Mary sat on her bed laxly early Friday morning, her eyes focused on her TV, an HDMI plug connecting it to her computer as it played an episode of Wilfred through Netflix. The front pages of playbills kept preserved in poster-sized frames rung around the entirety of her room save her door and windows. The floor was spotless with no sign of dirty laundry, loose change, or garbage of any kind.
Lying beside her with its back against her ribs was an Egyptian Mau cat, purring loudly as Mary scratched under its chin. Mary couldn’t help but giggle as the cat rolled itself to the other side of its body with its back arched up and its limbs stretched out, revealing its back-left paw to have been amputated.
As Mary continued to pet her cat, a tenor squeak sounded from the other side of Mary’s bed. Just as Mary turned to look, a fully-grown African Serval cat with a beautifully clean golden coat hopped up onto the bed, blocking Mary’s sight from her television. Mary quickly rubbed her free fingers with her thumb, the soft snapping sounds beckoning the cat over to her.
“I wouldn’t think to forget you, Johann,” she cooed.
The Serval prowled towards Mary and pressed his face into her cupped hand, sliding himself onto his side against Mary’s body, and purring himself. Looking at Johann’s pleasured face, as well as a scene on her TV with two men, one dressed in a grey dog suit, pulling out cats from a box on the side of the road, she then looked to her phone on her nightstand to the left.
As she reached over, the Egyptian Mau stood up with a disappointed squeak and walked easily to the corner of the bed and set itself back down. Grabbing her phone and lying back down, snuggling herself into Johann’s back, she browsed through her contacts until she came across Yurik’s number. With a couple more taps on her screen, she put the phone to her ear, listening to the dialtone as she awaited Yurik’s voice.
“Hello?” Yurik answered.
“Yurik!” she responded, chipper. “Hey, what’s going on?”
“I… was about to ask you the same thing.”
“Well,” she giggled, “I actually was calling you because I wanted to know how that alicorn of yours was doing.”
“Oh, Twilight? She’s doing really well! Why don’t you come over and say hi? I don’t think you two have formally met.”
“What?” she exclaimed, sitting up and being careful not to pull Johann off the bed with her covers. “You really think it’s safe for me to see her?”
“Sure! It’s a long story, but mom and Evey are in on it too, even the part where Walt, Alice, and I are part of the Guardiaboliques!” he whispered on the last statement.
Mary huffed loudly into her phone, shocked to hear such a thing.
“Oh my God!” she spoke, trying her hardest not to giggle. “She must have nearly killed you!”
“Nearly…” Yurik sarcastically confirmed.
Looking at the sun trying break in through her blinds, she kept her phone at the side of her head.
“Is it too early for me to come over now?” she asked.
“Not at all!” replied Yurik. “Evey just left for her last day of school, and mom’s getting ready for work.”
“And Walt?”
“When one of us is up, we’re all up. You can come over whenever you want. Just come right in and close the door quickly. Just because my family and you are in on the ponies doesn’t mean the rest of the world is.”
“Okay! I’ll be right over.”
“Sounds great. I can’t wait for you two to finally meet. See you soon. Bye.”
Alice hit the red phone icon on her screen and plopped it onto her bed. Sliding out and walking to the door, Johann plopped down from his spot and followed Mary, meowing loudly and frequently.
“I’ll be back soon, baby,” squeaked Mary, turning and rubbing the side of his neck. “Mommy’s just got something to take care of.”
Despite leaving the room and opening her linens closet for a towel, Johann still followed her, putting his front paws up on the side of Mary’s torso.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
With a slight opening in the door, Mary slipped into the Faber’s house and shut the door behind her. She was dressed in a blue-and-pink mottled short-sleeved blouse with a light, matching scarf around her neck, as well as a pair of loose, white pants and golden colored shoes. Bette, who stood in the kitchen and cleaning a cutting board in the sink, shut off the faucet and turned to see Mary standing in her foyer, jumping out of shock.
“Mary!” she panted. “What a pleasant surprise?”
“Hi, Ms. Faber,” greeted Mary. “Do you know where Yurik is?”
“I… uh… Yurik!” she cried up the stairs. “Your friend Mary’s here!”
“It’s okay, Ms. Faber. He knows why I’m here. I’m going to see how that pony is doing.”
“How that po– did Yurik tell you about them?”
“Actually, I was the one who helped load her into Alice’s van two weeks ago. I haven’t seen her since, and I wanted to check up on her. By the way, what did you mean by ‘them?’”
As Mary and Bette continued talking Pinkie Pie peered her head over the banister from the hallway, beaming brightly at the new person entering their house.
“Hey,” called Pinkie Pie, “who’s your friend?”
Mary, turning around and hearing Pinkie Pie talk, involuntarily hopped up and fell to the floor on her back, yelping shrilly.
“Oh, wow!” Pinkie Pie continued, trotting down the stairs and towards the petrified Mary. “Did I surprise you? That’s so cool! I like surprising others, and I like people who like surprises! Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie. Who are you?”
Mary, completely overwhelmed with the sight and sound of Pinkie Pie’s speech as the pony now stood over her, croaked with a crazed smile on her face. Just then, Yurik and Twilight appeared from the hallway, the former seeing his friend beneath Pinkie Pie.
“Mary!” he shouted, sprinting down the stairs.
Twilight quickly followed him, while Pinkie Pie continued to look at the woman she was pinning down.
“So your name’s Mary?” she asked.
“Pinkie!” called Twilight. “Get off of her! She’s a guest!”
“Oh, sorry Twilight.”
Pinkie Pie leapt off her front hooves and stood upright, backing away like a bipedal creature would, looking as natural as a human would. Mary slowly got up, staring oddly at the pink mare.
“You’ll have to forgive Pinkie Pie,” apologized Twilight, now earning Mary’s wide-eyed gaze. “She can be a bit… random.”
“Twilight,” greeted Yurik, pointing to her with his hand, “this is one of my good friends Mary McClaine. She was one of the first humans to ever see you, and she was also the one who played Sally in Cabaret.”
“Thank you, Yurik. Hello, Mary,” she said, turning to her. “My name is Twilight Sparkle. I’m very happy to meet you at last.”
Keeping her eyes trained on Mary as she failed to respond, just starting to come to terms with what she was experiencing, Twilight perked up, realizing something.
