I've Got PONIES for ROOM MATES!

by Daaberlicious

CHOLD Chapter 7: The Morning After...

Chapter 7: The Morning After...

The sunlight glowed through the single window in the living room, illuminating the sleeping mass of ponies with it's gentle shine.

Pinkie, Twilight, and Rainbow found it unbearable, all moaning in pain and hiding their heads under their covers. None of them, not even the perky pink mare wished to wake up: It had been a stressful day by the time they slept. The three ponies on the other side were stirred by the others' pained moaning.

Fluttershy awoke comfortable and warm, staring sleepily into a blurry mass of off-white. Her head was held tightly, but not unpleasantly in the grip of somepony she didn't know. She felt the steady rise and fall of breathing, and a constant, quiet heartbeat thumped in her ears.
Thinking back to her fitful dreams, she noticed that one of her friends was always keeping her safe from the horrible inkiness surrounding her. Sometimes, it was Twilight, other times Rainbow Dash, Still others, Applejack, and even Pinkie did her part. ...But in the times that felt the most real, it was-

Rarity.

She now knew who had been holding her all night, sacrificing their sleep so she could have hers.

The butter yellow pegasus grabbed Rarity and squeezed her tightly, Startling the fashionista awake.

"Wha... What's this for?"

"...Thanks for helping me sleep, Rarity..." Fluttershy responded, thankfulness deeply intoned in her quiet voice.

Rarity let go with a chuckle, having forgotten she was holding Fluttershy. "Ahh, well, It's the least I could do for a friend." She said, hastily explaining herself despite the fact that her motivations were obvious and indisputably non-romantic to the receiving pegasus.

Fluttershy slid away from Rarity. "I'm sorry I kept you up... Those noises must have been awful."

"Don't worry, darling. I'm none the worse for wear."

Despite having woken up less than two minutes before, Fluttershy fell asleep again, very much sleep deprived from the dreams. Rarity had the misfortune of being sleep deprived just enough to feel tired all day, but not enough to need to fall asleep again.

She was a lady, however, and a proper lady always gets up when they wake.

...Applejack was just a mare, and not a "lady". But her internal clock said "get up", so she got up.

"...Time to buck the apples..." She rose her head slowly, her mane an untidy mess with long bangs that were usually in control, and affixed her stetson squarely on her head. She stretched, and slowly opened her eyes.

Medical science has yet to find a way to wake someone (or somepony) up this fast through artificial means. Applejack's eyes bugged open as a single shot of adrenaline coursed through her veins, sending a tingle all the way down her spine which made sure she wouldn't fall asleep again. It also has the additional effect of panic.

"WHERE THE HAY AM I?" AJ hollered, her head swiveling constantly.

All other equine residents were awoken instantly, and full of joy.

"APPLEJACK!"

"Gwaah!" The country mare found herself at the center of a group hug and increasingly flustered. Fluttershy and Rarity were tearing up, while Twilight and Pinkie laughed with relief. Rainbow Dash kind of suffocated Applejack in a bear hug.

"Gaah- Whu- Where'd y'all come from? How'd I get here? I-"

Applejack came to her senses. "I'd like a word with the house owner." Her partial glare and tone of voice were foreboding.

Rainbow Dash immediately objected. "AJ, I'm not letting you go upstairs to bash his face in like I did yesterday. Listen to Twilight. She'll explain!"

"I wanna hear it from him." She began climbing off the bedspread when Fluttershy pulled her tail.

She turned her head to face the pegasus, and spoke evenly. "What?"

"Twilight's right here, and she's had everything explained to her already. Why don't you ask her?"

"Cuz Twilight's blown things out o' proportion before, an'-"

Twilight announced her objection. "I have not!"

"Want-it-need-it, Twi."

The purple unicorn lowered her ears. "...Sorry..."

"No hard feelings!" Applejack quickly smiled at Twilight. "Now... Can I go?"

