Chapters There he stood. Among the tens of Solar Royal Guards recruits. It was the middle of the night yet he felt as if he had just been dumped with ice cold water with the amount of adrenaline currently coursing through his veins. He could feel every atom of the grass beneath his hooves. The wind rustled his dark blue fur slightly. His black mane was spiky and covered his right eye. His breathing was silent and calm yet rapid. His golden armor reflected the light from the full moon. His horn illuminated slightly to help him see.
This was him. Now. About to finally join the Royal Guard.
An instructor stood on a stage in front of the horde of trainees. His coat was pure white, while his mane and tail was silver with a brown tint and the end. He wore the same armor as he did, but unlike the rest, the instructor wore a badge depicting two spears crossed in X formation. His face held a huge grin. The unicorn standing in front of them was Rusted Spear.
"I know you've all been waiting for this moment. Graduation is always stressful, I can tell you right now." Rusted stated loudly, so that the whole group could hear him. "But none of you have anything to worry about. We're always more gentle on the newbies. Sometimes." Rusted chuckled for a moment before resuming his speech.
"I would first like to congratulate you all on passing your training. Not many ponies have made it this far, most of them quit because apparently 'training isn't supposed be torture'." His statement was met with stomping hooves, loud laughter and groans. Once the noise died down, Rusted began again, but with a much more serious voice and expression.
"Although all of you are guaranteed a spot on the Solar Royal Guard, Princess Celestia has a request for you lot, and asked me to give it to you." A small popping noise was heard as Rusted summoned a scroll as well as some reading glasses. The instructor ignored the laughs coming from the trainees and put them on. Rusted then opened the scroll and read:
Dear recruits,
Firstly, congratulations on your graduation. I am very proud that you have all been able to make it this far and I hope that you all continue to grow strong in order to protect your fellow ponies.
However, a few moons ago, a problem has arose. A problem that endangers the entirety of Equestria. And I have a request for one of you to help.
As you all know, recently, the Elements of Harmony are artifacts that have protected Equestria for many millennia. Although they were previously under my control, the Elements have recently gotten new bearers: Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle. These ponies are the only ones who can control the Elements.
Unfortunately, the bearers have suddenly disappeared from their homes in Ponyville. Although one may say they went traveling, not a single pony have seen them leave the town. Not only that, but the unicorns report that their horns felt strange the day following the bearers' disappearance. I later went to Ponyville to investigate for myself. I checked the magical properties in the air, and what I sensed... well, I'll tell you if any of you accept the request.
Speaking of the request, I can only tell you the details if you are to accept it. However, I can tell you what can happen during this mission.
If you are to accept this request, I doubt you will be able to become a Royal Guard ever again. In fact, death is entirely possible. Not only that, the request can only be taken up by one pony. Accepting this mission requires you to be willing to put your life at stake as well as being able to work alone.
If you do accept the request, Rusted Spear will guide you to me where I will give you more details.
Once again, congratulations to every recruit that will be joining the Solar Guard.
Princess Celestia
Rusted Spear teleported his reading glasses and the scroll away. The unicorn instructor noticed that most of the trainees were either thinking profusely or were completely cross-eyed.
"It is important to note that the request is completely optional, so don't feel forced to join if you don't want to." Rusted stated. Oddly enough, he smiled a bit after the previous statement. "Now, anypony that accepts this request, please step forward. If there is more than one, we'll put you up against each other to see who's more qualified."
Rusted's words completely silenced the group of trainees and froze them to their current spot. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Rusted Spear couldn't help but chuckle at how some of the ponies looked. Some of them were in intense thought, some were freaking out and some held a neutral face. Besides that, though, there was no ponies that stood up. Rusted sighed. It seemed like nopony was going to accept.
"Ah well, guess I was too upfront about the consequences.'' The instructor thought. He was about to open his mouth to speak until he looked to his right.
A young unicorn with a dark blue coat had stood forward. He wore the golden armor that all Solar Guard ponies were expected. Although, he did fine that his dark coat would fit more with the Lunar Guard. Rusted chuckled internally at that. When looking at his face, the unicorn instructor saw that he too was struggling internally at the decision. Rusted gave the unicorn a few seconds to finalize his decision. When the unicorn's face calmed and he stayed at the front, Rusted Spear smiled.
"So you accept, newbie?" Rusted looked at the blue unicorn as he spoke. The said unicorn let out a startled scream at the sudden voice directed at him. Blushing in embarrassment, he turned to Rusted and slowly nodded.
"Good." Rusted said simply. He then turned to the rest of the trainees. "Is there anypony else?"
No other recruit came forward, but their faces were all of relief. While slightly disappointed, Rusted also couldn't really argue with their logic.
"Now that I think about it, if this happened to me when I was a trainee, I'm pretty sure I would be a crying mess, haha!!" Rusted reflected, his smile widening a bit.
"Newbie! Come on stage!!" The blue unicorn knew the instructor was talking to him and sighed. He trotted the short distance to the wooden stage, ignoring the hundreds of eyes watching him. While walking up the stairs to Rusted, the said instructor walked down to meet him.
"First of all, thanks. You're pretty brave for accepting." Rusted whispered. The blue unicorn smiled a bit that.
"Anyways, I gotta go show the recruits to their barracks. Stay on stage till I come back, kay?" Rusted's voice was much more casual. The blue unicorn nodded, before slowly walking up the stage.
"Alright, trainees!! Follow me to the barracks!! Hurry your flanks up!!" Most of the recruits were unprepared for this demand, as they scrambled to their hooves and rushed to the unicorn instructor.
As the blue unicorn saw the recruits being led away, he sat down, thinking about what he has just done, and what he has left behind.
Author's Note
My eyes actually hurt from reading this. It's been like a year since I've written at all and I wrote for *spits* fanfiction.net. Ah well, hope you enjoy. Comments of any kind are appreciated.
kthxbai
After bringing the group of trainees to the barracks and turning them in for the night, Rusted came back to the stage to bring the blue unicorn to the Princess. After walking up the wooden stairs, the instructor saw the unicorn sitting down, ears drooped.
"Hey newbie, you alright?" Rusted asked. He really hoped that this recruit was changing his mind. The blue unicorn closed his eyes and sighed.
"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm fine..." The unicorn said shakily. Rusted shook his head.
"As I said earlier, this request is entirely optional. Not necessary. If you're scared, then I'll bring you to the barracks." Rusted informed. The blue unicorn then stood back up and opened his eyes.
"No, don't worry, I was just thinking about what just happened." The unicorn assured. He looked to the side. "I wanted to join the Royal Guard to protect and serve." He turned his head to look at Rusted. "If I accept this request, I can still do that, just indirectly, right?" The blue unicorn turned to the instructor and smiled.
"Yeah, you still can." Rusted said. "Oh, nearly forgot. You never told me your name. I can't just call you newbie for the rest of your life. So, what is it?"
The blue unicorn looked a bit uncomfortable when he asked that question. He took a deep breath to calm himself.
"My name is... Arcane. Arcane Art." He finally spoke. Rusted held a comforting grin.
"Alright, Arcane, follow me. Time for you to meet the Princess." Rusted stated before trotting behind the wooden stage, to the entrance of Canterlot Castle. He stopped when he noticed Arcane wasn't moving from his spot.
"What's wrong? Don't tell me you're getting cold hooves now." Rusted Spear said to the recruit. Arcane's cheeks heated up slightly, but it was incredibly noticeable as it contrasted with his dark blue coat and golden armor.
"I'm not, sir. It's just... I'm a bit scared to meet her..." Arcane admitted. However, the unicorn instructor picked up on another detail.
"So, Arcane, you decide to call me 'sir' now? It's a little too late for that." Rusted joked in a somewhat angry voice. He was expecting a laugh, or even silence. He didn't expect the reaction that came from the blue unicorn.
