Jab. One-two. Weave. Jab.
Jungkook broke out into another brief jog, restarting his countdown from ninety seconds to zero as he focused on the trail ahead. Hitting the end of the count, he stopped again, weaving his head.
Weave. Jab. Jab. Weave. One-two. One-two. Weave. One-two.
“What’s all that supposed to be?”
Jungkook stopped, doing his best to hide his surprise as he searched for the phantom voice’s source.
“Up here.”
He glanced up, his eyes lighting up with excitement.
“Whoa… A flying one!”
The pegasus chuckled to herself as she gestured to her wings.
“Yeah. Awesome, right? Do you not have pegasi where you’re from?”
“Only in storybooks and drawings.”
“Huh. Anyway, whatcha doin?”
Jungkook shrugged. “It’s boxing.”
“Whuzzat?”
“It’s a head-to-head sport. You gotta knock down your opponent using only your hands.”
“Huh? So like pushing them over?”
“Nah. Punching them. Like this—!”
Jungkook jabbed twice, following with a left hook. He lowered his fists and shrugged.
“Yeah. There’s a lot more to it, but…”
“So, it’s like fighting?”
“Sort of. It’s more like competing rather than fighting.”
“That’s… really weird. Fighting for sport.”
The human rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Well, it goes a bit deeper than that… I think it’s really freeing.”
The pegasus cocked her head. “I always thought fighting just hurts ponies’ feelings and bodies.”
Jungkook shook his head. “I mean, it hurts when you get hit. Don’t get me wrong. But to give something your all—to have to stand your ground and prove yourself against an opponent doing the same thing… I feel like there’s something really pure and noble about it all.”
“Huh. I guess I can see where you’re coming from.”
The pegasus stuck out a hoof. “I’m Rainbow Dash, by the way.”
“Oh, hello—I’m Jungkook,” the human replied, bowing and taking her hoof in both hands, “Nice to meet you.”
“Why do you bow like that?”
“Oh, it’s how I say hello.”
Rainbow turned her head the other way. “Weird.”
Jungkook chuckled. “I don’t think I can even be offended at that considering the circumstances.”
“Anyways, do you play other sports?”
Jungkook tapped his chin thoughtfully, “I kinda like them all, I guess.”
Rainbow gestured to her wings, “So can any humans fly where you come from?”
“There are, but they use machines called ‘airplanes’ to do it.”
“Do you do competitive flying with those?”
“Maybe? I wouldn’t really know much about it—let alone even flying an airplane.”
“Why’s that?”
“Airplanes are pretty hard to fly—they’re really complicated. Never had time to learn.”
“Man. Humans really could use some wings.”
Jungkook looked at the sky wistfully.
“Yeah. I wish I could fly.”
The two stared skyward for a moment before Jungkook shivered.
“You alright?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. Just got cold all of a sudden—I think my sweat’s cooling me off too much.”
Rainbow smirked, “Well, you may not be able to fly, but did you wanna see somepony who really knows how to fly?”
Jungkook spread out his arms, “Show me what you got.”
***
“You have a piano?”
“Of course! I use it for writing songs.”
“Just like Suga-hyung.”
“Exactly!”
“Right… What?”
The pony calling herself Pinkie led Jimin through her spacious room. The entire central tower of this “Sugarcube Corner” had been converted into a large loft boasting a vaulted ceiling. A staircase led to a balcony that overlooked the large bedroom, the large window that Jimin recalled seeing on the tower’s exterior bathing the area in gratuitous natural light. The vibrant pink and purple hues worked in unison with the cream walls and pastel blue floors, giving everything the appearance of sugary icing. His nose picked up the faintest hint of bubblegum—a fitting addition for an entirely pink pony.
“Anyways, I’m glad you decided to help me with what I have in mind!”
“I hope I can help.”
“It’s actually writing a song for your party!”
“Party?”
“Your ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party!”
“Oh, you don’t have to…”
“Of course I do! You’re BTS!”
“I mean… Wait, what?”
“And you came to visit Ponyville! I never thought you’d be right here in my backyard!”
“You know about us?”
“Who doesn’t? You’re famous everywhere! And what would be more fun than writing a song with one of you!”
“But how do you know about…?”
“Oh, silly! I’ve been around since the beginning! I’ll never forget that debut performance. I loved how you were all little edgy teens back then!”