Fluttershy got Applejack's attention again. "You won't hurt him, will you?"

"Can't guarantee nothin', Flutters... But I don't think it'll come to that." She rubbed Fluttershy's head, then bounced off and walked towards the staircase.

...Some loud vocalization woke me.

Ghhurg... Whutta dream. Ponies on earth, and then a sandwich quartet to boot. I'd rather forget that last part... The song was CRAP. I rose like the undead from a grave... How does a zombie get through crushed coffin wood and six feet of highly compacted dirt anyway? Weird.

Free of that random thought, I planted my feet on the floor and sat in a sleepy stupor.

Well, I may have not been able to sleep, but at least I can cook bacon for breakfast! PopTarts every morning just looses it's novelty quickly...

I got up and opened my bedroom door.

"AAAUGH!" I involuntarily yelped (at a high pitch with a voice crack. I hate that.) at the pony who stood on the other side of the door.

As I fell down, barely catching myself, everything clicked.

The mane six have been spontaneously appearing in my house all throughout the day yesterday. There will be no bacon in my breakfast ever again. I've got ponies for room mates.

Applejack laughed in her signature style. "Mornin' to you too, Sugar-cube." She said, with a tilt of her stetson.

"I've got PONIES for ROOM MATES!" I blurted loudly in shocked epiphany. AJ's ears flattened against her skull as her face contorted in a brief grimace.

"What was that about?" She twitched an ear.

I held my hands up and turned my face away. "Sorry. Sorry. I forgot about your friends' existence overnight." I pulled my hands down and grinned sheepishly. "Can I help you?"

"Did you bring me here?"

"No."

"Really?"

"Certain."

"I didn't even conk out on the road?"

"Not to my knowledge."

"Nothin' knocked me out?"

"No."

"You musta brought me here..." She didn't say this in an accusatory tone, but with confusion.

"Really. No. It's inter-dimensional stuff."

"What now?"

"You're in a different dimension."

"You're kiddin'!"

"I'm not. Go ask Twilight about it."

She huffed with annoyance. " IF that's true, then where am I?"

"The country called the United States of America, the state called Michigan, the town of Sandy Shores, and the Sandy Shores apartment complex... My apartment."

"So you're my host or somethin'?"

"Not by choice, but it's growing on me."

"... Well, I'll try my best to have good manners. Off to talk to Twi." She tilted her stetson, turned, and trotted down the stairs. Apparently I didn't help.

...Now that everything had gone as expected, today seemed way more daunting than it had yesterday...

...But I am a MAN... And any true MAN makes sure to get up with his guests.

Gonna be a long day...

Applejack was a sobbing mess: Perhaps more saddened than Twilight after hearing the news... Which AJ had just heard.

Currently, the country mare had buried herself in the bottom of one of the six oversized sleeping bags: Hers, to be precise. It's accompanying pillow had similarly disappeared, now wrapped in both sets of AJ's legs. Her stetson laid discarded to her right. To her left, Fluttershy was leaning on Applejack,massaging her much like the bunny Angel did for his master on occasion.

Applejack's behavior may seem strange, but once you consider just how close she was with her family, It's completely understandable.

She had grown up and lived in Ponyville all her life, born and raised on Sweet Apple Acres. Her parents had died suddenly, one year after Apple Bloom was born, and with Granny Smith already getting on in age, AJ had bravely taken up position as mom and raised her foal sister with little help.

Applejack made darn sure that Apple Bloom didn't just see her as a disciplinarian, but also as a confidant, playmate, and an average sister. In fact, AJ probably knew her sister better than she did...

All this only served to double the pain of forceful separation.

Between fits of sobbing, she told Fluttershy this story as the pegasus listened silently.

Fluttershy whispered "I'm sorry", continuing to massage Applejack. The element of kindness did not point out or hide the single tear shed for her friend: Empathy is an important part of kindness, after all, and is best served with little attention made towards it.

