Lex Divisia - Chapter 1

It was nearing lunch time in Equestria, and it was another lovely day. The birds were singing, the bees were buzzing, and the grass was grassing. Well, maybe the grass was sitting there, but things were most assuredly proceeding according to the universe’s clockwork design. This included one inconsequential, regular-order, currently underway session of the Cutie Mark Crusader society...

Scootaloo’s wings buzzed daintily as she paused briefly for effect before reaching her climactic conclusion she’d been building up to during her monologue.

“...and that proves Twilight Sparkle not only has the ability to exchange the minds and bodies of anypony around her… but that she’s also covered it up by changing the memories of everypony in Equestria!” She emphasized the final statement by slamming her little hoof down on the podium, causing an echoing ‘clop’ to resonate through the CMC clubhouse.

“Ehhh... eye dunno Scootaloo, seems like yew made a few logical leaps there.” Applebloom drawled, her head resting lazily on her hooves.

The adorable white filly sitting to her left then piped up: “yeah, it was almost as farfetched as Applebloom’s saying that there’s a whole department of monster-hunters based out of Canterlot with secret agents stationed in every town in Equestria.” Sweetie Belle giggled as she rolled her eyes.

“Well Sweetie Belle at least eye din’t accuse Princess Celestia of purposefully orchestratin’ major element ah harmony conflicts each election season so that royalist politicians stay in power! That’s downright treasonous!” Appleboom said, shaking a hoof at Sweetie Belle.

Scootaloo jumped from the podium to separate them before things escalated further. “Girls! Stop!” she exclaimed before hanging her head with a sigh. “I guess cutie mark crusader conspiracy theorists is a bust… just like all our other attempts this week.”

The other two fillies sighed as well, their conflicts forgotten as they contemplated yet another failed experiment to discover what their special talents were.

“Well, it was fun coming up with those theories at least, can you imagine if we really did have our memories muddled up? It was the only way I could make mine possible.” Scootaloo chuckled.

“And I don’t really think Celestia would ev-” Sweetie was cut off by a distant faint cry.

“helllllllp….” The sound seemed to be carried on a breath of wind, so faint that it was almost illusory.

”Did yew hear that too?” Applebloom interrupted, cocking her head like a puppy toward the open window.

“Meh, it was probably just the wind.” Scootaloo asserted after a moment, closing her eyes in a satisfied self-assurance.

“Does the wind also shoot off flares?” Asked Sweetie, tapping Scootaloo on the shoulder and twisting her toward the horizon, where a distant streak of red light travelled up from the treeline, bursting into a small smattering of sparkles.

“C’mon girls! Let’s see what the hubbub’s about!” The Applebloom exclaimed as she darted out the treehouse door, her two crusaderin’ compatriots in tow.

======================================

Trixie took a deep breath before again yelling as loudly as she could.

“HELLLLLLLLLLLP!”

She shifted the heavy load on her back, grunting from the effort as she continued to try to manage the unwieldy load preventing her from making her way down the trail at more than a walk. You really wouldn’t think carrying a body would be so difficult until you actually tried to do so, Trixie thought, glancing rearwards at the human draped across her back. He was secured awkwardly to her using her cape used as a sort of strap to keep him from slipping off.

Her day had been going so predictably before he’d shown up. She’d planned to give a quick show on the outskirts of town to avoid the usual trouble from Ponyville… then simply pack up, head out and be halfway to Vanhoover by the time the sun set. Instead, her day consisted of haphazard first aid, bloody tourniquets and using torn strips from her stage curtains to keep this human’s face from falling apart.

She really hadn’t meant to inflict so much damage: she hadn’t meant to kick him at all actually. Grabbing a mare’s tail was inviting a reflex response, especially if said tail grab was unbidden.

She’d known the moment her hoof made contact that she’d done some serious damage. She’d had her share of close calls and rough escapes from shows that had gone bad, as well as tough times when she’d had to take up part-time bucking on farms to help with the bills, so she knew what solid contact on her hooves felt like… and those contacts had never caved in quite like she’d felt the man’s face had.