“Oh, dear… You watched our debut…”
“And the way you flashed those abs!”
“Aish…”
“And the way you used to make everyone yell your name when you introduced yourself, so funny!”
Jimin slumped against the wall, cradling his face in his hand, “Ahh… You remember that, too…”
“I’d say I’m your biggest fan! At least in Ponyville. Or probably Equestria. Maybe even this entire plane of existence!”
“Well, thank you for supporting us. I’m glad you like what we do.”
“And thank you for discovering that interdimensional portal to Equestria and making this collaboration possible!”
“You’re… welcome?”
“Now, back to the song! As much as I would love to cover one of your songs, we have to be careful here…”
“Oh? Is there a law in Equestria about that?”
“No… I can’t say exactly where, but let’s just say it’s against the rules to write lyrics of a copyrighted song here.”
“I’m sorry but I am very, very lost.”
“No worries! Thinking out loud! Now, for the song, I had some lyrics that I drafted a few hours ago!”
“Weren’t we all in that meeting together? How did you draft out lyrics?”
“Easy! In my head, silly-billy! Here we go!”
The piano began to plonk out a familiar melody as Pinkie sang with gusto.
Raise your hooves, party’s on! Courtesy of your friend, Pinkie!
Bangtan walkin’ into town, Ponyville’s the place to be!
Cupcakes, great bakes, stuff your face—everypony groovin’ on!
Tell your friends, tell your folks that it’s time to party till the break o’ dawn!
The mare spun on the seat, beaming a dazzling smile.
“Whatcha think, Jimmy?”
“Whoa. That sounds great. And that’s the melody to—!”
“Don’t spoil it, Jimmy! Anyways, we gotta keep going! We have a ways to go!”
“Wait, spoil it for who? I think you’ve lost me again…”
***
“Wow! Wow-wow-wow!”
The human’s eyes spun and danced as they followed Rainbow Dash carefully through the sky—the pegasus’ wild turns and dives holding Jungkook’s rapt attention.
Suddenly, he realized she was headed straight for him.
Unsure of what to do, he bent his knees and tensed his body as Rainbow came closer and closer—her silhouette pulling up just above ground. His jaw dropped as she began to trot along the ground, keeping her wings outstretched as she hovered just low enough to keep the illusion of her trotting at over a hundred kilometers an hour.
In the blink of an eye, she was less than ten meters away—the mare banking sideways and breaking away from her approach. Her wake slammed into the unprepared human, Jungkook holding up his arms to protect himself from the wave of condensed air crashing over him as she passed by.
Turning around, he watched as she flared her wings out to slow herself to a stop. Hovering back over, she tossed her mane as she grinned.
“Whaddya think?”
“Wow… You’re amazing.”
“Right?”
“How long have you been flying like that?”
“Ever since I was a little filly.”
“No wonder. Makes me think of how good I could be at a lot of things if I just kept at it as a kid.”
“Was there anything you did that you wish you kept up with?”
“Yeah, actually. I used to want to be a professional badminton player.”
“Huh? Like the one with the little ‘birdie’ thing you hit with a racket?”
“That’s the one.”
“Wow. You’re weird, Jungkook.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
Rainbow stifled a giggle, “You go from ‘fighting for sport’ to wanting to be a world famous badminton player.”
Jungkook shrugged, still unfazed, “That was a long time ago. Not long after I decided to become a singer instead.”
“Pfft, and how’s that working for ya?”
“Better than I could have dreamed.”
“Wait, really?”
“Weren’t you at that meeting this morning where we explained all of this?”
“Eh, it was still too early for me to function.”
The human couldn’t help a smile, “At least that’s something we had in common.”
“Hey, why don’t you show me how you do that thing you were doing.”
“You mean earlier? My shadowboxing?”
“Whatever you were doing with your hands.”
“Oh, sure. You gotta stand on two legs, though…”
***
“Pinkie… I’m not sure what this has to do with party planning…”
“Shh!”
Jimin frowned, crouching in the bushes next to Sugarcube Corner. It had been a blast writing the song with Pinkie Pie (not to mention she was a musical savant) but as soon as the writing concluded she had rushed downstairs, leaping into the flower garden and beckoning him over. That was almost five minutes ago—the pink pony refusing to explain their actions any further.
