open Shifted

[Aureity 3,055]

Crystal Flame groaned inwardly. Carrying a pony on his back had tired him out supremely. He barely had the strength to stand as it was. He gave Cole a tired nod. I can't just go off to bed, even if I wanted to, he sighed to himself. Wouldn't be fair to him. He steeled himself for a very, very tiring night ahead.

Please don't let anything happen tonight, I won't have a single ounce of energy to do anything.

[Electrobolt 2,069]

Electrobolt slowly nodded after having let himself get placed on Cole's back, the lime-green male's body still drained of energy. Maybe some actual rest in an actual bed would help him recover his strength, as opposed to just passing out in the middle of the town from the lack of energy. He wasn't sure if they knew which room he resided in, so with a little strength, he spoke, "My... My room is the... Third door on... The left..." After having told them where his room was, Electrobolt's eyelids shut tight once again, his head slowly drooping down as he wound up falling asleep once more.

[PeachPalette 1,000]

She looked over her shoulder at Silver and gave him a nod of her head. "Yes. That's what we call our world," she said softly, finally making her way into her father's enormous study. "What do you call your world, Silver?"

 

Her magical glow made the door push open. A cold draft flowed from the room as well as a very old musty scent. It was apparent that this particular room hadn't seen an inhabitant in quite some time. The door finally hit the wall behind it. Peach slowly walked inside, looking around at the vast array of her father's collective habits. She reached her father's desk. Dust was caked onto it. More proof that this room hadn't been disturbed in years. A book still lay open in the middle of the desk, also smothered in a thick layer of dust.

 

She closed her eyes. Memories began to rush back to her of the last time she saw her father in this very room.

 

------------------

 

She was just a filly then, and even so her father was home, it was still a rare event. So rare, that she constantly spent her moments with him in his study. But this day was a very different.

 

"Are...you sure?"

 

She heard her mother's muffled voice behind the wall as she tip-hoofed closer to the door. She'd been told to stay in her room and paint by her father. This was odd. He never had any problems with her spending time with him before. Naturally, being a young filly, her curiosity got the best of her. She peered through the crack in the door, a warm yellow glow lightly striped across her face from her father's lantern. She saw her mother there, sitting upon her father's desk. Her father nose deep into a book. Her stomach twisted. She'd never seen her father look so...distraught.

 

"Yes, yes. I'm sure," her father answered her mother with a sense of urgency. "I've translated it perfectly. I've...I've gone over it multiple times." His hoof slid a small stack of papers toward his wife.

 

Her horn began to glow as it lifted the papers so they were eye level with her. Her eyes scanned the scribblings by her father's mouth. She gasped, the papers dropping from her magical grip. The leafs drifting, floating, descending, until the nestled under the desk onto the floor. "This is bad," her mother said in a strained and rather frightened tone.

 

"If these writings are true...it would mean total chaos for all involved," her father uttered, his eyes never leaving the pages of the book in front of him.

 

"What...are we going to do?" Asked her mother.

 

Her fathers hooves pushed upon the desk allowing the chair to scoot out from it. His strong eyes peering up at her worried mother. "There's only one thing we can do at this point. We must go to Canterlot and warn Princess Celestia" He dropped from his chair and grabbed a rough cloak from his coat rack, draping it over his back. "The statue must be destroyed. If it is not, the third time that devil is free will mean the end of all we know...and all that we do not."

 

Peach backed away from the door as her father quickly neared it, her mother behind him. She pressed herself against the wall as much as she could and prayed that she would be overlooked. The door opened further, hiding her small frame behind it. Her wide yellow eyes watched as her mother and father briskly walked down the hall, and moment later they were gone. The sound of the door closing behind them was her last goodbye.

 

The home grew an unsettling quiet as she made her way out of hiding. Slowly, she trotted into her fathers study, hopping up into his chair. How could her father read this? Her eyes scanned the large book that sat in front of him. The writing was definitely from another world. She'd never seen anything like it. She looked to the side of the open book to see a small sheet of paper. Her mother's script...and written in a hurry.

 

My dearest sweet little Peach,

Something has come up and it is of great importance that we had to leave so quickly. Don't worry my love, there is plenty to eat. We shall return in two days time. Until then be good, and watch over the cottage. We love you.

