Five friends marched single file into the forest, leaving their cars behind. None of the five thought for a moment that they’d never seen their cars and homes again. They had no reason to think that this trip would be any different.
Five friends marched single file into the forest, leaving their cars behind. None of the five thought for a moment that they’d never seen their cars and homes again. They had no reason to think that this trip would be any different.
Alternate Universe because the events in this story take place before, during, and after Magical Mystery Cure.
At the head of a trail, two cars came to a stop in a parking lot. The lot was more of a dirt opening in a forest that was fed by a road that itself was a trail wide enough for cars. The cars were surrounded for in a slightly dense covering of trees that stretched for miles in every direction, each ones leaves turning vibrant shades of red, orange and yellow. The landscape under the trees was rolling hills that gradually climbed higher and higher until the trees changed to pine and were covered in an early snow before stopping altogether, leaving the tops of distant mountains covered in barren rock and snow. The occupants of the two cars pulled themselves out and met at the head of the trail, hugging and chatting excitedly. None of them were over the age of twenty-five, currently in the prime of youth and vibrant. After a minute of talking, they began to head back to the cars and pull hiking packs, gun bags, and coats from the backs. Clad in their gear and rifles over their shoulders, the five met back at the head of the trail and checked their packs for supplies and tents. Finding everything to be there, the five friends marched single file into the forest, leaving their cars behind. None of the five thought for a moment that they’d never seen their cars and homes again. They had no reason to think that this trip would be any different from any other hunting trip they’d gone on before, but this trip would lead them on the greatest adventure of their lives.
“Oy, Marcus!” shouted a feminine voice from the middle of the line.
The man from the front replied in a sarcastic tone, not bothering to look behind him “What is it Taylor? Forget your sleeping bag again?”
The woman rolled her eyes, unseen by her friend. “No, I was going to ask if you’d remembered the damn matches this time. I don’t want to suffer through another trip where we have to start a fire with sticks.” The man at the front groaned theatrically.
“I KNEW I’d forgotten something important!” He looked back at his friends, focusing on the redhead in the middle of the pack. “Of course I did, and might I remind you that Encyclopedia Brown and Ranger Rachael can both start a fire with a glance if they want to.” He tilted his head towards the two behind the red head, a woman who was lost in the beauty of forest around them to hear the conversation and the man at the rear of the line who was equally lost in his headphones, his hands in his pockets and looking around with a calm, slightly bored look on his face. Noticing Marcus’s movement, he pulled out an ear bud as he said “What was that Marcus?” His voice was flat and monotone.
“Just wondering what you’re listening to Thomas.” Marcus lied with a smirk.
“Ah, just finishing up The Histories before I start The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.” Thomas responded, maintaining his bored expression.
“Of course you are.” said a fourth voice. Belonging to a woman with long auburn hair that spilled out of her wool cap and glasses, the voice was rather sweet, sounding like a mother who was faking belief in her child’s imagination, minus the obvious condescending tone. The girl who had been enamored with the scenery had emerged from her obliviousness to hear the exchange and she looked ahead towards Marcus before asking “Are you honestly surprised? He’s always reading or listening to audio books.”
“No, but one can always hope he’s actually using his IPod for its actual purpose. You know, music.” Marcus responded in a nonchalant manner. Thomas, his oldest friend, was always buried in books, wherever he was, whether it was a restaurant, a bowling alley, a bar and even a baseball game once. The man was a veritable library of information, seeming to remember everything he read or heard, a trait that had earned him various nicknames, the oldest one, given to him by Marcus himself at the age of 8, was Encyclopedia Brown.
“Well who needs their IPod for music when Megan here has her fiddle with her?” Taylor asked sarcastically.
The fifth member of the group, a tall woman with long, curly brown hair that reached the down to the middle of her back, walking between Marcus and Taylor, laughed inwardly at her friends, missing the fiddle comment. The group had more or less formed in college, with Marcus and Thomas being the only two to have known each other before hand. Taylor and Rachael had been dorm mates, while she had quite literally ran into Thomas while jogging on campus. Thomas had been walking a reading, a skill he’d perfected, using his peripheral vision to steer himself clear of obstacles, but she’d been moving to fast for him to notice. A voice interrupted her memories.
“Whacha thinking about Megan?” inquired Taylor. Looking behind her, Megan looked at her friend with a funny face.
“What makes you think I wasn’t just laughing at you guys?”
Taylor smiled at her friend before saying “Because when you’re quiet and others are talking, you’re always thinking about something off the wall.”
Megan snorted, a part of her laugh she regretted, motioning to wards Rachael as she answered “I was just thinking about Thomas.”
Rachael’s cheeks flushed at the comment as the rest of the group, minus Thomas who was still lost in his IPod, laughed. It was well known amongst the group that Rachael liked Thomas. Thomas himself was completely oblivious to the fact, treating Rachael like everyone else, something that drove her crazy.
The group walked in silence for a while, covering a large amount of ground in a relatively short amount of time, stopping to rest only a few times. Except for the steps of the group, the forest was silent as a graveyard, the birds having flown south, the deer staying aloof and the remaining animals beginning to hibernate if they hadn’t already.
After hiking for most of the day, Taylor noticed that the sun had grown uncomfortably close to the horizon. Checking her phone, she was surprised to find the sun setting so early. “Hey Marcus, it’s only 6:30 and the suns setting. Seems a little early for that doesn’t it.”
“We’re in the foothills, so the sun won’t actually set for another hour or so, but now that you mention it, we should probably set up camp for the night. We’ll make it too the lake tomorrow.” With that, Marcus pulled off to the side of trail, where the trees happened to be spaced far apart enough to allow tents to be erected comfortably. The rest of the group followed, Thomas finally removing his ear buds as he did. Two three-person tents were quickly built with their entrances facing the trail while two smaller two man tents were set up in between, facing the other tents. The group unloaded their personal effects, put the food they weren’t going to eat up in tree, and their sleeping bags in the larger tents. The packs and gun carriers were placed in the smaller tents. Thomas started a fire and it was soon roaring away. As the group settled around the fire after eating a dinner of protein bars and sandwiches, Megan broke out her fiddle and played a slow, calm melody that echoed across the forest. She played for a while, before stopping to allow conversation to take over as the night’s entertainment.
“Beautiful as always Meg.” Marcus had always loved the fiddle, but he’d never had the patience or talent to learn it himself.
“Thank you Marcus, if you ever want to learn, just ask.” Megan’s voice was slightly sarcastic, fully knowing her friends lack of patience with instruments. The comment earned a few snickers from the others, even Thomas who’d put down the book he’d been reading while Megan played.
Feigning hurt, Marcus clutched his chest as he responded with mirth “I give you a sincere complement and you use my short comings against me! You wound me madam!” The rest of the group laughed a little harder. Marcus had always been theatrical, even though his physique suggested he’d be more suited for sports. Standing at 6’1”, Marcus had a barrel chest and thick arms, owing to genetics and his practice of going to the gym every weekend. His so called attacker on the other hand was slender, standing at only 5’10” and was much more nimble looking. Megan wasn’t one to actively exercise, but chose the healthier option in life in regards to food, travel, and free time. She loved to go rock climbing, kayaking, and swimming. She considered none of it exercise because she didn’t hate it.
“You’re always so sensitive Marcus. You have skin as thick as paper.” Taylor continued the joke by lightly punching Marcus in the shoulder. Marcus fell on his side and theatrically rolled in ‘pain’, yelling. Taylor’s hair was a vibrant red, displaying her Irish heritage for all to see, but stopped at her neck unlike her Megan’s. She was the same height as Megan, but her build wasn’t as toned. She was fit, but her muscles weren’t as defined. Looking to her left, Taylor laughed a little harder at Rachael’s look of pretend shock, her hands covering her mouth. Before she could comment though, Thomas shouted “Hit again! Go for the gut!”
His voice, sounding absolutely sincere and eager, caused Taylor to fall over in laughter. Thomas had jabbed the air in front of him as he shouted, and the image of the bookworm trying to be violent had simply been too much for her. Thomas was 5’9”, lanky and had wired full moon glasses over his eyes. He was in no way the type of person who could take on some one of Marcus’s stature. Marcus had gotten up, and staring Thomas dead in the eye, asked with sincerity “What have I ever done to you?”
Maintaining eye contact, Thomas responded flatly. “Remember the time in 7th grade when you told your sister that I had been flirting with her? She gave me a black eye in the middle of lunch. Or that time you set my phone to go off every five minutes the night before finals? You also super glued my butt to a car door, which happened to belong to the college dean. And then there was the time…”
“Alright, I get it.” Marcus cut him off before any of his harmful or rather nasty pranks came to light. “No need to go any further. But you’re just too easy to prank! I mean, who leaves their phone unlocked in front of me?” Marcus looked around the group and got nods of agreement. Thomas slouched and harrumphed. This caused Rachael to giggle. Rachael was the shortest of the group, standing at 5’ 7”. She kept her auburn hair in a pony tail, never letting it down. But her size did not put her in the same position as Thomas. Her father was a former Marine and had taught her hand to hand combat in middle school and she was arguably the best shot of the group. She didn’t look or sound it, but Rachael could take down a professional wrestler if she wanted to. The conversation continued for a few more minutes before everyone started to yawn.
“Well, we should head in. We’ve got another long day of hiking before we get to the hunting camp.” With that, Marcus began to pour a canteen on the fire as the others headed to their tents. Marcus reminded himself to sleep lightly in case Thomas tried anything, which he rarely did. Once the fire was out, he retreated to the warmth of his sleeping bag.
The next morning was rushed. Thomas hadn’t bothered starting a fire, and instead had pulled the food out of the tree and, checking to see it was all there, divided it into five piles, one for each pack. The others grabbed a few energy bars before stowing the food and tents in their packs. Once the camp was cleaned and packed, they filed back onto the trail in the same order as last time. It was colder than the previous day, allowing the group to see their breath as they walked. Their faces rosy as some of the leaves, they marched on, each one lost in their own world.
Marcus was reflecting on how he’d done the previous semester at college, wondering if he’d be able improve his uncomfortably low grades. It had been his dream to become an architect since the age of 10, when his parents had taken him to the Guggenheim in New York. The interior design had enamored him the moment he looked up.
Megan was thinking about her little brother back home. He was only 6 and beginning to ask difficult questions about their parents. Namely why he had to live at Uncle Roberts, why Mommy visited only from the internet, and why she always cried when he asked if daddy was with her. The very thought of those questions brought tears to her eyes. She subtly wiped them away as she tried to focus on something else.
Taylor was busy going over her classes for the upcoming year. A freak snow storm in upper New York had caused Syracuse University to delay opening for another week, meaning she’d have to work hard on making sure she stayed afloat with the extra work her professors were going to give them.
Rachael was daydreaming about her family’s cabin in Maine, where she’d spent many a happy summer swimming, camping and hiking with her parents and three brothers. She was particularly fond of the memory where she, at the age of 10, had beaten all of her brothers in arm wrestling. Aw, what a beautiful day she thought.
Thomas, on the other hand, was spacing out as he listened to his IPod, correcting the various mistakes the authors of his audio books had made. He always found it funny when such reputable authors, the same ones who wrote a few his textbooks, made rather obvious and simple mistakes. He was laughing on the inside when he ran into Rachael.
“What gives? Is there something wrong?” Thomas asked as he removed his ear buds.
“Look around dip wad, and tell me if something’s fucking wrong.” Marcus said flatly from the front.
Taking Marcus’ advice, Thomas was struck dumb for the first time in his life. They were in the middle of a grassy field. Looking behind him, Thomas saw none of the trees that had previously surrounded them. They were completely engulfed by a sea of wheat grass, a pale green that moved in waves due to the wind. There was wind now, there hadn’t been any before, just like how there’d been goddamn trees everywhere. Looking at the group, Thomas saw similar looks of shock and terror. Nobody moved, nobody blinked, nobody seemed to breathe for minutes on end.
“Where on God’s green Earth are we and what the hell just happened?”
No one was sure who’d said it, but they all agreed in their minds as none of them could speak yet. They all just stood there, in the endless field of rolling grass, looking around, hoping to wake up at any moment. After what seemed to be an eternity, Rachael was the first to speak.
“We should get moving. There’s a hill ahead of us where we can get a better view of our surroundings.”
The group nodded in agreement and headed out, none of them moving out of place or breaking formation. The grass reached the waist of the tallest on them, Marcus, and wading through it put them all on high alert. The last uniform thought they had was of the velociraptors from Jurassic Park, stalking their human prey in the tall grass. It took them a few minutes to reach the hill, their movements slow and deliberate, making sure they weren’t being watched, followed, or hunted. The hill was larger than they had expected, its sides rising sharply from the plain, but once at the top, they could get a commanding view of the area. In front of them, no more than 200 yards, was a forest similar to the one they had just left, but the leaves were green, not turning, and the forest itself was younger, being less dense and the trees smaller, but it still stretched from horizon to horizon. Beyond it were hills that stretched up to the sky, but the trees remained, unlike the mountains that should have been in their place. There was a stream that ran out of the forest and flowed into the plain, only to be lost in the grass shortly there after. They noticed that there was a gap between the grass the marked where the stream flowed and realized they had unwittingly walked parallel to it.
“We should set up camp here. We have a source of water, fuel, and most importantly, a defensive position.” Rachael had gone into a military mindset, something her father had instilled in her at a young age.
“I agree. We don’t know what’s in that forest or the grass. This hill is our safest option.” Marcus echoed, trying to reboot his mind. He’d short circuited when he noticed the change in scenery. The group began to remove their packs and coats, as the heat was much hotter than it should be, but Thomas began to do something strange. He started trampling the grass at the center of the hill and went out in a spiral.
“What the hell are you doing?” Megan asked. Thomas looked up to see everyone looking at him.
“I’m trampling the grass so that it’s easier to set up camp, move around, and dig in should we need to.” His tone was slightly detached and he hadn’t stopped trampling as he explained. After a moment of silence for everyone to process what had just been said.
“Good idea. Megan, Taylor, you two help out Thomas. Rachael, grab your rifle, I’m going to go gather firewood and I need you to cover me.” Marcus had resumed his role as leader of the group and his voice was filled with authority.
The others followed their orders and Marcus grabbed a large knife from his pack and headed out to the forest with Rachael while the remaining three started to trample the grass. The work on both sides was preformed in utter silence. Marcus and Rachael noticed that the forest was unusually clean. Most forests have dead logs and branches littered about, but not this one. The ground was clear of debris, the trees were trimmed and it was unnerving. Marcus quickly climbed a nearby tree and began sawing at some of the upper branches with the knife. It was a tense silence, perforated only by the sawing of the knife.
“Look out below.” Marcus warned before dropping down a branch. “Hey, there’s a lot of sap coming from this tree. This is a maple tree!” Rachael hardly noticed. She was constantly turning, looking, and listening for anything living. After a few more branches, Marcus jumped down and climbed to another tree. He repeated the process, sawing off branches and climbing trees, for about half an hour. Once he had gathered enough wood, he pulled a ball of twine from his pocket and tied the branches into bundles. He soon had four bundles of wood ready to be taken back to camp. Motioning for Rachael to come over, he handed her a bundle and took the remaining three himself so she could fire if necessary. Once back at the hill, they found the grass leveled and the tents set up, in the same square formation as the previous night.
“Looks great guys.” Marcus commented. The three mumbled their thanks and took the wood from the other two.
“Um, Marcus, this wood is all green. It’s going to be hard to start a fire with this…” Thomas looked up at Marcus with a concerned look. Marcus, knowing his friend didn’t mean to insult his intelligence, responded with a shrug.
“That’s all there was. I had to cut it all off the trees themselves. The floor of that forest is devoid of all ground fauna, logs, and branches. And they are all maple trees. It’s almost as if it’s maintained by someone.”
Taylor, starting to untie one of the bundles so they could burn it later, said “Well, if it is, hopefully they will be able to tell us where we are.” That was the most hope anyone of them could muster at the moment. Looking at his watch, and then holding up his hand to the sun, Thomas began to smile a little.
“Well, I think we’re in the Southern Hemisphere.”
The comment caused everyone to stop and stare at him. No one moved a muscle beyond blinking rapidly at what they’d just heard.
“WHAT?!” They seemed to shout in unison.
“Well, it’s hotter here, meaning it’s a different season, it’s 3:00 p.m. and the sun should be setting in 3 hours, but it’s got another 5 to go. We are not in Kansas anymore is what I’m trying to say.” Thomas remained calm and didn’t show any sign that he realized the implications of what he was saying. The rest of the group, however, was covered in terrified looks.
“Let me get this straight. You’re saying that walking through a New England forest some how transported us thousands of miles south?!” Taylor was beginning to turn as red as her hair, her Irish temper and accent beginning to surface. “That’s completely impossible!” She was beginning to shake with rage. Seeing that this could get out of hand quickly, Megan got between Taylor and Thomas and looked Taylor in the eye before saying “Taylor, we don’t know what’s going on, but what Thomas said is the most logical thing so far about where we are. You need to calm down before you do something you regret.” Taylor began to hiccup as she breathed and closed her eyes, the former being a side effect of her rage. The closest thing to a human having nuclear meltdown and dissolving into radioactive slag had been averted. Megan knew Taylor needed to be cut off before she built up enough steam. Her temper had once caused Rachael’s father to leap behind a couch in terror.
“Then how do we get home?” Rachael’s voice was punctuated by fear, her eyes wide in terror at the implications of Thomas’ comment.
“I don’t know.” Thomas said quietly, looking at his friends. “I don’t know.”
The forest was quiet as the two ponies walked between the trees. One, who had pink mane and tail with a yellow coat, was looking up at the trees and the scenery, while the other, cyan with a multicolored mane and tail looked bored out of its skull. Both of them had wings.
“Why are we out here exactly?” huffed the cyan pegasus. Her voice carried the sense of boredom her face displayed.
“Well, Applejack thinks she saw an eagles nest in the maple orchard, and she wants me to ask him to leave so the smaller birds can keep the pests down.” The yellow pegasus had a timid and shy voice, and she drooped her head as she spoke, almost fearful of her companion.
“I get why YOU’RE here Fluttershy, but why did I have to come along? I should be out flying and practicing!” The cyan’s complaining and loud voice caused her friend to droop further.
“Well, she found you in one of her trees again Rainbow Dash and she thought making you do something was a fair trade.” Fluttershy was almost at a whisper now. Looking over at her friend, Rainbow Dash sighed and put a wing around her.
“I’m not mad at you Fluttershy. I just don’t see the point of me tagging along when you’re working.” Her voice had become sincere, causing the pegasus next to her to raise her head back up and smile timidly. The two talked about various things as they trekked through the trees, looking in the trees for the signs of a nest. They soon reached the edge of the forest, causing Rainbow to look at Fluttershy in confusion.
“Where did AJ say this nest was?”
“Well,” Fluttershy said, unconcerned “She said it was on the edge of the forest, by the stream that runs into the plains. And the stream is… that way I think.” Pointing to her left with her hoof, Fluttershy looked at Rainbow with slight concern.
“Well, lets go then!” Her voice full of confidence, Rainbow Dash trotted off in the direction Fluttershy had indicated, who followed her friend, with noticeably less confidence. The two walked for about an hour before something caught Fluttershy’s eye. Up in the some of the trees, there were branches missing, with patches of shiny sap in their place. Stopping to get a better look, Fluttershy examined the tree from the ground.
“What’s up? Do you see the nest?” Rainbow Dash, who had been ahead of Fluttershy, had looked back when she stopped hearing her friends hoof falls. Coming up next to her friend, she followed her eyes until she saw what had caught the other pegases’s attention.
“That’s not a nest.”
“Uh huh.” All Fluttershy could do was nod in agreement.
Flying up to check it out closer, Rainbow noticed that there were more in the surrounding trees, each one missing five or six of its upper branches. This certain patch of trees had had their branches cut, with what looked like a saw. The trees had already covered the cuts in sap, still sticky to the touch. She flew between the trees, trying to find something to give her a hint or clue as to what had happened to the branches. Flying to the trees along the edge of the forest, she noticed something in the plain more confusing than the missing branches.
“Fluttershy, can you come here for a second? You should see this.” Her voice was not as confident as it had been, causing Fluttershy to get concerned. She slowly flew up to Rainbow Dash’s height, looking at her friend with concern.
“What is it?”
Rainbow Dash pointed her hoof through the tree and towards a hill in the plain.
“Do you know what those are?” Her voice faltered with terror and confusion. On the top of the hill were what looked like four structures made of a material they had never seen before. Rainbow didn’t take her eyes off the structures as she answered her friend.
“They look like tents, but the material they’re made out of, it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen, the closest thing that I’ve seen comparable is a rain coat, but that’s a stretch.” The two kept watching the tents, one with suspicion, the other with terror. The tents were arranged in a square, preventing the two seeing what was in the middle. Two were larger than the others, each capable of holding four ponies, while the two smaller ones could hold about three. Rainbow Dash was about to go out and check them up closer, but a second before she did, something moved by the tents.
“Did… did you see that?” Fluttershy whispered in terror. Rainbow could only nod. What ever had moved had come from inside one of the smaller tents, which faced away from them. The tent moved a second time, but not as noticeably. And then something occurred that sent chills up the spines of both pegasi. Some… thing came into view. It was noticeably taller than the tent, which came up to the center of its torso, and it was colored funny. Its arms and torso were covered in a green and black pattern, while its head and what should have been hooves were a pale pink. Its head was covered in short brown fur, and its eyes were shiny, reflecting the suns light. What ever it was, it was too far for detail to be seen.
“Fluttershy, have you ever seen an animal like that?” Rainbow fought hard to control her voice, keeping the fear at bay.
“No, never.” She responded in fear. The creature was nothing like she’d ever seen. Its shape was all wrong; tall and thin like a dragon, but various colors like a chameleon going all at once. As they watched, the creature pulled something large and black in front of its face and began to turn from right to left. When it was facing them, it stopped. This unnerved Rainbow Dash, and she pulled Fluttershy back, out of the tree and into a different one in one fluid motion. The yellow pegasus was too shocked to notice.
“Fluttershy, what ever this thing is, I have a bad feeling about it. I’m going to go get Twilight; she should know what to do. Ok?” Rainbow said as she looked her friend in the eye. Fluttershy nodded slowly. Retreating a little deeper into the forest, Rainbow sped off towards Ponyville, leaving a rainbow in her wake. Whatever that thing was, she doubted it was alone.
“See anything Thomas?” Marcus walked up next to his friend, who seemed focused on something in the trees. Lowering the binoculars, Thomas said slowly “I thought I saw some birds, with some pretty odd plumage colors.”
Shrugging, Marcus said “Well, since we have no idea where we are, I wouldn’t be surprised at anything we saw.” The group had retreated to the tents for an afternoon nap in the hopes it would calm their nerves. The girls were still asleep, but Thomas had been unable to sleep, instead he’d decided to watch the camp while everyone slept. He’d had an odd feeling, so he’d decided to take a closer look at the forest with his binoculars. The birds he’d thought he’d seen were like nothing he’d ever seen. One was pink and yellow; the other seemed to be a veritable rainbow. Looking back at his watch, he noticed that it’s been two hours since they first made camp. It would still be a while before the sun set though, meaning they had time to kill. He reached back into the tent he’d pulled the binoculars from and retrieved a book.
Chapter 3: First Contact and A Firearms Demostration
In her library, Twilight Sparkle was entertaining a guest. Applejack had come over to retrieve a book on carpentry for her brother, but had decided to stay for a few minutes. The two were sitting in the kitchen, discussing the events of the day, which hadn’t been much.
“So you found Rainbow in a tree, napping and were able to get her to join Fluttershy in evicting an eagle from your grandfather’s old maple tree orchard?” Twilight was a little surprised that Rainbow was able to be convinced to go on such an, as she would put it, less than awesome errand.
“Yup, but just between you and me sugarcube, Ah told her that it was either that or helping Applebloom get her cutie mark.” Applejack snickered as she said it, Twilight smiled, as Rainbow Dash’s willingness to help Fluttershy finally made sense. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, while having good intentions, were a little hard to handle for most ponies.
“Do ya hear that?” Applejack had perked up her ears, listening carefully. Twilight followed suit and could hear a faint, continuous noise.
“Yes, but I can’t tell where it’s coming from.” Looking around for its source, Twilight and Applejack got up from the table and walked into the main room of the library, where the voice was a little louder. The two stood in the center of the room as the noise grew steadily louder.
“I think it’s coming from outside.” Applejack walked over to the door and opened it, and poked her head around it to see outside. Before she could react, a multicolored blur shot through the door, snagging her stenson and knocked her off her hooves. She heard a large crash and the screaming became discernable.
“TWIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGHHHHHTTTTTT!” Rainbow was screaming, the crash not having stopped her voice. Looking over at the source, Applejack saw that Rainbow Dash had collided with Twilight, who had remained in the center of the room while Applejack opened the door. The two were buried under a pile of books, parts of each sticking out. The first thing that she noticed was that Rainbow had knocked Twilight flat on her back, and that she was standing over her. The second was that Rainbow’s tail was sticking out of her stenson. Closing the door, she could hear Rainbow speaking faster than she had been flying.
“FluttershyandIwereoutintheorchardandwesawacreature.Itwasincrediblytall,hadfuronitsheadsonlyandstrangecolorsonitsbody.Ithinkitspottedus,butIhidFluttershyandcamehereasfastasIcould,butweneedtohurry.Ineedyoutotellmewhatthethingis.FluttershyhasneverseenanythinglikeitandneitherhaveI.” Her voice was obviously panicked, and barely comprehensible. Twilight’s voice emerged from the books, cutting of Rainbow’s words.
“Rainbow, I can’t understand you. I need you to calm down, help me get out of these books and tell me what happened.” Once Rainbow stopped, she took in an incredibly deep breath, and backed out of the books and extended a hoof to help Twilight up. Applejack approached the two and retrieved her stenson from Rainbow’s back, who barely noticed. Finally back on all four legs, Twilight asked “Ok, tell us what happened, but slower this time.”
“Fluttershy and I were out in the orchard and we saw a creature. It was incredibly tall, had fur on its head only and strange colors on its body. I think it spotted us, but I hid Fluttershy and came here as fast as I could, but we need to hurry. I need you to tell me what the thing is. Fluttershy has never seen anything like it and neither have I.” Her voice was just as panicked, but she was still as incomprehensible as before. A creature with fur on its head only and had strange colors on its body, Twilight thought, she’d never heard of such a creature. Before she could ask a question though, Applejack stepped forward.
“Am Ah hearing you right sugarcube? You sayin there’s a creature in ma orchard?” Her voice was full of doubt.
“No, it’s on the hill by the stream. There are four strange tents there too. There was one that was as tall as Big Mac and that reached the middle of its upper body. We should get back there as fast as possible.” She was already heading towards the door before Twilight could stop her.
“If what you’re saying is true, we need to let somepony know. I’m going to send a quick letter to Princess Celestia telling her and then we’ll go.” Her voice was calm and collected, her face showing signs of worry. Begrudgingly, Rainbow stayed, but she was antsy the entire time Twilight wrote, pacing around the library. Applejack had tried calm here, but she was ignored.
“Spike, I need you to send a letter.” Twilight called. Her assistant had slept through everything, and he emerged from the bedroom with sleep still in his eyes. He paid no attention to the mess of books and walked up to Twilight, took the letter and sent it on its way with his magical fire. He was halfway back up the stairs as Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash.
We can go now, I just thou...” Before she could finish, there was a blinding flash of white light, and in the middle of the library stood an alicorn with a mane that flowed in a non-existent breeze. Her face was full of concern. The three ponies looked at her, mouths hanging in shock. Before any of them could say a word, Celestia spoke in a voice that emulated the concern she was expressing.
“Your letter has raised some concerns and I thought it best if I accompanied you.” Before any of them could respond, there was another blinding white flash and they were no longer in the library. Blinking, the three ponies realized they were surrounded by apple trees, and large hills. Standing there, they could see out over what had been the orchard. Currently though, the trees were no longer in rows, enough growing sporadically to hide the ones that were. Celestia was standing between them and the orchard, looking out over it.
“Which way Rainbow Dash?” She didn’t look at her as she spoke.
“Um…” she stared out over the orchard before pointing off into the distance. “That way. That’s where the thing is.”
“Very well then. Let’s get going.” With that, Celestia began to walk in the direction Rainbow had indicated. The others followed, unsure of what to say. Rainbow was becoming jittery again, have recovered from the sudden teleportation. Twilight was watching her mentor and teacher with slight concern, who was able to hide whatever she was feeling from her student, and Applejack did her best to look slightly less nervous by watching the trees. Walking briskly in silence for a minute, Celestia was the first to speak, her voice devoid of emotion.
“There’s nothing else here but the trees. Do you pull up the weeds and bushes Applejack?” Slightly surprised by the question, Applejack hesitated before answering.
“No ma’am. Ma grandpa had a unicorn cast a spell that stopped the other plants from growing. He was a little obsessive over his trees.” Seeming satisfied with the answer, Celestia nodded and continued to look ahead. Rainbow pointed them in a new direction and they saw the edge of the forest approach.
“Where’s Fluttershy?” Twilight asked, looking up in the nearby trees. “Are you sure this is the spot?” Applejack joined her looking from the ground as Rainbow Dash flew up to check at tree level.
“I swear this is the place. Where could she have gone? You don’t think the creature could have gotten her do you?!” She looked around in panic.
“Wait, did yall hear that?” Applejack held a hoof up to her ear, looking towards a dense cluster of trees.
Straining there ears, the four heard a muffled hiccup. Rainbow flew straight into the cluster, whispering loudly.
“Fluttershy? Is that you?”
A small squeak was heard and she emerged triumphal with Fluttershy in her fore hooves. The yellow pegasus was covered in green leaves and sticks, looking slightly less worse for wear. Her captor proceeded to hug her tightly as she spoke.
“I thought it had taken you!”
“No,” the yellow pegasus replied quietly “I retreated to the trees here and pretended to be one.”
“Wait, you mean you didn’t put these leaves all over yourself?” Twilight asked confused as she removed the leaves and sticks with her magic.
“No, I just found them on me when Rainbow pulled me out of here.” Her voice showed no concern over what she’d just said. The three ponies looked at their friend in mild confusion before Rainbow set her down and landed beside her.
“We should get back to the Princess…” Twilight said slowly, turning around to look for her.
“I’m over here.” Her voice said nonchalantly “Just follow my voice.”
Again confused, the four did so and were surprised when they found themselves in a slightly pink dome on the edge of the forest, with the princess sitting in the middle, watching the tents on the hill.
Looking up at the dome, Twilight asked “Where’d this come from? It wasn’t here a minute ago.”
Without looking at her student, Celestia answered.
“It’s a desensory dome, no one on the outside will be able to hear, smell or see us unless we want them to. We’ll be able to watch the creature without it noticing, but with the number of tents there, I’d say there are more.” The four ponies looked up in shock.
“Wait, there are MORE of those things?” Rainbow said loudly.
“I suspect so. You wouldn’t go camping in four tents by yourself would you?” Her voice had become slightly motherly as she looked down at the technicolor pegasus. Nodding in agreement, Rainbow turned her attention towards the tents, watching them with suspicious eyes.
Up in the camp, Thomas looked over his shoulder, looking through the tent behind him as he did.
“You ok?” Taylor asked, sitting across him, doing her best to relax while she read a book Thomas had lent her. Thomas had been unnaturally quiet since she’d woken up and Marcus had gone in to take another nap before dinner. He’d kept turning to watch the forest. Looking back at his friend Thomas responded.
“Yeah… It’s nothing.” With that, he looked down at the map in his lap, he’d been retracing their hike in the hopes of finding something, anything that would help explain.
“Ok.” Taylor responded with a shrug before returning to the book. Thomas starred through the map as he had the tent. He’d had the uncanny feeling they were being watched, and it wasn’t going away.
The sun was beginning to set before they were all up and Thomas started a fire. Dinner consisted of a few cans of soup they’d brought with them and some protein bars. The food was eaten in silence, everyone thinking about the odd day and hoping they’d wake up tomorrow in their previous camp. After dinner was gone and more wood added to the fire, Megan pulled out her fiddle. It had a relaxing effect not only on her, but the others as well, something that felt like home in this strange place. She played a slow, sweet tune, something that raised the spirits of everyone around the fire.
“I know that sound.” The orange earth pony straightened and forgot the slight pangs of hunger in her stomach. It was the sound of a fiddle being played. And it was coming from the camp. The others in the dome listened to the tune, and relaxed slightly. It was sweet and slow, nothing terrifying like they’d imagined would emerge from the camp. Celestia herself swayed a little with the tune.
Once she finished, Megan moved to put the fiddle back in its case, but before she could, Thomas spoke up.
“Do you know ‘The Devil Went Down to Georgia’?” He showed no emotion in his voice or face as he asked her.
“Yes, I do.” Megan nodded.
“Would you mind playing it? I’ll provide the lyrics.” Megan wasn’t the only one surprised, the other girls around the fire looked up with slight surprise. Marcus on the other hand, smiled knowingly. Thomas had an amazing singing voice, he remembered. And if he felt like singing, that meant that he was beginning to relax.
“Sure, just try to keep up.” Megan taunted.
“Play your fiddle fiddler.” Thomas responded in an equally mocking voice, a slight smile coming to his face. And so she did.
The ponies and alicorn in the dome had relaxed during the lull, but when they heard the second tune, they returned their full attention towards it. But it was different, it was faster and happier, like someone was playing for a crowd to dance to. But it was accompanied by something else, slower but just as energetic. It was singing, and they could understand it. They sat there, all of them, even Celestia herself, dumbstruck by this development. Not only were these creatures with fur limited to their heads and strange colors on their bodies intelligent, they spoke Equestrian. Recovering, Twilight listened to the words and found them just as interesting. Somepony named Johnny was dueling somepony called the Devil with fiddles. Odd names she thought. But then she heard something that sent a chill up her spine. The Devil wanted Johnny’s soul, and was betting a golden fiddle for it. Looking over at her mentor, she saw the same look of worry. If these creatures could make songs about how someone was foolish enough to bet their soul for gold, that meant that not only did these creatures have something similar to Discord, who else would want somepony’s soul, they were also arrogant enough to not only bet with it, but to write a song about it.
Applejack on the other hand, was smiling slightly. The tune was catchy and she soon found herself humming along with it. If the creatures could play the fiddle she thought, they can’t be all bad. Looking over at Rainbow, she saw that her friend had fallen asleep between the lull, and was resting her head on Fluttershy’s back, who was curled up in a tight ball, also asleep. Smiling at her friends, Applejack laid on her side and shut her eyes, listening to the music as she fell asleep.
“I didn’t know you could sing so well Thomas!” The group was clapping as the two finished their song, nodding their heads in a sitting bow. Taylor was clapping the fastest and grinning from ear to ear as she spoke.
“I rarely do, but I must admit I rather enjoy it.” Thomas acknowledged with a smile. “But I think the praise goes to Megan here for playing so well.” She blushed at the praise, putting her fiddle away. The group nodded in agreement, Marcus whistling shrilly. After the clapping died down, the five realized how relaxing that performance had been. The stress of the day, coupled with their full bellies, caused all but Megan to begin to nod off.
“Why don’t you four get some sleep, I’ll keep an eye out tonight.” She wasn’t tired at the moment helped her friends into their tents.
“Wake me up at 2:00 ok? You shouldn’t stay up all night.” Thomas yawned.
“Me too, I’ll help keep him awake.” Marcus said, his eyes fighting to stay open as he did.
“I will. Night.” Megan didn’t wait for the two to respond before she zipped the flap up and walked back towards her seat by the fire, and began to read the book Taylor had left.
Twilight woke to Rainbow nudging her stomach with her hoof. “What?” she asked with sleep in her eyes. The sun had barely risen, and looking over at Celestia, she realized that the alicorn could do the task, quite literally, in her sleep, signified by her glowing horn.
“I want to get a look at the camp.” Her voice was serious and she started to walk towards the edge of the forest and the dome.
“Are you insane!?” Twilight said in a whisper, not wanting to wake any of those sleeping. Rainbow didn’t answer, but instead continued to walk. Seeing the look in her eye, one of the utmost determination that only appeared when her friend was about to perform a trick that had caused her to crash before, Twilight realized that there was no arguing with Rainbow. She grudgingly caught up to her friend, already outside the dome and in the grass that was as tall as her back, leaving her neck and head exposed. The two walked in silence, traversing the grass slowly. From their angle, they couldn’t see the head watch them over the tent.
“Thomas, are those what you saw yesterday?” Marcus asked his friend in a whisper. The two were crouching in front a storage tent, their heads barely over the peak. They were watching what appeared to be a purple unicorn and the Technicolor peacock in the form of a horse. Both were in utter shock. The last thing they expected to see were vibrantly colored horses, let alone a unicorn. The two watched them for a minute, the horses making slow progress towards the hill due to the grass being almost as tall as them. Grabbing a rifle and a pistol from the tent, Marcus holstered the pistol and gave the rifle to Thomas.
“If I need your help, I’ll shout your name, ok? Don’t fire unless I do.” His voice was firm.
“And what the hell do you think you’re gonna do?” Thomas’s voice was slightly angry.
“I’m going to meet them.” With that, Marcus walked around the tent, exposing himself and walked towards the two. Grumbling, Thomas stayed low and lay prone with his body blocked by the tent, only his head and rifle exposed. He watched through the scope.
“I think we’ve been spotted.” Twilight whispered to Rainbow, who was also staring at the creature walking down the hill towards him. As he approached, Twilight was able to see just why her friend had been terrified. The creature was hooves taller than them, the center of its torso level with the base of their ears. It walked on two legs, she saw them before they disappeared in the grass, which only reached its stomach. It was massive, the body like a barrel and with huge arms. It wore clothing as well, the pants were brown and the shirt camo, like what one wore when they wanted to be hidden in the woods. The fur on its head was a short brown and aside from that, it looked hairless. She looked at her companion out of the corner of her eye, and saw that she showed no sense of fear or awe, only determination. They met halfway between the camp and the forest, the two ponies looking up into the cold blue eyes of the creature. It looked back at them, its hands by its sides.
They starred at each other for what seemed like an eternity before the creature spoke.
“My name is Marcus, who are you two?” The voice was calm and collected, no emotion seeping through.
Back at the dome, Celestia stirred to see that two ponies were missing. She looked around the dome before something caught her eye in the field. A look of slight horror crossed her face, but she quickly recovered and woke up Applejack and Fluttershy.
“I need you to remain calm. Look out towards the field.”
As soon as they did, the two ponies became stiff with terror.
“I’m Rainbow Dash and this is Twilight Sparkle.” The cyan pegasus told the creature. It wasn’t the one se saw earlier. It was colored differently and eyes didn’t reflect the light. If it was surprised the two could speak, the creature didn’t show it. Instead it responded in the same calm voice.
“Nice to meet you. I don’t mean to be rude, but what are you?” Slightly surprised at the question, Twilight answered.
“We’re ponies, the question is; what in Equestria are you?” She did her best to control her fear, but a little was able get through. The creature looked at her in confusion.
“You’re a unicorn, not a pony, and she’s got wings.” It pointed at Dash. “And I’m a human being.”
“I’m sorry, I’ve never heard of that word before. You’re hyuman?” Twilight asked in confusion. That word didn’t exist in Equestria she told herself.
“Yes, and what do you mean? How are you able to talk, let alone speak English?”
“All ponies can and I think the proper question is able to speak Equestrian?” Before the creature could respond, Rainbow Dash pointed at the creatures hip with her hoof.
“What’s that on your waist?” The thing was attached to its hip and was triangular brown cloth.
“It’s a pistol. You don’t have these here?” The creature retrieved the ‘pistol’, a metal L, and held it in its hand. Shaking her head, Twilight responded with a flat “No.”
“What’s it do?” inquired Rainbow.
“It shoots a bullet.” The creature looked a little uncomfortable with the line of questioning.
“What? Show us.” Her voice was commanding, unnerving Twilight.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea right now. I don’t usually engage in gunplay when I first meet someone.”
“Show us.”
