Homeward Bound

Part Three of a Crossover with Cyber5555’s “A New Point of View”

“Alright, come on now,” I said, as Star scrambled backwards in his seat, falling over as he did so.

“What are you?” he asked in surprise. In his struggling, he had managed to free himself from the last of his bonds, but apparently the shock of seeing me change from an Earth pony to a human was a little more than he could deal with at the moment.

I sighed, and offered him a hand to help him up. “I’m the guy who’s gonna help you get home. Now come on, on your hooves.”

Pulling him back up, I scratched my beard thoughtfully, while he dusted himself off. “Thanks, I guess,” he muttered.

“No problem. Now, the sooner we can get you back to your world, the sooner you can see Aracana, right?” He nodded, and I clapped my hands. “Excellent. Right, now…I need you to tell me everything about what you were doing before you warped here. Something tells me that holds the answer to this.”

“Alright then, but if you have to know, I will have to start from the beginning then,” Star said, making himself more comfortable.

For a moment, I debated mentally with myself. I only needed to hear what caused him to get here in the first place, and if he could feel any ties to his old world, but then again…he might not realize what he’s talking about if he skips it.

So, guess I’ll endure the whole she-bang. Who knows? Maybe I’ll tell him some of my stories.

I nodded at him, and he launched into a tale of life, strife, and bad luck, mixed with romance and adventure. Otherwise known as his side of the story. Several hours, backstories, and Victoria’s Secret jokes (Pinkie didn’t get it), and I had heard the gist of what had happened to him.

Apparently, there were three humans on his Equestria: himself, Arcana, and some guy named Aceiro. Not only did they posses unusual abilities, but they somehow had come into powerful artifacts known as the “Elements of Reality”.  He had the Element of Space, Arcana wore the Element of Time, and Aceiro dealt with the Element of Will, and Entropy.

Now stop me if those three things don’t sound familiar. I have to say, it’s a little disconcerting to hear that three kids are bearers of the powers that I’m technically an expert on. Time, Space, Will/Entropy. Strangely enough, that last one can be considered “Matter”. Now I’m more interested in what Star has to say…

A low growl broke me out of my thoughts, and I glanced at Star. He winced slightly, and asked, “Can we go and get something to eat? I haven't eaten anything since I woke up this morning.”

“I agree,” I nodded. “After all my breakfast was interrupted too, so I’m a bit hungry myself. How’s about we go to Sugarcube Corner? I could really go for some banana nut muffins right now.” In a trance like state, I licked my lips and started walking towards the doors, muttering, “Mmm…muffins…”

“Uh, Omnius?” Pinkie asked, snapping me out of my stomach’s control. “You’re still in human form.”

I glanced down at my pants, and muttered, “Oh yeah…Hm…I feel like being a Pegasus right now.”

With that, I started to focus my thoughts on changing forms once again. The familiar stinging sensation shot throughout my entire body, as I fell to all fours. In an instant, I had shifted into my classic Pegasus look, while my wings idly flapped the remainder of the sensation out of them.

I grinned at the surprised Star Streak, and said, “Alright, now that I am ‘appropriately dressed’ let's go get something to eat.”

Trotting over to the doors, I saw Star shake his head slightly and semi-reluctantly follow me outside. As I wondered which way would get us there without being noticed by too many ponies. It’s not exactly a good thing when you see yours truly with somepony who just caused a small scene in a bakery.

After Applejack told me that she still didn’t trust Star, and asked me to keep an eye on him, I said, “Yes ma’am.”

She left with Pinkie after that, saying something about how they had stuff they needed to do. I was too busy being distracted to pay attention. Either way, when she was gone, I extended a hoof towards Star, and said, “Even though I have to keep an eye on you, it doesn't mean that we can't be friends.”

He sighed, replying, “Even though what you said earlier is true, I still think you are nuts…” He then smiled, and accepted my hoof. “But I’m slightly nuts as well.”

That got a laugh out of me, and I cackled, “Excellent. So, now that we’re friends, do you know how to get to Sugarcube Corner? Quickly?”

“Do you let your stomach think for you sometimes?” he joked.

Yes.

“Nope,” I casually said. “I sometimes let the little person that lives in my hoof make some decisions.”

“You know what?” He started, but then thought better of it. “Forget about it. Let’s just go to Sugarcube Corner.”

He draped his hoof over my shoulder, and in an instant, we were at the famous bakery, thanks to his warping powers.

Teleportation. Gotta love that stuff.

Star swayed uncertainly on his hooves, before he shook himself out of it.

“Whoa, you okay there?” I asked, concerned about him.

“Yeah, but I don't get it,” Star wearily said in a confused tone. “I can warp without any problems at all, but now I get tired every time I do though.”

