All Mason, Robert, and John wanted to do was have fun at a convention. That's all they wanted! But when they purchased items from a mysterious being they are sent to a foreign world. And thus, the adventure of a lifetime began. (Now cancelled)
Season 1: Three humans were transported to Equestria after buying a few souvenirs from a mysterious merchant at Comicon. After a misunderstanding with the Mane 6 they are forced to hide as Celestia herself sends her forces to capture them. Armed with only a couple objects, their natural skills, and a bit of knowledge of the MLP universe, these three are going to have to join forces with others like themselves in order to survive.
A Displaced/HiE Fic.
Just a heads up, this is my first story. Feel free to leave a comment if you liked it. Enjoy! Criticism is greatly appreciated.
Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony. MLP belongs to Hasbro. I own nothing except for the Human characters. Also, any similarities with already existing stories are completely coincidental.
"This place is amazing! Don't you think boys?" Angela said enthusiastically as she looked around at the interior of the convention center.
Robert looked around. "I can't deny that this place looks incredible. Being the comic lover that I am, this place could be considered my version of heaven on earth," he said. It would have been even better if I was wearing a costume. Robert thought.
Robert was supposed to be cosplaying as Batman, but the costume he ordered never arrived due to an error at the post office. They weren't able to buy another costume somewhere, because they had to leave for the convention center by the time they figured out it wasn't coming. Which is why he was wearing blue jeans and a white t-shirt instead of a costume.
"Where should we go first? There's tons of stuff to do here," said Thomas, Robert's 12 year old brother. Thomas was wearing a very accurate New 52 Captain Marvel costume.
"Well we could go down to the merchandise stalls and look around at what they're selling. Who knows, we could find a lasso of truth to go with your Wonder Woman costume," Robert said, looking over at his mother.
She smiled and said, "Sure honey, let's go take a look." Robert flushed red with embarrassment at the word "honey."
They walked past the various stalls, examining the wares and occasionally talking to some of the other people attending. After awhile, Robert noticed something missing from his brother's costume.
"Um, Thomas? You do realize that your cape is missing, right?"
He looked at himself and groaned. "Dang it. I must have left the cape at home, or in the hotel."
"Don't worry about it bro, you don't need a cape to have fun. You can always go without it," said Robert. It was then that he noticed a stall behind Thomas that was selling all sorts of stuff. One of them just so happening to be a white cape. He grinned before looking back to his brother. "Or you could always replace it," Robert pointed to the booth. Thomas looked in the direction of where Robert was pointing, smiling when he saw the cape.
"Mom? Can I get that cape?" Thomas asked.
"As long as it's not too expensive," Mom replied.
Thomas nodded and walked over to the booth, his two family members following close behind. They passed a few costumed convention goers and stopped in front of the booth.
A man dressed up as the merchant from Resident Evil 4; presumably the man who ran the booth, walked up to them and said, "Hello there. What would you like to purchase?"
As Thomas and Angela went through the process of buying the surprisingly cheap cape, Robert looked at all of the merchandise that was on sale. All of them were in very good condition, and looked identical to the things they were based on. A batarang, a lightsaber, a replica of the tesseract, some fake guns, and an Omnitrix were some of the items on display. The teenager looked over the things on sale before deciding on buying the fake batarang.
He looked over to see the merchant had finished selling the cape, and a lasso that Angela bought to go with her costume. "Hey! Can you come here for a second?" he asked the merchant.
He looked from his other two customers. "Yes? Is there something you would like to buy?"
"How much for the batarang?"
"Twenty dollars."
Robert raised an eyebrow. "That's a pretty nice deal, I'll take it." Robert gave him the twenty dollars he asked for, and then collected the prop. He pocketed the batarang and looked over to where his two relatives had been standing, only to find them gone. He turned back to the merchant.
"Excuse me, sir? Do you know where my mom and brother went?"
"Oh, they're...gone."
Robert gave him a confused look. "Gone? What do you mean by-" He suddenly felt very lightheaded. His knees gave out as he fell to the floor.
"Have fun," Robert heard him say before everything went black.
Mason's consciousness returned to him, his eyes fluttered open.
'Where am I?' He definitely knew he was no longer at Comicon, considering his surroundings were a dark forest. 'At least the night sky looks nice. The moon also looks nice and bright. ...Wait, are those four stars moving closer to the moon?' He stared at the sky a minute before shaking his head. 'No, that's impossible. I must still be partially asleep.'
He sat up and looked around. He concluded that he was in a forest clearing with two other unconscious people lying in the grass beside him, with something large in his pocket. 'Wait! Hold up! Two unconscious people lying in the grass beside me?!'
Mason scrambled to his feet and examined the two.
One of them looked a bit older than him. He was completely bald, had tannish skin, and wore blue jeans and a black shirt. The other one looked to be in his early teens. He had slightly messy brown hair, pale skin, and wore blue jeans and a white t-shirt.
'Who are these guys? And why are they with me in this forest? Have we been kidnapped?' Many questions ran through Mason's head as stood there, staring at the two of them. He stayed like this for several minutes before being was ripped from his thoughts by the sound of groaning. He turned his head to look at the older man, who was just now waking up. The man stood up, rubbing his eyes as he did so, and looked around.
"Where the am I?" John's eyes fell on Mason; he drew back, startled by the other man's presence. "You! Where am I? How did I get here?"
He backed up from the confused man before answering. "Sorry buddy, but I don't know the answer to either of your questions. I'm just as confused as you are, we just need to calm down."
John stared at Mason for a few moments before relaxing. "Alright then. I'll trust you." He looked over to the unconscious teenager. "Who's that boy? You know him?"
Mason looked down at his unconscious body. "No. I've never seen him before. He was here when I woke up."
"I hope he's alright," said John.
"Yeah, me too," Mason replied. "Maybe we should try to wake him up." He walked over to him and got on his knees. "Hey kid, wake up." He shook him a few times as he said this. The boy groaned and opened his eyes.
Robert groaned as he was ripped from his slumber by an unknown voice. He opened his eyes and saw a man who looked to be about 17 or 18 years old; with a long sleeve red shirt, blue jeans, pale skin, and short black hair. He looked at his surroundings, wondering how he got to this strange forest.
"Where am I?" Robert asked Mason.
"I'd answer that if I could," He replied, holding out his hand. Robert grabbed onto it, letting Mason help him to his feet. The teen looked behind the young adult and noticed a man that looked to be around 21 years old standing there. "Do you know him?" He asked Mason.
He turned to John and said, "We just met, he and I woke up just before you did."
John walked over to him and smiled. "Hi, my name is John. How're you doing? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Robert said. So do you have any idea where we are or how we got here?"
"Not really, the last thing I remember was buying a souvenir from some guy dressed up as a merchant," John said.
"Really?" Robert said, "Was he dressed as the merchant from Resident Evil 4?"
Surprised, John asked, "Yes, how did you know?"
"Because," Robert responded, "I bought something from a guy like that at Comicon too."
"And so did I," Mason added.
"So we all bought something from a guy at Comicon, and now we're in some random forest clearing with no idea to how we got here or where we are. Do you think it's all related?" Robert asked.
"It's too convenient not to be, this is no coincidence. I'm guessing that the guy who sold us that stuff knocked us out and brought us here," Mason theorized.
"But how could he have abducted us in broad daylight, surrounded by thousands of convention goers?" John asked.
"Beats me, but it's the best idea I have at the moment," Mason responded.
"Okay, now that you're done talking, I need something to call you. John gave me his name, but I don't know yours," Robert told Mason.
"Oh! I completely forgot to introduce myself. My name is Mason."
"Nice to meet you Mason, my name is Robert."
"Well now that we have introductions out of the way, let's get out of here before whoever brought us here comes back," Mason said. John and Robert nodded, and then all three of them began walking to the edge of the clearing. That's when Robert noticed something odd.
"Um, guys? Does everything look more colorful than usual?" he asked.
"What do you mean Robert?" John asked.
"Don't you think this place looks a bit cartoony? It looks like something from a story book, or a kid's show."
John looked around again, before saying, "Now that you mention it, everything does look different."
"Yeah, it almost pastel colored." Mason added.
Robert looked closely at one of the trees. 'This art style, I feel like I've seen it somewhere before.'
"Well that's not the only strange thing here, check out the moon." Mason said.
They looked up at the moon, surprised at what they saw. The moon's craters formed the image of a unicorn's head on the surface. Not to mention that four stars appeared to be moving closer to it.
'I've seen this before,' Robert thought. Then it hit him. His eyes widened in shock. It all made sense now. The cartoonish appearance of everything, the moving stars, the image on the moon, and even the fact that they didn't remember how they got to these woods. "Oh no."
"What is it?" Mason asked, but Robert wasn't paying attention to him.
"Oh no oh no oh no oh no!"
"Robert, what's wrong?" John asked with concern evident in his voice.
"Please tell me we're not where I think we are. PLEASE tell me that we're not where I think we are!" Robert continued to panic.
"Robert! Tell us what's wrong!" Mason yelled.
He pointed at the moon, the other two looked up just in time to see the four stars merge with the moon. The moon briefly flashed white; and when it turned back to normal, the image of the unicorn's head was gone.
"Woah! What the heck just happened?!" Mason exclaimed.
John turned to the youngest of the three. "Robert, you know what's going on, don't you?" They both looked at him, waiting for an answer.
He simply looked at them and said, "Hang on to your butts gentlemen, because I think we're in Equestria."
John raised an eyebrow in confusion at Robert's words. "Equestria? Where the heck is Equestria? It's not a place I've ever heard of."
"Yeah, and what was up with the moon and the stars? Would you mind explaining?" Mason asked.
"Well." Robert hesitated before saying, "Equestria...is a country. A country that exists in *sigh* My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic."
Mason and John stared at Robert for a few moments, not saying a word...and then they both burst out laughing. "My Little Pony?! You actually watch that? HAHAHA!"
Robert's face turned beet red. "Stop laughing at me! It's a good show!"
"Whatever you say buddy. Hahahaha!" Mason said, wiping a few tears from his eyes. They both continued to laugh for a little longer while Robert stood there scowling at them.
"Are you two done yet?" He asked.
They stopped laughing and straightened themselves up. "Sorry about that, we shouldn't have laughed at you. Everyone is entitled to their *snicker* own opinions," John said.
"Yeah, but you do know that we can't be in Eqestra-" Mason started before being cut off by Robert.
"Equestria."
"Whatever. We can't be there. It's a TV show, it doesn't exist."
"I know, I find it hard to believe myself, but it would explain what just happened with the moon and stars."
"Oh really?" John said. "Enlighten us."
"Well in the season one premier, a unicorn named Twilight Sparkle-"
"Twilight Sparkle? Is that seriously that unicorn's name? Her parents must have hated her." Mason interrupted with a laugh.
Robert frowned at him and said, "No, i'm pretty sure they didn't. Just a heads up, the ponies' names are not like the ones us humans have. Anyway, Twilight discovers a prophesy about the return of Nightmare Moon and-"
"I'll get to that, and please stop cutting me off. Nightmare Moon is the evil version of Princess Luna. 1000 years ago there were two alicorn sisters that ruled Equestria, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. Celestia raised the sun and ruled over the day, while Luna brought forth the moon and ruled over the night. After awhile, Luna was literally possessed by the jealousy she felt towards her sister, which transformed her into Nightmare Moon. After a short battle between the two, Celestia used the Elements of Harmony to imprison her sister on the moon. And by the way, the Elements of Harmony are six magical artifacts. They are Laughter, Loyalty, Honesty, Generosity, Kindness, and Magic. So Twilight told Celestia that Nightmare Moon was going to come back, and so she sent Twilight to Ponyville to help prepare for the Summer Sun Celebration and some make some friends. And when night fell, what we just saw happen with the moon and stars happened, which means that Nightmare Moon is back. Any questions?"
Mason and John stayed completely silent for a few moments, before John said, "Ponyville? Seriously?"
Robert gave him an 'Are you serious?' look before answering with, "You think that's bad? Wait till you hear the names of the other cities. They are all bad horse puns."
"Really?" John said curiously. "Can you tell me some of them?"
"As much as I would like to hear Robert list the names of a bunch of fictional cities, I really think we should focus on getting out of these woods." Mason said before either John or Robert could speak again. Mason started walking to the edge of the clearing, with John and Robert following close behind. As they walked out of the clearing and into the trees, John noticed a large bulge in one of his pockets.
"Hey Mason, what's that in your pocket?" he asked.
Mason looked down at his pocket with a questioning look. "Oh yeah, I forgot that this was even here. I wonder what it is..." he said to himself. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a replica of Freddy Kreuger's bladed glove. "Oh yeah, I bought this from the merchant's stall. But it's different now."
"What do you mean?" John asked.
"The blades on this are real. They were plastic when I bought it."
"Hey guys! I've got something in my pocket too." Robert said from behind them.
They turned to look at him just as he pulled a batarang out of his pocket.
"A batarang?" John asked.
"Yeah, I bought this at the convention. But now that I take a closer look it, this thing is sharp! Almost like the real thing, it could probably take someone's eye out if i'm not careful." Robert then pocketed the batarang and turned to John. "Let's keep moving guys, this forest freaks me out. And i'll be even more scared if we're in the forest that I think we're in."
John decided to humor him. "Oh? And what forest do you think we're in?"
"The Everfree forest," Robert answered.
"Everfree? That doesn't sound too bad."
"It doesn't sound bad, but the creatures that live in it are."
"What kind of creatures live in it?"
"Hydras, manticores, cockatrices, and timberwolves."
"Timberwolves? What are-"
"Woah!" Mason yelled as he tripped over something in front of them.
"Are you okay Mason?" John asked as he and Robert rushed over to help him up.
"Yeah, I'm fine. But what did I trip on?" Mason looked to his feet. "Is that a backpack?"
'Backpack?' John thought. He went over and picked it up. "This is my backpack!" He said in surprise after examining it. "I had it with me at Comicon, but why is it out here?"
"The person who kidnapped us must have dropped it when he brought us here." Mason said. John nodded in agreement and opened his backpack.
"Alright guys, I left my cellphone in here. I'll use it to call for...help?" He looked at what was inside with confusion. His cellphone, wallet, and car keys were gone. Instead, there was only one thing inside: A duplicate of Harry Potter's invisibility cloak that he had purchased at the merchant's merchandise booth.
"It's not in there, is it?" asked Robert in an almost knowing voice.
"No, it's not," John responded.
"Well what is in there?" Mason asked.
"Just a replica of the invisibility cloak from Harry Potter, it's the item that I bought from the merchant," John said, while taking it out of the bag to put it on.
"Why are you taking that cloak out?" Robert asked.
"Because it's slightly chilly out here," John answered.
"Oh okay," Robert said, nodding in understanding. He put the cloak on and wrapped it around his body. He looked up to see Robert gaping at him in disbelief.
"Mason! Look at John! Look at him now!" Robert said in a voice that sounded like a mixture of shock and excitement. Mason turned to look at the older man, his face donning a look of shock as he looked him over.
"What's wrong?" John asked. "Why are you staring at me?"
Mason pointed a shaky finger at him. "Y-your body."
He looked down at his body and let out a gasp at what he saw, or rather at what he didn't see. His body had completely vanished, along with his cloak. He tore the article of clothing off and let out a sigh of relief, his body was completely fine.
"Do you know what this means?" Robert said, drawing their attention. "These things we bought were fake when we first got them, right? Well now they've turned into their fictional counterparts, it must be because of the planet's magic or something."
"Magic? Are you still going on about us being in Eqesta-" Mason started before being interrupted by Robert.
"Equestria."
"I don't care what it's called! We're not there! It's not a real place!" Mason shouted.
"You know, I hope you're right," Robert sad with a sad smile.
"Really?" John asked in confusion. "I thought you were hoping that that's where we are."
"You thought I was hoping that we're in Equestria? Did you not see me panicking when I figured out what was going on with the moon and stars? I like the show just as much as next brony, but I don't want to live it. My mom and brother are probably really worried right now, so I'm really hoping that we're still on earth. I just think that it's very likely that we are in Equestria from what I've seen so far. And I think what just happened with the cloak makes my theory a bit more likely."
John and Mason looked at each other for a few seconds, before Mason said, "No, there must be some logical explanation for all of this. I refuse to believe that we're on another world."
"Whatever you say," Robert said with a shrug. It was then that they heard an ear splitting roar, accompanied by voices not far from them, startling the group of three.
"W-what the heck was that?!" John stuttered.
"Well," Robert said while trying to slow down his breathing, "it looks like the Mane six have gotten to the manticore already."
"What?" Mason asked while simultaneously backing up from the direction that the roar came from.
"During part 2 of the season one premier, the six main characters encounter a manticore while searching for the Elements of Harmony in the Everfree forest. After a brief battle, Fluttershy uses the power of her kindness to calm it down," Robert explained.
"Fluttershy?" Mason repeated.
"Yeah, the names of the main characters are as follows: Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash. You'll probably be able to figure out which is which when we see them," said Robert.
"When we see them?" John asked.
Robert opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off by a feminine voice shouting, "WAIT!" Followed shortly after by another roar.
"Well, looks like the manticore is all taken care of. Now, let's all get under the invisibility cloak," Robert said, picking the magical article of clothing off the ground.
"What? Why?" Mason asked.
"Because, the manticore might be heading this way, and I don't want it to see us if it does."
"Good point." They all huddled together under the invisibility cloak. Sure enough, the large mythical beast bounded by right after they got under.
"Believe me now?" Robert whispered after it had passed. Before either Mason or John could answer, six figures stepped into their line of sight. John and Masons' jaws dropped as they looked at the six, pastel colored, talking ponies.
"Told you." Robert whispered smugly. "Equestria."
The group of ponies continued their trek through the Everfree forest. They had just gotten past a manticore by using the power of kindness.
"I'm learning so much about friendship from these girls. Maybe the princess was right about making friends," Twilight thought.
"That manticore was such a sweetie, wasn't he?" Fluttershy said while trying to re-adjust her mane.
"Yes, I suppose you could say that." Twilight said in response, the other girls chorusing their own answers to Fluttershy's question. Suddenly, Pinkie froze in her tracks.
"Guys, my Pinkie sense is acting up!" Pinkie yelled. Twilight raised an eyebrow, while the other four looked at Pinkie with a bit of fear.
"And what's it telling you?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"I dunno! This is a new one. Twitchy tail, itchy nose, rumbling tummy!"
"Pinkie sense?" Twilight asked skeptically.
"Yeah, it's something that tells me when something is going to happen before it happens. Anyway, I think it's telling me...that something is hiding from us! Right there!" she said, pointing at a patch of grass not far from where they stood. The girls took defensive positions while Twilight watched in disbelief.
"You actually believe her?" the purple unicorn asked.
"Ah'm tellin ya Twilight, we've come to learn that the Pinkie sense is real over the years that we've been in Ponyville," Applejack said.
"Maybe they aren't so smart after all." She thought. "There's nothing there. Look," Twilight picked up a rock with her magic, "I'll throw a rock at it, and I'll prove that there's nothing to worry about." She threw the rock as hard as she could at the patch of grass. "See? Nothing-"
"OUCH!"
Twilight watched in shock as some sort of illusion dissipated to reveal three creatures that she had never seen before.
Mason and Robert stared at the ponies, while John clutched his right foot in pain.
They stared at each other in silence until Robert decided to break the silence. "Um, hi?"
It's all fun and games until somepony loses an eye (EDITED)
Nobody moved, the forest was dead silent except for John's grunts of pain.
And then Rainbow Dash broke the silence.
"Those must be some of Nightmare Moon's monsters! Get them!" She spread her wings and dashed forward, tackling Mason to the ground.
"Oh no, Robert thought. "This doesn't look good."
He opened his mouth to say something like: "Stop! We are not monsters, we're just a couple of humans who don't know where we are." or, "Please, can't we just talk this out?" But before the young boy could say anything like that, John recovered from his foot injury and kicked the cyan Pegasus in the stomach. With Rainbow Dash not pinning him down to the forest floor, Mason got up and slipped on his bladed glove.
"You'll pay for that you dumb-AHHHHH!" Rainbow Dash screamed in pain and held her left forehoof that was now gushing blood. When Rainbow had gotten up from the kick, she tried to punch John, only to get a slash from the bladed glove for her efforts.
"You ruffians!" Rarity shouted. The three of them turned, and saw her using her magic to levitate several stones off the ground.
Robert narrowed his eyes. "Looks like Rares is going to use us as target practice, and those stones look like they're going to hurt, a lot. I still want to talk this out, but I don't think I'll be doing much talking if I'm unconscious." He snatched up the rock that Twilight had thrown at John's foot and let it fly at Rarity's horn. "Oh well, Rarity was always my least favorite anyway." It soared through the air and made direct contact with her horn. She yelped in pain and dropped the rocks.
"Headshot." He snickered despite himself.
"Nice throw Robert!" Mason complimented.
Robert faltered for a second. "Thanks, but please try not to-"
"No good varmints! I won't let you hurt ma friends!" Applejack bellowed, cutting Robert off. "Let's get em' everypony!" She, Rainbow, and Rarity charged at the humans, Pinkie was nowhere in sight, Twilight started shooting magical bursts at them, and Fluttershy stayed back.
Robert eyed Fluttershy as an idea popped into his head. 'Wait, Fluttershy! That's it! If I can get to her and explain our situation, then she can talk her friends down. If anyone can do it, she can.' He started to sprint over to where the yellow Pegasus was, when he noticed Mason and John duking it out with Applejack and Rainbow.
"I better tell them not to hurt the ponies before they get us in trouble." Robert thought. "HEY! DON'T-" He was cut off again when a large pie hit him on the side of the head. He pulled the pastry off and wiped the remains off of his head.
"Pie? What...?" When he realized who had thrown that pie, a chill ran down his spine. "Oh dear." He turned around and looked into the eyes of the pink terror, which bored into his very soul.
"Alright buster, nopony hurts my friends and gets away with it! I'm not going to let you get to Fluttershy!" Pinkie exclaimed as she got into a fighting stance.
"So this is what true terror feels like," Robert thought, breaking out into a sweat when he thought about what the party pony had planned for him.
Reaching into her mane, Pinkie pulled out her party cannon and aimed at the teenager.
"Holy-!" He said before leaping out of the way.
. . .
John jumped away from an incoming magic burst and delivered a kick at Rainbow Dash, who had tried to sneak up on them. His foot caught her right in the jaw and snapped her head back. She fell to the ground, dazed from the powerful kick. He attempted to follow up with another kick, but was tripped by Applejack's rope.
"Ha!" Applejack laughed as she dragged the struggling human over to her.
"Stupid horse!" John thought, trying to free himself from the lasso wrapped around his leg.
"Not so tough now, are- woah!" Applejack jumped back, barely avoiding a swipe from Mason.
Said human attempted another slash at the orange farm pony, cursing to himself when he missed once again.
Seeing an opening, Applejack leapt at Mason. Unfortunately for her, Mason ducked under the attempt, sending her in the direction of John. John pulled his fist back and let it fly, knocking a nearly unconscious Applejack to the ground.
"You've got one heck of a right hook dude," Mason said.
"Well this isn't the first fight I've been in, but it has definitely the strangest," John said, turning his attention to Rainbow Dash, who was just now getting back up to her hooves.
"Looks like the white unicorn decided to join the party," Mason said. Looking over his shoulder, John saw Rarity holding several needles in her telekinesis.
"Well at least the purple one isn't blasting at us anymore," John commented, preparing himself for the remainder of what was by far the weirdest fight he had ever been involved in.
. . .
"Out of all of the ponies I could have fought, why'd it have to be Pinkie!?" Robert thought, leaping away from another shot from Pinkie's cannon. He had tried several times to get her attention, but it was hard to try talking to someone while they are trying to shoot you with a cannon.
"This is not how Pinkie would normally act, why is she attacking me? Why isn't she telling me how excited she is to throw me and the others a 'Welcome to Ponyville/Equestria!' party?" Dodging another shot, Pinkie began to reload, stuffing various party items.
"Now's my chance, I need to get her away from that cannon!" Robert muttered to himself. He ran forward just as the pink mare finished reloading, and jumped up onto the barrel of the cannon.
Pinkie looked surprised for a moment, and he used that brief moment to shove her away from the cannon. Robert jumped off of the impractical weapon and tried once again to convince one of the ponies that they didn't want to fight.
"Look, we don't want to-" He stopped when he noticed a flash of purple in his peripheral vision. Knowing exactly what it meant, he had the bright idea to move away from where he had just been standing in a quick fashion. He had barely jumped to the right when a purple blast of magic struck the area he had been standing in just a few seconds earlier.
Robert quickly looked over his shoulder, seeing Twilight charging up another magic burst to launch at him.
"Pinkie AND Twilight?!" I really hate my luck." He thought, barely ducking under a tackle attempt from Pinkie. "I doubt I could land a hit on either of them, and it doesn't look like they're about to listen to me. Well, let's hope all those years of playing dodgeball can help me here."
. . .
"GAH!" Mason yelled in pain. Looking down at his shoulder he saw one of Rarity's needles lodged in his lower shoulder. "I'm lucky that didn't hit any bone, still hurts like hell though." Mason thought, dodging another one of the needles while pulling the needle out of his shoulder.
