The Broken Compass

Shining Armor, Captain of the Guard, paced back and forth in the throne room of Canterlot. His mind was boggled and he was easily growing frustrated.

“I don’t know, Princess Luna,” he said to the sovereign sitting on one of two thrones in the ornate room. “I just don’t know if we would be able to survive such bitter conflict.”

The young woman to whom he was speaking was pondering, a stern and regal look on her face. She exhaled, locking her fingers together as she leaned forward. “Captain, I’m not asking if it will happen. I’m saying that it will happen.”

“Your Highness, We can’t risk these wars, not in the weakened state that we have slipped into…” Shining Armor trailed off.

“Weakened?” Luna sat up and glared as if offended. “Captain, we are by no means weakened as a nation. This is the great Equestria, after all. We may have had some minor setbacks recently, but-”

Shining cut her off with a swift about face and almost let something slip out of his mouth. “Permission to speak freely, your majesty?” She nodded, unsure of what the Captain would say when not bound by formal decency.

His face turned red with anger. “With all due respect… Minor setbacks? The past two years have been hell on everyone. The Harpy kingdom to the North is dead set on declaring war with us, we already are concentrating all of our forces on the Dragons, and that leaves the Shifters to do whatever they want with the more rural and isolated areas of the kingdom with no one stopping them. The Earthborn are going on strike and their conditions are horrid in some cities from the discrimination, the Angels are attempting to secede, and the Mages are too busy squabbling over what’s left and hoarding what little wealth they can cling to. And now, on top of all of that, we have these random anomalies generating portals for Tartarus’ sake. Explain to me how these are minor setbacks!”

His rant ended as a shocked princess sat before him. Then her face turned crimson as she donned a scowl. She motioned for the guardsmen, the only other people in earshot, out of the room. Shining Armor regretted overstepping his bounds and was about to apologize when the princess, rather than yell for his rudeness, practically broke down in a nervous fit.

“Captain Armor, what do you want from me? Do you want me to clap my hands and everything suddenly gets better? I can’t do anything but watch the fires from my throne! I’m not Celestia!” The princess shouted before completely losing her composure as tears cascaded from her eyes.

There it is, Shining thought to himself. Since Celestia had mysteriously vanished without so much as a magical trace two years ago, Luna and Twilight, Shining’s own sister, had to share the workload and responsibilities that Celestia once took care of. However, Luna was much younger and less mature than her sister or Twilight, in spite of her age which was beyond a thousand. Shining looked around to be sure no one was watching before putting a hand on the young woman’s trembling shoulders.

“It’s alright, Luna. You’ve been doing as well as anyone in your position could. Just hang on. You’re an amazing leader and you and my sister are working wonders. Have faith.” His hands were scarred and leathery from battle and yet they did have a talent for providing a brotherly comfort.

Luna looked up and smiled through red eyes at him. “Thank you, Shining… It just gets to me sometimes… I miss her so much…”

Shining smiled back. “One day she will be back, and then she’ll tell you what a great ruler you have been in her absence.”

Suddenly the doors flung open and a very familiar female mage came through the huge double doors.

“Twilight,” Shining Armor called, excited to see his little sister. She ran up and hugged him.

“Well, if it isn’t my BBBFF. I missed you.” They broke the hug and Shining Armor noticed that Twilight was in a rough condition. Her clothes had been frayed, and scratches and nicks ran along her hands.

“Oh my gosh, Twily. What happened? I told you you shouldn’t have gone. We could have sent a guard.” She shook her head in mock frustration.

“Shining, you know I’m the foremost on magic since-” she stopped herself short, noticing Luna within earshot. “You know. Anyways, I needed to inspect these anomalies first hand. I went inside one briefly, but strangely enough, my wings disappeared and my magic wouldn’t work either.”

“You were no longer an Archon?” He was shocked. Archons were an ascended form of the other races of men, possessing the unique attributes of all three tribes. Archons were extremely rare, and with Celestia gone, only three existed; his wife Cadence, his sister Twilight, and Princess Luna.

