Just Over the Horzine

What... what happened? Victor asked himself as he slowly opened his eyes. He felt instant relief when he noticed both the blue bedsheets which enveloped him, and the plush pillow underneath his head. Just a dream, thank god. He instinctively reached for his glasses on the stand to his right, only for his hand to bump into a figure that let out a small yelp. Victor jolted upright in his bed, only to gingerly lay himself back down when a sharp pain rang through his head.

“O-oh, y-you're awake!” Fluttershy stuttered as she reached for the scientist’s glasses. “Now hold still, I’m going to place your glasses back onto you.”

Victor’s world slowly came into focus. Despite the damaged lenses, he took a look at Fluttershy and said, “You’re the same horse from earlier, right?”

“Well, pony, but yes. The others are downstairs if you’d like me to get them.”

He placed the pillow against the wall behind the bed and rested his head against it. “Go for it, I’m sure you’ve all got as many questions as I do.” Fluttershy fluttered out of the room while Victor locked himself within his thoughts. I started up the machine correctly, didn’t I? Was there something I missed? No, I recalled those instructions properly. It suddenly dawned on the perplexed Englishman. Perhaps when I—

“Hi!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she poked her head into the room. Victor flinched, allowing a new wave of throbbing pain to cripple him.

“Pinkie! Fluttershy said to be quiet!” Rainbow Dash yelled, adding more to Victor’s world of pain.

Rarity ran between the two ponies and hushed them. “Honestly, keeping quiet must be a weakness for the two of you,” she whispered as she approached Victor. “Oh dear,” the fashionista muttered as she noticed his glasses, “let me get that for you.” The red glasses floated off Victor’s face as Rarity began to seamlessly repair the damage. “There,” she said quietly, “That should be better.”

Victor opened his eyes once the ringing in his ears stopped. He looked at the now-unfragmented world before him. He turned to the white unicorn and asked, “How did you do that?”

“Oh, I have a pair of glasses as well, keeping them in prime condition is no challenge at all.”

“No, I mean, what did you just do? How did you fix my glasses?”

“With magic o’ course,” Applejack said, Twilight right behind her, as she entered the room.

Victor let out a small chortle. “Right, magic. That’s impossible.”

“How is that impossible?” Twilight queried.

“Magic isn’t real, that’s why.”

Everypony shared the same bewildered expression as silence filled the room. Eventually, Rainbow Dash couldn’t control herself and burst into laughter. “This thing is such a crackup! Seriously, you guys, this is comedic gold right here!” As she rolled on the floor, she teased, “Magic isn’t real, that’s why,” trying her impersonation of the scientist’s accent.

“Rainbow!” Twilight barked, causing the blue pegasus’ laughter to slowly dwindle.

She noticed the dead-pan expressions in the room. “Wait, you’re serious?” she asked perplexedly.

Twilight replied, “Yes, it’s serious. Victor’s world didn’t seem like it used any magic, from what I could tell.”

“Wait just a minute!” he exclaimed. “You, unicorn, you just said my name... and something about ‘my world’. Just what’s going on here, and who are you?”

Everypony looked at each other for a second, then turned to Twilight, who walked up to Victor. “My name is Twilight Sparkle. These are my friends, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Spike. Now, I don't know how, but... I saw you in a dream of mine.”

“A dream, you say,” Victor noted as he crossed his arms. “Care to prove it?”

Spike argued, “Why should she have to prove it, huh? If anything, we should be asking who or what in Equestria you are!”

The scientist shook his head and said, “I’m not saying a word until I know just what the bloody hell is going on.”

Twilight turned to her assistant and said, “It’s okay, Spike.” The purple unicorn took a breath to clear her mind as she explained, “There were these laboratories that you worked in. Not only you, but a lot of other humans too. I believe you were running experiments on other humans. You called them... oh, what were they called?”

“Specimens?”

“Yes, that’s right. Then there was a—”

Victor held up his hand. “I’ve heard enough. If you know that much, then it’s safe to assume you’re telling the truth. Now, I don’t mean to be rude, but I’d much prefer to talk to the other humans around here.”

Rarity cocked her head back as she raised an eyebrow. “Other... humans? What are you talking about, dear?”

“I mean ‘other humans’,” he said while he shrugged his shoulders. “You know, like the ones that built this cottage.”

Rainbow hovered in the air, and said, “Look, pal, we don't know what a human is, and we'd really like to know,” she said with slight venom in her tone. “Besides,” she started up again, “every building in this town it made by ponies, for ponies. There have been a lot of different ponies that come through here, but nothing like you.”

Now it was Victor’s turn to put on a confused expression. “You’re kidding, right? You mean to tell me that an entire city full of animals without hands created houses like this? You must color me daft if I'm going to buy that rubbish.”

“You callin’ me a liar, punk?”

Applejack intervened, “Rainbow, hush!” She faced Victor, “Partner, I 'unno what in tarnation yah think we know, but we ain't never heard of a... hyuu-menn before.”

“So ponies built all of this,” he said incredulously, “that’s what you’re telling me?”

Pinkie Pie jumped forward. “Yeppers! Every home made in Equestria is built by full fledged ponies! Unless you’re talking about animal homes. Those homes are surely built by the animals. They’d be too small for anypony to even fit into. Come to think of it, there are also homes like caves that a pony could easily live in. Then again, I can’t think of anypony who would live somewhere like that; unless they wished they could be animals. Wait! What if there were pony-animals? Then I guess some homes would be—”

Twilight let out a groan, stopping the slowly-derailing conversation. “We don't have time for this! Victor, you’re the only human in Equestria. That’s not a guess, it’s a fact. Now, what I’d like to know is...” she stopped as she saw the pink pony raise her hoof, waving it frantically in the air. “Yes... Pinkie?”

