If, Wherever We Go

The further we went into the Everfree Forest, the darker it got.  I bit my claws!  On top of that, we were looking for a gateway to another world!  Another world?  I couldn't even imagine what that would be like!  Do rocks fly in other worlds?  Or do dragons breath water?  Are there even ponies in other worlds?  Little did I know that I would have all my answers and more very soon...

My Little Pony:  Friendship Is Magic

~ If, Wherever We Go ~

by NoGiantRobots1983

Chapter 3

~ The World Behind the Rock ~

Suddenly, Luna screamed!

Everyone turned around as Luna cried out in pain and tumbled!  Applejack was the first to her side, but before she even asked a question Fluttershy was there, putting her lips to Luna's leg!  I soon saw the cause of all this:

A snake had been hiding in the leaves.  Luna didn't see it, she'd stepped too close.  The snake got spooked, and bit her.  Then it slithered away.

"Fluttershy!"  Twilight called out, "You can't suck out poison!  That'll make you sick!"

But Fluttershy kept doing it, sucking it out and spitting it onto the leaves.  We couldn't stop her, but we could read her mind, and I learned that she had done this before.  She'd sucked out snake poison so much that she was actually immune to it!  Whoa, Fluttershy was kinda awesome!

But even after she had gotten the poison out, Luna's hoof was so swollen that she couldn't walk on it.  Everypony did what they could, but after careful observation Fluttershy decided "I'm afraid we'll have to take you back to Ponyville."

"That's too far!"  Twilight complained.  She was right:  In her condition, a journey would just make Luna worse.

"Perhaps my place will do?"  Zecora suggested.  "And my medicines and brews?"

"That would be great, Zecora!"  Twilight agreed, "if you're sure you won't mind?"

"For dear friends like you it is the least I could do!"

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy spread their wings, and carried Luna the whole way.  Applejack went ahead with Zecora to guide the path and warn them of any more sinister snakes.  Twi and Rarity kept to the pegasus' sides in case they needed help.

At the hut, I prepared a bed for Luna using the closest rags I could find, and watched as they floated her into it.  I winced:  Luna had this painful grimace, and sometimes she would cry out.  For awhile, she didn't stop.  And the psychic impressions...!  I felt so helpless...!  Zecora, Twilight and Applejack rushed to find ingredients.

A mixed home-made ointment and a bandage later:  "There," Zecora said, "Now you are all better in no time!"

I don't know if it was Zecora's potion or not, but Luna had stopped crying out, but she looked like she was still in pain.

With a strained voice, Luna asked "Zecora, how long is 'no time'?"

"About a day or two will see you as good as new!"

Luna tried to get up, and everypony stopped her.  "We don't have 'a day or two'!  The black pools may be spreading as we speak!  There's no choice, then:  Ponies, you'll have to go without me."

"But--!"  that was Twilight.

"But--!"  that was Dash.

"Ma'am--!"  that was AJ.

"My lady--!"  that was Rarity.

"Luna!"  that was Pinkie.

"But--!"  that was Fluttershy.

"The matter is settled!  Zecora, show them what you were about to show me!"  Luna didn't manage more than that before another spasm of pain set in.

"I will make it so," Zecora nodded, then said to the others "Come, you I must show."

Slowly and reluctantly, the ponies headed for the door, Twilight first.  But she stopped just before the threshold, said to me "Spike, you stay."

My eyes watered up.  "Why, Twilight?"

"Listen, Spike, we're about to adventure into what may be a whole new world.  We don't know what awaits us.  For all we know, it could be a world of flying guppies that eat dragons.  The ponies and I have to do this, but you don't.  And if you came along, I'd spend all my time worrying about you, because--" and then Twilight stopped talking for a moment.  You have no idea how my heart raced during that moment of silence.  I thought Twilight was going to say any number of things:  that I'd just get in the way, that I'd be a bother, that I'd have to look out for myself and I'm too young, that I don't really have any skills... and then she said "--because I love you, Spike."

I wanted to cry and run into her open hooves, but she held me back.  Fluttershy grabbed me and kissed my head as she passed out the door, and the other ponies gave sentiments too.  All my will to argue melted away.  I sighed. "All right, I'll stay here.  But you'll come back, right?"

"I won't let you down!"  Twilight winked.

"Take the book!"  that was Luna, and she put the book in a saddlebag that she floated over Twilight's back.  The other side was empty, but seemed to balance just fine.  Actually, the whole thing felt to Twi like it had no weight whatsoever.  I guess it was a magical saddlebag.  "And remember, use it only in safe places!"

