//------------------------------//
// The Groups begin to Gather 
// Story: My Little Pony and Power Rangers 
// by ZeldaTheSwordsman 
//------------------------------//

My Little Pony & Power Rangers (working title)
Chapter 2:  The Groups Begin to Gather

Twilight Sparkle shook herself awake and climbed out of her bed. Her young dragon assistant, Spike, was already up and awake preparing breakfast. "Good morning, Spike. Sleep okay?" she asked. "Yep. Did you?" Twilight nodded. "I have a letter to Princess Celestia I need you to send. It's next to the fruit bowl." Spike was surprised, but went and got the letter anyway. He held it carefully in his claw, took a deep breath, and blew teleporting fire at it. "What's it about, Twilight?" 

"It's about something she had me start researching. I'll tell you when she replies," the lavender unicorn assured him as she sat down at the table. "Thank you for making breakfast, Spike," she added. "No sweat," replied the dragon, picking up and biting into a piece of quartz. He really looked up to Twilight Sparkle - she had hatched him, had raised him, and took care of him. She was his mother in everything but the biological sense. Assisting her in her duties and occasionally fixing breakfast for her was the least he could do. He worried about her sometimes, like during her bout of PTSD after Discord's defeat when she had gotten a bit too obsessed with being orderly and on time. That had been rather scary, and he had been thoroughly relieved when Princess Celestia had been able to defuse things.

Spike's thoughts were soon interrupted by a familiar feeling in his stomach. He gave a burp and a scroll bearing Celestia's seal materialized. Twilight Sparkle quickly unrolled it telekinetically, eager to see her mentor's answer. "Dear Twilight Sparkle, You are quite perceptive. Yes, I had another motive for sending you that book, and for pointing you to the sections about Ponyland and Power Rangers. In Ponyland there is a nexus of doorways leading to other realms, and one of the doors connects to Equestria. A monitoring spell I placed on it a long time ago informed me yesterday that the nexus had been rediscovered by the ponies there, and that some of them planned to pass through today. The Equestrian side of the door is close to Ponyville, which will be the first town they come to. I want you and your friends to be ready to greet them and help make them feel welcome. Do be sure to tell the Mayor as well. As for having you read up on the Power Rangers, suffice to say for now that I felt it would give you better grounding for any future crises you might have to deal with. Luna and I will tell you more tomorrow evening. Until then, it's nothing you need to worry about. Let me know when the expedition from Ponyland arrives. Your loving mentor, Princess Celestia."

Spike was speechless. He knew about alternate dimensions from reading over Twilight's shoulder, but had never thought he would actually meet ponies from another world. His speech found him again as he imagined Pinkie Pie's reaction to the news and burst into a fit of giggles. Twilight Sparkle was quick to figure out what was so funny and soon began giggling herself. The two finished up their breakfast and set off to bring the news to the other Element Bearers. They bumped into Rainbow Dash first. Or rather, she bumped into them first.

"Oof! Sorry about that, guys" the cyan pegasus said as the three disentangled themselves. "Apology accepted," said Twilight Sparkle. "Mplg ksptd Rnbw Crsh" mumbled Spike, his head, stuck in the ground. Rainbow Dash gave a small chuckle and said, "I probably deserved the second part of that." The nickname Dumbbell had given her back in flight school had never stung that much to begin with, and Spike had ended up with his head buried.

"So, what were you doing just now?" Twilight Sparkle asked. "Working on my looping skills," Dash replied. "I was trying to do an inside-out one, and that's hard to master. Not the way the Sonic Rainboom is, but because of how it messes with your perception. Still haven't got the hang of it, but I'm getting better. It's annoying because it's dangerous to go fast while doing it, that's how I broke my wing the one time. Hey, where were you and Spike going?" 

"Carousel Boutique, but we were hoping to run into you as well. Princess Celestia sent me some important news that she wants me to tell you and the others. Have you ever heard of alternate dimensions?"

"Oh yeah," said Rainbow Dash. "I used to read about them when I was a filly. I read about humans and this one place called Ponyland that was kind of like Equestria only it worked like the Everfree Forest all over."

