A single ray of sunlight shone through Fluttershy’s window, filtering through the glass, snaking across the room, shining onto Jack’s forehead and piercing his skull with the gentleness of a horde of rhinoceri. His immediate reaction was to retreat across the bed, to a spot where he could nurse his head in the dark. The dark was soothing, calming the throbbing in his brain - but he couldn’t go far before he bumped into something soft and warm. Now that the fleet of jackhammers in his head was reduced to a mild throbbing, he took in three major facts about his surrounding. Firstly, he was in a bed completely unknown to him, and it had the single softest sheets he had ever felt. It was as though he had slept on a cloud of silk. Second, he was naked - and given how little he remembered of the previous night, he was more than a little nervouse about the implications thereof. Third, he wasn’t alone. Sylvia was under the sheets on the opposite side of the bed - and equally naked. His flight from the sun brought him into brief contact with her, her soft skin sinfully pleasant.
Sylvia woke up to the gentle nudge of Jack at her back, yawning and stretching as she sat up. She was careful to use the sheet to cover her front, though her side was still visible and bare from her neck down to her hip, her milky white skin both blending in to the sheet in front of her and contrasting sharply with the shock of orange hair that fell around her shoulders.
“Well well, how are we feeling today?” She said, giggling a bit at his obvious shocked reaction. “Let me guess; you’re not used to waking up with a pretty naked girl in your bed?”
Jack’s hangover kept him from a joking mood, and he didn’t look particularly happy to be where he was - unusual for a virile boy of his age. “What did I do last night, why are we naked, and did anything happen between us?” He forced his bloodshot eyes up to her face, away from the distracting curves of her torso.
“Well, lets see.” Sylvia replied, holding up a hand and beginning to count. “You got kerplasterfucked on hard cider with Rainbow Dash, then started hitting on her - even after she passed out. Rarity collected our clothes for mending, and you started hitting on her twice as hard - that’s why we’re naked, by the way - then you stuck your dick in the cake, threw up in the cider cauldron, and had to be practically carried back to Fluttershy’s house, where you promptly passed out about ten seconds into trying to talk me into anal.” She ticked off each feat with a finger.
“You’re lying” He grumbled, his head still shifting closer to her to keep ahead of the inexorably advancing line the sun drew on the bed. “If I had thrown up I wouldn’t feel as bad as I do, there’s no cake on my body, and… well… I wouldn’t do that.”
“Fair enough.” She grinned, sliding over a bit to give him more room. “But the fact that you had to use evidence instead of memories means that you overdid it. Not the best way to make a first impression.”
“Yeah, I guess not." He was rubbing his temple, his voice a little hoarse. "Don't suppose they revealed their magic portal that can send us home today?"
"Afraid not. Twilight did say she would look into it though, and she's easily the most magical pony in town." Sylvia yawned, looking at Jack with a curious expression. "You said you wouldn't 'do that'... mind if I ask what you meant?"
Jack gave her a look that made it all too clear he wasn't in the mood for conversation, but humored her with an answer nonetheless. "I wouldn't advance on you. Even if I was drunk."
His voice sounded cold to Sylvia, and there was more than a hint of rejection to it. She was used to rejection; it came with the territory of having horrible parents. She still wasn’t good at it. Jack could see the pain in her eyes at his implication and let out a sigh. “It’s not like that. I have a girlfriend, Sylvia. Don’t think she’d be too thrilled with me propositioning drunken buttsex.” He gave a hollow laugh, forcing himself to sit up as the ever-advancing sun finally caught up to him.
“I’m so sorry.” Sylvia said, her hurt gaze turned to one of concern. “Guess that explains why you’re so eager to get home.”
“You’re not?” Jack arched an eyebrow. He knew that bronies were intense about their fandom, but this? Being trapped away from her family and friends? He’d only been gone a day, but it felt like weeks. His dreams had been wrought with images of search parties hunting for him through the campgrounds, never finding his body - nightmares compounded by the agitated sweat of a hangover taking hold.
