Six college students travel to Equestria to investigate a string of abductions of ponies, which are believed to be taken by humans from their world
Life for "Egghead" and his group of friends a few years after the events of “The Girls” have became peaceful now that the portal has been restored and the Main 6 can transverse each other's world at will. Off to college and the girls back in Equestria in the meantime, “Egghead” and friends can return to the monotony of studying, football, and trying to not rip their hair out in getting an education like the rest of their 'normal' peers.
That all ended one day, when Rainbow Dash unexpectedly comes back with an issue back in Equestria and would need their help...
I remembered it like it was yesterday: waking up in the middle of the night being pressed down to my bed with a mass on top of my hip, launching a full on assault to my face and chest. A familiar raspy voice was shouting and cursing at me, unleashing her rage and fury for “abandoning her”. The rage turned into tenderness, a flash of hate into love. Sitting on me to keep me from moving turned into laying on me. Punching turned into tearful kissing. Our affection ended quickly when the sound of the portal opened up downstairs and I heard the scurrying sound of five different footsteps. When door opened, our friends giggled at the sight of us. I knew that better days were ahead.
Jenna and Joshua returned that weekend to reunite with them. Nassir didn't take thirty minutes when I texted him that they returned. He busted through the door and went straight to Applejack for a bearhug .
There were no words between them, just the bearhug, and a real, more affectionate one.
Since the portal to Equestria was accessible at any time, the girls were no longer forced to go to school in my world and opted to come once in awhile to catch up with their former peers. My football coach missed her the most. Every football game he would occasionally glance to where Rainbow Dash was sitting in the stands, and longed for skills to be used to help him win. It didn't matter though, because we won the state championship in football that year. That night, as our friends partied to celebrate the impossible, Rainbow Dash and I went to my room to have our own private party for the first time.
Even if they no longer attended LFHS, the girls were treated as if they were still members of the school, even going as far as allowing them to go to the prom. That night was magical. Nassir and Applejack were each other's dates for the prom, Rainbow Dash was mine, and the rest of the girls were by themselves. We all had the time of our lives though. Graduation came soon after that, with me, Nassir, and our friend and star quarterback all committing to USC and were nationally touted as the “Lake Forest Three.” I would tell the media that being recruited by the school was the best moment of my life because they would never believe the crazy year of housing and falling in love with one of six girls from a different world.
Nonetheless,The end of my high school career also meant the beginning of the summer I had planned with the girls since they came back. It was a combined gift from my biological father, mother, stepfather, and the college fund I didn't have to use since I had a full ride athletic scholarship: an around the world tour with the girls, Jenna, Nassir, and Joshua. We went to many stops and many cities like Tokyo, Beijing, Sydney, Dubai, Moscow, Vienna, Rome, Cairo, Berlin, Paris, London, Sao Paulo, Cancun, Havana, Dallas, Seattle, Las Vegas, Miami, Orlando, New York… And it all ended August, in Baltimore, when the girls decided to give their 'fans' a second chance, and what better way to do it then at the largest convention celebrating them and their adventures.
Minus the lines to everything, it was the best weekend they had. They saw the true spirit of the fandom, met new friends, and by the end of it all, they had to be carried from the rave because their feet were sore from the dancing. They were asked for many pictures since they “looked so lifelike” and, with my money, they bought almost all of their merchandise, and I couldn't stop her. It's cute when they get egotistical like that.
Sadly, however, that also indicated the end of the trip and the summer we all had together, as that Tuesday, I was to report for training camp with Nassir.
***
All those memories were cased in photos lining my room as I carried the last of my stuff out of my room, through the upstairs hallway and down the stairs, both of which had photos along the wall of the last two years. In the living room in front of me stood the girls, Jenna, Joshua, Nassir, and my parents. Once they went back to Equestria, Nas and I would head off to college. I set my duffle bag down and gave every girl a hug goodbye, sharing a few kind words with each of them. When it was Rainbow’s turn, she came up to me and pulled me into a deep kiss , causing her friends to stifle a laugh. Even after all these years they still laughed at us.
"I'm gonna miss you," I said as I held her for the last time in a while.
"Yeah, don’t worry, we will see each other soon," She replied
We talked about her feelings and what was going on, mainly the “urges” they had. Whenever a new 'season' of the show got near, they had a sudden urge to get home. The closer they were to it starting, the stronger it got. I guess they filmed the show based on their adventures they had. It had also happened during my senior year of high school, but this time, we were ready.
Anyway, we continued to hold each other and were not wanting to let go.
"Wish you could join me at college," I said, hoping to convince her to join me and Nas.
"I wish I could ,Egghead," she lamented. There wasn't sadness in our goodbye. We knew we would see each other again. There would be days where the wait for each other would be the hardest, but since we had already done it once before when I was in my senior year, I was sure we could do it again.
Rainbow's friends began to disappear in the portal one by one, with Applejack being the last. She had a longer goodbye with Nassir. He kissed her on the forehead before they broke their hug and AJ went back home.
We shared one last kiss, and as hard as it was, I let her go. We still held a hand as she walked to the front of the portal.
"I miss you already," I said as we shared one last kiss. When it was over, we waved goodbye as she slipped into the mirror.
As time went on, the daily ritual became monotonous at best.
It started with the sound of the alarm clock going off. One glance at it affirmed my annoyance at the numbers it showed me: four o'clock in the fucking morning. Nas was up already and moving. He was the first one in our shared dorm to be in the shower, the first one changed and ready to take on the day with a smile. I would usually be still in bed, trying to drain every second of sleep from the clock as I could.
"Wake up, foo! Time to put in work!" He said, trying to jolt me awake. It was now four-thirty so it was my usual wake-up time. I was slow, I was groggy, and I was miserable getting up. I missed how I would wake up with Rainbow Dash sleeping in my arms, and the sun warming our bodies.
"It ain't hard to be a morning person, man! Just need the discipline!" Nas suggested as I got out of the bathroom, showered and ready to sloth through the day.
"Its pretty easy to get that routine, peanut farmer!" I snapped.
"Yep! We had to be up before dawn to help out. We wouldn't be done until sundown. That's how I did it," he commented.
"Uh huh. Thanks, Dad," I said dismissively as we grabbed our backpacks and headed out the door for another day. The air was chilly outside and the sun was still an hour away from shining. In front of us was the skyline of the City of Angels, only a few miles down the road. We went nearly across the square-mile campus to the square-shaped building that was connected to the massive football stadium. Around me were the other members of our team, converging on the building, its lights on to indicate the start of a new day and a new opportunity to better ourselves. We walked in the facility, passing the many trophies and portraits of the Hall of Famers, a constant reminder of our expectation as a team: to win.
Our destination was the giant, empty mess hall that had enough tables for everyone. Our coaches would join us later. We had our breakfast, a buffet of many different breakfast foods to help us through the day. We grabbed our food and sat at our usual table, one that was usually occupied by the freshman.
"Morning, boys," Nassir cheerfully said as he took his seat. Everyone gave him a quick look and went back to looking down to their meals as they continued to eat. I could only smile as I watched him cheerfully try to communicate to the rest of us zombies.
"Nas, quiet down," Brock commanded.
"Why's that, Brock?" Nas asked.
"The upperclassmen are looking at you funny."
* * *
After breakfast, we went to our lockers, changed into our gear, and headed to the practice field as the sun was beginning to shine over the San Jacinto mountains off in the distance.
I was still getting used to having my uniform be cardinal and gold instead of the black and gold that I had come accustomed to, but that was a change that had to happen. It was time for Nassir, Brock, and myself to prove to our coaches, and teammates, that all the hype surrounding us was the real deal.
With our skills, the team’s "rebuilding year", and our desire to win the starter spots, we were definitely making a case. Again, it didn't take much effort to beat the cornerbacks and the safeties out in the open field, and Brock’s arm was as accurate as ever. Most of the teammates complained that it was because of our friendship I was getting the ball more. In fact, I was the only one actually getting open.
Nassir was also a one-man show, weaving through the O-line and stiff arming when he was in the open field.
The practices soon ended a few hours later and we moved to the weight room. We went from station to station in small groups, doing whatever the station wanted from us. It would not have been fair to compare us to the rest of the team during the weights. Most of them were bigger and stronger than us, destined to play with the big boys in the pro level, while the younger players had the speed. It was what four years of intense weight training would do. It also motivated us to be elusive during the game, since we did not want to get hit by those guys. There was one station that allowed us to rest, right before we get back to the thick of our training.
"How are they doing?" Brock asked.
"Good, haven't heard from them since they returned home," I answered.
"Must be tough," Brock answered. "How about you Nas? How's your girl?"
"AJ and I ain't dating."
"Sure sounded like you were digging her," Brock answered.
"Yeah, before I found out she was a talking magical pony from another world, cuh."
"Fair enough. Let me know when the comeback, I miss them."
"You are not the only one," I answered with a wry smile. "So, shall we?"
"Right now? Alright," Nas answered.