That’s not surprising, to be honest. Maybe his body has to constantly exert energy to keep him in a different dimension, or whatever was feeding his powers had been cut off. If that were the case, that meant that he was running off his own tanks. I can’t tell him my theories yet though. There’s gotta be more evidence backing it before I can begin to consider it.

For now, I just chose to say, “Maybe it has something to do about your arrival.” His stomach growled, and I added, “Or maybe you’re just hungry.

After reassuring Mrs. Cake that Star wasn’t going to do anything fish again, we placed our orders and went to our table. From there, Star started to go on with his story.

He mentioned a new pony named Shadow Breeze…

Why does that name sound familiar?

Anyways, he went on to mention some stuff about the remnants of Nightmare Moon, lovingly dubbed “Nightmare” and about how they had clashed time and time again. Hell, she had managed to end Star’s life once, but he was brought back by some being named Fate.

Oh boyo…I have a feeling that I know this guy.

Other than that, there was one part of the conversation that really stuck out in my mind. He mentioned that he had a “Leading Star” or something like that in his Equestria. After he said that, he tried to reach out to it with his mind, but could only partially reach it.

That gives me an idea…

I motioned for him to finish his story.

Several cinnamon rolls and muffins later, and he had finished his story with, “And there you have it, the whole story that had happened to us to now.”

I contemplated on everything he said. Ye gods, but this kid’s gone through a lot. Somehow, he had been gifted with extraordinary powers, been put in the right places at the exact right time to fight off a serious villain, and had gotten his hooves on a powerful artifact.

The artifacts themselves are items of interest to me. Time, Space, Will/Entropy…those things are something that I’m considered an expert on. I even feel a slight connection to him through that. Like I can sense his Space energy around him. It’s perplexing, to say the least. Just what does all of this mean? Could there be more to this story than what lies on the surface, or is it just a tale of opportunities?

In any case, right now I need to focus on the important things.

After going over plans in my head, I finally said, “Well I have to say that is a very interesting and complex tale…so there’s no way you could've make up all of that.” Okay, small lie. He could be bonkers, but my gut’s telling me he’s telling the truth. So here is what I am going to do.”

I leaned forward, and smiled an insane smile.

“We're going to get you home, and I think your leading light is going to help us.”

“…Huh?” Star asked in a confused voice.

Evidently, this kid doesn’t watch enough sci-fi movies if he doesn’t get where I’m going with this. Seriously, does Arcana do all the thinking for him?

“We’re going to get you home and I think your leading light is going to help us,” I explained, a confident smile on my face.

“What makes you think that?”

Okay, maybe I wasn’t too far off on what I just said. If he can’t figure out how to put the pieces together, it’s no wonder he can’t think of a way to get himself back. No, Omnius…be calm, and civil. Don’t let this supposed bearer of the Element Space and his lack of knowledge on the subject get to you…

“Well,” I started in a slow and calm voice, “the way you described how you can feel your star in the sky, yet at the same time not there as well, is like a…temporal dimensional shift.”

He continued to stare at me with the same look of dumfounded shock on his face. It was starting to annoy me. I mean, he learns that he’s got magical powers relating to one of the noble elements (it’s a term!), and he hasn’t done ANY amount of studying behind it? That’s just poor planning right there. He  should have found out early on that he was in danger of accidentally going to another universe, yet he didn’t do a thing to prevent it!

Some of my irritableness leaked out into my voice as I said, “I’ll explain it so that little mind of yours can understand…”

“OI!”

I ignored him, and went with the most probable multiverse theory that would fit someone with his type of space magic. Fun fact: each universe has different laws regarding those. As a Traveler, I can adapt to those rules, or just ignore them entirely. It’s also how I’ve managed to study up on those things.

“Your dimension works on the principle of ‘overlapping’ realities, otherwise known as ‘branch-offs’, or…well, you get the idea. Now, due to the similarities between your Equestria, and the one I’m currently on…” Not to mention the fact that his powers could have possibly reached out to me as well, due to my Traveler status…

I cleared my throat to make up for the silence that followed for a moment.

“Anyways, because of that, it would explain why you appeared in somepony else’s home, and why you can still feel a connection to your star,” I awkwardly finished.

“So what about the part of getting me home?”

CONNECT THE DOTS YOU IDIOT! Seriously, the answer is blaringly obvious! No, no…control your temper, Omni…no exploding on guy who can’t seem to grasp the importance of the power he can now wield and use…

Even the Doctor would have been extremely cross by now.

“I’m getting there,” I half growled.  “You see, I think your star acts like an anchor. That means if you happened to cross into another world, you can use it to find your way home. So all we need to do is recreate what you did to get here in the first place…” I sighed, tired of having to explain the obvious to him, and added, “You can do that, right?”

