Life at school was anything but pleasant, explaining why Percy was often rude to others. He seemed to be the most disliked kid in the school due to the fact that he had minor schizophrenia, with most of his childhood spent in the psychiatrist's office. Additionally, his dyslexia and ADHD worsened the situation, and they seemed to become targets too, as their weird hair, names, lack of modern knowledge, dyslexia, and ADHD made them part of the "freak" crowd.
The bullying meant nothing to them, as they had already had their share of bullies. However, the same could not be said about Percy, as no one seemed to want to be associated with the kid who hallucinated magical creatures from his mom's bedtime stories. But he had two people who were friends, one being Mr. Brunner, a disabled Latin teacher who understood Percy's struggles and was patient. Percy's best friend was Grover, a tanned-skinned boy with black curly hair who was taller than Percy but seemed to be more of a target than Percy. He seemed nervous that they would steal Percy away from him, but they assured him that wasn't going to happen.
After seeing why Percy and he were so close, Grover proved to be one of the best friends a person could ask for. If Percy saw something, Grover calmed him down and pulled him back to reality. He also knew just as much mythology as Percy and played Mytho-Magic, a card game based on those old stories. Rainbow Dash particularly loved the game because it had the Minotaur wearing underwear as a playing card.
As amusing as it was to make light of their iron will, the girls were amazed by the stories, and the boys found them more relatable. The girls were enjoying their time there, but all of that changed when one of those creatures came for them.
A bus could be seen driving across a bridge, and then it stopped on a street across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
A statue's face came into view, along with many other statues of Greek heroes and ancient Greek relics.
"What you see here, they are not fictions. They are not fantasies. What you see here are the truest and deepest parts of yourselves," said Mr. Brunner. "Friends, the gods, the monsters, the heroes are reminders of what we're capable of," he finished.
Percy and the Mane 6 were seen listening with interest to his speech, as other students were too busy talking to each other.
"Now, on your worksheets, I want you to choose one of the subjects you see here and describe it, not just how it looks," said Mr. Brunner as he looked behind a statue and then turned back to the group. “but how it makes you feel.” He clapped his hands, and the students split into groups to do the assignment.
Grover went to one statue and gestured for his friends to follow him if they wanted.
“We'll just focus on our assignment," said Pinkie Pie with a determined look.
Twilight nodded in agreement. "Let's get to work," she said, leading the group to a nearby statue.
As they approached the statue, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but grumble. "I still can't read half the stuff here," she muttered.
Pinkie Pie patted her friend's back reassuringly. "Don't worry, Dashie, we'll figure it out together."
Meanwhile, Percy remained fixated on the statue of Perseus. Fluttershy gently called out to him, "Percy?"
"He's staring at Perseus," observed Twilight, recognizing the hero depicted in the statue by the decapitated head of Medusa.
Rainbow Dash, frustrated with the swirling words, sighed. "I wish I could understand what's written here."
Rarity placed a comforting hand on Percy's shoulder. "Percy, darling," she said, trying to draw his attention back.
Percy snapped out of his trance with a start. "Mom!" he exclaimed, momentarily confused, before realizing where he was.
“I'm right here, sweetie! Mommy ‘s here” said Nancy mocking him
“Mr Jackson”said no other Mrs Dodd. She also made the group's lives horrible but mostly percy as for some reason she hated him with a fury.
“You will learn to control yourself, do you understand me?” She said strictly.
“ But ma'am- was I talking to you, Ms Dash” said Mrs Dodds not even looking behind her, the fact she did send a shiver down her spine.
“It’s okay Mrs dodds he can’t help it if they’re special" said Nancy grinning wickedly, the class burst into laughter along with Mrs dodds while the girls watched as Percy stood there in embarrassment.
“I wished she was the thief,” Fluttershy whispered.
“That’s enough” said Mr Brunner in a stern tone that cause both Dodds and Nancy to back away along with ginger’s gang with Dodds walking off,
"It's okay," said Mr. Brunner, addressing the group. "Let's focus on our assignment."
“Pay them no mind,” said Mr Brunner after rode to them.
"Easy said than done, sir," chimed in Applejack, her tone reflecting skepticism. "I don’t even know why we bother with them," Twilight agreed, echoing her Southern friend's sentiments.
"You'll be surprised when that day comes," Mr. Brunner said, attempting to lift their spirits.
"When you are ready to hear what the gods have in store for you," he continued.
"They'll tell us?" the girls thought, their curiosity piqued.
"I believe in you, Percy," Mr. Brunner said, addressing him directly. "All of you," he added, turning to the girls. "And I believe you'll be needing this," he said, retrieving a blue ballpoint pen from his coat and handing it to Percy.
"Hang on to that, 'tis a mighty instrument," Mr. Brunner advised before wheeling away.
As the girls went off to explore the statues, Percy remained behind, gazing up at the Perseus statue. Twilight watched him, hoping her friend wasn't too affected by the harsh words.
Later, the group could be seen sitting at the edge of a water fountain, unpacking their lunches.
"There are all sorts of schools of thought about what drives that kind of bullying," Grover said, opening his sandwich wrapper to reveal a ham sandwich. "Childhood trauma, feelings of inadequacy—"
"Look, I get that Nancy has issues," Percy interrupted, taking out a veggie cheese sandwich. "I'm just tired of her taking them out on me."
As they exchanged sandwich layers, Grover taking the cheese and Percy the ham, Fluttershy spoke up. "And the rest of us," she said, taking a bite of her salad.
"I feel like maybe it's time to do something about it," Percy declared, prompting Grover to respond, "You could make an appointment to see Mr. Kane. He's really good at talking—"
"I was thinking more like shoving Nancy in the nearest dumpster," Percy interjected, eliciting a surprised agreement from Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and even Fluttershy. Grover chuckled at first, thinking it was a joke, but quickly realized Percy was serious.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no," Grover hurriedly countered. "No, if there's one thing I know about bullies, it's that you should never, ever stand up to them," Grover insisted.
"Wasn't it the opposite of—" Pinkie Pie began, but Percy interrupted, "Yeah, Pinkie has a point."
"Look, I know this place is hard for people like us, but we’re not gonna be here forever," Grover pleaded, hoping to prevent his friends from making a mistake. "There are better places out there."
Twilight agreed, causing the group to smile at their friend's words of encouragement. However, their moment was interrupted when a piece of trash hit Grover's face, prompting laughter from their classmates.
Turning to the source of the projectile, they saw none other than Nancy Bobofit, who mockingly said, "Oops," before joining her friends.
The girls looked at her with rage, but none could compare to Percy's anger as he stepped forward to confront her for messing with his friends. Rainbow Dash joined him, but Applejack, sensing trouble, tried to hold them back.
Before Percy could reach Nancy, two water tentacles emerged from the fountain, grabbing her and pulling her in with a big SPLASH!
"Percy pushed me!" she screamed, soaking wet.
As the students gossiped about what happened, the Mane 6 approached Percy.
"Percy, how in Celestia's name did you do that?" Rarity asked, surprised to witness magic in a supposedly non-magical place.
"We should go before we attract too much attention," Fluttershy suggested, shivering at the memory of the scene.
"That was so cool! Can you imagine what you could do in a pool or water slide?" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, her imagination running wild with possibilities.
