Rainbow Dash hurried straight to Ponyville, straight to the house of a certain purple unicorn and her assistant dragon. Rainbow wanted to be sure, but... it's impossible. There's just no way that Nightmare Moon could be back.
When she reached a large oak tree, the home of Twilight Sparkle, she ran through the door immediately. She saw Twilight studying a magic book as usual, but that little hobby had to be interrupted.
"TWILIGHT! BIG PROBLEM!" Rainbow stopped right at Twilight's face, startling the purple unicorn into dropping the brown book she was reading, and wondering why she's in a hurry.
"Whoa, calm down! You're not usually this panicky without a reason." Twilight said, her head backed away in confusion.
"It's Nightmare Moon!" Rainbow exclaimed.
"Wait, Nightmare Moon? That's not possible. Princess Luna shouldn't be in despair anymore, and she can change into Nightmare Moon without being evil." Twilight noted, but sounded curious to know more.
"But I saved some humans who say they were attacked by her!" Rainbow claimed in an excited tone, making Twilight cringe.
"Wait, that's not right. Like I said, Princess Luna shouldn't be under Nightmare Moon's control anymore." Twilight said, using her magic and putting a strip of paper into the book she was reading. "Unless... you're saying Princess Luna herself did it?"
"Well... no... i mean... I don't want to believe Princess Luna would attack humans either." Rainbow didn't want to have any doubts, wanting to believe in the now reformed and kind princess of the night.
"I know. I trust Princess Luna wholeheartedly. And I doubt she'd attack random humans. I just can't see her doing something like that." Twilight said with confidence. "Actually, I'd like to meet these humans you saved. They must be from another world."
"Huh? You know about them?" Rainbow asked, taken by surprise.
"Of course I know what humans are! I've been reading a new book about them just now actually." Twilight said, levitating the book and showing Rainbow the cover. "I'm curious about their society's customs, and how they differ so much from ours.
"Huh..." Rainbow looked at Twilight, wanting to say 'that's something only a nerd like you would say'.
"They come from some other world. A world a little more advanced than ours, but lacking in magic. But they make up for that with this thing called 'technology'." Twilight said, before her eyes widened with an idea. "Now I really want to meet these humans you saved now. Can I?"
"Yeah! I'm sure you could answer a bunch of their questions, Twilight." Rainbow complimented.
"Well, I'm sure I could, but you could have too." Twilight said, being humble.
"Yeah, but I don't think I'd be able to answer anything too complicated, ya know?" Rainbow said, patting the unicorn on her back.
"But it's just simple stuff! how hard could it be?" Twilight asked.
Meanwhile, at the academy, Trisha was speaking to Spitfire in her office.\
The office Trisha was in, was similar to a detective's office from a movie. Aside from the light blue wooden planks and ceiling and dark blue walls like the rest of the place, this room had four file cabinets, two on each side of the room. Behind Spitfire was a window with the blinds open partially, so only a little sunlight would seep through and light the room further. There was a light hanging from above, lighting the room from the top center. Spitfire and Trisha sat in brown wooden chairs with matching arm rests and a blue cushioned seat, the desk in between being large and made of a light-blue kind of steel. On top of that desk was a full map of Equestria, and on top of that was a figurine of a wonderbolt, and various organized profiles of various ponies covering it, presumably all students of the Wonderbolt Academy.
"So you're telling me that this thing called an airplane was sliced in half and your seat belts vanished?" Spitfire asked, leaning forward, putting her head on her hooves and eying the human inquisitively. Trisha felt like she was being questioned by a detective.
"Yeah... and before we knew it, we were here. We don't really recall you saving us." Trisha said. "I only know now thanks to Rainbow Dash telling me."
"Yeah, she's is a real reliable pony. She was the one who saw you during one of our training exorcises today. It's why we decided to make her a lead pony for the remainder of her time in class." Spitfire said.
"Lead Pony...?" Trisha narrowed her eyes, confused.
"Haha, I forgot you don't know this stuff! What I mean, is that in most of our activities for class, we divide the students into groups of two: The lead pony, and Wingpony. From there, we have a series of lessons and activities, and if you graduate, you become one of us." Spitfire explained, moving a hoof around, motioning the flying tricks that the students have to pull off.
"A Wonderbolt... So is Rainbow one of you guys?" Trisha asked.
"No, not yet. But her flying skills are phenomenal, so I know she'll be one of us in the future. She's currently our top student here." Spitfire said with a smile.
"That's amazing!" Trisha said.
"We could talk more about the academy later. Back to the main topic..." Spitfire said before steering the discussion back on track, "Can you remember if you've seen anything before you fell asleep?"
