Never Wish

by Ximer

Home for Hearth's Warming part1

Daniel, wake up wake up!” Isabella exclaimed trying to shaking me awake.

I groaned and clung to the sheets of my bed tightly. Isabella was always an early riser and was the main reason why I didn’t have any kind of alarm clock. It was almost guaranteed that she would be the one to wake me up before I would wake up on my own, which I was perfectly capable of doing.

“Come on dork I don’t want to have to wait on your butt to open presents.” Izzy said hitting me with a pillow.

That got me up much quicker than her shaking ever would. Name calling was one thing, but hitting a man while trying he’s trying to sleep is on the list of low things you can do. With alarming speed for a half-awake child I jumped out of the bed prompting Isabella to dash out of my room.

There would be no mercy for invading my room only to whack me with a pillow. My weapon of choice would be a Nerf gun. Making sure it was full of darts I rushed out of my room after my sister, firing three of the foam bullets at her.

She laughed as she turned a corner and the three projectiles bounced off the wall harmlessly. I growled and ran after her. Her longer legs gave her a slight advantage in terms of speed which made pursuing her more difficult. Still I had a ranged weapon; I only needed to see her, not catch her.

I saw a long blond ponytail head down the stairs and grinned as I followed her. I felt like I was a secret agent, trying to hunt down my arch nemesis. When I reached the bottom of the stairs however, I was greeted not by another attack from my sister, but a tree with bright lights and a multitude of boxes wrapped in paper just begging to be torn open.

“Merry Christmas, Daniel.” my mom said giving me a hug.

My dad sat in his recliner lost in the paper, presumably sports. He had on the traditional Santa hat that Isabella and my mother all but forced him to wear. I suddenly felt like an idiot, how could I have possibly forgotten it was Christmas?

“Hey now that the bug’s out from his room can we start?” Izzy asked grinning at me.

I stared at her momentarily before firing a single dart at her arm which made a satisfying “pop” sound. My sister recoiled from the stinging sensation and for a few seconds I enjoyed my small victory which made my dad laugh, that is until my mom decided to restore order by taking the toy away and separating us.

I sat on the floor across from Isabella garbed in an oversized brown military t-shirt due to my small frame. I had the aspiration to one day fill the shirt out as my dad did though that day was still a long ways off. For now I was content to make dinosaurs fight each other and slay villains in their castles until then.

I tore off the wrapping of yet another present that had been sitting under the Christmas tree. It was Star Fox64, the game I had been bugging my dad to get for me. Isabella rolled her eyes at my reaction and what my parents had dubbed the “happy dance” which was a ridiculous creation of my own childish mind.

“Hey dork you’ve got one more under the tree.” my sister said quickly gaining my attention.

I was about to call her a liar until I saw a decent sized box out of the way behind the tree I hadn’t noticed before. We normally had the same number of gifts which made me excited that I was getting an extra one. I had been getting better grades than Izzy, she hated that nickname, and perhaps this was a reward to encourage me to continue the good work.

I tore into the present and was confused as I looked into the box to see a stone. As I reached for the peculiar object a black cloud formed within the box from the stone itself. I dropped it horrified as a black mist started to roll out across the living room floor. I was pulled to the floor by some unseen force as the mist slowly filled the room.

No matter how hard I struggled against the pull of the dark vapor I was slowly dragged towards the stone. I could see my families faces seem to melt and dissolve, becoming unrecognizable. I let out one final cry of terror before my vision was shrouded by the black mist.

I sat up in my bed covered in a layer of sweat as my heart raced within my chest. I was shaking from both the temperature and the nightmare I had just experienced. Tonight was one of the nights I wish Luna had intruded upon my dreams. I looked outside my bedroom window and was treated to the pleasant sight of moonlight reflecting off a fresh blanket of snow on the ground.

I slowly got out of bed and made my way to the bathroom to wipe the sweat off of me. This was not the ideal way to be woken up at three in the morning. I would now be tasked with trying to fall back asleep before my shift started. The prospect of staying home wandered into my mind only to be chased away by reason and duty. I had never been a skipper and I wasn’t about to start now.

As I left the bathroom I looked over to the TV and Nintendo 64. The gamer inside of me could practically hear their little imaginary voices calling out to me to get in a few minutes of game play before work instead of sleeping. This too was a tempting offer, one that I had to regretfully turn down.

“Sorry sweet heart, you know daddy loves you.” I said aloud continuing to the bedroom to try and take another crack at getting a good night’s sleep.

---
Noctra scoped out her next target just before dawn, Twilight's Castle. Supposedly there had been a rare treasure sent there but the specifics were kept private from the general public.

To say the bat pony was a little nervous would be an understatement. While she had stolen from high security buildings before this was a princess. Her contact had given her a pretty hefty stone which gave Noctra a rough idea of what to look for. If everything went according to plan, then it would be a swipe and switch.

"Everything will be fine Noctra, you can do this." the bat pony said pacing.

Noctra's sensitive eyes squinted involuntarily as the sun started to rise forcing the bat pony into the shadows. This was all she had left after being kicked out of the Night Guard for "insubordination".

She hated Princess Luna for not hearing her out, but not being the model soldier didn't do her any favors when she tried to plead her case. She was an outcast now, and had to make a living as well. Pushed to desperation she had been reduced to a thief, there was no celebration for the bat pony like all the others.

---

“Come on you skipped the Running of the Leaves. You have to come this time Danny.” Pinkie Pie said walking backwards as I finished my shift with Strong Deck and Timber.

“Yeah Danny, this week’s usually the last rush that we have for a while.” Timber said picking up the nickname Pinkie Pie had given me.

“First thing, don’t call me Danny, she gets away with it because she’s Pinkie and I could tell her to stop until I’m blue in the face but she never will. Second this is a pony holiday, by that I mean one that you guys celebrate about your culture.” I said.

“You’re just being a silly willy head, I bet you’d have fun~.” Pinkie Pie said.

Pinkie Pie had a way of wearing down another individuals resolve. I had yet to determine if it was the smile alone, or her over friendly disposition that was border line annoying but not quite there. Try as I might to stand firm on my position that contagious smile slowly started to creep across my face as she grinned at me.

“Fine, I’ll come to the Hearth’s Warming Eve pageant.” I said with a sigh.