“Okay, but you should take a step back.” The creature warned. Twilight took a few steps, while Rainbow took only one, never taking her eyes off the pistol. The creature raised its hands, pointed the pistol towards the forest, away from the dome and jerked slightly.
BOOM!
The noise caused Twilight to instinctively grab the pistol with her magic as Rainbow tackled the creature and tried to pin it. The height of the creature made it easy to knock over and she’d been too fast for it to respond in time. The thing fell over with a thud before struggling with the pegasus.
Up on the hill, the gunshot had woken up the girls, who were struggling out of the tent, while Celestia, Applejack and Fluttershy rushed from the dome. Thomas remained calm and instinctively told the girls to calm down, everything was ok. They slowed down slightly, not struggling to open the flap as much. Thomas focused on the scene below; three new horses, an orange one who looked normal, minus the Stetson it had on its head, the pink and yellow ‘bird’, which turned out to be a pegasus and what looked like, of all things, an alicorn, with a multicolored mane. He turned back to Marcus, who was struggling with the multicolored pegasus, while the purple unicorn held the gun in magic emerging from her horn. Marcus hadn’t called for him, but he was getting uneasy. Before he could react, Marcus flipped the pegasus, and looked up at him and shook his head. Thomas relaxed, but watched carefully.
Rainbow Dash, for the first time in her life, was terrified. The creature, using its superior strength, had flipped and pinned her. It wasn’t even looking at her, shaking its head at the hill. Its legs held her wings to the ground, the pressure causing searing pain, and its… not hooves, where grasping her fore hooves and keeping them from moving. Her hind legs couldn’t do anything and Twilight wasn’t helping. Rainbow began to hyperventilate in fear, looking up at her captor with wide eyes. He looked back down at her and to her terror, smiled. It began to speak.
“I am not going to hurt you. I need you to relax, or you’ll pass out. Ok?” She began to hiccup as she tried to slow her breathing.
“Good, now; I’m going to let go of your hooves, and slowly get up. I need you to slowly get up and remain calm.” With that, it let go, splayed its not hooves and took the pressure off her wings. She reflexively puller her wings back to her body and starred at the creature. It moved away from her and she rolled onto her hooves and slowly stood up. Before she could react, she saw Applejack leap up towards the creature, who was this time prepared for her, moving its upper ‘legs’ towards its torso, in a defensive measure, not trying to grab or dodge her. But suddenly, the orange earth pony was enveloped in magic, halting her leap. She looked behind her and saw that Celestia had grabbed Applejack a split second before she could tackle the creature. Celestia looked towards Twilight, still holding Applejack, and said “Put that thing down now.” Her voice was commanding, but concerned. Twilight complied, setting the pistol gently on the ground. She turned her attention to the creature, who was obviously impressed at the magic holding the horse in the air.
“I would like to apologize for these two,” she motioned towards Rainbow and Applejack “they can be a little jumpy.” The creature nodded and chuckled at the unintended pun. Before it could answer, voices could be heard from the camp, and three figures were seen running down the hill towards the group. One, with a brilliant red mane, was wearing a shirt that went down almost to its knees, another had an equally long brown mane and wore loose pants with a shirt, and the third wore similar clothes, but its mane was auburn. All three had panicked looks on their faces.
“Girls, it’s ok!” The creature called “There’s no need to panic. Nobody is hurt.”
“THEN WHY THE HELL DOES THOMAS HAVE A HUNTING RIFLE POINTED IN THIS DIRECTION!?” The red haired creature screamed back in anger.
“THOMAS,” the original creature called “Get down here and leave the rifle.” A fifth creature stood up from the camp, with a long, slender object, and laid it next to the tent before walking down cautiously. The eyes reflected the suns early morning light. Once everyone was there and Applejack was released, the creatures sat down, the one in the shirt kneeling, and faced the ponies, who knelt down as well, the grass having been trampled down in the struggle.
“Now,” said the first creature “lets try this again.”
Sitting in front of the five humans were creatures they would have sworn an hour ago were impossible, even the orange pony that looked like a regular horse. The fact that it was orange and wore a Stetson threw everyone for a loop, but what caught their eyes were the strange brands on the flanks of the equines. Each one was different; while the orange one had three apples, they yellow pegasus; three pink butterflies, the massive alicorn in the center, directly across from Marcus, had a sun, the purple unicorn next to her had a six pointed star surrounded by smaller five pointed ones, and the multicolored pegasus at the end had a cloud with rainbow lightning.
“What are those marks? They look like tattoos or birthmarks.” Thomas inquired, drawing looks from everyone. He was sitting across from Twilight, who could feel his eyes on her cutie mark, making her feel a little uncomfortable at his unabashed gaze.
“It’s a cutie mark. It emerges when a pony finds their special talent.” She spoke with all the confidence she could muster.
“So you aren’t born with it?” Thomas was speaking with his monotone, scientific voice, which actually helped Twilight calm down for some reason.
“Nope. A cutie mark only reveals itself when a pony discovers their special talent. Mine’s magic for example, which is why mine is what it is, but I also love astronomy, so I’ve got stars as well. Don’t you have anything like it?” Twilight had recovered from the shock of the gunshot and was now pressing right back at Thomas.
“No, we humans have to discover what we are talented at without any confirmation. We may not even love our talents.” This visibly shocked the equines, Celestia mumbling “How archaic…”
“That may be,” Thomas responded, taking no offense “but we’ve grown accustomed to it. We usually do like our talents, but we call them hobbies if we can’t get a job with them.” Twilight mulled that over, trying to imagine if the situation were the same in Equestria, and frankly, she couldn’t. The idea was simply to alien for her to imagine. At this point, one of the females, the one with auburn hair spoke up.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I don’t know any of your names.” Her voice reminded everypony of Fluttershy, sweet and quiet.
“Well, I’m Twilight, this is Celestia.” she pointed to the alicorn,
“This is Rainbow Dash.” indicating to the cyan pegasus, sitting stiffly and glaring at all the humans.
“The yellow pegasus is Futtershy.” She tried to shrink at the mention of her name
“And that is Applejack.” Applejack tilted hat in recognition of the humans. “
“Who are you?” Twilight asked in return.
“Well” Marcus responded with a kind tone. “I’m Marcus, the one who asked you about your ‘Cutie Marks’ is Thomas,” Thomas was too busy examining the ponies to acknowledge.
“This is Rachael,” indicating to the human with the auburn mane, who smiled tentatively.
“This is Taylor,” The human with the red mane nodded her head
“And there’s Megan.” Pointing to the human with the brown mane, who waved.
“What are those things at the ends of your arms?” Celestia spoke for the first time, looking Marcus in the eye. Her voice sounded regal and commanding and when combined with her gaze, she had an air of importance.
“These are called hands and fingers.” Marcus explained holding up one of his own as an example. There were five long, spindly extensions on his ‘hand’ that were the same, pinkish color. They reminded Twilight of Spikes claws, but they were soft and flexible, with only a small hard part at the top of each finger. What struck her about the hand was that it had hair on it, but not as thick as what was on the humans’ head. Marcus put his hand down before she could examine it further.
“What do they do?” Rainbow Dash asked. The look on her face remained serious. The humans showed a mixture of confusion and shock at the question.
“What do you mean ‘What do they do?’” Taylor asked, being the one across from her. “We use them to live basically. All of our technology depends and revolves around our fingers. We’re as good as useless with out them.” Her voice was antagonizing to Rainbow, who flared her wings in being talked down to. Taylor’s friends were slightly taken aback by the action, except for Thomas who was cataloging all their behavior in his mind, and the other ponies began to get worried. But not Taylor, who leaned in closer to the pegasus.
“It’d be like asking what your wings are for.” Rainbow glared at the human, her wings still flared as she responded.
“My wings are everything. I’m not me without them.” She began to lean in towards Taylor, neither of them backing down from the challenge.
“Well, try and imagine this. You go about your everyday business, find yourself in a place where creatures you swear only exist in a dead religion’s mythology, and one of them asks you what your wings are for. Oh, and lets throw in a low tolerance for bullshit and a slight intolerance of being asked stupid questions.” The two were only inches away from their noses touching, neither blinking.
“Rainbow Dash, you’ve made your point. Sit down.” Celestia’s tone told everyone present that it was an order, not a request. Rainbow returned to her spot next to Twilight, having moved forward in her staring contest, as did Taylor. Eyeing the pegasus, Taylor smiled.
“I like you. You’ve got spunk.” Rainbow looked at Taylor suspiciously before saying “You too.”
“Now that you two are friends,” Marcus slowly started. “Could you tell us where we are exactly?” Nodding, Celestia answered.
“You’re in Equestria. Namely outside of a town called Ponyville.”
“Whatestria and whoville?” Marcus was thoroughly confused. “Where on Earth is that?”
“Equestria and Ponyville.” Celestia corrected. “And where is this Earth you keep talking about?” The humans were in utter shock when they heard this; all of them having their jaws hang down.
“Oh shit.” Thomas said, quite loudly. This was not what he had expected, he had been hoping that they’d accidently ingested hallucinogenic spores, but he was beginning to doubt this.
“Pardon?” Celestia asked politely.
“Um, slight expletive on my part, sorry. Um, Earth is the planet where we live.”
“Planet? You mean you’re not from here, here?” Twilight interjected
“Yeah, the country we come from is called the United States of America, or the U.S. for short, and the planet is Earth.” Thomas remained the only one of his companions not still suffering from shock.
“Well, you’re certainly not there anymore.” Twilight rubbed the back of her head in a truly universal sign of an awkward situation. “None of us have ever heard of either of those places. And we’ve never seen any humans before either. How’d you get here if you are from another planet?”
“Well, we were hiking in a forest in the middle of a rather chilly fall, and the next thing we know is that we are in the middle of this field, in what seems to be summer.”
“Anything odd you noticed, other than the scenery?” This time Celestia was the one who interjected, and her tone told Twilight to refrain from asking until she’d finished.
“Well, no. Just one second there, the next here.” Thomas yawned as he finished, realizing just how tired he was. “Sorry, I was up since two with Marcus, keeping watch.” Marcus him self was beginning to nod off.
“Well, why don’t you two get some sleep. We can handle this.” Megan finally spoke up. A slightly nervous look crossed Marcus’s face when she said that. He looked at the ponies and back at the girls unsure if that was a good idea.
“We’ll be fine Marcus. You two need some sleep.” Her tone told Marcus that there was no negotiating.
“Ok, call if there’s anything you need help with, don’t be afraid to wake us.” Marcus said to no one in particular as he and Thomas got up and headed towards the tents. The group watched them leave before resuming.
“So, you three are female?” Celestia asked.
“Yes, we are. We prefer the term women though. It’s less formal. And I take it you all are girls as well?” Megan responded.
“Very well, and yes, we are.” Celestia nodded.
“Interesting. You obviously are the one in charge amongst your group, showing from the respect the others give you.”
“That’s because she’s the princeumpf.” Twilight shoved her hoof in Rainbow’s mouth before she could finish, but the humans still understood.
“You’re royalty?” Megan asked courteously.
“Yeph phe iph.” Rainbow still had Twilight’s hoof in her mouth as she spoke, causing Twilight to hit herself in the face with her other hoof at her friends obliviousness. Raising an eyebrow at her two subjects behavior before answering for herself.
“Yes, I am.”
“Well then, your majesty.” The humans proceeded to bow, causing a slight blush on Celestia’s face.
“Thank you, but please rise. I’d rather speak to you face to face and please call me Celestia, it’s less formal.”
“Yes, of course Celestia.” She smiled at the princesses slight joke.
“Well, I guess we should help you learn and adjust to Equestria. A fluke of magic on the measure of what you five experienced happens once in a million years.”
“I guess you’re right. Um, could you tell us where we could stay and what to expect here.” Rachael asked. “I mean, this field is a lovely place to stay, but eventually we’ll run out of food and we aren’t prepared for months of winter.”
“If y’all could excuse us for a sec.” Applejack interjected. She motioned for the other ponies to follow her, walking a little ways away, and began to converse.
“Are y’all sure we can trust them?” Applejack asked. These ‘humans’ made her nervous, but she didn’t know why, other than the earlier incident with Rainbow and Marcus. They'd proven themselves polite and understanding afterwards, but she had a weird feeling around them.
“They seem honest enough.” Rainbow Dash answered, although apprehensively. Celestia nodded before adding
“Yes, they do seem to be trustworthy to me. What to you two think?” She nodded towards Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.
“Well,” Twilight said with concern “I’m not so sure that we should take them to Ponyville immediately. It would cause too much panic, the changelings are still fresh in everypony's mind, even after a year, and they wouldn’t be tolerant of something they didn’t recognize, no matter what you say to them.” She was right, the others realized. The changelings had caused panic everywhere, even though they had only attacked Canterlot and many towns and cities were still on high alert. Discord’s reformation in Ponyville had also caused some frayed nerves, with Mayor Mare making numerous attempts to get the Royal Guard to send more troops down in case the god went nuts again.
“What do you think Fluttershy? You’re the animal expert.” Rainbow Dash nudged her friend, who had looked back at the humans.
“Well, I wouldn’t call them animals.” She said tentatively. “They are obviously as smart as we are, if not smarter. I don’t think I’m the one to consult.” When she finished, she tried to shrink away from sight, but Rainbow Dash prevented her from leaving.
“Fluttershy is right,” Twilight said matter-of-factly. “they are intelligent meaning we can’t leave them out here like animals, but we can’t bring them into town either.” Celestia smiled knowingly.
“I’ve got an idea.” She leaned in towards the group and whispered her plan, getting a few tentative nods from the group, Rainbow and Applejack took some convincing, but eventually agreeing it was the best they could do. After that, they returned to the humans.
“Before we tell you where you can stay, we’d like to see your camp.” Celestia looked at the humans, who readily agreed, Taylor being slightly suspicious. Twilight began to bounce a little in anticipation of seeing human technology and materials. Megan laughed at her excitement, lightening the mood a little for Taylor, who smiled. At the camp, Rachael put her forefinger to her lips and pointed towards a larger tent, mouthing that the other two were sleeping in there. Quietly, the ponies followed her to the ashy remains of a fire while Megan and Taylor, who also grabbed pants, went to different tents and pulled out their packs. Once they were sitting with the rest of the group, they removed some items and passed them around. Rainbow had a little trouble with something that looked like coverings for the humans’ hands, accidently getting one stuck around her muzzle, and with the other one on her hoof, she couldn’t pull either off. Struggling, she fell over backwards before Twilight removed them for her. She sat back up huffing at the damage to her dignity.
“I see you found the gloves Rainbow.” Taylor snickered. Her response was a particularly dark look and a strong snort.
“What is this?” Fluttershy spoke her first words to the humans, barely above a whisper, but Rachael was sitting close enough to catch it.
“That is called an IPod, and we use it to store music. Here, let me show you.” With that, she put two buds connected to wires in Fluttershy’s ears and took the small rectangular item and used her fingers to twist the circle and pushed a button. Fluttershy uttered a minor squeal of terror as music started to play. But she listened and heard that it was soft, slow music, like the first tune from the night before. It was soothing. Fluttershy was a little disappointed when it stopped, but once Rachael removed the ear buds, she said “I’ll let you borrow it sometime ok?” her voice was sincere and kind.
“Thank you, I’d like that.” The IPod was passed around, each pony taking a turn at the device, enjoying the melody. When they finished, Taylor pulled out another item, this one bulkier.
“What’s that? It looks like a thin book, but metal.” Twilight commented, giving the device a curious look.
“Well, we call it a laptop. It allows us to search the internet, a moot point here, but we can still write with it, download pictures, and play games.” Twilight moved next to Taylor, who turned the laptop so she could get a better look. She pulled up some pictures of her friends and Twilight became completely engrossed in the concept. The others followed suit and soon Taylor had the ponies looking over her shoulder, with Applejack putting her hooves on Taylor’s shoulders and her head over Taylor’s so she could see. Suddenly an image came onto the screen, causing Twilight to look closer. She gasped and pulled back, and the image did too.
“It’s a webcam. It’s used to take pictures or send videos of those using the laptop.” Taylor explained as the ponies began to realize it was harmless. Rainbow Dash began to make faces, laughing at her doppelganger on the screen. The others started to laugh as well, causing a groaning from the tent. Thomas emerged, looking disheveled and annoyed at the noise. Seeing the frivolity around the camp, he couldn’t help but smile and walk towards the group. When he was finally noticed, Taylor teased him over his appearance.
“Have a little fun in there?”
“No, I collapsed on my own arm and the other seems to have mussed up my hair.” Thomas seemed to be having trouble moving his right arm, while his bangs stood up on end, causing the already gleeful ponies to laugh harder, even Celestia and Fluttershy smirked. Thomas continued to smile, flattening his hair as he did. The morning continued with the humans displaying their technology and other items to the curious ponies, Twilight asking the vast majority of the questions, and Thomas answering them as fast as she could ask them. Celestia noticed that the two seemed to go well together, both answering the other questions and seeming to drift from topic to topic, ignoring what the others were looking at or discussing. Marcus soon joined them, his nap leaving him more rested than Thomas. He eagerly joined in on the fun, joking and teasing as he answered questions. Fluttershy seemed to take to Rachael, whose demeanor resembled her own, calm and quiet, but not to such a powerful degree. Marcus’ and Taylors’ strong attitudes and personalities matching Applejack and Rainbow to a tee, with those four, if you’ll pardon the pun, horsing around while Celestia watched the group. Megan stood next to the alicorn, watching them begin to bond.
“You haven’t told us where we’ll be staying or what to expect.” Her voice was calm and nonchalant. Looking to the human next to her, Celestia nodded.
“You’re absolutely correct. I wanted to see how you got along with each other first.” With that, she turned back towards the group and spoke in a regal voice “If you could please give me your attention.” The humans and ponies looked at the princess, stopping their questions and antics to hear what she had to say.
“Thank you. Now, as it was pointed out to me, I have failed to inform you, the humans, where you’ll be staying and what to expect. I feel that it is best if I address these in reverse order.” The others nodded, and began to sit by the fires remains, facing her.
“Recent events have made it relatively impossible for us to give you your own homes in town, as the populace might act irrationally. The country on a whole is on high alert, jumping at anything that’s different, and it is possible that no matter what I try to do, it could end badly if you were allowed to be seen in public at the moment.” The humans looked disappointed at the prospect of remaining hidden, but Celestia paid no mind.
“But it was decided amongst those ponies present that we, namely they, shall provide room and board for you.” The looks of disappointment quickly evaporated from the faces of the humans.
“Applejack, would you be willing to provide room and board for Marcus and Taylor on your farm?” The earth pony readily agreed, the humans referenced smiling. Turning towards Fluttershy, Celestia proposed “And would you allow Megan and Rachael to stay with you in your cottage?” Fluttershy timidly considered the idea, looking up at the two humans. She slowly nodded.
“I think my animals would love two new playmates.” Rachael, already smiling, became ecstatic at the mention of animals. Ignoring the behavior, Celestia then turned to Twilight.
“I understand that you live in the center Ponyville and as such allowing a human to reside with you could cause trouble, but I have faith that you’ll be able to handle anything that comes your way. Would you be willing to let Thomas live in the library with you?” It was hard to tell who was happier; Twilight at her mentors praise and the idea of Thomas staying with her, or Thomas when he heard about the library, which was also a home. Twilight nodded furiously.
“It’s settled then.” The princess turned to look at the group as a whole, Rainbow slightly disappointed that no one would stay with her, but such is problem with a cloud house. “Unfortunately, my absence will have been noticed by now, so I must return to the castle. I will inform Luna and Captain Armor of what has transpired and I am sure my sister will visit you three tonight. But I will say this.” She then turned and looked directly at the humans, her tone hardening.
“Those weapons you exhibited earlier are not to be used in Ponyville or in Equestria.” She commanded. “Unless the lives of my ponies are threatened, you will keep those under lock and key.” The five humans nodded in understanding. Celestia smiled kindly, pulling an emotional 180, and turned to leave.
“Wait,” Twilight said rather loudly. Celestia looked at her student with a raied eyebrow. “What do we tell Rarity and Pinkie Pie?” The rest of the ponies’ eye widened, forgetting about the other two in all the excitement of the past day.
“As they are your friends, I will leave that up to you four, and the humans should they wish to remain hidden or not to your friends.” With that, Celestia disappeared in a flash of white light.
“Did she just… teleport?” Thomas was dazed by the idea. He had some much to learn about magic.
“Yup!” Twilight was oblivious to his confusion, too excited about having a roommate whose brain she could pick.
“Ah guess we should help y’all pack up.” Applejack moved towards a tent before she realized she had absolutely no idea how collapse it. Seeing her hesitation, Marcus began to do it himself.
“We’ve got it, thanks though.” With that, the ponies watched as the humans broke camp, quickly and efficiently collapsing the tents, rolling and folding them to a tenth their previous size, stowing them in their packs, putting away the items they’d shown the ponies and in less than half an hour, standing with their packs on the backs and ready to go. If anything, Rainbow thought, these guys were efficient.
“Oh, before I forget.” Twilight’s horn glowed for a second, but seemed to have no effect. “I put an invisbility spell on you guys,” motioning to the humans “only we’ll be able to see, hear, and know you’re even there.” The group nodded in approval and began their hike, following Applejack through the orchard. The group began to diverge into three smaller ones, namely boarders and their tenets. Twilight and Thomas got into a deep discussion on the range and effects of magic, Fluttershy talked with Rachael and Megan about her animals and Applejack told Marcus and Taylor about her family and the farm.
“Which one of y’all played that fiddle last night?” Applejack asked loudly enough for everyone to hear. Her question was surprising to the humans, who had had no idea they’d been monitored through the night.
“That was me.” Megan lifted her hand in acknowledgement.
“Well sugar cube, you can play a mean fiddle if I say so myself.” Her compliment caused Megan to smile. Fluttershy began a quiet oration on how her animals would love her music, causing Megan to blush profusely.
“Excuse me Twilight, but will the spell wear off?” Thomas had been mulling over the idea of the spell and what it would mean for him if he would be living in the middle of town.
“Yes, but only when you walk through the front door of the place where you’ll be staying, so Marcus will be invisible until he steps inside Applejack’s house.” Thomas nodded, his hand rubbing his chin in thought. The rest of the conversation was again divided amongst the group until the path diverged, one way going to the gate that marked the way to town, the other going towards the Apple family home.
“Well, I guess this is where we split.” The humans gave each other hugs and waved at the ponies who they weren’t rooming with, Applejack taking Marcus and Taylor towards three unsuspecting ponies.
“Big Macintosh, can ya come here for a sec? Bring Applebloom with ya.” Applejack called from the porch. Her brother had been working in the orchard with her little sister, who’d been regaling him with the latest Cutie Mark Crusader’s adventure. He picked up Applebloom and placed her on his back before moving towards the farmhouse. His sister grumbled on how she could get there on her own, causing him to smile inwardly. He secretly loved making her feel small and was going to do so as long as he could. Once at the porch, he knelt so she could get off, still grumbling, and walked inside. Granny Smith was in her rocking chair, knitting, and Applejack was standing by the stairs.
“What’s up sis?” Appleblooms voice was still showing signs of the indignation Big Mac had given her.
“Ah’ve got something to show y’all.” Big Mac showed no signs of interest, but Applebloom started jumping up and down in excitement.
“Is it ah new bow? No! How ahbout ahn applecart! But we’ve already got one o’them, so is it a new pet?” Her voice was excited and she ran up to her sister and looked at her in her best, what Granny Smith called ‘puppy dog eyes’ and asked “Is Winona havin’ puppies?!”
“No, she is not.” Applejack said with a roll of her eyes. Applebloom wilted and shuffled over to the table and hoped in a chair demurely. She had really wanted puppies. Ignoring the act, Applejack turned towards the stairs.
“Ya’ll can come on down.” She called out. There was an immediate sound of feet descending towards the kitchen, piquing Big Mac’s interest, and then his jaw dropped, an event that had only happened twice before. Descending the stairs were two creatures he’d never seen. One spoke, causing his eyes to go wide.
“It’s better than puppies!” The comment caused Applejack to facehoof and Applebloom to run up and examine the creatures with a curious look on her face.
“How’re you better than puppies?” She showed none of the shock that had claimed Big Mac as she inspected the creatures
“Well, we’ll be new family members if you want.” The male shrugged, smiling down at the adorable filly.
“Well, think of it as more of an honorary title than an actual blood relation” The female knelt down and patted Applebloom on the head, smiling. The male knelt down too and spoke politely.
“What’s your name?” He asked. Granny Smith hadn’t bothered to look up so far, engrossed in her knitting.
“Ma names Applebloom. Who are you two?”
“Well,” said the male “my name is Marcus and this is my friend Taylor.” Taylor waved at the little filly.
“Your mane is tha color of Big Mac’s coat. Are y’all sure ya aren’t related?” She narrowed her eyes accusingly. Marcus and Taylor didn’t see the intended terror and thought it was even more adorable.
“No, but we’re willing to be your brother and sister if you’d like.” Taylor said, and a slapping noise signaled Applejacks second facehoof.
“Ah’d love it!” Applebloom exclaimed. She began to hop around the two in a circle, chanting “Ah got a new brother and sister. Ah got a new brother and sister.” Applejack glared at Taylor as she spoke, never having enjoyed her sisters chants or songs since foalhood.
“Really? You had to do that?”
“How could I not? She’s so cute!” Taylor asked rhetorically, shrugging. At this point, Big Mac had begun to recover from the initial shock and pulled Applejack aside.
“Ah know what y’all are gonna say, so let me explain.” Applejack started. Big Mac regained his composure and looked at his sister with a flat expression.
“Ta make a long story short, they was camped on the edge of grandpa’s maple orchard, and me, Twi, RD, Fluttershy and tha princess met with them and they are good ponies… people… y’all know what Ah mean. I agreed to keep these two here while Twi took another and Fluttersy took two more.” Big Mac kept staring at his sister. “They say that they’re humans from a different planet and tha princess doesn’t think they are nuthin but harmless. They ain’t changelings, ok? They agreed to help out on the farm in return staying in the guest rooms.” Her brother continued to stare. “Any questions?”
“Eeyup. What do they eat?” Applejack placed a hoof to her chin and turned to the humans, with Applebloom still chanting.
“What do y’all eat?” Marcus looked up from the prancing filly and shrugged.
“Almost anything really. We eat fruits vegetables, dairy, meats, grains…” Applejacks eyes went wide.
“Did y’all say meat?” Seeing her terror in her eyes, Marcus quickly explained.
“It’s not what you think. No other creatures on our planet are intelligent to the degree that we are, and we don’t eat horses. I don’t think any culture does. Where we’re from, we are partial to pigs, cows, and chickens.” He was trying his best to keep her calm, but it wasn’t helping.
“Some of our friends are cows!” Applejack yelled in horror. Applebloom didn’t care or didn’t notice the exchange as she bounced.
“And we aren’t about to eat them.” Taylor interjected, being careful to not trip over Applebloom, who kept chanting as she now circled Marcus alone. “We’re not about to eat any of your friends, regardless of their species and our eating habits. What creatures here cannot speak and are rather, well, stupid?” She tried to phrase it as best as she could, but could tell stupid had been a poor word to use.
“Well, most birds ah guess. And pigs and chickens of course, fish too.” Applejack said slowly, trying to keep calm.
“Ok, so I guess Marcus and I will, if we get hungry for meat, eat eggs and fish. Is that ok?” Taylor was speaking carefully, trying to keep the situation under control. Applejack nodded, still a little unsure. “But y’all said ya can eat plants right?” She asked hopefully.
“Yes, but we can’t digest hay, grasses, or leaves.” Taylor stood in the middle of the room, trying to calm Applejack.
“Ok ah guess. We can serve ya some fruit, salad, and eggs for dinner then.” At the mention of food, Marcus’ stomach decided to roar, since he hadn’t eaten breakfast ant it was almost noon now.
“Can we, um, have some of that sooner than dinner perhaps?” At the sound of her new brother’s desire for lunch, Applebloom ran into kitchen and started to sift through drawers, causing the pots and pans within to cause a ruckus. The noise finally caused Granny Smith to look up.
“Applebloom, just because yer friend’s hungry doesn’t mean ya can go around banging pots.” She looked back down at her knitting as the noise died down. Looking at her grandmother with confusion, Applejack sighed.
“Ah guess ah’ll help her with lunch.” Everyone followed her into the kitchen, minus Granny, who kept knitting.
The scene was comedic. Applebloom had somehow gotten in to the flour, and was as white as a ghost, leaving prints everywhere as she tried to make lunch. Applejack quickly took over, having her sister go and wash up while Big Mac, Marcus, and Taylor sat down at the table. Big Mac got his first up close look at a human and he wasn’t overly impressed. He reached the males, known as Marcus, neck in stature, his ears reaching the nose, so they weren’t overly tall compared to him, and they seemed relatively easy to knock over, walking on two legs and all. What did impress him was Marcus’ size. He was barrel chested, and his arms were obviously muscular as well. He could be helpful on the farm he decided. The female, Taylor, he wasn’t so sure about. She wasn’t as strong the male seemed, but instead she looked more lithe and toned than muscular. She could probably help with cider season and carrying apples if anything. And she unnerved him. She gave off a vibe similar to Rainbow Dash, and he did not need another one of her around the farm. Applebloom returned promptly and sat between the two humans, smiling proudly at the two new family members.
“So where’d y’all from?” She asked no one in particular.
“A place called Earth. It’s a planet.” Marcus thought she was the cutest thing he’d ever seen.
“Wait, yer aliens!?” Appleblooms face went into a suspicious look and she eyed the two at seeming the same time.
“Well, I guess.” Marcus answered honestly, shrugging. Appleblooms smile returned, bigger than ever. She began to jump up and down, going faster and faster until she was a blur. Marcus looked at her curiously while Taylor laughed. Leaning towards Big Mac, he asked “Is this normal?” Big Mac looked at the human, then back at his sister before answering
“Eeyup.” Looking at Big Mac now, Marcus asked another question.
“You don’t say much do you?”
“Nope.”
“I can respect that.” He smiled as he leaned back in his seat.
Applejack brought sandwiches over to the table, for the ponies, and a bowl of salad each with apples on the side for the humans. She had been sure to give them forks. Applebloom stopped jumping long enough to eat her sandwich and began to interrogate her alien family. They did their best to answer her incessant questions, rarely getting stumped, like with the questions ‘Who’s their favorite Apple family member’ and ‘Who do you think would win; Iron Will or Big Macintosh’. Applejack just watched, too entertained to save them. At one point, Applebloom gasped in horrible realization, Taylor later swearing she should have doubled in size with her lung capacity.
“Ah have ta tell Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell!” Before she could run off though, Applejack caught her tail, causing her to hang upside down in the air before she realized what was happening.
“Hey! That hurts Applejack!” She shouted as she was set down.
“Ah sorry sugarcube, but ya can’t tell yer friends. Rarity and Pinkie Pie don’t even know about the humans yet. We’re having a meeting tonight in the barn to decide what ta do. I’ll bring up your friends at that point ok?” Applebloom drooped again, causing Taylors heart to melt at the utter disappointment emulating from the filly.
“Ah guess…”
Both she and Marcus knew that they would be more than happy with the Apple Family. At this point, Granny Smith came in from her knitting and snagged a sandwich set aside for her. As she ate, she scrutinized the two new comers, namely Marcus, for a few minutes before turning to Applejack.
“Why can’t y’all bring back a proper stallion from yer adventures with yer friends?” She asked neutrally. “Ah want great-grandfoals.” Taylor burst into laughter from the look of embarrassment on Applejack’s face. The laughter caused the aged mare to turn to Taylor with a critical eye.
“An’ the same goes fer th’ two a y’all.” She remarked sharply. “Y’all wanna be Apples, y’all get me great-grandfoals.” Taylor stopped laughing as she and Marcus felt their eyes go wide and blood rush to their cheeks. In this silent state, Granny slowly walked out of the kitchen. One the door closed behind her, she snickered.
“Ah still got it.” She said to herself with an evil smile.
Chapter 6: Fight Club in The Library and Bonding Time
Twilight and Thomas were walking down the main road in Ponyville, having split from Fluttershy and the others before entering town. Thomas was the first human to see a town built and operated by ponies, and he was duly impressed. These ponies seemed kind and courteous, saying and waving hello’s to their friends and Twilight a number of times. The sun shown brightly, giving the mismatched colors of the buildings and the ponies themselves more vibrancy than he thought possible. He saw ponies in cafes eating daisy sandwiches, grass and clover omelets and, of all things, a tofu burger with what seemed to be strips of fried hay. The smells, although slightly unappetizing, reminded him of how he hadn’t eaten since dinner. His stomach grumbled, causing a nearby pony to look around in confusion.
This should have seen the first thing to tell him something was off, but he paid no mind, there was too much to see. Pegasi were flying over, moving clouds and racing, unicorns were magically carrying plates and bags as regular ponies were going about their everyday business. Except for the one that was ballooning and deflating, stretching and shrinking as they did their best to run. Towards him and Twilight.
“Um, Pinkie, is something wrong?” Twilight asked carefully. Seeing her friend’s body defy the laws of physics once again was not something she particularly enjoyed.
“Hi Twilight! There’s a dozy coming, I just know it!” She was beginning to contort again, this time becoming the size of Volkswagen beetle and then a watermelon. At this point, three things happened at once; Pinkie looked to the left of Twilight, smiled and as soon as she did, promptly stopped changing shape, Twilight followed her gaze and to her horror realized that Pinkie could see Thomas, and then a pony bumped into Thomas, distracting him from Pinkie or Twilight’s reactions.
“My apologizes.” He told the grey and blonde pegasus, manners kicking in on reflex before he could think.
“No, it was my fault. I’m the one who should be sorry.” The mare rubbed her nose without looking up and walked on. She got three steps before she stopped and spun, her eyes wide, and facing opposite directions Thomas noted, but before he could see anything else, Twilight teleported them into the library, panicking at what was happening.
Spike was startled by the sudden appearance of Twilight and the strange creature, coinciding with the sound of the shades being drawn and the front door locking, but seeing the look of abject terror on her face was enough for him to react. Thinking she was in trouble, he launched himself off the ladder he’d been using to put books away and land of the creatures head, knocking something off.
As soon as he landed, the creature began to scream and run around the library. Spike clawed at the creatures head, scratching its face with his claws while the thing tried to pull him off and hit him against the walls. A sudden pain sprang from his head and he loosened his grip for a second. The creature seized its moment and flung him against the far bookcase. Spike slammed into it, his spines shattering the shelf and causing books to tumble down and cover him. He quickly got up and saw something that he would later deny didn’t scare him. The creatures face was smeared in blood from his claws and its hands wiping it clear of its eyes. But it was the eyes that terrified him. They were an emerald green, and filled with rage. There was a pack by its feet and a knife a good four inches long in its hand and it was griping it so hard its hand was white. Then Spike noticed the rather large brass knuckles attached to it. The two stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity before launching towards each other, prepared to maim the other, or worse.
“NO!” Twilight screamed, her horn reacting instantly. A purple barrier came into being between them and when the two hit it, they were flung back with equal force, slamming into the walls and bookcases, sending pictures and books flying, one of which smacked Twilight in the head, stunning her out for a few moments. The barrier still stood independently, a testament to the unicorn’s skill as a mage.
Thomas was dazed for a few moments as well, but he recovered sooner. Groaning in his mind, he got up and slowly approached the barrier, wiping blood from his face as it dripped near his eyes. Tapping it with his knife, a soft thudding noise was made, like it was knocking against wood. He gripped the knife so that the blade was facing the ground and began pressing gently. Nothing happened, so he put his body weight on the blade, and it began to slowly move through. Thomas’ body soon followed suit, and he looked at Spike, who was horrified at the sight of one of Twilight’s barriers being broken so easily. As Thomas advanced on Spike, a cold, vacant look in his eyes, Twilight woke up and saw what was happening.
“Thomas wait!” Her voice was riddled with abject terror as she pleaded with the human. “Spike didn’t mean it!”
“You know this creature?!” Spike and Thomas said in tandem. They didn’t take their eyes off each other or the sharp objects in, or on, the others hands.
“Yes! And he’s harmless!” She removed the barrier and moved between the two, facing the human.
“Harmless?! Do you seem what it did to my face?!” Thomas wiped blood from his eyes and held out it to Twilight as proof.
“He thought I was in danger and he’s very protective.” Twilight stepped to the side so the two could look each other in the eye. Their eyes locked, trying to get a read on the other. Standing there, Twilight couldn’t tell if they’d start fighting again. Thomas turned his torso and tossed the knife to his pack and kept his eyes on the dragon. Seeing this Spike got up slowly and put his claws behind his back as a sign of disarmament. Thomas knelt down to the dragons level, and spoke calmly.
“Hello Spike, my name is Thomas.” He extended his hand to the dragon, who slowly brought his own back out from behind his back and shook it. They held onto the other for a second longer than a casual hand shake before slowly retrieving their respective hands.
“You’re quite a fighter Spike.” Thomas commented.
“You too. I don’t mean to be rude, but what are you? You have hands that are and aren’t like mine, you walk like me and yet you’re soft like a pony, and still yet you have fur on the top of your head only.” Spike was flat in his tone.
“I’m a human. I come from a different planet.” Thomas responded in an equally flat tone. Spikes reaction was nothing like Applebloom’s to hearing this. Instead of getting excited, he remained flat and emotionless.
“Where?”
“It’s called Earth.” Seeing the two become some what civil, she relaxed a little, and began to repair the shelves and return the books, still keeping a close eye on the two. A few had blood on them, so she set them aside. It was at this time a pounding occurred at the front door. Twilight quickly shoved Thomas through another door and ran to the other, but didn’t open it.
“Um,” she tried to remain calm, doing some deep breathing before continuing. “Who is it?” A rather regal voice answered her.
“Twilight, this is Rarity. What’s going in there? We heard screaming and crashing!”
“Uh, Spike was having a growing pain and I’ve had to sedate him. Dragons apparently have rather nasty ones. He’s ok and so am I.” She said the first thing that came to her mind, earning a glare of death from Spike.
“Oh poor Spikey Wikey. I’ll come back tomorrow with some gems, I’m sure he’ll feel better after that.” Spikes glare stopped, replaced by a toothy smile. “Oh, and I was told to tell you to stop teleporting in the middle of town, you scare ponies.”
“I’ll be sure to tell him when he wakes up. And I won’t do it again; you can tell everypony I’m sorry. Have a nice day!” She hoped that Rarity wouldn’t pick up the panic in her voice and get suspicious.
“You too!” Rarity said and the resulting silence convinced her that she’d left. Breathing heavily, she turned to the door where she’d shoved Thomas and realized she’d shoved him into the bathroom. She was too flustered by recent events to feel sorry about this and opened the door with her magic. Thomas emerged, his face even bloodier and his shirt beginning to turn red as well. Seeing him, she gasped and used teleported into the kitchen to fill a pot with water and grab a sponge.
“Oh Celestia Thomas! Spike, help him sit down and remove his shirt.” She ordered, teleporting back into the main room with the items.
“Thanks Twilight, I’ve had to close my eyes and if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be able to see anything anyways.” Spike grabbed his hand and guided him towards a chair near Twilight and helped him with his bloody garment. The blood had seeped through and his shoulders were smeared with it.
“Lean forward.” Twilight placed the pot under Thomas and turned to Spike. “Please grab some towels.” she said curtly. Spike trotted off and promptly returned with towels as Twilight soaked the sponge and began to wipe the blood from him. The blood didn’t stop as she did, and she could see his jaws clenched in pain as she wiped the blood from his cheek.
“How bad is it?” Spike shuffled his feet, realizing the full consequences of his actions.
“Well, I think he’ll need a few stitches, and I don’t think any healing magic will help.” Twilight said rather firmly.
“Oh. Why not?” Spikes voice sounded like a small child’s when knew they’d done something terrible.
“Well, the invisibility spell I put on him was wearing off in town and he was able to walk through one of my barriers. I’m beginning to think humans are resistant to magic.” She explained tersely. She was royally pissed at Spike for his behavior and had the mind to punish him later.
