Chapter 1: Painted Horses

Painted Horses

By Alaborn

Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein.

My head throbbed. My eyes felt gritty. I blinked, looking into a sky painted an ominous orange-red. Dark shadows covered the ground. I tried to stand, but fell down, landing on my hooves.

Hooves? I looked, seeing dark green hooves and an olive green coat. I cautiously raised one to my head, tapping the horn jutting from my forehead. I was a unicorn again. I felt for my magical core, trying to form a light to better illuminate the scene.

“We can’t have that, now can we?”

The sinister voice sent chills down my spine. A shock of pain coursed through my body, starting from my horn, as I felt the magic being blocked. I started to rise off the ground. I flailed my legs, but could no longer find purchase.

“Who’s there?” I shouted.

“I think you know, Jonathan Lockhart.”

I looked around, but didn’t see anything. I felt some force grab my head and keep it still. I tried to blink, but my eyes wouldn’t close.

“Look around you.”

I looked, but didn’t see anything, just the ominous sky. Then I saw the patterns in the sky. They shaped mismatched animal parts, the claw of an eagle, the paw of a bear, the antler of a deer.

“No! We stopped you!”

“Do you really think you could win? One battle, yes, but I have all the time in the world.”

I saw a giant clock tower, like Big Ben, appear in front of me. I flew up until I faced the hour hand, and the same force turned me around and bound me to the hour hand. Behind me, the second hand rotated faster than it should, and the minute hand started completing its circuit. I was almost upright, suggesting the clock was counting down to midnight.

The second, minute, and hour hands met, and the bell tolled, just once, a low tone that vibrated the air around me. Everything shook until the clock shattered, and I was left, floating in the air, suspended in a foul miasma. In the distance, I saw ponies like me, similarly trapped.

“So glad you’re here to witness my victory, John.”

In the distance, I saw the world fall apart. Terrain twisted and buildings inverted. At first, I saw buildings that I recognized from Equestria. But then I saw others. The apartment complex where I lived. The campus where I worked. The old house my parents called home.

I tried to scream, but my body refused to respond.

I felt a thump, and woke from the nightmare, its details still vivid in my mind. I heard the whine of engines and the roar of the wind as the airplane decelerated on the runway. I blinked and looked around. I was in my normal body, and outside I saw what looked like a normal airport.

“Delta would like to be the first to welcome you to Tampa International Airport,” the flight attendant’s voice sounded over the speakers. “The local time is 9:52 AM. Please remain seated until the aircraft comes to a complete stop. You may now use cell phones, but laptop computers and other large electronic devices....”

I tuned out the rest of the announcements as I pondered my nightmare. Seven and a half years earlier, while a student in community college still uncertain about what he was going to do with his life, I found myself pulled through a magic portal into a strange world called Equestria, populated by magical ponies, where I found myself turned into a unicorn. My presence there was part of a plot orchestrated by a powerful immortal spirit named Discord, or rather a corrupted version of him who I would later hear called Malice. I, and six other humans in the same boat, fought this monster until a group of heroic ponies could use their magic to seal him away.

Needless to say, that experience affects a person. For a good two months, I would often have nightmares, where I faced this monster and couldn’t find a way to stop him. It was a terrible feeling, especially knowing there was no one with whom I could talk about it. Pretending it didn’t happen didn’t work. Eventually, I wrote down everything that had happened, printed it, and sealed it away in an envelope. The nightmares finally stopped.

What was strange, I realized, was that I should have dreamed about it again. The first time was when I learned the world of ponies I had seen was remarkably similar to the one shown in a cartoon that didn’t start airing until two years later. The second time was when I went back to Equestria, following a good-intentioned but foolish friend through a different magic portal. Neither time did I dream about the world, or Malice, or being a unicorn.

So what had triggered the nightmare?

Sure, I was tired, a natural consequence of rising in time to catch a 6:00 AM flight. But it’s not like any of the many all-nighters I pulled in college brought about a return of this nightmare.

I shook my head. Just like before, I would put it out of my mind.

I texted my parents. “Just landed; need to go to baggage claim.”

“Be there in 30” was the response.

The airport was crowded; not surprising, as it was two days before Christmas. I had come to Florida for the same reason I did every three years or so, to spend the holidays with my paternal grandparents. Grandpa made it his life goal to retire to Florida, which he did; my grandparents moved to one of those 55+ senior communities when he retired.

When I was younger, telling my Indiana friends I was spending the holidays in Florida attracted a few jealous responses. Little did they know. My grandparents retired to Ocala, which is nothing like what people picture when they think of Florida. There’s no beach; the city is in the middle of the state. It’s not particularly warm in December; I’ve even woken up to frost on the lawn. The city residents worry about sinkholes, not hurricanes. It’s pretty far from the amusement parks; the city looks like generic suburban sprawl. The climate is not suitable for growing oranges; Ocala is known for raising horses.

Horses are something I didn’t want to think about at that moment.

I’d rather think about Christmas. This was the first time I hadn’t ridden with my parents to Florida. And for that, I was thankful. Dad was used to having two weeks off around the holidays, so he made the drive slowly, driving for maybe six hours, then stopping at some local tourist trap and cheap motel. I’d done that trip far too often. I told my parents I couldn’t do that as well as spending time with my friend Jason.

Dad said he understood; he was once the new guy. But my job didn’t put any seniority restrictions on vacation. I just didn’t want to waste so much time.

Jason was driving down after Christmas to vacation somewhere warm with his girlfriend, and he invited me to join them. We chose Tampa Bay because it was cheaper than Miami, a shorter drive, and convenient to picking me up in Ocala. We risked colder weather, but fortunately the weather forecast was good.

Jason happens to be the foolish friend who voluntarily jumped through a portal to Equestria three years ago. And he now lives there most of the year.

Did I mention his girlfriend is an Equestrian native?

So while it’s odd that I was invited as the third wheel, I’m probably the only person on Earth who knows the truth about them, so when it comes to travel companions, I’m just about it.

My suitcase finally arrived, and I pulled it behind me as I exited the terminal. I scanned the approaching traffic; taxis, shuttle buses, and cars all fought for limited curb space. After about ten minutes, my father squeezed into the space left by a departing taxi.

Dad popped the trunk, and I threw by bags inside. Mom stepped out to give me a hug. I got in the car, and we began the drive to Ocala.

I didn’t have time to think about my nightmare as the drive was consumed by our mundane conversations. We talked about how our respective trips went, what we’ve done recently, and current events. I was just happy the drive was only an hour and a half long.

We finally reached our destination, the nondescript home in a nondescript community where my grandparents have lived for most of my life. By the time we made it to the front door, our luggage in hand, they had the front door open. There was no way to avoid the incoming hugs and kisses; while they weren’t quite as bad as the stereotypical movie grandparents, they were still a lot more physical than I liked.

“Eat up, we’ve got plenty of food,” Grandma said.

“But not too much; we’re going out for a nice dinner tonight,” Grandpa added.

They had the normal spread of party food, reminding me of larger family gatherings. And just because there were only five of us didn’t mean there was less food. Deviled eggs; carrot and celery sticks with dip; crackers, sausage, and cheese; and Swedish meatballs were all waiting for us. And after a breakfast consisting of a bag of pretzels, I was grateful for the abundance of food.

I heard the sound of a deck of cards being shuffled. “You all ready?” Grandpa said.

I smiled; I knew we’d be playing some euchre. Grandma and Grandpa complained that no one played it in their community, and so we always played when we visited, or when they visited us. The three of us swapped out as one team while my grandparents made up the other team. Cards provided the perfect setting for us to talk and catch up with my grandparents. They had a very active social life in their community.

I suspect the reason they didn’t have anyone else wanting to play euchre was that they were so good.

I used the time when I wasn’t playing cards to wrap my gifts. As a family, we limited ourselves to one gift per person, and for me, I had to find something small. Even though none of us really needed anything, I still enjoyed the process of finding that perfect little gift.

“Your turn, John,” my mother called from the dining room.

I placed my presents under the tree and took my seat at the table.

At 4:00, we all squeezed into Grandpa’s car to go to dinner. We drove to downtown Ocala, a part we hadn’t visited that often. And despite the jokes about retirees and their early bird specials, our dinner wasn’t until 5:30. My grandparents wanted to go early so that we could see the decorations downtown.

The town did a good job of decorating for the holidays, with some impressive displays of Christmas lights. But my eyes kept getting drawn to the painted horses. I’d seen them before, of course; they were introduced in 2001, before my grandparents had moved there. They were roughly life-sized fiberglass sculptures of horses, not painted to resemble horses, but which local artists had used as unique canvases, though often showing scenes that were horse-related. It was something done to benefit local charities and give the downtown some unique charm. Each stood in a little wrought iron enclosure.

I felt a shiver. It was like the horses were looking at me. I shook my head; that nightmare really got to me.

Grandma noticed I was looking at the painted horses. “Did you see the one our community got?” she asked.

“No,” I said.

“It’s right past the entrance!” she said.

“It’ll be too dark to see it by the time we get back. If the weather’s good, let’s go for a walk tomorrow, and we’ll show it to you.”

“Now, where’s the restaurant?” my father said.

That’s my father, always focusing on what’s important.

My grandparents had picked a nice local steakhouse for dinner. I don’t know how good it was compared to other steakhouses, but it sure beat the kind of restaurants where I normally ate. We ate our fill, including dessert, and had plenty of leftovers to take home.

Sure enough, it was too dark to see the painted horse when we returned. We went inside and retired to the living room, with drinks and classic Christmas movies. The early start to my day left me tired, and I turned in early, praying I would not experience any more nightmares.

“Twilight, you have a visitor,” Spike called.

Princess Twilight Sparkle poked her head out of the bedroom. “Coming!”

Twilight Sparkle idly wondered who was visiting. She didn’t have any plans, and the fact that Spike didn’t say who it was suggested it was somepony Spike didn’t know well.

She came down the stairs, seeing the pony waiting for her. “Oh, hi, Bon Bon! I thought you’d be in your shop.”

“The shop’s closed. I’m coming to you in your role as princess. We have a problem, and we need to talk.”

Twilight Sparkle nodded, and escorted Bon Bon to a small sitting room. They sat in overstuffed chairs, facing each other.

Bon Bon leveled her gaze at Twilight Sparkle. “Lyra is missing,” she said. There was no emotion in her words, but it failed to hide the worry she felt.

“Of course, we’ll let the Mayor know, and we’ll do everything we can to find her,” Twilight Sparkle said. “Are you sure it isn’t just Lyra being Lyra?”

“Princess, Lyra may be a mare with fanatical obsessions, but one thing she’s never done is run off on some crazy quest without telling me,” she replied. “Let me be clear on one thing. I’m not coming to you as Bon Bon.”

Twilight Sparkle just nodded.

“I’ve heard things from my former associates. Ponies are disappearing, with no signs of a struggle and no witnesses. Word is the princesses have used the most powerful magic available to find missing ponies, and even that has failed. I’ve even heard from an old rival from the griffon lands. There’s also a griffon missing; she was trying to determine if ponies were involved.

“I went into Lyra’s secret room after I realized she was missing. Her conspiracy theorist friends are talking about this, too. I read through their correspondence. They’ve speculated the rate of disappearances is increasing.

“I can understand if the princesses don’t want to talk about this, but I know you will be taking action. I was willing to leave this all behind, but now it’s personal. I want in, and I’ll pull every favor I have to make sure I’m in.”

Twilight Sparkle nodded slowly. “Yes, we know about this, Special Agent Sweetie Drops. Yes, we’re doing everything we can to find them. Yes, we’re keeping quiet. We don’t want ponies to be afraid. But believe me when I say there’s nothing for you to be ‘in’ on. We have no leads for any of these disappearances.

“Lyra is an old friend of mine. I will do anything I can to help find her. But for now, all we can do is treat this like a normal missing pony case. I’m sorry.”

“Call me when you’ve found anything.” Bon Bon donned her sunglasses, now thinking of herself as Sweetie Drops. “I have some training to do.”

I did not sleep well. Discord/Malice loomed over my dreams. Sometimes I was human, sometimes I was a unicorn. I was at home, or here, or in Ponyville. I was alone, or with friends, or with my family. It didn’t matter. The many branches of these dreams inevitably traced back to one path, the one where Discord restrained me and everyone else in the dream. I would wake with a start, finding it still dark. I tried thinking good thoughts, remembering how we defeated him, imagining new ways to fight, both magical and mundane. They didn’t work. I couldn’t direct my dreams in any meaningful way.

When I woke for the fifth or sixth time, the sky was just lightening with the first rays of the sun. I sighed and got up. I didn’t want to try to sleep again; I was sure I wouldn’t find any rest. Instead, I decided to clear my head by jogging.

I quietly dressed in my workout clothes and headed out into the pleasantly cool morning. The neighborhood was quiet, and I had the streets to myself. With only a passing familiarity with the neighborhood, I decided to stick to the main road, running to the entrance to the community and back until I tired.

When I reached the entrance, I saw the community’s painted horse. I didn’t notice it earlier, so I ran around it to get a better look. One side was painted with the image of a residential neighborhood, maybe this one, and the other showed a golf course. There was nothing special about the art, but if it was for a good cause, I couldn’t complain. I reached over and touched the painting.

help me

I pulled my hand back. I felt a throbbing pain in my head, maybe like a migraine, but the pain wasn’t behind my eyes; it was more like the top of my head. I sat down, waiting for the pain and my heavy breathing to pass.

Cautiously, I reached out to the painted horse again, but this time, I felt nothing. I don’t know what happened, but one thing was certain. I was awake now.

I did my best to conceal my exhaustion and worry as we celebrated the holiday. We watched our favorite Christmas movies, looked through old photo albums, and ate pretty much non-stop. And I indulged more than normal. Ever since the grandkids got old enough, family parties have included plenty of alcohol, and while I wasn’t a big drinker, this night I wanted to stumble into bed and enjoy a dreamless sleep.

It worked; I didn’t recall any dreams or nightmares when I awoke on Christmas. My head was throbbing, but a mild hangover was preferable to the alternative.

Christmas Day was always a calmer event in my family, quietly sharing in each other’s company. We had a long phone call with Mom’s family, enjoyed a nice homemade brunch, and played some more rounds of cards. By the end of the day, we were all getting tired, wanting to do something other than hang around the house. But spending these two days only with family was tradition.

Come bedtime, I was facing the prospect of the nightmares returning. But I had an idea.

“Grandma, do you have any cold medicine? It’s feeling like I’m starting to get a sore throat.”

“Aww. And right before your trip to the beach!” Grandma said. “Let me get you something.”

My grandparents had plenty of over-the-counter medicine in their bathroom closet. Grandma gave me a fresh bottle of cold and flu medicine, the good stuff with alcohol to help you sleep.

“Go ahead and take the bottle,” she said.

“Thanks, Grandma.”

A double dose of cold medicine later, I was dead to the world.