“Here they come… Get ready!”
“What? How? What are we even doing?”
Jimin fell silent as he heard footsteps nearby. They were getting louder, closer.
With a burst of confetti and a cacophony of party horns (from where, Jimin had no clue), Pinkie burst from the foliage ahead of him. Instinctively, he stood up—an apologetic smile crossing his face as he stared at the yellow earth pony in front of him.
“YOU’VE JUST BEEN SERVED! TONIGHT! TOWN HALL! BE THERE! PINKIE OUT! C’MON, JIMMY!”
“I’m sorry! Sorry! Sorry!”
Jimin’s apologies faded into the distance as the two beat a hasty retreat to a nearby alleyway between two houses—both panting to catch their breaths.
“Nice one, Jimmy!”
“What… What was that?!”
“Invitations, Jimmy! Only three-hundred twenty-one to go!”
“Wait, we’re giving them out individually?!”
“Yeah! Here. Take half!”
“Whoa! Hey!”
“Meet back here in an hour! Good luck!”
Fumbling with the large stack of envelopes, Jimin turned to reply to a Pinkie-shaped dust cloud.
“Man… This feels like another day in Run BTS…”
***
“Hey! Namjoon!”
“Yoongi!”
The leader took a seat next to Suga—the human having sat at the foot of a large fountain in the park. A few ponies frolicked in the grasses nearby but all of them kept a respectful distance. The two humans watched them with idle curiosity as they talked.
“How’d it go? The interview with the purple one?”
“You mean Twilight? Yeah, it was good. Just had some lunch over at a café.”
“Ah. I should get something to eat there, too. What’d you have?”
“They had eggs on the menu, so I got an egg salad sandwich. Pretty good—I’m wondering if their palates are similar to ours.”
“Oh, interesting.”
“Were you able to get something to eat? Twilight gave me some money if you haven’t.”
“I’m okay. Appetite hasn’t come back yet.”
“Really? You sure that’s normal?”
“Too excited to eat. It’s a lot to take in.”
“I see. Well, take a few bits just in case.”
Suga winced as several warm coins were pressed into his hand.
“Were you holding these the whole time?”
“My pants don’t have pockets and my jacket pockets are shallow so I had to hold the coins in place while walking.”
“Gross… Thanks.”
“Sure.”
“Oh, I should tell you. One of the Princesses told me about the thing that brought us here.”
“That magic staff?”
“Yeah. Listen to this. We’re stuck here.”
“For how long?”
“A week.”
“A week?!”
“Yep. It’s gotta ‘recharge’ before we can use it to go back.”
“Man… There’s no telling what’s gonna happen while we’re gone…”
The two sat there for a moment longer before suddenly shivering.
“Man… Kinda cold.”
“You, too?”
“Yeah. What was that…?”
“Rapmon! Yoongi!”
RM and Suga looked up at the approaching Jimin, their smiles dissolving into confused stares as they eyed his giant stack of envelopes.
“Uh… Hey, Jimin. What’s with the letters?”
“Invitations for our welcome party.”
“We’re having a welcome party?”
“Pinkie Pie’s throwing it.”
“The pink one that abducted you?”
“Yoongi.”
“Sorry. Whisked you away?”
“Better.”
“She’s like a cartoon character come to life.”
RM and Suga took a look around, the ponies nearby talking amongst themselves.
“Yeah. Lot of that going on.”
“You guys doing okay?”
“Yeah. You get anything to eat?”
“Pinkie’s host family runs a bakery so I ate there.”
“Bakery? So like breads and pastries?”
“I think just pastries. I’m on the mother of all sugar highs right now.”
“Man. Finding proper food here is gonna be hard.”
“Anyways, I gotta run. Still gotta give out all these invitations.”
“Give some to us. We can hand some out.”
Jimin dropped half of the stack on the spot, jogging off.
“Thanks guys! See you at the party!”
RM and Suga collected the fallen envelopes, each opening one to inspect the card inside.
“Where is this party, anyways?”
“These envelopes are adorable.”
***
“Oh! Taehyung!”
“Seokjin!”
“Hey, Flutters!”
“Hello, Applejack…”
The two groups converged, each toting various items. V and Seokjin bowed to the ponies accompanying their fellow member.