The three of us extended our hands and looked away. We counted to three and when we did, we made our choice. It was a tradition the three of us started, deciding who got to pay for dinner. The catch was the person who had to pay got to choose. At the count of three, we made our choice and looked at the result.
Bad news: I had to pay for dinner. The good news was we were getting sushi tonight.
* * *
With an hour and a half left before my first class of the day, I thought I would get a latte and study in the student union. I felt energized from the morning practice and workout and was ready to take on another day.
I was woken with a tap on the shoulder and realized I was asleep. I jolted up and scrambled to turn off the music on my phone. While I waited for Rainbow and the girls to return, I took solace in their music they had sung over the years. It helped me survive without them, though I couldn't catch myself listening to "kids" songs.
"You know, the point of studying is to read, not to sleep," The feminine voice said with a giggle.
I looked up and saw her. She was petite, bobbed blond hair and cold blue eyes. She had taken a fancy of me the first time we met, although I was spoken for. Clearly she didn't take the hint, or the blatant announcement.
"Here, maybe this will work." She said as she gave me a styrofoam cup of coffee. I took a sip, hoping it wasn't roofied or something.
"Thanks, Trisha," I said.
"No problem. So, what are you doing tonight?" Trisha asked.
"Studying and dinner with my guys. What about you?"
"Oh! Well, I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner, just the two of us," She proposed.
"I have a girlfriend," I answered.
"Yeah, but there's nothing wrong with a guy and a girl going out without it being a ‘date.’"
"You tried to kiss me the last time," I replied.
"I…" She didn't say anything after that and walked off, blushing with embarrassment.
"Thanks for the coffee!" I shouted at her as she walked off. A distant "You’re welcome!" was heard from her.
It has been months without Rainbow Dash and cute college girls want my bone. It has been murder.
There are two things I always feel when I get up in the morning: The sound and the coolness of our air conditioner filling the room, and it felt like waking up in the arctic or something. I could complain about it, but I was still warm, because of her.
Jenna was on top of me, a small pillow supporting her head and our heavier blanket going down to her neck. I looked at the alarm and it read four o’clock in the morning. As much as I would of wanted to be like that with the woman I loved, I had a busy schedule to run and no time to fuck around.
I tried to get up, but Jenna still had that death grip. She pinned me down as I tried to get her off me.
"Nooo," she cried groggily.
Preciosa.
Eventually, I succeeded, which made her cuddle a long pillow in my place. Before I got off the bed, I gave her a morning kiss on her forehead and went about my morning.
After my shower and quick bagel, I was off to my morning training.
All I had was my hoodie, shorts, and a destination. I left the safety of the University Village and into South Central within the span of a block or two. Even during the day the run was dangerous, but after sunset was another, even more dangerous story. Gang members, the homeless, prostitutes all called the sidewalks theirs, and although with all that they tended to stay out of my way. It wasn't because of a reputation I didn't have or have family here, but the words on my chest: "USC Boxing Club".
Basically, they left the college folks alone, because having extra police on 'their turf' due to attacks on students would be bad for their business, but it did happen enough times that people always watched where they were going at night. It was a courtesy I enjoyed because I had no intention of dying in that ghetto ass city.
But, like every day before that one, I made it to the gym, which was an abandoned mechanic's shop turned into a boxing gym. When I arrived, the gym was already packed with people trying to get their work in before their day started. I was among them, improving my movements, my jabs, every day I strived to get better. When I was in high school, my biggest aspiration was state champion, which I won.
But now, my aspirations were higher.
"Look, Josh: you got a week before the invitational. You sure you are ready?" My coach asked in his heavy Spanish accent.
"Yes, coach. I got this,"
"Alright. Just remember mijo: with the national championship, then I will let you try for US Olympic team, I know a guy who can train you for that!"
***
Like Josh, I usually have a morning routine.
It involves waking up with Josh trying to get off of me, Which I always try to keep him in bed. That man is so warm! I would usually moan in my half asleep state to have him stay in bed with me, to enjoy each other before we had to spend our mornings apart. He always won out, though, because he was fully awake.
I would be half awake when he entered the shower, and I would be fully awake when he left. I would get up, do my thing, and head out for another day. While Josh was in his morning training, I was already getting ready for my pre-dawn class. I worked my schedule around so Josh and I can spend time together, it worked, and yes I'm that kind of girl.
Try falling in love and tell me you won't, fucking nerds.
Anyway, As I made my way for the class, I always saw my brother and Nas on their way to their morning practice. I'm usually too tired to say hi, and my brother was usually too tired to say high back. He always slouched like a neanderthal every morning, and Nassir was always so fucking up and smiling in the morning, always made me want to punch his teeth in for being so happy.
I took my class, chemistry or some shit, and with everyone else we endured in trying to stay awake until class was over, which when we left the building we were greeted to the sunlight and a new, usually hazy, day in the City of the Angels. Even then, my morning was still not complete. There was still time to study, and my morning coffee and apple to stave off my appetite.
It was around nine-thirty when I went back to the apartment for my favorite time of the day. I heard the shower in the bathroom when I walked in and tossed my bag on top of our couch. I began to strip my clothes off as soon as I went into our room. somehow, we both loved… Well getting it on in the shower, so which was why I worked the schedule out so well. So, I would be done with my morning when he was done with his and had to clean up after a long and sweaty workout. I had everything mapped out, and it rarely failed.
I began to think if this was going to my life for the next four years: Sleeping, Studying, Shower sex with my boyfriend. It was great, don't get me wrong. But, It would have been fun to have an adventure again with the girls. Sure, nearly got us all arrested/killed multiple times, but where's the fun when there's no danger? It would be a long few months until they returned here for another summer of fun and adventure. Until then, I had to make do with what I had here, and I really do like what I have to make do with.
Either way, this life was a good one, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. As they always said: study hard now and the fun will happen when you are done. I guess they were right, but for now; I had a shower to interrupt and a man to screw.
Trish came back a few minutes later, that time joined by some familiar faces
"Guess who we ran into!" Nassir announced. Brock was with them and looked more awake from the last time I saw him, which was at practice.
"Awsome!" I replied.
"Well, we gots time to study. Mr. Finch always throws questions that are not covered in class on the tests!" Brock said.
I still had time to burn and the classroom was the next building over, so I would casually join in their quick study session. They threw their textbooks on the table and went to work, trying to do so in a loud room that was always bustling with chatter. As we went, I kept noticing Trisha taking a quick glance at me every so often. We would lock eyes, she would smile and then go back to reading. I mean, she is a great girl, don't get me wrong. Just… my heart belonged to another.
It was then my phone started to vibrate. And wouldn't you know,: it surprisingly wasn't from Trisha.
It was Brock.
"Hey, can I ask you something, dude?"
I had a peculiar look as I typed because I was expecting Trisha.
"Sure, what's up?"
When his phone vibrated, he would pick it up and text and go back to studying.
"Has Trisha ever say anything about me? Don't say I asked or anything..."
Thank you Brock, you based son of a bitch. This will be fun.
"Not that I know, why? Ya digging her?"
"Don't say anything, I'm trusting you."
I guess I was caught up in texting that I didn't see Nasir pick up his phone.
"Why are you both PMing each other like a bunch of girls?" His text said.
"Brock wants to fuck Trisha." I replied with a smirk
"I TOLD YOU NOT TO TELL ANYONE!" Brock frantically typed.
"Relax, Nas will help you out."
"Fo sho. But it would be hard since she is all up on this guy."
Nassir had a point. Trish dug me, yet…
"Haven't you told her you are spoken for?" Brock texted
"Every day. I think I have to fish out Rainbow from the portal just to prove it to her. I'd help you with making a move on her, B. As you can see it will help my sanity on the long run."
It was then all three of our phones vibrated. We looked. In a new text thread, it was all three of us in a conversation with Trisha.
"So why are you three texting each other like a bunch of girls?"
* * *
After our 'fun', Joshua and I would always either cook or go out for breakfast and spend the rest of the morning under a tree, sitting on his lap and observing everyone who was walking by. As our tradition, we would always have the meanest insults about what the person looked like and what they were doing. Our insults were brutal, but only we would hear their banter from under the tree, both of us stifling out a little giggle every time. Our next class was not for another few hours, so we had time to kill.
"So Josh, what is your plan for the Regionals?" I asked.
"I already got the time off from my professors. I just need to worry about what I do best," He replied.
"That's good to hear," I said as I shifted myself, trying to get as close as I could to him.
"Coach was talking Olympics," Joshua nervously admitted.
I lifted my upper body off of him and turned around because I could have sworn he just said he might be trying to make it to the US Olympic boxing team, which he always wanted to do since we were kids. Every time I was his classmate or in his classroom for some reason, I would always see what he wanted to be when he got older. It would always be a crude drawing of what was supposed to be him in the boxing ring. The fact he might be fulfilling it seemed surreal.
"Seriously?!"
"Yeah, if I win Regionals, he will introduce me to someone."
"Holy shit, man!" I bellowed. Yep, he was going places, and that bitch was gonna take me with him.
"Right?!"
"Well, I'm proud of you! My man is gonna be an Olympic contender!"
"You can do it too, you know."
