private Shifted: The Remake

Grace Braid · August 31, 2012

@,

Jack felt his heart skip a beat or two as Artsy spoke up next to him. What in the hell are you doing?! You're only going to make things worse, Artsy!, he thought in an irritated and exasperated tone. While yes, he agreed with a significant amount of what she was saying(namely the friend's comment and the unjustified yelling at Silver), but it was still a horrible idea. He and Alex were trying to put out the fire, not fan the damn thing into an inferno!

Of course Ice was pissed off. Who wouldn't be? And while Jack, once again, agreed with some of what Ice said, he by far did not agree with everything. "We're still human, no matter what form we are in..." Jack mumbled discreetly, his irritation and anger rising. Why did Artsy have to say something besides telling Ice off for jumping on Silver for no reason?! All it did was make things worse! It especially didn't help that Jack could notice Artsy's horn glowing somewhat and that literal ice was forming on and around Ice(such a descriptive name, now that Jack thought about it). Oh this can't get any worse....

Boy was he wrong.

The red unicorn decided, for some god-awful reason, to join the goddamn fight. And she joined on Ice's side and accused Artsy alone of bitching and accused her of "holding them back" from getting back to humanity. And she does that how...!?, Jack thought, his anger rising now almost as fast as Artsy's surely was. His eyes began to twitch, a thing that happened to him only when either stressed or pissed beyond belief. Also, although he didn't notice it, his own horn was starting to let out a soft blue light, which was growing in intensity the angrier he got.

Artsy's reply only made his feelings flare even worse, but not because of what she said. It was because he could hear in her voice how badly they had hurt her. How much their words were hitting her. He started to drag his left front hoof on the ground, back and forth, in an attempt to calm himself, but it was no use: whenever he heard his girlfriend upset, he was bound to get angry beyond control. Especially if the ones causing it was right in front of his goddamn face.

His anger was only temporarily broken by surprise as another shot of magic came out of Artsy's horn, nearly hitting Ice's frozen hooves before rounding up and forming into some kind of...terrible beast. With deep amber eyes, and what appeared to be a deep and unmistakable look of pure anger. A perfect manifestation, probably, of what Artsy was feeling. It soon disappeared, however, and Arsty ran off, crying, and only giving a small look to Jack before running.

Jack could do nothing. Absolutely, positively nothing, as he saw her run away. He remained rooted in place, shocked, and angered beyond words. He noticed absolutely nothing around him - not Klopp telling off Ice and the red unicorn, nor telling Jack to move it and running after Artsy(with Magenta following close by), nor Electro and Alex telling Jack he should probably run after her, and not even Ice apologizing to Silver.

@@Legendary Emerald,

Except, he did notice one thing: the red unicorn, who had not really moved from where she was. The one who had jumped in and just made things infinitely worse. In Jack's mind, if she hadn't popped into the fight, things might have gotten better. The argument wouldn't have escalated nearly as fast as it did, and it might have been easily stopped.

As Jack thought about it more, he realized that most of what this red pony did that Jack knew of was either cause trouble, or do something to help her out primarily. He might not have payed much attention earlier, but he did know at least that she was pure trouble. Trouble that just made his girlfriend run off away from the group crying.

Jack began to walk to the red unicorn(who he only just now vaguely remember being called Serah), slowly, but surely, his rage building the entire time. As he walked, the light on his horn grew brighter, more concentrated. It also began to be laced with a...rather odd green color, and it appeared to have flashes of what appeared to be the numbers 0 and 1 in the same green color. A nearby tiny pebble lifted up, before suddenly disappearing in a small and barely noticeable flash of green light, with a 0 and 1 flashing on it momentarily before disappearance.

He finally reached Serah, his horn glowing extremely brightly at this point, with the green lacing through the blue even more profound than before. Speaking slowly, deliberately, and loud enough for everybody within a few hundred yards to hear, he said "Do you know what you have just done?!" It was rhetorical, of course, but Jack answered it anyways. "You have just scared away who is quite possibly the strongest one among us. But oh, she is so much more than that. She is my girlfriend, the one who I love with all of my goddamn heart, and who loves me back the same damn way. The one who cares for each and every one of her friends more than she does herself, who would rather take the pain of something rather than somebody else. She might not be the kindest of people to those she doesn't know, but to those that she does know, she is one of the best people there is. She is also one of the most sensitive people I have ever met, getting extremely upset more easily than others, because she's insecure due to assholes. Assholes like you. While I don't know what you did in that forest, I don't really care. I only care about what I have seen, and what I have heard." Jack took a breath at this point. The farther he got into his rant, the angrier his voice sounded, and the louder he sounded, almost like it was being amplified by a microphone. His horn had also reached what had to be the brightest it could ever be

"And you know what? All I have ever seen or hear you do is cause trouble and be selfish. That's it. But you know what? I can tolerate that. I tolerate assholes all the damn time, and I would have been willing to work together with you to get back to Earth. The moment you joined in that argument for absolutely no goddamn reason and insulted Artsy, however, was the moment that you crossed the line. I'm not going to ask for an apology, oh no, because I know you would never give one. Instead, I'll just say one thing, and one thing only: if you so much as brush up against her, or say something negative to her ever, I promise you this: I WILL BASH OPEN YOUR SKULL AND LEAVE YOU FOR FUCKING DEAD!" The last part he really and truly shouted, drowning out all other noise nearby. At the same time, his horn flared and let off a large blast of magic, one that headed straight for Serah and hit her straight in the chest.

...But Serah did not get flung back, like Jack originally thought was going to happen when he realized he had let off his magic. To the contrary, she remained frozen in place, as her whole body soon flashed green, the same green that laced Jack's pent-up magic, the same green that had appeared on the pebble before. When Jack looked closely, he noticed that the green wasn't entirely solid. Instead, it was made up entirely of 0's and 1's. Like binary code.

Before Jack could say something, Serah body appeared to turn into tiny cubes, all connected, before they all rapidly began to disappear. Like when Kevin Flynn was digitized or whatever the hell the term is, Jack realized, watching almost in horror as Serah continued to disappear. Finally, after just a few more seconds, Serah was gone. Completely and utterly gone. Almost as if she had never been there, leaving just Jack to stand rooted in place as he looked shocked at what he had just done.

"...What have I done."

Edited August 31, 2012 by Skyman

Legendary Emerald · August 31, 2012

"Do you know what you have just done?!"

“What now...” Serah sighed, and glanced over at the pony approaching her. A particularly angry pony, with a glowing horn. “... shit.”

It was rhetorical, of course, but Jack answered it anyways. "You have just scared away who is quite possibly the strongest one among us. But oh, she is so much more than that. She is my girlfriend, the one who I love with all of my goddamn heart, and who loves me back the same damn way. The one who cares for each and every one of her friends more than she does herself, who would rather take the pain of something rather than somebody else. She might not be the kindest of people to those she doesn't know, but to those that she does know, she is one of the best people there is. She is also one of the most sensitive people I have ever met, getting extremely upset...

The unicorn continued on and on, but Serah had a hard time concentrating on his words when the light from his horn was grew to an almost blinding brightness.

“No time to form a counter attack...!” she thought, alarmed. Still, she did not back down or let on that she was becoming increasingly intimidated. “God damn these unicorns and their magic tantrums!”

"And you know what? All I have ever seen or hear you do is cause trouble and be selfish. That's it. But you know what? I can tolerate that. I tolerate assholes all the damn time, and I would have been willing to work together with you to get back to Earth. The moment you joined in that argument for absolutely no goddamn reason and insulted Artsy, however, was the moment that you crossed the line. I'm not going to ask for an apology, oh no, because I know you would never give one. Instead, I'll just say one thing, and one thing only: if you so much as brush up against her, or say something negative to her ever, I promise you this: I WILL BASH OPEN YOUR SKULL AND LEAVE YOU FOR FUCKING DEAD!"

Serah's eyes went wide as she felt a sudden impact in her chest, and saw trail of green motes of light lazy trailing between her from the unicorn's horn. The blast had gone so fast she couldn't even see it. All of a sudden she felt very hollow and empty inside. And then reality blinked out of existance.

- - -

It was pitch black.

She was falling.

Her limbs pinwheeled in the air uselessly. She couldn't feel any air rushing past her, and there were no surroundings from which to gauge her velocity. The only indication that she was air born was the lack of solid ground under her feet and a lump inside her chest which threatened to explode out her muzzle at any second.

After what seemed an eternity, the space beneath her lit up: two parallel beams of green light that extended out and disappeared over the horizon. Serah's descent slowed radically, and she touched down between the beams, the space inside of them supporting her. She held her head in her palm.

“One too many reality jumps...” she groaned, holding her head in her palm. She quirked an eyebrow. Her hand traced her forehead, looking for something that wasn't there. “My...?”

