CUiE Ch.3: Ponyville, Sorcery, and a puny dragon

>This situation is frankly making YOU, of all people, uncomfortable
>You clear your throat
“O-oh, excuse me.” Fluttershy sniffles a little before turning her attention back to you with a slight smile on her face. “Maybe my friend, Twilight Sparkle, can help. She knows all sorts of things.”
>Twilight…Sparkle?
>Sounds mage-y, very mage-y
>You dislike mages
>Greatly
>But this…Twilight Sparkle maybe be able to help you get back to Lordran
>You motion towards the main doorway of the home to let Fluttershy know of your desire to leave now
“You want to leave now? But aren’t you hungry? I could make another bowl--”
>You cut her off by motioning back towards the door a bit more forcefully this time
“Al-Alright, we’ll leave now. Give me a second please.”
>You roll your eyes, not that she could see it
“Angel,  come here please.” she calls out
>You watch a white rabbit trot past you like you weren’t even there
“Angel, I’m going into to town to talk to Twilight about my new…um, friend here, and I need you to watch the house, ok?”
>The rabbit stares up at you, its face one of complete contempt. Hollows and demons alike have never glared at you as hard as this rabbit is
>Maybe it IS a demon
>Note to self: Slay small rabbit demon at earliest opportunity

>Fluttershy leads you from her small cottage and quietly trots in front of you as the two of you make your way down a simple dirt road
You constantly look around at the beautiful landscape before you
>It’s so very…colorful with its azure sky and viridian grasslands and hearty trees
>Overbearingly so
>You absentmindedly paw at the hole in your armor while you view glance around
>You’d have to patch that eventually
>The moment you find a bonfire and have a moment to…
>Wait a second
>What if…what if there were no bonfires here?
>That could be problematic
>Hell, what if this wasn’t some distance part of Lordran at all? What if this was all just some illusionary world crafted by the unseen mage?
>You were starting to panic just slightly
“We’ll be in Ponyville soon enough.” the winged horse in front of you chimes in.
>Fluttershy’s voice snaps you from your worrying thoughts
>Ponyville? That MUST be a joke name, right? It has to be…

>It’s not. It really is nothing but ponies of varying bright colors wandering around. Some working stalls, others tending to gardens, and some tending to their homes.
>Not one single human is in sight
>If this is the unseen mage’s idea of a joke your TRULY don’t get it
>At all
>As you feel a headache starting to come on Fluttershy pipes up again
“There’s Twilight’s house up ahead. I’m sure she’ll be able to help out with this whole situation.”
>You see your equine companion looking towards a rather large tree
>Naturally a mage would live in a tree
>Fluttershy gently rapped on the door of the tree-home
>The door swung open a moment later and there was a small reptile standing there
>You know a dragon when you see one but this was…pathetic
>Though better small and worthless than another Seath the Scaleless you think to yourself
>You stare down at him
>It stares up at you
>Dead silence for a full minute
>It slowly takes a step back and quietly closes the door
 “Twilight, I think it’s for you.”

>A moment or two later the door reopens and you see a purple-tinged horse standing there
“Well, who was it…Spike…?”
>Joy unbounded, another staring contest
>And again, utter silence
“Um, hello, Twilight.” Fluttershy waves at the violet-eyed horse.
>Twilight never breaks eye contact with your helmeted face as she turns to speak to her friend
“Hi…Fluttershy. Uh…who, or what, is this?”
“Well, I’m not really sure. I found him in the Everfree Forest. He was hurt so I had to help him.”
>Twilight nods in understanding as Fluttershy gives her the story
“Ok, that explains some things. But not nearly everything. So…uh, you, what’s your name? Where are you from exactly?” Twilight begins to lob questions at you
>These horse where so hung up on names
>Why did they care? No one else did…
>You inwardly sigh
>NOT speaking was proving to be a problem. You weren’t even sure you could speak after forgoing it for so long, but short simple answers should suffice for these creatures
“Anonymous.”
>You surprised by the sound of your own voice. It’s so low and gravelly, and muffed by your helm
>Fluttershy also looks surprised it seems she didn’t quite believe you beforehand when the speaking question came up.
“And you’re from…?” Twilight continues to probe with questions
“Lordran.”
>Lordran… You can honestly say you miss it. Hollows, demons, and devils all.