He hesitated, before nodding. “I think so,” he said in an unsure tone.

Good enough.

I got up from out table, and started walking out the door, saying over my shoulder, “Alrighty then, let’s go!”

“Where are we going?” he asked me as he got up to follow.

“Well, we don’t want to cause another scene here, do we?” I asked rhetorically. We both continued down the street, and I added, “We need to get to the area you arrived at. Do you remember where that was?”

He quickened his pace, and said, “Yeah, I do. Follow me!”

XHXHXHXHXHXHXHX

“What happened here?”

I was staring at a door that looked like some vicious dog had torn out a chunk of it with a claw, or something like that.

“A frightened mare with a knife, and a habit of throwing things,” Star shuddered.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at that. Good, the universe is kicking Star’s ass for not learning about his power. Thanks Karma.

“Alright, now’s not the time to be laughing,” I said, sobering up. “We need to get you home as soon as possible. So, let’s do this.”

“Okay, but not here,” Star whispered, looking around for the mare that had scared the bejeezus out of him earlier. “Don’t want to cause a panic…”

We made our way to the side of the house, where I said, “Alright, now. Try to repeat what you did, and we’ll be on our way.”

“Wait, you’re coming with me?” he asked, surprised. “Why?”

“In case this little trip takes us to a place that isn’t exactly… friendly with us, so I can just pop us back here.”

Okay, that’s a blatant lie. Another major rule of Traveling is how we take others with us. See, if they left by means other than our version of Traveling, then we can’t take them back to the point where they started. For example, I can’t take Star back to his world myself, because he left it using his own power. If he were to make it back, then I could take him anywhere, but as he’s still here…

You get the idea.

Other than that, I need to see more about these Elements of Reality he’s talking about. There’s something about them that bugs me…and what about those two figures? “Fate” and “D”. How do they fit into the grand scheme of things? Are they gods? Does “D” stand for something more?

What is going on?

Star shrugged, and said, “Okay then.”

Before he started bringing up his magic, I felt compelled to interrupt him by saying, “Wait!” He stopped to look at me, and I said, “Rule number 17 of interdimensional traveling: NEVER piss off the birds.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? And isn’t that from Angry Birds?”

“It means what it means. And it’s the same thing!”

Amateurs.

He rolled his eyes at me and what he probably thought was my insanity. Thankfully, he didn’t question it, and just told me to put a hoof on his shoulder. Once I did so, he started to call up his magic again…

And we were falling. Well, I was. I can’t quite remember what I saw during the “jump” as I like to call it, but I do know one thing…

I screamed, “FALLING! EVERY TIME!”

The next thing I knew, I had landed on top of Star, while the sound of shattered glass reached my ears. The strange tunnel we had been falling through disappeared, revealing a different looking house than the one we had just been in.

From the lack of marks on the walls, and surprisingly clean furniture, it was pretty obvious that it had just been moved into. I guess this is Star’s home.

“Ah…cushiony,” I joked, patting Star’s head. I hadn’t bothered getting off of him yet. Can you really blame me? I mean, you all know how often I land on my face! Then again, as soon as I had said that, my guilt started to get to me.

“So, it looks like your dimension isn’t overlapping mine. Seems to be off by a couple of feet,” I commented in an offhand tone.

“Who the hoof are you?!” a new voice asked from the other side of the room. Without warning, Star kicked me off of him, and he ran to the source of the voice.

“Arcana!” he happily cried out, embracing the voice’s owner, a light tan colored unicorn, tightly. “Oh, thank goodness that I am back in my own world!”

Yeah, thank Goodness. Wait, that unicorn has another of those weird looking markings on her leg…Guess this must be the bearer of Time, like Star said. Can I get three cheers for plot convenience?

Still, I have to say it’s a good feeling to reunite people. Sure, it may be awkward to be there FOR the reunion, but I always love how friends can get back together, no matter the odds. It’s part of what I live for. Gotta love it.

“Okay, what’s going on here?” Arcana asked, tearing me from my thoughts. “And who the hoof are you?”

I picked myself up off the floor with a small groan of discomfort. Once I had dusted myself off, I gave Arcana a smile, and said, “Oh, I’m just a Traveler. Name’s Omnius. Nice to meet you Arcana.”

She started in surprise, and asked, “How do you know my name?”

“I’m a wizard,” I grinned, winking my eye at her. “I also know about Victoria’s secret.”

Star attempted to stifle a laugh.

“W-w-what?” Arcana asked, confused.

“Okay, you got me. I’m actually part Timelord,” I said in a cocky English accent.

