Levitating the last book into place on the shelf of the bookcase, Twilight smiled and let out a contented sigh. Today was the library’s bi-monthly re-shelving day, and she had just spent the better part of the morning carefully organising the books into their correct locations. It had been an arduous task, to be sure – especially since Spike had gone out to do some grocery shopping, leaving her to sort the books out all by herself – but now it was finally done.
With her task completed, Twilight stood up and stretched, allowing herself a brief moment of respite. A loud and thunderous rumbling quickly cut this short, and she nervously looked around to trace its source before sheepishly glancing down at her stomach and blushing.
“Oh, right…I missed breakfast, didn’t I?” she mumbled, “Well, I guess I’d better go grab something to eat.”
She made her way into the kitchen and flung open the cupboard with her magic, levitating a plate onto the nearby countertop. Before she could actually put anything on her plate, however, she was interrupted by a faint knocking from the library’s front door.
Twilight cringed and spared her plate a momentary longing glance, before letting out a defeated sigh. Reluctantly levitating the plate back into the cupboard, she closed the cupboard door and trotted over to the front door of the library. She threw open the door, and was greeted with the sight of Fluttershy pawing at the ground bashfully.
“Oh! Hello, Fluttershy. What brings you here?” Twilight asked, smiling.
“Hello, Twilight. Can I please come inside?” Fluttershy asked meekly.
“Of course, right this way,” Twilight led Fluttershy into the centre of the room and fixed her with a curious look, “It looks like something’s bothering you. Is everything alright?”
Fluttershy stared at Twilight momentarily, before nodding her head “Yes,” then shaking her head “No,” then closing her eyes and sighing, “Well, sort of. There’s something really important we need to discuss. It’s a…little bit complicated.”
Twilight was perplexed by this, but before she could comment on it she was interrupted by Eddy barging through the doorway.
“Jeez, my legs are killin’ me…” he grumbled, picking some wax out of his ear and indifferently flicking it away. “Why did we have to go sneakin’ through all those back alleys, anyways?”
Fluttershy winced and turned to him with a despondent look, “I already told you, we had to keep you out of sight until we spoke to Twilight. You would all look rather strange to a lot of the other townsponies…um, no offense…and they might not react so well to three strange creatures suddenly showing up in town.”
Eddy shot Fluttershy an annoyed look, but whatever remark was he was about to make was cut off by Double D entering the library.
“Oh, the architecture of this building is absolutely fascinating! I mean, a library built inside a tree? Why, it’s such a…a novel idea, if you’ll pardon the pun!” he cheerfully exclaimed, fervently glancing around with his hands joyfully clasped together.
Ed bounded in soon after, his face contorted into a wide grin, “They have buns here, Double D?! Oh, I am so famished!” he remarked gleefully.
Eddy turned to him with a look of bemusement, “What, is your stomach bottomless or somethin’, Ed? We just had breakfast not two hours ago!”
Ed jogged over to the desk on the opposite side of the room and began to curiously fiddle with the inkwell, “Don’t blame me, Eddy! My belly-”
“…what in Equestria…?” Twilight murmured, her face frozen in bewilderment.
With this remark, the Eds all turned to face Twilight, seemingly noticing her for the first time. Ed just smiled and continued with his prior activity. Double D’s mouth simply hung open in awe. Eddy rolled his eyes and groaned disinterestedly.
“Great. They got pegasuses here, figures they’d have unicorns too…”
“I think you call them ‘pegasi’ if there’s more than one, Eddy…” Ed quipped.
Eddy raised an eyebrow, “Who are ya, Sockhead?”
“I read comic books, Eddy!” Ed explained.
At the mention of his colloquial nickname, Double D snapped out of his trance and turned to Twilight, “Sorry about that. I believe an explanation is in order. My name is Eddward, though most call me Double D, and these are my good friends Ed and Eddy. As you’ve probably ascertained, we’re…not really from around here.”
Twilight tilted her head and raised her brow quizzically, “Yeah, I can kind of see that.”