“I have never heard of, what was it? Lordran?” Twilight pursed her lips as she brought a hoof to her chin.
“Maybe there’s something in my library. Please, come in.”
>The purple-ish horse waves you inside her treehouse/library
>You actually have to duck down in order to clear the doorway
>You survey the hollowed out tree and find it to be a fair deal larger than Fluttershy’s home. Though it’s roughly equal in terms of furniture. But every available inch of wall space seemed dedicated to rows and rows of books
>It was no Duke’s Achieve but impressive for a horse
“Now, let’s see here.” Twilight began to eye her tome collection before the horn that adorned her forehead began to glow with a magical aura
>SORCERY
>You stealthily reach for your sword and began to unsheathe the blade slowly
“Spike, can you help me find Ends of Equestria: Lost Lands and other Legendary Locales vol. 1?” the sorcerer-horse calls out to its assistant.
“Sure thing Twi--” Spike, the puny dragon, said eagerly as he came down from the second floor.
>He froze when he saw you with sword in hand and where it was pointing currently
>Fluttershy was whimpering and shivering behind a nearby potted plant
“What in the world is wrong with you two?” Twilight asked, turning to face you as she did so
>You could hear her breath hitch in her throat as she came to see your sword leveled at her right eye, just inches apart

“You.” You say simply but threateningly.
“M-M-Me?” Twilight Sparkle stammers out a response.
“Brought me here with…sorcery.”
>Twilight’s eyes are locked on the sword tip right in front of her
“N-No, I didn’t. A-All unicorns can use magic. I‘m not the only one… And I certainly don’t remember cas-casting a teleportation spell recently that went haywire.”
>She seems to be telling the truth. A sword pointed at ones head tends to bring about honesty in people
>Or she could be playing dumb very well and doesn’t want to own up to her mistake
>But…you can’t help but believe her. It’s a worrying feeling, to trust this easily
>You return Astora’s Straight Sword to its sheath and the whole room lets loose with a collective sigh of relief
“N-Now if all if you would help me, we can try and figure this out.” Twilight states to the room.
>You and the rest nod and begin to search for the book she wants
>You distance yourself from the two talking horses and the least intimidating dragon ever to look on your own.

>Left alone with your thoughts again as you scour the shelves
>Why did you believe that…unicorn? Or whatever she was. She simply told you the ‘truth’ and you believed it. That…just didn’t add up to you.
>She must have some ulterior motive in mind. She’ll want SOMETHING in some capacity for her efforts. They all ways do…
“I found it, Twilight.” Fluttershy’s soft voice came from overhead and brings you back to the task at hand.
“That’s great, Fluttershy. Lemme see it.” Twilight’s horn began to glow again and the book  magically levitated through the air to her location on the first floor.
>You hoped this would be the key to get back
>You lean against a nearby wall and rest slightly as the trio gloss over the book
“Lordran, Lordran…” Twilight repeats to herself as she thumbs through the tome
>How she did that with no actual thumbs you could only guess
“I’m not seeing any Lordran anywhere in here. Not past the Griffon Kingdom, not in the Dragon’s Valley, just nowhere!” Twilight huffed and closed the book. “Just HOW did you get in the Everfree Forest?”
“Blacked out. In the Kiln. Woke up here.” You answer simply.
>Twilight seemed to be getting edgy over the fact she couldn’t figure this out
>But she visibly clamed when an idea seemed to pass in her mind
“Then maybe… But, no, that’s not…possible. At least it shouldn’t be.”
>You didn’t like where this was going

“Maybe the reason Lordran doesn’t appear in the book is because it doesn’t exist here. That means…you’re from another world entirely!” Twilight gushed excitedly as she pointed a hoof at you
>Another world? The thought had crossed your mind. After all, Lordran had its own bizarre occurrences, though that to do more with time than this world-hopping business
“Than send me back. Now.” You weren’t asking.
“I, uh, I can give it a try I guess. Come over here please, Anonymous.” Twilight waved you over to stand before her.
>She starts to focus and her horn lights up again and starts to throw off sparks of magic
>You feel light again, maybe this’ll just be a minor hiccup in your life
>The light around Twilight’s horn grows and pulsates
>Yes, this’ll be a memory and nothing more soon enough
>Twilight is visibly straining know with teeth clenched and sweat running down her face
>The magical light in the room is getting to be blinding
>A low rumble could be heard building in the air
>And all at once the sorcery in Twilight’s horn and building around you explodes in a terrific flash
>Fluttershy yelps, Spike takes cover and Twilight yells loudly as the arcane light envelops everything
>Several heartbeats pass before the light dissipates and you finally see…
>You’re right where you were before, although the black singed ring around your feet is new
>You growl in annoyance
>This was such a long day