Collision Code

Act I: Unexpected Collisions

Chapter 6: A Severe Waking Dream

Three hours had passed since Corey fell asleep in the middle of his reading. Twilight now looked at her podium, staring at the letter her mentor had sent in reply to her concerns.

To My Most Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle:

While these are some strange developments indeed, I must urge you to not worry about them too much. However, I must also urge you to keep a watch over them. A wise pony once said "Truth is stranger than fiction"...and you've lived through quite a few strange occurrences. If the truth comes out about these strange colts, please send me an update.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia

"I thought she'd say something like this..." Twilight smiled slightly. Things were still very complicated, but she had been unsure of what she should have done. Corey seemed...volatile, when dealing with his problem. The more she thought about the standoff, the more she dissected exactly how his look could have been. He was frustrated with himself, that much was certain. The problem, whatever it was he was dealing with, was a bad one, and also a strange one. From that look, she was able to determine he was trying to say it.

The question to her was: how would it come out when the time came? Twilight was once again stuck in a spot where the only thing she could do was expect the unexpected and hope for the best to come out of it. With a sigh, she resumed her studies. The letter had more or less haunted her, though. She had somewhat expected her mentor to discard her concerns, but that probably was the anxiousness talking.

She glanced over to the green colt, who was still snoring on Spike's bed. The dragon in question had left to do some errands about two hours ago when Sweetie Belle, Rarity's little sister, came to fetch him, saying her older sister had something she needed him to do. Spike, being the dragon that was always bad about hiding his feelings, agreed to it.

"I wonder what's going on in his head right now..." The purple unicorn observed his ears twitch somewhat as he slept. Another snore issued from the colt's snout, causing Twilight to flinch from the sound. "...He does snore pretty loud, though..."

With this observation in mind, and trying to ease herself for the strangeness that she knew was coming, the studious purple unicorn decided to get back to her reading.

Ivan looked at the way things had been going for him and his fellow former humans. It was true. They were going to be stuck in Equestria for easily the rest of their lives. The prospect of this made him resent Leo at the time he first realized this. Yet, in this dream, he was feeling...bliss. It wasn't enough to change his stance on staying in Equestria, but the prospect of doing so didn't seem so intolerable in this dream.

The brown earth pony looked immediately to his right. While he couldn't tell due to the color of her fur, Pinkie Pie seemed to be in the position to blush, and she giggled somewhat at his gaze. Ivan smiled. And as he did, he suddenly felt like something jerked him straight on to two feet. The human stumbled, and realized that while he seemed to be viewing his dream out-of-body, as a human rather than a pony, he couldn't interact, only watch the events unfold.

Ivan watched his dream self say something to Pinkie. Pinkie seemed to understand what he was getting at, but said something that countered his point. Apparently, whatever inhibition Dream Ivan felt towards the obvious proposition was released, as the brown earth pony went into a ki--

"...What the...?" Ivan watched his pony self catch Pinkie by the mouth. He wasn't sure how to feel about that, which surprised him just a little. "...Is this...the future...? Or...just a really weird dream..."

Ivan couldn't will himself awake. He was curious beyond his limits to see where this would go. Something in his head made him turn to see Noel, or as he preferred to be called, Leo, hovering perfectly alongside Rainbow Dash. It was then it occurred to Ivan that this was some sort of party, but what this was celebrating was lost on him. Once again, he couldn't hear what the two were saying to each other, but they seemed to be enjoying each other's company in a "more-than-friends" way. The fact that the ponies in the dream were on mute bothered Ivan, because he really wanted to know what they were saying.

Again, an unseen stimulus made him turn again, to see Twilight and Corey talking. The latter was bandaged around his middle, but...he was smiling. It wasn't the scowl that he'd last seen Corey wearing. In addition, from what he'd seen with Applejack and Pinkie, Corey seemed to be socially introverted, but...he didn't seem to be having his usual troubles. Once again, what they were discussing seemed to be muted. But he could tell that, much like Dream Ivan and Pinkie Pie, as well as Rainbow Dash and Leo, those two were in love as well. The scene before him, full of party life, blurred and twisted on itself.

