//------------------------------// // The Great Misadventure // Story: Equestrian human // by Vinyl Destination //------------------------------// This town is as colorful as the ponies that live in it. Nothing here is boring, at least not to me. This was the day before the Summer Sun celebration and also the day before something ground shaking came. I walked around admiring all the fancy decorations as they were being set up. I wanted to see more of the main cast but, as I’ve mentioned before, everything looks different from a 3D perspective instead of watching the characters just transition to the next place. So in the simplest terms possible: I’m lost. Not much of a problem, I didn’t have anywhere specific to be anyways. “Look out!” someone called out BANG! “Holy fish monkey!” I screamed as a piano fell from the sky just in front of me. I could have been killed! Or at least severely wounded, that would have ruined my day for sure. I looked up in the sky to see how that was even possible. I saw a group of pegasi in the sky they looked like delivery people to me-or in this case delivery ponies. A grey Mare Pegasus with a blond mane and tail and had wall-eyes. It was strange and at the same time cool. As she got closer I could see that she had bubbles for a cutie mark… again I had no idea what that mark even meant or what it had to do with anything. Colgate isn’t the only one with a mysterious cutie mark it seems. “I’m so sorry, that’s my bad! Did I hurt you? Are you okay?” She seemed really worried- I mean, yeah, she did almost crush me with a piano but even for a mistake like that she seemed too upset. “Calm down, I’m okay.” “Pheew, that’s a relief. I’ve yet to drop anything on anypony as big as a piano but still I’m such a clutz.” I wondered if the fact her eyes couldn’t focus on something at the same time had anything to do with it. “I’m Lyra by the way.” Percentage count of getting used to my new name: 50% “I’m Derpy Hooves.” She replied- it was actually kind of fitting, but then again all of their names fit each other in one way or another. “This Piano was actually supposed to go to the Summer Sun Celebration.” She laughed a little nervously while she looked at the totaled piano. “Derpy!” A Male Pegasus called out from above with the other Pegesi “That was to be sent to the town hall unharmed!” “Sorry, my bad!” She called up and then turned back to me “I gotta go, nice talking with you though.” Then she flew back up to the others. The last I heard was her trying to figure out a way to fix it before the celebration and to explain why she opened the “Delivery cart” while they were moving. Apparently she was worried that it might have gotten smashed a little while they were moving. I felt bad for her in a way, she was a clutz put in charge of delivering a heavy package. It was more of her bosses fault more than anything and she was getting blamed for it. I kind of understand how Twilight felt on her first time in Ponyville. These ponies are crazy! But that makes it even more fun! I looked up in the sky to get an idea of what time of day it was, it was still pretty early maybe around noon or a little later. I can’t honestly say that the nothing has happened today. I wake up to finding out I’ve been turned into a female pony from a TV show, decide to have a little fun while I’m here and meet a nice mare in charge of a candy store, a Dentist pony with a mysterious cutie mark and knows nothing of personal space and almost get flattened by a piano by a clumsy but somehow endearing Pegasus. Oh- I shouldn’t forget that half of my brain seems like a females and the other half is both manly and disgusted with the other half. I’m so conflicted right now. I don’t know if I should be worried or not by the obvious changes to myself. I decided to just ignore them for now and have fun, at least I have memory of my life as a human and the fact that at least a part of me is still manly… even though it’s not exactly the part that I wanted. Oh well, you can’t win them all I guess. “I should really be worried that I keep reacting to things with just ‘Oh well’.” I commented out loud. In my train of thought I lost track of what legs to move and ended up tripping myself. Thank fully I caught myself before I crashed face first into the ground (that would have been embarrassing) but I ended up throwing some of my bits out from my bag. “Oh no!” I cried in a vain attempt to catch them. I might have been able to do it if I knew how to use magic. I searched through the grass for them. I kneeled low to the ground just to find them. It was an honest pain but I might need that money later. “Ah-ha!” I exclaimed when I found one I’ve seen other ponies today pick things up with their hooves (much to my surprise) and tried it myself but with no luck. It can work for others, why not me?! Then a big hoof came down and picked it up for me “It’s practically impossible with hooves!” I said more out of disbelief than anything else. The foreleg was big and muscular and covered in red fur. As I followed the arm up I saw a more muscular red body and the face was strong and gentle looking with bright green eyes and an orange mane. I’m not sure how long I was staring at the stallion, maybe a few seconds but it felt too long so I tried to say something but my chest felt… odd. There was this nagging feeling in the back of my head that told me what was going on but I refused to admit something so disgusting- plus it’s completely unrealistic! “Um-Uh, I’m bit thank for hooves- no- I mean I’m Lyra thank you for helping me!” I stammered and stumbled through my words. Thankfully he didn’t seem to notice me making a mess of my words. “Eeyup.” He said simply. He voice was so deep and strong! No! Shut up brain! “I’m Big McIntosh.” My heart seemed to be melting and I felt both flustered and panicked. “WellthankyouBigMcIntoshItsbeennicebutnowIhavetogo bye!” I said as fast as I could and hightailed it from there. I had no idea where I was going but all I knew was that I didn’t want to be near Big McIntosh. I felt confused, I had no idea what that was about but it felt like a heart attack. I felt like drowning myself every time my mind went back to the encounter. It was so embarrassing… in more ways than one! I spent the rest of my time quietly sulking near the fountain at the park in the center of town. I didn’t even care that I forgot to take the bits he picked up for me. My mind was stuck on those features he had. Big, strong and