Suddenly, the area sprung to life with neon light. Buildings of various shapes and sizes were outlined in vibrant reds, yellows, greens, and blues. Nothing appeared solid, only formed by the colorful streaks of light. It was almost as if the entire realm was composed of vector graphics, with the blackness serving as an intimidating backdrop that leaked through everything.

Serah floated her hand over the green light band that marked the road, illuminating five digits and a palm. She felt her body and found she was wearing a familiar pair of of clothes: a grass stained pair of blue jeans, and a mottled brown jacket over a black t-shirt. Her hair remained pink.

“The more things change, the more they stay the same...”

She stood up warily and began to walk forward on the straight path laid out in front of her, having nowhere else to go. Curiously, while buildings were numerous to her left and right, she couldn't see anything up ahead until she neared it. For all Serah knew, the path continued on forever.

After walking for several minutes, she noticed a solid figure in the distance, to her left. It appeared to be human. When she got closer, she could see it was a disheveled man in a business suit, checking his watch and muttering to himself.

“Numbers? Is that you?” Serah asked.

“Wait, why did I just...?”

“Hey! Parking meters!” the man suddenly shouted, staring deep into Serah's eyes with a wild expression. “And you're walking around! Ha ha ha... That's so funny.”

The man doubled over in a fit of laugher. Serah felt a sudden urge to get as far away from this person as quickly as possible. She turned and ran off down the road, the man's laughter still echoing in the empty space.

When she felt she'd left the laughing man far enough behind, Serah slowed back down to a walk and caught her breath. Unfortunately, another human form sat on the ground up ahead. There was nowhere else to go but forward.

This time, Serah couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman. The stranger sported 3 o' clock shadow and rosy red cheeks, hair dyed blue and body covered in a tight, form fitting gray jogging suit.

“Ice Storm?” Serah's asked.

“How do I know...?”

“My bones.” the person began to quiver. “My bone's bones. Bone bone bone.”

'Ice Storm' began to violently convulse on the ground, droning on and on about bones as his/her body was wracked with pain. Serah stood by, visibly worried, but unable to do anything.

Just then, a pony materialized out of nothing: Aurora. She knelt by the shivering figure, and laid a hoof on the suffering figure's head. Then she turned her head and looked past Serah, towards some unidentified point in the distance.

“If you stay here too long, you'll end up frying your brain.” she intoned. As soon as the words left her muzzle, both she and the human dissipated into tiny particles of light, which scattered throughout the void and into nothingness.

“No. No, I want back.” Serah spoke to herself in the darkness, hands shaking. “I want to go back!”

Everything went dark, as if a light switch had been flicked. And when the light returned, it was all focused on one spot: a large, cathedral style building formed from fluorescent beams of red and green light. It looked oddly familiar.

“No...”

There was a flash of sparks near the top of the cathedral, and a yellow cross sprung to life.

“No!”

Another flash; two pairs of blue insectile wings sprung out from the cross.

“No, not here!”

A bell tolled, and the doors to the church opened up. Numerous red robed figures, formed from the same vector graphics that made up the rest of the world, slowly trudged towards her.

“Welcome back...”

“No, not back here!” Serah verbally answered the voice that was invading her mind. “This isn't what I want!”

“Don't disappoint your father...”

“To hell with my father!” she screamed. Acting on instinct, she punched the air in front of her as she had done when facing the wolves; nothing happened.

“You are nothing more than yourself...”

“I am so much more than...” Serah's sentence trailed off.

“A sinful little girl...”

“Fuck your morality!” she cursed, backing away. The robed figures drew nearer.

“Let us lead you... form you... protect you...”

“Leave me alone!” she screamed, desperately.

“Please... don't disappoint... your family any more...”

The lead figure reached up, pulling back his hood. From underneath, two bright blue eyes shone out. Then the cloak fell away entirely, melding into the form of a demon, just like the ones who'd burst from the forest,

The other robed acolytes underwent the same transformation, and began to hiss and screech as they bared their vampiric teeth.

Serah fled.

She ran in the opposite direction, not daring to look back. Her footsteps made no noise, and all she could hear was the humming of wings chasing after her. There were no buildings, no landmarks, no street to tell her that she was actually going anywhere. But even nowhere was better than going back.

Suddenly, felt herself collide something large and hard. She stood back up, ignoring the pain, and felt in front of her; a solid surface was definitely there, but she couldn't see it.

Hissing. Humming. They were getting closer.

Serah pressed her hands to the wall, and ran alongside it. Eventually she bumped into another surface. She felt between the two, and found an open space. She squeezed herself inside, ending up in an extremely tight alleyway. After a few tense moments, she heard the sounds of the demons trail off into the distance.

“Lost them...” she panted. “Where am I? What was that place? Why was it so familiar?”

Serah pounded her fist against whatever surface lay in front of her.

“What does my family have to do with this? Why are the demons here?”

“Who the hell am I?!”

The surface lite up like a billboard, and she backed away. Numerous points of light came to life, small dots popping into existence one after another, forming a message:

I'm Anastos Celosia.

“My... name? My full name?”

The message disappeared. And soon, so did the entire world.

- - -

She gasped.

Serah opened her eyes, and found herself back in the pony world. She did a quick inventory check; horn, hooves, tail, all accounted for. She found herself staring back at the unicorn who'd teleported her. He had a deservedly horrified expression on his face.

“Oh, if he's scared now...”

Serah wanted to feel anger. Wanted to threaten the same pain upon this pony as she'd threatened on his girlfriend. Wanted him to experience his own hell, and then ask him how it compared to hers.

However, she could feel none of the emotions she wanted to feel. Almost all emotion had been drained from her body. And when she opened her mouth to speak, it was in a lifeless monotone.

“Do not. Do that to me. Ever again.” Serah warned, barely managing to eek out any semblance of her usual threatening tone. She paused, taking a deep breath. “I'm going to explain this to you. To all of you. Just. One. Time.”

Serah took a moment to make sure everyone would have a chance to hear what she had to say.

“You're 'girlfriend' is strong. That's why I did what I felt I had to do.” Serah explained. “I could feel the heat leaking off of her. I'm tuned to it, because I feel the same fire inside of myself. But she didn't even notice she was going nuclear.”

“She flew into a rage, and her magic followed suit; if her inability to control her power didn't cause her anger in the first place. The first time she used her magic, she hurt herself, called out the legions of hell, and could have killed all of us. Why, I ask, should I have given her the chance to try again?” Serah asked, voice picking up strength. She didn't wait for an answer.

“If you want to run off after her, try to 'defuse' her, go ahead. But if nothing else, understand this: until she has a lock on her power, she cannot allowed near anyone who values their life.” she concluded. “Call me selfish if you want. But I'm the one looking out for the safety of the majority.”

Klopp · August 31, 2012

"Don't leave meeee..."

Before Klopp got far at all he heard the sobbing cry of Magenta from behind. He stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face her. Her hoof extended, and tears running down her pretty face as she look into Klopp's eyes... He couldn't leave her behind, but someone needed to go help Artsy! Torn between two crying ponies, he had to go help out the one who he had already, surprisingly, developed some feelings for, and he charged back to Magenta to comfort her real quick.

"Magenta... I won't leave you! But we need to go help Artsy! I have a feeling we will need her to get everything fixed, and return things back to... whatever the hell normal is! So let's go-"

Before he could continue he was interrupted by Jack's booming voice, as he was telling Serah just where to stick her attitude. Klopp thought to himself, "Woohoo! Go Jack!". He turned to see Jack standing there, horn glowing green with binary digits above, and then thrust a green horn-ball-energy-thing at Serah... who just disappeared in a curtain of green ones and zeros. What the hell had Jack just done!? Klopp was speechless, but it seemed he was wrong that Jack wasn't strong enough to protect Artsy. While he was not physically strong, he had enough strength in his heart to protect her from an army.

"What did he just-? I don't even know."

The Fedoraless stallion turned back to Magenta, and tried to get her to understand.

"Look, we have to help Artsy! I don't want to leave you behind, and besides, you can be a great help to her! You have been around a bit longer than the rest of us right? it may not be much, but you can at least help her learn to control that crazy magic of hers! It would be beneficial to have her in control of her abilities, and you can help her!"

Her face still wet from tears, Klopp felt sorry for all the scary things she has seen in this world. He walked up right up alongside her, and put his hoof over her back and around her neck, giving her what he the best sort of awkward hug he could manage in this new pony body of his.

"I need you, Magenta... You are the only thing I've come to like in this world so far. And just as well, Artsy needs someone to help her. Please come with me, and we'll get everything straightened out! I'll protect you if anything goes wrong. I promise."

Electrobolt · August 31, 2012

@

When Electrobolt saw Jack was not moving from his spot after having suggested that he should chase after her, he began to get worried. *Something must have hit him hard to have frozen him up like that...* he assumed from how he had seemed at a glance. However, he was not prepared for what happened next. Suddenly, the blue unicorn began to approach the red unicorn as his horn began to glow, slowly getting fiercer. Once Jack was at the red unicorn, he began to call her out on what had previously happened. He shouted at her for having made things worse when they could have been better, and all kinds of other stuff he couldn't quite understand. During the middle of his ranting, he had heard the name Artsy. He had figured that was the name of the tan unicorn whom wound up running off, but then shrugged it off as he returned his attention to what was going on in front of him.

