The Ties That Bond
By Jacoboby1
Prologue
Running…
Wings broken…no time to stop…
Breathing heavy…they’re coming…
Help me…save me…
I hate being alone…
_______________________________
Jonathan woke up in his college dorm. It was the same dream he’d been having for three nights in a row. It was always about the same thing, somebody was calling him. He shook his head “It’s just a dream John, you’re going paranoid”
He got up from his bed and ran his fingers through his messy black hair. His green eyes looked around his room. It was relatively small compared to most dorms with just the one bed and desk. John was lucky to have a dorm to himself because his roommate was transferring to some school in France and the administrative office hadn’t gotten around to assigning a new roommate.
“Gives me time to myself” John said out loud. He wasn’t anti social but he did like time to himself.
After a quick shower and getting dressed he looked over at his dresser. On top of the dresser was a small folder with the label “My Little Dashie” on front. Prentice had been bugging him all week to read it. John had only recently been introduced to the show but he wasn’t going to become as avid as his other friends.
That was really all him and his circle of friends had in common. The show My Little Pony Friendship is Magic was really all they talked about. Everybody in his circle did something related to the show. Prentice was obsessed with Fan Fics. Rebecca did Cos-play occasionally. Claus was a know it all when it came to the show. Adam was an artist if you could believe it by how ripped he was. Felicia sang a little, and Jonathan did…well nothing.
Truth is John never really did find his niche in the whole brony community. He was introduced to the show only about a month back via Claus. Jonathan ended up enjoying the series so far. He even went out yesterday and bought a shirt with Rainbow Dash on it. But John he never had the talent for singing or art so he never could find his niche. It never really bothered him he just wished he could contribute.
His cell phone rang somewhere in the pile of stuff on his desk. It took John a bit to dig the phone out of the huge mess that was his desk. He pulled it up and looked at the caller I.D. he sighed and answered the phone “Hey Prentice what’s up?”
“So did you read it!?” Prentice’s loud voice shouted over the receiver. “Did ya huh huh huh?!”
“No I didn’t read it, I had work to do and I fell asleep” John said in a flat tone of voice. As much as he liked the guy John had trouble putting up with Prentice’s over enthusiastic personality.
“Aww! Ya gotta read it at least once! I’ve read it seven times and it gets me crying every time”
“That’s one of the reasons why I haven’t read it you dolt” John said exacerbated “Some of us don’t want to end up in a permanent state of depression”
“Just give it one read okay? I promise I’ll stop bugging you”
“Oh no!” John said warningly “The last time you used that trap I ended up reading the entire series of Fallout Equestria. Do you realize how long it took me to finish the damn thing!?”
“You’re loss” Prentice relented “Anyways Clause wants us to meet over at Donny’s at lunch today. Said he’s got something very important to talk to us about”
“Like what?” John said flatly “What animation error happened in episode 23?”
“Nah I started talking with him this morning about this dream I had. It was so weird...I swear I heard Pinkie Pie talking to me”
“Pinkie Pie?” John said skeptically
“Yeah, it was like she was calling out to me or something. I had the same dream three nights in a row so I mentioned it to Claus and he said he was having a similar dream. Only he heard Twilight Sparkle calling to him. Something about helping her”
“What did Pinkie Pie say?”
“I don’t know, she kept saying it so fast”
“Sounds like somebody I know…” John thought as Prentice went on.
“So anyways he wants us all there pronto! I’ll see you there” He hung up after that.
John didn’t tell Prentice about his own dream. Only thing was…the voice calling him…was Rainbow Dash. She sounded hurt…scared almost.
That’s he noticed something on his bed…something that wasn’t there before. It was small book about the size of a college textbook with a cyan colored cover. It just was lying there on his bed’s pillow. John looked down at it. “I don’t remember buying this thing…”
He reached down to touch the book…that’s when he heard it.
Help…
The book glowed a bright cyan and John fell back in surprise. He looked up and he book continued to glow blue. He reached to pick it up. It didn’t explode in his hand so it should be safe…right?
“What language is this in?” John said looking at the cover. It was covered with strange symbols and what looked like letters from another language. Curiosity getting the better of him he opened the book slowly. Inside were more letters of the same language or at least as far as he could tell.
“I can’t read this” John said aloud as he scanned the pages. Then he came to one page…the letters were of a different color then the rest. Instead of blue like the rest these letters were glowing in…rainbow?