kind looking. Strong but soft spoken voice, so generous helping a complete stranger- No stop it brain! This violates so many rules! I have almost like two brains in my head, the normal GUY brain and a stupid brain that not only is FEMALE but a MARE! Stupid female pony brain… stupid sexy Big Mac. It was awful because the man half of my brain was still there but then there was the female brain that came with the body and I seemed to have no control of which side comes out. Worse yet is that he is a Cartoon character; he’s not even human in shape! “Ah!” I screamed as loud as I could throwing my front hooves in the air. I didn’t really care who heard me “Get out of my head!” and slammed my head against the edge of the fountain ignoring the pain after realizing that was a stupid move. No real tears were shed but I did sit on the ground slumped against the fountain with an angry look on my face. I still didn’t make myself sit normally- or for what is considered normal here. I sat slumped against the fountain with my back legs laying out in front of me and my back against the fountain. I may have not been human anymore and I may have been too angry to care for most things at that point but I still wanted to sit like a person, plus I still think it’s more comfortable than sitting any other way. I got a lot of passing ponies to stare at me-and I still don’t know why I’m getting stares just from sitting! I don’t know exactly how long I was sitting there but the sun was starting to set and I started to hear talk about a party at the new library and took a wild guess that it might be starting soon. I started to head over that direction; I needed something to get me out of the rotten mood I was in. If Pinkie is as good as she seems on the show then I might feel better instantly. I approached the tree house library that I knew belonged to a certain rude, egghead Unicorn. The moment I came up to the door it flew open and with a loud “surprise!” from everyone inside I was grabbed roughly and dragged inside. I saw tons of ponies with smiling faces and streamers all around and different decorations and lots of delicious sweets and other foods. The bright colors made me feel better quickly. I admired the work put into this when Pinkie happily jumped in front of me “Hey new friend! Surprised you didn’t we?” “Yeah, I just came over to check out what was going on. This looks amazing Pinkie.” Pinkie smiled even brighter “I knew you’d love it!” “Alright! Finally we can get this party started!” A white unicorn with wild electric blue hair and purple sunglasses shouted from behind a turntable. Immediately she started to play the loud party music and bobbing her head to the beat, everyone was getting into it until Pinkie ran faster than I thought was possible and turned it off. “Hey! What gives?! I’ve been here for hours waiting to play!” The unicorn seemed really eager to play her music. I remembered what Mr. Tapes said about his granddaughter and took a wild guess that she was the one he was talking about. “The other new pony is coming! Everypony get ready!” all the lights quickly turned off again. I made my way to the window and carefully peeked out to see a familiar scene. Spike was riding on the back of Twilight Sparkle (who didn’t look too pleased) while talking to Fluttershy. “And that’s the story of my whole entire life! Well up until today- would you want to hear about today?” He asked happily “Oh, yes please!” Fluttershy said happily. Twilight quickly turned around and put on a fake nice act as they made it to the steps of her home. “I am so sorry! How did we get here so fast? This is where I’ll be staying while in Ponyville and my poor baby dragon needs his rest.” “No I don’t!” Spike interjected but was quickly thrown off to keep him quiet. Twilight took a close look at him with fake sympathy “Aw, wook at that,” she said in a baby talk that made me snicker to myself “He’s so sleepy he can keep his wittle bawence.” She gave the most fake grin ever to cover a lie with and Spike glared at her. Fluttershy flew over to him and picked him up looking genuinely sympathetic. “Poor thing, we simply must get him to bed. And then she flew inside the only light in the place coming from outside and everyone saw Twilight run after her and take Spike from her hooves and gently but also uncaringly pushed her out the door. “Yes, yes we’ll get right on that- Well goodnight!” and she quickly slammed the door before another word could be said. I could hear the clopping of hooves as Twilight made her way through the dark. “Hmph, rude much?” I completely agree, Twilight is a very rude Unicorn! “Sorry Spike, but I have to convince the Princess that Nightmare Moon is coming and that we’re running out of time. I just need to be alone without a bunch of crazy ponies trying to make friends all the time. Now where’s the light?” At that moment the lights came back to life and everypony- heh, I said it- yelled “Surprise.” And she looked even more surprise than me. Confetti went flying and I heard some noise makers. Pinkie even blew one into Twilights face, the reaction was hilarious. I let the rest of the scene play out while I hung around in the background enjoying the party with everyone else. I heard lots of ponies talking about different things but there were a lot of them saying how long it had been without Pinkie Pie throwing a party. I made my way through the crowd to talk to the DJ pony I ran into Colgate and Bon-Bon arguing over something. I thought it was kinda funny and exactly what I imagine would happen if a Dentist that really loved their job and a Candy clerk that loved their job also met in the same room. “Mint candy is not the same as toothpaste! It’s one of the worse candies ever because it can get stuck to the teeth and decay the teeth more the longer it stays! Sticky candy is the worst kind.” Bon-Bon smirked “Well obviously it’s not so bad if somepony decided to make toothpaste taste like mint candy.” “I keep hearing about how sweet your candy is and it gets me really worried sometimes.” Bon-Bon looked interested in this statement and waited for her to finish “The sweeter it is then the more sugar it has and the more sugar it has means more tooth decay. Think about the young teeth all rotting away.” Bon-Bon grimaced “Eww, I’d rather not.” “The sad thing is that there is no such thing as healthy candy and no pony wants to try too hard to keep their teeth all sparkly.” Well not everypony can be like