• Published 14th Jan 2015
  • 2,528 Views, 54 Comments

OC, Oh Crap! - SmokeShadow95



Three humans end up in Equestria. Three friends who have no idea what they're doing most of the time. Things will not be easy for them in Equestria. From being naked to dealing with danger these three will have plenty of shenanigans to deal with.

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Moving Forward

Ben trudged along the small path leading down to Sweet Apple Acres. His mouth opened widely as a great yawn escaped from him. His feet were barely leaving the ground as he took each step. His body, weary and tired moved forward slowly. And why is he in this sad state, you ask? Well, the reason is quite simple. He was dead tired.

“I got up too damn early,” Ben said. Walking next to him, fully awake and alert was Applejack. She trotted alongside the big human with a smile.

“Ah know, Ben,” Applejack apologized for the third time. “It's just that when yer friend with the long hair mentioned how you were laid bare in fronta Rarity, well, you just had ta know we were gonna have some questions.”

“Questions, yes.” Ben stated. “A full blown interrogation complete with lights and an uncomfortable room that also had Rainbow Dash wearing a cheap FBI style suit thanks to Tessla. . . No, wasn't expecting that.”

“Yeah, that was kinda interestin',” Applejack said as she remembered back to the last few hours they had spent in her barn. Thanks Celestia Tessla turned it all back to normal. That would have been a might hard to explain to Granny Smith.

“That's one word for it, I guess,” Ben said with another yawn. “We were up til around 2 wasn't it?”

“Sounds about right,” Applejack replied. “Which is why ah am so happy you are still doing this today. Helping out mah sister on her field trip and all that. I would do it mahself, but I got chores back home that got me busy. Same with Big Mac.”

“Field trip. Right.” Ben said. He was slowly waking up, little by little. He yawned once more as they walked on. “Remind me please what this is all about?”

“Sure thing,” Applejack replied happily. “Apple Bloom's whole class is heading down into a safe part of the Ghastly Gorge. There are some parts of it that are actually a lot safer than Rainbow Dash would have most ponies believin'”

“Why in the world are they going anywhere near Ghastly Gorge in the first place?”

“I dunno,” Applejack said. “Somethin' ta do with rocks, I think. Apple Bloom mentioned it once, but I reckon I forgot. Maybe it was collecting rocks.”

“Oh, okay,” Ben said. “Anything else?”

“Yep,” Applejack replied. “We're here.”

Applejack lifted up a leg and used her hoof to point to the side. Ben's eyes slowly lifted up off the ground and followed the direction of Applejack's outstretched hoof. Sure enough, she was right. Why wouldn't she be? She had actually gotten a decent amount of sleep, or apparently could function perfectly on just about three to four hours. Anyway, Ben was standing right out front of the school building and Applejack waved her goodbyes. Ben waved back but he didn't enter the building right away.

He took a spare moment to collect himself. He pulled out of one his pockets a small hand held mirror. Rarity had given it to him a while back for some reason. Ben forgot it, much to his own annoyance. Anyway, he did a quick study of his looks in the mirror, and found himself to be better off than he thought. Other than the bags under his eyes there wasn't really too much out of place, and the bags weren't even that noticeable. All he needed was a little more time and he would be good to go and ready for anything. He patted down a few loose hairs that he had noticed were going slightly astray and stashed the mirror back into one of his many pockets. He took a deep breath, put a smile on his face, and headed on inside the school building.

Cheerilee was watching the young filly students with a gaze only a teacher could have. Her senses were trained like that of a hawk to notice anything that was out of place. Anything. From the wandering eyes of a wayward student trying to get a better grade of the work of another to the subtle sounds of a paper crumpled up or folded over and being passed from student to student, she could always find it.

Right now, she was having all her students do a short writing assignment on the upcoming field trip. They were to write at least three things they believed they would be seeing while on the field trip. Cheerilee watched as the students worked. Some of them, of course, worked harder than others. Some of the young students lazily jotted down just the bare minimum of three things and were just wasting the time they had now. Others were still writing away and down into the double digits as to what they thought they would see. But Cheerilee was smart. She had set all of this up. A test of sorts. You see, she had told the students at the beginning of the class that there was going to be a surprise coming in later on. Only the students with the best answers would be allowed to participate, though.

“Keep writing class,” Cheerille said happily as she moved toward the edge of the room. Her very sharp teacher senses were acutely tuned and she picked up on the creaking of the doors in the front of the building. Her surprise guest must be here.

“This building is much bigger on the inside than it seems from the outside,” Ben mumbled to himself as he walked in. He glanced around a bit before his eyes fell on Cherilee herself who had come to greet him.

