Chapter 2
An Encounter with the Familiar
Whirring…buzzing…flashing lights. Rainbow Blitz, still in his Time Lord form, lies unconsciously on the floor of his Tardis. The room is a mess of loose bolts, broken wires, sparks, and cluttered boxes everywhere as if they had made a crash landing. Blitz twitches one ear and then the other, groans, and then slowly cracks his eyelids open. He stirs, surveying the disaster zone, "guys…guys!?" he yells out in a weak, and strained voice. Out of one of the mounds of boxes he sees a butterscotch wing break through, and stretch into the air. Rainbow Blitz struggles to his feet, soar in his joints but unscathed. He staggers over to the cluttered mound of boxes with the wing and starts to dig. He uncovers Butterscotch's dazed body under the mess. Rainbow Blitz gets his strength back and starts nudging Butterscotch's side, "Butterscotch...stay with me buddy..."
"Uh...what happened?.." Butterscotch asks in a dazed voice as his slowly comes to consciousness and stares around the room.
"We must had made a crash landing," Blitz elucidated as he helped his friend up. Butterscotch got to his hooves and when the friends looked around at the room closely, they noticed that their friends' motionless bodies were strewn about the floor. They both helped each one to their hooves as fast as their soar joints could move them. Everypony looked around the massacred room and followed Rainbow Blitz to the door after they all gained their strength. Rainbow Blitz rapped on the broken door of the Tardis, but it wouldn't open to his touch. He stood back, "AJ, think you and I could bust open the door?"
"Let's try it sugarcube," AJ said in a patronizing voice, already stretching out his legs for the job. Blitz stretch out his wings to full length and assumed a fighting stance, awaiting the blow-back from the door. AJ assumed his stance next to Rainbow Blitz and gritted his teeth. "Ya ready partner?"
"Just hope you can keep up workhorse. On the count of 'three.'" Blitz and AJ count down, as soon as they said, "THREE!" they bolted for the door. First hit gave them soar shoulders, but the door didn't budge. They tried again, the door cracked outwards a bit, effecting smiles between all the friends. The third try sent the door shattering outwards, and AJ and Blitz onto the dusty ground outside, in a heap. The rest of the colts were blinded by the sudden sunlight, a great opposition to the dark Tardis, and they all stumbled out on top of AJ and Rainbow Blitz. Through a clutter of hooves, manes, tails, and a chorus of, "Get your hoof out of my face...move your tail...OUCH!"
All the friends managed to get their ground and untwist themselves. They started brushing each other off. "Hey, look guys, we're back home!" All the friends looked around in delight as they noticed they were in Ponyville, back behind Sugar Cube Corner.
"Then how did we take such as spill?" Elusive interjected, referring to the battered and smoking Tardis that now laid behind them.
"I don't know. See Blitz, that time and rational dimen..." Dusk Shine stutters with trying to remember what Rainbow Blitz had explained the Tardis was, "...you know. That contraption of yours doesn't work, we're back home." Butterscotch noticed a bird sitting in a nearby tree, tuning the argument out, he whistled a tune and the bird fluttered over to him. The bird landed on Butterscotch's shoulder, then it quickly fluttered off when it noticed who he was. Butterscotch laid down in distress and both Dusk Shine and Rainbow Blitz stopped arguing, changing there attention to Butterscotch.
"What's the matter Butterscotch?" asked Blitz as he patted him on the shoulder.
"I...don't...know...that bird got scared as if it didn't know me..." his hushed tone fades as he lowers his head.
"See! Now you even got Butterscotch paranoid!" Dusk Shine exclaimed. Butterscotch slinks away from both of them and walks to Elusive's side.
"Paranoid? It's a fact that we're in another dimension, considering that the camera's gone," Blitz said calmly to Dusk Shine, he then gestures to where the camera had stood, but there were no tripod marks in the dust. Dusk Shine hesitates with his answer, then Bubble Berry intervenes.
"Let's take this up with Ms. Cup Cake, she'll set this straight!" he bounces up to the street corner and around to the front door of Sugar Cube Corner, the others rush after him. He bounds in and across the threshold to the counter where Ms. Cup Cake is putting out some treats in the display cabinets. "Ms. Cup Cake, Ms. Cup Cake! I'm back!"
She stares at Bubble Berry with a confused smile as the other colts walk through the door. "Well, hello?...I'm sorry, but do I know you?" Ms. Cup Cake asks finishing up with the pastries and sitting down behind the counter, staring at Bubble Berry. She glances over all the colts, "you all look very familiar..." Rainbow Blitz walks up behind Bubble Berry and pats him on the back. Bubble Berry hangs his head and lowers his ears and tail, walking back to his friends.
Blitz looks back at Ms. Cup Cake, "you really don't know us?"
