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Dropping In

by IncoherentOrange

Chapters

Fall

Chapter One: Fall

   My first thought was about the rather unpleasant headache. I opened my eyes to see a clear, all-too-perfectly blue sky. I sat up uncomfortably and immediately noticed a number of things. The first one being that I was incredibly dizzy, and the second one being that everything looked... almost cartoony, and in a very familiar fashion. As my dizziness dissipated, I scanned my surroundings.

   There were what looked to be apple trees all about me, and as I turned my head I saw something that confirmed one of my very first thoughts. I was looking at a barn, a familiar barn. Far too familiar. Was that the barn, the one of Sweet Apple Acres? Wait, what? I live in reality, not in a television show, this wasn't right. The last thing I remembered was that I was walking home from school, and suddenly I was... falling? Yeah, that was it. I hit the ground. Must have been hard, too. Hard enough to knock me out. I felt the back of my head. There was a terrible bruise forming, and a small gash that had apparently stopped bleeding some time ago. I looked to where my head had laid, and there was a little stain of blood on a small rock. That was what had knocked me out? I'd somehow fallen out of the real world and hit my head on a rock in... what was this, Equestria? A fictional world? While I wasn't dizzy anymore, I was very sleepy, probably because I had a concussion or something. I concluded that this was a weird dream, and that I had fallen asleep on my feet. After all, I had been pretty tired. I laid my head down on the grass and drifted off.

*****

"Hey!" said a familiar voice.

"Are you alright!?"

I opened my eyes. I was laying face to face with a pony, an orange pony. Well, that was another thing that didn't make sense that was confirmed today. Fictional place, check. Fictional character, check, not waking up from a weird dream, check.

"You can't be sleepin' here, this is private property," the orange pony said promptly.

"...Urgh. Hello, uhh... Applejack. Applejack!?" I mumbled, dazed. My eyes snapped open as I realized what, exactly, I had just done. Did I just speak to a pony?

"I don't reckon to have seen anything like you around here, nor anypony. How would you know my name?"

I was silent for a moment. I was talking to a fictional character. A pony. How could I explain myself to Applejack?

"Well? Who are you? How do you know me?"

"Uh, I'm Zach. I don't know you-"

"But you know my name. I'm not that famous."

"-But I know a great deal about you," I continued.

"How? I'm only a farm pony," she said modestly. I expected such a response. Not everypony in the world knew Applejack's name, or even that she existed.

"Actually, that's an interesting story,"  I replied. She narrowed her cartoonishly large eyes at me and frowned.

"Start talkin'."

"You probably aren't going to believe a word of this, but..."

Introductions

Chapter Two: Introductions

"...And that is how I know a great deal about Ponyville, you, and your friends."

"But that doesn't make any sense. Maybe you hit your head harder than you say," Applejack replied, obviously confused and perhaps overwhelmed. Another pony might have pretended to understand, but Applejack was the manifestation of the Element of Honesty. She probably thought I was insane, which was an entirely reasonable assumption to make.

"I know it doesn't, and you don't have to believe me," I said. I was slowly realizing how insane this situation was and was somewhat overwhelmed. I was transported to a fictional world and was talking to one of the main characters of a television program that I was rather fervently following. The characters are what made the show interesting to me, and I was speaking to one. This is just like those silly self-insertion stories that other bronies write. I had not gone into detail about the brony community and had hardly touched on the fandom. That would make my story even less credible and more like my own situation- insane and weird.

"You say that Equestria and everypony in it do not actually exist in your world, and are instead parts of a story? How could you say that now? You're here, and it looks pretty darn real, don't it?"

"It does, which is more than a little bit distressing, as I don't know how I got here. I should probably try to get home. Maybe a certain purple unicorn could help me if you could-"

I looked about. I had no idea how to navigate this strange land.

"-lead me to her," I got up from my sitting position, finding my height to be about a foot and a half taller than Applejack.

"You think Twilight could help ya?" Applejack said, sounding a bit uncertain for a moment.

"That makes sense. If anypony could, it would be her," she answered her own question.

As we walked along the trail among the apple trees in silence, I wondered more and more about how this could have happened. After concluding that it would be impossible to tell at the moment, Applejack broke the silence.

"You haven't told me anything about yourself or your kind. What are you like? I mean, you know so much about us, but I have no clue what you- or your world- are like. Do we have any reason to fear you?"

She stopped and eyed me suspiciously.

"We should wait until we're at Twilight's library, I have a feeling she'll have the same questions. But I will tell you this. If I were hostile, I would have not fallen on a rock and gotten a concussion or something on my way here and would probably have brought a weapon."

I continued walking, and again Applejack took the lead, satisfied with my answer for now.

A minute or so passed, and we were approaching the edge of the orchard. Up ahead, something caught my eye. In a tree I saw what looked to be the edge of a pillow on a branch. I had no doubt in my mind even before I noticed the multicolored tail hanging off of it. Rainbow Dash was taking a nap in a tree. Applejack had noticed as well, and hollered out to her.

"Hey, Rainbow!"

The pillow and the tail shifted, and a second or two later, the blue pegasus poked her head around the branch and into our line of sight.

"Hey, Applejack! Where are you off to? Who's your friend?" she replied quizzically, with a slight look of concern.

"This is Zach. He's not from around here, and we're off to Twilight's to see if she can help him get home."

"Pleased to meet you, Rainbow Dash."

"You know me?" Only slightly surprised, unlike Applejack.

"Well I don-"

"Of course you know me, I'm the fastest flier in Ponyville!" she interrupted.

"Uh, yeah, you are. I knew that."

"Am I really that famous? Do I have lots of fans where you come from?" She was very, very excited.

"I can explain all this when we get to Twilight's house."

"Alright!" The pegasus joined our growing ensemble, making three.

And with that, we continued along the path and soon entered Ponyville. It was hard not to notice Pinkie Pie, with a large number of balloons tied to her torso, floating a few meters above the ground. It took her a moment to notice her two friends and a stranger approaching.

"Wheeeee!" she squealed in excitement, dangling her legs and laughing, clearly having a good time up there.

"Hi Applejack! Hi Rainbow Dash! Hi-" She paused.

"Welcome to Ponyville! I've never seen anypony like you before! I'm Pinkie Pie!" The now very excited pink earth pony somehow lowered herself to the ground.

"We have to throw a party! Everypony that arrives in Ponyville gets a party!" she said as elevated her head up to mine, stretching her neck impossibly. "What's your name?"

"Um, hi Pinkie, I'm Zach. We can have that party sometime later in the week, okay?" I said, somewhat sheepishly. There are times for parties, and this was not one of them. I had to get home.

"Aww, okie dokey lokey! Where are you three going?"

"Twilight's place, Zach here doesn't know how to get home. He also has an interesting story about us ponies," Applejack answered.

"Well that sounds neat!" Now with a bouncing Pinkie in tow, we approached the library and opened the door.

As our foursome entered, Twilight Sparkle sitting with her back to us, reading a book.

"Hi Twilight, we have something we need help with," Applejack began.

The reading unicorn started to turn around.

"Sure Applejack, what is it?" She finished her turn.

"Who is this?" She cocked her head in curiosity.

"This fellow here has an issue," Applejack explained.

"I'm Zach, pleased to meet you, Twilight Sparkle."

"Have we met?"

"Nope, never. I'll explain."

"Your friends led me here. I have a problem, you see. I'm not from Equestria, I am from a different universe, I guess. I was hoping you could help me."

"A different universe!? Describe it, please!"

"Before I get to my problem, I would have to explain the position of Equestria in our world. Us humans- that's what I am- live in a world without any other sentient species, and completely lacks magic.-"

"It lacks magic!? What do you mean by that?" Twilight asked, confused by the concept.

"There is no magic in our world. No being on Earth- our world- can practice magic. Telekinesis and teleportation are myth, as are many of the creatures found in your world."

"That's hard to imagine, continue," she urged, still not quite understanding.

"Equestria does not exist in our world physically. It is fiction, like so many books and stories. We enjoy these stories using a piece of technology called a television. These stories are crafted by groups of humans, giving millions of people a large amount of insight- not necessarily useful insight- if they observe many of these stories. I have observed many of these stories, so I know much about Equestria, including you and your friends."

"Hold on just a second! This doesn't make sense, how could you be here if we don't exist?" Rainbow Dash countered.

"That's why my situation confuses me. I can't be here because this world doesn't exist in mine. Well, ponies exist, but they are not sentient, and are domesticated like dogs are here."

"But you aren't in your world anymore, you're in ours," Applejack interjected.

"As I see it, I must have been brought here through magic or something. Which is why I came here, Miss Sparkle. I need the help of you fictional beings- if I can call you that anymore- to get home, if that's possible."

"Wait a second, you said that you would tell me about my fans in your world!" Rainbow Dash was impatient and bored by this conversation.

"Well, the stories set in Equestria have been crafted mostly for small girls because human males typically enjoy less cheerful and bright things. I am part of an older male group, known as the 'bronies' that follow these stories and enjoy them despite stereotypes telling us we should not. A lot of bronies have a specific choice in who is the best of the Elements of Harmony character-wise. The stories focus mainly on you four, Rarity, and Fluttershy, with Spike having a few stories about him in particular as well. Many bronies really like you, Rainbow Dash, because we think you're awesome."

"However, no brony has ever actually met any of you, until now, it seems. I feel pretty lucky right now. That, and concerned, since..."

"Wow! I have a fan club in another universe! Sweet! Who's your favorite?" Rainbow interrupted.

"If you could call it a fan club, I couldn't say. It's not every day that someone suddenly meets fictional characters, is it? What would you do if you met Daring Do? I mean, I feel quite lucky to be in the presence of adorable, fictional equines."

"Adorable?" Twilight said, quizzically.

"You know, cute, cuddly," I replied, feeling somewhat awkward.

"...Odd."

"It would be like, the best day ever if I met Daring Do!"

"Now that we know why your situation is so odd, why don't you tell us about yourself and other humans?" Twilight inquired. I figured she was curious about the workings of an organism from another world.

"Well, humans are omnivores, we eat both animals and plants. My hands as you can see them are similar to Spike's, good at manipulating objects but less pointy. The vast majority of humans wear clothing that conceals most of their bodies because we lack a coat of fur, having a far sparser covering of hair than say, you ponies. Otherwise, the structure of a human body is rather similar to that of a pony-"

"I mean't to ask about you and your society."

"...Oh. Uhh, there's little to tell. I'm fourteen years old and I live with my family. I like games and I think of myself as being quite smart."

"What's your cutie mark?" asked Applejack, having remained quite silent, listening. "Your name don't tell us much, unlike most ponies."

"Humans don't have cutie marks."

"You don't? How do you know what your special talents are?"

"You have to discover them for yourself."

"Oh..." Applejack looked down, thinking about it.

"That's downright unusual, but I suppose your world doesn't have any magic to make them appear."

"Right. About human society. I couldn't tell you a lot about humanity, but you must know that we have a very violent past, having wars of grand scale a number of times."

"Why would anypony reasonable do that?!" Applejack exclaimed.

"Unfortunately, different groups humans have greatly differing ideals, from fanatical warriors to pacifist monks. A major part of it is greed. Humans have instincts unlike yours, lacking a sense of the need for the well-being of all and being highly opportunistic, being programmed to only value a family unit and oneself. At the most primal of levels, anyway. There are many reasons why humans go to war, and they don't have significant merit for doing so in many of cases, often doing so because of a dispute in ideals or for the gain of the governing body. It's terrible, but it has been happening less and less."

"That can't be all about your people."

"Oh, of course not, that's just the worst point, really. Our civilization is highly advanced technology-wise," I said, this time with pride. "We have machines that can hold dozens of libraries worth of information, that can do mathematical equations extremely quickly, display images or play games."

"Wow. Do you have any of those machines?" Twilight had an extreme interest in this, no doubt.

I still had my backpack on from when I left school. I opened it and produced a handheld gaming device, which had run out of battery power.

"This one plays games with you. But it doesn't work right now."

"How does it work?"

Twilight levitated the device and rotated it, examining it.

"Well... I don't really know. I didn't make it."

"Are you sure it's not magical?" she said. Her horn glowed brighter.

"Umm..."

The device powered on as Twilight strained with concentration, but only for a second before the battery case emitted smoke and it ceased to function.

"Oops..." she said, apologetically.

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie erupted in laughter, and Applejack spoke up.

"Sugarcube, I think you broke it."

"She did. Probably fried the parts inside," I said with an annoyed sigh.

"Maybe that's... enough of that," Twilight said nervously. "I'll do some research on anything like this happening anywhere else. Maybe you should show Zach around Ponyville, girls."

"With pleasure!" said Pinkie Pie.

"I should get back to work, see y'all around." Applejack trotted out.

"I've gotta split too." Rainbow Dash followed.

"Sorry about your game device thing, I was just trying to make it work."

"Don't worry about it," I said, "I have much greater concerns right now."

"Let's gooo!" called Pinkie Pie. I hastened my pace, and exited the library.

Ponyville

Chapter Three: Ponyville

Departing the library, I was slightly angered by Twilight's actions. She was curious of course, and I couldn't ever remain angry at an adorable purple unicorn, but still, that device had value to me. The ever-bubbly Pinkie Pie took the lead.

"Follow me!" she said as she bounded away in her signature manner. I complied, barely able to comfortably keep pace.

"You mentioned that you were something called a 'brony'. What are bronies like? Are they fun? What do they do?" Pinkie inquired, intrigued.

"Well, bronies do all sorts of things. They create art of Equestria, they write stories about Equestria, they even make music about Equestria. Some bronies don't create anything, and are simply part of the community."

"Neat! What do they draw?"

"Uhmm... lots of things, mostly ponies."

"What do they write about?"

A certain fanfic came to mind, causing me to frown.

"What's wrong?"

"Uh, nothing. They write about a great many things. They cross this universe with others, write adventures with characters old and new. Many things."

"Neat! What's the music like?"

"I haven't ever been one to enjoy music," I said, "but it's largely like other music but it draws from the themes and characters of Equestria. There are many pieces about--and from--you, Fluttershy, and Rarity from what I know. There are also many songs consisting of snippets of your voice and the voices of other ponies."

"Music? About me? Coool!"

I could see, immediately in front of us, Sugarcube Corner. I then realized at the sight of the building of confections that I was starving. It must have been dinnertime by now.

"Sugarcube Corner! I live here, so do Mr. and Mrs. Cake, Pumpkin Cake, and Pound Cake," Pinkie announced.

"Yes, Sugarcube Corner. Say, Pinkie, I haven't eaten since I got here, and I'm kind of hungry." I didn't like asking, but I couldn't lie.

"'Hungry', you say! How about a cupcake?" She pulled a cupcake seemingly out of nowhere. It looked delicious, of course.

"Uh, sure. Thanks." I relieved her of the cupcake and took a bite. Its appearance did not lie; it was rather delicious. My great liking for this place only grew as I stayed, but I really had to find a way home. It might be many bronies' dream to go to Equestria, but it wasn't really one I shared. I was here, yes, and it was nice, but I could not stay. That is, if I could leave. I hoped I could leave.

"Wow, Pinkie. This is good," I complimented, finishing the cupcake.

"Glad you like it!" Pinkie stood pridefully.

"I haven't had a cupcake as a meal before."

"What do you usually eat?"

At this question I thought for a moment. I eat meat. Humans kill other animals to attain sustenance. Does that make us monsters in their eyes? Probably not. Omnivores exist here too.

"We eat many things. Milk, cheese, fruits, breads, vegetables, meats..."

"Meats? Oh, of course! You said that," she said, then her bubbly expression turned to a slightly concerned one.

"What kind of meats?"

"In our world, cows, pigs, chickens and all other animals are... not sentient like they are here. They cannot speak or understand us. It has been for tens of thousands of years that humans have eaten the meat of some of these animals. Clearly that is not acceptable while I remain here. I won't be eating any of Fluttershy's little friends, or any of the citizens of Ponyville." I chuckled. "Even if they are tasty."

Pinkie's typical expression returned. "Okie dokey lokey! Let's go see Rarity!"

"That sounds like a good idea."

After a minute or two we arrived at the Carousel Boutique. It was then apparent to me that Ponyville was really quite small, or, at least, most important areas were close to each other. Pinkie knocked on the door. I heard a sewing machine operating. It stopped and Rarity appeared at the door.

"Why, hello Pinkie-" She stopped mid-sentence as she noticed me.

"Those garments are so... boring! Why would anyone wear such a dreary outfit!?" Rarity said in a very melodramatic fashion.

I was wearing a black fleece sweater with no markings and a pair of black cargo pants, again with no markings. I wore this every day, as it was so practical and comfortable.

"Um, hello Rarity. I'm Zach." I introduced myself, feeling slightly uncomfortable, and perhaps a little compromised.

"Pleased to meet you." She returned the courtesy, still cringing at how ugly my outfit was. Unlike the others, she was not surprised at all that I knew who she was.

"Fashion trends where you come from must be quite different."

"Well, I am from a different universe... With no way home," I said with a matter-of-factness that made me feel rediculous.

"You're joking, right?"

"Unfortunately, no. I'm stuck here for the moment. I do like it here so far, though."

"While you're here maybe I could make you something more... interesting to wear." Rarity didn't want anyone ever to wear such an outfit as mine if she could help it.

"You can if you want, but I don't guarantee I'll like it. If you make me something, make sure it covers as much of my body as this does, please. Oh, and make it simple, I don't like fancy," I specified. Rarity telekinetically produced a measuring tape and a notepad, and took measurements.

I wasn't the most... charismatic person in the world. I was somewhat overweight, and not at all interesting to look at. To wear something that didn't match my uninterestingness would make me uncomfortable and would probably make me look like a clown. Besides, I couldn't possibly help my situation by drawing attention to myself. I already got enough odd looks from the populace as it was.

