Chapter 7:

Confessions of an Eternal Traveler

(Takes place during the end of Episode 2 of My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic)

I woke up in a comfortable, clean bed.

As if that wasn’t strange enough, I actually felt well rested, and I could feel an unfamiliar weight pressing against my chest. I rubbed my head with my hoof and tried to remember all that had happened before I had passed out. I remembered that we had all gotten to the ancient ruins…we found the Elements of Harmony…I had said something about skittles…transformed into my Super Aura…

My eyes shot open, and I jumped out of bed, yelling, “Nightmare Moon! I’ve gotta-”

I went quiet once a soft magical aura surrounded me, gently restraining me, and keeping me from doing anything reckless (Damn it). A white unicorn with pink hair and a red cross on her flank stepped into my line of sight, her horn glowing slightly.

“Easy there, you were out for a while. Although I must admit, you woke up sooner than I had expected,” She said, smiling, and levitating me back into the bed.

“What happened? We were at the Ancient ruins, and then we-”

“It’s alright. You have nothing to worry about. I am Nurse Redheart, and you’re in the Ponyville Medical Clinic. According to what the Princess told me, you expended quite an amount of energy, both mentally and physically, and needed to be monitored until you woke up,” The unicorn patiently explained, looking over a clipboard that I was willing to bet had a lot of medical mumbo-jumbo on it.

“But what about the others? Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy? Did they- I mean, are they okay?” I asked desperately.

Nurse Redheart walked over to the door and opened it, saying, “See for yourself.”

Five ponies burst through the open door, and my heart soared with relief. They surrounded my bed and started talking all at once, happy to see that I was okay, and I felt myself get hugged at random. Nurse Redheart nodded her head, and walked silently out of the room, barely noticed by any of us.

“Alright, alright, one at a time!” I laughed, and then looked around. “Hey, where’s Pinkie Pie?” I asked, concerned. “She’s okay, isn’t she? And what about Nightmare Moon? Did we win?”

They all started talking at once again, and I had to call out, “Wait, hold on! I have speak-lexia! If more than one pony starts talking in a loud voice, it sounds like a garbled mess to me!”

This time, it was Twilight who spoke, saying, “Do you remember how we had found the sixth element?” I nodded, and she continued, saying, “Well, instead of directly being used against Nightmare Moon, the magic that was unleashed from the Elements of Harmony was fired at you, causing you to transform.”

“What did I transform into?”

“As luck would have it, Pinkie Pie actually brought her camera with her-” Twilight started, but then I interrupted.

“Wait, she had a camera with her? Where did she keep it? On second thought, don’t answer that. It’s Pinkie Pie, that’s all I need to know. Please continue.”

“As I was saying, she had brought her camera with her, and she got a picture of you. Would you like to see?” Twilight asked, levitating a small photo to me. I grabbed it gingerly with my hoof (I have come up with a solution as to how Ponies can grab things without fingers: Magic Magnets) and looked at it.

I had never really seen myself in my Super Aura, except for brief glimpses in my visions, so this was interesting to me. In the photo, there stood a tall, powerful looking Pegasus, with a pure white coat, and a shimmering golden mane and tail. His mane seemed to be blown back, and it almost glowed with a life of its own. It was almost impossible to make out the cutie-mark, since it was glowing so brightly. The Pegasus wore golden, thick framed glasses, and his eyes shined with immeasurable strength.  Above his eyes, in the middle of his forehead, was a long, spiraling, unicorn horn.

“Is that really me?” I quietly asked, handing (hoofing?) the picture back to Twilight.

“It sure is. With the help of the Elements of Harmony, you were transformed from an ordinary Earth pony into-”

“A totally awesome super-powered mega pony!” Rainbow Dash finished, flying over my head and doing a pose.

“Aren’t they called Alicorns?” Fluttershy added quietly (Aha! I knew I’d find out what the heck they were called!).

“Same thing!”

“I wouldn’t say that he is an ‘ordinary’ pony,” A new voice said, a hint of laughter in her voice. All of us looked towards the door, and I saw a regal, noble looking Alicorn walk into the room.

She was tall, about the same size as my Super Aura, and she carried herself with an air of wisdom and authority. She had a long (even by pony standards), literally flowing mane that was colored with varying shades of sky blue, spring green, and pink. Her tail was even longer, and it shimmered with the same colors as her mane. Even though there was no wind, her mane and tail seemed to move as if they were being caressed by a gentle breeze. Emblazoned on her flank was an image of a golden sun, and her hooves were covered in something that resembled royal cuffs (or shoes. I dunno). Atop her head, fitted around her horn, was a golden crown with a purple diamond set into it.

All of the ponies in the room bowed in her presence, and I just did a mini-salute, and said, “Yo!”

The gathered ponies gasped, and the Alicorn’s lips twitched in poorly hidden amusement.

“Omnius, that’s Princess Celestia!” Twilight hissed under her breath, and I blinked.

“Princess Celestia? Oh, wow, um, Hi?” I managed, scratching my head. “Uh, okay. How’s your day been?”

Silence reigned supreme in the room, and I felt my face get hot enough to cook an egg. I desperately cast about for a topic and went to the old fallback: Say the first thing that comes to mind.

“So anyone here ever had a quesadilla? I could really go for one of them right now,” I said, while Twilight continued to look mortified. I kept going, saying, “Personally, I just like mine with no lettuce or anything, just pure cheese. Then you get the tortilla cooked just right, so that it has just the right amount of flake-age, and maybe have a side of French fries to go with it! Mm, that is some good food right there!”