"Wait, fell asleep? What are you talking about?" Trisha asked, confused, slowly feeling mortified. "We weren't sleeping while falling, were we...?"
"You guys were actually asleep for some reason when we caught you and your friends." Spitfire said, looking just as puzzled.
"I... had no idea I was asleep while falling... I thought I had just shut my eyes, bracing for a deadly impact." Trisha said, covering her mouth, but eyes quivering at the startling revelation.
"Hmmm... Well, from what I've heard, it might be Nightmare Moon that attacked you guys." Spitfire guessed.
"Nightmare... Moon?" Trisha, as expected, didn't know the name.
"Nightmare Moon used to be an old pony's tale, but it turns out the legend was true by the time of the thousandth Summer-Sun Celebration rolled around. The news of her defeat is kinda common knowledge." Spitfire said.
Meanwhile, several minutes later, Rainbow came back to the Wonderbolt Academy with Twilight since she wanted to meet the humans. After coming inside, Twilight's eyes widened at the sight of the humans who were up, chatting with the ponies of the Wonderbolt Academy. Mia was chatting with a black coated stallion with a white Mohawk mane named Thunderlane, while Kitsu, Mina, and Eva were talking to a pair of mares, both with a similar blueish gray color scheme, but sporting a pale cerulean mane and a light grayish mane with a bow named, Cloudchaser and Flitter respectively. Jeremy of course, looked annoyed the entire time.
"We're wasting way too much time in this building. I should be out there finding the others...! Isn't there a way down!?" Jeremy thought, forming a scowl.
"Glad to see you guys are making friends!" Rainbow said to the humans.
"So you're Rainbow Dash..." Jeremy looked at the cyan pegasus, then looked at the purple unicorn with the dark purple mane and pink highlights. "And... you are?"
"Hey there, I'm Twilight Sparkle. What's your name?" The unicorn held out a hoof in greeting.
"I don't feel like telling you. Not until I know everything about where the hell I am!" Jeremy said, giving Twilight a very intense glare.
"Okaaay... did I do something wrong?" Twilight asked, confused as to why the dark skinned human is so angry.
"I don't want you glaring at my friend, big guy..." Rainbow said, giving a glare back to Jeremy.
"Oh, if you're trying to threaten me, then don't mind if I respond with a little violence!" Jeremy began popping his knuckles.
"Ahhh, hahaha...! Jeremy's not always like this, you know..." Mia got up from her bed and got between the man and pony, intervening before Jeremy could pop off. "Anyway, nice to meet you, Twilight! I'm Mia! The girl with the glasses is Mina, the blonde girl is Eva, the fox face guy is Kitsu! And of course, you already know Jeremy!"
"Hi, Mia. Listen, I've never seen humans before in the flesh, so I'd like to learn all I can about you. Is that okay?" Twilight asked.
"Oh, of cour-----" "Whoa, where do you get off wanting to know about us? We don't even know where we are! Wonderbolt Academy? Just what the hell is this place, what ARE you!? And what the hell happened to the rest of my friends!?" Mia was cut off before she would agree to Twilight's request was cut short by Jeremy's outburst, whose anger grew to it's prime.
"Jeremy, calm down!" Mia said desperately.
"I usually don't agree with Jeremy when he has an outburst, and I agree he should calm down, but he raises very good points. We DO need to know where we are." Mina said with a sharp tongue.
"Ah, sorry about my manners. It's just, I'm so fascinated now that I see humans, just as you're described in my book!" Twilight explained sheepishly, trying to control her fascination.
"It's okay Twilight... to be honest, we were thrown into this place against our will. So where are we?" Mia said.
"You're all in the land of Equestria!" Twilight said.
"Equestria...?" Jeremy asked, confused. "What kind of name...?--"
Mina cuts Jeremy off by answering, "Looking around at all the ponies we've been talking to, it makes a lot of sense, actually."
"And not to mention these ponies are quite friendly, despite the initial shyness." Kitsu said.
"While Trish was away, we saw some more ponies with wings looking into our room curiously. Of course, Jeremy had to glare at all of'em. But Kitsu and I showed them It was okay to talk to us!" Mia waved her hand across the room, showing the ponies.
"Yeah, I was a little weirded out at first, but I'm okay with it." Eva said, "Besides, this guy called Thunderlane here kinda cracks me up a bit."
"Yeah, Flitter and Cloudchaser were going on about this time when he spreaded the feather flu around." Kitsu said.
"And we would've broken the record too if it wasn't for that..." Rainbow said, remembering when she had that chance to set a new record when she and the other pegasi had to send the water to Cloudsdale.