"Josh, I would rather take a dick than a punch. I'd rather not fight at all if I can help it. Besides, I'd rather stay at home with our kids… And your millions," I said with a smug grin.
"You mean our millions!" He objected.
"Tell that to my future divorce lawyer," I joked, ending that conversation with a deep kiss.
***
As soon as we walked in, we were met with a series of numbers and letters on the wall:
N = R* fp ne fl fi fc L.
"I know what that is," Trisha whispered.
"What is it?" Brock asked.
"The Drake Equation: it's a basic equation to estimate how many planets that can harbor life are out there."
"Do they include inter-dimensional travel?" I asked.
"No," Trisha answered
"Why?" I asked
"Inter-dimensional travel is impossible," She commented.
The three of us looked at her and each other, a smug grin on all of our faces. With what we knew and what we went through for the past few years, we were pretty sure that Trisha was completely wrong, a common issue with Laguna High School students like her.
***
I broke off the kiss, and continued to sit on his lap under the shade, people-watching again.
"Hey, babe. That one looks like your mom," He said.
"Joshua, you know better to bring our families into this!" I scolded him.
"No, really, that looks like your mom and… Uh oh."
I dropped my head to see what was going on, and I couldn't believe it. That was my mother alright, dressed in whatever expensive skirt and blouse she was in. She was walking to us with another person.
"Mom!? Rainbow?!" I yelled as I got off of Joshua's lap to give them each a hug.
"Jenna! So good to see you!" Mom said. "While I was dusting the back house, Rainbow Dash happened to pop up just as I was about to leave."
"Dash?"
"Where is he!?" She said nervously. I had seen Dash nervous, to the point of near panic, but not like this. She was sweating, breathing heavily, looking around for my brother in haste.
"Whats wrong?" I asked.
"I need to see him!"
"So you got my mom to drive for an hour in traffic to get your fill of my brother?"
"J, this is serious! I didn't come here if it wasn't important! Please! Where is he?!"
I sighed and pointed to the archaic building in front of me.
"Room two fifty-four of the science building, he is in class-"
Rainbow didn't let me finish and took off towards the building. She had run across the courtyard in record time.
"Dayum she’s fast," Josh commented as he walked up to us.
"Hello Joshua, keeping my daughter satisfied at night?"
"For fucks sake, Mom!" I hollered in embarrassment
* * *
Every other minute, I felt that surreal feeling that I was in that odd world between sleep and woken, only to be sprung back to life every thirty seconds or so.
Wake me up inside.
That rant started when he 'accidently' landed on the History Channel on his way to PBS and was triggered by the talk of life in other worlds. So, his mistake became our wasted class.
"The test is next week, how will we be prepared now!?" Brock moaned as he rested his head on his backpack.
It was a common sentiment, with leaving the class not an option or else getting kicked out of the class altogether.
"I should have picked the professor that was better reviewed," Trish complained.
"All of her classes were filled thou," Nas pointed out.
So he went on, the professor that was not even teaching about cosmology, biology, or anything that can be applied to the subject was complaining about the mere thought of extraterrestrial life. It didn't help that in the middle of the rant he said that he knew about the test, he knew that that day was going to be wasted on his rant and that any of us leaving meant losing our spot in class.
"So what's for lunch?" Nas asked.
"Damn Nas, already thinking with your stomach," I said.
"At least he is thinking about something other than his other head," Trish giggled.
I looked around; everyone else looked either bored or had a way to conceal that they were on their phones. I would do the same, but I had no one to text or message. Long gone were the days that I could pass the time with the girls, now passing the time with just bullshitting around.
Oh how I missed them.
"And if anyone believes that interdimensional beings exist, or the concept of other dimensions, they are knuckle-dragging retards!"
The door swung open from the corner of the room, which was at default better than the 'presentation' in front of the room. I didn't see what was causing it, but I kept looking at that direction to hope it was something good, or a mass shooter to put a bullet in my head and take me out of that misery. Either one would have worked.
She had the same clothes from when we first met, which was weird since I had to throw them away since they were tattered and torn, but here she was with a fresh pair of the clothes. Her rainbow-colored hair as vibrant as ever.
Oh boy, here we go.
She was like an animal caught in a room full of school kids. She was looking around with wide eyes and quick movements, looking for me while the rest of the class looked on with their curiosity.
"What are you doing in my class?!" The professor cried out.
"Yea Dash! What are you doing here!?" I yelled as I stood up with a grin.
"Egghead!" She cried out as she ran down the steps to me. There was no kiss, no hug, only grabbing my wrist.
"Come!"
I forgot how powerful she was because she was able to get me walking. I looked behind to see Nassir, Trisha, and Brock join me. The rest of the class saw what was going on, and decided to join. All we needed was enough of us to walk out to have the whole class join in.
* * *
Even when we went outside, she was still dragging me by my wrist, leading me to god knows where. It wasn't until we turned the corner when I saw Mom, Jenna, and Joshua, looking as confused as I was at that time.
"You's in trouble," Nassir said with a laugh as we finally were in front of them.
"Okay, you got me here, now what's up?" I finally asked.
The first thing she did was come up to me and violently shove her tongue down my throat, to my and everyone's surprise. I think Trisha may have taken it a bit worse than everyone else in the group.
"So it is true," Trishia lamented.
"Yea, Trisha… This is my girlfriend, Rain... Roxy."
It felt like the air was sucked out of our little group, the school, the city.. Hell, it felt like the world collectively stood still… At least for me. For Trisha I would have assumed hers was feeling like it was about to end.
"I remember you," Trishia finally spoke up after collecting herself.
"You do?"
"Yea, I was there when you and his team beat mine… I went to Laguna."
I cleared my throat, hoping to have waved off the stench of awkwardness.
"So, what brings you here?"
"Ponies have been disappearing back in Equestria. Just poof! Gone! We think whoever are taking them are coming from your world, and Princess Celestia wants to see all of you, personally," Dash finally said.
"Wait, what?!" Jenna asked.
"Humans… There? That can't be good." Nassir added
"An audience with the Princess?! Where the hell do I sign up?!" Joshua yelled.
Everyone looked at him, were concerned, and he was oh so smug.
"What? I've been wanting to go there for a long, long time!"
"I'm game too. Any objections to paying a visit and seeing what she wants?" Brock questioned.
"Equestria? Princess? What the hell are you guys talking about?" Trisha sheepishly asked.
I turned to her and smiled. "Well, you can stay here and deal with the nutty professor over there, or you can come with us and I’ll show you how deep this fun little rabbit hole goes."
Trisha was still sheepish to go, since, well we are talking about going to another world. A road trip? Sign me the hell up! Across the country? I might need to see if I'm available. Another dimension? That's when the jitters start.
She ended up still tagging along as we went to my mother's car. She brought the station wagon so there was enough room for all.
"I'm still fuzzy with all of this since it was thrown to me in seconds, so what's the full story?" Trish asked.
"I don't know if I will have the time to explain it all," I said with hesitation.
"We are in the middle of a SIGalert, I think we will be here a while," Mom said.
"Oh, alright," I answered. Rainbow moved my hand over her shoulder, and rested her head on my lap, closing her eyes.
I played with her hair as I explained it to Trisha. Meeting the girls, taking care of them, protecting them from the kidnapping, having to break the portal, restoring the portal, the fun, and adventure between then and now. It was interesting as I explained it to someone else who had no idea what went down. Okay, maybe the story of the riot in Vegas, or the mass arrest at Lake Forest told part of the story through the news's accounts, there was the rest of it that wasn't published in the headlines.
It would of went quicker, but I had to bring up the night of the game. Brock and Trisha arguing the last few minutes of it. She thought it was luck to beat her school, we had to remind her the hell we went through just to keep it CLOSE, much less beating those sons of bitches.
Jenna smiled as the story was told, especially the parts where she kicked ass. Nassir signed in longing when applejack was mentioned. Joshua had to break in and mentioned that Jenna and he started dating during the fight at our old school.
"Wow," Trisha said.
I smiled, knowing her mind was blown.
"Trippy, ain't it?" I asked.
"Yea, so how many times have you been to Equestria?"
"Plenty of times, but this would be the first time I would bring people.
"Nice! What should we expect?" Trisha asked again, her curiosity peaking.
I cleared my throat "Well, at first it will fuck up your perception of things, but you should be able to get used to it pretty quickly.
* * *
"Well, I'm dumb," Trisha commented as we pulled into our upper-middle-class town, past the old high school, and to our street. She was mesmerized by the nice houses and clean streets. "By the way, I was told: everyone in Lake Forest lived in trailer parks."
"I guess this counts as a trailer park to you guys?" I replied as we stopped in front of my house. It was as if I never left, it was still big and beautiful. "I bet this counted as the guest house for you guys."
"I…I live on a houseboat with my grandparents on the marina, to be honest. It's not as fancy as the mansions that everyone lived, but seeing how my houseboat became party central in the summer seems to help," Trish answered.
"Nice," Nassir replied, the word 'party' making him perk up.
I was holding rainbow dash up, and kept her walking as we moved to the back and to the guest house.