At this, Twilight hid her head underneath the bed, while the others shifted around nervously. Princess Celestia then decided to end my rambling by laughing, and she said, “I’m sure it is. I’m glad to see that you are alright. Not very many creatures can handle as much energy as you did last night.”

I coughed slightly, and asked, “Last night? But how long have I been sleeping?”

“Long enough for Pinkie Pie to finish preparing the festivities, which are being held to welcome the return of my sister. Speaking of whom…” Princess Celestia stepped away from the door and allowed a smaller, dark blue Alicorn to walk into the room. She was just a mite taller than normal ponies, and her hair was an icy blue color. She seemed familiar to me somehow…

“Wait a second!” I shouted, realizing why she was familiar, “You’re the one that the Nightmare was keeping imprisoned!”

The Alicorn nodded and kept quiet. She seemed to be trying to come up with the right words, and she couldn’t seem to find them. She looked pleadingly at her older sister, and Celestia nodded as they communicated silently.

“Twilight, if you and your friends would please excuse us, we would like to talk to Omnius about his memory loss,” Princess Celestia said, her tone leaving no room for argument. The lavender unicorn looked at me, and I gave her a casual smile. My heart sank as all of the ponies left, and I had to fight the urge to break out into a cold sweat.

As soon as the last pony had left, Princess Celestia used her magic to shut the door and close the blinds on the windows. While she did that, Princess Luna’s horn glowed, and the walls glowed a dim shade of blue, so subtle that you could only really notice it if you glimpsed it out of the corner of your eyes.

While they worked, I got out of bed and stretched my legs, surprised by how stiff they were. I cracked my neck and sighed in relief. I adjusted my glasses one final time and turned to face the Sun and Moon.

All three of us stood there for a moment, as the two Princesses silently watched me. I waited silently and tried to quell my own rising suspicions. After a minute, I broke the silence again (I tend to do that a lot) by asking, “Princess Luna, how do you feel?”

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and said in a controlled voice, “We cannot be sure. We feel joy and ecstasy at finally being freed from the grips of Nightmare Moon, but we also feel shock and awe at how much we have missed since being imprisoned in yonder moon for nigh on one thousand years.” She took a breath to steel herself and continued, saying, “We also feel gratitude to the bearers of Harmony, and to thee, for thine efforts and for not, giving up, as it were.”

I blinked at both her use of the word ‘We’ and her use of the old timey dialect. I went over what she had said, and replied, “Nay, it is I who must thank thee, for if thou had not been willing to reach out to me when the Nightmare had attempted to enter mine mind, mine efforts to free you from thine prison would have been all for naught.” At her evident surprise at my ability (Or inability. It’s been forever since I had to use that to talk) to use old dialect, I continued, saying, “Mine understanding is that thou art more at ease with ye old method of speech, as you have yet to properly acquaint thineself with this form of speaking.”

Princess Luna smiled, and said gratefully, “We thank thee yet again, Traveler. But we would wish you to speak as you are most comfortable with and to ignore our discomfort. We will have to learn thine way of speaking eventually.”

I let out a sigh of relief at that. “If you’re sure.” Then I tensed and realized she had called me ‘Traveler.’ Uh oh.

Luna continued speaking, and I snapped my attention back to her. “WE, um, that is—we are also saddened, because we have almost no friends who are…” She trailed off, her voice slipping.

I felt an anger at the dark force that had corrupted Luna and stolen so much from her, and I said, “Well, don’t worry about that. I’ll be your friend!”

Her eyes widened, and I said, “Hey, come on! Don’t be surprised! You looked like you needed a friend, and now you have one!”

This time, a huge smile lit up Luna’s face, and I felt the overwhelming happiness that came with it. It made me feel good, and I scratched my head, slightly embarrassed by what I had said.

Princess Celestia nodded, as if she had confirmed something for herself, and she said, “I am glad to hear you say that. Now as to your lost memories, Omnius: Have they returned to you yet?”

I cleared my throat, and said carefully, “I guess you could say that. One could also say that they had never left at all and are just dormant, waiting to be called forth.”

Princess Celestia smiled softly, and she said, “You do not have to hide anything from us Omnius. Both of us know who you are.”

My eyes widened as I backed up slightly, and asked fearfully, “You mean you-I mean you were- I-”

She nodded, and said, “Yes. I am one of the beings that created you, as is my sister.”

I felt my jaw drop from the shock of this revelation, and I suddenly remembered all of the events that had taken place last night as the pieces clicked into place inside of my head.  Gasping, I felt myself swaying, and I grabbed the bed frame for support. Taking several breaths to steady myself, I said quietly, “Then that means that not only did I just ask a Goddess if they’ve ever eaten a quesadilla, but I also saved her sister from the darkness that had corrupted her and just became her friend. That’s new, even for me!”

Princess Luna tilted her head slightly and I explained, saying, “Cooked tortilla with melted cheese inside of it, it’s delicious, I highly recommend it. Add lettuce or peppers if you want some extra flavor. Maybe an onion if that’s your thing, but personally, I hate the taste of onions.”

Luna allowed another small grin to show itself on her face, and Celestia chuckled. I grinned, and then slapped a hoof onto my face, and said, “Oh what am I doing? I’m advertising food to a Goddess! Next thing you know, I’ll be telling you how to best accessorize with those crowns of yours!”

“Please, do go on. I would love to know what I should wear to the next Grand Galloping Gala,” Celestia said, grinning.

“Wait, you have a sense of humor!” I said joyously. “That means that I can make jokes! YES!”

They both laughed at this, and the tension that was in the room disappeared. I felt relaxed. I looked up at the Princesses, and asked, “So you both are Goddesses of Good?”

