GaLm and the Derp Crew: Erebus

by KnucklesProtector

First published 10th of April, 2017

GaLm, a charismatic Gaming YouTuber, gets sucked into a world along with 4 of his best friends, known as Equestria, in which they have limited knowledge of. What will come about this situation?

After introductions are done, chapters will get longer

The Derp Crew was just the typical YouTube group that were comedy gold on earth, until they got transported to the land of Equestria. They will meet many different ponies, make friends with most, but some are not so friendly. They will have to use all of their gaming knowledge, and the abilities they gain, in order to aid Equestria's Heroines.

(This story will swap between 1st and 3rd person at times.)

There are more characters in this story then I'm allowed to tag, so I will leave them as a surprise.

This story will not update frequantly as I've got school work to worry about.

If you see anything wrong with this story, let me know in the comments section.

Chapter 1 - GaLm

It was another beautiful day in Austin, Texas. Birds were feeding their young, the Farmers were tending to their fields, and a certain YouTuber was finishing up his recording session of one of his favorite games.

"...so I am going to take... a little bit of a break, and when we get back, we'll see what awaits us when we disturb the lunatic cultists!", ending the last part of his sentence with a mysterious and spooky tone. He had just finished his 8 hour gaming session of Terraria when he had to get a bite to eat. He was in the mood for a microwave dinner, in which he acted upon.

"That was an interesting session", GaLm said, "this entire update is interesting as a matter of fact". Terraria had undergone a new update that added a whole array of things. It added new weapons, armor, events, and even the final boss of the game. Before he ended his session, he was about to activate said final boss, by activating the "Mysterious Tablet" that the Lunatic Cultists were guarding and worshiping.

GaLm got up from his gamer's chair and walked into the hallway that connected his room to the rest of his house. He headed toward the kitchen to fetch himself a microwave dinner that he had stored in his freezer. Once he got the dinner out of the freezer, he then followed the proper cooking directions on the green box and placed the dinner in the microwave while setting the appropriate amount of time.

While his food was cooking, he decided that he would freshen up his appearance. He walked to his bathroom and looked into the mirror. He didn't wear anything too spectacular but a black T-Shirt with a black jacket with a red inner lining and a pair of blue jeans. He had a beard that was a partial chin strap, and hair that, if grown out enough, would start to form a small afro.

Hm..., Thought GaLm, should I shave at all? Nah, I can do it when it grows out a little more". With that, he picked up a comb, and combed through his hair, going in straight lines towards the back of his head. That's better. He looked in the direction of his room, I can't look too terrible for the group session with the Derp Crew. GaLm then went back into the kitchen to check on his dinner, and just as he got to the microwave, it's timer ran out, and a long audible ringing came from the cooking machine. "Here we go," GaLm exclaimed, "one microwave dinner, cooked to perfection! Well, as perfect as it can be."

GaLm went back to his bedroom and sat on his bed, thinking about his plan for uploading this week. He had to account for the group sessions that were frequent throughout the week, sleep time, upload scheduling, and the most important thing; which games he could play. Well, He thought, if I upload about 4 to 5 episodes of Terraria this week, and also put up a few other games such as Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, Final Fantasy 15, and Star Wars Jedi Knight Academy, in respective time frames apart from one another, then that would be just perfect!

He then remembered that he had his microwave dinner in his hands on his lap. It consisted of macaroni and cheese, chicken strips, corn, and mashed potatoes. The perfect meal for a gamers day of work.

The sun was setting over the horizon to the west and the night was homing in. The sky was lit with bright and bountiful stars as the moon was being risen into the night sky. Under the stars, there was a city that seemed to be made for the posh and royal, sat on a cliff at the side of a mountain. At the edge of the city, hanging over the cliff, was a castle fit for a king, or in this case, princesses.

Princess Luna had just finished rising the moon for all to enjoy and sleep peacefully under. She had enjoyed the task more and more as the years had gone by, and within those years, two new princesses had ascended into royalty, although the newest one was still a filly. Princess Luna was the co-ruler of the land of Equestria, ruling alongside her sister, Princess Celestia. Together, they maintained harmony across Equestria, with the aid of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony.

Luna decided to take a stroll after her nightly duty, and just admire the world around her. Crickets were chirping in mass unison while owls flew off to feast on their prey. Moths gathered around lights that illuminate the night streets of Canterlot, and some residents were out admiring the lunar moon. Luna had learned to accept that as gratitude for her sky. She enjoyed these strolls almost as much as raising the moon, but tonight, something was off.

Luna felt a strange sensation hit her senses as she became more alert than usual. She decided to dismiss it as just being paranoid after so many years of being free from the nightmare that was Nightmare Moon. "Tis nothing to be worried about I suppose..." Luna declared, "...but I think I should tell sister about this." And she went on her way.

In a dark alleyway, something was stirring, as if trying to recharge its energy. A pony wandered out from a baker's shop, carrying crates of flour with his magic to put into storage at the back of his shop. The stirring energy took this as an opportunity to regain some of its energy, and lunged at the pony with its dark mass. "NOOOOOOOOooooooo........." Cried the pony, but silence followed afterward. The mass of dark energy grew as it consumed the now deceased pony. It then stirred as it tried to say something:

The mass then proceeded to continue it's feeding, all the while still digesting the previous victim. As it moved along, it made noises of that you would hear from a starving beast, gurgling and grumbling. It's hunger awaiting another victim to fall into it's clutches.

GaLm had finished his meal and had started contemplating on what he would do next. He could continue his gaming session, or he could just wait until tomorrow. Instead, he decided that it would be best to throw away the container to his microwave dinner before he forgot about it. He got up from his bed and headed towards the kitchen where his trash can was located. On his way there, he was still in the process of deciding on if he should continue his Let's Play, or to just go to bed.

