Chapter 7 – Hands of Steel

After what felt like hours of searching for the missing characters, G was finally able to reach the spot where Nyx had spent the night after her arrival. The scent may have been faint from the damp but it was still somewhat fresh enough to make out a decent trail, and what made it all the better was when G discovered a single black feather caught on the hole of a nearby wire fence, a feather which without a doubt belonged to an Equestrian Pegasus/Alicorn Filly.

"Finally we're getting somewhere," G said happily as her took a good long whiff of the feather whilst still in his dog disguise. "I doubt their even a few blocks from here."

Suddenly G sensed something, a faint rumble in the air, a sense that he only ever felt once while he was being pulled from his home and forced into this new world.

"Oh no," he gasped, knowing full well what was coming.

Jumping up over the fence, G then looked up at the sky to his right and to his expected horror, he saw the tiny crack slowly growing just below the cloudy sky. And what's worse was the fact that the smell of the two Equestrians seemed to be coming from the same direction, and that meant that things were only going to turn from bad to worse.

#

It had been an hour since Nyx and Goggles had been welcomed into Lug, Mossy and Spud's home, and so far things were taking a turn for the better. Not only have goggles and Nyx finally managed to find a better place to spend their nights while working on a way home, but they had also made three new friends in the process. At the moment, all of them were enjoying spot of lunch in the form of Mashed Potato Cookies and a pot of Irish Tea, the latter being something that Goggles fiercely enjoyed.

"Ah yes," he sighed tranquilly. "Nothing like a nice cup of tea to calm the nerves, by Celestia, I have missed you."

With that he took another long sip, savouring every drop as it poured down his throat. Seeing this Nyx couldn't help but giggle.

"Wow you really like tea, don't you?" she asked with an amused smile.

"Can't live without it," Goggles chuckled. "In fact a few months ago, one of my adopted family members cut me off from my supply as punishment for some crazy thing I did, and I went crazy after the first week. You had to pry me off the kitchen cupboard just to stop me from attempting to pick the lock."

At those words, both the Gizmonk and the Filly couldn't help but burst out laughing, even Lug, Mossy and Spud couldn't help but let of a chuckle upon hearing of the strange monkey's obsession.

"Oh 'eck, I haven't laughed that hard in years," Lug said, catching his breath. "You two really are a hoot!"

"Aye, I'll drink to that!" Spud added, taking a gulp out of his own gulp of tea.

"So what's your story anyway?" Mossy asked, grabbing everyone's attention. "I know we've asked this already, but you must realise that we've never seen anything like you before."

Upon hearing this the laughter quickly stopped, granted these three weren't human but how were Goggles and Nyx going to explain that they came from another world. Luckily Goggles knew exactly how to swing this conversation.

"Okay," he said calmly, "But first things first, you see I consider myself a bit of a business guy back at home so I believe in fair trade. You tell us what you are first, then we shall tell you our species, after which we shall both shoot back a series of even questions. That way we all know enough about each other to make this new arrangement work until we find a way home, sound fair?"

Goggles may have given off a vague notion of cheekiness when he said that, but luckily both Nyx and their three hosts seemed to brush it off, mainly due to the belief that it was in Goggles' nature due to being a monkey and everything.

"Aye it does sound fair," Lug said finally. "You wish to know what we are, eh? Well you may call us…"

"The Good Neighbours!" Spud interrupted.

"The Other Crowd!" Mossy added.

"The Daoine Sidhe," Lug finished, sighing after being so rudely interrupted by the other two.

However that answer wasn't exactly something either Nyx or Goggles could understand, but regardless they nodded their heads to at least pretend to know what the Daoine Sidhe were, after all they didn't want to be rude to their new friends.

"Alright then, fair is fair," Goggles said in response. "You wish to know what I am, yes? I tell you, I am Professor Goggles, Inventor Extraordinaire and you're friendly neighbourhood Gizmonk."

While Nyx couldn't help but giggle at Goggles' comical intro, the Daoine Sidhe repeated the process of not understanding what the creature before them is even though he had TOLD them exactly that. But like Nyx and Goggles, they merely nodded their nods so it didn't seem like they were being rude. Seeing that it was her turn, Nyx then spoke up.