I had taken the time to look into the history of the holiday and truth be told it seemed like something special that needed to be set aside for them. I had my own holiday I could celebrate, though it would kind of suck to celebrate it alone. I had looked forward to Hearth’s Warming Eve until I realized it was about the unity of the three races of ponies. I had nothing against that, it just didn’t seem like something a human could celebrate.

“I want a Pinkie Promise mister.” Pinkie Pie said sitting down in front of me in an attempt to block my path until I complied.

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” I chanted going through the motions with my hands the pink pony had shown me before.

“Great! I’ll have to tell Twilight you changed you mind, oh I bet she’ll be super-duper excited!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed taking off like a rocket.

"So do you have something against holidays about ponies?" Strong Deck asked.

"No Deck I don't, it's got nothing to do with having anything against ponies. Like I said I'm not a pony, no matter how many times you guys tell me I fit in there are some things that I as a human just don't really belong to." I said trying to argue my case.

"I think you're putting too much thought into this. Holidays are supposed to be laid back and a day off, what's wrong with that?" Timber asked.

"Nothing, I just have my own way of celebrating." I replied.

“You know you don’t have to “belong” to a Hearth’s Warming Eve to celebrate it. It’s about unity not just history.” Timber said.

“Can you honestly look at me with a straight face and tell me unity was the first thing you had in mind when you saw me?” I asked with a grin.

“That was when everypony thought you were evil.” Timber replied waving a hoof in the air dismissively.

“Cheap excuse.” Strong Deck said with a laugh before being hit in the back of the head with a snowball by Timber.

I laughed a little as the large earth pony shivered from the impact of the snowball. My laughter was short lived as a wad of snow silenced me. Some of the cold substance managed to travel down my jacket and past my shirt. I yelped as it made contact with my bare skin.

“Oh it’s on now!” I exclaimed forming a snow ball and hurling it towards Strong Deck

The earth pony managed to duck behind the cart just in time for the snowball to make that satisfying bursting noise as it made a small white stain on the side of the wooden cart while the rest of it fell to the ground. Timber was quick to join him behind their makeshift barricade only permitting their heads to peek out from over the edge.

I ducked behind a bench that was just big enough to provide cover from two snowballs. The two ponies taunted me as I readied a few snowballs of my own. I stood up quickly and threw the two in my hands at them managing to hit Timber only to be hit in the shoulder before I could take cover again.

“Don’t mess with the king!” Strong Deck shouted.

“King my ass, it’s two against one!” I shouted back from behind the bench as two more snowballs hit the wooden barrier I was hiding behind.

“Yeah whatever you-ophm!” Strong Deck exclaimed as he was nailed in the head by a snowball. It had come from their exposed right. There ducked behind a house was a familiar gray mail mare, Ditzy Doo. She already had another snowball in her hooves as she took cover around the corner of a building.

It was now a legitimate snowball war between co-workers as snowballs started to fly across the street. Eventually more ponies took up soft powdery arms, picking sides as it became one side of the street against the other. With all of the activity even when I was hit by a snowball it only served to cool me down instead of the painful chill it had inflicted moments ago.

“What are you guys doing?” I heard Scootaloo ask as I hid behind a building.

“Oh, hey kid, just a little snowball fight you want in?” I asked.

“Sure!” Scootaloo replied excitedly, her little wings flapping happily making a sound similar to the buzzing of a bee’s wings.

“Alright, here’s the mission, we’re going to sneak around back and catch them off guard. I need you to be my second set of eyes.” I said.

The tangerine filly gave a salute before giggling a little as we made our way to the other side of the street. I was amazed nopony saw us since I stood out like a sore thumb amongst the combatants. Scootaloo had left her scooter behind since it couldn’t move in the snow very well anyways and would have only slowed her down.

Once we were on the other side the two of us worked our way around the building a few of the ponies were in front of. The noise from the street masked our approach even with Scootaloo’s stifled giggles at our plan. The others were completely unaware of us even as we took aim at them.

A pair of battle cries startled the other ponies as the two of us landed several shots on a small group before being forced to find cover. Scootaloo shook her head to get rid of the snow still caught in her mane from the return fire from the other group. This meant that a majority of the cold powder landed on me as well.

“You did alright kid; watch an old pro at work.” I said making a larger snowball than I normally would.

The ball of frozen water droplets was nearly as large as Scootaloo’s head. The little filly smiled at the prospect of watching the pony on the receiving end of the monstrous snowball’s reaction. While it didn’t require the use of both hands, I wanted to put a bit more force behind this particular snowball.

I left the safety of our cover and flung the snowball only to regret doing so the instant I saw who it made contact with. Crafty Crate now had a large piece of the snow stuck to his fur and seemed to be shaking, from anger or the cold I couldn’t be sure. Denying I threw it would be impossible given Scootaloo’s current fit of laughter from behind me.

“What…in Equestria…are you idiots doing?” Crafty Crate asked his voice trembling.

Timber and Strong Deck both looked at each other nervously and then to me. I wore the same nervous expression as them and shrugged with my mouth open. I was unable to give an answer despite my best efforts to speak. I quickly regretted holding my mouth open as a snowball from my boss slammed into my face, pieces of the projectile finding their way into my mouth.

Scootaloo threw a snowball at Crafty Crate before ducking behind me and reinitiated the miniature war that had broken out in the street. This was one of the coolest experiences I’d had in Equestria. The only thing that could make this better would have been snow forts and giant sling shots to turn the snowballs into skin bruising white cannon balls.

Eventually the fighting died down and with everypony good and wet, from both sweat and snow, life seemed to pick back up, albeit there was a noticeable bounce in the ponies’ steps. The citizens of Equestria were known for their parties so I wasn’t too surprised others had joined in on a snowball war, even though it wasn’t a party it was just as fun if not more enjoyable, to me anyways.

I now sat in front of the TV in my home with a blanket wrapped around me. My jacket was partially wet and was hanging in the bathroom drying out a bit before I dared to venture out into the cold again. While I waited I picked up where I left off on Zelda as I powered on the Nintendo 64. I enjoyed the more modern systems like the PS4, but the older systems would always be my first crush, or crushes to be more precise.

I childishly decided to attack the chickens, or cuckoos as the game called them, triggering the attack response from the game. It didn’t really do anything and honestly was counterproductive both in real life and in the game, but I enjoyed the challenge of trying to survive the endless wave of killer birds.

A lack of playing the game had left me a bit rusty and after a solid two minutes I finally died to a group of angry flightless birds. I would have considered this a pretty big blow to my ego, but I had already been publically beaten in a competition by a pastel flying pony so this was miniscule, I was just glad no pony was around to see it happen.

