//------------------------------//
// The Reunion 
// Story: Lindsay's Guide to Pony-Sitting 
// by PrincessAJ 
//------------------------------//

Feb 10th
7:22 pm
Dear Diary

Sorry I cut off what I was saying in my last entry. Not gonna lie, the past 2 hours have been a bit of a roller coaster. I know I said previously that I wasn’t too fazed by this experience now, but I don’t know, it’s a bit hard to shake this off like an everyday occurrence. As I write this tucked in my bed surrounded by the most unusual group of acquaintances I’ve ever met, I’d probably be best if I explain what happened, so you can better understand what’s been going on. Be warned, it’s a LOT to take in.
------

The bright and shimmering energy beam seemed to levitate toward the ground, practically blinding Dash and I with its luminous rays of light. We covered our eyes, in hopes that we wouldn’t lose our sight from such a bright flash, and a few moments passed before the energy’s beams dimmed only slightly. Reopening my eyes, I looked to my right where Dash sat.  She said nothing, but I could tell by her expression that she was just as confused as I was.
As we stared, the energy ball swirled rapidly and to both our surprise, the ball burst into nothing, as a large group of bodies escaped from the energy beam and landed promptly on top of one another. 
An uneasy silence filled the air in the room, as I watched with curiosity and a little fear. The room got so quiet you could probably hear the sound of a pin drop onto the floor. 
“Well…that happened.” I could hear someone’s muffled voice coming from the other side of my glass window. The pile of beings moved as each of them tried getting off of each other, groaning and saying “ouch” as they attempted to stand up from their less than graceful landing.
As I scanned them out my window, I realized straight away that Dash wasn’t the only pony I’d come across today. 
There are more of them.
Dash smiled wide “Guys!” 
She turned her body to face the window, waving her arms frantically thinking they might spot her through the glass. 
Won’t do any good, though; since my windows are tinted from the outside.
“You know them?” I replied, raising an eyebrow as I turned toward her.
Dash nodded, while I continued to observe the new ponies. 
“Yeah, those are my friends, the other Elements of Harmony.”
“The Elements of what-now?” I asked confused. “You know what, never mind. I might not understand anyway.”
The one pony who spoke stood up as she examined her surroundings with critical amethyst eyes. She was the same size as Dash but a bit taller by comparison. Her dark purple hair flowed over her lavender colored shoulder, a florescent pink highlight following along. She walked over toward the tall wooden fence, her flank showing an image of a sparkling pink star. I noticed she had a long horn sticking out from her forehead, and quickly thought she was a unicorn. But to my surprise, a large pair of wings neatly sported her sides. 
Wait...wings? 
Part unicorn, and part pegasus?
…what the heck IS she then?
Her friends began to stand; each of them in a different color than the others, and each with their own respective looks. A tall orange colored pony looked worried as she picked up a stray brown hat on the grass and placed it gently upon her blonde head. Meanwhile, a white unicorn stood, fluffing her long and swirled purple hair, looking as if she was scared her hair was ruined from her little fall (not to be mean, but it DID look a little messy).  Beside her a timid yellow pegasus peered behind her friend, her pink hair drooping over her face as she looked around frightened and unsure. And finally a bright pink pony jumped around eagerly, her curly hair bouncing up and down as she smiled wide and carefree. 
The unicorn (or pegasus maybe? I mean the one with the horn and wings) frowned “Is everypony okay?” she asked as she looked to her friends.
There’s that word again. Seriously, what’s up with that? They can’t just say everybody?
The orange one nodded and spoke in a Southern accent “Yeah, I think we’re okay, Twilight.”
The white unicorn looked discouraged “Now what do we do? We’ve wound up in a strange place without any way of knowing where we are. Who knows where our dear Rainbow Dash might have gone? And whoever lives in this house really needs to learn how to decorate a backyard. I mean, just LOOK at that patio furniture.” She pointed toward the patio furniture my mother bought; looking at it like it was a heap of garbage.
I furrowed my brow, frowning. 
Hey, I thought it looked nice. Who are you to judge?
