Magnum was continuing his trek to Dodge Junction, dragging his invention with him. It was a three day trip on foot. While he would’ve normally taken the train, he found it best to walk there, since he was finished early. This way, he could see the scenery instead of being like most of the others and hide from nature.
“Nice day for a stroll,” Magnum said to himself. “I just wonder what happened to Rarity. Ever since she disappeared with her friends, life has been much more difficult.” It was true. Rarity and her friends had went to an old castle and was never heard from again. All he was told by her when she left was that she and some others were going to work at the castle. That was the last time he spoke with her.
Just as he was walking down the path, he came to a fork in the road. Although the nice path seemed cheerful, he needed the quickest way to Dodge Junction.
“Let’s see,” he thought. “Left or right? Calm path or spooky forest?” Before he could decide, a massive blue pegasus landed next to him.
“Pardon me sir... “ The pegasus spoke as Magnum blinked and looked up, a slight shadow being cast over him by the stallion of large stature. “You wouldn’t happen to be ACTUALLY contemplating which path to take?” the stallion motioned towards the two pathways.
“Well, yes I was,” Magnum said. The stallion glanced at the paths before eying Magnum again.
“I’ve flown over these path’s often, one is smooth and safe… the other is quite treacherous, however…” the large pegasus eyed Magnum’s invention. “You seem to be moving with a purpose, might i ask where you’re going?”
“Dodge Junction,” Magnum replied. “I have an invention to get there for a science fair in a few days.”
“A few days?” the stallion scratched his chin. “Hmm…” he eyed the paths. “I hate to break it to you… but not only is the smooth path a good three day trip to Dodge Junction, but the path is currently blocked. I couldn’t see it very well, but it looked like a rock slide of some sort. Ponies have just arrived to clear it as well, so i doubt it will be cleared by the time you arrive,” the stallion sighed. “Well, it would seem that this path…” the stallion stepped over to the right. “Is your only choice if you wish to make it anywhere in a timely fashion. I warn you, this isn’t the safest road, and with that thing you’re dragging around i doubt you will have an easy trip, but it seems to be your only choice,” the stallion looked Magnum up and down. “You seem like the adventurous type though, so i doubt you will have trouble,” the light blue stallion stepped by him and gave a quick wave. “I’m afraid i can’t delay any longer… good luck!” and he took to the sky.
“Well, I better get moving.” Magnum said to himself as he went down the path leading into the Everfree Forest.
After another hour of walking, he found himself deeper in an unknown part of the Everfree. The sky was darker than it was originally.
“Why do I have a feeling I was tricked?” he said to himself. He turned to head the other direction, but was stopped by a group of Timberwolves. “Time to go.” Magnum began running, leaving his invention behind as it would slow him down.
The timberwolves chased him deeper into the Everfree, not wanting to give up their meal. As Magnum was running short of breath, he saw the gates to an old castle. Hoping somepony was home, he began knocking on the gates.
“Let me in!” he shouted. He continued hitting the gates until he got it open enough for him to get inside. As soon as he was through, he shut the gates on the timberwolves and ran for the doors just as the rain was beginning to pour.
*knock knock knock*
The doors opened as Magnum walked into the castle. When we went inside, the castle had no light, except for a nearby candle next to a small clock.
“Hello, anypony home?” He shouted, hoping for an answer. He soon heard voices.
“It seems like the poor unicorn lost his way out there.”
“Keep quiet and maybe he’ll leave.” Magnum looked around, only to find no one around.
“Is anypony there?” he soon heard the voices again.
“Not one word, Fancy, not one word.”
“I don’t mean to intrude, but I was chased here by timberwolves,” Magnum began. “And I need a place to stay for the night.” The nearby clock and candle soon began to gain eyes as they looked at the unicorn.
“Have a heart, Pipsqueak.” The clock, now known as Pipsqueak put one of his hands on the Candles mouth.
“No, Fancy!” Pipsqueak exclaimed. Fancy just moved one of his sticks under Pip’s arm and burned it, causing Pip to let go.
“Of course my good sir, you are welcome here.” Fancy said. Magnum began levitating Fancy, unsure of who spoke.
“Who said that?” He turned, looking for the voice.
“Over here.” Fancy said.
“Where?” Magnum asked. He soon felt a tap on his head and turned and faced the candle, which he could now see a face.
“Hello.” Fancy said. Magnum dropped him in surprise, causing Fancy to land on his back.
“Incredible.” Magnum said. Pipsqueak jumped off the table and hopped over to Fancy.
“Well now you did it, Fancy!” He exclaimed. The next thing Pipsqueak knew, he was also being levitated as Magnum inspected the talking clock.
“How is this accomplished?” Magnum asked as he touched a hoof to one of Pip’s legs, moving it, causing Pip to start laughing.
“Please stop it,” Pip said as he continued laughing. Magnum then began shaking him, as Fancy began to laugh at his friend’s misfortune. “Sir, put me down at once!”
“I’m sorry, it’s just that I’ve never seen a,” Magnum was cut off as he sneezed on Pip’s face, causing dust to fly all over him. Pip used his time hands and wiped off the dust around his eyes.
“Come and warm yourself by the fire, sir.” Fancy said as he led Magnum to the chair that was placed near the fire. Pip’s face lit up in alarm, knowing what was about to happen.