She waited until Applejack calmed down to silence, and a bit longer, only then drawing her words from the times her friends had encouraged her.

"We're all stuck here. You're not alone."

"...I know."

"We all had to cry once we knew."

"...Yeah."

"Some of us had to cry more than the others. You can cry more if you need to, but do you?"

"No."

"Good. Now get up."

"...nnmuh?" The phrase was strange coming from Fluttershy, but it wasn't unwelcome.

"Get up and stand tall. You're part of the Apple family."

Applejack poked her tear stained face out of the sleeping bag. "Yeah."

"No Apple I've known cries without doing something about their grief."

Applejack pulled herself out and stood shakily on four hooves. "No they don't."

Fluttershy rose next to the well built mare, and put an encouraging smile on her face. "Good. Now put that stetson on your head and do something about it."

Applejack looked hesitantly at the stetson.

"...Applejack, you never once failed your sister, you haven't failed me yet, and I'm certain you won't now. I have faith in you."

She fixed the stetson on her head with renewed confidence. "As long as I'm an Apple, I won't just cry over my problems... I'm gonna do something about them, and I'm gonna start today!"

Fluttershy embraced Applejack, and then let her off to go about finding something to do about her problems. She quickly turned to Twilight, who was a spectator for the whole thing, with a wide, hopeful grin.

"Twilight! Did you see that? I must have been so encouraging, wasn't I? Did I help her?" she quickly spoke, fidgeting on her hooves in excitement.

Twilight giggled both at the spectacle of the excited-usually-shy pegasus, and with joy for her friend. "You helped a lot, Fluttershy. She's back the way she was."

Fluttershy let out a joyful little squeak, did a graceful loop in the air... And promptly fell asleep again.

Twilight chuckled, tucking the sleep-deprived pegasus back in bed. Afterwards, she trotted off to see what needed to be cleaned, organized, or otherwise fixed up about the apartment. Chances are, it was the massive dent in Louis's bedroom wall.

Man... I'd KILL for friends like that!

I had just seen one of the most heartwarming things I had ever seen in a long time.

It had probably softened and increased the size of my cardiac tissue three fold, for all I knew.

I headed into the kitchen to make my breakfast (sans bacon).

"NO."

"Pinkie, what do you mean, no?"

Pinkie Pie stood in my way to the kitchen. She seemed adamant about letting me in.

"I joined the Sugar-Cube Corner workforce to COOK, and now I don't have THAT kitchen. I'll go CRAZY if I don't bake something yummy once a day, so I'm just going to commandeer yours, soldier!"

"But... My eggs... I LIKE those on the weekends! (and what's with 'soldier', anyway?)"

Pinkie's stubborn glare transformed into a smile much like someone makes when they're hiding good news to excite someone else.

"Forget your silly eggs: I'm making quiche!"

"What? What's quiche?"

From her footstool, she stroked my cheek with her hoof (much like a person does with their mopey dog), wearing a pitying expression.

"You poor deprived creature... It's only the BEST POSSIBLE breakfast food POSSIBLE! You're gonna love it! now OUT! OUT!" Pinkie proceeded to headbutt me in the shins. I suddenly found myself very interested in the living room, and a small pink monarch now ruled over the kitchen.

"That was my kitchen..." I dejectedly called out.

Pinkie responded cheerfully: "Well my first decree as monarch of the kitchen is that YOU MUST SHARE!"

"Did you read my mind?" That was too uncanny.

"Pinkie sense!"

Oh, okay. Much better. A monarch that I couldn't possibly dethrone.

I peaked over Twilight's shoulder. She had a site that I didn't recognize open on my laptop.

"Learn anything?"

She gave a small shrug. "It's not quite 8:00, so I've done some alternative research for entertainment."

"So what have you got open?"

"It appears to be a public forums (of course I've only learned what one of those was yesterday. I can't be certain if it is), but the topic I've got open is belittling a story aggressively."

"Human psychology is a weird study field. Tell me: Is this story good at all?"

