CHAPTER 1 ~ HIGH PERCENTS
Will
"God dammit!" Will cried as his last stock was depleted. "Fuck Cloud players!" His face was in a seething scowl. "I miss the days where For Glory wasn't complete bullshit!"
Breathing, he regained his composure and started a new match, but suddenly a message popped up. It said (Time until you can play online again: 3 Hours.) "Wait what?! Ugh... I must have targeted that Cloud fucker too much! God fucking dammit!" Will said, throwing his GameCube controller, which came very close to hitting the wall, but the wire reached it's maximum length and grew taught. It then swung back and the sudden reverse momentum pulled the cord out of the socket, which caused the controller to slide right into Will's feet. This left Will with a "What the fuck just happened?" look on his face.
"Physics, thanks for saving my controller..." Will muttered as he plugged the controller back into the GameCube adapter. "Well, I can't play Smash for a while..." he said calmly, turning off his Wii U. "Wonder what I'm gonna do next?"
After pondering his next actions, he decided to check his phone. "I'm glad we get a week off school, but there is nothing really to do here... maybe there are some crazy news stories?" The date and time read 10:30 AM on Wednesday, November 1st, 2016. He input his Touch ID and opened up the home screen. "Alright, what's up Cleveland!?" proceeding to open up the News app. He commenced perusing through Fox News' top stories, eventually finding something that grabbed his interests. It was the story about his school and why it was closed the week of October 29th.
* * *
"Oh yeah, I remember hearing about this. Apparently, there were reports of colored horses roaming around the immediate area. The police had staked out the area and finally, one appeared. Mysteriously, when a squad of police went to confront it, said policemen were found electrocuted in a ditch the next morning. To prevent further death or injury, the perimeter was blockaded; no one can get in or out until the area is confirmed safe. Fast forward a couple of days and here I am now, sitting here reading this when I should be solving systems of equations in Algebra II." Will said with a smirk on his face.
"Man, the country is trippin' balls over this shit! The government doesn't have any idea what the fuck to do about it; seems they haven't found anything decisive yet. This is interesting, maybe I should go check it out?" he wondered. "Wait, check out a police-restricted area?! Will are you fucking crazy! You can't do that!" Will said, sticking his tongue out to the side of his lips. "Brain, please shred that idea."
Suddenly, Will felt a slight tinge in his brain. "Wait, is my brain actually shredding it?" but then he gasped. "Oh right, that's happening... again... Wait, it's happening now? Why now!? Of all the crap my brain can suddenly freak out about, it had to be these god damn horse sight..." before he could even finish his thought, he spaced out and his brain exploded with information.
* * *
Will hurled for three straight in the bathroom minutes over what his brain had just told him. This wasn't the first time it had done this so he was kind of used to it, but it always happened on stuff like math problems or tests and the whatnot. His brain usually projected an image of something; a fuzzy, blurry, hard to read image, but an image of something that usually happened a few seconds into the future. Why it was leaving Will so speechless this time was the complex content and how clean and crisp the picture was. In fact, it wasn't just a picture, it was vision one of the colored horses attacking an officer very brutally. The detail was gruesome; the horse, when threatened with a gun to come along for testing, bucked the officers head, snapping his neck and spinal cord. The officer fell to the ground and the horse then proceeded to buck the dead officer repeatedly in the back of the head. Blood was splattering everywhere, all over the ground and the horse. Finally, there was a loud crack and a pop, and the policeman's head went flying in a trail of blood and shattered, splintered bone. The horse then trotted over to the severed head and sniffed it, before bashing it's skull in and smashing it into little bits of bone, brains, and muscle swimming in the biggest pool of blood you could ever fathom. Then, it just cuts off.
"Oh god, what kind of sick fuck put that shit in my eyeballs! Bleach them, now! Whichever part of my stupid ass brain caused that image is getting fucking lobotomized!" he heaved through heavy breathing and water gurgling. "Well great, I'm scared for life, just great! Now I'm gonna get fucking Equinophobia and never be able to step three miles within one of those assholes!" Will screamed, but then something hit him in the head like a stack of bricks. "Oh shit, wait! If all those other times were crap that was about to happen... Oh god! I hope it's not too late, maybe I can save that officer!" Will said with haste and determination. Luckily, his siblings were at school and he was trusted by his parents to stay by himself while they were working, so he was able to just slip out without having to make some random story up about why he was going dangerously close to a police perimeter. He quickly hopped on his bike and zoomed off to the school.
* * *
Trail Entrance
November 1st
11:05 AM
Will arrived five minutes later at the hill by an entrance to the forest trails around the school. He took in the crisp, refreshing autumn air and stretched as he hopped off his bike and proceeded to run to around the hill to the path leading yellow police tape and a bunch of blockade walls. The yellows and oranges of the trees blurred into a swirl as his legs carried him as fast as possible through the field. He knew out of intuition and context clues that this was the spot the scene would soon unfurl; remembering that he saw the hill with the pine tree was a dead giveaway for exactly where he needed to go. However, he seemed to also just be able to tell, as if he had a mental GPS that was telling him exactly where his destination was.
When he arrived, the guard immediately got to the questions.
"Excuse me, but this area is restricted under the Cleveland Police Department, so I must ask, what are you doing here young lad?" asked the skinny police officer with glasses and a belt loaded with shit Will did not want him using.
"Ummm..." I stuttered, trying to figure out, in words, how to convey to him that he was fucked unless he listened to me. "Uhh... sir?" Will finally got out."
"Yes, what is it?" the man asked, trying to keep his patience. Will clammed up suddenly, not knowing what to say. "Well, spit it out, kid! I don't have time to talk to you! We might miss something important..."
*rustle* rustle*
"What was that!" was said in a hushed tone to the sound of a gun loading. "Whoever's there, show yourself!" the officer proclaimed boldly. He held his gun barrel down a nearby bush, laser scope ablaze. It was a fancy police grade .223 AR platform rifle with a shiny black finish. His finger was already pressing the trigger halfway.
"Wait, stop!" Will said, now understanding what was about to happen. If the officer shot that gun, it would hit the horse in a non-lethal spot and cause it to go berzerk. It would be then that the scene would play out exactly as it did in his mind. Only this time, it would be real.
"What do you mean stop? Didn't you learn not to talk to someone who is aiming a lethal firearm?" he warned. "Do you understand why I am doing this? You saw the news, right?" he asked.
"Yes, I saw the news. You're trying to capture the colored horses that electrocuted your comrades to death right?" Will asked rhetorically.
"Haha! You're bright, aren't you? Yes, that's my mission, to capture the murderous, abnormal horses and restore safety to the area!" he proclaimed with intensity. Then he proceeded to aim at the bush again. There was another faint rustling noise. "Aha! I've got you now!" he screamed, but Will jumped in front of the barrel just as he fired. Will suddenly realized what was about to happen and braced for impact.
* * *
The bullet hit Will straight in the shoulder. "Gah!" Will cried, clutching his bloody arm. He slowly sat down, breathing heavily; his vision was getting spotty.
"OH SHIT! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!" the policeman screamed. "You're going to get me fired and you just seriously injured yourself! Why in the name of all that is good and holy would you do that?! You can't just throw your life away like that! You're so young! That shot could have killed you!"
"I was... *cough* *wheeze* just trying to save your life..." Will said, his eyes were watering with tears from the intense, burning pain in his shoulder. "I'm sorry..."
"Well sorry isn't going to cut it, my target must have run off after hearing... Wait, did you just say "save my life" kid?" the officer asked in complete bewilderment. "What do you mean by save my life?"
Will finally had an opening, so he went for it. Wiping his tears and clearing his throat, he spoke in gasps through his pain. "I... had a... a vision..."
* * *
"It... you... you were... your head... you were going to... be... decapitated..." Will spoke indecisively. "That horse... it was... it was gonna... murder... you. I... couldn't... let you... shoot it..."
"Huh, what in blazes are you talking about? Where are your parents?" he interrogated. "I'm going to call a hospital and contact them. I'm the meantime, please just calm down. You must be delusional from the pain..."
Suddenly, anger flashed in Will's eyes. "NO! I'M NOT! LISTEN TO ME!" Will hobbled up to his feet and shook the police officer with his one good hand. "That horse was going to buck your god damn head off! I was just trying to save you from shooting it! That's what was going to happen!"
"ENOUGH!" the officer screamed at the top of his lungs. He was pissed as fuck. "DON'T YOU EVER TOUCH A POLICE OFFICER, UNDERSTAND YOUNG MAN?"
"You... you really d-d-don't believe me, do you?" Will shuddered painfully.
"You better believe I don't! Now, I'm going to let you off with a warning because you are hurt, but DON'T EVER do that to ANY OFFICER, EVER AGAIN! UNDERSTAND?!" he said sternly, getting in Will's face.
...
After a long period of silence, the policeman repeated himself. "UNDERSTAND?!", which then caused Will to slowly nod.
"Alright then, I hope you learned your lesson, I'm calling your parents. What's their numb..."
"Wow, he saves your bucking life and you scream at him. Some law enforcement!" a high-pitched voice said with distaste. Suddenly, the bush rustling exploded and a mint green mare with a toothpaste stripe mane busted out and leaped over the blockade with grace. She then trotted into the confrontation. "You heard him! I would have totally attacked you if you shot me!" she scorned. "Well? Are you just going to stand there looking at me with those retarded eyes or are you going to apologize?!" she attacked, to which the police officer responded with a series of scratchy whimpers of complete and absolute mindfuck. His brain then said "Fuck this!" and he fainted.
"Woohoo! Lyra strikes again! Another one bites the dust!" she gleamed, pumping her minty hoof into the air. Then, she turned to Will, who was having an equally hard time processing why the horse was fucking talking as the officer was. His pained shoulder was keeping him from losing consciousness, but he felt like he died and went to a heaven where horsies pranced around fields of flowers. The horse snapped him back to reality with a burst of searing pain.
"AH SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING TO MY GOD DAMN SHOULDER!" he cried out. The mint horse only laughed, a light shining from her forehead.
"Just endure it, I'm almost done." She giggled.
"DONE WITH WHAT! AND HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING TO ME?!" Will accused through grunts and shrill howls.
"I'm removing the bullet silly! Come on, what do you think I was doing?" she said, sticking her tongue out. "Annnnnndddd... there!" she said, accompanied by a satisfying splatter of blood that meant the bullet was dislodged. All Will could do was clench and breathe hard, but then the pain suddenly stopped. The mint horse then covered in a golden gauze.
"Huh? It... stopped..." Will said in surprise. "You can do that?" he asked. She responded by nodding vigorously. "Well then, thank you..."
* * *
"Sooooo, sorry for the late introduction! I'm Lyra Heartstrings but you can just call me Lyra." the mint horse said with glee.
"I'm Will, nice to meet you," he said with a small smile. Lyra then extended her minty hoof out and Will grasped it with both hands and shook. Lyra looked like she was having an orgasm.
"Wooooowwww, sooo thaaaaats what it feeeeeeeeelssss liiiikkeeee. " she slurred like she was completely wasted.
"That's what it feels like what? Have you never shaken, uh, hooves with something before?" Will asked, puzzled as to her behavior.
"Nonono, it's just... well... I like your hands," she said.
*crickets*
"Uhhhh... you like... my hands? Will said in complete confusion.
"Yup yup yup... Wait, what am I talking about? I don't like your hands, I LOVE THEM!" Lyra said, suddenly grabbing Will's left appendage in a golden aura and rubbing it against her soft facial furs.
"Stop that..." Will groaned. "That's... creepy as fuck," he said as he reached with his now painless and movable right arm to dislodge his left hand from Lyra's grip. However, his hands met thin air. He then turned to see Lyra's hooves were all firmly on the ground. "Wait, how the FUCK ARE YOU DOING THAT?" He screamed. Lyra started laughing hysterically.
"Woops, I forgot to tell you!" she bellied between guffaws. "I'm not just any ordinary horsie!" to which she then parted her hair, which revealed a horn. She then proceeded to light it up and levitate a rock on the ground. The floating rock was encased with a golden aura similar to the likes of the one Will had seen on his hand and now remembering he also saw it on the bullet when she pulled it out.
"Ahhh..." Will said with sudden realization but soon snapped back to reality. "Alright, that's it! I can handle a fucking mint colored horse..."
"Actually, for the record, I'm a bucking mint colored pony dude." she corrected.