Hearing something dashing up behind him, he threw a kick backwards, hitting Rainbow Dash in the gut. He ignored the pain in his shoulder and leg, and jumped away from another launched needle.
Luckily for him, John had snuck behind Rarity, and proceeded to overpower her. After pinning her to the forest floor, he began punching her in the face repeatedly.
"Get off of Rarity!" Rainbow Dash yelled, ramming into John. The rainbow colored Pegasus and adult human began struggling against each other, each one trying to get the upper hand.
While this was going on, Mason sprinted toward Rarity and swung his bladed hand. Rarity ducked and avoided any physical injuries, except for when the top half of her beloved mane was cut off.
To Mason's surprise, Rarity began to bawl, catching everyone's attention.
. . .
"MY MANE! MY BEUATIFUL MANE IS RUINED!" Pinkie and Robert turned to look at the bawling mare for a moment, their attention captured by the strange sight of a mare bawling about her hair in the middle of a fight.
Robert was only distracted for a moment before he turned his attention back to Pinkie. "Maybe now with everything relatively quiet, I can finally get Pinkie's attention." He walked forward and placed his hand on Pinkie's mane.
"Hey, I really don't-" He froze when a long strand of Pinkie's mane wrapped around his wrist. Pinkie turned back to him with a scowl.
"Forgot she could do that," Robert thought.
"Your friend made my friend cry," Pinkie said simply. Still holding on to Robert's wrist, she began to spin around, dragging a screaming Robert through the air. She spun around several times before letting go, sending the teen flying.
"AHHHH!" Robert yelled as he soared through the air before landing on the ground. Conveniently, his left foot hit the activation button on the party cannon.
*BANG* An unsuspecting Twilight was hit with a small portion of the blast, knocking her to the ground, partly conscious after being hit by several of Pinkie's cakes and pies.
"That was convenient," Robert said, shaking the cobwebs out of his eyes. He stood up, seeing Pinkie rush forward and throw a hoof at him. He jumped to the side and wrapped his arms around the pink appendage.
"What goes around, comes around!" Robert quipped as he threw Pinkie over his shoulder. Before she could get up, he wrapped his arms around the mare's neck, putting her into choke hold.
"Thank you dad for teaching me how to do this!" He thought as he struggled to keep the mare still.
"Let go of Pinkie!" Glancing to the side, Robert saw Rainbow Dash had let go of John and was preparing to punch him in the face for laying his hands on her friend. Wanting to avoid extensive head damage, Robert did the only logical thing he could think of in his panicked state.
He moved Pinkie in front of him as Rainbow Dash tried to punch him, effectively using Pinkie as a meat shield.
"Sorry Pinks," Robert thought as he threw Pinkie to the side. "And sorry for this too Dash." He pulled his fist back and unleashed his hardest uppercut on the stunned Pegasus.
He shook his hand a few times as he quickly made his way to the party cannon and aimed it at Pinkie and Rainbow Dash. "If they won't listen to reason, then I might as well keep them from fighting me."
*BANG!* Both of them were knocked unconscious.
"Now let's see if I can finally talk- OW!" Robert clutched his leg in pain, feeling a trickle of blood run down his leg from the wound inflicted by the rock that had been thrown at it.
Looking up, he saw a FURIOUS Rarity picking up another one. Thankfully, John ran up behind her and delivered a punch to the back of her head.
Robert went back to trying to ease his pain when he felt a light tap on his shoulder. He looked over and saw Fluttershy looking at him in fear with those big eyes of hers.
"I-I wish you hadn't hurt my friends, and I am v-v-very scared right now, but you still need help with that wound. Here, let me see it, if you want..." Fluttershy said softly.
Despite his pain he smiled at Fluttershy. "Maybe we can still solve this without more violence." "Thank-"
"ROBERT! LOOK OUT!" John bellowed. Before Robert could do anything to stop him, John shoved Fluttershy a few feet away before punching her too.
Robert's jaw dropped in shock as he heard the yellow Pegasus begin to cry.
"You okay Robert?" John asked.
Robert didn't answer, he was too distracted as the only remaining chance of solving this diplomatically died with that one mistake.
"HOW DARE YOU!" said Twilight, who had just now recovered from the party cannon blast. Focusing all her attention on John, she began charging a lot of magic into her horn, preparing to make Fluttershy's assaulter pay.
Robert gazed at Twilight in sadness, knowing what he had to do to protect his friend.
Ignoring the pain, he got to his feet and limped over to the distracted Twilight.
"I hate having to hurt the characters I love so much, but they won't listen. They might not even be the ponies I know, they could be different versions for all I know, Pinkie's behavior would support that idea," Robert thought as he wrapped his arms around Twilight's head and angled her horn away from John.
"But as much as I love these characters, I won't let them hurt my friends." Twilight launched the magic blast, but it missed, shooting into the night sky.
The unicorn began to buck wildly in an attempt to get the human off her back. Robert couldn't hold on for long, and fell to the ground. Robert stumbled to his feet as Twilight charged up another blast.
In desperation, Robert pulled the Batarang out of his pocket and prepared to throw it at her horn to stop the blast. But right before he threw it, he tripped over a root on the ground, throwing his aim off by a small margin.
The Batarang flew at an angle, cutting a deep cut in her left eye.
Twilight began to scream in pain as Robert got to his feet, shocked at what he had just done. "What have I done?" Robert thought as he was wracked with guilt.
"T-TWILIGHT!!!" The barely conscious Applejack and Fluttershy yelled in unison as they both rushed to their wounded friend.
Robert looked at the three conscious mares, and did the only thing his panic and guilt stricken mind told him to do.
"RUN!" Heeding the thought, Robert quickly located his Batarang and picked it up before turning tail and dashing away.
"Run guys! RUN!" Robert yelled. John and Mason nodded and followed the teenager into the dark woods.
"What have I done? What have I done? What have I done?" Robert muttered repeatedly, as he would continue to do far into the night.
3 days after the events of the previous chapter...
Mason awoke to the sound of chirping birds and various forest critters going about their usual activities. He slowly and carefully sat up, not wanting to fall off the tree branches he and the others had been using as a bed last night.
For the past three nights, Robert had insisted that the three of them sleep in trees. Robert had told them all about the creatures that roamed the forest at night, which quickly convinced the two older men to agree with him.
Mason grabbed onto a nearby branch, hissing in pain when he realized he had accidentally stretched the arm that Rarity had stabbed with the needle. He retracted his injured arm and used his other one to lower himself down to the ground.
He stretched, which helped ease some of the pain in his back, if only a little bit. As he finished, his stomach growled loudly. Mason chuckled lightly. "I'm kind of hungry. Might as well have a few of those fruits," he thought.
Mason walked over to a nearby bush and pushed the branches aside, revealing John's backpack. He pulled it out of its hiding place and opened it up, revealing several red apples.
In the past three days, Robert had been leading Mason and John around the Everfree forest, trying to find Zecora's hut. Robert had outright refused to go into the deeper parts of the forest, forcing them to go around the edges of the forest, which took considerably longer. On the second day the group stumbled across Sweet Apple acres, and decided that taking a few apples for themselves would be the best course of action. For survival.
Mason took an apple out of the bag and took a large bite, savoring the wonderful taste. "Robert wasn't kidding when he said that these apples were delicious," Mason thought to himself as he took another bite.
"Having breakfast without me?" Robert said, sitting up from his makeshift bed.
Mason looked up at the younger boy, noticing the tired look on his face. "Hey Robert, how did you sleep?" he asked.
Robert gave a tired smile, "Not very well to be honest. The pain I get in my back when I sleep in these trees, as well as the pain in my leg, keeps me from sleeping all that well."
"Sorry to hear that. I hope we find this Zecora you keep talking about soon so that we'll actually have a proper bed to sleep on," Mason said. He pulled another apple out of the backpack and offered it to Robert. "Apple?"
"Yes please, I'm so hungry!" Robert said eagerly. He climbed down swiftly and dropped to the ground when he was close enough, wincing when he was reminded of his hurt leg by the pain shooting through it.
Mason noticed Robert's pain and walked over to him. "Are you alright?" Mason asked.
"Yeah, I just forgot about the big, fat bruise on my leg for a split second," Robert said, shaking off the pain. "May I have that apple now?"
"Sure," Mason gave Robert the apple, which he promptly began to eat. "Well I'm just glad your bone didn't fracture."
"Amen to that," Robert answered in between bites.
The two of them sat in silence for a while after that, just eating their apples.
Mason broke the silence after he and Robert had finished their apples. "Do you have any idea as to how close we are to Zecora?"
"Well, we stole from Sweet Apple Acres last night. So we are near the edge that Ponyville is located. If that's the case then we just might find it today if we look hard enough," Robert said, tossing his apple core over his shoulder.
"Now that's something I like to hear!" Mason said with a grin, throwing his finished apple core off to the side. "
"Yeah, maybe we can finally clean ourselves up when we get there," Robert said.
Mason glanced up at Robert, taking his appearance in. His pale face had smudges of dirt on it, his brown hair was messier than it was when they first arrived, having flakes of bark and dirt in it. Robert's white t-shirt and jeans were also smudged with dirt, his tennis shoes being the only article of clothing that didn't look like it was about to fall apart. The most noticeable things, however, were his tired green eyes, and the limp he had when he walked.
"We do need to clean up. You look like crap Robert," Mason said. "No offense."
"None taken," Robert said, looking a bit more upbeat after Mason's humorous statement. The teen looked at Mason's appearance before adding, "But to be fair, you ain't looking so hot either."
Mason's pale face and short black hair were equally covered with dirt and bark as Robert was. Mason's red shirt had been stripped of its sleeves, which had been used as makeshift bandages for their wounds, and his jeans had been ripped in several places, and like Robert, his shoes were still intact. Lastly, his blue eyes had small bags under them, and his left shoulder was wrapped in one of the two sleeves, which had successfully stopped the bleeding after many attempts.
"Heh, well I guess none of us have been doing very well since we've arrived here. We should just be glad we're still alive and that none of our wounds got infected," Mason said.
"Yeah, it's a really good thing they didn't get infected. Looks like my luck finally decided to do something good for me," Robert said, pulling another apple out of the backpack.
"Hm? What's that about your luck?" Mason asked curiously.
"Well, my luck has a tendency to make the most inconvenient things happen to me," Robert explained before sinking his teeth into the delicious fruit.
Mason smiled, "Sounds rough."
"Yeah," Robert said through a mouthful of apple. "There was this one time when-"
Robert and Mason heard the sound of rustling leaves and looked up, seeing John finally waking up.
"Look who finally decided to wake up, " Mason jokingly said.
"*yawn* Good morning guys," John said, rubbing his eyes as he sat up.
Mason and Robert looked over the third member of their group. There wasn't much different about his appearance and that of the other two, except that his brown eyes didn't look as tired as Mason and Robert's, but he still looked exhausted.
"How'd ya sleep, bro?" Robert asked, taking another bite out of his apple.
"Not that well to be honest," John said.
Robert shrugged, "I don't think any of us slept well last night." He reached into the backpack and pulled out another apple. "Would you like an apple?"
John got off of the tree with relative ease since he had not sustained any injuries in the fight with the mane six aside from a few small bruises. "Sure, I'd love one."
Robert tossed the uneaten fruit over to John, who caught it in one of his hands.
"Alright, we're all awake," said Mason. "How about we go ahead and start searching for Zecora?"
Robert and John nodded.
"Alright, then let's set out." The three of them pulled their respective weapons out of the backpack before resuming their trek through the forest.
(2 hours later...)
"I spy with my little eye-" Robert began.
"Trees?" Mason guessed, bored out of his mind.
Robert grunted in annoyance. "Yes, it was a tree."
"Is there anything else we can do to pass the time?" John asked, also quite bored.
"Maybe we could play rock, paper, scissors," Mason said sarcastically.
"No thank you," John said, apparently not picking up on the sarcasm. "I don't think a game like that would make this trip any less boring. Who knew that trekking through the forest of an alien world could be so tedious?"
"Well since we're trying to avoid the creatures that would have no problem with eating us alive, we have to take the long way. I just wish we hadn't fallen down that riverbank," Robert said.
An hour earlier, they had accidentally fallen down a steep riverbank that they couldn't climb back up. In order to get back to where they had originally been, they had been forced to walk along the river until they found a place where the riverbank wasn't quite so steep. They had found it, but it was very close to where the Everfree forest ended. Right. At. Fluttershy's house. It was sheer luck that the yellow Pegasus was not home at the time, giving them the opening they needed.
It had taken them an hour to get back to where they had been, much to the chagrin of the three.
"Same here," said Mason. "Now not only are we dirty, but we're wet too."
"Well we should just be happy we didn't run into any Cragadiles," said Robert.
The two older men glanced at each other.
"What's a Cragadile?" asked John.
"Think of a crocodile, except it's bigger and has rocks instead of scales," explained Robert. "So it's not an animal we would want to run into."
"Geez, this place is crawling with monsters!" John said, suddenly more paranoid than he previously was.
"Oh you think that's bad? I haven't even told you guys about Slendermane yet."
"Slendermane?" John questioned.
"Yep, there's a pony Slenderman in this forest. In this one episode-" said Robert.
Robert and John ceased their conversation and stopped walking too.
'What is it Mason?' John whispered.
'I think I heard voices a short distance away,' Mason answered, also whispering.
John and Robert listened closely, and were faintly able to hear unintelligible voices about forty yards away.
'What do you think it is?' John whispered.
'I don't know, what do you think Robert?' Mason said.
'I'm not sure, but I have a sneaking suspicion that there are some ponies around here.' Robert said.
One last shout echoed through the forest before the voices were replaced by a different noise: the sound of hooves. From where the three humans stood, they could hear many different sets of hooves going out in different directions, including theirs.
John quickly pulled his invisibility cloak out of his backpack and said, 'Everyone, get under the cloak!'
Mason and Robert were quick to comply and were under the cloak in no time. After a minute of waiting, a group of seven armored stallions walking in a single-file line stepped into sight. John, Robert, and Mason moved out of their path and backed up into a large tree.
'What's the deal with these spear-wielding ponies? Are they the police or something?' Mason asked.
'That's Celestia's royal guard. She must have sent them to catch us after we beat up the Elements,' Robert said.
Robert suddenly gasped.
'What?! What is it Robert?!' John whispered, frantically looking around to see if anything dangerous was around.
Robert narrowed his eyes and pointed to the guard in the back of the line, an orange Pegasus with a spiky blue mane. 'Flash Sentry? What's he doing here?' he whispered, his voice laced with surprise and distaste.
Mason and John looked at the teen with wide eyes. Never had Robert spoken about someone with such dislike in the time they had been together, he even talked about the ponies that tried to capture him better!
'What did Flash Sentry do to make you hate him so much?' Mason asked, looking at the orange Pegasus.
'Well I don't exactly "hate" him, more like dislike his character. He's a poor attempt at a love interest for Twilight in a horribly paced movie,' Robert answered, much to their confusion. Robert saw their confused expressions and said, 'Look, I'll explain later, okay? Now what should we do about the guards? Should we make a run for it?'
'I don't think that would be the best choice. We might end up trapped if we run into another group of guards. We know nothing about what's going on with these soldiers. I say we get one of them and get them to talk,' Mason said.
John considered it, while Robert looked at Mason as if he had suddenly gone insane. 'And how are we going to do that? Besides, hurting a guard will hurt our already crappy reputation!'
'All we have to do is wait for the others to be distracted so we can take the one in the back without any of them noticing,' Mason said.
"The one in the back?" Robert thought. He remembered Flash Sentry was in the back. He was now slightly more accepting of this plan. 'Well I guess we don't know much, some knowledge about what's going on would be useful...'
Mason, Robert, and John were trailing behind the guards, waiting for their chance to snatch the Pegasus. John and Mason were poised to strike when the time was right, while Robert was glaring at Flash through the cloak.
Flash had actually glanced back at them several times because he felt Robert's eyes boring into the back of his head, only to see nothing.
All of the guards were tense, glancing side-to-side and holding their spears tightly in their teeth. They were so tense that they would jump at the tiniest sound, exactly what the humans wanted.
"C'mon, just a tiny distraction..." Mason thought.
Right after Mason thought that to himself, one of the bushes began to shake as a shrill cry sounded from within it. The guard at the front of the line screamed, the others following his example.
'Now!' Mason said.
While the guards were still in the middle of freaking out, they removed the cloak and got to work on taking Flash Sentry. Mason kicked the spear out of his mouth before using his free hand to cover it. John picked him up and restrained his flailing limbs and Robert threw the cloak back over them and pinned his wings to his back.
Mason moved his bladed glove into the pony's line of sight. 'Don't try to fight us.'
Flash looked at the humans and the bladed glove with wide, panicked eyes, desperately hoping that his fellow guards would notice what was happening. When he remembered that the information from the reports about the creatures he was trying to capture stated that they had some sort of robe that made them completely invisible, he realized that he wouldn't be seen and stopped struggling.
'Good. Now we're going to take you a short distance away and ask you a few questions, okay?' Robert whispered into his ear. Flash nodded. 'And you'll answer them truthfully, right?' Flash nodded again. 'That's good. Cause if you decide to lie to us, well...you won't like what comes next.' Flash shuddered.
They dragged Flash away, leaving the guards behind.
"Whew," the guard in the front said. "It was only a crow. Everypony alright?" He turned around, seeing the relieved and annoyed faces of the other...five guards. "Wait, where's the rookie?"
. . .
After dragging Flash about sixty yards away from where they captured him, they stopped near a tightly packed group of trees.
"Alright," Robert said in his normal voice. "Mason here is going to remove his hand from your mouth and you are NOT going to scream, got it?" Flash nodded. Robert nodded at Mason, who then moved his hand from Flash's mouth but still kept his bladed right hand in his sight.
"Now," Robert began, "Why are the guards here? Answer quietly please."
Flash gritted his teeth in anger. "You know damn well why, you sadistic freaks!" he said as quietly as he could.
Robert delivered a hard punch to Flash's stomach, getting a grunt of pain out of him. "Kindly refrain from insulting us. We don't find it all that flattering. And would you please watch your language? I find such vocabulary to be unbefitting of the royal guard," he said in a low, threatening voice that sent chills down the spines of even Mason and John.
"Why does he sound so...cold?" John thought.
"This doesn't sound like Robert normally does. Has the stress of being trapped here gotten to him?" Mason thought.
"Next question," Robert continued. "How many guards are here?"
"1-150 in all. We split up into groups of various sizes to cover more ground. We're setting up camps near the Castle of the Two Sisters as we speak," Flash answered.
"150!?" John and Mason thought, shocked at how many guards had been sent to apprehend them.
Robert, however, remained calm. "Last question: what is Twilight's condition?"
"Huh? Oh. I believe the doctors told her that she'll never be able to see out of her left eye ever again," Flash answered, confused as to why he was asking him that.
Robert was silent for a few moments. "That'll be all. John, you know what to do."
The three humans let go, and John slammed Flash's head into a nearby tree over and over until he stopped squirming. They took the cloak off and looked down at Flash's unconscious body.
"I think we got him," Mason said.
"Yeah, but what should we do with him?" John asked.
Robert's eyes snapped up from Flash's body. He rubbed his eyes and looked around as if he was seeing his surroundings for the first time.
John noticed and said, "You okay, Robert?"
"Y-Yeah, I just feel a little light-headed. Like I snapped out of a daze, you know?" Robert said.
"You got a little weird when you were talking to that guard, do you do that with people you don't like?" Mason asked.
"N-No, this is the first time I've ever acted that coldly towards someone, but it felt so natural..." Robert paused for a moment before fishing his Batarang out of his pocket. He stared at it intently for a few seconds. "You don't think..." He stopped and shook his head, putting his Batarang back into his pocket.
John and Mason realized what Robert had been thinking about, and were suddenly more aware of the Cloak of Invisibility and Freddy's glove.
"Anyway," Robert said. "We can't just leave him lying here, it would give the inhabitants of the forest a chance to gobble him up. As much as I don't like the guy I don't want to see him become some creature's lunch." He thought for a minute. "John, how about you put his body up in the branches of that tree we banged his head against."
John looked at the tree, then Flash, and then he shrugged. "Alright, just give me a second." He slung the unconscious pony over his shoulder and started climbing up the tree. After reaching a decent height, John laid Flash down among a group of thick branches.
John dropped down and turned to Mason and Robert. "Alright then, let's continue our journey under the cloak. With all the guards walking around, I'd say staying out of sight would be the best option."
The group of three got back under the Invisibility Cloak and continued their search for Zecora.
(45 minutes later...)
"Avoid the blue flowers! Avoid the blue flowers!" Robert said frantically, stopping them before they could walk into the patch of poison joke.
"Why?" Mason asked. "How can a flower hurt us?"
"It's called poison joke. On contact with living things it alters their body in a humorous, yet embarrassing and inconvenient. Trust me, it's worse than it sounds. Let's go around it."
They went around the patch of mystic flowers and kept walking, coming across a thick fog soon after.
"What's up with this fog? Why's it in the middle of a forest when it hasn't even rained in the past few days?" Mason said.
Robert smiled. "I think we're close, let's push on."
They pressed onward, walking through the thick fog that stretched on for what seemed like a mile to them, but was a quarter of a mile in reality. Once they were finally past it, they saw a small wooden hut, surrounded by wooden masks that looked to be African in design.
"Boys, we're here," Robert said happily, walking out from under the cloak. "You can put the cloak back in the bag now."
"This place sure looks strange," John said, stuffing the cloak back into his backpack.
"Has anything been normal in this place?" Mason commented.
"Touche'," John said.
"Alright guys, I'm going to talk to Zecora. Don't try to hurt her unless she tries to slit my throat or something," Robert said, leading them over to the front door.
Mason flexed his bladed hand. "Got it."
John cracked his knuckles. "Got it."
Satisfied with their responses, Robert knocked on the door.
Zecora was preparing a pot of stew for lunch when she heard Robert knocking on the door.
"Who could that possibly be? I never have visitors," she thought.
She walked over to a small closet and got a sturdy iron rod from it.
"Can't be too careful, it might be another pony trying to drive me out of my home." She held the rod firmly in her teeth as she approached the door. She took a deep breath and opened the door.
"H-hello miss. We're in a bit of a bind, would you mind helping us out if you can?" Robert said as soon as she had opened the door.
Zecora's jaw dropped, the rod falling to the floor. Her eyes darted back and forth between the three; creatures unlike anything she had ever seen before.
Realizing that Zecora wasn't going to respond immediately, Robert continued. "We woke up in this forest a few days ago with no idea as to how we got here, or where we were. We wandered around the forest for a while before encountering residents of Ponyville that were exploring the forest. I tried to explain the situation to them several times, but one of them mistook us for monsters and attacked us. We acted in self-defense and accidentally gave one of them an injury. This pony just so happened to be the student of Princess Celestia, and now the royal guard is coming after us. We have been looking for a place to stay ever since, avoiding the various monsters that tried to eat us. We just now stumbled upon your cabin, and were wondering if we could stay here for a little while?"
Zecora stared at Mason's glove, its blades glistening menacingly in what little sunlight penetrated through the trees.
"We could even help you out the best we can if you say yes," Robert added, hoping with all of his might that Zecora would be kind enough to let them stay.
After getting over the initial shock of seeing three creatures that she had never even heard of, and hearing them SPEAK, she mulled over their words.
"The littlest one seems sincere, I don't see any malicious intent in his eyes. The two bigger ones unnerve me, especially with that bladed weapon, but I don't think they'll attack me unless I hurt the small one. They must be friends if they're willing to protect each other," she thought. "They're in a lot of trouble with the ponies. If news about them spread over the course of several days, then the ponies must really dislike them, all because of a misunderstanding. ...They're a lot like me." Zecora thought about it for a minute before reaching a decision.
"Before I decide, how about you three come inside and have some soup? I just finished making it," she said.
All three of them nodded rapidly and shuffled inside quickly, getting a chuckle out of the zebra.
As soon as her back was turned, Robert looked at her oddly. "She didn't even rhyme..."
. . . 30 minutes later
"So the residents of Ponyville have refused to sell you anything, shut themselves inside their houses when you come, call you a witch, and have even shown up at your door and told you to leave, just because you're different?" Mason asked, gripping the table in anger.
Zecora nodded.
"Wow," he continued, "we have the excuse of not being from this world, but they reject you just because of your different appearance and fashion choices? Man, ponies are racist."
She laughed and said, "I am sure that not all ponies are like that, but I have yet to meet somepony who doesn't think I'm a witch."
"Well, I'm sure that you'll meet somepony like that someday. But until then, you're stuck in the rejects group." Robert said with a laugh.
Zecora stood up and set her empty bowl down. "After having this discussion, I have reached a decision. You can stay."
Robert, Mason, and John all looked up at her in surprise.
"We can stay?" asked Mason.
She nodded. "Yes."
"I honestly thought it would be harder than that to convince you to let us stay," said Robert.
"What can I say? You three remind me of myself."
"Thank you. You know, you kind of remind me of my mom, always too kind and generous for you're own good." said Robert. "But it still freaks me out that you aren't rhyming."
"Thank you. Now I'm off to collect some herbs and berries. Stay put and try not to break anything. And remember what I said about the floorboards," she said, putting her hooded cloak on.
