Chapters Brave New World, Discord's Revenge
The End of the World and a Brave New one.
"Where the hell is he?!" Ebony yelled.
Her three friends looked at her. They had been dragged by the Professor, Owen Lambert to the basement of his house. He told them to wait there while he went to get someone else. The room was dark, cold and crumbling slightly.
"Well...we did say he was insane..." Tom replied. Tom was Ebony's boyfriend, and he loved her dearly...even if he didn't care for Owen much.
"Don't be mean to him!" snapped Sam. "He'll be here...I hope." Sam was Owen's best friend and had known him a while now. He didn't appreciate it when people made fun of Owen.
"To be perfectly blunt, I'd like to know what this thing is?" Aimee said. She was also Owen's friend too, but could sometimes see when he was about to go crazy. She pointed at a huge ring of metal with bits of wire and cogs sticking out of it. "Any ideas?" she asked.
Thunder rumbled outside. The year was 2012 and a few days ago the Earth had started to tear itself apart. Volcanoes and earthquakes had ravaged the globe. The apocalypse had arrived and they were stuck in some dingy room.
"If he doesn't have a good explanation..." Ebony sighed.
The door burst open and everyone fell silent. A boy walked down the stairs. He was small, dressed in a black trench coat with a matching top hat that shielded and hid his eyes. He wore black leather gloves and In one hand he held a strange looking key...
Ebony wanted answers. "How? Why are we all here?" She questioned.
"I'm glad you asked" Owen whispered, speaking for the first time. "This my friends!" He span around his arms pointing toward the big circular piece of metal in the corner of the room. "...is a Trans-dimensional portal opener!" He stuck the key in a hole in the circle and turned it.
A low whirring noise was made before a small screen switched on.
Tom looked at Ebony and made a "cookoo" gesture, pointing at Owen. Ebony sniggered silently.
Owen was messing around with buttons and switches until finally...
"Stand back."
A bright blue sphere erupted out of the center of the metal circle.It span wildly, threatening to pull everything into it.
Owen turned around, a grin stuck to his face.
"Well?" He grinned. "What do you think of that?"
The other's jaws had dropped. They couldn't believe that he had actually opened some sort of rip in the fabric of space.
"Where does it lead?" Aimee asked enthusiastically. Sam was still glued to the spot, thinking if this was just a really, crazy dream.Tom was gawping at Ebony, unable to believe what had just happened. Ebony stood there sullen. She was still trying to grasp at the concept of a portal across space though. The idea seemed too silly.
Owen smiled. "It leads to a place very dear to my heart..." He pressed a button on the machine labeled "Molecular structure alter-er" He grinned as the blue sphere turned mauve.
"Do you want to come in?" Owen asked kindly..."It'll be a..."
CRASH!
The floor opened up to reveal hot lava spewing up from the Earth's core. Cracks appeared in the ceiling and the lights went out.
"Through the portal! NOW!" Owen screamed as the room was thrown into pitch black, the portal being their only source of light.
Aimee didn't argue, she just lept in.
Sam thought for a second or so, then he jumped through too.
Ebony looked at Tom. "I trust him, don't worry." she kissed him then ran through the sphere.
Owen looked over at Tom, who was caught by lava flowing up from the Earth's core.
"Come on!" He yelled, narrowly avoiding a chunk of falling concrete. "You can make it!"
Tom lept up and jumped through the portal. Owen turned round for one last look at his home. He smiled wildly then walked, calmly through the sphere, right before the whole street collapsed into the hot, molten death...
The Earth pulsed with energy, several times before the planet imploded and collapsed in on itself. Lava broke free of its rocky prison and flowed, freely onto the now dead surface of the planet, covering it whole.
***
Owen was the first to wake up. He sat up and put his hand against his head, that was one heck of a headache. He opened his eyes realising that he no longer had a hand. Instead in its place was a beige hoof. Owen smiled. "I didn't think it would work again..." he said with disbelief.
He looked around, to see if any of the others had regained their consciousness. No-one else was awake yet. Silently satisfied with what he had done, he put his head on the ground and fell asleep once more...
"OWEN! OWEN! WHAT DID YOU DO?"
The Professor woke with a start. He looked around lazily and saw five other ponies staring at him. The first had a black coat with a purple and white streaked mane. his hair covered his eyes and his wings were folded up. The second had long, flowing black hair with a white coat. The third and fourth were holding each other tightly, I guessed that they were Ebony and Tom, Ebony had a light brown coat with short beige hair and Tom had a white coat with a blue mane, much like that of a royal guard. They were both pegasus ponies.
I turned to the pony that had shouted at me. This had turned out to be Ebony. She was pointing her wings at me menacingly.
"What. Have. You. DONE!?" she questioned.
"Well...Isn't it obvious?" Owen replied, sitting up. "I've brought us all to Equestria." He pointed behind them.
All five friends turned around to look across a beautiful scene. They were standing at the edge of the Everfree Forest, overlooking Ponyville. Pegusi were flying across the horizon, insuring that no cloud were going to spoil today's sun rays and earth ponies trotted around on the earth, going about their everyday lives.
"Well." Sam sighed "I have to say, I'm impressed!"
Owen thought about it "Of course he'll be impressed. He's a brony! As is Aimee. Guaranteed that she'd be impressed too...Which only leaves Ebony and Tom..."
He looked over at the two of them. "Look, you may not like ponies, but at least I saved you from the end of the world."
They both seemed to think about this and after a few seconds nodded their appreciation. Tom was upset however that he had lost his home and most things that he had held dear to his heart, aside Ebony.
"Good." Owen said. "Now then...who'd like to meet my good friend...Twilight Sparkle!?"
Aimee, Sam's eyes bulged at the thought of this. Meeting THE Twilight Sparkle?
"What an honour!" Aimee yelled, hardly containing her excitement. Ebony and Tom looked at her, puzzled.
Aimee shuffled uncomfortably, crossing on hoof over the other.
Owen tilted his head an looked at her, smiling. Ebony suddenly sighed. She knew what he was doing. Back in the human world, whenever Owen cocked his head to one side, it meant he was thinking about a certain subject WAY too much.
Owen, sarcastically shot her a look of hurt to annoy her.
Sam blew the hair from his face. "Can we go and see...Rainbow Dash?"
Owen tilted his head again. "Rainbow's his hero, of course...this will take a while to get everyone settled in...what with everyone having there own favorites and all."
"Very well, Sam. But first we shall see what we can do about accommodation! Follow me!" Owen yelled triumphantly.
"Once more into the breach! A brave new world awaits!"
Brave New World, Discord's Revenge
The Professor was walking with his friends towards a large, town, filled with ponies of different colours and natures.
He stopped at what appeared to be the invisible boundary surrounding the town. He looked left, then right. he started to use his hooves as some sort of compass. The others looked at him blankly.
"What's he doing?" Ebony asked. The other's shook their heads. They had known him to do stuff like this.
When the Professor finished, he looked across at his friends. "This is the boundary of Ponyville." He stated.
"So?" Tom replied impatiently. "Its nothing." He walked slowly toward the invisible line.
"I wouldn't if I were you." The Professor said in sing-song tones.
"Why not?" Sam questioned.
"Watch...Ebony, come here would you?" He pointed to a spot just outside the boundary. "Now walk into Ponyville."
Ebony looked back at Tom. Tom shrugged his shoulders and nodded. Ebony walked through the boundary.
CRASH!
A pink blur had attacked Ebony and was now lying on her front. Everyone yelled out.
The pink creature gasped and looked at all the other new ponies staring at it, quizzically.
"Oh! Professor! You brought me some new friends!".
"Indeed." Owen replied. "Everyone, meet the total utter randomness that is...Pinkie Pie."
Pinkie Pie shook everyone's hoofs in turn. "Hi, i'm Pinkie Pie, who are you? Are you from Equestria? Which part of Equestria?"
She turned to look at Sam. "Do I know you?" She asked, her right eyebrow lifting.
Sam looked stunned. As did everyone else. Tom and Ebony were still trying to get their heads around a pink talking horse, while Aimee and Sam were spellbound. Meeting THE Pinkie Pie after all.
"Anyway, Pinkie, We're on our way to see Twilight about some housing." Owen said.
"Okey Dokey Lokey!" Pinkie said. "Ooh! Someone else just broke the barrier! I MUST MEET NEW FRIENDS!" and with that she bounded off down the road. Reminding everyone of that skunk off Loony Tunes.
Sam's mouth was wide open with shock. "Come on Sam, we are not a cod-fish." Owen said.
He led everyone deeper into Ponyville. Unfortunately they had to keep on stopping every time Sam saw a background
character he knew. Eventually they made it to the Library.
The Professor knocked on the big, oak doors. After a few seconds a small purple dragon answered it.
"Oh, hi Professor," It said. "Ah! These must be the new ponies you were talking about! I'll get Twilight."
He rushed off up the stairs.
"Are you impressed?" The Professor said to his friends. All of them nodded.
After a few moments, a lavender coloured unicorn with a purple mane arrived at the door.
"Oh, good morning Professor." Twilight smiled. "Wow, new ponies from another world, interesting. I guess your experiment worked for a second time."
"I was confident!" Owen protested.
He asked them to introduce themselves.
Sam stood up firstly. "Hi Twilight...My name's Sam." He nervously bowed his head.
"Nice to meet you, Sam." Twilight replied.
Ebony and Tom introduced themselves.
Last up was Aimee.
"Hi Twilight Sparkle, My name is Aimee. I'm from Earth. "
"A pleasure to meet you Aimee." Twilight answered, blushing slightly. The Professor looked at her and tilted his head. This time, he was ignored.
Twilight showed them into the Library. Sam and Aimee gasped as they saw all the neatly arranged books sitting tidily on shelves. They immediately went over and grabbed the nearest book, which turned out to be: "Obscure Unicorn History".
While Sam and Aimee read. Owen asked Twilight if the accommodation was ready.
"Why, yes. Applejack, Rainbow Dash and the whole apple family finished it last night. They were really pleased with themselves, actually. You should go round and check it out. It's quite close to Fluttershy's cottage."
"Right then. " The Professor said. "Now your agenda is finished, I'll complete mine."
"Your agenda?" Aimee questioned.
"I'm off to see a certain someone about a certain hat." and with that, he raced out the door, leaving everyone with Twilight.
"I best show you your new home then, while you stay here in Equestria." Twilight said, staring at the dust pile Owen had left behind. She sighed then gestured for Spike to clean up the mess.
"Do I really have to go?" Sam whined as the book was pried from his hooves.
"Yes, dear." Twilight said with a smile, placing the book back on the shelf with her magic.
They all left the Library and headed off in the direction of Fluttershy's house.
***
The Professor was strolling down a road, nodding to people as he went. He looked up at Sugar Cube Corner. He sighed contentedly and continued.
CRASH!
A window broke in Sugar Cube Corner, and a dark blue pegasus with ginger hair fell through.
"Urrgh..." It said. The Professor recognised that voice...but that was impossible...
"Jake?!" Owen said staring at the pony.
"Owen?" It replied. Jake stood up.
"OWEN! It's been too long, old friend!" He hugged him, then looked at him. "You've become a pony! Brilliant...I've become a pony! Even better!"
"Can I ask why you're here?"
"Oh yes, ever since that accident as a child, whenever I fall through a window, I go to a different reality!"
"Accident?" The Professor questioned.
FLASHBACK
2 years prior to 2012
"Owen are you sure about this?" Jake asked.
"Just hold this uranium, and stop moaning." Owen placed a huge chunk of a glowing green rock in his hands.
"Where'd you even get that from?"
"Russia!" Owen replied.
"Did you steal it? They'll have your head for that, you know."
"Nonsense!" Owen yelled, plugging a wire into a strange metal circle in the middle of the room. "I left a note, saying I borrowed it."
"What did you write?"
"Dear the Russians, We need the uranium, signed the Americans." Owen continued happily to add uranium to a small furnace nearby.
"You'll cause a nuclear war!" Jake yelled "And we're not even American!"
"They don't know that...Now hold on, I'm about to try science." He stuck a wire in a hole and turned on the power. A lightning bolt from the small portal it made struck Jake in the chest. The portal then shut.
"Jake say something!" Owen said as he ran to his best friend's side.
"Nipples." Jake replied, opening his eyes.
PRESENT DAY: EQUESTRIA
"Oh yeah." Owen said thoughtfully. "Now come and meet my friends, I brought Sam, Aimee, Ebony and Tom along with me!"
"Did Tom come kicking and screaming?" Jake teased.
"...yes..." Owen replied, unwillingly. "I'd love to stay and talk nonsense but first I need to go and see Miss Rarity for my brand new top hat." He turned to leave.
"Just go to Fluttershy's cottage!" and with that, he ran off,leaving another dust pile behind him. Jake coughed.
***
"Well." Twilight said to the five ponies following her. "We've arrived!" she pointed at a large cottage at the edge of the Everfree forest.
It was large with huge oak beams stabilising it. The roof was thatched and had a brick chimney pot sitting neatly on it, spewing little wisps of smoke. Around the exterior, there were many hedges and flower patches, which were being tended to by two ponies.
"Applejack! Fluttershy!" Twilight shouted. Her two friends turned around to see her and five newcomers.
"Hey Twi, who are ya' friends?" Applejack asked as she carefully placed some roses into a bed.
"These are the ponies that the Professor brought with him from the other universe!" Twilight said. "This is Sam, Aimee, Ebony, and Tom.
"Well howdy, nice ta' meet ya'll." Applejack said. "Ma' name's Applejack, and I work down at Sweet Apple Acres." She looked up at the cottage. "Oh yes, and this'll be your new home while ya'll stay here in Ponyville."
The others nodded their thanks, but were looking more closely at the small, shivering pony that had been planting tulips.
"Fluttershy?" Sam whispered. "Awwwwwww, she's so cute."
Even Tom's heart had melted at the sight of the yellow pegasus. "She's adorable..." He smiled.
"Hi everyone, my name's Fluttershy, I'll be your neighbours while you live here..."
"Awwwwwwww!" Everyone screamed.
They all went into the newly created house, and came across a most unexpected, astonishing sight...
Brave New World, Discord's Revenge
"SURPRISE!!!"
Everyone jumped as Pinkie Pie exploded upon them like a cannon.
"I made this party just for you!"
The entire interior of the cottage was covered in colourful streamers, bright confetti and large balloons. Punch and food was laid out on a table.
"Wow!" Everyone said, shocked. They hadn't expected their very own welcome party. Later on, however they actually weren't surprised. They quickly started to enjoy themselves drinking Punch and playing "Pin the tail on the donkey"
Applejack and Fluttershy followed them in.
"How the hay did Pinkie get in that quick?" Applejack muttered. She smiled at her new friends and joined in the festivities.
***
The Professor was walking quickly towards Rarity's boutique. He stopped outside the door then knocked on it.
"Rarity! It's me, Professor Lambert."
Rarity opened the door. "Oh, good afternoon Professor. I'm guessing that you're here about your top hat that you asked for, are you not?"
"Indeed. I do hope it wasn't a bother to make."
"Not at all!" Rarity smiled. "But, there is one thing... When I finished your top hat, well... I just had to continue!"
She led him to section of her boutique where there was a neat, lavender curtain covering a model. She dramatically unveiled it to reveal a shiny black top hat, a black trench coat and a stripy monochrome scarf. "Because Winter is coming up."
The Professor was shocked. He slowly put on the items of clothing, noting how perfectly they fitted and how soft they were to touch, and checked himself in one of Rarity's large mirrors.
"You look smashing!" she giggled.
"Merci. mademoiselle. Now, about payment..." He started. Rarity raised a hoof to silence him.
"That will not be necessary Professor, the challenge of making it was payment enough."
She led him to the door. "Au revoir, Professor..." she sighed.
"Goodbye, fair Rarity. Enjoy the rest of your day." He kissed her hoof and ran off to complete his agenda. Rarity fainted.
***
Jake stared up at the cottage that had sprouted right beside Fluttershy's cottage. He eyed it precariously for a few moments before cautiously, inching towards it. Bright lights, noise and laughter were leaking out of the windows.