I got a call from Jason the next morning. “We’re about an hour over the border. We should be there around noon,” he said.

“Great,” I replied. “I’ll be ready then.”

I relayed the news to my parents. I had previously told them I’d be meeting Jason sometime that afternoon.

“How about we all go to lunch before you leave?” my father suggested. “My treat.”

I paused. I was of course acutely aware of the origin of Jason’s girlfriend, and the one time I had met her, she definitely struck me as odd. “Let me see if they’re up to it,” I said.

I went to another room and called Jason back. “My family wants to take you out to lunch before we go. Are you up for that?” I asked.

I heard muffled voices as Jason conferred with his girlfriend. After, he responded. “Let’s do it. It will be a good test,” he said. “Where are we meeting?”

A bit of back and forth, speaking alternately with my family and with Jason, and we had a time and place for lunch.

I squeezed into the middle of the back seat of my grandparents’ car again, bringing back memories of many Christmases past. Fortunately, it was only for a short trip, to the nearby chain deli restaurant.

“So how is Jason doing?” my mother asked.

“He seems a lot happier now,” I said.

“Is it the new girlfriend? Is she the one?”

I had mentioned to my parents Jason’s propensity to fall deeply for every new girlfriend, normally deciding they were “the one”. But Mom’s comment reminded me that I hadn’t heard Jason use that term. “I haven’t heard him say it this time. Maybe that’s a sign she’s really the one?”

“Is she a nice woman?” my father asked.

“I only met her once,” I said. I had to be careful here. “She was kind of shy, and I got the feeling she had a sheltered upbringing, so be kind to her.”

We pulled into the parking lot and got out. I looked for Jason’s car, only to see him step out of a SUV instead. A woman I’d met once before came out of the passenger side. She was plainly dressed and looked a little uncomfortable.

“Hey Jason. How was the drive?”

“Really long.”

We did the normal round of introductions; Jason introduced his girlfriend as Rose Turner. I remembered her pony name was Rose something or other.

Inside, Jason talked to Rose. “The menu items with a tomato by them are vegetarian,” he said.

Right. I didn’t even think of that.

We soon settled in with our variety of sandwiches, salads, and soups. Dad started the conversation by asking about how Jason’s trip went, and Mom quickly segued into asking about the couple.

“So you spent Christmas Day with Jason’s family?” my mother asked Rose.

“Yes. And Christmas Eve with mine,” she replied.

“Seems like a big step,” my mother said with a smile.

“It’s actually the first time I’ve spent part of Christmas with another family,” Jason said.

“So, how did you two meet?”

“At the farmer’s market,” Rose said. She nibbled on her grilled cheese sandwich.

“It was when I was working on the roads in Noble County,” Jason said. “It was a beautiful summer day, and we went to check out the farmer’s market down by the courthouse. First I noticed the beautiful roses, and then I noticed an even more beautiful Rose.”

So Jason was as cheesy as before. But Rose ate it up; she smiled and blushed.

“You grow flowers?” Dad asked.

“Roses?” Mom added.

“Yes, and roses are my favorite, but I mostly grow flowers for restaurants and other businesses, so I grow what they demand,” Rose replied. “I sell some overstock and a few vegetables from my garden on the side.”

“And I’m glad she did,” Jason said.

“Are you from there?” Mom asked.

“I live in Albion now, but I grew up in... LaGrange County,” Rose said. “I wanted to move out, live on my own.”

“I think that’s a lovely story. Sort of reminds me of how we met,” Grandma said to Grandpa. She looked to me. “But it sure would be nice to hear another story like that.”

I sighed. “I’m sure Mom will be the first to tell you when I find a girlfriend,” I said.

The conversation over lunch was pleasant. For the most part, Rose came off as a normal woman, perhaps a bit shy. But I watched her with curiosity. Her body language had a few quirks, like the way she tilted her head when she heard a question, or the way she would only motion with one hand, her fingers cupped together, while speaking. I actually remembered those behaviors from my time as a pony.

Eventually, it was time to go. I rose and gave my family members a hug. “I hope you enjoy the rest of your vacation,” I told them.

“Thank you all for providing lunch,” Rose said.

“It’s time to hit the road,” Jason said.

I grabbed my bags from my grandparents’ car and loaded them into Jason’s. We got in, Jason and Rose in front, with me stretching out in the second row of seats. Jason started the car, and we departed.

“That went pretty well,” I said. “Did you rehearse that history on the way down?”

Jason nodded. “We did.”

“It wasn’t that hard to remember,” Rose said. “It was the true story of how we met, except with those human town names substituted for Ponyville.”

“We had plenty of time to practice our stories,” Jason said.

“A really long time,” Rose said. “I didn’t really appreciate how big this world was until we spent a day and a half driving faster than any train, and we still haven’t reached the coast.”

“Is that really a thing? The different size of the world?” I asked.

“I’m not sure exactly, but the planet is a lot smaller,” Jason said. “You can cross Equestria in two days by train, and that continent is roughly equivalent to North America in terms of share of land mass.”

“That’s more information than I need to know,” I said. As if to punctuate the point, I yawned.

“Busy night life in Ocala?” Jason quipped.

“I haven’t been sleeping well,” I said. “I had some bad dreams of Discord.”

He turned his head. “Is that normal?”

“No, not at all.”

“Tell me everything.”

“Okay, I guess.” While I didn’t think it was a big deal, I told him about the dreams I experienced, first on the plane, then in Ocala. Jason frowned when I mentioned self-medicating against the dreams, and when I was done, his frown intensified.

“Have you written to Twilight Sparkle about these dreams?” Jason asked.

“No. How could I?”

“The diary?”

“I don’t have it with me,” I said. The diary Jason was referring to was a book designed to allow communication between worlds, though I preferred to call it a journal. We both received one at the end of our last sojourn to Equestria. Mine was buried somewhere in a closet.

“You should always carry it with you,” Jason said.

I shrugged.

“Have you ever used it?”

“No,” I said. "Well, not in a long time."

“You met a woman who shared your interest in Harry Potter, and you didn’t want to talk to her?” Jason said.

We did, a little, but every time I wrote, I couldn't help but be reminded that what I was doing was impossible. I didn't want to be called crazy and locked up. “I’m sorry, but I’m not like you, Jason. I never wanted to experience going to another world. I would have been perfectly happy to live and die in this world, completely ignorant of the existence of Equestria!”

“Be that as it may, you know about Equestria. And the few of us out there who know of both worlds have a duty to keep both worlds safe. Any potential leak of magic into our world should be investigated. Did you encounter anything else that might be tied to Equestrian magic?”

“Well, there was this one thing,” I said. I described the painted horse in my grandparents’ community.

Jason signaled and moved into the exit lane.

“Why are we getting off?” I asked.

“We’re turning around,” Jason replied. “That painted horse you described really worries me. We’re going to check it out.”

An hour later, we were back in Ocala, in my grandparents’ neighborhood. We stood next to the painted horse. Jason eyed it critically.

“So you touched it, you faintly heard a whispered ‘help me’, and you felt a sharp pain in your head?” Jason asked.

“That’s about right,” I replied.

“Let me give it a try.” Jason placed his hand on the muzzle of the painted horse and closed his eyes. He didn’t flinch and pull back, like I did.

Jason opened his eyes and nodded. “Did you feel that throbbing pain here?” He pointed to the top of his head, a little forward.

“That’s right, somewhere around there,” I said. “Why?”

“I didn’t hear voices, but I felt something, too. It was only a slight tingle, but I know where I felt it.”

“Where?”

“The corpus monoceros,” Jason replied.

“Huh?”

“It’s the bundle of nerves that connects a unicorn’s horn to his brain.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, we’re not unicorns,” I pointed out.

“Yes, but our brains have been in unicorn bodies, brains we’ve used to use unicorn magic. It’s not unreasonable to think we’ve changed our brains, at least enough for Equestrian magic to form a connection.”

“I feel it too,” Rose said. She had taken off her sandals, and was walking barefoot in the grass around the painted horse. “Fear. Hurt. Loss. Powerful emotions have seasoned the earth. It’s faint, nothing like what I would feel back home, but it’s there.”

“I’m writing to Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Jason said.

“Wait. When did she become a princess?”

Rose happily related the story about how Twilight Sparkle saved Ponyville from some strange magic that changed ponies’ cutie marks, ending with her becoming an alicorn, and followed that up with some of her other exploits. Some of them were, frankly, terrifying. I really didn’t think ponies had it in them to battle across the land, throwing around enough magic to destroy mountains.

By this time, Jason had finished writing his message, and he was watching the cloth-bound book. I was about to make a quip about a watched pot when the book vibrated, and a pale blue glow leaked out from under the cover.

“What’s it say?” I asked.

“She wants to know where we are on Earth,” Jason replied.

“I’m guessing Ocala doesn’t mean anything to her,” I noted. “So, what, latitude and longitude?” I pulled out my phone and started looking it up.

“It still wouldn’t mean anything without a point of reference.”

“So, what point of reference does she have?”

We stood quietly. Then Jason pounded his fist into the palm of his hand. “Got it.”

“What?”

“Portals!”

I looked over Jason’s shoulder as he wrote in his diary.

Can you provide the Earth address of three locations you know? For example, you know my address, because of the portal you open twice a week.

The response came quickly.

I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of other portals to your world. However, I can give you two other addresses in your world that I know.

“It’s pretty darn obvious that there are other people doing the same commute I am,” Jason said. “I don’t know why Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight Sparkle are so tight-lipped about it.”

Two addresses followed, one in Colorado Springs, the other in Albuquerque. With the power of Google, we converted each of these addresses to latitude and longitude, down to the second. For Ocala, we used whatever location the map used as the center of Ocala.

Calculating.

“This won’t take long,” Jason said.

Less than a minute passed before we got a response.

This place Ocala is very close to where the ritual directed the corrupted spirit of Discord. We can’t identify the exact location; I’ll spare the details, but that ritual worked different than the portal ritual with which you’re familiar. The magic you’ve described is worrisome, and I fear it may be related to some current problems we are experiencing in Equestria.
Find a location outdoors and away from prying eyes and send me the exact coordinates. You will meet a team of ponies there tonight at 11:00 PM.

Jason showed the message to me. “Do you have any idea where we can go?”

“You can’t be serious,” I said.

“This wasn’t a request,” Jason replied. “Equestria is a principality. Subjects don’t get to say no to the princesses.”

“You’re a citizen of the United States, and we can say no.”

“Even given the choice, I would say yes,” Jason said. “What happened to the John who jumped through a portal to save me?”

“I didn’t want to,” I replied. “I just didn’t want you to get hurt.”

“From the dreams you described, a lot of people will get hurt,” Jason said. “Don’t you want to help them?”

“I do but... not this way.” I sighed. “Curse these ponies,” I muttered. “Fine. I’m in. Goodbye, vacation.”

Bon Bon’s Confections was quiet. Normally, the clip-clop of hooves would be heard as foals raced through the aisles, gazing hungrily at baskets of candy. And being just after Hearth’s Warming, there would be a larger number of foals there, each holding the bits given to them as gifts by relatives.

Instead, the shop was dark, the door was locked, and nopony stirred, not even after Princess Twilight Sparkle knocked several times. Time was of the essence, though, and the princess teleported inside.

Hearing nothing, she headed for the basement. The small area was stocked with supplies for Bon Bon’s candy making. Twilight Sparkle noticed a concealed door, now open, leading to another room, little more than a closet. She guessed it was Lyra’s secret room, given the illustrations and notes on mythical creatures that officially did not exist, creatures such as humans.

She suspected there was more to the basement, and a quick pulse from her horn revealed another room beyond the walls of the basement. A search found another concealed door, and Twilight Sparkle opened it.

As soon as the door opened, Twilight Sparkle heard noises, the hard thwack of wooden weapons and the grunting of a pony exerting herself. Sweetie Drops turned and thrust a spear in her direction, a feint to conceal the metal dart she hurled afterward. Twilight Sparkle summoned a shield, and the projectile bounced harmlessly off it.

Sweetie Drops gasped. “Princess! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to....”

“Relax. It’s my fault for not announcing myself,” Twilight Sparkle responded. She leveled her gaze at the mare. “Special Agent Sweetie Drops. You are being reactivated. We have a lead on the case of the missing ponies. Gather your gear and report to the castle at 10:00 this evening.”

Chapter 2: Arrival

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Painted Horses

By Alaborn

Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein.

Chapter 2: Arrival

The door to Princess Twilight Sparkle’s castle opened on its own as Special Agent Sweetie Drops approached. Once again shedding her cover as the local candy maker, the mare had hoped to arrive unseen. But nothing within reason could protect her from being spotted by the magic of the princess.

Once inside, Sweetie Drops’s black bodysuit was counterproductive to remaining stealthy, given the vibrant purple crystal of the castle walls. It didn’t matter much, as she heard Twilight Sparkle’s cheery voice. “In here, Bon Bon!”

Sweetie Drops entered, seeing four figures in the room. There was Twilight Sparkle, of course; a unicorn mare she didn’t know; a young pegasus stallion she didn’t know; and a griffon hen she did know. “Hello, Greta,” she said coolly.

“Hello, ‘Bon Bon’,” the griffon replied.

Sweetie Drops circled the griffon. “How’s the long distance courier business? Going good? Because I heard you’ve been stuck in Canterlot for weeks. Must be hard, not having any deliveries to earn you money.”

“Thank you for your concern.” Greta in turn circled Sweetie Drops. “I would have thought you’d be too busy in your candy shop to come out. To think, all of those poor foals, without their favorite candies....”

“All right. Knock it off, you two,” Twilight Sparkle said. “Right now, I don’t care what ‘Miss Courier’ and ‘Miss Candy Maker’ did in the past. Today, we’re all on the same team, and if you want to save everypony, and everygriffon, then you’ll do good to keep that in mind.”

The squabbling earth pony and griffon sat on their haunches and looked at Twilight Sparkle. Their eyes returned to each other once Twilight Sparkle looked away.

“Ponies have been disappearing,” Twilight Sparkle started. “Sadly, that happens far too often, but with the efforts of the Guard and local police, most of these crimes can be solved. If their efforts fail, powerful divination magic can reveal the truth.

“One day, nearly two years ago, one pony disappeared, a gym teacher from Cloudsdale. From the start, it didn’t resemble a normal missing pony case. The stallion wasn’t particularly important, he had no enemies, and hadn’t been in any recent altercations. The police investigation revealed nothing. The initial divination revealed nothing. And no further divination revealed his location. That includes level five divinations personally performed by me and by Princess Celestia.

“Around seven months after that, another pony disappeared, a doctor who splits his time between Ponyville and Canterlot. Again, there was no reason to expect foul play, and both the investigation and spells turned up nothing. More unexplained disappearances followed. A travel writer based out of Manehattan. A fashion designer from Manehattan. A musician who lives right here in Ponyville. And Greta has confirmed a native of Griffonstone has also disappeared.”