"If this dream is true..." Ivan cut himself off. He saw a dragon he didn't recognize carrying a hurt Applejack on his back. Apparently, the farmer pony had injured herself from whatever had injured Corey. At least, that's what Ivan was assuming. He could once again detect those romantic feelings in this scene.

The dragon in question wasn't Spike, Ivan knew. For one thing, he seemed bulkier compared to him, and appeared to be in the dragon equivalent to late teens or early adulthood. His scales were black and blue, and he had fully-grown wings. Once again, the conversation was muted.

"...Who is that dragon...It feels like I should know already..." Ivan noted aloud, unable to shake the familiarity of this new character. The human had no time to consider the situation, though, for once again, the scene blurred and twisted in on itself, this time fading out to total darkness. "Now what?"

The void he was in lightened to white, like some sort of limbo. It was just him now. Or at least, that's what he assumed. Suddenly, the sky above him darkened to a gray-blue, and something became visible in the shadows. It was a black orb of what looked like pure energy. Out of this arm came long tenacles. A single, black and yellow eye appeared in the jet black octopus above his head, and settled upon him. Ivan was unsettled by this.

"What the Hell is that...?" This worried him more than the fact that his fellow former humans and himself may well wind up dating ponies. Something about this dark energy octopus seemed very familiar to him, but he wasn't sure what it was...

Ivan awoke with a start, reeling from the sensations the dream had given him. For a moment, he was sure that he passed out reading some pony fanfiction Corey had sent him. Then he looked down at himself, and saw nothing but a blue hoodie which sort of looked like a vest now that it was tailor-made for his pony form. Reddish-brown fur and a darker color tail were all he saw.

"...And here I was hoping being trapped in Equestria with Corey and Leo was just a dream..." the brown earth pony recalled quietly to himself, as his brain began to wake. While it had been no more than a three hour nap, his body and mind felt almost fully refreshed. Memories of the trio's landing in Equestria came back to him. He began to recall small details as he rolled from the bed. "Right...we met Pinkie...apparently she thought me falling over half-dead from exhaustion was awesome...a party's going to follow sooner or later..."

His mind once again flashed an event he might not have remembered straight away. Corey was trying to scratch his mane, forgetting he wasn't quadrupedal. He almost cut up Applejack on his troublesome appendage, as Ivan forced himself to remember he was the only one of the three to not have super special powers. Noel...or as he preferred to be called, Leo, was a pegasus who, last he remembered, could barely hover without falling on his ass. And Corey had become a heavy-set unicorn.

"...That's right...I followed her here..." He remembered that he had accepted Applejack's offer of bedding. Ivan began to leave the room to hunt down the orange earth pony, or one of her family members, to thank them for their hospitality. After all, he didn't know what Corey and Leo had decided to do without him, but he'd hoped that they'd have tried something.

Just as Ivan reached the door and discovered he no longer had the necessary thumbs to open it, another memory came rushing back to him. He was nodding off in mid-step, and had to be supported by Applejack most of the time while he was walking.

"...You said you worked on a farm...?"

"I'm sorry, what'd you say, Ivan?" Even though he didn't hear her statement fully, his now awake brain filled in the blanks.

"Well...in return...for the place to..." he recalled stifling the biggest yawn he'd yawned since being a pony, "sleep...I want...to help out a little...if you have anything for me to do..."

Applejack seemed to be perplexed at this offer. At the time, he couldn't hear her, but his brain had filled in the blanks again.

"That's mighty nice of ya, partner, you sure?"

"Yeah..."

Ivan recalled what he'd done while enroute to Sweet Apple Acres for his nap. He'd felt like he was imposing, and in a gesture of gratefulness, had asked if he could assist Applejack if there was any work to do. As he remembered this important detail, the doorknob to the room turned, and the door opened to reveal an orange farmer pony wearing a Stetson hat. The former human quickly backed away from the door as it swung open.

"Ivan?" Applejack asked. "You're awake already?"

"I'm a light sleeper," responded Ivan. "I'm used to sleeping very little." It was true. Even during the school year, he'd been getting no more than three or four hours a sleep.