“Ben,” She said with a warm smile. “It is so good to see you today. I'm glad you could take the time to chaperone the class today.”

“No problem, Cheerilee,” Ben replied with a smile of his own . “Happy to help.”

“Well then, lets go and introduce you to the class,” Cheerilee said. She turned on a dime and was already down the hallway a bit by the time Ben started moving. She was a surprisingly fast pony.

Cheerilee came into the classroom again and moved right for her desk. She didn't waste a second in getting the attention of all the young ponies in the room. Within seconds she had them all with their pencils down and their eyes forward looking at her. She smiled at them and decided it was finally time to reveal her master plan.

“Students, it is time for your surprise,” She said. “Well, surprise guest I should say. He is going to be coming with us on out field trip.”

“What?!” Diamond Tiara exclaimed. “I thought there was going to be a prize or something! You mean I worked this hard for nothing? Nothing at all?!” She quite dramatically slammed her little hooves down on her desk, showing everypony exactly the four one word answers she had written down on her piece of paper.

“Hey now. That work isn't for nothing,” Cheerilee said. “Anyway, it is time for me to introduce out guest. Can you please come in, Ben?”

As if on cue, and not at all like he was waiting outside of the door listening for a signal to come in, Ben entered the room. He smiled and walked past the desks of the young ponies to the front of the room. All of the young ones had their eyes locked onto the large figure moving past them.

Ben moved to the front of the classroom and stood there. “Hello, kids,” He said with a smile. When none of the kids answered back an awkward silence descended and filled the room. Ben shifted his weight nervously between his feet as he stood there.

“Well, then,” Cheerilee said. “Does anyone have any questions before Ben before we get started?”

For a moment the silence still hung in the air like a fog. Then nearly all of the hooves belonging to the little schoolfillies shot up and waved around dramatically. All around the room the young ones had their hooves up and were trying their hardest to get their name called. They shook their hooves and called out, some with just grunts and oohs. Others still just bluntly shouted out that their name should be called. But between all the, “Pick me!” cries Ben and Cheerilee heard it was hard to tell who was who. Ben instinctively took a step back. With all the fillies giving their attention to him now the whole room seemed to get a whole lot smaller.

“Well, go on and choose one, Ben,” Cheerilee said with a gesture of her hoof.

A new worry swelled up in Ben as his gazed fell over the little ones once again. His eyes scanned the lot of them. HE found the fillies he was most familiar with first. He knew their was science behind why that is, but he let his eyes pass over Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo wasn't even paying attention.

“Why are we, like, even doing this at all?” A familiar voice called out above all the others. Some of the others actually quieted down and turned to face this filly. Diamond Tiara proudly held her head up high with all her attitude. “We all know he is just going to pick one of the blank flanks. This is pointless.”

He resented that. True, him and the others spent a lot of time around the Mane Six and their families, but that didn't mean that they automatically got chosen. Although Ben had to admit he was probably going to pick one of them anyway. HE was, that is, until he saw a familiar face among the young fillies. He had only met this young one once, but he liked her.

“Excuse me,” Ben said aloud. Immediately all the fillies that were still paying attention turned to face the front of the class and had their attention on Ben. “I believe your hoof is still raised, Starlight Charmer. What is your question?”

The little filly turned red as every pair of eyes turned on her. She sat in the very back row and that seemed to fit her timid nature, but now she was unfortunately thrust into the spotlight.

“Oh, you remembered my name,” She squeaked out first. “I was, um, just wondering if you, uh, knew what we doing today? Miss Cheerilee hasn't told us anything.”

“Excellent question,” Ben said before he turned to Cheerilee. “Miss Cheerilee? Care to share any information on the subject?”

The school teacher pony came out from behind her desk and stood next to Ben. She smiled as she explained to the kids, “We are going on a field trip!”

Ten minutes later and the whole lot of them were off on the start of their grand adventure. Ben wanted to walk with Cheerilee at the front of the class, just to talk to her and get some more information on the are they were going to be visiting today. He was able to get some info, but not much.

“It is a small canyon with several recessed inlets near the bottom,” Cheerilee explained. “In these inlets the students will be able to find and identify many of the crystals and stones that are naturally occurring in the area. Fun!”

“Yeah, sounds real fun,” Ben said. “But isn't also kinda dangerous?”

“Well, it is technically part of the Ghastly Gorge, but this area has been declared an official safe zone by the Mayor, and only after rigorous studies and tests were done. One was even done by Princess Twilight herself.”

“Cool,” Ben said. “Can't wait to get there.” After that his time with Cheerilee came to an end. Slowly, Ben was swallowed up by a small sea of slightly smaller ponies. They surrounded him on all sides with their eyes locked onto him and wide with excitement. It was also kinda creepy.

