A group of 8 friends must survive in this new, strangely colorful, land of Equestria. Weeks after arriving, the Princesses go missing. Now, they must find a way to survive and keep the kingdom alive. Will Equestria survive? Or fall to the enemy?
Arriving as foreigners in Equestria, a group of 8 friends must survive in this new, strangely colorful, land. After some weeks, they learn that they were summoned by Princess Celestia herself. They head to Canterlot to ask her about it, but receive terrible news: the Princesses are missing. And they instructed the guards to hand over control of the kingdom to the same group. Now, with the help of the remaining 5 Elements of Harmony, they must find a way to survive, and keep the kingdom alive, all the while searching for the Princesses. As time goes on, new relationships are formed, while other relationships are strained. Equestria nearly collapses, and fighting goes on around the nation. This group of friends must fight to stay together and to save everypony else. Can they find the Princesses in time to save Equestria? Or will the nation fall to the enemy? ~~~ Cover art was made by me.
It was just another quiet night after a band rehearsal. A soft breeze blows, chilling the night air. In the darkness, you can just make out 8 figures.
"So, what do we do now?"
A group of 8 friends are sitting outside the band hall.
"Don't know," Anthony replies, turning to Matthew, the person who asked the question.
Matt shrugs and turns to the rest of the group.
Marissa and Bethany sit in silence. Lindsey is huddled in the arms of James, her boyfriend, and the same went for Victoria and Hayden.
"Well, we can't just sit around here." Matt says, a worried frown on his face.
Bethany lets out an exasperated sigh, tired of Matt's complaining.
"There is nothing we can do but wait," She states for the umpteenth time.
"Well duh," Hayden remarks, a smirk on his face.
"Shaddup." Matt said curtly.
The group sits in silence for a few more moments.
"I only wish we didn't have to sit out in the cold," Lindsey says, shivering. James pulls her closer and she calms down.
"True," Marissa says, "But we can't go back inside and there is nowhere to go."
Anthony goes onto his knees.
"Oh Great Gods of the Universe! Give us a place to stay warm!" he shouts with his arms raised to the sky.
"Anthony!" Victoria hisses, "What are you doing?"
A tense silence stretches out. Anthony lowers his arms and stands up. Shrugging, he mutters, "It was worth a shot."
Hayden laughs.
"Imagine if it worked!"
"Then I would jump up and do cartwheels." Matt scoffs.
Suddenly, there is a great flash of light and everyone is forced to cover their eyes.
"What in the name of-"
"Don't say it!" Bethany yells at Matt.
Matt stops speaking, but his mouth still hangs open.
A portal. There is a portal in front of me. He thought.
Hayden looks over at Matt.
"Where are the cartwheels?" Hayden asks, jokingly.
"Shut up. It's not like I could do them anyway," Matt replies.
"What do we do?" Lindsey asked.
"Either we go in, or stay here in the cold." James states.
"We probably should stay here," Marissa stated, a stern look on her face to anyone who would contradict her.
"A wise choice," Bethany agreed, "Besides, who knows where that portal leads to!"
But there was mothing to be done, as the wind suddenly picked up. It made an audible whooshing sound and lots of small articles flew towards the portal.
"Grab on to something!" Matt yelled, "It's pulling us in!"
He slammed his back into the nearby brick column. Holding out his hand, he screamed against the sound of the wind's angry gust.
"GRAB ON!"
Desperately, they made a human chain, holding on with all of their might.
But it was too much. Eventually, Lindsey, admittedly the weakest, slipped and fell into the portal. James dove after her and everyone else was pulled in.
After a few moments, there was the crunch of bodies hitting solid ground. To those bodies, there was only darkness.
~*-^O^-*~
"Urg, my head..."
Matt sat up and rubbed his throbbing head.
"Oh God... Where am I? And why is it so dark here?"
Matt tries to get on his feet.
"Ugh. Someone get the li- OUCH!"
He falls.
"What was that?"
Groping around in the darkness, Matt finds his phone. Turning on the flashlight, he shines it around. The beam locates the other 7, still unconscious on the ground. Shining the light into the air, he notices that he was in a forest and that he had hit his head on a branch.
Rubbing his head, Matt sighs. "Welp. Gotta stay here. Or what kind of friend would I be?"
He locates the trunk of a tree and takes a seat, resting his back against it.
Suddenly, a great flash of light encompassed the area and Matt was forced to squint and shield his eyes.
"Over here," a gruff voice called out, "Found the landing area of the portal. And we have some visitors."
"Who are they?" Another voice, a feminine one, albeit regal, answered.
"Humans. And one of them seems to be awake." The male voice replied.