"Oh Celestia, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to, sir! It's just... I just didn't mean it, sir! It was an accident, sir, I won't do It again!! I-" Arcane was freaking out, until Rusted shoved his hoof in his mouth to silence him.
"It's okay, kid. It was just a joke. I'm not mad at you for not calling me by my title. I actually prefer when you're more casual." Rusted removed his hoof from Arcane's mouth.
"I'm sorry. I sorta freak out when I speak with ponies of higher authority." Arcane apologized. Rusted waved his hoof in dismissal.
"Nah, don't worry about it. But there isn't anything to be scared of, we're all ponies like you." Rusted dismissed. "Now, let's not keep the Princess waiting. Follow me."
Rusted continued walking to the castle. With his newfound confidence, Arcane followed.
"We're here." Rusted told the unicorn recruit, standing in front of two giant double doors. The walk to the Princess had been rather uneventful, and other than looking in awe at the stained glass windows, Arcane hadn't done much or even talked much. The unicorn instructor wasn't sure if this was because of shyness or just a lack of a conversation topic. Either way, after twenty minutes, they had arrived.
"Are you ready to meet her, kid?" Rusted asked. The blue unicorn sighed.
"I mean, I guess. Still scared, though." Arcane said, his voice unsure on what tone to take.
"Ah, don't worry. It'll be fine." The unicorn instructor assured, before pushing the double doors with his hooves. Despite the force he applied, the doors took at least five seconds to fully open, creaking loudly. Once open, Arcane couldn't help but gasp at what he saw.
On a throne sat the Princess of the Sun, Celestia. Her fur was white and pure, like snow that had fallen mere seconds ago. Her mane and tail flowed in a non-existent wind, as if nature defied itself just for her. She stood taller than any of the other ponies in the room. And she had this aura to her. Powerful yet loving. Fierce yet motherly.
However, when Arcane looked to the side and saw Rusted bowing, he realized that he had been awkwardly staring at the Solar Princess for a while now, with the latter giving an amused smile. With his cheeks heating up in embarrassment, he quickly bowed to her. He lowered his head so fast that he hit his head on the hard marble floor. He yelped and recoiled upwards from the impact, rubbing his hoof on his forehead in an attempt to soothe the pain. When he felt blood, he winced. Arcane lit up his horn.
'I'm not good with healing magic... whatever, I'll try anyways.' Arcane thought in annoyance. A blue aura covered his forehead. It stayed for a moment before completely dissipating.
"Damn it!" Arcane muttered under his breath in frustration. Suddenly, a golden glow enveloped his forehead. It remained there for twenty seconds before disappearing. Arcane, with a surprised expression, put his hoof on his head, but felt no blood. He also felt the pain of the impact gone.
"Was that what you needed, little pony?" A calm and regal voice said. Arcane ignored the voice for a moment while he was investigating his forehead. All of a sudden, the blue unicorn froze like a statue. He slowly turned his head to look at the Princess, who was still grinning in amusement.
"Well, is it?" Princess Celestia asked once again.
Arcane silently hyperventilated as she spoke. He bowed down to her much slower than before, not only out respect but to hide his blush.
"Yes, princess. I'm sorry for forcing you to use your magic on my injury. I was simply... in awe of your presence and your magic that I... sort of zoned out. Please forgive me, princess." Arcane said.
"Rise, little ponies." Arcane and Rusted rose from their position, but the blue unicorn kept his small blush and looked away from Celestia. "Please, my subject. You don't need to be afraid nor embarrassed." Despite what the Princess said, Arcane still looked away. Princess Celestia sighed.
"Ah, don't worry, Princess. This is better then how he acted half an hour ago. He freaked out just because he didn't call me 'sir' a couple of times!" Rusted laughed. When Arcane's blush deepened, Celestia giggled. Eventually, the laughter stopped and the blue unicorn's blush was gone.
"Yes, it does seem our little recruit..." Celestia began to say, until the unicorn instructor interrupted her.
"His name is Arcane Art, Princess." Rusted informed.
"Ah, our little recruit Arcane Art is a bit on the shy side, but he was the only one to accept the request." Celestia continued, smiling down at the recruit. "In fact, do you mind telling me why exactly you accepting this request? With all of the consequences, surely staying a Royal Guard would be a much better option?"
Arcane stared at the marble floor with an uncomfortable expression after Celestia spoke, which made the Princess frown a bit. However, after twenty seconds, Arcane looked straight up at the Solar Princess with confidence.
"I wasn't going to at first, Princess. I just wanted to become a Royal Guard to protect other ponies. But then, when I saw that no other ponies were accepting the request, my instincts just told me I had to accept. Even though I was debating with myself over what to do, I stepped forward anyways. And after I stepped forward, I realized that by accepting this mission, by retrieving the Elements of Harmony, I was protecting other ponies. Just in a different way." Arcane replied proudly to the Princess of the Sun. Suddenly, the blue unicorn could hear the sound of clapping hooves. When he looked around, he saw both Rusted Spear and Princess Celestia applauding him.
"Wow, never thought you had in you to speak up like that." Rusted congratulated the recruit, who rubbed a hoof behind his head.
"Well, I told you, I'm only shy with ponies of higher authority." Arcane told the unicorn instructor.
"Yet, you do seem fine speaking with the Princess of Equestria." Celestia countered the blue unicorn. When he quickly turned to bow, she reminded:
"Please, Arcane. There is no need to be scared of me. I am just a pony, like you." At this, Arcane stopped himself from bowing and calmed himself with a deep breath.
"Good. Now, Arcane Art, you have displayed many different qualities in your previous speech, your willingness, your selflessness and most importantly, your courage. You truly are qualified for this mission." Celestia stated. Arcane blushed at the praise.
"Why thank you, princess." Arcane thanked. "But, may I please... ask a... question?"
Celestia smiled. "Sure, go on ahead."
"Why exactly did you want a trainee to do this request? I mean, I'm flattered and all, but wouldn't somepony like Rusted Spear or Captain Shining Armor be a better idea?" The blue unicorn asked. At this, the Solar Princess narrowed her eyes.
"… I suppose I should stop beating around the bush." Celestia muttered.
"Huh, what do you mean by that, Princess?" Arcane asked.
"Your question will be answered soon, Arcane, but right now, I must give you the details of the mission." Celestia said in a much sterner tone of voice. Although the blue unicorn was slightly disturbed by the Princess' change of tone, he nodded his head.
The Solar Princess turned her head to the right to see the stained glass window displaying the defeat of Nightmare Moon.
"Rusted, did you tell our recruit exactly what I wrote on the letter?" Celestia asked the nearby unicorn recruit.
"Yes, Princess, down to the last word." He responded calmly.
"At least I don't have to repeat everything..." Celestia closed her eyes before opening them back seconds later. "As you know, the bearers of the Elements of Harmony have gone missing."
"Yes, Princess. Apparently, they didn't simply leave, as nopony reported seeing them leave." Arcane told the Princess what he remembered from the letter. "… You also said something about a strange magical signature in Ponyville, but you didn't actually say what it was."
"… When I went to Ponyville, I checked the magical properties in the air. And what I found was that..." Celestia trailed off.
"… What exactly did you find out, Princess?" Arcane asked. The Solar Princess then turned to the blue unicorn and directly looked at him.
"The Element Bearers have been banished to another dimension." Celestia said, slightly louder than usual. At this, the blue unicorn couldn't keep in his shock and surprise.
"WHAT!?!" Arcane shouted, before realizing who he was talking to and blushed slightly. "Sorry."
"It is quite alright." Celestia assured. "Anyways, they have been indeed banished to another dimension. A dimension called Earth. Not only that, but the main species of that dimension aren't ponies, rather the main species are a group of omnivorous creatures called 'humans'." Celestia informed.
Arcane was listening quite intently until he heard the word 'omnivorous'.
