Shots in the Dark
“Luna…” I repeated. The word tumbled out of my mouth, causing fresh goosebumps to rise up across my skin.
“We should go help,” said Apple Bloom, eyes still wide from Doug’s yell but no longer clouded as they’d been when the shout had entered the tent. “If one of the Princesses is here, she’s gotta know a way to find everypony.”
“I don’t know,” Sweetie mumbled, her gaze drifting over to the tent’s exit. “Mr. Doug knew how to deal with the animals out there, but we…”
She trailed off as her focus went down to the scratch on her arm. Tears welled up in her eyes, and Apple Bloom pulled Sweetie into another hug. A silence fell upon the inside of the tent for a moment, broken only by Angel’s and my breaths. At least, until a snore from the Crusaders’ sleeping area echoed through the air.
A sudden frigid chill brushed against my swelling cheek and made me jump slightly. Twisting towards its source, I was met with Pinkie holding up an ice pack where my face had been. In the dark, her eyes were like dimly lit sapphires, moonlight scintillating off them like mirrors . She shuffled over to me and held out the pack.
“Dougie and Fluttershy can tell us what they found when they come back,” she said as I took the pack from her. Turning, she reached over to where I’d left the rubbing alcohol, grabbed the rest of the first aid kit, and prepared a cotton ball to swath wounds. “Getting you patched up back to tip-top shape comes first.”
I placed my hand on hers to keep it from touching any of my cuts. “Get Sweetie first. It’ll take a bit longer with me anyway.”
“Uh…” Sweetie murmured, brandishing a fully bandaged arm.
Before I could ask when or how Sweetie got aid, I gasped as Pinkie dabbed the cotton ball over the first of many, many cuts with a smile.
~~~
Carefully sliding a jacket over my freshly mended arms, I walked back into the main area of the tent. In spite of the cold, Angel was huddled alone in a corner, arms crossed and eyes staring at the ground. Sweetie and Apple Bloom were no longer hugging. They’d stopped that around the time Pinkie had put the fifth smiley face bandage on me. The process had worn on them as much as it had on me, and the way Sweetie’s head was now swaying showed she wasn’t going to be functioning for much longer. The tension in Apple Bloom’s face, her furrowed brow over baggy eyes, and her taut mouth highlighted her exhaustion as well.
Pinkie sat near the center of the tent, rhythmically tapping her thighs and humming a song, hair bouncing along to the beat.
Unceremoniously collapsing down between her and Apple Bloom, I looked over all of them, noting that Sweetie’s eyes were now closed. Resting a hand over my cast, I stared at it and took a deep breath, punctuated by a few rustles from outside.
“I think we should wait,” I sighed.
Apple Bloom’s eyes widened for a brief moment, showing off how red they were. “You want to keep the Princess waiting?”
“School can wait,” Sweetie mumbled, eyes still closed and head bowed.
“I’d go to check myself,” I explained, “but with the animals out there, there’s no way I’m leaving y’all alone. Even if it wasn’t a zoo outside, we’d still have to carry Scootaloo and Sweetie.”
“Iba…” Sweetie slurred before letting out an un-lady-like snore.
“Ooh!” Pinkie exclaimed, waving an arm through the air like student. “That gives us time to get everything ready for when Fluttershy and the Captain get back!”
“I think finding the girls asleep, and us just waiting will be fine,” I sighed.
Apple Bloom crossed her arms and gave a pout. “I’m not going to sleep until they’re back.”
“Okay, well, let’s at least get Sweetie to b—”
A roar of wings flapping, legs scurrying, twigs snapping, and branches bending silenced me. Rushing to my feet, I got between everyone else and the exit, my hand snapping up a nearby suitcase for a weapon. The sounds of the forest continued for a few more tense seconds with none of us saying a word. Yet, as time passed, the explosion of noise faded away, the various howls and calls dimming until even the bushes outside ceased rustling.
The quiet made my heart strum even faster. Had the animals all converged on the tent? Was the tiny bit of the tent’s fabric the only thing shielding me from another assault of claws and fangs? Would the girls be able to get out on time if the beasts fell upon us?
“Hello?” came Doug’s voice from outside.