"I must investigate..." Jake whispered. His heart pounded as he made his way slowly towards it.
"Hey! What do you think you're doin' ?" A voice yelled at him.
Jake turned around, frantically to get a good look at the newcomer. He couldn't see anyone (Or should that be "anypony"? he wondered.) He continued towards the house.
A bright blue blur launched an aerial assault upon him, knocking him into the freshly planted tulips. Jake sat up, ready to attack the enemy, but to his surprise when he opened his eyes, he found a bright blue pegasus, with rainbow coloured hair staring down at him.
Rainbow Dash pounced on him. "Do ya think you can just waltz right in to that party? Come to think of it, I've never seen you around these parts before...Are you a spy?" She jabbed him in the ribs and held him down.
"Good god, You are loyal! How very fitting!" Jake replied. "Oh yes, how rude of me. My name is Jake, or Jake for short. But my friends call me Jake." He smiled, wildly at her.
"You're one crazy pony" Dash laughed. "I like you. So anyway, Jake, where were ya headin' ?"
"I'm going to surprise my friends in there, they don't know that i'm here in Equestria yet." Jake grinned. "I think I'd like to make it all dramatic..."
He turned to look at the door and charged head first at it, busting it wide open.
"Talk about using your head..." Dash mumbled.
***
A pony crashed through the door, making it splinter and buckle on the floor. Everyone turned around to see the crazy, ginger pony sprawled on all fours on the polished wooden floor.
Pinkie was the first to say something. "Oh look, a new friend! Hi, i'm Pinkie Pie, whats your name?"
The ginger pony sat up looking at the five ponies that had only recently arrived in Equestria. He noted their appearances and matched it up with their human characteristics. He turned to the pony with a purple and white streaked mane that flowed down his face like a fringe.
"Sam? Is that you?"
"Jake!?" Sam questioned. Jake nodded and brohoofed him. Sam cried out in shock, and hugged him.
Ebony hugged Jake too, as they had been good friends back on Earth. "How did you get here?" She asked.
He told them of his run in with radioactive chemicals as a child and then his ability to teleport between dimensions and universes.
"Owen caused that?" Sam asked. "Well...I guess we can thank him for that too...can I ask what was he doing with uranium?"
"He was trying to build some kind of portal..." Jake looked around at everyone "I guess he succeeded." He shrugged his shoulders.
Sam blew the hair from his face. "I wonder when he'll return?"
Rainbow Dash arrived at what was left of the door.
"Hey everypony I..." She looked at the splintered door, and edged around it. "I just came to see if you guys were all okay with staying with this mad pony. She gestured to Jake.
"No, no he's their friend, Dash." Applejack replied. " ah think..."
"Now then, let's get back to partying!" Pinkie yelled. The music started up again and the ponies lost themselves in dancing and casual catch up conversation.
***
After spending an hour in an abandoned mine shaft searching for uranium, The Professor decided that it was time to go back to his new residence. He dusted of his trench coat, placed a chunk of uranium in his pocket, then he hit the road, galloping at a pace down the side streets of Ponyville, narrowly avoiding barrels and wooden boxes that had been left outside.
He stopped outside the house and looked up at it. "Just to my specifications...But I did ask for a door..." He looked at the splintered mess that was once his door.
He strode in, dramatically, his scarf flying in the wind and one of his hoofs clutching the rim of his top hat. Everyone fell silent.
Sam and Jake were the first to go up to him, telling him how brilliant he was for bringing them here to Equestria. Aimee and Ebony followed. Tom gave what appeared to be a "thank you" before wandering up the stairs. The Professor watched him go.
"Uno seconto" He said, striding after him. He reached the top of the stairs and looked around. He saw the nearest door labelled "Tom and Ebony" and knocked politely. Tom replied with a hasty "Come in..." The Professor opened the door.
He came in and found Tom sat on her bed.. The Professor came and sat beside him. "Why are you here, Owen?" he asked. "To cause me more misery?"
"No, I'm here to ask why you are in such an awful mood. I'm concerned for you. "
"Owen, I'm never going to see my family or my other friends ever again. Does that concern you? "
"Hmm" The Professor thought. "I can understand why you are upset. Think about it, everyone has had to leave something behind them on Earth. Even me."
The Professor turned to look at him, and Tom turned to look at him. Owen removed his hat and continued.
"I lost so many of my good friends today. Our world has been destroyed and with it went our history, our secrets, our loves and our friendships. But we survived." He arched his left eyebrow. Another one of his Earth attributes bleeding through.
"I...suppose" he sighed.
The Professor looked him in the eye "C'mon Tom, you can get through this. Ebony seems to be relatively happy in this dimension. I'm sure what she thinks is what's important to you, correct?"
"If we can remember our world, it will never truely go away, it will never truely have been destroyed. Plus if you look around this world, there aren't many differences. Trees are the same, birds are the same, a bit too sunny to be English weather..."
Tom laughed and looked over at him. Begrudgingly he finally said...
"Yes...Okay then, Owen. You've convinced me." he rolled his eyes.
The Professor's eyes light up like a Christmas tree. He placed his hat on his head and tipped it towards Tom.
"Fantastic, now, let us rejoin the festivities. They'll be missing us." He led Tom to the door and down the stairs.
The Professor watched him go, and as he did so, he turned and looked out of the window as the sun set.
"I'm sorry..." He whispered, then returned to the party.
Brave New World, Discord's Revenge
Everyone awoke early the next morning. The first to arise was the Professor who told everyone he was going out in search of something that resembled a newspaper.
After he left, Twilight and Spike came round. "On order of the Professor!" Spike had said. Twilight told them that she and Spike would be there to show them how to cook and prepare basic meals in Equestria, as there diets would have changed.
"Another note Owen has left out?" Ebony asked, sighing slightly.
"But of course ponies are herbivores!" Twilight said. "Don't you have ponies where you come from?"
All five of the friends that were present nodded. They began watching Twilight and Spike as they began to prepare a breakfast of some description, involving eggs, hay and dandelions. Much to every newcomer's amazement, they began to feel compelled to eat the dandelions and hay, as they smelled delicious.
During breakfast, the Professor wandered in. His search had not been in vain and he had found himself a decent newspaper. Without even thinking, the Professor tore out a page in the newspaper and handed it to Jake. This had turned out to be the Sudoku page. In their world, however, it was called "Suhoofdu" Jake laughed at the terrible pun, then continued to complete it.
Owen sat down with his friends, who were all discussing their cutie marks, or as Ebony and Tom put them "Ass stickers".
Ebony's cutie mark was a black clef, or a musical note. Tom's was a Spitfire plane, probably showing off his passion for planes and flying. Sam's was a cross between a black lightning bolt and a crimson, red guitar, which looked rather cool. Aimee's was what appeared to be a laptop. Jake's was a rather bizarre looking question mark, and the Professor's was a black top hat.
While everyone debated who's "ass sticker" was the best, and Twilight attempted to keep the peace, the Professor started to read the newspaper he had picked up. The "Canterlot Times". He skipped past the weather reports and the scandals until he reached a page on job descriptions.
"Jake!" He called.
"One second..." Jake replied, finishing his "Suhoofdu" "Yes? What did you want?"
"Read this..." He pointed to an article stating the need for ponies to move some statues in the Canterlot Gardens.
"Ummm, Owen? We're not earth-ponies, if you haven't guessed by now. We're not cut out for manual labour..."
"Of course we are!" Owen shouted, loudly, causing everyone else to jump up out of their seats. "Sorry..." he whispered, sheepishly.
"What I was thinking was, a trip to the Canterlot Gardens...and what's in the Canterlot Gardens?" Owen elbowed Jake in the ribs to try to get his memory jogging.
After a few minutes of careful thinking, Jake had finally understood what Owen had been trying to tell him. The two decided to do this chore for the rest of the day. Everyone else had thought through what they were doing, also.
Sam and Aimee were to be exploring the nooks and crannies of Ponyville with their Tour guide, Rainbow Dash. Ebony and Tom were going to read up on what has been happening over the past few months here.
The groups said their goodbyes and wandered off their separate ways.
***
Jake and Owen's day
Jake and the Professor had arrived in Canterlot, after a speedy and reliable trip on the express train. They were met by a most mysterious sight at the entrance to the Canterlot Gardens.
"Ah, you must be the two ponies that are here to move the statues, charmed to meet you."
A tall, dark blue pony was stood proudly at the entrance. Her hair was flowing softly in the morning breeze. It was Princess Luna.
Owen's mouth dropped, and he couldn't seem to form words. After all back on Earth, he had had a secret crush on her.
Jake introduced them, formally. Then Luna guided them to the statues.
"Princess Celestia has requested that the Discord statue and the pony representing victory should be moved to the other end of the Gardens."
Jake and Owen stared at the Discord statue, as it was a rather intimidating, yet interesting sight to behold. The Professor gave the statue one of his looks.
Luna left them to their work. The two friends looked at the two statues.
"I think we should move the Victory statue first." Owen stated.
"No, no. We should move Discord first. We should get the larger statue out of the way firstly." Jake retorted.
"Nonsense, Moving Discord first will tire us out. Then we won't be able to move the Victory statue!"
"Discord!"
"Victory!"
"Discord!"
"Victory!"
As the pair argued, small cracks started to appear in one of the statues. One of the arms broke free of it's stone prison, and a fist clenched. A leg kicked off the shell that had imprisoned it, and it's toes started to wiggle. Eventually the whole creature had broken out of it's shell.
"Discord!!!" Jake yelled.
Owen whimpered and pointed behind him. "Yes, I mean that statue, Owen..." Jake said, impatiently. Eventually he turned around.
There stood a tall, mix and match creature. It had the head of a pony and a body made up of lots of different creatures. Discord gave out a loud, evil laugh, signalling his freedom.
"Ahhh." Discord sighed. "Free, free once again." He clenched his fist and his wild smile extended.
"I told you we should have moved Discord's statue first." Owen teased.
"Shut it, Lambert." Jake snapped.
"Still..." Owen murmured. He wandered around Discord, analysing him from every perspective. Eventually he stopped his analysis. "Yes. This guy is going to be tough to stop..." Owen stated.
"Why don't we ask the mane six to turn him back to stone with the Elements of Harmony?" Jake asked.
"Because...It's quite clear that after being publicly humiliated and captured by the Elements, Discord will, instead of hiding them, will actually have destroyed them. Or at least put them in a very difficult place to get to." Owen concluded.
Discord looked at him. He had never met anyone as... strange as him before. "You there?" Discord questioned. "Can I ask your name?"
Owen turned to him. "My name is Professor Owen Lambert, origin of the former planet Earth."
"Former planet?" Discord asked.
"It got destroyed." Jake explained.
"Ah." Discord said, nodding. "Please continue."
"I'm crazy, insane, and I'm a technological genius. That makes me your worst nightmare." He stared at Discord, his eyes wide and a crazy, deranged smile clung to his face. The wind whipped at his coat and scarf, fluttering them violently in the wind.
Discord looked down upon his new adversary. "Very well. I accept your challenge. On one condition... If you win, I'll go back to my stoney prison, BUT if you lose, I can take all of Equestria for my own, Ponyville being the Chaos Capital."
Discord held out his eagle claw hand. Owen gladly shook it. "Deal."
"He doesn't know what he's let himself in for..." Owen thought.
"He doesn't know what he's let himself in for..." Discord thought.
The two looked at each other, both thinking of crazy ways of killing the other. Discord thought of explosive pies, while the Professor thought of cement mixed with bubble gum to trap him with.
"Good luck, my little pony!" Discord gave one final laugh, before disappearing into thin air.
"Well done Owen, you released Discord!" Jake yelled at his friend.
Owen smiled, a wild, crazy smile. All the colour drained from Jake's face.
"You're not actually going to go up against him, are you?" Jake questioned, rapidly going paler.
Owen cocked his hat at a jaunty angle, holding on to it's rim, he allowed his scarf to fly in the wind and he turned to face Jake.
"Now I'm Awoken, and I'm taking back control."
He let out a deranged laugh, one that was so good it could have rivaled Discord's.
"Hurry, we must warn everyone!"
"Shouldn't we move the other statue first?" Jake asked. A sarcastic grin glued to his face.
Owen pondered the thought for a moment, before wandering over to the statue and lifting it up with his magic. He moved it over to the southern end of the garden and set it down in it's new podium. He didn't even break a sweat.
"There. Happy? Let's go."
***
The train had broken down and had to be taken in for repairs. So the duo had to run from Canterlot to Ponyville, and upon their arrival, it was getting late.
They both headed to their new residence by Fluttershy's house at top speed. leaping over obstacles in their way.
They burst through the newly repaired door, almost sending it flying off it's newly formed hinges.
Everyone looked at the wild and dirty newcomers. A puzzled look was attached to their faces. Ebony and Tom stopped kissing, something that they had only just mastered, becoming ponies.
"We have a situation." Owen declared.
Brave New World, Discord's Revenge
***
Sam and Aimee's day
Sam watched as Jake and Owen left the house, they had mentioned something about a statue that needed moving. Sam shrugged his shoulders and turned to his friend Aimee.
"Are you excited?" He asked.
"About going on an adventure with Rainbow? Yeah, should be fun." Aimee replied.
The two friends shared an awkward silence for a few moments before Sam decided to break the ice.
"Did you hear that clattering noise last night? Kept me up for ages..."
Aimee frowned, as if she was remembering something.
"Yeah..." She said, uncertainly. "I think I did hear something last night..." She scratched her head, trying to think what it could have been. "Did it sound like it came from... Below the house?" she queried .
"Yeah..." Sam nodded his agreement.
A blue blur shot through the door, damaging the already broken hinges. The blur turned into a light blue pegasus, with a rainbow coloured mane and tail. Rainbow Dash stopped in front of them.
"Ready? Twilight asked me if I could take you two out for the day." Rainbow told them. "Should be great." She added "If you can keep up."
Aimee looked at her. "Shouldn't be a problem." She smiled.
Sam looked a little less than enthusiastic. He blew the hair from his face and said "Yeah, I'll try to keep up." He had butterfly's in his stomach, as he was really nervous. He sounded as quiet as Fluttershy.
Rainbow looked at him. "Hey, I'll go slow so you guys can keep up." She smiled at Sam and he almost fainted.
"I think I'm in love" He thought, happily. "Don't blow it."
Sam smiled back, then the trio left the cottage on a course for adventure and excitement.
Outside the house, they all stretched their wings out, ready to fly. Dash looked at her two new friends. "Ready?" she asked.
Sam and Aimee nodded. Rainbow took a deep breath and yelled "GO!"
All three pegusi took off with high speed, high into the morning sky.
***
Ebony and Tom's day
"This world's pretty cool, isn't it Tom?"
Ebony stood looking out of a window, she turned to her boyfriend, that had recently been re-named "Coltfriend" at which point, Owen had wondered why this world was chock full of terrible puns. Ebony had laughed, as he was quite funny when he wanted to be.
Tom stood in the corner, working out how his wings worked. He had tried to fold them up whilst thinking, and the task proved to be impossible, but while he didn't think about it, he wings folded up, instinctively. It annoyed him.
"Sorry babe, what was that?" He called, absent-mindedly. He snapped back to reality, then turned and hugged his girlfriend.
"We're meant to be meeting with Twilight, right?" Tom asked.
Ebony frowned and looked at him, kindly.
"Do you really want to spend the whole day studying?" she teased. She moved closer towards him, smiling.
"I, uh..." Tom attempted to reply, but was cut off when Ebony planted her lips on his nose. Tom tried not to giggle, but he realised there was only one thing to say.
"You missed."
"It's difficult!" Ebony whined.
The two looked at each other and smiled, they looked back at their bedroom door and closed it.
"I love you." Ebony said, nuzzling him slightly.
"I love you more." Tom teased.
***
Later that evening
Sam, Aimee and Rainbow entered later on in the day.
Rainbow had shown Sam all of her moves. (Not those kind of moves, god.) Sam had attempted to copy them, but it turned out he was incapable of moving at that speed and producing a giant psychedelic explosion out of his rear end.
When they arrived, Sam was desperate to show Rainbow his moves on a guitar, probably the only feat he was capable of. He brought down the electric guitar he had found in his room on the first day. Probably another gift that the Professor had decided to give him.