'Wait, what does that word mean again? Let's see, herbivores only eat plants, carnivores eat... meat, and omnivores eat... I'm not going to think about that anymore.' Arcane thought.
"Yes, but isn't Twilight Sparkle supposed to be an amazing spellcaster? Shouldn't she be able to just teleport herself and her friends back to Equestria?" Arcane inquired. Celestia sighed.
'If only it was that simple...' Celestia thought.
"Not exactly, Arcane Art. You see, the pony who banished the Elements has also placed them under a spell. A forbidden spell, actually." Celestia explained. "When that pony used that particular spell, the Element Bearers' memories were at that pony's will. My guess is that the Elements now think Earth is their home dimension not Equestria. I'm pretty sure we would have all been oblivious that that pony used a forbidden spell had they masked the magical properties that lie in the air after casting that sort of spell."
"I see... but... where do I fit in with this? I'm no good with dimension magic so I can't summon a portal where they are." Arcane asked.
"No, Arcane. That won't be your job. I can already summon a portal to Earth." Celestia explained. "No, your job will be to break them out of the memory spell and to bring them back to Equestria."
This is where Arcane's jaw internally dropped. He knew that this mission would be important, but for some reason, actually hearing the objective made it a lot more panic-inducing. On one hoof, this was too much for him. On the other hoof, he could still protect. So it was okay.
"Yes, Princess. But again, why me and not any of the captains?" Arcane asked.
Celestia looked to her left and saw the stained glass window displaying the defeat of Discord.
"You see, I fear that now that the Elements of Harmony have gone missing, a villain can use this opportunity to attack Equestria. So, I need all of my best captains on the front lines in case it is necessary. Not only that, but myself and Princess Luna have duties of our own, such as raising the sun and moon and preserving the peace. Which is why..."
"… Which is why you choose a trainee, who doesn't have a high position." The unicorn finished.
"Yes. Do you have any other questions?" Celestia inquired.
"Just one, Princess. What exactly do I do when I've gathered all of the Elements? I don't I'm able to teleport across dimensions?" Arcane asked. Princess Celestia smiled before her horn lit up. A small green gem came into existence. She levitated it over to Arcane's right ear and stuck it on. When the unicorn recruit looked at her in confusion, she simply turned around so that Arcane could see her left ear, where a small red gem lied.
"The gem I just gave you allows for communication between us, even across dimensions." Celestia cleared up. "Which means I can give you instructions as you go on your journey. It should be a lot easier than remembering all of the steps. Arcane inspected the gem with his hoof. It definitely wasn't cheap. The blue unicorn grinned.
"Yeah, it should help a lot." The unicorn recruit agreed. "That's all of my questions for now, Princess. I... I think I'm ready for this mission."
Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? Don't you have any belongings to collect at your home?"
Arcane shook his head. "I don't have much at home. Besides, I think I'd rather go sooner than later."
Celestia closed her eyes in thought then opened them. "If that is what you want, I shall comply." Her horn lit up before completely enveloping herself, Arcane and Rusted Spear in a flash of light. When they opened their eyes, they were in what seemed like a storage room.
"Here." Rusted Spear said to the blue unicorn, handing him two beige saddlebags. "I put a week's worth of food in there and a few rubies and sapphires. That should last you a good while." Arcane Art accepted it and put it over his back.
"Thanks, Rusted." The unicorn recruit thanked him. He turned towards Celestia who had her horn lit up. "I'm ready."
The white alicorn nodded her head before her horn lit immensely. The glow was so bright it looked more like a fire. Suddenly, Arcane felt his mane and fur being blasted by a violent wind. He would have ignored it, until he no longer felt his hooves touching the ground. The blue unicorn was floating away. Arcane looked upwards and saw a white portal, literal infinity inside of it.
"Good luck." He didn't know who said those words, but he knew those were the last words he hear until he passed out.
Author's Note
The problem with writing long chapters in one go is that quality degrades over time. Oh well. It works. Thanks for reading. Comments are always welcome.
kthxbai
"Ugh, what just hit me back there?" Arcane muttered to himself. He felt as if he had just woken up from sleep, despite not having any previous memories doing while conscious. In fact, the last thing he remembered was...
'The portal...' Arcane thought. Everything suddenly crashing down on him. The mission. The new dimension. The Elements. The recruit then sighed absentmindedly. He raised his hoof to rub his forehead in order to concentrate. However, Arcane instead felt multiple squishy digits contacting his, from what he could tell, fur-less face. At this, the recruit raised an eyebrow in surprise. He slowly removed his hoof, only for the odd digits retract as well. When Arcane made the connection, he quickly placed his hoof in his vision, only to not see a hoof at all. Instead, he saw a beige, fleshy appendage. There were five digits that varied in size, attached to a circular base. The closest thing Arcane could compare this to were claws, but the appendage in front of him clearly wasn't that. It was fleshy, like when a pony would scrape their hooves on a rock and some fur was removed, and the digits didn't have long or sharp nails.
'What the... What happened to me?' Arcane thought. Soon after, the recruit tried to move the small digits on the appendage. Oddly enough, the action seemed to come natural to him as the digits moved and flexed with ease. When he turned the claw-looking appendage around, the recruit saw his cutie mark, an arcane circle, as well as a patch of blue skin the color of his coat. He then checked his other forehoof, which was miraculously the same.
'Good, don't have to worry about having four different appendages.' Arcane thought in relief. 'Speaking of...'
The recruit looked to where his back hooves would be, but instead saw another two appendages akin to his forehooves, except the circular base was longer and the digits were smaller. Once again, he could flex them without problem.
"Okay, at least I'm somewhat normal. I still have one head, two forehooves and two back hooves. Could've been worse." Arcane told himself. Though, thinking of the transformation simply brought him to another thought; why did transform in the first place? However, the recruit pushed that out his mind.
'I don't have time to think about that. I need to get up and start moving.' Arcane thought. He awkwardly placed his two front appendages in front of him and his two back appendages behind him in order keep his body off the ground, like he would as a pony. It felt extremely uncomfortable.
'This doesn't feel right.' Arcane thought. 'My back shouldn't back hurting this much and my front hooves aren't stable. Maybe this isn't how I move in this body. How about... like this?' The former unicorn stood up on both back appendages, like how he remembered creatures like dragons would. Oddly enough, this position felt a lot more comfortable to the recruit.
Now that he wasn't concentrated on his body, Arcane looked at his surroundings. It was a field, filled with grass. There wasn't nearly as much flowers as what he was used seeing, but he wasn't one for observation. To the north, he saw a small city, similar to Manehatten, on the horizon. Looking down, he saw his two saddlebags, a bit dirty but otherwise fine. He bent down to picked them up, wrapping his fingers around the band that connected the two bags. When Arcane tried to bring them up to his face, they slipped from his grip. The recruit sighed.
"Guess, I'm not used to this body." Arcane said to himself. "Hmm... maybe I can use levitation?"
He concentrated to his inner reserve of magic. Keeping his watch on the saddlebags, he saw them slowly ascend, with the familiar blue aura surrounding it.
"That's good, I can still use magic. At least I'm able to protect myself." The former unicorn muttered. He brought the two bags to his shoulder level. The recruit began to walk to towards the city, which he found much easier than he would have thought, while levitating the saddlebags next to him.
'Time to get a move on.'
Arcane had been walking towards the city for around ten minutes. Nothing of interest happened during the walk, though the recruit did notice that the flora diminished a bit the closer he got the town. When he finally made it to the front entrance, however, the former unicorn heard a faint sound, accompanied by some small static.
"hello, hello, Hello!! Can you hear me!?!" Arcane immediately recognized the gruff yet soft voice of his instructor.
"Yeah, I can hear you." Arcane responded, but with confusion inching into his voice. "But how exactly are you talking to me? Aren't I in the other dimension?"
