Chapter 4 – Mixed Ideas
It certainly was a complete disaster, Foxy and his two cronies had taken control of G's home, and thus every piece of information he had on every world he had ever seen and experienced, and what's worse G, wasn't even there to stop them. However it wasn't just G's home that had suffered, for now many characters from different stories had now been sucked up into the cracks in the walls of creation, and thus have been forced into others before the cracks had sealed themselves. One such unfortunate was none other than a helpless Alicorn filly, aimlessly wandering about on an empty street during the cold night.
"Hello?" Nyx whimpered fearfully. "Is anyone here?"
But there was no sign of life anywhere, the only sounds Nyx could here onto that empty street were cats screeching in the alleys and the cold wind whistling through her ears. Needless to say she was terrified, granted she wasn't the bravest of fillies even back home but being lost in a strange place in the middle of the night would put even the bravest of people on edge, especially if they were all alone. With only the dim light of the rows of street lamps as her sole source of illumination, Nyx was becoming more scared by the minute, first she was sucked out of her bedroom by a strange glowing crack in her wall, after which she was chucked out into a strange place, straight into a garbage can, by very same crack, and now she was lost and frightened out of her mind. At this point all she could do was wonder around aimlessly through the streets near a local park hoping to find someone who could help her, suddenly her ears perked up upon hearing a rustling from the bush next to her.
"Hello?" she said, nervously turning her head towards the bush. "Is… is someone there?"
Suddenly whoever it was came out of the bush, however it was NOT someone who was willing to help. Much to Nyx's horror, a large Irish Wolfhound had emerged from the foliage of the bush, his jaws dripping with saliva as he eyed the shivering filly, which to him looked little more than live prey.
"N…nice doggy," Nyx whimpered, her eyes beginning to well up with tears as she tried to calm the large dog down. "Now I'm sure we can work something out."
However Nyx was certainly not as good with animals as her Auntie Fluttershy was and this dog was obviously in no mood to talk. Within moments, Nyx turned and ran, after which the dog gave chase. As the ferocious Wolfhound chased her down the pavement, all Nyx could do was run for life whilst screaming, however despite her pleas for help no one appeared to be stirring from their beds, much less taking notice of the noise outside their homes. Finally a small ray of hope appeared for Nyx, a ray of hope that came in the form of an alleyway blocked up by a wire-frame fence, a fence with a rust-hole in the bottom which was big enough for Nyx to fit through whilst. Seizing the moment, Nyx dove towards the hole and tried squeezing through, it took some effort but thankfully Nyx manged to clumber through the hole just before the dog managed to bite down on her tail, thankfully only the dog's head was able to fit through the hole after Nyx and the only injuries the little filly had managed to obtain were a few small scratches caused by the sharp pieces of wire. However injuries aside Nyx was safe, at least for now, thanks to that fence the dog couldn't get here and she could catch her breath.
"That was way too close," she muttered with a heavy sigh as the dog continued to bark at her from the other side of the fence. "By Celestia can this night get any worse?"
All of a sudden, as though receiving an ironic answer to her question, Nyx then felt a drop of water fall onto her muzzle, which was then swiftly followed by another, in a matter of moments the Alicorn filly was caught up in a heavy downpour of rain. Groaning with despair, Nyx ran further into the alley, hoping to find some form of shelter, however the only thing she could find was an empty cardboard box. Seeing no other option Nyx pushed the box closer towards the wall of the alley, right next to a nearby garbage can, hoping to at least minimize the amount of water it could be doused with. Tilting the box onto its side Nyx then clambered into it and curled herself into a ball underneath a scrap of newspaper to keep herself warm. Frightened at of her mind, all she could do now was cry.
"Mommy!" she sobbed, her face drenched with both the rain and her tears.
Soon, after what felt like hours, the rain finally began to cease and Nyx had cried herself to sleep.
#
Meanwhile back at the cracked remains of the living Genre's home, three more characters that were taken from their own stories were searching for something, however in their case it was a way out of the endless assortment of mind-boggling staircases.