“No. I’m not. I know it sounds angsty as hell, but I don’t have much to go back to.” She said, and it was Jack’s turn to look concerned. “School was basically my life, and then we graduated. Parents don’t think I’m worth a small fortune in undergrad tuition, and the job market wasn’t exactly fantastic. Our home had more than its share of violence.” She continued, then stopped when she saw how horrified Jack looked. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get all Debby Downer on you.”
Jack didn’t know how to respond. He had his fair share of gripes with his old life, but it was his life. He had his friends, his girlfriend, his family. He hadn’t gotten his college situation together yet, but he knew that his parents would help him out wherever he ended up. Even as the empathetic part of his mind was crying for Sylvia, the selfish part was hearing her catalogue everything he had back on Earth that he wouldn't have here.
Jack reached for something to say, trying to pull a comforting platitude out of his throbbing head. He was saved the trouble by Fluttershy appearing in the doorway, a tray balanced on her right fore hoof with two mugs of something piping hot and a wooden bowl containing more of the pain numbing paste she had given him after his fall. She looked between the two humans, taking in the pain on Sylvia’s face and the concern on Jack’s.
“I…is everything alright?” Fluttershy inquired, trotting into the room and setting the platter down on a small nightstand. “How are you feeling? Too much cider can make you quite sick; if you need it I brought you some medicine.” She directed toward Jack, taking the salve off of the tray and taking a little of it onto her hoof before offering it to him.
Jack’s opinion of Fluttershy shot up tenfold as soon as he saw her herbal remedy, though he didn’t much fancy having it hoof-fed to him. He gathered it from her hoof with a single finger and sucked his finger clean, the relief once again immediate and exceptional. It was more effective than the pain meds they had given him when he got his wisdom teeth out, and it didn’t have any of the narcotic side-effects - in short, it was a miracle drug.
“That’s muuuuch better” Jack sighed, the sound of his own voice no longer sending pain through his skull.
“It’s mostly just fresh feel-good blossoms, mixed with a little bit of honey to make it go down better. I’m glad it helped; Rainbow Dash always asks for some the day after a party.” Fluttershy smiled at him, ever glad to play the nurse.
A week passed. Jack and Sylvia stayed with Fluttershy; she didn’t want any payment for her hospitality, but eventually agreed to let the humans work off their room and board - neither of them cottoned well to charity. Sylvia tended directly to many of the less dangerous animals, while Jack mainly carried feed and other supplies back to Fluttershy’s place from the market. Oddly enough, neither was particularly keen to work with the bear or the lion in Fluttershy’s care, even after the Pegasus had assured the humans that the predators were ‘just a big teddy and kitty in need of some care’.
Rarity came through with her promise, delivering their clothes to Fluttershy’s house barely two days after the party. In addition to mending the rips and tears, Rarity had re-hemmed Sylvia’s clothes in a new trim which helped to blend the pink and yellow pieces in a way that made them less garish. Jack’s jeans and t-shirt were returned in pristine condition, together with a custom made tuxedo with a dark blue vest that contrasted nicely with his pale blue eyes. She also mended and ‘improved’ his leather jacket; it now had a series of colorful gems lining each side of the zipper.
Rarity also provided each of them with three thick wool cloaks, lined in soft cotton so as to not itch the skin. The cloaks did wonders, both for keeping them warm and for protecting their modesty. Both had heard their fair share of whispered comments on the streets - apparently having teats on one’s chest or an unsheathed penis was cause for great amusement.
Twilight stopped by once to update them on her research into the magic which had brought them there. She was able to pinpoint a major magical anomaly in the atmosphere that had occurred at roughly the same time as their arrival, but still had no idea what caused it or how to reproduce it. She promised to continue trying, though, and even such slim progress was heartening to Jack. Perhaps they would get home after all.