“Correct. Both I and my sister are Goddesses of Good, and you, Omnius, are the Eternal Traveler of Good,” Celestia said, glad that I had caught on.

“How long have you known about it?”

“Ever since you entered this world. At the time, Princess Luna was still imprisoned on the moon, and as I knew that the time of her freedom, from both the moon and the Nightmare, was drawing near, I felt it would be best if you just did what you had to do, and let the forces of Good guide you,” She explained, walking closer to me.

“Wait, then you knew that Nightmare Moon was coming all along! Why didn’t you trust Twilight then?” I asked, putting things together in my mind.

“I told her that she needed to make friends, nothing more. I never said that I didn’t trust her, did I?” She said slyly, nudging me with her hoof.

“Clever girl. So that means that since you knew it was coming, you also knew that Twilight needed to learn about Friendship so she could get that spark going, right?”

“Indeed. Now Omnius, even though you have done so much for everypony here, I must ask of you to do something else for us,” Celestia said with a trace of slight sorrow in her voice.

“Name it,” I said confidently.

“Would you please show us your true form?” She asked with no hint of the joking tone that was present earlier.

“Um, you mean my, not pony form, right?” I asked nervously, not making eye contact. This was the first time I had been asked that by a God or Goddess. Normally I’m already in human form, or they just straight up demand I show them, but again, another story for another day.

“Yes Omnius. I want to see what I helped to create,” She said softly, and something in her voice drew my eyes to hers. They were smoldering violet orbs, and they showed a wisdom that transcended time, and a longing for her subjects to not just view her as a ruler, but as a friend who they could rely on. She already felt the same way about almost all of her subjects, and that included even me. She gazed into my eyes, and I into hers, and I sighed. I can’t help it; I’m a sucker for sad faces (that aren’t annoying little girls).

“Alright,” I said, and then I grabbed the blanket from the bed, used it to cover myself, and called out, “Please make sure there are no rubber chickens, cans of coke, or wattage exceeding that of a lightning bolt in the vicinity!”

Hearing no response, I closed my eyes and brought all of my focus onto changing back into myself. Normally, it’s not a painless process, and there is almost always a violent stinging sensation that goes along with my form shifting.

After the familiar stings, I opened my eyes to see that under the blanket I had successfully turned back to…normal. I grabbed the blanket in my hand, tossed it to the side, and stood up, stretching my back.

“Omnius?” I heard Luna ask tentatively.

“The one and only, at your service! Literally in this case,” I said, giving a small showman’s bow. “So, how do I look?”

Princess Celestia walked around me, and cast her eyes over me. Her face was a neutral mask, as she took in everything about my form, from my jeans, to my Hard Rock Café button-up shirt that lay open over a white shirt that had my insignia added to it, in a solid blue color. I nervously fiddled with the plain silver colored ring on my finger, as neither Princess said anything for a while. Something else that caught my attention was the fact that the necklace bearing the green orb hadn’t disappeared either. Instead, it had adjusted its length to fit loosely on my neck, and it hung openly on my shirt.

“Hmm…” She started, and my heart rate skyrocketed, my nerves getting the better of me. “I didn’t know that humans could have acne like ponies do.”

I facepalmed (Facepalm! I missed you! It’s just not the same with a hoof!), and said, “Out of all the things to comment on, you say something about my zits?”

She smiled, and said mysteriously, “Well, with you here, I have an idea that you aren’t the first human I’ve seen.”

I groaned, and said, “Oh, a sense of humor AND crypticness. Is my presence somehow connecting you to alternate dimension/reality versions of yourself? Or are you being serious about the seeing humans before bit?”

“Only time will tell if that is the case,” She said, just a cryptically as she had before, and I groaned again.

“Thank you Princess Trollestia.”

Luna chose this time to speak up, and she said, “We feel the same way Sister. Is this truly the workings of the Traveler?”

“It is. You see, in the case of the Greater Forces of Good, as Goddesses, we can sense his connection to other planes of existence and glimpse our other selves,” Princess Celestia confirmed. She then smiled at me, and asked, “I know of your names, but would you please say them yourself?”

I inhaled, and then said, “I have many names, but there are three names that matter to me and one title that makes up who I am.”

She nodded, and motioned for me to continue.

“The name that the Gods and Goddesses of Good gave me: is Omnius the Traveling Guardian. The name that my parents gave to me at my birth: is Sean Nathaniel Brandenburg. The name that I use for undercover work, and as a nickname, is Nathan Traveler.”

As I said that, Luna had walked up to join her sister, and I said the last line in a proud voice, as if I was challenging everyone who hated me or wished to do harm to the innocent, “I am the Eternal Traveler of Good!”

After I said those words, I felt my body tingle with energy, and the green crystal started to glow, giving off a faint, white light. I gently grasped it in my hand, and I felt the power that was inside of it, and a faint connection to six other ponies (No prize for guessing which ones).

“Princess, I have to know: Did I really accidentally create a seventh Element of Harmony?”

She closed her eyes, and said, “As it was said in the prophecy, you have brought with you an Eternal Hope.”

“Then that means that…”

Luna spoke this time, and she said, “Hail Omnius, Bearer, and wielder, of the seventh Element of Harmony: Hope.”

I lifted the Element up to my eyes and stared at it, losing myself in its emerald depths. “I also just have one other question.”

Celestia raised her eyebrow, and I asked, “How come it isn’t blue, or white? Those are two of my favorite colors, and as much as I like green, I kinda would have preferred blue. I mean, it just compliments the brown of my eyes!”

