• Published 14th Jan 2017
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Cruel Twist Of Fate or (Friendship Is Tragic) - SapphireWings999



My wife, my friends, I've lost them all. Why did it have to be me? What have I done to deserve this?

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Chapter I: The Surprise Visit

The time was about mid February in the year 2017. It had been almost 2 years since me and my wife, Savannah, had last visited Equestria and, in that time, we had started a happy life together with our young, infant daughter, Ariel. Savannah still worked as a recording artist and I had found work as an author. My works, few though they were, had been published to great success to the point that, with me and Savannah’s combined finances, we were able to purchase our dream home: a large beach house in Old Orchard Beach, ME.

Even with it being the off-season, we would take full advantage of that fact by walking along the beach while carrying our daughter (as she wasn't quite able to walk on her own yet) whenever the opportunity arose. It was nice being able to have the entire beach all to us and us alone. There was a pleasantness to our solitude as we would walk along the sandy shores with nothing but the crashing of waves sounding in the distance. It would give us the perfect opportunity to just take our minds off of the stress of our work schedules or even give us new ideas for future projects.

There were many instances where me and Savannah would collaborate on new songs for her. I would serve as lyricist while she would develop the melodies. Sometimes we would even switch back and forth between the two, but she was far better at melody than I was. I was a writer by nature so lyrics would come more naturally to me and Savannah wasn’t half bad at coming up with lyrics herself. Even though I had pursued a career in music in the past, I had put that dream to bed almost a year ago after several instances of it not working out for me. I had accepted the fact that I wasn’t meant to perform and that my talents were best focused on writing.

At that moment, I was busy writing my latest entry in a series that I was working on. The series was a fantasy project that took strong inspiration from C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles Of Narnia series. Fantasy was one of my favorite genres to write about, second only to Sci-Fi. In fact, one passion project of mine was a Sci-Fi reimagining of Hans Christian Andersen’s original Little Mermaid story. A few years before, I had typed up a very bare-boned first draft that I had always planned to come back to and flesh out later, but I kept on putting it off over and over to the point where I had no idea when I would get around to finishing it. Maybe I would get around to it after this one story I was currently working on?

Anyhoo, I was sitting at my computer in my office, typing up my latest chapter, fueled by soda and my special creative writing playlist on Spotify that always kept the creative juices flowing when the doorbell rang.

“David, can you please get that?” Savannah called out from the back bedroom. “I’m busy changing Ariel.”

“Sure, honey,” I replied as I saved the changes to my work and paused my music.

Getting up out of my chair, I exited my office and walked into the front hallway where I proceeded to open the door. What I never expected was who I would find on the other side of that door. Upon opening it, I was greeted by six girls who appeared to be in their mid to late teens, each one with a different appearance from the other.

The tallest of the group, who was about my height, had long indigo hair with two streaks down the middle, one of them mauve and the other a bright pink. Her build was well-toned. She wore a light blue blouse, a pair of denim jeans, and knee high boots. The second tallest had long, flowing hair of a powdery pink color and she had a fine figure. She wore a white tank top, a skirt, and a pair of green sandals. The next two were of equal height, but with differing appearances. One of them had blonde hair in a ponytail, an Amazonian build with tanned skin and light freckling on her face, and she wore a plain white T, cut-off jeans, brown leather boots, and a Stetson atop her head. The other had violet hair with a very unique shape and form (almost like a sculpture), her build was very much like that of a supermodel, and she wore an Angora sweater, a skirt, and black high heels. Next up was a girl with bright pink hair that was wild and frizzy. She had a little bit of a belly to her, but not that much that it would be noticeable. Her attire was comprised of a white long sleeved shirt with balloons on the front, grey sweatpants, and pink crocs. Finishing off the line up was the shortest of the six. Her hair was edgy and wild with all six colors of the rainbow and she had a lean, athletic build. She wore a jersey, shorts with leggings underneath, and bright red Converse shoes.

Seeing this unusual group of girls at my doorstep left me slightly confused and speechless for a moment. The several duffle bags they had with them only added to the confusion. Did they know me? Where had they come from? Were they planning on staying here? Finally, after several seconds, I spoke up.

“Can Ah help ya ladies?” I asked with the ever familiar Southern twang in my voice.

The second tallest member of the party replied after a few seconds of silence.

“Don’t you recognize us, David?” she questioned in a soft, quiet voice.

Upon hearing that voice, my eyes shot open wide in shock. I recognized the tone and was sure that I now knew who these six were.

“Wait a minute,” I replied as I looked at the first girl who spoke. “Fluttershy?”

She gave me a meek smile before nodding. I then turned my attention to the shortest girl.