I didn’t bother saving and simply restarted, I had beaten this game plenty of times and the suspense of what happened next in the story was lost on me. Despite this it was an amazing story for a video game and one that I would gladly replay.

Hunger was starting to get to me the further I progressed in the game and eventually I had to give it a break, stomach’s orders. Today had been surprisingly fulfilling, I was certain my job was at risk for a few seconds today but other than that everything else was perfect. I looked about the house and noted that it was still kind of barren.

While I had been working on adding furniture, I wasn’t the best at interior design and I didn’t need much to live. The house had another room which I considered doing something with but never got around to deciding what I wanted it to be. With Christmas right around the corner I had considered getting a tree, but if I was the only one celebrating it I didn’t see the need.

A tree wouldn’t be needed anyways since I was going to some pageant for Hearth’s Warming Eve. I just hoped I wouldn’t be forced to participate in it that would be really awkward and strange. I felt it was safe to assume no humans were involved in the founding of Equestria or uniting three tribes of ponies for one common cause.

I had never seen Canterlot from the ground before; I had always seen it from the air when I was stupid enough to look down. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but as long as I wasn’t going alone it couldn’t be too bad. Plenty of ponies from Canterlot had seen me by now due to my occupation.

I had heard horror stories about the snobbiness of Canterlot from Applejack. Not being fond of big city environments myself I was inclined to believe her and that was making me dread this whole experience even more.

“Eggs…I’ll do eggs.” I said to myself needing a break from the greens for a bit.

It wasn’t meat, but it was the next best thing. I would have to ask Twilight how the general public looked at fishing. It wouldn’t be chicken or any other four legged animal like a deer, which I found out were a sentient race. I could remember going on hunting trips with my dad and it made me feel a little guilty talking to one. The whole “I killed your kin and ate them” thing just didn’t hold water so I tried to avoid them as much as possible.

Minuette, one of the first ponies to trust me after I was made public, had been bugging me about my teeth and wanting to examine them. Each time I had opted out and informed the inquisitive unicorn I brushed and flossed regularly. Though I knew eventually I would have to pay her a visit for an actual appointment.

Only a few knew of my meat eating tendencies and I intended to keep that circle as small as possible for as long as possible. Minuette would surely see the canines and come to the same conclusion Fluttershy had, though her reaction might not be the same as the kind hearted pegasus’ was.

As I ate the simple meal I’d made I noticed now more so than ever how quiet the house was. Winter always seemed to have that effect on a house, abandoned or occupied. It served as a chilling reminder that while I may have friends in this world I was still alone, and no amount of company could change that status if they tried.

I would go to this event with the biggest smile I could muster and hope for the best. I tried to see the positive side of things that it was just a new experience and one more custom I would have to get used to. If I tried hard enough I might even have fun.

"Speaking of customs." I said noticing the book on Equestrian traditions I had borrowed from Twilight's library.

I had been told about the previous library and how it was ruined in a nasty fight against some centaur. Knowing how OCD Twilight could be when it came to books I could only imagine what the end result would have been if a library was destroyed.

"I should probably get this back before she tries to fine me." I mused throwing on my slightly dried jacket before heading outside.

It was starting to get late, video games had a tendency to make the player lose track of time rather quickly, good ones anyways. A snowflake drifted gently to the ground followed by another signaling the arrival of a fresh blanket of snow, just what the kid in me wanted and the adult in me dreaded.

I would have to make this little visit quick. The last thing I wanted was to be caught outside while it was snowing. As amazing and peaceful as it was to watch snow fall gently to the ground my jack was still a bit wet.

The satisfying crunching sound the snow made beneath my feet was almost enough to mask the lighter "pit pat" noise that small hooves made against the icy substance. I turned when I heard a strained grunt as if somepony was putting a lot of effort into something which made me stop.

Scootaloo was trying to move her scooter through a patch of snow that was too high with what looked like overstuffed saddle bags. Twilight wasn't going anywhere, and if she was then it didn't matter if I stopped or not.

"Need a hand Scoots?" I asked freeing the scooter with little effort.

Looking at the wheels I noticed ice particles which meant underneath the snow it had actually been frozen, that explained why she couldn't move it. It must have been sitting here a while for it to get to that point though.

"Yeah thanks, the bags made it a little hard." Scootaloo admitted rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof.

"It's getting kind of late kid, what are you doing out here anyways?" I asked doing my best to clear the wheels of ice.

"O-oh, well there was...a meeting at the club house later! A slumber party really!" Scootaloo said her voice sounding a bit shaky and unconfident of her own answer.

"You're a pretty bad liar kid. Who's going to tell anypony? The street signs? There's not a whole lot of ponies out at this hour anyways." I said kneeling down to her level.

"I know, but Sweetie Belle made me promise not to tell anypony, including you." Scootaloo said, I clearly wasn’t going to get the truth from her.

"I can't just leave you here Scoots. I was on my way to see Twilight real quick, but I think Timber might try to get the jump on me again." I said fighting back a grin as I thought up an excuse to keep her out of whatever trouble she was trying to get into.

"You're not scared of Timber are you?" the tangerine filly asked with a giggle.

"Oh very much so, that's why I was lucky you were there to help take them by surprise. Think you could watch my back again? At least until we get to Twilights?" I asked.

"Well, you are pretty clumsy sometimes." Scootaloo said as I finished clearing the ice off the wheels of her scooter.

I laughed a little at her comment as we both started towards the castle. It was even more impressive when it was snowcapped as I'm certain the others were as well. A few more snowflakes started to fall, though not at an alarming rate, as we talked about different things along the way.

When we arrived at the castle doors I was let inside by the guard without question. Twilight had brought me here frequently enough that they didn't bother. I assumed it was like that for all her friends, since each one had their own throne.

Scootaloo shook what little snow was on her off before following me. It was warm inside and I was grateful to be out of the cold. Oddly enough the castle itself wasn't freezing, I had assumed that being made out of crystal would have surely made the building unbearably cold.

When it doubt blame magic~ I sung in my head.

"Oh hey you guys!" Spike exclaimed excitedly.

"Hey Spike, I just stopped by to give this back to Twilight-" I said as the little dragon greeted us.

"And I'm making sure no pony tries to get the jump on him." Scootaloo added proudly.

"She's back this way." Spike said motioning for us to follow him.