"...Okay, fucki... wait did you say bucking?... Oh never mind! Anyway, I can handle a fucking mint colored pony, I can handle it talking to me, but a unicorn that can use ESP to fucking grab shit? I've seen everything, I'M DONE!" Will said, and a very belated fainting spell finally came. Will hit the grass with a thud not very far from the officer.
"Humans..." Lyra sighed. "What are we going to do with you?"
She then proceeded to trot over to Will's bag and fished through it. Her search turned out to be fruitful when she pulled an address card that read 21300 Edgewood Road, Pepper Pike, Ohio on it. "Hehe, jackpot! she squealed. "Alright, scanning for 21300 Edgewood Road, Pepper Pike, Ohio," she said as her horn lit up. "Aha, there you are... Oh, sweet! That's not a very long distance at all! Alright, Willy, here we go!" she cried as she charged her horn. She grabbed the limp figure of Will and his bag in her telekinetic grip and released the energy. "To Will's house, away!" she cried, and the two of them were gone in a flash of magic. The only things that were left of the incident were Will's bike on the other side of the hill and the unconscious officer who had a helluva tale to tell to the chief when he finally woke up.
* * *
Will's House
November 1st
1:40 PM
Will finally stirred and sat up on the family room couch. "The fuck was that all about." he slurred, his brain still half asleep. "I had a weird ass dream that I met a fucking unicorn." Will shuddered and rubbed his eyes.
"In know right?! What are the chances," Lyra said, leaning against the water cooler. She was levitating a half-eaten apple in front of her face and proceeded to take another huge bite with her gaping equine maw.
"God dammit, it was real..." Will moaned as he came to terms with everything that had just happened.
"By the way, these apples suck. They taste like chemicals." Lyra gagged after taking another bite.
"Well fuck you Lyra, sorry that the farmers around here spray all their shit with pesticide." Lyra took another bite, sticking her tongue out.
"Why do you keep eating it if you hate it so much?" Will asked.
"Cause I'm bucking starving, now be a good host and make me something edible." Lyra bitched.
"Okay, would you like my shit scrambled or over easy?" Will "asked".
"Nah, your shit probably doesn't have enough flavor. I bet dogs make better dongelets than you do with their eyes closed." Lyra countered.
"You think you're so good with plays on words eh? Well at least I'm not a fucking toothpaste dispenser, you spearmint-ass motherfucker." Will volleyed, dropping the mic.
"Why you dirty piece of!" Suddenly the room filled up with light and Lyra shot a bolt of lightning straight at Will, who quickly dodged. It missed and was attracted to the door of the metal mini fridge. The entire house flashed as the power box got overloaded and everything turned off and back on. When the lights regenerated, Lyra could not see Will.
"Heh heh, number one rule of fighting on your turf, you get the home field advantage! It worked for the Confederates in the Civil War and now it's gonna work here." Will said with a cryptic tone behind Lyra. She quickly gasped and turned around. He had a sharp kitchen knife in his hand and proceeded to jump on Lyra before she could charge another spell. Will pinned Lyra down on the hard wooden flooring and held the knife to her throat. She flailed and bucked, but Will was strong and had an iron grip from playing video games. "So, you were the one that killed those policemen and threw them in the ditch. I must say, thanks for the week off of school, but I think I'll just kill the serial murderer in self-defense before she claims any more victims." Will said with fire in his eyes. He made a small cut on Lyra's throat, which started spurting blood all over.
"Wait, please don't kill me!" Lyra begged.
"Why shouldn't I? Not only did you kill people, you also almost brutally murdered a police officer, and tried to fry me. The biggest reason though, is nobody insults my shit!" Will snapped.
"But I was sent to tell y..."
"I don't care why we crossed paths! I'm ending this before more innocent lives are lost!" Will screamed as he slit another cut into Lyra's neck, this one more deep and bloody. Lyra's neck and the knife were getting pretty crimson. "Alright, here we go, I think I found a good place to brutally rip your neck apart," Will remarked with a dark smile and lowered eyebrows. He inserted the blade into the deep cut. "Now all I have to do is twist and you're rip in peace." Will snarled, quoting the holy scripture of MLG. "Is there anything else you want to say before I literally tear your throat in half?"
"P-p-please, j-j-just let me t-t-tell you w-w-why I'm h-h-here..." Lyra wheezed as she started coughing up blood. Her once fine mint coat now stained dark crimson from her face to her stomach.
"Does it look like I give a single fuck about that?" Will replied with unmerciful hatred.
"N-n-no." Lyra staggered, out of ideas and up Styx without a gambit.
"Alrighty then, the police will be happy that I apprehended the culprit. You should be proud, your corpse will probably be contributed to science." Will said as he dropped the irony. "Nighty, night my little pony!" he spoke with an insane sounding tone as the twisting of the knife commenced. Lyra shut her eyes and Will popped his wide open, not wanting to miss any neck in the wake of his destruction. "This is for humanity," he whispered. Suddenly, a familiar jolt in the back of his brain caused the bloodthirsty human to space out yet again.
* * *
Will blinked. "Huh? Where am I?" scratching his head. "What the fuck is this place?" he observed as he looked around the giant space of nothingness. "Alright, this is creepy as balls. What the hell is..." Suddenly a giant flash emanated from somewhere unknown. When his eyesight returned to him, he saw something he never wanted to see again.
He was holding Lyra's fucked up, bloody, slashed and severed head in one hand and a knife with a stream of blood pouring down past his hand and arm onto his clothes. The Will in the vision then took the knife and jammed it into Lyra's skull. After tugging and ripping, bone breaking and splattering , he eventually pulled Lyra's brain partway through the giant, gushing hole in her forehead. He then proceeded to sever the brain stem and rip the brain out of Lyra's destroyed head. Finally, he took the brain, threw it in the blender, and laughed manically as he hit pulse.
The brain muscle and blood swirling around the blender was finally too much for Will and he screamed. "Okay, I've seen enough! Please!" he cried. "Ohhhhh shit, I was about to do that?! I am the most fucked up person on the planet!" he shivered as he realized he was saved from a horrible decision by his own brain. "Thank you brain. Sometimes, you are the only sane one around here." Will thought to himself and eventually said, "I'm so sorry Lyra, I've got to make this right. I'm going to fix her up and apologize. Then I'm gonna hear all the crap she has to say and do whatever she wants me to do. I promise to do this without fail." Will said with pride. Will's brain liked his epiphany and released him from his mental rehabilitation.
* * *
Lyra
Will's Backyard ~ Forest Hideout
November 1st
4:45 PM
"Ugh..." Lyra groaned as she regained consciousness. Her neck was sore but she wasn't dead. "What... wasn't I about to be killed by that human? Why am I still alive?!" she groaned as she attempted to sit up and look around.
"Wait! Don't move! Your neck wounds will reopen!" Will screamed in warning to Lyra. He ran up to her.
"Agh! Don't scare me like that, and please don't hurt me!" Lyra cried as she tried to ball up in fear without moving her neck.
"Wait, wait! I'm not going to hurt you!" Will waved his hands.
"Oh yeah? How can I believe that?" she rebutted, uneasy from having a knife in her neck.
"Because you're not dead right now? I... didn't... wasn't thinking, I was scared of you. I'm so sorry, I felt threatened." he apologized with melancholy. "I'm so, so sorry." His eyes watered up.
Suddenly, Lyra felt guilty. Wait, he was scared? Of me? Of a unicorn? Oh man, I did not leave a good first impression... Lyra thought with extreme regret. He tried to bucking murder me, but I didn't know it was out of fear! ...Well, Lyra, you did try and fry him...
"Hey, are you o-okay?" Will whispered into Lyra's ear.
"GAH! I said don't scare me!" Lyra glared.
"So I'm gonna take that as a no then..." Will said as backed off, wiping his
"I'm... I'm sorry too." Lyra sobbed. "I'm so sorry, I started everything. You had every right to want to murder me!" Tears were running down her minty cheeks.
"Shh..." Will said, wiping the tears away gently from Lyra's fuzzy face. "Water under the bridge. You must have been just as scared as I was."
All Lyra could do was smile sweetly. Will brushed his hand along her fluffy body. "Ohhhh... that feels sooooo gooooood. Your hand is so gentle," she purred like a cat.
"You are so soft. I've never felt anything like this." Will observed. "It must feel amazing to lay down in a warm bed and just roll around. Or maybe even soft grass." Lyra was too busy having an orgasm over the petting. She carefully, minding the neck, rolled on her back. She extended her hooves up like a kitten playing with yarn.
"Willy, will you wub my tummy?" She said like a three-year-old with a lisp; making an accompanying face of absolute adorableness.
"Oh god, I can't say no to that!" Will flinched. "Alright, Lyra, I'm coming in hot!"
Lyra's intense moans of sheer pleasure could be heard for miles.
* * *
Will
November 1st
5:30 PM
"Yeah, mom? I'm biking to the store. I'll bring back some milk for you." Will said to his phone. Soon, he pulled up to the Heinens and walked inside; grabbing a basket on the way in. Heading straight for the dairy section, he grabbed his mother's request first; forgetting the milk would blow Lyra's cover. He then proceeded to grab some candy, snacks, and various flavors of Ices off the shelves. Finally, he went to the vegetable freezer. "Let's see, what did Lyra request? He pulled out a piece of paper that Lyra had written on with beautiful handwriting... using her horn. "Carrots and alfalfa huh?" He grabbed a huge bag of alfalfa sprouts and a bushel of carrots. The lady at the checkout line's reaction was priceless.
"You got a pet rabbit or somethin'?" she asked with a southern twang.
"Nope, I've got a unicorn."
* * *
Thirty minutes later, he was at his house again. He hid the rest of the bags behind a nearby tree and went up to knock on the front door.
"Hi, sweetie!" Will's mom said as she answered the door. "Thank you for doing that! Now I'll be able to make those milkshakes for you tonight!"
"Yus!" Will cheered, pumping his elbow. "Oh wait, can you make me one and save it? I'm going into the woods for a little hike," he lied.
"No problem!" she said with a smile, closing the door behind her. However, not before dropping the titular mom phrase. "Try not to stay out too late Will!"
"Alright! I won't," Will agreed. She nodded through the window and walked down the hallway with the carton in her hand.
When she was gone, Will ran back to the tree. "Time to get to business!". He grabbed the hidden bags and ran inside and up the foyer steps to his room.
Will went through his bag one more time. "Laptop, check! Cord, check! Wi-Fi hotspot box, check! Food, check! Phone, check! Wii U with favorite games, check! Toiletries, check! Changes of clothes, check!" Lyra had told him she needed to take him somewhere and to pack his bags. He questioned at first and told Lyra he couldn't just leave his family, but he remembered his internal promise to her. Lyra said she would tell him more once he got his stuff together and bought some food talk over. "Annnnnd water, check!" He exhaled slowly. "Alright, that's everything. Time to see who this "Lyra" pony really is.
* * *
Lyra
Will's Backyard ~ Forest Hideout
November 1st
6:30 PM
Lyra's ear swiveled suddenly to the secret knocking technique on the doorbell rock. She levitated the large board used as a makeshift door to the right, and Will walked in. He dumped the veggies on the pile of rock used as a table. "Soups up, Lyra!" he announced with a playful tone.
"You actually got the stuff?! THANK YOU, I'M STARVING! You're the best!" she mumbled between huge mouthfuls of alfalfa.
"No problemo! Anytime!" Will responded. "Now, didn't you say that there was something important you needed to tell me?
"Oh yeah!" Lyra gasped, getting dragged down from her heaven of all-you-can-alfalfa. "Sit down, I know exactly where to start!" Will obeyed and sat on the lawn chair he brought to the hideout. He had taught Lyra about it, how it was his getaway spot he had built himself. In the process, he also let her in on the secrets of the knock he had only told his closest, most trusted friends. You had to rap in a wave pattern, like a W. It made a specific noise only Will recognized and he let that person in. So to be the one that knocked was very foreign to Will, to say the least.
* * *
"So the obvious first question..." Will said, mouth full of Oreo. "...is obviously how the absolute fuck to you use your horn all those different ways."
"Oh, that's easy. It's magic." Lyra said, dropping the bomb.
"MAGIC?! HOLY SHIT! MAGICAL UNICORNS ARE REAL!! HOLY SHIT, HOLY SHIT, HOLY SHIT..."
"Jeez, was it something I said?" Lyra sniggered.
"It's just... wow! This completely destroys science as we know it!" Will did a trinity prayer, effectively saying R.I.P. science.
"You mean to say you humans don't have any magic? Aww bummer, I was going to ask you to make me one of you," Lyra sighed with disappointment.