“Oh, ok…” Spike began to put books back slowly as Twilight pulled out a needle and thread from a first aid kit from the kitchen and began to sew up Thomas’ scars. The blood slowed and eventually stopped between the combination of the sponge and stitches. There were six long, deep scars on his cheeks, one on each side going to his temples and two smaller ones that went from his chin to his bottom lip but thankfully didn’t cut the lip. Smaller ones peppered the skin on his face, but didn’t need immediate attention.
She wiped the blood from his shoulder and noticed that, while the fur was nowhere near as thick as it was on his head, there was fur on most of his torso and arms, but most was on the center of his chest and what looked like a belly button. It seemed to be the same color as his head’s.
“Something catch your eye? Did he scratch my stomach too?” Thomas had noticed her gaze and looked down.
“I swear I didn’t Twilight!” Spike shouted in innocence.
“I know you didn’t. I just find it odd that your species is predominately furless Thomas. Here it tends to be skin, fur or feathers; no species is a mixture of fur and skin.”
“Yeah, well, it’s kind of a left over from our evolution. And on humans it’s called hair.” Thomas said as he watched Spike put books back.
“Wait, you evolved? From what?” Twilights interest was genuinely piqued and she stopped sewing so he could answer.
“Well, that’s only one theory on how we came to be. But it’s the one most supported by scientific evidence and it states that we evolved from apes. You know, chimpanzees.” A confused look on Twilight face told Thomas all he needed to know. “You don’t have them here do you? How about monkeys?”
“You’re descended from monkeys?” Twilight couldn’t see the connection between Thomas and the creatures that fling feces, but she’d only just met him a few hours ago, so who knows she thought.
“Eh, we’ve got a common ancestor, but a ways back. How about you ponies?”
“Well, it was more of a guided evolution by the alicorns. They’re the closest things we’ve got to gods here, most of them live for thousands of years, those that die young that is, and they were directly created the old gods. They use their magic to help shape the species and world around us.” Thomas looked at her in surprise. Of all the things to combine, the creation and evolution of sentient species was the last thing he could think of.
“Well, no magic where I’m from. And every living thing other than Applejack also doesn’t exist on Earth either. I feel like in a children’s cartoon, especially since the unicorn librarian has a baby dragon.” He laughed at the concept, but opening his jaw wide caused pain in his scars and his laugh devolved to into a gurgling pain sound. Hearing this, Spikes spines drooped and his face grew into a disapproved scowl, obviously disappointed with himself.
“Are you ok?” Twilight asked with concern.
“Yes” Thomas breathed through his teeth, trying to keep his jaw steady. It was obvious that he was in pain, and unfortunately the only aspirin she had was meant for Spike, so it could possibly kill Thomas from the high dosage.
“I’ll clean out the pot and sponge and get you something to drink. You should sit back and relax.” Twilight got up and took the pot, sponge and bloody clothing with her, ignoring Spike as she walked past him. Passive-Aggressive, Thomas thought, wonderful. In his mind Spike didn’t deserve it; he was only protecting Twilight from someone he thought was endangering her. The purple and green dragon obviously cared for her deeply, and she was ignoring him.
With that thought, Thomas wiped the water from his face and shoulders with a towel, grabbed his glasses, and gathered up books to help Spike. The dragon was a little surprised at his assistance, but didn’t say anything. A few minutes later, the two found themselves side by side, Spike on a ladder putting him at eye level as they put books away.
“I’m sorry about what I did.” Spike said softly. Thomas didn’t look at him, but he put his hand on Spikes shoulder and squeezed it as if to say he understood. They worked for a minute more before Thomas, fighting the pain, asked Spike a question.
“How long have you two known each other?” Spike thought for a moment before answering.
“All my life. She hatched my egg as an entrance exam to the princess’s school for gifted unicorns. Since then, she’s cared for me like a mother and I’ve seen her as the closest thing I’ve got to one. There are no other dragons like me in Equestria, I’m all alone except for her. I’d do anything for her, as you now know. And now she isn’t talking to me.” Spike’s voice was quivering as he spoke.
“I see her in trouble and I just want to protect her like she’s done for me for so many years. I can’t thank her enough for all the times she’s been there when other picked on me, made fun of me, and bullied me. I just don’t know how I could have survived without her.” Thomas could see tears welling in his eyes as she finished. A noise behind them caused them to turn. Twilight was standing in the doorway, holding a three bottles with straws in her magic.
“Spike…” Her voice was broken, her face covered in tears. She and Spike looked at each other for an eternity. Thomas set the books down and walked into the kitchen to give them privacy. He looked out the door a minute later to see them hugging, crying into the others arms/forehooves. He waited another minute or two before he reentered the room and the two were wiping tears from their eyes. The bottles had been placed on a table near the kitchen, so Thomas picked them up as he passed and handed one to each of them before removing the straw from his and sitting in a chair.
They passed the rest of the day talking, with Thomas writing his responses and questions on parchment provided by Twilight. All three of them knew they were going to enjoy the others’ company.
Chapter 7: An Angry Bunny Tries Terrorizing Humanity
Fluttershy’s cabin was picturesque in Rachael’s mind. The animals, the fact that it was cut out of a hill with a tree on top, and the field surrounding it. She absolutely loved all of it. The weather was beautiful and the animals were going about their business, Twilight’s invisibility spell still concealing the humans from their eyes. As they approached though, some of the animals, namely a pair of badgers and some rabbits began to sniff at the air, knowing something was just out of sight. The trio failed to notice this as they crossed the threshold of Fluttershy’s cottage. Once the spell was lifted, the animals were startled by the sudden appearance of the humans. They scattered, hiding in nearby bolt holes and random spots in the cottage. Only one animal remained, a decidedly stern looking rabbit, sitting in the middle of the living room, tapping his foot in irritation. The look on his face caused Rachael to aw audibly, while Megan was more cautious about the animal. Fluttershy on the other hand smiled kindly at the miffed bunny.
“Sorry I was gone last night Angel Bunny. There was an incident at Applejack’s.” She said in her quiet tone, and then motioned to the humans on either side. “This is Megan and this is Rachael, they’ll be staying with us for a while.” Angel Bunny gave the two a suspicious look, remaining in his spot. Rachael knelt down in an effort to be friendly with the bunny and smiled widely. The explanation seemed to placate the other animals, who slowly emerged from their hiding places, watching the humans closely.
“It’s ok everyone, they won’t hurt you.” Fluttershy said sweetly. The animals looked less nervous as Fluttershy spoke, some of the braver animals slowly approaching them. Angel Bunny remained stoic and irritated.
“It’s like they can understand you…” Megan said quietly, trying not to startle the animals.
“Well, it’s my special talent. I can communicate with them better than most ponies and they trust me more easily.” Fluttershy explained, moving towards the kitchen to make lunch. She was famished, and she was pretty sure Megan and Rachael were too. Rachael was approached by a number of animals, first some badgers, who sniffed her hand before simply walking out of the house disinterested. Next were some rabbits, more accepting than Angel Bunny, who let Rachael and Megan pet them for a minute before hopping away. Some birds flew up to examine the new comers, chirping curiously, staying as long as the badgers. Rachael turned to look at the still irritable bunny nearby.
“What about you dear? Aren’t you going to say hi?” Her voice was sweet, trying to entice the bunny over, but her question fell on deaf ears as the bunny hopped over to Fluttershy, busy making salads for the four of them. The two had a quiet conversation, consisting of Angel Bunny making wild paw gestures and Fluttershy answering back with mumbled words.
"Everything ok Fluttershy?” Megan asked, concerned about the rabbit’s behavior towards her new friend.
“Yes, Angel’s just upset over missing breakfast and sharing the house.” Fluttershy carefully placed three bowls on a table in the kitchen while the fourth was set under the table for Angel, who waited for the humans to begin before tentatively eating his own. Because there were only two chairs, Megan leaned up against the kitchen counter as she ate, using her fingers to eat the salad.
“Sorry about the lack of forks…” Fluttershy said quietly. She looked down at her salad slightly ashamed. Rachael looked at her host with shock, unsure of how she thought that not having any forks in a fingerless society was her fault.
“Fluttershy that is not you fault.” Megan said sternly “You had no clue we would show up, you open your home to us, and you expect us to get upset about you not having forks? We are in your debt and eating with out hands is just as good as with forks.” Megan finished with a resolute tone, trying to convince the pegasus that there was no reason for her to blame herself, but she went about it in the wrong way. Her tone didn’t seem to convince Fluttershy and caused Angel Bunny to hop towards her with an angry expression. Megan looked down at him with a raised eyebrow.
“I’m not mad at her; I’m simply trying to explain to her that it isn’t her fault.” Megan told Angel, not fully expecting him to understand her. Angel raised a questioning eyebrow at her statement and turned to see Rachael comforting the pegasus.
“It’s ok Fluttershy. It really doesn’t matter to either of us. We’re fine without them.” She put a comforting arm around the pegasus as she spoke in a sweet voice, which seemed to reach Fluttershy better than Megan’s. She smiled weakly and began to eat her lunch. Angel Bunny seemed to be ok with how things were going and looked back at Megan before going back under the table to finish his lunch. Megan would later swear she saw him place two fingers from his paw under his eyes and then point to her. I’ve got to watch out for him Megan thought, trying to remain calm. It wasn’t everyday you were threatened by a fluffy rabbit that looked like it had no qualms about fighting something ten times its size. After a quiet lunch, Rachael gathered the bowls and began to wash them. Angel Bunny refused to go near her as she picked up his empty bowl, and hopped into the living room with the other two, keeping a wary eye on the two humans.
“So… where will we be sleeping?” Rachael asked once the dishes were done, trying hard not to upset Fluttershy.
“I’ve got a guest room upstairs… if you’d like to sleep there that is.” She drooped her head, causing the humans to panic. Angel wasn’t happy.
“I’m sure the room will be just fine!” Megan assured, smiling widely and in an overly sweet voice. Fluttershy looked back up with a tentative smile and led them upstairs so they could see the room. The two humans quickly grabbed their stuff to prevent Angel from ransacking the bags. The second story of the cottage consisted of Fluttershy’s room, a bathroom, and a guest room that held a king size bed.
“I can get another bed if you guys don’t want to share…” She began to recede again, but Megan quickly salvaged the situation.
“Rachael and I are absolutely fine with sharing a bed Fluttershy. There’s no need to fret.” She leaned down and hugged a startled yellow pegasus. “We’re just happy you’re willing to shelter us.”
Rachael could swear she saw Angel death glaring Megan and herself. Fluttershy loosened up with the hug and helped the two unpack. Angel Bunny decided the best course of action was to be a nuisance. There was a rather embarrassing moment when the little white terror snatched one of Rachael’s bras and attempted to run out of the cottage with it. He’d gotten the idea when he heard her and Megan explain just what it was used for and that it was an undergarment. Fluttershy was giving the rabbit a time out as Megan tried to soothe a thoroughly distressed Rachael. It took her a few minutes, but she was finally able calm down enough to finish unpacking.
“I’m so sorry about that Rachael.” Fluttershy apologized, looking over her shoulder to make sure the bunny was still sitting in the corner.
“It’s ok Fluttershy, it wasn’t your fault.” Rachael answered, her face as pink as the mare’s hair.
“I should have kept an eye on him.” She insisted, facing her new friends. “I’ve made sure he understands what he did was wrong and that he’s not to go into your room without your permission.”
“Thank you Fluttershy.” Megan said with a sincere smile. “You’re a wonderful host.” The pony blushed slightly at the compliment and smiled.
“I just wish that things had started off a little better.” She lamented, looking back at the sulking puff ball. Angel Bunny refused to go near Rachael and Megan from that day on and would only go upstairs to enter Fluttershy’s room.
Chapter 8: The Other Princess and What's On The Menu
“Are you sure you don’t want to come Spike?” Twilight and Thomas were preparing to leave for the meeting and Spike had volunteered to stay. They could tell he didn’t like the idea of being present when everyone found out what he’d done and wanted to spend the night without the shame.
“Yes, somepony needs to watch Owlowiscious. He’s up to something, I just know it.” He eyed the brown bird suspiciously, who simply looked back at him with his usual blank expression. Thomas moved over to Spike and motioned for him to come with them.
“You want me to come?” Spikes voice dropped as he spoke. Thomas nodded before kneeling and rubbed Spikes head, like how one would have tussled another humans hair. The dragon looked up at the human with big eyes.
“Are you sure?” Again Thomas nodded. A quiet ‘okay’ was the little dragons response. Twilight looked at the two with a smile, happy to see the two bonding so quickly after what had happened.
“Spike, we grabbed enough parchment, ink, and quills for Thomas to write with right?” Looking back at the human she said in a deflated tone “Sorry the telepathy spell failed. I couldn’t get the proper grip with my magic.” She’d been concerned with making sure Thomas was well enough to go and the failure of her magic and had forgotten how much supplies she’d grabbed.
“Yup, he could write enough to fill the library.” He moved his hand around the room to make his point.
“Very well then. Ready boys?” Twilight asked, looking at the two. Both nodded, and she charged her horn.
“Hold on.” With that, there was bright flash of purple light and three were standing in the Apple Family’s barn. Everyone else had already arrived and was sitting around the large table in the middle of the barn. Applejack approached to greet them.
“Great to see ya again Twi, ya’ll too Spike, and Thomas, WHAT IN TARNATION HAPPENED TO YA?!” Everyone whipped around at the commotion and there were a number of gasps. I must look terrible Thomas thought.
“Who did this to you?” Rachael had rushed next to him, looking over his scars with great concern. Thomas flinched when she gently touched them.
“I can explain” Twilight said. “But before I do, I want you to know that no one intended it to happen.” With that, she told them how Spike had presumed her to be in danger and had launched himself at Thomas’s head. When she had finished, the humans couldn’t stop staring at Spike, the ponies were torn between Spike and Thomas while Thomas stood there, acting as if there was nothing wrong.
“So, Thomas can walk through your magic and Spike can maim?” Rainbow Dash was the first to speak, looking at the three in mixed shock and confusion.
“Yes, it seems that humans, or at least Thomas, are resistant to magic, which is why I haven’t tried to treat his scars magically. It will probably do nothing. He’s also resistant to a telepathy spell I tried to use so he’d be able to communicate with us.” Twilight sounded disappointed as she spoke, causing Thomas to look down at her and tussle her mane, letting her know he understood. She looked up at him and smiled, something that didn’t escape the attention of Applejack or Rainbow.
“Shall we get started then?” Applejack asked tentatively. Everyone nodded and they took their seats. There wasn’t a seat for Spike who stood at the edges of the group awkwardly before Thomas put him on his knee, the perfect height for the dragon to reach the table comfortably. The act caused the humans to look at friend with a funny look, which he ignored as he unpacked the writing materials Twilight had brought along. But before they could start, a bright blue light flashed and in the entrance way stood a dark alicorn.
“We have been visiting your homes trying to find you!” Her voice was as regal as Celestia’s, causing the humans to look at her in confusion. She was smaller than Celestia, with a dark blue coat and lighter mane, and she wore a black breast plate and tiara, the former having a crescent moon emblazoned on it. Her mane was slightly transparent on the edges, and also seemed to wave in a nonexistent breeze.
“Oh my, I am so sorry Princess Luna. We completely forgot that you were supposed to visit. A lot has happened today, as I am sure you’re aware.” Twilight addressed the alicorn in a formal manner, but Taylor knew she was on familiar terms with her. At the word princess, Thomas got up and bowed, the others following suit immediately. The bowing caused the princess to look around at the table, eyeing the humans with curiosity and suspicion. Her eyes settled on Thomas, whose scars seemed completely out of place with the others of his species.
“Where did you receive your wounds human?” She looked at him intently and when he didn’t answer, she took it as a sign of disrespect.
“You ignore a direct question from the Princess of the Night!? How dare you!” She advanced on the human, but Twilight was quick to intervene, stepping between the two. Spike spoke first though, owning up to his actions.
“I gave him those scars. I thought Twilight was in danger and I clawed at his face. He can’t speak because of the stitches.” He tried to keep his voice and posture strong as he faced the princess, but he quickly wilted under her intense gaze. She looked at the group, asking to verify.
“Is this true?” They all nodded. She looked back at the human and apologized.
“We are sorry for taking your silence as disrespect. We were hasty in our accusations.” The human nodded and quickly wrote something on a piece of parchment before handing it to Spike, who read it for him.
“He says he understands and says that there is no need to apologize. He also says it is nice to meet you.” Thomas gave curt nod at the end, smiling lightly.
“It is pleasant to meet you as well Thomas. We are Princess Luna, Guardian of the Night.” She tried to look tall and powerful as she spoke, secretly hoping to strike a little fear into the human, who only bowed again and motioned towards his seat for her to sit in. She accepted, moving over towards that side of the table and sitting regally while Twilight created chairs for Thomas and Spike. Everyone moved down a little to make room and soon they were all seated comfortably.
“So, why is this gathering taking place?” Luna looked at Twilight expectantly, who shrank a little under her intense gaze, but her voice remained steady.
“Well, we were going to discuss what has happened and what we should do in the future. Such as how long we plan on keeping the humans hidden, whether the sleeping arrangements are working and what ever else we need to.” Luna nodded in approval and looked around at the table before speaking.
“Let us begin. Let’s start with the humans introducing themselves.” She looked at Marcus first, who responded curtly
“My name is Marcus.”
“Mines Taylor.” The red head said with a tense voice.
“I’m Rachael.” She tried to make up for her friends lack of manner by speaking cordially.
“I’m called Megan.” Hers was the most casual, throwing in a slight wave.
“And we know Thomas’s name. Your names are odd we must say.” Thomas scribbled something down and handed it to Spike, who loved his role as the human’s mouth piece.
“Yours are odd to us as well. Also, the Royal We is a little too formal for this setting, so would you be willing to use first person?” The ponies looked at Thomas with utter shock at his willingness to ask royalty to change their behavior. The human himself looked at Luna with his fingers laced and a calm expression.
“Of course,” Luna said without commenting on his presumptuousness “we, I have a slight problem with that tradition. And I can see why you’d find them strange.” Her demeanor changed noticeably, no longer trying to act regal and powerful, but instead relaxing and reclining a little in her chair, at ease with her surroundings.
“Can you all please fill me in on what has happened in the last day?” With that, the ponies and humans related their adventures to the Princess, who seemed to enjoy them. Luna smiled at hearing Applebloom’s reaction to Marcus and Taylor, and raised her eyebrows at the story of Angel Bunny and Rachael. She looked at Spike with suspicion when his actions were described in detail. At the end, she remained silent for a few moments after Twilight had finished before she spoke.
“I am quite impressed Spike.” Everyone looked at her incredulously. “Not at the infliction of pain at Thomas’s expense, but I am impressed with his willingness to defend Twilight so fervently and without fear.” She looked directly at Spike as she finished “You have shown yourself to be a loyal companion and a fearless fighter.” Spike blushed noticeably at her praise, causing everyone to smile.
“Well, now that we’re all caught up, how long are we going to keep these guys hidden?” Rainbow slammed one hoof on the table and used it as support as she had the other to point at the humans, moving from one to the other rapidly. Applejack eased her back into her chair as Luna answered her.
“You raise a very good question. Now, the Changeling's were only defeated a year ago, and majority of the countryside is still on edge. Therefore it is unlikely that we will be able to reveal their existence for a year, maybe two. And your possible resistance to magic would only make things worse.” She looked around to gauge the response to what she’d said, and there was an obvious mix. Some, like Fluttershy, Applejack, and the humans called Rachael and Thomas nodded in agreement, while Rainbow, Twilight Marcus and Taylor didn’t look too pleased with this. Megan remained passive.
“What are these ‘Changelings’?” Taylor asked, her tone slightly irritated at being left out of the loop.
“They are creatures that can imitate ponies, making themselves look like loved ones and feeding off that love.” Twilight explained “They are black and green when they aren’t imitating others and have no qualms about killing. They were able to infiltrate Canterlot, our capital, and nearly succeeded in taking down the princesses.” Twilight explained. The humans were obviously surprised at what these creatures could do. Able to blend into their surrounding and willing to kill, they sounded like terrorists on Earth.
“So you see why introducing you, a species never seen in Equestria before, could cause panic. Nopony would know if you’re Changelings and your lives could be in danger.” Luna looked at Taylor seriously, who accepted her logic and looked down at the table in thought.
“Is there anypony in particular who we should notify of our existence? Like a government agency or body?” Spike asked on Thomas’s behalf.
“Well, the only ones I could possibly think of could be the Stable of Nobles, how about you Princess?” Twilight was deep in thought as she spoke, signified by the hoof to her chin and her downward gaze. Luna didn’t take a moment of thought before responding.
“No, only the Royal Academy of Science would have any prerogative to know, but I don’t think they should at this time. The Stable on the other hoof… they could be helpful but also dangerous if brought into this.” She spoke hesitantly, not liking the picture painted in her mind about the legislative body.
“Politics.” Marcus sneered under his breathe, audible only to Applejack and Taylor, who sat on either side of him.
“They could make the integration of your species much easier and more accepted, but they could smell a chance to ask for more powers in exchange. We must tread carefully from here on out.” With that, the group began to discuss items of lesser importance. Applejack brought up the human diet, which caused a minor up roar amongst Fluttershy and Rainbow, the former concerned for her animals and Rainbow nervous about having her friends staying with carnivores. Fluttershy was quickly reassured by the humans and Applejack that they wouldn’t eat anybody she loved, but Rainbow remained unconvinced and Princess Luna looked concerned. The issue was unresolved when Megan suddenly spoke up.
“I think we should take a break for now. I need to stretch my legs.” Megan got up and stretched her back, popping it as she did. The others followed suit, diverging into different groups that mumbled silently.
“Spike, could I talk with you a second?” Spike looked over to see the other human male, the one called Marcus, moving towards him. Looking up at Thomas, who motioned for him to go with a reassuring smile, Spike slowly walked over to the massive creature. He guided Spike a little ways away from the rest of those gathered and kneeled down.
“About what happened in the library with Thomas…” His voice was serious, causing Spike to grow fearful that he was about to be physically hurt. He tensed up in a gut reaction.
“He didn’t hurt you did he?” The human was concerned, his voice nervous.
“No, nothing really bad. He only threw me against a book case, which didn’t leave a scratch.” Spike said, waving the incident off.
“Nothing else?” Marcus asked curiously. Spike shook his head.
He tried to get me with that knife of his but Twilight stopped him.” He added, tapping his chin in thought. Marcus froze, clearly angry.
“I’m going to talk to him about that.” He said tersely. Spike quickly shook his head.
“It’s all good. We apologized to each other earlier tonight.” He assured. The human looked down at the floor at this point, lost in thought. He sat there thinking so long that Spike was about to go back to Twilight and Thomas, who were in a deep conversation with Princess Luna and Rainbow Dash.
“You see,” the human explained, still looking at the ground. “Thomas has a temper, although it’s really hard to make him explode. I wanted to make sure that you were ok.” His eyes met Spikes, and they were filled with concern. The dragon looked into them and saw that the human genuinely wanted to know if he was ok.
“I’m ok now, thanks though. We’ve worked things out.” As he spoke, the human smiled and stood.
“That’s good to know. I’ll let you get back to your new friend.”
“We are not going to do this!” Twilight’s voice was hushed, but still carried weight as she spoke. She, Luna, Rainbow, Thomas, and now Spike were having an argument on the human diet, and Twilight was not happy about how it was going.
“Look, these humans need to either adapt or they will cause severe problems in Equestria!” Rainbow Dash realized she’d gotten gradually louder and quickly lowered her voice accordingly. “We cannot have meat eaters running around the country! Ponies will fear for their foals.”
“She has a point Twilight Sparkle. We will face serious repercussions later if we don’t decide on something now. While I understand that they will not eat ponies, I’m not sure most of the populace will.” Princess Luna’s voice was severe, her words making it harder for Twilight to think. Fortunately, Thomas stepped in with a piece of parchment. Reviewing it, the Princess nodded.
“There are some species that do consume flesh in Equestria, namely griffons and dragons.” Thomas quickly scribbled another sentence before handing it back.
“The difference between you and them is that you humans seem to require less meat than them. Your physiology is a testament to that; you wrote earlier that your appendix can be disconnected from the rest of your digestive system and is much smaller, but you can still eat most cultivated plants. The Griffons still can’t, meaning that they need it to survive. Dragons on the other hoof eat gems and keep to themselves, so they aren’t much of an issue.” Twilight looked to the Princess with shock, not believing what she was hearing.
“Thomas told me how there are certain individuals on Earth who eat like that! They don’t eat any animal products! Some don’t even wear them.” Luna looked to Thomas for verification, who nodded. “But we still can’t force them to eat like us! We’ve never done that before!”
“And we’ve never dealt with aliens, a Changeling invasion, and a ghost unicorn king either.” Rainbow retorted. Twilight glared at her for not backing her up in front of Luna, whose horn glowed as she looked to Thomas. The two smaller ponies looked at them curiously, but Luna’s horn stopped glowing soon after.
“You really are as intelligent as Twilight has informed us. Not only did you realize what I was doing almost as soon as I started, but you also provided the information rather quickly.” She complimented Thomas, who bowed his head in acknowledgement.
“Um, what exactly were you doing Princess?” Twilight asked cautiously.
“I was probing his mind for an answer to our conundrum.” She answered as casually as Princess Luna can.
“But I tried to do that when we were at the library and failed miserably!” Her demeanor was indignant, causing Luna to raise an eyebrow to remind her who she was speaking to.
“While you are incredibly gifted in regards to magic Twilight Sparkle, your talents are rather feeble in comparison to those my sister and I can call upon.” Her tone was flat and quickly put Twilight back in her place. She mumbled an apology. “It is understandable. You are not accustomed to failure or limitations.” Luna’s tone softened.
“Excuse me, but what information did you get?” Rainbow pressed, wanting to know whether she’d have to deal with murderous humans running around.
“It seems that most humans do indeed have a taboo on eating horse meat, and tend to prefer beef and pork. But they have many staples and I know a simple solution that could easily be agreed upon. If you would all join me back at the table.” The last sentence carried across the barn and the rest of those assembled reorganized themselves around the table and looked attentively at Luna.
“In regards to the diet of the humans, I believe that a solution has been made readily available. Applejack and the humans known as Taylor and Marcus have already come up with the solution, that humans restrict their carnivorous appetite to chicken and fish. Does anyone have any further questions or concerns?” Looking around the table, most seemed placated, Rainbow looking a little irritated with the decision but not wanting to raise any complaints. “Very well, with that issue decided upon, I will be adjourning to the castle. Good night.” With that, she teleported in a flash of bluish and purple light.
“Ah guess now would be a good time to talk about Rarity and Pinkie Pie.” Applejack said slowly, the other ponies at the table nodding in agreement. “Anyone got any ideas?”
“Pinkie Pie’s seen Thomas.” Twilight blurted out. Everyone present, those who could at least, felt their jaws drop, gaping at the lavender unicorn, who looked at her hooves uncomfortably.
“What happened?!” Rainbow shouted, giving the pair an outraged look. She told them about walking through town and their friends Pinkie Sense going crazy, which drew confused looks the humans and concerned looks from the ponies, realizing the implications.
“So what should we do? Rarity’s coming over to see Spike tomorrow, so I can introduce her to Thomas then. Should I invite Pinkie or does someone else want to handle her?” Twilight was still uncomfortable with their earlier looks, her tone slightly hushed. Fluttershy spoke first, in a tone that was similar to Twilights, but meant she was more comfortable.
“Ah think Ah should. Ah mean, Marcus and Taylor seem to be more like her.” The cowpony reasoned, referencing the events with Applebloom. The others around the table nodded in agreement. A moments silence followed as everyone wondered if anything else needed to be added
“So I guess it’s settled then?” Megan inquired, looking around the table. “You’ll handle Rarity while Applejack takes Pinkie Pie? By the way, would you mind if I joined you? I’d like to meet her.”
“Sure, absolutely. Would you like to spend the night at my place tonight?” Twilight offered. Megan nodded and with that, the meeting dispersed, each of them heading to their respective homes and beds, mentally preparing for the next day.
“I must say Twilight; you certainly did clean up the place after Spike’s incident.” Rarity looked around the library, noting the new looking shelves and exceptionally clean floor space under them. The two unicorns were in the kitchen, doors and windows open to catch the early morning breezes, drinking tea, and munching on some cookies Rarity had brought along with the gems. Spike was eating away contently, sitting next Rarity and oblivious to the conversation around him.
“Well, I figured a little redecoration was necessary for a while now, and I guess I took advantage of an opportunity.” Twilight was relaxed, like she was having any other of the numerous chats she’d had with Rarity.
“Well good for you. So, hear anything interesting?” By interesting, Twilight knew that her friend meant gossip, even if she’d never admit it herself.
“Well, other than Derpy saying that there’s a two legged creature, nothing.” She tried to remain nonchalant, but a little nervousness edged its way out. Rarity misread her friends emotions, luckily for Twilight.
“Dear, please tell me you of all ponies isn’t taking that seriously. I mean two legs? As if!” She shook her head at how ridiculous the concept was. “Now I heard that Filthy Rich has not only been buying off politicians, but that he’s even got a mistress!” Twilight looked at her friend incredulously. While Filthy, or Mr. Rich as he preferred, was a cutthroat business man, he absolutely adored and doted upon his family. The idea of him having a mistress was about as logical as somepony going to the moon and back without magic.
“I find that hard to believe.” Twilight responded dubiously.
“Well so do I, but Lily swears she heard Mrs. Cake discussing it with Ms. Cheerilee the other day!” Twilight, and the rest of the ponies in Ponyville, knew Mrs. Cake was the biggest gossip in town and anything she said, other than the prices of her food, was to be doubted.
“You okay Twilight dear? You seem a little distant today.” Rarity looked at her friend with concern. Twilight had been drifting through their conversation that day, which only happened if she was preoccupied about something.
“Yeah. Rarity, can you keep a secret?” The question caused the white unicorn to look at her friend in shock.
“Of course I can sweetie! Now spill.” She leaned forward in a serious, yet eager response. Twilight smiled, amused at her friend.
“I think it’s better if I showed you.” Twilight got up and walked out of the kitchen. Rarity quickly followed her, ready, or so she thought, for anything her friend could show her. Spike continued to munch on a sapphire as big as his hand, unconcerned and sitting in his spot contentedly, a stupid grin on his face. They moved towards the door to the basement, but before she opened the door, Twilight turned and looked at Rarity with piercing eyes.
“You have to Pinkie Promise that you won’t tell anyone outside of our circle of friends ok? You can only talk to Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Spike about this.”
“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Rarity made the corresponding movements with a dramatic flourish and raised her eyebrows at Twilight, as if to ask if she really doubted her ability to keep a secret. With that, she opened the door and the two entered the basement.
“Gin!” Megan shouted, causing Thomas to throw his cards on the table in irritation. Megan took deep pleasure in seeing him unable to speak and irritated at the same time.
“Now, now, nobody likes a sore loser. So what’s that make it; 8 games me, 1 to you?” She asked satirically, causing Thomas to grow even more irritated. The two were sitting at a table in Twilight’s basement, which she had converted into a room for Thomas. They had spent the previous night in sleeping bags as the guest bed hadn’t been moved down yet. All around them were various apparatuses and beakers, indicating that they space had been used as a laboratory before Thomas moved in, which only excited him more at the time, but at the moment he couldn’t care less.
“Hey,” She raised her hands in mock defense “it was you idea to play cards while we waited. It’s not my fault that you happen to suck at gin.” Thomas scrawled on a piece of parchment to his right and shoved it towards her. Reading it, she looked up with a confused look, designed to get a reaction. It did. Thomas nodded fervently as he crossed his arms.
“You want to play a different game? How about we play Simon Says, you can be Simon!” She laughed at Thomas’s glare and continued with the taunts. “How about charades, you’d be good at that! Or Pictionary! Oh, how about Name that Tune!” She fell out of her seat in a fit of giggles, unable to control herself at her Thomas’s expense. He continued to stare, glowering and turning bright red in anger. Getting up, Megan snickered.
“Don’t get too upset, you’ll look like Freddie Kruger.” Thomas threw up his hands in exasperation and walked away from the table. Ever since he was 7, he’d been terrified of Freddie and whenever his name was mentioned within an hour of sundown, Thomas was guaranteed to get absolutely no sleep that night. At this point they heard the door at the top of the stair open and saw two unicorns enter. Twilight was the first to enter, and a white coated, with a sparkling purple mane unicorn followed close behind and stopped when she saw the two humans. Megan waved, Rarity collapsed.
“Rarity, can you hear me?” The voice was paired with something that smelled strong. She could feel her head being held up and she slowly opened her eyes. Twilight was crouching over her with a concerned look, her hooves on the ground. Wait, if her hooves here on the ground, who was holding her head and the smelling salts? She looked up and shrieked in terror. A creature with six long scars on its face and emerald green eyes had a hold on her.
“Rarity, wait!” Twilight shouted, but before she could do anything, Rarity let out an uncontrolled burst of magic, created on instinct that struck the creature square in the chest and sent it flying back into the basements wall with a resounding thud from the wall and grunt from… whatever that thing was. She looked back at Twilight, who was rushing over to the creature.
“Twilight, what are you doing? That thing could hurt you!” She ran after her friend, but stopped short of approaching the creature. Twilight showed no fear and bent down to check on the creature, crumpled on the floor and groaning in pain.
“He’s harmless! His name is Thomas and he was helping me get you to wake up!” Her horn glowed and she concentrated, trying to check on the condition of his bones and internal organs. From what she could tell, he was fine, but he was hard to read.
“I don’t think you hurt him too badly.” Her statement was confirmed when Thomas raised himself and sat against the wall, rubbing the back of his head.
“But how?! I know that should have incapacitated him at the very least!” Rarity exclaimed, now terrified of the creatures resilience.
“They seem to be resistant to magic.” Twilight explained.
“THEY?! THERE’S MORE?!” She looked around wildly and focused on the door, where Spike was finally entering. She rushed up to him and leaped on him in an effort to protect him.
“Careful Spike, there are these strange creatures infesting Twilight’s library! One tried to snap my neck!” She continued to look around wildly, searching for more of them.
“Um, they aren’t infesting the library Rarity.” Spike said, trying to get out from under Rarity, who was fighting him. “Their names are Thomas and Megan and I really doubt they were trying to snap your neck.”
“You know them!?” Rarity was lightly stunned by the sentence, allowing Spike to get up and straighten his spines as he spoke.
“Yeah, they’re pretty cool if you get to know them. Megan is at least, Thomas is a nerd on Twilight’s level.” He pointed his thumb over his shoulder at the lavender pony, gently helping Thomas back to his feet.
“But, where’s the other one?” Rarity said fearfully.
“I’m down here!” A voice called from a table covered in lab equipment. Huddled under it was a creature similar to Thomas, but much more feminine and with a long brown mane.
“I ran for cover when I saw what you did to Thomas.” She looked over at him, still woozy from the collision with the wall, and commented.
“He seems to be everyone’s punching bag recently.” She got up from under the table and tentatively climbed the stairs. As she approached, Rarity hid behind Spike quivering. Under normal circumstances, Spike would have relished a chance to show her how brave he was, but he knew she was in no harm, so he remained relaxed.
“I’m Megan. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m a friend of Twilight’s.” She sat down at the top if the stairs, her legs crossed and she looked at Rarity with deep green eyes that seemed to be sincere. Rarity slowly moved out from behind Spike and approached Megan. These creatures were incredibly strange to her. They were quite tall, had very little fur, other than the stuff on their heads, and there were distinct differences between the genders. Megan had a softer face, her skin was smoother, part of her torso stuck out further, her hips contrasted sharply with her waist, and yet she seemed to have more muscle than the male. The male on the other hand had shorter fur, needed glasses, and seemed a healthy skinny that lacked defined muscles. She had no idea what in Tartarus they could be.
“I’m Rarity,” She softly replied “and any friend of Twilight’s is a friend of mine.” She sat down in front of Megan and continued to look her over. “I don’t mean to be rude, but what are you exactly?” The creature took it in stride, responding earnestly and kindly.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m a human, and I’m from another planet.” At this point, Rarity’s heart stopped. Another planet? She’s an alien?
“Did you say another planet?” She squeaked.
“Yes, but we got here through a fluke of magic. It’s a long story. If you’re willing, I can tell you.” Her calmness seeped into Rarity, something about this human reminded her of herself.
“Sure.” She responded. With that, they walked down to the table and Megan began to explain everything, from the hunting trip, to the field, to the meeting the other night. Rarity’s eyes went wide with all the information. Towards the middle, Thomas and Twilight joined them, Spike having gone back in to finish off his gems. At the end, Rarity sat there in silence as she processed it. She turned to Thomas after a moment and looked at him in shame.
“So I hurt you for no reason after you’ve already been scarred by Spike?” Her voice was full of the shame that was on her face as well. Thomas nodded and scribbled something on a piece of parchment. It’s fine, no damage done.
“Oh, but I must make up for hurting you some how!” She exclaimed. Then her face lit up as an idea struck her. “I know just the thing! Twilight, its Sunday, so my shop is closed, can you teleport us all there?” The lavender unicorn nodded, seeing where this was going. Thomas was suddenly sitting on the floor of a boutique, with Megan sitting nearby, both utterly confused. The boutique had rolls and scraps of fabric everywhere, along with mannequins of ponies, namely mares. The curtains were drawn, making it dark, but enough light seeped through for the two to see. The two unicorns were standing; expecting the sudden shift in scenery, and Rarity quickly dragged Thomas by the sleeve of his shirt to a pedestal in the center of the room and shoved him onto it.
“I know you’ll just absolutely love this! It’ll be exciting to work with only two legs and a vertical body structure!” Rarity had a measuring tape enveloped in her magic and was quickly measuring his arms, chest, waist, legs and everything in between. She moved around him in a blur, having him completely measured faster than anything Thomas had ever seen.
“Now, so I can get an idea about how to fit the fabrics, and to get better grasp of what I’m working with, I’ll need you to remove your shirt and pants.” She said flatly, not noticing the intense blush on Thomas’s face and the slightly lesser one on Twilight, but Megan only smirked. Since he couldn’t voice a protest, he did as he was told. He was soon standing on the pedestal in his skivvies, feeling completely vulnerable with three girls in the room, one of whom was pointedly laughing at his discomfort. Rarity turned around and completely disregarded Megan, too focused on her work.
“Now, for the shirt I was thinking silk, as that would go with the suit material, but lets experiment a little.” With that, she started to match swatches of fabric against his face and shoulders, making quick remarks at each pair, keeping one, then the other, then neither, going back to one. It all went so fast that Thomas couldn’t keep track of what color they were, let alone the material. Before he knew it, she had a bolt of white fabric which he was able to identify as silk. She began to cut and stitch, forming a shirt around his torso and not thirty minutes later all it was missing was the buttons.
“Now, for your trousers.” She raised a pair of scissors that made him nervous and began. The process was much the same, except there was no flurry of fabric, as she had set her mind on what to work with. He stood as still as possible, but when she zipped up a zipper rather quickly, he jumped. This caused a fit of giggles from Megan and Twilight, leaning on one another. Thomas only glared at them before Rarity made him look forward so she could work on the jacket. Rarity kept telling him to stand still, but as far as he could tell, he was, but he soon realized he kept moving his arms in nervousness. He steadied them and relaxed. Before he knew it she stepped away.
“There, what do you two think?” She turned to the two girls, who nodded their approval, Megan whistling.
“Incredibly well done.” Thomas walked off the pedestal and looked into a nearby mirror. The person in it shocked him. Standing in his scars was a man dressed in a tweed suit and silk shirt. He hadn’t even noticed the vest she’d put on him. He turned to see his back and legs and nodded, liking the suit, the way it moved and how it fit. He turned to Rarity, completely flabbergasted.
“I think he’d like to say that it’s amazing and thank you.” Megan spoke for him, and he nodded in agreement.
“Thanks are not necessary. I owed you for knocking you into that wall earlier and a lady never neglects her debts. Now,” she turned to Megan “you’re next. Hop on the pedestal please.”
“You don’t owe me anything! And neither Thomas nor I can pay you.” Megan said, caught off guard by Rarity’s generosity.
“Pish posh, my dear. I’ve made him a suit, so it’s only polite for me to make you a dress.” With that, she led her up the pedestal that Thomas had recently vacated.
