> My Little Octavia > by rainbowdash_25 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was a dull and dreary day for me and going home wasn't gonna make it better. I already had to put up with the bullies at school. I really don't like them. They always make fun of me because I like the show called My Little Pony. Today didn't make it any better because I wore my Octavia shirt. I normally don't care what people say, but they do get on my nerves. When I got home it got even worse. "Hey look it's my fag of a son Michael," my dad yelled when I walked through my front door. That's when my mother walked inside living room. "John that's no way to talk to your own son. He's a grown boy, almost out of high school. He can like and do what he wants, so shut up!!" Then my father got up off the couch and set his beer down. He started walking toward's my mother. Before he could do anything I stepped in between him and my mother. "Don't you dare lay a hand on mom or you will get hurt," I said to him. He laughed and pushed me aside. That was his first mistake. I got back up and ran toward's him and grabbed him by the throat and gave him one final warning. "Leave and don't come back." He must be really stubborn because he started fighting back. I reared back and gave one final swing straight to his face and knocked him out cold. Im utterly shocked that I had that much power in that swing. After I calmed down from shock I turned around and walked over to my mom. I gave her a hug and told her I was sorry for all the trouble. After a few moments of silence I told her to call the police to have my dad taken away. When the police showed up I told them what had happened and they took my dad away for good. I decided to head up to my room so I could calm down some more and to get my head on straight. When I got inside my room I heard my computer go off signaling me that I got a message. I went over to the computer and checked it to see who it was from. Shockingly it was from my friend Anthony. I hadn't heard from him in a long time. Not since he moved to Arkansas. He wanted me to get on skype so he could show me his new Vinyl Scratch shirt and just to chat for a bit. I grabbed my web cam and hooked it up to my computer. As I waited for him to connect with me I thought about what had just happened downstairs. I just couldn't get over it. My dad had went after my mom just because she was protecting me from my dad's hatred. Why did I cause so much conflict in my family and it's all because of my love of the show. While I was in deep thought I didn't notice that my friend showed up on the screen. "Hey earth to Michael you ok man, you kinda zoned out on me." I turned around and faced the computer screen. "Sorry man I'm kinda in a pissed off mood right now. I had to call the police on my dad, but I'm not gonna get into that." My friend nodded to show that he understood. I decided to change the subject, "So what's this new shirt that you messaged me about?" He bent down and picked his shirt up off the ground. "This is my new Vinyl Scrach shirt. It's so COOL!!!" Anthony tends to get over excited when it comes to Vinyl. As you can tell by the way he's acting. "Now Anthony do I have to remind you that true music is made by Octavia. She always keeps her cool and sweet music flows from her cello when her bow touches it." From the way he was looking at me showed that he wasn't going to accept this. Next thing I know is that he was yelling at me. Not in a harsh way but from utter shock. "Hey Vinyl gots the best beats around along with *BIG* bass drops. What does your favorite background pony got? Tiring orchestrated music that isn't all that exciting." I'm in utter disbelief right now. "Octavia may not be extremely loud and crazy like Vinyl but she still plays good music. Trust me I do like Vinyl Scratch but I love Octavia more." After hours of arguing back in forth I finally tell Anthony good night and decided to go to bed. Later that same night I was awaken by this loud explosion right outside my window. I run over to my window and open it up to see what just happened. I look down towards the ground and notice there was a crater in my back yard. Not only that it looks like someone is in the middle of it. I run downstairs and out the front door. I'm shocked that my mother didn't wake up from the sound that it made. When I make it to the back yard I walk slowly to the gigantic hole and look down into it. As the smoke cleared away I notice that it wasn't a person but a pony. I'm confused at this moment and trying to figure out all the possibilities that this could happen. After thinking for a minute I hear a groan and I thought that it must be hurt, so I run down into the crater to see if it was alright. When I reached it I notice that it wasn't just a pony but it was Octavia. I'm even more shocked and amazed at the same time. Octavia is here and real but the kicker was that she is a filly. After checking her over to see if she is hurt I carry her inside to get her warm. She just had a couple of bruises so I take her up to my room and make her a bed in one of my baskets. Making sure she was nice and warm I climbed back into bed and layed there in thought. I hope mom will let me keep her. Then I fell asleep waiting for tomorrow to come. > Chapter 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- That next morning I woke up to my alarm going off. I reached over to shut it off and thought back to last night. Was it a dream? Did I really find a filly Octavia in my back yard? I walked over to my window to see if it really happened. As I looked out my window I noticed that the crater was still there. That means what happened last night really happened. That's when I heard a soft yawn come from the other side of the room. I turned around and saw movement from the inside of a basket. I walked over to the basket and bent down beside it. As I reached my hand out to pull away the sheet, a head popped out from underneath it. Octavia looked around the room and she didn't even look scared, she looked so calm like she did at the Galloping Gala. Until Pinkie Pie interrupted her, ya know. Then she finally realized I that I was sitting there and looked up at me smiling. We just sat there staring at each other, until I realized her bow tie was missing. "Hey Octavia, where's your bow tie?" She looked down at her neck and started freaking out. Next she started flailing her hooves and throwing the sheets all over the floor. "Calm down, we'll find your bow tie. Wait I'll be right back, she looked a little nervous about being alone. I told her it's ok and reminded her again that I'll be back in a flash. I ran downstairs hoping my mom was still asleep. As I make it to the door my mom steps out of the kitchen. "Where are you going mister?" I stopped in my tracks and turned around to face my mom. "HeHe I was just stepping outside to see how the weather was. Besides today is the last day of school and then I'm done for good." I hope she takes my bluff and I was telling at least half the truth. "Alright hurry up you don't want to be late for school." After my encounter with my mom I ran to the backyard to look for Octavia's bow tie. I hope it wasn't ruined, I