof as possible when he went home to tell his family. Everyone would think he was crazy otherwise.

       He went home and put the tape in the VCR.

       "Someone strange came into my shop today," he told his family. "It looks like Miles, but if you watch the whole thing, it isn't."

       His wife and son say down and watched the video. Afterwards, his wife was understandably shocked, but his son seemed to be indifferent.

       "Yep, that makes sense," Luke said.

       "What?"

       "I've seen him like this at school. He got transformed somehow, and he just knows how to disguise himself. Apparently, he messed up."

       "But this "transformation"; was it ever explained?"

       "No, I don't think so..."

       "He's been acting a bit differently lately, hasn't he?"

       "I guess he has."

       "What if this "Emanon" isn't a name change? What if he took over Miles's body?"

       "So you're saying he's an alien? That sounds a bit far-fetched."

       "You're saying MY explanation is far-fetched? At least it makes some sense. You seem to be saying that a little kid's show is not only real, but someone transformed into a unicorn for no reason at all. Even if you're right, if there is a possibility of a hostile force spying out the place, don't you think someone should know about it? Just in case."

       "Well, when you put it like that..."

       "We should come forward with this tape. We could have an invasion on our hands."

       "Now it seems even more suspicious. Their leader, Princess Celestia, even came here for a day. And she seemed very interested in our history books."

       "Seeing how advanced we were. Our defenses. We have to report this immediately. Something could happen at any time."

__________________________

VI - The Chase

__________________________

       Emanon teleported directly to each of his friends' houses. He needed to tell them as soon as possible. It took a lot of time to explain to them the situation. Too much time. He should have been prepared for this. Made a contingency plan. Something.

       It was made even harder with the fact that they all wanted to go with him into hiding. That would never work. He, of course, wanted to protect them from what he considered to be his problems. Also, how would he explain to their parents where they would be going or why. None of them even knew that he was a pony. And he was sure that their reaction would not be a positive one.

       After he finished, he was exhausted. He had had to use his disguise to talk with his friends. He didn't want their parents to have an unexpected surprise. He barely had enough energy to travel home to say goodbye. He appeared in front of his door, and was greeted with an unpleasant surprise. It looked like he had been found out.

       He was way too tired. He couldn't even manage to make the simplest kind of portal. So much for advance planning.

       He bolted. At least he was a pony. Running, he was almost as fast as a car. Key word almost. And he could only keep it up for about three minutes. He could dash off into the woods, but that was useless. He was a threat to "national security". He hated that excuse. As soon as they knew he couldn't be caught, they would start shooting. And he was a large target.

       He had to hope he could lose him by other means. Means that would block a line of fire. He ran towards the city, running along alleyways too narrow for a car to travel, but they had the advantage of numbers. Cars were stationed everywhere, and in a few minutes, he was caught. Exhausted, and with absolutely no magic reserve, he collapsed on the ground and knew no more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To Be Continued

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Episode 12 - Exposure Part 2

__________________________

I - Captured

__________________________

       Emanon woke up in a high security jail cell. This normally didn't bother him, but right now, he was too exhausted to escape. He knew what they planned. He would be transferred to some secret lab somewhere to "study" him. Probably painfully.

       Of course, he would be able to teleport out in an hour or so. No one could hold him for long.

       He could just unlock the door, but there were probably guards everywhere. He wouldn't get far. He still unlocked the door, just to unnerve whatever guard came to get him.

       In about ten minutes, a guard came around to bring him somewhere. He had a large cage on wheels: a movable prison.

       "Okay, are you awake yet? You're going on the road now."

       "Let me guess; you're going to bring me to a higher security prison. Or a lab. Maybe even both at the same time. Bonus!"

       The guard started, surprised at the perfect English. Then he shook his head and unlocked the door. But it was already unlocked.

       "What the--"

       "I don't like locked doors. I took the liberty of unlocking it for you before you came. It saves a bit of time."

       "How--"

       "Magic."

       "What?"

       "You heard me. What, you didn't notice that I'm a unicorn? People have zero observational skills nowadays."

       The guard turned and ran, coming back a few minutes later with backup and a strange looking device. And a taser. That was the relevant part that Emanon missed.

