A Variant Issue

by Sandvich Brony

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Other, Original Character, Human, Main 6
Length: 19604

A brony gets his lifelong dream. But something is missing...

A brony gets his lifelong dream: He's in Equestria. Exited, he sets off, only to find something is... amiss. Something is different about the mane six. Undeterred, he tries to makes the best of the situation he's now trapped in, but what will he do about the six mare he knows nothing about? And more importantly, how will the mane six react to hearing about who they could have been?

Here's my idea for a spin on the usual HiE fic. Any criticism or advice helps.

Credit to: notMurphy for letting me work with his story "A Minor Variation", Inspired_Light for cover art

Published 2012-10-23 21:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-01-03 06:30:27 UTC

For Want of a Journey

Chapter 1: For Want of a Journey

Jace had no idea what he did to deserve this. He didn't even know whether to start having a mental breakdown or find a way to contact Pinkie and throw the biggest celebration he could. But one thing was for certain...

He was in Equestria. Or more specifically, the Everfree Forest.

This he figured out after waking up laying on the ground in-front of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters (or at least what's left of it) The only thing he could remember before waking up was the fact that he was anticipation the next day of staffing Camp Barrett. All he had was whatever he had on him when he fell asleep, which consisted of his clothes, his house key (probably never to be used again), about seven dollars in ones and a five, and a leather pouch with the letters "cb" branded into it.

He had been trekking through the forest for at least three hours now, glad he had fallen into bed in a heap without taking off his shoes. Jace had already had to run from at least two packs of timberwolves, and nearly escaped a close encounter with a manticore. Luckily, the hike had given him some time to make a plan.

Step one: Try to find Fluttershy's cottage and gain her trust (if possible).

Step two: Somehow get to Twilight and explain the situation.

Step three: Get to meet the mane six and get some exposure to everypony else in town.

Step five: Find a way to get settled.

Step six: If all else fails, get to Celestia and explain everything before things get ugly.

The entire plan hinged on the first step working. Jace had to make sure Fluttershy was more curious about a new animal than scared of a strange beast.

After a half-hour more of hiking, he made it to the forest edge. Looking around yielded nothing but a dirt road that traveled along the forest edge. Sighing, he continued forward hoping to find something.

Five more miles later, he found what he was looking for.

The cottage was not what he expected. Sure there were animals everywhere, but the cottage itself was the unexpected part. Then again, he was now standing in-front of one of the most iconic places in the show. On a high note he walked up to the door.

The animals seemed very curious about the new creature that was walking to the cottage. One in particular caught his attention. Namely a small bunny that seemed to be looking at him with more caution than curiosity. Angel was so cute Jace nearly did a Fluttershy approved sqee.

Once he made it to the door, he took a deep breath and knocked.

No answer.

Jace knocked again.

Again no answer.

Somewhat hesitant, Jace looked at Angel and asked him a question.

"I don't suppose you have a key for the door?"

The look of complete shock was priceless. That rabbit was so adorable. And that's when he heard the hoofsteps.

In a moment of panic, Jace leapt into the bushes on the side of the porch. All he was hoping was that Angel bunny would be to shocked to do anything. Peeking out through the leaves to see who was coming. Only to freeze at the pony he saw.

Straight haired Pinkie Pie.

His initial reaction included trying to stifle some of his screaming and looking for an exit in case she found him. Then came second looks, where he realized she didn't seem insane. In fact, she seemed completely fine. No erratic movements, no twitching eye, nothing. All he could see that was not usual was exactly what he noticed to begin with. She walked with an air of confidence, like she knew exactly where and why she was there. Then Jace noticed her cutie mark. Three crosses, two yellow and one blue, in the same formation that the balloons were. This looked like a completely different pony.

She wasn't walking towards the cottage but a small shed. Probably used for storing feed. His assumption was correct upon her opening the door. She pulled out a bag and started spreading it out to the animals, which flocked to her in hoards. Once the bag ran out, she turned around to close the door. Then Angel made his move. He started tapping her foreleg in an attempt to get her attention. She looked at him with a questionable look.

"What, is something wrong?"

Upon hearing her voice, it was clear that this was the pink pony herself. Angel began pointing to the cottage frantically and Jace realized he was trying to get Pinkie to see him.

"Is there something in the house?" Pinkie asked the rabbit.

The bunny facepalmed (or was it facepawed?) and directed her gaze to the bushes where the human hid.

"Something in the bushes?" Pinkie asked again.

Angel nodded and bounced in Jace's direction. The pony followed.

Very quickly, the human searched through his options. One, he could come out of the bushes and hope Pinkie didn't freak out. Two, he could stay hidden and see what her reaction would be then. Three, make a break for it and hope she wouldn't pursue. However, he didn't have time to find an answer because he heard a rustle of leaves and a gasp. Jace looked up at the shocked face of the pink pony and did the one thing he hadn't thought of.

He blacked out.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Jace awoke to the sound of voices.

"Are you sure you don't have any idea what it is?"

"Completely positive. I haven't even read anything that even remotely describes it."

"Do you think it's dangerous?"

"Probably not. It doesn't seem to have any claws or teeth. Not to mention you said it fainted when it saw you."

"Well you are correct on that. Oh it's waking up!"

Jace decided to open his eyes. he was laying on the floor inside the cottage. Two ponies were staring down at him. There was Pinkie (hair still straight) and a pony that looked an awful lot like Rarity. Again the differences consisted of mane style and a different cutie mark, Which in this case was a pentagon with a diamond at each corner and at the center. Her mane was cut short and curled in a similarly to BonBon's Both ponies had a look of curiosity and a slight bit of fear. Pinkie was the first to speak.

"It's okay. Your going to be fine."

What to say to a pony. Jace said the first thing that came to mind.

"Umm, hi?"

Again, the shocked expressions were priceless. This time the Rarity lookalike spoke.

"You... You can talk?"

It's official. The other pony was Rarity.

"Uh, yeah. I can talk."

Again, the look of complete surprise was priceless.

"So, what are you exactly?"

Caleb decided to go with what the average non-brony should know.

"Well, I'm what's known as a human. And as far as I know, horses shouldn't know how to talk."

"Horses? We're ponies."

"Okay fine. Ponies shouldn't know how to talk"

"Well as far as we know, there are no such things as humans."

"Touche my white friend."

"Now, if you don't mind, I have some questions." Her horn lit up and a piece of parchment and a quill floated out of some nearby saddlebags.

"Can I ask one first?" Jace asked.

"Sure"

"Where am I?"

"Well," Rarity started, "this world is called Equestria. Your currently in the town of Ponyville laying in Dianne's cottage."

"Dianne?"

"That's me." said the pink pony.

"Dianne?" Jace thought, "Is this some kind of joke she's playing? And why is her mark different? Wait, if pinkie's going by a different name then..."

"Okay, one more question." Jace said, "What's your name?" He pointed at the white pony.

"Oh, my name is Rarity," she answered.

"Well there goes that hypothesis"

Rarity asked some fairly generic questions. Where he was from, why he had clothing. Even the simplest of answers got the occasional "Oh" or "Hmm" and something written down in her notes. Pink- no, Dianne asked a question every so often about animals on earth. She didn't seem all that interested. Probably because animals were the same in both worlds. Then Rarity asked a question about something Jace wasn't expecting.

"What is this?"

Rarity pulled Jace's house key out of his pocket. It probably wouldn't have been noticed except for the fact that he had attached something to his key ring that was sticking out. It was a small string of beads with Rainbow Dash's color scheme.

"Wait..." Jace thought.

"These colors look very familiar," Rarity said with a hint of suspicion.

"Oh shoot"

"It looks like Rainbow's colors," Dianne added.

"Think, think, quickly! How can you explain this!?"

"How do you know this color scheme?"

"Times up!"

With a sigh, Jace decided to come clean.

"Umm... I'm going to have to tell you later."

...At a different time.

"Why later?" Rarity asked.

"I need some time to think about how I say this."

"What do you mean?"

"It's not going to be pretty to say the least," "That's an understatement," He thought, "Not to mention now is not really the right time. I'll tell you when."

"Okay then, I think."

"That's one bullet dodged."

"Is it just me, or are the stars out already?" Jace asked in an attempt to distract the two ponies.

It was in fact night. There was no denying that fact. Luna's moon was now hovering over the trees of the nearby forest.

"Well, I don't know about you two, but I need some rest," Jace said.

"Do you even have a place to sleep?" Mentioned Rarity.

"Shoot. No."

"If it would help, I have an extra bed." Dianne started. "It's probably a bit small, but I think it could work."

"Yeah, that would help." Jace agreed.

"Besides," added Rarity. "we need someone to keep an eye on you."

"Figures they still don't trust me."

"Well then, where is the bed?"

---------------{]-[}---------------

A bit small was an understatement.

Jace's legs were hanging about two feet off the end. He had to curl up quite a bit just to fit in it. Two more minutes of rolling around and he was finally comfy. His last thoughts before drifting off to sleep were him wondering about what was going on with the two ponies he had met that day. Why was Pinkie going by her middle name. Why is Rarity's hair so short? And just what was he getting himself Into? Hoping these questions would be answered later, Jace fell into a peaceful sleep.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

A/N: Okay, first things first. I have no idea where this is going to go. Seriously. This was all based on an idea I had while reading the original story. So on that note, I have to say something in my defense if this seems badly written to anyone. This is not just my first fanfiction, but my first attempt at writing any story. Please be at least somewhat lenient in your criticism and any advice on how to improve my writing would be appreciated. Thanks!!

Time to Farm

Chapter Two: Day one

The next morning, Jace woke up feeling something warm up against him. Thinking nothing of it, he closed his eyes in an attempt to sleep in.

"Wait..." He realized.

His eyes snapped awake and he turned over, throwing off the blanket he used. Underneath was a cat that had apparently thought laying next to him would make a convenient place to sleep. Feeling its source of heat gone, it opened its eyes and looked at him. Jace was about to throw it off, when he noticed something about it. Those eyes seemed familiar. Almost...like...

"Opalescence?" Jace questioned.

The cat did not respond. If it was Opal, something was definitely different. Her fur was much shorter than it was portrayed on the show. Not to mention her body seemed l The cat crawled over next to him and tried to sleep again. However, Jace was already wide awake thanks to his initial reaction to a warm presence near him. He stepped up and left the bed. The cat followed behind.

Downstairs, Jace found Dianne making what looked like breakfast. Not bothering to look at what it was exactly, he sat down at a nearby table. His legs barely fit underneath it sitting straight up in the undersized chair.

"Good morning Mr... Umm... what is your name?" Dianne asked.

"My name is Jace. Huh, I thought Rarity would have asked that during yesterday's session of twenty questions."

"Speaking of which," Dianne started, turning towards him, "Rarity never asked what humans ate, so I decided to wait on your meal until you woke up."

"Really? Well then, uh, thanks?" Jace responded.

"Is something wrong?" She asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You seemed a little unsure."

"That obvious?"

"Very much so."

With a sigh, jace gave his answer.

"Okay, here's my little dilemma. I come out of nowhere into your life with you knowing almost nothing about me, and yet you still show hospitality to me. Why?"

"Well," Dianne started, "so far you haven't shown any sign of hostility against me or my friend, it's apparent you are a long way from home, and in all honesty, in that kind of position you need a friend. I'm just trying to help"

"Huh, didn't think of it like that" Jace said reclining in his chair.

Dianne grabbed the handle of the pan she was using and dumped its contents onto a plate. It looked like some kind of grass mixed into an omelette. She then turned and asked.

"So, what do you eat?

"Well... uh..." Jace tried to find something she may have that wasn't meat, "Do you have any more eggs?"

---------------{]-[}---------------

One two-egg omelette later and Jace was ready to tackle the day... Until he realized something.

"Um, Dianne?"

"Yes?"

"I just realized I have absolutely nowhere to go" He said

"What do you mean?" she asked. Her face was a mask of confusion.