Colgate I suppose. The conversation went like that for a while them going back and forth about dental care and candy. Colgate had some words she seemed to like to use a lot. Things like clean, perfect, and shiny she was even using those words to talk about the party itself. Like how the decorations were so shiny and beautiful and how Twilight seemed to keep the library so clean, or how she hoped it would be left ugly and messy when the party was over. I had the sneaking suspicion she had some kind of weird obsession. I walked up to them “Hey, Bon-Bon.” “Hey Lyra.” Bon-Bon greeted nicely and I was taken by surprise when I was given a big hug from Colgate. She’s a hugger alright. After a hug I felt was a little too long she finally let go and greeted me too. We had a good conversation going on actually, I just made sure to stay away from certain topics else Colgate went on a “Clean rant” again I was surprised at how they could be at each other’s throats constantly and yet stand to talk to each other. Is it some kind of rivalry or do they both just not want to back down? I saw the DJ leave from behind her turntable and all of her equipment; I might lose her in the crowd. I excused myself from them “You two be good now.” I smiled and said half-jokingly the two gave each other a look but I left them before I could see anymore. I pushed past other ponies to get to the DJ and trust me it’s very hard to do when you’re used to having hands… I miss hands. They were so simple to use, unlike magic, and were so convenient. On that note it would still be useful to figure out magic. Back to the subject at hand- I mean, hoof… whatever! I got caught up with her when I made it to a table filled with snacks. A cupcake floated in the air just above her covered in a blue aura. “Found you!” I said, she turned to me with a look of curiosity stopping halfway from eating the snack. She pushed her purple sunglasses up till they rested on her horn. She had the most interesting eyes, I thought Rainbow Dash had red eyes but this one’s eyes were really red. “Do I know you?” she asked looking at me with her head tilted trying to figure out who I was. “Not really but I think I know you.” She took a step back. I wonder if I said something wrong-that’s not too important right now! “Is your Grandpa Record Tapes?” This caught her attention. Her curious and slightly disturbed look brightened and a big smile grew on her face “You know Grandpa Tapes? I haven’t heard from him in years, I was wondering if any of my letters ever made it to him.” “Yeah…” I said slowly as the thought of Derpy came to mind. I had the feeling she had something to do with the lack of letters. “Well… anyways he wanted me to tell you hi and that he’s thinking of you.” “Well that’s nice of him and even nicer of you to go through all that trouble.” She took my front hoof in both of her forelegs and shook it as hard and fast as she could “Well it’s nice to meet you. Gramps apparently really trusts you and any friend of Grandpa Tapes is a friend of mine. My stage name is DJ Pon-3 but since we’re friends you can call me Vinyl Scratch.” “My names Lyra.” “Well hi Lyra, you’re the second pony I’ve ever had as a pal that’s talent is music.” She wrapped a foreleg around my neck “Are you seeing anypony?” she leered “I-wha?!” Vinyl started to crack up and playfully hit me on the shoulder “Calm down, I’m just messing with you. You should see your face.” I let out a deep breath of relief. As far as anyone here knew I was a mare and that comment of Vinyl’s made me wonder if there were… other preferences, like there are in my own world. She was clearly joking but it still made me wonder… I wonder if Bon-Bon has someone special- wait, where did that thought come from? Why should I even care? “I already have a special somepony anyways.” Vinyl commented with a smile and then walked off with her cupcake. I tried not to think too much about what Vinyl could have meant by that. I spent some time snacking out as I watched everypony else part. Hehe, that’s still fun to say, everypony, it’s so whimsical! I hope I don’t ever accidently say that out loud when I’m human again. Anyways these ponies could really party, it was insanity and no one held back… well except Vinyl Scratch but she was just forcing herself to stay behind her equipment and that in itself hardly seemed to work because she was practically dancing in her spot. I had to admit though; she was a very talented DJ. But out of all the dancing and games that were being done I saw Derpy just standing around the side lines. She seemed kind of worried or maybe nervous. Without thinking I went over to her to see what the problem was. I figured that she would be having fun like everyone else; it was hard to imagine somepony not having fun at this party. I even saw Spike running around with a lamp shade on his head. It was actually pretty funny! “Hey Derpy, what’s the matter? Aren’t you having fun?” I said to her. “Oh, Lyra hi… yeah it’s fun and all,” the way she was talking didn’t convince any and their wasn’t even a fake smile in an attempt to lie. It seemed like it was to convince herself. Then again, it was hard to tell but it looked like she was staring at something on the other side of the room. “Is there something wrong?” I tried to follow what I believed to be her line of sight and saw a stallion that stuck out to me. A brown stallion with a spiky brown mane and an hourglass cutie mark. “It’s something to do with him right?” I questioned. The blush that grew on her cheeks confirmed it and told me a little more. She’s shy but still wants to talk to him; it’s kind of sweet in that pathetic kind of way. I told her to just talk to him but she outright refused to even consider it. But then she does a 180 and turns the situation on me! She tells me to talk to him! “I absolutely refuse, I’m sorry Derpy but I can’t do that.” When asked why it was for a completely different reason than just being shy or even fearing my new female hormones kicking in “I don’t know why but I feel as though I’d create some sort of paradox if I spoke to him.” there was something odd and Timey-Whimy about him. That whole ordeal aside, it was so much fun I almost didn’t think about the fact that, by this time, Twilight Sparkle was up stairs trying to go to sleep and Spike was trying to convince her to come down. It was kind of cool that I seemed to know everything that was going on or would happen. It gave me a feeling of omnipotent