The see of young ones moved around Ben as one entity. If any one part of them stumbled or fell out of line the emptiness was immediately filled with another, and their empty spot was filled with one from behind them. It was a vicious cycle as each of them tried to claw their way to the front to get as close to the human as they could. And then came to questions, so many questions.

“How did you get here?”

“What's it like being a human?”

“Do you like peas?”

“Who is your favorite pony?”

“What's you favorite color?”

“Why do you wear clothes all the time?”

Ben eyes darted about as he tried to keep track of all the questions he was being bombarded with. Eventually he called out loudly for a moment of silence. That got everyone's attention as even a few passing ponies stopped their conversation as they walked by.

“Don't know. It's interesting. Yes. Not telling. Blue. It's a human thing.” Ben rattled off with not a single breath in between. “Now, does that answer all of your questions?”

“How can you not know how you got here?” Diamond Tiara asked sarcastically.

“I came down in a ball of fire that most ponies mistook for a meteor or a falling star,” Ben stated very matter of factly. “So did Austin and Tessla. As to the how and why that happened? Don't know.”

They all continued on their way. Ben answered all the questions the young ones had as best he could. Sweetie Belle kept trying to pry the answer to who his favorite pony was out of him. But Ben was as sturdy and defiant as a well built castles walls on this and he did not reveal the answer. Before too long Cheerilee announced that they had arrived at the entrance into the canyon. Standing at the entrance with them was a small earth pony.

“Hello, kids,” He said happily, “My name is Rocko. I will be your guide today.”

The class followed Rocko as he lead them down a rough path made of dust rocks and dirt. They went down deep into the earthen crust and emerged into a fantastic, glittering wonderland of brightly colored gems and stones. All around the small canyon floor veins of crystalline gems jutted forth. Seeming like trees there were branches emerging from the sides of the canyon walls. The sun was right above then, making them all shine and glitter like nothing Ben had ever seen before.

“Huh,” Ben exclaimed. “Why doesn't Rarity just get her gems here?”

“Now kids,” Cheerilee called out from ahead of Ben. “These may not be the same quality gems that you would see on one of Rarity's dresses, but they should be more than enough for your assignments. Now, line up please so that I may hand out your assignments.”

“Oh, that's why,” Ben said.

Cheerilee handed out the assignments for all the young students. They all went about trying to get them done as fast as possible. Many of them ended up forming small teams so that they could all help each other out. Ben watched as they all went their ways. His job from this point on was to just watch them and make sure they didn't get hurt or into any trouble. He walked among them and liked what he saw. Each of the little ones were so interested in what they were doing. All of them were very focused on their assignments. Except for a few.

Farther along the canyon were more places to find the gems these fillies needed. He thought he had heard some voices and so Ben glanced over to an alcove in the rock. It was actually quite large, but not nearly big enough to be called a cave. The light shining down from the sun was at the wrong angle to illuminate the area, and so it was filled with shadows. But when Ben peered into the shadowed area he saw three familiar faces.

“Scootaloo, what are you doing?”

Ben walked up to them because he saw something odd. Both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were hanging on to their saddlebags. Each of them were filled with a wide and varied assortment of gems. Surprisingly enough they also had almost all of their assignment sheets done already.

“My sister is Rarity,” Scootaloo said when she saw Ben looking. “I know a thing of two about gems.”

“Okay, but what is she doing?” Ben asked while pointing at Scootaloo. Meanwhile, Scootaloo was much to busy to listen to them. She was doing her own thing. Her flank was high in the air while her head was mostly buried beneath this large rock that made up much of one wall of this large alcove. She was squirming and grunting as she was making an obvious effort for something.

“She dropped a crystal she picked up,” Apple Bloom said. “Now she's tryin' to get it back.”

Ben was about to respond when he noticed something. A very small amount of rock dust had fallen from the ceiling of this place. Ben glanced up to see the rocks in their full detail. What he saw did not make him happy. It actually made his worry greatly. The ceiling wasn't one big slab of rock as he originally thought. IN fact, it was a great many rocks all wedged together and held tight. The boulder Scootaloo was now squirming under seemed to be the one thing keeping this part of the ceiling from caving in.

“Scootaloo, get out of there,” Ben said hurriedly.

“Hang on. I almost got it,” She replied from under the boulder. Her voice was so muffled that he almost couldn't hear her at all. It didn't matter, though, as Ben watched the ceiling above him.

“Scootaloo,” Ben called out louder than before. “Get out of there now!”

An audible thud was heard and the whole place seemed to shake. The rocks of the ceiling shifted violently as it rained down dust and dirt on them. The clinks of rocks hitting one another sounded off.