“Oh, I see,” she said. “You probably had no idea that us ponies speak the same language as you, did you?”
“N– no,” she stammered, standing back up with weak, trembling legs. “That’s… that’s just incredible!”
“You wouldn’t mind if we all went upstairs together, do you?” asked Yurik pointing the stairway.
“No!” Mary responded, already coming up the stairs. “Let’s get right to it!”
Twilight looked up at Mary strangely cocking her head as she continued her journey without either of them.
“You’ll have to forgive Mary,” whispered Yurik. “She’s actually very happy about meeting you. She’s just never seen a pony talk like you do.”
“That’s fine,” Twilight sighed. “I tend to be more practical with what I’m used to as well.”
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Mary sat onto Yurik’s bed, browsing the rock band and musical posters that made up nearly every inch of his walls. Finally, Twilight and Yurik entered the room. Twilight hopped up onto the bed and sat facing her, startling Mary into turning her body as well. Yurik sat at his office chair and rolled towards his door, stopping to put himself between the two of them.
“Now, Mary?” started Yurik. “Are there any questions you’d like to ask Twilight?”
“Oh, God!” she sighed, recoiling from the countless number of them that flew into her mind. “Where do I begin? Well... I’m sorry about downstairs; that was rude of me. Please, let’s start over! I’m Mary, a friend of Yurik’s.”
Twilight chuckled as Mary reached her hand towards Twilight’s extending hoof, allowing Mary to shake it.
“As I had said,” Twilight replied, “it’s good to meet you too.”
“Well, I mean… I had no idea you were sentient and… you have more in your house! Where did they come from? Did the Guardiaboliques find them too?”
“We helped too, you know,” muffled Walt as he leaned against the jamb of Yurik’s doorway with a half-eaten apple in his fingers. “Hey, Mary.”
“Walt,” responded Mary. “Are there more here?”
“More of who?” Rainbow Dash answered smugly, appearing from around Walt as she walked into the room.
“Oh my God!” Mary squealed, her hands over mouth failing to conceal her smile. “My dad would kill to sit where I am right now!”
“Why?” asked Twilight cautiously. “Where’s your dad?”
“He lives in New York at an animal shelter, but he’s in Asia right now on a wildlife rescue mission. If he could see and meet you right now, it would mean the world to him!”
“What about your mother?”
“Mom lives here with me. She works as a consultant in Chicago, but she’s in Seattle on a business trip now.”
“So,” asked Rainbow Dash, “does that mean… your parents are divorced?”
“Yeah, but it’s kind of hard to keep a marriage like that up over such long distances. Oh, and not to say that they don’t love each other; they’re still very good friends, it’s just that they find it too difficult to be apart like that.”
“I… see?” Twilight responded.
“You shouldn’t worry about it. I’m happy, mom’s happy, dad’s happy; we’re all very happy!”
“Well, that’s good to hear!”
“How many more of you are there?” she asked, looking at Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, whose head was peeking out from the doorway.
“There’s the three you see,” Yurik said, lassoing his finger around the room. “And then there’s–”
“What’s with all the commotion?” asked Applejack, stepping into Yurik’s room.
“Speaking of the devil…”
“Mary,” said Twilight, pointing to the two remaining ponies, “this is Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Guys, this is Mary. She’s a very close friend of Yurik’s and Walt’s.”
“Well,” greeted Applejack with a tip of her hat, “it’s mighty fine to meet y’all, Mary.”
“Wow!” sighed Mary, eyeing each of the four ponies in her vision. “You and the Guardiaboliques have already found three more of them?”
“Yes we have,” Yurik said proudly. “Then all we have left is Fluttershy, Rarity, and that dragon Spike… and then you guys go home.”
Yurik, looking more impressed than he was sad, turned his chair to face the wall and away from the others. Twilight grabbed the elevation pump on the chair a pull with her magic, turning Yurik back to her.
“Yurik,” assured Twilight, “even though we’ll be going back to our homeland, there’s no guarantee that we’ll also be returning to our world. If that’s the case, I have no doubt in my mind that Celestia and Luna will let us visit you when we want. Who knows? Maybe she’ll let you guys come over instead!”
Yurik smiled, comforted by her realistic words. Meanwhile, a buzzing and chime went off in Yurik’s pants, leaving him to pull out his phone and check what it was.
“Still, this is so incredible!” exclaimed Mary. “I still wish there was a better and easier way we could spend time together!”
Yurik smirked as he looked at his phone, handing it to Mary as she looked upon the screen.
“Perhaps there is,” Yurik said.
Mary kept close attention to the words on the screen as she read them.
Orpheus helped us find Fluttershy. Leaving for airport at 5. Be ready.
“Wait,” Mary responded, her mind swimming with questions, “who’s Orpheus? And what does this have to do with quality time?”
“I don’t know,” Yurik coyly suggested as he took his phone back, typing in a response. “You already know about us being in the Guardiaboliques, so I can’t see why Kieran wouldn’t let you come with us in this next mission.”
“Us? As in… Yurik, you’re crazy!”
“A bit,” he teased with a shrug, “but if you want to have a nice little trip this summer, now’s a perfect opportunity!”
“Where even is it?”
“Just sent the response, and it should be–”
A beep came into the air as the response was made.
“How does a rainforest in Brazil sound?” he asked.
Mary gasped, a smile slowly stretching her mouth wider.
“Are you serious?” she asked.
“Alice usually is about this kind of stuff,” he responded, dangling his phone in front of her face. “Does this sound good with you? You don’t need to feed Johann or the other cats?”
“No! No problem! I can do that before we leave! In fact…”
Alice bounced herself up from her seat and walked to the doorway.
“I’m sorry!” she puffed. “I need to get home and pack! It was nice meeting you all! I’ll see you at five!”
Before Yurik or Walt had the chance to wave, Mary was gone, the sound of Bette’s confused questioning towards her going on downstairs, followed by the sound of a door slamming shut.
“Wow,” exclaimed Pinkie Pie. “That woman belongs on a sundae, because she’s nuts! Or maybe she’s bananas… She’s a banana split of crazy!”
“Most actors are,” quipped Walt as he lobbed his apple core straight into Yurik’s garbage bin.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Yurik, Walt, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash ran down the stairs, the latter two with their backpacks and bags for their clothes with them.