power, like I’m breaking the fourth wall. The cool and somewhat confusing part of it all was that the ponies here had actual lives and it wasn’t restricted to an episode or the show itself. The whole time I was here I’ve been experiencing real-time and not time skipping for thirty minutes. While they were still a lot different from humans or anything in my perspective of real there were a few things that were the same. Like, for example, some ponies had different… mating preferences- or at least Vinyl hinted at the fact it did happen. They could love in ways that wouldn’t be allowed to be mentioned in a children’s show- my female brain told me that one (I’m disgusted thinking about it). I didn’t just go into a show, I went into another universe! It kind of blows your mind when you think of it that way, dosen’t it? We partied till the start of the Summer Sun Celebration by that time we all kind of burnt out a lot of energy so everypony was pretty calm. Pinkie seemed as though she wasn’t the least bit tired. In all honesty she probably wasn’t tired she seemed as jittery and happy as normal. I wasn’t all too tired either because I was too excited about what would happen next. Let me tell you it’s one thing to see something magical or unrealistic on TV but when it happens right in front of you completely 3-deminsional and real it’s probably the coolest thing you will ever see. It may sound childish and maybe stupid but you would never really understand until you saw a real Unicorn doing real magic or a real Pegasus flying, let alone talking ponies in general. It was unreal yet so very real. I stood next to Bon-Bon, Colgate and Derpy was up in the air not too far away. I’ pretty sure Vinyl was somewhere but I kind of lost her in the crowd. Everyone was talking in excitement over seeing the Princess or the party we all just left from. A few were a combination of both. Bon-Bon and Colgate seemed to be putting their differences aside for their shared joy. “This has been one my best nights,” Bon-Bon said with a smile “Pinkie Pie decides to throw a great party the night of the Summer Sun Celebration, not only do we get to see Princess Celestia in the flesh but immediately after the party.” “Yes, it seems like a good omen doesn’t it?” Colgate agreed “Not to mention the Mayor picked the perfect pony to decorate town hall for the occasion.” She added admiring Rarity’s handy work. “Ponyville will no doubt get many blessings from Celestia with this level of professionalism.” I know Celestia is important to Equestria but they seemed to treat her as if she were a goddess. I guess that’s to be expected from someone that brings out the very thing that gives world life every day. Rock on pony goddess of the sun, rock on. The mayor was giving some boring and honorific speech about the princess I didn’t really care to listen too but I did pay close attention when Fluttershy’s birds started to sing and Rarity opened the curtains and the princess was nowhere to be seen. All of town hall exploded into shocked gasps and worried talk. “What happened? Where the Princess?” Bon-Bon asked “I’m not sure.” It was the whole truth; I always kind of wondered what actually did happen to Celestia during this time. You’d think there was some kind of struggle; with someone of Celestia’s power it should have been completely obvious if there even was a struggle. I didn’t see or hear anything, just suddenly disappeared. “What could have possibly happened, she’s Celestia! Nopony has the power to actually foalnap her.” I snorted in an attempt to stop myself from laughing. Foalnapping?! Even the term kidnap has a pony version! “Lyra! This is no time to be laughing! Stop being foalish this is serious!” “Foalish!” I laughed loudly. Pony version of childish! I tried to stop laughing but it made me laugh worse, luckily everypony else was too busy being worried and being too loud to actually here me “Pfft- hahahahah! It’s too much!” My sides were hurting. “Lyra!” they both scolded me now. I took slow deep breaths trying to calm down “Whew, okay, I’m good, I’m calm… Sorry about that.” I apologized. At that moment Nightmare Moon made her appearance in a cloud or starry smoke. The room fell completely quiet as Nightmare Moon spoke and everypony stared at her with a look of confusion and shock. “Ah, my beloved subjects, it’s been so long since I’ve seen your little sun loving faces.” She spat with sarcasm. “What did you do with our Princess?!” Rainbow Dash demanded trying to fly and take her head on but was stopped by Applejack that was pulling on Dash’s tail. This only got an amused laugh from the Alicorn. “Why? Am I not royal enough for you? Don’t you know who I am?” She questioned more sternly. “Oh, oh more guessing games! Umm, Pokey Smokes! How about Queen Meany? No, Black Snooty, Black Snooty!” Pinkie was silenced by Applejack shoving an apple in her mouth. Nightmare Moon flew closer to Fluttershy and the poor timid thing cringed in fear and birds flew away “Does my crown not count for anything now that I’ve been imprisoned for a thousand years?” why does it seem like all villains have no concept of personal space and just love to poke and talk right into a person’s ear? Are they trying to be creepy or something? She got right into Rarity’s face too “Do you not recall the legends? Did you not see the signs?” She asked flicking Rarity, seriously Villains stop getting in our space, it’s not evil, and it’s annoying. Although they were terrified probably because there is actually someone that can capture the very creature that can raise the sun. I saw Bon-Bon and Colgate give each other worried looks but I kept most of my focus on Nightmare Moon. I recall that the episode ends at the end of this rant; I actually wondered how it would happen when I leave. Maybe I’ll fall asleep again and then wake up back in my world. “I know who you are,” Twilight called out and everypony in the room turned their attention to her “You’re the mare on the moon, Nightmare Moon!” there were surprised gasps all around and worried murmurs. They’ve all heard the story at one point or another but most of them apparently thought of it as an old… poniestail! The grammar her can just get so hilarious sometimes I can’t take things seriously! “Well, well, well,” Nightmare Moon said looking pleased “Someone who remembers me. Then I suppose you know why I’m here?” “You’re, you’re…” she slowed down as she noticed all the ponies staring at her either questioningly