Love,

Mom and Dad

-----------------------------

 

She shook her head furiously to get the image out of her mind's eye. It was a painful memory for her parents never returned. She felt tears begin, but pushed them back as well.

 

She glanced down at the desk and blew a puff of air over it, the dust retreating into the air, clouding it. There sat all as it was before. The open book with the strange writing, the note left there for her to find by her mother, and...and... "The notes! My father's notes!" Peach exclaimed bending over and squinting into the darkness under the desk. Her eyes took a moment to adjust, and then she saw them messily gathered there upon the ground. If her mother could read these, then surely...surely she could as well.

[Nathan Fink 22]

Sifi walked into the library after the other ponies, still edgy and in a foul mood. His spirits were still quite down from all that had happened, but once the sight of all of the books caught his eye, he nearly forgot the troubles he had been through. His head rose, his eyes widened and his frown slightly lifted, slowly, into a smile. He began to walk around the room, quietly naming books that he has read before, his eyes sparkling just a little as he made his rounds. He found many classics that he had loved, ones that he knew of and had never gotten a chance to read, and some he had never heard of but sounded thrilling!

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

She nodded at Brave, glad to see he had agreed. Though something about the way he read the flyer made her think that perhaps he had some other thoughts in his mind. Though Artsy wasn't much of the direct type to ask questions. However, his question of where Peach and SiFi was... made her hopes deflate a little.

 

It might've been awkward to see Peach again after all that had occurred between them. Especially the fight that she recalled as she rubbed an eye with a hoof in exasperation. (This would've been much easier with a hand, she noted... this body was something she still wasn't accustomed to.) What had happened to Peach anyway after the whole thing? Where did she go anyway? Perhaps the others went with her. But the thought of finding Peach made Artsy's heart start pounding a bit. She wasn't one for confrontation, especially after she had extended a hand (she meant hoof, really) in friendship towards the unicorn. Though it had felt like the right thing to do at the time, she was unsure of their status. Because she still harbored some strange sort of resentment within her towards the other pony. She wasn't quite sure what it was.

 

After a few moments in silence contemplating these thoughts, she finally spoke up to Brave. "I don't know. I guess we could ask the innkeeper... but you don't really look like you're in any condition to move." Her eyes scanned his wound briefly. "I think I've got just enough energy to go make the rounds. I'll be back soon."

 

The former human forced her ragged pony body from its position, being surprised that she was even able to stand in the first place. But she supposed that being on four legs and having a tail afforded her a lot more balance. She tripped up a few times as she tried to walk away, forcing muscles that were exhausted to work as her joints creaked sightly. Her appearance lacked a lot of its luster and she was still covered in several healed scars, but she could move very slowly. Though all of that time being unconscious had made her forget how to maneuver on four legs.

 

"Heh... sorry." She blushed a little and then stumbled her way out of the room, meandering about in the inn for a few moments and already getting lost. Even as a pony, this had never changed... she always got lost. After several minutes of this aimless wandering, the mare heard a sound behind a door, and pushed it open with a hoof, hoping that maybe she would find the innkeeper here. She spotted one of the ponies who had been in the group, a crimson unicorn who she had remembered being quite gruff. And then yet another unicorn, this one a rather vivid shade of cyan who was sitting on the bed.

 

Wow, that sure was lucky. She had found a member of the gang!

 

"Um... hi. Sorry to disturb you, but... I'm looking for Peach. Have you seen her? It's really important."

[Legendary Emerald 622]

Serah raised an eyebrow as the door to her room suddenly opened, right before she was about to leave. A familiar looking pony peeked in. After taking note of Serah and her company, Artsy addressed her nervously.

 

"Um... hi. Sorry to disturb you, but... I'm looking for Peach. Have you seen her? It's really important."

 

"Do you often barge into rooms looking for people?" Serah asked angrily. Then she remembered that this was Artsy, the only pony who had a link to one of the goddesses of the realm, and de-facto leader of the group as far as Serah cared to assume. She managed to quell the venom in her tongue. "I haven't seen her. No one else either."

 

"Is she one of your friends?" Lyra asked from the bedside. Serah ignored her.

 

"What's important?" Serah asked Artsy. "Are all of us needed?"