“Rainbow Dash?”

She replied with a fist pump. Looking at the tallest of the girls, I continued.

“Twilight?”

She smiled and nodded similarly to how Fluttershy had. The girl with the wild, cotton candy-like hair was next.

“Pinkie Pie?”

She hopped up and down in place. My focus drifted to the girl with the supermodel build.

“Rarity?”

She smiled while raising a hand to give her hair a flip in response. Finally, there was the cowgirl.

“Applejack?”

She smiled and tipped her Stetson. With all of them accounted for, my eyes grew even wider as a smile shot across my face.

“Holy crap!!! It’s so great ta see you guys!!! How’re y’all doing?!? What’s been happenin’ lately?!? How’d y’all get here?!?” I started blabbering on and on as I was overrun with excitement and enthusiasm at seeing my old friends again.

“Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa!!!” Pinkie started. “Calm down, Davey. No need to get all loco in the cocoa. Just give us a minute to answer.”

“We’re all doing great,” Twilight spoke up.

“There’s been too much going on since we last saw you, darling,” Rarity followed up.

“And Discord helped us get here by opening up a portal into your world,” Fluttershy finished, softly.

I soon realized that they were still standing outside as the chilly air blew inside before I spoke up.

“Where are ma manners? Please come in. Come come.”

“It’s really great to see you again too, twin!” Rainbow Dash replied enthusiastically as the two of us shared a fistbump upon everyone entering.

The six of them then followed me into the living room where I directed them to the couches to sit.

“Feel free ta take off yer shoes ‘n jus drop yer bags anywhere,” I added as they made themselves comfortable.

“Finally, I can take these dreadful things off,” Rarity answered as she quickly removed her high heels. “I don’t understand how anypony could be expected to walk around in these. Fashion shouldn’t have to be this painful.”

I couldn’t help but smile at her comment. It was in that moment that a thought crossed my mind.

“Where did ya guys even get those clothes from?”

“Discord,” Applejack responded. “He jus snapped his eagle talons ‘n there they were.”

“They were kind of oversized on us when we were ponies, but he convinced us that they’d fit better when we turned human,” Rainbow stated. "There's even some extra clothes in our bags, but not much."

Suddenly, Rarity gasped.

“Sweet mother of Celestia! David, I just realized you shaved your mustache.”

The rest of the girls looked at me and saw that this was true.

“Yeah. Ah shaved it off a little over a year ago,” I replied. “It was jus gettin too hard fer me ta maintain.”

“It’s such a shame. I thought that it made you look very sophisticated and proper. Not that there’s anything wrong with the way you look now, of course. The mustache was just a nice touch.”

“Who was at the door, David?” Savannah asked as she walked in with Ariel on her hip.

Upon entering, she was stunned to see all of our friends from Equestria right there in our living room. Unlike me, though, she seemed to recognize them at first glance.

“Applejack? Fluttershy? Pinkie? Rarity? Rainbow Dash? Twilight? How did you guys get here?!?” she questioned, a mixture of surprise and elation in her tone.

“Discord opened a portal ta our world fer them ta come through,” I explained. “What Ah never got ta ask though is why did y'all come here?”

“Because we missed you guys, silly!” Pinkie piped up. “It had been a long time since we’d last seen you two so, instead of waiting for you guys to come back, we decided to go right to you guys.”

“Who’s running Ponyville though if Twilight is here and where’s Spike?” Savannah puzzled.

“A new friend of ours named Starlight Glimmer is keeping things in check in my absence,” Twilight answered back, “and Spike, unfortunately, wasn’t able to make it. He’s had enough dimension-jumping for a while after the past few times so I let him sit this one out.”

“Excuse me. I don’t mean to interrupt,” Fluttershy started, “but who’s that little one you have with you, Savannah?”

“Oh right,” Savannah realized. “Everyone, I’d like to introduce you all to our little firstborn daughter, Ariel.”

“Aww!!!” Rarity reacted. “The little darling looks absolutely adorable!”

“Ah’ll say she does,” AJ agreed. “Her hair’s redder than an apple in tha afternoon sun.”

“She makes me think of my own little niece, Flurry Heart, back home,” Twilight answered with a smile.

“Excuse me,” Pinkie spoke up desperately with her legs crossed, “but does anypony know where the little filly’s room is?”

“Down the hall, first door on the right,” Savannah answered. “There’s also two more upstairs if any of you need them.”

“Thanks,” Pinkie replied as she got up to relieve herself.

“So were you guys planning on staying here and, if so, how long for? Not that there would be a problem with that,” Savannah quickly added.