Twilight Sparkle gave an internal sigh of relief. "Well, this news is about Ponyland. There's a magical door between Ponyland and Equestria that's been inert for years, and according to Princess Celestia an expedition of ponies from Ponyland is going to pass through it today. She wants us to be ready and make sure they feel welcome."

Rainbow Dash grinned excitedly. "That is so awesome! Don't worry about a thing on my end, Twilight. I'll go get ready right now!" And with that the rainbow-maned Pegasus took off like a rocket. Twilight took a moment to smooth her mane and tail before moving on herself.

Twilight Sparkle and Spike reached Carousel Boutique without further incident. Rarity let out an excited squeal at the news. "Oh my goodness! Oh, what should I wear? I'll need a tail ribbon at the least, they do seem fond of them going by the pictures. And perhaps one in my mane as well. Don't worry, I'll be sure to see to their needs," Rarity assured her friend as she turned towards her workbench and began to slip into "the zone". Twilight managed to suppress her laughter at her fellow unicorn's antics and dragged the as-always lovestruck Spike out of the shop.

Fluttershy was their next stop. Twilight Sparkle figured that the shy pegasus would potentially need the most preparation time after Rarity. "St-strange ponies from a different world?" she asked nervously. "A wh-whole ex-ex-expedition of t-them?"

"Yes," said Twilight Sparkle. "And Princess Celestia wants us to make sure they feel welcome here. You're the kindest pony I've ever met, Fluttershy. I know you'll be able to help."

Fluttershy's posture changed. She stopped shaking. This, she knew how to handle. These strange ponies were coming hoping to find friends, and needed to be shown kindness. "Yes," Fluttershy answered in a quiet but firm voice. "I will."

If Twilight Sparkle had had any doubts that Fluttershy was up to helping they were gone now. She and Spike gave the butterscotch pegasus their thanks and proceeded to Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack, while by no means a stupid pony, had not done much extracurricular studying that didn't relate to farming and so Twilight Sparkle had to take additional time to explain the concept alternate dimensions to her. But once she understood what was going on she was absolutely fine with it, "Don't worry about a thing, sugarcube. Ah'll be sure they get a proper Ponyville welcome and help Pinkie Pie with food for the welcoming party." Twilight had extreme difficulty not laughing at this. She had yet to tell Pinkie Pie the news, but both she and Applejack knew the bubbly pink earth pony well enough to be certain that she would throw a party for their guests. Because, after all, that was what Pinkie Pie did.

The lavender unicorn and the purple dragon infant said farewell to Applejack and set off. They stopped at the mayor's office to let her know to expect the visiting ponies, and then they made their way to Sugarcube Corner. They opened the door, and saw Pinkie Pie in the throes of a Pinkie Sense doozy alert. Twilight cracked a smile at this - she should have known.

"It's alright Pinkie. I'm pretty sure I know what's causing it. There are ponies from another dimension coming to explore Equestria, and the first place they'll come to will be Ponyville. Princess Celestia has asked that we make them feel welcome here." Pinkie immediately stopped twitching, but by no means did she stop being excited. 

"Is that welcome as in welcome party?" she asked, grinning wildly. Twilight Sparkle nodded. "Exactly as in welcome party. Applejack's ready to help you with the food if you need her." Pinkie was bouncing around energetically. "Ooh, I wonder what they'll be like. Do you think any of them will be like you Twilight? Or like me? Or like Rainbow Dash? Or any of us? Do you think they have a dragon friend too?" "We'll have to wait and see. The book I read did mention that one particular group of them did have a dragon friend - he's even named Spike too - but I don't know if the ponies who will be visiting us are from that group."

Pinkie Pie gasped. "Ohmygosh! Shared names?! What if some of the ponies share names with some of us?! What  will we do?!" Twilight smiled again at this. On another day Pinkie's boundless enthusiasm might have irritated her, but she was so excited herself that she didn't mind. "Don't worry about that until and unless it happens, Pinkie. For now, just worry about getting that welcoming party ready." "Yeah," said Spike. "It'll be okay. Heck, I hope they bring their Spike with them. He sounds pretty cool. See you at the party." Their news delivered, the two returned home to make their own preparations.