“What is this…wait I can read this” He couldn’t explain it but he could read those letters that glowed. He began to sound out the word slowly but surely. “Ra…Ra…Rain…Rainal…Rainala!!” Suddenly…everything went black….
_______________________________________________________
He woke up flat on his back. He was lying on the floor of a very strange forest. The plants were unlike anything he’d ever seen before. Some seemed to move completely on their own as he looked around.
He sat up and rubbed the back of his head. He then looked at his hand, it was gloved. He then looked down at himself, he wasn’t wearing the hoodie and jeans he had on earlier. Instead he was wearing a blue cloth tunic and brown pants. He had on a set of leather boots which fit rather comfortably.
He looked at his side. There was the book…though not glowing anymore. John gave it a careful tap with his finger. Nothing happened.
“Weird, first the crazy dreams and now this, I wonder where I am?”
HELP!!!
John looked around for the source of the sound. It came from beyond the trees. The scream sounded female…and very familiar. John got up on his feet and looked around. He then ran towards the source of the noise with all the power his legs could give him.
He pushed his way through the bushes and came across a sight that would be forever etched in his memory. There were two large beasts standing over a small creature. The beasts looked like dogs but instead of fur...they looked to be made out of wood. But it was the smaller creature that got Jonathan’s attention…
He had to rub his eyes and pinch himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming…for there…on the ground in front of the two monsters…was Rainbow Dash. She looked exactly like she did on the show. Same rainbow colored mane, same cyan coat, same lightning bolt cutie mark.
“I gotta be dreaming…” He pinched himself…that disproved any theory of him dreaming. This was real; it was then that he noticed that Rainbow was hurt badly. Her wing was twisted at an awkward angle and blood dripped from a head wound. John had to think quickly.
Rainbow’s magenta colored eyes turned to him “A human!?”
The timber wolves (John finally remembered what they were called) turned to the college student. They bared their teeth at him which despite being made of wood still looked menacing. John felt weak in the knees. He couldn’t fight these monsters…they were huge and could rip him in half.
It was then that he felt something hit him in the stomach. He fell back several feet and looked to see Rainbow Dash had tackled him. Despite being hurt she could still move quickly “Come on!” She started to push him “You can’t stay here!”
John looked up as one of the wolves tried to pounce on Rainbow. He grabbed the pony by the leg and rolled out of the way with her. He barely missed being clawed by the beast as the two rolled out of the way. John got on his knees and looked over Rainbow; she smiled up at him “You saved me!”
John smiled back but then turned to look at the timber wolves. They growled menacingly at the pair. “What’s going on?” John asked Rainbow as she got up on her legs.
“Long story short turns out it’s not a good idea to tick off the local wild life” Rainbow said flatly.
“Since when was that a good idea?!” John asked incredulously
“Since somepony was about to get eaten by one of them” Rainbow said looking over at John “I couldn’t leave that Pony hanging so I was the distraction”
Just as loyal here as on the show, it was no wonder she had such a following back home. John looked as the wolves looked ready to pounce “Got any ideas?”
Rainbow’s magenta colored eyes suddenly fixated on his book “My book!”
“What this thing?” John said opening the book
“Yeah! Read the spell! It’ll give us a fighting edge!”
“Spell?” John looked through the book. So far all that was in there were more words that John couldn’t read. Not even the words from before were highlighted “The hell is this?!”
“You mean you can’t read it?!” Rainbow said looking at him shocked “How’re we supposed to fight if you can’t read the book!?”
“I didn’t know I’d have to be thrown into combat thank you!” John shot back
“Well just my luck! Of all the humans in the world I get the one who can’t read his book!”
“Look I never asked to come here!”
“Well you’re here now so deal with it loser!”
“Don’t call me a loser Rainden or whatever you’re name is!”
Just then Rainbow’s eyes went pure white. She turned to the timber wolves and opened her mouth. Out of it shot a rainbow colored bolt of lightning that hit both timber wolves at once. They flew backwards into the forest leveling several trees in their path.
John looked down at his now glowing book. He opened it and saw that another set of Rainbow colored words glowed. He could read them…”The first spell…Rainden…”
Chapter 1 "Old Friends, New Friends"
Chapter 1
“Old Friends, New Friends”
This was all impossible. At least that’s what John kept telling himself as he bore witness to this. Rainbow Dash just shot rainbow colored lightning out of her mouth at the word of a spell. The simple fact that Rainbow Dash was standing beside him staring at the leveled trees was impossible.