or accusingly. “Enjoy this day, for it will be your last,” She said not waiting for Twilight to answer. “From this day… the night, will last… Forever!” she declared loudly and created a lightning storm in town hall. Everypony panicked and started making a mad scramble to find the quickest way out. Through the wind and the screaming ponies I saw a cloud of starry smoke fly overhead and leave with Rainbow Dash chasing after it. I tried to get out myself but found myself lost and confused in the crazed stampede. I put as much effort into not getting trampled as I did getting out and was having no success in the second. I felt someone tug on my tail and turned to see Bon-Bon, why had she not left yet? “What are you doing?!” Bon-Bon demanded “We have to leave!” she yelled over the noise. I followed her and amazingly we made it out but we didn’t stop running we kept going and almost without purpose. “Where are we going?” I asked not stopping for a moment. We had made it down several blocks by the time the question was asked. It was amazing that this small, oddly cute body had so much stamina. By this time I would have been out of breath and huffing and puffing for air if I was human. There were some good perks to being a pony especially a unicorn, but I still had a stronger want to be human. Most important of them being hands, I loved hands so much; I don’t even know how to use magic! “Who cares, as long as we’re far away from that thing!” “Nightmare Moon.” I corrected “Whatever!” I stopped as my eyes met the night sky and saw that cloud fly past. “Oh, look their she goes… I got a better idea than running away, I’m going to go after her!” I said happily as I stopped and turned around to follow only to be pulled again by Bon-Bon. She released my tail from her mouth. “Follow the Evil Mare of Darkness?” “Yep.” “Do you have a death wish?” “Nope, come on!” I said and chased after it. We followed it all the way across town and to the tree house of Twilight Sparkle. I couldn’t see the nightmare cloud but I did decide to peek in through the window and Bon-Bon did as well and we listened to Twilight explain the whole story of Nightmare Moon and how to stop her. “Sound like a bunch of-” “Shh!” I said quickly to Bon-Bon. I already knew what they needed to do to stop Nightmare Moon but I wanted to both see and hear it from this perspective, it was so fascinating to see a scene play out in front of your very eyes. It was almost trippy feeling because you weren’t just looking at cartoon characters you were looking at an actual event alive and in flesh… well pastel colored furry flesh but it was the same concept. “Why are we spying?” Vinyl whispered. “Shh, Vinyl be quiet… wait- Vinyl?” I turned around to see Vinyl Scratch in between me and Bon-Bon looking through the window with fascination. We both just stared at her for a while before her visible red eyes took notice to the two pairs of eyes watching her. “Oh, um, hi.” “When did you get here?” Bon-Bon asked. “A few seconds ago. So, what’s up?” we asked why she was here in the first place “Well I lost Lyra in the crowd and got worried and when you two were chasing that weird cloud. Can let somepony I just met get killed by some evil Mare, so I followed you.” We turned our attention back to the window soon enough to hear them talking about going into the Everfree forest to find the element stones so they could beat Nightmare Moon. “Well it’s settled,” I said confidently listening in really helped save me the time of needing to explain why we needed to go into the Everfree “Off to the Everfree then.” “The Everfree?” The both repeated with concern they both questioned why. And I told them the very simple fact that Nightmare Moon needs to be stopped… and I just want a piece of the action but I didn’t say that last part. They both exchanged concerned looks clearly not thinking that it was a good idea. Pfft, how bad can it possibly be? We all made our way to the forest with me in the lead and not a word was said between us. I already knew why they were scared but I thought it was kind of stupid. An “Evil” forest where animals took care of themselves and plants and weather didn’t need anypony to control them or make them grow. So scary. I stopped just outside of the forest, I was asked by Bon-Bon how we would even find this castle. The answer was simple, or simple enough at least, we’ll eventually find it if we keep walking long enough, besides it’s a Castle we can’t really miss that if we just keep going. “You’re really going in their?” I heard Derpy ask. We saw both Derpy and Colgate walking up to us with worried look. “Were you following us too?” Bon-Bon asked “No” Colgate said quickly “Yes” Derpy said at that same time but then quickly corrected herself “I mean, no.” “Don’t you know what that forest is like?” Colgate continued ignoring Derpy’s slip up. “Nope, but I want to find out.” I said simply and tried to go into the forest but Derpy flew in front of me “The clouds move all on their own.” Derpy said. “Nasty, terrifying and filthy Monsters everywhere.” Colgate said “And the trees grow all on their own and the animals don’t need anypony to take care of them.” Bon-Bon said “doesn’t any of that scare you?” “Nah,” I said waving a hoof dismissively “That’s nothing, trust me.” “I say we do it.” Vinyl agreed “Somepony needs to stop that evil Mare and putting all our faith in just six random ponies, we need to try too.” Finally someone that doesn’t think I’m crazy. “I absolutely refuse.” Bon-Bon said defiantly and started to walk away. (~#) “How did I get convinced to come along?” Bon-Bon grumbled “Because of the adventure we’re going to have.” Vinyl said “Not exactly the kind of adventure I would want.” “Well I thought it was because of my looks,” I said with a sly smile “My charming good looks.” “You keep thinking that.” Bon-Bon smiled. Derpy flew overhead worriedly looking around, she was a little tense about the situation but the fact she came was nice. The forest was Darker than it was outside because of the thick covering of trees above us. Light managed to sneak through the trees from the clear jeweled sky above every now and then. I should really be thankful that the pegasi decided to clear the skies. Around us on the ground was overgrown plant life. It was dank and dark the ground was slightly muddy but relatively dry. Everywhere I looked I saw menacing looking trees or strange plants that looked out of place just because of how beautiful