Double D cleared his throat and continued, “I’ll try and keep this short…basically, we somehow ended up being transported from our world into yours. After wandering around what you call the ‘Everfree Forest’ for a while, we ended up at the cottage of Fluttershy, who acted as a most gracious host towards us in our time of need,” – Fluttershy blushed at this – “She then directed us to your library, claiming that you would be able to aid us in solving our current predicament.”
Twilight nodded and tapped her chin in consideration; “So, basically…you’re from another world, and you guys want me to help you find a way back home?”
“In a nutshell…” Double D agreed.
Twilight closed her eyes in thought for a few moments, before reopening them and nodding at Double D.
“Okay, that sounds fair enough. I’m not sure if I can think of anything off the top of my head, but I’m certain there’s bound to be something useful in one of my books.”
As she said this, a book suddenly flew over her head and landed right before her hooves. Turning to see where it had come from, her eyes widened in distress as she saw Ed clambering up the bookcase, picking up random books and idly glancing through their contents before tossing them over his shoulder.
“Ed, stop!” she shrieked, ensnaring him in a magical aura and levitating him back onto the ground. “I just spent all morning re-shelving these books, and I don’t want to have to spend the rest of the day cleaning them up again! Now, go put them back where you found them!”
Ed lowered his head and mumbled an apologetic “sorry” before heading off to clean up the books. Sighing, Twilight shook her head and turned back to Double D.
“Sorry about that. Now, as I was saying- hey, are you okay?”
Double D’s eyes were wide, one eye sporadically twitching while his hands were clamped firmly over his mouth in shock. Eventually, he slowly lowered them and quietly spoke.
“What…what was that?”
Twilight stared at him with confusion, “What was what?”
“That…that thing you just did, with the glowing aura, and the levitation, and…” he trailed off.
Now Twilight was even more confused, “Huh? You mean you’ve never seen anyone use magic before?”
“…m…magic?” he shakily whined.
Twilight nervously scratched the back of her head and gave him a weak smile, “Um…yeah. I’m guessing they don’t really have magic where you’re from, but it’s really commonplace here. In fact, our world practically runs on it. All three of the main pony races have some form of inherent magic in them, but unicorns are the only race that can readily utilise it in some form through their horns, as you’ve just witnessed…” she carefully explained, noting Double D’s uncomfortable expression.
A painful silence descended upon the room as everyone turned to face Double D. Slowly, his mouth started to stretch into a disconcerting grin as he began giggling softly, his delirious mirth gradually rising higher in pitch until it transformed into full-blown laughter.
“Why yes, of course! That makes perfect sense!” he screeched madly, “This is a world full of weather-controlling pegasi and talking unicorns and lord-knows-what-else, why not throw magic into the mix as well to finish it all off?! In fact, why don’t we just toss all logic and sensibility out the window, throwing caution to the wind as we descend into sheer anarchy and madness!?”
Suddenly, he collapsed onto the ground and curled into a fetal position, gently rocking back and forth as he gibbered to himself inaudibly. Twilight and Fluttershy backed away slightly with a terrified look of concern on their faces, while Ed and Eddy regarded Double D with a demeanour of accustomed disdain.
“…are you done yet?” Eddy sighed.
Double D stopped for a moment and glanced up at Eddy with a distant gaze, “Yes, I…no, wait, hold on a moment…” – he held a finger up in a pausing gesture as he took several deep breaths, before nodding and continuing – “Yes…yes. I think I’m finished.”
He carefully stood up and dusted himself off, before turning to Twilight with a remorseful look.
“I do offer my most sincere apologies for that momentary transgression, Twilight. It’s just…having the very foundation of your understanding of reality torn away before your very eyes can be a bit of a harrowing experience, to say the least.”
Twilight visibly relaxed and offered him a sympathetic smile, “Don’t worry about it, I understand. I ended up in a similar situation myself once…now that was a crazy day, for sure.”