Edited April 9, 2012 by Legendary Emerald

[Deshi Bashara 6]

Cole pushed open the door to the inn. "Third room to the left, third room to the left..." he was muttering. He went up the stairs and looked to the left. He counted the doors until he reached the third one. "Right here." he added, pushing the door open. He went over to the bed and lowered Electrobolt onto it. He took a few steps back and observed the other pony sleeping soundly. "Right, then. That's out of the way." he spoke up, turning to Crystal Flame. "Where do you want to go first?"

[Aureity 3,055]

Crystal Flame shrugged, his head throbbing painfully. "Uh, I dunno," he said. "You can pick a destination, I don't really have one in mind." He managed to clear the dizziness from his head, for one glorious moment, but it returned tenfold the next second. Come on! You need more stamina than this. A walk will be the perfect thing to build up your endurance. "Erm...just nowhere too far, please," he added quickly. "It'll be nightfall soon." And sleep time, he added with relief.

[Electrobolt 2,069]

As soon as Electrobolt was put on the bed, he let out a tiny yawn, barely audible at all, as he continued to sleep. He was pretty peaceful right now, but he just fell asleep not too long ago either. As he began to drift off into the dream realm, however, something completely different from the past two moments had occurred...

 

------

 

Slowly coming around, he opened his eyes as he looked around the dark room. "Where..." he began. "Where... Am I?" Slowly he began to rub his forehead using his hands, as he... Wait, hands? Quickly he looked at himself, noticing he appeared to be a human once again! He was clothed in a green t-shirt and he was wearing blue jeans too. He also looked down at his feet and saw he was wearing white tennis shoes. "But... Wait, was all of that... Was that all just a dream...?" As soon as those words passed through his lips, his head suddenly began to burst into great pain, another voice filling the empty void.

 

Do you really think it would be that easy? No, really, did you? That voice... It was speaking to him again.You should know that you can't escape me THAT easily... Besides, if all of that was a dream, then... Why am I here right now, and why are you in this empty room, all alone? At this, the human began to hold his head with both hands, trying his best to get rid of the pain. Unfortunately for him, the pain only worsened as he shouted, "Get out of my head!!! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!"

 

------

 

Meanwhile, back at the room in the inn, Electrobolt had just started to toss and turn in his sleep, mumbling incoherent words. Rather than having a sweet dream, he was having a nightmare...

[Trixies Apprentice L 493]

Lionheart entered the cottage and saw the huge map of the place that was known as Equestria. It was rather big and that brought a question to his mind. He followed them down and quitetly asked."Is Equestria the only nation in this world and ponies the only sentinent inhabitance ? " He was quite curious about since apart from Disocrd he hadn't seen any other Smart being apart from ponies.

 

"Also I will admit I am not one to start reading book, I prefer asking for stuff sooo I am curious, How do stuff function around here I can already see that magic play a major role in it, plus how comes there is no dominant race so to speak between Earth ponies, pegasus and Unicorns ? How comes they can even co exist ? Also how did Discord came to be ? Are there other of his kind ? Were was he for I presume so many years ? What are those elements that we discovered ? What are the original Elements that were spoken of ?" Lionheart was on a row with the question asking not in a demanding tone but unnecessary fast, It was obvious that he was very curious and mostly be cause he had started feeling more at home in this world than his own. It was a strange feeling but he used to be very bored in his world when here everything was interesting, magic existed and heck they were out to hunt evil how better could it get.

[PeachPalette 1,000]

Peach's spirits lifted as she witnessed SiFi's change of mood. While carefully using her magic to lift the hidden sheets of paper from their dark resting place, she stared over at SiFi as he buzzed around the room. Heh, she thought. He sure has a nice smile. It was something she barely got to see since she officially met him.

 

She plopped her rump into her dad's old chair as she allowed the notes to lightly rest on top of the open book. Her attention, however, was pulled towards the curious Lionheart and his constant line of questioning. She placed her cheek in her hoof, supporting it and listened to him go on with a light smile.

 

She took a breath once he finally quieted down. "While I'm not so sure I'm going to remember all of them, I can get some of them out of the way for you now. You see, Equestria...," she began as her free hoof pointed in the direction of a smaller map in her dad's study that hung on the wall. "...is our land. Our world. In it are smaller cities, countries, and towns. Of course, not all are taken care of quite like this side of the map because not all areas are inhabited by our kind."