       When Emanon came to his senses, he had a strange device on his head. He was in the back of some sort of van, and it was dark. Extremely dark. He lit up the place with his horn. Except he didn't. What. It didn't work. That was almost the simplest kind of spell. Why was it failing? Oh. The device that was harnessed to his head was obviously covering his horn. He undid the straps. Except he didn't. Uh oh. Did they really...yes, they did.

__________________________

II - An Unexpected Friend

__________________________

       How did they find out that rubber was a magical insulator? Well, they could have just guessed. It was an electrical insulator, so it was worth a try. Anyway, it was annoying. Amazingly annoying. He was trapped. Actually trapped.

       The van stopped. He was led out into a very large building. In the middle of the desert. Great.

       Normally the desert part would be irrelevant. But now... He might be able to do it. Might. If they were in a small desert. Nevermind, it was impossible. Without his magic he was stranded.

       Finally, the seriousness of the situation set in. What would they do to him? Would he survive the process? What should he do now?

       They brought him to another cell. Oh goody. Another one. What was he supposed to expect?

       By this time, the sun was setting, and the desert turned cold. They locked the door of the cell, and a night guard took his place outside.

       Emanon pondered escape options. Grand total: none. All the options seemed to involve magic in some format. He didn't exactly have hands. Brute force was out of the question. The walls were reinforced concrete. And even if he escaped the cell, what then?

       He decided to talk to the night guard. He had to get some sort of information. What did these people think he was? What were they going to do to him?

       The guard started when he started to speak.

       "You can talk?"

       "Of course I can. Why did you think I was in here?"

       "I assumed they were just investigating a creature they found. Unicorns are supposed to be mythical. I'm not really supposed to ask too many questions about these things."

       "I thought I was in here because I'm a talking pony."

       "If they know you can talk..."

       "My disguise was blown--"

       "Disguise?"

       "Human form. My old self, before I became a pony."

       "Became--?"

       "It's a long story."

       "Well, I'm not going anywhere, and I doubt you are either."

       They talked through the night. Emanon told him his story. He didn't know why. it was just so nice to have someone to talk to about things that were going through his head for quite some time. As he told his story, Mike, the guard, grew more concerned. When he finished, Mike spoke up.

       "When you first spoke, I was a bit bothered. I knew you were sentient, and imprisoning you was wrong. But now I can see your character, and you are no alien-which is what I now think is the reason for your imprisonment. They must think you "took over" your old self. No one could just make up a story like that as an excuse. It would be unbelievable. They have no legal right to keep you here."

       "I doubt that they would listen, though."

       "You're right, they wouldn't. You have to find a way to escape."

       "I can't; not without my magic. And with these electrical security systems, you can't get in here, either."

       "Tell me--how does the rubber stop your magic?"

       "It's an insulator."

       "No, that's not what I mean. Is the rubber itself immune to magic? Or does it just stop the travel of it?"

       "It stops the magic from traveling outside it. Why does this--"

       "Then just melt the rubber itself."

       "What?...why was I so stupid? Of course! The only thing I CAN affect IS the rubber."

       He performed a basic heating spell, then removed the harness when there was a hole in the rubber.

       He opened a portal back home. "Thanks...friend."

__________________________

III - Comfrontation

__________________________

       Emanon checked the area, then went inside. He still didn't want to be seen. His mother greeted him at the door.

       "Thank goodness you escaped. You can't stay here, though. This is the first place they'll look."

       "I did get caught. But I escaped. It doesn't matter now if they find me. I can always get away."

       "I wouldn't get so confident. You can't get away if you're unconsious."

       "Anyway, it's a lot safer for me than before. I just have to make sure I'm not drained."

       "What are you going to do now?"

       "I know I could escape to anywhere, even leave this universe, but I don't want to live in hiding, and I don't want to leave my friends. I'm going to have to play the diplomat; I am going to try to reason with them."

       "Do you think that they will listen to reason?"

       "Not the agency sent after me. They have to follow whatever orders they are given. I have to go higher. I have to go to Washington DC and see the President."

       "And what gave you that crazy idea?"

       "The President is the most, well, human of the military, and he is powerful enough to protect me if he really does believe me. Trust me, there is no one person that could be better. And if things go badly, I could just teleport myself out of there."

       "Suppose this is a good idea; how are you going to get an audience with the President in your present condition?"

       "I'll just have to teleport into his office, and hope he has an open mind."