"They've only published the first chapter, but it was well received, and I even find myself liking it."

"Wow. Nice gentleman on the forums. How exactly is he 'belittling aggressively', anyway?"

"He claims the main character to be 'a Mary sue', and at the same time, he says that this character is 'too dumb to live'. This appears to be based on an overly broad conclusion and a singular instance. However, the situation in which he claims the character to be imbecilic makes sense in context, and this 'Mary sue' claim can be disproved in future characterization... Never mind that a character cannot be both things at once."

She scrolled through the post more, running her eyes across the words rapidly. " ...That appears to be the maximum extent of his attempts to find something actually wrong with the story. Virtually every other instance is his correction of supposedly wrong grammar, obviously hate filled phrases taking the story in an unintended direction-"

" Such as?"

" I quote: 'she then tore out her lung with a carving knife and shoved it up her'... uh... butt... Sorry, I didn't want to say that part. '... and threw her out the 5th story window spraying her guts all over the sidewalk'. See? Hate filled."

"Ick."

Twilight continued. "He's also claimed that segments of the story go on too long, although neither I or the other fans have had any problem with them... And to top it all off, He's edited certain segments of the story to make it look worse than it is."

"...That's just evil."

"The worst part is that he claims to be critiquing... but a typical critique contains no bias, and any that does will acknowledge such bias and avoid making it effect his over all impression of the work."

She turned to face me, looking very much confused. "Why do some humans do this?"

I sighed. "There could be many different motivations behind this behavior. Think back to Gabby Gums: The CMC under this pen name were forced to say unkind things about the citizens of ponyville-"

"How do you know about Gabby Gums?"

"The TV show you're featured in, Twi. Now, they were forced to do this by Diamond Tiara... But it seems unlikely that this person is being forced to publish this against his will. More likely, he's cruelly indulging in the privileges that anonymity allows. He probably would never say this to the author's face, when the author could find out his name and directly reticule him in writing, or on the spot."

"Wow. What a coward. I have half the mind to rebuke him right now!"

"Ha ha ha! I'd love to see how this turns out!" I glanced at my watch.

8:00 AM sharp.

"Um, Twilight? I think that'll have to wait for now-"

She held a hoof to her horn, and then turned invisible, trotting out the door.

Having felt the distinct tingle of a beacon forming, Twilight ascended the 11 floors above Louis' apartment, and then leapt onto the fire escape to climb to the roof.

Wow! The beacon he sent must have lay-lines of equivalent power to one of mine! I've never experienced my kind of power from anypony else... Just Princess Celestia's awesome aura. It's kind of eerie to sense this power from somepony else...

She glanced around quickly, not to eager to deal with seagulls that couldn't see her for long. The beacon was dimly lit, and came southwards from the apartment complex: far behind it.

She opened the message, and a wizened old man's voice flowed into her ears.

"Hello Twilight! I must say that I'm impressed that you managed to create three beacons with such powerful lay-lines. It might not even be too far off to guess that your special talent is magic!

...This message's purpose is not for small talk. I have absolutely critical supplies and information being shipped to your location, which I found out by tracking the location of where the beacon was placed.

When next you see Louis, you are to relay this information to him. (Get out your notepad!)

'The Friend in Deed has sent a pre-paid package to you by UPS, due to arrive this evening. It will be large, and you will need to sign for it.'

'The package itself is not significant, but it's contents are essential. Inside it, you will find an antique knife: it is lightweight, and heavily enchanted to have many functions... Much like Doctor Who's Sonic Screwdriver, but also useable as a projectile weapon. It's not recommended for close quarter combat in it's unactivated state, and only a unicorn can activate it. It comes with a holster that only you can remove the knife from.'