Ms. Cup Cake shakes her head, "you must be new here, Pinkie will be pleased," she smiles and prances off to the kitchen. Midway to her destination, in front of the staircase, she stops and calls gently, "Pinkie? Come down here and help me with these muffins." She then resumes her course and walks to the back kitchen. The friends all look at each other and then Blitz gestures to a table in the corner and they all go sit down around it.
"How does she not remember me?" Bubble Berry exclaims as he starts to whimper, but luckily AJ decides to cheer him up.
"She probably is gonna throw ya a surprise party, o'something," he grins at Bubble Berry who starts to perk up at the thought. The friends start debating the situation of time travel, considering that the place is cleaned up as if the princes had left some time ago. Then, the friends hear some audible bouncing from upstairs, then a door opens and the bouncing travels down the steps.
Pinkie Pie bounds off the last step and walks over to the counter, "Which ones are for Derpy Ms. Cup Cake?"
"The ones in your saddle bags Pinkie," Ms. Cup Cake replies from the kitchen. Pinkie reaches for them, but through the display glass she notices a pink tail. She gets curious and walks around the counter to see what's up. She starts to approach the table where the colts are discussing their troubling matter. She believes she recognizes them, "hi Twilight!" Dusk Shine turns around and smiles at her. She looks back at him puzzled and then looks at Bubble Berry. She gasps and jumps over the table at Bubble Berry, all the colts lean back as she topples Bubble to the ground. They roll over a couple of times and Pinkie ends up on top of Bubble Berry, and she pins him down gently, "Hiay!"
"uh, hiay Miss," Bubble Berry says a little confused. Pinkie gets off of him and then realizes that the colts aren't from Ponyville and she gasps. She jumps up and zips out the door.
"What was that all about?" asked Rainbow Blitz as he walks over to Bubble Berry and helps him to his hooves.
"I really don't know, but she was something," a dazed smile crosses his face and then he walks over to the door and looks outside.
"That mare looked awfully familiar," Elusive exclaimed. Butterscotch nods in agreement. Bubble Berry lowers his hears in disappointment and walks back to the table from the door, taking his seat beside AJ.
"It's alright partner, she'll be around," AJ pats Bubble Berry on the back. He starts to perk up.
Rainbow Blitz smacks one hoof on the table and smiles, "Bubbles, would you do exactly what that mare did if you met newcomers?"
"Yeah, I would even through them a party like I did with Dusk Shine," Bubble Berry elbows Dusk Shine in the ribs. Dusk smiles and then walks over to the counter and takes a look at Pinkie's saddle bags.
"Bubbles, isn't this your cutie mark?" Dusk Shine waves Bubble Berry over and all the colts walk over with him.
"Yeah! These look like the same ones you made me Dusk Shine," Bubble Berry sniffs them and grimaces, "but they don't smell the same."
Rainbow Blitz coughs to get everyone's attention. Everypony turns and notices that one of Blitz's saddle bags is soaked and his colors have returned to normal. "Hey, what was in your bag?" asked AJ.
Rainbow Blitz looks at his colors and then his bag, "must have been the antidote Zecuro had given me." He smiles and then states again, "if we hadn't crossed into another dimension, Dusk Shine, then why is there a mare very similar to Bubble Berry here?"
Dusk Shine sighs in defeat, "I concede to your notion, but now that you've proven your point, can we go home?" All the colts nod in agreement with Dusk Shine's plea.
"Sorry guys, I checked the Tardis before we got in Sugar Cube Corner, it's pretty beaten up and it'll need some time to repair itself."
Bubble Berry retracted his nose from Pinkie's saddle bags and looked at Blitz, "did you just say it was 'repairing' itself?"
Rainbow Blitz nodded in return, "and besides, it won't let me in unless I undergo another change into my Time Lord form," he gave Bubble Berry a convivial smile. After the shock of being stuck in such a quandary passed, Dusk Shine started making conversation over what to do in the meantime. To the colts' surprises, they heard chattering from outside.
"Pinkie, settle down sugarcube," said an unfamiliar voice, to the colts, displaying AJ's western accent.
"I told you, I told you, I really saw clones of you guys! You guys haven't cloned yourselves, right?" said the distinctive, upbeat, voice of Pinkie Pie.
"No we haven't Pinkie, but we'll indulge you and take a look."
"Oh, thank you Twilight!" There was a melancholy pause and the colts looked at each other in silent questioning. Then the door swung open by the majestic push of a blue Pegasus wing, that resembled Rainbow Blitz's own, and six young looking mares made there way into the shop. The door slowly creaked closed as both groups of friends looked at each other, the colts identifying only the fact that the new guests had striking likeness to themselves. The mares had evidently noticed the same, for they now huddled together and started conversing in inaudible speech. The colts looked at one another, and reflecting on the manners that they acquiesced from their princes, lined themselves up and bowed to the mares, bidding them welcome. The mares in return fluttered in a silent giddiness, at least that's what the colts could deduce from the sudden high pitched chatter coming from the mare's huddled bundle. Then finally, Elusive mustered up the courage to bid them good morning.