       "There are security cameras everywhere; the Secret Service will be in there in about one minute after you arrive."

       "Then I'll have to make a good impression before then."

       "Do you realize how risky this is?"

       "Yes, I do. I want to do this, Mom. It's the only way."

       "Good luck then. Be careful!"

       "Goodbye!"

       "Goodbye."

       "But first, could I look at Google Maps for the coordinates?"

__________________________

IV - Acceptance

__________________________

       The President sat at his desk, signing papers. When he ran, he expected something much different. He filled out paperwork all day every day.

       He wanted to make a positive change in this country, but all of the bureaucracy and red tape seemed to get in the way. He was bored. Exceedingly bored. If only something interesting would happen. Just once.

       At that moment, a shimmering blue oval expanded in the center of his office and something jumped out of it. A navy blue unicorn.

       "I want to know why your men have been trying to capture me. Is that any way to treat an ambassador?" He would sort out the official part later with Celestia.

       The President pinched himself. Hard. When he finally convinced himself he was not dreaming, he responded.

       "What was that?"

       "Why are your men chasing me?"

       "Well, I have no memory of sending anyone."

       "Don't give me that. There is some sort of secret government agency after me. Don't tell me you don't know about it."

       "Well, if you really are an ambassador of...what?"

       "Equestria."

       "Where is that?"

       "You'll have to call off the Secret Service agents about to burst in here."

       "All, right. I will. By the way, you have excellent hearing."

       Emanon began opening the portal to Euqestria. The president immediately saw the difference.

       "What the--"

       Emanon finished. Since this was not a permanent one, it took great concentration to keep it open.

       "See, this is Equestria" Emanon said through gritted teeth. "and this is Princess Celestia."

       Understanding what was happening, Celestia looked at the President sternly. Other than charisma, Celestia had no clue why someone like this was the ruler of a nation. What a sad state this world was in.

       Emanon let go of his magic, and the portal collapsed.

       "May I remind you that imprisonment without cause could be and would be considered an act of war? We want to live peacefully as friends, but we will not stand for the current treatment of our people."

       The President was paying full attention now.

       "Of course. I will...make sure all of our people are...informed of this new situation. My apologies."

       "I just wish that I didnt have to resort to those measures to ensure our safety."

       With that, he left. He was now confident in his safety. And the safety of future Equestrian visitors. He knew the President would keep his promise. For all he knew, all ponies could open up portals between worlds. He could end up with an invasion. But Emanon hoped that it was for more friendly reasons that the President would keep the peace.

Episode 1: The Beginning Part 1 of 2

__________________________

I - The Beginning

__________________________

       Miles was an average kid in many ways. He was not particularly athletic, but school relatively unchallenging for him. He spent most of his time with his friends. He was a "brony", a fan of a kid's show called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, but this was not an interest that encouraged popularity. Only his parents and his five closest friends knew about this: Jennifer, Mark, Ashley, Caleb, and Miriam. He was happy, but felt there was something more. Life was great, but just seemed too dull somehow. There needed to be more excitement. Outside his bedroom window, a new star seemed to flash into existence, then fade away.

__________________________

11 - Transformation

__________________________

       Miles woke up reluctantly. It was 7:36. He panicked, but then sighed with relief; it was Saturday. He went to back to bed when he realized he was hungry. This annoyed him slightly, but he slowly dragged himself downstairs. Suddenly, he stopped.

       "Why am I walking on all fours," he thought suddenly. Then he looked down at his feet. No---hooves.

       "What?!"

       This did not make any sense-he must be dreaming. He tried to pinch himself, failing miserably--he forgot about the sudden lack of hands. He banged his head against the wall in frustration.

       "OUCH!"

       Yep--definitely not a dream.

Also, he found that he was a unicorn, and there was now a nasty dent in the wall.

       Then his blood turned cold as he heard his mother calling from the kitchen.

       "Are you okay dear? Breakfast is ready! Come and get it!"

       What should he do? His parents knew that he liked My Little Pony, but how would his parents react to this? Could they have a heart attack? Would they even recognize him? Would they accept that he turned into a pony, instead blaming him for his own disappearance? He had to find a way to let his mother know softly and gradually--he certainly could not have her find out now.

       Miles called down the hall,"Umm.. Mom?"