“Bye mom!” called Yurik.
“We’ll be home Sunday night hopefully!” called Rainbow Dash.
As they came to the door, Bette, wearing a black dress, came to the banister at the stairs.
“Wait!” called Bette, freezing the four of them in their tracks. “I’ve got plans tonight! Who’s going to watch Evey!”
“Ooo! Ooo! Ooo!” Pinkie Pie begged, walking up to Bette with Applejack by her side. “I can do it!”
“I’ll lend her a hoof,” said Applejack. “You go on and have yourself a ball, Ms. Faber. Your daughter’s safe with us.”
“Thank you,” Bette responded. “Please be sure she’s in bed by no later than ten.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Applejack said.
Applejack and Pinkie Pie stood to their hind legs and looked over the railing to see their friends out.
“Bye, guys!” Applejack called. “Good luck!”
“Tell Fluttershy I said, ‘Hi!’,” shouted Pinkie Pie.
Yurik and Walt shared a comfortable chuckle as they took their belongings and walked out the front door, seeing Alice’s van parked in the driveway. As they walked towards the back, a flash of light was seen from inside the windshield, as well as a surprised scream from Mary in the front passenger’s side seat beside Alice. Opening the back door, they both saw Twilight and Rainbow Dash standing inside, both of them shaking their heads to snap them out of their dizzying trip.
“Oh wow!” shouted Mary, looking behind her. “You can even teleport?”
“There’s a lot that these guys can do,” Yurik said, throwing his bags onto the floor of the van with Walt beside two pairs of other bags. “I suggest we talk about it more when no one else can hear us.
Walt closed the back and walked to the passenger’s side door while Yurik went to the driver’s side, opening the doors behind Mary and Alice and stepping inside. With a shutting of their doors, Yurik and Walt let out a successful sigh as Alice pulled out of their driveway and onto the street.
“Guys,” said Mary, “again, I want to thank you for letting me come with you guys on this trip.”
“You don’t need to thank us,” Alice responded, “thank Kieran. He knew about you dropping Walt off at the headquarters that one time. He knew how good of friends we all are, so he saw no harm in accepting you to come.”
“Plus,” Twilight said, walking up towards the front seats, “I think this will be a great bonding experience for us, Mary.”
“I certainly hope so,” Yurik said, “because if this goes well, we’ll only have two more of you guys to find, and then you guys can go home.”
“Yeah,” sighed Twilight nostalgically. “Home…”
“But in the meantime,” blurted Alice, “let’s enjoy the time we do have together!”
“Alright!” Rainbow Dash cheered. “Let’s go save the rest of our friends!”
Yurik sighed, thankful for Alice’s diversion as he looked out the window, noting the traffic that began to accumulate on the roads.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Inside Kieran’s plane, Rainbow Dash looked out the windows, her wings involuntarily raised up as she looked at the clouds below her quickly passing by. Walt smirked as he noticed this, walking on up behind her as he crumpled up a wax-paper wrapper.
“Not used to flying unless you’re actually flying, right?” he asked.
“No,” she sighed. “If it weren’t for keeping hidden mostly, I’d be right beside this plane, the wind blowing in my face and rushing through my wings!”
“Yeah… The closest I can come to that is when I’m riding my bike on the highway. It’s a great feeling. However, at least there’s one thing that never changes.”
“Huh? What’s that?”
“The view.”
Walt and Rainbow Dash both took a relaxed sigh as they watched the billowy pinkish-blue clouds pass underneath them in the orange afternoon sky.
On the other side of the plane, Twilight, Mary, and Yurik sat around each other with burgers in each their hands. Twilight happily munched through her burger with a light-brown patty speckled with green and orange, holding it firmly with her magic. Yurik and Mary could only stare strangely as Twilight wiped her mouth with the bottom of the bun before taking bite of that part of her sandwich.
“Wow, Twilight,” Yurik spoke facetiously, “you never took me as a person who loves cheeseburgers.”
Twilight guzzled down her mouthful and washed it down with a gulp of Coca Cola.
“I also didn’t think that a human restaurant could make such a good veggie burger that I can eat!” she spoke.
“And you’re sure you don’t have a problem with us eating meat in front of you?” asked Mary.
“Well,” admitted Twilight with a sip of her drink, “a lot of the animals you eat for meat are sentient in Equestria, but I really can’t be mad at you without sounding like a hypocrite myself.”
“Why’s that?”
“Ponies are especially fond of sweets, and that includes cakes, pastries, you name it.”
“But…” Mary mumbled before she swallowed a recent bite of her salmon burger, “that would mean that you use… eggs? You ponies eat eggs?”
“Yes, we do. Even if they aren’t, they’re like baby chickens. If that’s the case, who are any of us to criticize you for eating… cows, or fish?”
“Well,” Yurik groaned awkwardly, “I’m glad you approve of our diets.”
Twilight took the last bite of her burger as her eyes went wide, looking as if she had overstepped her bounds.
“Oh, no!” Twilight exclaimed, fighting to pass the words through the mound of chewed slop in her mouth. “I’m sorry! I should have just said my piece and been done with it! Mmm! This burger sure is good! Where did we get these again?”
“DMK,” Alice answered. “I can’t eat beef myself, and I know you can’t eat meat of… well, virtually every kind, so we decided to go to a place where we all could be happy.”
“And I thank you for that!” she responded, pulling a second burger from a paper bag sitting next to her. “We might need to go back there before this is all over.”
Unwrapping the burger, Twilight began gobbling it much like her first. Mary turned to Yurik, who had taken a small, savoring bite from his bison burger as he looked back too.
“At least we learned something today,” she said with a shrug.
Yurik swallowed his bite, allowing his smile to form more naturally as he continued to look at her.
“We’re not the only ones learning something,” he said, standing up. “Walt! Put it on!”
“Is it time already?” he called back.
“Just do it before it gets too late!”
Walt stepped away from the window with Rainbow Dash and walked to the front of the plane, pulling out two remotes that were held to the wall by fitted platforms. Clicking a button on one remote, the projector and screen both descended from the ceiling, the former powering on and casting a blue light at the latter.
Alice drew a DVD case from Walt’s backpack and tossed it to him. As he opened it up, he crouched down to see a DVD player mounted to the wall. Pressing the eject button which turned it on, the tray of the machine slid out, allowing Walt to place the disc onto it, pushing the tray closed.