"But I apologized for that!" Thunderlane protested, but still laughed along.
"I'm outta here. You guys can laugh, smile, and get comfortable here all you want, but I'm, not, doing this." Jeremy said, walking out of the room and down the hallway as fast as he could..
"Ugh, what's that guy's problem?? I'm giving him a piece of my mind!" Rainbow's eyes narrowed angrily, chasing after the disgruntled human.
"Ah, Rainbow, wait!" Twilight tried to stop her, but before she knew it, the cyan pegasus was already going down the hall. "Haaa..." Twilight sighed.
"Jeremy..." Mia said, feeling a bit down. "I swear, he's not always like this."
"Can't say I blame him too much though... I got separated from my little brother, and I'm actually worried sick." Eva said. "We just know that being rash won't help anything in a situation like this."
Twilight nodded in agreement; "I understand. I just want to ask you all how you all got here, that's all. I just need to be sure of something Rainbow Dash told me." Twilight said.
"Alright, we'll answer in a bit." Mia said, before she and the others took the time to say goodbye to the other pegasi in the room, since it's only natural they couldn't spend all of their time talking to the humans.
"Well, let's see..."
Mia tells Twilight their story on what happened on the plane, the strange night sky they seen, and how everything just went downhill from there until they were saved by the Wonderbolts.
"I see... well, that might be Nightmare Moon... it sounds like her, but I highly doubt that she's responsible..." Twilight said.
"Nightmare Moon?" Mina asked.
"Why's that?" Eva asked.
Twilight, noticing the humans' confusion, began to explain the legend of Nightmare Moon, her return on the thousandth day of the Summer Sun Celebration, and about the time when she and five other friends gathered together and used the Elements of Harmony to defeat Nightmare Moon and saved Princess Luna from her control.
"That's... pretty amazing..." Mina said, her eyes showing genuine excitement. It means a lot when someone as brutally honest as her can say that. Mia, Eva, and Kitsu all agreed with her.
"Thanks guys. But still, I doubt Nightmare Moon attacked you." Twilight said.
"Why not? What you said kinda fits the bill." Kitsu asked.
"Because, Nightmare Moon came back after a thousand years, and it hasn't been that long since we defeated her. It's been a little over a year since then. And of course, Princess Luna has friends; plus her sister's love and support. I just can't see a reason for Princess Luna to attack you guys." Twilight explained.
"Yeaaaaah, buuuuuut..." Mia said, looking more confused, as she and her friends know that more questions have come up.
"Twilight Sparkle? What are you doing here?" Spitfire said, coming down the hall with Trisha.
"Oh, Rainbow invited me here. I wanted to see the humans you rescued." Twilight answered.
"You might be able to help them out better than I can since you and your friends defeated Nightmare Moon." Spitfire said in a humble tone.
"Well... I told them the story, but that only seemed to raise more questions." Twilight said, giving a dry giggle, as she knew she's got a mystery on her hands.
"I wouldn't rule her off as a suspect though. Just a tip." Spitfire said.
"But the princess...!" Twilight attempted to protest before Spitfire cut her off; "I'm just saying."
Spitfire walked back into her office.
"Trisha you're back!" Mia said, happy to see her friend again. "So what were you two talking about?"
Trisha tells Mia about her and Spitfire's conversation. Twilight of course, notices that their conversation is similar, so she and Mia explain what their conversation was about, giving Trisha a bit more knowledge about Nightmare Moon.
"Well... if this Princess Luna is as good as you say, then it'd be okay if we found out, right?" Trisha asked. Even if we find the culprit... It's not like we can fight her. These ponies are way stronger than us.
"Right! Just what I was thinking! I want to take you guys to Canterlot to see Princess Luna, so you guys can know for sure that she's not evil. But she only comes around at nighttime, so I'll have to wake Spike up." Twilight said.
"Spike?" Mina asked. "He's a dog, huh?"
"No! He's a dragon, and my assistant! He's usually the one sends any letter we write to Princess Celestia." Twilight said. "It looks like I have a lot of explaining to do as well..."
Meanwhile, Jeremy sits at the exit of the barracks, looking down at the clouds and grabbing his head in frustration, worried about the rest of his friends, his cousin especially. Where could she be? Is she even still alive? The uncertainty continues to cause a lot of stress for the man, as he held onto his black flat cap, making sure it wouldn't fly off his head. Jeremy's eyebrows rise in curiosity when he finally takes notice to something beneath the clouds.
"Is that... a balloon?" Jeremy squinted his eyes, trying to get a better focus on it. He saw something round and purple in the clouds... "A HOT AIR BALLOON! I can use that!"