“Her name is Gilda,” Greta interrupted.

“I know. I met her once. I personally know many of the missing ponies, and the most recent pony to disappear is one of my old friends. I’ve even tried to create a level six divination spell in order to find them.

“But now, we might have the answer. What you’re about to hear is beyond secret. It’s something that sounds like the fevered delusions of a crackpot conspiracy theorist, and officially, it is. But unofficially, it’s real, very real.

“And don’t even think of talking about it to anypony outside this room,” Twilight Sparkle warned. “I have created a level six memory removal spell.”

“Get on with it,” Greta said.

“Right. We think the missing ponies have been taken to another world, a world without ponies and magic.”

Greta laughed.

“Stop laughing! It’s true! I’ve met the ponies from the other world,” Twilight Sparkle said.

“Didn’t you say there were no ponies in that world?” the pegasus stallion said.

“Yes, there aren’t. We don’t have time to discuss the magic behind dimensional portals, but crossing over into another world changes you into a form native to the world. In this case, these.” Twilight Sparkle concentrated, creating an image of a human. She had to rely on memory, from the photographs in the books John Lockhart had brought on his two visits to Equestria, but she thought she did a good job.

The picture drew curious looks and a scoff from Greta. “They look weak.”

“I can’t speak to their bodies, but their minds are incredible. They are creative and inventive, with technology I estimate to be hundreds of years ahead of ours,” Twilight Sparkle said. “And they are the only sapient species on their world.”

“Can you get to the rest of the mission briefing, Princess?” the pegasus stallion said.

“Yes. We fear the involvement of an entity called Malice, which you can think of as all the worst aspects of Discord. Distill his cruelty and viciousness, and let it boil for centuries of imprisonment. That is Malice. Malice was the first to breach the barrier to this human world, pulling in a number of humans to try to nullify the powers of the Elements of Harmony. But he underestimated the ability of these humans to pull together, to find their own harmony.

“When his plan failed, Malice was banished to this human world, where it was thought the lack of magic would keep him locked away forever. But just because a world doesn’t have magic doesn’t mean magic can’t exist. It just needs to be linked to a world with magic, one like ours.”

“So by keeping a connection to this world, we’ve empowered this Malice?” the pegasus stallion said.

“Unfortunately, there’s no way to get the lightning back into that cloud,” Twilight Sparkle said. “It would take time travel....”

“No,” the unicorn mare said firmly.

“I’m not suggesting it, Minuette, just explaining the hypothetical methodology by which....”

“You were thinking about it.”

“Of course! I can’t help but think of all the possibilities!”

“Princess? The briefing?” the pegasus stallion said.

“Right. Lieutenant Lightning Shield, you are in command of the mission. Your superiors have commended your ability to adapt to adverse conditions, and it’s hard to get more adverse than this.”

“Yes, Princess,” he replied.

“Minuette, we’re relying on your expertise to deal with the magical effects within a magic-void world. I see you’re prepared.”

Minuette looked to the wands and mana crystals in her saddlebags and nodded.

“Sweetie Drops and Greta, there will be threats. Take them down.”

“I’m packed and raring to go,” Sweetie Drops said.

Greta chuckled. “My body’s the only weapon I need.

“Your mission is twofold,” Twilight Sparkle continued. “Find and rescue the missing ponies, and put a stop to whatever Malice is planning.”

“And how do we do that?” Lightning Shield asked.

“We don’t know.”

The room fell silent.

“Anyway, I will open a portal to the general area where Malice was sent at 11:00 this evening. You will meet three civilians, two native humans and a pony who is already there. They possess a magical book which allows them to communicate with me across the barrier of worlds. Once you arrive, get away from the site of the portal and follow their instructions to keep your presence secret. They know of a location of interest, a statue of an Earth equine we believe is tied to this case.”

“Wait, civilians?” Lightning Shield said.

“The very few humans who know about our world are civilians. There is no official contact between our worlds,” Twilight Sparkle said. “They will help you not make an utter fool of yourself in this new world.

“Is there anything else?”

Despite the vague goals and nature of the nemesis, the ponies and griffon were determined and ready.

“Then you have approximately 35 minutes to get ready. Good luck.”

We sat in Jason’s SUV with the engine and lights off. We waited on the side of the road by one of the farms outside town. Trees shielded the location from three directions, which would help if Twilight Sparkle’s portal appeared where we hoped it would appear. Of course, a glowing portal in the middle of the night would probably attract attention if anyone was looking.

“What color is this portal?”

“If Twilight Sparkle is casting it, and if it’s the same one she creates for me, it will be violet,” Jason replied.

“That won’t be suspicious at all,” I muttered.

We had ten minutes to go, according to the clock, and that brought a question to mind. “Is time the same between our worlds?” I asked.

“From what I’ve seen, time flows at the same speed, and ponies use the same units to measure time. There are sixty seconds in a minute, sixty minutes in an hour, twenty-four hours in a day, and 365 days in a year. Ask Twilight Sparkle about it, and she’ll bring up universal constants and the theories of Star Swirl the Bearded. Me, I just shrug and accept it.”

“What about leap year?” I wondered.

“I’m not sure. I’ll find out in a couple of months.”

The third member of our group was quiet. “Rose....” I paused. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember your full name.”

“It’s Rose Trellis. But everypony calls me Rose, unless Roseluck is around. Then we need to be specific.”

“She’s another pony who grows and sells flowers, but she’s more focused on sales to the public,” Jason explained.

“How are you feeling, Rose?” I asked.

“A bit overwhelmed,” she admitted. “I never thought that making that cute unicorn my coltfriend would lead to me getting magically examined by Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

“She needed to be sure Rose wasn’t a changeling infiltrator,” Jason said. “She found a way to make the test less painful.”

“There was still a split second where I couldn’t feel the earth. I felt so weak and alone,” Rose said. “And after that, she explained that Stone Arch was actually named Jason, and was a creature from another world. I’m no hero, but I’m doing things that only heroes do. Like traveling to another world, and now helping to save it.”

“How many times have you been here?” I asked.

“This is my fifth trip,” she said. “The first trip was just me getting used to this body. Then we did some traveling. We went to a zoo, and then an arboretum, and then to this place called Opera Land, which is like a hotel in a greenhouse.”

“The Opryland resort,” Jason corrected. “In Nashville.”

“My parents stopped there on their way to Ocala, to see the Christmas decorations,” I said.

Jason rubbed his head. “The portal’s about to open. Let’s go.”

We got out of the car and walked into the field. “How do you know?” I asked.

“I feel a tingle when the magic starts to flow,” he replied. And sure enough, a point of violet light appeared ahead. He started to run toward it, and we followed.

The point of light first expanded into a vertical line, then into a rectangular plane. Through the portal, four people stepped out. And then promptly fell over.

Rose rushed forward and helped one of the people up. “Don’t fight your body,” she said. “You can balance on your hind legs and walk. Let your forelegs swing naturally.”

“And do it fast,” Jason said. “We don’t want to be around if anyone investigates.”

Fast is something we weren’t. The four transformed humans constantly tripped, and they didn’t know how to carry the goods they brought with them. But we made it to the car without anyone coming to investigate.

I helped the new humans with their seat belts as Jason started the car. The big SUV was crowded with seven people and their luggage. The one man was carrying a spear or harpoon. One of the women had a backpack, and another one of those really large duffel bags, the kind one would carry if one were transporting something like hockey sticks. That woman opened her bag, and looked curiously at what she pulled out. “What in the world are these?”

Jason glanced back. “Pants,” he said. “Welcome to Earth, everyone. I’m sure you have a lot of questions. But let’s start with introductions. My name is Jason Sedmak. I’m a civil engineer, currently employed building roads in Equestria, where I’m known as Stone Arch.”

“John Lockhart,” I said. “I have no desire to go to Equestria again.”

“Rose Trellis. Just call me Rose,” Rose said.

“Lieutenant Lightning Shield of the Royal Guard,” Lightning Shield said. “I’m commander of this mission.”

“Minuette, of the Mage’s Guild.”

“Special Agent Sweetie Drops.”

“Agent Greta of Griffonstone.”

Jason pulled off to the side of the road. “I’m going to find us a place to stay. Meanwhile, John and Rose can answer your questions.”

“What are these things on my chest?” Minuette asked.

I blushed, and then broke into an embarrassing discussion about the human body and why humans wear clothes. The former ponies, and I guess griffon, were incredulous at some of the things I said. Fortunately, Rose, who had gone through the change before, helped alleviate their concerns.

“Hey, John, I need your credit card number,” Jason said.

“Why?”

“For the room. I don’t have a credit card, and I’m pretty sure no one else here does.”

I pulled out my wallet and gave him the number. It reminded me that we still had our room in Tampa, and I forgot to cancel it.

Now that we had a room, Jason started the car and drove. Twenty minutes of more awkward conversation later, we pulled into the parking lot of a hotel, one of those all-suite places.

“I reserved a suite with two bedrooms, which should have enough room for all of us. But we can’t officially have all of us in that room,” Jason said. “John, Rose, and I will check in, and then we’ll come back and bring you in through the side entrance.”

We entered the hotel and went to the front desk. I gave them my credit card and signed the paperwork for a two night stay, wincing at the room rate.

“Your room is on the third floor. Take the elevators to your right.”

“Okay, thanks,” Jason said.

I passed him one of the room keys. “I’ll get the rest of the luggage,” I announced. He gave me the car keys in exchange.

I went back to the car, where I did pick up my luggage, but also the rest of the people. We went to the side entrance and took the stairs to our room.

The suite was a lot nicer than the cheap motel rooms I was used to, with a small kitchen, living room, and two bedrooms, each with a bathroom.

“I’m sure we’re all anxious, but we’ll be better off starting after a good night’s sleep,” Jason said.

“Wait. I have something before we sleep,” Minuette said. She started digging into her bag. “What in the world?” She pulled out a circle with a network of strings; a black feather and a blue crystal dangled from it.

“It looks like a dreamcatcher,” I said.

“Did the portal change the charms Princess Luna provided to protect and guide our dreams?” she said.

“From my experience, the portal changes items when it finds a close equivalent in the other world,” Jason said. “Although dreamcatchers don’t have any magical power in this world.”

“The mana crystals can power the spell provided by Princess Luna,” Minuette said. She pulled out another blue crystal and what looked like a wand. “Good. I sense the magic is still active.”

With that, we got ready for bed. The three newly arrived women were fine sharing the king-sized bed in one bedroom. Lightning Shield marveled at the hideaway bed in the couch, and took it. That left Jason, Rose, and I for the two beds in the second bedroom.

With dreamcatchers hung above each of our heads, we turned in for the night.

Chapter 3: Dreams

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Painted Horses

By Alaborn

Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein.

Chapter 3: Dreams

I sniffled as I landed belly-first in the cloud again. It was allergies, of course, because I was a big colt, and big colts don’t cry. I looked back at my wings. I wished they were bigger, but plenty of colts my age had wings like mine, and they could all fly.

I climbed back onto the highest cloud in the park. I stretched my wings, recalling the lessons from the instructor at flight school. Wings held at a slight angle, muscles loose, full but gentle flaps. Become one with the air.

I ran, flapping my wings, and jumped off the cloud. Two seconds later, I collided with the cloud below me. I didn’t fly at all. My allergies started bothering me again.

“Don’t cry, little colt.”

I looked up, brushing my brown mane from my eyes. A sky blue mare with a silver mane looked at me with kind eyes. “I’m not crying,” I protested.

“Oh, I know how bad allergies can be for colts who are trying to fly,” the mare said. “Do you want any help?”

“I shouldn’t need help. I’m doing everything right!” I sniffled again.

“It’s not just how you use your wings, but how you use your magic,” the mare said. “You have to become one with the air.”

“I know. That’s what the coach said. But all I’m doing is becoming one with the clouds!”

“Let me show you how I learned,” she said. “You know the feeling in your hoof when you step on a cloud?”

“Yeah?”

“Focus on that feeling, then slowly lift your hoof away from the cloud. Do you feel it change?”

I lifted my hoof. That cool tingling feeling faded as my hoof left the cloud.

“Now try again, but this time, close your eyes and try to hold onto the cloud even though you’re moving away from it.”

I did as she said, willing my hoof to stay connected to the cloud. I could feel I wasn’t physically in contact, but I could still sense the tingling of magic.

“Keep your eyes closed and try shaping the cloud with that hoof. Nothing special, just make a divot in it.”

I pictured digging a hole, like a pit trap on a cloudball field. I grunted; the connection was faint, but I willed the cloud to change.

The mare clapped her hooves together. “You did it!”

I opened my eyes. Sure enough, there was a small depression in the cloud, and I did it without physical contact.

The mare rubbed my head. “Now, touch both your wings to the cloud, and then lift it up. Try to feel that same connection.”

It felt weird to stick my wings in the cloud. The energy tickled, and I twitched my wings in response.

“Close your eyes. Focus. Now lift slowly. Slower. Lift your wings all the way up. Do you still feel it?”

I nodded.

“Now let’s go to that higher cloud,” the mare said.

I jumped up the cloud steps to my old nemesis, the high cloud. The park stretched out before me. The mare flew up and landed beside me.

“This time, I want you to feel the cloud with your wings, but don’t start by touching the clouds. Can you feel it?”

At first, I couldn’t. But I felt the cloud under my hooves, and searched for a similar feeling with my wings. Eventually, I found something. “I think I got it,” I said.

“Very good. Now jump and fly!”

I swallowed hard, spread my wings, and jumped. With the first flap, I felt that connection, and the air below my wings pushed me up at a steep angle. I turned my wings, flapped again, and found myself diving downward after overcorrecting.

Six seconds after jumping off the cloud, I landed face-first on the cloud. But for four of those seconds, I was flying!

The mare came down and patted my head. “I knew you could do it,” she said. “All you need is to understand your own magic.”

I smiled. I would never forget the mare’s kindness.

I awoke, not with a start, but naturally. The sun was just above the horizon, and I felt refreshed. The dream I had was fresh in my mind, and I thought how unusual it was. I had been a pony in my dreams before, but always as my pony form; never had I been another pony. I gathered that I was a pegasus pony, and a young colt at that. He wasn’t familiar to me, and the place I was, where the ground was made of clouds, was also unfamiliar.

Jason was still asleep, snuggled up against Rose. She had her eyes closed, but her breathing suggested she was awake, and just enjoying the feeling of his warm embrace. I left the room quietly, looking to see who was awake.

When I opened the door, I heard the shower running in the bathroom attached to the other bedroom. In the main room, Lightning Shield was still asleep, but two of the three Equestrian women were up and about. They had pushed the furniture to the side of the room, and were doing some kind of exercising. The redhead’s routine looked like a boxer sparring, and the brunette’s reminded me of martial arts. They did their exercises separately, but always with one eye on the other. From what I could see, they looked quite skilled, even in their new bodies, and both of them had toned muscles that put my own to shame. And I could see their muscles quite clearly, as neither woman was wearing a stitch of clothing.

