Genesis Program

Flowers blossomed in their virgin petals, the air was cool, and the branches of the trees softly danced with their leaves. I was wondering many things, since the day I arrived back to the planet, I needed to know the source of all of this. It’s so blunt to say that it’s magic, and I can say this you know, every single proton and neutron were not strangers to the ones of the ancient times, even though, I like to compare their magic with nuclear fission like, more of what a nuclear reactor would do.

I placed a hand on my chest as I took a deep breath. I glanced at my surroundings, how the forests have changed into this- subliminal trees I might add. I felt chills down my spine as we entered this place called-

“The Everfree Forest!” Trixie said with a huge grin, “but nothing out of this world.”

I raised an eyebrow at her statement, her response being a nervous smile.

“Please Trixie- don’t let this be the moment before the disaster.”

“Whhhaaat,” she made circles with her hooves, “could not possibly be, no buckle up! Let’s get going.”

“Buckle up? How do you know that expre-” she cut me off when she slightly pushed me into the dark path. I sent a solemn glare to her, but curiosity won over my annoyance. The sunlight wasn’t covered by the trees, but it was significantly dimmer. Fallen autumn leaves covered the trail, every once in a while, we would crush some branches that fell from those mighty trees. I want to try comparing it with the famous Black Forest. It was so similar, except for the trees of course, that though they had sturdy trunks that seemed to reflect their years, they weren’t as tall as a pine tree, roughly the size of an Apple tree I might add.

“With a capital B, and that rhymes with P and that stands for pool...”

My song was creepy enough for this forest…. the only sound independent from the wind, our steps, and our breathing.

“So- how far are we from this place.”

“Uh?” Trixie turned her head, and rolled her eyes as she nonchalantly continued her pace, “a couple of minutes give it or take it.”

“A couple of minutes,” I was taken aback for a bit, “wasn’t this one of the largest forests in this country?”

“Yes--” she started without looking back, “but we aren’t crossing the entire thing, just going through the back.”

A chilly breeze startled me. I got into a defensive position, my eyes travelling across the place as I tried to find a threat.

I felt a hoof touch my left leg. My head jerked back, my face continuing to wear a hasty expression. Her eyes softened, and a playful smile appeared out of nowhere.

“So the alien is afraid…”

“Who cares,” I said with a growl, “this place is literally something that you can only find in books.”

She giggled, too much of my annoyance, “aww don’t worry little foal, we’re close anyway.”

My fists clenched as I rolled my eyes, my expression becoming bored at the silence of every second that passed.

“You see, there- it is!” Trixie said happily, pointing with her hoof at the end of the forest, where the sunlight illuminated the entrance.

“Hallelujah,” I rubbed my hands, sharing a last glance with the dark forest, “now the time begins.”

Crack

Our heads tuned in unison. I walked forwards while crouching a bit, getting ready to receive any attack in my way.

Crack

“Come on!” Trixie hushed, “let’s go now!”

I paused and locked my eyes with a chicken- with a dragon body?

“Uhhhhhhh.”

We kept staring at each other before this chicken’s eyes got bored. It turned back to mind its business.

I straightened, and after sharing a few glances with the bush where it disappeared, I jogged forwards.

“You see nothing- Trixie,” I tilted my head to the side as I passed a hand over her eyes, “are you alright.”

She stood frozen without saying a word. I poked her fur, suddenly snapping her out of that trance while cleaning a drop of sweat. Her head slowly moved to meet my eyes, and after a moment of silence, a frown deepened.

“Are you bucking crazy!”

“Uhh, what!” I almost stumbled thanks to her reaction. Her ears were twitching uncontrollably, “what were you thinking!”

“What! It’s just a chicken!”

“NO!” she stomped a hoof on the ground, “that was not a chicken, it was a katsarídabgha.”

“A what,” I said with a pause, “another word into my vocabulary.”

“Ughhh,” she quickly turned back and started trotting, “let’s get out of here now before we encounter another thing.”

