The creature constantly checked to see if the ponies were still following it. Twilight was leading her group of friends behind the creature and often met the creature’s eyes when it turned around. The creatures smile never seemed to leave its face, Twilight didn’t know if she liked this or not. She hadn’t given up the idea that they were being misled. But until the creature became openly hostile, it was her only lead to food.
The ponies said little as they made their way through the forest. Pinkie as usual was the chattiest of the group, but even she held back all but an occasional comment on the scenery around them. Twilight couldn’t help but notice how quiet the forest was. She had little experience with forests outside the Everfree, but in the Everfree you always heard birdcalls or some other kind of noise. Why was it so quiet here?
Twilight kept her mind off the silence by focusing on her magic. She tried picking up rocks from the forest floor and seeing if it tired her or not managing to get to one as big as her hoof without any noticeable affect to her strength. She wanted to try and lift something larger like a branch, but she didn’t want the creature to get suspicious.
After a short time, they emerged from the forest. The sun beat down upon Twilight in a warm embrace, providing a slight contrast from the shaded forest. Even the clearing had been mostly shrouded in the shadows of trees making the new warmth even more comforting. Twilight saw that the path from the woods emerged here and turned into a kind of T stretching now in three directions. The forest stretch looked relatively straight, but the other branches of the path curved and twisted around the edge of the forest.
Sitting on the side of the path inside one of the corners of the T was another one of the creature’s strange machines. This one was much smaller than the first one Twilight had encountered maybe two and a half times the length of a pony and twice as tall. Twilight stopped in her tracks holding up the line of ponies behind her.
“Hey Twilight why are you stopping? Are we there?” Rainbow Dash called from near the back of the line. The creature heard Rainbow’s call and turned to face the group of ponies. Twilight's gaze stayed firmly on the machine, even as the creature approached her she didn’t move until it brought itself to her eye level. The creature spoke to her in its strange language. Its smile looked genuine, but Twilight was not about to trust one of those machines.
Twilight stepped aside to allow the other ponies to leave the forest. As one by one they filtered out they noticed the machine in turn. Applejack was even less willing to go near it then Twilight was and joined her next to the point where they exited the forest. The creature saw the ponies’ reluctance, and looked at them sympathetically. Suddenly, it stood and walked to the machine.
It placed its fore hooves on the back most part of the metal and pulled it down. Twilight could now see the back of the machine was an open area that took up the majority of the space above the wheels. The creature looked back at the ponies and sat on the portion of the machine it had pulled down.
“Well…are we going to follow it?” Rainbow Dash asked
“I don’t know, this looks a lot like when Applejack was nearly… I don’t know what to do.” Said Twilight.
Rainbow turned to look at the creature. “I don’t think it wants to hurt us. Why would it help Applejack if all it wanted was to fillynap her? Wouldn’t she be easier to get away with if she were injured? I’m going for it.” Rainbow Dash walked up to the creature and flew up onto the machine beside it. The creature smiled at her as she tested the metallic surface before setting down.
Rainbow Dash turned back to the other ponies. “It doesn’t seem too bad. It kinda feels weird but I’m not dead so far.” Pinkie was next to approach the machine. She tried to jump onto the back, but fell short. The creature got down from where it was sitting and knelt next to Pinkie. Extending both hooves toward the pink pony it wrapped its forelegs around her.
Twilight noticed how similar this movement was to when the first creature grabbed Applejack. She was about to react, when the creature picked up the giggling Pinkie and placed her in the machine.
“DO IT AGAIN, DO IT AGAIN.” Pinkie hollered bouncing on the machine causing it to bob up and down. The creature turned back to the other ponies to see who was next. When none of them made a move toward it Rarity volunteered herself. She winced as the creature wrapped its fore legs around her but kept herself calm as she was set down with the others.
Twilight knew she would have to go next. Fluttershy would need every assurance it was safe and Applejack probably would to. When the creature turned back she timidly walked forward. The machine looked bigger up close, but Twilight couldn't tell if this change was because of her own nervousness or the change in perspective.
The creature’s hooves were warm against her coat, as its muscles tightened around her she held her breath as she was lifted into the air. When the creature set her down she made sure to look back at Applejack with a smile to encourage her. Applejack stared back at her with a blank expression as she made her way forward.