But there were the trees. There was evidence of them being hit by a powerful force of lightning. There were the charred remains of the timber wolves. And there was Rainbow Dash squealing like a fan girl.
“So Awesome!!” She shouted as she leapt for joy. But then she stopped mid leap for joy and crashed down on the floor. She was still hurt.
“Where does it hurt?” John said as he bent down to examine the mare.
“My wing…I must’ve broken it…” She sighed exacerbated “I’ll not be able to fly for a whole week!”
“You’re lucky to be alive. I see that as a plus” John said trying to sound optimistic. He then began reached for a stick and ripped off parts of the blue tunic. He didn’t have any other means of binding the wing so his shirt would have to suffer.
“What are you doing?” Dash asked looking back as John began to tie the stick to her wing with the strips of cloth.
“I’m splinting it” John said simply “My mom was a vet and she taught me how to fix up birds with broken wings”
Dash held her wing as still as possible as John finished splinting the wing. He didn’t know much about Pegasi physiology but they couldn’t be that much different from birds. Dash’s magenta eyes looked over at Rainbow Dash “Hey um…thanks for saving me and all”
John smiled a little “Hey I couldn’t let you get eaten now could I?” He tightened the last knot on the splint and Dash sat up. She turned to him and smiled. John however sat down so that he and the Pegasi could see eye to eye. “Now could you please tell me what’s going on?”
“Well you see…you um…” Dash said sounding vague “You got kind of…pulled into a battle”
John’s green eyes became thin dots as the shock overtook him. “What the hell do you mean!? Who signed me up for this!? How did I even get here! I’d like to see who’s in charge!!!”
Dash cleaned out a hoof with her ear. “Celestia, you’re loud”
“Well I just want somebody to explain to me what the hell is going on”
Dash frowned “Look, I’m as in the dark about this as you are. The only thing I know is that me and ninety nine other ponies got pulled into this world. We were told that we were supposed to meet humans…and they would have books”
John pulled out the blue book. He held it before Rainbow Dash “This one is yours?”
“Right, and if you read that book it allows me to cast awesome magic!”
“How’d you know what it looks like?” John said curious “You couldn’t have seen it if you haven’t seen me before”
“Well I just knew it was mine” Dash said simply “Truth is I don’t really remember much…”
“You have amnesia?”
“Yeah, something like that, I just know that every time I try to remember details about this battle I draw a blank. Like somepony is putting a dam in front of my memory or something”
“Well you remember the book, the spells, and the fact that there is a conflict. Do you remember anything else?”
Dash shook her head “No, I remember my name and everything about my life in Equestria”
“Hold up!” John said his jaw dropping “You’re saying Equestria is real?!”
Dash raised an eyebrow “Of course it is why wouldn’t it be? I wouldn’t be here if it didn’t exist”
John sighed “You have a point…but why are you here and not in Equestria with all the other ponies?”
“I told you, I got selected for this fight. I don’t remember how or why I decided to join though”
This whole amnesia thing was really starting to get on John’s nerves. Everything he could want to know was blocked off with a brick wall. He decided to move on “So what do we do now?”
Rainbow Dash shrugged “I was just told to find my human, I guess I did that so I have no idea what’s next” She then looked at John expectantly “So what are we supposed to do next?”
“I was just pulled into here when I read this book” John examined the book…but something was different this time. On the back of the front cover was a large number 1 in the same rainbow colored letters. Was it some kind of counter? And what for?
Rainbow looked at the book “What’re you looking at?”
“There’s a number one here…can’t you see it?”
Dash shook her head “I just see the back of the book cover. Are you feeling alright mister?”
“First of all, my name’s not Mister!" He said annoyed "It’s Jonathan, Jonathan Derekson”
“That’s a weird name” Dash said raising an eyebrow.
Says the pony whose name sounds like a flavor of ice cream, John moved on. “Just call me John, that’s what everybody else calls me”
“Okay John” She said smiling “From now on we’re partners”
John simply rolled his eyes. He just wanted to find a way home but he didn’t tell that to Dash. He couldn’t hurt this pony’s spirits. Just then both parties heard something moving in the bushes. Dash crouched into a fighting stance and John stood ready for whatever came out of those bushes.
What came out was a dark Pegasus with a short Mohawk white and blue mane. His yellow eyes looked over at Rainbow Dash. Wait, John knew this guy…he was-
“Thunderlane!?” Dash exclaimed as she recognized the dark Pegasus.
