Finders: Find me in Ponyville

“Worlds apart and worlds together, stand aside, or burn forever… she will belong to me!”

(***)

Human Kyle-

I slowly opened my eyes, looking around the room. A dim blue light was disturbing my sleep. I sleepily wondered what it was from but… eh, leave it for the morning. I rolled over.

Just as I did the face of a black haired young girl filled my vision screaming, “Wake up little boy, there’s something weird going on!” She yelled it loud and my heart practically jumped out of my chest as I threw myself out of my open sleeping bag on impulse and crashed head first into the floor.

“OW!” I yelled, getting up and shooting Jessica, who was currently standing by her own sleeping bag, a glare.

“Did it really hurt that much?” the black haired girl asked. I wobbled to my feet, not so much from the bang on my head than from just waking up. Still, Jessica sounded a little concerned.

So I decided to milk that sympathy a little. “Uh huh… yep… ow,” I held my head.

“Good, means you’re awake!”

“Yes… yes I’m awake,” I was definitely awake.

“And that’s another skill I have. Alarm clock!”

“Yes. And right about now I actually do kind of wish that if I slapped you on the head you would let me sleep for a few more minutes.”

“Yea yea, don’t recommend it. Anyway, what is that?” Jessica pointed her finger and entire right arm at a large blue pool of energy hovering above and perpendicular to the wooden floor the two of us were standing on.

“Looks like a portal… I think. Certainly not something I expected to see in the clock tower.”

“Mmmhmmm… so let me get this straight, if you saw a giant portal with no apparent reason to exist pop up NOT in the clock tower you would somehow be LESS surprised?”

“Well maybe it’s more an issue of nervousness.” I said, scratching my head. “It’s blocking the only exit from the loft here so… yea.” Indeed, there was only one elevator that lead to and from the loft behind the clock face at Jackson Tower, and guess where we were.

“Yea- get over here.” Jessica said, waving me over to herself. I nodded jumping over my mattress to get closer to my friend. I stood behind her and she motioned me to get back as she approached the portal. I actually never have liked being told to cower behind her at a moment’s notice. I saw little to fear directly. I reached out my hand to the blue swirling energy but Jessica slapped it away. “You see a giant field of pulsing blue energy and your first instinct is to touch it?”

“You got another idea?” To myself I did start to wonder if I was being a little difficult here. Course me questioning my logic would be helped if Jessica would use a little of her own.

Jessica held up a hand, electric energy swirling around her fingers. “I could blast it.”

“You’re going to blast an energy portal with electricity and expect what to happen?”

“Ummmm… I don’t know let’s find out!”

I grabbed Jessica’s hand and pulled it down. “Let’s not and say we did.”

“But why would we then say we did? Sounds like a really stupid idea in the first place, doesn’t it?”

I shook my head and grinned a little. Jessica squeezed my hand. Her eyes were wide and looking up. Curiously, I followed her eyes.

“What’s that?” Jessica asked as above us a mass of energy, apparently from the portal, was forming.

“Looks like a hand maybe or…”

“I think it’s a hoof-“ Jessica said as the energy object suddenly shot down and struck me in the back, Jessica’s grip however did not release and we were both pushed into the portal.

As I looked around my eyes were filled with images of what looked like a cartoon playing all around me. Images flashed by me and Jessica at random, Jessica still holding my hand tight as we flew through some strange… existence I guess. The images played all around us… I think there was music too but- then there was a very bright white light-so I actually didn’t get much time to think about what just happened.

(***)

Pony Kyle

I landed forehead first on a stone floor, Jessica splattering on top of me. “Always with the hitting of the head.”  I yelled, struggling to my feet, but failing to get up. Would have helped if a certain someone would have gotten off my back.

“I didn’t hit my head,” Jessica declared. “Besides, I just landed on you, so it was actually a pretty soft landing.”

“Thankyou for clarifying,” I said, closing my eyes and holding my head.

“Just helping you look on the bright side.”

Ignoring her, I looked around verbally describing what I was seeing. “So, very nice looking place. Garishly checkered floor, red carpet five inches from where I face planted- very convenient- hanging tapestries, gold all over the place and wow that’s a high ceiling.”

“So this isn’t the home of a hobo,” Jessica chimed back.

“Good guess.” I tried to get up again, but again, SOMEONE wasn’t getting off. “Okay, I think my head has taken enough beatings today, can you take a look around?” I finally said in compromise. Honestly, I knew she was joking around with me, but maybe it was for the best, my head really was starting to throb after two impacts like that.

