//------------------------------//
// Queen me 
// Story: The Anti-Friendship Lesson 
// by Ezekiel Namuh 
//------------------------------//

"Alright then... Now what?" Ty  groggily thought out loud. You usually aren't ecstatic about needing to wake up from some of the only 'sleep' (as in getting knocked unconscious AGAIN) you've gotten for the past few days, especially when you're stuck under a tree.

Ty mumbled a bit to himself before trying to lift the rotten hunk of wood off him. You can tell how well that went, as neither the tree or himself moved.

Ty sighed in frustration. He decided to sit there for a bit, not that he really had a choice. And when people don't have a choice, they tend to lose their positive attitude relatively quickly. 'Oh, man. What have I been thrown into? I'm stuck in a horse body, in a horse world, without a horse mind. Now I've gone and made myself look like a terrorist by not just pretending I lived here in the first place, and instead I kept running away from any pony who came near me. Is that all I'm going to be doing, running from the six ponies that have repeatedly saved their world before? They'll probably be even madder if the CMC or Bon Bon got their word to them. I'm probably considered just another antagonist to be blasted by the elements, the bearers being 'All your knowledge are belong to us', 'Random creep gets hurt-no more questions', 'Lying is for sinners-no, I don't care why they're lying', 'Be my friend or suffer the consequences', and the two mares who don't have many problems other than for the love of my God himself voice your opinion for once. Pinkie isn't that bad either'

At least I'm probably in the right, and maybe some other villain cropped up. Then once they're done with them they'll forget about me. I could just sit around in the Everfree, and the Lord knows I'm not staying in Ponyville, land of all those cartoon physics I don't have. I'd be killed there, if their opinions of me now don't change. But knowing me, they'll probably get worse.'

'To top it off, Celestia probably isn't even telling them off for this. After all that, and of course she's going to side with the elements. As for now, I'm getting desperate. Hopefully Lyra's still around.'

"Hello?" He shouted. Or maybe Ty would get another response.

He did get a response, but Ty didn't think those crickets would be of much use. The crickets did cover up a sound similar to someone saying "eggs", but Ty didn't pay much attention to it. Maybe the word was "begs." Or "legs." Perhaps even "questionaires." What? RhymeZone said they all rhymed...

"Help!"

Still nothing.

"*Sigh* One more try to get out," Ty groaned as the weight on his back was starting to get more painful. He tried his magic again. He was able to lift a very small amount of dust with it, so maybe he'd gotten better over time.

The area around him filled with that familiar blue and purple glow, although Ty swore there was much more blue than purple when he last used it. It was roughly 50/50 this time, maybe even more purple. But that wasn't what he was focusing on. He intended to get this log off of him. Of course, the tree barely moved.

Ty groaned in exhaustion. "So I can't pick up large objects, I can pick up small objects like particles of dust or sticks, and weird light blue flower bits explode the moment I try to grab them. Good to know, very unhelpful." Ty muttered. His head was the only thing he could even move, as everything else was pinned under the tree.

"Maybe if I try really hard, I can teleport out of this place. I haven't studied magic or have any idea how it works, so it's a fool's hope. But I am a fool and technically a foal, so It might apply. Even if they say 'foal's hope' or something like that."

Ty closed his eyes and concentrated. He'd done magic before, but he'd also had bad luck with it. He almost definitely wouldn't get it to work, and if he did he'd probably teleport into the wall of Ponyville bank. But he needed out and this was one of his last options aside from waiting.

The familiar multicolored glow filled the air again. He heard the semi-familiar chime of magic start, before it began to intensify. Ty wasn't completely sure if he was close to getting it, but he did feel something working. Eventually his concentration was broken by a light thud. His eyes shot open and took in the surrounding area. The first thing he noticed was the tree on his back. The second thing he noticed was that he hadn't moved. The last thing he felt was a burst of wind from above him that shot directly downward onto him.

Frantic, he looked up at where the wind came from. The only things he saw were a rapidly fading aura from his magic and a red and gold streak in the sky, probably from some pegasus learning to fly.

Somewhat disappointed he didn't see much to be intrigued in as the streak had already faded, meaning the pegasus was gone, he lowered his head and rested his chin on the ground. His muzzle ended up facing right beneath the origin of the wind. And right in that spot was something that caught his eye.

"Where did this come from?" Ty questioned as he attempted to pull the metal object closer to him. It was a yellow disk split in two and connected with a hinge. It also had an engraving on the front, looking like someone tried to make a hummingbird, but messed up and ended up making some Frankenstein abomination of a hummingbird, toucan, and cardinal mixed together.. And it certainly hadn't been there before.