“Rarity, now ain’t the time for criticizing someone’s choice of furniture. We got more important things to be worryin’ about.” the orange pony said to the white unicorn, who in return gave her a look of annoyance.
I think I might like you, Southern pony.
The timid pegasus replied with such a soft voice I could swear only a mouse could hear it. “Girls, we need to find Rainbow Dash. I’m so worried about her, who knows what awful things could have happened to her! She could be in trouble or hurt or worse…” 
“Or she could be captured by super spies, wanting to milk information out of her for secret codes to break into the world’s most protected banks!”
Everyone turned their heads to who said that strange sentence. The pink pony looked at her friends’ confused faces and shrugged “what?”
The purple unicorn/pegasus named Twilight sighed “Pinkie, that can’t be the reason why Dash disappeared here.”
“It COULD be though! And if it is, we need to go incognito.” The pony called Pinkie exclaimed as she started to act like a super spy, suddenly appearing from behind the orange pony then somehow magically appearing behind Twilight a few feet away.
My mind couldn’t understand how she did that “wait, but how did-“I started to say, before Dash stopped me. She looked up and said simply,
“It’s Pinkie Pie. Don’t question it.”
“I should be questioning it, since that was impossible what she just did.”
“No use in figuring out how or why. She’s kind of a strange case.”
“And you guys are okay with that?”
“You get used to it after a while.”
I slowly nodded, my inner workings still trying to decipher how this “Pinkie Pie” did that.
Twilight briefly smiled at Pinkie appearing from behind, but then her expression changed to that of a serious drill sergeant. “Alright everypony, we need a game plan in order for us to find our lost friend. First we need to figure out where we are, THEN come up with a plan to find Rainbow Dash. It’s not a very good idea to just start wandering around this place thinking she’ll be here. Okay?” 
The others nodded in agreement as I turned to Dash. “So these guys aren’t bad news, at least for me, right?” I asked.
“Yeah, they’re cool. They probably won’t hurt you.” Dash replied, leaning back on the couch.
“Probably? What, have they done that to someone before?”
“Well, there was Nightmare Moon, then Queen Chrysalis, then Discord, then Tirek…” she explained, as she used her hooves like fingers, counting how many times they’ve fought someone.  I instantly felt intimidated and honestly a little queasy. 
“Okay, I got it. You’ve done it before. No need to keep going.” 
Suddenly another beam, smaller than the last, appeared and shot out another body, this one small and purple. It let out a scream like a little boy and landed right on top of the yellow pegasus with a loud thud. Pinkie smiled brightly “I think that’s everypony!” 
Twilight leaned over to see who landed on the ground. Suddenly she gasped “Spike!” 
“Spike?” I ask Dash, squinting at the strange purple boy that landed in the yard.
“Yeah, he’s Twilight’s assistant. He sends letters for her, helps her organize her books, stuff like that.”
kinda sounds more like an unpaid intern to me.
Spike stood, and though I was expecting him to be a pony like the others, he instead sported scales, claws, and a long tail. He was also colored purple like Twilight, only he had a lime green-colored underbelly, and his spines were a darker shade of green than the trail of scales going down his tail.
“Spike, are you alright?” Twilight said concerned. 
Spike nodded, while rubbing his head “Yeah, I’m okay. Luckily, I landed on something.” 
“Ouch.”
“Oh Fluttershy! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to land on you!” he cried as he bend forward, extending his claw out to Fluttershy, which she gratefully took.
I tilted my head in confusion “And he’s a….dinosaur?”
Dash’s eyes went partially closed, looking like I said something stupid .
“Dragon.” She said bluntly. 
“Then, why doesn’t he have wings? Don’t dragons have wings?”
“He’s a BABY dragon. Duh.” 
“That wouldn’t make sense, since I read baby dragons have wings when they’re born-“
“HEY GUYS, WHATS THIS?!” 
I paused and turned toward the window, as Pinkie started to knock on it like it was some invisible force. The others seemed to notice Pinkie’s outburst, and slowly headed in the direction of my house. 
I felt a sense of panic as I tensed up. 
Oh god, they're gonna see me! Now what?