Rarity went back into her abode, and before shutting the door magically, asking us to come back later.

"That went well!" Pinkie said.

"Where to now?" I asked. The only one of the six I had not met yet was Fluttershy, so what Pinkie said next was no surprise, unlike many things the party pony could have said.

"I wonder what Fluttershy is up to!" She implied our destination and bounced off. I followed.

The Issue

Chapter Four: The Issue

It had taken around ten minutes to get to the edge of the Everfree Forest, where Fluttershy's cottage was situated.  It must have been getting late, as the sun was starting to set. Following the bouncing pink pony, we found ourselves at the front door to the tree that was Fluttershy's home. Pinkie knocked.

"Hellooo?! Fluttershy, you there? Hellooo!? It's me, Pinkie Pie and my new friend Zach! We came by to say hello!"

The door opened, and the timid yellow pegasus stuck her head out and looked at me quizzically, and then at my companion. She looked a little uneasy, probably because I was a stranger, and one of a kind she'd never seen before. She trusted her friend, no doubt, and it probably wasn't unusual for Pinkie to make new friends.

"H-hello there," she said in a slightly quivering, soft tone.

"A pleasure to meet you, Fluttershy. I'm Zach,"  I introduced myself, trying to look harmless.

"Zach just got here, and he's trying to get home! We're going to help him!" Pinkie Pie said, as though it were all a game. It might well have been a game to the party pony, you couldn't reliably tell.

"Oh, I see..." replied Fluttershy, thinking. She came out of her cottage, lifted off and slowly circled to get a better look at me.

"I've never seen any creatures like you before," she said after landing again, intrigued. It reminded me of when she first saw Spike.

"Where are you from?" she asked.

"Well, I'm from another universe, I think," I said, knowing how silly it must have sounded, despite my having said it numerous times today.

"Oh, my. That sounds terrible. How did you get here? You must be so confused," she said with the concern that was in her nature.

"Oh, he's happy! He knows all about us!" Pinkie added.

"I'm less confused than you'd expect, but I am still confused as to how exactly I got here. Twilight's working on a solution. I hope she finds one. Not that I'm in any rush to leave, it's very nice here... but still, I have to go home sometime," I replied.

"It's good that you like it here," Fluttershy said, slightly relieved.

I looked around, the sun was setting fast. I yawned. It had been the most tiring day I'd had in a while, and definitely the most eventful.

"I think we should be going. It was nice meeting you, Fluttershy."

"Good luck getting home. If you need my help don't be afraid to ask. Goodbye." With that she entered her cottage again.

"We should head back to Twilight's library," I suggested.

"Yeah! It's getting late. I'm tired." She didn't seem tired in the least, but even if she was, how could you tell? She could party 24/7 if there were enough sugary treats to keep her going, and not many would be needed.

Another ten minute trip and we were again at Twilight Sparkle's house. I strained to see Rainbow Dash clear a few stray clouds that had appeared over the course of the day in the growing darkness, then wave at us as she passed over. We waved back.

"I'll be heading home now. Gee, I'm beat!" Pinkie said enthusiastically, and happily trotted off.

I entered the library then, to see piles of books, scrolls and other miscellany in piles in several places, as well as Twilight, in front of a rather large, old-looking book. She hadn't noticed me coming in.

"Uh, hello?" Twilight spun around to face me.

"Oh, Zach, you're back! I've found something that might be useful. Come here." She bore a grave expression, like something was terribly amiss.

"What is it?" I asked, sitting down beside her.

"You see this text?" she asked.

"Uh, yes, what is it?"

"It's an ancient text about magical barriers."

"And?"

"It says here that when Discord- you know who Discord is, right?"

"I do, the Lord of Chaos. Pretty funny when you arn't on the recieving end of his tricks."

"...Right. It says here that right before Discord was banished to stone by the princesses Luna and Celestia, it produced a disturbance. A big one. Apparently, all the universes that exist are linked together magically, and separated from one another magically as well. Discord, in a final effort to cause chaos before his defeat, tried to disrupt the barriers between this universe and a certain other one which was unknown at the time- yours," she explained, with a hint of panic in her voice.

"Wow. That might explain how I got here. Is there something else?"

"There is. It was initially thought that Discord failed, and that there was nothing to worry about. It says that should the barriers be breached, the weakened barriers would be susceptible to being breached by certain rare individuals with certain characteristics. When this happens as it did today, the barrier will begin to rapidly destabilize, and parts of the universes will begin switching places. These individuals that cross are very important, as their actions reflect how the universes shift. It is theorized that heroic acts will reinforce the barrier, doing nothing at all will weaken the barrier over time, and that chaotic actions have a chance to destroy the barrier outright, causing a vicious battle of willpower of all the inhabitants of both universes, the victorious universe utterly destroying the other one... and everyone in it," she explained this part with even more panic. She had to struggle to keep her composure.

"That isn't good at all. If any other humans got here, they could easily destroy this world- there are probably hundreds of millions more humans than ponies. I'd never try to, don't worry. However, we need to be certain that no other humans are here, and if there are, we need to stop them from causing any trouble."

"Shouldn't we look for reports of ponies going missing too? What if a pony does something bad over there!?" Twilight was in a state of panic, as though she would be responsible if something went wrong.

"I don't think we need to worry, ponies are almost all such nice folk, arn't they? We should keep an eye out, though, and if ponies are going missing, let those concerned know what may have happened to them. Our people are, unfortunately... shall I say, ideologically varied, but they probably wouldn't hurt a pony in most circumstances," I tried to be reassuring. I wasn't very good at it.

"I suppose so. We should start looking tomorrow." Twilight was calming down a bit.

"I'm tired, you must be too," I said. Boy, what a day it has been.

"You're right. Where are you going to sleep? I have extra blankets and pillows if you need them."

"I'll just sleep on the floor. There are more pressing matters than me having a bed, don't worry about me."

It was going to be a sleepless night for me, and probably Twilight too. This could be the worst thing that's ever happened to either of our universes, ever. And I was in the middle of it, meaning I had to be a hero or be an accessory to universe destruction. I had never had to do anything of significance, and now I had to save an entire universe.

Not Alone

Chapter Five: Not Alone

Even after that night of restless turning and worrying, I didn't find myself tired. I was too worried to be tired. So many bad things could happen, or could be happening, or will happen, or... hmm. I was sitting alone, studying the book Twilight had found. It had a little more to it. It was saying that it was theorized--like much of the information the book provided--that if the source of the damage to the universal barrier were to be destroyed, or if all trans-universal beings returned to their universes, things might correct themselves. Of course, it didn't say anything about how the individuals who crossed universes were supposed to get home. It also said that if the barrier is weakened further by some dramatic chaotic event, some of the elements of this universe would seep into ours as thoughts of civilized people in the other afflicted universe. This would explain how My Little Pony happened. It must have been the chaotic event that was Nightmare Moon's return that triggered Lauren Faust's accurate imagining of the universe. But like everything else, it was theory. So much theory. How much of it was true, if any? If any of it was true, Discord might have to be destroyed, or I had to get all the humans out of Equestria, and all the ponies off of Earth. I hoped it was the former, as the latter one would be extremely difficult.

Twilight had rushed out as soon as possible to assemble her friends, and had asked me to take another look at the book for any clues. Twilight had left Spike with a pile of books from her research project to sort through and put away, and had forgotten to let him know what was going on. I noticed him coming into the main chamber of the library. He hadn't met me yet, as he had been asleep when I arrived on both occasions. I was quite a bit taller than Spike, even when sitting down. I lifted my head from my now distracted reading, and he looked nervous as he introduced himself.

"Um, hi, I'm Spike."

"Hello Spike, I'm Zach," I introduced myself in turn.

"Where are you from? I've never seen anyone like you before."

"Twilight didn't tell you?"

"No, she didn't tell me anything about you except that we had a guest. Is something bothering her? She seemed really worried, like when she had a late letter to Princess Celestia that one time and made a big deal out of it."

"Oh, she's worried. You see, I'm from another universe, and I was trying to get back home and had asked Twilight for help. But then Twilight found out that I might not be the only one of my kind here, and that one of our universes would be destroyed if we didn't stop it. Since she found out about all this herself, she thinks it is her responsibility to make sure that we do not fail," I explained.

"Wow, our universe could be destroyed!?" Spike was visibly overwhelmed.

"Yes. That is, if I and others who have entered Equestria don't perform heroic deeds or something like that, this would happen. I never saw myself as a hero of any sort."

This was true. Suddenly, Spike backed up, puffed out his cheeks, and spat out a letter. I picked it up and opened it. Spike tried to tell me that letter was for Twilight and not me, but I shushed him. It could be important.

'My Faithful Student,

It has come to my attention that some new creatures have appeared in Equestria. They don't have a clear goal to my knowledge, but some of them have proven themselves to dangerous, and may not be of this world. I request that you and your companions come to Canterlot, as the Elements of Harmony may be needed. Be careful, Twilight Sparkle, I hope to see you soon.

Sincerely, Princess Celestia.'

"Oh, no..." I muttered.

"What? What is it?" Spike was confused and curious.

"Princess Celestia says that some new creatures have appeared--meaning others like me--and that they're causing trouble. Twilight and the Elements of Harmony have to go to Canterlot in case something bad is going to happen."

"We have to tell Twilight!" Spike verbalized my thought.

"I agree, let's go."

I picked up the book, and turned to leave the library. Spike followed.

"Where do we go? Twilight could be anywhere!" Spike's question would not be answered, as I heard approaching hooves on the road. I turned to see Twilight and the other three earthbound ponies walking (or in Pinkie's case, bouncing) at a fast pace toward us, with the two pegasi above. They stopped in front of us.

"There, everypony is here. As I said, we have a big problem-" Twilight was starting a speech. I interrupted her.

"Twilight! We were just going to look for you. A letter from the Princess arrived, and it's urgent." I offered the letter to her.

"A letter from the Princess?" She levitated the letter from my extended hand to her face. She gasped.

"We have to get to Canterlot as soon as possible!"

"Uh, why? What's so important?" Applejack piped up. Twilight hadn't told any of them anything.

"I hope everything is alright..." Fluttershy said.

"I'll explain on the way," I offered.

"How are we going to get there fast? Do we have to walk?" Rarity added. She wasn't thrilled at the prospect.

"Maybe I could get a sky chariot to pick us up!" Rainbow Dash offered.

"I don't know, even four ponies is a lot for one of those. Eight is too big a party for even a land chariot!" Pinkie interjected, as though she had experience in the matter. I didn't doubt that she did.

"Looks like we're going to have to hike," I concluded aloud, not too happy about it myself.

"Let's get a move on! We can't keep the Princess waiting forever!" Applejack said enthusiastically.

With that we went on, and soon left Ponyville, bound for the capital.

The Road to Canterlot

Chapter Six: The Road to Canterlot

A few moments had passed, and Ponyville was to our backs. It wasn't much of a hike on the well-travelled path to Canterlot. Rainbow Dash had, with Applejack's permission, left at her extraordinary speed with a bag to fetch some apples from the farm to provision our journey, because we were bound to get hungry sometime along the way. None of them had said much since we left Ponyville. Applejack broke the group's silence and asked me a question that I had promised to answer.

"What exactly is goin' on, anyway? What's got Twilight so riled up? You said you would explain."

"You know how I said that I was from a different universe?" I began. The others had taken notice and were listening in.

"I reckon I do."

"Well, it turns out that because of Discord's actions so long ago, when Luna and Celestia defeated him the first time, the powerful magic barrier separating this universe and mine was weakened, and is now at risk of breaking. Some individuals, like myself, have slipped through the barrier by accident. That was how I ended up on your farm, Applejack. According to Princess Celestia's letter, more humans have arrived and have been causing trouble. We have to stop them before they cause chaos, which would endanger the barrier. We also have to assume that some ponies are stuck in our world as well, and hope that they don't cause any trouble."

"What happens if the barrier is destroyed?" Rarity asked, knowing she wouldn't like the answer. She was walking up ahead of me, probably so she didn't have to look at my poor fashion taste that she had wished to correct the previous day.

"All of this information is according to this book." I produced the large, ancient book of the barriers from my backpack.

"It says that if the barrier would be lost, the universes' inhabitants would have a colossal battle of willpower, the victor's universe absorbing the other. We obviously must bring this to Princess Celestia's attention immediately."

"That doesn't sound fun at all!" Pinkie Pie complained. She may have just realized that this was not a game after all. Her mane didn't deflate, and she maintained her bounciness. Evidently, no despair would find the pink pony.

"How do we stop it? We can do it if nopony else can!" Rainbow Dash said with the enthusiasm, pride and bravery that were some of her most defining personality traits.

"It rests with the other humans and myself. If we do heroic or probably even good acts, the barrier will repair itself. If we do nothing, then the barrier will diminish over time. If we cause disorder and chaos, then the barrier may fail altogether." I finished.

"I hope that book is wrong..." Fluttershy said quietly.

"It can't be. It was written by Starswirl the Bearded himself." Twilight had remained silent, probably too troubled to speak about it. She had great admiration for the character, and whatever he wrote was credible. At least to her.

"Oh?" I didn't know that.

"It was."

"We can't just let this happen. Not now, not ever." Applejack sounded determined.

"Regardless, whatever is happening, we need to get to the bottom of it and figure out a solution. Let's get to Canterlot," I reasoned. We weren't making any progress just talking about it.

With that, silence returned, and the path continued. In the distance I could see the grand silhouette of the mountainside city growing as we got ever closer.

*****

As soon as the entrance to the grand city was visible, a pair of royal guardsponies set out to meet us. One a unicorn, the other an earth pony, both had the same expression, and looked nearly identical. They stopped in front of us, alert. The unicorn began, his comrade remained silent.

"Twilight Sparkle. Princess Celestia is expecting you and your friends." He eyed me suspiciously.

"Who is this? One of the new creatures? Is he safe?"

"Yes, his name is Zach. He's harmless, he only wants to help," Twilight replied politely.

"Hello," I said nervously, troubled by his suspicion. Something must have happened.

"I trust your judgement. Enjoy your stay in Canterlot."

With that they returned to their posts, and our band of eight entered the city and headed for the palace at Twilight's lead. I came up beside Twilight and whispered to her.

"Something must have happened."

"I know." She looked exceedingly worried.

"Hopefully not anything too serious. Don't worry so much."

Again I tried to reassure her. My words betrayed my thoughts. She had every reason to worry, to panic. Only a serious event would cause the Princess to call humans "dangerous". They all had a reason. I looked about. Only some of our group was worried. Three ponies didn't show it. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were ready to do whatever was necessary. Pinkie Pie was in good spirits, but that's how she is in most extreme circumstances. All of us were determined, and many of us were worried. I was very worried. We continued through the streets of Canterlot. Some of the high society types were out and about, and scoffed at my bland appearance as I thought they would. They didn't have to worry about the fate of the universe. I envied them.

Enter Chaos

Chaper Seven: Enter Chaos

It didn't take Twilight long to lead us to the structure that was Canterlot Castle. It was magnificent, with its great masonry and characteristic elegance. The entrance was guarded, but these guards let our ensemble through without comment. They obviously knew who Twilight Sparkle was, and had given her a slight nod in passing. The interior of the castle was as ornate as the rest of the city. It looked like a fairy tale, I thought. But this was a fairy tale of sorts, wasn't it? Another short venture later, we found ourselves in the great throne room of the Princess herself. She was there, reading a scroll. Her sister was there too, but on a throne smaller than Celestia's by a fair margin. The whole room was decorated with stained glass windows, sculptures, and paintings. As we got closer, Celestia noticed us, and set down the manuscript. I didn't have to be told to bow, and did so in sync with the ponies. Luna was left unnoticed, and stopped what she was doing to observe.

"Twilight Sparkle, you've arrived! How good it is to see you and your friends. Is this a new friend of yours?" Celestia was apparently oblivious of the situation, but obviously knew what I was, as she narrowed her eyes slightly as she looked at me.

"Yes, Princess, It is good to see you. This is Zach. There is something important that we must discuss," Twilight said with urgency, but also great calm. Her mentor was there, after all, and her very presence was reassuring. I waved, and introduced myself nervously.

"Hello." She was a massive creature, larger than any other pony, and almost a head taller than me. Her presence was not intimidating as much as graceful, but intimidating nonetheless. I couldn't help but to think; benevolent dictator.

"Now that introductions are complete, we can begin with the issue detailed in my letter." Princess Celestia's tone became much more serious, and exemplified authority. She was ready to get down to buisness. I only got more nervous. The other ponies and Spike maintained their silence. They wouldn't dare speak out of turn to their deitized princess.

"Pardon my curiosity," Twilight began formally, "why did your letter say that these beings were dangerous?" She gestured to me with her hoof. "Zach hasn't hurt anypony."

"I'm sure he hasn't. The issue is, one of them has. Yesterday evening, one of these beings attacked Canterlot. A pony was badly hurt. We have detained the being for now." I built the courage to pipe up.

"How did he hurt a pony?" I asked. Celestia's attention turned to me.

"The guards told me that the creature was holding an object which made a loud noise when he pointed it at a mare outside Canterlot's gates. The mare fell, and the being moved toward the injured mare. The guards tried to restrain him with magic, and he collapsed." Celestia explained. I felt my mouth open in astonishment. A man had shot a pony? It was a wonder the barrier hadn't collapsed already.

"Is the pony alright?!" I asked. What if she was paralyzed or something? That would be tragic.

"She'll be fine. Our magic will have her healed soon," she answered. She didn't have much, if any, bias against humans, as far as I could tell, and treated me like somepony new instead of a monster that shot at ponies. Celestia then prompted Twilight to raise her issue.

"Twilight, there was something you wanted to discuss?"