       "Yes, dear?"

       "I'm umm... really tired! Could you bring breakfast up here? Please?"

       "I suppose just this once would be fine. But you have to clean up after yourself. I do NOT want to have to clean up your mess later. Are you sure you're okay? That bump sounded like it hurt."

       "I'm okay. Thanks, Mom!"

       That was a close one. He walked quickly to his bathroom, making sure to make as little noise as possible with his hooves. His hooves. That was so weird. Anyway, he figured that he would just hide in here until Mom came with his breakfast. He sat in the bathroom, waiting. How exactly was he supposed to go to the bathroom when he was a pony? Would he have to go outside? He then shook his mind away from that. He had more important things to deal  with.

       "Miles, where are you? I have your breakfast!"

       "I'm just in the bathroom. You can leave my breakfast on my bedside table."

       "Okay..."

       "He seems to be avoiding method morning," she thought. "I wonder why he sounds so upset. Is this a normal teenage thing? He has always been so open to me"

       She went downstairs, deep in thought.

       Meanwhile, Miles checked that his door was locked, then frantically texted his friends.

       "This is an emergency. Come to my house, but not through my front door. I'll have my window open for you, but expect a big surprise.

       Having sent the message, he sat back down on his bed and awkwardly tried to eat his breakfast, waiting impatiently for his friends to arrive.

__________________________

III - Disaster

__________________________

       One by one, his friends climbed through the open window, and four of them stopped in their tracks.

       "Where are you?" asked Miriam. " Cool life size pony ... plushie...that's moving...OOOHhhh..."

       "So... you got turned into a navy blue unicorn," said Mark bluntly. "How, exactly?"

       "I honestly don't know."

       "Hey! I just realized something!" said Miriam, clearly excited.

       "What?, said Ashley, breaking out of her state of shock.

       "Since he's a unicorn now... he can do magic! Right?!"

       "That would be so cool!" said Caleb. "Try picking up your fork!"

       "I honestly thought that you would freak out more."

       "Of course we are still freaking out," said Ashley, keeping her voice calm. "We just have decided that it would be counterproductive. I'm sure that you are freaking out just as much, and need encouragement and support."

       "You still haven't picked up that fork."

       "All right, all right."

       Miles uncertainly turned toward his half- eaten breakfast and his unused utensil beside it. He focused on the fork and concentrated intensely on the action of moving upwards.

       Nothing happened.

       He tried again, concentrating harder and harder on the fork, but other thoughts started invading. How would he fit in? He couldn't live his life in secret. The government would love to get their hands on him. The only place he could live safely was in Equestria. He concentrated on the fork even harder. He lost focus in surprise as a couple sparks flew out. He had to be doing this wrong. But there would be no one to teach him. Not in this universe. He had to do this on his own. He pushed harder and harder, giving himself a headache in the process. Then something strange happened. He lost control.

       "Uh-oh," he thought. He knew enough about the show to know what was happening.

       "Get back!" he shouted.

       His friends stepped back as his eyes shone white, but it was still too close for his comfort. If something happened to his friends in this surge of magic, Miles would not be able to correct it. Bolts of magical lightning shot out, blackening the wooden floor and melting a plastic figurine.

       Most importantly for the five friends, a portal, a rip in space pulsating with blue light, appeared right beside Miles, and a violent wind sucked him into the unknown void, scattering objects around the room and leaving his five friends in a greater state of shock than before at his sudden disappearance.

__________________________

 IV - More Surprises

__________________________

       On the other side, Miles hit the air with a bang. Literally. He was instantly knocked unconscious. He woke up falling rapidly towards a building. He braced for impact, and possibly his death, for he knew that he could not possibly survive an impact at such speeds. He hit the stone roof and blacked out.

       He woke, oddly feeling fine, and saw a familiar white alicorn standing above him.

       No matter how much shock he was in, he knew what to do immediately.

       "Princess Celestia!" he said, bowing awkwardly. Miles was still not used to being in the shape of a pony. He looked up and saw the hole in the castle ceiling, then the crater he was in.

       "Ooh..."

       But Celestia did not seem angry at all. She looked concerned, and very curious, but seemed reluctant to ask many questions.

       This is when Miles truly became aware enough of his body to get out of the hole. He stopped suddenly once again, realizing that he was a lot smaller than before. A lot smaller.

