Chivalry Reborn

Chapter 21:

Phone for You

“Easy there, Hotshot…” Shadow Flare warned me lightly, as I kept my eyes trained on the small peach I was levitating with my magic. “Don’t focus too hard, or it’ll smash into the hoop….” He nudged his head toward the three small splotches that used to be fellow peaches slowly sliding down the basketball hoop’s backboard. “….Like the last few times.”

“I got it!” I snipped at him, trying to keep balance of my energy.

We’ve been in here training for what feels to have been two hours, training. First, Shadow made me follow him in the air for some flight training. He made it extremely difficult keeping up with him, always weaving through the skies at high speeds. He even tried to trick me into smashing into a tree. ….Well, I shouldn’t say try. I hit my nose against the trunk pretty hard. If this wasn’t a dream, I’d have a broken nose (or is it muzzle? Snout? Ugh, who cares! It still hurt like hell, dammit!)

He then told me to practice applebucking trees as a pony. When I asked him why, he said it  was “to make sure I knew how to knock some teeth out as both a person and pony.” As dumb as I found that reasoning, I did the exercise anyway. It’s not exactly easy to kick well when your legs are formed in a different manner, let me tell you that. However, I didn’t really feel much pain in my hooves, probably due to the hard ends of them instead of normal flesh of fingers on a hand. My body as a pony actually makes my muscles tougher too, so I could kick with much more power than I could as a human; the fact that I could buck a tree clean in only three strikes instead of five to eight proved that, so there’s that.

As you could tell now, I was now attempting shooting peaches at the basketball hoop, to work on my ability to control my magic. I had already asked him just why were we using different fruit instead of apples like I did in the real world. He explained that peaches  were being used to shoot with because they are much more delicate than apples, so I had to be more careful. For the pear trees, it was because our favorite fruit, and because “it’d be redundant to keep using apples.” It was silly, but I liked his reasoning, so I went with it.

“And…shoot!” I leaned forward a little as I spouted, pushing the small fruit towards the hoop. It flew towards hoop at an awkward angle.

I watch the shot in hope of it making it’s mark. It bunched against the outer ring, bouncing just over the hoop.

“Yes…Yes! Get in there!” I demanded the fruit to go in.

Whoosh

It defied my command, leaping over the backboard, and fell to the ground behind the hoop.

“….”

“….”

We both remained quiet, just staring at where the peach rolled off to.  I never was good at basketball, so this kind of bugged me that I couldn’t get a good shot in no matter how much I tried.

“PFFFT HA HA HA HA!!” Shadow Flare bursted out in laughter, walking off towards the field.

“Oh, shut up!” I snapped, shooting a glare in his direction.

Vrrrrrrrt

The ground suddenly shook, rocking everything around us. I stumbled, struggling to stay on my feet, while Shadow took to the skies.

“What the heck is that that!?” I yelled

VRRRRT

I closed my eyes tightly, shaking my head. The noise was causing a weird tingle in my head.

“I think something in the real world is- “He was suddenly cut off, as everything had went silent.

Vrrrrrrt

“Mmm…” I mumbled lazily, forcing my eyes open slightly. The hell…?

I slowly, pushed myself upward into a sitting position. What the hell was that..?

Vrrrrt

I felt something shaking in my hip. I looked down at my waist, towards where the sensation was coming from.

Vrrrrrrrt

I blinked, slowly remembering what the noise and sensation meant. Oh… My mind finally caught on as it slowly turned back on. It’s just my cell phone.

I clumsily push my hand into my pocket, pulling out my Blackberry in a daze. It was a call, from and unknown number. I blinked, about to press the drop call key unconsciously, before I realized something.

I’m still in Equestria.

I blinked, letting the rest of my mind wake up and report back what I’ve done in this place. I’m not even on the same world as Earth anymore, so I shouldn’t be getting any kind of communication. Yet…I’m getting a call.

Vrrrrrt

My phone gave me its second to last vibration, warning me that it’s about to drop the call.