"You still wantin' to help out in the harvest? We started without ya," asked Applejack.

"Is there still any work left to do?" the reddish-brown earth pony responded.

"'Course there is!" the orange mare responded. "There's only three of us workin' down in the orchards, but it's mainly me and my older brother down at the trees."

"...Big..." Ivan remembered who she was talking about: a colt, one of the few in a major enough role to get more than one scene's worth of screen time. His name was Big Mcintosh, and he was a large red earth pony with the same color mane, tail, and eyes as his sister. Then Ivan recalled something; he never met Big. Instantly, his mind took off, trying to cover his ass. "...I mean, any--" He halted, trying to keep his dialect in check for the moment, "--pony who works on a farm for a living must be big..."

"Ivan, Corey ain't a farm boy, and he's...'big'..." The orange earth pony responded. Ivan realized by facial cues that his cover statement had still offended the Element of Honesty, and immediately moved to once again correct himself.

"I...I meant 'muscular' when I said 'big', not..." Ivan realized if he kept this up, things would be sliding downhill without control. "...C-can we just get down to the orchards?"

"Guess you still ain't completely awake, but if you're willin' to help..." Applejack said, now smiling somewhat, "...C'mon, then."

The orange farmer pony then began to lead the former human. Strangely, she still wasn't questioning anything he'd said. Surely she smelled something was a little fishy with what he was saying? Maybe she was still trying to be somewhat friendly? What exactly was going on in that mare's head?

Those colts are a strange bunch alright, Applejack thought to herself, watching Ivan follow her, his gaze down towards the ground. Bypassing implications brought on by that previous statement, the orange pony continued to think about what had happened today. I can't rightly put my hoof on it, but there's something...weird goin' on today.

The question wouldn't go away from her mind, but the orange pony willed it away. She had apples to finish bucking today, after all. And since there was a helping hoof down on the orchards, it would make the job just a little easier.

She preferred to be independent, there was no denying that, and indeed, she was a little hesitant, but he seemed particularly insistent on paying her back somehow for the place to nap...while on the verge of collapsing under his own weight.

...Probably be best to wait and see how these new ponies turn out. I don't think they're evil...but all the same, they are a strange bunch...

"Holy--!"

This gasp came from a heavy-set green unicorn colt. He pushed himself onto his rear end somehow, which felt awkward on his pony body still. It didn't hurt, but...given he was meant to be quadrupedal, it struck him as odd that he was still able to take a human posture. Corey's face was dripping with just a little sweat, and his eyes, while no longer appearing bagged, were still wide open. Clearly, he'd just been pulled out of an intense dream or nightmare. The former human quickly surveyed the room, making sure he was all alone. When he saw no sign of Twilight or Spike nearby, he began to quietly murmur to himself.

"Twilight...and...me...?" The green unicorn thought aloud, still in silence. "...Together...in that way...?" He felt his face heat up as he considered that, which frightened Corey somewhat. "No, Corey...you've got to remember..." He hesitated. It was almost as if his mind was telling him that the line of thinking he was about to use was technically null. "...y-you're...a human at heart...not a unicorn colt..."

That may be true...but then, why did I clam up when I looked in her eyes? He couldn't quite answer his own question. I-it was...because I was afraid of what she would think...? ...Damn it, Corey, focus! Figure this out later! Forget thinking about it...

His mind once again returned to his dream. He remembered seeing a teenage or early adult dragon, Corey didn't know which, black and blue in color, with budding wings on his back.

...That's right...! Our Skype room was for four! Saskes...Kaxle...John...I think his name is in real life...could be pulled in.. The green unicorn thought to himself. And if he does...time's still passing back on Earth! Screw trying to find a way with words on how to say it...! I've gotta tell her with no regard. I have to be blunt!

Corey attempted to rise onto his hooves, but then he realized something.

"...How the heck did I get in this bed...?" He looked ahead of him, and saw a bed with a blanket resembling the night sky on it. "...Is this a guest bed...?"

Realizing he was wasting time wondering what was going on, Corey dismounted the bed, stumbling just a little as he got back onto the ground in a pony standing position.