“Well, we were hoping to be able to stay here for at least a month,” Twilight answered. “I’m particularly interested in learning more about human culture here and I figured a month would be long enough to at least get a feel for it. I get the feeling that human culture might be different here than it was in that alternate dimension me and Spike travelled to in the past.”

“Well there certainly are a few differences,” I replied, “but, fer tha most part, many things are similar like our technology ‘n even some of our architecture.”

“You guys would probably be interested in our world’s various forms of entertainment from movies to TV Shows to video games,” Savannah continued, “maybe even getting to see the show based off of your various escapades.”

“That all sounds like it might be interesting,” Fluttershy spoke up, “especially that last one, but… what are movies and TV Shows?”

It took me a little while to come up with a proper answer.

“Umm… they’re kinda like… movin images… with sound. It’s hard ta explain. Ah guess ya’d have ta see fer yerselves.”

At that moment, Ariel let out a very soft, yet still noticeable, yawn.

“Oh. Looks like it’s time for someone’s nap,” Savannah stated as she started to bring her back to our bedroom.

As Savannah was putting our daughter down for the afternoon, I tried to make sure that the girls felt comfortable at our home by attending to any needs they might have.

“So do ya guys want anythin ta eat or drink? We’ve got plenty o’ stuff in tha fridge.”

“No thanks,” Twilight answered, politely. “We actually ate before we left Ponyville.”

“Well if ya guys ever want anythin, feel free ta help yerselves ta whatever. Make yerselves at home.”

“Thank you, darling,” Rarity replied with a smile. “It’s very much appreciated.”

It wasn’t long afterwards that Pinkie came back from the bathroom.

“Hey, everypony. What did I miss?” she asked.

“Not much, Sugarcube,” Applejack remarked.

“So how do ya guys plan on gettin back ta Ponyville when yer all done here?” I questioned.

“Well,” Fluttershy started, “Discord gave me this enchanted amulet.”

She then pulled a necklace out from under her shirt with a beautiful, hexagonal charm that appeared to be carved from brilliant Azotic Topaz before continuing.

“He said that, whenever we’re ready to go back, I just have to rub the amulet with my finger in a circular motion three times and he’d have us transported back to Ponyville.”

“Interesting,” I replied.

I must admit that I was having some mixed feelings regarding Discord’s involvement in this situation. On the one hand, I was pretty happy that he'd made it possible for the girls to come here into the real world for a visit. It had been about two years since I had last visited them in Equestria and I'll admit that I missed them pretty badly as of late. But, on the other hand, I had a difficult time trusting Discord.

Now don't get the wrong idea here. I didn't hate Discord. I enjoyed him as the villain in the Season 2 Premiere and thought that he continued to be an interesting and even funny character after his reformation, but, with that said, there had always been one problem that bothered me about him for the longest time: his betrayal.

When he betrayed the entire pony race to Lord Tirek in the Season 4 Finale, I was naturally upset about it, but bringing Fluttershy to tears the way he did was practically unforgivable. I guess I took it even more personally when I discovered that I had pony ancestry my first time in Equestria. Much more than any normal person would.

In my opinion, after betraying everypony like that, Discord should've had to work to earn their trust back, but, strangely enough, they seemed to be a bit too forgiving of him. This was a major, life threatening, and even kind of asshole crime that he'd committed and yet they all treated it like he'd spilled milk on their tablecloth or something. I'd never gotten the chance to see Discord the previous times I'd visited Equestria and, if I were ever to go back there in the future, I wasn't too eager to run into him. If Discord were ever to get back into my good graces again, he'd have to work hard to earn my trust. This was a start, but I'm not as easily bought back as some. I was taken out of my thoughts by Pinkie’s voice.

“I’m sorry, but what is that box over there?”

I looked to where she was pointing and realized that she was pointing at the TV. Before I could answer, though, Twilight answered for me.

“That’s called a TV, Pinkie. I came across one in the alternate dimension me and Spike visited.”

“What does it do?” Rainbow Dash puzzled.

“Ah’ll show you,” I answered back.

Walking over to the coffee table, I picked up the remote control that was sitting there and turned the TV on.

“It’s TVs that allow us ta watch movies ‘n TV Shows,” I explained. “Ya can even play video games on em.”

As the TV turned on to Cartoon Network, an episode of The Amazing World Of Gumball came onscreen. I swiftly recognized it as the episode, “The Job”, where Gumball’s dad got a job, resulting in the fabric of reality collapsing. Most of the girls seemed fascinated by the TV, except for Twilight, which I could only figure was because she already knew about TV so the novelty of it had worn off for her.

“Wow!” Pinkie spoke in amazement.

“'N it doesn’t even hafta be this one channel,” I stated.