“Sure thing!” I felt her roll off and was then not too surprised to hear a splat when it seemed time for her to try to get up.

“Seriously though, we do need to reconnoiter, stop playing around and- Jess- where are you?“ I stopped talking when my eyes looked at where I had assumed my friend was. There laid a pony like creature with wings, much like a miniaturized pegasus from Greek legend. The pony’s fur was yellow and it had a blue mane that was absolutely ridiculous, shaped jaggedly, almost like a child’s drawing of a lightning bolt. It also had a long tail that seems to be spread out like the dumb animal had stuck its tongue in a toaster.

“I’m right here,” the pony said, with Jessica’s voice. It smiled… because of course ponies can smile… take enough hits to the head and anything can smile at you.

“Um… I guess the horse has peanut butter in its mouth… so you learned ventriloquism at some point… Jessie it’s past time we got serious.”

“No, actually I’m pretty sure I’m a pony and so are you… I also have wings so that’s a thing.”

I tried to rub my eyes only to notice I had a hoof instead of a hand. “What?” My mind was racing with explanations. None of them were good, but I was trying and that’s what counts when you’ve been turned into a horse… I think.

“Should I be freaking out?” Jessie asked.

“What?”

“You’re a pony.” She explained.

“What?”

“I think you broke, are you still on warranty?” She asked, her smile growing.

“WHAT!?!”

“We are ponies right now. Take it from the horse’s mouth, as apparently that is what we both currently are.”

“You’re remarkably complacent about this.” I pointed out.

“I’m freaking out on the inside.” Jessica looked around. “So how do we get up? One hoof at a time or…?”

I tried this method… and promptly fell back down after using the third hoof. “This is surprisingly complicated.” I had always prided myself on my intelligence however. Surely if I could invent a magnet that could drag a car (or probably just drag me to the car, now that I think about the weight difference there) I could figure out standing on four feet. I pushed up with all four legs. “Just try all four at once.” Jessica followed my example. I then tried walking. “Ya know, it’s not that different from walking on all fours, you’re just not bending your back legs because well… ya know.”

“No I really don’t know anything about this, did I miss something?” Jessica raised her right foreleg. “Hmm… apparently our arms are more flexible than a regular horse-somehow. And I think… yea I can move the hoof pieces just like a hand.”

“Are ponies supposed to have multiple hoof pieces?”

“Okay as long as we’re ponies… let’s stop questioning minor details okay?”

I looked ahead of myself, something catching my eye and asked “And what qualifies as a minor detail exactly?”

Jessica followed my gaze to see a very large dark purple pony looking down at us. The pony had a black adornment of a moon on its chest and what appeared to be blue slippers made of glass. It also had wings and a horn. The most perplexing thing… as though anything about this whole situation were not perplexing… was its flowing mane, being blue surrounded by light purple, the whole thing having an air of being incorporeal and yet corporeal.

(***)

Luna; a few moments earlier-

I shook my head. ‘What could be going on with her?’ I asked in my own head. I just came from watching one of Rainbow Dash’s nightmares. I had watched the events in the dream, hoping to tell her what to do, but I was at a loss.

Rainbow had dreamed that she intercepted a letter to her young friend Scootaloo. The letter was about the little foal having to move away to Canterlot. Then suddenly, right after reading the letter, Rainbow watched as Scootaloo appeared put between two dark figures, one male, one female. A door closed and Rainbow was left in a dark room yelling “But… I can’t… what was I… why!? How can I be the only one who… who… notices?”

Notices what? Scootaloo always seemed like a content filly when I looked in on her. She was happy with her friends and Rainbow Dash… ecstatic that Rainbow had agreed to be her sister. If the dark figures were Scootaloo’s parents and Rainbow thought they abused her- which seemed like the most obvious explanation- I had seen Scootaloo in person several times. The filly was often bruised, but from her own antics, no signs of an older pony beating her up.

Also, if Rainbow had witnessed someone hit one of her friends, I was pretty sure that would have been a situation I would have heard about all the way in Canterlot. Rainbow wasn’t known for her patients in such matters. She probably would have beaten Scootaloo’s mother or father to a pulp if she saw that.

Rainbow also never seemed THAT attached to the girl, and I had assumed the good news about her taking Scootaloo under her wing as a sister was just Rainbow being nice. Not like there was an official proceeding for that, it was more a notion than a legally binding contract. At worst it would mean Rainbow might be tasked with foalsitting a few times. But why be worried about Scootaloo moving away? Couldn’t Rainbow just visit her if she would miss her that much? For one of the fastest pegasi alive, surely that wouldn’t be hard.