He brought it down and Rainbow squealed in delight. Her wings started to beat faster and faster, she was also repeating the words "Omigosh" over and over again.
He started to play a few chords until it turned into a few songs from back on Earth. Rainbow sat there looking at him with a permanent grin, glued to her face.
Ebony and Tom came down the stairs kissing each other. Rainbow looked at Sam, she did a "gag" impression. Sam giggled.
Tom looked at her sternly, and Rainbow gave a "It wasn't me" face. Sam fell on the floor, roaring with laughter. Soon everyone joined in. Ebony and Tom continued to kiss each other, passionately. Rainbow said her goodbyes and left the house. She sighed as she left, thinking of Sam.
All four friends sat on the main couch that had been conveniently placed in front of the damaged door. They all heard crashing and clattering outside. Sam raised his eyebrows.
The Professor and Jake burst through the door, almost sending the door off it's newly formed hinges.
Owen stood there, gasping for breath. Jake collapsed next to him. Owen looked at him and sighed. He turned to the others.
"We have a situation." He declared.
Everyone listened intently to his story. The look on there face went from that of enthusiasm to confusion then to pure shock.
"So you two idiots released a god!?" Tom yelled.
"On your second day here!?" Sam added.
"Maaaaybe." Owen said, eyeing them suspiciously "What's it to you?"
Aimee stepped in. "Discord is the living emblem of chaos and destruction. If you released him, we're in for one hell of a fight."
"Actually... It's disharmony, not destruction. Idiot." mocked Jake.
Owen hit in the back of the head with one of the door hinges. The door fell off, crushing both of them. Owen sat up, dazed. Jake looked at him.
"What cruel irony!" He said, laughing at his pain.
The duo picked up the mess that was once there beloved (if short term) door.
The other's looked at the duo. The two frowned then turned to look at the door.
It had been replaced with a solid, brick wall.
The Professor lept towards the window to check what was going on, but it to had been bricked up. Every entrance and exit had been entirely blocked off. Everyone looked at each other.
The house was changing.
Walls disappeared and floors were replaced with piles of sweets and chocolate. All that remained was the staircase and the doors to there rooms.
A bright light emitted from he center of the candy filled floor. Within seconds a huge draconequus appeared in the center of the room. He had a wild grin and then he laughed a hearty, trademark laugh.
"Mine's better." Owen mumbled.
"Welcome, everypony to my Little House of Horrors." He smiled.
Brave New World, Discord's Revenge
The Professor hatches a plan
Ebony and Tom's door opened. They both fled the horror inside. They looked at each other.
"I love you." They said in harmony. They both kissed.
"Never leave me." Tom asked, tears in his eyes.
"Promise upon my soul." Ebony crossed her heart, then through her hoofs around him. They both nuzzled each other. Tears began to roll down their faces.
Aimee flew out of her door. She sat up and spat at the ground, defiantly. She looked around and saw Ebony and Tom. She realised that her friends had not been killed by some creepy shadow monster. She smiled and looked at the other doors. She awaited the others, patiently. She frowned as she saw Owen's door, as there wasn't one there.
She called Ebony and Tom over.
"I don't think he's getting out..." Aimee muttered.
"Oh, God." Ebony replied.
Sam's door fell off it's hinges, he walked forward dripping in blood. He had a crimson stained cricket bat swung over his shoulder. He sat on the grown, panting.
"It's over..." He said. "They are no more. Too many chavs..." He continued to pant.
Jake's door flew off, hitting the opposite wall, furiously. He ran out of the room, swinging a big object wildly. It was certainly making a racket.
"Back! Back you hungry man, you!"
He used it to saw something within the room's arm off. He thrust it blindly sideways, cutting of its head. The decapitated head rolled on the floor. Jake shut the door, and turned off the object, which had turned out to be a chainsaw. He put it over his shoulder and smiled, contentedly.
"Too many Owen's..." He panted.
Everyone looked at the decapitated head, and indeed it was the Professors. Sam felt queasy looking at it and Ebony almost vomited.
They all looked at where the final door had once been. Sam approached it silently, and placed his ear to the wall. To his surprise he heard a mysterious ticking noise. He heard it slowly increase its rhythm, and backed away from it. The wall blew apart, and a silhouette of a pony wearing a black trench coat, monochrome scarf and a matching top hat stood there. He walked through the hole in the wall and pulled out a shiny, metal object.
Sam stared at it. "Owen, is that a gun?!"
Jake looked at him. "Where'd you a gun from?"
Owen looked at Jake's over sized chainsaw. "Isn't that mine?"
"Touche." Jake scowled. "I found it in your underground secret base!"
Owen gave him a stare. Everyone stopped.
"Secret base?"
"What's he talking about, Owen."
Before Owen could reply, the monstrous figure of Discord returned. He looked angry.
"Well done, ponies. I see you're..." He trailed off as her saw Sam, Jake and Owen.
"God, you're all violent." He laughed.
"Only us three." Sam replied.
Discord sighed.
"Very well, you may have defeated all your fears, with a little cheating." He added. "So I guess you've defeated me, right?" He gave out a large cackle. "I don't think you realise who you're dealing with." He stood up to his full height.
"I'm Discord, master of chaos and disharmony! And what are you? Pathetic ponies. Nothing compared to me."
"We'll see about that. You may be able to defeat magic simply, but good luck against my technology." The Professor grinned.
Discord harrumphed and disappeared. as he left the house changed back to it's original state. Jake yelled in frustration as the candy on the floors disintegrated. He screamed as dust slipped through his hooves.
"NOoooooo!" Jake bellowed.
The Professor ran the stairs quickly, ensuring that everything was in its place. He moved the sofa a few inches to the right. Happy with his work, he opened the door.
A huge force hit him and he blacked out.
***
The Professor awoke with a start, his mane was dripping wet and ice cold. He saw blurs around him, crowding him. He might have felt dazed , but he could still see slightly.
"He's waking up, again Dashie." It appeared to be Sam calling.
Before the Professor could react or protest, he was hit with another downpour of freezing water. He sat up, screaming: "COLD COLD COLD Cold cold!" He looked up and saw a cloud above him. His eyesight had appeared to refocus.
He saw all five of his Earth friends around him and the Mane Six too. He smiled, contentedly.
"How was I knocked out?" Owen questioned.
Everyone shuffled slightly.
"What?" Owen asked.
"Rainbow, might have hit you, slightly, with a... um... Sonic Rainboom."
Owen looked at her in shock.
"Why did that happen?"
"Well, we saw the house shape shifting and we tried to rescue you. The only thing strong enough to break through those doors was a Sonic Rainboom."
"You hit me with a Sonic Rainboom?"
Everyone looked at him, sheepishly. They all nodded.
"Sorry." Twilight said.
"Ah, no matter. There is something I wish for you all to see." He got up, walked a few paces before falling over his sofa. He tried to get up, but failed miserably.
"Damn. That hurts..."
Sam and Jake helped him to his feet. He directed him to the door.
"To Twilight's Library..." He moaned in pain.
***
Discord had begun his full assault upon Ponyville:
The day and night was changing every other minute. The roads had been replaced with bright pink carpets and storms of chocolate rain were soaking everyone that dared to go outside. The Professor and his friends battled through the chaos until the eventually reached Twilight's library.
He walked up to the tree, and bent one of the twigs coming out of the large trunk.
The floor opened up, revealing a stairway heading down.
Owen gestured to his friends. They all looked at each other and helped him down the stairs.
Discord looked at them. He laughed, loudly.
"Hiding won't do you any good!"
***
The Professor's secret base
They appeared to be in a hollowed out mine beneath the tree, some of the trees roots were still sticking out of the dirt walls. There were tables down here, littered with blueprints, paper and notebooks. Owen had certainly been busy.
He pointed to another room. This one was much larger and appeared to be some sort of testing room, as bits of machinery and cogs lay on the floor. In the center of the room was a larger object, covered by an even larger tarpaulin.
Owen raised his arms up and Sam and Jake let him go. He moved quickly over to the tarpaulined object. He use his hoofs to reveal what was beneath. Everyone gasped.
"What the buck is that!?" Rainbow yelled.
Everyone looked up at a large zeppelin, only it looked different to the ones that the Earth friends had learned about in their History lessons. It was slightly more rectangular than a normal blimp would have been. But that wasn't it's oddest feature. Instead of having engines or propellers at the back of the ship, the engines were front propelled, at the very tip of the airship. It looked like it had been there a while, as it was rusting slightly.
Owen flicked a switch and light emitted from bulbs attached from the ceiling. The Mane six were having difficulty digesting all this new technology. As it was unheard of in their world. The doubted even Celestia's greatest scientists could create things like this. Huge engine things and small pieces of glass that emit light. It was all too much for poor Rarity, who fainted.
Owen pressed a button and turned a few dials. The great engines of the zeppelin roared to life.
For the first time, someone spoke.
"Professor, what is that? How did you build it here? Where did you get the resources? How did you find the time to build it?" It was Twilight who was asking all these questions.
Owen replied simply "This, my friends, is the Airship Defender. It is a zeppelin. A zeppelin is a station that is filled up with a gas that is lighter than air, usually helium or hydrogen, and this allows it to fly. I built the station while I was here last time."
"But... Where did you get the resources?" Tom questioned.
Owen smiled and pointed to a badly damaged metal ring in the corner of the room. It looked identical to the one that Owen had used a few days before hand to save them all from the end of the Earth. Only this one was broken and in desperate need of repair.
"With the use of resources of two worlds at my fingertips, I could create pretty much anything." He smiled, happily.
He quickly produced a small blueprint. It showed a fairly basic anti-air gun from Earth. Only this one wouldn't shoot bullets. Owen brought forth a rather small gasoline can. On it, it read "Rainbow Factory". He quickly attached the canister onto one of the genuine anti-air guns on the Airship Defender. He pressed a button, turning on the device. He aimed at a target on a wall. He pulled the trigger.
A short burst of rainbow energy shot out of the barrel of the anti-air gun. It hit the target and then engulfed it in flames, slowly melting and burning it. Owen turned off the Anti-air gun. He got down from it and looked at everyone.
"Well? Are you impressed?"
Everyone was staring, open mouthed at the burning target on the wall.
"How is that possible!?" Twilight asked in horror.
"It's quite simplistic, really. You see I discovered if you fire a pure rainbow through a perfectly cut prism, you can create white light, the same way if you fire white light through a prism it creates the spectrum. Only when I tried it the other way around. It was pure white light, capable of burning and disintegrating anything it touches. Quite useful."
Everything was silent for a while, until finally Twilight spoke again.
"If we can use that to defeat Discord. So be it. If the Elements of Harmony are otherwise engaged. This is our only hope." Twilight looked at the intricate design. When no-one was looking, she teleported the master blueprint upstairs into her library. She rejoined the others.
Owen brought forth another plan of his.
"This was created in case such a problem arised. You see, what I will need is someone to distract Discord while I try to attack him. Rainbow? Can I trust you to do that?"
Rainbow grinned. "Yes, sir!" she saluted him.
"Excellent, Twilight, I need you aboard the Defender, with me. Sam and Jake? Man the anti-air guns!"
Twilight smiled at him, kindly. Jake and Sam yelled, happily and lept on the anti-air guns. Owen flicked another switch, this time huge motors could be heard, grinding and turning at something. The wall in front of the zeppelin opened up slowly, revealing the bright green sky outside. Another one of Discord's ploys.
"The rest of you!" Owen yelled over the noise of the engines. "Distract him as long as you can!" He helped Twilight onto the bridge and into the cockpit. It was rather small and cramped, only big enough for four ponies at the very most.
There was a strange steering wheel in the cockpit with many buttons and dials also. Owen sat in the pilot seat, he flexed his hoofs and pushed a gear forwards. The great engines, propelled him forwards out of the hanger and into the sky. He looked out of the windows, then checked the altitude meter.
"I hope you're ready, Discord. I hope you're ready."
Brave New World, Discord's Revenge
Tom watched as Owen left for Ponyville. He saw another tarpaulin covered object in another corner of the hanger. His frowned and moved over to it.
"It can't be..." He whispered. "No..."
He tore the tarpaulin off the object. A smile erupted on his face.
Lying in front of him was a beautiful, red Fokker triplane. It was equipped with a rotating barreled, rainbow laser. He beamed happily then climbed in. He chuckled as the engine purred to life.
"Where are you going?" Ebony ran over to him.
"I'm off to help Owen defeat Discord!" Tom yelled triumphantly. He thrust his hoofs against the accelerator and soared out of the hanger, into the pale green sky. He laughed as the wind whipped at his face. It felt like the first time he had flown a plane. A long time ago.
***
The Professor flew at an eastward coordinate. He checked the altitude of the zeppelin and pulled a lever, releasing some of the helium into the atmosphere.
He turned to Twilight who was giggling. She hadn't flown before, not like this. She watched as the pink candy floss floated by. She sighed and turned to the Professor.
“This will be able to save us. Right?” She questioned.
Owen didn't respond. Instead he turned on a microphone and spoke into it.
“Kitchin, Palmer. How are things in the anti-air compartment?”
A crackled message came through. “Alert! Alert! We have a large number of explosive pies coming our way! “
Owen frowned then looked out of the window. To his horror, Discord was throwing endless amounts of pastry based products at the airship.
Owen lunged at the controls of his beloved airship; he turned the ship around until it faced Discord directly. He activated his microphone again. But this time it could be heard outside the zeppelin.
"Discord! I demand that you surrender yourself to Celestia or face utter destruction!"
Discord laughed loudly and brought out a huge mallet. He swung it toward the blimp.
Owen growled and almost screamed into the microphone.
"Jake! Sam! Mallet at nine o'clock!"!
Sam and Jake heard him and turned their anti-air guns to see the oversized mallet swinging toward them. They both clenched their triggers. The guns fired.
The rainbow lasers cut through the mallet, turning it to mere ribbons. Shards of steel fell through the air.
Discord looked shocked, even impressed. He then growled as Jake and Sam opened fire on him. He screamed in horror as wherever the rainbow lasers touched him, turned his body to stone. He hovered in the sky, looking at his hand, which was now littered with heavy stone polka dots.
He summoned a gun of his own. Two very large Gatling guns appeared in front of him. They both began to rotate and fire endless cupcakes at the anti-air room. Jake and Sam lept out of the room into the pilot's cockpit as the room behind them exploded. It was a tight squeeze but they all managed to stay unclaustrophobic.
Owen turned to them.
"Hows the anti-air bay, guys?"
They all pointed to the burning wreckage behind them.
"My anti-air guns!" The Professor cried.
The cockpit shook violently. A large red light on the dashboard started to flash.
"Wha-?" Owen said.
"Need a little help, Owen?" A voice called over the loudspeaker.
A large blurred object, flew past the windscreen. The Professor pressed his face against the window. He could just make out a large red triplane flying off into the distance.
"TOM?" Owen yelled.
"Evening, Professor. Need back-up?" Tom replied over his built-in microphone.
"Please." Owen replied as the cockpit shook violently again. "Where the hell is Rainbow Dash?"
"Already on her way." Tom said. He turned his plane around and aimed at Discord.
Tom's hooves clenched around the trigger and his tongue came out as he concentrated. He pulled the pulled the button on the trigger. His huge mounted anti-air guns blasted rainbow lasers out of there barrels.
Discord turned, but had little time to react as his torso was bombarded with rainbow lasers. He growled.
"Enough!" Discord screeched.
He pulled his arms in and thrust them out again, sending a huge rippling force outward, towards Tom's triplane. Tom tried to avoid the ripple of energy, but he failed. He yelled as the wings of his plane exploded and caught fire. His engine roared until it died, then it to exploded. He tried to use his wings to escape but to no avail. The entire plane erupted in flames then exploded into a huge fireball.
Ebony, Aimee and Rainbow were flying at a quite high speed toward the burning plane wreckage. Ebony was flying the fastest, using her hatred for Discord at this point in time to fuel her. The more she thought about her boyfriend's chared corpse, the more her wings beated. Faster and faster toward the mess.