"Percy, you okay?" Rainbow Dash asked, noticing his lack of response to their questions and his distant demeanor. However, before she could ponder further, her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of metallic droning. The girls and Percy seemed to hear it too, and it was coming from Percy's pocket. He checked to find the pen Mr. Brunner had given him was vibrating.But not like a toy from a mall, it was moving as if something was inside it trying to come out like a cocoon.
“There you are,” said an ominous voice.
The group looked to discover that it was Mrs. Dodds walking towards them in a slow, menacing manner. "We're not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said, but the thing was she wasn't even moving her mouth; she was speaking mentally.
“Mrs. Dodds, are you okay?” said Percy.
Applejack looked at him. “You seriously not gonna talk about her telepathy?” she said. Twilight hit her with her elbow.
“It was only a matter of time before we found you,” said Mrs. Dodds, but as she walked, she began to change. A kid ran in front of the view of Mrs. Dodds, but after the kid got out of the way and Mrs. Dodds's red scarf turned into a deformed neck with what looked to be red quill-like feathers sticking out, another kid ran in front of her. After they moved out of the way, an enormous bat-like wing appeared in place of the left side of Mrs. Dodds's leather coat. It spread out, revealing Mrs. Dodds's new body—a bird-like body with dark brown feathers covering the rest of her body and taloned feet. Another bat wing emerged, covering her face, to open and reveal a head full of red feathers that looked more like quills, pointed ears, an elongated face, and blood-red eyes. This form made the gang of friends stay still with fear. As she walked towards them, her wing hit a boy’s backpack, causing the young child to cower behind himself and then just return to looking at her with a drenched form.
The group, noticing the monster that was their pre-algebra teacher getting closer, started to walk back.
“Where is it, half-blood?” Mrs. Dodds screeched telepathically as she walked over the fountain’s steps. “Where is it?” she said before spreading her wings and flying in the sky over her youthful victims.
Percy, not knowing his step, tripped, causing him and the girls to fall, with him ending up on top. But before getting up, Mrs. Dodds landed on top. She all started with vicious intent as she lay her claws on Percy’s shoulder.
Though the girls were her target, they were still scared, as they were witnesses to be dealt with and without their powers or magic, they're goners.
But before the monstrous teacher could do anything, they all heard a mechanical noise, and the sound of slicing. They saw a shining golden sword in place of Mr. Brunner's pen, piercing through Mrs. Dodds's chest and disintegrating it, turning the horrible body into nothing but dust in the air.
Knowing her fate, she pulled back and reached her arm to attack her killer, but she had already turned to dust.
Before they could process everything, everything turned white.
But then, it turned back for them, and they saw a group of students, including Grover, surrounding them.
“Are they okay?”
“Are they dead?”
Two students said, with Grover looking at the latter with questioning, searching for the meaning behind the latter’s question.
Mr. Brunner rolled over to the previously fainted group. "Give them some room, please." The group went to pick themselves up, with Grover lending his hand to Percy and Fluttershy to help them up.
“What happened?" said Percy.
“Yeah, next thing we knew, we were all having the scariest nightmare, then POOF,” said Pinkie Pie, gesturing with her hands to represent the experience.
Applejack then turned to see Nancy Bobofit being comforted by a strange woman. "Who is she?" Applejack said in a frightened tone, as the last teacher that liked Nancy tried to kill them. The rest of the group looked at what Applejack saw, where Mrs. Dodds said, "Percy."
“I didn’t do anything to him!” said Nancy. The group looked at her, annoyed with the lie. “He pushed me,” she said as the unknown woman walked away with her.
“Everyone go back to their lunches,” said Mr. Brunner to the students. "It's alright, these kids just need a moment, that’s all.”
“I don’t understand,” said Percy, looking at his best friend and teacher. “Didn’t anyone just see that?”
“Where’s Mrs. Dodds?” said Fluttershy, before looking around frantically.
"Yeah, where is she?" said Percy.
Mr. Brunner looked at Grover before addressing the disturbed kids. “Children, there’s no one here with that name,” said Mr. Brunner.
Those words made the group freeze. They turned to Grover for an answer, only to see him shaking his head in denial.
“All right, class, let’s move along,” said Mr. Brunner. “Let's finish your lunch,” he added, while the group just stood there, questioning their sanity.
“The truth… can be so very hard to determine…," said an elderly Asian man.
This was the headmaster of Yancy Academy, and the group, along with Grover with his head down, sat on chairs in his office, with Mr. Brunner on the left side of his desk, and a man in his 40s on the right.
“But in this case, the truth seems very hard to deny,” said the headmaster. The group pretended, but inside, they were scared of what punishment they were about to get. Twilight was the most panicked; she had never been to the principal's office in her life because she was in trouble.
“Mr. Jackson, a number of your classmates saw you, along with Ms. Sparkle, Apple, Pie, Dash, Belle, Vänlighet, and Mr. Underwood, arguing with Ms. Bobofit,” said the headmaster. “Yet you have offered no explanation for how she ended up in that fountain,” continued the headmaster, “other than, ugh… ‘I didn't touch Nancy.’ Now, isn't there anything else you'd like to say for yourself?”
“I didn’t touch Nancy,” Percy simply said. The group looked at him.
“Sir, maybe the class could be lying," said Twilight. With that, the headmaster turned his gaze to the former alicorn.
“I believe Twilight is right. Almost every student is afraid of that fiend,” said Rarity
The headmaster turned his gaze to the girl; Rarity felt a shiver run down her spine. “Okay,” the headmaster sighed, “Mr. Underwood”? Grover looked up upon hearing his name called. “Do you have anything to add?” said the headmaster.
“Yes,” said Grover, gaining the attention of the group.
“Go on,” said the headmaster.
“Percy had told me earlier in the day that he wanted to get back at Nancy for all she’d done to us,” said Grover.
“Grover?” said Percy, shocked, looking at his friend.
“What are you doing?” said Rainbow Dash, equally shocked.
“And he isn’t being truthful about what happened at the fountain, and the girls are only covering for him,” Grover finished saying.
“Grover,” Percy repeated.
“Excuse me,” said the headmaster. “Are you saying you saw Mr. Jackson assault Ms. Bobofit?” The headmaster stated.
Grover looked at Percy with a sympathetic gaze before turning to the headmaster.
“Yes, I did,” said Grover.
Percy's eyes became bigger than plates, while the others had similar reactions. Twilight's jaw dropped, Fluttershy looked as if someone had destroyed her animals, Rarity gave a sympathetic look to Percy, as she had friends who had betrayed her secrets, Pinkie Pie's usual happy demeanor was replaced by a shocked face, but Rainbow looked at Grover with fury for betraying his friend, while Applejack remained neutral. Even though Grover had just turned his back on Percy, he told the truth.
Percy could now be seen sitting on a bench, not wearing his Yancy attire as he was expelled. He was wearing a red coat over a sweater, plain jeans, and shoes. Sitting next to him was Twilight, with the rest standing beside them, all of them trying to comfort the silent Percy over what happened.
“I still can’t believe he did that,” said Fluttershy.
“ Believe it, he double crossed us,” said Rainbow Dash. "We treat him with friendship and look at what he repaid us with”, fuming at the missing person to this group.