She leapt into the bed and said, “So are you a boy or a girl?”

Victor sat there, staring blankly at Pinkie Pie. He face-palmed as he muttered, “Shouldn’t something like that be obvious to you ponies?”

Fluttershy replied, “Um... none of us have seen a human before, so we wouldn’t know about something like that.”

He peeked through his hand and said, “I’m a boy.”

Before Twilight could prepare another question, Rarity intervened, “How, pray-tell, did you even end up in this world of ours? Twilight mentioned something about portals, but I'm sure you could give us a greater insight into this matter.”

Victor cleared his throat and said, “Well, the portals we have at our institution are set to take someone, or something, to a different location. However, you need coordinates for the system to work. Such a system has its risks, if you enter the wrong destination, you could end up in a universe that’s even worse off than my world. Now, I had set up the device to take me to another location on my world. However, I’m here, and I think I know why. Twilight, you saw me fight off a specimen right before I jumped, right?” The purple unicorn nodded. “Well, when I kicked that nonce, it was knocked into the device. If I didn’t know any better, that must’ve flipped the switch on the side and changed the device’s setting to interdimensional.”

“You’re not stuck here, are you?” Twilight asked.

He shook his head. “No, not as long as I’ve got this.” The scientist pulled away the covers to reveal the belt he attached before leaving earth.

“Oh right, that. It still works, doesn’t it?”

“Is that some sort of belt?” Rarity asked, her interest suddenly rising.

“Yes, to both of you” Victor answered. “It’s coupled with the device, back home. I’ve just got to press this button in the center, and the machine takes care of the rest.”

“Now then, Mr. Victor,” Twilight hesitated. “In my dream... I saw that you were all under attack by those... things. What were they? Are they a different breed of humans?”

Victor's look grew quite tense. “You saw those bloodthirsty bastards rampaging throughout the halls? Well, where do I even begin?” He crossed his arms as he prepared his answer, with the pondering gaze of everypony in the room focused on him. “I work for what's called a pharmaceutical company, they're places that specialize in medical and biological advancements. Mine in particular is named Horzine Industries, and we were tasked by Britain to create what they call, super-soldiers. As you no doubt saw, they suddenly went berserk and started ripping everyone to pieces. It all happened so fast, so many poor scientists lost their lives in there.”

Twilight tried again to shake the images out of her head. “Is there any way to stop those things?”

Victor massaged his forehead before continuing, “Unfortunately, these soldiers were made to be formidable in a war, so it would take a hell of an offensive to stop every last one of them. Which makes what I'm going to ask seem bloody insane...”

Rainbow Dash piped up, “ Well? What is it? What do you need?”

Victor answered almost immediately, “I need you lot to find the most powerful... ponies you can to help fight these things... I'd take them to my wo--”

“Woah, woah, woah there, Victor,” Spike sharply interrupted. “You mean you want us to send some of our good friends to your world and get them killed? Are you crazy?”

The human shot a glare at Spike. “Do I look like I have much other choice? Surely there's some sort of being here that's powerful enough to help, right?”

Everypony exchanged glances with each other, unsure of how to proceed.

Applejack mentioned to her friends, “Ah reckon we should discuss this in private, considerin’ these are our ponies we’re talkin’ about.”

Twilight murmured back, “What would we even need to talk about, Applejack? All of the facts are laid out in front of us.”

“Think about it, Twi’,” Applejack softly retorted, “if we’re sendin’ ponies out there, some of them could be kin. We need t’ be sure that it’d be worth it ta help this fella.”

After a moment of consideration, Twilight turned towards the scientist. “Please excuse us, Victor,” Twilight stated. “We need to talk about this, privately. I know you understand. Spike, you stay here with Victor, keep him company until we’ve come to a decision.” With that, Spike focused his attention on Victor, and Twilight motioned for the other ponies to follow her.

**********

Twilight led everypony into the living room, cutting right to the chase. “First things first,” she began, “does anypony think we should help Victor and the other humans?” Twilight was expecting a swift response from her friends... but there was nothing. Her friends shifted their gaze, unsure of what to give for an answer. “None of you? Nopony wants to help them at all?!”

Rainbow Dash was the first to speak up, “It’s not like that, Twilight! It’s just... well... how do I even say it?”

“What Rainbow’s tryin’ to say,” Applejack carried on, “is that this seems like a heap’a sumthin’ to ask somepony. Ah wanna help the fella, ah really do, but we can’t jus’ throw ponies to slaughter like that!”

“But... um...” Fluttershy spoke up, “We... we can’t just leave him like this! He needs our help!”

“Fluttershy is right,” Pinkie Pie began, “they need our help!”

Rarity stepped forward, “I agree with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. There has to be a way we can assist those poor fellows.”

“But how?” Rainbow began, “It’s not like we’ve got an armada of strong ponies lying around! The Royal Guard can’t leave the princess, and the only pony around here that I can see handling themselves is Big Macintosh.”

“An’ ain’t no way Ahm lettin’ Big Mac go to Lunndann an’ fight those things!

Twilight picked up from where she left off. “Okay, I think it’s safe to say that we all want to help,” she stated, “but we just have to figure out how. Anypony have any ideas?”

Brainstorms occurred in everypony’s heads, but coming up with a good idea proved to be a difficult task. After some thought, the idea hit Twilight. There’s really no other choice, is there? She thought to herself, I guess I’ll have to be the one to say it.

“I got it,” Twilight and Rarity both said at once.

Twilight and Rarity looked at eachother in surprise before the purple unicorn conceded, “Oh, you go ahead, Rarity.”

“Oh no, dear, you’re the one that knows the most about their world, you go first.”

“No, it’s ok, really, you go first.” Rarity’s got the same kind of logical mind as I do, she reasoned with herself. I guess she’ll be the one to spill the beans... as much as I dread the idea.