"And I'm Nyx," she said. "An Alicorn from Equestria and Daughter of Princess Twilight Sparkle."

However while her attempt to recreate Goggles' theatrical introduction, the very words she spoke only made the Gizmonk widen his eyes with shock, so much so that he spat out the tea he was drinking.

"Daughter of WHO!?" he yelled in surprise.

However before Nyx could respond, a loud thundering rumble echoed above everyone's head, a noise that was so loud that is practically shook the stone beneath everyone's feet/hooves.

"What the flaming eck!?" Lug exclaimed, quickly shooting his head upward.

The next few minutes must have been the most terrifying moment of everyone's lives, mainly for Nyx and Goggles because the second they saw what was forming above their heads, they instantly knew what it meant.

"Oh Scrap-bunnies!" Goggles screamed, pulling at his hair in terror upon seeing the glowing crack above the group. "Not again!"

But no matter how many times Nyx and Goggles pleaded or prayed, it didn't stop whatever was happening from being true, the crack had returned, only this time more powerful than either of them had ever seen. Within moments it had grown large enough to cover the entire canopy of leaves that made of the ceiling and just like before anything close enough was sucked in, in this case it was everyone who was directly below it.

"Hang on Spud!" Lug screamed as he and Mossy anchored themselves to one of the stone statues while keeping grips on their friends' cloak.

Goggles too tried to anchor himself to one of the statue, only it was with his tail and he was using all four of his remaining limbs to hang onto Nyx to stop her from being sucked in. However despite their efforts, neither one of them could hang onto their anchors for long, soon enough the force became so strong that Goggles' tail lost its grip, thus he and Nyx flew towards the crack. Luckily Spud was able to grab onto Goggles' tail at the last minute, thus creating a living chain of creatures as they hung onto dear life.

"What is that thing!?" Spud screamed, through the gusts of wind pulling at everyone's form.

"I don't know!" Goggles yelled in response.

Suddenly, even Lug and Mossy's grip couldn't hold on long enough for the crack to diminish, soon enough the force of the winds pulled them from their anchor and proceeded to pull them into the glowing abyss. Nyx and Goggles could see it coming all too clearly, and they along with their three new friend were about to suffer another world jump, but then something happened that neither one of them had ever come to expect. Just before they all disappeared into the blinding light of the crack, Mossy felt something grab onto his leg, thus halting everyone, looking down everyone then saw the most bizarre creature they had ever seen.

"Don't worry guys!" G Screamed as his cybernetic arm held onto Mossy, while his bony arm anchored him to another statue. "I got you!"

As it turned out, G was able to find his way into the roundabout just in the nick of time, and seeing that the others were in trouble we was able to use his Sci-Fi themed arm to shoot out his hand like a grabbling hook and latch onto the others while the attached cable kept them from going anywhere as long as G himself could keep himself from being sucked in too. No one knew just what exactly G was but at the moment they didn't really care just as long as he was saving their asses.

"The crack should stabilise soon!" he shouted, trying desperately not to let go. "Just hold on a little longer!"

But that was a task easier said than done, for soon the crack's power seemed to be growing in might, so much so that even the statues seem to be lifting off the ground. Finally G couldn't hold on any longer, with one snap of ivy and a stumble, G lost his grip on the statue and the entire chain of creatures were sucked into the glowing abyss of the crack, and just like before it sealed shut behind them.

#

By the time Nyx woke up, her head was spinning if the first dimensional jump of rough then this had to have been far worse, mainly because the first time didn't knock her out from the impact. Quickly turning her head in all directions she could clearly see that she was indeed somewhere else, more specifically she seemed to be in someone's back garden, around her being a small treehouse, two hedges shaped like a dinosaur and a group of humans, and of course the back of the house. Fortunately Nyx wasn't alone this time, laying to her right was Goggles, and to her left were Lug, Mossy and Spud all sprawled up in groaning dogpile.

"Guys? Are you okay?" Nyx asked uneasily.

"Ugh… I think I may have lost my lunch on that ride," Goggles responded, covering his mouth so he could stop himself from being sick. "But I'll live, what about you guys?"