I've gotta be quick about this! The former human began walking to the door of the room, when suddenly, he heard a door slam open downstairs...

"Twilight!!"

The noise and voice startled Twilight, causing her to look up from the book she was reading on the lower floor of the library. It wasn't Spike that had come in, as she was expecting, but rather, her friend Pinkie Pie, who, aside from just having squealed, looked extremely excited about something. And Twilight, having met Corey and Leo, knew precisely what was about to follow.

"Shh..." said Twilight, trying to quiet down her friend. However, Pinkie didn't appear to be listening.

"Can I have your help with something?!" Pinkie squealed, hopping about like a rabbit would.

"Calm down Pinkie, somepony's sleeping upstairs," the purple pony answered. Instantly, Pinkie froze mid-skip, and slammed both her forehooves on her mouth, crashing back to the floor on her rump, causing Twilight to wince from the noise. She cast a glance back to her bedroom where she'd left Corey, and found that the door was still closed. "...At least, I think he still is..."

"Twilight!" Pinkie was now whispering excitedly, and her voice was actually still pretty loud for a whisper. "There are new ponies in town, and--"

Suddenly, the pink earth pony's body began to twitch. Twilight still didn't fully believe this phenomenon was possible in anypony, but Pinkie had proven time and again that these twitches were accurate to the future. Her Pinkie Sense was going off. Her ear flopped, her eye fluttered, and her knee twitched. Immediately, Pinkie shoved both her forehooves in her mouth, and quieted down. Exactly two seconds later, the sound of a door opening was heard.

Wait, doesn't that usually mean you're gonna get hit by the door? Twilight thought to herself. ...Well, those twitches do usually mean "watch out for opening doors"... Putting this aside, Twilight turned back to the door to her bedroom. This time, it was ajar, and Corey was standing in the doorway, seemingly wide awake.

"...There's one of them!" Pinkie immediately went back to her outside voice at seeing Corey. She then dropped her voice to a whisper. "He's one of the three new ponies here!"

Twilight wasn't sure if Pinkie already knew about this particular event with her Pinkie Sense or not, but decided to keep her convictions about Corey to herself.

"Wait, three?" Twilight asked. "I've only met two..."

"The other one was a real sleepyhead," Pinkie confirmed, smiling still. "Fell asleep in the middle of the square..."

"Hmm..." That was all Twilight could muster. Who was this third pony, and where was he all this time? Maybe Corey knew.

"Just make sure he doesn't go too close to the Sugarcube Corner for a while! I want this party to be as good as it can get for these three!" Pinkie whispered again, and just like that, the party pony was off, bolting out the door. Unfortunately, a certain dragon was just about to enter it.

"OW!" Spike yelped as the door made contact with his face, Pinkie having inadvertently slammed it into him in her rush.

"Whoops, sorry Spike!" Pinkie squealed, her high-pitched voice loud and clear. The baby dragon recovered from the unexpected hit, and walked his way inside.

"So, Spike, what did Rarity need you for?" asked Twilight as her assistant shut the door.

"Actually, it turns out she stumbled across Leo," Spike responded. "She wanted me to help her out with his mane. I actually had to correct her to make sure he didn't wind up making a dress for hm!" This time, he was snickering. He then looked up, and apparently saw Corey awake. "Sleep well, Big Green?"

"...Yeah," answered Corey. He didn't seem bothered by the joke name given to him due to his weight, so Twilight didn't really bother scolding Spike, even though it was a pretty insensitive name to give him. "Er, I need to go outside for some air. I need to think things through..."

"Corey, was there anypony else with you?" Twilight asked, her curiosity overwhelming her. The green unicorn colt looked to her.

"Ivan," he responded, "...Let's see...he went back to an orange mare's farm of sorts, because she offered a bed. Actually, she insisted..."

"...Why?" Twilight asked. For some reason, that didn't sound like something Applejack would do for somepony so new. Even though she was invited to the Apple family reunion on her first day in Ponyville, she wasn't invited to stay.