"Okay Zecora, we'll keep that in mind," Robert said.
Zecora opened the door and walked out. "It's feels nice to finally have friends in this place."
Princess Celestia frowned as she read the Canterlot newspaper, The Equestria Daily.
Proof that Monsters of Everfree summoned by Nightmare Moon!
After the personal student of Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle, and five other mares were attacked by previously unknown sentient creatures, now commonly referred to as ‘The Monsters of Everfree’ in the infamous forest of the same name, the aforementioned Princess sent a total of 150 guards into the dank, dark woods to apprehend them. Since the group of mares that were attacked became the bearers of the legendary Elements of Harmony, the creatures have become an even greater focus for public concern, leaving many ponies speculating. Among one of the more frequently floated about queries is, ‘Could they have been summoned by Nightmare Moon to kill the Element bearers?’ Recent findings of the guards supports an affirmative answer.
Private Flash Sentry, a rookie amongst the guardsponies combing through the Everfree Forest, was found unconscious and high up in a tree after he mysteriously disappeared from his patrol unit of seven. Upon thorough questioning by his superiors after he was sent to Ponyville Hospital for examination, he revealed that the creatures dragged him away and interrogated him before knocking him out and placing him in said tree.
However, though he couldn’t get in a good hit for Equestria upon their hideous, diamond-dog like forms, the good private was able to uncover a crucial piece of information in support of the theory that all three of the Monsters of Everfree were spawned pawns of Princess Luna’s evil half.
One of the creatures asked him if Ms. Sparkle was alright.
Now, while this factoid may seem a bit innocuous to the average reader, consider the context. Given the violent, dangerous nature of the beast, it might as well have asked if it had finished the job it had started by forever impairing Ms. Sparkle’s eyesight and had successfully completed its task to dispose of her. After all, if it was not summoned here for murderous purposes, why would it care enough as to Ms. Sparkle’s condition as to risk the wrath of the guard?
Now, many of you are no doubt wondering why, considering its vile, evil nature, it left Private Sentry alive upon discovering its failure.
To that, dear readers, I say that we can only speculate, at present.
What can no longer be mere speculation, however, is the now undeniable truth that Nightmare Moon was responsible for these creatures and the proceeding logic that the Monsters of Everfree must be either captured or put down before they can wreak further havoc upon our fair nation.
"Sister?"
Celestia looked up at Luna, who was sitting across from her. "Yes, Lulu?"
"I'm fine, Luna. It's just that I have a lot on my plate."
"We are guessing that your frustrations have something to do with that newspaper?"
"You'd be correct. Here, take a look." Celestia levitated the newspaper over to Luna, who pulled it out of her sister's magical grasp and started reading. By the time she had finished, she had a similar frown adorned on her muzzle.
"We assume that this article is referring to the beasts that harmed the six mares that purified us?" Luna asked.
"Yes. Now, not only have they harmed my student, but they have managed to evade some of my best guards. Day Court is going to be a nightmare. I’ll have to contend with the nobles pestering me about petty matters as well as many of my subjects coming to ask me about these mysterious creatures," Celestia answered.
"We do not remember summoning them, but we would not doubt it if our evil self did such a thing. If you wish, we can enter their dreams and find out where and what they are."
"Luna, you and I both know that you aren't strong enough for that yet. Even so, that won't be necessary. We ourselves do not need to get involved unless these three prove to be a threat to our nation, no matter what the press thinks of them. Unless that happens, let the guards perform their duties in Everfree."
"Of course. We will respect thy judgment." Luna let out a loud yawn.
Celestia giggled. "It sounds like you're ready for bed, Lulu. You should go on and get some rest."
"Alright, Celly. See you at dinner." Luna stood up and exited the dining hall.
Once Luna was gone, Celestia stood up and teleported to her personal study. She levitated a quill and parchment over and wrote a letter to Twilight. She sent the letter to her and walked out. 'It's time to get ready for Day Court. Oh joy.'
Twilight opened her one eye and let out a yawn. She got out of bed and looked at herself in her bedside mirror. She saw that her mane and tail were a bit messy and quickly brushed them into her normal style. Once she was done, she put the brush down and examined herself one more time. Even though her appearance was mostly normal, her eye was inevitably drawn to the one abnormality gracing her features: the eyepatch.
After the Mane Six returned from the battle against Nightmare Moon, Twilight was rushed to the hospital to have her eye treated. The doctors did all they could, but they were unable to save it and had to remove it from its socket. So, they gave her a purple eyepatch to match the color of her coat until they found a more permanent solution. IF, they could find one.
When the doctors had announced that she would never see out of that eye again, Rainbow Dash and Applejack had immediately offered to go into the forest and beat the living daylights out of their assailants, and Spike, ever her number assistant, had offered to burn the forest down. Twilight had been touched to know that her new friends and her old one cared about her so much.
But, as she continued looking at the mirror, Twilight could only scowl as her now single eye rested upon the eyepatch. Everytime she saw it, she was reminded of the three humans they encountered in the forest. Especially the one that gave her the injury.
“I can't wait until he and his friends are caught. Once that happens, we'll pay them back for what they've done. Oh, will we pay them back. And, after they've served their terrible, terrible sentence, maybe the Princess will let me study them, painfully! Maybe even through dissection! Yay!'” Twilight smiled at the thought of all the information she could gather from them, her spirits suddenly rising like a phoenix from the ashes of its former body.
She walked downstairs and looked around at her library. "I haven't been here since Pinkie's party. I better fix this place up! The books need to be rearranged and breakfast needs to be made. And I also need to cram in as much studies on magic as possible during my free time. Hmm... Spike can help me!"
"SPIKE! WAKE UP!" Twilight shouted.
"*Yawn* I'm coming, Twilight!" Spike answered. Twilight smiled at the sight of her number one assistant waddling down the stairs.
"Yes, Twilight?" Spike asked.
"I need you to cook breakfast, and once you've finished with that, I need you to rearrange all of the books. Can you do it?"
Spike groaned and said, "Yes, Twilight."
Twilight grinned and pulled one of her books about spellcasting off one of the shelves. She faintly heard Spike walk into the kitchen to make breakfast while she practiced some of the beginner spells in said voluminous tome, ‘A guide to Offensive Spell Casting.’ She was reading up on piercing spells when Spike ran back into the main room with breakfast in his claws.
"Here you go, Twilight," Spike said.
"Thanks," Twilight responded, not looking up at the young drake. She quickly ate the pancakes that Spike made for her and dove back into the book. "Let's see… the key to casting a proper piercing spell is-"
"Twilight!" Spike shouted.
Twilight looked up from her book. "Yes?"
"You stayed up to read off the spells in that book since you came back from the hospital yesterday! You need to take a break! You haven't been involved with your friends since we had to sort out that the incident with the Gala tickets yesterday, and that wasn't a pleasant visit. You’ve barely just got here, so don't go right back to reading books, go out and make some friends!" Spike said, concerned for his caretaker/sister.
"*Sigh* You're right, Spike. I'll finish learning this piercing spell later." Twilight slowly closed the spell book.
"That's another thing: why are you always trying to learn offensive spells now? It doesn't have anything to do with that creature that took your eye out, does it?"
"Pretty observant today, aren't we?" she joked. "But yes, that's exactly why I've been studying so hard lately. I just want to be ready in case we encounter them again." Her expression turned distant, and then steely. “I want to be really, REALLY ready.”
"C'mon, Twilight! Princess Celestia sent a bunch of her best guards into the Everfree forest to get them. You yourself said that the only reason they beat you was because one of them got the party cannon and then cheated by hitting your eye. These guys won't have a cannon this time, so they'll be locked up soon enough."
"I don't know, Spike. It's been a full day since they went in there."
"Oh, stop worrying. I'm sure it's just because they had a hard time finding them. I'm willing to bet that we'll hear news of them today and then you can stop worrying about studying offensive spells."
As if on cue to Spike's words, a loud knocking was heard at the door.
"I'll get it,” Twilight said, walking over and opening the front door. Standing there was a familiar grey mailmare. "Good morning Derpy," Twilight greeted.
"Good morning to you too miss Twilight! Here's your mail!" Derpy said cheerfully.
"Thank you, Derpy," she said, taking the day’s mail from her.
"Sorry about your eye. Here, have a muffin." The grey Pegasus pulled a chocolate chip muffin out of nowhere and handed it to Twilight.
"Thank you, Derpy. I appreciate it." Twilight took the muffin from her and shut the door. She walked over to the couch and examined what had come. "Just some junk mail and today's edition of The Equestria Daily."
She threw away the junk mail and sat down to read the paper. As she read on, a frown slowly worked its way onto her face. "Hey Spike?"
"Yes?" he answered, putting down some of the books he was getting ready to rearrange.
"You were right. News about the guards Celestia sent is in this morning's paper." She levitated the newspaper over to him.
"Heh. See, Twilight? No need to worry about..." Spike trailed off as he got to reading. "Oh. Forget I said anything."
"See, Spike? These things are a threat and they need to be treated with as much extreme prejudice as is ponyly possible. Spike, take a letter.” Twilight stopped to clear her throat before saying. “Dear Princess Celestia-"
However, Twilight was interrupted by Spike letting out a loud belch, signaling that the Princess had just sent a letter.
"It's a letter from the Princess!" Spike exclaimed.
Twilight took the scroll from him with her magic and read it aloud:
My faithful student,
As you probably already know, the guards I sent to apprehend the Monsters of Everfree have had a rather difficult time and the creatures appear to have strange powers at their disposal.
But fear not: those "monsters" will soon be dealt with. Keep up with your studies on the magic of friendship.
Your mentor, Princess Celestia.
"See? Princess Celestia herself said those monsters don't stand a chance!" Spike said.
"Alright, alright! I'll take a day or two off! But I think I'm going to go visit the guard that was attacked, at the hospital first," Twilight said.
"Alright, but remember what the princess said about the magic of friendship. Go make some friends once you've finished with that."
"Yes, I remember," Twilight said in a slightly exasperated voice. "Oh! You can go do whatever you like when you finish your chores."
"Could I go visit Rarity?" Spike asked with wide eyes.
Twilight frowned a tiny bit. "Of course you can, but why don't you spend time with somepony other than Rarity?"
Spike looked at Twilight as if she had gone insane. "Who else would I rather spend time with than the prettiest unicorn in the world?"
"Ummm… maybe you should hang out with someone your age? You're only thirteen after all. I remember that Applejack has a little sister that looks to be around your age. Applebloom, I think? I also remember hearing from Rarity that she had a sister around Applebloom's age. You could go play with one of them. You know, make new friends?" Twilight hoped that he would listen to her. While she found the whole 'crush on Rarity' thing cute, she realized that her number one assistant/little brother might end up having his heart broken if he continued going after Rarity.
"...Fine. I'll hang out with one of them, but I'm still going to hang out with Rarity first!" Spike said.
"Alright, Casanova. Just don't make her swoon too hard while you're there. She might faint in the middle of making a dress," Twilight joked as she attempted to wink, only to remember with immense frustration that she could not wink with one eye and recall the immense fury she had reserved for the creatures.
Spike smirked, joining in on the joke. "It'll be a little difficult to reign in my swagger, but I'll try not to make Rarity swoon too much."
Twilight chuckled. "Alright, Spike. See you later!"
"Bye, Twilight!" Spike said as the lavender unicorn walked out of the library. Once the door was shut, Spike went over to the ladder so that he could begin rearranging, but then he felt a familiar burning sensation coming up his throat.
He turned his head away from the books and belched a green flame which turned into a rolled up piece of parchment. He opened up the letter and read it.
Dear Spike,
We haven't been able to talk with all of this monster business happening, so I will task you with a friendship report every week like Twilight. So tell me, how has my favorite little dragon been doing?
From, Celestia.
Spike smiled softly. The books could wait. He had a letter to reply to.
"Well, I'm sure Sweetie Belle would be thrilled to play with Spike! I'll be sure to arrange some time for them to bond. It would certainly save me the trouble of finding something for Sweetie Belle to do," Rarity replied, eager to help her new friend out.
"Thank you, Rarity. I just want Spike to make friends with fillies and colts his age," Twilight said.
"I completely understand, darling. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have lots of work to make up."
Rarity shut the door and Twilight went on her way.
It was a beautiful day. Celestia's sun shone brightly, Rainbow Dash was clearing up the clouds, and many of the town's residents were out and about. But there was also a certain change in Ponyville's atmosphere. Many of the residents were reading today's newspaper, occasionally eyeing the Everfree Forest out of the corners of their eyes. The normally happy atmosphere had been replaced by one of tension and fear.
"Everyone knows that there are monsters in Everfree. It's practically a given in this town, like grass being green or the sky being blue, but everypony has been even more afraid of the forest, lately. First Nightmare Moon, and now this? I can't wait for this whole ordeal to be over," Twilight thought as she walked down the path to the hospital.
After a ten minute walk, she arrived at said hospital and went inside.
"Hello," she said to the stallion at the front desk. "I believe that a member of the royal guard was brought here last night to be examined?"
"Of course. He's in room number 256 if you'd like to meet him."
Twilight nodded. "Thank you for your help."
"You're welcome," he mumbled.
Twilight walked down the main hallway until she reached the door that led to the stairs. She walked up to the second floor and began searching for the correct room.
“Let's see. 254, 255, 256!” She entered the room, lightly knocking on the door to announce her presence. "Hello?"
Flash Sentry perked up at the sound of her voice. "Twilight Sparkle? Heh. I'm guessing you want to know about the Monsters of Everfree?"
She smiled. "Yes, sir. I would like to know all the information you have about them."
"Did you read this morning's issue of the Equestria Daily?" Flash asked.
"Yes," Twilight answered.
"Well then, I don’t have much to add. The monsters are nimble and fast, all of their moves are planned, and they work perfectly together. I heard nothing but malice in the voice of the one that questioned me. And if any of that wasn't bad enough, they're also intelligent like us. After the little encounter I had with them, I kinda wonder who's hunting who." Flash sighed, laying back down on his pillow.
Twilight nodded grimly, taking the information to heart. "I hate to think of what they could possibly be doing right now."
Meanwhile, in the Everfree Forest...
John sat on Zecora's pony sized bed, waiting for her to return.
John looked around at the other two, seeing Mason looking at the masks that adorned the house's walls and Robert reading a book.
"Hey Robert, what're you reading?" John asked, breaking the silence.
"It's a book called 'Supernaturals.' Despite what the title implies, this book is actually about herbs and medicine," Robert replied, showing John the book's cover.
"I didn't know you were into that kind of stuff," John said.
"I'm not. The only reason I'm reading this is because I'm bored. But this book does give me several ideas."
"Ideas? What ideas do you have?" Mason asked, turning to face Robert.
Robert walked closer to them. "Well the idea is- WOAH!" *splash*
Right before Robert could explain what he had come up with, he had tripped on a crack in the floor, tipping over the cauldron as he tumbled to the floor.
"Crap! There was still some soup in there!" Robert said as he got back to his feet. When the cauldron tipped over, the remaining soup had spilled out onto the ground.
"We should probably clean this mess up," Mason said, standing up to help.
"Yeah, let's get this up. Are there any paper towels around here?" John asked.
Back in Ponyville...
A chill ran down Twilight's spine at the thought of all the horrific things they could be up to.
"Is there anything else you'd like to ask?" Flash asked.
"No, sir."
"In that case, I'd like to get a nap in before they release me. I didn't get much sleep last night."
"Okay, well, thank you for your time. Get well soon!" Twilight said as she exited the room. "Well, that was certainly informative. I now have a better idea of what we're up against. I hope the guards the princess sent succeed. If not, then we might have to use the Elements on them, and I won’t be able to study them!"
Twilight walked out of the hospital and onto the streets of Ponyville. "Now, I think I'll see what Fluttershy is up to."
"As strange as these new visitors are, I am glad that I can finally have somepony to talk to. It can get so lonely out here," Zecora thought to herself as she picked some of the herbs she needed.
Her ears perked up at the sound of approaching hoofsteps. She couldn't discern how many ponies were approaching, but she guessed that there were at least ten on the approach.
"I can't have anypony finding me! Not while the humans are still at my cabin," she thought.
Zecora closed her eyes and reached out with her mind. The thick fog that hid her cabin from any prying eyes closed in on her, surrounding her and the area around her with thick fog while still keeping her vision unobscured.
"Ugh! What is up with this fog?!" one of the guards exclaimed.
"I don't know. Pegasi! Get rid of this fog!" another guard commanded. The pegasi in the unit began flapping their wings in an attempt to dispel the fog, but all they could do was blow it back several feet before it closed in on them again when they stopped to take a break.
While the guards were still attempting to blow the fog away, Zecora pulled out a small knife and cut a large symbol into the ground. Once she was sure that she had gotten the symbol right, she once again reached out with her mind and moved the fog away from the guards, creating a narrow tunnel of fog that led directly to her trap. She of course kept the ground obscured so the symbol would remain hidden from their sight.
The unit of ten was now thoroughly freaked out, but after mustering up their courage, they hesitantly marched forward. Zecora watched just out of their sight as they crept closer and closer to the symbol, just like she wanted them to.
"Closer, closer, and… got them!" Zecora thought. As soon as the guards had stepped hoof on the symbol, they had been surrounded by a faint red glow. Their eyes glossed over and they stood completely still, helpless against the effects of her Hypno Rune.
Zecora put her hood up and stepped into their line of sight, knowing that they were under her command now. She looked to the stallion who appeared to be in charge and spoke. "You will tell your superiors that there was nothing in this area."
The stallion nodded slowly, going as far as to salute to her as if SHE was his commanding officer.
"All of you will never return to this area of the forest, and you will do everything in your power to make sure that your fellow officers don't come here either," Zecora continued. The entire group nodded. "If any of you see the creatures you have been ordered to pursue, then you will let them go. And finally, you will attempt to convince others of the truth: that my human friends are not evil. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, ma'am!" the unit said in one clear voice.
"Then go, and fulfill your orders!"
Without any hesitation, the guardsponies turned around and walked away, going to report that nothing had been found in their assigned area.
Zecora removed her hood and trotted back to her cabin, clearing all of the fog around her so that she could find her way back without trouble. When she got back, she went inside to tell her friends the situation, only to see the three of them attempting to clean up a large puddle of soup on the floor.
The three of them looked like deer trapped in a pair of headlights, ashamed that they had been caught making a mess on the first full day of their stay.
Robert spoke. "I'm sorry, Zecora, it was an accident. I just tripped and-"
"While I'm frustrated that you made a mess, we have a bigger concern right now," she said, closing the front door behind her.
"And what would that be?" Robert asked warily.
"While I was collecting the necessary herbs that I will need to make medicine in the future, I was nearly caught by guards that were searching for you three."
All three of the humans were now on their feet, ready to fight if the need would arise.
"Oh, don't worry. I took care of them by luring them over a Hypno Rune," Zecora explained.
"Lured them over a what?" Robert inquired, much to the surprise of John and Mason, who had thought Robert already knew what she was talking about.
"Oh! I'm sorry! Of course you three wouldn't know about Rune Magic. If many Equestrians don't know about it, then why would three beings from another world know about it?" Zecora mused.
Robert stared at her, his face devoid of all emotion. "Rune Magic?"
"It is a type of magic that was developed thousands of years ago by an old unicorn mage. Very few still know the ancient art of Rune Magic. I would not know it myself if the people of my village had not passed it down to my generation."
Robert began rubbing his temples, frustration evident on his face. "And how does Rune Magic work exactly?"
"W-Well one simply has to mark one of the many known arcane symbols onto a solid object. If you get the symbol correct, and you know what the effects are, then it will work," Zecora said, confused by Robert's apparent frustration.
"Are the Runes themselves magical or is it's effectiveness dependent on the magic of the user?" Robert asked, still rubbing his temples.
"Both. An earth pony could use a certain type of rune, but it wouldn't be as effective as a mage's rune would be. But may I ask why you are so frustrated?" Zecora asked, worried and utterly confused by the actions of the teenager.
"Just… answer one more question and I'll give you an answer," Robert murmured, looking up at Zecora.
"Alright?" Zecora curiously said.
"What did that… Hypno Rune do to the guards?"
"It hypnotized them. The Hypno Rune puts those with weaker willpower than the user under the user's control. Now, why are you so frustrated?" Zecora asked.
"I'm just… frustrated that you almost got caught. Try to be careful next time you go looking for herbs," Robert lied.
Zecora stared at him for a minute, not sure if she should believe him or not. "... Okay. I'll be careful," she eventually said, still suspicious of Robert. "I've got to take care of something. I'll get to treating your wounds once I'm done." Zecora pulled the curtains on her windows closed before she walked out of the cabin and shut the door behind her.
"Spill it, Robert. John and I could both tell you were lying to Zecora. Tell us the truth. What's got you so frustrated?" Mason asked.
Robert sighed. "I'm frustrated because of the Rune Magic."
"Why?" John asked.
"Because it's not supposed to exist!" Robert suddenly snapped. "I've watched five seasons of the show and Rune Magic was not a real thing in any of them! It wasn't even mentioned!"
"So you're saying that Rune Magic didn't exist in the show. So what?" Mason said with a shrug.
Robert whipped his head over to Mason so fast that they were worried the younger boy had gotten whiplash. "So what?! SO WHAT?! Do you have any idea what this could mean?! If one thing about this universe is different then who knows what else could be different! What if Twilight turns evil in this universe?!" Robert began panicking.
"Robert," Mason said, slightly raising his voice.
"What if Tirek escaped early on and kills us all in this universe?!"
"Robert," John said, trying to get Robert to stop freaking out.
"What if Discord wins and turns the three of us into-"
"Snap out of it!" Mason commanded as he punched Robert in the stomach. Robert fell to the floor, clutching his stomach as he tried to remember how to breath after having the breath knocked out of him.
"What the heck was that for, Mason?!" John sternly asked, surprised that Mason had punched their new companion.
"He was starting to panic, so I snapped him out of it," Mason explained.
"Well you didn't have to punch him!" John exclaimed.
"That's true, but the only other way to snap him out of it would be to yell at him, and yelling might attract unwanted attention," Mason stated.
"He's right," Robert wheezed as he stood up, grimacing at the pain his injured leg caused him. "I was worrying so much about what could happen that I began to freak out, which is something that’s happened to me from time to time. Thanks for snapping me out of it, even if your method of doing so was rather painful."
"You're welcome. Now how about you go back to reading that book you had earlier?" Mason suggested.
Robert slowly nodded. "Yeah… I think I will."
. . .
Zecora reached the circle of runes she had hidden around her house when she had first built it and stepped back, getting ready to create a new layer of runes to her defense. She clenched the knife in her teeth as she carefully cut a Hypno Rune into the ground.
Once she was finished, she dropped the knife and spoke. "I command that any royal guard that steps on this rune must fulfill three orders: they must report that there was nothing here, they must try to prevent other guards from coming here, and they must let the humans go if they are seen."
The Hypno Rune glowed, indicating that her rune was ready to activate. Zecora briefly considered commanding the guards to try and convince others that her friends were innocent, but realized that too many advocates might rouse suspicion.
Satisfied with her work, Zecora stepped to the side and began making another Hypno Rune.
After thirty minutes of creating symbols and issuing commands, she was finally done creating a circle of Hypno Runes around the house. She admired her work and went back inside, locking the front door behind her.
"Alright, my friends, give me a moment to prepare my medicine, then I'll treat your wounds. I regret that it took until today, but I had to brew some of the medicine I'll be using," Zecora said. She set her saddlebags that were filled with herbs down on the table before going over to a wooden cabinet. She opened it, revealing lots and lots of medicine.
"Who would like to be treated first?" Zecora asked.
"You go first, Mason. You got the worst injury out of the three of us," Robert said to Mason. The older man nodded and got to his feet, removing the makeshift bandage from his shoulder.
Zecora pulled a chair up beside her and pointed to it. "Sit here, please."
Mason sat down in the chair, letting Zecora examine the puncture wound.
"Did it puncture any bone?" she asked.
Mason shook his head. "No, it only pierced skin and muscle."
"How much did it bleed?"
"I think the bleeding stopped when the sun finally came back up on the first day. Is that right, guys?" Mason looked over at the other two for confirmation. They nodded their heads. "Yeah, I felt really light-headed that day."
Zecora frowned at his answer. "And you said that this injury was caused by a needle that was thrown at you?"
"Yes."
Zecora went over to her cabinet and pulled down two large bottles, a roll of gauze, and a small vial of green liquid. "While your wound is deep, it does not appear to be infected, which will make this much easier to treat." She opened the vial and gave it to Mason. "Drink it," she told him.
Mason drank the liquid without question, grimacing at its bitter taste. "Blech! That stuff was bitter!" Mason said as he began coughing.
"I know it's bitter, but trust me, that will help your body heal faster," Zecora said as she opened a large bottle and dumped a pill onto her waiting hoof. "Now swallow this, it will ease your pain."
Mason took the pill, and managed to swallow it with a bit of difficulty.
"I'm sorry I don't have any water that you could have swallowed with that, but I'm fresh out. I was going to get some at the river while I gathered herbs, but I wanted to get back to you as soon as possible after the confrontation with the guards," Zecora remorsefully said.
"I'll be fine, Zecora. It's only one pill," Mason said after he had finally gotten over the bitter taste of the medicine.
