A Change of Pace

by Cartoonix

Rating: teen
Tags: Spike, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Adventure, Human, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Starlight Glimmer, Romance, Original Character
Length: 1945

Two middle school friends are transported to Equestria. One, a stay-at-home guy, and the other, a bit of a social butterfly. What will happen to them in this strange world?

After Starlight casts an unknown spell, two humans are transported to Equestria. Two middle schoolers, Jack and Alex, to be exact. Now that they're in a different world, they don't have anything. But maybe, friendship will get them through and possibly do more.

Contains swearing.
This is my first story and attempt at writing fiction. Any tips and advice are welcome! I'll try to update whenever I can.

EDIT: Sorry guys. This story is going on hiatus. I've kinda lost my motivation to write and school is being really annoying. I can't say when I'll start writing again, but I hope you stay loyal and wait until I come back. Thanks.

Published 2017-08-09 01:30:06 UTC
Last updated 2017-08-09 01:30:06 UTC

Chapter 1

BANG! The loud noise of a body colliding with a locker echoed throughout the halls of Jackson Whitley Middle School. All nearby eyes turned towards the five boys trapping a smaller boy against a locker. The small boy wore a dark blue crewneck shirt that loosely fit around his tiny body, and a pink bracelet on his wrist with the name "Alex" imprinted on it. He had light, beige skin and short, brown hair that covered the top of his head.

One of the boys stepped towards the smaller boy. He was a large, obese boy with darker skin than the other boy. He wore jeans, and a light gray crewneck shirt with the school's name and mascot, which was a penguin, on it. His black hair was styled in a fade and covered in gel to create a windswept look. He stepped towards the smaller boy and slammed his hand onto the locker, nearly hitting the the boy's face.

"What's wrong, Jack?" he began. "You scared?" Jack scrunched up his face from being under the large boy's breath.

"Why don't you just fuck off, Ian!? I don't wanna deal with your shit right now." Jack exclaimed.

Ian smirked at Jack's response. "Oh come on, Jack. Let's have some fun." Jack gave a bored look at his offer. "My friends and I are gonna sneak into the principal's office and light some fireworks in there." Ian started to smile and nod his head at Jack.

"As much as I would love to join you in your little adventure," Jack started with a sarcastic tone, "I can't. I'm meeting Alex at the park today." Jack smiled. "So, if you all could let me through..." Jack moved towards an opening between the other boys, but was pushed back to the locker by Ian.

"Alex? Your little girlfriend?" Ian said mockingly.

"She's not my girlfriend; we're just friends." Jack looked to his right to find another opening. "Well, I don't wanna be late so," he slipped away from the group, "I'll see you later." Jack took off in a sprint towards a nearby exit. The group began to chase, but were quickly stopped by Ian.

"Don't bother, he isn't worth it. Let's go light those fireworks off." They started on their way to the principal's office.

Jack sprinted towards the park in a hurry so he could arrive at the set time he and Alex had agreed on. He pulled out his phone from his pocket, finding it was seven past three; three minutes before their agreed time.

His lungs induced a burning sensation as he ran, forcing him to grab his side to reduce the pain. Sweat greased his hair and skin as he ran, delivering some relief to his increasing body temperature.

He turned a corner where the archway of the Queen Wendy Public Park was in his sights. He rushed into the park before sitting on a nearby bench. Jack took a moment to relax while looking around for Alex who seemed to still be on her way.

Checking the time, only a minute had passed, so with his friend having not arrived, Jack took the remaining time to fix his disheveled appearance. He smoothed the wrinkles in his shirt and fixed his wind-swept hair. While Jack focused on his looks, a white light enveloped his feet and continued up his legs.

In the distance, Alex, a blonde haired girl wearing a blue shirt and jeans, was walking around the park until she saw Jack with his back to her. She started her way towards him when she noticed the light around his lower half. Jack was too focused on his hair to notice the light.

Alex's calm walk turned into a worried jog as Jack's shoulders were covered. She neared him while Jack stayed oblivious to both her and the light until it surrounded his chin, drawing his eyes towards the strange aura.

"What the fuck?" Jack questioned as he inspected his glowing body.

"Jack!" Alex screamed when his forehead started to glow.

Jack turned around to see Alex running at him. "Alex?" Said girl ran into him and wrapped her arms around his torso. The momentum from Alex's run sent the two to the ground before the light grew brighter and disappeared along with the two teens.

Five minutes earlier...

In Twilight's castle, Starlight Glimmer sat at her desk writing a letter to her best friend, Sunburst. Her writing was interrupted by a knock on her door. *Knock, knock, knock.* "Come in!" The door opened to reveal Spike the Dragon. The little drake entered the room and closed the door behind him. "Hey, Starlight," Spike greeted.

"Hey, Spike. Do you need something?" Starlight replied.

"Yeah. Could you perform a spell for me?" Spike answered.

"A spell? What kind of spell?" Starlight pondered.

"I don't know."

Starlight raised an eyebrow. "You don't know? How do you not know?"

"It's a new spell. Just... here." Spike pulled out a scroll and handed to Starlight. She held it in her magical grasp.