"Don't even THINK about it, big guy!" Rainbow Dash was already behind Jeremy, glaring at him.
"Ugh, damn... busted." Jeremy clicked his tongue, scowling at Rainbow.
"Why you... you were gonna steal Twilight's ride!" Rainbow scolded
"SO WHAT!? I finally have a way to get on with my search! I can finally go find Ruby!" Jeremy argued, his fists balling up tighter and tighter.
"And why do you have to be such a jerk about it!? You're even yelling at your friends too!" Rainbow argued back.
"Well excuse me for not wanting to mingle with a bunch of ponies! I'm grateful you saved our lives, but I'm not just gonna stand around and do nothing when Ruby could be out there!" Jeremy made his counter argument, his glare becoming fierce.
"And what about the friends with her?! Look, you can look down on us all you want, call us just 'ponies', but let's make one thing clear; I could just push you out through that door, and you'll just hit the ground. Go splat. You wouldn't be able to save yourself because you don't even have wings. You just stand on two legs and just happen to be a little taller than me, but you'll never get by in this world with that attitude of yours!" Rainbow made some scathing points, making Jeremy back away, only twitching his eye.
"You think I just want to kill myself!? No, want to save my friends, but...!" Jeremy's tone of anger began to waver.
"And the ones here, what about them, huh? You keep going on about saving your friends, but you're forgetting who you're supposed to be loyal to!" Rainbow continued to tear into Jeremy.
"Me, loyal to THEM!? IT SHOULD BE THE OTHER WAY AROUND! I MADE THIS CREW!!! THEY SHOULD BE LOYAL TO ME!!" Jeremy shouted, trying with every fiber of his being to not punch a hole in the wall.
"Oh, so you're their so called 'leader', huh? A real leader knows how to show loyalty to their team! It's a two-way street, big guy! So stop being so stupid and selfish! Because the second you try to steal Twilight's balloon, I'm NOT going to save you. I saved your life once, but my loyalty is to my friends!" Rainbow finally finished tearing into the disgruntled human.
"Grrrrrrrrrr..........." Jeremy could only clinch his fist in anger, as he knew that everything she said was right... But he mustered up some words, shaking the entire time.
"Okay... you raise some veeeeeeeeeeeeery valid points. Bravo, resident of THIS WORLD. But hey: What If you had a sibling... or someone you cared deeply for, like a little sister... you know something happened to that person, but you just... don't know their fate. What would you do? Would YOU keep calm? Wouldn't YOU want to find that person at all costs if you could? At any opportunity? That's what I feel. It's nothing like seeing someone dying and wanting to exact a little vengeance... hell, it's different from knowing they're okay. You NEVER experienced that anxiety of NOT KNOWING. You'll want to find out that person's fate no matter what. At least when they're DEAD, you're forced to move on. If they're alive, you get a sense of relief... but if you don't know which one, you're gonna want to. And not knowing is aching for me." Jeremy was literally shaking the entire time he said that, clinching onto his wrist, making a fist. Despite that, he still felt powerless.
"Then let us help you! Haven't you ever gone somewhere you've never been before and asked your way around!?" Rainbow made her argument, presenting another good point.
"Fine. I'll try to stick this out... for as long as my patience allows..." Jeremy said.
"Oh, there you are, Rainbow! I was just about to take the humans to Ponyville, so we can have Spike send Princess Celestia a letter." Twilight said.
"I don't know what you talked to my crew about, but how are we gonna get down?" Jeremy asked.
"Like this!" Twilight said, before she closed her eyes. The tip of her horn began to glow in a purple light, and after a quick flash... they were on the runway.
"Agh! What WAS THAT!?" Jeremy became unnerved.
"Oh it was just a teleportation spell." Twilight explained, like it was no big deal.
"Remember when I asked if we were dead? I'm beginning to think we weren't that far off the mark." Jeremy snarked as he reluctantly followed Twilight and Rainbow along with his friends.
"Oh lighten up, man. We're in a land full of magic and rainbows and sunshine! Just take advantage of it!" Kitsu exclaimed, playfully patting Jeremy on the back.
"Whatever." Jeremy looked away, still annoyed.
"Now all I need to do is make a little room for you all to get on, and..." Twilight used her magic to expand the pink passenger basket to support herself and the humans. "There! Hop on, everyone! We're going to Ponyville!"
"You sure this thing can hold all of us?" Mia asked, worried about even getting on.
"Oh, this balloon's actually magic powered, so don't worry!" Twilight reassured.
Following Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash to the hot air balloon, the crew would fly into Ponyville, where they hope to have more questions answered, and hopefully learn a little more about the world they're currently stuck in.