“Hello, I’m Jin.”
“Hello, I’m V.”
Applejack and Fluttershy nodded, reciprocating with greetings of their own.
“Nice to meetcha. I’m Applejack.”
“And I’m… Fluttershy…”
“What were you two up to,” Applejack began, gesturing towards V and Fluttershy.
V nodded to the yellow pegasus with a gentle smile.
“Well, you see… Angel Bunny had a mean streak and threw a rock at Mister V while he was walking in the woods near my cottage. When I came out to reprimand him, Mister V said hello, and… We ended up having tea… It was wonderful.”
“Wow… I’m envious, Taehyung.”
“Sounds mite peaceful, Fluttershy. Glad you two are gettin’ along alright.”
“And what’s in the cart, Applejack?” Fluttershy gestured towards the crate on the earth pony’s vendor cart.
“Jin helped Granny Smith with the largest batch of apple cider donuts since Shinin’ Armor’s weddin’. Ain’t seen anypony work with Granny so well. Or scream that high.”
“Sounds like Jin,” V chuckled quietly.
“You should’ve seen her, Taehyung. It was like my life was on the line,” Jin sighed.
“Prolly was,” Applejack mused. “Donuts turned out great, though!”
“So those donuts must be for the…”
“Yup.”
“Should we…?”
“Sure.”
“Should you what? What’s going on,” Jin ventured.
“We’re throwin’ ya a welcome party. Figure we’d tell ya since I see the invitations are already goin’ out.”
She nodded towards a pink pony cranking what appeared to be a cannon attached to a bag of envelopes. The mare gave a maniacal cackle as ponies scrambled for cover from the automatic onslaught of pastel-pink party invitations.
“THAT’S RIGHT! RUN, PONIES! RUN TO THE PARTY! TONIGHT! TOWN HALL! HEEHEEHAHAHA!”
Jin and V stared in awe as the terrifying spectacle unfolded before them while Applejack and Fluttershy continued talking.
“I didn’t get to talk much with ‘Ginny’ here, but Granny said he’s a good ‘un.”
“Mhmm. Mister V was very sweet and patient. He also has a dog like yours, Applejack.”
“Really? Well, ain’t that somethin’.”
Applejack looked over the two humans gasping in horror at Pinkie’s antics in the town square ahead.
“Guess the Princesses were right about trustin’ these folks. They really don’t mean us any harm.”
“I wonder what they’ll think of the party.”
“Judgin’ by how enthusiastic Pinks is handin’ out these invitations, I think we’re in for quite a night.”
***
“Whoa. What’s going on?”
“Beats me. C’mon! Let’s take a look!”
Jungkook jogged into the town square as he followed Rainbow Dash towards the crowds, eyeing the stage with interest as numerous ponies milled about. He spotted some familiar faces standing tall above the throngs of miniature horses.
“Jungkook! Just in time!”
“Over here!”
Following the voices of his members, he joined them at the foot of the stage—Rainbow Dash still following close behind. As she approached, a wave of greetings rolled out from the group.
“Oh, hello…”
“Hello.”
“Hello, nice to meet you.”
“Hello, hello.”
“Hi, there.”
“Hey, guys. What’s happening,” Jungkook inquired, eyes still on the stage.
“Well, it’s a—!”
“Shh! It’s starting.”
A fog rolled out from the stage, blanketing the front row in an ominous cloud. A few surprised gasps and cries rang out as a mysterious figure appeared in the mists.
At least, mysterious to the ponies present. For the humans, it was pretty obvious it was their missing member.
“Jimin?”
Their seventh bandmate walked onstage, smiling and waving. He held a microphone up to his lips.
“Hello everyone! Thank you for coming!”
“What’s he doing up there? I didn’t think he was gonna be a part of it.”
“I want to be a part of this performance…”
“Shh! Let him talk…”
“On behalf of my group, BTS, I wanted to thank you for the warm welcome you’ve all given us. You’ve humbled us with your generosity and willingness to accept individuals so different to you with open arms. For that, we are all very, very thankful.”
A round of polite applause broke out, the peculiar sound of numerous clopping hooves having a bass ring in comparison to the clapping of hands.
“I am sure many of you are wondering what we do back in our world. That is a question I can answer for you… with a demonstration!”