"Well," GaLm thought to himself, "I am pretty tired, so it wouldn't hurt if I went to bed. I could just explain to the viewers that I was beat and that I just went to bed. No harm, no foul. Right?.

GaLm had thrown his trash away and proceeded in the direction of his bed. He yawned and sat on the edge of his bed, and thought to himself. Sweet dreams, here I come!, and collapsed.

GaLm was fast asleep, and as quiet as.... well a snoring bear, but still as fast asleep one should be after a 8 hour session of playing video games. While he was asleep, something strange was happening in his room. An orb of light had entered his room through the open window and hovered and moved around his humble abode. Is that him? said a young voice from the orb, Is he the one of them?

Yes, I believe so. Came another voice, this one of a much more regal, yet, calm tone. But even if he's not, he will have to do.

Are you sure about this? The original started, Theoretically, this should be impossible!

Have faith Twilight, this will work, and he will help us. The regal voice reassured, calling the other voice 'Twilight'.

Soon after, the orb began to radiate a brilliant light and engulf GaLm, covering him from head to toe. The light was getting brighter and brighter, and started to seer the walls and ceiling, brighter, BRIGHTER the light became! And then...

GaLm was gone.

Not a trace of his body remained. The bed had an outline where GaLm had been. The bed was ruined, but his equipment was left untouched.

Chapter 2 - Chilled Chaos

It had been a long day of playing video games for Chilled, and he was satisfied with the amount of content that he captured for the day. After all, it isn't everyday you see glitches in games as bad as Garry's Mod. He had fun playing with his buddies Nanners, Sark and Terrorisor, but everything good must come to an end, and he was feeling quite famished.

"Hey Jess!" He started, "How 'bout we go out and get something to eat! I'm starving!" His stomach was itching to get full of whatever Chilled had in mind, and agreed with him audibly with a grumble.

Jess's voice came from down the stairs, "That doesn't sound too bad, maybe we could get some REAL food this time?" A sarcastic tone could be heard within her voice as she got her purse. They had been dating for quite some time now, and they did not plan to ever split up.

"Hardy har har." He replied, deadpanning, "I guess it's settled then. Let's go eat at that new restaurant they put up a few blocks away. What was it called?" He was trying to think of the name, but remembered that all he needed to do was think of Solaire from Dark Souls. 'Praise the sun!' he would shout. "Oh that's right, 'Solaire'!"

"Let's go then!" replied Jess.

Chilled was wearing a red T-shirt with a blue plaid button-up shirt. For his pants, he wore simple blue jeans. He also was wearing his signature red Mario hat that he was always wearing. Chilled had gotten his shoes on and started going down the stairs when an orb of light came in through his upstairs window, moving around the room to find whomever it was looking for.

Where is he? The voice deemed as 'Twilight' started, He should be here.

Don't panic, he has merely left the premises. The regal voice reassured. Look and listen.

They could see a glowing apparition of Chilled talking to someone down the stairs.

"I guess it's settled then. Let's go eat at that new restaurant they put up a few blocks away. What was it called? Oh that's right, 'Solaire'!"

The regal one chuckled at finding out where they were going, or rather the name of the place they were going. Solaire, now that's a name I haven't heard in a good while.

Twilight then became confused, Huh? Who is this 'Solaire', Celestia?

I'll tell you later. The regal voice, now deemed 'Celestia' replied. But right now, we need to follow them.

With that, they then flew out of the window they once came, and searched for Chilled's bright red hat (which is practically never detached from his head). Once they found it, they started to follow him to 'Solaire'.

"What do you think the food will be like, Anthony?" asked Jess, her hand intertwined with his. "Do you think it will be Italian, or a burger joint?"

"I don't know. The name is interesting though." Chilled replied, his hand doing likewise with her's. "I heard that it's a nice place to go to have a relaxing dinner, and I believe that we are way past overdue for one of those."

Jess looked at Chilled, surprised that those words came out of his mouth. "Well aren't you the gentleman today? If I didn't know better, I'd say that you've been body-snatched." She ended her statement with a small snicker.

"Ha!" he exclaimed, "I'm always a gentleman! Most of the time..." trailing off from his last statement, he thought he saw a strange light in the corner of his eye. "Did you see that?"

"See what?" Jess asked, confusedly.

"I thought I saw a ball of light riiight.... there..." Chilled said whilst pointing at the top of a general store they had past not too long ago. "It might be nothing, but I definitely saw it."

"A ball of light?" she asked as she was observing the building. "It doesn't seem to be there now, so let's just get to where we're going, okay?"

"Yeah," he replied, "that sounds good.".

New York was a big place, in fact, it was one of the biggest cities in the world. But it definitely wasn't always the most normal of places. People have seen strange things in New York for generations including UFO sightings, beams of light, or balls of red light looming over people's heads. But the last couple of years have been supernatural, and beyond human understanding. Chilled had seen on the news around Christmas last year that a giant spacecraft was looming over London and there were people standing at edges of roofs, but not just in London, but the whole world had been affected.

He didn't want to take any chances, but nothing was going to stand in the way of his dinner with Jess, not even aliens could stop him.

He saw us! Twilight exclaimed, Isn't that bad?

Potentially, but he more than likely dismissed it as a trick of his mind. Celestia declared. Still, we must press onward. We mustn't fail our objective.

Well, alright. Twilight sighed, But I think we should be more careful.

I agree. Celestia agreed, We should be more cautious until the time is right.