We all shared another laugh at that, and I sat down on the bed.

“Art thou going to show this,” She gestured towards my entire body, “to thy friends Omnius?” Luna asked, walking up to me.

I sighed, placed my head in my palms, and thought about it for a moment. “I honestly don’t know. I mean, it’s not that I’m afraid of them being afraid of me, it’s just that…well…I’ve been lying to them.” I got up, walked over to where the window was, and partially moved some of the blinds so I could see outside. I continued talking, and said, “They trusted me. Heck, Applejack even let me work on her farm until I could get back onto my hooves, so to speak, and I lied to all of them. I know that it isn’t anything I haven’t done before, but…” I sighed, and said, “I guess the years haven’t made it hurt any less. Now I’m worried about how they’re gonna react if I tell them.”

The tip of a white wing touched my shoulder. I turned to see Celestia had a sad smile on her face, and Luna had a look of sympathy on her face.

“Omnius, I would be worried if it didn’t bother you,” Celestia said wisely, “All that this means is that you care for others, and you don’t like to hide things from them.”

“Thou shouldst be proud that thou can still feel regret for hiding the truth,” Luna added, going to stand by her sister, with her eyes sparkling.

“Yeah, I know. Not to sound rude or anything, but I’ve heard that speech before. I know that it’s a good thing to feel like that, but I’m still afraid that once I tell them…” I trailed off, my mind bringing up pictures of harsh rejections. It wouldn’t be the first time that it had happened, but would it be the first time I couldn’t make amends?

Celestia sensed my distress, and said, “Do you really believe that they wouldn’t be your friends anymore?” I opened my mouth to answer, and she cut me off, saying, “That’s insulting to them! Do you really think that they’ll see you any differently? Think about this for a moment! Would Twilight Sparkle, with all of her knowledge, be so ignorant as to let this new information change her opinion of you?”

“Well, no, she’s too smart for-”

“And what about Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty? She wouldn’t let something like this turn her away from a friend!”

“Okay, you’ve got a point there, but-”

She continued, as if this was something she had been thinking about for a while. “Applejack wouldn’t forget what you did for her younger sister, and Rarity certainly wouldn’t consider it proper to hold a grudge! Fluttershy is one of the kindest ponies around, who is willing to accept anypony for who they are and Pinkie Pie-”

“Is Pinkie Pie,” I finished, feeling ashamed of myself now. I forced myself to look into Celestia’s eyes, and I said, “Is this some sort of magic Princess power that you have?”

Surprisingly, it was Luna who answered this time. “Neigh,” (Get it? She said neigh, but…oh never mind) “but when thou entered our mind and freed us from our prison, we also caught a brief glimpse of thy past adventures. What we saw, we almost forgot as soon as it passed, but we remember thy feelings of sorrow, and decided that it would be best if we were to attempt to persuade you to confess, and then we would, erm,” She paused, trying to find the right word, and then said, “Comfort thou?”

I smiled and brushed away some stray tears that had tried to leak out of my eyes. Stupid lightning bolt, making me cry at random.

“That is what we say, correct?” Luna asked, “Mine apologies, but we are unaccustomed to speaking in such a manner. Normally, we would speak in the royal speaking voice as well, but Celestia suggested otherwise, and it is a chore to do so.”

I laughed, and said, “No, you’re fine. It’s just me being a sap is all. Thank you, both of you. You’ve shown me how big of a fool I’ve been.”

Then, acting on an impulse, I grabbed Celestia and Luna (not really as hard as you’d think) and pulled them both together in a quick hug. Before they could react, I said quickly, “Thank you.”

Celestia shifted her wings and wrapped one around me and her sister, as did Luna (although it felt as if she were unused to doing something like that), and all three of us stood there, the two Alicorns, and a Traveler, hugging each other, and giving a measure of strength to one another.

I then let go of both of them, and grinned. “Now then, what’s this I hear about a party?”

XHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXH

Moments later, I stretched out my legs, and shook my mane. I was back in top pony condition and had already shaken off the pins and needles feeling. Saying goodbye to the Princesses, I left the room and walked out of the building, my thoughts ricocheting inside of my head. I was so preoccupied with them, that I almost failed to notice that all six of the ponies, Pinkie Pie included this time, were waiting outside, looking worried.

“Oh! Hey! Didn’t see you there,” I said, trotting up to them.

“Did you get your memory back?” Applejack said, getting straight to the point.

“Yeah, about that…” I sighed. “Girls, I have a confession to make,” I said, looking at them all. The Princess was right. I couldn’t hide anything else from these ponies- no. I couldn’t hide anything from my FRIENDS. “But it will have to wait until after the party!”

Hey, didn’t say I couldn’t procrastinate!

“Are you sure? I mean, that is, I’m sure that you are sure, but do you really want to wait until, um, after the party?” Fluttershy asked softly.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it. Besides,” I added, “It’s kind of a, um, whopper.”

“Ooh, a whopper! I’ve had some of those before! Like this one time, I found a new recipe for cake, and I was gonna bake it when I saw that we were out of flour, and then I had to go and buy some more, but when I got back, I-” Pinkie Pie started, but then I quickly cut her off.

“Yeah, right Pinkie. But seriously, come on! Let’s go rock our flanks off!” I said, running towards the center of town. A sudden pink blur ran in front of me, and I stopped in order to avoid collision.

“Silly! The party isn’t over there! It’s over here!” She said, skipping towards the opposite direction.

I decided to try my hoof at bouncing, and followed, cheerfully saying, “Follow the pony!”