“Yes, but there was more than that… I saw a strange human there. He was built like an Angel or Mage, lacking the muscle of an Earthborn. But he also didn’t have the pointed ears of a Mage or the wings of an Angel.” Her brother was even more surprised. Could another breed of humans exist containing none of these features, and what features would they have instead? It was too deep for him to think on in his sleep deprived state.

“Well, the good news is that you’re safe, and I’m not allowing you to go on these missions anymore.” Twilight gave him a deadpanned look.

“If memory serves, Captain, I out rank you now. Besides, who else is knowledgeable enough about portals and dimensional shifts to do it?” After a moment of thought she had a brilliant idea.

She quickly ran up to her study and scrawled hastily on a piece of paper. Shining Armor kept up with the frantic girl as she ran looking for quills, ink, and parchment. “What are you doing?” He asked, honestly lost on what was transpiring.

“There’s one person who can help us. He’s well travelled throughout portals and dimensions, vastly intelligent, and very powerful,” said Twilight as she dotted the last period on her letter.

“Who?” Shining asked as she sent the letter off to Spike. She turned to Shining Armor, a genuine smile on her face.

“The Doctor.”

…

“Wait… He’s in your head? As in Jude doesn’t exist?” Pinkie Pie was utterly confused as Jase’s laughter died down. He looked at her, trying to think of wear to start.

“Pinkie… Did you ever have an imaginary friend growing up?” Judging by her childish demeanor, Jase had a feeling he already knew the answer. She shook her head yes. “Well, Jude is a lot like that. He’s a separate person in my head.”

“So… He’s imaginary?” she asked, still not certain of just what to make of the situation. Jase ran his fingers through his hair.

“Not quite… You see, Pinkie and Fluttershy, I’ve had Multiple Personality Disorder since I was young, and Jude is the other personality. He’s a completely separate but real person I share a body with. He can even take control. Watch this.”

Jase made a blank expression and then lit up again with energy and excitement. He marveled at his hands, wiggling his fingers and laughing. “Been a long time since I was in control. Fantastic,” Said Jude.

Pinkie looked him over and she finally felt like she understood. “Oh! I get it. Like me and Pinkamena,” she exclaimed.

Jude realized again that the two girls were there and instantly seemed to withdraw into a shell. “Oh… Hi…” he said awkwardly, unsure where to go from there, wearing an empty smile.

At this point, Fluttershy notice his demeanor and how he carried himself had changed dramatically. Jase was a lot more serious and direct with actions and thoughts. Jude on the other hand seemed relatively lighthearted. The two also had two different social attitudes; While Jase was confident and sociable, Jude seemed to tend more towards reclusive behavior.

“Umm… Hello, Jude. My name is Fluttershy,” the angel said meekly. It was highly out of character for her to introduce herself first, but she had a feeling Jude was just as timid. He gave her a much more convincing smile in response.

“Elated to make your acquaintance. I’m Jude Foster.” He extended an unsteady hand towards Fluttershy that got all the more unstable when she took it in her own.

Wow… and I thought I was shy, she thought to herself. “Can you tell us more about you and Jase, Jude?” she asked.

Jude pondered. “Ah, so that’s the situation…” he said off to the side as though talking to no one. “Well, judging by the situation, I am from a different reality than here. You see, in my world, angels don’t exist.”

“What about mages?” Jude raised an eyebrow at her question. She noticed and started to explain a bit more in depth. “You know, a person able to use magic, has pointy ears… Like you do?”

Jude began to laugh, lifting his hand to the side of his head. “Fluttershy, I’m pretty sure I don’t have-” Jude shrieked in surprise as his fingers touched a tapered ear. “What the… How did I get those?”

“Do they not have mages where you come from?” Fluttershy asked. Jase shook his head no. He was still in disbelief on the transformation he had taken.

“Magic doesn’t even exist where I come from,” he answered. Both girls gasped as though he had said gravity itself didn’t exist. Before the conversation could continue further, the same nurse walked in staring at her ever present clip board. She smiled when she looked up and saw the two girls with the patient.