Standing over him as he lay unconscious, rich, bright red arterial blood spurting like a nightmarish garden hose, it had taken every ounce of her mental fortitude to resist screaming like a foal and heading for the hills. It was funny how at that moment the memory of the strange monkey-minotaur introducing himself as Jacob Eyethingk had popped into her mind. That brief thought was enough to remind her that the injured mess in front of her was a sentient being that needed her help, badly.

Using her magic to pinch his arteries for a moment to staunch the bleeding, she’d seen that the left side of his face was in bad shape. A nasty torn gash traveled from his eye to his ear, and there was definite damage to his orbital bone structure. It had been a panicked 4 or 5 minutes as she struggled to tightly bind his head with hastily torn fabric and levitate him onto her back (for all her boasting, Trixie had never been a ‘power lifter’ in the levitation department). She’d then begun to make her way toward the nearest hospital she knew of. That hospital was located, much to her dismay, in Ponyville… a place where the name Trixie Lulamoon was decidedly unpopular.

She’d tried to call for help every few minutes (whenever she could spare the air from the wheezing difficulty of carrying Jacob). Each time she shouted, she worried about just who might come running. Would it be the hayseed farmer she’d tied up with her own lasso? The pink baker she’d magically removed the ability to speak from? Or worst of all, Twilight Sparkle, who she’d humiliatingly challenged and then been crushed by? Trixie still remembered how the tears had flowed down her cheeks, as she ran from town after doing her best to apologize to the talented purple unicorn. She’d been humiliated. Even more so, she’d been ashamed of her behavior.

Shaking those thoughts from her head, she remembered the desperate need of Jacob, and had begun firing off magical flares. She was only a mile out of town now, the dirt road had transitioned to cobblestone… surely she’d get some help soon… and if she was lucky she would be able to slink away before she was recognized.

Just as that hopeful possibility was passing through her head, three fillies came tearing around the nearest bend in the road, skidding to a stop just in front of her as they barely avoided piling into one another.

“T-Trixie!?” The little Orange one stammered, hopping off her scooter. She looked familiar, but Trixie could not remember her name, nor that of her two companions. Then it clicked, she remembered one afternoon when Snips and Snails had been arguing with these three and the name popped back into her memory.

“Scooter Lou! Trixie requires your assistance.” She huffed, hurriedly.

“You KNOW my name Trixie… it’s SCOO TA LOO… sheesh” Scootaloo said, already exasperated.

“No time for that now, Scoop Achoo, I need you to head back into town.... go get help right away. You two, assist Trixie immediately in carrying this Minotaur to th-”

Sweetie Belle cut her off, shouting at her “Trixie, that’s no minotaur, that’s a human!” She gasped as she saw the bloody bandage covering his head. “And he’s hurt! What have you done to Lero!?” Applebloom rushed around the blue unicorn as she motioned Scootaloo toward Ponyville off in the distance:

“Head into town Scoots, get Twilight and Rarity and tell ‘em to meet us at Ponyville General Hospital!”

Scootaloo had already kickflipped her scooter into a 180 and had her little wings buzzing as fast as they would go. “Right! I’m off!” she shouted over her shoulder as she tore down the road, kicking up a trail of dust behind her.

“W-wait, get anyone but Twilight!!!” Trixie called futilely after the rapidly disappearing cloud of dust. She felt the yellow filly’s flank press up against her right side, propping Jacob’s legs up and relieving her tired back of some of the weight that pressed heavily on her joints.

“C’mon Trixie, Lero needs tah see the doc’ right quick! The hospital’s only ah few minutes down the road. Sweetie, you help with the other side!”

Trixie felt Jacob’s left arm and shoulder shift onto the little unicorn filly’s head as she proudly belted out: “Right! Cutie mark crusader human paramedics!”

The next few minutes were a blur, as she spent her time apprising the tough little earth pony filly of the morning’s events, while trying to keep her footing.

========================

If Scootaloo had timed herself from the Apple orchard to Golden Oaks library, she’d have found she shattered all of her personal speed records.

As it was, speed was the furthest thing from her mind. All she could think of was Lero and what rough shape he’d looked to be in. She thought about how upset her personal heroine Rarity would be that such a terrible accident had happened to him, and she stifled back tears of panic and sadness as she thought about what life in Ponyville would be like without the human.