“Now if you’ll please.” She motioned towards her shirt and pants. Megan blushed and quickly looked towards Thomas, who had already turned to look at the incredibly interesting wall behind him.
“Well dear? It’ll be a lot harder for me to measure you and make your dress.” Rarity heard Megan mutter something about it not being proper for Thomas to be here. Taking a hint, she asked for Thomas to go wait in the front room.
“Oh, she’s over at Applejack’s with Applebloom and Scootaloo. Applebloom was rambling on about aliens and a new brother and sister the two had to meet. Why?” She answered absentmindedly before turning to see Twilight and Thomas teleport in a flash of light.
“Well, that’s a little rude.” She commented before turning back to Megan and asking “Are you ready?”
Chapter 10: Meeting Pinkie and The Cutie Mark Crusaders
Applejack had invited Pinkie Pie over for breakfast and was sitting across from her friend when she saw Applebloom rush out the door and leap off the porch with a huge ruckus.
“I’d say that was more of a clatter than a ruckus.” The pink pony sitting across from her suddenly said.
“What was that?” Applejack gave her friend a confused look.
“Oh, well the line said ruckus, but I’d say that was more of a clatter. But who am I to argue with the author?” She shrugged and continued to eat her apple tart that she’d piled high with whipped cream. Applejack shook her head to clear it. Pinkie Pie was definitely the weirdest of her friends. She was always going on about something called the fourth wall and how they should smile for the cameras.
“You said you wanted to show me something?” Pinkie Pie had finished her breakfast and looked at Applejack with a happy-go-lucky look. Nodding, Applejack said
“If ya’ll could follow me.” She led her up the stairs and to the guest room of the house, but before she opened it, she turned to Pinkie Pie.
“Ah’m gonna need ya to Pinkie Promise that ya won’t tell a soul about what’s in this room outside our circle of friends, ok?” Her look was serious, but Pinkie Pie didn’t seem to notice.
“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” She giggled as she spoke, loving the motions of her signature promise. Satisfied, Applejack opened the door and let Pinkie in. Marcus and Taylor quickly rose; they had been sitting on the guest bed and moved to the center of the room. They watched the pink pony expectantly, wondering how she’d react.
“Where’s the one with the big owies on his face?” She looked around the room, searching for Thomas. “Is he hiding?!” Pinkie asked as she began to lift the beds and floorboards in her search.
“Thomas is at Twi’s!” Applejack shouted as she tried to repair the damage caused to the floor by her overly energetic friend. The pink pony stopped searching and whispered.
“He’s gooooooooood.” She promptly seated herself in front of Marcus and Taylor. They stared at one another, each looking the other(s) over. Pinkie Pie was the first to speak.
“You look familiar. Do I know you?” She looked up at Marcus with suspicious eyes, causing him to grow nervous.
“Um, no?” He stated cautiously
“Yup! It was a trick question! I know eeeeeeeeverypony in Ponyville, and I would know you if I had met you before!” Her voice was energetic and she began to bounce up and down. She then gasped.
“I’ve got to throw you a welcome party!” Before she could go off on a tangent about the party, Applejack jumped in.
“Remember how Ah made you promise not to tell anypony?” Her voice was serious and she looked at Pinkie Pie with at intense eyes. The pink pony stopped bouncing in mid air and her jaw literally hit the floor.
“Screw physics.” Taylor muttered to Marcus, who couldn’t stop gaping at the mare.
“You mean I can’t throw them a party?!” Pinkie Pie sounded incredulous. Here eyes went wide with the horror of such an idea.
“Ah mean you can’t throw them a town wide welcome party. You can throw them one anytime in the barn.” She knew that cutting Pinkie Pie off from a party would end terribly, so she provided her an out. Which her friend gladly took.
“What are your favorite flavors of cake?” She turned towards the humans, a very intense look on her face.
“Chocolate.” Marcus said, still gaping.
“Red Velvet.” Taylor responded evenly. With that, the pink pony rushed from the room and out of the house towards Sugar Cube Corner, presumably to make cakes. Staring at the spot where Pinkie Pie had been standing, Marcus was able to recover himself somewhat.
“Is she always like that?” She simply nodded in response before taking the two down stairs to the kitchen and prepared them breakfast. They had some apple tarts with a salad and had a light conversation with Applejack before the door burst open and three fillies tumbled in. Taylor and Marcus recognized Applebloom, but the other two were unknown to them. One was a white unicorn with a pink and purple mane while the other was an orange pegasus with a deep purple mane. The three were in a ball, rolling around on the floor as they tried to disentangle themselves. Applejack took advantage of their situation and pushed Marcus and Taylor through the doorway, blocking the view of the fillies with her body.
“Well Applebloom, where are they?” Scootaloo asked, having finally freeing herself from her friends.
“Where are who?” Applejacks voice was firm, causing all three to freeze, Applebloom fell off of Sweetie Belle, who looked at Applejack upside down.
“Um…” Applebloom stuttered, righting herself.
“Did you tell your friends that we had aliens in the house?” Her tone grew more and more severe with each word and the three fillies shrank back accordingly.
“Yes.” Applebloom whispered. She stared at the floor, unable to meet her sisters gaze. Her friends stayed by her in moral support, but didn’t say a word. Applejack was quickly trying to think of an excuse that wouldn’t entail her to lie. It was times like this when she hated being the element of honesty. As she racked her brain, Scootaloo spoke up.
“Does that mean there aren’t any aliens?” Her voice was crushed and her eyes wide. Celestia damn it Applejack cursed on the inside. She quickly improvised.
“We have some guests who aren’t here at the moment, and Applebloom keeps insisting they’re aliens. I’m sorry to disappoint.” She sighed on the inside, hoping that would placate them. It seemed to, as the three of them slowly began to turn towards the door. But her hopes were dashed with a sudden noise.
“BOO!”
“AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH!” The Cutie Mark Crusaders screamed in unison and sprinted to hide behind Applejack while Taylor was on the floor in front of the door, rolling in laughter.
“You should have seen your faces!” She gasped. She had circled around and opened the door when she shouted, scaring the fillies. Marcus emerged from the living room and helped Taylor up, a smile on his face. The three fillies looked at them in shock, Applebloom beginning to smile. She began to laugh too, and soon everyone but Applejack was enjoying the prank. The cowpony was slowly turning red in anger.
“Ah, lighten up Applejack!” Taylor said, smiling at the pony. She moved her stenson forward to convey how serious she was.
“You couldn’t leave it at what Ah’d told them, could you? You had to go and blow everything!” She sat down at the table in a huff, her forehooves crossed in anger. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo slowly approached the two human, there eyes wide with awe and wonderment. Marcus squatted down to their level and smiled. Taylor went over to Applebloom and calmed her down.
“So you really are an alien?” Scootaloo finally asked, looking at Marcus with wide eyes. He was HUGE in comparison to her, much like Big Mac was.
“I guess I am. My name’s Marcus, who are you two?” He looked from one to the other as they began to warm up to him.
“My name’s Sweetie Belle.” The unicorn spoke up, still ogling at Marcus.
“I’m Scootaloo!” The pegasus said proudly. Marcus smiled at the two, ruffling their manes, getting an irritated look from Sweetie Belle as he did. Scootaloo couldn’t care less; she was too excited at meeting an alien. By this time, Taylor had calmed down Applebloom and the two joined the others. Applejack sat in her chair, fuming. Scootaloo turned to Taylor as she approached.
“What’s your name?” She asked curiously.
“I’m Taylor. And if I heard correctly; you’re Scootaloo?” She found the purple and orange pegasus to be adorable.
“Yup!”
“Um, just what exactly are you?” Sweetie Belle looked over the two humans, unsure of what to make of them.
“Well, we’re called humans. We come from a place called Earth.” Marcus responded with a smile.
“Do have a spaceship?!” Scootaloo asked hopefully.
“Sorry squirt,” Taylor shrugged “We were brought here by a quirk of magic. We haven’t got a spaceship.” Scootaloo looked disappointed for a second, but quickly got over her initial disappointment.
“Applebloom said that there were more of you. Is that true?” Again she looked up at Taylor with hopeful eyes, and she was happy to not disappoint her this time.
“Yes, there are three more for a grand total of five. Thomas is staying with Twilight at the library and Megan and Rachael are with Fluttershy.” No sooner had she finished than Twilight appeared with Thomas in the middle of the kitchen.
“Speak of the devil!” Marcus said, smiling at the two.
“Damn Thomas! You look like an Oxford professor.” Taylor wolf-whistled at her friend, who nodded in thanks. Twilight looked at the three fillies and to Applejack, who sat there as if her friend hadn’t suddenly appeared in her kitchen.
“I take it I’m too late to warn you?” She asked Applejack.
“Darn tootin yer too late.” She grumbled. She had wanted to prove that she wouldn’t be the first to have outsiders learn of the humans’ existence, and her complete failure felt like salt being rubbed into a fresh wound. Thomas knelt down to greet the two fillies, both of whom stared at his scars, making him feel incredibly self-conscious.
“What happened to your face?” Sweetie Belle asked in a slightly disgusted tone. Scootaloo and Applebloom backed up in nervousness, his appearance slightly unnerving them. Thomas looked to Marcus to explain, which he did. After hearing about Thomas’s scuffle with Spike, the three fillies approached Thomas cautiously.
“Sorry about pointing out your scars…” Sweetie Belle mumbled, kicking the floor with her hoof. Thomas ruffled her mane, his way of telling her it was ok. She harrumphed, this being the second time someone had done so inside of five minutes. Thomas smiled, but his scars twisted it evilly and made the fillies back away again. Thomas didn’t understand why they were nervous and looked to both Taylor and Marcus for an explanation. Taylor led him over towards the living room and whispered him to about how his smile looked with his scars. He looked down demurely, plainly upset that he couldn’t smile with out scaring the youngsters.
“Is he ok?” Sweetie Belle asked Marcus. They four were watching the two humans and the fillies had disappointed looks.
“Well, he’s had a lot of trouble with those scars. He can’t speak because doing so stretches the stitches and can possible pull them out. He can’t smile without, well.” He pointed at the three, who looked down at their hooves. “He’s had a rough time here so far.” The three fillies took his hint and walked over to where Thomas was listening to Taylor. The two looked down, Taylor smiling and Thomas waving while he kept his face in an emotionless look. Scootaloo pulled on his pant leg as Sweetie Belle motioned for him to come down to their level. He squatted and raised his eyebrows, waiting for them to talk.
“Mr. Thomas, we’re sorry for drawing attention to your scars. Twice.” Scootaloo said, all three looking at him in the eye. Thomas pulled the shorter of his five digits together with one of the longer ones to make a circle while the other three remained erect. They looked at it with confusion before looking to Taylor for an explanation.
“He’s saying that it’s all ok.” She smiled at their confusion. The three nodded in understanding.
“Well, we wanted to know if ya’d like ta help us earn our Cutie Marks?” Applebloom asked. The question caused Thomas to look around confused. Applejack was talking with Twilight, both having missed the question. Marcus and Taylor shrugged, unsure of what to do. Thomas looked down to see the three fillies looking at him with the deadliest weapon in their arsenal; their eyes. They were wider than they should reasonably be, tears on the precipice of their eyelids, and their lips quivering. Then they began to slowly advance. At this point, Thomas collapsed. He shielded his eyes dramatically and nodded furiously, his actions carrying the meaning of his words to the letter. The three immediately returned their eyes to normal and began to cheer.
“Cutie Mark Crusaders Alien Wranglers!” A look of confusion crossed Thomas’s face before he was tackled by the fillies, who tried to pin him. Jumpy from both Rarity and Spike, Thomas almost lashed out at the trio, but he was able to suppress the reflex before he could do anything. This was missed by most of those present, although Marcus squinted his eyes suspiciously, wondering if he’d seen what he thought. Thomas would have loved to say he let them pin him, but that would be lying as he was unprepared for the energy the three fillies had devoted to the task. He was pinned on his stomach with his limbs bound in three minutes. Applejack made sure he was released in less than half the time.
The group spent the next hour getting to know one another, with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle asking dozens of questions to each human. Marcus pulled Thomas aside to talk to him about pulling the knife on Spike and the two had a somewhat one sided conversation during which Thomas was able to find paper and a pencil to explain how he only did it because he thought Spike was attacking him for no reason.
The pair returned to the others and Sweetie Belle began interrogating them again. It was when Sweetie Belle asked about the other humans that Twilight remembered they’d left Megan with Rarity.
“I’ll be right back. I’m going to go get Megan and Rarity.” She said, excusing herself. There was a bright purple flash and the unicorn was gone. No more than thirty second later another flash occurred and Twilight was standing next to Rarity and Megan. If his jaw wasn’t effectively wired shut, Thomas felt that it would have dropped like Marcus’s and Taylor’s at the sight of her dress. It was a strapless, golden gown that showed off her shoulders. The edges of the dress where crème colored and decorative with small swirls that extended no more than an inch or so into the main cloth. It hugged her figure, coming together at her waist and spreading out slightly as it reached down her legs, just covering her ankles.
“I think they like it darling!” Rarity beamed, almost laughing. Megan blushed slightly at their looks and shifted her weight from side to side. This caused her gold dress to shimmer and sway with her, only adding to the beauty. Taylor was the first to recover from the shock of seeing her friend in such a get up.
“Hot… Damn…” She said slowly, not remembering that there were children around. Luckily for her, they were too awestruck to have heard her.
“You look beautiful!” Sweetie Belle shouted with glee, rushing up to the human with a beaming smile. Applebloom and Scootaloo were hot on her heels, just as awestruck.
“Thank you.” Megan said through a blush.
“Hiya! Mah names Applebloom!” The bow wearing filly said. “Who are you?”
“I’m Megan. It’s nice to meet you.” She waved down to the filly, not sure if bending over or kneeling down in the dress was good for it. Megan had never spent much time in dresses and not because she didn’t like them; it’s just that she never got the chance. She’d been rather distant during high school and tried to keep under other people’s radar, so she never got asked to dances.
“What about you two?” She indicated to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.
“I’m Sweetie Belle! Rarity’s my big sister!” The unicorn filly chirped happily.
“And I’m Scootaloo! I don’t have any sisters.” She added just as enthusiastically. “Or brothers for that fact. Do you?”
“I have a younger brother.” Megan responded with a smile. “He’s about your age I think.”
“How old is he?” Sweeite Belle asked curiously.
“He’s six years old.” Megan answered.
“We’re seven.” Applebloom commented, still smiling. “Does he have his cutie mark yet?” Megan and the other humans looked at her curiously before they remembered Twilight’s comment during ‘first contact’ on the hill.
“No, humans don’t have cutie marks.” Megan explained. “We don’t get any physical manifestation of our special talents when we find them.” There were blank looks from the fillies and they turned back to Taylor, Marcus, and Thomas for clarification.
“We don’t have pictures on our butts to show us our special talent.” Taylor said, stifling a smile.
“Oooooooooooh.” The Cutie Mark Crusaders said in unison, before turning back to Megan.
“Then how do you know when you’ve found it?” Scootaloo asked curiously. Megan shrugged.
“We don’t. Sometimes it’s pointed out to us, sometimes we figure it out ourselves. and sometimes we never know.” She answered. This last part stunned the trio of fillies, unable to comprehend what it would be like to never know their special talents. The adults saw collective shivers run down their backs.
“Ah can’t imagine not knowin mah special talent.” Applebloom shuddered.
“You don’t know it now.” Sweetie Belle pointed out. The farm filly rolled her eyes.
“Ah mean fer mah entire life.” She clarified with a roll of her eyes.
“Ooooooh.” The unicorn muttered. The fillies quickly recovered and described their exploits in great detail to the humans, excited to have their input for what they could do. Taylor suggested things like fireworks making and demolition derby drivers, which didn’t go over well with Applejack, Twilight, and Megan. Needless to say the CMC’s weren’t listening and were quickly drawing up plans on how to combine the two.
Chapter 11: Picking v. Bucking and Minor Confrontations
“Hey Rainbow, get a good nights sleep?” The voice startled the pegasus, who’d spent the night in one of Applejack’s trees. It had been a week since Pinkie and Rarity had been introduced to the humans and the Apple’s were preparing for the harvest by bucking the apple trees that had ripened early. But Rainbow Dash just preferred the smell of the orchards during this time and slept there almost religiously. She leapt into the air, her wings and hooves reacting on instinct as she struck a defensive pose. Applejack usually bucked or shouted her out of a tree, nopony snuck up on her with good intentions and she not going to go down without a fight. The resulting laughter caused her to take a better look at her so called ‘attackers’.
“Oh, hi guys.” She lowered her forehooves recognizing the smiling faces of Marcus and Taylor. Both were standing on ladders and picking apples off the trees with their hands and placing them into baskets they held with one arm. Marcus was wearing a plaid button up shirt and jeans while Taylor was sporting a t-shirt that was too big for her and a pair of tight fitting jeans. She did her best to regain her composure after the paranoid pose she had taken.
“We didn’t think we’d find you up here. Are you here to help?” Marcus’s tone was nonchalant, as if he hadn’t just asked the towns laziest pegasus if she was there to work. She raised her eyebrows at him, not having heard that question asked in an innocent manner for a couple years now.
“Nah, I just sleep here sometimes. Nothing better than an apple tree to sleep in.”
“I know whatcha mean. Especially in the spring when their in bloom.” Marcus nodded as Taylor spoke before agreeing.
“And when the fruit has just ripened. Apples fresh off the tree are the best.” Rainbow looked at the two, dumbfounded. She’d never heard of anyone else sleeping in a tree outside of the Guard when they were doing war games.
“You’ve slept in an apple tree before? When?” She looked between the two, unsure who would answer. It was Taylor who answered first.
“Well, my uncle had one in his backyard and I’d spend entire weekends up that thing. I loved to look up through the branches and see the stars.”
“And my grandmother owned an orchard about a tenth of the size of this one and she made the best applesauce, pies, butter, and jam. Oh how I miss her apple jam on toast in the early morning. She used to put in just the right amount of cinnamon too. Delicious.” He licked his lips at the memory, while Rainbow Dash smelled a challenge for Granny Smith. Unlike Applejack, the two humans seemed to have no problem with Rainbow’s presence when harvesting the crop. Their slower picking style made it easier to carry on a conversation than bucking did, which required a lot of concentration so one could avoid injury.
“How long have you two been working?” Rainbow looked at the height of the sun and it told her it was about noon. Marcus looked at his watch instead of the sky, it being far more accurate.
“It’s about 11:40 now and we started at about 6, so almost 6 hours now.” Neither stopped picking apples the entire time they had talked.
“How many trees have you done?”
“Oh, about 10, maybe 11.” The number shocked Rainbow. Picking was so much slower than bucking! Applejack had probably cleared six times that number in the same amount of time.
“Only that many?!” She exclaimed, “How do you do that?”
“Well,” Taylor responded “our legs aren’t strong enough to buck and our hands are perfectly designed for picking, so we just live with it. Applejack did say that we bruise almost none of the apples, while she loses about 10 per basket every time she bucks a tree, so I guess we help make up for that loss.” Taylor shrugged as she spoke, before descending the tree to empty her basket in a larger bin. She quickly climbed the ladder and rejoined her friends. Rainbow watched them silently, analyzing their hands as each finger enveloped the spherical fruit, pulled, and then placed the apple in the basket.
The two humans felt her eyes on them but didn’t react, understanding how odd the simple act of picking could be to a creature that’s never had it done before. Well, Marcus could. Taylor just liked blowing Rainbow’s mind and did little tricks with her fingers between picking apples. She’d move them quickly, slowly, touch them to her thumb and other simple things, but her favorite reaction was when she imitated a worm with her index finger, causing Rainbow to baulk.
“Stop teasing the pony Taylor.” Marcus admonished with a suppressed smile. Rainbow blushed slightly at how noticeable her reactions were and Taylor rolled her eyes.
“Don’t tell me what to do Marcus.” She said with annoyed sarcasm before shoving him lightly.
“Hey, I let you wear my t-shirt today, I can ask for it back.” He said pointedly. Taylor got a devious look in her eye and smiled. Rainbow was slightly confused, but remained silent.
“I’m sure you’d just love for me to work without it for the rest of the day.” She retorted with a smile. Her tone became sultry as she continued, leaning closer to Marcus. “You know, I’m not wearing a bra.” What ever that meant, Rainbow could tell Marcus wasn’t going to let her get the satisfaction of reacting.
“I’m sure you aren’t.” He said simply, not taking his eyes off his work. Rainbow tilted her head in curiosity at the two, at a complete loss.
“And how are you so sure hm?” Taylor asked, still in a sultry voice. “Were you watching me get dressed this morning you naughty boy?” Rainbow was beginning to understand what was going on; flirting and teasing, like she would with some stallions she knew well enough. Realizing that humans probably had a different way of doing it, she watched the exchange with a bemused smile. Marcus simply shook his head.
“No, I’ve just learned not to doubt anything you say.” He said neutrally. His basket full, he climbed down the ladder and emptied it before climbing back up.
“You’ve learned Muscles.” Taylor smiled evilly. Her favorite nickname for him since they’d met and it just irritated him.
"What have I said about calling me that?” He said with a sigh. Rainbow loved every minute of this exchange and reclined on a limb to watch more comfortably.
“Oh, you know it’s all in good fun Mr. Muscles.” She said sweetly. It was at this point that she noticed a few apples were up higher than they could reach. Being as confident and simply brash as she was, Taylor decided to handle them herself. “Take this and hold it.” She passed the basket off to a confused Rainbow and climbed up towards the apples.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Marcus asked concerned. Taylor brushed off the question and set her foot on a branch next to Marcus’s hand unintentionally. “Be careful!” He warned. It was at this point that Taylor lost her grip and began to slip off the branch.
“WOAH!” She shouted, falling backwards, towards the ground. Marcus reached out quickly and was able to grab onto one of her legs as she fell, preventing her head from impacting the ground. Luckily for Taylor, she kept her arms at her sides so the shirt didn’t reveal anything she didn’t want it too. Unfortunately though, the front of the shirt didn’t stay as close to her body as the sides, so Marcus, as he looked down to check on her, saw what she had tried to hide. He proceeded to blush profusely and snapped his head back up and towards his basket.
“You ok?” He said down to her, keeping his eyes forward. Rainbow noticed this and was slightly confused, wondering why he was embarrassed.
“Yeah, no damage done.” She responded. “Marcus, you can lower me down now, I’m a safe distance.” He did as told and lowered his arm a few feet, allowing her to approach the ground safely. When he stopped, she was a foot from the dirt of the orchard. Rainbow approached and helped support her when Marcus let go. Her head didn’t strike the ground, but the rest of her body caused a thud.
“Thanks Rainbow.” She said with a nod.
“Sure thing Taylor.” The polychromatic pegasus responded. Standing back up, Taylor looked up at her friend to see that his face was a brilliant red and still staring at the branch in front of him. She realized what he must have seen and felt blood rush to her face without the aid of gravity.
“You saw didn’t you?” She asked. Marcus opened his mouth to respond, but quickly closed it before nodding. Taylor sighed and put her face in her hands. No matter what she’d say or insinuate, she wouldn’t actually reveal any part of her body to someone unless the situation called for it; like a doctors visit or she wanted to get laid. She decided to salvage the situation and collected her basket before climbing back up to join him. The two worked in awkward silence for a few moments before a question popped into Taylor’s head.
“Did you like what you saw?” She tried to ask nonchalantly, but she failed and both Marcus and Rainbow could tell she was genuinely curious. Marcus’s blush, which had started to subside, came back full force and he didn’t respond right away. “I wasn’t being rhetorical.” Taylor added, seeing his reaction. Marcus nodded in understanding, trying to come up with the proper response. He breathed deeply and opened his mouth.
“It was… nice?” He said tentatively, unsure of how the word sounded out loud. Taylor blushed slightly at the comment, which was missed by Marcus but not Rainbow, who raised an eyebrow at this.
“Ok.” She answered once the blush had dissipated. Rainbow smiled lightly on the outside, but on the inside she felt terrible. These humans were really quite friendly and fun to be around, much like her own friends. They joked around, teased, and helped each other like ponies did, nothing like she expected. To be honest, she hadn’t known what to expect from the humans; when she first met them they seemed nice enough, just lost. But once she’d heard about their eating habits that view had changed drastically. The moment that they said they ate meat, she became paranoid.
Most creatures that Equestrian’s came in contact with weren’t omnivorous, so most ponies, including Rainbow, had no idea what that word meant other than meat was on the menu for them. And that made them little different from the carnivorous Griffons and dragons that used to eat ponies before numerous wars taught them not to. Gilda, back in her fillyhood, had told her how Griffons could eat fruit and some vegetables, but didn’t need them to survive. And that they generally tasted bland to them.
But Marcus and Taylor had just explained how they love apples and apple products for the taste, and it didn’t take a genius to know that if they liked apples, they’d eat them. Then she remembered how Fluttershy had explained Mr. Bear’s eating habits to her when he first came to live with the shy pegasus. Rainbow had had a similar reaction, but once she saw him eat four salads and a large bowl of berries without vomiting, she relaxed a bit. Fluttershy had convinced her to have tea with them one time and she realized how mellow and polite Mr. Bear could be and did her best to apologize to him. He waved it off and the two were actually pretty close.
“Um, guys?” She asked quietly, getting their attention. Marcus and Taylor, having suffered through an uncomfortable silence, turned to her with slightly hopeful and curious looks.
“What’s up?” Taylor asked. Rainbow swallowed nervously. She muttered something neither could hear.
“Didn’t catch that.” Marcus said, leaning closer. Rainbow gulped and spoke louder.
“I want to apologize.” She murmured. Taylor gave her a confused look.
“Why?” The human asked.
“I said something’s at the meeting with Princess Luna that I was wrong about.” She explained. “About how you eat.” Immediately Marcus’s expression and attitude cooled and he climbed down to empty his basket.
“What’d you say?” Taylor asked, ignoring him.
“That you guys should be forced to eat like ponies.” She fiddled with her forehooves as she spoke, avoiding eye contact. Taylor nodded and also put more effort into picking apples, but didn’t ignore her.
“How come?” She asked in a somewhat flat tone.
“Because she’s xenophobic like most ponies it seems.” Marcus spat as he climbed back up the ladder. Rainbow flinched and Taylor glared at him.
“Marcus!” She hissed. He shrugged.
“What? We have to stay hidden because the ponies of Equestria would probably attack us on sight.” He snapped. “If that isn’t xenophobia, then I’m a monkey’s uncle.” This statement slightly confused Rainbow, but she put it aside.
“She’s apologizing!” Taylor admonished, her face flushing with anger. Marcus gave her a hard look before turning to Rainbow.
“Why?” He asked sharply. Rainbow Dash was doing her best to suppress her fight or flight reflex as he looked at her.
“Because I got to know you guys and you’re nothing like I said.” She answered quietly. Marcus nodded and silently continued to pick apples. Taylor nodded in understanding.
“Well it’s good to know we changed your mind.” She said honestly. Rainbow smiled weakly.
“You did.” She assured.
“So why can’t we change everyone’s?” Marcus said harshly. “Why can’t we go out and introduce ourselves to the town?” Both Taylor and Rainbow gave him looks, the former in irritation and the latter in trepidation.
“Because it would cause mass panic.” She snapped. “These ponies have gone through a lot recently and the last thing we should do is pile on more for them to deal with.” Rainbow kept quiet, not wanting to upset either.
“I don’t like hiding here one bit.” Marcus responded angrily.
“Well there’s nothing we can do about it at the moment.” Taylor retorted.
“And I especially don’t like seeing my best friend since childhood getting clawed up for no reason and then scaring ponies with them.” Marcus added with a dark tone. Taylor was glowering at him by this time and Rainbow began fidgeting nervously.
“He forgave Spike knowing he did it to try and protect Twilight. He knew it wasn’t personal!” Taylor pressed, emptying her basket and grabbing her ladder angrily.
“Thomas may easily forgive people and ponies for ‘accidently’ wronging him, I’m not as perfect.” Marcus said, taking his ladder to the next tree. Taylor followed him with an irritated look on her face and Rainbow flew to the next set of branches with a hurt expression.
“The least you could do is try.” Taylor snapped, making sure her ladder was steady before ascending it.
“I will. I’m not angry at Spike for what he did; I even checked to see how he was doing.” He argued. “I’m just warning her that if she betrays my trust that it’ll be a long time before I give her a second chance.” Rainbow could understand that, especially since it was her own philosophy, and she resolved never to have to go through that.
“I won’t. It’s against my Element to do that.” She said resolutely. Both humans gave her queer looks, not understanding what she meant.
"What does that mean?” Taylor asked curiously, pausing in her task for a few moments to focus on Rainbow. Marcus did the same, albeit a little more irritated.
“No one told you about the Elements of Harmony?” She asked, surprised that it hadn’t come up before. Both shook their heads. “Ok, so the six of us, Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy and I are bearers for the Elements of Harmony, this really old and really, really powerful magic.”
“Bearers?” Marcus asked, his irritation lessening. Rainbow nodded.
“The Elements are split into six… elements. I’m loyalty, Aj’s honesty, Rarity’s generosity, Twilight’s magic, Fluttershy’s kindness, and Pinkie’s laughter. So it’s against my element to be disloyal.” She explained. The humans digested this information quietly, unsure of what to say. ‘Congrats’ didn’t really work, and ‘cool’ wasn’t much better, so they simply shrugged and went back to work.
“Well, I guess then you’re pretty trustworthy.” Taylor said pointedly, looking to Marcus. Before he could retort though, they heard the lunch bell and Granny Smith’s voice calling them in.
“Well, I guess I’ll head out.” Rainbow said, preparing to leave. Marcus stopped her.
“Why not join us?” He asked. “I’m sure Granny Smith made more than enough food.” Rainbow smiled and accepted the offer. The two humans set their smaller baskets next to the larger ones at the base of the tree and left their ladders standing as they headed back towards the farm house. Rainbow joined them, hovering at their eyelevel, and they turned to a less divisive topic. Marcus seemed to have accepted Rainbow’s apology and moved on, which pleased both Taylor and the pegasus. The idle chit chat continued until they reached the Apple Family home, where once Applejack spotted her friend, was about to lay into her about distracting others while they were working.
Taylor headed off the rant, explaining that because they worked at a slower pace than her or Big Mac, it really wasn’t that big of a deal. The cowpony relaxed and was about to strike up a conversation when Granny Smith stuck her head out the kitchen window.
“Ya’ll whippersnappers get in here now! Ah’ve got lunch ready an’ it ain’t goin ta waste!” She snapped. Everyone quickly shuffled inside, Applejack inviting Dash to stay for lunch. Somehow Granny Smith had anticipated the extra mouth to feed and had set a place for the pegasus. As everyone took a seat, she steered Rainbow to the seat next to Big Mac, who ended up conspicuously closer together than any other pair. When she wasn’t looking, Rainbow scooted away a few inches, a blush evident on her cheeks.
“Granny, wha’d ya make today?” Applejack asked, wishing the mare would stop trying to set up her brother with her friends. Ever since the events during cider season, Granny had been giving Big Macintosh little nudges towards each one, especially Fluttershy, which just made things awkward.
“Sandwich’s, green apple coleslaw, an’ some salad.” She said, not failing to notice the movements away from her grandson made by Dash as she brought over the food. Marcus and Taylor quickly learned that if Granny Smith wanted help with anything, she’d ask, and unless she did it was best to stay out of her way. The food was quickly served and eaten, conversation straying from one topic to another but never staying on the same one for very long.
Too soon it was time to head back out and the younger crowd thanked Granny for lunch, feeling pleasantly full. Big Mac pulled Marcus aside to get his opinion on if a piece of equipment could be fixed or not and Applejack returned to her own section of the orchard, leaving Rainbow Dash and Taylor on their own to head back to their work.
“You like Marcus don’t you?” Rainbow asked abruptly with a snicker. Taylor was startled, but did her best to keep her composure.
“Not in that way.” She answered. “Why do you ask?”
“Because I saw how you reacted after you fell.” Rainbow said, smiling. Taylor rolled her eyes at the statement.
“It was embarrassing. Imagine you crash into someone and end up with their nose in your tail.” She retorted in irritation.
“I don’t ask if they like what they saw.” Rainbow smirked, seeing a massive blush spread over her friends face.
“So I think he’s hot, what’s wrong with that?” Taylor conceded, frustrated that the pegasus was pressing the issue. Rainbow smiled wider and swished her tail.
“Absolutely nothing.” She answered slowly. “Absolutely nothing.” The pair had reached the tree where they had been working and Taylor quickly climbed the ladder with her basket, wanting the conversation to end. Rainbow helped by grabbing the apples from the higher branches, saying that Marcus wasn’t there to catch Taylor if she tried, earning another furious blush. They worked in silence for a few minutes before Rainbow saw Marcus making his way towards them. He was still too far away to hear anything they said, so she turned to Taylor, who was climbing back up the ladder after emptying it.
“Hey Taylor, don’t you two share a room at night?” Rainbow asked, looking down to the human. Taylor nodded, unsure as to where the pegasus was taking this. “Do you share a bed?”
“Kinda, yeah.” She answered, giving her a curious look. Rainbow’s turned devilish as a smile spread across her face.
“Then cuddle up to him one night.” She said. “See what he does.” Before Taylor could respond, Marcus spoke up from the base of the tree, having missed the exchange.
“Thanks for the help Rainbow Dash.” He said, nodding to her. She saluted in return and went back to work. Taylor didn’t speak for a little while, trying not to look either of her coworkers in the eye.
The rest of the day went by much quieter than the morning, with Rainbow’s help greatly speeding up the picking. The trio finished off another 15 trees before sun down, when Granny called them all back to the farm house for dinner. All of them were exhausted from the work, especially carrying the bushels of fruit into the barn, and nearly collapsed into their seats at the dinner table. Rainbow and Big Mac didn’t bother to move apart as they eagerly ate their dinner and quietly ignored the looks hopeful Granny gave them. Applebloom had returned from school a few hours before and groaned about some math homework she was having trouble with, but seemed happy none the less. Once dessert, apple pie and coffee, had been served and eaten just as quickly, Rainbow Dash thanked them for the food and flew out the door towards her home. Big Mac helped Applebloom with her homework, while Applejack, Marcus, and Taylor headed up to bed. Granny smirked to herself, and hummed as she did the dishes.
Taylor lay on her side of the bed, having an internal monologue fight. She and Marcus had gotten ready to sleep heavily, changing into pajamas and brushing their teeth before getting into bed on their respective sides. He’d fallen asleep almost immediately, but she was kept awake by her runaway mind. One monologue told her to take Rainbow’s advice and cuddle up to Marcus, but the other said that it’d be weird and that he doesn’t like her like that. The two sides fought for what felt like hours, but the clock next to her indicated was only ten minutes.
Sighing, she looked over at the silhouette of Marcus and came to a decision. She lifted the sheets a little so that they wouldn’t get in her way and moved over towards him. Once she was next to him, she lowered sheets, rolled onto her side to face him and rested her arm on his chest as she placed her head on his shoulder. She was tense for a few seconds, hoping that Marcus wouldn’t react adversely to this. The next few moments felt like hours as she waited to see what he’d do, but in his sleep Marcus put his arm around her and shifted a little to get comfortable. She felt his chin and nose rest on the top of her head. She sighed happily and closed her eyes. Marcus peeked his open and smiled.
Chapter 12: New Magical Frontiers and a Feelings Break
Twilight and Thomas were down in the basement when Rarity arrived to have tea with the librarian. Spike directed her towards the proper door before returning to his chores, albeit with a slightly more upbeat attitude after seeing the marshmallow mare of his affection. Rarity stood on the landing at the top of the stairs and looked down at the two scientists with a slight smile. They had set up part of the laboratory in a corner of the room, but she couldn’t see what they were testing.
“Hello!” She called down to the stairs.
The two looked up with slight surprise at the voice, but smiled when they saw her at the top of the stairs. Thomas waved her down towards the table where they were experimenting and she quickly trotted over. She saw nothing on the table other than miscellaneous items that included a few books, a screw driver, and Thomas’s knife. She looked at them inquisitively.
“What are you two up to all alone in the basement?” Her slight insinuation was lost on the two as Twilight began to explain.
“Well, since Thomas and the other humans seem to be resistant to magic, we decided to test just how resistant they were and in what ways they could repel it.” She pointed towards the objects on the table. “So far we’ve tested whether humans can repel a spell that’s cast on an object they’re holding, like a field.” Rarity looked up from the table and asked
“And can they?” The two scientists exchanged looks before Twilight responded “Why don’t we show you instead?” With that, Twilight quickly switched places with the other unicorn as Thomas picked up a book and held it in his hand as he stepped back a few paces.
“Now, take the book and set it on the table with your magic.” Twilight instructed. Rarity focused on the book, which Thomas was now holding in front of his chest, his arms partially extended. Her blue aura appearing around the object as she tried to pull it towards her and the table, but it refused to budge. She grew frustrated as she felt another force telling the book to stay put, to rebel against her magic. As she tried harder, the opposite force did as well. She looked at Thomas to see he was focusing completely on the book, yet his fingers were relaxed and his arms weren’t tensed. He wasn’t physically pulling on the book, which frustrated her more. She steadied herself and tired to yank the book from his hands, but only got an inch or two before the rebel force met her with equal force and her progress halted. The two were at a stalemate for a full minute before Twilight broke it off.
“Relax Rarity, I couldn’t pry it from his hands the first time either. I had to go three rounds with him before I was able to wrench it from his grasp.” The white unicorn looked at her curiously as she released her magical grip.
“Rounds?”
“Well, we may as well have been boxing over the book. I could feel his pull on it and no matter how hard I tried; he would match my magic with his own focus. But the field, or whatever it is, seems to only extend from his hands, since I was easily able to pull the book when he put it between his arm and body and under his feet.” As she spoke, Thomas had returned the book to its spot on the table and extended his hand towards Twilight’s horn. The two unicorns looked at him, one curious, the other unsure.
“Do you think now’s the best time to show her? I think we need to run more tests with that.” Twilight looked at him cautiously, but Thomas insisted with a silent conversation with Twilight. Rarity looked at the two with a loss for words, as she absolutely hated being out of the loop. Twilight then touched her horn to Thomas’s hand and she saw purple magic slowly spread out over it and up to his elbow. At this point, Thomas and Twilight stepped away from each other, and the human raised his arm to his face, a look of extreme concentration on his face.
“What’s going on?” Rarity whispered to Twilight.
“He’s taking control of the magic I gave him.” She responded with an unsure voice.
“He’s what?!” Rarity screamed, causing Thomas to jump and some magic to shoot off his hand and turn the table into a dust. The two unicorns jumped back as Thomas regained focus on the magic, beads of sweat appearing on his face.
“He has to remain completely focused or the magic escapes and reacts on its own. You see, he seems to be able to remove my control over the magic in his body if he focuses hard enough, and then he can use it for his own purposes. It’s amazing!” Twilight whispered to Rarity, who was staring at Thomas with wide eyes.
“You mean he can now use magic?!” Her whisper was becoming loud, so Twilight shushed her again.
“Only the finite amount I’ve given him and he’s nowhere as efficient with it as me. He uses twice the amount to do half of what I can do. Turning the table to dust took enough magic to move half way up his arm.” She pointed at his forearm, which Rarity saw was now only half covered with the purple aura. As she did, Thomas relaxed his expression and turned towards the girls.
“Ready?” Twilight asked. Thomas nodded and turned towards the stairs. He steadied himself, making himself as stable as possible with his two legs and extended his arm.
“You’re gonna love this.” Twilight nudged Rarity excitedly with her knee. The white unicorn looked on nervously. The idea of something other than a unicorn or and alicorn handling magic was making her very nervous. Twilight on the other hand was quite relaxed and a small smile sneaked onto her face. Thomas looked towards a stack of parchment on a far desk and let loose some magic.
*POOF*
There was an audible noise when Thomas used the magic this time, the stack of parchment turning into a pumpkin.