“Wait. You mean there’s more?!?” Rainbow Dash asked in disbelief.

“Oh yeah!” I answered back with a smile on my face.

I then proceeded to flip the switch on my remote repetitively, causing the TV to flip from one channel to another in an endless cascade of images and audio.

“Numerous channels,” I stated, “all with an endless quantity o’ shows ‘n movies.”

“It’s almost like a magic mirror,” Rarity replied.

“Yeah. Ah guess ya could think of it like that. Tha funny thing is that we didn’t always have as many channels as we do now. Back long before ma time, there used ta be only two or three channels.”

“Really?!?” Fluttershy asked, surprise evident in her tone.

“Oh yeah. There used ta be this one show called tha ‘Ed Sullivan Show’. Basically, anyone who was anyone would be on that show. Only tha biggest name celebrities performed there. Nowadays, though, ya can find celebrities on jus ‘bout any late night talk show.”

“Wow!” Pinkie marvelled.

It wasn’t long after that that Savannah came walking in from the back.

“O.K. So Ariel’s down for the afternoon,” she spoke up. “What did you girls want to do?”

“Honestly,” Twilight started, “I’m pretty much up for anything.”

“Well, David, maybe you’d like to take the girls out and show them around the area?”

“Yeah, Ah guess so,” I replied. “Ya guys ever been to a beach before?”

“Personally,” Dash answered, “I haven’t been to one in a long while.”

“Then what’re we waitin’ fer?”

“Nothing,” Pinkie piped up. “Let’s go.”

“Does this mean I’m going to have to put on these dreadful things again?” Rarity asked, holding up her high heels.

“Not really,” I replied with a chuckle. “In all honesty, high heels like those aren’t really beach material. Ya can prob'ly jus walk barefoot.”

“Phew. That’s a relief.”

“I’ll stay here in case Ariel needs me,” Savannah stated. “You guys have fun.”

And with that, me and the girls were out the door, headed to the beach.

* * * * * * * *

As it was still well into winter, the girls grabbed several coats from their duffel bags before we headed out to the beach. I decided not to wear my coat as I welcomed the cold. Besides, it wasn’t like it was snowing (though, even then, I probably still wouldn’t wear one). There wasn’t any snow on the ground either meaning that it was perfectly fine for us to walk around with or without footwear.

“Ah’m sorry that ya guys came here durin’ tha off-season,” I stated as we walked along the shoreline. “It’s usually much more busy in summer.”

“Oh, I’m perfectly fine with it just like this,” Fluttershy answered back. “It’s actually far more peaceful this way.”

“Glad ya like it, Flutters,” I replied with a smile.

She smiled back as we continued along with nothing but the crashing of waves to break the silence.

“It’s soo beautiful,” Twilight spoke up. “I can see why you guys like it here.”

“Yup. This was ma family’s favorite vacation spot since we first came up here almost six years ago. Savannah came up here with us ‘n we fell in love with tha place relatively easily.”

“What’s that?” Rainbow puzzled, pointing straight ahead.

As I looked in the direction of her pointing, I saw the pier about a few hundred feet before us.

“That’s tha pier, Rainbow. Durin tha summer, tha restaurants, stores, ‘n bars are open. Ah used ta make a habit o’ hittin up tha bar ta do some Karaoke on tha nights when they’d have it.”

“What’s ‘Karaoke’?” AJ asked.

“Well Karaoke is basically a song that ya play, but it doesn’t have any vocals ta it. Ya hafta sing tha song yerself as tha words come up on tha screen.”

“Like a sing-along?” Pinkie questioned.

“Yeah Ah guess ya could think of it like that. You guys would probably enjoy it if ya knew any songs from around here.”

“I prefer ad-libbing. You know, making it up as I go along, that kind of thing.”

“Ah’m sure ya would, Pinkie.”

“All of us do it quite regularly, darling,” Rarity replied.

“All accept for me,” Rainbow stated, “at least for the most part.”

A good while later, we reached the pier and the girls stood in awe at how tall it was before Rainbow commented.

"What I wouldn't give to have my wings right now. I could've made it to here in 10 seconds flat. I don't know how you humans can stand it having to walk everywhere."

I smiled at Rainbow's remark before Fluttershy spoke up about the pier.

“Would we be able to go out onto it?”

“Unfortunately, no,” I answered. “Tha whole thing is shut down fer tha season til summer starts back up. Ah remember one time when ma family came up here in early summer ‘n they weren’t startin Karaoke til tha day we were leavin. Then, when we came back later in tha year, they had it shut down fer tha season. That was frustratin’.”

“Ah’ll bet,” AJ agreed.

It was then that I was struck with an idea.