“Calm down, Rainbow,” said Applejack.
“Are you agreeing with him that he’s done”, said Rainbow Dash?
“No but he’s in the presence of an authoritative figure so he couldn’t lie," said Applejack.
“Of course honesty," said Rainbow Dash rolling her eyes.
“Girls not the time” said Twilight as she secretly points to a quiet Percy, the rivals come down as they realize that the topic was deepening their friend’s sadness.
“None of this was easy”, said a familiar voice.
The group turned to see Mr Brunner wheeling toward them. Not for you , not for any of us, Mr Brunner said. The girls offered to leave for them to talk, but that doesn't mean they couldn’t eavesdrop. They all walked to the brushes until the coast was clear they leaned by them to hear better.
“I’m very concerned about you, Percy” said Mr Brunner, “I saw what happened at the museum”. This got the girls attention as they thought them and Percy were the only ones to Mrs. Dodds transformation and death.
“I didn’t touch Nancy”, Percy answered the same answer he said before he got expelled as he turned to look at the handicapped teacher.
“I know you didn’t, " said Mr Brunner.
This got the attention of the girls and Percy and thought of the same thing if he would why didn’t he cover for Percy. Percy, now intrigued, his eyes widened in response to the counter.
“At least, I know you think you didn’t”, said Mr Brunner with this said got the group even downer as this proves they may actually be going crazy.
This statement grabbed the attention of the girls and Percy, making them wonder why Mr. Brunner didn't cover for Percy if he knew the truth. Percy, now intrigued, widened his eyes in response to the unexpected support.
“At least, I know you think you didn’t,” said Mr. Brunner, and with this statement, the group felt even more despondent, as it seemed to confirm that they might actually be going crazy.
“Do you want to tell me what you think did happen?” said Mr. Brunner. “You can tell me; I might just understand.
“You wanna bet?” said Percy in a sassy tone. The girls couldn’t help but chuckle, but they held back their laughter lest it reveal their position.
Mr. Brunner also chuckled at his response. “I've seen a lot of people go through this sort of thing in my time,” Mr. Brunner said, “but of all of them, I suspect that... you might have the most difficult journey.” This endeared the group to the teacher even more, as he still saw potential in Percy despite his situation and condition. “I suspect you are special, so much more so than you know—”
“Just… stop,” Percy interrupted. “Okay, I don’t need any more stories about how special I don’t realize I am. They aren’t helping," he said.
In that instance, the girls wanted to go over and hug their friend to remind him that he is special.
The sound of a car approaching was heard.
“This is my ride, I'm going home," said Percy in a realistic tone. He picked up his backpack and then his suitcase as the truck arrived. Mr. Brunner wore a defeated expression as his student lost hope in himself.
The girls sported even more defeated expressions because their friend drove off without even saying goodbye.
“We need to follow him," said Applejack.
“Yeah, he’s our help," said Rainbow Dash.
“No, just that he may be the hero we need to help,” said Rarity.
“Does anyone know his mom's apartment building?" asked Twilight.
“No,” said Rarity, as he, like many kids his age, wouldn’t just tell people where they live.
“I do," said Spike, appearing behind the girls
“Aaaah!” they screamed. “How did you—when did you guys get back but didn’t come to your rooms? I got suspicious, so I snuck out and found you in the headmaster’s office, a place I thought Twilight would never go to, and looked in the book of parent contacts and found his mom living in Manhattan,” said Spike, interrupting Applejack.
“Good, but does anyone even have money for a cab for six girls and a dog in New York?” said Rarity.
“I do,” said Rainbow Dash, going into her pocket and bringing out 20 dollars.
“How do you have that?” said Fluttershy. They were already in trouble today; they didn’t need to be in more.
“Let’s just say that Nancy is finally paying us back,” said Rainbow Dash, with a wicked grin on her face.
The cab ride was pleasant, to say the least, as the driver initially didn’t want that many people in the cab. He changed his mind after he got the money.
After they arrived at their destination, they found themselves in the rain. Rarity looked defeated, and Applejack smirked as she saw the Fashionista hair getting ruined. Spike led the way, as he knew the location and was tracking Percy's scent. They finally found the apartment building they were looking for. They went in and took an elevator to a floor, then got out and, after some looking and opening doors, found who they were looking for.
“PERCY!” said Pinkie Pie as she pounced on him.
“Pinkie!” said Rarity as she grabbed her off him. “Sorry, darling.”
“What are you guys doing here?” said Percy.
“We followed you,” said Rainbow Dash, shrugging it off as if they didn’t stalk him to his home.
“Look, I know you may not be in the happiest mood, so we decided to support you... at home,” said Twilight, trying not to sound weird. Percy just stared at them blankly.
“So, can we come in?” said Applejack.
“I don’t think that's not good—” But before Percy could finish, he was interrupted by…
“There’s nothing wrong with the plumbing in this building. Maybe you should go see a doctor,” said a man.
“How do you know I'm not a doctor, huh?” said an angry man.
“Have you considered eating more fruit?” the calm man said in an angry voice.
“Hey! I eat plenty of fruit,” said the previously angry man. “Have you considered eating more fruit?”
The girls and the dog looked bewildered, while Percy just had an annoyed look. The door of the arguing room opened to reveal a tall and stocky Asian man. He had a gray beard with tan skin, brown eyes, and black hair.
He turned to Percy. “Oh! Hello, Percy.”
“Hey, Eddie, sorry about that,” said Percy.
“I'm walking out, you're walking in. I should be apologizing to you, Eddie,” he then noticed the others. “Are these your friends?” said Eddie.
“More like stowaways,” said Percy.
He turned his attention to the girls and the dog. “Hi, I’m Eddie. As you probably guessed, I am the building superintendent,” said Eddie.
“Hi,” said the girls, while Spike just barked.
“Who was—the bane of my existence,” sighed Eddie, cutting off Rainbow Dash.
“Bye, kids,” said the superintendent.
Percy then went to the door, opened it, and went inside. The gang followed, worried about their friend’s home life.
“Well, hello,” said a middle-aged, out-of-shape man who was often unwashed. He had dark hair and blue eyes with a messy stubble beard. He was in a chair with a laptop on his legs and a beer in his hand. The girls and the dog were in shock at this man, whose smell may be the worst smell they had ever encountered. It even caused Spike to retreat back into Twilight's bag.
“Welcome home, genius,” said the disgusting man. “And you finally brought some girls home. How much have you paid them to pretend?”
The girls glared at him. They had faced jerks like him in the past, but something about him just enraged them to a boiling point.
"Is my mom home from work?" Percy questioned the man.
"Oh, is that all you've got to say to me? Huh? After failing out of school?" said the man. "I didn't fail out of school," said Percy.
"Your principal called, and that’s what he said. He said you got kicked out," smirked the man.
"They called Mom’s cell," said Percy. Before he answered in an angered tone, "You answer Mom’s cell? I answer whatever’s ringing," said the man in defense. "So what did you get kicked out for, hmm?"
"He said I attacked a kid on a field trip," said Percy, looking down. The man nodded, "Okay," as if it was normal. "All right, but still, if you’re going to be under my roof, you gotta live by my rules," the man pointed at Percy.