At the same time as all this was going on, in Ponyland the expedition was getting ready to go. Buttons, Heart Throb, Surprise, Cuddles Jr, Moondancer II, Spike, Sundance, Sundance II, Lickety Split Jr, Ribbon, Fizzy, Moondancer, and Lofty would be heading out from Paradise Estate. Twilight, Applejack, Bowtie, Medley, Glory, Sparkler, Ember and the rest of Firefly's group would meet them at the doorway. Firefly, North Star, and Wind Whistler had already left over the Rainbow to pick up Megan and her siblings. They too would rendezvous with the others at the door.

Megan, Molly, and Danny stood by the stables with backpacks and duffel bags ready, watching the skies. Soon enough they could make out the three pegasi headed their way. Wind Whistler and North Star simply touched down and allowed Molly and Danny to climb onto their backs, but Firefly, ever the showoff, got Megan onto her back by performing her trademark double inside-out loop. "That was dangerous, Firefly," Megan chided her jokingly. Firefly grinned and said, "Like I've said to Medley more times than I can count, danger is my life. But enough about that. How have you been?"

Megan smiled. "I've been alright. It's been dull around here without your visits, but we've managed to get along. Business has been good, and school has gone well for all of us. How are things in Ponyland?" Firefly gave her another grin and said, "They've been fine. There have been a few problems like renegade dragons, but nothing we haven't been able to beat off. The barrier around the Volcano of Gloom's still holding, so Hydia hasn't made any trouble for us." Firefly just then took notice of the rifle strapped to Megan's back, and the magic sword (a souvenir from a battle with a band of raiders) at her waist. "Still going armed, huh?"

"Yes," said Megan. "I know things have been quiet for a while but there's always a chance. And since we've got no solid ideas what this new world is gonna be like and what dangers it holds, better safe than sorry." Firefly nodded. "Good idea. We're not going in totally blind, though. I was able to get some info from the Moochik, though he couldn't remember all he knew and Habbit's on vacation. Apparently it's called Equestria and ruled over by two Alicorn sisters as big as horses. He says they sometimes visit Ponyland for news, but neither of them have stopped by since the month after Lavan's attack."

"Does that mean they might have heard about us?" Molly asked. Firefly smiled and gave her a nod. "Probably. Don't worry about it, kid. If anything they'd probably love to meet you!"

"Remember to hold on tight everyone," Wind Whistler put in. "We are about to cross the rainbow." Sure enough, the interdimensional rainbow linking Earth to Ponyland was dead ahead. They flew over it as only pegasi could, crossing over into the land Megan, Molly, and Danny had come to think of as a second home. They flew over forests and valleys, not stopping until they reached the troupe of ponies gathered at the gate nexus. The three siblings dismounted and began greeting and hugging all their old friends, who nuzzled them in return.

"I've missed you so very much," Sundance told Megan, licking her affectionately. "It's been far too long since your last visit. The last time it was super-long you had to accompany Molly to the Peace Conference." That took Megan back. During the early 1990s several member and prospective member nations of the U.N. had gotten frustrated with the lack of progress in international politics. In a highly unorthodox maneuver, they had decided to see if much younger heads could find solutions and decided to hold a teen peace conference, with six exceptional high school students from each participating nation being selected as ambassadors. The USA had chosen its ambassadors in groups of three from two different schools, Theresa Oliver-Smith High School in Ohio where Molly had gone and Angel Grove High in California. Molly had been one of those chosen to go, and Megan had gone along as part of her entourage. After the original conference had ended (on a high note, too) most of the teens chose to continue their diplomatic careers, Molly among them. As such opportunities to visit Ponyland had been thin on the ground for the years she'd been active, although their pegasus and Flutter Pony friends had been able to journey over the Rainbow to visit them discreetly.

And speaking of the Flutter Ponies, at that moment the sound of familiar wing-beats caused everyone to look up. Flying towards them were Queen Rosedust, Lily, and Hollywood. "Oh good," said Skydancer. "You made it in time to see us off." 