As soon as I said that, my hoof came into contact with a loose pebble, and I tumbled to the ground, saying, “I regret nothi-oof!” That last part was me colliding with the ground.

“…So ground, we meet again!”

    By the time we had made it to the entrance of Ponyville, the party was in full swing. Somepony (Cough cough *Pinkie* Cough) had placed decorations all over the buildings, and the trees had small bundles of flowers tied onto them. Basically, the place looked more festive and cheerful, and you could feel everyone’s excitement at being able to welcome the return of Princess Luna.

Seeing some picnic tables that were loaded with food, I squeed in delight, excused myself from the group, and dashed over, my stomach taking temporary control. Spying a plate loaded with muffins, I grabbed one and tore into it.

“Muffin! I’ve missed you so much!” I said between bites. “Don’t you ever leave me again!”

While I was devouring my third muffin, I heard a giggle, and I turned to see a familiar cross-eyed (Or is it wall-eyed? I can’t ever remember) Pegasus.

“Ditzy!” I said, grabbing a muffin, and tossing it to her. “It’s great to see you again!”

She opened her mouth, and managed to catch and swallow the muffin in one bite. She grinned, and said, “Good to see you too! How’s your amnesia?”

“Gone with the wind!” I exclaimed, biting into another muffin. “Mm, these are good. Now, with this muffin, you can tell that the blueberries were picked at just the right time, and then carefully preserved until the time of baking. This has obviously been carefully prepared, as evidenced by the golden brown top and by how it just seems to capture the baked good’s flavor, locking it in, until bitten into!”

“Wow Omnius! Were you a food critic before the memory loss?” Ditzy asked, a look of wonder on her face.

“Nah, I just thought that would make me sound smarter,” I said, finally moving away from the muffins. I walked over to the gray and blond Pegasus and said happily, “But that does sound like something I’ll have to try in my Travels. Heck, it wouldn’t be the strangest thing that I’ve ever done!”

“What is then?” A new voice called out. I looked over and saw The Doctor grinning at me from the other side of the table.

“Hey, what’s up doc?” I asked, going over to him and giving him a high hoof. “Oh, hey, Doc, have you met Ditzy?”

“Why, yes I think I have,” He said, grinning wryly. Ditzy laughed, like there was some sort of inside joke between them, and I shrugged, deciding that I would find out eventually.

“Well, glad that’s taken care of.”

“You still haven’t answered my question,” The Doc pointed out.

“Oh, right. Well, let’s see…There are a lot of strange things I’ve done. But how to choose…Ah, okay, I’ve got it! Pick a number between one and thirteen!”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Look, there are a lot of weird and strange things that I’ve done. I just thought of the first thirteen that popped into my head, and I’ve only got enough time to tell you about one. So pick a number please.” I explained.

“Alright, um…seven!” He said, chuckling.

“Ooooh, good choice. Alright, now this is one of my better stories,” I said laughing. I then stopped suddenly, and looked at Ditzy questioningly.

The Doctor sensed what I was worried about, and he quickly spoke up, “Don’t worry, you can trust her. I hope this doesn’t anger you, but I took the liberty of telling her about your, erm, Traveling, so to speak.”

I sighed, and said, “Doc, if I didn’t know an alternate version of you, then I would have made sure you could only eat through a straw for doing that. As it is, I believe you.” I turned to Ditzy, and said, “Alright, if The Doc trusts you, I trust you. Just make sure that nothing hears about this.”

She nodded her head, and I looked around to make sure nopony was listening. I nodded, satisfied, and then started telling them one of my stories.

“Alright, now you ponies know about the Everfree forest and how it looks, right? Well, imagine that, but with more trees, and there’s lush, green, non-sinister plant life everywhere. Everywhere you look, there’s another unique bit of animal life, from elephants, to giraffes, to gorillas. This jungle is on an island way out in the ocean of another world and it has all of the scenic island stuff. This, my friends, is Kong Island!” I paused for dramatic effect, and continued.

“Now, to cut a long story short, there are two important groups that are around this island: The Kongs, who are a group of friendly banana loving primates, and the Kremlings, a group of dastardly pirate-like crocodile thugs. Now, for some strange reason, the leader of the Kremlings, King K. Rool, decided to steal the Kongs’ precious Banana Horde. Now, being a friend of the leader, Donkey Kong, I figured I had to help them out, but…”

XHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHX

“D.K, there is no way, absolutely NO FREAKING WAY, that you are getting me to jump into that barrel!” I said stubbornly for the fifth time.

We were both standing next to a cliff with a five hundred foot drop, surrounded by green trees, with chirping noises coming from the jungle foliage around us. There was an overly large barrel with a white explosion symbol painted on it standing next to me, and I gulped whenever I looked at it.

The huge gorilla pointed at the barrel and grunted at me, and I said, “Oh come on! You’re telling me that that barrel will launch me across that gap and into another barrel, and THAT barrel will shoot me to another barrel, and then that barrel will launch me into the cave we’re supposed to go to?”

D.K nodded his head vigorously and I facepalmed. Rubbing my face, I turned to gaze across the cliff, and I could just barely make out some small dots that hung in the air, suspended by nothing. I gulped again and stepped back, away from the drop.

“Why can’t we send Diddy first?” I asked, looking at the baseball cap wearing monkey. Said monkey then shot me a look and I raised my hands, saying, “Joking!”

Donkey Kong rolled his eyes, and then he picked me up with one of his massive hands.

“Uh, hey, D.K? What are you do- OH GOOD GANDHI NO!” I cried out, as soon as I saw that he intended to put me into the barrel. I struggled for a second, before the gorilla dropped me into the barrel. I gulped, and curled up into a tight ball, hoping that this would work.