The house still smelled of lemon pines as we entered, our gear hanging off of us still. It was like I had never left, only cleaner. We went from the living room to my room, and we all stood in front of the portal
"Well, this is the part where I leave you all alone! good luck!" Mom said as she gave everyone a hug goodbye and went back out of the room to continue with her plans for the day.
We all stood in front of the portal, the glass was wavy, like a Tupperware filled with water lightly tapped every so often, the waves bouncing off all over the place.
"And that's it," I announced.
"I can't tell you how many times I'm still mesmerized by it," Brock said.
"It's beautiful," Trish said in awe
"Ain't it?"
"So, it's a portal, to another world? It's a lot smaller than I imagine, seeing how it's a portal," Trisha said, walking around it. "Must be Japanese."
She looked at it at every angle, every part of my room. She was mentally taking notes about the portal. I had to remind myself that interdimensional travel was still science fiction, to those who didn't know about the portal.
"It's a portal, you know how much hell I went through trying to find and trying to keep it safe," I said
Rainbow cleared her throat and gave me a quick elbow in the rib.
"And it was worth all of it," I smiled at her as she smiled back. "Well, it's time I guess to go in, right?"
Everyone was looking down, or rubbing their necks and looking away. Even Joshua was feeling the butterflies. Trishia looked down, almost shaking. Everyone collected themselves, but it was still not enough.
"Whats wrong?" I asked Trisha
"I'm scared, I really am."
I guess I couldn't blame them. The girls had to force me over the mirror for my more peaceful second time, but after that, I found out that moving between worlds was like walking through a door between rooms.
"Hey Trish," I said as I grabbed her hand. "We will all go in together."
She looked at me and smiled. "Thank you,"
"Well, babe: why don't you lead the way?" I asked rainbow as I grabbed her hand.
Trisha and brock held each other's hand, then brock to Nas, then Nas to Jenna, and Jenna and Joshua being the final link in our chain.
"See you on the other side!" I announced as Rainbow tugged me and started our walk into the portal.
When I usually cross the portal, I would normally be awake through the whole thing only to be tackled by an excited Rainbow Dash shortly afterward, but that time it knocked me out as soon as I walked into the mirror. I woke up again to the cold, hard marble floor. I had lost the sense of how long I was out. when I finally oriented myself, I looked at the beautiful room that I was accustomed to and smiled.
Oh, Equestria, how I missed you!
I looked around, realizing that between expecting the pouncing from Rainbow Dash to my paradise away from earth and wanting to find out what was going on, I had lost my friends as well when we went through, like what happened to the main six when they went over. All I can do when I made that realization was chuckle.
Oh, the irony.
I started to casually walk to the large, purple door. If I was going to figure out how to help Equestria, I would first have to get my friends together.
Canterlot Castle is huge, there's no way in hell I'm going to find them.
I guess it didn't take too long. Right before I opened the door I heard a high pitch scream that sounded like Trisha.
Welcome to Equestria, kiddo.
It was then I heard a booming laugh, that sounded like a madman who had finally snapped.
Thought Josh would enjoy this place.
The door slammed open and Rainbow Dash was in front of me, her pony form. Being in her pony form meant that her tackles were a bit harder, but fluffier. That time was no exception. She flew to me, the streak of rainbow behind her. She hit me on my chest and it knocked me back to the ground, I held on to her as I fell.
"Welcome back," she said, her face moving against mine in affection.
"Did we just meet?" I asked.
"You know you guys were knocked out for at least an hour, right?"
"Really?" I asked. I guess that explain the weird feeling earlier.
"Yea, we all figured we would let you all rest a while. Everyone is getting the others, and they told me to get you!"
"Isn't that nice?" I said as I playfully ruffled her hair. "So, what did I miss?"
"I went to griffonshire and ran into Gilda again, and I nearly was framed for doing some shady shit and nearly kicked off the Wonderbolts. Other than that it's been boring!"
"Neat"
* * *
We walked…. I walked and she flew to the throne room, which was a long walk. Took us around a few minutes, getting lost and turning into the wrong hallways at times. When we arrived, we were greeted with all my friends, both pony and human alike. Honestly, I felt like in that damned human in Equestria stories.
Good luck fucker, you're in one now!
Trisha looked scared as shit while Josh was about to break like a schoolgirl meeting their teen heartthrob. Everyone else was meh to the situation, but they did look around, seeing how things were different.
Rainbows friends assaulted me with hugs and excitement.
"Glad to be back!" I said in the middle of their group hug.
"Really girls, it's been so long!" Jenna added.
I guess in the excitement of seeing my friends from Equestria and from home again, that I must have forgotten that we were in the throne room, in the presence of a goddess. She cleared her throat to get everyone's attention.
"I see that Rainbow Dash successfully found you and your friends. I wish I can give you enough time to catch up, but pressing matters are at hand. Follow me," Princess Celestia gently commanded as she got off her throne. We followed her lead as we walked down the hallway to our left. Celestia's head went up to my neck, which made me remember that these ponies were not so little, the rest of the ponies' heads reached my stomach.
Celestia closed her eyes as she walked. "I would not have called you here unless it was dire. A few days ago, we had heard of mysterious creatures coming from the Everfree forest. They were just rumors at first until they started being seen on the outskirts of towns and cities… As if they were scouting. We realized they were from your world, they look like you but they spoke a language that no one heard before. I wrote them off as curious visitors and allowed them to look around without interaction. They started raiding towns yesterday, taking ponies and hauling them back to the forest. That's why I summed you here, to send them back to your world."
"I don't get it. Why can't you use your guards to evict them? They seem capable" Jenna asked.
"They are. I want you and your friends to do it before I resort to that. I do not want to start a war with your world," Celestia answered.
We walked in an empty room, same design as the rest of the castle. As soon as the door was closed behind us, Celestia's horn lit up. As she used her magic, the floor became a holographic map of Equestria. Joshua was about to explode in glee.
"This is kinda cool," Trisha commented.
Three red 'x's appeared on the map. "Yesterday this town was raided. This morning, this town was attacked. That was when I decided to send Rainbow Dash to get you. We just received word a few minutes ago that this town was raided. As you can see …"
"It's following a pattern," Nassir breathed.
Twilight interjected. "Correct, Nassir. If it follows the pattern, the next town is… Ponyville"
Oh Boy.
Nassir sighed. "I mean, I want to help y'all, but I got shit next -"
"You're either all in or you are dead to me. I am willing to get suspended a few games than watch this world suffer," I answered.
Nassir Chuckled. "I ant gonna abandon y'all, don't worry."
I looked to see how Trisha was holding up, and that's when I saw it. There was a weird dot on her glasses. Now, I wouldn't have bothered with it, but the problem was that Trisha never wore glasses. I put two and two together and I realized she was recording this. She has Equestria in her recording, evidence of my relationship with Rainbow Dash, and magic talking ponies.
So this girl, who was probably distraught over my relationship with another girl is recording the fact that the girl i'm dating is a pony, and that there is an another world filled with talking horses and magic. She had the recording that could ruin my life and endanger it, so was I worried?
"So, we have any idea how to stop them?" Trisha asked as we walked down the hall of the Castle. Everyone was thinking, with the exception of Joshua, who was basically a kid in an amusement park.
"You will have plenty of time to think of that when you are on the train to Ponyville, but please we must hurry," Celestia replied, escorting us. A few guards joined us as well, making sure nothing happened to us
Or are they making sure we are not doing anything?
The countless maids, butlers, and officials watched on as we walked by. A few were fearful, most were curious or indifferent. It took a few minutes, but when we reached the entrance to the castle, Celestia stopped us. She used her magic to open the door and into the bright Canterlot morning.
It was just how I imagined it, a line of guards clearing a path from the castle to the train station and a row or two of curious ponies watching. Somehow, I expected to Joshua to explode, but he was there, still holding it all in. We were silent because everyone else was soaking the whole 'new world' all in, while I was looking at the faces of the ponies, realizing I was fighting for them. Many of them I've seen before, and knowing them through the show gave me a sense of 'doing it for them.'
There was a certain unicorn that Joshua and I had our eye on. The mint one by the name of Lyra. She was there, sitting alone at a table, watching us walk by in curiosity. No freakout, nothing.
"I thought she would be excited to see….Well hands," Joshua whispered to me. I did not answer him, only the best condescending face I could mustered.
***
The crowds were cleared, and the train was ready for us. No one else was going to Ponyville, seeing how the Princess sent word of the anticipated raid and evacuated the entire town, so we were expecting a ghost town.
It was also then we learned that none of the six were joining us, much to the protest of Rainbow Dash, so we had to say our quick goodbyes
"Kick them once for me," Dash said before we shared a kiss.
Celestia stood at the doorway before the door was to close on us.
"On behalf of my subjects, we all are counting on you!" The door closed, but we did not move. Nearly all of Canterlot were in awe as she flew up in the air and spoke.
Her voice boomed for all to hear, about the situation, what is at stake, and her plan to protect them. She told them about us, the "Children of Troy."