I averted my eyes. “Remember what I said about humans always wearing clothing?”

“Wouldn’t that make them smell?” the redhead said. I think that was Sweetie Drops.

“Yes, but still....” That would actually be a problem, if they came here with one change of clothes. If they couldn’t finish their job quickly, we might be looking at clothes shopping, and trying to buy clothes for people who had never worn human clothes would be a potential disaster. But there was something more pressing. “Did either of you have unusual dreams?”

“No,” the brunette, Greta, said.

“I did,” Sweetie Drops replied. “I’m pretty sure I was seeing things from Lyra’s perspective, but it was a story she had never told me. Minuette did too, and she wants to talk to all of us.”

“She’s in the shower?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Sweetie Drops said. “And it’s not like she was dirty or anything.” She huffed. “Unicorns.”

“If you’re going to work out, you will definitely need a shower,” I said. “There’s probably a facility with exercise equipment in the hotel. If you want to test out your new bodies, that’s probably the best place to go. But first, let me talk to my friends about getting you clothes.”

I retreated to my bedroom. Jason was just waking up, and Rose was now out of bed, looking out the window.

“Hey, did either of you have dreams about being a different pony?” I asked.

“We were just talking about that,” Jason said. “We did.”

“Minuette wants to talk to all of us about that later. But right now, there are two nude Equestrians outside that door who need some exercise clothes.”

After a bit of digging, we found some shorts and T-shirts that would make passable workout attire for the two women.

The hotel’s fitness center was nothing special. It lacked weights or anything like that; it just had treadmills, exercise bikes, and elliptical trainers. Fortunately, we were the only ones there, so I could speak freely.

“I guess the treadmill will be most helpful to you. You can use it to practicing running as a human. I don’t know how different it is from your normal gait; I never really figured out galloping.

“I know how a treadmill works,” Sweetie Drops said. She jumped on one, and tried to move the belt. “It’s broken.”

If I had to guess, she was envisioning some kind of manual treadmill. “It needs to be turned on,” I said. “A motor moves the treadmill, and you just have to keep pace.” I pressed a button; the treadmill started moving, at a very slow speed.

“Weak,” Sweetie Drops said.

“Press this button to increase the speed. As you increase the speed, you’ll start walking faster, and then you’ll start running.” I thought for a moment. “The difference is that, when you’re walking, you always have one foot on the ground. So give it a try. But until you get used to it, please hold on to these side bars.”

Greta stood on the adjacent treadmill and looked at Sweetie Drops. She turned it on and started walking, and pointedly pressed the button to increase the speed. Sweetie Drops followed.

I decided to use the exercise bike. I kept an eye on the two women, fully expecting their competition to end with one of them slipping off the treadmill and smacking into the wall.

Greta leaned on me as we walked back to our room. She had one hand gripping my arm and was massaging her head with the other; there was a fresh scuff mark on her borrowed T-shirt. Sweetie Drops walked beside me, a smug look on her face. “At least we both know how fast we can run,” she said with a smirk.

“I’m more impressed at your grip,” I said. “It doesn’t look like you’ve had any problems figuring out hands.”

“I’m a griffon, you doofus,” she growled. “I have talons.” She looked at her blunt fingernails. “Good thing I don’t need them to fight.”

“And how about you, Sweetie Drops? Are you used to hands?”

She flexed one hand. “Curiously, this feels like it’s using the same muscles I use when gripping things with my hooves,” she replied. “But these finger things are strange.”

“I never understood how your hooves were flexible enough and strong enough to hold things,” I said.

Sweetie Drops tilted her head from side to side, which I think was the pony version of shrugging. “A simple pony like me never wonders about that.”

“Simple, yeah,” Greta scoffed.

I slid my key card into the lock and escorted these two rivals into the room. The rest of us were seated around the living room, occupying the couch and various chairs. Someone had brewed coffee, and it looked like Jason has brought up some toast and muffins from the breakfast downstairs.

“Good, you’re back,” Minuette said. “I wanted to get the details of the dreams you had.”

“Well, I didn’t have one, so I’m going to shower,” Greta said.

“I had an unusual dream,” Bon Bon said. “I’m fairly certain it was from Lyra’s perspective, and it was showing Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, but it’s not a story Lyra ever told me.”

“What did you see?” Minuette asked.

“A meeting with a bunch of really old unicorns. They were encouraging her to continue on to advanced studies, and she said no. But that doesn’t make sense. She always told me she felt she wasn’t good enough to study magic, so that’s why she came to Ponyville.”

“Actually, Lyra’s magical talent was quite high,” Minuette said. “Not at the level of Twilight Sparkle, of course, but certainly in the top 5%. I was surprised when she left school, instead of pursuing a career in magical studies or application.”

“No,” Sweetie Drops said.

“Yes, she was,” Minuette affirmed.

“She was my best friend, and she didn’t tell me that?”

“I don’t know her reasons, but sometimes even best friends keep secrets from each other. Right, Bon Bon?”

Sweetie Drops glared at her.

“So, you two were best friends?” Jason said, putting a particular emphasis on the last two words.

Sweetie Drops stared daggers at him. “Yes. Best friends.”

“Okay, moving on,” Minuette interrupted. “John, you had a dream as well?”

I recounted my dream as best as I could remember. Jason speculated I was seeing some place called Cloudsdale.

“Do you remember what color you were?” Minuette asked.

I thought back. “I had brown hair, er, mane, and... maybe my coat was a brownish-orange color?”

“That fits the description of the first pony to disappear, a pegasus stallion named Hoops,” Minuette said. “Princess Luna’s magic successfully guided our dreams, and showed all of the missing ponies.

“Hoops? You mean one of Fluttershy’s bullies?” Jason said.

“I don’t know,” Minuette said.

“Wait,” Lightning Shield interrupted. He pointed at Jason. “You knew the name of Gilda just from hearing the description of my dream, identified your own dream as that of Trenderhoof, and now you know Hoops?” He stared at him. “You know more than you’re letting on.”

“What? No!” Jason said.

Lightning Shield looked ready to accost Jason. I put a hand on his shoulder. “Wait. How much did Twilight Sparkle tell you about the relationship between our worlds?” I said.

“Pretty much nothing,” he admitted.

“Trust me, there’s a really good reason why Jason knows about you ponies,” I said. “Why don’t you show him, Jason?”

Jason went back to the bedroom, and returned with his iPad. After a bit of tapping, he turned it around, showing a wiki page with the character I dreamed about. Though the picture showed a colt, something told me the figure in the picture was older than the memory I had.

“What is that?” Lightning Shield asked, pointing to the image.

“A cartoon,” I said.

“I know what a cartoon is. I do watch movies, you know,” he said. “But why do you have a cartoon image of this missing pony, from his foalhood?”

“Long story short, in this world, your world is believed to be the fictional creation of a group of humans,” Jason said. He held up his iPad. “I could show you.”

“That’s preposterous,” Lightning Shield said.

“In our universe, the idea of traveling to alternate dimensions is preposterous. Yet here we are,” I said.

“I don’t know exactly how the link between our worlds work,” Jason said. “Princess Celestia has never spoken on the subject, and Princess Twilight, who would normally eagerly speculate on the nature of magic like this, has remained suspiciously tight-lipped. But if our two worlds are ever officially introduced to each other, it will probably involve Twilight and her friends making an official visit. What we don’t want is for that introduction to be made by Malice trying to take over.”

Thinking of the corrupted spirit of chaos, and my first meeting with him, I remembered that most important lesson. “We need to work in harmony, humans and ponies alike. If we don’t, we’re just playing into his plot.”

“What am I, chopped liver?” Greta said, poking her head out of the bedroom.

“Griffons too,” I added.

Lightning Shield didn’t look convinced, but he settled back down into his seat.

Minuette then spoke again. “Princess Luna’s magic guided our dreams, showing us memories of these missing ponies. It was not chance. There must be a reason. So the questions remain, from Malice’s side, why these ponies, and from our side, why these dreams?”

“What were the other dreams?” I asked.

Minuette filled me in on the others. For Gilda, who was another griffon, Lightning Shield saw her flying off in a huff from Ponyville after some spat with her friend Rainbow Dash. Jason saw Trenderhoof, who was some kind of travel writer, having an epiphany and then writing a headline for his latest article. Jason said it reminded him of clickbait headlines. Rose saw a young Doc Top crumpling up a flier for the school talent show, and then opening a thick textbook and studying. Finally, Minuette also saw an early foalhood memory, of Suri Polomare holding an unfinished stuffed animal she had sewn. She was looking at glass beads for the eyes and nose, and when she couldn’t afford those, another filly gave her three buttons to use instead. By this time, Greta had rejoined us, and Sweetie Drops went to shower.

“Those aren’t very consistent,” I said. “Two memories from childhood, three from adolescence, and one recent memory?”

“I think they’ve all met Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Jason said.

“A lot of ponies have met the princess,” Lightning Shield interjected.

“What about the others? The six ponies?” I asked.

“The Elements of Harmony?” Minuette said.

“I guess.”

“That still doesn’t help,” Jason said. “They all went to Manehattan that time they met Suri Polomare. Or in Cloudsdale with Hoops, or Gilda in Ponyville.”

“Yeah, but Gilda came to Ponyville to see Rainbow Dash,” Greta said.

“Were each of the missing ponies close to one of the Elements?” Rose asked.

“Suri Polomare was a rival to Rarity. The episode with Hoops and the others showed them interacting with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Lyra was listed as one of Twilight Sparkle’s old friends. Trenderhoof was the target of Rarity’s affection, but he in turn was fascinated by Applejack. Both Gilda episodes heavily involved both Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. But Doc Top....” Jason actually had to look that character up. “We’ve only seen him that time when Spike got big.”

Jason grabbed the small pad of hotel paper and complimentary pen, and wrote out a grid. He started with each of the ponies associated with the Elements of Harmony, then added the element they represented. “Let’s match these up as best as possible.” He put Suri Polomare with Rarity, Gilda with Rainbow Dash, and Lyra with Twilight Sparkle. “By process of elimination, that would put Trenderhoof with Applejack, Hoops with Fluttershy, and Doc Top with Pinkie Pie. I definitely don’t get that last one.”

“They both have frizzy manes?” Rose suggested.

“Pinkie Pie was a traveling party pony. She could have met anyone,” Jason said.

I looked over the list, noticing the Elements. Fluttershy’s was kindness, and thinking to my dream, it looked like Hoops had met a kind mare. “What if it’s tied to the elements? I saw Hoops learning to fly with a kind mare.”

“If he was ever kind, he soon forgot about it,” Jason said. “Trenderhoof, in my dream, certainly wasn’t honest.”

“My dream was like yours, John,” Minuette said. “It was a little act of generosity for little Suri.”

“Gilda didn’t show much loyalty to her friend,” Lightning Shield said. “And your friend didn’t want to follow her talent in magic,” he said to Sweetie Drops.

“But what does Doc Top have to do with laughter?” Sweetie Drops said.

“Other than looking like Carrot Top?” Jason said.

“Who’s that?” Rose asked.

“Uh, human reference,” Jason replied. “He’s a comedian.”

“You said something about a talent show in your dream,” I said to Rose. “Could that be it?”

Rose closed her eyes and thought. Then she shook her head.

Minuette went into our bedroom and returned with Rose’s dreamcatcher. “Let me try to trigger the magic again.”

Rose took the dreamcatcher in her hands, tracing the strings with one finger. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

I was more focused on what Minuette was now doing. She held a blue crystal in one hand, and a wand in the other. There was no flourish of movement or pseudo-Latin incantation, like what I thought of when it came to wands. She just concentrated, and, I assume, used the magic. In that way, it resembled unicorn magic.

“I see it now,” Rose said. “He was envisioning a performance on stage. I think it was a comedy act.”

“Giving up on a dream to take a job to make his parents happy? That sounds positively human,” I said.

“I think you may be on to something with these relations to the Elements,” Lightning Shield said. “For now, we need to discuss strategy. Minuette, do you have the spells ready?”

“I have a variety of countermagic options in these wands,” Minuette replied. “Once we get to the site of the suspected imprisonment, I will analyze the magic being used. My best guess is Astral Shield’s spirit bind spell. It’s the simplest to cast, and thus simplest to break, but it doesn’t matter how easy it is to break a spell if you don’t expect anyone to possess magic. The spell is also usable with affinity matrices.”

“One of those affinities is colloquially known as ‘like attracts like’,” Jason explained. “It’s easier to bind a pony’s spirit into an equine statue than it would be to bind it to a boulder, for example, because of the similar shapes.”

“So it’s not strictly necessary to the spell, but it makes the spell easier, and speeds up his plan, whatever it is,” Minuette said.

“Do you have any guess as to the plan?” Lightning Shield asked.

“None right now. Our best bet is to investigate this statue we were briefed about, and see what we can learn.”

“Let’s go,” Jason said.

We made the short drive to my grandparents’ neighborhood, pulling the SUV to the side of the road near the painted horse. While Minuette was the only one with a job to do, the others were all interested in what was going on, and got out of the car as well.

“Creepy,” Sweetie Drops said. “I mean, the stretched muzzle, and the eyes moved to the side of the head. It’s just so wrong!”

“It’s the uncanny valley effect,” Jason said. “Humans experience the same feeling with some human-like images.”

“Just hurry it up,” Sweetie Drops said to Minuette.

“I’m not going to rush this,” she replied. With wand in hand, she looked over every detail of the sculpture, circling it as she went. Finally, she put away her wand.

“What’s the situation?” Lightning Shield asked.

“It’s Astral Shield’s spirit bind, as I expected. But there’s something else. The statue is being used as a magical anchor, collecting the faint magic that has escaped into this world and concentrating it. And then the magic is being beamed elsewhere.”

“Where?” Lightning Shield said.

“That direction,” Minuette said, pointing.

Jason looked to me. I shrugged; I didn’t know what was in that direction.

“For Malice to accomplish anything useful, he would need magic, lots of magic,” Lightning Shield said.

“More magic would allow him to cast spells faster,” Minuette said.

“Like this spirit binding spell? Is that why the disappearances started happening more frequently?” Sweetie Drops asked.

“That would make sense,” Jason said.

“I’m ready to dispel the magic,” Minuette said. “Can you get the vehicle ready to move? If someone sees us pull a pony out of this statue, I don’t want to stick around to answer questions.”

“Okay,” John said.

The rest of us got in the car. Sweetie Drops was last to enter, and she didn’t sit down. She perched by the open door, watching the scene, seemingly ready to pounce.

Minuette pulled out a different want and a larger crystal. She concentrated. The magic was silent and colorless, unlike the unicorn magic I had seen used in Equestria. At first, I thought it wasn’t working. Then I noticed a change in the statue. The green colors started to brighten. A new image started to form in the picture, starting as a rough pony shape, but shifting to human form.

