Chapters Twilight and the Volcanologist
Ross Island. A paradoxically volcanic island in the Antarctic. Only an island in definition, though, as the surrounding sea is frozen. Ross Island is made of four peaks. The second tallest is Mount Terror. The third highest elevation is Mount Bird, with Shell Glacier and Endeavour Piedmont Glacier on its slopes. Abbot Peak stands between Mount Bird and the king of the island. Mount Erebus. Earth's southernmost active volcano, and one of three places where those who look into the crater see the very mantle of the earth itself. With new breakthroughs in heat resistant materials, A volcanology professor and five hopeful grad students make their way to a little piece of frozen hell for science.
Three of the graduates, Samuel, Max, and Charlotte were all cracking jokes at how bad the weather was, and the prospect of free, water flavoured sno-cones. One of them, Lance, was sleeping. Jonathan, however, couldn’t wait to get out into the field. One may wonder what is so appealing about being in a five room outpost between an active and dormant volcano, on top of being in Antarctica. Well, These were volcanologists. This was a toy store, a candy shop, and a free boost to their resume, all rolled into one ball of potential and flying lava. But, on top of that, Jonathan had something else going for him. He got to be outside . The appeal? Not the camera work on a volcanic crater rim, not deploying the new probes while being held by a cable. No. It was cold. And he loved it. Sure, he still wore a coat, and a coat, and a coat, and so on, but was still notably thinner looking than his thermal fiber clad companions. He knew his body’s limits, something key to extreme weather. That didn’t keeping him from pushing them.
Their plane had landed. They stepped outside into the more (less?) than sub-zero temperature. His compatriots were all basically the same orange and red laden marshmallows fumbling with their mittens and equipment.
While he got his equipment out of the plane, the others had already made their way to the base. To his left, he saw Mount Erebus. The stalwart volcano held a window into the earth itself, and that's what he was here for. He smiled at his future job for the expedition. Placing the cameras at the crater edge.
“Hey Snowy!”, Jonathan grinned at the nickname. His snowy hair was somewhat of a conversation starter, and working on explosive mountains with usually snowy peaks,well, the nickname was inevitable. This was most definitely compounded by the locale.
“What?”
“Catch!”
The voice of Charlotte was quickly followed by what he knew to be cameras that probably cost more than some people would see in their lives came sailing to him. Making a valiant effort, he saved the heavy camera box from an icy death. However, he dropped his stuff on the ground, but nothing more than snow was clinging to the bag while he picked it up.
Making his way to the outpost, he saw some snow falling off of Mt. Terror. Where he would be spending what passed for summer in Antarctica. He smiled.
This is going to be fun.
Elsewhere…
Fascinating! These portals aren't linked to the magic Al field, but something else…
A purple mare was under the library, and was eager to conduct experiments with her new runic-based thread tracker. The machine had several dishes covered in runes, all adjustable for maximum precision. It worked by sending out a unique type of magical pulse through a portal, and based on the pulse back from the magic's time to reach the device, and said pulse’s trajectory, one could calculate the location of the other end of the gate without risking any lives.
Using the magic signature of the portal, a sufficiently powerful unicorn, such as the one taking these readings, could cast a spell allowing them to see the magical field. Everything on Equestria had a field, even the world itself. Everything even had it's own colored aura, and thus, the nearly invisible gate had become a circular purple door. Unfortunately, Twilight could only see what some bipedal apes may describe as a wireframe of the corporal world. Hence, debatably one of the most powerful unicorns who had lived, and ever would, tripped into her portal.
Ross Island
Jonathan was aware of a thud in his room. Never one to sleep that much, college of had made him into a true creature of the night. He was, in fact, doing a once over of the equipment stored in his current abode, drawing the shortest straw and getting to sleep in the storage room. Then, he heard what sounded like…
Are those… Hooves?
Yes, he was certain. The town he grew up in a had a horse race track. He would recognize the sound anywhere. However, the steps sounded softer than a full sized horse.
A pony, perhaps?
It crossed the student's mind that he was, in fact, in Antarctica, and that it was highly unlikely that a pony of all things was here. Then, he spotted a purple light of some sort behind a rack of servers. He knew the sensitive devices had no such feature, ruling out the possibility of it being an odd LED. Though he preferred volcanology, Jonathan was still a scientist through and through. Another thought ran through his mind.
What if this thing is dangerous? I doubt it's a pony based on the strange light.
Jonathan was picked on a lot for his hair in grade school. It didn't help when his mother, the only one he had to fall back on being an only child, died in a car accident. His father was there, and by no means a bad man in any sense of the word. He tried his best, but Jonathan, even at nine, could tell his father was nearly as crushed as he was. His father had always been fighter at heart, no matter the form of conflict or means he had. It was simply his nature to protect. He taught his son to take care of himself in anyway he could, because he knew he wouldn't be able to support his son the same way his mother had. And so, like father like son, Jonathan immediately took stock of his surroundings, noting items of use.
Ice pick, stakes, hammers, rope and cable…
Jonathan settled on the ice pick and rope. He quickly joined the two with a bohlon and the carabiner integrated in the handle of the ice pick. He knew he could throw the ice pick well, and use its weight to yank it back if he missed, or didn't and needed it again.
An expression colder than the outside, and tension sharp enough to cut steel, the young volcanology student approaches the server rack.
Twilight was confused on a few levels. For one, she wasn't dead. She fully expected that her death would be caused by a stray cable. Another, it was quite chilly.
Winter isn't for another six months. The probability of being caught in temporal stasis is small, and doesn't explain a change in location…
The unicorn’s mind moved a mile a minute, and only then did she realize that her eyes were open. It was dark, but there were faint colored lights coming from strange boxes on shelves. She reasoned the were some sort of runic or arcane devices. Maybe even one of those new computers she was so excited about. She cast a simple light spell, lighting up the room. Her theory about the lights coming from the boxes was correct. Then, she heard footsteps. But definitely not a pony, and based on the cadence and frequency, she reasoned it was bipedal.