“Scootaloo!” Ben cried out. He raced to her quickly and planted a hand on her back. Without a word or even a second to respond Ben gripped the filly Pegasus tightly and dragged her out of that hole. He didn't even let go of her as he and the other two quickly exited back out into the sunlight. Ben coughed and coughed as he tried to rid himself of the rock dust that filled his every breath. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were doing the same. After his coughing fit was over he remembered he still had a filly in one hand.

“Scootaloo,” Ben said sternly as held her up by her ass almost. His hand was above his head, but her body hung low so the two of them were pretty much eye to eye. “What the hell is wrong with you?! You could have gotten us all killed in their. Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

Scootaloo looked at Ben. She smiled sheepishly as she held up a hoof. In it was a very beautiful and intricate gem. “I got it,” She said flatly.

“No, you don't,” Ben said as he swiped the gem from her hoof with his free hand. He then lowered her to ground level and released her. She wasn't happy about losing her hard earned gem, but she wasn't about to argue with him for it either.

“Hey, y'all. Come look at this,” Apple Bloom called out from behind them.

Ben looked over his shoulder to see Apple Bloom back in the same spot that they were just nearly crushed in. He sighed heavily as Sweetie Belle was there too. And now Scootaloo was making her way over there. Well, if her couldn't stop them he might as well go with them. Keep them out of trouble as much as possible.

“There's a hole in the wall,” Sweetie Belle said. “I wonder where it goes.”

“Deeper into the Ghastly Gorge, ah bet,” Apple Bloom said. “Let's go on through.”

Apple Bloom took a single step before her path was blocked by a very large human. He looked down at them as his large framed blocked the hole. His was full of disapproval and some shock, but the shock was fading.

“Are you three serious?! You just almost got buried alive and now you want to go gallivanting around in some unknown area of the Ghastly Gorge? Really?”

“Is it just me or does it sound more exciting when he says it” Scootaloo asked somewhat sarcastically. The three young friends laughed until Scootaloo stopped suddenly. “Wait. Do you hear that?”

“Yes,” Ben said seriously. He did hear that. He turned to face toward hole in the rock wall. He made a hand gesture that told the rest of them to be silent. What he had heard before, what Scootaloo heard, they were voices.

===

Zecora stared at the reflection of herself in the mirror. She had almost made it. She was almost out. Out of Ponyville, out of danger, out of this old life. And then he appeared, Tessla. He talked her out of it, somehow. She still doesn't quite understand how he reached her, or why she even agreed to come back him. And yet she was here, staring at her reflection in the tall standing mirror in one of the many empty rooms in Twilight's castle.

Zecora turned sideways and took a long look at her right side in the mirror. “Blast these accursed stripes stripes of mine, betraying me and giving me away just fine.”

“Yep. You were almost out of town, weren't you, Zecora?”

Zecora spun around quickly. Spike stood in the doorway of the room. Zecora never did close it all the way. And the little baby dragon was now giving Zecora a look. There was something about his eyes that gave off more wisdom than he normally implied. Spike took a few steps into the small, sparsely furnished room.

“I overheard the girls talking about it downstairs,” Spike stated, as if reading the mind of the zebra. “You almost left Ponyville for good, eh? Why?”

“Spike, my young dragon friend,” Zecora said with a sigh, “I don't believe you would quite understand.”

“Well, we won't know until you tell me, now will we,” Spike said as he crossed his arms in front of him, his words giving way to that unknown wisdom of his.

“Perhaps my tale should be told to everypony,” Zecora said, “It is a story that is difficult to tell, especially for me.”

“Alright then,” Spike said. “Come on then. I'll take you to them. Only Twilight isn't with them. She went off to Canterlot with Austin.”

“I would have liked for Twilight to hear all that I have seen,” She said as she made her way through the doorway. “But perhaps having the rest of you with me will be all I need.”

Zecora followed Spike through the halls of the castle. It was a short travel from the small room she had down to the main hall of the castle. Spike walked a few feet ahead of her. He stayed quiet as they walked, which made it all the easier for her to hear the voices.

As she walked down the corridor that lead to the main hall, the same chamber with the crystal chairs and the map table, the voices became clear. Zecora recognized them. How could she not? She had heard them a great many times as she lived in and near Ponyville. Five ponies, five mares, five friends. Spike turned on a heel and walked through the doors into that room. Almost immediately the voices died down, and Zecora stopped. She froze in her tracks as her eyes focused on the doors. A few beads of sweat rolled down her face.

She stood there for a small, and seemingly unending, moment. She couldn't move her hooves, as if her legs were made of rubber and were wearing brick shoes. Her voice wouldn't work, she couldn't speak any words even if she wanted to. And as she stood there, with weak knees and a fumbling tongue the doors moved. It was a small shudder as a thin veil of magic surrounded the doors. They were opened from within and Zecora was faced with the five faces of her friends.

