It was just another quiet night after a band rehearsal. A soft breeze blows, chilling the night air. In the darkness, you can just make out 8 figures.
"So, what do we do now?"
A group of 8 friends are sitting outside the band hall.
"Don't know," Anthony replies, turning to Matthew, the person who asked the question.
Matt shrugs and turns to the rest of the group.
Marissa and Bethany sit in silence. Lindsey is huddled in the arms of James, her boyfriend, and the same went for Victoria and Hayden.
"Well, we can't just sit around here." Matt says, a worried frown on his face.
Bethany lets out an exasperated sigh, tired of Matt's complaining.
"There is nothing we can do but wait," She states for the umpteenth time.
"Well duh," Hayden remarks, a smirk on his face.
"Shaddup." Matt said curtly.
The group sits in silence for a few more moments.
"I only wish we didn't have to sit out in the cold," Lindsey says, shivering. James pulls her closer and she calms down.
"True," Marissa says, "But we can't go back inside and there is nowhere to go."
Anthony goes onto his knees.
"Oh Great Gods of the Universe! Give us a place to stay warm!" he shouts with his arms raised to the sky.
"Anthony!" Victoria hisses, "What are you doing?"
A tense silence stretches out. Anthony lowers his arms and stands up. Shrugging, he mutters, "It was worth a shot."
Hayden laughs.
"Imagine if it worked!"
"Then I would jump up and do cartwheels." Matt scoffs.
Suddenly, there is a great flash of light and everyone is forced to cover their eyes.
"What in the name of-"
"Don't say it!" Bethany yells at Matt.
Matt stops speaking, but his mouth still hangs open.
A portal. There is a portal in front of me. He thought.
Hayden looks over at Matt.
"Where are the cartwheels?" Hayden asks, jokingly.
"Shut up. It's not like I could do them anyway," Matt replies.
"What do we do?" Lindsey asked.
"Either we go in, or stay here in the cold." James states.
"We probably should stay here," Marissa stated, a stern look on her face to anyone who would contradict her.
"A wise choice," Bethany agreed, "Besides, who knows where that portal leads to!"
But there was mothing to be done, as the wind suddenly picked up. It made an audible whooshing sound and lots of small articles flew towards the portal.
"Grab on to something!" Matt yelled, "It's pulling us in!"
He slammed his back into the nearby brick column. Holding out his hand, he screamed against the sound of the wind's angry gust.
"GRAB ON!"
Desperately, they made a human chain, holding on with all of their might.
But it was too much. Eventually, Lindsey, admittedly the weakest, slipped and fell into the portal. James dove after her and everyone else was pulled in.
After a few moments, there was the crunch of bodies hitting solid ground. To those bodies, there was only darkness.
~*-^O^-*~
"Urg, my head..."
Matt sat up and rubbed his throbbing head.
"Oh God... Where am I? And why is it so dark here?"
Matt tries to get on his feet.
"Ugh. Someone get the li- OUCH!"
He falls.
"What was that?"
Groping around in the darkness, Matt finds his phone. Turning on the flashlight, he shines it around. The beam locates the other 7, still unconscious on the ground. Shining the light into the air, he notices that he was in a forest and that he had hit his head on a branch.
Rubbing his head, Matt sighs. "Welp. Gotta stay here. Or what kind of friend would I be?"
He locates the trunk of a tree and takes a seat, resting his back against it.
Suddenly, a great flash of light encompassed the area and Matt was forced to squint and shield his eyes.
"Over here," a gruff voice called out, "Found the landing area of the portal. And we have some visitors."
"Who are they?" Another voice, a feminine one, albeit regal, answered.
"Humans. And one of them seems to be awake." The male voice replied.
"How many are there?" The feminine voice questioned.
"8."
"Bring me the one who is awake."
Matt was still blinded by the flash of light, but he felt something grab him and lift him up. He couldn't move. Whatever was holding him was too strong. No matter how much he struggled, he couldn't move. Suddenly, it released him and he tumbled to the ground.
"You could at least set me down, not drop me." Matt complained.
He stood up, but was forced back down to one knee.
"Bow and respect the Princess!" There was that gruff voice again.
"Release him." The other voice. Supposedly the Princess... Whoever she was.
'There aren't Royalty in the US any more, right? If so, where am I? Not England, they aren't speaking with accents.'
Matt was released and he stood up.
"Where am I?" he asked before he opened his eyes. When he did, his jaw went slack and he was speechless.
An extremely tall, white pony with a horn and wings stepped forward. There was a tattoo of a sun on her flank.
The strange pony smiled. "Welcome to Equestria. I am Princess Celestia. May I ask who you are?"
Matt still couldn't form any words. However, when a guard whacked him with his spear he answered.
"M-Matthew. But I go by Matt."
"Well then Matt, tell me who the others are."
"They are my friends," He replied.
He pointed out each one as he named them.
"Lindsey, James, Victoria, Hayden, Bethany, Anthony, and Marissa."
"Are you the leader?" Celestia asked.
"I don't think our little group has one." Matt replied.
"I guess you'll be the leader then," Celestia said, turning around.
"Not that I want to be it of course," Matt said under his breath.
He looked back to his friends.
Now I have to explain this to them.
He sighed and rubbed his temples.
This is not going to go well.