       "Oh no..oh no..no..no..."

       "What is it?" Celestia asked.

       "I'm a filly! Why am I a filly?! This doesn't make any sense!"

       Celestia paused, deep in thought, and asked, "What universe are you from?"

       "What?"

       "I said, what universe are you from and... how did you know my name?"

       "How do you know that I came from a different universe?"

       "Well, when you came here, you fell from the sky and you made a sonic boom. You are not a pegasus, and could not have gone that fast or high without magical help. No amount of magic can accelerate a pony that fast instantaneously. The only way you could have done this is if you teleported from another world that had rotation."

       "Yes, you are right;I did come from another universe--I think--but why am I a filly all of the sudden?"

       "I don't know," said Celestia thoughtfully. "I haven't seen anything like this occur unintentionally."

       "Maybe Twilight has read something about this," said Miles hopefully.

       "What!!" said Celestia, shocked. "How did you know about my new student?"

       "New? I thought she was... Oh no..."

       "What is it?"

       "I know why I turned into a filly; I haven't just traveled through space--I've traveled through time as well."

__________________________

V - Repercussions

__________________________

       Miles woke up in the morning with dread. He finally realized what he should have long ago--he would not be seeing his friends anytime soon. Even if he did not travel through time, he would have to become extremely powerful at magic to teleport between worlds. He did not even know that it was possible. Now that time was involved, it now seemed like an impossible task. How long back in time had he been flung? Did it even matter? Anyway, he seemed to be about three years old as a pony. He did the quick mental math to know that he had gone back at least twelve years. What was going to happen to him? Celestia had allowed him to sleep in the castle, but this could not possibly be permanent, could it?

       Celestia walked in.

       "There is something that you did not tell me last night. How did you know so much about Equestria? How did you know my name, and more importantly, someone as Twilight Sparkle?"

       "Well, there is a television show in our world..."

       "What exactly is television?"

       "Umm...it is a...form of entertainment"," said Miles nervously. "The show details the life of six particular ponies, but I don't think it is a good idea to tell you more."

       "Why not?"

       "I do not want to change history more than I have already."

       "I see. Also, you don't seem to be doing any magic."

       "What do you mean?"

       "Well, you seem to be picking up objects with your hooves, and I have not seen you use any magic since you got here, yet it would take great magical power to travel from another  world."

       "To be honest, I don't know how to use magic at all. I came here on accident when I was trying to pick up a fork."

       Celestia suppressed a laugh, then said, "I think that you might want to see something, then."

       She pointed at his flank. "It looks like you've got your cutie mark."

       There was no doubt about it. There was a light blue oval that led into a black void with a single star.

       (insert picture here)

       "It seems that you have a talent for that kind of magic, although those spells have been lost for some time."

       "I still don't know how to use the spell anyway. It happened in a surge of magic, and I don't know how to recreate it. If nobody here...I mean nopony here knows how to perform this spell, then I'll never be able to make it back home."

       "Then you will just have to invent those spells again. This means you should have a good understanding of magic. You have the raw power that is needed, you just need a good teacher."

       "What...?"

       "I will teach you magic so that you will be able to get home."

       "What?! Why would you want to teach ME?"

       "Well, with your magical power, and your talent in an unknown magic, you could become the next Starswirl the Bearded. There is so much about magic that we do not know yet, and someone with a cutie mark in a forgotten magic, you could be very useful. By the way, what is your name?"

       "Well, my given name is Miles Johnson, but names in Equestria seem to relate to your occupation or talent. I think that I should be called Emanon Reynawhe. Just make sure that no matter what, Twilight Sparkle comes first."

       "Why should I do that?"

       "Just trust me. I need to learn magic for myself, but Twilight needs to learn it for more important reasons."

       "Wait, do you mean...how did you know of my plans for her?"

       "I know that you know about Nightmare Moon's return, I know you must have a plan, and I know what happens later. I just used logic. I still will keep it a secret; telling anyone the future is extremely risky. I probably should not have told you even the little I did."

       "I understand, and you were right to make sure that I did not lose focus on Twilight. I was considering that you might take her place."

       "As your student?"

       "No, as the...element. But I see now that you eventually will have to leave. Anyway, we should start our first lesson as soon as possible. Twilight already knows how to study magic, and you do not know anything about it. Just remember to be patient; the advanced magic that you seek to accomplish requires years of study. You may not see your friends for a long while."