"How did she get 'Children of Troy'?" Jenna asked.
We all realized it and turned to Nassir, who was wearing the cardinal and gold "University of Southern California Trojan" hoodie.
"That's smart," Jenna said before we continued to listen.
The speech lasted for a few minutes, and when it was over and the crowd was cheering, that was when the train started to move and we were on our way.
I would be lying if I said that the Equestrian countryside was not beautiful. Rolling hills, grasslands, small railroad towns flying by.
"So, lads: how are we doing this?" Jenna asked.
"Well, I can only see two ways It can go down: we can talk to them and get them to stop, or we can beat the shit out of them until they leave," Nas said.
"I'll take that nonviolent approach," Trisha timidly said.
"Pussy. I say we beat the living shit out of them! teach them not to step foot in here ever again!"
"Violence is not the answer!" Trisha spoke up.
"Why did you guys bring her again?"
"Because she is a friend who was in the wrong place at the wrong time," Nassir said.
"Damn. Anyway, yeah. I say ass whooping. How say you, brother?"
It was difficult. I mean, we could try to reason with them, but at the same time beating people down sounded like a lot of fun. Then again friendship, magic, and harmony…..
As you can see, it was a tough call.
"How about this: We politely, but firmly ask them to leave, and if they say no, we show no mercy. How about that?"
"But what about our needs, dude! what about our urge to beat the shit out of someone?!" Nassir objected.
"If these guys are anything like Vegas, I think you will get plenty."
"What about the attack plan?" Joshua asked.
Jenna spoke up. "Easy, we leave the station, scout around, and we all meet at Sweet Apple Acres after an hour, alright?"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
I realized Trisha was there was well, so someone had to watch out for her."Trisha, you might want to stay with me, seeing how…"
"Na, I'll be going on my own, thank you."
"Shit, really? yall don't know how to fight thou," Nassir said.
"No, but I got plenty in personal protection!"
Trisha had a concealed pink fanny pack, and when she pulled out what was inside, well we were mortified: Mace, pepper spray, stun gun, the works.
"I… Uh picked this up from the college. Supposed to protect us from attacks. But they never said not to use it offensively."
"Jesu christo they gave you all that? glad to see where my scholarship money is going to," Joshua joked.
"How much longer to Ponyville, brother?" Jenna asked. as I continued to stare out the window.
We saw Ponyville appear on the horizon from a mile or two out, and we got ourselves ready. We made the plan with the conductors of the train for a plan to get off. Turns out whoever was doing this were scaring everyone, so they didn't want to stay in town longer than they should. When the train neared the train station platform, the train slowed to a crawl. Joshua opened the door when the train was passing through the station platform and jumped out to the platform. He stumbled but recovered and didn't fall. Jenna was next, who was flawless. Nas, Brock and I stumbled but didn't fall.
As for Trisha?
She tried her best, but the sudden stop got her and she fell face first on the wooden station platform.
"Rookies," Jenna said.
Brock was quick to help her up, and we split up to look.
I took the town center, the place I had seen plenty of times before. It was empty. The alleyways, the houses, even town hall. Not a soul was there.
Oh well, I guess I will have to kick some ass some other day.
***
So to recap: the guy I have a crush on is dating a talking flying horse from a television show, and it has lead me to a magical world full of ponies with tattoos on their asses
Good job, Trish. You sure know how to pick them.
Still, I couldn't complain. I had everything recorded, and I was going to use it to research multiple dimensions and get that Nobel prize.
Oh, the look on my grandfather's face when I get it.
I was given sweet apple acres, which I was told was the farm on the outskirt of the town. I guess it was the farm that was visible from town on a hill. Between walking uphill and the fucking distance, I felt like the train ride was quicker than that march to death.
When I finally arrived, I expected nothing and that's what I got: nothing.
That'll teach me not to accept going on crazy adventures.
***
I still didn't know how I didn't just lose it so far. I mean, I was finally here. Couldn't have told you how long I waited, but it was a lot. Brock was with me, we teamed up after we found each other, and didn't see the attackers either.
We went to the castle, looking around, hiding. Nothing.
Oh well, IM IN EQUESTRIA MOTHERFUCKERS!
***
I was by the sugar cube corner, scooping around and shit. It was perfect: got to hang out with aj, come to this place, and bust a cap in a cracka's ass
Sold.
I was on the same street when I heard something inside the store. I ducked into the alley and behind a barrel.
They were laughing and were right in front of the alley. I pulled out my phone and started recording, making sure my phone didn't stick out of the barrel too much. Them motherfuckers talked fast, and they talked in gibberish.
They kept moving, but the clock said I had to meet up with my squad back in our meeting place. So I went the other way.
***
"Hello brother, did you find anything?" Jenna asked in the center of town, I was waiting in front of the tower that I called the city hall, looking around.
"No," I shook my head in disappointment.
"We didn't find anything either!" Joshua and Brock said as they walked up from behind.
"I found them n shit," Nassir replied.
Everyone perked up and turned to Nassir as he fished out his phone from his pocket.
"I tried to be hidden and shit, so the camera quality might be a bit off."
The camera was albeit a bit shaky, but it was good enough. They were white, they either had blonde or brown hair and wearing light camouflage clothing. No weapons that I saw, but they were also speaking in a foreign language.
"It's Russian. I used to have a coach that was Russian," Josh said.
The ending of the recording didn't say much, but name stood out.
Sweet Apple Acres.
"And they were headed that way too," Nassir added
It was then I realized we might have sent Trisha to her doom
"Aw, fuck."
***
Well, that was disappointing, but relieving at the same time.
The shit kicking hick farm was empty, so I gave up and was headed back to the horse town. I must have been late because there they were, headed my way.
Except they were wearing camo, and all of them were fucking white males. I put two and two together and realized I was in deep crap.
"Fuck,"I breathed.
I ran back to the farm, looking back I realized that they didn't notice me, but it didn't mean I was out of the woods yet. I went in the barn, locked it, and hid behind the haystack in the way back.
I tried to slow my heavy breathing, but my fear was too much. I was hoping that they would search the house so I can make a run for it to town while they were inside.
Didn't happen. They started trying to kick down the door, every shot against it stopped my heart. It got even worse when I heard the wood slowly starting to creak and give way. When it finally did, they went inside, speaking in a language that was foreign but familiar.
I took basic Russian back in Laguna, and I understood most of what they were saying, save the slang. The way they were talking, laughing, and their voices. We were not dealing with a large organization or even a government
We were dealing with kids, college or even high school age kids.
They continued to look around because I heard their voices either get closer or fade.
"Dimitri, check around the hay bale," one of them said.
No, no, no, no.
My back was against the hay and tried to be as small as possible. I should have unzipped the bag earlier because doing it now would give me away. I heard him mess with the hay, hoping that maybe a pony would fall out of hiding in the hay, small sticks of the stuff were falling on me as he continued to move the pile around.
"Hey, brothers! Something is coming up the road! Wait, they are running!"
The guy stopped and I heard their footsteps fate. Then I heard the screaming, the cursing in both languages, then I heard the voices come back inside, these were friendly and English
"Trish! Where you at?!" Brock hollered.
I popped out of hiding, covered in hay, and with a relieved smile.
"So, still want to say non-violence is not in the way?" Jenna smirked.
Canterlot was in the distance as the sun began its descent into the night. The castle shined brightly, like a beacon back to peace and safety, as well as back to see Rainbow Dash again. In fact, she was with her friends, waiting at the train station platform for our return. She was excited to see me again, seeing how there would be a million reasons why I wouldn't make it back home.
"Egghead!" She cried in joy as she tackled me, not even letting me leave the damn train.
"Boy, you're happy to see me!" I said.
"I was worried, I really was!" She said as we shared a quick kiss. Jenna was giving Celestia and everyone at the station what we ran into.
"They are organized, but not a company or a government from our land, just a bunch of kids. I'm willing to bet they broke into an abandoned Soviet warehouse and found this shit," Jenna added.
"Soviet?" Celestia asked.
"Long story of a long forgotten era. It's best you don't know, yet," Jenna smiled. "Still, we need to destroy their tech, and rescue the ones who were taken. But, I don't know how to go about doing that until I know their forward base here in this world. Any ideas?"
A guard spoke up," There are rumors that they are coming from the Everfree Forest. I know there's plenty of places to hide there, but we can't risk losing troops in the vast expanse of that place."
"We will have to check it out tomorrow, I don't think we can get there by nightfall since it's already here," Brock spoke up.
"Shit, and we can't skip practice, we can lost our starter spot, after working to get there!" Nas added
As much as I wanted to give him shit for it, he had a point. The three of us worked hard for that opportunity, and just to needlessly throw it away without looking for other options was not the best idea.
"Well, What if we all turn in now, and come back after our classes?" Trisha asked.
"I don't mind that at all, hey Celest', do you have maps of the Everfree to look while we are back home?" Joshua asked.
