Nix: Identity

CHAPTER 1: RETURN

The first thing I noticed was the oddity of the forces in the dimensional gateway.

They weren’t strong, but they weren’t weak, either. They had some sort of odd balance between them. Somehow it unnerved me, despite being used to finding a balance between universes.

So what unnerved me so much about this one?

Perhaps it was the fact that the portal, though it was not mine, did not try to rip at my very being. Rather, it seemed complacent in letting me pass on through. Almost like it was expecting me…

Any further thoughts were cut short when I heard it.

It was a laugh, but an extremely cold one. It seemed to reverberate all around me, echoing inside my head. It was dark and foreboding; yet oddly upbeat and triumphant. It was an oxymoron laugh, almost, stating itself yet contradicting itself at the same time.

“What the—” I murmured as the laugh echoed all around. It creeped me out so much that I felt the hair on the back of my neck stiffen.

There was darkness as well, so I couldn’t see much in the portal. I was aware of energy being thrown around as if it were nothing, though that was to be expected as universes had no natural barriers that could keep their respective energy in (that explained why many universes were connected with Chaos energy, and why in only certain universes could I transform into Nix). The energy swirled around me like I was in a whirlpool, arcing and racing around like horses on a track.

I found myself asking aloud, “Where am I going?”

I didn’t expect a reply. All I got back was that creepy, low laugh again.

Suddenly I felt a massive force tug on me. I tried to resist the foreign power, but found myself being dragged across space and time by it. “Whoa!” I exclaimed as I shot through the darkness. “What the hell—”

I was cut short by a brilliant flash of light coming from nowhere. I shielded my eyes from the bright light. The force that was dragging me didn’t stop, however. It seemed to shoot towards the light. I could feel the illumination grow stronger as I approached it, cutting off my vision entirely as I reached its source.

The light reached its peak, and then...the force vanished.

Still feeling the stinging effects from the light, I didn’t open my eyes as I cautiously felt around with my other senses, making sure I was alone.

Then I began to fall.

I didn’t notice at first, since I was experiencing weightlessness. But a few seconds passed and I realized that I was descending. And at a not so slow pace either.

“Oh...GOD!” I shouted as I fell, finally opening my eyes. A tuft of clouds suddenly roared past me, shooting up as I shot down. A blue sky formed above me, but I couldn’t take the time to appreciate its splendor.

I twisted my body so that I was facing downward. The ground was rapidly approaching my face. Hey, Nix?! I shouted mentally.

Oh, crap, I realized. Don’t tell me that portal somehow messed up our communications…

I desperately felt around the air, trying to ignore the ground rising up to my face. I was looking for any remnant of Chaos energy that had followed me here.

...Yes! There was only a small amount, not even enough to use a Chaos Flash, but it could do nicely to slow the fall.

I grabbed the energy and felt it flow through my body. I managed a grin as I felt it course through me. The ground was now closer than ever, but I was ready.

I summoned the energy at the last possible second, temporarily creating an anti-gravitational field around my body. I slowed my descent just enough to stop in midair  and avoid crashing into the ground and creating a large crater.

I let out a breath of relief, and wiped my forehead with my sleeve. Talk about too close for comfort! I thought. Now I’m only a few fifty feet above ground.

Then the energy chose that particular time to dissipate into nothing.

I spent the remainder of the fall cursing my luck.

“Oof!” I grunted as I hit the ground. I bounced and rolled, landing on my back, staring up at the sky dizzly. Thank goodness for my increased durability, I thought, otherwise I’d have been a bloody stain on the ground.

I shakily got to my feet and looked around. I was in some sort of park, it appeared. There was a playground nearby, and there were several kids on it, swinging on the swings or sliding down the slides.

Only...they weren’t any normal kids.

Foals? I questioned.

Behind me was a large cherry blossom tree, already ripe with fruit. To my left was the aforementioned playground; to my right was a path up to a farm. I recognized it as Sweet Apple Acres.

Then I realized where I was. Equestria? How—

“Oof!”

Something small ran into me full force. I tumbled over and rolled, standing up in a defensive stance as I was trained to do. When I looked back, I found three fillies rubbing their heads. One was orange and had purple hair and tiny wings; the second was white and had purple-and-pink hair, as well as a little horn on top; the third was slightly tan filly with red hair and a bow tie on her head.

“Ow!” the orange filly said. “What hit us?”

“I think you mean what did we hit,” said the tan one. “We just up and ran that guy over!”

“Gee, I’m sorry, mister,” the white one apologized, looking up. “We weren’t looking where we were going—”

She gasped, as did the other two fillies. “Y-you’re human!”

I gave them an odd look. “Yes, I am. Is there something wrong with that?”

“Well...no,” said the orange filly. “It’s just...there hasn’t been a human in Equestria for a while!” She looked at me with eyes of awe. I felt slightly uncomfortable.

“Um, Scootaloo? Maybe you should stop staring at him,” said the white one. “He looks...uncomfortable.”

