Mistakes Were Made / Lost Elements

The girls stood in horror looking at Mike’s now limp form splayed across the floor with a small pool of blood gradually forming near the side of his head. The retractable power chord that had knocked him unconscious lay broken nearby. None of them had any clue what it was or its purpose for being where it had been.  All they seemed to know was that their absurdly gracious host was now completely incapacitated.  After a few odd seconds of silence and staring, the reactions were mixed.

Fluttershy immediately rushed to his side. Having never seen such a creature as a human before, she was both curious and terrified of him. At this point though, there was little he could do to potentially harm her or anypony in the room. For all intents and purposes, at this point he was simply another injured animal that needed her help. Considering that it was her reaction to the trap that had caused the series of events that had knocked the strange device loose from the ceiling, she simply had to help.

Applejack meanwhile was still in shock over her own apparent adrenaline fueled strength. While she had been unable to move the weight, she had heaved what was clearly a steel tool chest across the room with one hand. Not only had she moved the chest in question, she had practically thrown it. She was all the more stunned when she surveyed the damage after her friend had finished comforting the trapped creature behind it. It had been completely full. Now however, the great collection of tools, mostly steel themselves, were strewn across the floor. Some she recognized. There were a collection of hammers and wrenches scattered everywhere, as well as a few tools that were completely alien to her such as ratchets and varied electrical testing equipment.

Rarity reacted as one might guess. She began to panic. In her mind, this was the worst possible thing that could have happened to the poor creature that lay before them. He had shown them great kindness and done what he could even though he knew nothing about them or where they had come from. Now, through a series of unfortunate events, they had managed to knock him unconscious with his own tools. Her thoughts were summed up in approximately four words. What have we done? However, she used a significantly higher number as well as a larger variety of such terms to convey this message to her friends.

Rainbow Dash simply started laughing. Internally, she was scared. Her wings were gone, but she was still able to fly. She was in a weird and utterly alien body on top of it. She had no clue what to even call whatever it was she had been turned into. Her friends had just brutalized the one person they had met in this strange place who seemed willing to help. The entirely situation was utterly ludicrous. So, as she was wont to do in such a situation with no answer and no clear path to freedom, she simply laughed.

Pinkie meanwhile, simply studied the area around them. Most of the stuff around her she had no clue what they might be. She did recognize a few old objects on some shelves though. They were scales. As she studied the shelves lining the walls, she came to the conclusion that this place was half workshop, and half museum. Every strange thing lining the wall was either a tool chest or some kind of scale. Some were old enough that she could use them easily, some that were only identifiable by the steel platter on top of them. Well… She couldn’t exactly throw him a get well party, but she could certainly do something nice for him for when he woke up… An idea began to form in her head as she looked around. That was it.

As Fluttershy clutched Mike’s limp body, Rarity began to yammer as Pinkie planned, Rainbow laughed and Applejack stared, Twilight did the only thing she could think of. Panic. Every thought and emotion, minus the party idea, that her friends were feeling and voicing ran through her head at once. Her breathing exercises were useless. The books that she usually dove into for comfort in times of stress were nowhere in sight.  In fact, they were literally an entire world away. Terror building, she began to hyperventilate. Unable to control her breathing, she soon joined Mike on the floor.

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Sometime later, with Fluttershy’s insistence and Applejack’s aid, the others managed to get the limp bodies into the basement and into a room just off the break area they had been shown earlier. In this room there were two small beds. They were an unusual accoutrement in an office, but they were there.

Twilight, having landed squarely on top of Mike, was the first to be brought down. As soon as she had been laid to rest, Mike was brought down with significantly more difficulty. It became very apparent very quickly to those still standing that the man was far heavier than he looked. After several minutes of struggle though, his shirt and vest were removed and a towel placed underneath his head to prevent the blood from getting on anything. Soon after he was tucked into the bed across the room from Twilight.

The clothes that were removed were taken to a nearby sink for cleaning by Rarity. Some blood had gotten on the white shirt and if it wasn’t removed quickly, it would stain. She had spotted baking soda and something that resembled soap in the shop. Not perfect, but it would have to do. While she did her best to save his clothing, Fluttershy dutifully tended to her friend and the stranger.

The form of the creatures they had been turned into reminded her of some monkeys that she had seen in the garden during the Gala. While they weren’t a creature she was used to treating, it was all she had to go on for now. All she could really do for Mike was apply a cold cloth and bandages hoping that he didn’t have a concussion. In the case of Twilight, she could only hope that her friend didn’t have a psychotic break when she came to.