Celestia nodded to the captain of the guard, who replied by turning to two of his pegasus guards to fly to the castle and get the maps. "How should we do this, guys? Drive to school or Stay at home?" I asked. There was a rule: never leave your dorms at night, especially since the campus was in the middle of the worst part of Los Angeles. Every dark corner might as well had a street thug with a handgun and a hand out for your stuff.
"I pick home, I don't mind," Nassir said.
"I pick home," Trisha added.
Jenna and Joshua shrugged and went along with it.
Then came the girls.
"Well, if it's not too much, what if we spend the night and plan with you?" Twilight asked.
I knew Rainbow Dash would hate me if I said no, so…
"Sure, but only until nine" I said.
They cheered for the sleepover, and I was once again tackled by Dash in joy.
Dating her turned out more painful than I thought, especially with all those joy tackles on my ribs.
***
"Pizza's here!" jenna announced when she walked in, the five boxes of large pizzas finally arriving. It was just like old times, having the girls stay and having pizza as dinner. We were watching television when Jenna arrived, so it was paused as we all crowded the table.
We grabbed slice after slice and ate in the living room, and resumed watching television.
"How's the farming life, AJ" Nassir asked as he put his arm around her.
"It's going along swimmingly. Harvest is coming up, and ah would hate to see the crop ruined because of this," she said.
"Yall be find, mama. Just gotta believe we will kick their asses," he said confidently.
"yall think so," Aj said.
"yea, watch. Ya gonna love me by the end of this!"
"What makes you think I don't love you now?" Aj grinned.
"Woah, woah, wait," he stuttered.
Aj began to laugh, "Ah love it when ah mess with your mind,"
"Yea, yea. Funny."
Rainbow dash was sitting on my lap as I watched. She leaned back, her body conforming with mine, and hung her neck back to whisper in my ear. "She likes him, you know,"
"He likes her, I whispered back."
"You should let them borrow your room and 'you know what'" she suggested.
"If we can't, neither can they."
"You're horrible."
"Yet you still love me."
"Sure, keep telling yourself that," she said as she leaned and and we shared a quick kiss.
***
'We are gonna stay up till ten, we will plan our attack' they said.
Yet, everyone is asleep.
You're hanging out with lightweights, Trish.
Leave it be to athletes to not handle a bit of sleep deprivation. I had my eye on their k-cup coffee machine the second I came from the portal to his house, and with everyone asleep, it was time to use it.
They even have the Starbucks Coffee! jackpot!
"Hey Trish! make another one for me, will you?" Brock asked, sitting out on the porch. I was surprised, didn't even know he was awake. So I did, made two cups of coffee, grabbed a handful of sugar and creamer packets and walked outside to Brock.
"Thank you," he said as he carefully took his cup. After getting our creamer and sugar in, we both gave each other a smile and gingerly bumped our cups together. One thing I took away from that he had blond hair and green eyes.
Oh god am I a sucker for a tall man with blond hair and green eyes.
"Hey Brock, can I ask you a question?" I asked.
"I can't help you hook up with him," he sarcastically said. I giggled, i had a feeling he was going to say something like that.
"No, I just wanted going to ask: what the fuck happened?"
"What do you mean?"
"Is ending up in another world and watching a guy make out with a horse common at Lake Forest?"
He laughed. "Not before those six showed up. Those girls have been nothing but a positive in my life, and able to do some deep blue hero shit."
"I bet your girlfriend is waiting to kick your ass," I said, hoping to test the water.
You're a football whore
Sue me, me.
"Na, no girl. I want to just do what I do," he replied.
"Yea, im single as well," I said nervously.
"Yea, because you are trying to date a guy with a girlfriend."
It took me a second to realize it, and couldn't stop laughing.
"Yea, yea," I answered. He looked nervous, like he was desperately thinking of more conversation etenders, so I had to help him out.
"Think we will help Equestria with this invasion?"
"I hope so, they don't deserve this."
"Same. Just have to figure what to do now that I met Rainbow Dash," I said with a sigh. I knew I had to move on, didn't mean it still wasn't depressing.
Brock took a deep breath and spoke "How about this? After this is all over, let's go out to dinner, a-as friends."
Everyone woke up as soon it was two AM on the clock. We all groaned as we got up from either the couches or the floor. We wasted no time in getting ready, as we had no time to lounge around. The coffee maker was brewing a hot batch as we quickly folded up the blankets, most of us yawning with each step of the way. As soon as that was done, we sat at the kitchen table, drinking our coffee for the much-needed jolt. The girls didn't drink coffee, so it was just the ones from this world. We didn't talk much, just drinking our coffee as fast as we could while keeping our tounges from getting burned.
Once that was done, we were ready to go.
A kiss and a 'goodbye' later from Rainbow Dash, they were back in Equestria and we were on a car ride back to LA. The traffic was nonexistant, which was rare even at that time of hour, the lights of the urban sprawl buzzing right by us.
***
Joshua and I ran to our apartment as soon as we stopped the car in the parking lot in front of the campus, knowing we were barely running on time. We shared our shower, but no sex that time. We had no time to waste. We were out and headed to our morning routine within the hour. Joshua was lucky to have a coach that understand, but he wouldn't of been easier on Joshua, electing to push Joshua to the point of collapse if he was even one second late to his workout.
I had a fifteen minute grace period when it came to being late to class so it didn't bother me. I got myself ready and left our apartment to the morning class, albeit knowing I was going to be at least five minutes late. On the way, I saw my brother, Brock, and Nas race to the athletic building, also running late to their breakfast.
***
As soon as the car stopped the three of us were off and running. Only Trisha was not in a hurry since she didn't have a class till later in the morning
Lucky bitch.
We scrambled to our dorm but had to quiet once we went inside and not to tip off whoever was doing watch for the building. Brock had his own room so Mas and I were stuck on who got to go in first. Nas had his clothes for the day already laid out so he got to go in while I pulled out what clothes I was going to wear. He took a few minutes, which meant I had to the same. One quick shower, deodorant, and brushing my teeth later and we were racing out the door and to the breakfast line. Brock was waiting for us outside and we began our race, seeing Jenna run to her class as well along the way.
We were among the last to report for breakfast and practice but were still on time. We didn't get in trouble, but our choice of food at the buffet line became limited. We were usually the first ones there and had the pick of what to get, but we just had to make do with what was left. We still were filled and had our coffee, so we still had the energy to practice.
The practice came and went, and we asked our coach for a day off the next day, saying an event back home. He agreed, seeing how we were already ready for our first game of the season next week. We met up with Trisha, endured another boring class, and ran out to the car and waited for Jenna and Joshua to show up.
* * *
Our last classes ended, and we were waiting for Jenna and Joshua to arrive at the parking lot. On the hood of the van was the old maps of the Everfree Forest in front of us, small books were placed on the corners to keep them from flying away. The forest had barely any open meadows or landmarks, they were sparsely scattered throughout the forest.
"They have to have their portal in one of these meadows. But we can't have pegasus flying all over, I would like the element of surprise in our back pocket." Trisha said.
"fo shoe. Wonder how we will do it with what, six to seven hours of sunlight left?" Nassir added.
"exactly, there's no way we can find it in time!" she replied.
"Unless any of them ponies knew where to find them! some of them must have seen it!"
"That's our only hope!" Trisha said as she rolled up the paper map.
I was sitting in the driver seat, listening in, growing impatient for Jenna and josh. I knew their classes ended a few minutes ago, but I was already ready to go and see Rainbow Dash again. The plan was set, our plan was clear: ask around if anypony saw anything and work from there. Jenna believed that with a machine that powerful they would need a lot of space, and a certain meadow deep in the forest would be the best place for it to be put, especially since a rarely used rail line cut through it, adding in why they managed to strike and disappear so quickly, but we would need to make sure before we waste time.
I was about to fall asleep when Trisha's shouting woke me up
"They're here!"
I jolted back awake to see them running from their apartment to the van. I started her up and waited for everyone to rush inside the van. Nas, Trish, and Brock were already inside and seated when Jenna and Josh scrambled in the van with their backpacks. Josh slammed the side door and that was enough for me to drive off to home.
"Sorry were late" Jenna huffed.
"That's fine, as long as we are on our way!" I replied, fighting with the traffic to get into the lane that would take me on the highway.
As the train took us through the Equestrian countryside, we were relaxing from the race that was getting from Los Angeles to home. We wasted no time and went to Equestria, and told Celestia our plans.
"We are going to check a few meadows in the Everfree along the abandoned rail lines, which it looks like they might be using it to go through Equestria undetected. If you can get us a train to the forest, we can move through undetected. We can enter Ponyville and get a train home," Jenna announced.
That was the plan, and I didn't have any issue with it. Dash was on my lap, and everyone else was sitting on the train. We were the only passengers there, and even the conductor didn't want to be there longer than he had to be.
"Alright! we are coming up on the fork! I will stop, you have five seconds to get out, and I'm taking off," he announced from the engine car.
I gave Rainbow Dash a nudge to wake her up as we came up on it.
"It's time, Dash" I said softly. She was awake and ready in a heartbeat, but still gave me a kiss for "energy".
The breaks were applied with a loud screech, and the engine slowed down until we reached to the fork, which would take the conductor to Dodge Junction.