"Yes," replied Rosedust. "But that is not my only purpose for being here. I ask that you take Lily and young Hollywood with you, Dame Megan." Megan blushed a little at the use of her formal title, the one Majesty had given her upon returning to Ponyland. "For all that you have done and continue to do for my Little Ponies," the blue-maned unicorn had told her, "You deserve this honor at the very least." And touching her horn to Megan's left breast, the queen of Ponyland proclaimed: "I dub thee Dame Megan of Paradise Estate, Keeper of the Rainbow of Light and Protector of the Realm." Megan glanced at everyone else, who nodded in approval, before replying, "We'd be glad to have them along. You know what they say, the more the merrier." "Thank you, Dame Megan. Have a safe journey."

Wind Whistler spoke next. "Well, with that settled we had best be on our way." She trotted over to the gate and touched her hooves to the marked opening plates. The gate swung open and the group filed through into a tunnel that felt solid enough but looked like an empty black void. This was evidently a side-effect of the gateway's magic, as they could still see just fine after Buttons shut the gate behind them. There was a matching gate on the other end of the tunnel. Ember opened it this time, and the mixed group of humans and Little Ponies stepped out into the land of Equestria.

Meanwhile, in a cheap motel room in Angel Grove, Tommy Oliver woke up with a groan. He managed, slowly but surely, to drag himself out of bed and stagger to the sink to splash cold water in his face. "Well, serves me right for sleeping like that," he said to himself. He brushed his teeth, and then sniffed has armpit experimentally. "Okay, shower and clean clothes definitely." Tommy was a fast showerer, so he was out and dried off five minutes later. He pulled on clean underwear and selected a green T-shirt, black slacks, and white socks with red stripes from his duffel, then slipped on his jacket and headed down to the breakfast buffet, such as it was. As Tommy munched on his toast he let his gaze wander around the room, looking for anything interesting. There was a poster of Angel Grove's Ranger teams through the years. But what caught his eye was a poster with Angel Grove High's logo on it. The poster advertised a reunion party for the Teen Ambassadors, scheduled for a few days from now. That ought to be fun, mused Tommy. It'll be great to see Jason, Zack, and Trini again. I wonder if Billy's going to come visit us for this, for old times' sake. Which reminds me, enough dawdling. Best to get this over with now.

He gulped the last of his juice, cleared his dishes, and left, exchanging "Hellos" with a Triforian tourist on his way out. (Ever since the fall of the United Alliance of Evil, a flow of alien tourist traffic and immigrants had been slowly trickling onto Earth. Angel Grove had the most present, being the location of Earth's first interplanetary spaceport, but there were plenty all over the world by now). He briefly considered taking his car to the Youth Center, but decided he'd rather walk. He knew his way around the city, even if some things had changed. And to his great delight, when he got to the Youth Center, one of the changes was quite pleasant. Ernie had bought back the cafe that had been run by Adelle since 1998, and had had the pool moved to an extension shed. Tommy stopped outside the familiar doors, and took a deep breath. This is it. He pushed the doors open and stepped inside.

There, seated at the bar, was someone he hadn't seen in a long time. She wore a pink top and blue jeans shorts, and a pink headband in her brown hair. She was nursing a strawberry smoothie in a pink glass. Seeing hir stirred up a mix of conflicting emotions within him. Mostly happiness at seeing an old friend, but there was also longing, sorrow, anger... hope. Then, late to the party, caution. It could be a trap.

"Tommy!" shouted Kimberly happily when she saw him. "You came! I have so much to tell you; so much to apologize for now that I finally can. Have a seat and a smoothie, this is going to take a while." Part of Tommy wanted so much to run straight to her, but he had to be sure. "How do I know this isn't a setup?" he asked. "Where'd we leave you-know-what afterwards that time two nights before Turbanshell attacked?" Kim smiled. "With our aquatically-inclined friend." Okay, that proves it, thought Tommy. It's her alright.

Tommy sat down anxiously on the stool next to her and motioned Ernie over. "Hey Tommy! Long time no see. What'll it be today?" Tommy thought about and said, "Kiwi smoothie, please," laying the money on the counter. "Kiwi it is," said Ernie as he put the money in the register, grabbed a green cup from one of the stacks, and turned to the machine. He filled the cup with practiced ease and handed it to Tommy, before politely stepping away to the other register. "So..." said Tommy flatly. "What did you want to tell me? And why now? After the letter..."