If he's awake, Twilight started, then could we speak to him before we do it? You know, so that he can at least understand why we're doing it? I didn't like taking that last one while he was sleeping.

We'll see Twilight. Celestia answered, It just depends on how we go about doing that.

"Well, we've arrived!" stated Chilled. "Wow. It looks... medieval."

The outside of the restaurant looked very rustic, yet fancy, with a sun as it's symbol. The sun was half red, and half yellow, with sun rays radiating off of it like waves on the ocean.

The inside didn't look too bad either, mixing modern art with medieval artifacts adorning the walls, and candles lighting the tables, like it really were the medieval times. All of this could be seen from just the outside of the building, but they weren't going to get food just by sitting outside gawking at the decorations.

"Let's go inside!" Chilled finally declared.

"Yeah, let's go." Jess agreed.

The inside was even more gorgeous than what it looked like from the outside. The tables were clothed with red table cloths with red tassels along the edges. People were eating and having a great time, while music was played by live performers, as if it were an actual tavern in the olden times. Chilled was fascinated by the spectacle and he knew that he was going to love this experience.

That is, if nothing went wrong.

"Let's get a table." Chilled beamed.

Jess looked around the establishment, gawking at everything within it's walls. "Okay." she finally said.

They found a table in the back made for two people, and sat down. Not long after, a waitress walked up to them with a smile on her face. Her hair was a mixture of red and yellow. Her outfit was typical of a waitress; an apron with a black button up shirt, with a black skirt that goes down to half her thigh. In her hand was a notepad used to keep track of orders.

Is her hair red with yellow highlights, or yellow with red highlights? Chilled thought.

"So, could I get you two a drink? We have Pepsi products, or would you rather have sweet tea?" She asked.

"Ah..." Chilled was contemplating on what he should get. He always got a soft drink whenever he went out, but this time, he wanted to see what the sweet tea tasted like.

"Sweet tea, please." Jess answered almost immediately.

"Sweet tea..." the waitress mouthed while writing on her notepad. "Have you decided, sir?" Looking at Chilled.

"I'll also have the sweet tea, please." He said, absentmindedly agreeing with Jess.

"...and another sweet tea." She jotted down on her pad. When she was finished, she looked at the couple and handed them menus to look at. "My name is Sunset, I'll be your waitress for today."

"Anthony." Chilled said, reaching out for a handshake.

Sunset took up the offer and shook his hand in return, then she went on her way to the kitchen.

"Nice workers they've got here." Chilled whispered to Jess.

It reminds me of Equestria. Twilight had stated.

It was that the restaurant deemed 'Solaire' appeared to be a tribute towards Equestrian culture that brought Twilight to this conclusion. The medieval decorations that Chilled had pointed out, illustrated the history of the rise of Equestria. From the fall of Nightmare moon, to the princess coronation of Twilight Sparkle. The owner must have lived in Equestria for quite some time, or they must have been very well informed of Equestrian history.

Is it anyone you know Twilight? Asked Celestia.

Well, the symbol out front seems familiar, but I've only ever seen it once on a pony. Twilight replied, But I think know exactly who it is.

Their orb of light was disguised as a light from an overhead chandelier, right above the man they were following. They had gotten in through a small open window at the intersection of where the ceiling and wall met, and had hidden themselves without being spotted.

Twilight was observing Chilled when the waitress came back, bringing him and Jess their drinks.

I knew it! Twilight said excitedly. It's Sunset Shimmer!

Sunset Shimmer? My former pupil? asked Celestia.

That's the one! Twilight answered, with excitement in her voice. Don't worry, she's a better person than when she left Equestria.

I see... Celestia said shakily. It's almost time, Twilight.

Twilight nodded, Right.

"...and I'll have the Chicken Calzone with a side salad with Caesar dressing, please." Chilled said, finishing off his order.

Sunset jotted down his order and turned to leave, but Chilled stopped her before she had a chance.

"So Sunset," he started, "who is the owner of this lovely restaurant here? I want to compliment how they've set this place up."

Sunset looked at him with a smirk on her face, "Well, you're looking at her."

Chilled was shocked to find out that he had been ordering food from the owner of the same restaurant. "Wait, so-

"I may be a waitress," Sunset interrupted, "but I'm not one of those owners that sit back and relax in their office all day. I have to keep working to cure my boredom from doing just that."

"I see. I understand." Chilled replied, fully understanding what she meant.

"Huh!?" The three of them said in unison.

Just then, an orb of light came down from the chandelier above and hovered in front of Chilled's face. Chilled fell to the ground.

"Hello Chilled, I am Twilight Sparkle." stated the orb. A face then appeared from within the orb. It was a a face of an equine, a pony, Chilled had guessed, and it was purple with darker purple hair with a magenta highlight down the middle. "And this is Princess Celestia." it stated as another equine face appeared, this one white with flowing hair that looked like the northern lights.

"...Um... Hiii?" Chilled squeaked.

"Twilight? Celestia?" Sunset asked.

"Hi Sunset!" exclaimed Twilight, "we didn't know we would bump into you during this!"

"And what's..... this?" Sunset asked confusedly, pointing her finger down at the ground.

"Oh, we need this human's help." Stated Twilight. "Equestria is in grave danger!"

"So you have to pull him from his normal life?" Sunset asked frustratingly. "Why can't you just use the elements of harmony?"

"We aren't able to use them anymore," Twilight started, "and our other power will be useless this time."

"It is true." Celestia confirmed.

"CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!" Chilled yelled.

Everyone went silent.

Twilight took a deep breath, "Chilled, we need your help." she started. "You and the others are the only ones left that can help us! This threat doesn't just affect our world, but all of the worlds!"