“Hello darling,” Rarity said with a kind smile. The glow around her horn faded as she released the magic surrounding the doors.

Zecora wordlessly stepped into the room with her legs wobbly and each step shaky. She fought through each step to hold her head up high, even as she walked to a most uncertain situation.

“No need to fret, darling,” Rarity said. “You aren't in any trouble.”

“All we want is some answers,”Applejack said. “And we got some questions for ya.”

Zecora lowered her head finally, “Yes, I suppose you do desire an explanation, and so I will tell you the story of my damnation.”

===

Luna's eyes passed over the words on the page. Her mind taking in each word as she read it, analyzing it carefully to see if it could be put to use in the current situation. The situation being Austin's predicament with the apparent premonitions of a possible future. Unfortunately, Luna was not having any luck.

“Agh!” Luna exclaimed as she slammed the two sides of the book closed in front of her face. She moved the large tome over to the side of her chair and let if fall onto the rest of the books that lay there. None of them had anything coming close to the answers she was seeking, and her pile of books was a rather large one. It was taller than both Celestia's and Cadance's.

“There are no answers in these books, sister,” Luna said with an increasingly angrier tone, “None of these old tomes, or grimoires, or spellbooks, or anything have any information on what could be plaguing Austin with his visions.”

“There has to be something,” Cadance said with enough hope to maybe convince a foal he could get away with the cookie from the cookie jar, but not enough for any of them. “We just have to find it.”

“And just what will we find, Cadance,” Luna asked, rhetorically, “All our knowledge, gleaned from over a thousand years of watching and learning will do little seeing as how it is all about ponies. Austin is a human, lest you have forgotten.”

“Calm yourself, sister,” Celestia said as she neatly set down a book of her own on an end table.

“I apologize,” Luna replied. “It is just that he is my friend, and I wish to help him. I just wish I knew how to help him.”

“Perhaps we are focusing on the wrong things,” Cadance suggested out loud as she had her eyes focused on the pages of the book in her hooves. She looked up only when she noticed the silence and feeling of eyes on her.

“Explain, Cadance.” Celestia said.

“Well, this book here has a powerful spell in it that could work to help Austin,” Cadance said. “It won't lead us to the source of his premonitions, but it just might lead us to what they mean. That could be helpful.”

Celestia leaned back in her seat to think this over. She had imagined that Luna would be doing the same, but she was not. She was doing something quite different, in fact. Luna sat with her chin high, her body out and smile was slowly slipping onto her face.

“That is it, Sister!” Luna loudly and happily exclaimed as she nearly leaped from her chair. “IF we can find the source of the images Austin sees in his premonitions then perhaps we could sever the connection at that end.”

“Relax, dear sister of mine,” Celestia said with a warm smile. “We haven't even seen this spell that Cadance has found yet. I know you wish to help him, but we must not act prematurely.”

===

Ben listened carefully. The noise made by all those rocks and boulders collapsing was bound to draw some ponies, but not from the other side of this mysterious hole. The collapsing ceiling sent all sorts of debris rumbling and rolling and opened up this hole. So who in the hell was on the other side?

“So, what do w-”

With surprising speed for someone his size Ben quickly brought his hand over Apple Bloom's mouth. He closed it shut and held it that way. She resisted at first but as the voices became louder she stopped struggling against his grip.

Ben strained to hear the voices more clearly. He could tell there were at least two of them, but little else than that. He tried to make out words, but every time he thought he had one the voices would prove him wrong. Was he just too far away? Or were they speaking another language altogether? Ben was so focused on trying to hear the words he almost missed Scootaloo's attempt to sneak up on the voices.

Scootaloo's was slinking along the ground in her best impersonation of a prowling cat. She moved slowly and carefully in the direction of the voices. She would have probably gotten away with it to, if Ben hadn't seen her. After a few seconds of an epic freakout Ben reached forward and just barely got a hold of the tip of the young Pegasus’s tail. She felt a tug behind her and looked back to see him holding her tail. He was also holding up a finger in front of his lips, signaling her to stay silent. Scootaloo glared back at him and attempted to free her tail from his grip. Her attempt was unsuccessful as Ben only tightened his grip on her tail. After that attempt Ben tried one of his own. He took his grip on her tail, and used it to pull her back towards the rest of them. He had more luck than she did as she was forcefully dragged back about six inches.

“What are you doing,” Scootaloo hissed as quietly as she could.

“Stopping you from doing something stupid,” Ben replied equally quiet.

