A Not So Simple Holiday

by JakeDrake

The Destination

The magical vortex had seemingly gone on forever for the two mares. They felt as if they were flying, watching colors and lights shift around them. Behind them, the lights were fading and a more pure white light was in front of them. Everything around them shifted, the white light becoming brighter and brighter until all they could see was white.

With a flash, they felt themselves no longer in the strange vortex. They didn't even feel like they were standing on anything, and gravity soon showed them that this was correct when they both fell onto a stone floor with a thump. They looked around to see where they were and saw something they didn't quite expect.

First was the source of the light. They saw a smaller ring on top of a large pile of boxes near a light bulb that must have been blinding them. All around them were cardboard boxes. Most seemed to be covered in some sort of stains from water and full to the brim with different things that neither mare could identify. One of the strangest was a fake pine tree leaning against some large metal tub.

“Uh...Where are we?” Lyra asked out loud, looking around, shaking her head, and rubbing her side with her hoof where she had landed on a box of some book. “I thought we were going to some tropical location.”

“They said it was an ‘unknown’ location. Not tropical. We could have even gone somewhere like the Crystal Kingdom.” Bonbon said, grumpily rubbing her head, and shaking herself a bit looking around. “But if I had to guess, we’re in somepony’s basement...Let’s see if we can find some stairs.”

“Right, right,” Lyra said and lit her horn with her magic. They looked around until they found a flight of steps heading nearly straight up to a large door that had light poking out from under it. The two mares looked at one another and started their short climb, when they finally reached the top they turned the knob and found something quite...odd.

The room they walked into seemed like a normal kitchen at first, with the exception that everything was a good bit bigger and taller. The kitchen had a shiny stove with something they had never seen standing in front of it. Whatever the creature was it seemed to sway and move to unheard music. It had no coat the could see and only a small mane of auburn hair resting on the top if it’s head.

The two mares looked at the creature, then at one another. Lyra had a smile and nodded, but Bonbon frowned, shaking her head and slightly pointed to the basement door again. The two had a silent conversation as the creature continued to shuffle a bit, not knowing about the two mares behind it.

As Bonbon gave one more sharp point toward the basement door, Lyra gave in and turned to open the door that gave a long creak. The creature stopped moving and reach toward its head and pull out something from one of its small ears. The two mares started to walk down the steps and close the door behind them quickly before the creature could fully turn around and see them. It looked at the door that was cracked open, walked over and shut it completely and shrug before going back to it’s spot in front of the stove.

“Do you know what that was, Bonbon?” Lyra asked, smiling like a fool as they sat together on top of a large box.

“Oh Lyra don’t tell me that’s one of those Human things you read about.” Bonbon said rubbing her hoof a bit. She was not in the mood for another theory from Lyra about humans, something her friend had always talked about but never had proof.

“It matches everything I've read about them, it must have been humans who had built the ring and it took us to where they Came from!” Lyra said smiling to herself. “We’re in the lands of Humans, this is amazing. Who knows how they’ll react to seeing ponies...”

“Exactly, that’s why we can’t show up in one of their homes. How do we know these things aren't going to try to eat us?” Bonbon asked pointed out carefully. Lyra sighed a bit, she couldn't deny that this human could be like that. No one in Equestria really knew how humans acted, and the only the stories they had were from old books barely mentioning them in faint detail.

“I...well why don’t we talk to it then? We won’t know if we don’t try, and if it is peaceful it should have no problem with us showing up through the portal.” Lyra said, a small smile growing on her face.

“And if not?” Bonbon asked, rather bluntly.

“Then we run back down here, block the door with all the boxes around here until it goes away,” Lyra said smugly and levitated one of the smaller boxes with her magic.

Bonbon was about to point out a few more flaws in Lyra’s plan when they heard the door above them open. The two friends looked at one another and moved away from the stairs. The two mares hid behind the large fake pine tree, barely peeking around it to watch the stairs.

The same human they had seen in the kitchen, but it was now carrying a large brown box in its arms. As it walked down the stairs, Bonbon had to nearly hold Lyra to keep her from stepping from behind the box. Lyra was staring at the human, biting her lower lip in excitement as it moved some things around before putting the box down carefully.

As it turned toward the tree, it reached up and pulled on a cord hanging from the ceiling, turning on another light and looking around a bit. The two mares looked at one another carefully and nearly froze. The human walked closer and closer,so close it looked like it would have been able to reach out and touch the tree. But it stopped and reached down to pick up another seemingly random box, then opened it up to look inside. After that, it began to carry up the random box up the stairs turning off one of the lights as it walked away from the two mares.

The two mares looked at each other and nodded. They would have to talk to the human or be discovered in hiding, and if that happened who knows how it would react. Lyra looked to the basement door and started to walk up the stairs slowly, while Bonbon stood at the bottom of the steps, watching her friend head up the steps and toward the door.

Lyra looked at the door and then toward her friend smiling a bit, then she did something which she would never expected having to do. She knocked on the basement door.

Author's Note:

With the addition to the chapter I'm happy to say that I've had great help with this chapter by Alicorn Priest who has helped me proof read the chapter and fix the many MANY errors I missed. So if you notice all the great things that aren't all screwy with this chapter, you may thank Alicorn Priest.