“No, not the master’s chair!” he exclaimed as Magnum sat down in the chair. A footstool raced past Pip, making him spin around a few times before regaining his balance. The footstool went underneath Magnum’s back legs and propped them up as a coat rack threw a blanket over him. “Stop it right now!” Before Pip could do anything else, a trolley came rushing into the room, running him over. The trolley stopped by the chair as a teapot began to speak.
“Would you like some tea?” The Teapot asked. “If that’s alright with you.”
“Why thank you.” Magnum said. He picked up the cup and just as he began drinking, the little cup spoke up.
“His whiskers tickle, Fluttershy.” The cup said as he laughed. Magnum stopped drinking and looked at him.
“Hello there,” he said. All of a sudden, the windows blew open, allowing the wind to come in and cause the fire to go out. The room went dark as everyone began to hide. The doors opened, showing the shadow of a dragon entering the room.
“There’s a stranger here.” The dragon said, his voice filled with malice.
“Master, the stallion was lost in the woods,” Fancy began. “We had to help him.” As soon as he finished, the dragon let out a roar that caused his candle lights to go out. Pip, who was hiding under the rug began to speak up.
“They caused it Master! I was against it from the start! They wouldn’t listen!” The dragon let out another roar, causing Pip to go back into hiding. Magnum looked around the chair on his right and found nothing. Fearing for his life, he turned back to his left and came face to face with the dark face of the dragon.
“Who are you?” The Dragon asked. “What are you doing here?” Magnum backed out of the chair as the dragon followed.
“I was lost in the woods and I,” Magnum was cut off by the dragon.
“You’re not welcome here!” He yelled. Magnum knew he was in trouble now. Even though he had personally never met a dragon, he knew what they were capable of. “What are you staring at?” All Magnum could do was look into the dragon’s cold eyes and see his reflection.
“N...n... nothing.” He stammered.
“So, you’ve come to stare at the dragon, have you?” the dragon asked, his voice rising with each minute. Magnum began to sweat from the his nervousness at the Dragon staring at him.
“No, I just needed a place to stay,” Magnum explained, just as he felt himself get lifted off the ground.
“I’ll give you a place to stay!” The Dragon roared as he carried Magnum out of the room.
“Please, NO!” Was all Magnum could say before the door was shut as the servants watched their master take him to the dungeon.
The next day in Ponyville, two young stallions were peaking out of a bush at Sweetie Belle’s house.
“Oh boy,” Snails said. “Sweetie Belle is going to get the surprise of her life.”
“Yep,” Button remarked. “This is her lucky day.” He went away from the bushes as a branch came back and hit Snails in the face, leaving a few leaves in his mouth. Button went back to the clearing where many of the ponies of Ponyville were at. “I’d like to thank everypony for coming to my wedding,” he began as all the ponies stopped what they were doing to pay attention to him. “But first, I better go propose to her.” Everypony laughed at the little joke, except for one light blue and tan maned pegasus stallion.
“You kidding me!” He exclaimed. “You didn’t even bother to propose to her?! You’ve got to be the worst groom ever! No wonder she won’t be with you!”
“I’d be a better husband than half the town!” Button exclaimed.
“In your dreams,” the stallion replied as he flew off back to town, knowing what would most likely happen.
“Who needs him,” Button said to himself. “Alright, Snails. When Sweetie and I come out that door.”
“I know,” Snails interrupted. “I strike up the band!” Just as he waved his hoof, a band began playing very badly. Button grabbed a Tuba and smashed it on Snails head.
“Not yet,” Button hissed as he went over to Sweetie Belle’s house, a small grin on his face at this latest idea to get Sweetie Belle to be with him. “This time for sure.”
Sweetie Belle was reading her latest romance book, waiting for her father to return from his trip. Her mother was away in Canterlot visiting her friends, leaving Sweetie the entire house to herself. While she would normally enjoy the peace, this was one of the times she was bored with nothing else to do. Just as she was about to flip the page, there was a knock at the door.
“Maybe that’s dad,” Sweetie Belle said to herself. She sat the book down and went to the door. To be sure if it was a burglar or another guest, she pulled down a small invention her dad made that allowed her to check outside to see who it was. Much to her disappointment and annoyance, it was Button. Despite the fact she didn’t want to deal with him today, she remembered that she had to at least be nice to a guest. She opened the door as Button walked in.
“Hello there, my sweet,” Button said as he walked into the living room. “Nice little place you have here.”
‘Would you like something to drink?” Sweetie asked, resisting the urge to throw him out for coming in without permission. As she was about to head into the kitchen, Button got up and followed her.
“Picture this, Sweetie,” Button began. “You and me, sitting in front of a nice cozy fire during winter, just relaxing, not caring about anything important. All you have to do is answer this one question.”
“What question is that?” Sweetie asked, preparing herself for something.
“Will you marry me?” Button asked.
“The answer is no, Button,” Sweetie replied, as she grabbed him with her magic and threw him out the door. “The answer is always be no!” Button soon landed in a puddle of mud as Snails got the band playing once again, not knowing what had occurred. As the door closed, Button rose out of the mud, facing Snails.
“So,” Snails said. “How’d it go?” Button grabbed him and dragged Snails into the mud.
“I’ll have Sweetie Belle for my wife,” Button grumbled. “Make no mistake.” Button got out of the mud and walked away, his face getting darker, planning his next attempt, all the while, angry at his rejection.