"Remember that gem the Princess gave you?" Rusted asked. Arcane slowly reached to his ear and, sure enough, he felt the small emerald. The former unicorn nodded, before realizing the instructor couldn't see him. He lightly blushed but quickly replied with a 'yes'.
"Well, she ended up giving a gem to me and some other ponies to contact you during your mission 'cause the Princess doesn't always have time to talk to you. Right now, she has Day Court, so I'll be talking to you for the time being." Rusted explained. The recruit smiled.
"Sure. Thanks, by the way."
"No need to thank me, kid. Anyways, give me the run down of what's happened so far." Rusted told to the recruit. For the following 10 minutes, Arcane proceeded to tell him what had happened since he woke up. Mainly the species change and the city in the distance.
"Oh, so not much has occurred? Good, couldn't have you in a deathmatch the second you got there." Rusted chuckled, before resuming. "Anyways, I have to go soon, gotta go wake up the new recruits." Arcane frowned a bit.
"Oh, okay. Do you have any suggestions on what to do?" The recruit asked.
"Suggestions? Well, I say you should try meeting the locals. If they're nice, ask them for some clarification on where you are. If not..." Rusted trailed off.
Arcane smirked. "Run?" The instructor chuckled though the gem.
"Yep. Stay strong for now, 'kay? I'll get back to you as soon as I can." Rusted said.
"Alright, talk to you later, I guess." Arcane farewelled.
"Bye." Arcane knew he had left, as he could no longer hear both him or the small amount of static in the background. He instinctively placed his hand on the gem on his ear before letting his hand drop his side. Arcane then walked into the city.
'Oh, Celestia, can they PLEASE stop looking at me?.' Arcane thought in annoyance. So far, he hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary in the town. There were multiple buildings and skyscrapers, like what one would see in Manehatten. Of course, all of the brands were unrecognizable to him, but that wasn't his primary concern. His main concern, and current source of exasperation, was the hundreds of eyes watching him. Some were looking at him in wonder and amazement, while some stared in fear and disgust. The former unicorn sighed but took this time to observe the form of these humans.
All of the people there had the same appendages as he did, except they all varied as size, which was to be expected. The main body, which was the part that he didn't look at, was relatively the same as his pony body. Oddly enough though, every single one of the humans watching wore clothes. It wasn't a matter of nobility, as the humans watching didn't look like they were that rich. Arcane guessed that it was just a part of their culture.
"Hey there freak, you'd better get out of my town." A irritating, male voice broke him out of his musings. Looking towards the origin of the sound, Arcane saw another human, smaller than he was. The boy wore blue T-shirt and shorts.
"Really? Why exactly am I a freak?" Arcane asked in genuine curiosity. He was sure that his appearance was the same or, at least similar to the rest of humans in this town.
"Lying won't get you anywhere, freak. I'm pretty sure normal people don't have floating bags next to them or glowing hands." The boy rolled his eyes before staring at Arcane with a smirk. "So will leave peaceful or will I have to kick your butt first?"
The former unicorn didn't have to look to his side as he was already aware of the saddlebags to his side. However, Arcane did check his hand to see if his hand was glowing. Sure enough, the area where his cutie mark was surrounded by his light blue aura.
'Is my cutie mark acting like my horn?' Arcane mused. 'Guess that would make sense, since I don't think I have a horn on this body.' Arcane looked up from his hand to eye the boy in the black clothing.
"Are my bags the problem? You can just ignore those, I can't use..." Arcane patted his left hand with his right. "...these at the moment." The boy just growled.
"No, freak. My problem..." The boy reared back his fist. "...is with you being here!!!" The boy's fist made contact with the former unicorn's face. Although the punch only caused Arcane to flinch, it did cause his magic to falter, thus making his saddlebags fall to the ground. The former unicorn swiftly picked up the bags with his magic right after.
"Oh? So your bags stop floating when I punch you? I guess that makes things a lot easier for me!!" The boy roared and reared back his fist once again, before letting it fly forward, expecting another clean hit.
However, a blue aura, one that he recognized from Arcane's bags and hand, suddenly surrounded his fist. Attempting to move it, the boy found that he was stuck in this position.
"What the heck, freak!?! Let me go!!" The boy shouted, desperately trying to remove his hand from it's blue prison. Looking up, the boy saw Arcane rubbing his hand on the spot he punched.
"Look, kid ." The former unicorn's voice made the boy shiver internally. "I understand that you might be scared, but you're starting to annoy me. Now, I am going release your hand, and you will not try to punch me. Understood?" The boy nodded gingerly. "Good."
The aura surrounding the boy's hand slowly dissipated, and he was soon free. He flexed the fingers of his hand.
'Well then, if I can't punch you...' The boy silently pulled back his leg. '… I'll just kick y-' Suddenly, a hand firmly gripped onto the boy's back, causing him to lose concentration and yelp in surprise. When the boy turned around, he gulped. Behind him was a young woman. She wore a black leather jacket with a black shirt underneath, along with an obsidian-colored skirt. She carried a white purse with gold highlights and her hair was a light caramel. However, her face was stern.
"oh god, H-Hi Miss Lauren!!" The boy stuttered in a panic.
"Toby, I believe that to be enough. You've caused enough trouble. Now, I'd recommend you get going home, or your parents will be getting a load of this 'incident'." Lauren warned. Toby whimpered and began trudged his way to his home, his head down in shame. When Toby was completely out of seeing and hearing range, Lauren sighed.
"Sorry about that. The kid can be nice and all, but he can be a pain sometimes." Lauren said to the former unicorn.
"Don't think much of it. He might of just been surprised by the... you know." Arcane explained, levitating the saddlebags in front of himself in order to specify what he meant.
"Yeah, probably. Speaking of..." Arcane interrupted Lauren's line of speech with a smile.
"It's a long story, I'll tell you about later."
"Sure!"
"Cool, anyways, are you that kid's babysitter or something? He was scared of you for sure but you aren't his mother, so...?"
"Yep, I've been babysitter for about 2 months already." She said, before another thought smacked into her. "Oh, I just noticed, I didn't get your name yet! You mind telling me what it is?" Lauren asked curiously.
At this. Arcane began to contemplate. From the name two names from this world that he has world, being 'Toby ' and 'Lauren', a name like Arcane Art would definitely be considered unusual. But then again, he wasn't exactly capable of coming up with name that fits this world on the fly.
'Besides, I've got nothing to lose.' Arcane thought.
"My name is Arcane Art." The former unicorn introduced himself.
"Arcane Art? Really? That's your name? Man, how old are you? Four or five?" Lauren stated, giggling between her words.
'...Nothing except my dignity.' Arcane Art sulked internally. Externally, he was currently pouting with a light blush across his face.
"Well, it's what I choose to identify as." Arcane muttered. At this, Lauren shrugged.
"Ah well, my name's Lauren, by the way." Lauren said.
"Oh, okay, Lauren. Well, it was nice meeting you, but it's time that I leave. I've got some pretty to do." Arcane said, turning his body so that he could face the opposite direction of the human woman.
"Like?" Lauren asked.
"Things. I can't really specify," Arcane told Lauren, trying to not have to explain every last detail.
This, however, caused Lauren to frown. "But didn't you tell me you were going to tell me about you levitated your bags. Doesn't this have to do with that?" Lauren inquired innocently.
Arcane didn't even bother to turn around. "How did you know that?"
Lauren grinned. "You just told me."
When Lauren heard Arcane groan, she laughed out loud. A minute later, when her laughter died down, the former unicorn simply stated:
"I'll tell you later, okay? I need to explore this place. See ya." Out of nowhere, Arcane let out a huge yawn. "Maybe after I sleep."
"Hey... where are you staying exactly?" Lauren asked. Arcane completely froze. "I mean, you obviously aren't from here, if you were, then you'd know where you are and you wouldn't have to explore."