"Aye, we're okay," Mossy answered, sitting up and clutching his head in pain. "What was that?"

"I don't know," Nyx admitted. "But that was the second one me and Goggles had seen in the last two days."

Suddenly everyone was joined by another voice.

"It was a crack in the walls of creation," it said. "And quite frankly I'm surprised you guys were able to handle a second ride so quickly."

Hearing this everyone's heads shot up to look up at the source of the voice, upon which they saw none other than G looking down at them from the small door of the treehouse.

"What the hell!?" Goggles gasped. "Who are you?"

However while Goggles may have been surprised at this strange creature, Nyx recognised him immediately.

"Wait, you're that guy who tried so save us aren't you?" she asked.

G smiled at that.

"Indeed I am," he answered. "And don't let my appearance make you nervous, I'm as harmless as they come."

At least that was SOME good news, but that didn't really answer Goggles' question as to WHO their attempted rescuer was.

"Oh dear, where are my manners? I haven't properly introduced myself," G continued as he jumped from the treehouse and landed in a dramatic pose. "I am… the Living Genre!"

However despite his theatrical introduction, everyone merely looked at him as if he were crazy, though in all honesty that might have actually been the case with the way G acts most of the time.

"The what?" Lug asked, raising an eyebrow.

G sighed and palmed himself in the face upon hearing that.

"Just call me G," he replied with a deadpanned look. "Everybody does."

Finally there was a name to go with, but now there was the question as to what G was and where exactly did he come from, from Nyx's perspective he looked like he may have been related to Discord based on his appearance, but even she had to admit that might not be a possibility, granted he was just as bizarre in appearance and behaviour but he still seemed to have some form of seriousness about him that Discord certainly didn't. And what about his origin? During the attempted rescue there was something he said that made it seem like he knew something about the cracks, was HE the one responsible for creating them? Nyx would have asked herself had Goggles not beat her to the punch whilst sharing her suspicions.

"Okay G," he said sternly. "Then maybe you can tell us what the hell is going on!"

"Aye," Lug added. "Cause we don't like being dragged off from our home by some strange crack in the sky and YOU seemed to know something about it."

G rubbed his temples at that, this was certainly going to take a lot of explaining. But explanations would have to wait for the moment, for this was neither the time nor the place for such things.

"I'll discuss that later," G explained. "But right now we gotta move, it's not safe here."

At those words, G then walked away from the group, much to their confusion.

"Well come on then!" he called out. "Unless you want to get caught by the locals and locked up in some zoo!"

Needless to say the other were more than hesitant about the new arrival, but then again they WERE all lost together in a strange world and he seemed to be the only one who knows anything about it.

"Can we trust him?" Spud asked sceptically.

"Do we have a choice?" Nyx asked sarcastically, quickly standing up and running after G.

Soon enough, everyone else saw that the young filly had a point and followed suit, eventually everyone was following the mismatched creature.

#

An hour had passed and so far things were going smoothly, for a while they had all been jumping from one back garden to the next, trying desperately to avoid being out in the open.

"You sure about all of this?" Mossy asked as he helped Lug over the 23rd fence. "What if someone's home?"

G smirked at that.

"What's the matter mate? Never taken a shortcut before?" he chuckled, causing everyone to roll their eyes. "Besides the only people who would be home around this time are the local housewives, and they're all on the street corner gossiping around this time of the day."

"How do you know that?" Goggles asked curiously.

"Because I've been here before," G replied bluntly.

It wasn't much of an answer but it was enough to satisfy everyone for the moment. However Goggles still had something else on his mind, something that had been picking at his brain ever since Nyx said who her mother was.

"Nyx?" he said, gaining the filly's attention. "What did you mean by you being the Daughter of Princess Twilight?"

"Well exactly that," Nyx replied confusingly. "Granted she's actually my adoptive mom, has been for over three years now, but still she's my mother regardless. Why do you ask?"

Goggles gulped nervously at that, the confusion in his mind quickly escalating into a frenzy of panic as his suspicions were turning into reality. He then quickly put a paw into one of his vest pockets and pulled out a small folded up piece of paper.