Golden Oaks library was fast approaching, and she managed to coordinate her scooter dismount better than any professional BMXer such that she catapulted off the skidding stop, using the momentum to tumble through the library door, bursting into the foyer with a resounding crash.

“H-help! Lero’s hurt bad!” She shouted.

A stunned Rarity and Spike looked up from the book they were flipping through together on the couch, both staring wide eyed at the shocking appearance of the exhausted pegasus filly gasping in front of them.

“Why, Scootaloo, you poor dear! Whatever is the matter?” Rarity asked,rising from her seat and making her way toward her.

“Rarity… *huff* it’s Lero… *huff* he needs your help… *huff* and Twilight’s too!” gasped Scootaloo, her heart pounding in her chest as the exertion of racing at top speed caught up with her.

“You poor thing, whatever are you talking about? My stallion and Twilight are perfectly fine… well… relatively fine in any case.” Rarity explained as she daintily ushered the confused pegasus out the back door of the tree-house and into the back yard.

“See there darling? He’s merely engaging in some calisthenics with my dear, sweet songbird Lyra. Not a thing to worry about.”

Rarity motioned toward the red-headed man in the midst of throwing a punch at a mint-green unicorn, balancing delicately on her hind two legs. Lyra had her eyes shut peacefully, and as Lero’s vicious hook grazed her chin she seemed to roll, to flow, away from the blow. At the same time, she stepped into the hurtling mass of Lero’s charge, dropping her sturdy hip into his knees and letting Lero’s own momentum carry him up and over her, into a graceful airborne arc… which ended with him in a solid heap on the grass while she gracefully twirled away from him.

“Errr… like I said, relatively, nothing to worry about.” Rarity said, a hint of frustration entering her voice.

“Ahem… Songbird, DEAR,” Rarity called out, “pray tell, WHY are you pummeling our sweet prince without the cloud padding I had prepared for your session?” Rarity’s tone became sterner as she heard Lero’s groans from the dirt he’d been slammed into.

“If you don’t train to take a blow… every blow hits like a train... “ Lyra intoned, finishing her twirl and finally opening her eyes. “Besides, Lero insisted on receiving at least a few scrapes per sparring session.” her grin revealed the joy she took in tweaking Rarity about Lero’s safety when training with her. Really though, she was asking for it, insisting that a grand-master use pillowy cloud padding as if she couldn’t perfectly control the amount of impact Lero would receive.

“Wuh-what?” Scootaloo scratched at her head. “Lero!? How did you get back here before me?”

Lero picked himself up off the ground with a grumble about sneaky unicorn dodges as he brushed himself off and looked down at the concerned filly. “What do you mean Scootaloo? You look like you’ve seen a ghost…”

“I don’t get it, I just left you bleeding and hurt with Trixie and the girls....” Tears filled Scootaloo’s eyes, even as she tried to conceal how upset she was. “I thought *hic*... I thought *sniff*...”

“There there, you’re just a bit out of sorts young lady” Rarity said, stroking Scootaloo’s mane to calm her. “Tell us what has happened.”

Drawing a steadying breath and clearing her throat to steady herself, Scootaloo did just that…

“...and then Applebloom said I should race over here to get help since Lero was hurt and I did but Lero was here all along and wasn’t hurt and then you told me to tell the story and so I did but I do-” Scootaloo rattled off a moment later before she was hushed and comforted by Rarity..

“Interesting, two Leros, could it be a doppelganger? Perhaps a changeling or an illusion of Trixie’s?” Lyra surmised, looking over at Rarity.

“Perhaps, but I wonder if it wasn’t some sort of ice golem - I imagine I could make a fairly convincing statue of Lero, and with the right joints and spells I daresay I could even make him move like it wa-”

“Or-” Lero cut off Rarity, shaking his head with an incredulous and somewhat disappointed at his two herdmates, “its another human…”

There was a half beat of silence as the ridiculously obvious explanation dawned upon the three ponies.

“Huh… guess it never occurred to me that there could be more than one human in Equestria… it’s kind of easy to forget you’re not the only human in existence.” Lyra sheepishly grinned as she rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment.