I looked back, before turning again with a deflected face, continuing to walk towards the light. The sun met my eyes, causing me to jerk back. I put a hand on my forehead, the blurry image slowly became clearer. I toppled with something of the old times, autumn, the beautiful autumn season. Now, it was hard to differ back in that forest, and because everything here makes no sense, going through that place felt like- like going through a portal. Like in that old British tale, where some kids went through a wardrobe and ended up in a land with a different season from theirs, and most importantly of all, with magic.

I chuckled as my eyes trailed off around. The insects were buzzing with activity, on the ground I could see the diligent ants preparing for winter. The air was suddenly filled with the magical songs of the birds, and the orangeish aspect of everything combined with the humidity of a recent shower made everything so natural.

The only thing that lacked in the ancient times of this world.

Trixie tsked, gaining my attention. She smiled a bit, and proudly extended her hooves at quite the sight, “I present you, Ponyville!”

I gasped half-heartedly, and without saying a word, I walked to the nearest hill, where the view of a town could be seen. I remembered those, only seen in books, from the times where wood was used as a construction material, and the idea of peace was this exact image. I don’t remember the times, only a few people knew them, the shining was how they called them. Selected to remember history before the 21st century. They all looked so old, in a classic Bavarian style, their wooden planks dripped small water droplets. The biggest sight though was the crystal tower that extended into the sky from the centre of the town. The background was too perfect, as two mountains stood proudly with the faint image of a castle covered in the cold fog.

I took a deep breath, my nostrils filling the lungful of air that I much craved, pure unadulterated, normal air. Not processed air from a factory, but the one from the trees. I stretched and sighed. My eyelids were threatening to close, my body wanted to just- fall and sleep till the end of eternity.

I clapped softly, “let’s keep moving.”

Suddenly, one of the tree's roots came out from the ground, causing me to stumble and land on my face.

“What the fuc-”

The sound of those annoying giggles… I slowly turned my head, to see Trixie laughing her life off. My eyes narrowed, responding with an unamused stare.

“Ha ha ha, very funny Trixie.”

“I-” she breathed deeply, failing to contain her laugh, “I’m sorry- you were just so, inspired.”

“Huh,” I shook my head, and stood up while cleaning my suit, “thank you for your feedback, I’m gonna give mine, you need some creativity with your freaking names.”

“Whatever,” she said with a hiss, her face changing to a serious one, “I also did that because we can’t just enter the town with a lilaihatman in plain view, ponies really don’t like seeing apes, especially hairless ones.”

“You don’t say.”

“I say this-” she began nonchalantly as she patted my hand slightly, “because I will need to apply a temporary spell on you.”

“Uhh,” my mouth tried formulating more words. It felt horrible being pushed and thrown by that energy, and the uneasiness of her offer only worsened things, “is it really necessary?”

“Well yes, at least till Twilight sees you.”

I rubbed my left shoulder, “I have a bad feeling of this alright, I don’t think I should be taking this one.”

“Trixie doesn’t see another way.”

“There-” I looked around, for something that could save me from the inevitable fate. With a groan, I turned back to look at Trixie again, “does it hurt?”

“No-” her horn glimmered, and I was instantly surrounded by her blue energy, “well, maybe a little sting.”

“A little what- ouch.”

She gave me an unamused face, “don’t be such a foal, aaaand it’s done!” she finished with a clap of her hooves.

“Yeah,” I tilted my head, “what- did you do.”

“I gave you the temporary ability to be invisible.”

My mouth made an O, and my eyes looked down, as I examined my entire body, “can you see me?”

“Yes, because I made the spell.”

I hummed, my smile slowly returning as I started walking, “Then let’s not waste more time, forwards.”

Trixie groaned again, her pace increasing as she passed by me, “just follow me and you’ll not get lost, we need to reach the castle as fast as we can.”

“Whatever.”