"What I mean, is I can't go anywhere here in Ponyville," Jace responded getting slightly agitated. "I don't want to stay in here all day, but other ponies probably won't think well of me. Just think about it. Something that no one has seen before just waltzing in to Ponyville without warning. Don't you think that most ponies would react?" An image of Lyra chasing after him went through his mind.

"Hmm, I see your point," Dianne brought a hoof to her chin in thought, "However, I think I have an idea." She started running for the door. "I'll be right back."

"Wait!" Jace got up and managed to catch her by the tail, causing her to fall flat. Her hair seemed to have spontaneously curled in a familiar fashion. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to to get somepony who can help you with your problem," She responded hastily while trying to get back up.

"What am I supposed to do while your gone?" Jace asked.

"Angel will keep an eye on you," She told him. "Other than him you've already met Opalescence."

"Who? the cat?"

He didn't get a response. Dianne was already out the door and down the road headed to town. He looked at the cat who had watched him while he ate. Apparently this was Rare's pet cat, but what was she doing here? After a minute of silence, Angel came inside. He looked around and gave him a shrug and a look that asked, "Where is she?"

"If your looking for Dianne, she left to Ponyville for a quick errand," Jace said. "She also wanted you to keep an eye on me. So, yeah. Looks like it's just you and me for a while."

The rabbit seemed taken aback at this. He then made a gesture pointing to his open mouth.

"She forgot to feed you before she left, didn't she?" Jace said with an expectant look.

Angel nodded.

"Well, what does she feed you?" Jace asked.

The bunny sped off to a different room and came back with a book. Angel then sifted through the pages until he stopped and turned the book towards Jace, pointing at one of the pictures. That's when Jace realized just what Angel wanted.

"Are you sure this is what she feeds you on a regular basis... for breakfast no less?" He told the rabbit.

Angel seemed not to care and instead tried to make Jace agree by glaring and making his points at the picture more prompt.

"I'm sorry, but I refuse to make it," Jace said crossing his arms making a defiant face.

Angel continued to glare at him, but he put the book away. Jace stood up and walked to the fridge looking for something to feed the rabbit. He discovered a mass quantity of veggies and decided to make a salad. He cut some cucumber and carrots to add a bit of variety in it.

"I don't know what she normally gives you, but I think this will suffice." Jace told Angel while setting the bowl down.

Angel took a glance at the bowl and immediately stood defiant.

"If you don't want it then that's your choice," Jace said with a bit of sympathy in his voice. "I don't know when Dianne will be back, and for all I know she may not be back until lunchtime. If you don't want anything until then, than that's your decision."

Angel's eyes snapped open. He looked at the bowl again. Seemingly reluctant, he took one bite. After that first taste, he literally dived right into the bowl.

"Heh, You haven't changed a bit." Jace thought aloud. "So why is everyone else different?"

He never had time to ponder the subject. The door burst open and Rarity came in behind Dianne with an exuberant expression on her face.

"I'm back!" she sang out.

"Where were you?" asked a very surprised Jace.

"Well, I was thinking about your issue, and I knew Ra-. Oh no, Angel I forgot to feed you, didn't I." Dianne was looking at a very content Angel bunny, lounging in the bowl that previously held his food.

"It's okay," Jace assured her, "He came to me hungry and I found some stuff to feed him."

"Now," Rarity said trying to get back to the subject, "what seems to be the problem at hand? Actually, what is your name? I forgot to ask earlier."

"His name is Jace," Dianne answered for him, "And for your first question, didn't I tell you earlier?" Dianne said with a questionable look.

"Well, if it was you talking about your dilemma, you said it somewhat quickly." Rarity said remembering what happened.

---------------{]-[}---------------

"Spike! Have you found anything yet?"

"Rarity, I need at least some time to find it. You only told me about it last night after you got home. Besides, what's got you so interested in... Uhh... what are you looking for again?"

"I'm looking for anything on obscure animal species or historic documentation on anything called a 'human'."

"Human? Like that one unicorn likes to ramble on about?"

"Well, yes."

Ever since the night before, Rarity had been looking for anything on humans that could help her better understand just what the thing was. She had been looking for anything on the subject since last night to no avail.

And that's when the door exploded.

"Gagh! Dianne!?" both the pony and dragon shouted at the same time.

"RarityIneedyourhelpthehumanhasaproblemthatIthinkyoucanhelpwithYouneedtocomewithmerightnow!" Dianne said before finally inhaling. Rarity and Spike noticed her mane had curled considerably and she seemed winded.

"What? Dianne, what's going o-" Rarity was cut off mid-sentence. Dianne had grabbed her and taken her with her before anyone could say anything.

---------------{]-[}---------------

"Huh, I guess your right." Dianne said.

"However, my question still stands," Rarity began, "What is the issue?"

"Um, I can answer that," Jace said straightening up, "Like I said to Dianne, I don't want to stay cooped up in here, but I don't see how I can go anywhere as I am. Most ponies would probably react. And most of those who do probably won't in a good way."

"Hmm, I see your point," Rarity said with a contemplative look on her face. She began to pace back and forth across the room.

"So, do you have an answer?" Jace asked expectantly.

"No. I need time to think." She replied quickly as she continued to pace, not even glancing in his direction.

Five minutes passed and still no answer from the white mare, until she finally stopped pacing, looked up with a familiar expression and promptly sang out.

"Idea!"

"Finally!" Jace thought, "Rarity actually did something that seems familiar. So she's still the same girl... mare... whatever, but where has she been all this time?"

"So? what is it?" Jace was on the edge of his seat.

"Well, it's not a perfect plan, but there is a place outside of Ponyville with ponies we can trust," Rarity explained.

"Really? Where?"

---------------{]-[}----------------

"I think I can see why your species has developed more efficient modes of transportation," Rarity said to the human walking along side her.

"Well, [huff] some of us, [huff] are more used, [huff] to travelling longer distances. [huff] Jeez. How far are we?" Jace asked. He was out of breath and the long walk to... wherever they were going was tiring him more than his trek through the Everfree Forest

"Not to much farther. It should be visible once we're over this hill." Dianne assured.

"That is the best news I have heard all day." Jace said with a tired smile on his face.

Five more minutes of walking was all it took for Jace to see something that took his breath away.

"Is that?..." Jace wondered while simultaneously trying to tone down his exitement.

"Jace," Rarity said with a smile on her face, "welcome to Sweet Apple Acres."

The farm was much bigger in person. The trees spanned for miles. The whole place was amazing to say the least.

"Wow, it looks amazing." Jace said with an awed expression on his face.

"Um, I don't see what's so glamorous about a farm," Dianne deadpanned.

"You have no idea where I'm coming from," Jace responded.

"Well," Rarity began, "shall we?" She said pointing at the front gate.

The group eventually made it to the farm. The entire scene was breath taking (then again, the show probably had something to do with it). The sound of barking was soon heard and Winona came into view. Then he noticed she didn't seem to be barking in excitement of a new person to play with.

"Um, is she friendly?" Jace asked.

"Winona tends to be suspicious of new ponies," Dianne assured.

"So she shouldn't be to much of a problem?" Jace asked still unsure.

"Well, she shouldn't," She responded.

"Not really helping," Jace said shifting his balance in case of a needed sprint.

"Hmm, she should be here somewhere." Rarity said with a confused look. Her gaze shifted in search.

"Who?" Jace asked, focus still on the dog. Then it hit him, "That actually is a good question. Where is AJ"

They did not answer. Their undivided attention was at the farther trees looking for something. One of the trees shook.

"There she is!" Rarity exclaimed pointing. She galloped off with Dianne in close pursuit. Jace started running and, even though he was far behind, Jace passed them at full tilt.

"Yes! Yes!" Jace thought while running, "I can't wait to meet- Twilight!?"

Jace was in complete surprise when he saw who was in-front of him. Twilight was in a stasis of shock at the being that seemed to have stumbled along to her. There was a minute of uneasy tension until Rarity and Dianne galloped up the hill. , Finally, Twilight broke the silence.

"Ah, Rarity? What, exactly is, this?" She said making large gestures to "this".

Jace took this as a chance to look Twilight over. She had a wide-brimmed hat on and her hair was tied back into what looked like a pony tail (heehee). Her cutie mark was also different. It was a somewhat complicated looking constellation. Other than that, she seemed to be a bit bulkier. "Maybe she was working out?" Jace thought in an attempt to make sense of it.

"Twilight, meet Jace. Jace, meet Twilight Sparkle." Rarity introduced proudly.

Jace decided to do something origional.

"Uhh, hello?" Jace spoke tentatively.

She reacted almost immediately. "Did it just-?"

"Yes," Dianne assured, "it can talk."

"So Twilight, do you live here on the orchard?" Jace asked in an attempt to distract her while hoping that her answer wasn't...

"Well, yes actually." She answered. Her face was starting to loose the shocked expression.

"She what!? Just what is going on here!?" Jace was now the shocked one, though he managed to keep his expression down to his eyes widening in surprise. "Really? Do you do it by yourself, or do you have help?" Jace asked trying to make his reaction seem legitimate.

"Nnope," said a familiar voice from nearby. Big Macintosh stepped into view from behind a tree.

"You certainly are a big pony." Jace deadpanned. He wasn't just saying this. Big Mac was at least up to his neck.

"Eeyup," He replied without hesitation.

"You don't say much, do you?" Jace said crossing his arms and smiling.

"Nnope," Big Mac responded.

"So," Jace said turning his attention back to Twilight, "You guys in the middle of harvest time?"

"Here on the farm it's called applebuck season, but yes." She said jubilantly, "It's been going for about three days now."

"Speaking of harvesting, where's Jackie?" Rarity asked confused.

"Jackie? Are they talking about Applejack?" Jace wondered. Suddenly, a flash of light was seen, causing everyone to look away.

And suddenly, Applejack.

"Ah, there she is," Rarity said seemingly unfazed at the sight of a pony just appearing.

"Jackie! you're back!" Twilight exclaimed happily.

"Who?" Jace thought in confusion. Then he noticed the differences.

She was pretty much the same, except her hair was currently in a loose french braid and her hat was different. It was a white ten-gallon hat with a leather band. Her cutie mark was two balloons, one blue one green, with intertwining strings. At the bottom of each string was an apple on the bottom of one and an orange on the other. She was also wearing saddlebags, in which she was stashing an apple that seemed to have a bite in it.

"Yup, good to be ba- What is that?" She said looking very confused and somewhat freaked out at the sight of the human.

"My name is Jace, I'm what's called a human, and what the heck did you just do?"

"Well, for lack of better term: apple-portation. Name's Jackie." She said holding out her hoof.

Jace took the hoof and shook it, the whole time thinking, "This feels so wrong for some reason."

"So," Jackie started, "What are you gals doin' here?"

"Well, due to the fact that really can't go anywhere else, they brought me here," Jace explained.

"What do you mean you can't go anywhere else?" Twilight asked.

"What he means, is there isn't anywhere else that has ponies we can explain this to without too much trouble" Dianne elaborated, "We knew we could trust you with keeping this secret."

"Huh, well it's nice to know you trust us, but what do we do if someone else finds out?" Jackie questioned.

"If that happens, we try to get them to see reason, in the fact that I come in peace." Jace assured while holding up the vulcan hand sign.

"Uh, what, are you doing?" Rarity asked tilting her head while looking at his hand.

"Oh, uh, nothing. Inside joke." Jace said with a smile. He put his hand down.

"So," Jackie turned to Twilight and Big Mac, "where are we in harvesting?"

Twilight gave her the lowdown. "Well, so far you've missed a couple days, but we can catch up now that you're here."

"Well, what are we waitin' for? let's get bucking," Jackie said. She promptly lifted her hind legs and kicked her legs back into a tree, causing all the apples to fall. One, however, stayed hanging. Jackie stuck out her hoof in-front of herself and then the apple fell into it.

"How long did it take to master doing that?" Jace asked with an inquisitive look.

"You have know idea." She deadpanned.