Lero frowned as he looked out toward the outskirts of town, “don’t get me wrong girls, I think another human is an even bigger deal than changelings or golems… let’s get Twilight and Dash and get to the hospital, stat.”

“Stat?” Scootaloo asked glancing up at Lero.

“It’s ancient Equestrian, a shortened from of statim, meaning quickly or immediately. Funnily enough, its modern usage is primarily confined to the medical community, so I assume Lero was making a double entendre…” Twilight Sparkle, who had just walked into the conversation from the direction of Dash’s cloud-house, slowly trailed off as her herdmates stared at her…

“What? What’d I miss?”

=======================================

Sweetie Belle was running on pure adrenaline.

She’d always thought of herself as being ready to handle the tough situations in life. Knowing that Applebloom had been able to step up and support her sister Pinkie Pie in some of the most desperate and trying conditions had only reinforced the belief that she could rise to the occassion as well. With the blood dripping from the man’s soaked bandage onto her white coat, she was beginning to have second thoughts.

They were still a good ten minutes away from the hospital, and Applebloom’s bickering with Trixie was definitely not helping distract her from the frightening task ahead of her.

It had only taken a few minutes of explanation from Trixie for Applebloom to deduce that the man they were carrying along was not Lero Michaelaedes, but some other human named Jacob Eyethingk. Though it was somewhat of a relief that it was not her friend who was so badly smashed up, she still felt more than a modicum of concern for the poor man… and that was even before he started moaning.

“Urgggg… *cough* h-help m-me” Jacob gurgled, blood dripping from his mouth as he began to stir.
Sweetie heard his soft, pained whisper and shouted to the other two mares about this latest development “uh, girls? I hate to interrupt but I think he’s waking up.”

Trixie paused the back and forth with Applebloom and snapped back at Sweetie “And how would you know that?”

That was when Jacob let out a blood-curdling scream of agony.

“That’s how!” Sweetie squeaked as she felt her heart rate jump in terror.

“Help him! You’ve got to quiet him down.” Trixie shouted over the commotion, her pace quickening down the cobblestone road.

“H-how? What can I do?” The frightened foal asked desperately.

“Dull his pain with a healing spell. Or knock him out with a sleep spell. Quickly!” Trixie shouted back, needing to raise her voice over the increasing volume of Jacob’s agony.

“I-I don’t know how! I don’t know how to cast spells like that yet!” Sweetie’s panic was peaking, the adrenaline throbbing in her ears - she wasn’t expecting this! The heroines in the stories she loved to read were always suave and collected, unflappable in the face of danger.

“Don’t they teach that spell in school anymore? They did in Trixie’s day! Trixie was the first in her class to master healing magic, you know. Ugh!” Trixie through her head back in frustration as she continued to move down the path.

“Yew gotta try Sweetie! Jes’ do yer best!” Applebloom encouraged.

Taking a deep breath, Sweetie concentrated all of her mental energy on the pleading human’s wounds. She had no idea how to perform the thaumatological calculations necessary to perform advanced healing magic, so she opted to visualize soothing and cooling effects and memories while projecting that aura over Jacob’s head and face. She closed her eyes as she imagined soothing snow falling on a fire... a cool babbling brook flowing over parched earth… a soothing balm being spread over a nasty scratch… oh how she hoped this was working!

The groans were a bit less loud, but still just as agonizing to hear. Still, it was undeniably an improvement over the earlier agonies.

Sweetie Belle kept up her improvised emotional aura projection for the remaining journey to the hospital.

She was surprised by how dizzy she was beginning to feel as they finally entered the emergency ward’s entrance.

Sweetie swooned into the chair nearest to the door as Trixie and Applebloom carried the moaning human toward a stunned admittance nurse. The excited shouting and scrambling motion of the hospital staff as they levitated and crowded about the human seemed to get more and more distant, like it was at the end of a long, dark hallway.