A vein throbbed dangerously on Arcana’s forehead. She took a step forward, a jewel encrusted necklace glinting dangerously in the light. She growled menacingly at me, and I nodded in approval. Good, she knows not to mess around when a stranger is in her home.

“Alright, alright, chica,” I finally relented, becoming serious. “Your boyfriend there took an accidental trip into an alternate world, much like you took an accidental trip through time. I helped him get back.”

Arcana’s eyes narrowed, and she looked to Star for confirmation.

“As crazy as he is, he’s telling the truth,” he admitted. “You won’t believe his story though.”

“Oh? What makes you say that?” she asked.

I shrugged, and leaned against the wall casually. “Oh, I’m just the Eternal Traveler of Good, and I’m doomed, fated, and destined to Travel throughout all of Time, Space, Matter, and across all of the realities and dreams for all of eternity and beyond that.”

“…Yeah, I don’t believe that. At all,” Arcana deadpanned.

I sighed, and slumped against the wall. “No one ever does,” I muttered. “I always have to show them something breathtaking and unusual first before they’ll even begin to believe it. Jeez.”

“Star, why did you let him into our house?” the unicorn whispered into Star’s ear, trying to be stealthy.

I rolled my eyes, and said, “Save your breath, Arcana Timekeeper. I can hear every word you’re saying.”

“Timekeeper?” Star and Arcana asked in confusion.

“Yeah, Timekeeper. You bear the power of time, and have traveled back in time while resisting the urge to throw off the continuum by changing the course of history,” I explained. “It’s a title I like to give to people who do that.”

“…He IS insane.”

I just sighed again. No point in arguing when I can just totally mess with her mind. Then again, if I keep switching between human and pony forms, I might tire myself out too soon. Never know when things will get bad.

Looks like I just gotta do this the old fashioned way.

“Star, tell her I’m not insane,”  I said, face-hoofing.

“But you are though! Even though you’re telling the truth,” Star laughed.

“Oh sure, mock the guy who knows more about what you’re dealing with than you two do. Hardy-har-har,” I growled. Feeling my temper at both his slight arrogance, Arcana’s stubborn disbelief, and what was apparently their combined ignorance of their true powers rise, I got up and trotted towards the door.

“Hey, where are you going?” Star asked.

“That’s a good question. This Ponyville have a soda bar? I remember this one great place called the Five Leaf Clover…good times,” I responded.

I shrugged indifferently, and opened the door to leave. Just before I stepped over the threshold, Arcana shot forward, slamming the door shut on my face. I tumbled backwards in surprise, clutching my bruised nose, and growled, “Ow! My schnoz! Why’d you do that?”

Arcana stood over me, and said, “You’re not leaving this house ‘till you tell me who, or WHAT, you are!”

“Didn’t we already do this?” I asked, getting back up. Even though she won’t believe it, I may as well repeat what I said earlier to get under her skin. “I’m the Eternal Traveler of Good, and I’m doomed, fated, and destined to Travel throughout all of Time, Space, Matter, and across all of the realities and dreams for all of eternity and beyond that.”

Her horn started to glow ominously, and I sighed in boredom.

“You’re going to-” she started, but my patience finally wore out.

“Start talking, and you’re going to start listening,” I countered, all traces of humor gone from my voice. I glared silently at the two of them, telling them to shut up. “What I’m about to say is incredibly important, and I’m only gonna say it once: You bear a terrible power. One that has the potential to do great things. If you haven’t already, learn how to control it. And make damn sure you study the theories behind your powers. Alternate Universes, timelines, the whole she-bang. You need to learn all about those if you want to truly realize your full potential. Understand?”

They nodded, Arcana somewhat reluctantly, and I closed my eyes.

“Who ARE you?” Arcana whispered.

For added effect, I leaked some of my Traveling magic into the air, causing it to shimmer violently, bending the light into an array of mysterious lights. Shadows flickered across the walls, my vest ruffled lightly in an unfelt breeze.

I smiled at the two of them and winked.

“I’m the Traveler…and now, it’s time I took my leave…ESPERANTO!”

As soon as the words left my lips, I tipped over backwards, and disappeared.

XHXHXHXHXHXHX

It had been a couple of days since I had returned Star to his world, and I was wondering if they would be alright. I mean, they have no idea of what kinda powers they're using.

But there was something eslse bugging me...

I violently spasmed once again, and shouted out, "ANOTHER PORTAL'S OPENED!" Nearly as soon as I had said that, the sensation passed, and whatever had caused it had disappeared.

And then my house of cards fell over.

Son of a bitch. Next Chapter: Eternal Twilight - Maintenance Day Estimated time remaining: 27 Minutes