"So I have a question," Jace began. The others leaned in."What would I have to do if I wanted to, I don't know, work here?"

The reactions were almost immediate. Mixed cries of "What!" and "Excuse me?" and "Eeyup" went up almost at the same time.

"Good heavens! Just why are you doing this?" Rarity asked after regaining most of her composure.

"Let me put it this way. I don't have any idea how long I'm going to be here, I don't have any money that I can use here. And for my last point, I need something to do instead of just sitting around all day." Jace explained in somewhat of a hurried fashion.

"Well I- Actually, I honestly can't say much after hearing that," Rarity said shifting her weight between her hooves.

"I really can't object. We could always use some help down here at the farm. But how exactly do you plan on helping?" Jackie asked with an objectionable expression still on her face.

"I can help with hauling the load back to the barn, I'm somewhat of a handyman, and for apple picking, I can do this!" jace said before jumping. He grabbed a low branch and lifted himself up. After a little more climbing, he then proceeded to shake the tree, which made the apples fall.

"Hmm. That's one way of doing it. I guess?" Twilight looked on with a bit of a questionable look.

"If that was a compliment, then thanks." Jace said jumping down. "So, now that that's settled, can we start?"

---------------{]-[}---------------

"Jace! quitting time!" Twilight's voice rang out.

"Finally! I thought this day would never end," Jace said setting down his last basket of apples. It was five hours after he started, and he was completely spent. He started walking to the barn door when he saw a shape in the doorway.

"So," Jackie began. "How was your day?" she asked with a smug smile.

"Seriously? don't give me that look." Jace retorted. "So, are you okay if I bunk in your place tonight?" He asked. "I really don't want to hike all the way back to the cottage."

"Well, you've worked hard. I'd say you've earned it." Jackie said with a contemplative look. "The house is over there. Guest room's to the left. Third door on the right side of the hall."

"Thanks!" Jace started running to the house. He opened the door to see that the main room was surprisingly empty. He followed Jackie's directions to the room. After closing and locking the door, he then fell into the bed. It was small like last time, but he didn't care. Instead, he was glad to be in a place that didn't need him to move. His arms felt like lead when he tried to lift them. He eventually rested enough from his exhaustion to think about the day.

"Four out of six," Jace thought. "All I need to meet now is Fluttershy and Rainbow. Then I can give my explanation. Hopefully I'll get lucky tomorrow. Ugh, so tired" He fell asleep into dream after dream of apples.

A/N: Chapter two done finally! I'm just now finding out why most stories usually take so long to update. So something I should probably point out: I did change the main character's name. And in doing so, I probably got at least five dislikes. In all honesty, I'm sorry. It was a poor decision on my part to do it last minute. I can assure you that I won't do it again. I did go through the first chapter and change it there however. So if you're coming into this story now, then you can disregard this whole explanation. So on that note, Happy Nightmare Night!

Twilight's Story

Chapter 3: Plot Holes

---------------{]Morning[}---------------

CRACK

"No, not like that Twi. Try a bit higher up on the trunk and add a bit more strength to your kick," Jackie suggested.

CRACK

"Much better! Now just a mite higher..."

CRACK

"That's it! Now all you need is a little more practice."

Jackie had been teaching Twilight some of her apple bucking tricks. Her most recent addition to her trick book: The apple fall delay, or how to control when and which apples fell. To be honest, most of what Jackie was saying was beyond him. How did you control which part of the hoof hit the tree first? In any case, Twilight seemed to understand it.

Waking up that morning wasn't too bad. Granny Smith didn't seem to mind too much. Applebloom was a bit of a different story. Once she saw Jace she ran out the door and later came back with her friends in a second attempt at their monster catching cutie marks. The stings of them smacking with sticks was still fresh in his mind.

Jace asked if he could stay on the farm, seeing as he had a job there now and didn't want to keep hiking from the cottage to the orchard. Twilight and Jackie seemed okay with it. Granny was also fine with a new resident in the house.

"So long as he keeps himself useful," was her only requirement.

Big Macintosh seemed fine with it, simply replying with his signature, "Eeyup."

Applebloom seemed a bit too happy with him asking. She said yes and immediately left once again. Hoping he wouldn't have a repeat of that morning, he kept wary of his surroundings in case of attack...

It was now three days later. Jace was now very informed on the workings of the farm. Now, there was less explaining and the apples were being harvested much faster. Also, the less explaining gave Jace more time to think while he worked. Most of his thinking was about when he would meet the other two out of the mane six. In order to keep his status of not knowing much, he usually stayed off the topic of Fluttershy and Rainbow. Still, he kept his eyes on the skies in hopes of seeing that famed rainbow trail across. No such luck however.

One thing that came through his mind quite a few times before it finally stuck was a question that seemed simple enough. However, to him, it could be a massive shift in his thinking. It would be almost a day later that he asked it.

Eventually, the moment came. It was during the morning harvest. Jackie was taking some time to coach Twilight on different tricks. Jace was up in a tree lounging on a low branch watching. Then Twilight looked up.

"You know, we don't pay you to lounge around," she chastised.

"Sorry," Jace quickly replied. He got up and began his ascent into the tree. "I was thinking about some things."

"What kind of things?" She asked with an inquisitive expression. She turned and bucked the tree behind her.

"Hmm... I guess now's as good a time as any." Okay, I'll give you the gist. What is a unicorn like you doing in a place like this?" He quickly said, hopping down to move on to the next tree.

The reaction was almost immediate. Twilight's expression changed quickly to one of confusion, then to one of understanding, then to one of contemplation. "Umm, I need to think about that. Give me until our lunch break," was her only response.

The rest of the shift was tense for Jace. His mind was swimming with ideas, thoughts, and explanations as to why Twilight reacted like she did. "Maybe she wasn't sure of how she should say it? No more like she needed time to get herself together. Wait, if that's the case, then what kind of experience did she go through?" His thoughts were not kind to him in the least. His mind was put at ease when the bell rang out across the orchard.

"Okay," he said under his breath. "Time for answers."

That day's lunch was not to eventful, except for Jace's mind was starting to go into overdrive again. He stopped half way through his sandwich, which was one of the best things he had ever tasted, and looked at Twilight.

"Now," he began. "I believe you owe me an explanation?"

"Hmm? Oh yes. In case you were wondering, I needed the time to figure out where to start. But I think I should just start at the beginning. It all started after I failed the entrance exam to get into Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns...

---------------{]-[}---------------

"BBBFF?"

"Twiley! C'mere, I heard about... what's up?" the purple pony exuded as much determination as her filly frame could hold.

"Remember when your Guard application came in?"

"Of course, listen don't-"

"What was that other thing you were trying to do?" the unicorn filly was not going to be sidetracked.

"Are you talking about the Canterlot Civilian Conservation Corps?" Shining Armor was lost.

"Yeah, do you still have the application form?", Twilight asked, eyeing the conglomeration of paper and pens that
constituted her brother’s desk.

"Right over... here it is. But talk to me sis, how are you?", Shining made one last attempt to steer the conversation.

"I'm, you know what? I'm ok - I'm not happy, but the world didn't end. They're not making me go back to m-magic k k... to my old school; Mom and Dad aren't disowning me."

"Well, that's a remarkably quick recovery", the adolescent colt playfully mussed his sister's mane, letting his breath when he realized he’d been holding it.

"I think I built it up in my head, a lot. I think I spend a lot of time in my head… Everybody's leaving; it feels like I'm standing still, you're going to be a guard, Cadence is going off to do princess things, and I'm too old to talk to Smarty-pants anymore. What if studying isn't helping me with my life?" Twilight's expression darkened,” It hurts when I say that - but it doesn't fill me with terror like it would have before... and I think I need to explore what that means, maybe..."

"Maybe set hoof outside a library?” Twilight's glare made Armor raise his forehooves reflexively, "hey, c'mon now... you remember humor, don't you?” He returned to the subject of the conversation, “a-are you sure about this? I mean I'm all for you getting outside your shell, but you shouldn't just make huge decisions while you're upset, -"

"I'm NOT UPSET!" Twilight helped Shining back onto his hooves, embarrassed by her outburst "Eh heh heh hee... look, I studied, I practiced, I think I gave myself a pony migraine practicing channeling, and I still had No idea what I was in for with that test. It would have taken some sort of improbable miracle for me to be able to hatch... where did they even GET a dragon egg..." shaking her head, Twilight returned to her train of thought, "what I mean is, my encyclopedic knowledge of scholastics did nothing to help me. Maybe, maybe I need... what do you call learning something from physical experience without referencing pertinent study materials?"

"Wha-um,” Shining’s brain floundered ”do you mean ‘practical experience’?"

"Yeah, that. Also," she scuffed her hoof along the ground, lowering her head," I don't like how I reacted. Sure, I failed. I HUMILIATED myself in front of educators from Equestria's premier school of magic. But, that's just it: I humiliated MYSELF, it wasn't the test, I got so worked up they had to have somepony carry me out of the room. I don't like that about myself. It got me thinking, I've gotten worked up before, and after somepony gets me straightened out I'm ok. Well, that's the last time I'll do that, I say, SURELY next time I'll feel it coming and just let it go. But I don't, maybe won't. Argh, I'm frustrated with my frustration!"

"Ok, sis, here's the form. Just, make sure you talk to Mom and Dad, ok?"

"Ok, thanks for listening Shiny"

"Any time squirt, any time"

[||||||||||]

...Much later, I came to my parents after finding an opening for a trip to Zebrica. I tried to see if I could go, but my argunemt tactics failed me...

[||||||||||]

'Step 1, keep to the offensive.'

"How can you do this to me!?"

"Young lady, you will not take that tone with your parents."

'Step 2, divide and conquer.'

"Dad, you said you thought I could handle it."

"Your mother and I have talked it over and we made a completely mutual decision that a filly your age simply cannot travel to Zebrica, even with supervising adults. There's just no way our precious baby is going to be thrown into a wild jungle thousands of miles away with our approval."

'Step 3, divert the opponent from their source of strength. Oh Sun Hoof, don't fail me now...'

"This is my life! I want to make a difference in ponies lives... even if they aren't ponies - all sentient species deserve Love and Tolerance."

"Doesn't that mean that ponies living in your own country deserve consideration? You seem to forget that we're letting you do this 'volunteer program' at all because you agreed to abide by our decisions." The gray and purple of her mother's mane was swaying ever so slightly, revealing her subconscious shaking of her head 'Aack! retreat, retreat!'

"Young filly, this opening at Sweet Apple Acres is perfect. You'll be far enough away that you can feel you are making a break from school and ... us. You'll be helping an important historical landmark remain in the original founder's family, learning horticulture and local history, and most importantly your father won't be a nervous wreck the entire time."

"But..."

"And Lastly" 'oh no,' "the mission to Zebrica is part of the Pony Corps, NOT the Canterlot Civilian Conservation Corps that we agreed to let you apply for." Her mother's glower was ruined by her attempts to smother the grin her pride in her stubborn daughter brought on.

'step 4, when all else fails and the battle is hopeless, surrender to an honorable enemy, stubborn defiance is foalish and a waste in the face of mercy.' "Sigh, okay, you win. I'll go to Apple Arches or whatever. There's just nothing in Ponyville, and I'm pretty sure nothing will ever happen there."

"First you have to grow a little before you can go risking your life." Her parents pulled Twilight into a hug," And we do want you to know how proud we are of you, sweetie. A month ago you would have fought hoof and horn against being dragged out of your bed an hour early..."

"This is something I feel I have to do. Somewhere out there is whatever I didn't find before. I was so sure..." 'Keep it together Twilight, you tried and you failed. A sane pony tries something new, and you are a sane pony aren't you? Even if you are talking to yours-shut up! Keep it together...' "Right, I'll do this." Her parents relaxed visibly as she pulled herself out of her funk. "Well, I guess I'll go see what the library has on... arborculture."

[||||||||||]

...And that's how I got here, but that's not where my story ends. When I got here, I was determined to help in any way I could to make a difference. It was about a month later that I finally completed the puzzle...