“Oh, thank god,” I heaved. The suitcase fell out of my grasp and bounced against the ground. Arm now feeling incredibly heavy, I lifted it up and pulled down the zipper of the tent. Shambling forward, I stuck my head out first. “Doug, Jesus, what the hell ha—”
Doug stood a few feet away from the tent, his wide eyes contrasting deeply against the forest’s shadows and the clouded moon. Standing next to him was a young man with hair that meshed into the night and a slender woman with auburn hair. The third unfamiliar person drew my eye because of the shock of magenta in front of her face reflected the moonlight. The rest of the girl’s hair had a purple coloration that reminded me all-too-much of Scootaloo’s original color. Finally, I came upon the fourth new addition: a small child with a shaved head, which made it difficult to tell their gender, that rested in the arms of the unknown woman.
But before I could ask just what was going on, Fluttershy rushed over, gently clasping my good arm and pulling up my jacket’s sleeve, revealing the abundance of childish bandages strewn across my arm. “John! My goodness, you’re hurt!”
Her hand went up and touched the side of my face that Angel had bashed in. It hadn’t swollen up thanks to Pinkie’s ice pack, but Fluttershy’s touch still stung a little and made my left eye twitch, causing her to back away and lower her head.
“A-Angel just got a little u—” Before I could say more, the white devil himself half-darted, half-stumbled out of the tent and embraced Fluttershy in a hug. The little bastard cuddled up to her, playing the innocent game.
“Do you need medical attention?” the unknown man asked, breaking me away from Angel and Fluttershy.
“Angel!” Fluttershy cried. “Oh, you’re hurt too! What happened?”
I thought back to the snake from earlier and the way the animals acted. Fluttershy had told us to stay in the tent and we hadn’t listened. I lowered my head to avoid looking straight at her. “The wildlife went a little crazy.”
“They did what!?” Fluttershy gasped, her face draining of color. “Oh no! Oh no, oh no, oh no, I didn’t want this! I just wanted you all to be safe. I thought maybe…”
I thought for a moment she was about to break down, but instead she took a deep breath and effortlessly picked up Angel. Focus shifting between me and Angel, she muttered, “I’m so sorry. I need to get Angel taken care of.”
Without another word, she slipped into the the tent, lightly brushing against Apple Bloom before disappearing inside.
Apple Bloom scanned over the scene outside with her drooping eyes and then turned to me. “John? What the hay is going on?”
Looking over to Doug, I said, “I’d like to know too. Doug, who are these people and why were you screaming earlier?”
A third question rested on the tip of my tongue, but by now, even talking was getting tiring and I just wanted answers fast. Luna wasn’t here anyway.
“And what about the princess?” Pinkie yelled as she bounded out of the tent.
Doug hefted his shoulders up and sighed. “It’s a long story. The princess is here. So is Twilight, but right now we need to get the injured taken care of.”
“Twilight!” Pinkie surged forward. “Here comes Pinkie!” She reached Twilight and pulled her into a deep hug.
The shades of purple in Twilight’s hair now made sense to me, and I felt like slapping myself for not noticing earlier. The rest of Pinkie’s reunion turned into happy squeals, so I turned away from it and looked to the other adult woman here, mainly her hair. Staring at her, I asked, “You’re Luna?”
The woman gave a giggle and lightly justled the small girl in her arms. “No, she’s Luna.”
I blinked. The little sleeping girl with barely a hair on her head was royalty. Luna— or at least the Luna from the show— made herself known with her over-the-top entrances, her loud voice, and her grandiose manner; this kid looked like she’d stumbled out of Patch Adams. Had the show gotten things wrong there, too? Was Luna really this young? What was Nightmare Moon, then? Questions ricocheted around my mind, which I tried to dismiss with a scratch of my hair, but a dull ache still formed in my head.
“W-what?” Apple Bloom stuttered. “But why does she look my age? And what’s wrong with her mane?” Raising up her arms, she tried to move them in a wave motion, but it came across more as weak flailing. “It’s supposed to be like this and moving all around.”
That answered one question, but still left many in its wake, making my head hurt further.
“This night just keeps getting crazier,” I sighed.
“Tell me about it,” said the woman carrying Luna. She hefted up the sleeping princess and watched the man she’d arrived with go with Doug into the tent. “Looks like we’ll be staying here for a bit. Is there somewhere I can put her down?”