Dear Spike, I was recently browsing the Canterlot Archives and have found a spell with no recorded results. I would like Twilight to perform the spell and have you record the effects and send them to me. Please send them as soon as you can.

Your faithful ruler, Princess Celestia.

Starlight's face scrunched up in confusion at the lack of her name in the letter. She looked to the bottom of the scroll where the spell was written. It contained words similar to other spells and some she didn't recognize. She handed the scroll back to Spike before directing her eyes at him. "Um, Spike, it says the Princess wants Twilight to perform the spell."

"I know." Spike said sadly. "I was gonna ask Twilight, but she's on one of her," Spike made quotation marks with his fingers, "reading sprees."

"Reading spree?"

"She gets a ton of books, read or unread by her, and reads them all."

"How long does it take for her to finish?"

"It depends on how many stacks of books there are. When I went to the library to ask her, there were about 10 stacks. I couldn't tell how many there were in each."

"But if Princess Celestia requested Twilight, then shouldn't you ask Twilight to put her spree on hold?"

Spike's eyes widened and he started waving his arms in front of him. "No way. The last time I tried that, the library was a mess. I almost drowned in books!" Spike raised his arms into the air in anger from the memory.

"Okay, then why don't you wait for her to finish?"

"She could take a long time." Spike got onto his knees and put his hands together before crawling to Starlight. "Please Starlight. I don't want to keep the Princess waiting. Plus, you and Twilight are basically the same. You're both very powerful unicorns. Remember the battle you two had when we went back in time?" Spike was now directly in front of her with watery eyes.

Starlight grimaced at the mention of the evil memory. "Spike, I don't think we should," she looked into Spike's eyes, "uh... interrupt Twilight. Yeah, that's it!" Starlight hopped off her chair and crossed her room to the door. "Come on, Spike. We can do the spell in the map room." Starlight opened the door and left.

"Yes!" Spike hopped and raised his arm into the air before following Starlight. As they walking toward the map room, Spike looked to Starlight. "What were you doing before I came in?" Spike said, trying to make the walk less awkward.

Starlight blushed and looked away. "Oh, I was writing a letter to Sunburst." She said in an embarrassed tone.

"That's great! It must be nice being able to talk with him after being apart for such a long time." Spike said, not seeming to notice Starlight's tone or blush.

"Yeah, but I wish I could spend more time with him. I do understand how busy he is with being the royal crystaller and all the magic work he's doing in the Crystal Empire." Starlight sighed.

Spike put an arm around her withers. "Well, I'm sure we'll be able to go there someday. Maybe Twilight will want to visit Flurry Heart or she'll give you an assignment there. I'm sure something will come up." Spike said, attempting to help Starlight feel better.

"Yeah. You're probably right." Starlight smiled at the thought of seeing Sunburst again.

The two reached two doors and entered. They found the map room to be the same as usual. The large chandelier hanging from the ceiling, made from the roots of the Golden Oak Library with small gems containing the memories they made there. The chairs sat around the table, ready for the element bearers to meet and discuss at any time.

"Okay. So, I'll do the spell and whatever it does should appear on the table. Sound good?" Starlight walked over to the table and looked over to Spike.

"Yup! Sounds fine." Spike stood a few feet away from her and pulled out a new scroll and quill.

Starlight spread her form out for better balance, ready to perform the spell, before straightening up and looking back to Spike with a sheepish look on her face. "Can I look at the spell again?"

"Sure. No need to worry." Spike pulled out the Princess' letter and threw it to Starlight before resuming his position with scroll in one hand and quill in another.

Starlight caught the letter and quickly read the spell before throwing it to the side and resuming her previous position. "Ready?"

"Ready."

Starlight closed her eyes in concentration. Her horn lit up with sparks flying from it. Her horn started to glow brighter and her mane started to move in a nonexistent wind. Spike shielded his eyes with his arm while Starlight continued to perform the spell. The light kept grew so intense that Spike had to close eyes. "Starlight! I think we should stop!" Spike yelled to Starlight, but she was too focused to hear. The room was enveloped in light before it reverted to its previous state where the only light came from the windows and the chandelier.

Starlight rubbed her head to reduce the stress the spell caused while Spike rubbed his eyes so he could stop seeing the flashing dots in his vision.

"Ugh... what happened?" Said a male voice from the table. Starlight turned to the voice, but was unable to identify the speaker because the stress of the spell had caused a temporary blindness for her too. Spike also turned towards the voice, but was still in the same boat as Starlight. "Alex? Is that you?"

Alex? What kind of name is that? Thought Starlight.

"Yeah. It's me." Said Alex.

Two ponies? A mare and stallion? No... their voices weren't that developed. So, a filly and colt.

"Uh, Alex, why are you on top of me and have your arms around me?"

Arms? Are they minotaurs or dragons?

"Oh, when I saw you, you were glowing and I thought something bad was gonna happen so I tried to protect you with my body and kinda knocked you over in the process."

"Okay." A shuffling sound could be heard from the table, until it suddenly stopped. "Uh... what the..."

During the shuffling, Starlight's and Spike's vision had returned to normal and they both looked to the table to find two unknown beings staring back at them. "Heck?"

Author's Note

Thanks for reading the first chapter. Feel free to leave any advice in the comments.