"Wait? What? You wanted ME to turn YOU into a HUMAN?!" Will shouted, shocked at Lyra's confession.
"Yeaaaah... I kind of am obsessed with... humans," Lyra admitted.
"Well, that explains your actions before. Why are you so obsessed?" Will pressed further.
"It's a psychological thing. My doctor said the thought of a bipedal stimulated my desire to touch them and/or be a human."
"That's not... creepy at all..." said Will, shuddering at the sudden "pictures" that filled his head. He ate a large Snickers bar to calm down.
"Yeah, it's pretty weird. But, aside from that, I actually graduated an advanced magic program and have quite a few spells under my belt," she bragged.
"Oh, so this is where you explain the various magical acts you performed on me right?" Will asked.
"Yup!"
* * *
"So first things first," Lyra said. "I performed the Leviathan spell to levitate things, like the bullet out of your shoulder, that rock, and the pencil when I wrote my food request. It's an extremely simple spell used by most unicorns. Tons of combinations with other spells are possible through simple tweaks in the spell's scripting."
"Oh! So it's like the Hydrogen of spells; very basic and combines with tons of other atoms in different ways through bonding to create the many substances on Earth."
"Uh.. yeah... sure... Heh heh..." Lyra laughed awkwardly. She had no idea what the hell Will had just said. "Sooooo, anyway... Then there's the Purification Spell. Now you probably didn't ever see me use it, but I actually used twice in the span that I have met you."
"Huh?"
"Just take a good look at my neck and your shoulder under the bandage. You will see what I am talking about."
"What about your neck... WAIT WHAT? I CUT YOUR FUCKING NECK OPEN, HOW HAVE YOU HEALED ALREADY?" Will screamed in complete shock and bewilderment.
"Yes, I know. I fixed it with the Purification Spell. I also closed your shoulder and repaired the tissue while I was removing the bullet."
"Wow, that is absolutely incredible! Healing spells exist!" Will was flabberghasted in amazement. "So that's why the pain stopped so suddenly, you didn't just remove it, you completely fixed it!"
"I didn't think you could handle a healing spell. So disguised it as a Leviathan-only cast by covering you with a magic gauze. It was enchanted with the Purification Spell as well to make sure the bullet hole stayed closed."
"You crafty son of a bitch!" Will laughed. "Looks like you made the right move, I fainted over just Leviathan! God forbid what would have happened if you wouldn't have done that. I'd probably have had a mental breakdown!"
"That would not have ended well for both of us," Lyra said with a frown, shaking her head.
"No, it wouldn't of..." Will agreed.
* * *
"So, are there any others you haven't told me about?" Will asked.
"Oh yeah, there is one more. And it's a doozy." Lyra replied with a smirk.
"You mean that lightning spell that almost killed me?"
"Nope. I'm only talking about spells that aren't normal acts here. Elecrobolt is a self-explanatory spell. Unless you don't have lightning here, which I highly doubt," Lyra said, rolling her eyes.
"No, we do. Alright then, it's a spell that is an action a being without magic can't perform. Hmmm..." Suddenly, the answer hit Will. "Wait, how did you get to my house without knowing where it was? ...Don't tell me... please don't tell me... DID YOU FUCKING TELEPORT?!"
"Bingo, you hit the nail on the head!" Lyra screeched.
"WHAAAAT?! HOW?! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" Will screamed, officially freaking out again.
"No, it's completely possible. All I needed was your address silly. It is a coordinate plane Matter-Displacement Spell, and for some reason whenever I cast it here on Earth, a map appears in my head. From there all I have to do is plug in the information and jump to the point that shows up. This doesn't usually work where I'm from; you need to see the place yourself and use a normal Matter-Displacement Spell to make the jump. The reason it was created was if the royal wizards ever found out a way to enchant a map to deliver information to the horn."
"Wait... okay, I think I get it. But HOW? And where the hell did you get my fucking address?
"The card in your bag tells alllll," Lyra said like a fortune teller. "I just plugged the info from your card into the spell and jumped to the point on the map. As for how... well... raw Teleportation Spells always use wormholes and copying of matter. The pony using the spell looks like they are traveling faster than the speed of light!"
"No, no, no... Not that how. How is your horn connecting with the GPS Satellites?"
"Gee Pee Ess? Sata light?" Lyra asked.
"Lyra, I'll have you know that the description of the map you gave me is identical from that of a GPS, or Global Positioning System."
"Global... Positioning... Oh! I get it! It's like a global destination finder."
"Yes Lyra, it was developed for the army originally, but soon became publicly useable. Satellites are objects that orbit planets or large bodies in space. Likewise, the 12 GPS Satellites revolve around the Earth each day. For data transmission, there are satellite dishes on each one that collects and immediately sends back data about the Earth's surface, which GPS systems around the globe pick up. Humans can use that data to plot a path to their destination."
"Oh, so you think my horn is being read as a GPS?" Lyra said as she put two and two together.
"Yes, and the information is being sent to your brain."
"Ohhh... I see." Lyra spoke suddenly.
"You would proceed to use your brain to plot the destination," Will explained. "And then you would use the Matter-Displacement Spell because you knew exactly the distance and how far over you needed to go. In other words, you used yourself as Point A, and the destination as Point B. The slope of the line created would then determine your path."
"Wow, you sure know your math Willy!"
"Thanks! I take Algebra II quite seriously," Will responded, full of pride.
* * *
"So you teleported me home, and then put me on the couch?" Will said, dropping his second rhetorical question of the day. "Oh, I'm so sorry I tried to kill you! You did so much for me!"
"Like you said, water under the bridge. You were afraid. That much is normal after seeing a magical being for the first time."
"Still... I wonder... where does humanity's fear of magic come from?" Will asked nobody in particular.
"That... I don't know. Those cops that I killed in self-defense were scared to the bone of me."
"Oh yeah! Can you tell me exactly about what happened? My school closed for a week because of that!" Will vigorously responded. "And while we are at it, tell me why and how you got here?"
"No prob! Let's start with the second part!"
* * *
Lyra began her story with a violent throat clearing. "HMMHMM, so, as you know Will, I am a talking equine. I come from a land of Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and my kind, Unicorns. I received specific instructions for some reason to not tell you the name, and as for who gave me the instructions and why I'm here... Well, let's just say I'm a royal boundary crosser."
"Wait, royal boundary crosser? You mean you were sent here by a royal family? What boundary did you cross?" Will fired away.
"I'm only at liberty to answer the first and third one. If you want the answer to the second one, you will have to talk to them yourself."
"But..." Will mumbled. "Okay fine, fine. If that's what they said. Wow! Normal ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns?! Full house!"
"Heh heh, yeah. So anyway, the point I'm trying to make is I was sent over the boundary from my homeland."
"Wait, why would they send you on such a dangerous mission. Humans hate what they can't explain!"
"Well, the first thing was, ever since a ...certain chain of events involving Norse mythology I was involved in, our leaders became interested in the human race.
"Oh yeah... I've heard of Norse mythology. Isn't it that belief that there are Nine Worlds with multiple levels surrounding a giant tree?" Will asked. "And aren't there strecthes of land that teleport you if you walk along them, effectively allowing you to travel to anywhere in the Nine Worlds? What were they called... Ways?
"Did you hear about the explosions on Mt. Azazel?" Lyra said without answering Will's question.
"At this point, Will spit the sip of a Watermelon-Strawberry Ice he was currently drinking all over Lyra. "NO! HOLY SHIT! THAT WAS YOU PONIES?!"
"Well, no, it was actually a power-hungry, morally distraught sister of somepony I was helping out. She was fighting the king of a magical sword for control of, well, basically the universe."
"I don't even wanna know..." Will facepalmed.
* * *
After a long silence, Will finally spoke. "So wait, you just said "somepony". I also remember earlier you said "bucking" rather than the f-bomb. Are there like, pony versions of certain words?"
"Pony versions? You mean the Equestrian language?"
"Uhhh... so I'm guessing that's how you normally speak then?" Will said with a puzzled face.
"Well, what do you say then? I remember faintly you using it couple times."
"Someone?" Will answered.
"Yes, someone! Is that how you say it? Wow! My first human word! I'm gonna use it all the time from now on! SOMEONE! SOMEONE! SOMEONE!
"Haha, stop it, you're gonna break my fucking ear drums."
"FUCK, FUCK, FUCK! Wow, it rolls off your tongue so much better than buck! Let me try!" Lyra then cleared her throat again and spoke in a tone that almost sounded exactly like Will. "Hi, I'm Will, and I like fucking trees!" Will fell on the dirt floor, crying how hard he was laughing.
* * *
When the spell of laughter between the two finally died, Will said "Well, pony just learned her first no-no word. Enjoy it you dirty-mouthed whorese!"
"Haha, very clever Willy."
"Thanks?" Will said sarcastically. "Man, we are getting side-tracked! Can you continue your story?"
"Yeah, so long story short. I traveled to Cleveland from New York..."
"Wait, sorry to interrupt, but I remember you saying during my fit of insanity where I tried to kill you that you needed to tell me something... Why you're here right?" Will remembered.
"I'm getting to that, be patient."
"Okay, sorry..." Will sighed.
"So, as I was saying, I was told to travel from New York to Cleveland."
"Oh my god..." Will gasped.
"And as you can probably tell, I was sent to find you Will," Lyra said as she put her right forehoof to Will's chest.
"You mean to tell me, that a member of a royal family from a foreign country sent you to find me? But I'm just a teenager in high school."
"That's not what She said," Lyra spoke, putting emphasis on she. "Said ruler proclaimed you were special, the kind of special She needs right now. You see, the Norse incident opened the door for us ponies to other parts of the Nine Worlds. For thousands upon thousands of years, we thought we the only life. But when the doors were opened, our leaders jumped all over the possibility of things like trade and diplomacy. We found out that Earth was connected to my country, however, a certain magical barrier prevented us from exploring. We don't know who cast it or how many millennia it had been there. All we knew, was that the barrier kept us invisible from you and vice-versa. That's why we used the Ways to travel to these different parts until the royal wizards came up with barrier crossing spells."
"Wait, so how does this have to do with you?"
"I had accompanied the party of the Norse incident. So, as an "expert" in humans and human contact, She sent me, of all ponies! She sent me to find Will, a 14-year old male who has the maturity of an adult and a special gift. She told me to travel through a Way that had been discovered in the South Luna Ocean. A perfect sandbar that never decreased in elevation; and it leads straight to New York City coastline. The reason it's so special is that the way runs straight into the barrier. She sent me as a test to try this new spell she enchanted me with. She also wanted to see if the sandbar Way was a viable method of bringing humans to our land. She thought it was the perfect opportunity to find you, She had been trying to contact you for a while now. The barrier was tricky, though, and She finally decided to send a pony to get you."
"Wow, all that? For me?" Will observed.
"There's more, much more." Lyra returned. "As your know, the ruler told me I would need to travel to a city called Cleveland, Ohio. However, She also said the perfect place to stake you out was your High School."
"Ohhhh, so that's why you were stalking the school," Will said as he started putting everything together. He grabbed a bag of chips and followed up with "You know, you freaked out the US. There were sightings of you that spread over the internet like a wildfire."
"Awwww... Was I really that popular?"
"Yup, and not the good kind." Will shook his head.
"So then those sightings were why the police came and hunted me! Damn, I would be dead right now if my Electrobolt missed even one of them! When they saw me, they instantly stopped talking. The next thing I remember is one of the officers screamed "HOLY SHIT, WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING! SHOOT IT!" and I had five rifles loaded and pointing directly at my head. When I fried 'em, it was in self-defense. I had an adrenaline rush of magic called a magical surge. Surges only happen in response to stimulus and their products of magic are hard to replicate. My zap must have been enormous if I hit all five of them!"
All Will could do was stare with tiny pupils and listen.
"So, after I disposed of the bodies, I hid for a day. I didn't want to cause any more commotion. I didn't run into anyone for two whole days by moving around a ton. It was important that I was keeping the officers on their toes, and it worked! At least it did work until someone had to come trotin' along and ruin my streak." Lyra pouted sarcastically, hitting Will in the ribs with her hoof.
"Haha, I still blame the officer, he was making a huge bullshit out of the situation," Will accused.
"Seriously, though, you saved my life back then. That shot could have killed me if you didn't take the hit."