"Eeheee!" Bebop yelled as he glided over the staircases with his energy beam- powered boots, quickly landing onto a railing, where Rocksteady and Rahzar were waiting for him.
"Anything?" Rahzar growled impatiently.
"Nah man," Bebop sighed disappointedly. "Nothing but more pictures and cracks on the wall."
Rahzar and Rocksteady snarled at that.
"This is ridiculous!" Rahzar yelled, slamming his foot to the floor. "We have been wondering about this place for hours and we STILL have no idea where we are!"
"Da, it is like surreal painting here," Rocksteady added, much to Rahzar's annoyance. "Come to think of it, I think I might have such painting in my collection."
However Rahzar wasn't in the mood for stupid comments, in a fit of rage he simply shoved the large rhino aside and took a slash at the wall with his claws out of frustration. Luckily Rocksteady was always one to know how to calm things down.
"Hey, let us not be too quick to act rashly," he said steadily. "Surely there must be someone who knows what this place is."
It may not have been much for words of reassurance, but regardless Rahzar and Bebop seem to nod upon hearing them.
"You're right Big S," Bebop stated, once again using one of his many nicknames for his comrades. "Whatever this place is, some fool must be in charge. I say we comb the guy's wig back, flip it and comb the wig back again!"
"Agreed," Rahzar growled, nodding his head again.
"Then I suggest we all slits up," Rocksteady proposed. "After which, we track them down and force them to reverse whatever they have done to bring us here."
With all three of them nodding their heads in agreement, the three mutants proceeded to make their way towards a different set of stairs.
"Bet I can find em before you wolf-man," Bebop joked, once again climbing up onto one of the railings and earning another snarl from Rahzar for his trouble.
"Keep dreaming pork-chop!" he snapped.
However Bebo merely laughed at that.
"You forget zombie-wolf," he said. "My piggy-nose is better than a bloodhound's."
At those words Bebop suddenly stuck his nose into the air and inhaled several times, snorting in between sniffs, after which he jumped into the air and activated his boots. Within moments the beams of energy shot out and the warthog mutant glided down between the staircases in a dramatic manner as though he were sliding down two glowing railings.
"Eeeheeee!" Bebop cried. "I just need to catch a whiff!"
With that, Bebop then disappeared from the wolf mutant's line of vision.
"Geez, why in heaven's name did I get lumbered here with THESE two?" he muttered to himself, feeling the need to face-palm.
#
As Bebop continued to glide between the staircases he kept his nose in the air, trying desperately to catch any scents of whoever had brought them to this strange place, after all with something as odd as this, there was no possible way that this could have been an accident. Suddenly he picked up on something and deactivated his boots, allowing him to land safely onto one of the staircases, Sniffing the air once again, he grinned.
"Oh snap!" he said happily. "I definitely smell some poor sap about to get his butt whopped. Oohooo!"
As Bebop continued to sniff the air around him, his gaze soon becoming affixed with a certain corner at the top of the stairs, he was completely unaware that someone else was there. Watching him from the staircase just above him, hanging upside down like a bat even though to them it merely looked as though HE was the one hanging upside down, were a pair of teenage girls, a pair of ODD teenage girls. They both had red skin, yellow eyes and both wore a plan beige uniform, complete with a mini-beige skirt, suit, and dark red ties, however similarities aside, these two did have their own unique appearances too. One of the girls, assumingly the oldest, had pale green spiky hair that reached down to her waist and resembled flames, with two small red horns sticking out on either side, while the other girl had a light blue ponytail, square-shaped glasses, white knee-length socks and a single horn on her fore head. This was Scanty and Kneesocks, a pair of demon siblings and another pair of characters who had been taken from their own story and brought here to G's home dimension. Needless to say, they found Bebop's sudden appearance rather intriguing, given their situation.
"What do you make of this sister?" The blue-haired demon asked, now known as Kneesocks, making sure she wasn't heard by the mutant above their heads.
"A vulgar example of a Sus Scrofa if I've ever seen one, Kneesocks," Scanty replied just as qietly, looking at Bebop as though he were an insect that needed to be squashed quickly.