"Yes Princess. I have found that Zach and the other being are not from this universe, and that if something isn't done, one of our universes will be destroyed." Twilight managed to maintain her calm. Celestia was there, and she could do something. Anything. Twilight opened my backpack, and produced the book.

"Oh? That sounds rather serious. Are you sure?" The Princess' tone remained serious, but now contained a hint of uncertainty. Twilight had been sure- and correct- last time she had brough to light a prophesy from a book. Luna could testify to that. Celestia should know that by now, Twilight was smart enough to determine a true threat from superstition.

"It says it all in this book! Starswirl The Bearded wrote it himself!" She levitated the book over to the princess of the sun. She seized it with her own magic, and opened the book, reading it very rapidly. Mere seconds later, she set the book down, and began.

"It is as I feared. Discord..." She trailed off heatedly.

"Yes. This is why I brought Zach along with us. He can help." Twilight sounded confident in my ability to help. I certainly wasn't. My thoughts turned to the other human.

"Please, let us speak to the other human." If I wanted to help, maybe I could start there.

"That's what your kind is called? My most sincere apologies. You may see him. My sister can lead you there." Celestia was now aware of the threat, but remained totally calm. I feared that she had the impression that she was in control. Luna rose from her sitting position, and trotted over to us. She was so cool when she did appear in the television show. I was excited to meet her in person. Other matters were more important, though.

"You may come with us," she said in her characteristic fashion. She led, we followed. We descended some stairs and went through a number of corridors before coming to what looked to be guest suites. These suites had no windows, and locked, sturdy doors with a small window on them. It came to me. This was a prison? Looked very nice to be a prison. There was only one guard patrolling the area, like all the other areas of the castle, and the cells were spacious, clean, and rather colorful. Of our group, none said a word. Indeed, only Twilight and I had done any talking since we got here. The situation was less than social. Luna called the guard, who came immediately and followed. We approached the cell and I peered inside. There was a man sitting on a bed, head in his hands. He was rather large, obviously athletic. He noticed the noise the ten of us made, and lifted his head. He looked very tired, and his eyes were wild. The guard opened the door, and most of us went in. Spike, Luna, and the guard remained outside. The man stared at me for a moment, shook his head, and began.

"That's great! Not only am I imagining talking horses, but I'm hallucinating about people too?" He sounded utterly insane. It hadn't occurred to the guard that he should close the door. I tried to calm him down.

"Easy. I'm as real as any other person. It's all okay."

"I havn't seen any other people! Only TALKING HORSES. I don't think you're real. None of this is real. I'm dreaming. I'm not here, imprisoned by little horses, no, I'm sleeping, at home, in my own bed." He stood up. "You know what's really weird about these hallucinations? It's really realistic! I shot at one of the horses and it fell over!" He was laughing, laughing hard. I looked about me. Rainbow Dash looked ready to pulp him, and was barely restraining herself. Applejack looked angry too, like she was about to give him a buck and a piece of her mind. Pinkie was confused by his laughter, Twilight looked very concerned, probably about his mental health. Rarity and Fluttershy were just stunned.

"He has not calmed overnight," Luna said from beyond the doorway. "We worry about his health."

"I can see why. Listen to me-" At that moment, Applejack stormed ahead, brushing me aside. She looked really, really angry.

"What the hay is wrong with you?! You're hurtin' ponies and you think it's funny!? You need to learn some manners, mister!" The man laughed hysterically. He thought that this was absolutely hilarious.

"This one. I like this one. It's got a southern accent! That's priceless!" he yelled between bouts of laughter. Applejack only got more angry, but then realized the futility of her actions, and backed down. This guy had completely lost it. Suddenly, he grinned evily. He pointed in the direction of the wall, and all of us looked but me. Uh oh. He bolted for the exit. He flew out of his cell. I followed immediately. He prepared a heavy tackle, and smashed into- and through- Princess Luna. The Princess of the Night recoiled heavily, and before she could regain her focus, the man had escaped the corridor. We rushed out to see Luna take off in his direction. She did not appreciate that, not one bit. The whole group followed at full speed. Spike and I fell behind. We just could not move nearly as fast as they could. I could hear the commotion. Chaos, absolute chaos, I thought. The two of us proceeded back toward the throne room.

We had no idea where the group had chased the man. Many of the guards, I noticed, were away from their posts. Evidently the guy had given them quite the chase. I felt a great responsibility to apprehend the man, bas I felt it was my fault he had gotten out. I decided to follow the paths that were missing their guards, hoping they'd lead me to wherever the man had lead my companions. Spike did not object to my guidance. We came across the castle's garden, and saw a croud of guards, the two princesses, and the others. I could not see the man. As I came closer, I knew what had them in a circle. In the circle, the man was standing, ready to fight, beside a statue of none other than Discord. Luna was negotiating with him in her intimidating Canterlot Voice.

"Please, come peacefully. Nothing has to become of this." The man did not respond. Instead, he decided to climb upon the statue. The statue was tall. Quite tall. He quickly reached the top, sitting upon Discord's head. He studdered as he spoke.

"I don't want to be here! This is madness! I can't take this anymore!" He was tired of running. He was tired of this place. All he wanted to do was go home. He prepared to jump.

"Don't do this. We can help you get home if you let us."

"You're lying. You aren't real. I'm going to jump, and when I land, I'll be out of here and back home." With that, he dove off the statue. Celestia tried to levitate him, but it was without discernable effect. He landed on his head with a sickening wet sound. I ran over now, the crowd parting as I came. His head had a depression in it, and his ears and nose were bleeding. I felt his pulse. He was, as I'd feared, dead. I'd never seen anyone die before. Especially not like this. The garden was silent. All eyes were on the now-deceased man when I heard an all too familiar voice. The one of John De Lancie. Or rather, Discord.

"Oh, someone's had a fall. How unfortunate, a tragedy, really." He sounded convincingly sincere. I turned around, finding myself standing face to face with Discord, the lord of Chaos.

Chaos

Chapter Eight: Chaos

All was quiet for a moment, and Discord looked around.

"What? Is there something wrong?" Discord acted oblivious. He looked at the corpse. "Oh! This thing. How... unsightly it is. I so greatly dislike death, it's just so boring. Why don't I make things less tense." He snapped his... thumbs, I guess. The man suddenly stirred. Discord lifted him up by his shirt. A zipper appeared in front of him. He opened it and threw the now squirming man inside and closed the hole that the zipper created. The guards, princesses, and the other ponies had no idea what to make of it, and remained where they stood. Discord had just resurrected someone, opened a hole in reality, and closed it. Effortlessly.

"What did you just do?" I asked, almost rhetorically. I knew what he had done. I just wanted to know why.

"I brought the poor fellow back to life and sent him back to where he came from. After all, he did free me from that dreadful imprisonment," Discord replied casually. Discord had brought him back to life and sent him back? He could just do that? I was amazed, as were all others in attendance.

"Discord! Do you know what's happening?! Do you realize what you've done!?" Celestia was angry. After all, Discord had brought about an event that could end the entire universe. That included her land, her city, her people, her empire.

"Of course I do! However, I'm here to help." Discord was sincere. Why in the world would he want to help? And where were all of his tricks?

"Why would you help us? Explain yourself, please," I asked in a polite tone. It didn't hurt to be polite.

"Please do." Celestia was simply fuming with anger.

"Oh, so I shall! You see, you boring peace-loving ponies, when I disrupted the barrier over a millenium ago, the two universes' inhabitants were equally matched. Now, however, the two are unbalanced, and one would surely win in the event's climax. I cannot be a being of chaos if only one outcome I cause is likely. That would be boring, like watching a snail and a rabbit race; almost certainly, the rabbit would win. So, at this opportune moment, I offer my assistance in fixing the barrier." As he concluded his speech, he looked about. "Why are you all staring at me like that!?" He created a bubble around each the guards, and sent them towards their posts.

"I don't understand. Discord, you should be causing chaos, not putting everything in its place." Applejack had a point, and had to express it.

"Oh, little Applejack, always the honest one, yes? What fun is a game if there are extra or missing pieces? Your compatriot, for example, should not be here." He pointed to me. "And with everyone worrying about the universe, how will we have fun?" It became clear; Discord wouldn't play any of his games while the crisis looms. I was relieved. This- no doubt temporary- alliance could be very helpful. Discord was a powerful being, and his magic could affect humans better than that of the ponies, evidently.

"Now, we can put all of this unpleasantness behind us. Now, if you'd excuse me, I'll be tracking down more of our uninvited guests." Discord flew off rapidly, whistling cheerfully. This was all a game to him. If he saved this universe, he could have more fun than if he'd destroyed it- and probably himself- by causing chaos after the crisis was over. I was relieved that the man was alive and back home. My mistake was fixed; the man was gone. We had also made a powerful- if unpredictable- ally.

"What do you suppose we do now, Twilight?" I prompted the silent unicorn.

"I don't have any idea."

"Discord's on the loose. We should stop him, even if he claims to be on our side in this." Celestia had calmed down significantly, but still greatly disliked the draconequus for his actions in the past, and understandably, didn't trust him. I looked down at the ground where the man had fallen. There was a splotch of blood which had begun to dry in the sun, which was beginning to set.

"Let's give him a chance. Maybe he's telling the truth." Twilight was a decent character, and grudges were not something she kept. Indeed, Discord had sown chaos around Equestria, and indeed he had tried to shatter her circle of friends, but she must have seen how powerful he really was, and must have known that he could help us.

"Never trust him. He's too unpredictable," Celestia warned. "You and your friends can stay the night here. Make yourselves at home."  Her tone returned to a formal one. She departed the garden with her sister, bound for the throne room.

"There's nothing else we can do here," I said, and started for the exit as well. The mane six followed me. After an hour or so of milling about on our own, we dined on a meal of fruits, vegetables, and breads for dinner, at Celestia's insistance. Despite the exhausting events of the day, I found myself lacking in hunger. Was Discord really to be trusted? Probably not, but he was unpredictable. Spike turned in early. Over dinner, our ensemble talked.

"I hope we didn't make a mistake in letting Discord go," Applejack said between bites. I had eaten little.

                "I think he's changed. Or maybe he hasn't. I don't know!" Pinkie  thought aloud, and laughed, mouth full of food. She was bubbly, as usual, and was gobbling down the contents of her plate.

"Me too, Applejack. He did seem sincere, though, and he did revive the human, and even sent him home." Twilight cocked her head, and looked at me. "Why did he keep calling us horses? Horses are, as far as we can tell, extinct and related to today's ponies somehow." I thought about her question. It was like if I asked her why she called me a neanderthal. Huh, made sense to me.

"Horses exist in our world, and like ponies, are just domesticated animals; little intelligence and no reasoning ability. They're more identifiable and common than ponies, though very aesthetically similar, just larger," I explained.

"Very interesting," Fluttershy noted. "I'm concerned about that human. He didn't seem well."

"I think he was just... confused." Rarity put it lightly. She was visibly distressed by his extremely informal manner.

"He was a total whacko." Rainbow Dash hit the nail on the head. We all turned to face her. She shifted uncomfortably. "What? I'm just being honest. Zach, you aren't anything like that."

"She's right. He was insane. Insane because this world doesn't even make sense. He had no idea where he was, unlike me. He had no knowledge of ponies before. Also unlike me. He reacted in a way that could be expected; he could not accept the reality of the situation he was in, and gave in to denial and delusion. I pity him, but at least he's home, hopefully with his family." After saying that, I thought about my own family, and when I was going to leave Equestria.

"You must miss your family." Fluttershy's impeccable sense of empathy showed itself again.

"I do. I hope to go home soon, but first, there's the issue of the universe about to collapse," I said, making clear my priorities. No one else spoke much for the rest of the meal, and we all retired to our guest suites. This time, I was not restless. I was experiencing a relative calm in the hurricane that had been this ordeal. The eye of the storm, I thought, as I drifted off to sleep. Yet another interesting day.

Night

Chapter Nine: Night

The scene before me as eerie, and silent. I was positioned in an observing view of a massive flat area. A battleground. I saw masses of ponies on one side of it, masses of humans on the other. Moments passed as I slowly surveyed the scene. Each and every one of the beings present had a look on their faces that simply said: "Why?". Both masses charged in force over the empty field. Scattered amongst the human horde were soldiers and war material; tanks, armored personnel carriers, missile launchers, and artillery guns. A huge fleet of bombers and warplanes could be seen flying overhead. On the ponies' side, I saw only confused, terrified faces. A mere few royal guards, and no equipment of any kind.

Countless thousands of pegasi took to the sky. They were met by explosions and automatic gunfire. Pegasi fell by the hundreds, and the rest of the two colossal armies began their clash. Rocket salvoes and bombs from ground attack aircraft impacted the earth ponies and unicorns on the ground below. I saw magical barriers form to deflect the explosions, but far too many projectiles hit undeterred. Our powerful weaponry, controlled by only a few individuals, was shredding the hapless ponies. Earth ponies and unarmed humans charged, but few earth ponies were there to meet the human mob as it swept across the center of the field, having been cut down by the machine guns, airstrikes, and rifle fire of a dozen armies. I saw pufts of smoke as the many large guns fired. Unicorns focused their power, and sent massive fireballs, ice balls, and other lethal projectiles in incredible numbers towards the approaching humans, summoning a massive thunderstorm to send against the aircraft. The humans may have had the first salvo, but the ponies had magic on their side; thousands of unicorns loosed their power at that moment, creating a fury that the power of the sun must have been rivaled by. The pegasi, though strong in number, did not manage to stop the flights of bombers overhead; They dropped what had to be thousands of tons of bombs at the very moment that the unicorns released their magic. A blinding flash obscured my vision as both payloads hit their targets. Both sides were completely wiped out. Nought moved, and all was silent once more.

I woke in a cold sweat. I immediately looked out the window of my suite, seeing Luna's beautiful night sky, devoid of the light pollution that one would find in a human city. I pulled out my watch, which I had forgotten about. 3:30 AM. I climbed out of the bed, which was a tad small for me, and left my suite. I wandered the halls of Canterlot Castle for a good ten minutes, making sure I could retrace my steps. The castle had even fewer guards at night. These guards were dark in coloration and wore armor to match; Luna's guards. They paid me little mind. I came across a chamber, lit by a fireplace. Sitting in the center of it was Princess Luna herself, writing. She noticed me in the doorway, and turned to face me. She set aside the quill that she was magically manipulating.

"Hello, Princess Luna. I'm sorry if I've interrupted what you were doing," I said politely.

"It is nothing, we are not offended. What are you doing awake at such an hour?" Luna asked in her signature manner. I was going to re-state her question, directed instead at her, but it only took me an instant to realize that was a silly question to ask a creature whose domain was nighttime.

"I woke up. A nightmare. I decided to take a walk before going back to sleep," I explained. The dream had disturbed me greatly.

"What is it that troubles you, child? Is it your universe? We have fretted over the situation as well." I was not surprised to hear this. Every entity in both universes should be concerned.

"I dreamt of a terrible battle between ponies and humans. At the end of it, all of the combatants were dead; both universes were lost. I fear that this is what will happen if we fail to stop the decay of the barrier." I entered the room and sat down beside her.

"Our elder sister has informed us of the situation. It is most distressing to think of it. If you are to fail, so be it. This task that you have is not an easy one to complete. Listen to us; you cannot and will not give up. Twilight Sparkle and her friends are strong allies to have in this endeavor; we can testify to their determination, and we are confident that you will succeed with their assistance." Luna's speech was very reassuring. I stood once more, and looked at her.

"Thank you," I said sincerely. I started for the exit.

"Sleep well."

I returned to my room, and thought about Luna's words. She was right. I had excellent allies to help in my cause; we would not fail.

*****

I opened my eyes to see Rainbow Dash, who had jostled me awake. She was hovering beside me. "Helloo! Wake up! It's time for breakfast!" I groaned, and sat up. "Come on, let's go!" She zoomed out of the room. I rubbed my eyes a few times, and followed to the dining hall. All were in attendance, save Luna. Breakfast was heated, flavored oatmeal and fruit. It was delicious. Celestia drank tea, and had nothing else.

"What are we going to do today?!" Pinkie asked excitedly to no one in particular. Her excitement I would never understand. The last forty-eight hours were certainly interesting, but exciting?

"Maybe we can do some heroic things, like... defeat an ursa major, or put out a fire. Or maybe we could do something cool, like go see the Wonderbolts!" Rainbow Dash retained her enthusiasm though these trying couple of days, and craved action. She had finished her breakfast first, and had announced herself triumphant at doing so, as though it were a competition.

"Rainbow, dear, we don't have time to be doing such things. There are far more important matters at hand," Rarity declared. She was brushing her mane carefully with her magic. She had not eaten much.

            "Yeah," The pegasus sighed.

"I don't know what we should do now. There doesn't seem to be anything we can do that's heroic at the moment." Twilight Sparkle had gotten up a few hours earlier, and had been reading reports. "All that seems to be going on is Discord sightings. None of the reports indicate that he has done anything overly chaotic yet." Twilight was relieved and sounded proud. She had thus far been proven right about Discord.

"We should make sure everypony everywhere knows that Discord isn't against us this time." Fluttershy was worried about everypony else worrying.

"That won't be necessary. I've already addressed the citizens of Equestria that he is not to be worried about for now." Celestia had been quietly sipping her tea.

"Maybe we should return to Ponyville, await further developments." I suggested calmly. Going looking for trouble to stop was likely to be just as effective as waiting for it to appear, I thought.

"Sounds like a good idea to me. Big Mac shouldn't have to handle the farm by himself." Applejack agreed.

"The sky must be out of control without me there!" Rainbow Dash also agreed.

"That's that! Let's go home and wait. Maybe we can have that party I promised you, Zach!" Pinkie's party planning. I forgot all about that. I wanted to remind her of how urgent it was that we not be distracted by trivial things should anything come up, but she probably already knew that, and probably didn't care.