"How many are there?" The feminine voice questioned.
"8."
"Bring me the one who is awake."
Matt was still blinded by the flash of light, but he felt something grab him and lift him up. He couldn't move. Whatever was holding him was too strong. No matter how much he struggled, he couldn't move. Suddenly, it released him and he tumbled to the ground.
"You could at least set me down, not drop me." Matt complained.
He stood up, but was forced back down to one knee.
"Bow and respect the Princess!" There was that gruff voice again.
"Release him." The other voice. Supposedly the Princess... Whoever she was.
'There aren't Royalty in the US any more, right? If so, where am I? Not England, they aren't speaking with accents.'
Matt was released and he stood up.
"Where am I?" he asked before he opened his eyes. When he did, his jaw went slack and he was speechless.
An extremely tall, white pony with a horn and wings stepped forward. There was a tattoo of a sun on her flank.
The strange pony smiled. "Welcome to Equestria. I am Princess Celestia. May I ask who you are?"
Matt still couldn't form any words. However, when a guard whacked him with his spear he answered.
"M-Matthew. But I go by Matt."
"Well then Matt, tell me who the others are."
"They are my friends," He replied.
He pointed out each one as he named them.
"Lindsey, James, Victoria, Hayden, Bethany, Anthony, and Marissa."
"Are you the leader?" Celestia asked.
"I don't think our little group has one." Matt replied.
"I guess you'll be the leader then," Celestia said, turning around.
"Not that I want to be it of course," Matt said under his breath.
He and his friends were in Twilight's Castle. Matt and Lindsey knew who she was. But it would take the longest time for them to teach the others about Equestria.
Around the table sat his friends, who were pressuring him to tell them what went on as they were unconscious.
"Well, that puts us in a spot," Bethany says, frustration expressed on her face.
"What do we do now?" Victoria asked, panic clearly set on her face.
"We are here on this planet, while our lives are on another!" Marissa exclaims.
Lindsey hits Anthony's arm.
"Nice job! If you hadn't done your little 'Warm place to stay' ritual, we would still be on Earth!"
James hugs her tightly.
"Eh well. We can't do anything now." Anthony states matter-of-factly.
"But we can't sit by and do nothing," James points out.
Hayden nods, "So what's the plan?"
Matthew looked over at Lindsey.
"Well, I believe that Lindsey and I are the most familiar with this world." Matthew stated.
"True," Lindsey said thoughtfully.
"So I believe that we should handle it until the rest of you get situated." Matt finished
Everyone else agreed.
"When did you become the decision maker?" Bethany asked.
"Well, I woke up first and met Princess Celestia first. She said she would view me as the leader of our group." Matt answered.
"But we have no leader," Victoria said.
"That's what I told her!" Matthew replied.
"Anyway, it's a nice change," Marissa said.
"Just don't let it change our friend." Bethany said, concern in her voice.
"You got it," Matthew replied.
~*-^[]^-*~
The Next Morning
~~~~~
This is going to be a life-changing experience.
Matthew looked around the castle, then turned back to the room that they all shared. He saw his friends all awake, just talking. Lindsey was starting to teach them about Equestria.
At least I'm not alone in this.
He had to be grateful that Twilight allowed them to stay until they were able to get their own home.
Lindsey looked over at Matt and gestured for him to come over. He walked into the room.
"Hey so, now that we are here, can you help me teach them about Equestria?"
"Sure," Matt replied.
He sat down and told them what he knew. How the ponies here were not carnivores, how the money system worked, how social and political events went down, how the government worked, and the different places and species here.
Bethany rubbed her temples. "That's a lot to take in."
Lindsey nodded.
"Let's just take it slow. We only need to know a few of those things. I just thought it would be helpful later to know this." Matt said.
"Hey, what's for breakfast?" Anthony asked, innocently.
Marissa and Victoria sighed.
"You always have to think of food." They both said.
Anthony shrugged. "What? I'm hungry okay?"
"Yeah me too," Hayden replied.
"Same," James added.
Matt shook his head, a hint of a smile on his face.
"Ok. I know that Sugarcube Corner is nearby. We could go there."
"But you said they use, uh what's it called?" Victoria started.
"Bits!" Bethany reminded.
"How do we get those?" The group asked Lindsey and Matt.
Matt and Lindsey looked at each other, then back at the group.
"No idea," they both replied.
"And you said they don't eat meat," James said, "So protein from meat is out of the question."
"No! I want my meat!!!" Anthony exclaimed childishly.
"Well, you're gonna have to get used to that," Hayden said, laughing.
"Okay look." Matt interrupted.
The group all turned to Matt.