When they weren’t working for Fluttershy, Sylvia spent most of her free time simply talking to the mare. The conversations were largely quiet, with Sylvia asking occasional questions and getting short timid answers from Fluttershy. Jack found them exceptionally dull, and took to exploring the neighborhood. Rainbow Dash spotted him once, and invited him out to dinner - by the end of the meal they were friends, her aggressive and sporty personality playing well off his own.
On the morning of their 8th day in Equestria, Jack and Sylvia had the day off. Jack went to find Dash; he had promised her she could demonstrate her air show for him, and he was privately curious to see just how well she could fly. Sylvia, however, had a different goal in mind.
She wanted to do magic.
Sylvia had always had a fascination with the occult, stretching all the way back to the beginning of middle school where she had gone through a rather pretentious Wiccan phase. She had never fully lost the belief that people could perform spells, though years of mundane reality had done a good bit to suppress it. Now that she was surrounded by so much ambient magic, she couldn’t resist trying again.
She laid a soft white blanket out on the grass, right at the edge of the Everfree forest, and took a seat on it. Her cloak that day was a deep crimson, pooling around her as she sat. Every fantasy novel, pagan legend, and general rumor she had ever heard about magic were all flooding her mind. She decided to start by selecting a desired effect, eyeing a particularly lovely carnation in the field and deciding to try and enlarge it.
Sylvia picked up a stick and proceeded to draw a circle around the flower, inscribing it with whatever symbols she could remember. She placed her hands on either end of the circle, letting her thumbs touch the circumference and willing energy into the inscription.
Nothing happened. She felt a bit foolish; here she was, a 19-year-old girl attempting to do magic. But she wasn’t dissuaded. Again and again she tried to invoke her will on the carnation, through Nordic runes, carefully worded poems, ritualistic dance, and arcane chants. None of it worked. She felt her frustration grow inside, a burning sensation in her chest that she tried to force out of her body by punching the ground.
The instant her fist met the grass, there was a small flash of light and a few of the blades nearest her hand were singed.
Sylvia blinked a few times, confused at first. She certainly hadn’t been trying to burn anything; still, it seemed inconceivable that the effect had come from anything else. She was the only one there. Sylvia remembered a particular theory of magic, which stated that magic was simply emotion made physical. It made sense that frustration would manifest itself in a destructive form. Excited by her new lead, Sylvia once again turned her attention to the carnation. This time, she didn’t bother with any of the traditional rituals or superstition. She simply folded her hands around the flower, closed her eyes, and tried to channel as many positive emotions as she could.
Sylvia thought about every happy memory she could find. Christmas as a young girl, the first time she had successfully ridden a bike, her first kiss… and of course, the moment one week prior that she had finally accepted that she was really in Equestria. As she felt the happiness well up inside her, the carnation began to swell and expand. The more it grew, the more clearly she began to feel her past emotions. Individual toys from the Christmases, the smell of the flowers in the summer air as she rode. Even the most recent happy memory was called into sharper relief, as though someone had upgraded her mind to HD.
Once the flower crested three feet, Sylvia became dimly aware that she was tired. The ever strengthening emotional feedback loop did a lot to mask the fatigue, but this form of magic was tiring. As fatigue grew, her focus slipped. She couldn't stop her mind from jumping to related memories. The anguish of her favorite toy breaking. The pain of a skinned knee caused by a bike crash. Her first heartbreak. The sadness and frustration melded with the memories of triumph and joy, and as the carnation continued to grow it also began to change. Leaves extended and warped into gnarled vines adorned with thorns. It grew faster and faster, quickly hitting the ten-foot mark before Sylvia realized just what she was doing. She broke her spell as quickly as she could, but the once beautiful carnation was already a twisted new entity. Roots burst from the ground, wrapping around Sylvia’s ankle and flinging her into the air like a rag doll, where vines lashed out and wrapped themselves around her arms. Thorns bit into her skin as she struggled in vain. The memories of pain and fear were quickly replaced by fresh adrenaline-fueled fear and sharp stabbing pain. She tried to channel the new negative emotions into some sort of magical attack, forcing the pain and fear into her fingertips. But she was tired; what little energy she could muster was quickly siphoned into the empathetic bond she had with the plant, making it shiver and undulate with unnatural vigor. Bereft of other options, Sylvia screamed.