"Perhaps it might be best if we keep our eyes on him," Kneesocks suggested. "After all he seems to be tracking something, it may be possible that it seeks the individual who owns this ghastly place."
Scanty grinned evilly at that.
"A marvellous suggestion dear sister," she said sinisterly. "Let's just see where pig-boy leads us, shall we?"
#
While things continued to get worse in G's home, things were finally seeming to get better for Nyx. After what felt like the worst night's sleep in her short life, the young filly was finally able to open her eyes and stretch herself out. Needless to say, she quickly became startled upon hearing the now busy street just outside the alley, for a moment her first reaction was to go out there and ask someone for help. However upon seeing just what kind of individuals had inhabited this strange place, she quickly stepped back into the alley, what she saw were masses of large bipedal creatures with peachy skin, tuffs of hair atop their heads, all of which seem to be in shades of gold, brown and orange, and all of them wore different assortments of clothes perfectly suited to the cold. Nyx may not have seen these creatures before but she certainly heard about them from her mother's stories about her magical travels, however these humans, as she called them, weren't like the ones her mother have seen, for one thing they weren't so colourful as she had described. However there was no time to recall stories now, Nyx had to find a way to get back home and fast. Thankfully the newspaper and box Nyx slept in did their job easily enough and she avoided getting sick during the night, however being the smart filly she was, Nyx knew she couldn't last another night like this and decided to get a move on before she was spotted. Granted, her mother's experience with humans was somewhat pleasant, but Nyx didn't want to take her chances until she at least came up with a plan of action first. Suddenly hr ears perked up at another sound from behind her, instantly reacting she turned her head back towards the garbage can that stood next to her box, with curiosity welling up inside her the young Alicorn couldn't help but investigate. Slowly trotting towards the can, Nyx heard the noise again, only this time she saw the can move with it, something was definitely inside, was it a rat? Something else entirely? Either way she was about to find out. Finding herself stopped in her tracks with fear Nyx looked up at the lid of the can, which seemed to be moving and eventually was thrown off from the inside.
"Ugh…" said a rough sounding voice as something poked its head out of the garbage can. "That had to have been the worst night of my…"
Suddenly the creature turned its head towards Nyx and the sudden surprise of seeing another living creature his both of them hard.
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" the creature yelled.
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" Nyx screamed in response, startled by the creature's sudden scream.
Within seconds the creature dove back into the garbage can in terror while Nyx stumbled back into her box, after which she nervously poked her head out to see that the entire can seem to be shaking, whatever was inside seemed to be just as scared as she was, if not more. Once again taking a slow pace towards the garbage can, Nyx gulped as she gave it a small push emptying its contents onto the ground, including the strange creature. Now that Nyx good a good look at what had scared her, she had to admit that she had never seen such a thing in her entire life, it looked like the monkeys her Auntie Fluttershy looked after in her cottage but it was different in so many ways, for one thing it's fur was a gentle shade of blue, topped with a patch of ruby red hair on its head, not only that but it had a strange golden orb at the tip of its tail, two small buck teeth producing from its top lip plus it wore a small purple vest along with a pair of dark green goggles on top of its head. Whatever this creature was, it was curled up into a ball shivering with terror, and from what Nyx could tell he had his eye hidden in his paws so he hadn't really gotten a good look at her either. Mustering up whatever courage she had, Nyx lifted a hoof towards the monkey.
"Um… hello?" she said, nervously poking it and earning another scream for her trouble.
"Wah!" the monkey yelped, quickly jumping into the air and landing on his back. "Take my tools, take whatever you want! Just don't hurt me!"
Nyx was of course taken aback by this reaction, no one has ever been this scared of her for a while now, however previous experiences may not have been the case at this point since the monkey's fear quickly turned to curiosity.
"Wait a sec," he said, staggering to his feet. "You ain't a mugger… You're a Pony! HAHA! I'm saved!"
Needless to say Nyx was confused by the monkey's sudden change of reaction, he seemed to know what she was but he obviously didn't know WHO she was, either way he seemed to be familiar with her species so it might be worth getting a few answers from him.