“Oh, good. You’re awake. And I see you have company.” She walked over to Jude and checked some of the monitors. “Well, you seem to be healthy enough to check out. The doctor already cleared me to wrap things up.”

She bent down to his arm with a cotton ball and tape stuck onto her sleeve together. She withdrew the IV- Jude barely holding in a grunt from the unexpected pain. She swiftly covered the wound with the small dressing attached to her sleeve. “I want you to leave that on for a little while so the blood can clot. Alright?” Jude shook his head in response and she smiled before exiting the room.

“Wait! Where are my clothes?” Jase called out to no avail. Fluttershy pointed over to a neat pile of clothing in the corner of the room. He recognized Jase’s jacket and camouflage pants alongside his boots.

Of all the clothes he had to stick me with, Jude thought. He threw off the cover and was about to get up before remembering that he had nothing but a hospital gown on. “Umm…” he said slightly embarrassed, “Can you girls give me a minute?”

Pinkie giggled and shook her head. Fluttershy was oblivious a moment, and then realized what he was asking of them, blushing a deep crimson. She whispered a small, “Oh, of course,” before exiting the room with Pinkie. Once they were gone Jude closed the door and began putting the clothes on. He slung the pack onto his back, feeling its weight slightly more than he remembered. He shrugged it off as slight weakness from the injuries.

The injuries had healed quite well. The only true pain was a medium sized stabbing pain in his side, underneath the dressing. He then noticed the last piece of equipment Jase had brought through was the old compass he carried. He picked it up, noticing how the frame and glass was shattered inside. The needle had gone skewed, making it impossible to use for navigation.

“What a fitting metaphor…” Jase thought out loud. He then proceeded out the door to catch up with the girls.

…

As the girls walked him around town, they caught Jude up on some basic facts about this new world. They told him that there were three races of people: winged angels, mystical mages, and the strong earthborn. There was a fourth race called the archons that possessed the abilities of all three, but they were very rare.

They also said there was once a Princess named Celestia who was really the ruler of this realm, though she had gone mysteriously missing two years ago, and since then they had all been on the brink of war.

“Here’s one that’s been bugging me,” Jude said as they walked through the streets. “Why is everything named related to horses, like Ponyville and Canterlot and such?”

“A long time ago,” Fluttershy said, “There were ponies who were worshipped by our kind. They were the first to teach humans to use tools and educate them. Then, they suddenly vanished without any clues left behind. In honor of them and for good luck and tradition, many things are still named after them.”

“Really? So, horses don’t exist here?” Jase pondered the thought.

“No. Why do you ask?” Fluttershy countered.

“Well, in my world, horses are common.” Fluttershy’s eyes lit up. She looked at him with an expression that basically said “Are you serious?”

“However, in my world they are nowhere near human intelligence, certainly not enough to use tools or even speak.” Jude, noticing they were walking farther and farther from town suddenly wondered aloud, “Where exactly are we going?” as a white picket fence framed the road with apple trees in the background.

“We’re going to see our friend Applejack!” Pinkie shouted to the ceiling. “She would love to meet someone new and maybe she’ll even have room for you to stay while you’re a stranger here!” Jude had noticed the infectious good vibes that the pink haired girl gave as he smiled.

“Well, that sounds fantastic.” They got to a gate that gave way to a road with a farmhouse and barn not too far down it.

“This is the place I assume?” He asked.

“Yeah, this is Sweet Apple Acres, her family orchard.” She began to hop skip and jump with excitement, and Jude found himself smiling again.

“Ok, then. Let’s go meet her. After all, I’d love an apple or two right now. I’m absolutely starving. Do you think-” Jude was interrupted by a high-pitched scream followed by a deep howl coming from the farm’s direction and the three froze. “Who- no, what- the hell was that?” Jude asked, startled.

Fluttershy, with a look of terror answered, “That sounded like Applebloom, Applejack’s little sister. Jude tried to have a coherent thought through all the things running around his mind in circles. “And the other thing, what was it?” Jude inquired. Fluttershy’s lips quivered as she finally got out one word.

“Shifters.”