“Yurik,” asked Mary. “What are we watching?”
“Oh,” spoke Yurik, “a trip down memory lane is all.”
As Alice dimmed the lights down, Twilight and Rainbow Dash also paid attention to the screen, seeing as the movie started up and revealed four letters.
Beauty and the Beast: Magical Starlight Theater – Summer 2010
Mary let out a mix of a shout and a gasp, her body swaying due to the sheer shock.
“Mary,” asked Twilight, “what is this?”
“This, Twilight,” Yurik proudly responded, “is the very first show I did with Mary when she moved to Naperville after her 8th grade school year in New York.”
“And it’s thanks to Yurik and this show,” Mary sniffled, wiping her tears from her eyes, “that I was able to get through my parents’ divorce and make as many new friends as I did. This is awesome, Yurik.”
“Shh!” hushed Walt as the curtains parted on the screen. “It’s starting.”
As the instrumental prelude to the song Belle fluttered through the theater’s sound system, a younger Mary with her hair in a brown wig pranced upon the stage, much to Twilight’s sheer happiness and Rainbow Dash’s amusement.
Mary compelled herself to sit down with Yurik, who took another nibble of his burger as Walt, Alice, and the two ponies took their seats beside them and kept their eyes glued to the screen as Mary sung. As the chorus joined in, Twilight looked about for Yurik, only to not find him.
“Hey,” whispered Twilight in Yurik’s ear, “where are you?”
“I was playing Lumiere,” he quietly answered. “Don’t worry, you’ll like what you see.”
Twilight nodded in acceptance and continued to watch the slew of younger children sing the opening number with Mary right in the foreground, looking to enjoy herself very much.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
By the beginning of the afternoon of the next day, Kieran’s plane landed on the runway of the Governador Jorge Teixeira de Oliveira International Airport of Pôrto Velho, Brazil. The humans and ponies inside groggily stood up from their seats as they stretched their bodies, stretching their soon-to-be-released bodies from the plane.
“Finally,” moaned Mary, “a chance to stretch my legs.”
“Let’s not forget,” reminded Alice, “we’re south of the Equator now, so we only have a set amount of time before it gets too dark to be in the forests at night.”
“Do we at least know where we’re going?” asked Walt, his bags already in hand.
“Yes. Lucky for us, the sightings that Orpheus had picked up show them surrounding a specific area. That’s where we’ll search.”
“How big is the area, though?” asked Twilight.
“About a two-mile radius. We’re going to be doing some hiking, but if we can find the epicenter of where these sighting occur, chances are we’ll find where our pony has been staying all this time.”
“Sounds fine with me,” said Mary, already pulling her phone from her pocket.
“Kieran did allow us some time to change. I highly suggest you get into something a bit more comfortable for this hike: durable pants and short sleeved shirts are preferable, but just stick with one layer. Let’s get to it, guys,” she said, heading for her luggage in the overhead compartment. “The longer we need to stay here, the closer it gets to sunset.”
Without any more hesitation, Yurik, Walt, and Mary also went to their bags, pulling out just what they needed.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
A large SUV crawled along the open space within the forest, slowing to a stop as the expanse of trees and vines became too thick for the vehicle to travel any further. Once the car was parked, each of its four doors opened as its passengers and driver exited out and around to the other side of the car.
Kieran came from the driver’s seat wearing a greyish-green buttoned-up shirt and a thick pair of black pants, his long hair tied into a ponytail. Alice, emerging from the front passenger side door, wore a light-brown t-shirt with a pair of khaki-pants. Yurik and Mary came forth from the back driver-side door, Yurik wearing his regular clothing minus his blue shirt-jacket and black hoodie around his waist. Mary had a light-blue short-sleeved blouse with mustard-yellow pants.
Walt came from the back passenger-side door with only his vest removed, leaving nothing but his white t-shirt and black pants. From the back door, Twilight and Rainbow Dash hopped out with their own saddlebags on, five backpacks held in Twilight’s magic aura. With a gentle float, each of the bags made it to each of their owners’ hands. Twilight and Rainbow Dash joined the humans as they equipped themselves with their belongings.
“Here is what we will do,” said Kieran. “We will get into three pairs. Mary, you will accompany Alice and I for this.”
“Okay then,” Mary said, hiding her disappointment as she glanced to Yurik.
“Walt, Rainbow Dash, you will be a team, as will you, Yurik and Twilight.”
“Got it!” Rainbow Dash happily accepted.
“Sounds fine with me,” agreed Twilight.
“Lastly,” said Kieran, handing two operating iPhones to Yurik and Walt, “take these. These will let us know where you guys are?”
“Were the pins too flimsy?”
“No,” he gruffly responded. “This will just be an easier way to find this pony. Yurik, Twilight, you will scan the north perimeter of the sighting area. I’ve marked the borders on your map; make sure your dot doesn’t go outside the lines.”
“Simple enough…” breathed Yurik, looking at the map and their dot on the screen.
“Walt, Rainbow Dash, take the south perimeter. Alice, Mary, and I will walk straight ahead. We will all be able to see each other on each of our maps. Yurik, Walt, when you reach above and below the center of the circle, turn towards it and walk to it. We will meet you there.
From there, we will discuss our plan further. The time is 3:18 PM here, and the time of sunset will be at 6:45 PM. We have a little over three hours to find them before this jungle becomes too treacherous to stay. Let’s not waste any more time. Let’s go.”
Yurik and Walt began to walk their intended path, the former heading up and to the left, while Walt went down to the right. Their two pony partners followed them closely.
“Good luck, guys!” called Yurik.
“Call us if you find anything!” shouted Walt.
As they went further and further away from Kieran, Alice, and Mary, the silver-haired leader went straight east into the forest.
“Come,” he simply called.
Alice and Mary, who stayed close to each other, followed Kieran in through the deep and dark flora of the Amazon.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
An abandoned white barn with a red roof stood in the small clearing of the thick jungle that claimed it. Standing carefully atop the roof on the front end of the house was a boy of about 14 in a ragged white shirt and muddied red shorts. His skin was a dark-tan colored and his naturally black hair was both frayed and curled.