Kimberly began her tale. "It's about the letter, actually. I am so totally sorry for that," she said. "It's not true at all. I knew it would hurt you but I didn't have a choice. The team I was on got recruited by the DEA to help with a big drug bust and everyone had to cut off outside ties. They were really strict on the security for the whole affair. I had to bury my communicator to keep it from being found, they were so paranoid. Not that I blame them, one leaked word could have gotten us all killed. The DEA people monitored all our calls and boy were they freaked out after the Muranthias incident. It's only now that we're finally allowed to come clean to our families and friends about it. Stupid court proceedings, stupid lengthy celebrity trials making it take even longer... I wanted to smack them so hard." She filled him on on the details of it all, and of her personal life and career after the whole affair. "And through all that, I've never stopped loving you, Tommy. Not after all the crap we went through together fighting Rita and Zedd. And I want to patch things back together now that I've got the chance. At least as your friend, and as your girlfriend if you'll have me. And before you ask, I'm not mad at Kat for hooking up with you afterwards. I want to thank her for that, actually. Who knows what kind of stupid stunt you might have pulled if she hadn't been there."

Tommy, who had indeed never really set down the torch he'd carried for Kimberly, took a while to think it over. "I'd be glad to. I've lost so much over the years. I'm glad to get something back for a change, and I've hoped for this for a long time." To get closure on this one way or the other. I'm glad it just happened to be this way. It's like a fairy-tale - one of the less widely told ones where they finally get together for good after years of trials and separation. He still had mixed feelings, but he did want her back. And what kind of Ranger would he be if he didn't meet this challenge that life had dealt him? "I've heard just jumping back to to how things were doesn't work, but we've faced worse challenges."

And with those words said between the two of them, they embraced for the first time in years and kissed fondly. Then they sat back down. "Well," said Tommy, "Now it's my turn to fill you in on everything from my end." 

He began with the campaign Master Vile had launched shortly after Kat had succeeded Kimberly, towards the end of which the Rangers had been turned into children, the Aquitian Rangers temping for them, the Zeo era and the war with the Machine Empire - including his more embarrassing moments ("You got kidnapped and brainwashed again? I am, like, so not letting you out of my sight anymore. You need adult supervision." "You don't know the half of it yet."). Then the Turbo era, his brief racing career interrupted for a secret mission off Earth ("Zack swapped out with Adam on that one for a bit, it was good to see him again."), followed by his accelerated college study and scientific exploits ("Let me guess, the Tyrannodrones were supposed to be so that the Rangers would have an army of their own?" "Yeah, basically. Didn't quite work out that way." "No kidding. Did you think that through at all? Didn't you ever watch Jurassic Park?" "Hey!") and his most recent stint as a Ranger. "After all that, teaching highschool kids has been nice and relaxing," he finished. Kimberly nodded. Fierce though competing in the Pan-Global games had been it was soothing compared to her Power Ranger career. "Although," Tommy added, "It's kind of annoying and kind of creepy at the same time to have so many of the female students hitting on me."

At that, Kimberly nearly choked on her smoothie. "Oh, that does it. I am so coming back with you. I'll get them to knock it off." There was silence after that, and then the two burst out laughing. Laughing together once more, as they had done so many years ago at this very juice bar. Afterwards they sat in silence again. "So, uh.. Kim," Tommy began. "Have you been getting this weird feeling that something big's coming." She nodded. "Totally. Not as big as the whole Dark Spectre thing, but still dangerous."

Back in Equestria, the Ponyland expedition was making its way down the winding path from the gate. They were in no great hurry. There was no world-menacing threat, no deadline past which things couldn't be put right. No kidnapping slavers and would-be conquerors to fend off or kill. They had time to enjoy the scenery. However, they eventually came to a point where that scenery made it hard to see very far ahead.

"I'm gonna fly up and take a look around," Firefly announced, spreading her wings. "Hollywood, come on up with me. You could use the experience." The young Flutter Pony followed the brash pegasus into the air above the treetops. Wow. This place is really pretty. They touched back down. "Alright, from what I could see the path we're on is a road leading to a small town full of ponies. They're pretty well developed too, I spotted a train station and a hydroelectric dam. That's a good sign."