“What is with you and pumpkins?” Twilight asked him “And don’t say it seems fitting this time.” Thomas only shrugged and turned to Rarity. His hand from the wrist to his fingertips retained the magic aura, which began to drain towards the palm of his hand as a single red rose emerged. Rarity blushed at the sight of the beautiful flower and gently took it in her magic. Thomas straightened himself as Rarity spoke.
“Thank you Thomas. It’s lovely.” Twilight looked at the two with a rather surprised look on her face. Thomas returned to the table and stood expectantly, waiting for Twilight to rejoin him. She ignored him and moved towards Rarity to examine the flower. It looked as real as if it had been plucked from a garden, each petal delicate and thin. But it was something on the petals that caused Rarity to hold the flower up to the light. Etched into each of the petals were the words Friendship is forever. Twilight quickly saw what had caught her friends’ attention and gaped. Such detail! On a first try!
“I completely agree Thomas.” Rarity lowered the flower and smiled again. Thomas bowed in response. With that, the two scientists wrapped up their studies for the time being. Thomas cleared a space on one of the tables for them to set their tea cups and the kettle while Twilight used her magic to teleport the necessary items down into the basement. Using some of the sturdier lab equipment, Twilight jury-rigged something to hold the kettle over a Bunsen Burner and relaxed with her friends while they waited for the tea to be ready.
“So Thomas.” Rarity began, sitting regally in one of the chairs. “I was wondering about Earth.” Twilight and Thomas looked up at her with mild surprise.
“What about?” Thomas breathed, trying not to stretch the stitches. He got looks of concern from both Twilight and Rarity. He waved them off before they could say anything. “I’m fine, I’m just a little tired of writing everything out.”
“Ok then.” Twilight said, slightly unsure. Rarity also gave him a concerned look before continuing.
“If you say so.” She said with a nod. “Since you and your friends always wear clothes, I was wondering if it was the same for all humans?” Twilight snickered lightly, knowing her friends obsession with clothes. Thomas smiled a little as well as he answered.
“Yes. We wear clothes for every occasion.” He nodded. Rarity’s face lit up at the same moment the kettle began to steam. Twilight poured out the water into an infuser with tea leaves and let them steep.
“Really?! Even to sleep or swim?” She asked, leaning forward eagerly. Thomas nodded.
“Yes, even for that.” He said. “In fact, it’s considered scandalous to swim naked in most places and sleeping naked is less so, but usually not done with others unless in a relationship.”
“You don’t use absolute statements very much do you?” Twilight asked curiously. He shook his head.
“There is an exception to every rule. Including the one I just said.” He remarked. Twilight shrugged in agreement, but Rarity was more focused on the clothes.
“Really?” She asked with a gleam in her eye. “So, every situation calls for clothes?”
“Yes.” He smiled at the contradiction, but focused on Rarity’s questions.
“So you’re clothing designers must make lots of money.” She guessed. Twilight poured out the tea, using a strainer to keep the leaves form getting into the cups. Thomas and Rarity thanked her when she levitated the cups over to them.
“It’s a cutthroat industry from what I understand.” He said with a shrug. “And it tends to be dominated by big corporations, but there are mom and pop clothing stores.” The trio spent the next hour or so discussing things about Earth and Equestria, what was similar and what wasn’t. Twilight wasn’t too thrilled to hear about the large military and all the advanced weaponry, especially since Thomas wouldn’t let her anywhere near the guns. Rarity focused on the high value placed on gemstones.
“Well, not all of them are really valuable.” Thomas conceded. “Diamonds are actually quite common, but a single company controls 80% of the market and keeps the values high.”
“Well that’s just stupid.” Rarity remarked with a sip of tea.
“People will buy what they want, regardless of price.” He responded neutrally. The pair of unicorns refilled their tea cups as they mulled that piece of logic over. Thomas didn’t exactly paint humans with the brightest of colors, focusing on mixing the two with a focus on contrasts.
“What about you?” Twilight asked curiously. Thomas looked up with slightly raised eyebrows.
“Well, I’ve been much for gems or valuable metals. The only thing like that I owned was a small vial of silver from Alaska.” He answered, causing Rarity to tilt her head slightly in curiosity.
“Why the vial?” She asked. “And where’s Alaska?”
“It’s this really big state in my country. About a 15% to 16% of the entire country I think and it is 600,000 square miles or so.” He answered, impressing the pair with his ability to remember such trivia. “And it was in a gift shop.”
“Why were you in Alaska?” Twilight asked. “Didn’t you say you lived in Maine, is it near there?” Thomas set his cup on the table and crossed his legs before setting his hands in his lap.
“It was a family trip. My parents, Marcus, his sister, and I went up for the summer, and it’s on the other end of the continent, about 3000 miles away.” He explained. “Marcus isn’t my family, but we’re good friends. We were 14 or so and we spent two months at a cabin on a lake. It was on a beautiful lake and the only was in or out was by pontoon plane, a flying machine that can land on water.”
“Sounds like a fun time.” Rarity observed with a smile. Thomas nodded absentmindedly, lost on memory lane.
“It was. We spent hours canoeing the lake, fishing on shore and from the canoe, swimming in the beautiful water, and watching the stars. His sister wasn’t too happy about spending so much time with us, especially since Marcus had told her that I had a crush on her a month before and she’d slugged me in the middle of the school lunch hour. But I was able to convince her I didn’t have one and the three of us eventually had fun.” Rarity had a gleam in her eye that only made Twilight want to facehoof.
“Did you?” She asked eagerly. Thomas snorted in laughter.
“No. Marcus wanted me to ask her out though, said it’d be hilarious.” He answered. “She was a year older than us and on the women’s softball team. Boy, it sure was fun explaining to my parents how a girl punched me in the face at lunch in front of everyone.” He said the last part with dripping sarcasm, making his drinking compatriots smile.
“But after I explained the situation my parents were pretty understanding.” Thomas smiled fondly at the memory. “I mean, they were always understanding people, always listening to the circumstances of a situation. My mother’s philosophy was that morality was situational, were anything could be moral if given the right set of circumstances. And my dad, well let’s just say that he considered anything without a purpose useless” Rarity grimaced slightly, having run into ponies like that in the small town of Ponyville. They were never rude or anything, they just didn’t buy anything from her store.
“They sound like good parents.” Twilight said with a smile. Thomas nodded, still going down memory lane.
“They were. My mom always had my back and I could always count on my dad if I needed advice.” He reminisced. “There was this one time when I was doing a science project on light refraction and I couldn’t get the prisms just right. I got so frustrated that I was about to throw out the project and do a different one. My dad had been watching me work and suggested I get a snack from my mom, which I did. When I got back, he showed me how to properly set up the prisms and get the results I wanted.”
“Well that was nice of him.” Twilight said with a smile.
“I ended up winning the science fair.” Thomas added, his eyes misting. “And then there was the time they took me to the Smithsonian and let me spend three days visiting every museum. Even though they had to telecommute for work.” Twilight saw a tear slowly move down his cheek. He removed his glasses and wiped his eyes.
“Are you ok?” Rarity asked sincerely, moving to comfort him. He nodded, and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees.
“Yeah. It just hit me that I would never see them again.” Thomas said. “And that they’ll have no idea what happened to me.” He pulled a slightly surprised but no less comforting Rarity into a tight hug, tears flowing more readily down his face. Twilight also hugged him, and patted him on the back.
“Sorry about this.” He said through his tears. He was immediately shushed by both mares.
“There is no need to apologize.” Rarity informed him, returning the hug. “It’s perfectly understandable to cry over family. Especially in this situation.” Twilight nodded in agreement.
“We understand.” She parroted, unsure of what else to say. To say she never to be comforting an alien about never being able to see its family again would be an understatement. Nevertheless, she did her best and made sure that he had plenty of tea and cookies within reach for comfort food should he want them. Once he had spent a few minutes undergoing his emotional release, Thomas thanked the mares for giving him his moment. They spent the rest of the day performing more experiments and playing monopoly with Spike after dinner. Rarity won.
Chapter 13: Spike the Hedgehog and Liberal Thought
A young dragon was wakened in the usual manner. By the alarm clock Twilight had on the night stand next to her bed that, although she’s the one who bought it and set the time for it to go off, never seemed to wake her. Spike sighed and his first thought of the day was to send the alarm clock off to Celestia as an early birthday present. He slowly dragged himself out of his small bed and walked over to silence the clock. He saw that Twilight had finally made it back to bed.
After the monopoly game was finished and Rarity headed home, the unicorn and Thomas went back to doing their magic stuff for the rest of the evening, leaving Spike to play with Peewee and Owlowiscious, the latter having just woken up. Peewee was growing at a steady pace, no longer the egg sized phoenix Spike had first met. Now he was the size of his arm and enjoyed riding the thermals. Once it was time for bed, when the nocturnal animal was the only one not yawning, the pair had gone to sleep with Twilight still down stairs in the basement.
Spike slowly made his way down into the main room of the library, getting his blood flowing before doing anything strenuous. Since Thomas had arrived, Spike found that most of Twilight’s chores had become his to do as she studied humanity for some noble cause or another. Not to mention possible extra credit in her friendship studies with the Princess, even though Celestia hadn’t ordered her to do anything in that regard, since the housing was more of a request/expectation/advice thing.
Once he reached the kitchen, Spike had his morning scoop of ice cream and made some coffee before opening the library to the public. He replaced the returned books, of which there was rarely more than a small pile, swept the floor, did some light reading in a subject he randomly chose on any given day, and had another scoop of ice cream. Personally, he wondered how long Twilight would expect the ‘baby fat’ he had to stay around and smiled to himself. Eveyone has their vices, his was just ice cream. Better than greed or porn right?
At ten, he started making breakfast for the household. Birdseed for Peewee with some ruby shards, since Peewee liked them, fruit and anything without hay for Thomas, and anything with hay for Twilight. Especially, haycon. She loved that. Spike himself would eat cereal usually or make something without copious amounts of hay if he wanted something more. Today he didn’t. Once he’d delivered a grateful Thomas his breakfast and Peewee had woken Twilight, Spike would enjoy his food as Twilight tried to recover from her late night. These had been his mornings since the arrival of the humans and they would continue to be that way for the monotonous two weeks that passed without incident for him or the other denizens of Ponyville, known and unknown.
In retrospect, all of them should have known that two peaceful weeks without incident would mean a double whammy would follow.
At the end of said two quiet weeks and the first ‘Whammy’.
Twilight entered the basement of the library, or Thomas’s bedroom, with a slightly confused look on her face. The human in question was reclining in his bed, reading a familiar thin book. She noticed that his scars were healing nicely and since she’d removed the stitches a week ago, it looked like Thomas would only have a few of the deeper scars on his face in a few years. Looking up at Twilight as she entered, Thomas smiled and waved. As she approached, Twilight recognized the book as the one she needed.
“Hello Thomas, you wouldn’t happen to have seen where I put the essay on governmental duties would you?” She asked curiously, looking at the particular book in his hands.
“Is that what this is?” Thomas looked at the cover of the book, a curious expression on his face.
“Yes, what’s with the look?” Thomas rarely questioned the books in her library, meaning that there was something that interested him in this book.
“Well, this pony, this Leviathan, seems to have a similar stance on government as someone back on Earth. His name was Thomas Hobbes, and ironically, he named and essay ‘Leviathan’.”
“Interesting…” Twilight raised a hoof to her chin, mulling over the coincidence “But I’m pretty sure it’s just a pen name, but why does that concern you?”
“Well, he writes that the purpose of the government is to keep the populace in line, to rule absolutely, without being questioned by the populace. But where I come from, there was another man, John Locke, who stated the exact opposite; that the government was answerable to the people, who created it themselves in the state of nature.” His face had become serious, looking directly as Twilight, who was a little surprised at the idea.
“Well, I can see his point, but it makes little sense. If the people can create the government that means that the government would be answerable to hundreds, in your case, millions of points of view that would almost never agree. That would destroy the government because it couldn’t act. What Leviathan is saying is that the government needs absolute authority to best protect the people. Just look at the princesses; they look after the people, and sometimes the people don’t like it, but it’s always for the best.” Twilight looked back at Thomas with the same amount of seriousness.
“While it is true that they are benevolent, didn’t you say that there are certain ponies in government who aren’t as kind? Like Prince Blueblood and the governors of Bitaly and Stalliongrad? Didn’t you say that they rule with iron hooves?” Twilight nodded, seeing where he was going.
“They use their absolute power to suppress the populace and keep taxes high for their own benefit, or the so called benefit of their citizens, showing the abuse that is the very problem with an absolute government.” Thomas raised a good point Twilight realized. Not everypony in government was as kind as the princesses when it came to running the government, most were in fact very authoritarian and extravagant. But she wasn’t about to lie down and let him win.
“Yes, there are individuals like that, but not all. The princesses keep the nobles in line and prevent too much damage, and there are noble who are kind to those in their charge.” She reasoned, hoping to get her point across.
“That’s exactly my point.” Thomas’s response surprised Twilight, catching her off balance. “The government is completely dependent upon the quality of those in power, who are only answerable to those above them, who are hopefully kinder and more able to rule justly. Now imagine if the roles were switched, the princesses were governors and Blueblood is in charge.” The very idea sent chills down Twilight’s spine, she would rather keep that thought out of her mind.
“Well,” Twilight was trying to find an argument that didn’t sound desperate, something that she’d never had to do before, and she did not like it. “If the government is too domineering, it collapses. It’s a balance between effectiveness and despotism. And citizens do have rights; we have documents that guarantee what the government can and cannot do.”
“And if the government decides to ignore them?” Thomas didn’t even blink as he said it. Twilight was beginning to think she’d found her match in debate. “Well then the citizens…”
“Can’t do anything because they have no rights.” Thomas cut her off.
“Then the government…” she tried.
“Has decided to ignore the limits of its power, creating a despotism.”
“Then the citizens revolt and…”
“Create a civil war that causes mass death and destruction, weakening the country for decades if not centuries.” Thomas had cut Twilight off from any escape, she couldn’t argue for the people without abandoning the government she’d argued for earlier, and she couldn’t argue for the government, because it had become too absolutist in the debate for her to support. It seemed that the humans weren’t only centuries ahead in technology, but debate and government as well. The only thing she could do is agree, but an idea to save face sprung into her mind.
“I’m not the one you should be debating this with. No matter how familiar I am with Leviathan’s philosophy, I won’t be able to defend it as well as he can. You should write an essay in response to his ideas.” Thomas considered the idea. It would be a good way for humans to discreetly make their mark, and it could help them become accepted later on, when their existence was revealed.
“I think you’re right Twilight, I should write an essay in response. Now all I need to do is think of a pen name.” Twilight relaxed, Thomas’s attention sufficiently distracted from the argument.
“Let me know if you need any help. I’m going to go check on Spike before we start more tests.” She turned away, smiling at her ability to save face in arguing a lost cause. She was just about to close the door to the basement when Thomas called up to her.
“And don’t think I didn’t notice your little distraction Twilight. But I’m not going to rub your defeat in your face.” Twilight grimaced, knowing for certain that for the first time in her life, she’d been beaten in an argument with someone other than the Princess.
Twilight came out of out of the basement found Spike was almost finished his chores and was about to start lunch.
“Hey Twilight, find your book?” He asked with a smile. She nodded.
“Yeah, turns out you were right. Thomas was reading it and disagreeing with it.” She helped him with the last of the sweeping and scanned the library for anything out of place while the dragon stored the cleaning supplies in the hall closet. Book arranged alphabetically by author? Check. Wooden horse head facing the door? Check. Blinds drawn up to let in sunlight? Check. Usual lack of anypony in the library on any given day? Double check. As she went through her mental check list Spike decided to get started on lunch and she could hear him opening and closing cabinets. Seeing that everything was indeed in order, she walked into the kitchen.
“Do we need to add anything to the grocery list?” She asked looking in the fridge for any empty space. Each condiment, vegetable, fruit, and other perishable was in its proper place and accounted for though and Spike shrugged.
“Nothing that we absolutely need.” He answered. “We’re a little low on rubies but that’s about it really.” Twilight nodded, making a mental note to see Rarity if they ran out.
“Well, I’ll just wait downstairs, doing some tests with Thomas. Let us know when lunch is ready.” Twilight said before walking out of the kitchen. The young dragon heard the door to the basement open and close as he squeezed the lemons. Once he’d finished, he made the sandwiches and set the table for two and set Thomas’s on a tray. Then an idea hit him. Why should Thomas eat alone? Sure he and Twilight spent a lot of time together and kept different schedules, although Thomas didn’t really do much other than read and do experiments, but that still meant Spike saw little of him. He’d probably enjoy some casual conversation for once during lunch. With that in mind, he reorganized the tray so that it held all three lunches and headed towards the basement, using one hand to open the door while the other carefully balanced the tray.
Spike walked down the stairs silently and stood directly behind the two as they worked. He waited patiently and watched the pair work for a three minutes before speaking up. Unfortunately, he didn’t see that Thomas was focusing on the magic in his hand.
“I’ve brought lunch!” He said slightly louder than usual, getting both of them to look at him with surprise. Spike did this whenever Twilight was engrossed in her studies and considered it pretty normal. He was slightly worried when Twilight whipped around to Thomas and then he felt himself embedded in the wall behind him
Neither Thomas, nor Twilight were prepared for Spike to bring down lunch. He’d never done that before and had simply waited for them to finish and come up themselves and wolf it down like usual before continuing their tests. So hearing him had startled both of them. The unicorn turned to look behind them and her eyes went wide. She spun to see Thomas had lost focus on the magic and was also looking at Spike with surprise.
Twilight watched in horror as the bolt of magic from Thomas’s hand shot off towards an unaware Spike. The only thing that he was able to do after this was dilate his pupils a split second before the bolt struck him full in the face. Twilight screamed and Thomas grew pale, seeing where the bolt had gone and who it had struck. Spike was knocked back into the wall behind him, the tray he was carrying falling to the ground and the pitcher and glasses shattering. Twilight started screaming and rushed over to where Spike had been. Her screaming intensified when she didn’t see him and her mind ran rampant with terrible thoughts about his untimely demise. But dragons were supposed to be resistant to pony magic, their scales repelling spells easily. Why had Spike been seemingly vaporized by this uncontrolled spell? She rushed towards the direction he had been blasted, still screaming.
"Where is he?!" Twilight wailed, looking desperately around the basement for any sign of Spike. Thomas rushed over after draining the magic by fixing all the chattered glass and putting the drinks back in the glasses. Just as he reached the mare, they both heard a panicked squeak.
"Did you hear that?!" Twilight asked, listening carefully for the sound. They heard another squeak nearby and looked in the immediate area. By a small table covered in scientific supplies and surrounded by boxes Twilight nearly fainted. She found Spike safe and sound, except for the fact that he had a lot more spines than when he came down with lunch.
"Sweet Celestia!" She gasped, getting Thomas's attention. She slowly levitated up a small, purple and green creature that looked very frightened. Thomas rushed over and cleared the table, gawking at the hedgehog. Twilight seemed to be in a daze as she slowly lowered Spike onto the table, careful not to hurt hi in some fashion.
“You know, I’ve actually had a pet hedgehog before.” Thomas remarked calmly. “His name was Gerald.” Twilight slowly turned to Thomas, visibly upset that he was being so nonchalant about what had happened to Spike. Her face morphed from one of panic and fear into one of rage.
“HOW CAN YOU BE SO CALM ABOUT THIS?!” She screamed, pointing down to the purple and green hedgehog curled up tightly on the table. “SPIKE HAS BEEN TURNED INTO A HEDGEHOG, AND THE REVERSAL SPELL IS INCREDIBLY COMPLICATED AND DANGEROUS!” Thomas stepped back, shocked by her volume and ire.
“But…” He began, only to be cut off.
“I CAN’T PERFORM THAT SPELL!” She screamed, bearing down on the human. He looked behind him quickly when he felt that his heel wasn’t touching the ground and repositioned himself on the steps. Twilight kept advancing.
“AND NOW I HAVE TO CONTACT PRINCESS CELESTIA AND PRINCESS LUNA ABOUT FIXING IT!” She turned to face the main room of the library.
“SPIKE!! I NEED YOU TO TAKE A LETTER!” She bellowed, shaking some of the lighter lab equipment below them. Thomas prepared for her to realize what she had just said and dropped down so that his body was pressed tightly against the stairs and that his profile was as small as possible. There was a few moments silence as Twilight waited for a response. The two then heard a small squeak from the hedgehog.
“Oh.” She deadpanned. She slowly turned back to Thomas and didn’t seem to notice that he was lying prone on the stairs. “I guess we’ll have to figure something out on our own.” A loud speak of agreement came from the hedgehog as he moved towards the two. Twilight sighed and collapsed, suddenly exhausted from the task before her.
“So you owned a hedgehog at one point?” Twilight asked cautiously. Thomas nodded, looking at the small creature on the table before him. The pair had moved up to the kitchen, Twilight going first to close the library and the blinds on the windows. Thomas was sitting at the kitchen table with Twilight and they were trying to think of a way out of the situation. When Twilight had come back down after talking with Spike, Thomas had asked to use some magic for an idea that had struck him about possibly storing it for later. Twilight had been tentative at first, wondering if it was safe since Thomas had no way of storing the magic like unicorns could. It took some convincing, but she finally agreed. Now she was regretting that decision.
“Yup.” He answered, looking over the creature.
"What do they eat?” She inquired.
“Well just about anything. I fed Gerald crickets, berries, and some melon, but they’ll eat mushrooms, bird eggs, snails, toads, and snakes as well.” He explained, reclined in his seat. Twilight made a slightly disgusted grimace at the list while Spike squeaked, whether from hunger or not wasn’t forthcoming. Playing it safe, Twilight pulled out some fruit and mushrooms from the fridge and set them on the table. She then levitated the hedgehog onto the table in front of the food.
“Are these good Spike?” She asked. Spike began sniffing the food and nibbled on some of each.
“Hey Spike, squeak twice for yes and once for no.” Thomas said, sitting in a chair across from him. “Do you like these?” There were two squeaks. Twilight sighed, happy that not only was there a way for him to communicate with them, but they also had food for him to eat. As the animals chowed down on a mix of apples and mushrooms, the pony and human reclined, trying to decide what to do now.
“Could we mail a letter to Celestia?” Thomas suggesting the obvious. Twilight nodded tentatively.
“We could, but it would take at least a week to get to get to her, if not longer because of how much mail she gets.” Twilight said.
“What about the spell?” Thomas asked. “Why can’t both of us use magic to do it?” Only shook her head.
“The amount of magic it would take would require me to give you all of my magic and then build it back up, which could take three weeks if we were lucky, a month is more likely.” She explained. Slowly, the pair went through the options open to them, pouring over books that might contain the answer. Runes were ruled out as too unstable and requiring some new ones to be invented. Other versions of transformation spells were ruled out due to the precise requirements needed to change Spike back, and so was having Thomas use magic to change him back by pure will. Dragons were resistant to magic and Twilight decided that the risk was too great. The two were at a loss over what to do when they heard the library door open and a familiar voice.
“Twilight sweetie!” Rarity called out from the main room of the library. “Where are you hiding?” Twilight put Thomas in charge of Spike as she quickly went up to see what her friend needed. She carefully peeked around the kitchen door to see who else had entered with her. To her surprise, all of her friends were in the library, smiling at her.
“There you are!” Pinkie exclaimed, appearing right behind her. Twilight jumped slightly, her nerves getting the better of her. Once she realized it was only Pinkie, she relaxed a little, doing some breathing exercises.
“Ya’ll ok sugar cube?” Applejack asked, seeing her friend acting so stressed.
“Yeah, you seem a little nervous.” Rainbow Dash added, hovering above the ground. “Have you got a stallion down there?” Her insinuation made Twilight blush profusely.
“No.” She answered firmly. “Thomas, Spike, and I were having lunch.” Rainbow didn’t look convinced, but the others were.
“Well that’s nice.” Fluttershy said with a soft smile.
“But…” Rarity continued with her usual, dramatic tone. “You’ve been cooped up in here for two weeks and it’s time you spent some time outside.” There were nods of agreement from the others.
“Yeah!” Rainbow said with conviction. “You need to go out there and feel the wind in your mane! Enjoy the air! Tell me how my practicing is going!” Applejack rolled her eyes at this last statement and cut her off.
“Ah’ll agree with those first two.” She said evenly. “Ya’ll can’t spend all day inside and such. Tain’t healthy.”
“Thomas does.” Twilight responded neutrally. Applejack seemed prepared for this though.
“He can’t help it though. I’m sure the two o’ ya’ll will figure sometin’ out ta help him.” The cowpony countered. Twilight sighed, more focused on another issue to have this conversation.
“Look, I really appreciate this, but I’ve got something incredibly important going on and I can’t take a break from it.” She said, standing firm. Her friends gave her quizzical looks, and a worried one in the case of Fluttershy.
“What’s so important you can’t spend time with your friends huh?” Rainbow asked, moving closer to Twilight with crossed forelegs.
“There was an incident with some magic.” Twilight admitted. This only made her friends concerned.
“Is someone hurt?” Fluttershy asked timidly.
“No, not really.” She said, somewhat calming the pegasus. Twilight decided it was probably best to just show them what was wrong instead of this song and dance and led them into the kitchen.
“We’re not singing.” Pinkie said in confusion, looking at the wooden horsehead in the center of the room. “Or dancing.” Everyone simply ignored her, used to these strange outbursts. As they entered, everyone greeted Thomas and gave the hedgehog a confused look. Except Pinkie and Fluttershy. The latter squealed with glee at the sight of the creature and immediately rushed over to him.
“Everyone.” Twilight sighed. “This is Spike.” There were a number of gasps and another squeal, as Fluttershy cradled him in her forelegs. Both Rarity and Applejack looked at the creature with gaping looks while Rainbow froze as the information was processed in her mind. Pinkie’s eye went wide and she looked like she was about to explode with joy. And so she did.
“HE’S ADORABLE!” She yelled, suddenly appearing next to Fluttershy, startling the mare for a few brief seconds. Rainbow Dash finally realized what had happened and collapsed in roaring laughter while Applejack hid her own giggles very well. The hedgehog huffed and crossed his tiny forelegs in irritation at the sound, causing Pinkie and Fluttershy to only daw loudly and nuzzle him because of how cute he was.
“Why’s he a hedgehog?” Applejack asked once she’d stopped giggling.
“That’s my fault.” Thomas said, guiltily raising his hand. The five mares listened intently as he explained the situation and how they couldn’t think of a way to turn him back. Fluttershy and Rarity gasped and immediately set about comforting the ‘distraught’ dragon while Pinkie started planning a party to comfort him even more. Rainbow beamed at Thomas once he and Twilight explained how he could absorb unicorn magic while Pinkie started rambling on about a party.
“Maybe Zecora has a potion that could set him right?” Applejack inquired, giving Twilight a curious look and not commenting on Thomas’s ability. The librarian stopped her task abruptly and slowly turned towards the cowpony. Before she could speak though, Thomas spoke up.
“Who’s Zecora?” He asked, looking to Applejack.
“She’s a zebra that lives in th’ Everfree Forest.” She explained. “An’ she’s helped us outta sticky situations b’fore.” Twilight and Rainbow nodded fervently in agreement.
“There was this one time when we were dealing with the effects of a plant called Poison Joke, which caused each of us to experience a variety of symptoms.” Twilight explained.
“Like you’re droopy horn.” Rainbow snickered behind a hoof.
“Or your backwards wings.” Twilight shot back, making her friend shut up.
“So maybe she has a way to help Spike?” The human asked curiously. There were some tentative nods of agreement.
“Best hope we’ve got so far.” The librarian said tersely. She then turned to the three mares dotting on Spike. “Well, you wanted me to get out of the library.”
“What was that?” Rarity asked curiously, looking up.
“We’re taking Spike to see Zecora.” Rainbow said bluntly. Spike squeaked excitedly, obviously happy to have a possible way out of his predicament. The six mares and one hedgehog said their goodbyes to Thomas and left the library quickly, not wanting to waste a second of much needed daylight.
The path to Zecora’s was known well by all of them and they were able to move down through the forest quickly. Even though it was day, the high trees of the forest blocked out most of the sun’s rays and made it seem like it was much later than it actually was. Spike was terrified for the majority of the trek, his new body making him feel like prey for the first time in his life, and he didn’t like it one bit. He tightly gripped a few strands of Twilight’s mane with his small paws and did his best to remain hidden from the unseen eyes of predators.
“We’re almost there Spike.” Twilight comforted, sensing his fear. After another minute of walking, Zecora’s hut came into sight. And milling amongst the fauna in front of the hut was none other than the desired zebra. She looked up at the sound of their approach and smiled.
“I extend you all a sincere greeting.” She said, standing up. “Although I have a feeling this is similar to out last meeting.”
“Hello to you as well.” Rarity said with a polite nod. “And you’re right. I wish we didn’t keep seeing each other under such poor circumstances.” Zecora only waved her off.
“Think nothing of it young mare. Helping friends is more than fair.” She said with another smile.
“You’re very kind.” Twilight said with some relief. Zecora ushered all of them into her hut and noticed the strangely colored hedgehog ridding on Twilight’s back.
“And who is this little one?” She asked curiously. “Coloring like his is second to none.” Spike squeaked, most likely a thank you for the compliment.
“You remember Spike, the dragon right?” Twilight asked her. Zecora nodded, giving the librarian a curious look. “Well, there was an accident in the library.” The zebra listened patiently as Twilight explained the situation and how humans seemed to be able to absorb magic. When she got to the part where Spike was changed, Zecora gave the hedgehog a curious look, but didn’t speak up until Twilight asked about a possible cure.
“Yes, I have such a brew.” She said with a nod. “And hours to make it will take no more than a two.” There was an excited squeak from Spike, and the ponies felt relieved, but Zecora held up a cautionary hoof. “Do not become excited quite yet, for I wouldn’t make this brew for a bet. It is very complicated and requires perfection, not to mention the list of ingredients could give a dragon a conniption.”
“How long until you can make it?” Twilight asked delicately, hoping the space of time wasn’t too long. Zecora looked back at her cauldron as she calculated.
“I cannot help the dragon for a week, and until then I’m afraid he’ll only be able to squeak.” Looks of slight disappointment crossed Fluttershy’s and Twilight’s faces as Spike let out a small groan.
“If you need any help at all, please let me know.” Fluttershy offered, before adding on “If you want any help that is.” The zebra smiled none the less.
“That is very kind, and I shall if I fall behind.” She thanked the pegasus, who let out a small smile. Once that was done, Rainbow, Rarity, Pinkie and Applejack left, having to attend to personal matters, but each promised to visit Zecora more often. Rarity also promised to tell Thomas that a solution had been found since Fluttershy, Twilight, and Spike had accepted Zecora’s invitation for tea.
“Thank you.” Fluttershy said as the zebra handed her a wooden cup willed with a sweet smelling liquid. She tentatively sipped it, not wanting to burn her tongue.
“Yes, thank you so much.” Twilight added, taking her cup. Zecora only nodded in response and the trio enjoyed some small talk.
“I have heard of the humans and your new friends.” Zecora said, sipping her drink as she looked to both Twilight and Fluttershy. “And I would love to meet them on your end.”
“Of course! I’m sure Thomas would love to hear about your potions and culture.” Twilight assured. And so would she for that matter
“And Megan and Rachael would certainly enjoy this tea.” Fluttershy said, nodding to the cup she held in her hooves. “What is it made from?”
“Bit of this, bit of that.” Zecora answered. “A few leaves of tea and some crystal honey crushed flat.” The trio continued their conversation for an hour and a half, when Spike squeaked from atop Twilight’s head. Once he’d gotten their attention, he’d started squeaking again, pointing to the window.
“Yes, it is probably going to get dark soon.” Fluttershy observed, looking out the window.
“Time certainly does grow wings when you’re doing pleasant things.” Zecora added, collecting the now empty tea cups. “Young Spike is right. You should return before the beasts rise this night.” Twilight and Fluttershy nodded in agreement, the former careful not to dislodge Spike the Hedgehog.
“Before we go Zecora, could I read about the potion?” Twilight asked, scratching a sudden itch about the brew. The zebra nodded and produced the book it was held in. Twilight was slightly relived it wasn’t Super Naturals. She quickly read through the list of ingredients and the description of its effects.
“Hey Spike, are you reading this too?” She asked, looking up. She’d felt the hedgehog make his way through her mane and up her neck, stopping by her horn. There was the double squeak confirmation and she smiled. “Then you see that the potion works by absorbing magic and rendering it inert, so don’t drink any since it could mess with your dragon magic like your fire.” He squeaked twice again.
The trio waved goodbye to Zecora as they left and began to make their way back to town. The sun was falling fast and each step saw the surrounding forest grow a little darker.
“Hey Twilight.” Fluttershy said quietly, looking nervously at a couple of the shadow covered trees.
“Yes Fluttershy?” Her friend asked, also growing a little uncomfortable with their surroundings.
“I was thinking it might be best if I took care of Spike over the week.” She said cautiously. “If you think that’s ok…” Twilight was a startled by the statement from her friend, and gave her a conflicted look.
“Why do you think that?” She asked seriously. Fluttershy thought her tone was accusatory shrank back slightly.
“Well, it would probably be safer for him with me since the library isn’t made for animals his size.” She explained. “And I have everything he would need for food and to care for him.” Twilight’s logical side told her that her friend was speaking truth; that Fluttershy would be able to care for the new hedgehog better than she or Thomas could and that her friend’s ability to speak to animals would be a great asset for Spike. But her emotional side told her that she knew Spike better than anypony and another part of her said that since she’d been taking care of Spike since he was hatched and she could still do it.
“I really appreciate the offer Fluttershy, but I’ve cared for Spike since I hatched him, and I can still do it.” She assured her friend. “Thank you though.”
“I understand.” Fluttershy answered quietly. “I know you consider him family.” The rest of the walk out of the forest was finished in silence as the two shared an awkward silence. Twilight spent the trek thinking about what she could do for Spike and everything she thought of went back to either getting advice from Fluttershy, asking her to watch him for an hour, or even giving him a checkup. It was true that she considered Spike to be her little brother and loved him dearly, and only wanted the best for him. She felt him squirm a little in her mane and remembered how he used to do that when he was a baby and she carried him everywhere. She came to a decision.
“Spike, I’m going to ask you a question and I want you to be completely honest with me.” She said, looking up even though she couldn’t actually see him. There was a double squeak affirmative. “Would you like to stay with Fluttershy?” A tense silence followed as the hedgehog thought about his answer and the ponies waited for his answer as they finally exited the forest.
“I won’t be upset if you want to.” She added, knowing what was going through his mind. After another few moments she heard two slow squeaks. Fluttershy smiled lightly.
“I’ll take very good care of him and you’re welcome to visit him as much as you want.” She assured as Twilight levitated the hedgehog off her head. Before giving him to Fluttershy though, she pressed him to her cheek for a hug.
“I know you will and I will.” She assured, smiling to the pair. Fluttershy took Spike from her magical grasp as she held him out and placed him on her back. “Behave Spike!” She called out as they parted ways. Twilight heard an excited double squeak as she walked away.
Spike awoke on day one of his stay at Fluttershy’s to find himself curled up at the foot of Rachael’s and Megan’s bed. Upon seeing him, the two had expressed deep concern over his wellbeing and doted on him. Spike drank in the attention eagerly and wolfed down the small salad Fluttershy made him before a squeaky yawn escaped through. Upon hearing that, Rachael insisted he go to bed and took him upstairs. He didn’t remember anything after that but he soon registered a small thumping noise coming from the door.
Realizing that it was the small thumping noise that had woken him up, he carefully scaled down the side of the bed, keeping a death grip on the sheets. Once Spike got to the floor, he scampered over to the door and opened the pet flap to see a white rabbit about his size.
“So you’re the dragon.” Angel stated more than asked. Spike gave him a tentative nod. He knew Angel to be a tough customer, that having been made clear when he had to pet sit for everpony when they went to help with the Equestria Games. Things wouldn’t have been near as hard if Angel had been the least bit helpful. He only hoped the respect he’d gained, or pity, would carry over into this new form. It seemed that it did.
“Cool. Now you can finally understand me.” Angel said with a smile. Spike thought he saw a gleam in the bunny’s eye, but he brushed it off.
“Yup.” Spike answered still unsure. The bunny hopped to the stairs and motioned for the hedgehog to follow.
“I’ll give you the grand tour.” He offered. Spike looked back into the room and saw the two humans were sound asleep and crawled through the large flap. Fluttershy had installed a smaller set of stairs for her animals on one side of the normal flight, allowing the pair to walk down casually and easily.
“So, feeding is usually about 6:00,” Angel said, relating the daily timetable. “Fluttershy feeds the birds first as thanks for singing to wake her up, then comes all us small, furry, and vegetarian animals.” He indicated to himself, Spike, and the living room. Spike’s eyes went wide as he looked around the room. There were badgers, ferrets, hares, rabbits, shrews, mice, a rat, chipmunks, squirrels, and another hedgehog sleeping on a small cushion. Spike didn’t know how, but he knew she was a she.
“Wow.” He deadpanned. Angel waved it off.
“Everyone’s here simply because there’s a new guy, you. On any given day only a quarter to a third sleep here.” He explained. Spike nodded in understanding and turned back to his guide.
“What’s next?” He asked politely.
“Well, then Braunbär has a salad with berries.” Spike gave him quizzical look. “Mr. Bear is what she calls him.” Angel responded. The hedgehog nodded. “And she feeds the other animals. By 8:00 she goes out to the burrows and sees how everyone is doing, tends to the sick and helps with carrying for the young kinda thing.” He rattled off. Spike gave the rabbit his full attention as they walked through the house, the latter pointing out things Spike should either use, be cautious of, or leave alone for various reasons.
“Hey Angel, where’s the bathroom for us?” Spike asked once they were back in the living room, realizing that that particular room had been left out of the tour. Angel rolled his eyes.
“Dude, we’re animals. We go outside.” He clarified. “Just don’t graze on the flowers in the garden or go in the road.”
“Oh, ok.” Spike said, mentally slapping himself for not knowing that. It was at that point they heard birds singing from outside the window.
“And that means it’s time to eat!” Angel said with a smirk, hopping back out into the kitchen. Spike followed him as the other animals began to slowly wake. The pair waited patiently by the kitchen table, Angel answering questions fielded by Spike until the door opened. Instead of it being Fluttershy though, they saw the entirety of the living room had woken up and followed Spike’s scent. They formed a line and moved in on the pair. Fluttershy and the two humans, having fed the birds, ignored the behavior and walked around pouring food into bowls.
Spike stood incredibly still, unsure of what he should do as the animals sniffed and investigated him. Angel didn’t seem to be panicking, enjoying the discomfort Spike was experiencing with a smirk. None of the animals stayed for more than a five seconds, learning all they wished to know about the new comer and going over to their respective feeding spots for breakfast. With Rachael and Megan helping her, Fluttershy was able to serve breakfast in a fraction of the time it used to take and went out to the burrows to check on the any animals that hadn’t come in for breakfast. The two humans prepare some eggs and fruit for themselves, setting a salad and an apple aside for the pegasus. They ate quickly and took Fluttershy’s breakfast out to her. Spike picked at his food, not finding it appetizing in the least.
As the humans left the kitchen, Spike felt a heavy thumping shake both him, his food bowl, and the table. Angel didn’t seem to panic, engrossed in his food as Spike looked around wildly for the source. His eyes settled on the massive brown bear as it sleepily walked through the living room and into the kitchen. The bear grabbed a bowl from a cabinet and moved over to the fridge, browsing for whatever would comprise this morning’s breakfast. Once he had decided, the bear lumbered over to the table and took a seat in one of the chairs, which surprisingly bore his weight. Wide eyed, Spike slowly stuck his head out from under the table and took in the sight before him.
The bear was nonchalantly munched away on a salad and stared forward, slowly raising and lowering his fork as was necessary. His brown hair wasn’t brushed and stuck out in certain places, which along with the bags under his eyes showed that he had only just woken up from wherever he had spent the night. He was used to sleeping in the guest bed, but things had changed recently.