He pointed to his left—a white pony with a frizzy mane of alternating blues and bizarre sunglasses grinning back at him.
"Music!”
As a basic snare kick began to play, all the members began to look at each other with confusion.
It was their song, Dynamite.
A spotlight shone from an unknown source—landing on a pink pony astride a large platform situated on top of an enormous blue cake emblazoned with their symbol: two doors opening outward.
The guitar riff kicked in as Jimin and the pony began to sing together.
We wel-come you to Equestria!
It’s-time-to have some fun, turn the music up!
Raise your hooves, party’s on! Courtesy of your friend, Pinkie!
Bangtan walkin’ into town, Ponyville’s the place to be!
Cupcakes, great bakes, stuff your face—everypony groovin’ on!
Tell your friends, tell your folks that it’s time to party till the break o’ dawn!
Smi-les all a-round ya,
Can’t believe you came and found us! (Woo-hoo!)
Now you get to hang out
With the ponies of Eque-stria! (Huh!)
Music gettin’ loud! Gotta sing it out! Never had a doubt—!
That Pinkie knows how to party! (Hey!)
So let’s go!
We wel-come you to Equestria!
It’s-time-to have some fun, turn the music up!
Shake your tail and feel the beat, it’s Jimin and Pinkie!
Join the night of dancing in the streets. (Woah-ooh-oh!)
Pandemonium descended upon the town square. Ponies sang and danced as the music continued on, Jimin and Pinkie belting the melody with all of their might. The members all nodded approvingly as they heard their song in a new light.
“Yeah! That’s my boy!”
“Man, when did they write all this?!”
“Not bad, not bad.”
“Get it, Jimin!”
“I love how they sound together!”
“Jimin! I LOVE YOU!”
Rainbow cringed as she watched them cheer on their bandmate, finding her secondhand embarrassment slowly overcome by mirth as the performance eventually concluded—the town square filling with cheers and whoops as Jimin and Pinkie bowed, both waving as they started to walk offstage.
“Thank you! Hope you enjoyed our song!”
“Everypony enjoy the party! Snacks and drinks courtesy of the Apple Family and Sugarcube Corner!”
As the two exited the stage, the music increased in volume as the familiar rock beat of Dionysus began to play.
“How did she get all of our music?” RM yelled above J-Hope’s intro.
“We should ask her to feature on an album in the future,” J-Hope mused before making a beeline for the masses forming at the snack tables.
“Food! Be right back,” Jungkook exclaimed, following J-Hope to the snacks.
“Get me a plate,” Suga yelled after them before returning to the group.
“So that’s what you guys sound like,” Rainbow Dash hollered to the remaining members. RM nodded.
“More or less. It’s the biggest part of what we do next to interacting with our fans.”
“Maybe we can organize a performance in the future. Suga, can you talk with that DJ and work something out?”
“Maybe if they ask us we’ll set something up but no need to assume they’ll even want us performing for them.”
“I dunno; they sounded pretty hyped after that performance.”
“Hey guys!”
Jimin leapt off of the stage, landing in the midst of his members. They all began patting him on the back both literally and figuratively.
“That was awesome. Proud of you.”
“I wanted to be up there with you so bad.”
“Tell Pinkie that she’s got a good voice.”
Jimin held up his hands, his eyes sparkling with excitement.
“Guys! Guys! She knows who we are! She knows BTS!”
“Wait, what?! How?!”
“I didn’t think we were so famous that other planes of existence would hear about us.”
“Ask her if she has a favorite member.”
***
“Check this out.”
“This’d better be good… I have work in five hours…”
“Just listen!”
Allie passed Sadie the laptop as her eyes grew wide with concern. Sadie watched the screen intently, her tired gaze resting on the subtitles at the base of the video.
“…mysteriously disappeared. It’s been almost fifteen hours since the initial loss of the legendary idol group. Rescuers have yet to find any signs of their whereabouts. It is unknown if this is the result of a kidnapping or simply unfortunate circumstances leading to their disappearance. If you or anyone has heard any information pertaining to the whereabouts of BTS, please contact your local law enforcement immediately.”
Sadie looked to Allie, her mouth open in shock. Allie could only nod.
“It’s already all over WeVerse. No VLives since the incident, either. It’s real.”
“Oh my god.”