Zecora smiled at him. "Don't worry, I'll go get some water after I am done treating you and Robert." She opened the second bottle and prepared to pour it on the wound. "This will keep your wound from getting infected. It will sting a bit when I pour it on."
"I got stabbed by a sewing needle, I don't think a little sting will bother me that much," Mason said with a smirk.
"Of course," Zecora responded before pouring a small bit of the bottle's contents onto the injury. Mason tensed up a little bit, but otherwise showed no signs of discomfort. Zecora then got the gauze and wrapped it around Mason's shoulder.
"Alright, we'll check on how it's doing tomorrow afternoon. Now then, let me treat Robert's injury," said Zecora. Mason stood up and went back to his seat on the couch and Robert took his place on the chair. He rolled up his pant leg and removed the makeshift bandage.
"Hmm..." She examined the wound for a few moments before getting another one of the pills. "The part that was bleeding has already scabbed over and it doesn't look to be infected either. Just take this pill and I'll put something on your leg that will help with the bruising."
Robert took the pill with about as much trouble as Mason did while Zecora pulled a medium-sized container off one of the shelves. She opened it up and gave it to Robert, who saw that the container was full of some kind of white paste.
"Apply some of that to the bruise and let it sink in. It will go away in no time," Zecora instructed.
Robert did as he was instructed and applied the paste to the big, fat bruise on his shin.
"Now, I will go and get some water from the nearby river. I'll be back in about five minutes. Remember what I told you to do if the guards come knocking," Zecora said. She put all of the medicine she had pulled out back into the cabinet.
"Yeah, we remember. If anyone knocks more than once, we get under the floorboards," John recited.
"Very good! Bye!" Zecora said as she went out the door with two buckets in her teeth. “Not that I think they’ll need it, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Maybe a pegasus would fly over the Runes?” she thought as she left.
Everyone went about their business after that. Mason laid down to take a nap, John pulled a random book off the shelf and started reading, and Robert picked up where he left off in Supernaturals.
Robert closed 'Supernaturals'. It had been about thirty minutes since the others had gone to sleep, so he decided it was high time that he got some shut-eye as well. And while he was amazed by all of the things he had learned about pony medicine, and wanted to know more, he knew that he couldn't just stay up all night and read. He put the book down on the table he had been sitting at and chose his place to sleep.
Since Mason had claimed a spare mattress and John had fallen asleep at the table where he had been reading, Robert decided that he would chose the couch as his place of slumber.
Before he laid down he looked over at Zecora, who had also fallen asleep at her place of work.
After Zecora had returned with the water, she had taken measurements of the three of them, telling them that she was going to: "Make new clothes for them that don't smell like dirt and sweat." That had managed to get a chuckle out of the normally serious Mason. Then again, Mason did seem to take a liking to Zecora when they got to talking. Mason might not have outwardly said it, but Robert could tell. He always had a knack for understanding people.
"Enough reminiscing. Time to go to bed," Robert said to himself, lying down and making himself comfortable on the couch. He closed his eyes and began to drift off, when one particular memory about the day before popped into his head.
"What was with me when I was talking to Flash? I don't like him that much, but I wouldn't act so harsh with someone I don't like!" He opened his eyes and sat up, then he reached into his pocket and pulled the Batarang out. He stared at it closely, trying to see if there was anything peculiar about it that he hadn't noticed before. "The way I acted yesterday was a lot like… Batman." He examined the Batarang for a moment more before he set it on the ground. "Well, no matter the reason why I acted the way I did, I'm guessing it didn't earn me any points with the ponies." Robert frowned at that thought, which led him to reminisce over the other misfortunes that had fallen upon him.
"I really screwed up, didn't I?" Robert thought somberly. "If I had spoken up just a bit sooner, if I didn't trip over that stupid root… we might have not gotten ourselves into this mess." Robert sighed and looked up at the ceiling, almost like he was looking for something. "What would you have me do, Dad?" he thought before he closed his eyes and finally went to sleep.
John found himself in a dark room with an old wooden door directly in front of him. Without a moment's hesitation, he stepped forward and opened it.
The room he found himself in after passing through the threshold was one of extreme familiarity. A stone staircase lined with torches led the way down to a large mirror with an ornate design carved into the borders… and what appeared to be golden, clawed feet. An inscription was written along the top: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on woshi .
He walked down the staircase until he stood directly in front of the strange mirror. Looking into it, he saw himself, happy and successful, with a beautiful woman and two smiling children standing by his side.
John immediately realized what mirror this was. "This is the Mirror of Erised," he thought, transfixed by his greatest desire: a loving family and a peaceful life.
"Like what you see, John?" asked a voice from behind him.
John's eyes widened. "That voice!" He slowly turned around, finding himself face-to-face with the person he had idolized since childhood.
"H-Harry Potter?!" John stuttered, not believing his eyes.
The Boy who Lived smirked playfully. "The one and only. Sorry if you're disappointed. Would you rather have met Ron instead?"
"N-No! I'm not disappointed at all! I'm excited to actually meet you," John exclaimed, feeling a wave of nostalgia hit him as all the fond memories of staying up all night to read the Harry Potter books with a flashlight under the covers as a child came rushing back to him.
Harry's smile fell ever so slightly. "I hate to ruin your excitement, but this is most likely the last time you and I will chat face-to-face."
John's face fell. "Oh," he muttered.
Harry frowned. "Yeah, this is all a dream."
"But then, why does it feel so... real?" John asked, hoping against hope that it was not a dream that he found himself in.
"It's... hard to explain. To put it in simple terms, this is the point in time in which you would have taken up my role here in Equestria," Harry said.
"What? Your role? What are you talking about?" John asked in confusion.
"I'm talking about the merchant and the fact that you were sent to your own little version of Equestria. The thing is, you were supposed to have been wearing a Harry Potter costume when you bought that cloak. If you had, then you would have been sent here as The Boy who Lived," Harry explained.
"Sent here as... you?" John questioned, even more confused now than before.
"Yes. But for some reason, you and the other two you're here with didn't wear the costumes you were destined to wear. You were supposed to be me, Mason was supposed to have been Freddy Krueger, and Robert was destined to become Batman. But for some odd reason, none of you did. Heh, maybe this proves destiny really isn't set in stone," Harry mused, looking into the mirror.
"W-What? But how is this even possible? How are you even here and talking to me?" John asked.
"To be honest, I don't know. But what I do know is that your stay in Equestria is about to change drastically. Things are going to get difficult quickly, but don't worry, you and your friends aren't going to remain ordinary humans for long."
"What do you mean?"
Harry gave John a knowing smile. "Let's just say that magic works differently in this Equestria."
Harry then turned his head upwards. "Looks like our time is up. So long!"
"Wait!" John shouted, but Harry had disappeared. "Please! I have so many questions!"
John's eyes flew open. His vision was blurred, his head hurt, and he felt a strange sensation in his body. He looked around wildly, then his vision cleared up and he calmed down at the sight of the cabin he had fallen asleep in. He relaxed, letting his heart rate go slowly back down.
Once he had recovered, he sat up and looked around. Zecora's bed was empty, the zebra herself preparing breakfast, apparently. He faintly heard her saying something about toast.
A brief glance around the room revealed that Robert and Mason were still fast asleep.
"Good morning, John," Zecora greeted, finally noticing that John was no longer asleep.
"Oh, good morning, Zecora," John slurred, for he was still tired after abruptly waking up from his dream.
Zecora looked John over, a frown appearing on her muzzle. "Are you alright? You look slightly startled."
"I'm alright. I just had a strange dream last night," John explained as he stood up and stretched.
"So, what's for breakfast?"
Zecora carefully picked up a plate and showed John what was on it: four pieces of toast, all covered in some kind of jelly. "I'm sorry it isn't much, but I am running out of food. I have been having to conserve rations for awhile now. I want to put off a trip to Ponyville as long as I can."
John mustered up a smile. While he was disappointed by the small breakfast, he certainly wasn't going to be angry. After hearing how the townsfolk treated her, he could understand why she wanted to put the trip into town off. "Don't worry about it, Zecora, I understand and I know that the other two will as well. Besides, I still have some fruit left that we can eat."
Zecora's eyes lit up. "Fruit? What kind?"
"Apples from Sweet Apple Acres. Would you like one?" John offered.
Zecora nodded. "Yes, please."
"Alright, let me grab one from the bag," John said. He found his backpack and pulled one of the big, juicy apples out. Zecora's eyes lit up at the sight of the apple.
John chuckled. "You must really want this apple."
"Yes, I do. It has been quite a while since I've had any fruit to eat and I hear that the apples from Sweet Apple Acres are some of the most delicious in the land. Tell me, are they as good as they say?" Zecora asked.
"I couldn't give you a proper judgement, but they're certainly better than any apple I've had before," said John.
With that, Zecora took the apple and began devouring it, relishing in its delicious taste. Meanwhile, John picked up one of the pieces of toast and bit into it. It was decent, not great, but not horrible either. John calmly took another bite while Zecora continued to rip apart the apple, sending bits of it falling to the floor and drops of juice flying out.
Zecora and John looked up from their apples when they heard a loud yawn coming from Mason, who was just now waking up. He wiped a drop of apple juice off of his cheek and sat up.
"What is that sound? It sounds like some kind of animal eating," Mason grumbled.
Zecora blushed and began to nibble her apple, slowly and neatly this time.
"Zecora... really liked the apple I gave her. Sorry about waking you up," John said, Zecora's blush deepening.
Mason glanced at all the pieces of the apple on the ground. "I can see that," he deadpanned.
"F-Forgive me. I have not had something so delicious in a long while. I'm sorry if I woke you up," Zecora apologized, taking a final bite of her apple, which was now an apple core.
"It's alright. I managed to get a good night's sleep before I was woken up. No big deal," Mason said as he stretched. "So, what's on today's agenda?"
"Well, I was planning on collecting some food and water from the forest later today, but I'll do that around nighttime when less guards will be around," Zecora explained.
"Sounds good. We'll go with you," John said as he handed Mason one of the pieces of toast.
"What? I cannot-" Zecora began to say before John interrupted.
"We're going with you. You think we're going to stay here while you go into the Everfree Forest at night? Nope, not happening."
"But I've gone out at night before!" Zecora argued.
"Well that was before we started living here," Mason remarked in between bites. Zecora opened her mouth to argue, but shut it after realizing that she would not be able to convince them to let her go alone.
‘I'm simply looking out for them when I tell them to stay here... Then again, they are also looking out for me. I've heard that friends look out for each other... It feels nice,’ she thought.
"You think we should wake Robert up?" Mason asked. The other two occupants of the room turned to look at the couch, where Robert was sprawled out, sleeping soundly.
"Nah, let him sleep. He's had to sleep in trees for the past couple days, so I think we should let him enjoy the couch for now," John answered.
Zecora nodded. “I agree, let the boy sleep for now. In the meantime, I’ll prepare the supplies for later today and then get back to work on the new clothes I’m making for you,” she said. “Give Robert his toast when he wakes up.”
When Zecora was out of earshot, Mason said, “I just realized something.”
“What?” John asked.
Mason pointed at the remaining piece of toast on the plate. “How did she toast that bread without a toaster?”
John opened his mouth, but he had no answer. Instead, he and Mason stood there for a good twenty minutes, pondering the question that would never be answered.
“Edible plants… a few herbs I might need in the future... all I need now is a little water for later,” Zecora said out loud.
‘More water? You got some yesterday,’ Mason whispered from under the Cloak of Invisibility.
Zecora glanced over her shoulder at the three humans trailing behind her. Though she could not see them, she certainly knew they were there. “Well now that you three are staying with me, it would definitely be wise to gather extra supplies,” she said in a hushed tone.
‘I suppose that makes sense,’ Mason muttered.
‘Zecora, are you sure there are no more guards around? It would look awfully suspicious to see a Zebra talking over her shoulder when nobody seems to be there,’ John whispered.
“Of course I’m sure. The predators of Everfree begin their prowl around this time and they know it. The guards are probably returning to their camps if they haven’t already. And don’t worry, you’re only here for my protection. ‘And maybe I can convince them that I’m a crazy pony who talks to herself if they catch me,’ she finished with a whisper so that nobody other than the three humans would hear it.
‘Well then you better be a pretty good actor,’ Mason commented.
“Alright, I’ve gotten to the stream,” Zecora said out loud, ignoring Mason’s last statement. ‘Would one of you mind filling the other bucket for me, I want to leave as much as you three do. So please help me so we can start heading back as soon as possible.’
‘Alright, let me take care of this,’ Mason whispered. He walked out from under the Invisibility Cloak and grabbed one of the buckets. He quickly helped Zecora and began making his way back to the Cloak when-
“Freeze!”
Mason turned around and saw a guard racing towards them from the other side of the creek.
“Crap! Let’s get out of here, maybe we can lose him in the woods!” Mason said, going back under the Cloak.
By this time, the guard had arrived at the creek. He hopped onto a large stone that was sticking out of the water in order to get to the side where they were, for he was an earth pony.
This, however, was a fatal mistake. Because that particular stone was alive, had just been woken up from its nap by the stallion on top of it…
… And was VERY hungry.
*SNAP*
It had happened so fast that it took the group of four a moment to process exactly what had happened. They probably wouldn’t have known what happened if it wasn’t sitting right in front of their faces. When they did realize what had happened to the clueless guard, they were stricken with absolute horror.
The limp legs of the lifeless guard were hanging out of the sharp-toothed mouth of a Cragadile, who was very pleased with its latest meal. It chewed on the bloody body a few times before swallowing.
The four of them were silent for a few moments, staring at the horrific scene before them, all of them barely managing to keep the toast they had eaten for breakfast down.
“Holy shit! It ate him!” Mason yelled, getting the attention of the still-hungry beast.
“... Fiddlesticks,” Robert uttered.
The four of them turned and ran, abandoning all caution as the Cragadile pulled itself out of the large creek to pursue the tasty looking creatures running away from it. John ran so fast that his hood came off, revealing his head to the outside world, as well as getting ahead of Robert, who was now revealed as well.
“How long will it take to get back to the cabin?!” John asked in between breaths, daring not to look over his shoulder to see how close their pursuer was.
“Since we are running, it should take us about two minutes!” Zecora answered.
But just as she said that, the tail of the Cragadile slammed them into a tree, knocking the wind out of them and even knocking Zecora unconscious. The Cragadile crept toward the trapped humans and zebra, licking its jagged teeth in anticipation for the upcoming feast.
“Oh shit, oh shit!” John said, his mind clouded by panic. Mason tried in vain to reach his bladed glove while Robert clenched his eyes shut, bracing himself for the end.
The Cragadile leaped at them, its jaws opened wide.
“NO!” John screamed, throwing his hands out in front of him. His hands briefly glowed with a bright yellow aura before an intense ball of yellow energy shot out of his hands. The ball of energy hit the Cragadile in the mouth, knocking it a few feet back and even knocking it unconscious.
Mason’s jaw dropped and the now open-eyed Robert was looking back and forth between the unconscious Cragadile and the now unconscious John.
“What the heck…?” Robert said in confusion. “Mason, what just happened?”
“I… I don’t know,” Mason answered. “John’s hands were surrounded by some kind of yellow aura... and then he shot some kind of yellow orb at it.”
Robert looked back at the Cragadile, seeing the effectiveness of John’s unintentional attack. “...Wow. Looks like John’s got some firepower.” Robert then recalled the events that had transpired. “That guard… it ate that guard,” Robert said sadly, lowering his head in mourning.
“Yeah,” Mason cringed as he responded. “I don’t particularly like the ponies, but I do wish his death wasn’t so… brutal.”
The sound of howls brought Mason to his shaky feet. “C’mon, Robert, we need to get back to the cabin before something else tries to eat us,” Mason said.
Robert was silent for a moment before he too stood up. “Okay. You grab John and I’ll grab Zecora.”
Robert picked up the unconscious zebra, while Mason picked up their bald human companion, along with his invisibility cloak.
“Alright, let’s get going,” Mason said in a hushed voice.
The still conscious humans hauled their unconscious friends in the direction they knew would lead them back to their cabin sanctuary.
Before they left, Robert took one final glance at the unconscious reptile, bowing his head in respect for the deceased guard.
“Rest in peace,” he whispered, before following Mason back to their home.
Mason and Robert stumbled inside the cabin door, Zecora and John dangling on their backs. They gently laid them down on whatever soft surface was available before shutting the door, locking it, and then turning all of the lights off.
After they had completed the task, the two of them just stood still, trying to take in all that had happened. After about two minutes, Mason felt his way over to the mattress and laid down, while Robert sat down with his back against the wall and put his head in his hands.
Robert began shaking, and within a few seconds, he was silently sobbing. He just couldn’t understand how things had gone so wrong. What should have been a dream come true had quickly turned into a nightmare. He goes to a convention with his family. Gets sucked into an alternate dimension. Encounters the main characters of one of his favorite shows. He and two others are mistaken for monsters. Tries to calm them down. Nothing he tries works. And he ends up seriously wounding the pony that was not only a character he himself had identified with due to her once having trouble making friends, but was also a crucial role in the survival of Equestria. And now an innocent stallion that was only doing his job was eaten alive!
Robert put his hands over his mouth in an attempt to muffle the sound of his sorrow. He didn’t want the others to worry about him. They all were going to have the military to deal with. No need to bother them with his problems. And so he continued to sit there, mourning not only the man who had died, but the happiness of his friends and family.
Mason, meanwhile, stared up at the ceiling. He heard Robert’s sobs, but he was frozen, unable to muster up the energy to go and comfort the obviously distressed teenager. He was too focused on what had just happened a short while ago. He bit his lip and clenched his fists as he tried so hard to focus on the events that had happened, or on what might happen in the future. Anything to get his mind away from the sickening sense of pleasure that Robert’s emotional turmoil brought to him.
“No! Your friend is breaking down, and I refuse to take pleasure from this like the other times! Just because I used to be cruel, I'm not like that anymore, you overcame it!” Mason thought. But try as he might, he could not deny his condition. He thought back to the night when they first arrived, when they fought the six colorful ponies in the clearing, how he had felt on top of the world every time his blades had cut into the blue and orange ones, how, even though he had spent years trying to hide it, he did nothing to ignore the elating sensation hurting others filled him with at that moment. And now, today, he could not ignore the incredible sensation he felt while listening to Robert’s emotional distress, even if he wasn’t the cause of it.
He really hated his mental condition.
Then, to his confusion, Robert went silent for a moment.
“... He’s already stopped? That doesn’t seem like him to let something like that go so quickly,” he thought. All was silent for a few tense moments, before Robert’s shaky voice cut through the silence like a knife.
“M-Mason? A-Are you awake?”
Mason wasn’t sure how to respond. He wasn’t sure what Robert wanted, but he figured that the distressed boy might want someone to talk to about the recent events. Unfortunately, he was in no condition to comfort his friend, as he was worried Robert’s emotional distress might further affect him. So, as much as it pained him, he opted to remain silent.
After no reply was given, he heard Robert get to his feet and silently walk over to the far right, where he remembered the kitchen area was.
“What is he doing?” Mason thought. Then he remembered that the backpack was lying on the counter over by the table. “Oh, he must be getting something from the backpack. Maybe it’s one of those weird fruits Zecora brought back yesterday.”
Despite his prediction, he did not hear the sound of the backpack being opened up. Instead, he heard stuff being moved around on the counter.
“What the heck is he looking for?” Mason thought.
It wasn’t long before Robert found what he was looking for, and the noise of things being moved around fell silent. Now, all Mason could hear was the heavy breathing of Robert. It remained like this for about ten seconds before he heard Robert begin to mutter something in a hushed tone, and began to lightly sob again. Mason heard the sound of something being set down. Silence reigned for a moment more, and then Robert was heard walking over to the couch, which was unoccupied. Robert sobbed a few more times before he fell silent, and it wasn’t long after that Mason heard the sound of deep breathing, indicating that he was asleep.
While Mason was confused by what had just happened, he decided he should follow Robert’s example and go to sleep. He shut his eyes and pushed his pleasure to the back of his mind, almost forgetting the sad truth of his condition as he drifted off.
Mason was, to put it lightly, confused. One second he was falling asleep inside the cabin, and now he was standing in some kind of weird boiler room.
“Why does this place seem so… familiar?”
The sound of scraping metal from directly behind him interrupted his thoughts. He spun around, but saw nothing.
Mason began to feel nervous as he began to realize just where he had seen this boiler room before.
“Um, hello? Is anyone here?” he called out.
“One, two, Freddy’s coming for you…”
Mason froze in fear. He knew that song, and he knew that he was in big trouble.
“Three, four, better lock your door…”
This time, the sound of scraping metal was heard behind him. Right behind him.
He bolted, running as fast as he could, even if it was pointless. But the further he ran, the louder the sound became, and the closer it got to him.
“Five, six, grab your crucifix…”
Mason sped up as a familiar laugh echoed off the metallic walls.
“Seven, eight, gotta stay up late…”
He reached a turn and bolted around it, only to stop abruptly in order to keep from crashing into the metal wall that stood in front of him.
“Nine, ten, never sleep again.”
Mason whispered a silent prayer before slowly turning around to find…
… nothing.
Mason sighed with relief, thankful that the burnt face of the Springwood Slasher hadn’t been there to greet him.
“You’re not out of the woods just yet, kid.”
Mason yelped in fright and spun around, seeing Freddy’s grinning face just inches from his.
“Surprised?” Freddy mocked as Mason stumbled back into another wall, which had replaced the hall from which he came.
“H-How are you here? You’re a movie character! Y-you don’t even exist,” Mason stuttered, terrified that the dream demon would add his soul to the list of the many he had taken.
“Well Mason, I’m here the same reason Potter showed up in your friend’s head: because the two of us are now forever intertwined,” Freddy said with his trademark grin, creating a chair made of blood-stained copper that he sat down on.
“W-What? What are you talking about?!”
“Your friend Johnny had a little dream last night where he had a little conversation with his childhood hero. And now it’s your turn.” Freddy raised one of hands and began scraping the knife like fingers extending from it against one another with a bored expression on his face. “As for what I said about being intertwined, that is a bit harder to explain, but I can manage. When you bought that glove that sent you here, my personality, habits, and… creativity were ingrained within your mind. As time passes, you might find yourself becoming more and more like yours truly.”
Mason felt the color drain from his face. “Become like Freddy? But that means…” He shuddered at the implications. He was already screwed up enough; he didn’t need to have a serial killer influencing his thoughts too!
“No! I refuse to become like you! I’ll force myself to remain like I am; going crazy and killing everyone would only get the three of us in more trouble, and I’m no killer,” he said adamantly.
Freddy raised an amused eyebrow (or at least the burnt area of his face where once his eyebrows laid). “Not a killer? So what? You’re still a sadist.” Mason flinched at the hurtful, yet accurate accusation. “You may not be a killer now, but my influence combined with your natural desire to inflict pain will eventually drive you to kill something, and I’ll be there to say, “I told you so,” when you do. Just look at Robert! That kid usually tries to avoid violence and remain calm, but don’t you think that he acted somewhat like a certain Caped Crusader when he interrogated that guard a little while back?”
He thought back to that day, the day when they crept through the forest in search of Zecora’s hut. And he remembered, with growing dread, that the teen had in fact displayed certain characteristics of Batman when he interrogated the guard.
Freddy grinned so wide that it looked like his face was going to snap in half. “See? You’re starting to get it. Whether you want to admit it or not, you are going to start becoming like me.”
The sound of something knocking permeated through the dream realm, drawing the attention of the two entities to a cellar door just to the side that hadn’t previously been there.
“That damn Alicorn is here already? Pretty spry for an older mare,” Freddy growled, and with a snap of his fingers, the door was covered in heavy chains.
“What is it?” Mason asked, curiosity temporarily replacing his dread.
“That would be Luna, one of the two Celestial Princesses. She can visit the dreams of others, which could cause some problems for us in the future. Luckily for us, she is still recovering her strength, and won’t be able to invade the dreams of you and your two human friends for a while. With that said, we don’t have much time left before you wake up, so I’ll make this quick: you will find that you can use Equestrian magic, and in time, you might find yourself with some of my tricks as well.”
Mason opened his mouth to say something, but found he could not speak. His head was growing light, and he found himself being pulled into the waking world. The last thing he saw before he woke up was Freddy waving goodbye, the words: “See you real soon,” carved into the wall as the killer chuckled.
Luna cursed as the metal cellar dream door disappeared before her eyes. It had taken her hours to muster up the strength needed to enter the dream realm, and it had taken hours longer to locate the strange door that denied her access. Though her still recuperating power did not give her the strength to peer into the dreams of above average magic users, the door she had attempted to break into seemed… off. It wasn’t Equestrian, that much was certain. It was far too dark and evil for that, so she was sure she may have come across one of the humans’ dream doors.
“Well, I suppose there’s no helping it, we better get back before Tia notices,” Luna said, breaking her connection with the dream realm and waking up in her bedroom. She tried her best to ignore her throbbing headache as she got to her hooves.
“Good morning Luna.” Luna sighed and turned to her bedroom door, where her sister was giving her a look of exasperation.
“I found one of them! The energy that emanated from that door was not Equestrian!” Luna exclaimed, trying to distract Celestia from the fact she had disobeyed her request. However, Celestia saw through Luna’s attempted distraction easily.