“How ‘bout Ah show ya guys some o’ tha stores ‘round here. Ah mean, they’re not open, but they might still be interestin fer ya guys ta see at least.”

“Why that sounds wonderful,” Rarity replied.

“I agree,” Twilight affirmed.

The rest of the girls voiced their approval also.

“Then it’s settled. Let’s check out tha shops,” I stated.

And so we made our way along the bricked sidewalks, taking in the countless shops that lined Old Orchard Street. The first store we came across was Dickinson’s Candy Shop. Not surprisingly, this store caught Pinkie’s eye almost immediately.

“Oooo!!!” she beamed at the sight of the store.

“Ah figured that store might interest ya, Pinkie,” I laughed. “This store was actually a favorite o’ me ‘n ma family whenever we came up. They have countless types o’ candy, includin candies from even before ma time. This store has a pretty high nostalgia factor fer many of us. The employees there would even let us have a free sample o’ taffy and fudge with ev’ry visit.”

“I wish even more that this store was actually open,” Pinkie sighed with disappointment evident in her voice.

“Well tha good news is that it’ll be open in ‘bout a month from now ‘n they actually have two locations, tha other one just up a ways from here. Ah do promise ya this, we will get a chance ta go there before y’all head back ta Equestria.”

“Aww. Thanks, Davey. You’re the best.”

“Yer welcome,” I replied with a smile.

A little ways further up, we passed Pier French Fries.

“Oh look,” Rainbow spoke up, “this place sells Hay Fries.”

“Actually, Rainbow, they sell French Fries.”

“What’s the difference?”

“Well, Hay Fries are made from hay whereas French Fries are sliced-up potatoes that are fried up til they’re tender.”

“Potatoes? Huh. Who’d’ve thought it?” AJ remarked.

“Yeah. Ya can jus ‘bout find ‘em at any fast food joint in tha country.”

At that moment, a car came driving right by us. This was certainly a new sight for most of the girls.

“What in the name of Celestia is that?!?” Rarity questioned, awestruck at the sight.

“That’s called a car,” I explained. “They’re special vehicles that people use ta get from place ta place. They’re almost like yer carriages back in Equestria ‘cept that cars don’t need ta be pulled by anypony.”

“Why doesn’t anypony just use a train?”

“Some people do, but cars are more convenient ‘n less expensive.”

It was then that Twilight noticed the Wholesale Books store just across the street.

“Now there’s a place I know all about!” she stated, enthusiastically.

“Ahh yes. Wholesale Books,” I remarked. “Ah’ve been there plenty o’ times maself in tha past ‘n Ah’ve bought quite a few books from there in that time.”

“Really? What kind of books do you like to read?”

“Well, fer tha mos part, Ah’m really inta Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Thriller, sometimes Horror, that sorta thing, but, if it’s written well, Ah do enjoy the occasional Romance. Unfortunately, Ah have a hard time findin any decent books in tha latter category. Most of it is jus really crappy stuff like Twilight.”

“Hey!!!” Twilight protested, sounding offended at me.

“Oh no Ah wasn’t talkin ‘bout you, Twi,” I quickly replied. “Ah was talkin ‘bout this book series known as tha ‘Twilight Saga’. It was a series o' books that got really popular with teen girls ‘n adult women, centerin ‘round vampires ‘n werewolves.”

“Really?” Rainbow Dash puzzled. “That doesn’t sound so bad. It actually sounds like it might be interesting.”

“You’d think so wouldn’t ya? But tha story ‘n characters are so bland that it’s insufferable ‘n tha stuff the author makes up ‘bout vampires ‘n werewolves is unforgivable. Savannah already read tha books at tha urgin of her friends ‘n not even she liked 'em. Not ta mention that it also inspired one o’ tha mos horrendous pieces o’ smut ever ta be published. Seriously, it’s shit.”

“Oh come now, David,” Rarity answered. “I’m sure it can’t be all that bad.”

“Trus me. It is. Numerous people have made fun o' how terribly written it is. What’s even worse was that tha series was inspired by Twilight Saga fanfiction ‘n tha writin’ shows. How this even got published is beyond me. Even talkin ‘bout it makes me feel sick.”

“O.K.,” Twilight replied, “what would you say one of your favorite book series’ is?”

“Well, one series Ah got into a couple years ago was known as tha ‘WaterFire Saga’. Like tha ‘Twilight Saga’, this series was a tetralogy, or four book series. Unlike tha ‘Twilight Saga’, though, this series was much better written. It centers around these six kingdoms of Merpeople, which are like humans 'cept they have a fish tail as their lower half ‘n they live in tha ocean. Anyhoo, it focuses on these six kingdoms of Merpeople scattered across tha seas, more specifically, six Mermaids from each kingdom, descended from powerful mages, who set off on a journey ta prevent a powerful villain from unleashin a monster that will bring about tha end o’ tha world.”