As I had predicted, Twilight had her nose in a book reading. The little alicorn had god like power and she chose to pass her time reading. I could think of a million things that I could do with something like that, mostly in my world where there were problems on a daily basis; here, her boredom was understandable.

"What's up you two?" Twilight asked as the book she was reading closed itself.

I held up the book I had borrowed wordlessly and she gives a small nod motioning for us to follow her to the library. Scootaloo looked around the room curiously once we were inside the library wing, why these two rooms were so close together was anypony's guess, but I had a feeling that while it was still empty it had been personal preference.

"So Pinkie Pie tells me you're coming with us." Twilight said as she returned the book.

---

Noctra landed next to a window and carefully pushed it open; Ponyville was far too trusting a location to keep something this valuable, if what she had been told was correct. She still had no idea why he wanted it, but that didn't matter to the bat pony as she landed quietly in the hallway.

Noctra’s yellow eyes gave her superb night vision and her ears alerted her to any nearby guards that happened to be in the area. The bat pony easily maneuvered her way past the oblivious guards, while her kind were unable to control the weather, bat ponies could easily cling to flat surfaces with their hooves much like their name sake.

The guards of Twilight’s castle were completely unaware of Noctra as she walked above them. The bat pony stuck her tongue out at them as she slipped through an open door. There was light from within and with practiced reflexes she flew to the shadows of the room, keeping out of sight.

There were four others in the room, one of them being the princess herself. The others were a small filly and a dragon, the fourth creature she didn’t recognize. It was a strange being that almost made Noctra lean out of her cover to get a better look. It was an oddity as it clearly towered over the princess yet it didn’t seem violent, quite the opposite was true, a pet perhaps?

Noctra shook her brief fascination with the creature from her head and looked around the room as the four talked. The bat pony observed the door and noted that it had moved slightly when she entered making a stealthy escape impossible. She would have to wait them out before leaving.

As she continued to look around from the shadows of the room she noticed something familiar on one of the shelves towards the back of the room. Her prize sat out of the way and would have gone unnoticed unless somepony was specifically looking for it. It looked like an ordinary stone save for a few distinct markings.

There you are! Noctra thought to herself plotting a course to the stone.

The bat pony slowly crept along the wall, using the dark shadows the bookshelves cast to mask her approach. Every so often she would stop and look down at the others in the room, a small sting of pain resonating in her chest as she watched them carry on without a care in the world. This caused her to bump against one of the decorations that lined the top of the shelves making her freeze in place.

The tangerine filly looked up but shrugged and returned to listening to something the tall creature was saying. Noctra waited a few more seconds before continuing towards her prize, her cat like pupils widening with anticipation as she reached a hoof out to take the stone, only to knock an ornament to the hard crystal floor, shattering it.

Four heads turned towards the bat pony and for a few seconds it was as if time stood still. Noctra could have sworn her heart stopped, the only confirmation that it hadn’t was the fact that she was still conscious as her body prepared itself to flee at the first sign of trouble.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?” the filly asked stepping forward bravely.

---

I watched in horror as a bat pony slipped the last Banishing Stone into its saddle bag. The power behind that seemingly harmless rock was not something to be taken lightly, why any pony would want it was beyond my comprehension.

“Are you crazy?! Put that back!” I demanded as Twilight closed the doors with her magic.

“Sorry monster, not up to me. I’ve got orders.” the bat pony said taking off from the bookshelf, toppling it to the floor.

Books littered the crystal floor now and Twilight’s expression turned from confused to angry. Pushing the “Sparkle” button was probably the single worst thing the bat pony could have done. Sure enough a ray of purple light raced towards the thief colliding with the wall as the bat pony escaped.

Twilight flew up into the air to cut the burglar off and fired again. This time the alicorn managed to hit the bat pony, sending it to the floor with a high pitched screech. I rushed to catch her, not out of compassion, but with the knowledge of what might happen if the stone was activated.

I dove to catch the falling pony in time and silently cheered in my head when I felt something soft and fuzzy land in my arms. The crisis had been averted, but if that was the case why did Twilight have such a horrified look on her face. A gentle thrumming told me all I needed to know.

Twilight’s magic had not just hit the bat pony, but the stone as well. The familiar tugging pulled me back to the floor as I tried to get away. A wave of despair washed over me as the noise started to grow louder and louder, the second warning sign.

“Get out of here now!” I shouted desperately over the noise.

The light was already starting to become blindingly bright in the room and my cries for the others to flee as I was pinned to the ground by the powerful magic were soon drowned out by the loud thrumming sound which forced me to cover my ears. This time Luna wasn’t present to render me unconscious and I was greeted by a cold cloudy sky as the light faded.

I lay there motionless save for the rise and fall of my chest as I took in deep breaths of air after the traumatizing experience. I eventually found enough strength to roll onto my side and take in what I could of my surroundings.

I was surrounded by woods on all sides, even though the area was thinned out noticeably it was still safe to assume I wasn’t anywhere near any major city. This changed the situation from bad to worse at the realization that I had no idea where I was as well as there being snow on the ground.

A few muffled cries brought me out of my pity party and drew my focus to a pair of squirming tangerine hind legs and swishing purple tail. I used my hand to rake away a bit of snow which caused Scootaloo to tumble out of the mound she had been trapped in. The filly looked up at me and let out an adorable squeak as she smiled up at me.

“Thanks, I thought I was a goner there for a few seconds.” Scootaloo said rolling over and pushing herself up out of the snow.

“We’re not out of the woods yet kid, literally.” I said looking around to see if any of the others hadn’t been fortunate enough to escape in time.

“Where are we anyways?” Scootaloo asked looking around confused.

“That stone was designed to send things to one world as far as I know. I’m inclined to think Twilight never changed or altered the stone’s magic after she told me about the door in case I ever wanted to go back…Scoots, this is my home, my first home.” I replied standing up brushing the snow off me.

Scootaloo still looked lost at my explanation. She hadn’t been there when I was depressed about being stuck here so I wouldn’t expect her to completely understand our current predicament being as young as she was.

“Scootaloo, this is my world, Earth.” I said surprised at how dejectedly I had just said my own world’s name.

“Wow! So this is where you lived before you came to Equestria?!” Scootaloo asked.

“Yes and no, I had a house and everything like I do in Ponyville.” I replied.

Both of our heads turned towards the sound of a groan of pain. A small purple mass was spread eagle in the snow, said mass being Spike. If he was here it made me wonder who else had been brought here by this terrible accident.