"Yeah... I'm glad that my shoulder bone stopped the bullet. All my effort would have been for naught if it would have kept going and hit you..." Will said, omitting the details about the vision. What truly would have happened if Will didn't step in. He remembered during the confrontation that she had faked not being scared of the officer, claiming that the bullet would have probably hit a non-lethal spot. The last thing Lyra needed to know was that eye-staining future sight. She was right. That bullet was destined to miss Lyra's vital organs...
* * *
"And that's pretty much it!" Lyra said, concluding her story. "You've seen slash caused everything else that's happened!"
"Okay, now I think I get what is going on." Will started summarizing the story. "So you've basically been sent by a royal pony to find me because I'm special. You crossed a giant sandbar Way thing and wound up in New York. You then traveled to Cleveland and hung around my school. You were confronted by police officers which you killed in self-defense. Then, you hid until the commotion settled down. Finally, you almost got shot listening in on the conversation between me and the officer."
"Sounds about right!"
"But one thing still, remains a mystery... What do you mean by I'm special?"
Lyra inhaled and exhaled deeply, finished the last carrot, and got real close to Will. She had been waiting for this moment, the time where she finally got to explain where they need to go. "That, I can explain, but only through a physical presentation. You need to come with me back to New York, to the Way."
Will was completely dumbstruck. He was snapped out of it when he heard his phone vibrate in his backpack. He opened up the zipper and took it out, turning it on. The screen showed a message from his mom: The milkshakes are done, come inside when you want yours!
Suddenly, Will got pulled back down to reality. What the heck was he about to agree to do?! Was he seriously going to cross the country with a frickin' Unicorn?!
I can't just leave my family to go to New York! he thought. But... I promised... he tried to reassure himself. But it was to no avail. NO, I can't to that! I'm 14 years old! I can't just travel across the country! Finally, he came up with what he was going to say.
His eyes teared up. "Wait, I'm sorry Lyra, but I can't just leave my family and go to New York with you. I'm so sorry." Will said through sobs.
"Huh? But..."
"You are just going to have to find another person. Someone who isn't bound to a family," Will sniffled.
"Will, there aren't others like you! Please, you have to do this! I'm sorry but your family isn't important right now!"
At that statement, Will burst into tears. He put his head on the rock table and covered his ears with his hands. "I... I just don't know what to do... Should I go, or should I... AGHHH!"
"Will..."
"I... I..." Will stuttered.
* * *
Will
Will's eyes opened slowly. "Huh, where am... Oh, I must have done something my brain doesn't like again," he said, realizing he was back in the vision chamber. Suddenly, the familiar empty space lit up. However, this time, instead of a future vision, it showed Will making the promise to Lyra he currently was considering not keeping.
It just kept playing over and over again. I'm so sorry Lyra, I've got to make this right. I'm going to fix her up and apologize. Then I'm gonna hear all the crap she has to say and do whatever she wants me to do. I promise to do this without fail. I'm so sorry Lyra, I've got to make this right. I'm going to fix her up and apologize. Then I'm gonna hear all the crap she has to say and do whatever she wants me to do. I promise to do this without fail. "...Alright, I get it... I promised her. But what about my family? I can't just..."
"WILL!" a loud voice spoke.
"Huh? Who's there?"
"IT'S ME, YOUR BRAIN! I'M HERE TO HELP YOUR THROUGH THIS!" the voice echoed. "I SEE YOU ARE HAVING A HARD TIME DECIDING WHETHER YOU SHOULD HELP LYRA OR NOT! SO I AM GOING TO ASK YOU TWO THINGS!
"O-okay?"
"ONE, DO YOU TRUST LYRA?" the brain boomed.
"Yes! Yes, I do!"
"GOOD! NOW TWO, DO YOU TRUST YOURSELF?"
"Uhh... can you elaborate?"
"DO YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU CAN KEEP YOURSELF OUT ALIVE AND RETURN SAFELY HOME TO YOUR FAMILY SOMEDAY?"
"Ummm... I hope so?
"WILL, YOU NEED TO KNOW SO!"
Will pondered his brain's words. "You know... you're right! I do trust that everything will work out okay in the end!"
"GOOD! SO WILL YOU DO IT?
"Yes!"
"WHY?"
"BECAUSE I PROMISED HER!" Will screamed with the intensity that his brain had been talking in.
"GOOD! NOW KNOW THIS. I WILL ALWAYS BE WITH YOU. IF YOU EVER NEED ANY HELP, I'M ALWAYS UP THERE WAITING FOR YOU! YOUR ABILITY TO CONTACT YOUR OWN BRAIN MAKES YOU VERY SPECIAL!"
Will responded by pumping his right fist to his chest.
"OH WAIT! THAT REMINDS ME! YOU WILL NEED SOMETHING... TURNED ON... FOR WHERE YOU ARE GOING.
"Turned on?"
"YOU WILL SEE WHEN YOU GET THERE. TRUST ME! NOW I MUST GO, GOOD LUCK! REMEMBER, I'M WITH YOU "TILL THE BITTER END!"
"Brain, you are so amazing..." Will said as everything went white.
"THANK... you... Will..." his brain replied with decreasing volume. And then he was gone.
* * *
"Will... Will! WILL! WAKE UP!" Lyra screamed, shaking Will's unconscious body. Suddenly, Will jerked awake.
"Are you okay Will? Lyra asked with worry.
"Yeah... sorry... I must have passed out from stress."
"No, no. It's my fault... It's okay if you don't want to do it. I underst..."
"Lyra, stop."
"Will?"
"I promised that in order to make up for what I did to you that I would do anything you wanted me to do, and by God I'm gonna stick to my promise!"
"No, Will, you don't have to..."
"I've made up my mind! Lyra, even if it means running away from my family, I promise I will go with you to the end of the Earth and beyond!"
"...You are truly amazing Will..." Lyra said, her eyes damp with tears.
* * *
"You almost done with the teleportation prep?" Will asked Lyra, who was busy charging the spell.
"Almost! Do you have all your stuff?
"Yup!" Will said, putting his last pack of Oreos back in the bag.
"Alright! Hang on one more sec!" she called.
"Okay!"
He then grabbed the backpack, but his phone went off. He realized he had not responded to his mom yet.
* * *
Will could not stop looking a the text. He finally gained the courage to respond. He wrote: Okay mom! Keep it cold for me! I'll be home eventually!
Will's mom responded with: Okay, see you soon!
"I hope that's true Mom... Please, God. Please let me see my fucking family again. Otherwise, that milkshake is gonna be in the fridge for a loooong time." he said to himself.
"Alright, I'm ready Will! You ready?" Lyra asked.
"Yup... Let's do this..."
"Come over here," Lyra ordered.
"Okay!" Will ran over.
"Hold on tight and close your eyes!" she said, holding out a hoof. Will grabbed tightly and squeezed the ball.
"HERE WE GO!" she cried. She then discharged the spell and the two disappeared with a flash.
* * *
New York City ~ Shoreline
November 1st
8:00 PM
"Ohhhh shit! I'm never fucking doing that again! That was mindfuck levels of trippy! Ughhh... I don't feel so good." Will started to kneel down.
"Awww... Willy's first teleport! It's more entertaining a newborn foal's first reaction when they fall after taking their first steps!" Lyra teased.
"Lyra..." Will said, clutching his spinning head. He plopped face first into the sand. "Go fuck yourself..." He was barely audible, muffled by the sandy gag.
"Would if I could Will, would if I could."
* * *
"So, what do you want to show me?" Will asked. He was being blindfolded by Lyra's magic and lead by a magic grip on his hand pulling him forward.
"Shhhh... It's a surprise." Lyra hushed. Looking around as to make sure no one was around. It was dark and in the middle of the fall, so there weren't any people on the beach, as it was quite frigid. Lyra and Will didn't seem to mind though. Lyra's warm coat was keeping her insulated and Will just never gave a fuck about cold temperatures. Still, she had to be sure. They couldn't have people stopping them now, not when they were so close.
"Ughhh... How much longer?" Will complained like an anxious toddler on a long car trip. "Where the fuck are your taking me?"
"Here!" Lyra said, suddenly stopping. She removed Will's blindfold and let go of his hand. She then lit up her horn like a flashlight, illuminating the area.
* * *
"Wow! That's amazing!"
"I know right?" Lyra said. This "way" is pretty unique, the way it cuts into the water like that.
"So, you want me to cross this sandbar right? You said it doesn't decrease in elevation?
"Nope, it's so cool. The sand bar is like a cliff when you look underwater. The discoverer, the royal family member that requested you, showed me pictures." Lyra said.
"You guys have waterproof cameras?"
"Yeah, but they are expensive and only used by people with cutie marks in Photography," she elaborated.
"Cutie marks?"
"Oh, these butt tattoo things." Lyra showed him hers, a golden harp. "Ask what they are when you get there."
"Okay?... Wait, you're not going with me?" Will asked, afraid suddenly.
"I'm sorry, but I have to stay here. Sending you through the barrier was my primary assignment, but I was also assigned to study the human race and report my findings. I still have a lot of data to collect." she apologized glumly. "I was also told that you had to go in alone, no one could help you until you crossed."
"Who the hell came up with that ass?"
"Someone with thousands of years of experience under her weary eyes. I trust Her, you should too. She knows what She is talking about." Lyra said with utmost respect, yet still cracking a giddy smile over the fact she said "someone".
"Alright, I'm trusting you on this, and her."
"Don't worry! She wouldn't endanger you!" she replied. "After all, you can see the barrier."
"Huh?"
"Wait, you can see that static out there on the horizon right?" She shone a beam of light down the sand bar. "Cause I can't."
"...No, I can't either..."
* * *
"...ill. W..ill. Will! Can you hear me?"
Wait! Brain? Is that you? WIll said to his brain through thought.
"Yes, it is me! Your brain! This is what I was talking about when I said turning something on!
What are you going to do? And do you know what I am trying to see here?
"I'm curious myself! I just need to adjust your eyes. Hang on!
Suddenly, the world flashed. Will reeled in sudden mental pain and he squeezed his eyes shut. "Gah!" he said out loud!
"Will?! Are you okay?! Lyra screamed.
"Looks like your in pain!" Will's brain remarked.
NO SHIT SHERLOCK! NOW CAN YOU HELP ME?
"Kid, don't be afraid. Open your eyes! The pain will go away!"
Okay...
* * *
When Will opened his eyes, everything was different. The world's colors were clearer. He could pick out different shades of black in the night sky. He gasped and turned around. The city looked amazing. There was no shine coming off the buildings and streetlights. Everything could be seen in its natural beauty as if he was wearing a pair of fancy glare-cancelling sunglasses. He then looked down at the sand and saw not only white, but shades of pink, yellow, and orange. It was amazing.
Brain? Did you do this?
"Yes! I adjusted your eyes, or as you put it in TV terms, turned on High Definition Mode."
So that's what you meant by turn on something!
"Correct again! Do you like the colors? I sure do!"
It's so god damn beautiful! The Atlantic Ocean looks fucking insane! So many hues of green and blue and purple, swirling around...
"But, do you wonder how you can see these things?"
Huh?
"Will, it's nighttime. Tell me you've noticed by now!
Oh yeah! I kind of forgot. The sky didn't look like night anymore. It was just shades of black covered in beautiful speckles... Oh shit... don't tell me!...
"Will you can, now, as of 8:15 PM on November 1st, see invisible magic and in the dark."
WHAT!
"Will!" Lyra screamed!
"GAH! WHAT LYRA!
"I've been screaming your name! Are you okay! You started spacing out after looking for the barr... Will? Your eyes... They are glowing!"
"My work here is done! Good luck!" Will's brain said to Will.
* * *
Will said nothing, he just stared at the giant spiral of sparks that extended up to space.
"Can you see it now?" Lyra asked, finally breaking the silence.
"I do! There are sparks coming off of it! It's a cylindrical shape and it extends for miles upward!
"That was the exact description She gave me! She was right, you are special!"
"Wait, by special, did you mean..."
Lyra nodded, reading his mind. "My country is invisible to all humans, except for you. You can see through the Way to the different worlds like no one else can. That barrier is also invisible, but not just to humans. Ponies can't see it as well, but it seems through your gift you can see it's staticky surface."
"I can also see in the dark apparently!" Will said, looking up and down and all around with his new flashlights for eyes. "Wait, Lyra? What would happen if ships hit that?"
"You need a special spell to pass through the barrier... Speaking of which!" Lyra zapped Will with magic. "The barrier also rejects non-living matter. If detects any, everything is instantly vaporized."
"So that's why ships always disappear near there! Scientists have been trying to figure out what happens and where the ships go!"