And then there was a pop, and a human woman with platinum blond hair appeared next to the statue, falling to the ground and landing on all fours. She was clothed, fortunately, appearing in a simple dress and blouse. She looked like she was trying to move, but found her new limbs uncooperative.

Sweetie Drops rushed out of the car. “Lyra?”

The new human looked up. “Bonnie?”

Sweetie Drops pulled Lyra to her feet. They embraced, and rubbed their noses together, like the nuzzles I recalled the ponies sharing. Apparently, that didn’t work as well for humans, as they both moaned quietly and rubbed their noses afterward.

“All of you. Get in the vehicle now,” Lightning Shield ordered.

Minuette was first to get in. Sweetie Drops helped Lyra get in after. And then we realized there wasn’t any more room. The seven-passenger SUV, which had looked like a ridiculously oversized vehicle for our three person vacation, was now overloaded.

With a bit of negotiation, we finally squeezed in. Lyra, Sweetie Drops, and Minuette squeezed into the smaller middle row, while Greta, Lightning Shield, and I were more comfortable in the back.

“Okay, we have our proof of concept. Good work, everypony,” Lightning Shield said. “We need to plan for the identification and retrieval of the remaining missing civilians. We should return to the hotel immediately.”

“There’s something more important we need to do first,” John said.

“What?”

“Lunch. I’m famished!”

Chapter 4: Lunch

View Online

Painted Horses

By Alaborn

Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein.

Chapter 4: Lunch

We retreated from my grandparents’ neighborhood, stopping at the first parking lot we found. “John, get the diary from my bag,” Jason told me.

“Are you going to write to Twilight Sparkle now?” I said.

“No, you are,” he replied. “Tell her what happened. Get the magical details from Minuette. Meanwhile, I’m going to find a restaurant.”

I opened Jason’s diary to the next blank page. I wrote down the details of how we rescued Lyra. Minuette described the spells she used; I recognized maybe one of every three words she used, from my own basic magic education. I then asked how we would be able to get her home.

I am very relieved to hear that you have rescued Lyra Heartstrings. I will prepare to open another portal this evening. We can work out the details later; I will need to know how many ponies will be going through the portal. Do you have any leads on the others?

I read her response and looked at Minuette. “Can you cast a spell or something, now that you know what the magic is like?”

She shook her head. “Not at this distance, not by myself, and not in a world without its own magic. We’ll have to be closer to inspect these statues to find which are being used as prisons.”

I replied to Twilight Sparkle that we would have to search, and that it would take time.

At this point, Jason started up the car. “Where are we going?” I asked.

“Some place with something for everyone,” he replied.

Ten minutes later, we pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant. It was one of those chain buffet restaurants, one that my parents liked to visit for lunch on Sunday. It was a good choice, if a bit pricey for a group of eight.

Jason turned to face the group. “Okay, this is a buffet restaurant, which I know isn’t common in Equestria. There are stations with all kinds of cooked food resting in pans. You take a plate and take whatever food you want. It’s all you can eat, but don’t waste food. If you’re doubtful about something, take just a little; you can come back for more later.”

“A lot of the entrees will have meat in them; you won’t always see it,” I added. “The vegetarian dishes should be marked, or you can ask someone working there.”

“Please, don’t make a scene,” Rose said.

“I think we can handle that,” Lightning Shield said.

Lightning Shield’s words stayed true for only a short time. I paid for our meals, and we were escorted to a group of four tables pushed together in the back of the restaurant. Most of the other guests were older couples, with a few larger tables holding extended families. We all took our plates and trays, and headed to the food stations.

Greta found the carving station, where a beef roast and ham waited to be carved. She ran up to the station. “Where have you been all my life?”

“It’s not that big of a deal,” I said. I nudged her, and continued in a harsh whisper. “Play it cool!”

“Whatever,” she replied.

Fortunately, the others showed a little more sense. It wasn’t that hard to observe the other patrons, and figure out what to do. Once I was sure we weren’t going to be judged any worse than a table of college kids, I got my lunch, starting with chicken, mixed vegetables, and cornbread.

I returned to the table last, and saw what everyone else got. Jason’s plate looked a lot like mine. The Equestrians, for the most part, had salads, bread, and vegetables. And then there was Greta, whose plate was piled up with what had to be every kind of meat in the restaurant. And she had this huge predatory grin on her face.

“You do realize that we all studied your biology in school, right?” Sweetie Drops said. “You’re not shocking us.”

“And it’s not that rare for a pony to eat flesh. I enjoy fish, like many pegasi,” Lightning Shield said.

Minuette just shrugged, and held up her spoon. She was eating chicken and dumplings.

“You do know that’s not vegetarian, right?” Jason said.

“I know. It reminded me of a meal my mother used to make, and it smelled good to this body. Those huge hunks of meat Greta has on her plate aren’t appealing to me, but this I wanted to try. What we have is a rare opportunity, and I for one won’t let it pass by.”

“What do you think?” Rose asked.

“There’s this savory taste, very rarely found in our cuisine. I like it. The question remains, though, how would this taste in our own bodies?”

“Tastes just as good to me,” Greta said, just before stripping a chicken leg of its flesh.

“I can’t believe you’re tasting anything, with the speed at which you’re eating,” Sweetie Drops said.

“Enough,” Lightning Shield said. “We need to use this time to plan our strategy going forward. Lyra, are you able to talk about what happened to you?”

Our new arrival, who was picking at a salad disinterestedly, looked up. “It wasn’t pleasant.”

Sweetie Drops embraced her. “You’re a strong mare. You can do this,” she said quietly.

“I don’t remember how I was taken,” Lyra started. “I was just going about my day, and then there was a gap in my memory. When I came to, I realized I couldn’t see, couldn’t hear, couldn’t feel. I had only the vaguest sense of existing. Worse of all, I was cut off from my magic. I could only feel the barest trace of magic, and when I tried to access it, I felt a terrible pain.

“Every time I tried to grab a hold of this magic, I was punished. I observed, and deduced what was happening. My spirit was being used to attract and collect magic, but somepony else was stealing the collected magic. And without magic of my own, I couldn’t do anything about it. I tried various approaches, but the only success I had in collecting magic was to syphon a small bit when I felt this collection process start. And all I could do with the magic was sending off a plea for help when I felt a magically aware creature approach.”

“That was me,” I said.

“It happened a second time, but I couldn’t project much beyond a slight feeling. I didn’t know what was happening, but I held out hope. And then, you rescued me.” She squeezed Sweetie Drops tightly.

“Your experience is consistent with what I observed magically,” Minuette said.

“Magic?” Lyra inquired.

“Wands and mana crystals work here,” Minuette explained.

“That makes so much sense!” Lyra exclaimed. “Star Swirl the Bearded was known to have been a master of wands, despite being a unicorn reputed to have never found a spell he couldn’t cast, save for the ones he tried to create himself. That doesn’t make any sense, unless the rumors are true, and he traveled to worlds without magic. Maybe even this one!”

“You and your conspiracy theories,” Sweetie Drops harrumphed.

“Maybe not. Earth mythology is filled with tales of magic, including the use of wands,” I observed. “For all we know, we have been visited by Equestrians before.”

“Focus, everyone,” Lightning Shield said. “How do we progress from here?”

“We use a detection spell on any other painted horse we find, and hope to get lucky,” Minuette said.

“How far can the detection spell work?” Lightning Shield asked.

“Not far. We’ll need to see them,” she replied.

“Fortunately, most of the painted horses are in the downtown area,” I said.

“And the others, we can probably look it up online,” Jason added.

Lightning Shield tilted his head. “Online?”

“It’s like doing research in a library, but we can access it using our technology,” I said, taking out my phone. Sure enough, a Google search provided me with several links about Ocala’s painted horses.

Minuette looked over at my phone. “I want one.”

“Sorry, I don’t see that level of technological change in our lifetime,” Jason said. “Of course, you could always try to get Twilight Sparkle to create a spell that worked like that.”

Minuette scratched her chin. “That could work.”

“Okay, we have a plan. Any concerns?” Lightning Shield asked.

“We’re going to look suspicious,” I said. After getting some strange looks, I continued. “I get the feeling that these painted horses aren’t exactly a big tourist attraction for young people like us. And searching them with wands will just look strange. We don’t want to attract attention.”

“Maybe we come back after dark?” Rose suggested.

“Waiting isn’t a good option either,” Lightning Shield said. “Every hour spent here risks discovery, and we still don’t know what Malice is doing with all this magic.”

“I’ve got it,” Jason said. “We just need a reason to be doing what we’re doing. Like... paranormal researchers!”

I raised an eyebrow. I was curious where he was going with this.

“So, like, these statues are rumored to be haunted? And we’re investigating. For our YouTube channel. We’ve got my iPad and our phones to film it. And so we may be noticed, but it won’t be anything particularly unusual.”

“I don’t know what several of those words are, but let’s hear more about this plan,” Lightning Shield said.

“After we get some more food,” Sweetie Drops added.

A few minutes later, we were back at the table with more plates of food. Sweetie Drops focused on the dessert bar, while the others brought other foods they wanted to try, even some of the dishes with meat. Greta, having failed at her task of shocking the others, came back with a plate of vegetables and cornbread.

The Equestrians treated the meal more socially than us humans. They eagerly shared plates, tasting forkfuls of each others’ meals, trying all of the strange culinary creations of our world. Lightning Shield declined to participate; he was more eager to learn more about Jason’s plan, which he did over coffee and cake.

“I don’t get it. Everyone knows there is no magic, everyone knows anyone claiming to have magic is a charlatan, yet people watch shows about magic?” Lightning Shield asked.

Jason shrugged. “We even have a term for it, the supernatural. Some people want to believe, but for most, it’s just fun. Same thing with people who talk about aliens. Of course, that will change, once we officially learn of your world.”

“I hardly think we’re aliens,” he replied.

“You’re not what we picture as aliens either.”

“So when do we start?” Lightning Shield asked.

“We need to do some research first. Look to see what other paranormal researchers do, and create a concept that combines elements from all of them.”

“Shouldn’t you be creating something new?”

“You’ve obviously never seen our television shows,” Jason stated.

“Be that as it may, it sounds like you’re asking us to act. And I don’t see that as this group’s strong point,” Lightning Shield said, motioning to the table.

“I’m okay with hamming it up,” Jason said.

“I’ll do it,” Minuette said. “I was in drama club at Celestia’s School; I even played the lead on occasion.”

“Where are we going to get movie cameras?” Lightning Shield asked.

“We don’t need any,” I interjected. “Our phones and Jason’s iPad all can record video, and a bunch of young people making recordings using only their phones sounds like something young people with a YouTube channel would do.”

“Let’s talk about that back in the room,” Jason said. “Who’s up for some dessert?”

“Pass. The desserts here are terrible,” Sweetie Drops said.

“We didn’t pay for quality,” I said.

We returned to the buffet and came back with a few plates of desserts to share. As we ate, though, I could sense a feeling of anticipation from most of the Equestrians. They were ready to get back to work, and so was I. With any luck, we’d find a way to rescue the other Equestrians, and the three of us could actually start our vacation.

Chapter 5: Downtown

View Online

Painted Horses

By Alaborn

Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein.

Chapter 5: Downtown

Back at the hotel, we did our normal thing, entering through the side door that connected directly to the staircase. Once in the room, Jason brought out his iPad. “Now, let’s see what we can find.”

The group of us crowded into the living room area, grabbing all the other chairs in the suite. Still, some of us had to sit on the floor. Jason called up YouTube, searching for the name of some paranormal show that ran on Syfy, and started a clip.

“You have a movie theater in that small thing?” Lyra said.

“It’s like a theater, but it doesn’t require a projector,” Rose said. “Jason explained it to me how it works once, but I don’t remember all the details.”

Minuette shushed them. “I want to focus on these humans and how they act.”

We watched the clip in silence. After that clip, Jason navigated to several others, following the links suggested by YouTube. It turns out Jason was right; there was a ton of paranormal shows, both professional and amateur. The Equestrians seemed quite fascinated by the whole thing. I, on the other hand, was growing restless.

“Is there anything else we need done?” I asked.

“Reconnaissance,” Lightning Shield said. “Can you pilot that vehicle, and identify the locations of all these painted horses?”

I thought for a moment. “I bet we can get the information without going there. I’ll see if this hotel has a business center.”

Sure enough, the hotel had what was generously called a business center, with two computers and a printer. But that was all I needed. A quick online search found a Web page with information about the painted horses, complete with images, the name of the painter, and when they were officially revealed. I printed out the information, and then printed out a map. For all of the painted horses that weren’t in the downtown area, I noted their location, and marked it on the map. There were a smaller number of these; I hoped we could find the rest of the missing ponies in the downtown area.

I returned to the room after working for half an hour, hearing laughter as I approached. Once inside the room, I heard the dialogue coming from the iPad, recognizing the scene as from Ghostbusters.

“I don’t think that’s the kind of show we want to create,” I said.

“This is just for fun,” Jason replied. “And to explain some of the references I made as we plotted this out.”

“We’ve decided on the roles we’re playing already,” Minuette said. “I’m the psychic, the one who can feel when we’re in the presence of the supernatural.”

“And I’m the scientist, with all the wacky gizmos,” Jason said.

“What gizmos?” I said.

“We’re working on that,” Jason said.

“The wands I brought include a variety of offensive, defensive, tactical, and utility spells. Notably, this includes illusion and minor transmutation effects,” Minuette explained. “However, the only changes I can make are cosmetic in nature.”

“Then it’s a good thing everything we’re doing is fake,” I said.

“Not everything,” Lightning Shield said, pulling out a checklist he made. “As we walk by the statues, Minuette will use her wands to detect the presence of Equestrian magic. Then, once her spell is triggered, we will approach the identified statue as a group. Minuette will act her role, pretending to be a distracted human woman, to conceal the fact that she is casting the same spells she used when we investigated the statue holding Lyra.”

“My part is fake,” Jason said. “I’ll spout off some ‘facts’ about the artist or the painting before waving my tricorder, confirming what Minuette felt.”

“We have the two actors. We need three of us to hold the devices we are using as cameras, and then the rest of us will focus on crowd control,” Lightning Shield said.

“You know, politely asking anyone who’s curious not to get too close,” Greta said, punctuating her words by punching a fist into her palm.

“We agree that Sweetie Drops, Greta, and I are best for that role,” Lightning Shield continued. “That means Lyra, Rose, and John can hold the cameras.”

“Sounds good,” Rose said. “But I’ll need someone to show me what to do.”

“Why don’t you show them how it works?” Jason said to me. “And then we’ll practice the whole routine here before leaving,” Jason said.

Lyra, Rose, and Sweetie Drops gathered around me. I showed the visiting ponies the camera function on our phones and the iPad. “As you can see, the screen shows you what the camera sees. You touch the button here to take a still picture.”

“Where does the picture come out?” Lyra asked, rotating the phone in her hands.

“It’s all digital. That means the picture is stored as information, and can be printed anytime,” I replied. I changed my phone to movie mode and held it up. “How do your cameras work?” I asked Lyra.