Starting to feel slightly scared at this whole situation, and wanting things to calm down, the lime-green pony meekly spoke out, "Um... Maybe if we... Calm down..." But he was ignored as Jack continued his tirade and verbal assault on the red unicorn, as the green light around his horn began to grow much fiercer. As Jack shouted out his last sentence, he began to freak out greatly. "Um... Do we... Do we really need to go to such extremes...?" he weakly uttered out. Once more, he had been ignored as the green light shot out from Jack's horn, and into the chest of the red pony. Instead of getting sent back, however, she was... Being deconstructed? Electrobolt could not believe his eyes as he saw the red unicorn slowly vanishing out of existence, piece by tiny piece.

His mouth gaped open as he viewed the sight, almost as if his jaw would just fall right off at any moment. Eventually, he saw the last of the red unicorn vanish out of this realm, leaving no traces behind. His brain was trying to piece together what had happened just now as his legs remained stationary as they had earlier when Artsy, the red unicorn and the light-blue unicorn were about to fight. Once he was able to move his legs, however, he began to move closer to Jack, still freaked out. Once the lime-green pony got up to him, he barely uttered out, "What... What did you just... Do...? I... I mean..." His voice was wavering as the whole moment was still fresh in his brain, still freaked out about everything. However, just then...

@@Legendary Emerald

As he looked back to where the red unicorn once stood, it was like viewing the original moment when she had vanished out of existence. Only this time, someone had pressed the rewind button, as she began to return, one small piece at a time. *I... I just... I give up... I give up trying to understand what's even going on anymore...* He just sat there, a dumbfounded look on his face, as he watched as the unicorn that was previously taken out of existence is now being brought back into existence. Even then, when she was back in one piece, he couldn't help but look dumbfounded.

Once she was back completely, she directed her full attention to Jack, as she warned him to never do what he did again. Quite frankly, Electrobolt had to agree with her notion, even if in his mind. *I hope he doesn't lose it and does that to me next time... I REALLY do not want to know what it's like to be taken out of existence for one moment, and then popping back the next...Something about that is just... Creepy...*

As the unicorn finished with that, she began to gather the attention of the ponies around the area as she began to explain her reasoning for what she had done to Artsy. As he listened to what she had to say, he heard that Artsy was strong, but she was losing grip on her magic. *Magic... Is that what that glowy stuff that forms around their horns called...?* he pondered to himself, as he resumed to listen to this unicorn's speech.

Once she had finished, Electrobolt felt as if he understood a LITTLE better about her reasoning. But that was still no reason to shout vulgarities at Artsy. *If only there was some way that we could have settled all of this a little more peacefully...* he thought to himself, the words of the red unicorn sinking in. *Although she did cause the fighting to stop... She didn't have to be so cruel about it... There might have been a peaceful way for the whole situation to have been dealt with... But what's done is done, I'm afraid...* He let out a mental sigh as he just looked down to the ground, wishing he could have at least done SOMETHING so that things wouldn't have turned out like this.

Arylett Charnoa · August 31, 2012

As she wandered farther and farther from the group, all the thoughts and dizziness in her head began to blare out like dozens of frantic flies. She didn't want to think at the moment, and wished her mind would stop. It was a lot to handle. The outburst, the magic, the rude unicorn, the delusional one... for that moment, if she had not existed, she would've gladly taken it. Some way to teleport out of this reality, and back to her home, where she would never have to see these ponies again.

Every step on four legs was a reminder to her of this horrendous new body she did not understand. It made a monster out of her. The tears slowly flowed down her face, the only sounds her sniffling. It was relatively peaceful and quiet. A light breeze made its way across the grass, rustling it gently, and she stood there gazing at the afternoon sky. It was a little cloudy, but the sun shown brightly with almost a bit of a smile.

This environment was the complete opposite of the turmoil she had just experienced.

What had she done...?

Nobody had gone after her. It really was true. They didn't care...

Another sniffle. The liquids in her eyes intensified.

Why did she not keep her mouth shut as always? Maybe she was as useless as that red pony said. She was always a burden to everyone, always so...

"Damn useless..."

Nearby, there was a small lake, unrealistically and brightly blue hued. She trotted slowly towards it, and looked down into its glassy surface. Beyond the tearful fog of her glasses, she could finally see what her face looked like in this form... just like the other ponies. Big eyes, short-snouted, and there it was... the thing that had caused her all the trouble. Her horn. This thing of revulsion. If there was some way she could remove it... but she had no way of knowing what that would do to her body.

"N... no... no... I look so harmless... and yet I am... a pony... not just one. A... m-mm... mmm..." A loud sigh passed from her, as she felt herself going reminiscent... a flashback...

...No.

That was not necessary. There was no need to dwell on her past. She didn't need reminding of the things she had seen and felt. She knew herself prone to these outbursts. They were rare, and now here, of all places, she should erupt so irrationally. She still felt the twinges of the anger at her, but she was not sure who was right anymore. Was she wrong? Was the red pony right? What about the ice genderbender pony? Was she being so unreasonable? She probably was.

"I'm always wrong... I'm a horrid... p... person... no... not even that anymore... just... a... pony..."

A monster... hsss hsss... click click.

The unicorn suddenly became rapt at attention as she heard those clicking noises again... and a slight buzzing. The insects from the forest?

Yes... I was speaking to you. Are you feeling lonely, full of despair? The others don't care about you... I saw it. One even wanted to kill you earlier! They don't appreciate your talents...

She lowered her head and watched her ears fold over her head. Artsy had known from media that listening to ominous voices was never a good thing. They'd lead one down the path of darkness... and yet, she felt herself shocked by this suggestion. A jolt as her heart began to beat faster and faster.

"You're lying... I don't even know who you are. What do you want from me?"

Click. Click. I am one of many. I saw your power... it scared all of us. We had to have a unicorn like you join us. Frightening... our Queen... would love you."

She shivered and felt a chill down her spine. But her emotions were particularly vulnerable at the moment, and this creepy voice offered the only source of company and solace she could get. The unicorn couldn't help but indulge it for a while.

"Queen? Wh... what?"

Yes. We can help you. To meld your talents... and then... you can help us. Click click! Hsss...

More and more, the bad feelings about this entire thing increased. What shady dealings did this voice want to engage with her? She wished it would go away. And yet... she wanted it to stay. The voice... was telling her that it could help her gain control.

You can help us... and prove them all wrong. Hsss... especially that red pony...

Her ears perked up at this as another tear hit the grass. Prove them... wrong...

For a moment, everything became tinted with green again. A glimmering green light that seemed comforting. She felt all the hatred inside of her grow deeper and wider. Angry... sadness... revenge. Artsy was getting fired up again. They all thought she was worthless. Maybe... maybe...

You could use your powers with us... show them great harm. Feed on them... go back to your humanity... we search for our humanity. Then... you can kill them. Click click click hsss.

The final words in this voice's sentences snapped her out of it and the tint dissipated. Everything was back to its bright vivid colors. She was startled by the suggestion of killing anyone and her heart only began to pound deeply within her chest once more. The fear was spreading through her veins, freezing her body. If she were still human, she would've turned pale.

"No... I can't... kill them... hello?"

It did not speak again.

Somebody · August 31, 2012

Before Jack could say something, Serah body appeared to turn into tiny cubes, all connected, before they all rapidly began to disappear. Like when Kevin Flynn was digitized or whatever the hell the term is, Jack realized, watching almost in horror as Serah continued to disappear. Finally, after just a few more seconds, Serah was gone. Completely and utterly gone. Almost as if she had never been there, leaving just Jack to stand rooted in place as he looked shocked at what he had just done.

"...What have I done."

Magenta watched in pure terror as Serah vanished out of existence from Jack's magic outburst. What just happened?, she thought in horror. How is that possible? Why is this possible in this world? From what she had seen in this world, it was a paradise, uncorrupted by the same things her home had been. Musicians on Earth were invariably close to a world of sex, drugs and rock-and-roll, but Magenta had always done her best to avoid destroying herself. She was so happy to be here, in a somewhat primitive, yet innocent world--so happy she never wanted to return to Earth.

Suddenly that vision was shattered. If magic in this world was capable of what was at best an uncontrollable tendency to inflict harm, and at worst a way to commit instant, effortless, cold-blooded murder, she figured humans being introduced to this world was a death sentence for all its inhabitants. Frozen in place, unable to even cry, she simply stared at Jack in utter disbelief and shock.

Serah opened her eyes, and found herself back in the pony world. She did a quick inventory check; horn, hooves, tail, all accounted for. She found herself staring back at the unicorn who'd teleported her.