“She can sleep where I was,” Apple Bloom suggested. “I mean… if the Princess is okay with that.”
Luna let out the tiniest of snores.
“I think she’ll be fine,” the woman chuckled before following after Apple Bloom into the tent, leaving just me, Pinkie and Twilight.
“Wow! Everyone sure went inside fast!” Pinkie exclaimed. Crossing her bare arms, she smiled over at me. “Johny-John! Come introduce yourself to Twilight!”
Rolling my shoulder around, I inched over to the two of them and slowly raised up my left hand to Twilight. Close up, the abundance of violet in her hair and eyes was even more evident. She had the look I’d seen many-a-time in the library back at school, especially around finals: eyes sharp yet not piercing, and weighed down slightly by small bags. A good few seconds passed as my hand dangled in the air.
“Uh… guess that wouldn’t be familiar to you.” I recoiled my hand into a pocket. “Name’s John. Relieved to have found another one of you… hope it means we can get ya’ll home soon.”
“You have a similar dialect to locals that lived near M—Nathan’s home.” Twilight swept back some of her mane and blinked. “Excuse me, I’m a bit weathered from travel here… amongst other things.”
Pausing, she tilted her upper body forward, her eyes scanning over me. Her vision lingered on my cast, the bandages on both arms, and finally the bruising on my face. Her left eye twitched slightly. “You look like you’ve been through worse though.”
“Johny-John’s been super strong to help the Crusaders out!” Pinkie exclaimed. I rose a finger and Twilight rose a whole hand to shhh her. Blushing, Pinkie lowered her voice. “Hihi, sorry, I’m just so super duper excited. We’ve almost found everypony! That means that soon we’ll b—”
“Pinkie!” Twilight and I both yelled.
“Sorry sorry! I’ll be more quiet, I promise!” Her arms shot out and pulled us into a hug. “I”m just so happy right now. Being away from friends is the worst!”
“Guh!” I choked.
“Same old… Pinkie.” Twilight coughed.
Relinquishing her hold on us, Pinkie took a step back and allowed Twilight and myself some space. Ignoring the slight ache in my side, I looked over to Twilight and sighed. “Maybe save celebrations and such for the morning. The night’s got me too tired for this, and now probably isn’t the best time to talk. Lord knows I’ll need energy in the morning with this many of us.”
“True,” Twilight replied. “I’ll need to stay up anyway until my, uh, group is done here.”
“Uh-uh-uh,” Pinkie hummed, spinning around and revealing a large backpack strapped to her and another resting at her feet. Twilight’s eyes widened at the sight of the bags.
“How… when…” she rested a hand against her face and massaged her temples. “Not doing that right now.”
With a deep sigh, Twilight went over to Pinkie and opened up one of the bags. She pulled out a piece of long bendable rod similar to the ones Doug had used when setting up our camp. She stared at it for a second before setting it down and fumbling through the bag.
Pinkie set her own bag down and unzipped it, randomly chucking out various bits of it. Glancing down at my cast and the bandages on my arms, I shrugged and turned back to the tent. The flap was open with Apple Bloom standing on the edge of it. Passing her on the way in, I gave her a tap on the shoulder.
“Looks like they could use your help,” I said. “Just don’t stay up too late. I get the feeling tomorrow is gonna be busy.”
Shuffling through the main area, I observed Fluttershy and Nathan still tending to Angel, not even looking up at my entrance. With the bed so close, it wasn’t an issue and sleep was speeding up on my priority list anyway. Slipping into my sleeping quarters, I kicked off my shoes, gently took off my jacket, and climbed into my sleeping bag.
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New chapter. TAKE ALL MY YAYS!!!!! TAKE THEM!!!!!
Things will get very busy indeed . . .
It has been a long, long time since the last update.
Nice!
3796388 Bloody right I do.
I do exaggerate it a bit because, let's face it, the Americans expect it. But it's not far off.
Cool and update, and now the three stories have all become one in a sense. This kind of collaboration is brilliant. When all the stories (eight if them I think) finally merge together that's going to be one heck of a thing. I pity the people who are going to have to deal with the complications that come with organizing those stories. Look forward to the next chapter of which ever Ponyfall story updates next.