       A sudden thought struck him.

       "I need to learn magic in twelve years."

       "Why twelve years?"

       "That way, I will not have to deal with any risky time magic. Traveling in space will be hard enough to learn, even in twelve years. Time will almost be impossible. Not even Starswirl made a true time travel spell."

       "How did you know that? Oh, never mind. I don't need to ask."

__________________________

V - Lessons

       Emanon worked harder than he had ever worked in school. He had a bod determination now to learn as much as possible as fast as possible.

       It took a long time for him to get used to his new body. Everything was different. He was extremely glad when he learned the simple levitation spell. It made it so much easier to eat. He slowly adopted the Equestrian lifestyle, but unlike before, he did not spend much time socializing with others. He has his main priority permanently fixed in his mind. Throughout the entire first year of study, he did not even go outside of the castle. Only around the middle of the second year did he feel comfortable enough to be seen by strangers. He knew that he still did not get all of their social customs. Years of watching the show still did not prepare him for this.

       Knowing the time constraints, Celestia taught him only the basic spells, and the ones that were thought to be related to traveling through space-time. Other than magic, he learned many branches of mathematics essential for precise calculations, and he paid close attention. He wanted to make sure that he would go back to HIS world. Celestia also taught him the important magical concept of a marker. Celestia knew that if his world rotated, it would take a lot of time to make the portal so that it was not traveling at higher than the speed of sound. Markers set a point of reference, so that you would be able to teleport relative to that object, not the whole universe.

       In the ninth year of study, he discovered how to create a portal between two places, but he had not yet managed to breach the barrier between universes. Portals were unlike teleporting in that you retained momentum. Also, they were passages, or rips, in space-time. They were the only method to travel between universes. Teleportation was almost instantaneous, but was still physical travel., and therefore would not work. Also, he started work on disguise on his own request. he realized that he needed to keep his new identity a secret. His friends and family might accept him, but everyone else? The government? It was safest to be cautious.

       Throughout the eleventh year, Emanon succeeded in breaking the barrier between universes. However, he practiced with increasingly discouraging results. Earth, of course rotated, but it also orbited around the sun, which in turn orbited in a galaxy which was also moving. He managed to find the correct parallel universe, but only during the last year, when time was running out, did he succeed.

__________________________

To Be Continued...

__________________________

Episode 10 - Cabin Fever - Mini Episode

(This is a preview of the season finale. It shouldn't even really be called a mini epidode. But I ran out of ideas for Season 1. Sorry.)

__________________________

I - A Prisoner in Your Own Home

__________________________

       For the first time in over half a year, Emanon began to realize the true repercussions of his transformation. He was always hiding something, always concealing his true self from view.

       He had some relief at school, but he was always nervous, always looking around for some unfamiliar face that he had to hide from. His "human form" worked well, but each time he bent space in that way, it got harder. And harder. Soon it would be just as difficult to make an inter-dimensional portal.

       Mostly, he avoided human interaction period. It was much safer. But he felt like a wanted man. Pony. Whatever. Still, what happened next? The obvious choice was to abandon Earth and move to Equestria. But to abandon his family and most of his friends. And his five best friends-what would they do? Would they come with him, never to return. They didn't belong in Equestria. Not really. Ponies in Equestria were quite durable. His friends could be easily killed in an accident considered minor in Equestrian standards. No, he couldn't just run away from his problems.

       Still, how would he be able to disguise himself in the future. He thought maybe an invisibility spell, but traditional invisibility spells were unbelievably hard, and bending space around him would leave him...where? In the void? There had to be some other way.

       In the meantime, the best he could do would be to teleport away. The traditional way, without portals. With portals, he would already have to be moving to get away fast enough. Traditional teleportation had its uses. Celestia forced him to learn it first before he learned it any other way.

       Also, normal people could discount flashes of light as something else, as opposed to a dark void closing up behind something. That would arouse much more suspicion.

       It would have to work for now. The next step, though, was to figure out why in the world, or any other world, for that matter, the disguise was getting so hard to reproduce. Magic usually got easier as you practiced it, not harder. But that was for another day. Sleep would help. Sleep clears the mind in the most magnificent way.