just know for sure she would be upset if that happened. When I got to the crater, I climbed down inside it and started looking for her bow tie. It didn't take too long to find because it was in the same spot I found her laying last night. As I was getting ready to climb out of the crater there was a flash of bright light and a loud voice. "Michael, son of John you have been chosen to be the protector of Octavia." I didn't understand what it meant. "Protect her from what?" The next thing the voice sad was the most confusing. "There are people(ponies) out looking for Octavia and you must keep her safe. That is why we sent her to you as a filly. To keep her identity hidden." Before I could try to get anymore information from the mysterious voice, the bright light and the voice disappeared. As I stand here for the next few moments I try to take in what just happened. Am I really worthy of being Octavia's protector? Who or what is after Octavia? Who was it that spoke to me? Finally who was Octavia really, was she just a cello player/performer or something more? There was no way for me to get these questions serenaded at the moment. When I made it back inside I quickly washed up and got ready for my last day of school. A thought came to me. What am I supposed to do with Octavia? I still haven't talked to mom about her, should I ask her after school? If I wait till after school mom might find her and kick her out onto the street. I couldn't bare for that to happen to Octavia. While in deep thought on what to do I grabbed some food for me and Tavi. I carrid it upstairs to my room, along with her bow tie. The good thing is I still have about 45 minutes till I need to be at school. When I entered my room I found Octavia standing on my computer chair, looking at the computer. "What ya doing Octavia?" I asked her. Being here with Octavia made me think back to what happened in the backyard. Octavia looked so peaceful and kind. What kind of people could want to harm her? I pulled up another chair and sad down beside her and looked at the computer to see what she was lookin at. I noticed that skype was open and Anthony was on the screen. Oh no, why is he on and how did Octavia open it up? "Hey Michael I need to talk to you now!" Did anything happen last night? Anything abnormal?" Why is he asking me this? I looked down at Octavia. Duh Octavia was right here beside me and so that means he can see her. I looked back at Anthony, "Ya I guess you can say something happened. I'd like you to meet Octavia and I found her as a filly HeHe." He didn't seem surprised and picked something or someone up. "I'd like you to meet Vinyl Scratch. Say hi Vinyl." She waved to me and Tavi and smiled. D'aww, that's so cute. I know I'm a guy but still every guy has a soft spot. "Anyways Michael tell me what happened this morning. Tell me everything." He said this very seriously, so I told him everything. I told him everything from when I walked to the backyard this morning to the mysterious voice I heard. "Dude I heard that same voice telling me to protect Vinyl. What have we gotten ourselves into?" He said this sarcastically. As time grew near I had to say goodbye and sign off. I turned around and faced Octavia. "Alright Octavia I got some food up here for you and please don't make any noise while I'm gone. She looked at me and from what I can tell for the most part, she understood. When I got to school I didn't really care about being here. All I could think about is that mysterious voice and Octavia. The good thing is that the last day of school is a half a day for seniors.That means a lesser chance of mom finding Octavia. On my way to my first class I had a weird feeling come over me. It's like I felt lighter than air and I also had flashes of images in my head. Next thing I know I see people breaking into my house. I notice that these weren't regular people, they had these weird markings all over themselves. They seemed like they were looking for something or someone. Oh no Octavia!! I dashed home as fast as I could. When I got home everything seemed fine, I didn't see mom so I figured she must've got called into work. I decided to go check on Octavia to see if she was okay. I knocked on my door letting her know it was me and walked inside. Octavia was laying down on my bed reading a music magazine, go figure right. Question is how can she read if she can't quite talk yet. She looked up at me and waved. Next thing I know is that I hear a crash downstairs. I look towards Octavia and said, "Octavia get underneath my bed and don't come out no matter what happens, even if I don't come back up here. You must stay hidden." After making sure she was well hidden I left the room and went downstairs. > chapter 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~Anthony's POV~ "Hey it's Anthony here and this is my story leading up to me and Michael talking on skype before school and after." ~The Morning Before Vinyl~ I woke up as the morning sun shined down on my face, so I got up to close the curtains, I could try to get a little more sleep, but the sun just won't let me. I've been living alone since I moved out of my parent's house. As I was getting around, I was debating on whether I should go to school or not, eventually I decided not to, it's the last two days 'til I'm out of that hell hole, so why bother. I just hope that Michael will be alright alone today, I still remember the day back in first grade when I first met him. ~flashback~ It was my first day going to this school and I was kinda nervous. My mom noticed this so she walked with me to my classroom. She was the nicest person I knew at the time and always brightened up my day. When I said goodbye to my mom I walked into the classroom. They must have been notified that I would be here today, because they had someone waiting for to take me out to the playground. I told the lady that was walking me outside "Thanks" and I walked out onto the blacktop. As I was getting familiar with my surroundings, I noticed a group of people in a circle. I walked over to where they were at to see what was going on. When I got over there, I saw a kid about my age on the ground hurt and another standing above him. I was so angry from seeing this, that I pushed myself past the people in front of me and intervened. "Hey!" "Why don't you pick on somebody your own size!" The kid standing looked at me and smiled, "You mean somebody like you?" Even though I was scared from possibly getting hurt, it would be well worth standing up to this guy. "Yeah, if it means protecting people from the likes of you, so come at me." He started charging at me like a maniac. We didn't know how to fight for real, since we were only first graders, but who cares. Before it got too bad, a teacher came over to let us know it was time to go back inside. When the crowd dispersed, she saw me pinning the bully on the ground and the other kid (Which I later came to know as Michael), behind us hurt. I've been Michael's best friend ever since. ~End of Flashback~ After getting dressed, I fixed myself a bowl of cereal and put on some dubstep. My favorite song was the first to play, "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites." I turned the volume up all the way and added more bass. Trying to carry a bowl filled with milk and cereal while head banging doesn't go together, but I survived. When I finished breakfast and dancing to some more Skrillex, I decided to take a walk and I made sure that all the electronics and lights were off and locked my house up. As I was walking down my street, I noticed my neighbor outside watering his garden. "Hey Mr. Carlson." He turned around as I was waving to him, "Shouldn't you be in school Anthony?" he said with a stern voice. I knew he was just giving me a hard time, "I should be in school, but I decided to take a personal day. I passed all my finals and tomorrow is the last day till I'm done with high school." "Alright well stay out of trouble and enjoy the day." He waved goodbye and I started back down the street. It's been about two hours since talking to Mr. Carlson and it's around noon. The only thing is, the weatherman said it was suppose to be a high of 90 degrees and it feels about 75. I just figured it was a mistake they made, you can't trust everything you hear on TV. That wasn't the only thing weird that I noticed, there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. I personally believe that there is at least a few clouds in the sky at all times, but there wasn't. This day is freaking me out, though I like weird, it's better than normal, so I continued on my way. I decided to stop by the store on my way back home and buy a new Vinyl Scratch shirt. When I got inside, I went to the clothes section, I saw many different shirts with Vinyl on them and some that had Octavia with her. Michael is the biggest Octavia fan I know, so I didn't get one with her on it because he would try to take it. I decided to go with the shirt that had Vinyl Scratch as a human, then I went to the cash register to pay for my shirt. The lady at the register looked about a year older than me and the coolest thing was her hair. Her hair was styled the same as Vinyl's, the color and everything. I handed her the shirt and her eyes went wide, "About time somebody bought a Vinyl Scratch shirt. Everyone goes for the Rainbow Dash or Dr. Whooves." I was so touched by what she said, "Finally, somebody agrees with me about Vinyl being best. My friend Michael is an Octavia fan, but that doesn't matter." She looked at me and then laughed, "So you're telling me your friend likes that boring orchestrated crap instead of dubstep?" I had to agree with her on this one, she made a valid point. "Yeah, he does side with Octavia, but he does listen to some dubstep. He's pretty cool once you get to know him." "Well, I best be going, I got to hit the sound board and make some new tunes." She started writing something down and then handed it to me. "That's my number maybe all three of us could hang out sometime?" That was cool of her to give me her number, "Sure thing, I'll give you a call when I get the chance." We said goodbye and I left the store. When I finally got back home I went to my room and sat down at my computer and sent Michael a message through steam, hoping he would get it soon. As I waited, I went to Youtube to listen to some music and watched video's until I got a message back from Michael. After a bit, I finally got connected with him. When he popped up on the screen, he looked to be in deep thought. He told me what had happened with his dad and I just nodded. It was a terrible thing to happen, but we just ignored it. I showed him my new T-shirt and we chatted, argued, and etc. He finally said goodbye and logged off, I decided to stay up and make some more of my original dubstep and making covers of other songs. I've gotten quite popular on Youtube and it's kinda cool when you think about it. Just before I put on my stereo headphones, I saw a bright light in the night sky. I went over to my window and looked up at it and it looked like a shooting star, but heading right towards me. Right when I was shutting my window and taking cover, it landed in my yard. Out of curiosity, I went outside to check out what it was. Not knowing what it was, I walked carefully towards it. Whatever it was it was surrounded by a moderate cobalt blue aura of some sort. This was the weirdest part of my day and possibly of my entire life. When the aura died down I saw a small object laying down in the center of it. Still curious, I walked up to it and finally figured out what it was, to be more exact who it was. I've never been so happy in my life, here she was, a filly Vinyl Scratch. I was silently jumping up and down in my head and screaming. Then, I bent down next to the filly and she looked up at me with her awesome red eyes. Though for a split second of silence, we stared at each other until my dubstep mix started to blare. Vinyl looked towards my house and tilted her head to listen for a second and then started to head bang to the music. I was shocked, even as a filly she loved her bass. "Hey Vinyl, do you want to go inside, I can show you some more of my mix." She looked at me then nodded, I led her to the entrance and we went inside. ~The Next Day~ I was trying to figure out why I was so tired this morning, then I remembered, I was up late making some more mixes with Vinyl. It was still pretty early, so Michael won't be awake yet, so I looked over at Vinyl, she must of fell asleep beside me last night. I decided to not wake her up yet and go to the kitchen to make breakfast for the both of us. When I got to the kitchen, I saw the sun just barely over the horizon, it was a beautiful sight. Today was going to be a good day, but little did I know that danger is just around the corner. As I was fixing me and Vinyl some homemade oatmeal, she came into the room and sat at the table. "Mornin' Vinyl," she looked up at me and said,"Mornin' to you too." I was shocked that she could speak at this age, but nothing surprises me anymore since last night, I laughed and brought her food and sat down to eat mine. As I was about to ask her if she remembered anything that happened last night, besides making music, I was suddenly put into a trance and I heard a voice in my head. "I have chosen you Anthony, to be the protector of Vinyl Scratch. There are dangerous people after her, so protect her with your life." What I was thinking when I heard this was how cool and weird it was, but I was also frightened. The voice said one final thing before it disappeared, "We will speak again." After I got out of the trance, I looked over at Vinyl and asked her if she heard anything. Vinyl shook her head and said, "Nope." When we got done with breakfast, Vinyl and I went back to my room and signed onto Skype. When I got logged on, I was surprised that Michael was already online, so I sent a message to connect with me. When I got the okay, the video popped up and I saw what looked like a filly Octavia staring back at me. Then I heard Michael come into his room and say, "Whatcha doin' Tavi?" When he finally came up on the screen I asked him if anything strange happened last night and that's how our conversation went. I let him meet Vinyl and told him about the strange voice I heard and he said that he heard it too. After awhile, he said goodbye and