Mr. Bear hadn’t been around when the humans arrived, attending to personal matters in the Everfree. Needless to say he, Megan, and Rachael were surprised to find each other in the guest bedroom one night, Mr. Bear having grown used to using it for himself. After the screaming stopped, Fluttershy introduced them and they slowly got to know one another. Rachael was ecstatic to find that he liked tea and the pair would often share a pot on Saturdays. The bear felt a pair of eyes on him and looked down to see Spike.
“Guten morgen little igel.” The massive bear said, nodding to the creature as he ate. Spike felt incredibly small and a little frightened, slightly from the accent.
“Good morning.” He said nervously.
“I’m not going to eat you.” The bear deadpanned, taking another bite of his salad. “I’m a vegetarian. The only exception I make are for moths and fish.” Spike nodded in understanding.
“It’s not that.” He said slowly, craning his neck to see the bears face. “It’s just that you’re so big.” Braunbär smiled.
“I get that a lot.” He said, turning to face Spike. “My names Braunbär. And you are?”
“I’m Spike.” He answered. By this time Angel had finished his breakfast and was drawn into the conversation.
“Oh, hey Braunbär.” He said with a wave. The pair had known each other for years, ever since a young white bunny rabbit had met a cub brown bear on the edge of the Everfree Forest and the pair hit it off. In fact, it was Angel who got Fluttershy to take in Mr. Bear, whose mother had been killed by a hydra while defending him.
“Hey Angel.” The bear greeted with another nod. “Where’d this interesting igel come from?”
“Oh, you know that young dragon the purple unicorn has?” He asked rhetorically. Braunbär raised his eyebrows and turned to Spike with a confused look.
“This is him?” The bear asked, suspicion in his voice. Both nodded.
“Yeah, one of the male humans was messing with magic and turned him into this.” The bunny answered nonchalantly. The bear gave the pair a questioning look before sighing and returning to his food.
“Well that is unfortunate.” He remarked casually. Spike rolled his eyes as Angel smirked at him. Spike picked at his food, not finding it quite as disgusting as he had anticipated. His new taste buds found it to be a little dry, but somewhat tasty none the less. He gave Angel half of it before the pair went into the living room.
“Sorry if Braunbär seemed a little weird.” Angel said to Spike, who looked around the room with a bored expression. “He’s been off since he’s had to sleep in the forest behind the cottage.”
“Where’d he sleep before?” Spike asked curiously.
“Up in the guestroom.” He answered. Spike understood completely how such a change could make someone act a little less friendly in the morning. If he’d had to give up his bed to a bunch of strangers, he’d be more than weird to others. Spike walked on all fours as they meandered around, Angel introducing him some friends. They passed by a small, tightly curled on a small cushion and Spike stopped. He saw slight movement on the cushion and he realized that it was the small hedgehog from earlier. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen her come up and sniff him earlier. She gave a squeaky yawn and slowly opened her eyes. Once she turned towards the pair, she froze in terror.
“Hey.” Spike greeted politely.
“Hi…” The small hedgehog said with a twinge of fear, almost curling up again.
“What’s your name?” Spike asked, trying to make conversation.
“Annabelle.” She whispered, looking at the ground. Both males could tell she was extremely uncomfortable with the situation for some reason or another, but neither could put a paw on why.
“That’s a very pretty name.” Spike complimented, hoping it would help. He could see her blush profusely in response. She squeaked a thank you and quickly scampered away, not looking back at the purple and green hedgehog as she did.
“What was that about?” Spike asked, looking to Angel. Unfortunately, some nearby animals had heard the exchange and made their way over to the pair of males. All of them were females.
“She’s just turned one.” One of the squirrels said.
“So she still has some issues with her eyes.” Another added. There were nods of agreement.
“Hedgehogs are born blind.” Angel whispered in Spike’s ear before he could ask.
“And if you try any funny business mister,” A chipmunk said in a high pitch voice, glaring pointedly at Spike.
“You won’t know what hit you.” A badger finished in a deep tone. The short, one way conversation ended abruptly as all four females turned around and went off in the direction Annabelle had. Spike gave Angel a confused look but the rabbit only shrugged.
“Females dude. What do you expect me to know?” Angel asked with a snort before continuing the introductions.
The next few days passed surprisingly quickly. Nothing much happened on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, other than Spike falling into the routine that was Fluttershy’s household. Every morning he would get up at six and enjoy breakfast with Braunbär and Angel before taking a bath with the other male small, furry mammals in the tub. It was a strict rule in Fluttershy’s house that only couples could bathe together, and the females were bathed before the males. Then he would enjoy the sun with the other critters and enjoy their company, learning about the social order of the animals.
Carcajou, the head badger, was a calm sort and one of the top animals at the house. He preferred to sunbathe in the field, enjoying a quiet conversation with Angel, Edward the Eagle, or his mate Eileen. His daughter Blaireau would spend her time with the other females of any species, doing whatever they did. Angel himself would spend most of his days around Fluttershy, only leaving the room she was in for conversations with the other animals. It was quite clear that he carried a lot of weight with everyone, whether that came from his rank as Fluttershy’s pet or not was uncertain. Regardless, others would often go to him about issues that weren’t important enough or were too trivial to warrant Fluttershy’s opinion.
Spike felt himself a quiet observer, taking note of things ponies didn’t seem to realize about animals. From their complex ‘language’ and interesting habits, to their intricate society. Species meant everything and nothing all at once. During the day, it was common for the chipmunks to associate with the squirrels, mice, and even Mr. Bear, but at night each and every one of them would be in a single sleeping pile. To sleep with another species was considered both rude and obscene. It was seen as rejecting your species and family and trying to intrude on another’s.
The odd colored hedgehog also learned that sleeping alone was more of a grey area. Since he and Annabelle were unrelated, it would have been seen as courtship if he tried to sleep on the same cushion as her. Angel was the only one who slept in Fluttershy’s room, especially in the winter, and as the only males of their species he and Angel were somewhat expected to either sleep with their species if courting, or alone if single. As such, Spike slept at the foot of Rachael’s and Megan’s bed each night. The weekend was just as monotonous, with the dragon/hedgehog being visited by Twilight and Rarity both days with promises that he’d be returned to normal soon and lots of gems once he was. It was just after their second visit, that Sunday, when something worth remembering happened to Spike.
Having just finished his lunch, Spike decided to go upstairs and take his afternoon nap. He scampered out of the kitchen and slowly edged his way through the living room so that Annabelle’s protectors wouldn’t think he was making any advances on her. He’d accidently strayed too close to her once and been charged by the chipmunk and squirrel, something he didn’t want to relive. He was able to make it to the stairs without being accosted and quickly made his way up the smaller stairs. Spike was looking forward to his nap when he heard a muffled noise from Rachael’s and Megan’s room. Poking his head through the pet flap, he was surprised to see Megan sitting on the bed and sniffling. He cautiously entered the room, watching her intently as he neared the bed. Once he began climbing up the stairs she spotted him and tried to wipe her eyes.
“Hey Spike.” She said hollowly. He watched her intently and sat up at the foot of the bed, silently asking what was wrong. “I just miss my family.” Megan explained. Spike nodded in understanding, prompting her to continue
“My parents met in a different country. My dad was a Marine and was guarding an embassy where my mom was a diplomat’s aid.” Again Spike nodded, knowing what she meant. His time with Twilight in Canterlot allowed him to learn some things about how diplomacy worked.
He had a specific memory of when a diplomat from the Griffon Empire had come to Canterlot Castle with a retinue of guards. It was one of his earliest, and he was sitting in Celestia’s room while Twilight and the Princess practiced levitation. There was a knock at the door and a Royal Guardspony told Celestia something. Placing him on Twilight’s back with her magic, she led the pair out of the room and through the palace. They met with a group of Griffons, who were stunned at his presence. That’s where it ended, but he did remember Celestia explaining who those Griffons were.
“They fell in love and got married.” Megan continued, wiping tears off her face with a small smile. “I was actually born in a different country than where I lived before coming here. Greece was a great place back then.” Spike listened attentively, not making a sound or straying back down his own memory lane.
“So, my mom was transferred back to the States and raised me there. My dad served his tour and came home a year later. We were really happy from what I remember, and just after I turned fourteen my brother was born.” Spike found the memories to be rather positive and wasn’t sure why she was crying.
“But then just five years later my dad heard that one of his former Marine buddies had died in a war that was going on.” She continued. Spike had an inkling as to where this was going and moved over to her. Megan pulled him into a small hug as she spoke. “My mother had been promoted and was making good money, enough to support us. My dad reenlisted in the military and promised to be back when his tour was up.
“But then my mom was sent overseas on a diplomatic mission and my brother and I were sent to live with our uncle. At first we were doing ok, Max and I. Uncle Roberts was a good guy and he loved us like we were his own kids.” Her eyes were steadily making more tears and she was having trouble wiping them all away. “We spent nine months there, and they were good months. Max made friends in kindergarten and I spent my first year in college. Dad did video calls with us every chance he got and so did mom. She was actually supposed to get back after him.” Megan began to choke up, and pinched her nose, trying to hold back tears.
“And then my father was killed by an IED while we were at our uncles.” Megan forced through, more tears streaming from her eyes. Spike didn’t know what an IED was, but he could tell it was a bad thing. He moved closer to her torso in an effort to comfort her and she gripped him tighter. “And now my family won’t know what’s happened to me.” She cried softly, laying down on the bed and going into a fetal position.
Spike was growing deeply concerned and wiggled out of her grasp. Turning to see her face, his concerns were justified. Her nose was running and her eyes were pouring out tears turning them a bright red alongside her cheeks. All of this made the human look ill to Spike and he quickly climbed off the bed, forgetting the fear that dominated him when he did this in the morning. He bolted through the pet flap and ran as fast as his little legs could carry him towards the stairs. Unfortunately he wasn’t used to four legs enough to run down stairs and tripped. Instinct took over and he curled into a ball, protecting himself from injury.
He felt the impact of each stair bounce off the thick spines on his back as he fell, making him incredibly thankful to have become a hedgehog over a rabbit. Spike hit the floor with a quiet, yet rather hard thud that didn’t cause any damage and he emerged from the ball.
“Fluttershy!” He squeaked loudly, looking around the room for the pegasus. The other animals were startled by his abrupt entrance and shouting, making many move away from him. Annabelle hid behind her friends, terrified of all the ruckus that she could barely see. Angel was the first to emerge from the front yard, a concerned look on his face.
“What’s wrong?” He asked quickly. Spike pointed upstairs as he explained the situation with Megan.
“I need Fluttershy to get Rachael up there.” He finished quickly. Angel nodded in understanding and bolted back out the door to get the pair. There were a few tense moments that followed where Spike could only hear his heart beating rapidly from his tumble down the stairs and his just as quick breathing as he tried to calm himself. Yes Megan was upset, crying about her family. Yes she needed a friend at that moment. But no, she did not need for him to panic and make things seem bigger than they were. Megan was homesick, not experiencing a mental breakdown. Calming down, he saw Fluttershy rush in, a horrified look on her face.
“What’s wrong Spike?” Rachael asked, hot on the pegasi’s heels. “Fluttershy said Angel heard from you that Megan was in trouble.” Spike quickly explained the situation, Fluttershy interpreting for him to Rachael. He did his best to paint Megan in a light that wouldn’t cause either to panic as he described the situation and he seemed to do just that. He saw looks of worry cross their faces, but neither seemed to be overreacting. Rachael quickly ascended the stairs once Spike had finished and they heard her slowly open the door to the guest room.
“We should give them a moment.” Fluttershy said, looking to Angel and Spike. They both nodded in agreement at the same moment they heard a scream of frustration from upstairs and even louder sobs. The three ran up the stairs as soon as the sounds reached their ears, their fears about what was going on reaching new heights. Fluttershy reached the door first and was standing in the open doorway when Spike and Angel got there. They saw Fluttershy’s wide eyes first, then they saw Megan.
She and Rachael were both sitting on the bed, the former doubled over with her head in her hands and both resting on her knees. Rachael was lightly patting her on the back and saying something rendered incomprehensible by her friends sobs. This scene prevailed for the better part of three minutes before Megan sat back up. The hair along the sides of her face was clumped together from her tears, her eyes were a brilliant red, and her cheeks were as well from the tear stains. She seemed to have gotten worse since Spike left to go get the others.
“I NEED TO SEE HIM AGAIN!” She screamed, tears streaming down her face. “I NEED TO SEE MAX!” Rachael tried to pull her into a hug but Megan fought as soon as she felt her touch.
“Megan…” She began but her friend cut her off.
“HE NEEDS ME!” Megan wailed. “I’M THE ONE WHO TUCKS HIM IN! I’M THE ONE WHO MAKES HIS LUNCH!” Spike felt a massive upwelling of pity as he watched the scene continue. He desperately wanted to comfort her or something, but the way Megan was fighting Rachael would only end up with him getting hurt.
“I know you do.” Rachael tried to comfort her. “I know how much you love him” She went back to simply rubbing her friends back in the hopes Megan would stop fighting, but her friend had built up some steam and shied away from the touch.
“I’m the one who comforts him when he’s scared.” She continued, thankfully at a lower volume. “Mom made me promise to take care of him and now I’m not there. Something could happen to him and I won’t be there.” She pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Megan buried her face into her knees and muffled sobs were the only sounds she made. Rachael slowly inched closer until she was right next to her friend and put her arm around her. Fluttershy slowly moved forward into the room, but stopped at the end of the bed. Spike entered as well, but stayed a little further back so that the larger creatures didn’t accidently hurt him. He looked back at Angel, still watching from the other side of the doorway, and the pair grimaced at one another, unsure of what they should do.
“It’s ok.” Rachael said, hugging her friend. Megan lifted her head and wrapped her arms around Rachael tightly, her face now buried in her friends shoulder.
“I just miss him so much.” Megan whispered, body still wracked by quiet tears.
“I know.” Rachael cooed, slowly rubbing her friends back to help soothe her. “We all miss our families.” Spike heard rapid, halting breathes come from Megan as she tried to calm herself and he slowly moved back towards the trio. Fluttershy used her wings to fan the upset girl, giving her some air but remaining silent herself. Once Megan slowly lifted her head away from Rachael and wiped her eyes, Spike relaxed. He hadn’t realized how tense he was during the entire incident, but it didn’t surprise him. He dealt with Twilight’s outbursts of frustration or OCD induced panic often enough that he was used to caring for her and her nuances, but all he could do here was step back and let others handle the situation. Something he wasn’t used to.
He watched the trio as Rachael and Fluttershy tried to keep Megan from screaming again. Fluttershy moved closer to the pair, eyes misting over as she did.
“I know some of what you’re going through.” She whispered. Both Rachael and Megan looked up at this, unsure of what she meant.
“I lost my mother in the Royal Guard.” Fluttershy murmured quietly. Megan looked up with a mixture of emotions including empathy and sadness while Rachael gave her a shocked look, eyes going slightly wide. The former pulled the pegasus into a tight hug that surprised her, but she didn’t fight it, instead hugging back just as tightly. Spike turned to look at Angel, who was fidgeting uncomfortably. He walked back over to the rabbit, who turned to leave.
“What’s wrong?” Spike asked, putting a paw on the rabbit’s shoulder to stop him.
“I was given to Fluttershy after her mother died.” He answered before moving out of Spike’s grasp and quickly hoping down the stairs. Spike turned back and looked into the room to check on things before following the rabbit downstairs. By the time he reached the living room Angel had climbed onto the couch and had slightly moved down into the couch, between the edge of a cushion and the armrest. Spike sat next to him, though he had trouble climbing the couch.
“So that was…” Angel began, his tone quiet so the others couldn’t listen in. The shouts and wails had made their way downstairs, but none of the others were brave enough to investigate whatever was making those terrifying noises and had stayed downstairs, giving the stairs a wide berth as they moved about. The arrival of Spike and Angel after the noises had subsided had caused a number of critters to perk up, hoping they were bearing news. Their silence told them to mind their own business. Fluttershy would probably explain later anyways.
“Terrible.” Spike offered. The bunny nodded and looked up the stairs.
“Yeah. Who’s this Max she was wailing about?” He asked. “Her offspring?” Spike shook his head
“I think he’s her brother.” Spike remarked, thinking back on what Megan had said. “She said her mom made her promise to take care of him.” Angel nodded in agreement, remembering the comment.
“I can’t imagine what she’s going through right now.” He said hollowly, shuddering. Spike nodded in agreement.
“Yeah. I mean, she doesn’t even know if she’s in the same universe as her brother now.” He added, referencing the multiverse theory he’d heard Thomas and Twilight discuss. The pair were torn between deciding that the human Earth was in another part of this universe, another one, or whatever a dimension was. A quick explanation of what he could remember brought Angel up to speed on what he meant by universe and the rabbit only felt more pity for the female. The pair shared a short conversation about their own theories before falling into silence. Angel was remembering some of his earliest memories of a young pegasus who couldn’t sleep without him and Spike was focused on remembering to tell Thomas about this later. Maybe there was something he could do.
Rachael came down a few minutes later with a small blanket and looked around the living room for the purple and green hedgehog. She spotted him on the couch with Angel, the two giving her looks of trepidation as she approached.
“Thanks for getting me Spike.” She said, sitting down in the middle of the couch. He nodded, wondering what she was doing with the blanket. “I got this because I know you went up there to take your nap.” She explained, draping it over him. Spike crawled out from under it and relaxed on top of the fuzzy fabric, enjoying the softness. Angel nudged him, a jealous twinkle in his eyes as he looked at the blanket. Spike moved over for him and the pair prepared to drift off.
“You know, for a dragon you make a pretty good hedgehog.” Rachael added with a smile, getting up. As she climbed the stairs, both males fell asleep.
Spike felt some nudges on his lower right paw and slowly opened his eyes. Taking stock of the situation, he wasn’t very upset. He was still reclined on the couch, sleepy from the nap, and Angel was still out, snoring away. Before him was the group of female animals that earlier had warned him against pursuing Annabelle the hedgehog.
“So, you aren’t an actual hedgehog?” Blaireau asked, giving him a curious look, referencing Rachaels comment. Spike nodded, sitting up. He rubbed his eyes as he did, trying to wake himself up.
“Yup. A human named Thomas *yawn* was experimenting with magic and accidently turned me into a hedgehog. And the spell to turn me back can only be performed by an alicorn.” He explained. The females gave him curious looks.
“What’s a spell and an alicorn?” A chipmunk squeaked. It was then that Spike realized that most animals probably didn’t pay too much attention to the nuances of magic or pony society outside of Fluttershy’s friends who would sometimes visit.
“A spell is what unicorns and alicorns use to perform specific feats of magic. Like lifting things without touching them requires a levitation spell. And an alicorn is a pony with both a horn and wings. They’re really powerful and can do things it takes many unicorn’s to do by themselves.” He answered, getting nods of understanding from the group. They turned away from Spike and started mumbling to one another in the stereotypical huddle, one every so often sticking their head up to check on Spike. The purple and green hedgehog himself went back to relaxing on the couch, curled up with the blanket. He felt sleep regaining its holds on his mind as time passed. They mingled amongst themselves for a few more minutes before turning back to him.
“Ok, so since you’re not a real hedgehog, we’ve decided something.” The badger said as the huddle broke up. Spike lifted his head, pretty much confused as to the purpose of all this.
“And that would be?” He asked slowly.
“We don’t want you hanging around Annabelle.” The squirrel answered sharply. He tilted his head in curiosity.
“You’re an older hedgehog.” The chipmunk explained. “She looks to you to see how a hedgehog should act, how to interact with others of her species.”
“And because you aren’t an actual hedgehog…” Blaireau began. The squirrel looked like it was about to finish, but Spike knew where they were going.
“I’ll do things that real hedgehogs won’t and just confuse her.” He interceded. Slightly off put by this interruption, they nodded collectively.
“Exactly.” The chipmunk chirped. “It’s nothing personal though.” Spike stretched and sighed.
“Yeah, you just want what’s best for Annabelle.” He said. Again they nodded, but instead of saying anything more they left Spike to continue his nap. The rest of the afternoon passed without incident, Megan coming downstairs after dinner to grab a quick bite. Most of the diurnal animals were either out of the cottage in their burrows, or already drifting off to sleep and didn’t pay much attention to her. Her friends smiled kindly at her and made small talk, but they didn’t mention the day’s events.
That night Spike crawled up to where Megan was laying, her closed eyes contrasting with the pink streaks still present on her cheeks, and nudged her arm. She opened one eye slowly and looked for what had touched her. When she focused on Spike she opened the other and smiled. She lifted her arm so that he could move closer to her and set it down so that she didn’t cross him. The hedgehog cuddled up to her, shifting as he tried to get comfortable, and once he did she felt him sigh heavily as he prepared to fall asleep.
“Thanks Spike.” Megan said softly as she closed her eyes.
The last day of Spike the hedgehog’s stay at Fluttershy’s began with him waking up on Megan’s slowly rising and lowering stomach. With a long drawn out yawn, he stretched his limbs and got to his feet. He couldn’t see her face due to those strange mounds the human females had under their shirts, something Thomas had said were ‘nests’ or something like that in the biology lesson he gave Twilight a few weeks ago. Spike really didn’t know what they were nests for and wasn’t sure he wanted to, so he carefully crawled off Megan as no to wake her. He climbed off the bed and slowly made his way downstairs, stretching and yawning as he did. The morning rituals were performed flawlessly, breakfast being served on time and in order. Megan was better today, although many of the animals gave her reassuring nudges and squeaks, chirps, and barks which she was very appreciative of.
The rest of the morning was spent enjoying the sun in either the front or the back yards of Fluttershy’s cottage as Spike waited anxiously for Twilight to come and get him so that Zecora could administer the antidote to his ‘condition’. Time slowed to a crawl as he waited impatiently in the front room for her to arrive, pacing around and counting the floor boards in an effort to distract himself. On his sixth repetition of this Angel put his foot down and dragged the hedgehog out back with some of the other animals to relax in the warm sun.
“Fluttershy will let you know when the purple one shows up.” He argued as he exercised his surprising strength against the former dragon. “Until then, you need to relax.” Spike sighed in defeat, only after struggling like a maniac to try and stay inside the cottage. He grabbed onto doorframes, tables, chairs, and even Mr. Bear’s paw. The latter was the least successful because the pair were hoisted up to his shoulder level and carried outside, Angel’s ego taking more damage than anything else.
“Geh spielen kleinen.” He said with a chuckle, depositing them in the middle of a small grassy area that bordered the forest behind the cottage. He strolled back inside to the cup of tea the pair had interrupted. Angel harrumphed and hopped towards the other rabbits, having a quick discussion with them. Spike looked around and sighed, deciding that since he was outside he might as well remain outside. He passed the next two hours sunbathing with Angel’s bunny horde, listening silently as they played, groomed, and debated whether carrots or cabbage were better. Then the collective energy spiked as one of the watch, organized in shifts to make sure nothing left the forest, spotted something.
“SNAKES!” A chipmunk shouted in horror, causing a mad rush of animals. Standing, Spike could see at least four snakes slithering their way towards the cottage, trying to get at the animals. The badgers charged forward to meet them head on as many of the smaller animals ran back towards the building for safety. Angel tugged on Spike’s paw, motioning for him to follow and he was about to when he saw a terrified Annabelle frozen in fear only feet from a snake as it tried to fight the female badger from earlier. Spike brushed Angel off and ran as fast as his leg could carry him towards her.
The three badgers were too busy fighting the snakes to help her and none of the smaller animals were brave enough to go get her, leaving the year old female alone. She heard a hiss behind her that snapped her out of her fear induced stupor. Turning around, Annabelle saw another snake preparing to strike. Then she heard a shout and the snake cried out in pain. A distinctive green and purple hedgehog had sunk his teeth right below the head of the snake, making it impossible for it to bite him.
“Annabelle!” One of the other animals called out. She looked up and saw the eagle above her. It dove down and scooped her up, quickly taking away from the fight. Edward deposited her with Angel and returned to the skies, looking out for more snake with the falcon and other sharp eyed birds of prey.
“Damn you!” The snaked snarled, trying desperately to shake off Spike. It twisted and swung its body as best it could to throw him off, but the one and a half pound hedgehog was too heavy for it to completely lift off of the ground. Only when Spike’s jaw struck a sharp rock did he let go, allowing the snake to pull back somewhat, blood streaming down its body.
“I’m going to enjoy eating you.” It hissed, glowing at Spike. Wiping blood from his chin, Spike only snarled in response. The snake prepared to strike and Spike wasn’t sure why, but he felt the overwhelming urge to curl into a ball and show his back to the snake. Spinning around, he allowed instinct to take over and curled into a tight ball. He could feel the snakes as it lashed out, but the thick spines on his back kept it at bay. The snake furiously threw itself against the object of its rage, but its efforts went fruitless as Spike refused to budge from his safe position. He heard the screech of a bird and felt the wind as it dove right next to him in an effort to grab the snake, but it missed as signified by the continued attacks on his spines. Realizing the threat from the air however, the snake stayed close enough to Spike to prevent any other attempts.
“Fight me you coward!” He seethed, trying desperately to get an actual bite on the hedgehog. But Spike heard a little pant, telling him the snake was tiring out. A few more attempts and the snake was breathing heavily. Without a sound, Spike whirled around, and leapt at the snake. He felt his sharp teeth break scales and embed themselves deep in the snake’s muscles. Spike didn’t know it, but he was latched onto the snakes head, just above the eyes and his body was hanging off to the left of the snake, completely robbing it of any advantage.
“AAUGH!” The snake screamed, desperately trying to lift its head up to get him off, but it barely could before and the constant attacks had left it too exhausted to do so. Spike opened his eyes and saw the badgers were winning against the other four snakes, forcing them back into the wood behind Fluttershy’s cottage. As the snake shifted beneath him, Spike was able to look to his far left and see Fluttershy, Twilight, Megan, and Rachael running out of the cottage. Both humans had large sticks in their hands and were wearing thick clothing, leaving only their heads visible.
“Spike!” Fluttershy cried out, seeing him attached to the snake. Twilight mirrored her shock and ignited her horn. As the humans started whacking at the snakes, giving the tired badgers a respite, she shot off stunning spells and kept those that were avoiding the humans strikes from attacking them. This second wave was too much for the reptiles and they fled back into the forest, except for the one Spike was still attached to. He had given up and was crying from the pain of Spike’s razor sharp teeth that were millimeters from his spinal cord.
“Spike, you can let go.” He heard Twilight say as she approached, horn lit. He saw her magical aura envelope the snake and did so, his mouth filled with blood. As he tried to spit the stuff out, it streamed down his fur and turned his green belly a dark scarlet. Twilight lifted the snake into the air and turned to Fluttershy.
“What should I do with him?” She asked the animal caretaker. Fluttershy took one look at the pitiful creature and sighed.
“I’ve got a tank inside he can go in until he’s better.” She said quietly. Megan and Rachael approached, taking a close look at the snake.
“Spike, you certainly did a number on this guy.” Megan whistled, examining the deep tooth marks on its head and upper body. The pegasus, worried about her furry friends, quickly made the rounds to see if anyone had been bitten or hurt and she made sure to profusely thank the badgers for their bravery. Megan went and got the tank Fluttershy had mentioned and used chicken wire to construct a lid for it that would allow air, but not reptiles, in and out. Once Spike had been thoroughly checked out by Fluttershy for puncture wounds, he was turned over to Twilight, who beamed at him.
“I came to let you know Zecora has the potion to turn you back ready.” Twilight explained, lifting Spike’s mood. He quickly said goodbye to his new animal friends, including Mr. Bear who had just woken from a nap, and the humans. Megan gave him a tight hug and a peck on the cheek that made Twilight give the blushing animal a curious look while Rachael gave him a quick belly rub.
“Ready?” She asked and received two quick squeaks. Levitating him onto her back, the pair set off, waving as the residents of the cottage as they did. The journey dragged on for both of them, Twilight excited to be getting her Spike back and Spike excited about returning to normal and being able to eat gems instead of pet food. The pair entered the Everfree and made their way down the path at a quick pace. The rhythmic trot of Twilight’s hooves and the bounce of back as she walked worked magic on Spike it hadn’t used since he was a hatchling.
Spike felt a crash as his adrenaline drained and when combined with Twilight’s movements caused him to fall asleep on unicorn’s back as she carried him through the Everfree. When he woke up, Twilight was still carrying him and she and Zecora were putting the finishing touches on a slime colored potion in the zebra’s cauldron Thankfully it was only about half full, or Spike had a feeling that he would be throwing up. Seeing he was finally awake, Zecora gave Spike a word of warning about the brew.
“Be careful young reptile, especially since this brew looks so vile. To drink any of this will cause a great many things to go amiss.” She said slowly, mixing the cauldron’s contents with a nervous look on her face. He nodded in understanding, the conversation from a week ago coming back to him.
“It could seriously mess up your dragon fire and who knows what else.” Twilight added, pinching her nose immediately after getting a whiff. Spike couldn’t see the look of disgust on her face, but his own nose felt like it was being murdered and he was desperately trying not to gag.
“That should finish this most pungent brew. I’ll get a small bowl for to bathe the shrew.” Zecora said as she finished stirring. Spike focused on the potion as the zebra dug through cabinets to find a bowl of the appropriate size.
“Zecora, do you think I could have some of this potion in case something like this happens again?” Twilight asked, looking to the zebra.
“Yes, with all the magical chaos in the library, such preparations would be necessary.” She said, pulling out a medium sized glass bottle with the bowl. After slowly ladling the thick potion into the bowl first, Zecora set it down near the pair before turning to the bottle.
“Thanks.” Twilight said with a nod, levitating Spike to the edge of the bowl. Pinching his nose, the hedgehog apprehensively prepared himself for the worst smelling bath of his life. Mentally counting to three, he swung a little leg over the edge of the bowl and immersed himself in the pungent ‘liquid’.
“How long is it supposed to take?” Twilight asked. She had been hoping for immediate results but had doubted it would be that quick.
“It will take about a quarter of an hour.” She said, giving Twilight a corked bottle of goo. “And this will take years to go sour.” Twilight thanked the zebra and the two settled down at the kitchen table to anxiously watch Spike. The potion was working, slowly stripping the magical matrix that had ahold of the dragon. His spines were shortening as he slowly grew larger, gem crushing canines were emerging ones designed to bite through snake scales and insect chitin, and his tail began to emerge. He waited patiently as his body morphed back into the one he was born with and Twilight saw a smile spread across his face. Stepping out of the bowl, he accepted a towel from Zecora and wiped off any excess potion that had remained on his scales.
“I am so going to need a bath when we get back.” He said, earning a smirk from both equines. As he dried off Twilight and Zecora poured the remaining amount of potion into two large gourds so the zebra could store them for later use. Spike gladly volunteered to help scour the cauldron and profusely thanked Zecora for helping him as he did. She waved him off with a smile.
“There is no need to thank me young Spike.” She responded. “It’s nothing to help those I like.”
“Well still.” He pressed, popping his head out of the cauldron.
“It is getting late you my friends.” She chuckled, looking out a window. “You should get home before you’re more likely to meet unfortunate ends.” Twilight agreed, seeing that sun light was barely filtering through the foliage of the trees. Spike gladly walked home after giving a certain blushing zebra a tight hug for her trouble. Twilight saw a spring in his step as they made their way back to Ponyville, and she was sure she could hear him humming a jaunty tune. None of the monsters in the forest interfered with their trek and the pair emerged from the forest unharmed just as the sun had set below the horizon.
Spike insisted on making a quick stop at Fluttershy’s, where he visited with Angel and the others. Unfortunately they couldn’t stay long and Spike didn’t get as much time as he wanted. Before he left though, he checked on the snake and Annabelle, both stunned to see the dragon, and found them to be doing well. Annabelle was understandably skittish and the snake had mixed feelings about surviving an attack from a dragon that had been a hedgehog.
The two returned to the library as the moon steadily rose higher and the stars twinkled brighter every few seconds. It was a cloudless, beautiful night and only a slight breeze blew through town. The two found Thomas pacing in the main room of the library, waiting for them to return. He opened his mouth to speak but Spike cut him off.
“Dude, don’t apologize.” He said with sincerity before adding with a laugh. “Let’s just call it even before one of us can’t walk or something.” Thomas smiled at this and nodded in agreement.
Chapter 15: Panic Attacks, Politics, and Exercising More Than Your Rights
The day before Spike returned to the library, Thomas called Twilight down to the basement. He was sitting at one of her tables where she would run her experiments, but it had been cleared of equipment and instead there was a small stack of papers.
“You called?” She kept her eyes on the papers on the desk.
“Yes, I’ve finished the essay we discussed last week.” He sounded a little proud, like a father talking about something his colt had done. Twilight was a little surprised.
“In only a week?” She asked dubiously.
“Well, most of the ideas here were already thought of in my country, but I didn’t plagiarize them. They are similar, but not word for word and I had to change something’s to better fit Equestria.”
“And your pen name? You chose the pseudonym ‘Liberal Thought’?” The name fit well with the essay, which she gleaned through with her magic. And it did sound like a name a philosophical pony might have.
“Well, that’s what this essay is based in. And I thought it sounded a little pony like.” Thomas smiled as he said the last line, causing the lavender unicorn to look at her friend with a raised eyebrow. Shaking her head at the human, Twilight put the papers in order and stated rather curiously
“How are you planning on having this published? I don’t mean to sound inconsiderate, but having it published here is not the best idea.” Thomas nodded in agreement.
“I was rather hoping you could send it to Celestia, like you do your letters. I was thinking she could have it discreetly published in Canterlot, where it would be received better.” The idea struck Twilight as, well, perfect. It would provide anonymity, with no one connecting it to Ponyville, the princess being able to uphold a façade of ignorance if it was discovered that the essay had originated in the castle and Canterlot was the center for this type of debate, it was widely assumed that Leviathan himself lived there.
“That could work…” She said tentatively. “I’ll send her a letter asking if she would be willing to publish this for you when Spike’s better.” Thomas nodded his thanks, since his scars still made him look demonic when smiling. The two discussed the finer points of the work, editing and improving the essay as they did, and Twilight compared some of Thomas’s to Leviathan’s trying to anticipate how they would interact. She didn’t foresee anything more than a rather intriguing philosophical debate between educated ponies. When she vocalized these thoughts, Thomas laughed.
“That’s not going to happen.” He responded bluntly. “Ponies who fancy themselves educated are going to read this, misinterpret it, and howl until they’re blue in the face about how it’s true.” Twilight gave him a surprised look, prompting the human to explain similar situations on Earth where people had misinterpreted information or theory and caused severe damage to the people in the case of ‘idealistic’ societies. Especially in the instance of the French Revolution(s).
"Well, ponies aren’t like humans in every respect.” Twilight countered. “You don’t have immortal rulers, magic, or other intelligent species on your planet, and all of these things definitely influence us.” Her reasoning was sound. There was no way to predict how all of humanity, with its religions, philosophy’s, politics, and preconceptions would take to having magic, intelligence, and immortality thrown at them. This may have made ponies more receptive and accepting of ideas and creatures than Thomas was anticipating.
“Well, if anything it makes it more unlikely.” He said slowly, getting a nod of agreement from Twilight. “But don’t be too surprised if someponies completely get it wrong ok?” He gave her a sincere look, wanting to get his point across. Twilight nodded again, more to placate him than actually thinking anypony could misunderstand what Thomas had so clearly written.
One month later and the second ‘whammy’
Most of the humans were doing well in Ponyville. Rachael and Megan were helping Fluttershy take care of her animals and the pets of Ponyville residents. Opalescence for some reason bonded rather quickly to Megan, constantly rubbing against her legs and sitting in her lap every chance she got. Megan wasn’t much of a cat person initially, but the finicky feline was slowly growing on her
Marcus and Taylor were enjoying their time at Sweet Apple Acres just as much. The two were still keeping their relationship quiet, both wanting to see how it went before telling anyone else, and loved the simple life of the farm. The early mornings had not been Taylor’s favorite initially, scowling perpetually even after she’d had her morning coffee, but they’d slowly gotten better for her, especially since Granny Smith made a wicked cup of coffee, especially during cider season. Marcus and Big Mac were good friends, bonding during their silent exchanges that puzzled Applejack to no end. The pair would be seen working in the fields together, silently nodding or shrugging to the other over words the mare couldn’t hear or see them say. In reality they were just messing with her and discussed apples, the weather, and other casual topics when she wasn’t around.
Thomas was dealing with a panicking Twilight, as his political essay had done exactly what he said it would. Princess Celestia had happily agreed to publish it for him, commenting on how ponies needed to realize that Equestria wasn’t really an absolutist diarchy and opened up an account for Thomas at the Equestria National Bank for the bits he made. The protégé had read the newspaper that morning to find that there were demonstrations in Manehatten, Baltimare, and Vanhoover about having a more representative local government and in one case that call to remove titles by a radical named Rabble Rouser.
Once she’d read this, Twilight bolted back to the library, leaving the paper at the stand, and started to freak out in the usual manner; pacing around the library, clutching her head in panic, crying, and saying things like ‘I’ve disappointed the Princess’ and ‘She’ll send me to the moon.’ Spike rolled his eyes and went to get Thomas from the basement after flipping the sign from Open to Closed and drawing the blinds.
“She does this how often?” Thomas asked incredulously, following Spike up the stairs from his room.
“About once a month or so.” He answered with a nonchalant shrug.
“That’s not healthy.” Thomas said slowly, his concern growing.
“It is for her. The last time she went over a month without panicking, she ended up casting a ‘Want it, Need it’ spell on an old doll of hers and caused the town to descend into chaos.” He explained. Thomas was not convinced and upon seeing how Twilight was acting, decided that she definitely had OCD and possibly PTSD from her numerous adventures. Unfortunately, she spotted him about the same time.
“YOU?!” She screamed, pointing a hoof at the pair.
“Me?” Spike asked nervously, hoping she was pointing behind him.
“No! The human!” Her eyes were wide with terror and anger, hoof now shaking violently. “He’s the one to blame!” Then a creepy smile spread across her face.
“Um…” Thomas said, unsure of what to do. Twilight devolved into babbling, seemingly relieved, and curled up into a ball on the floor, rocking back and forth.
“Celestia will blame him, not me!” She muttered to herself. “She’ll send him to the moon, not me.” Spike sighed and went into the kitchen as Thomas stood there, wide eyes taking in the scene before him. “I’m free!” She exclaimed with a squeal. “I’m free!” She threw her hooves in the air as she giggled, no longer rocking. “The Princess will banish him to the moon and say he failed her. Not me!” Spike returned carrying a pitcher of ice water and sighed at the sight of the mare. He walked up to her calmly and tapped her on the shoulder.
“Spike! I need…” Twilight was cut off by a gallon of freezing water dumped on her head as the dragon overturned the pitcher on her. Once that was done, he walked back into the kitchen to get a towel.
“Thanks.” Twilight murmured sarcastically. Spike had started to add more ice as the break downs continued in the hopes of discouraging her, but it wasn’t working so far. Thomas stood with his feet rooted to the floor, horrified at what the mare was susceptible to do. “Sorry you had to see that.” Twilight said sincerely, standing up and taking the towel from Spike.
“Yeah, this one seemed to be a lot worse than usual.” Spike observed. “Usually she just starts breathing rapidly and rambles about something related to what she’s reading.” Twilight scrubbed her mane dry and moped up the floor before she explained what had set her off.
“Twilight, don’t ponies have the rights to assemble and petition?” Thomas asked, still concerned over her behavior.
“Well of course they do.” She said with a sigh, nodding. “It’s just that this one guy called for the abolishment of titles and that demonstration got out of hoof.”
“So why are you panicking over that one instance?” He asked curiously, still standing in the doorway. Twilight levitated the towel into the laundry room upstairs as she explained her thought process.
“I was thinking in the long run. What you said is coming true, and if more ponies take after this guy Rabble Rouser, then we’ll have some big issues on our hooves.” Thomas waved off the comment and leaned against the door frame, arms folded.
“Your Princesses will be able to handle it. I’m sure they’d welcome reforms that limit the power of the nobility and give commoners a greater voice in how their country is run.” He remarked. Spike nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, Celestia can handle this Twilight.” He assured, heading back upstairs to read his comic books. “Besides, this is Ponyville, what could happen here?” Immediately Twilight and Thomas shot each other worried looks before continuing with their daily tasks.