“Wow. That sounds really fascinating,” Fluttershy spoke up.

“If any of y’all are interested, Ah’ve got all tha books back home. Tha last one came out almost a year ago. Tha books in order are ‘Deep Blue’, ‘Rogue Wave’, ‘Dark Tide’, ‘n ‘Sea Spell’.”

“I’d be very interested in checking them out if they’re as good as you say they are,” Twilight stated.

“Ah’m sure ya’ll enjoy ‘em.”

The next store that we came across was the Dy-No-Mite Boutique, which Rarity immediately showed interest in.

“Oh my stars!!!” she beamed. “I soo wish that this store were open. I would love to know what sort of fashions people around here wear.”

“There are actually quite a few clothin stores ‘round here, Rare. A lot of ‘em mostly sell summer wear, though. Thankfully, these aren’t tha only clothin stores in tha area. If you wanted, sometime soon, Ah could take ya ta Wal-Mart.”

“What’s Wal-Mart?”

“One o’ tha biggest retail stores in tha country. Every state has at least one.”

“Oh yes. I’d very much appreciate that. At least I’ll be able to buy some decent hoof- I mean… ‘footwear’ besides those ghastly things I had to suffer through earlier.”

“Yeah. Ah’m sure that’ll be ni-wait. Buy? Do ya guys even have money?”

“Yup,” AJ answered. “Discord provided us with plenty o’ money fer tha nex month or so. Ah gotta admit, though, that we were pretty surprised that you humans use paper as money.”

“Ah can see how that might be strange fer ya guys when ya only use coins back in Equestria. That bein said, we Americans use coins also, but they don’t have nearly as much value ta ‘em. Different countries round tha world use different forms o' currency.”

“Well maybe you can educate us on that at a later time,” Dash cut in, “but, for now, let’s just see more of the stores.”

“Will do, Dash.”

As we continued along our way, we passed by the 925 Silver Shop, St. Tropez, and Beachology, the latter of which I stopped for a brief moment upon having passed.

“Why did we stop?” Fluttershy questioned.

“Cuz Ah wanted ta show ya guys somethin,” I stated, motioning with my right hand. “Follow me.”

I then led them down a small back alleyway between Beachology and Craftology. After a very brief walk, we made it to the Beach Villa Motel.

“This is where me ‘n ma family stayed at our first time up here ‘n ev'ry other time since.”

“Well this certainly looks quaint and homey,” Rarity remarked.

“It certainly does,” Twilight agreed.

“This place gets most of its business durin tha summer obviously,” I continued, “but they’re also open durin late spring ‘n early fall. Durin those periods, they have really great off-season deals. Ma family’s taken advantage o’ that on more than one occasion.”

“I can understand why,” Rainbow replied. “I mean, it must hardly take you any time to get to the beach from here.”

“Oh yeah. Definitely.”

It was then that I looked at my watch and realized how late it was getting.

“Oh look at tha time. We should probably be headin back now.”

And so we started the long walk back home, all the while talking about what had been going on in Ponyville since the last time me and Savannah were there. Even though I already knew about what had been going on there from watching the show, it was nice to hear my friends give their own accounts of what had transpired. That and I was just glad to be reunited with them after almost two years without them. We continued talking the rest of the way back without a care in the world, never feeling more happier before than we did in that moment.

* * * * * * * *

“…And, sure enough, in spite of a few minor hiccups, Rarity For You was a smashing success,” Rarity finished, recounting the opening of her boutique in Manehattan as we reached home.

“That’s great ta hear, Rare,” I answered. “That must’ve been a pretty big moment fer ya.”

“Oh it was. Of course, I never would’ve been able to do it all on my own.”

“We were more than happy to help,” Fluttershy affirmed.

“Definitely,” Dash replied.

“Absotively,” Pinkie agreed.

As I opened the door, a strong, meaty aroma came wafting out. The girls were quick to notice it also.

“What is that smell?” Twilight asked.

“Ah almost forgot,” I started, “Savannah put Italian Meatloaf in tha oven before ya guys came here.”

“Sure smells good,” AJ stated.

“It is.”

Suddenly, a realization hit me.

“Ah jus realized that ya guys can’t eat meat.”

“What?” Twilight questioned. “Why?”

“Cuz, with you guys bein ponies, yer all herbivores.”

After a moment of silence, all six of them burst out laughing. Obviously, I was very confused by this reaction.

“What? What’d Ah say?”