“A spell captures the image, and then translates it to the enchanted paper loaded into the camera. A mana crystal provides the energy for the whole process,” Lyra explained. “They’re both simple spells.”

I nodded. I wonder if the ponies ever dreamed of the idea of moving magical pictures, like in Harry Potter. I held up my phone again. “Okay, what we’re going to be doing is taking movies, like this.” I pressed some buttons, and my screen replayed Lyra’s explanation of how Equestrian cameras worked.

“Cool!” Lyra said.

“What you need to do is toggle this slide bar from camera to movie mode. The red circle means it’s not recording. Press it, and it starts recording. You can see the time count up. Press the same button, which is now a square, to stop recording. It doesn’t really matter, because we’re not using the footage we’re recording, but let’s try to be realistic.”

We practiced using the camera function on the phones, along with just generally getting them used to using a touch screen. It’s a technology unlikely to ever be employed in their world, unless they wanted to use their tongues to manipulate them.

Once that was done, I glanced over at Jason and Minuette. They had crafted something that vaguely looked like a scanning device out of the television remote control and a coat hanger, and something else with a plastic tube and some of the rings that held up the shower curtain.

“Those are your tech gizmos?” I quipped.

“Correction: Those are our fake tech gizmos,” Jason said. “Or they will be. Minuette?”

Minuette pulled out a wand and a mana crystal, and then looked at the items. “What kind of appearance do you want?”

“Whatever you can imagine,” he replied. “We’re looking for unusual, and I’m sure your vision will be more exotic than mine.”

“Do Buck Charger!” Lyra suggested.

“You read that schlock?” Sweetie Drops said.

“What is it?” I asked.

“A series about an earth pony soldier who is put to sleep by a curse and wakes up in the distant future, where ponies have spread to the stars,” Lyra said.

“That sounds a lot like a show we have here,” I said.

“Believe me, the parallels between our worlds are surprising. That they have sci-fi that’s a lot like ours is one of them,” Jason said. “But schlock is just what we’re looking for. Can you describe something?”

“There was this cool ray gun he held in his foreleg. That was my favorite. Or that scanner!” Lyra started. Minuette listened as Lyra described various items from the book series, and then she used the wand. Before our eyes, the prop was covered with an illusion, forming curves like a tool from science fiction. The buttons of the remote control became crystals, and the wire from the coat hanger turned into something that wouldn’t be out of place in Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory. The tube and rings turned into something that definitely looked like a ray gun.

“There’s one more thing we need,” Minuette said. “We need to make these things react when we want them to, and that means one of you needs to use a wand. Since Lyra is still recovering from having her magic drained, that would make you the best choice, John.”

That caught me by surprise. “But I’m no pony,” I said.

“I agree with Minuette,” Lightning Shield said. There were nods all around.

I fidgeted as I felt all eyes on me. Then Rose whispered something to Jason. He stood up and walked over to me. “Can we talk?”

We went into the bedroom, and Jason closed the door behind us. “I want to know what’s bothering you, John. From the way you always talked about Harry Potter, I thought you liked magic.”

“I did, but that was before I encountered this real magic,” I replied.

Jason nodded. “You never really told me much about the first time you went to Equestria. You told me what happened, but not how it affected you. Was it bad?”

I sat quietly, staring at the picture on the wall. It was a landscape, a picture of grasses with a copse of trees, something very ordinary. And once again I recognized that I was stalling. What happened to me was something I never told anyone. I couldn’t. But there was someone who I could talk to, a good friend. And I was shutting him out, something I had done far too often in my life.

“Yes,” I finally said. “I was having a hard enough time with my life back then, and I wasn’t ready for something like this. I was in an unfamiliar body, everyone was reacting strangely to me, and then I found out I was just someone’s pawn, someone with magic, a lot of magic. I told you what actually happened, but after I went home, I couldn’t stop thinking of what could have happened. I lived only because I was useful to Discord. Had he come up with another plan, and all he needed to do was kill me, I would have died. It haunted my nightmares for months.

“I put it behind me, moved on with my life, and then I had that nightmare on the plane. It reminded me of what could have been. I’m scared.”

“Then why did you follow me to Equestria three years ago?”

“I didn’t want what happened to me to happen to you,” I said. “It turns out you were brought for love, not hate, but I didn’t know it at the time.”

“You know, when I found out I was being used, it hurt,” Jason said. “But what happened to you, I don’t want to happen to anyone else. And, as much as none of us want to be involved, we’re in the best position to stop this Discord. All you need to do is use a little magic, for good, and not for evil. So what do you think?”

I sat, thinking about what Jason said. I remembered the thrill when I used magic the first time, during my second trip to Equestria. Then I thought about no one experiencing that again, what might be the result of whatever Discord is planning. Compared to that, a little discomfort was nothing.

“Okay. Let’s get this show on the road.”

We did get the show on the road, literally. We drove downtown, parking in an open-air lot somewhere near the center of the painted horses. Lightning Shield pulled out a printed map, on which several X’s were marked. “Our best search pattern is a spiral pattern, like this,” he said, tracing his finger over the streets. “We go east on 3rd Street, go one street south and back west on 4th Street, go two streets north and east on 2nd Street, and so forth.”

“All right! Let’s make some fake videos,” Jason said. He unzipped his jacket to reveal the T-shirt he had changed into before leaving: one with the classic Ghostbusters logo.

And with that, we began our pleasant stroll around downtown Ocala. The weather was mild, and plenty of others were walking around, checking out the Christmas decorations. It was easy to spot the long-time Florida residents, because they were the ones with heavy coats. I, being used to more northerly climes, just had a light jacket.

I noticed a few stares at our group. Sure, we may have been doing what everyone else was doing, but the size of our group and our younger age made us stick out. I hoped we could get away with our plan.

We stopped at the first painted horse statue on our route. I looked to Minuette. She had her left hand in her jacket pocket, where a wand was hiding. She signaled with her right hand: no. So we just treated the statue like a tourist would, looking at the art and reading the nearby placard.

The second statue was also a no, but on the third, Minuette signaled go. We reacted. Rose, Lyra, and I held up our phones and tablet and started recording. Greta, Lightning Shield, and Sweetie Drops stepped back and formed a perimeter.

“Do you see something, Mary?” Jason said to Minuette.

“I do.” She motioned in the air around the statue. “I feel the aura, the patterns. I feel....” She furrowed her brow; I could see her other hand gripping the wand. “Sadness. Loss. Longing.”

“Love?” Jason said.

Minuette traced a pattern in the air with two fingers. “Love. Familial love.”

“The artist, Jane Archer, was getting over the death of her sister as she painted this horse. Do you think her emotions were strong enough to forge a link with the beyond?”

She made another gesture while casting another spell from her wand. “Yes. The spiritual presence is strong.”

“Let’s see what the gizmos have to say,” Jason said. He grinned maniacally and pulled out the gizmo that looked like a scanner. The wire from the coat hanger had been shaped by Minuette’s magic into something that looked like a Jacob’s ladder. He started waving it around.

That was my cue. I grabbed the wand hidden in my pocket, and focused on the arcane symbols of the most basic spell—the light spell was literally the first spell introduced in the magic textbook I had studied. The fake green gem that was once the remote control’s power button started to glow.

“And we have confirmation!” Jason said euphorically. He was overacting, but it made the performance something I’d be more likely to watch, so it worked.

“Let’s not disturb the spirits just yet,” Minuette said.

Jason, who had pulled out his ray gun, put it back. “You’re no fun,” he said, making a pouting expression.

It took two hours of searching, but we did find the locations of all five of the remaining missing ponies in the downtown area. We went back to Jason’s SUV, but he didn’t start the engine.

“Okay, mission report. Minuette?” Lightning Shield said.

“All five of the affected statues were identical to the statue binding Lyra, including the same binding spell and the same concentrating and transmitting of magical energy.”

“Do you know who was trapped in each statue?” Greta asked.

“Unfortunately, no. Astral Shield’s spirit bind spell conceals a pony’s personal aura.”

“Where was the collected magic being sent?” I asked.

“Still not sure. It was consistent for all five statues, but a different angle from Lyra’s.”

“That means we can triangulate,” Sweetie Drops said. “Do you have a map?”

“Right here,” Jason said, pulling out his tablet. He tapped on it for a minute. “What was your grandparents’ address?” he asked me.

I only remembered the street name, so I repeated it.

“That should be good enough. The statue was at the edge of their community anyway.” Jason passed his tablet back; both locations were indicated on the electronic map. “Minuette?”

She took out a wand, and concentrated. Two blue lines appeared over the map, but they crossed off the map. Once we zoomed out, Minuette replaced the lines, and now they crossed over a patch of green.

“I know that place,” I said. “Silver Springs.”

“What is Silver Springs?” Lightning Shield asked.

“It’s an amusement park, of sorts,” I explained. “It calls itself Florida’s oldest tourist attraction, and it certainly feels old. There are glass-bottomed boats and animal attractions, but nothing like the parks in Orlando. When I was younger, we went there every Christmas when we went to Ocala.”

“So what we need is some reconnaissance,” Lightning Shield said. “John, are you up for giving us a tour?”

Chapter 6: Silver Springs

View Online

Painted Horses

By Alaborn

Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein.

Chapter 6: Silver Springs

Before making the trip to Silver Springs, we stopped off at the hotel. While it was normally Lightning Shield who was focused on getting things done, this time it was Minuette who insisted we needed to make a plan.

“I propose we split up,” she said. “We have two goals, rescuing the ponies and getting them home, and dealing with Discord. We know what to do with the first, but we still need to contact Twilight Sparkle, and I have calculations to make before I’m ready to use that much magic. And Lightning Shield is right, we need reconnaissance. Hopefully we can learn something that will help us when we face him later.”

“And this is strictly a reconnaissance mission,” Lightning Shield said. “Because we rescued Lyra, Discord is absolutely aware that someone has interfered with his plans. However, due to the lack of pink cotton candy clouds, it is clear he is choosing not to act now. I suspect he will be more motivated to act once we’ve cut off all his magical conduits, and that’s when we will face him.”

“So who’s going with me?” I asked.

“I will join you, and I nominate Sweetie Drops and Greta as well. This will be a late night infiltration mission, and they can best use this information.”

“Darn straight,” Sweetie Drops said.

“Although you are not to engage, I won’t let you go in defenseless,” Minuette said. “John, I’m going to give you several wands and a supply of mana crystals, for emergency use only. I’ll need to teach you the spells.”

Five minutes later, Minuette passed me a sheet of paper with a dozen spells written on it. “Can you read these?”

It had been a while since I had seen the magical symbols, but they came back to me quickly. To their credit, the system of magical notation was intuitive. “I think so,” I said.

“Okay. The first four spells are in the first wand, and cover changing the color, composition, texture, and size of the target. You need to squink the target, begin the spell, form the desired outcome in your mind, and then release the spell.”

Those were spells I was able to use when I was a unicorn. “Got it.”

“The next three are in the second wand, and cover communication over a distance. There are separate spells for transmitting thoughts, written words, and images.”

I held up my phone. “I have that covered.”

“Oh. Right.” She pointed to the third wand. “This wand holds offensive spells. I don’t need to say that the only reason you should be using any of these spells is because Discord is attacking you, and you need to make your escape. But just in case, there are spells for stunning, blinding, entangling, and magic disruption.”

“Okay,” I said.

“And you should use the last wand only as a last resort. It contains a teleportation spell, and only experienced and practiced unicorns should use those. But if the alternative is imminent death, it’s worth taking the risk.”

I looked over that last spell; it was the largest and most complicated, with a lot of variables I would need to fill in on the fly. “I have to repeat this phrase for each person I want to teleport?”

“Yes. And for the destination, I will create a magical beacon.” Minuette used her wand. Nothing visible happened, but I felt a sensation in that part of my brain Jason called the corpus monoceros.

The sensation resolved into coordinates, and then distance and direction, and finally the corresponding symbols. “That’s weird,” I said.

“Let’s get ready to go,” Jason said. “I’ll drive the four of you there. Call me when you want to be picked up.”

“Four adults, please.”

Another charge on my credit card, and we secured admission to Silver Springs. I took in the familiar sight of the wooden sign over the entrance to the park.

“They call this a wall?” Greta commented.

“And no guard posts,” Sweetie Drops added. “It’s like they don’t care who gets in.”

“Maybe this is a conversation you three should have after we leave,” I said. “Right now, we need to look for signs of Discord.”

“Do you have any idea where to start?” Lightning Shield asked.

“No. The only clue we have is that Discord might have been turned into a statue. So I guess we look for a bizarre statue.”

“Wouldn’t that have been noticed by the humans who work the park?” Lightning Shield said.

“Yes, so I really don’t know where to start,” I admitted. “Hopefully, I’ll be able to sense his magic.” I rubbed my head, where my horn would be in unicorn form.

The three Equestrians looked around, seeing what attractions the park had. While it was nothing compared to the more famous amusement parks in Orlando, they seemed to find Silver Springs to be a novel experience.

“What’s a glass-bottomed boat?” Sweetie Drops asked.

“It’s exactly what it sounds like, a boat with a clear bottom, so you can see the fish and plants in the river,” I replied.

“Let’s do that!” Lightning Shield said excitedly. He cleared his throat. “I mean, the boat ride provides a good method of surveying the park. It’s the best way to begin our search.”

I chuckled. “You are allowed to have fun in the Guard, right?”

“Of course.”

“Then let’s go.”

We headed to the pier where the boat launched. We were just in time, as a boat was pulling up while we got in line. And as the passengers disembarked, I saw something I did not want to see.

I swore. And then I ran away.

I needed to get out of sight, and the first place I could hide was the bathroom. I ran in, saw it was empty, and locked the door behind me.

The door rattled as someone tried to open it. “John?” Lightning Shield said.

“Yeah.”

“What happened? Did you see Discord?”

“Worse,” I said. “My parents and grandparents.”

“Why is that bad?” Lightning Shield asked.

“I’m supposed to be in Tampa now. If they see me, they’re going to want to know why. And that kind of throws a wrench in this whole secret mission, right?”

Lightning Shield didn’t have an immediate response. I wished I could see his expression, to know what he was thinking. But he soon made it clear. “They say no plan survives contact with the enemy. In the Guard, when our plans go awry, we regroup and come up with another plan.”

“How do I change what I look like?”

“You have a brain and magic. Use them both. But make it fast. I’ll stand guard, and keep the other humans away.”

Lightning Shield was right. I was thinking I needed something like makeup and a wig, but I had something better. I took out Minuette’s first wand and the list of spells. Illusion was one option. I stood by the sink, looking at my reflection in the mirror. I started the spell, imagined by dark brown hair as light blond, held the image, and released the spell. The spell washed over me, and my hair changed color. It didn’t match my complexion, so I also lightened my skin.