Twilight felt sweat building on her brow as she examined the object before her. Since Thomas had pulled it out when Spike had attacked him, the knife had been on Twilight’s radar. Of the items brought by the humans, it was the only one that shared their resistance to magic, except to a much higher degree. Twilight could not grab, levitate, or otherwise touch the blade of the weapon and had to maneuver it by its grip or hilt.
Even when she tried to compare it to the potion Zecora made for Spike it yielded no results. The blade repelled direct magical interference and seemed to extend the field somewhat. If it was lodged in the table, the table took twice as much effort to lift. The potion just absorbed any magic that it came in contact with. They operated on opposite ends of whatever spectrum it was that treated magic in such a fashion.
Using her hoof to wipe her brow, the unicorn took a moment to stretch her muscles. A few hours had passed since her panic attack and in her mind she had used them well, striving to understand humans and their world. Thomas had been of help, although he was more focused on a possible sequel to his essay that would clarify things for ponies. At that moment, there was a knock from downstairs.
“IT’S A PUBLIC LIBRARY!” She shouted, irritated that so many ponies forgot that. Namely all of them other than Rainbow Dash, who preferred the window. Again, there was a knock. Sighing, she looked over to Spike, who was curled up in his basket snoring through the situation. With another sigh she got up from her desk and begrudgingly trotted down to the library door.
“Can I help you?” The librarian asked, plastering on a smile. She was greeted by another, wider, creepier smile.
“Hello! Do you have time to discuss the goddesses?” A cheery voice inquired. Twilight’s smile became a look of confusion as she examined the crème coated stallion before her. His mane was slicked back with gel, and he was wearing a dress shirt and black neck tie.
“Um… what do you mean?” Twilight asked tentatively.
“Well, don’t you think it’s strange that two, all powerful goddesses feel the need to rule a country?” The slick pony began, furrowing his brow for added effect. “Why not let ponies have a government with ponies in charge and monitor the planet as a whole?” Twilight immediately pegged him as a radical petitioner and felt her ire grow.
“Look, you obviously don’t know me very well, so I’ll go easy on you.” She retorted, making his smile falter. “Princess Celestia rules Equestria because she was swore to protect the country after she and Princess Luna defeated Discord. And the reason she still does is because ponies as a whole refuse to let her leave. Good Day.” Her magic swiftly shut the door with little noise and she trotted back towards the stairs. Just as she was about to ascend though, there was another knock. Turning sharply, Twilight bore down on the poor soul behind the noise with a furrowed brow, grit teeth, and her veins nearly bursting out.
“Yes?” She asked tersely, expecting the same pony.
“Is this a bad time?” The resident clockmaker asked nervously, seeing her obvious spite.
“Um, no. I thought you were someo…pony, else.” Twilight answered, immediately regretting her attitude. She ushered the stallion in and did her best to calm herself. As she did so the stallion perused the library with mild interest, waiting for her to collect herself without judgment.
“So, what can I do for you?” She said after a few moments of breathing exercises. Clockwork made his way over to the table at the center of the room and reached behind him. She now noticed his saddlebags and felt her stomach drop as he pulled out a clipboard. He set it next to the wooden head as the librarian approached.
“What’s the petition for?” Twilight asked Clockwork curiously. The watchmaker reached into his saddlebags once again and pulled out a pen and an all too familiar booklet.
“It’s to set up a town council for Ponyville.” He answered, placing the items next to Twilight on the table. “The idea is to make the citizens of Ponyville more central in the running of our town and open up the government to make it more responsible.” Twilight fought the urge to twitch and kept a steady gaze on the stallion.
“Let me guess, you got the idea from Liberal Thought’s book didn’t it?” She asked rhetorically, already knowing the answer. Clockwork nodded fervently.
“It’s a great read.” He pressed, opening it and flipping through the pages. “He describes the political theory that founded the pre-Equestrian Earthpony Republic in great detail and then applies it today.” Twilight nodded, remembering that part of the book. The stallion took this as a sign to continue. “Like how the current Parliament is based more on their body of government than the one from the old unicorn kingdom and the he goes onto comment on how the concept of government came about when a society either decided it wanted one or it was imposed upon them by another.”
“I know.” She interrupted before he could go further. “I’ve read it.” The stallion proceeded to beam at her.
“Of course you must have, being who you are!” He exclaimed. “So, will you sign the petition?” He pushed it towards her, eagerly hoping he could get his tenth signature. Twilight reviewed the petition slowly and deliberately before looking to Clockwork.
“What would happen to Mayor Mare?” She asked curiously. The stallion was slightly surprised at the question and hesitated before answering. He shifted his weight as he answered, telling Twilight he wasn’t overly confident in his explanation.
“Well, if this petition makes it through everything then that position would become moot I guess.” He said nervously before continuing. “She’d be free to run as a council member though.” Twilight nodded slowly and continued to examine the petition.
“What’s wrong with how Mayor Mare is running things?” She asked, setting the petition down. Clockwork had been prepared for more questions than usual from the librarian, but he wasn’t expecting any of this caliber. He hesitated, trying to find an intelligent response.
“Well nothing really.” He admitted. “She’s done a great job, but I believe that town council would be best for Ponyville.” Twilight found this a respectable position, but was still hesitant about signing.
“Would it take effect immediately?” She inquired, earning a shrug.
“Probably not. I’d imagine the town would let her finish out her term in office and use the intervening time to start setting up the council for an easy…” He raised a hoof to his chin, struggling for the right word to use to describe the situation.
“Transfer of power?” Twilight offered. He nodded.
“Yes, that.”
“Well, I thank you for thinking of me, but I’m a bit undecided on the issue.” Twilight said, pushing the clipboard back towards the stallion. He frowned slightly, disappointed in not getting her influential signature on the petition but accepted defeat gracefully.
“Of course, it is a hard decision.” He agreed, putting away his things. Twilight walked him to the door and held it for him before returning upstairs to study the knife, going over what had just happened. She barely paid any attention to it as she thought about the repercussions of the petition on Ponyville, namely how a town council might possibly be more likely to discover the human presence in town by checking in on Sweet Apple Acres more often than the Mayor did, which was never. Spike arose with a yawn and slowly made his way down stairs to make lunch. Twilight looked at the same spot on her desk until he called her down, careful not to step in the path of any magical testing. As she came down the stairs, absent mindedly focused on the knife, Twilight failed to notice Rarity’s presence until she bumped into her.
“Oh!” She exclaimed, rubbing her nose. “Sorry about that, I was lost in thought.”
“Quite all right. I too was distracted.” Rarity answered, nodding to Spike. “I was just telling him what I’m here to tell you.” Curiosity piqued, Twilight forgot about the knife.
“And that is?” She asked.
“It seems dear Clockwork, you know the clockmaker?” Twilight nodded. “Well, it seems that he’s going around getting signatures on a petition to install a town council here in Ponyville!” Rarity explained, slightly aghast.
“Yeah, he came by here earlier and tried to get me to sign it.” The purple unicorn said, getting a gasp from Rarity.
“Did you?!” She asked fervently. Twilight shook her head, causing Rarity to smile. “Good. Because that petition has caused a row over at the town hall, because Jurisprudence did sign it!” Jurisprudence is the town judge, running Ponyville’s courthouse; three rooms in the town hall, with a clerk and a single prosecutor who works a second job at Vinyl’s nightclub as a janitor. With a deep navy coat, black mane, and a healthy physique, the thirty seven year old unicorn stallion wasn’t undesirable to many of the mares in town. He held on to bachelor hood simply because he hadn’t decided he wanted to stop being one yet. Jurisprudence was also known for being a bit provocative in his beliefs on the judicial system and politics.
“He did what?!” Twilight exclaimed, gaping at her friend. Rarity nodded intently, her brow furrowed.
“And not only that, but he’s saying that if anypony tried to sue to keep the mayor, he’d immediately throw the case out because nowhere in the town charter does it say we can’t have a town council.” She added. Twilight groaned, annoyed at how events seemed to be playing out.
“The last thing we need is for what’s happening in the rest of Equestria to happen here.” She said, getting a nod of agreement from her friend. “I’m going to head down to the town hall and see if I can do anything. I’ll have lunch when I get back Spike.” The dragon nodded absentmindedly, focused on the fashionista before him. Rarity offered to stay and keep an eye on the library for her, much to the young dragon’s delight. Thanking her, Twilight left and quickly made her way through the streets of Ponyville to the town hall, hoping that she wouldn’t arrive to find the judge had done anything drastic.
She wasn’t expecting to find almost no ponies present at the town hall except for four, three stallions and a mare. The latter was obviously Mayor Mare, and she seemed to be in a somewhat heated argument with Clockwork and Jurisprudence while Lantern Light, a jet black unicorn who headed the town guard, watched on. As she got closer, they became audible.
“I’m telling you, this type of thing can’t be decided on by a petition!” Mayor Mare said adamantly, stamping her hoof.
“And why not huh?” Lantern Light asked, joining in.
“Because for a petition to be considered, it only needs 60 signatures, and this is talking about a change in local government!” She explained, exasperated. “That needs to be put on a ballot so everypony can vote on it since there are 200 ponies in town!”
But the next voting cycle is a year away!” Clockwork complained. He seemed to have gotten a little more radical since he’d visited Twilight, and this only confirmed her worries.
“And that’ll forestall it just long enough for it to lose support.” Jurisprudence added with a severe tone.
“Not if you run a proper campaign for the issue.” Twilight responded, getting their attention as she climbed the steps. Mayor Mare smiled at having somepony on her side while the stallions frowned it varying degrees.
“Miss Sparkle.” Jurisprudence greeted with a polite nod. She nodded back before continuing.
“And besides, if the ponies of this town really want a town council then it won’t matter that it would be voted on in a year.” Lantern Light rolled his eyes.
“Right.” He remarked sarcastically. The librarian shot his a dark look, but didn’t speak.
“Look, I get this is an important issue right now, with Liberal Thought’s essay having caused such a stir.” Mayor Mare said, looking to the three stallions. “But right now we can’t vote on it because by the time the ballots were printed and dispersed it would be time for the regular vote, and a petition won’t cover the issue fully.” Jurisprudence grudgingly agreed with her while Clockwork and Lantern Light stayed silent.
“So we need another way to handle this.” Twilight added, thinking hard on a solution. The navy coated stallion smiled lightly as an idea came to him.
“What about a debate?” He suggested. “You and the Mayor between Lantern Light and me.” Silence followed as those present thought over the idea. For Twilight, it was one of the better options for handling the situation before it got out of hoof.
“Wait, why doesn’t Clockwork debate since it was his idea?” She questioned, looking to the clock maker.
“Because he isn’t holding or running for a public office.” The judge answered neutrally.
“And I am?” Twilight asked, confused. There was a chorus of nods.
“Yup, the town librarian is selected by the mayor.” Mayor Mare explained. “The former librarian retired a few months before you got here and nopony else wanted the position.” Slightly disappointed in the town as a whole, Twilight nodded in understanding and looked to see if the others agreed.
“So, a debate it is?” The stallions agreed, Lantern Light slightly annoyed at having to participate and Clockwork eagerly because his petition was getting so much attention.
“When is it taking place?” He asked excitedly.
“Well, today’s Sunday…” Mayor Mare said slowly, scratching her chin in thought. “So how about Thursday? That’ll allow enough time to spread the word and organize it.”
“Sounds good.” Jurisprudence turned to the others. “What about you two?”
“Thursday’s fine.” Lantern Light answered with a sigh.
“Works for me!” Clockwork exclaimed, a wide smile on his face. The issue having been decided, the group of five split apart based on their stances, the pro-council side heading towards the farmer’s market and the pro-mayor team staying on the porch of the town hall.
“So, I guess we’ll have to start preparing for the debate.” Twilight remarked, looking to the mayor who simply nodded.
“I’ll get an aid and an intern to start organizing it.” She answered before turning to go inside. “See you Thursday Miss Sparkle.” Figuring the mayor wanted to do her own research, Twilight said goodbye and made her way back to the library, slightly peeved at Rarity for making the situation sound a lot worse than it was.
The day of the political day gave Ponyville a climactic paradox. News about demonstrations in neighboring towns and the big cities had sparked greater interest in the townsfolk and more ponies were picking sides, obvious tension between them rising over the past few days and permeating the air, but a carnival like atmosphere had sprang up as ponies moved their stalls from the market and over to the town hall to sell their goods.
The Apple Family had set up a dunk tank and other fun games to distract the fillies and colts while their parents attended the debate. It promised to be an exciting affair, since Twilight Sparkle and Mayor Mare were going to go head to head with Jurisprudence and Lantern Light. Collectively every pony in local government would be there and the four debating were considered the smartest ponies in town, even if Lantern Light could get a little hot headed. In fact, the other two ponies who worked in local government, Rainbow Dash of the Weather Management Office and Ms. Cheerliee of Ponyville School District, were moderating the debate.
As the crowd filed in, Twilight found herself waiting in the wings and in a small room with Mayor Mare. The pair were readying themselves for what was to come, Twilight going over extensive notes on how towns with town councils operated their economies, schools, and weather in comparison to towns without them, and the mayor by slowly drinking from a water bottle with her eyes shut.
“Twilight Sparkle, just relax.” Mayor Mare advised, opening one eyelid halfway. Twilight gave her an exasperated look.
“How can you be so calm?! Your job is on the line, the future of Ponyville is at hoof, and if things aren’t handled right we could have a riot!” She explained hastily, earning a smirk from the mayor. Twilight had spent the past four days, counting Sunday, reading every book on political theory and the difference between town councils and mayors before looking into the demographics of Ponyville and had prepared a dissertation on how and why the city needed a mayor.
“Because political debates are much calmer when it isn’t election season.” Twilight gave her a quizzical look. “These ponies are only here because they think it’ll be exciting, scandalous, and front page news tomorrow.”
“Won’t it?” Twilight asked seriously. Mayor Mare laughed.
“Heaven’s no!” She giggled. “Maybe the first few questions, but then it’ll end up being technical, so-so, and unclear. Nothing concrete will be admitted by both sides and the fervor will die out as they realize they should be in the carnival outside.”
“But… this is important.” Twilight retorted softly. “The difference between a mayor and a town council is…”
“Absolutely nothing to these ponies.” Mayor Mare interrupted. Her tone shifted from light hearted to rather cold. “Regardless of who is in charge, things will go on as they always have. If three ponies are in charge, nopony will care. If a griffon is, they’ll care for the first month or so. If Pinkie is, they’ll get used to it.” Twilight was shocked by her blunt, down trodden outlook on the character of the town. Ponyville was vibrant, exciting! You didn’t know what was going to happen from one day to the next.
“I know what you’re thinking, and that’s because you’re an Element of Harmony.” The mayor interjected. “You are called on to do exciting things at least once a month, while most ponies only read about those events the next day before going to work for eight hours.” Before Twilight could respond, one of the mayors’ numerous aids opened the door.
“You’re up ma’am’s.” They said sharply, holding the door for them. The pair stepped out of the room and towards their table. The town hall was the only venue in town where the debates were legally allowed to happen and had been built accordingly. When you walked inside, you found yourself in a large area surrounded by a raised platform in front and blank walls on either side. A small flight of stairs led up to the platform, where three tables were set up, each with two chairs. The middle table was closer to the stairs than the wall while the other two were pushed further back and at an angle, giving those who sat at them a view of the entire room other than their competitors without having to turn their heads. The large area was filled with ponies in seats and in the table in the middle was occupied by an annoyed Rainbow Dash and smiling Ms. Cheerilee. As they approached their table she heard the crowd grow quieter, but still murmur audily.
Twilight recognized Jurisprudence and Lantern Light as they took their seats at the table to the right of the crowd, both smiling politely. She and Mayor Mare seated themselves in the appropriate table and looked out over the ponies present. Twilight was unable to find her friends quickly and had only spotted Rarity in the middle of the crowd before Mayor Mare drew her attention to the moderators.
"Ya’ll know why we’re here,” Rainbow Dash lazily addressed them and the crowd as she spoke into a mic given to her and Ms. Cheerilee. Oddly enough, the actual ponies debating didn’t have them.
“So let’s have a clean debate.” Ms. Cheerilee finished warmly. Both sides nodded and readied themselves.
“Right, let’s begin.” The pegasus said, straightening the papers on her shared desk with Cheerliee. The school teacher nodded and cleared her throat.
“So, the first question is for Mayor Mare.” She said into the mic. Mayor Mare straightened her glasses and nodded, leaning forward against the table.
“Why did you ask a private citizen to provide funds to repair city property?” Ms. Cheerilee asked neutrally, garnering a complete hush from the crowd. Looking across the platform, Twilight saw Lantern Light smirk.
“I didn’t.” Mayor Mare answered simply, knowing exactly what the question was referencing. “Ms. Applejack graciously offered to use her winnings to pay for the damage to the roof of Town Hall.” In the crowd Ditzy Doo shuffled uncomfortably as the memory was brought to everypony’s attention once again.
“I would like to point out that it was at your prompting.” Lantern Light said into the mic. His slimy voice sent shivers down Twilight’s spine and she had the urge to check if he was a changeling. “We all saw how you pulled Applejack aside before giving the sendoff speech and had a hushed conversation with her.”
“I was only wishing her good luck in the competition and telling her that Ponyville was proud of her.” Mayor Mare retorted, keeping her gaze on Rainbow Dash and Ms. Cheerilee. There was a silence as the ponies in the crowd waited for another comment from the two stallions, but none came, prompting the next question.
“This one is for Jurisprudence.” Rainbow Dash said, looking over the paper before her. “How would a town council handle the work that it currently takes a single mare to do and what would make a council desirable to Ponyville’s day to day functions?” The judge smiled at the question and answered with an even tone.
“Well, in actuality the day to day running of Ponyville isn’t left up to the mayor herself.” He explained, using his hooves to enunciate his words. “Her deputies and assistants screen for issues that are either over their skill level, affect lots of ponies, or require her approval and send those to her. Otherwise they make a decision they feel is best and enact it.” There was a low murmur from the crowd as this new information came to light and a number of sharp looks were shot towards the Mayor, who took them in stride.
“And as for how a town council would affect the day to day running of the town, it would depend on the structure of the council and town government.” He said, continuing once the crowd had finished. “In many ways it would function in a similar fashion, but the power would be divided between the council members. Instead of one pony deciding issues without oversight, the representatives would have to work together to pass laws and taxes.” Twilight saw some nods of approval from ponies in the crowd, but there were also some dubious looks as well. She decided it was time to speak up.
“Who says there isn’t oversight?” The mare asked curiously. “Mayor Mare has oversight from her neighbors, coworkers, and the citizens of Ponyville.”
“He means from superiors.” Lantern Light said with a smarmy look.
“But she’s the mayor. The whole point is there isn’t someone superior to her.” Twilight retorted, earning a few smirks and snickers from her supporters. Lantern Light glared at her, but bit his tongue.
“I understand what you mean Ms. Sparkle, but what I mean is that nopony checks her work before it starts affecting ponies.” Jurisprudence clarified in a polite tone.
“Actually, they do.” Twilight responded, quickly rattling off a number of examples. “Rainbow Dash consistently meets with Mayor Mare to discuss the Weather Management Office and the weather. The Ponyville Business Group does as well, and Ms. Cheerilee runs Ponyville School District by herself and Mayor Mare consults with her on any legislation that could affect it.”
“And if she decided not to?” He asked casually. “Before she took office, and before you came to town, we had a Mayor Money Trail. He ignored the recommendations of those around him and ran the town as he saw fit. In fact, he embezzled 50,000 bits from the treasury before he was caught.” A majority of ponies shifted uncomfortably at the mention of the former mayor’s name, and silence ensued. Twilight saw Rainbow Dash’s face turn stone hard and Ms. Cheerilee blushed profusely, obviously uncomfortable.
“And that’s my point. If a mayor decides to ignore ponies, nopony can stop him until the next election, a three year period, or he breaks the law.” He continued, pressing through the tension. “And a town council would have less power in one position and more evenly distributed to block such abuse of privilege.”
“And how many mayors has Ponyville had since it was founded?” Mayor Mare asked, speaking up. Twilight was only too happy to answer.
“Counting you, there have been 33 mayors in Ponyville’s history, many serving without incident.”
“And how many have abused their power?” Mayor Mare continued, looking out over the crowd. That number was unknown to Twilight, but a high pitched voice called out from the audience.
“3!” The voice exclaimed. Everypony in the audience turned in the direction of the voice. Its owner was little Featherweight, who was sitting between his proud and embarrassed parents. “Right Ms. Cheerilee?” He asked, oblivious to the attention. Every pair of eyes turned to the teacher, who blushed profusely.
“Yes Featherweight, there have been three.” She confirmed with a smile. “Money Trail, Fat Cat, and… Small Bills.” Ponies nodded in understanding, but kept their gaze on Ms. Cheerilee. “What? We did a History of Ponyville week.” The mare defended before turning to the papers before and focusing on a question that would distract the audience.
“Ms. Twilight, would town councils be less efficient than a mayor in handling issues?” She asked quickly. Twilight made a so-so motion with her hoof.
“It depends really.” She answered truthfully.
“On what?” Rainbow asked, reclining in her chair.
“Well, on the dynamic of the council members, the issue at hoof, how the council is organized, if there’s a crisis, how complex the politics are between the council and other organizations, and how big the council’s schedule is.” Twilight explained calmly. And the debate remained this way for the better part of two hours; civil and technical. Just as Mayor Mare predicted, it remained bland and anything but concrete with Twilight and Mayor Mare refuting claims and answering questions with ease while Jurisprudence and Lantern Light did the same. But as they progressed, Twilight noticed that every time the head of the Town Guard made a snide remark, more ponies would snicker and fewer would look indignant.
“I think we’re losing the crowd.” She whispered to Mayor Mare inconspicuously. The mayor didn’t react overtly, but whispered through her teeth back.
“You aren’t a politician.” She observed. “It’s been this way since the very beginning. But I’ve got a plan.” Twilight refocused on the debate, her worries somewhat abated by the older mare’s assurances. Focusing back on the crowd, she could tell by the indiscriminate snorts and faint, but rare, snores that their interest in what was being said was diminishing rapidly and anything being said was lost to them. Jurisprudence answered the final question and Rainbow Dash was about to close the debate, looking like she wanted to be asleep as well, but Mayor Mare interrupted her efforts.
“Ponies, I would like to say one thing before the conclusion of this debate.” Mayor Mare said, standing up and focusing attention on her and Twilight. The sleeping ponies were nudged awake and the snorting stopped as the crowd gave her its rapt attention. “I have thoroughly loved my time as mayor of this town, and I hope you have at least liked having me be the mayor. Ponyville is unlike any other place in Equestria, as I’m sure you all know very well. All the ponies in Bedlam, Trottingham have nothing on Pinkie Pie.”
“Yay! I’m unique!” The excited mare interrupted, abruptly descending from the rafters in her spy outfit before slowly going back up. She was watched cautiously for a few moments before everypony listened to the mayor. Lantern Light focused on Pinkie, leaning on the table before him as he tried to discern how she’d gotten up there.
“And nowhere else is there a dragon working in a living tree library.” Mayor Mare continued, keeping her stride. “As mayor, I’ve watched Ponyville handle one crisis after another, from the drought three years ago to the economic down turn after the reappearance of the Crystal Empire and everything in between. And they were handled quickly and decisively by my office. A town council is unable to provide the quick executive decisions I am empowered to do, and while I understand how that can be a double edged sword at times, it allows us, the citizens of Ponyville and Equestria, to put our faith in somepony else to make the tough decisions we need them to make. And if you find me unworthy of your faith, your trust, I encourage you to vote me out of office next year when I fully intend to run again. It’s your town, run it the way you want it.” When she finished her speech, Mayor Mare seated herself and looked to Rainbow Dash and Cheerilee for them to close the debate. But before they could, the citizens of Ponyville began to stamp their hooves slightly louder than what would be necessary for it to be polite, telling Twilight it was sincere.
“Thank you Mayor Mare for that thoughtful conclusion to the debate.” Ms. Cheerilee said warmly. Mayor Mare nodded in return, smiling. At this, the crowd slowly got up to leave as the two teams shook hooves and congratulated one another on a fine debate. The two stallions stepped off the platform first and disappeared with the crowd. Twilight stopped the mayor just before she did the same and asked about her last speech. She had been slightly surprised at her final statement and how it could be used to support the other side.
“Politics is a mix of kissing and kicking the right amount of flank to get things done.” Mayor Mare remarked quietly to Twilight, smiling at her slightly wider eyes. “It isn’t all reforms and bully pulpits.” With this new information, the young librarian bid farewell to her debater partner and walked out with the crowd. Rainbow accompanied her and while others congratulated the mare for her comments and answers, the pegasus only wanted to get outside and fly. The carnival was wrapping up by the time the pair stepped onto the dirt roads of Ponyville, the Apple Family busily disassembling their stalls as the other ponies who’d sold wares hitched up their carts and left.
“Ah take it ya’ll won?” Appleack asked, draining the dunk tank. A shivering Big Mac was wrapped in several towels and refused to comment on the situation. “Don’ mind him, he’s just recuperatin’.”
“Ah.” Twilight responded, feeling a little bit sorry for him. “And it seems like it. Mayor Mare gave a short speech at the end that convinced the town to keep her position around.” Applejack nodded once in support of the older mare and continued her work, Twilight and Rainbow offering assistance. They filled her in on all the details she missed while making money off of ponies who weren’t interested in the goings on of the town while Applejack commented on how well the booths had done. The Apple’s had made a tidy sum from the dunk tank alone, little fillies and colts gleefully sending the massive stallion into the water, as did a number of eligible mares. They also enjoyed watching him shake off the excess water. Rainbow groaned, upset at having missed that repeated scene.
“What?” Rainbow asked, giving a miffed Applejack a confused look. “Hate to break it to ya AJ, but your brother’s hot.” Luckily for the stallion he had finally dried off and was busy in another area out of ear shot or he would have turned a deeper red. Twilight stayed away from that hornets nest but smirked at the exchange. It’s not that Applejack didn’t know her brother was considered desirable by mares, she just wouldn’t prefer to have Rainbow date him. She had enough trouble keeping her out of the apple trees as it was.
It took a full hour for the carnival to be taken down and the wooden boards that comprised it to be properly stowed in several large wagons to be hauled back to Sweet Apple Acres. Big Mac waved off Twilight’s attempts to teleport the wagons back, thanking her for her help before hitching himself up to one and easily pulling it away. Applejack had a little more trouble getting started, but once she got underway the unicorn and pegasus pair realized their help was no longer needed.
“Whelp, say hi to the others for me.” Rainbow said, referring to Spike and Thomas. Twilight nodded as the polychromatic mare prepared for takeoff.
“Same applies to you.” Twilight watched as her friend became a blur in the sky noticeable only because of the trail she left in her wake. Pleased with her efforts during the debate, the librarian trotted back home with a smile on her face. Opening the door to the library, she flipped the open sign to ‘closed’ and turned the blinds. She moved to head down to the basement, but the door opened and Spike popped out, wondering who had entered.
“Oh, how’d the thingy go?” He asked, only mildly interested. Twilight informed him of the day’s proceedings, from the dull beginning to the slightly less dull ending. Thomas appeared behind the dragon, listening intently as she spoke.
“So it was handled quietly then?” Thomas asked.
“Yes, nothing explosive or crisis invoking.” Twilight affirmed before smirking. “How’s it feel to be the one behind all the commotion?” The author made a so-so motion with his hand and shrugged.
“You know, kinda bad and kinda good.” He admitted.
“It seems like a slight disappointment.” Spike observed sagely. “All this commotion about the essay in towns around Ponyville, but here things are handled with a political debate and it sort of fizzles.” Thomas nodded in agreement and leaned against the door frame.
“Yeah, well that’s life. I’m just happy this was handed civilly.” Twilight said with a sigh, reclining on the couch. There was a snigger from Thomas and Spike at her comment.
“Pun intended?” Spike asked, smirking since the answer was obvious in Twilight. She only rolled her eyes and relaxed for a few minutes, preparing for an all-night scientific run down of the knife. The two males slipped into the basement while she did and silence reigned. Not too much later the pair returned, speaking softly to one another. Just as Twilight got off the couch, they stopped.
“Right, Twilight.” Thomas said, turning to the mare. “We are going to do some exercising so that you get to sleep at a reasonable time tonight. No more all-nighters.” The unicorn groaned and looked to Spike. He was already wearing a sweat band and held out one for her, a resolute look on his face that would have made Sylvester Stallone proud. Twilight sagged in defeat and levitated the head gear over.
Chapter 16: Thomas's Day Out and Chaos Influenced Rabbits
The decision to put an end to Twilight’s nighttime study sessions was easier to say than enforce. During the debate, which Thomas had really wanted to attend, he and Spike brainstormed ways to make sure she was sleeping through the night, but none were very well thought through. It hadn’t taken much for Thomas to convince Spike that it would be in her best interest to get a full night’s sleep at least six times a week, the only issue was that it was hard to come up with a plan that would stay effective for as long as possible. Then the idea struck them to have her exercise.
Spike had commented on how whenever she got back from an adventure of some sort, she slept like a rock for the next two days from all the running. The pair threw around jokes involving taking over Equestria on a consistent basis in order to make her do more running for a few minutes before seriously considering having her exercise nightly. They soon had a workout routine ready for her once she got back from the debate. First there would be warm up stretches, followed by pushups and crunches in alternating sets, and then a slow jog around the main room to cool down before bed.
At the end, Twilight’s legs were jelly, she was sweating profusely, and in a slight daze. Thomas carried her up to her bed and she promptly fell asleep the moment he picked her up. Spike snickered, but he too was pretty exhausted from the work out and went to bed himself not long after Thomas came back down.
Twilight woke up feeling like a million bits. For once in her life, she awoke before the alarm clock buzzed and lay in bed, realizing the power of a full eight hours. Breathing deeply, she let the sun’s rays slowly cross her bed and body, shutting off the alarm before it woke up Spike when it finally sounded. Twilight Sparkle was in a good mood and felt like letting the young dragon sleep in for once. After half an hour, she slowly got out of bed and quietly tiptoed out, listening to Spike’s snores with a smile.
Closing the door softly, the librarian resolved to thank him by doing his morning chores for him that day. She’d find a way to thank Thomas later, since there were so many possible ways due to his interest in pony culture, history, and basically everything on the planet. After taking a quick shower to get the smell of stale sweat out of her coat and trotting down the stairs, she used her horn to manipulate the broom, dust pan, bucket, mop, books, and feather duster all at once. The broom paired with the dust pan and quickly removed any excess dust and loose dirt from the floor while the feather duster cleaned the books, book cases, and decorations in the main room. Once the sweeping was done, the mop and bucket tackled the harder stuff that had ended up on the floors, applying a fine scent of citrus fruits as it did. Twilight turned her focus towards the kitchen, were a simple and hard to ruin breakfast of fruit and cereal was made with a few spells. She wasn’t going to try to make breakfast for the others for fear of burning something and settled in for her solitary meal once the cleaning was done.
As she ate, Twilight as able to observe the morning rituals of her fellow citizens, like how her neighbor Jurisprudence watered his petunia’s before he left for the courtroom, the various merchants greeting one another while pulling wagons to the market square, and the birds that flittered from tree to tree and sang a little in each. After doing her dishes, Twilight poured a cup of coffee and went into the main room of the library, where she pulled a heavy tome off the shelves for some light reading.
An hour or so later, Thomas came up after listening intently through the door for sounds of ponies. Slowly pushing the door open he kept low and scanned as much of the room as he could through the crack. Twilight looked up at the squeak of a hinge and saw the door ajar.
“No one is here Thomas, you’re safe.” She informed, drawing the blinds with her magic. The human stood up and stepped into the main room, still cautious because he wasn’t used to Twilight being up at this point.
“Where’s Spike?” He asked curiously, looking around for the dragon.
“I let him sleep in and did his chores as a thank you making me get a good night’s sleep for once.” She explained with a smile. “You’re next by the way.” Thomas chuckled and went into the kitchen for breakfast. Twilight soon heard the sound of eggs sizzling on the stove and the chop of a knife. Setting her book down, she followed the sounds to see exactly what he was making.
“It’s called a French Omelet. Want one?” Thomas asked, seeing the look of curiosity on her face. Twilight shook her head.
“No thanks. I’ve already eaten. But seriously, what can I do to thank you?” She pressed, sitting across from where Thomas had set his plate and silverware.
“Not a thing.” He answered calmly, examining his food. Once he deemed it done, he took the pan over to the table and slid it onto his plate. Twilight had to admit it smelled delicious.
“Thomas, I haven’t slept like that in years and if I don’t have another breakdown, I owe you a lot.” She said firmly. “I must thank you some way.” The human nodded, but silently ate in breakfast. Twilight could see the look of intense thought on his face and let him think. It wasn’t an awkward silence in any way, just a moment of reflection. Thomas finished his food and began to do his dishes before answering.
“Well, there is one thing…” He said slowly. Twilight brightened and walked over to him.
“What is it?” She inquired. Thomas hesitated before answering.
“Well, I would like to get out of the library. Invisible of course, but I’d love to visit with the others.” He wrung his hands as he spoke, not meeting her eyes. Twilight felt a sense of pity rise inside her. Thomas was the only one of the humans we lived in town and since Marcus, Taylor, Megan and Rachael respectively were well outside of Ponyville, they could walk around with more freedom. Especially at night when they would often meet with the others. Thomas had been outside before, but Twilight had always accompanied him and she’d have to teleport with him, effectively becoming his chaperone. But there was a good reason for all the caution; no creature anywhere looked anything like a human, and no creature other than a Minotaur was a complete bipedal, meaning that the sudden appearance of a human in town could cause mass panic.
“Well…” As soon as she spoke, Thomas began to sink, expecting her to say no, and to have a logical reason that he would fully agree with. “I guess, but you have to agree to a few conditions.” He looked up at her, a look of pure ecstasy on his face.
“Of course!” Thomas said ecstatically.
“First, you need to be back here by 6:00, that’ll give you all day to be outside. Second, you cannot talk to any ponies unless you go to Fluttershy’s or Sweet Apple Acres. And third, if you want to stay at either place for the night, please tell me before 6:00. Ok?”
“Absolutely!” He jumped up and grabbed Twilight, lifting her off the ground and giving her a bear hug that caught her off guard.
“You’re lucky I found that self-reinforcing cloaking spell.” Twilight gasped, trying to breathe but Thomas was hugging her too tight. She tapped him on the shoulder with her magic, hoping he’d realize he was crushing her ribcage. He looked down to see her struggling and quickly let go.
“Sorry about that…” He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
“It’s okay, I know how excited you are to get out and about.” She took a few deep breathes, trying to get the oxygen to her brain before she led him upstairs. The main room of the library was empty, but the drapes were open, allowing the suns light to pour into the room. Twilight turned before Thomas could exit the basement, standing directly behind her. “Ready?”
“Yup!” He exclaimed. Twilight smiled, igniting her horn and casting the regenerating invisibility spell. The unicorn had learned the spell when skimming through one of Starswirl the Bearded’s journals. He said the spell was for long term usage, as the average invisibility spell only lasted about half a day or so, an hour and a half for humans. Once Thomas had disappeared from view, the spell taking affect, Twilight heard the front door open and close. She felt a bemused smile grow on her face as she imagined his excitement about going around town and seeing his friends for the first time in a long while.
“He deserves this.” She said to herself, chuckling. With that, she turned and headed upstairs to study Thomas’s bayonet.
The bayonet was causing Twilight an immense amount of frustration. She was making another attempt at understanding the knife’s properties and had been for most of the day. Unfortunately, she was running out of ideas for how to test it and Thomas was putting off letting her take shavings because of how special it was to him. In short, it was not giving up any secrets.
“Twilight! You’ve got dragon mail!” Spike called up the stairs, distracting the pony. With a little sigh, she set the bayonet back down, letting it rest on a wooden box and stretched. She’d been studying it for nearly three hours and her muscles ached slightly from the lack of use.
“I’ll be right down!” Twilight acknowledged the dragon as she heard her back pop a satisfying number of times. She gave her research station, a glorified desk, a once over to make sure that it wouldn’t explode or anything while unattended. It had once, but luckily she’d been able to put out the fire before it could spread. Seeing everything was safe enough to leave alone, the lavender pony trotted out of the room and down the stairs to see what Princess Celestia had sent her.
“Here you are.” Spike dutifully handed the scroll over to her and waited for her to read it. “What’d she say?” Twilight grimaced slightly as she finished reading before turning it over to her assistant to read.
“She said that she and Princess Luna have decided that this weekend is the best time to inform the Stable of Nobles about the existence of the humans.” Twilight said warily. The dragon also grimaced when he finished the letter and absent mindedly straightened the spines on his head. It was Spike’s telltale nervous habit, he did it whenever he was concerned about something or his nerves were getting to him.
“Isn’t Prince Blueblood a member of the Stable?” Spike asked nervously, fixing his foremost spine. Twilight nodded finding that as unsettling as Spike did.
“He heads the conservative side of the Stable.” She explained. “They’re the ones that believe we should keep taxes high on the middle class and that there should be little done by the government in times of economic crisis.”
“So? What does that have to do with humans?” The dragon was slowly moving down the row of green spines on his head.
“Well, nothing really, but Blueblood has little tolerance for other races. I’m pretty sure he’s a unicorn supremacist.” She clarified. Spike made an understanding ‘O’ with his mouth. Certainly explained how Blueblood had reacted to Spike when he first met him. The little guy was still terrified of silver horseshoes.
“And he’s helping decide if Thomas and his friends can stay in Equestria?”
“Yes, he is.” Twilight lamented. “Unfortunately, that flankhole has a say in whether our friends can live in Equestria.” At this point, the door was thrown open and the setting sun could be seen through it. The duo watched as some invisible thing seemed to stumble across the library, knocking over various items before coming to a rest at the bottom of the stairs, breathing heavily. They heard a rumble outside and there was shouting about a stampede of bunnies. Once the noise ceased, whatever was breathing heavily let out a massive sigh.
“Fucking Bunnies.”
Thomas sighed happily and smiled. The sun was shinning, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and he wasn’t spending the second straight week in the library cooped up. The last time he’d been outside, it was night and he went over to Fluttershy’s to visit Megan and Rachael. He’d been able to stay for about two hours after Twilight teleported him there before everyone got sleepy; also Twilight had preset her return so he didn’t have much of a choice. But today, he could do anything! With in reason of course; no revealing himself or the others, no causing any questionable situations, and no pretending to be a ghost, because that leads to the former and possible paranoia amongst the townsfolk which could lead to a riot if the humans are discovered. But everything else was possible!
With that thought he set out across town, wanting to use his time as preciously as possible. Although he hadn’t quite figured out where he was going, Thomas headed towards Ponyville’s Farmers Market with a steady pace, hands in his pockets and a smile on his face. Passing by the eccentrically painted houses of Ponyville, which consistently reminded him of the Dutch Colonial style, he saw numerous ponies going about their business, waving, greeting, and talking with one another. How Thomas envied them.
With that, he strolled down the streets of Ponyville in the general direction of Fluttershy’s cottage, feeling conflicted. He was torn between just taking in the sights and enjoying every second through a slow walk and cramming everything he could into every second. He was also debating on where to go on his day out. Twilight had taken him to Sweet Apple Acres earlier that month and he’d visited with Marcus and Taylor. Marcus had enveloped him in a massive bear hug and everyone had heard the succession of pops from Thomas’s back. Taylor had hugged him tightly as well, but tried not to hurt him in the process. Thinking about it, it’d been a while since he’d seen Megan and Rachael. With that in mind, Thomas set aside his reservations and walked slowly towards the cottage.
At Fluttershy’s home, the day had begun hours before and the morning activities were winding down. Lunch was being prepared for some of the residents who preferred to eat it early. In fact, the pegasus and the humans were making a salad for themselves, planning on making it a large, elaborate meal with three fruits and various other ingredients with the lettuce.
“Well darn.” Rachael sighed, going through the refrigerator. “I think we’re out of lettuce. I’ll get some from the garden.” The other two nodded in understanding as she walked out back. The garden was on the side of the cottage and grew a number of things, including carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and peas. In fact, everything other than peas was currently being sliced for the salad. Megan and Fluttershy shared a pleasant conversation. Fluttershy brought up something she’d accidently seen one evening as she prepared for bed.