The boy carefully peered through a pair of binoculars with his left hand, his vision affixed on a winged yellow--furred creature with a long pink mane and tail flying just below the treetops. The creature was still hardly visible through the thick foliage, but bits of the creature’s pink mane and yellow wingtips were still easily distinguishable.
“Good job, Fluttershy,” he whispered, his hand reaching a revolver inside his right pocket.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Mary, Alice, and Kieran continued wandering into the forest, getting closer to their destination with each tired step. A noise of crunching leaves suddenly sounded to the left of the group. Instantly, Mary pulled out her phone and aimed the lens of its camera right at the noise where she thought she heard it. Seemingly at the same moment, Kieran’s hand caught Mary’s right wrist, nearly making her drop her phone.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he hissed.
“I was only taking a look, I swear!” squeaked Mary as the grip grew tighter.
“Do you take me as a fool? I let you on this mission as a favor to your friends, and I thought you’d be smart enough not to take pictures that can be seen by others back home, like your parents!”
“Okay, first,” Mary spat, ripping her arm from Kieran’s vice, “my parents, my dad especially, are very huge supporters of you guys. Second, I have a somewhat popular Instagram account, and getting good pictures involves focusing on just the right shot, and that’s how I pay attention to certain things better.”
Kieran glared at Mary, who refused to waver in his deathly stare.
“Fine,” he whispered, “but the second I hear that camera shutter sound, your phone is going right over my knee.”
“Deal,” she sarcastically agreed, continuing to look at her screen and the image her lens saw.
The three of them began to tread carefully, their eyes peeled for anything that they could identify as the pegasus Fluttershy. Mary glanced up at the treetops for anything, watching for any birds or bats that would try to distract her. There didn’t seem to be anything, until…
*click*
Mary gasped as she realized her mistake, as involuntary and habitual as it was. Kieran and Alice stopped dead in their tracks, the former looked both stunned and furious. Turning to Mary, he began to stride towards her.
“What did I say?” he warned.
“Look!” Mary shouted, pointing up where she had taken her picture.
Kieran, humoring her, stopped and turned to look up, his mouth parting slightly as he saw a yellow equine with wings and a pink mane and tail standing stiffly and frightened in the trees. Alice looking up, managed to see Fluttershy as well. The pegasus saw them clearly too, her eyes wide and her bottom lip being bit down with fear.
“Well,” Kieran whispered, “I’ll be da–”
*CPOKH*
The loud crack of a gunshot rung through the trees. While Mary and Alice ducked for cover, Kieran crouched down while keeping his eyes on the pegasus as it darted behind herself and flew straight and away.
“Run!” ordered Kieran, sprinting through the trees after her.
Without question, Alice ran, catching up behind him. Mary jogged up, unable to convince herself to run.
“Hey!” she called out. “There’s a poacher near here!”
As Kieran and Alice became harder to see through the trees, leaving her stranded, she too broke into a run.
“Hey!” she cried. “Don’t leave me here!”
As behind and alone as she was, she panted with apprehension as she tried to keep her sights on Kieran and Alice further ahead. Meanwhile, Kieran looked up through the trees, just barely able to see Fluttershy losing them up above.
She’s flying in a completely straight line, he mused. She’s leading us right to the epicenter!
Just up ahead, the clearing and the barn were visible. Kieran slowed down his pace as he suddenly began to think about where the initial gunshot had come from. Alice continued her pace as she was about to run right into the open. Kieran grabbed her wrist as her feet and lower torso swung out through the edge of the clearing.
Seeing Fluttershy zoom into the ajar barn doors, Kieran looked up to see the boy looking at them with his gun aimed at him. The boy set his arm down while keeping a close, watchful eye over the two hiding behind the trees. Mary’s panting became audible as she came up to run into the clearing.
“Parada!” he shouted. “Caçadores furtivos não são permitidos aqui!”
“Não somos caçadores!” called Mary as she walked into the open, much to Kieran and Alice’s slight surprise. “Somos amigos com o Pégaso, Fluttershy!”
Even the boy himself looked stunned to see Mary speaking his language.
“Como é que um norte-americano, como você fala Português?” he asked.
“Meu pai faz parte de um grupo de resgate de animais selvagens em todo o mundo,” she answered, “e ele me ensinou que a língua quando eu era uma menina!”
The boy gasped, surprised to hear such an answer.
“Escuta,” she questioned, “você fala Inglês?”
The boy continued to look at her oddly before he came up with his answer.
“Yes,” he said. “Who are you?”
“My name is Mary,” she said. “And these are my friends!”
“I recognize the long-haired man!” he shouted. “He’s Kieran! You’re part of the Guardiaboliques, aren’t you?”
Kieran sighed as he stood, prompting Alice to walk out into the clearing with him.
“Yes,” answered Kieran, “and this is Alice. What Mary here said is true. We are friends with her friends Twilight Sparkle…
_________________________________________________________________________________________
“…Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie!” finished Kieran.
Inside the barn, Fluttershy’s ears perked up, surprised to hear her friends’ names.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
“And who are you?” asked Mary.
“My name is Thiago,” he said. “Please, come inside, I want to show you something.”
Thiago placed his gun back into his pocket and ran along the top to a side window, swinging effortlessly inside. Mary, Kieran, and Alice looked at each other before they led themselves into the open barn door ahead.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Walt and Rainbow Dash continued searching about the area, noting the vast expanse of green trees and various animals calls around them. Walt pulled out the phone provided to him by Kieran and glanced down. His dot continued to be along the outside of the perimeter set on the map while Yurik’s dot moved in towards the center where Kieran’s dot was.
“What do you see?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“I think Kieran and his group found Fluttershy!” he responded cheerfully, breaking into a run into the forest.
“Hey!” called Rainbow Dash. “Stick together!”
It wasn’t much longer before the two of them disappeared deep within the forest.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Upon entering inside the barn, the pungent smell of excrement was strong, making Alice gag and cover her mouth. Kieran and Mary didn’t seem to react in any way at all, as if they were used to the smell all their lives. Looking around them, they could easily detect the source, which froze them up in fear and shock.
Lying obediently on the floor were a pair of jaguars who looked upon them warily. Lying beside them was a brown deer who looked at them with equal caution. High in the rafters, monkeys, bats, birds, and rodents all looked down at the humans that had entered their home.
