A strong wind blew through the air as the crystal portal opened up and the Mane Six, along with Spike, Rara, and Erik stepped through to the other side. The moment they all stepped out, the portal closed up behind them leaving them all in this new world that they had stepped into. Looking about their new surroundings, they all noticed they seemed to be standing inside of a small apartment from the looks of it. It was a relatively small and dark living space with a few candles lit around the entire place. There was a leak in the roof with droplets of water falling down into a cast iron pot on the floor. To say the least, it seemed like a crummy place to call home.
“What a dump!” Rainbow remarked.
“Is this what ya were picturin’ in yer head?” Applejack asked her friend.
“Not exactly,” Rara responded. “I was picturing a place where I would be able to sing and shine like I once did.”
“And this is where it sent us?” Spike asked, disappointed. “A rundown old apartment?”
“I don’t think it’s all bad,” Pinkie smiled. “Just needs a bit of sprucing up here and there. You know maybe some new wallpaper and some carpets. You know I was thinking maybe something more modern contempt, something really sheik and fresh you know?”
Every pony and Spike all looked at Pinkie with quirked eyebrows as the pink party pony just shrugged and giggled happily to herself.
“Do I really sound like that when I speak?” Rarity asked.
“I swear the more Pinkie speaks, the less and less sense comes out,” Erik commented.
He looked down toward his wife, who stared wide-eyed at him almost in shock. He was about to question ‘why’ she was staring in such a manner until he realized how diminutive she was next to him. Looking down at himself, he was surprised to discover he no longer had hooves, but hands. He had once again assumed human form much to everyone’s amazement. However, it clearly was not the same form he had when he departed from France.
“Oh my goodness!” Fluttershy gasped.
“You said it Flutters,” Rainbow agreed.
“Erik darling, you look… different,” Rarity spoke, in shock.
“Honestly I prefer Ramin Karimloo’s version of him better,” Pinkie added. “No offense to Gerald Butler fans.”
Erik ran a hand over his face where his mask resided as it always did. A horrid thought came to him. If he had retaken a human form, did that meant he was disfigured yet again? He noticed a small hand mirror on a table close by and quickly scrambled over to pick it up. Holding it up to look upon his face, he slowly and shakily reached up to remove his mask, fearing what horrors lied beneath. Removing his mask from his face, he shut his eyes tightly before slowly opening them again. To his great relief there was no deformity at all, all that stared back at him was a handsome face.
“Thank God I heaven,” He sighed in relief.
Erik rejoined his wife, along with her friends, as they tried to make heads or tails of this.
“Why has Erik taken a human form and not us?” Rarity wondered.
“I think it has something to do with the fact he was human originally,” Twilight theorized. “Seeing as how we’re probably in another human world, it would only make sense Erik would retake his original form.”
“That certainly sparks a ton of questions from our previous adventures,” Pinkie replied.
While in discussion, Spike approached the lone window in the room they were currently occupying, looking toward the streets below. Hundreds of people walked the streets, all of them dressed in old-fashioned clothing. A number of carriages were also being pulled along the streets by horses. It was safe to say they were not in a modern day human world. The question then became where exactly they were.
The sudden sound of a door swinging open made every freeze in place and turn toward a man, a woman, and two small children entering the apartment. The man himself was as tall as Erik, with dark brown hair and matching sideburns. The woman beside him was rather beautiful with blonde hair that went down her shoulders. The two little girls with them didn’t even seem like they were past the age of ten, one of them was the spitting image of their father with brown hair and the other resembled their mother with blonde hair. The family all froze in place when they noticed the colorful ponies, the teenage dragon, and the former opera ghost standing in the midst of their home.
“What are you all doing in my house?” The man asked.
“Who are you?” The woman asked fearfully. “If you’ve come to rob us, we have nothing to give you.”
“No, no, no, it’s not what you think!” Twilight assured quickly. “We aren’t here to rob or hurt you.”