they were but that was even more concerning because a dark place like this is no place for nice looking flowers and such. It was something menacing in disguise meant to trick foolish creatures into coming close. It was something that plenty of animals from my world did but I never heard of plants like that. It made me only more cautious of such plants. It was terrifying in some ways but at the same time it was so cool! Colgate hated this forest loudly. It was far too muddy for her tastes. We managed to tune her out after a while and she eventually quieted to annoyed grumbles. I admired that despite all her hatred for a place like this she still decided to come along, true friends indeed. Coming along anyways even though they don’t want too. I didn’t have to force any of them to do anything, I actually didn’t care but the fact they still came along was nice. “Hey look!” Derpy said we all looked up to see the star cloud race by and was quickly lost in the dark of the forest. That can’t possibly be good. This was punctuated when we heard loud booms. “What was that?” Bon-Bon asked “I have no idea.” Vinyl said “Did a tree fall down?” I asked looking around it really did sound like a tree breaking, but if it was then something really big is coming. More booming and snapping sounds came closer and closer and faster. Till we almost got flattened by a tree. “Look out!” I screamed as I jumped to one side. I picked myself up slowly after roughly throwing myself. Vinyl and Bon-Bon were with me, I tried to look over the colossal tree that nearly crushed me but it was just too big “Is everypony OK?” I asked “A little scratched but nothing bad.” Vinyl said dusting herself off and picking up her glasses off the ground and resting them back on her head. “Uh-huh…” Bon-Bon mumbled and she picked herself up slowly. “Ok over here.” Derpy said. “Dusty, scratched, but health is ok.” Colgate. Before I even got to wonder what happened a Manticore flew down from the sky and scooped up Bon-Bon. “Somepony help!” she screamed as she flew away “Cool! A Manticore!” I beamed despite the unfavorable events. “What are you happy for?! It’s got me!” She screamed “Oh- right, sorry!” I turned to Derpy that was fluttering over the tree holding Colgate. “Derpy, you can fly. Try to get it annoyed and come back!” the look on Derpy’s face didn’t need any more words to say her thoughts on that plan. She thought it was terrible but she knew it was the only one we had and she flew after it. We just watched as Derpy flew as fast as she could after it and finally kicked it in the eye. It let out a pained scream as it dropped Bon-Bon, not part of the plan! She was way too high; she could actually die from a fall that high. Without thinking I ran to where it looked like she was falling and make some kind of attempt to catch her. The only thing I saw was her body plummeting to the ground fast and her screams quickly getting closer. I’m not exactly sure what happened next, everything kind of blurred together but the next thing I knew Bon-Bon was levitating off the ground in a gold aura. Vinyl’s was blue and I’m not sure that Colgate’s was gold… did that mean “Bon-Bon! I used magic! I used MAGIC!” “Yeah great, but that thing is coming back!” Bon-Bon said pointing at the now really angry Manticore flying right at me. I threw Bon-Bon behind me but I knew I didn’t have time to run away myself and I was too terrified to run. I closed my eyes and waited for it to catch me and do something awful. At least I get to die in a memorable way that was completely awesome. How many people would have death by flying lion/scorpion thing? I shivered with fear and anticipating pain as I heard the anger roars get louder and the beating of wings getting closer. Then I felt wind coming from behind me and something big, hard and cold brushing my ears and rushing in front of me. The next things I heard were a loud crack and two heavy thumps. Testing fate I peeked an eye open and saw the Manticore laying on the ground unconscious with its face planted against a small boulder. Needless to say I was surprised I looked behind me to see which one would own up to that attack and Vinyl quickly and silently pointed at the toothpaste haired unicorn beside her. Colgate stood there for a while with her brain still in attack mode and breathing heavily before she calmed down. “Colgate…” I was speechless. I wasn’t entirely sure if the Unicorn had it in her. “Well let’s not just stand here!” Bon-Bon said snapping us all out of it “When that thing wakes up it’ll be in a rage!” “Good point.” I agreed and we hurried out of there as fast as we could. We continued for a while without much being said except from me and Vinyl. I couldn’t help but talk about that experience. It was the most terrifying thing in the world and at the same time, it was so fucking awesome! I don’t normally throw around words like that but, it was so fucking awesome! I’ll never see something like that again, at least when I’m in the human world. Except maybe on TV but that’s without saying. “It was so cool, guys! We were all like ‘Whoa!’ and Lyra was all like ‘Whoa!’ and Bon-Bon was all ‘oh no!’” Vinyl said excitedly making different shocked expressions- except for mine which seemed really happy… was really that excited looking? “I know right?! I was like totally a leader right then! I was all like ‘Derpy, attack the Manticore in the eye.’ And when I went after the Bon-Bon as she was falling I actually used magic! I just lifted her like she was nothing!” “And what about Colgate, huh? That was pretty epic in itself; she totally threw a rock at that monster and won!” We stopped when we hit a river. It was pretty big and the water was rushing fast. It didn’t really look like we could cross by swimming; we’d probably die from drowning or get swept away. They were right about this forest being dangerous, but we must be getting closer. I looked down both ends hoping that I could spot a bridge or something to help us cross. That wasn’t my luck in the least and I know none of us are strong enough to knock down a tree, even with magic. We all wondered what to do, Derpy can fly but the rest of us can’t and I know that she can’t carry us long enough to get even one of us across the river. I looked for so long and carefully that I eventually noticed bubbles coming from the center of the river. I thought that was really weird, it was even stranger when I thought I saw something shiny and purple come from