"I know the situation we're in seems bad. But we can only get through this if we work together. If we split, our predicament gets worse. So we need to focus on the entire groups' need. Not on our own. Understand?"
The entire group nodded.
"So who's with me?" Matt asked, placing his hand out.
The group put their hands on his.
"We will get through this together. If not, just blame it on me."
"I'll be waiting for that chance," Anthony joked.
Matt shot a glare at him.
"On the count of three," Matt said, turning back to the group, "we'll break, saying 'DEESH'. Got it?"
The group nodded.
"1, 2, 3!"
"DEESH!"
"Now, let's see what we can do to find ourselves some bits."
'Wow. He's changing a lot already.' Bethany observed. 'Better keep an eye on him so that he doesn't change too much so quickly.'
~.\/.~
At that same moment, Twilight Sparkle was walking over to them. She heard Matt take charge of the situation and the group all agreeing with him.
Wow. These humans are very close, aren't they? Twilight thought, smiling. And Matt is really good at taking control and keeping the group together. I knew there was a reason why Celestia made him the leader. But I wonder what she sees in him.
"Now, let's see what we can do to find ourselves some bits." She heard Matt say.
~.\/.~
Twilight walked into the room as the group stood up to leave.
Matt was the first one to acknowledge her presence.
"Your Highness!" Matt exclaimed, immediately going down to one knee.
The rest of the group followed.
Twilight grimaced. "First. Rise."
The group stood up.
"Secondly, I want you to call me Twilight. I am going to help you while you are here in Equestria."
"Thank you, Princess Twilight," Matt said, a hint of a smile on his face.
Twilight faced hoofed. "Just call me Twilight. Please. I hate my title sometimes."
"I'm sorry Twilight," Matt said, chuckling, "I just had to do that."
'Then again,' Bethany thought to herself, 'Matt doesn't seem to changing so much as I thought.'
"I don't remember Sugarcube Corner looking like this," Lindsey said, awestruck.
Twilight giggled.
"Pinkie puts up new decorations often."
"You can never control that mare," Matt said, chuckling and shaking his head.
Matt turned to the rest of the group.
"Now, Pinkie Pie is another pony here," Matt explained, "She is probably the funniest, weirdest, and the wildest pony in all of Equestria. She is guaranteed to make you smile. And she breaks the fourth wall a lot. Just warning you."
Twilight pushed the door open and the bell above the door jingled.
The group all walked inside and Matt noticed that the bakery was empty. A loud voice was heard from behind the counter.
"Hi Twilight!" Pinkie burst into the room to wrap a bone-crushing hug around Twilight.
"It's great to see you! And who are all these ponies you brought over?"
Pinkie let go of Twilight and looked over at the group that just walked in. She let out a large gasp after realizing what she saw.
"Oh my gosh! You brought aliens from another world?!?!?! Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie, the pink party pony in Ponyville! Are you guys new to Ponyville? Have you seen much? Does anypony else know about you yet? Do you know what new ponies are treated to when they first arrive to Ponyville? A 'Welcome to Ponyville' PARRRRR TAAAAAAY!" Pinkie said at a breakneck pace.
Twilight used her magic to shut Pinkie's mouth closed.
"Okay," Matt began, "First off, we are humans. I am familiar with this world and everything that goes on here. I know this may be normal for your expectations, Pinkie. We are trying to get home, but we have no idea how or how to make a living here."
Matt then turned to his friends.
"So, I may have forgotten to tell you this, but Twilight and her friends are known as the Elements of Harmony. Twilight is the Element to Magic and Pinkie is the Element of Laughter. We still have the other 4 Elements to meet: Loyalty, Honesty, Kindness and Generosity."
Pinkie broke out of Twilight's magical grip.
"So you really do know a lot about us. Pretty SWEEEEET!" Pinkie yelled.
She ran to Matt and tackled him to the ground.
"Now all I have to do is throw you all a party and introduce you humans to the rest of Ponyville!!!"
Twilight pulled Pinkie off of Matt.
"That won't be necessary Pinkie," Twilight said sternly.
"Awwww, but I throw a party for every new pony in town! Why not for them?"
Matt got up and dusted himself off.
"Because we don't want the residents here to freak out upon seeing us."
Pinkie fell to the ground.
"I guess that makes sense," she said dejectedly.
She jumped back up, cheery as ever.
"But I will throw a party for you all somehow! Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" Pinkie pinkie-promised.
Twilight sighed.
"Can they get some breakfast?"
"Okey dokey lokey!" Pinkie nodded and leaped over the counter, pulling an apron out of nowhere.
"Can we get some simple glazed donuts? Probably two for each?" Matt asked.