Fluttershy was close behind Applejack as the creature bent down to lift her into the machine. Applejack squirmed a little but the creature had a strong hold, she was set down quickly and gently. The creature turned to Fluttershy and waited a second to see if she would fly in on her own. But when she didn’t move he picked her up as well.
Fluttershy let out a small squeak as she was raised by the creature and ran into the main body of the machine as soon as the creature let go. The creature closed the back of the machine and looked in at the ponies that were now sitting in two lines facing each other with their saddle bags in the middle. Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie on one side, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight on the other. The creature said a few words and then went around to the front of the machine
Climbing inside, it made a small movement of its hoof causing the machine to roar to life. The ponies jumped as Fluttershy lay down and covered her eyes with her hooves while Pinkie started to giggle again. Applejack tried to hold her hat to her head, but as they started down the road she settled for having it beneath her back hoof. Twilight tried to talk to her friends but the constant bumps of the path and sound of the engine made communication difficult.
Twilight remarked at the huge expanses of open farmland they passed. For the whole of the journey they didn’t see a single living creature, but enough farmland to feed thousands. Applejack seemed the most impressed, her eyes grew huge and bright as she watched the rolling countryside stretching around them. Fluttershy was eventually convinced to raise her head, and joined Applejack and Twilight in marveling over the surroundings.
Rainbow Dash stood with her front hooves on the raised part of the machines “head”. Her mane and tail whipped behind her as she shouted into the air bombarding her face.
“ALRIGHT…I HAVEN’T FLOWN LIKE THIS IN TWO DAYS… FASTER…I CAN DO DOUBLE THIS…FASTER!” The journey took around seven to ten minutes; Twilight couldn’t be sure exactly how long. The machine pulled into a dirt path that led up to a large farm on a section of the open countryside. The creature turned off the machine and came back around to open the back and let the ponies off.
Twilight was first to be lowered to the ground, as she walked up to the front of the farmhouse she was struck by how big everything was. It was nearly as tall as her tree, maybe only a foot or so shorter; the door itself doubled her height. All she could see was the front of the structure, how big was this place when you accounted for length? Twilight wondered if everything was this big in this part of Equestria, or if some of it got even bigger.
When the ponies had all been lowered to the ground and given their saddlebags the creature approached the door of the farmhouse. It reached into a small pocket on the side of its pants and produced a ring of keys. Using one to unlock the door, it stepped aside and extended a hoof indoors as it bowed slightly. The ponies entered one by one, marveling at the size of everything.
A gigantic staircase graced the center of the room. Along the top was a row of white doors evenly spaced along a dark and light green vertically striped hallway. The first floor branched left and right to double doors on either side. The doors on the left where wide open and led to what looked like a living room. The creature closed the front door and headed toward this room motioning the ponies to follow.
When Twilight entered the room she saw it indeed was a living room. A large sofa big enough for four ponies to sit comfortably faced a bare coffee table in the center of the room. A large painting of a sunset adorn the opposite wall, and all along the remaining space where row upon row of books. Twilight gazed with awe at them, she levitated one toward her and opened it to find it was written in a language unlike any she had seen before.
The creature smiled at her as it gestured the ponies toward the couch. Motioning for the ponies to stay put, it disappeared through the only other door in the room on the south wall. (The door the ponies entered being in the north west corner.) Twilight looked at the book intently, her focus so deep she nearly bumped into the coffee table as she went to sit down.
“You enjoy’n that book Twilight?” Applejack asked as she placed her saddlebag near the door to the room and joined Twilight on the couch. The ponies gathered around Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie and Applejack on the couch while Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash sat on the floor.
“Not exactly Applejack, I can’t read a word of this.”
“Then what’s got you all scrunched over starin at gibberish?”
“I’m thinking about trying something. A long time ago the language of the dragons was impossible to understand just as this creature’s speech is. Nopony could communicate with them until a piece of their writing was found on a small slab of rock. Some of Canterlot’s finest studied the rock, and created a spell that allowed them to read it.”
“Wow, I always thought we just…well I don’t know what I thought, but it wasn’t that.” Rainbow said.
“However the spell wasn’t perfect, they could only understand words that had been written in the message, and when they tried to ask for more written text, they where unable to form the correct words. In fact the initial group sent to return with more examples of the dragons language nearly started a war! It was only after several volumes were collected that we became able to understand them like we do today.”