"We will!  Goodbye, Luna.  Goodbye, Spike."  That sounded hard for Twi to say, but she did, and finally forced herself out the door.

The really cruddy thing was that Luna's accident wasn't that far from what Zecora had wanted to show us!  Just a little past that stupid snake was this huge boulder in a clearing.  It was the shape of an egg, if a little thinner and more jagged, and it was taller than any of the trees.  As Rainbow Dash said with a whistle, "That's one big rock."

"What are those noises?"  that was Rarity, and she walked around the left-hoof side of the rock to take a peek.  "What in Equestria...?  Girls, you've got to come see this!"

They saw it, all right:  Beyond the rock was a grove of regularly-spaced trees, each trimmed so that they looked like green globes atop a pole.  The grass was green and evenly cut.  There were no leaves on the ground, but there was a cobblestone road.  In the distance, they saw what at first looked like really big rocks, but which they soon realized were tall buildings!

Rainbow Dash suddenly asked "Hey Twi, is it possible for a place to exist on only one side of a rock?"

"I don't think so.  Why?"

"This one does."

"What?"  Twilight walked around to the other side, where she saw... more Everfree Forest.

"It's the same up-top!"  Dash.

"Perhaps this is one of the things we'll just have to get used to," Twilight said as she took her first step into a new world.  She turned and looked at the other ponies.  Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie followed after, followed by Applejack.  Fluttershy and Rarity were afraid of setting foot in there.

And Zecora?  She claimed "I've shown you what I said, I don't care to see what is ahead!"

"That's okay, you're not obligated to come with us.  Thank you, Zecora."

"Anytime, my friends.  I must return to tend my patient now!"  and in a chorus of goodbyes, Zecora ran off.  I'm betting she was more than eager to leave.

Twilight asked "Rarity, Fluttershy?  What about you?"

Rarity took a tenuous step forward.  "Well, the ground feels clean and... suitably not-alien.  The weather looks fine.  I don't see any dangerous monsters.  Still, Twilight, I would feel a lot better if we knew more about this place.  Do you think its safe to ask the book?"

"There doesn't seem to be any immediate danger."

That made the ponies flip, and they started looking around left and right.  Because you see, they knew who said that, but they couldn't believe it.  Rainbow Dash asked "Luna?  Where are you?"

And then a mental image of Luna smiling appeared in all the ponies' heads.  "Greetings, my little ponies!"

"Oh yeah!"  Rainbow Dash tapped her noggin.  "I forgot all about that telepathy stuff!"

"As did I," Luna admitted.  "I've gotten so used to speaking with my mouth that I oftentimes forget I can speak with my mind.  Believe it or not, it was your little dragon that reminded me."

"Hey Twilight!"  That was me!  Oh boy, I was so excited!  I won't get left out of the adventure this time!  I mean, I guess I will, but I'll be able to see it first hand!

Luna giggled.  "Anyway, telepathy can fade if left dormant too long, so I thought it prudent to contact you right away and reaffirm our link.  We must be careful to keep in mental contact.  You ponies should be able to talk to each other or even Spike as easily as you talk to me."

Then I was like "You bunch better keep in touch!  I'm taking notes.  I'm betting this'll make a real good book someday!"

Twilight smiled, "Oh, you silly... all right, we'll keep you informed!"

"There's another fringe benefit I can offer," Luna said.  "Related to telepathy is a technique called 'Remote Viewing'.  That's where I can see something without actually being there.  Now I'm looking at you from up above.  I can even share your sight and see things through your eyes!  Now I see what Fluttershy sees!"

"Oh, goodness!"  Fluttershy.

"And now I'm fifty feet to your north!  All right, fifty feet above you!  And... what I'm seeing looks interesting."

"How is that?"  Applejack asked.

"It... sort of reminds me of Manehattan.  The place you're in right now appears to be like Central Park.  It's an even square of land.  I see a pond behind you, if you can somehow get around the border that separates the worlds.  In that world there are three stones adjescent the border, not just one, and you're actually in something of a niche.  The cobblestone path to your north winds around past some benches and a fountain where... oh, what's this?  Some sort of creatures seem to be lingering there."

"Dangerous creatures?"  Fluttershy.

"I can't tell.  Visually I'm following clusters of these creatures beyond the borders of the park, where you'll come to another road.  I think its made of concrete, again just like the streets in Manehattan.  For whatever reason, it has yellow lines painted on it.  Beyond that, the areas of habitation.  My, these creatures need a lot of space, and there sure are many of them!"