Twilight finished her short explanation, and awaited his answer.

"So," he started, "who are the 'others' you mentioned?"

"To put it in short terms; The Derp Crew." Twilight answered.

"So it's not just me, but my friends?" he asked.

"Um, yes." she states sheepishly.

"Well..." Chilled thought about this hard. He would be pulled into another world, just to save the whole of creation from being destroyed. This was a once in a lifetime chance to actually be an actual hero, but he also risked the chance of never coming back ever again.

Silence fell upon the room.

"I'll do it." He answered. "I'll do it for the whole of creation! Beam me up Scotty!" he exclaimed as he put his hands on his hips like a super hero.

Twilight then became confused. "What?"

"I'll tell you later." He replied.

"I'll stay here Chilled, okay?" Jess asked.

"If that's what you want, I won't stop you. Are you sure?" he asked. He got a nod in response. "Alright then."

"I'm coming with you." Sunset stated.

"Wait, why?" asked Chilled.

"I'll tell you later." She said with a smile.

"Beam us up Twilight!" they both exclaimed.

The light from the orb now shown brightly as Twilight used her magic to summon them both to Equestria. The light was scourching the floor, and melting the chair Chilled was sitting on. Then the orb flashed light a camera, and then....

Chapter 3 - Smarty, Part I - Doctor Who?

Author's Notes:

Latest Update: THIS CHAPTER WILL HAVE TWO PARTS, so please bear with me.
Update1: Hey everyone! Sorry for the lack of updating. I had a very strong case of writers block, with a side of laziness. Halfway through this chapter was when I took my break for writers block. So if any of you notice the change in writing style, then that is when I finally started working on this again. I have also been back to school with my final year of Highschool, so that's exciting. But, this doesn't mean that chapters will bee coming out like spitfire. I'm taking time with this story.

Smarty had been sitting at a restaurant for 20 minutes straight, calling Chilled’s cell phone. He didn’t ever answer. Smarty wasn’t always the brightest bulb in the bunch, but he had the sneaking suspicion that something had gone wrong. So naturally, he tried to call one of the other members of the crew; GaLm.

The static voice ended with an audible beep. Now he knew something was up. Smarty and the others were supposed to have a gaming session that day, and on these types of days, GaLm always answered the phone.

“That is really weird.” He stated. “How could his phone not be found? Either something really bad is happening, or there’s something going on, and I don’t know about it.” He put his phone on the table, and pondered over the situation. It can’t be good whatever it is. I’m going to have to investigate after I get done eating.

At that moment, the waitress came to his table with his order. Grilled chicken fajita with green peppers, onions, tomatoes, black olives, in a soft tortilla shell,and sour cream on the side so he could put that on himself. It looked absolutely fantastic, his mouth was watering from the sight of it.

“Thank you ma’me!” He told the waitress.

“You’re welcome, love!” She replied. “I’ll be back with your chips!” She then took off for the kitchen, fetching his chips.

He found it very amusing that a girl with a cockney accent was working at a Spanish restaurant. She actually looked quite familiar to him: Spiked hair, freckles, slim figure, amazing hazel eyes, and a great smile. But he decided to dismiss those features, and spotted the emblem on her shoulder.

He had definitely seen it before, but it might have just been a fan of the series, but with all that was happening, you could never know. Modern times were changing. Flying cars would be a thing by the next year, people would be able to be fully fledged cyborgs pretty soon, and time travel had almost been cracked, but could inter-dimensional travel be possible from fictional places and stories? As he was thinking, the waitress returned with his “chips”.

“Here’s your chips!” She started. “I completely forgot to ask you the most important question! Would you like a drink?” She looked at him apologetically and it was adorable.

“No, I’m fine,” He had replied, “but If it’s not too much trouble, could I ask you a question?” He started to get nervous, like the world was spinning in circles around him. He would only usually get like this if he was pressured during one of the sessions with his friends, and this would lead to him ‘Pulling a Smarty’. Still, he kept his composure.

“I don’t mind at all, love!” She cheerfully replied while grabbing a chair from the table. “Ask me anything!”

Smarty had to choose his words carefully as to not creep her out, but he managed to ask the question he wanted to ask.

“What is your name?” He asked.

Such a simple question, yet one of the most powerful. ‘What is your name’ was an invitation to a world of trouble for some people. Some would say it would cost their lives, but not this waitress. She had full confidence that this was just a normal conversation. She would only be half right.

“My name?” She asked. With a nod in reply, she said “My name is Lena. Lena Oxton.”

His eyes went wide as he recognized that name in particular. It was the name of a pop culture icon in gaming: Tracer. She had the hair, the accent, the sigil, the bod.... *cough* *cough*... Yeah. She had to be Tracer! But what if it’s not the actual tracer? He thought, What if it’s just a cosplayer that works here, and she just decided to put on an Overwatch sigil and slap on a Tracer wig for the day?

As he was thinking, Lena was staring at him with intent. She was wondering what he was thinking in that head of his. Maybe he knows. She thought. Maybe he’s smart enough to put the pieces together. She was staring at his outfit. He wore a red beanie hat, with a white T-shirt, and black pants. Not much to say about that. She then looked at his face, and saw that he was young. Maybe in his twenties. He had big brown eyes, black hair, and an IMPRESSIVE set of eyebrows with one eyebrow raised as he thought.

“Why did you ask for my name, dear?” Lena asked. Her mind was going at a thousand miles per hour in worry of being found out by a random civilian, although it didn’t show on her face.