'Alongside the knife are two right-hand gloves and six hoof-covers, enchanted to keep the wearer's core body temperature warm, and to prevent frostbite on extremities. The spare glove is for whatever companion you choose to take with you, and the other five hoof-covers are for Twilight's friends, who The Friend in Deed learned about through a voluntary submission mind read directed at her. These are to be worn in addition to whatever warm clothing you will need, and not to be relied upon.'

'In addition, a packet including the instruction manual for the use of the knife previously mentioned and critical information regarding the ponies' accidental entrance into this dimension has been packaged alongside these goods. You are to read this packet as soon as possible'

'Lastly, a copy of 'Supernaturals: Natural Cures that are simply super!' has been included in the package. Twilight will find this useful for both plant life which may have slipped through the dimensional gap, and naturally occurring plant life. I have included footnotes for natural cures to human illnesses as well.'

'Once the package has been obtained and the packet has been read, Prepare to leave with the six ponies and whatever companion you have within a week to the address provided to you in the packet. your purpose for being there will similarly be explained in the packet.'

Twilight, I wish I could reveal my true identity to you now, but I must wait until we meet in person. ...I have a feeling that we will get along swimmingly, considering that we are both high powered mages who love to study. :)"

Twilight briefly pondered how she could hear the emoticon.

"In spite of the pending trouble on our hands, I am looking forward to meeting you in person. See you later!"

The purple unicorn waved her horn at the beacon to send it away, and it exploded. It had probably crossed into the visual spectrum, and it definitely caused car alarms to go off in the distant neighborhood.

Oops! Wow, Twilight! I think you don't need a lot of magic to turn off a beacon...

She grinned sheepishly at the seagull who had settled next to her unaware, and galloped back to Louis' apartment. She arrived invisibly at the doorstep between two humans she hadn't seen before.

Chelsea had arrived at Louis' doorstep at 8:06, knocked, and was waiting patiently. Mr. Thompson, the Landlord of Sandy Shores apartment complex had arrived at nearly the same time. Chelsea was definitely an extrovert, so it was natural to strike up a conversation.

"Cloudy, isn't it?"

"Yup." He gave out a small sniff.

"You know, heh, I'm missing out on an extra credit opportunity being here." She spoke without spite.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'm attending Michigan university, majoring in Psychology. I'm here because my boyfriend thinks he might be nuts."

"I'd say nutty, but crazy never came to mind."

"So what brings you here?"

"I'm the Landlord. I heard complaints of loud noises yesterday, and only now have the time to deal with it."

"Wow. You're quite punctual. Most landlords take a long time to check on complaints."

"I make a point of it."

At this time, Twilight arrived invisible, and sat down in between the two.

"What was the complaint?"

"Loud thumps on the wall. He says it's accidental, but I still have to bill him for possible damage."

The purple unicorn thought back to the huge hole she patched up in the bedroom. She was impressed with Louis' strength.

Chelsea decided to just go through.

Note to self: Don't poke any pegasus awake.

Said action had caused Fluttershy's entire mane and tail to stand on end. She flew into the corner of the room and curled up into a tiny ball, irises contracted to pinpoints, breathing heavily, and shivering uncontrollably.

"Fluttershy, I just wanted to see if you were okay... You looked kinda sick."

She rambled in terror. "The Everfree's finally come to get me... Some big old monster has taken me to it's lair, and now it's going to gobble me up!"

"Fluttershy... It's me, Louis!"

"Don't eat me! I don't taste good at all. I'm just skin and bones! Just look!"

"No! Look! We met yesterday!"

"We couldn't have. I'd have remembered! I'd be dead!" Talking wasn't getting anywhere. I got up and headed for the coat closet.

"What's in there? What's in there?! Please tell me it isn't bees!! Nothing against bees, of course..."

Someone knocked, but I didn't notice, currently concerned with the terrified pegasus.

I threw my winter coat over her, inducing an iconic "scream", followed by considerably calmer, but still deep breaths.

That was just supposed to jog her memory, but it seems to have the same effect as a blanket over a bird cage. Weird.