“Well that don’t sound too bad, what’s stopping you from trying it?” Applejack asked excitedly.
“What’s stopping me is I don’t know if I have enough magic to finish the spell once I start. I could end up understanding both languages, or neither, possibly even understanding only some of each. This spell hasn’t been used in years, I don’t know if it’s safe.”
Rarity spoke up from beside Twilight “Darling why didn’t you say so, we wouldn’t want you to get hurt, I’m sure we can get by without speaking to this, thing.” Twilight stared at the book; she had a hard time accepting the fact that she was looking at a language, possibly a culture ponykind had never seen before. She didn’t want to miss this opportunity, but what if it went wrong?
Twilight remained silent as the creature returned to the room. It carried with it a wooden tray covered in vegetables. Carrots, celery, and lettuce nearly fell off the side of the vessel they were on. The hungry ponies dug into the food once it was placed on the coffee table. Only Twilight stayed where she sat.
The creature noticed the pony lost in thought. It sat down next to her on the couch; Twilight turned to see it was now at eye level. Twilight noticed for the first time the color of its eyes, a light shade of blue resembling Pinkie’s. The creature said something, but Twilight smiled and shook her head. The creature laughed and pointed to the now ravaged tray.
Twilight shook her head and pointed to the book. The creature pointed to Twilight and then to its head before pointing to the book. Twilight took a second to realize it was asking if she understood. She shook her head and saw the creature’s expression turn to that of confusion. It pointed again at the book then Twilight and shrugged its hooves. Twilight pointed to the book, then her head, and then at the creature.
The creature smiled, Twilight didn’t know if she trusted it yet, but it looked genuine. “Everypony.” She called out to the feasting group. “I’m going to try the translation spell.”
“Ya sure Twilight, we wont blame ya not going through with it if it’s too dangerous.” Applejack said swallowing a mouthful of lettuce.
“Twilight, please don’t do this unless you’re sure.” Fluttershy said, concerned. But Twilight had made up her mind, standing on the couch, she started her magic. The ponies stood and gaped as the book pages began to turn. Slowly at first, but gradually faster until they nearly flew out of the book. When the book hit a cover it simply started back the other way.
Soon, small dots could be seen flying off the pages at Twilight, then symbols, then whole words and sentences leapt from the pages to Twilight’s forehead. They collected themselves at her horn and eventually covered it so completely it turned black.
It was clear Twilight was feeling the strain of her magic use, but she was determined to finish the spell. And after a long moment the book slammed shut and Twilight collapsed onto the couch. Her eyes glazed over as she tried to process all the information, a collection of sound filled her brain with such noise she almost didn’t notice the voices of her friends.
“You okay sugar cube?” Came Applejack’s voice sounding distant.
“Oh, Twilight, please get up.” Fluttershy’s worried voice drifted in, closer, but still dim.
“Nobody will ever believe I saw that.” Twilight sat up, she knew she had never heard that voice before. It was deep and calm, like the statement was more to itself than anypony else. Twilight thought it was just in her head, but it sounded closer then any of the ponies voices. Had the spell worked?
“Twilight…your horn.” Rarity stammered. Twilight looked down at the glass of the coffee table to see her blackened horn. Slowly before her eyes, the dark covering faded, and her horn returned to its proper hue. Twilight looked at the pages of the book, flipping through them she found nothing but blank paper.
“Now do the words come out of your horn? Or am I down a dictionary?” Twilight jumped, this time there was no doubt, she heard a new voice. She turned to the creature who looked amazed, and confused.
“Can you understand me?” She asked it. The ponies let out a collective gasp as the creature stared amazed at Twilight.
“You spoke! You speak! You can talk!” it said, wide eyed. The ponies looked at each other with worry.
Rarity approached Twilight on the couch. “Twilight dear, can you understand us?” Twilight turned back to the ponies.
“Yes, do you understand me?” The ponies breathed a sigh of relief.
“IT WORKED!” Pinkie cried jumping for joy.
“Wait, you just spoke to me, how come you’re back to speaking that, that, pony talk?” the creature said even more confused now.