"Your roof? My mom is the only one employed here."
"Excuse me? I have a job. What does it look like I'm doing right now?"
"Losing at imaginary poker."
"You would think that because you’re a child, and you don’t understand things like—"
"Where’s my mom?"
"I don’t know. I don't know where your mom is. I'm not Nostradamus. What are we doing, Percy? Every time!" said the man.
Having enough of this, Percy walked away. "Wow! Wow!" said the man.
The girls and Spike watched every moment of that and were just flabbergasted. They ignored the man, who resumed his gambling, and went after Percy.
"Percy, who was that?" said Pinkie Pie.
"My stepdad," simply said Percy. The girls were surprised that his mom or someone sane decided to marry someone like that.
"What's his name?" said Fluttershy.
"You really want to socialize with him?" said Percy, looking back at Fluttershy as if she’s crazy. Twilight walked in front of the blonde boy and said, "You could at least tell us that." He just stared at her and then sighed, "His name is Gabe Ugliano," said Percy.
"That is no way his actual name," said Rainbow Dash.
"It is," said Percy without even looking at her.
"Now if you excuse me, there’s someone here I actually would want to meet with," said Percy, walking past the group.
They saw him walking toward a woman with long brown hair with a few streaks of gray, sitting outside a window in the rain, listening to music.
"Mom," said Percy.
The woman turned to see Percy, and she got back inside to reveal her sparkling blue eyes that seemed to change color in the light.
"I’m really sorry," said Percy as he and his mom walked toward each other. "I tried this time. You know how hard I've been trying, but this time, it really wasn’t my fault. It really wasn’t my fault—" Percy was then interrupted by his mom hugging him.
"I’m all wet now," Percy whispered.
"I’m sorry," she said. "I’m just very glad to see you."
The girls and the dog smiled wide as they saw this family affection. It made them a bit homesick as well.
Percy’s mom grabbed a towel and began drying herself. She turned to see his friends.
"Oh, and who may you girls be?" said Percy’s mom.
"Hello, madam," said Rarity, bowing and lifting her skirt. "I am Rarity."
"Twilight Sparkle," said Twilight.
"Pinkie Pie," said Pinkie Pie.
"Rainbow Dash," said Rainbow Dash.
"Fluttershy," said Fluttershy.
"Applejack," said Applejack.
"Sally Jackson," said the woman.
"I found Gabe on the phone with the headmaster. He told me what he thinks happened with Nancy Bobofit. I told him I believed my kid. It was a real short call."
The girls smiled at how protective Sally is, as she is willing to believe his side of the story.
"Hey, all that matters is that you’re here, okay?" said Sally, comforting her son. "And I had enough time…"
As she said that, she closed the window and brought out a bag of blue jelly beans. "To pick your welcome gift," said Sally.
Percy smiled a bit before returning to a sad demeanor and putting the bag in his pocket. The girls noticed this and remembered that the thought of Yancy reminds him of his first friend who sold him out to the principal. Applejack, noticing this, may have to talk to Grover about this and get them to work it out.
"Mr. Brunner called me, too. He told me about Grover. You wanna talk about it?" said Sally, noticing her son's mood.
Percy remained silent.
"Is there something else you wanna talk about?" said Sally, noticing that something else was bothering her son.
"Something happened to me," said Percy. "Something has been happening to me," "More than just my mind wandering, and it got worse, and… I’m scared," said Percy.
Sally's face then changed into a worried look that caught the girls' and Spike’s attention as Percy telling his mom about the incident might just worsen things.
"Gabe?" Sally yelled.
"Mom?" said Percy, as he and the girls wondered why Gabe was needed.
Gabe dropped his can as his name was called. "I don't know how anyone expects me to get any work done—"
"Percy and I are leaving for Montauk," said Sally in a stern voice. "I’ll…I'll have the car back by Sunday morning."
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Since when are you going to Montauk?”
"I called to reserve the place as soon as I got off the phone with Yancy."
"Who’s Yancy?" said Gabe. The girls glared at the lazy stepdad. Even Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie wanted the man to leave; Spike just put his leg over his face.
"The school," said Sally, shooting her husband a disappointed glance.
"Okay, and why exactly am I okay with this?"
"Because on my way home on Sunday, I’m gonna stop at D’Angelo’s and pick up sandwiches in time for tipoff. But if you make this miserable, I’m gonna go anyway, and then I’m gonna eat my sandwich and yours while I listen to the game on the radio," said Sally, raising her voice.
"You know I hate watching the Knicks alone," said Gabe in a pleading voice.
"So do I," Sally countered.
The equestrians and dragon just stood watching the married couple fight, completely wondering again why they even got married. By the look of Percy, this was a regular occurrence.
"Make sure they put the hot peppers on my sandwich, please?" said Gabe.
"Not if you're gonna ask like that," said Sally in a stern tone.
"I said, please."
Sally stopped talking, waiting for Gabe to ask politely. "Please, could you have them put the peppers on my sandwich?"
"You got it," said Sally.
As she walked to get packed, she stopped by the girls. "Do you girls have any clothes you left at Yancy?" said Sally. The girls nodded; when they arrived at Yancy, they were accompanied with spare clothes that they did leave behind. Even if they do go back, they would be in the same position as Percy.
"It’s okay, Eddie owes me one. I can get some clothes from the lost and found," said Sally, who returned to walk into her room.
Gabe sighed and then turned his gaze to Percy and the girls. "Take your shoes off before you get in my car," said Gabe as he pointed at Percy, then at the girls. "And make sure that dog doesn't pee in my car," Gabe said, while pointing at Spike. "Do you understand me?"
The group just stared at the man even as he left. Spike glared at the man for the assumption that he wasn't potty trained.
"We have a lot to talk about, but uh, that storm out there, it’s getting angrier, so let’s get ahead of it," said Sally as she got Gabe's keys.
"Mrs. Ugli- Jackson," said Sally, interrupting Twilight. "Mrs. Jackson, won’t we be ruining your and Percy's vacation?" Twilight said. "It’s okay, at least my son finally brings some friends home," said Sally.
"But ma’am," said Fluttershy, knowing that Sally had an alternative motive for bringing them.
"We’ll talk at the beach, okay? Pack your bags. I’ll call Eddie for those clothes," said Sally.
Leaving the group of friends questioning the mother’s mindset, "See you in the car," said Percy as he went to go into his room to pack.
Raining and night—that was where the group was. Alone and wet with no idea of how they got here. With no way out as thunder shook.
The said group, including Percy, Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie, looked around to see a cabin with lights, unknown to the group except Percy; they were on the beach at Montauk.
But the group’s gaze turned to a cloaked figure holding a lantern in the mist. "Who are you?" said the figure in a raspy voice that sent chills down the gang’s spine.
"So weak. So scared. So sad," the figure said.
If it were a normal situation, Rainbow would have tackled him to the ground, but she was too scared, and Fluttershy would have been running to the hills if she weren’t frozen by fear.
"Run away, little heroes, before you get hurt," the figure finished before disappearing into the mist.
The gang woke up to find they were not in the storm anymore; they were in a car. And in front of the same setting they were in from the nightmare.
The girls tried to get comfortable, but it was challenging with six people and a dog squeezed into a three-seater.