“Why does my everything hurt?” Spike moaned.

“Great, I thought hiding one of you was going to be hard enough, two will be worse.” I said contemplating my next course of action.

“Uh Daniel, you might want to make that three.” Scootaloo said as I helped Spike get to his feet.

I turned around to see Scootaloo pointing a hoof at the bat pony that had caused all of this in the first place. My anger slowly started to kindle inside me as I marched towards the still unconscious pony, she’d never know what hit her if I let my anger get the better of me. She was lucky Scootaloo was present, the filly watching my every move forced me to consider my next action carefully.

“I say we leave her, she caused all of this in the first place.” Spike said crossing his arms shivering a bit, the cold obviously didn’t agree with reptiles from any world or dimension.

At least Spike would side with me on this one. This bat pony had not only wronged me, but others as well. Scootaloo and Spike didn’t deserve to be brought here, there was the very real risk of them being captured and put on some sort of display or worse.

“Negative Ghost Rider, as much as I want to we can’t let her freeze to death. No pony deserves to be abandoned, even if they have wronged others.” I said relenting to my morals.

I looked at the unconscious bat pony, trying to figure out the best approach to the task at hand. Spike was still shivering but Scootaloo seemed relatively unfazed by the temperature which gave me an idea.

“Spike, this is going to sound really weird but I need you to get inside my jacket.” I said unzipping the front.

“W-what? N-n-no way m-m-man!” Spike exclaimed his shivering starting to affect his speech. I briefly wondered how a dragon, being what I assumed to be a type of reptile, could shiver in the first place.

“I wasn’t asking.” I said picking him up with little effort and sliding him inside before zipping the jacket up to his head.

Spike struggled briefly before realizing it was much better than freezing to death. Now that he was taken care of that left Scootaloo, I didn’t want to outpace her so I gently picked her up and sat her on my shoulder. The filly proceeded to nestle into my hood with her hind legs for warmth while her fore legs draped over my shoulders.

“As for you.” I said scooping the bat pony up before walking from the clearing.

I had to take things slow, being careful not to dislodge Scootaloo or exhaust myself. I was thankful I had been blessed with the occupation I had in Equestria. Lifting and carrying packages for a living had done wonders for my endurance.

Spike had drifted off to sleep due to the conflicting temperatures, I felt sorry for him. Scootaloo on the other hand was wide awake and asking me a multitude of questions about my world and what she might see. She seemed a bit down trodden when I told her that we couldn’t meet all of my friends, but we were going to meet somepony very important to me, if she was still here.

I heard what sounded like cars passing each other on a road and my heart soared with hope. Finally something positive for a change. Now all I needed was to come up with the next part of my plan, I couldn’t let the others know I was doing my best to wing us out of this mess.

---

“Oh no oh no oh no! This-this can’t be happening!” Twilight sobbed as she stared into the room where only moments ago her friends had been making plans for Hearths Warming Eve.

Tears fell to the floor as she slowly walked to the exact spot where they had disappeared. She tried to stop the thief, she had failed her friends and now they were gone. What little part of Twilight that was still processing this information logically was trying to find some way to work through this, but she couldn’t see any way around this obstacle life had just given her.

“Spike…no…NO!” Twilight shouted letting herself fall to the floor as she cried.

The princess covered her face with her hooves, shutting the world out as she wept the loss of her friends, and one of the closest friends she’d ever had. Spike had been with her through it all, losing him was more than she could take.

“Princess Twilight! Are you alright?!” a guard asked bursting down the door to the room as three more piled in behind him.

“N-no…I…I don’t-“ Twilight said in between sobs until a guard put a hoof gently on her shoulder to try and calm her down.

“Take your time Princess, we’ll do whatever we can.” The guard said trying to reassure her as best as he could.

Twilight slowly gathered her thoughts and recomposed herself as she told the guards present what had happened. Some felt guilt, while others felt nothing but rage at the fact that somepony had slipped past them and caused harm on their watch.

“The thief slipped past me as well, and none of you intended to let the pony in. We need to act fast though, Daniel will be fine, but the others might not fare as well in his world.” Twilight said wiping away a few more tears.

---

I had eventually found a gas station which was a god send. I had already swapped arms carrying the bat pony who I was starting to worry about, the steady snoring told me that it was probably her internal clock that was keeping her out cold. Bats were nocturnal and I assumed a bat pony was the same.

My legs were starting to feel weak, so many times I wanted to take a break, but I mentally pushed myself onward. If it had been just me I wouldn’t have cared, but I had others with me. This didn’t stop me from taking a short rest however when I saw a bench outside the gas station.

I unzipped my jacket which released Spike into my lap. I set him down on the bench next to the bat pony and Scootaloo who had also dozed off. I threw the jacket over them as best I could and dug into my pockets praying the next part of my plan would work. I recognized this particular station from my life in this world. When I lived here I’d stopped by in numerous times, the familiar scratch across the neo logo still present.

I remembered it because the store’s owner had complained after the damage had been caused by a storm that blew through the area. He hadn’t shut up about it for weeks and would bug his customers, asking if he should just tear it down and replace it which he threated to do but obviously never did.

I pulled out four bits once I reached the pay phone. This was the moment of truth, everything hinged on these simple little golden objects. I held my breath as I picked the phone up and pushed the first coin into the slot. I was relieved when it didn’t spit it back out and I shoved another coin in followed by the others.

I thought carefully about who to call, there was only one person I could really trust with all that had transpired, but the pressing question was if she would believe me. If not then this was all for nothing and I had wasted precious time and energy.

I dialed the number that I had called multiple times before and waited anxiously for an answer. The second ring passed followed by the third which made me worry and I started to regret my course of action. I held my breath as the fourth ring sounded only releasing it once I heard a familiar voice on the other end.

“Hello?” the voice on the other end asked cautiously.

“Hey Izzy, how’ve things been?” I asked receiving nothing but silence in return for a few seconds.

“Do I know you?” Isabella asked inquisitively.

“This is Daniel, Izzy.” I said praying to God that she would believe me.

“You’re really sick you know that?” Isabella asked.

“You’re the one who sent the stone and told me to go on an adventure and you call me the sick one?” I retorted quickly.

There was another long pause on the other end of the phone. I was dreading the possibility of hearing the familiar click that signaled the end of a call, but fortunately that sound never came and instead I heard sobbing on the other end.

“Izzy?” I asked as my heart fell to pieces listening to her cry.