Still in shock, Magenta watched as Serah reappeared. Part of her was happy to know she was still alive, but another part of her was even more terrified as she saw how lifeless she looked. It was as though all natural energy and emotion had been drained from her. In Magenta's cracked mental state, this appeared to be a fate worse than death--she had been turned into a zombie. Now deathly afraid of both Serah and Jack, she trembled where she lay. Just then, her savior spoke to her in sweet, loving words...

"I need you, Magenta... You are the only thing I've come to like in this world so far. And just as well, Artsy needs someone to help her. Please come with me, and we'll get everything straightened out! I'll protect you if anything goes wrong. I promise."

Staring into Klopp's eyes, her own eyes widened as a thought entered her mind: what if Jack was insane and was going to do this to Klopp? He's just so ditzy... what if he makes Jack angry? The possibility was too much for her. She stood up, grabbed Klopp's hoof in a panic and motioned frantically in Artsy's general direction.

"Come on!!" Magenta screamed, trotting in place now. "You don't want to end up like her, do you!?" She nodded toward Serah long enough to give Klopp a chance to look back at the zombie pony, then quickly started galloping away from the forest, instantly pulling at Klopp's arm with an unnaturally strong, adrenaline-fueled yank...

Klopp · August 31, 2012

@,

Looking into Magenta's beautiful eyes, Klopp was hoping she would listen, and was ready to take off as soon as she agreed to help out Artsy. She quickly panicked, worried Jack would do the same thing to Klopp, and he looked over to see that Fire had reappeared.

"Wait, she's back? How di-"

Before Klopp could finish his sentence he was pulled away with the force of a dozen freight trains, his arm nearly popping right out of his shoulder. Magenta dragged Klopp along the grass a few feet before he managed to get his hooves in order, having a hard time keeping an equal pace as he was still terrible with moving as a pony.

"Ouch! You could have been... a bit less abrupt couldn't you?"

The two ran along quickly in the general direction Artsy ran, Klopp was smiling the whole way with Magenta by his side. He had almost forgotten about their goal to make sure Artsy was okay, and cheer her up. After trotting for a while Klopp spotted a nearby lake, and a small lump of tan, red and brown right along it's edge, the same colors of the pony they were after.

"There! Is that her by the lake? Yes, it is! Let's get over there quickly!"

As Klopp trotted his way over towards her, he gave a sigh of relief as she seemed to be doing okay. When he was fairly close, about one hundred feet away, he called out to her.

@,

"Artsy! Are you okay? We've been worried about you!"

He then ran up near her and plopped his rump on the ground, looking at Artsy with a great deal of concern in his eyes.

Edited August 31, 2012 by Misso Klopp

Aureity · August 31, 2012

And that was the final straw. Aurora had no doubt in her mind now that this group of strangers were criminally insane. I-I can take bugs...she thought, shuddering at the mental image. A-and the scary Everfree...and timber wolves. An image of sharp canine jaws surfaced in her mind, and a shiver crept up her spine. But this was just crazy. I wanted to relax a little, not stick my muzzle in danger again and again. I would have bungee-jumped from a cloud if I wanted danger.

But she had just seen, firsthand, a purplish-blue pony blast the red unicorn into Celestia-knows-where. And she definitely wasn't going to stick around for one of the other ponies to go berserk on her. She backed away even further from the others, but a seed of frustration had planted its roots in her mind, whether born out of the two near-death experiences she'd had just an hour or two ago or from pure exhaustion she didn't have a clue, or really cared. She just had to get something out.

"Y-you," she said in a voice forged by conflicting emotions of anger and fright, as she directed her trembling gaze on the crazed purplish unicorn. "Y-you're nothing more than a murderer, you know that? So somepony upsets your marefriend's feelings. You go and blast her into smithereens? R-really?" She took a deep, shaky breath, annoyed with herself for her quiet voice. "Her Royal Highness Princess Celestia wouldn't even hurt her own sister, corrupted by envy as Her Highness Luna was. B-but somepony says a few means words a-and you go berserk on them? T-there's a special place for crazy ponies like you, a-and it's right in Canterlot Dungeon!"

Well, that was dumb, a voice inside her head snapped at her. Now you're probably next. Aurora blinked and shrank back timidly, suddenly fearing for her safety. Wahh....now I-I've gone and done it. Deciding not to press her luck any further, she turned on her hooves and trotted quickly towards the Ponyville skyline, where the roofs of thatched houses could just barely be seen over the horizon.

Concern for the others, however, weighed in the back of her mind, and as she walked, a mental image of each and every pony that had done nothing wrong materialized in her thoughts. It didn't look like any of them had anything to eat. Or any bits with them. Or even a place to stay. Each step that Aurora took away from the group and towards Ponyville made her feel just a bit more guilty, and finally, she stopped, craning her head back towards where the group stood.

"If...if any of you need a place to stay the night, y-you guys can always come to me," she called, her voice carrying across the clearing. Sheesh, I talk louder than I yell... Her gaze focused on each member of the group, small as they were at a distance, before she found herself looking at a familar-looking red unicorn standing between two others.

N-no way, she came back to life? Now completely and utterly spooked, Aurora increased her pace to a gallop as she headed for home.

Flow · August 31, 2012

While everyone is in an argument right now, Starry was busy reflecting on the flashback she had "T-there's no doubt that me and my parents, I remember that we got into a car accident, and....I was left as the sole survivor while my parents perished. I just continue to wonder why am I alive? Was it luck that saved my life?"

@,

Soon afterwards, her thinking was interrupted by a loud outburst from a blue unicorn, who is always seen with the tan unicorn, it seems that he is pouring his anger on the red unicorn, his outburst was loud enough to tempt the little blue pegasai into hearing it, so she approached them and listened, and after hearing him mention "girlfriend", she was astonished "G-girlfriend? Eh? Y-you mean the t-tan pony? Yeah, now that I think about it, I always see them together, so....they knew each other in the human world?" Her head was soon filled with more questions.

But then, his horn started charging up, growing an orb of energy, and it grew bigger with every word of hate that came from his mouth, and it scared Starry when he shouted it: "I WILL BASH OPEN YOUR SKULL AND LEAVE YOU FOR FUCKING DEAD!"

After those words, the orb broke loose and flew onto the red unicorn's chest, the results were shocking,

The red one's body was flashing green, then random numbers of zeros and ones appeared, turning into cubes shorty afterwards before disintegrating into countless particles, Starry's jaws dropped at the horror

She reappeared afterwards, facing a now shocked pony

"......What.....what in god's name...did he do?" Was her only thought.

Edited August 31, 2012 by Narutardedscum!!

Electrobolt · August 31, 2012

Electrobolt, as he had been listening to the red unicorn's explanation, had heard someone offering to give them a place to stay for the night. But as he looked back, he saw that the white unicorn from earlier began to run off into the distance, seemingly spooked to death. *She's... She's running away from us...? Was... Was she the one who gave us that offer...?* he thought, watching her run off, remembering the direction she went. He then looked at the group around him, looking at the light-blue unicorn, the red unicorn, and Jack. All of this fighting had started based on a misunderstanding. As he looked back in the direction that the white unicorn had gone off, he felt something burning in his chest. *Why... Why are we all fighting...?* he thought to himself, eyes twitching as he kept his gaze on the plains in which the gentle, white unicorn had run off to. *We... We could have possibly... Settled things peacefully between the light-blue pony and Artsy... But... But then...*

@@Legendary Emerald, @

Just then, something inside of him snapped as he remembered the red unicorn calling out to Artsy, verbally abusing her with the vulgarities and all that. He also recalled how Jack had acted out of rage and poofed the red unicorn out of existence, albeit for a short while. But he let his rage and frustration control him, instead of controlling his own emotions and going after Artsy. His heart pounding and his head aching, he slowly returned his attention to the two ponies closest to him: the two ponies whom he felt caused all of this to happen. "Why..." he began, a slight tone of annoyance in his voice. "Why are we even fighting...? Because of all of this, the only pony that offered up a place to stay for the night hightailed it out of here! I... I just..."

@@Legendary Emerald

He then looked over to the red unicorn, the burning feeling in his chest growing intense. "Although what you had called Artsy may have wound up stopping the fighting for even a LITTLE while, I feel that was out of line. I was hoping for things to be settled a little more peacefully, but then YOU hopped in and made things worse! Although I slightly understand your reasoning behind what you did, I don't like it. Not. One. Bit."

@

Without skipping a beat, he then looked over to Jack Stache, recalling what happened just recently. "As for you, sure it MAY have been deserved, but you had let your rage and frustration get the better of you. Instead of having gone after Artsy, as I felt that would have been the best option at the time, you instead let your anger get to your head! And now... Now the only pony who possibly knew of a place where we could stay ran off because of all of this!"