“Well, ok then... I’ve thought up a safe idea for all of us,” Rarity began.

Twilight lightly jerked her head back in shock. Safe? Twilight thought, What does she mean, safe? What is Rarity planning?

Rarity continued, “Honestly, I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of this idea sooner. I think it would make the most sense to ask if the princess, herself, would be willing to assist!”

Twilight shot Rarity an incredibly disbelieving look. Ask the princess? But... we...

Rainbow Dash facehoofed, “Oh, duh! Why didn’t I think of that? Sure, there’s hardly anypony in Ponyville that can go out there, but the Princess can probably take care of that London place in no time at all!”

Fluttershy seemed to perk up a little at this solution, but she still held some doubts. “Would the Princess really want to go out there? I mean... those creatures sound so... scary.”

“Ah wouldn’ worry about that, Fluttershy,” Applejack said to the timid pegasus, “before we came along, the Princess has been the one pony to save the day.” Applejack tilted her hat back, “Ah don’ see the harm in askin’ her.”

Pinkie Pie hopped up and down at the idea. “Yeah! And then when she gets back, we can throw a celebration for her!”

“You really don’t think of much else other than parties, do you, Pinkie?” Rarity joked with her friend.

Rainbow walked up to the bouncy earth pony, “Besides, Pinks, I think the Summer Sun Celebration is more than enough of a party for anypony.”

“Of course!” Pinkie Pie said. “That’s why we hold it after the celebration! We don’t wanna go crazy on everypony!”

“Ah think it’s a might bit late fer that, Pinkie,” Applejack said, while stifling a laugh.

Fluttershy spoke up, “Well... asking her first is better than doing nothing at all.”

Rarity nodded her head in agreement. “Then it’s settled,” she began, “ We’ll write a letter to the Princess asking if she’ll he—”

Rarity’s declaration was cut short by Twilight. “No. We can’t do that!”

The ponies stared at the princess’ student in bewilderment, with Pinkie Pie being the first to spit out a reply.

“No?” she began, “But... but...”

“But why not, Twilight?” Rarity objected, “What’s the harm, really?”

“We can’t just go and demand for the princess to risk her life all willy-nilly,” Twilight declared. “Besides, It’s a week until the Summer Sun Celebration. Princess Celestia needs to stay here until then!”

“Twilight,” Applejack began her retort, “Ah think the princess can afford to help them hyumens out.”

Twilight faced her friend, “Don’t you see, Applejack? If the princess is gone for even a day, the sun won’t come up. No sun means a bad batch of apples for the Apple family.” Twilight paused for a moment to let this thought set in. “Is that what you want, Applejack?”

Applejack spat out a weak, “No... but...” and continued to have a disgruntled look on her face.

“Then what do you have in mind, Twilight?” said an annoyed Rainbow Dash. She started to hover, “Let’s hear your idea.”

Twilight gulped before going any further, “Well...” she began, “I think that we need to go to London, ourselves.”

Twilight’s idea was met with a collective, “WHAT?!” from everypony in the room.

**********

Spike and Victor sat in complete silence, twiddling their thumbs as they waited for the deliberations to end. The shout from the ponies attracted both their attention. The two looked in the direction of the noise, and Spike pressed his ear against the door in hopes of hearing what caused such a ruckus.

“It’s not polite to eavesdrop, you know,” Victor chastised as he sat himself upright.

Spike turned to face the scientist. “Eave what?”

Victor rolled his eyes and let out a sigh, “It’s not polite to listen in on other people’s conversations, you know.” He stared at the ceiling. “So, Spears,” Victor began.

“Spike!”

“Right, right, Spike,” Victor said in an apologetic tone, “we just have to sit on our thumbs over here while your friends decide whether or not to lend a helping hand?”

Spike gave a glance at Victor and said, “That pretty much sums it up. What did you expect? I mean, you kinda popped up out of nowhere... never seen the likes of you... yada yada yada.” Spike turned in the direction of the door. “All I know,” he stated as he listened through the door, “is that whatever happens, Twilight will know what to do.”

“Twilight...” Victor said, resting his head on the wall. “That... eh... purple unicorn, right? She sure seems like she knows a lot about my world.”

Spike let out a small chuckle and said, “Well, this IS Twilight we’re talking about, the most powerful unicorn in Ponyville— no, the most powerful unicorn in Equestria! Not to mention she’s incredibly smart. I’m sure she’s got your situation figured out by now.” Spike’s confident grin beamed as he addressed Victor’s assumption.

Victor couldn’t help but laugh. “You know,” he struggled to say in between laughs, “your friend hasn’t the faintest idea what my world is like.”

Spike’s grin slowly melted away, “What do you mean hasn’t the faintest? She saw your experiences in your dream, so I’d say she knows more than enough!”

Victor put on a dead serious look, glaring daggers at the baby dragon. “Let me tell you something, mate. There’s a vast difference between seeing something and living it.” His tone grew more and more cross as he continued, “What Ms. Sparkle saw was a essentially a video, a snippet of what’s out there. She’s seen what I’ve gone through, but hasn’t come close to living it. She hasn’t turned the corner of a dank, narrow hallway and seen flesh being ripped from bones, blood spewing onto the walls, or entrails strewn throughout the floor... And the noise, my god, the noise! The screams of fellow scientists who can only watch as their organs get torn from their bodies! The howls and screeches of those monstrosities that roam the facility, looking for their next, unlucky victim! Carnage and death as far as the eye can see!” Victor collected himself, as he paused while Spike struggled to remain confident and not lose his composure. “Twilight doesn’t know shit about what it’s like in my world, Spike, and that’s why I need to find the strongest bloody beings in the land to help.”