“Helloooooooo? Anypony in there?” Pinkie said, cupping her hoofs over her eyes to see into the room. She squinted tightly as she observed the house with her large light blue eyes. 
“I don’t think there’s anything in there, Pinkie Pie.” Spike said, doubtful.
I started hoping she wouldn’t see me, but to my dismay, she spotted something that warranted her to take a closer look. She squinted harder, narrowing her eyes till they were barely visible; and upon seeing me, suddenly let out a high pitched yell, ran back to Twilight and grabbed onto her like a scared child. 
“Twilight! There’s something in there!” she cried out fearfully.
Twilight raised an eyebrow “What? What did you see?”
“It was like this super tall creepy looking monkey thing! Go see!”
What do I do? WHAT DO I DO?!
“Calm down Pinkie. I’m sure there’s nothing to be afraid of.” Twilight reassured as she walked slowly forward, now inches away from the window.
My breathing then became frighteningly short as I tensed up and the same fear I felt when I first met Dash had returned, only this time it was ten times worse. 
It was already scary enough meeting a blue pegasus that crashed into me like a meteor today, but now that there’s more of them coming, I have no idea how to react! 
 “Uh…you can let them in, you know.” Dash said to me, breaking me out of my subconscious meltdown.
I stuttered nervously “Yeah…but…how are they gonna react to me? The same way you did? Or worse?” I really hoped for the former at least, I wouldn’t want to get pummeled to a pulp like those other guys Dash mentioned. 
“You’ll be fine, really. Let ‘em in and see for yourself.” she said to me softly. It sort of reminded me of my mom whenever I get nervous about something, and her calming words always seemed to ease my worry and paranoia. Honestly that was a bit weird, especially hearing it from a blue pegasus, but in a way, it felt reassuring. 
I looked down, taking a breath. And bracing myself for whatever reaction I get out of those ponies, I gently unlocked the latch on the door. 
Twilight’s ear twitched to the sound.
God help me.
Twilight quickly took a step back, now transfixed at the door slowly coming open. Her friends all stood motionless a couple of feet away, holding onto one another like their lives depended on staying together. 
I pulled the door open then stepped outside, the rays of the setting sun skimmed over the roof of the neighbor’s house. The air was slightly nippy and the winds were calm, though I dare say the looming awkwardness of me and the ponies coming face to face literally made the air go still and tenacious. 
The ponies and dragon had their eyes fixated on me, with a clear expression of horror and danger shown on all their faces. Twilight, on the other hand, looked more confused than the others but none the less she too seemed nervous as she looked up to face me.
Now I had a choice, either say something or just stand there like a creepy looking idiot and not say a word. My best opinion was probably the first.
“Uh…hi.” 
Or so I thought.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!” Pinkie yelled out, as everyone besides Twilight all run crazy toward the corner of my yard then squeeze themselves up against the wall. 
Twilight’s eyes grew wide “a human? Wait, how can this be? This isn’t Canterlot High, isn’t it?” she asks me. 
I shook my head, as Twilight scanned me from her point of view. She seemed to murmur to herself as she circled around me “Well, that’d be ridiculous anyway considering I’m not a human and Spike’s not a dog. Unless we entered into a different kind of portal in which we stay as ponies and everypony else is the same…you don’t seem to look familiar if you happened to be a pony from Equestria, i would have recognized you here…”
Me? a pony? as if.
“This is so bizarre...it couldn’t have something to do with the mirror, since its closed for another thirty moons...unless it has something to do with my portal…”
“I really have no idea what you’re talking about.” I say bluntly. I wasn’t lying either, what with the Elements and Discord and Cloudsdale I really was completely lost in everything going on.
“Oh! Sorry." she blushed lightly then cleared her throat, "We’re looking for our friend Rainbow Dash. Have you seen her?”
“Uh, yeah, she’s-‘ I begin to say, until I get jumped on by a certain pink pony. I land on the ground hard,  and once my eyes opened, they were greeted by huge blue eyes only centimeters away from mine.
“Don’t lie to us, missy! We know you want Dashie for the secret plans!” She poked my nose with her hoof as she looked at me suspiciously.