“Fluttershy and I saved them all,” Thiago said, standing in the back center. “They were all sick and or wounded when we found them. Had it not been for our efforts, a large portion of these animals would be killed by poachers or be dead already. She's been an invaluable help since I found her those couple of weeks ago.”
Mary looked slightly angered at the pair of jaguars in their cage as they snarled at her with spite and rage.
“Speaking of,” Kieran said, “where is she?”
“Um,” a timid voice cooed from the corner as she stepped out towards Thiago, “I’m right here…”
Mary looked at Fluttershy with even more disdain, noting the dirtied and messed state of her coat, mane, tail, and wings.
“You said that you knew her other equine friends?” Thiago asked.
“Yes,” spoke Alice. “We found four of them, and after her, all we have left is the white unicorn Rarity and the dragon Spike, and then they can return home to their world.”
“I see… being that you are really Kieran and you have brought the Guardiaboliques all the way to Brazil, I have no inclination to doubt you.”
Kieran nodded in resected, but didn’t seem to quell Thiago’s serious face.
“However,” he added, “I cannot let you take her from me.”
“What did you say?” shouted Kieran. “She doesn’t belong here with you!”
“The point is, she doe belong here. Every week, nearly a hundred animals in this very forest either die of disease, famine, or are killed by poachers or destroyers of the environment. Thanks to her, these animals actually have a chance to live.”
“Live?” asked Mary. “You mean in this litterbox you make them call their home?”
Thiago’s icy glare stared back into Mary. The jaguars, seeing him so angered, began to growl as they slowly stood to their paws.
“What was that?” he breathed.
“No!” Fluttershy shouted, running to the jaguars and petting them, her presence seemingly pacifying them. “Let’s not get into a fight, please.”
Mary, while standing stunned at Fluttershy’s ability, turned to her.
“Fluttershy,” reasoned Mary, “I know these animals can be in danger out there, but cramping them in a dirty barn is no way to keep them safe.”
“I know,” she whined, “but…”
Fluttershy looked at all the scared faces of the animals all up within the rafters.
“…they need me. Thiago can’t do this alone.”
“I can help,” spoke Mary. “Like I said earlier, my dad rescues animals like yours. He can help shelter them!”
“And how many do you think he’s going to release back into the wild to die if he comes?” Thiago queried.
“Thiago,” she shouted, “listen to yourself! You can’t just keep all the animals in the Amazon in here like this! Some of them are probably healthy again, and they need to be let back out! Right now, you sound like a child who wants to keep a stray kitten that they found!”
“I’m not just some kid! I am fully capable of helping them, and you want to send them back out to their deaths! If this is what you and your father consider rescuing, you two should be ashamed!”
Mary felt her fists clench instantly, her face morphing into a scowl, beginning to approach him.
“You little–”
Her path was suddenly blocked by the two jaguars that pounced in front of her and reared back, ready to attack if necessary. Fluttershy sat nervously with the deer, not wanting to intervene or interfere.
“You obviously can’t say that these animals don’t care for me,” Thiago taunted. “What makes you think that you and your friends are better guardians to these ponies than I would be?”
“Simple,” Mary responded. “Neither of us lets them sleep in their own filth.”
“And yet, I have kept these animals all in here safe from harm, and none have died in my or Fluttershy’s care.”
“These animal’s living conditions are even worse than that of a zoo!” shouted Alice.
“And you think you can care for them better!”
“I know we can!” shouted Mary
“Then prove it! Duel me!”
Mary stepped back, taken seriously aback by the demand.
“What are you saying?” she asked.
“That’s right,” he confirmed. “Only by defeating me will you show how much more fit you are to care for this pegasus. But if you can’t…” he said, snapping his fingers.
At once, each one of the animals looked down upon Mary, Kieran, and Alice, the mammals bearing their teeth angrily while the birds all spread their wings and ready to soar down.
“…we will have to escort you and your friends away from this place… all of them.”
“Do you really think we’ll allow you to do that?” asked Kieran. “One of our ponies is a master mag–”
“It’s alright, Kieran,” said Mary, whipping her bag out to her front. “This little brat needs to be taught a lesson big time.”
“Hmph,” Thiago chortled, “atta’ girl.”
“Mary,” spoke Alice, “let me fight for you. You aren’t even a true Guar–”
“No!” he called out. “The supposed ‘true animal guardian’ will fight me; I will accept nothing else.”
“Like I said,” Mary responded, pulling out her dark-orange duel disk from her bag and placing it on her arm, “he needs to learn a thing or two.”
The clasp of the duel disk slid around her arm as she removed the blade disk from the side of it. Both of the jaguars standing in front of her, walked back to Fluttershy and the deer, continuing to look at her menacingly as they left. Thiago smirked at Mary’s fervor as Alice and Kieran stepped backwards to the barn’s entrance, giving her ample room.
“Someone please bring my duel disk,” he said.
A black howler monkey hopped down from its spot on the rafters and swung off to a chest in the back corner of the barn. Throwing it open, he spotted a sand-colored duel disk with a small, scratched Android tablet in its center in place of an iPad.
Picking it up, the monkey lobbed it towards Thiago with a screech, signaling him. He turned back and caught it on the bottom side of it, already moving it towards his left arm.
“Thank you, amigo,” exclaimed Thiago.
The monkey shrieked again before it climbed up a set of crates and jumped back to the rafters with its respective others. The claps on Thiago’s duel disk came on as he pulled his blade disk out from it.
“We’re taking that pegasus home one way or another,” Mary declared. “This is just for your own good.”
“And this,” Thiago shouted, winding his arm and hand with his blade disk back, “is for theirs!”
Thiago whipped his arm and his blade disk to Mary’s side, Mary doing the same. Fluttershy watched with uncertainty as the disks flew back to their owners and hovered beside their duel disks. Brightening up, both of Mary and Thiago’s blades formed from the sides of the blade disks, straightening and solidifying so the seven zones were visible.
Fluttershy, scared by what was about to happen, crawled behind the deer and two jaguars towards Alice and Kieran. At that moment, both of the decks in Mary and Thiago's duel disks shuffled inside, setting the final preparations.
“Connection complete,” spoke the computerized voice from their duel disks, “Mary McClaine vs. Thiago Rocha. Draw.”
Both duelists drew five cards from their decks, fanning them out to spread their hands. Fluttershy was right beside Alice, who didn’t seem to notice her until the pegasus’s “psst” sounds attracted her attention.