The former unicorn let out a huge sigh before collapsing to his bottom.
"I guess I'll be sleeping on the floor tonight." Arcane moped. However, his hand was suddenly gripped by another, pulling him up from the ground.
"Nonsense!! I'll book you in the guest room for one night, 'kay!?" Lauren announced happily. The former unicorn looked at the woman in surprise.
"Really? I just met you today though." Arcane stated in confusion. He was grateful for offer, but they were practically strangers. Well, stranger friends. They just met but they got along rather well.
"What are friends for!!" Lauren said simply, literally dragging Arcane towards the eastern part of the city. "C'mon, hurry up!! We don't want you falling asleep on the streets, do we?"
Arcane chuckled. "Guess not. Oh, and Lauren?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
"It's no problem. Really, it isn't."
"Oh, and one more thing."
"What's that?"
"Is your jacket made of leather?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Artificial?"
"No, it's real... Arcane? Oh God, Arcane, stop vomiting, it's freaking disgusting!! Damnit, don't get it over my bag!!"
Author's Note
Sorry about the delay. Exams and all. Anyways, got this chapter as soon as possible right after the fact! Hope you all enjoy!!
By the way, as a side note:
Lauren's name was taken, from well, Lauren Faust
Toby was a bit different, but before he got named, he was only called T he Bo ~~y~~
That's it for now!!
kthxbai
"Oh Celestia, why would you ever wear real leather!?!" Arcane exclaimed in disgust, wiping his mouth. When he figured out the material of Lauren's jacket, the former unicorn had promptly threw up. Excessively. For five minutes.
"Well, it's not exactly that rare!" Lauren rebutted, taking a paper tower from her bag in order to clean it. Suddenly, Arcane yawned once again, though a bit less subdued then before.
"Ugh, when do we get to your house? I'm getting tired." The former unicorn asked, eyes closing and and snapping open repeatedly. He didn't want to feel like a burden to Lauren by rushing her, but she did offer to him to stay at her house, and Arcane was honestly too exhausted to care.
Lauren simply rolled her eyes. "We're already here. Let's go." Lauren walked up to her rather standard. When she didn't hear footsteps following her, Lauren looked behind her, only to see Arcane sleeping on the ground, snoring silently. Chuckling to herself, she picked up Arcane, who was rather light she found, and brought him inside her house. Once indoors, Lauren walked straight to the guest room and set Arcane on the bed. Seeing Arcane's peaceful face as he slept made Lauren smile. Soon after, she went to her room.
"Ugh... Wait, how did I get here?" Arcane slurred, groaning as he woke up. The former unicorn recognized the feeling under him as a bed, a comfortable one at that. "Is this Lauren's house?"
Arcane glanced around the small room. There wasn't much of substance, only a desk and chair. The former unicorn then stood up from the bed, placing his feet on the floor and stretching his stiff arms. However, a realization suddenly hit him.
'Wait, did Lauren take my saddlebags from outside!?! She might've forgotten that I even have them! Damnit, I shouldn't have just fallen asleep, I hope I don't end up losing them...' Arcane hoped. He immediately ran out of the room, before realizing that he didn't know the layout of the house.
"Lauren? Where are you?" Arcane said, his voice ringing out in the silent house.
"I'm in the kitchen." She replied back. The former unicorn didn't actually know where the kitchen was, so he followed her voice. Once in the kitchen, Arcane saw Lauren sitting on a chair at a table, where two plates of salad lied. He noticed an empty chair pulled up.
"Sit down and eat." Lauren said, almost demanded. "From your reaction to leather, I'm pretty sure you are a vegetarian, so I got some salad. So eat before it loses its freshness." Arcane complied, and sat down. He levitated the fork, stuck it in a piece of lettuce, before bringing it to his face and eating it. It wasn't as good as in Equestria, but it tasted fine.
"By the way, Lauren, I can't thank you enough for letting me sleep at your house. Especially, since I could have been a robber or a murderer or something." Arcane thanked, bowing his head at the human woman.
"Oh, it was no problem, really. And even if you were a robber, nothing much would have happened." Lauren responded, scratching her head behind her head.
"Really? For what reason?" Arcane asked, raising an eyebrow by her answer.
"Well, I may have set up like three security cameras in there." She answered sheepishly. "I also put your bags on the counter over there, just in case you had a gun or something. I didn't look in there, though. Didn't want to breach your privacy." She pointed towards the kitchen counter, where the saddlebags in question were. Arcane dropped his levitation on the fork to bring them to his side.
"Thanks, again, I guess. So, I'm guessing you have some questions about my magic." Arcane guessed.
"Yep, I'm pretty interested by this magic. So lay it on me." Lauren said, her eyes focusing on the person in front of him. Arcane took a deep breath.
"Okay, but this might take a while and it might be hard to believe. So, basically, I come from another dimension called Equestria. In that dimension, most of the inhabitants are ponies, but they exist other species, like changelings, gryphons, minotaurs, etc. Anyways, ponies are divided into four categories, but more commonly three. The first race are the Earth Ponies. These ponies have strong connection to nature and are often incredibly strong. The second race are the Pegasi. These ponies have wings, thus allowing to fly. They also have the ability to stand on clouds and manipulate the weather through them. The last race are the Unicorns, my race. These ponies have the ability to use magic through use of their horns, which usually are on their forehead. However, my magic gets used through the front of my... hands." Arcane raised his hand to show Lauren the soft glow. "The last race are the Alicorns, which have the abilities of all three races. However, there are only three that currently exist." Arcane looked at Lauren, who had a neutral expression on her face.
"Okay..." Lauren said slowly, still trying to process the information Arcane had just dumped on her. "Why exactly are you here, then?" Arcane breathed in deeply once again.
"Okay, so I was trying to join the Royal Guard, which is basically a protection service for Equestria. I was just about to graduate and to officially join them, but then our instructor had told us of a special mission. The bearers for the Elements of Harmony, a set of artifacts that protect Equestria, have been banished to your dimension of Earth. So Princess Celestia asked one of the recruits to go to Earth to retrieve them. I applied for it, so I brought those bags as supplies and came here as fast as possible. My species turned to that of the main species of this dimension, humans, but I was still able to use my magic. I woke up in a field, and your city was in view. So I walked here, and you know what happened after." Arcane finished, looking at the table.
"I know it's hard to believe, bu-"
"I believe you."
Arcane looked up in surprise to see Lauren giving him a smile. "Really?"
"I mean, you certainly don't sound like you're lying, and I can't say your magic is human. If it was, I would have heard about it. So I believe you." Lauren told the former unicorn, who was smiling.
"Than-"
"Although, I don't think I can take you seriously now that you said that you're a small horse." Lauren added, chuckling to herself.
Arcane simply rolled his eyes, before he heard a voice that wasn't his nor Lauren's.
"Hello? Can you hear me, Arcane?" Celestia's voice came from the gem on his ear.
"Yes, I can hear you Princess." Arcane replied.
"Oh, good. Rusted Spear told me about your current situation, and I'm happy that you've made it to Earth safely." Princess Celestia said with a gentle voice. "If I remember correctly, your instructor had told you to meet with the locals. How did that go?"
"Well, Princess. It seems like none of the humans are capable or even believe in magic. So when I used my magic in public, I got a few odd looks, but I did meet up with someone who offered me a place to sleep for the night." Arcane replied.
"What do you mean 'for the night'? You fell asleep at 2:00 PM and napped for like 3 hours." Lauren mentioned, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms.
"Oh..." Arcane said sheepishly. "Well, besides that, not much has happened. Although, I would like to know how to find the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. I don't really have a clue where to start."
"I'm happy that you have found somepony that helped you during your stay. Make sure to give them my thanks." Celestia said. "As for finding the Elements, please activate your magic, but don't use any spells."