"You betcha!" Pinkie exclaimed, "Coming right up! On the house for you newcomers!"
She dashed into the kitchen and the group sat down in a booth.
"Well," Anthony began.
"That was," Hayden continued.
"Interesting," James finished.
Twilight giggled.
"There's more than this. Better get used to it." She informed the group.
"There's more," Bethany confirmed, "I know some of this world but not all. Just enough to know what is going on."
Victoria face-planted into the table.
"This is gonna take forever," she complained.
"Well, look on the bright side," Lindsey comforted her, "We get to experience something that others don't."
Matt smiled.
"That's the spirit!"
~*</\>*~
After a particularly delicious breakfast at Sugarcube Corner, provided by Pinkie Pie, they began to head over to Carousel Boutique to meet Rarity.
The group was going to stay there for a while, so they needed more clothes than the ones already on their backs.
"How about we go and visit Rarity?" Twilight had suggested. "She is one of my friends and one of the best clothes designers I know! I know she would love to accept the challenge of making clothes for a different species!"
"The only problem is that she doesn't know that we exist," Matt pointed out, "She could freak out and start attacking us!"
Twilight nodded thoughtfully.
"You have a point. Then again, she is always willing to help. She is the Element of Generosity after all."
As they walked towards Carousel Boutique, Twilight, Matt, Lindsey, and Bethany heard an extremely familiar wooshing sound overhead.
The group all looked up to see a rainbow trail following a certain cyan-colored, rainbow-maned pegasus.
The pegasus, looking down to see Twilight, dove to the ground.
"Hey, what's up egghead?" the mare asked.
Twilight's face scrunched up.
"I said not to use that name when other ponies are around!" Twilight hissed through clenched teeth.
The cyan mare looked over at the humans.
"It doesn't look like there are any ponies around," shepointed out, smirking.
"You- " Twilight began to say, fuming.
"Twilight, calm down," Matt intervened, "She is just pushing your buttons, like always."
"Woah!" the pegasus exclaimed, "These hairless apes can talk?"
Matt sighed.
"First off, we are humans. Secondly, were you always this rude?" he asked.
"Rude?" the cyan mare said, taken aback, "I'm not rude! Just 20% cooler than every other pony in the world!"
Matt turned around to look over at his friends.
"Guys, this is Rainbow Dash, the quote-un-quote 'fastest flier in all of Equestria' and the Element of Loyalty."
Rainbow Dash flew up to their height.
"You guys are lucky to be able to meet me. Not very many ponies get to," she said with a wink and a smirk.
Matt rolled his eyes.
"You forgot to mention modest," Anthony pointed out sarcastically.
"Oh did I?" Matt asked thoughtfully, "Must've slipped my mind."
"Hey!" Rainbow yelled. "I can be modest!"
The group looked at each other.
"For some reason," James began.
"I highly doubt that," Hayden finished.
The guys all burst out laughing.
Rainbow was fuming.
"You- you guys..." She started to say.
"Guys! Stop!" Bethany said, although she couldn't keep a smile off of her face.
"Be nice! She IS one of Twilight's friends after all!" Victoria added.
Lindsey sighed.
"Classic. Just classic."
She turned to the rest of the group.
"I knew this would happen. The guys can't control themselves can they?" Lindsey asked.
"Of course not!" Marissa exclaimed.
Lindsey turned back to Rainbow Dash.
"Just ignore them," she said.
"They're just pushing your buttons," Victoria continued.
"As per usual," Marissa stated.
Bethany smile faded and turned into a frown.
"Do I have to go into parent mode? I know you guys don't want me to. And I don't want to either." She said.
The guys immediately shut up.
"Okay! Shutting up now!" Anthony said, jokingly.
"Sorry, Dash. Just having fun, that's all." Matt said, occasionally glancing at Bethany. It was clear she scared him.
Dash smirked.
"I'll give y'all this one time. But y'all better watch your backs. Things like this won't go unpunished." She said bluntly.
The all-too familiar smile crept back onto Matt's face.
"We'll see about that," He said, confidently.
Rainbow hovered over to his face.
"Is that a challenge?" She questioned.
"A challenge," Matt confirmed.
Dash smirked.
"Then It. Is. On!" She replied.
"Great," Matt said, an all-too-familiar smirk on his face, "Let's see how far this can go."
Dash laughed.
"Confidence! I like that about you!"
She flew up higher.
Addressing the entire group, she said, "Catch y'all later! Got weather duty!"
The group waved a goodbye as she flew off.
They continued to walked to Carousel Boutique.
"I think you made the worst mistake of your life," Twilight commented.