Smarty was almost about to tell her that he knew exactly who she was, but decided against it. If he were to do so, and it wasn’t her, he would be seen as either crazy, or rude. If he was right, he would reveal who she was to the whole restaurant.

“No reason, I just wanted to know the name of my great waitress!” He said with an upbeat tone. “I always like to know the names of my favorite waiters and waitresses!” He was lying of course, but he made it sound believable.

Lena let out a mental sigh of relief. Whether he was lying or not, she was grateful that he didn’t spill the beans in front of everyone. If he did that, then I wouldn’t be able to work here anymore, and no-one in this place pays for hero work yet... She beamed at him, now curious as to what his name was. “Well, now that you know my name, what’s yours?”

“My name is John. John ‘Smarty’ Aprigliano.” He had no problem with revealing his name of course, but he was glad that she shifted the conversation to him.

’Smarty’? She thought, That has got to be a self given name. I mean who names their child ‘Smarty’? Granted, he does seem smart, but still. As she thought this, Smarty told her another thing.

“Smarty is my online name, if you were wondering. More specifically ‘tehSmarty’” He added. “I like it because it’s irony. Mainly because when I play with friends online I appear to be dumb, but don’t worry! It’s all an act.” With this, Lena understood perfectly.

“Ohhh,” She said in revelation. She then went into a whisper, “...so you’re a YouTuber?” He nodded. “Now it makes sense! I knew it wasn’t your real name, but I didn’t want to be rude soo...” She looked down at her hands in her own disapproval. “I’m soo sorry, love!”

He then realized that she was basically having the same thoughts that he was having, and put his hands up to calm her down. “It’s okay, I have those problems too sometimes when I know who someone is. I usually stay quiet, unless I am very close to the person.” He shot her a smile and offered her to sit down. “Why don’t you relax a bit?”

“Weeellll.....” Lena contemplated on whether or not she could spare some time off work, but then she looked at the clock and saw that it was twenty past three PM. “Well isn’t that convenient, my shift just ended. Let me clock out and I’ll see you in 5 minutes, alright?”

“Sounds good!”

She beamed back at him as she walked towards the kitchen. He imagined that they used punch cards to clock in and out, like the pilot episode of the old ‘Get Smart’ TV series. As he was waiting patiently, something was going on down the street.

The orb of light that was Twilight and Celestia was searching for the next member of the Derp Crew; Smarty. They had been told that his favorite restaurant would generally be found around 9th avenue with the name of ‘Fonda’

Who’s next Twilight? Celestia asked, looking at her prized pupil.

From what I’ve been told, Twilight started, the one that hangs out around this block is nicknamed ‘Smarty’, another member of the Derp Crew.

Celestia looked at her in amusement ’Smarty’?

I’ll explain everything later. Twilight sheepishly said as she stifled a giggle.

The orb of light had drawn a little too much attention while searching, that people in the streets thought that another alien invasion was upon them. One lady even said she saw a demon in a ball of light. Twilight noticed this while peering through her crystal ball, in which she was controlling said orb of light.

“Heh heh... Oops...” She squeaked as she disabled the crystal in the center of the room. The room had a very regal look to it, as crystal torches lined the walls. Ascending from the floor at the corners of the room, were crystal columns which helped hold the ceiling off the ground. On the far wall opposite of Twilight, there were lines of bookshelves. They reached all the way to the ceiling, with perhaps thousands of books filling the spaces in between. In the center of the room was a thin crystal table which held Twilight’s crystal ball. This ball allowed her the peer into any world she wanted, at any time and interact with the inhabitants.

“I think I blew it...” Twilight said, with a sorry look. “I got too carried away in searching, that I completely forgot about the other inhabitants...” She sighed a sigh of regret, and looked to her mentor, and oldest friend.

“It’s alright, Twilight,” said the solar princess, “Everyone has those moments at least once in their lives.” The princess was taller than Twilight by about two feet, and had majestic flowing multi-colored hair, that would reach down to the floor if it were to be let down. Her fur was the lightest of pinks, and her cutie mark was that of a sun. She had a gentle smile upon her face as she looked at Twilight, “Besides, we can always try later.”

“Oooor....” started an unknown voice, “you could let me have a go?” This new voice had frightened them both at how sudden it came in. It sounded of a Trottingham accent, yet, it was also a mixed with Mareland.

The princesses turned to look at the unknown voice that came from the doorway. It was a brown stallion with blue eyes, wearing a brown trench coat, with a blue suit underneath. His dark brown mane was spiked up and back, and he had a strange device wedged between his left ear. His cutie mark was barely visible due to his trench coat, but they could see that it was a vertical hourglass, with over half of the remaining sand on top. He looked at them with the biggest of smiles.

“You know, I have had my fair share of universe jumping, and believe me when I say, I can get this done in no time at all.” He then trotted over to the central table with the crystal ball, all the while taking in his surroundings. “I mean, you could continue to use your spell and risk the chance of accidentally causing a catastrophic tear that could rip the universes apart, or....” He trailed off and looked between the princesses, with the same big grin on his face and winking his eyebrows.

Twilight was first to break out of her stupor and looked at the stallion in question, “Who are you again?”

His smile turned into a smirk as he introduced himself. “I’m the Doctor.”

“Doctor who?”

With a chuckle he responded, “No, just Doctor, please.”

The princesses were just as, if not, more confused than they were before. “Doctor?” they said in unison.

“Eyup! Correctamundo!” the Doctor exclaimed as he jumped to his hind legs, pointing his fore-hooves towards the princesses. He then got back on all fours. “Anyway! You need someone to get that man to this universe?”