“Let me go!” She struggled to get the words out through strained groans of effort. She was pulling away from Ben's grip and even using her wings to give her a little boost. An unexpected side effect was that she was blowing up dust and dist into Ben's face. He was forced into a small coughing fit as her tail slipped from his grasp.

“No! Scootaloo!” Ben hissed in his right as he moved after her. Scootaloo herself could barely recover after she escaped from his grasp. She shot forward before she knew what was happening and hit the ground in a less than graceful roll.

Luck was on her side in some small part at least, for she stopped just before the edge of a corner that could only lead to the voices they had heard earlier. However, whatever luck she did have didn't last after that. The voices were still there, and now they were coming closer.

Scootaloo stared up at the empty space before her. It was just a small, narrow canyon. The sun was shining down from above, casting long shadows along the wall and floors of the canyon. That was exactly what had Scootaloo frozen, stuck in place while she just stared at what was to come. Two shadows. They were moving. They were coming closer.

Scootaloo couldn't do anything. Every second that passed felt like minutes. Every beat of her heart sounded off in her chest like the beating of a drum. Her mind began to create images, scenarios of what those shadows belonged to, and none of them were good. It was until she felt another harsh pull on her tail that she was brought back to this reality. Her head snapped back around to see Ben standing there along with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Ben raised a hand to his face and held up a single finger in front of his lips. She nodded, and Ben stepped in front of her.

Ben had rushed up after the young, foolish little pony. As he moved up after her, though, he made sure to take with him one of the many small rocks that littered the immediate area. The one he grabbed was a good sized stone about the size of a pony eye. He gripped it tightly as he stood at the verge of being seen around the corner. There Ben stood and he listened. They were close, whoever they were. They were coming this way. He only had once chance to stop them. Ben stepped back a few paces, and he threw that one rock as hard as he could.

The rock, bigger than a pebble and yet smaller than a boulder sailed through the air like, well, a rock. It didn't go very far but then again, it didn't have too. It went a little lower than Ben intended but the effect was the same. The rock hit the canyon wall on the opposite side, away from them. It scraped against the other rocks as it fell back down, creating a miniature rock slide that followed it. It was mostly dust that fell with it. Ben stood there in silence with the three fillies. The shadows stopped moving, and the voices rose up once again. He still couldn't make out anything they were saying, but the tone was clear. He could hear stress in the voices. Whatever it was, it was clear they weren't coming this way anymore and so Ben guided the young ones back with his hands. At least, that was the plan.

Ben motioned for the girls to follow him and he turned around to go back through the hole that was recently created. He made it only a few steps before he saw it. Another shadow, this one from above. He stopped the girls just as the shadow came down from on high. Now Ben was face to face with one of them, so to speak. It had the shape and size of a pony, but it was covered in a large cloak that hid many, if not all, distinguishing features.

“What in the world,” Apple Bloom said as she looked at this strange being.

“What is it?” Sweetie Belle asked. The question wasn't really asked of any one in particular, but it was out there now.

“I don't know,” Scootaloo said, “But it ain't from around here.”

“Quiet, girls,” Ben said authoritatively, “Who are you?” He then asked of the strange figure that stood between them and the hole in the wall. No response. Not even a single small movement that Ben could see. What was more important, however, was what he could hear.

Hoofsteps. Coming up from behind them. The same direction they were trying to avoid. Ben didn't want to take his eyes off this mysterious figure to look that way, but he wanted to see what it was that was coming. He wasn't alone, though, and the girls were his eyes in that direction. The news wasn't good, not that he thought it was going to be.

“Two more, Ben,” Apple Bloom said. “We got two more of these creeps.”

Ben glanced behind just enough to see the two of them. They were dressed the same as the other one. Long, thick cloaks that masked nearly everything about themselves. Who were these guys? Ben was about to find out. In the instant that Ben glanced away the first one sprung up.

It lunged at Ben with amazing speed, running up with a blade it pulled out from under its cloak. Ben saw it just out of the corner of his eye. As quickly as he could Ben turned to face his would be attacker. It leaped up and thrust the blade out at Ben, thinking his size would be his disadvantage. It would be wrong. Ben's size gave him a reach it hadn't accounted for. Ben leaned back as far as he could to avoid the blade and his outstretched hand grabbed onto the things foreleg. Regaining his balance Ben planted a foot firmly behind him, and he turned. Spinning on a heel Ben turned and he threw that thing as hard as he could at the other two. They nimbly dodged their thrown counterpart, who collided with the wall in an impact that caused almost all of them to cringe a little bit. It was alive, as a few groans of pain came from under the cloak.

“That's your first and final warning,” Ben said confidently as he stood up straight. “Leave us alone.”

“Yeah!” Scootaloo blurted out. “What he said. Leave us alone.”