After having let off all this built up frustration, the burning feeling began to slowly die down. He then looked back in the direction of where the white unicorn had gone off to and sighed. Realizing himself that he himself had just let his frustration control him after saying Jack let his own anger take control, he looked downward. "I... I'm sorry... I don't know what had come over me... But still... Couldn't we have just tried to settle things a bit more peacefully...?" He then returned his gaze towards where the unicorn had run off to, before hurrying off in the direction of the white unicorn, hoping he could catch up to her.

Alex Night · August 31, 2012

As the ice blue passed by Alex without acknowledgment, he kinda felt a little miffed, but the feeling instantly went away when he saw her apologizing to Silver. "Well, I guess I'll just let it slide this time. After all, it is a waste of time to be hung up on grudges." Alex thought with a smile. Alex decided it was best to be friends with her, despite what has happened. His thought got interrupted when he heard Jack's voice, but it didn't sound good.

"And you know what? All I have ever seen or hear you do is cause trouble and be selfish. That's it. But you know what? I can tolerate that. I tolerate assholes all the damn time, and I would have been willing to work together with you to get back to Earth. The moment you joined in that argument for absolutely no goddamn reason and insulted Artsy, however, was the moment that you crossed the line. I'm not going to ask for an apology, oh no, because I know you would never give one. Instead, I'll just say one thing, and one thing only: if you so much as brush up against her, or say something negative to her ever, I promise you this: I WILL BASH OPEN YOUR SKULL AND LEAVE YOU FOR FUCKING DEAD!" The last part he really and truly shouted, drowning out all other noise nearby. At the same time, his horn flared and let off a large blast of magic, one that headed straight for Serah and hit her straight in the chest.

...But Serah did not get flung back, like Jack originally thought was going to happen when he realized he had let off his magic. To the contrary, she remained frozen in place, as her whole body soon flashed green, the same green that laced Jack's pent-up magic, the same green that had appeared on the pebble before. When Jack looked closely, he noticed that the green wasn't entirely solid. Instead, it was made up entirely of 0's and 1's. Like binary code.

Before Jack could say something, Serah body appeared to turn into tiny cubes, all connected, before they all rapidly began to disappear. Like when Kevin Flynn was digitized or whatever the hell the term is, Jack realized, watching almost in horror as Serah continued to disappear. Finally, after just a few more seconds, Serah was gone. Completely and utterly gone. Almost as if she had never been there, leaving just Jack to stand rooted in place as he looked shocked at what he had just done.

"...What have I done."

Alex looked on as Jack was verbally attacking the red unicorn for her involvement against Artsy, his girlfriend. "Oh no, Jack..." Alex said to himself. Alex started to notice that his horn was flashing as well, and Alex knew exactly what this meant. "Wait, Jack! Stop what you're doing! That's enough!" Alex yelled. However, it was too late as a hue of green light was shot from Jack's horn. Alex was blinded from the light for a split second as the light made contact to the red unicorn. Next thing he knew, Alex saw the red unicorn disappear in a cluster of zeroes and ones. "Jack, what did you do?!" Alex thought, being unable to think of what to say. Alex didn't really feel much for the red unicorn, given what she had done earlier, but it didn't warrant such an action from Jack. However, the need was unnecessary as another familiar voice spoke up.

"Y-you," she said in a voice forged by conflicting emotions of anger and fright, as she directed her trembling gaze on the crazed purplish unicorn. "Y-you're nothing more than a murderer, you know that? So somepony upsets your marefriend's feelings. You go and blast her into smithereens? R-really?" She took a deep, shaky breath, annoyed with herself for her quiet voice. "Her Royal Highness Princess Celestia wouldn't even hurt her own sister, corrupted by envy as Her Highness Luna was. B-but somepony says a few means words a-and you go berserk on them? T-there's a special place for crazy ponies like you, a-and it's right in Canterlot Dungeon!"

Well, that was dumb, a voice inside her head snapped at her. Now you're probably next. Aurora blinked and shrank back timidly, suddenly fearing for her safety. Wahh....now I-I've gone and done it. Deciding not to press her luck any further, she turned on her hooves and trotted quickly towards the Ponyville skyline, where the roofs of thatched houses could just barely be seen over the horizon.

Concern for the others, however, weighed in the back of her mind, and as she walked, a mental image of each and every pony that had done nothing wrong materialized in her thoughts. It didn't look like any of them had anything to eat. Or any bits with them. Or even a place to stay. Each step that Aurora took away from the group and towards Ponyville made her feel just a bit more guilty, and finally, she stopped, craning her head back towards where the group stood.

"If...if any of you need a place to stay the night, y-you guys can always come to me," she called, her voice carrying across the clearing. Sheesh, I talk louder than I yell... Her gaze focused on each member of the group, small as they were at a distance, before she found herself looking at a familar-looking red unicorn standing between two others.

N-no way, she came back to life? Now completely and utterly spooked, Aurora increased her pace to a gallop as she headed for home.

Alex looked as the white unicorn spoke up to the group. Some harsh words were exchanged from her and Alex couldn't blame her. She just witnessed an outburst that brought forth a scary monster and now she just saw the complete digitization of the red unicorn. Upon hearing the names of "Princess Celestia" and "Princess Luna", Alex was at full attention to her words, blocking everything that was going on around him. "There it is again. The Princess Luna that I heard before." Alex thought. Although the name "Princess Celestia was unfamiliar to him, he knew she must be important to everything that is going on here. Before he could completely process this, Alex saw the white unicorn run off to somewhere that Alex did not know. His best possible lead and not to mention a good friend, is suddenly running off and Alex couldn't believe how this has all gone wrong. However, his hopes had risen when she offered a place to stay for the night. At that moment, Alex's stomach growled at him again. The response from his stomach as well as the new information and the generous offer got Alex moving without missing a beat. "But first, I can't leave yet." Alex thought. He turned back to Silver to speak with him quickly. "Silver, come with me. Together, we'll find what you're looking for. I can't do this without my friend." Alex said with a smile. Alex turned back to the direction the white unicorn was running and galloped after her, hoping Silver would follow suit. Alex jumped in the air and extended his wings to fly after her. When he was up in the air, he saw Electrobolt following her as well. "That's good. We're gonna need some good friends along for the ride. I have to protect them no matter what." Alex said to himself with the same smile on his face. As he was flying after the white unicorn to catch up, he was having a total blast with his new pair of wings.

Marcato · August 31, 2012

All hell had broken loose. That was the only thing that came to Silver's mind. As if it was bad enough that he had been the cause of all the ruckus in the first place, he had also found out he had been gone a thousand years. On top of that, right when it seemed to FINALLY be over everypony started arguing again! "Oh for Celestia's sake..." he muttered as the yelling rose from the blue unicorn who was apparently that tan ponies boyfriend?

Silver's eyes widened though when he saw the magic emanating from the ponies horn. As if things couldn't get any worse, it looked like there was another unicorn about to lose control of their magic. Silver was about to call out to stop Jack, but it was too late. The red unicorn was hit by some sort of strange green magic and dissipated. Silver was in shock. Did he just kill her? Silver thought. There was no way this pony was safe to be around when his magic was strong enough to kill somepony simple by hitting them.

But then the red unicorn reappeared just a moment later. She seemed to be panicked and lost all the fire she had in her before. Silver listened intently on what she had to say and couldn't help but agree with some of it. Although the notion of killing somepony was a little... drastic for his liking.

The white unicorn suddenly panicked as well and ran. There goes my hope of learning more about this time period. Silver thought disappointed. Then his spirits rose when she offered for some ponies to follow her for a place to stay. Alex and the green pony were on their way already. Silver acknowledge Alex's comment with a nod and followed after them. I need to know about this modern Equestria. It's of highest priority right now and I cannot focus on anything else until I at least understand my situation. Silver thought. Perhaps later he could find out why he woke up now of all times, and why these ponies also were humans that got stuck here.

Key Gear · September 1, 2012

Numbers eagerly awaited Ice Storm's answers. Up until this point, he had been trying to figure this place out based only on his own observations. He was captivated by the possibilities unlocked by Ice Storm's knowledge of a TV show similar to this world. This is incredible! Perhaps the creators of this show somehow managed to peer into another dimension for their inspiration? If they could look in for inspiration, then there is hope that we can get ou…

He looked down to see the group that they were aiming for were directly below him, and he was on a direct course for the middle of them... right where the gray pony was standing. Unable to change direction in any way he did the only thing he could.

"Look out below!" Day shouted, before landing right on top of top of him.

Numbers didn't have any warning. He had been far too absorbed in his own thoughts to notice Day's descent from the sky. The hit completely bowled him over. Once again, Numbers found himself lying in the grass. But while his thoughts had been interrupted, his calmness persisted. Numbers was completely nonplussed, and he looked over at the golden colored unicorn with a cheerful expression.

"We shouldn't be fighting...", before collapsing in a heap where he stood.

Numbers nodded before replying, “I agree. No, we definitely shouldn't be fighting in a place that we are completely unfamiliar with. By the way, do you think that there was maybe a better way to deliver that message?” The golden unicorn was lying prone on the grass and, unfortunately, didn't deliver an immediate answer.