Double D returned the smile and coughed politely, “Yes, well…in any case, we should probably return to the matter at hand.”
“Right. Like I was saying before, I’m sure there would be something in my books that could help you guys with your current problem. Give me a few minutes, and I’ll see what I can find.”
As she began trotting over to the book case, Double D spoke up.
“Do you mind if we assist? I’m sure your search will yield results faster if four of us are searching instead of just one.”
“Um…maybe I could help, too? If that’s okay with you, I mean…” Fluttershy added.
Twilight turned to them and gave them a wide smile, “Sure, that would be great! Thanks!”
Eddy groaned and dropped onto his backside, wrapping his arms over his head, “Oh, great. It’s not enough that we’re stuck in this crazy world full of talking horses, now I gotta carry out manual labour, too?”
Double D turned to Eddy and sighed irritably, “Honestly, all you’ve done since we left the cottage is complain nigh-constantly. Couldn’t you at least show some enthusiasm at the prospect of finding a way home?”
Eddy glared at Double D as he pondered this for a moment, before growling and making his way towards the bookshelf.
“Ed! Heel!” he snapped his fingers, and Ed quickly ran over to Eddy’s side. Eddy leapt up onto Ed’s shoulders and began carefully looking through the different books on the shelf. Twilight and Fluttershy soon joined in the search.
Double D clapped his hands together delightedly, “That’s the spirit! Why, with our co-ordinated efforts, we should be able to discern a solution to this dilemma in no time-”
Suddenly, he was interrupted by a scratchy, high-pitched voice calling out from behind.
“Twilight, I’m back! I got the things you wanted- whoa, what’s going on in here?”
They all turned to face the doorway to see Spike standing there, a puzzled look on his face and a sack full of groceries clutched in one of his claws. Double D’s eyes went wide once again, his head tilting to one side as his mind tried to process what his eyes were observing.
Directly in the centre of his field of vision was a dragon; specifically, a baby dragon; more specifically, a living, breathing, talking baby dragon.
A ghost of a smile crept onto his face at this newest revelation, and he let out a relaxed and accepting sigh as this new fact firmly lodged itself deep within his mind.
He then proceeded to pass out.
“...do you think they’re still following us?”
“It’s hard for me to ascertain that from this vantage point, Eddy, but...I would assume so, given that I can’t seem to hear any traces of movement from behind us.”
“Jeez...that’s a relief,” Eddy sighed, his shoulders sagging.
“Ah...foliage!” Ed stated, gently prodding a pile of fallen leaves with his foot.
Night had long since fallen over the forest, and the Eds had been fleeing from their pursers for a good few hours now. Although it would have been difficult for them to determine when, it was undeniable that at some point they had gotten lost in the woods, their route continuously twisting and turning until all bearings had been completely mislaid. Sighing, Double D dragged his hand over his face and moaned.
“Don’t you think it’s about time we started to head back, Eddy? Our parents must be worried sick about us, and I’m sure the other kids would have forgiven us for our misdoings by now, however wretched they may have been.”
Eddy spun around and leapt towards Double D, firmly planting his feet in Double D’s chest while grabbing his friend by the scruff of his shirt collar.
“Are you kidding me?!” he hissed, eyes wide in panic, “There’s no way we can go back there! Didn’t you see the looks in their eyes? Those kids were out for blood, Double D! They’d maul us if we went back now!”
“Yeah, Double D!” Ed added, “By now, Sarah will have told Mom, and Mom will have told Dad, and Dad will have said ‘Not now, I’m reading the sports section’!” he screamed, his eyes beginning to tear up.
Double D sadly looked back and forth between his two companions, as though he were deeply contemplating something. Eventually, he swallowed hard and sighed.
“...very well then, gentlemen. But...what do you suppose we do for shelter? I hardly expect there to be anywhere we can stay this deep into the forest.”
Eddy leapt off of Double D’s shirt and back on to the forest floor, “No problem, Double D! We’ll just camp it out here for the night.”