"Well, I guess I can always look for more information at home." Twilight wasn't excited to leave the company of her mentor in a time like this.

"You can take my personal carriage," Celestia offered. "I can fly myself if I need to go anywhere." With that, she led us out of the dining hall to a large balcony. Eight pegasi, obviously guards, were waiting there. Obviously available 24/7 should Celestia need to go anywhere. They prepared the carriage for flight, and we stepped aboard. It was somewhat cramped inside, but not uncomfortable. As we were about to leave, Celestia remembered something. "Oh, Zach. I thought you should have this, just in case." She produced the man's pistol, and levitated it over to me. I took it. The carriage took flight toward Ponyville at a high speed. Anything could happen in the next twenty-four hours. We had to be ready, no matter what.

Missing

Chapter Ten: Missing

The carriage soared through the clear sky. I examined the pistol. I had very little experience with guns, but had been taught how to handle them. I carefully turned on its safety, which had been off the whole time, I ejected the magazine, it held five rounds. I checked the chamber, and it contained a sixth. I placed the chambered round back in the magazine, and put it into the weapon. The ponies were staring at me, intrigued by the device.

"What is that funny-looking thing?" Pinkie asked.

"Is it some kind of weapon?" Twilight inquired.

"It is. It's called a gun. It uses a combustible powder to propel a metal object down this tube at high speed toward whatever you're shooting at." I indicated the barrel of the weapon. "This is the gun the insane human used to attack that mare." All seven of my companions were confused and shocked. This inanimate object was an enemy to them, to all of ponykind.

"Why did Celestia give it to you?" Twilight always had the questions.

"She thought I would need it. As you can see, I can't fly at rediculous speed, or use magic. I'm useless in any sort of fight. With this, however, I could do a lot, even though this gun has only six uses left. I would only use it in emergencies; it's too lethal to use on just anything. Guns have a tendency to kill what you shoot them at. That's how they're designed." The ponies still looked about with expressions of disgust and confusion.

"But that's just terrible! Why would anypony want something like that?"

"You know how I told you that humans have a violent past? That we're omnivores that have to hunt as well as forage? Well, that's why guns exist. To kill other beings, be it in defense or offense. For food or conflict. Almost all wars in our world have included guns for the last three hundred years. They're a part of our history, and a reminder of our own nature." I put the gun in my pocket after checking the safety again.

"But how can that little thing kill somepony? I mean, it's just so tiny! And that tube that the metal comes out of is even smaller." Rainbow Dash was not familiar with the concept of high-velocity small objects causing damage. She was the only high-velocity object that caused damage around here. I drew upon my reservoirs of knowledge others had called an encyclopedia in the past, and recalled things I had read about guns and bullets.

"There's no single answer to that; the bullet, as it's called, is designed to go through living tissue, breaking blood vessels, damaging muscles, puncturing organs, severing nerves and arteries... A truly terrible weapon. There are very many ways that it can kill. This is a comparatively small gun, and probably wouldn't do much to say, an adult dragon, unless you hit it in the right spot." Spike reacted to this slightly, stirring in his slumber. He had been very tired and had fallen asleep after entering the carriage.

"That sounds like it'd hurt." Rainbow still looked disgusted, as did the rest of the ponies. At least they now understood the device, and probably feared it. But what had this made them think of me?

"That's... really interesting, Zach. Maybe we should talk about something else." Twilight tried to find a new subject, but the remainder of the trip was silent. It had only taken around an hour to get back to Ponyville, and the town was busy as it usually was, ponies walking in small groups or alone, visiting market stalls, and making conversation. The carriage set down, and Twilight politely ordered it to return to Canterlot. All of the ponies went their separate ways, Spike lay asleep on Twilight's back.  I was not sure where to go, and stood there hopelessly. I didn't like asking for a place to stay.

"Where are you going to stay?" Twilight asked.

"I don't know," I said dumbly.

"Why don't you come back to the library and stay there again?" She offered. Twilight still treated me as a guest. I saw her as a powerful ally, and almost as a friend. Was I friends with these ponies? I couldn't tell. They seemed to like me enough, and Pinkie had said that I was. But it was so much of a cliche for humans to become friends with these ponies. I followed Twilight.

"Are we friends, Twilight? I've only caused you and your friends trouble since I got here, and you've treated me so well, even though I've honestly been only a nuisance," I admitted, looking down at the ground I was treading upon, and at that instant I felt foolish, and thought of home. I don't belong here. This should not have happened. Twilight stopped, turned to face me, and brought her hoof to her chin in thought for a moment before answering.

"Of course you're our friend. You need help, and we're happy to provide it, not because we were friends, but because we were stangers. We can't turn away those in need, ponies or humans. Without you, we would quite possibly have never found out about this crisis. Everypony in Equestria owes you greatly, Zach, and we have your back, not just as allies, but as friends, too." She continued walking, and I followed.

"What happens now?" I asked, almost rhetorically.

"We wait for anything bad to happen, then we stop it. That's what heroes like you do, right?" Twilight said, almost jokingly. Did she just call me a hero? I wasn't a hero, I was a kid, a useless, lazy, kid. The events that had taken place thus far had been very chaotic, and I was surprised that we hadn't failed already. Maybe the barrier was stronger than Starswirl The Bearded had thought. Or... was there another human performing heroic acts? Or a pony doing so on Earth? My thought process was answered by the presence of a poster that read "MISSING" on a lamppost about twenty meters away. I pointed to it.

"What's that?" I asked Twilight, though It was obvious that she didn't know. We both proceeded to the poster, and read it. The poster bore three pictures on it of missing ponies in the area. It depicted three familiar ponies: Derpy, Trixie, and the one that bronies call Doctor Hooves. The thought immediately came to me.

"Twilight! They must be ponies that have gone into our world!"

"Why do you think so?"

"I think so because in our world, Derpy and Trixie are both very popular with bronies, and this fellow," I pointed to Doctor Hooves' picture, "is thought to represent a character from a story separate from the story of Equestria, and is popular as well. I think that maybe because of our liking of these ponies, that they were among the gifted individuals that could cross universes and represent this universe. Otherwise, how could they have gone missing?"

"You think so?" She thought about it. "I guess that makes sense. But Trixie? Bronies like Trixie? I've never met the stallion before, and Derpy is one of Rainbow's... assistants, right?" She used the term 'assistants' with uncertainty. "But what can we do about them?" Twilight's eyes grew wide. "What if Trixie's causing trouble?"

"I don't think she would be causing trouble. If anything, she'd be putting on a show of her magic,- which would dazzle any human, because we don't have any magic at all- and trying to help people to get attention, which bronies will deliver in great quantity once they notice her, which wouldn't take long. Derpy would also get a ton of attention."

"I guess so..." Twilight said, uncertainly.

"We should go to the library," I suggested after a pause. Twilight nodded in agreement and led the way. Where were those ponies, and what were they doing? Was there a third human in Equestria with me if there were three ponies missing here? So many questions were left unanswered as we entered the library.

Home

Chapter Eleven: Home

The library was in disarray, it was clear someone else had been here since we left for Canterlot. We entered the building.

"Oh..." Twilight groaned in annoyance. Another voice spoke up. Discord.

"Oh, hello Twilight Sparkle! How are we doing this fine day? How's your friend?" Discord said nonchalantly. He was laying on the ceiling.

"What are you doing here, Discord!?" Twilight interrogated.

"Just enjoying some fine literature."

"Didn't you say that you were going to find the other humans in Equestria?"

"I did. I sent them home, and now that all but one of the extra pieces in this little game have been removed, we must get the missing pieces back." Discord came down from his impossible position. Spike woke up at this time, opened his eyes, and fainted at the sight of Discord.

"How do you plan to do that?" I asked.

"Simple! I send you home, and you send them back."

"How would I do that?"

"Good question! A very good question indeed!" He opened his universe-zipper.

"Wait!" Twilight intervened. Her horn began glowing. "We're not done here."

"Oh, it's 'we' now? How good! Maybe you'd like to go with him." With that, Discord moved at high speed toward Twilight. I drew the gun, cocked it, and undid its safety. Discord impacted Twilight, sending her across the room. I levelled the gun at Discord, and at that point realized that this creature would not likely be susceptible to bullets. Discord noticed my hostile action, and zoomed toward me. I pulled the trigger, and the gun discharged loudly. I was sent into the wall with a dull thunk. The last thing I saw was Discord's grinning face, with a decently sized hole in it, unfazed.

*****

Twilight woke me up this time. I was beginning to associate blacking out with universe transition. There wasn't a large bruise on my head this time, but I did have a headache.

"Wake up! I think Discord sent us to your world!"

"You don't say?" I muttered.

I sat up, and recognized our locale. We were on a trail for all-terrain vehicles not far from my house.

"Where... are we?" Twilight was looking about slowly.

"Near my house, actually." I stood at this time. I pulled out my watch. It was 2:11 PM, Thursday. "My family won't be home, they're all busy at this time of day. We should go there." I led the way for the first time since this this series of events began.

"What is this place? It doesn't look like a town to me," Twilight inquired.

"This is an area for vehicles not unlike the wagons you use. Nobody lives right here, but there are houses on most sides of us if we go far enough."

"Where does this path lead?" Twilight was carefully watching where she stepped, as there were many puddles on the trail.

"I don't know, but one end is at my house, and that's where we're going."

A few minutes later, and the street was visible. Not many people were about at this time, as lunch time had already passed and most people were at work.

"These are pretty large roads. What are those lines for?"

"Vehicles. In this world, many people use vehicles that can move themselves for transportation. Those lines guide the vehicles' drivers so they don't hit each other." I pointed to a car parked on the side of the road.

"How do those vehicles work?"

"Don't try to use magic on them, they aren't magic."

"I learned that last time," Twilight said nervously, recalling her previous encounter with human technology, which resulted in destruction of said technology.

We continued at a decent pace, and soon arrived at my house. It was fortunate that nobody had been walking or driving along this area. We entered the bungalow that was my home. For the first time in what seemed like a week, I took off my shoes at the door and headed downstairs to the room I shared with my brother. Twilight followed behind me, struggling slightly with the stairs, which were a bit different than what she was accustomed to. I sat in my desk chair, and booted up my computer. It hummed and beeped as it started.

"What is that? What is it doing?"

"It's a computer. One of the devices that can hold entire libraries that I told you about. It was turned off, and I just started it up again."

"Wow... it's so small!"

"Technology is a wonderful thing." My boring, solid color desktop appeared on the monitor.

"What is this?" She asked, waving a hoof at the monitor.

"The monitor. A display that shows you what you're accessing on the computer. I move this little pointer with this thing." I indicated the mouse icon and then the device itself. "This lets you do many other things, like writing or inputting commands." I indicated the keyboard. Twlight looked confused.

"What are you going to do with it?"

"Look for reports of any ponies appearing in this world, using this." I opened the internet browser, typed "Equestria Daily" into the search bar, and accessed the page. Sure enough, the blog was full of news about ponies appearing on Earth. Focusing mostly on Trixie, a lot about Derpy, and some about a pony named Time Piece. A fitting name for a pony with an hourglass cutie mark, I guess.

"What is this?" Twilight looked more confused than ever now.

"The internet. A tiny portion of it. This 'website' as they're called, is Equestria Daily, kind of a message board for bronies like myself. It appears that the ponies have been noticed." I read a blog post about the visitors. It read that three ponies had all been discovered nearby my home. It must be like the visitors to the other universe appear nearby where one of the visitors from that world originated. This was fortunate, and meant that finding the ponies would be rather easy, especially with the internet. Twilight had been reading over my shoulder, and was at maximum confusion. There was no documentation of the insane man. The article said that Trixie was putting on shows all day at a park nearby today.

"How does your computer know this?" My companion asked.

"I don't feel like explaining. It's very complicated," I replied dismissively. I really didn't know how to explain it to Twilight. I'd never thought that I'd have to. "Anyway, it seems as though we know where we're headed now. Let's go." I took off my sweater for the first time in days, revealing my T-shirt beneath. I really needed a shower. It was warm enough without it. It had been in Equestria, but I never took it off for some reason. I kept my backpack with me, which contained the book of barriers, a few apples, my schoolwork, and... the gun. Discord had put the gun in my backpack? I left it in there.

"I see why you wear clothes all the time. You must be so cold without them," Twilight observed as I rooted through my backpack, evidently having noticed my nearly hairless arms. I put the backpack on, and led the way back to the door. We departed once more, this time toward the park in which Trixie was supposedly performing at.

The Magician

Chapter Twelve: The Magician

As the two of us left the house, I found myself wondering aloud.

"Is it really a good idea to go about exposed through town with a conspicuous purple unicorn?" Twilight chuckled. "I mean, people will know that there were only three ponies here, and that you were not one of them. Not many people wouldn't know what those three ponies look like by now. You could get a lot of attention, which could cause problems."

"I'm not sure how I could possibly conceal myself in a place like this." Twilight waved one of her hooves about.

"Can't you do some sort of magic that will make you look like something else?" I queried.

"I haven't learned any illusion magic. I never thought I'd need it."

"Then it looks like we're going to have to stay conspicuous." I began walking. Twilight matched my pace and walked alongside me. A car drove by, slowing down slightly as it passed us.

"Wow, that's what humans use to move around?" Twilight had never seen an automobile in action before. It must have been intensely intriguing to her.

"Yes. Unfortunately, due to how they work, they make the air dirty."

"How do they work?" She asked this question for a second time, and I decided I should tell Twilight as much about everything as I could. She seemed to be pretty easily coping with the fact that she was on Earth, but that may have been because she knew how we got here and may have assumed that Discord could bring us back. I truly didn't know what to think at this point.

"They have engines inside them that burn fuel made from the remains of ancient animals to create heat and pressure inside the engine to move a series of pistons inside that propel the vehicle forward by turning its front wheels." I explained this in as much detail as I could. Cars were not one of my interests, per se.

"Ancient animal fuel?" Twilight was confused and fascinated by my explanation.

"When plants animals died for whatever reason tens of thousands of years ago, they decayed. Over a long period of time, pressure from layers of dirt settling made them into a flammable substance that we use as fuel."

"That's strange." Twilight was not a paleontologist, and neither was I. I had explained it to the best of my ability. A few more vehicles passed by us, all of them slowing down as they went. We both noticed.

"Why are they slowing down as they come by us?" Twilight almost immediately reasoned it out. "Oh, yeah, I'm conspicuous."

"It looks like they don't care enough about you to stop and say hello," I said, half-jokingly. We went along the sidewalk, and quickly came across our destination. The park had a stage in it, and was merely a few hundred meters away from the school I went to. The site also featured a monumental Centurion tank, which contrasted quite drastically in the background with the blue unicorn performing on the stage for a few dozen people. We approached the site through the road. Trixie had her back to us, and was delivering a demonstration of a- probably simple- teleportation technique using a large box.

"Now, I, the Great And Powerful Trixie, will perform an amazing display of real magic!" With that, she disappeared, and popped out from under the box. "Ta-daaah!" She announced as the audience applauded. We came closer to the stage, and someone must have noticed my nearly iconic purple companion.

"Hey! It's Twilight Sparkle!" said a voice. I saw a finger pointed in our direction. A good portion of the croud came rushing at us. I was unsure of what to do.

"Uhhh..." Twilight looked very uncomfortable. She should have been, she was about to be set upon by more than twenty fervent bronies. I decided to intervene.

"Hey! Calm down!" I yelled. "Twilight and I are busy right now, we need to speak to Trixie." The croud paused for a moment.

"Who is it, who wishes to speak to the Great And Powerful Trixie?" Trixie asked in her signature boastly voice. She turned around to see, and didn't like what she saw. "Twilight Sparkle? What are you doing here?!"

"Sure you are!" The mob started again. "We just want to talk to her!" "Brushie brushie!" I leaned in toward Twilight.

"Run." We bolted down the road, and Twilight quickly outpaced me, and the mob did as well. My cardio wasn't my strength. As they passed, they spat insults at me. "Way to go, kid, you made Twilight run away." I ran after them, but they had a growing lead on me. How would Twilight evade so many bronies? I followed the group until they suddenly stopped at an intersection. Twilight was standing on the side of the road, her horn was glowing. She wasn't planning on hurting them, I was sure.

"Please, let me go. Zach was right, we are rather busy, and this is not the time for this!" Twilight was panting, and the bronies whispered amongst themselves, and began to walk back to the stage. They wouldn't defy the Ponyville librarian that they thought they knew. I walked over to Twilight.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, I guess so. Why did they chase after me?"

"They were just excited, I'm sure. It's not every day that you meet one of the Elements of Harmony. You're very popular among us, Twilight." She blushed a bit, flattered. We walked together back to the stage. When we arrived, the bronies had taken their spots again, and watched us in respectful silence as we beckoned to the blue mare that had been standing there, confused, this whole time. She came off the stage, and trotted toward us pridefully. She wouldn't embarrass herself in front of her fans.

"What is it that you want, Twilight Sparkle?" She said the name in a slightly distasteful manner.

"Trixie, it is really important that you listen to us. As you may or may not know, you have been transported to a different universe. We need to get you and all the other ponies here out of this universe and back home," Twilight explained urgently. The bronies were listening intently.

"What if I don't want to leave? What if these humans want me here?" Trixie reasoned. The mob let out a cheer.

"Well, if you want, you can, but that would mean that one or both of the universes could be destroyed," I said, matter-of-factly. Trixie and the audience laughed.

"You've got to be joking. You can't convince me to leave just because you said something bad is going to happen!" Trixie was her usual stubborn, prideful self.

"This is serious! What if you're wrong and the universe will actually be destroyed if we don't leave?" Twilight argued.