Suddenly she could see Applebloom’s concerned face filling up the end of that darkening tunnel, her big eyes focused directly on her, her hooves shaking her slumped shoulders, her lips moving without sound… so tired… just a moment’s rest…

===============================

Lero buried his face in the hem of his jacket. He wondered if all ponies were able to tolerate the whipping bite of the high speed air stream, or if it was a trait unique to pegasi. It didn’t seem like Twilight or Lyra were at all bothered by the wind blast and aside from sporting a rather dashing set of goggles, Rarity seemed to suffer no ill effect as she confidently piloted the nimble cloud through the skies over Ponyville.

Shrugging, Lero was happy that at least he could protect his frostbitten ears with his hands, not needing to grip the cloud (he’d had unpleasant aerial experiences previously) since Rarity’s cloud had three fluffy safety belts to fasten him, Lyra and Twilight securely to the rocketing nimbus platform.

Dash was easily keeping pace alongside. It still warmed Lero’s heart to see the once bold daredevil work her powerful wings with effortless exertion in the air. It was one of the seemingly random things that the Swap had been unable to affect, and even now a happy grin was affixed to the multicolored mare’s muzzle.

A hoof tapped his shoulder, interrupting his silent reverie, “Lero, should we wait for-”
“WHAT!?” Lero shouted back, motioning at his ears, the universal human symbol for: I can’t hear you.

Unfortunately, ponies use a combination of head tilt and ear twitch to convey the same kinesthetic message. However, Twilight was a fantastic student of Lero’s body language and quickly cast a simple forcefield bubble spell which had the added effect of stifling the chilling and noisy turbulence.

“Oh my,” Rarity noticed immediately, “I’m so dreadfully sorry Sparkle-kitten, in my haste I’d completely forgotten the creature comforts of high speed cloud-transport. Just hold on a moment... we’ll be arriving at Ponyville General presently!”

Twilight nodded to her with a smile and repeated her question to Lero. “I said: should we wait at the hospital for Celestia to arrive? I don’t have any notes on how to properly handle ‘second’-contact with humans…” A strand of hair popped out of her already frazzled bangs dangerously before she went on, “I didn’t even have a chance to review Professor Ripley’s Alien Encounters; or How I learned to Love the Flamethrower Spell, which is considered by most to be the seminal work in a lon-”

“Twilight.” Lero chastised, stroking her withers with a firm grip. “Setting aside the fact that there are no better experts in all of Equestrian history than our herd to welcome a human to Equestria… as well as the highly suspect title of that book... there’s no telling when Celestia will get around to reading your message to her. You’ve told spike to send and re-send the scroll every half-hour until she replies, but if she’s in council or indisposed we could end up waiting for hours.”

Twilight began unbuckling herself as the cloud slowed and descended the last few feet toward the admitting entrance of the hospital. She lept to the ground as soon as the cloud came to a halt.

Rarity and Lyra hopped off behind her, as Rarity looked over the cloud one more time. “Now, don’t forget where I’ve parked the cloud my dears!” She sang as they all trotted the final few yards toward the doors.

“I hadn’t thought about it Lero… but what if this human is violent, or…” Twilight took a dramatic gulp before pressing on “what if it came from... that other world.”

Lero’s solemn face betrayed the worry that he held about the same subject, “it’s definitely possible… heck, it’s probably the most likely scenario… its how I got here, as well as how Gus got here..." Lero said, noting how all his herdmates (even Rarity) cast their eyes at their hooves thinking about poor Gus Wainwright, "but all we can hope for is that whoever it is has managed to find their way out of… there… unscathed.” Lero couldn’t suppress an involuntary shiver.

“You up for this big guy?” Rainbow Dash asked, her defences raised at seeing her new stallion so unnerved.

A grin and a ruffling of her mane was the only response she got as the group entered the hospital into an eerily silent, dark and empty lobby.

==================

Lyra strode forward, her horn glowing dimly as she smoothly adopted her stance into a ready posture, the most basic stance of the still way, and yet one of the most difficult to master.

Something was definitely off.

“FREEZE!” Came two stern voices from either side of her.

Quickly scanning left and right, Lyra instantly saw the golden, glinting armor of the royal guard. She let her readiness relax back into a slightly less alert state, knowing that any threat would not likely to come from these two guard pegasi... one of whom she even recognized as being a member of Celestia’s personal escort. The larger of the two armored pegasi pressed forward with his lance held at the half-guard, ready to block or eviscerate as required.