"But what are these creatures?"  still Fluttershy.  "Are they cute?"

"Let me get a closer look.  Hmmm... the smaller ones are quite darling.  The taller ones... I get different impressions.  They're not 'cute' the same way the smaller are, but they do seem to range from charming to noble to brutish."

"But what do they look like?"  Twilight.

Luna had to think about that one, and I don't blame her.  "The best I can illustrate is... Applejack, stand on your hind legs."

"Eeeeh... okay."

"Now, ponies, look at Applejack right now.  Now, imagine that she has feet, like Spike does.  Except that he has five toes and no talons.  Now imagine she has hands, again like Spike does.  Four fingers and a thumb.  They have something that seems like the beginnings of a claw, but none seem especially long or thick.  I can't even guess what their purpose might be.

"All right, now imagine that Applejack doesn't have a tail or fur, but she still has a mane."

Pinkie Pie giggled, "So you want us to imagine Applejack naked?"

"Not exactly.  These creatures seem to have no fur of their own, but they wear clothing.  There seem to be varying degrees of nakedness, but I don't see any creatures who are without clothes altogether... except for a few who seem to be taking baths."

"What kind of fashions are in style here?"  Rarity.

"All kinds.  Actually, a lot of them seem to just put on the first thing they get their hands on.  There are a lot of outfits that are just unspectacular.  Oh, hello, there's one female--at least, I think that's a female--who is wearing a dress.  Oh, its just like the one you wore to the Grand Galloping Gala, Twilight Sparkle!"

"Oh, can I see?"  and then, after Luna projected the image into Twilight's mind:  "Oh... the resemblance really is uncanny."

Then Applejack stopped standing up and said "Wait, ya'll mean you coulda just showed us these critters the whole time?  Then what was my posin' for?"

Luna projected an image of her blushing.  "Oh, I'm so sorry!  I'm so absent-minded sometimes."

"Aww, forget it.  It's no big deal.  Is it safe for Twilight to pull out that newfangled book of hers?  Or oldfangled, I guess?"

"There are a few of these creatures around, but I think that as long as you stay in the shadow of the rocks, they won't see you.  Yes, it should be safe."

Twilight took that as her cue to open up the book and ask "What are these creatures?"

The book flipped to a section titled "Human Beings."   As usual, it had the massive overdose of information, starting with how long ago the first human came into existence (measured in Standard Galactic Milliseconds) and everything about the life of every one of these creatures which was ever born.  Of course the ponies didn't read the whole thing.  Actually, Twilight asked it some very specific things:  what do humans eat (that got a long list of every human ever and what they had all eaten on every day of their life) and especially whether they eat ponies (the book flipped to an entry on one guy who ate a pony once, out of desperation.  Twilight took that as a good sign).  Then she asked if they're violent and the book showed us their warfare history, but on further questioning we did get entries about something called a "peace movement."  Then Twilight asked how humans felt about ponies, which got us a sub-header called "Human Philosophies - Animal Rights."  Tell you the truth, what I got out of it was that human beings are like Rainbow Dash on Thursdays and Fluttershy on Sundays.  If that makes any sense, then you're probably a human.

"Wait a minute," Rainbow Dash asked, "Is the book saying we're animals?"

Twilight scanned it, "I guess we are, from their perspective."

Fluttershy looked nervous, "So are they... going to want to pet us?"

Rainbow Dash made a disgusted sound.  "I don't want these things touching me!  Twilight, you should look up how to defend ourselves in case the humans get too grabby!  I mean, would giving them the old what-for work in this world?"

Twilight nodded and asked about self defense.

The book flipped a massive amount of pages, and finally landed on a page titled "Standard All-Existence Self Defense."  And you'll never ever believe this, but for once the article was quite short!

Uh oh, I feel more of that magic coming on!...

A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO ALL-EXISTENCE SELF DEFENSE:

When two sides are in conflict, it's called a "combat."  In Combat, each "side" can have a limited number of members, depending on the size of the participants (ponies are considered small-to-medium size, so up to five of them can be on one side).

In "Combat," each participant is given a meter called the Will to Fight.  The Will to Fight is a participant's ability to continue the combat.  When it hits zero, that participant is forced to retire from the combat.  Almost any action taken against a participant will cause them to lose Will to Fight.  It is possible for Will to Fight to be restored, however, keep in mind that once all participants on one side lose their Will to Fight, they lose the combat.  No exceptions.