About half an hour before Sylvia began her ill-fated experiment, Spike the dragon was also frightened - but for a very different reason. He paced up and down the hallway outside of Twilight’s study, claws on either side of his head. I’m gonna die. She’s gonna to kill me. I’m already dead. I’m too young to die! Every ten laps or so he would turn to face her door and try to work up the courage to open it, but every time he simply devolved back into mindless pacing. After about twenty minutes of this pattern, the door swung open to reveal a rather disgruntled looking Twilight Sparkle.
“Spike, what is the matter? I’m trying to decipher whatever magical anomaly brought Jack and Sylvia here so I can get them home, and all I can hear is your constant footsteps out here.” She demanded, an inquisitive look in her eyes.
Spike looked up at her, taking a deep breath. “Twilight? Do you remember earlier this week, when Rarity invited me over to help her with that new tailoring project she was taking on?” Spike said apprehensively. Twilight gave him an impatient nod. “Well, right before that I got a letter, and I sort of forgot about it.” He continued.
“Is that all?” Twilight gave an exasperated sigh. “You’re still just a baby Spike; I don’t expect you to remember everything. It’s fine if my mail is late now and then. But I’m trying to figure out completely uncharted magic here Spike… this has the potential to be completely groundbreaking research. I could end up writing a dissertation on this; not to mention the two humans who are depending on this research to get hom-“
“It was from the Princess” Spike cut her off, wincing.
“…what!?” Twilight stopped mid-rant, eyes going wide.
“She… got your letter about the humans, and is coming to see them for herself.” Spike continued all at once, as though ripping off a bandaid.
“She’s WHAT!? Spike, this is a big deal; we have to prepare everything for a royal visit! When is she coming?” Twilight was now breathing heavily, eyes darting about as she immediately began her mental checklist of all that they would have to do.
“…this afternoon.” He concluded with a grimace.
Twilight’s mane and tail erupted into arcane fire, causing Spike to jump backwards and throw up his arms. The unicorn just bolted out the door at full gallop, heading straight for Fluttershy’s house. All other preparations were secondary; if nothing else, she was going to at least make sure that the humans were around and presentable.
A combination of furious galloping and the occasional teleportation got Twilight to Fluttershy's place in a half hour flat, even out on the edge of the Everfree. She tried to skid to a stop in front of the door just as Fluttershy was stepping out, leading to a collision that left both mares on the ground and seeing stars. Twilight leaped to her hooves, her head snapping about to look for Jack and Sylvia.
"Fluttershy! The humans! Where!?" Twilight panted, out of breath and lacking the time to catch it.
"Umm... Sylvia went to eat lunch by the forest's edge, and Jack went off with Dash to help with her flying." Fluttershy responded quietly, slightly intimidated by her the force of her friend's request.
"Princess is coming! Get your songbirds... no, no time... put on a dress... I have to get the humans!" Twilight oriented herself toward the Everfree and took off once more. She suspected Dash would be using a small lake also near the forest's edge for her flight practice, so going for Sylvia had the potential to kill two birds with one stone.
Her pace doubled when she heard Sylvia scream.