They glanced at Sally, who was crying. She noticed them watching her and wiped the tears from her face.
"We’re here," said Sally, smiling at Percy, who returned the smile. Rainbow, Twilight, and Applejack quickly caught on as the cowgirl and athlete smiled as well.
"Wait, no—" but before Twilight could finish, Percy smirked at his mom. "On three?" Percy said.
"Ready?" Sally countered. She, Percy, Rainbow, and Applejack grabbed the door handles.
"One, two—" said Sally, who was interrupted by Percy quickly opening the door, grabbing his bag, and sprinting out. Rainbow Dash followed suit, with Applejack frowning.
"Three!" said Sally as she grabbed her bag and ran out along with Applejack. They followed suit to keep pace.
"Wait for us!" yelled Applejack, chasing after her friends.
"At least I brought an umbrella," said Rarity.
After they quickly got into the cabin and got out their stuff, thanks to Eddie, the girls now had non-Yancy clothes. However, they were now wearing shirts from the 80s or 90s, as they couldn’t exactly read the words, and jeans that were out of fashion, much to Rarity's displeasure.
Percy went to the restroom to freshen up, but he left out his jellybean bag.
"Why are all of these blue?" asked Pinkie Pie, as she questioned someone's taste in candy for the first time.
Sally, who was in the kitchen cooking, heard this and said, "Once upon a time, Gabe told Percy there was no such thing as blue food. So I went out of my way to prove him wrong by making every food I could think of blue," said Sally in a triumphant voice.
Rarity finishes checking her hair and sees Percy come out of the restroom with a worried face. She feels for him, knowing they are in the same position as him. Percy then sees Sally and a smirk appears on his face.
Percy walks over to her, gesturing to the girls to stay quiet as he goes to the kitchen. He taps his mom's left shoulder, causing her to look in that direction and then at him, seeing Percy smirking at her.
"I found the good marshmallows," said Sally. "Ones that don’t burn so easily."
"Are they the super gooey ones?" asked Rainbow Dash in an excited tone.
"Eeyup" replied Sally.
"What are you waiting for? Whip them out," urged Twilight.
"I don’t think it was ever the marshmallows’ fault I wasn't paying attention," said Percy. Sally smirked at him, and Percy's smiling face turned into a guilty one.
"Mom… I need to talk to you about something," said Percy. Sally crossed her arms, gaining a worried expression, while the girls and dog had solemn faces, knowing they were going to have to explain the reason for leaving Yancy.
Everyone gathered on the couch as Percy stared into the fireplace. "I’m used to feeling weird. I’m used to the world feeling weird to me," he began. "Like a puzzle with half the wrong pieces. I try to pay attention. I really try, but… then I'm daydreaming. I can’t help it."
"But lately, it hasn’t felt like daydreaming," continued Percy. "It felt… I don't know. More real, maybe? And then we were at the museum and…" The girls noticed he stopped longer but understood they were too traumatized.
"You saw something," said Sally. "Something that felt real to you, but no one else could see?" Percy remained silent, but Sally still knew the answer. The girls looked at her, except Pinkie, whose eyes widened. "Shudders" she whispered to the girls and dog, who then searched inside the cabin for anything dangerous.
"What did she say to you?" asked Sally.
Percy, the girls, and Spike looked at Sally with wide eyes the size of plates. "She? How did you know it was a she?" Percy demanded.
The girls looked at each other, knowing Mrs. Jackson was nowhere near the museum.
"Do you know why we come to this cabin every year?" Sally questioned. "Because it's near the septic tanks, so it's cheap," Percy answered. "Mom, how did you know about that thing we saw?"
"We come to this place every year because this is the place where I met your father," said Sally, silencing Percy.
The girls watched with intensity. They didn’t know much about his father, as Percy didn’t either, as his dad left Sally to take care of him before he was born.
"My dad? What does my dad have to do with this?" Percy said. The girls could understand as he wouldn't want anything to do with his father. Sally then rubbed a side of his hair with a smile on her face.
"A long time ago, I…" She then inhaled and exhaled, "met a man here on the beach. He was wise, brave, kind, and noble." Her eyes welled with sadness. "From the moment I first saw him, I knew that I had never met a man like him before," said Sally.
"And then I realized he was unlike any man I had ever met before… because he wasn’t a man at all," said Sally. “He was a god.” She blurted in a forced tone, but to the girls and the dog, it sounded more like a different tone.
"Can you please be specific?" said Twilight, speaking out the group’s thoughts.
Percy just stared at his mom with wide eyes before gaining composure. "You fell in love with God? Like… Like Jesus?" Percy questioned his mom, unsure if she’s religious.
Sally, realizing the confusion, decides to clear it up. "Not God. A god," Percy said Sally cleared her throat.
"The stories that I have told you about Greek gods and heroes, and monsters, they are real," said Mrs. Jackson. "Mom," said Percy, "what are you saying?" “Yeah Mrs. j what are you saying” said Rainbow Dash.
"In these stories, I have told you about how gods and mortals would sometimes have children together," said Mrs. Jackson.
"Mom, please stop. Children are called demigods—mom!" said Percy.
"And sometimes they are known as half-bloods," Sally finished. This got the kids' attention as they had heard that word before, that's what Mrs. Dodds called him," said Rarity in a shocked tone, as Sally may be telling the truth. "You're right, Rarity," looking at his mother with shocked eyes, "Mom, what’s happening?"
"Yeah, it involves us too," said Fluttershy.
"You all are half-bloods," said Sally, looking at Percy and the girls, "and half-bloods are not safe in the world. Once they reach a certain age and begin to understand what they are, terrible forces are drawn to them, driven to harm them before they can become strong enough to fight back," Sally explained. "That is what you have been feeling."
As the group listened, they began to understand what makes sense, as the creatures Percy had been seeing were from Greek mythology and Mrs. Dodds suddenly erased out of existence.
"It has always been a part of who you are, it was always coming, I just—why are you telling me this?" Percy demanded.
"Percy, I know that this is hard to understand, but you have to believe me that this is real," Sally added to her explanation.
And the girls and Drake knew why she was calming him as they saw a rage in his eye. He then got up and glared at his mother.
"No, this is crazy. Okay? I am not a god. There is something wrong with my brain," Percy yelled. The action caused Sally to cry. "I understand that I'm weird, believe me, I get it, but I'm afraid something may be really broken now."
"Oh, baby, no—" and now you’re telling me stories like it’s gonna make it okay? Well, I'm not a baby!" said Percy, cutting off his mother.
"Hey, you can’t just speak to your mom like that," said Applejack, "Oh, so you're agreeing with her babying me and you guys even, Percy raged."
"No, Percy, we’re just saying you have to consider—"
"Oh, so you're just crazier than me!" Percy said to Rarity, "Twilight, you're the logical one here, explain how stupid this sounds," said Percy, pleading to his brainy friend.
"Percy, I want to disagree, but we all saw the same thing," said Twilight, her eyes screaming for Percy to calm down.
"No, what I see is my mom trying to make me feel special," said Percy before returning his gaze to his mother. "But I know there's no such thing as monsters, I know there’s no such thing as gods, and I know for certain that there is no such thing as demigods."