the water. Before I could even utter a word about it a massive scaly purple serpent exploded from the water. We all screamed in a combination of surprise and fear and hightailed it out of there but we quickly noticed Colgate wasn’t with us. I stopped and started to look and spin around trying to find her and I noticed her still in the riverside clearing staring up at the serpent. Colgate, it was cool when you beat up the Manticore but don’t go thinking you can take on the entire Everfree! We all got closer as quickly and quietly as we could and we stopped when we started to run out of trees to hide behind. It looked like they were talking. I could only make out bits of the conversation. “Thank you, I’ve been working hard on them.” I heard the serpent say “I can tell! It is just impressive!” The rest was lost to me when Colgate started to talk normally but she was smiling the whole time. “They do, don’t they?” He said stroking his moustache “It’s my pride and joy.” More unheard words were given by Colgate. Was she sweet talking this thing? More importantly: it was working? Colgate is rising to being my second favorite pony, Bon-Bon is first. She is just a gem, but Colgate is pretty awesome just standing there having a conversation with this thing. The next words that came clearly to us from Colgate were amazing. “Out of curiosity, would it trouble you too much to help my friends cross the river? There is something important on the other side we need.” We took this moment to cautiously come out of hiding and the Serpent took quick note of us. “It would be my honor.” He said nicely. Isn’t that sweet? There are nice and slightly hipster looking creatures in the Everfree after all. We continued traveling with the help of the kind serpent. As soon as we lost sight of the river behind us we heard a terrible scream come from the serpent, but I didn’t pay too much mind. He seemed like the drama queen type. But I changed my mind about him when I saw a familiar cloud pass over us. I decided I really did not want to go back. My mind went to some pretty gruesome images. And not too long of a time made it to the edge of the castle. I could see it on the other side of the cliff. It was extremely foggy and dark that I couldn’t see down the cliff side. Thankfully we didn’t need any help from passing monsters because there was a bridge. “Well,” Vinyl smiled “That’s convenient isn’t it?” As we got closer even I was having second thoughts. That was a rarity no matter where I was honestly. But Vinyl Scratch was completely certain about it, I honestly didn’t know how. The bridge was all rickety and creaking. I even saw some boards missing and the ropes looked a little worn and maybe even chewed slightly. “Vinyl,” Bon-Bon said “Vinyl this is a terrible idea.” “Yeah,” I agreed “This bridge is really, really old looking.” “Oh, come on this bridge is completely safe.” Vinyl reassured and started to cross. I tried to pull her back but dared not step hoof on that bridge. Vinyl walked simply as if nothing was wrong- this pony is either insane, suicidal or a mixture of both. “Vinyl Scratch you come back here!” Bon-Bon yelled. She was very good at using that tone of voice, it almost reminded me of a mom with the amount of nag she put into that voice. “Come down here and make me!” She called back to us daringly. I could just tell she was smirking from that tone of voice. “It’s not safe!” Colgate called. “Really?” She said in a sarcastic tone and started to shake it. In almost that very second Bon-Bon ran out onto the bridge and grabbed onto Vinyl Scratch with her forelegs to stop her from shaking. “Are you insane?” She said to Vinyl. “Are you?” Derpy responded. Bon-Bon took that moment to take a look at her surroundings and she started squeezing onto Vinyl in fear. “It’s not that bad.” She insisted. Derpy flew over to try and help in some way. I tried to help from where I was too “It’s in your head! Just imagine yourself being as light as a feather!” they had stopped moving in the middle bridge mostly because Bon-Bon wouldn’t let go and had effectively stopped Vinyl Scratch from moving. Derpy stopped right above them and she extended a hoof. “Grab on Bon-Bon I can probably carry you the rest of the way.” Then a single feather fluttered down from her wing. I didn’t take too much notice until that little bit of extra weight made the bridge collapse. Heavy feather. Derpy made a panicked grab for them but fell short of them and they fell with the bridge. “Oh no!” Derpy screamed. “Bon-Bon! Vinyl!” I screamed hopelessly looking over the edge as they fell. “Lyra!” I heard Bon-Bon scream as she fell from sight in the dense fog. I expected the worse. “No, no, no, no, no.” I moaned sadly. They fell and we couldn’t save them. This was terrible! What would we do now? “Um, hello?” I heard Vinyl’s voice. My ears perked up and my eyes widened at the fact that I could hear Vinyl’s voice. “Hey, can you hear us?” “Vinyl?” Derpy questioned “I thought you were dead! I would never be able to sleep again if you two were actually dead!” she smiled “The two of you are still alive, right? Not just one of you?” I asked apprehensively “Nah, dude were both alive! Bon-Bon just can’t talk right now!” “What do you mean?” Colgate questioned. “Is it not as deep as we thought or something?” A moment of silence the she slowly answered “No, it’s pretty deep. Bon-Bon is holding on for the both of us.” “Huh?” we all said “Well she never really let go of me and isn’t letting go of the bridge.” How is she holding on to Vinyl and the bridge? “How?” I asked. “With her mouth of course, what else?” “Doesn’t that kind of hurt?” “Probably, so could you think of something quick? She’s either going to let me go first or let go of the rope.” A sound warning if any. It didn’t take too long to figure out but it was a little difficult to accomplish. Derpy was able to clear the fog enough for us to see Bon-Bon holding Vinyl in her hooves and holding on to the rope with her mouth. Earth ponies might not have any cool flashy powers like Unicorns or awesome wings and weather powers like Pegasi but Earth ponies held something over each of them. They were stronger than Unicorns and had greater endurance than a Pegasi. Bon-Bon was amazing right now not just by saving Vinyl but how she was saving Vinyl. If I was in her position or if anyone else was either our body would have popped off from our necks or we would have let Vinyl go or we both would have fallen. I had