Some participants also have a second meter, called Wonder Points.  Wonder Points are spent whenever the combatant uses a special ability, such as magic.  Running out of Wonder Points does not cost you the combat, however it will prevent you from doing anything other than basic attacks.  Wonder Points can also be restored.

Whenever any action is taken upon a participant, the value of that action will appear as a number above that participant's head.  If it is a white number, then they have lost that amount of Will to Fight or Wonder Points.  If it is a green number, they have had that amount restored to either their Will or Wonder.  Keep in mind that there is an upper limit to how much Will or Wonder they can have.  This is dependent on their Level, which will gradually raise over time.

One word of warning:  These rules may not apply to Storyline Events.

Okay hand, quit shaking!

Sorry, I had to catch my hand real quick.  It was just going crazy!  It's not just me, either:  my editors keep trying to cut stuff like that out, and they just wind up re-writing it.  Just like what happens to me!  I guess sometimes the story just has to have its way.

Anyway, I didn't really buy all this junk about "going into Combat."  Neither did Rainbow Dash:  "What the hay is all this?  'Levels'?  'Wonder Points'?  'Will to Fight meter'?  I mean, seriously?"  she turned around and said "Hey human, do you have a 'Will to Fight' meter?"

I don't know what that human was doing there, but the minute Rainbow Dash turned and asked him that, his eyes went wide, he yelled at the top of his lungs and ran for the hills!

Twilight scrambled to put the book away.  Rainbow Dash (who had been hovering just off the ground) landed.  Fluttershy said to her  "Somehow, I was hoping for a more pleasant first meeting."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

Twilight came up front.  "That does sound kind of silly, but the Glass Book is pure fact.  It can't be wrong.  It said that only five of us can be in combat at a time.  I can only guess that has to do with our marching order, so the weakest of us should stay as far back as possible."

"Ummm," Fluttershy began to say something.

Then Rainbow Dash interrupted, "It's obvious, isn't it?"

"You mean Fluttershy?"  Twilight asked.

"No, Pinkie Pie," Dash said that sarcastically.

But that got Twilight thinking.  "Hmmm.  Pinkie Pie, can you actually handle yourself in a fight?"

"I dunno!"  Pinkie Pie.

Applejack remembered, "Ya'll had no problem bucking those diamond dogs!"

"But neither did Fluttershy."  Twilight pointed out.  She kind of turned the dirt with her hoof and said "We don't have time to figure this out, so both of you try to keep out of trouble and we'll just play it by ear."  Twilight looked around the rock.  "In any case, I would rather not get into fights at all."

Twilight poked her head around the rock, and said "Let's try to make peaceful contact.  Those people over there look friendly enough."  So the whole gang walked out to them, Twilight in the lead, and she said "Greetings, I'm Twilight Sparkle.  I come from Equestria and I'm looking for the Mother Pony.  Have you seen her, by any chance?"

Those people--a man and a woman who looked like they were getting mushy-gushy on a park bench, looked at Twilight and the ponies with faces full of surprise and then at each other.  Twilight bowed her head and said "I'm sorry if we're causing you any discomfort," and she and the others walked off down the cobblestone road.

Behind them, they heard the woman say "Did we just see a group of colored ponies?"  then she asked "Shouldn't we go after them?"

The further they got into the park, the more populated it got, and all the human creatures looked at the ponies with surprise, shock and curiosity.  You didn't need telepathy to know that obviously these people had never seen a pony before.  Or at least, not an Equestria pony, as we found out later.

Then suddenly Fluttershy shot up and caught a frisbee in her mouth!  Landing, she brought it to a little human boy, put it down and said "Oh, I'm sorry to interrupt your game, it's just there was this cardinal's nest right where your frisbee was going, and I couldn't bear to see it hurt.  I'm sorry, but please, be more careful."

The boy looked at her with his mouth hanging open.

"Are you all right?"

No change.

"Okay... I'll be going now."

Fluttershy backed away from the awestruck kid.  The kid just stood there until his mother came and ran off with him.

Twilight was trying to address the crowd:  "Hello, I'm Twilight Sparkle, my homeland is in terrible danger and we really need to find the Mother Pony, so if anyone has seen or heard anything about her can you help us out?  Please?"  Then, confidentially, "I don't think this is going to work."

Rarity mumbled "Yes, the demeanor of these fellows does give that impression."

Applejack's ears perked and she looked around asking "Land sakes, what is all that laughing about?"

