Milo Collins woke up to the digital alarm blaring in his ear. His hand shot out of the thin blanket and flailed in a delirious state, hunting for the cause of the noise. Only when his ears caught the sound of silence again did he sit up and check the time.
"Six AM? Ugh, geez..."
As much as the twenty year old wanted to go back to sleep Milo knew he wouldn't wake up till sometime in the afternoon if he did, so staying awake it was. As the blond haired zombie walked out of his clean room (well...as clean as it could be, considering there was mold permanently ingrained in the walls) to brush his teeth, he thought about what he would do with the day.
"Let's see...Today is my only day off this week, I think I'll see what sis wants to do. It's been a while since we just relaxed and spent the day together." Milo thought to himself.
"Maybe I could get some guitar practice done too...then again why waste time on it when I'm never gonna have the chance to use it?" Milo hadn't touched the guitar in two years at least. Ever since his mom and dad died he'd hardly had the time.
He still only remembered bits and pieces of that day, even three years later it was hard to get a grip on anything regarding it.
A face in the night, looking over the seat, smiling at him...
The sound of tires screeching...or was it someone screaming?
A flash, followed quickly by a bang...
Then nothing...
In all honesty Milo got off easy. Yes he cried and grieved just as any other kid would, but Belle was only twelve at the time. Milo had to be strong for her, even more so after the deal with Mark. He tried his best but he wasn't the greatest at being a parent. For the most part however time had stitched the wound and they had moved on.
By the time Milo was done with his morning routine only fifteen minutes had passed.
"Well, I'm not getting back to sleep...might as well go job hunting." Milo thought. So he threw on his old almost-too-small-for-him suit and walked out the door.
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Two hours later...
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"Well that was a bust...again...well, Bellybutton's probably up by now. Let's see what she's made today." Milo thought as he closed the door to the apartment, shoving a little when it refused to close all the way.
Belle had learned to cook pretty quick when it became apparent that she would be left alone for long stretches of time. It wasn't long before she got very good at it, by now she could make anything from spaghetti to fried squash. She had even expressed interest in selling baked goods once or twice.
Milo had just arrived in the dusty kitchen and he could already smell something awesome. Belle heard him come in and briefly turned from the skillet and waved.
"Hey bro."
"Hey sis, whatcha making?" Milo grabbed a half gallon milk jug from the worn and beaten fridge. It had taken a lot of work to fix it, but it was better than not having one at all.
"Just some egghash today, it's pretty close to done." Belle grabbed some eggs from the counter and cracked them over the hashbrowns, bacon, and veggies in the skillet. After that she sprinkled a layer of cheese on top and set it in the stove.
"So we have about ten-twenty minutes till the foods ready, what's on the agenda today?" She leaned on the counter and swiped stray bits of food off her oversized T-shirt.
"Actually I was thinking you should pick today. Since it's my only day off for the next week or so I was hoping to spend it just hanging out." Milo sat down at the table with his arms crossed over it. Belle was obviously not impressed with his work schedule.
"Ugh, do you really have to work all week long? I mean it's not like someone else couldn't pour concrete for a while."
"sigh, if I did that they'd just tell me not to come back and I'd be out of a job. We've only had this place for six months, I'd rather not go back to living on the streets." Milo shrugged.
"Yea..." Belle looked down at the fake tile floor, drawing shapes with her toe.
"For what it's worth I'm sorry Belle. If I had another option I'd take it but I don't have the credentials or the time to get them. I'm doing everything I can to make this work, I promise."
"I know you are...it's just...it gets lonely here you know? No one at school talks to me and...I wouldn't know what to say to them anyways." The stove timer pinged and Belle turned around to check on the food.
"It's alright, I get it. I'll see about getting some time off." Milo knew that the chances of that happening were slim at best, but he had to say something. He hated seeing her like this and it was already happening far too often.
"So, what was it you wanted to do today? I'm good with just about anything so long as it's not work." Milo steered the conversation back to its original topic.
"How about we watch some TV? The cable company just sent a letter saying that everything went through. How bout we test it out?"