“Luna, we’ve talked about this. Your magic is still regenerating after all of it besides your innermost magic was ripped out. You shouldn’t be dream walking until you regain all of your power or you might put too much strain on your mind,” she stated, walking over to her sister’s side.
“But sister-!”
“No. I don’t want you dream walking until you are back to full strength, and that is final!” Celestia stared at Luna’s irritated expression for a moment before sighing. “Lulu, I ask that you keep from dream walking not as your fellow princess, but as your sister. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
Luna was silent for a moment before she said, “Alright, fine. We won’t dream walk until we’re strong enough to do it without straining myself.”
“Good. It’s about time to raise the sun, so you should probably lower the moon shortly,” Celestia said.
“Wait,” Luna said, stopping her sister in her tracks. “...Have you told your student yet?”
Celestia’s expression grew serious. “No, Twilight doesn’t even know of the legends of our past, and I don’t think it would be wise to tell her until the humans have been captured, and their threat level is found out.”
“Why should we not tell Miss Sparkle? She is the Element of Magic, and one of the mares that purified us after all. She could be a valuable asset in the search,” Luna asked, confusion written on her face.
“Well your return and redemption were planned out by me beforehoof, so I knew that she would find the other Element bearers and that she could deal with any threat the woods threw at her. However, I did not count on humans showing up in the forest. Also, Twilight can be…” she struggled to find a word that accurately portrayed Twilight when she got overly obsessive about something. “... Animated when she becomes obsessed with something, whether it be mundane or life-threatening. If she found out just how powerful humans can be before the three of them are caught, then she might attempt something foolish and get herself killed. For now, I have suggested that she remain in Ponyville until further notice,” Celestia explained.
Luna raised an eyebrow. “Suggested?”
“If I ordered her, she might get suspicious. I want her to think that she just encountered a few crafty monsters for now.”
“Thou hast thought of everything, haven’t you Tia?” she joked.
Celestia’s face fell. “Not exactly. I haven’t planned on what to do if they kill all the guards.”
“Well, then let us hope that they are not as powerful as the two that liberated us, and that if they are, that they do not seek to cause us harm,” Luna said.
“I hope so. My guards have orders to only use deadly force if they are attacked by them first, so let us hope that they are either powerless or friendly, and that the incident with Twilight was just a misunderstanding.”
“... And if they are as powerful as the first two, and they seek to do us harm?”
Celestia looked Luna dead in the eye. “May Faust have mercy on our souls.”
Luna shivered, “Must thou be so frightening sister? Let us go and raise the sun. We need to get our minds off such dark thoughts, lest you be stressed all day.”
The Military Camp in the Everfree forest, while it would appear calm to a passerby, was actually tense inside. One of their soldiers was missing, and while they would normally be calm under such circumstances, there was no trace of him. Every other guard had wrapped up their patrols and come back safely, but he was still gone. A search of the surrounding area had been conducted, but nothing had turned up.
Currently, the troops were getting into formation, and the places where they would search were being discussed.
“-As you may know, Private Spear was patrolling the area southeast of the castle behind us along with some other guards. He did not return. You all will be scouring the area near the Black River and the Foggy Bog, as the locals have dubbed it. You may only return if you find something of interest, if the sun starts going down, or if you encounter a monster you cannot hope to combat. Am I clear?!” General Bronze Shield shouted.
He was answered by a loud, “Sir, yes sir!”
“U-Um, sir?” Bronze Shield turned to look at the guard who had spoken, a black and white mare who stood alongside a group of other, equally nervous-looking guards.
“What is it, Private?”
“Can we not go to that area?”
Bronze Shield was both taken aback and confused. What was this mare thinking?! Was she just going to leave one of her fellow soldiers?
“Why don’t you want to? Do you not want to try and save your fellow guardspony?”
“We just… don’t want to go there,” she answered, the group of guards at her side nodding rapidly.
Bronze Shield was silent for a moment before he spoke again. “Alright, you guys stay back while the rest of them go. In fact, why don’t you follow me?” They nodded and followed him in the direction of a nearby tent, while the rest of the guards marched on. Bronze Shield’s face hardened. He knew that mare. She was one of the top guards in her squadron, who was not afraid of monsters, and never left a soldier behind. This sudden change made him suspicious.
“I suppose it’s time for a little questioning…” he thought.
Mason awoke from his slumber at the sound of crows cawing outside the cabin.
“Fitting that the first thing I hear after encountering a killer is the ominous sound of crows, just like in a horror movie,” he thought. He got to his feet and looked around the dark room at the sleeping forms of the others. He thought about letting them sleep longer, but that thought only lingered for a moment. They needed to talk now.
He went around waking the others up, some with more difficulty than others, and it wasn’t long before they all sat at the kitchen table, the only light in the room being a lit candle. Mason told them about the dream, what Freddy told him (minus the parts about him being a sadist), and the implications behind it all.
Needless to say, they were quite unnerved.
“So we’re going to become more like the people that owned our props as time progresses?” Robert asked, trying his best to remain calm in the face of such news.
“It appears so,” Mason answered.
“And he also said that we would have access to magic?” John asked, staring at his hands, which he had used to incapacitate a cragadile just hours earlier.
“That would explain what you did yesterday,” Mason replied.
“But why was that blast so powerful?” Robert asked. “After all, even if we now have access to magic, we’re beginners. We’ve never used it before, so even if our magical reserves are larger than a foal’s or even more than an average unicorn, our first attempt at a blast should not be able to knock out a cragadile.”
Zecora spoke for the first time since she woke up. “John must have had a magic surge.” Seeing that the humans had no knowledge of what she was talking about, she explained. “A magic surge is when a magic user releases a large amount of powerful magic, usually when their lives are in danger. What happens is that your brain stops regulating the flow of magic, and you just let out a large, unrestrained amount out. It also tends to happen more frequently with ponies that are just starting out in the ways of magic.”
“Sooo… You’re saying that-”
*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*
John was cut off by the sound of knocking at the door, startling all of them.
‘Who is that?’ Robert whispered, fear threatening to come over him if it turned out that the guards had found them.
Zecora didn’t answer. Instead, she silently scurried over to one of the windows and peeked outside. Upon viewing what was outside, her look of anxiety changed to one of confusion.
‘What is it?’ Robert asked as he walked over to the window she was looking out of.
‘There is a mare at the door, but she does not appear to be a guard. I think I might’ve even seen her at Ponyville a few times when I went to try and get supplies,’ she answered.
Robert was now quite curious, and peered out of the window. His jaw dropped at what he saw. Through the dim light provided by the morning sun, he saw a background character he was quite familiar with.
A nervous Lyra Heartstrings stood at the door, raising her hoof to knock a second time.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Robert muttered, rubbing his eyes just to make sure that he wasn’t seeing things. When he was positive that his stress and anxiety wasn’t causing him to hallucinate in any way, he opted to face-palm.
“Hello! Anypony home?” Lyra called out, causing the paranoia of the inhabitants of the cabin to skyrocket with each successive knock on the door.
“Who is that?!” Mason whispered loudly, reaching for where his weapon was lying.
Robert didn’t answer, instead, walking over to the door and unlocking it.
“What are you doing?!” John panicked, almost dropping his loud whisper and just yelling outright.
“Are you crazy!?” Mason also panicked.
“Not as crazy as this mare,” Robert replied simply before opening the door and standing in the now open threshold in plain view of Lyra. The soft green mare’s eyes widened to saucers at this, her hoof, which had been halfway to knocking on the door again frozen, just like her expression, in mid-air.
The two, human and pony, stood there, staring at the other for a few moments, Robert looking away a few times and scratching the back of his head nervously before he noticed a wide, cheshire grin slowly grow on Lyra’s face. “I knew you were--!”
“Shut up and come inside,” Robert interrupted, quite irritably, in fact. While the teen would not normally be so rude to Lyra, he wasn’t feeling all that kind as of late.
Lyra paused for a moment before nodding like a bobblehead entering the hut, brightening up even more (if such a thing were possible) at the sight of the other two humans… and flinching at the sight of Zecora.
“So,” Robert began, shutting the door and locking it behind him. “Why did you come here, how did you know we were here, and have you told anyone else where we are?”
“W-Well,” Lyra said with a stutter, nervousness and excitement overwhelming her senses, “I came here to see you guys… I couldn’t wait to meet an actual human, let alone three!”
‘Sounds about right,’ Robert thought to himself while the other inhabitants glanced at each other in confusion.
“Second, I kind of figured that the only place the elusive humans could be hiding would be with the almost as elusive Zecora. That part was kind of more a hunch than a concrete thing, but hey, my gut was right, wasn’t it? And third, no, I’m the only one who knows about you guys being here,” Lyra concluded, beaming with pride.
Robert raised an eyebrow. “So you didn’t even tell your roommate, Bon Bon?”
“No, of course no--” Lyra’s eyes widened. “How did you know Bon Bon was my roommate?”
‘Should not have said that!’ Robert thought, cursing himself for his lack of forethought. But then, Lyra said something that caught his attention.
“Wow! I knew humans were powerful, but I didn’t know they could read minds!” the mint-green mare exclaimed with a smile.
“What do you mean?” he inquired. The others stood back and watched, thinking that Robert knew what he was doing, as he seemed to know more about this world than they did.
“Well, according to the legends I’ve read about the other two, I suppose it’s only natural that one of the next three is a mind-reader!” Lyra said.
“What other two?!” Robert exclaimed loudly, unintentionally doing so in stereo with Mason and John, his mind reeling from with ideas and possibilities. Maybe these ‘other two’ could be the key to getting back home!
“Um, the Warrior and the Wielder of Storms. I read about them in a book passed down from generation to generation in my family.”
Robert nealt down to Lyra’s eye level and grabbed a firm hold of the shoulders of her forelegs. Perhaps too firm, but at the moment, he was too overcome with blazing curiosity to care. “Lyra, I need you to focus and focus… uhhh… just... just focus, okay?”
Lyra, wincing from how hard he was squeezing her shoulders, said, “Uhhh… you’re kind of… hurting me right now.”
“Oh! Um... sorry!” Robert apologized, loosening his grip on Lyra. “But could you tell me more? Did they ever leave Equestria? What were they like? How long ago did they appear? Tell me, tell me, tell me!”
“Uhhh… okay… just… please get your face out of my face first… please? I mean, it’s an interesting face and all that I’d love to study this close in the future… but I kind of need to breathe.”
It was then that Robert noticed that he had indeed mashed his face against Lyra’s… and hadn’t even noticed until she had mentioned it. He indeed had a tendency to invade personal space when he got overly excited or interested about something, much to his chagrin.
“I’m sorry, I tend to do that when I get… uhhh… anxious. Forgive me. Please.” Robert backed away.
“Eh, don’t sweat it. I forgive you. Anyway, the book doesn’t say much about them specifically, but it does tell their story: a tale of how they liberated Equestria from an evil ruler and defeated a dark god that I’ve always been fascinated with since I was a filly.”
“Is that why everyone’s looking for us?” John interrupted. “Because we’re mythical creatures?”
Lyra lowered her head. “No, I’m the only one who knows the tale of the two human heroes that I know of. Even Twilight didn’t know about the book when I asked her, and she’s an even bigger egghead than I am in a lot of areas! I think all copies of that book were either destroyed or lost to time, and I’m the only pony who has a copy.”
“So, they’re looking for us because of what we did to Twilight, then?” John asked.
Lyra frowned. “That’s the official story, anyways.”
Everyone was silent for a moment before Robert spoke up once again. “Do you… think you could let us read this book?”
Lyra beamed. “Sure!”
Robert sighed in the relief.
Then, Lyra continued. “If you let me bring all of my scientific equipment with me to study you guys sometime, that is.”
Robert raised a brow. “You’re not going to… dissect us or anything… are you?”
“What? Of course not!” Lyra said, offended. “I’d never dissect a living organism… though… I’m probably going to need some blood samples. And some urine sa--”
“Okay, let me just stop you right there,” Robert interrupted, noting the weirded out expressions of his friends (not counting his own disgust). “There won’t be any samples taken of us. You can ask us questions, but that’s IT.”
Lyra looked crestfallen. “Awww… not even just a hair or skin sample?”
“No. No samples. At all. Period.”
“Awww… pony feathers!” Lyra said with a stomp of her hoof before looking back at Robert. “How am I going to begin cracking your species’ genetic code, then? Analyzing billions of DNA sequences kind of takes a toll on a pony’s time, ya know.”
Robert shrugged. “Don’t know, but you’re not going to be getting any DNA from us, at all, so that condition of yours is a non-starter.”
“Shoot,” Lyra said, stomping her hoof again. “Can I at least interview the three of you to find out more about where you come from, your race, and you guys specifically, then? Please?”
“Sure, why not? How about you guys?” Robert asked with a sigh. Mason and John gave reluctant nods. “We’ll let you ask all the questions you want, but only after we read that book.”
Lyra nodded in understanding, “Gotcha. Let you guys read the book and I get to ask all the questions I want.” Lyra then smooshed her mouth in between her forehooves, gushing, “I get to ask all the questions I want to a band of humans. O… M… C! Finally! My dreams are all coming true!”
“Small problem,” John interjected.
Lyra looked at John, blinking. “Problem? What--” Her eyes then widened. “Oh no! Please! Please, please, please, please, PLEASE tell me this isn’t all a dream just like the last hundred times!” She quickly galloped over to John, rearing up on her hind legs and placing his forehooves roughly on his solar plexus. “Quick! Pinch me! Pinch me so that I can be sure!”
Mason raised an eyebrow while Robert sighed, and gave John a shrug.
“... That’s not what I meant, Lyra. As much as I’d like it, this is not a dream.”
“But how can you be sure!? Nopony… human… has caused me enough pain yet so we can know for certain that I’m not just laying down in my bed at home or a couch or on a park bench like I usually am whenever something this awesome happens!”
“Wait..” Robert said, looking thoughtful. “Wasn’t I hurting you earlier when I was asking about the book?” Robert asked.
Lyra blinked, and then dropped back down to all fours. “Oh yeah. Hehe, Sorry about that, John.”
“... Anyway, like I was saying, how is she going to walk all the way back to Ponyville, get that book, and walk back here without being caught or attacked. Not to mention, how is she going to do all of this, and this is the real important part here... in broad daylight?” John asked.
“Uhhh… the same way I got here without the book? Duh!” Lyra said with a confident look on her face.
“I don’t know… there’s supposed to be a lot of guards walking around during the day. Sure, they’re somewhat incompetent at times, but it still would be hard to explain away the fact that you’re wandering around Everfree. Plus, what’re you going to say to Bon Bon when she sees that you’re back from your little escapade?” Robert said, crossing his arms.
“What? Those guys? Pfff…” Lyra began with a casual, dismissive wave of her hoof. “Even if I do get caught, I’ll just tell them I was hunting for some special ingredients that only grow in this forest. It is kind of a free one stop shop for a ton of exotic ingredients that a lot of the ponies in the town market use to fill up their stock, after all.”
“And Bon Bon?” Robert asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Eh, Bonnie’s usually way too busy manning her store, and when she comes home, she usually just plops on a sofa or on the floor in her own room before even getting to her bed and sleeps like a rock,” Lyra then chuckled. “Oh, if you could only see the look on her face when she realizes I wrote on it… which I do sometimes when she’s asleep. Oh! Oh! I have pictures! If you want I could bring them over--”
“Okay then. I suppose you should be relatively all right. Although, since I’d rather not hear that you’ve been eaten, I’ll guide you through the safest path to the border that we know of. John, hand me the cloak please,” Robert said, the older man handing over the magical garment.
“Ooo! What’s that?” Lyra asked.
“It’s a magical cloak that keeps the person who wears it invisible. Now follow me. We’re burning daylight,” Robert said, donning the cloak and beckoning for Lyra to follow him. The teen and the bouncing, overjoyed mare left, leaving the others all alone.
“So… what should we do while we wait here?” Mason asked.
“Okay,” Robert whispered, removing the cloak. “You remember how to get back to this cave-tunnel from the town?” Lyra nodded. “Okay then. Just grab the book along with anything else you might need, and come back here. Do you remember the rules I told you about going to and from here?”
Lyra nodded enthusiastically. “Yep! Stay away from water, don’t tell anypony where I’ve been, make sure I’m not followed, and lastly: don’t get caught!”
“Good girl,” Robert complimented, much to the mare’s satisfaction. “Also, would you mind picking up a book about basic spell casting from Twilight’s library while you’re in Ponyville?”
Lyra cocked her head to the side. “Sure, but why?”
“I’ll answer all of your questions when we’re back at the cabin. Now go on and make me proud!”
“Sir, yes sir!”
Lyra took off, leaving Robert to sit in the cave and wait for her, alone. After a mere minute, however, his impatience had already grown that he decided to throw some bit of caution to the wind, take out his batarang, and begin throwing it as high as he could in the air between him and the cave ceiling and catching it again and again as though it were a baseball rather than an advanced, aerodynamically designed, carbon nanofiber (or maybe even some previously thought to be fictional material) throwing weapons and implement.
He began catching and throwing it quicker when thoughts of what had happened last night began to claw their way back to the forefront of his mind…
“Mason, what are you doing?” John asked, seeing Mason outstretching his hands in the direction of one of Zecora’s glass vials that was lying at the edge of the table.
“Since Freddy said I would be able to use magic soon, I’ve decided that I might as well try and use mine in case it’s needed,” Mason responded, straining as hard as he could in an attempt to bring forth at least a bit of magic. “Besides, I’ve watched Carrie. I have at least a vague idea of how to use telekinesis,” he thought.
John and Zecora watched in minor amusement as Mason strained until he was literally blue in the face in his attempt to use magic.
“Cut it out, Mason. You’re going to faint if you--”
In a matter of a few seconds, a few things happened. A red aura surrounded both Mason’s hands and the vial. The vial moved, falling off of the table and cracking upon impact with the floor. And, finally, Mason fell down, unconscious.
John and Zecora chuckled, and then moved Mason over to the mattress on the floor, where he would lay until he awoke.
Like a fox--no! Like a ninja! Wait, no! Like a fox that was also a ninja, Lyra stealthily sneakily made her way back to the small, two story dwelling that she and her best friend had to pay rent to that SUPER crabby old mare of a landlady to stay in every month, but that they put up with because both her and Bon Bon were cheapskates and didn’t want to move somewhere with more hospitable management. She darted into and out of back alleys, she glided over rooftops, she blended in with the crowd when she had to, and then, finally, after an amount of time spent methodically making her way to her apartment that any other pony wouldn’t have had the patience for, but that she did because she was totally a fox, ninja, there she was on a rooftop on one of the houses overlooking hers, binoculars in hoof.
It had been five minutes since she had begun scoping out the place to make sure that she didn’t catch even the golden gleam of Royal Guard armor or a hair belonging to ponies she thought could have been spies for the Royal Guard or any of a number of equestrian agencies (official and not so official, if her conspiracy theorist friends were to be believed) that would have an interest in her newfound, human friends.
“Hrmmm… no signs of any breaking and entering, or of any suspicious ponies… except for Pinkie Pie, but really, she’s suspicious for a bunch of different reasons. Plus, really, trotting down the street playing bagpipes is the LEAST of those reasons anyways, so--”
Before she could finish that sentence she was saying under her breath, however, she was startled out of her stakeout by a friendly, “Hiya, Lyra!”
“Gaaahhh!” Lyra said, her binoculars dropping onto the street below and shattering into multiple, large fragments. Turning onto her back, she closed her eyes and flailed her legs about frantically, shouting just as frantically, “Please! Don’t hurt me! I’m just a lyre player with a higher than average interest in humans! I swear! Don’t beat me up or lock me up or banish me, or lock me up in the place you’ll banish me to after beating me up! Please! I have kids and a big, strong, handsome, totally-as-into-humans-as-I-am husband who’d be--”
“Uhmmm… Lyra? Are you… okay?” the pony that had up’ed her jig interrupted. “I don’t mean to be rude, but, you’re acting really, really weird. Like, almost Pinkie Pie levels.”
Her legs running out of energy, and seeing as nothing bad had happened to her… yet… Lyra stopped her frenetic motions and cautiously, fearfully, opened them up to find… a pony. A grey furred pegasus. Mare. Early 20’s. Lyra knew this mare, and, when she realized that she knew this mare, she felt silly, rather silly, that she had thought she had meant her harm. For the mare looking down at Lyra, confused, was about the least threatening, least suspicious pony in town Lyra could think of. In fact, the mare wasn’t suspicious even in the Pinkie Pie way. She was just… well… kind of derpy. Hay, her name was Derpy!
Realizing that Derpy was waiting for her to give an answer, Lyra’s eyes darted back and forth and her brow began to work up a sweat as she desperately tried to come up with something on the fly like a supercool, fox, ninja would. “Uhhh… I’m… errr… bluhhh…”
Before she could utter her supercool response, however, she saw Derpy’s eyes widen as though she had just realized something. “Wait… you have kids? And a husband? When? How come I’ve never seen you with them? Are they any ponies I know? Do you mind asking your kids if they could be friends with my little Dinky, because I’m afraid that she hasn’t made any real friends with any of the other foals in Ms. Cheerilee's and she always seems so--”
“Uhhhmmm… Derpy?” Lyra interrupted.
“Yeah?”
“Uhhhmmm… I don’t actually have kids or a husband, so, yeah.”
Derpy went back to looking confused. “Huh. But, I thought I heard you say just now that you did.”
Lyra’s eyes widened and she stammered out a hasty response. “Oh… that… well… uhhh… see… the thing is… what I meant to say was that… uhhh… I just WANT kids and a husband one day. You know… when I’m ready, and stuff, not that I had them… presently… already… right… now?”
Lyra closed her eyes, peaking out with one as narrow as she could to see if Derpy had bought any of what she had just sold.
Derpy smiled broadly. “Okay!” Her look of confusion then returned. “So… why are you on my roof?”
“Oh, uh… just… checking to make sure that… the… uhhh… MAILMARE! YES! Just checking to make sure that the mailmare delivered a package I’ve been really, really, REALLY waiting for a while. A…. uhhh… MAGICAL… uhhh… lyre?”
“A magical lyre?” Derpy asked, tilting her head to the side. “What’s that?”
“Nevermind! The point is, I’ve been waiting for it, and it hasn’t shown up yet, and I’m just watching my doorstep from here to make sure it gets here! Honest!”
“Wait…” Derpy said as her eyes narrowed upon Lyra. “Why don’t you just watch for the mailmare from your own roof? Why come to mine? In fact…” Derpy looked at the ground and tapped a hoof on her chin before looking back at Lyra. “Aren’t I your mailmare? And isn’t today Sunday? Why would you be waiting for me to deliver you mail on Sunday from the top of my own house?”
Lyra began sweating bullets then, and tried her hardest to come up with an excuse. “Uh… um… le gasp! Is that Doctor Whooves calling for you?”
Derpy’s eyes widened. “Really?!”
Lyra nodded rapidly. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! And what’s that!? Le gasp again! He wants to treat you to some muffins he baked himself?!”
Derpy’s wings flared up. “REALLY?!”
“You better get going before Dinky eats all of them!” Lyra commanded.
Derpy nodded firmly and took off at speeds that would make Rainbow Dash look like a snail in comparison.
Wiping away the sweat that had made her forehead all sticky, Lyra glanced back to her front door and decided that maybe she had done all the staking out she should have done and just enter her house already.
With careful acrobatic deftness, she made her way back to the ground, enveloped the door knob in the glow of her magic, and made a beeline for her front door… promptly crashing into it.
As she lay in a heap on her back on the ground, she wracked her spinning head, wondering why the door hadn’t opened even though she had commanded the knob to telekinetically turn. She then slapped herself in the face when she remembered that she forgot to open the door and promptly got to her feet, pulled out her keychain from her mane with her magic, unlocked the door, put the key back in her made, and rushed inside.
Once inside, she rushed through the living room, down the hallway to the stairs, practically flew up them, went down the hallway there, made a beeline for the door to her room, promptly crashed into it, slapped herself for forgetting she locked the door to her room for security reasons (and so Bon Bon didn’t see what a mess it was and tell her to clean it up), pulled out her keychain again, unlocked her door, ran in, slammed the door behind her, locked it again, and collapsed in a tired, panting heap on the rug at the center of the room. “Whew. Being awesome and undetected by anypony is hard work.”
After wiping her brow of the sweat she had worked up in her celeritous run for her room, Lyra got back up and turned her attention towards her bookcase. Or rather, the bookcase she wanted any prying eyes and nosey… noses… to see. It wasn’t anything special. Just a small, brown, oak thing that barely came up to her neck and was barely as wide as she was long filled mostly with Daring Doo books, her old textbooks from highschool and college, a few Atlases and map books, some tech and magic magazines she bought from way back when she was interested in that kind of stuff but now mostly just kept around as momentos, a few children’s books on legendary and mythological creatures, and, of course, what no bookcase in Equestria could be without: a Power Ponies limited edition Volume 1 Trade Paperback collection with that special, hoof drawn, photorealistic cover.
Anypony snooping around this bookcase would only conclude that Lyra was just a giant nerd. Perhaps with too much of an interest in fiction and maps, but certainly not into any earth shattering discoveries that could change Equestrian history for centuries, maybe even millennia to come.