[||||||||||

Twilight Sparkle contemplated the apple tree in front of her. 'Malus domestica, Cultivar Red Delicious, South field, row 12 tree 2, Bloomenthal the 2nd.' Satisfied that she had identified the tree in question, she addressed the taste of apples, the feel of bark, the smell of freshly watered soil, and the darn fact that she couldn't buck an apple to save her life. "Look, I'm here to help pick apples. Mr. Mackintosh and Mrs. Smith say it's ok that I'm not strong enough to make apples fall, and I think it's heavily implied that I'd have to be an Earth Pony to do it right anyway... but I'm going to be helpful!" Shouting at the tree did not help.

'All of my studies were either wrong, obvious, or things that members of the Apple family were the first to learn anyway! The only things I have that I can contribute are brainpower, organizational skill, and magic. My theoretical knowledge is trumped by the practical knowledge the Apples already have, ditto for the organization of the farm... mental note, the Zap Apple rituals are fascinating, make sure you document Mrs. Smith's methodologies. Argh! Focus! That only leaves magic, and plucking one apple at a time telekinetically is ridiculously inefficient, probably why the Apples developed bucking in the first place. I can't learn to buck because I'm not strong enough and I don't get plants the way an earth pony would!'

Twilight stopped wheezing before she hyperventilated and regained her wits. 'The solution is obvious, in hindsight. If magic is my tool to unlock this dilemma, then the key is a spell. A spell like Verdant Horn's "Analyze Plant" which I just.so.happen. to have found at the local library.'

With a smile that was only slightly self congratulatory, Sparkle unrolled the scroll in question with her magic and began formulating the mental symbols that would mold her magic to the desired effect. Glowing sigils popped, one at a time, from her horn and began surrounding her in a gentle violet glow. Arranging themselves into two rings, they rotated in opposite directions, shifting colors to a deep green. The upper ring drifted forward, surrounding the tree, Bloomenthal the 2nd, a hazy green glow tethering the two rings, and therefore the pony and tree. The rings condensed into their targets with an audible pop.

A rapidly expanding ring of rippling gray streaked across the sky, followed by an explosive roar that completely shattered Twilight's concentration. Her carefully orchestrated spell fell apart as reservoirs of magical potential she never contemplated let alone knew of poured into the purple pony's mind. It suffused her horn in a brilliant fuchsia glow and caused her eyes to emit white light that would have blinded anypony looking into them. The spell, disrupted but not dispersed, provided an outlet for the massive magical energy emission. A deep green shockwave blasted across Sweet Apple Acres, without causing so much as a single leaf to fall.

'I... I can see... every plant, every limb, every vein on every leaf. I can feel them growing, I know what photosynthesis feels like. It's all connected. It's so... perfect.' Tears streamed down eyes that went from floodlights to flashlights to a dim residual glow. Twilight didn't even realize she'd been floating until her hooves touched the ground. Gently, the spell ended, but the experience was burned deeply into the unicorn's memory, etched in green. 'All of it, it's just so...' She wiped the remaining tears away with a wistful smile on her face.

"Twai-ligh! Twilight Sparkles!" Big Mackintosh galloped up the road, concerned for the volunteer worker. "There y'are Miss Sparkles, you ok?", Twilight was pretty sure the 'Sparkles' thing had originally been a mistake, then a joke, and had simply become habit. She considered it part of her training in not getting upset by minor details... most of the time, although she had the feeling it wouldn't bother her much anymore. "I say, did th' explosion damage your ears Miss Sparkles?"

'Huh, oh, right, interaction.' "Sorry, I'm ok Mr. Mackintosh-"

"Big Mac will just fine-" Big Mac caught sight of something, stared, realized where he was staring, and looked away blushing furiously. "Y'you got somethin' on your..." he gestured behind Twilight.

"On my what?" Twilight turned around once before looking at her flank, where her newly acquired cutie mark lay. Nine stars arranged in a hexagon, points vertical, with lines between and one star below pointing earthward. "The... the tree of knowledge?" 'I don't know what to say.' "I don't know what to say." She didn't know what to say.

---------------{]-[}---------------

"...And that's how I got here. It's also the story of how I got my cutie mark. Now any questions?" Twilight beamed.

Jace was speechless. His jaw was on the floor from the moment she began. "She failed the entrance exam!? How did that happen? And what was that about what sounded like a 'cloud-boom'?" His thoughts were moving faster than a train at this point.

"Uh, one question. Can you explain to me the reason why the rainboom was missing?" He said in an attempt to take his shocked expression off his face.

Twilight's confused face said it all. "The what?"

"The rainboom? The sonic rainboom?" He clarified.

"Uh, that move has never been done. It's just an old mare's tale." She said. "Where did you even hear about it?"

"Wha-, well I, uh, um... Oh is lunch over already?" He asked in an attempt to change the subject. "I think we should get back to work. See you guys out on the field!" Jace made a mad dash to the door. The two mares didn't even have time to react until he was out the door.

Jackie turned to Twilight. "What just happened?"

"I have no idea. Though I'm still curious about how and where he learned about the sonic rainboom." Twilight wondered.

"Maybe we'll figure it out later. Right now we got some trees to buck." Jackie launched herself off her chair.

Twilight followed in close pursuit. "Wait for me!"

---------------{]-[}---------------

The hours following that lunch were tense for Jace. Every time Twilight would come to ask him a question, he would instinctively flinch before finding out what the actual question was. He knew he would need to say something soon, but that wasn't the right time. He tried focusing on the task at hand too keep his mind off it. Eventually, Jace was finally able to get it out of his mind. But then he saw something that surprised him far more than Twilight's story.

Flying across the sky at speeds he never thought possible, he saw a familiar pegasus. Before he could even say her name, Jackie saw her and beat him too it.

"Lookie there! Fluttershy's headed this way. Wonder what for?"

(}--------------------{][}--------------------{)

A/N: Well, that wasn't too long between updates this time. Okay, sure it was mostly copying and pasting, but still. In any case, I hope you guys have enjoyed thus far. Next chapter: Fluttershy's initial reactions and Jace's reaction to non shyness (If that makes any sense).

Suspicions

Chapter 4: Suspicions

Jace's jaw was still on the ground by the time Fluttershy landed. The scariest part of the whole scene was the simple fact that she was flying at high speeds.

"How in the world did she get that fast in the air? Or even more important, why is she in the air? She almost never takes flight! More questions flooded his mind. Swallowing his imminent fear, he took the final steps.

Then changed direction, headed for a path that went around, and attempted to try to jump-scare her.

Fluttershy's initial reaction to his attempt was a flurry of wings that ended in Jace pinned to the ground. One hoof planted firmly on his chest.

"What are you?" She interrogated. "Why were you trying to do?"

After the initial shock of the air getting pushed out of his chest, Jace took a closer look at Fluttershy. Her mane was cut considerably shorter than her show self, and her tail was also cut shorter. She was wearing saddlebags and she didn't seem to be anything like her show self. The determined eyes staring into his own said that much.

"I'm not going to ask again. What are you?" She pressed further.

Jace was finally able to get enough air in his lungs to say something.

"Can't. Breathe."

"Oh, sorry." Fluttershy apologize before stepping off of him. "Wait, you can talk?" She said with an incredulous voice.

"Yeah, I can talk. My name's Jace, by the way." He said while getting up and dusting himself off. "Jeez! What was that? Officially adding 'not-so fluttershy' to my list of ponies who aren't who they should be." he thought to himself.

"I can see someone's idea of trying to scare someone else can get a reaction, but I think tackling was a bit uncalled for. Don't you think?" Jace asked trying to both explain what he was doing and get a response for why he was attacked.

"Well, you were trying to sneak up behind me and I didn't know why," She explained. "Still, why were you even trying to scare me like that?" she asked.

"Uh, I guess I just wanted to see your reaction," Jace answered. "Actually, it was to try and see if you were still the same ol' flutters', but apparently not, he secretly thought. "Anyway, what brings you here?" he asked.

"Well," Jackie started. "we were discussing weather for the farm until somepony tried something they shouldn't have."

"Oh, uh, sorry?" Jace tried smiling.

"Yeah. Anyways, from what you were saying, we should have clear skies this week?" Twilight asked, turning to Fluttershy.

"Pretty much. All except for Wednesday night and Friday morning. Some light showers then. Also, you might want to head indoors for the next hour or so. My crew is coming in within at least a minute from now." Finishing on that note, she launched up into the air. Fluttershy then turned to meet some other pegasi with clouds. Only then did Jace have a mental freak-out.

"Fluttershy is the weather captain! What is happening? How did she even get to that rank? How did she get on the team in the first place?" his mind was once again going rapid fire.

"Hey Jace! you should head inside with us," Jackie called from the door.

"Na, I'm good out here," he said nonchalantly. "I need some time to think. I want to be alone for it though."

"Out in the rain?" she tilted her head

"I'm used to it." he replied. "Having lived in Washington for a few years finally came in handy."

"Well, I'll leave the door unlocked if you change your mind." Jackie said, closing the door.

"Um, didn't I tell you to go inside?" Fluttershy asked. She was dragging a small, low cloud.

"It'll take more than some rain to keep me inside." Jace said indignantly, crossing his arms.

She shrugged. "Suit yourself." She placed the cloud and gave a single command. "Hit it!"

The rain was pouring by some people's standards. Jace was completely fine with it. He walked through the orchard to a tree he had marked earlier. The stones he placed had worked nicely. He hopped up and grabbed the lowest limb and hoisted himself up. He then made the short climb to the spot he found earlier. Multiple limbs came together in such a way that it made the perfect place to sit. Once situated, he began to ponder on answers to his questions.

"So Twilight failed the entrance exam. What are reasons for that? Maybe she just didn't do anything due to being put on the spot? No, she's better than that. Well, if she doubted her own abilities, then that could be a possibility. Maybe she just had a split second decision to just not do it?" He facepalmed. "Idiot! She devoted herself to this one goal. She wouldn't have just given up! Maybe I'm overlooking something from her testimony. But if I am, then what?" Jace tried to recall every detail from her story.

Then, it hit him.

"I'm not noticing it because it's not there!" He thought aloud.

"What's not there?" a new voice asked.

"Gagh!" Jace nearly fell off his perch. "Fluttershy! What are you doing!?"

"Well, I didn't know what you would be doing outside in a rain storm, so I followed you." She answered. She hopped down to a lower branch, closer to Jace. "Anyway, what's not there? And in what?" She asked again.

"To answer your second question, Twilight's story," Jace answered plainly. "She told me why she's here on the farm. It opened a lot of questions and I'm trying to answer them."

"How do you get questions when receiving an answer? That doesn't make sense," Fluttershy mentioned.

"Well, if you know what I know, things are different." Jace deadpanned.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I'd rather not tell you. If you knew what I know, you wouldn't look at life the way you do now." Jace warned. "However, I do know want to know something from you. How are you weather captain? That doesn't seem like something that just happens." Jace was trying to both change the subject and see if his hypothesis was correct.

"Well, if you really want to know. To be honest, I could just keep it simple and say that the previous captain left and put me in charge, but I think you want the whole story."

Jace nodded.

"Well then, It all started after Rainbow Dash crashed during a race against some ponies who were harassing me. I was in the hospital visiting her, and she gave me a proposition..."

---------------{]-[}---------------

Her first response was to laugh, she couldn’t help it. It started as a giggle, little more than a tickle in her throat, but it progressed to a guffaw and then she couldn’t even remain standing. She knew she should stop, knew this was inappropriate, but it was just too bizarre. Fluttershy was helpless before the absurdity of it all.

An irate cyan filly, half mummified in stretch bandages did her best serious scowl. “Flutters, I’m serious, I think you need to try out for the cloud and sky team. You obviously need more practice, but I think you could be a good – hay, a Great – flier given half a chance”. Fluttershy laughed even harder. Rainbow's expression smoothed, only her brow expressed her determination. “Besides, you owe me.”