Before the girls could say anything, there was a knock on the door.
"Who’s there?" said Sally, then turned to see Grover standing behind the glass windowed door. "Mrs. Jackson?" said Grover.
"Grover?" said Percy.
"Why is he here?" said Fluttershy.
"Forget why, how did he find us?" said Rainbow Dash. The girls' and dog's creep level was at maximum.
"This is a little time-sensitive," said Grover. "Could someone maybe open the door?" Sally walked to his request. Seeing this, Percy asked, "What is he doing here? I don’t want to see him."
But his mom didn’t listen to his request and opened the door. "Wait, mom, I asked to have the night, you said we could all leave in the morning," said Sally in an angry tone.
"She knew about him coming," said Applejack, who, along with the group, was watching the exchange. "Sorry, I'm early, but I didn't have any choice," said Grover. "Things have changed, this is all developing a lot faster than we anticipated."
"Early?" said Percy.
"Looks like she made more of an appointment than knew Grover was coming tonight," said Rarity.
Sally then let Grover inside. Inside, they could see he was wearing a dark blue raincoat, a snow cap, his backpack, and shorts with revealing assets.
"You should have asked me before you—whatever it is you’re gonna say, I don’t wanna hear it," before Percy could finish, he looked down and noticed something odd about Grover.
"Grover?" Percy said, noticing something strange about his legs.
"Percy, okay, so something’s coming," Grover said, Percy looking at his legs. The girls and Spike took notice of this and looked down as well and found out why.
"Grover," said Fluttershy.
"But the important thing is not to panic," said Grover.
"I’m not panicking," said Sally.
"Grover!" Rainbow Dash yelled while she was still looking down along with the others.
"Great! I’m also definitely not panicking," Grover reassured, "I feel very good about how we’re doing so far—" "GROVER!" Pinkie Pie yelled at the top of her lungs.
"What?" Grover said, looking at the pink-haired girl. "Grover—" Applejack was then interrupted by Percy, "Why is there half a goat in your pants?"
"Oh, it’s…" before he stops and looks down to see that his legs, which they remembered were human, were now goat legs with hooves.
"Oh! Oh, boy, she didn’t tell you guys about…" said Grover as he looked at Sally. "You didn’t tell them about me?”
“You’re early," said Sally blankly and fake smiling. Grover then looks at the group and says, "The important thing is not to panic."
"I'm pretty sure saying it won’t stop the panicking," said Spike, causing the three non-Equestrians to look at the dog with wide eyes.
"Spike!" said Twilight in an angry voice.
"What? I thought with secrets coming out I could speak freely," said Spike in a scared tone as Twilight's stare decreased his confidence.
"We’ll continue this in the car," said Sally as she went to pick up the keys. "Let's go," she said. Percy then looks at the girls, then at Grover, who waved his hands in a sorry-like pose. He then went to pick up his coat, as the girls followed suit.
The orange Camaro could be seen driving on a country plain road with nothing but grass on the left side and forest on the right, with Percy and Sally in the front seats while the girls, Spike, and Grover were cramped behind them.
"My job has been to guide you to this moment," said Grover. "It’s always an emotional roller-coaster for a young demigod, so providing a support system is really—"
"Who are you?" Percy said. "And who sent the Illuminati?" said Pinkie Pie.
"Pinkie, there is no such thing as the Illuminati," said Applejack.
"Well, I'm Grover. I’m your best friend and—"
"What are you?" said Percy.
The kids and the dog looked at Grover with piercing eyes. Grover, realizing his trust as a friend is being tested, removed the snow cap, revealing two short horns on his curly-haired head. "I’m a satyr. And I'm your protector," said Grover to Percy.
"You're my protector?" said Percy, not believing him.
Rainbow Dash looked confused as well, saying, "How is the guy that avoids tween bullies supposed to protect a child of a god?” “
No offense, Grover dear, but does Rainbow make sense? How can you protect Percy?" said Rarity.
"I do protect him," said Grover, defending himself. "If I hadn’t gotten Percy kicked out of school, you’d have never survived the night. And what’s chasing us now would have found you there easily."
Percy then looked away, his distrust of his friend deepening. "I’m sorry," said Grover.
"Sorry doesn’t make up for the fact you got him kicked out," said Twilight.
"It’s not my fault," said Grover, trying to explain.
"Then explain it to us," said Applejack trying to look serious, looking at Grover while Pinkie was on her lap.
"Usually, I can sense danger coming a mile away, but this time… well, none of us saw Dodds coming," said Grover. The group looked at Grover with widened eyes, and Percy turned to look back at him.
"So you knew," said Percy in an accusatory manner, "that thing that Dodds turned into, you saw it happen?”
“Not just saw it, you couldn’t intervene or at least tell us," said Rarity angrily.
"Because I only saw some of it," said Grover, trying to calm them both down. "The mist kept her hidden even from us until it was too late."
"Mist? What mist?" said Percy.
"Yeah, it was clear—wait, what do you mean by 'us'?" said Pinkie Pie, noticing Grover's words.
"The mist," said Grover, correcting, "it’s the veil that hides the magical world from the human world."
The girls and Spike were dumbfounded by this revelation, as magic like that does not naturally exist in their world unless by an Alicorn’s assistance. "Like say, my legs. Dodds wings. Even Dodds' absence. So that’s why everybody forgot about her," said Rainbow Dash. "But it isn’t supposed to hide things from me. That never happens," said Grover, therefore explaining how he and his accomplice were fooled by Mrs. Dodds. "Something powerful is at work here," Grover stated.
"What's or who's powerful enough to control an already-placed worldwide magical veil?" the girls and Spike thought. "The sooner we get all of you to camp, the better off you’re…" Grover paused as Percy looked at him confused along with the others. "You told him about camp, right?" said Grover, looking over at Sally. "Not yet, no," she replied.
"Could you explain, then?" said Fluttershy.
"Camp is a sanctuary for half-bloods," Grover explained. "A safe space where you can learn who you are and what the world is like on the other side of the mist."
"So, a training camp? I'm in," said Rainbow Dash, smug with confidence. Percy and the girls looked at her as if she’s crazy.
"Uh, it’s not far, actually, just a little ways past the bend up there," said Grover, pointing out the front car window.
Pinkie's eyes then went wide, “Pinchy Knee Pinchy Knee”. The girls and Spike went pale as they knew that prediction.
"Mom, what else haven’t we talked about?" Percy accused. Sally briefly looked at him, wanting to say something but didn’t and put her eyes back on the road. "What else haven’t you told me?" Sally opened her mouth and was about to say something, but before she could, thunder roared, and everyone in the car looked behind them to see lightning hitting the ground, creating sparks that formed a bull-like creature running on four appendages at them.
"Is that the Minotaur?" Percy and Twilight both said, as they recalled the story of Pasiphaë’s hybrid son.
"Once the attacks start, they never let up," said Grover. "Okay? Dodds was just the beginning. He is next. He—he is brutal. He is relentless."
"He is still wearing underpants," said Percy, staring blankly at the beast. Rarity blushed from this comment but this led her to notice that the man-bull was indeed wearing undergarments.
"The Mythomagic cards were training," said Grover. "Everything has been training for what’s still ahead of you all. What’s ahead of me?" Percy blurted out.