“This hospital is under quarantine by order of the princess, Captain Lyra, therefore you are hereby ordered to vacate immediately, if you have urg-”

“Enough, Brazen Buckler, they may enter! We will have need of their assistance.”

Lyra recognized the regal echo and the imperial ‘we’ of the lunar diarch, and only then noticed her regal form emerge from the shadows of the dimmed corners of the receiving lobby. She dropped into the customary hoofed salute the reserve guard utilized for royalty, while her herdmates behind her dipped into curtsies (and one rather awkward human bow) used by civilians.

“Please, my friends, we may dispense with formalities. It is good to see you all well and… “ she glanced over at Rainbow Dash, noticing her proximity to Lero and the human’s hand still resting on her shoulders “...happy.”

“Your highness!” Twilight pushed past Lyra with a nervous stride. “Did you get our message? How long have you been here? Where is Princess Celestia? Is everypony OK?” The questions rattled out of Twilight like bits out of a winning slot machine, thought Lyra, sharing a knowing smirk with Lero. She considered a future lecture on the importance of preserving a calm mind even in the most trying situation as Princess Luna began answering Twilight, though at a somewhat more measured and thoughtful pace.

“Calm thyself, Lady Sparkle, my sister attendeth to the human, along with the medicos and their staff. We received thy missive naught but a few minutes ago. With the utmost urgent haste, my sister and I did teleport to this hospice, only to find such a disorganized squabble of physicians and apothecaries scrambling to diagnose the human that even Discord would be content.”

She paused and beamed, “but never fear... my sister has more than a pittance of experience in the art of triage and organization of a house of healing. In but a few moments the human was taken to the surgical theater and poor Sweetie Belle was brought to a bed to recover.”

Noticing the sudden confusion on the faces of everyone at the mention of the cream colored filly she went on.

“Not to worry friends, she was but a tad overwhelmed and is simply resting. Nay, ‘tis the human who was wounded and for whom I fear the worst... though the doctors here have fortunately received quite the education on the human anatomy.” She said this with a glance at Lero while shaking her head. “Tell me, Sir Lero, why do all humans cast themselves so frequently into peril, though they be such fragile creatures?”

“Hey! Lero’s not fragile, he’s tough!” said Rainbow, bristling.

Lyra couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly, Dash may have been transformed into a somewhat meeker persona by the swap, but her ability to accidentally take offense at nothing (especially when it had to do with Lero) seemed to be untouched.

“That he is, Lady Dash... and yet him and his kind may suffer all the more for their stalwartness…. but knowing my sister all that can be done, shall be done. The rest is in the hands of Harmony.” She said, bowing her head slightly at the invocation of that powerful force.

Lyra piped up, “what’s with this quarantine, Princess Luna? We know Lero’s not infectious or dangerous. Is this just a precaution or…” she let the question hang in the air hoping the princess would answer.

Luna sighed, seeing that she would not be able to dodge the inquiry. “We have developed a… protocol… to such matters, Grandmaster Heartstrings.” She hoofed the ground awkwardly before continuing.

“We have had the occasion over the ages to preside over the introduction of new races to our little ponies more than once. Though there may be no danger from the first two humans we have met, ‘tis not yet full proof that all humans are harmless. Nay, ‘tis even more pressing that the information of our new arrival be controlled than any concern about the danger the human itself poses. Our experience is that our little ponies tend to react to such things with panic. Therefore, a doubling of our Equestria’s human population must be revealed gradually, and with great tact... We were lucky that the departed Sir Wainwright spent as much time as he did in the laboratory; very few were aware of his presence outside of the Elements and select royalty.”

Luna nodded at her own statement before Rarity scoffed, “Forgive me princess, but that seems a bit patronizing. Surely we’ve had our… less than exemplary moments… but Ponyvillians and Equestrians treat all species with the utmost respect, don’t we my prince?”

Rarity looked up to Lero for support, but he could tell that she was doubting her own words, she certainly did not miss Lero glancing quickly at the scars he bore on his arms from his ordeal with the Sicklefins, which was itself a product of one particularly stubborn pony’s intolerance.