"Why's that?" asked Danny. "Well, Ponyland's been pretty dangerous on and off for a long time so we've had to use concealed geothermal plants and magical powerstones for electricity, and the rail system's growth has been slow. If they've got more of a rail system going as well as dams in place it means things have been mostly peaceful here for the past few decades at least," Sundance answered to Wind Whistler's mild annoyance (the powder-blue Pegasus liked to be the one to explain things). Megan relaxed, feeling relief at the knowledge that she likely wouldn't need the rifle slung across her back.

"Well everyone," she asked, "Do we keep up our present pace or speed it up a bit and get to town faster?" The general consensus was to speed up. The humans (along with Spike) mounted up once more, since it would be faster that way. Megan and Molly climbed onto Sundance and Sundance II respectively, while Danny swung himself over Fizzy's back and Spike rode on Lickety Split Jr. "Let's go," said the young dragon. And they did, speeding up to a brisk trot. After a couple of hours the town hove into view. They could see a sign that said, "Welcome to Ponyville, pop. 406 give or take." There was a lavender unicorn with a mane styled in a semi-professional manner standing by the sign keeping a lookout of some sort. Her flank symbol was a pink six-pointed star with smaller stars surrounding it. She stopped looking around when she caught sight of the group and trotted over. "Hello," she said. "My name is Twilight Sparkle. Welcome to Ponyville, Equestria. You're from Ponyland, right?"

This caught the expedition somewhat off-guard. "Yes," said Wind Whistler, who recovered first. "We are expected, then?" Twilight Sparkle nodded. "Princess Celestia put a monitoring spell on the gate and she heard you plan the journey. She told me and my friends to make sure you felt welcome here. Are you Wind Whistler?" The pegasus nodded. "A pleasure. And it's good to know that we're welcome here." Twilight Sparkle turned to Megan. "And you're the famous Megan, right? It's an honor to meet you," she said, bowing for a moment. "Would you be so kind as to follow me? My friends and I have a party set up for you at my apartment in the library." She led them to a building located within a large hollowed-out tree. Hollywood, Megan, Molly, and Danny tried to ignore the stares they got from the ponies going about their daily business, though they did wave hello to a few as they passed.

Once inside the building Twilight Sparkle led them up the stairs to the second floor where, as promised, there was most definitely a party waiting. There were five other ponies there as well: A pink Earth Pony with curly pink hair, blue eyes, and three balloons on either flank, a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane, reddish-purple eyes, and a cloud shooting out a rainbow-coloured lightning bolt for her symbol, a pink-maned pegasus with blue-green eyes and a butterscotch coat whose symbol was a group of three butterflies, a bluish-white unicorn with a purple mane and three blue diamonds that matched her eyes for a symbol, and an orange earth pony in a cowboy hat who apart from having three apples on her flank rather than six was Applejack's double.

Twilight Sparkle spoke up again. "Everyone, meet my friends. Pinkie Pie" - she indicated the pink Earth Pony - "Rainbow Dash" - the blue pegasus - "Fluttershy" - the butterscotch pegasus - "Rarity" - the white unicorn - "and Applejack." "Howdy," said the orange Earth Pony.

Ember looked from her back to the Applejack she knew, whose jaw was hanging open in surprise. It wasn't unheard of for ponies to share names - there was a pegasus in Ponyland who was also named Twilight - but it wasn't common, and tended to cause confusion. The other Applejack looked across at her doppelganger, realization dawning. "Hoo boy..." she said. "Lemme guess, yer called Applejack too aren't ya?" The Applejack from Ponyland nodded. "Yeah. I tend an apple orchard. I'm guessing by your mark that you do too?" "Shore do. Sweet Apple Acres, home o' the finest apples in all Equestria.

"Well, time's a wasting. Why don't y'all setcher stuff down and introduce yerselves?" That was just fine as far as the visiting ponies were concerned. They shucked their saddlebags and began saying hello. Megan, Molly, and Danny slipped their backpacks off, and Megan unslung her rifle and sword, then set them atop a bookcase. "Um, hello," said a soft voice next to her. Megan turned and saw Fluttershy standing by her side. "My name's Fluttershy. What's yours?" "Megan. It's nice to meet you, Fluttershy."