“I’m sorry, David,” Rainbow answered once she stopped laughing, “but we just found it kind of funny how little you know about ponies.”

“Whataya mean by that?”

“We are herbivores,” Twilight began, “but, every once in awhile, we can eat a little meat and suffer no ill effects. It’s actually quite a necessary source of protein. What it all comes down to is a simple matter of moderation.”

“Really?”

“Mmhmm,” Fluttershy stated, plainly. “Even I know that it’s necessary for some animals to eat other animals in order to survive. It’s just how things are.”

“Oh,” I replied with an embarrassed blush on my face. “Ah can honestly say Ah never knew that before.”

“It’s O.K., bud,” Rainbow replied as she put an arm around my shoulder. “We wouldn’t expect you to know everything about us. You’ve hardly been in Equestria long enough to even know that much about our customs.”

“Ah ‘preciate that, Dash,” I answered with a smile.

We then made our way into the kitchen where Savannah was slicing up the meatloaf while Ariel was seated in her highchair with Cheerios. Savannah quickly noticed us entering.

“Oh hey,” she greeted warmly. “You guys came here just in time. I was just now dishing up dinner for us.”

“It smells awesome, Savannah,” Rainbow Dash replied.

“Here, ma love. Let me help ya out with getting everyone’s plates ready,” I stated as I came around to help her.

“Thanks, David,” Savannah answered with a smile. “I really appreciate that.”

Before long, we had plates dished up for everyone there as we all gathered around the kitchen table.

“Would you like to lead us in prayer, David?” Savannah asked.

“Sure,” I replied. “Let’s all close our eyes n pray.”

I realized that this was most likely a custom that none of our company was familiar with, but all of them were still respectful and closed their eyes along with us as I began praying.

“Lord, we thank ya fer providin this food fer us 'n even fer allowin our friends ta be here with us after such a long period. We pray that ya’d use this food ta nourish us 'n also that ya’d bless our time with our friends in tha coming weeks. In Jesus' name, Amen.”

With the prayer over, a few of our friends were quick to inquire about it.

“Who was this directed towards?” Fluttershy asked.

“It was directed towards God,” Savannah stated. “He’s the one who created everything here and we pray to him as a way of thanking him for what he’s provided us with and even to bring concerns before him that might be troubling us.”

“He’s an immortal deity much like yer own princesses, Celestia 'n Luna,” I stated.

“Well none of us have ever considered Celestia or Luna as deities,” Twilight explained. “We’ve just seen them as rulers.”

“Have you ever seen God before?” Rainbow questioned, before taking a bite of meatloaf.

“Ah haven’t,” I replied. “No one has cause seein him would be like lookin straight inta 1,000 suns. With that said, there are those who’ve witnessed his works. Many of em from several millennia ago with all accounts written in a book called The Bible.”

“The Bible?” Pinkie puzzled after swallowing a mouthful of meatloaf.

“Yup,” Savannah answered. “Something worth mentioning about it is that it wasn’t just written by one person. It was written by several people over the ages.”

“We can talk more bout it later if y’all are interested,” I stated.

“Thanks fer that, Sugarcube. Ah might jus take ya up on that,” Applejack replied before turning to Savannah. “This is really good meatloaf.”

“Thanks,” Savannah answered. “I actually got the recipe from David’s family. It’s one of their favorite dishes.”

“Ma family ‘specially loves pairin it with some garlic mashed potatoes,” I followed up.

“So how old is Ariel?” Fluttershy questioned.

“She’s a little over a year by this point. She hasn’t quite started walkin yet, but maybe she’ll start while you guys are here.”

“How is it that she hasn’t started walking?” Rarity puzzled. “Most foals in Equestria start walking shortly after birth.”

“Well that’s one of the differences between ponies and humans,” Savannah replied. “Human babies just take a little bit longer to learn how to walk.”

Before long, we had all finished dinner.

“Anypony want seconds?” I offered.

“No thanks. It was delicious,” Twilight politely declined.

“Where would you like us to put our dishes?” Fluttershy asked.

“You can just put them in the dishwasher over there,” Savannah pointed. “You just pull the handle on the door and put it on one of the racks.”

All of us then brought our dishes over to the dishwasher and loaded them inside. Twilight seemed particularly fascinated by the appliance.

“So this machine actually washes dishes for you rather than you having to wash them out by hoof?”

“Yup,” I replied. “Jus one o' many great inventions.”

I then walked over to Ariel’s high chair and picked her up out of it, carrying her into the living room with my friends following close behind. Setting her down on the floor, I walked over towards the coffee table where I pulled out a bin of some of her toys and dumped them out on the floor. The girls watched as she picked up one of her toy rings and started teething on it.