left, I already called the school to say I couldn't make it and lied about being sick today. I didn't really care about school much now that I have Vinyl here. Vinyl and I hit the sound board and went back to making some more dubstep, we were doing this for about an hour or so when I suddenly heard Michael on the computer again. I thought he signed out and left for school, why was he back at home? I heard him tell Octavia to hide under the bed and stay there. Then he left his room to head downstairs, what was going on? I decided to find out and said goodbye to Vinyl and locked the house up. I dashed for Michael's house to see what was going on. > chapter 4 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~Anthony's POV "What is going on over at Michael's and what was that crash?" As I was running over to Michael's, I was trying to figure out what I was walking into. Little did I know, that this event would effect both of our lives. I was about four blocks away, when I noticed smoke in the air. This was getting me really worked up, I took off on a dead sprint for Michael's place. ~Michael's POV~ After telling Octavia to hide, I left the room and tiptoed down the stairs. It was starting to get harder to breathe, the closer I got downstairs. I soon realized that my house was on fire, they must of threw maltives inside and that was what the crash sound was, but who would do something like this. I never did anything to anyone to hate me this much. Then I remembered the vision I had earlier, their were people outside my house trying to break in, could it be them that are burning down my house. Also the mysterious voice had said that there were people after Octavia. At the thought of all of this happening, I again tried to figure out who she really is, but no luck. When I made it downstairs, I saw flames everywhere I looked. I best be on my guard down here, whoever did this may still be around. That's when I heard some voices in the kitchen area, "What if she ain't here boss?" "Firehawk why do you always have to doubt my decisions, of course that bitch is here. I won't stop searching for her till I get my revenge, don't you remember what she did to me." When I looked around the corner, I saw the biggest guy called boss, point to his face. Their were some burn marks all over his face and his eye was missing. No way my Octavia would do something like that to anyone, but I still don't know who she really is. I decided to head back upstairs to prepare Octavia and I for an escape. If these are the people I saw in my vision, then we better get away fast. On my way back up the stairs, I suddenly got lightheaded again. "Michael you must leave town and get far away from here now!!" "I know this, what do you think I'm doing!" The mysterious voice was starting to get really frustrated, "Michael don't get angry with me, just trust me." Then it was gone, I finally got to my room and entered. ~Anthony's POV~ When I finally made it to Michael's, I noticed that his house was about to collapse, the entire place was a'flame. Then I noticed movement upstairs, "Who in their right name, would still be inside and where was the fire department," I thought? Next thing I notice is Michael and Octavia jumping out of the 2nd story window and land on the ground. "Aagh!" I heard Michael scream in agony, I ran over to his side to see what happened. "Anthony help we must get away from here now. Their are people inside, that want to hurt Octavia, grab my bag and let's go." I help Michael to his feet and lifted Octavia off the ground to carry her on my shoulders, I also notice that Michael was limping. He must've sprained his ankle from the impact. As we were walking away I heard shouts behind us, "Don't let them get away!!" We took off running or as close to a run we can get. Then I got an idea, I led us to a empty car and had everyone get inside. I used to be a part of the gang in this town and I had a thing for hot wiring cars. Once I got everyone inside the vehicle, I climbed into the front seat and tried starting the car. When I finally got the car to start, I kicked the car into first and sped off, down the street. Good thing I watched all those fast and furious movies lol. After awhile, we finally got away from those creeps and made it safely back to my house. I parked the car insed the garage and helped Michael inside the house. "Hey Anthony, thanks for the save back their, if you hadn't shown up Octavia and I wouldn't be around anymore. Their is one thing though, we can't stay in this town anymore." I was a little shocked at what he said about leaving town, but I did understand why. "Michael wherever you go, I will be by your side to back you up." Michael sat up a bit to lessen the pain in his ankle and said," That means alot to me, but we can't go together. What if those people show up again, that would meant they caught us, including Octavia and Vinyl?" I looked saddened when he said that and I tried to hold back tears, mainly because I knew he was right. "Anthony I know you don't want this to happen, but we got to do what's best for Octavia and Vinyl. Those guy's won stop looking for them." I looked Michael straight in the eyes and got serious, "I won't allow you to leave town on that injured foot, so your with me till it's better." He started to laugh at that, because he's use to my careless side. "I already planned on that, but we ain't staying here. The Mysterious voice spoke to me back at my place, saying for us to leave town," Michael said seriously. I stood up to get more ice for Michael's foot and asked, "Where should we go? We can't go far without money and transportation and I'm not getting caught with that stolen car? Michael suddenly got smart and said, "I know we're not using it we will ditch the car out in the country. When we get out in the country, we can travel by foot and camp along the way. I got all my camp supplies and I know where my dad's gun stash is out in the woods, so we can hunt for food." When I got back from the kitchen with the bag of ice I asked, "Didn't you just say that you wanted to split up and go our separate ways?" He grabbed the ice from me and put it on his ankle and said, "Your right I did say that, but I saw how sad you got and thought up this great plan. That is if you can toughen up and survive off the land," Michael started laughing histerically. "Hey don't forget, I've had to save you from the Jocks and preppy bitches at school," I said this while laughing. Michael stopped laughing and looked behind me, I turned around and saw vinyl at my side looking up at me. Vinyl stared with her bright red eyes and said, "What happened to Michael and Octavia, why do they have burns on them?" I didn't know what to say to her, she didn't sound worried, just curious. "There house burnt down, so they decided to go on a camping trip. Do you want us to go along with them?" Vinyl thought for a moment and said, "Sure, but what about our soundboard and us making dubstep for our fans?" She made a valid point, what would everyone on the web, think if we dropped off the face of the earth? Then I remembered that my parents had a camper with solar pannels, that they said I could have for a graduation