This unexpected effect made me laugh, as I pulled a corner of the coat up to view Fluttershy's face. "You okay now?"

Fluttershy took a deep breath. "Yes."

"Do you remember me?"

Another breath. "Yes."

"Am I still a monster?"

She took a very deep breath. "You're a very charitable, hospitable, kind, and occasionally dense monster, yes."

"HEY. DENSE?" 'Monster' didn't sit well with me either.

She laughed. "You broke your wall with your head... On purpose! How couldn't you be dense?"

"Fluttershy! I thought you were nicer than thi- Wait."

I turned just to my right, and found out that Rainbow Dash was the one who remarked my head injury. She grinned smugly.

"You two are in so much trouble."

The door burst open in a way that was extremely familiar.

Roughly six minutes earlier, The old man stood in his front yard, feeling very very agitated. The 'inconspicuous' bag wasn't anywhere to be seen, which brought him no end of worry.

He began to walk, not planning on stopping until lunch time. He desperately needed to walk... Perhaps to Sandy Shores apartment complex, even...

...Hmm. Oddly specific destination, but I will go with it.

The old man only knew that the bag was evil. He didn't know, however, that the bag had a mind to it.

It breathed in huge quantities of thaumic energy from the dimensional divide, breathing out a de-hex spell that easily matched the royal unicorn sisters' best enchantments.

It waited, and watched.

At an uncertain time, a bicyclist rode up to it and stopped. It was very interesting to this man.

The man picked it up and stuck it in his backpack. He forgot his previous plan to go to the local bike trail, favoring a little all-terrain into the woods.

It was late at night, but that didn't stop the bicyclist's odd compulsion. He kept biking for four hours, stopping in a typical clearing in the pine trees.

He got off the bike, and decided he didn't want the bag anymore. He simply pulled it out of his pocket, and preformed the usually casual crime of littering.

The bicyclist rode back the way he came, feeling good about his choice of path.

If anyone had known the truth, he'd have received a life sentence.

... But no one did.

...It was just a bag, and it was just a bicyclist who wanted to change up his routine.

"I'm sorry, but the two of us did knock."

"Chelsea!" I jumped up to meet my girlfriend in the front door.

She and the Landlord were staring at the Pink pony who was busying herself at the kitchen moments before.

Pinkie stared back.

"I've gone nuts." The Landlord said simply.

"I can see it too. You're not crazy." Replied Chelsea.

"Are we seeing the same thing?"

"Is it a pink 'my little pony' to you?"

"Yeah."

"We're not crazy."

"No. My whole sense of reality has been flipped upside down, but we're not crazy."

"Yep."

Pinkie waited, and then chose to speak. "Looks like you're done thinking you're crazy! My name's Pinkie Pie! As in Pinkamena Diane Pie, but all my friends call me Pinkie! Which one of you is the Landlord louis talked about?"

The utterly dumbfounded landlord pointed to himself... Slowly. His jaw seemed broken from blunt trauma with the floor.

"That's an awesome mustache, Mr. Landlord! It's like it makes you look more respectable! Oh! Twilight patched up the huge hole, so you won't need to fine Louis anymore!"

Who told her about the hole? First Rainbow Dash, now her! ...Oh... They probably saw it yesterday.

Pinkie turned her focus to Chelsea. "Missy-" She pointed a hoof at me. "-This one is a keeper! I guarantee he'll keep treating you right!" She turned back to her cooking: It was a pastry I didn't recognize.

Chelsea raised a hand towards Pinkie's mane. "May I?" At this, Pinkie flicked Chelsea's nose with her tail.

"I'm real! Just like everypony else! ...Wanna be my friend?" Pinkie begged her new acquaintance.

I stepped up. "I was hoping I wasn't crazy. There was plenty of proof, but you can never be too sure."

Chelsea gave me an unreadable look. "Louis..."

"What? What did I do?"

"This will not go public. If it does, I'm probably going to kill you."

"I'd kill myself if it came to that."