"Sure"
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Starlight was absolutely livid. No, more than livid. She was absolutely boiling!
"How could they? How could they all just throw away everything I worked to achieve for almost a decade!"
Starlight was stomping through a cold, dark cave. Alone with nothing except her thoughts. Thoughts that couldn't focus on anything but her failure. A failure that stung more than anything she had ever felt before...well...almost anything.
"Sunburst would have known what to do...heh, look at me now. If he could see where I am he wouldn't want anything to do with me...I'm nothing but a failure."
And it was all because of those six mares who decided that she couldn't have something amazing, something revolutionary among pony kind! A place where you're cutie mark didn't matter. A place that upheld equality above all else! It had been truly beautiful while it lasted...and somehow she would get that back, no matter what it took!
And now she had a chance.
Starlight held up a scroll with strange looking in hieroglyphics in front of the cave walls. On said walls were the exact same hieroglyphics, right down to the pictures of a certain bipedal being. In fact that was what Starlight was counting on...
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"Hahaha! So then the guy said-"
Click.
"Oh Josh...I've always known you'd-"
Click.
"Tomorrows weather will be very cloudy with a slight chance of meat-"
Click.
"Ugh, figures there isn't anything good on." Belle groaned.
Both Belle and Milo were settling in on their couch. Complete with blankets, breakfast, and two tall glasses of milk. The only thing left was to find something to watch. Only they found that most of the channels they used to watch as kids were nowhere to be seen.
Milo didn't mind too much though. He was just glad to get a break from the construction yard for a day.
"Alright, so today the ingredients you have to work with are..." Belle's eyes shined a little when she heard her favorite show come on.
"Alright! Now that's what I'm talking about!"
BANG!
Without warning both Milo and Belle were violently thrown back, the couch flipped over and threw globs of food all over the room. Milo landed on his left shoulder and his head hit the carpet hard.
The somewhat lean man was completely stunned. He couldn't focus on anything around him, everything was just one big smear in his vision, and on top of that his ears wouldn't stop ringing.
"Did...did the TV just...EXPLODE?!" The disoriented Milo thought to himself.
As he stumbled to his feet Milo vaguely realized that he was in quite a bit of pain around his shoulder. But it felt...numbed somehow. After another moment his vision began to clear enough to see the cause of his pain.
Sitting where the TV used to be was now...a...black hole?
He wasn't sure. It was essentially a ball off black that had a purple-ish glow on the edges. It didn't appear to be sucking anything into itself. Just sitting there like it hadn't nearly killed him and his sister.
"Oh shoot Belle!" Milo instantly shot up, causing the still numbed pain to flair a bit. He ignored it in favor of looking his sibling over.
"She...she looks ok. Face is a little bruised, hopefully she doesn't have a concussion. I should call 911-" Milo's thoughts were cut off when the not-a-black-hole began to hum, the pitch getting steadily higher. Soon little blue sparks began to light up and gather themselves in front of 'the anomaly'.
Milo's eyes nearly shot out of his head when the sparks formed an actual being.
"Holy crap are we actually being invaded by aliens?!"
The being itself was an off shade of...pink? With flowing purple hair and bits of light blue that reminded him of toothpaste for some reason. Her eyes were a similar color to the light blue in her hair, maybe a bit darker.
That was when things got really weird. She had honest to goodness horse ears sitting out on her head, and a tail the same color as her hair (mane? whatever, it didn't matter) hanging behind her.
"Is she some sort of...horse-human hybrid or something? Aaaaand she has a unicorn horn on her head! Ok ok calm down! You won't be any good to Belle if you panic. At least say something!" Before Milo could however the being was already beside him looking over Belle. He sat there gobsmacked for another few seconds before trying to speak again, only to be cut off once again. He liked to think that the shock was causing him to process slower then normal, but he couldn't be sure.
"She looks alright, but she has a concussion. I can help her but I need my magic, and for that I need to be on the other side. Can you help me carry her over to the portal?" Her ('her' judging by the voice at least) expression was hard and determined, all business. He didn't immediately get red flags, thought that didn't mean he trusted her.