a hat I it would be tipped to Bon-Bon. Once we could see them Derpy picked up Vinyl for Bon-Bon and flew her to the top on the other side. I managed to use my magic again and I levitated Bon-Bon to the other side as well. Vinyl used her magic to bring me over and Colgate. Magic was so useful and so much more convenient. We all entered the large castle. It was apparently over a thousand years old but it was in really good condition all things considered. A bit too good looking to just be in ruins. I tried to think about where the elements would be but I realized. The show wasn’t too specific about that! I looked from one end to the other trying to figure it out “Um… I think we go that way.” Pointing down to a tower on the right. They didn’t have any better ideas than me so they went with it. Bon-Bon stopped me as the others went ahead. “Uh Lyra,” She said slowly. “Yes Bon-Bon?” She seemed nervous for some reason which caught my curiosity “Come close, I need to tell you something.” She whispered. Apparently she didn’t want the others to hear. Curiously I did so and then out of nowhere a hoof whacked me on my cheek and another on came soon after. “Ah! What was that for?!” I questioned angrily rubbing one of my sore cheeks. Getting hit with a hoof hurts a lot more than a hand, trust me. “It’s your fault that we’re here and it’s your fault I almost died twice!” “Well you didn’t have to hit me twice,” I whined “I saved you on both accounts, didn’t I?” “I almost died,” she repeated “Almost but not really.” Bon-Bon’s glare made want to shrink “Sorry.” I apologized quickly Bon-Bon walked off to catch up with the others I was trying to catch them too. They hadn’t made it too far and Vinyl had moved to the back by the time we caught up. Vinyl’s red eyes seemed to glow in the moonlight and I could see an amused smirk on her face. She looked back at the group as if seeing if anyone was eavesdropping. When she seemed satisfied while we were traveling up a spiraling set of stairs Vinyl spoke to me. “She likes you.” “Huh?” I said dumbfounded “Bon-Bon, she likes you.” What did she mean by that? Bon-Bon seemed the furthest from liking me at all, she seemed to hate me right now. Vinyl seemed to notice the confused look on my face and let out a short, amused laugh “you honestly didn’t realize? Maybe you really are as dense as you first seemed.” “Hey!” I take offense to that- wait, I should say that part out loud. I was about to object when Vinyl continued. “Why do you think she came when she clearly said she didn’t want to go?” “Same reason the rest of you came.” Vinyl’s happy face lost some of its composure as if I said something stupid but continued anyways “We came for different reasons, but yeah one of the reasons had you as a common interest. We can’t leave you hanging and you’re not exactly bright enough to take care of yourself, you’re like a little filly that needs to be watched.” I found it kind of hard to be angry when she’s being so honest like that. “Honestly my friend in Canterlot treats me the same way.” She added thoughtfully and a sly smile formed on her face as she looked back at me “That’s another reason why I think she likes you.” I was a little confused as to what she actually meant but I’m also confused as to whom this friend is she keeps talking about and why she gets all spacey when she mentions her friend. “Does anypony else hear that?” Derpy said from the front. We all stopped and the clopping of our hooves on the stone stairs stopped. It was completely quiet and we listened. She was right; I could hear a low rumbling sound. “Sounds like thunder.” Colgate said “But the sky was clear, not a cloud in the sky.” Bon-Bon said. “Maybe it’s Nightmare Moon again.” Derpy offered “If it is then we should hurry. She can’t get those elements, right?” Derpy made sense and we stopped walking and started running. The stairs seemed to go on forever. I knew their wasn’t much to worry about in the way of defeating Nightmare Moon but it would be cool to offer some kind of help to the main characters. After what seemed like forever with no change we finally made it to a door. I could hear on the other side I heard what sounded like Rainbow Dash yelling and several hooves running on the other side. “Come on I saw them go this way!” I quickly tried to open the door but the moment I did it slammed shut again and smack me in the face. Needless to say I lost some balance and fell backwards unfortunately for me going backward meant going down stairs. I felt myself hit several screaming bodies as gravity did its work. Thankfully the bodies made me stop falling after a while. I lay awkwardly on top on everyone else with “Not my fault this time.” Derpy moaned from underneath. One painful climb back up later and we made past the door and to the top of the tower. We hid behind a wall next to a massive door way as we peeked past I witnessed the final confrontation with Nightmare Moon. “Whoa…” Bon-Bon said stunned as they activated the Elements of Harmony “Amazing,” Vinyl said just as surprised The Rainbow of friendly doom engulfed Nightmare Moon as she struggled desperately and with an explosion pieces of armor went everywhere making us duck back behind the corner. When we looked back after we were sure it was over we saw a much younger and gentler looking Alicorn lying on the ground. “Ooh, she’s pretty.” Derpy commented “Really pretty.” Colgate agreed “I guess they didn’t need our help after all.” I thought out loud a little disappointed. “Which means this trip was completely pointless.” Bon-Bon said. I was about to argue with that fact but it was cut short when Luna’s eyes locked on to us. “Move she saw us!” I whispered urgently and we hightailed it out of there. We made it back to Ponyville and the sun had been in the air for a while now. Everyone in town had lined up against the main street to watch Celestia, her sister Luna and Twilight and her friends. We watched as Twilight talked to the Princess. Vinyl was happy the sun was out because she could finally put her glasses back on. She seemed to really love them for some reason. The episode is nearing an end and exhaustion seemed to catch up with me now that I was standing still. “Lyra? Are you okay?” I heard Derpy ask. My eyes couldn’t stay open and I didn’t have the power to answer. My body went limp and felt myself fall to the ground but I didn’t wake up or even open my eyes. “Lyra? Lyra!” Bon-Bon said, whatever was spoken afterwards was lost.