“Yes, we do.” Celestia said, “Twilight and I have raised too much attention to ourselves.” She looked to her pupil and saw that she had her head down in a sorrowful fashion. She looked back at the Doctor, who had one of his fore-hooves to his chin. “How are you supposed to help us with this problem? You can’t perform spells, so how?”

“Well, Celly,” He started, “I’m not like most earth-ponies, and most of them don’t live as long as me either. I’m one of the only beings in this universe to reach a thousand years old, besides you of course. I’ve traveled all over the universe, and universes, so this will be as easy as ‘1, 2, 3’!” His smile had deepened as he said that, but then he paused, “Mind you, I’ve ran into problems, but I myself have created a way to stop my vessel from ripping the whole of creation apart.”

Twilight took notice that he said ‘vessel’ and decided to press him on this matter. “Vessel? What do you mean by vessel, Doctor?”

“Oh hoh ho! Now that’s the question I was hoping for!” He exclaimed. “Come on!” He headed out into the hallway, leaving the princesses behind. He was so excited that he almost didn’t notice that they weren’t following him. He poked his head back through the door and looked at them with excitement, “Well? Come on! Allons-y!” He left once again, and this time, the princesses followed him. To their confusion, he had led them to the nearest broom closet.

How could his vessel be inside a closet? Twilight thought. The Doctor was now standing right outside of that closet, and waited for them to catch up. “Uhm, Doctor?”

“Hmmm?”

“Why have you taken us to a broom closet?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, it’s what’s on the inside that really counts Twilight!” He replied with earnest excitement. “Go on, take a look inside.” Twilight stepped up to the closet door and pressed the against door. With a push, she opened the door and peered inside. What she found was a big blue box with what looked like a lamp on top. There was writing on the top of the box that read ’POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX’. There were windows on all sides, but they did not allow a look inside. On the front was a door with a handle and a keyhole. The box gave her the chills, as if it were alive and watching her. There was no distinctive features that indicated that it was any type of vessel.

“What is it?” Celestia finally asked.

“Well,” the Doctor said, clearing his throat, and walking into the closet next to his vessel. “It’s called ‘The TARDIS’. That’s T - A - R - D - I - S, it stands for ‘Time and Relative Dimensions In Space’. It can travel anywhere, including through the universal barrier into our man’s universe. I’ve been through there plenty of times, to and back again.” He finished while stroking the side of his ship with his hoof.

Celestia and Twilight were in awe and confusion. Twilight being the one with her jaw to the ground, and Celestia having a raised eyebrow. Twilight picked her jaw up off the ground and looked at the Doctor. “So you say that you can travel through space?! How is this possible?! Our civilization hasn’t advanced that far yet, and we can’t use spells for this! The only thing close to space travel is that spell I was using to gather the 5 Guardians from that world!”

“The 5 Guardians?” asked the Doctor.

“Yes! Chilled Chaos, GaLm, Smarty, Ze the Royal Viking, and Tom Fawkes!” Twilight answered. Her hooves were nervousitedly tapping on the floor as she had so many questions to ask.

But it was the Doctor’s turn to ask questions.

“Wait, hold on,” He started, “How do you know about these Humans, and why do you need them exactly?”

“There’s a new type of threat to Equestria,” Twilight started, “and we needed a way to stop it, so I went and did some research. The threat is an evil darkness we believe crossed over from the human realm to Equestria. We think that this darkness is Erebus, the embodiment of darkness.”

“We believe he intends to envelope this world in eternal darkness,” Celestia chimed in, “not in which my sister intended, but the intention to destroy this world with his power.”

“Ah, I see...” The Doctor said. “Erebus was one of the many Gods of ancient Greek mythology on Earth that represented Tartarus itself, and to my belief, he never existed. Of course, that could just be me. I don’t believe in any god, let alone Greek ones....” he trailed off from his sentence and looked down with his hoof to his chin. “...but I’ve been wrong before.”

Chapter 4 - Smarty, Part II - Retrieval

Author's Notes:

Sorry that it's taken so long to update this story. In all honesty, I had forgotten all about this story and had started a new one. Sorry for the hiatus! I hope you enjoy!

“Your channel sounds really funny, John!” Lena said with a giddy grin. “You seem like a pretty good YouTuber too!” They were no longer at the restaurant and were now walking down the sidewalk talking to each other about various things, and one particular (and embarrassing) topic was somehow brought up: his skills at video games.

“So when did you start YouTube?” she asked as they passed a shop named ‘Duane Reade’.

“Well,” he started, “I started YouTube back in 2009, and everything started to pick up from there.” He looked both ways as they came to an intersection and motioned for her to follow him. He had to stop at the bank to make a deposit, and he wouldn’t mind someone to tag along. “I founded the group called ‘The Derp Crew’, and I was once on the Machinima team, but I left them for the Derp Crew.”

“Did Machinima do something?” Lena asked with her head tilted and an eyebrow raised.

Smarty looked at her with a calm smile, “No, but they did take up a lot of my time, and treated everyone as just a business partner.” John sighed as he recalled back to a few years ago. “Obviously I didn’t like that.”

They crossed an intersection near a general store. Its sign was glistening in the sunlight.

Lena looked at John and studied him. Obviously, John wasn’t actually ‘Smarty’, but the normal, non-characterized person that was behind the camera. He had a smile on his face as if nothing bad could happen to him on that day, holding his head up high.

“So what are you planning on doing later?” Lena asked. “If you don’t have any plans, I could spend the day with you if you’d like.”

John looked at the girl, at a loss at what to say. She was Tracer. A being from another reality, and she wanted to spend time with him. All of a sudden, he laughed and while doing so, startled Lena, causing her to yelp.

