Call of Powerby dusk flameChaptersThe Beginning - %i%An Interview and... a party? - %i%Dreamscape - %i%Reawakening - %i%The Beginning - %i%The Beginning - 1 Jason was busy reading through the story that started it all. He had already read his father's book countless times but found himself with nothing interesting to fill his downtime. Essence is how I live and use my abilities, void energy is an equal and opposite force, yada yada is it Saturday on Terra yet? Jason flipped the book closed letting out a sigh as he leaned against an obsidian wall to look out the window and watch the galaxies pass by. I swear, if I don't get deployed soon I'm going to flip. This whole situational immortality thing is a pain. Stuck reverting to 19 whenever I get back here is a pain... At least I can go through my memory logs in my dream trances though... That's not a pain. And maybe the next planet I get sent to will have enough Essence so I can really go all out. That last one was boring I could hardly even teleport. Oh maybe I'll get sent to a c-19 even! That would be great. Then I cou- Jason report to the deployment chamber immediately. We have a mission for you. What, no warning? I usually get at least a week to initialize. I'm afraid we weren't aware of the issue until a pulse was picked up on the sensors. You need to get he- Jason sighs and teleports himself into a dimly lit room of pure white. There are no doors, no windows, and you can hardly tell where the floor ends and the walls begin. Standing in front of him is a six foot tall humanoid being known as The Oracle. The only distinguishing features he has is that his forehead has three ridges above where his eyebrows would be, his eyes are pure white with a black ring in each of them and his skin is ivory colored. He wears a faded green t-shirt with camo khakis and black athletic shoes, the standard "uniform" among the Guardians. "Alright I'm here. What's the mission?" The Oracle wastes no time in pulling up a visual of a planet with two satellites orbiting a lifeless star. One satellite has the appearance of a miniature sun and the other a moon." Your mission takes place in the Sentience Sphere. The planet I'm showing you right now is, a c-9, and is ca-" Jason facepalms as The Oracle's says c-9, quickly cutting him off. "You're sending me to a single? The last time I went to one of those they made me their god for 30 years... 30 FREAKIN years! Yes, I know the other one was only a three but still, creation powers make you god status to anything under a 16." The Oracle sighs and brings a hand up, running a finger along a ridge on his forehead for a few seconds before continuing " Yes, Jason, WE are sending you to a class nine planet because for one, the landscape and atmosphere mimics you and your father's planet, two, because your powers, used correctly, will not seem unusual to the inhabitants as their own brand of "magic" has a very similar end result, and three, we feel that not only will you be the best prepared member to interact with the beings there as none of the races that inhabit that planet have joined the ranks of the Guardian's Call, but you also have an... interest... in the story this planet was created from. Jason stood silently for a few seconds, one arm across his chest holding his other arm up, a finger tapping his temple thinking on what The Oracle said. "As I was saying, the planet is known as..." The fact that the planet was below the halfway point on the Guardian's scale meant that the entire solar system was originally a construct, albeit one with a very strong magical presence since it rates a 9. The fact that it resembled Terra meant the creator of the planet was likely from Terra, or a parallel Terra, and the fact that The Oracle said the planet was relevant to his interests meant he knew quite a bit about the planet already. Since he was also told the planet had no races that were represented in the Guardian's Call he begin removing possible options of what that planet could be until he last piece of the puzzle was put into place, the planet was in the Sentience Sphere. Jason spoke up as The Oracle was about to finish his remark, "MLP" "...Equis, wait what?" The Oracle stood there, stunned as Jason had just guessed where he would be deployed in mere seconds. "Surprised I did it again? You gave it away when you said none of the races were represented here and it was in the Sentience Sphere. Even though we have dragons here the dragons in MLP are all greed dragons. Also, not only would the chosen Guardian stand out among their race, but it would be difficult for them to survive off of the planets resources without eating sentient beings. It will be interesting to see how that planet reacts to my creation abilities though... Will I have to repress or hide anything?" Jason stopped tapping and let his arms hang lose waiting for The Oracle to respond. The Oracle frowned for a moment, deep in thought before letting a smirk cover his face. "I must say, that show is quite ingeniously written, I can see how it is so popular. I've also compared the show to the state of the planet in present time and the time lapse is quite large. I expect your presence to immediately split the planet from its creation source so it will no longer be a construct. You won't have to hide or repress anything but I encourage you to use discretion when dealing with the inhabitants as I don't believe they understand what it means that they inhabit a lesser planet withing the Sentience Sphere. Also, limit the usage of your creation powers to a minimum. The balance is shifted towards essence and some rather strong voidlings are being created in the mirror plain so be mindful of how much of your adept powers are used. Once you arrive you'll probably lose consciousness. I'll position your planetary entrance accordingly. You'll end up in a lake outside of the Everfree forest unless you hit something unexpectedly. I'll be sending you on your way now so do be sure to brace yourself." "But what abo-" Jason tried to stall The Oracle but was interrupted as the room and then his world immediately turned black. ----- 30 minutes later, POV: Jason----- Ugh, I hate having to deal with this crap... Wait, whats poking me? I open my eyes and am immediately met with the biggest blue eyes I have ever seen. I blink for a few moments and the eyes pull away from me revealing a small zebra with a black and white mane and tail. She has golden rings around her neck and left forehoof, a large golden earring hanging from her right ear and a marking on her flank that appears to be a spiral surrounded by triangles. "I see before me you are quite awake. Tell me, why were you asleep in the lake?" I smile, trying to disguise a laugh before responding "A grave mistake I seem to have made. I fell unconscious while I played. I have a question to ask of you, whom is the one I am speaking to?" Oh god this is perfect. Of all the people for me to make first contact with it's Zecora. Best. Jump. EVER! The Zebra looks at me raising an eyebrow for a moment before speaking again. "My name is Zecora and I mean you well. Who are you, and did you see what fell? I cringe at her last line, thinking for a moment before responding, "My name is Jason, good Zecora. I'm glad I met you instead of just Flora. The object you saw was truly me. Lucky to hit this lake, instead of a tree." "I see you too, speak in rhyme but tell me, do you all the time?" Aw what the hell I'll just go ahead and keep this up. "No longer must you try and guess, for my answer is certainly ye-eaooow! What the heck? Random splitting headache... That's gone now..." I sit there frowning, mad at myself that I let my charade up so quickly. "Lies can't be made, when spoken in rhyme. This is how, I speak all the time. Happy I was, to meet someone like me, but it appears as if it wasn't meant to be." She sighs quietly and brings out a soft smile. Looking down at me with sadness in her eyes. Well, that answers that question. Sucks that you can't say a lie while you rhyme. but... "Sorry I am to have misled thee, my only wish was that you didn't flee. I chose to mimic the way you speak, so you wouldn't make a frightful squeak. But now that that's out of the bag I suppose I'll just talk how I normally do so I don't have to put at much thought into what I say. I really am sorry though to have misled you like that." After I revealed the truth we talked for awhile. I told her in rhyme that I was new to the area, meant no harm to the inhabitants, and was looking for the nearest town or city and she led me towards ponyville. As we approach the town I reach forward with my mind deciding its about time for me to have some fun. I look around mentally, trying to find the pony named Pinkie Pie and implant a desire to head towards the lake when I find her and sense that she already already has that desire and is making her way towards me with none other then Twilight Sparkle. Well, this is interesting... Looks like she already sensed me and Zecora coming. After a few moments Zecora and I crest a hill coming face to face with a Pink pony with blue eyes and a pink mane and tail that's slightly darker then her body fur. Beside her is a lavender unicorn with purple eyes and a purple mane and tail that has a pink stripe going down both. Pinkie Pie jumps in the air and hangs there for all of 3 seconds, saying "SEE! I toldja somepony was coming to visit! Its Zecora and somepony else! Zecora what is it?" before falling back to the ground. UGH I hate being called 'it' I cut Zecora of as she is about to speak and say with ice in my voice, "My name is Jason, I'm what's known as a human and I am not an 'it', I am a 'he' and I'll thank you to refer to me properly Pinkie" My eyes go wide for a second as 3 pairs of eyes look towards me. Oh crap... how am I gonna get through this... The silence is palpable for a second before Pinkie Pie speaks up in her usual rushed tone. "Oh my gosh how'd you know my name was Pinkie Pie? Did Zecora tell you about us already I bet it was Zecora cause we've been friends with her for a really long time and y-" Twilight stuck a hoof in Pinkie's mouth, cutting her words down to mumbling allowing me to speak Ok, can't say it was Zecora because it wasn't soo.... "Actually, I was referring to your color. It was just dumb luck that your name also happened to be Pinkie. I get angry when people refer to me as an 'it' so that's why I lashed out like that. I'm sorry... hugs?" jackpot! an opening. I spread my arms wide and let a sheepish grin cover my face and pinkie leaps towards me, spinning in the air so she lands in my arms, fore-hooves around my neck, being held like a baby. Oh god... SO-CUTE! After tightening my grip a little she nuzzles my neck and at the same moment we both say "Friends?... YES!" Then somehow she flies up in the air, hooves spread with glee before falling down and rolling back into place along side Twilight, popping up back to a standing position, positively teeming with joy. "I've never seen anypony react like that to Pinkie before! That was amazing Jason. Oh and bye the way, my name is Twilight. Pinkie here said that somepony new and unusual was coming to Ponyville and that we should all be ready to meet you. The two of us chose to come and greet you!" Twilight looks up at me, expertly containing her laughter at Pinkie's antics. I look at her and a smile spreads across my face. Better be careful about showing my teeth. Don't want to freak anyone out about it. I cock my head slightly with my arms outstretched saying, "hugs?" Twilight lets out a cute chuckle, rolls her eyes and walks forward a few steps before rearing up on her hind legs, falling to my chest, placing her forehooves around my neck. Thinking a moment I bend down slightly and pull her into my embrace, lifting her into the air and running a hand through her mane Wow... she even smells like lavender. AWESOME! She's acting really tame from how I would have guessed though. Oh! I think I know whats going on... "By the way where I come from I'm kind of a geek so I was thinking if any of you know a bookworm type who's into learning about new things and maybe we could talk about stuff? It'd be even better if she was the fun loving and excitable type too! We'd get along ever so well." Multiple times through my speech I felt Twilight stiffen, radiating thick, palpable and increasing waves of excitement and I stood there, continuing to stroke her mane, waiting for her to burst, as the information processed. Explosion in 3... 2... 