"Even if I wanted to, how could I leave? There's no door back to Equestria that I know of." Trixie still wasn't buying it.

"Will you come with us? We may have a way back." My offer wasn't enticing to her.

"When I was run out of Ponyville, I lost everything. I don't want to go back. The humans love me and they love my magic," she replied stubbornly.

"But we have to get back! The whole universe is at stake!" Twilight was desperate.

"Give it up, Twilight. You can't ruin my dreams a second time."

"Twilight didn't ruin your dreams, Trixie. You did," I interjected. "Come on Twilight, let's go find a pony that'll listen to us." I started walking away. We left without further interruptions. Twilight followed, looking back at the stubborn blue mare, who was continuing her show.

"Where are we going now? What about Trixie?" Twilight didn't know. I didn't know either.

"Let's go find Derpy," I suggested.

"Where would we find her?" Twilight asked.

"I saw somewhere in that article that she would be flying about town, meeting people. I think our best bet for finding her would be to watch the sky and wander around."

"That's better than nothing." My purple companion agreed, and we set off once more. This time towards the center of town.

The (In)Famous Derpy

Chapter Thirteen: The (In)Famous Derpy

The bell dismissing school could be heard ringing faintly in the distance as Twilight and I wandered about town. Trixie had to be collected later. Perhaps when we had Derpy Hooves and Time Piece we could persuade her. I kept my eyes on the sky, and before too long, I saw the famed grey pegasus flying leisurely, taking in the sights of this unfamiliar place. I pointed to her.

"There she is!" I announced. Twilight looked toward where I was pointing, and saw the pegasus as well.

"How are we going to get over to her while she's in the air?" Twilight had a very good question. It would not be very easy to navigate through the streets to get underneath the unobstructed Derpy. I had an idea.

"Pull her toward us," I suggested, "with your magic." Twilight looked at me like I was crazy, then her expression faded, and she looked back toward the pegasus.

"I wouldn't use magic on another pony in most cases, but this isn't a normal situation, is it?" Her horn began to glow, and less than a second later, Derpy was sheathed in a purple light. She struggled as Twilight brought her down toward us with her telekinesis. She didn't even notice us as Twilight set the flailing pegasus down beside us in a heap. She struggled awkwardly to her hooves, and displayed her adorable confused face as she turned to face us.

"What did you do that for?" She didn't sound angry, but somewhat annoyed. She didn't seem to find it strange that Twilight was there.

"We need to speak to you, Derpy," I said urgently.

"Really? Why would you need to speak to me? I'm just a moving company worker. Well, I was..." She trailed off. Twilight decided to take a direct approach, as we did with Trixie. Derpy was clumsy, but she wasn't stubborn.

"Derpy, you have to listen to us. If we don't get you, Time Piece, and Trixie out of this world, one of our universes could be destroyed!"

"Gee, that sounds bad! Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Well, there is. Just stick with us, and together we'll find a way back to Equestria." Derpy bought this straight away; she had nothing better to do here and knew that Ponyville's librarian knew right from wrong.

"Okay! Umm, what now?" she asked, hopeless. She clumsily lifted herself off the ground.

"I don't know. Where is Time Piece?" Twilight asked. I had not read the part of the article that stated that.

"I have no idea where we could find him," I said, feeling hopeless myself. We had to find the stallion soon, and convince him to come with us as well. Trixie was probably going to be a lost cause until we had the other visiting pony. The sooner we could get these ponies back to Equestria and if need be, stop Discord before he begins his game, the sooner the barrier could be restored, hopefully. Where could we find a pony with some connection with time? The idea came upon me quickly; a museum.

"On second thought, I do. Follow me."

"Where are we going?" Twilight asked.

"We're going to a museum. If we could find him anywhere, I'd bet that's where. There's only one museum in town, and it's not far," I answered. The two mares aligned themselves side by side behind me, and we set off once more.

The Historian Stallion

Chapter Fourteen: The Historian Stallion

The museum wasn't busy at this time of day, and few cars populated the parking lot. Our threesome had attracted a lot of attention, but everyone was aware of the ponies by now; it was old news. I hadn't seen any official press coverage of the trio of visitors, but I was sure it was spectacular and ideal-shattering. However, nobody seemed to show it, at least, not around here. The residents of my town were not the vocal type, and these events had not changed that. I had been interested to see how religions might be affected by this, as this was probably something their holy books could not explain. As an agnostic atheist, I believed that religion is a human concept that was born from the need for purpose, and I stayed out of that. I didn't need purpose in my life, though right now, I had one; I had to stop the universes from destroying one another. A bigger purpose than any other, I thought.

We entered the lobby, and the receptionist recognized my equine companions as the trans-universal beings, and offered our group free entry after mentioning that another pony had come that day. This was fortunate, as all I had been correct in my assumption, and had only five dollars on me. The museum wasn't new to me, I had already been here, and though a few exhibits had been changed or moved, there wasn't much new to see. Twilight insisted that we stay and read every plaque, and Derpy was just looking around, fascinated by the visuals of the exhibits. I asked her to refrain from flying in here, though the high ceiling allowed it.

"Wow, this is really neat!" Twilight was having a blast, and had learned quite a bit about the area and its denizens in less than ten minutes.

"I'm sure it's fascinating, but we have to find Time Piece."

"Oh, right." Twilight lost her inflection of wonder, and resumed a more serious posture.

"This stuff is really cool, Zach. I wish we had museums like this in Ponyville." Derpy was enjoying the sights, and I didn't stop her from continuing to do so. We came upon a large exhibit about the Second World War. Twilight gave in to her natural curiosity again and began delving into the wealth of information the exhibit contained.

"Zach, what's a 'Nazi'? I can't find anything about who they really were. Why was your country fighting them?" Twilight was asking me about the Second World War, something, as a teenager that loved military history, had read plenty about. I wondered for a moment on how I could explain Nazism to a pony from a dictatorial monarchy that had known no evil ruler since its conception.

"Well, in the year 1933 of our calendar, in the nation of Germany, a political party, known as the Nationalist Socialist Party,  or the Nazi party, came to power. This government believed that it could conquer the entire world solely because the government believed that the people there were superior in some way. They set this plan in motion in the year 1939, invading nearby nations at a rapid pace, provoking military intervention by nations allied with the afflicted ones- including mine-, causing the Second World War, a conflict driven by defense on one side, and racism on the other." I noticed that Derpy hadn't been listening, and looking blankly at the displays.

"How awful! But... why is it the second one?" She was revolted by the concept of war based on such a thing as racism.

"Because there was another terrible war before it that involved the whole world," I answered.

"What year is it now on your calendar?" Twilight wasn't sure how long ago this had taken place.

"It is now the year 2012, it's been almost seventy years since the war ended." Twilight looked again at the exhibit, at the infantry rifle on display, at an artillery shell, at the casualty figures, and left the exhibit area. We followed her.

"That's the horrible past I told you about," I said.

"It's just so... horrible." She struggled to find another word to describe it, but settled on that one.

"I know, that's what I just said. I also said that this doesn't happen as often anymore, remember?" Twilight looked reassured by this. Our trio continued down the hall, and entered an area that contained the classic dinosaur exhibit of the museum.

"So big!" Derpy exclaimed.

"Wow, those are huge skeletons!" Twilight observed. "How long ago did they die?"

"Millions of years ago. These hollow fossils of bones are all that remain of them," I explained. We'd failed to notice any other people in the room, and heard a voice.

"Hello, Derpy, I didn't expect to see you here! Oh, I didn't know that there were four of us here! What's your name?" We all looked in the direction of the voice, finding Time Piece. The brown stallion with an hourglass cutie mark looked very happy to be here.

"Hello!" Derpy replied, simply.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle, and I assume you're Time Piece?" He looked surprised, but it quickly faded back to his previous friendly expression.

"Yes, that's me. Ponyville's premier historian," he said pridefully. "This world of yours," he gestured at me, "is so fascinating, you know that? What's your name?"

"Hello, Time Piece. I'm Zach. We came here looking for you," I began to explain to him.

"Looking for me? Why is that?"

"As it turns out, the fate of the universe is at stake; you can see for yourself in this book." I produced the ancient text from my backpack, and set it down in front of the stallion. I opened it to the page concerning our problem. He sat and began to read. He began to spill his thoughts as they came.

"I recognize this hoofwriting, It's Starswirl The Bearded's. Oh my... that's not good... Discord? Hmmm..." He trailed off and closed the book again after about a minute of silence and stood. "Do you know of any way we could get back to Equestria?" he asked me, suddenly serious.

"Well, I am one of the individuals that was sent to Equestria, so I was thinking that if we assembled at the place that I entered Equestria at, we could all get back through my hole, or something. There is a problem; Trixie doesn't want to leave, she wants to stay because the humans love her magic. We'll have to convince her to leave, and that won't be easy," I replied.

"Maybe she'll listen to all four of us," Twilight suggested.

"I'm hungry, is there anywhere we can get muffins around here? I want a muffin." Derpy's train of thought was permanently delayed at the station, apparently. I looked at my watch. 4:30 PM. Time went by fast when you're out trying to save the universe, I thought. I was getting hungry too.

"We should go. Yes, Derpy, we can get a muffin, then we should go look for Trixie."

"Yay! Muffin!"

We departed the museum shortly, and found that the traffic had picked up extensively. We began walking back toward where Trixie had been putting on her show. We passed a cafe on the way, and, as promised, bought muffins for the four of us, using up my five dollars. The muffins were of fast-food quality, and were recieved mediocrely by our professional muffin critic, Derpy. Still, she got her muffin. When we arrived at the stage, Trixie was still there performing, this time to a larger croud. When she noticed us, she facehoofed.

"I've told you already that I'm not going with you! Leave at once!" Trixie said as grandly as she could muster. This time the audience did not surge toward us, and I was relieved.

"Trixie, why would we lie to you? This is extremely important!" I reasoned.

"The information that they've told you is all true. I'm a historian, I'd know." Time Piece was a skilled speaker, I could tell. "It was written by Starswirl The Bearded himself, and it is imperative that you come with us." With that, he concluded his speech. I heard the audience talking amongst themselves for a moment, and a few asked us what we're talking about. Twilight told them there was no time to explain, and they respected that. Trixie sauntered over to us.

"Fine," she said in a somewhat hostile tone. "I'll come with you." The croud wasn't being charged for their magic show, and started to dissipate at that time. Surprisingly, none of them followed us. We started towards the path that lead from my high school to my house, where my life was turned upside down two days earlier. None of us said a thing as our motley assortment of ponies and a human proceeded down the path. Now that the four ponies were united, we could return to Equestria, hopefully.

The Game

Chapter Fifteen: The Game

As we neared the spot where I fell into Equestria, I stopped and looked around. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

"Why are we stopping?" Trixie asked, impatiently.

"This is where we were going, this is where I fell into Equestria. We're going back." I clarified. Trixie let out a pouty "hmph."

"How are we going to actually leave?" Time Piece asked.

"I think we should all hang onto Zach and walk around." Twilight suggested.

"That's rediculous!" Trixie spat.

"I don't know..." Time Piece was thinking.

"I think that might work. It may look rediculous, but seeing as though everything on me, including my backpack, were sent to Equestria with me the first time, it might send all of you as well if you're in contact with me." I reasoned. Two of the ponies put a hoof on my sides, another put one on my back, and Derpy flew above me with a hoof on the top of my head, somehow gripping my hair. The going was rather uncomfortable and slow. Suddenly, I felt the ground fall away, and the five of us were falling.

*****

"Zach? Twilight?! Derpy? Trixie?" Said the voice of Applejack, surprised. I sat up. I was on Sweet Apple Acres again.

"Hi, Applejack." I said casually. "Fancy meeting you here again."

"What happened? Why are Twilight and these other ponies here?" Applejack was confused. Big Mac was with her this time.

"Discord sent Twilight and I back to Earth to retrieve them." I replied. This time I wasn't dazed. Maybe I was getting used to falling out of a universe and into another.

"I see. Spike told me Discord got rid of ya somehow. We feared the worst." Applejack was very relieved. I saw Trixie get up, apparently uninjured. She looked about.

"Ugh. How unpleasant. Oh, it's the bumpkin."

"Who are you callin' a 'bumpkin'?" Applejack responded angrily.

"You, of course. I'll be leaving now. My show is ruined forever because of you, Zach!" Trixie said melodramatically as she ran off.

"What's eatin' her?" Applejack asked me.

"Let's just say that the other humans really liked her, she didn't want to come back." I answered. Derpy awoke next.

"Woah, what was that?" She lifted off, looking around. She didn't appear to be injured either. She started flying away. "Thanks Zach!" I looked again at my surroundings, noticing that Twilight had woken up and, as she stood, held a hoof to her head. Applejack, Big Mac and I ran over to her.

"Are you alright, sugarcube?" Applejack queried.

"Ugh. I think so." She shook her head, trying to focus. "We're back in Equestria!" She said excitedly.

"Eeyup." Big Mac confirmed in his characteristic laid-back manner.

"Spike was worried sick about you two. What did Discord do?"

"He threw us in a portal to Zach's world so we could get the ponies there back here a few hours ago." Twilight explained. "It was really exciting there, there were these things that-" I decided to interrupt her.

"Yes, yes, it was very neat, but that can come later." I hadn't noticed Time Piece get up.

"Now that we're back in Ponyville, what do we do now?" He asked us.

"What's your name?" Applejack asked. "I'm Applejack. Pleased to meet ya."

"Time Piece. It's nice to meet you too, Applejack. You're of the Apple Family, right? I'm honored to meet a member of the family that founded Ponyville."

"Well, shucks. The honor is mine." Applejack said modestly.

"I think that Discord would be willing to set his game in motion now that there's only one extra piece and no missing ones. We should be ready for him." I said.

"But how do we prepare?" Time Piece had no idea what could be effective against something that the Elements of Harmony had difficulty defeating once, let alone a second time.

"I don't know. He knows us this time. He won't be as easy to stop." Twilight said.

"But there are now nine of us. Sure, three of us are not holders of any Element Of Harmony, but I've got my gun, Time Piece has his knowledge and Spike has... I don't know, but he saved the day last time." I said as encouragingly as I could. "And besides, this could be the heroic act that could repair the barrier significantly enough to put our universes out of imminent danger." I remembered how ineffective the gun had been on Discord before. What could I do about that..?

"But how? Discord will probably make it even more difficult- if not impossible- to get to the Elements Of Harmony this time." Twilight wasn't very optimistic.

"Maybe we don't need the Elements Of Harmony." I suggested.

"But... those are the most powerful artifacts in all of Equestria. If it took their use to banish Discord both times, he must be too powerful to be stopped by any other force." Time Piece was well versed in the history of Equestria, obviously. I thought of something.

"Twilight, what about the gun? Maybe you could make it more powerful."

"I've heard of these 'guns'. Frightening things, they are, but a substitute for the Elements Of Harmony? I don't know." Time Piece was skeptical.

"What if we imbued it with the energies of the Elements' wielders? Could it act as a channel like the enchanted pieces of jewelry that are the 'guns' that fire the energies of the Elements?" I reasoned.

"I don't know. Maybe we should get everypony to the library first. Discord could come at any time." She began walking, and three of us followed.

"Big Mac, I'm sorry about leavin' ya here, but this is important." Applejack explained to her brother.

"Eeyup." Big Mac already knew. He was quiet, but not dim. We left the farm shortly after.

"We should round up the others." Applejack suggested as we went down the path.

"We should. Zach, do you know how to get to Sugarcube Corner from here?" Twilight queried.

"I think I do. I'll go get Pinkie and Rarity." I offered.

"I'll get Rainbow and Fluttershy. You should get to the library, Twilight and Time Piece, we'll rustle up the rest." Applejack and I split from the group and headed in our respective directions. I came upon Sugarcube Corner a few minutes later. Ponyville wasn't hard to navigate. I entered and was immediately set upon by Pinkie Pie.

"We were so worried about you! We were afraid you'd miss the party tomorrow! Where'd you go? Spike was so worried about you and Twilight!" Pinkie was relieved and as bubbly as usual.

"I'll explain later, we need to get to the library with Rarity. We should go get her." I suggested.

"Okie dokey lokey!"

We set off towards the Carousel Boutique. This was the second time I had gone there with Pinkie. It felt like so long ago that I'd arrived here. I had been to Ponyville, then to Canterlot, back to Ponyville, then to Earth, then back to Ponyville again over the last two days. And what a two days it had been. I was tired- there had been no time to really relax since this all started and all the things in two universes to be stressed out over. My train of thought was derailed as we arrived at the Carousel Boutique. We walked in.

"Hello! Welcome to Carousel Boutique!" Rarity called, having heard the door close.

"It's Pinkie and Zach again!" Pinkie responded. Rarity came to the door.

"Zach, you're alright! Spike was dreadfully worried about you! The poor thing... what happened?"

"We're going to the library, and we need you to come with us." I said urgently.

"We aren't going to Canterlot again, are we?" Rarity asked as we departed.

"Nope, just to the library." I confirmed.

"Are we going on another adventure!?" Pinkie was excited. Still a game to her, I thought.

"I don't know yet, Pinkie. Let's wait until we get there." I answered.

We proceeded to the library in silence. When we arrived, I saw that Spike had cleaned up the library while we were gone, and that Applejack had returned with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Twilight began a speech.

"Now that everypony is here, I'd like to explain the situation. Today, Discord sent Zach and I to hid universe to retrieve the ponies stranded there. We were successful, and have returned. Now that Zach is the only thing out of place in this universe now, Discord might start to play his games. We believe that Discord will make getting the Elements Of Harmony impossible this time, so we'll have to find another way. Zach thinks that we can make his gun into a channel for the Elements instead, and since this is the only idea we have at this moment, I think we should try it. The problem is, we don't know how to do it. So, I propose that we go to the Canterlot Archives to find a spell that we could use."

