Slider of Equestria: Vol. 1

By DoctorFlashSfD

Chapter 1: A New World, part 1

Disclaimer: I don't own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic or any of the shows I'll be making references to in this fanfic series. Rights to anything referenced all belong to their respective owners.

In a small house in a small town, a young man was sitting on his floor in a meditative position. To those who didn't know, he may have looked like he had fallen asleep, but he was actually focusing inwardly. The young man suddenly groaned loudly, and jumped up.

"I can't focus!" he shouted, and headed towards his kitchen. He poured himself a glass of milk, and chugged the white liquid down in five big gulps. He wiped off the resulting milk moustache, and decided to see what was on TV before trying again. He flopped down onto his couch, and started flipping channels, thinking.

There's got to be an easier way to focus, he thought. If I don't get ahold of this, who knows what world I'll end up in next. The young man, known as Hunter, wasn't a normal person. He had a strange and wonderful ability. He had the power to travel between dimensions, and as such, he could travel through the multiverse with ease. Such people were referred to as 'sliders'. However, to travel to a completely new universe for the first time required absolute focus. In contrast, travelling to a different space in the same universe or to a previously visited universe was as easy as walking down the street.

Hunter was still trying to clear his head, when he raised an eyebrow at the show he came across.

"My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic? Isn't that, like, for 7-year-old girls?" he said, about to turn it off, then noticed it was telling a story. He decided to listen to it, then try to focus again.

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land.

To do this, the eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn; the younger brought out the moon to begin the night. Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects, all the different types of ponies.

But as time went on, the younger sister became resentful. The ponies relished and played in the day her elder sister brought forth, but shunned and slept through her beautiful night

One fateful day, the younger unicorn refused to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. The elder sister tried to reason with her, but the bitterness in the young one's heart had transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness, Nightmare Moon.

Hunter found himself on the edge of his seat as a flash of lightning went off. Then he felt it, a strange energy deep in his gut was calling to him, telling him something was very wrong. He meditated as the narrator went on:

She vowed that she would shroud the land in eternal night. Reluctantly, the elder sister harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponydom, the Elements of Harmony. Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated her younger sister, and banished her permanently in the moon.

Hunter finally latched onto the energy, and felt it suddenly engulf his whole body. He opened his eyes and looked at himself. He was becoming transparent. He suddenly stood up, and knew what he had to do. He grabbed his emergency bag which he always kept packed, and as the narrator finished, transitioning into another voice, he made a sliding motion across the floor, fading out of his world, and entering another, hearing the pony's voice still as he came out:

The elder sister took on responsibility for both sun and-

"-moon, and harmony has been maintained in Equestria for generations since," the pony's voice finished. Hunter still hadn't fully appeared yet, but he could hear everything around the spot where he would appear, just as he had all the previous times he had slid into a new world. The voice continued, obviously female. She seemed to be talking to herself, "Hmm, Elements of Harmony. I know I've heard of those before, but where?"

Hunter's sight came to him, and he moved to behind a large clump of bushes, out of sight of the purple-coated unicorn pony who laid on the grass, reading an old looking book. Now she was gazing at the sky, deep in thought. Hunter faded into view fully, looking solid once more, and looked around. He facepalmed, realizing where he was.

"I'm in Equestria. Why did I have to end up here?" he whispered to himself. Suddenly, he heard hooves galloping away. He looked up, and saw the purple pony galloping off. He decided to follow her, and pulled out a small silver bottle. He took a small sip, and he and his things vanished. It was an invisibility potion from his brief visit to Skyrim. He hurried after the pony as fast as he could without making too much sound. He nearly ran into her when she was stopped by three other strangely colored ponies (all of whom were unicorns) who were asking if she was coming to some kind of party or something.

"Oh, sorry, girls… I've got a lot of studying to catch up on," she said, but Hunter could tell she was lying. She hurried off again, and Hunter ran right after her. The potion he had drunk from was good for five minutes of use, then he would need to take another gulp. He knew magic was possible in this world, but he didn't know to what extent. As he ran along, up a long stairway, he tried powering up an invisibility spell, and was pleased to see that it worked. He cast the spell, and not a moment too soon. The potion wore off just then, but he was still invisible thanks to the spell, which lasted until he turned it off, as long as he had plenty of energy. Finally, the pony stopped, bursting through a door, but Hunter nearly ran into her because of this, and managed to avoid this by leaping high over her, and discovering he had his old flight powers back from when he visited Peter Pan.

"Spike! Spi-ike!" the pony yelled. "Spike?" she said again, looking around.

"Oww," a voice groaned, and Hunter noticed a small, lizardlike creature with purple scales and green spines coming up a flight of stairs, with a present wrapped in red impaled on his tail.

"There you are," the pony asked, not bothering to ask if he was okay. She then said, "Quick, find me that old copy of Predictions and Prophecies." Then she saw the gift on Spike's tail.