1... Blast of- (In Twilights mind) Loading... Loading!... Loading!!!... Done "YES. YES. YES YES YES YESYESYESYESYES! LETS GO I WANT TO KNOW EVERYTHING!" Twilight then hops down, grabs me in her magic, and runs off towards ponyville, looking back at me for a second with pure excitement in her eyes. I look up and struggle a bit, waving towards Zecora shouting out "BYE ZECORA I'LL COME TALK TO YOU AGAIN SOON OR YOU CAN COME VISIT!" I look forward again seeing Pinkie bouncing alongside Twilight. As we near Ponyville I see the all to familiar tree house library. I look around quickly taking in the view of the town trying to see if I recognize any ponies. Failing to get a good look I focus my attention back in front of me. The door to the library opens and as I get pulled inside and situated on a cushion I see all of the mane six in front of me. An Interview and... a party? - %i%An Interview and... a party? - 2 POV: Jason I look around me, happy that I had at least a few seconds peace since it seemed like the ponies were waiting for me to say the first words. On the far left was a yellow and pink maned pegasus Fluttershy, next to her was a blue and rainbow maned pegasus Rainbow Dash, after that was and orange pony wearing a stetson on her yellow mane Applejack, next was Twilight Sparkle with paper and quill writing furiously, then an ivory and purple maned unicorn Rarity aannd lastly Pinkie Pie! They must have made an agreement of sorts... I half expected Dashie to already be shouting out questions by now. The ponies were sitting on pink cushions and all but Fluttershy were looking up at me expectantly. "Ok girls I'm sure you all have plenty of questions and frankly I do-" "Ever been in a race?" Rainbow dash shouted out, flying up closer to me get a better look. Get outta my face damnit. I gave myself a few seconds, trying to wipe away the scowl now present on my face. I spoke up with a little more bitterness in my voice then I has hoped, "Yes, Rainbow, I have and I'll thank you to get out. Of. My. Face." With the last four words I let a smile break apart my lips as I poked her in the nose each time thinking to my self, boop, boop, boop, boop, heh I just booped Dashie! After feeling awesome for a few seconds I came back to the real world and noticed that all six ponies were staring at me. Thinking quickly I simply said, "what, don't tell me your name is the same thing as the color of your mane... If it is I think I'm beginning to notice a pattern here..." My cover story seemed to work as all the ponies visibly relaxed. Twilight put down her paper and quill and began to say something but was quickly cut off by Pinkie Pie. "Oh! I know why don't you try and guess everypony else's names! Twilight already told you her name so now you got three more to go!" At those words she pushed Fluttershy, Applejack and Rarity directly in front of me, cushions and all Huh... No friction... Useful! I think to myself for a moment, planning how I'll do this as quickly and convincingly as possible. "Ok... I guess I'll start with Ms. Shy over here." The ponies all gasp and even Fluttershy lifted her head up to get a better look at me. "What, don't tell me your name is shy..." I heard a small, almost inaudible voice but I was ready for it. "Uhm a-actually my name is Fluttershy, but you c-can call me Shy, I don't mind. I sneak a peek towards Rarity and notice she has a small trinket held up with her magic so I decide to make my next move. I speak as if I'm replying to Fluttershy but be sure to glance over at Rarity. "Oh, well that's pretty rare..." I instantly hear a gasp as Rarity looks up at me beaming with pride, "oh why thank you but I assure you this little bauble is nothing close to.. Oh I suppose I gave myself away didn't I." I turn towards her smiling and in a slight British accent I say "Why yes Rare, I suppose you have." Return to my normal voice I continue. "Well, that makes four... lets see if I can get a penta... kinda like that time witha Applejack-" "Now hold on a minute there pardner! I ain't never done... Oh, uhh... pardon..." Applejack looks up at me sheepishly, realizing I wasn't actually talking about her, thus giving away her name. Well, that was easy. And the best thing is they think it was all dumb luck "Right then, so aside from Rare which I assume is a nickname I suppose that's everyone!" "Quite right you are! My name is Rarity, fashion designer extraordinaire!" I smirk at her oh so familiar display and take a bow "Pleasure to make your acquaintance! Now then, I suppose it's about time for questions so why not make a game of it? You'll all ask me questions and then after I respond you'll answer your own questions ok?" They all nod so I continue, "now then, Twilight you seem to be on the verge of exploding so go ahead and say what you've be-" Ugh I hate being cut off... "FINALLY! Okso before anything I need to get a really detailed description written down and into my notes because whats the point of writing anything down about somepony if you don't even know what they look like so I'm going to read off what I have and then you can fill in any blanks ok!" She took a deep breath at the end of that, her voice clearly strained by the end of her remark. After catching her breath she continues "Ok, height unknown, weight unknown, lightly tanned skin tone with no visible hair aside from a light brown mane situated on the head and blond, curly hair on legs. Two eyes with green irises, nose, mouth with red lips,” Uhmm... “flat facial structure with a rounded chin, black shirt with what appears to be a teal flame design consisting of multiple wisplike flames, black shorts that cut off at the knees with a continuation of said flame design, black shoes and white ankle length socks. Movement is bipedal with feet of an unknown length at the end of each leg for balance, claw like appendages at the end of each arm that are very...” Don't say what I know you're going to say “...soft and are an efficient way of causing relaxation in others."Damnit Twi now it's awkward to have hands. “Also, there's nothing to suggest any magical capabilities or flight capabilities. I sit there for a few moments, stunned at the in-depth description and rather unnerving description of my hands. After what feels like ages I finally speak up and say, “I'm 5'10”, 130 pounds and my feet are about 10 inches long. I'm fully capable of both flight and magic but you'll have to wait to ask me questions about either. Aanndd I suppose it's about time to move on to the next question! Fluttershy you're up.” Both Twilight and Rainbowdash let out a sigh upon hearing they'd have to wait to ask about my 'magic' and ability to 'fly' but I ignored it and motioned towards Fluttershy to continue. Fluttershy looks up at me through her mane and says something I can't quite hear. I move a little closer, asking her to repeat herself, “Oh uhm... Well you don't have to a-answer if you don't want to but I w-wanted to know if you have any pets.” Oohhh this is gonna be good. I hope they don't freak out too terribly much though. It'll be nice to finally tell them what exactly I am too. “Well he's not exactly a pet but I suppose when he was still a baby you could have called him that since he was completely reliant on me to survive for about three years. The little bugger could hardly even walk until he was about two months old. Anyway, I have a king darkfyre dragon that was given to me as an egg by my father when I was four and was still too young to begin training. He hatched on my fifth birthday and once we were old enough we were trained to become Guardians. That's about the same time he stopped being a sorta/kinda pet and we became an inseparable pair of friends... Well for the most part anyway. What about you?” “Oh! I run an animal shelter and veterinary so I always have lots of animals coming and going. My assistant is my pet bunny Angel Bunny and I have a chicken coop” Ooh eggs... I hope “and there's other animals that stay with me all the time but they're not technically mine...” Before I have the chance to say anything Applejack speaks up, “I need ta know somethin here pardner, an pardon me if I'm speakin outta turn but what's Applejack where ya'll come from?” Hmm... So, do I dare bring alcohol to Equestria? I say... HELL YES! “Well Applejack, I suppose I'll answer that with a little demonstration. I'll need to use a few items though is it alright if I borrow apples, yeast, and a barrel from somewhere? I can summon them here myself, which I'm sure will answer any question Twilight has about my magic.” Applejack gives me the okay to use anything on her farm and Twilight perks up, quill and paper at the ready. "I'm all set to take notes! You can begin whenever you like." I smile for a bit, give a slight nod towards Twilight and then proceed to focus the energies from with my body. Using the essence that sustains my life to perform 'magic' as these ponies would call it, I reach out mentally finding Sweet Apple Acres and open a few portals, pulling apples through and depositing them within a cider barrel until its full. As I pull the filled barrel to my location the ponies raise an eyebrow at its sudden appearance. "I've never seen anypony teleport an item to them like that. Can you tell me the process so I can write it down please?" Twilight looks up at me expectantly, waiting for me to begin speaking. “First, I created a bend in space, called a portal, that pulled the apples from the trees and placed them into this barrel. Next I did the same thing pulling the barrel to where you now see it. Now to actually create the Applejack I have to liquefy the apples and removing the seeds and stems, and then mix in the yeast so it ferments. Fermentation is when the yeast takes sugar and converts it to carbon dioxide and alcohol. The next step is for me to throw up a barrier which separates one part of space from another that will allow the gases to escape while modifying the timescale of the barrel's contents so a day in the barrel equals a second outside of the barrel.” I follow through with my instructions but soon I feel my energy reserves begin to wain so, focusing for the few seconds it takes the cider to ferment I gather up a small boost of energy. “Now that that's done I need to remove the barrier, remove water in the solution so it's left at with a 40% alcohol content and finally transmute all of the yeast into complex sugars to improve the taste. Transmutation is when I convert an item at the atomic level into something different.” I follow through with my instructions once again and then, finally finished, I pull a large sip of the drink directly into my mouth through a portal. What I didn't expect was the taste to be so perfect. It was sweet and offered a strong punch but the taste of the alcohol was barely noticeable. It offered no bad taste and I felt as if I could just chug glass after glass of the stuff for days. “This is by far the best Applejack I've ever tasted. It's gotta be the apples cause this is exactly how I make it on my own. Go ahead and grab some glasses girls. You won't wanna miss this. Don't drink more then a single glass though for about ten minutes. I don't know how resistant any of you are to the effects of alcohol and I don't want you to get hurt from drinking to much since it's toxic in large quantities.” Finally finished with her note taking, Twilight uses her magic to pull seven mugs from her kitchen. One by one she dips each of them into the barrel and places a newly filled mug in front of each person and pony. I pick my glass up, raise it towards the ponies and instruct them to do the same. Rarity and Twilight use their magic but the rest of them hold their mug with a fore hoof somehow. We all clink mugs and Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and I all down our mugs in seconds. Applejack takes a sip, checking the taste before downing hers, Fluttershy and Rarity takes small sips savoring the taste while Twilight takes large gulps every few seconds writing down notes on a piece of paper. I open a portal refilling my mug with more Applejack and decide to take this one slowly. Taking large sips to make it last longer. After a few minutes Rainbow Dash tries to stand up but she ends up falling right on her flank. Pinkie Pie starts laughing wildly and the rest of the mane 6 follow suit. After a few seconds of trying not to laugh, I down whats left of my glass and join in the laughter. "Ok guys I got my party cannon!" Out of nowhere Pinkie appears with, ironically, a pony sized cannon. She fires it and soon enough the library is covered in balloons, streamers, confetti and after firing it again at the table, enough snack foods to feed an army. "Pinkie... You do know you just broke every single law of physics known to man right?" I sat there stunned, staring at the pink party pony trying to wrap my head around how all of this stuff is here without any noticeable consumption of essence or use of creation powers. She looks at me and winks, I give her a shrug suddenly not caring anymore and fill my glass again the usual way from the quickly emptying barrel. As the party goes on everybody breaks into periodic laughter. After playing a few games and everybody drinking more of the Applejack I made Twilight slowly crawls over towards me. "J-J-Jaasoonnnn you never ssaid how goooodda we'd *hic* feeell... Ooohh that's new." Twilight tried lighting her horn up but failed. After a few attempts she shugs and drops her head into my lap, her face blushing and eyes lazily looking up at me. "Rrrrunnn yourrrr handsss through my maneee again. That felt gooooodd." Not being one to disappoint I lift my hand off the floor which now felt unusually distant and twirled Twilights mane through my fingers. She lets a sigh out and I start giggling quietly. "Heh heh... Lavender... You're lavender colored and your mane spells like lavender... Watch this!" I place my other hand palm up just to the left of her face. Focusing on my energies I begin to form my lifeblood into a physical shape, creating a bouquet of lavender flowers. As I bring the flowers up to smell them I begin to feel a burning sensation in my head and soon enough my vision fades to black. Dreamscape - %i%Dreamscape - 3 Dusk here with a note for this chapter: Most of this chapter will take place as internal dialogue within Jason's mind. (Yes, this will be mostly back story and character development.) Also, Applejack Rarity Twilight Fluttershy Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash will all be talking to him during his dream trance but he won't know who's who, the color coding so you can know when it's a pony talking vs. internal dialogue. Anyway, without further adieu here's the next chapter! POV: Twilight, 10 minutes later WHY did he pass out... I gotta think of something to help him what did he say I gotta check my notes! I turn away from Jason, wiping my tail across is tear spattered shirt as I leave. It took a little effort to get him situated but after helping me move him to my bed the other girls decided it would be best to go home to let me examine him. Fluttershy would have stayed but she left saying her animals need to be checked but I'm sure she'll come back soon with medicines and other things to help his recovery. Ok, notes time. After searching through my notes I keep coming up with nothing helpful. The only two thoughts I have are that maybe he used to much magic and it caused to much of a strain or the... alcohol, as he called it became to much for his body to handle. A simple detoxify spell was all it took me to remove it from my system and I instantly felt better so I decide that will be my best bet. Using my magic I take his shirt off but can't help but release a gasp. Across his chest going from his right shoulder to the left side of his waste is a scar. I stand there for a moment wondering what could have caused such an injury and what it took for him to live through it before, without thinking, I hop onto my bed and run a hoof along it. "Hhhaaaa..." Hearing his voice snaps me back into reality, within seconds I find myself hovering over his face waiting for him to speak again. After calming down I realize that it was probably just a reaction from when I rubbed his chest. Wait a minute... He reacted to outside stimuli! YesYES YES! With renewed confidence I feed magic into my horn and cast the detoxify spell. What I wasn't expecting was to be hit by a very powerful magical backlash. The last thing I see is a green rippling covering Jason's body before my vision fades to black. POV: Jason 2 hours later Dun worry sugarcube it ain't yer fault. Voices... I hear voices... "Hey Jason come here I have something for you." My dad... This was when he gave me that dragon egg. Said that he was going to be my partner... I know AJ its just... I tried to heal him and then this This? What is this... Wait a minute... Those voices aren't memories they're... "Jason, pay attention. You need to learn how to detect essence. Only then can you begin to manipulate it." I don't get it though why's he see through and green? The ponies... I can hear them but where are they? And what are these... "What do you MEAN you have to go on a mission that might take thousands of years?" "I'm sorry Jason but Alpheron, the original existence, is in a very dire state. Void energy is beginning to seep through the planar divide and I'll have to transcend time and space in order to go back and fix it. You know as well as everyone else here that I'm the only one capable of holding the energy required for such a jump. "But what about..." Dad... This was over 200 years ago. Ever since he left we had to start using the reversion process because there wasn't enough essence left in our universe to sustain immortality... Maybe a party will help him feel better! I'll go get my cannon. "Jason, you'll be the first to try out reversion. It'll take place whenever a guardian gets back from a mission. The process will revert your physical, emotional, and mental states back to where you what they were before deployment. Memories will be stored within Sai's databanks." Sai... Sentient A.I. The only entity in existence that doesn't inhabit space or time. One of the many legacies my father left behind... Oh... Uhm Pinkie I think we should just let him rest in piece... I mean, uhm I think we should just let him go... Oh! That's not quite what I meant either... Never mind. "Hey Oracle where's Draco? I can't find him anywhere and it looks like he shielded himself." "I'm afraid I have bad news. Two years ago he got fed up just waiting for you to come back so he took it upon himself to cross over to the dimension you were sent to. He was torn apart during transit since he didn't have the sphere to stabilize the dimensional gateway." This was 100 years ago... I was trapped pretending to be a god for 30 years because if I had left the chaos and despair of that entire backwater planet would have torn a whole in the planar divide. Oh I do hope he comes out of this state. I never got to ask him about his clothes! This state... See through and green... These visions... "Jason, why do you have to act like this? You can't just disappear to another dimension for all of eternity. We need you to be ready to take your father's duties over if he doesn't return within the next 1000 or so years." "Fine. But I'm going back home for a few weeks. I want to feel normal for a little while..." That was fifty years ago. Halfway into my trip is when I was introduced to MLP. Even though the show was created over 200 years ago, when I home it was still being produced. Right before I left to go back home the last episode of the first season was released. I was excited to be going to the future so I could watch every episode that was ever made but then... I just wish I knew what was happening to him. It's like he's there but at the same time he isn't. I told Princess Celestia about it and Princess Luna volunteered to come check things out. She should be here any minute now... Luna... Is coming? "Jason, it isn't a life if you have nothing to look forward to. Find something that you look forward to and keep living!" "What's the point of looking forward to things if I up and disappear for an unknown amount of time every week?" This was right after I got back. I was moping around because it finally hit me just how much I miss out on. That was when I decided to keep track of time as it passed for me. I decided to find something to do every day that was independent from the true passage of time. Saturday became my TV day and I would watch one episode of every one of my favorite shows. Well, long as she don't take too gettin here it's fine by me... "Why do I have to leave Friday? Can't I leave Sunday instead? You know how I feel about Saturdays." "I'm sorry Jason, I truly am but you'll just have to change your schedule or wait for your Saturday to come. Even waiting until your Friday could prove to be problematic for the situation." This mission... I almost didn't make it back from this one. After I nearly got sliced in two by a void spawn I was forced to use creation. It took me a few minutes but I was able to build up enough energy to return to the guild. It took half of our members to gain control of the situation and fix things afterwards... That was twenty years ago. Twilight, We- I am pleased to see the- you again. We... haven't had much chance to talk since Nightmare Night earlier this year, have we?... Nightmare Night... earlier this year... "Hey Oracle, got any missions for me?" "No, everything is taken care of. Why do you ask?" "It's Halloween back home tomorrow and I wanted to do a haunted house. I'll keep it tech based don't worry." "Hmm... I suppose it would be a good distraction for you. Prepare to deploy..." I never should have gone back... and I especially shouldn't have fallen in love like I did 15 years ago. She came into my haunted house with a group of friends but they got separated. She got scared and ended up passing out. When I found her I took her to the bedroom I've been using in the haunted house to rest until she woke up. She was so scared at first but once I managed to calm her down and everything quickly became perfect. Things moved quickly and after a month I decided that we were close enough for me to tell her who and what I was. It scared her at first but she changed after that. The more I did things for her the more she asked for things... I completely ignored the fact that my powers were corrupting her. One month after I showed her my powers I realized I had used up a significant portion of the planet's essence. I told her what happened and that all the gifts and adventures had to stop. She said I was lying, and that if I really loved her I'd find a way around it. That was when I made my biggest mistake. I used creation so I could make her the perfect gift but the construct took more power then I thought. It tore a small hole in the planar divide and thanks to the low concentration of essence a large amount of void energy was able to form into a voidling. It latched onto her corruption and... her last words as she faded into the afterlife were "I'm sorry." I don't remember what happened next but when I came back to my senses I realized that not only was the voidling destroyed, but the hole was repaired. I was out of commission for years after that. I just locked myself away in a dream trance at home, reliving my memories of her. Wishing I didn't mess up so many times. It wasn't until 10 years ago that I was able to shake it and return to the guild. It was good to... catch up... with everyone but I fear waiting any longer may cause the situation to worsen. I shall now begin my scan. "Jason, something happened while you were gone. We... are in a crisis. That hole that you accidentally... created... was just one of many. When it opened up it created a pulse that opened a hole in a different dimension, which created another pulse and even more holes. These past 5 years have been spent closing the holes and trying to predict where the next ones would open so we can break the cycle. We need you on the front lines helping to stop the holes from being created." That mission took 8 years to complete. We lost a few Guardians and morale was low. I was pushed to the edge from the bitterness towards me and, finally snapping, decided I'd end everything. After all the effort, after all the torment, I snapped and went into a blind rage. Over the next two days I went to the leading edge of each pulse, disrupting them by releasing a nova of pure power. My very lifeblood, turned into what became known as the zenith cascade. How I managed the feat nobody will ever know but every time I let loose my energies, I felt a presence. It was as if my father was watching over me, sending me life from beyond space and time. I have discovered something quite unusual... I don't know quite how to explain it... but I suppose you could say he no longer inhabits this dimension... Crying... I hear crying? "It feels nice to finally be able to sit back, relax and enjoy my Saturday. I'm excited to see what the third season of MLP brings." "You've more then earned it Jason. The moral of the guild is once again high after that display of power you showed. I suppose you could say you blasted away their distrust of you." "Did... did you just make a pun? Did The Oracle just show some humor?" "I'll have you know when I was traveling with your parents I was quite lighthearted." "Can... Can you tell me about my mom again?" Mom... I hardly knew her. What I do know about her is that she's the immortal queen of a planet thanks to her having the same abilities as the Guardians. Beings of Power are what we are called. Our lives measured not by time but by how much energy we hold in our bodies. An accident caused the sphere to her dimension to become trapped and lost forever. As much as we wanted to, we were never able to replicate it or create a rift stable enough to allow passage... The only one with the ability to do so stopped interacting with us before I was even a thought. There has to be something we can do! Maybe... maybe we can... "Jason report to the deployment chamber immediately. We have a mission for you." That's right... I have to do something... I have a mission... I have people who care about me... I have... friends... POV: Luna This is impossible... There is nothing we can do to fix this. and "Do not worry Twilight we are not out of options yet. Plus it is still possible that he himself will be the cause of his return. Just have faith." I feel bad for lying to Twilight, the one pony who stood by me when I was freed from Nightmare Moon. I only hope she'll be able to move on when this creature comes to pass. I sigh quietly and feed magic into my horn once again for show. When I touch my horn to space that Jason's chest would fill he becomes engulfed in a blinding light. Everypony around me turns away to shield their eyes and when the light fades Jason is left looking as Twilight had originally described him. After a few seconds I hear a barely audible whisper escape Jason's lips. "I'm... back..." Reawakening - %i%Reawakening - 4 POV: Twilight Luna filled her horn with a spell and went to touch it to Jason's chest. I let out a sigh knowing the words she had just said were only meant to comfort us but I still held onto the hope that she was right. As I went to leave the room a bright light filled my vision. I close my eyes, trying to regain my senses and soon enough the light fades. "I'm... back..." I jump onto my bed, nuzzling Jason's cheek, and soon enough all my friends join me in welcoming Jason back. "Uhm... Girls you don't have to nuzzle me... Just a hug will do... Girls?" POV: Jason Holy crap I'm getting nuzzled by the mane 6... Wait, Luna's here too? Time for some fun! "Hey, who's the cute blue pony with the cool looking mane?" Six gasps and a few soundless seconds later I look up to see a heavily blushing Luna. "Our- Erhm, my name is P-Princess Luna. We-I am the princess of the night. I... why are you now staring at me with your mouth open like that?" Oh good she noticed. Let the fun begin! "That is AWESOME! Back where I come from when I wanted to relax I'd always go to this deserted island I found and just laze about on the beach listening to music all day so I could stargaze at night. It was so peaceful just laying there taking in all the sights of the night..." "You... you would chose to pass over the day to enjoy the night?" One squeal, 6 mad dashes and a slightly painful glomping later I was finally able to speak again. "Of *cough*, sorry. Of course! The day offers the warmth of the sun but there's nothing to look at because the sun is so bright. With the proper eye wear it's a perfect time for relaxing because of that. Once the moon takes command of the sky the stars can shine again it makes for a perfect time to just stare off into space. The ironic part is I mean that literally and figuratively. You also can't see the beauty of the land, sea, and sky under the overwhelming light of the sun. Only under the soothing light of the moon can true beauty shine." POV: Luna "...can true beauty shine." Loading... Loading... Loading... POV: Jason Whoops... I think I broke her. Luna breaks out in a wild smile, filled with desire. Once again I find my lungs airless as she sends herself careening into my chest. After what I could swear was the sound of my ribs cracking she finally lets up on her death grip. "Nopony has EVER said that about my nights before. I thank the- you. I... thank you Jason, for this most welcome praise." "Oh It slipped my mind, but my friends call me Jace." Yet another smile creeps across Luna's lips. By this time the mane 6 resigned to sitting along the wall but looking down at them, and seeing a few a bit miffed so I quickly add, "That goes for you girls too. I was kinda in stasis when I remembered I forgot to tell you all." "Jace, if you could refer simply as Luna I would be... grateful." "No problem Luna! Besides, since I'm technically a prince since my mom is the immortal queen of her planet I'd be forced to follow a whole bunch of rules that I don't even know if I acknowledged your status. They're in my genetic memory and I hope they stay there." Luna looks at me, pure disbelief on her face. I spare a glance at the mane 6 and see that, aside from Rarity who fainted, they share Luna's look. "You... you're a-" "DON'T SAY IT! That never leaves this room. I want each and every one of you to Pi- to promise me you won't say anything about it ever. I like my freedom as it is thank you." My outburst had woken Rarity up and 6 Pinkie Promises, one yelp of pain and a swearing on the eternal moon later I began to relax. What the heck was that?For a split second I felt a very faint trace of energy. Focusing, I enter a trance to spread my consciousness out to detect concentrations of energy and I discovered 5 threads connecting each of the mane 6 to Pinkie Pie. Slowly but surely they fade until I am no longer able to see them. I put more energy into my trance and sure enough I can see threads of power connecting Pinkie to the rest of the mane 6 as well as threads going off in all sorts of directions, some of them moving slightly. I see that each one leads into her heart and focusing a little more I see that there's something there that I can't even identify. Well, that must be how Pinkie knows when someone is about to break a Pinkie promise... Now the real question is do I test it or not... better wait until later. "Jace... Is something troubling you?" Hearing Luna speak I release my trance "Nope I'm fine." "You seemed to be deep in thought. Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" "Sorry I was just day dreaming. It happens sometimes." "Well from the sounds of things it seems like you dream during the day quite often." Luna gives me a cheeky grin and I can't help but laugh at her attempt at humor. "Yes, I suppose I do." "Sorry for interrupting but... Jace... can you please tell us what happened to you?" Hearing Twilight speak up I look down to her. She's staring at me, paper and quill in magical grip, with a look on her face that just screams, 'give me science now!' Thinking for a few seconds to decide what and how much I should say, I decide it would be best to just stick to the truth as much as possible. "Ok... But first I should tell you a little bit about myself I think. The most any of you know about me is my name, things you can see, and the very few things I told you. So for starters my name is Jason Steele and I belong to an organization known as the Guardian's Call. We're the protectors of balance in all of existence. Simply put, not only am I not from this planet but I'm not even from this universe. I was sent here on a mission because we sensed a disturbance that signified a disruption between the balance of positive energies, essence, and negative energies, void energy. The reason I specifically was sent here is because I have the most experience dealing with various forms of sentient life. That brings me to the next important part and that is the universe we're currently in is called the Sentience Sphere by my group because of the extraordinarily high amounts of different advanced sentient species. This fact paired along with the fact that there's various constructs that reside in this universe basically solidified the fact that there would never be an imbalance in its energies. The fact that we picked one up caused us a large amount of concern so I was sent immediately with no time to prepare myself." Twilight looks up from her notes, a concentrated look on her face, processing everything I said. After a few minutes of jotting down additional notes she speaks up. "Ok, now what about what happened to you? I've never seen or heard of anything like that. Princess Luna said you weren't exactly in this dimension anymore." "Well, simply put I used to much energy and I entered into a trance that would automatically phase me into a halfway dimension. We refer to them as planes and each universe, or Sphere, has three major ones. We're in what we call the essence plane, then next to it is what we call the ethereal plane. That's where I went and it serves as a connector between the essence plane and the void plane. Do you know how long I was there?" Twilight thinks for a few seconds, tapping her hoof to her chin. She looks out the window and then immediately begins to speak. "You went into the ethereal plane about two hours after you passed out. It happened when I tried to cast a spell on you. You were in the ethereal plane for five hours. Also, it's about ten at night now. Can you tell me why you went into that... trance, as you called it?" . As soon as what Twilight said finished processing in my mind, I was completely dumbfounded. "That's insane. From how much energy I had used It should have taken my body about twelve hours to gain enough energy to transfer into the ethereal plane. While there my ability to regenerate power would increase tenfold. After that it would have taken me another twelve to regain enough power to become conscious again. My power, or in your terms magic, is my life force. How long or short I can live is directly related to how much power I have. How much damage I can take or what abilities I can use is directly related to how much power I can take in. The fact that I regained my power so quickly means I must have absorbed the magic from your spell." "You seem to be a lot like an Alicorn. They live or die based on how much magical energy they have within them. Unicorns like me are similar but even still we can only live so long. Our bodies aren't able to regenerate in the same way as Alicorns can." "I didn't realize there were beings of power on this planet. That's how my group classifies people like me and I assume Luna is one of these Alicorns you speak of? "Yes. My sister Princess Celestia and I, and o-our niece, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, are alicorns. We are the last of our kind unfortunately." Luna lets out a sigh with that last bit and then her lowers her head to the floor. Her mane loses some of its shine and I can easily tell that she's been holding in some very deep emotions for a very long time. After letting her think in peace for a little bit I speak up. "Hey Luna do you think you could show me the night sky? You know since I'm new to the planet and all. I usually don't have the opportunity to meet up with a planet's inhabitants on my first day. Sometimes I'm even forced to stay away from the inhabitants because them knowing of me would disrupt the balance... So what say thee?" Luna perks up, her sad face replaced by a look of pure glee. "I say we should leave as soon as possible!" I look down at the mane 6, wondering if they'll have any thoughts on the matter. Without me even saying a word Rarity speaks up saying, "I think I speak for all of us Jace when I say we can hold off our... questioning... until later. So please, by all means. go and enjoy yourselves!" Luna allows a satisfied grin to cover her face. She then quickly leans into me, feeds some magic into her horn, and teleports us to the top of a mountain. I look around me and see that we're sitting on a raised platform surrounded by a platform. I look to the horizon and realize that not only is there no light pollution at all, but we're surrounded by a snowy wasteland. I give Luna a questioning look and she says we're on top of a mountain in the northeast of Equestrian territory. "This mountain was originally volcanic but it went extinct thousands of years ago. After some magical shaping it was given a nice steep peak and a flat top just big enough to hold the observatory we're now in. We're actually the first po-beings... to use this. It was completed just a few days ago and I haven't had the time to visit yet." I take the time to walk around the observatory, taking in the sights in and around me as I do. "It's really nice. Warm, cozy and the air is fresh because of all the plants too! It's even better that you can look out in all directions and be able to see everything until the ground blocks your view. I guess you could say this really is perfect." "Would you like to return here with me in the future perhaps? I would greatly enjoy the company... Spending time in solitude has been hard on me lately." Finishing my circuit, I walk back to the center and wrap my arms around Luna's neck in a hug. She tenses up at first but soon relaxes into my embrace. I mindlessly run my hand through Luna's mane and it smells like a cool ocean breeze. After standing there for the better part of a minute in silence I speak up and quietly say, "I'd like that. Would you like to meet here tomorrow as soon as the moon rises?" She tenses up again for just a few seconds. Probably not expecting me to respond the way I did. As she stands there I release her from my embrace and find a comfy spot on one of the floor mats to lay down on. Looking up at the sky it fills me with peace and I can't help but smile I can't believe how well this is going. It's more like a dream then a mission... There's no lies between me and the ponies, they trust me fully after such a short time and Luna and Twilight to some extent even seem to be smitten with me. It's times like this that makes me glad this whole thing isn't part of a charade... Though I don't know what I'm going to do about the ponies trying to get with me... Hugging them and stuff is fine, and holy crap are they soft, but even if they're sentient they're just to different from me. Though it seems like that doesn't matter as much to them. Probably has something to do with a 70% or so female population... "Jace... did you hear me?" I snap out of my reverie and see Luna has laid down with me. Her head is next to mine but she's laying on her legs instead of her back. "Sorry Luna I was lost in thought again. I was just thinking about how magical this has been. I've never been so quickly and openly welcomed to a planet's civilization before. It's a nice change of pace to be honest." "It's fine, I'm glad you're happy... I said I would love to meet you here but I might not be able to be here right away as I have duties every night. My sister has taken them for tonight though as I was tasked with finding out all I can about you... and so far everything I've discovered is... great." We lay there for a few moments in silence, looking up at the sky. As time goes by I begin to get restless as I'm not even close to tired thanks to my experience earlier in the day so I decide to kick things up a notch. "Luna, have you ever actually been on the surface of the moon?" She lets out a quick and quiet gasp but I continue, "where I come from, not only have we flown to the moon but about a century ago we even completed a colony on the moon. These days there's hundreds of millions of people living there. I can take us to this moon if you want." Luna looks at me, her face locked in complete shock. "Yo-you have hundreds of MILLIONS of people who LIVE on the moon? On the SURFACE of the moon?" "Yea. The city is surrounded by force fields though so it can have an atmosphere. It took awhile to get it right but I helped the process along with an invisible hand... or hoof in your terms I suppose. Also, there's a total of 10 billion humans. We've made large strides in interstellar travel and now there's only about 6 billion people that still live on our home planet Terra." "T-t-ten BILLION?! There's a few hundred thousand ponies tops... all the sentient life on this planet combined probably doesn't even compare to the population of your planet's moon..." "Yea... I get that a lot... But do you want to go to the moon? It's as easy as bending space for me." "It would be... interesting... To be on the surface of the moon. I was... imprisoned, in the moon for a thousand years when I turned evil. I will never forget how lonely it was all those years but the act of imprisoning paved the way for me to regain my freedom from the hatred that consumed me. I allowed myself to be controlled by a demon known as Nightmare Moon. I was trapped in my own mind but Twilight and her friends managed to free me." After hearing Luna tell her story I berated myself for deciding to do this to her. I knew I had to continue with my charade but I decided to change gears a little. "I'm sorry... I had no idea you had such a tough time... I know you don't know me too well yet but if you ever want to talk about things just let me know ok? For now do you just wanna lay here and talk about things until the sun comes up?" Luna smiles, her mood improving yet again. "I would like that Jason. I would like that very much." POV: Celestia. So, it seems Luna has become quite fond of our new guest. I do hope there's truth to his words... I don't like this feeling I get that he's hiding something... Something very important... No matter, I'll talk to him about it tomorrow. For now I believe I'll let those two go and surrender myself to sleep. POV: Twilight I had been laying in bed for an hour now, thinking about things, wondering what it was about Jason that made him seem so... special I hope he doesn't mind that we're a different species... and I hope he doesn't have a problem with multiple marefriends either... I'm almost certain Luna will make a move on him tonight... I just hope I can tell him what I think about him. Well I should get to sleep. I look down at Spike who is snoring peacefully, worn out completely from a very long day with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. You just might get that father figure you've always needed Spike... Good night my number one assistant. POV: Zecora An eventful day, this has become. But soon to sleep, I will succumb. A friend I have made, in the span of a day. A friend for life, is for what I pray. Smiling to myself, I put away my potion supplies and head to bed before I realize that Jason never really told me much about himself. Tomorrow I will visit my new-found friend, this small mistake I will surely amend. Twilight and her friends I shall also seek, for my days as of late have been very bleak. POV: Luna Jason and I have been talking for hours. After taking a few minutes to bring a meal to the observatory we continued out discussion. After eating, Jason said he needed to rest so he laid down to take a nap. As I was watching him, Jason shifts in his sleep only to end up resting his head on my mane. I smile and decide to use my magic to move him so his head rests on my side. After watching him for a little while again I shift around so my tail covers his chest I wish I knew what it was about him that's just so irresistible... Maybe it's the fact that he too is immortal... Maybe it's because he's unique to this planet... Or maybe it's something else... I just hope he can find it in him to return my feelings and that I don't scare him off somehow I've just never felt so comfortable around anyone before. It's like he understands me completely without us ever having met before... Is this what love feels like? I lay my head down and close my eyes so I can be alone with my thoughts. POV: Unknown "The guardians have sent Jason. What shall we do?" "Simple, we will conserve our energies while he wastes his playing the hero. With his father gone to the alpha we will still have hundreds of years before we need to worry about his return. All we need to do is continue to create disturbances across existence so these fools use their precious essence waiting for catastrophes that will never come. The Oracle may have stalled the destruction of the Guardians due to that reversion process but he is only one person. He can only so much on his own.