If it weren't for the button on the top, I would've thought it was a frisbee. But Ty is smarter than me.

"Hello? Is this anyone's?" Ty asked no one in particular. 'I should really stop shouting, I don't want to attract any more timberwolves,' Ty thought, before immediately ignoring his own advice.

"Wow, I haven't seen a pocket watch this fancy since my mother and I went on that trip to the Black Hills. This place is really making me miss Earth."

"So that's where you're from..."

Ty froze up.

"*Ulp* How much of that was out loud?"





Celestia was holding her head in her hooves. "So let me get this straight... I send you to Ponyville with the prospect of making friends. You do so well and learn so many friendship lessons that you gain the title of the princess of friendship. And the thing you do with all that knowledge is take a pony who doesn't want anything to do with you, barely consider their reasonings behind running from you, unlawfully imprison them, and then attempt to force them into a friendship with you?"

Twilight chuckled nervously. "Well, uh, we actually don't know why he keeps running."

Celestia frowned. "One of many things you have so idiotically forgotten."

She looked almost offended. "What do you mean by that?"

"He told you himself. Remember the conversation he had with you a moment ago?" They all nodded. "Then you remember what he has been through. Even though Ty was lying about a few things, he has a reason. Ever since Ty woke up in the Everfree, with no knowledge of how mind you, he has been running from things. It's gotten to the point where he felt the need to run from fillies."

The mares shifted their hooves around, memories of Ty's off putting conversation topics only just coming back.

Celestia scowled. "And his already degenerative state isn't being helped by your downright ludicrous antics. You girls need to consider the moral implications of what you do, before you do it. You can't expect him or any other pony to think higher of you for enacting justice on pure opinion and bias. He is just another pony, only with a different mind. One that is being shaped by how he is treated."

Celestia sighed. "Now, I know this isn't like you so I'm going to give you another chance. But this time, be more considerate. He's not at his best right now, so give him some comfort. Give him a reason to befriend you, instead of trying to force it on him."

"But why should we?" Applejack asked. "If he's been lyin' to us about nearly everything, how are we supposed to trust him?"

Rainbow flew in front of her. "He's what?"

Applejack froze, then chuckled nervously. "Oops. Ah guess I should've said this earlier, but yeah. Ty's lied about a ton of stuff."

"Which is exactly my point," Celestia interrupted. "They keep lying and running because Ty isn't... well in the head, not being helped by you. And because now I'm not asking."

"O-Okay, then. I guess we'd better get going." Fluttershy piped up from the back as she started to slip out the door.

"What?" Celestia asked before she could get all the way through. "Did you think I was done with you?"

Fluttershy turned back nervously. "Well, I-I guess-"

"HAHAHAHA-NO!"

"What in all of Equestria were you six thinking!? Have you gone insane or are you all seriously just that stupid!?" Celestia turned and slammed a door behind her, presumably one to a broom closet. "The six of you need to get a grip instead of blindly doing whatever just so the ones above don't have to be creative! This place bucking sucks, you ruined it, I'm gonna go drink-"

Accompanied by a loud bang, Celestia was interrupted by a bright flash emanating from her side of the door. Twilight slowly and nervously opened the closet again, only showing extremely dark scorch marks on the inside. Likely the result of a hasty and angry teleport.

"Well that's not very reassuring," Pinkie muttered.

None of them really knew what to do after that. "Let's just... uh... go," Rainbow suggested, getting various muttered agreements from mares who kind of just wanted to leave.

The six of them walked out of the library, not entirely knowing what to do next. But this story would be somehow more boring than we already think it is if they just stood around for an hour, so let's up the danger by adding some children.

All shouting in carefully prepared imperceptible gibberish, the three afore-implied fillies tumbled out of the forest that the bright founders of Ponyville decided to live next to. Thanks, Granny Smith. You went senile at 60. MONTHS.

Anyway, if you could call the holocaust a 'little' issue, then the elements were a little confused.

"Applebloom?" Applejack rushed over to attempt to pull her sister out of the panic pretzel. She succeeded rather quickly, holding her in front of her while she was still squirming around like a lion cub. "What has gottten into you?"

As Rarity and Rainbow went to get their respective crusaders, Applebloom began explaining their experience with the grace and style of a desperate politician. Making absolutely no sense. For the safety of your eyes and a certain someone else's sanity, her attempt to relay her message in babbled (accidentally) demonic tartarus-talk will not be written.

It will be translated though.

"Weird [flipping] demon [thing] from [Hell]! That [abomination] made a [darn] dust devil an' tried to [wreck our [stuff]]! Now we gotta [run fer the hills] before-"

A Stetson in her mouth stopped her from going too far.