She flew inside the plane as it was falling toward the ground. She saw Tom, still alive, and picked him up onto her back. She used her wings to fly out of the crashed plane, with Tom precariously balanced on her back. Tom opened his eyes and yelped as he realised how high up he was. He grasped onto Ebony for dear life.
Meanwhile, Discord had turned his attention back to the Professor's airship. He scrunched up his nose and pointed his eagle claw at it.
"You have meddled in my affairs for the last time, Professor!"
He pulled his arms in again, ready to release another energy thrust. Owen wiped the sweat from his brow.
He pushed a button on the microphone. "Divert all power to the main laser." He said, simply. No emotion in his voice at all.
The zeppelin lit up a phycadelic colour. It was pulsating in a rhythm. A rhythm that was getting faster. Discord looked at the pulsating zeppelin. He stopped the energy flow just to watch.
Inside the cockpit, Twilight was screaming as the engines were roaring horrifically and smoke was spewing out of them. She thrust her hoofs around the Professor. Jake threw himself through a window to avoid death, teleporting to some unknown location. Sam flew out of the window, avoiding falling materials from the airship. Owen kept at the controls, steadying his beloved airship. He wasn't going to lose, not when he was so close.
He altered some numbers on a screen, insuring that they didn't go too high. He also pressed a few switches on, then off again. His face was contorted with concentration and he was so close. He pushed a few more buttons until...
The dashboard died.
Owen stopped breathing. He looked at the dead control panel. A single button light up. Owen's face exploded into a huge grin like that of a child on Christmas morning. He looked out of the cockpit. Discord was still hovering there in the sky. He looked smug.
"Time to wipe that grin off his face..." The Professor muttered.
He turned on the microphone again.
"I won't repeat myself again, Discord. Surrender now, or face utter destruction."
Discord stuck out his tongue and blew a raspberry, before throwing an oversized rubber duck at the pulsating blimp.
The Professor turned off the microphone. "Suit yourself." He shrugged. He strapped himself into the seat, tightening his seatbelt.
"I don't know how powerful this will be..." He said as he turned to Twilight, who was still hanging on for dear life. "Strap in and hang on."
***
Ebony landed on the hard, blue, polka dotted ground. She rolled Tom off her back. He groaned and looked up at her. He smiled, gently before raising a hoof to point at the zeppelin. Ebony frowned, then turned to see what he had pointed at.
The airship was no longer a rainbow colour, but it was still pulsating. It was releasing huge amounts of energy from its engines and pressure valves, even though it wasn't going anywhere.
The Professor's microphone turned on for the last time and a few choice words were delivered.
"In the words of the immortal Dick van Dyke. Chim chimney, chim chimney, chim chim, screw you."
There was a huge burst of blinding white light. Everyone immediately put there hoofs to their eyes to stop them from being visually impaired. a split-second later, however a huge roar came from the airship.
It was a deafening, head splitting, ear-drum popping roar. It sounded like a wounded animal, finally being put out of it's misery.
Everyone scrambled away from the noise, groaning in pain.
Discord stood there, enjoying the firework show. He materialised a pair of sunglasses and placed them over his eyes.
"Ah, much better." He said, bringing a box of popcorn out of thin air. He raised an eyebrow, as he sensed something coming towards him. Something powerful.
VERY powerful.
Discord screamed as a huge rainbow laser erupted out of the barrel of the Defender, hitting him square in the chest. He gasped for air as his entire body was slowly turned back to stone. His eyeballs disintegrated and his teeth turned to dust. He moaned in pain as the cartilage in his nose crumpled. He let out one last defiant yell, before his entire body was returned to the stony prison from whence it came.
The body fell through the air, and as it hit the ground, Equestria was returned to it's natural unchaotic state.
Owen sat in the cockpit of the Defender. The blood pumping in his ears as they were still ringing from the noise. Oddly, that noise had stopped, as had the noise of the main engines. He turned to Twilight, who was sitting there, dazed.
He moved her slightly, until she regained her consciousness. She woke up and looked at him.
"Did we... win?" She asked.
"I think so..." Owen replied.
The two embraced each other in a hug. Twilight was happy now, happier than she had even been before. She had found where she belonged, with her hoofs wrapped around the one pony she loved. Owen cut the hug short. Immediately Twilight questioned him.
"What's wrong?"
"Does that sound... good to you?" He said, tapping at the walls of the cockpit.
***
Owen's Earth friends looked over the hill they had been using as shelter from the racket. The rest of the Mane Six were there too. They were all looking backwards and forwards between the defeated statue of Discord and the Defender.
"Way to go, Professor!" Rainbow dash squealed.
Everyone bursted in a mix of applause and cheering. Owen, however was still pacing around the cockpit.
Everyone fell silent. "What's he doing?" A local asked.
"Is he okay?" another said.
The blimp seemed to be sucking in energy again, pulsating like it did before. Only this time, the noise it made was barely a whisper, almost inaudible to the pony ear.
The silence was broken by an ear-splitting "click". The Defender's engines shut down and its propeller stopped working. Ebony frowned.
"What's going on... I wond-"
The Defender spontaneously combusted into a huge burning, ball of fire. The balloon section fell away from the cockpit and the propeller exploded into tiny fragments of metal. The rudder of the ship caught fire and disintegrated in less than a second. Eventually after two whole minutes of burning, the fire reached the main rainbow laser's core.
The entire zeppelin went up in a huge Sonic Rainboom, the first to be created artificially, leaving behind a huge black sky, filled to the brim with debris.
Everyone stared up at the sky. Ebony narrowed her eyes. She could about see a small object flying out of the smoke cloud. She gasped and pointed.
"Look! They made it out!"
Everyone joined in with a huge applause, welcoming their saviour home. The crowd that had gathered on the hillside suddenly parted to reveal a large, white mare walking towards the cliff.
Princess Celestia stood at the very edge of the cliff and looked around. All her subjects were bowing to her, and so were a few new ones that had arrived earlier on in the week. She smiled at the five newcomers, then she looked at the skies.
A small, dirty object was flying slowly towards her. The object crashed into the hillside and stopped, abruptly. Celestia walked towards it and brought a small body out of the wreckage.
Celestia gasped in horror as she saw her most faithful student lying there, covered in blood, clutching at something.
"Twilight! My faithful student, are you alright?"
Twilight shook her head vigorously.
"Are you hurt?" Celestia asked, shocked.
Twilight, once again shook her head. She sat on the ground, her head in her hoofs. After a few moments she brought forth a small object she had been keeping close to her chest. Celestia took a closer look at the object. Everyone gasped.
It was a small, slightly burnt, black top hat. The one Owen had been wearing.
"He's gone..." Twilight sobbed. "He's gone..."
Twilight buried her head head in her hoofs and began to cry. She had just lost her only special somepony. The one that had really mattered. Celestia looked up at the burning wreckage in the sky. Her horn light up a florescent gold, and the debris and smoke disappeared. She looked back at her faithful student, who's heart had just been broken by the loss of her greatest love.
Twilight replayed the memory in her head.
***
"Should you be tapping it like that?" Twilight asked.
"It sounds solid, it should sound hollow. That's odd." He turned around. His eyes widened as if he'd remembered something.
"Oh, hell." Was all he could say before the cockpit burst into flames. He dodged a burning cable and threw Twilight into the driver's seat.
He pressed a small green switch and looked at Twilight. It was a sad look. A look of sorrow. Twilight was about to say something before she fell.
Twilight gasped. She had fallen out of the zeppelin. Only she was in a something. It resembled Tom's triplane, only this had one pair of wings. she thumbed down the accelerator and the plane zipped forward. Twilight screamed as the Defender exploded and something hit her in the back of her head. She frowned and picked it up.
It was his hat.
She looked at it and tears welled in her eyes.
"No..."
The plane crashed into a small mountainside and Twilight jerked forward. Her head was bleeding, she could feel it dripping down her forehead. Some of her blood dripped onto the Professor's hat. She felt something pull at her, and someone's telekinesis pulled her out of the plane.
It was Princess Celestia.
***
Twilight lead there on the grass, stroking Owen's hat. It smelled like him. It smelled warm and kind. She clutched it tightly. It had been three hours since the accident. According to Celestia's scientists, the zeppelin had discharged too much energy which had resulted in the explosion. The scientists had taken the remains of the blimp for further research.
Discord's statue had been removed and had been taken into a vault for safekeeping. (Or at least that's what Celestia had said.) To ensure that he could cause no more harm to anyone.
The Professor's body hadn't been recovered. She hoped it was never found. She didn't want to identify it as her Professor.
She sat on the hillside, as lonely as can be.
Brave New World, Discord's Revenge
The Professor's final memories
***
Owen pushed a button and Twilight dropped out of the Defender, screaming. He looked down at where she had been. He sighed, almost as if it was a mere annoyance. The hole that had been created by the leaving of the cockpit was creating a vacuum, and his hat flew off his head.
"Bloody...hat." He groaned.
Owen walked through the ruined airship, he turned into the balloon section, where he sat down. He looked at the small chest that was inside it. He opened it up and took out the contents: A small steel rapier, a woven belt and his small, silver revolver.
The balloon shook violently and it suddenly combusted. Owen screamed as the floor gave way and he fell through the burning inferno. He grabbed hold of his sword as it flew through the air. He grabbed uselessly at his revolver as it slipped away from him. He growled in annoyance.
He saw the Everfree Forest rushing to meet him. He cried slightly as the ground met him. As he landed he created a small crater in the earth. He wheezed and groaned in pain. The trees around him were destroyed and other debris were hitting the ground around him. His revolver landed neatly beside him.
He did a quick survey of his bodily parts. Back? Broken. Shoulders? Dislocated. Neck. Almost snapped. Heart. Stopping.
"Hell. I'm going to die..." He gasped. "No..."
Owen's eyes closed and he drifted into an eternal slumber.
***
Celestia used her magic to unveil the statue. It was a small stone pony, beside a huge stone model of the Defender. All the ponies that had arrived to pay there respects applauded politely. Twilight sat at the front, holding back her tears. She went to the statue and placed the burnt hat on the stone Professor's head.
"I'll miss you..." She whispered, sobbing into her hooves.
Applejack put her hat over her eyes, Fluttershy looked at the floor, sadly. Rarity cried endless amounts of tears into her hankie, while Pinkie attempted to cheer her up. Rainbow Dash stood there solemnly, trying to not let any tears escape their ducts.
Ebony and Tom held each other tightly, scaresly believing that their best friend had been destroyed. Aimee looked sadly at the statue. Jake was messing around with some firecrackers while attempting to look upset.
Celestia stood there, silently. She looked into the mind of all her newest subjects, in search of memories of the Professor. She looked into Ebony's firstly.
He was a nice boy, a little paranoid perhaps, but a nice, kind, polite boy. She had loved him at one point. Celestia watched as Ebony saw Owen turn nasty. Celestia frowned.
"There's something evil, deep within him..."
She watched as Owen devoured and manipulated. He obliterated humans, he ended friendships and influenced many until they were under his control. He clenched his right fist and gave out a laugh of victory. Celestia's fear steadily increased. Eventually, when he was at his most powerful, he stopped. He simply stopped. He sat down on the floor and started to weep. About what he had done. About what he had ended and destroyed. Ebony stepped out of the shadows and helped him to his feet. He looked exceedingly shocked. He started to smile. They both hugged and carried on with their lives.
The memory ended. Celestia looked shocked. He was so kind...yet so evil. A match made in hell. Something that wasn't meant to be created. She liked it. Danger and safety wrapped into one. Defeat and victory entwined, forevermore. An interesting mix.
She looked into everyone else's memories. It was relatively similar. He was kind and nice, then something turned him. Oddly, everyone stopped Celestia to see what had changed him. She smiled, sadly. A mystery that was never meant to be explained.
After she snapped back to reality, her younger sister, Princess Luna, nudged her side, gently.
"Maybe you should go and see Twilight Sparkle, she has had a big shock, after all."
All the other ponies had left the funeral. Celestia nodded and her younger sister left the two alone. Celestia trotted up to Twilight.
"Are you alright, my faithful student?" she queried.
Twilight sat on the statue, running her hoof over the Professor's stone mane.
"I lost him... He saved me... But I lost him..." Was all she could manage before she started to weep, once more.
Celestia wrapped her large wings around her student.
Several days later
***
Twilight was reading a new book she had discovered inside the Professor's secret lair. It was entitled "Great Expectations" and she was enjoying this Earth literature, immensely.
She finished the chapter and placed the book on a new shelf. The shelf was titled: "Earth Literature and the Professor's notes." She brought out a picture of a huge warship. It was twice the size of a normal blimp and had almost triple the weapons. She couldn't see any place for helium to be imputed, which led her to the conclusion that this aircraft was powered by engines alone.
Twilight, to this day, couldn't understand how this would work. It would take insane amounts of power to even lift that thing, let alone allow it to fly. She put her hoof on a section of the blueprint with the annotation: "Atomic Rainboom Engines, or ARE for short." Twilight couldn't understand what that meant. Then again, no one else would either... considering he was dead.
She shook the horrible memory from her brain and continued to read the notes.
She read through the "Rainbow Laser", "Atomic Rainbomb" and the "Crystal needler weaponry" sections of his notes, until she reached a section she had not read before.
It was called "Carnage Arc Reactor". It was designed to power machines that could mass produce anything in his notes, as it had an endless supply of electricity. It appeared to be created from a green gem called "Uranium" and a black rock called "Coal". In the corner of the sketch was a large annotation inscribed:
"THIS WAS NOT COPIED FROM THE HUMAN UNIVERSE, promise."
Twilight laughed at the little joke he had left behind. Then felt sad, as she remembered that hug they had shared. An upsetting memory. She thrust it from her head.
The doorbell rang and Spike answered it. It was Ebony. Twilight turned around and ushered her in. She showed her the Professor's blueprints.
"Yeah, most of these are from our world..." Ebony mused. She stopped as she saw one of them.
"But not that one..." She pointed at a sketch called "Executor". "This wasn't created by Humans..."
This was the sketch of the helium-less warship. With the huge engines. Ebony frowned and looked at it. It's intricate design was streamlined, different to anything of an Earthly origin. Almost alien. Owen must have designed it himself.
"He had quite the imagination...Always the brightest..." She silenced herself, aware of what she might be implying.
"It's quite alright, Ebony... It's fine." Twilight trailed off.
"I just miss him..." She said.
Twilight came and sat with her. She wrapped her hooves around her neck and said:
"He said those words once. Only replace the word "Him" with "Her" and that's the exact words he said, when he lost a friend of his. The best thing to do, is to carry on his memory."
Twilight nodded.
"For him."
Brave New World, Discord's Revenge
A few days later
Nightmare Night
***
It was Nightmare Night at the Earthling's residence and everyone was dressed up. Except Jake, who required a little explanation of what Nightmare Night actually was.
"Jake, why aren't you in costume?" Sam asked, while Rainbow, who was wearing her Shadowbolt costume, tried to fix the Slenderman mask over his face.
"I don't understand this holiday... I never celebrated Halloween back on Earth, so why should I celebrate Nightmare Night?"
Sam sighed. "Basically, you just knock on people's doors and ask for free candy, and if they don't give it to you, you trick them!"
"So... It's like a mugging?" Jake replied, hopefully.
Sam nodded, fearfully.
"Fantastic!" He beamed. "I shall acquire my hockey mask, gun and other items of DOOM!"
Jake launched himself up the stairway in search of his weapons.
Sam and Rainbow looked at each other and shrugged.
"He's so random..." Rainbow murmured, still trying to fix Sam's mask. "He should go out with Pinkie."
"Great idea!" Sam replied, nodding.
Twilight entered the room, she was wearing a black trench coat, monochrome scarf and a matching top hat. She smiled and twirled her long, flowing coat around. Aimee followed her in, wearing a Steampunk outfit.
"Wow, you both look awesome!" Sam complimented.
"Thanks!" Twilight replied, still twirling the back of her coat, the way the Professor used to. It was fun to do, no wonder he liked it.
Ebony and Tom entered the room, both dressed as werewolves. Ebony's costume was a dark, navy blue colour, while Tom's was a deep, crimson red. They reminded Aimee of the wolves off Okami. They both snuggled each other as they walked in.