The Beginning - %i%The Beginning - 1 Jason was busy reading through the story that started it all. He had already read his father's book countless times but found himself with nothing interesting to fill his downtime. Essence is how I live and use my abilities, void energy is an equal and opposite force, yada yada is it Saturday on Terra yet? Jason flipped the book closed letting out a sigh as he leaned against an obsidian wall to look out the window and watch the galaxies pass by. I swear, if I don't get deployed soon I'm going to flip. This whole situational immortality thing is a pain. Stuck reverting to 19 whenever I get back here is a pain... At least I can go through my memory logs in my dream trances though... That's not a pain. And maybe the next planet I get sent to will have enough Essence so I can really go all out. That last one was boring I could hardly even teleport. Oh maybe I'll get sent to a c-19 even! That would be great. Then I cou- Jason report to the deployment chamber immediately. We have a mission for you. What, no warning? I usually get at least a week to initialize. I'm afraid we weren't aware of the issue until a pulse was picked up on the sensors. You need to get he- Jason sighs and teleports himself into a dimly lit room of pure white. There are no doors, no windows, and you can hardly tell where the floor ends and the walls begin. Standing in front of him is a six foot tall humanoid being known as The Oracle. The only distinguishing features he has is that his forehead has three ridges above where his eyebrows would be, his eyes are pure white with a black ring in each of them and his skin is ivory colored. He wears a faded green t-shirt with camo khakis and black athletic shoes, the standard "uniform" among the Guardians. "Alright I'm here. What's the mission?" The Oracle wastes no time in pulling up a visual of a planet with two satellites orbiting a lifeless star. One satellite has the appearance of a miniature sun and the other a moon." Your mission takes place in the Sentience Sphere. The planet I'm showing you right now is, a c-9, and is ca-" Jason facepalms as The Oracle's says c-9, quickly cutting him off. "You're sending me to a single? The last time I went to one of those they made me their god for 30 years... 30 FREAKIN years! Yes, I know the other one was only a three but still, creation powers make you god status to anything under a 16." The Oracle sighs and brings a hand up, running a finger along a ridge on his forehead for a few seconds before continuing " Yes, Jason, WE are sending you to a class nine planet because for one, the landscape and atmosphere mimics you and your father's planet, two, because your powers, used correctly, will not seem unusual to the inhabitants as their own brand of "magic" has a very similar end result, and three, we feel that not only will you be the best prepared member to interact with the beings there as none of the races that inhabit that planet have joined the ranks of the Guardian's Call, but you also have an... interest... in the story this planet was created from. Jason stood silently for a few seconds, one arm across his chest holding his other arm up, a finger tapping his temple thinking on what The Oracle said. "As I was saying, the planet is known as..." The fact that the planet was below the halfway point on the Guardian's scale meant that the entire solar system was originally a construct, albeit one with a very strong magical presence since it rates a 9. The fact that it resembled Terra meant the creator of the planet was likely from Terra, or a parallel Terra, and the fact that The Oracle said the planet was relevant to his interests meant he knew quite a bit about the planet already. Since he was also told the planet had no races that were represented in the Guardian's Call he begin removing possible options of what that planet could be until he last piece of the puzzle was put into place, the planet was in the Sentience Sphere. Jason spoke up as The Oracle was about to finish his remark, "MLP" "...Equis, wait what?" The Oracle stood there, stunned as Jason had just guessed where he would be deployed in mere seconds. "Surprised I did it again? You gave it away when you said none of the races were represented here and it was in the Sentience Sphere. Even though we have dragons here the dragons in MLP are all greed dragons. Also, not only would the chosen Guardian stand out among their race, but it would be difficult for them to survive off of the planets resources without eating sentient beings. It will be interesting to see how that planet reacts to my creation abilities though... Will I have to repress or hide anything?" Jason stopped tapping and let his arms hang lose waiting for The Oracle to respond. The Oracle frowned for a moment, deep in thought before letting a smirk cover his face. "I must say, that show is quite ingeniously written, I can see how it is so popular. I've also compared the show to the state of the planet in present time and the time lapse is quite large. I expect your presence to immediately split the planet from its creation source so it will no longer be a construct. You won't have to hide or repress anything but I encourage you to use discretion when dealing with the inhabitants as I don't believe they understand what it means that they inhabit a lesser planet withing the Sentience Sphere. Also, limit the usage of your creation powers to a minimum. The balance is shifted towards essence and some rather strong voidlings are being created in the mirror plain so be mindful of how much of your adept powers are used. Once you arrive you'll probably lose consciousness. I'll position your planetary entrance accordingly. You'll end up in a lake outside of the Everfree forest unless you hit something unexpectedly. I'll be sending you on your way now so do be sure to brace yourself." "But what abo-" Jason tried to stall The Oracle but was interrupted as the room and then his world immediately turned black. ----- 30 minutes later, POV: Jason----- Ugh, I hate having to deal with this crap... Wait, whats poking me? I open my eyes and am immediately met with the biggest blue eyes I have ever seen. I blink for a few moments and the eyes pull away from me revealing a small zebra with a black and white mane and tail. She has golden rings around her neck and left forehoof, a large golden earring hanging from her right ear and a marking on her flank that appears to be a spiral surrounded by triangles. "I see before me you are quite awake. Tell me, why were you asleep in the lake?" I smile, trying to disguise a laugh before responding "A grave mistake I seem to have made. I fell unconscious while I played. I have a question to ask of you, whom is the one I am speaking to?" Oh god this is perfect. Of all the people for me to make first contact with it's Zecora. Best. Jump. EVER! The Zebra looks at me raising an eyebrow for a moment before speaking again. "My name is Zecora and I mean you well. Who are you, and did you see what fell? I cringe at her last line, thinking for a moment before responding, "My name is Jason, good Zecora. I'm glad I met you instead of just Flora. The object you saw was truly me. Lucky to hit this lake, instead of a tree." "I see you too, speak in rhyme but tell me, do you all the time?" Aw what the hell I'll just go ahead and keep this up. "No longer must you try and guess, for my answer is certainly ye-eaooow! What the heck? Random splitting headache... That's gone now..." I sit there frowning, mad at myself that I let my charade up so quickly. "Lies can't be made, when spoken in rhyme. This is how, I speak all the time. Happy I was, to meet someone like me, but it appears as if it wasn't meant to be." She sighs quietly and brings out a soft smile. Looking down at me with sadness in her eyes. Well, that answers that question. Sucks that you can't say a lie while you rhyme. but... "Sorry I am to have misled thee, my only wish was that you didn't flee. I chose to mimic the way you speak, so you wouldn't make a frightful squeak. But now that that's out of the bag I suppose I'll just talk how I normally do so I don't have to put at much thought into what I say. I really am sorry though to have misled you like that." After I revealed the truth we talked for awhile. I told her in rhyme that I was new to the area, meant no harm to the inhabitants, and was looking for the nearest town or city and she led me towards ponyville. As we approach the town I reach forward with my mind deciding its about time for me to have some fun. I look around mentally, trying to find the pony named Pinkie Pie and implant a desire to head towards the lake when I find her and sense that she already already has that desire and is making her way towards me with none other then Twilight Sparkle. Well, this is interesting... Looks like she already sensed me and Zecora coming. After a few moments Zecora and I crest a hill coming face to face with a Pink pony with blue eyes and a pink mane and tail that's slightly darker then her body fur. Beside her is a lavender unicorn with purple eyes and a purple mane and tail that has a pink stripe going down both. Pinkie Pie jumps in the air and hangs there for all of 3 seconds, saying "SEE! I toldja somepony was coming to visit! Its Zecora and somepony else! Zecora what is it?" before falling back to the ground. UGH I hate being called 'it' I cut Zecora of as she is about to speak and say with ice in my voice, "My name is Jason, I'm what's known as a human and I am not an 'it', I am a 'he' and I'll thank you to refer to me properly Pinkie" My eyes go wide for a second as 3 pairs of eyes look towards me. Oh crap... how am I gonna get through this... The silence is palpable for a second before Pinkie Pie speaks up in her usual rushed tone. "Oh my gosh how'd you know my name was Pinkie Pie? Did Zecora tell you about us already I bet it was Zecora cause we've been friends with her for a really long time and y-" Twilight stuck a hoof in Pinkie's mouth, cutting her words down to mumbling allowing me to speak Ok, can't say it was Zecora because it wasn't soo.... "Actually, I was referring to your color. It was just dumb luck that your name also happened to be Pinkie. I get angry when people refer to me as an 'it' so that's why I lashed out like that. I'm sorry... hugs?" jackpot! an opening. I spread my arms wide and let a sheepish grin cover my face and pinkie leaps towards me, spinning in the air so she lands in my arms, fore-hooves around my neck, being held like a baby. Oh god... SO-CUTE! After tightening my grip a little she nuzzles my neck and at the same moment we both say "Friends?... YES!" Then somehow she flies up in the air, hooves spread with glee before falling down and rolling back into place along side Twilight, popping up back to a standing position, positively teeming with joy. "I've never seen anypony react like that to Pinkie before! That was amazing Jason. Oh and bye the way, my name is Twilight. Pinkie here said that somepony new and unusual was coming to Ponyville and that we should all be ready to meet you. The two of us chose to come and greet you!" Twilight looks up at me, expertly containing her laughter at Pinkie's antics. I look at her and a smile spreads across my face. Better be careful about showing my teeth. Don't want to freak anyone out about it. I cock my head slightly with my arms outstretched saying, "hugs?" Twilight lets out a cute chuckle, rolls her eyes and walks forward a few steps before rearing up on her hind legs, falling to my chest, placing her forehooves around my neck. Thinking a moment I bend down slightly and pull her into my embrace, lifting her into the air and running a hand through her mane Wow... she even smells like lavender. AWESOME! She's acting really tame from how I would have guessed though. Oh! I think I know whats going on... "By the way where I come from I'm kind of a geek so I was thinking if any of you know a bookworm type who's into learning about new things and maybe we could talk about stuff? It'd be even better if she was the fun loving and excitable type too! We'd get along ever so well." Multiple times through my speech I felt Twilight stiffen, radiating thick, palpable and increasing waves of excitement and I stood there, continuing to stroke her mane, waiting for her to burst, as the information processed. Explosion in 3... 2... 1... Blast of- (In Twilights mind) Loading... Loading!... Loading!!!... Done "YES. YES. YES YES YES YESYESYESYESYES! LETS GO I WANT TO KNOW EVERYTHING!" Twilight then hops down, grabs me in her magic, and runs off towards ponyville, looking back at me for a second with pure excitement in her eyes. I look up and struggle a bit, waving towards Zecora shouting out "BYE ZECORA I'LL COME TALK TO YOU AGAIN SOON OR YOU CAN COME VISIT!" I look forward again seeing Pinkie bouncing alongside Twilight. As we near Ponyville I see the all to familiar tree house library. I look around quickly taking in the view of the town trying to see if I recognize any ponies. Failing to get a good look I focus my attention back in front of me. The door to the library opens and as I get pulled inside and situated on a cushion I see all of the mane six in front of me.