The walk was quiet, at least for me. Trixie was greeting some ponies that were passing by. After crossing a bridge, we reached a semi-flat zone, some hills on the east from my side, where an Apple orchard was growing. I could see the barn house amid this place, which reflected the sun on its vibrant red colour. For second notes, these creatures must be part of some religious cult, due that every single one of the ponies has these colourful tattoos on their flanks. They could be from pagan roots, considering that they believe that earthly beings raise and lower the sun and the moon. I might ask for her religion, and how it relates to her little symbol.

I raised an eyebrow, and slowly lifted one of my sleeves.

888

Maybe that’s what their flanks meant, just like my serial number, these ponies might have a society similar to the one before the Great War and the European upheaval. Could it mean an occupation, something that they did? That was up to me to discover.

Entering the town, I focused my attention on the tiniest details, from the scratches on their wooden structures to the little imperfections on the windows.

“Wow,” I mumbled under my breath, my reflection…. Disappeared. Maybe in the future I will ask her how can I make all of that, somehow, it must be possible to replicate this energy that somehow exists. Could be related to the H-Bomb?

So many questions, few answers for my disgrace. The town looked medieval I must add, not a road, not a single stone. The ground was dirt, like if someone never thought of creating you know, infrastructure, even though their horses and it’s easier to walk on the stone.

“Right here,” she mumbled in a volume which I could hear. With a nod, we doubled the corner and reached a long path which led to the most beautiful structure I’ve seen in my entire life.

Whatever it was, without a doubt, one of the greatest sights of all. The foundation- the entire structure looked like it was carved from a tree. Crystal, glimmering beauty, overwhelming to my eyes, shining, shimmering and splendid.

“Wow, without a doubt- this doesn’t exist in my old world, I don’t think it never did.”

Trixie turned her head back but said nothing. She instead looked at me with apologetic eyes, with the flicker of amusement might add. I looked like a kid in a candy shop, and with reason, after living for several years in a world that was mostly built on concrete and metal, this was refreshing.

We stopped at the entrance, where she knocked on two giant golden doors. We waited for a few seconds until the doors opened, a unicorn with pale, light greyish heliotrope fur looked to the sides, before finally seeing the two…. Only Trixie.

“You’re back! I thought you were going to take longer.”

A smug smile made its way to her muzzle, “how could you think that! For me, ha, this was as easy as eating hay.”

“Wouldn’t say that,” I mumbled under my breath, which was unfortunately caught by this unicorn’s ears.

“Who said that?” she said as she tried to look past Trixie.

“NOPONY,” Trixie answered without checking its volume, “nopony-” she took a deep breath while shaking her head, “Twilight’s here right?”

“Yeah, she’s here,” the unicorn turned back, cleaned her hooves on a red carpet and continued walking, “she’s in the throne room.”

“Thanks-” Trixie barely said, tapping my leg and pointing inside with a smug expression.

I frowned and narrowed my eyes as I entered the castle. The doors closed, startling me a bit as I turned my head. With the simple sound of the glimmering crystals, I looked back, and the greatness of the place made my mouth water.

The windows, the chandelier, the stairs, everything! Shining, so pure, so unadulterated. It looked like an old church, which was polished till death. How could they even build a castle made of crystals, that’s the worst material to build a castle of that type.

“This is incredible,” I bent to one knee and lowered my hands to touch the ground. It was cold, not as ice, but as a glass.

“Just wait till you see the rest’” Trixie said in an almost sing-like voice, “what are you waiting for? The spell is going to end soon.”

I got up, straightened, and with a shake of my wrists, I continued forwards, “so where’s this throne room.”

“Upstairs.”

I gulped and started climbing the crystalline stairs. The windows seemed to be forming something, like figures of past events. The sun flickered through the crystals, a rainbow covered me, the warmth of true heat was so, how can I say it?

Magical?

We reached the top floor, where a long hallway was located, ending on two huge golden doors. Paintings were all around the place, mostly about ponies, others were about paradise. Each door frame seemed to lead to a library, like if we were surrounded by one. The two doors opened by magic, making my heart flip over. We entered a gigantic room, the ceiling was very similar to the one that you’ll see in a cathedral. The sun seemed to fall on a round table, surrounded by six chairs made out of multicoloured crystal.