And as quickly as that, there was nothing to laugh about. Fluttershy rolled into a defensive crouch, tears brimming as she looked to see if this was the scene she had dreaded for a week now. "I, I know it was my fau-"

“DON’T FINISH THAT SENTENCE!" There was a moment of silence. "The race was a mistake. Putting you right in front of us on that tiny cloud was a mistake. Those were my decisions, and I was wrong. You can’t accept responsibility for my mistakes, or bad luck. But… I can’t help you right now. Eventually those idiots are going to get over their sense of guilt, or some other punk’s gonna think they can push you around or laugh at you. You know how you feel when you see me like this?” Rainbow gestured with her restrained wings, “That’s how I feel when people hurt my friends. You, I don’t know. Look, it’s not like you invite people to pick on you, but you make it so Easy for them.” Rainbow’s expression was a plea for understanding.

'I, I won’t cry. She can’t understand how much it hurts to hear her say these things.' “I-I’m sorry. I’m just no good at flying.” 'How could I be? Every time I try to practice people laugh at me.'

“Hey, Shy? Please, look at me. I was practicing all the time. Hay, you know I was. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you do anything besides the basic exercises. How can you know if you’re any good if you don’t even try?”

'You don’t see at all, do you?' “I… can’t. Everypony laughs at me. They always do, whenever I try. They can tell that I’m no good-“

“Buck them” the words slipped out, but Rainbow wasn’t embarrassed. “If they wanna laugh, they’re idiots. We’re all foals here, if they’re stupid jerks, don’t listen” Dash waved her hooves to interrupt Fluttershy’s objection. “No, really. It’s like… well ok, like a cloud. You can pass through it, like air, or you can treat it like a wall. It’s as solid as you choose to let it be.” Confusion was reflected on the yellow pegasus’s face, “the taunts, the insults. They can be like air, stupid, noisy air you wouldn’t want to stay in, or they can be as hard as… as… the ground.”

“Please, stop talking … if that’s ok with you. I don’t understand what you’re saying, but I do understand that this means a lot to you, for some reason. So… I’ll do it … somehow.”

“That’s great! I already talked to the coach, he’ll let you practice when there’s nopony else out there, so you can get your strength up. I really think you can do this.”

'Well, that makes one of us. But I’ll try, I can’t let my friend down.'

[||||||||||]

And that's when I began training. The first day was kind of scary to begin with, but that initial fear was put aside fairly easily...

[||||||||||]

'I can't do this, I can't do this, I ...' Fluttershy looked at the practice range where a handful of fillies and colts milled around, waiting for something to happen. 'I didn't agree to this, I'll tell Rainbow the deal is off. She'll be reasonable... she won't be angry, she... probably won't act upset... no, she'll have that look that says 'I feel like you let me down', but I CAN'T go out-.' "HI FLUTTERSHY!" The Gray Pegasus watched Fluttershy rocket into the air. "Wow! You can jump really high. Are you here for practice?"

"I. I, hello, Ditzy-"

"Derpy."

"Uh? Are you sure you want to use... you can be called what you want but that means... it's"

"Problem?" The Blonde Pegasus grinned as her eyes slid askew.

"Nevermind."

Reaching down, Derpy helped turn the Yellow Pegasus upright and dusted the clinging bits of cloud off. "Boa-constrictor whale bee hair any minute."

Fluttershy surrendered to the inevitable. Eying her peer group, a sinking feeling developed. A stocky white colt with wings smaller than a newborn's flexed and snorted, an adult brown stallion desperately tried to avoid notice, a gray-green filly with silver blue mane scratched absently at the large paper cone around her neck as she turned her head back and forth to make up for her lack of peripheral vision, a tan filly - obviously several years younger than the rest of the group flexed a pair of wings sized for an adult pegasus, and a dark gray colt with yellow/green mane who was... Fluttershy's mind spasmed, trying to find a nice way to phrase 'fat' before giving up in defeat. 'Ok, before I thought I couldn't do this. Now I KNOW I can't!' Turning to flee, Fluttershy bumped into a mass of white fur. Backing up, she saw a snow white mare with an electric blue mane and tail, her cutie mark a blue line picture of a pony sitting in a chair with wheels.

"Hello everyone, welcome to Omega Flight. Let's get a few things straight here." Fluttershy was unable to move, "This is NOT a 'rejects' class, this is NOT an optional event, you WILL learn to fly to the best of your abilities, you WILL discover your abilities are greater than you believe right now. Failure is NOT an option." the mare flexed her wings, something was wrong with them. "Also, I am NOT just your instructor, I am a GRADUATE of this program, and my name is Differently Able." Smooth white wings splayed out gracefully... upside down. "Questions?" The practice field was silent. In Fluttershy's peripheral vision she saw Ditzy-err, Derpy 'accidentally' put her hoof into the white colt's mouth. "Alright, clockwise circle, INTRODUCE yourself by name and tell me what you're here to master." Her hoof swung to point at the blonde over gray pegasus wiping a hoof off on clouds.

Derpy threw a salute, "Derpy Doo, I'm here because I have a lazy eye and tarragon spin gnome"

The white colt pounded the cloud in front of him "Snowflake Horsepower! I'm here because I've got tiny wings. Now how do I get out of this horse-apple outfit?"

"Aha, yes, introductions, fancy that. I'm... Tim E. Turner, and I have never... er, used my wings before aha ha aha..." the brown stallion with dark brown mane looked as uncomfortable as Fluttershy felt.

The Blue over green filly swung her limited gaze over the assembled ponies as she boomed out, "My name is Sea Foam, and there is something terribly wrong! I am supposed to be learning to swim. I don't even know what I'm standing on."

"Well, my name's Dorothy Gale, and if it's ok with you I just want to go home", Fluttershy's heart ached for the Roan maned tan filly, obviously out of her depth.

"I'm Thundercloud and this is dumb", the dark gray colt grumbled without making eye contact.

Then, silence. "Psst, 'Shy, it's your turn." Derpy's 'sotto voce' could be heard at the far end of the track.

"Eep! My name is Fluttershy" she squeaked.

Able leaned forward, "didn't quite catch that."

" my name is Fluttershy." She wished the ground would just swallow her, until she remembered where she was, how high up she was.

Able's brow furrowed, "we're NOT going anywhere until we do this correctly."

"Heeba-Dey! Her name is Fluttershy." Derpy looked upset, which made Fluttershy feel worse. 'Can't I do anything without causing trouble for my friends?'

"I was talking to FLUTTERSHY, Miss Doo." Able turned her attention back to the melting butter pegasus. "Now, WHAT are you here to do?" The mare tried to modulate her voice, but irritation was still evident.

"I'm... I'm here because I can't fly well." Snowflake looked like he wanted to cry. 'Huh?'

"Well, I can HEAR you now, at least. But you are ALL wrong. I asked you WHAT you are here to master, and what you are all here to master is FLIGHT. If we can help you master YOURSELVES along the way, great. Oh, and MR. Horsepower? If you swear in my class again you WILL spend your time cleaning the fields, do I make myself clear?" satisfied that Snowflake was cowed, the teacher continued. "You are NOT here because someone considers you weak, malformed, broken, or useless. From now on you ARE to report any such treatment to me, and I WILL see that it is dealt with. I expect each and every one of my little ponies to become productive members of society. Is that CLEAR?"

When she received no response, the mare leaned forward and raised her voice, "I Said. Is. That. CLEAR!" A belated chorus of 'yes', 'Muffins!', and 'Yeah!' seemed to satisfy her. "Ok, NOW, before we proceed, fair is fair, you all shared your own individualities, so I will give you mine: before I was born my mother had an unfortunate run in with a plant known as POISON JOKE and suffered a sever allergic reaction. Unfortunately it WASN'T discovered that the poison was transferred through her bloodstream to me until it was too late. There IS an herbal remedy for normal cases, but Developmental Poison Joke has no treatment. Not only can I fly, but I AM in trusted to instruct foals in how to fly. If I can do it with backwards turned around wings, each and every one of you WILL be able to learn to fly, I promise you. Now, we're going to start with stretches, you WILL follow my instructions. Do not - I repeat, do NOT try to copy my movements!"

'This is so... strange.' Fluttershy was confused enough that she forgot she wanted to leave. That continued to happen on a daily basis, until 'Omega Flight' had become part of her routine.

[||||||||||]

Training continued for a while. Eventually, Able was sure we were ready for whatever the world had for us. It was after this time that she wanted to give us an experience we would never forget. One thing was for certain. I will never forget that storm...

[||||||||||]

"After THREE months of training, hard work, and determination I am proud to say that I feel each and EVERY one of you is skilled enough to join Pegasus Society in a role of your own choosing." Differently Able beamed at her students, arranged before her on a long, low flying, cloud. "This is NOT an honor that comes with a medal... a trinket is a thing you can loose, instead I offer you a MEMORY, something that will stay with you for the rest of your life and canNOT be taken, stolen, or lost." The wind, which had been blowing, increased in intensity, the sky beginning to dim.

Thunderball raised a hoof, huffing "Yeah, that's great and all, but why are we meeting so far from Cloudsdale. In sight of the ... Everfree Forest?" the colt's frame suggested there was now some muscle under everything else.

"The air feels strange..." Muttered Gale, the youngest student.

"Hah, Miss Gale, you may have a future in WEATHER management! As you know, each of you has not only qualified for your class ONE competency certificate, but has also passed the test for class TWO: Difficult weather safety. We are indeed here, near the boundary of the EVERFREE forest because I have received permission from the LOCAL weather team to ASSIST in storm watch." Differently Able was now grinning from ear to ear, proud of the gift she could provide her little ponies. Those little ponies did not look as enthusiastic as she did, but she either didn't notice or intended to ignore their reservations. " OUR job is to..." Able raised her voice against the wind, which was now whistling through some of the taller trees nearby. "IS to watch the edge of the STORM that Has Spontaneously GENERATED From The FOREST! If WE Determine! The STORM Is Coming! TOo CLOSE! To PONYVILLE, The WEATHER TEAM WILL STEP IN AND CONTAIN-" The rest of Able's speech was drowned out by the formation of a funnel cloud, tearing the ground where it touched down, winds howling and thunder flashing from the nearly pitch black stormcloud.

"The 'Storm of Ages'... oh bloody he-" Turner's words went unheard. He began a frantic search of his saddlebags.

"CLASS IN DISMISSED! RUN MY LITTLE PONIES! RUN!" Of the many faces Omega Flight had seen Differently Able make, abject terror had never been one until now.

"Feral Marmots!" Derpy began shoving classmates over the side of the cloud, just missing Dorothy Gale, who took flight in her panic, only to be swept up into the storm almost instantly.

"HOOVES!" Able screamed at the stallion.

"W-WHAT!? HOW DID YOU-" A metallic cylinder dropped.

"GET! ON! YOUR! HOOVES!" Any other words of advice were lost as the storm tore apart the cloud the two adult pegasi were standing on, as a bolt of lightning transfixed the white pony.

As Turner dragged/controlled fell with Able's body, Fluttershy was locked in panic.

***

Everything stopped. Fluttershy could make out individual raindrops, which looked exactly like the tears on everypony's faces. Terror, shock, horror for their teacher or themselves, or simple weather, it was all water. 'Well, tears have salt, and rain isn't salty. I wonder if different kinds of tears have different amounts of salt?' The idea was absurd, she suppressed a giggle, if she started she might never stop.

Motion. A pony, approached from the frozen storm. Stormlight bleached her colors pale yellow and ashen pink. 'Do... do I look like that?' The mirror pony stopped directly in front of her, frowned, and summarily smacked Fluttershy's face with her hoof.

Tears brimmed, the echo glared and raised her hoof again, waiting. "W-Why-" Smack.

"Stop being so horse-feathered selfish!" 'No, she's not like me, I'd never be-'. Smack.

"You are going to DIE. Your friends are going to DIE. Your teacher... is going to DIE! And what do you do? Cry?"