An Interview and... a party? - %i%An Interview and... a party? - 2 POV: Jason I look around me, happy that I had at least a few seconds peace since it seemed like the ponies were waiting for me to say the first words. On the far left was a yellow and pink maned pegasus Fluttershy, next to her was a blue and rainbow maned pegasus Rainbow Dash, after that was and orange pony wearing a stetson on her yellow mane Applejack, next was Twilight Sparkle with paper and quill writing furiously, then an ivory and purple maned unicorn Rarity aannd lastly Pinkie Pie! They must have made an agreement of sorts... I half expected Dashie to already be shouting out questions by now. The ponies were sitting on pink cushions and all but Fluttershy were looking up at me expectantly. "Ok girls I'm sure you all have plenty of questions and frankly I do-" "Ever been in a race?" Rainbow dash shouted out, flying up closer to me get a better look. Get outta my face damnit. I gave myself a few seconds, trying to wipe away the scowl now present on my face. I spoke up with a little more bitterness in my voice then I has hoped, "Yes, Rainbow, I have and I'll thank you to get out. Of. My. Face." With the last four words I let a smile break apart my lips as I poked her in the nose each time thinking to my self, boop, boop, boop, boop, heh I just booped Dashie! After feeling awesome for a few seconds I came back to the real world and noticed that all six ponies were staring at me. Thinking quickly I simply said, "what, don't tell me your name is the same thing as the color of your mane... If it is I think I'm beginning to notice a pattern here..." My cover story seemed to work as all the ponies visibly relaxed. Twilight put down her paper and quill and began to say something but was quickly cut off by Pinkie Pie. "Oh! I know why don't you try and guess everypony else's names! Twilight already told you her name so now you got three more to go!" At those words she pushed Fluttershy, Applejack and Rarity directly in front of me, cushions and all Huh... No friction... Useful! I think to myself for a moment, planning how I'll do this as quickly and convincingly as possible. "Ok... I guess I'll start with Ms. Shy over here." The ponies all gasp and even Fluttershy lifted her head up to get a better look at me. "What, don't tell me your name is shy..." I heard a small, almost inaudible voice but I was ready for it. "Uhm a-actually my name is Fluttershy, but you c-can call me Shy, I don't mind. I sneak a peek towards Rarity and notice she has a small trinket held up with her magic so I decide to make my next move. I speak as if I'm replying to Fluttershy but be sure to glance over at Rarity. "Oh, well that's pretty rare..." I instantly hear a gasp as Rarity looks up at me beaming with pride, "oh why thank you but I assure you this little bauble is nothing close to.. Oh I suppose I gave myself away didn't I." I turn towards her smiling and in a slight British accent I say "Why yes Rare, I suppose you have." Return to my normal voice I continue. "Well, that makes four... lets see if I can get a penta... kinda like that time witha Applejack-" "Now hold on a minute there pardner! I ain't never done... Oh, uhh... pardon..." Applejack looks up at me sheepishly, realizing I wasn't actually talking about her, thus giving away her name. Well, that was easy. And the best thing is they think it was all dumb luck "Right then, so aside from Rare which I assume is a nickname I suppose that's everyone!" "Quite right you are! My name is Rarity, fashion designer extraordinaire!" I smirk at her oh so familiar display and take a bow "Pleasure to make your acquaintance! Now then, I suppose it's about time for questions so why not make a game of it? You'll all ask me questions and then after I respond you'll answer your own questions ok?" They all nod so I continue, "now then, Twilight you seem to be on the verge of exploding so go ahead and say what you've be-" Ugh I hate being cut off... "FINALLY! Okso before anything I need to get a really detailed description written down and into my notes because whats the point of writing anything down about somepony if you don't even know what they look like so I'm going to read off what I have and then you can fill in any blanks ok!" She took a deep breath at the end of that, her voice clearly strained by the end of her remark. After catching her breath she continues "Ok, height unknown, weight unknown, lightly tanned skin tone with no visible hair aside from a light brown mane situated on the head and blond, curly hair on legs. Two eyes with green irises, nose, mouth with red lips,” Uhmm... “flat facial structure with a rounded chin, black shirt with what appears to be a teal flame design consisting of multiple wisplike flames, black shorts that cut off at the knees with a continuation of said flame design, black shoes and white ankle length socks. Movement is bipedal with feet of an unknown length at the end of each leg for balance, claw like appendages at the end of each arm that are very...” Don't say what I know you're going to say “...soft and are an efficient way of causing relaxation in others."Damnit Twi now it's awkward to have hands. “Also, there's nothing to suggest any magical capabilities or flight capabilities. I sit there for a few moments, stunned at the in-depth description and rather unnerving description of my hands. After what feels like ages I finally speak up and say, “I'm 5'10”, 130 pounds and my feet are about 10 inches long. I'm fully capable of both flight and magic but you'll have to wait to ask me questions about either. Aanndd I suppose it's about time to move on to the next question! Fluttershy you're up.” Both Twilight and Rainbowdash let out a sigh upon hearing they'd have to wait to ask about my 'magic' and ability to 'fly' but I ignored it and motioned towards Fluttershy to continue. Fluttershy looks up at me through her mane and says something I can't quite hear. I move a little closer, asking her to repeat herself, “Oh uhm... Well you don't have to a-answer if you don't want to but I w-wanted to know if you have any pets.” Oohhh this is gonna be good. I hope they don't freak out too terribly much though. It'll be nice to finally tell them what exactly I am too. “Well he's not exactly a pet but I suppose when he was still a baby you could have called him that since he was completely reliant on me to survive for about three years. The little bugger could hardly even walk until he was about two months old. Anyway, I have a king darkfyre dragon that was given to me as an egg by my father when I was four and was still too young to begin training. He hatched on my fifth birthday and once we were old enough we were trained to become Guardians. That's about the same time he stopped being a sorta/kinda pet and we became an inseparable pair of friends... Well for the most part anyway. What about you?” “Oh! I run an animal shelter and veterinary so I always have lots of animals coming and going. My assistant is my pet bunny Angel Bunny and I have a chicken coop” Ooh eggs... I hope “and there's other animals that stay with me all the time but they're not technically mine...” Before I have the chance to say anything Applejack speaks up, “I need ta know somethin here pardner, an pardon me if I'm speakin outta turn but what's Applejack where ya'll come from?” Hmm... So, do I dare bring alcohol to Equestria? I say... HELL YES! “Well Applejack, I suppose I'll answer that with a little demonstration. I'll need to use a few items though is it alright if I borrow apples, yeast, and a barrel from somewhere? I can summon them here myself, which I'm sure will answer any question Twilight has about my magic.” Applejack gives me the okay to use anything on her farm and Twilight perks up, quill and paper at the ready. "I'm all set to take notes! You can begin whenever you like." I smile for a bit, give a slight nod towards Twilight and then proceed to focus the energies from with my body. Using the essence that sustains my life to perform 'magic' as these ponies would call it, I reach out mentally finding Sweet Apple Acres and open a few portals, pulling apples through and depositing them within a cider barrel until its full. As I pull the filled barrel to my location the ponies raise an eyebrow at its sudden appearance. "I've never seen anypony teleport an item to them like that. Can you tell me the process so I can write it down please?" Twilight looks up at me expectantly, waiting for me to begin speaking. “First, I created a bend in space, called a portal, that pulled the apples from the trees and placed them into this barrel. Next I did the same thing pulling the barrel to where you now see it. Now to actually create the Applejack I have to liquefy the apples and removing the seeds and stems, and then mix in the yeast so it ferments. Fermentation is when the yeast takes sugar and converts it to carbon dioxide and alcohol. The next step is for me to throw up a barrier which separates one part of space from another that will allow the gases to escape while modifying the timescale of the barrel's contents so a day in the barrel equals a second outside of the barrel.” I follow through with my instructions but soon I feel my energy reserves begin to wain so, focusing for the few seconds it takes the cider to ferment I gather up a small boost of energy. “Now that that's done I need to remove the barrier, remove water in the solution so it's left at with a 40% alcohol content and finally transmute all of the yeast into complex sugars to improve the taste. Transmutation is when I convert an item at the atomic level into something different.” I follow through with my instructions once again and then, finally finished, I pull a large sip of the drink directly into my mouth through a portal. What I didn't expect was the taste to be so perfect. It was sweet and offered a strong punch but the taste of the alcohol was barely noticeable. It offered no bad taste and I felt as if I could just chug glass after glass of the stuff for days. “This is by far the best Applejack I've ever tasted. It's gotta be the apples cause this is exactly how I make it on my own. Go ahead and grab some glasses girls. You won't wanna miss this. Don't drink more then a single glass though for about ten minutes. I don't know how resistant any of you are to the effects of alcohol and I don't want you to get hurt from drinking to much since it's toxic in large quantities.” Finally finished with her note taking, Twilight uses her magic to pull seven mugs from her kitchen. One by one she dips each of them into the barrel and places a newly filled mug in front of each person and pony. I pick my glass up, raise it towards the ponies and instruct them to do the same. Rarity and Twilight use their magic but the rest of them hold their mug with a fore hoof somehow. We all clink mugs and Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and I all down our mugs in seconds. Applejack takes a sip, checking the taste before downing hers, Fluttershy and Rarity takes small sips savoring the taste while Twilight takes large gulps every few seconds writing down notes on a piece of paper. I open a portal refilling my mug with more Applejack and decide to take this one slowly. Taking large sips to make it last longer. After a few minutes Rainbow Dash tries to stand up but she ends up falling right on her flank. Pinkie Pie starts laughing wildly and the rest of the mane 6 follow suit. After a few seconds of trying not to laugh, I down whats left of my glass and join in the laughter. "Ok guys I got my party cannon!" Out of nowhere Pinkie appears with, ironically, a pony sized cannon. She fires it and soon enough the library is covered in balloons, streamers, confetti and after firing it again at the table, enough snack foods to feed an army. "Pinkie... You do know you just broke every single law of physics known to man right?" I sat there stunned, staring at the pink party pony trying to wrap my head around how all of this stuff is here without any noticeable consumption of essence or use of creation powers. She looks at me and winks, I give her a shrug suddenly not caring anymore and fill my glass again the usual way from the quickly emptying barrel. As the party goes on everybody breaks into periodic laughter. After playing a few games and everybody drinking more of the Applejack I made Twilight slowly crawls over towards me. "J-J-Jaasoonnnn you never ssaid how goooodda we'd *hic* feeell... Ooohh that's new." Twilight tried lighting her horn up but failed. After a few attempts she shugs and drops her head into my lap, her face blushing and eyes lazily looking up at me. "Rrrrunnn yourrrr handsss through my maneee again. That felt gooooodd." Not being one to disappoint I lift my hand off the floor which now felt unusually distant and twirled Twilights mane through my fingers. She lets a sigh out and I start giggling quietly. "Heh heh... Lavender... You're lavender colored and your mane spells like lavender... Watch this!" I place my other hand palm up just to the left of her face. Focusing on my energies I begin to form my lifeblood into a physical shape, creating a bouquet of lavender flowers. As I bring the flowers up to smell them I begin to feel a burning sensation in my head and soon enough my vision fades to black.
Dreamscape - %i%Dreamscape - 3 Dusk here with a note for this chapter: Most of this chapter will take place as internal dialogue within Jason's mind. (Yes, this will be mostly back story and character development.) Also, Applejack Rarity Twilight Fluttershy Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash will all be talking to him during his dream trance but he won't know who's who, the color coding so you can know when it's a pony talking vs. internal dialogue. Anyway, without further adieu here's the next chapter! POV: Twilight, 10 minutes later WHY did he pass out... I gotta think of something to help him what did he say I gotta check my notes! I turn away from Jason, wiping my tail across is tear spattered shirt as I leave. It took a little effort to get him situated but after helping me move him to my bed the other girls decided it would be best to go home to let me examine him. Fluttershy would have stayed but she left saying her animals need to be checked but I'm sure she'll come back soon with medicines and other things to help his recovery. Ok, notes time. After searching through my notes I keep coming up with nothing helpful. The only two thoughts I have are that maybe he used to much magic and it caused to much of a strain or the... alcohol, as he called it became to much for his body to handle. A simple detoxify spell was all it took me to remove it from my system and I instantly felt better so I decide that will be my best bet. Using my magic I take his shirt off but can't help but release a gasp. Across his chest going from his right shoulder to the left side of his waste is a scar. I stand there for a moment wondering what could have caused such an injury and what it took for him to live through it before, without thinking, I hop onto my bed and run a hoof along it. "Hhhaaaa..." Hearing his voice snaps me back into reality, within seconds I find myself hovering over his face waiting for him to speak again. After calming down I realize that it was probably just a reaction from when I rubbed his chest. Wait a minute... He reacted to outside stimuli! YesYES YES! With renewed confidence I feed magic into my horn and cast the detoxify spell. What I wasn't expecting was to be hit by a very powerful magical backlash. The last thing I see is a green rippling covering Jason's body before my vision fades to black. POV: Jason 2 hours later Dun worry sugarcube it ain't yer