Spike shook off the rigid feeling out of his scales. “W-well, she’ll figure out the best thing to do. I promise you that!”

Victor listened to Spike’s retort and nonchalantly laid back in bed. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, lad,” he retorted, “because if you can’t keep this one... humanity is dead.”

**********

“You think... you think that we should go?” Rarity echoed, being taken back by this proposal.

Twilight turned to the white unicorn. “We don’t have any other options, Rarity.”

Rainbow hovered over to Twilight and remarked, “No other options? Twilight, we have a lot of options!” She tried her best to hide her nervous expression. “We could go to Cloudsdale, Manehattan, or Canterlot and ask for help! Hay, there are ponies all over Equestria that could help!”

The pegasus pony’s plea had fallen upon deaf ears, as Twilight shook her head. “Sorry, Rainbow,” she began, “but in the time it would take to amass a rag-tag group of mercenaries and prepare them for London, it could already be too late. Time is of the essence here, and the six of us going is the most efficient solution. We’re ready right here, right now. Plus, we won’t have to endanger anypony else that we truly care about.” Twilight still saw the uncertainty in her friends' eyes, so she gave one last reason to hopefully change their minds. “Besides, I don’t think there are truly any stronger ponies in Ponyville than the six of us.” She stopped herself before continuing, letting her friends fully grasp the severity of the situation. “So... what do you say, girls?”

Silence filled the room once more, not to Twilight’s surprise. Quick glances were shot between each other, unsure of how to proceed.

Pinkie let out a subtle snort, and said, “I’ll do it.” She said, not a hint of fear in her voice. “If this is how we can help somepony in need, then I’m all for it,” she said as her charismatic grin started to form.

Rainbow appeared enlightened as she added, “Me too, you guys know you’d be hopeless without good ol’ Rainbow Dash backing you up.” She nudged Twilight on the shoulder. The smug look on her face helped lighten the mood in the room.

Rarity piped up, “So... no matter what we say, you still think we’re the only ones that can fight those soldiers?”

“That’s our best bet,” Twilight replied.

An insecure Applejack responded, “This ain’t right, Twi. Yer askin’ us to leave everythin’ behind fer who knows how long.” The farm pony’s usually bold look was replaced with a look of beseechment.

“I understand your concern, Applejack,” Twilight sympathized, “and I know this is a lot to ask of you all. I’m not going to force anypony to go if they really don’t want to.”

Fluttershy asked, “Twilight, do you... do you really think we can do this?”

Twilight donned a smile of confidence. “I think so, Fluttershy.” As she started to pace around her friends, she continued to try motivating them. “We’ve gone against a manticore, a dragon, a hydra, Nightmare Moon, and even Discord himself. As long as we keep our cool, I’m sure we can handle it.” Her words seemed to slow the yellow pegasus’ jitters.

“What about you, dear?” Rarity observed, “Not too long ago, you nearly had a nervous breakdown when you just looked at Victor, and he was completely harmless. We’re talking about barbaric creatures that would like nothing more than to tear us limb from limb. Are you sure you’ll be alright for this?”

Twilight gulped before continuing, “I admit... I’m still a bit scared of what lies out there, but with my friends by my side, It shouldn’t be a problem.” Twilight wanted to believe what she said, but the fear of the unknown still ate at her heart. I hope you’re listening, Twilight, she notioned to herself.

As the ponies continued to contemplate the situation, Applejack had been lost in thought. Suddenly, Applejack’s eyes shot wide open as an ultimatum appeared before her. “Hey, wait a minute, Twilight,” Applejack spoke up, “Y’all have to ask the princess first!”

Twilight let out a small groan as she thought to herself, She’s still going on about this? She asked, “Okay then, Applejack, explain why I need to ask the Princess first.”

“Because,” Applejack retorted, “yer the princess’ very own student. Don’cha think she’d wanna know if a student o’ hers is goin’ to a world fulla death an peril?”

Twilight was caught off guard and stammered, “Well... I... uh... um...”

Pinkie Pie became increasingly curious about this behavior. “You know, Twilight,” she declared, “you seem really determined not to ask the princess. Do you... not want her finding out about this?”

Twilight cocked her head back in shock and quickly defended herself. “N-n-no! That’s... t-that’s not it, I just... well...” Twilight took a deep breath and a moment to collect her thoughts. “I don’t want it to look like I’m completely dependent on the Princess.” Shame seemed to cloud her eyes. The next thing she heard was something unexpected: laughter. She looked up to see Rainbow Dash guffaw as she hovered in the air.

“Oh, that’s priceless, Twilight!” As she opened her eyes, she received sharp glares from Rarity and Applejack. The boastful pegasus cleared her throat and rebounded, “Uh, Twilight, in case you missed it, you kinda went over a list of all the creatures we’ve defeated without the princess’ help.”

Rarity cooled off her glare and directed her attention towards Twilight. “Rainbow Dash has a point, my dear,” she affirmed, “I’m sure the princess has the utmost confidence in you, let alone our combined abilities. Besides, the princess just might give us her blessing to go to London. A back of confidence like that might be just what you need to get rid of your jitters.”

A small smile of relief appeared on Twilight’s face. “So,” she began, “if the princess says we can, you’ll come with us to London?”

Rarity gave a simple nod in return.

Twilight turned to Fluttershy, “Well, how about you? Will you come with us?”

Fluttershy was hesitant, but gave her a confident nod and said, “I... I’ll go, as long as all of you are there with me.”

Last was Applejack, who still showed signs of concern. She closed her eyes as she let out a sigh and said, “Only if the princess says so, otherwise, I ain’t budgin’.”

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. This isn’t exactly what I had hoped for, but it’s better than doing nothing. “Then it’s settled. We let the princess know about this first, then we make the necessary preparations, understood?”