Oh horsefeathers. Did just portal into somepony’s house? Or someone's. Perhaps a diamond dog? That would explain the dark. Same goes for a dragon, though it would be a relatively small dragon, though still older than Spike.
Jonathon's knowledge of what was real and what was not was called into question when he saw what was behind the server rack. He saw…
A unicorn. A purple unicorn with sparkles on it's flank. Charlotte was right, maybe I do need sleep. Or maybe I can't leave my coffee unattended.
Jonathan groaned in irritation. Suddenly, the unicorn swiveled, seemingly as surprised as Jonathan.
“Great. Now I'm hallucinating a tiny unicorn next to a server rack. Maybe next I'll see some pegasi, too.”
“Um… Hello? I've never something like you before. Oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean you were a thing! Please don't be upset! Uh.. can we start over? Hi! My name's Twilight Sparkle! What's yours?”
Jonathan, to his credit, deadpanned for about four seconds before he was utterly confused.
“ You can t- You know what, why not? I’ll approach the strange, small unicorn. Now I'm talking to myself. Assuming the unicorn is a figment of my imagination. Hello. My name's Jonathan Sigurd. Pleased to meet you.”
“That's an interesting name. If you don't mind me asking, what are you?”
“ I'm a volcanologist. Or at least I will be soon.”
The small unicorn let out the most adorable squee sound Jonathan had ever heard.
“A fellow scientist! Perfect! But, I meant what are you. As in species. I have never seen anything quite like you.”
“I am a human. By our own scientific name, we are Homo sapien. Essentially, we are sapient hairless apes.”
An odd thought was crossing Jonathan's mind.
What if I'm not seeing things? I'll need to experiment.
“Are you real?”, Jonathan asked.
“Of course I am! Where are we?”
“We are in Antarctica, though not close to the South Pole. We are actually on Ross Island.”
“Antarctica? You mean Moiria?”
Jonathan blinked at the name. Then he frowned.
“Name a few countries”
“Equestria, The Griffin Kingdom, The Hippogriff Republic, The Principalities of Moiria, The United Spider Federation.”
Jonathan's frown deepened. He had never heard of these nations.
“What planet are we on?”
“We're on Equis. Is this a test?”
Jonathan thought for a bit.
“Hmm, of sorts I guess. And we are on Earth. Third planet from the sun.”
Twilight's eyes widened and she started to hyperventilate. She ran the numbers over and over again. It all added up. To odd thread, the strange being before her.
“Twilight? Are you ok?”
Jonathan suddenly felt very bad for even considering the use of his makeshift weapon. Not only was this sentient. The poor girl seemed to be terrified and on the verge of a mental breakdown. Her horn suddenly glowed and she disappeared. Before Jonathan could even react, Twilight reappeared, very, very cold.
“D-Did you just go outside? It’s twenty below zero out there! You could have succumbed to a number of conditions in a matter of seconds! I won’t even question how you do that teleporting, and whatever else you can do is something that I would love to discuss. But not now. As another sapient being, it’s my duty to make sure you don’t die. Stay here, I’ll get some blankets.”
Jonathan disappeared for a little bit into the dark. He must have flipped a switch, as the room was instanly filled with light. Twilight then realized something strange. She could not, for the life of her, close her left eye. Very gently, she probed the area with a hoof, and came to a horrid conclusion.
“J-Jonathan? I-I think my eye f-froze.”
Jonathan dropped the blankets and rushed for some red box on the wall. He brought it back and opened it, revealing medical instruments.
“Twilight.”
Jonathan’s voice was very stern and serious, a complete turn from his previous demeanor.
Twilight’s mind raced through thoughts until she came to one conclusion. She had almost no medical knowledge, but Jonathan seemed to know what he was doing. She thought for a little, and decided to trust Jonathan.
“I trust you, Jonathan”
Author's Note
This is the first story I actually have a direction for! My previous two, Political Blizzard, and it's prequel, aren't finished, and pretty bad. Don't look at them unless you want a laugh. I might take those on later, when I'm better at writing. Anyways, this first chapter is simply my take on one of my favorite genres: HiE (Human in Equestria), except this one goes both ways! for a while at least. This will be updated sporadically, but, school allowing, a new chapter will be up at the most every month, definitely speeding up over vacations.
And, if anyone actually read this far, thank you. You can't imagine how much it means to me that someone would actually give my story a chance. This will by no means be a masterpiece, or ever will be. But the mere notion people are interested in my stories makes me a little happier. I know it is likely no one will see this. Thank you.
Twilight and the Volcanologist
Celestia woke with a start. She felt like something had stopped… Being here. She quickly realized that the magical fields that permeated various arcane objects about her room were very, very weak. She smiled at the sight of them, thinking of Twilight's initial fascination of runesmithing. Then she realized another thing; A magical aura on an arcane object only weakened for two reasons. Those being the death of the runesmith, or a vast distance between the runesmith and the device in question. However, something told her Twilight was not dead. The attrition of the fields was more akin to a slow burn, rather than a jarring lack of energy. Either way, the ancient alicorn was still concerned. As if on cue, Luna walked into her room.
“Dear sister, why have you woken?”
“I fear something has happened to Twilight. I can no longer feel her presence…
Ross Island
It was an arduous process, but Jonathan removed the ice layer from Twilight's eye. He was genuinely surprised she wasn't blind in the eye. When he had finished, she had surprised him with a hug. After that, both of their inner scientists took over.
Ross Island, Two Hours Prior
Twilight started the session with many questions.
“What is your culture like? What do you eat? Do you have magic? Do you live here?”
Jonathan thought for a moment.
“We are a generally peacefully competitive people, though, as with all cultures, we have our differences. Nowadays people can live with each other for the most part. To answer your second question, humans are omnivores, a healthy diet balanced between the two. As for the third, no. We have no magic. I'm assuming that's what you used to teleport?”
A nod from Twilight.
“As for the last question, no. I do not live here. This is a base camp at the base of My. Erebus, Earth's southernmost active volcano.”
Twilight suddenly looked worried. She realized she had been at the base of a volcano for hours. As if reading her mind, Jonathan quelled her fear with a chuckle.