Scootaloo huffed. “Well, excuse me for being curious, Sweetie Belle!”

“Girls, girls!” the tan one interjected before the other two could start arguing. “Please, we just ran into this guy! Sweetie Belle already apologized, so let’s apologize too!” She looked at me. “Mah name’s Apple Bloom, by the way. And ah’m sorry we ran into you.”

Scootaloo looked at me, but huffed. “...sorry we ran into you,” she mumbled.

I smiled. “Apology accepted.” I knelt down and looked at each of them in the eye. “I take you’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders?”

They gasped. “How did you know that?” Apple Bloom asked.

They clearly did not recognize me at all from the kid two years back (or a little more than one Equestrian year). Though I supposed I couldn’t blame them. A shaved but very apparent stubble, more pronounced voice, much taller, and longer hair certainly differentiated me from my past self.

“Let’s just say I recognized you,” I answered back, inwardly finding myself enjoying fooling with them.

“Did you guys hear that?” Apple Bloom said. “This guy recognized us!”

“Yeah, so?” Scootaloo asked.

“It means we’re famous! Somehow, word got out about us!” Apple Bloom shouted. She started jumping around. “We’re famous! Famous! FAMOUS!”

The other members of the Cutie Mark Crusaders eventually joined in, chanting the word over and over again like a mantra. I watched, amused, as they ran around me chanting.

“Oh my gosh!” Apple Bloom suddenly stopped. “I have to tell my sister this!” She and Sweetie Belle ran off for the Sweet Apple Acre farm.

“Hey! Wait up!” Scootaloo called before racing ahead. They were fast, all right; in seconds they were halfway up the road.

I calmly summoned a bit of Chaos energy and ran, feeling the energy flow through me. I boosted, and all of a sudden I was with the Crusaders; another boost, and I was at the farm.

“Whoa!” exclaimed Scootaloo when they reached me. “You’re fast! Almost as fast as Rainbow Dash!”

I chuckled a bit. “Thanks. Though, I wonder if I’m faster?” I let the question hang with a mischievous glint in my eyes. Scootaloo gave me an odd look, but shrugged.

“Hey, sister!” Apple Bloom knocked on the door to the barn. “Open up! I have to tell you something!”

“What do you want, Apple Bloom?” a voice on the other end called.

“We’re famous! The Cutie Mark Crusaders are famous!”

“Famous, huh.” I heard the voice chuckle. There was a creak as the farm door slowly opened. “That’ll be the day—SWEET CELESTIA!”

Applejack had been carrying carrying a basket of apple on her back. When she saw me, she accidentally knocked the basket over. Immediately I dove forward and caught the basket before its contents could spill out, landing on my stomach on the barn floor, placed the basket on the floor gingerly, stood up and turned.

“A human!” Applejack gasped. “And a pretty fast one!”

I raised an eyebrow. “You don’t seem surprised, Applejack.”

She chuckled. “Yeah, well, I’ve seen my share of humans before. A fat one, and a cool one.” She paused. “Hold on a minute. How’d you know my name?”

“Hey, yeah!” Apple Bloom spoke up. “I didn’t even tell you yet!”

Looks like the game is up, I thought. But I couldn’t resist putting the strong mare into an uncomfortable situation. “Applejack and I...are old friends,” I told Apple Bloom, pulling her sister to me.

“Hey, wait—” I placed a hand on her muzzle to quiet her.

“Oh, okay!” Apple Bloom said cheerfully, not noticing her sister’s discomfort. She and the other Crusaders said goodbye and walked off, still chanting that they were famous.

Once they left, Applejack forced my hand off of her and shrugged out of my grab. “Hey, pardner!” she said, facing me. “I don’t know what you’re up to, but I seriously don’t know you!”

I wagged a finger at her; she started at the gesture. “Oh, come now. You’re the Element of Honesty, remember? Don’t lie; of course you know me.”

She squinted her eyes. “Listen, buddy, while it seems that my little sister likes you, I don’t know you anymore than she does.”

I smirked and waited.

She gave me an odd look as I stared at her intently.

...need I remind you? I telepathically said to her. Of an old, old friend from years back?

She froze, eyes widening, as my mental words hit her brain. She stared at me as her head took this in; she looked me up and down, noting the similarities between me and her old friend.

Then she let out an extremely out of character shriek.

“JARED!!!”

I was tackled by Applejack and landed on my back on the barn floor, feeling my arms getting crushed to the sides as the pony hugged me fiercely. I gritted against the slight pain, managing to hug her back.

“Oh mah gosh, Jared!” she exclaimed as she hugged me fiercely. “Is it really you?”

I smiled as I hugged back. “Indeed it is, Applejack.”

“But you look so different! Ah mean—not that I’m complaining, but you know…”

She broke the hug to take a quick look at me. “Is...is that facial hair?” she asked, pointing to my face. “You didn’t even have a wisp of hair on that baby face a year ago!”