 

She looked up as if thinking upon his other questions. "Magic does play a very important role in our world. It helps us out a great deal with day to day life." She wasn't sure what to say about the way things were ran around her. What would be different to him? To her everything was normal. "There was a time long, long ago were the races were divided. In fact, that story is told every Hearth's Warming Eve here. Since then our races have intermingled, and co-existed. It's been the only way to live in complete peace and happiness. Why...if we did not end up co-existing then we'd be thrown into an endless winter...much like the one Discord threw upon us. It would end us," Peach answered another question only to think of the next one.

 

"As for Discord," she began again. "He has been around since before our land was put on the map. There was a time, I imagine, where he was just and fair and ruled in his own corner among the Princesses. After all, there can never be just good anything. To have balance you must have the bad as well. In his case, chaos. But, I suppose with any great power, it can go to one's head. The land was thrown into total chaos and it took the creation of the Element of Harmony to imprison him. Since then, he was kept trapped in stone here in Ponyville, only to escape once again. It took the reuse of the Elements to finally put another stop to him. This time, wielded by the six heroes of Equestria. Each with their own element: Loyalty, Kindness, Laughter, Honesty, Generosity, and finally...Magic." She sighed. "And now he's free again. How, I do not know."

 

She looked at her father's notes, not reading them yet. "Apparently we, ourselves are the next new elements...at least according to Celestia," she said thinking back on hearing Celestia's voice merging with Artsy's. "It's up to us to put a stop to him once and for all."

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

"Oh, I'm sorry... I really didn't mean to. I just thought that maybe this was where the innkeeper might've been. I don't usually though, no." She turned a rather warm shade of red as the other pony addressed her abrasively. Upon getting her answer, she tried to move away from this ruder discourse and was relieved that her tone had lessened. Though the other pony's interjection peaked her curiosity, she also went with Serah's lead to ignore it. Wasn't for her to know, really.

 

"Well... I think I found a way to come back into contact with the Princess. She could tell us what to do next and maybe even how to get home. But... it's this event thing that happens on a certain date. And I don't know what date it is. Nor do I know where it is and how to get there. I was thinking since Peach is..." She paused, being heavily aware of the stranger pony's presence, and hastily changed her wording. "...The more knowledgeable of us, she could help us get there."

[Legendary Emerald 622]

"Well... I think I found a way to come back into contact with the Princess. She could tell us what to do next and maybe even how to get home. But... it's this event thing that happens on a certain date. And I don't know what date it is. Nor do I know where it is and how to get there. I was thinking since Peach is..." She paused, being heavily aware of the stranger pony's presence, and hastily changed her wording. "...The more knowledgeable of us, she could help us get there."

 

"You're speaking a lot of words, but not saying anything."

 

Serah barely kept her comment to herself. 'Things', 'events', 'dates'; all useless non-specifics.

 

"Perhaps she's being intentionally obtuse because of my... guest."

 

She decided to give Artsy the benefit of the doubt, this time. She nodded her head.

 

"If it's an opportunity to speak with the princess, it should be taken. The more we know about... what we're going up against, the more prepared we can be." Serah came to the decision without much thought. "What is the name of the event?"

 

Before Artsy could answer, Lyra spoke up once more.

 

"Are you two talking about the Grand Galloping Gala?" Lyra asked. Serah shot the musician a perturbed look. "Because I know the princesses are going to be there."

 

Serah turned back to Artsy. Her expression asked for confirmation of Lyra's hunch.

[Wolfe 71]

Brave nods to Artsy as she jumbles across to the door. Upon the door closing, he takes a closer look at the flyer. Still the same message. Nothing seemed to point to any certain idea. Maybe there was something in the back? He took a hoof and placed it on the paper, but realized, once again, no fingers. Time for some improv... Brave laid down, with belly on the floor. He placed his hooves on each end of the paper. He slid one to the other and the paper made a little hump. Once there was enough room, he stuck his snout into the little gap and lifted the paper. In one swoop, Brave tucked his right hoof under the paper and lifted while he blew a bit of air onto the other side. Eventually, the paper turned over. What effort...

 

He adjusted himself to the see the other side, but unfortunately, it was blank. Just some crumble marks here and there. What a waste of time and effort... Stop that... He looked at the paper again and seemed to zone in on it. The white back seemed to close in on him and it was all Brave could see. He pulled back and then he saw blue cabinets lined up around him. Behind him specifically was an open bathroom. ...What? Wait, this is... the changing room...? In the dojo...

