Ages beyond Equestria: ponies out of time and place

"Bronze, are you in here?" The commander asked, walking into the sentry's quarters. "Private Bronze Shield, present yourself at once!"

Everything was silent for a moment,  before a tired unicorn on one of the bunks pulled a sheet off of his head, and saluted.

"Yes, sir, right here, sir!" Bronze jumped up out of bed, trotting after his commanding officer nervously. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sleep in past morning roll call again!"

"Well, because you did, you missed breakfast!"   The commander snapped. "Now, hurry up, and get out there with the other grunts for morning exercises, on the double!"

Bronze Shield did not need to be told twice, as he galloped down the hallway at top speed.  It didn't seen fair that the brown stallion with the black mane seemed to be the target of so much bad luck, but seemed to be the poor unicorn's lot in life. Ever since he had been a foal, Bronze had wanted to serve in the Fort Rainbow Dash Hoplite mage corps ever since he was a colt- he was born with a bronze shield and sword cutie mark, after all. But it was hard for a pony from one of the Six remaining Alicorn families in Ponyland to get ahead in the horsemasterist establishment, and Bronze always found himself always having to work twice as hard to prove himself as the other cadets.

"Oh, shoot, late! I am so late!"  He called out galloping towards the training fields at top speed, jumping past stairways and doors to reach his goal faster. "The captain is going to have my head for not being in line on time!"

As he was barreling down past the Fort Dash library, a soft, feminine voice called out to him.

"Bronze, is that you?" The petite white Pegasus called out, flapping out to greet him, with a book in hoof. "I have the book on Ponyville you wanted, it just came in!"

"Oh, hey Paradise..." Bronze gulped nervously, taking a step backward. The sight of this female- or any female, for that matter- only served to make Private Shield nervous. For though the unicorn private could face any foe on the battlefield without fear, dealing with a mare made this proud warrior tremble in fear. "Couldn't it wait until later? I-I kinda gotta get to my training..."

"Oh, nonsense! I'll make sure things are clear with your commanding officer, I'm sure he'll understand!" Paradise opened the book, shoving the book into his face. "I'm sure you're really gonna love this, it's a story about the Ponyville amusement park I've never read before!" Paradise told him excitedly. "See, it talks about a Mare named Vanilla Mocha, who arrived in Ponyville with all of her friends arrived in town in a crazy magic car."

"Well, I'm not sure I want to-" Bronze's ears perked up. "Wait, Vanilla Mocha? Her friends? Ponyville?"

"Yeah, it's a really great comedy story, about a bunch of Equestrian ponies and a minotaur who accidentally  end up in Ponyville, and try to fit in." Paradise explained. "It's got a goth, a perky airhead, an emotional mare, and Vanilla who each try to find their place in Ponyville society. But the loyal minotaur friend tries to help out, and makes everything worse, and puts the entire village in danger!" She looked at the cover again, before handing it over. "It's a really great work of fiction, and I'm sure you'll enjoy it!"

"Thanks, Paradise, but..." Bronze looked the booked over. "I'm not so sure this is entirely a work of fiction. Paradise I actually know of  a mare named Vanilla Mocha in Bright Valley. She just so happens to run a coffee shop there."

"Really? That's odd. Vanilla Just so happens to  be coffee mare in the book, as well." Paradise replied thoughtfully. "Hmmm, now that I think about it, I also know a mare who is supposed to just be a character in the books; a pony named Lore-Lei, who lives over in Hoofkaido, and counsels ponies on what the cutie mark they were born with means. Strange, isn't it?"

"Strange?! My good Paradise, we just discovered that two characters out of a picture book just so happen to be real-I'd say this is a tad more bizarre than 'strange'." Bronze replied incredulously. "I really think we should investigate this, and see if there is any connection between the ponies in the story, and the ones in regular life."

"Bronze, a lot of Ponies from the past and present have the same names, some even have the same coat color and cutie mark." Paradise replied. "Besides, the author might've known the two mares, and decided to stick them into the story. It's no big mystery that needs going over; some things have a very simple explanation."

"Maybe so, but I'm still going to have a look into this whole thing." Bronze noted, levitating the book up, and opening the first few pages to read. "Anyway, thanks for the book, Paradise, I promise I'll have it back to the library within a week."

"Don't worry about it Bronze, I'm happy to get ponies the books they love, and I know you love historical fiction from the Equestrian era!" Paradise declared, trotting out the door. "Anyway, I'm off to Princess Petal beauty spa. Be sure to shut off the light and lock the door when you're done reading!"

"Will do!" He called back, sitting down at one of the tables to read, and forgetting his morning exercises with his hoplite unit. Opening to a random page, he started to read the text.

"Most of the ponies who had come along on this journey were having a fine time adjusting, but the one mare who was having a terrible time of it was Nevermore." bronze read aloud, without thinking. "For the happy and Cheery town of Ponyville was more than the sarcastic little mare with the red eyes could bear..."