“Um…” she whispered, “what are they doing?”
“They’re dueling,” Alice answered. “Don’t worry. What you’re about to see is only an illusion, per se.”
“An illusion?”
“Fluttershy!” yelled Thiago. “Get away from them before they take you away!”
“We’re not going anywhere until I drill you down,” barked Mary. “Now, Thiago,” she continued with a pointing finger, “let’s see if you can back up those words of yours.”
“Fine then. Bring it!”
“DUEL!” they both shouted.
================
Mary:
LP: 4000
Thiago:
LP: 4000
================
“Ladies first,” called Thiago. “I want to see what you think you’re made of!”
“So generous,” breathed Mary.
Mary reached for a spell card in her hand with a compass emblem below its title and art of sunset-laden plain with thin, winding trees set in two lines where several species of cats were.
“I activate the field spell Feral Fields!” Mary began.
Once she placed the card into the slot, the floor of the barn began to disappear as a bright white ring spread out, changing the dirt straw into golden grass. The ring spread about the walls and windows, eliminating the wood and turning it into a hot, African plain.
The monkeys and other animals perched and sitting on the rafters were shocked and surprised as the planks they sat on were now branches of trees that lined both sides of the field. Fluttershy looked wondrously at the undeniably cleaner and fresher atmosphere of Mary’s spell card.
“While this card is active,” explained Mary, “all non-beast-type monsters can only declare one attack per battle phase.”
Thiago continued to look at Mary with a blankly stern expression, unfazed by Mary’s strategy. However, he then looked out to see that the jaguars and deer were facing towards the plains, angered to see as they pawed at the invisible walls of the barn that kept them stuck inside. Looking up, many of the other animals felt, banged, and even ran straight into the barrier, fooled by the illusion.
“Do you see that?” Mary asked. “They want to go home, and yet here they are, ‘safe’ according to you.”
“Just shut up and keep going,” threatened Thiago. “This field spell is nothing like the harsh reality they will face out there.”
Mary growled, the boy’s ignorance eating away at her.
“Fine then…” she grumbled.
She then took out two pendulum monsters from her hand and revealed them to Thiago.
“I set the pendulum scale with the scale 2 Feral Lion and scale 9 Feral Kitten,” Mary stated.
Throwing both cards onto her pendulum zones, the sky began to turn dark blue as two blue pillars rose from the ground on Mary’s sides of the field. Rising up from the ground were a massive and beautifully groomed lion as well as a white kitten wearing a red collar with a golden bell around its neck. The star outline began to form into the sky as a number 2 and a number 9 appeared over both of their heads.
Feral Lion
Pendulum Scale: 2
Feral Kitten
Pendulum Scale: 9
“With these two monsters,” Mary went on, “I can special summon monsters whose levels are 3 through 8! Pendulum summon!”
Mary removed all cards from her hand and slammed them onto the monster zones on her blades, one of them being a pendulum monster. A red portal opened up underneath the star and shot out two orange beams that landed onto the ground, throwing dirt all around that they animals shielded their eyes from.
Upon the dust settling, two new monsters had appeared on the field: a black panther and a large tiger, each looking at Thiago with violent intents.
“Let’s go!” she called. “Feral Panther! Feral Tiger!”
The two cats let out a roar at Thiago, both scaring and impressing him immensely.
Feral Panther
ATK: 2400
Lvl: 6
Feral Tiger
ATK: 2600
Lvl.: 7
Fluttershy stood with wobbling legs, completely astounded that four cats had just appeared onto the battlefield. The two jaguars, seeing the tiger and panther before them, ran back onto the field and separated them from Thiago.
“Thiago,” called Mary, “I suggest you call your cats back. They have no business here.”
“Fine,” Thiago growled, then tilting his head to look down at the jaguars. “Guys, I’ll be fine. Just stay off to the sides for me.”
The two jaguars looked shocked and confused at Thiago’s order, but eventually complied as Thiago continued staring at them expectantly.
“Now that that’s out of the way,” resumed Mary, “I activate the effect of Feral Kitten in my pendulum zone. When I pendulum summon while its’ in my pendulum zone, I draw cards equal to the number of monsters summoned. That’s two, so now I…”
Mary pinched the top two cards of her deck and whipped her arm out, the two cards now held in her fingers.
“…draw two cards!”
Mary placed one card in her hand while still holding the other in her right, presenting the backing to Thiago for reference before sliding it into her spell/trap slot of her duel disk, the face-down card appearing on the ground at her feet.
“I place one card face down and end my turn,” she concluded.
Status: Hand: 1 Life: 4000 Monsters: 2 Pendulum Zones: 2 Pendulum Scale: 3 – 8 Spell/Traps: 2
With this strategy, planned Mary, I will completely shut down this guy’s chances of attacking me. This duel is as good as won!
Thiago looked to Mary and saw her smiling confidently, his lips pursing in contemplation.
“What are you smiling at?” he asked.
“Just take your next turn and find out,” goaded Mary. “This duel is pretty much set for me.”
“You must think very highly of yourself to say you’ve already won after I haven’t even had a turn yet. Perhaps I’ll have you experience my power first-hand.”
Thiago placed his hand onto his deck and prepared himself.
“My turn!” he shouted. “Draw!”
“I activate my continuous trap, King’s Roaring!” declared Mary, her arm over her rising trap card that showed a lion’s mouth agape with harshly zigzagging lines escaping it. “While I control a beast-type Feral monster, I can negate one of your attacks each turn!”
Thiago couldn’t help but gasp, surprised by what Mary had accomplished. Even Alice and Kieran looked visibly impressed with her strategy, their eyes wide and their mouths slightly open.
“Now there’s no way for you to attack!” shouted Mary. “I’ll just negate one attack with King’s Roaring, and then thanks to Feral Fields, you can’t declare any more attacks unless you control a beast-type monster.”
Fluttershy wasn’t exactly sure what was happening and how, but she looked at her, just able to catch the side of her head and the corner of her smiling mouth, finding slight solace in her bravery and cunning. Despite this, Thiago smirked himself, catching Mary off guard.
“Yeah,” he admitted, “I don’t have any beast-type monsters in my deck, but the best part is…”
Thiago’s smile went wider, his breathing suggesting he was on the verge of laughing.