“Uhh, Twilight?”

Who the hell is Twilight? Oh right, the princess

I heard the sound of books falling, which made me turn back. This one was indeed different, she had a lavender fur, maybe a unicorn, or not? She had wings, which made her a pegacorn I think? Or the unicorns actually have wings. Purple eyes, a small crown on her forehead, and wore four glimmering crystal shoes as well.

She tilted her head, “Trixie- you’re back.”

“What a great introduction princess!” Trixie said with sarcasm dripping from her voice, “you missed me?”

This, Twilight, was taken aback from the reaction of the unicorn, “I’m sorry, it’s been a hard day.”

“For everypony,” the previous unicorn said as she entered the room, “another meteorite.”

“Fell recently near Manehattan,” Twilight finished. She looked between Trixie and the door, “and what did you find out?”

“Well-” her words were cut by the sudden flicker of my body. The blue energy crawled all its way to my head, where tiny sparkles of magic combined went floating in the air.

“That was- weird,” my vice fell flat as I noticed something, everybody was staring at me. I felt very uncomfortable, it wasn’t only weird, but the room also went silent.

“What-is-that-thing,” the unicorn sputtered, and took a few steps back, “you brought a hairless animal! What is that thin-”

“A human?”

Everyone turned to Twilight, her words were left hanging in the air, waiting for an apparent response. My eyes widened, she said the word, not that weird thing everyone has been saying, but straight out a human.

“Excuse me-” I blurted out, gaining a collective gasp from the two mares, “how do you know that I’m a human?”

“I uhh,” Twilight tapped her hoof on the floor, “I’ve kinda gone to your world.”

“What!” Trixie and I said in unison.

“What the hell do you mean with, I’ve gone to your world?”

She decided to ignore momentarily the question, “though you look different, your eyes are smaller, you seem to be a little uh, fatter?”

“What’s that supposed to mean!”

“I’m not being rude,” her ears sprawled on her head, “it’s just that I-uhh, maybe something went wrong when you came out of the portal, and instead of becoming a pony you became a- well this form of a human.”

I shook my head, and facepalmed hard, “what the hell! Are you talking about! Portal?? What the hell, I didn’t come out from a portal!”

“-He actually came out from the meteorite,” Trixie added nervously, “if that is important.”

“Whwhwhwh WHAT!” Twilight shouted, “YOU CAME FROM WHERE!”

“I uh- aAH!”

With her magic, she made me take a seat on one of the chairs. She continued to indulge me again in her magic.

It ceased, and she slowly stepped back, “not a single sign of magical swirls from you-”

“What does that means-”

I was interrupted again by the- pegacorn, I think.

“You, you know what’s the Canterlot High right?”

I shook my head.

“And Canterlot City, the United States of Equestria!”

“Whoa whoa, slow down cowboy, I have absolutely no idea of what you're talking about… if you are referring to Camelot then they’re fictional,” I said with a frown.

“I- impossible, then you came from-”

“Let me ask you the questions,” I interrupted her harshly, “do you know, what’s Europe?”

“No.”

“Italy?”

“No.”

“Germany, Russia, France, Spain.”

“Uhh no?”

“The United Kingdom.”

“No,” she stopped, and she looked down to her hooves, “you-you-you came from space?”

I grinned, “yes, you could say that.”

“I need, I need- air, I need, SPIKE!” her voice rang through my ears, “SPIKE COME HERE!”

“Twilight what do you want- whoa,” the newcomer started tiredly, before his attitude lifted by my presence, “what’s a human doing here?”

“Is that a dragon,” I shakily muttered as we both locked eyes.

“SPIKE!” the lavender pegacorn shouted again, “I need you to write a letter to Princess Celestia.”

“Ughh yeah sure,” the little dragon stepped faster. When he was next to Twilight a scroll and quill came out of nowhere.

“Dear Princess Celestia, a new……”