"Take a look," he said, unfolding the paper and showing Nyx the photograph. "This is me and MY family and friends after we finished rebuilding my lab a few months ago."

Upon seeing the photo Nyx couldn't believe her eyes, everyone she knew was in this photo. First there was Goggles in front, next to him was her friend Apple Bloom, and behind them was Applejack and the entire Apple family along with Silver Spoon, the Great and Powerful Trixie, three Diamond Dogs, her Aunties Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash with Nyx's other friend Scootaloo, Rarity and her sister Sweetie Belle, Pinkie Pie, and of course…

"My mom!?" Nyx gasped, her eyes watering as she saw the beautiful image of Twilight Sparkle's face.

"I've known Twilight ever since I came to Ponyville a year ago and I have never even heard of you," Goggles explained, taking back the photo. "But I can also tell when ponies are lying to me, and you're certainly no liar, Applejack taught me well on that particular subject."

Nyx couldn't believe what she was hearing, nor what she had just seen, Goggles lives in Ponyville? And with the Apple Family too judging from the background in the photo, there just had to have been an explanation.

"But how is that even possible?" she thought aloud.

Goggles may have not known for sure but he did have a theory.

"Parallel worlds, parallel Equestrias?" he replied, giving a small shrug and not having the slightest idea of a better way to put it.

At first Nyx would have argued that it would have been a silly idea, however her mother DID go to a world where she found counterparts to her own friends, maybe it wasn't impossible in this case. However that was when G stepped in.

"Right on the money there Monkey-boy," he said, having overheard everything the two had just said. "I'm surprised it took you THIS long to figure it out."

Hearing this both Nyx and Goggles shot their gaze towards G with a look of shock in their eyes, he DID know something and he had literally just confirmed their suspicions. However question will have to wait till later since everyone had jumped the last set of fences and was now met with a large mass of forest on the other side of the last garden.

"Now what?" Lug asked, looking back towards G.

Luckily G knew exactly what to do from here. Ushering everyone to follow him, he then lead the group to the side gate that lead from the back garden to the front, which was of course recklessly unlocked and easy to open. Peering around the corner of the house, G saw that he and the group were exactly where they needed to be, just a few feet away was the end of a small Cul-de-sac, which lead to a large, busted up iron gate with a dirt path just beyond its border.

"You see that gate over there?" he asked, pointing towards the gate and earning a nod from everyone in response. "Beyond that is a pathway that leads up to a mansion up on top of the mountain, if we can get to it we're golden. I know someone here who can help us out."

No one had any idea who this supposed person could possibly be, but as stated by Nyx earlier, they didn't have any other choice but to trust G at this point. After counting down from three, they all then ran towards the gate without being seen by anyone and started trekking up the dirt path, with G constantly looking back every few minutes to make sure they weren't followed. After what felt like ages of walking, the group finally made it up to another gate shrouded in ivy.

"Here we are," G said with a smirk, pushing open the gate and looking towards the group. "Ladies first."

Nyx's eyes widened upon hearing that, it was clear that she didn't like being the one to go first, especially since it's a place she didn't know. However when she finally DID build up enough courage to go through the gate, she was met with a wondrous sight. It was as though she had entered a different world again, stepping onto the well-kept gravel path Nyx saw that she was the first to enter a magnificent garden, each one of the bushes completely transformed into a beautiful art display simply by being trimmed to a certain shape and surrounded by flowers. There was a stag, a cat, a crane, a serpent that appeared as though he were diving in and out of the ground, and perhaps the most interesting garden sculpture of all, in the centre of the entire garden, emerging from a flowerbed completely in bloom was a large hand, the fingers splayed out as though it were reaching towards the sky.

"Oh my goodness," Nyx gasped. "It's so beautiful."

After everyone else followed the young filly into the garden, they too shared her opinion.

"Aye, my compliments to the gardener," Lug said with a smile his gaze fixated upon the giant hand.