Everypony nodded.

“All right then, let’s go tell Spike and Victor what’s going on.”

**********

“...and sometimes a man will really fancy a woman. When he does, he gets something that we on earth like to call—” Victor’s risque explanation was cut off by Twilight opening the door. “Well, you lot took a while,” he said as the ponies filed into the room, “what’s the decision?”

Twilight stepped before Victor and said, “We’ve decided that we’re going to ask the princess for her thoughts on our plan before we do anything.”

Victor raised an eyebrow. “A plan? What sort of plan do you have in mind?”

“We’re all going with you to help deal with the situation in your world,” Twilight swiftly responded.

Victor’s look shifted from curiosity to incredulity. “Are you mad? Do you realize where you’re going?” Victor shook his head and rested it in his palm, groaning in frustration. “I mean, this isn’t exactly a land filled with singing birds and dancing bunnies,you know. This is a world filled with chaos and destruction. do you honestly thi—”

His tirade was cut short when Rainbow Dash flew up to his face and angrily shouted, “Listen here, buddy! You’re telling us that you need the strongest ponies to help you out. So here we are, telling you that we’re ready to help, and yet you doubt us? Either you can take our help, or you can get out of Equestria, and go back to wherever the hay you came from!” Her wings flapped furiously as she tried to contain herself.

Feeling an impending sense of idiocy, Victor slumped and let out a sigh. What am I doing? He thought to himself, I should be glad I even have six allies in this mess. He took a look at Twilight and said, “I apologize for that, I’ve just been a little on edge since this whole mess started. So all of you will help, eh? Better than nothing. Of course, the question is, how powerful are you?”

“We can be pretty, super-duper powerful, Victor!” Pinkie Pie chimed in, “You’ve got the fastest, strongest, kindest, smartest, neatiest, and partyingist ponies you could ever need!”

Pinkie Pie grinned an oddly stupid grin, which unexpectedly made Victor start to giggle. Even in times of chaos, this one can make me laugh, he thought as he took a look at the ponies around the room. “Well,” he casually began, “let’s just hope that kind, neat, and partying ponies will do the trick. When do we start?”

Twilight turned to Spike and asked, “Do you still have any quills or paper on you?”

Spike reached into what could vaguely be called his pockets and pulled out a special paper, a quill, and some ink. “I’m always ready to write whenever, Twilight!”

“Good,” Twilight began, “Take a note, please... to the princess.”

**********

Up in the mountains beyond Ponyville laid the city known as Canterlot, which played host to unicorns. The town appeared to be quite literally embedded in the mountains, as a series of spires and towers seemed to sprout from its rocky slope. Once a visitor crossed the moat into the city, they were greeted with exquisite architecture from every angle, a decent balance of astrological themed buildings combined with a respect for nature. From the most elegant of music shops to the simplest of donut shops, no expense was wasted in giving Canterlot its exemplary status.

The elegance of the city was made to suit the very reason Canterlot thrived as it did. It was the home of Princess Celestia. Her castle was as immeasurable as it was astonishing. Its exterior was lavishly decorated with many pillars and structures, etched with many ponies from even the oldest collection of mythology. The interior of the castle was just as beautiful, various arcs guided ponies along corridor after corridor, working through the entire castle. A set of stairs led to the upper level of the castle, the residence of Princess Celestia.

The princess walked through her chambers as she discussed her plans with the leader of the Royal Guard. “I presume the preparations are well under way, General?” she said to the guard on her left.

Walking with the princess was General Cruiser, a dark-grey unicorn with brown eyes and a white mane. “Indeed, Princess,” the guard confirmed. “Preparations across Equestria are proceeding as planned.” He took a moment to shoot a cold glance at a group of ponies that stared at the scar on his right foreleg.

“Are there any issues to report?”

“There have been minor requests from Appleloosa for more rain to help their new apple crops grow. Seems the rainfall has been steadily decreasing for the past to months.”

“Has this concern been addressed?” the Princess inquired as they continued their walk, skimming various bills and approval forms that were given to her.

“Swiftly and efficiently,” he briskly replied, “Fillydelphia has been reporting an excess amount of rain flooding some of their streets. It was as simple as redirecting a portion of the rainclouds to the desert.”

Celestia glanced at Cruiser, “Good, very good. Now, how are things looking around Canterlot?” she asked as she took a look out the stained glass window on her right, observing her subjects in the city streets below.

“All events are being prepared as scheduled. No reports of any inadequacies.”

“Excellent,”

They approached the door to the princess’ room, where a pegasus pony stood diligently as it guarded the entrance. “I have some important matters to attend to, General,” the alicorn said as she turned to Cruiser, “we’ll continue this discussion later.”

Cruiser bowed his head and said, “It’s always a pleasure, your highness.”

Princess Celestia flashed an approving smile as she nodded to the other stationed guard, which the pegasus returned the acknowledgement. She walked into her room, letting the door quietly shut behind her.

Cruiser turned around, returning to his emotionless demeanor. As he started to walk away, he heard his subordinate chatter, “The Princess is sure on top of things, isn’t she?”

The unicorn glanced over his shoulder, turning his attention towards the additional guard.

Standing on the right side of the door was Captain Aeriel Ace, a white, pegasus pony with a blue mane and blue eyes. Like the general, every guard was decorated in golden tinted armor, covering their back and chest, attached by a blue saddle. On the very front of the armor was a blue, five pointed star. Along with this, all guards were given a golden helmet with a different colored frill of hair, blue for the pegasi, white for the unicorns, and orange for the earth ponies.

“Would you expect anything less?” Cruiser mechanically spat out in response.

Ace slightly shifted. “No, sir, just observing out how efficiently she performs her daily tasks.”

“Well, Captain, the next time I need your observations, I’ll let you know.”

