• Published 1st Apr 2016
  • 1,588 Views, 148 Comments

Hoopy's Notebook - Hoopy McGee



A collection of short fiction

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8
 148
 1,588

Trapped in HiE

We clustered together on the far side of the ravine, staring up at the broken castle before us. I knew how this was all supposed to go, of course. I'd seen this episode so many times, I nearly had it memorized. The problem was, I wasn't Twilight Sparkle. Well, aside from physically, I mean. I was really just a human college student who, while studying for her physics final, had suddenly found herself in the body of a specific purple unicorn on the day of the 1000th Summer Sun Celebration.

I'd read fanfictions like this, so I knew what to do. And that was, obviously, to lie to everyone I met, pretend I was actually Twilight Sparkle, and to keep as close as I possibly could to the script, all so that Equestria would be saved in the end. And then hope that, maybe, Princess Celestia would be able to send me back home.

So, I met the Mane 6 one by one, in order, which was awesome. We made our way through the Everfree Forest, which was... less awesome. We managed to get past every obstacle thrown in our path, and now we stood just outside of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters.

Things were going so well, in fact, that I really should have expected that something was about to go horrifically wrong.

It was honest Applejack who started it, of course. Then Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and, finally, Fluttershy. Then five pairs of eyes turned to me, a question evident in their collective gaze.

"So, let me get this straight," I said. "None of us are actually ponies?"

They all nodded.

"Every single one of us was a human yesterday, and somehow became one of the Mane Six today?" I quirked an eyebrow. "And we're all part of the fandom?"

They all nodded. Except for Pinkie Pie.

"I wasn't a human," she said. "I'm actually a member of the Xrrcksh survey team. We're an interplanetary species that has been tasked to subtly observe humanity and help guide their development." She grinned as we stared. "I am a fan of the show, though!" She leaned over and stage-whispered into Rarity's ear, "We get the internet on our mothership!"

I blinked at her. She grinned back.

"O-okay," I said after a moment. "I guess the real question, then, is how are we going to stop—"

I cut off as a purple mist began to swirl around us, eventually coalescing into a an alicorn of pure, malignant darkness. A bitter cold, reminiscent of the void between the stars, billowed out from her as her predatory eyes looked over our little group. We squared off, a wordless agreement passing between us: Win or lose, we were at least going to go down fighting.

We lowered our heads and, as one, began our charge.

"Wait!" the dark alicorn cried out, holding up a hoof. "I'm not actually Nightmare Moon!"

Author's Note:

I don't even know how my own brain works sometimes.