Numbers took a moment to think about this most recent occurrences.. Unicorns fighting, unicorns falling out of the sky, unicorns about to lose control of their own magic. I wonder if they are inherently unstable or is it just this particular group that I'm with. I'm starving… I need a sandwich… Or something… I wonder if ponies can eat meat, and, if so, where can I find some lasagna? Numbers suddenly felt very, very hungry.

@,

Numbers jumped to his feet at the sound of shouting. By the time he had a chance to figure out what was going on, it was far too late for any meaningful reaction. The deed was already done, the fiery red unicorn had vanished entirely in a visual flood of zeros and ones. Binary? Numbers blinked.

"...What have I done."

What have you done, indeed. Numbers thought to himself as he felt a certain tension washed over him. This was yet another occurrence of a unicorn in this group demonstrating a lack of control over their powers and a definite unpredictability. Killing the red unicorn for threatening his girlfriend seemed, to Numbers, to be a gross overreaction.

Just one, and it would've been a fluke. Two, and it could've perhaps still been dismissed. But they just can't seem to stop. So much power and so little control. So far as I've seen, the only unicorns in this group that seem to have any control over themselves are… Were... Aurora and the red unicorn. Numbers thought back to the desperate fight in the forest.

He had been completely out of his normal frame of mind in that forest. If it hadn't been for Serah, then there is no telling what he would've done when he encountered the wolves. And, now she's gone. A wave of sadness washed over Numbers. While his memories were still slightly fragmented, Numbers knew that sadness was a rare emotion for him. In this case, his sadness was like that losing a comrade in arms. They had fought side by side. She had carried him out of the forest. For Numbers, that was all that he needed to know to consider Serah a valuable ally.

Deciding not to press her luck any further, she turned on her hooves and trotted quickly towards the Ponyville skyline, where the roofs of thatched houses could just barely be seen over the horizon.

Interrupting his thoughts, Aurora suddenly fled. And, now she's gone too. Looking around, Numbers was suddenly strongly aware that he had no strong shared experiences with any other members of this group. While he had fought alongside Ice Storm in the forest as well, they had battled different opponents and her indignant and self-righteous rage had made Numbers quite cautious regarding her. Numbers frowned deeply. He felt as though the ground was shifting under his feet and he was wearing cement shoes. He was tired, hungry, sad, and frustrated with how slow his reaction times were. I need everything to slow down so I can think!

@@Legendary Emerald,

Just when he had nearly made up his mind to follow Aurora, Serah reappeared. She was different though. Her demeanor no longer exhibited the strength that it had before she had been “vaporized”. For once, the edge that she seemed to constantly keep was dulled. She spoke and, as she spoke, her voice sounded different. Plainly, whatever had happened to her had left an effect.

Numbers listened to Serah intently. With every sentence she uttered, Numbers's earlier hypothesis about her reasoning process was even more strongly confirmed. Regardless of their differences in temperament, he knew she was a kindred spirit. She was a determined fighter and a rationalist. She was also one of the few unicorns that had demonstrated consistent control over themselves. Even when she had threatened the tan pony, she had been in complete control the entire time.

“If you want to run off after her, try to 'defuse' her, go ahead. But if nothing else, understand this: until she has a lock on her power, she cannot allowed near anyone who values their life.” she concluded. “Call me selfish if you want. But I'm the one looking out for the safety of the majority.”

Though he was too tired to express his thoughts out loud, Numbers's opinion of the red pony rose significantly. Finally, someone seems to understand this. If we are not optimizing our situation for the benefits of the majority, then we will probably not survive. This place is dangerous. We have to focus on survival. Getting upset over trivialities is not a valid reason to put the survival of the group in jeopardy.

"If...if any of you need a place to stay the night, y-you guys can always come to me," she called, her voice carrying across the clearing. Sheesh, I talk louder than I yell... Her gaze focused on each member of the group, small as they were at a distance, before she found herself looking at a familar-looking red unicorn standing between two others.

A place to stay the night? Food? Water? Answers to my questions? Peace and quiet? He felt like someone that had been starving and had suddenly wandered across a free all-you-can-eat buffet. I need to get out of here and take as many with me as possible - safety in Numbers. Feeling slightly cheered by the prospect of a roof over his head, he chuckled out loud at his own bad pun.

Numbers looked around and took a measure of each member of the group. Finally, he decided to address his first remarks to Serah. She's likely to be tired after that particular ordeal as well as the fight in the forest and the confrontation outside of the forest. In addition to that, she has the qualities of a leader, so where she goes the others are likely to follow - and we need to stick together.

He took a few steps towards Serah, and he weighed his remarks carefully. Calculating, he adopted the speaking style similar to the one that he had observed her to use almost exclusively - blunt, few words, guarded. He also looked her directly in the eyes. His face betrayed no emotion. “Aurora has offered room and board to our group. I suggest we take it. We could use the food and rest.” That is all I need to say, she's intelligent enough to understand the rest.

Turning to the others, Numbers addressed them as well. In general, most of them still seem to be stunned by the recent occurrences. Numbers reasoned that they would probably be receptive to the suggestion of avoiding further conflict. “We need to get to safety. In our weakened states and without the tan pony's abilities, it is not likely that we would be able to frighten away or fight those insectoid creatures if they come back in greater quantity. I suggest that we head in the direction that Aurora went and take her up on her offer of a safe place for the night.”

But, even as he said it, Numbers wondered whether or not they could restore Aurora's trust in their group. It was clear to him by now that she was a local. He could only imagine what she thought of all the madness and chaos that she had just witnessed.

Legendary Emerald · September 1, 2012

Serah had said her piece, and Jack had not immediately responded.

"Conversation over, then."

He took a few steps towards Serah, and he weighed his remarks carefully. Calculating, he adopted the speaking style similar to the one that he had observed her to use almost exclusively - blunt, few words, guarded. He also looked her directly in the eyes. His face betrayed no emotion. “Aurora has offered room and board to our group. I suggest we take it. We could use the food and rest.” That is all I need to say, she's intelligent enough to understand the rest.

Serah nodded.

Turning to the others, Numbers addressed them as well. In general, most of them still seem to be stunned by the recent occurrences. Numbers reasoned that they would probably be receptive to the suggestion of avoiding further conflict. “We need to get to safety. In our weakened states and without the tan pony's abilities, it is not likely that we would be able to frighten away or fight those insectoid creatures if they come back in greater quantity. I suggest that we head in the direction that Aurora went and take her up on her offer of a safe place for the night.”

"Agreed." Serah said aloud. "Lucky Aurora still offered. Haven't exactly left good impressions so far. Should change that. Won't get far without someone who knows lay of the land. Adequate healer too."

Ice Storm · September 1, 2012

After everything else that had happened, Ice thought that all the arguing had been terminated, and that the rest of the group could start getting things done. Then the other blue unicorn started to bring everything up again by yelling at the two of them, but primarily at the red unicorn. Calling her selfish because she was standing up for someone other than his girlfriend. Seriously dude, if you're that pissed about it go over to her and leave us alone before you do something stupid, she thought to herself as he fired magic and the the other unicorn started to dissolve into binary. Well, so much for that thought, she thought.

Ice was about to ride his hide for that, but before she had a chance to the other unicorn came back and she let him have it and told it to him better than she could. After all, if I get involved with this, It's probably not going to end well, and I can't protect anyone if this imbecile decides to kill anypony that doesn't worship his girlfriend apparently, she thought. She then turned back to Silver and Numbers. "My name is Ice Storm, and... other things aside," she said glaring towards the other blue unicorn. "At least when I'm not mishearing things or being the focal point of clearly misguided accusations, I at least try to be in high spirits.

Though as far as the answer to your question Numbers I think Aurora said it best. I can't really give an answer as to what time it is at the moment because I honestly don't know. In the Television Show, Princess Luna had been released from banishment for going onto three years, but it is impossible to tell by the surrounding what year it is here at all to know whether or not we're in the same time period that the show is in. Considering Aurora is from here, or at least, had been here longer than we have and knows more about where we are. Then I would trust what she says more," she stated as she heard Aurora offer them refuge. Ice Storm nodded, she was going to say that they should take the offer but Numbers beat her to the words.

"I agree. At the very least it will let us get more accustom to these bodies and figure out how to use them properly without putting anypony else in danger in the process. Who knows, we might even be able to get some of our answers there. If it's anything like the Ponyville from the show, there should be a library there with at least some information about what's going on. I mean, this surely can't be the first time something like this has happened. At least one would hope," she added before she started to walk in the direction that Aurora had went.

Arylett Charnoa · September 1, 2012

Her mind was still racing from what had just happened. It was just as before; so many thoughts that she felt as thought she would've short-circuited. These voices, the insects... she needed more time to think about it.

And she didn't have it.