“No, it's not scheduled to erupt for another decade. We're perfectly safe. Now… I think I get to ask some questions…”
And so the scientists went. Across race and species, apparently those in pursuit of knowledge change very little. Jonathan became fast friends with the mare, and her with him.
Ross Island, Current Time
Jonathan frowned at the rising sun. He realized that Twilight becoming known was a poor decision, and he decided to keep her hidden in the storage room. Since he was the only one in there, other for equipment or to sleep, it is was a safe thing to do. Jonathan left his new friend for an old one. Charlotte was eating a strip of bacon when he entered the main room turned unofficial mess hall.He sat across from her, taking a bite out of a horseshoe, irony not escaping him. It had been a strange night for sure.
“Where's Max?”
Charlotte answered through the bacon.
“Seismograph room. I’m pretty sure he's attracted to it.”
“The others?”
“Asleep”
And so this cycle continued. For a month, Twilight was confined to the storage area. She wanted to be home, but not for lack of hospitality. No, she missed her friends, and couldn't bare the thought of them in distress at her sudden disappearance. Jonathan had entered as silent as snowfall when the ground shook.
“Huh. That was supposed to be in two days.”
“Well, maybe you'll get some interesting data from the anom-”
Twilight was cut short by a blaring alarm.
Jonathan, to his credit, acted fast. He ran out the door, unlocking every possible door, and looked for a fire extinguisher.
Something must have caught fire when the quake struck.
That's when Jonathan heard the screaming.
Twilight was frightened enough to follow Jonathan through the building. Following the opened doors, Twilight made her way towards Jonathan. As she rounded the corner she heard Jonathan.
“No…”
That word sent a spike through Twilight's heart. The sheer anguish dripping from that single word was so great, Twilight almost didn't see what Jonathan had been cradling this whole time. Twilight realized the air smelled of burnt flesh.
“Oh my Celestia…”
Jonathan didn't notice her, all he saw was what he just seen. He kept seeing Charlotte push Max out of the way of a falling, burning shelf of various equipment. Fate was cruel enough for Max to have ran out of the room, only to realize too late that, in his panic he ran into where they kept kerosene. Jonathan would be seeing that for a while for sure. And all Jonathan knew is Charlotte was still breathing, albeit painfully. Her jacket had caught on fire, covering her in some serious looking third degree burns.
Jonathan put his head to the person’s, and whispered something she couldn't make out. Then, he picked her up in full, and walked back to the storage room, Twilight following behind.
Twilight was horrified by what happened to Jonathan's friend. Upon further inspection, however, she realized the other human was alive. This grimly positive realization gave some hope to the situation. Twilight had noticed that there was a magical field here. It was… Stiff, maybe stale, but still there. Over the last month she had slowly made it more malleable, and thus she was able to cast more complex spells, like shields and teleports with much greater ease than her first teleport. She then came to another idea. Using raw magic, she channeled the potential energy into the area where the exit of the portal was a month prior. She thought that, maybe, since that space was weaker from a recent rift, that it could reopen with far less complexity. So she worked.
Jonathan was unconcerned with what Twilight was doing. All he knew was Charlotte was the last person alive in the facility besides him and Twilight. He only saw one of his oldest friends half dead in his arms, and he had no means of helping her. She had given him the most heartbreaking smile before she passed out in his arms. He suddenly became aware of how warm it was in the room. Then he finally heard Twilight's frantic voice.
“Jonathan! The fire is spreading! Follow me, I reopened the portal!”
“No.”
Twilight was taken aback at his statement.
“What!? You'll die! She'll die! Jonathan, please!”
“She's going to die anyway. No possible help could reach us in time. The fire started close enough to the clothes that they'll be cinders. We'll die die from the cold. How ironic…”
Twilight was horrified by his response. Then, she took answers into her own hooves. Using her magic, she picked up Jonathan and his friend and sent them through the portal. She jumped through and closed it just as a flaming server rack fell right where the trio had been moments before.
Canterlot
Celestia was looking over reports on the progress of the search and rescue operation looking for her student. Luna was heading a team to the Frozen North herself, and just left not a week ago. Just as she was about to resign herself from another day turning up nothing, the various magical artifacts Twilight had created so long ago flared to life. Celestia immediately directed her powerful magical senses to Ponyville. Then, she smiled for the first time in a month.
Ponyville Library
Jonathan was floating in a void that could aptly be described as murky. He felt like he moved through molasses, but could still breath. Then, he saw light.
Heh. Guess I died. Hope Twilights ok. Ii guess there is some sort of afterlife. Time to who was right, huh Charlotte?
The light moved close to him. Then it spoke.
Jonathan Sigurd. You are not dead. And nor is Charlotte. I am a being some may call a god, others, the universe. You are in a strange land, with strange folk . You require a tool in this land to survive.
A warm light split from the larger one. It moved towards Jonathan before coming to a stop a few inches from his chest. Then, it split in two. One moved up to his forehead, the other remaining near his sternum. Then, they moved into him. It was strange for him. He felt warm, but also like he had pins and needles all over him.
“Who are you?”
I am Har-
Jonathan was shaken awake by Twilight's incessant crying and shaking. He saw what looked like roots in the ceiling. Very confused, he got up, stopping for a little to cough. A lot. When he brought his hand down he saw deep red blood, crimson flecks speckling his palm like the first few seconds of rain on the ground. He got his bearings, noting he was not likely dead, that he was still alive…
Charlotte
“Twilight. Where is Charlotte? Is she still alive? How is she?”
Before the small unicorn could speak, Jonathan spotted his friend’s body laid on a cot. Still breathing. He could hear her wheezing and how her skin crackled a little from cooling. He walking over to her, got down on his knees next to her head, and promised he would do anything for her.
“... that's what friends are for, right?”
He brought his hands to his face, covering it, and resting his elbows on the cot. And sat there silent, the only noise being the gut wrenching wheezing coming from his friend.
“Twilight, where have you be-”
Celestia stopped speaking upon getting a whiff of the room after her teleport, and noticed its source.
“Twilight, what happened?”
Twilight was still shaking from what she had seen, but tried her best to convey what had happened.