"Applebloom! Language! Y'all remember why we've been growing that Jonathan tree ever since our ancestor George Appel discovered the baked apple vinegar you can make from them?"

"No!" Applebloom pleaded. "Don't make me eat a Jonathan!"

Applebloom's further hysteria was cut short by Applejack, who sighed in exasperation. "It's okay. You were panickin', I can forgive that."

"Who's George Appel?" Sweetie asked the adults near her.

Twilight was perfectly inclined to flex her knowledge again. "He was a bank r-" The bookworm's rant was cut short by a wet stetson being shoved over her muzzle.

"Teller! He was a bank teller."

"Ah thought you said great grampy George was a criminologist?" Applebloom asked.

"Uh..." Applejack's green eyes darted back and forth. "Hey, uh, how about y'all tell us more about that thing that showed up?" The element of honesty finished with a smile and scrunched up muzzle.

Applebloom glared for a bit before continuing. "Oh, right! White coat and mane. Looks like Pinkie. Got a busted up cutie mark. And apparently it was... Was she a mare or a stallion, gals?"

Scootaloo and Sweetie just shrugged confusedly, both giving the exact opposite answer. Very nonchalant when compared to the others' reactions.

"That's Ty!" Twilight exclaimed. Good job Twilight, we never would have figured it out without you.

"Did he hurt you fillies at all?" Applejack sternly asked.

Luckily for Ty, the crusaders were much more sensible than they might appear. Children don't get enough credit. "No, he just kinda' blew some wind around and told us to go away," Scootaloo answered. "Honestly, it was our fault he got that way since we just kinda showed up and started yelling things. But then he started getting all creepy and and doing stuff that looked less like a magic act and more like something out of a Jason Vorhooves movie. The ones with the earth pony who does things like teleport and give me nightmares."

"Scoots, all he did was do an impossible feat of nature for an earth pony. We live in the same neighborhood as Pinkie."

"Oh. Right," she muttered against Sweetie's irrefutable logic.

Meanwhile, 20,000 meters west and 19,998 meters east...

"Pinkie... Pinkie... PINKIE! That's it!" Twilight exclaimed, punctuating each word with a hoof-tap to the forehead. She turned to address the party pony, asking, "Pinkie, do you know how Ty keeps doing these things? You've turned up in potted plants before, do you think he's doing the same thing every time he disappears?"

She brought a hoof to her chin in thought. "I dunno' Twilight. It doesn't quite feel the same as when I do it. With me, I feel like I'm just having fun! With him, I just feel he's scared." Pinkie explained further, her next sentence eliciting a look of discomfort from the other elements, "It's like he doesn't like friends, and that's the reason everypony he's met he's run away from. Us, Zecora, the princess, even Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon."

Pinkie's rather astute observations didn't quite get the response anyone wanted, as the first thing that happened was Scootaloo bursting into laughter.

"Seriously!? The pony we met in the most dangerous place in Equestria nearly wet himself because of those snotty brats?" Scootaloo's eyes were watering up for some reason. I don't get it, why is it funny?(Sums up the comedic part of this story perfectly.)

Rainbow added, "Yeah, I found it pretty funny, too."

"Hold on," Sweetie asked. "If he ran away from our classmates, then why didn't he do the same with us?"

None of them entirely knew the answer to that. "He's got to have some kind of pattern to his actions," Twilight theorized. "Some kind of reason why the severity of Ty's actions are escalating."

"You bet your butterscotch he's got a reason!"

Every mare there quickly looked to the source of the voice. A completely drenched and limping Bon Bon being helped along by Lyra. "He's a violent changeling!"

"Bon Bon, you saw what happened with the scan. Whatever happened to me wasn't his fault. He looked shocked, and I'm not exactly a master spellcaster."

"Stop defending him!" Bon Bon whined. She was soon met with the sympathies of a unicorn sprinting up to her.

"Bon Bon?" Rarity looked shocked. "What happened to you?"

"That little love-sucker pushed me off a cliff!" She shouted.

Lyra retorted, "No, he hit you in the eye because you were harassing him. You were completely welcome to fall in any other direction. Besides, I've seen you take much worse than falling into water. Plus, you're faking that limp for sympathy."

"Shut up Lyra."

Twilight decided to butt in and ask, "So he did this in self defense?"

Lyra, hoof over a no longer limping Bon Bon's mouth, interrupted her by answering, "Yes. Once Bon Bon here fell into the river, he calmed down. You know, after I assured him I wasn't going to get him locked in a mental hospital."

Twilight put a hoof to her chin in thought. "Whatcha thinkin' about, Twilight?" Rainbow asked, the others also noticing her calculating expression.