The two parents gasped upon hearing the purple alicorn speak, except the two young girls who both stared at the group in wonder.
“Stay back or I will get the police!” The man warned them.
“Please sir, just give us the opportunity to explain.”
“… And that pretty much sums it up.”
After the initial shock of multi-colored talking ponies in their home, the family originally wanted to run and find the police to deal with this matter. However, the father found himself rather intrigued with them as did the two girls and even eventually the mother. They allowed them to explain their story to them for the past few hours, all listening intently, and with amazed looks upon their faces any doubt they had about these new visitors had vanished.
“That’s certainly quite the story,” The man spoke, amazed. “A magical device that takes you to many different worlds. Almost seems impossible to believe.”
“Buddy, you’re speaking with talking ponies, Pegasi, unicorns, and even a dragon,” Rainbow commented. “Impossible is pretty hard to believe at this point.”
The father himself chuckled at her statement as he nodded his head in affirmatio.
“It would certainly seem that way,” He agreed. “Where are my manners? I haven’t bothered to introduce myself or my family. My name’s Phineas Taylor Barnum, and this is my wife Charity and our two daughters Caroline and Helen.”
“Pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Charity greeted kindly.
“It’s really nice to meet you all as well,” Twilight smiled. “My name is Twilight Sparkle. These are my friends Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Spike, Rara, and Erik.”
All the ponies and Spike smiled and waved toward Barnum and his family, while Erik gave a courteous bow.
“Wow, you all sound really amazing,” Caroline smiled with glee.
“Did you really do all those things you talked about?” Helen asked curiously.
“Yer dang tootin’ there little lady,” Applejack nodded.
“That’s right,” Rainbow agreed. “We’ve fought witches, wizards, monsters, giants, and even ghosts.”
“Sounds amazing!” Charity said amazed. “Like something straight from a book of fairy tales.”
“It sure does, doesn’t it?” Twilight agreed. “Anyway, now that we’re all introduced, why not tell us about yourselves?”
Barnum and Charity looked toward each other with a smile before turning back to the Equestria group.
“Very well,” Barnum agreed. “It all started many years ago, when my father took me to Charity’s home for business…”
<>
(Flashback):
A young Phineas Barnum stood outside a tailor shop as he stared through the display window toward a very fancy-looking red coat and a top hat. Having grown up poor for most of his life, he was not able to enjoy the finer things in life. His father worked as a tailor, but a job such as that did not always provide very much money. This was evident as he looked down at his worn down shoes that were falling apart at the seams with his toes sticking right out the front. Looking back toward the store, he imagined someday having a wonderful life filled with glory and riches. These thoughts were interrupted the moment his father, Philo Barnum, departed the shop.
“I understand, yes,” He informed the shopkeeper. “Thank you so much, Mr. Jeffries. Thank you. You’ll have the money by the end of the day.”
He grabbed Phineas and pulled him down the street.
“Let’s go,” He instructed.
Phineas stopped and looked back toward the shop one last time when the sound of a train whistle blew through the air.
“Phineas, hurry up!” Philo urged his son. “We’re going to miss the train.”
Phineas and his father hopped aboard the train that took them to the other side of Connecticut, where they had business to attend at the Hallet manor. Walking down the road to the manor, Phineas and his father carried their material and supplies needed for tailoring. As they neared the front door, Philo looked down toward his son.
“Stand up straight,” He instructed. “Wipe that muck off.”
Fixing his appearance, Phineas and Philo made their way toward the manor where they were directed toward the sitting room by the master of the house, Mr. Hallet. While Philo aided Mr. Hallet with tailoring his new suit, Phineas was focused on something else entirely. For sitting across the room at the grand dining table was a young girl about his age with blonde hair wearing a lovely blue dress. The young Charity was given etiquette lessons like a proper young lady, all while sneaking glances toward Phineas.