“Daniel…is that really you? Am I in a dream or-?” Isabella asked her words breaking down as she cried.

“It’s me Izzy, I’m by Ferguson’s gas station. Listen I need you to do me a favor, don’t tell anyone I’m here yet okay?” I asked.

“Are you crazy?! We looked everywhere for you!” Isabella shouted outraged at my request.

“Izzy, listen I called you because I know you won’t…do anything crazy with what you’re going to see.” I said.

“What in God’s name is that supposed to mean?!” Isabella asked.

“That stone you sent me wasn’t some novelty item, that’s why I’ve been gone.” I said trying to reason with her.

I could still hear the sobs of my older sister as she tried to process everything I was telling her. I figured this would happen, but at least she hadn’t hung up on me yet. There were a few deep breaths on the other end, heralding an end to her wrath.

“If I keep my mouth shut there had better be a very good explanation for all of this.” Isabella warned.

“There is, please just trust me.” I said.

“I’ll be there soon.” Isabella said hanging up before I could say goodbye.

With that I hung up the phone as well and looked over at the bench. Scootaloo was awake and looking around groggily at her new surroundings. I smirked and walked over to the filly and ruffled her mane a bit which woke her up a little quicker.

“So where are we now?” the little filly asked hopping into my lap, as cold as it was and without my jacket I appreciated the extra body heat.

“We’ve got a ride on the way so that’s taken care of. Once we meet up with my sis we can start working on a way to get back home.” I replied.

A car pulled up and I held my breath, Scootaloo was out in the open, exposed for all to see. There was a little girl in the car and she stared directly at the tangerine filly. I had to think of something fast, otherwise these interlopers’ days of freedom were numbered.

“Scoots, don’t move, don’t blink or anything. Act like a doll, that kid is evil. She won’t bug you if you don’t move.” I lied, not having time to explain any further.

I watched Scootaloo grow stiff as a board. It was an odd sight to see, but at least she didn’t ask questions as the little girl got out of the car with her mother. The kid kept her eyes locked on the filly, constantly tugging on her mother’s jacket sleeve in an attempt to get her attention, spoiled brat.

“Mommy, that man has a pony.” the girl said.

Shit! I thought to myself.

“Oh sweetie, that’s just a doll.” the girl’s mother said dismissively.

Hah! Shove it kid! I thought triumphantly.

Apparently the little brat saw my smirk because she stuck her tongue out at me. I knew she was a little kid, but it still got under my skin how the parent did absolutely nothing. It was comforting to know that the parenting skills of my world were still as underwhelming as when I left.

“Scoots, you can move now.” I said once the pair had left the station.

I felt the filly relax and fall flat on my lap comically. I chuckled a bit, grateful to have avoided the “monster’s” wrath. I scratched her ear a little making her laugh until a rumbling noise caught my attention. Scootaloo looked up at me with an embarrassed smile.

"Don't worry, we'll get that taken care of soon enough. Unfortunately I don't think cashiers would be as easy to fool with these as pay phones." I said holding up a spare bit.

"What's your sister like? Is she nice?" Scootaloo asked.

"Very, I wouldn't trust anypony else with this." I said realizing after the fact that I had just referred to my sister as a pony.

Scootaloo grew quiet as she settled down. Her gaze was fixed on the road watching for any more "evil" creatures that might come into the gas station. I was thankful that Furgeson was a bit paranoid about cameras and only installed one inside after his wife finally nagged him to death about it.

"So what do you think she was wanting with that stone?" Scootaloo asked pointing at the bat pony sleeping soundly.

"I don't know to be honest. I heard something about orders so I think it's safe to assume she's just a pawn." I replied as one of the bat pony's hind legs kicked a bit.

Scootaloo must have been satisfied with my answer or too tired and hungry to continue the conversation as things grew quiet once again. I was starting to wonder if Isabella would show up and even worse if she had told anyp-one about me.

A white car pulled up directly in front of me and I grew nervous. At first my mind jumped to the conclusion that it was an undercover cop car, fortunately for me a very feminine figure exited the driver side door, a somewhat agitated look on her face.

"I see you kept your hair long, looks good." I said before being slapped across the face hard enough to force my head sideways.

Yep, had that one coming. I thought to myself.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" Scootaloo shouted making Isabella jump back in fear.

"W-w-what is that thing?!" Isabella asked terrified as she pointed at Scootaloo.

I rubbed my cheek before answering her. "That would be Scootaloo, she's a friend of mine. Over there is Spike taking a nap...and we have a random bat pony." I said pointing to the fourth member of our party.

"Daniel said you were nice, why'd you slap him?" Scootaloo asked glaring at my sister.

"Ease back Scoots, I kind of deserved that one. I've been gone for a long time and I owe her an explanation. Did you tell anyone?" I asked looking back at my sister who was shaking as her eyes darted from me to the others.

"It...it talks!" Isabella exclaimed.

"Izzy, did you tell anyone I was here?" I asked relieved when she shook her head no.

"Your sister's weird, weirder than Sweetie Belle's sister." Scootaloo said looking up at me.

"Izzy, listen to me. We need to get them out of here before someone else sees them. Can you help me do that?" I asked placing both hands on her shoulders to try and snap her out of the trance she was in.

"Y-yeah, sure..." Isabella replied turning her head back to Scootaloo at the sound of her stomach rumbling.

"Also Scootaloo's hungry." I added.

---

"So one more time from the top; the stone I gave you was actually a magical object that sent you to another world where the dominant species is a race of talking ponies?" Isabella asked as we drove into town.

"They're not the only sentient beings there, so there’s not really a dominant species. Scootaloo is one of three main races, a pegasus pony." I said ruffling her mane a bit.

"So how do you explain the bat thing?" Isabella asked motioning blindly with her thumb towards the now bound bat pony.

"That's a bat pony, they're a sub race that pledged loyalty to Princess Luna." Spike replied now that he was warm and awake again.

The car fascinated the two off worlders. Normally drawn carriages were the casual method of transportation. This device however moved all by itself and was completely closed off from the outside world making it a bit informal but much more private and comfortable.

"I guess you guys have never been in a Fiesta before?" Isabella asked casting a quick glance at Scootaloo.

"What's a Fiesta?" the filly asked innocently.

A pain filled groan stopped my sister from answering as all eyes fell upon the bat pony that had been out cold until now. Her eyes slowly fluttered open while her head swayed like a tree blowing in the wind due to disorientation.