Arcane was confused, but complied. He deactivated his levitation on his saddlebags and concentrated his magic. His hand blazed brightly. This went on for a minute.
"Okay, you may stop." Arcane's hand stopped glowing.
"What exactly did you do, Princess?" Arcane asked curiously.
"That gem on your ear does not only serve for communication. It can also transfer magic. Which means if I were to use a particular spell through my gem, it will go to your gem and straight to your horn." Celestia explained before Arcane interrupted her.
"Actually, Princess, in this body, I don't have a horn. My magic goes through my hand, which is like my front hoof." Arcane told the Solar Princess.
"Oh, okay. Well, the magic will go to your hand. Basically, I can cast spells from here in Equestria from where you are on Earth." Princess Celestia finished her explanation.
"What spell did you cast, exactly?" Arcane asked.
"You see, whenever the bearers would use the Elements, a small part of it's magic would remain inside of them. By using a spell to find where that magical signature is, I could tell you where the bearers are." Celestia clarified. The former unicorn smiled.
"Great idea, Princess. So, did you find the Elements?" Arcane inquired.
"I found their locations, however it's in the form of coordinates, which means I can not tell where is the exact location. The bearers seem to be scattered, from what I can observe by these coordinates. The nearest Element, the Element of Magic, are at the coordinates '40.7128° at north and 74.0059° west'. Did you get that?" Celestia explained to the recruit.
"Yes, I got it. Thank you, Princess." Arcane thanked.
"It's no problem, in fact, thank you for taking this mission in the first place. However, it seems like I must be going now. I have another session of Day Court to attend." Celestia told the recruit.
"No problem, Princess. You have duties as Princess and you should not spend your time talking to me." Arcane assured.
"Alright, I'll talk to you as soon as possible. Goodbye, my little pony."
"Goodbye, Princess."
Arcane touched the gem on his ear instinctively before looking at Lauren, who had a smug grin on her face.
"Oh, so you have access to the Princess of your world. Talk about living the dream life." Lauren said, her smugness carrying on into her voice.
"Of course I have to talk to her, she's the one who gave me the mission in the first place. Speaking of which, the Princess thanks you for giving me a place to sleep." Arcane deadpanned, before Lauren placed a hand on her chest.
"Oh wow! The Princess of Equestria thanks me herself!! What an honor!! Oh, how I live the wonderful and lucky life!!" Lauren stated dramatically. Arcane rolled his eyes.
"Anyways, I have a few questions to ask. It's some information I don't get." Arcane asked.
"Shoot."
"Well, the Princess told me the location of the first Element bearer. But in the form of coordinates, so I wanted to know where those coordinates are." Arcane said.
Lauren suddenly beamed. "Really, coordinates!?! Be right back!" Lauren ran into another room before coming out with a large red book in hand.
"You seem pretty excited." Arcane quipped. Lauren ignored him and began flipping through the pages of the book.
"I'm a geographer, I'm pretty passionate about things like that." Lauren pointed out.
"I thought you were a babysitter." The former unicorn said.
"I work as a babysitter as a side job. Now, what were those coordinates?" Lauren asked.
"40.7128° to the north and 74.0059° to the west." Arcane stated, internally surprised that he was able to remember. Lauren skimmed through the pages of the book, eventually stopping. "Those coordinates are the coordinates for New York City."
Arcane suddenly stood up. "Well, I guess that's where I'm going. Thanks for letting me sleep here."
"Where do you think you're going?" Lauren inquired.
"To this New York City place. I need to find the Elements." Arcane told the human woman, levitating his bags to his side.
"You don't even know where New York is. Hell, even if you did, it might take months for you to walk to there from here in California. Might even take a year." Lauren claimed, standing up as well.
"So what do you suggest, miss Lauren?" Arcane asked mockingly, staring the woman in question straight in the eyes.
"I dunno, but you should make a plan. There are ways to make it to New York faster, but that costs a lot of money, thousands even." Lauren suggested, looking at the floor. "It's the reason I'm still here. It's a dream of mine to travel across the world, to see everything it has to offer. I plan to work my ass off until I have enough money to travel safely."
Arcane then sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I brought some currency from my world, but I don't think that's enough to reach the thousands." He levitated the only ten bits he had from his bag. However, the former unicorn was surprised by Lauren's gawking expression.
"Is there anything wro-" Lauren suddenly came up to him and grabbed a bit. She began to examine it extensively.
"How did you get this!?!" The woman practically demanded. Arcane raised an eyebrow.
"It's not rare. It's common currency." Arcane explained.
"Common!?! This is pure solid gold! A single one of these coins would sell for like a thousand dollars. You could definitely pay your trip to New York with these!!" She shouted.
"That's good. I have something else from my world. It's another type of currency, but a lot less common." Arcane brought out an large emerald. When he saw Lauren's slack-jawed face, he chuckled.
"I-i-is that al-l-l?" Lauren stuttered, with her mind metaphorically exploding.
"Well.." Arcane looked through the contents of his bags. "I have six sapphires, four rubies, two emeralds, not including the one in front of you. Oh, and a diamond too. They are all the same size as the one you are seeing right now." Arcane said.
"Well, that's all I got... Lauren, are you okay?
Author's Note
Okay, it's done. And now, I can finally tell you the inspiration of this story.
You see, I'm not the first person to make a story where the Mane 6 are banished to Earth or something similar. Example, Five Score Divided by Four. However, there is a huge logic problem in my opinion. Why the f*ck are the Mane Six in the same village/country!?! They are currently 195 countries in the world, which means there would be a 2/195 for 2 of the Mane Six to be in the same country. That's NOT counting towns, villages, tribes, etc. But for some reason, they are all conveniently grouped up in most stories.
Which is why, with this story, the Mane Six are scattered across Earth. WE BE GOIN' INTERNATIONAL!!!
"HOW THE FUCK DID YOU GET THESE!?!" Lauren yelled at the former unicorn, who was covering his ears at the loud voice.
"They're sorta just in the ground. Gems are certainly rarer then bits in Equestria, but they aren't exactly uncommon either." Arcane replied, removing his hands from his ears and bringing down the emerald from his magical grasp. He then dumped the contents of his first saddlebag onto the floor. The jewels inside of the bags dropped unceremoniously to the ground. Suddenly, Lauren bent down and grabbed a diamond and began to scan it intensively. She turned it around to view every angle. After a minute, Lauren stared at Arcane in shock.
"This diamond... is literally flawless." Lauren stated in awe.
"What do y-" Arcane asked in confusion, before the human woman interrupted her.
"I MEAN THAT THIS DIAMOND IS FLAWLESS!" She shouted, shoving the diamond into Arcane's face. "There are no imperfections, it's completely clear, it has a distinctive blue color, IT'S LITERALLY PERFECT!" Lauren clarified loudly. She pulled back the diamond before she, oddly enough, began to caress it.
'Creepy.' Arcane thought.
"And it's bigger then most diamonds, it's probably 300 carats!! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THIS WOULD SELL FOR!?!" Lauren shouted rhetorically.
"Uh, no?" Arcane said, rolling his eyes.
"THIS WOULD SELL FOR AT LEAST 50 MILLION DOLLARS!" Lauren stated. She then took a cloth from her bag and placed it around the diamond.
"Uh, Lauren? I'm not from here, so I don't exactly know the value of your world's money." Arcane reminded, crossing his arms.
"Oh, yeah." Lauren said sheepishly. "Sorry I got so excited, this is sorta a big deal."
"It's fine." The former unicorn assured.
"Okay, well, let's see..." Lauren began to think. "What could you buy with one of your gold coins?" She inquired.
"They're called bits." Arcane cleared up. "And you'd be able to get... say, an apple with a bit."
"Well, that's pretty simple, then. 50 million dollars in our world is about 50 millions bits in your world." Lauren converted. The former unicorn's suddenly lit up.