They would certainly NEVER think to look underneath the floorboards beneath the bookcase, would certainly NEVER think to pry away three that were much more loosely sealed than the others, would certainly NEVER guess the combination to the safe hidden beneath the floorboards, and would certainly NEVER think to touch their magically empowered horn on the opaque screen of glass-looking, but far hardier material that the safe door parted to reveal that served as a second protective layer to the treasure trove that lay within. Even if they did, Lyra’s conspiracy theorist buddies had somehow made it so that the screen of glass-looking, but much stronger material only registered her magical signature. She had wondered how they had done this, but when she asked, they had gotten all freaked out and defensive and questioned if she was a spy and made her do some pretty difficult stealthing to prove that she wasn’t that she REALLY didn’t want to have to go through again.
When the screen of unknown material parted, Lyra took a moment to breath in the stale air that had been trapped within the safe after the last time she had sealed it, which to her, smelt like pure, lemon scented knowledge, and admired her little hoard of paper and bindings that, if anypony with authority knew she had, would likely spell the end of her life as she knew it… if it didn’t just spell the end of her life in the regular way.
Remembering that she was on a tight deadline, Lyra quickly grabbed the book that her new human friends wanted, shoved into her saddlebag, sealed up the safe and floorboards, moved the bookcase back over the floorboards, and was about to stampede out of her room and back out the house when she remembered that she forgot something VERY important, tripped, jumped back up, and practically jumped onto her swivel chair, spinning around at several hundred RPM for a bit before she stopped, coming face to face with her work desk… and the lone, hard bound, green covered book that rested on it with the words, ‘Lyra’s Journal Part 141’ written on a label pasted to the book in black sharpie.
After levitating her journal open to the latest page and a black sharpie from one of the desk’s drawers, Lyra squealed with excitement as she wrote down what was by far her favorite entry ever:
Entry Number # 50001:
Today was better than I ever could have imagined! I found Zecora’s cabin, and it turns out that I was right! The humans were there! And they weren’t mean and savage like everypony makes them out to be! They’re actually really nice and pleasant... if a little stressed.
Anyways, Robert (the youngest of the group: a teenage male that was quite enthusiastic about my studies into the nature of humans, and seemed to know quite a bit about Equestria) made a deal with me! If I let him read my book about the Warrior and the Wielder of Storms, and get him a book on basic spell casting, then he’ll let me ask the three of them any questions I want! My conspiracy theorist friends are going to be so jealous!
Anyway, I’ll be sure to record every question and answer for future reference. After this, me and my conspiracy theorist friends can come up with a way to clear their names! I can’t wait!
Notes:
Robert: A teenage male that looks to be around 14 or 15 years old by my estimates. May or may not be able to read minds. Has green eyes, light brown hair, and wears clothes that helps him blend in with the forest. Has a tendency to invade personal space when he is overly excited about something.
Mason: A male that looks to be in his early 20’s or late teens according to my estimates. The most intimidating one in terms of appearance. Has a bladed glove. Has blue eyes and short, black hair. Seemed suspicious of me at first.
John: A male that looked to be in his early or mid twenties according to my estimates. Has no hair on his head and has brown eyes. Looks to be the physically strongest of the group. Had a cloak that turned the wearer invisible. Seemed to be the least stressed out of the group.
After finishing the entry, she closed the journal and ran out of her room to go fetch the book on spell casting from the library, slamming her door behind her. As she opened and exited the front door, however, rather than galloping to the outside world unimpeded, she galloped right into somepony who had been standing on the welcome mat.
After shaking her head clear of the stars that were orbiting about it, which were shaped like her new human friends, Lyra turned her head towards the other pony to find out that it was, much to her mounting horror, her roommate, Bon Bon.
“Bonnie!? What in the hay are you doing--errr… uhhh… I mean… hey… Bon Bon! What, uh… brings you back home so early. You know… when you’re supposed to be… at your store… baking and making stuff… like you usually do?”
After clearing the stars around her head (which Lyra couldn’t see but she reckoned were shaped like candies wrapped up in plastic) Bon Bon raised an eyebrow at Lyra’s obviously suspicious attitude. “I forgot the keys to the store, so I came back to get them. What are YOU doing here? I thought you had work today?”
Quickly getting back up to her feet, Lyra said, “Oh! That! Well… uhhh… I had to come back to the house cuz… I forgot my lyre! That’s it! I forgot something too! Yeah! That’s it! Nothing that out of the usual here. No siree!”
Bon Bon got back to her feet too and fixed Lyra with a look. “Your Lyre? That saddlebag you have there is kind of small to be carrying around an instrument that--”
Slapping herself in the face, Lyra made a surprisingly quick recovery for her and, after bringing her hoof back down, said, “Oh! Did I say my Lyre? Silly me. I meant my collection plate! Can’t get enough tips from playing at the park if I don’t have a big enough collection plate that everypony can see and chip in a bit or two!”
Before anypony could say anything else, the town cloak then let out the chime it did at around this time to indicate that Mane Street was now open for business.
“Oh! 9 AM already!? Would you look at the time! I’ve got to get to work! SEE YA LATER BONNIE, BYE BYE, HAVE A NICE DAY, SO LONG, THANK YOU!!!” Lyra shouted back as she took off in the direction of Twilight’s library, leaving a very confused… and still very much suspicious Bon Bon behind in the trail of dust she kicked up.
Something was up. That much, Bon Bon knew. Lyra was, to put it simply, very weird, but she had known her long enough to know that she didn’t usually act… that weird. It was almost like she was trying to hide something… which left only one possible avenue for Bon Bon to explore.
After dusting herself off, Bon Bon passed through the threshold into her and her roommate's home and closed the door shut behind her. Once that was done, she turned towards the coat rack immediately to her right and lifted the thing up and away from the wall it stood against. Then, after a lot of fidgeting since she was an earthpony and the blunt, lone hooves of her kind weren’t all that good at finesse, she managed to slip out a single white brick. Turning it over, a key fell out: an exact replica of the key to Lyra’s room she had covertly had made at the locksmith’s.
She pocketed the key into her mane, put the brick back, put the coat rack back, and briskly made her wall down the hall past the living room, up the stairs, down the hall on the second floor and towards the door to Lyra’s room.
She was about to pull the key back out of her mane when, remembering the haste Lyra had been in, she grabbed a hold of the knob and was able to twist it completely and open the door to Lyra’s room, unimpeded. She threw her head back and sighed, muttering something about how many IQ points Lyra lost when she was excited, and entered the room.
She growled when she saw the mess it was all in, with unfinished pizza boxes, half eaten sandwiches or all types, and rotting fruits and vegetables all over, but nodded her head in respect when she inspected Lyra’s closet and found all her clothes were neatly tucked away where they should have been without any fuss.
After making a mental note to berate Lyra her for her eating habits and thank her for at least keeping her clothes out of the messy maelstrom, Bon Bon then took a seat at Lyra’s work desk and began flipping through the pages of her latest journal for any new entries since the last time.
About halfway through the reams of paper within the journal, Bon Bon found just such an entry: Entry # 50001.
However, this one, unlike most of Lyra’s previous ones, actually contained important information. Very important information. Information that, as her mind adjusted to the gravity of it all, made Bon Bon’s eyes widen and mutter out, “Lyra… you idiot. What have you gotten yourself into this time?”
As fast as Lyra had when Bon Bon had saw her running off to Faust knows where, Bon Bon grabbed Lyra’s journal, stuffed it into the nearest saddlebag, which Lyra fortunately had about five extra sets of, slung it over her back, and galloped her way out of the house towards where she had last seen Lyra take off to, not stopping even to lock the front door...
Up and down, up and down, down and up, down and up.
For the past thirty minutes, Robert had repeated that sentence in his head over and over again, as though doing so while he focussed on his throwing and catching motions with the batarang would serve as charm to ward off the despicable, horrible thoughts. It worked surprisingly well, but, he didn’t want to test the limits of just how long lasting it was.
“Where is she? She should have both of those stupid books by now,” Robert caught the batarang and held onto it as he bent his knees and sat on the cave ground to rest for the first time since sending Lyra on her way. Sighing bitterly, he said “Maybe Bon Bon is giving her grief like I thought she would. Dang it. She better not take much longer.”
He started to the toss the batarang into the air once more and repeat his little mantra. However, on the third such repetition, he heard the sound of paws running up to him from the entrance of the cave, which he was about five feet away from. Before he could react, he then felt a sharp pain in his right ankle, as whatever creature it was took a rather agonizing bite into his flesh there.
“Son of a--! GAH!” Robert exclaimed in pain. He looked down and took about two seconds to identify his attacker: a large bloodhound that, to his horror, had a collar with the symbol of the Royal guard around its neck, and a leash attached to it, with no owner attached to the leash.
After taking that information in, he kicked the bloodhound in the head with his uninjured foot as hard as he could again and again and again. Up and down, up and down, down and up, down and up.
The dog eventually relented from Robert’s ankle, and he stopped when he noticed the poor thing was well and truly unconscious with a massive bruise forming on the top of its head roughly the size and shape of his foot.
After kicking the unconscious canine aside, Robert knelt down and clutched his wounds, trying his best to make the bleeding stop.
“Okay Robert, focus. You’ve seen enough movies to know what to do in these kind of situations. A ripped off piece of clothing should be a good substitute bandage until I get back to the--” He felt his blood run cold at the sound of hooves, very close to his location.
As in, right outside.
“... and where did ol’ Buster run off…” the guard who was speaking froze, as did the others upon seeing both the unconscious bloodhound, and Robert, who was feeling very much like a deer caught in the headlights.
In a flash, the group of guards (there was about ten of them in total) pointed their spears at him.
“Stay right there! We know you can understand us, so there’s no point in playing dumb! Surrender right now and you won’t be harmed!” the leader of them, Robert presumed, commanded.
“C’mon Robert! Think! How do I get out of this!?” He racked his brain for a decent plan as the guards began to grow impatient.
“If you don’t surrender right now, get on your knees, and put your hands behind your head, then we WILL resort to other methods to detain you!” the leader demanded.
“Okay, I have a plan. It’s not the best, and I don’t know if it’ll actually work, but it’s better than nothing,” he thought. He said a silent prayer before enacting this grand, master plan of his.
“AHHHHHHH!” Robert screamed, pointing behind the guards and donning his most convincing expression of terror. The guards spun around to face the imaginary horror, and Robert took this chance to try and flee. He snatched up his batarang and the cloak, turned, and tried to limp away, about to throw the cloak over his shoulders. However, before that crucial step in his grand master plan could be properly executed… he felt himself freeze up and fell to the ground before he could get any distance from them.
He tried to move, but found that his body would not respond to his brain’s commands.
“Nice try, but I’m wasn’t falling for that trick! Chain him up!” Robert could only watch in silent horror as handcuffs were attached to his wrists and ankles, and he could only watch with even more such horror as they took his batarang and the Cloak of Invisibility.
“Now let’s take him back to Ponyville. I’m sure we can find a cell that’s just right for him.” Robert saw an orange aura surround him, and lift him up. “The rest of you, take Buster and get some backup, just in case.”
“Sir, yes sir!” they responded, running away with the unconscious bloodhound in tow.
“I see you’re confused,” the leader said, trotting into Robert’s field of vision as they began taking him in the direction of Ponyville. “When you tried to run, I hit you with a paralysis spell when your back was turned. You won’t be able to move until I hit you with the proper counterspell or just decide to drop the paralysis spell altogether.”
Finding that he could move his mouth, Robert decided to respond. “If we’re just throwing spells around, would you mind healing that bite on my ankle? It hurts, and those cuffs on my ankles aren’t really making things any more comfortable.”
“Ha! Funny! The murderous mythical creature from fairy tales and bedtime stories has jokes. Well, here’s a joke for you, you weird, dirty, hairless ape.”
The leader then promptly, and very harshly, shoved a gold, bell-boot covered hoof into Robert’s nose, breaking it enough that he started to immediately bleed out of his nostrils.
“Gahhh!” Robert yelled out in pain.
“What? My joke wasn’t that bad,” the leader said, snarkily.
Robert growled. He. Was. DONE.
“You know, I don’t think anything you can say is funnier than the fact that after almost a month of searching, it was a dog that found me instead of your pathetic excuse of a royal guard,” Robert said with a smirk, deciding that if he was going to be captured, he was going to give his captors as much grief as he could. He was fed up with his whole situation, and decided that he was about to show them just how infuriating he could be, caution be damned.
“Hell, it’s a wonder no more of you have died searching for us yet.” The guards shot him venomous glares and his smirk widened. “What? Did one of your troops actually take one too many stupid pills before dying or something? Well too bad! I feel it’s only fair to warn you guys that you ended up catching the sarcastic asshole of the group. By the time you’ve locked me up, you guys are going to hate me even more. And I haven’t even made any Molestia jokes.” He muttered that last part under his breath.
The group of royal guards carrying him remained silent after he had finished for a good, long while, their pace not slackening one bit. Robert was honestly starting to feel a little disappointed as the silence continued to linger before, suddenly, the leader of the group took a long, deep breath, and said, “Ponies: STOP!”
The guards accompanying the leader ceased and stood at attention, as the leader had commanded.
“Privates Silver Spear, Crusher, and Barricade! Drop our guest to the ground, pronto!”
The three unicorns that had been holding Robert up with the glow of their magic did as he instructed, Robin falling, on his back, onto some very rough, pebbly feeling ground, a full four feet.
“Ow…” he muttered out.
Before he could say anything else, however, he heard the guard leader say, “Now, I want everypony to take off your helmets and form a circle around our guest. Make sure he can get a good, long, hard look at your faces from where he’s laying!”
Robert heard the sound of metal clinking against the ground and saw all the guards, sans their leader, standing over and around him in a circle, scowls deeper than he thought canon ponies were capable of etched into their faces, some of them even blowing white hot steam into his face.
Robert knew what was about to happen, and although he wasn’t looking forward to the pain that would ensue, he decided that he was going to do two things:
A: Not give these guards the pleasure of hearing him scream again.
B: Get the last word.
He sighed. “Oh, well. I suppose it can’t be helped that you guys aren’t man enough to hike up your skirts and not give me the pleasure of a response. Really shows the quality of your military. Anyways, if you’re going to beat me up, try not to hit me where it will be visible. I doubt Celestia would like hearing that her oh so precious royal guards beat up a defenseless human. Then again, I doubt you guys will listen to someone who isn’t a pony, you racist dirt--”
“GUARDSPONIES!” the leader interrupted.
“YES, SERGEANT!?” the other royal guards said, the venom from their breath just filling Robert’s nostrils as much as what bits of horse food they didn’t properly chew was still left stuck to their teeth.
“SHOW THIS UGLY, HAIRLESS, SCRAWNY, MONKEY LOOKING MONSTER THING WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU MESS WITH HER MAJESTY’S ROYAL GUARD! CAN I GET A HOOOOO-RRRAAAAAHHHH!?”
“HOO-RAH!” the other royal guards shouted before they reared up.
Robert flashed them one last grin. “So, is Sunbutt coming to see me after this or--?” And he laughed. He laughed and laughed and laughed all through the pain that ensued, refusing to give them any satisfaction at all. Through the mind rending agony, he was able to get some satisfaction from the increased expressions of rage they had gained after he had insulted Celestia.
As his world grew dimmer after his beating was finished, he left them with one final phrase: “Worth it…”
And then, he promptly fell into trauma induced unconscious, a look of indescribable pain etched onto his face.
Faster than a gold medalist track star, Lyra liked to think, she blitzed through the buildings in town in her way between Twilight’s library and Zecora’s hut, a fresh book on beginner’s magic rattling around with her copy of ‘Ancient Tales and Legends of Equestria’s Past.’ She had felt that her stealthing around had cost her too much time, so, she had decided to throw caution out of the window and just make a beeline for the forest to make up the difference.
After a couple of minutes of frantic galloping, her spirits rose when she saw the gnarled canopy of Everfree just in the distance with nothing both rolling fields in between her and it. “Finally! Soon, the answers to almost two decades worth of questions will all belong to--”
Lyra’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of loud murmuring, and even a few cheers. Looking to her left, she saw a large crowd standing along the edges of one of the main roads that led into the town. Now, normally she wouldn’t care and would have just gone on to meet up with Robert. But then she noticed that a group of royal guards were the reason for Ponyville’s celebration.
“Why are they celebrating? Did something happen?” she recalled how she had left Robert alone in the cave while she left to go and get the books that he had requested. “I better take a look… just to be sure.”
Lyra pushed her way into the crowd, trying to get a look at what had gotten the residents of her home town to cheer, dread growing with every step she took. And when she finally got a good view of the guards... and their living cargo...
… She felt her heart drop into her stomach.
The group of guards, with triumphant smirks on their faces, carried Robert in their magical grasp. His nose was broken, a bruise there in the shape of a hoof to match. A few drops of blood fell onto the street, falling from a few wounds on his right ankle, shackles bound his arms and legs, and an expression of pain topped it off.
The commentary provided by the townsfolk didn’t help matters.
Wahoo! Equestria’s finest finally got one of them ugly suckers!”
“If you ask me, it ain’t nearly ugly enough after what it did to Twilight!”
"Or that guard it and others killed!”
“It’s all downhill for those horrible monsters now!”
“Eh, I bet I could have taken it single-hoofedly.”
"I give it a day before the rest of those animals are caught."
"I hope the others get roughed up worse!”
Lyra’s legs began shaking and tears welled up in her eyes. Her friend looked like he had been beaten unconscious to within an inch of his life if the expression on his face was anything to go by. She’d assumed that the cloak would keep him hidden like he had said, but it looked like she had overestimated his skill at remaining hidden. And now, not only was a crucial key to all of her research gone, but a poor creature who had just wanted to go home was violently beaten because of some terrible, terrible misunderstanding. She felt a cry rise up her throat, and she felt the urge to scream at Robert’s captors, to defend him from them with words… and other things if need be.
But then Robert’s eyes opened, tiredness and pain evident in them. This caused the residents who stuck around rather than panicking and heading for the hills when they noticed to start yelling insults at him while he looked at the remainder of the crowd that had come to see him. And then he noticed Lyra and her distraught expression as he wearily examined the bitter mob. He shook his head, and then his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and it appeared that he had passed out once again.
As the guards hauled him off into the town proper, Lyra began backing up as the crowd followed. With all of the attention on Robert, she knew she could probably get back to the cabin as soon as possible and tell the others about Robert’s capture. With that, she took one last look to make sure the coast was clear, and then she ran toward Everfree as fast as she could, no longer filled with anything resembling the confidence she had possessed just minutes prior…
“I really think my magic has gotten a little stronger!” Mason insisted over John’s snickering.
"Either that, or all that straining has made you a lot stupider!” John retorted. “Personally, I think my suggestion is the more plausible.”
"I’m telling you, moving that vial has given me a little, but noticeable, boost!” Mason shot back.
"What? Can you move a whole one and a half viles now? Maybe even... TWO vials?” John said, snickering again at Mason’s frustration.
“I swear, John, once I can move a crate, I’m moving it over your--”
Before Mason could finish that sentence, his, Zecora’s, and John’s heads all swiveled about to the front door, the furious, frantic knocking there startling even the latter.
Their fears were only assuaged somewhat when they heard the voice beyond the door was friendly, only to be set back to uncomfortable levels when they realized how she sounded. “HELLO!? ANYPONY… HUMAN… THING… HOME! OPEN UP! IT’S ME! LYRA! IT’S URGENT! LIKE, EXTREMELY URGENT!”
John rolled his eyes and strolled over to the door, opening it. “You have the book ye--” Lyra ignored him, running inside and stopping at the center of the main room. John closed the door and locked it.
"Where’s Robert…” John trailed off when he noticed Lyra’s disheveled state, her legs shaking and her eyes wide with tears.
All three of them felt even more dread well up inside of them, Lyra’s appearance and Robert not being with her making them assume the worst.
“Lyra,” Zecora calmly asked. “What’s wrong? And where is Robert?”
Lyra took a shaky breath before answering. “I-I-I had gotten the books he asked for, a-and I was on my way out of town… when a group of guards walked into town, carrying Robert’s unconscious body.”
John and Mason felt their stomach’s drop upon learning that their friend, the one who had known most about Equestria and had helped them avoid detection, was now gone. Captured by the military. They all remained silent, lost in their thoughts while Lyra looked at them, waiting for any kind of response.
"I… I got the books,” Lyra said in a near whisper, trying to get them to say something, anything at all.
“... Thank you,” Zecora finally said, and then went silent.
“... What do we do now?” Mason finally asked. “Robert’s gone, and the Cloak is probably with his captors by now. Without our primary way of remaining hidden, then it’s only a matter of time before they find one of us when we go out to get food and water.”
Lyra whispered something that the others couldn’t hear.
“What was that?” John asked.
"You… you need to get out of here. Leave before they can find you here,” Lyra spoke up.
“W-What?!” Mason exclaimed. “What do you mean “leave”?! We can’t just leave Robert here! He’s the reason we’ve lasted this long!”
“I’m not saying that you should leave Robert behind… just… just find a better hiding spot before they find this one, because I have a feeling that they’re gonna really, really soon,” Lyra answered.
"Alright… we’ll wait till’ sundown and then head out to find a new place to hide. Lyra, I need you to be able to give us updates on Robert and find out where the cloak is if you can. Can you--” John said, before he was cut off by a scream from Zecora.
"AUGHHHHHH!” She fell to her knees, wincing in pain.
"Zecora!” they all cried out in unison, rushing over to see what was wrong with her.
"What’s wrong?!” John asked, checking her body for any injuries.
“...Runes… down…” she answered, looking at the door.
And then, the door exploded, a loud boom echoing through the room as the cabin’s inhabitants were showered with splintered wood. After they stopped being pelted by fragments of the former door, they looked up to see that, calmly strolling through the now empty doorframe, was Twilight Sparkle, a small smile on her face.
"Hello there,” she said in a voice that sounded like she was merely talking about the weather with a friend. “I’m afraid you four are under arrest.” Coming in behind Twilight was Rainbow Dash and Applejack, along with ten guards.
"Oh, and don’t bother trying to escape. We already have this cabin surrounded,” Twilight added. “Besides, your friend will probably miss you if you leave. You’d hate for him to be lonely, wouldn’t you?”
"You…” Mason said, pulling out his glove and putting it on. “You cyclops BI--!” A blast of magic shot out of Twilight’s horn, throwing him back into the wall and knocking him out cold. Using her telekinesis, Twilight removed the bladed glove from Mason’s hand and examined it for a moment before turning back to the rest of them with the same smile she had worn upon entering.
"I hope the rest of you will come along without any trouble,” she beamed, her smile a bit too twitchy to pass as genuine.
“T-Twilight,” Lyra said in a shaky voice, causing the mare to look her way. “P-Please, just hear me out if you won’t listen to anypony else. This is all just one big, big, big, big, HUGE misunderstanding! The guys didn’t mean to hurt Fluttershy or attack you and the other elements, and Robert didn’t mean to mess up your eye--”
"If I recall correctly, you borrowed a book about basic spellcasting from my library today, and intended to give it to these creatures. I’d like it back. Please,” she interrupted.
"Twilight, listen to Lyra! These humans aren’t ‘creatures,’ they’re people with hopes and dreams and fears like you or I that merely wish to return--” Zecora said.
Before Zecora could finish, however, a bright purple blast of energy shot out of Twilight’s horn and impacted the ground just at Lyra’s hooves, making the green mare jump back and almost knock down John in the process by colliding with his knees.
“The book. Now. Please,” Twilight said, her smile now even more strained.
“Uhhh… Twilight sugar cube… are you okay?” Applejack asked.
“Yeah. That was a bit much, and I can’t believe I’M the one saying that,” Rainbow Dash said.
Turning towards her friends, Twilight said, “Oh, I’m fine. Just… peachy keen. Hehehehehe…” her laugh making even the guards gulp and take a few steps back, her friends accidentally butting against them as they backed up.
With a look somewhere between frightened for her life and crestfallen, Lyra reluctantly reached inside her saddlebag, pulled out the book she had gotten from the library, and slid it over to Twilight.
Twilight picked the book up. “Thank you Lyra! Now… I believe you have another book in your possession? One which Princess Celestia will probably be VERY interested in. Would you mind giving that to me too?"
Lyra’s eyes widened, but she said nothing.
Twilight sighed. “Oh well. I suppose you aren’t going to be cooperating anymore. If that’s the case, then allow me to inform you that a friend of yours is here to see you. Oh Special Agent Sweetie Drops!”
Twilight pointed towards the door frame, drawing everypony’s attention to it.
Lyra felt immediate and immense confusion as none other than Bon Bon walked in.
“Wha… Bon Bon? What the hay are you doing here?”
Bon Bon looked everywhere around the room except at her bestie. “Ummm… that’s the thing, Lyra. My name isn’t actually… Bon Bon. It’s… Sweetie Drops, like Twilight said. I’m also not really a pastry chef, or, at least, that hasn’t been my main occupation for some time. I’m actually… uhhh… a Special Agent of a secret… clandestine… covert Equestrian monster hunting task force called S.M.I.L.E. And… uhhh… I kind of… hehe… read your journal and… uhhh... turned you in.”