Ed immediately brightened up at this, and began to excitedly hop from foot to foot while clapping his hands. “Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! We get to camp out tonight!”
Double D gasped, “I beg your pardon?! Surely you jest, Eddy! The floor in this area of the forest is absolutely filthy!” he closed his eyes and shuddered, “Not to mention who knows what sort of creatures could be lurking in the close vicinity of our campsite, waiting to strike at us in our slumber?”
Eddy flinched at the last point, but still held a firm and steadfast gaze as he looked at Double D.
“We’ve been running for hours, Sockhead. I’m pooped. Can’t we just take a quick nap here...for a good couple hours, at least...and then maybe find somewhere better in the morning?”
Double D squinted at Eddy for a few moments, before sighing with a weary nod.
“Alright, Eddy...you win. We’ll rest here for the evening. But if something goes awry, don’t be surprised to hear me say ‘I told you so’...”
Eddy grinned, “Thanks, Sockhead. Now, let’s get some shut-eye. I’m beat.”
“Ooh, ooh! I know!” Ed yelled, running over to his friends and removing his jacket, “We can all use my jacket as a blanket! Nice and toasty like a bowl of cabbages, yum!”
Double D and Eddy stared at the jacket – Ed’s jacket, the jacket, the very same jacket that had never been washed even once since its owner had first procured the accursed thing who-knows-how-long-ago – and shared a look of displeasure before turning back to Ed with faint forced smiles.
“That’s, um...very nice of you, Ed. But I, uh, think we’ll be fine without. We wouldn’t want to trouble you, now.”
Ed grabbed Double D and Eddy and wrapped them into a big hug, “Aw, pee-shaw, Double D! It’s no trouble at all! That’s what friends are for, right?”
Double D sighed and shut his eyes tightly. He wasn’t getting out of this one any time soon.
“Thank you, Ed. Your generosity never ceases to amaze me, sometimes,” Double D replied with the utmost sincerity.
The three of them proceeded to lie down besides each other on the forest floor, Ed draping his jacket over them all as a makeshift blanket. Bidding each other goodnight, they all unleashed a hearty yawn one by one. Then, ever so quietly, their eyes fluttered closed until they were all enrapt in the pleasant dreams of a peaceful slumber.
...several minutes passed without disturbance. Suddenly, a myriad of thin, wispy tendrils of smoke, each one luminescent with an eerie red glow, began to twist and coil around the Eds, entangling and grasping the trio limb by limb. Eventually, the mass of tendrils began to throb and pulse, gradually increasing in size until they coalesced into a huge, singular orb of light that encased the group of unconscious adolescents entirely. The mist began to grow brighter, brighter, brighter still, until the light the mist emitted was blindingly intense.
Then in an instant, the light vanished – and along with it, the three Eds.
When Double D next awoke, he could feel his head pounding as though it were populated by an army of enraged blacksmiths, all of them angrily swinging their hammers against the edges of his cranium as hard as they could. His mind tried to scramble for some form of cognitive thought, but didn’t manage to get very far before a loud voice from nearby jolted him back into full consciousness.
“Hey, guys! I think he’s waking up!”
He gingerly opened his eyes to see Eddy stood beside him, staring down at him with a slightly vexed expression.
“Man, talk about getting your beauty sleep…” he remarked frustratedly, “Nice of ya to join us, Sockhead. Anyways, we-”
He was cut off by Double D leaping up and wrapping his arms around him, burying his face into Eddy’s chest as he began to sob heavily.
“Oh, Eddy! I just awoke from the most unorthodox nightmare!” Double D cried into his friend’s chest, as Eddy scowled and forcefully attempted to pry Double D off him to no avail. “I dreamt that we had somehow been transported into this bizarre magical fantasy world, full of pegasi, and unicorns, and dragons, a-and magic, and…and…”
Pulling his head away from Eddy’s chest, he slowly turned to see Ed, Fluttershy, Twilight and Spike all watching him with expressions of great concern.
“…and…and I didn’t dream any of that, did I?”