 

~~~~~

 

Brave, once again, was passed out on the floor. His body laid flat in front of the blank side of the flyer. He seemed to be really exhausted. He has never had to deal with such an injury before.

 

~~~~~

 

Brave realized he was in his karate dojo. The place where he got stronger, more agile, and more skillful in the martial arts He looked down to see himself as a human, once again. He was wearing a white garment; his karate gi. Brave also saw himself wearing a blue belt, shin guards and karate gloves. He took a look at the clock in the room. The hands were held at 8:20. It was usually the time he sparred with the other students. Before heading out the door, he went into the bathroom area to go to the mirror. His heart skipped a beat when he saw himself faceless once more. He was still "unidentifiable," he thought. He looked down to where he remembered that gash being. He moved his left hand under his gi and felt the area. It was dry, but there was a palm sized scab. He left it at that, not wanting any pain stopping him.

 

From the corner of his eye, something past behind him from the reflection of the mirror. Brave immediately jumped around and tried to spot who ever, or what ever it was. Must be Discord... but why is he going on the offensive so soon? His heart started pounding quickly. He got nervous once more as he glanced the white tiled bathroom on one side and the wooden floored changing room on the other. And there was the black, glassy door on the end of the changing room. It went out to the small hallway to the mat. To spar. To practice.

 

"...be brave... be Brave... ...Be Brave..."

 

Slowly, Brave made a step. And another. And one more. Closer to the door. Until he had a handle on the door. He had a feeling he was out there. Discord was waiting. Maybe as his opponent. He turned around and looked at the clock... 8:19. Had to be Discord if he moved back time by one minute. *TICK*... Two minutes... He took a big breath in. He held it in for a few seconds and exhaled. Be brave... He pushed the door and stepped through.

Edited April 10, 2012 by Wolfe

[Electrobolt 2,069]

Electrobolt continued to struggle in his sleep, as he continued to fight back against Discord in his nightmare. If he wasn't covered up before, he certainly was now, as the covers had wrapped all around him, making him look sort of like a burrito...

 

------

 

That wicked laughter filled his head as suddenly, the human began to feel sick to his stomach, along with his splitting headache. "Urgh..." he muttered. "What... What are you doing to me?" Almost as if the voice had been waiting, it responded, it's voice booming in his head. So you want to know what's happening to you as we speak, huh? Well, why don't you just take a look for yourself! With that, a bolt of lightning struck down in front of him as from the lightning emerged a mirror. All he could do for a minute was stare in shock as he saw something different in the mirror. Quickly, he looked at his body, still seeing he was a human, then back to the mirror.

 

Instead of seeing himself as a human, he instead saw a lime-green pony staring back at him. "Wha..." he uttered, as he lifted his hand. Matching him perfectly, the pony lifted his hoof up, reflecting the image. When he waved, the pony waved as well. When he moved his head left and right, the pony's head followed too. It was then that the boy felt his stomach twisting once more. Once more he looked back at the reflection, as the pony shared the same facial and body expression as he was, but when he looked at himself... "Wha... What's going on!!!" he uttered, as his hands suddenly became hooves. He looked at he feet and instead of seeing his tennis shoes, they were replaced by hooves, too! Just then, his clothes disappeared as his light-peach skin was replaced by a coat of lime-green fur. Unable to find himself able to stand on his own legs anymore, he wound up dropping to all four as if he had been a pony all of his life.

 

------

 

"What... What are you doing to me..." was the only thing that could be heard clearly as Electrobolt continued to mumble in his sleep. Beads of sweat began to form on his forehead as he kept tossing and turning, even though he was wrapped up like a living burrito.

[Wolfe 71]

Brave stepped through the door and walked on the wooden paneled floor in the small hallway. He remembered everything in this place. Nothing seemed to be out of place. The tan walls and the brightly lit ceilings were as how he remembered them. As he turned left to enter the main area where the front desk, the mat, and the stands were, Brave noticed something odd. No one was in the dojo, except for two people... or rather one person and one Discord. Another thing Brave noticed was the outside. The black, square windows overlooking the outside did not show a clear intersection, but a starry night sky. It reminded Brave of when Discord teleported the inn to his own dimension.