Twilight turned to the creature, her face a mix of emotions. “Do you understand me? I tried a spell to learn your language, can you understand?” The creature nodded dumb founded.
“Now I know no one will believe me.” It said. Twilight turned back to her friends.
“It worked,” she said, now smiling.
“How are you doing that?” the creature said as it stood. “I had no idea it was that easy, I have a million questions.”
“YOU have questions, what do you think WE have.” Twilight said.
“Fair enough,” said the creature. “I guess I’ll start by introducing myself, odd because we met nearly half an hour ago but, my name’s Roger.”
“Roger, never heard that name before. My name is Twi…”
“Twilight Sparkle.” The creature said for her. Twilight’s smile turned to an expression of surprise.
“What, what’s going on,” Rainbow Dash asked. “What did it say?”
“It, it knows my name,” she said. None of the ponies could respond to that.
The creature didn’t seem to notice Twilight’s shock “Can the others talk to me now, I mean it’s unlikely they’re all just being shy. That might be Fluttershy’s excuse but so far she seems to be doing ok around me.”
“Wait,” Twilight stopped Roger there. “You know Fluttershy too!?!” The creature barely missed a beat before responding.
“Of course Twilight, I know all of you, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and yourself.” Roger pointed to the ponies in turn as he said each of their names. The ponies looked confused but said nothing.
“I mean, it’s unbelievable I’m talking to you right now. How did you even get here?” Twilight was speechless, what else did it know? “It’s ok, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. It’s just so amazing, I didn’t think that truck driver was telling the truth but look how wrong I was.”
“Roger, how do you know our names?” Roger stopped completely this time. He looked at Twilight not knowing how to answer.
“What do you mean how do I know, don’t you know?” Roger attempted to resurrect his smile, but only managed it halfway.
“No Roger, I don’t. We don’t even know where we are.” Roger let that information sink in, he sat back down onto the couch and looked out at the ponies.
“Where do you think you are?” He asked. Twilight told the story of the previous day, everything from when she woke up to when Roger first came to the clearing. Roger silently listened to the tale as the other ponies whispered to one another wondering what Twilight was saying.
“So I have no idea what part of Equestria we’re in, or how long we’re going to be here. Honestly I don’t see myself using magic again today after a spell like this. I’m still kind of dizzy from it, but now that you know why we ended up here could you tell us if you know a way back?” Roger was quiet for a moment, the whispers of the ponies on the floor died out creating a still silence.
“It’s no wonder you guys didn’t trust me. I had no idea he tried to do that to Applejack. Twilight, I don’t know what to say to you. If you can’t use your magic, there IS no way back.” Twilight was incredibly skeptical. Any obstacle could be crossed SOMEHOW. Even the Everfree Forest had a path through most of it, how could there be no way back?
“Roger, I’m sure whatever’s in our way can be crossed. Do you know how far away Equestria is?”
“No, I don’t, but it can’t be any closer than 4-”
“-MILES!” Twilight said, amazed she had traveled so far beyond the boundaries of her home.
“No,” Roger said. “Light years.” It was Twilight’s turn to sit quietly and listen.
“I’m sorry to tell you this Twilight, but Equestria is farther away then you can travel on foot, or fly to. It’s so far away you can’t even see it from here. You’re on a place called Earth, that’s the name of the planet. You haven’t seen something like me before because I’m not from your world. The only reason I knew who you were is because…well this is a little harder to explain.”
Roger stopped and leaned his head against the back of the couch. Twilight said nothing, unable to form words after such a claim. How far away where they? How WERE they going to get back? Twilight couldn’t concentrate, this couldn’t be right. Then suddenly the creature stood abruptly making everypony in the room jump.
“Follow me, Twilight, there’s something you should see.” Roger walked through the double doors and turned to see the rest of the ponies standing up to go with Twilight. “You’re going to want them to stay here, it’s better you tell them in your own words later.” Twilight was beyond arguing. She didn’t know where Roger was leading her, but she had to find out if he was telling the truth. She shook her head at her friends and followed Roger to the second floor.
Roger went to the door slightly to the left from the center of the hallway. “Before we go in, brace yourself, you’re not going to like it.” Twilight doubted anything through that door could be as bad as what he had already suggested. She looked up at him; the smile faded from his face, as he opened the door and walked in, she followed.