I glanced around myself quickly. I was still in Fluttershy’s cottage, on her couch. ….I’ll have to keep quiet. I paused a moment, before I hesitantly pressed the answer key. I put the device to my ear.

“…Hello?” I spoke quietly into the phone, now at attention.

“Hello!?” A voice came through, in a slightly eager tone. “So communication technology DOES work across worlds…” He spoke to himself, sounding like he had called on a hunch.  I could hear him muttering away from the phone. “Just needed to keep calling the phone number…” I heard shuffling, then his voice once more, this time directed to me “Hello? Is this a human?”

Well, there’s a question you don’t get asked everyday.

“Yes, I’m a human.” I answered, looking to the side. Angel was still asleep in his bed by the door, and I don’t hear anything upstairs, meaning Fluttershy was sleeping as well.

“In Equestria!?” He asked another odd question, now sounding like a girl who was just told she could have a doll she wanted.

“Yeah…?” I answered him once more, pretty sure I was making a face that read “Guy’s a screwball.”

“I see,” He said slowly. I could faintly hear a pen scribbling against paper. “Fascinating. I’ll include this in my report…”

His voice had a slight pitch to it, making it sound a little girly, but still had an overall male tone. He had sounded like one of those nerds I often saw in the science laboratory afterschool during high school. He was acting it too, too busy writing down notes instead of talking to someone, and kept almost forgetting someone else’s existence within a split second. Not to mention he sounded a little giddy over the fact that he could contact me, just like a science geek over a new formula.

Was this guy seriously talking to himself as he talked to a stranger over the damned phone?

“Hey,” I said in a regular volume, “who is this, and how do you know this number?”

“Oh!” The person on the other line gasped in surprise. He probably really DID forget I was on the line. “My apologies.” He cleared his throat before speaking again. “Is this a Mr. Winston Flash?” He sounded stern now, asking me another simple question. “Or rather, is this Shadow Flare?”

Annnnd now it’s complicated.

I looked to the side towards the wall, staying silent for a moment. I didn’t really know how to answer that question.  The moonlight was shining through the window, making a gentle ray cover part of the room.

On the wall I was staring at, my reflection was looming above me, much bigger than I was. It was still a horse, sitting upright with one hoof to its head. It was proof that technically I was Winston and Shadow, yet neither at the same time. Was I the same person as I was before, or someone else? I just didn’t really know for sure now.

I sighed, shifting my gaze to my bandaged leg, the phone still to my ear. The ice had melted and was now simply a pack of warm water against my ankle.

“Depends on how you want to look at it...” I finally responded to the voice in a hushed voice.

“Hmn…” The man on the other side, thinking about my answer. “I see. In any case please listen.” He spoke clearly in a slowed speed. “I’m Ramon Stewards, one of the members of SWAP, as head of the technological branch.” He finally introduced himself after being on the phone with a stranger for two minutes. " I’m calling you to inform you of information that may be vital to not only your mission, also to your survival in Equestria.

My eyes instantly snapped onto the bag beside the couch. The group that sent all this stuff to me? “I’m all ears,” I spoke in a serious tone myself, sitting at attention, “but I want to know just how I got here first, and where’d this bag came from.”

“So the bag DID make it through!” Ramon breathed in excitement. “I knew that the transporter worked! I knew it..!” He was boasting about something to himself, pretty much erasing all the words around my mention of the bag from my sentence.

“Excuse me.” I spoke in a clear volume, still attempting keeping my voice down. I could see Angel’s tail twitch slightly from the corner of my vision. “Can we get to the explaining?”

“Ah, sorry.” He quickly came back, snapping back to the task at hand. “I’ll be brief, seeing as you like to be to the point, Flash.” He stated, the professionalism back in his voice.

“Go ahead.” I pushed to keep talking.

“Well, as you are very aware of by now, you are no longer on Earth in general, but rather Equestria.” He began on a simple note, the sound of keys on a keyboard tacking in the background. “This is the result of there being some sort of rift between This world and that world. A connection, if you will.”