“Hello Rainbow Dash…” He spoke in a rather even voice. Not what John expected but then again Thunderlane hardly had any spoken lines in the show. Just sneezes really.
“I didn’t know you joined in!” Dash said walking over to the Pegasus “It’s great to see you!”
Thunderlane looked passed Dash and his eyes fell upon John. “I see you found your human…”
Dash nodded excitedly “Yeah! His names John and he read that spell book and lightning came out of nowhere and boom!” She mimed an explosion “All those timber wolves turned to burning crisps!”
“Sounds…cool” Something about the way he reacted set off some bad vibes in John’s brain. Something was off about the dark Pegasus…he was hiding something.
“So have you found your human yet?!” Dash asked excitedly “We could team up and battle together!”
“Yeah we could…it would be…awesome…” Was he smirking? Why was he smirking?
John looked around and he saw a yellow glow…somebody was activating a spell in the bushes. “Dash look out!” He grabbed Dash by the tail and pulled her out of the way just as a spell was cast.
Thunderu!!
A bolt of lightning shot out of Thunderlane’s mouth and grazed the John’s back. He yelled a shout of pain as him and Dash hit the ground together. Dash looked over as Thunderlane smirked evilly.
“What was that for Thunderlane?!” Dash said getting up and looking at Thunderlane confused. “Why’d you use a spell on me? I thought we were friends!”
“Friends?!” The dark Pegasus laughed almost manically “Hardly! All you’ve ever done was show off and spout out your egotistical comments! You got became head of the weather team despite the fact you hardly took your responsibilities
seriously”
Dash’s eyes grew wide “Thunderlane…I had no idea…”
John looked at Dash “What exactly happened?”
“Thunderlane was going to help us get all the water up to Cloudsdale via tornado” She just stared at Thunderlane “But when I showed more wing power then him I got selected as the head of the team instead of him…”
Thunderlane glared at Rainbow “And not only that…when I was sick you replaced me with Fluttershy! Fluttershy! The pony that can barely fly three feet without dropping like a rock!” He growled “I had the talent and you treated me like garbage because of a little cold!”
“If you only told me…” Dash said pleadingly
“I tried…but no…you were so hooked up in your own ego to notice what was going on. You’re nothing but a pathetic attention seeking filly who doesn’t understand responsibility”
“Thunderlane…”
“And now…” A man moved among the bushes. He was tall, thin and in his early thirties. He held the same book as John’s only this one was a bright yellow instead of blue. “I plan to prove to everypony once and for all just how pathetic you really are…”
Dash just stood there frozen. She shook her head “Thunderlane…why do we have to fight each other!? We can fix things! Be friends again!”
Thunderlane laughed manically again “Friends!? This battle isn’t about making friends! It’s about eliminating them and doing whatever it takes to win!”
The man opened the book and shouted the spell. “Thunderu!”
Dash stood there right in the path of the lightning bolt heading for her. Shock and fear was overtaking her. How did it come to this? Did she really hurt Thunderlane that much? It was her fault wasn’t it…
Rainden!!
Dash’s eyes became white and her own rainbow colored lightning hit Thunderlane’s. A small explosion occurred as the bolts clashed. Dash looked up as John stood there with his book open. Dash’s magenta eyes were in tears “John…you stopped him…”
John smiled at Dash “I can’t let him hurt you anymore then you already are” He kneeled to Dash’s level and patted her on her cyan head. “We’re partners right? I wouldn’t be a good partner if I let him hurt you”
More tears came to the Pegasus’ eye. She wiped them quickly “Now you’re getting me all sappy…”
John glared at Thunderlane as he got over his shock at seeing Dash fight back. “You! Why are you doing this! What’s the point of fighting?”
Thunderlane smirked “My reasons for fighting are my own human! You’re weak to put yourself on the line for Dash…”
John kept his green gaze on the dark Pegasus. “If there’s one thing I can’t stand its bullies…you can change the shape and weapons they have. But a bully is still a bully deep down…that’s all you really are Thunderlane…now you have an excuse to let it out”
Thunderlane growled and looked to his human “Gunthar! The Spell!”
Gunthar spoke the spell again “Thunderu!!”
John opened the book and pointed with his finger for Dash to aim. Dash held her head out as John spoke the first spell “Rainden!!”
Rainbow lightning bolt and regular lightning bolt met each other. A small explosion occurred and Dash rushed through the smoke that followed. She tackled Thunderlane with full force.