"Louis, this is serious. I don't think an Equestrian would survive a day in the media spotlight."

Twilight revealed herself. "Louis and I have already considered this. We're going to figure out how to go through the reveal process slowly."

"Ohmyfreakinggosh there's two of them." Chelsea whipped around quick enough to blur.

Her reaction makes me wonder why I didn't freak out more.

"Six, actually. I'm Twilight Sparkle. You've met Pinkie coming in. There are four other mares in here: Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and Flutteshy."

Chelsea gave me a glare. "You could have told me there were six of them!"

"Recent development. Look, if I told you each time one appeared, we would have been on the phone all day, and I needed to help them get adjusted."

The Landlord stood staring at me... Then he turned around.

"PINKIE PROMISE!" Pinkie Pie blurted out, getting in his way.

"What now?"

"You need to promise that you won't tell on us! Pinkie promise!"

He turned to me helplessly.

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." I recited, showing the appropriate motions. Pinkie corrected me when befitting.

"You want me to do that?!"

"The pink monarch is not going to let you out of the house unless you recite the Pinkie Promise."

Mr. Thompson turned to his pink roadblock, trying to step over her. All he received was a cold, expectant glare for his trouble.

"*Sigh*... 'Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my-' DAAH OUCH FFFF-"

Pinkie interrupted him with precision timing. "You can go now, Mr. Landlord!" She stepped to the side with a grin.

Mr. Thompson ran off. Man, even if this doesn't work, it's totally worth it to see the stoic man preform a goofy chant!

Chelsea breathed a sigh, turned around to me, and smiled.

"Well... since you haven't been joking with me, I'd like to start meeting these ponies."

It turns out that the four remaining ponies were watching the whole time.

Before I continue, I'll give you a little background.

Chelsea and I have, as you know, been close for a long time. We were friends through grade school, and started dating in high school.

Chelsea was surprised when I told her I was a brony, but she found that my indulgence in a show such as MLP:FIM was inconsequential to our relationship. She has been open minded about the whole brony thing, and had even asked me questions from time to time about the show.

Today was no exception.

We were situated in the living room, having packed the guest bed up ("You didn't clean up all the way! What am I going to do with you?"). Chelsea first asked about how I reacted, and how they reacted, upon first seeing each other.

Twilight: "He shrieked. There's no other word for it." She giggled. "I wasn't much better: I took every opportunity to hide myself for the first 10 minutes we met, because I was so embarrassed about how we woke up!" Another fit of giggles.

"Really embarrassing, wasn't it?" Chelsea remarked.

Twilight was loosing breath from giggling and blushing. She pulled the blanket off the couch in much the same way she did the first time, and hid herself in it. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack were accidentally covered in the comparatively huge blanket.

Pinkie: "Twilight's story was NOTHING! See, I was making something to cheer up the girls after they found out Twi was missing, but I couldn't find the cinnamon. I jumped up to the spice cabinet that the Cakes had in their kitchen, but really REALLY couldn't find it! I got so distracted from searching, that I let the door close behind me, and POOF! No really! Poof! I was over in Louis's spice cabinet!

I immediately knew that it wasn't the Cakes', so I waited to surprise whoever was on the outside and make the my friend! ...I think I may have overdone it..." She smiled in a silly fashion at her friends. This effect was amplified by her apathy towards the position of the blanket: just over her eyes as she sat on her haunches.

"You exploded, Pinkie." I confirmed.

Rainbow Dash: "I fell asleep on a cloud... It's fine. I do it all the time." Rare total honesty! "...So I was sleeping, and then, sometime later, Louis tried to wake me up to get me out of his bathroom.

I know he wasn't trying to hurt me now, but I had him pegged as the bad guy, and gave him a nosebleed... I don't know exactly what I did, but he had me wrapped up in a towel and howling quite loudly for my life."

"You were crying too, Dashie!" Pinkie blurted out.

"HEY! MY STORY!"