The two figures looked at them for a few seconds before turning to one another. Ben could hear them talking to each other, but it seemed more like a whispering back and forth. He couldn't make any sense of it. It was all just unintelligible gibberish to him. But it would seem they came to a decision because they turned back to him and the girls.

“Bring it down,” They said in unison. Together they both reached under their cloaks and pulled out small, round objects. For some reason Ben knew exactly what these objects were. Or at least, he had some instinctual idea that told him what they might be. And for some reason, his only reaction was to run, to run right toward them.

Startled by this sudden and unexpected move the two strange figures leaped high up and above Ben, clinging to canyon wall before pushing off to land behind him. But once again they underestimated the reach of human. Ben managed to reach up and grab one of their cloaks as they jumped over him. He had stopped and with all his strength pulled. The figure slipped out of his cloak quickly, and skidded to a stop alongside the rubble and debris that littered the area.

“What the hell?” Ben said in surprise. This moment, this single act of surprise was just enough. Both figures threw their objects up, and then they ran. They ran at Ben, but only to get past him. Ben watched as theses two objects, small and round, exploded against the ceiling of the that small cave. It was the only way back to the other ponies. Ben wasted no time as he full on sprinted back.

The ground was shaking, tremors wracked the canyon as if it was almost alive and in pain. Like tears, streams of dust and debris rained down from above. Rocks fell from the canyon walls. Some were as small as pebbles one would kick on the side of the road. Others were the size of carts, and nearly crushed Ben. And yet, Ben didn't much care in those moments. He was solely focused on the three young fillies that were desperately trying to survive the disaster.

Ben dodged a few of the bigger boulders as they came crashing down from above. It was getting harder to see from all the dirt being kicked up into the air. He struggled to find his way, but he to the girls but he had their voices to guide him. Even among the sounds of rocks clashing together like thunder Ben was able to hear their three voices. They called out for help, for each other, for Ben.

“I'm coming,” Ben yelled out as loud as he could, hoping they could hear him.

It wasn't long after that that he found Scootaloo, just seconds really. At lease it seemed like it to him. Must have been minutes to her, maybe longer. She had stepped up away from the other two earlier, and had paid the price for it. A large piece of rock had fallen between them and they were separated. He found found her huddling behind this very same rock. Ben barely even stopped as he scooped her up and ran on.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle managed to find one another and were clinging to each other for dear life. Tears streamed down their young faces as fear took hold in them. They didn't even see him coming. All they knew was in the next moment they were off the ground and moving across the canyon with amazing speed. They looked up to see Scootaloo also in Ben's arms. The three of them all shared a smile. One last smile before darkness, before the black.

===

He froze. He stopped just before the doorway. Austin couldn't even move. Something, something he couldn't quite understand was holding him in place. He had this feeling welling up in his chest, unlike anything he had ever felt before. What was it?

“Austin?” Twilight said, drawing his attention to her, “What is it? What's wrong?”

“I don't know,” Austin replied with a breath. “Just a feeling, I guess. Something's not right.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked of him, “You're starting to worry me, Austin.”

“I'm worrying me, Twilight. “Let's just get this over with.”

Summoning up all the strength he had left Austin lifted his foot up and stepped forward. The doors parted and he stepped into a grand chamber. Twilight was at his side. He wouldn't have it any other way. Austin moved forward into the middle of the room. Before him stood the three other Princess's.

“Good day, Austin,” Celestia said calmly. “I am glad to see you are doing well.”

“That's a debatable point,” Austin replied, “Let's get this done and then we can have that debate.”

“Of course,” Celestia said with a nod before turning to Twilight. “Twilight, you will have to come over here with us. Austin must do this alone.”

“It is just for the spells sake, Twilight,” Luna said. “Any others in his immediate proximity could cause interference with the spells results. So to speak.”

“Understood,” Twilight replied before taking her place among the Princess's.

“Are you ready to begin?” Celestia asked Austin.

Austin didn't reply. He stared at the floor for a moment. His hands curled up nervously curled up and he was rubbing his fingers against his palms. He forced himself to breathe easy as he closed his eyes and turned his head upward. Another moment longer, maybe two. He was never going to be ready for this. He gave Celestia a silent nod to begin, and that was that. It was all he could do to prepare for what was to come.

The room they were in was rather small by castle standards. It was located nearer to the bottom of the castle, closer to the crystal caverns. Twilight guessed that would explain why the room was made entirely of crystal structures. Celestia nodded to Cadance and her horn glowed brightly for a second. The door in which they came in was quickly covered up as a slab of crystal rose up in front of it. It settled into place and match the wall all around. IF Twilight looked away she was certain she wouldn't be able to find it again.