The barrel spun in place for a moment and stopped suddenly. The jungle got quiet for a moment, and the only sound you could hear was the sound of my heart beating like a jackhammer in my chest. Just when I thought it was safe to attempt to climb out, there was a resounding BOOM, and I was suddenly flying through the air, while the Kongs started beating their chests and hooted with excitement.

“I BELIEVE I CAN FLY!!!” I shouted as I flew through the air, the wind causing my eyes to water. I felt myself start to slow down, and the ground suddenly started to look like it was getting closer.

“It always slows down when I say that, doesn’t it?” I complained to no one in particular before I dropped into another barrel. This time, it skipped the spinning sequence, and I felt myself being launched violently into the air. I reached out with one of my hands and managed to snag a random bunch of bananas.

“Where did these come from?” I wondered as I clutched them to my chest. I fell into another barrel, and before I knew it I was flying again, this time with more speed than before. I opened my mouth to say something, but another stray banana smacked me in the face, and I managed to grab it with my teeth. By the time I felt myself slowing down, the other side of the cliff had come into sight, and a large cave entrance could be easily seen.

I crashed into the ground and rolled to soften the landing. I stood up, shaking from the adrenaline rush, and walked over to the cave entrance, laughing.

“Woooooo!” I heard a deep voice call out. I leaned against the entrance to the cave and watched D.K and Diddy land perfectly on the cliff. They looked at the bananas I was holding and I shrugged.

“I don’t know how this island does it, but I love the fact that we can find these just randomly floating in the air,” I said, breaking off a few bananas and tossing them to the primates.

We sat and enjoyed a brief banana lunch, and then walked into the cave, ready to take on a giant…beaver?

“-and that’s a story for another day,” I finished. As soon as I had stopped talking, The Doctor and Ditzy both started to laugh, and I joined them.

“You mean to tell me, that a gorilla had to pick you up and force you into a barrel, just because you were too frightened to do it?” The Doctor said, wheezing from the laughter.

“Here’s a joke for ya Doc: What does a gorilla do when he crosses the street?”

“I don’t know, what?”

“Whatever he wants!” I said, and then we roared even louder, causing a lot of the ponies in the area to stare at us for a moment.  I stood up and said, “Well, it was great seeing you again Doc, but I gotta vamoose. My friends are waiting over by where the princesses are supposed to be riding into town, and I wanted to be with them for it.”

“Say no more, I understand. I’ll see you around Omnius!”

“Take care Ditzy,” I said, trotting away.

“Bye Omnius!”

Still chuckling, I made my way over to the group (Spike had managed to find everypony at some point) and Pinkie Pie asked me, “What are you laughing about?”

“Oh, just an old story I told to some other friends. Remind me to tell you some time,” I said, and then cut off any other questions Pinkie might have had by saying, “Hey, look, it’s the princesses!”

All of the ponies gathered watched in awe, as a golden chariot/throne was pulled by four of the royal guards. Sitting in the chariot, the perfect picture of royalty and wisdom, were the Princesses of the Moon and Sun, holding their heads high and invoking a sense of majesty from all that were gathered.

Everypony present, including myself, bowed low to the ground once the Princesses had stepped off of the chariot. Two small Pegasus fillies flew over to where Princess Luna was staring sadly at the ground, and adorned her with a flower necklace. She looked surprised at the sudden show of affection, but then she smiled, and I think everypony cheered when they saw that.

As we all cheered, I noticed that Twilight had edged herself away from the rest of us, and was looking downcast. Apparently Princess Celestia had noticed as well.

“Why so glum, my faithful student? Are you not happy that your quest is complete and you can return to your studies in Canterlot?” She asked.

“That's just it. Just when I learned how wonderful it is to have friends, I have to leave them,” Twilight said sadly, looking mournfully at her newfound friends (I was included! I feel special!).

We all shifted awkwardly, and the festive mood disappeared, replaced by one of worry and sadness. Well crap, just when I get to tell everypony about my Traveling, one of the ponies has to leave. Even the ponies who didn’t know us looked sympathetic.

Princess Celestia then got a knowing twinkle in her eye, and she said, “Spike, take a note, please.” The purple dragon complied, taking out a roll of parchment and a quill, and he scribbled furiously. “I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the unicorn Twilight Sparkle shall take on a new mission for Equestria. She must continue to study the magic of friendship. She must report to me her findings from her new home in Ponyville.”

Everypony let out a loud cheer at that and I laughed. Of course she gets to stay!  The plot wouldn’t make much sense otherwise! With the other five Elements of Harmony, I went over to Twilight, and ignoring everypony present, wrapped my foreleg around her neck, gave her a gentle noogie, and started cheering like crazy.

After we had all given Twilight a congratulatory, ‘Hex Yes, you get to stay!’ hug, she looked at Celestia with gratitude in her eyes, and said, “Oh thank you, Princess Celestia! I'll study harder than ever before!”

We cheered even harder at that, and I lifted Twilight onto my shoulders, balanced carefully on my back legs, and yelled, “This calls for a celebration!”

“But we’re already at a party!” Applejack pointed out.

“Wow, Pinkie Pie works fast! Speaking of her, where’d she wander off to?” I asked, looking around.

“Um, Omnius? Could you set me down now? Please?” Twilight called from above me. I blinked and looked up, forgetting that I was the one lifting her.

“Oops. Sorry ‘bout that,” I apologized, setting her down on the ground. “If you excuse me, I’m gonna go look for the Pink wonder.”