He stood up and took two paces to the center point between the two groups, "Good morrow ladies," he said in his unflinching accent, and with a fashionable smile. Then a purple mane, such as his, amongst the throng of mares caught his eye. "And who'd it be that belong to such a magnificent, velvet, mane such as my own?" he asked in a beckoning tone. Out of both reply and curiosity, a white coated unicorn walked awkwardly up to Elusive. She was obviously flattered and blushing because of his compliment, and when she stood in front of him, she sheepishly smile and moved some of her mane. Elusive was about to speak, then noticed her cutie mark which had a remarkable resemblance to his. The mare noticed he was eying her flank and sat down out of embarrassment, which effected laughter from the other mares. Elusive's look alike seemed to get infuriated by the laughter that she jumped back up to her hooves and looked him in the eyes.
"The name is Rarity, sir, and who are you?" she elucidated in a stern manner.
Elusive was taken aback by the sudden harshness, but then stated, "I'm but a tailor who mends bad soles and lovers' hearts to one another." Referencing his mental playbook of gentlecolt like responses, Elusive affectionately lifted up Rarity's hoof with his own and kissed it. She recoiled and blushed harder, then ran back into the throng of mares. Elusive, for a few seconds, stood dumbfounded in the middle of the groups, trying to get another glimpse of the beauty. With no luck he sighed and returned to his place in the line of colts where AJ, the nearest to him, patted his back in a job well done. Then, after a brief pause, a purple coated unicorn walked out to the center of the groups. Dusk Shine noticed her perfect resemblance to him, all the way down to the cutie mark, and valiantly trotted forward to greet her. She extended her hoof in the air in front of him and he put his underneath, and they did there best to shake.
In a melodic, and intelligent statement from the mare, "the name's Twilight Sparkle, what is your name stranger?"
"The name's Dusk Shine, proud pupil of Prince Solaris," he stated in a choppy, nervous, reply.
"Did you say 'prince'? We only have princesses here Dusk Shine."
"Then I believe we come from different dimensions where we're ruled by different genders, ma'am," he said politely, bowing to Twilight as to not seem pretentious.
Twilight seemed to be confused for a moment, then walked back to her group murmuring, "I have to analyze this..." She entered the mass of mares as Dusk Shine slowly released a sigh of relief and returned to his friends, shooting a look of submission at Rainbow Blitz. The next thing anypony knew, Bubble Berry and Pinkie Pie were getting a conversation going about cupcakes and Fluttershy was cautiously approaching Butterscotch with one question after another. The rest of the colts paired up with their mare counterparts, flattering them with their gentlecolt like actions; however, Rainbow Blitz was left alone where he had been standing, not ever catching a second glimpse of that majestic blue wing he'd seen earlier. He let out a sigh, then someone poked his wings from behind. Blitz turned around to come face to face with a rainbow maned Pegasus that had a striking resemblance to him.
She ruffled his mane, "If you were my clone, you'd look better."
Blitz thought of a witty comeback that he'd used on Elusive once, "would twenty percent cooler suffice?" She back pedaled two steps in astonishment, but Blitz just looked on like that was nothing.
"How did you know I said that?" she said, but her voice trailed off as she looked at her hooves, trying to hide her involuntary blushing.
"I had a hunch," Blitz notices some of her mane fall in her face, and pushes it back with his nose, "the name's Rainbow Blitz, and I have a hunch that yours it quite similar." Her face turned evermore pink and her wings stood up a little. She stepped back from him and tried to compose herself, and when she got herself back together she smiled at him.
In her cocky fashion, "The name's Rainbow Dash, the one and only."
"Well, Ms. Dash, I do believe that you've peaked my interest," he bows to her, effecting a blush from her.
It took several hours for some of the ponies to get acquainted, others took less time, but were intrigued to keep talking due to the signs of courtesy they gave each other in turn. In the end, the colts were each invited to stay with there mare counterparts, "should we accept guys?" asked Dusk Shine.
"Well, we do need a place to stay. What better accommodations then our own houses?" stated Rainbow Blitz. He then looked over at Dash, noticing that she too was in a vehement discussion with her friends, he turned back to his group.
"I would like to pick up a sowing trick or two from Rarity," said Elusive with a grin.
"We shouldn't get involved with ourselves, even if it's another dimension," Dusk Shine stated cautiously.
"Oh, come on sugarcube, I saw how you were eyeing Twilight," AJ said mockingly.
Dusk Shine intergected, "I wasn't," then he sheepishly admitted, "ok, your half right."
"Then it's settled, we're bunking with the mares tonight!" Rainbow Blitz said triumphantly. The colts gave each other hoof-bumps out of excitement, then they parted ways with there newfound company.