“There w-was a f-fire and Jonathan ran off a-and I followed him and he was there w-with his friend and she was burned so badly, oh the smell. It smelled like burning fles-”
Twilight could not hold it in any longer, and ran crying to her mentor, burying her head into Celestia's embrace. Celestia comforted Twilight until she was able to separate herself from the princess, and walked to the strange creature near the wall of the room. While she had never seen its like, it was clearly distressed, and she wanted dearly to help. She walked up behind it and put her hoof on its shoulder.
“Stay away.”
Not a second after that action, she found herself blasted by an icy wave of air. Taken by surprise, she flew ten feet back before seeing the outstretched hand from the kneeling figure. It looked up in surprise, as if not knowing it's what it had done.
Jonathan, for his part, was just as confused as the larger, white horse seemed be, if not more so.
“Wh-Wha-”
“Do not fear, young one. You simply had a magic outburst. That is normal in times of duress. Now, let me tend to your friend. Her condition seems quite dire.
Jonathan was more than confused.
Magic?
Author's Note
Second chapter! The plot thickens, doesn't it? Again, thanks for reading this far.
Special thanks to my sister for feedback, and FireheartThePone for actually expressing interest in my story so early on in both it's life and my own writing experience!
Don't worry, I've still got more lined up for sometime in the next week or two
Twilight and the Volcanologist
Old Friends, Future Friends
Ponyville
Jonathan was utterly confused as to what was going on. One moment, he had been awaiting his death by fire, then was in some room that Twilight had somehow gotten him to, and the next he was back by Charlotte’s side, hoping beyond all hope that she wouldn’t leave him. Then, he felt something on his shoulder, and out of his grief for his friends and anger at the world he had lashed out, but in a completely unexpected way. One second a taller, white full sized horse had a put its hoof on JOnathan’s shoulder, the next said horse was reeling from… Something.
However, Jonathan heard her words through his thoughts, said words rerailing his train of thought with no survivors.
“Magic outburst”
I had a… Magic outburst? What does that even mean? How could this have happened? Did I-
As if reading his thoughts, Celestia answered the half formed question in Jonathan’s mind.
“You are very distressed by your friend’s condition, and thus your magical energy coincided with your emotional turmoil, which I unfortunately aggravated. I deeply apologize for my action. However, I know many madical spells that will help your friend until she can be properly treated.”
Jonathan was at a loss for words. He was always someone who took each day as it came, always expecting the unexpected. As such, he filed away the several questions he had about this situation for later. For when Charlotte was okay.
“Please. Help her. She’s.. She’s all I have left.”
“I will do all I can to help her, young one. I am afraid I never introduced myself. I am Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria. I assume you are already acquainted with Twilight?”
Jonathan gave a nod. However, internally he was terrified about what would happen to him. He had just assaulted royalty .
“Now please, tell me your name.’
“I am Jonathan Sigurd. Pleased to meet you. Please… Please help Charlotte. And.. let me stay with her. I want to be with her when she wakes.”
“As you wish, Jonathan. Twilight. Get to the hospital right away and inform them we have a serious burn victim.”
Twilight was knocked out of her daze at the princess’ words.
“R-right away, Princess!”
Twilight disappeared in a flash of purple light. Celestia made her way back to the figure on the cot, who she now knew to be Charlotte.
What a beautiful name
Jonathan watched Celestia warily as she approached Charlotte’s sleeping form. The white horse’s horn glowed a bright yellow as she began to cast some sort of spell on Charlotte. Jonathan noticed Charlotte’s breathing become fuller and less wheezy, but that was about it. Jonathan placed a hand on Charlotte’s, and simply stayed there.
“You are very close to her, are you not?”
Jonathan was a little startled by Celestia’s voice breaking the silence. He looked up at her and nodded.
“She’s been my closest friend for as long as I can remember, even more so after my mother died. She was always there for me, kept me from doing stupid stuff, and never failed to help me through the loss of my mom.”
Jonathan smiled as he remembered all the memories he had with Charlotte. Celestia, however, suddenly looked more serious.
“The medics are here. Do you want me to carry Charlo-”
“No. I’ll do it myself.”
Jonathan’s answer was filled with a determination Celestia had rarely seen. Yet, in his eyes, Celestia saw so much sorrow, and below that, a downright terrifying coldness. A coldness that froze all who came near.
Jonathan picked up Charlotte, and located a staircase. Making his way up, he saw he was now in a library. Not thinking about this fact, he walked out the nearest door to the outside. Not caring about his surroundings, he only made his way to a stretcher where a unicorn and an earth pony waited. To their credit, they asked no questions, and only let Jonathan put his life long friend on the stretcher.
Ponyville Hospital
The doctors had done the best they could for a patient type they had no experience with. Jonathan was surprised by how effectively they had worked, and he admired how much the personal seemed to genuinely care about Charlotte. Soon, he was finally permitted to enter Charlotte’s room, and he took a seat next to her bed. Once he had told the nurse to give him some time alone, and he was certain no one else was in the room, He took Charlotte’s hand, Put his head down, suddenly realizing how exhausted he was. Before letting himself slip into sleep, he said one last thing to Charlotte.
“Don’t die on me. Please…”
And so, Jonathan slept.
Ponyville Hospital, Waiting Room
Twilight paced back and forth. So many thoughts were running through her mind, she could barely keep track of them all. It wasn’t yet dawn, but Celestia had just left to prepare to raise the sun. Soon, she would have to explain everything to her friends.
Golden Oaks Library
All of Twilight’s friends where buzzing with excitement at their dear friend’s return. Pinkie was about to pitch a Twilight-Was-Found-and-is-Okay Party when the mare in question walking through the front door, looking exhausted. The look on her face said that she had something to say, and that she wasn’t going to be interrupted. Wordlessly, the five ponies all nodded to each other and gave Twilight their full attention.
“It all started with a stray cable…”
And so Twilight told her tale of being trapped in another world for a month, describing in great detail everything except her last day there.
“Come on girls, Jonathan may need a friend right now.”