 

Discord was wearing a gi similar to Brave and all other students at the dojo, including the school's emblem on the back. Discord was also notably shorter; Brave assumed either to accommodate his own size, or to not get whacked by the ceiling fans. He noticed that Discord was wearing a blue belt, as well as the sparring equipment. Brave had a feeling that something was going to change, with how Discord seemed to act. The other person was easily recognizable to Brave: his Sensei. A sixth degree black belt and with a lot of championships under his belt, Sensei Lee-Scott was a man Brave truly respected. Standing at 6 foot 2 inches, Sensei was a man to be reckoned with. But why was he standing next to Discord? It felt wrong, but Discord was controlling things again.

 

Come on, ?????, we don't have all day. It seemed that Lee-Scott was calling by his true name, whatever it was. Like before, it just seemed to be erased out. Brave nodded and stepped inches before getting on the mat. He put his hands on his sides and his feet together and bowed, OSS! He then stepped forward onto the gray, foamy mats. He looked around the familiar sparring grounds: The red mats that made a big rectangle around the mats, the glass windows on one side displaying the blackness, the dark red brick wall perpendicular to the windows. They display 4 flags: Brazil, Europe, the US, and Japan in that order on the center of the wall. The lower third of the wall is covered with mats, to prevent any head injuries. On the opposite side are the stands overlooking the mat as well as the front desk to help anyone with questions regarding the place, payments, and whatnot. The final wall is the most important: Dojo-kun. He was about to read it until Lee-Scott interrupted him. Over here, ?????.

 

Brave stepped to where his Sensei pointed to. Sensei also pointed to another location for Discord to stand on. Brave looked at Discord. The sight outside the glass windows seemed to give Discord a sense of an aura. A sense that Discord was unstoppable. But he was hoping that the Dojo-kun would help him out. Even if it was not just a code for martial arts, but for life, he would do his best and not do anything dirty or wrong. The mat was sacred and Brave intended to keep its code.

 

Bow!

 

Both Brave and Discord bowed. Discord had such a grin as he remained silent this whole time. It was something that was nerving Brave a bit. In his mind, he repeated the Dojo-kun he had memorized from months of reading it at the end of class.

 

Dojo-kun.

Seek perfection of character.

Be faithful...

 

Shake hands.

 

Brave and Discord stepped forward and pounded their gloves together. Discord gave a bit more oomph into the pound as he gave a bit of a grin.

 

Endeavor.

Respect others.

Refrain from violent behavior.

 

HAJIME!

Edited April 12, 2012 by Wolfe

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

"Alp... yeah! Yeah, that's it! How do you kno-" She cut herself off as common sense had just struck her. Of course this pony would know. She was a real pony, and from what she had read, it had to be an important event known to most of the ponies if the Princesses was attending. Perhaps she didn't need to seek out Peach for the moment after all.

 

"Of course! We're um... looking to go there. But we're new around here... and we don't really know a lot of stuff about it. It's... in a few days, isn't it?" The unicorn kept herself as vague as possible, so as not to reveal their nature. Hopefully she wouldn't figure it out because Artsy sure was a pretty bad liar. Already, her lies were revealing themselves upon her face with her growing blush. Even as a pony, she had retained this unfortunate habit of easily having heat rush to her features when she was under pressure. Lying to strangers was one such unfortunate situation.

Edited April 12, 2012 by Arylett Dawnsborough

[Legendary Emerald 622]

"Of course! We're um... looking to go there. But we're new around here... and we don't really know a lot of stuff about it. It's... in a few days, isn't it?" The unicorn kept herself as vague as possible, so as not to reveal their nature.

 

"Try tomorrow!" Lyra corrected Artsy with a small laugh. She hadn't seemed to pick up on Arsty's obvious half-truths and stumbling words. "This is the first time it's been open to the general public, instead of invite only. Everyone who's anyone is going to be there."

 

"Tomorrow..." Serah mumbled glumly to herself. "How far is it?"

 

"It's pretty far, but it doesn't start 'til late at night. If you take a carriage in the afternoon, you should get there in plenty of time." Lyra explained, and then smiled. "Which reminds me, you're in luck! Since I was specially invited to play as part of the entertainment at the gala, I have a carriage coming over tomorrow to pick me up. I'm sure it won't matter if I bring a few other ponies with me."

 

Serah was justifiably surprised at this revelation.

 

"She was invited to play at a gala with the princess? Why the hell did I think she needed my help, then?"