“What’s so funny?!” She said with an unamused frown. She watched for a few minutes as he laughed like a hyena before finally calming down to at least a semblance of saneness.

“Nothing!” He said, still trying to calm his laughter. “It’s just...” He started, finally calm, “I never in my life thought that I would be asked out by a girl from another dimension! I mean, you have got to admit that, that’s not exactly normal.” He let out a small chuckle.

“Oi! It’s not like I want to spend time with you!” Lena huffed, putting her hands on her hips. “I mean, not like that.” She said as her head shifted down. She looked at John and saw that he was trying to keep his laughter at bay. “Oi! What now!?”

He looked at Lena, holding back tears as he leaned into her ear...

“Tsundere...”

Lena raised her head with a blush on her face. She looked to John who couldn’t control his laughter. She just couldn’t be mad at him as she playfully punched his shoulder. “You’re lucky I like you, otherwise you would have had to pick yourself up from the pavement!” She let out a laugh of her own. They shared this laugh for a few more seconds before John remembered what Lena had asked him.

John calmed down and started to speak. “Phew! Oh, my stomach. That hurts. So anyway, back to your question...” John looked at Lena, seeing her calm down as well. “I will probably be available to hang out if the crew doesn’t answer their phones at all. I have yet to call Tom and Ze, so I’ll get back to you on that one.”

She smiled. “Okay!”

They continued walking towards their destination.

In an alleyway, observing the two passersby was a peculiar looking man. His hair was spiked up as if on high alert, with sideburns that reached a third down his face. His eyes were dark brown and attentive, squinting to keep the sunlight out. His nose was prominent and slightly angled downwards. His chin was pointed as if it were showing the man where to go. He wore a neatly tailored brown suit with a white shirt, accessorized by a brown tie with white polka-dots. Over his suit was a brown trench coat that went down to his ankle. Everything seemed in order except for his shoes, which were a pair of red sandshoes, but since he was in America, they were called 'converse' instead.

The Doctor had been following the pair for 30 minutes moving due North East down 9th Avenue. He appreciated that John wanted to walk rather than drive a car, but for 30 minutes straight? What was worth walking such a long distance?

"I don't think I have the right to ask that question. I once walked for miles on a planet where it was nothing but a desert of disintegrated buildings and beings. Of course, I didn't know that at the time. The 'Planet of the Dead' is what they called it..."

Ending his self-monologue, he continued to discreetly follow the odd pair. Isn't she a lesbian? He asked before shaking it from his head. The pair were laughing and carrying on a conversation as if the world revolved around them, having a good time. He chuckled. He overheard a part of their conversation.

"This one time, GaLm was so angry, he lost control and threw his PlayStation controller across the room as if it were a football!" John had said.

"Oh?"

John followed up with a rather amusing remark, "Let me tell you, the only touchdown that was made that day was the money on the counter of whatever store he went to, to buy a new one."

Lena just cracked up laughing at John's joke.

The Doctor smiled. "He reminds me of me in a way."

Two minutes had passed by while they walked and made a few turns, and then The Doctor saw their destination which was the M&T Bank.

The Doctor went on ahead of them so that he could prepare his "trap". He ran by them only receiving a glance from either of them, although John did take a slight interest in what he was wearing. He ran to the side of the bank where there was an alleyway big enough to store his TARDIS. Once he reached his destination, he pulled a key out of his left pocket and pointed it to the ground in front of him. A noise started to build as if gears were grinding over and over again. A blue box was gradually appearing in front of him before it finally became solid.

The Doctor smiled. "I'm so glad I installed the recall manipulator on the TARDIS. I can't believe I hadn't thought of this before!" Looking up and down the blue box, he brushed a bit of dust off of it and returned to the streets. Once he reached the sidewalk, he looked toward the bank just as his target walked in.

He had to figure a way to get John to the TARDIS without looking too suspicious. On one hand, he could just walk up to John and ask to follow behind him. On the other hand, he could make it a bit more exciting. He was thinking about this as he was walking into the bank himself. He then saw how many people were around and remembered why he came in the first place: to be covert. He smiled nonetheless.

"Hey, Lena?" John asked, getting her attention. "Aren't you a lesbian?" This made her cheeks turn a deep shade of red.

"Not necessarily! I would be what you consider 'bisexual'." She pointed her nose up and put her hands on her hips.

"Alrighty." was his response. "I need to make a deposit, but this line will take forever to wait on!" He looked to the front of the line and saw at least 20 people in front of him. "Ugh..."

"Hey! Cheer up, love! It's just a few hours out of our day!" Lena said, knowing it wouldn't make things better.

Barely 10 people had finished their business with their tellers within 30 minutes, and John was about to lose it. Not in anger, just an intense emotional response, probably involving aggression. He facepalmed and slowly dragged his hand down his face before catching a man in his gaze. It was the same man who ran past them in the streets, the one who wore the brown trench coat. He looked at the man's face and was shocked to see that it closely resembled that of David Tennant's face when he was The Doctor off of 'Doctor Who'. He and the man locked eyes for a moment before Lena interrupted the stare-down.

"What ya looking at?" John almost jumped before turning to Lena. He briefly looked her in the eyes before looking back in the direction of the man, but he was gone.

Still looking in the direction that he last saw the man, he answered her. "There was a man standing over there wearing a brown trench coat. He was just staring at me. He's gone now but that was weird." He looked back to the front of the line, still wary of the mysterious man. It just so happened that about 10 minutes had passed without him realizing. There were only 7 people left in front.