Rarity groaned. We all looked at her.

"So, we should get going." Twilight finished her speech.

With Spike in tow, the nine of us said not a word as we set out, for the second time, for Canterlot.

Allies

Chapter Sixteen: Allies

I was suspicious as to why nothing had changed yet. Everything seemed normal, for Equestria, at least. Discord couldn't possibly not know that Twilight and I were successful in the quest he forced us to undertake. It was only a matter of time. The group began chatting. The road was empty, except for the occasional wagon.

"So, Time Piece, was it? You're a historian?" Rarity asked.

"Yes, I've been one for years. It's my passion."

"What was it like, in Zach's world?" Rainbow Dash queried.

"Fascinating. There are so many differences, yet so many similarities." He answered. I couldn't disagree with him. Much of society was the same. The largest differences were the lack of magic, the fact that humans were omnivores, a comparatively violent past, and a massive technological gap.

"What did you see? Where did you go?" Pinkie chimed in. The ponies were questioning the poor stallion incessantly.

"I met Twilight and Zach at a museum. I got a lot of attention from a lot of humans."

"What kind of attention?" I asked.

"Not unfriendly, if that's what you were implying. They just talked to me, and I answered their questions as well as I could. They kept calling me 'Doctor Hooves' for some reason."

"That's a name we made up. You see, as you may or may not know, in our world Equestria isn't real, it's fiction. You are rarely portrayed in stories about Equestria, and because of your cutie mark and appearance, they named you after something else." I explained. Time Piece was confused.

"That doesn't make sense, though. I've studied the history of Equestria for years, and I can assure you, it's real."

"Keep in mind that my universe is just that- another universe. It's not the same reality that we're in now. I don't doubt you, I know that Equestria is real, but not in the same way as something like... Spike is real." I pointed to the dragon on Twilight's back.

"What?" Spike didn't follow.

"Dragons don't actually exist in our world; they're made up. Equestria doesn't actually exist in our world, it's made up. Same concept. But here I am, seeing both things, things that don't exist where I come from. Say, cars don't exist here, do they? Does petroleum?"

"Petro-what? Isn't that some made-up thing?" Rainbow Dash responded.

"Exactly." The group returned to their silence for a few moments as we walked along. Still, nothing had changed. Discord had to be up to something. Rarity started the conversation again.

"Zach, you've changed your attire." She observed. I was wearing a red T-shirt now. I'd left my sweater at my house. "I can't say it's any worse, but it's still so boring." She critiqued.

"Well, I find my clothing comfortable." I said in a casual, though defensive manner. Why were we talking about such trivial things? The situation wasn't casual, like these ponies seemed to believe.

"It ain't your place to judge him, Rarity." Applejack came to my defense.

"Can we talk about something more important? This isn't just a walk." I didn't like extraneous chatter, I never did.

"Zach is right. The universe is at stake, we can't have everypony worried about what Zach is wearing. We need to be ready to deal with Discord when he decides to strike." Twilight rallied the group. I admired her leadership abilities.

"Right! But... Discord hasn't done anything yet." Rainbow Dash observed.

"We don't know that. Rainbow, could you go ahead and check out Canterlot?" I asked her.

"With pleasure!" She zoomed off, leaving her characteristic prismatic trail. I noticed that the other pegasus hadn't said a word.

"Fluttershy? Anything on your mind? You haven't said anything." I asked the timid pegasid.

"Um, no. Nothing." Fluttershy said dismissively. She was scared, I could tell. She remembered what Discord had done to her and her friends, and she didn't want to go through it again.

"Discord hasn't got anything over us. We are strong and capable. We're going to stop him before he causes any major damage." I tried to sound reassuring, as I had several times before. These ponies were my allies in this endeavor, and they had to be strong in its execution. If even one of the six elements were to fall victim to Discord's tricks, which would be more potent than last time, our efforts could well be for naught.

"Rainbow is going to assess the situation. We should be well aware of what's going on before we get to Canterlot." I continued. Fluttershy looked better. I looked up at the sky, noticing something familiar. I pointed to them. "Look!"

The sky ahead was full of pink clouds. They hadn't been there mere moments before.

"Candy clouds!" Pinkie said excitedly.

"Pinkie, dear, this is not the time." Rarity tried to calm the excited earth pony.

"It looks like Discord has started his game." When I said that, another voice came from behind me. Discord.

"Ah, yes, I have! You're in for a treat, you are! Oh, and thank you so much for going to so much trouble to bring back the missing pieces."

"Discord, it isn't enough to ask you to just stop now, is it?" I knew the answer to this before I even thought of asking it.

"Why, no! The fun is just beginning!" With that, he flew off toward Canterlot Castle.

"Irritating fellow, isn't he?" Rarity said, expressing her distaste.

"Let's go. We have to get to the archives." I restated our objective as Rainbow Dash returned. She was almost completely covered in chocolate and cotton candy. I was surprised by her ability to fly with such impediments.

"Bad weather ahead!" She licked her lips. "Tasty, though." She came down to the ground. "Ugh, this is so... sticky!" She complained.

"What are we going to do?" Time Piece asked. "We can't go through that chocolate storm."

"We're going to have to. Rainbow, can you move these clouds?" Twilight queried.

"Not without help, these ones are heavy-duty!" At that moment, Derpy appeared behind us.

"Wait up, guys! Is there anything I can do to help?" How opportune that she would come at this time.

"Yes, Derpy, there is!" Rainbow Dash shook off what she could of the sugary excess she had aquired. "We've gotta move those cotton candy clouds up ahead!"

"Sure thing, Rainbow Dash!" The two pegasi moved quickly toward the growing storm, and set to work. I saw things other than chocolate come out of the clouds. One of these objects was a large muffin. Derpy paused in the air for a moment, and began working with increased vigor. The clouds were defending themselves with bursts of custard and pudding. It was an interesting spectacle. The eight of us cheered as the two pegasi beat back the clouds, clearing the path. A few minutes later, the pair returned victorious, covered in various confections. Derpy was holding a rather large muffin, one of the projectiles sent against them.

"Good work, Derpy!" Rainbow said, shaking off the excess again.

"Thanks, Rainbow Dash!" She really liked helping Rainbow; she was the leader of the weather team in Ponyville and one of the- if not the- fastest flyers in Equestria; A living legend to Derpy. She set down and began to eat her prize. When she was done, the ten of us continued toward Canterlot. We passed many a chocolate puddle.

"Good work clearing the clouds, girls." Twilight praised the two.

"I couldn't have done it without Derpy."

"This isn't over yet. Discord will have plenty more tricks up his sleeve." I warned.

"Right. Be ready, everypony." Twilight said. Spike belched forth a letter. Twilight opened it and read it.

"My Faithful Student,

If you are reading this, then Canterlot Castle has been compromised by the forces of chaos, and my sister and I have been deposed. We are depending on you and your friends to save Equestria. Good luck, Twilight Sparkle.

Sincerely, Princess Celestia." Twilight read aloud.

"Well, that was expected." I said. Twilight shot me a look.

"We have to get to the archives! We need to save-" She stopped and looked at the landscape before us. The ground had suddenly become... different, distorted. Canterlot was nowhere to be seen, though it should have been large on the side of the mountain before us. However, even the mountain had disappeared.

"How are we going to get through this?" I asked Twilight.

"I-I don't know. I don't know anything about illusion magic." She replied helplessly. Another voice spoke.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie does!" Said the voice. The blue unicorn appeared before our very eyes, out of nowhere.

"Why are you following us?" I asked her.

"I had nothing better to do." She said non-chalantly. "Besides, the Great and Powerful Trixie does not have to explain her motives!"

"No, why are you really following us?" I pried. It was to no avail.

"Silence! Do you want my help or not?"

"We do. Please help us, Trixie." Twilight said.

"Ahahah! The powerful Twilight Sparkle needs help! I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, would be glad to assist you! Follow me!" Her horn began to glow, and the path was clear in a significant radius of the illusionist. "Stay close, or else." She warned.

She guided us through the warped landscape, and we soon arrived in a normal-looking area. Another new ally had appeared at an opportune moment. It was almost suspicious. Trixie was obviously strained by the use of her powers.

"Please. The Great and Powerful Trixie requires rest." I was reminded of the time. I checked my watch, It read 7:30. However, as I looked to the sky, the sun seemed locked in place; Celestia couldn't set the sun, and Luna couldn't raise the moon. The world was stuck in eternal early-evening. After a few minutes of resting, the group, now of eleven, continued. About ten minutes passed, and we arrived at the gates of Canterlot. They were unguarded and upside-down. Twilight magically opened the gate, shutting it after we were through. The scene before us was as I'd feared it might be.

Capital Of Chaos

Chapter Seventeen: Capital Of Chaos

Chaos. Canterlot, the mountainside capital of Equestria, was in chaos. Nothing was as it had been the day before, everything had been changed to some degree. The paths in front of us twisted wildly, as did the dimensions of the buildings. Some were floating, others upside-down, and even some turned into what looked to be butter or fudge.

"Oh, my!" Rarity exclaimed. Our group steadily advanced in a cautious manner.

"Careful, everypony. Discord could be up to anythin'." Applejack warned.

"He's been busy, that's for sure." I said.

We came across a fountain, which was now spewing what looked to be lemonade.

"I don't like this." Twilight said warily.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie is not afraid!" Trixie was confident.

"We have to get to the archives." Time Piece reminded us of our objective.

Pinkie took a bite of a chocolate pillar. "Mmmm!" She bounced about, sampling all of Discord's converted confections.

"Don't get carried away, Pinkie." I said, stepping over a fissure in the street full of what looked to be soup. This place was in total disarray. None of what Discord did was productive. But, as he had once said, 'what fun is there in making sense?' The group forged on. No ponies were to be seen.

"Where is everypony?" Fluttershy said with concern.

"They're alright, Discord wouldn't really hurt anyone." I found myself trying to comfort the pegasus again.

"Right, as he said, death is boring. He doesn't do boring things. That's why he did all of this." Twilight added.

The layout of Canterlot was different now. Instead of an orderly assortment of streets and such, it was a maze of fantastic illusions and impossible happenings. Most of all, the city was quiet. Very quiet.

"I don't think the usual route will get us to the archives." Twilight said, glancing about.

"It's near the castle, right?" Time Piece asked.

"Yes, it is." Twilight clarified.

"Discord will try to prevent us from getting to the castle. We'll have to go through all he's got to get there." I said.

At that moment, I heard a wet splat, then another. Splat. It was coming from around a corner. The group came around it, and we all froze.

There was a large, round intersection here, and it was full of dozens of gelatinous... things. Amorphous in shape, they began sliding toward us, leaving trails of ooze. They looked like generic dungeon-crawler enemies to me; simple, with no method of attack other than running into you. They were almost pony-sized and varied in color from red and blue to green and purple.

"What are those disgusting creatures!?" Rarity exclaimed.

"I don't know, but they aren't letting us by." I said. I prepared to fight, but found myself without a melee weapon. I took off my bookbag, preparing it for use as a bludgeon. It wasn't hard or very heavy, but it was rather large and had some books in it. Our three unicorns' horns glowed. Rainbow Dash and a clueless Derpy took to the air, ready to strike. Applejack and Time Piece just readied a charge, and Pinkie looked like she was about to eat the creatures. Fluttershy made herself small and Spike dismounted. The gelatinous blobs came closer.

"Hah, the Great and Powerful Trixie laughs at such unimpressive beings. I may not be a match for an ursa minor, but I'm certainly a match for you!" She loosed a blast of energy at the nearest blob. It wasn't a powerful one, but it was enough to splatter the creature over a square meter. Rarity released a similar blast of similar effect and power. Twilight loosed a beam of purple light, dispatching half a dozen of the creatures. The rest of us joined in.

In a flurry of sudden action, the sluggish blobs were being smashed, kicked, and blasted to smithereens. I smashed my backpack down on one of the creatures, splattering it over my pants and shoes. I saw Pinkie ripping at some of the blobs, eating them. It struck me. These creatures were just animated Jell-O. They were hardly any challenge for our ensemble. There was but one left after about twenty seconds of battle, and it was huge. It was bigger and faster than the others, and had developed a hard shell somehow. Twilight blasted it with a magical ray, piercing through the creature, but to no effect. The other blobs began to reconstitute themselves. The large one loomed over us, and it came to all of us at the same moment. Run.

Run we did, and the still rather slow blob could not keep up, and we soon lost the gelatinous horde. Rainbow Dash burst out laughing.

"Did you see that? That was awesome! We like, destroyed them!" I couldn't keep myself from laughing too. We had just fought Jell-O, there wasn't much not to laugh about.

"That was no challenge!" Trixie announced.

"You're tellin' me." Applejack agreed.

"They were tasty!" Pinkie added. All of us stared at her. "What?"

The group continued through the broken, twisted city. More of the jelly creatures were about, but they were easily avoided or dispatched every time. It was well after 9PM when we reached the castle, and still the sky remained frozen at mid-day. The last few days had been difficult and tiring. I wasn't used to doing so much in one day. I had gone all around my hometown on foot, switched universes twice, and walked to the capital city of Equestria, all in one day. My feet were sore and my shoulders tired from wearing my backpack all day. But we had to keep going, no matter the personal cost.

The castle grounds were heavily distorted, as was the castle itself. The Canterlot Archives were close by, and Twilight led us to them. Like everything else, the building was distorted, its contours all wrong. I felt that getting through Canterlot was a bit too simple. I didn't like it, Discord had to have something else up his sleeve. We entered the archive building, and headed for the Starswirl the Bearded wing.

Difficulty

Chapter Eighteen: Difficulty

The archives were, like the rest of Canterlot, uninhabited. The sounds of hooves and feet were the only ones. The door to the Starswirl The Bearded wing was locked magically, so we went back outside and entered through a window. So much for security, I thought as I climbed into the building. The interior of this wing was intact, as though protected from Discord's chaos, somehow. I didn't doubt it- the most powerful unicorn that ever lived had his secrets stored here. Trixie and Twilight were both visibly excited at the wealth of powerful spells they could learn from this place, but they kept to the task of searching the shelves for a spell that might help us. I sifted through some ancient scrolls.

Spells for anything one could imagine- transmute spells, invisibility spells, summoning spells, anti-evil spells, the well-known time spells, even combat spells. All in this ancient, magical place. Rarity spoke.

"What a mystical place this is! So many fantastic spells!" she said with a laugh.

"Fantastic, indeed. Twilight, you know how I said that magic didn't exist in my world?" I said.

"Yes, I do." Twilight replied, sifting through some old books.

"It looks like the concepts in it are very similar to those portrayed in fiction on Earth. I find that odd." Twilight chuckled at that.

"Well, it looks like magic is to be found anywhere, in some way," she said.

"Yeah, even in the sky! Have you seen what pegasi can do?" Rainbow Dash was trying to get my praise for her weather-control abilities. I found that funny.

"Indeed I have, Rainbow Dash."

The search continued, and some interesting spells were found. Pinkie was elated to find a spell of 'summon balloons', Trixie found an 'animate' spell that she was sure she could use in her performances, Derpy was excited to find a spell for baking cup-based pastries, and so on. It wasn't for about an hour that we found what we were looking for.

"Aha! I found something!" Time Piece announced.

"What is it?" Twilight rushed over to see it.

"'Bind Elements of Harmony to object'," He read aloud. Twilight swiped the scroll from his hooves.

"Yes! It says that all the bearers of the Elements must be present, which means us!" A triumphant cheer came from the group, and we found a suitable locale to set the spell in motion; A table in a small empty room, probably for reading. I produced the gun from my backpack, and after inspecting its magazine and safety, I placed it on the table. The six bearers of the Elements of Harmony gathered in a ring around the table while the other five of us watched.

"Are you sure this will work, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked the unicorn.

"I have no idea. It'll have to, though," she replied.

"Well, when it does we can finally be done with Discord's tricks!" Applejack said.

"Awww, yeah! Let's do this!" Rainbow Dash said enthusiatically.

The ritual began.

"I hope this works," Time Piece said worriedly.

"It wouldn't be here if it didn't," I reasoned.

"But what if Twilight isn't powerful enough, and somepony else has to-" We all stared at Trixie with a look that said 'are you serious?'. She noticed, and shut up.

The six fated ponies' eyes began to glow as the ponies focused their power, and so did the gun. Twilight was orchestrating the spell with great concentration. In a great flash, the ponies fell to the ground, strained by their efforts. They quickly rose again.

"It worked! It actually worked!" Twilight cheered.

I went to the table and picked up the gun. It was now a glowing white color. I ejected the magazine, curious. It contained four shining bullets, gleaming with the same energy as the weapon itself. I checked the chamber, and it held one too. I reinserted the magazine and nodded at Twilight.

"Looks like we have our weapon," I said, pocketing the enchanted gun.

"Now what?" Pinkie asked.

"We go find Discord and give him a double dose of Harmony," I said, going for the window leading to the outside of the castle.

As the rest of the group came through the window, I found myself thinking once more that this was just... too easy. I looked around, and despite everything being out of place, nothing looked suspicious. Discord had to be toying with us, letting us obtain a weapon powerful enough to banish him without a hitch. I didn't like it.

"This has been too easy," I said to the ponies.

"What do you mean, 'too easy'?" Twilight asked.

"Discord is too clever to just let us have this," I said, gesturing at the gun protruding from my pants pocket.

"Maybe we're just too good, that's all." Rainbow Dash was confident.

She didn't get a chance to say any more, as all of us began coughing, and soon fell unconsious from a mysterious airborne agent.

*****

I was in my room, in my house, with all the ponies of our group, and I felt a warm sensation of comfort in their company. This immediately felt out of place. First, I hated having large groups in my room. It was a big room, but not that big. I looked about me. Second, all were laughing, having a good time. My room just isn't that fun. I couldn't make out what they were saying. Third, my brother, who I shared my room with, was not present. I tried to leave, and Pinkie Pie stopped me.