present, we could use the camper to generate electricity for our electronics. "Hey guys, I just remembered that my folks has a camper that they got me for a graduation present, we could use that while we are on our "camping trip." and Vinyl and I could still make some awesome tunes." Vinyl got really excited about this and started jumping up and down in joy. After a few hours of packing up supplies and clothes, we drove over to my parents place. When we got their, I went inside to go talke to my parents about the camper. Once I was inside, I saw my mom in the kitchen cooking dinner and my dad in the living room watching TV. My dad was the first person to notice me, "Hows it going Anthony, it's been awhile since you been here." I grinned at that, "Yeah I know and I'm sorry for..." " Hey Anthony you doing alright?" Just like my mom always interupting me when I'm talking, I silently laughed. "It's going good, Michael and I are going on a long camping trip and I was wondering if I can have the camper now?" I was praying to whoever will listen out there, that they say yes. Mom was the first to speak, "Sure Anthony it is your graduation gift from us." Then Dad got up to speak, "Just remember son to be safe out in the woods. There are some animals out there, that don't take kindly to strangers, also idiots lurk in the woods." I laughed again, "Yeah Dad I know all the survival training, you've given me over the years." I said goodbye to my parents and went out to the car to tell Michael that I got the keys to the camper. I also gave Michael a walkie-talkie, so he can talk to me while we are separated. After about a thirty minute drive on the road, we turned down a dirt road leading into the woods. It was another ten minute drive untill we stopped and got out of the vehicles. "Hey man where are we at," I asked him? Michael turned to look at me and said, "I told you I was going to stop by my dad's weapons stash. If he only knew that I'm taking them, he would kill me for sure," he said sarcastically. We followed Michael a little ways down a path and then I saw a little shack in front of us. I stopped to rest a'bit, with Octavia and Vinyl at my side. "I'll let you in on a little secret of mine, this wasn't just my dad's weapons stash, it was originally my grandfather's. My grandfather used to work at Area 51, so he had this place built, just in case of an alien invasion. I decided on coming out here to pick up some supplies, we will need to defend ourselves from this mysterious group, that are after Vinyl and Octavia. Octavia and Vinyl looked up at Michael with curiousity, but soon ignored him. I didn't believe Michael about his grandfather working at Area 51, "No way your grandfather worked at Area 51." He had a straight face and said, "I'm being serious follow me." We went inside and he told us to stand in the center of the room. Michael walked towards the window and moved the curtain aside and pushed a button. All fo a sudden the floor started to move downward and Octavia, Vinyl, and I started to freak out. Normally Michael would be laughing at us, but he just stood there silently. When we stopped moving, we were inside a larger room, which had guns everywhere. Their were AK-47's, Barret 50 Calibors, M-16's and etc. "Woah man I guess you were telling the truth." I walked over to pick up a gun to check it out. Michael was already packing a dufflebag, putting ammunition, medkits, and grenades inside. "Yeah, my dad rarely comes out here, mainly because he's afraid the government would come and take him away. I guess that means take anything you think we need, also their is one thing we need to do." I asked, "What is it we need to do?" He walked over to a computer and started typing something, "We need to erase our identity." I got defensive on that statement, "Wait!!! What about our parents, what do you think they will do if we just suddenly fell off the face of the earth. What about your parents, they already have to deal with the house being demolished and you disappearing." Michael nodded, "Yeah I know, but we got to do what's best for Octavia and VInyl, they need us." Michael led me to a machine and had me put my hands on the table, to scan my finger prints. It then erased everything out there, that has my information on it. MIchael did the same thing and we soon left the building and went on our way. ~Somehere in a distant world~ "Sister they have escaped from the bandits and have left the town." The Princess of the night walked across the room, towards her sister. "Luna they have gotten lucky this time. I don't know what you see in these humans, but I hpe you made a good decision in trusting them with our most prized agents." The Princess of the night bowed her head and left the room and flew off into the night sky. > chapter 5 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~Anthony's POV I stood shocked at what I just did. Let a machine wipe me off the face of Earth. It was like not existing anymore. It's what I was thinking while me, Michael, Vinyl and Octavia walked out of the disguised shack, got in the car and drove onto the nearby path. "You sure that was a good idea," I said, "wiping out any info leading to us?" After a while Michael replied. "If there isn't any information leading to our lives, anyone looking for us with Octavia an Vinyl aren't gonna know how to find us, or even figure out what we would do." I thought about what he said and told him, "Oh, well I guess I didn't think of that." We arrived at the woods we were looking for. It was getting visibly darker each second that passed. I didn't need a watch to tell it was around 7:30 pm. Vinyl spoke up. "This reminds me of the Everfree forest near Ponyville." "I agree," Octavia pursued ,"it's also very creepy." “I thought you guys don’t have any memory of Ponyville and Equestria,” I asked curiously? “I guess we are getting bits and pieces back slowly,” Vinyl said. I just decided to ignore it for now and I didn't want to hang around the woods where I couldn't see, so I asked Michael if we could camp out on the edge of the woods. "Sure, we can. Everything in the car?" I nodded and hopped into the camper, but before I closed the door I said,"We're gonna have to ditch it eventually, you know." "Someone's gonna notice their car is missing. I guess we could leave it here after tonight." He replied. "What's a car?" Vinyl and Octavia simultaneously asked. Michael did the best he could to describe a car. "It's an... Automatic... Wagon?" "Oh!" They seemed to understand. When we found a place to camp we set up camp. The tent was the first to go up. We placed four sleeping bags in the tent. There was a pink one, a red one, a blue one and a green one. Michael picked green, vinyl blue, and Octavia got red. I was sad to be stuck with pink, but at least it's comfortable. I went into the forest with Vinyl to get some wood. I took the Barrett 50 cal I got from the shack with me, just in case. My dad always warned me of the dangers from camping. We walked for about 7 minutes when I heard a faint whisper and a rustle of bushes and other vegetation. Slowly I pointed my sniper at where the noise came from and called out, "Hello? Who's there?" I regretted saying