They looked and saw:

Pinkie Pie was giving the human children rides.  As she bounced around with two on her back, a lot more followed her around in circles waiting for their turn.  And the grown humans, well some of them looked like they enjoyed it as much as the kids, but a few of them screamed something about their "precious babies" and went hysterical.  Two of the daddies plucked kids right off of Pinkie Pie's back and told her to shoo!

Pinkie glared at them and was like "Hey, what's your problem?"

Didn't help though, they were trying to scare her away with rolled up newspapers and handbags and whatever they could find to swing at her.  One of them even used a hat.  Oooh, scary!

Twilight called out "Pinkie, get away from there!"

But Pinkie wasn't listening.  And Twilight and the others saw something that sent shockwaves down their manes:

A gray box with numbers had appeared near Pinkie Pie's feet.  And what do you know, the humans had those boxes too!  Then one of the human men swatted at Pinkie with his hat again (yeah, a hat.  I still can't believe that) and the white number "10" appeared above Pinkie Pie's face, and the numbers in the gray box changed... subtracted by ten.

There you have it, our first meeting with a Will to Fight meter.

Pinkie roared, and that caused three of the humans to lose 100 Will to Fight points each!

Rarity ran to Pinkie's side.  "Pinkie, calm down!  The humans are only attacking because they're scared!"

"Then they shouldn't have hit me!"

"But Pinkie, they haven't even hurt you that much--"

Then a newspaper roll caught the back of Rarity's head.  She stood still for a minute, but we could all feel it coming, like the feeling you get when a volcano is about to erupt.  When she turned to the human who had done it, she said "Oh, it is on!"

The kick she gave the guy with the newspaper knocked him out completely.  Just seeing what happened to their companion was enough to make some of the other humans completely chicken out.  Kids started crying, mothers screamed.

Rarity and Pinkie regrouped with the rest.  Rarity suggested "We better get back to Equestria until this blows over."

Twilight said "No!  We can't take the chance of them following us back to our home!"

Applejack reared up, "Then we all better hoof it!  Come on, girls!"

They ran like the wind.  They went clear off the cobblestone path and right through the trees, and kept going until they got to the road.  Just as Luna said, it was like the carriage roads in Manehattan.  Humans had carriages too, except that theirs didn't have anything pulling them (must be magic), went really fast and each time they past there was this weird smell.  When they told me about it, they couldn't agree whether that smell was icky or pleasant.

Then a horrible sound pierced the air!  From around a corner came these black carriages that, umm... they kind of looked like rolling black blocks.  On the side they had the words "Animal Control," written in plain Equestrish!  Wait, why do they write in Equestrish?  But who cares, these carriages were scary, and when they stopped all these humans in black uniforms and helmets stepped out!  And they were all carrying these tube-things with triangles on the end!

The ponies didn't have long to figure it out.  One of the new humans aimed the thin end of his stick at Fluttershy.  There was a BAM! Fluttershy made a sound, and then... fell straight to sleep?  Rarity saw some sort of needle in her flank, right next to her cutie mark!  She pulled it out, and then once again it was on!

Applejack pointed out "We ain't got not choice but to stand our ground now!"

"Looks that way," Twilight's way of agreeing.

Rainbow Dash took to the air, crying out "If they think they're gonna take down Rainbow Dash that easy, they got another thing coming!" and she dove right at one, knocking him flat on his back.  His Will to Fight took a massive hit, but wasn't gone.

"Oh oh oh!"  Pinkie Pie, "What about me?  What should I do?  Should I go grrrr or roar or tie their shoelaces together huh huh or maybe--" a needle in her flank later, Pinkie Pie was out.

Twilight wished she had a plan or something.  The four ponies who were still standing managed to scare off three of the "Animal Control" humans, but more took their place.  They just kept coming!  Twilight thought maybe they should run, but they couldn't abandon Fluttershy and Pinkie!

Against all odds, Rainbow Dash went down next.  When that happened, the battle was over, and Twilight was the last to get the needle.

Me and Luna watched in horror as the ponies were loaded onto the black carriages and driven away.  I wailed, and I just barely heard the princess say "stupid, stupid Luna..."

Uh oh!  Looks like our favorite ponies are in a jam!  What does fate have in store for them?  Can they escape?  Stay tuned for the answers in the next chapter, "Dr. Longcoat and His Crew!"  We'll see you there!

"If those humans hurt Rarity, they'll answer to ME!"

• Spike