Simultaneously irritated and grateful that SOMEONE had cared enough to follow her, she turned around and... saw that Jack wasn't with them. Inside of her, she felt a little jolt of pain. It was hurtful. If there was anyone she had expected to follow her, it wasn't Klopp and his ridiculously silly girlfriend. But she tried to put on a brave face. She loathed crying in front of others. A sign of weakness. Only Jack would get to see her like that. The mare took a quick moment to wipe her face from all tear stains before she approached them a little more closely.

@, @,

"Yes... I'm fine!" She tried to sound as casual as her voice would allow, but there were still small cracks within it. If possible, she wanted to pretend what just happened did not happen. She didn't want to address it at all. Just move on, don't address your most embarrassing moment. A moment that she had already been dreading and regretting as a huge mistake.

"So... where is Jack?"

Dave247 · September 1, 2012

As Day lay there, he could hear voices, but they didn't make any sense to him. He was sure the pony he landed on had said something to him but he couldn't make out what so he didn't respond. Day then heard someone mention his name.

"Oh my gosh! Numbers, Daylight, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine, I think." He said as he opened his eyes, slowly stood up and surveyed his surroundings.

He noticed that a there seemed to be one pony missing, Artsy was her name he thought. Wondering where she was, Day also noticed Klopp and a Pink female Unicorn were being rather friendly for some reason, before she dragged him off in the opposite direction of the forest. "More lovebirds?" He thought. "Must be going to have a private moment alone to..." He stopped that train of there as he didn't even want to consider how ponies... have a good time.

Day then looked around for Jack, as he was her boyfriend he might give some clues to where Artsy may be. He was surprised to find him standing in front of the fiery red unicorn and going off at her at how she insulted his Girlfriend. He gathered tha Jack must be very angry because of the intensity of his voice and how his horn was glowing a bright green and also emitting what Day was pretty sure was binary code. He knew this by remembering how he learnt Morse code when he was training to be an officer and discovered it was similar to binary when he asked about similar patterns.

What happened next took him completely by surprise. Unable to contain his anger any further Jack released the stored up energy in his horn and hit the fiery red pony squarely in the chest. At first, nothing happened, then, her body started emitting binary just as his Jack's horn did and then split up into cubes which disappeared one by one until she had completely disappeared.

Day stood there dumbfounded. The only thing he could compare what just happened to was a video game. He remembered seeing some of his colleges playing some of the games that they took as evidence from incidents but they would never ask him to join and he was much to afraid to ask.

Day came to the conclusion that the fiery pony must of done something really bad to Artsy to get Jack so angered to react like that. He thought that it would be a good idea to go with him to check how she is.

After a minute or so, he noticed cubes starting to reappear until eventually the fiery pony had rematerialized. She looked emotionless, like whatever she just went though drained everything out of her.

He considered everything that just happened. "Well it looks like he sent her somewhere... and it's obvious that she had a bad experience... but maybe that is somehow linked with the fact that Jack was angry at her? In that case it would means that whatever Jack's magic is, it's controlled by his emotions wherever intonational or not. The same kinda happened with me but with my thoughts earlier... This magic is certainly a strange a powerful force that is not to be reckoned with."

The fiery pony was also saying some other things back to jack but Day was too wrapped up in his own thoughts to hear what she said. He then just remembered that Starry would have also crashed nearby and could be injured... again. He sighed, and openly asked "Did anyone see where Starry landed? Is she alright?". No one answered him as they were all still distracted by what Jack did. He decided he would have to find out for himself.

@

First, he decided should quickly talk to Jack though. He walked up to him and said "Don't worry, I'm on your side. I just need to go and check on Starry and then I'll follow you to check on your Girlfriend".

He then looked around to where Starry could of landed and saw her standing nearby watching everything that was happening. He walked over to her and started a conversation

@ "Hey Starry, are you ok? Did you get injured from the crash and need me to heal you again? You look ok to me..." He said looking her over for any injuries. "I'm going to go and follow Jack to check on Artsy as something really bad must of happened to her for Jack to react like that, do you want to come with me?" He asked with a hopeful look on his face.

Aureity · September 1, 2012

As Aurora continued on the well-worn path that would eventually lead to Ponyville, she started to relax. It's all behind me now. The weird ponies, running around in a dangerous forest, and scary monsters. All gone! She looked forward to finding her way back to Ponyville, and maybe picking up a few cupcakes from Sugarcube Corner on the way back to her house. Sure, it had only beena few years since she had moved into Ponyville, but the friendly locals made it seem like forever. A few chimneys were all she could see of the town, but as she drew closer, more of Ponyville slowly started to reveal itself, the horizon giving way reluctantly.

I wonder if anypony from the clearing will actually take me up on my offer, she thought, slowing her pace to a gentle trot in order to enjoy the scenery. She wasn't sure how eager she was to have guests like them in her house - especially if they started causing crazy stuff to happen again. Wasn't there one of them that could turn her hooves to fire? Aurora winced at the thought of her house "accidentally" burning to the ground, and made a mental note to get some insurance as soon as she got her next paycheck.

"Hallo, Cherry Berry!" Aurora called happily, spotting a light-pink pony watering the flowers on each side of the rode. "And hallo, Cloud Chaser!" she added to a purple pegasus swooping overhead through a cloud. Both ponies waved back at her.

There was a galloping and rush of hooves from behind Aurora, and she turned, expecting to see another local running across the path. "And hallo..." She blinked, surprised. Halt in front of her, panting heavily, was a familar green stallion, the one from the clearing. Aurora racked her brain for his name, but couldn't remember it. "Err..." Moments later a silvery stallion skidded to a half right next to the green pony. Aurora recognized him as well, but, to her consternation, couldn't remember his name either.

I don't think either of them actually introduced themselves to me...

She was saved the embarassment of having to ask for their names by the shadow of a pegasi swooping overhead, and she glanced skywards, expecting to see Cloud Chaser banking a turn, but instead finding a brown-maned blue pegasus hovering unsteadily above her. Thankfully, she remembered his name. "Hi, Alex!" she called cheerfully, waving up at the pegasus.

She eyed all three ponies, wondering why they were here. "So what's with the welcoming party?" she asked playfully.

Edited September 1, 2012 by Aureity

Flow · September 1, 2012

Starry just stood there, thinking about what she saw "...What was that? I've never imagined anything like it, What was that?" she pondered about it till she heard a familiar voice

@@Dave247,

"Hey Starry, are you ok? Did you get injured from the crash and need me to heal you again? You look ok to me..." She knew it was Daylight, "Daylight! Your okay! Uh...I'm okay too," She was glad to see him fine and well after that fall, which she felt sorry about even though it was an accident

"I'm going to go and follow Jack to check on Artsy as something really bad must of happened to her for Jack to react like that, do you want to come with me?" he asked with a face that tells her that she should, "Um....I don't know...." She answered,

Then she thought about it

"Wait a minute! Who the heck is Jack? You mean, that blue unicorn? And that tan unicorn, his girlfriend, that's Artsy? I guess so, but I don't think I'd want to get close to him after what he's done,"

She stared at Jack, still paralyzed with shock, "Gee, What happened? What made Jack do that to the red unicorn? Did she say something to Artsy? If that's the case, I'd expect that from an anti-social one, but I would've known all this if I hadn't knocked myself out. The red one scares me, but he scares me even more, again, I don't want to get close to him, but at the same time, I want to find out what caused this insanity."

"Um....on second thought....okay I'll come with you," Starry said, smiling "I don't know what happened, but I'll help you out in return for the mishap I caused,"

Edited September 2, 2012 by Narutardedscum!!

Nico · September 1, 2012

Nicolas had rolled around long enough. Having somehow rolled himself away from the field with all of the other ponies when a bunch of things flew out of the forest, he had trained himself long and hard on how to walk like a pony, and was trotting around with the best of them at this point. However, lost and alone, Nicolas was beginning to wonder if he'd ever stumble upon the other ponies again. It was getting late, with the sun beginning to go down, and he was honestly a bit frightened to be alone in this strange new world at night.

Just as he was about to give up hope on finding anyone, Nicolas came across a tan-coated pony, accompanied by a silly looking white stallion and a pony of a rather non-standard color. A sort of magenta, he supposed. They were all by a lake, in a rather grassy looking field. He was unsure if anybody would remember him should he just go walking up to them, so he did the first thing that came to his mind.

Despite how much he was dizzy from it before, Nicolas lay down in the grass and began to tumble and whirl as he rolled across the ground toward them. "Look out, guys!" Nicolas shouted out loud, trying to be clumsy in appearance but thoughtful at the same time. Suddenly, a sharp pain ran through his side once again as he seemed to ram into something. A loud splash could be heard, and upon scrambling back onto his hooves, Nicolas could see that he had accidentally rolled right into the silly looking pegasus, knocking him into the lake.

"Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry about that! Are you all right!? Do you need help?" He wasn't quite sure if he'd be very helpful, as he hadn't tried swimming as a pony yet, but it felt right to offer. Looking back and forth between the tan and magenta ponies, his cheeks grew flush with embarrassment, shame and guilt.