'There's nothing I CAN do!' Smack.

"There doesn't seem to be anything you WILL do." The doppelganger tilted her head and smiled in an insincere and sacharine manner "Oh, wait, you'll cry. What you mean is you won't lift a feather to help anypony."

"What can I possibly do? I'm not good-" Smack.

"Don't. You. Dare. Too many ponies have made sacrifices for you. Now it's time to start paying it back."

"O-okay." Smack. "Wait," Smack. "I'll do it!" Smack. "STOP HITTING ME!" ...

"Hmph, took long enough." The rain started falling again.

***

Smack. "Butter Pie!" Derpy's left eye was practically spinning.

Fluttershy stood, "Thanks, now get out of here. Wait, on second thought, come with me." She turned to Thunderball and Snowflake, gesturing at their fallen teacher, "Everypony grab a leg, we need to get her out of here!"

Nopony argued, each lifted a different limb and raised the mare off the ground. Barking orders, Fluttershy led organized chaos to the dubious shelter of a copse of trees a few hundred yards from where the group had fallen.

"Turner, you're the only one here big enough to move Teacher on their own. I remember seeing a cottage on the way here, it was that way, towards town. I'm not a doctor, but I'm sure that being out here isn't helping her. You two, help me get her onto Turner's back."

"I ... I..."

"Tim, look at me Tim. I'm going to say this, and it is the most important thing I will ever say to you: run." He ran. "The rest of you, stay on the ground, I think Able was right - you saw what happened to Dorothy." Nopony moved.

"What're you going to do?" Thunderball asked.

"Somepony has to alert the Weather Team Teacher said was standing by."

"Hey! You just said not to fly!" Snowflake snapped.

"Somepony has to, the rest of you tell anypony you see, but get out of here. Without you, there won't be any Omega Flight."

"The school is stronger than the single swimmer!"

"Brainpan cosmonaught-Grr! We can't leave you behind." Four determined stares met Fluttershy's.

"...Then let's go." 'This feeling, what is it? It's light and heavy at the same time.'

It didn't take long to wind the Weather Team, who were already heading towards the storm. The Captain of the team flew down toward them. "Keep going! This isn't a safe place for civilians!"

"We're not civilians. We're your lookout team, and we have a storm to report!"

"Well, consider it reported! Now get out of here, we hardly have the wingpower to steer this monstrosity. If we have to look out for... we can't be watching over you."

"Sounds like you need everypony you can get if you're going to beat this storm. And we're not rejects, we're Omega Flight."

"Look kid, to make any impact on this thing we'd need a combined wingpower of over eight hund-."

"Never tell me the odds! Look, we're not going. Arguing is only going to waste your time, so just take our help and be grateful... if that's ok with you." 'Oh my stars, am I really yelling at a Weather Captain!? I'm insane... nevermind.'

Weather Ponies and the students of Differently Able flew around the storm counterclockwise. 'Ok, so we start flying in the opposite direction the storm is spinning and we ...what, create a counter-whirlwind to slow it down? This is insane, this is the only thing we can do. I can do this, we can do this, we ARE going to do this!' Faster and faster they circled. The howling winds began to double back on themselves, the storm's progress slowed. Contrails were starting to form around some ponies as the very air fought against them. 'Oh no... wait! ... Surface resistance creates drag... and ... !' Memories of Rainbow Dash discussing the Pony 500 flashed in her mind. "Captain!" Fluttershy shouted over the storm.

The captain glanced at the demanding filly, eyes narrowed in concentration even under his standard issue goggles.

"We need to form a draft line!" There was no sign he understood. No sign he was going to do what Fluttershy wanted.

'He's not going to listen, we're not going to... NO! If he won't listen, MAKE him listen.' She drew a breath, released it, and redoubled her flying. Flapping up behind the Captain, onto his back, she grabbed the sides of his head. "LISTEN To me! The amount of speed we need to stop this thing, we're going to run into air resistance! We need to form a draft trail, so we're like a needle instead of a parachute." she was practically screaming in his ear. Shock initially, anger, consideration, surprise, more anger, and resignation flashed across the Captain's face as he turned and saluted Fluttershy.

The orders went out "Line Up! Grab the tail of the pony in front of you, and by the Princes's Corona, fly as hard as you can!" It worked, at first. They got down to a single contrail, and started passing Ponies up the line to keep the freshest flyer at the front. When Fluttershy's turn came, she saw that they were all flagging. 'We can't keep this up much longer, it's almost worked, we have to finish this now!' She didn't have any reserves left, she flew harder anyway. She banked toward the storm, dropping a few feet to gain speed. Flew further in, pressed harder. She felt like her wings were going to fall off, the contrail pressed against her face, she couldn't pull air in.

The storm collapsed in on itself. Most of it just dispersed, a wave of water was squeezed out, the core was pulled into a tight ball along with the electrical potential of the storm. A bright ball of energy collapsed past the point it could stand and exploded outward as an expanding disk of cloud and thunder, racing across the upper skies of Equestria. None of the Weatherponies or Omega Flight saw any of this, since they had all been concentrating on the flank in front and not being intruded on from behind. The arrival of Fluttershy's Cutie Mark, a storm-cloud in the shape of a butterfly, also went unnoticed.

---------------{]-[}---------------

"It wasn't until after we landed that we noticed it. The story doesn't end there though. It was later th-"

"Okay, I'm sorry. I probably should have told you that I was really only looking for how you got your mark. Again, I'm sorry I didn't just ask for it from the beginning." Jace interrupted.

"Um, why didn't you?" Fluttershy asked, slightly perturbed.

"I was really just trying to get out of the subject that we were in. But I was also trying to test my hypothesis." Jace explained

"What hypothesis?" She questioned.

"If something did or didn't happen. Your story confirms that it didn't."

"Something?" She pressed further.

"I think I'm going to regret asking this. Have you heard of the sonic rainboom?" Jace asked.

"The rainboom? As far as I know it's just an old mare's tale." Fluttershy answered.

"Well, It isn't. And only one mare has been known to be able to do it."

"And who would that be?"

"I'm going to answer that question with a question. Can you introduce me to Rainbow Dash?"

Her reaction was immediate. She burst into laughter.

"Hahaha. Rainbow Dash? You're serious?"

"Completely," Jace deadpanned.

More laughter.

"If your fine without believing the truth, then by all means keep on laughing." Jace realized something was missing in this scene. He looked around. It was quiet, except for the laughing pony in the tree with him. Then he realized what was missing.

"The rain stopped."

"hehe, what?" Fluttershy seemed to have a hold on her laughter, but her face said otherwise.

"The rain has stopped." Jace got up, grabbed a branch and swung onto the dirt below. He started walking.

"Where are you going?" Fluttershy called.

"The house. I'm grabbing an apple." Jace replied.

"Wait! I have a suggestion." She tried. "Why not try the barn?"

"The barn?" Jace stopped walking. "Why?"

"Well, you might find a better one there. There are more apples to choose from, right?" Her grin seemed suspicious.

"Um, okay then. I guess I'm headed to the barn." Jace continued walking.

Fluttershy got up and flew ahead of him. Jace payed no mind to it. He was simply hoping to find a good apple.

Once at the door, he opened it to find something that he did not expect at all after finding Dianne.

"SURPRISE!"

"Excuse me?"

(]----------{][}----------[)

A/N: Well here's Fluttershy's story and Jace's early suspicions. I should warn that the next chapter probably won't be coming out soon due to the fact that it will all be written from my own head. Until then, Sandvich brony signing off.

Party Time

---------------{]Chapter 5: Party Time[}---------------

Jace's first reactions to the scene in front of him. "What did you just say?"

Inside the barn was a party, seemingly set up for him. There were many ponies around. Some with a smile. Some with an astonished look. And some that were somewhere in between. He quickly scanned the crowd for familiar faces. Jace found Rarity, Jackie, and other faces that he only new from the show as background ponies. He eventually noticed a stirring in the crowd that was progressively making its way towards the front. He didn't thin much of it until it stopped at the front line. And from that spot popped Scootaloo, Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle, expectant grins plastered on their faces.

"I'm guessing I have you three to thank for this setup?" Jace raised an eyebrow.

"Well," Sweetie Belle started. "it was more Applebloom's idea. Scootaloo and I just helped."

"It wasn't all me though either," Applebloom said looking over at her fellow conspirators. "Sweetie Belle, it was yer idea t' invite everypony in town. And Scootaloo, yer to thank for the rain idea to make sure he didn't come while we were settin' up."

"Wait a minute. That rain wasn't planned?" Jace asked. He crossed his arms. "Actually, that's kinda clever." He thought to himself.

"I can answer that." Fluttershy stepped forward. "There was a planned shower later this weekend. I just cut some of the time from that storm and let it loose now."

"Huh, that makes sense. I do have to wonder though, how did you get everything up so fast?" Jace tried.

"Dianne was a big help there," Sweetie Belle credited. "Though it was weird when we asked. She seemed to be arguing with herself on whether or not she should help." Dianne seemed visibly embarrassed at this fact.

"Well then, what's keeping this down? Lets get this thing running!"

Despite the ponies' mixed reactions, the party was soon in full swing. Though for Jace, most of it was spent trying to meet the other ponies. Some were skeptical at first. Some were not to sure of how to react to him. Some were simply scared. But the ones who surprised Jace the most were the ones who were fine with or exited to see him. The whole time, though, he was trying to find the one pony left on his most wanted list. Yet Rainbow was nowhere to be seen. However, he did meet some ponies who weren't even shown on screen. One of whom caught his attention in a different way. It was a pegasus named Sea Foam who asked him a question he had not expected.

"Would you happen to know a girl named Megan?" She asked.

Jace was taken aback at this question. His limited knowledge of G1 was enough to remember that name. "Uh, I may. Why do you ask?"

"Well, from what I understand from the stories, she and another pony were saved from drowning by my people, the sea ponies. I didn't know if the stories were true or not, so I decided to ask."

"Uh... um... I don't know what to say abo- Wait, your saying there are actually sea ponies?" Jace was somewhat interested in finding out more.

"Yes, that's my belief. Nopony believes me though."

"I can't imagine why." Jace thought.

"Anyway, you should try some of the cupcakes. I baked them myself." She said gleefully.

"Actually, I was just about to head over to the table before you caught me. Thanks though," he started walking away. "Well, that explains who Pinkie's job went to."

Three cupcakes and a cup of punch later, Jace finally had a chance to talk to the crusaders.

"You guys really outdid yourselves. Thanks for doing this!" he thanked.

"It was nothing," Sweetie Belle responded before going wide-eyed. "Girls! We almost forgot!"

The three stopped to look expectantly at their flanks. They then pouted and sighed.

"Nothing," they said in unison.

"Hey, don't look so down. This party is awesome!" The three were still looking down. "Quick Jace. Think of something quick. Wait, that could do it. Not to mention I'm kind of curious." Jace cleared his throat. "If you don't mind me asking Applebloom, since you were apparently the head of this project, why did you do this for me?"

"Well, ya did say that ya weren't going t' town 'cause you didn't know how everypony would react. So ah thought that a party would be th' best way ta meet new ponies."

"Wait, you mean you did this just to let me come into town without fear?"

"Pretty much."

"Wow. You barely know me, and yet you did all this." Jace waved around him. "Why?"

"Can't a friend do nice things for a friend?" Applebloom asked.

Jace was taken aback at this. "Well, I never thought of us as friends."

"Well, start thinking then," she said with a grin.

"Okay then," he simply replied. "And I'm going to try to not take that as an insult"

At that moment, a familiar song came on.

"Girls," Sweetie Belle said, "let's head to the dance floor."

The three fillies ran through the crowd. Jace watched with a smile. A small distance behind him, a mint-green unicorn was slowly sneaking up on him. Not noticing, Jace walked away, the unicorn in close pursuit. He walked through an area that was clearer of ponies. It was then that she pounced.

"Gotcha!"

"Gah!, what!?" Jace found himself on the floor for the second time that day. He looked up at the pony who had done this to find...