"It's nice to meet you too," Fluttershy replied, nuzzling Megan, who hugged her in return. Fluttershy then moved on to greet the others. The two Spikes had hit it up quite well, and were comparing such things as how fine they could make their fire breath. The Ponyland Spike was older, so he was able to provide pointers. Pinkie Pie and Surprise trotted over to each other, exchanged names, and reached to shake hooves... BZZZT! They fell back simultaneously. Each looked at the other's hoof, seeing the joy buzzer. Then they burst out laughing. Twilight Sparkle and Wind Whistler smiled and shook their heads, catching one another's eye in the process. "Greetings," said Wind Whistler. "I am Wind Whistler. Would I be correct in assuming based on your chosen residence that you are a pony of scholarly inclination?" The lavender unicorn nodded. "You would. Would you like to take a look at some of the books I've got?" "I would enjoy that very much," Wind Whistler replied. "Thank you, Twilight Sparkle."

As Wind Whistler ambled off to check out the shelves, Twilight Sparkle's attention was drawn to Hollywood. "Hello," she said. "Hello yourself," replied the smaller pony. "My name's Hollywood. And don't you forget it! This is a nice place you've got here, you know." "Thank you, Hollywood." At that moment they were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Miss Sparkle?" came an inquiring young voice. "Open up, Twi!" said a slightly older voice with a bit of a twang to it. "It's the Cake twins and the Cutie Mark Crusaders," said Twilight Sparkle in surprise. "Just a minute!" she called down. She teleported to the door and opened it. "Hi all of you. What can I do for you?" It was Sweetie Belle who answered. "We heard you were hosting a party for some ponies visiting from far away, and we wanted to say hello! Can we? Pleeeeeeease?"

"Of course you can," Twilight Sparkle told them. "Come on in." She lead the five foals up the stairs and introduced them all. Pound and Pumpkin Cake were only barely toddlers, so there was a fair bit of gushing. They didn't quite know what to make of Megan, until she slowly bent down, picked up Pumpkin Cake, and cradled the little unicorn in her arms. "Megan nice!" said Pumpkin. Danny intervened before Pound Cake could get jealous and began burping the alphabet, eliciting happy giggles from the young pegasus.

Apple Bloom looked at Hollywood appraisingly. "Uh, Ah don't wanna be rude, but what kinda pony are ya? Yer not too much bigger'n Ah am, but everyone's actin' like you're an adult. And ah ain't seen a pony with that kinda wings. They're kinda butterfly-shaped, but they're clear like glass."

Hollywood grinned. "I'm a Flutter Pony. We're smaller than most other kinds of ponies, but we have really powerful magic in our wings."

Twilight Sparkle took advantage of the attention the foals were drawing to take her Spike aside and have him send a note to Princess Celestia telling her that the guests had arrived. A few moments later, there was a flash as Princess Celestia and Princess Luna both teleported in. "Prithee pardon our intrusion," said Luna. "I am Luna, princess of the night." "And I am Celestia, princess of the day. We co-rule Equestria." The white alicorn looked around the room. "It's a pleasure to meet you all. May I have the pleasure of knowing your names?" she asked. The visiting ponies and their human friends all introduced themselves. Megan was a little nervous. She wasn't sure how the two goddess-horses would take her involvement with the little ponies.

But she needn't have worried a bit. Princess Celestia walked up to her, smiling warmly. She put her neck around Megan's and wrapped the human in her wings. "You have nothing to fear, young one. Neither my sister nor I resent that you are the leader for these ponies. We know that you have earned that through your honor and bravery. You have risked your life time and time again for those in need. You have been a second mother when needed and a very good friend to all. You will always be welcome here. I am proud to have met you, Megan." Megan felt a familiar warm fuzzy feeling spread through her body. Celestia smiled again. "Now Megan, would you care to recount your adventures for us?" "I'd love to," she replied. "It all started over twenty years ago. It was a dark and stormy night. Firefly had crossed over to my world looking for help. She hit the weathervane of my house and landed in the well. I hoisted her out and was surprised by what I saw. A talking pony. A flying, talking pony. And she thought that I, a mere human, could help her. I doubted it at first, but she never doubted me..."

AN: Well, that's it for that chapter. Next chapter Ponies will meet Rangers. Sorry for the delay.