Twilight looked over at the portrait of the Professor on the wall. She sighed then brought herself to return to reality. She smiled at her friends.
"Shall we?" She said, beckoning to the brand new, Jake-proof, door.
Jake came down the stairs wearing a white hockey mask, a black suit and a gun hostler with a loaded firearm inside. Over his left shoulder he carried his trusty chainsaw. Jake inspected the sign on the door, frowning at it.
"Jake-proof..." He murmured. He raised his chainsaw. "We'll see about that!" He struck the door with his chainsaw.
There was a burst of light, and the crackle of electricity and Jake was lying face first on the ground.
"Eugh..." He moaned, attempting to get up. He rubbed his eye, noticing how painful it was.
Everyone laughed at him, then proceeded through the door to the festivities outside. Many pony's were dressed up in their favorite outfits enjoying the free sweets of the evening. Jake ran up to the nearest house and shot two of the windows.
"This is the magic police, give us all of your candy and no more windows will be harmed!" He yelled.
A wall-eyed mare appeared at the door. She was smiling, slightly...until she saw her departed windows.
"What did my windows ever do to you?" she questioned.
"They're far too transparent for they're own good..." Jake mused.
The mare sighed. "I guess I'll be cleaning that up?"
"Can't I have my candy? Ever since I hurt my eye, I've been craving nothing but candy!"
"Eurgh... fine." The mare gave Jake some sweets. Jake's face lit up like the Blackpool Illuminations.
"And now, for my next trick...ah sod it, I can't think of anything clever to say." Jake muttered.
He walked up to the mare's windows and sprayed them with some sort of transparent sealant.
"Instant-Window." He mused. "Never leave home without it." He blew the top of the lid of the "Instant-Window" as if it were a smoking gun.
The mare looked mightily impressed with this feat.
"Wow! Thanks mister. You've fixed your own problem. My name's Derpy Hooves. What's yours?"
"I'm Newt Pipington British-hooves!" He yelled. Derpy tilted her head. "Actually, my name's Jake. It's not flashy or awesome. But it suffices."
"Cool, I'll guess I'll see you around, huh mister?"
Jake didn't reply as he was already to busy shooting the neighbours windows with his pistol. Derpy sighed then returned to her house. She checked the windows. They were spotlessly clean and completely undamaged.
***
Throughout Ponyville, a shadow was leaping across the rooftops. It was being chased. It lept from chimney stack to chimney stack, avoiding the chaser. The chaser, wearing a hood and cloaked in darkness, however, refused to allow this out of it's sight.
It crashed down upon one of the rooftops and pulled out a rope with a small, metal hook on the end. It thrust the hook at it's catch and brought him to his knees. The hooded figure walked up to him.
"Don't try that again." It whispered. It took down it's hood, revealing a unicorn horn.
The horn glowed with a terrifying red aura, then it sent a stabbing pain into his victim. The victim cried out in pain for a few seconds, before laying quite still on the rooftop.
The figure pulled up it's hood again, and insured the armor it was wearing was sufficiently attached. Satisfied, it lept to the next roof-top. It lept between thatches roofs and jumped between alley-ways. It sat on the top of one of the roofs in a sitting position overlooking the town.
It used it's glowing red magic to propel itself to the taller buildings in Ponyville, eventually landing on top of the Town Hall. It smiled, wildly and sat on one of the roof's outcroppings, poised.
***
Jake had gathered quite the number of sweets by the time he had arrived at the main square. He looked around, cautiously. He remembered Owen's wise words: "You can never be too careful, unless you have OCD."
"Wise words..." Jake muttered. "I'm sad that he's gone."
He walked into an alley way and turned a corner and a small body fell from the roof and landed square in front of Jake.
Jake looked at the body in disgust. He looked up and saw a hooded figure staring down at him.
"Hey! At least dump it in a car compactor!" He yelled, shaking his fist. "Or throw it off a pier! Either or!"
The hooded figure lept from its position on the roof and landed neatly on a thatched house beside it. Jake shrugged off what he had seen and stepped over the ruined corpse in front of him.
"Hey Jake!" Sam said as he approached him. "I..." He stopped when he saw the dead corpse. "Wha? Did you kill this poor pony?"
Jake shook his head, violently. "No! The idea that I would hurt any other living, sentient being is... far-fetched!" He slowly hid the chainsaw behind his back.
"Jake... Why are this ponies hand's missing?"
"Wha? Oh, yeah. Now THAT was me." He smiled contentedly, while chomping on a knuckle.
Sam looked distraught. "Wha? When did you take up cannibalism?"
"Well, considering I'm technically a human, it can't technically be classed as technical cannibalism. Technically." Jake continued to argue his point. "Plus when I started to commit genocide, no-one complained."
Sam backed away from Jake, wondering if it was such a good idea to be close to him with that oversized chainsaw balanced over his shoulder and that gun in his holster.
A unicorn walked by, he was dressed in a tweed jacket with a crimson bow-tie. He held a small gilded pocket watch and had a belt with a long, thin sword inside its sheath. He had a short, black mane and his eyes were a deep hazel brown. He looked at the dead body.
"A murder..." He murmured. He had a distinct British accent, suggesting that he was from Trottingham. He wandered over to the dead body and examined it. "No signs of any mortal wounds, aside the hands of course. So that suggests that magic did this. Something powerful too." He lifted up the dead pony's hoof.
"No signs of a struggle." He whispered.
He turned to Jake.
"Did you see the murderer?" He questioned.
"Yes." Jake replied. "He was wearing a hood and it appeared to be wearing something shiny...What's so funny?"
The pony was smiling. "You said 'he', which insinuates that the murderer was male, but it may well have been female. But that's society for you." He continued to examine the body.
Ebony walked up and saw the pony in the tweed suit.
"Owen!?" She yelled, almost thrusting her hooves around the pony.
The strange newcomer seemed bewildered, but suddenly regained his bearings.
"No, I'm afraid you are mistaken. My name is Detective Huxley of Trottingham Yard, or was. I'm retired now, you see. But it's nice to look into mysteries once in a blue moon." He looked down at the body.
Ebony looked disappointed and embarrassed. "Oh! I'm ever so sorry..." She mumbled.
"No matter. Mistakes happen... Aha!" The Detective picked up something. It appeared to be a strand of hair.
"Hmm. Green in origin. Oddly, our victim here has a navy blue mane." He pulled out a notepad using his telekinesis and a pen. He began to scribble down notes.
"Unicorn...and has a green mane..." He read, after writing down his notes. "Now all we need is something a bit more factual."
He walked off in the direction of the main square, where all the festivities were being held. He turned a few corners before reaching the square. The others followed him. Ebony grabbed hold of Twilight as she walked passed her. Twilight looked confused.
"Hey, Ebony! What's the rush?"
She pointed at the Detective, and Twilight almost screamed.
"It looks just like him. Doesn't it?" Ebony whispered, afraid that the Detective would hear. She explained to Twilight about the murder and how this pony was experienced in this profession.
A pony bumped into the Detective, knocking him to the ground. The pony looked shocked and so she helped the Detective her his feet. The Detective nodded his appreciation.
"Oh! I'm so sorry! I should have been more careful. I'm looking for my friend, Lyra, you haven't seen her, have you?"
Before the Detective could respond, the mare had ran off into the crowds in search of her friend.
"Bon Bon?" Twilight thought. "I wonder where Lyra's got to..."
The Detective shook himself and looked at the pony that had just left him. He tilted his head to the left in thought.
"How odd." He mused.
A loud thud sounded behind the Detective. He turned slowly, but was punched in the face by another pony. He fell to the ground, but got back up, brushing the dust off his coat as if it were a mere annoyance. He looked at his attacker.
"Harpsichord..." He snarled. "What business do you have here?"
Harpsichord looked at the Detective. She smiled. She was wearing a black cowl and a hood, which was obscuring her face. She was also wearing some form of plated metal armor. However her biggest feature was the brooch she had strapped to her chest. It was pulsing with dark, crimson energy.
The Detective realised what it was immediately.
"The Alicorn Amulet..." He whispered in fright. He backed away, as Harpsichord began to gain energy. She displaced some of her energy, throwing the Detective off into a building, where he hit it with a crunch. It sounded like a beetle being crushed under a boot.
He tried to get up, but his old age had gotten the better of him. He opened his eyes and Harpsichord was standing over him.
"Happy Nightmare Night." She uttered.
He froze as she was pointing her glowing red horn at the base of his skull.
Brave New World, Discord's Revenge
The Detective pulled out a small handgun and aimed it at Harpsichord's face. She lept back, avoiding the three bullets that shot out of the gun's barrel. She stood there, examining him. She smiled, wildly and shot a beam of pure crimson energy at him. The Detective ducked, allowing the shot to collapse a nearby house.
Before long, the guards had arrived.
The first, a tall white pegasus, launched himself at Harpsichord. But he didn't take her by surprise. She thrust her hoof at him, knocking him to the cold and unforgiving floor. The force snapped his neck and killed him instantly.
The second, a smaller unicorn, was attempting to attack her with bolts of magic. He aimed for her legs and one of the bolts actually hit it's target. The bolt knocked Harpsichord to the ground. She hissed in pain. She threw a small knife concealed in her coat, at the unicorn, striking him in the forehead. She turned around and two more guards were coming for her. She growled.
She had had enough of this little game.
The Alicorn Amulet glowed a deep crimson, and the first guard suddenly stopped. His face was contorted with confusion. He gave a cry, half out of fear and half out of confusion. After a few seconds, his neck turned inside out, his spinal column showing. The dead pony hit the road with a crunch.
The second attacker turned to see his companion dead on the road, his blood flowing freely onto the street. As he stared, Harpsichord got to her feet. The Amulet once again flashed.
The second guard felt a beam of light hit him. He started to smoke and soon he set ablaze. The fire engulfed him and fried his brains for several seconds, before he to, fell to the ground.
The Detective had reloaded his firearm and had aimed it at Harpsichord's head, sideways. His eye's narrowed and he licked his lips. He thumbed off the safety and pulled the trigger sharply. A single bullet shot out of the gun and went for her head.
Harpsichord turned around and the bullet stopped. It floated in mid-air for a moment before turning to dust right before the Detective's eyes. He stood there, staring at the dust. All around there littered dead ponies. Harpsichord smiled.
"You can't beat me, Detective. So I wouldn't recommend trying. At all." Her eyes flashed white.
She walked, calmly off into the night and disappeared into the shadows.
The Detective looked up, panting heavily. He glanced at the four dead guards littered around the place.
"Damn."
***
Many officers of Celestia were at work trying to figure out what was going on. One pony that the Detective knew had turned up. They had been discussing Harpsichord and her strange discovery of the Alicorn Amulet. They came to the conclusion that she had read about it and dug it up out of the Everfree Forest.
Some officers were drawing chalk lines on the floor around the dead guards and the other victims, while others were scribbling down notes on small notepads. Even the Captain of the Royal Guard was there, Shining Armor.
He and the Detective had been talking about Harpsichord's past crimes. Eventually, Shining Armor went to talk to his sister, leaving the Detective alone.
The Detective sat on a small bench and stroked his chin with his hoof. He closed his eyes.
"Hmm." He thought. He opened up a mental image. The image showed Harpsichord's anatomy, her reactions and her brain capacity. He then added the evidence to the mental image that he had found earlier. After much debate between brain cells, he came to a conclusion. He opened his eyes.
The Detective smiled and he turned to Twilight. "Get everyone in Ponyville to the main square, if you don't mind."
Twilight looked confused, but she nodded and called her friends to round up everyone in Ponyville.
***
Everyone was sitting or standing in the Ponyville main square. The Detective was standing in the middle of the square with Twilight. All the Earth-born ponies were there too, sitting on some benches looking intently at the Detective. He stood there, staring at the ground. Bon Bon was looking happy, as Lyra was sat next to her, in her usual sitting position.
After a few minutes everyone fell silent. The Detective looked up.
"We are gathered here today, because a mare has ruthlessly killed our fellow ponies... And thus, she should be punished. But to do this, we must firstly discover her identity." He pulled out a notepad and read out his evidence.
"This mare was had a green mane, as shown by the forensic team, earlier. She also was a unicorn, using unspeakable magic."
The Detective paced around the square. Eventually he stopped.
"I know who killed those ponies, and I know why."
"Because, the person who has the key to this mystery... IS YOU!"
He was pointing at Lyra.
Lyra looked aghast.
"Your accusation is incorrect..." She muttered.
"Oh, really?" The Detective mused. "So, you wouldn't mind telling me where you were from the hours of six till seven o'clock tonight?"
Lyra looked terrified, but she spoke.
"I was...um.. Oh yes. I was sitting in my room reading a book."
Bon Bon looked at the ground, nervously. The Detective noticed this.
"Well, if that be the case, how come it took Bon Bon here so long to find you, don't you... live together?"
Lyra's eyes widened.
"Bon Bon searched for you the whole night. It's quite odd that she couldn't find you in her own home."
Lyra shuffled slightly.
"Let us change the subject." The Detective began to pace again, this time he turned to Bon Bon.
"How long have you known Lyra?" He asked, politely.
Bon Bon looked as scared as a sheep being mauled by a viscous wolf.
"Um... A fe- few years... I -I guess..."
"Have you noticed anything strange over those few years?"
"Well..." She mumbled and looked at Lyra.
"Sometimes.. She goes out on evenings... and doesn't return till the next day. And she'l never tell me where she's going..."
Suddenly she burst into tears and stood up.
"I'm sorry Lyra! I can't help cover up the fact that you murder innocent ponies!" Tears were streaming down her face.
Lyra was looking at the ground. She smiled and parted her coat, revealing the Alicorn Amulet.
Bon Bon shook her head. "Please, I love you. Don't do this. We could start afresh! A new life. Whatdya say?"
Lyra looked up and her eyes glowed red.
"No." She whispered before there was a flash of lightning. A few moments later, Bon Bon's lifeless corpse was laying on the ground, blood streaming from the gaping hole in her forehead.
There was panic. Ponies rushed to escape from the mad mare. She smiled and turned to the Detective.
"Your level of intimidation will not work on me, Detective." The Amulet glowed again.
The Detective stood there. He pulled out his revolver and aimed it at the base of Lyra's skull.
"Looks like we have a good, old-fashioned stand-off."
They both stood there for a few minutes.
"Old fashioned stand-off's are mighty boring." The Detective muttered. He nodded and pulled the trigger.
The bullet sailed past Lyra's head. She laughed, hysterically.
"You missed you half-wit foal!"
The Detective tilted his head and raised an eyebrow.
Lyra frowned and turned around to see what was there. She was expecting some sort of explosion, or something else. A firing square perhaps.
The Detective pocketed his revolver and brought out his sword. He launched himself at Lyra, who created a sword out of thin air to combat him. They both attacked and parried each other's shots.
"Such a clumsy attempt." Lyra snarled as she spun her sword towards his neck.
"Not at all." The Detective replied, blocking the shot, and thrusting the sword forwards towards her stomach.
Lyra parried the blow and went for his neck. The Detective, used his blade to chip away at Lyra's knuckle guard. He dug the blades tip into the knuckle guard and twisted.
The sword flew out of Lyra's hoof and a landed on the ground with a thud. The Alicorn Amulet glowed red again.
"Sweet dreams!" Lyra yelled.
The Detective lurched forward with his sword, it sheared through the Alicorn Amulet, leaving two, worthless halves of it on the floor.
Lyra was shocked, she turned to the Detective for an explanation.
He was stroking his sword, gently.
"You see, I had this rapier modified. It's made out of woven steel. It'll go through pretty much anything."
He pointed the sword at Lyra's throat. "You're under arrest."
Lyra looked up at the Detective. She didn't want to lose to him. Not that smug, little idiot. She lent herself forward, violently, so that the sword pierced her windpipe.
The blood spurted out, indicating her death. The Detective looked at her. He sighed and put away his blade. Twilght came running up to him.
"Are you alright?" She questioned, panting slightly."
"Quite." He replied. "Well. Crisis averted." He turned to walk away.