Jonathan had woken up at around noon, judging by the sun's position in the sky. Charlotte was still unconscious, and was going to follow through his promise. He would wait for her to wake up, no matter what. And nothing could take him from her side.
It was around then Jonathan heard a knock on the door.
“Who is it?”
“Jonathan, it’s me! I brought my friends, too! Can we come in?”
“Yes, you can. Warn them, though.”
Applejack looked confused.
“What’d He mean ‘bout a warning now?”
Twilight tensed a little.
“Well, you see girls, Jonathan wasn’t the only one who came back. His friend did, too. But the fire didn’t leave her unscathed.
Fluttershy put a hoof to her mouth in shock.
“O-oh my gosh. Tha-that’s awful! Are they ok? How are they? Is it bad?”
Twilight grimaced.
“It’s… It’s pretty bad, girls. Anyone who can’t handle it can stay here, no hard feelings.”
No one opted to stay.
“Alright then.”
The six walked into the hospital room, and the first thing they noticed was the odor, subsequently the source of the odor.
Charlotte was in marginally better condition than before. Since the unicorn doctors had cast a spell that essentially mimicked a bandage, there was no need for any. So the five ponies’ first sight of Charlotte was her condition. Her skin was horrifyingly burned and cracked. She still had her hair, but the ends were frayed and burned. One of her eyelids were fused shut, and she was missing part of her left ear. The five ponies let out a gasp of surprise and horror. Then, they noticed the one who was presumably Jonathan talking to Charlotte. He kept apologizing for not being fast enough, for not being able to save her, and for not being in her place instead. Just as AJ was about to introduce herself, Charlotte moved. Slowly, she opened her right eye, it spun for a bit before centering on Jonathan.
“Hey Jon. We dead yet?”
Jonathan smiled. He smiled more than Twilight ever saw him smile before. He hugged Charlotte before she had time react, and reciprocated as best she could.
“No, Charlotte, we aren't dead. You're not dead.”
They shared a moment together, before Jonathan spoke.
“Hey Charlotte. Remember when they pulled me from the wreckage of that car, limbs bent and screaming before I fell unconscious?”
“Yeah. How could I forget? I thought you were going to die!”
“I know how you felt now. Guess we're even now, huh?”
“I guess so.”
They laughed before Charlotte noticed the other present company.
“Jon. Why are there multicolored horses in my hospital room?”
“Oh, yeah. How do I say this. I'm pretty sure we are on another planet right now.”
Author's Note
Look at that, another one. And now Charlotte and Jonathan will meet the Man Six in full.
Again, thanks so much for reading this far. I can't believe the steadily increasing views and even watchers I'm getting from this. Special thanks to FireheartThePone again, for leaving comments on the story, and my little sister, for helping kick dyslexia's misspelled ass.
Twilight and the Volcanologist
Charlotte floated in a murky void. Whenever she tried to move, she met great resistance. After a time, Charlotte made out an approaching light in the distance.
Hello Charlotte Svensky. You have been terribly injured, and unconscious. I can, however, assure you that you are not slipping into death. However, you will need a tool in order to survive in this new land.
Wordlessly, the light seemed to split off a small part of itself, and that light enveloped Charlotte before fading. Charlotte simply nodded in acceptance, still sure she was dreaming. Then she heard a voice, quiet at first, but growing louder as it went on. Shle thought she recognized it before realizing who it was.
Jonathan?
Charlotte gave Jonathan a look of incomprehension.
“What”
There was no inflection to indicate that that the phrase was a question, more like a demand for information.
“Well, it all started about a month ago in the middle of the night…”
And so, Jonathan told Charlotte about Twilight's strange appearance that night, of what he and the mare spoke about, and then the unexpected quake that started the fire which claimed the lives of everyone else in the base camp.
“...And that's when I found you. You were half dead and burned to a crisp. I genuinely thought we were both going to die, from either the fire or the weather. I thought I had lost you, too. That's when Twilight threw us through a portal, and here we are. In a world populated with magical talking ponies.”
Charlotte took this new information a lot better than Jonathan expected. As in, she didn’t have a total breakdown, instead, looking deep into to his eyes, and uttering one thing.
“Are you shitting me?”
Jonathan cracked a smile at the remark. Despite the situation, Charlotte still managed to keep her sense of humour even in her current state.
A few of Twilight’s friends had nearly left when they saw Charlotte for the first time, but when she woke up, and Jonathan had hugged her, they realized she wasn’t too different from them. Rainbow Dash had some memories of being bedridden, and felt sympathy for Charlotte, even they were so different.
For about two weeks, Jonathan stayed with Charlotte while she recovered, leaving very rarely. He remembered how many times she had come to see him after the car crash, and he felt he was reciprocating the act. When she was finally discharged, she asked something that had been on Jonathan’s mind for awhile.
“Jon, where are we going to stay? It’s not like we have any money, or anyway to make any, yet.”
“I was thinking about that, and I had been speaking with Twilight. She agreed to let us stay with her for the foreseeable future.”
Jonathan and Charlotte wandered around town for a bit, earning a few stares, but otherwise went unbothered. Thanks to the unicorns’ efforts, Charlotte actually came out looking pretty alright for having had multiple third degree burns. The only thing that was noticeable was than her skin was quite pale, a byproduct of the rapid healing, accelerating the burns into being scars.
After awhile, Jonathan spotted the tree in the center of town. Charlotte following behind him, he walked up to the door, giving it a few knocks before he heard a voice from within.
“Coming!”
Jonathan noted with some interest that whoever it was was male, thus not Twilight. His suspicions were confirmed when a short, purple and green lizard looking guy opened the door. He stared up, a little startled by Jonathan’s significant height relative to his own. Jonathan decided to speak first.
“Hey there. Is Twilight in? She said we could stay here for awhile.”
“Oh! You must be Jonathan! Hi Charlotte!”
He gave a wave to Charlotte, who waved back.
“Come on in! There are some chairs in the main room, make yourselves at home. Twilight will be down in a minute.”
It was just then that Twilight trotted down the stairs, taking a seat across from Charlotte. The two looked at each other before Twilight broke the silence.
“So you two are close?”
Jonathan decided to answer the question.