"Ah, that's a lot. No wonder you got excited." Arcane said, speaking a lot calmer than the human woman would have thought. However, Lauren did notice that through his expression, the former unicorn was holding in his excitement, rather crudely at that.
"Don't act like you aren't excited, Arcane." Lauren said, smirking. Arcane sighed and put his hands in the air.
"Alright, alright. I'm happy about it." He admitted, before lowering his hands and smirking himself. "At least I didn't go completely crazy."
"Oh, you exaggerate things." Lauren disputed, waving her hands in denial, much to Arcane's exasperation. "Anyways, I don't think I need to look at your other gems. They are probably the same price, if a bit cheaper."
"Okay, then how exactly do we sell these? I mean, I know they have those auctions for expensive items, but I'm pretty sure that takes a while to set up, and I need to go to this New York place now." Arcane inquired. Lauren simply smirked.
"Are you familiar with cameras?" Lauren asked.
"Yeah."
"Well, that's good. You're at least somewhat familiar with technology. Anyways..." Lauren took out a grey rectangular device from her bag. Despite not knowing what it was, Arcane simply assumed it was her world's version of a phone, judging from her previous statement. The human woman pointed the camera towards the diamond and a white flash came from it. She then focused it onto a ruby and another flash was emitted from the device. This carried on for each of the gems. When Lauren finished, she handed Arcane a piece of folded paper.
"That's a world map." Lauren stated. The former unicorn took the map with his levitation.
"The map of Earth?" Arcane inquired.
"Yeah." Lauren responded. "You can look at that to get an idea of our world."
"And what exactly will you be doing?" Arcane asked. At that, Lauren began to walk to a room, the same room that she got the book from.
"I'll be selling those gems. This shouldn't take too long." She answered, her camera still in her hand.
"How? Again, I'm pretty sure you need to set up auctions, or something like that." Arcane asked. The human woman didn't slow down in her walk or even turned around, but the former unicorn was able to faintly see a smirk on her face.
"It's pretty simple, really. It's called eBay." After she said those words, she left the room. Arcane stared to where she was in confusion, before shrugging. He opened the map in his magical grasp and began to read it.
Although the information presented to Arcane was rather limited, with it only showing the name of the countries and continents of Earth, the former unicorn was able to learn the name of some of them. In particular, he could remember the name of all of the continents, as well as some of the larger countries, such as Russia, Canada, United States and China. He did note that California, the place that Lauren said they were in, was inside of the United States. This idea wasn't new to him, as these concepts occurred in Equestria as well. Canterlot and Manehatten were inside of Equestria. However, aside from that, the former unicorn could not get anymore interested in the map. He set the world map onto the table and stared at the table in boredom. This went on for ten minutes before Lauren came back from her room, another rectangular object, this time green and a bit smaller than the previous one.
"I'm done!!" Lauren exclaimed excitedly, raising the green object in her hand to show the former unicorn.
"First of all, it's only been an hour, there's no way you'd sell something of that value in that time. Secondly, if you somehow did, where's the money?" Arcane asked, directing his attention towards the human woman. The said woman walked up to the table and sat on a chair, opposite to where the former unicorn was. She set the green object down.
"For your first question, here on Earth, gems are incredibly rare..."
"As you have clearly established." Arcane quipped, a small grin on his face.
"Shut up." She responded, her cheeks lighting up slightly in embarrassment. "Now, as I was saying, gems are incredibly rare here on Earth, especially large gems like the ones you have. So when I put them up for sale, with pictures to prove it, most people jumped at it. I was able to sell all of the gems in under 40 minutes. We're just lucky the people that were on eBay were so rich. Hell, we're lucky those people were gullible enough to believe a sale like that, considering that how many scams exist. Really, I'm still surprised we managed to sell them all." She admitted. Lauren slid the green card over to Arcane. "I managed to sell the diamond for 50 million and the rest for 40 million, so there's about 570 million dollars on this card." Arcane picked up the card with his magic. "You can have it, I have a spare card. They are instructions to use it on the back."
Arcane put the card in his saddlebag, before standing up and giving Lauren a small yet polite bow. "Now I really can't thank you enough. You let me sleep in your home, fed me, informed me and provided me with this world's currency. Thank you, but I need to leave now. I know I don't know what is in this world, but I can't just stay here and learn about it like some young col- I mean, boy." He slipped up, but he corrected himself when he realized that he was no longer a pony. Arcane was still quite confused on some of this world's word. "I came here on a mission, not a vacation. And as much as you've helped me, the Elements are more important." Arcane stated. The former unicorn was walking out the house before he heard Lauren's voice.
"I'm going with you." Despite not turning around, Arcane could guess that Lauren was grinning.
"What?" Arcane said, somewhat stupefied.
"I said I'm going, What, are you deaf?" Lauren asked rhetorically, approaching the former unicorn.
"Why though?" He asked, not turning around.
"Two reasons. First of all, you're the equivalent of a blind puppy. You don't know anything about this world, even if you came from it I doubt you'd be able read a map, understand coordinates, etc. I would " She explained, before she bowed her head and looked at her hand. "Heh... Although, I really do want help you, I don't think that's my main reason for wanting to go with you. I want to travel the world. It's my dream. I want to experience different cultures, taste different foods, see different monuments. Basically, I want to see everything this world has to offer." Lauren clarified, before she suddenly yelled.
"AND I'D BE DAMNED IF I HAD A PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO FULFILL MY DREAM AND DIDN'T SEIZE IT!" Lauren shouted, eyes filled with an undirected rage. When she had calmed down, which only took about ten seconds, Lauren stared at Arcane with almost pleading eyes. The former unicorn had still not turned around, or even visibly reacted to her comment.
'Please... say yes...' Lauren thought. Of course, she could always just take the credit card from him, and go around the world herself, but she wasn't an asshole. She couldn't steal someone else's money. Hell, even if she wanted to steal it, Arcane could use magic. She would be beat into the ground the moment she tried something funny.
However, after a minute, the former unicorn slowly turned around. He had a small smile on his face.
"Well, I guess I have to repay you somehow, right?" Arcane said. He put out his hand for a handshake. "Of course you can come with me."
Lauren looked a bit distraught for a bit. Her face seemed surprised at Arcane's outstretched hand. However, after a few seconds, Lauren returned the smile and grasped Arcane's hand with her own.
"Thanks."
Author's Note
There we go. Now, I know there's been a lot of build up to the actual search, but don't worry, the first act in New York starts next chapter. I just needed to set up everything. By the way, please comment if you enjoy this story. Consider it fuel for my writing. The next chapter may be shorter than usual, but whatever. It'll be given to you ASAP.
kthxbai
PS. Who has played Tokyo Mirage Sessions? Definetly worth the purchase.
Edit: I have to thank PonyJosiah13 for reminding me to say this. Anyways, a lot of you might say that this was incredibly unrealistic. You can't just sell something for 50 Mill. over the internet, and people won't just buy it immediately. Here's the thing though. I can eleborate, but do you really want me to? I mean, to sell something of that value, you'd have to keep in perfect condition, find/create an auction, find a date, etc. It might be more helpful, but that's not what this story is about. It's about what they do in the destination, not going to the destination. If I were to make it uber-realistic, the story would be at 15 chapters before the actual plot starts. Just wanted to say that.
Lauren pulled her hand from Arcane's handshake and put it to her side. Her body was visibly shaking a bit from the distraught state she had been in a few moments ago.
"You okay?" Arcane inquired. "Are you thinking about something?"
"Sorta. I guess I'm feeling sorta... I really don't know how to describe it. Um... unbelieving, I guess?" Lauren said, closing her eyes. "Everything I've ever wanted in life, I can now do. Things I didn't would never happen... happened. You know, it almost feels like a dream." Suddenly, Arcane's hand quickly swept across her face. The slap wasn't all that painful, but it did leave a pale red mark on her cheek. Lauren placed her hand on the mark to cover and dull some of the pain. The human woman's emotions were at a neutral state, no anger but no masochistic glee, obviously.