“... Noted, sir.”

The General proceeded down the hall, but stopped. He turned around and looked at the door, noticing a blatantly obvious problem. “Where’s the major?” he demanded. “It’s not like him to miss his post.”

Ace informed, “He sent a message that he accidentally crossed a patch of Poison Joke while taking the new recruits on patrol. He’s physically unable to make it in today, but a specialist was called in to prepare a remedy. He should be back in top condition tomorrow.”

“I always tell that colt to avoid those trails,”the stallion muttered to himself. “He should be lucky he didn’t endanger his platoon. If that’s the case, who has been assigned to this post? By the looks of it, they’re late... they’d better hope I don’t see them.”

Ace looked over Cruiser’s shoulder. “Well, sir, your answer is racing down the hall right now.”

Cruiser looked back and saw a black pegasus pony fly around the corner and approach the door at high speed. She made a hard stop and landed right before the two guards.

Despite her being out of breath, The black pegasus tried to keep an adept demeanor as she approached the guards. Her eyes flickered with panic as she recognized the commanding officer before her, which the general immediately noticed.“Please excuse me, sirs, I have an important message for the princess.”

Cruiser took note of the disheveled black mane which blocked part of her yellow eyes. “Name and rank, soldier,” he said to the antsy pegasus.

“Second Lieutenant Burst Shine, sir.”

“Well, Second Lieutenant, I shall be the judge of what is and isn’t important. Considering you’re late to guard the princess’ royal chambers, this had better be good. Now out with it, what do you have to report?”

Burst Shine swallowed the lump in her throat, but responded, “There have been reports of unusual activity in Froggy Bottom Bog, sir.”

“Reports of... unusual activity?” Cruiser nearly grimaced at his subordinate’s words. “Tell me something, Second Lieutenant, when was the last time there was any normal activity occurring in that cesspool?”

“Sir?”

He let out a disgruntled sigh and continued, “Froggy Bottom Bog has fluctuating activity almost every week. You might want to clarify as to what is so unusual, and be adamant about it.”

“Well, sir, there’s... well...” She started looking around the floor , as if searching for an answer.

“Eyes front when speaking to a superior officer, Lieutenant!” Cruiser snapped at the flaking pegasus before him.

She hastily barked out, “There are no specific reports as to what is occurring in Froggy Bottom Bog, sir! Just a few notices that have gathered after a week’s time.”

The dark-grey unicorn’s brow furrowed, “You mean to tell me that you felt you were authorized to barge into the Princess’ private quarters and relay meaningless gossip to her?”

The black pegasus slightly lowered her head and defended, “It’s not that, sir! it’s just...” she couldn’t help but feel herself slightly quiver in front of the general.

The general closed his eyes and shook his head, tutting the sad display of weakness in front of him. “A few words, and you’re already starting to crack. How in Equestria did you manage to become a Second Lieutenant, let alone get enlisted into the guard?”

Burst Shine sat there in silence, unable to utter a word under the weight of her humiliation.

"I’m requesting you for an evaluation, the psych ward will judge whether or not you’re fit for duty.”

She snapped out of her frozen state and protested, “But... sir! I-”

“Until then,” he interrupted, “attend your post and await further orders. Maybe you can be capable of standing in front of a door.”

Burst let out a stifled plea, “I know I can do this, sir!”

“That. Is. An order! To your post... private.”

The defeated pegasus meekly reply, “Yes, sir.” She walked to the left side of the door, ears folded back as she bit her lower lip.

Cruiser shook his head and walked off, a scowl growing on his face. “Fillies these days,” he murmured. “Not a single clue as to how the world works.”

Aerial Ace wisely judged that it wasn’t his place to intervene at any time, so after observing the altercation, he reflected on the matter. Threatening her rank for not knowing what the problem was? That’s cold, General, even for you. He shifted his gaze towards the Burst. “Hey, try not to let what he says get to you,” he consoled, “The general can be a real hardflanksometimes. Just... well,” Ace scratched the back of his head, unsure of what to say. “Try to show some backbone next time, he hates weakness in guards.” His words were met with a half-hearted glance from the mare, who then returned to facing the halls. The poor mare is probably in the pits right now, and I just made it worse, didn’t I? Horseapples.

**********

“My, what a ruckus out there,” Princess Celestia remarked. “At least it’s quieting down. Now, where was I?” The Princess returned to the many scrolls and propositions that needed her approval. She often completed her tasks within her room, as it was the one place that could truly put her at ease. Its walls were a light shade of purple, with a cloud and shooting star design stretching across the room. Complimented with the thistle colored floor, elegant fireplace, and padded mat she had placed in the middle, it had quite a relaxing setting.

Hmmm, this can’t be right, the princess eventually thought to herself, shortly after looking over another scroll, Did I... look through everything already? There’s usually a mountain of approval forms waiting for me when the Celebration is this close. “Well, maybe I should get a jump on tomorrow’s objectives,” she said with a hint of glee. “Who knows, I could actually have time for myself on the day of the celebration!” She giggled at the thought of such a proposition.

As the princess began to take a look at tomorrow’s agenda, she noticed a trail of smoke trickling its way into her room. The smoke flew before her face and curled up into a ball , transforming into a scroll. It was wrapped in a red band and closed shut with a golden seal of a horseshoe. Celestia’s horn glowed as she picked up and opened the scroll. “Another letter from Twilight. Let’s see what she has to say this time.” As Twilight stayed in Ponyville, the only way she could send letters to the princess was to set them on fire. Unlike any other sort of paper, these scrolls were enchanted with a special kind of magic that would instantly send letters to Princess Celestia once ignited.