"Lyra?"

She wasn't really doing her best to keep him down. She seemed more interested in prodding and poking his hand. Jace was able to get up easily, but she still kept prodding.

"You know, you could have just asked," he said.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. It's just that for the first time in my life, I am seeing a real, actual hand!" Lyra said, finally pulling away from her incessant poking.

"Uh... okay then? That still doesn't justify you tackling me."

"Well, I didn't know how you would react if I just asked," she simply replied.

"Um, I'm going to leave that up for debate. I gotta go." Jace started walking away. Lyra just watched. "Well that was interesting" Jace thought.

Eventually, Jace moved on to try and enjoy himself to the fullest at the party. The games were much more fun than he thought they would be. The music was getting him in a mood to dance, even if it got some looks. The snack table took quite a few raids throughout the night. The best part was the fact that by the end of the night, most ponies were over their initial shock and treated him like any other pony.

The party started slowing down eventually. It was getting very late, ponies were saying their goodbyes, and the music was slowing down. Jace followed suit much later. He started towards the house wondering if his sugar rush was going to keep him up overnight. His answer soon came when he was soon fast asleep in his bed.

(]----------{][}----------[)

A/N: Here's another short chapter. Expect the next chapter to get set back. I have an idea of where I want this to go, though I don't know how I'm going to get from point A to point B. In all honesty, I'm surprised I got this far just writing these chapters off the top of my head. In any case, I hope you've enjoyed thus far.

Ponyville

---------------{]Chapter 6: Ponyville[}---------------

Jace was having mixed emotions about his plans for the day. His basic plan was to head to Ponyville and walk around a bit and do something, though he didn't know exactly what he was going to do. It was probably going to be a choice between visiting iconic places in town from the show, trying to get acquainted with Rainbow Dash, or just walking around town and meeting the ponies that weren't at the party. The problem at hand, he couldn't decide.

"Jace, you okay?" Twilight asked from across the table.

"Huh, what?" Jace responded.

"You stopped eating your breakfast and had a far-off look. I'm just making sure you were okay" She said. A look of curiosity mixed with worry was staring at him.

"Oh, Yeah, I'm okay. I'm just wondering what I'm going to do today. I was going to head to town, but I don't know exactly what I want to do while I'm there." He explained. "So far, it's a split decision between sightseeing or a social marathon with meeting other ponies who missed last night's shindig."

"Well, are you going to be there all day?" Twilight questioned.

"Pretty much. Why?"

"Well, if you are going to be there all day, you should have time to go see what you want to see and have time to meet everypony else."

Jace facepalmed. "Thank you Twilight. Now I feel stupid."

"That wasn't my intention." She explained. "Anyway, since you are going to be there all day, I think you should have some spending money." Twilight got up from the table and left the room. A moment later, she returned with her horn aglow, some bits hanging in mid-air in front of her. She then sat back down and levitated the coins over to Jace's side of the table. "Here's some bits for the day. It should be enough for lunch and anything else you may want."

"Alright then, thanks." Jace counted the bits laid on the table and slid them into his staff pouch. "Finally, this has a use other than looks." he thought to himself. "Hey, could I get a map before I head out?" he asked.

"Sure. By the way, if you're thinking of going soon, you may want to finish your plate," Twilight said pointing at his still filled plate.

Jace looked down. "Yeah, maybe."

---------------{]-[}---------------

Food downed and a map acquired, Jace was on his way to Ponyville. Though he knew his plans for the day, he didn't know where to start.

"Okay, I could start at the library, but then Rarity would most likely ask more questions. Maybe I could start at Carousel Boutique?" Jace shook his head. "No, no, definitely not. Why did I even think that would be a good idea? Hmm, the market could be an interesting place to go. Especially since it's mostly uncharted territory. Naa, maybe later." Then the perfect idea came to him. "There would be the best place to start! The perfect combo of nostalgia and indulgence."

Eventually, Jace made it to the town. Walking around gave him immediate attention. Some ponies gave him a small glance and then they went on with their business. Others stared at him constantly either with a look of curiosity, a look of fear, or a mix of both. Whatever the case, Jace kept walking. A he stopped few times to checked his map to see if he was on track. Mostly, he found he was still in the right direction, though sometimes he realized he turned to early. Finally, he found the place he had been looking for.

Sugarcube Corner was dead ahead.

Jace was amazed at the building's structure. It actually did look like it was a gingerbread house. The show's representation had nothing on the real deal. With a deep breath and a short pause to close his gaping mouth, he stepped inside.

The first thing Jace noticed when he walked in besides the overpowering sweet scent, the mixed reactions he received.

Some did not seem sure on how to react. Others were more or less fine with him. But some were visibly shaken to the point that they were either shivering or fainting, the latter making him stifle some laughter. Whatever the case, he walked up to the counter to meet a very scared Mr. Cake.

"Uh, c-can I-I help you?" He asked.

"Um, yeah. How much for a couple cupcakes?" Jace asked with a smile.

Immediately after he spoke, a clattering could be heard in the kitchen and a familiar face appeared.

"Jace! Good to see you here."

"Nice seeing you to, Sea Foam." Jace said.

"Wait," Mr. Cake's fear was now replaced with pure shock. "You know him?"

"Well, yeah. We met at the party last night. Don't you remember?" Sea Foam leaned in to make her point.

"Uh, would that be the large order we got yesterday from Applebloom?" Mr. Cake seemed to be over his initial shock.

"That's the one!" Sea Foam said gleefully.

"Um, can I get my cupcakes now?" Jace was getting a little impatient.

"Oh, sorry. How many was that?" Mr. Cake was still wary, but he looked like he was okay.

"I just wanted two."

"Okay then, that'll be three bits."

Jace placed the money on the counter and received his reward. He found a place to sit at a table that wasn't occupied and began eating his snack. About half way through his first cupcake, Sea Foam came out of the kitchen with her own cupcake and joined him. Jace was immediately aware of the eyes bearing down on her as she trotted towards the table.

"Room for one more?" She asked.

"Uh, yeah. Sure." He answered. She sat down and placed the cupcake and began unwrapping it. During this time, Jace realized something. "Hey, Sea Foam. Do you know why Mr. Cake wasn't to surprised when I started talking? Or how he knew I was a guy?"

"Oh, that? Well, after last night, talk of a human in our midst spread throughout the town like wildfire."

"So ponies have been talking about me around town?"

"Pretty much." She took a bite from her cupcake.

"Hmm, a little more exposure than I thought I would get from last night." Jace finished his first cupcake and began unwrapping his second.

"Speaking about last night, what do you know about sea ponies?" Sea Foam asked this as if it was a completely normal question. Jace did not think it was however.

"Come again?" He asked. His eyes narrowed.

"What do you know about sea ponies?" She asked again.

"Uh... um... ah.." Jace was rapidly going through his brain for anything he knew on the subject. However, the search turned up empty. "I got nothin'."

"Oh, okay then. I didn't know if you knew more. To be honest, you're the first person to believe me."

"I've seen enough to believe it." he replied. He finished his cupcake and stood. "Well, thanks for the chat. I'm going to head out and see more of town. See ya later."

Jace walked out of the building and again went through his list of places to go. He whipped out his map and found the closest location. He turned and looked down the road. "To the library!" He shouted dramatically without reason. Jace began running, tree in his sights.

---------------{]-[}---------------

Having found that the market was on the way, he grabbed an apple for lunch. It was during the final bites that he discovered the tree.

To begin with, it was enormous. It was bigger around at the base than a giant sequoia. The height was debatable, due to the tree still had live branches. How this was, Jace could only imagine. Once again closing his dropped jaw. He walked in.

"Hello?" Jace said as he stepped through the doorway.

"One minute!" a voice from upstairs said. Footsteps were heard coming from the stairs and Spike appeared. Jace was elated at the fact that he was going to meet him, but then Spike spotted him and ran back upstairs. Sounds of what could be understood as either an argument or a calming talk-down came from the room. Eventually, the door opened and Rarity appeared with a reluctant Spike in tow.

"Jace! pleasant surprise seeing you her," Rarity began. "Sorry about Spike here. He's not usually like this."

"It's okay. I can understand him being scared of me. I mean its just a big bipedal that no one has ever seen walking into a library," Jace assured.

"Well in any case, what are you doing here?" Rarity asked.

"I was just walking around town and the tree is kind of hard to miss." he replied nonchalantly

"Oh, well if that's it. Do you want to take out a book while you're here?" She asked politely.

"Um, not today. I might do some reading but I'm not taking anything just yet."

"Alright then." She turned to her assistant. "Spike, I need to finish my work upstairs. Could you help our guest if he needs anything?"

"Yeah, sure," he gave a glance at Jace.

"Thank you." On that note, she trotted upstairs and shut the door. Spike looked at Jace. "So, what kind of a book were you looking for?"

"Hmm, what do you have on dimensional or time travel?" he asked.

"That section is over there." Spike pointed at a section of shelves. "Those two should have some books. Why do you need them?"

"Well, I'm trying to figure out just how I got here." Jace answered.

"Yeah, right..." Spike seemed unsure, so Jace changed the subject.

"So, you got over your initial fear rather quickly."

"Well, yeah. Rarity knows you, so that already tells me I can trust you. And then there's the rumors that came last night."

"That makes sense. Ah, this one seems good." he pulled out a semi-thick book titled 'Overview of Timelines and Dimensions'. He walked over to a nearby table and started reading.

Time and space are known to have special properties. The most widely known properties are alternate timelines and alternate dimensions. To begin with, I'll start with alternate timelines.

Alternate timelines are, in layman's terms, a different life. They are the product of decisions one makes in their lives. When a pony comes across a choice he or she must make, they go on in life making one decision. But what happens to the other choice(s)? That decision is also made, though in a different timeline. Envision a rope made up of dozens of different fibers. Now take the rope and split one of the ends in two. Now imagine a pony that makes a decision. One side of the split rope goes on to live one choice, and the other goes on to live the different choice. Though spells do exist to jump from one timeline to another, this is not advised. Major issues could occur if such a thing were to happen, such as a mass exodus of ponies wanting a better life.

Alternate dimensions are the theory of different and separate universes beyond our own. They are not easily accessible due to the fact that they may obey different rules of reality. There are believed to be multiple different categories of dimensions, and each category has its own separate kinds of dimensions. The biggest of the dimensional categories is the parallel dimensions. These are dimensions that may look the same, but are different in almost every way, eg. finding a race of creatures that are normally not sentient living lives that are similar to our own.

A word of warning, do not mistake parallel dimensions for alternate timelines. It may get confusing, but keep this in mind. If the people are the same, but there is a difference in what has happened in the course of history, then it is an alternate timeline. If there is a difference in the people with minor differences that only exist due to the people being different, then it is a parallel dimension...

The book went on, but Jace was not to sure what to do with the information he just learned.

"So, I'm in what could be either an alternate universe, or an alternate timeline from the show. But if the latter is the case, than that would mean that either I jumped somehow, or I traveled down a different road than the show. Wait, if that's happened, then that would mean that I'm in the future?" His brain was about to explode from just learning this. "Ugh, I need a break." Jace closed the book, stood up, and handed it to Spike.

"Thanks for the help," He said.

"I don't really see how I helped, but your welcome," the dragon replied. It fell on deaf ears however, as Jace was out the door already.

Mind still swimming, he tried to get his mind off the subject. In an attempt to do so, he chose a different way back to the farm. The time was getting late, and the sun was beginning to set. Eventually, his plan took effect. Jace found some ponies who weren't too afraid of him that weren't at the party and managed to pick up a conversation with them. These conversations included a strange exchange of ideas with the doctor, a short chat with BonBon concluding in her running off saying she owed Lyra five bits, and a talk on favorite baked goods with Derpy. It seemed that the day would end well, until Jace found something that confused him.