It turned out, it gave us a clue.
"Hey! Uh looks like the switch was going to the forest! Mind if you switch it!?" The conductor asked.
Being the strongest of us, Nas had to do it. "oh, fo'sho!"
The conductor was on his way as soon as Nas changed the switch and left us in front of the treeline of the forest.
"Well, what are we waiting for?! Sooner we get this done, the sooner we can go home and not lose our scholarships!" Brock cheered as we started headed to the forest tree line
"Well, good thing I don't have to live under the puppet strings of the athletic department!" Trisha chuckled.
"Oh shut up, Trisha!" he replied
* * *
The trek through the Everfree was like a nature walk. We went through the high brush, following a copy of the old map, weaving across the clearing that was created between the train tracks. The plan was simple: take a look, and move on.
The search was to take all afternoon, and we didn't want to waste time with breaks, only doing so with each meadow we passed, mostly to plan the trek to the next meadow.
"Man, I'm glad there are not any mosquitos," Trisha said.
"We don't have those! We just have giant creatures that will eat you as much as look at you," Rainbow replied as a joke.
The trek continued, but on hour three our legs were cramping, complaining. It was also by a stream so it was an ideal place to take a rest.
Everyone sat at a rocky outcropping, while I was resting against a tree, Rainbow taking her common spot on my lap.
"How many more places we have to check?" I asked.
Jenna pulled out her map and examined. "I think two more and we will be on the outskirts of Ponyville. We are ahead of schedule."
"I would think so, there's nothing here," Josh said.
"I would rather just find them now so we can give them the boot!" she added.
"True."
While we rested, Jenna pulled out a tablet. She started typing on it and was smiling.
"You studying while we trying to save Equestria? Man that's nerdy!" Nas commented.
"I'm not, just putting together my paper," she added.
"On?"
"This!" she added.
Oh no she isn't…
"I mean, traveling to some shitty corner of our world is boring, how about a research paper on Equestria! Could you imagine the reward?! the recognition?! We can usher in a new age of exploration and understanding of how our universe works!"
Jenna said nothing, only to walk over to Trisha and yank the tablet from her. It took her a few wacks, but when she did, she broke the tablet in half by hitting it against the rock.
"What the hell?!" Trisha hollered.
"You want to end up like that Tablet?! Then keep complaining!" Jenna shouted, which made Trisha silent.
"Right now, we are trying to fight off a group of people from our world who are doing god knows what to innocent ponies, and you want to invite the entire fucking world?! Do you no know what danger you will put not only Equestria but ourselves?!"
"I…I.."
"No! No excuse! I will let this go for now Trisha, but I really don't want the whole world to find this place, especially after the Mall-Vegas incident." she said as she walked off.
Trisha already knew about the mall incident. About how we had to save the girls from a convention in Las Vegas. Thinking about it made me hold Dash a little tighter, knowing I nearly lost her. It also gave me clarity on why I continued to fight. Not just for Dash's sake, but or Equestria.
As soon as the tension died down, we heard someone out in the distance that made everyone alert. It was a foreign language, and it sounded like a lot of them. It even woke Dash up.
"Whats going on?!" she asked.
"Don't know," I said as we got up.
Everyone else was on their feet and looking in the direction of the voices and rustling.
"I'm gonna check it out!" Dash announced as she flew up to a branch. She stopped, nearly turned pale, and flew back down.
"There's twenty of them, they are headed this way!"
"Who?!" I asked.
"Humans!"
We all looked at each other in dread and knew they were on to us.
Somehow, I got stuck with Joshua in the mayhem, while Rainbow Dash, of course, did Rainbow Dash stuck by my side. We raced through the heavy foliage and stopped after looking back.
"Do you see them?" Joshua asked, out of breath.
"Na" I replied, trying to catch my own breath.
We walked from then on instead of running, making sure to look back every so often to make sure we were not being sneaked upon.
We both continued our march, trying to reach… Well whatever was in front of us. it was all jungle in front of us, but it had to stop eventually.
I hope.
"Hey, uh, while we are here by ourselves," Joshua studdered.
"Yea?"
"Well, I wanted to apologize for bullying you back when we were kids…"
I still vaguely remember that. I was that kid that everyone picked on, well was, until Jenna found out about it. We were new, and it only took her a week to establish herself as the queen bee. Even the fifth graders respected her. There was one that didn't, and that one was Joshua, the old king of the playground. So, when he had the feeling to make me eat dirt during one lunch period, Jenna was there and waiting. The fight didn't last long and they both were rolling on the floor hitting each other. Both were suspended for a few days, but when they both came back Jenna earned the respect of Joshua. From there on the rest was history. So, to bring it back up now…
"What are you trying to do, Josh?" I said with a raised eyebrow.
"You catch on quick!" he said with a nervous laugh.
He fished in his pockets for a second and pulled out a velvet ring box. The small, but stunning gold and diamond ring was in the middle, glistening in the sunlight. I began to smile, and the gasp of happiness from Rainbow Dash ringed in my ear.
"I wanted your permission to marry your sister, I wanted your family to be okay with me being a part of your family."
My smile never faded as I looked at him and said: "of course!"
* * *
"You're not getting what I'm telling you, Nas. He is fucking a pony, Rainbow Dash or not," Jenna said.
Cmon girl, I thought you were over this.
"It's not about the body, mama. It's about the soul. Your brother sees the inner beauty, and I have to respect that!" I replied
"You say that because you are eyeing Applejack yourself!" She said.
We had been at this for nearly an hour. Jenna was always worried about her brother and Dash dating from the start. The same problem always came up too
"It's just," she said as she sighed "our first separation from Equestria was hard for my brother. I had to watch him in agony for weeks, and it was tough to see. I'm worried that they might have to do it all over again soon, and this time it might be permanent, you know?"
"I totes understand, and when that time comes, at least they will have a better chance of saying goodbye on a good note. heck, they might find a way to make the portal open perminatley."
"Well, I wouldn't mind going here from time to time," Jenna said, admiring the Everfree Forest.
"Look, we got a long walk ahead of us, but I'll say this: Love is like Ray Charles: and that mother fucker is blind like a mother fucker, you dig?"
"I guess so," Jenna said with a smirk.
* * *
"He is dating a horse," I said in disbelief
"Didn't know you were that much into him, Trish?" Brock said sarcastically
"I'm over him, just the fact its a horse!"
"Not just any horse. This 'horse' turned our football season around, brought our school together, and gave us the upset win over your school," Brock said with a playful grin.
Not helping!
"So you're saying I never stood a chance," I said.
"Basically, ya, Trish."
"Well shit,"
I saw that Brock fidget a little bit, so I knew what he was going to say, and to be honest: it made my heart flutter a little.
"Well, we still have that deal, right?"
"Yep!" I said, trying to keep my cool.
I would totally do the 'fall to his arms' trick if we weren't running for our lives here
Oh well.
* * *
We saw the train tracks as soon as Joshua, Rainbow Dash and I cleared the tree line. We gave the forest behind us one last look to look for our pursuers and gave a sigh. We then heard rustling further down the track which made us jump, but were relieved that it was only our friends that came out of the forest and into the open. There was also the fact that the train we just hopped off of hours ago was right in front of us. There was no one inside, which meant that they were taken by the invaders as well.
"Well, so much for trying to get out of danger," Jenna lamented as she helped herself up the train. Everyone else did the same. For some reason or another, we all felt better being back on the train. Not the "I'm glad I'm back on the train" feeling, but an "I'm glad I got to talk to the person I did, it really cleared any bad blood between us," vibe. Inside the passenger cars were empty, save for a note that was left behind.
"I think I found something!" Brock yelled from the caboose. We all raced over to him as he walked to us, holding a sticky note in his hand.
"it's in foreign."
everyone cocked an eyebrow at Brocks bad grammar before Trisha snatched it out of his hands.
"Yea, some idiot dropped their plans" Trisha announced as she kept reading. Her smile turned into a frown really quickly.
"They are on their way to some place called Appaloosa," She said.
Our group's emotion turned from chill to fear really quickly.
"That's where everyone decided to evacuate to!" Nash hollered.
"Well, what are we waiting for!?" Rainbow shouted, trying to decide between staying or bolting to Appleoosa to help.
"Okay! Hang on!" Jenna hollered as she ran to the engine car, grabbing Joshua by the shirt to join her.
I went after them, seeing if they would need help.
"Start shoveling!" Jenna commanded, pointing to the shovel on top of the coal next to the chute. Since there was a second shovel I joined in, trying to get the engine up and firing.
It didn't take long for our train to scream down the line to Appaloosa. The countryside became a blur as we went on.
It took us half the time it normally would of, which was how we saw a column of smoke starting to emerge from the horizon, right where Appaloosa was supposed to be
As the town become more clear in the distance, the situation was playing out in front of us: Celestia and the royal guards were trying to subdue and apprehend the human attackers but to no avail. The humans were armed with stun batons and net guns. For the ponies, dealing with that without getting hurt was the issue. As the humans front line dealt with the ponies, the others were dragging the captured ponies and throwing them down a top shaft of a single boxcar.