“Been best friends for as long as either of us can remember. After my mom died, out friendship only became stronger. Don't worry about it, by the way. It was, what, almost sixteen years ago now?”
Charlotte nodded in agreement.
“It was a car accident, I was pull-”
Jonathan noticed Twilight's hoof was raised. He smiled a bit before asking what her question was.
“What are cars? Are they like carriages?”
Charlotte responded, a little amused at the unicorn’s student like behavior.
“Imagine a train, but a little slower. They have wheels like a carriage, so they aren't limited to tracks.”
Twilight's curiosity was sated for now, but she made a mental note to ask more about it. Jonathan then spoke up.
“As I was saying, the medical pulled me from the wreckage, but my mother wasn't so lucky. She had been killed instantly from fatal brain trauma, her spinal cord snapped. At least I know she died painlessly.”
“That's awful! How old were you when it happened?”
“I was nine. In the hospital, Charlotte got her parents to take her to see me after school everyday. On the weekends she’d stay almost the whole day. Needless to say, being paralysed from the waist down temporarily. You always brought stuff over to me. Remember when that nurse said were doing her job better than her?”
Charlotte chuckled at the memory.
“Yeah, I remember that. I swear, that made my day. Of course, I guess I preferred volcanoes to people, but hey. Turned out well.”
The sarcasm in the last part of her sentence eased the tension that Twilight had from listening to these two talk so casually about being bedridden from what she assumed to be a traumatic event. She then remembered how long ago this had happened, and that they had moved on.
“Twilight. I need to ask you something.”
Twilight looked up at the man. He was still in his grey jacket and jeans. She made another mental note to talk to rarity about that.
“Yes?”
“Why the hell did I use magic?”
Twilight looked pretty bewildered. Everything she had gleaned was that humans do not have, nor ever had, magic. She looked to Charlotte, who had a ponderous look on her face, lake green eyes deep in thought. Suddenly, she looked like she had come up with something. Then she spoke
“Twilight, Jon was unconscious when you brought us over, right? I could barely see since my retinas melted.”
“Yes, he was.”
“Jon, did you dream of anything while you were out?”
Jonathan, for his part, seemed to be intrigued. Then it was like an idea exploded behind his bright blue eyes.
“Charlotte, did you dream of a murky space, and then a light came and talked to you?”
“Actually, yeah. Now that I think about it, I can almost feel the ground beneath me, as if I could send it to my will if I wanted.”
“Interesting…”
Twilight thought of a few studies and odd cases before coming to an unsatisfactory conclusion.
“Well, I'm not sure what may have happened. I'll be sure to ask the princes in the next letter I send to them.”
“Sounds good.”
The two sole humans in Equestria shared a laugh at their synchronized response, and Twilight joined in as well. This was definitely going to be an interesting friendship report.
Later That Week
“Good job, Jon!”
Jonathan just maintained focus on the icicle he was forming from the middle of his palm. He and Charlotte had started an impromptu sort of magic school with Twilight over the past week. Now that they had gotten basic theory down, they were applying it to their own powers. Twilight had described their type of magic as an elemental speciality or affiliation. Essentially, Charlotte and Jonathan had a magical affiliation with their respective elements, Jonathan’s being ice and Charlotte’s being earth. Both of these elements had some distinctive properties, as he had learned from the prior week’s theory classes. Ice, and most other forms of elemental magic, came from within. While mastery over that can lead to being able to manipulate natural ice, he would likely only use his own ice. Charlotte, on the other hand, had earth. THose with an earth affiliation could only draw on the earth around them. Right now, she was attempting to create geometric figure with dirt she was packing together, with decent success. Twilight observed happily.
“Good job on the tetrahedron, Charlotte!”
“Thanks, Twilight. It’s always nice to be complimented by someone who isn’t Snowy over there.”
“Snowy?”
Twilight blinked in confusion at the name. Jonathan gave a good natured chuckle before responding.
“It’s the hair Twilight. This stark white isn’t typical until old age. I assume pony manes and tails grey over time?”
“Yes, that’s true”
“Well, same with humans. Some people with already light hair, such as blonde or light red, will eventually get close to white hair, though few truly attain this shade of white. I’m not an albino, as I don’t lack melanin. It’s just a genetic defect, though It’s not really harmful in anyway.”
“Interesting. With ponies, we have almost every color you can think of as possible hair, though typically a foal’s hair color is some mixture between the parents’. For example, if a pony with red hair and a pony with white hair had a foal, the foal could have anywhere from red to white hair, such as pink. Some however, such as myself, inherit traits from our parent’s hair. My mother’s hair is very similar to mine, but my father’s is blue. My hair is essentially my mom’s but darker. It’s a very intere-”
“Okay Twilight, while I’d love to discuss genetics, I’d like to point out my icicle is melting.”
Twilight looked a bit apologetic.
“Oh, I’m so sorry...”
“No hard feelings, Twilight. I think I actually figured out what I was doing wrong…”
And so the two started discussing Jonathan’s icicle. Charlotte, however, was doing pretty well on her own, already making structures strong enough to stand on their own. The irony of studying volcanoes and now being connected to the earth itself did not escape her. She smiled a bit at that.
Heh, would have been funnier if I had control of fire. Though I guess it still would have had a similar irony to it.
Canterlot
Celestia was reading through her various papers and reports when she received a letter from her student. She smiled as she took it with her magic and opened it. She read the letter, wondering what her faithful student sent her today.
Dear Princess Celestia,
Charlotte has made a full recovery from her burns! Jonathan has been a lot happier since she was discharged, and something very interesting has come up with the two! Jonathan and Charlotte have displayed aptitude for elemental magic, ice and earth respectively. I would like to make a request to let us visit the library in Canterlot so we can find more information on the subject, asy knowledge of elemental magic is quite basic. They have also shown signs of being able access contemporary magic, but aren't yet strong enough basic levitation lessons. I hope you'll let us know if we can come.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
Celestia smiled in both pride and intrigue at these developments, and was quick write her response. She dearly hoped to see Charlotte up and about, and was glad to know Jonathan had been his normal self again. She also was eager to see just how far the two young friends had come in just a week with their magic. She wondered just what had brought them together so closely, and opted to ask them when they got to Canterlot.