"What's that for?" she asked. Spike noticed it, and pulled it off.

"Well," he started, looking a little upset. "It was a gift for Moondancer, but…" he trailed off as he shook it a bit, and an impaled teddy bear fell out.

"Oh Spike, you know we don't have time for that sort of thing," the pony said. Hunter was starting to like her less and less.

"But we're on a break," Spike protested. The pony began the search, levitating books down to her. So apparently unicorns can use magic in this world. She called for Spike again, and he held out the book she wanted. Using her magic, she pulled it down, and Spike with it, causing him to faceplant. Hunter nearly laughed.

The pony levitating the book to a stand, and rifling through the pages. Finally, she found the page she wanted.

"Aha! Elements of Harmony, see: Mare in the Moon?" she said, questioning the last part.

"The Mare in the Moon? But that's just an old ponies' tale," Spike said, attempting to put away all of the other books. The pony flipped through the book again, and from what she read when she found it, Hunter guessed that the Mare in the Moon must be Nightmare Moon. Apparently the pony thought the same, because she seemed scared.

"Take a note please, to the princess," she said, and Spike pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill, writing as the pony dictated, "My dearest teacher, my continuing studies of pony magic have led me to discover that we are on the precipice of disaster."

"Hold on," Spike said, "Preci-, preci-?"

"Threshold," the pony tried.

"Threh-"

"Uh, brink?" Spike just looked confused.

"Ugh, that something really bad is about to happen!" the pony said, and Spike wrote that down as the pony went on, "For you see, the mythical Mare in the Moon is in fact Nightmare Moon, and she's about to return to Equestria, and bring with her eternal night! Something must be done to make sure this terrible prophecy does not come true. I await your quick response. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."

"Twilight Sparkle! Got it," Spike finished. Twilight told him to send it, and after some reluctance, he finally did. Hunter had a bad feeling in his gut about this. He figured he may as well show himself at this point. He was about to, then Spike belched, and a scroll formed from the ensuing green flames. Spike unrolled it and read off, "My dearest, most faithful student Twilight. You know I value your diligence, and that I trust you completely."

Twilight looked happy, then Spike went on, "But you simply must stop reading those dusty old books!" Twilight seemed to be knocked down a peg. Hunter smiled to himself, and decided to show himself later.

-Later-

After a while, and a flying chariot ride for Twilight and Spike with Hunter flying along behind, still invisible, they arrived at a little town that Spike called Ponyville.

Real creative name, Hunter thought. Apparently, the Summer Sun Celebration was being held there, and Twilight was also tasked with making some friends. Twilight didn't look too happy, and that didn't change until they got to the first place on Spike's checklist: Sweet Apple Acres.

"Yee haw!" a voice with a distinct Southern drawl cried out, and an orange-coated pony with a blond mane and a Stetson (cowboy hat) ran past, and bucked a large apple tree, making every apple in it fall out into the baskets around its base. The pony crossed her legs proudly. Twilight sighed, and went up to her.

"Hi, my name's Twilight Sparkle-" she was cut off as the other pony grabbed her hoof with both of her own and shook it hard like a person would shake another one's hand.

"Well, howdy-doo, Miss Twilight, a pleasure makin' your acquaintance. I'm Applejack," she said. "We here at Sweet Apple Acres sure do like makin' new friends."

Twilight, now looking a little dizzy, said, "Friends? Actually I-"

"So," Applejack went on as if Twilight hadn't said a word, "what can I do you for?" Hunter nearly cracked up when he saw that Twilight's foreleg was still waving up and down, even though Applejack had let go. Spike stopped it, and the two ponies discussed the banquet preparations, and Applejack asked if Twilight wanted to sample some of the food.

"As long as it doesn't take too long," Twilight answered, and Applejack rang a triangle nearby.

"SOUP'S ON, EVERYPONY!" Applejack yelled, and a regular mob of other multicolored ponies raced by, a big red stallion with a yoke around his neck nearly knocking into Hunter. Hunter learned a bit later during Applejack's introduction of everyone, who all seemed to be cousins to her, that his name was Big MacIntosh. He, a little filly named Apple Bloom, and an old mare named Granny Smith seemed to be the only ones who seemed to be directly related to Applejack. Twilight was about to leave, and so was Hunter, then they heard Apple Bloom ask, "Aren't you gonna stay for brunch?"

She was giving the puppy eyes, and Twilight seemed about to break, but then she said, "Sorry, but we have an awful lot to do…" The whole family sighed in disappointment.