These letters to the princess would usually contain a message of what Twilight and her friends have learned about friendship. However, today’s letter was of a dark and important matter. As Celestia read on, her mood shifted from pleasant to troubled.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I wish I could be writing this letter under better circumstances. However, time is short, and we can’t cut corners. Last night, I had a dream, and it involved this world called “Earth” and it had a city called London. The creatures of this world are called humans, and they act very similar to us. One particular group of humans were involved with making this sub-species called “super-soldiers”. However, something went terribly wrong, and the humans were being attacked and devoured by these soldiers. One particular human named Victor had been escorted towards a portal device and jumped through it in order to search for help.

I had merely passed this off as a bad dream. Maybe the result of one too many late night reading sessions, I thought. However, recent incidents incline me to believe otherwise. Fluttershy had found a mysterious creature lying unconscious on a trail near her cottage, and it looked exactly like Victor! Not only that, but he recalled living through the same situation that played out in my dream. This leads me to conclude that my dream was not just a dream, but a vision. At this very moment, Victor has asked us to gather any help we can find to defeat these soldiers.

Now, a plan has recently come to light that seems to work best for everypony. With your permission, I humbly request that my friends and I go to London and take care of the problem in your stead. We have assessed the dangers in the human’s world, and considering how we’ve dealt with other threats in Ponyville, we feel we’re prepared for this. It’s unknown how long a task like this will take, but if it takes months to save an alternate world, then so be it. We will await your timely response.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

P.S. Pinkie Pie says hi

Upon reading the letter, Celestia muttered to herself, “A parallel world... full of ravenous, blood-thirsty creatures? Twilight Sparkle, what are you thinking?” She sat and stared at the scroll, contemplating how to approach such a request.

**********

Meanwhile, in Fluttershy’s cottage, a war of logic took place. “So what you’re trying to tell me,” a baffled Victor began, “is that even though Spike clearly set that scroll on fire, turning it into an illegible pile of ash, your princess is reading that same letter at this precise moment?”

A mentally exhausted Twilight retorted, “Yes, Victor! It’s magic, that’s all there is to it! I can’t explain it any clearer than I already have.”

The scientist looked to his right and shook his head. “If that’s true, how long do we have to wait to hear a response?”

“Shouldn’t be too long,” Spike piped up. “You’ll know when you see it.”

“In the meantime,” said Rarity, “I am slightly intrigued as to how your world works, Victor. You seem so familiar with ponies, animals, houses, and all sorts of objects in our world.”

Twilight put her hoof to her chin and added, “I... guess this would be a valuable opportunity to learn about your species, at least until the princess gets back to us.” I’ll admit, even I am dying to know more about this London place.

Rainbow Dash murmured, “Here we go...” rolling her eyes as she waited for Twilight to indulge her curiosity.

Spike piped up, “Yeah, and you can tell me more about those birds and bees or whatever that's all about.”

Pinkie Pie cut in, “Birds and bees? Are they different in London?”

The baby dragon shook his head, “No, Pinkie, it's a me... meta...”

“Metaphor,” Victor assisted.

“Yeah, that. Humans in London use that in order to explain where babies come from.”

Everypony froze.

“Uh... what was that last part, Spike?” Applejack said as a nervous expression spread onto her face.

“You know, where babies come from. I asked Twilight about it once, and she just said that I should 'wait until I'm older' before I know about that,” he said while crossing his arms in contempt. “So Victor here was telling me all about it.”

Victor noticed everypony staring at him, to which he replied with a nonchalant, “What?”

Rainbow Dash flew to Victor and sat next to him, saying, “We've kinda got a lot on our plate as it is, and we really don't need to pile on something like this.”

“Exactly,” said an uncomfortable Rarity, “we really... really don't need that right now.”

The purple dragon threw his arms in the air, “Oh, come on, what’s the harm in just telling me?”

“Y-you see, Spike,” A flustered Fluttershy explained, “Um... you r-really shouldn’t find out wh... wh... things like that until y-you’re older.” Her cheeks reddened as the conversation dragged on.

“Yes, Spike,” an agitated Twilight said, “It would be better if we told you when... you’re... older.” Her deathly glare shot daggers into Victor.

The scientist was quick to defend himself. “Oy, don’t blame me!” he replied. “All of you were off yakking your gobs for so long, so Spike and I had a nice chat. Eventually he starts to wonder where babies come from, and I figured, who better to explain conception than a biologist?”

Applejack scratched her head, “Con-what now?”

Twilight looked at the orange pony and raised her eyebrows twice.

“Oh, right.”

Rainbow Dash hovered off of the bed, saying, “Ugh, why are we even talking about this?!”

“Well, duh!” Pinkie Pie said, while bouncing up to Rainbow’s altitude, “We’re waiting fo—”

Suddenly, Spike began to gag. Shortly after, he belched a stream of green fire which turned into a scroll.

Victor nearly fell out of his bed. He managed to stammer, “W-w-what was that?”

“Aw, it was nothin’, jus’ Spike gittin’ a letter from the Princess,” said Applejack, amused at the spectacle before her.

The scientist cleared his throat in embarrassment. “So,” he began, “does this sort of thing happen very often? I can’t imagine it being very good on the body.”

Twilight levitated the scroll in the air and said, “To answer your first question, this only happens every once in a while. The princess doesn’t generally send me too many messages unless it’s important. Secondly, dragons are fireproof on the inside, and he has never mentioned a letter hurting him. Unless, of course, the princess sends a lot of letters at once... hoo boy, I remember how that turned out.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me, Twilight,” Spike said, gripping his stomach. “Even thinking about it makes my stomach turn inside out,” he said while sticking out his tongue.

“So this is how you talk to your princess?” Victor said as he scratched his chin. “You just throw letters into a fire and they appear on the other end?”

“Well,” Twilight began with a smile, “This is what happens when you’re the princess’ personal protege.”