Ponyville-Canterlot Train
Jonathan was looking out the window while Charlotte and Twilight discussed her earth magic.
“You know, I think that main issue was I was relying too much my own magic keeping the earth together, rather than building structures to stand on their own.”
“Interesting insight, Charlotte! Maybe we'll learn more about it when we get to the library. Don't worry about the guards, by the way. I know pretty much all of them, and know the city like the back of my hand.”
“I lived in the city for awhile. Never liked it too much. Always too many people for me. I preferred living in a small town. Remember when I moved for a year, Jonathan?”
Jonathan blinked before realizing he was being asked a question.
“Yeah. Worst time of my life. Happened right after I got out of the hospital, wasn't it? Remember telling me while you wheeled me out of the hospital? You looked on the verge of tears. I haven’t seen you like that since.”
“I do remember. Dad was following jobs at the time, and had to go to the city for a new job. I just couldn’t get used to it. Too much noise, too many people. It was never quiet.”
The two friends looked at each other for a bit before realizing that Twilight was still there. She looked like she had something to say.
“We’re here, guys
Author's Note
Fourth chapter! If you guys read this far, thanks. I apologise for the increasingly short chapters. I'll try to keep these at the least 2000 words, but don't get to much free time. I mostly write in the car to and from school, as well as waiting to get picked up from school. Only got to wait a year, then I can finally drive! Anyways, thanks to FireheartThePone again for actively following my story, and my sister for giving direct feed back.
Twilight and the Volcanologist
Train En Route To Ponyville
“So what did you tell Celestia?”
Charlotte was reading a terrakinesis book, nestled in a career of the traincar. Jonathan himself was taking notes on arcane circles when she asked.
“Told her that I got bullied after my mom died. Said I figured that protecting myself was the best option. Learned to throw a punch, knock people bigger than me down. That sort of thing.”
“Ah. Hey Twilight, what's this about magma?”
Twilight trotted over to her, and briefly explained that since magma is just liquid rock, it could still be influenced by terramancy. She made a mental note to ask Jonathan more about his past. Jonathan snorted.
“You get the volcano powers? I still studied them, now all I get it to be a living cooler.”
Charlotte laughed.
“Goddamn, I hate you so much. C’mere, ya big bastard.”
She got up and gave him a hug. Jonathan was startled. This was odd for Charlotte.
“Woah, I'm not going anywhere, what's gotten into you?”
Very uncharacteristically, tears began to run down Charlotte's face. Before Jonathan saw, she wiped them away, and just chuckled.
“Never thanked you for dragging my deep fried ass to safety. Figured wasn't the best time to do so in the hospital.”
Jonathan snickered.
“Yeah, regret it already.”
They shared a good natured laugh before returning to their books, leaving a very confused Twilight in. The middle of the traincar.
Ponyville Library
How can they act like towards each other, then hug, and go back to name calling? Ugh! It doesn't make sense!
Twilight was attempting to understand the relationship between her human friends. It was utterly unique in nature to her. Without the proper context, the two seemed to hate each other, but also not. It was a mind bender the librarian wasn't going to deal with alone. Jonathan came down from the balcony, tome in hand.
“Twilight, I'm putting my foot down on this. Charlotte and I have agreed to pay you rent for staying here. Charlotte has worked out a deal with Applejack, and Vinyl and Octavia hired me as an assistant in the studio. In total, we have a combined gross income of 78 bits a day, and we pay 20% rent, that gives us a net income of about 63 bits. Decided to pool our incomes and split, not counting tips, overtime, or other things like that. No argument about it. In fact I believe my first day in the working world starts…”
Glanced at a watch he wasn't wearing.
“Now!”
Twilight sputtered a bit, before she went to ask Charlotte about this new development.
Synths and Strings Music Store
“Alright, dude. That looks good. But, Jon, I really gotta ask you something.”
Jonathan had been moving cables, adaptors, and a few amps about Vinyl’s side of the store, and going to go help Octavia with a Contrabass, comically massive against the small pony, when Vinyl spoke
“Yeah?”
“What's human music like?”
Jonathan gave a look of amusement.
“Well, there's thousands of types of music. There's pop, rock, jazz, EDM, electronica, big band swing and ragtime, and if you go into history a little bit, classical orchestra and piano music.”
At the mention of orchestra, Octavia made her way next to Vinyl, and began to listen, Contrabass abandoned on a stand.
“You know, you guys are missing a lot instruments we back home. I thought it was because you guys don't have fingers. But I saw Lyra playing a lyre with her magic, so I figured some simpler instruments still exist, but I was curious about the string instruments. How do you play them?”
Octavia took a violin from a display rack and demonstrated a scale and arpeggio. Jonathan noticed that she angled her hoof of the neck.
“May I?”
Octavia gave him the violin. It had been a while,but after a few horrid scales, he played a slow tune he made up on the spot, noting he would need to tell the sisters about pianos. Octavia studied his fingers, pressing down on strings, moving them side to side the give tremolo to the tone.
“What it that piece? Do you know the rest of it?”
Octavia was earnest. The song was beautiful, and she was sure she could transpose it for her cello.
“Sorry Octavia. I just sort of… Made it up. It's been awhile since I played anything, though. Understand why you'd want to play it with some actual skill.”
He chuckled. Octavia gaped at him, and Vinyl lowered her ever present glasses.
“You just… just improvised on the spot? It was… It was beautiful. If you could write it down, maybe even finish it, I would be glad to give a bonus. I would love to play that myself.”
Vinyl nodded in agreement.
“Jeez, man. You should be working with us, not for us. Know anything else?”
Jonathan smiled. He was ten again and his dad bought him his first keyboard. He was in love with music, but never had the time to compose like he wanted to. He had started a music theory class this term, but current events somewhat impeded his attendance.
“Can I get a bass? I don't need the bow.”