[Electrobolt 2,069]

As the once human turned into the pony that was shown in the mirror, he kept having this sick feeling in his stomach. "Urgh... What... What are you doing to me..." he asked, feeling weak. The voice did not answer him as he felt himself able to move again. Looking at the mirror once more, he saw the same pony there, as he looked exactly like that pony did now. However, the reflection began to move of it's own will. "Well well well," the reflection spoke. "You still think this isn't real? Well, let me just say this: You aren't who you were all those years back anymore. You aren't that human anymore. Now you're the simple Earth Pony known as Electrobolt. And you can forget about returning to your human world again!" With that last statement, the voice that had spoken to him earlier began to burst into a thunderous laughter, as the once-human-now-pony freaked out, looking around the room frantically. "This... This can't be!!!" he exclaimed, trying to deny this. "I... I just..."

 

------

 

"NO!!!" Electrobolt shouted out, as he continued to struggle in his sleep. His face was drenched in sweat and his mane began to get all messy as he continued tossing around. He tried to move his legs around, but it was impossible considering how he was wrapped up tight.

 

------

 

He was now running in this dark, empty area as he tried to find some means of escaping this madness. "There's... There's gotta be some way out of this madhouse!!!" he shouted, looking for any way to flee. Unfortunately for him, the area was filled with pure darkness no matter which way he looked or ran. Aw, what's the matter? Can't handle the cold truth? He ignored the voice as he kept running aimlessly, looking for a door to free himself. You should know, there's no escaping from me! So you might as well give up and resign yourself to your fate! He once again ignored this voice as he continued to press onward, hoping that there was an exit from this place.

[Deshi Bashara 6]

"We'll go to that cupcake place, I guess." Cole decided. What was the name again? "Sugarcube Corner, I think it was ca-"

 

He was cut off by Electrobolt's yell. He looked and saw him wrapped up in his blankets, struggling to move. Thinking fast, he untangled Electro's blankets, hoping it would help him in some way.

[Aureity 3,055]

Crystal Flame shrugged. "Okay, sounds good to me." Without waiting for Cole, he eagerly left the room. I can't stand bieng cooped up in here all day waiting for Cole to make a simple descision. As he hurried down the hallway, he turned back, and noticed that Cole wasn't following. "Hey, hurry up! What's taking so long?" he called, a slight hint of annoyance in his voice. He waited for a second, then shook his head slowly and continued onward out the door.

 

~~~

He had to go back.

It was impossible. And impractical. He couldn't survive in this alleyway. What was he thinking?

The rain was coming down in thick, slathering sheets now. His hair was completely soaked, and his shirt was drenched. The only sound in the dark alleyway was the monotonous pitter-patter of rain droplets bouncing off of the cold stone floor.

He looked up through squinted eyes. The sky was a dark grey, reminding him of his emotions. The turmoil of the thunderstorm had darkened his view-not only figuratively, but literally as well. It was nearly pitch-black, and every so often he'd stumble over something...

 

"Gahh!" His foot smashed against a blunt object, and his entire body toppled forward. He fell in a crumpled heap unceremoniously to the ground, slamming his head on the cold, hard rock. Everything went black-although that really wasn't much of a difference to him.

Pitter-patter. The rain fell on his still figure. From the right angle, and with a bit of light, the rain looked slightly pink.

~~~

Crystal Flame blinked. "Dammit, I did it again. Every time I stop to think..." His brain was pouding even more than usual, and his headache had intensified. He was definitely not in a very patient mood as he finally turned around, three feet from the door, to wonder what was taking the other pony such a long time. Marching back that very same corridor, he peeked into Electrobolt's room. Cole was standing over Electrobolt, who was...sleeping.

 

"Oi," Crystal Flame snapped. "Hurry up, will you, and leave that pony to his sleep."

[SuperTheAwesome 199]

Speed woke from her sleep at the sound of Electro's scream. She was both thankful and annoyed - she was very tired, but the nightmare's were horrible when she slept. Speed got up and out the door, looking for the source of the scream. She recognized the voice that was screaming as Electrobolt, so all she needed to do was find his room.

 

After a short time of searching, Speed saw Crystal peering into a room. He must have been alerted by the scream too, She thought, walking towards Crystal.

 

What happened in that hall was very unexpected. Speed's vision seemed to be distorted, and the hallway seemed to grow as she walked towards Crystal. To anyone else, Speed would be seem walking around in circles. To her, she was struggling to get to Crystal. Blood started to drip off her face again, and so did sweat. She collapsed to the ground, still conscious. She was in pain. She whispered a word, "H- help..." Before her eyes slid shut.