that after what came out. Or most importantly, WHO came out. ~Michael’s POV~ Octavia and I were sitting on our sleeping bags, using our flashlights to get food out of our bags. We decided on having a weenie roast to lighten the mood, when Michael and Vinyl get back with the firewood. After about 15 minutes, I started to get a little worried. They should have been back by now, I mean it’s a forest, there is plenty of sticks laying around. I stood up and said, “Octavia hide out in the tent till I get back. Im going to go check on Michael and Vinyl.” Octavia stood up and walked over to the tent, “Alrite but please hurry back, this really does remind me of the Everfree Forest.” I walked deeper into the woods and started hearing some voices, “Hello Anthony," The voice said cunningly. That voice sounded familiar and then I realized, that's my Dad's voice. How did he get out of prison and more importantly, how did he find us? I ran over to where the voices were coming from and hid behind the bushes, so they wouldn't see me. "Tell me where my son is, I know you are helping him protect Octavia!" Anthony started walking backwards very slowly, "I don't what your talking about, I'm just out having a good time camping." Anthony accidently tripped over a loose root and dropped the fire wood and fell down. "Oh don't give me that load of shit, tell me where he is now or I'll shoot," I saw Dad raise his pistol and aimed it right at Anthony's head. I was about to jump out of the bushes and tackle my Dad, but somebody from behind him spoke. "Robert, don't forget they told us to take them back alive, or they would have our heads," the Stranger stepped out of the bushes and stood beside my Dad. Anthony was still on the ground and asked, "Who is it that gave you that order?" The Stranger spoke first, "That's none of your buisness kid, all that matters is that we get our money and you are delivered." That's when I saw Vinyl come out from behind Anthony and yelled, "If you lay a hoof on Anthony, you will have to anwser to me!!" My Dad and the Stranger started laughing, "You honestly think you would stand a chance against us," They asked? Vinyl ran towards them and turned around, to buck my Dad right in the shin. My Dad fell to the ground, from the impact, "You little pest, John get that horse and I'll grab Anthony. As they were about to grab them, I stepped out of the bushes with my M16 in my hands. "Yo Dad, you touch my friends, you will pay the price. I already had you sent to prison, the next consequence will be death. Now tell me, who sent you and how did you find us?" They backed up a bit and my Dad spoke, "Now son please put down the gun, this is all a big misunderstanding." I walked closer and raised my gun, pointing it at his head, "Tell me now or i will shoot." He finally broke and said, "Alright I'll tell you, just put the gun down. It all started when John and I escaped prison. That's when they showed up." "We were running towards the Highway to hitch a ride with someone, but before we got there some people got in our way. We thought they were just some gang members, because of the tattoo markings on their body. I walked towards them and told them to back off, so we could keep on moving. They just stood there until one of the members confronted me. He said that if we helped them, they would pay us some major cash and help us escape. We got greedy and accepted the offer, only the catch was that It was you they wanted. I had revenge in my heart, so I didn't care. They told us where to find you and Anthony were at and that we had to take all of you back to them, along with the horses." I interupted him, "They ain't horses, so stop saying that. They are equals to us, so back off, now you may continue." My Dad had a confused look, but shook it off and continued. "The leader, the one that confronted us, raised his hand and it started glowing. Next thing I know a SUV appeared right in front of us, I was scared shitless. This guy had made a car materialize out of nothing. He told us to get in and gave us the location on where to find them, when we capture you guys. We left and I figured you would come here to get supplies to protect you from these people. That's about it, now will you please put the gun down Michael?" I still didn't trust him, so i said," Not until you throw your pistol aside, along with you John, toss whatever weapons you have aside." They did this and I lowered my M16 and walked over to Anthony to help him up. I also walked over to Vinyl and gave her a brohoof and said, "Nice job Vinyl." She started smiling and then put her serious look back on. She then walked toward's my Dad and his friend and said, "I don't know what Michael wants done with you, but I would have him shoot you in the leg and leave you two out here in the cold. Though I don't think he is that mean, so what do you want to do Michael, Anthony?" I just looked at her with my mouth hanging, did she just seriously say that? It isn't that bad of a thought, they were going to hurt Anthony and Vinyl, but I decided against it. "I'm not going to shoot you, but I will take all of your ammunition and supplies. Then you can just leave and don't come back looking for us, if you report back to those crooks and I find out, I'll personally hunt you down and take your life. Do you understand?" I don't know if this happens very often, but I could tell my Dad and his friend were more scared of us, than the people that burnt down our house. Dad and his friend gave us everything they had and left. I decided to shoot towards the direction they left, to give them a warning shot, to make sure they understood me. Next thing I hear is them running away like little kids. We decided to gather more fire wood and head back to our camp site. Vinyl wanted to help, so she picked up some sticks with her mouth and carried it the rest of the way. When we got back I told Octavia that it was safe to come out, so she came outside the tent and sat down beside me. I put the fire wood in the pit, that we made and started trying to get it to light. While I was trying to light the fire wood, Anthony had Vinyl go inside the tent to get the Marshmallows and hotdogs. Knowing that they don't eat meat, I reminded Anthony about the dandelion's I picked along the way. He got up and grabbed the loaf of bread, so Octavia and Vinyl could eat Dandelion sandwiches. When they got back, we all sat down to have a good time. Anthony got this great idea, "Hey Vinyl want to show Michael and Octavia our new tunes." Vinyl quickly scarfed down her sandwhich and ran over to the camper. Anthony rushed to her side and opened the door the camper. They brought out the equipment and got a extension chord to hook everything up. When they were finished Anthony got a couple of stools from inside and they sat down. Octavia and I sat there and listened to the two jam out and headbang. Afterwhile Anthony got a little tired and we all settled in for the night. We have a long journey on our hands. ~Back in Equestria~ Once Luna got back from raising the moon and entered her sister's study, "Sister we have decided to go to Earth and help out the human's. Celestia quickly turned around and said, "Why must you go to