“So, your princess burns letters and sends them to you?”

Twilight nodded her head. “See, Victor? It’s simple to understand.”

“Does this mean your princess breathes fire?”

“Yes, she— Wait... what? No. She just puts the letters into the fireplace in her room.”

“Ah, alright.”

Spike began to open the scroll before them and read the princess’ decree out loud.

My faithful student, Twilight,

I must say that reading a letter such as yours in the midst of this week’s preparations is rather... unsettling. The very notion that such a world exists puts me ill at ease. On top of that, you and your friends wish to travel to such a world and help end its problem yourselves? You sure know how to worry an old mare, my student.

However, I admit that your points aren’t ill contrived. You and your friends have skillfully mastered the magic of friendship, and proven yourselves in situations of great peril. While I still have my concerns about your destination, I have the utmost faith in you, Twilight Sparkle. I give you and your friends my blessing to go to London and ease its pain.

Granted, I’m hoping you hadn’t planned on entering such a world empty-hoofed. I shall be sending you the Elements of Harmony. Entering such a hostile world means you should be prepared for anything and everything, so a little bit of extra help shouldn’t be a problem. Unfortunately, I can’t risk sending them with this scroll, Spike might not be able to handle so many powerful objects passing through his system at once. I’ve sent for the fastest mailpony in the service to get the elements to you as soon as possible, but even so, it may take upwards of an hour for them to reach you.

In the meantime, I suggest you and your friends take this time to prepare yourselves. Take anything you deem necessary for this trip, you may very well need it. May the winds of fortune guide you, my student. Above all else, stay safe. You are irreplaceable.

Your mentor,

Princess Celestia

“That settles it,” said a stern Rarity, “we’re going to London.”

Twilight turned to Applejack, who appeared a little more than displeased with the results, and said, “You’re still with us, right, Applejack?”

The orange mare looked at her friend and gave a confident nod. “If we’re gonna do this, then let’s do it,” she said as she walked towards the door.

“Applejack, wait!” Pinkie Pie yelled. “We still need the Elements of Harmony!”

“Ah know that,” Applejack sharply replied. “Y’all heard the princess, we’re gonna need supplies an whatnot... A-ah’ll be back in an hour.” Not waiting for any further protests, Applejack let herself out.

Twilight asked, “Is she really going to be okay?”

Rainbow Dash took a look out the door, then turned back to Twilight. “I’ll go talk to her. My house is in the same direction, anyways,” she said as she took off.

“So,” Victor broke in, “is anyone going to tell me what these ‘Elements of Harmony’ do?”

Twilight’s eyes shot open. “Oh, right,” she said with a sheepish grin, “it’s a bit of a lengthy explanation. The Elements of Harmony are the most powerful objects in our universe. They can seal evil entities away and bring peace to everypony. As my friends and I have recently discovered, each of us represents a different element.” Twilight began to pace around the room as she explained, “Rarity represents the element of generosity, Pinkie Pie represents the element of laughter, Fluttershy represents the element of kindness, Applejack represents the element of honesty, Rainbow Dash represents the element of loyalty, and I represent the element of magic. When all of us are together, the power of the elements are harnessed in order to defeat whoever wishes harm onto ponies.”

Victor played with the idea in his head. “They can defeat anypo— anyone?”

“There hasn’t been a creature left standing once we’ve used them.”

Victor rubbed his hands together. “Well,” he began, “I’d say my coming here was the best bout of dumb luck ever.” A smile grew on his face, only to fade into a melancholy look. “And we have to wait a whole, bloody hour for these to arrive?” Victor asked.

Everypony nodded.

“I’m sorry, Victor,” Twilight cooed, “just please be patient. Once the elements arrive, we can help.”

Victor gave a fake chuckle. “Okay then, I guess we’ll have to wait an hour while more of my friends get gutted and eaten back on earth.” The ponies looked away from the scientist. He let out a sigh and said, “I’m sorry, I know you’re doing what you can. It’s just... every minute that passes is another minute where someone is dying in my world. I just don’t want to go back to London and find out that everyone’s dead when I know I could’ve prevented it.”

Fluttershy hovered right next to Victor, rubbing his back, and said, “Please don’t worry, Victor. Um... if it makes any difference, I’d say you’re doing more than anypony back in London could,” she said while offering a comforting smile.

He let out a deep sigh and said, “You know, I’m tired of sitting around. I think my head’s feeling better.” With Fluttershy ready to help, Victor slowly but surely lifted himself from the bed and tried to keep his balance. He took three steps before he began to wobble, but quickly regained his posture. As soon as he could jump without any significant pain, the scientist questioned, “So, what happens now?”

Twilight looked back at her friends. “Well, we have time until the elements arrive, so we should go get our supplies as well. Who knows how long we’ll be in London.”

Rarity and Pinkie Pie gave a simultaneous, “Alright,” and both headed off to their respective houses.

Fluttershy looked at Twilight, “I need to get ready, but, um... who would help care for the animals while we’re gone?”

Twilight shuffled a hoof on the floor before a smile lit up on her face. She began, “Don’t worry, I know the perfect pony for the job. If I’m lucky, they’ll be here before I get back. Come on, Spike, we don’t have any time to lose.” The baby dragon hopped onto Twilight’s back and they made their way back to the library.

Victor turned to Fluttershy and said, “I guess that just leaves you and me.”

Fluttershy hovered in the air and said, “Well, I can get you something to drink while you wait here, that is... um... if you don’t mind.”

He crossed his arms, “Depends, what do you have to drink?”

Fluttershy put her hoof to her chin, “I... can get you milk, water, tea, ju--”

“Wait,” Victor interrupted, “you have... tea?” Fluttershy gave a nod. He let out a sigh of relief. “After the day I’ve had, tea would be lovely.”