"Aren't you going to stay? We're about to have cake!" Whatever this was, it wasn't Pinkie. I could just feel it. I didn't even like cake very much.

"No, thank you," I replied flatly. She stood in front of the door.

"I won't let you leave!" she teased.

"Knock it off, whatever you are." The thing that wasn't Pinkie suddenly changed disposition and voice. Discord's voice coming from Pinkie Pie was just creepy.

"Maybe I've misjudged your fancies. You are... human, after all. This game of mine looks like it won't work on you! You're free to leave, but your... friends are not going to be happy to see you. Ta-ta for now!" He opened the door, and I left. As I went up the stairs, I found myself in a different place, viewing ten large bubbles, each one of a specific color. I knew what this meant; Discord was subjecting all of my allies- friends- to a similar dream. I could only imagine what kind of diabolical mind-control or other sorcery Discord was putting into action. I started towards the closest bubble.

Dreamscape

Chapter Nineteen: Dreamscape

Discord had just let me go. Something had to be up. After all, it was, like everything else that had happened on the way, too easy. I yelled out.

"Discord!"

The lord of chaos appeared from behind one of the bubbles.

"Yes? What is it? Are you lost?" He laughed hysterically.

"No. Why did you let me go?"

"It wouldn't be any fun to keep you there."

"Well, what makes this more fun?" I asked.

"Is this any less fun? Why don't you go find your friends?" He laughed hysterically again. He was getting on my nerves.

"What did you mean when you said they wouldn't be happy to see me?" I wasn't in a good position to ask questions, but it never hurt.

"You'll see soon enough!" With that, he disappeared.

I started for the nearest bubble once more. It was gray and yellow. Derpy's bubble, perhaps. I touched the surface of the bubble. It rippled, and let my finger through. I cautiously stuck my head through. Derpy's dream depicted a serene cloudy sky, with no ground to be seen below it. Derpy was on a large cloud, enjoying what appeared to be a large number of small muffins. Oh, Derpy, how the bronies have shaped you, I thought, and cautiously stepped into the bubble. I could fly, awesome. I awkwardly floated toward the large cloud.

"Hey! Derpy!" I called.

"Oh, hi Zach!" She noticed me straight away. "Want a muffin?" She offered a peculiar purple muffin.

"Uh, no, thank you. Say, Derpy, what if I told you that this isn't real?"

"Well, of course it's not real! I always dream of muffins," she explained. 'But... what are you doing here?" I wondered how Derpy followed the fandom's perceptions so well. It was confusing to think of, so I tried to ignore it.

"Discord's got us all trapped in these dream bubbles. I don't know why, but I think he might be trying to play with our minds. It looks like you're perfectly normal, though."

"Yep! Are you sure you don't want a muffin?"

"Pretty sure. We should go find the others."

"Okay!" She said cheerily. We left the bubble together. Too easy.

The next bubble was brown, and the only brown member of our team was Time Piece, so it had to be his. We entered to the sight of a massive library, shelves full of thick, old-looking books. Time Piece was in the center of it, reading a massive textbook. It took him a moment to notice the two of us.

"Ah, hello, my friends! Have you ever seen such a marvellous library?" He nodded his head at the shelves.

"It's very, very nice," I said with a tone of urgency, "but we have to leave. Now."

"Why in such a rush? I could stay here for hours and read all of this lost knowledge of Equestria!"

"Discord's put us all in dream bubbles of some sort," I explained. "We have to get everyone out of them." I couldn't remember why we were all together, but I remembered the crucial nature of our quest. I didn't even remember where we were before this started. All I knew was that Discord was behind this. These two didn't.

"What? Discord? That's absurd. Why do I have to leave this place?"

"Because we need you. You know a lot about Equestria, and we need your help."

"For what? Tell me, Derpy."

"Uh, gee, I don't really know." She was little help, she must have had memory issues too.

"I don't remember, but it must have something to do with these dream bubbles. Follow me, please." I started toward the edge of the bubble.

"Fine," he said. "I'll come with you, but this had better be good." Two down, eight to go. Still too easy.

The third bubble was several shades of blue, and some purple. It had to be Trixie's bubble. Upon entrance, I found exactly what I had expected in a dream of Trixie's. There was a massive theatre, absolutely full of ponies of all types and colors, and they were cheering on a show of Trixie's moderately powerful magic. On the stage, the unicorn looked to be in paradise, being the focus of all the attention, this time positive. Getting her to leave this would be hard, I could tell. I remembered meeting all ten of the other members of our group before whatever this is started, but I couldn't remember specifics. It was very frustrating having a memory full of holes. As we approached the stage, Derpy was in awe of the sheer size of the theatre.

"Wow..."

"Don't get distracted, we have to get Trixie," I whispered to her. She nodded. Time Piece looked confused. This wasn't anything he'd seen before, worlds inside bubbles.

"What is going on here?" He asked.

"I don't really know. We'll find out together," I responded.

Trixie concluded her performance with a show of pyrotechnics. The crowd was in awe. She bowed as roses were thrown to her, and she left the stage. How cliche. Now was our chance. We slipped in the back room to find Trixie signing autographs to a small group of star-struck ponies. We waited until she was done. She had not noticed us as she turned around, surprised at the sight of us.

"Zach, Time Piece, Derpy? What are you doing here? Are you here to see my show?" she said, at first surprised, and then pridefully.

"No, Trixie. We have to leave this place," I said urgently, trying to sound as if Trixie was in danger. She was in danger, probably. I didn't know.

"What could possibly make it necessary for me to leave?" she asked.

"Uh, Discord's involved, and we have need of your superior skills," I said, trying to sound awed. "You could be even more famous." I tried to sound convincing, but the prospect of more fame was intoxicating to her.

"Then we shall go! The Great and Powerful Trixie is at your service!" she said grandly. She looked around. "Where are we going?" she asked, dumbfounded suddenly.

"Follow me," I ordered, and the group of what was now four left the bubble.

"What is this place?" Trixie asked, suddenly nervous of this unknown land of bubbles.

"I'm not sure, but I know where we're going next." I pointed to a purple and green bubble. Spike's bubble. Upon entrance, the purple dragon looked rediculous, clad in silver armor and a cape, and much larger than normal. He was wielding a sword. When we approached, his voice, which didn't really fit his appearance anymore, spoke.

"Who goes there?" he said, in as deep a voice as he could muster. Adorable, really.

"Zach? What are you doing here? This is my- um, uh..." He trailed off, trying to think of how to explain.

"Spike, we're all trapped in dream bubbles. This is a fabricated experience based on your fantasy and experiences."

"Whuh?"

I facepalmed. "You're stuck in a dream, Spike. We have to leave at once."

"But Rarity is in danger!" Spike headed for a cave opening in front of us. I grabbed his cape.

"We'll rescue Rarity, don't worry. Come with us." The dragon turned, and returned to his normal appearance upon leaving the bubble. He examined himself and groaned in disappointment, then looked about.

"Woah, what is this place?"

"I don't know, we'll find out. Come on." The five of us walked towards the next bubble. It was yellow and pink. It had to be Fluttershy's.

This bubble was transparent, but solid. I found this odd. Our attempts to breach the bubble all failed. After a few minutes, Discord's voice came out of nowhere.

"You won't be getting into any more bubbles, you've had your share of fun. It's my turn again." The five of us looked around for the source. My vision faded, and I blacked out.

*****

I sat up. The five of us were in front of the Canterlot Archives, where we had fallen. However, all of the 'Mane Six' were nowhere to be seen. My memories had returned. Discord had abducted the rest of the team? The others began to get up.

"Where is everypony?" Spike asked, clearly panicking at the disappearance of his friends.

"I don't know, but Discord must have done something to them in... whatever that was," I said, getting to my feet.

"Whatever the case happens to be, we still have a job to do," Time Piece added, getting up.

"Discord should know not to mess with the Great and Powerful Trixie!" Trixie was on her hooves as well.

"Gee, I hope they're okay," Derpy said silently.

"I'm sure they are. Discord doesn't like to hurt anything," I said. "Come on, maybe the castle will give us some hints.

We entered the warped castle, and I led the group through the twisted, though familiar, passages to the throne room. That was my best guess as to where Discord was. We opened the room's doors, and came through. The room contained all six of the missing ponies, but there was something off about them. Their colors had increased in intensity, and they almost seemed to be glowing. They turned to face us, and Twilight immediately took a fighting stance.

"You!" she shouted at me. She was furious.

"Me?" What was wrong? What had I done? All but Fluttershy assumed a similar stance.

"Yes, you! What were you thinking?"

"I don't follow. What did I do?" I was dazed and confused at her sudden hostile attitude.

"You're telling me that you don't remember? You don't remember trying to destroy Equestria? You don't remember betraying us all?" She noticed Spike, and gasped. "Spike! Get away from him! He's dangerous!" Spike backed up a bit, confused.

"No, frankly, I have no idea what you're talking about. How could I betray you? When did I betray you?" I asked.

"You're lying! You tried to kill us all!"

"How would I do that? That's rediculous! I'm harmless," I spread out my arms and slowly spun in a circle. "see?"

"Twilight, what's gotten into you? I don't think Zach's ever hurt anypony." Spike asked.

"Nothing, Spike. The human before us is an evil, twisted being! And he's not to be trusted!" Each word struck me like a hammer. Time Piece stepped in.

"Discord has clouded your judgement! Don't you see? Zach is the only one who can help us, and he's using you against him!" He came to my side.

"If you're not with us, you're against us," she said in a sad tone. She had, in her mind, all the reason in the world to hate me and those who stood with me. Trixie spoke up.

"Twilight, this is madness, you're a fool!" The mare stood at my side as well.

"I didn't want to do this. Girls, let's banish this terrible creature back to where it belongs!"

In unison, they cheered. "Right!" They all prepared themselves for battle, and Rainbow Dash took to the air.

Spike cried out. "Wait!" The group stopped, and heeded him. "Twilight, don't do this! Zach isn't a threat, and you don't have to hurt Trixie and Time Piece too!"

"Spike, how could you be so ignorant? He tried to destroy all of Equestria!"

"When did he do that? Prove it." Spike stood defiant now.

"I don't have to prove anything. Now, get out of here. I don't want you to get hurt." Spike looked crushed by his best friend's words, and Derpy looked undecided. They retreated to the corner of the room.

"Attack!" Twilight ordered. I didn't know what to do, but my compatriots stood fast, and so did I. Whatever these deluded ponies thought I had done, it had driven them to consider violence as an only option, and that took a lot. They thought there was no other choice. I pitied them as I prepared my only weapon I'd dare use on these creatures; my backpack. So this was Discord's game.

Battle

Chapter Twenty: Battle

The ponies surged forward, with the exception of Fluttershy, who, even after Twilight's speech on how I must be banished or whatever, didn't think violence was the answer. I saw a blur as Rainbow Dash built momentum, circling the large throne room overhead, and only a few seconds later, the blur connected with my chest, I let go of my backpack-bludgeon, and I was on the ground with a heavy object on top of me. My entire upper body was in immense pain. Rainbow Dash was trying to pin me. I stared into her eyes for a few seconds, and I felt the pain fade away. Adrenaline. I used my temporarily ungoverned muscular strength, triggered by my survival instincts, to throw Rainbow Dash off of me and to the right. I rolled and brought my elbow down on her extended wing. She cried out in pain. I stood up without looking forward. I took two very powerful hits to the abdomen, staggered back, doubled over, and nearly lost my lunch.

Applejack stood off for a moment, and I seized what little advantage I had. I drew the gun, but before I could aim it, she charged. I narrowly dodged her, and I aimed the gun at her as she turned, and then I felt Rainbow Dash jump onto my side, knocking me over again. This time I rolled her onto her back, and used my weight to pin her. She struggled, and I felt another powerful hit, this time to the side of my head. Applejack had kicked me in the head- I was lucky to still be conscious. I was knocked off of Rainbow Dash, and felt very dizzy. I was knocked a distance considerable enough to allow me to raise the gun, which was still in my hand, before they closed with me again. I aimed at Applejack, who was probably going in to finish me off, and fired. She toppled. I took aim at Rainbow Dash, who was preparing a charge, and fired again, downing the pegasus. Twilight yelled as I struggled to rise to my feet.

"No!" She had been exchanging salvoes of magic with Trixie, and Trixie wasn't faring well; her mane had been singed and she had taken some burns. Twilight changed her focus, and turned to aim a spell at me. She took a blast to the flank, courtesy of Trixie, and resumed her magical duel. The spells they were using had little damage potential, as neither wanted to seriously injure the other. Fluttershy yelled from where she had retreated to.

Time Piece was fighting an uphill battle with Rarity and Pinkie Pie, being slowly pushed back by their attacks towards the wall.

"How dare you hurt my friends!" She took flight, and flew at me. I looked at the two ponies I'd just shot. They had no wounds had returned to their normal color, and were breathing heavily. It changes them back to normal, I thought. I aimed at Fluttershy, and then I realized why, in my dizziness, I could aim; the gun was aiming by itself. I fired, and the pegasus dropped. I looked at Time Piece. The two ponies had overwhelmed him, and Rarity had stunned him with a spell. They started toward me. I took aim again, and Rarity screamed. I fired twice more, downing the two. I spun to see Trixie fall from a magical blast, and Twilight stared at me. If looks could kill, I'd have been eviscerated.

I aimed at her, and pulled the trigger. It clicked. I was out of ammuniton. She charged at me, roaring with a ferocity that I had thought impossible from such a creature. Her horn glowed as she came closer. I tried to duck out of the way, but to no avail. Twilight hit me, nicking my side with her horn, causing a gash. The adrenaline had not faded yet, and I could hardly feel anything. I did, however, fall to the ground. Twilight stood over me, and I took what opportunity I had. I grabbed the gun, and pistol-whipped her in the side of the head. The gun didn't hit her, it went into her; she absorbed it. She returned to her regular color, and fell on top of me. I pushed her off, and felt my side. It was bleeding a significant amount. The wound was fairly long, but only about two inches deep. The adrenaline had begun to wear off as I struggled to stand. Pain crept through my chest, head, and gut, and my side felt like it was on fire. I struggled with the pain for a moment, and finished standing up to see Spike and Derpy running toward me.

"Are you alright?" Spike asked.

"No. No I am not," I grumbled weakly. An idea came to me. I knelt, showed him my wound.

"Can you cauterize this?" I asked. He looked surprised at my request.

"I-I don't think I can," he said.

"Try," I urged him. I had to stop the bleeding, or something. I wasn't trained in medicine, not at all, but I knew that burning things made them stop bleeding, at least sometimes.

He blew a puff of his magical fire, cauterizing the wound as though it knew what it was doing. Remarkable. It hardly hurt at all, but that might've been because it hurt so much already.

"Thanks," I said.

"Why did you use the gun?" Spike asked.

"I figured it would turn them back to normal, being an embodiment of the Elements of Harmony." I glanced at Applejack. She was already starting to get up. She looked first at all the ponies lying incapacitated on the ground, and then at the bloodstain and hole in my shirt where Twilight had hit me.

"What the hay is goin' on here?" she asked, to no one in particular. I didn't know what to say. "Well?"

"I think Discord corrupted you and your friends, Applejack. He made you think that I was evil or something. There was a fight, and I shot you and the others with the enchanted gun. It seems like it turned you and the others back to normal. Rainbow might have a hurt wing and Trixie got some burns, and I've got this," I gestured at my newly-cauterized wound, "but no one else seems to be hurt." I was in fairly significant pain, to say the least, and winced often as I talked. Rainbow Dash woke up next.

"Owowowowow! My wing!" She minded her injured appendage, and stood. "What happened?"

"A lot of things happened, Rainbow Dash," I answered. "Let's wait until everyone is awake, then I'll explain."

I examined the throne room as we waited, remaining stationary. I just wanted to sleep now. I had just walked all day, got beaten up by ponies, and it was midnight. I couldn't sleep; we had to stop Discord. Discord had probably thought that this pitting us against each other might weaken or destroy us. No, he was too clever. Most of the ponies were up by then, and only Trixie, Spike, Derpy, Time Piece and I knew what happened. I inadvertently fell asleep, not wanting to think anymore, leaning against one of the pillars of the throne room. It had been such a long day.

Alternatives

Chapter Twenty-One: Alternatives

I woke up to see Fluttershy in front of me, doing something to my side. I shifted, and felt pain shooting through my upper torso and side, and I had a splitting headache and a large bruise on the side of my head.

"Eep!" I'd startled her. "I-I'm sorry I woke you." I looked to my side, and I saw that Fluttershy had somehow fashioned a bandage for my wound.

"It's fine. Thank you." The others noticed me, and came in my direction. "How long was I out?" I asked.

"Only a few minutes," she answered. Twilight was first to speak of the approaching ponies.

"Zach, you're awake! Spike told me what happened. I'm so sorry." Her inflection was one to match.

"It's nothing, you didn't really do this, Discord did."

"Nothing? Nothing? I put a hole in your side, for Celestia's sake. I shouldn't have acted as I did, in any circumstance. I'm sorry."

"You ran me through with your horn because you thought I killed your friends with the gun," I said bluntly. "You acted as anyone, pony or human, would. I have a question, though. Why was your horn glowing when you struck me? What could that have been?"

"My horn was glowing? Maybe it was a zap spell." She lost her air of apology, and brought her hoof to her chin.

"It couldn't have worked, then. I didn't feel anything but the horn, which hurt a lot, by the way," I said.