"Ugh... poor guys! They are probably floating around in the atmosphere, scattered into 100 octillion atoms.
"Wait, if that's true, how am I going to get through with my stuff?"
"I have a bypass spell," Lyra said as she grabbed Will's backpack and shot it with a beam. "There, now the barrier can read it!"
"Sweet."
* * *
"So is that everything you need to tell me?" Will asked to be absolutely sure.
"Yup, you are truly the person we are looking for! It's an honor to be the first pony to meet our savior... or whatever She wanted with you..." Lyra said with her typical sass.
"Awww... Thanks! Alright! I'm ready to go!"
"You sure?" Lyra asked, making sure they weren't missing the final .01% of the equation.
Will nodded. "Let's do this."
* * *
New York City ~ Coastline
November 1st
8:30 PM
"Bye Lyra, thanks for everything!" Will cried as loud as he could. Lyra still only barely made out what he said.
"No problem! Good luck!" she waved.
"You too!" he responded
Will could barely make out Lyra's grateful smile. He then turned around and continued has wade through the swallow water across the sandbar.
"He's so nice..." Lyra said to herself.
...
Suddenly, she gasped. "Oh shit! I forgot to enchant him with the Barrier-Warp Cancellation Spell! Celestia told me that the barrier was magical and acted as a random teleporter to Equestria. If he goes through the barrier in his current state, he's going to get dropped in a random, possibly dangerous, spot in Equestria!" She then started screaming to him. "WILL! PLEASE COME BACK! I FORGOT TO DO SOMETHING VITAL!" Sadly, it was to no avail, as Will was too far out of earshot. Lyra also couldn't stop him now, per Celestia's orders.
"Oh, shit! What have I done!"
* * *
Sandbar ~ Barrier
November 1st
9:30 PM
Will had been treading through the shallow water for a good hour now. He ignored his phone's insane vibrations. His mom must have been losing her shit at home, as her son was not answering and it was pitch black outside. As much as it pained him, he kept pressing on through his mothers' suffering. There was nowhere he could go but forward now. He had gone too far to turn back.
The giant static cylinder of pure energy kept getting bigger and bigger. When he finally reached it, he felt like an atom how... is there even a word to describe the sheer size of the barrier? It amazed him now that he could see it how no one else could; you could probably see this thing from space! "This must have taken INSANE amounts of magic. God damn! This is fucking impressive as hell!" He said as he continued on to the entrance.
He edged closer to the barrier, slowly, until his face was inches from the portal. A static spark hit him and made his hair stick straight up. "Hmmm..." he hummed. "I wonder how to approach this?" He then proceeded with sticking a finger slowly in, nothing happened. Then a hand, same result. Foot, no surprise there. Finally, he tried his backpack, and when he didn't instantly die, he was satisfied with his tests.
"Alright, I'm going in," he said with flaming determination. Inhaling slowly, he turned around to get one last look at a human city. New York City's lights were foggy, even for his now godly eyesight. "I must be leaving Earth... I can barely make out anything back there..." Will then exhaled and turned back around, the barrier meeting his gaze. He was ready for this! "There's no going back now!"
Suddenly he ran headfirst into the barrier. Energy and darkness swallowed him whole and threw his unprotected body to a random place in Equestria.
* * *
Celestia
????
????
????
There was a sudden jerk.
Celestia sensed the disturbance in the barrier.
"Finally, our liberator has arrived." she whispered.
CHAPTER 2 ~ IMPACT
Wonderbolts Complex ~ Security Tower
November 1st
9:45 PM
A lone guard sat in the security tower. His job was to watch the runway and make note of Wonderbolt departures and arrivals. The goal was to not let Wonderbolts crash into each other. It wasn't strange then, that at first when he saw a streak of brown light enveloped by electricity, it didn't faze him. However, as the trail of light approached, his trained eyes picked up signs that this pony wasn't flying, he was falling! "Oh god, he's going to be seriously injured! I have to do..."
It was too late to do anything; the meteoric pony smashed into the grass beside the tarmac with a giant CRASH followed by a large ZAP.
* * *
Spitfire
Wonderbolts Complex ~ Captain's Office
November 1st
9:50 PM
"Ughhhh... I HATE PAPERWORK!" Spitfire screamed, banging her desk. "It always keeps me here in until the middle of the bucking night! I really wish something would happen right now... I need somepony to yell at! To take my stress out on!
As if Spitfire's wish were granted, Fleetfoot busted straight in the room, gasping for breath. Spitfire, finding the perfect opportunity, jumped out of her seat and started flapping her golden wings. She slipped on her sunglasses and craned her neck down to meet Fleetfoot's sweaty face. Spitfire got in real close before bellowing as loud as she possibly could. "HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU KNOCK ON THE CELESTIA DAMN DOOR BEFORE YOU ENTER YOUR SUPERIOR'S OFFICE YOU BUCKING MAGGOT?! DROP AND GIVE ME TWENTY, NOW! CLOP CLOP!
"But... General Spit..."
"DID I ASK YOU FOR YOUR BUCKING OPINION MAGGOT! TWENTY WING-UPS! TODAY WOULD BE NICE!"
"YES MA'AM!" Fleetfoot replied finally with absolute fear.
"THAT'S RIGHT! UP, DOWN! I WANT TO HEAR THOSE BONES SNAP! COME ON, I'VE SEEN PEGASI AT BUCKING RETIREMENT HOMES DO TWICE AS MANY AS YOU HAVE IN HALF THE TIME! LET'S GO, LET'S GO, LET'S GO!" Spitfire put her rear right hoof on Fleetfoot's back, flapping her wings to stay in a bipedal position. "COME ON, THAT'S ONLY TEN! WE DON'T HAVE ALL DAY! YOU WANNA KNOW WHY? BECAUSE IT'S BUCKING NIGHT! SO STOP TAKING YOUR SWEET ASS TIME AND MOVE YOUR BUCKING BODY!" Spitfire then proceeded to repeatedly stomp down of on Fleetfoot's back with her hoof.
"Ughhh... nyeh..." was all that Fleetfoot kept managing to get out through the pain, breathing, and Spitfire's ear-shattering screaming.
* * *
When they were done, Spitfire flew up in the biped position and crossed her forehooves. "So Colonel Flatfoot! What did you want to tell me?" Spitfire asked decently calmly, feeling relieved after taking her stress out on Fleetfoot. She was still shouting, though.
Fleetfoot was pissed. "YOU WANNA KNOW WHAT I BUCKING WANT SIR? THE GUARD IN THE BUCKING RUNWAY SECURITY TOWER SENT ME TO GET YOU! HE SAID IT WAS URGENT AND YOU GO AHEAD WASTING TWO DAMN MINUTES MAKING ME DO BUCKING WING-UPS!
"Well! Why the hay didn't you say that in the first pla..." Spitfire was cut off by Fleetfoot smashing her hoof against the ground. Her eyes told Spitfire she would have had a knife through her face if she had finished those last two letters.
"Oh, yeah... Sorry!" Spitfire grinned in embarrassment.
"...Never mind, let's just go... General Shitfire." Fleetfoot grumbled, but with an added smirk at the end.
The use of Spitfire's trainee nickname broke any resistance she had left. "Defeated by my own subordinate... Buck my life!" she snarled to herself, slamming the door behind her. Fleetfoot snickered the entire way down the corridor.
* * *
Wonderbolts Complex ~ Airstrip
November 1st
9:55 PM
The two mares came zooming in. Spitfire came in forward and skidded to a stop, while Fleetfoot descended from higher up. There was a large group of Wonderbolts, managers, doctors, and guards surrounding something in the grass beside the tarmac of the Firefly Airstrip. It was built and designed by General Firefly for efficient takeoffs and was one of the many great achievements he accomplished for the Wonderbolts. His proud runway was the scene of something else tonight, though.
"Alright, make way!" Spitfire shouted as she trotted through the crowd. Fleetfoot stayed close behind her. Those in her way shouted "Yes General Spitfire!" and promptly backed away, making a column of space for her to trot through. The parting of ponies revealed another smaller, group consisting of Admiral Soarin' of the Alpha Squadron, a few elite Wonderbolt doctors, and a watchtower guard who was busy talking to the said ponies.
Soarin' was the first to notice Spitfire and Fleetfoot; he proceeded to wave them over. "Fleetfoot, Spitfire sir! What took you so long? As the new head of all the Squadrons and the Leader of the Wonderbolts you two are the last ponies I expected to show up so slowly!"
"Sorry Soarin', we got... held up," Fleetfoot responded with bitterness. She was staring daggers at Spitfire, who responded by blushing and cracking a toothy smile.
"It's okay, it was just urgent. We need consent from you before you do anything," he said, causing Fleetfoot to punch Spitfire with her wing.
"Okay, I get it, jeez! I'm sorry!" Spitfire said a little too loudly. She started blushing profusely again.
"Uhhh... girls?" Soarin' said, completely out of the loop. "Is there a problem?"
* * *
"What's the big commotion about?" Spitfire asked as she approached the doctors. They responded by moving out of the way and pointing to a brown and black lump on the ground. It was a tan pegasus with a spiky, frizzy, jet-black mane and tail. The latter which looked like the leaf of a pineapple. He also didn't have a cutie mark, despite seeming to be middle aged. There was a huge, charred crater around him and a skid mark depicting that he had hit the ground with considerable force. "What the buck?! Who the hay is this stallion and what happened for him to crash like this?" Spitfire shot. Everypony responded by giving blank stares. "Well? Someone had to have seen something!"
"Oh yes sorry! I think I can shed some light on what happened." the watchtower guard proclaimed. "Sorry, missed your question the first time, Medical Mutual over here asked me a question as well," he said, pointing a forehoof towards a cream unicorn with a goatee and a cutie mark of a lock with a heart connected to a group of five ponies.
"All right, elaborate!" Spitfire said with her usual harsh tone.
"Yes, sir!" The Watchtower guard began, restarting his story for Spitfire and Fleetfoot. "My shift was in the Security Tower tonight! I was just doing my job when suddenly my eyes are attracted to a brown comet that bursts out of the cloud line. At first, I though it was Lighting Streak coming in with a new color of lightning, but I realized too late that it was a pony falling not flying. I couldn't deploy the net in time, I'm sorry..."
"Hey, buck up! There was no way you could have caught him, he came in too fast! I saw it from the roof, and I wasn't even quick enough!" Soarin' justified.
"Yeah, for there to be such a big crater he had to have come down pretty hard," Spitfire observed.
"Thanks for understanding..." the guard said with a smile. "But that begs the question! Who is this pony General Spitfire?"
"That's what I'm gonna find out!"
* * *
"How's the examination going?" Spitfire asked the head doctor, a unicorn named Bone Fracture that specialized in bone spells, as signified by his broken bone cutie mark.
"He's not dead, he's just unconscious. It's amazing, even after landing this hard, he only had a bruised ribcage from skidding on his side. Nothing was broken or damaged," he reported. "He has some of the strongest bones out of anypony I've ever seen."
"Wow, that's incredible. This pony must drink a lot of milk. You hear that, cadets? You're all on a milk diet from now on! We need to be able to crash like this with minimal injury!"
"That's not a bad idea General, but remember, he landed on his side, so none of his vital organs even had a chance of being damaged." Bone Fracture retorted.
"Still something worth trying!"
"Whatever you say..." he sighed.
* * *
"Hey, everypony! I found something!" Surprise suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs, causing everyone to jump, even Spitfire.
"Celestia dammit, every time!" Spitfire screamed, cueing insane laughter from Surprise. She had an odd-looking saddlebag hanging from her left forehoof.
"Suprise! Ahhahahaha! Dang, I wasn't even trying that time! You guys are so easy!" she responded.
At that, everyone started genuinely laughing at Suprise's crazy antics.
"All right! That was a good one Slowpoke! Now, what did you find? I'm presuming it's that weird saddlebag you got there."
"Ding-dong!" she squealed. "I traced his impact path and found this on a crazy thick thundercloud he crashed through. Wasn't heavy enough to squeeze through it. A normal pony or unicorn could probably stand on that thing!"
"Ah! So that's why he had electricity spiraling around him!" The Tower guard said.
"Well, is there anything in the bag?" Bone Fracture suggested.
"It feels like it. It's pretty heavy. Let's take a look!" Surprise said, but then stopped. "Huh? Where's the opening flap? And what's this small metallic thing?" She was prodding a zipper, something she had never seen before.