Earth, you have been doing just fine comunicating to them from here." Luna shook here head, "I'm afraid that they will soon not listen to me, not knowing who it is speaking to them." Celestia understood, " I may not trust these humans, but be careful, we do not quite understand this Earth. I will try my best protecting this land, until you get back. I beleive this new threat is planning an assault on Canterlot. Whoever is after Octavia and Vinyl, is also here in Equestria still." After Luna got done with her meeting with her sister, she did a teleportation spell and disappeared. ~Back on Earth~ Luna made it safely to Earth, but was in shock at her new appearance. She looked down at her body and noticed she had hands and feet. Not only that she wasn't quite use to standing on two legs. After getting use to her new body, she went on her way to look for Michael and the rest of the group. > chapter 6 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~Luna’s POV~ Still recovering from her teleportation spell, Luna set’s out to find Michael and the rest of the group. As she is walking, she notice’s how different the two worlds are from each other. What she finds most remarkable is that the weather on earth is controlled by no pony, but on its own. One more thing she found fascinating is the night sky, how different it looks to the one she created back in Equestria. Luna thought to herself, “I need to stop looking at the sky and start looking for Michael.” She starts on her search once again. Little did she know that she wasn’t alone in her neck of the woods. ~Michael’s POV~ When we all went into the tent to get some sleep, I just couldn’t shut myself down; I had way too much on my mind. How did those people find my dad and why did they have him come after us? Did they think that I would trust him, and come along nicely? Even though I hate his guts, I just hope he doesn’t get into too much trouble. After about an hour of just laying there, Michael finally fell asleep. ~In another part of the woods~ “Why have you not brought back them back too us, like we told you!!” The leader of The Bandits continued on yelling at Michael’s father and his friend. “We told specifically to capture them and bring them to us, isn’t that right boys? All you could hear was a bunch of “Yes sir” and “You did tell them that boss.” The leader turned back towards Michael’s father and said, “Do you think you deserve another chance, or do I need to go and do it myself?” Robert, Michael’s father, took a step forward and said, “Please we can do this, just give us that second chance.” The leader of the bandits said, “Alright I’m a man of my word, you get another shot at this, but if you fail, you won’t survive to see another day. Do you understand me?” Robert and his friend said, “Yes sir.” One of the members of the group came up to the leader and said, “Sir, one of our patrols has spotted a bright flash of light, about 30 minutes walk from here. Do you want me send out a group of men to go check it out?” The leader thought for second and then said, “Yes, head out and check it out and if you find anyone, bring them back here.” The guy then ran towards a group of men and set out to find out what it was they saw. The leader thought to himself, “About time you showed up Luna and I can’t wait till we meet again.” He chuckled and told Robert and his friend to get lost and he walked back to his tent. ~Luna’s POV~ Luna, after finally recovering from her big use of magic, decided on using a tracking spell to try and find Michael. Her hand started glowing and then, just like a hologram, a radar appeared above her hand. It showed an image of the forest around her and red dots telling her where Michael was at. As she was looking more closely at it, it showed more dots coming closer to her location. Luna quickly started running, whoever it was, she had to get out of here. Luna started undoing the jacket that she had on and spread her wings out. Just as she was about to take flight, someone grabbed her leg and pulled her back to the ground. Someone else grabbed her wings and tied them down and also tied her hands together. “What is it you people want and how did you know where I was at?” Luna asked them harshly. “It’s not what we want, it’s what our boss wants and we think you might know who he is.” The person that said this started laughing and everyone else around them also laughed. They started heading back towards their camp site, with Luna tied up. When they got back to their camp, their leader spotted them and grinned when he saw Luna. “I’m surprised you didn’t put up much of a fight your Majesty.” He sarcastically bowed and laughed, “I’m guessing you didn’t want to fight, because your curiosity got the best of you and you wanted to know more about who we are. That was your biggest mistake, because you aren’t going to find any answers here. We work for someone with bigger plans, for both worlds, Earth and Equestria.” After saying all of this he raised his hand and cast a magical barrier around Luna. Luna tried countering It, but was to late, the barrier already surrounded her and it made it to where she couldn’t use magic. Luna looked over to where the group’s leader was and said, “You won’t get away with this Leon!” ~Anthony's POV~ The next morning, "I want to leave the forest! It's creepy!" Vinyl whined, mouth full with toasty marshmallows. "She's right. Can we leave now?" Octavia asked. "Sure thing, guys." I replied. "Yay!" They both shouted. Our band of intelligence was siting down near the fire, enjoying weenies and marshmallows, while the ponies enjoyed another dandelion sandwich with marshmallows, as well. After the incident last night, we decided to leave camp after we rested. No one wanted to re-live it and nopony wanted to stay near the ominous forest, so it was chosen to leave the woods itself and find another path. "Did you get everything we need from the camper?" I asked Michael. "Yeah, there in the sleeping bags. Be careful, though. You know the bags can easily rip and the stuff inside is delicate," Michael said. "Right. Yo, everybody-" I was cut off. "EveryPONY." Octavia corrected. Michael laughed. "So...yeah everypony," I then mumbled something inaudible, "hurry up and eat your food. We should leave ASAP for better chance of 'early bird gets the worm.'" Surprisingly, we all wolfed down our meal and started to heave the sleeping bags over us and we carried (or in the ponies case, hauled) the stuff around the forest. *Thud* Michael turned around in a flash. Vinyl started laughing hysterically. Octavia had face planted in some mud, sleeping bag on top. "Are you alright?" Michael asked and put down his load to help Octavia. "Yes, I'm fine. But I guess I'm not much of a work pony. And vinyl, this isn't funny!" She laughed harder. Even her laughter made me chuckle a bit. Octavia looked unhappy and unpleased. I soon recognized the emotion and stopped gawking. "Sorry, Octavia, I didn't realize how embarrassing this was to you. We're sorry, right Vinyl?" She continued to chortle. I smote her by the hind leg. "Ye-yeah, i-I'm sorry, Tav-i!" Vinyl apologized, trying to hold down her laughter. We continued around the forest for about 2 