fault. Voices... I hear voices... "Hey Jason come here I have something for you." My dad... This was when he gave me that dragon egg. Said that he was going to be my partner... I know AJ its just... I tried to heal him and then this This? What is this... Wait a minute... Those voices aren't memories they're... "Jason, pay attention. You need to learn how to detect essence. Only then can you begin to manipulate it." I don't get it though why's he see through and green? The ponies... I can hear them but where are they? And what are these... "What do you MEAN you have to go on a mission that might take thousands of years?" "I'm sorry Jason but Alpheron, the original existence, is in a very dire state. Void energy is beginning to seep through the planar divide and I'll have to transcend time and space in order to go back and fix it. You know as well as everyone else here that I'm the only one capable of holding the energy required for such a jump. "But what about..." Dad... This was over 200 years ago. Ever since he left we had to start using the reversion process because there wasn't enough essence left in our universe to sustain immortality... Maybe a party will help him feel better! I'll go get my cannon. "Jason, you'll be the first to try out reversion. It'll take place whenever a guardian gets back from a mission. The process will revert your physical, emotional, and mental states back to where you what they were before deployment. Memories will be stored within Sai's databanks." Sai... Sentient A.I. The only entity in existence that doesn't inhabit space or time. One of the many legacies my father left behind... Oh... Uhm Pinkie I think we should just let him rest in piece... I mean, uhm I think we should just let him go... Oh! That's not quite what I meant either... Never mind. "Hey Oracle where's Draco? I can't find him anywhere and it looks like he shielded himself." "I'm afraid I have bad news. Two years ago he got fed up just waiting for you to come back so he took it upon himself to cross over to the dimension you were sent to. He was torn apart during transit since he didn't have the sphere to stabilize the dimensional gateway." This was 100 years ago... I was trapped pretending to be a god for 30 years because if I had left the chaos and despair of that entire backwater planet would have torn a whole in the planar divide. Oh I do hope he comes out of this state. I never got to ask him about his clothes! This state... See through and green... These visions... "Jason, why do you have to act like this? You can't just disappear to another dimension for all of eternity. We need you to be ready to take your father's duties over if he doesn't return within the next 1000 or so years." "Fine. But I'm going back home for a few weeks. I want to feel normal for a little while..." That was fifty years ago. Halfway into my trip is when I was introduced to MLP. Even though the show was created over 200 years ago, when I home it was still being produced. Right before I left to go back home the last episode of the first season was released. I was excited to be going to the future so I could watch every episode that was ever made but then... I just wish I knew what was happening to him. It's like he's there but at the same time he isn't. I told Princess Celestia about it and Princess Luna volunteered to come check things out. She should be here any minute now... Luna... Is coming? "Jason, it isn't a life if you have nothing to look forward to. Find something that you look forward to and keep living!" "What's the point of looking forward to things if I up and disappear for an unknown amount of time every week?" This was right after I got back. I was moping around because it finally hit me just how much I miss out on. That was when I decided to keep track of time as it passed for me. I decided to find something to do every day that was independent from the true passage of time. Saturday became my TV day and I would watch one episode of every one of my favorite shows. Well, long as she don't take too gettin here it's fine by me... "Why do I have to leave Friday? Can't I leave Sunday instead? You know how I feel about Saturdays." "I'm sorry Jason, I truly am but you'll just have to change your schedule or wait for your Saturday to come. Even waiting until your Friday could prove to be problematic for the situation." This mission... I almost didn't make it back from this one. After I nearly got sliced in two by a void spawn I was forced to use creation. It took me a few minutes but I was able to build up enough energy to return to the guild. It took half of our members to gain control of the situation and fix things afterwards... That was twenty years ago. Twilight, We- I am pleased to see the- you again. We... haven't had much chance to talk since Nightmare Night earlier this year, have we?... Nightmare Night... earlier this year... "Hey Oracle, got any missions for me?" "No, everything is taken care of. Why do you ask?" "It's Halloween back home tomorrow and I wanted to do a haunted house. I'll keep it tech based don't worry." "Hmm... I suppose it would be a good distraction for you. Prepare to deploy..." I never should have gone back... and I especially shouldn't have fallen in love like I did 15 years ago. She came into my haunted house with a group of friends but they got separated. She got scared and ended up passing out. When I found her I took her to the bedroom I've been using in the haunted house to rest until she woke up. She was so scared at first but once I managed to calm her down and everything quickly became perfect. Things moved quickly and after a month I decided that we were close enough for me to tell her who and what I was. It scared her at first but she changed after that. The more I did things for her the more she asked for things... I completely ignored the fact that my powers were corrupting her. One month after I showed her my powers I realized I had used up a significant portion of the planet's essence. I told her what happened and that all the gifts and adventures had to stop. She said I was lying, and that if I really loved her I'd find a way around it. That was when I made my biggest mistake. I used creation so I could make her the perfect gift but the construct took more power then I thought. It tore a small hole in the planar divide and thanks to the low concentration of essence a large amount of void energy was able to form into a voidling. It latched onto her corruption and... her last words as she faded into the afterlife were "I'm sorry." I don't remember what happened next but when I came back to my senses I realized that not only was the voidling destroyed, but the hole was repaired. I was out of commission for years after that. I just locked myself away in a dream trance at home, reliving my memories of her. Wishing I didn't mess up so many times. It wasn't until 10 years ago that I was able to shake it and return to the guild. It was good to... catch up... with everyone but I fear waiting any longer may cause the situation to worsen. I shall now begin my scan. "Jason, something happened while you were gone. We... are in a crisis. That hole that you accidentally... created... was just one of many. When it opened up it created a pulse that opened a hole in a different dimension, which created another pulse and even more holes. These past 5 years have been spent closing the holes and trying to predict where the next ones would open so we can break the cycle. We need you on the front lines helping to stop the holes from being created." That mission took 8 years to complete. We lost a few Guardians and morale was low. I was pushed to the edge from the bitterness towards me and, finally snapping, decided I'd end everything. After all the effort, after all the torment, I snapped and went into a blind rage. Over the next two days I went to the leading edge of each pulse, disrupting them by releasing a nova of pure power. My very lifeblood, turned into what became known as the zenith cascade. How I managed the feat nobody will ever know but every time I let loose my energies, I felt a presence. It was as if my father was watching over me, sending me life from beyond space and time. I have discovered something quite unusual... I don't know quite how to explain it... but I suppose you could say he no longer inhabits this dimension... Crying... I hear crying? "It feels nice to finally be able to sit back, relax and enjoy my Saturday. I'm excited to see what the third season of MLP brings." "You've more then earned it Jason. The moral of the guild is once again high after that display of power you showed. I suppose you could say you blasted away their distrust of you." "Did... did you just make a pun? Did The Oracle just show some humor?" "I'll have you know when I was traveling with your parents I was quite lighthearted." "Can... Can you tell me about my mom again?" Mom... I hardly knew her. What I do know about her is that she's the immortal queen of a planet thanks to her having the same abilities as the Guardians. Beings of Power are what we are called. Our lives measured not by time but by how much energy we hold in our bodies. An accident caused the sphere to her dimension to become trapped and lost forever. As much as we wanted to, we were never able to replicate it or create a rift stable enough to allow passage... The only one with the ability to do so stopped interacting with us before I was even a thought. There has to be something we can do! Maybe... maybe we can... "Jason report to the deployment chamber immediately. We have a mission for you." That's right... I have to do something... I have a mission... I have people who care about me... I have... friends... POV: Luna This is impossible... There is nothing we can do to fix this. and "Do not worry Twilight we are not out of options yet. Plus it is still possible that he himself will be the cause of his return. Just have faith." I feel bad for lying to Twilight, the one pony who stood by me when I was freed from Nightmare Moon. I only hope she'll be able to move on when this creature comes to pass. I sigh quietly and feed magic into my horn once again for show. When I touch my horn to space that Jason's chest would fill he becomes engulfed in a blinding light. Everypony around me turns away to shield their eyes and when the light fades Jason is left looking as Twilight had originally described him. After a few seconds I hear a barely audible whisper escape Jason's lips. "I'm... back..."
Reawakening - %i%Reawakening - 4 POV: Twilight Luna filled her horn with a spell and went to touch it to Jason's chest. I let out a sigh knowing the words she had just said were only meant to comfort us but I still held onto the hope that she was right. As I went to leave the room a bright light filled my vision. I close my eyes, trying to regain my senses and soon enough the light fades. "I'm... back..." I jump onto my bed, nuzzling Jason's cheek, and soon enough all my friends join me in welcoming Jason back. "Uhm... Girls you don't have to nuzzle me... Just a hug will do... Girls?" POV: Jason Holy crap I'm getting nuzzled by the mane 6... Wait, Luna's here too? Time for some fun! "Hey, who's the cute blue pony with the cool looking mane?" Six gasps and a few soundless seconds later I look up to see a heavily blushing Luna. "Our- Erhm, my name is P-Princess Luna. We-I am the princess of the night. I... why are you now staring at me with your mouth open like that?" Oh good she noticed. Let the fun begin! "That is AWESOME! Back where I come from when I wanted to relax I'd always go to this deserted island I found and just laze about on the beach listening to music all day so I could stargaze at night. It was so peaceful just laying there taking in all the sights of the night..." "You... you would chose to pass over the day to enjoy the night?" One squeal, 6 mad dashes and a slightly painful glomping later I was finally able to speak again. "Of *cough*, sorry. Of course! The day offers the warmth of the sun but there's nothing to look at because the sun is so bright. With the proper eye wear it's a perfect time for relaxing because of that. Once the moon takes command of the sky the stars can shine again it makes for a perfect time to just stare off into space. The ironic part is I mean that literally and figuratively. You also can't see the beauty of the land, sea, and sky under the overwhelming light of the sun. Only under the soothing light of the moon can true beauty shine." POV: Luna "...can true beauty shine." Loading... Loading... Loading... POV: Jason Whoops... I think I broke her. Luna breaks out in a wild smile, filled with desire. Once again I find my lungs airless as she sends herself careening into my chest. After what I could swear was the sound of my ribs cracking she finally lets up on her death grip. "Nopony has EVER said that about my nights before. I thank the- you. I... thank you Jason, for this most welcome praise." "Oh It slipped my mind, but my friends call me Jace." Yet another smile creeps across Luna's lips. By this time the mane 6 resigned to sitting along the wall but looking down at them, and seeing a few a bit miffed so I quickly add, "That goes for you girls too. I was kinda in stasis when I remembered I forgot to tell you all." "Jace, if you could refer simply as Luna I would be... grateful." "No problem Luna! Besides, since I'm technically a prince since my mom is the immortal queen of her planet I'd be forced to follow a whole bunch of rules that I don't even know if I acknowledged your status. They're in my genetic memory and I hope they stay there." Luna looks at me, pure disbelief on her face. I spare a glance at the mane 6 and see that, aside from Rarity who fainted, they share Luna's look. "You... you're a-" "DON'T SAY IT! That never leaves this room. I want each and every one of you to Pi- to promise me you won't say anything about it ever. I like my freedom as it is thank you." My outburst had woken Rarity up and 6 Pinkie Promises, one yelp of pain and a swearing on the eternal moon later I began to relax. What the heck was that?For a split second I felt a very faint trace of energy. Focusing, I enter a trance to spread my consciousness out to detect concentrations of energy and I discovered 5 threads connecting each of the mane 6 to Pinkie Pie. Slowly but surely they fade until I am no longer able to see them. I put more energy into my trance and sure enough I can see threads of power connecting Pinkie to the rest of the mane 6 as well as threads going off in all sorts of directions, some of them moving slightly. I see that each one leads into her heart and focusing a little more I see that there's something there that I can't even identify. Well, that must be how Pinkie knows when someone is about to break a Pinkie promise... Now the real question is do I test it or not... better wait until later. "Jace... Is something troubling you?" Hearing Luna speak I release my trance "Nope I'm fine." "You seemed to be deep in thought. Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" "Sorry I was just day dreaming. It happens sometimes." "Well from the sounds of things it seems like you dream during the day quite often." Luna gives me a cheeky grin and I can't help but laugh at her attempt at humor. "Yes, I suppose I do." "Sorry for interrupting but... Jace... can you please tell us what happened to you?" Hearing Twilight speak up I look down to her. She's staring at me, paper and quill in magical grip, with a look on her face that just screams, 'give me science now!' Thinking for a few seconds to decide what and how much I should say, I decide it would be best to just stick to the truth as much as possible. "Ok... But first I should tell you a little bit about myself I think. The most any of you know about me is my name, things you can see, and the very few things I told you. So for starters my name is Jason Steele and I belong to an organization known as the Guardian's Call. We're the protectors of balance in all of existence. Simply put, not only am I not from this planet but I'm not even from this universe. I was sent here on a mission because we sensed a disturbance that signified a disruption between the balance of positive energies, essence, and negative energies, void energy. The reason I specifically was sent here is because I have the most experience dealing with various forms of sentient life. That brings me to the next important part and that is the universe we're currently in is called the Sentience Sphere by my group because of the extraordinarily high amounts of different advanced sentient species. This fact paired along with the fact that there's various constructs that reside in this universe basically solidified the fact that there would never be an imbalance in its energies. The fact that we picked one up caused us a large amount of concern so I was sent immediately with no time to prepare myself." Twilight looks up from her notes, a concentrated look on her face, processing everything I said. After a few minutes of jotting down additional notes she speaks up. "Ok, now what about what happened to you? I've never seen or heard of anything like that. Princess Luna said you weren't exactly in this dimension anymore." "Well, simply put I used to much energy and I entered into a trance that would automatically phase me into a halfway dimension. We refer to them as planes and each universe, or Sphere, has three major ones. We're in what we call the essence plane, then next to it is what we call the ethereal plane. That's where I went and it serves as a connector between the essence plane and the void plane. Do you know how long I was there?" Twilight thinks for a few seconds, tapping her hoof to her chin. She looks out the window and then immediately begins to speak. "You went into the ethereal plane about two hours after you passed out. It happened when I tried to cast a spell on you. You were in the ethereal plane for five hours. Also, it's about ten at night now. Can you tell me why you went into that... trance, as you called it?" . As soon as what Twilight said finished processing in my mind, I was completely dumbfounded. "That's insane. From how much energy I had used It should have taken my body about twelve hours to gain enough energy to transfer into the ethereal plane. While there my ability to regenerate power would increase tenfold. After that it would have taken me another twelve to regain enough power to become conscious again. My power, or in your terms magic, is my life force. How long or short I can live is directly related to how much power I have. How much damage I can take or what abilities I can use is directly related to how much power I can take in. The fact that I regained my power so quickly means I must have absorbed the magic from your spell." "You seem to be a lot like an Alicorn. They live or die based on how much magical energy they have within them. Unicorns like me are similar but even still we can only live so long. Our bodies aren't able to regenerate in the same way as Alicorns can." "I didn't realize there were beings of power on this planet. That's how my group classifies people like me and I assume Luna is one of these Alicorns you speak of? "Yes. My sister Princess Celestia and I, and o-our niece, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, are alicorns. We are the last of our kind unfortunately." Luna lets out a sigh with that last bit and then her lowers her head to the floor. Her mane loses some of its shine and I can easily tell that she's been holding in some very deep emotions for a very long time. After letting her think in peace for a little bit I speak up. "Hey Luna do you think you could show me the night sky? You know since I'm new to the planet and all. I usually don't have the opportunity to meet up with a planet's inhabitants on my first day. Sometimes I'm even forced to stay away from the inhabitants because them knowing of me would disrupt the balance... So what say thee?" Luna perks up, her sad face replaced by a look of pure glee. "I say we should leave as soon as possible!" I look down at the mane 6, wondering if they'll have any thoughts on the matter. Without me even saying a word Rarity speaks up saying, "I think I speak for all of us Jace when I say we can hold off our... questioning... until later. So please, by all means. go and enjoy yourselves!" Luna allows a satisfied grin to cover her face. She then quickly leans into me, feeds some magic into her horn, and teleports us to the top of a mountain. I look around me and see that we're sitting on a raised platform surrounded by a platform. I look to the horizon and realize that not only is there no light pollution at all, but we're surrounded by a snowy wasteland. I give Luna a questioning look and she says we're on top of a mountain in the northeast of Equestrian territory. "This mountain was originally volcanic but it went extinct thousands of years ago. After some magical shaping it was given a nice steep peak and a flat top just big enough to hold the observatory we're now in. We're actually the first po-beings... to use this. It was completed just a few days ago and I haven't had the time to visit yet." I take the time to walk around the observatory, taking in the sights in and around me as I do. "It's really nice. Warm, cozy and the air is fresh because of all the plants too! It's even better that you can look out in all directions and be able to see everything until the ground blocks your view. I guess you could say this really is perfect." "Would you like to return here with me in the future perhaps? I would greatly enjoy the company... Spending time in solitude has been hard on me lately." Finishing my circuit, I walk back to the center and wrap my arms around Luna's neck in a hug. She tenses up at first but soon relaxes into my embrace. I mindlessly run my hand through Luna's mane and it smells like a cool ocean breeze. After standing there for the better part of a minute in silence I speak up and quietly say, "I'd like that. Would you like to meet here tomorrow as soon as the moon rises?" She tenses up again for just a few seconds. Probably not expecting me to respond the way I did. As she stands there I release her from my embrace and find a comfy spot on one of the floor mats to lay down on. Looking up at the sky it fills me with peace and I can't help but smile I can't believe how well this is going. It's more like a dream then a mission... There's no lies between me and the ponies, they trust me fully after such a short time and Luna and Twilight to some extent even seem to be smitten with me. It's times like this that makes me glad this whole thing isn't part of a charade... Though I don't know what I'm going to do about the ponies trying to get with me... Hugging them and stuff is fine, and holy crap are they soft, but even if they're sentient they're just to different from me. Though it seems like that doesn't matter as much to them. Probably has something to do with a 70% or so female population... "Jace... did you hear me?" I snap out of my reverie and see Luna has laid down with me. Her head is next to mine but she's laying on her legs instead of her back. "Sorry Luna I was lost in thought again. I was just thinking about how magical this has been. I've never been so quickly and openly welcomed to a planet's civilization before. It's a nice change of pace to be honest." "It's fine, I'm glad you're happy... I said I would love to meet you here but I might not be able to be here right away as I have duties every night. My sister has taken them for tonight though as I was tasked with finding out all I can about you... and so far everything I've discovered is... great." We lay there for a few moments in silence, looking up at the sky. As time goes by I begin to get restless as I'm not even close to tired thanks to my experience earlier in the day so I decide to kick things up a notch. "Luna, have you ever actually been on the surface of the moon?" She lets out a quick and quiet gasp but I continue, "where I come from, not only have we flown to the moon but about a century ago we even completed a colony on the moon. These days there's hundreds of millions of people living there. I can take us to this moon if you want." Luna looks at me, her face locked in complete shock. "Yo-you have hundreds of MILLIONS of people who LIVE on the moon? On the SURFACE of the moon?" "Yea. The city is surrounded by force fields though so it can have an atmosphere. It took awhile to get it right but I helped the process along with an invisible hand... or hoof in your terms I suppose. Also, there's a total of 10 billion humans. We've made large strides in interstellar travel and now there's only about 6 billion people that still live on our home planet Terra." "T-t-ten BILLION?! There's a few hundred thousand ponies tops... all the sentient life on this planet combined probably doesn't even compare to the population of your planet's moon..." "Yea... I get that a lot... But do you want to go to the moon? It's as easy as bending space for me." "It would be... interesting... To be on the surface of the moon. I was... imprisoned, in the moon for a thousand years when I turned evil. I will never forget how lonely it was all those years but the act of imprisoning paved the way for me to regain my freedom from the hatred that consumed me. I allowed myself to be controlled by a demon known as Nightmare Moon. I was trapped in my own mind but Twilight and her friends managed to free me." After hearing Luna tell her story I berated myself for deciding to do this to her. I knew I had to continue with my charade but I decided to change gears a little. "I'm sorry... I had no idea you had such a tough time... I know you don't know me too well yet but if you ever want to talk about things just let me know ok? For now do you just wanna lay here and talk about things until the sun comes up?" Luna smiles, her mood improving yet again. "I would like that Jason. I would like that very much." POV: Celestia. So, it seems Luna has become quite fond of our new guest. I do hope there's truth to his words... I don't like this feeling I get that he's hiding something... Something very important... No matter, I'll talk to him about it tomorrow. For now I believe I'll let those two go and surrender myself to sleep. POV: Twilight I had been laying in bed for an hour now, thinking about things, wondering what it was about Jason that made him seem so... special I hope he doesn't mind that we're a different species... and I hope he doesn't have a problem with multiple marefriends either... I'm almost certain Luna will make a move on him tonight... I just hope I can tell him what I think about him. Well I should get to sleep. I look down at Spike who is snoring peacefully, worn out completely from a very long day with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. You just might get that father figure you've always needed Spike... Good night my number one assistant. POV: Zecora An eventful day, this has become. But soon to sleep, I will succumb. A friend I have made, in the span of a day. A friend for life, is for what I pray. Smiling to myself, I put away my potion supplies and head to bed before I realize that Jason never really told me much about himself. Tomorrow I will visit my new-found friend, this small mistake I will surely amend. Twilight and her friends I shall also seek, for my days as of late have been very bleak. POV: Luna Jason and I have been talking for hours. After taking a few minutes to bring a meal to the observatory we continued out discussion. After eating, Jason said he needed to rest so he laid down to take a nap. As I was watching him, Jason shifts in his sleep only to end up resting his head on my mane. I smile and decide to use my magic to move him so his head rests on my side. After watching him for a little while again I shift around so my tail covers his chest I wish I knew what it was about him that's just so irresistible... Maybe it's the fact that he too is immortal... Maybe it's because he's unique to this planet... Or maybe it's something else... I just hope he can find it in him to return my feelings and that I don't scare him off somehow I've just never felt so comfortable around anyone before. It's like he understands me completely without us ever having met before... Is this what love feels like? I lay my head down and close my eyes so I can be alone with my thoughts. POV: Unknown "The guardians have sent Jason. What shall we do?" "Simple, we will conserve our energies while he wastes his playing the hero. With his father gone to the alpha we will still have hundreds of years before we need to worry about his return. All we need to do is continue to create disturbances across existence so these fools use their precious essence waiting for catastrophes that will never come. The Oracle may have stalled the destruction of the Guardians due to that reversion process but he is only one person. He can only so much on his own.