The young Barnum decided to try and make her laugh as he picked up a small wooden dish beside him and placed a winder into the little hole on the top. Placing a small scrap of parchment paper into the cup, he stared back toward Charity and pretended he was sipping a teacup. Charity looked at him curiously as Phineas sucked the paper to his mouth in a rather humorous fashion. This caused Charity to do a spit take, spilling her tea all over her blue dress and they both laughed.
“Charity, come here!” Mr. Hallet spoke sternly.
Charity approached her father, who looked with such disappointment on his face.
“Your dress!” He pointed out. “Is this how we’ve taught you to behave?”
Charity looked toward the ground in shame and poor Phineas couldn’t bear to see her scolded for something he caused. It was then he decided to step into the conversation.
“It’s my fault sir,” He confessed. “I made her laugh.”
Mr. Hallet approached Phineas and stared him down with a blank expressionless face.
“Well… thank you for your honesty,” He said.
*SLAP!!!*
Everyone gasped as Mr. Hallet whacked poor young Phineas right across the face and scowled at him.
“Stay away from my daughter,” He ordered.
Mr. Hallet walked away as he grabbed Charity by the wrist and yanked her after him. All the while Charity looked back at Phineas feeling really bad about what her father had done to him. Phineas looked back at her as well and was feeling both humiliated and also regretful for getting Charity into trouble.
<>
Later that same day, the sun was setting over the ocean as Phineas at down by the beach and just looked out across the water. The sound of footsteps caused him to look behind him and spot Charity approaching him to sit along the sand.
“How’d you get out?” He asked her.
“The window,” Charity responded. “Father is sending me to finishing school. I don’t know what the future will be.”
Phineas looked back at her as a smile spread its way onto his lips.
“I do,” He said.
Focusing solely on each other, though having only just met, Phineas and Charity both knew what this meant as the young boy began to sing.
<>
Soon as the story ended, many of the ponies and Spike had teary eyes at hearing such a romantic story. To think Phineas and Charity defied the odds and came together despite Charity’s parents being against the idea. Now here they were: Happily married with two beautiful little girls. The very thought made Erik wrap his arm around his now much smaller wife and placed a gentle hand upon her stomach. Rarity smiled at him, placing her hoof over his hand as the pair imagined just exactly the same sort of future for them and their child.
“That sure was a very lovely tale,” Twilight smiled. “I’m only sorry Mr. and Mrs. Hallet didn’t approve of you, Mr. Barnum.”
“Don’t worry about them none,” Phineas scoffed. “We stopped caring about what they think a long time ago. This is the life Cherry and I decided to build for ourselves. Nothing is going to change that.”
The two parents smiled at one another before sharing a quick kiss and pulled their little daughters close to them.
“We really appreciate you not bringing the cops in,” Rara spoke appreciatively. “But I think it’s about time we try finding some place to lay our heads for the night.”
The Equestria group stood up and started their way towards the door when Barnum quickly stood up.
“Oh now we can’t in good conscious let you go out with no place to sleep,” He told them. “If you’d like, you’re more than welcome to stay here with us. It may be a little craped, but we can make due.”
The group turned back toward the Barnum’s with appreciative smiles.
“You sure we won’t be a bother?” Rarity asked.
“None at all,” Charity spoke up. “You all seem like very lovely folk, surely we can’t send you out into the streets. So it’s decided, you’ll stay here with us.”
“How can we possibly say ‘no’ to that offer?” Spike responded.
“Simply put, you can’t,” Barnum joked.
Everyone laughed at Phineas’ joke as they gathered together in the living room to talk some more. While the group continued conversing, Rara stayed behind as she approached the window to gaze out toward the evening sky. A gentle hoof came over her shoulder and she turned toward Applejack, who eyed her with great concern.
“Ah know yer worried Rara,” Applejack told her. “But ah promise you, everything will work out in the end. We’ll find a way tah get ya the recognition ya deserve and there ain’t nothin’ and no one that’ll ever doubt you again.”
Rara took a deep breath, as she returned her gaze back out the window.
“I really hope you’re right A.J.,” Rara spoke softly. “I really do.”