“A connection?” I stopped him, confused. “How can these two possibly be connected?”

“That’s the part we have no idea about.” Ramon answered, the sound of his interest growing. “We’ve guessed that it was because the arrival of Julius and the other Flares on Earth, but that’s not the case.” By now, he didn’t sound professional anymore, but more like a kid talking about the newest game he had just gotten. “We’ve discovered that the rift has been present even *before** Julius! It just may be the reason for the whole concept of magic in our world, as well as the existence of some people on Earth!”*

I was thinking deeply as I listened to all of this. “So you’re saying that it people or ponies have been transferred from one world to the other before?”

“Well…not exactly.” Ramon admitted the sound of typing growing in volume around him. I think I could hear two or three back there. “When most of the Flares came to Earth, Julius wrote in his journal that many of them could no longer remember who they were, leaving only four real Flares who could recall the world of Equestria.” He spoke passively, as though he wasn't too keen on the matter. "We believe it may be due to those who lost their memory have too little magic to protect their minds from the effects of the rift.

Amnesia upon world crossing…? How convenient. I sighed, moving my injured leg a bit. “So I fell into Equestria just by chance…?”

“No.” He corrected me with even greater interest. “You’re transfer was quite different than most we’ve suspect to occur. You see, normally when someone is transferred, they seem to leave behind all their possessions behind them. Clothes, bags, personal items, everything. This ultimately leads to a small spark of DIE in Earth’s energy field that we can barely pick up. In YOUR case however-”

“Stop,” I butted in once again. “A spark of what? If you’re going to use fancy acronyms that you seem to love so much, at least tell me what it is.” I was really starting to get annoyed with this guy.

“Ah, my mistake. DIE is what we call for Dimensional Interference Energy.” He defined the term quickly. “It’s a special energy that reads similarly to PSI energy, but has a special wavelength. It’s the energy that most “Ghost catchers” read on their little radars on those shows you find on television.

“Ah.” Was all I said. This is getting ridiculous… My mind was starting to complain already.

“But that’s beside the point,” He was the one to get back on topic this time. “I need to finish this call now, so listen and please be quiet."

How rude! I thought to myself, glaring towards the earpiece of the phone. I didn't say anything though, and listened.

"Your transfer was in a giant burst of DIE energy, opening a gap right below you so you’ll fall through. When the transfer occurred, all the radars here went wild. We immediately sent an agent to find this dimensional rip, and toss the bag that had everything the CEO wanted to give you directly into it.” He started to sound smug again. “This apparently worked, seeing as you now have it.

“Now that you know why you’re here, this is what the CEO wanted me to tell you. According to the reports from the scouts here, there has been a sharp increase in  missing persons as of the past two days, resulting in five people disappearing.”

He sounded grim now. “On our radars, we have detected about two small sparks of energy, so we are certain that two others have disappeared after your transfer. The CEO suspects that this may result in adverse effects on the victim’s minds.

“We recommend that you keep a look out for new folks that come into town, and don’t seem to remember much of anything. Your eyes should be able to see their real shadow, despite the new form they may take. Be sure to only use force if necessary. The locals need to trust you as well if you wish to perform your objective without too much trouble.

“We will keep watch here and scan for any strange people here on Earth. In the meantime, we will also try to send an agent to Equestria to assist you. He will contact you as soon as possible once he makes it to Equestria.”

“Wait, WHAT.” I spoke a little louder than I wanted to into the phone. “Wait a second, you want me to keep people who come here ca-”

“Sorry, but I’m out of time.” He spoke quickly cutting me off. “We’ll speak again, Flash. Be careful, the people who we suspect to have been transferred are considered criminals. They disappeared in the middle of the day, so they may have weapons as well. Good luck.”