I looked at my reflection closely. I still looked like me. With the transmutation spell, I could change my facial features, assuming the spell worked on living creatures. I tried, and it did. I imagined a bigger, more rounded nose, then puffy cheeks, and then jowls. It really wasn’t an attractive look; I sort of looked like a comic strip drunk. But it accomplished the goal.

Satisfied, I turned to leave, but then noticed my jacket. I’d worn the same blue jacket since high school, and I realized it might catch the attention of my parents. Using the illusion spell again, I changed its color to red.

I unlocked the door and walked out. There were several people waiting outside the door. Lightning Shield pulled up beside me and urged me away. “Are you feeling okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, I guess,” I said.

“Good.” Once we were further away, he continued. “I told them my friend was sick, and that’s why the door was locked.”

“Good thing I kind of look sick, then!”

We had to hurry, but we managed to get on the same boat before it departed. We took a row of seats, allowing our group to see both sides of the river. Sweetie Drops and Greta remained vigilant, looking as if they were memorizing the layout of the park. Lightning Shield started doing the same, but he was soon distracted by the fish seen swimming under the boat. He must have been a nature lover.

“Now I’m getting hungry,” he commented.

Or that.

As for me, I paid some attention to the tour guide, but I was primarily trying to feel with my magic. My recent dream reminded me of just how Discord’s magic felt, but I wasn’t sure just how well I’d be able to sense it. I was in human form, and hopefully, Discord’s magic was less powerful as well.

The boat completed its lazy circuit, and we disembarked. Once separated from the pack, Lightning Shield spoke. “Anything?”

“Sorry, nothing,” I replied. “Looks like we need to walk around the rest of the park and play tourist.”

We worked to blend in with the crowd. I bought a box of popcorn to share, and then we visited the animal exhibits.

“Minuette said something about magic, how like attracts like. Discord looks like he was sewn together from a bunch of animals. Might he be trapped as an animal? One that shares a part with him?” I asked.

“That would be amusing, but probably not,” Sweetie Drops said. “I think the statue seems more likely, or something made of stone. Call it a gut feeling.”

We got a good look at all of the animals, but none of them looked at us with any strange level of curiosity, nor did any give me a creepy feeling.

“Any other animals?” Greta asked.

“Well, it’s not an exhibit, but there are monkeys living in the park,” I said.

“Yeah. I see hairless monkeys everywhere,” Greta quipped.

I decided not to correct her on the whole apes versus monkeys thing. “We’ll see them in the place we go next.”

The area of the park I had in mind was the forested area only reachable through the wilderness trail ride. It was a guided tour in Jeeps, so I briefly explained to the Equestrians what to expect. Even with my explanation, they looked uncomfortable in the open-topped vehicles.

“Are you sure we’re not going to fall out?” Lightning Shield whispered to me.

“Don’t you transport ponies through the air in open-topped chariots?” I said.

“That’s different,” he retorted.

The trees were heavier through this part of the park, resembling a jungle. It was so much like a jungle that several old Tarzan movies were filmed here. In fact, seeing Tarzan’s home was one of the sights on the tour.

The guide pointed out the old set as we approached. Memories of past trips came back to me as I saw the jungle home and the Tarzan statue, which showed the iconic presentation of the character by Johnny Weissmuller. The statue was old and weathered, and with all the trees around, attracted more than its fair share of bird droppings. The guide recited all the movies filmed at Silver Springs.

I also felt something sick and twisted, a miasma of wrongness. The statue seemed to look at me. I could also feel it trying to pull my magic away, not only the spells on me, but also the magic contained within the mana crystals I was carrying. I held them, and all the wands, and said no. As I imagined the symbols, I remembered it was the simplest shield spell from the elementary magic textbook I had studied.

I kept concentrating. The Jeep moved, and as I left sight of the statue, the foul feeling faded. I don’t know if my attempt at a shield spell worked, or if I was saved by moving away, but my disguise held, and I could still feel the magic in the mana crystals.

“You notice something?” Lightning Shield asked me quietly.

“I’m sure Discord was in that statue. And he was trying to take all the magic I’m holding.”

“Good, good,” Lightning Shield said. “That suggests what his first action will be when we face him. That’s information we can use.”

For the rest of the tour, Greta and Sweetie Drops talked softly to each other. They were clearly plotting. And they made it obvious when we finished the tour.

“You wait here,” Sweetie Drops said. “We’ll go back and scout the area.”

“Are you going to join them?” I asked Lightning Shield.

“Actually....” The transformed pegasus rubbed his hands. “Can we see that bird show?” Lightning Shield asked. “It starts in 15 minutes.”

I smiled. “I think that can be arranged.” I pointed to a nearby bench. “Greta, Sweetie Drops, meet us here when you’re done.”

I’d seen the show, one showcasing birds from around the world, when I was younger. It was mildly entertaining, but Lightning Shield was enraptured. “They’re so much like our birds!” he exclaimed.

When the show was over, we sat on a bench, watching the passers-by, just your ordinary tourists taking a break. With my disguise, my parents and grandparents didn’t even notice me when they walked by.

Half an hour later, the others returned. The two women were grinning. “I’m not sure I like that smile,” I said.

“Relax. We just found the perfect place to enter,” Greta said.

“A little climbing, a little breaking and entering. Nothing too challenging,” Sweetie Drops said.

“Great. Do we have anything else to do?” I said.

“Not here,” Lightning Shield said. “It’s time to make our final plans.”

Chapter 7: Extraction and Elimination

View Online

Painted Horses

By Alaborn

Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein.

Chapter 7: Extraction and Elimination

Once we regrouped back at the hotel, the version of Lightning Shield who was an excited school kid vanished, replaced by the all business military leader. He reported to the group the result of our reconnaissance, with further details provided by Greta and Sweetie Drops.

“So now, we need to finalize the two elements of our plan. Extract the trapped ponies and send them home, and eliminate the Malice element of Discord,” Lightning Shield said.

“Jason has been in communication with Princess Twilight Sparkle. We need only give the time, and an alternate location if necessary, and she’ll be ready with the portal,” Minuette added.

“After sundown, then,” Lightning Shield said.

“You probably want to do it far after sundown,” Jason suggested. “Humans are prone to stay out late.”

“What time do you suggest?”

“Maybe 1:00 AM. Late enough that the streets will be close to empty, but not so late that being out would be suspicious. That assumes there’s some nightlife in Ocala.”

“I’m sure the bars are open,” I said.

“That’s a good idea. Let’s find a bar centrally located to the targets. Since it’s not practical for all of us to be involved in the extraction effort, most of us will need to wait there,” Lightning Shield said. “At minimum, we need Jason for transportation and communication, and Minuette to cast the spells. Do you two need any support?”

Jason looked to Minuette, who replied. “No. Just as long as no one wants to catch the encore of our little performance from earlier.”

Jason nodded. “We’ll act only when we’re not being watched.”

“Lyra should join us. Then once everypony is rescued, we can go straight to the portal,” Minuette added.

“All right. Now, for the harder part. Sweetie Drops? Greta?”

“Getting in is the easy part. There’s a fence, but we found an area where the wilderness is so thick, nopony will be able to see us,” Sweetie Drops said.

“There will probably be an alarm, and maybe security cameras,” I said. “It won’t matter to you, assuming we can get in and out in time, but I don’t want to be on record breaking and entering.”

“You could stay with the vehicle,” Lightning Shield said.

Jason shook his head. “To fight discord, we need harmony. And discord that threatens two worlds is best met by harmony shared by the people and ponies of two worlds.”

Rose squeezed Jason’s arm. “I may just be a florist, but I’m willing to stand together and fight for Earth and Equestria.”

“I have an assortment of spells that might work, but I will need to test them,” Minuette said.

“We have hours to test before we engage,” Lightning Shield said. “Now, as for the more difficult task. How do we defeat Discord?”

Sweetie Drops raised a hand, went to her bag, and pulled out a wooden box. She opened it. “Standard issue Tartarus-grade spirit trap. What we need to do first is separate his spirit from this world’s body.”

“The problem is, we don’t know how much magic he’s accumulated, or how many ways he has to use it,” Greta said.

“Given what John reported, the answer is ‘not enough’,” Minuette said. “And if his first instinct is to steal as much magic as he can get his mismatched mitts on, then we have something perfect for him.”

Minuette showed us a case made of a dark metal; Lyra recoiled at the sight. And once Minuette explained what was in the case, I understood why the transformed unicorn reacted as she did.

“Okay, let’s buckle down and do any final preparations,” Lightning Shield said.

“It kind of reminds me of studying for finals, right, John?” Jason said.

“Good point. But we’ll need one thing to make it complete.”

Thirty-five minutes later, the pizza we ordered was delivered to our room, and our study party commenced. Greta and Sweetie Drops moved the kitchen table out of the center room, and they and Lightning Shield used the area to practice fighting in their human bodies. Jason and Rose handled the final communications with Twilight Sparkle. And Minuette and Lyra retreated to the bedroom, where they brainstormed the magical angle. They sat on the bed, examining dozens of wands while discussing the matter animatedly.

“John? Can you come here?” Minuette said.

“Sure.” I joined them in the bedroom.

“We have some ideas on spells to use, but we need your help to understand your human technology.”

“Okay,” I said.

“First of all, these cameras you think the park has, do they function like the cameras you showed us earlier?” Minuette asked.

“Well, the park’s old. It’s possible the system uses videotape, rather than digital storage.”

Lyra shook her head. “What we need to know is how the camera itself works. The way it sees the image, is it the same?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Good,” Minuette said. “We’ll test the invisibility spell now. Record it with your camera, and we’ll confirm that the spell fools cameras as well as eyes.”

I nodded and pulled out my phone. Minuette held a wand and concentrated. In an instant, Lyra disappeared from view. I saw right through where she was sitting to the wall beyond. And my phone recorded the exact same thing.

“Excellent,” Minuette said. “Now, Lyra and I have been talking about what spells could be used to stop an alarm. The problem is we don’t know where to start, because we don’t know how the alarm works.”

“Well, neither do I,” I said. “But we can look it up.”

I borrowed Jason’s iPad, because the screen was bigger, and used it to look up various alarm systems. Minuette and Lyra looked over my shoulder as I searched. I first showed them a typical home alarm system, but then looked up commercial alarm systems.

I looked to the two women. “Does any of this help?”

“I can see how the function of these alarms resembles our alarm spells, but how does the magic work?” Minuette asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, this alarm sees you approach. How does it send out the alarm?”

“It’s all electric.”

“Electric? You mean, like the lightning used in pegasus inventions?” Lyra said.

I hadn’t really examined the technology in Equestria during my two trips there, but now that I thought about it, I never saw an electric outlet. I suppose the lights they used were powered by magic instead. It looked like I would have to start at the beginning, with an explanation of what electricity was, and how it worked.

Fortunately, I had a degree in electrical engineering.

I saw a lot of polite nodding from Minuette and Lyra as I tried to distill all my knowledge into a brief lecture. But something must have clicked, because Minuette grabbed the iPad.

“So if the alarm system uses wires, like in this one, what happens is the camera or sensor notices something, and then the information is sent across the wire instantaneously?” she said.

“Do you have an idea?” Lyra said.

“I was thinking Skyfire’s Ward could be adapted. What do you think?”

Lyra shrugged. “Beats me. I took earth pony magic as my elective.”

“What are you talking about?” I said.

“Skyfire’s Ward is a shielding spell that drains pegasus magic into mana crystals, protecting the caster. If it also works on human electricity, that spell could shut down the functioning of the alarm system.”

It sounded like Minuette was proposing a localized blackout. That could work, but only if it worked on electricity. Fortunately, I knew someone who should know.

I popped into the other room. “Hey, Jason, does pegasus lightning work like electricity?”

“I have no idea,” he replied. “Not much cause to work with weather magic when I’m building roads.”

“Great.” We would just have to test it. “Say, could I get the iPod out of your car?”

“Sure.”

Once I returned, I plugged the iPod into the room’s clock and turned it on. Music started playing, and Minuette and Lyra looked around.

“Here’s a way you can test your spell,” I said. “This device stores music, and this white cord contains a wire that transmits the music to the speaker here. See if you can stop the music.”

Minuette nodded. Holding a mana crystal in one hand and a wand in the other, she concentrated. Sure enough, the spell worked. It worked a little too well. Not only did the music stop, but the electricity was pulled out of the iPod, the clock, and the nearby light fixture. They flickered back on after Minuette stopped the spell.

“Okay. Let’s not use that spell around anything important.”

The one last part of our plan was how to approach Discord. With his nature, there was no doubt he could use magic much more effectively than us, since we were constrained by the spells in the wands. Our plan was contingent on tricking him into taking the nasty item Minuette held. I had the most experience with Discord, having both faced him in his Malice aspect and spoken to him in his statue form. We needed him to act on impulse, and that meant playing on his past failure. And that meant me taking the lead.

Fortunately, I had beer to help me cope.

The five of us showed up at a bar just after midnight, taking a table and ordering a half dozen craft beers. The bar was surprisingly crowded for the holiday season; it looked like a number of extended families decided a family trip to the bar was in order. The environment was noisy, with loud conversation and music from the jukebox.

Greta, Sweetie Drops, and Lightning Shield drank most of their beer, and then took off to play pool and darts. Rose and I stayed at the table. I was just a normal customer, nursing a beer and playing on his phone.

Except I was actually monitoring the progress of Jason and Minuette. Every so often, my phone buzzed with a text message from Jason, naming the pony they recovered. And I finished one of the glasses of beer.

Our prearranged signal was for the number of glasses that still held beer to be the number of ponies left to rescue. Once the last beer was gone, we would wait twenty minutes and then leave the bar as a group, walking down the street until Jason found us.

“They just saved Doc Top,” I said to Rose, and I finished off the fifth beer. “One more to go.”

“I’m so nervous. I hope Jason is all right,” Rose said.

“He was crazy enough to move to Equestria. This is nothing in comparison,” I said. But inwardly, I was worried too.

The phone didn’t leave my hand as I waited for the final message. My other hand was gripped around the remaining glass.

– Just rescued G, and boy is she angry
– TS is ready for delivery

I gave Rose a thumbs up and finished the beer. I then realized that ponies probably didn’t have a gesture like that. But Rose understood anyway; she smiled and squeezed my arm.

Over at the pool table, Greta was trash-talking Sweetie Drops, trying to get her to miss her shot. Lightning Shield, awaiting his shot, glanced over at our table. He saw the empty glasses and nodded.

Twenty minutes later, we were outside, just another group of young people looking for a bar before last call.

After a short walk, Jason approached. He stopped the car, and we all got in.

The lights of downtown faded, and we drove down dark streets as we prepared to stop an immortal spirit of chaos and malice.

Jason stared at the GPS map of his SUV as we drove slowly along the edge of Silver Springs Park. I looked at the map on the tablet. “We’re almost at the closest point to our entrance,” I said. “Look for a place to hide the car.”

There were no other cars on the road, so Jason pulled off the road and headed toward the trees. The SUV jumped and shook as we rolled over the uneven terrain.