"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me who you are and what's going on..." Milo replied with a low, guarded tone. Then proceeded to move himself between the newcomer and his last living sibling.
The strange being didn't seem to appreciate his attitude.
"The longer we take the better the chances she never wakes up! Do you want that!?"
"I wanna know that you won't eat us or something the second I do as you say!"
It occurred to Milo that if she was a horse hybrid then the chances of her being hungry for human flesh was rather low. However he felt that he had gotten his point across well enough. He was already holding back the dozens of questions floating through his head, and he would continue to do so until he was satisfied that Belle was safe.
The strange being growled for a second. Then visibility appeared to calm herself down.
"Look, the excess magic from the portal opening overwhelmed her. If I don't treat her it's going to spread through her body! The effects that would have on a pony are unpredictable enough, who knows what would happen to a human!?"
Milo narrowed his eyes and stared at the animal-like being, trying to figure out if she was lying or not. He'd had absolutely no time to process what was happening, his sister was currently unconscious due to...magic...and on top of that he was beginning to hear banging on the front door, shouts about the police being called.
In short he was overwhelmed, and as such panicked.
"Fine..."
Together both he and the alien moved the unconscious teen over to the black hole. Milo kept a close eye on the pony (that's what it said right?), keeping ready to defend his sibling if he needed to. She took two purple crystals, both glowing with a blue hue. She handed one to Milo and placed the other in the unconscious Belle's hand.
"What are these?" Milo asked.
"You don't have a lot of magic here, all the ambient thaumic energy is being used to sustain this side of the portal. The crystals hold a magic charge strong enough to send a person through, now enough talk and hold still!" The alien snapped and closed her eyes.
Milo thought he blacked out from sheer emotional overload from the sudden and dramatic entrance of an alien into his living room. Only to be told later that it was from being transported through the portal.
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When Milo next awoke he found himself on the cold stone of a dark cave, with the only light coming from the entrance about thirty feet away, and a small fire beside him. Judging by the cold air nipping at him where he sat that fire was keeping a very powerful cold at bay.
"Just where did that lady take us?"
It was at this point that Milo remembered the short series of events leading up to then.
"Belle!" Milo shouted, darting to where his sister lay on the other side of the fire. From what little he could tell she was ok. The bruising was gone at least. But his medical experience amounted to little more than splints, bandages, and painkillers. Anything more was far beyond him.
"Oh, you're up." A surprised voice stated behind him.
When Milo turned around he was surprised to find a small...unicorn. It appeared to be carrying a saddlebag on each side of it's barrel. It also had the same fur and main colors that the pony-alien had in his living room.
"I figured you would be out for the rest of the day, most beings first experience with magic leaves them pretty worn out. You took like...mmm...about three unicorns worth going through that portal." It spoke again. It was at this point that Milo recognized the voice.
"It's the alien from before!...my gosh...I think my entire world view has shattered in the span of five minutes or so. Why exactly is this happening. Have I gone insane? Am I dreaming or something? I don't think you're supposed to be able to feel pain in a dream, at least I think so. I don't know anymore..."
"Hey...you ok?" The pony asked and trotted up to him. It's head slightly tilted and extremely large eyes seemly expressing concern.
"...Yea...I...just have a lot of questions." Milo shook his shoulder, just noticing the bruising where he had landed on it.. The pony nodded.
"I figured, to preemptively answer one or two your sibling is fine. She just needs some rest. As for where we are...well we're on my home planet, Equis. Specifically Equestria." She mumbled something after that I didn't quite catch.
"Does she not like this...Equestria? Geez what kind of name is that anyway? Well whatever. I have more important things to deal with."
"So...who are you? I'd rather not just keep calling you 'the pony' or 'the alien. My names Milo by the by." Milo said, trying to distract himself from the crushing confusion long enough to get it resolved. Said pony looked somewhat embarrassed, realizing she hadn't introduced herself.
"Oh right! Hehe, well I'm Starlight, Starlight Glimmer. It's nice to meet you Milo." Starlight grinned and held out her hoof. Milo found himself surprised yet again.
"Uh...I'm pretty sure legs aren't supposed to bend like that..."