The building known to him as carousel boutique was now sitting in front of him. Jace was confused enough seeing that the place was still standing, but more confusing was that it seemed to be well kept. In short, it looked almost exactly like it did in the show. If there were any changes, they were too small to notice. This just added to the massive mix of terror.

"If Rarity no longer lives here, then how does this place show no signs of decay?" His brain was wrought with chaos. Swallowing his doubts and fears, he stepped indoors.

The drastic change was unexpected. Inside the building, there was not a single thing that came close to how the show depicted it. The entire first floor looked more industrialized and modern. It looked more like a workshop than a clothing store. Tools, materials, and worktables were spread around the room in a fashion that shouldn't look orderly, but did anyway (the term 'organized chaos' came to mind). There were a few items on display that made Jace nearly die from overexposure to startling revelations. All of them were, in general, sports and rec. equipment, though they had a bit of a flourish to them. It was as if a popular designer took over an REI store. He didn't have much time to take in the scene around him. From one of the connecting hallways came a familiar orange filly.

"Hi Jace! What are you doing here?" Scootaloo asked exuberantly.

"Uh, what? Oh. Well, the outside looked interesting. The contrast inside is kind of big though." Jace was caught off guard at her question.

"Well, since you're here, I should begin with the usual for newcomers, welcome to Flashworks!" she smiled and gestured with a hoof.

"Where?"

"Flashworks. It's nothing much. Really it's the workshop and living place for Rainbow Dash and me."

He was taken aback at hearing what Scootaloo just said. "Wait, who!?"

"Oh, oh. I should introduce you two! Wait right here." Jace's reaction went unnoticed. He was now in a state of panic.

"Rainbow Dash is what now!? The heck is happening? Am I sure I heard her right? Okay, deep breaths. Maybe I'm getting ahead of my self. Let's just sit tight and wait for Scootaloo." the entire time, he was trying to calm himself down. Eventually, Scootaloo returned.

"Okay, now that everyone's here. Rainbow Dash, meet Jace. Jace..." A familiar cyan pegasus came out. Jace was in complete shock. "...meet Rainbow Dash."

"Just what the heck is going on here!?"

(]----------{][}-----------[)

A/N: Well, I don't know about you guys, but I've noticed cliffhangers are used quite a bit in stories no matter what kind. In any case, I think I have an idea of what I'm going to do for the future chapters (in other words, I have an outline), so waits shouldn't be too long. That being said, Sandvich brony signing off saying Happy Thanksgiving!

Rainbow's Secret

---------------{]Chapter 7: Rainbow[}---------------

"... Meet Rainbow Dash," Scootaloo pronounced proudly.

Jace's mind was now in a panic mode. Luckily, his now erratic thoughts didn't correlate through to his body. Though his thinking was now moving at a breakneck pace

In an attempt to slow his thinking, Jace gave Rainbow a once-over. Then, after he finished, he looked her over a second time, then a third. There was definitely a big difference from her show self and herself here. Some differences being her shortened tail and her cutie mark having changed. It was now a paint brush with an arching rainbow as a paint trail. But the biggest tell? Rainbow Dash was showing all signs of fear. The rainbow he knew would never be scared (or at least not show it for nearly this long).

The silence that had filled the room didn't last too long after, due to Scootaloo's shouting.

"Well somepony say something!" She was looking from face to face with a look of disaproval on her own.

Deciding to try and be the braver one, Jace said the first words.

"Nice place you got here," He commented.

"Well, it isn't that much compared to other places." She responded.

'Rainbow humbling herself? Either I got lucky, or something extremely serious happened that I don't know about.' Jace thought about what he should say next. "What is it exactly that you do here?"

"In short, I'm an inventor." She stated.

"You're an inventor?" Jace questioned.

"Part time," was her quick response, "Do you wan't an example?"

All Jace could do was nod.

"Well, one I discovered rather than made was a wire made from a metal that heats up as the surrounding temperature gets colder. I wrapped it around a wing, and found that it lets the wearer fly at high altitudes without a wing freezing."

"That is actually pretty ingenuitive." Jace commented with a small smile.

"If you want to see how it works in action, you should meet my friend Fluttershy. She's usually somewhere up ab-"

"Sorry to interrupt, but I've already met her," Jace said abruptly.

"Oh, my mistake." She responded. Then she started walking around him. She had a face that said pure focus on her head. "How long have you been wearing these?" She asked.

"Uh, about three days."

Rainbow's expression turned to one of shock, then to one of disgust.

"Three days!?"

"About three," Jace quickly reacted. "It could be more. It could be less."

"I don't care how long it was! These are in no condition to be worn any longer."

"I don't have anything to change in to." He defended, gesturing to his body.

"Your point?" She deadpanned.

Jace sighed. "In the society I come from, people are naturally born with a strong sense of propriety. Not to mention, I don't have a coat of fur to keep myself warm."

Her expression softened at this explanation. "Oh, well I could just make some for you."

"You make clothing for me?" He asked. "I guess I'm okay with that. Seeing as I actually have money, how much would it be?"

"No need to pay. Consider it a gift."

"Well, since you insisted, thank you for your generosity." Jace said with a slight bow.

"It's nothing honestly. Just another gift from the element of generosity." She smiled.

'Say what?' Jace thought questioned in his mind.

"Would you mind undressing for me?" Rainbow asked as politely as possible.

Jace nearly jumped. "Can I what!?"

"Well I need you measurements somehow."

"Could you get them by measuring my clothes?"

She put a hoof to her chin in thought. "I think so."

"Would you have a dressing room then?" He questioned.

She pointed towards a door with a hoof and Jace stepped inside the small room. Surprisingly enough, he found that it was just like any other dressing room at any store. There was a single bench and a few hooks for hanged items, as well as a mirror. Locking the door behind him, Jace took off his shirt and pants. he then slid both through a small space under the door. After the loss of his only pieces of warmth, he felt a slight chill. He huddled in a corner on the bench and waited for Rainbow Dash's return. In a short time, he heard hoofsteps outside the door.

"So, what did you think of her?" a recognizable voice asked.

"Scootaloo? Aww jeez, we completely ignored you."

"It's okay. I left not too long after you two got more into it." She answered.

"Oh, well if its okay with you. Anyways, what have you been doing lately?" Jace asked trying to start a conversation.

"Eh, the usual. Hang out with Sweetie Belle and Applebloom. Try and get our cutie marks. Fail and find some other way to get them."

"I'm going to guess this has become routine for you now."

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Hmm, have you thought of breaking out of it?"

"Well, yeah. But I don't know how." He could almost see her pouting face.

"Well, lucky for you, I know how." There was a sound of hooves hitting the floor outside the door. Apparently, she had sat down.

"Really?"

"Yeah, yeah. Okay, sometimes when I feel the need to get out of a system, I decide to do something spontaneous."

"Really? That's it?" Her tone showed she was slightly irritated with this.

"Yup. Sometimes all we need is a little something different, even spontaneous in our lives. It really can help."

A moment of silence caused Jace to wonder if Scootaloo was still out there. A gasp outside told him different.

"Flashmob!"

"Wait, what?"

"I can't believe I never thought of that yet! I have to go tell Applebloom and Sweetie Belle about this later."

"Um, that wasn't w-"

"Thank you so much. I got to find out how to plan this."

"Okay Scootaloo, you've had your fun." Rainbow was heard through the door. "Now can I get these back to him?"

A scuffling of hooves was heard outside the room and the pants and shirt were slid back under the door. Jace quickly dressed and opened the door.

"I don't know what you said to her, but she seems pretty exited. Also, expect them to be ready within a week." She announced.

"Again, thanks for doing this for me." Jace said.

"It's nothing. Though before you go, I have a question for you." Rainbow added.

"Okay, what is it?" Jace asked.

She shifted her wing and put her hoof under it. Something fell out from under her wing and she showed it to him.

"What is this?" She demanded, key chain dangling.

Jace started feeling his pockets and found his house key was missing. 'I really need to check my pockets'

"Uh, my house key." Jace said trying to make it sound obvious.

"I can see that," Rainbow replied quickly, "What I want to know is what this is." She maneuvered her wing in such a way that she pointed at the key chain attached to the key.

"That looks kind of painful." He said under his breath. He realized she was looking at him strangely. "Oh, right. Um, can I get some time to think about it?" he asked.

"Sorry, but no." She deadpanned.

Jace sighed, "Scootaloo, could you leave the room please."

"But wh-"

"Just do it please. And stay out of earshot. I don't want you to hear this."

With regret, she obliged. Jace turned back to face the situation head on.

"Seeing as there's no way out of this, I'm going to explain this to you as delicately as possible. That okay with you?"

She nodded.

"Okay, think of a fiction book you've read. Got one?"

Another nod.

"Now, imagine that that book actually did happen, though it was in a world beyond her own."

"Okay," was her response.

"Okay, here's where I get a reaction. Imagine you somehow made it to that other world."

The shock on her face was almost as bad as Jaces guilt.

"It's not just you, it also includes your friends and their younger sisters."

"How does that make any sense!?" She shouted.

"I don't know. The worst part, that's not all." he added.

"There's more!?"

"Yeah, and you should probably sit for this."

Rainbow sat her haunches down on the floor. She seemed tense in preparing herself for what was to come.

"The life you and your friends live now, isn't the one you live in the story I've seen."

Rainbow actually seemed disappointed at this.

"Really? That's it?" She asked, still seated.

"Yup. Though the real surprise is that from what I've gathered, it was something you did that led you all here."

"What decision?" She demanded, jumping to her hooves

"You were young. It was during the race to defend Fluttershy's honor."

Rainbow thought for a moment, and then her face lit up with understanding.

"The sonic rainboom." She said.

"Yes that w-. Wait a minute, I never mentioned that."

"You didn't." She responded. "But he did." Rainbow Dash immediately dropped into a defensive position. "Why are you here, and why are you working for Discord?" She demanded

"Whoa, whoa, easy. If you think I'm working for him, don't you think I would be in Canterlot trying to free him?"

Her face softened a bit as she eased back to a standing position. "You have a point. Okay, I'll trust you for now."

"Thank you. Now what's this about Discord and the rainboom?"

Her story was relatively short. During the Discord debacle, he explained to Rainbow that Celestia struck a deal and allowed him to change one thing. That change was a loose nail, causing a horseshoe to fall. That horseshoe cause Rainbow to look down and see Fluttershy falling to what was assumed to be imminent death. In order to show what would have happened, Discord showed her the race the way it was aired and then explained what would have happened to her friends.

"...And until now, I didn't know if it was actually truth." She ended.

"Wow," Jace said deep in thought, "Have you told anyone about this?"

"No, no one else knows."

"Soon, your friends will though." Jace said under his breath.

"What?" Rainbow asked.

"Oh, I already promised Rarity I would tell her everything when the time is right." He explained.

"You did what!?" She asked.

"You heard me," Jace answered. "And sadly, I intend to keep that promise. I don't think I have to ask this, but can we keep this whole conversation a secret?"

"You don't have to ask me twice." Was her concise response.

"Thank you." He looked out a window and saw stars staring back at him. "Wow it's late. I've got to go." He started getting up and moving towards the door.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Sweet Apple Acres. The apples are letting me lodge with them for now." Jace responded. "I'll be back later for the clothes." And with that, he was out the door and off into the night.

The trip back to the farm wasn't to eventful. The moon was shining bright enough to cast a visible shadow. Eventually, the farm was visible on the road. The orchard looked beautiful with the night sky for a backdrop. On a high note, he walked up to the farmhouse door. Unsurprisingly, he found the front door locked. Undeterred, he searched for a key. It was found in a matter of minutes under the seat cushion of the rocking chair on the deck. Now inside he crept across the floor and sneaked into his temporary room.

Once situated, he shed his shirt and crawled into the bed. Sleep did not come easily that night. The knowledge that rainbow knew about the other timeline made him uneasy. Once he did get to sleep, however, pleasant dreams swept him away through the night.

Author's Note

Most of this was done during a late night, so I don't know how well it will be received. In any case, hope you enjoyed. Sandvich brony signing off!