Jenna started the brakes, which made the grating sound of steel meeting steel and signaled our arrival. I was too focused on the upcoming fight to concentrate on that. The Train slowed to a stop at the edge of the town's train station and we wasted no time to get out and racing to the middle of town to fight and help the ponies. We flanked the human raiders on their side, which turned the tide of the battle. I aimed right to a very tall attacker wearing military fatigue cargo pants and a black tank top, showing his bulging muscles. He took a swing with his stun baton but I slid passed by ducking, giving me a quick and easy chance to knock him down by taking out the back of his knee with a sweeping kick.
The others were having a good time with our attack as well. Trisha was the only one with a weapon, wich she opted to use a tazer, and she was not afraid to use it. Nassir was unleashing powerful right hooks left and right, knocking down whoever caught the full brunt of them. Joshua was knocking them down with one punch as well. We had only been there for a few minutes, but we felt that we had turned back the raid since they were beginning their retreat, We could hear their train slow fire up and they were shouting commands in Russian, and dragging any stragglers to their feet to run away. We all gave chase, knowing that if we lost them then we might as well lose the ponies in the boxcar for good.
By the time we started taking off running, the attackers were packing inside the engine car and were hoping they were not too late in trying to get out of there. Trisha was the first to stop from the lack of energy in the chase, leaving the rest of us trying to reach the train station.
"We are not going to stop them!' Nassir huffed as we continued to run.
"I'm not trying to stop them!" Jenna said. As we continued.
"What do you mean?!" he replied.
"Follow my lead!" she said as she made a left.
We followed her and took another left in the dirt street. We followed straight down until we were on the far end of the station, where our train was resting.
"Climb the boxes!" Jenna hollered as she jumped on the wooden crates behind the station that were stacked all the way to the roof the station. We followed and as soon as we got on the roof, we saw the train starting to leave the station.
"This is where it gets fun!" Jenna shouted as she took off, running parallel with the train from the roof. She took a leap when she ran out of space to run and landed belly first on the freight car. The rest of us took off sprinting, Brock and Nassir were in front of me while Joshua was way behind me. Nassir and Brock also jumped to the roof of the train when they ran out of real estate, landing perfectly on the wooden boxcar
I took the leap as well, trying not to hesitate or think about what I was doing. I felt my stomach churn when it looked like I was not going to make it, but I ended up perfectly in the middle of the moving cart anyway.
I turned to see Josh hesitate for a moment and stop on the roof of the train station, watching us leave the station.
"Well, that makes just the three of us!" Jenna said.
"What is our plan?!" Brock asked, trying to be heard from the blowing wind.
"Brother! Come with me!" she said as we both started crawling on all fours to the front edge of the cart. Below me, I heard the cries and the yelling for help from the ponies in the cart. As soon as we reached the edge, we gingerly climbed down to a metal bar that was above the coupler, Jenna handed me a crowbar.
"Hold on to this, pull the pin out when the time comes!" She said
"What are you doing?!" I asked, worried she was going to do something drastic. Turned out I was right.
She lowered herself and took a leap to the standing bar on the engine car, nearly slipping and falling. After she positioned herself, she pulled a weird box with wires and a small metal rod sticking out of it from her messenger bag. She pulled the piece of paper below it and stuck it in a grove in the box car. When she was done, she positioned herself and jumped back to the bar on our side, this time I was able to catch her.
"Okay! Pull the pin out!" she said.
I got on one knee as she pinned me to the boxcar to keep my balance. I stuck the wedge under the pin and lifted as hard as I can, the pin slowly budging. Then, with a loud scraping sound, the pin flew in the air as the cars began to separate, the engine slowly disappearing down the track as the boxcar slowed.
"How far are we from Appleoosa?!" I shouted
Brock looked back and looked back down "It's a speck in the distance."
Oh great.
Some pegasus guards arrived a few moments later and labored as they slowly pushed the boxcar down the tracks. It was only when it was close enough where they stopped, and the boxcar opened to a flood of ponies stampeding out to be reunited with worried loved ones. Of course, something like that could be rewarded without being tackled by Rainbow Dash with a kiss.
Rarity and Applejack were frantically searching, pale with fear and nearly breaking down
"Whats wrong, gals?" Rainbow said as she got off me and started flipping mid air.
"We can't find Applebloom or Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo is missing too!" Applejack said.
Oh crap.
One of the freed ponies spoke up "They took them to the main engine car!"
I looked over to Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash when the announcement was made about what happened to the three. A wave of anxiety and fear was overtaking the three. I knew I couldn't say much to help the situation, but I could at least assure one. I walked over to Rainbow, who was still flapping in mid air and I held her hoof in my hand
"it's going to be okay, we will get them back,'
Rainbow looked at me, and a small flavor of eagerness was starting to take hold "I want to help!"
"You will, once we find the invaders base, we will get them back and destroy the portal."
"Easier said than done," Jenna commented as she continued to watch the pings.
"northwest looks like deep in the Everfree. I was right all along!"
***
With Celestia's-permission, we rounded up some of her best guards and began our trek back into the forest. What was a four human, one pegasus team now was a 20 pony, four human trek, lead by Jenna who was being guided by the beacon radar in her hand.
A few hours in, and she stopped in front of a tree line. She raised her hand, and pointed down, which we followed by hiding behind trees and bushes. The pegasus in the group flew into the canopies of the trees. When I looked out, I smiled.
"Bingo"
in front of us was an olive tent city, with massive barrack tents scattered all over the meadow. A tall temporary chain link fence encircled the camp, with a small watchtower at each corner. In the center was an upright metallic square as tall as a two story house with a large control board to the side.
We had found the base.
Jenna signaled one of the guards to relay to everyone back in Appaloosa that the base was Found, and to rendezvous at another meadow a mile south of the base. We started our way to to get to the meetup point, which took longer due to having to walk through shrubs and the dense forest, in fact, we arrived at the point when Celestia and her guard were landing. Jenna ran up to to the princess to tell the news
"We found it, and we can kick them back our world and blow up the portal in one shot if we plan it right.
"Do you have a plan?" Celestia asked.
"Yes, ma'am! Us humans will sneak in pre dawn and lay what we will need to blow up the portal, your guards surround the place while we subdue and get them! So we get rid of them, and no interdimensional incident will take place" Jenna said with glee.
"We will need to go home and get shit for this," Nas noticed.
"Not a problem," Jenna said, looking at one of the spare airborne chariots that they had brought with them
"Princess, with your permission: we would like to be taken back home to get some supplies for our attack tomorrow morning," Jenna asked
Celestia nodded "Go ahead"
With that, we crammed ourselves in one of the chariots and flew off, with Rainbow Dash flying next to us the whole time.
* * *
When we first appeared in my living room, we set off to what we needed. For Jenna and Myself, it was planning what to do once we got to the other side of the portal. The plan was to blow it up not just on their side, but from ours as well, making sure that they wouldn't just come back later. We grabbed mostly our step dads emergency credit card, and light camping gear. Jenna decided to arm herself to the teeth in knives, while I had a simple baton.
We waited for Joshua and for Nas to come back, which they did within the hour. The first thing I noticed was a bulge in Nas's left hip.
"We said no guns!" I shouted.
"but I look all hood!"
"I said no guns!" I commanded.
"I dare you to try to take this from me." he snarled.
God dammit
"Fine, we are out of time anyway," I said as I looked back to the portal. We still had to return to Equestria, and get a ride back to the staging area. Still, the sooner we got this done, the sooner we all can go back to our normal lives, and to finally be with Rainbow Dash without the fate of their world in our hands.
* * *
From Canterlot Castle we took a waiting carriage back to the base. Within the hour we were gone they had set their base camp with tents. The Pegasus were seldom flying, which I assume was to keep them from being seen by the enemy base. Rainbow Dash, however, flew right at me as soon as we landed.
"Egg head!" she shouted in excitement as we shared another kiss. I lost count how many kisses we shared while he was a pony and I was a human. But it didn't matter, that small token of our love was all that mattered.
"They really brought out the Calvary for this one!" I said, looking at a large amount of the royal guards camping.
"They are the first wave. We have three more armies coming between midnight and dawn," she said with glee,
"Now what?" Brock asked, giving off a loud yawn.
"Well, we can eat and get a good nights sleep. I have a feeling it's going to be a long day tomorrow."
We had our meals, and all my friends went to bed…. Except for Rainbow Dash and I. We decided to sneak from camp and find a grassy field to stargaze.
She was laying on my chest, looking up at me, which in retrospect wasn't really a good way to watch the stars.
I looked down to see that her muzzle was close to my chin.
"You know, we haven't… You know" Dash said.
"Seriously?"
"We might as well," she said seductively, no matter what form she was, her bedroom eyes were hard to resist.
"Seriously? In our form? In this night?"
"Why not?"
"You're a real freak, Rainbow."
"You know it," she said as she moved her head up and started a deep kiss.
It was going to be a long night, and that was not counting down the hours we had before we had to liberate Equestria