Vinyl levitated a bass over, eager to see what he did. Jonathan began some pizzicato, plucking at the instrument, making a jazzy, upbeat tune that had the three bouncing. As the musical exchange continued, the human and sisters grew in a comradery that made the employer employee boundaries fade away, only three musicians enjoying music.
Meanwhile
“Alright, that’s all I need.”
Together, Charlotte, Applejack, and Big Mac had setup a smith area for Charlotte. Ponies didn’t use traditional hammers, so Charlotte had to make her own, with the help of Applejack.The furnace setup before her would be good enough to work iron, but nothing much tougher.
“Are ya sure ya wanna do this? We can always buy new parts.”
Applejack felt a little guilty for hiring someone just out of hospital, but she insisted she was fine. But, she detected a sort of falsehood in it. She wasn’t telling the whole truth, but she knew the was truthful about being fit to work.
“Don’t worry, AJ. I’ve got this. Haven’t worked metal for a while, but I can do basic stuff.”
Charlotte had pitched that she could repair nearly any broken equipment, even make metal parts. She insisted she would cost less than bought goods, and nothing beats homemade. Applejack caved and offered a daily salary.
Charlotte began to pound out horseshoes for Big Mac. Apparently, no producers made a size large enough for him at a reasonable price. He always insisted no one go to any trouble for him, albeit in the form “Eeyup” or “Nope”. Charlotte decided her first order of business was to remedy that.
About an hour later, Charlotte had been at work hammering a hedge trimmer back into shape when Applejack walked in to see how she was doing.
“Hey there, sugarcube. How ya doin’?”
Charlotte looked up from the clippers, meeting Applejack’s gaze.
“Alright, AJ. Metallurgy has always been a thing I enjoyed, along with a good day's worth of honest work. Grew up on a farm myself, but dad always knew I had a brighter future. Eighteenth birthday he said He would get me into a college if it was the last thing he did. Good man, he was. I wonder what he’s up to now…”
A look of sadness entered the scientist-turned-smith.
“That’s nice, ain’t it. But, looks to me like somethin’ bothering you. What’s wrong?”
Charlotte sighed.
“I was talking with Twilight, and she told me that, due to how rigid the magical field on Earth is, too much energy would be forced into it for it to properly take it in. Needless to say, Antarctica is a beautiful place. Don’t need to melt it.”
Applejack’s gaze softened.
“Ya can’t go home?”
“No. Jon is fine, though. He doesn’t have much to back to. Mom’s dead, dad’s comatose, unlikely to ever wake up. He only has one friend, but you’re talking to her.”
She laughed a bit.
“We were studying volcanoes, you know. We were going to find a way to better predict eruptions. Save lives, that kind of thing. Seems so distant now, worrying about grades, my thesis paper, or anything, really. This place reminds Jon and I of home, so I guess we could settle down, live our lives like we planned to. Sort of.”
Charlotte’s face saddened a bit.
“You know, when he carried my out of that room, it was still burning, smoke choking our lungs, my nerves having burned to the point of numbness. That was when I blacked out. I asked Twilight about what happened during that time between my going out and coming to in your basement. She told me that she had to toss us both through because Jon was convinced that I would die. He said that I was all he had left, and I died, he would have no reason to not to the same.”
Applejack just sort of looked at her, unable to comprehend fully the implications of this. Her voice, her tone, was utterly honest. Nothing tipped her off that she was lying.
“Well sugarcube, looks to me like you got friend who really cares about you. More so, though, he seems a mite attached to you. He really did never leave that room in the hospital. He didn’t eat nor sleep. Told us all that it would distract him if you woke up. I think he’s a really good friend. Ah wonder if any of the girls would do the same, in such a situation.”
“Well, I didn’t die, so there’s that.”
Applejack chuckled.
“Yer sure right about that.”
Mood lightened from the topic of her near death, Charlotte and Applejack made idle chatter as Charlotte worked metal.
Synths and Strings
“Vinyl.”
“Yeah Jon?”
“Look at this. Been messing with some old equipment in the back. A made a rudimentary guitar amp.”
“The hecks a guitar?”
Jonathan smiled a bit
“Funny. They’re closely related to string instruments, since the are string instrument, but the are primarily play strummed or with a pick. Case in point, I soldered together a really, really crappy pick up out of a magnet and some other stuff. I kinda sorta maybe.. uh… gutted a broken cello. Octavia will have my head over this, but i think it will interest you. Take a listen.”
Jon went into the back room and came out carrying something that may have been a speaker at one time in its life. Case removed, Vinyl noticed several spools of copper and other weird, bulbous thing on various parts of it, as well as a few knobs she recognized from her old scratch table. He went back in and again, came out with a horror of a cello.
Wow, jeez. He wasn’t kidding.
“Now listen.”
He flicked a switch resting on top of the brutalized speaker, presumably now an amp, and sat down on the floor, neck of the once cello pointing to Jon’s left.
“Hey, it didn’t catch fire this time.”
He began to play, and Vinyl heard one of the most beautiful and amazing sounds she has ever heard. It was… Utterly unique to anything she had listened to. It faded out, and he began to play other sounds, messing with the knobs every once in a while. The instrument made everything from a smooth, soft jazzy tone, to a hard, powerful storm of noise. Vinyl was more than loving it. She needed something like this at one of her gigs.
“Alright. Draw up a design for an actual one. Any materials in mind?”
Jon smiled broader than ever since arriving here.
“A good chunk of wood, six steel strings, in varying width that I’ll describe on the diagram, and six viola tuning lugs.”
“Alrighty. Tell you what. I’ll give you double today. This is amazing. I’ll explain to Octavia, and see if I can get those lugs.”
“oh, and one more thing. Is can I use the repair shop in the back? I saw tools in there that would make this a lot easier.”
“No problem.”
Author's Note
Deeply sorry for the long wait on this chapter. If anyone stayed with this story, thanks. I know it's really short, so are all the chapters in the story. I've got bad pacing, I know. To be honest, I've been away because break. I needed a breather. I barely got past some of my finals, and I was generally lazing around. Again, sorry for the silence. Also regarding the Discord chapter of Echoes of the Past. It was terrible. I'm doing seething else totally. Thanks for reading!