 

--

 

A land of clouds was all Speed could see. Beautiful rainbows could be seen all around the land, but Speed was terrified. She was falling straight towards a cloud. She closed her eyes, preparing to go through it, when she heard a small thump. She... she landed... she landed on the cloud? She got up on her feet, and noticed a problem. The clouds weren't connected. She had to fly. She ran towards the edge of the cloud and hopped into the air. She flapped her wings...

 

She was doing it! She was flying! A big smile appeared on her face. But just as it appeared, it disappeared once more. A laugh could be heard. You didn't think it was this easy, did you? Speed looked to her sides in horror. She had no wings. She started falling towards the ground again...

Edited April 13, 2012 by SuperTheAwesome

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

"Tommorow?!" She jolted in such shock that she nearly fell over, but managed to regain her balance and recover at this new pony's other news. She could get them in? Wow, they were in luck that Serah managed to meet someone so in the know. Grinning vastly, she nodded her head at this new unicorn and suddenly regarded her in another light.

 

"Oh really? Thank you. We don't mean to intrude or anything... thank you a lot for your kindness. Could you really take us all? There's... quite a few of us. We're a large group of peopl- I mean... ponies. I'd have to find everyone and get them all together. It's important that all of us come."

 

Then another question came to the unicorn's mind, recalled from the flyer. Feeling a bit shy from so much interaction already, she pushed it forth anyway through her timidity. "Also... do you know where we can get some clothes for the event? We don't have any."

[Electrobolt 2,069]

After Cole had unwrapped the covers from Electrobolt, his legs continued to move about for a while before finally slowing down. Whatever was causing his legs to flail about in his sleep must have finally settled down, even though he was still drenched in sweat.

 

------

 

As he continued to run through the vast, dark realm that surrounded him, he suddenly came to a halt, having been stopped by some kind of object. "Ow... What did I just run into...?" he muttered, looking up to the thing that he ran into. "Wait... How am I able to see this? Shouldn't it blend in with the area?" What he was looking at right now was a black door. Shaking his head, he thought it would make for a means of finally escaping the mad realm that he was in right now.

 

However, once he had opened the door and entered, he saw that the surrounding area was completely different from his past dreams, AND the room at the inn. As the young, lime-green colt looked around, he noticed three figures. Two of them were humans, of whom he never met before, and the other one was... *Discord??? Wait... Why am I even here?* he thought, as he looked at his surroundings again. He was apparently in a dojo of sorts. *This... I don't remember this place at all...*

Edited April 13, 2012 by Electrobolt

[PeachPalette 1,000]

Peach's eyes began to follow along with her father's words scribbled onto the aged paper. With each line read, it seemed her expression grew more and more stressed. Her face sunk further into her hooves as her body began to lean closer to the notes. Her eyes narrowed, her ears dropped to the sides of her head. For a moment, she imagined herself looking much like her father did...that grave expression from her memories.

 

Somehow, her father brilliantly translated the alien writings from the book and found clues describing their perilous fate. She read on only to have the terrible feeling of deja vu, that she's lived the very things her father described. He spoke in script as if being there for Discord's second and third escape. "The third escape...," she began to read, her voice quivering. Her inner voice transformed into her father's so that she could pretend to be as strong as he was.

 

"The third escape of Discord will mean the destruction of two worlds. He will merge these two very different worlds. Merging the two will create an unstable rift in the natural balance of things creating catastrophic rein of chaos, and finally ruin. The beast god can only be defeated by an organic form of the new elements of harmony, and only when used in perfect unison. If these elements of harmony cannot be used in time, nothing will return to normal again and the two worlds will be doomed for all eternity. The rift between worlds will only last for four days time before it breaks, rendering the new elements useless."

 

She stopped, not needing to read the rest. For the first time she understood why they wanted to keep this from her. Why they wanted to leave so soon and get this news to Celestia. They...must not have made it.

 

She narrowed her eyes as the note rolled up, commanded by her glowing horn and dropped in a saddlebag. Her father's. The saddlebag lifted from it's resting place and lightly lay over her back. "My mother and father didn't make it, but I will. Come on, ponies. We need to gather the others, and quickly!"