Canadian Pacific 5-5

As the ponies looked over the swords I checked my watch.

“We’ve got a while before we get to Parry Sound, where we’ll be having lunch,” I said, “so we’ve got the time if you’d like to hear chapter 7.”

“There’s more?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yep,” I replied, “While that was rather impressive that wasn’t what gave us our reputation. That event occurs later in the story.”

“Well what are you waiting for?” Rainbow Dash challenged, “Get on with the story!”

“Ok, ok,” I said, “I was getting there.”

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Chapter 7: The Surprise

My sword clashed with Brody’s as John’s broadsword met Brent’s katana. Suddenly Andrew jumped in and knocked all of our blades back in one quick slash. We were sparring just to make sure that we were in peak fighting condition. We all looked at each other for a moment and then attacked, a free-for-all of flailing swords and clashing elements. We sparred for a good fifteen minutes before we all collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. The ground around us was littered with cracks, puddles, scorch marks, and windswept leaves but we didn’t mind. It just meant that our powers still worked.

I went inside and brought out five cans of root beer. We popped the tops at the same time and toasted to great practises from then on. After we finished our root beers we picked up our weapons again, this time igniting the power within them. We swung at each other and all seven blades made contact at the same time; the surge of power knocked us out. When we came to we found that we were in the Void. The meeting in the void must have surprised Conner too because he appeared sitting at a desk typing on a laptop. He paused for a moment before frantically tapping at the keyboard. Suddenly the entire desk and the chair he was sitting on disappeared.

Defying gravity he sat there with nothing supporting him for a moment. Finally he got up and turned toward us.

“How did we get here?” Conner asked, “No, wait, smarter question. What were you doing just before you arrived here?”

“We were just sparring,” Brent said.

“I think I know how we got here,” I said, “Our elements react with one another in real life but they’ve never all connected at the same time.”

“Which means that the power, of all the elements put together, might be capable of opening portals,” John finished.

“If it is, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t try it again,” Conner commented, “Suddenly getting pulled into this word could put a real damper on my social life.”

He stood there for a minute thinking.

“I’d feel terrible if I sent you back to your world without giving you something…I wonder,” said Conner just before he disappeared.

We all looked at each other for a minute to see if anyone had any idea on why Conner had suddenly left us. After a long moment of silence John opened his mouth to say something when Conner suddenly reappeared.

“I’m going to give you the ability to teleport into my world in order to contact me. You must, however, only use it for emergencies.”

“But why did you have to disappear first?” I asked.

“I had to make sure that what happens in this world can be transferred into mine,” Conner replied. He then gave us a quick salute before we reappeared in our own world.

We looked at each other for a moment before Brody spoke up, “We should try out our new power.”

“Might as well. Conner’s probably expecting us to anyway,” John agreed.

I focused and suddenly I saw the whole world start to ripple and shift and when it settled down I saw that I was standing in front of Conner. He was sitting on a chair with his arms crossed and a knowing smirk on his face. My friends appeared around me a moment later.

“I figured you’d try out your new power,” Conner said, “Which is why I called up my friends and invited them over. I thought it would be cool if they got to meet their alternate selves. Plus you guys get to meet the people you were based on.”

It was about fifteen minutes later when everyone finally arrived. Conner then handed out a can of root beer to everybody. We talked for hours and played some video games against ourselves. Not surprisingly we tied with ourselves only ever wining if the other made a slight slip up. Afternoon became evening all too soon and we had to go home. We waved a swift goodbye before teleporting home. When we arrived we found that the same amount of time had passed in our world.

“We’ll have to remember to tell Conner about it the next time we see him,” Andrew commented.

The next day we all got together at lunch like we usually did. It was an assembly day schedule and we had an extra half hour to our lunch.

“Well,” John said, “We have an hour and a half for lunch. Should we grab some food from the cafeteria or head over to the McDonald’s?”

“I’ve got some extra money,” I volunteered, “So we can afford to go to either.”

“McDonald’s isn’t great but the caf’s food is worse,” Brent replied.

Andrew and Brody also agreed and we left for the restaurant. On our way however we had to make a small detour. As we walked by an alleyway we saw two men trying to steal an elderly lady’s purse.

“That is just so. Not. Right,” Brody said.

“Andrew, shadows. John, ominous breeze. Brent, Brody, this is a thru alley, guard the other end,” I said calmly.

Brent and Brody immediately headed for the other end of the alley while the buildings’ shadows darkened and began to flow over the criminal’s shoes. A stiff, unnatural breeze came up and the perpetrators paused for a moment. Looking to see where the strange gust of wind came from they spotted us standing at the end of the alley. They turned to run the other direction but froze when they saw Brent and Brody at the other end. The elderly lady took the advantage and yanked her purse from the men’s hands. She then walked past us and thanked us as she went on her way.

“Your thieving days are over,” I said, “Now come along quietly and we won’t have to hurt you.”

The men stood there for a minute obviously trying to figure out their next move. They went to run toward Brent and Brody but Andrew stopped them by solidifying the shadows around their feet. I then lifted two keyboard-sized chunks of rock out of the ground. Brent moved their hands behind their backs and I clamped the rocks around their wrists like handcuffs. With the men subdued Andrew stepped forward and drew his sword. He then used the flat of the blades to lightly and repeatedly tap the men’s groins. Andrew was, in effect, “tazing their nuts”.

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I saw the horrified looks on the ponies’ faces and realized what they were thinking.

“Now before you say anything,” I told them, “No, he is not really like that and he never was. Plus he was only that way for a little while.”

“We’re here,” Brody said just then.

Sure enough we had entered Parry Sound and were stopping outside a diner.

“Alright, food,” I said, “Don’t worry, I’ll tell you chapter 8 while we eat.”