"Because he looked really tired. He was falling over on the spot." Corey recalled. This checked out with Pinkie's story of the third pony, so Twilight didn't see any problems. Once again, acting as though very little was wrong with the way Corey was for the time being, she smiled in a friendly manner to him.

"Alright, just...uh, come back in when you've thought of what you needed to." Twilight responded. The oddball unicorn seemed to thank her for this with a nod and a reserved smile, and began to quietly trot to the door.

Elsewhere, shuffling her feet quickly, was Pinkie Pie. She was running past several ponies of varying sizes and shapes as she made her way back to plan the party for the three new ponies. Suddenly, a wave of energy passed through her. She looked towards her rump, to see her tail was twitching. However, this wasn't like the usual "falling object" tail twitch. It was jerking violently in all directions possible, and it was generally a doozy of a sense.

"What could be falling?!" she squealed excitedly, applying the brakes. "It's gonna fall close to Twilight's place in a few!"

With this in mind, Pinkie immediately turned around, and began galloping in her own special way back to the Ponyville Library...

Back on Earth, John awoke from his night's sleep. He, like Corey, was a bit heavy, but unlike him, he had short black hair. He also was of Hispanic ancestry, much like Noel. He glanced to his bedside clock.

5 o'clock...Damn, I wake up too early... he thought to himself as he rose from his bed and got dressed. A black T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. He was preparing for the day, but school was still a long way off. So, after getting himself a bowl of cereal, John made his way over to his laptop, and turned it on. After it fully booted up, Skype started as well. To his surprise, VaniX, LeXon, and CyreoX were all still online.

"Did they stay up all night?" John wondered to himself as he began to scroll up the chat log. Skype still hadn't fully connected, but he was getting there. "It looks like they all stopped talking past 2 o'clock...Toonking and Gohan went at it again...I'm not surprised."

Boo-beep. Boo-beep.

Two "file transfer" sound effects played, one after the other. While one of the copies was cancelled, a file entitled "Makuta MLP", it seemed to be the one that started all this. John turned from his screen for a moment.

"Wonder what Gohan made..." John looked back to the screen, and found something really off was happening. "Why is that loading bar red--what the hell?!"

Now John was staring at a similar screen that Noel, Corey, and Ivan had stared into. Cracks filled the screen and the entire screen seemed to wobble. Once again, when the download finished, John momentarily made sure his laptop was still working. Of course, he would soon wish for a blue screen of death...particularly when the screen seemed to shatter inward. As the suction began to overwhelm him, a single thought ran through the human's head.

Oh dear God this can't end well!

Leo flew through the air, seemingly much more proficient with his wings. At any rate, he could now fly faster than he could walk without severely messing up. Ever since his run-in with Rarity, who at first mistook him for a mare, he'd been practicing. He hadn't seen Spike leave, since he didn't hang around.

After leaving Corey with Twilight so that he could tell the unicorn the common problem that the former humans shared, he was once again chased by the bees that he'd unintentionally pissed off. He tried to fly away, but once again lost control and crashed into a pole. The bees prepared to sting, but unexpectedly, a blue blast of telekinetic magic scared them off for the second and last time. Rarity was the one who saved him.

She said she needed his mane for something, at the time not knowing if he was male or female, since he wasn't really able to get a word in. Had Sweetie Belle not brought Spike along when she did, he may well have been fitted for a dress! She experimented with his mane a little more after having his gender confirmed by Spike, and now his mane appeared to be straighter, and a little more refined.

While his time under Rarity was a little painful because she wasn't sure of his gender (feminine snout really not helping matters for him), he expected it to be far worse.

"Though now that Corey's been seen, and Pinkie's told her about the three of us..." Leo snickered. "...Speaking of Corey, I wonder if he's managed to tell Twilight our problem...she may not have a solution, but maybe she'll know something."

Leo began to turn towards the library, which wasn't hard, his sense of direction pinpointing the large tree house in the distance. As he neared, he realized he could hear the terrified screams of something. Now within a few feet of the library, the former human turned silver pegasus realized that Twilight, Spike, and Corey were looking up towards that something, and with a quick glance down from and behind him, realized Pinkie was there too. Cringing, Leo finally looked up, and saw a black and blue object falling from the sky.