The blood red crown of the flower was the first thing to enter Twilights vision. On seeing it she tried to stop, but her momentum carried her directly into one of it's waiting roots, which in turn sent her headfirst into a waiting vine. The thorns bit into Twilight's coat just as readily as Sylvia's; unlike Sylvia, however, Twilight was an experienced magical practitioner, with plenty of reserves. Her horn burned bright, a beam of light lancing out and slicing off the vine holding Sylvia at the stalk. The plant was silent, but it writhed in an obvious visual representation of pain. As though to pay Twilight back a second vine wrapped around the unicorn's body and a third whipped across her face. All the while the unicorn sensed something off between the creature and Sylvia. To her eyes, experienced to magic and enhanced by the properties of her horn, it was almost like a series of think silk strands connecting the two. Whatever this creature was, it was clearly something of Sylvia's doing, though based on how it was attacking her Twilight somehow didn't think it was intentional.
Sylvia's cloak was beginning to spot with darker patches of red where she was actually bleeding. She heard Twilight's cries of pain, acutely aware that she was entirely responsible for them. Fighting through her pain, she grabbed a nearby rock and launched herself at the thing, bashing the stalk over and over again with the sharpest edge she could find.
Twilight's vision was beginning to swim; each lash of the vine was agonizing, and she could feel her own blood running down her sides, hot in the cold autumn air. An idea jumped out at her, a last lifeline against the terror. "Sylvia! Uproot it!" She screamed down at the human.
Sylvia wasn't in any condition to argue with her, throwing aside her rock and beginning to pull at the flower's roots with all of her strength. First one... then two... then a small tuft of roots, until the plant was no longer anchored to the earth. One of the largest roots collided with Sylvia's chest, throwing her back as though to point out just how foolish it was to give the carnation more mobility. She could see Twilight from her spot on the ground, and despair was beginning to set in. "It didn't work... I'm so sorry...." She said.
Twilight heard Sylvia's apology and took it as a sign that the roots were fully torn from the ground. Shutting her eyes, the unicorn channeled one of her most potent spells - a subjective gravity field, large enough to invert gravity for both herself and the plant fiend. Surprised by the sudden lurching motion, the vines holding Twilight released her, and both unicorn and carnation plummeted up into the sky, vines trying in vain to grab on to blades of grass and smaller flowers - anything to keep it from falling. They were nearly a thousand feet in the air when Twilight reversed her spell, sending both of them plummeting toward the ground. Sylvia screamed, Twilight's plan suddenly making sense to her. Twilight was a bookworm; she would be all to familiar with tales of noble self sacrifice.
Meanwhile, Dash and Jack were enjoying a pleasant day by the lake. Dash had opened her show with a few basics; barrel rolls, loop de loops, and some simple cloud skimming. Jack particularly enjoyed the latter; with a few well aimed passes, the pegasus was able to shape clouds. Rainbow Dash was honestly not very good at cloud skimming; she found it artsy, and didn't think it was really the core of a good show. Still, Jack had no point of reference, and found the effect impressive. He clapped for her after every trick, and after one major lecture toward the start of the show cheered for her as well. He particularly liked the last cloud she shaped - it was a very crudely drawn human, an obvious nod to Jack.
"Alright, time for the grand finale!" The pegasus called down, shooting up into the sky and across the lake. "I call this one the sonic rainboom!" After pulling neatly into a stop and raising a hoof skyward to check the winds, she took off across the lake. Dash was always fast, but this was a whole new level - Jack had never seen her move at anything close to this clip. The air itself began to bend around Dash's body in a mach cone. Dash was sweating with exertion, forcing herself to go ever faster. Almost there... almost there...
Just as Dash was about to break the sound barrier, five identical dark clouds formed in the sky over the lake. One was almost directly in front of her, startling her out of her concentration and causing her to lose momentum. As she flew past it she noticed a familiar burst of pink lightning from within the cloud, causing her to pull to a stop and turn around. By the time she managed to about-face, the clouds were already fading; however, in place of each cloud was a creature unlike anything Dash had ever seen. It was insectile, held aloft by large gossamer wings and armored in black chitin. Where a pony's forelegs would be it had large scythe-like appendages, and where it's hind legs would be it had talons not unlike those of a gryphon. Four of them took off toward Ponyville, but the fifth set it's sights on Dash and gave chase.