"Kids," said Sally.
"Yeah," said the group, including Spike, but Grover.
"I’m actually 24," said Grover, causing the group to look at the satyr with widened eyes.
"Hold on, please," said Sally, as she sped up the car. But that wasn't enough to escape the Minotaur as it ran up by the car’s left side, its massive appearance now in a terrifying view, causing the group to lean back a bit. Fluttershy, being closest to the window, closed her eyes in fear.
Sally, in a desperate attempt, hit the car on the beast, but it only made it angrier. It returned the favor by slamming the car with its horn, going through the window, almost hitting Sally and getting interlocked with the steering wheel. To make matters worse, the headlights of a semi-truck appeared out of nowhere, driving toward them at full speed. Sally, noticing the danger, grabbed onto the steering wheel, trying to turn out of the way, but with no success. But an idea came to mind. She set the gears for the car to stop, and when it did, the horn came out of the wheel just in time for the truck to drive into the Minotaur, with Sally reversing the gears and getting out of the way.
"Mrs. Jackson, I owe you my life," said Spike, grateful.
But that commitment came too soon, as a noise came from behind the car. The group looked back to see the truck crashing, with the Minotaur nowhere in sight. But before they could react, the car slipped and crashed on its own. Sally held onto Percy while everyone in the back held on for dear life.
Before they knew it, everything went black.
The backside of the Camaro was seen on the ground, with grass everywhere, rain pouring down, and thunder booming. Sparks erupted by the side of it.
A bang was heard as the glass cracked, something inside was trying to get out. Another bang and the window fell out, with furry hooved legs shown pushing it. The legs went inside, and after a while, Grover came out limping, with Percy and Fluttershy appearing from the hole where the pushed-out window was. Fluttershy was holding Grover’s backpack, and Percy was helping her out of the car, visibly terrified. After she got out, Percy went too, as the others followed. Percy and Fluttershy held Grover up, with Grover’s arm over Percy's neck and Fluttershy holding his bag.
They went to the front side and opened the door to let Sally out, only it didn't open. "Let me," said Applejack. As she grabbed the door and pulled it off its place, the group was awestruck by her strength.
"Is everyone okay?" she said with worry in her voice.
"Yeah, I’m okay," said Percy.
"Okie dokie," said Pinkie Pie.
"Smooth sailing here," said Spike.
"Okay," Sally groaned as she walked out of the car and pulled out a flashlight to navigate the group throughout the scene.
Rainbow then walked over to Applejack and whispered, "Your strength came back."
"It did," Applejack whispered back.
"How?"
"Come in the moment, maybe your speed will come back too."
Seeing a path, she yelled, "This way," with the kids, satyr, and dog going in front of her. It's better to have an adult watching your back instead of the other way around. As they walked, they stopped when they saw something, getting out of his friend's arms and saying, "We’re here."
The group sees a hill with a tree on top of it.
"That’s the boundary," said Grover. "No monsters can cross it. Percy will be safe on the other side," said Grover, before the blonde boy was cut off.
"What about us?" said Spike, worrying that the barrier won’t let them in due to their otherworldly origins.
"Yeah, won’t all of us be safe?" Percy asked Grover before turning to look at his mother, expecting an answer as well.
Instead, the mother walked to Grover. "Grover, I am entrusting you to protect my son, my only child. Don’t worry, Mrs. Jackson, Percy will be totally safe at camp—I swear it," Sally said, cutting off Grover.
"Ma’am, why are you sounding like you're not gonna make—swear it," said Sally in a stern voice. Applejack's eyes grew to the size of bakery cookies. "Mrs. Jackson, don’t do this. As a kid who lost their parents, this will only hurt Percy more," she said. "What’s happening?" Percy said, as thanks to Applejack, he saw the full picture. "Swear it, Grover," she said again, with a small rage in her voice. "Keep him safe from anyone or anything that comes for him, that wants to do harm, that looks at him the wrong way," Sally explained to him. "Do you understand me?"
"I swear!" Grover declared.
A roar was heard from afar. The group knew what it was and knew the little time they had. Sally then walked to Percy; the girls and dog stepped away, knowing it would be emotional. "I gotta go now, sweetheart," said Sally with watery eyes. "Go? What do you mean go?" Percy demanded. "I can’t go with you," said Sally. "Why can’t you?"
"She’s human," said Grover, for Percy to understand.
The girls widened their eyes, as did Spike, seeing these types of moments in his stories, ones that don’t come with a happy ending.
"You’re gonna need to be brave now," said Sally, suppressing a cry. "Remember what I taught you. Remember the stories I told, especially the stories they will tell—" No, Percy cut his mom off, "you everything," Sally finished as she heard her son mid-sentence. "No way! Mom, I'm not leaving you!" Percy declared, as he wasn't going with the plan.
"Perseus!" Sally yelled. Everyone else watched intensely as they could see the love this mother and son shared. "Listen to me," Sally said, before cupping his face and pulling it close to hers. "You... are not broken. You are singular. You’re a miracle. And you are my son," said Sally with undetectable tears on her face as the rain made it impossible to know which is a raindrop or teardrop.
The girls were crying as they saw the scene unfolding sympathetically, as if they were in Percy's place with their moms. They would do whatever it takes to save them, while not caring what happens to themselves. Even Spike cried his heart out, watching his friend lose the one thing he holds dear in his life.
"Hold fast," Sally said with determination, but Percy knew where this was going and turned his head in a no gesture. "Brave the storm. I love you," she said, looking at him with love and approval.
But the moment was broken by a bestial roar in the forest, but this one was louder... and closer. As they saw trees being torn down.
"We need to move," said Grover to the mother and son, as well as the girls and dog. Sally, with a plan in mind, looked at Percy. "Give me your coat," she said. "What? What are you gonna do?" Percy asked.
"He smells half-blood, that’s what he’s tracking, yeah?" Sally asked Grover.
"That’s right," he replied.
"So if he smells you in two directions at once, maybe I can confuse him and him running away from here," said Fluttershy, cutting off Sally as she sees Applejack do that trick. "And buy us a little time to get away," the mother finished, confirming Fluttershy's response.
Percy went to stop his mom on her suicide mission. "Mom, please, don’t—" "Hey!" she said, "it’ll be okay," as she looked at Percy with a stare that said she would be okay. They both still looked into each other's eyes.
Again, the moment was ruined by the Minotaur’s wrathful roar. The group sees brushes rustle, and then they see it!
There, standing seven feet tall, his arms and legs were like something from the cover of Muscle Man magazine. His skin was vein-webbed, and he wore no clothes except white underwear. His thick fur was black, and his neck was a mass of muscle and fur leading up to his enormous head, which had cruel black eyes, saggy ears with golden rings pierced in the left, a goatee believe me not, and curved horns pointing upwards.
This was the... MINOTAUR.
The man-bull walked toward them, growling to reach his prey. The girls and Percy stepped back in fear as they were his intended dinner. Sally, knowing the danger, kissed Percy's forehead. "Go! Now!" Sally demanded, as she and the youngsters went their separate ways. The kids went to the camp for safety, while Sally was trying to distract this beast.