I remembered the previous day, when Celestia tried to levitate the man that had the gun. She had failed. Magic doesn't work well on humans. Discord's had, but Discord isn't normal, I thought. My attention turned to my wounds. It was fortunate that Twilight hadn't penetrated my abdominal cavity, and I didn't think any of my ribs were broken. My head hurt, but it could definitely be worse. I carefully stood up, minding my injured side. My thoughts wandered once more, this time to our objective.

"That's all behind us now. What we need to do now is find another way to use the Elements of Harmony, as the gun is now... in your head, or something," I said. "Are there any other things we could imbue?" I looked around me, and saw little of use. The whole group was in my general vicinity now. None of us had any sort of weapons or even equipment with us, except for me. I walked slowly and deliberately toward my backpack. I picked up the backpack, and carefully put it on again.

"The only thing we do have is this." I pointed at it. "And I don't think it'll do."

"That's our only option now," Twilight said. I thought she was crazy. A backpack full of books isn't a weapon! It's just a bag! "Girls, come on, we're going to enchant Zach's backpack with the Elements of Harmony." I thought for a moment about any alternative. What about me? If normal magic didn't work on me, what would trying to imbue me with the most powerful magic in Equestria do?

"Wait, why not try it on me?" I asked. I was surely more suitable than my backpack, even in my current state.

"That's too dangerous. The spell is for objects, not ponies, and certainly not humans," Twilight advised.

"Do it anyway," I urged.

Twilight facehoofed. "Fine, we'll give it a try." The six of them arranged themselves in a circle around me, and practiced the enchanting ritual for the second time. There was a bright flash, then darkness.

Control

Chapter Twenty-Two: Control

I found my vision restored seconds later. I found that I could see, I could hear, but I could not move. I couldn't. My body stood up. Had I fallen on the ground? I didn't know. I unwillingly looked to my side, and peeled away Fluttershy's bandage, revealing a fully healed wound. Powerful stuff, that magic. Wait, why was I moving?

"Zach! Are you alright?" Twilight asked me. I tried to respond, and found that I could not.

"I am fine," ,y voice said. It didn't sound like me, though, my voice was now slightly higher, slightly softer. Usually my voice was deep and quiet. This wasn't my voice. "The Elements now control this body," it said. Twilight recoiled at that.

"Is Zach still in there?" Twilight asked, concerned. She would feel awfully bad if she had replaced me with the Elements of Harmony, destroying me in the process. I was still in there, of course, and now I knew that I had been possessed.

"Of course. He will have his body back soon." That was reassuring, but hearing my altered voice talk without me controlling it was very creepy. "After we have achieved our goals," it continued.

"To defeat Discord, right?" Rainbow Dash said.

"Correct, miss," The Elements said.

"But how are we going to do that?" Twilight asked, "Zach's body isn't a weapon we can use."

"This is also correct. We will have to find the objects that already held our essence."

"Where would they be?" Pinkie queried. My head turned to face her.

"Discord has hidden them, but we have an alternative." That made sense, the objects, in this case me, that carried the essence of the Elements could detect other objects that contained them as well, like the gun had been able to track Twilight and her friends. "This body will also require an object to contain the essence currently present inside it." The Elements were planning to transfer to another object? Good, I didn't want to remain a puppet of theirs forever, I mean, that would suck. But, for now, I was just that, a puppet. My body started toward the exit of the room. I felt something else going on in my mind, like something had occupied the dark corners of my subconscious, and was watching me. This force could only be one thing, of course, and it couldn't possibly want to hurt me. Were they judging me? Testing me? I didn't have any idea, and it made me anxious to leave something else in control of my body. Whatever was going to happen, I could do nothing about it but watch. And watch I did.

The group had fallen silent as they followed my body through the castle and out into the gardens of the castle. Discord's statue was replaced by two statues of Equestria's two deposed princesses. How ironic. We approached the statues. My body began to mutter in some undescribable dialect. Now I was saying things I didn't know how to say? Creepy.

Suddenly, a fountain in the center of the garden, which had been spewing something other than water, a pink fluid, moved, revealing a stairwell.

"Nothing has entered this place in thousands of years." My body said as the group followed it down the stairwell.

"What is this place?" Twilight asked.

"A sanctuary of the Elements, built long before even Celestia. She never knew of it." Well, that was interesting. A sanctuary of the Elements of Harmony? Under Celestia's own castle? And she didn't know about it? Strange. "We will find the objects we require here. It is a great privilege to be allowed entry to this sacred place." My voice had little inflection, it was starting to creep me out even more.

The stairwell came to an end with a door bearing six seals, each one corresponding to an Element. Strange, one of the Elements had only been found less than two years ago, I thought. With another unintelligible incantation, the door opened, revealing the sanctuary. It was all white and gold, lit by unseen magics, with a great number of murals and mosaics adorning the walls. They depicted the Elements of Harmony being wielded by their holders over the millennia.

"Wow," Pinkie Pie said in obvious awe. "This is neat!"

"Do not touch anything. You are the embodiment of the Element of Laughter, yes, but you must understand that naught can be touched by anyone but this avatar."

"Okay..." Pinkie agreed, reluctantly. My body led the group to a large chest in the center of the large room. It was a gleaming golden white color, and opened with yet another incantation from the essence I shared a body with. The chest was absolutely full of artifacts, among them several copies of each Element's piece of jewellery, and some assorted pieces with no Element to be seen in them. My body distributed one of the objects to each of their respective holders. Without pausing, it picked up another piece, a crown. It had a single gray hexagonal gem in it. I heard a voice whisper to me as I suddenly regained feeling in my body.

"We entrust this to you, the Element of Order. You shall not fail."

Huh. I had just become one of the Elements of Harmony's bearers? And there was made a seventh? How would that help? There was time for questions later. I spoke, finding that my voice had returned.

"Well, that was odd." I put the crown on my head, finding it a perfect fit. Twilight gasped.

"Zach, you're back! Did they make you one of the Elements of Harmony's holders?" Twilight stated the obvious.

"Yeah. The Element of Order." Rainbow Dash flew to my side, and patted me on the back.

"Welcome to the club," she said.

"Uh, thanks. I think we should be looking for Discord now." I began to walk for the stairwell.

"What happened to you when we cast the spell on you?" Twilight asked, curious about my odd behavior.

"As the Elements said, they had assumed control of my body. I could see and hear, though, and it wasn't too bad. It seems like they healed me, too." I patted my side, and lifted my shirt to examine the site. Clean, not even a scar.

"Well, that's not fair! Why do you get to be an Element of Harmony and we didn't?" Trixie spoke for the first time since the battle. She had a few burns, and her mane was singed. Fluttershy had tended to some of the larger ones.

"I don't know, maybe because I let them use my body for a while. Does it really matter now? I don't even know how to use this thing." I tapped the crown on my head.

"Well, we'll have a chance to try it out soon enough," Time Piece said. He had been in awe since we first entered the sanctuary. The group continued up the stairwell, back to the surface.

Finale

Chapter Twenty-Three: Finale

Once the group had been fully out of the sanctuary, the fountain slid back into place, concealing the sanctuary once more. Why did it do that? The group's attention turned to the two statues that stood where Discord's had, the ones that had been the princesses Luna and Celestia.

"Do you think the Elements could free them?" I asked Twilight. I thought they probably could, but I couldn't be sure.

"I suppose. Let's give it a try," she answered. She turned to face the rest of our rather large group. "Let's save the princesses!" she said in a corny fashion. Of course she says corny stuff, she's a character from a children's cartoon. Or was she?

This whole experience had changed my perceptions of the characters as well as the show, and I was confused, not knowing what to think anymore. Now I was part of this world, one of the controllers of one of the most powerful weapons in this universe. It felt like I had a nuclear missile launch key, one that had to be activated with six others to fire this weapon. I was important in this world. Why the Elements gave me my own Element, I had no idea, but the one thing that was clear was that I had a job to do. The other Element-bearers arranged themselves in a crescent around the two statues, and I joined them.

"Uh, how exactly is this going to work?" I asked.

"Trust me. Just focus on the statues," Twilight answered.

I complied, and soon I was lifted into the air by a magical force. I saw the rainbow-colored beam come from Twilight's headpiece, this time with a gray band along both sides, representing my new Element. It split into two, and hit both statues simultaneously. There was a flash that persisted until we were on the ground again. Then we saw the two princesses standing where their statues had been.

"Twilight, you saved us!" Celestia was pretty happy, and then surveyed the scene. Luna noticed the peculiarities before her sister did, however.

"Zach, is that another Element of Harmony?" she asked, half-surprised, half elated. "Who are these ponies?" She glanced at the three ponies that had joined our quest.

"Time Piece, your majesty, at your service." The stallion was pretty psyched to see the princesses, and even more psyched by the fact that he had helped save them.

"Derpy, your majesty." The pegasus saluted somewhat clumsily.

"Trixie, the magician, at your service." Had Trixie just shown a bit of humility?

"They've all helped us, and are just as worthy of your thanks," Twilight said.

"Oh, we were just returning the favor. Zach and Twilight went to the human world to bring us three back. We owed them," Time Piece said modestly.

"You went to the human world, Twilight?" Celestia looked at her student with a look of what could have been awe, but I may have imagined it. "I'll be looking forward to your letters when this is done. Discord is still on the loose, correct?"

"Yes, princess, he is. But we're about to go correct that," I said with confidence.

I then thought of Discord's actions, something that I had deemed a waste of time earlier, but made sense now. He had sent me back to my world without disarming me, made it suspiciously easy to get to and through Canterlot, let us enchant my gun with the energies required to banish him, let me out of a mind game in which he probably could have made much more difficult while we were in in the dreamscape, let me free some of my compatriots from the same thing, then pitted us against each other, causing my injuries as well as the loss of our weapon, causing my subsequent volunteering to serve as a channel for the Elements of Harmony, leading to this. He could have destroyed or stopped us in dozens of ways, but he hadn't. This had been a charade, Discord wanted to put us on a believable, perilous quest to stop him so the barrier could be restored. He had said he was here to help us, but I hadn't expected this. How twistedly noble of him.

"I bid you good luck," Celestia said, then surveyed the castle grounds. "Discord has taken a few decorative liberties, I see," she remarked with her characteristic humor. The two parted with us after issuing another encouraging statement.

"Let's go find Discord," Twilight said.

"Gee, it sure was cool to meet the princesses," Derpy said. She had said little, and was obviously more inclined to listen than to talk.

Discord made a sudden appearance, coming from a stray pink cloud overhead. All the others gave him very dirty looks, but my face was expressionless, as far as I could tell. They were angry at him for a number of things, especially for pitting us against each other in a battle that could have killed me. If Twilight's horn had penetrated a bit further or had impacted a few inches to the side, my abdominal cavity would have been penetrated, causing a likely fatal wound. I felt pretty lucky. Discord's appearing here was to give himself in, with a convincing battle to complete the illusion, if my assumptions were correct. The first thing he said was directed at me.

"Zach, how has your little adventure been, hmm? Piercingly eye-opening, hasn't it?" He let out a laugh.

"Very funny. Tell me, Discord, why have you just let us defeat your efforts so far? You could have stopped us easily." The others looked at me questioningly. None of them had connected the dots.

"Oh, you saw that, did you? Well, I guess it's been fun, but there's no point in continuing this little game now, is there? I did this because I wanted to repair the universal barrier, and I needed help, and I didn't see the harm in having a bit of a game in the process. You served this purpose nicely, and I thank you for that. Now, you can blast me with your gaudy jewelry and get it over with. But, I have left another surprise for you. The other humans that were sent to Equestria? Oops, I sent them to other universes. I bid you good luck in finding them. Here, take this." I found myself wreathed in an orange glow for a moment, and felt a slight tingling sensation for a moment, and the aura disappeared.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Oh, I was just giving you the ability to travel between universes. Quite useful, you know. Just think about it and open the zipper. Now, get on with it." He came to the ground, and held up a target with a bullseye on it. The ponies arranged themselves in a hexagonal formation, with myself in the center.

"Ready, girls?" Twilight asked, rhetorically. Discord looked unhappy to be turned to stone again, but this time he had taken on a more dignified pose instead of a surprised one. The beam shot out, and the chimera that was Discord was once more a statue. All that had been changed turned back to normal, guards reappearing at their posts, confused. The ponies cheered in unison, except for Twilight, who remained silent.

"What does this mean?" She asked me.

"It means that we're done here," I answered.

"But we should go see the princesses first, they'll want to congratulate you."

"Congratulate me? For what? If anything, Discord deserves praise. He is the one that sacrificed his freedom to atone for his actions in the past, even if those actions took place thousands of years ago."

"I suppose, but what he did to us, to you, was not excusable. He pitted us friends against each other, and I see nothing that could possibly be more cruel."

"I agree, but that was just part of his ingenious little game. A sick, twisted game, to be sure, but he didn't mean any harm, or we'd have failed, or worse," I replied.

The other ponies had stopped their vocal celebrations, and were now looking to the entrance to the garden, in which the princesses stood. I thought about what Discord had said about sending the other humans to other universes, and how he'd given me the power to get them home. 'Maybe my adventures weren't over yet,' I thought as the princesses approached us.

Epilogue, Acknowledgements, and Author's Notes

Epilogue

The princesses neared us, and this time, we all kneeled, having missed the opportunity to do so before. Celestia and Luna had set the time correctly, and it was the middle of the night, now, and the garden was hastily being lit by torches. I was more tired than I'd been for a long time.

"Discord wasn't hard to find, I see," Celestia remarked. We'd scarcely moved since we freed them, and Discord's statue now stood where it should.

"Yes, he came to us, actually," I said, coming up from my kneel. "He actually did all of this to help us, giving us a heroic action to perform so the barrier could be reinforced."

"Oh? That doesn't sound like Discord," Celestia said, suspiciously.

"He did say from the start that he was here to set things right," I reminded her. Discord had said when we first released him that he would help us get all of the universes' pieces back in place, and that he didn't want one of the universes to fall.

"Yes, but I'd never believed him," she replied, "after all, he's a treacherous beast, is he not? Anyway, my sister and I are here to congratulate you and your friends for saving Equestria once again. All of you are welcome to the castle to stay the night. Thank you."

"We will confer with Canterlot's master magicians and identify the status of the barrier. We hope your efforts have stabilized it." Luna turned, and left. Celestia followed.

*****

The next day was a celebration of Discord's defeat, and the eleven of us were all treated as heroes. Trixie was really quite fond of this, and tended to make a scene of herself, though she never caused any significant trouble. Time Piece was humble, as was Derpy. The seven of us, as well as Spike, took part in a parade through Canterlot. Having so much attention drawn to me was disturbing, as I disliked parades, and I really disliked attention. Celestia had made sure that this was a grand celebration, and that everyone knew who had saved Equestria from Discord's chaos for the second time. After the parade, we were flown back to Ponyville, where we parted with Time Piece, Derpy and Trixie. The latter was planning to use her newfound fame to get her show back up and running, and the two formers had to get back to their  respective buisnesses, whatever they were. That night Pinkie Pie held her belated welcoming party for me. I didn't like parties that much, and Pinkie kept it small, with only her friends and Spike attending. It was late by the time the party was over, and I turned in at Twilight's library.

The next morning, Twilight had prepared a surprise for me.

"Zach, I have something for you," she said, as I got up from my nest of pillows and blankets on the floor and looked at her groggily.

"Yeah?"

"Here." She levitated a green bottle over to me. "I knew you'd be going home soon, so I had Spike prepare a special bottle of dragonfire so you can send messages to us."

"I appreciate the gesture, but won't the barrier will get in the way of that?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.

"No, it won't. Luna sent me a letter this morning, and it said that the barrier was healthy and stable, but still had a few weak points. There's enough leeway to send a letter through. She also said that she was trying to find out where the other humans ended up," she replied happily. I took the bottle.

"Then I look forward to writing you."

We went around the town once more, saying goodbyes, returning waves, and chatting with locals. We made a round trip to the library, and I decided that it was time to leave.

"I think I'll be going home, now. It's been fun. I'll keep in touch."

"Bye, Zach! I'll look forward to your letters."

I focused on home, and opened the universe-zipper. Twilight waved at me as I stepped in.

Coming home again was fairly eventful. My family was greatly relieved that I was okay- I had been missing for four days- and even believed my story, what with the press that the ponies recieved, and their subsequent disappearance. As for my teachers, they had a difficult time believing that I had left the universe for most of the week to a land of magical ponies so I could save their universe. It was a pretty silly story, after all. As for the show, it had recieved some controversial press, but managed to continue production, and even became more popular. With regularity, I wrote Twilight, her friends, and the princesses letters, telling them how this world was. A few weeks passed, and I recieved a letter that said that Luna had located the universe that one of the humans was sent to, and that they'd need my help to send them back. Here we go again. I decided to pack my bag and leave as soon as possible for Equestria.

The End

Author's Notes

Hello, reader. You've just seen the ending of my first fanfic, which was a three-week venture that, I believe, turned out fairly nicely. At first (the first four chapters) I had no idea where this was going to go, how to make it interesting, et cetera. After that, it developed a conflict and story and almost guided itself, requiring little thought on my part to write the next chapter, having it flow into my head as I wrote. As a result, it isn't the best writing I could produce, but, again, I'm proud of the result.

Acknowledgements

This story owes parts of its existence to the stories Article 2 by Muppetz and Hands by Andrew Joshua Talon. The former showing me that these stories can be really interesting, and the second making me think "You know what, I should stop thinking of writing one and just do it." so I did, and this is what came from it.

Users on my comment thread have been invaluable and made me sure that I wasn't writing for the wall at the back of the room and that some, if just a few, read my story. Particular users that helped a major amount are Xirnoch, Dancing Question, and Ponyaddict. I thank you all very much for reading this and using your precious time to help me improve my story. Remember to track me for any further developments, if you want to, of course. And now for the sequel!

(It's got a different spin to it, somewhat.)

Dropping In: Trans-Universal Recovery Team

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