3933748 Too right
YES ITS FINALLY OUT
great update and now half of the group is finally together 
i wonder how the others will meet up.
WHAT TOOK SOOOO LONG
nah jokes, thanks for the update, I enjoyed it. 
I was getting worried about this story for a bit, it seems like forever since the last update. But I guess you had to get all of the pieces to fit together somehow, and that stuff takes time.
I have a question. Why is Twilight saying that Matt's name is Nathan? I understand it's his fake name on his fake ID (Nathan Juarez), but why doesn't she trust the people who have been taking care of the CMC, Pinkie, Fluttershy and Angel? She seemed trusting before with Fluttershy and was more than willing to question Matt's decisions with regards to the dreaming spell Doug and Luna were under.
Also, in the void between updates I finally read the Discord story. That story is...wow...I can't even describe it...
Anyway, still loving the story, keep it going, hope to hear from the other ones soon.
Good to see you return.^^ Nice update, once again.:D
The numbers rise!
More ponies!
I love it!
Dragon
3934560 She doesn't want to get a friend in anymore trouble than he's already put himself into because of her and Luna.
And yeah, having all the authors working together requires them all working together, which means that right now only three stories (and the Discord one) are updating at all, it seems, because the rest haven't caught up yet.
Yes, finally this is updated, I'm so happy
I must admit that I am hesitant to read this, seeing as it is a well known CMC story without a comedy tag.
3938991 *spoilers* Applebloom kicks Discord in the nuts that's enough comedy for any story
3939404 reading chapter 7 now, And I have no regrets.
3933748 well its not so much as expected because he's Australian, but it's infinitely more fun to have a character with a heavier accent, so it's expected because he's the character with a different accent than the rest
4128667 well at least the a
Americans with an iota of sense do, but that's not saying much because the average person is stupid about things like that
Ah zis iz purfect! Naow zat I 'ave red all zee other Poniifall storiz, I shall reed jour storiee azvell.
Zis vill bee magnifique!
Aside from that I'm also surprised to see that this has been updated recently in opposition the other Ponyfall stories.
4300328 yeah I know... but still it is bit of inconsistency among the series... and NO, I am NOT saying that CMC should be turned up naked... what I am saying is that maybe it is better if ALL characters ( including mane six) turned up fully clothed... ( granted we won't have Naked upon arrival joke but meh...)
4300373
Personally, if I had done this, I would have the girls still be naked, but I wouldn't explicitly state it.
Like, maybe having the prologue where the girls are sent to earth. Next chapter takes a look at the day in the life of the guy who winds up finding them by the end of the chapter. Last sentence would be all vague, like, "What he saw in the aftermath of that crash, he could only put into a few words. 'What the fu-'" and then have the chapter end there.
Chapter after that would open with the girls waking up wearing these big ol' shirts and obviously freaking out over being human. Dude explains that the shirts belong to him because they didn't have anything when he found them, and leave it at that. A chapter later would probably involve him shopping for clothes for each of them.
If the author was afraid of the implications following the consistency of the other stories would bring, there are ways around it. Nudity doesn't automatically mean sexual, or at least it shouldn't. It's more in actions than anything, the way I see it. I just wish I could have been here when this was being done.
4394848 The Crusaders were in the same boat Pinkie and Fluttershy were in, in that they were transported to Earth together.
In these two cases (Crusaders, Pinkie/Fluttershy) they did not need to hear each other's names, only those of the Equestrians they didn't wake up with.
Are you going to continue this?
Is there going to be an update anytime soon? You're so close to finishing the Ponyfall arc of this story.
5388148 I'm sadly taking it as a "No."
5767387
TheSlorg admitted as much when he said he was opening up Ponyfall to the rest of the community (strictly side/background characters). That's not to say that the core Ponyfall story is dead; just that it's been... comatose for the past year, and the doctors aren't sure she'll ever wake up. Slorg would be fuming at his compatriots (and I think he is/was), but given the circumstances, he's not one to talk.
5768027 *gasps* so I COULD write background ponies into this universe if I wanted to? *intensely writes favorite pony and her sisters into story* nah, in all seriousness, while I'd love to see Lily, Roseluck, and Daisy get more love from the fandom, I don't know if they'd exactly fit into this kind of story. Anyways, thanks for letting me know for sure.
hay continue this now