"Fine," Twilight said, and they all cheered. The brunch took a while, but Hunter was able to sneak some food for himself while no one was looking, which is harder than you think. It was all delicious. Twilight groaned as they went to check the weather.
"I ate too much pie," she said, and her belly sagged.
"Hmm, there's supposed to be a Pegasus pony named Rainbow Dash clearing the clouds," Spike said, looking up. Hunter and Twilight did, too.
"Well, she's not doing a very good job, is she?" Twilight commented, then a bluish something slammed into her, knocking her into a mud puddle nearby. It was a blue-coated Pegasus with a rainbow colored mane and tail. She looked at Twilight, and laughed a bit.
"Um, 'scuse me?" she said, then giggled a bit. Then she flew off, and brought down a dark cloud. After hopping a few times, it rained all over Twilight, washing the mud off, but now she was soaking wet. Hunter nearly busted up. This world was more interesting than he thought.
"Oops, I guess I overdid it. Uh, um, how 'bout this?" she said, then flew in a circle around Twilight so fast that it formed a mini-tornado which dried up all of the water and the mud with it.

"My very own patented Rain-Blow Dry! No no, don't thank me, you're quite welcome," she said, then looked at Twilight. She looked angry, and her mane and tail were now frizzy and curly, and sticking out just about everywhere. Rainbow Dash snickered, then busted out laughing, and so did Spike. Hunter did too, but he kept his laugh mostly silent.

Twilight looked down at her, and said, "Let me guess. You're Rainbow Dash?"

"The one and only!" she said, standing up and doing a pose, then lifting off and hovering with her muzzle nearly touching Twilight's.
"Why, you heard of me?" she asked, smiling.
Twilight then said, "I heard you're supposed to be keeping the sky clear. My name's Twilight Sparkle, and the Princess sent me to check on the weather."
Rainbow Dash then waved her off, going on to tell her that she was practicing for something called the Wonderbolts, who apparently were going to perform at the celebration, and Rainbow Dash wanted to use the opportunity to show off. According to what Twilight said, they were the most talented fliers in all of Equestria.
"Please, they'd never accept a Pegasus who can't even keep the sky clear for one measly day," Twilight said, scoffing.
"Hey! I could clear this sky in ten seconds flat!" Rainbow Dash said, sounding a lot like she was bragging in Hunter's view.
"Prove it," Twilight said, narrowing her eyes. Rainbow Dash then flew off. Sure enough, ten seconds later, the sky was an unobstructed field of blue all across the town and surrounding land.
"What'd I say? Ten. Seconds. Flat." Twilight looked utterly shocked.
"You should see the look on your face," Rainbow said, laughing. "You're a laugh, Twilight Sparkle. I can't wait to hang out some more." Then she sped off, and Twilight looked annoyed. Then they headed to what Hunter assumed was the Town Hall.
"Okay, decorations," Spike said. Hunter looked around. The place looked amazing.
"Beautiful," Spike said, enraptured. Twilight thought he was talking about the décor, but he was actually talking about the pony doing the decorating, a white-coated unicorn with a purple, elegantly styled mane. She was picking from different kinds of ribbon, finally settling for a sparkling red one.
"Sparkle always does the trick, does it not?" she asked no one. "Why, Rarity, you are a talent." Rarity turned to Twilight, and started to ask, "Now, how can I help yo-" yelping when she took in Twilight's appearance.
"Oh my stars, darling! Whatever happened to your coiffure?!"
"You mean my mane?" Twilight said, looking up at it. "It's a long story. I'm just here to check on the decorations and then I'll be out of your hair."

"Out of my hair?" Rarity said, walking forward. "What about your hair?" She then began to push Twilight out of the Town Hall towards what Hunter assumed to be a boutique. She fixed Twilight's mane, then started making Twilight try on different outfits, finally settling on a jeweled corset like attire from what Hunter could gather.
"Now go on, my dear," Rarity said, placing her front hooves on Twilight's back, preparing to tighten the outfit, "you were telling me where you're from."
"I've… been sent… from… Canterlot… to…" she said, wincing from the tightness of the outfit, but then Rarity let go.
"Canterlot!?" Rarity shouted, excitedly.
"Oh, I am so envious! The glamour, the sophistication! I've always dreamed of living there!" she said. Hunter facepalmed for the second time that day. Rarity was evidently one of those women who had a taste for the finer things, rather than the simpler life like Applejack. Then Rarity said that she and Twilight were going to be the best of friends, which Twilight obviously dreaded.
"Emeralds? What was I thinking? Let me get you some rubies!" she said, and went off to get them. Twilight then grabbed Spike and ran out of the boutique.
"Quick! Before she decides to dye my coat a new color," she said as she ran. Hunter followed. Spike was still in a love-struck daze.
"Wasn't she wonderful?" he said. Twilight rolled her eyes, then asked what was next. Apparently, the last thing on the list was music Then all three of them heard a sound. It was a chorus of songbirds being conducted by a blond-coated Pegasus pony with a long light pink mane and tail. The music was beautiful, but one bird seemed to be having trouble.
"Um, stop please, everyone," she said in a soft voice, and the birds stopped singing. She flew over to the blue bird and said, "Excuse me sir, no offense or anything, but it seems your rhythm is just a teeny-tiny bit off." The bird nodded, which surprised Hunter, and the pony was about to start them again, but Twilight spoke up, startling the pony and the birds. The pony flew down, and looked at Twilight shyly.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to frighten your birds. I'm just here to check up on the music, and it's sounding beautiful," she said. The other pony said nothing.
"I'm Twilight Sparkle," Twilight introduced. The other pony still didn't say anything.
"What's your name?" Twilight asked.
"Um… I'm…" the last part came out as a murmur.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" Twilight asked.
"Um… My name is…." this time the other pony's voice was even quieter. Twilight asked her to repeat it again, and this time the other pony's voice came out as a small squeak. She then appeared to be hiding her face in her mane.