Sally walked far enough to the Minotaur, as the kids were far away to be safe. The monstrous bull sniffed the air for his half-blood prize, while Sally, who was still holding onto Percy's red coat, then proceeded to hold it like a bullfighter would with a muleta and screamed at the creature. "Hey! Look!" This got the Minotaur’s attention as it turned its head down to Sally. Its emotionless gaze was enough to stop a row of cars.
"Come on, come on," she whispered for the giant bull to take the bait, as it kept staring at her with steam coming out of his snout.
The girls, Percy, Grover, and Spike walked quickly to the barrier, not looking back for their lives' sake. Percy was carrying Grover like before, and Fluttershy was holding on too. Twilight was carrying Spike, as she didn’t want to risk him getting in the Minotaur’s clutches. Percy and Twilight walked to a stone and dropped Grover along with Spike there, but they heard the Minotaur’s terrifying roar.
They all turned to see afar, his mom was bullfighting the Minotaur. Every time the man-bull charged, she dodged, but she was sloppy and getting overwhelmed. Seeing this, Percy ran with the girls in tow.
"Percy, wait!" said Rainbow Dash, running after her friend.
"Percy, don’t do it, it's too dangerous," said Fluttershy, almost crying.
Twilight said, "You stand no chance of stopping it." But they all fell on deaf ears.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no," said Percy as he and the girls ran close enough to see the attack. As the Minotaur tackled Sally to the ground, "Mom!" Percy yelled as the monster grabbed her. "Mom!" Percy yelled again, with fear in his eyes as well as the girls, as Sally was willing to put life on the line, but that didn’t mean they were okay with her dying.
Sally, hearing Percy's screams, looked to see Percy and the girls watching this unfold. She put out her hand, but anything she could do evaporated in a shimmer of gold before the Minotaur could crush her. Even the Minotaur was confused.
Percy's heart dropped as he watched his mom get vaporized in front of him, and the girls felt guilty as if they had their powers and magic, they could have stopped it instead of being scared and cowardly. Spike looked down in sadness as he couldn’t imagine losing his mom right in front of him. He looked at Grover and saw him grief-stricken, his body expressing it.
The situation got worse with the Minotaur looking in their direction.
Before the gang could interact, they heard a familiar noise of metallic vibration, and it was coming from Percy's pocket. The boy put his hand in that pocket and pulled out Mr. Brunner's pen, which was vibrating.
"What’s with that thing?" questioned Rainbow Dash.
"It’s just like before," Fluttershy said, recalling the attempted murder by Mrs. Dodds.
Twilight then remembered hard on that moment when she recalled the sword in Percy’s hand. The sword that was in place of—
"Percy, the pen—" but he already knew. Percy had the pen in both hands. He placed his right thumb under the cap and launched it off to the ground, and the pen began to change.
The pen turned into golden liquid metal, growing larger with the top part forming a u-shape until it all solidified, forming a handle with the blade materializing on top of the hilt, glowing a bright golden hue in the rainy night.
"Per- Percy! Percy, no!" Grover said, as he knew what his friend was about to do. "Percy, please listen and be reasonable," Twilight pleaded with her friend, but the boy didn’t listen as he readied his sword in a battle position.
The Minotaur, seeing his enemy with a weapon, went on all fours and charged at Percy. Percy, seeing the attack, charged as well as his mom’s killer. As he ran at the man-bull, he put the sword in his right hand. As the two fighters collided, Percy readied his sword and went to the right side of the Minotaur and hit the monster, with the beast returning the favor, causing both to fall back to the ground disoriented.
"Percy!" the girls yelled as they ran to their friend to check on him while avoiding the Minotaur. They saw the Minotaur struggle as he landed on his back.
"Darling, are you okay?" said Rarity as she and Applejack picked him up, but Percy didn’t answer. He just got out of his friends' arms, readied up his sword, and went to the fallen foe. The Minotaur finally got back on his four appendages, but Percy went in for a strike.
"Percy!" yelled Fluttershy, but Percy again didn’t listen. He just followed his boiling rage and sliced at the Minotaur’s right horn, causing the beast to groan in pain. In return, the Minotaur thrust that horn into Percy, causing him to fly back a few feet with the sword in front of him.
The Minotaur roared in anger, causing fear in the girls, who wanted to run to the hill, but that would mean leaving Percy, Spike, and Grover behind. That was not an option for them.
The man-bull tore a huge rock off the ground, carried it, and walked to the crawling Percy, snarling with the intention of crushing him like a bug. Rarity, seeing the opportunity, went for the sword, only for it to disappear, shrinking into nothingness. Rarity and Percy's eyes went wide, as did the rest, realizing the only weapon they had ditched them.
Percy, hearing the large footsteps, looked up to see the Minotaur with the stone boulder. The beast proceeded to hit Percy with the rock, only for the boy to roll away. Seeing that failed, the Minotaur then thrusted his horns into the grass to impale his prey, only for Percy to roll over again. For better or worse, the Minotaur appeared to be stuck, with his left horn tangled with a vine.
The girls saw this as their chance to run, but Percy had other ideas. He did something that even Rainbow Dash would label as reckless. When the Minotaur was still, Percy ran around to its left, jumped on its back, and held tight.
Even the Minotaur himself was surprised as he finally got out. He scrambled around, trying to get the boy off him. The girls were surprised, with Rainbow, Pinkie, and even Applejack impressed by this action. As the beast spun around, Percy held on for dear life. He almost slipped off it if it weren't for the underpants, and thankfully, he was able to climb on the back of its head, even though the beast tried desperately to shake him off by crashing into trees.
As Percy tried to figure out how he was going to get out of this, he saw a scar on the right horn, remembering it’s his doing, and found his key for victory and revenge. He grabbed onto that horn and pulled it off, making the Minotaur scream in pain. Percy then used the pointed end to stab the beast directly on the top of its head. The Minotaur then stopped all movement and began to turn into dust, similar to Mrs. Dodds. Percy then fell down as the body that was holding him up vaporized into nothingness.
Rainbow Dash, seeing her friend, went to help even though she was a far distance away. "Percy, I got you," she said as she ran, but she didn’t do what a normal kid could do. She ran at the speed of a fast-moving car. She ignored it, however, as she ran to her friend, just in the nick of time to catch Percy. Before she could say anything to him, he fainted.
The others walked towards her. They saw the fainted boy, so they carried him, along with Grover and Spike, up the hill. The only problem was it was a tall hill, and it was raining, making it muddy and harder to climb. Even after they reached the top, they collapsed unconscious by the tree, and everything went black.
As they temporarily regained consciousness, Percy and Twilight heard chatter around them, but it was mostly incomprehensible. They saw silhouettes of various people.
"Are they okay?" Twilight heard someone ask.
"Alone? How is that possible?" another voice responded.
"Yeah, they're okay."
"He must be the one," said a girl. "But what with the girls and dog "
"And what’s with the weird hair?"
“Hush, Annabeth” said in a familiar voice. “Everyone give them some space, please.”
The two friends regained eyesight to see the silhouettes moving out of the way, revealing a man with the body of a full-grown horse.
"Welcome to camp, Percy Jackson and Twilight Sparkle," said the centaur. "We’ve been expecting you," said the more friendlier hybrid as the two friends were starting to lose consciousness again.