Edited September 2, 2012 by Prince Nico

Alex Night · September 1, 2012

As Alex flew to catch up to the white unicorn, his eyes fell on a town closing in the distance. Alex couldn't believe his luck as he took in the sight. This town had many thatched roof houses that just seemed to compliment each other. Some of the houses weren't houses at all, but rather are tents featured in different colors. Off to the side of the town, he saw a farm next to a huge land populated by apple trees. The sight of the apples was not helping Alex's hunger though. The most outstanding feature of the town was the large building in the center, which Alex is guessing to be the town's meeting area. The town looked so peaceful and innocent and it stood the very definition of a small town to Alex.

When he turned his eyes to the sky, he saw a wonderful sight. There was a cluster of clouds that were shaped like a city. He could see other winged ponies flying around it as well as rainbow waterfalls. To his left, he saw a great castle hanging off by the side of a mountain next to the small town. This castle was even more amazing than the cloud city. The castle looked sleek with ivory towers with golden spires along with rivers and waterfalls around the city surrounding it. It truly was the most amazing sight that Alex had ever seen and really wanted to explore it along with the cloud city and the town below. Alex glanced down and saw the white unicorn slowing down with Silver and Electrobolt closing in. "First, I gotta see to the others." Alex thought. As Alex was trying to descend, he was having a little trouble slowing down. "Uh, this sounded much better in my head." Alex told himself. Eventually, he was able to slow down to a hover next to the 3 ponies, but very sloppily though.

Thankfully, she remembered his name. "Hi, Alex!" she called cheerfully, waving up at the pegasus.

She eyed all three ponies, wondering why they were here. "So what's with the welcoming party?" she asked playfully.

Alex was happy to see that she wasn't acting nervous or scared with the three of them. Alex waved her back in kind before he lowered his hover to land on the ground, but dropped a little too fast for a smooth landing. He was able to catch himself in a roll after his little crash landing. He saw that he stopped right in front of the white unicorn and Alex's face started to flush with embarrassment at his performance. Alex got back on his hooves to face the white unicorn. When she asked about their appearance, Alex answered. "Well, you had us worried when you just ran off like that. I can't believe you actually live here. It looks so colorful around here." Alex said with a smile while looking at his surroundings. A sudden realization came to Alex as he remembers that she remembers his name and he never got hers. "Uhh... Now that I think about it, I never actually got your name." Alex said with a hint of embarrassment in his voice. "Well, this is going swimmingly, Alex. Great job." Alex thought, mentally kicking himself. "We were also wondering if it would be alright if we stayed with you for the night. I know that we didn't exactly leave you with a good impression." Alex continued, hoping she would help them. Edited September 2, 2012 by Alex_Night

Key Gear · September 1, 2012

"Agreed." Serah said aloud. "Lucky Aurora still offered. Haven't exactly left good impressions so far. Should change that. Won't get far without someone who knows lay of the land. Adequate healer too."

“If we can avoid unnecessary fighting and conflict, then she would probably begin to trust us. After all, we fought alongside each other in the forest. That kind of experience builds camaraderie.”

Numbers started walking the direction that he had seen Aurora travel. Several other members of their group had already darted after Aurora, but Numbers was tired of rushing. Running, fighting, arguing… All of it is so tiring. I just need some time to think.

@@Ice Storm,

Numbers followed behind Ice Storm as they walked along a well-worn path. He was happy that he hadn't needed to provide any further reasoning for following Aurora. His stomach was empty and he was completely exhausted by all of the day's events. In the distance he could see what looked like a small and rather quaint settlement. Numbers was relieved. From this distance, the town looked like a friendly place.

Numbers picked up the pace and walked alongside Ice Storm. Despite his hunger, he remembered something that had caught his attention earlier. “Earlier today, I remember you mentioned something about having had some type of 'gender swap'? If you don't mind my asking, what exactly happened?”

Ice Storm · September 1, 2012

The walk to Ponyville was taking a bit longer than she had anticipated. Apparently they were farther away from it than Aurora had made it sound. Fortunately though it could at the very least be seen in the distance. It wouldn't be too long before they would be within then village. About that time, she heard hoof steps walking up beside her and she turned beside her to see that Numbers had walked up beside her and he spoke to her asking about earlier she had mentioned some sort of gender swap. That if she didn't mind him asking, he wanted to know what exactly happened.

"Well, I don't mind you asking at all but the truth of the matter is I have no idea. When I was on earth, well I guess we should say home, as it's very likely this is very much still planet earth, just on a different plane or dimension. I know in the past I was a heavy gamer. Role-playing games were everything to me. In fact, I was playing Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim as the earthquake hit that created those cracks. I didn't even realize them until I out to take out the trash later that night and the fact that they were glowing drawed me closer to them. After all, being somewhat of a science junkie, I knew that the only thing that made cracks glow was magma, and that wouldn't have made them glow green. Then again, you don't have to be a science junkie to know something that basic.

I went over and put my hand in the crack and I woke up here. I don't know if it was from the fact that that in most of the Role-playing games had been females. For some reason I could just relate to them better than I could my own gender. Perhaps that's why I at least at home got along with girls so well. So far it doesn't look like that has transfered over here. I seem to be having problems getting along with quite a few ponies as it is. Though with views so drastically different, I guess that is to be expected.

And honestly, Artsy is right about one other things that she mentioned. I really don't care about my humanity. Every since I saw the television show at home, and saw this world I had dreamed of coming here because I literally had nothing to lose and everything to gain. What would I lose, a couple video games? I was blacklisted and couldn't find a job, I had no money and I was so far in debt that if I own anymore I probably would have been looking at jail time for being so poor.

Still, doesn't mean that I don't want to know what's going on. I've seen enough movies, and played enough Dungeons and Dragons to know that cross-planar travel doesn't happen without a reason. Something is happening here. Something big. the soon we get information, the soon we can prepare for whatever it is," she explained walking beside of him. "What about you? Do you remember what you were? I noticed that many of the others were having several more memory problems than I had. though it seems that when it comes to remembering important things about the area, I'm pretty much in the same boat. As said, I know nothing about this Equestria. For all I know, it's completely different than the one that's on television, and that's probably a very accurate assumption," she finished as the looked to have entered the town and she could see Aurora and Alex off in the distance.

Legendary Emerald · September 1, 2012

Serah silently followed behind Numbers and Ice Storm as they all made their way towards Ponyville. The other two ponies were engaged in discussion, but to Serah it sounded more like the blue pony was just droning on and on.

"These ponies love to hear themselves talk." she huffed. "Cross-planar travel? What the hell is that? Still don't understand what a television program has to do with this either. Have to take her word for it. And hope we're heading the right direction."

"Strange how she's the only one who changed sex. Don't think most men would take their loss so easily." Serah wondered. "Come to think of, do these ponies even have...?

Her eyes shifted back and forth suspiciously, and she discreetly lowered her head a tad, peaked between Number's legs. She raised her head back up quickly, her face lightly redder than usual.

"... Question answered."

Edited September 2, 2012 by Legendary Emerald

Electrobolt · September 2, 2012

As Electrobolt was hurrying over towards where the white unicorn was headed, he looked behind him and noticed Alex and Silver were following him. Smiling, he turned back around to focus on the path ahead, eventually seeing a village coming up along the horizon. *I wonder if this is where she lives...* he mused to himself, seeing the village become more and more visible the closer he approached it. Upon arriving at this village, he looked around as he observed the buildings, seeing that they were all of various colors and designs, it seemed almost quaint. *This village looks peaceful... Peace... Such a nice change from earlier...* He smiled a little more as he took in the sights of the village.

@@Aureity

As Electrobolt was continuing through the village, he caught sight of the white unicorn as she seemed to be greeting some ponies. *If she knows them, she must live here... I can kinda see why.* However, once she had turned around and began to greet him and Silver as if they lived there, he noticed that she was having trouble getting their names. *Oh, right... I haven't introduced myself to her yet...* Just then, Electrobolt heard the unicorn greet Alex, so he looked around before seeing him in the air, flying.

@

After looking up and seeing Alex hovering in the air, he thought, *Heh, we're all together again...* As he noticed the hovering pegasus trying to land, instead of touching down gently, he wound up taking a spill, tumbling before stopping right in front of the unicorn. *Ouch, that had to hurt...* he said in his mind, wincing a bit at the scene. After hearing the unicorn asking what the welcome party was for and Alex asking for her name, he felt like he should go ahead and get his introduction out of the way.

"Yeah, when you had run off on your own, well... As Alex said, we were worried about you. So you live around here, huh? I can certainly see why, it's nice and calm here." He looked around the village a bit more, admiring it's charm, before recalling that he was going to introduce himself. "Oh right, I completely forgot to introduce myself! I'm Electrobolt. And as Alex had said, um... Hopefully we can get off on the right note this time..."

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