Lyra just sat there, staring at her roommate, waiting for her to laugh and say that all of this was just one big, bad, colossal joke, and that she was here to help them. But that never happened, and she simply stared at her in disbelief.
"It’s alright. You were manipulated, and you weren’t in your right state of mind. I promise that I’ll do everything in my power to keep you out of a dungeon for anymore than a few days until this whole mess is straightened out… C’mon Lyra, say something,” Sweetie Drops pleaded.
Lyra began shaking with barely contained fury and sorrow as she slowly stood up, her eyes fixed on the floor. “How... long?” she asked.
"How long... what?” Sweetie Drops asked, her voice cracking.
"How long... have you been reading... my journals?”
"Since… since I learned you were into mythical and legendary creatures from Equestria’s past.”
“Years.”
“Wh--what?” Sweetie Drops asked, not quite picking up what Lyra had said since her voice had been so low.
“For years. You’ve been watching me, spying on me… for years. All that time, I thought you were my friend.” Lyra then began a slow, shaky march towards Sweetie Drops.
“Lyra, what are you--” John cried out before being interrupted by what Lyra said next.
“All that time, all those birthday and Hearth’s Warming gifts, all those Nightmare Nights dressing up in ridiculous costumes… good Faust! All that time playing with your niece! Was she even really your niece!? Was any of it real!? Was any of it not just playacting to keep your cover and your job… you… you… filthy, dirty, disgusting traitor!?”
Twilight’s horn lit up with her magic again and she said, this time dropping her smile and all pretenses of being friendly for a far more fitting scowl. “Lyra, I’m warning you: stop moving towards Special Agent Sweetie Drops, or I will be forced to take--”
"Your name! You couldn’t even trust me enough to actually tell me your real name! Is there anything about you that isn’t fake, backstabber!?” Lyra said, stopping to point an accusative hoof at her former ‘best friend.’
Sweetie Drops, who, despite her training, had broken into sobs at Lyra’s words and hung her head low, looked up from the ground, and with red, tear stained eyes, gritted her teeth and pointed an accusative hoof right back at Lyra. “Don’t you DARE take that self righteous tone with me, you headstrong clutz! You held more than your fair share of earth shattering secrets from me too! When were you planning on telling me you had a book like the one you’re refusing to hoof over to Twilight!? Faust, I couldn’t even find it, and I know that rat’s nest of a room of yours like the back of my fetlock! I’ve had to clean after your messes enough times!”
“I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d give me a big, stupid lecture about how much trouble it was and take it away!” Lyra said, her eyes now just as red and wet with tears as Sweetie Drop’s. “At least I never broke into YOUR ROOM and rifled through YOUR secrets! At least I told you what my REAL career path was! At least I let you play with my REAL NIECE! At least I told you my REAL, ACTUAL, GENUINE name, you big, fat, giant, faking traitor! I swear to Faust, if I ever have to see your ugly muzzle again, I’m gonna--!”
Lyra’s threatening tirade was cut short when a spell from Twilight’s horn hit her square between the eyes. Her muscles seized up and she twitched a few times before falling to the floor in a crumpled heap.
Everypony in the room was stunned speechless, all, save one very, angry looking, one-eyed unicorn.
“I’ve had enough of all this,” Twilight groaned. “Guards, take them away. The Princesses will probably want to have a little chat with them.”
The guards were still for a moment before they gathered their bearings and walked past her. John got on his knees and put his hands behind his head, realizing that any attempt to fight back would be useless, and wanting to avoid as much trouble as he could, unlike Mason or Lyra. He remained perfectly still as his arms and legs were bound together by shackles connected by small but stiff metal rods.
Zecora was of a like mind and lay with her legs stretched out on the floor as the guards came over and shackled all four of her hooves together, this time with cuffs spaced out a bit more by a slightly longer length of chain so that she could walk upright properly (if at a significantly slow pace) before putting a metal collar over her neck attached to the backs of three of the guards.
The two were then swiftly escorted out, or in Mason’s case, carried.
Finally, Twilight trotted over to Lyra’s unconscious body. After staring hard at the mint green unicorn with her lone eye, Twilight hung her head and sighed before shaking her head and muttering out, “You just had to feel sorry for the wrong bunch of people.”
She picked Lyra up in her magic before making her way to the doorframe. On the way out, she stopped next to Sweetie Drop’s still stunned form and put a hoof on her shoulder. With an apologetic look, she said, “I’m sorry you had to see that. I should have turned down your offer to come along.” She sighed. “For what it’s worth, I thank you for putting duty to our country over your personal feelings and… I do hope Lyra gets off with just a slap on the fetlock. If you need me too, I’ll vouch for her.”
Sweetie Drops was silent for a moment before she responded. “Thank you… Miss Sparkle."
“And cheer up! You were instrumental in catching three, despicable monsters who everypony though didn’t even exist who assaulted the student of Princess Celestia herself and attacked Equestria’s greatest heroes! I’m sure there’s a shiny new promotion for you somewhere in S.M.I.L.E., plus, you’ll finally be able to drop your cover and move out of Ponyville!” Rainbow Dash said.
Applejack pulled Rainbow in close and whispered in her ear, “Rainbow, sugarcube, what it tarnation do you think you’re doing!?”
“Relax, AJ,” Rainbow whispered back. “I’m trying to help Bon Bon’s… errr… Sweetie Drops’ mood. She looked like she needed it.”
“Rainbow… did it ever occur to that maybe Sweetie Drops doesn’t want anypony to try and lift her spirits up, especially NOT in the way you just tried just now?”
“What’s the big deal? She probably IS going to get a big promotion and get assigned to some other town with a new identity after her part in bagging those weirdo hairless apes and that Zebra and…”Rainbow Dash’s eyes suddenly widened.
Applejack’s eyes narrowed. “Now do you see why we’re having this here conversation?”
"Yeah, I do. Which begs the question: why in the hay didn’t you tell me this!?”
“Rainbow honey, I just up and did!”
"No! I meant… earlier! While I was saying what I was saying!”
“Cuz I thought it’d be more awkward if I had to shove a hoof through your mouth and drag you kicking and screaming out of here!”
“Well good job there Ms. Punctual! Thanks to your TIMELY intervention, I feel a MILLION times less like I just made a ginormous, drooling fool of myself!”
Applejack hung her head and sighed before whispering, “Let’s just get out of here before EITHER of us can make Sweetie Drops feel any worse.”
"No argument there.”
Rainbow and Applejack then muttered out some hasty goodbyes before practically flying out of the doorframe and to parts unknown.
Massaging her aching cranium at her friend’s antics, Twilight looked back to Sweetie Drops and placed her hoof on her shoulder again. “Take care, Special Agent Sweetie Drops.”
Sweetie Drops numbly nodded.
With that, Twilight exited the hut, Lyra in her magic’s tow, escorted by three of the guards.
As the remaining three guards in the room went about their duties investigating what parts of the zebra’s hut Twilight hadn’t wrecked, Sweetie Drops still stood there, statuesque, as though her mind couldn’t quite process that everything that had happened recently wasn’t some mad, fever dream, but all too real.
When the guards began taking objects they thought fit the bill of ‘suspicious’ out of the house to seize them as evidence, Sweetie Drops shuffled, zombie like, out of the doorframe and towards the general direction of Ponyville. When she reckoned that the ancient, wicked looking trees and brush provided enough cover between her and the cabin that nopony could see her anymore, her pace quickened from a trot, to a canter, to a full on gallop. Tears trickled down her face, a few at first, and then, as sudden as the turn her life had taken in just a day, they began cascading down her face, drenching it in her sorrow.
She began to yell out, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” so focused on her woes and so blinded by her tears that she tripped over a log and fell face first into a pile of mud.
Rather than removing her face from it completely, though, since she didn’t think she deserved to get away from the smelly, wet dirt so soon after what she had done, she only moved her nose and mouth so that she could breath.
She then muttered out, “Please forgive me, Lyra. Please… forgive me…” before closing her eyes and wallowing in the mud like a sow throwing a tantrum, her tears not stopping for the next ten minutes.
Pain. That was the first thing Robert felt as he awoke. Pain in his head, pain in his ribs, pain pretty much everywhere.
He sat… wherever he was, for a while as he waited for some of the pain to subside. As he waited, he tried to recall why exactly he felt so bad. It didn’t take long for him to remember his capture and the beating that followed.
“Yeah, now I remember why I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck,” he thought to himself, finally mustering up the will to open his eyes. Looking around, he saw that he was in a small jail cell.
“Fi… gures,” Robert muttered to himself. “At least I can still talk and my jaw isn’t broken.” He groaned out in pain before also muttering, “At this point, it’s probably the only part of me that ISN’T broken.”
The cell itself was about eight feet wide and ten feet tall, the whole room constructed out of stone, and the only entrance being a metal door with no openings other than the less than an inch-wide space between the door and the floor.
Looking at his arms and legs, he discovered three things: his wrists and ankles were still shackled, the bite in his ankle had been healed, and… he was completely naked with the exception of his underwear.
Robert stared for a moment before sighing. “Of course, why not? Should I really expect any less?”
He took this chance to examine his body, noticing that while there were still quite a few bruises visible, they were MUCH less severe than when they had first been inflicted. Putting two and two together, he realized that someone must have healed his injuries, at least a little bit.
“Someone healed me then? Sweet, but who could have? Maybe the guards or one of the staff here?”
Robert ceased his pondering when he heard the door open. He looked up to see a group of several guards standing in the doorway.
"I see that you’re finally awake,” one of them said. He grabbed something from one of his associates and tossed it at Robert’s feet. It was his clothes.
"We searched you for any additional weapons while you were asleep and found nothing. I’m going to unlock your shackles and you’re going to put your clothes on. Your body looks disgusting,” he spat.
"Huh. That’s exactly what my ex-girlfriend told me,” Robert said with a light chuckle. Only receiving unamused glares in response, he sighed. “Tough crowd, I see.”
"Just put your filthy clothes on. And by the way, if you try to run, then we’ll skewer you,” the guard responded, levitating a key over to Robert’s shackles, unlocking them. Doing as he was told, Robert slid his clothes on and stood up on his working, albeit shaky, legs.
“Okay then, I assume you’re taking me somewhere?” Robert asked. The guards didn’t answer, and pulled out shackles similar to the ones that had been forced on him when he had first been arrested. After they did that, the unicorn of the group picked him up in his magic. Robert felt an oncoming rush of deja vu as his feet left the ground, and he suddenly realized something that had previously slipped his mind. “Wait a sec… you guys… aren’t you guys the same ones that got me? Well, without the commanding officer?”
“What, you want another beating?” one of the guards said.
“So, where are we heading?” Robert asked, ignoring the guard’s rhetorical barb.
“Oh, let’s just say you have a few visitors here to see you,” another guard answered with a chuckle.
Robert frowned. “I don’t like the sound of that, but since I doubt that they’re going to drag me out back and let the townsfolk beat me up, I think I can keep calm. I’m sure that I’m just going to be interrogated or something. Ponies I know of that’d want to interrogate me… maybe the Mane Six or the Princesses?”
Before long, he was in front of another metal door. As the guards went about unlocking it, he heard a gasp to his left. Turning his head to look at where the noise had come from, he saw Spike looking at him from his place in front of a large window that allowed him to peer into the interrogation room. Spike’s glare was an angry one, one that made Robert think that the baby dragon would love nothing more than to roast him with his fire.
He tore his gaze away from him when the door was opened. He was levitated into the room and saw two groups of people (and ponies) that he recognized.
On one side, chained to chairs that had been bolted into the ground, were Mason, John, and Zecora. They were looking at him with both relief and defeat.
The other group, the Mane Six, eyed him from their chairs. Their expressions ranged from Fluttershy’s, which held fear and sympathy, to Twilight’s, who’s one-eyed gaze made his blood run cold.
His shackles came off as he was lowered into his chair, the chains on those replacing his other shackles. After that was done, the guards left, closing and locking the door behind them.
Nobody said anything for a few moments, which to the humans, felt like an eternity. They all merely sat there, the ponies looking intently at them while the humans tried focusing their gaze elsewhere.
Finally, Rainbow Dash broke the silence.
“Ha! Not so high and mighty now, are you?” Rainbow gloated, smirking at them.
"I feel like that’s a trick question,” Robert responded, trying to lighten the tense atmosphere. To his surprise, he managed to keep his voice from shaking as he spoke.
"Ah,” Twilight said, causing the teen to flinch. “The guards who brought you in mentioned that you have a sense of humor, I see they were correct. Now, I’ve already talked to your friends, but they all said the same things. But since they mentioned you as their ringleader of sorts, I think it’s time I ask you a few things of my own.”
Robert took a deep breath before forcing himself to look into her eye. “L-Look, I’m really sorry about your eye. It was an accident, I swear to--”
“An accident, huh!?” Rainbow interrupted, slamming her hooves down on the table. “Tell me, was it an accident when one of you flat out decked her in the face?”
Robert took another deep breath and opened his mouth to respond, but John beat him to it.
“That was different! She was standing over Robert! I thought she was getting ready to attack him!” John exclaimed.
“And if we’re going to start throwing blame around, then how about you, Skittles? You attacked us first!” Mason snarled. “Or you, Rarity? You threw rocks and needles at us when we tried to defend ourselves! Or you Pinkie? You attacked Robert, and he was just trying to talk to you!”
Everyone’s attention was drawn to Twilight when she chuckled, their body temperatures suddenly dropping just north of the freezing point of water.
“I admit, we did attack you first, but our suspicions were hardly unfounded, and it seems like we were right to do so.” She looked directly at Robert. “Robert, was it? I seem to recall you cutting my eye open with your weapon.”
John and Mason began to respond, but Robert cut them off.
“Guys, please let me speak for myself.” And then he looked back at Twilight. “That was an accident. You were about to blast me, so I pulled my… shuriken out... and aimed for your... horn, but I tripped on a tree root as I threw it and my aim was messed up. I’m really sorry about that, and I promise that I’ll try to make it up to you as best as I can once this whole mess has been sorted out. I’m not sure how I can do my best to make it up to you yet, but I didn’t mean to hit you in the eye and I didn’t hold any malice towards you and your friends then and I still don’t. Again, I’m sorry things got as out of hand or hoof or whatever as they did, and if I could somehow change things so that you didn’t lose your eye, I wouldn’t hesitate to do so because I’ve obviously caused you a lot of pain and grief that you didn’t have coming and that makes me sad to see in you.”
Twilight was silent for a moment, staring at him with a blank expression. The others remained silent as well, Fluttershy wiping a fear tears and snot from her nose with the back of a foreleg, Rarity and Pinkie Pie sported glances that betrayed lack of confidence.. Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked like they had lost a bit of their furious edge and were now more uncertain than anything else.
And then, Twilight smiled again.
“And I suppose the same can be said about Privates Sharp Spear and Flash Sentry?”
Robert had dreaded the mention of those two. Though Sharp Spear was not a familiar name, he remembered the incident with Flash Sentry clearly, and he guessed that Sharp Spear was the guard who had been eaten by the Cragadile. He opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to find the right words to say.
"Oh? Speechless? Was I wrong? Do you not feel even the slightest of that supposed pity and remorse you said you felt for me for what you and your friends did to them?”
"Hey, lay off my friend there, cyclops! All we did to Flash Gordon or whatever his name was basically amounted to what you’re doing right now and what happened to Sharp Spike wasn’t our fault, but that stupid, dangerous as hell, forest’s! Don’t go pinning a guy’s death on us for what mother nature herself did!” Mason interrupted.
Twilight slowly turned to look at Mason, and tilted her head, her expression remaining unchanged. “Oh really?”
“Yes, and I wish to God almighty that I didn’t, because that wasn’t a pretty sight! We. Didn’t. Cause. His. Death. Period. He chased after us, he wasn’t paying attention to where he was stepping, he stepped on what you get when a boulder and a crocodile decide to get married and have kids. And then he was eaten alive!” Mason shouted, slamming his hands on the table. … Even though a small part of himself didn’t wish he could forget the gruesome death, much to a shame he didn’t dare show with the present company.
The room was dead quiet again save for the sounds of Mason gasping for breath after such a long, and epic, if articulate, rant.
That was, until, Twilight chuckled dryly. “... Eaten by a cragadile, huh? Tell me, how long did it take for you to come up with that story?”
Still catching his breath, Mason looked at Twilight like she had spontaneously grown another head and managed to gather up enough oxygen to yell out, “What?!”
"How long did it take for you to come up with that story? I mean, really, a cragadile? Couldn’t you have at least used a more common monster if you’re going to try and fool us?”
Mason looked at her with even more disbelief. “WHAT!?”
Waving off his loud question, Twilight said, “The point is, I’m not dumb enough to fall for that sort of thing. I know you all killed him. Besides, cragadiles don’t even live in this part of Equestria. As you no doubt well know, they prefer more humid, boggier locales a tad bit closer to large enough sources of water to sustain them than a temperate forest like the Everfree could possibly provide. I’ll give you points for creativity, though, if you REALLY wanted to out there, I’d have gone for poor Private Spear to have been done in by something like an Ahuizotl or, heck, even a Changeling. Since those two things don’t exist, you couldn’t possibly top them if fantasy is your chief concern.”
His lungs finally making a full recovery, Mason’s brain struggled with how to reply to something like… that. His gut reaction was to say something along the lines of, “Last I checked, Sparkle, we humans weren’t supposed to exist either, and then we mopped the floor with you six so bad that you lost an eye!” However, since he REALLY didn’t feel like purposefully ticking Twilight off again after how well that worked the last time, and because he and his friends were trying to convince the ponies that they were innocent, against a VERY great desire, he bit his tongue and just decided to shut up, figuring that cooler heads like Robert or John or Zecora could get this bitter, delusional idiot to see that they weren’t threats.
“In a way, aren’t all four of you threats?” he heard a voice say in the back of his head that he hoped to God didn’t somehow get out through his mouth during this tense conversation.
“Miss Sparkle,” Zecora said after remaining silent for most of the exchange, “I admit, I am a stranger to your land and am only slightly more accustomed to it than my human friends, but back in the lands where I hail, I was taught that before charges could be leveled against anypony, or human in this case, there needed to be evidence of a sufficient nature. So, I humbly ask you, what, aside from hearsay from the Royal Guard, would lead you to believe that my friends, are even capable of committing the terrible deed you accuse them of?”
Twilight turned towards Zecora and said, in a matter of factly tone, “If you must know, the Royal Guard haven’t released all the details of their investigation into the matter yet--”
"But I see they have somehow already reached a conclusion,” Zecora said, narrowing her eyes. “Such magic would be the greatest I have ever heard of.”
“Be that as it may, I’m sure when they’re done, they’ll have MORE than enough to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that your friends had a bit more of a role to play in Private Spear’s demise then they’re letting on. Speaking of shadow, even if the Royal Guard’s findings were inconclusive or corroborate their ridiculous story to a T, I know for absolute certain, that there’s a whole other reason to think your friends aren’t the frightened, scared little angels you’d like us to think they are. Tell me, Zecora, are you magically sensitive?”
Zecora remained silent, tilting her head and raising a brow.
"I mean, I assumed you were after you made two circles of runes around your cabin. One to keep possible predators out, and another to keep guards out. That was quite clever of you… assuming I’m correct and you were the one to make them.”
Zecora’s head rightened up and she nodded. “Yes. I did craft those runes, and I am magically sensitive.”
Nodding, Twilight said, “Good. Glad to see my educated guess was correct. So, anyways, have you ever noticed any magical energies from any of them? Any magic at all?”
"Yes. I did. In fact, just recently, Mason and John have begun showing signs of magical growth. And while it is not much stronger than that of a foal’s, they are steadily growing faster than one. I suspect Robert will likely begin showing magical growth as well very soon.”
Twilight’s smile returned. “But didn’t you sense anything else? To tie things back to what I said about shadows, have you noticed anything… darker about your three friends?”
Mason tensed up, remembering the dream where he had conversed with Freddy. A serial killer that killed children in their dreams for fun was now a part of him, and now that he knew this acquired aspect of his could be sensed… he didn’t know how he was going to explain it if he ever had to, which, he feared, would come sooner rather than later.
To his sides, John and Robert had reached their own conclusions, realizing that they both had dark presences inside of them.
Robert was intertwined with Batman. Who, while cool, had a vengeance and dark personality that made him mentally unstable to the point of ultraviolence at times.
John was intertwined with Harry Potter, who had gained dark power and even personality traits from Voldemort, the most powerful dark wizard to ever live.
"It seems like they know what I’m talking about,” Twilight commented, taking note of their terrible poker faces. “But since they probably won’t talk about it, I’ll tell you. You see, I can sense two magical signatures in all three of them: one normal, and the other dark. And that growth in magic you mentioned? That’s happening twice as fast to their dark magic.”
Zecora was unsure how to respond, she looked to her friends, noticing that all three of them were looking distressed.
"If you know as much about magic and the past as I do, you’d know that no creature in the history of Equestria has been recorded to be born with dark magic, but every villain that has ever tried to lay waste to Equestria always possesses dark magic. Why? Because they knowingly corrupt their magic with their anger and fear. And… seeing how those three have dark magic signatures, it’s only logical that they did the same,” Twilight concluded.
"Okay, that is some grade a crap, lady! Before almost a month ago, the three of us didn’t even know magic was a thing, dark or not! Heck, it was just as mythical and legendary to us as WE were supposed to be to YOU!” Mason shouted. “If you wanna spout off about ‘logic,’ then tell us how in the holy hell were supposed to ‘knowingly corrupt our magic with our anger and fear,’ if we didn’t even know magic was real to begin with for most of our lives!?”
“Before I answer that question, answer one of mine since I’m the interrogator here: why should I believe you? What reason do I have to believe a claim that you didn’t know magic existed? Are you claiming to come from another world, because if you are, THAT would be the most patently obvious, purely fantastical thing I’ve heard since we got started.” Twilight took a moment to laugh before continuing. “But seriously, no. If that’s what you’re getting at, then just no. The only other explanation for dark magic is if it is forcefully injected into you. But when that happens, it is because another dark magic user put it inside of you. And since that process corrupts the host and turns it into either the villain’s puppet, or a mindless monster, then I still have reason to lock you up even if you three were as soft as doves as Zecora seems to think! And since you aren’t a mindless monster… I guess that can only mean that you all are either villains looking to manipulate us, or puppets for said villain that is planning on attacking Equestria!”
All was silent, the ponies, even the sympathetic ones, hiking up their skirts and believing Twilight’s story, and the prisoners having no suitable answer for her.
And then, Robert sighed tiredly.
"You know what? I can’t adequately respond to that. I don’t know what’s going on myself, so how about this: you put us back in our cells and give us time to rest. We’re all exhausted from this whole ordeal, and I think some time to think would do all of us some goo--”
“I thought you said you’d be willing to do anything you could to make it up to me after you did, Robert," Twilight said with an icy venom to her voice.
Robert narrowed his eyes. “Twilight, to be quite honest, I think you could use some rest as well. You are getting very worked up.”
Twilight’s one good eye started to twitch at that. “Worked up? Worked up?! WORKED UP?!”
Robert’s eyes narrowed further. “Twilight. Calm. Down. Now. You’re getting worked up over nothing.”
“Worked up over nothing?! Because of you, I had to have my right eye removed from its socket! Because of you, everyday things that I used to find so much fun and joy in just became that much more of a chore! For Faust’s sake, you have dark magic inside of you! I legally have the capacity to turn you to stone because of that alone! So don’t you talk to me about being WORKED UP!"Twilight said, rising to her hooves.
Robert felt his frustration with the purple mare building, and he felt like he was about to do to her what he did to the guards that had captured him. But remembering what happened to him in that situation, and that he was trying to get them out of trouble and not into it, he decided against it.
He took another deep breath to calm his nerves.
"T-Twilight,” Fluttershy said in a near whisper. “P-Please calm down, you’re scary when you’re mad.”
"Ah agree. Don’t be going on a tirade now because this creature is winding you up. You’re better than that,” Applejack agreed.
Twilight looked back at her friends for a few moments before she sat back down. “You’re right, girls. I shouldn’t let him get inside my head. That’s what he wants.”
Robert let out a sigh of frustration when Applejack turned back to him and said, “But she does have a point. Not only do ya have dark magic inside of ya, but ya also done went and made her life harder when you took her eye out.”
“Well, you sicked the military after us, so I could say the same thing about all of you,” Robert retorted, causing some of the mares to frown at him. “As for the dark magic situation, as Mason said, we know little to nothing about it. We know about as much about dark magic as we do about quantum cosmology. We were just minding our own business when suddenly we just woke up here, and the next thing we know, six mares are attacking us. Now, can we please--”
Robert was interrupted by the sound of the metal door being unlocked. Everyone turned to look as the door opened to reveal two ponies the humans had both anticipated and dreaded meeting: Celestia and Luna.
The Mane Six immediately jumped out of their chairs and bowed to the Princesses, Robert and Zecora lowered their heads for a moment as a sign of respect, while Mason and John simply looked at them.
“Rise, my little ponies. There is no need to bow to me,” Celestia said in a motherly tone that reminded each of the humans of their own mothers back home.