Click

I pulled the phone away from my ear, looking at it flabbergasted. Did that prick just dump garbage man duty on me and hung up!? The dick! I groaned to myself, putting my Blackberry back into my pocket. Great…

I glanced to the side, looking towards the door. Angel was still breathing slowly, curled up into a small ball. There was still no noise upstairs. Good, no one woke up. The moonlight was starting to dimmer a little, meaning that daybreak was closing in. I shifted my gaze down towards my watch, checking the time. 5:20 A.M. Still pretty early, but I think I can walk around town a bit.

I paused, looking towards my foot still on the counter in front of me, with the ankle still wrapped up. That is, IF I can walk around. Cautiously, I lifted my leg up, swinging around to the edge of the couch, planting my good leg on the ground first. I carefully eased my foot down against the ground, expecting a new shock of pain to come in at any moment.

…Nothing.

I blinked, surprised I didn’t feel anything. I leaned downward, groping my ankle lightly. Not a single tingle came up my leg. Fluttershy really is good at what she does. I nodded was really impressed that something so simple as putting ice on the sprain helped it heal so quickly.

I stood up slowly, not risking falling back over from a sudden shot of pain. I shook my hands before stretching slowly. It looks like I can move properly again. I started to unravel the bandages around my ankle, pulling of the pack of now lukewarm water away from the wrapping. I guess I can head home to get some new clothes then. I grabbed my bag,  I neatly put the bandages on the table before I strolled into the kitchen to place the sack of water in the sink.

My eyes slid to a small pad with a nearby pencil. I smiled lightly, taking them both and walking back towards the couch. I quickly wrote in a neat print, placing the small message on the table.  I reread what I had just wrote to make sure I didn’t make a stupid mistake.

Thanks for the care, Fluttershy. I’m already all set to get back to work. I owe you one.

-Winston

I nodded my head in approval, walking towards the door to leave. I paused at the feeling of a pair of eyes falling onto my side. I glanced to the side to see Angel with his head up, staring at me with a vacant frown.

I pressed my finger against my lips slowly. “Shhhh.”

He didn’t move, but kept staring at me.

I lightly waved goodbye, before pulling open the two doors and ducking under them into the forest. Angel  turned his back to me, curing back up to get a bit more sleep before sun came out. I quietly closed both doors, turning around towards the trail paved out in front of me.

I checked my bag quickly to make sure I had everything. 7 scrolls, a knife, Celestia’s scroll… check. I quickly checked my sides and pockets. House keys, weirdo keys that I found in the bag. Yep. Cell phone’s there. Dad’s knife, random knife, and…huh? I wrapped my hand around the third object in my holsters, pulling it out.

I pulled out a small metal stick, no longer than a roll of toilet paper. I stared at it before I recognized it. Ah right…The staff I put together last night. I looked over it slowly, remembering what happened last night and what the scroll said about it. Okay… let’s try it then. I held it in front of me, staring at it. I clearly thought out a single word.

Staff.

Chiiiink

The strange baton swiftly obeyed, expanding on both sides. It clicked into place, now much longer than it was before. I planted it against the floorboards next to me, eyeing it amazed. It was now able to go from the ground to around the same level as my neck, meaning that it was almost five feet tall now.

“Nice.” I muttered, spinning the new device between my fingers. One more doodad to play with.  I looked up at the sky, seeing that the moon was now leaving the skies to let the Sun take reign. Time to get cleaned up, then its off to start the day.

Then the words from the call I just got off from rang in my head. Criminals from Earth were probably walking around in this new land, with weapons from man on their person. I guess I also need to keep an eye out for anything weird. Who knows what’s going to happen.

Pictures from my visions of chaos on Earth flashed in my mind. I grew sick of the thought of those very inhumane beings bringing that havoc into this small town. I’d never be able to forgive myself if I just let it happen.

If I’m supposed to stop this kind of madness, then so be it. I pushed my glasses against my eyes, putting the staff against the ground beside me. I only let them have their fun without a fight.

“Okay.” I breathed in deeply, starting to walk down the trail, using the staff as a walking stick.  “New life in Ponyville starts now.”

ARC I: TWO WORLDS FINISHED

NEXT ARC: THE SIGNS OF MAN