"Uh, excuse me sir?" she said, nervously trying to be as polite as possible. "But um… who are you?"
At those words, the monkey stopped jumping like a happy lunatic and straightened himself out, trying his best to behave somewhat decently to the clearly nervous filly.
"Oh, do pardon my little outburst," he said with a smile. "It's just I've already spent the night sleeping in the garbage in a strange land and it's something I do NOT want to do again, so you can understand if I should feel a little excited to see a familiar species. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Professor Goggles, Inventor Extraordinaire, devilishly cute Tea Connoisseur and the best Gizmonk a pony could ever know. And you are?"
At first Nyx didn't know how to respond, she didn't really know what a Gizmonk was or if that this particular one was a typical example of one, but he seemed nice enough, and more importantly he was familiar with Ponies so it was definitely worth making friends with him.
"N… Nyx," she answered, allowing the Gizmonk to shake her hoof. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Oh believe me, little miss the pleasure is all mine," Goggles replied with a smile. "So where's your guardian? I doubt any rescue party would simply let a filly wonder about on her own."
Nyx's face fell at that.
"I… I'm not part of any rescue party," she said, much to Goggles' dismay. "I'm lost too."
Soon Goggles' smile turned upside down and he let out a heavy sigh.
"Figures," he said. "So much for high hopes. Well, no point crying over spilled milk as they say, I take it you were brought here the same way I was? Big crack in the wall?"
At last, the first useful thing Nyx had heard for the past several hours, this Gizmonk DID know something, or at the very least have experience the same thing she did.
"Yes, that's right!" she said impatiently. "Do you know what it was? I mean you're a Professor, right?"
At first Goggles didn't know the proper words to say to the filly, after all he didn't want to upset her by saying something that would dash her hopes of getting home.
"Well I admit, that sort of thing is Not part of my certification," he explained, Nyx hanging onto every word he said in hopes of hearing something useful. "But judging from what I can see and also from what I had experienced with the crack, it occurs to me that we may have been transported to another world via a tear in the time-space continuum. I know that sort of thing sounds like something you read about in comics but it's the best sort of explanation I have given the situation, then again stranger things have happened in Equestria have they not?"
Nyx's eyes widened at that.
"How did you know I was from Equestria?" she asked.
"Lucky guess," Goggles replied playfully. "Plus the wings are kind of a giveaway."
At those word Nyx couldn't help but blush with embarrassment and tucked her wings into her body, which at this point were now ruffled from the rough night she had in her box.
"Look, I'm not gonna sugar-coat anything by saying everything is gonna be okay," Goggles said bluntly. "Because as far as I know we could be stuck here. However that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to find a way home, after all I'm sure you have someone waiting for you back home right?
Nyx nodded at that.
"My mom," she said sadly.
Seeing the poor filly's sorrow, Goggles knew exactly what to do next.
"Well then, in that case we had better get going," he said, turning back towards the garbage can.
"Going?" Nyx asked, raising an eyebrow. "Where?"
"Well we can't stay here in this alley forever, can we?" Goggles responded, not taking his eyes of the garbage can as he continued to examine each and every inch of it. "Besides, I don't know about you but I am not willing to have rotten fruit for breakfast."
Nyx couldn't help but stick her tongue out and cringe at those words, after all, she was getting hungry and she hadn't eaten since dinner the previous night, it may have been a risky move since she only just met this so-called Gizmonk, but partnering up with him for the time being seemed to be the best option right now. Raising an eyebrow, Nyx watched in awe as Goggles began rummaging through the vast amounts from garbage that littered the alley, smiling inanely every time he found something that caught his interest.
"Ah yes," he said, holding up a broken alarm clock. "These should do the trick quite nicely."
"Uh… Do the trick for what?" Nyx asked curiously.
Goggles grinned at that.
"Behold young filly," he said, proudly lowering his goggles over his eyes. "Behold the mighty brain-power of a Gizmonk."