"What the--" Leo cut himself off, immediately increasing his altitude as fast as he could. He knew one thing was for sure: he was going to catch this unidentifiable falling object. However, as he came closer, he realized what it was: a black and blue dragon, with what appeared to be small budding wings on its back. It was significantly older than Spike, probably late teens at youngest. Leo attempted to make the catch, and immediately regretted it.

John couldn't believe what was happening as he had been sucked into his computer monitor to face falling from a great height. Even up above, the landscape seemed...familiar, somehow. He had hit terminal velocity, and felt like he might have met his end, shutting his eyes and bracing for impact. Suddenly, something grabbed onto him, and for the moment, he felt his rate of descent slowing down.

"What the--!" a silvery object grunted to him. "W-what have you been eating, big guy?!"

Normally, John would have said something back in retaliation, but this was not normal. The silver object strained against the pressure, and soon, the two of them were both falling again. John once again shut his eyes.

Leo's wings momentarily stalled under the weight of this dragon. As he tried to recover so that they'd be able to save themselves from a falling death, the wheels began to turn in his head.

Random dragon falling from the sky...ha! No way this happened by chance! This dragon...must be saskes...Kaxle...John...I think his name was, in real life?

Leo once again forced his wings to open. The new appendages were starting to get sore again, and the pain intensified along with the friction. However, the rate of descent of himself and the dragon he was attempting to catch was starting to slow down.

This is gonna be close!

Corey was absolutely speechless as to what had happened in the short time he was outside. First, Pinkie Pie came roaring back, coming to a dead stop at the door. She knocked at the door, and told Twilight that she may have a new visitor, and that something called a "Pinkie Sense" told her so. Corey had read about it, but at the time, he didn't think much of it. Then, his pony hearing could pick up the very faint yells of someone asking for help.

At this point, Spike came outside with binoculars, and looked straight up. They all had taken a turn looking through them, Corey leaning over and Twilight letting him look by levitating them to him. The former human wasn't sure if the studious pony was being nice or not. Then Spike continued to look while Twilight racked her brains on a spell that would save the pony--at least, that's what Corey assumed she was doing. It was confirmed the falling object was a dragon in late teens or early adulthood, budding wings on the black and blue body.

The assistant then confirmed he saw Leo trying to make a rescue, and he then continued to follow their descent. Upon hearing Leo's name, Corey froze.

He'll know I messed up...! Too late to do...anything about it now...and if this new dragon's the same guy from my dream, then it's John...and he doesn't know a damn thing about what's happening!

"I've got it!" Twilight called out, startling Corey. Her horn soon became coated in a magenta glow once more as she began to cast a spell. A pulsing ball of magic was soon shot toward Leo and the falling dragon. Immediately, the former human's mind went to Harry Potter, more specifically, the scene in which the titular character started falling. Looking up at a small magenta flash, he realized it was a similar spell. Granted, Leo and the dragon--who Corey was almost positive was John by this point--weren't two wizards that just fell from their broomsticks, but they were still falling.

Now, their fall, which might have left them with a few broken bones at least, was being lessened in intensity to the point it'd be like rolling out of bed in the morning. It might hurt a little, but it wouldn't be as harmful.

"W-whoa..." Corey stuttered, unable to stop himself.

John opened his eyes, feeling the rate of descent decrease. He was going to live. At least, that's what he thought when he first opened his eyes. The colorful landscape really rung a few bells in the human's head. He then decided to look at himself first. Instead of still being a human, he found himself as a dragon of some sort, his body black with a blue underbelly. He had scales instead of skin. Looking to his right, he saw an unfamiliar sight: a silver, feminine-snouted pegasus. Yet, John recalled his voice as male...and he sounded familiar.

"G-Gohan...?!" John stuttered out.

"Call me 'Leo'..." responded the silver pegasus.

John's thoughts were soon broken once again by a gasp. He looked, to see that he was now eye-level with a very familiar party pony. The former human, now a dragon, was stunned into silence.

Pinkie Pie...?! Oh God, did we wind up in--

"Another new guy?! This makes four!" Pinkie squealed, immediately leaving once again in a burst of dust. Just like in the pilot episode which John watched. Of the four former humans, he had watched the least, second only to Corey.

Four?! TK is here too?! As he drew closer, he could see two familiar characters, Twilight Sparkle and her baby dragon assistant, Spike. The latter looked unamused, and in fact looked about ready to say something. The former, on the other hand, was looking at a green unicorn with a rather confused look on her face.

"G-Leo..." John began, his emotional state describable only as a state of complete shock. He wasn't sure how to feel. "...who's the green guy...?"

"SSJ..." Leo responded as the two neared the ground. "...Though you can call him 'Corey' now..."

John agreed to this. If his Skype friends were here in Equestria with him, he may as well get the first name basis out of the way as soon as he can. As shocked as John was, a feeling was slowly starting to worm its way up in his heart.

"...You put a file on Skype...called 'FUMFBAMF'..." John mumbled, as he and Leo finally touched down on the ground with a small thud. It wasn't the pain John expected to feel, but it was still a little shocking.

"Y-yeah...I meant to hack Ivan..." Leo sounded hesitant to admit it. "You read our fight, didn't you?"

John felt just a little anger work its way through his system. "Yes...so what was that file exactly..." A little louder than he intended to, he continued, "I got up...got breakfast...turned on my laptop...then next thing I know--"

Leo immediately reached out and put his hoof over John's mouth, but it was too late. Spike heard John's statement, as did Twilight.

"I'll explain later." Leo said. "For now, just remain quiet." John obliged, not really liking the current situation. He noticed Spike was giving him just a little bit of a dirty look. Twilight was looking from the new arrival to Corey. It seemed strange to her.

And when he looked at Corey...not only was he scowling, but he appeared to be facing the ground. He couldn't tell why.

"Well! That was close..." Leo started.

Leo was relieved by the fact that Twilight had stopped the fall from being fatal in any way. Quite frankly, with John's added weight, the former human wasn't sure if he could have prevented them from being harmed by the fall even with all his effort, at his current skill at flying. He began to trot up to Twilight, Spike, and Corey, and John was following him, albeit a little reluctantly.

"...Twilight...what's a laptop...?" Spike asked, apparently finally having had enough of Twilight acting as though nothing was wrong. "...This is the third strange guy we've seen all day..."

"I don't know...but I heard him mention it..." Twilight responded.

Twilight was now more confused than before. The studious unicorn was right: things were getting stranger, but what really baffled her was the mention of a "laptop" by the new dragon. She'd never even read about one of those!

What in Equestria is going on here?! she asked. What was Corey trying to tell me?

It was then, she realized she could hear heavy, erratic breathing right next to her. She turned to see Corey trembling, hyperventilating. He was clearly anxious, clearly frustrated with himself. The others around her realized he was showing strange symptoms, but it was Leo who was the first to act.

And he did so with a very mean maneuver. Twilight was even less sure of what to think of these new ponies, but they definitely couldn't have been proper ponies, not after what she saw.

Leo reached out, and cracked Corey square across the face with a hoof: "Get a hold of yourself!"

It seemed like he did it more out of trained reaction than to be mean, but it was still mean. He was trying to say something, and rather than calm down, Corey hyperventilated even worse. It was almost as if he was getting ready to explode. She realized his normal scowl was now far worse. It had morphed into a snarl.

Corey was now the angriest he'd been since arriving in Equestria. He'd felt like a fuck-up for not getting the information out to Twilight sooner, but he had a good reason: he felt like he wouldn't be believed, even with the nagging feeling in the back of his head that she may have already suspected something was up with him. Ivan and Noel had fought damn near incessantly during the first ten minutes of their landing. Then Leo was being a dick because he only thought about ways to impress Rainbow Dash, and even left him to try and explain things on his own, which he failed to do. Then, just to add insult to injury, he smacked him much the way he did Ivan.