“Megan, what’s that thing you do before going to sleep?” Fluttershy asked, looking to the human in question. She turned to the pegasi curiously, unsure of what she meant. “When you kneel and mumble? If you don’t mind that is…”
“Ah, that.” Megan said, realizing what she meant. “It’s just something that reminds me of home and makes me feel a little bit better.” Fluttershy nodded, but the quizzical expression was still there.
“What’s it called?”
“Praying.” Fluttershy tilted her head slightly in curiosity.
“What’s it for? Unless you’d rather not talk about it…” Fluttershy added quickly, mumbling just loud enough for words to be heard. Megan sighed, but stayed silent for a few moments.
“My family is follows a religion where praying is a way of communicating with our god.” She explained slowly.
“Like the Princesses?” Fluttershy asked. “Do they raise the sun and moon?” Megan chuckled under her breath.
“Our god doesn’t have a physical manifestation.” She said, Fluttershy forming a small ‘o’ with her mouth.
“Then how do you know he’s there?” The pegasus asked in confusion. Megan smiled lightly.
“Faith.” She answered simply. Fluttershy nodded in understanding and the topic turned to how adorable Spike and Angel had been together, romping around the house when the dragon was a hedgehog.
“I’m happy that that new family of hedgehogs adopted Annabelle.” Megan said with a smile. Fluttershy nodded in agreement just as Rachael returned with the lettuce.
Thomas smirked as a pony scrunched his face and focused on the spot where the human had been a few moments ago. He’d been distracted from reaching his destination by the numerous conversations around him, a few even involving his essays, the second one clarifying his position. Rumors were going around about Leviathan writing a response to Liberal Thought, something Thomas was actually hoping for. Talking with Twilight had been fun, but this was a little bit more interesting and productive. Lost in thought, he’d stayed still when the invisibility spell recast itself.
Because the spell was resealing, there would be moments where others would possibly be able to see Thomas for a split second in the worst case, but more likely ‘imagine’ they saw some ripples of heat rising off the ground or something like that. This had just occurred with the black unicorn he thought was called Lantern Light, but wasn’t sure. Picking up his pace, he made his way back to the street that would take him to Fluttershy’s.
A floating creature that looked like a foal cut pictures of animals out of a book and proceeded to glue them together, bring them to life, and thankfully color inside the lines stayed slightly out of phase with the universe’s time flow, allowing him to observe Ponyville without being observed. He was only making a pit stop to check on everything and investigate some big news Princess Sun Butt and her sidekick Full Moon told him about. He scoured Ponyville proper, looking in basements, attics, trashcans, and even pipes for the strange and outlandish creatures that weren’t in someway represented on his body. He took extreme caution as he perused the library, knowing but never admitting that the librarian was a tricky customer. Not finding any, he chugged a chocolate milk of glass to rejuvenate his joints and turned his mismatched gaze towards the outskirts of the town that he was forever associated with. He’d checked, 30, 300, and 3,000 years from this present ponies and those strange critters evading him now called Ponyville his home.
Sighing and sucking on a bubble pipe for the licorice feel, he bee lined to Sweet Apple Acres. His labors bore fruit, raspberries, and he witnessed a pair of them working in the orchard alongside the orange one and her mountain of a brother. Big Mountain Macintosh has a nice ring to it… he mused, invisibly stroking his invisible chin. He made a close inspection of the ‘humans’ and found them to be quite interesting.
The large one, Marcus his mind readily informed the inquisitor, was a prankster at times, but predominately quiet in others, strangely quiet as of late though. Focused is a more fitting word. His kidneys were in fine condition, and so was his liver, only showing slight amounts of a strange substance Discord was only too happy to see in Equestria. He also found the large one to be a male from the excess testosterone.
The smaller one, with fiery hair was known as Taylor, although the large one had another name for her that Discord reviled, finding the substance to be the only thing he couldn’t spoil in some way. Her kidney’s worked fine as well, with slightly more of that funny stuff stored within. She also had a temper, something that warmed her to Discord.
Then he noticed a slight disturbance. Sticking his paw near one of the humans, he felt the magic being siphoned off ever so slightly. Making a closer examination and shifting his sight to another frequency, he saw that the humans were magic sinks of a sort. Raising his eyebrows in curiosity, he watched as the ambient magic of the planet was soaked in slowly by the humans, far slower than it was by the ponies, and rendered inert. The inert magic was then released a slightly faster speed when the humans touched a tree or breathed out. Watching, he could see the magic slowly become reactive again.
I LOVE THIS! He exclaimed in his mind. Even his magic was subject to this strange phenomenon, but it degraded at a much slower rate. He peered into the females mind to glimpse her past and was slightly surprised by two things. One was how chaotic their home was, and the second was that she forced him out rather quickly. The latter was the sign of an exceptionally strong mind, but the strange properties of these creatures probably helped some. With that, he flew up and away, looking for the rest of quintumvirate and spotted three similar sinks at good ol’Fluttershy’s place.
At the cottage, Thomas was enjoying lemonade and cookies with his friends, Fluttershy included. They were in the main room, Thomas and Rachael on the couch while Megan and Fluttershy occupied chairs across the coffee table. All three had been surprised when they heard a knock at the door and found no one there. Then Thomas spoke and spooked Fluttershy, who hid behind Mr. Bear. Megan and Rachael were able to keep the 9 foot, 700 pound grizzly from trying to hurt Thomas for terrifying the mare and once he explained the situation, both relaxed.
“Sorry about scaring you.” Thomas said for what seemed like the hundredth time. Mr. Bear had put the fear of god in him on a primal level. It wasn’t everyday a human met something that could easily kill him inside of ten seconds and could look down at him. Even if he couldn’t see Thomas, Mr. Bear could easily smell him.
“It’s ok. I’m sorry for overreacting.” She mumbled her apology, genuinely upset for nearly killing Thomas.
“Right, you’re both sorry.” Megan interrupted, knowing this would go on for at least half an hour. “Let’s just put it behind us.” Rachael nodded in agreement, randomly picking a conversation topic.
“So Fluttershy, we haven’t heard about your family.” She said quickly, looking to the pegasus. This abrupt topic change was a little seredipidus for the others, but they didn’t raise any complaints.
“Well…” She said nervously. “I don’t have one. You know that.”
“I meant your parents, siblings, grandparents, etc…” Rachael clarified, getting a nod of understanding from Fluttershy. There was a noticeable pause in the conversation as she hesitated to answer the question, but before the humans could ask if anything was wrong, she began speaking.
“Well, my parents are two pegasi. My father is Halberd and my mother is Gauntlet, they’re both in the Royal Guard detachment in Cloudsdale. I have a brother named Brandistock, who’s also in the Royal Guard. My grandparents were all in the Guard too, as are my uncles, aunts, and cousins.” The others were beginning to notice a trend at this point and the pegasus slowly drew her legs closer to her body as she spoke, signaling some sort of discomfort.
“In fact, I think I’m the first in four generations not to be in the Guard.” She continued, her legs pressed tightly against her body, fear lacing her voice.
“Well then.” Rachael cut her off, seeing she was obviously upset. “Have you met any nice stallions here in Ponyville?” Fluttershy gave her a look, unsure of how to respond to another quick change in the conversation. She slowly shook her head, blushing heavily.
“None at all?” Megan asked curiously. A quick nod and her hiding within her mane was all she got in response. There was an awkward silence that followed, since Fluttershy didn’t want to extrapolate her answer and no one was sure what to say.
“So….” Thomas said, trying and failing to break the silence.
“Want to hear about my family Fluttershy?” Rachael asked calmly, ever prepared with a topic. The pegasus, still hiding somewhat behind her mane, nodded slower this time. Seeing that this had gotten more positive results, she smiled kindly.
“Well, we’ve lived in New Haven, Connecticut since my parents got married.” Rachael began, leaning back. “My dad was a Marine and my mom was a teacher at a local high school. Their names were Reynold and Clarice, although I just call them mom and pop. And then there are my brothers, which made me feel a little left out since I was the only girl. Jake would especially say I couldn’t do things with them since I was a girl and would only make is ‘foofy’ and ‘stupid’. Then I would put him in a headlock until he cried uncle.” She sniggered. At this point Megan raised her hand up high with a question.
“How would you do that?” She asked curiously. “I mean, you aren’t exactly the strongest of us.” Rachael just giggled in response.
“Leverage. I was daddy’s little girl so he taught me how to defend myself.” She explained with a smile. “He taught me all the pressure points that bring down a person in seconds, how to break bones with ease, and stay pretty doing it!” Ending with an overly girly tone that made all but Fluttershy laugh.
"So, you have how many brothers?” She asked in terror.
“Three.” Rachael answered calmly, still giggling from the last comment. “Hugh, Jake, and Nelson. I’m the second oldest of the four.” Fluttershy, who could barely live with her one older brother and rough and tumble parents, was completely baffled confused about how Rachael could have handled such a life so well, even with violence.
“Pff, I could easily handle them. If Jake or Nelson, my younger brothers, ever tried to mess with me I’d just put them in a headlock.” Thomas smiled at the comment while Megan laughed at Fluttershy’s reaction. Her jaw was hanging loose and her eyes were wide as saucers.
“And what about Hugh?” Thomas asked curiously.
“I was his baby sister. He took my side every time.” She replied with a devious smile. “Like the time Nelson tried to pin losing the dog at the park on me and Hugh dangled him off the roof until he admitted it was him.” Fluttershy just gaped in horror at Rachael, stunned that she could find something like that funny.
“That’s terrible!” She exclaimed, her forehooves covering her mouth.
“No one got hurt.” Rachael said, waving off her concern. “And we were family, so it was all in good fun.” Futtershy seemed less than comforted but she didn’t speak up. Megan took the opportunity to refill her cup and Fluttershy’s as well.
“Well, every family is different.” She said as she poured the lemonade. Where he would have nodded, Thomas agreed vocally.
“They certainly are.” With that the conversation took a more pleasant turn towards topics that didn’t upset the buttercream pegasus.
“So how goes the inventing Thomas?” Megan asked as she shifted in her chair, trying to find a comfortable position.
“Not bad. Twilight and I are currently trying to make a small electrical generator, but gas doesn’t seem to be very plentiful in Equestria and I’ll be damned if I can make heads or tails of their crystal technology.” He’d used air quotes around the word technology, but they went missed by his companions due to his invisibility. This was one of the draw backs he was trying to deal with until he and his friends could reveal themselves.
“Why crystals?” Fluttershy asked curiously.
“Well, Twilight says that the right crystal can store large quantities of magic, which could be used to power the generator and be recharged when empty.” He explained, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees.
“Makes sense.” Rachael observed, sipping her drink.
“Yeah well, try explaining that to Marcus.” Thomas said with a snort. “Twilight and I visited him and Taylor a few weeks ago and brought up our research.”
“What’d he do now?” Megan asked with a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose in annoyance.
“He wanted to help, saying engineering and architecture are the essentially the same thing.”
“Not electrical engineering.” Rachael deadpanned. Unseen, Thomas nodded in agreement.
“That’s what I said. He waved it off as semantics. Took Taylor to convince him they weren’t.” Fluttershy smiled at this.
“Applejack says that the two are very close.” She added warmly.
“Yes, they certainly seemed it when we visited.” Thomas agreed, smiling a little.
“You don’t think…” Rachael began slowly, seeing the look on his face. Megan’s smile stretched from ear to ear once she caught on and had to put down her lemonade due to her giggling.
“Well, I’m not sure really.” Thomas said honestly. “I mean, you two are obviously closer since you’ve been living with Fluttershy. They could be bonding after having to spend so much time together.” Megan’s giggling continued while Fluttershy blushed lightly, as this topic always made her do.
“How perfect would it be if they did?” Megan asked, stifling her laughter long enough to make her voice coherent.
“Almost as perfect as you and him.” Rachael quipped, causing the other girl’s face to fall instantly and Thomas to start laughing. Fluttershy furrowed her brow and looked to where the sound of laughter was originating, confused.
“Megan and Marcus don’t see eye to eye on a number of things.” Rachael explained.
“Like that praying thing I told you about earlier.” Megan said flatly.
“Marcus doesn’t believe in a supreme being.” Thomas explained, his laughter petering out. “And he’s had issues with religious people in the past.”
“I still don’t see why he has to keep the bug up his ass with me.” Megan said pointedly, her arms crossed. “I’ve done nothing to upset him.” Thomas shrugged, the response innate, and sighed.
“I think it’s Pavlovian in nature. A number of people tried to bully us when we were young and they were religious, so he just associates the two.” He explained. This did nothing to placate Megan, who angrily swirled her drink as she bit her tongue.
“Um…” Fluttershy spoke up, hoping to change the topic to something more positive. “You guys like games?” Her voice was hopeful and she hid a little behind her mane as she asked, unsure of how upset Megan was. Both girls nodded in affirmation and Thomas said ‘yes’ politely.
“Well, I’ve got a few. Like Shoots ‘n’ Ladders, checkers, go fish, Twister…” Thomas noticed that, except for checkers, her choice in games was very non-confrontational and mellow. Go fish, unless playing with someone with anger issues, was a very calm game and Twister was, well, just fun. A consensus was made on Shoots ‘n’ Ladders and they started playing. ‘Appearing’ in the first middle of the game, Discord noticed that the four were getting along nicely and that Fluttershy was thoroughly enjoying her human company. Smirking, he cast a little magic on the die so that she never rolled something that would send her very far back and more often than not, she leaped ahead of everyone else. After six games of this, it was decided that Lady Luck was firmly on the pony’s side and conversation took over again.
Megan fought an internal battle over asking one particular question. If there had been any news, it would have been the first thing Thomas said when he got there she reasoned. He wouldn’t keep that information hidden from them, he just wouldn’t. But since he hadn’t said anything, it could mean that there was nothing new to say. There could be a new theory or two, a possible lead even. Anything would help her nerves.
Biting her lip, Megan looked to where the depression in the couch told her Thomas was sitting. He and Rachael were telling Fluttershy about the different animals of Earth, something she was immensely interested in and had asked Megan about multiple times. The conversation seemed to end and a lull ensued. Taking a deep breath, she took the plunge.
“Is… is there any news on possibly getting us home?” Megan asked tentatively. Thomas wanted desperately to answer by shaking his head solemnly, sparing the reality of having to actually say it. But there was no other way.
“No. Twilight has absolutely no leads, and she hasn’t heard from the Princesses in a while.” He said hollowly. Thomas looked down at the table corner, unable to meet either of his friend’s eyes. He could feel the disappointment emanating from them, their silent hopes having been dashed once again.
Discord also felt a small amount of pity well up inside him. Once he’d returned from spreading a sufficient amount of chaos in the Griffon Empire to keep the world healthy, both Sun Butt and Full Moon had asked if he could send the humans home. They explained the situation and how the humans had just… appeared without warning in some field outside of Ponyville, claimed to have no knowledge of getting there, their lack of magic, and the unnecessary, which was stressed multiple times to his annoyance, chaos their appearance would cause since most ponies were on edge from the recent incidents in Equestria. On his part, Discord had felt the sudden spike in ambient magic in Equestria during his absence but he had no idea what had caused it.
And while he was incredibly powerful, enough to overpower both princesses, he did not have the ability to start opening portals and checking parallel dimensions and universes. He could barely check the arm of the galaxy without suffering from magical exhaustion like regular unicorns. In short, there was nothing he could do to help them, even if he wanted to.
With those thoughts running through his mind, Discord switched his vision back to the visual light spectrum and realized that the male was invisible. Twilight. Got to be her doing. But that gave him opportunities! If the ponies couldn’t see the human, they couldn’t see him get hassled by something. If this town thought he had been an unruly foreigner, they’d probably think anything he did to the human was just a part of the natural order of things! Giggling, he started thinking about what to do. Then he remembered that stubborn rabbit from his stay in the cottage.
Discord smiled, and decided that Angel should get his friends together to have some fun with this invisible human. Hehe, ‘fun’. In a flash only visible to him, the god appeared in the field in front of the cottage and scanned for the Sylvilagus Floridanus trouble maker. Finding him sun bathing near a patch of daisies, Discord looked into his memories to find out the size of the warren of females that called the cottage home. He was pleasantly surprised to find that there were three warrens nearby and each contained about 40 of the furry creatures. Cracking his knuckles, he laid the ground work for his spell and spread it throughout the species.
Since the depressing silence caused by Thomas’s response to Megan’s question, Fluttershy had decided to regale the three humans with her brief version of the exploits of the Elements of Harmony. After telling them how she reformed Discord, and the incidents in the Crystal Empire, she was subject to their praises. All this was in spite of downplaying her role short of saying she wasn’t even there.
“That’s an amazing story.” Megan said with a whistle. Thomas and Rachael nodded, even though the former couldn’t be seen as he did so. Fluttershy blushed and waved it off their compliments.
“It’s not too big really.” She muttered, hiding behind her mane. Megan leaned forward and shook her head.
“No, that’s huge! You reformed a god! And you guys saved an Empire from a demonic unicorn king!” She said with a pride. “Both of those are once in a lifetime events and you’ve done both!” Fluttershy blushed even harder, and hid deeper within her mane.
“That’s awesome!” Thomas added with enthusiasm. “How is it that you and your friends aren’t followed everywhere by press or adoring fans?” The two visible humans nodded in agreement, wondering the same.
“Well…” Fluttershy stammered, deeply embarrassed. “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna promised to keep our identities as Elements quiet and most townsfolk don’t actually remember Discord so well. I know a few who think he was simply an unruly foreigner.” At this point the invisible god returned to enact his plan and grew indignant. He made a mental note to pay Ponyville a less… inconspicuous visit soon. With a snap of his claws, Angel and his species felt an overwhelming urge to chase the smell of the invisible human. For a few minutes, there was no visible reaction and the group of four slowly began to recover from the silence. Then all the rabbits poured in from the kitchen, having been out back. Discord relished two of the three looks he could see, both shock and confusion.
“What’s going on?!” Megan asked Fluttershy, her voice going slightly higher in pitch. The pegasus just gaped at the bunnies as they assembled themselves in an orderly fashion. Three warrens organized themselves into squads and platoons before coalescing into a single company. Small catapults were moved into position behind them, turnips ready. Discord was greatly impressed as he sat back to watch the fun. Angel finally appeared, wearing a miniature green helmet and holding an appropriately sized riding crop. He hopped to the forefront of the furry mass wearing a grim face.
“Why is he wearing a helmet?” Rachael asked nervously, also looking to Fluttershy. The mare was speechless, too stunned to speak. The riding crop was raised in the air and time slowed. All five spectators watched it fall at a snail’s pace and the catapults fire in response. The turnips arced through the air, reaching six feet into the air before falling onto Thomas. Reflexes kicking in, the human raised his arms and a leg, ducking his head and twisting away from the turnips. A few struck the back of his head and his arms but none did any real damage. Then the horde threw itself at him. Thomas leapt behind the couch in the hopes of shielding himself and bolted out the door. Rachael, Megan, and Fluttershy tried to hold back the bunnies, but failed. Spilling though the open window and doorway in hot pursuit.
Ponyville watched on in terror and shock as a mass of fur bore down on it. Over a hundred rabbits were running down the path from Fluttershy’s house and into the town proper. As with the first bunny stampede, ponies panicked, fainted, and hid in their homes, but this time the creatures seemed focused on something in particular. They ignored the ponies, hopping around, under, over, and between them as they chased the smell. Thomas was running not quite as fast as possible, storing his energy for later on.
He weaved through the streets, using alleys ways to put some distance between him and his pursuers. The human made his way through the market, making a mental note to somehow apologize as the rabbits knocked over a couple carts and sent fruits and vegetables all over the place. Taking a sharp turn down a road at the end of the market, he made a bee line for Carousel Boutique. Rarity’s shop was on one side of town that lacked many wide open spaces, which would allow him to evade capture by the bunnies.
In the straight away leading towards the building, his pursuers were able to gain some ground on him. Looking back, Thomas sped up a little and made his first turn down the narrower streets. The rabbits lost any ground they made following his sharp turns, bottlenecking at several points in the roads and alleys. Smiling, Thomas made his way towards the general part of town the library was and soon he saw the structure appearing over the roof tops of houses. Then he felt something grab onto his waist. Looking down in surprise, he saw a rabbit doing its best to hold on. Turning, he watched in horror as the horde picked up speed. Eyes wide, he went into an all-out sprint as he tossed the rabbit behind him.
By this point Thomas was genuinely concerned about what would happen and had started to panic somewhat. All he could think about was getting as far away from them as possible, making him feel like prey. Discord, who had been watching the whole chase with a bucket of popcorn while invisible, sighed and relaxed his puppets. The bunnies slowed down, growing tired from the cash. He also eased Thomas’s fears a bit and gave his feet a little nudge, giving him more space for him to make his move.
Feeling calmer, the human turned his head and saw the greater distance. As the library approached, he prepared himself for leaping inside. Looking behind him one last time, he saw the bunnies disappear behind a corner as they tried to head him off, thinking he was continuing on. Thomas threw himself at the library door handle and forced the door open. His knee met the frame and tripped him up, sending him headlong into a bookcase. Knocking off a few books, he pushed off the shelf and backed into another. Stumbling again, Thomas tried to regain his balance and succeeded in only puling more books off. He finally collapsed at the base of the stairs. Not seeing Twilight and Spike, he felt like swearing.
“Fucking bunnies.”
Laughing, the god wiped his eyes of tears brought on by the scene and released the rabbits from his control. They dispersed quickly, Angel knowing that all of them were going to experience a very stern talking to from Fluttershy and Rachael for their behavior. Once his giggles died down, he stretched his limbs and cracked his neck.
“Thank wasn’t very nice.” Discord jumped, shocked at hearing a voice right next to him. Looking to his right, he was both less and more surprised. Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter, was giving him a serious look as if she could see him.
“He’s a really nice guy and he’s had a pretty tough time” She added, meeting his gaze.
“Who ya talking to Pinkie?” Rainbow Dash asked, landing next to her. Pinkie turned sharply to face the new comer and smiled brightly.
“No one silly!” She answered with a giggle. “There’s no pony there for me to talk to!” Discord, Master of Chaos and Count of Mischief, was amused by her response and smiled to himself. She was one of his favorite ponies, even from before he was ‘reformed’. Rainbow just gave her friend a weird look before shrugging like it was nothing.
“What ever.” She brushed off her friend’s strangeness and took to the skies. Discord watched the streak she left in her wake with a neutral look before returning his gaze to Pinkie. She was trotting away happily, apparently done with the conversation. Shrugging himself, Discord headed east towards Zebrica which needed a little more chaos or the harmonious magic of the world would make the entire country break out into the CanCan again. The last time had caused a crash in the economy and a civil war.
Just after Celestia sent the letter to Twilight, she drew up seven more personalized versions for the members of the Stable of Nobles. They represented the oldest families in the Equestrian Nobility, either having founded vassal states on the fringes of the country or were closely related to the Royal Family and their ancestors had been given domain over the lands they ‘administered’. Because of their status in government, they were also given Dragon Fire Candles. Functioning much like Spike does for Twilight, Celestia could send and receive letters from the Stable members via these everlasting flames.
Once each letter had been finished, she sent six of them to their intendeds with her magic and levitated the seventh over to a servant. Having sent the messages on their way, she grit her teeth in preparation for the coming meeting. It was scheduled for two days from then and she needed to mentally ready herself for the bickering, screaming, and foolish attitudes that is the Stable of Nobles.
Prince Blueblood was quickest to summon to Canterlot, as he usually lived within the palace itself. That does not mean that informing him of the summons was easy. The butler who had taken the scroll from the Princesses in his regular two piece suit and black bowtie first went to his room, where he showered, perfumed his coat with obnoxious 7th century A.D. oils, braded his mane in a fashion popular at that era, and scrubbed his teeth vigorously with heavy duty toothpaste.
Once all that was done, the poor stallion put on a seven piece suit that included a cummerbund, a vest, and a puffy, lacey shirt, and a short powdered wig that covered his horn. He took the summons, placed it on a silver tray for this very occasion, and proceeded to walk out of his room on three legs, as the fourth was carrying letter. The guards knew what his getup meant and four proceeded to escort him to Prince Blueblood’s quarters, knowing the way by heart. They also pitied the stallion immensely for having to do this. Many members of the Guard considered being a butler for Prince Blueblood a tougher job than what they had to do and gave Prim and Proper immense respect.
Prim and Proper were the only two servants in Canterlot Castle who were used exclusively by the Prince, since they were the only ones on the staff who hadn’t been driven insane or had mental breakdowns after three weeks. The twins had been raised in a strict, upper middle class home, given lessons in manners by the finest instructors, taught etiquette by the staff of the castle, and drilled in patience by literally watching grass grow and paint dry. The twins were only identifiable by their cutie marks if you looked closely. Both had a crossed cane and top hat, the only distinction being that Prim had the cane over the top hat and Proper the other way around. The former was the one currently in the getup, as his brother attended to Prince Blueblood in his apartment.
Blueblood and his servants spent their time at his country estate during this time of the year, but an issue with the Royal Guard and palace staff had detained them here for a week or so longer than expected. As such, the latter brother was the one listening to a tirade from the Prince.
“This is the absolute worst thing since Auntie named that imbecile mare as her protégé!” He ranted, pacing furiously. Proper dutifully nodded in agreement. “I cannot believe that such a thing could be allowed!” The servant knew better than to add anything to the Prince’s rant, since it went against everything he had been taught by his parents and he’d seen the Prince give tongue lashings to others in his position who had. And they weren’t the dirty kind. Internally, he sighed sadly that the Prince was petty enough to rant on how the Royal Guard was stepping up its security since Ex-Captain Shining Armor retired from his position to prevent a conflict of interest.
This had caused some new security measures to be instigated, including the issuing of ID cards for ponies in high stations and the creation of security questions. In order for this not to back fire, each pony given an ID card was also screened beforehoof to make sure they weren’t changelings. Prince Blueblood, since he was a member of the Stable, had been given a particularly thorough screening involving a DNA test and a physical. By a military doctor. With cold hooves. Luckily though, before the next part of the rant could begin Prim knocked sharply at the door. As his twin brother moved to answer, the guard escorting the oddly dressed pony edged out of the way, so that they wouldn’t be seen by the Prince.
"How may I help you?” The servant asked as he opened the door, although he knew perfectly well what the get up his brother was in meant.
“A message for His Grace.” Prim answered neutrally.
“From?”
“The Solar Princess.”
“Let him in already!” Blueblood snapped, almost pushing Proper out of the way as he moved to the door and levitated the scroll off the plate himself. Flippantly breaking the seal, something only he could do, the Prince read the message and his attitude seemed to mellow somewhat.
“Well then. It seems there is a gathering of the Stable in two days.” A collective sigh from the Royal Guardsponies outside the door earned them a sharp reprimand from the unicorn and sparked a new rant on their behavior. Only Prim and Proper bore it without shaking.
DeGual, the President of Prance, loved the irony of his title. His position was inherited like every other vassals was, but since he was called President he didn’t come off as snobbish and ridiculous as the other members of the nobility. His full title included ‘Duke’, ‘Eminence’, and ‘President’, and thoroughly annoyed him at the length. As such, President DeGual shortened it to just that for important meetings and business affairs within Prance.
“Monsieur le Président.” An aid said, getting the stallions attention. Reclined in his desk chair, DeGual had taken a short breather after reviewing and signing a law that the Prench Senate had taken three months to create and tear down as the various committees had their say. Sighing over the bureaucratic process, he looked to his aid and saw that she was holding a scroll in her magic.
“From la Princesse?” He asked rhetorically, though the aid nodded anyways. Motioning for them to bring it over, DeGual eyed to parchment warily. Messages from the Princess were rarely good and often involved him doing things with the other vassals that subtly reminded not only the populace of their domains, but themselves who was in charge. Breaking the seal, he scanned it with a frown.
“Something wrong?” The aid inquired.
“Not really. Just a summons for a Stable meeting in two days’ time.” He answered evenly.
“I’ll prepare your bags.” The aid responded as they left. DeGual nodded and sighed once the door was closed. While he enjoyed travel, doing so for business only antagonized his stomach and tended to give him a lack of appetite. Stress was very common in his line of work and he could handle it well, but that didn’t mean he enjoyed doing so.
“I need to move up my spa vacation.” He remarked wistfully, slouching in his chair and pushing the senate bill away from him.
Tsar Nickels, iron hoofed ruler of Stalliongrad, Mosscow, and Kitev, was currently holding court. As a vassal of Equestria, he was allowed control over his domain to the point where his policies did not conflict with the Royal Decrees of the Princesses or any laws applied to the vassals by the National Parliament. Both of these annoyed the hell out of him and chaffed on his nerves like nothing else. If there was one thing he hated, it was taking orders from others about his lands and citizens. Like how he couldn’t pass out the death penalty without approval from the Princesses. He ignored the fact that his ancestors had been bequeathed most of the land that he administrated, and had repeatedly tried to say that the lands they'd conquered since were out side Equestrian jurisdiction.
“My Tsar.” A guard bowed, bearing a gold platter that was meant for one thing and one thing only. Growling quietly, Tsar Nickels turned away from the petitioner and levitated the scroll over to him. Tearing at the seal, he read the message with a large frown and it only got larger.
“It seems…” He snarled, glowering at the parchment. “that the… Princess wishes to collect the Stable for a meeting in two days’ time.” If it wasn’t a crime to destroy royal correspondence before its orders were carried out, he would have burned the parchment. The current petitioner quickly left, knowing the short temper of his Tsar would ignite if he asked for a resolution on his issue. Word quickly spread about the development and the locals of Stalliongrad quietly stampeded out of the castle, hoping not to incur his wrath.
“No other petitioners have come forth.” A guard said, internally pleading that he didn’t upset the Tsar. The stallion glowered at the scroll for a few moments, oblivious to the guard, before nodding slowly.
“Very well.” He answered tersely before turning to the messenger. “Have the staff prepare my things and ready my train car.” The order was carried out quickly and two hours after the message had arrived Tsar Nickles was sitting in a cushioned chair in his private car as the express train pulled out of Stalliongrad Central. The entire train ride would be spent in deep contemplation of his contempt for Equestria, the Princesses, and the Stable.
Cyclone was the easiest going of the Stable. As the head of the liberal faction, he was the most antagonizing to Prince Blueblood and thoroughly enjoyed mocking his out dated beliefs. The greying stallion also happened to be the oldest of the council at 63, but that in no way meant he was an old fool. He was just as sharp as any pony a third his age and as quick as one half his age.
Leaned over his desk, the only elected member of the Stables reviewed paperwork for an expansion of the weather factory. His position was decided upon by the Council of Cloudsdale as a special exemption to the standard method of entering the Stable. Because Cloudsdale was the only city that specialized in making weather for the entirety of Equestria, other townships could make weather as well but on a smaller scale, the Princesses had given them representation on the Stable. This only irritated Prince Blueblood even more.
“Mr. Cyclone.” The intercom buzzed, the voice of his secretary carrying through. “There’s a scroll here for you.” The aging stallion looked up from the paperwork and sighed. Pressing the intercom button, he straightened his posture.
“Send it in.” He requested politely. Immediately an aid came in and gave him the message. Unlike the others, the candle for Cloudsdale was not in his private study. It was in the Council’s chambers and was read by at least three members of the Council before being passed on to him. As such, the seal was broken already and it wasn’t tightly rolled anymore. Unrolling it, he smiled lightly because it allowed him to put off the annoying paperwork. Unfortunately, it also meant he had to see Prince Blueblood again.
“It seems that I’m leaving for Canterlot tonight.” He smirked. The aid nodded and took the parchment back from the stallion. Rising from his desk, Cyclone set the paperwork in the ‘Do It Later’ drawer and left the office just behind the aid. Taking the rest of the afternoon off, he flew home and packed for his trip, a persistent yet small smile on his face.
Lace Curtain, elder cousin of Prince Blueblood, was the only Stable member not on the job when summoned. Duchess Curtain had drawn a hot, soothing bath in her mansion outside of Trottingham to help her recover from a nasty flu. In her bathroom, Victorian furniture mingled with a few modern conveniences like electric lamps, modern plumbing, and a sound proof set of walls. Her footed bathtub was ringed by a number of candles, designed to ever so slightly perfume the air. Testing the water with a forehoof, she smiled at finding it the proper temperature and used her magic to start a soothing record. Octavia’s Classical Continuum began to play as she slowly sunk into the bath, sighing and closing her eyes.
Using her horn to dose the lights, Lace Curtain let the mingling steam and candle scents clear her congested nose and lungs. Taking ever deeper breaths, she went over tomorrow’s schedule in her mind and decided that she could cut out a few meeetings and a briefing to sleep in a little to help her body completely recover. Then came an intrusive knock. Frowning but keeping her eyes shut, she levitated a small wooden spoon kept by the door for this very purpose. In rapid Morse Code, she tapped out that she was to be left alone until the next morning. More taps in response only irritated her until she deciphered them.
“Buck.” She sighed, opening her eyes and the door. The lights went up and her maid, Frills, came in bearing a scroll on a silver platter ringed in emeralds. Levitating it over to herself, she read through the summons and accompanying details with a neutral, if disappointed expression before placing it back on the platter.
“Pack my bags Frills.” She ordered, shifting her position a little in her bath to get comfortable. “I’ll be going to Canterlot in the morning and for an undetermined amount of time.”
“Yes Duchess.” Her employee nodded in understanding. “Shall I prepare your traveling kit with some extra medicine?” Lace Curtain hesitated a few moments before nodding.
“That would be wise.” She agreed. With that, her servant left the room and closed the door. Lace Curtain sighed, dosed the lights, and resumed her music in the candle light.
Muscleini loved giving speeches. Especially ones that riled up his audience over issues that hadn’t been in the forefront of their minds when they woke up. Like the one he’d just finished giving to a large crowd in the Bitalian city of Neighpoles about how their farms influenced the production of goods in the other cities in his little corner of the world. The capital of Bitaly, Roam, was surrounded by terrain poorly suited for farming and relied on Neighpoles and a few other towns to remain as independent as possible from Equestria. Thanks to his speech, he was quite confident that he could count on the Neighapolitan farmers keeping their prices down for the next year or so.
Trotting through the halls of the Neighples arena where he’d been speaking, the Prince of Bitaly smiled widely to the ponies standing behind the ropes marking his path out. On either side of him were stallions, mares, and foals cheering, waving, or even swooning over him. Muscleini was one of two eligible bachelors on the Stable of Nobles, the other being Prince Blueblood, and he knew that made him, with his large build, strong muscles, and pristine coat, even more desirable. Waving every so often, he was able to make it to his own Royal Carriage within a few minutes, where a larger crowd had gathered around the three hundred year old, gold plated, silver ornamented, and gem studded creation of some of Bitaly’s greatest designers and metal workers. With one last bow, he stepped inside and settled into a velvet cushion as the carriage began to slowly move forward.
The interior was just as rich and ornate as the exterior, with silk of varying colors intermingling with velvets, cashmere’s, and cotton to create a soft, warm space that held in warm air during the winter and still breathed in the summer. Curtains blocked most of the windows at the moment so the street was out of sight as the Prince returned to his palace in Roam. He didn’t want to look at the architecture anyways. Sitting across from him was an incredibly attractive, aloof, and blunt mare known as Cameriere.
Her soft yellow fur complimented the pale orange mane that fell over her face and tended to block a single, coral eye from view. A unicorn only 23 years old, she was the daughter of the Prince’s last servant, who had held his position for 58 years and had served his father. The location of Cameriere’s cutie mark, a piece of paper with a list on it, had distracted the Prince after he’d entered and had therefore missed what she had said.
“I’m sorry, what was that?” He asked, still looking down. Rolling her eyes, she shifted so that her hindquarters were not in the Prince’s line of sight before speaking again.
“I said, this came for you during your speech.” The mare said slowly, presenting the scroll. Muscleini’s look immediately darkened as his eyes followed hers to the cylindrical object. Levitating it over to him, Cameriere was careful not to react to her employer’s increasingly angry expression and focused on the parchment in case she needed to take it before he ripped it to shreds. Once he had finished, she saw his right eyebrow twitch violently. His tell for annoyance bordering on rage, she knew something was wrong.
“What did the Princess have to say?” She inquired carefully.
“There’s going to be a Stable meeting in two days.” He spat, focusing on the curtains. Nodding in understanding, she pulled a small note pad out of a compartment under her seat and scribbled something in Bitalian. It disappeared in a flash of magic, and the carriage picked up speed.
“I’ll have the palace staff pack your bags and meet us at the train station.” She informed the Prince, who was angrily glaring at the curtains like they had slapped him across the face.
“Very well.” He grumbled tersely. The normally soothing rock of the carriage over the cobblestones of Bitaly did not work their magic and the ride was spent in a tense silence between the two.
Freckleless the Great was the only member of the Stable not leaning towards a specific political ideology. He believed that each situation should be approached without bias and with a clear mind that was beholden to no organization, regardless of its intentions. As such, the stallion was distant, cold, and logical. In many ways, the earth pony stallion was like Twilight Sparkle before she went to Ponyville, but more distant to those he didn’t know. He had a few friend since his personal philosophy meant he had few reservations or stigmas about the ponies he met, so he was more willing to get to know them if he found them interesting.
His friend since he’d been a colt was Stahl Rüstung, the son of his father’s bodyguard and his current one. Stahl, the pegasus preferred his first name, was willing to die for him and what most ponies didn’t know was that the feeling was mutual. Freckleless the Great would often have Stahl and his family for dinner with his own, their foals getting along amiably as did their wives.
The pair were currently in the vassal’s throne room, attending court. Freckleless the Great was also less lavish than his counterparts, using the bits from taxes for practical things that benefitted his country and increased tax revenue. This meant two things; the first being that Germaney was one of the most advanced, healthiest, and most educated places in the world, and second, he was currently sitting on a cushioned chair from his study that dated back three centuries because he didn’t want to buy a new one.
“My liege, it behooves me to ask that you increase funding for the Germane Geneological Society.” An older mare requested, a good three meters from the stallion. “The society works to reconnect the modern Germaney with its great, and fantastic history by allowing ponies to understand their roots and encouraging them to learn about the past.” She stopped when Freckleless the Great beckoned with a wave of his hoof and turned to an aid.
“What is the current budget surplus?” He asked in a gruff, thoughtful voice.
“There are §150,000 available my liege.” The aid answered.
“Very well. Will 2,000 bits be enough?” He was met with a curt nod from the mare and nodded himself. “Then you can count on 2,000 bits more a year. Next petitioner.” An endless process began again, with the previous petitioner leaving the room, happy or sad was irrelevant, and the next one was allowed in by the next, who began with the phrase ‘my liege’. If he hadn’t been given lessons in patience involving a halberd and a pin cushion from his father, Freckless the Great was pretty sure he would have gone mad by this point.
“You must enjoy it when the Genealogical Society uses your family tree in examples.” Stahl remarked with a dry chuckle. Freckleless had been given his name because his father, his father, and his father before him had all had it to tout their pure Germane ancestry. It was a well-known (within the) family secret that their ancestors had regularly married Bitalian, Mosscovite, and even a few Equestrian Nobles.
“It’s a little funny.” He admitted as they waited for the next petitioner to arrive. Instead, they were greeted by a unicorn servant levitating a silver dinner platter with a rolled parchment on it.
“My liege, there is a scroll from the Princess for you.” He said briskly, stopping three meters from the stallion and levitating the platter over.
“Thank you.” Freckleless the Great nodded to the servant as he took the scroll in his hooves and broke the seal. He read the information within calmly and sighed once done.
“Something wrong?” Stahl asked intently. The vassal shook his head and turned the paper so his bodyguard could read it.
“It seems that there will be a Stable of Nobles meeting in two days’ time.” He summarized. Stahl nodded in understanding and motioned to the guards by the door. They stepped outside into the reception area and informed the waiting petitioners that court was closed for the next few days as Freckleless the Great would be taking a trip. There was no collective or singular groan. The ponies simply nodded in understanding and left the castle in an orderly fashion.