Together, Celestia, Cadance, and Luna all raised their horns. They each let their own magic flow through them freely and into their horns. In the dimly lit room, the radiant light from their horns bounced and reflected off of every crystal surface. Twilight watched as symbols began to appear.

All along the smooth crystal walls symbols were beginning to appear. Arcane symbols, runes, and writings. Magical verses and lines of text. Runic circles and magics with meanings Twilight could barely make out flooded the chamber. It was a glorious sight to behold and she wished she could just sit and study it all for days, but she wasn't here for magic scribblings. She was here for Austin, and her focus turned back to him.

Austin's eyes were closed. He held them shut as tightly as he could, and yet that didn't stop the images from coming. It felt just like one his visions, but there was no pain with this. There was only the sense of emotions. Each image had a different on attached to it. They flashed before him in his mind. At first it was just one image among a dozen, slowly coming into focus before fading back out again. Then they started to come faster, and faster, and faster. He couldn't follow them anymore, he could not keep up.

Austin's eyes snapped open. Although his eyes were no open his unfocused gaze told Twilight he was seeing what she was. Austin could barely hang on to what he had coming into this. Now this, this was going to drive him mad, insane. Worse than Discord and Chrysalis combined. He could feel it. And yet, there was a sense to it all. He could feel some underlying meaning with each image that flashed before him. He recognized a few of the images he saw.

Bloody arm, rocks, the feeling of pain and fear that came screaming with each one. He saw the images of crystals flashing in front of him before they too disappeared. He could feel the power in them. And then came the rage. A dark silhouette, one red eye. An overwhelmingly powerful rage, animal almost. Austin dropped down to his knees and fell forward, slamming his hands down on the crystal floor to hold himself up. He dug his fingers across the floor as these feelings passed through him. And then came something new, an image he hadn't seen before.

An army, a dark army silhouetted against the setting sun. The clashing to two mighty powers. Black and white fighting. A strange mix of emotions he couldn't figure out. What was it? What was coming? And then as quickly as they came those images disappeared as well. And a wave a darkness overcame Austin's mind. Austin fell to the floor and rolled over onto his back. There, he finally saw it. His visions, the images he had been seeing. Pieces, small and insignificant on their own, but put together they form a grander picture. Like a puzzle he could now see the pieces falling into place.

“Twilight, you are needed,” Celestia stated firmly. The three Princess's stopped the spell and Twilight raced over to Austin's side.

“Celestia, what am I supposed to do?” She asked. Twilight stared down at Austin. She gently placed a hoof on his chest. His heartbeat was slow and faint. “Celestia, he's dying!”

“Then give him a reason to live, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said clearly. She stepped up and walked to Twilight. “You care for him in ways no one else does, Twilight. You can bring him back from this. You know how.”

“But- but,” Twilight stammered. She looked down at Austin. His heartbeat was even fainter now, and even slower. “No, Austin. You can't go. You can't leave me.”

“Tell him, Twilight,” Cadance said.

Twilight looked down at Austin. Tears fell from her eyes onto his body. She lay her head down on his chest. She wished to feel the rise of fall of his breathing body again. She wished for him to smile at her again, to show her some unique magic thing he could do. She wished she had told him sooner.

“I love you, Austin,” She said in between her tears. “You can't go, because I love you and I need you here with me.”

Twilight cried into his chest for a moment more. She was draped over his body. The other three Princess's gathered around. Another moment passed. Worry began to spread among them. Was it too late? Luna looked at her sister, tears of her own coming to the surface.

“Ah!” Twilight exclaimed suddenly. She opened her eyes and the tears stopped coming. She listened intently as she lay over Austin's body. Was it what she thought it was? Did she hear it?

“Is he. . .?” Cadance asked, letting the question trail off.

“He's alive,” Twilight said quietly at first. “He's alive!” She joyfully shouted as she lifted her head up and looked down at him with a smile on her face.

At first nothing happened, but then they saw a gentle rise in his chest. He was breathing at least. He turned his head to Twilight and opened his eyes. She smiled and he raised a hand. He ran his hand down her cheek to wipe away a few tears before pulling her in closer to him. He gave Twilight the most passionate kiss he could, one which she returned with passion of her own.

“I love you, too, Twilight Sparkle,” Austin whispered to her after their kiss.

“Is it warm in here or is it just me?” Cadance asked. “Seriously, I am burning up over here.”

“Are you alright, Austin,” Celestia asked.

“You knew this would happen, didn't you?” Austin asked as he climbed off the floor and got up to his feet.

“Every spell has its dangers,” Celestia said with a slight smirk. Austin took that as the Princess's version of neither confirming nor denying anything.

“Whatever,” Austin said. “It's time to go. We have work to do.”