At first Nyx had absolutely no idea what the Gizmonk was talking about, however not two seconds later, Goggles grabbed all of his gathered material and attacked his garbage can with the ferocity of a Tasmanian-devil. Within a matter of minutes Nyx's jaw had dropped to the floor as she witnessed the Gizmonk turn a regular garbage can into a fully automated vehicle with three wheels at the base and a control panel just above it, all done with only his bare paws and a few small tools he had in his vest. What made this device all the more impressive was the fact that it still looked like a regular old garbage can when sealed up, thus making it the perfect camouflage for anyone who doesn't want to be seen.
"It's not much, but it'll keep us out of sight while we go about the streets," Goggles explained as he opened the hatch. "And as luck would have it, there is plenty of room for the two of us."
Nyx's eyes widened at that.
"Y… you want to go out there?" she asked, nervously pointing towards the flocks of humans just outside the alley.
"It's better than staying here," Goggles pointed out. "Now come on, the lady's chariot awaits."
At those words, he then jumped into the driver's seat and ushered Nyx into the seat behind him. Needless to say, Nyx was sceptical about the strange monkey, more specifically his eagerness to help her. Just why was Goggles helping her? Did he not know who Nyx used to be? It would make sense, after all she had never heard of a Gizmonk before, perhaps he didn't even know anything about anyone called Nightmare Moon, though in all honesty that was a name she would rather forget herself. Either way Goggles did have a crucial point, anything was better than staying where she was, and any help would be most appreciated. Sighing in defeat, she then climbed into the Gizmonk's makeshift vehicle and closed the hatch behind her.
"Hang onto your wings kiddo," Goggles said with a smirk, his paws quickly taking the steering wheel. "It's going to be a bumpy ride."
Suddenly he pushed his foot against the pedal and the vehicle roared into action, carefully gazing at his surroundings through the small holes he drilled into the sides, Goggles slowly drove the garbage like a car through the crowds of humans, stopping every so often in case one of the decided to turn their heads. It may have been a slow trip but eventually Nyx and Goggles had finally managed to shift through the crowd and into the park across the street, an area of which there was less people to worry about.
"Alright so what do you fancy?" Goggles asked as he eyes the nearby market. "Fruit or cereal?"
However Nyx's mind only came with another question rather than an answer to Goggles' own.
"What did you mean by a tear in the time-space continuum anyway?" she asked, her curiosity over what the Gizmonk said still looming over her.
"Well like told you before," Goggles explained, his eyes never diverting from the market. "It's a shot in the dark, but… I think we're in an alternate world."
Well if her suspicions weren't confirmed by the humans, then Goggles own suspicions on the matter certainly did, this WAS a different world, just like the one her mother had visited. However in Nyx's case, she felt things were going to be far more difficult, so much so that she felt herself singing to herself in her own mind:
I've never seen a place
That's quite like this
Everything is turned around
This crazy world is upside-down
Getting on my feet
It's the hand that I was dealt
But whatever time I have with them
I've got to learn all that I can
With every verse she sung inside her head, Nyx peeked through the holes of Goggles' vessel, gazing every so intensely at the number of humans in the park walking their dogs or playing with their children. As her cat-like eyes focused on every detail of what was happening outside the garbage can, her mind soon fixed upon the next verse of the song that still played in her head.
They don't use any magic or fly with any wings
I don't get these funny clothes, skinny legs or tiny nose
Everything's confusing when it seems so new
But no matter happens now, I have to figure out just what to do
Finally Goggles had managed to drive his makeshift vehicle into the market, right next to an apple stand. Carefully lifting the lid, he took two gold coins from his pocket and grabbed two apples quickly replacing them with the coins without the shop vender noticed. As Nyx ate her breakfast in silence, the final verse of her song played in her head.
What a strange new world
(What a strange new world)
I'm trying to make heads or tails of this strange new world
(What a strange new world)
Sorting through the small details of this strange new world
What a strange new world
Indeed it was a strange new world, but that strangeness was nothing compared to what else was happening between the walls of creation, something that she has yet to realise.
#
Author's Notes:
The Featured Song were inspired by "This Strange New World" from "Equestria Girls" - All credit belongs to the original composer(s).
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The Character Nyx Belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony: