> The Ballad of Jack and Sylvia: an Equestrian Odyssey
>  by Venter
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prelude: The end and the beginning
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


An Equestrian Odyssey

Jack fell to a knee, breathing heavily. His breath hung in a steamy mist, suspended in the freezing mountain air. A blast of wind cut his face to the bone. Jack's nose was frost-bitten; were it not for Rarity's cloak, he would almost certainly be hypothermic. Rarity... your generosity saves me again. 

"Jack! We need to move; they're trying to cut us off!" Sylvia's voice rang out over the howling winds.

Hulking silhouettes moved through the hazy white snow. They were trying to encircle the humans, to keep them from their destination. Sylvia was already pale and clammy with exertion, and yet she still managed to fill Jack with a warm clean feeling - an empathic spell, designed to keep him moving forward. She was right; they needed to move, and they needed to move now. The cold weight of Jack's sword made his shoulder scream in protest as he hefted it once more. He ignored the pain... all that mattered now was getting through. "You ready, Sylvia?" he asked. She gave a grim nod.

The moment was here. For Equestria... for my new friends... for Sylvia... and above all for her. Her name was on his lips as he charged.

Six Months Earlier

The sky was blue, the birds were singing, the sun was shining, and the leaves were just beginning to change into their autumnal hues... it was, in other words, the perfect day for camping. Sylvia wasn't exactly an outdoorsy girl. Camping lacked certain important features in life - proper beds, hot showers, and ponies. Mostly ponies. As a 19 year old girl, most would tell her she was too old for My Little Pony. Most would be wrong. The animation was fantastic, the stories well thought out, and most of all the characters really spoke to her. Her family had certain qualms about her hobby, the main one being the amount of time it kept her in front of a screen of one sort or another. The camping trip was a means to keep them placated; her father, in particular, liked the idea of her being a camper, and could be a mean son of a bitch when he wasn’t happy with her. Probably pent up frustration with not having a son she noted gloomily. For the time being, she forced Equestria out of her mind and tried to focus on the beauty that the real world had to offer.

She had fiery orange hair, roughly shoulder length with warm green eyes. She wore a long sunflower yellow skirt which hugged her legs, together with a loose pink blouse – her favorite pony had inspired the outfit. After finishing up a late lunch of campfire biscuits and honey, Sylvia washed up and tended to her campsite.

Jack was camping less than a mile away in the same campground. He was just under six feet, with loose chestnut brown hair that fell just past his ears and icy blue eyes. His eyes were his most distinguishing feature - they were intense; almost like he was staring at whatever they happened across. He wore a plain black t-shirt and a dark medium fitting pair of blue jeans. Jack made it a point to go camping at least one weekend a month - it kept him from living his life shut in his room, if nothing else. As much as he was a child of technology, there was a certain peacefulness to be had in getting away from it. Jack loved the internet - but the more people he met through it, the more he found himself harangued by their drama day in and day out. It was nice to get away from the arguments, the politics, the pettiness. 

And the ponies. If Jack had to see another pony, he was likely to go berserk. He'd never been one for judging others on what they like, but these 'bronies' made their fandom inescapable. He gave them a pass when the furry sites he visited were consumed by ponies - after all, ponies are more than a little relevant to the furry fandom. But the ponies were everywhere. Almost every thread in his favorite political forum had a pony macro in it. The AMV's he browsed on youtube were quickly turning into PMV's. His online war game client of choice was getting inundated with pony-themed army lists. He was dominated in Team Fortress by some douche-coupon known only as 'Fluttersnipe'. In short, Jack's views could be summarized thusly - Fuck ponies. Fuck everything about them. And thank god there were still no ponies in the woods of upstate New York.

After eating and washing up, Sylvia decided to avail herself of the good weather and the pleasant scenery by taking a hike. Donning a thin jacket and taking a small day bag with dried fruits and her sketchbook, she set off to enjoy the day. Coming from the opposite direction, Jack had much the same idea – though he wore a thicker brown leather jacket, and brought nothing with him. Many of the flowers were still in bloom. Sylvia stopped periodically to draw them, while Jack simply admired their smell and appearance. About a quarter mile from Sylvia's campsite, our protagonists met. Sylvia immediately regarded the other as a familiar face - Jack, if she remembered his name right. They shared an AP US History class just before graduation. 

"Mornin'." He spoke before she could figure out how best to greet him. It was the sort of casual polite greeting one gives a passing stranger. She decided to linger, to see if he remembered her.

"Nice day for a hike, huh?" Sylvia asked, smiling at Jack as she paused beside him. He was looking at a patch of bright blue flowers, quite unlike any others on the path - they were almost cartoonishly bright. Neither had never seen them before; and yet at the same time, to Sylvia, they seemed almost eerily familiar.

"Yeah... bit early for me, but I can never sleep in when I'm camping." Jack replied, turning to look at her with gradually dawning recognition in his eyes. "Hey... weren't you in AP US?"

"I only sat next to you... not that you were conscious most of the time. Nothing like history at 7:30 in the morning to help with your beauty sleep, huh?" She teased him, though Sylvia didn't have much room to judge - the teacher's lectures were painfully dull, and she had slept through her fair share of them as well.

"Eh... history was never my subject. Watch my stuff? I'm going to see if I can pick one of those; never seen anything like them." Jack said. Sylvia nodded obligingly as he took off his backpack and put it on the trail by her feet. She could swear she had seen those flowers before... but not in reality. That was it. They looked just like poison jo- No. They couldn't be... poison joke isn't real; is it? As impossible as it seemed, Sylvia didn't want to take any chances. She shoved her way into the brush after him, trying to stop him from touching the nearest blossom. His arm was almost within her grabbing range when a treacherous root snagged her foot, sending her tumbling head first into his back - and both of them into the center of the flowerbed. They sent up a thick cloud of pollen (which smelled remarkably purple) and then everything went black.
> Apples and Headaches
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Apples and Headaches

Jack regained his consciousness in midair, the sky overhead filled with a roiling cloud of pink and purple lightning. He had about three seconds to think about how beautiful it was before he crashed into a tree branch. First one branch... then another... then another... and then the cool ground. The branches had slowed his descent, but the impact was still enough to knock him out. Sylvia suffered a similar fall; however, her blow was significantly softened by the Jack-shaped mattress she landed on. The snapped branches scattered around them, along with a small horde of large plump red delicious apples. Up above, the bizarre lightning filled cloud shrank down to a speck and then vanished, leaving a clear blue cloudless sky behind it. 

"Tarnation, Mac, ah told you to ease up on the bucking! Yer gonna muss up next year's harvest if you break the trees!"  A feminine voice rang out from over a nearby hill. It had a soft southern twang to it; if Jack had been conscious, he would have found the accent quite attractive. Sylvia, on the other hand, was conscious. The voice drained the color from her face and left her rather light headed. She would have written off the voice's familiarity to a concussion, if not for three words: Tarnation, Mac, and Bucking. As though to fully dispel her disbelief, a blonde maned pony wearing a stetson came over the hill. She froze at the sight of what appeared to be quite alien creatures in her orchard. "What in tarnation...."

A much larger red stallion came galloping up behind her. "Ah didn't brea -" He froze mid sentence on seeing the humans sprawled out on the ground. "AJ... what the hay are those?"

"Ah... don't know. Was gonna ask you the same question. Y'never seen anything like 'em afore?" 

"Anope."

Sylvia's heart was racing. Her head was swimming, and not just from the likely concussion. These were ponies. Real, live, talking, applebuckin' my little ponies. There was also the matter of Jack's body on the ground beside her, his ankles still pinned by her hip. She could feel him breathing, but a fall like that might have done serious damage.

"I...I need help; my friend's hurt!" She looked pleadingly back and forth between Applejack and Big Macintosh.

"Leapin' Celery, it can talk!" Applejack's eyes widened even further, if possible, but she wasn't deaf to the cries of someone in need. She was still considering what to do when a rainbow shot by all four of them with lightning speed, leaving a heavy breeze in its wake. An instant later the rainbow curved around and pulled to a stop in midair, revealing herself as a cyan pegasus with bright magenta eyes.

“I came as soon as I saw the lightning. Applejack - what was that!? None of the weather crews have any storm instructions for today. And the lightning we work with isn’t pink.” The newcomer said. Sylvia was excited beyond reason to see another pony she recognized - the famous Rainbow Dash, this time. She was also more than a little concerned that potential medical attention was being delayed. Fortunately Applejack was nothing if not practical, and she got down to business straight away.

“Rainbow, ah need you to get Fluttershy down here pronto! She’ll know how ta fix ‘im.”

“Fix who?” The pegasus followed Applejack’s eyes to Jack’s limp body, doing a quick double take. “What is THAT!?”

“That’s a critter who’se likely t’die if you don’t get Fluttershy!” Applejack shot back urgently. 

Dash’s curiosity was far from sated, but Applejack's voice was had steel in it in a way that was not to be ignored. With a quick nod and a flash of rainbow colored smoke, she was a streak in the distance.

Something about this didn’t make sense to Sylvia. Well, something more than the ponies being real - that much was just a dream come true. But that was just it; the plant she had recognized back on Earth was poison joke, and poison joke wasn’t known for granting dreams. There had to be a prank afoot here; that said, she couldn’t tell what it was - and that made her all the more nervous.

Jack woke up. He had the mother of all headaches, and the world was still swimming a bit before his eyes. He could see broken branches... apples... and then he laid eyes on Applejack. At first it didn’t click in his mind what exactly she was - he could tell that she was a quadruped, and that there was something cartoonish about her appearance. In fact, everything around him looked rather cartoonish. His immediate assumption was that whatever flower Sylvia had knocked him into was some sort of hallucinogen; after all, he had to be tripping balls right now - cartoons didn’t walk around a campground. And yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that he had seen the animal before - her and her cowboy hat.

Rainbow Dash returned nearly as quickly as she had left, her speed only checked by the resistance generated by the pink maned pegasus she carried in her fetlocks. Fluttershy hadn’t put up much of a struggle - she hated breakneck speeds, but when she heard that there was a hurt animal her inner courage overcame her natural timidity. The sight of Rainbow Dash, in particular her distinctive mane and tail, was all the jogging Jack’s memory needed. He recognized Applejack from a macro - and recognized Dash from about a dozen more.

“Great. It would be fucking ponies... I just can’t get away from you, can I?” He was mostly muttering to himself, but it was certainly loud and clear enough for everyone - and everypony - present to hear. Sylvia winced sharply, realizing that he was giving them their first impressions of the entire human race. Suddenly the poison joke made perfect sense. Rainbow Dash was in his face immediately, her temper flaring at his obvious distaste for her kind.

“You got a problem with ponies!?” She demanded

“I just wish you'd get the hell off of my internet. And out of my head, for that matter.” He responded with a yawn, still quite convinced that he was hallucinating. The response made Dash back off, unsure as to what exactly an 'internet' was. Applejack piped up.

“Ah think he's just a bit off from the fall. Y'shouldn't hold it against 'im, Dash.” Meanwhile Fluttershy was approaching him, her legs trembling with every step. 

“I...i...it would be great if you could sit down, if you want... I have to che...check...”

“I'm fine; just need to figure out where I am and wait for the damn flowers to wear off.”

“B...b...but you fell a long way, and your head might be-”

“Look, my head hurts a bit but I'm fine! You're the one whose imaginary, after all.” 

Fluttershy took a deep breath and turned on him with her eyes wide. Jack's gaze had always been considered piercing, but her stare seemed to split him in two. “You need to lie down and let me examine you!” Jack tried to open his mouth to protest with a snarky remark, and yet none would come to him. His words caught in his throat, and it was taking all of his effort to remain sitting upright against such a stare. At the end of the day he could do little but lie back in the soft Equestrian grass, as Fluttershy's gaze softened into a sweet smile. 

“That's more like it... I'll only be a moment, and this won't hurt a bit.” 

Jack lay quite still. The effects of her stare had subsided, but the memory of it got the job done. Her hooves were far softer than he expected; not rough and leathery like the cloven hooves of earth, but  light and almost silky. After a brief examination the Pegasus turned to her friends. “He's not in danger, but we should probably be careful with him. Also...” She shivered a bit, as though she didn't want to say what was forthcoming. “...they eat meat. I mean, sometimes. I mean, their teeth...” She was stammering, not wanting to put the newly discovered creatures in a bad light. “...they can eat meat.”

The news seemed to cast them in a new light to the ponies. A healthy does of fear was mixing into their curiosity, though none of them backed away - Applejack and Rainbow Dash had more than enough guts to hold their ground, and Fluttershy knew from experience that a creature's diet wasn't always an indication of its character. 

Jack was rubbing his temple, starting to get annoyed at being subjected to Fluttershy's treatments and tests. He started to sit up, and Rainbow flew over and put a hoof on his shoulder, trying to push him back down. Fluttershy reached into her saddlebag, pulling out a gel of finely mashed flowers and sneaking it into Jack's mouth as he struggled. “There there... just swallow this and you'll feel better.” She rubbed his back between the shoulder blades with her hoof, coaxing him into swallowing the paste. It was pretty much tasteless, but even before he swallowed he felt the herbs taking effect. His vision steadied and the throbbing ache in his head faded away. Dash released him as she felt him stop struggling, the human sitting up and peering about with a new found clarity to his vision. 

“...thanks. Guess you're not bad, for a cartoon pony.”

Rainbow Dash looked all the more vexed. “Cartoon? What the hay are you talking about!?” She demanded.

Jack was getting ready to respond when a small explosion of pink smoke and confetti disrupted the clearing, a female voice ringing out from inside. “I came as soon as my Pinkie Sense told me to! What's going on!?” A pink blur shot from inside the cloud, moving straight to Jack. “Who are you?” It then moved to Sylvia. “Who are you?” It ended up in mid-air beside Rainbow Dash in a way that defied gravity, finally pausing long enough to be visible as a light pink pony with a darker pink mane, a small colorful marking in the shape of three balloons on her flank. “Who are they!?” The pink pony looked down at about the same time gravity opted to reassert itself, and then fell flat on her rump. The impact left her momentarily wall-eyed.

Sylvia spoke up, fighting through a fit of the giggles at the crazy mare's antics. Leave it to Pinkie Pie. “My name is Sylvia, and he's Jack.” 

Pinkie Pie once again became a blur, zooming back to Sylvia. “You can talk!” And back to Jack again. “And if she can talk, you can talk! And if she can talk and you can talk, then you must be here for friends! NEW FRIENDS! I've gotta get ready.” And with another cloud of pink smoke and confetti she vanished into the distance. 

Sylvia turned to Jack, a rather fangirlish grin spreading across her face. “You should be ready for a surprise party.” She regretted the words almost as soon as they left her mouth, all of the ponies taking a step back and regarding her with surprise and curiosity.

Applejack was the first to speak up. “Y'mind tellin' us how y'all knew about Pinkie's parties?” 

Rainbow Dash flew forward, getting into Sylvia's face. “Have you been spying on Pinkie? Come on, out with it!” Sylvia winced a bit; as overjoyed as she was to have the element of loyalty literally inches from her face, she didn't relish the idea of admitting to having watched her and  her friends for a couple years now. It felt voyeuristic. 

“In our world, there are stories... if I'm right, stories about this world and you six. The bearers of the elements of harmony.” She explained, picking her words carefully.

Jack cut her off with a snort of laughter. “Y'mean that damned cartoon?” Sylvia stared daggers at him, but he continued on. “Bad enough that it's shoving its way into every other facet of my life, now it's in my hallucinations too?”

“You're not hallucinating.” Sylvia snapped. “This is real. And you're being a complete ass.” 

Jack gave her a look dripping with disbelief. “Alright then, fake Sylvia, what did Mr. Neumann have to say about the Gulf of Tonkin?”

“He said that it was a ruse used to expand the military power of the president.” She responded without hesitation.

“...Crap.” Jack had no idea what the answer to his own question was, but that sounded pretty pithy. Truth be told he only remembered the question because it had kneecapped his grade on the final. Either his subconscious had paid more attention than he had, or this was real – and he was starting the painful process of admitting it was the latter. 

“How eloquent.” She responded acidly before turning back to the ponies. “Anyway, as I was saying... I've heard the legend of the elements; Pinkie's parties were part of them. This really is that world, isn't it? This really is Equestria...”

Rainbow Dash cut in. “Guh, of course we're in Equestria. Where else would we be? Wait-” Her eyes widened a bit. “Does that mean you're from... another world?”

“Yes... and now we're here apparently.” Sylvia wondered whether the pegasus would believe her. She would have a hard time believing herself were their roles reversed. 

“...So you're aliens? Aliens who tell legends about us? That. Is. Awesome!” Rainbow Dash seemed to be completely on board with the story. 

“That we are... including you, the legendary Rainbow Dash. Element of loyalty.” She played up the drama, giving a little half bow. 

“...AWESOME!” The pegasus's eyes and mouth alike were drawing up into a smile that seemed to fill her entire face. Before she could calm down Pinkie Pie shot back into the clearing, pausing only to whisper something into Applejack's ear before vanishing.

“...If y'all aren't hurt, and are done strokin' Dash's ego, we're wanted down at the barn.”
> The Party
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The party

It was an uneventful and slightly uncomfortable walk down to the barn. Sylvia’s gaze kept shifting between Applejack and Rainbow Dash, with the occasional nervous glance back at Fluttershy.  Seeing Fluttershy had been the biggest (and most wonderful) surprise thus far, as far as she was concerned. The sunflower colored Pegasus had always been Sylvia’s favorite, and the only thing stopping her from scooping Shy up in a fury of hugs and cuddles was the knowledge that she’d likely terrify the poor thing; well, that and the likelihood of Rainbow Dash and Applejack tackling her. Both had been looking uneasily at the humans ever since Fluttershy revealed them as omnivores, though Sylvia's 'legend' story went a great distance toward mollifying Dash. Applejack, on the other hand, still had her doubts. Pinkie Pie might be willing to befriend anyone without cause, but Applejack was far more hesitant - especially when it came to flesh eating aliens. Fluttershy, oddly enough, didn't look particularly nervous. If anything, she felt bad that her description of the human diet may have colored her friends' perceptions of these new animals. She of all ponies knew that an animal's diet didn't have to dictate their behavior.

Jack kept his hands in the pockets of his brown leather jacket and his eyes on the ground. He was muttering various complaints and curses under his breath, keeping his volume just low enough to obscure his choice of words and just loud enough for everyone around to know he was complaining. Sylvia fell into line with him, nudging him with an elbow.

“Hey. I get that you’re unhappy. But they didn’t do anything to you. AJ and Rainbow Dash can take your ‘tude, but Fluttershy is a different matter.” She was whispering to make sure only he could hear her, but there was steel etched in every word she spoke. “If you make her cry I -will- end you.”

Jack recoiled from her, a defensive look on his face. “I don’t want to make anyone cry. Just because I don’t like ponies doesn’t mean I’m some kind of heartless monster. Besides, if we’re stuck here with Ponies then I’ve got self interest in making sure they don’t all hate me.”

Sylvia continued to look at him with a hard gaze, but said nothing. They had mostly succeeded in keeping their conversation private, but choice phrases from Sylvia’s threat had reached Applejack’s ears - “Fluttershy”, “Cry”, and “end you”. The Stetson-sporting mare trotted up beside her and caught the human girl’s eyes with her own. A small grin crossed her muzzle. “Y’alright, for a meat-eatin’ alien. Jus’ keep yer appetite away from ponies and my cattle and ah think we'll get along jus' fine."

Sylvia looked down at her with a goofy smile. It was still so surreal to be interacting with them. “Thanks, Applejack. That means a lot to me. And we don’t -have- to eat meat, you know. Humans can eat almost anything that qualifies as food.”

“Y’like apples?” The mare responded. Sylvia shot back a nod. “…ah think we’ll get along jus’ fine.” They shared another smile as the massive Apple family barn rose up before them. The smell of hay hung on the air, faintly masking some sort of cooking behind it - apple pie and something that smelled strongly of mulling spices. Fluttershy looked a bit tense, as though she knew what was coming next.

Then Applejack knocked the door open with a swift kick. 

“SURPRISE!” Pinkie Pie was at the head of the crowd when they jumped from the shadows, streamers and confetti bursting out of what appeared to be a miniature cannon held in her fetlocks. Sylvia was ready for the party cannon, but Jack was so surprised by the volume of it that he fell flat on his ass. In addition to the confetti and streamers now falling steadily down, the barn had been bedecked with balloons of every color, and was populated by a remarkably large crowd of ponies given Pinkie’s short notice. Sylvia immediately recognized Rarity and Twilight Sparkle, both standing next to a cauldron of mulling apple cider. The smell was heavenly; cloves, nutmeg and all-spice all blended into the amber liquid, apple sediment roiling over a small fire.

On one side of the room Mr. and Mrs. Cake were putting the finishing touches on a welcome cake. It had obviously been repurposed from a birthday cake; in fact, Cup was hastily painting on the ‘E’ in welcome over a patch of recently applied icing. From a side door emerged Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, both straining under Applebloom’s direction to haul a large wooden barrel marked with three hand painted x’s.  The latter feature caught Jack’s attention promptly.

“Ponies make beer!?” He gasped, disbelief and joy present in his voice in equal measure. Applejack snorted. 

“Th’hay’s beer? That’s the good stuff… Granny’s reserve cider.” Applejack responded. Rainbow Dash was already hovering above the cask, her tongue lolling out in antipation.

"Hard cider?" Jack clarified. 

"Harder'n Applebloom's head sometimes" Applejack chuckled, while her sister gave an indignant 'Hey!'.  "Mah sister." Applejack clarified, seeing the confused look on Jack's face. Jack promptly moved toward the libations, while Sylvia made for Twilight and Rarity. At the same time, Twilight moved toward Sylvia. Both looked exceptionally eager. For Sylvia, it was just the opportunity to meet Twilight. For Twilight... well, she was about to speak to what was, as far as she was concerned, Equestria's first contact; and by her horn, she was going to science the hell out of it!

"Hi""Hi". They spoke in unison. "I'm Sylvia""I'm Twilight". Once again they spoke over one another, followed by some awkward laughter. Sylvia held out a hand by way of greeting, though she instantly regretted the decision - why would Ponies shake hands? Fortunately, Twilight was acutely perceptive and quite capable of thinking on her hooves. This must be their sociological equivalent of a friendly hoof-bump; but with those extended digits, a grasping motion makes more sense. The mare wrapped her fetlock around Sylvia's hand awkwardly, and Sylvia gave it a few gentle shakes before releasing her.

"That was interesting; what do you call it?" Twilight inquired. 

"A handshake" Sylvia responded, giving the unicorn a wink. "Or I guess a hoofshake, as you'd probably call it." 

"So those are 'hands'?" Twilight gestured toward Sylvia's with a hoof. "They're very interesting; quite distinct from your other hooves. What's the evolutionary function of having such different limbs? I imagine it must be very hard to balance on just your hindlegs all the time. Are handshakes how you greet everypony? Come to think of it, how did you learn our language so quickly?" Once she got past her initial awkwardness Twilight was a fountain of questions, which Sylvia was all too happy to answer.

"Hands might just be the most important thing in our evolution. They let us use tools with a great deal of precision. Up until recently, almost all of our farming depended on hand-manipulated tools; and even now, the machines people use require hands to build." Sylvia explained.

"People?" Twilight interjected. 

"Sorry; that's one of our words for talking about others of our species. A nice segway into the language issue though... I really don't understand how this is possible myself, but we didn't learn your language. This is our language. I mean, it's not all the same - we would usually say "everyone" instead of "everypony", but otherwise it's almost all the same. And not all humans speak the same language, which makes it even odder."

"Neither do all Ponies" Twilight cut in again with a slight smile. "I used to be fluent in Prench, and I know the Princess speaks dozens of others - you should have heard her with the Neighponese ambassador. That's all really interesting though; especially your hands."

"They really are handy." Sylvia smiled back at her, trying not to giggle at her own pun - or at the term 'Neighponese'. "Probably another word that you don't have; it means 'Useful'. But even millions of years ago, the first humans used tools to hunt - that's how important they are to us." As soon as the words left her mouth she knew she had made a mistake; at hearing the word 'hunt' Twilight's curios expression instantly mixed with fear.

"W..we don't hunt anymore though! At least I don't; and I'm pretty sure Jack doesn't either. I've always preferred apples myself." She nabbed a candied apple off a nearby table and took a big bite to emphasize the point. Twilight couldn't help but laugh at how overeager she was to prove herself.

"Okay, okay... don't worry about it." Twilight replied. "Although that does raise further questions... What were human hunting rituals like? What sort of tools did you use? Did you hunt sentient creatures? What position did the hunter have in the soci-"

"Darling, you musn't crush the poor thing under a deluge of questions." Rarity stepped in, giving Sylvia a wink - she knew her friends, and knew how to spot when Twilight was at risk of burying someone under an avalanche of academia. The snow-white unicorn looked Sylvia up and down once and immediately fought the urge to shriek out loud. Sylvia's formerly bright yellow skirt was marred with streaks of dirt and grass stains, and a large portion of her blouse's shoulder had been torn up by the apple trees.

"Whatever happened to your ensemble!?" Rarity gasped, her trained tailor's eye noticing every stitch of damage to the clothing. "You simply must permit me to make your repairs; I run a very fashionable boutique."

Meanwhile across the room, Jack and Rainbow Dash were pouring their first mugs of cider with roughly equal enthusiasm. Dash raised her mug and Jack tapped his to it, more out of instinct than anything, and brought it to his lips. The cider was remarkably sweet, a rich lightly spiced flavor expertly concealing the strong bite of alcohol.

They drank in silence at first, but by the end of the first mug Jack was starting to feel a bit warmer. "Stuff's not bad" He remarked, holding the tap down for Dash's refill before taking one for himself.

"Not bad!? This is the best cider in Equestria!" Rainbow sounded indignant, and drove her point home by beginning to chug. Not one to be outdone, Jack followed suit. Dash eyed him and sped up her swigs; even so, he had a larger mouth than she did and they finished at about the same time.

"Nopony beats me in a cider drinking contest." A pair of deadly serious magenta eyes locked on Jack's as the hoof attached to them snatched his empty mug from his hand, refilling it yet again.

About six mugs later they were both leaning against one another for support. Jack's face was quite red, and even through Dash's bright turquoise coat a faint blush was visible. "Y'know, you're not bad for a pony... plush you have seriously badash hair." Jack slurred, a dopey grin on his face.

"Thanks *hic*... say, do you want some apple fritters!?" Dash responded with alcohol fuelled enthusiasm. 

"Hell yes I do!" Jack responded. They both paused for a moment, looking into one another's eyes, and promptly collapsed into slumber. His shoulder met her withers as they slouched in their chairs, the pressure from one another the only thing stopping the inebriated pair from crashing to the ground.

“How adorable” Sylvia mused, spotting them from her position near Rarity and Twilight. The purple unicorn pressed a hoof to her forehead, a sound of exasperation escaping her lips. “Dash always does have to make everything a competition. Last party around she tried to outdrink Big Mac. It… wasn’t pretty.” Twilight grimaced at the memory - said party had been in her library, and the cleanup had been a herculean task.

“I’m surprised that they had such similar tolerances” Sylvia mused, comparing the two. Dash was a good bit smaller than Jack; when standing at her full height, her withers were about at his waist. Then again, the Pegasus was pure muscle; Jack, in contrast, was rather light and not in the best shape. “Guess we should get him to bed…” This, of course, broached the subject of the elephant in the room - where would they stay? “…I don’t suppose any of you have any camping gear we could borrow?”

Twilight smiled sweetly at Sylvia. “Err… excuse us, for a moment?” She immediately turned around and pulled Rarity, AJ, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie into a huddle. The latter-most had a  pair of donuts stuffed into her cheeks and a trio of balloons not unlike her cutie mark clinging to her mane with static energy.

“We need to figure out how to house them.” Twilight whispered. Sylvia got the hint and moved away from the huddle, something which Twi was exceptionally grateful for.

“Ah’ve got a spare tent” Applejack offered. “But ah don’t think they’d fit in our beddin’” 

“Now Applejack! We can’t simply expect them to bed down in a cloth tent, in the cold of Autumn! They’ve been through a lot; I mean just -look- at their clothes. They need beds, and baths!” Rarity’s voice picked up a bit as she added every ounce of drama she was capable of.

“And ah suppose you’ll be puttin’ them up at the boutique then?” Applejack raised an eyebrow at her. 

“Oh heavens no! Have you seen them? They’re filthy! The Carousel Boutique is a reputable establishment of fabulosity; I simply cannot have dirt about. Besides, they… they…” She trailed off a bit.

“They eat animals.” Twilight finished her sentence, saying what the rest had been thinking. “But they’re not carnivores; they’re omnivores, and according to Sylvia, they’ve mostly moved to an agrarian lifestyle.” Applejack shot her a blank look. “It means they’re farmers.” Twilight clarified.

“Can’t rightly say I have a problem with that.” Applejack said with a smile and a laugh. “But ah have a family to consider; I can’t jus’ let them stay here.”

“You’re such a Smarty McBrainypants, Twilight! And I don’t think they’re dangerous; my Pinkie-sense isn’t even tingling! But the Cakes have their new babies, and I can’t ask them to take in strangers with babies! It’s against baby code!” She had lost all pretense of whispering, not that Sylvia minded - she was actually laughing out loud at Pinkie’s trick of speech, which made Twilight shoot the pink earth pony a bit of a glare. “Ooh, right, sorry. Secret meeting.” Pinkie hushed up, and the entire crowd was quiet for a moment.

“Rainbow isn’ exactly in any condition t’be volunteerin’, but I can’t see her bein’ afraid of them. And she lives alone!” Applejack said.

“Only one problem… she lives in a cloud-house. Even if I cast a cloud walking spell on both of them they’d probably end up falling through their beds by midnight.” Twilight reminded her gently. Applejack demurred, and the crowd went silent once more.

The silence was broken by the last voice anyone expected. “Umm… if they want to… they can stay with me.” Fluttershy spoke in her normal hushed tone; as it was, she was still much quieter than Pinkie’s quietest whisper. 

“Are you certain about this, Fluttershy?” Rarity looked concerned. “We don’t know anything about these creatures; they could try to devour you whole as you lie sleeping.”

“No. I mean, no, they won’t. I mean… I don’t think they will. They’re lost and scared, and they need our help. Just because an animal eats meat doesn’t mean it’s a killer.” Fluttershy said the last sentence with surprising amounts of force given her usually timid nature.

“She’s right.” Twilight said quietly. “Fluttershy would know how to care for them better than any of us. She’s dealt with bears before; the way Sylvia described their dietary patterns they sound quite similar.”

“Um… bears probably… eat more.” Fluttershy corrected her, already reverting to her meek demeanor but smiling a bit. She loved caring for others, and as far as she was concerned these were two new charges entering her care.

Sylvia had moved across to where Jack and Dash lay snoring back to back, checking on each of them briefly. She had never been one for alcohol, and was perennially nervous when people were drunk on it around her. Once she was satisfied that neither were in any real danger, she turned around to find the remaining five standing at her, expressions ranging from awkward to cheerful.

"We've decided that you're staying with Fluttershy until you find a proper place to live. Or find your way home." Twilight hastily added. "She has a spare bedroom, and more experience than any of us dealing with non-equine creatures." 

Sylvia looked like she had just won the lottery. "Really? Why thank you; your kindness truly is the stuff of legends." Fluttershy blushed a deep shade of pink, lowering her head and pawing at the ground. 

"It's nothing at all, really... I'm sure any of my friends would have done the same in my position." Fluttershy said without a hint of irony; as far as she was concerned, it was true. Her friends just didn't know enough about animals to know when not to fear them. 

"But first you simply must give me those poor abused garments for mending. Tonight's party didn't really require clothing - though a well placed accessory certainly was a fine choice, if I do say so myself." Rarity smiled and carefully adjusted the angle of her bonnet. "...but surely you will need to attend something properly formal eventually, and those simply will not do." Rarity looked at her expectantly, as though waiting for the girl to strip. 

"Umm... how to put this. Where we're from, clothes are worn pretty much everywhere all the time; at least, except for bathing." Sylvia was beginning to turn pink, realizing how silly the idea must sound to ponies. Pinkie Pie Applejack and Fluttershy all looked quite shocked. Rarity had a look in her eyes that screamed 'take me with you'. Twilight alone actually looked understanding. 

"You have no coat... it makes perfect sense that you would need clothes; especially this time of year. It's cold out there, after all." Twilight explained. As this fact registered with the others, they too appeared to at least get the jist of it.

"Then I'll walk you back to Fluttershy's and you can give them to me there." Rarity smiled happily at Sylvia. "After all, I daresay you'll need a hand transporting your inebriated special somepony back to her house anyway. Then I'll mend these for proper occasions, and make you a whole new set of outerwear so that they needn't become needlessly dirty." She glanced over Jack's far rattier and less colorful clothes with a bit of a sniff. "...for him, perhaps, a new set of formal wear is also in order. In exchange, you simply must come to the boutique and tell me about your world's fashion!" 

Sylvia was still in a bit of a daze, nodding happily to everything Rarity said. It didn't click until she had finished making her offer just how she had referred to Jack. "Oh, he's not my... I mean we're not... I don't have a special somepony." She stammered, the pink on her face now going full scarlet. 

Rarity's eyes widened and she brought a hoof to her mouth. "Oh, I am simply mortified! I simply assumed, but it really was such a foalish assumption. I do apologize. Tell you what, I'll throw in a dress just to make up for such a boorish remark." 

"It's okay, really" Sylvia replied with a smile. "And I accept your most generous offer, on the condition that you let me pay you back for the clothes once we find work. 

"It's a deal." Rarity returned her smile, and set about helping her lift the unconscious inebriate for the trek back to Fluttershy's. 
> Awakenings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	A single ray of sunlight shone through Fluttershy’s window, filtering through the glass, snaking across the room, shining onto Jack’s forehead and piercing his skull with the gentleness of a horde of rhinoceri. His immediate reaction was to retreat across the bed, to a spot where he could nurse his head in the dark. The dark was soothing, calming the throbbing in his brain - but he couldn’t go far before he bumped into something soft and warm. Now that the fleet of jackhammers in his head was reduced to a mild throbbing, he took in three major facts about his surrounding. Firstly, he was in a bed completely unknown to him, and it had the single softest sheets he had ever felt. It was as though he had slept on a cloud of silk. Second, he was naked - and given how little he remembered of the previous night, he was more than a little nervouse about the implications thereof. Third, he wasn’t alone. Sylvia was under the sheets on the opposite side of the bed - and equally naked. His flight from the sun brought him into brief contact with her, her soft skin sinfully pleasant.

Sylvia woke up to the gentle nudge of Jack at her back, yawning and stretching as she sat up. She was careful to use the sheet to cover her front, though her side was still visible and bare from her neck down to her hip, her milky white skin both blending in to the sheet in front of her and contrasting sharply with the shock of orange hair that fell around her shoulders.

“Well well, how are we feeling today?” She said, giggling a bit at his obvious shocked reaction. “Let me guess; you’re not used to waking up with a pretty naked girl in your bed?”

Jack’s hangover kept him from a joking mood, and he didn’t look particularly happy to be where he was - unusual for a virile boy of his age. “What did I do last night, why are we naked, and did anything happen between us?” He forced his bloodshot eyes up to her face, away from the distracting curves of her torso.

“Well, lets see.” Sylvia replied, holding up a hand and beginning to count. “You got kerplasterfucked on hard cider with Rainbow Dash, then started hitting on her - even after she passed out. Rarity collected our clothes for mending, and you started hitting on her twice as hard - that’s why we’re naked, by the way - then you stuck your dick in the cake, threw up in the cider cauldron, and had to be practically carried back to Fluttershy’s house, where you promptly passed out about ten seconds into trying to talk me into anal.” She ticked off each feat with a finger.

“You’re lying” He grumbled, his head still shifting closer to her to keep ahead of the inexorably advancing line the sun drew on the bed. “If I had thrown up I wouldn’t feel as bad as I do, there’s no cake on my body, and… well… I wouldn’t do that.”

“Fair enough.” She grinned, sliding over a bit to give him more room. “But the fact that you had to use evidence instead of memories means that you overdid it. Not the best way to make a first impression.”

“Yeah, I guess not." He was rubbing his temple, his voice a little hoarse. "Don't suppose they revealed their magic portal that can send us home today?"

"Afraid not. Twilight did say she would look into it though, and she's easily the most magical pony in town." Sylvia yawned, looking at Jack with a curious expression. "You said you wouldn't 'do that'... mind if I ask what you meant?"

Jack gave her a look that made it all too clear he wasn't in the mood for conversation, but humored her with an answer nonetheless. "I wouldn't advance on you. Even if I was drunk."

His voice sounded cold to Sylvia, and there was more than a hint of rejection to it. She was used to rejection; it came with the territory of having horrible parents. She still wasn’t good at it. Jack could see the pain in her eyes at his implication and let out a sigh. “It’s not like that. I have a girlfriend, Sylvia. Don’t think she’d be too thrilled with me propositioning drunken buttsex.” He gave a hollow laugh, forcing himself to sit up as the ever-advancing sun finally caught up to him.

“I’m so sorry.” Sylvia said, her hurt gaze turned to one of concern. “Guess that explains why you’re so eager to get home.”

“You’re not?” Jack arched an eyebrow. He knew that bronies were intense about their fandom, but this? Being trapped away from her family and friends? He’d only been gone a day, but it felt like weeks. His dreams had been wrought with images of search parties hunting for him through the campgrounds, never finding his body - nightmares compounded by the agitated sweat of a hangover taking hold.

“No. I’m not. I know it sounds angsty as hell, but I don’t have much to go back to.” She said, and it was Jack’s turn to look concerned. “School was basically my life, and then we graduated. Parents don’t think I’m worth a small fortune in undergrad tuition, and the job market wasn’t exactly fantastic. Our home had more than its share of violence.” She continued, then stopped when she saw how horrified Jack looked. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get all Debby Downer on you.”

Jack didn’t know how to respond. He had his fair share of gripes with his old life, but it was his life. He had his friends, his girlfriend, his family. He hadn’t gotten his college situation together yet, but he knew that his parents would help him out wherever he ended up. Even as the empathetic part of his mind was crying for Sylvia, the selfish part was hearing her catalogue everything he had back on Earth that he wouldn't have here.

Jack reached for something to say, trying to pull a comforting platitude out of his throbbing head. He was saved the trouble by Fluttershy appearing in the doorway, a tray balanced on her right fore hoof with two mugs of something piping hot and a wooden bowl containing more of the pain numbing paste she had given him after his fall. She looked between the two humans, taking in the pain on Sylvia’s face and the concern on Jack’s.

“I…is everything alright?” Fluttershy inquired, trotting into the room and setting the platter down on a small nightstand. “How are you feeling? Too much cider can make you quite sick; if you need it I brought you some medicine.” She directed toward Jack, taking the salve off of the tray and taking a little of it onto her hoof before offering it to him.

Jack’s opinion of Fluttershy shot up tenfold as soon as he saw her herbal remedy, though he didn’t much fancy having it hoof-fed to him. He gathered it from her hoof with a single finger and sucked his finger clean, the relief once again immediate and exceptional. It was more effective than the pain meds they had given him when he got his wisdom teeth out, and it didn’t have any of the narcotic side-effects - in short, it was a miracle drug.

“That’s muuuuch better” Jack sighed, the sound of his own voice no longer sending pain through his skull. 

“It’s mostly just fresh feel-good blossoms, mixed with a little bit of honey to make it go down better. I’m glad it helped; Rainbow Dash always asks for some the day after a party.” Fluttershy smiled at him, ever glad to play the nurse.

A week passed. Jack and Sylvia stayed with Fluttershy; she didn’t want any payment for her hospitality, but eventually agreed to let the humans work off their room and board - neither of them cottoned well to charity. Sylvia tended directly to many of the less dangerous animals, while Jack mainly carried feed and other supplies back to Fluttershy’s place from the market. Oddly enough, neither was particularly keen to work with the bear or the lion in Fluttershy’s care, even after the Pegasus had assured the humans that the predators were ‘just a big teddy and kitty in need of some care’.

Rarity came through with her promise, delivering their clothes to Fluttershy’s house barely two days after the party. In addition to mending the rips and tears, Rarity had re-hemmed Sylvia’s clothes in a new trim which helped to blend the pink and yellow pieces in a way that made them less garish. Jack’s jeans and t-shirt were returned in pristine condition, together with a custom made tuxedo with a dark blue vest that contrasted nicely with his pale blue eyes. She also mended and ‘improved’ his leather jacket; it now had a series of colorful gems lining each side of the zipper.

Rarity also provided each of them with three thick wool cloaks, lined in soft cotton so as to not itch the skin. The cloaks did wonders, both for keeping them warm and for protecting their modesty. Both had heard their fair share of whispered comments on the streets - apparently having teats on one’s chest or an unsheathed penis was cause for great amusement.

Twilight stopped by once to update them on her research into the magic which had brought them there. She was able to pinpoint a major magical anomaly in the atmosphere that had occurred at roughly the same time as their arrival, but still had no idea what caused it or how to reproduce it. She promised to continue trying, though, and even such slim progress was heartening to Jack. Perhaps they would get home after all. 

When they weren’t working for Fluttershy, Sylvia spent most of her free time simply talking to the mare. The conversations were largely quiet, with Sylvia asking occasional questions and getting short timid answers from Fluttershy. Jack found them exceptionally dull, and took to exploring the neighborhood. Rainbow Dash spotted him once, and invited him out to dinner - by the end of the meal they were friends, her aggressive and sporty personality playing well off his own.

On the morning of their 8th day in Equestria, Jack and Sylvia had the day off. Jack went to find Dash; he had promised her she could demonstrate her air show for him, and he was privately curious to see just how well she could fly. Sylvia, however, had a different goal in mind.

She wanted to do magic. 

Sylvia had always had a fascination with the occult, stretching all the way back to the beginning of middle school where she had gone through a rather pretentious Wiccan phase. She had never fully lost the belief that people could perform spells, though years of mundane reality had done a good bit to suppress it. Now that she was surrounded by so much ambient magic, she couldn’t resist trying again.

She laid a soft white blanket out on the grass, right at the edge of the Everfree forest, and took a seat on it. Her cloak that day was a deep crimson, pooling around her as she sat. Every fantasy novel, pagan legend, and general rumor she had ever heard about magic were all flooding her mind. She decided to start by selecting a desired effect, eyeing a particularly lovely carnation in the field and deciding to try and enlarge it.

Sylvia picked up a stick and proceeded to draw a circle around the flower, inscribing it with whatever symbols she could remember. She placed her hands on either end of the circle, letting her thumbs touch the circumference and willing energy into the inscription.

Nothing happened. She felt a bit foolish; here she was, a 19-year-old girl attempting to do magic. But she wasn’t dissuaded. Again and again she tried to invoke her will on the carnation, through Nordic runes, carefully worded poems, ritualistic dance, and arcane chants. None of it worked. She felt her frustration grow inside, a burning sensation in her chest that she tried to force out of her body by punching the ground. 

The instant her fist met the grass, there was a small flash of light and a few of the blades nearest her hand were singed.

Sylvia blinked a few times, confused at first. She certainly hadn’t been trying to burn anything; still, it seemed inconceivable that the effect had come from anything else. She was the only one there. Sylvia remembered a particular theory of magic, which stated that magic was simply emotion made physical. It made sense that frustration would manifest itself in a destructive form. Excited by her new lead, Sylvia once again turned her attention to the carnation. This time, she didn’t bother with any of the traditional rituals or superstition. She simply folded her hands around the flower, closed her eyes, and tried to channel as many positive emotions as she could.

Sylvia thought about every happy memory she could find. Christmas as a young girl, the first time she had successfully ridden a bike, her first kiss… and of course, the moment one week prior that she had finally accepted that she was really in Equestria. As she felt the happiness well up inside her, the carnation began to swell and expand. The more it grew, the more clearly she began to feel her past emotions. Individual toys from the Christmases, the smell of the flowers in the summer air as she rode. Even the most recent happy memory was called into sharper relief, as though someone had upgraded her mind to HD.

Once the flower crested three feet, Sylvia became dimly aware that she was tired. The ever strengthening emotional feedback loop did a lot to mask the fatigue, but this form of magic was tiring. As fatigue grew, her focus slipped. She couldn't stop her mind from jumping to related memories. The anguish of her favorite toy breaking. The pain of a skinned knee caused by a bike crash. Her first heartbreak. The sadness and frustration melded with the memories of triumph and joy, and as the carnation continued to grow it also began to change. Leaves extended and warped into gnarled vines adorned with thorns. It grew faster and faster, quickly hitting the ten-foot mark before Sylvia realized just what she was doing. She broke her spell as quickly as she could, but the once beautiful carnation was already a twisted new entity. Roots burst from the ground, wrapping around Sylvia’s ankle and flinging her into the air like a rag doll, where vines lashed out and wrapped themselves around her arms. Thorns bit into her skin as she struggled in vain.  The memories of pain and fear were quickly replaced by fresh adrenaline-fueled fear and sharp stabbing pain.  She tried to channel the new negative emotions into some sort of magical attack, forcing the pain and fear into her fingertips. But she was tired; what little energy she could muster was quickly siphoned into the empathetic bond she had with the plant, making it shiver and undulate with unnatural vigor. Bereft of other options, Sylvia screamed.

About half an hour before Sylvia began her ill-fated experiment, Spike the dragon was also frightened - but for a very different reason. He paced up and down the hallway outside of Twilight’s study,  claws on either side of his head. I’m gonna die. She’s gonna to kill me. I’m already dead. I’m too young to die! Every ten laps or so he would turn to face her door and try to work up the courage to open it, but every time he simply devolved back into mindless pacing. After about twenty minutes of this pattern, the door swung open to reveal a rather disgruntled looking Twilight Sparkle.

“Spike, what is the matter? I’m trying to decipher whatever magical anomaly brought Jack and Sylvia here so I can get them home, and all I can hear is your constant footsteps out here.” She demanded, an inquisitive look in her eyes.

Spike looked up at her, taking a deep breath. “Twilight? Do you remember earlier this week, when Rarity invited me over to help her with that new tailoring project she was taking on?” Spike said apprehensively. Twilight gave him an impatient nod. “Well, right before that I got a letter, and I sort of forgot about it.” He continued.

“Is that all?” Twilight gave an exasperated sigh. “You’re still just a baby Spike; I don’t expect you to remember everything. It’s fine if my mail is late now and then. But I’m trying to figure out completely uncharted magic here Spike… this has the potential to be completely groundbreaking research. I could end up writing a dissertation on this; not to mention the two humans who are depending on this research to get hom-“

“It was from the Princess” Spike cut her off, wincing. 

“…what!?” Twilight stopped mid-rant, eyes going wide. 

“She… got your letter about the humans, and is coming to see them for herself.” Spike continued all at once, as though ripping off a bandaid.

“She’s WHAT!? Spike, this is a big deal; we have to prepare everything for a royal visit! When is she coming?” Twilight was now breathing heavily, eyes darting about as she immediately began her mental checklist of all that they would have to do.

“…this afternoon.” He concluded with a grimace. 

Twilight’s mane and tail erupted into arcane fire, causing Spike to jump backwards and throw up his arms. The unicorn just bolted out the door at full gallop, heading straight for Fluttershy’s house. All other preparations were secondary; if nothing else, she was going to at least make sure that the humans were around and presentable. 

A combination of furious galloping and the occasional teleportation got Twilight to Fluttershy's place in a half hour flat, even out on the edge of the Everfree. She tried to skid to a stop in front of the door just as Fluttershy was stepping out, leading to a collision that left both mares on the ground and seeing stars. Twilight leaped to her hooves, her head snapping about to look for Jack and Sylvia. 

"Fluttershy! The humans! Where!?" Twilight panted, out of breath and lacking the time to catch it. 

"Umm... Sylvia went to eat lunch by the forest's edge, and Jack went off with Dash to help with her flying." Fluttershy responded quietly, slightly intimidated by her the force of her friend's request. 

"Princess is coming! Get your songbirds... no, no time... put on a dress... I have to get the humans!" Twilight oriented herself toward the Everfree and took off once more. She suspected Dash would be using a small lake also near the forest's edge for her flight practice, so going for Sylvia had the potential to kill two birds with one stone. 

Her pace doubled when she heard Sylvia scream. 

The blood red crown of the flower was the first thing to enter Twilights vision. On seeing it she tried to stop, but her momentum carried her directly into one of it's waiting roots, which in turn sent her headfirst into a waiting vine. The thorns bit into Twilight's coat just as readily as Sylvia's; unlike Sylvia, however, Twilight was an experienced magical practitioner, with plenty of reserves. Her horn burned bright, a beam of light lancing out and slicing off the vine holding Sylvia at the stalk. The plant was silent, but it writhed in an obvious visual representation of pain. As though to pay Twilight back a second vine wrapped around the unicorn's body and a third whipped across her face. All the while the unicorn sensed something off between the creature and Sylvia. To her eyes, experienced to magic and enhanced by the properties of her horn, it was almost like a series of think silk strands connecting the two. Whatever this creature was, it was clearly something of Sylvia's doing, though based on how it was attacking her Twilight somehow didn't think it was intentional. 

Sylvia's cloak was beginning to spot with darker patches of red where she was actually bleeding. She heard Twilight's cries of pain, acutely aware that she was entirely responsible for them. Fighting through her pain, she grabbed a nearby rock and launched herself at the thing, bashing the stalk over and over again with the sharpest edge she could find. 

Twilight's vision was beginning to swim; each lash of the vine was agonizing, and she could feel her own blood running down her sides, hot in the cold autumn air. An idea jumped out at her, a last lifeline against the terror. "Sylvia! Uproot it!" She screamed down at the human.

Sylvia wasn't in any condition to argue with her, throwing aside her rock and beginning to pull at the flower's roots with all of her strength. First one... then two... then a small tuft of roots, until the plant was no longer anchored to the earth. One of the largest roots collided with Sylvia's chest, throwing her back as though to point out just how foolish it was to give the carnation more mobility. She could see Twilight from her spot on the ground, and despair was beginning to set in. "It didn't work... I'm so sorry...." She said.

Twilight heard Sylvia's apology and took it as a sign that the roots were fully torn from the ground. Shutting her eyes, the unicorn channeled one of her most potent spells - a subjective gravity field, large enough to invert gravity for both herself and the plant fiend. Surprised by the sudden lurching motion, the vines holding Twilight released her, and both unicorn and carnation plummeted up into the sky, vines trying in vain to grab on to blades of grass and smaller flowers - anything to keep it from falling. They were nearly a thousand feet in the air when Twilight reversed her spell, sending both of them plummeting toward the ground. Sylvia screamed, Twilight's plan suddenly making sense to her. Twilight was a bookworm; she would be all to familiar with tales of noble self sacrifice. 

Meanwhile, Dash and Jack were enjoying a pleasant day  by the lake. Dash had opened her show with a few basics; barrel rolls, loop de loops, and some simple cloud skimming. Jack particularly enjoyed the latter; with a few well aimed passes, the pegasus was able to shape clouds. Rainbow Dash was honestly not very good at cloud skimming; she found it artsy, and didn't think it was really the core of a good show. Still, Jack had no point of reference, and found the effect impressive. He clapped for her after every trick, and after one major lecture toward the start of the show cheered for her as well. He particularly liked the last cloud she shaped - it was a very crudely drawn human, an obvious nod to Jack. 

"Alright, time for the grand finale!" The pegasus called down, shooting up into the sky and across the lake. "I call this one the sonic rainboom!" After pulling neatly into a stop and raising a hoof skyward to check the winds, she took off across the lake. Dash was always fast, but this was a whole new level - Jack had never seen her move at anything close to this clip. The air itself began to bend around Dash's body in a mach cone. Dash was sweating with exertion, forcing herself to go ever faster. Almost there... almost there...

Just as Dash was about to break the sound barrier, five identical dark clouds formed in the sky over the lake. One was almost directly in front of her, startling her out of her concentration and causing her to lose momentum. As she flew past it she noticed a familiar burst of pink lightning from within the cloud, causing her to pull to a stop and turn around. By the time she managed to about-face, the clouds were already fading; however, in place of each cloud was a creature unlike anything Dash had ever seen. It was insectile, held aloft by large gossamer wings and armored in black chitin. Where a pony's forelegs would be it had large scythe-like appendages, and where it's hind legs would be it had talons not unlike those of a gryphon. Four of them took off toward Ponyville, but the fifth set it's sights on Dash and gave chase. 

Rainbow appeared to freeze at first, causing Jack's heart to leap into his throat. He mistook her for a deer in the headlights; in actuality, she was evaluating whether or not she should try and kick it in the nose before taking off. The closer it got, the longer and sharper it's scythe arms seemed, until eventually even Dash wasn't willing to risk lingering. As she took off the creature put on a burst of speed, swiping at her with it's edged limb. She felt the wind from the swing against her hooves. 

Jack sprinted after them, though he was orders of magnitude slower and further slowed by obstacles on the ground. Above him he could see the monster giving chase to Dash, the experienced pegasus darting weaving and rolling every time it took a swipe at her. As fast and nimble as she was, the creature was sticking to her; it's larger wingspan gave it a surprising amount of speed. They pulled ahead to the point where they were barely visible, and then suddenly both specks plummeted below the treeline of the Everfree. There was a rather unpleasant crunching noise, and then a single speck reappeared. Still unsure as to the outcome, he continued trying to catch up. 

Dash was breathing hard, her feathers ruffled, but she was alive. The monster's size advantage made it harder for it to maneuver when she moved the chase to a more dangerous locale, and an oak branch had collided with one of its wings in a spray of ichor and shattered chitin. It wasn't going to be flying again any time soon. She felt tired to the point where she couldn't trust her senses. This was partly because her eyes were telling her that Twilight was shooting up into the air with an unreasonably large and blood splattered carnation. Hearing Twilight scream was enough to snap her out of her daze. Dash shot forward and down, making a diagonal dive with the last of her strength. She caught the unicorn just before she hit the ground, making it another ten feet forward before they both tumbled along the grass in a rough landing. The carnation landed much harder - the stalk split in two, water and chlorophyll spraying into the air. 

Rainbow climbed to her hooves, looking down at Twilight. "Twilight... what were you doing up there? What happened to you!" She added, noticing the unicorn's wounds. 

"I... Sylvia cast..." Twilight tried to explain, but her vision was getting cloudy. Her sentence unfinished, Twilight Sparkle fell to the ground and lost consciousness. Dash wheeled about and fixed Sylvia with a stare that could rival Fluttershy's, fire in her voice.

"You. What did you do!" Rainbow advanced on the girl, all fatigue forgotten on discovering the cause of her friend's suffering. "It all makes sense now. You made those other monsters too... that's why we first found you when the lightning appeared. It's all you! Why!?" 

"I... I didn't... it wasn't..." Sylvia was jabbering. She had no idea how she had done what she did, and as such had a very hard time explaining it. As though to compound issues, Applejack came galloping into the clearing, followed shortly thereafter by a very winded Jack. 

"Y'all have to come quick, th'pri-" Applejack stopped mid-sentence, taking in the scene of destruction before her - in particular, the unconscious and bleeding Twilight. She ran up to her and hoisted the smaller purple unicorn onto her back. "Ah'll get Twilight to the hospital. Y'all have to come back to town though, the Princess has been attacked!" 

Rainbow's anger was etched across every feature of her face, now believing she knew the true purpose of Sylvia's magical misadventures. "AJ, send the guards out here; it's the humans. They caused this; they distracted Twilight and sent those -things- after Celestia." Dash instructed, still staring down Sylvia as though daring her to flee. 

"I didn't do anything! I just want to get home." Jack protested, eyes flashing between Dash and Sylvia. "And neither did Sylvia. Look at her, she's hurt! She needs help!"

"Of course she's hurt. Twilight can take care of herself, you know." Dash finally turned and looked at Jack; much to his surprise, she was blinking back tears. "And you... don't even talk to me. I thought you were my friend. The guards will take you 'home' when they get here."

Panicked and confused, Jack turned and started trying to run once more. Applejack reacted instinctively with a square kick to the back of his head. If she had full mobility the blow would have likely been fatal; as it was, her needing to account for Twilight probably saved Jack's life. He felt a sharp crack at the base of his skull, and then everything went black. 
> Dates and Jailbreaks
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Four Days Earlier
Rainbow Dash studied herself in the mirror. She was in the filly's room of The Bale, a popular Ponyville restaurant specializing in hay dishes, having invited Jack to dinner. Her multicolored locks were windswept; not because she had been flying recently, but because she often shook her head when nopony was looking simply to recreate the effect. Her magenta eyes were large, but not nearly as large as Rarity's (and without the impeccably groomed eyelashes). Her body was pure lithe muscle - slender, without the raw strength of Applejack's haunches or the softer curves of Pinkie's flank. In short, it was an athlete's body. She was proud as hell of it when she flew, but secretly part of her felt like it held her back when it came to courtship - not that she'd ever admit that. 

Snap out of it Dash; you're here with a friend, nothing more. He's not into you. Hell, you shouldn't be into him. He's an alien!

An alien with remarkably nice eyes. And broad... what did Fluttershy call his withers again? Oh yeah... shoulders. 

An alien who was a complete jerk to all of your friends. And to you!

When he first got here maybe. He was scared... confused... upset. But he warmed up to you pretty darn quick. Even put on that formalwear Rarity made him tonight.

"He's just not interested." Dash spoke the final line of her internal monologue aloud, as though to forcibly get the last word on herself. 

"Rainbow Dash, I don't mean to intrude. But what has put you in such a bad mood?" A familiar voice said, accompanied by the soft sound of running water. Zecora had come in at some point and was washing her hooves. 

"Zecora? The hay are you doing here? Don't you live out in the Everfree?" Rainbow Dash responded, going beet red under her light blue coat. 

"The forest is where I call home. But sometimes for dinner, I like to roam. And for my friends I do my part, so tell me, what troubles your heart?" Zecora's rhyming trick of speech was weird on the best of days, and given Dash's state of mind she found it annoying. 

"It's nothing, okay?" Dash responded. Zecora gave her a knowing look, which only amplified the pegasus's blush. "Just talking to myself." 

"If you do not wish to tell, your answer I will not compel. But lest something be amiss, I will say only this. When it comes to the heart of a stallion; it cannot be conquered with the force of a batallion. But if you're bold enough to dare, it can be done by a single mare." Zecora turned to leave the bathroom. 

"He's not a stallion!" Rainbow Dash blurted out. As hard as it was to suppress her pride, she desperately wanted to talk to somepony about this before going back out to face him. 

Zecora smiled knowingly at her. "If a mare you sooner prefe-" 

"I said he isn't a stallion." Dash cut her off hastily. "He's... not a pony at all. It's... it's the human. Okay? I guess I'm just a freak." Tears began to well up in the pegasus's eyes. 

Zecora walked back over to Dash, brushing a tear from Dash's face and putting  a hoof on her foreleg consolingly. "Neither a pony am I, plain to see, yet I've brought pony stallions back to my tree. Ignore your mind; this isn't it's part. Instead you need to trust your heart. Your fears and doubts might lead you astray, but your heart will ever show you the way." The zebra said.

Dash began to regain her composure when a knock came at the bathroom door, accompanied by yet another familiar voice - this time a deep bass with a country twang. "Zecora, food's here." 

"Is that... Big Mac!?" Dash had to stifle a chuckle; the idea of the workhorse on a date just seemed... wrong. 

"I said those things not just to teach... I also practice what I preach." Zecora grinned back at her before leaving back into the restaurant proper. 

Dash took another moment to think over the advice her friend had presented. It all seemed to make sense, though part of her was still doubting. A zebra and a pony were different species, true, but they had -alot- more in common physically than a human and a pony. Still, the core of Zecora's advice was sound, and all the lingering doubts were simply products of her mind - they had to be discarded so she could trust her heart. With a deep breath, Dash left the filly's room and returned to their table. 

Jack waved her over, a smile on his face. "Good timing, the food just got here." There was a large plate of cajun spiced sauteed hay and oats in front of Rainbow's seat, and a bowl of potato-leek cream stew in front of Jack. She still didn't get why he would go to a place like The Bale and get one of the only non-hay based dishes, but she chalked it up to human weirdness. 

As it turned out, Jack and Dash shared a common tendency to eat quickly. It wasn't even fifteen minutes before both dishes were bare and Rainbow was calling for the check. Jack still didn't have a bit to his name, so Dash was going to have to pay for it. The idea didn't sit particularly well with him; it was old fashioned and perhaps outdated, but he always liked to pay for a date.

Wait... the fuck!? No. No no no no no. I didn't think that, I'm not doing that... I don't date ponies.

You also didn't -like- ponies. And now here you are eating dinner with one... one you've been hanging out with. Slippery slope, huh?

That's different. I hang out with my dog back home; that doesn't mean I date her.

But your dog doesn't talk. Your dog doesn't have a fully fleshed out sentient personality, as much as she might seem like it sometimes. That's a bullshit argument, and you know it.

Fine then, how's this for an argument - I'm spoken for. Gwen wouldn't exactly be thrilled to find out she got replaced by a blue horse. 

Gwen? You don't even know if she's waiting for you. She sure seemed like she was looking for a reason to leave... and a week long disappearance in the woods might just give her an excuse.

"Bit for your thoughts?" Rainbow asked, snapping Jack out of his internal strife. She had payed for the meal while he was lost in thought, and was already rising to her hooves to leave. 

"Oh nothing... just thinking about home" Jack replied. There was a tinge of pink to his cheeks which led Dash to believe there was more to it than that, but she didn't press the issue. They stepped out of the restaurant and into the cool Ponyville night air. "C'mon, I'll walk you back to Fluttershy's" Dash offered.

They walked in a slightly awkward silence through the streets toward the edge of town; it was late enough that they were alone for almost the entire route. Once they hit the grassy fields on the edge of Ponyville Dash stopped. "Lets rest here for a bit; I'm tired." She said. Jack raised an eyebrow; it wasn't like the pegasus to be tired, especially not from such a short walk. Nonetheless he obliged her, carefully spreading his cloak on the grass before sitting beside her. Rarity would -kill- him if he got grass stains on the tux. 

Jack looked up, taking in the night sky. The moon was nearly full, casting a silvery glow over everything around them. The stars were both familiar and alien to him at the same time; he recognized the familiar canvas of an inky sky with pricks of light, but the constellations and patterns were all completely foreign. Dash followed his gaze, completely comfortable with the stars. Like all pegasi (with the possible exception of Fluttershy) she felt an innate connection to the sky, and the night sky was no different. After a few minutes of resting in silence, Dash worked up her courage and broke it. 

"Pretty awesome sky, huh?" She asked. Jack simply nodded. "I like to look at it pretty often" She continued.

"Me too" Jack replied, a bit of a whimsical sound in his voice. 

"Ever think your special somepony might be looking at the same star as you? I mean, it's the same stars ponies see in Appleoosa and Manehatten that we're looking at now." Dash was blushing visibly in the moonlight; this was as close as she could bring herself to admitting her crush. 

"Yeah. I don't think she can be though... the stars might be the same across this world, but between worlds they're very different. I remember her pointing out constellations to me back home... I can't find any of them here." Jack sighed. Thinking about Gwen hurt more than a bit. As fond as his memories of the good times were, their recent strife and his own self doubts were making it seem more and more likely that he wouldn't have a 'special somepony' to go back to. Dash, meanwhile, fell into silence. It took her a few minutes to replay his words in her head, each one of them like a weight dragging her sky high aspirations back down to earth. 

Zecora was right. The heart of a stallion - or a man - could be conquered by a single mare. And Jack's had already been won.

Four Days Later

Jack awoke with a splitting headache. A week ago it had been due to a hangover; today, it was from Dash's kick to the back of his head. A week ago, he had been naked and on an amazingly comfortable bed. Today, he was wearing his tattered blue cloak and lying on a cold stone floor. As his surroundings swam into view he realized that he was also behind iron bars, reinforced with what looked like a magical forcefield being generated by a nearby white unicorn stallion with a dark blue mane. Sylvia was already awake, sitting on the floor near the bars and pleading with the Stallion to let them go. 

"I'm telling you Shining Armor, you're making a mistake!" She sounded obviously frustrated. Her pleas were falling on deaf ears. A faint clop of hooves descending stairs echoed through the dungeon, and Rainbow Dash came around the corner. "She's right, Shining Armor. They didn't do it." Her voice sounded a little hollow. "Just spoke to Twilight; they're innocent." 

Shining Armor snapped to attention. "Twilight's awake!?" He said in surprised disbelief, turning and galloping upstairs. Rainbow Dash fetched the keys from the nearby guardpost, gripping them between their teeth and unlocking their cell. "C'mon, lets get you two back to Ponyville. We need to meet with the others and get to planning." Jack and Sylvia got to their feet and walked out of the cell, Jack still stumbling a bit as consciousness fully reinstated itself. 

As they climbed the stairs Sylvia found herself puzzling over a few anomalies in Dash's behavior. She was looking at Jack frequently. This wasn't completely unusual; she had seen Dash sneak glances at the human boy before. But these looks were different - almost like she was hungry. Secondly and far more ambiguously, she was getting a weird 'vibe' off of Rainbow. She was still quite sensitive to emotions after awakening her power; Dash, however, was giving off none. If anything, there was a conspicuous absense; it felt like a cell phone with no signal. Sylvia made a mental note to look into that once they were well away from the dungeon - for now, she was just glad to be out. 

Jack was looking considerably less pleased. It was nice to be vindicated, but it didn't do anything to help the fact that the one pony who he consistently got along with - who he had even entertained romantic feelings for - had turned on him and knocked him out cold. Every time Rainbow turned to look at him he averted his gaze. Within minutes they were outside of the castle, and walking toward the main gates of Canterlot. 

	Twenty Minutes Later

Rainbow Dash was galloping as hard as she could toward the dungeons from the east. Shining Armor was doing likewise from the west. In their haste they collided into one another, falling to the pavement in a tangle of hooves, his horn narrowly missing her foreleg. 

"Dash!" He yelled

"Shining Armor!" She yelled back.

"We have a serious problem!" They both yelled in unison.

Shining Armor glared at her. "Why would you lie to me about Twilight? And where the hay are the prisoners!?"

Dash gave him a confused look. "I don't know what you're talking about with Twilight... I was just visiting her maybe thirty minutes ago tops! She's stable, but not much else has changed. As for the humans... that's what I was coming to tell you about! Somepony said they saw them heading for the gates. How did they get past you?"

Shining Armor rubbed his head for a moment before responding. "So wait a sec... you're telling me you didn't just come down into the dungeon and tell me that they were innocent, and that Twilight was awake?" He asked

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She stared at him, a look of confusion in her eyes. "What does this mean?"

A grim look of realization spread across Shining Armor's face. "It means this just got a whole lot more interesting, in a very bad way."
> The Edge of Forever
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Twilight Sparkle slowly opened her eyes. Considering how much pain she had been in when she passed out, she felt quite comfortable. A bit dizzy, and more than a little confused, but comfortable. She was outside, in a field of grass surrounded by hazy large objects that looked like trees. They were fuzzy though; out of focus, just large blurs of brown and green. In fact, the same could be said of the grass underhoof and the sky above. It was all fuzzy, as though her vision had suddenly aged a hundred years. She didn't like the feeling; as a mare of science, her ability to observe her surroundings was paramount.

After climbing to her hooves and confirming that she was, apparently, healthy, Twilight began to explore her surroundings. As out of focus as things were, she found that she could still see the things closest to her. A blade of grass, a smooth stone, a bright red carnation. The latter most made her wince. She had rather lost her taste for carnations. She closed her eyes and set about casting a spell to make it a lily, a simple transformation. 

It didn't work. Her horn felt slightly warm, but the usual spark of magic didn't emerge. Losing her visual acuity made Twilight uncomfortable. Losing her magic sent the mare into a downright panic. She began to gallop from object to object, trying every spell she could think of. Grow that blade of grass! A failure. Rock into a tuxedo hat! A failure. Levitate a pile of sand! A failure. Recolor that door! ...wait. That door? Twilight blinked a few times, taking in just what her eyes were seeing. It turns out there were no trees surrounding this particular clearing. There were doors. Tall brown oaken doors with moss growing over their faces. The doors weren't set in any sort of wall; on either side of each door was simply another door, the edges flush with one another. There was only sky above the top of each door, though they were tall enough that seeing behind them was quite impossible. Perhaps if her magic was functioning normally she could levitate up and get a proper view, but in her current state that was simply not viable. The panic of losing her magic coupled with the confusion caused by the inexplicable doors sent Twilight over the edge. She began to hyperventilate, falling onto her rump and looking around at the blurry scenery before screaming. 

"WHERE AM I!?" She yelled, not expecting an answer. As her voice died off into the distance, she heard an unmistakable sound of groaning wood and creaking hinges. One of the doors, about two hundred yards to her left, was opening. Princess Celestia stepped out of the door, her pristine white coat and flowing mane immaculately sharp and clear despite all of her surroundings still being blurred. The alicorn walked up to twilight and gently helped her to her feet. 

"Twilight. I had hoped not to see you here so soon." Celestia remarked, adopting an affectionate and comforting smile. 

"Princess... where are we?" Twilight asked.

"We are in between worlds. Between life and death, really. This is the nexus that all souls travel through, either to reach their next life or to find a final rest. This is the edge of forever." Celestia explained in a soft voice.

"So... I'm dead?" Twilight appeared to be far less panicky than most would in her situation. For Twilight, true panic came from disorder and confusion. The princess's explanation, even if it had such grim news, was far better than not knowing where she was or why. 

"Not quite. You are close, however. Much of your soul is still within your physical body; if it recovers, then it will pull your consciousness back to Equestria. If not, then the rest of your soul will join with your consciousness here, and you will move on." Celestia continued.

"That explains why my magic is so weak." Twilight realized out loud. "Magic is an expression of the mind and soul; if either are weak..."

"...then the resulting magic will be similarly weak." Celestia finished her sentence. "As ever, you are a star pupil." 

"But Princess..." Twilight looked at her, afraid to ask the next question. "You were attacked on the same day as me. And now you're here. Does that mean..."

"...I am not dead either, Twilight." Celestia put her fears immediately to rest. "While it's true that my physical form has been wounded, it will recover. In the interim, I sent my soul and my consciousness here. From here I can observe and study, as well as consult." 

"Observe and study? How can you do that in this meadow? And who do you consult with?" Twilight's panic having subsided, her natural curiosity once again became her dominant trait. 

"That would perhaps be better shown than explained." Celestia closed her eyes and her horn began to glow. The door she had come through re-opened, casting a white light over both Twilight and Celestia that blinded the mortal unicorn. Twilight's world became momentarily consumed by the light. When it subsided, they were both on the other side of the door. What Twilight saw next was the most breathtaking sight of her life. 

She was in a library. 

The shelves stretched onward and upward into eternity in every direction, packed to the brim with books and various artifacts. The room still had a slight blur to it, though it wasn't nearly as out of focus as the meadow had been. 

"Princess, I've noticed a bit of a visual anomaly in this world. Do you think that's also because my soul hasn't crossed over?" Twilight asked. 

"No. It's because so many other souls have." Celestia said in a simple tone. "The library isn't quite as crowded as the meadow, but there are still dozens of souls in every square foot. Try focusing very hard on a particular point."

Twilight followed her mentor's instructions, concentrating with all of her might on a small patch of library floor near the lowest bookshelf. To her surprise, the general blurriness condensed itself into almost a dozen luminescent butterflies in every color of the rainbow, with cutie mark-esque patterns on their wings. 

"So these... souls... just linger for eternity in meadows and libraries?" Twilight asked. To be fair, the idea of an eternity in a never-ending library didn't sound like the worst sort of afterlife to her. 

"Not exactly. They linger until they are ready." Celestia answered.

"Ready for what?" 

"Ready to leave their last life and memories behind, and start fresh. One of the doors from that meadow leads back to Equestria. If a soul enters it, a new body is created for them and they start anew. Sometimes they have vague trappings of their past life, but generally speaking they're a blank slate once again." Celestia clarified. 

Twilight still wasn't convinced. "Foals don't appear out of thin air, princess. What if a soul tries to re-enter the world when nopony is giving birth? Or what if somepony gives birth and there is no soul for the body?" 

"The universe is very good at fixing its own paradoxes. Firstly, a pony needn't remain a pony in every life they experience, nor must any animal be bound to the physical form of their past life. A soul is far more than that. You are still bound to that form because you are still connected to your physical body. In the rare cases where a soul enters the world with absolutely no bodies to possess, one is created for the soul. Usually an 'abandoned' foal, appearing in the middle of the night, but sometimes a fully grown body. That is actually the most common cause of amnesia; they haven't lost their memories, they simply don't have any. What memories they think they're getting are actually snippets of past lives. As for the latter point... well, the universe isn't always kind about solving its paradoxes. Stillbirths are often simply the result of a body being unable to find a soul." Celestia finished her explanation. Twilight found the change of tone near the end unpleasant; it seemed wrong, discussing something as horrible as dead foals in a place as wondrous as this. 

As though sensing Twilight's discomfort, Celestia led her down the aisle, passing thousands if not millions of tomes until she arrived at a full length mirror. The alicorn's horn once again began to glow, causing the surface of the mirror to suddenly shimmer with light. When the light subsided, it was no longer reflecting Twilight and her mentor as they were in the library. It was a window into Equestria.

"Come now, Twilight. We must observe; I imagine you won't have much time to catch up once you get back to your body." Celestia instructed. Twilight could only think of one thing. 