Lyra sat up, covered in blood and crawled towards the Detective. The Detective, completely unaware, continued. She grabbed at his hind legs, causing him to fall face first into a puddle of rainwater. He sat and and saw two royal guards and Shining Armor leap on top of her.
He smiled and turned to go. He brushed off his coat and insured his hair was...
Twilight looked in disbelief at him. His hair had been dyed a black colour and his cutie mark had been painted over. She stared at him.
"Professor?" She croaked.
The pony in front of her didn't try to hide it. He simply brushed of the rest of the dye and scrubbed the paint of his rump. He wrapped his hooves around her neck.
"I'm sorry." He whispered.
By this point everyone else had arrived. Sam, Ebony, Tom and Aimee looked in disbelief.
Twilight broke off from the hug. "How did you survive?!"
"Well." He said, he sat down on a bench." It was a pure coincidence really."
And so, he started his tale.
Brave New World, Discord's Revenge
The Professor's Tale
***
The balloon shook violently and it suddenly combusted. Owen screamed as the floor gave way and he fell through the burning inferno. He grabbed hold of his sword as it flew through the air. He grabbed uselessly at his revolver as it slipped away from him. He growled in annoyance.
He saw the Everfree Forest rushing to meet him. He cried slightly as the ground met him. As he landed he created a small crater in the earth. He wheezed and groaned in pain. The trees around him were destroyed and other debris were hitting the ground around him. His revolver landed neatly beside him.
He did a quick survey of his bodily parts. Back? Broken. Shoulders? Dislocated. Neck. Almost snapped. Heart. Stopping.
"Hell. I'm going to die..." He gasped. "No..."
Owen's eyes closed and he drifted into slumber.
After a few minutes he opened his eyes and saw a shiny object on the floor next to him. He used the last of his strength to move his mangled hoof towards it. As he touched it, the object glowed bright red and fixed itself to his chest.
He stood up.
His wounds were healing. His bones rejoined and the blood flowed through his veins once more. His brain clicked back into gear and his eyesight refocused. He gasped in amazement. He was alive.
"I didn't die!" He yelled. "I DIDN'T DIE!"
He leapt around the crash site for a few moments before looking skyward. The Defender was still ablaze and combusting. Some of the debris was crashing into the Everfree Forest, causing trees to collapse and erupt in flames.
The Professor picked up his rapier and his revolver, neatly tucking them into his burnt coat. Then he realised.
His coat was utterly burnt to a crisp, torn and ruined. Owen growled in disgust. He threw off the tattered coat and set it alight using some of the flames from the debris. He also didn't have his hat. Sucked to be him.
Out of the corner of his peripheral sight, he saw what had attached to his chest. It was pulsating a deep crimson red.
The Alicorn Amulet.
He tore off the Amulet and threw it to the ground. He panted heavily before realising something.
He hadn't been corrupted.
He frowned at this before shrugging it off. He was more concerned with the burning mess that had once been his pride and joy. He stared up at his airship as it crashed into the earth. With a few tears in his eyes, he walked off into the distance.
***
He wandered for what seemed like an eternity. Every so often another Timberwolf would meet it's end after staring down the barrel of his revolver. However, now he was dangerously low on ammunition and his hoofs were too weak to swing the rapier any longer.
Eventually, worn out from exhaustion, he collapsed in a heap on the road. He tried to use his magic to sustain himself. But to no avail. He led on the ground and closed his eyes.
He was rudely awoken later by a hooded figure poking him with a hoof.
"Ah, what's this in the sand? A weary traveller from beyond this land?"
The figure took down her hood, revealing her striped forehead. Zecora looked down at him with curious eyes.
"Huh? Zecora? Is that you?" The Professor asked, his eyes half shut.
"My name you know, now this is bizarre. But yet you're from a land, from so very far."
"Indeed." The Professor got up. "My name is..." He paused as he tried to think of his name.
He couldn't remember his name. He couldn't remember his damn name. What an idiot he was. No side-effects of the crash, eh?
"Seth Huxley." He finished. He'd always wanted to be called that. It had a nice ring to it.
"Detective, Seth Huxley." He added.
"Ah! It seems a stallion of uncertainties. And why might you travel through these trees?"
Owen was slightly disconcerted by these constant rhymes. Still, he wouldn't let it get the better of him. He decided to tell the truth.
"You see that explosion." He pointed at the huge smoke cloud. "I fell from that."
"This is truthful, I see. But how you survived is a mystery."
Owen shuffled slightly.
"I used to powers of the Alicorn Amulet to heal myself..."
Zecora's eyes narrowed.
"Dark magic should never be used... You are lucky you weren't consumed."
The Professor looked at his hoofs and apologised, quickly. He looked back at the path he had taken to get to his current coordinates. It was very calming, the sound of the birds and the beautiful trees.
"Do you mind if I stay here in the forest for a while? It's quite peaceful."
Zecora nodded.
"Thanks you, kindly." The Professor strided off, right in the direction of Zecora's cottage.
Zecora trotted alongside, wondering who this mysterious, intelligent and attractive pony was. She had never heard of him before, nor seen him. He seemed to be the type of person that Twilight would be friends with, yet Twilight had never mentioned him to her before. It was almost like he had appeared out of thin air.
After a few minutes of walking in silence, the duo arrived at Zecora's cottage. Upon entering, Owen glued himself to one particular artefact.
"Is this... A genuine Chronometer?
"Yes indeed, a very hard find. It has enough power to ensnare the mind."
The Professor picked up the device and analysed it.
"It's broken..."
He pulled out an small metal pin and started to fiddle with the timepiece. It started to hum and crackle to life until it was buzzing, happily. The Professor turned off the device and clicked it shut.
"Well, It's time power should be contained. No unnecessary paradoxes and wonky holes in the fabric of space and time."
Zecora looked at him. He was chaos and harmony entwined into one. An impossible pony. Yet he existed. Standing there in front of her fixing the device she found incapable to save. He was very odd.
He stayed for a while.
Nightmare Night
***
Zecora fixed up the Professor's bow tie. He was now wearing a tweed jacket, with his rapier tucked under the jacket and his revolver neatly in his pocket, the chamber was filled with six new bullets.
"Merci beaucoup." The Professor thanked.
He opened the door and stepped out into the night.
"I believe it's time for a Nightmare Night prank."
He wandered out of the Everfree Forest and stared down at Ponyville.
"I'm home."
Present Day Equestria
***
Ebony, Tom, Aimee and Sam were staring at Owen as he finished his tale.
Jake wandered up, he had been chatting to Derpy about the unreliability of the Griffon Express and their failure to be the big fat cat corporation they should be.
"Hey Owen." He said as he walked past.
Sam looked at him.
"Um... You KNEW!?"
Jake stopped.
"Well of course. There are three things that gave it away. One, Owen, like the Detective, has a distinct British accent with an annoying Irish tint."
"Oi." Owen said, disapprovingly.
"Two, Only Owen has a dress-sense like that, good god."
"Oi."
"And three, only Owen has a woven steel rapier that can cut through magical objects."
"That's alright." The Professor replied.
Ebony went over and gave him a hug.
"Well, the main thing is that you're back, eh?"
"Hmm." Owen agreed.
Twilight wandered up to him.Everyone else backed away. She smiled happily and thrust her hooves around his neck again. Tears streamed down her face and she held him. Owen hugged her back, a single tear forming on his eyelashes. They both broke off from the hug, but they still held each other. They looked at each other.
Twilight seemed nervous. She looked into his beautiful deep brown eyes, the colour of the tall oak trees in the Everfree Forest. He was looking down into her eyes too. He thought they were amazing, an ocean of beautiful mauve waves.
"What do I do?" Twilight thought.
"I love him..."
Twilight locked her lips around the Owen's, taking him by surprise. His stomach was doing flips. He relaxed into her and he brushed a hoof against her cheek.
Ebony looked on and smiled, he deserved this. After all this time being alone. Tom was trying his best not to cry while Aimee and Sam looked at each other and smiled. Derpy was hiding a snigger as Jake was intimating vomiting.
The kiss broke off and the two continued to look at each other.
"Happy Nightmare Night, Twilight."
"Happy Nightmare Night, Professor."
Brave New World, Discord's Revenge
The Lovers, The Loner and The Killer
Several weeks later
***
Tom stretched as he got out of his bed, he noticed that his girlfriend wasn't sleeping next to him. Frowning, he got up, put on his navy blue slippers, given to him as a gift from Rarity, and made his way downstairs. He saw Ebony preparing breakfast for everyone.
"Morning, babe. Is anyone else up?"
"Uh-huh, Jake's in Owen's base reading, I don't suppose you could go and grab him, could you? Breakfast's almost ready."
"Sure thing." He pecked her on the cheek and marched down the stairs.
The Professor walked down the stairs reading a book. He was wearing a soft, black dressing gown with matching slippers. He stopped and held out his hoof, signally for him to not be disturbed. Eventually, he tore out the last page and walked over to Ebony. He threw the book into the fireplace. It caught alight and burnt quickly.
Ebony smiled at him, as she was used to this kind of thing. She gave him a hug and began talking:
"Morning, Owen. So? What'll you be doing today?"
"Huh, not much, me and Twilight will be going on a date. It's all very exciting."
"Wow, what a coincidence, me and Tom are going out on a date too!"
"Speaking of which..." The Professor muttered. "Where is he?"
"Oh, just downstairs telling Jake to stop reading so that he can come and have breakfast."
Owen turned pale and dived behind the sofa. He peeped out of the top, when he did so, he was wearing a metal sieve and was holding a chair leg.
"What's the matter?" Ebony asked, as this behaviour was strange, even for him.
"Never. Stop. Jake. From. Reading." He said, slowly.
"Why?" Ebony questioned.
Before Owen could reply the kitchen floor exploded and Tom came flying up out of it, screaming. He landed with a thud on the sofa and looked at Owen. Owen smiled, casually.
"Don't worry Tom, it could have been worse."
A piece of wood hit Tom in the back of the head, knocking him out cold.
"See? It's worse."
Jake emerged from the basement door, he stopped and tore out the final page in his book. He then proceeded to eat that page before throwing the book at the sofa. Tom sat up and was hit by it, sending him unconscious once more. Sam walked down the stairs then stopped when he saw that the floor had caved in. Slowly, he walked back up, leaving the mess to everyone else.
Jake turned to Owen.
"What's for breakfast?" He asked.
***
Aimee and Sam came down, after the Professor had fixed the floor with his magical abilities, to have breakfast with everyone else. Jake shook his cereal box and poured out the contents into a bowl.
"Any good gift?" Owen asked while reading the Equestria Times. He was looking at an article about a mysterious pony who had been stealing rare items from the Canterlot Museum.
"Ah, just the usual..." Jake held up a small handgun. He shrugged and threw it into the incinerator that had been recently installed.
"So." Owen turned to others. "What shall you all be doing on a fine day such as this?"
"It's raining." Sam pointed out.
"If your girlfriend is doing her job properly, then maybe this wouldn't be happening." Owen mused.
Sam growled at him but soon laughed it off when Aimee put a pancake on his head.
"Very funny, Aimee..." The Professor said. He proceeded to get up, but due to his lack of vision, tripped over his chair and landed on his snout. He looked at the fallen pancake with sadness.
"A lot of good pancakes died today." Jake murmured.
"Anyway, what are you doing today Samuel?" Owen asked, a trickle of syrup dripped off the end of his nose. Everyone laughed.
"I'll be going out with my *ahem* marefriend."
"Jake?"
"I've got unfinished business to take care of at the old, abandoned warehouse in Canterlot."
Owen's eyebrow raised and he stared at Jake.
"Gambling?"
"No. Well. Perhaps. Maybe. Kinda. Almost certainly. Yes. Definitely. Yeah."
Owen shook his head and turned to Ebony and Tom.
"Et tu?"
Ebony put her hoof around Tom's neck. They looked at each other.
"We're off on a date to Canterlot..." Tom stated.
Owen finally turned to Aimee.
"und du?" Aimee frowned.
"And you?" He repeated in a language they could understand.
"Oh... I.. I'm not doing anything special..."
Sam looked at her.
"What? You don't have a coltfriend?"
"Well, truthfully I find dating horses kinda disturbing."
Owen spat his Earl Grey tea out and sniggered slightly. He folded up the Equestria Times and put it on the table. He picked up his muffin and took a small bite of it.
"Oh, Poor you..." He gave her a small smile.
After all six of the friends finished their breakfast and Jake had washed up the dirty dishes, as punishment for destroying the floor, they had all decided to go about yet another adventurous day. Then again, Owen had told them not to have too many adventures. It can cause chaos and other disconcerning things to occur.
"If you wish to know any other side-effects to adventuring please refer to enclosed instruction booklet." Owen had said.
Jake was using a pneumatic drill to shatter the dishes into tiny fragments. He then added them to the box of cereal. He had a closer look at the box.
It read: "Celestio's, They'll send you to the moon!"
"Was this made by idiots or something? What kind of a pun is that? Seriously, get a better writer."
"Jake? Who are you talking to?" Owen entered the kitchen.
"Oh, just the nice people beyond the screen."
Owen looked at him with a blank expression on his face. He slowly picked up a rolling pin and slammed it down on the back of Jake's head.
Aimee walked in and stared at Jake and Owen. Her eyes were wide and her expression was puzzled.
"He was trying to break the fourth wall. Who knows what he could have done?"
"Owen, he looks dead..."
"Nah. Just sleepin', besides he's groaning, see?"
Owen stamped on his head. Jake moaned.
***
Owen and Twilight were walking through the clean suburbs of Canterlot. They had just come across a few shops that Twilight had wanted to go into, bookshops no less. Owen had enjoyed those brief visits, especially after he had accidentally set fire to the clerk's beard. That certainly brightened up the evening.
Soon, they had found a small restaurant to settle down in. Owen ordered a Lime and Soda, his favourite drink aside a raspberry and soda.
"Indeed, I'm quite excited about this." Owen sat on a stool sipping his drink.
"Me too. It's been a while since I went out like this."
"Since someone you knew almost killed someone?"
"Oddly enough, The Grand Galloping Gala was relatively close to that scenario, yes."
The two laughed and ordered some food to nibble.
***
Aimee was walking around Ponyville, alone. She sighed as she walked.
"Why couldn't she get a coltfriend? It was so unfair. Even Owen had got himself someone. If he could do it, I'm sure I can."
She looked skyward and saw a screaming figure flying towards her. She dived out of the way before it came into view. The blur hit the ground in front of her and Aimee yelped. Aimee, out of curiosity stared at the thing that had crashed.
It turned out to be a pegasus, with a sandy yellow coat and a forest green mane. His hair was short but well groomed, his tail was also.
The stallion shook his head and looked up, when he saw Aimee, he stopped temporarily. His eyes seemed to snap out of focus. Suddenly, he regained his mind.
"Oh! I'm so sorry. Are you alright? I didn't see you there."
Aimee helped him to his feet.
"It's okay. It's fine... Why were you going so fast anyway?"
The stallion puffed out his chest and stated proudly,
"I'm training to be a Wonderbolt!"
"Wow, that's pretty ambitious, but it's nice to dream, I guess."
"What are you doing?" The stallion asked.
"Well.Not much, all my friends have either coltfriends or fillyfriends to date this evening. I'm kinda stuck here, on my own."
The stallion trotted up beside her and gave her a kind smile.
"Hey, uh... I could hang out with you if you want..."
"Sweet, I can fly, I could help you with your training..." She pointed to the crater where he crashed and raised an eyebrow.
"Uh... Yeah, Maybe I'm a little out of practise." He shrugged.
"What's your name?" Aimee asked.
Suddenly, all the confidence resurfaced.
"Name's Hurricane! Fastest flyer in Los Pegasus!"
Aimee remembered Owen telling her about the geography of Equestria, most towns are linked by train and Los Pegasus was fairly far away from here. To the south-west I think. She didn't really listen to him when he rambled. Although, he was fun to listen to if you wanted a story.
"What a nice name. Well my name's Aimee, nothing special. Just Aimee."
The two looked at each other and laughed. They both spread out their wings, steadying themselves for take-off.
"Ready?" Hurricane teased.
"Always." Aimee retorted.