This was a task unlike anything he'd ever endured, and he'd hope to never endure it again. If he was to reveal the humanhood of himself, Leo, and the new dragon, John, he may as well do it now, before things got even worse.

"...T-Twilight..." Corey snarled, now openly mad. "...I want to say something...right now...things aren't normal..." When the purple pony nodded, his emotions bubbled to the surface. "...And...can I say something else...?"

"...What...what is it?" Twilight sounded concerned with his anger. She could hear it in his voice. Corey inhaled, took a deep breath, seeming to calm himself down. Then, calling upon his inner child, with all the might in his body, he cried out a single line that would force the burden onto Leo's shoulders.

Karma's a bitch, isn't it, Noel?!

"This whole mess is Leo's fault!!!"

Twilight was stunned, once more, by what happened. Things definitely weren't normal, as Corey pointed out, but why was this mess Leo's fault? Why was it that the new guy just dropped out of the sky? Pre-adult dragons generally don't fall...and his wing development seemed to be stunted. Leo seemed to be mad at Corey for saying that, but something within the studious unicorn told her that things were finally starting to come together. She wasn't quite prepared for what would follow this, but she knew she had to take charge of the situation.

"...Spike..." Twilight said, trying to keep herself composed. She was curious, and just a little angry at what was going on. "...be ready to take a note..."

"G-got it!" Spike was clearly confused by Corey's revelation, and a quick check on the adult dragon revealed that he hadn't expected that from the green unicorn.

"You three, come inside...now." The purple pony was ready. "I want to know...what's really going on here..."

Not a single living being involved in the conversation had any objections to this. With this, the five quickly walked inside, and Twilight lead the way to her room. She got out a scroll of her own, and a quill. She needed to scribble down whatever the problem was. Corey remained off to the side, seemingly relieved of what was happening.

"...It's very obvious that...all four of you..." She remembered the conversation she'd had with Pinkie shortly before she left the first time. "...I'm assuming, aren't...normal by any means of the word. Your interactions with one another, and with the others here...things aren't adding up at all. Your skillsets don't match up with your ages..."

"...I don't even know magic..." the green unicorn admitted, confirming a nagging suspicion Twilight had in the back of her mind. Putting this aside for the moment in favor of the bigger picture, the purple pony continued, scribbling down this in addition to John's sudden appearance and Leo's lack of flight prowess.

Leo was utterly at a loss at what Corey had done. He had apparently napped here--he'd noticed his eyes weren't bagged like they were earlier, and not told Twilight of the problem they shared. John had arrived as well, and things were just not going his way at the moment.

"I guess I'll explain, since someone couldn't do it earlier..." Leo growled, recalling how Corey had just outed him as the culprit of the mess the former humans were now in.

"If this is as strange as I think it's going to get..." Twilight cut in, sounding as though she really didn't like how he was blaming Corey for messing up. "...then I think his reluctance to do so would be justified. I've had a feeling all day things were going to get strange. Your flight failing was only the tip of the iceberg..."

"...Well, this certainly would make things easier..." Leo once again glared towards Corey, who this time reacted.

"F--FF---" Corey stuttered, before, frustrated, he just yelled out: "I'm not psychic, Leo!"

"I never told him. I had a feeling whatever his problem was would slip out sooner or later. I just wasn't expecting this..." Twilight confirmed. Again, she seemed to be defending him. He decided not to pry at the moment, realizing there was much bigger fish to fry.

"...Well...' Leo said. "I think you know...we're not from around here. In fact...we're not even from this...universe."

"...Wha--?" Twilight asked, completely confused. She scribbled this down using the quill. Meanwhile, Spike seemed confused as well, but apparently, even he thought it best to preserve the silence. "...You're not even...from this universe...? Then...what are you...?"

Leo inhaled. Either way, it was going to be a tough fight to explain things to her. This wasn't going to be as easy as he would have hoped, but he'd hoped that at least Equestrian reference guides had something on what he was about to unleash.

"Corey's lack of magic...this dragon, John, falling from the sky...my recent flight crashes..." Leo said. "We weren't born this way..."

With one last inhale, Leo thought one thing: Here goes nothing...

"We...are...humans..."