I chuckled, rubbing the rough bristles. “Yep. I do miss the smoothness of my face, however.”

We continued talking, Applejack still slightly in awe of my changed appearance. I sought to catch on what I had missed in my hiatus from this universe. Applejack eagerly answered my questions. Sonic and the gang were now visiting on a regular basis. Sonic and Rainbow had nearly perfected their variant of the universe boom, so travel between the two universes, especially when traveling in large groups was much more convenient. The aforementioned hedgehog and pegasus were still in a relationship; just a little less than an Equestria year ago (which, according to my calculations, was about the same time as in Sonic’s universe, give or take a few seconds), they had celebrated their first anniversary.

“And how did that go?” I asked.

“Ooh, not well. Sonic got pestered by several fan-mares at the restaurant. Rainbow had to drive them out.” Applejack laughed. “You should have seen them! There was so much fear in the mares’ eyes when they saw the fire in Rainbow’s!”

She continued her gossip. She and Knuckles were in a stable relationship, which I was happy to hear. Twilight and Tails, though not dating, were in a very friendly relationship. I wondered if Twilight had moved on; she probably had, as I remembered how she reacted around the human Flash Sentry a little while back. Fluttershy and Shadow had one more date, but they broke off the relationship. Figures that they’d both be afraid of a relationship, I thought, inwardly chuckling to myself. Rarity was having a largely successful business; already so many clients from all across Equestria were lining up for her merchandise. I couldn’t say I could relate, since I had absolutely no business sense, but I felt happy for her.

Just when Applejack was about to get to the remaining pony…

BAM!

We both turned and our eyes widened in shock as we looked at the now opened barn door. There stood a pink pony, quivering with anger, holding open the doors. Two dents were where her hooves had hit the doors. Her mane was unfurled and bouncing all around crazily.

“Speak of the devil!” Applejack cheerfully said. “Hey there, Pinkie Pie—”

“YAH!” Pinkie suddenly jumped forward, aiming a kick at me. I ducked, and she flew over my head, landing in a clump of hay.

“Whoa! Pinkie!” Applejack exclaimed, helping me to my feet. “What are you doing?!”

“Don’t worry, Applejack!” Pinkie replied, throwing a pitchfork at me. I calmly stopped it with my telekinesis. “I heard you scream and I found this bipedal thing standing next to you menacingly! I’ll save you!” She got to her hooves and ran at me again. I jumped over her and she ran into the barn side, and I struggled not to chuckle at the absurdity of the situation.

“Pinkie! You don’t understand!” Applejack placed herself between the pink pony and me. “He’s not tryin’ to hurt me!”

Pinkie looked at her in confusion. “What are you talking about? He’s clearly threatening you!” She pointed. Applejack turned and sighed.

Because right then, I started laughing and rolling on the ground, tears escaping my eyes. It wasn’t everyday that the craziest pony of Ponyville mistook you for a villain.

“See?” Applejack gestured at my laughter-stricken body. “He’s not dangerous if he’s laughing!”

Pinkie still looked confused. “But the screech—”

“Yes, Applejack.” I sniffed, managing to calm down enough to talk. “That was so unlike you. It kind of sounded like Rarity’s screech.”

The bucking pony huffed. “I-it was not that bad, Jared!”

Pinkie’s eyes widened. “J-Jared?!”

She followed this with a loud, joyful, and particularly high-pitched screech of her own.

“Ow…” I murmured, sticking a finger in my ear to make sure I could still hear fine.

Then I was tackled by a now ecstatic pink mare.

“OHMYGOSHJAREDIMISSEDYOUSOMUCHHOWHAVEYOUBEENWHATHAVEYOUBEENUPTOWHEREWEREYOU—”

Applejack had to pry her off of me as I recoiled in shock at her sudden enthusiasm. “C’mon, Pinkie, give the Guardian his space.”

“Ooops! I forgot you’re the Guardian!” Pinkie giggled.

I sighed, getting to my feet. “...I am not even going to try to answer that garbled mess of words that just left your mouth.”

“Oh, okay!” Pinkie said cheerfully. “Then I’ll just ask you one question! Why are you here?”

A feeling of apprehension came over me. “I...actually don’t know.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean, you don’t know?”

I explained how I had gotten here again. They listened intently as I told them about the portal that had appeared in my kitchen, and about the maniacal laughter in the portal’s gateway, and the powerful force that had dragged me to here.

When I had finished, Applejack asked, “And you have no idea what brought you here, other than some force?”

I shook my head. “I still feel slightly disoriented. On top of it all, it appears that portal messed up communications with Nix. I can’t talk to him at the moment.”

Applejack took a moment to think, then said, “We should go see Princess Twilight about this. Tails is with her as well.”

I nodded. “Sounds good.” I then smiled. “It’d be nice to see everyone again.”

Applejack smiled back, then walked with Pinkie out of the barn towards Ponyville. I followed them.