The two soared into the air, speeding past anything an earth aircraft could produce.
And from that day forward, Aimee had a new friend.
Brave New World, Discord's Revenge
"Everything seems to be going smoothly."
It had been three whole months since Professor Owen Lambert and his friends had stepped foot in Equestria, and a whole manner of things had happened.
They had released and defeated Discord, Sam found his true love, Rainbow Dash, The Professor himself fell in love with Twilight Sparkle and the two have been courting for a few weeks now. Even Aimee is well on her way to getting her own coltfriend, after befriending the kind, but ambitious, Hurricane.
***
There was a big race happening, almost all of Ponyville had come out to watch. The Professor watched from the sidelines shaking his head. He was the one who had thought of this race and they said he couldn't compete because using a high-powered nuclear jet-pack was unfair on the other racers. He looked down at the starting grid.
It was a teams race. Aimee and Hurricane, Rainbow and Sam, Ebony and Tom and Jake and Derpy. Owen wondered how Jake had managed to persuade Derpy to join in on this race. Probably with the use of a muffin on a stick, no doubt. The rules of the race were simple, whichever whole team crosses the finish line first, wins.
Owen opened up a map of Equestria. The route of the race was inscribed on it. The race would take them from the starting line in Ponyville, through Cloudsdale and into Canterlot, then it would go back along a different route back to Ponyville again. Mr and Mrs Cake had kindly offered to donate 100 muffins to the winner.
"Racer's will you take your places!"
The crowds cheered as their favourite team came up to the starting grid. Flim and Flam had been taking bets on who the winning team would be, creating them a large source of income.
Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity came and set next to the Professor.
"I don't know who ah want ta win. I just hope that Rainbow doesn't boast about it if she wins..." Applejack murmured.
"Oh my, I do hope that Rainbow Dash does win, she'd be so happy." Fluttershy whispered.
"Hmm. I agree with Applejack. Rainbow might just let this go to her head, and that may be her downfall." Owen nodded.
Rarity pulled out a pair of jewel encrusted binoculars and gazed at the racers.
"I think that Aimee has a good chance, she is with Hurricane, after all. They are both rather fast."
"I honestly couldn't tell you who's going to win." Owen mused.
A brass band started up, signalling the start of the race. Granny Smith held up a starting pistol.
"Who gave her a gun?" Owen said, shocked. He turned to look at Jake, who waved. Owen's eyes narrowed.
"Ready?" Granny Smith yelled.
The racers arched their backs
"GO!"
All four teams burst out of the starting line, leaving a huge dust cloud on the track, obscuring everyone's view. Only Rarity seemed to be able to see what's going on.
"Oh my, It seems that Rainbow Dash is in front! Pinkie look at this!" Rarity turned to face Pinkie, but Pinkie Pie had moved. It wasn't for a while that everyone saw where she had gone.
Pinkie was up in a balloon, commentating on the race with her co-partner, Spike.
Owen folded his hoofs. "I'm not waiting around here for the racers to come back." He opened up his saddlebag and pulled out a jet-pack. He attached it to his chest and activated it. He zoomed out of the crowds of ponies and into the cloudless sky.
***
Aimee and Hurricane were beating their wings as fast as they could. Hurricane looked at Aimee and smiled. Aimee turned and saw Cloudsdale come into view. She smiled at her partner and continued forwards.
Rainbow Dash was soaring through the air, performing a dive or two every now and then. Sam was struggling to keep up, he may well be fast, but over a long distance, it was draining him.
Ebony and Tom might well have been the slowest of the groups, but on taking Twilight's advice when they had asked her, they had decided to pace themselves, rather than sprint the whole way. They were definitely behind the other groups, but they were gathering speed.
Jake and Derpy were busy setting up an anti-air base, relatively close to the Cloudsdale airspace. Derpy loaded it with several custard pies, before nodding at Jake. Jake smiled and they both continued to fly towards Cloudsdale. Derpy looked skyward and gasped. Jake frowned and looked too.
Owen had been using his jet-pack to write words in the sky.
"You're too slow!" It read.
All the other teams saw this too and looked towards Cloudsdale, where a shape was flying around the outer limits of the city, repeatedly. The shape saluted them and flew into Cloudsdale.
Rainbow's face contorted with rage and she picked up the pace of her BPM, that's beats per minute. Sam, also angered by his friend took off too.
Aimee and Hurricane looked at each other, nodded then flew off.
Jake and Derpy were sitting in an oversized catapult, Jake then threw the string and they were both launched into the air, giving themselves a head start.
Ebony and Tom continued to pace themselves.
Meanwhile, Pinkie and Spike had noticed the Professor's foul sense of play.
"Dear me Pinkie! It seems like our old friend the Professor is trying to stir up the competition!" Spike shouted.
"You're too slow!? We'll show him slow!" Pinkie turned the propeller's power dial from "Fast" to "Speedy" to "Cranking Speed" to "Beyond Comprehension" The balloon blasted off after the racers. Spike almost toppled out of the balloon due to the imbalance. Pinkie, however, seemed to be doing just fine.
***
The Professor was hovering around Cloudsdale. He was rather enjoying this city. The architecture and the people appealed to him, greatly. It was just such a peaceful town. He landed at one of the checkpoints to see who was in front. Owen frowned when he heard a roaring engine behind him. He slowly turned to see the commentary balloon speeding towards him. He gasped in fright and ducked behind a stone plinth.
He looked over the top of the plinth just in time to see Rainbow speed past the checkpoint, with Sam in tow. A few seconds later Aimee and Hurricane sped by. Jake and Derpy went through the checkpoint banner at some speed, taking half the bunting with them.
"Wha?" Owen whispered.
He saw Ebony and Tom fly through what was left of the checkpoint, they hardly seemed out of breath at all. He waved at the duo and they smiled back. Tom made an "L" symbol on his forehead as he flew by Owen. Owen's eyes narrowed.
"Right. No more Mr nice Professor."
He flew out of Cloudsdale following the racers. He heard a noise. It was clunking and clanking. Owen stopped and looked at the ground. A large anti-air gun was aiming at him. The Professor's eyes widened when he saw it. He tried to avoid it, but to no avail.
A huge custard pie hit him square in his mouth, sending him sprawling on the earth.
Pinkie continued her commentary.
"Ooh!" She said when the Professor got hit. "Well, it looks like somepony got their 'Just Deserts'!"
Pinkie and Spike started to laugh at the Professor, who was still wiping pastry out of his face. He growled.
***
Rainbow could see Canterlot in her sight, it refreshed her, the thought that this was nearly over. Sam, however was tiring fast and had to slow down to regain energy.
Aimee and Hurricane were tiring too, but their passion to win spurred them onwards.
Derpy and Jake were lost somewhere in the Everfree Forest, as their last catapult booster had been angled in the wrong direction. Jake was reading a map. Derpy had to correct him when she discovered it was upside-down. She giggled at his stupidity.
Ebony and Tom were starting to pick up the pace now, they had saved their energy and they were heading for Canterlot, just ahead of them, they could see Aimee and Hurricane.
***
At the Canterlot checkpoint, Princess Luna had arrived to see what was happening, as sleeping with the racket outside going on was proving to be a challenge, even with pillows over her head. She squeezed past people in the crowds until she met up with her sister in the royal box.
"Good afternoon, little sister." Celestia remarked.
"Hi, Tia." Luna replied. "What's happening here?"
"Hmm, The Professor decided to set up a sporting and uncompetitive race. Isn't that kind of him?"
Luna pointed at the sky. The Professor had written something else with smoke.
"F**k you guys!" it read.
Luna sniggered then burst out laughing.
"Yes, Tia. Very sporting and uncompetitive!" she giggled.
Princess Celestia used her magic to evaporate the smoke. She couldn't help but smile at Owen as he flew by, powered by his jet-pack, saluting at the princesses. He slowed and landed next to Luna.
"Afternoon, Princesses." He bowed.
"Good afternoon, Professor Lambert." Celestia replied. "How are you finding your stay here in Equestria?"
"Well, I believe it to be the greatest dimension ever. Much nicer than the one I'm from. I hated it there..."
Luna looked puzzled. "Why did you hate it there? From what we can gather, it's quite similar to our world."
"The worlds may be aesthetically similar, but believe me, their personalities are VERY different. It's not like here, Luna. The weak are oppressed and the strong rule. It's not a nice system. Even between children, that very system is built into their instincts."
Luna seemed to nod her head, but Celestia just looked at him.
"And is there much evil in this world, Professor?"
"Quite a lot, actually. Terrible atrocities are committed everyday, far worse than what is experienced here, Princess."
"Hmm..." Celestia nodded. "Come with me... I wish for your opinion on something."
Before the Professor could reply, he and Celestia had been teleported. Judging from the taperstries hanging from the wall, they were in Canterlot Castle.
The Princess led him to a door, which she opened with her magic. She nodded for him to go in. As Owen stepped in the doorway, he noticed that there were some stairs leading the way downwards. He trotted down the stairs and to his amazement saw something very familiar.
On a stone plinth in the middle of the room, were the torn, burnt and rusting remains of The Defender, its Rainbow Laser hanging out between deflated balloons. The Professor grinned and bounded over to the dead machine.
"Oh! How I've missed you!"
He heard the sound of hoofs behind him and noticed that Celestia had her horn pointing at him, her magic flowing around it. Serveral Royal Guards were surrounding him too.
"Wha... What's the meaning of this?" He stammered.
"This device, this machine is a threat to this entire planet." Celestia stated.
"Professor Owen Lambert, with the power invested in me as the ruler of Equestria, I'm placing you under arrest for the creation of a machine capable of mass-murder."
Brave New World, Discord's Revenge
The Professor looked left then right. Roughly fifteen Royal Guards were surrounding him, ten pegusi and five unicorns. Each of them geared up with armour and weapons. Some were holding scythes and other were holding swords. But all of them were looking at him with a fixed stare.
“Why? Why are you doing this?” He asked.
“It’s simple, Professor. You put my world in jeopardy, so therefore you must pay the price.”
“Bloody hell, how shall I possibly escape?” He asked in mock horror.
The Professor’s rapier lept into his hoof and he pulled his trusty revolver out of his coat pocket and slid six bullets into the chamber. He pointed the gun menacingly at the base of Celestia’s forehead.
“What you just did… is illegal.”
“You’re the one that abused your power, sent your own sister to the moon and forces your own student to save the world countless times.”
Celestia smirked and with a nod of her head, the guards stepped forward. The Professor looked to his left to see the first contender; a white unicorn was shooting magical bolts at him. Owen shot his first bullet and it sailed straight through the brain of the unicorn, his body falling lamely to the floor.
The rest of her small army jumped him and created a small dust cloud. What followed next was confused. Celestia laughed as she heard the sound of metal clanging on metal. But the smile faltered a little when the next few shots fired, sending more of her trusted guards flying out.
The Professor walked, unharmed from the dust cloud. He looked lovingly at his gun. Celestia frowned at him. Owen pointed the gun at her head again.
“I counted six shots. Your gun is empty.” Celestia remarked.
“You’re assuming that I didn’t reload in all the confusion?”
“And did you?” She asked.
“…No.” He said, placing the gun in its holster.
Celestia’s magic brimmed around her horn and she thrust her horn forward, and the Professor’s blade met it there. It was a battle between magic and technology. Oddly enough, and to Owen’s utmost horror, magic was winning. He swept a blow at her legs, which connected. Celestia leapt back. Her legs were cut and bleeding.
Celestia shot a beam of golden energy at the Professor, who ducked out of the way. Luna burst through the door, two of her royal guards behind her.
Celestia looked at her younger sister, motioning for her to stay well back. Luna looked at the Professor, who was now straining from the tiring blows and parries he had to do. Owen launched himself at the Princess of the sun, hoping to slice her horn off. Instead his blade snapped in two and fell to the ground, smoking.
Owen placed two bullets into the chamber and thumbed back the hammer. He shot Celestia's bleeding wound and she cried out in pain. Owen continued the assault. He jumped and stuck a metal spike into Celestia’s chest. She hissed in pain.
When the Professor landed he pulled out a piece of metal. Celestia’s eyes widened when he pressed the red button on the top.
The explosion rocked the castle and Celestia was thrown through two walls before hitting the floor. Her head hurt and her legs were bleeding badly. Her horn lit up and healed them. She groaned as she got to her feet, to see her adversary striding towards her.
Celestia kicked him in the head, knocking him to the ground. As he tried to get up, he felt the electricity crackle around his body. He screamed for ten seconds until the pain stopped. Owen could barely move. He looked up to see Celestia. She stood over him, triumphantly. Owen growled at her as he was taken away. Luna stood there aghast; she trotted over to her slightly wounded sister.
“What in Equestria was that!?” She yelled. “Did you attack him?”
“He posed a threat to our community, dear sister. I had to stop him.”
“He wasn’t causing any harm! He helped us stop Discord, he’s a nice pony, Tia even if you can’t see that.”
Luna strode off. Her guards went to follow her, but she signalled for them to stop. She wanted the evening to herself.
***
“Has anyone seen Owen?” Ebony asked, stroking her trophy.
Ebony and Tom, due to some great advice from Twilight, had won the race. Sam had had to stop for a break near the end and caused him and Rainbow Dash to lose. Jake and Derpy were still wandering around the Everfree Forest, hopelessly lost after that failed catapult launch. Aimee and Hurricane had come second, due to a little falter of energy towards the final straight. It was close, but Ebony and Tom came out on top.
“No, babe. Haven’t seen him since we left him in the dust.” Tom replied.
"I'm just worried... Twilight hasn't seen him either, it's not like him to wander off."
"I'm sure he's fine." Tom yawned, sleepily.
Twilight burst through the door, this time it's hinges staying in one place.
"I've recieved a letter from the Princess!" She looked pale, scared and she had tears in her eyes.
"Hey." Ebony said, attempting to comfort her. "What's happened?"
"The Princess has placed Owen under arrest for the creation of the Defender! She says he'll be sent to the moon as soon as she regains her strength."
"Why's she so weak?" Aimee asked.
"Apparantly, our good friend tossed her around the place before getting beat. Lost his sword though... We have to help him."
"I know! I'll fly to Canterlot jail to bust him out!" Huirricane declared.
"Really!? Thanks, Hurricane... It'd mean a lot!" Twilight sniffed.
"Then let us begin... Operation Jail-Break is go go go!" Hurricane yelped.
***
Hurricane was sitting in a cell with the Professor and Jake. The break out hadn't gone as planned. Upon decapitating several guards, they did get noticed and Shining Armour had no choice but to arrest them both.
"Well, this sucks." Hurricane sighed.
Owen was pacing and muttering to himself. He turned to Jake, a smile glued to his face.
"Plan 42-B!" He yelled.
Jake, as if on cue, pulled out a small piece of wire from his pocket. Owen attached the wire to a small welding tool he had concealed within his coat. After a few seconds the device whirred to life. The Professor placed the machine against the lock on the cage door. After a few moments, it melted clean off.
"After you." Owen motioned.
"No, after you." Jake replied.
Hurricane ran through the door and came face to face with the end of a spear tip. He looked up, whimpering. A guard was looking down at him. Owen tossed the still burning device at his forehead, melting his skull in an instant. Hurricane stared at the corpse on the floor.
"You're a... Professor!?"
"Part time." Owen replied, walking past him.
He picked up the guard's spear and threw it to Jake. Another guard appeared around the corner. his horn glew for a moment, before dimming. Owen sensed that he might have just contacted the Princesses. Before the guard could react, the spear Jake was holding had pinned him to the wall through his stomach. The unicorn moaned in pain. Owen ignored him and continued to his destination.
"Where are we going?" Hurricane asked, nervously as he looked from wall to wall.
"To find my airship..." The Professor replied.
Owen kicked down a door and ran down some steps. At the bottom, on a lage plinth was the ruins of the Defender. He quickly lept into the destroyed cockpit and reattached wires and connected buttons. After a while, a few lights lit up and the engines whirred to life, spluttering and creaking as they did.
The Professor quickly pressed a small red button on one of the engines. A shrill siren sounded, forcing Hurricane and Jake to cover their ears.