	If I get back.
> Through the Looking Glass and Back Again
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	As the great mirror's surface came back into clarity, the image of Twilight and her Mentor was replaced with an aerial view of Canterlot. The great city on the mountain grew closer and closer as the image zoomed in, guided by Celestia's magic. The image eventually passed the city by, focusing in on a point roughly halfway down the mountain. Jack, Sylvia, and Rainbow Dash were all gathered together on a rock outcropping behind a waterfall. Sylvia's lips were moving, though Twilight couldn't hear anything.

"What are they saying, Princess?" Twilight asked.

"Focus on the mirror, Twilight. It will all become clear." The princess answered.

Turning back to the mirror, Twilight focused harder, much as she had with the soul-butterflies earlier. She found the image in the mirror consuming more and more of her field of vision, until the library was no longer on her periphery. Much to her surprise, she felt a cold gust of wind, and heard Sylvia's voice.

"...I still don't understand. You're the one who locked us up in the first place; why would you risk your neck and lie to Shining Armor just to get us out?" Sylvia asked. Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at her.

"Look, I made a mistake, okay? The Princess was attacked, the adrenaline was pumping, and I did something I shouldn't have." Dash answered, walking over to Jack's side. He was gathering water from the falls into his palms to drink. "Wouldn't exactly be loyal if I left this guy behind bars, anyway." Dash gave Jack's leg an affectionate nuzzle, startling the boy so badly that he nearly fell forward off the cliff.

Sylvia had found something to be off about Rainbow ever since the pegasus came into the dungeon after them, and her explanation didn't give her any new confidence. Did Dash just admit to a mistake? To be fair, Rainbow wasn't above admitting when she was wrong... but it was unlike her to do it so quickly, and with so little resistance. Plus, she was acting far more affectionate than Sylvia had ever seen. Coupled with the bizarre emotional patterns she could feel around the pegasus, all signs pointed to one thing - a changeling. 

But there was still one discrepancy. Changelings feed on love; to do so, they took the form of a being loved by their prey. True, she had seen Jack and Dash develop a pretty fast friendship, but she knew that Jack was accounted for – by a human. She turned to the pegasus, intending to get some answers from Jack without being overheard.

“Dash, we should stop here for the night – I doubt we'll find a better place to crash before nightfall, and the waterfall will make it harder for guards to track us,” Sylvia said. “Think you could find us some firewood? We're not fast enough to make it to anyplace with trees before dark.” For a split second Rainbow Dash gave Sylvia a glare from Jack's side, but quickly snapped back into character and nodded.

“Right, be back in a flash!” She jumped up into the air and flew off, spinning around the waterfall a few times for effect before bolting into the distance. The setting sun shone through her mane and into the cascades of water, casting a dazzling array of colors onto the rocks behind them.

“She really is impressive, huh?” Jack remarked, looking back at Sylvia and taking a seat on a small boulder.

“I'm sure Dash would love to hear you say that,” Sylvia sighed. “...if that is Rainbow Dash, that is.”


“Th'hell do you mean?” Jack's tone was a bit more hostile than usual. Truth be told, he was having some of the same doubts about Dash that Sylvia had. He just didn't want to acknowledge them. The way she nuzzled up against him... he wanted that to be real.

“Jack... I need to ask you something.” Sylvia looked at him. For a moment she pondered subtle ways to ask what she wanted to know, but eventually she settled on a direct line of questioning. “...how do you feel about Rainbow Dash?” Jack's face immediately went scarlet.

“She's a cool pony- a phrase I never thought I'd say- and we're friends. I generally try to make friends with cool people.” Jack sounded defensive, deliberately avoiding any commentary on romantic feelings.

“Cool ponies.” Sylvia corrected him. In spite of everything – their trouble with the law, the very real likelihood of a changeling in their midst, Celestia and Twilight being hospitalized – the idea of Jack admitting to ponies being cool brought a grin to her face. “But you know what I mean. Are you attracted to her?”

“I am not attracted to Ponies, Sylvia.” Jack responded through gritted teeth. “I'm not some kind of zoophile.”

“For fuck's sake, Jack. I'm not asking you this to judge you. These aren't your typical animals we're talking about here; they have fully sentient, human personalities. Maybe better than human.” Sylvia gave an exasperated sigh. She already knew the answer to her question – Jack was a poor liar. “Look, I don't have time to explain. I'm not going to tell whats-her-face if we ever get back to Earth, but I need to know if Dash is-” 

“If I'm what?” Rainbow Dash interjected with a sharply accusatory tone, fluttering around the waterfall with her withers full of kindling. 

“I...I...you...” Sylvia was stammering slightly; she hadn't expected such a quick return. Even if it was Rainbow Dash, the nearest trees were all the way at the base of the mountain. 

“If I'm going to sell you guys out again?” Dash sighed, floating gracefully to the ground and dropping the firewood at Sylvia's feet. “Look, I know I messed up. You don't have any reason to trust me. I'll... I'll just go. Don't worry, I'll head back to Cloudsdale; nopony in Canterlot will know where you two went.” Dash turned and flapped up a couple feet into the air, her head hung. 

“Wait!” Jack interjected, running forward and catching her by the hoof of her hind leg. “Dash, it isn't like that. We want you to stay. Don't we, Sylvia?” Jack turned back to look at his comrade, his eyes implying that she had damn well better agree with him. 

Sylvia was conflicted. On the one hand, the circumstances made her look like a fair-weather-friend at best. On the other hand, if Dash was a changeling, she would know Sylvia's suspicions even if the human backed down. With a deep breath and a clench of her fists, Sylvia trusted her gut. “Jack – you need to listen to me. That's not Rainbow Dash; she's tricking you. She just wants to use you for your emotion-”

Jack cut her off mid sentence. Something about Dash's presence seemed to be making him more confrontational. “She just wants to use me, huh? Like you wanted to use me when we woke up in bed together? Dear God, Sylvia, I never thought you would be this jealous. You know what? I admit it. I like Dash. I even like like her, as elementary school as that sounds. And if you can't deal with that, then we can go our separate ways now.” 

Rainbow Dash's eyes went wide, a smile stretching slowly but steadily from ear to ear. “You mean it? Like... like like!? Jack... I... I mean... me too! I do too!” The pegasus stumbled a bit across her words, dropping back to the ground and almost tackling Jack with a full body hug. Jack hugged her back, his arms wrapping around her shoulders just above her wing joints, fingers toying with the tips of her mane. 

Sylvia's sensitivity to emotion began to reassert itself as Jack's feelings grew more and more bold. It was as though there was an aura about him; massive in both size and intensity. She started to wonder whether she might not be mistaken. There was a sort of gentle light to the aura; it sent a shiver down her spine just to look at them. Then all of a sudden the aura changed. It was hard to pin down the nature of the change at first; however, after a few moments observation it became clear. The aura was shifting, like wisps of vapor being blown by an invisible fan, in the direction of Rainbow Dash. Whenever it got within an inch of her, it would simply vanish. The whole notion of being able to read emotions was still quite new to Sylvia, but it only took her another moment to piece together what she was seeing.

The changeling was feeding.

“Jack!” Sylvia cried out in alarm, frustrated to the core of her being. “Get away from him, you... you.. you monster!” All of her frustration and anger compressed itself in her chest. She hearkened back to the day before, remembering just how she had manifested magic for the first time. Her goal then had been to nurture; this time, she was feeling considerably more destructive. She forced the concentrated anger toward the tips of her fingers and stretched her arm out toward Dash. For a moment nothing happened; Jack gave her a quizzical look, and she felt rather like a young child striking poses and yelling 'Fireball' at her friends on the playground. Then all of a sudden the spell took – bolts of orange lightning raked from each of her fingertips, joining together into a single beam which lanced toward Rainbow Dash, supernaturally bright in the dying sunset. Jack caught it out of the corner of his eye, rolling himself between the beam and the pegasus to intercept it just before it would have struck Dash between the eyes. The beam burned into his shoulder, causing him to scream out in pain; when it faded, there was a hole in his cloak about three inches wide and an exceptionally nasty looking burn beneath it. 

Sylvia collapsed onto the ground, shaking and crying as she realized what she had done. At the time, it had seemed the only thing -to- do; Jack was being attacked, and she had to protect him. Now, he was wounded by her hand, and he still thought she was attacking Rainbow Dash due to her own jealousy.

“Jack... I didn't mean... are you okay?” Sylvia cried out between sobs. Dash shot her a venomous look over Jack's wounded shoulder, the boy's face distorted with pain.

“Big mistake Sylvia” Dash growled, taking to the air once more and assuming an aggressive stance. She was winding up to charge when she noticed a familiar glint off in the distance. Dash backed off rather suddenly, landing and ducking down underneath Jack's torso. “Put your arm around my chest; I'll fly you down the mountain. We need to get you to a doctor.” 

Jack obliged the pegasus's request, lying across her back with an arm around her chest and his legs falling down around her flanks. He could feel a gust kick up as her wings began to beat. It seemed odd that she had the strength to fly with him on her back; she was perhaps half his size, and her wings weren't particularly large. Still, they rose into the air and set off around the waterfall and down the mountain, making their way over the Everfree forest. 

Back on the mountainside, Sylvia was curled up into a ball, weeping into her knees and feeling very alone. But she wasn't alone for long. Rainbow Dash came peeling down the mountain, coming to a sharp landing at Sylvia's feet. 

“You! What are you doing, and where the hay are Jack and the impostor!?” Dash demanded, not particularly sensitive to the girl's feelings. “Let me guess; you and your changeling pal thought you could just waltz on out of Canterlot without us noticing? Well I got news for you; I'm way too fast for an escape.”

“It's not like that Dash.” Sylvia whimpered in quiet protest.

“Then what the hay is it!?” Dash demanded impatiently.

“She has Jack! I tried to explain changelings to him once I figured out what she was, but he wouldn't listen. I think she's already got him under her thumb.” Sylvia explained hurriedly. Dash gave her a look of confusion. “...I mean, under her hoof.” 

Dash snorted in disbelief. “Sounds like a trap to me. Anyway, if he can't see through his precious little love showing up out of  nowhere he deserves to be taken.” 

“It wasn't a human, Dash.”

"What do you mean!?" Dash growled in disbelief. "He's told me all about her. Anyway, even if he is dumb enough to believe that she would just happen to show up in Equestria; didn't he get suspicious when the copy of me vani-" She stopped mid-sentence, stunned realization etched across her face. "It... it was me." The changeling hadn't transformed after springing the humans. She had transformed long before that. "But... Jack has a special somepony back home. He told me!"

"Yeah, well people change. I think Jack was having some issues with his old flame even before we got here." Sylvia responded. She was no longer crying, though she still looked rather drained. 

"Why would he... I mean... he could have told me." Dash's voice was significantly quieter than it had been. "Why would he tell me about his lover back on Earth instead?"

"Perhaps because he has a sense of loyalty. You know; sticking by people even when things look bad." Sylvia retorted acidly. The remark visibly stung Dash; her head bowed until her rainbow mane was dragging along the ground.

"I...I'm sorry." Rainbow said in half a whisper.

"What do we do now?" Sylvia inquired. Dash stretched her wings, a look of gritty determination spreading across her face. 

"We get him back."

Twilight closed her eyes, the mountain landscape shimmering away to leave her in the infinite library once more. She turned and looked behind her, where Celestia was standing and perusing a massive dusty tome. Twi could barely make out the title along it's spine, written in tremendously faded ink. "The Atlas of Everything".

"What's that, Princess?" She asked curiously.

"A guide to the multiverse. If all of these creatures are entering Equestria from other worlds, I want to figure out which worlds - and hopefully find a pattern." The alicorn set the book down, open to a chapter on Earth. 

“That's where the humans come from, isn't it?” Twilight peered at the small blue and green ball in a moment of quiet wonder. “Princess... why is it that Sylvia can cast spells? She doesn't have a horn; in fact, she didn't even believe magic existed at first.” 

“Your horn is simply a conduit through which you can channel and focus your natural powers. Your horn for magic is sort of like a tongue is for speech; it gives you nuances and articulations, but the real source comes from your vocal chords. The other species of pony also have other natural outlets for their magic. Pegasi expend a fair bit of theirs to be able to walk on clouds, and to supplement their wing-power when it comes to flying. Earth pony magic is infused into their muscular structure, giving them generally superior strength and endurance. Humans, in contrast, have no natural outlets. Sylvia has simply found a way to use her hands as a conduit much like your horn.” 