"Why did I have to sit in the back again?" Spike asked nervously.

"Yeah about that, I wasn't planning on her waking up until nightfall...weird." I replied.

"Where am I?" the bat pony asked as she leaned a little too far to the right and hit the passenger window with her head.

She winced at the impact but didn't seem too hurt and was content enough to keep using the window to support herself as she tried to move against her bonds. When she finally noticed them the grogginess started to disappear at a faster rate as panic set in.

"Sorry about tying you up, but we can't let you go especially not here." I said.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" the bat pony screeched.

"We're not in Equestria anymore; the stone you were stealing was an artifact that can banish beings to another world, namely mine." I snapped in response.

The bat pony stopped struggling and her face twisted into one of disbelief as tears started to form at the corners of her eyes. It was hard to tell if this was real remorse or a cheap attempt to gain sympathy for something she'd have to answer for when we got back, if we made it back to Equestria at all.

"Crocodile tears won't win you any sympathy." Spike said crossing his arms.

"I didn't know what it would do! Now you're telling me that we're not even in our own world anymore?!" the bat pony asked, her voice now more of a shrill cry than a steady flow of words.

"Hey! Cool your tits you're giving me a headache!" Isabella exclaimed.

"Daniel, what are-" Scootaloo started to ask before I covered her mouth with my hand.

"Scootaloo I'll explain that word some other time." I replied embarrassed, I could tell this was going to be a fun filled experience with Isabella’s infamous nonexistent filter.

Isabella's harsh words did little to deter the bat pony from breaking down into sobs which were more akin to nails being drug down a chalk board. I clamped my hand over her mouth forming a C with my hand in order to hold her head still while ensuring the screeching ceased.

"Hey, I'll let you go if you stop screaming, I just want to ask you some questions...think you can handle that?" I asked keeping my grip firm as she nodded.

I released my hand and waited anxiously, ready to hold her mouth shut again if I had to. Now that she was still and I could actually focus on her I noticed the little details I had missed before, like her cutie mark being that of a pad lock that was unlocked, fitting given the circumstances. Her mane and tail were maroon and pink in color while her coat was charcoal and was somewhat fluffier than a normal pony's coat of fur with tuffs at the tip of her ears.

Two purple wings were tied against her back, a precaution to ensure she didn't hurt herself or others in an attempt to escape. A pair of bright yellow eyes with cat like pupils stared back at me. Two small fangs protruded constantly from the top of her mouth giving her a rather intimidating appearance.

"Let's start with your name." I said.

"My name's Noctra." the bat pony said hanging her head.

"Okay Noctra, what were you doing last night? You must have known going in that stealing from a princess was a bad idea right?" I asked.

"She stole from a princess? Girl has some guts." Isabella commented with a laugh.

"It was a job, impossible or not I needed the bits. This isn't the first time I've been asked to steal from the upper class but I didn't expect Princess Twilight to have company...I was just following orders." Noctra replied.

"Twilight's not some run of the mill pony. You should have known better." Spike said defensive of his friend.

"Look when you're pushed to desperation come give me your self-righteous speech, but until you've been in my position save it." Noctra said rolling her eyes at the little dragon.

"I like her." Isabella said smiling.

"Not that it matters much if we can't get home, but for curiosity's sake who was paying you?" I asked.

"How should I know? He never gave me his name, I know he has a blond mane but that's about it." Noctra replied rolling her eyes.

"Are you hungry?" Scootaloo asked randomly.

"Yes actually, it's almost been a full twenty four hours since my last meal." the bat pony answered grinning at the pegasus filly.

"So who's going to offer their neck to the vampire?" Isabella asked.

"I don't drink blood, that's disgusting! I eat fruit!" Noctra exclaimed mortified by my sister's assumption.

"Well you're in luck then, I know of a place that has something I think everyone can enjoy." Isabella said taking a sharp right turn and heading towards a sign that was made up of two golden arches.

"Everypony, they don't acknowledge everyone like we do." I said correcting my sister.

"That's really weird and I'm amazed you haven’t turned into a pony by now." Isabella said raising an eyebrow.

"You have no idea." I said quietly.

Scootaloo jumped when she heard the voice of the worker project through the intercom next to menu. The pegasus pressed herself as close to me as possible, trying to hide in my jacket from the loud, unseen specter that had apparently spoken.

"It's cool Scoots she won't hurt you." I said reassuringly.

"Oh...uh hello." Scootaloo said just audibly enough for the intercom to pick it up.

"Well hello to you too sweetheart." said a friendly voice on the other end with a chuckle.

Scootaloo smiled and relaxed a little as Isabella started ordering from the menu. We had missed the breakfast menu so lunch was the only option available to us now. I requested chicken nuggets, I hadn't had them in what felt like forever. While the secret of my diet might be out of the bag after this I was too hungry to care.

Isabella only wanted french fries, which was typical. She didn't really have a thing for fast food joints unless she was traveling. We ordered for Scootaloo as well and got her an order of french fries and the apple slices off the kid's menu, just in case she didn't like the sliced potatoes from the restaurant.

Spike was a bit harder to order for. This particular dragon loved to consume his own weight in gems. While they may have been abundant in Equestria, on earth Spike's diet would eventually cost someone an arm and a leg to keep him fed. Even though he said he was fine with fries his disappointment was clearly displayed on his face when he learned no drive through dealt with gems.

Noctra's order was easy enough, another order of apple slices since she turned her nose up to any of the other suggestions. Ponies, no matter the type, seemed set in their ways to a certain extent, but humans were the same way so it was hard to hold them at fault for that.

Neither of the drive through window workers noticed the three nonhuman passengers as we stopped, too busy to really stop and get a good look at them. Even though they were too preoccupied handling food and money I still didn't really relax until we were on the road again.

“Y-you eat meat?” Scootaloo asked as I greedily ate one of the chicken nuggets.

“Yes Scootaloo I do, or I can anyways. Eggs have been a substitute since I know you guys aren’t too fond of the whole eating animals thing.” I replied.

“H-have you ever eaten a…pony?” Scootaloo asked cautiously.

“No Scoots, I don’t eat ponies. You guys are too adorable and awesome, now eat a french fry.” I said pushing one into her mouth.

The filly comically pulled the fry completely in her mouth with her teeth before chewing it with a satisfied expression. It amazed me how they were capable of grasping anything with hooves at all, but I once again observed the principle in action as Scootaloo took the box of fries and started to chow down on them.