"What did you do?!" Jake yelled.
"Well, if we're going to go. We might as well go out with a bang, eh?"
Brave New World, Discord's Revenge
The alarm was exceedingly loud by now and Owen was smiling like a mad man. The destroyed cockpit was now ablaze and everything around it was burning too. Jake was no longer laughing, as the building around them slowly collapsed.
"Owen?"
"Yes?"
"Can we get out? Before we die?"
"Um... Sure."
The door behind them blew off its hinges and Celestia stood there, looking VERY angry. Her horn glew as she strode into the room.
"It was him!" Jake yelled, pointing at the Professor.
Owen rolled his eyes and pulled out his gun once again. He aimed it at Celestia's head and pulled the trigger. The gun clicked empty. Owen groaned, unhappily and put it away.
"Well, it's been wonderful knowing you Celestia. But I'm afraid this building is structually insound. I hope you have insurance. BYE!"
Owen turned around and lept through a window, sending shards of glass everywhere. Jake looked at the spot where he had jumped.
"Suicide? What an idiot."
Jake lept through a window and teleported out of the room, across realities. Hurricane stood, frozen to the spot and stared at his Princess. He gave her a weak smile before sprinting through the open window and taking flight.
"Foals." Celestia yelled.
A huge shadow loomed on the floor and a small airship was slowly rising in the sky. The Professor was standing on top of the balloon and Twilight was at the controls in the cockpit. Jake appeared in the cockpit after teleporting through one of the windows, and Hurricane landed neatly on top of the airship with Owen.
Owen raised his hoof in salute as the aiship flew away, his smile still glued to his face. Celestia growled and strode back into the building. After treading over remains of the Defender, she then heard the siren for the first time. Her eyes widened as the entire castle exploded.
"NOOooooo..." She screamed.
Canterlot Castle erupted into a colour mash of rainbows and fireworks that lit up like the fourth of July. Shards of glass and brick came tumbling down out of the sky and crashed into the ground. Frightened ponies ran from the falling mortar in a fit of frenzy. Celestia herself was thrown from the castle into the mountain nearby.
Her impact created a large crater, which combusted rather quickly. Her body fell lamely to the ground. She didn't move. The huge rainboom was still exploding across the sky, sending debris across the land.
"So Professor, please explain to us what happened to the Defender?" Twilight asked, as Owen walked down the stairway to the cockpit from the top of the balloon.
"I overloaded it's Rainbow engines for a second time. I didn't think that they'd survived the first time. But, it seems that they did."
"You completely destroyed Canterlot."
"Yeah... They'll rebuild it. It only takes the Apple Family a song and a small number of ponies to create a barn in under one minute. Canterlot shouldn't be a problem."
The airship began it's desent as it neared Ponyville. Owen stared out of the cockpit's window. He had a hard look on his face. Twilight set the controls to autopilot. She trotted over to him.
"Hey... Are you alright?"
"I'm fine Twilight... It's just I'll never see you again..."
"What!? What do you mean?"
"Celestia's a demigod. She won't be dead. And she won't be until she has me strung up by my neck or on the moon for one thousand years. I have to escape..."
Twilight put her hoof on Owen's face, causing him to turn to her. There were tears in her eyes, but there was also something else. Acceptance.
"Okay... I'll help you."
Owen moved closer to her and planted a kiss on her lips. Twilight wrapped her hooves around his neck and kissed him more passionately. Jake smiled at him, happily.
A few minutes later, the airship landed in Owen's hanger. All of his friends were there to meet them. Ebony ran forward and thrust her arms around Owen. Aimee almost landed on Hurricane and gave him a hug too. Jake walked off the airship and a muffin was thrown into his hooves. Derpy was hovering above him, giving him a smile. Sam and Rainbow Dash ran down the hanger to greet their friends.
Owen got everyone into the centre of the room to tell them the news.
"You blew up Canterlot?" Aimee questioned.
"No, part of Canterlot."
"...And now we have to leave?" Ebony asked.
"No... I have to leave... Possibly Jake and Hurricane too." Derpy and Aimee looked really upset at this prospect.
"Then I'm going aswell." Aimee declared.
"Me too!" Derpy yelled.
"You ain't going anywhere without me, Owen." Sam put a hoof on the Professor's shoulder.
"Well. You're the craziest guy I know, Owen. But I love you and I'm going with you all the way." Ebony smiled.
"As long as I'm with her, I don't care where we go. Lead the way Owen!" Tom put his hoof around Ebony's neck.
Owen looked at his friends, tears were in his eyes. They were truely loyal to him... Speaking of loyalty...
Owen nodded at Jake who hit Rainbow across the head with a pipe. Her body hit the floor with a thud. Sam almost screamed, but Owen held him back and shook his head.
"She belongs here..."
Owen went over to Twilight. She smiled at him, a warm loving smile. One that Owen had never seen before he had met Twilight. He hated the fact that he had to do this.
Their lips touched and they kissed once more. During the kiss, Owen slipped his hoofs befind Twilight and touched her hoofs too, placing them behind her back. When the kiss ended, Owen looked rather upset and Twilight looked confused. The Professor backed away from her. Twilight tried to follow, but soon realised that she couldn't.
Owen had handcuffed her to a pipe on the wall.
Twilight's eyes were flooded with tears as she struggled endlessly to try to break free. She looked at Owen, hopelessly. Owen didn't look at her.
"What now?" Sam asked.
"Well. I have officially fixed this portal, so we can return home!"
"Wait. Our world was destroyed in the 2012 apocalyspe."
"Incorrect. PART of our world was destroyed. Two places remain. Denmark and..."
"I'm not allowed to step foot in Denmark." Jake and Sam remarked.
"Fine then we'll go to the other place. Which is..."
The door behind them exploded and Celestia, donned in a crystal white battle armour marched down the stairs, several royal guards following her. Owen motioned to the portal.
"Into the portal! NOW!" He yelled.
Aimee didn't argue, she just lept in with Hurricane flying behind.
Sam thought for a second or so, then he jumped through too.
Ebony looked at Tom. "We followed him this far, don't worry." she kissed him then ran through the sphere. Tom followed suit.
Jake shook Owen's hoof and tipped a hat that had strangely appeared on his head as he ran through with Derpy in tow.
Owen turned round for one last look at his home. He smiled sadly at Twilight then walked, calmly through the sphere, right before the entire room filled with guards. The portal closed shut, it's energy leaving it for the last time.
Celestia yelled in frustration, kicking over the numerous trinkets that Owen had left behind. She ordered that Rainbow Dash be taken back to Ponyville to be healed. She turned to her faithful student. Twilight looked terrififed, the tears were still streaming down her face. Celestia unlocked her handcuffs and embraced her.
"Are you aright?" Celestia asked.
Twilight didn't answer, she simply looked at the floor.
"At least he's gone, Twilight. He can't hurt anyone anymore."
The room felt cold and all that could be heard was the portal powering down...For good.
Brave New World, Discord's Revenge
The Little House of Horrors
Discord pointed to stairway.
"Up those stairs, in your rooms are the worst horrors that you have or will ever face. To escape you must play my game."
"Ooh, ooh!" Jake yelled. "Jenga?"
Discord looked confused. "Um... no."
"Monopoly?"
"No."
"Hungry Hungry Hippos?"
"No!" Discord yelled at him. His patience was wearing thin.
Jake fell silent.
"Battleship?" Owen asked.
Discord face-palmed, and said calmly. "Face your fears and win your freedom."
Jake looked puzzled. "I've never heard of that game... Can't we play Cluedo?"
"No, Jake. Everypony knows that Scrabble is much better!" Owen retorted.
"Cluedo!"
"Scrabble!"
"Cluedo!"
"Scrabble!"
"Cluedo!"
"Monopoly!" Sam yelled.
"Shut it, boy." The duo yelled.
Discord was lying on the sofa. He yawned and sat up.
"You have an hour to face your fears." and with that vague parting remark, he left them alone.
"Snakes and ladders?" Sam asked.
"SHUT UP, BOY!" Owen and Jake yelled.
They looked up the menacing stairway. The Professor's attitude changed once more.
"It looks like we don't have much of a choice. He knows that I'm a worthy opponent. So therefore he will try to defeat anyway he can."
"He OBVIOUSLY doesn't know your weak spot then." Jake said, producing a small piece of fudge from the candy covered floor.
Owen looked at him. "I'LL DO ANYTHING YOU SAY!"
***
Outside
"Rainbow? Can you break in?" Twilight was pacing nervously outside the house.
"I'm sorry, Twilight, But that's roughly seven inches of pure brick and mortar. I can't break that..."
Twilight groaned, angrily. She continued to pace, "C'mon Professor, where are you?"
***
Meanwhile inside
Everyone reached the top of the stairs, except for Jake who fell down them twice. He claimed it was to do with a "Temporary loss of muscular coordination" .
Eventually, with Jake being carried by Sam and Tom, they all reached the top of the stairway. It wasn't very well lit, in fact it was rather gloomy.
The first room was labelled: "Ebony and Tom, good luck."
The Professor looked at them, worriedly. He nodded at them and they walked closer towards it. The door opened and Ebony looked back at Owen. Tom stepped inside.
"Don't loose faith in each other." Owen replied her look.
She nodded and stepped inside. The door closed abruptly.
***
Ebony and Tom's room.
Ebony stepped inside into complete darkness, she screamed, but the only one that appeared to hear her was Tom, who held her hoof. He patted her, comfortingly.
"Don't worry, we can get through this." he whispered, kindly.
The room lit up in the middle, showing a shadowy image, much like that of a hologram. The picture showed a short video, on a constant loop.
The video was of a very angry Tom and Ebony, hurling abuse at each other. The genuine Ebony and Tom backed away from the video, horrified. The hologram Tom and Ebony continued to swear and curse at each other, until eventually it hit a breaking point. Tom looked at her with disgust, and slapped her across her face. Ebony fell to the floor, clutching her cheek and moaning. She sat up and muttered three words:
"I hate you."
The real Tom and Ebony looked at each other, backing away. They both started to cry...
***
Aimee's room.
Aimee stepped inside, to her surprise it was a large party with a lot of her friends, all of her friends in fact. From her nursery years to her present day chums. She smiled happily.
They all beckoned her over. She happily obliged, forgetting that this was to be her worst fear.
Suddenly, a dark shape moved through the room, killing everything it touched. Ponies dropped like flies. Soon the entire room was filled with corpses, save for the dark shape and Aimee. She stood there, silent. She couldn't believe it, it was all so... empty, so lifeless...
She fell to the floor and began to weep. Her friends, gone. The dark mass began to swirl and laugh, hysterically. Aimee shielded her eyes from it.
"NO MORE!" she yelled at the creature. "NO MORE!"
She gasped for breath between her tears, and began to cry once again on the floor.
***
Sam's room
Sam entered his room. with a defiant smile on his face. His look quickly turned to a horrified one as he saw the room he was standing in.
It was mouldy, fading and all round grimy. The wallpaper was peeling off, and it smelt distinctively of urine. Sam scrunched up his nose in disgust. He wandered around the room, which had other rooms connecting to them.
All the rooms had no doors and were very dimmly lit. He turned to the final door. This one was different. it had a door, and light and noise was leaking out of it. Sam inched closer to the door. Remembering that this was to be his worst fear.
He kicked open the door, dramatically. His look of anger, soon turned to look of pure horror.
"You wanna fight?"
"You what you, lad?"
"Come at me, bro!"
"Ya, mum!"
Sam found himself, face to face with a monstrous number of chavs, youths and other undesirables. He fell back against the urine stained fall, ignoring it. The fear was too overwhelming. His eyes were wide with fear and he attempted to scramble away.
But it was useless...
***
Jake's room.
Jake opened the door and the handle fell off. He stared at it for a while before preceding into the room itself.
"Cheap workmanship..." He muttered, kicking the door knob into the center to the room.
The first thing he noticed was that the room was colourful, yet deceptive. Jake looked at the room for a while. He gave it one of the Professor's looks. The room gave one of the Professor's looks back.
"Room's don't give looks!" Jake yelled. "Especially not annoying looks like that!"
"Oi, I heard that!" Owen's voice called out, echoing slightly.
Jake frowned. "Owen?! Can you hear me?"
Something tapped him on his shoulder. He felt a sliver run down his spine, as though something or someone or somepony had walked over his grave. stamped on it twice and set fire to it, while singing "In the Navy."
Jake turned around and saw Owen standing there.
"Owen? Wait... what. How did... How did you get here?"
Another voice called out, identical to the Professors.
"The same way I got in."
"And me!"
"And Me!"
More copies of Owen were materialising inside the room, pushing Jake further toward the wall. The wall had now turned a sickly colour of crimson red, the same colour of blood.
Jake smelt the wall. "Raspberry? The worst kind of jam. Aside Blueberry, that is."
The Owen's clicked their hoofs, and spawned more of themselves, multiplying like parasprites.
Jake screamed "THEY'RE EVERYWHERE, EVERYWHERE!!!"
***
The Professor's room.
Owen had had enough, The last few minutes had torturered him. He could hear all his beloved friends being traumatized within their rooms. Eventually he was sick of it. He looked at his door. He noted everything about it. He looked at the door knob. Inscribed upon it were the words: "Made in China" Owen frowned at it.
He pulled a small package out of his trench coat. It was labelled: "C4". He placed some on the door.
"In the words of the immortal Dick van Dyke, chim-chimney, chim-chimney, chim-chimney, SCREW YOU!"
He turned around so he wasn't looking at the explosion. He flicked the switch and the door crumbled to dust.
"Cool guys don't look at explosions." He sang.
He walked in the room, it appeared to be a rather small room. As he entered, the entrance sealed up. It was quite lonely in here, he reflected. As if you weren't meant to be there.
"I think you're more clever than you make out to be, Professor." It was Discord's voice.
"So I think I have chosen the perfect fear for you." he cackled loudly, and then his voice faded.
The Professor found himself in the pitch black room alone, once again.
"How did he know I was afraid of the dark?" The Professor yelled, sarcastically.
A spotlight appeared above, showing a silhouette of what appeared to be a human. The human just stood, it didn't even breathe. It just stood there, as if it was watching and observing. Owen likened the feel of it to a frog in a dissection lesson.
The human then stepped forward closer into the spotlight. Owen could see more of it now. He gasped.
It was male, with brown hair and eyes, he was also quite small. He was wearing a trench coat and a matching top hat.
Owen stared at himself, and he smiled back. It's pupils were small and intelligent. A past version of himself. one he thought had gone. Lost forever in that final battle in which he had defeated his inner demons. Owen wasn't usually one for small talk, but today was the exception.
"So. It's you."
Brave New World, Discord's Revenge
The Professor closed the book and looked up. The young fillies and colts were still staring at him, eyes wide with anticipation. They were sitting in the new Golden Oaks Library. The Professor was sitting in a large leather armchair with a book in his hoofs, while the foals were sitting on the wooden floor. After a brief moment of silence, one of the foals spoke.
"Is... Is that it?" A small, black colt with rainbow coloured hair asked.
"For now, Spectrum." Owen replied, getting up and placing the book back on the shelf with his telekinesis.
He sat back down in his large leather armchair. He sighed as he did so.
"But... What happened next?" A filly asked.
"That. You will find out another time, Cloudiver."
The colts and filles groaned in annoyance. Owen smiled to himself, keeping them in suspence was a great thing to do. He crossed his forelegs and looked down at them.
"You all best be off home, you're parents will kill me if you're all late again."
The foals began to get up when suddenly the door opened with a thud and a middle-aged pegasus walked through, his grey/ginger hair spiked out of the top of his head like a mace. He coat was a dark navy blue and his expression was aggitated.
"OWEN! YOU NEED TO TELL THEM WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!" Jake yelled.
The foals all murmured in agreement. The Professor rolled his eyes.
"I guess another story couldn't hurt... After all, it was pretty exciting... But you must promise me, not a word to your parents."
The fillies and colts nodded in agreement. Owen walked over to the shelf where he had just placed the last book, instead he brought out another. It's binding was a deep red with golden lettering spelling out the words:
"Brave New World, Attack of the Changelings"
He opened the book, and began.