Then the birds returned and Twilight turned to Spike, and they were about to leave, then the other pony noticed him, and got excited, rushing over and knocking Twilight into some bushes.
"A baby dragon! I've never seen a baby dragon before. He's so cute!" she said. Even when she got excited, her voice was soft.
"Well, well, well…!" Spike said, looking smugly at Twilight.
"Oh, my, he talks. I didn't know dragons could talk. That's just so incredibly wonderful, I don't even know what to say!" the pony said happily. Hunter had to admit, she was pretty cute.
"Well, in that case, we'd better be going," Twilight said, levitating Spike over onto her back. The other pony followed them though, and asked, "Wait wait! What's his name?"
"I'm Spike," he said.
"Hi, Spike. I'm Fluttershy," she said, and then the two preceded to talk about the events of Spike's whole entire life up until the present day. As it turned out, Twilight had been required to hatch Spike out of his egg as part of an entrance exam for Princess Celestia's magic school, but she had nearly failed until the sound of a large explosion of some sort startled her into not only hatching Spike, but surrounding the examiners in a force field and growing Spike into a fully grown dragon. Celestia had seen this, and stopped Twilight's magic from going completely out of control. Twilight had then earned something called a "cutie mark" which Hunter guessed was the star-like marking on her flank. He noticed that Fluttershy's was three pink butterflies. Thinking back, he remembered that almost every pony he had seen around town that day had had a mark of some kind on their flank, but no two marks were the same. Applejack's had been three red apples, Rarity's had been three jewels, and Rainbow Dash's had been a cloud with a lightning bolt styled rainbow coming down from it. Finally, they came to a tree with windows in it as well as a balcony with a telescope on the top and a door. Hunter guessed that this was the library where Twilight would be staying while in Ponyville. Twilight went in along with Spike, and shut the door. Hunter wasn't able to get in before the door shut though, and decided to just lay against the tree and try and collect himself. He was exhausted from following Twilight all day. He sat back against the wood, and looked up at the setting sun, watching the moon rise into the sky.

He noticed something odd about it. The moon had a dark shape on it that resembled a mare's head with a long unicorn horn.
"That must be the Mare in the Moon that Twilight was reading about back in Canterlot," Hunter said to himself quietly. He watched the moon, and seemed to notice four stars getting closer to the moon bit by bit.
What did the passage from Twilight's book say? he thought, then he remembered, 'Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars shall aid in her escape, and she will bring about everlasting night.' He then found himself hoping that his trip here was just a false alarm. Then again, everytime he had been called to another world, his help had always been needed in some way, be it large or small. He would have pondered on this further, but he fell asleep against the tree.

He woke up pretty quickly though once he heard the thundering. He jumped up, eyes widening, and looked up at the moon. Sure enough, the Mare in the Moon was gone. He looked towards the Town Hall, and heard a maniacal laugh. He ran towards it, and threw down the invisibility spell. He then noticed that he was running on four legs! He had turned into a pony as he slept. Then he looked at his sides, and saw two wings. He had become a Pegasus. Deciding to use this to his advantage, he leapt into the air, spread his wings, and burst through the door as he heard Nightmare Moon asking, "Did you not see the signs?"
"I did!" he heard Twilight yell.
"So did I!" he shouted. "And we both know who you are."
"You're the Mare in the Moon," Twilight started.
"Nightmare Moon," they finished together. Everypony gasped.
"Well well well, someponies who remember me. Then you also know why I'm here," she said. Then Hunter took in her full appearance. A full sized horse, with a black coat and a flowing mane that looked like the night sky, she was taller than any pony in the whole room, and twice as intimidating.
"You're here to… to…" Twilight couldn't finish her sentence, she was so nervous. She gulped, and Nightmare Moon went on, "Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last forever!" She laughed loudly, and thunder rolled again. Twilight looked nervous, and Hunter felt the same. How in the world could he take on a foe powerful enough to make it so that night would never end?

TO BE CONTINUED…