We stopped after driving as far as we could into the trees and got out of the car. The moon was near full, but very little light made it through the trees.

“You humans can’t see at all in the dark,” Greta said.

Minuette pulled out a wand, and a blue light illuminated us. “Can one of you hold this?”

“I’ll take it,” I said. The simple spell echoed in my mind, and the magical light persisted.

She pulled out a second wand. “Gather close; I will make us invisible.”

The slightest bit of a tingling sensation washed over me, and I could no longer see my hand holding the wand, or the wand itself. However, I could still see the magical light.

“John, place your hand on my withers and follow my cue. I’m going to search for the electricity; stop when I do. Everypony else, follow the light.”

Our group proceeded slowly through the woods, feeling like a party of Dungeons & Dragons adventurers made real. There was a faint glow in the distance, likely the lights of Silver Springs.

Minuette didn’t stop us until we were in sight of the fence. “Stand back, everypony.”

I took ten steps back.

Minuette dropped a large blue crystal on the ground. She must have started on her spell, as the crystal started to glow, first dimly, then brighter.

“Just a little more,” I heard her mutter.

The crystal flared as bright as the sun, and then went dark. Once my eyes adjusted, I could see the lights in the park were dark too.

“I’m pretty sure we’re safe to move,” I said.

I heard someone move around me, then saw a grappling hook, with rope attached, fly over the fence. Someone tugged the rope. “Okay, let’s go,” Sweetie Drops said.

I heard more movement as everyone climbed the rope. I let the others go first as bad memories of elementary school gym glass filled my mind. When the rope stopped moving, I said “Is everyone else up?”

“I’m still here,” Jason said.

“Okay, let’s give this a try,” I said. I grabbed the rope and tried to climb. I only succeeded in making the rope swing. Eventually, I slid off, my sweaty palms unable to grip.

“You give it a try,” I said to Jason.

A few grunts and a thump later, I saw Jason was in the same boat as me.

I heard someone land near me. “Unicorns,” Sweetie Drops grumbled. “Climb on my back.”

With her help, we made it over the fence.

“Even Twilight Sparkle needed to be caught by Rainbow Dash before she could defeat Nightmare Moon,” Jason rationalized.

“Now where?” I asked.

“Hold out your light,” Greta replied.

I did as she said.

“Right, right... a little left... there!” she said. “Walk in that direction.”

“Everypony, take your wands, and cluster around me,” Minuette said. “Remember the plan.”

“Lead the way,” Lightning Shield said.

My heart pounded as I walked to what could very well be my doom. The sounds of our footsteps crunching through the undergrowth and the movement of nocturnal animals were all I heard. I saw a shape in the trees. Raising my wand, my light shone on the back of Tarzan’s house. We were close.

Soon, I felt something beyond my own fear. The dread, the emotional blackness of Discord’s presence, crept into my soul. My light washed over the back of the Tarzan statue.

The first thing I noticed was my light changing from blue to red. Then I realized I could see my hand again. The statue changed, stone becoming flesh. Then the statue turned, sneering at me. It looked like Tarzan, down to the long hair and loincloth, but its eyes were Discord’s yellow and red.

“Remember me?” I said, with as much false confidence as I could muster.

Discord sniffed the air. “Yes. One of my elements of disharmony. You’re even uglier in person.” He reached out his hand, and the mana crystal I was holding flew into it. The light from my wand blinked out, leaving us bathed only in the light of the moon. “Thank you for bringing me some more magic. It helps replace my careful network of mana collection that you so rudely disrupted.”

“Magic?” I scoffed. “If you remember, we seven humans kicked your butt with nothing but our hatred of you.” I emphasized the word seven, and that was the cue for the others to join me. Their invisibility spell was canceled, just like mine, as they approached.

I stepped back and joined my companions, standing in a semicircle. All of us held our wands out, like a scene out of Harry Potter. At the center of the semicircle, Minuette held her bag, containing all our mana crystals.

“As you can see, there are seven of us again, from Earth and Equestria, and again we’re working in harmony. This time, however, we decided to bring magic. Lots of magic.”

“Not as much as I’ll have once I finish my link to Equestria’s dimension,” Discord said. “Well, it’s not a fair fight until I’m the only one with magic.” And with a wave of his hand, the bag of mana crystals was pulled from Minuette’s grasp.

“No!” Minuette screamed.

Discord turned the bag upside down and stretched his arms wide. Its contents were pulled to him in an invisible field of magic, crystals of assorted sizes glittering far more than they should have in the faint moonlight.

I held my breath. Discord did just what I expected he would. Now, we had one chance for our plan to work.

As the pile of mana crystals moved to Discord, they spread out. And somewhere in the pile was Minuette’s lead box, containing a black antimagic crystal. I caught sight of the shape.

Sweetie Drops’ arm twitched, and a dart flew. It hit the box in just the right place, triggering the latch, and the lid popped open.

The reaction was instantaneous. The other crystals shattered, and their elemental magic was pulled into the black crystal, swirling like a whirlpool. The black crystal didn’t stop there, as it pulled magic from the next nearest source, Discord himself.

Discord screamed as the magic was pulled from him. For a moment, I could see the image of the draconequus overlaid on the human figure. But the image disappeared, and the human fell to his hands and knees.

Discord coughed and got to his feet. “I don’t need magic to beat you,” he said. But the certainty was gone from his voice.

“I’d say things are fair now,” I said.

Greta cracked her knuckles. “I am so looking forward to this.”

Now was the time for the three trained warriors to shine. Lightning Shield stabbed with his spear; after one blow hit, Discord was forced to respect the weapon. But that left him exposed to the tandem of Greta and Sweetie Drops. The former griffon employed punches, kicks, and throws in a style that wouldn’t look out of place in a mixed martial arts competition. The former pony primarily struck at Discord with a baton, but many of the blows were mere feints, concealing thrown knives and darts.

It was not a fair fight. It was brutal. Without the reality-bending powers that defined him, Discord had no idea what to do.

“I’m beginning to see why no one smart tries to invade Equestria,” Jason said.

Rose, who was clutching Jason’s arm, nodded.

Minuette watched the battle intently, holding the spirit trap she got from Sweetie Drops. She flinched with each blow, but she stood ready to ensnare Discord’s spirit. I didn’t know what would cause it to separate from his body, but I suspected it wouldn’t be pretty.

Discord tried to talk, tried to bargain his way out of his situation. But the Equestrians would have none of it. Sweetie Drops landed a hard blow on Discord’s head with her baton; the sound made my stomach turn. Greta swept with her leg, knocking Discord off his feet. And Lightning Shield followed by raising his spear above his head and thrusting downward with all his strength. I covered my eyes with my hands.

All was quiet, and I dared to look. Discord was no longer moving. His face was caught in an expression of surprise, and despite having a human form, his face resembled the one when he was turned to stone by the Elements of Harmony on my first trip to Equestria. And speaking of stone, his human figure was now reverting to stone. The statue of Tarzan was off its base, cracked and chipped in multiple places, and wearing an expression it didn’t have before.

A translucent ball of red energy hovered over the broken statue. It radiated malice, and I shivered. Minuette shivered as well, but she steeled herself and approached. She opened the spirit trap, and the essence of Malice was pulled inside. The bad aura was gone, though I felt far from calm.

“Let’s get that invisibility spell going and get out of here,” Jason said.

“We don’t have any more mana crystals,” Minuette said.

I noticed the ground vibrating. The black crystal was pulsing, seeming to pull in the moonlight. The ground shook around it, and it was getting stronger.

I pointed at it. “Actually, I think we need to run.”

I don’t know what the antimagic crystal did, but I heard something that sounded like trees falling behind us. This time, adrenaline meant I was able to climb the rope without help. As soon as we were over, Sweetie Drops recovered the rope and grappling hook, and we continued to run.

As soon as the seven of us were in the SUV, Jason drove away. Rose wrote in the diary, and it glowed shortly thereafter. “The princess is ready,” she said.

We drove to the same place where we met the portal the previous day. My heart was still pounding. “We have four minutes,” Jason said.

“You all did good,” Lightning Shield said. “Especially you, John. You didn’t have to fight for Equestria, but you did.”

“I just want to put it all behind me. I like being a normal person,” I said.

“Are you sure you want to? Equestria isn’t all dangerous schemes from mad immortals,” Jason said. “There’s a lot worth appreciating in Equestria.” He took Rose’s hand and squeezed it gently.

“Sorry, can’t. I don’t have your permission to visit.”

“I’m sure Twilight Sparkle would be happy to grant permission,” Jason continued.

“Look, I’m not going to say never, just... not now.”

“Hey, if you ever come to the griffon lands, I’d be happy to buy you a beer,” Greta said.

“Equestrian beer is better,” Lightning Shield said.

“And the cider is better than that,” Sweetie Drops said.

“Those are fighting words,” Greta said.

“Someday. Maybe,” I said.

A violet light washed over the car as the portal reappeared.

“There’s our ride,” Lightning Shield said.

We shared fist bumps as the Equestrians got out of the car. We stayed to watch each disappear into the light, and to see the portal wink out.

“Now we can finally enjoy our vacation,” Jason said.

That’s right. There was the resort in Tampa where we were supposed to be right now.

“I called the hotel for you, and canceled the room for tonight,” Jason said. “We have the room for the rest of our trip. But now, I just want to crash.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Epilogue

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Painted Horses

By Alaborn

Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein.

Epilogue

We only got a few fitful hours of sleep after our late night. Fighting the spirit of chaos doesn’t make it easy to fall asleep afterward.

We downed several cups of coffee, and then checked out of our hotel in Ocala. Finally, we were ready to start our vacation. I stretched out in the back seat, and I soon dozed off.

I woke up when my phone rang. It was my parents calling.

“How’s Tampa?” my mother asked.

“Oh, nice,” I lied. “Right now, we’re out looking for someplace nice to eat.”

“That’s nice,” she continued. “You’ll never believe what happened last night.”

“What?”

“A sinkhole opened up in Silver Springs Park! No one knows how bad the damage is, but the park’s closed now. And to think, we were just there yesterday!”

“Wow. That’s terrible.”

“We just wanted you to let you know that we’re safe, and your grandparents are safe too.”

“Okay. Thanks for the call, Mom. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Stay safe, dear.”

“I will.”

I ended the call. “Did you know a sinkhole damaged Silver Springs?” I told Jason.

“No, but that’s good to know. A sinkhole. Just a sinkhole.”

Twilight Sparkle walked into her throne room, only to find somepony already there. “You said you had important business, Princess?” Discord said.

“Yes. And normally, ponies with important business knock first.”

Discord stretched across Fluttershy’s throne and kicked his legs. “Oh, come now, Princess. I know you’re not big on formality.”

“This is serious, Discord.”

The draconequus snapped his talons. He reappeared standing, wearing a severe business suit and horn-rimmed glasses. “Yes. The Board of Directors shares your concern.”

“It concerns your corrupted aspect that we defeated three years ago and banished to a magic-free universe. One you’re quite familiar with.”

“Ah, yes. The human world. Such chaos, but rarely put towards productive use.”

“Your other half hatched a plan to collect the wisps of magic coming from our world. We might never have noticed, except he trapped ponies from our universe as part of his plan,” Twilight Sparkle said. “Fortunately, two humans knowledgeable of the existence of Equestria found evidence of his work, and with the help of some brave agents from our universe, we stopped his plan before he could harm that universe.”

“Oh? How did they defeat my aspect?” Discord asked. “A battle of wits? A clever trap?”

With no small amount of glee, Twilight Sparkle described exactly what happened to him.

Discord’s jaw dropped. He picked it up off the floor and reattached it. “They beat me up? That’s all?”

Twilight Sparkle shrugged. “Well, that’s what happens when you define yourself by your magical powers, and all magic is taken from you in a world where passive magic is absent.”

“I’ll have you know there’s more to me than my chaos powers,” Discord said.

“Like?”

“Like... like... my witty repartee! And I’m oozing with charisma!”

“You’re oozing with something, all right,” Twilight Sparkle deadpanned.

“You wound me so, dear Twilight.”

Twilight Sparkle concentrated, and a wooden box appeared. “We recovered this from the human world.”

Discord wrinkled his muzzle in disgust. “I’ll have you know that is no longer a part of me.”

“And for that, we’re all glad,” she continued. “Normally, we would confine such an undesirable to Tartarus, but we don’t want to risk contact with a certain centaur.”

“Oh, I agree entirely.”

“So we need your help. How can we lock Malice away where he can do no harm to anypony?”

“Anypony? Oh, I think I know just the place.”

Malice awoke. This whole being defeated was growing old, but all defeat is temporary to an immortal spirit. He would take his time, as always.

His first priority, as always, was to assess the environment. He felt the comfortable chaos magic all around, but he could not draw on it. He felt things, but every sensation was different. He felt... he felt...

Felt?

Felt. He was made of felt, and cotton stuffing, and button eyes. In the background were flat crayon illustrations, like the work of a young foal. And all around were colorful sock puppets.

“Oh, hello. Won’t you be our friend forever and ever?”

Malice screamed.

It was a good day for us. We enjoyed sunny skies and warm weather, relatively speaking. Rose got to walk in the ocean for the first time. We looked for shells, enjoyed drinks in the evening breeze, and soaked in the hot tub.

I saw the way Jason and Rose were looking at each other. “I was thinking of hanging around here for a while, and let you two have the room for a while. Okay?”

“Are you sure?” Jason said.

“Yes. There’s something I need to do, something these past two days reminded me I’ve neglected. And it’s going to take some time.”

“Okay. Take your time,” Rose said with a smile.

I wandered to the hotel’s business center. There was something I needed to say. At first, I was going to send myself an e-mail, but it just felt right to write it by hand.

After all, once I got home, I couldn’t send it over e-mail.

It took some time to get the words right. My paper was covered with scratched-out words and hasty edits. But when I picked it up and read the final product, I smiled.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

First, I must apologize. You offered me friendship, but I sealed it away, just like the journal I hid in my closet. You know how I never wanted to travel to Equestria. After my first trip, I tried to put it out of my mind, to pretend it was all a dream. My second trip proved it was real, but I still pretended it wasn’t. Even as Jason told me every week about his life as Stone Arch, I still tried to isolate myself from your world.
I threw away a potential wonderful friendship with a smart, witty unicorn mare who shared my love of Harry Potter, just because I thought it shouldn’t be possible to be friends with a unicorn mare.
Although, I suppose I have to amend that now, since Jason told me you became an alicorn and a princess.
If you’re willing to have me as a friend, after all of this, I would love to write to you.
And I do have wonderful news. There’s something new coming out in the Harry Potter universe, written by J. K. Rowling. It’s called Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and while I won’t reveal much, I’ll tell you it’s a play. I don’t know when it will play near where I live, but when it does, I’ll be sure to let you know.

Your past and hopeful future friend,
John Lockhart/Strange Brew