“What? Secret plans – no, look, I’m not lying, okay? She’s inside.” I said, coughing a little from the air in my lungs being sucked out once Pinkie smashed into my chest.
“And what makes you think we can trust you?” The orange pony asked as she walked behind Twilight. 
“Yes, you seem rather suspicious considering your bandages and skid marks all over your face.” The white unicorn added, looking me in the eye with distrust. 
“Umm…maybe we should let her speak…” Fluttershy began to say, but her comment was ignored by the others as they continued to interrogate me.
“And you’re very nonchalant about seeing ponies and a dragon in your backyard like this.” Spike said, crossing his arms.  
“Girls….Spike…” Fluttershy muttered.
I had enough of this. “That’s my point, and if you’d let me explain, I’ll tell you why I look like this, or why I’m not scared to seeing you guys in front of me!” 
“That seems a bit hard to believe there, lady,” Twilight commented.
“Says the magical pegasus unicorn hybrid in my backyard,” I snapped back.
“Listen to her, guys!” A voice echoed from behind me.
Twilight frowned and then looked up. Her friends did the same, and soon their faces all changed to sheer joy “Rainbow Dash!” they all yelled. Pinkie jumped off my chest, and the others followed pursuit and ran toward my house.  I then sat up to see what they saw.
Dash stood at the entrance of my window, leaning up against the wall to keep her balance. I could see from her facial expression that she was still in pain, but she gave a quick smirk as her friends came clamoring toward the door. 
I slowly got off the ground, and watched as Dash’s friends all circled around her and give her a huge bear hug. They all grinned and squeezed their friend tight, extremely joyful to be reunited with her. Seeing the sweet display, I smiled lightly. It made me actually feel pretty good, not just for them, but for Dash, seeing as how she was so eager and determined to go home to her friends again. Now I can see why she wanted to so badly; they were kinda like her family.
However my moment of spectating in the cuteness was suddenly stopped by the sting in my arm flaring up again. Rubbing my forearm once more, I exhaled. Dang that Pinkie was actually heavier and harder than Dash, which is weird considering by her constant jumping, I assumed she weighed no less than a fluffy pillow.  
Dash’s friends then stopped hugging upon seeing Dash’s bandaged wing. Twilight and Fluttershy sighed. "Broke your wing again?” they said in unison. 
“Eh, yeah. You know me, this isn’t anything new,” Dash replied, slightly embarrassed. 
Fluttershy then turned in my direction, looking up at me “You took care of Rainbow Dash?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I mean, she was injured. And I couldn’t just leave her in the shape she was in.”
She walked up toward me with slight caution “I’m sorry about us not trusting you before. We were worried about Rainbow Dash being okay. If anything were to happen to her, oh we wouldn’t know what to do.”
“I can understand that, no worries.” I grinned back to Fluttershy, and she smiled at me back.
Dash walked very slowly up to my leg, then clung onto it gently to support herself “Guys, this is Lindsay. Don’t worry, she’s cool.”
I gave a quick hello as Twilight nodded. “My name is Twilight Sparkle.”
“I’m Applejack,” the orange pony said as she tipped her hat to me.
“I’m Fluttershy,” Fluttershy introduced herself in a meek voice.
“Pleased to meet you, darling, I’m Rarity,” the white unicorn announced.
“I’m Spike,” Spike said, waving to me from behind Twilight.
“And I’m Pinkie Pie!” Pinkie Pie said jumping gleefully.
“It’s nice to meet you all," I said to them.
I grinned at my new friends, now no longer feeling so afraid of them. I could see that they really cared for their friend, going so far as to come from wherever they are from just to save her. 
“Now...about my patio furniture...” I began to say.
Rarity looked embarrassed as her cheeks grew a bright shade of pink. “Oh..you heard that?”
“Yeah, I did. Also there was something about ‘secret plans?'"
Pinkie raised her hoof and rapidly shook it like she wanted to answer a question in school. “Oh! that was me! See, i thought-”
Suddenly from the inside of the house, a familiar noise for me entered my ears. The sound of a key being pressed into the lock of my front door, and the knob being twisted open. I quickly remembered what time it was.
6:05, which is exactly-
The same time my mother would get home from work every day.