I shook my head. There were other duties tonight, not the least of which would be checking into other dreams. Many disturbing dreams crossed my watching eye every night.

Still, I walked the halls of Canterlot palace, trying to work my way through that nightmare. I came into the entrance to the gala area. I started trying to summon the energy to go into another dream I she heard a yell

“None of that!” she heard a young filly yell.

I looked down and saw an absolutely lost looking pair of foals. One was a filly, and the other, looking a little younger, was a colt. The filly was yellow with a mane brushed to look like a bolt of lightning- inventive parents no doubt- and a long tail with hair that was in worse shape than that of Scootaloo. Then there was that colt. Why were boy always so unkempt? He was cyan with a very short mane that was dark blue with yellow highlights. His tail was short and puffed out. Both his tail and mane were a mess and too short to be fixed into much of anything.

The filly started yelling again, “Why is it purplish blue, why is it so big, why is it a half… ghost… thing… why is it looking at me-“ goodness she was rude.

“Because you’re talking.” I spoke up.

“Why is it talking?!” The filly shouted.

Sheesh, did she have another setting for her volume or was it always maxed? Besides “it”? Is that any way to refer to a princess? I closed my eyes in irritation. “Normally I try to be patient with foals, however you are being increasingly rude and have failed to bow to royalty. As you seem… lost… I will take pity on you if you simply bow for now. I’ll address your lack of manners-“

“Yea I don’t even know how to do that, if you’ll excuse me I apparently got turned into a horse about- how long has it been?” the filly asked the colt rather abruptly.

“About five minutes,” said the colt, checking a non-existent watch.

“About five minutes ago. This is shaping up to be a weird night and I’m apparently awake as I can feel the floor and all and I already tried pinching myself.”

Again, I tried diplomacy. It is simply unbecoming for a princess to yell at children. “I made a simple request. I am princess of the night. I simply want the respect I am due. Nothing more.”

“Well personally if I woke up and found two people in my house I think I would be more interested in asking questions than standing on ceremony… just saying.” The filly commented.

I gritted my teeth. Oh I had questions alright, but a few of them would be directed at the guards who let two confused bewildered foals all the way into the palace. “I will ask questions in a minute, just bow. Is that so hard? I am the princess of the night, you will respect me.”

“So what, you’re going to call guards on us?” asked the colt. He actually bowed his head. Well… he was just a colt after all, maybe he hadn’t been instructed in just how to bow yet. He was supposed to nearly prostrate himself but… I understood a simple polite bow for now.

“Close enough in your case I suppose, someone has clearly not taught you children right. As to your question, why would I bother the guards with a pair of foals? As if I feel threatened.” The nerve of implying a princess of the night needed protection in a situation like this. “However if you don’t start showing me respect I may feel it necessary to deal with the both of you most-“

“PRINCESS of the night huh? Then bow to a queen!” the filly shouted. She stamped the ground with her right hoof. A powerful electric surge surrounded her and a bolt of what appeared to be pure lightning shot up from the floor in front of her and just missed my head, arching around my face. “The Queen of Lightning! And who am I addressing that is so ignorant as to call me a fool twice?!”

I backed up. Queen of… was that even a rank? Did lightning need a- No of course not. Lightning was a practical joke, something pegasi kicked out of their storm clouds to scare other ponies on the ground. I always thought that rude too, but Celestia insisted on just letting them have their fun.

The colt shifted uncomfortably behind the filly. “Queen? Jessie I-“

“Roll with it!” the filly snapped at him.

I looked up at the ceiling. That was no mere lightning bolt, at least not the prankster version pegasi actually controlled. That was a natural genuine lightning bolt, perhaps even more powerful. It had blasted a hole straight through the stone. Not a large hole, but still- “Perhaps I should re-evaluate not calling the guards.”

“I should probably correct you that she didn’t call you a fool, she said “foal”, you know, baby horse?” the colt pointed out. “I don’t think she was trying to threaten us.”

“I know the start of a threat when I hear it!” the filly shouted. She opened her wings, only momentarily looking at them with what appeared to be curiosity. She then backed up, pushing the colt back, as if using her wings and body to block her friend from danger.

I only meant to threaten some punishment. Honeslty a bad dream was the worst I would have done. Much more would have been… wait, pegasi can’t just throw lightning- what?