Rainbow appeared to freeze at first, causing Jack's heart to leap into his throat. He mistook her for a deer in the headlights; in actuality, she was evaluating whether or not she should try and kick it in the nose before taking off. The closer it got, the longer and sharper it's scythe arms seemed, until eventually even Dash wasn't willing to risk lingering. As she took off the creature put on a burst of speed, swiping at her with it's edged limb. She felt the wind from the swing against her hooves.
Jack sprinted after them, though he was orders of magnitude slower and further slowed by obstacles on the ground. Above him he could see the monster giving chase to Dash, the experienced pegasus darting weaving and rolling every time it took a swipe at her. As fast and nimble as she was, the creature was sticking to her; it's larger wingspan gave it a surprising amount of speed. They pulled ahead to the point where they were barely visible, and then suddenly both specks plummeted below the treeline of the Everfree. There was a rather unpleasant crunching noise, and then a single speck reappeared. Still unsure as to the outcome, he continued trying to catch up.
Dash was breathing hard, her feathers ruffled, but she was alive. The monster's size advantage made it harder for it to maneuver when she moved the chase to a more dangerous locale, and an oak branch had collided with one of its wings in a spray of ichor and shattered chitin. It wasn't going to be flying again any time soon. She felt tired to the point where she couldn't trust her senses. This was partly because her eyes were telling her that Twilight was shooting up into the air with an unreasonably large and blood splattered carnation. Hearing Twilight scream was enough to snap her out of her daze. Dash shot forward and down, making a diagonal dive with the last of her strength. She caught the unicorn just before she hit the ground, making it another ten feet forward before they both tumbled along the grass in a rough landing. The carnation landed much harder - the stalk split in two, water and chlorophyll spraying into the air.
Rainbow climbed to her hooves, looking down at Twilight. "Twilight... what were you doing up there? What happened to you!" She added, noticing the unicorn's wounds.
"I... Sylvia cast..." Twilight tried to explain, but her vision was getting cloudy. Her sentence unfinished, Twilight Sparkle fell to the ground and lost consciousness. Dash wheeled about and fixed Sylvia with a stare that could rival Fluttershy's, fire in her voice.
"You. What did you do!" Rainbow advanced on the girl, all fatigue forgotten on discovering the cause of her friend's suffering. "It all makes sense now. You made those other monsters too... that's why we first found you when the lightning appeared. It's all you! Why!?"
"I... I didn't... it wasn't..." Sylvia was jabbering. She had no idea how she had done what she did, and as such had a very hard time explaining it. As though to compound issues, Applejack came galloping into the clearing, followed shortly thereafter by a very winded Jack.
"Y'all have to come quick, th'pri-" Applejack stopped mid-sentence, taking in the scene of destruction before her - in particular, the unconscious and bleeding Twilight. She ran up to her and hoisted the smaller purple unicorn onto her back. "Ah'll get Twilight to the hospital. Y'all have to come back to town though, the Princess has been attacked!"
Rainbow's anger was etched across every feature of her face, now believing she knew the true purpose of Sylvia's magical misadventures. "AJ, send the guards out here; it's the humans. They caused this; they distracted Twilight and sent those -things- after Celestia." Dash instructed, still staring down Sylvia as though daring her to flee.
"I didn't do anything! I just want to get home." Jack protested, eyes flashing between Dash and Sylvia. "And neither did Sylvia. Look at her, she's hurt! She needs help!"
"Of course she's hurt. Twilight can take care of herself, you know." Dash finally turned and looked at Jack; much to his surprise, she was blinking back tears. "And you... don't even talk to me. I thought you were my friend. The guards will take you 'home' when they get here."
Panicked and confused, Jack turned and started trying to run once more. Applejack reacted instinctively with a square kick to the back of his head. If she had full mobility the blow would have likely been fatal; as it was, her needing to account for Twilight probably saved Jack's life. He felt a sharp crack at the base of his skull, and then everything went black.