//------------------------------//
// The Arrival 
// Story: A Brave New World 
// by Noravea 
//------------------------------//

		The wide fields spread as far as the eye could see, their rolling and calm hills welcoming the bright and shining sun. A gust of wind blew over the fields, moving the tall and unkempt grass as if it was an elaborate show. In the distance was a tall, lonely mountain that looked as if it were out of place, and on the opposite side of this massive field, a massive forest. Several streams came from inside of the forest, interrupting the calm fields with the sound of running water. Running through the center of the field, a massive river would fill the air with the sound of bears hunting for fish, or a variety of other wild creatures doing as creatures do in nature and on their own. It was a world far, far away to most, a world untouched by civilization. It was a world that was often the material of dreams or fairy tales. It was a brave new world for anypony who lived there, and would always be a brave new world. 

Twilight Sparkle rested peacefully on the top of one of the many hills, seemingly ignorant of the harsh winds. She still had herself wrapped in her blanket, only briefly disturbed in her rest by the cold ground. As the sun began to rise over the horizon, she slowly opened up her eyes only to close them again when she realized she stared directly at the celestial object that greeted her every morning when it wasn't cloudy or rainy. After a few seconds, she opened them up again and looked around, seeing tall grass all around her. She saw what seemed to be the manes of other ponies nearby, moving about in the grass, but what concerned her more was her sleeping assistant still peacefully sleeping in the midst of this field. She scrambled to get out of her blanket and walked over to her assistant, nudging him to wake up. 

"Spike," she whispered, nudging him with her hoof. "Spike, wake up. Do you know where we are?"

Spike muttered as Twilight's attention turned elsewhere. He quickly rolled over as the sunlight reached his face, ignoring Twilight's attempts to prod him awake. Twilight began to hear other ponies around her speaking, all of them familiar in some way. Some voices she knew the speaker of, and others she merely recognized from her travels in Ponyville. She saw what looked like several Pegasi flying overhead, all of them as confused as she was, but all of them still looking familiar. Among them a certain cross-eyed pegasus who was familiar to Twilight for delivering her mail every morning. She was looking around the field, as confused as Twilight was.

"Rainbows for the Rainbow Goddess! Wings for the Wing throne!" another familiar voice shrieked from several feet away. 

"Lyra, stop freaking out!" another voice said a few moments later, apparently trying to calm the shrieking of Lyra Heartstrings. Twilight turned her attention back to Spike, who was himself starting to get upset in his sleep from the noise of ponies trying to find out what had happened to them. As Bon Bon and Lyra were screaming at each other, Twilight gently tried to shake the baby dragon away. 

After a few moments, Spike groaned. "Twi, turn out the lights, it can't be time to get up."

"Spike,  just open your eyes." Twilight said as calmly as she possibly could, still going through dozens of scenarios in her head as to why she woke up in a field with what seemed to be dozens of other ponies who were just as confused as ever. Spike complied, and slowly opened his eyes to see his basket sitting in a field of tall grass. He quickly sat up, darting his eyes back and forth, trying to figure out where he was.

"What the buck?" Spike mumbled, looking at the grass that was just a little taller than Twilight Sparkle. "Where are we?"

"I don't know Spike." Twilight explained. She still thought of dozens of scenarios that could have happened, the one dominating her mind was all of this being a bizarre dream, or it being the work of Discord. She was surprised at herself though, and her own reaction. Had it been three years ago, she might have been freaking out like the ponies a few meters away, but as time passed over the last few years, she began to take a more relaxed approach to unusual situations. It certainly wasn't the strangest thing that happened to her and her friends. "I'll be sure to find out though. Get up and grab your basket, we'll be looking around for a while."

Before Spike could comply, only getting out a brief salute, a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane crashed into the ground. Twilight turned around to see her friend, Rainbow Dash, recovering from the crash. Twilight and Spike quickly ran over to her to see if she was alright, but before they could get to her she got up and looked at the two. Twilight had a relieved smile. She was happy at least one of her friends was stuck with her. For the first time in the last few minutes of being awake, she thought of her other friends. Were they alright? Were they brought along to wherever they were? 

"Rainbow Dash, am I glad you're alright!" Twilight yelled excitedly, moving over to hug the pegasus. She had never been happier to see a familiar face, and while Spike was all the company she would need, she was happy to have more ponies she knew with her in this situation. "Do you have any idea what the hay is going on? Do you think it might be Discord? Or maybe Changelings? Maybe they kidnapped us and dropped us off here while they plot against the Princess? Or-"

"Twilight, what makes you think I'd know the answer to that?" Rainbow Dash answered smirking, placing her hoof on Twilight's mouth to get her to be quiet. "I've spent the last fifteen minutes trying to find you guys. Everypony is freaking out, but we're trying to get them all together near a stream a few hundred meters south from here."

"So, all of our friends are alright?" Spike interjected, looking at the two. "Is Rarity okay?"

"Yeah, they're all alright." Rainbow answered, spreading her wings and getting ready to take off again. "I've got to go tell everypony to head to the stream. Since you're the biggest egghead here, I'm sure you'll end up being forced to give them answers. And do me a favor Twilight, tell anypony to follow you to the stream, I can't possibly get to everypony before some start running off. I'm surprised I worked this fast to get them all to gather in one place."

"Thanks Rainbow." Twilight smiled. She looked at Spike, who had picked up his basket and placed it under his arm. She started to fold her blanket and levitated it onto her back as Rainbow Dash nodded and took off once again to inform anypony who she could find about the gathering at the stream. Twilight noticed that the noise of ponies arguing and screaming died down as the sound of ponies walking through the grass to the stream began to fill the air. There were some conversations Twilight could overhear, mostly ponies finding a friend or two during their trek southwards to the stream. She knew that she would end up being asked by everypony about what was going on. Twilight was after all the personal student of Princess Celestia, and arguably the smartest pony in Ponyville. 

Spike's voice interrupted Twilight's thoughs. "You ready Twi?"

Twilight nodded, giving Spike the signal to jump onto her back with his basket in hand. She used her magic to part the grass to see a trail of ponies moving south, all of them familiar to her. A lot of them were acquaintances, while others she only knew from brief interactions at local businesses in Ponyville. A few she didn't recognize, but in a town as big as Ponyville, there likely were ponies she had never seen before in her life. It was going to be a long day for Twilight Sparkle and her friends.