Not certain what they would find outside, Rainbow and Pinkie had elected to explore the building a bit. The “tour” that Mike had given them had been less of a tour and more of a vague point here and there as he described what each room’s intended purpose was. Pinkie for some reason had taken to looking through the forms and general clutter that existed on the main room desk. She hadn’t said much since he hit the floor. In fact, instead of her usual bubbly self, she was apparently doing her best impression of Twilight. She studiously read every document she found and studied every piece of alien technology that littered the desk. After a few minutes of watching her and getting no response as to what she was doing or why, Rainbow elected to look elsewhere.

As she wandered through the building, Rainbow discovered a copy of a different book that Mike had been reading earlier in the week hidden away in a back office. What drew her eye to the thin paperback was the cover. The picture on the front looked like Mike crossed with Daring Do. He even had the trademark satchel bag. Indiana Jones? Meh, it looks like it might be interesting… Cracking open the book, not certain of what else to do, she settled into the oversized chair that graced that particular room of the office and began to read. She had never seen anything like it in the Daring books she had at home. This book spoke directly to her. It put here alongside the titular title character and allowed her to choose what path the story took. That was certainly different.

As Rainbow enveloped herself in the juvenile Choose Your Own Adventure novel and Pinkie went about her uncharacteristic task, Applejack decided that she wanted another crack at that weight. There wasn’t much she could really do to help any of the others at this point. Striding into the shop she assessed the mess that had been made. Well, may as well clean this up first…

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Sometime around when Rarity had finished cleaning the shirt, Pinkie had gotten bored, Applejack had given up, and Rainbow had met a gruesome end for the umpteenth time, Twilight came to. Much to her dismay, she had not in fact been having an awful nightmare. She really had transported herself and all of her friends to an entirely different world and had managed to have a hoof in brutalizing the first sentient being they had met. She could see him sleeping peacefully in the bed opposite her.

What have I done? How long will it be before I can get us home again? Can I even get us home again? What do we do if I can’t? What will he do when he wakes up? Where even are we? What are we? Creatures like this don’t exist in Equestria… These were just some of the thoughts that were running through her mind at the realization of her current predicament. None of these, nor any of the others were particularly pleasant. With a squeak, she drew the covers over her head and began to tremble.

It was to this quivering pile of blankets that Fluttershy returned to the room. Realizing her friend was awake; she remained in the doorway and took a deep breath. In what sounded like one extremely long stuttered word she spoke.

“I-It’s okay Twilight. He seems to be alright. Are you? Yo- you just passed out. You’re not hurt are you? I couldn’t really tell. These bodies are so strange, we’re all scared of what might happen, even Pinky is quiet, and none of us know where we are… Do you know where we are?”

After a moment of silence, Twilight poked her head from under the covers and spoke.

“No Fluttershy. No, I don’t. I have no clue. All I know is that I messed up. I messed up really bad this time. i really hope you can forgive me. I really hope he can forgive me… I really hope he doesn’t take it out on the rest of you.”

“It was an accident. That thing that fell on his head hit him hard, but it was an accident. I’m sure he’ll understand. I think. Maybe.”

Fluttershy was clearly not used to being the one doing the comforting. Her voice was as quiet as it had ever been. Clearly, even she was uncertain about how true her words might be.

“That’s not what I’m worried about Fluttershy.”

“I-it’s not?”

“Did you see how he reacted to my magic? He’d never seen anything like it before. He’s never been exposed to magic of any kind. That spell could have done serious damage to him…”

“What spell?”

“It’s part of the teleportation spell I used. It’s just supposed to make it so that anypony who might be walking nearby doesn’t get upset if you suddenly appear right in front of them. It’s only supposed to last for a few seconds. On somepony who’s never even been near magic before? Who knows how long it might last or what it might do to them…. Even then, when it goes away, what will he do? What will he say when he realizes what I did to him?”

Twilight’s voice trailed off as she looked at the blankets clutched in her hands in shame. All she knew for certain at this point was that the head trauma Mike had received would most certainly undo the spell. What he might do or how he might react when he realized what had been done to him though… She shuddered at the thought.

As she spoke, voicing more concerns about what had happened Fluttershy merely stood there with an expression of horror and fear on her face. As Twilight’s venting continued, the rest of the party slowly began to collect behind Fluttershy, just outside the door. Each and every one of them bore the same expression of fear at the unknown man who seemed to be sleeping peacefully in the opposite bed.

A singular thought echoing in all their minds was voiced by Twilight at the tremulous end to her speech, “Could this get any worse?”

As it immediately turned out, yes, yes it could.

“Probably not. I have a large number of strangers in my place of business. Each said one of those strangers has abilities well outside my normal comprehension and one of them can and apparently did screw with my head shortly before I took a rather painful blow to it. In any case though, I’m not dead yet, and not dead strikes me as not entirely without hope. In any case, thanks for answering a large number of questions I had for you. Awesome. I still have one though. Would someone mind telling me where my shirt is?”

Fluttershy and Twilight both gave squeaks of petrified terror. Mike had woken up and apparently had heard everything.