“But then... why did she just start now? Why don't any other humans cast spells?” Twilight asked. 

“I imagine Jack could, with patience and practice. He simply hasn't put the effort in. He may also not possess as much natural talent for magic as Sylvia; after all, unicorns come in several levels of talent. Do you remember Drizzle Horn?” Celestia smiled down at Twilight. 

“Yeah...” Twilight giggled a bit. “She couldn't even levitate an apple.” 

“Right. But she had her own talents; the weather pegasi couldn't ask for a better manager, even if she can't fly. So the point is-” Celestia suddenly went silent, though her lips kept moving. Twilight reached up to tap her ear with a hoof; normally being stricken deaf would concern her, but at this point she just chalked it up to another peculiarity of the world in-between. 

Then, in the blink of an eye, the library vanished and Twilight could hear once more. 

“Paging House Call... House Call... Dr. Call, you're needed in the coma ward.” 

Twilight's eyes were closed, though she didn't recall closing them. She opened her eyes to a bright fluorescent light, shining down onto a hospital bed. She was awake. 
> There is No Pot of Gold
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canterlot; 9:00 PM

A team of nurses gathered around Twilight Sparkle's bed, holding the unicorn down as she kicked and struggled. Her hospital room was quite spacious; she was in the VIP suite of Canterlot General, a room with only one other patient – Princess Celestia. 

“Let me go! I have to help them! THEY NEED ME!” Twilight pleaded with the nurses, still fighting with all her strength. The door to the suite slid open with a pale blue magical glow and an elderly unicorn with a chestnut brown coat walked in, his cutie-mark in the shape of a small prescription bottle. 

“Keep her steady; I need to examine her.” The older Stallion said, stepping forward to look over Twilight. He walked with a distinct limp in his right hind leg. “My name is House Call; you may call me Dr. House. I am your primary caregiver. I'm also not in the least bit interested in you, but your celebrity status has apparently convinced my boss that I need to be. So I'm going to figure out what is wrong with you, so that they” He jerked his head toward the nurses “can fix you.” The doctor's horn began to glow, and all of the recently healed scars on Twilight's body were highlighted in yellow. The effect was rather striking; the plant's thorns had torn into her in several places, each of which glowed brighter or dimmer based on how deep the wound had been. After studying the patterns for a few moments, he released the spell and took a step back. 

“Based on the intensity of your wounds and the period between infliction and treatment, you lost between 34 and 38% of your total blood volume. A class III hemorrhage. You've been on constant fluids ever since, but you'll still need another day here at least.” House said. 

“You don't understand. I need to leave NOW! A changeling is about to feed on my friend, and I don't think my other friends can stop her, and there's some kind of secret dark power pulling monsters into Equestria from who-knows-where! I need to assemble the elements of harmony!!” Twilight’s rant left her panting and wide eyed. House gave her a dismissive look and added an extra line to her chart.

“And it's not uncommon for victims of a class III hemorrhage to suffer delusions or false visions. The changelings were savagely put down less than a year ago; I'd be quite surprised if any of them get within a hundred miles of Canterlot for several years to come. Nurse; lock the door before you leave.” The stallion said on his way out. The nurses lingered for about fifteen minutes, taking vitals and filling in data on Twilight's chart before leaving. The distinctive click of the lock followed the shutting door. As the soft clop of the nurses' hooves faded into the distance, Twilight sat up in bed. 

“So now I have to break out of a hospital?” Twilight said to herself. “Of all the ridiculous concepts... its almost as bad as breaking into a hospital!”

Forest Clearing; 10:00 PM

Jack and the changeling had reached a small lakeside clearing in the forest between Canterlot and Ponyville. 

“Lets rest here for a bit.”the false Dash said, going down to her knees to allow Jack an easy dismount. The boy slid off her back and onto the grass, stretching out as he gazed up at the night sky. The burn in his shoulder twinged with constant pain, though it seemed to dull whenever Dash drew near to him. 

“This doesn't look like we're near the hospital...” Jack mumbled, feeling a bit woozy. 

“You'll be okay... the burn's starting to go away already.” Dash purred. 

“It doesn't feel like it's gone...” Jack replied weakly. 

“That's how burns are... they always sting worse with time.” Dash stepped forward and nuzzled his unburned shoulder affectionately. The attention made a good distraction from the pain, it was hardly noticeable. In fact, everything was becoming less noticeable. Jack felt like the world was fading away; he could see Dash, but the night sky behind her was blurry. He felt weak. He tried to sit up, but he found himself physically unable to; and yet, it didn't even matter. As long as Dash was there, he was content. He didn't need to see anything but her. He didn't need to sit up if he could lie back with her. Nothing else seemed to matter. 	

The actual Rainbow Dash flew in overhead, shooting along at the speed of sound but pulling to an impressive stop in mid-air when she saw Jack and the changeling. Jack was dimly aware of the second Rainbow Dash, but his senses all still seemed to be quite dull. Rainbow Dash  tucked her wings to the side and dove straight toward the ground, aimed directly at the changeling. The two connected and the changeling was torn off Jack's body, both of them tumbling across the ground and colliding with a tree on the outskirts of the clearing. 

“Get. Away. From. Him.” Rainbow Dash said with steel in her voice and narrowing her eyes. 

“Or what?” The changeling shot back, a wicked smile spreading. “I think you're missing something important here – he's already mine. I'd be surprised if he could even open his eyes before dawn...” She took a few steps toward Dash, reverting to her natural form as she walked. Her turquoise coat shimmered and warped into sleek black chitin, her rainbow mane re-forming into untidy spikes on the back of her head. A pitted horn protruded from her forehead, and her powerful feathery wings shriveled away and reappeared as the gossamer wings of a changeling. “...and by then, you'll be out of the picture.” 

Canterlot; 10:30 PM

Twilight lay collapsed and heaving in the basket of a hot air balloon. Escaping the hospital hadn't been particularly tricky; a rapid series of short ranged teleportation spells was more than enough to escape from the limited security staff the hospital maintained at night. Getting to the hot air balloon storage had been significantly more difficult; once hospital security figured out what she’d done they alerted the Canterlot guard. They all thought she was crazy; that she was going to hurt herself if she wasn't restrained. Even so, hauling flank and a few more well placed blink spells were enough to get her into the balloon undetected. Pulling herself to her feet, she used the last of her magical energies to untie the balloon. She kept the flame low and whispered - “No one ever thinks to look up.”

Forest Clearing; 11:00 PM

Rainbow Dash and the changeling darted about in the sky, only visible by the shadows they cast on the star-scape above. Dash shot toward her foe, foreleg drawn back for a punch only to have the changeling pull up sharply at the last minute. Dash was counting on her speed, agility and raw muscle to deal with the creature; unfortunately, the recent feast on Jack’s emotions gave the changeling nimbleness to match. Every few passes the monster would fire a beam of neon green energy, each time missing Dash by inches at most. She could smell the ozone where it burned through the atmosphere. 

“Very scary” Dash smirked. “All you have to do is hit me now... how hard could that be?” She darted up after the changeling, zig zagging at insane speeds. She pulled a fast tight loop de loop to avoid an unusually accurate bolt. 

On the ground, Jack's eyes drifted open. He found the world slowly drifting back into clarity. Not everything was immediately apparent. The surrounding forest was still exceptionally blurry, and not all of the constellations were readily identifiable. He could, however, instantly make out Dash sparring with the changeling. 

“Dash! Be careful!” Jack lifted himself onto his elbows, too weak to sit up completely. His voice seemed to give Dash renewed vigor. 

Unfortunately, Jack's voice also carried to the changeling.

“My my, look who's awake...” She sneered. “Enjoy the show; you'll be back with 'Dashie' before you know it.”

Dash took advantage of the changeling's momentary distraction, streaking across the sky and landed a solid kick on the creature's shoulder. The changeling went tumbling out of the sky, barely righting herself in time.

“That's right. He will.” Dash shot back, following her down and bringing her right hoof down on the side of the changeling's head. A thin crack appeared in her jet black cheek, a small trickle of ichor dripping down her chin. Still, Dash was relentless. Blow after blow hammered down on the changeling; wherever she ran, Dash pursued. The creature tried to use a tree to change her direction, barely kicking off the trunk in time to avoid a kick that left a large hoofprint in the tree in a spray of bark. Dash, in turn, barely kicked off the tree in time to avoid a fresh bolt of eldritch energy. The magical attack struck the tree and cleaved it in twain. The fight bounced around the entire clearing, at every imaginable altitude. A stray bolt grazed the top of Dash's head, leaving a singed streak of hair where the green in her mane used to be; she responded by dashing forward in a barrel roll and bringing her forehoof down on top of the changeling's head in with a crunch. The creature tumbled, landing hard on the ground before climbing back to her feet.

“STOP!” The changeling screamed, breathing heavily.

“Had enough!?” Dash demanded

“No... but he has.” The changeling grinned wickedly, and Dash saw where she was standing – directly over Jack, with a hoof pressed to his throat. “One move toward me and I break his neck.”

Dash cursed under her breath, unable to move lest the beast make good on her threat. Now that she was standing still the edge adrenaline had given her was slipping away; her flanks were drenched in sweat, and almost every muscle in her body ached. Jack's breathing was worrisome, each tiny increase in pressure on his neck making each breath harder than the last. He reached up and tried to grab the offending foreleg, but the changeling simply pressed harder until he blacked out. 

Dash started to jump forward again when she saw Jack's eyes close, but stopped at the changeling's next words.

“He's still breathing; I just cut him off for a little bit. Wouldn't want him interrupting. Though it's a pity he can't witness. Now, hold nice and still for me Dashie...” The changeling bowed her head, green light gathering around her horn as she prepared for a finishing attack. Dash bowed her head; she had no choice. 

"My friends will send you running back to your Queen eventually." Dash said, her voice soft but strong.

"Our queen?" The changeling cackled, the energy now focused at the tip of her horn. "You really know nothing, Pony. The hive does not permit failure. Chrysalis is no longer a queen. The hive now answers to a new master - and he will deliver us this world and those beyond." 

Dash shut her eyes and awaited the inevitable. There was a loud crack, one Dash had only heard before when Twilight cast a violent beam spell. She wondered if it would hurt, or if she’d feel anything at all. She promised herself that she would not give this monster the satisfaction of her screaming.

It never came. After a second Dash dared open her eyes. The changeling was sprawled out on the grass, smoke curling up from her horn and several of the jagged spikes torn from her head. Thirty feet away, Sylvia stood panting and pale. Her cloak was torn to shreds; a few scraps clung to her body, just enough to preserve her modesty, while the other tatters flapped taut behind her in the wind. The moon cast a silvery halo about her.

“Dash, take care of Jack. I'll take it from here!” Sylvia said. Rainbow Dash galloped to Jack's side as another familiar voice rang out.

“I'm here! Is everyone okay?” The dull blue glow of the hot air balloon's flame came drifting forward overhead, Twilight leaning over the edge of the basket. Two new opponents – spellcasters to boot- changed the calculus for the changeling. She reflexively drew her head from left to right, lancing a beam across the top of the balloon. It immediately deflated, falling hard on top of Sylvia, both Sylvia and Twilight momentarily lost in a cloud of dust. The changeling turned and leaped into the sky. Rainbow Dash checked that Jack was still breathing, and then about faced to pursue. 

“You really think you can get away from -me-?” Dash gave a haughty chuckle. “I'm the fastest flier in all of Eque-”

Dash's quip was cut off by a bolt of green light, cutting through the night and striking Dash in the chest. Her entire body felt hot, and then immediately cold; her legs went weak, and she collapsed on top of Jack.

The impact of Dash falling onto his body forced Jack back to consciousness. The first thing he saw was her mane – bright rainbow hues shimmering in the moonlight. The second was a charred smoking hole in her back.

“Dash!!” Jack forced himself to sit up, ignoring screaming pain in his muscles and taking her into his arms. The wound had a mirror on her chest – there was no blood; the magic cauterized it, but it had literally gone through her torso. “We need to get you help!”

“Jack... it's okay.” Her voice was weak, but she didn't sound hurt. Shock was beginning to take hold. “You're here.”

Jack nodded slowly. His arms were trembling.

“I'm here.” He said, blinking back tears.

“Jack... I l... I lo...” Dash's voice faded away. Her eyelids lowered slightly, and her eyes glassed over. Jack felt a terrible stillness as her breathing stopped. 

In a meadow far away, a distance beyond measure, a butterfly alighted on a flower; her wings shining in every color of the rainbow.