“Good luck with that,” Rainbow Dash said, “I betcha five bits that you can’t find her before she finds you!”

“Challenge Accepted,” I said, already diving into the crowd of ponies. The rainbow colored Pegasus said something else, but I was already going into full stealth mode, and I had started to play the theme music from Mission Impossible in my head.

I quickly hopped into a covered food cart and rode it silently; going unnoticed by the tall, gangly looking yellow Earth pony that was pushing it. I poked my head out, and glanced quickly around. Spying a dark alleyway, I rolled out from the cart (grabbing a pastry from it in the process) and silently hid in the shadows of the alley.

My eyes darted around, trying to catch a glimpse of the Pink Pony, and then I saw her off in the distance, a little ways away from Ponyville. I grinned and thought to myself, “I have you now.”

I quietly hid behind a tree and bit into the cinnamon roll I had snatched. I peeked from around my position and my jaw dropped. Pinkie Pie was talking…to the air. That is, she was talking to supposedly nothing, and I quickly tried listening in on what she was saying.

“Isn't this exciting?” She was saying, before she had to take a breath. “Are you excited ‘cause I'm excited I've never been so excited, well, except for the time that I went GASP but I mean really-”

“Pinkie Pie!” I interrupted.

She turned to me, gave me her big goofy grin, and said, “Oh, hi Omnius! I didn’t see you there!” (Five bits for me!) “Did you come to say goodbye to the people watching us?”

My jaw dropped again. Ye Gods and Goddesses, but if she was doing what I think she was doing…

“Pinkie Pie,” I said seriously, “You can see the viewers?”

“Well of course not silly! I just know they’re there!” She replied, giggling.

I couldn’t help it. I threw my arms around her and gave her the biggest pony hug I could give her. “You’re a fourth wall breaker! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!” I said, jumping up and down giddily, with Pinkie still in my forelegs.

“You mean you know about them too?” She asked, her voice shaking as I kept shaking her in joy.

I blinked, and grinned sheepishly. I set her down, and said, “Yeah! See, I can- Wait…” I thought for a moment, and then said cautiously, “You know what? I need to wait until everypony is here. Then I can tell everypony in one sitting.”

Pinkie pointed over my shoulder, and said, “You don’t have to wait! Look over there!”

Turning my head, I saw that Twilight Sparkle and the gang were headed our way. I gulped audibly, and Pinkie asked, “Is something wrong?”

“No, I guess I just hoped for a little more time,” I sighed. She tilted her head in confusion, and I walked over to meet the others.

“Yo,” I said, my voice lacking its usual cheer.

“Hey,” Twilight said, before saying, “Is something wrong? Before she left, Princess Celestia asked me to talk to you. She said that there was something you wanted to tell us.”

I felt my stomach start twisting into knots, and I chuckled nervously and said, “You could say that.”

They all looked at me, and Applejack spoke up, “You sure you’re alright? You’ve been acting awfully strange since you got your memory back.”

When she said that, I took a deep breath, and said, “That’s just it A.J. I never lost my memory to begin with.”

Everypony present gasped, and I continued, saying, “The lightning bolt didn’t scramble my brain. Although, since I was dumb enough to lie to you girls, maybe it did.”

“You lied to us?” Applejack called out angrily.

“I did,” I said, hanging my head in shame.

Rainbow Dash flew up close, stuck her head into my face, and shouted, “We trusted you!”

I backed away, and said, “I didn’t want to lie though!”

“Then why did you?” Rainbow yelled.

I was silent for a moment, before answering, “Because you wouldn’t believe me if I told you the truth.”

“What? What could be so unbelievable that you had to lie to your friends about it?” Rainbow Dash screamed at me, and I cringed.

She pushed me with her front hooves, and I fell over and didn’t get up. I simply stayed there on the ground and felt hot tears well up in my eyes. Celestia was wrong. They weren’t gonna want to be my friends after this; they would hate me for lying to them.

It got deathly quiet. Everypony stared at me, while I closed my eyes, and waited for the harsh words. Finally, a voice spoke up, and for the umpteenth time that day, it was the last pony I expected.

Fluttershy.

“Girls, I don’t think we should be mad. I mean, that is, he hasn’t even said why he was pretending to have amnesia,” She said quietly. I opened my eyes and saw that she was standing next to me and smiling softly. She offered me a hoof and I took it. She pulled me up and smiled reassuringly.

“No wonder you’re the Element of Kindness,” I said, a ghost of a smile on my face. Before anyone could say anything, I took a leap of faith, and said, “You want to know why I had to lie to you? Well, to put it simply, I’m not from this world, or even this universe. I’m one of three beings that Travel throughout Time, Space, Matter, and across all of the Realities and Dreams.”

When I said it, the others just gawked at me.

“You have GOT to be kidding me!” Rainbow Dash said, looking at me incredulously.

“You have no idea how many times that’s been said to me,” I chuckled grimly. “But it’s the truth. I’m the Eternal Traveler of Good, destined, fated, and doomed to Travel across all of Time, Space, Matter, and the Realities, for all of eternity and beyond, for the side of Good.”

“Do you really expect us to believe that?” She spat out, glaring at me. She started to charge at me, but Applejack stopped her with a restraining hoof.

“He’s telling the truth,” She said, her eyes widening. “I don’t know how I know this, but he’s telling the truth.”

“What?”

I nodded, and said, “I could show you my true form if it would help convince you that I’m telling the truth.”

“That’s not even your real body?” Twilight asked.

“It is, but…well, it’s kind of hard to explain,” I said, trying to think. When I couldn’t come up with the words, I shrugged, and said, “It’s probably easier to just show you.”