“Greetings, humans,” she said with her usual smile. “While any normal pony injuring my student would be thrown into the nearest, and deepest, available dungeon… you three seem to be the exception to this rule. Exceptional exceptions. Your explanations are absurd, but all three of you seem honest and genuine. You desire to protect each other because of your friendship, but I also sense a very potent form of malice and fear in the form of your dark magic. You three are curious cases indee--” Celestia’s smile fell and an expression of recognition and shock crossed her face upon examining Robert’s face closely.
Seeing this, the occupants all turned to cast confused glances at Celestia, and then to Luna, who was also wearing a similar expression. For a solid minute, silence reigned in the interrogation room before Luna spoke up.
“Robert Williams,” she said suddenly, making the poor boy jump.
“H-How do you know my last name?”
“Are you related to Angela and Thomas Williams?” Celestia asked, perplexing everyone minus Robert, who’s eyes widened as much as was physically possible.
“H-H-How do you know my mom and brother?” Robert asked.
The room was still for several moments, the weight of this revelation causing astonishment for all that were present.
“Princesses…” Twilight said slowly, not sure how to react.
“Well?!” Robert said, his expression going from shocked to desperate.
Celestia and Luna’s faces broke out into fond smiles at Robert’s responses, memories of time long past rushing through their heads.
“Wow… I never thought I’d see the day when I met the big brother that Thomas talked about,” Celestia said.
“Nor did I,” Luna said. “Their claims were correct, you do look similar to them, Robert.”
A big smile spread across Robert’s face, joy welling up inside him. “They’re here?! Can I see them? They must be so worried about me.”
At that, the two princesses ceased to smile.
“Well, I’m afraid that’s impossible,” Celestia said, averting her eyes.
“W-What do you mean?” Robert said, his previous joy evaporating into dread and worry.
Luna hesitated for a moment before breaking the news to the teen. “You see, Thomas and Angela appeared in this world thousands of years ago. They fought to reclaim Equestria from an evil tyrant when Celestia and I were but foals. They were good friends with our parents, and helped take care of us, often recounting stories about you or your father. But they, along with our parents, fell in battle with a dark god over a thousand years ago,”
Robert’s face fell, despair similar to what he had felt when his dad had died filling him.
Celestia lowered her head upon seeing his misery. “I’m sorry.”
Robert was looking at the floor and remaining completely silent. On close inspection, one could notice his hands were slightly trembling.
“Robert... I’m... sorry man. I’m sorry,” Mason said in sympathy, putting a hand on his shoulder. Robert still did not reply.
The ponies, even the ones that had felt animosity towards him before, could not help but feel sympathy for him.
“Princess… why didn’t you tell me this?” Twilight asked. Celestia remained silent.
“So… you’re saying that the only family I have left… have been dead for over a thousand years?” Robert said in a near whisper.
“We’re afraid that is so,” Luna affirmed. “They were wonderful people. Extraordinary folk without which, Equestria wouldn’t have survived to present day. We’re sorry you had to find out this way.”
Robert slowly looked up. His eyes gave off the impression of a dead man, an expression Applejack in particular was familiar with. “I see… I’d like to be returned to my cell, please. There is nothing else that needs to be discussed.”
Celestia sighed. “Of course. I’ll let you have time to grieve before we get around to the legal proceedings involving your actions. We’ve already decided on your punishments. Would you care to know about them?”
Robert slowly shrugged. “Sure, why not?” His voice now sounded devoid of any emotion, further instilling sympathy for him in the others.
“Well,” Celestia began. “While a story like yours would not normally be believed, your mother told a similar story to us all those years ago. And since she was a very trustworthy woman, my sister and I are inclined to believe it. And since Thomas and Angela spoke highly of you, I find it hard to believe that you would do any of the things you and your friends have been accused of.”
The humans’ hopes rose slightly.
“However,” Celestia continued. “You did cause significant harm to my personal student, who is quite dear to me. Even if it was an accident, you will still have to be punished for that. Furthermore, you and your friends have dark magic within you, something which did not happen with the others. And while I hate it, that does put Luna and I in a difficult position. You could either be evil, the unknowing puppets of a villain, or some bit of both.”
The humans spirits sank back down to where they had been after waking up in their new abode.
“So, since we don’t know which, we’re going to let the Elements of Harmony decide. If you are pawns of a villain, then it will purge the dark magic from your bodies. If the dark magic has naturally bonded with your magical essence, and you really are evil, then… you will be petrified until we can be sure the three of you can be reformed.”
Robert nodded. “I see. Thank you, Princesses. May I be escorted back to my cell now?”
“Of course. Guards!” Celestia exclaimed, causing the same guards that had escorted Robert here to come back inside.
“Yes, your highness?” the highest ranking one of them asked, which was apparently Barricade.
“Escort Mr. Williams here back to his cell.”
“Take me back too,” Mason pleaded, raising up his hand. “This entire situation has left me exhausted, and I’d like to rest.”
“Mr. Mason, as well,” Celestia added, before turning to Zecora and John. “Would either of you wish to return to your cells too?”
John and Zecora nodded, and Celestia commanded that they be escorted back as well.
“Thank you, Princess,” John said with a bow of his head as he and the others were escorted out by the guards.
Before they could, however, Celestia said, “Oh, and guards? Please make sure that the three of them get to their cells in one piece, unharmed in ANY way. Understood?”
The guardsponies gulped. “Of course, your highness,” Barricade said.
They turned back around, shaking in their golden bell-boots, and lead the humans out of the room for good for the night...
Once the door had shut behind them, Celestia turned to the Mane Six and sighed. “I hope you have no plans today, because we have quite a bit to discuss…”
Robert rubbed his eyes, eyes that he assumed were red from all of the crying he had been doing since he had been locked up in his cell, and laid down on the cold, stone floor.
“I just can’t believe that they’re gone,” Robert said in a hoarse voice. “First Dad and now them too? Why can anything go right for me?”
He went silent for a moment.
“I… I just wish I had been there with them. Maybe they wouldn’t have died if I had been sent here with them... or… or maybe we could have all died together. At least I could have some peace if that was how things went down.”
He sighed, and then curled up into a ball and closed his eyes. It took awhile, but he soon descended into slumber.
Robert stood in a dark alleyway, being drenched by the rain that fell from the night sky above him. He didn’t mind though. Robert always liked the rain. But he didn’t really like waking up in a place he had never been before. After all, it didn’t really work out for him the last time it had happened.
“What?” he looked around, seeing no exit to the alley. “Where am I? Wasn’t I just in my cell?”
“Oh trust me, you’re still in your cell,” said a gruff voice from behind him.
Robert turned around quickly. “It can’t be…” he thought, recognizing the mysterious voice.
Standing behind him was a man he had admired ever since he had first seen him laying the smack down on criminals in the cartoons he had watched as a little kid: Batman, the caped crusader.
“Batman?! I can’t believe it’s really-!” before he could finish his thought, reality swept over him like a tidal wave. “Oh wait… this is just a dream isn’t it? You aren’t real, are you?”
The Dark Knight shook his head. “I’m afraid not. Just like John and Mason, you aren’t really meeting with one of your favorite characters.”
Robert sat down with his back to the brick wall of the alley. “So... what are you here to tell me? Harry and Freddy already told them what’s going on with our props and magic, so what information do you have for me? I don’t suppose you’re here to tell me how to get us out of this mess, are you?”
“No, I’m afraid that is something you all will have to figure out on your own,” Batman replied.
“Then what are you here for? If the only reason that you’re here is to signify that I’m going to start experiencing magical growth, then I’d prefer if you’d leave me alone right now. I’m not really in the mood to chat... even if it is with my favorite superhero,” Robert said, closing his eyes and enjoying the sensation of the rain falling on his skin.
“... I was like you too, you know.”
Robert looked up at Batman. “What?”
“You know my origin. I lost my parents too.”
“Oh great, you’re going to try and comfort me,” Robert muttered. “Okay, look, I’m really not in the mood to be given the whole ‘I know how you feel’ talk. Just leave me alone.”
“You know I can’t do that. I’m a part of you now. I can’t ever leave you alone for good.”
“I KNOW, okay?! Just don’t talk to me! I can deal with this myself.” Robert lowered his head so he was looking at the wet asphalt he was sitting on. He didn’t want to look at Bruce.
“That’s exactly what you told your friends when your father died,” Batman said. Robert’s head shot up. “And what happened? You allowed your depression to consume you just like it consumed me, and then you lied to everyone about it. And to deal with it, you used the very knife your father gifted you with to cut yourself.”
“Shut up…” Robert said weakly.
“But I’m afraid you just can’t do that here,” Batman continued. “You have two people relying on you to guide and instruct them about the world they are in, and if you buckle under the pressure, then you doom them as well.”
Robert said nothing, only looking back down to the ground.
“You have to move on, and do what I couldn’t do: accept their deaths. Neither your mother or your brother would have wanted you to sink into despair because of them. They would want you to carry on, and survive in this crazy world.”
“... I know,” Robert all but whispered. “But it’s so hard. I love them, and I just… miss them… so much.”
Batman nodded. “I know, but everyone runs out of time eventually, even those we love. You realized that when your father died, didn’t you?”
Robert nodded. “But I didn’t want it to happen so soon…”
“Nobody does, but that’s just the way life is sometimes. Everyone loses a loved one at some point, but if you just give up now, then the ones who care about you will also suffer, not just you. If you lay down and call it quits, then Mason and John could also die,” Batman said, his gaze never wavering.
“... I know,” Robert said, a bit more strongly this time.
“Then you know what you’ve got to do. You’re going to do what you’ve been doing since you got here, and survive. You’re going to survive as long as you can, and you’re going to make the most of what is given to you and live as happily as you can, so that when you run out of time and reunite with your family, then you’ll be able to confidently tell them that you were able to have happiness despite your hardships.”
“... okay, I’ll try.” Robert rose to his feet slowly, and looked Batman dead in the eye.
Batman nodded, apparently satisfied with the answer. “Good. I know you won’t recover from your grief in one night, it’ll be a burden you will carry for the rest of your life, but I have faith in you.”
Robert managed a weak smile. “Thanks.”
“Here,” Bruce said, reaching into his utility belt and pulling something out of it. “Take this.”
Robert held out his hand and let him drop something into it. His eyes widened when he realized what it was: the gold pendant necklace that his dad had given his mother before he had departed for war. Opening the pendant with shaky hands, he saw a picture of all four of them standing next to each other, smiling happily. His mom and dad linking arms, and he and his brother exchanging annoyed glances at each other.
Robert looked up. “How did you--?” Batman was gone, leaving him alone in the alley.
“Get ready,” the voice of Batman echoed around him. “You’re about to have a visitor.”
And then Robert was alone.
He was silent for a moment more, before chuckling. “So that’s what that feels like.” He then stood there, shivering as the cold raindrops continued to assault his body. He didn’t really mind though. Robert had always liked the rain.
Mason grumbled to himself as he sat in his cell, going over everything what had happened to him since he had awoken here. Despite that, he still could not think of a way out of his current predicament, so, instead, he stretched out his lower back, which really needed the activity after slumbering on solid stone as a mattress.
“Uggghhh! I guess I can only hope that those magical gems don’t turn us into lawn ornaments. I’d REALLY hate having to spend the rest of the lifespan of this topsy turvy universe as target practice for pigeons.”
And with that, Mason sat back down, closed his eyes and began thinking again, but soon found himself dozing off.
In his dream, Mason found himself in the middle of performing his favorite outdoor activity, a double sided oar in hand as he kayaked down black water river. Despite it being practically scientifically confirmed than alligators never crossed the state line from North Carolina, he had always been paranoid that gators secretly liked to give a scaly middle finger to researchers and cross deeper into Virginian waters than people were comfortable thinking, at least, until the winter came and, like a bunch of snowbirds, they retired back south until it was over.
This childish fear always helped to make him oar faster when he was feeling tired after rowing for a couple of hours straight, the adrenaline also keeping his senses razor sharp even if he constantly found himself looking at every log, branch, fish, or slanted depression on either bank thinking that one of those inhumanly strong, quickly, and deadly monsters was nearby, ready to just jump out of the water and take a bite of him without him even knowing until after the fact.
Even now, near the end of fall, wrapped around in his winter Everlast coat, Mason was afraid of passing through one of those ancient abominations’ digestive tracts, his remains never to be found and his story told amongst kids at campfires to scare them to bed for being rowdy.
Finally, as the dock came into view, Mason sighed out a breath of relief. Thinking he was home free, he told himself again and again that his fear made no sense as he took it easy with the rowing, that even in the warmer seasons, those cold blooded monsters DEFINITELY wouldn’t be here.
Instead, he filled his mind with thoughts of home, of stuffed turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy with an extra side of sweet corn and carrots and peas, his mouth watering at the thought of then getting to his mother’s Thanksgiving Day pumpkin pecan pie.
He was less than ten feet away from the dock. Now five. Now--
His boat was rocked violently by something large, and he was sent tumbling into the freezing waters. He quickly swam up to the surface and began swimming towards the dock as fast as he could. He didn’t know what just hit his kayak, but he’d be damned if he was about to stick around and find out. He had reached the dock and was about to climb up onto it when he felt something powerful and sharp clamp down on his leg. He looked down to see none other than an alligator, its head like that of a certain serial killer’s head. It grinned at him before pulling him under the water.
Were anyone else around, they would have sworn that Mason had shouted loud enough to wake the dead.
But, something peculiar happened when he was pulled into the water. Instead of finding himself in the belly of an alligator at frigid temperatures, he found himself falling down, as though through air, landing on the stone floor of a familiar cellar.
"Hey there, champ. Was causing you bone chilling, bone snapping terror as fun for me as it was for you?”
Mason lifted his face from the floor to glimpse none other than one Mr. Krueger, who was looking at his prone form with amusement.
“I thought you wouldn’t be bothering me anymore,” Mason grunted, getting back to his feet.
"Well that's what I thought too, but it turns out that I still have some influence over you in the dream realm," Freddy said. "It was a pleasant surprise for me too."
“Just get out of my head, Freddy, I don’t need you heckling me in my dreams when I’m trapped in a prison cell in real life.”
“Oh no, no, no,” Freddy responded in a tone of fake sincerity, “you’ve got it all wrong. I’m here to help you get out of that old cell!"
Mason looked up at Freddy incredulously. “And how exactly do you plan on doing that? If you haven’t noticed, I can barely move a vial with my magic.”
“"Well that’s the thing there, sport. On the physical plane, you might be even weaker than that little yellow horsie with the trio of pink butterflies tattooed on either side of her ass, but here… well… I think I’ve spoiled too much in my... excitement…”
“Spoiled too much?! You’ve barely told me anything!”
Freddy narrowed his eyes. “Wow. You really are dumb. And here I was thinking some of my innate cleverness had rubbed off on you by this point.” Freddy shrugged. “Ah, well. Can’t win ‘em all… even if you inevitably wind up winning most of them. Look, kiddo, who am I?”
Mason initially raised an eyebrow at the dream demon’s question, but answered it all the same. “Freddy Krueger.”
"And what do I do?"
“You kill people in their sleep by invading their dreams.”
"Okay, now just think about that for a second, because I know you’re not THAT dumb, and then show me if you can stack up to ol’ Freddy. And if you can’t figure it out after some massive hints like that… well… then enjoy being a statue for a thousand years! Buh bye!"
And with that, Freddy vanished in a burst of hellfire, leaving mason alone in the cellar with only his thoughts to keep him company.
Thank God.
In fact… as the seconds ticked by… Mason’s eyes widened with realization and he figured he really would have to thank the Lord if the conclusion he had just arrived at was true.
Closing his eyes, he focused all of his thoughts onto the feats Freddy had performed with his powers, and on the thoughts of the rage and hatred he felt towards his captors. Once he was certain that he had tapped into whatever dark magic lay dormant within him, he spoke.
“Freddy Krueger, agent of the dream demons, Springwood Slasher, grant me access to the dream realm.”
With that simple statement, a metal door blackened by years of rust suddenly appeared before him and opened up to a realm of darkness and fear. Stepping through the door, he found himself in what could only be described as a void. All around him was darkness, not like any he had seen before. This… this felt… alive. Standing there, all other emotions left him, save for one: fear, fear in its rawest form. Though he didn’t experience it, instead, he felt it all around him, as if the darkness was made entirely of it.
"Welcome to the domain of nightmares,” Freddy’s voice echoed around him, sounding much deeper and haunting than any other time he had heard it. After the voice ceased to ring in his ears, countless balls of fire appeared beneath him, forming into a kind of path for him to follow, and revealing countless metal doors that seemed to stretch on forever.
But despite the awe he felt, he didn’t dwell on it for too long. He knew that he only had a small window of opportunity to get them out of the prison before the morning came and they were turned to stone... or worse.
Then again… what if breaking out was a bad idea? That Celestia pony had said that the Elements would only petrify them if they were evil, and they hadn’t done anything that was technically evil.
"But we have dark magic, and I’m pretty sure that makes us evil…” Mason clutched his head in frustration. “I don’t know! If only I knew more about this place!” At that thought, Mason came to a realization.
Robert would probably know what to do.
“Show me the dreams of Robert Williams!” he called out into the void. Sure enough, a metal door appeared in front of him the instant he finished speaking, Robert’s name carved into the door’s rusted metal. Without hesitation, he opened the door and crossed the threshold, entering the dream of Robert Williams.
Mason found himself in a street alley that looked like it belonged in a city like New York, rain poured down from the sky, and the alley had no exit. Spotting Robert shivering in the rain right off the bat, Mason conjured an umbrella and walked over to his friend.
Noticing that he no longer felt raindrops, Robert looked up, surprised to see Mason standing there.
“Hey Mason, how are you in my dream?” Robert asked.
“I found out that I can dream walk and then I came to see you for advice,” Mason answered.
“Advice about what?”
“You see, I can probably break us out of here with my dreamwalking if I use it correctly, but I came to ask you if I should break us out at all.”
Robert pondered the question for a moment before replying. “The Elements of Harmony would not turn us to stone or even hurt us if we aren’t evil, so we should be safe.”
“So I shouldn’t break us out?” Mason asked.
“That is what I WOULD be saying if it wasn’t for three things: We’re human, our magic could betray us, and the Elements they wield are ones I am not familiar with.” Robert went on to elaborate. “The first point is the most minor, and that is that the elements have never been used against a human before, and that it might have adverse side-effects. The second point is that there are apparently no creatures in Equestria that have been born with dark magic, leading the ponies to believe that we are either evil, or pawns to someone who is evil. It is possible that the Elements themselves judge who is evil by their magic signatures, which will screw us over if that’s the case. The final point is that this universe is different from the one I’m familiar with, and the Elements could operate on different rules. I don’t want to take any chances and end up dead. So I give you my full permission to break us out of here.”
Mason nodded. “Gotcha.” He willed the door out of Robert’s dream to appear, and he went back into the dream realm.
Once he was back in the dream realm, Mason immediately went to work.
“Show me the dreams of the guards in this place,” Mason called out, and sure enough, a few metal doors with names carved into them appeared before him. He grinned, cracking his knuckles as he did.
“Time to make some magic.”
Mason stood up, rubbing his wrists, which were now free from the shackles that had previously bound him.
“Ah, feels much better to be out of these things,” he commented, before snatching the keys off of the floor, leaving the still slumbering stallion there. The guards in the jail had been easy to manipulate, and now one of them had brought him the keys. He locked the stallion back inside as he left, making sure he wouldn’t cause any trouble.
Having accomplished that, he ran over to the cell just across from him: John’s cell, and unlocked it. He ran up and violently shook him, effectively waking him from his slumber.
“Ahhh! Ahhh! Not Slytherin!”
Mason quickly put a hand over John’s mouth and made the ‘shushing’ sound and gesture with his other index finger. “Quiet! You want to alert this entire country with your yelling, do ya?”
After Mason removed his hand, John asked, “How did you--?”
“No time to explain! We need to get Robert and then run for it! It won’t be long before the guards wake up… and I REALLY don’t want to be here when they do,” he said, unlocking the shackles that held John.
Mason helped John to his feet before dashing over to Robert’s cell and unlocking it. Not surprisingly, Robert was already wide awake, giving him a look that suggested he had expected him. Though, he was confused to see Robert holding some sort of necklace in his hands.
Shaking it off, Mason unlocked Robert’s shackles, allowing the boy to stand up.
“Alright then, let’s get a move on,” Robert said, stuffing the necklace into one of his pockets as he stood up. “Do any of you guys know where they’re holding Zecora and Lyra?”
“I saw Zecora being put in the cell beside yours,” John said to Robert.
“Great,” Mason remarked, dashing over to the cell beside Robert’s and opening it. Just like before, he woke the zebra and undid her shackles, and soon all four of them were running down the halls of the jailhouse.
“Now where’s Lyra?” Robert asked as they raced past countless cells, both empty and occupied. Mostly empty, though. Different as this Equestria seemed to be from the canon he knew, Robert figured that the crime rate still would put any human city’s rate to shame.
“I don’t know,” John answered. We haven’t seen her since they brought us here, but I do know that she should be in one of the cells closest to the exit, which should be coming right to our right over here.”
The four of them turned the corner, three of their hearts stopping as they saw two guards standing tall on either side of the door out of that popsicle stand. Mason, however, quickly said, “Don’t sweat it. They may look all alert and stuff, but they’re actually asleep. Look closely.”
The other three did and noticed that, through the dark gloom, that both guards, while standing like would be were they awake, actually had both their eyes closed and were stuttering a bit as though they were asleep.
“Mason… how did you know that?” John asked.
“I believe the better question is, how did he do it?” Zecora asked.
The John and Zecora looked at Mason who simply said, “I’ll explain it later, we’ve got to move for now.”
Sighing, Robert walked up to Lyra’s cell, which was less than three feet away from the door out of here and pointed between Mason and the cell until the former finally realized what Robert wanted and unlocked it. Inside, they found Lyra, without shackles, lying on the floor with a tear and snot stained pillow resting beneath her chin.
Bending down, Robert tried nudging her awake as he whispered, “Lyra! Lyra! Get up! Now! We’re busting out of here!”
With a cough, Lyra awoke and tiredly looked up at him. “R-Robert?… Is that you?”
“Yes, it is Lyra. Now get up! We’re all getting out of here and you’re coming with us. C’mon!”
Now fully awake, she shot him and the others a look of hesitation. “A-Are you sure? Taking me with you would only cause you trouble.”
“We’re not going to sit around and let you be wrongly punished. Besides, we just broke out of prison. We’ve got nothing else to lose. Less than nothing, even. Now get up, we’re leaving now,” Robert responded, helping Lyra to her hooves.
“But… where are we going?” she asked.
“Not sure about that yet, but I do know that it will be away from here. Really far away.”
“Like… out to the fringes of the country far away or out of the country far away?”
“Honestly? We’re gonna be shooting for the latter, but settling for the former if we have to.”
Lyra’s eyes widened at this, and she said, “Are… are you sure about that? I mean… yeah, things have taken a turn for the worse, and I really, really, REALLY want to deck Bon Bon or Sweetie Drops or whatever alias she’s adopted now... but… I still do have a life here in Ponyville, ya know? and from what Twilight told me after I woke up, my sentence isn’t going to be that bad. Just a few days here until they sort this whole mess out.”
Hearing this, John decided to move things along himself, “Lyra… do really want to stay here? I mean, you did help us when we asked, you know that? Do you really think that your friends and family will trust you, or even want to be around you, after that?”
Lyra looked crestfallen at that, her ears drooping to her head as said head looked towards the ground. “Well… I… uhhh…”
“Plus, if you stayed,” John continued, “I don’t expect that they’d let you go as soon as Twilight said they were. Besides, that journal you mentioned, and I’m assuming other hidden stuff you probably have locked away too won’t help your sentence, and if they truly are as incriminating as the book Twilight took from you… well then, you’re probably gonna have to get used to grey stone and iron bars, because that’s what’s going to be your new home for the foreseeable future and maybe even the not so foreseeable future if things really got out of hand or hoof or whatever.”
Lyra was silent, internally battling with herself about whether or not she should go with her human friends.
Robert sighed at Lyra’s expression. “Look, Lyra, either way you slice it… your old life in Ponyville is over. There’s no going back to it. ...We don’t have much time. We’re leaving now, and you can either come with us or stay here. We’ll respect your decision either way, but you have to decide... now.”
Lyra was silent for a moment and then another moment and the a moment more.
“Hurry up, guys!” Mason said impatiently. “I’m pretty sure that Luna chick showed up in the dream realm just as I left, we have no time to lose!”
Lyra nodded, and whispered, “Let’s get out of here.”
The humans nodded, and then let Lyra out of the cell. With that, the group of five slowly made their way through the entrance of the jailhouse and ran out into the night.
As much as it pains me to put my first story on this site to rest, I'm afraid it has come to just that. I no longer have any desire to write this story anymore. I know a good deal of you liked this story, but if I'm being honest, I always knew I was never going to finish this, especially with how long I intended it to be. It leaves a bitter taste in my mouth to cancel one of my stories, but that's just how things have turned out.
Now, while this is the end of this story, the characters of Robert, Mason, and John may return. A friend of mine and I have been discussing ideas for a possible story, and I intend to bring that trio back in that story, along with some other humans should I really get into writing it. Whether or not I will finish that story has yet to be seen.
Once again, I apologize for letting you down like this.