"I think princess Celestia was right," she explained. "The more happens to Ty, the worse his reactions get. He may not have been a villain to begin with, if he thought two random fillies were out to get him.  But he's getting closer, especially if his special talent is anything to go by. And the only way I think we can tell is by observing first-hoof."

"So we find him, and get him help if he needs it?" Fluttershy asked.

"Either that... or it's the rainbow laser for him. It's really up to Celestia. She's the one who rules over him after all," Twilight muttered.

"Hey," Pinkie added. "There's always the middle ground of throwing him a farewell party and letting him try to survive in the Everfree."

"That's... well... that could happen."

"He wouldn't last another day out there," Rainbow said in a vaguely insulting manner.

"Yes, yes, that's a very good point, Rainbow," Rarity added, giving them their last reason to head back into that stupid, stupid forest. Where ambitions go to DIE. Along with a bunch of other things, such as any life that isn't a flipping monstrosity.

"... So, do you guys want to go make caramel?" Bon Bon asked.

"With children?" Lyra asked while holding a hoof to the side of her head.

"We won't get that sticky..." Sweetie ironically muttered, seeing as she was usually the one to get sticky the most.

"No, it's that..." Lyra paused, "You know what? Bon Bon, can you bring these fillies home? I'm going to go practice my lyre," Lyra lied, before she walked away along the edge of the forest and towards her house.





"Hey-Hey... Uh, Rarity?" Ty chuckled nervously, hoping the creature behind him wouldn't take advantage of his situation. "Fluttershy? Is that you?" 'I couldn't recognize their voice, but it sounded familiar. Like Rarity mixed with someone else.'

"What kind of parent would name their kids something as stupid as that?" The voice asked, accompanied by the sound of strange hoofsteps. It definitely sounded feminine. "But that's not why I'm here."

Ty audibly gulped. "Then why are you here? Wait, scratch that. Who are you?"

He heard a short laugh from behind him. The hoofsteps got closer and louder, making it clear whoever walked on them did not have normal hooves. It was right behind the oak before she spoke again. "I have no idea why I'm here in horsey-land, but I think it's because of you. So you tell me where we are, and I help you instead of reporting you to the horses chasing after us."

'Us?' Ty wondered. "Wait, there are..." Ty stopped as he started feeling pressure on the tree pinning him to the ground, whoever was behind him must have been leaning on it. Straining, he focused on answering "Never mind, we're in a place called Equestria. Hi, my name is Ty-OW!"

Ty stopped as whoever was behind him jumped on top of the tree. But through his squinting, he just barely made out the figure looking down at him.

"I KNEW I remembered you! It's me, Amelia!" The black figure Ty now recognized jumped off and started trying to lift the tree off of him with legs littered with holes. He watched her as she attempted to move it, analyzing the transformation she had also went through.

Ty gasped, accompanied by a strange 'poofing' noise from right above him. He swore his mane was bigger than it was supposed to be. Oh, well. More pressing matters at the moment. 'She's the changeling from the wanted poster! And I knew I recognized her voice from somewhere!' "Wait! I know you! Wait, no I don't... Oh, yeah! You're from my school! There are others aside from me here!" he shouted with a slowly widening grin, dampening slightly immediately after. "You're... Caden's girlfriend."

"Totes," she answered in a tone that made Ty cringe. "I'm gonna miss him."

"Please don't remind me," Ty pleaded. Amelia continued to strain herself, making more progress than Ty had, but still no more than half a foot. She was also muttering about his magic, as she didn't know what it was. "Where have you been all this time? Have you met any other..."

Ty trailed off as he heard twigs snapping, each one getting closer to them. The sound of Amelia talking about the pocket watch and something about blue holes faded from his attention, replaced with snapping wood, grass brushing around, and some deflating sound right above him. He saw a flash of color moving through the trees, head covered in something brown.

Ty bit his lip.

"Amelia!" Ty hissed. "Maybe you should go!"

The black, green-eyed changeling looked back at him in confusion. (Don't worry, she got confused a lot, you'll learn more about her later.) "Why? Don't you want me to get this off you?"

"No, just listen," he whispered in a hurried tone. "I saw you on a wanted poster. I don't know what happened to you, but something's going to find you here. So leave before somebody else sees you!"

She looked at him funny while buzzing her insect-like wings before hearing another twig snap, making her decision to go hide somewhere nearby.

"Thanks for distracting those two ponies who were chasing me earlier! I'll be right behind you!" She whispered to him before they both heard the brush in front of them separate. Ty saw a flash of green behind him right before hearing another pony's muffled laughter. His head shot up to his right, finally seeing who had approached them.

"You really ought to stop finding yourself in situations like this, darling."