Thunderlane growled and the two Pegasi got into a wrestling match. John knew that Dash couldn’t keep it up much longer…he needed a plan.
Thunderlane kicked Dash hard in the stomach and she flew back to John. John bent down “Dash are you alright?!”
Dash blinked open a bruised eye “I’m fine…look out!!”
Thunderu!!!
John used himself as a human shield as the lightning bolt hit him with full force. Dash watched in horror as John was electrocuted. John screamed in pain as he protected his newfound ally.
When it was over John let out a breath for air and fell like a rock. Dash rolled him onto his back and looked at him with tear filled eyes “Why’d you do that?! My body is stronger than yours! I can take spells like that you idiot!”
John smiled and reached up to touch Dash on the head again. He gently ran his fingers through her rainbow colored mane “Maybe I’m just old fashioned and can’t stand seeing a lady get hurt”
Dash smiled and wiped her eyes “You idiot…I’m the one who’s supposed to be crazily loyal”
Just then…the blue book glowed brightly. John sat up and looked inside the book. A new set of letters glowed bright rainbow. “A new spell!”
Thunderlane laughed “Won’t do you much good! Since you’re so keen on dying together I’ll be happy to oblige!”
John smirked and stood up. He was a little shaky on his legs but he stood well enough to hold open the book. “Dash…I have no idea what this spell could do so you just keep your eyes on Thunderlane and prepare for the worst”
Dash stood in front of John and scraped a hoof on the ground. She was more than ready for whatever came.
Thunderlane laughed “Now die!!”
Thunderu!!!
Thunderlane’s mouth opened and a long stream of lightning came out.
John spoke out loud “The Second Spell!! Clushield!!!”
Dash’s mouth opened again but a stream of clouds came out and formed a circular shield. The lightning met the shield and stopped…then bounced off and returned to Thunderlane in full force. The Pegasus yelled in pain as the lightning hit him.
John smiled “The spell...It’s a defensive spell that sends whatever attack that comes at it right back to sender!”
Thunderlane got up and glared as the shield faded “Lucky shot!”
Rainbow Dash’s eyes returned to normal and they focused on Thunderlane. “Not luck, just loyalty…something you should learn once in a while”
John opened the book to the first spell. It was time to end this! “Rainden!!!”
Dash’s bolt of lightning was larger this time. It hit both Thunderlane and his human partner. Both fell back as the human fell unconscious. John smiled triumphant and looked down at Dash who smiled in turn.
“Can you say best win ever?!” Dash said leaping into the air in jubilee.
John’s gaze however…fell on Thunderlane’s book. It caught fire from the last lightning attack and it was burning fast.
Thunderlane shook himself and his gaze fell on his book. His pupils shrank in shock “No! No not now!!!” He ran to the book and tried to stop it burning with his hooves. But the flames only grew no matter what the Pegasus did.
Soon the Pegasus began to fade as the book grew more and more burned. Both Dash and John looked on in horror as the Pegasus disappeared when the last sparks of his book faded.
“His book” John said slowly “He disappeared along with it…”
“That’s not the only thing that disappeared!” Dash exclaimed and pointed to the unconscious human. He too had faded like Thunderlane did. “They’re…gone…”
John sat down exhausted from all the fighting. Dash ran to him and helped John settle down with his back to a tree. “You alright?” John said looking over at Dash.
She shrugged “Just a few scratches…I’ll probably be better in a couple of days”
John opened the book and he saw the number turn into a zero. The book glowed again and the spell from before appeared in the book. “Another spell? Already?”
Dash hopped a little in anticipation “Well read it! I wonder if this one will turn me into a super pony!”
“Well face away from me so I don’t get zapped…” John said bemusing
“Oh” Her ears flattened in embarrassment “Alright” She turned and faced a nearby tree. “Fire away John!”
John read the words aloud “Rainala…”
Suddenly the world went black again…
_________________________________________________
He was lying on his back. He was back in his college dorm. John sat up and looked around. Everything was just how he left it. The clock even said the same time. It was like he hadn’t left at all.
“Maybe it was a dream after all…” John said sighing
“DREAM MY FLANK!!” A rather childish sounding voice shouted.
John let out a yelp and looked down in front of him. There sitting atop the blue book was a filly version of Rainbow Dash. She had her hooves crossed and her magenta eyes were glaring at him.
“You got some explaining to do Jonathan Derekson!”