"Let me see..." Bone Fracture said. "Aha!" He then flashed his horn and slowly unzipped the bag with his magic. "Wow, this is advanced!
"Must be a new brand of bag." Surprise shrugged. She then dug through it with Bone Fracture. "What are... Oreos?" She grabbed the OPEN HERE plastic with her mouth and opened the package. "Ooooo! Cookies!" she screamed, sticking one in her mouth. "Mmmmmm... Oh, my... sweet Celestia! Where do you get these things! THEY ARE SOOOOOOO GOOD!" She went for another one, but Bone Fracture grabbed them away with his magic.
"Stop eating this poor pony's food!" he said.
"Awww... but cookies!!" She said with puppy dog eyes.
.
..
...
....
"FINE! TAKE ONE! CELESTIA!" He screamed, finally succumbing to Surprise's death stare and angrily passing her another Oreo with his magic. She promptly jumped up and snatched out of the air with a "HAY YES!"
"Well, this is weird," Spitfire said, finally having something to contribute to the conversation. "First, a new brand of saddlebags, that doesn't look like it fits anypony I might add. Second, snacks that nopony has ever heard of. This guy must be from a big city. Manehattan? No, Las Pegasus. There are crazy products big businesses make there, plus there's the fact he's a pegasus. He probably was traveling or something."
"I actually doubt he his from either of those cities." Bone Fracture stated. "Take a look at this!" He passed a card to Spitfire.
"If found, please return to Will Wave. 21300 Edgewood Road, Pepper Pike, Ohio." Spitfire read. "Will Wave must be his name, but what the hay kind of address is that?"
"In all my years of being an Orthopedist, I've never seen a street in either of these cities named Edgewood. I've also never heard of a city named Pepper Pike. Finally, since when does an Equestrian address have a fourth component? What even is this "Ohio" thing?" Bone Fracture asked. Nopony knew.
"Well, at least we know his name. But who is this pony and where is he from?! He doesn't even have a cutie mark!" Spitfire said with confusion.
"Maybe we will find something else if we keep looking!" Surprise said right into Spitfire's earlobe, which swiveled 100 million degrees.
"GAAAH! SLOWPOKE!!" Spitfire bellowed through the night sky.
* * *
"My word, this is incredible!" Bone Fracture said, holding Will's Wii U. "I wonder what this machine does?"
"Same goes for this plastic rectangle thing," Spitfire added, shaking an iPhone she was holding in her wings. "I've pressed this weird button and lights it up, revealing words and a strange picture of two hairless apes.
Surprise walked over to see Spitfire's item. She started reading the text on the screen out loud. Honey! I'm calling the cops! If you are ignoring me, you are in sooooo much trouble! She then looked at the picture. "Hmm... maybe he is an animal photographer and this is a super-duper crazy-cool camera he owns! However, he frequently goes missing looking for photos and ignores his wife!"
"I doubt it. He doesn't have a cutie mark in something like that. How the buck to do you use this thing for pictures anyway?! Also, how does this thing display words? Where did these words even come from?!" Spitfire began vigorously tapping the screen with a hoof in an attempt to get an answer.
"Ehh... It was just a theory." Surprise honestly didn't care, and she went back to finish digging through Will's bag. Spitfire facehooved.
"Oh wait! Maybe it's that small camera icon in the bottom right corner!" Bone Fracture observed. He was wincing at Spitfire's increasingly aggressive taps that were turning into punches." He grabbed it out of her wing with his magic and to his face.
"Hey, I was looking at that! Don't forget the position you're in maggot!"
"You were going to break it, sorry sir!" He saluted.
"...Fine, you have a horn..." Suddenly, an idea came to Spitfire. "Try find if he has pictures on there! Maybe there is a clue somewhere as to who he is!" Spitfire ordered.
"Yes sir!" he replied. Then, Bone Fracture turned to the phone. He focused on a mental image of the camera button and tried to press it with his magic. Suddenly, the screen changed to the Camera app. "Success!"
"Wow!" Surprise exclaimed. "This guy is cool! He has all sortsa neat stuff!" She said as finished digging through the bag. She came out with Twizzlers in her mouth like grass. "I'm a cow! Moooooo!" Various Wonderbolts and staff started cracking up at that.
Fire Streak, who was in the large circle, called out to Bone Fracture, who was busy testing the Camera's features. "Hey doc, take a picture of Surprise with that crazy camera! She looks hilarious!"
"What do we have to lose? I've figured out how to take them. All you have to do is push the big red button, simple! Surprise, do you want to do this?
"Wait! We don't have time for..."
"MMMPHMPH!" Surprise mumbled, cutting off Spitfire. Her mouth still full of the foreign licorice. "WRRY I UUPPHH ZOE I CIN EET THISE!"
"Okay, stand still!" Bone Fracture said. He adjusted the camera's focus until he found the perfect shot of Surprise. "Make a silly face!" Surprise derped her eyes and stuck her tongue out, while somehow still holding the juicy red vines in place. He then proceeded to take the picture.
"BONE FRACTURE, WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS! YOU ARE DISOBEYING MY..." *SNAP
The picture would have been fine, but he forgot to factor one thing. The flash was on and it was pitch black outside except for the lamps.
Surprise jerked back at the sudden flash of light. "GAH! MY EYES!" she screamed. She continued to stumble in a blind shock and tripped over the unconscious pegasus. Surprise went flying backward off the side of the runway, but a rainbow maned cyan pony jumped and caught her over the edge. The rest of the Wonderbolts and staff just stood there in complete shock as to what had just happened.
* * *
"I'm so sorry!" Bone Fracture apologized. "I didn't know there was a flash!"
"You better be! You disobeyed my orders and almost killed..."
"Naw! Don't worry about it! I thought it was fun!" Surprise replied.
"Fun?! You almost died Slowpoke! If Crash hadn't stepped up, you would have fallen off the cliff and died!" Spitfire screamed, pissed at how positive Surprise was being. "By the way... Airpony Rainbow Crash, get over here!"
"The cyan pegasus with the rainbow mane and tail walked forwards to the center of the crowd. "Yeah? What's up, General?" She said with a nasally tomboyish voice and a cool smile. It was mentally taxing for her to suppress her feeling of extreme pride as she approached.
"Nice work! You caught her in mid-air with you hooves over a 5,000-foot drop!"
"Awww... thanks! It was nothin', really!" She let slip.
"Oh, I'm sure it wasn't..." Spitfire mumbled, suddenly losing her gratitude.
"Hey! Everypony else just bucking stood there! I had to do something!" Dash snapped, trying to salvage the praise received from Spitfire she had burned.
Soarin' butted in. "Rainbow Dash is right! We all just let it happen! She took a huge risk! It might not have been possible to fly holding somepony like that, so be glad she acted when it was still a hovering distance!" At that, everypony in the audience started murmuring. "Wow! Crash has great reflexes!" Blaze said. "You're just a bucking self-centered over-exaggerator!" Another pony, a doctor shouted.
The entire crowd was soon freaking the buck out. Nopony knew what to make of the situation anymore. Some were arguing about the pegasus, some were freaking out over his stuff, and some were speculating that Bone Fracture was trying to murder ponies. The calm-headed ones tried to restore order, but couldn't. Even screaming at the top of her lungs, Spitfire's booming voice was only a little more than a whisper to the rushing tide of ponies voices.
Suddenly, a voice 100 times louder than a pony with a megaphone echoed through the night sky.
* * *
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF EQUESTRIA IS GOING ON HERE!" Celestia suddenly boomed, promptly shutting everypony the buck up. "YOU ARE GROWN STALLIONS AND MARES OF THE EQUESTRIAN AIR FORCE! YOU SERIOUSLY THINK ARGUING LIKE FOALS IS GOING TO SOLVE YOUR LITTLE PROBLEM?!
Everypony bowed to her extreme presence. Spitfire was the first to speak up. "Sorry, Your Majesty! We were trying to verify the identity of the individual that crashed into our airstrip! We searched his personal belongings and then we pulled out his camera and tried to take a picture. However! Bone Fracture over there didn't turn the bucking flash off and... well, let's just say, everything exploded!
"IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU WERE ARGUING ABOUT A MONSTER ESCAPING TARTARUS, THIS IS NOT HOW YOU SOLVE... Wait! A pony?! You were arguing about... a pony that crashed into the Firefly Airstrip?!"
"Uh... yeah..."
Celestia gasped. "I think I know what's going on here!"
"Y-you do?!"
Celestia nodded as she lit up her magnificent horn like a lamp and bathed everyone in a soothing light so everyone could see her. "I was passing by when I heard this commotion. Perhaps I should thank you for that, for I was planning on passing right by the Wonderbolts Complex! I wasn't worried about you ponies handling it if..." She then pointed with her wing. "...he showed up here. "However, I heard arguing, and as such, came down to see what problem was ahoof. It seems that I was sorely mistaken!"
Spitfire could not have looked more depressed at that last statement. Celestia saw this and immediately felt guilty, so she trotted up to Spitfire and put a wing around her. "I'm sorry. As Princess of the Sun, my choice of words was uncalled for. I cannot imagine the initial shock everypony felt; I'm sure you were trying to handle the situation."
Those words lifted the burden from Spitfire's shoulders, and she breathed slowly. Her exhaled gusts of carbon dioxide ruffled the feathers of Celestia's regal wings. Looking up at Celestia, she smiled, remembering her mother; this was the exact way Jet Fuel held her as a filly. Out of habit, she rubbed her furry face against Celestia's soft wings. Spitfire didn't care if she looked like a three-year-old, the memories calmed her. It was adorable.
However, as the sadness subsided, a new feeling came up. Something was bothering her about what Celestia said. At first, she couldn't put her hoof on it, but as she thought, she realized something that shocked her to the core. "Wait! What do you mean by "if he showed up here!" Your Majesty?..."
"...You weren't looking for him, were you?!"
* * *
"HOLY SHIT! CELESTIA YOU KNOW THIS GUY?!" Spitfire was freaking out.
"Spitfire, language, please!" She chuckled. "Yes... well no, I don't know him know him personally, but I know a lot about him, like where he is from.
"Where is that exactly?" Spitfire asked calmly after heeding Celestia's advice.
"He comes from a fine place called Earth. He is not native to Equestria." She answered.
"W-wait, is he one of those?"
"Yes, he is one of the select humans brought to Equestria." Celestia then began magically examining the pegasus's body. She sighed and said. "Although, thanks to Lyra, it was more like he was thrown into Equestria..."
"So that's why he was falling out of the sky!"
"WHAT!" It was Celestia's turn to freak out. "HE FELL FROM THE SKY?! IS THAT WHAT YOU MEANT BY CRASHING?!
"Wait, where DID you think Will came from?"
Celestia looked like she was having an aneurysm. "DO ANY OF YOU KNOW HOW IMPORTANT THIS PONY IS?"
"Uhhh... Celestia?... We examined him and his belongings thoroughly, but we could only find his name and address. Is there something valuable he has?"
"VALUABLE? HIS OWN BODY IS... HE IS OUR..." Celestia then finally realized she was, one, breaking everypony's ear drums, and two, about to reveal something that would cause a mass panic. She took a deep breath. "Rainbow Dash!" she said in a much calmer tone. "You must take this pony to Twilight Sparkle, immediately!"
"Me?!" Rainbow Dash asked in shock.
"Yes, the beginning of something that will change Equestria is at foot here! As such, I want you six to be the ones that guide this pony to his goal! Spitfire, I want to you to go too! To guard this pony's life!
"Wait... But..." was all that Spitfire got out.
"That's my order as your superior! A Commander of the Equestrian Guard!!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Spitfire saluted.
"Perfect timing! We just finished checking out his body!" Bone Fracture said with pride. "We have his data down to the Canterlot Medical Records in no time Your Majesty!"
"Excellent! Get this pony unharmed to the Princess of Friendship immediately!" With that, Celestia teleported away, but not before saying. "I'll be watching him closely..."
After she disappeared, Spitfire took back the reigns and started barking orders. "Alright! Listen up! We have an order from the Princess herself to take Will to Ponyville! Clipper, Flatfoot, and Slowpoke, you're coming with Crash and I! Admiral Hoof-in-Mouth of Squadron Beta, you are in charge while I am gone! First, I order you to lead the clean up this mess! Then, tomorrow, I want everpony up and at 'em at 0300 hours doing wake-up flight drills! Got it?!
"Yes, sir!" High Winds complied. "Alright, you heard her! Grab a shovel or something and get to fixin' this turf!" Everyone in the entire Wonderbolts and staff saluted and ran to get various hole filling tools.