The Doctor was studying John, trying to figure out what was so special about him, and deduced that he was just an ordinary human. So how did his name and the rest of his friends' names wind up within Princess Twilight's library? That was a question for another time as he realized that he was caught staring at John by none other than John himself. They stared at each other for several minutes, all the while The Doctor was hoping that the girl next to John would get his attention. As if his hopes were heard, the cockney-girl did just that. This allowed him to slip away to start his plan.

He walked to the back of the bank where the teller booths were. To his left were the teller booths, and he noticed that one of the tellers looked absolutely worn out. Her name tag told him that her name was Sarah Locke. To his right was the main office, probably where the manager was holed up. Seeing this, he had an idea.

Alright, I've got it now. He thought while pulling out his psychic paper. I'll walk into the office and tell the manager that I'm here to fill in for Ms. Locke. He won't believe me so I'll use the psychic paper to trick him into believing me. I'll tell Ms. Locke that I'm here to fill in for her, and she'll go on her way. After I've secured my position, I wait for John to come to me. He smiled to himself. "Not the most complicated plan I've had in my lifetime." He commented before walking into the office.

Several minutes passed by as The Doctor carried out his plan without a hitch. The manager was apprehensive, but a decision was ultimately made.

The manager looked at The Doctor. "Well, I believe that you are free to fill in for Ms. Locke, Mr. Smith." He said as 'Mr. Smith' smiled and turned to leave, but then he was stopped. "But if I get any complaints from any clients, then it will be your job that will be 'filled in'."

"I understand, sir." The Doctor confirmed with a glint in his eye. "I'll do my best."

John and Lena had been waiting for a whole 20 minutes as the people started filtering away from the booths. It was surprising how long it took for people to finish their business. It was either a deposit, withdrawal or someone who wanted to create a bank account. Lena wasn't used to waiting so long for anything, and John was about to lose his mind. Finally, the last person in front of them had filtered out and it was their turn. What John didn't expect, however, was who was inside the booth.

"Hello!" exclaimed the man from within the booth. "Welcome to M&T Bank! I'll be your teller, John Smith. But you can call me 'The Doctor'. How may I help you?"

John was at a loss for words. This man, John Smith, looked exactly like David Tennant's character of 'The Doctor' from his favorite British television show, 'Doctor Who'. What was even better was that he called himself 'The Doctor', but there was no way that he was the real deal. He felt the need to question him right then and there, and he did.

"Doctor?" he asked.

"Yep! That's me! Helloo!" The Doctor replied with a wave of his hand.

"Why are you called Doctor?" Lena added.

He smiled, "Well, it's because I help people! It's what I do best!"

John and Lena looked at each other and back at the strange man behind the counter. John thought for a while and ultimately decided that he would just go with it.

"Okay, so I came to make a deposit to my bank account," John stated, placing a check on the counter. The Doctor took the check and examined it.

"'John Aprigliano'?" The Doctor asked, receiving a nod in response. "Nice name. It's a great name actually! I take it that you're Italian?"

"Yes, Doctor," John replied. "I am mostly Italian on my father's side."

"Yes..." The Doctor looked at John and then back to the check. "Well! Mr. Aprigliano, consider it done!" There was then a whirring that came from behind him, adding the funds to John's account, unbeknownst to him.

"Really? That's it? No forms, no ID? That's it?"

"Yes, sir!" The Doctor replied happily. He could now carry out the rest of his plan. "I just need one thing from you. If you could follow me?"

John looked at the man in confusion but decided that he could trust the man. "Alright." The Doctor then walked into the manager's office only to appear outside of the booths next to John. He motioned for John to follow in which John complied. Lena was following close behind. They were exiting the bank when The Doctor turned to talk to them.

"Now, John," he started. "I need you to do something for me. Understand?"

John was following behind The Doctor, keeping pace with his movements. They had turned the corner that was to the right of the entrance. "Yes, I understand..." John paused mid-sentence, realizing that he didn't understand anything that was happening. "...not really."

"You will soon." was the only reply he received.

What is going on?! John thought. Where is he taking us?!

"So, Doctor?" Lena interjected.

"Hmm?"

"Where are we going?" She questioned. "I doubt that we have to do any banking business outside of the bank."

"Very observant you are, Miss Oxton," The Doctor smiled, "It's not exactly banking business." He said this just as they turn a corner into an alleyway. What awaited the pair of clients shocked them into a daze. "This!" The Doctor exclaimed, "Is our business though!"

The pair stared down the alley at an old police telephone box. It was familiar to both of them, as they were both educated on their usage back in the 60s. But these were only around in Europe. They both looked at the man who walked up right next to the box, putting an arm on the frame.

"Say hello you two!" The Doctor exclaimed, "Say hello to the TARDIS. It stands for-"

"Time And Relative Dimension In Space." They looked at each other, having seamlessly said these words at the same time.

"But Doctor, if that is your real name, how do you expect us to believe that this thing is the real deal?" John questioned.

"Do you expect us to walk inside?" Lena asked while raising her brow.

The Doctor laughed at the pair of interrogators. "Of course it's the 'real deal'! And yes, I want you two to walk inside this box if that is the only thing that will make you believe me." He answered, opening the door inwards with his right arm.

The pair looked at each other for a moment before they started to walk over to the box. Both of them were wary, and at the same time excited. Lena looked at the Doctor before she made her first step into the box. John just stared forwards following after her. Once they both walked inside, The Doctor followed right behind them. It was bigger on the inside, just like the show. It had the corral interior that the 10th Doctor had, but it was obvious that it was also different. It was more...

John heard a snap from behind them followed by the closing of the door. They both turned to face The Doctor and waited for an explanation.

The doctor smiled. "Welcome to your adventure to a new world."