“Well, I can’t pretend that you haven’t had some bad apples,” Lero vacillated. “But overall I am not complaining… its not like its exclusively a pony thing either. I think that the fear of the unknown is a common survival instinct common to all sentient… heck just all creatures generally!”

Twilight piped in, “you do have to admit, Rarity, we all reacted rather poorly when when Zecora first arrived in Ponyville… to be fair, we do get it right eventually though.”

“And that, my friends, is why the crown will be only manage this new human’s introduction to Equestria at first. Fear not! This is not the first time that we have managed such a task, and my sister is particularly skilled in overseeing such a graduated meeting. We did not provide this service for Sir Lero, due to the circumstances of his arrival, but we have a unique opportunity with Jacob to do just that.”

“Jacob?” Asked Lero.

“Yes, our brief interview with that boisterous show-mare revealed his name.” The lunar princess explained.

“What a weird name: Jay-cub… is this guy into birds and bears or something?” Dash brashly complained, her brow furrowed as she sounded out the words like she had marbles in her mouth.

“It's actually a pretty common name Dash... human names are structured a bit differently and are often based on historical figures rather than purposes, actions, or places I’ve told y-” Lero paused, remembering that the swap had likely removed or deprioritized such memories for Dash “-your friends Twilight and Lyra about this.”

Lyra gave Lero a smirk and a wink while extending a hoof toward him. If she had digits, Lero was sure that Lyra would be giving him the thumbs up for such an adroit save.

“And me my darling.” Rarity huffed, “though why you choose to truncate so beautiful a title as Bellerophon is simply beyond me.”

“Bellerophon huh…” Dash hummed, “it’s nice…. but I think I prefer Lero. It’s tough and strong, like you.” She blushed at revealing a bit too much of her feelings, and wasn’t helped by the arched eyebrow she received from Luna.

“In any case… you must all swear to keep his presence a secret, like all the others who have seen Jacob have sworn.” Herd Bellerophon all held the Princess’s steely gaze and returned a solemn nod.

“Good! I am also happy to report to Sir Lero that Jacob has not entered this realm via… the path you took…”

Luna hesitated to mention that hell from which Lero had escaped. “Though the path he did take… well… that in itself contributes to our need to contain information regarding his arrival even more closely.”

Twilight found Luna staring at her as she spoke of concealing Jacob’s method of entry into Equestria, for what reason, she did not know. When things were a bit more settled, she would remember to ask the Princess about this in more detail.

“For now, we must wait… Jacob is still treading that most dangerous path which teeters betwixt our world and the precipice of eternal slumber. There is no telling yet if he can maintain his balance.” Luna looked sadly at the ground.

“I have always detested times such as these, waiting and hoping, powerless… yet ‘tis all we can do, save prepare ourselves for what is to come.” She looked to Lero. “Speaking of what is to come, Lero… are you prepared?”

“Prepared? Prepared for what?” Lero asked with a scrunched brow.

“Why, to greet Jacob if... when he recovers and awakes. For there is nopony… nor no man better qualified to introduce a human to Equestria.”

“Or to introduce someone to waking up in Ponyville Hospital” Lero chuckled.

“Yes, you humans seem quite adept at making use of our medical services.” Luna laughed back.

Lero took a deep breath, letting out a sigh as he thought about the difficult task ahead of him.

“I’ll need a lab coat that fits.”

Author's Note

And thus Chapter 1 was finally posted.

Hope you all enjoy! I can't stress how much fun this is to write and interact with you fantastic readers. Special thanks to Mike Teavee and Rikmach for their input and support.

As for the story, I'm thinking that we'll just need one more chapter to establish our scene, before we can truly launch into the meat of the conflict. I really wanted to have at least one saucy bit per chapter (like the tail grab from the prologue), but there wasn't really a good opportunity in this bit...

As you may be able to guess, the arrival of another human to the Divided Rainbow universe won't be shouted from the highest hilltop. This is to allow us to focus on the story without getting into what would otherwise be a huge event in Equestria, and also to potentially stay in the DR story without requiring Lex Divisia to become a completely separate universe.

Looking forward to hearing all of your comments and feedback!

Q