“Aww! Look at her,” Fluttershy smiled, softly. “She’s so adorable.”

“She reminds me so much of Sweetie Belle when she was born,” Rarity added.

“It always seems like she’s growin more 'n more with ev'ry day that passes by,” I stated.

“Ah’ve definitely felt tha same thing regardin Apple Bloom,” Applejack agreed. “It seems like jus yesterday she was born then Ah blinked 'n now she’s finally got her Cutie Mark. They jus grow up so darn fast.”

“That they do,” Savannah replied as she entered the living room.

Suddenly, I was hit with a thought.

“Ah jus realized somethin.”

“What’s that Davey?” Pinkie questioned.

“You guys are gonna need different names while yer here.”

“Why’s that?” Fluttershy puzzled.

“It’s jus that… yer names aren’t exactly… normal in this world. If we were ta go out 'n you guys used yer real names, it could be dangerous ta yer safety.”

“Oh my!” Rarity exclaimed. “I’d never thought of it that way.”

“So what kind of names were you thinking of?” Rainbow asked.

“Well, Rainbow, Ah was thinkin that you could be Robin Douglas, Twilight could be Tai Saito, Applejack could be Anne Smith, Rarity could be Rosylin Montgomery, Fluttershy could be Faith Summers, 'n Pinkie could be Polly Parks. Whataya guys think?”

“Well…,” Twilight began, “it would definitely take some getting used to, but I think we could manage to pull it off, if only for the next few weeks.”

“But we might need them to be written down so we can memorize them,” Rainbow added, “just to be on the safe side.”

“That’s perfectly understandable,” Savannah replied. “Let me just grab a pen and paper.”

“Ah’ll do it, Savannah,” I stated as I got up and headed to my office.

Grabbing a piece of paper from my printer and a pen from my desk, I brought them back into the living room. I then ripped the paper into six separate strips before writing the names down on each one and handing them to the girls. After each of them looked at their slips, they placed them in their pockets.

“Ah understand that it might take some time fer y’all ta remember them, but they’ll be there fer you ta refer to should any o' ya forget.”

“We’ll take care to learn them as quickly as we can,” Twilight affirmed.

The rest of the girls chimed in with their approval also. Ariel then let out a soft, yet still noticeable, yawn.

“Looks like someone’s ready ta call it a night,” I stated as I picked my daughter up before turning to Savannah. “Ah’ll get her all settled fer bed.”

Savannah nodded as I brought Ariel into our bedroom. After changing her, I laid her softly into her crib while humming a soft, soothing tune. Before long, she was fast asleep and I slowly crept out of our room into the living room, careful not to disturb her. Once I was back in the living room, I turned my attention back to our friends, speaking up.

“So, whataya guys wanna do now?”

“I dunno,” Rainbow answered.

“I’ve got an idea!” Savannah beamed. “Why don’t you show them some of those old animated Disney movies we have?”

“Disney?” Fluttershy puzzled.

“Disney is one o' tha mos famous companies in tha world,” I explained as I made my way over to the rack that held our vast movie collection. “They’ve made some o' tha greatest movies ever fer several decades now startin back in tha late 30s with Snow White And The Seven Dwarves.”

“Why don’t we start with that one then, darling?” Rarity suggested. “We could just go through them in the order that they were released.”

“That’s what Ah was thinkin, Rare. Then, after that, we can watch Pinocchio.”

Grabbing the movie from the shelf, I turned the TV on, set it to the proper channel, popped the movie in my PS4, and took a seat on the couch. As we settled in to watch the movie, I drank this moment in, enjoying the company of my friends who I’d gone so long without seeing. I was sure that these next few weeks would be some of the best I ever had. Nothing could ruin this moment.

Author's Note:

Well here it is. The long awaited continuation of the "Guardian Of Equestria" saga. It's been almost a year and 4 months since I published the final chapter of my last entry and I again apologize for how long it's taken, but I hope that you guys will enjoy this new chapter and the chapters to follow and I thank you guys for sticking with me for as long as you have. With that said, anyone notice the references to the Mane Six's real world alter egos? I'm also trying something a little different with this story as it's more of a slice of life/tragedy set in the real world when compared to the more action oriented stories I did previously that were set in Equestria. Again, I hope you guys enjoy this, leave a comment below with your thoughts, thumbs up or favorite this story if you enjoy it, and I'll see you guys on the next chapter hopefully.

The Amazing World Of Gumball is property of Cartoon Network and Ben Bocquelet.

Deep Blue, Rogue Wave, Dark Tide, and Sea Spell are property of Jennifer Donnelly and Disney Hyperion.