When it was just the five of them and Will, who was still out cold through all this, they began to prepare for takeoff. It was decided that their flight formation would be a diamond around Soarin', who would carry Will since he had the biggest build.
"Do you think it's the best idea to try to fly with an unconscious pony?" Fleetfoot asked. "Maybe we should let him wake up first, and go in the morning."
"Plus, there is a hail storm blocking the quickest way to Ponyville, and it's nasty! I don't think it's very safe to fly, let alone escort an unresponsive pegasus who can only hinder us." Rainbow Dash added.
"I don't think waiting is a good idea. Celestia said to go immediately." Spitfire rebutted.
"It doesn't matter if he wakes up, we are still going to have to carry him. I doubt he can fly yet." Soarin' said, supporting Spitfire's argument.
"Ehhh... I honestly don't care either way." Surprise shrugged. "I just don't wanna fill a stupid hole." At that, she started gagging herself with a wing.
"Alright then! It's a 3-2 vote, we are going!" Spitfire stamped her hoof.
"Ummm... you mean 3-3? Surprise voted for both sides." Fleetfoot objected, noticing Spitfire's rush get going.
"Ugghhh... Fine, but Surprise HAS to pick a side."
"I'll vote for going now if I get to hold the saddlebag!" Surprise played her cards.
"...Alright! You get the saddlebag! Let's go!
"Fine..." Fleetfoot rolled her eyes.
"We are gonna get so beat up from this... Don't tell me I didn't warn ya!" Rainbow Dash winced.
Everypony got into the escort formation. Soarin' put Will on his back and Surprise took Will's backpack. "Alright, on the count of three!" Spitfire called. "One, two three!"
They started galloping in synch down the runway, extended their wings, and took off. The ponies that were returning to fill the crater watched and started cheering for the brave souls. They needed support; they were about to enter a monster.
* * *
Equestrian Countryside ~ Hail Storm
November 2nd
12:00 AM
The wind was howling. Bits of razor sharp ice flew every which way, making it hard to see or hear anything. "CELESTIA DAMMIT, WHY DID THEY HAVE TO DO THIS TONIGHT! ALRIGHT TEAM! BE PREPARED FOR ANYTHING, THIS IS GOING TO BE ROUGH AS BUCK!" Spitfire was barely audible; hail storms quickly became her arch-rival in screaming. The Cloudsdale Weather Factory told me they had a malfunction and generated double their normal frozen water supply, but this is bullshit! They are gonna get a piece of my bucking mind for just dumping their problems like this!
"OW OW OW!" Surprise was being sliced by the bullet-like hail shards. So was everypony else.
"Hang in there Slowp... GAH!" Fleetfoot screamed, accompanied by the explosion of plastic. Her goggles were pierced by a giant piece of hail that whizzed by, shattering the lens. The sharp shards sliced through her eyeball, some sticking and falling out, and one boring right into the middle like a bullseye. She buckled back in extreme pain. When she raised her eyelids, she saw red. "GUYS! MY EYE IS BLEEDING! I CAN'T SEE!"
Everypony stopped and rushed to Fleetfoot. "GAH, HOLY BUCKING SHIT! THERE'S A PIECE STUCK IN... YOU'VE A GIANT CUT STRAIGHT THROUGH YOUR..." Rainbow Dash began to hurl.
Spitfire rushed to her first-aid kit and grabbed some ace bandage. "MMPH!" Spitfire lurched when she saw it too, it was a gruesome cut. The blood was oozing from the eye and the socket. I poured out onto Fleetfoot's Wonderbolt uniform, staining the ripped, tattered fabric a deep crimson. It wasn't helping that there was literally a giant piece of glass tearing into her pupil. "I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS! IF WE ARE GOING TO BANDAGE FLEETFOOT'S EYE, WE NEED TO PULL OUT THIS ASSHOLE PIECE OF GLASS!
"THERE MIGHT BE SOMETHING IN WILL'S BAG WE COULD USE!" Surprise suggested.
"ON IT!" Dash announced. After digging a little, being careful not to let hail in, she pulled out a Pocket Utility Kit. "WOAH! WHAT'S THIS?"
"HOLD ON, LET ME SEE IT!" Surprise demanded, wanting to be the first to discover the cool trinkets in Will's bag. She fiddled around with it, trying to ignore the extremely painful ice crystals slicing through her Wonderbolts uniform into her flesh.
"Celestia, please remind me to make more ice-proof uniforms when we get back," Spitfire said to herself.
"I THINK I CHIPPED A TOOTH BUT I GOT IT!" Surprise announced right in Spitfire's face, making her jump for the third time in three hours.
"SLOWPOKE! GO BUCK YOURSELF!"
"AWWW... BUT I FOUND TWEEZERS!" she whimpered, holding out the Utility Kit with the scissor tool extended.
"...WAIT A MINUTE! SLOWPOKE, YOU FOUND PLYING TOOLS?! YOU'RE AMAZING!"
"YOU REALLY THINK SO! *GASP* I NEED TO... OW, GAH!" A giant hail piece went straight through Surprise's chest and out the lower back.
"ADMIRAL SUPRISE!"
"OHHH..." *cough* Blood shot out of her mouth.
"OH SHIT SPITFIRE! FIRST, YOU'VE GOT A PONY WITH A PIECE OF BUCKING PLASTIC DESTROYING HER EYE. NOW YOU'VE GOT ONE WITH A LUNG PUNCTURE?! COME ON! WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF A DEADLY BUCKING HAIL STORM!" Surprise started coughing very violently. Bloody mucus was being discharged all over Spitfire as she tried to help Surprise regain a steady breathing pattern. "I'LL BE RIGHT BACK! STAY. HERE. CRASH! KEEP SLOWPOKE ALIVE!"
Spitfire took the Utility Kit over to where Soarin' was caring for Fleetfoot. There was a green tarp tied on his back were Will was laying under to protect him. The rope kept him firmly on Soarin's back. "General! Do you have the extraction tools?" he asked.
Spitfire passed the scissors to Soarin'. "ALRIGHT, CLIPPER! YOU NEED TO GET THAT GLASS... GUH!" Spitfire was hit in the head with a hoof-sized ice chunk. Her vision swam.
"ARE YOU OKAY SIR?!" Soarin' cried.
"Y-yeah, I-I'm fine."
"WHAT? SIR, I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
"I'M FINE, CLIPPER! IT WAS JUST A BALL OF HAIL! I CAN TAKE A HIT!"
"ARE YOU SURE?" Soarin' noticed Spitfire was swaying back and forth in her hover. "HOW MANY CLAWS AM I HOLDING UP!"
"S-S-SEVENTEEN! NOW... KISS... MY ASS! I HAVE TO GET BACK... TO SURPRISE..." Spitfire suddenly started feeling woozy. "GET... THE SHARD... OUT OF HER EYE... AND PUT THIS... A-AROUND IT!"
"WAIT, SEVENTEEN?! SPITFIRE, PONIES DON'T EVEN HAVE..."
"THAT'S AN... ORDER... CLIPPER!"
"OKAY!... PLEASE... BE CAREFUL..." Soarin' said as he took the Utility Kit and the roll of Ace Bandage. "YOUR GONNA BE FINE FLEETFOOT, JUST HOLD STILL..." was the last thing Spitfire heard from those two as she flew back towards Dash and Surprise.
That, and a scream of unfathomable pain that echoed through the storm, seemingly making it even more aggressive.
* * *
"WHO WAS THAT?! FLEETFOOT?! NO! PLEASE DON'T TELL ME!..." Dash asked. She was trying to keep oxygen flowing through Surprise's one good lung with CPR.
"SHE... JUST GOT THE SHARD... REMOVED FROM HER EYE." At that, Dash made the biggest cringe face ever contrived from the face of a living being. She started puking all over again.
"CELESTIA... DAMMIT! I CAN'T... EVEN... HUBLAGH!" She sputtered as bile flew out of Dash's maw.
"DA... SH... PLEASE... I... CAN'T... BREATHE!" Surprise begged for air.
"I'M... ON IT..." Spitfire staggered. The world was becoming a blur. Spitfire began giving Suprise slow, tired mouth-to-mouth. It wasn't enough, but I kept Surprise conscious. At least it did until Surprise coughed blood up Spitfire's throat, who responded by hacking and wheezing. Her entire throat tasted like metal, it was hard to breathe. She started feeling lightheaded and dizzy. She couldn't go on...
Soarin' heaved in. He was puffing hard, for he was holding two full weight ponies and trying to fly. "Sp...it...fire" he choked between gasps of air. "I... need you... to take... Fleetfoot. I... can't... carry... both." Suddenly, another huge piece of ice smashed into the back of Soarin's head.
The impact was all his body could take at his current state of energy. With the last of his strength, he passed Fleetfoot to Spitfire, who barely caught her. Finally, Soarin' passed out, plunging towards the countryside.
"S-S-SOARIN'! Spitfire and Dash yelled, the latter finally able to breathe from the hydrochloric acid she had been chunking. She snapped into a nosedive, entering the pose that made her famous around Equestria. A mach cone started forming around her hooves.
"Spitfire, who was struggling to fly with Fleetfoot and Surprise in her hooves, could barely keep up. Suddenly, another crack was heard. The malevolent hail storm had claimed its fourth victim. Dash began falling out of the sky.
"DASH! SOARIN'!" Suddenly, all the fatigue from the ice impact was gone, replaced by pure adrenaline. She zoomed downward, creating a fire streak that lit up the night. When she caught up, she quickly tied Dash to a rope from Will's bag around and grabbed it with her mouth. She then proceeded to do the same thing with Soarin', who, when caught, was only 50 feet from the ground.
The inferno cut through the storm like a knife through an apple. Hungry hail melted at impact. Spitfire didn't feel any pain, and any struggling was immediately replaced with pure determination. She was holding her four unconscious, battered, and bleeding teammates with two ropes; five, if you included Will. The sheer amount of inner strength needed to hold five full-sized ponies in your mouth could be matched by a select few, and she was flying while doing this! The only thing she felt was the importance of getting all of her comrades out of the storm alive. And Spitfire was going to accomplish that, no matter what.
* * *
She just kept going. Her drive never faltered, not even once. Her brain only had one thought process. GET. THE BUCK. OUT. OF THE STORM. "I'm gonna save them... I'm gonna save them... I'm gonna get Will to Twilight... I'm gonna get Will to Twilight." Her words were a broken record, but they were the only things she could think of.
The wind pushed hard and the hail ripped at Spitfire's soul, but the word stop had been erased from the fabric of her existence. She could not stop, only push forward. The hail strike caused her surroundings to become numb as if time had stopped. Sound became faint echoes. There was a flash of light, and suddenly a phantasmic horse came swirling around Spitfire.
"GAH! WINDIGOS! SO THAT'S WHY THE STORM SEEMED TO BE ATTACKING US!" Spitfire was muffled by the rope. They must have been feeding off of our hardship, suffering, and misery at the hand of the storm! It's the perfect Windigo breeding ground! Oh shit, this is not good, the Windigos could keep this storm alive forever!
The Windigos howled and started circling the ponies. Spitfire felt her entire body freezing, her lower body was being encased in ice. Hail struck hard, knocking out vital wind and fight. She had to hold on to the rope, Spitfire was their only hope of survival. She didn't know what to do.
The world went dark, and everything became null and void. There was nothing to do. Spitfire couldn't call for help, for it would be like screaming in outer space. The magic ice was warping the reality of Spitfire's goals. She suddenly felt submissive, like her body wanted to be one with the ice. To serve the Windigos as their ice slave. To be a tool; a source of nutrition that the Windigos would abuse and molest. This was the fate Spitfire was being forced to accept. And she was accepting it with a smile, causing her grip on the rope to loosen.
Suddenly, something tugged at the back of Spitfire's mind. It was a voice, calling, no pleading for her not to fall to the dark magic she was currently embracing. "No! You can't do this! They need you... I need you! I don't know who you are, or why I am able to talk to you, but please!"
Wait! Who are you? How are you talking to me in my mind?! Spitfire was snapped out of the brainwash that had almost been complete.
"Don't worry about who I am! Just save your friends! Do it for me!" The voice demanded.
Suddenly the world returned to normal. Spitfire was back in the hail storm. Just in time too, only her mouth was unfrozen. She struggled, and the Windigos noticed. They attempted to reprogram her brain again, but Spitfire wasn't gonna have any of that shit. "I don't know who that was, or how the buck I heard them up there, but I must save my team mem... No, my friends! I must deliver Will to Princess Twilight! I AM SPITFIRE, LEADER OF THE WONDERBOLTS! AND IF YOU THINK FOR ONE SECOND YOU CAN SCREW WITH FIRE, THEN YOU ARE GONNA GET BURNED!"