They all shook their heads.
“This is all real, and all of that actually happened, didn’t it?”
They all slowly nodded.
Double D sighed and lowered his head, “Of course…”
Eddy snarled and shoved Double D away with his foot, sending Double D tumbling backwards several feet; “Ah, quit your blubberin’! You’re gonna wreck my shirt!”
Twilight frowned at Eddy for this, but made no comment. Instead, she trotted over to where Double D had landed and helped him to his feet.
“I’m glad to see you’re awake, Double D. Unlike some of us…” she glared at Eddy, who threw his arms up in frustration.
“Hey, I’m happy to see him up! I just didn’t want him messing up my shirt. It’s cotton, you know?”
Spike folded his arms and shook his head, “You guys are so weird…”
“Anyway…” Twilight continued, turning to face Double D, “What Eddy was trying to say earlier is that we’ve exhausted all of the relevant books in the library, and we couldn’t find anything that would aid us in getting you three home; so it looks like you guys might be stuck here for a while…”
Double D stared at her blankly for a few moments as he took this in. He closed his eyes and sighed, before reopening them and giving Twilight a weak smile.
“I see…that is a rather unfortunate outcome. Regardless, I must thank you for your assistance, Twilight. Your valiant efforts in trying to help us find a way of returning us home are greatly appreciated.”
Twilight gave him a gentle smile in return, “No problem. I’m happy I could help.”
“However…” Double D continued, “This does leave us with an additional dilemma compounding our current predicament…”
“Huh? What would that be?” Twilight asked, confused.
“How are we going to introduce ourselves to the townsfolk, exactly?” Double D replied, “Although she didn’t seem to go into much detail, Fluttershy implied that there have been one or two near-calamitous events as of recent that would make endearing ourselves to the other ponies somewhat…difficult.”
Twilight blinked a few times as she took this in. He was right; after all of the madness that had occurred in Ponyville over the last year – not to mention the fairly recent attack on Canterlot by the Changelings – it was unlikely that the other townsfolk would react too well to a trio of strange beings suddenly popping up out of nowhere. The sight of the Eds marching down the street would probably cause several ponies to explode. Thrice.
Twilight slowly paced around the room for a moment as she pondered this, before turning back to the group with an excited gasp.
“Pinkie Pie! Of course!”
Eddy scratched his head and gave her a baffled look, “Say what now?”
Twilight nodded towards Eddy, “My good friend Pinkie Pie is very sociable, and is extremely talented at throwing parties,” she explained, “I’m sure that if she threw you a welcoming party and introduced you to the other ponies, they’d warm up to you all fairly quickly.”
“A party? Sweet!” Eddy grinned.
“Why, that sounds delightful!” Double D agreed, clapping his hands together before pausing and continuing, “Though, how can you be certain that she will want to throw us a party?”
Spike scoffed at this and smirked, “Oh, please. You guys are new in town. Pinkie will be practically begging to throw you a welcoming party!”
“Well, that does seem like a good way to introduce ourselves to your fellow villagers…and a jovial celebration would be a nice way to relax after all the duress we’ve been under recently…” Double D admitted.
“It’s settled, then!” Twilight proclaimed, stomping her hoof. “We’re going to see Pinkie Pie!”
“One problem, Einstein,” Eddy remarked, “How are we gonna get there if we ain’t supposed to let anyone see us?”
Fluttershy piped up at this, “We’ll just have to go through the back alleys like we did before.”
“What? Again?!” Eddy groaned.
“It can’t be helped, Eddy,” Double D shrugged.
“Fine…” Eddy growled.
Twilight turned to Spike and gave him a curt nod, “Spike, can you look after the library while we’re out? Hopefully this shouldn’t take too long.”
Spike offered her a mock-salute, “Don’t worry, Twilight! You can count on me!”
Twilight giggled, “Thanks, Spike. Come on, guys. Let’s go visit Pinkie Pie.”
And with that they left the library, Twilight leading the group with Fluttershy and the Eds not far behind.