"Oookay, I think you're done, Rainbow." I said to get things under control.

Fluttershy: She shifted in her position next to Rarity on the easy chair."I... I was taking care of my animals, because I hadn't done that all day from searching for Twilight, and I ran out of bird feed... So I headed to my shed to get some more...

I hadn't even put my teeth on the hatch, when everything went dark... and cramped... and... and stuffy... and something heavy fell on my tail, scaring me a lot.

I called out for somepony, and Twilight opened the door to the coat closet I had gotten in. I probably hadn't been so happy to see Twilight in my life, but I ran back in to hide from Louis when I first met him...

He was so big and strange to me, that I thought something from the Everfree had stuck me and Twilight somewhere to eat us later.

She grinned sheepishly. "He's still big and strange, but he doesn't scare me anymore."

I put a point forward. "...Except when you've just woken up from a bad night."

"Yeah. Right. Sorry."

"Don't sweat it!"

Rarity: "I was in my boutique, trying to work on an order to keep my mind off of the disappearances of my friends. Applejack graciously offered to model for me... Why did you do that, Applejack?"

"I figured friends were supposed to stick together, especially when they lost a friend."

"Oh... Thank you, dear. ...While she was modeling, I found myself to be missing a ribbon I needed for my design. I asked her to wait, and trotted to my supply shelf...

I found myself trotting into someone else's living room. It was very unsettling, needless to say."

Pinkie jumped up and ran full tilt into the kitchen. "THE QUICHE IS READY!"

Silence ruled the moment. "Why did you call Pinkie 'The Pink Monarch'?" Chelsea asked me.

"She's forbidden my entrance into the kitchen... And proclaimed herself as monarch of said area of the house."

"Oh... Do you want to continue your story, Rarity?"

Rarity waved a hoof. "All I have to tell you is that Louis's garments had me very disappointed when I first met him."

"Really? No surprise, shock, terror, hate?"

"Just towards his clothing."

"... Applejack, why don't you tell us what happened with you?"

Applejack: "When Rarity disappeared, and I mean, literally, I ran home likity split, choosin' to just do my chores to keep back my tears. Rarity was gone, and there was nothin' I could do about it.

Of course, I plumb wore myself out and had to just plod my way to Sweet Apple Acres. The day's going ons made sure I wouldn't catch my breath, cuz I had been runin' through town all day lookin' for Twilight, then Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy.

I collapsed on my bed sometime around midnight. When next I woke up, I found myself in someone else's bed next to my friends, and I chose to talk to Louis... Wanted to know how I got here.

I guess he forgot about you guys overnight, cuz when he saw me, he let out quite a mighty yelp! ...And then he said somethin' about room mates... Didn't catch that. It was too loud. I asked him a bunch of questions, but he wasn't as much help as Twilight."

Pinkie galloped into the room immediately once Applejack was finished. She stared at us with a huge grin and wide eyes.

"I hope you're all hungry, because I, Pinkamena Diane Pie, have made A BREAKFAST TO BEAT ALL OTHERS!!!"

We filed into the kitchen to see another glorious feast on the table.

"I already ate..." Chelsea stated quietly.

"Chelsea, with this food, you're not going to want to miss out." I said, sitting down to inhale the delights before me.

I learned what a Quishe was: Delicious.

All individuals seated at the table were completely stuffed. I was certain that I would have to skip lunch Today.

Chelsea got up to leave, when Twilight tugged her back into her seat with a little magic.

"I have some information concerning all individuals present."

She handed me her notebook, opened to a page filled with her neat penmanship. Unremarkable, except that the top said "Beacon's Message".

"Read that." Twilight urged me on.

I read aloud. "A parcel will be delivered to Louis's doorstep this evening, which he must sign for. There is no charge for it's delivery.

It contains an ornate blade enchanted with a high level multipurpose spell, sheathed in a scabbard that only Louis can pull it out of. Only a unicorn can activate it.