hours. "Are we there yet?" Vinyl questioned. "Now, don't go starting that." I replied. Another hour passed and finally we saw a road about 700 feet away. We quickly sprinted to it with our remaining energy. When we reached it, it wasn't a road. It was a highway. "What's a highway doing around here?" I asked, not meaning to have an answer. "I don't know, why were ya asking me?" Michael replied. I stood silenced. He responded to my silence after a while. "Uh, you think we should scavenge the highway banks for anything useful?" I nodded. "I don't want to mess up my complexion anymore than I already have." Octavia confessed. Michael didn't want to fight with her, I could tell. So I tried to persuade her. "Hey, come on Tavi! Michael will teach you more... Skills in cello-playing. Right Michael?" I winked at him. "D-uh, yeah, I'll help you play the cello more." Immediately Octavia shot up with a grin smeared across her face. "Really!?" "Yes!" "Yay!" Soon after that we commenced our search for supplies. After 7 minutes of frantic search, Vinyl said she found something. So I went over to see what it was. "It looks like some kind of token." She said to me. "Hold on. Give it to me." I asked. Once I received it, i couldn't believe my eyes. What she found was two BITS. No. Freakin'. Way. "Woah!" I screeched. "Wait, what?" Michael asked. "Can you believe it? Vinyl found two bits!" I responded. "No way!" "I know right! Nice job vinyl." She smiled. "Hey... Aren't bits the usual currency in Equestria?" He yet again asked. "Duh!" I replied. "Where the hell did that come from?" "I don't know." "You'd better keep that safe," I said, "Don't know what might happen to it." He replied with a nod and put the bits in his pocket. I spotted an old tire on the highway a short way from me. I quickly checked the highway for any incoming vehicles. As soon as that was done, I ran up to the tire and snatched it up, then brought it back. "Yo, look what I found. An old tire." "Why would we need that?" Michael asked, looking back at the ponies to (I guess) make sure they're okay. "You never know. We might need this. It still got some air in it." I set the tire down beside the sleeping bags and went back to searching. *Crunch* The dirt below my feet suddenly caved in a pit. I screamed. "Ahh!" I landed on my right foot, but that wasn't all. When i landed, my foot made a snapping sound. I had broke my ankle I think. The pain was unbearable. It felt as if someone took a sledge hammer and brought it down on my ankle with such force, it could break a brick. I don't know why it hurt so much. Another cry escaped me after a while, one of agony. "Ahh, my damn foot!" I looked up. Foot and hoof steps were heard nearing me. "What happened!?" Vinyl gasped. "The ground caved in! I don't see a way out." I took a look around the pit. Nothing. Nothing but utter darkness. "I also managed to...break my foot." "What? How?" Michael said. "I don't know. We have to get me out." "This is very dreadful," Octavia said, "We have to help him!" "Please get Anthony out!" Vinyl pleaded to Michael. He stood there, then seemed to have thought of an idea. "Wait here." He said and walked out of my sight. "Hurry!" I yelped. I started to feel drowsy. Oh no. "I...I think I'm gonna-" and then everything went black. *Thud* "Anthony!" Mom called out. "Just six more minutes, mom!" I replied. Wait a second. "Mom? Is that you?" "Dude, it's Michael!" Suddenly I stood right up. Pain shot through my right foot. "Oh, yeah. Right." "Yo, you alright?" "If you forget my injury, then yeah I'm fine." "I got a truck to pull over by the highway. It was carrying rope and twine. You're getting out, bro!" Relief overwhelmed me. "How long was I blacked out?" I asked. "Four days!" "What?!" "I know, right?" Soon some rope was brought down and I grabbed onto it. "One, two, three, pull!" I could hear a man I could tell much older than me or Michael. They, including the man, pulled me out of the pit. As soon as I was out, I flopped onto the ground. "Thank you!" I told the man. "Yer' welcome. Name's Eddie. Mighty well to meet you." He said and stuck out his arm. I shook it. "Nice to meet you too." "Sure hope ah meet ya guys soon. Ya folks are real fine." "Me too. Thanks for helping out, Eddie." Michael took out his wallet. "So how much will it be? A twenty?" "Oh no, don't worry, I'm jus' helpin' out a little, you know?" "You sure?" "Of course! Ah'd better get back to ma shift. Got a lotta stuff to haul, ya know?" "Don't worry we understand," We both said. And without another word he got in his semi-truck and drove away. Michael called to the ponies. "I made them hide behind the bushes where they couldn't be seen." "That's smart." "Come on out, it's safe!" Octavia, and only her, stepped out the bushes. "Where's vinyl?" I asked her. "I don't know! All I heard was some grass shaking and hoofsteps. I turned around but nopony was there!" "What now!?" Michael said. ~Back at The Bandits camp~ A scout group had just got back to check in and "Leon" their leader is in for a surprise. "Hey Boss check out what we got, we think your gona like it," A scout member said. The scout pulled Vinyl out from behind him. She had a bag over her head and was freaking out. "Where am I!! Michael! Anthony! Anyone!! Leon smiled and thought, "This is perfect, one down and three to go." He walked towards the scout group and Vinyl and said, "Where are the others didn't you see them?" "She's the only one we saw Boss," The scout cringed expecting a blow to the head, but it never came. "If you found this one, they are bound to be out looking for her, now get back out there and look," Leon shouted. They soon left and Leon walked towards Vinyl and said, "Your mine now Vinyl and I'll be soon getting my revenge on you and your little friend Octavia." Vinyl shook in fear and was tossed into the magic prison with Princess Luna. "Here's a little friend for you Luna enjoy." "I'm sorry I failed you Luna," Vinyl said bowing. "I'm not mad Vinyl, for I too have been captured. Lets just hope the others will be safe." ~Michael's POV~ Michael walked over to Anthony who was on the tire crying, "I failed.. I failed in protecting Vinyl." Michael knelt down and put his hand on Anthony's shoulder, "Everything will be alright. Im sure that Vinyl will be alright, she is a tough one." After consoling Anthony, they all got up and started walking down the highway. Anthony was having a little trouble with his foot being broke, Michael had to make some temporary crutches, made out of sturdy branches and the twine. Along the way, they found a abandoned motorcycle. Seeing it was a little damaged, they just had to deal with it. Michael took the lead and drove it, with Anthony behind him and Octavia on his lap. They pulled out onto the highway and drove down a little ways. After about an hour on the road, they pulled off onto a dirt road and went down, about three miles. They soon came upon a village of some kind. "I thought there weren't anymore villages in the U.S.?" Anthony said. Michael shook his head and laughed, "They don't call them villages anymore, but they are considered unincorporated." "Oh." They all checked into a motel and decided to stay there for awhile.