Spike was a bit more reserved and glared at Noctra the entire time. He was understandably miffed that this bat pony had torn him away from his friend. Even though I shared a bit of that anger right now wasn’t the time for it.

“Open up.” I said holding an apple slice in front of Noctra.

“Oh my, aren’t we the gentle colt. I could do this myself, if you untied me.” Noctra said batting her eyelashes

“Yeah not happening, not in the car anyways.” I said sliding the apple slice in her mouth when she tried to respond.

Noctra stared at me before chewing the apple up. Isabella was snickering at the awkward pose I was in keeping Scootaloo in my lap while trying to feed a bat pony in a vehicle. I couldn’t think of any possible way this situation could get any worse or strange.

---

“Yer starin again, Twi.” Applejack said snapping her friend out of her trance.

“Huh? Oh right, I’m sorry, has Rainbow Dash returned?” Twilight asked turning to her friend with sleepless eyes.

“No sugar cube, but Ah think ya need rest. Can’t help no pony if yer plumb tuckered out.” Applejack replied.

“Applejack’s right dear you’ve been pouring over those books for well over…oh I’ve lost count now. I think rest would do you some good.” said Rarity.

“We have to finish altering the mirror though…there has to be some sort of spell…something…” Twilight trailed off as she started to sway on her hooves from mental and physical exhaustion

Twilight had been trying to find some sort of reversal spell. So far nothing had turned up and the alicorn had turned to her former teacher and her long lived life in the hopes that she knew something about the fickle stone that had taken her friends away.

She had tried to do the right thing, so why had something bad happened to the ones she cared about? It didn’t make sense. Without Spike there was no quick response from Princess Celestia so she had requested the help of Rainbow Dash to try and deliver an urgent letter for help.

The sound of double doors bursting open derailed Twilight’s train of thought. Rainbow Dash had returned with a letter partially sticking out of her saddle bag. A look of determination seemingly welded to her face. Scootaloo had been one of the victims, to the cyan pegasus this was extremely personal.

“Anything?” Rainbow Dash asked approaching the group.

“Ah’m fraid not.” Applejack replied turning her gaze to the ground.

“Did she send a reply?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah but it was really weird, she burned the first letter before writing this one.” Rainbow Dash replied handing Twilight the letter with the royal seal on it.

Twilight opened the letter, her eyes scanning its contents with haste. The message confused her at first, while she couldn’t personally be here due to her own duties she had at least given the young alicorn some information, confusing as it was.

Twilight

I’m so sorry to hear about this. While I know this must be hard on you please understand there’s little you can do from your current position. Which is why I’ve sent another set of instructions to a friend of yours to help you. At the bottom of this page are instructions for creating the same candle I used to send letters to you when you were my student. I think you will find it most helpful in your endeavor as will putting a little faith in your human friend. I know he would never let anything bad happen to your friends, especially since they are his friends as well.

Good luck!
Princess Celestia

Twilight looked up from the letter at the mirror in deep thought. It wasn’t just in her hooves now, it was like building a bridge with only half the instructions. It didn’t make sense, surely Celestia couldn’t be trying to turn this into a test.

The more she thought about it however, the more she realized that this wasn’t a test at all. Even if she had the other set of instructions it wouldn’t do her any good, just like it wouldn’t aid Daniel. She looked over the instructions for the candle and smiled. It was exactly like building a bridge.

---

No sooner had I opened the doors to Isabella’s house Spike rushed past the others searching for something, clutching his stomach and mouth with his claws. I felt bad for him assuming grease didn’t exactly agree with his system.

“Dude, is he going to hurl? Bathrooms are upstairs.” Isabella said.

“Spike? Are you okay?” Scootaloo asked, approaching the baby dragon cautiously now that he was doubled over.

“Great Twilight’s going to kill me.” I said dropping the bat pony off on the couch before rushing to Spike’s side.

Noctra laughed at the baby dragon’s misfortune. Her laughter came in short “kee” like squeaks instead of an actual laugh. I rolled my eyes as I heard her roll of the couch and onto the floor with a thud from her laughter.

“Hey she actually rofls, neat.” Isabella said using short hand for rolling on the floor laughing.

“That stopped being funny in high schoo-“ I started to say until a blast of green fire silenced me.

There on the floor was a letter with a royal seal on it. I could hardly believe my eyes and hesitated picking it up. Once I did however, it only confirmed that it was real and I quickly opened it. The parchment was from Celestia herself.

Daniel

I hope this letter finds you, if it does then my theory is correct, and half of the problem is already solved. Spike is able to send and receive letters by a magical flame. I have sent Twilight a set of instructions for making such a flame of her own since Spike was her method of communicating with me. If what Luna informed me is true, you must retrieve the stone from your world. I hope you’ll be able to find it easily enough. I have faith that you will look after those that were brought with you and I pray for your safe return.

Sincerely

Princess Celestia.

I was now on a team assignment with the book worm, as much as I liked the odds of success a lot depended on me finding the stupid stone. The last time I had seen it was when it was laying against my bedroom wall.

By now the house had probably been sold and the stone long gone from its original resting place. Still, it was a nudge in the right direction when I originally had none to begin with. It would take some time to sort out but now that there was a way back things didn’t seem as hopeless.

To be continued...

Author's Note:

Don't forget to comment and leave your thoughts. This is actually my first 2 part, so yeah there's that I guess.

Comments

[Amethyst Blade]

I have the feeling I know who is that blonde maned stallion....*cough* Princess *cough* Blueblood

[alphamalesdove]

Interesting!

[Doctor REDACTED]

"How should I know? He never gave me his name, I know he has a blond mane but that's about it." Noctra replied rolling her eyes.
DAMN IT BLUEBLOOOOD

[Luckyfanisaac]

but hitting a man while trying he’s trying to sleep

Minuette, one of the first ponies to trust me after I was made public, had been bugging me about my teeth and wanting to examine them.

I was wondering if that was going to be a thing in this story.

I watched Scootaloo grow stiff as a board.

I can see how this will end.
Awww she didn’t expect to get a cutie mark from it.

Isabella said taking a sharp right turn and heading towards a sign that was made up of two golden arches.

Well this is going to be bad. Why McDonald’s the only fruit they have are apples?

unseen specter that had apparently spoken her.

Noctra's order was easy enough, another order of apple slices since she turned her nose up to any of the other suggestions.

Well that went better than expected.

Even though I shared a bit of that anger, right now wasn’t the time for it.