Spitfire exploded in a blaze of glory, melting her frozen encasement. It wasn't just adrenaline anymore, it was pure strength and energy. She regripped the rope and blasted off, creating a flaming tail like a comet. In her charge, she crashed into any Windigos she saw. "GO TO HAY, YOU STUPID MOTHERBUCKERS!" Any that were hit by the fireballing pegasus were instantly vaporized. The rest scurried away into the depths of the storm, fearful of their lives.
Spitfire spied a small hole that signaled the end of the cloud line. "I see an exit! I'm getting you all the BUCK out of here alive, OR I'M GOING DOWN WITH YOU!"
Spitfire flew straight for the hole. Time blurred once again. Sounds suddenly started going through a funnel. "One hundred... fifty... ten... HYAH!" Spitfire did a corkscrew through the hole, breaking out of the lethal storm. With her final reserve of gas, she rocketed towards Ponyville. All six ponies were accounted for.
Will opened his eyes suddenly, gasped, and immediately fell back to sleep.
* * *
Twilight Sparkle
Ponyville ~ Castle Of Friendship
November 2nd
2:00 AM
Another crumpled scroll hit the overflowing wastebasket and bounced down onto the polished study flooring. "No, no, NO! If I can't add Caspenac to Retvendseal, then it's not compatible with Gerogmant, making the equation impossible! Uaghhhh!" Twilight started bashing her head against her organized desk. "Oh, wait! What if..."
*knock* *knock* *knock*
Twilight gasped. "Who could be here at..."
*THUD*
"Okay, that was not a good noise!" Twilight jumped out of her seat and galloped to the castle door. She opened the giant mahogany doors. "Hey, are you alri... AH!" Spitfire collapsed into the foyer of Twilight's castle. "SPITFIRE!" Twilight cried. She noticed a note, on which had one very unsteadily written word. OUTSIDE
"Outside?" Twilight said out loud. She then peeked through the doors. What she saw caused a wave of shattered windows in close proximity.
* * *
Castle Of Friendship ~ Guest Bedroom 1
November 2nd
4:00 AM
Spitfire's eyes slowly opened. "S...tfire?" A voice echoed through her skull.
"Ughhh... Give me ten minutes mom." Spitfire "answered", half-asleep.
"Spitfire! I'm so glad you are okay!" Twilight squealed.
"Oh! Uh... Princess!" Spitfire hesitated and jumped out of bed, then proceeding to bow.
"Ugh.. I hate when ponies do that! Please, not me. I'm not one that demands respect."
"...Okay? I'll keep that in mind, Your Majesty." Twilight facehooved, Spitfire did not get the bigger picture she was implying.
* * *
"So how are they doing?" Spitfire solemnly asked.
"Your squad? I used a little healing magic to fix the magically curable problems, but *whistle*, those were some pretty beat up Pegasi. Ponies from the Ponyville General Hospital came to fix them up. They should be better in a few days thanks to your quick actions!"
"My... quick actions?" Spitfire was confused with how Twilight knew about their escapade through the hail storm.
"Celestia sent us a letter... explaining.... the situation... shortly after you showed up..." Spike choked out through heavy eyelids. He then dozed off on Twilight's back.
"Spike, stay awake! We need as much help as we can get right now!" Twilight scolded, nudging Spike with a purple forehoof. She eventually pushed him off, which woke him up with a jolt.
"Owww... Twilight, what the hay was that about?!" He said as he sat up, rubbing his scaly head.
"SPIKE! You know better than to swear like that!"
There is a saying that those who disturb grumpy, sleep-deprived dragons are damned. That saying isn't very accurate, fucked is a better word. Why? Because right after Twilight said that, Spike jumped right up on his feet, flipped off Twilight, and promptly left. He slammed the door behind him and shouted in a pissed off tone. "BLAH, BLA-BLAH, BLA-BLAH! I'M GOING TO BED! GOOD. NIGHT!"
"Well someone is in a sour mood. Heh. Reminds me of me during boot camp. Bucking drill instructors..." Spitfire groaned at the thought of her former superiors and their asshole wake up times.
"DID HE JUST...!" Twilight wasn't just angry, she was mom angry. She started taking her frustration out on Spitfire. "THIS IS HOW PONIES WITH YOUR KIND OF VOCABULARY COME TO BE! I HATE SWEARING, IT'S JUST MINDLESS BLURTING OF WORDS THAT USUALLY AREN'T USED IN THE CORRECT CONTEXT AND..." Twilight started going off on a tangent, so Spitfire responded with a firm hoof to Twilight's head, knocking some sense into her.
"Thanks... I needed that..."
* * *
The two walked down the guest wing to Will's room. The *clop* of their hoofsteps echoed through the hallway, and Twilight's horn lit it up just enough to see in front of them. "So, you were instructed to bring him to me? Through that giant hail storm none of the less?"
"Yes, although we almost all died, I was able to drag everypony out of there." Spitfire was beyond relieved her squad was safe.
"Celestia... she's never been this sloppy or hasty in an action. Why is this Pegasus more important than the lives of five of Equestria's most elite flyers?
"She's... not entirely to blame. I instructed a few Wonderbolts to assist my escort mission. I'm glad I did, they fought bravely and greatly affected the outcome of the operation. Also, there was no way to know..."
"No way to know? Know what?"
"Windigos... Celestia couldn't have known that there were Windigos in that storm."
"WHAT?! WINDIGOS! LIKE FROM THE LEGEND OF THE FOUNDING OF EQUESTRIA?!" Twilight was having a panic attack.
"It seems they are nesting in that hail storm," Spitfire added.
"If... if the Windigos are in that storm...! They could keep it going..."
"Yeah, forever." Spitfire put a wing on Twilight's shoulder. "That is not a good sign. Especially if they can expand it..." Spitfire turned around and pulled her hair into a ponytail. Her bruised, gashed neck was revealed, as well as a giant red mark on the back of her head. "That hail, it beats you up."
"Ouch! I didn't notice that!"
"Big piece of hail struck me dead-center in the back of my head. It made my vision swim madly. Impacts in the same area knocked Soarin' and Dash out cold."
"Wow... You poor ponies went through a lot." Twilight and Spitfire reached the door. "...And all for him." Twilight pointed a hoof at Will. "Spitfire, you and your elite group are truly incredible. The courage to do what the five of you did doesn't just come from anywhere."
"Thank you, Twilight Sparkle. It is an honor to serve you and Celestia."
"You may go check on your team now. I'll deal with Will waking up."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
* * *
Castle Of Friendship ~ Guest Bedroom 8
November 2nd
4:30 AM
When the door closed behind Spitfire, Twilight groaned and rolled her eyes. "Fluttershyyyyy... I HATEEEE when ponies address me as royaltyyyy."
"Aw, I'm sorry, Your Majesty." Fluttershy snickered.
"Haha, very funny. So how is he doing? Thanks for coming in the middle of the night on such short notice."
"No problem Twilight, that's what friends are for!" Fluttershy said with a timid smile. She was so huggable. "It's amazing! He doesn't have a scratch on him! The tarp he was under completely protected him from the nasty storm."
"That was good thinking on Soarin's part." Twilight was becoming thoroughly impressed with the diligence and the small details Spitfire's escort group had included in their operation.
"Yes, it was. Poor Willy could have gotten seriously injured in the defenseless state be was in!" Fluttershy's small patter of wings as she flew around Will checking for anything bad was like listening to a serene, peaceful waterfall.
"Anything?"
"No, I think he is good! I can't find a single problem other than his reported damaged ribcage!" Fluttershy reported.
"I knew that you, as an animal caretaker and vet, would be a good pony to give a detailed check! Thank you so much!"
"Awww... thanks, Twilight!" Fluttershy said as she rubbed her face against Twilight's and gave her best friend a big, fluffy hug. Her smile and the soft fur Fluttershy grew warmed Twilight's heart. "Good luck Twilight! Keep me posted!" Fluttershy started walking out.
"No problem! And thank you! Today is going to be a peculiar one!"
Flutterhy waved with her delicate wing, closing the door behind her with a flick of her long, flexible tail.
* * *
"Alright Twilight, it's almost 6 AM, the time Celestia raises the sun. Will could be waking up soon. What should I do?" Twilight asked herself, rubbing her temples with the tips of her wings.
"Oh, I know! I'll check on him every 15 minutes! If he wakes up in between that time frame, it will give him a little bit of breathing room to take it all in first!"
Twilight was satisfied with her plan and walked out to check on the others. She rotated between them and Will for the next two hours. On the ninth trip, her life would change forever.
* * *
Will
Castle Of Friendship ~ Guest Bedroom 8
November 2nd
7:00 AM
Will's eyes slowly opened, everything was blurry. "Where... am I? And why do I feel so... strange? Why is it so... warm and fluffy?" He rubbed his eyes but felt something sharp. "What... was...?" His eyes looked down on a dark tan stab where his hand should be. "What the fuck am I looking at?" He blinked rapidly a couple more times until the world came into focus. The tan stub did not go away. It was a hoof.
Will looked at the tan appendage, to his other, and back. Both of his hands had hardened, flattened, and shrunk to a bony, circular platform. "What. The FUCK!" It then occurred to him that other parts of his body felt off. He felt like the distribution of weight on his spinal cord was equal, not all on the top half, which was currently allowing him to sleep in a ball. He was also way more flexible as his head was resting on his butt.
He now realized what state he was in. He was sleeping in a fetal position. Furthermore, he had a tan fur coat and was submerged under the covers of a bed he had no recollection of entering. "That's why it felt like I had three blankets on!... WAIT, I HAVE A FUCKING FUR COAT?!"
Will shot up like a bullet, sitting uncomfortably. "Gah! Why does leaning back like this hurt so much?!" He shifted a little to put his on the headrest but suddenly felt a jolt of pain from his ass. "OW! SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!"
He craned his neck and looked at his butt. What he saw almost made his head explode. "A tail... A black, spiky tail..." He grabbed his head and started hyperventilating. "I have. A FUCKING. TAIL! GREAT! NOW WHAT DO I GET UNDER CURTAIN #2?!" He asked nobody sarcastically. Going along with his sarcasm, he threw the covers to the side and just stared. His stomach was now barrel-shaped and his legs were matching hooves. Both were covered in a fluffy, dark tan fur. You know what else what else he won that was covered? "Congrats Will, you just won yourself a giant, tan and black, footlong horse cock!" he said to himself. That's what. "How the fuck do you even use that thing without snapping it in half?! It's so long!"
The last thing he noticed was his wings. When he found out the correct new muscles for them, he held them out. They were majestic, with a similar physique to eagle's wings. "Wow... That's actually pretty cool. But still, how do I have wings?!" He questioned in a robust manner. "So I'm a pony, just like Lyra. I'm also a pegasus. Wow! That portal did some weird shit!"
He stood up on all fours. Thanks to his bed, getting a grip on his bearings was simple due to the shift of the mattress. It was balancing that was still god awful. He only lasted for a few seconds before flopping on his side with an "OMPF!" After a few more tries, he finally was stable. He found that the center of gravity needed to be equally on the ball of each hoof. Otherwise, he would lean too much and topple over sideways due to the gravitational pull, which he noticed was the same as, or at least, had the same feel as, Earth's.
He took a moment to just breathe and try out his new parts. He lifted a hoof and crossed his eyes to his new snout. His wings were erect and in the wind-breaking position Pegasi use to stop on a dime in mid-air. The feeling of being equine, being on all fours. Most of all, having wings, hooves, and a tail. It was... amazing.
Suddenly, the door opened and a lavender unicorn walked in. However, she wasn't just a unicorn, she also had wings! Her hair and tail were deep indigo with a pink stripe running down the middle. "Hey! You're a...wake..." She said, cutting herself off. Twilight Sparkle just stared at Will, and Will stared right back. Twilight took a step forward, breathing heavily. Will blinked and got down on the bed. They stared into each other's souls.
The two felt a strong connection from that moment forward. The beginning of a new era could officially be marked. To be exact, it would be marked on Thursday, November 2nd, 2015 at 7:08.47 AM. After all, at that exact moment, Will had one, singular thought. That thought would shatter everything and revive the world as everyone and everypony knew it.
She is beautiful. As fuck!