"What exactly was tha-" Arcane smirked, showing the hand Lauren the hand that had slapped her.
"Well, you can't feel pain in a dream, and you just felt pain. There's your proof." Arcane said, before turning around and sitting back down at the kitchen table. "Now hurry up and get ready, we're leaving as soon as possible." Lauren smiled at the former unicorn and walked to the door to her room, back turned to Arcane. She grinned.
"Well, technically, you can feel pain in dreams, if you expect it. Though, I'm pretty sure most people wake up when do they do the deed in dreams." Lauren said suggestively, slowly waving her hips. Arcane covered his mouth and nose. Despite the former unicorn's hand blocking his face, Lauren could see him blushing.
"Hurry up." Arcane mumbled through his fist, not looking at the human woman. Lauren laughed and walked into her room.
"Alright, I'm ready!" Lauren exclaimed. She held a rather large black suitcase. The former unicorn glanced at Lauren, before directing his full attention at her in shock.
"It hasn't even been two minutes, how in Tarturus did you fill that suitcase?" Arcane inquired, staring wide-eyed at the human woman.
"Magic." Arcane rolled her eyes. "Anyways, I packed my clothes and other things, so we can leave now."
"Um, are you sure? I need to leave quickly, but I don't want to rush you. You don't have to feel rushe-" Arcane said, before Lauren ran up to him and violently shook his shoulders back and forth.
"I SAID WE CAN LEAVE NOW!" Lauren yelled demandingly, with the former unicorn in her grasp moving like a ragdoll.
"Okay, okay, sheesh, we can leave now." Lauren squealed in glee and let go of Arcane instantly, before marching towards another door. The former unicorn closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead in order to clear the dizziness.
"Alright, I already booked the flight and it's in twenty minutes! Let's go!" Lauren stated.
"Wait, what?" Arcane said to himself, before opening his eyes. Looking at the direction Lauren was mere seconds ago, he found nothing. "Celestia-damnit, slow down!!" He ran towards her, but stopped when he saw a mirror to his side.
'Oh yeah, this is the first time I actually saw myself. Arcane thought. There wasn't too many features that he had missed when had first woke up. He shared most body parts that Lauren did, like the ears to the side of his head instead of on top of it, smaller eyes, etc. The only thing that he didn't see were his clothes, which were rather simple. A golden sweater and black shorts.
"HURRY UP!" Lauren's voice echoed through the entire house. Arcane stared into the mirror for a moment longer before following her.
Lauren and Arcane were currently on the plane to New York, with the former looking out the window and the latter studying a world map. The plane itself was empty other then the two.
"You seem rather calm about this plane ride. I'm guessing you had these in your world?" Lauren guessed, not pulling her eyes away from the window.
"No, we didn't have planes, but we had chariots, which were pulled by pegasi, so I'm used to flight." Arcane replied.
Lauren grinned. "Oh, so your country was into slave labor?"
"No, don't be ridiculous, it was their job." Arcane clarified. He folded the world map he was reading and handed it to Lauren. "I'm done with that." The human woman put it in her white bag.
"Hello?" Arcane heard Celestia's voice through the gem.
"Yes, Princess?" Arcane answered. He was hoping that Lauren got that he was talking to the Princess.
"Hello, my little pony. How are you?" Celestia asked, her voice gentle.
"I'm fine, Princess. Do you mind telling me how Equestria is?" Arcane answered.
"I do not mind at all, Arcane. Equestria has not been invaded, luckily. I'm hoping that no evil forces realized that the bearers of the Elements of Harmony have disappeared. However, those who knew the Elements personally, friends and family alike, are a bit depressed, but besides that, things are fine." Celestia replied. "I did let them know that you are on this mission, and they all wish you good luck."
"That's nice..." Arcane stated, closing his eyes. "Princess, I have some good news."
"Oh? What is it?" Celestia inquired.
"We are on our way to the location of the Element of Magic. We should be there in a few hours." Arcane informed.
"Really? That's great, I'm sure Spike will be happy." Celestia said. Arcane opened his eyes.
"Spike? Who is that?" Arcane asked.
"Oh, it's Twilight Sparkle's little brother. Also, I couldn't help but notice that you said 'We'. Do you have somepony accompanying you?" The Solar Princess inquired.
"Well, yes, Princess. The person who had allowed me to stay at her plac-." Arcane answered, before Lauren looked at him and interrupted him.
"This person has a name, you know." Lauren reminded, crossing her arms.
"Yeah, yeah." Arcane told the human woman. "Anyways, Lauren wanted to come with me, and I saw nothing wrong with it."
"Ah, it's nice to see you have a partner." Celestia said.
"It is comforting." Arcane replied. "However, I have a question to ask, Princess."
"You need not have my permission, Arcane." Celestia answered.
"Well, now that we're approaching the Element of Magic, I need to know how to remove the memory spell." Arcane asked.
"Firstly, her true name is Twilight Sparkle, not Element of Magic. Secondly, here's how you remove the memory spell." Celestia's voice took a tone of mischief, yet also seriousness. "Be a good friend, and mention Equestria every once and a while. Everything else should play out from there."
"Wait, what? Princess, that isn't really specific." No answer. "Princess? Princess, can you hear me?" No answer. Arcane's voice slowly became louder. "Princess? Princess, I need some clarification. Princess? PRINCESS!" Lauren's hand then whipped across Arcane's face.
"God, shut up! You're lucky that this plane is empty, or else you'd be kicked out." Lauren stated. Arcane ignored the pain on his cheek and replied.
"How? We're already in the sky."
The human woman grinned. "We'd kick you off the plane."
"Sure..." Arcane looked out the window. "Hey, look. We're landing."
"Alright!" Lauren stood up. "Let's go!!" The human woman walked to the exit of the plane. Arcane stood up as well.
"The plane didn't completely land yet but whatever."
"EEEEE! Oh my god! There's so many skyscrapers! The people are so diverse, there are more cultures in this block then there is in the entirety of California! It's noisy too! How do people sleep in this noise? I can't wait to find out! When can we see Statue of Liberty!?!" Lauren squealed excitedly. She pointed at every little detail like a child would, monologuing to herself and Arcane. All the while, the citizens watched in obvious uncomfortability.
"Lauren, they are people watching us." Arcane mumbled, not changing his expression.
"I don't care, this is so interesting!" She bent down and pointed at a flower. "Look at this flower! I don't know what it's name is, but it's not in California!"
Arcane sighed, before he stopped walking. He put his hand on Lauren to stop her from moving.
"What?" Lauren asked annoyingly.
Arcane ignored her, directing her attention on a certain person he saw with the citizens. The human girl Arcane he was looking at wore a purple school uniform and a purple skirt. She was wearing a pair of glasses on her beige colored face. She also had long indigo hair, with purple and pink highlights. However, what interested him the most was her hand. There was a picture of a cutie mark, a pink six-pointed star, surrounded by five other white six-pointed stars. Not only that, but around the cutie mark, there was a patch of purple skin. The girl was looking at Arcane as well.
The former unicorn looked at his own hand. He saw his cutie mark, surrounded by blue skin. Similar to the girl he was looking at.
'That must be her.' Arcane thought. 'The Element of Magic.'
Author's Note
There, chapter done! Like I said, the chapter was shorter and there might be less quality writing since I was sorta rushing to get this out before I leave for vacation tomorrow, but eh. Anyways, we finally stopped the prologue!! We can finally start the main part of the story!!! Anyways, please comment or like or favorite! As much as I sound like a spoiled brat, it not only fuels my desire to write, but it also boosts this story to the front for other people to see! Anyways, I'm on vacation, see ya later!!
kthxbai