“…I won’t need to declare a single attack to defeat you!”
Grabbing a card in his hand, Thiago revealed it to be a spell card with a compass icon above its art, which appeared to be a stone pyramid with a gold idol of a serpentine dragon on the shrine at the very top of it.
“I activate my own field spell, Sacred Temple of the Idouros!” he declared.
Slipping the card into his duel disk, the ground began to rumble, causing the animals in the trees to scream and cry out loudly, the birds and bats flying about for their lives. Fluttershy hopped up and hovered above the ground as well, watching as something began to rise behind Thiago.
The large pyramid from Thiago’s card pushed out from the ground, the soil and grass rolling off it as the ground continued to shake. Finally, the pyramid raised itself twenty feet high before it came to a stop and the ground settled.
“What was your plan here?” Mary asked. “You do know that two field spells can be active at the same time now, right? Your situation still hasn’t changed.”
“As a matter of fact,” he teased, “it has.”
“What?”
“Just watch…”
While many of the flying animals flew back to the branches of the trees, several of them tried to land atop the pyramid to roost, only for their bodies to faze through the bricks. Thiago huffed disappointingly as they birds warbled angrily back to the branches of the trees where the rafters were.
“You see that?” Thiago shouted as he spun around, addressing each of the animals inside. “This world created is an illusion! Such nice places like this do not exist! The real world is far scarier than that, and far less safe!”
The animals listening to his voice cowered on their spots, huddling themselves in for their own protection. Fluttershy, seeing the creature’s reacting as they did, lowered her stance down, frightened for them as well as herself. Mary, Alice, and Kieran both frowned at the boys despicable deceits.
“Just watch me, my friends!” he continued. “I will show how far I will go to protect each and every one of you! I now activate the effect of Sacred Temple of the Idouros!”
The idol inside the shrine began to glow brightly, leaving Mary confused as to what was happening.
“Once per turn, I can add one Idouro monster from my deck to my hand at the cost of my battle phase.”
A beam of light shot out from the idol and into Thiago’s deck, making it shuffle before it stopped with a card ejecting from the top.
“And the monster I choose is…”
Thiago took his card and revealed it to Mary, showing a golden statue of a large manta ray with a clawed end on its tail, razor sharp teeth on its lobes, and its body spotted with dark stains.
“…Idouro Manta!”
Mary hissed, already feeling that his strategy would bypass hers.
“Next,” Thiago stated, taking another card from his hand, “I activate the continuous spell card Sacrifice of the Idouros!”
Once Thiago put his card into his duel disk, an enlarged version of the card appeared, showing art of an Incan priest holding a golden human heart in his hand before an altar. As the art on the card glowed brighter, the gold heart appeared and hovered over the card.
Sacrifice of the Idouros
ATK: 0
Lvl.: 1
“This card is treated as a monster card with 0 ATK and 0 DEF,” explained Thiago, “and can only be tributed in the tribute summoning of an Idouro monster.”
“But…” Mary stammered. “But that means…”
“I tribute my Sacrifice of the Idouros,” he said, removing the now-ejected card from his slot and putting it inside his graveyard, “so I can tribute summon…”
Taking his most recently added card into his right hand, he slammed the card onto his zone with the card turned to the left. Rising out from the blue portal that appeared on the ground was the massive golden manta ray, its body seemingly immobile.
“…Idouro Manta!”
The sight of the odd creature terrified Fluttershy as she ran to a bale of hay nearby her and took cover underneath, her eyes visible on the side of it as she continued to watch.
Idouro Manta
DEF: 2500
Lvl.: 6
Mary looked bewildered at Thiago’s monster’s stats, which only seemed to become stronger as she looked at Thiago’s smirking face.
“How did you…” she spoke. “How did you summon your monster into defense position?”
“One of the other effects of Sacred Temple of the Idouros allows me to normal summon monsters into defense position,” said Thiago. “As you can see, my monster’s DEF is higher than one of your monster’s.”
“So? You can’t attack me anyway, so what’s the point?”
“Let me show you then. I activate the effect of Idouro Manta! Once per turn, I can target one monster you control and reduce its ATK by 1000!”
“What did you say?” gasped Mary fearfully.
“And the monster I will target will be your Feral Tiger!”
At that moment, the ray sprung to life, flying over to Mary’s monster with flapping fins and then wrapping them both around the tiger. Mary and Fluttershy watched sadly as Feral Tiger roared as the life was squeezed out of it.
ATK: 2600 -> 1600
Idouro Manta let go, allowing the tiger to fall limply to the ground, much to Fluttershy’s horror.
“And now,” Thiago exclaimed, “I activate the other effect of Idouro Manta, allowing me to destroy one monster my opponent controls whose ATK is lower than my monster's DEF!”
“No!” shouted Mary.
“Also, if the destroyed monster was in attack position, you take damage equal to the difference between this cards DEF and your monster’s ATK.”
Impossible, Mary thought with shivering terror. It’s no different than declaring an attack, but it’s not an attack! My field spell and trap cards are useless!
“Go!” ordered Thiago. “Idouro Manta, destroy her Feral Tiger! Ray Razor!”
The fangs of the manta ray began moving about like teeth on a chainsaw, its body moving to the incapacitated tiger. The giant fish dug its head into the cat’s body, shattering it into golden sparks that flew into Mary, who grunted loudly as they struck her like hot shards of glass.
Mary’s Life Points: 4000 -> 3100
The animals around Thiago applauded and cheered, both impressed and gladdened by his taking of the lead. Fluttershy, however, flew out of the hay and onto Mary’s field, tears in her eyes.
“What…” she sobbed. “What did you do?”
“Like your friends had said,” Thiago spoke, “these creatures are not real. They cannot feel pain and are truly not killed. However, these animals can feel pain, and if they are let out into the world to be killed by sport, disease, or famine, they will die.”
Fluttershy backed up to the hay bale, frightened by Thiago’s words and the cheerful nature the animals adopted from them.
“If you want these animals to be safe, Fluttershy,” he said, “you will stay here and keep them safe with me!”
Fluttershy fell down onto her stomach and began weeping, unable to stand up to him in his state. For Mary, the pegasus’s cries only served to fuel her anger towards him and his selfish and harmful ways, as well as his strong monsters that still had more to do to her.