All six of the ponies watched me as I closed my eyes and made the shift back into human form.

I felt the stinging sensation fade, and all of the ponies gasped as I stood up and smoothed out the wrinkles in my clothes.

“That’s your true form?” Rarity asked, a look of slight wonder on her face.

“Yep,” I said simply, stuffing my hands inside of my pockets.

“What are you?” I winced at the simple question Fluttershy had asked me. Most commonly asked question number three had entered the area!

“I’m a Human. I take it you’ve never seen one before? No, wait, don’t answer that,” I said, remembering something I had forgotten to mention. “Look, this might seem strange, but if you forget what my true form is called later, tell me please.”

“Why would we forget?” Twilight poked at my leg with her hoof.

“Because there’s a certain enchantment that adjusts anyone’s memories of me to fit into whatever story I’m in,” I said. At their confused faces, I explained with a bit more detail. “For example, say that you had never seen a human before me. Well, if another human were to somehow make their way here, you would forget everything about me being a human, and those memories of me in human form would be replaced temporarily. Heck, even I would forget that I’d shown you my human form.”

“What do you mean, ‘Story’?”

“That’s just what I call it when I’m in a certain timeline, where certain events will take place. I’m sort of here to observe, and then help out in any way I can.”

“Oh…I guess that makes sense…” Fluttershy said, looking confused.

“So, onto the dreaded question I have to ask: How do I look?”

“You have zits.” Rainbow Dash said, pointing at my face. I groaned, remembering what Princess Celestia had said.

“Why does everyone always have to point that out?” I complained. “Is it really that bad?”

“To be honest, it actually isn’t,” Rarity said politely. “But I must admit that it is quite surprising to see them on another creature, other than ponies.”

We were all silent as they watched me curiously. When I finally couldn’t stand the silence any longer, I cried out, “Look, I might have lied to you, and you have every right to hate me, but I wasn’t lying when I said that you are all my friends!”

“Hate you?” Pinkie Pie asked, tilting her head. “Why would we hate you?”

“I lied about my amnesia! Heck, I lied about being a pony!”

“So?” She replied, bouncing up to me. “You’re still you, right? Then that just means that now we can learn more about each other! Ooh, we can play Truth or Dare! I’ll go first!”

“Maybe later Pinkie Pie,” Twilight promised, getting her to be quiet. She then turned her gaze at me, and said, “But she has a point. Sure, we might be mad at you, but that doesn’t mean we hate you. Besides, after seeing this and listening to what you said, I can see why you did what you did. I might have done the same thing if I were in your place.”

“Really? So you believe me?” I inquired hopefully.

“As strange as it may seem, yes. I believe you,” Twilight said, gazing at me thoughtfully. “I don’t know why, but I do.”

“Ooh! Maybe it has something to do with the Element he’s got!” Pinkie Pie chirped in, pointing at my necklace. I grabbed it, and thought about what she said.

“She might have a point. Maybe all of the Elements are connected somehow,” I said, thinking out loud. “This definitely calls for some research!”

“Wait, what Element is it?” Applejack asked.

“Oh, well, according to the Princesses, it’s the Element of Hope,” I said, tucking the necklace into my shirt. “Hey, where are your guys’ Elements?” I asked, finally noticing that they weren’t wearing their respective Elements.

“Oh, we hid them away for safekeeping,” Rainbow shrugged. “It was what Celestia said we should do.”

“Then why didn’t she ask me to hide mine?” I wondered, scratching my beard.

“Wait, we’re getting off topic!” Twilight said, shaking her head. “So you’ve been to other worlds?”

“Yep. And other universes, timelines, dimensions, paradoxes, you know, those kind of things,” I counted each place off on my fingers. I then shivered, and said, “Okay, you mind if I go back into pony form? I feel like something is watching us.”

“Only if you want to,” Fluttershy said quietly. I could sense her discomfort, and I focused on returning to pony form.

“This might take a second folks. Just gimme a mome- There we go!” I said, feeling the stinging sensation.

I sighed in relief once the feeling was gone, and I stretched out my hooves.

“So how can you change your shape like that?” Applejack asked, glad that I was back to being only slightly taller than the rest of them.

“Remember what I said about the Story? Well, if I’m some sort of alien that will get too much attention, then that might mess things up too badly. So, with some help from the magic of the world I’m entering, I can transform into the shape of the heroes of the story,” I explained. I then started to scratch my back, feeling an itch on a spot that I couldn’t reach.

“So, let me see if I got this right: You’re an alien who can travel to other worlds,” Applejack stated simply.

“You forgot that it’s Travel, capital T, and that I can learn anything.”

“What’s that now?”

I sighed, and said, “Look, I’m pretty sure that the viewers are getting kinda tired of this long, boring chapter, so how about I explain it off screen?”

“What the hay? I thought only Pinkie Pie did things like that!” She exclaimed, and everypony looked at Pinkie.

Her eyes widened, and she said, “Ooooooh, THAT’S what you meant!”

“Yep. Now then, how about we go to the library? I’ll explain as much as I can over there.”

All of the ponies present agreed, and we headed back while I told them a condensed version of my Eternal life story. Truthfully though, my heart was flying high. Not only did they forgive me for lying to them, they had also accepted who I was. I hadn’t had to resort to anything drastic, and they weren’t asking me any awkward questions yet.

Emphasis on “Yet.”

And with that, my adventure on Equestria officially started.

Next Chapter: Two Tickets to Paradise Estimated time remaining: 8 Hours, 50 Minutes