However the only one who didn't seemed to be phased by the garden's beauty was g, who simply walked passed the sculptures without a second glace and made his way to the large door at the very back of the garden. It was only then that the others finally noticed the mansion itself, unlike its garden which was gorgeous and well-kept, the old building was in shambles, the grey stone completely aged and decayed, windows were shattered, and a massive hole was in the roof, if anything it looked like a haunted house. Upon finally seeing it, Nyx and Goggles couldn't help but gulp with fear, this house was the complete opposite of the garden and yet G was simply giving the door a loud knock.

"Edward!" he called out, opening the door slightly. "Ed, are you there!?"

Whoever G was calling it was clear that he knew him enough to at least get on a first name basis, however whoever it was, Nyx and the others certainly felt like they needed some info before they go traipsing into this house.

"Who's Edward?" Goggles asked curiously.

G didn't even bother to turn his head upon hearing that, instead he only walked inside and ushered the others in.

"Let's just say he's a friend," he finally said, closing the door behind the last person to enter.

As expected, the inside of the mansion was just as dark and gloomy as the outside, and this time there wasn't even so much as a potted plant to spruce things up. The entire floor was grey concrete, which spread throughout the entirely spacious room, on the far end was a stone staircase and beyond that a large conveyor belt with several metal objects attached to it, making the entire room look like it was from a horror movie.

"Wait here," G instructed the others, much to their distain. "I'll be back in a minute."

And with that G then left the group and made his way up the stairs, most likely in search of this Edward person.

"Oh yeah, sure just leave us alone in a spooky house eh?" Lug Asked sarcastically. "Not like we needed any explanations or anything!"

"Wait, where's Goggles!?" Nyx asked fearfully, quickly realising that a certain Gizmonk wasn't with them at the time.

Luckily no one needed to search for him.

"Hey, check out all this!" he called out from the other side of the room, his gaze fixated upon the strange contraptions as he drooled with delight. "Whoever lives here must be a great inventor."

Nyx rolled her eyes upon hearing that, of course Goggles would go gaga over someone's invention, after all he was an inventor himself. Responding to the Gizmonk's request, everyone then joined him at the conveyor belt.

"But not one for maintaining such devices judging from the dust and cobwebs," Mossy pointed out, wiping off some of the dust.

Goggles merely scoffed at that.

Still, everything seems to be in working order," he argued, eyeing every single detail with passion in his eyes. "Just needs a bit of oiling up and a jump start by the looks of things."

"What is this thing anyway?" Spud asked, looking at the device all confused.

However while Goggles explained his theory to everyone, nobody seemed to be aware that another figure was watching them from the shadows, a figure that seemed to be eyeing them both with curiosity and fear. He could have kept himself hidden a little longer had it not been for the fact that a certain piece of his body made a noise that gave him away. With her ear twitching upon hearing the sound of metal scraping against each other, Nyx quickly turned her head towards the stairs, where she saw a shape crouching underneath it as though it were trying to hide, albeit very badly.

"Hello?" she said gently, quickly grabbing everyone's attention, including the figure under the stairs. "Why are you hiding back there?"

"Careful lass," Lug said quickly, placing a hand in front of her so she couldn't go near. "We don't know who that is."

"Perhaps it is our host?" Spud pointed out.

That was when the figure started coming out of the shadows, and when everyone saw the silhouette of the sharp objects in his hands, upon which they all stepped back in fear.

"I think it's time to leave," G muttered, earning a nod from everyone else.

But the figure heard that quite clearly.

"Don't go," he said, his full form now emerging from the shadows.

Upon seeing the figure, everyone dropped their jaws in shock and awe, he appeared to be a human man with a pale face riddled in scars, a mess of black hair and wore a full body, black leather suit with numerous belts strapped along the chest, legs and arms. However the strangest part of this new figure was what was in his hands, or rather what WAS his hands, for each one of his fingers was made up of a pair of scissors.

"By Celestia," Nyx gasped, her heart both welling up with fear and pity for this new arrival.

"Who are you lad?" Mossy asked, not having any idea what else to say.

It was then that G reappeared from behind the strange man with a solemn look on his face, much to everyone's surprise.

"Everyone," he said in a gentle tone. "Allow me to introduce a dear friend of mine… his name is Edward."

#

Author's Notes:

The Character Nyx Belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony: